.....

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Presented by
REV. WILLIAM BREWSTER HUMPHREY
and
MRS. MARIE E. IVES HUMPHREY

LATER LEADERS.

AMERICA, ASIA, AFRICA, AND OCEANIOA.

LIVES

THE LEADEES

OUR CHURCH UNIVERSAL,

FROM THE DATS OF THE SUCCESSORS OF THE
APOSTLES TO THE PRESENT TIME.

THE LIYES BY EUROPEAN WRITERS FROM THE GERMAN,

AS EDITED ET

DR. FERDINAND PIPER,
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.

NOW TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, AND EDITED, WITH ADDED
LIVES BY AMERICAN WRITERS,

HENRY MITCHELL MACCRACKEN, D. D.

BOSTON:
CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY,
Congregational House, Beacon Street.
1879.

Copyright, 1879,
By H. M. MACCBACEBN.

biybhsike, Cambridge:
stereotyped and printed by
h. 0. hodshton and company.

PREFACE.

Some three years since, while I was seeking in New Tork city material
for a volume asked of me by a Western publisher, I was met by the sug
gestion that I should undertake the translation into English and the
editing of the lives of Christian leaders for all the days of the year, re
cently published in Germany under the editorship of Dr. Ferdinand Piper,
of the University of Berlin.
The fact that the suggestion was made by Dr. Charles A. Briggs, of
Union Seminary, to whom the work had been transmitted by Dr. Piper,
with a view to its publication in America, and that both he and Dr. Philip
Schaff, in repeated conversations, recommended it to me as deserving a
place in every Christian family, inclined me to take up the task suggested.
After letters had been exchanged with the German editor, and his con
sent obtained to my bringing the work out in the English language, with
such changes as might seem advantageous, I began to apply myself, as
my other engagements permitted, to the labor of presenting these popular
yet scholarly life-stories of Christian witnesses to English readers.
The task thus entered upon presented two parts. First, the translating
and editing of the lives published in Germany. Second, the adding of
the life-stories of leaders in the church in America, and in certain pagan
lands, passed over by Dr. Piper. To make plain what I have done under
the first head, I will state briefly the origin, scope, and form of the work
in the German.
In the year 1850, Dr. Ferdinand Piper offered, in a church-diet at
Stuttgard, the following thesis : " The whole evangelical church in Ger
man lands is interested in forming a common roll of lives for all the days
of the year, to be settled on the foundation of our common history, and
thus to be made a bond of union of the churches in all the countries."
In relation to the thesis, let it be noted that the Christians of Germany

vi PREFACE.
did not, at the Reformation, cast away as many of the old usages as did
reformers in other countries. They did not cast away organs ; nor, al
though they utterly put aside prayers to saints, did they abolish the con
nection of the names of Christian worthies of past ages with the days of
the year, but preserved it even as Americans maintain the association of
the name of Washington with February 22d. The forming of the roll
of Christian worthies was left, however, very largely to accident. Every
little German land made its own calendar. There arose great diversity,
and often names were inserted upon local or political grounds. Martin
Luther's was the only name universally adopted in addition to the men of
the early centuries. Thus, it may be seen, there was an opportunity and
also a call for such a movement as that suggested in Dr. Piper's thesis,
which should present German Christians a new roll of names for their
almanacs, and also a new book of lives for their Christian households,
thus stimulating them to fulfill the precept, " Remember them who have
spoken unto you the Word of God."
A powerful argument for giving to Germany such a roll of lives was
the necessity of meeting Romanist assertions that the honored fathers and
leaders of early days were papists, in the present sense of the term papist,
and not rather, with all their mistakes and superstitions, evangelical or
Bible Christians.
The chief argument for the book, however, was that next to God's
Word, Christians, for their own edification, ought to know (to use the
words of Dr. Piper) " the doings of God in the history of his Church,"
and " the manifestations of his Spirit in the witnesses commissioned and
• enlightened by Him ever since the day of Pentecost."
These and like considerations impelled Dr. Piper and other scholars to
:give to the German church the "improved" roll of names, and the new
book of lives of church leaders. Their medium for this was at first a
periodical established for this special end in 1850. This "Tear Book,"
as it was called, presented new and correct lives of the leaders from the
pens of able and eloquent writers. Dr. Neander, who died that same
year, left several lives for the book, as will be seen by the present vol
ume. The array of authors, as the table of contents will show, includes
many of the most celebrated Christian scholars of Germany as well as
some of France, Britain, Holland, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. For
twenty-one successive years the " Tear Book " continued the presentation
of the lives. Finally, the roll was ended. Dr. Piper then edited the

PREFACE. vn
completed biographies, which were published by Tauchnitz (1875). The
work has been met with great favor by the church. The roll of names
contained in it has been officially published and commended by the Ger
man government.
The considerations which weigh with German Christians are, perhaps,
to be equally regarded by men of English tongue. The call for com
bating a false definition of the Church comes to us also. Bewildered souls
seeking a house of God on earth are too often guided to an edifice whose
keys are kept in Rome by the chief of an ancient, self -perpetuated corpo
ration. Knowing as we do that the true Church has been seen ever,
where any body of men has risen, " a pillar and a stay of the truth " (1
Timothy iii. 15, marginal reading), ought we not to keep this visible
form of all the centuries before men's eyes, and pointing to it say, Here
is the Church, the true succession of " John and Cephas, who seemed to
be pillars " in every circle of faithful upholders of essential Christianity ?
Do we omit from the roll of church pillars since the Reformation the
Roman Catholic, the Greek, the Copt, and the Nestorian? It is not
that we would deny such a place in the Church Universal. Like the
Ephesian wonder of the world (which, perhaps, rose before the mind of
him who, in writing to his friend in Ephesus, gave us the simile just
quoted), and like its forest of shafts, each a pillar and a stay of the shel
tering roof of rock, this edifice, the Church of God, incloses uncounted
varieties of pillars, and all of them are truly parts of it if so be they up
hold the truth of the living God. Tet Greeks, Romanists, and the rest
are hardly " leading " supports of truth, nowadays, contrasted with evan
gelical Christians. Nor will they become so till they are cleansed of
the moss and decay of the centuries. The safe rule for all who will find
the Church in any age is, Find men who uphold the truth as it is in
Jesus, and who gather clustering groups of columnar Christians around
them, supporting the same. Here is the Church, beyond controversy.
But the main object of our German brethren, namely, to familiarize
Christians " with God's doings in the history of his Church," is the chief
end for us also. It may be safely affirmed that by far the larger half of
Christian families have in their libraries not a word as to their church or
its leaders from the end of the Acts to the annals of the Reformation,
unless perhaps in some such caricature of Christianity as the volumes of
Dr. Gibbon. This ignorance respecting fifteen Christian centuries is not
altogether a contented ignorance. This I have proven by the following

Vlll PREFACE.
experiment. Setting up a third church service at an unusual hour upon
the Sabbath afternoon, in which besides the usual devotions was offered
a brief discourse presenting " God's doings in the history of his church,"
I have for forty successive Sabbaths in a year seen assembled out of a
new and busily occupied city population more hearers than attend upon
the average service of Sabbath evening. Moreover the themes presented
were received with marked expressions of interest from Christians of vari
ous names, and even from those not Christians. I have thus been led
fully into Dr. Piper's view that the edifying of the Church may be pro
moted by ministers speaking from time to time to their people of " the
manifestations of God's Spirit in witnesses commissioned and enlightened
by Him all the way from Pentecost." Whatever commendations of our
Divine cause may be found in the notable lives of each century the wise
believer will not neglect to offer, especially in days when if the founda
tions be not d'estroyed it will not be because they are not assailed in every
mode and from every quarter.
The editor does not present in his English work all the lives included '
in the German. He wished to keep the book of a popular size. He
considered, too, that as we are better acquainted with the Church in the
Acts of the Apostles from our introduction to but a few of its leaders,
so it might be here. There have been omitted, therefore, first, all lives
of leaders in Bible times, a large company ; second, all those peculiarly
local or German ; third, other lives which, hardly less interesting or
important than those now offered, have been left out to make room for
lives in America, Asia, Africa, and Oceanica. These last it is hoped may
one day be called for by readers, and along with them others, especially of
English, Welsh, and Scotch leaders, in recent centuries, which many will
be surprised to miss. They are not here because not in the German.
Should the call arise, the editor will strive, with help from writers in
Great Britain and Ireland, to present the Lives of the Leaders in a
second series.
The life-stories offered are in every instance given entire. The follow
ing changes have, however, been made to render the book more attractive.
(1.) For the numerous divisions of time in the German, five periods have
been substituted by the editor, of his own choosing. (2.) Portions of the
lives which seemed parenthetical or of secondary importance have been
placed in footnotes. (3.) At the head of each life have been set the date
' of the birth and of the death of the person commemorated, and also a

PREFACE. ix
word indicating his position in the church, clerical or lay, or his denom
ination. The title of the book I have translated very freely, preferring the sec
ond word by which Isaiah describes the servant of God to the first word
in the same verse (Isaiah lv. 5, " A witness .... a leader .... to
the people"), and so calling the work the Lives of the Leaders rather
than the Lives of the Witnesses, the last word being somewhat worn in
English literature.
For the cut-in notes, which are not in the German, I alone am respon
sible. They promise aid to the reader as well as add attractiveness to
the page.
It remains to say something concerning the second part of my task,
the adding of life-stories of leaders in America, and of pioneers in other
great regions passed by in the German, namely, Africa, China, and Bur-
mah. The suggestion that in adding American lives I should regard denom
inations was given me by Dr. Schaff, and was at once accepted. To es
tablish a fair and good rule I laid down the following: (1.) In every
denomination in the United States with five hundred parishes to find one
"leader." In every denomination with over three thousand parishes to
find " three mighty men," and if such denomination prevailed in colonial
times, to add to the three, one, two, or three others. (2.) To take no
account of the division of denominations into northern and southern, and
yet when taking three mighty men, to apportion them between the East,
and the West and South. These rules have been followed strictly, save
that the Lutheran body is given but one leader on the ground that it is
so largely represented in the German.1 The Episcopal Church is given
but one, because it did not reach three thousand parishes in the statistics
1 At the time of sending the last manuscript to the press, I found myself disappointed in
reference to an expected life-story of a United Presbyterian leader. To supply its place I
prepared the story of Isabella Graham. After this had been stereotyped came unexpectedly,
through the courtesy of the United Presbyterian Publication House, the life of John Tay
lor Pressly, by his long-time associate, Rev. Dr. David R. Kerr, a theologian whose labors
in church history have received a recent recognition in his election to preside over the
Historical Section of the First General Presbyterian Council in Edinburgh, 1877.
This life I gladly added, as supplying what was lacking. Further, it was proposed by
the secretary of the house named, that Isabella Graham be inserted as a representative of
the Associate Reformed body, now merged in the United Presbyterian. At risk of seem
ing to transgress my rule, I therefore retain this story, moved to its retention in part by a
desire to recognize woman leadership in the Church in America, as the present work recog
nizes it in the other hemisphere.

X PREFACE.
of 1877, though now it reports more than that number. Four denom
inations are each given three or more leaders, while ten have each one
leader. These fourteen bodies include, as will be seen by the Table of
Statistics (Appendix III.), forty-nine fiftieths of the evangelical church
in the United States.
In choosing American leaders I have followed less my own judgment
than that of eminent men in the respective denominations, having had
correspondence upon the subject with, perhaps, fifty distinguished schol
ars, exclusive of the many who appear as writers.
In choosing a leader in China and other lands I have in like manner
sought competent tribunals of opinion. To the many eminent men who
have lent me aid in this, I here express my very great obligations.
And now in closing what has been these three years a labor of love and
a recreation from other toils, I find an especial source of pleasure in the
thought that this book may prove a new bond of love in the church in
America, the more from the fact that it will go out bearing the imprints,
each on a distinct edition, of a large portion of the denominational pub
lication houses of this continent. In agreeing to take a part in its
simultaneous issue, each of these houses courteously introduces to its
own communion the leaders of other churches not as "strangers and
foreigners," but as dear brethren. " Such a work " (I quote the words
of the venerable Dr. Whedon, in his letter to the Methodist house ap
proving of the plan of this book) "will be a symbol of the Church's
true spiritual unity."
H. M. M.
Orange Place Study, Toledo, Ohio, 1879.

CONTENTS,

LATER LEADERS. — AMERICA, ASIA, AFRICA,
AND OCEANICA.
PERIOD FIFTH. THE CHURCH'S REFOKMED PROGRESS.
CENTURIES XVII. -XIX.
America. — Colonial Period.
Life I. William Brewster, Congregational. Page
His English Home. — Who the Puritans were. — The Church in Brewster's
House. — Brewster in Holland. — The Mayflower. — Brewster's Great
Work . .  541
By Dr. Hopkins, of Auburn, N. Y.
Life II. Jonathan Edwards, Congregational.
Colonial Disadvantages. — Edwards's Parents. — His Religious Development.
— Begins to Preach. — Marries Sarah Pierrepont. — His Noted Sermons.
— His Adversities. — Displaced from Northampton. — His Great Books . . 547
By Dk. Humphreys, of Cincinnati.
Life III. Samuel Hopkins, Congregational.
Early Life. — Title to Fame. — Antislavery Books. — Projects Liberia. — Leads
in Foreign Missions. — Hopkinsian Theology  557
By Dk. Hopkins, of Auburn, N. Y.
Life IV. Francis Makemie, Presbyterian.
Reaches America. — Labors for Religious Liberty. — In Prison in New York
City.— -His Right to Fame  565
By Dr. Blackburn, of Chicago.
Life V. Jonathan Dickinson, Presbyterian.
A New Englander. — His " Five Points " of Calvinism. — Father of the College
of New Jersey. — Leader of Union  . 569
By Dr. Blackburn, of Chicago.

xu CONTENTS.

Life VI. John Witherspoon, Presbyterian.
Descended from John Knox. — At Thirty-one stirs Scotland. — Chosen by
Princeton. — Zeal for Independence. — Work in Congress. — Opens First
General Assembly  "'*
By Dr. Blackburn, of Chicago.

Life VII. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Lutheran.
First Lutherans in America. — Muhlenberg guided. — Reaches America. —
His Picture of the Country. — Paul-like Activity. — Catholicity of Spirit. —
Presides over First Conference. — A Patriotic Old Man  584
By Professor Prince, of Springfield, 0
Life VIII. Michael Schlatter, German Reformed.
The Home of the German Reformed. — Their Children in America. — Schlat
ter's Early Life. — Lands in the New World. — The First Synod. — In Europe
for America's Sake. — His Labors. — His Death at "Sweetland" . . 590
By Dr. Good, of Tiffin, O.

Life IX. Philip William Otterbein, United Brethren.
Early Life in Germany. — Call to America. — Awakened in Spirit. — The
Name " United Brethren." — Remains in the Reformed Church. — The New
Denomination. — His Memorial Sermon by Asbury  599
By Bishop Weaver, of Dayton, O.
Life X. James Manning, Baptist.
His Predecessor, Roger Williams. — Baptist Progress. — Manning a Leader.
— He founds Rhode Island College, now Brown University. — His Work in
Providence. — Personal Gifts. — Patriotism ... ... 608
By Dr. S. L. Caldwell, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
America. — National Period.
Life XI. Francis Asburt, Methodist Episcopal.
Sufferings as a School-Boy. — Enters upon Religious Life. — Chosen hy Wesley
for America. — Reaches Philadelphia. — Hardships during the Revolutionary
War. — Becomes Bishop. — Abundant Labors  614
By Dr. Webster, of Newbury, Canada.

Life XII. William MacKendree, Methodist Episcopal.
Methodism in the South and the West. — Its Standard-Bearer. — A Soldier in
the Revolution. — Lives in the Saddle. — Exciting Episodes. — Made Bishop.
— " All 's Well " — Solemn Reinterment in Centennial Year .... 623
By Dr. Summers, of Nashville, Tenn.

CONTENTS. xiii
Life XITT. Wilbur Fisk, Methodist Episcopal.
Parentage and Early Training. — Itinerant Life. — His Great Work as an Edu
cator. — President of Wesleyan University. — Anxiety for a Trained Minis
try. — Zeal for Missions. — Declines the Episcopate. — Closing Scenes .632
By Dr. Bennett, of Syracuse, N. Y.
Life XIV. John Henry Livingston, Dutch Reformed.
Dutch and Scotch. — Studies in Holland. — In New York City. — Unites the
Dutch Reformed. — In the War. — Professor of Theology. — Father of the
Dutch Reformed Constitution. — Portrait of the Man, of the Preacher and
Professor  639
By Dr. Clark, of Albany, N. Y.
Life XV. William White, Episcopalian.
Seeks Ordination abroad. — Returns to America. — A Patriot. — Father of the
American Episcopate. — Views of Doctrine and Order. — (j! atholicity. — Is
sung by Wordsworth  647
By Bishop Stevens, of Philadelphia.
Life XVI. Jacob Albright, Evangelical Association.
Early Business Career. — Called to his Life- Work. — Compassion for the Scat
tered Germans. — Organizes the Evangelical Association. — Albright's Ideal
of a Bishop. — His Personal Appearance  657
By Bishop Yeakel, of Naperville, HI.
Life XVII. Robert Donnell, Cumberland Presbyterian.
The Great Revival in the Southwest. — In School Nine Months. — Leader of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. — Founder of noted Churches and of Col
leges. — His Last Sermons  661
By Dr. Beard, of Lebanon, Penn.
Life XVIII. Alexander Campbell, Disciples of Christ.
Studies in Scotland. — Founds the Church of the Disciples. — His Account of
his Belief. — His Books and Great Debates. — His College. — His Private
Life ...  668
By Dr. Pendleton, of Bethany, W. Va.
Life XIX. John Mason Peck, Baptist.
Early Difficulties. — An Apostle of the West. — In St. Louis. — Father of the
Home Mission Society. — Founds the first Religious Newspaper by the Mis
sissippi. — His Books. — His Blessed Death  677
By Dr. Pendleton, of Upland, Pa.
Life XX. Francis Wayland, Baptist.
An Era in his Life. — A Pastor in Boston. — In Providence. — Leader of Col
lege Reform. — His Publications. — A Model Pastor. — Faithful to the End.
— Oration upon Lincoln's Assassination  686
By Dr. Lincoln, of Newton Centre, Mass.

Xiv CONTENTS.
Life XXI. Richard Fuller, Baptist.
Converted under Daniel Baker. — Finds his Life-Field in Baltimore. — His Per
sonal Appearance. — As a Preacher  697
By Dr. Jeter, of Richmond, Va.
Life XXII. Timothy Dwight, Congregational.
Grandson of Edwards. — Twelve Years a Pastor. — President of Yale. —
Makes of the College a University. — Championship of the Faith. — His
Theology. — Personal Gifts  704
By Dr. Dwight, of New Haven, Conn.
Life XXIII. Lyman Beecher, Congregational.
In Connecticut. — His Theology. — Leads the Temperance Reform. — Opposes
Unitarianism. — Removes to Cincinnati. — A Leader of the Antislavery
Cause. — In the Presbyterian Schism. — Dying Vision  711
By Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, of Hartford, Conn.
Life XXIV. Charles Finney, Congregational.
Buys his First Bible. — Begins to Preach. — A Whole Community Converted.
— Work in Philadelphia. — In Rochester. — " The Evangelist." — His Work
in England. — President of Oberlin. — His Theology  730
By Mrs. Helen Finney Cox, of Cincinnati.
Life XXV. Isabella Graham, Associate Reformed.
Covenanters and Seceders. — Their Characteristics. — Sees New York City for
the First Time. — Finds Friends in the West Indies. — Vicissitudes in Scotland.
— Welcome to New York City. — Great Work as a Teacher. — Her Interest in
a Theological Seminary. — A Leader in Missions. — Her Patriotism . . 740
By Dr. MacCracken, of Toledo, 0.
Life XXVI. Archibald Alexander, Presbyterian.
By Birth a Virginian. — His Conversion. — The Great Revival. — A Mission
ary. — At Hampden Sidney. — The Father of Princeton Theological Semi
nary. — A Peacemaker  749
By Dr. Alexander, of Hampden Sidney, Va.
Life XXVII. Charles Hodge, Presbyterian.
His Mother. — Studies in Germany. — Founds the " Princeton Review." — As
a Controversialist. — As a Teacher. — His Books. — Trains Three Thousand
Clergymen. — His Motto for Princeton  760
By Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, N. J.
Life XXVIII. Albert Barnes, Presbyterian.
His Birth. — His Conversion. — Objects of his Enthusiasm. — Temperance. —
Antislavery. — Sabbath-Schools. — Theology. — His Great Work through
his Commentaries. — Fidelity to Truth  767
By Dr. Johnson, of Auburn, N. Y.

CONTENTS. xv
Life XXIX. Thomas Hewlings Stockton, Methodist Protestant.
His Father. — Forming of the Methodist Protestant Church. — His Labors in
East and West. — His Characteristics. — Marked Features of his Denomina
tion  773
By Dr. Webster, of Baltimore.
Life XXX. John Taylor Pressly, United Presbyterian
The United Presbyterian Communion. — His Family. — In the South. — In
Western Pennsylvania. — As a Pastor. — Personal Appearance. — As a
Preacher. — As a Teacher  - 778
By Dr. Kerr, of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mission Lands. — Greenland.
Life XXXI. John Egede, Lutheran.
His Family. — Ten Years' Waiting. — An Esquimau to the Esquimaux. — His
Wife Gertrude. — His Son Paul  783
By Dr. Kalkar, of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Indians of North America.
Life XXXII. David Zeisberger, Moravian.
A Runaway Boy. — By Lake Oneida. — By the Ohio. — Near Lake Erie. — In
Michigan. — Closing Days in Eastern Ohio  788
By Dr. Frommann, of Petersburg, Germany.
India.
Life XXXHI. Christian Frederic Schwartz, Lutheran.
India Missions. — At Halle. — Leader of Christianity in India. — In Tanjore. —
Dies while Singing . . . . ,  796
By Dr. von Mekz, of Stuttgart, Germany.
Africa.
Life XXXIV. John Theodosius Vanderkemp, Reformed.
An Army Officer. — Called at Fifty. — Lands at the Cape. — Meets the King of
Caffres. — Hunts Elephants. — Founds Bethelsdorp. — Deliverer of the Op
pressed  ... 803
By Dr. Grout, of Brattleboro', Vt.
Persia.
Life XXXV. Henry Martyn, Episcopalian.
In Madras and Calcutta. — In Persia. — The Persian Bible. — The Shah is
given his Bible. — Lonely Death at Tokat  814
By Dr. von Merz, of Stuttgart, Germany.

xvi CONTENTS. China.
Life XXXVL Robert Morrison, United Presbyterian.
Leader of the Church in China. — Lands in China as an American. — With
the East India Company. — Baptizes the First Convert. — Completes the Chi
nese Bible. — Reception in England. — Last Prayers  819
By Dr. Williams, of New Haven, Conn.
Burmah.
Life XXXVII. Adoniram Judson, Baptist.
The Founding of the American Board. — Judson in Burmah. — First Convert.
— In Prison in Ava. — Nobly seconded by his Wife. — Completes the Bur
mese Bible. — Home after Thirty -three Years. — The second and the third
Mrs. Judson  837
By Mrs. Helen Kendrick, of Rochester, N. Y.
Oceanica.
Life XXXVIII. John Williams, Congregational.
An Excellent Mechanic. — His Quiet Church Training. — Sails for the South
Seas. — His Broad Plan. — His Father's Message. — His Martyrdom . . 849
By Dr. Ahlfeld, of Leipzig, Germany.

THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS
IN AMERICA, ASIA, AFRICA, AND OCEANICA.
PERIOD FIFTH. COMPRISING CENTURIES XVII.-XIX. (OR FROM THE END
OF THE REFORMATION ERA TO THE PRESENT TIME). DIVISIONS OF
THE PERIOD : CENTURIES XVII., XVIII., THE CHURCH'S REFORMED
PROGRESS THROUGH EXTENDED INSTRUCTION IN DOCTRINE AND
THROUGH THE BUILDING UP OF DENOMINATIONS ; CENTURY XIX.,
THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS THROUGH ENLARGED EFFORT
IN MISSIONS, CHARITIES, SCHOOLS, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL RE
FORMS, AND EVANGELICAL UNIONS.
LIFE I. WILLIAM BREWSTER.
A. D. 1574-A. D. 1644. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
It is an old popular error in America that, while the first settlers in
Virginia were persons of rather high social standing and culture, the
New England colonists were somewhat low and underbred people. They
have been described as sincere and pious in their way, but as belonging
to the humbler class in society. The gentlemen colonists found homes
in Virginia, with broader and more generous aspects of nature around
them, suited to their finer natures ; the bleak and narrow coast of Mas
sachusetts received a comparatively poor and uncultured immigration.
The point would scarce be worth discussing, even if it were well taken.
But ojaposite to this, the fact is that while the Plymouth colonists had
what was far more valuable, and what the Southern planters too often
lacked, namely, high principle, martyr heroism, and the fear of God,
they were by no means lacking in the external advantages of good birth
and liberal culture. As for Miles Standish, we know that
" He was a gentleman born, could trace his pedigree plainly
Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in Lancashire, England,
Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson of Thurston de Standish."
Another of the Mayflower's crew was Stephen Hopkins, who brought
over with him two " servants," and who set the " gentlemanly " exam
ple of fighting the first duel on record in America. Isaac Johnson,
of the Salem colony, was husband of "the Lady Arabella," daughter
of the Earl of Lincoln. Not to mention other cases, the subject of the

542 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
present sketch, William Brewster, the " Elder of Plymouth," was by birth
His English an<^ education a gentleman. The old manor-house where he
home. spent his early days, at Scrooby, on the Lincolnshire Flat,
was ' a stately mansion in its time, and not unfrequently received chV
tinguished visitors. It stood near the high road from London to York ;
i royal personages had rested there for a night on their journey, and Car-
Idinal Wolsey, when dismissed, under the displeasure of the king, to his
iown diocese in the north, lingered some weeks at the manor of Scrooby.
The father of William Brewster held some post under the queen's gov
ernment, and lived in easy circumstances ; and the son was sent at so
early an age to pursue his studies at Cambridge that (1584) in his
twenty-first year we find him already entered upon active life and a
public career in London. He was employed by William Davidson, " the
excellent and unlucky secretary " of Queen Elizabeth, and accompanied
him on a mission to the Netherlands at the time the queen was tanta
lizing the suffering province with her ungracious and grudging assistance.
Brewster, while at the university, had entered on that experience of
religion which was the element in which his whole remaining life moved ;
and it was probably not more the evidence of marked talent than of
early piety that led the devout Davidson to select him for his confiden
tial private secretary. The official career of both was terminated in an
abrupt and, as to the queen, most disgracefully characteristic manner.
Anxious to get rid of her chronic terror, the Queen of Scots, and failing
to procure her taking off by secret assassination, Elizabeth at length
ordered secretary Davidson to bring her the death-warrant, which had
been for some time ready, and with a jesting remark on her lips affixed
her signature. The council, who thought the death of Mary Stuart nec
essary to the safety of the realm, persuaded Davidson to send off the
warrant at once, promising to stand between him and all harm.
When the object on which Elizabeth's heart had been so long set was
accomplished, and her fears laid to rest by the axe of the executioner,
she flew into one of her artificial paroxysms of grief : raved and wept ;
disavowed the act she had ordered ; threw Davidson into prison and ru
ined him with a crushing fine of ten thousand pounds. Brewster re
turned to his home in the north, where he found himself in the midst of
congenial associations.
Whether arising from the relation of physical conditions to the de
velopment of the religious sentiment, if it be possible that such exists,
or from personal and historic influences alone, it is at all events true
that there have often been associated with certain localities peculiar
tendencies in religion. The Puritanical sentiment in England had gath
ered itself around three or four central points. It had little footing
in either the extreme north or the extreme south. Outside the great
city of London it had found acceptance chiefly in the midland counties.

Cent. XVH.-XIX.] WILLIAM BREWSTER. 543
Its strength lay in the heart of the kingdom, between the Humber and
the Thames ; among a people of more unmixed Anglo-Saxon race than
was found in the coast shires, and speaking the English language with
far greater purity than the Kentish or Devon men on the Chaniiel, or
the Cumbrian and Yorkshire boors on the border. It was in Scrooby
and the neighboring towns of Lancashire that the Puritan movement
found its most vigorous impulse. Here was the cradle of that infant
emigration which was cast out to perish in the wild North Sea, and then
gained strength to seek, of itself, a home beyond the still wilder At
lantic. Let us understand who these Puritans were ; for they are often mis
understood. They were Protestants of the intensest type ; who the Puri.
Calvinists in faith, Presbyterians in principle, but devout fc™wei,e-
and loving members of the Church of England. Brownism — separation
from the church of their fathers — they abhorred, both name and thing.
But they desired a perfected reformation, as many of the best members
of the Anglican Church had done. They wanted a reasonable^ liberty in
the use of indifferent things in worship, a relief for tender or perhaps
morbid consciences in the matter of rings and robes and crosses. Could
they but have had even moderate indulgence they would have wished to
draw the sincere milk of the word from no other breasts than hers.
They waited upon her altars on Sundays and festivals. But they asked
the small privilege — small it might seem in itself, but precious to them
— of meeting by themselves, from time to time', for the study of the
Word and the worship of God in" their own bare Puritanical fashion.
But this was more than Archbishop Whitgift and his like-minded
clergy could allow them ; they were watched, informed against, clogged
by pursuivants, dragged before justices, fined, and thrown into prison for
the crime of presuming to be more pious than their betters.
The first rendezvous and meeting-house of these " Protestant non
conformists " was the manor-house at Scrooby, whose spa- , .
J L The church in
cious chambers gave them for a time sufficient accommoda- Brewster's
tion. But new brethren flocked in, and they outgrew the
dimensions of a single house. They were forced to colonize ; a portion
of them formed a second congregation at the neighboring town of Gains- ¦
boro'. Persecution had gradually opened their eyes, while it thrust them
further and further out towards the border line of the establishment.
At length they were driven across into actual separation ; they organized
churches of their own ; elected their own officers, plain elders and dea
cons of the Scriptural type ; and administered the ordinances with apos
tolic simplicity. Against their will they renounced the national church,
and from Puritans became Brownists. Of the Scrooby church, William
Brewster was made ruling elder, and — another name equally sacred to
the history of religious liberty — John Robinson became teacher.

544 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
By the year. 1607, the bishops had made it so warm for them that
they reconciled their minds to the sad alternative of exile. England
was dear, but freedom to worship God was dearer ; they looked about
for an asylum. Just across the German Ocean, two days' sail or less
distant, struggling for existence against nature and against man, lay the
little confederation of Belgic provinces. Distracted by political and re
ligious jealousies, cursed with an intolerant state-church establishment,
and still facing, half in terror, half in fury, with sword unsheathed, the
relentless and deadly hatred of Spain, the seven provinces offered the
Brewster in Hoi- ^es* Port ™- tne st°rm of religious persecution that beat
lancl- upon the Puritans in their native land. With great diffi
culty and suffering two ship-loads of them made their escape and landed
at Amsterdam ; not long after they removed to Leyden.
It was an hour of great convulsions and great struggles in Europe.
The twelve years' truce between Spain and her revolted provinces had just
been signed ; and the Netherlands were at this moment in the still cen
tre of the cyclone, which was rapidly moving eastward to burst with such
awful fury upon Germany. Henry the Fourth of France, their cool and
selfish friend, had still three years more of broad political scheming and
disgraceful private pleasures, before the dagger of Francis Ravaillac
should reach his heart. The Thirty Years' War, the last frantic attempt
of the Romish powers to smother Protestantism in blood and ashes, was
ready to break out ; and " all Germany stood with hand on sword, fright
ened at the shaking of every leaf." Maurice of Nassau, with still and
obstinate determination, was nursing his own plans of ambition or re
venge. The bitter Arminian controversy was convulsing the Dutch
churches. In the midst of the hurly-burly, this little colony of English
exiles settled down almost unnoticed in the ancient city of Leyden. The
snarling polemics who were battling for sublapsarian or supralapsarian
Calvinism, the ambitious princes bent on their own private ends, even
the wise and far-seeing statesmen of the day, might be excused for not
perceiving that this fj3eble__plant embodied the germs of a far mightier
and more eventful revolution than any with which state or church had
ever yet been called to grapple. They came with naked hands ; having
saved scarce anything from the harpy talons of the bishops' pursuivants.
But they had among them education, professional knowledge, mechanical
skill, and ajlirif t and industry that knew how to make a little go°a"great
way. They betook themselves to their various possibilities. Brewster's
university education now served him well as a means of earning bread
for his eight children. He taught school ; he published a Latin grammar
and other books. He set up a printing office and sent out various works,
polemical and practical. Some of them came to the knowledge of the
crowned pedant who was making England contemptible and ridiculous in
the eyes of Europe ; and orders were sent to Sir Dudley Carleton to

Cent. XVTL-XIX] WILLIAM BREWSTER. 545
effect his arrest and surrender for suitable punishment. Various things
concurred to make the colonists uneasy in Holland ; they had been twelve
years there as exiles and strangers. At length they made up their minds
to seek a home in the New World, where meddling desjpotism and usurping
church authorities could not reach them. Companies had already been
formed in England for the promotion of settlements in Virginia. The
James River colony was still struggling with its early disasters. The
Virginia company laid claim to all the coast from the Spanish possessions
in Florida to the mouth of the Hudson. Another company, formed at
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, procured a charter for the district
lying north of the forty-first parallel, which Captain John Smith had in
1614 baptized "New England."
At length, after much unsatisfactory negotiation with the jealous and
grasping " merchant adventurers," the Mayflower put out
to sea from Plymouth harbor, and, passing Land's End, be
gan forcing her way against the strong western gales across the Atlantic;
She started with one hundred _passengers ; and on the 21st of November,.
1620 (one death and one birth having occurred on the voyage), she
dropped her anchor in the sheltered hook of Provincetown harbor.
A month later the exhausted and half starved colonists landed in a.
body on the wild and wintry solitude of Plymouth.
It was while coasting along the low shores of Cape Cod, and in the
immediate prospect of setting up as a " civil body politic " by themselves,
that this little company of tempest-tost exiles, in the cabin of their shat
tered bark, subscribed that immortal document, the first written compact
the world ever saw for the organization of a self-governed community..
The fourth name signed to this agreement is that of " Mr. William
Brewster." The venerable teaching elder, or pastor, of the church had been left
behind at Leyden, unable from family and personal circumstances to em
bark with the colonists. He gave them his parting charge and benedic
tion, and remained to care for the remnant of the flock, and to die five
years after at Leyden. The only pastor and spiritual guide of the Pil
grim church was Brewster, who, being merely a ruling elder, was incom
petent in the judgment of Robinson to administer church ordinances.
They had been accustomed at Leyden to attend weekly on the Lord's
Supper ; but they now went for years without a sacrament. A feeble
and, as it-turned out, unprincipled Puritan minister named Lyford — one
of the kind that still looked back to the flesh-pots of a state church es
tablishment — had joined them; but the Pilgrims distrusted him, and re
fused to recognize his episcopal orders. They had by this Brewster.s ^^
time developed into thorough separatists, and had learned work-
that the right to minister among the people must proceed from the
people themselves. Elder Brewster therefore continued to be their sole
35

546 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
religious teacher, preaching to them regularly on the Lord's day. While
he expressly disclaimed the authority of an ordained teacher, he watched
over them in respect to life and doctrine. He healed their dissen
sions, and encouraged them in their sore trials. When the first dread
ful winter swept off half their little company, and nearly all the rest
were prostrate from disease and starvation, he was one of the handful
who went from house to house nursing the sick, comforting the dying,
and carrying out the dead for burial. Wise, humble, hopeful, strong in
faith, never losing courage even in the darkest of the many dark days
that lowered on the suffering colony, he was the great type of that heroic
and unquenchable religious sentiment that inspired and sustained the
whole enterprise.
" In teaching he was very stirring, and moving the affections ; also
very plain and distinct in what he taught ; by which he became the more
profitable to the hearers. He had a singular good gift in prayer, both
public and private, in ripping up the heart and conscience before God, in
the humble confession of sin, and begging the mercies of God in Christ"
for the pardon thereof. He thought it were better for ministers to pray
oftener, and divide their prayers, than to be long and tedious in the
same," — in which sentiment we cordially concur.
So the elder of Plymouth labored and suffered on, thinking affliction
with the people of God greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.,
Some of his puritanically baptized children, Jonathan, Love, Fear, Pa
tience, Wrestling, came over to cheer his old age, and stand by his death
bed. His pilgrimage had been long and weary. Of his eighty years, of
life, nearly half had been spent in suffering and exile for conscience' sake.
His release came on the 16th of AprUjJjJM.1 Giving up everything for
'Christ, storm-tost and buffeted by sea and land, stripped of his worldly
goods and hunted like a felon, he saw the community he had done so
much to found safely past the period of its feeble infancy, and entering
on its irresistible march across the continent ; and he died in a vigorous
old age, calm and peaceful, amid the tears and benedictions of his fellow-
citizens. " To a youth of ease and affluence, familiar with ambassadors and
statesmen, and not unknown to courts, succeeded a mature age of ob
scurity, deep study, and poverty. No human creature would have heard
of him had his career ended with his official life. Two centuries and a
ialf have passed away, and the name of the outlawed Puritan of Scrooby
and Leyden is still familiar to millions of the English race."2 — S. H.
1 Although in the space between the end of Life I. and the beginning of Life n. more
than half a century is comprised, no person of that period seems to claim a place when
three Congregational leaders are called for out of colonial times. Cotton Mather (1662-1728)
was "honorable," but "attained not unto the first three." John Eliot (1604-1690) de-
servesto be termed Leader, for his work in the field of Indian missions, but (since only one
such can have place in this volume) he must yield to David Zeisberger, the Moravian. 
.H.M.M. 2 John of Barneveld, ii. 289.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN EDWARDS. 547
LIFE II. JONATHAN EDWARDS.
A. D. 1703-A. D. 1758. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
America is indebted to New England for many of its greatest names.
A few of these names belong to the colonial period of our history.
Among these few, none is more conspicuous than that of Jonathan Ed
wards. Of all the religious thinkers of modern times, he is one of the
best known on both sides of the Atlantic. Pie was born in a century
fruitful in men of philosophical genius, but he was the peer of each of
his contemporaries. One would have scarcely expected so Colonial disad.
great a man to rise in a, British colony as yet but imper- vantages.
fectly developed. " Emigration," said Dr. Horace Bushnell, " tends to
barbarism." In a colony which is still young, one looks for a vigorous
but crude civilization. He is not surprised to find there men of unusual
powers, but he expects to see those powers applied to trade, to politics,
to husbandry, to the mechanical arts, rather than to scholarly reflection.
Or if a leader of thought rise in a new people, it is presumed that he
will exhaust his energies in resisting downward tendencies rather than in
drawing men to lofty ranges of thought and to new explorations.
The life of Edwards we shall find in some sense exceptional. There
was indeed far less of " barbarism " in New England, when he was born,
than the aphorism just quoted would suggest. Many a wide tract of
wilderness was there, but also many a town and city, where the best cult
ure of Great Britain found a congenial home. Nevertheless, the New
England student of that day was required to pursue his studies at a
distance from great libraries, and without contact with the most of the
great minds of the period. He was obliged also, if he would make his
influence felt upon the society by which he was surrounded, to expend
much of his force upon questions of local and temporary interest. Jon
athan Edwards must be studied in the shadow of the outward conditions
of his life, as well as in the light of his natural genius and of the grace
of God.
He was born in Windsor, Connecticut, October 5, 1703. Windsor,
which has never risen above the rank of a village, was, at the date
named, a settlement of farmers attracted to the valley of the Connecti
cut by its fertile soil. The pivotal point of the community was the
church, which was presided over by a man of eminent abil- EdwardS!8 pM._
ities, Timothy Edwards, a graduate of Harvard, who had ents-
enjoyed the singular honor of receiving the two degrees of Bachelor
and of Ma.ster of Arts in the same day, in testimony of his " extraor
dinary proficiency in learning." The wife of this pastor was a daughter
of Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Massachusetts, one of the most
cultured and influential clergymen in the land.

548 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Jonathan Edwards, therefore, had no mean parentage. He was an
only son, but the brother of ten sisters, some of whom became the wives
of distinguished men. As may be supposed, the influences which sur
rounded him in his boyhood were both pure and powerful. He was re
markably precocious. He blossomed long before most ojl the children
of his age were in the bud. He began to study Latin under the direc
tion of. his father when he was six years of age, and became a profi
cient in that language whilst some of his companions were droning over
their lessons in the spelling-book. At the same time other branches of
study, equally advanced, were eagerly pursued. He very early showed
a tendency to philosophical speculation. What is the soul, and what are
its relations to the body ? This was a question which interested him
whilst other boys were feasting their imaginations with the " Arabian
Nights." When he was ten years of age, one of his acquaintances ad
vanced the idea that the soul is material, and remains with the body until
the resurrection. Young Edwards at once wrote him a letter, which
though without date or punctuation, or even division into sentences,
runs the theory to the reductio ad absurdum. At twelve years of age
he composed some remarkable papers upon questions in science. Just be
fore he was thirteen he entered Yale College, and during the next year,
his favorite recreation was the study of Locke's " Essay on the Human
Understanding," in the reading of which, he afterward declared, he " had
more satisfaction and pleasure than the most greedy miser in gathering
up handfuls of silver and gold from some new-discovered treasure."
Here was no common stuff out of which to make a student. The col
lege was then in its infancy, and presented few of the advantages which
as a great university it now holds forth, but the student was produced,
nevertheless. Edwards was graduated in 1720, with the first honors of
his class, and with a reputation for deportment . as high as for scholar-
ms religious de- S^P- His religious development, indeed, was as early and
veiopment. ag remarkable as his mental. When he was about seven
years of age, one of those powerful revivals, so many of which are
recorded in the history of New England, occurred in his father's parish.
He was not at that time a stranger to serious questions as to the state of
his soul, or to habits of devotion. But now he was filled with anxiety,
and was " abundant in religious duties." He resorted to secret prayer
five times a day. He spent much time with his companions in religious
conversation. He united with some of his school-mates in the erection
of a booth in a very secluded part of a swamp. This they made their
oratory. Besides this, he had his favorite spots in the woods, to which
he was accustomed to retire for solitary prayer and thought. " My af
fections," he says, " seemed to be lively and easily moved, and I seemed
to be in my element when I engaged in religious duties." Yet in ma-
turer days he looked with doubt upon this early religious experience, as

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JONATHAN EDWARDS. 549
neither genuine nor deep. " I am ready to think many are deceived
with such affections, and such a kind of delight as I then had in religion,
and mistake it for grace." This shows the severe self-examination to
which he accustomed himself from the first, yet perhaps his verdict in
this case was warranted, since he goes on to record, " In the progress
of time, my convictions and affections wore off, and I entirely lost all
those affections and delights, and left off secret prayer, at least as to any
constant preference of it, and returned like a dog to his vomit, and went
on in the ways of sin." It is noteworthy, as showing the thoughtful
turn of his mind, that even in these tender years of childhood, he re
volted against " the doctrine of God's sovereignty, in choosing whom He
would to eternal life, and rejecting whom He pleased." He was still a
mere boy when this difficulty vanished, as he believed under the influ
ences of the Holy Spirit. Then the character of God assumed to him
a new aspect. Even the works of God seemed to his nature-loving eyes
suffused by a new glory. It was like the change we often notice in con
nection with a summer sunset. The clouds which just now were black
and frowning are lighted with splendor, not merely bathed with radi
ance, but seemingly transfigured, filled with rosy light from centre to
surface. " The appearance of everything was altered ; there seemed to be,
as dt were, a calm, sweet cast, or appearance of divine glory in almost
everything. God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed
to appear in everything : in the sun, moon, and stars, in the clouds and
blue sky, in the grass, flowers, trees, in the water and all nature, which
used greatly to fix my mind." All this shows the vividness of his im
agination, as his previous doubts showed the unfolding of his reasoning
faculties. The grace of God is doubtless to be recognized in these ex
periences, but as the workings of grace are individual, we get glimpses
of the constitution of the soul through its spiritual experiences.
After graduation, he spent two years at Yale as resident, pursuing his
theological studies. He was then licensed to preach. This Begins t0
was several months before he was nineteen. He next spent Preacl1-
about eight months in preaching to a small Presbyterian church in New
York city. It was no small compliment to the young preacher that his
hearers became so fascinated by his eloquence, and by the deep sincerity
of his life, that he was urgently invited to become their pastor. He de
clined, however, and returned to Yale to accept a tutorship, the duties
of which he discharged for two years. Whilst at New York, his habits
of solitary thought continued. He used often to walk alone on the
banks of the Hudson, looking sometimes into and through the sky ;
sometimes into and through his own heart ; discovering God above and
sin within. In the solitary hours at home, he studied himself again.
As the result of these studies we have a series of seventy resolutions for
the government of heart and life ; which, afterward published, have be-

550 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
come a sacred heritage of the world. The spiritual and ethical charac
ter of these resolutions is of the most exalted type. The ideal of holiness
which they disclose is poetically expressed by himself in these terms :
" The soul of a true Christian, as I then wrote my meditations, appeared
like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the year, low
and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the pleasant
beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture ; diffus
ing around a sweet f ragrancy ; standing peacefully and lovingly in the
midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bo
soms to drink in the light of the sun."
His tutorship at Yale ended, he accepted an invitation to the pastorate
in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was there ordained in February,
1727, as colleague of his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. No pastorate
in New England could have been more attractive to him. Northampton
was a beautiful town, whose environing meadows, conforming them
selves to the windings of the Connecticut River, were fertile enough for a
modern Eden. If Edwards was tempted by his love of nature to fre
quent wanderings on the shore of the Hudson at New York, he must
have been gratified by the carpeted floors of these meadows, furnished
then, as now, by the lordly elms whose grace and dignity have made
them famous. Standing beneath one of these elms, he could see the
river at his feet, and the wooded heights of Mount Holyoke and of its
sister hills before him, holding up the sapphire dome above ; whilst in
place of the " little white flower " of the Hudson he would see in the
waving grass the " lily of the field," reminding him at once of the Sav
iour's teaching and of the Father's care. Northampton was also the
home of many cultured families. It was no place in which to find illus
trations of the tendency of emigration to barbarism. As the grandson
of an honored and justly celebrated pastor, Edwards was received with
the more interest, and his great abilities made the more profound impres
sion because of the favor with which he was regarded.
Before his ordination, he had already found in New Haven a young
Marries Sarah ^a^7 °^ great personal beauty, of superior mind, of unusual
Pierrepont. accomplishments, and of devoted piety ; towards whom his
heart went out so warmly that he asked her to become his wife. Her
name was Sarah Pierrepont. This is a part of his characteristic descrip
tion of her, written on a blank leaf in 1723 : " They say there is a
young lady in New Haven, who is loved of that Great Being who made
and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this
Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her
mind with exceeding sweet delight  She has a strange sweetness
in her mind, and singular purity in her affections ; is most just and con
scientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do any
thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world  She

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN EDWARDS. 551
loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have
some one invisible always conversing with her." In this sketch, his de
scription sets forth one of soul so kindred to his own, that both color and
outline seem to be taken from his own heart. He was married to her
in July, 1727, and found in her all that his hopes had promised, not only
as a companion, but also as an assistant. After the fashion of the day
she took upon herself the oversight of everything connected with his
pecuniary expenditures, leaving him wholly unembarrassed in the pros
ecution of his professional work. She was the mother of eleven chil
dren — three sons and eight daughters — of whose names several occupy
distinguished places in New England history.
Soon after his ordination, Edwards obtained a wide celebrity as a
preacher. Many of his sermons were carefully written and somewhat
closely read. He sometimes preached without manuscript; yet even
then he seldom made a gesture, and the tones of his voice were not com
manding. But his thought and language were so powerful, and his words
were sometimes so surcharged with feeling, that eloquence has seldom ac
complished more than when it poured from his lips. He was especially
powerful in presenting the divine law, the sovereignty of God, the sin
fulness of man, and justification by faith. By the prevailing theology of
his day, a "law-work" in the conscience producing deep conviction of
sin, and leading the sinner to cast himself upon the sovereign mercies of
God, was one of the prominent ends of preaching. In promoting this
" law-work," much use was made of the doctrine of future endless pun
ishment. This doctrine was perhaps never more powerfully HiB noted Ber_
brought to bear than by Edwards in a sermon celebrated in mom-
homiletic annals, upon the text, " Their foot shall slide in due time "
(Deuteronomy xxxii. 35) . This sermon was preached at Enfield, Connect
icut. Tradition says that such was its effect that men grasped the rail
ings of the pews as if about to sink into perdition. One says, " There
was such a breathing of distress and weeping that the preacher was
obliged to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard."
It was on this or on some similar occasion, that a brother minister, sit
ting behind Edwards in the pulpit, appalled by his eloquence, grasped
the coat of the preacher and cried, " Mr. Edwards ! Mr. Edwards ! Is
not God merciful ? "
Edwards had been the colleague of his grandfather about two years,
when the latter died. The new burdens thus devolved upon the young
pastor proved for a time too much for his strength ; but a brief period of
repose restored him, and he resumed his work with his wonted energy.
His ministry was characterized by several revivals. During 1734 and
1735, in fact, a wave of religious interest swept over all New England.
In Northampton its results were most beneficent. Edwards promoted
the prevailing interest in all safe ways. His preaching at this time, as

552 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
always, was eminently doctrinal, and is described as " of the most pun
gent, heart-searching, and often terrific character." The whole commu
nity wore a new aspect, presenting the appearance of a moral renovation.
In many places, however, where weaker minds were in control, extrav
agance and fanaticism prevailed. But as in the Reformation Luther,
who had fed the fires of reform, broke out of the Wartburg to check the
fanatics of Zwickau, so also Edwards, " terrific " at Northampton, be
came conservative among the radical revivalists abroad. He opposed
erratic movements with all his might. He talked, wrote, and preached
against them ; striving to guard against a spurious religion as earnestly
as he strove to promote that which was genuine. The permanent issue
of the controversy was his work on " The Religious Affections," which,
long after his day, was widely used as a standard test of piety.
For sixteen years, that is, until 1744, the ministry of Edwards was
eminently successful. During this period he gave a number of sermons
and treatises to the press, and began to be known and honored even
across the sea. But now a change came, which, whilst it
His fidvcrGitlfis drew a shadow over his life, made that life more useful
than ever. His fidelity to the truth was so great that he could bear
nothing which seemed to compromise it. He was prudent ; but his cour
age was equal to any emergency in which a selfish prudence would sug
gest taking counsel of fear. He discovered that immoral practices were
prevailing among some of the young people of his congregation. Before
he came to Northampton his grandfather Stoddard had " witnessed a far
more degenerate time among his people than ever before. The young
became addicted to habits of dissipation and licentiousness ; family gov
ernment too generally failed," etc. Great improvement took place under
the preaching of Edwards ; but when he saw the signs of a relapse to
ward old habits, he at once raised the alarm. He preached a most im
pressive sermon on the subject, and then, stating the facts which had
come to his knowledge, requested an investigation. His request was
complied with ; but the investigation implicated so many belonging to in
fluential families, and, justly or unjustly, cast suspicion upon so many
more, that the discipline proposed wholly broke down, and in its fall Ed
wards's influence among the young was greatly weakened. A few years
afterward, when a more serious difficulty arose, he was himself broken
down by the storm.
This difficulty, like the other, grew out of his fearless conscientious
ness. The church at Northampton had, during his grandfather's min
istry, adopted the practice known as that of the " Halfway Covenant."
This practice was then common in New England. To understand it we
must turn a- leaf of history. The Puritan colonies were distinguished,
from their earliest period, by a peculiar union of church and state. The
theory was not, as in England, that the state should rule the church, but

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN EDWARDS. 553
rather that the state should be the supporter of the church, and carry out
its principles by legislation. It was a modified theocracy. Hence every
citizen was required to contribute to the support of the church. Each
township inclosed a parish, and was incorporated with a view to con
venience in attending public worship and to the support of the ordi
nances of religion. A regular tax was imposed upon each resident of a
township for the support of its minister and for the other expenses of
the sanctuary, which was styled a " meeting-house," in true Puritan par
lance. It was, moreover, enacted by the colony of Massachusetts Bay,
in 1631, that "no man shall be admitted to the freedom of the body
politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the lim
its of the same." In other words, no one should hold civil office, or
vote at the ordinary elections, unless a church member. This provision
was later adopted by the Connecticut colonies, and throughout Massa
chusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. The result was an expedient by
which persons not considering themselves Christians, in the higher sense
of that term, might be counted as members of the church, and thus be
enfranchised. This expedient, adopted by a synod in Massachusetts
in 1662, was styled the Halfway Covenant. It was provided that all
baptized persons might publicly " own the covenant " without entering
into full communion, and thus be enrolled in the church, promising to
pass the other half way on their spiritual regeneration. This filled the
churches, but brought into them many persons of ungodly character.
The standard of piety became thereby gradually but surely depressed.
Stoddard had pressed the theory to a conclusion never designed by those
who framed it. In 1704 he openly avowed the opinion that those who
had taken the Halfway Covenant might be admitted to full communion ;
" that unconverted persons, considered as such, had a right, in the
sight of God, or by his appointment, to the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper ; that thereby it was their duty to come to that ordinance, though
they knew they had no true goodness or evangelical holiness."' This
principle, though at first opposed, was finally adopted in Northampton,
and by degrees spread through various parts of New England. Ed
wards, when first settled at Northampton, doubted the soundness of this
principle, but did not then feel prepared to oppose it. As time passed
on, his doubts increased, and finally settled into the conviction that the
principle was wholly wrong. It was not his . habit to conceal his con
victions when they were fully matured. In the spring of 1749, it be
came generally known in his parish that he was opposed to a practice
which, by its long continuance, had become dear to his parishioners. A
great excitement followed. His dismissal was loudly demanded. He
held his ground. He preached and published upon the subject. A mi
nority of the people were convinced that he was right. The cogency of
his arguments affected in his favor the minds of most spiritual Chris-

554 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
tians far and wide. But the local opposition was too strong for him. He
Displaced from was obliged to relinquish his pastorate. He preached a
Northampton, farewell sermon which for solemnity, pathos, and fidelity has
rarely been equaled. He retired with dignity to private life, occasion
ally preaching for his former people, when they had no other supply,
until even that became intolerable to the majority, and they formally
voted that he should not again be permitted to enter the pulpit. The
minority wished to form a new church and install him as pastor, but he
magnanimously declined to favor their plan. Without income, with a
large family, being then forty-six years of age, and considering a reset
tlement as pastor improbable, he cheerfully faced the future, looking up
ward. His friends rallied for his support. His wants became known in
Scotland, where he was already revered for his talents and piety. His
friends there sent him a liberal donation. Yet this did not save him
from hardship and privation. Joseph Cook, in one of his Boston lect
ures of 1877, thus spoke of him at this period : —
" I know where in Massachusetts I can put my hand on little irregu
lar scraps of brown paper, stitched together as note-books, and closely
covered all over with Jonathan Edwards's handwriting. Why did he use
such coarse material in his studies ? Why was he within sight of star
vation ? Because he had opposed the Halfway Covenant. Why did that
man need to accept from Scotland funds with which to maintain his fam
ily ? Because he opposed the Halfway Covenant. Why did his wife and
daughters make fans and sell them to buj1" bread ? Because he opposed
the Halfway Covenant ; because he defended with vigor, as Whitefield
did, the idea that a man should not be a minister unless converted, or a
church member unless converted, and so set himself against the whole
trend of this huge, turbid, hungry, haughty wave of secularization that
had been rising since 1631. Of course, he was abandoned by the fash
ionable. Of course, his life was in some sense a martyrdom. His note
books were made from the refuse of brown paper left from the fans.
There is nothing Massachusetts so little likes to be fanned with as those
fans Jonathan Edwards's wife and daughters made and sold for bread."
To him, looking upward, the future soon opened ; but not as man
would have chosen to have it open. No large church was ready to give
him a pulpit and a competent salary. But in 1751 a little congregation
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, invited Edwards to become its pastor.
At the same time a missionary society in London offered to appoint
him missionary to the Housatonie Indians, then residing at Stockbridge
and in its vicinity. The field to which he was called was literally in the
wilderness. There, as man would say, this mind of gigantic powers,
this heart of exalted sanctification, were to be buried. The grandest
theologian of New England was to spend his days in preaching to a
handful of settlers, and in expounding the gospel through an interpreter

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JONATHAN EDWARDS. 555
to an Indian tribe. Edwards did not hesitate. This was to him the call
of Providence. He obeyed ; and the world has long acknowledged that
this " exile " was, under Providence, for the flowering of his genius, and
for the consummation of that work which could have been done only in
the solitudes. Edwards was led into the wilderness that he might thence
send out his influences round the earth and down the centuries.
He remained in Stockbridge about six years. During those years he
composed his treatises upon " The Freedom of the Will,"
"The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin," "The End for His^tboota.
which God created the World," " The Nature of True Virtue," and " The
History of Redemption." These works were not compilations of other
men's thoughts ; they were original. He had but few books. The
room in which he wrote was a mere closet, opening out of one of the
apartments of his dwelling. At each end of the closet were a few nar
row shelves for his library. Between them was a window. Beside this
window was a desk, leaving room only for the chair on which the writer
sat. The house still stands, and visitors still resort to this closet and
wonder over what came out of it. Of his outer life in Stockbridge there
is little to record. Of his pastorate and his mission labors there is noth
ing to be written which might not have been written had he been but an
ordinary man. Possibly an ordinary man would have effected more as
merely pastor and missionary during these six years.
The great work of Edwards's life had already been accomplished when,
in 1757, he was elected president of the College of New Jersey at
Princeton. His predecessor was his own son-in-law, Aaron Burr, who
died two days before Commencement, in 1757. The trustees met on
Commencement day, and made choice of Edwards as his successor. His
reply to their communication was not favorable. With great modesty,
and with the simplicity of a boy, he gave his reasons for believing himself
unfitted for the office. He had an " unhappy constitution, attended with
flaccid solids, vapid, sizy, and scarce fluids, and a low tide of spirits."
He was often afflicted with a " childish weakness and contemptibleness
of speech, presence, and demeanor." He was dull and stiff in conversa
tion, and thought he could not, in his dyspeptic moods, govern a college.
His friends, however, thought otherwise. He yielded to their judgment,
was dismissed from his pastorate in January, 1758, and immediately re
moved to Princeton. Very soon after his inauguration, in consequence
of the prevalence of the small-pox, he adopted the protective measure
of the day, was inoculated with the disease, recovered from the first
effects of the inoculation, was then attacked by a secondary fever, and
died March 22d, having resided in Princeton about nine weeks. His
age was fifty-four years, five months, and seventeen days.
Notwithstanding his brief term of office, he has passed into history as
President Edwards, in distinction from his son Jonathan, who became

556 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
famous as a theologian, and bears the title of " Dr. Edwards " among
the students of theology.
Our limits will not permit us to describe in detail the great works of
Edwards on the President Edwards, the titles of which have been already
wm- given. The most important of these works is the treatise
on the Freedom of the Will. Its occasion was the pressure brought to
bear upon Calvinism in England, by such writers as Dr. Samuel Clark
and Dr. Whitby, who held that Calvinism logically denies human free
dom. This objection was considered so formidable in Great Britain
that to meet it some of the most 'spiritual of the Calvinists, such as Dr.
Isaac Watts and Dr. Philip Doddridge, felt themselves obliged to affirm
that the will is self-determined. President Edwards regarded this po
sition as fatal to the doctrine of divine sovereignty, since it limited God's
power ; and to the doctrine of grace in conversion, since it made con
version dependent on the will of man. Interpreters vary as to the
precise manner in which he met the difficulty. His radical principles
may be stated as these : The faculty of the will is that power of the
mind which renders it capable of choosing ; the choice of the will is inva
riably determined by " that motive which as it stands in the view of the
mind is the strongest," the connection between the greatest apparent
good and the act of the will being fixed. God foreknows and can pre
determine all human acts ; the will in choosing is free, — that is, the
mind in choosing has the physical ability or natural capacity to choose
otherwise ; its inability to choose in a holy manner is therefore moral
only. " The thing wanting is not a being able, but a being willing.''
Out of these principles is evolved the conclusion that man is perfectly
free and responsible, yet God is absolutely sovereign in his control.
Whatever may be said in criticism of this work for or against it, no one
denies that it moulded the thinking of many generations. President
Edwards was the founder of what has, ever since his day, been dis
tinguished as New England theology. His son, Dr. Edwards, and his
pupils, Bellamy and Hopkins, doubtless modified his system ; but they
professed to get the materials with which they wrought largely out of
his quarry. The estimate of him made by the profoundest thinkers
abroad is, if possible, higher than that of the thinkers of his native land.
Dugald Stewart spoke of him as equal " in logical acuteness and sub
tlety " to any writer of his day. It will be affirmed by none of his ad
mirers that he reached the utmost limits of human philosophy ; but if to
take hold of the greatest questions of philosophy with a master hand
and to hold them with the grasp of a giant, to draw with him along the
track of his inquiry the strongest minds of his time, and to color all
theology for a century is to win a title to greatness, that title belongs to
him.' Of his intercourse with such men as Whitefield and Brainerd, the
missionary, we have said nothing. To his influence in promoting and

Cent. XVIL-XIX.] SAMUEL HOPKINS. 557
directing the wonderful revivals of his day we have only alluded.
Hundreds of thousands have been assisted by him in the divine life.
His work on the Religious Affections is now less used as a test of piety
than it was a generation since. His theory of Original Sin is generally
abandoned by theologians ; indeed, it was never very widely adopted.
But he will long be regarded as in many respects first among the re
ligious thinkers of America. Very few have ever put so much into a
mortal life as did he ; very few have ever brought so much out of a
half century of mortal existence. Always feeble in body, his soul had
the wing and the eye of an eagle. We can only guess what it must be
now that it has more than the wing and the eye of an angel. — Z. M. H.

LIFE III. SAMUEL HOPKINS, OF NEWPORT.
A. D. 1721-A. D. 1803. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
It may justly be regarded as a characteristic fact, illustrating the all-
subduing and subsidizing power of Christianity, that wherever it is intel
ligently and heartily received it lays under contribution the entire nature
of its disciples ; not their intellect alone, nor their sensibilities alone, but
the whole force and potency of their being. The great Christian doctors
of past ages were not mere closet theologians, but laborious and enthusi
astic preachers, bold reformers, zealous philanthropists. The eminent
Christian fathers, the mediaeval divines, the modern scientific theologians,
have been, many of them, as distinguished for active benevolence as for
the successful prosecution of sacred lore ; making good in the sphere of
Christianity the old adage, Abeunt studia in mores.
The popular idea of a Christian polemic is a man of narrow mind and
perverted sensibilities, who sets the propagation of his dogma above all
human nterests, and is quite willing to burn men here and damn them
hereafter for presuming to dispute it. But a1 polemic, or Christian the
ologian, is usually a man of profound beliefs and intense loyalty to the
truth, whose enthusiasm is kindled by the conviction that the acceptance
of his dogma is essential to human happiness and welfare. He may be
blinded by mere love of disputation or eagerness for victory ; his zeal
may degenerate into dark fanaticism ; he may be led to employ most un
happy and mistaken methods ; his views themselves may be utterly des
titute of foundation in philosophy or in Scripture ; but in the great major
ity of cases they have been maintained under the persuasion that they
were intimately linked with glory to God in the highest, with peace on
earth, and with good-will to men. Many are the instances in which a life
of self-sacrificing benevolence has been the direct outgrowth of philosoph
ical or theological systems elaborated in the closet.

558 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Near the close of the fourteenth century, a gentlemaD resident in the
household of the king of the Balearic Islands, a gay and dissipated court
ier, was brought under the power of religious truth, and led to enter
on a life of earnest piety. Abandoning his career of pleasure, he de
voted himself to the service of God and humanity. The object on which
his heart became fixed was the conversion of the Mohammedans ; and he
set about preparing for this work in the most deliberate and judicious
manner. Wiser than many modern missionaries, he did not propose to
throw himself among a people to whose language and manners he was an
utter stranger, trusting to some vague and unpromised divine assistance
for success. He proceeded, in the first place, to make himself familiar
with the Arabic language and literature. He purchased in the Major-
can slave-market a Moorish captive, and adopted him as his teacher.
With him he read and studied the Koran until he had thoroughly mas
tered its contents. His next step was to prepare an elaborate refutation
of it; and then, satisfied that the Mollahs could teach him nothing con
cerning their own Scriptures that he did not already know, he began to
build up what he regarded as an absolutely irrefragable demonstration of
the truth of Christianity. This was the famous " Ars Generalis," by
which Raimund Lull flattered himself that he should overcome all the
possible resistance of unbelief ; and backing up his logic with his life, he
went single-handed, again and again, to the coast of Africa, preaching the
gospel to the Moors, till he was at length called to receive the crown of
martyrdom as the reward of his disinterested benevolence.
Not unlike Raimund Lull in his spirit of mystical devotion and prac
tical philanthropy was the humble yet illustrious American divine of
Hopkins's earfy whom we are now to speak. Samuel Hopkins was born at
life. Waterbury, Connecticut, September 17, 1721, of a Puri
tan family in which, from the first immigration, the Scriptural names
of Samuel, Stephen, Mark, etc., had been perpetuated. He graduated
at Yale College in 1741. Hopkins had been educated in a home of sim
ple piety, and imbued from the cradle with the principles of religion.
While in college he passed through that religious crisis common to a
large portion of those who have composed the evangelical ministry of
America, in which he became impressed with a sense of sinfulness, and
after a somewhat protracted period of struggle and doubt was brought
to the experience of a clear and solid hope in Christ. He devoted him
self to the ministry, and after graduating proceeded to Northampton,
where he was domesticated in the house of President Edwards, and en
joyed the instructions and friendship of that preeminent theologian. It
cannot be said, however, that his education, whether academical or the
ological, was of a high order. He passed only respectably through col
lege at a time when the standard of scholarship in Yale College was not
high, and his reading in theology was brief and interrupted. Of any

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] SAMUEL HOPKINS. 559
knowledge of rhetoric and elocution he was utterly destitute. He had a
great and brawny frame, a monotonous voice, a dull and ponderous manner.
With these qualifications he began his ministry in a little village of thirty
families, called afterwards Great Barrington, and at a salary of less than
one hundred and twenty dollars a year. Here he was ordained the 28th
of December, 1743.
In this humble parish Mr. Hopkins continued for a quarter of a cent
ury ; studying, preaching, elaborating his theology, even publishing tracts
and sermons, but making almost no impression on the community. In a
quarter of a century he received less than three persons a year to the
church. The state of morals in the place was bad, and became worse.
He had a wife and eight children, and his salary was no better than when
he began. It was agreed on all hands that it was wise for him to resign
his charge; and he was dismissed by a council in January, 1769.
This step proved happily introductory to his removal to the far more
important and promising field of Newport, Rhode Island, where he was
installed pastor of the First Congregational Church in April, 1770.
Newport was at the time a flourishing little city of about ten thousand
inhabitants, composed of Jews and Gentiles, politicians and people of
fashion, Quakers and slave-dealers. It had a large mercantile marine,
engaged chiefly in the African trade. Out of two hundred slave-ships
bringing their human cargoes to the American continent, Newport fitted
out more than a quarter ; the merchant princes of the city had made
their fortunes by this legalized man-stealing, and there was no respect
able family in the place but owned at the least one slave. Christians,
church officers, and ministers of the gospel were involved in the iniquity.
The reasons for the traffic found in the demand for labor, especially in
the Southern colonies, in the unceasing intertribal wars in Africa at
tended with the massacre of prisoners, in the missionary character of the
enterprise, since it brought the blacks within the influence of Chris
tianity, etc., reconciled the people of England and America in a body to
the slave-trade, notwithstanding its admitted cruelties in every stage of
the process. The most eminent Christian ministers held slaves, then and
long after, without one twinge of conscience, or a suspicion of its inconsist
ency with the law of God or the principles of the gospel. The subject of
this story, while residing at Great Barrington, had himself owned a slave ;
and his teacher in the faith, Jonathan Edwards, left one by will as a part
of his " quick " or live stock, at a valuation of one hundred dollars.
Up to the time of Mr. Hopkins's removal to Newport hardly any pub
lic or influential protest had been made in any quarter against the slave-
trade, and still less against the unrighteousness of slavery itself. The
Quakers had indeed long before lifted up a feeble note of remonstrance
against the former ; and Anthony Benezet in Philadelphia, and Granville
Sharp in England, had published tracts against it as early as 1769. In

560 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
1772 the latter secured, in the famous Somerset case, the memorable de
cision that " the moment a slave touches the sacred soil of Britain, that
moment he is free."
It is not claimed for Samuel Hopkins that he was the first to protest
His title to fame ^ *ne same °f humanity and religion against the traffic in
as a leader. human flesh. All honor to those kindly drab-coated enthu
siasts in England and in America who had already exerted themselves to
rouse the sentiment of Christendom against the inhuman business ! His
just praise is that with little or no knowledge of what had been or what
was being attempted by others, single-handed and alone, in the midst of
a community deeply involved in slavery and the slave-trade, he put every
thing at hazard, and stood forth as the champion of the oppressed and the
pioneer of African evangelization. A very brief sketch of his labors in
this direction is all our limits will allow. Slavery in the rural districts
of New England was a mild and harmless institution. Little or no dis
tinction of caste was known. The slave wrought by the side of his mas
ter in the field, ate with him at the same board, and worshiped and
communed with him in the same sanctuary. None of the cruel incidents
connected with that system of labor in the Southern colonies, such as the
slave-coffle, the driver, or the auction block, were ever known in New
England. It was in Newport that Hopkins first witnessed the traffic in
men reduced to a system. He saw the miserable remnants of the " mid
dle passage " disgorged from the fetid hold of the slaver, and the wild-
eyed barbarians distributed among their various purchasers. He knew
that ships fitted out by Christian men, by members of his own congrega
tion, were carrying thousands of such victims to the far worse bondage of
the rice and cotton plantations of the South. He lost no time in unbur
dening his conscience in the matter. It was in April, 1770, that he was
installed pastor at Newport. Before the close of the year he stood up
in his pulpit and, to the amazement of his hearers, denounced in unspar
ing terms the business of kidnaping, buying, or holding slaves. All the
circumstances taken into consideration, it was the most heroic protest
against this iniquity ever uttered. He ventured the loss of all things,
of friends, of living, of home ; but he reaped the reward of his fidelity.
The conscience of his hearers sided with the truth ; his congregation
stood by him, and he went deeper into the battle for humanity. He
corresponded with Granville Sharp and other friends of the slave at
home and abroad. He preached again and again on the subject. In
His antislavery 1776, he published his " Dialogue on the Slavery of the
hooka. Africans." Its entire title is, " A Dialogue concerning the
Slavery of the Africans, showing it to be the Duty and Interest of the
American Colonies to emancipate all the African Slaves ! Dedicated to
the Honorable Continental Congress."
The boldness, force, and thoroughness of this treatise, together with

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] SAMUEL HOPKINS. 561
its popular method, gave it great currency and influence. Nothing con
taining any material advance on the argument here presented has ever
been brought forward in the whole course of this controversy. Every
plea in favor of the system was anticipated and refuted : the pretense of
necessity and of humanity, the arguments from Scripture and expediency,
were all of them thoroughly exploded.
The colonists were just entering on their struggle with the mother
country for their rights and liberties as British subjects. Dr. Hopkins
exposed with great severity the monstrous inconsistency of rising up in
arms against British oppression, and continuing to hold thousands of our
fellow-men in a far more intolerable bondage. He predicted that the
frown of God must rest on such hypocrisy ; and when the cause of the
colonists continued to be signally prospered he was obliged to resort to
the explanation that it was due to God's blessing on the incipient meas
ures they had already taken for the abolition of the slave-trade.
Directly after the establishment of American independence, a manu
mission society was established in the city of New York, of which sev
eral eminent patriots were members, among them Alexander Hamilton
and John Jay ; they published a large edition (for the times) of this pam
phlet, and presented a copy to each member of Congress. Other emanci
pation societies were formed in different parts of the country ; and while
slavery strengthened itself in the Southern States, a strong sentiment be
gan to be formed throughout the North in favor of its early and entire
abrogation. But this was only a part of the work which Dr. Hopkins undertook in
behalf of the African race. His plans reached much beyond He pro:eots u.
the emancipation of the slaves in this country. If not in beria-
advance of all others, yet contemporaneously with the foremost, and
unprompted by any, he conceived the idea of extinguishing the slave-
trade in its source by evangelizing the African continent, — the same idea
that animated the labors of the heroic Livingstone in recent times. He
began by securing the freedom of two native Africans of hopeful piety
and promise, contributing for this object liberally from his own scanty
means. He provided also for their education. As early as 1773 he suc
ceeded in organizing a missionary and colonization society for the es
tablishment of Christianity in Africa. His scheme was to achieve the
freedom of as many blacks, especially native Africans, as possible, and
to plant them at some point on the slave coast, with competent white
men as their guides and helpers, until they should be sufficiently ad
vanced to take their affairs entirely into their own hands ; in short, it
was precisely the germ from which the American Colonization Society
was subsequently developed.
No great reform, any more than any great invention, is wrought out
at a blow. There is that general, unconscious sympathy of mind with

562 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
mind, even across broad tracts of sea or land; there is that common
and simultaneous advance of thought among enlightened nations that
leads many persons to be occupied, unknown to each other, at the same
time with the same problems. When at length brought into communica
tion each adds something to the other ; difficulties are got rid of ; condi
tions necessary to success are supplied ; the mass of material out of
which the perfect contrivance must be wrought is gradually accumu
lated. Then there is lacking only the providential crisis and the organ
izing mind to select and combine the proper elements, and the plan is
perfected. So it was that while Hopkins in Rhode Island was busy
elaborating his scheme for introducing Christian civilization into Africa,
Granville Sharp in England and Thornton in Virginia were working at
the same problem.
The English philanthropist, aided by larger pecuniary resources and
greater commercial facilities, was first in the field. The colony of Sierra
Leone was established in 1787. Dr. Hopkins organized his society in
1773, collected funds, and had his first native missionaries' in a course of
training ; but the country was poor and distracted with the convulsion
of the Revolutionary War. Of the two candidates for the African mission
who were sent to Princeton to be educated under Dr. Witherspoon, one,
Bristol Yamma, died ; the other, John Quamine, entering on board a
privateer, both from motives of patriotism and in the hope of securing
means to purchase the freedom of his wife, was slain in the first battle.
Dr. Hopkins further proved his faith by his works. In 1793 he pub
lished in two volumes his system of theology. For the Copyright of
this work, which had cost him ten years of labor, he received the sum of
nine hundred dollars ; he gave eight hundred of this on the instant in aid
•of the African mission, with other considerable sums at other times. But
it was not till he had been nearly twenty years in his grave that his be-
. nevolent scheme for the evangelization of Africa was successfully carried
¦ out. On the 4th of January, 1826, a colony of Christian blacks, — all
from Rhode Island, — led by two native Africans, Newport Gardner and
Salmar Nubia, who, under Dr. Hopkins's influence, had gained liberty
;and education, sailed for the Liberian colony.
The immediate impulse to the modern missionary work is also unques-
. tionably due to him. The father of Samuel J. Mills, the
; Leader in Amer- . . '
dean foreign first missionary sent by an American society to foreign
shores, was the friend and correspondent of the Newport
^reformer. Young Mills's attention was first of all directed to a mis-
: sion among the Africans ; and his earliest public employment after enter-
,ing the ministry was an agency for the American Colonization Society.
I close this sketch of Dr. Hopkins as a philanthropist with a single
anecdote, which, though often published, will bear repetition. Being
i once on a visit at the house of his distinguished theological friend, Dr.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] SAMUEL HOPKINS. 563
Bellamy, who then owned a slave, Hopkins pressed upon him the objec
tions against that relation. Bellamy defended the system with the usual
arguments. Hopkins refuted them, and then called on him to free his
slave at once. Bellamy replied that the slave was a most faithful and
judicious servant; that in the management of the farm he could be
trusted with everything, and was so happy in his servitude that he would
refuse his freedom were it offered him. il Will you consent to his libera
tion," inquired Hopkins, " if he really desires it ? " " Undoubtedly," re
plied Bellamy, " I will." The slave was then at work in the field.
" Call him," said Hopkins, " and let us try." The man came at the
summons. " Have you a good master ? " said Hopkins, addressing him.
What could the man answer but " yes " ? " Are you happy in your pres
ent condition ? " How could the slave deny that he was ? " Would you
be more happy if you were free ? " " Oh, yes, massa, me be much more
happy." " You have your wish," said Bellamy ; " from this moment
you are free."
This consistent and enthusiastic zeal for humanity in the subject of
the present sketch may be traced in him, as in other good men, to the in
fluence of his religious character. Loving God, he could not fail to love
his brother also ; and he recognized a brother in every suffering fellow-
being. But it may also be traced to the principles of his theology ; and
although we have, in this brief monograph, placed his philanthropy first
in order, it is as the author of a theological system that he is far best
known to the world. Multitudes who have not heard, unless, perhaps, in
some page of fiction, that Dr. Hopkins was ever brought into contact
with slavery have heard that he was the author of a theological system
which taught that " men ought to be willing to be damned for the glory
of God."
It is necessary, therefore, to expound in a few words the principles of
his theology. He was a Calvinist, and, as he believed, Hopkmsian the-
one of the few consistent and unflinching disciples of that ol°8y-
school. He held that all sin consists in selfishness, and all virtue in dis
interested benevolence. Disinterested benevolence teaches us to love the
whole more than a part, to love the aggregate of being more than an
individual, even though that individual be ourself ; and since God in his
infinitude exceeds the whole mass of created being, whatever may tend
to the glory of God is to be sought, no matter what results it may in
volve to rational or irrational creatures. The happiness of the greatest
sum is to be desired by every virtuous being ; and since the sum of hap
piness in God is greater than in all that is not God, if it were for God's
happiness or glory that the entire human race should perish in hell for
ever, this ought to be joyfully acquiesced in by every loyal subject of
God's government.
The happiness of any individual is, according to this doctrine, a matter

564 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
relatively of very little consequence. ' A race, a nation, a state, even a
family, may have claims greatly transcending those of any one person ;
and for a single man to set his own happiness against the happiness of a
greater mass of being would be of the essence of selfishness. Self-sac
rifice, therefore, for the good of others is essentially virtuous. It was
under the impulse of this principle that Dr. Hopkins stood forth at New
port alone, in the presence of a slave-holding and slave-trading com
munity, and ventured the loss of every worldly interest to plead the cause
of the friendless and oppressed. He was merely making his own welfare
subordinate to that of a greater sum of being.
In no conscious inconsistency with this principle, Dr. Hopkins held an
other which might well have tended to chill his philanthropy by recon
ciling him to the existence of any and every form of evil. He held that
this is the best possible among all supposable worlds, and has been or
dained as such by the benevolence of God. Sin, though in itself an evil,
is, relative to the entire system of the universe, good, — better than virtue
would be in its place. God chose it and ordained it, because'1 He saw that
by means of sin He could produce a higher degree of happiness to being
in general. The existence, therefore, of sin, with all that it involves of
suffering here and of retribution hereafter, is on the whole well pleasing
to God. There is then no absolute evil in the universe. Evil, as taught
by Mr. Emerson, is " only good in the making ; " an epigrammatic dic
tum which precisely expresses the spirit of Hopkins's theology on this
point ; or as earlier set forth by Alexander Pope,
" All discord 's harmony not understood, all partial evil universal good."
This tender-hearted, benevolent man had schooled his intellect to the
conclusion that the infinite torment of untold millions in hell was to be
rejoiced in, as a necessary means to the happiness of " being in general."
Dr. Hopkins taught the doctrine of the absolute, unconditional decrees
of God in its most rigid form, and carried it out to its last results with
remorseless logic. The sins of all men, with all their circumstances, are
expressly decreed by God as better and more pleasing to Him than vir
tue in their place ; and yet men are absolutely free in sinning, and will
be eternally punished for the very sins God so decreed. Dr. Hopkins
was a rigid Calvinist, but regarded himself, together with Edwards, Bel
lamy, and a few others, as a reformer and improver of the Calvinistic
theology. Holding the doctrine of total depravity, he denied the impu
tation of Adam's sin to his posterity. Teaching the election and salva
tion of only a select portion of the human race, he denied the dogma of
a limited atonement. Maintaining that the unregenerate ought to use
the means of grace in order to their conversion, he yet held that their
using these means while unconverted is an aggravation of their guilt, and
peculiarly hateful to God. He taught that every child of Adam is born

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 565
loaded with the guilt of damning sin, and yet that all sin consists in vol
untary rebellion against God. Those modifications of the Calvinistic sys
tem which were introduced by Edwards, and elaborated by the Newport
divine, are known by the name of " Hopkinsianism."
Dr. Hopkins died at Newport December 20, 1803, in the eighty-fourth
year of his age. He was an indefatigable student, writer, and preacher
to the last. Samuel Hopkins deserves to be held in lasting memory as
a profound thinker, a great theological writer, a generous and self-sacri
ficing friend of mankind. — S. H.

LIFE TV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE.
A. D. ?-A. D. 1708. PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
To be the right man in the right place was the happy lot of Francis
Makemie. He was needed by the Presbyterian families who had been
settling in the American colonies during forty years. They were widely
scattered through the provinces from Boston Bay to the Savannah River.
They had their well-read Bibles, and their oft-sung psalms ; their elders
holding fast to the Westminster Confession of Faith ; their healthful
children, whose souls were girded with the catechism, and their morning
and evening worship at home. But they were long without a ministry
and a church.
In 1636, the Eagle Wing sailed from a harbor near Belfast, having
on board about one hundred and forty Presbyterians. Their leaders
were a band of Scots who had preached a few years in Ireland, been
persecuted, and some of them deposed by a bishop for non-conformity.
Two of them were the famous Robert Blair and John Livingstone, so
eminent in the great revivals of their day. These pilgrims had built the
little ship, thinking of Him who said to the Hebrews, " I bare you on
eagles' wings." They now looked to New England for a refuge and
field of labor. But the mid-sea storms drove them back. In Latin
verses a bishop derided the return of " the Puritanical Argos without
the golden fleece." These ministers recovered courage, privately taught
in Irish neighborhoods, or openly preached in Scottish pulpits, and thus
helped to rear a church which would send many of her sons hither as
the founders of Presbyterianism in America. One of these was young
Makemie, evidently a " Scotch-Irishman," born (we know not when) at
Rathmelton in Donegal. A devout school-master led him to a personal
belief in Christ. While a student at a university in Scotland, he must
have listened often for the news from the battle-fields of faith. In 1669
he must have felt an interest in the organization of the presbyteries in
Ireland. But there was no peace yet granted anywhere in Western Eu-

566 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
rope to men who thought as he did. It was the critical age of Presby
terianism. Its spirit of liberty was offensive to tyrants. Under the later
Stuarts and Louis the Fourteenth were Covenanters and Huguenots
who scarcely found a door of escape. Ship-loads of them were landed
in America, where they were sold into servitude for a few years to pay
for their passage. A few noblemen sent over freer bands. They built
their cabins in the forests. There were small communities, but no
strong colony of Presbyterians in this country. About 1680 one little
flock, near Norfolk, Virginia, had its pastor, who was soon in his grave.
A few ministers came and went, or died in lonely settlements. The
efficient organizer had not yet come.
In 1680 the Irish presbytery of Laggan heard a renewed voice from
America. It received a letter from Judge William Stevens, a member
of Lord Baltimore's council, entreating that ministers be sent to Mary
land and Virginia. The next year it licensed Francis Makemie, and
probably ordained him soon afterwards as an evangelist for the distant
Reaches Amer- colonies. He preached for a time in Barbadoes. About
ica, 1684. 1684 he began his labors on the continent. In the south
east corner of Maryland there were three or four " meeting-houses," and
in the one at Snow Hill he organized a church. The brogue of his kin
dred was there. An elder and merchant, Adam Spence, had probably
signed the Solemn League and Covenant in Scotland, and a descendant of
his, reciting the traditions of a hundred and thirty years, thus writes of
Makemie : " One generation has uttered his praises in the ears of its
successor, and you may even yet hear their echo. Parents made his sur
name the Christian name of their children, until in the neighborhood of
Snow Hill it has become a common one." This hill was his base of mis
sionary operations.
Maryland was remarkably tolerant so long as Lord Baltimore gov
erned it. Makemie was free to go wherever he might find the dispersed
Presbyterians and organize churches. For six years he seems to have
had no fixed home. He resided chiefly on horseback, in the cabins
where he lodged, and in rude pulpits. Among his hearers at Rehoboth
must have been Judge Stevens, whose letter had brought him into the
far West. Meanwhile he had ventured down the peninsula into Vir
ginia, whose laws and rulers were far from tolerant. Lord Berkeley was
usually severe upon all dissenters from the established church of Eng
land. He admitted the pressing need of a clergy, sound, earnest, and
pure, but he did not favor public schools, nor the press. Makemie
found " a poor, desolate people," and comforted them. Beverly wrote
thus : " 'T is observed that those counties where the Presbyterians are
produce very mean tobacco, and for that reason can't get an orthodox
[Episcopal] minister to stay amongst them." Better tobacco elsewhere
brought larger salaries. But there was a soil for spiritual harvests, and
the unselfish Makemie sowed and reaped.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 567
There were restraints upon his liberty of preaching. Relief came
from two sources. One was his marriage with Naomi Anderson, who
brought him a share in her father's wealth and extensive lands. He
seems to have resided thenceforth at Accomac, Virginia. He had other
dwellings, and had store-houses in which he preached. Of salaries to
him we hear nothing. He was now a prosperous ship-merchant support
ing himself as a missionary. He prepared and published a catechism,
which led to a controversy with the erratic George Keith. His other
source of relief was the Toleration Act (1 689) of King William Third, the
eminent champion of religious liberty. But it was ignored Labors for retig-
in Virginia for ten years. If Makemie caused its recogni- ious lil)ei'ty-
tion, his noble service deserves high praise. The tradition is that he
was arraigned for preaching, and that his powerful defense before the
governor prompted the legislature to enter the act as a law of the prov
ince. He obtained his license as a dissenter, and two of his dwelling-
houses were registered as the places of " his constant and ordinary
preaching." He was gathering more flocks than he could feed. Failing to secure
help from Boston he went to England in 1704, and there published "A
Plain and Loving Persuasion to the Inhabitants of Virginia and Mary
land," in behalf of a higher civilization. It was full of good sense. He
notes as " an unaccountable humour and singular to most rationals, that
in those provinces no attempt was made to build up towns." He urges
that towns would benefit lands and trade, give employment to the poor,
and be of great advantage to religion, education, and the general wel
fare : they would not promote drunkenness, for " if there were towns,
there would be stocks, and sots would be placed in them." A London
society granted him funds to support two missionaries, but Ireland fur
nished the men. In 1705 John Hampton and George Macnish began
their work in Maryland.
Philadelphia had become a new centre of Presbyterianism. In 1698
Jedediah Andrews, a native of Massachusetts, had there collected the
elements of a church. He went on preaching tours in Pennsylvania and
New Jersey. He and Makemie were kindred spirits. They knew how
to advance the cause they loved. They saw the need of further organ
ization in a presbytery. They wisely chose the place. In 1705 Talbot,
an Episcopal clergyman, wrote, " There is a new meeting-house built for
Andrews, and almost finished, which I am afraid will draw away great
part of the church, if there be not the greatest care taken of it." We
infer that the first presbytery in America met in that house. The first
leaf of the records is lost, but the second page shows that the presbytery
was sitting in October, 1706, with Makemie as moderator. In it were
eight ministers, and the elders of a larger number of churches.
In 1707 Makemie and Hampton were in the city of New York, where

568 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Lord Cornbury had no respect for the Act of Toleration. He forbade the
use of the Dutch church to Makemie, whose friends secured him a private
house. There he preached "in as public a manner as possible, with
open doors." Hampton was granted a church by the people of New
town, on Long Island. They were arrested. In the presence of Lord
Cornbury, Makemie argued that the Toleration Act extended to all the
colonies, and that the license taken in Virginia was good in New York.
The answer was, "You are strolling preachers; you shall not spread
your pernicious doctrines here." " As to our doctrines," said Makemie,
with admirable dignity, " we have our confession of faith, which is known
to the Christian world ; and I challenge all the clergy of York to show
us any false or pernicious doctrines therein. We are able to prove
that its doctrinal articles agree with those of the Church of England."
But all argument was in vain. The accused were sent to jail. After
in prison in New a lonS trial theJ were acquitted by a jury, four of whom
York city. were Huguenots. But Makemie was not released until he
paid the costs, amounting to eighty-three pounds ! This injustice was
soon denounced by the legislature. Makemie preached in the French
church, and narrowly escaped arrest in New Jersey. At Boston he pub
lished the sermon which had caused his imprisonment. One of the texts
was, " We ought to obey God rather than men." The Latin motto
meant that " Prayers and tears are the weapons of the church." Corn
bury described him as a man of all trades. " He is a preacher, a doc
tor of physic, a merchant, an attorney, a counsellor-at-law, and, which is
worst of all, a disturber of governments." The truth is, Makemie had
genius and versatility of talent. In his valuable library there were many
works on law, and by his study of them he contributed no little to re
ligious freedom.
He died in 1708 at his own home. After the death of his two daugh
ters he was without a descendant on earth. Much of his property' went
to churches which he had nurtured, and to the relief of the poor. The
cause for which he had zealously labored was not widely extended in
Virginia until the spirit of toleration grew stronger, new emigrants
settled in the valleys, and the work of Samuel Blair (1740), and that
" prince of preachers," Samuel Davies, was blessed with a wondrous re
vival. We cannot record any marked successes in the Carolinas, which
he visited. But in that peninsula where he was most at home, we still
Makemie's title nnd " Makemie's churches." They are his eulogy. If he
to fame. na(j traveled up the Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna
River to Harrisburg, thence to New York, and thence along the coast
back to his house, he would have measured the triangle in which Presby
terianism was then flourishing. Within those limits the pioneer was soon
followed by the educator and the theologian, for whom he had prepared
the way with his zeal, diligence, wisdom, piety, and generous spirit.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN DICKINSON. 569
Without, sectarianism he loved his church. Dr. Sprague says, " His
grand distinction is, that he was undoubtedly the first regular and thor
ough Presbyterian minister in this country ; and he may justly be re
garded as the father of the (American) Presbyterian Church." — W. M B.

LIFE V. JONATHAN DICKINSON.
A. D. 1688-A. D. 1747. PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
The year in which Makemie ceased from his labors there came into
New Jersey a young man who fairly represents the New England ele
ment, the positive theology, the vigorous intellect, the independent
thought, and the educational forces in the early Presbyterianism of
America. He was Jonathan Dickinson, born in 1688, in Hatfield, Mas
sachusetts, and reared in the traditions of his Puritan ancestors. At the
age of eighteen he received the diploma of Yale College. He studied
theology, and in 1708 went to Elizabeth, New Jersey, with a license to
preach. There he married Joanna Melyen, and reared a large family.
There he taught young men, sometimes practiced medicine, and ceased
not to labor as a preacher and pastor until he died in the sixtieth year of
his age.
He began his ministry as a Congregationalist, ordained in Connecticut,
and favorable to the doctrine and polity of the Westminster Confession.
He had charge of six churches in and near Elizabeth. They seem to
have been independent in government. Nearly all the early churches
of northern New Jersey and Long Island, except the Dutch, were colo
nies from New England. Dickinson was soon well known A New -Ea
among them and their pastors. Most of them went with lander-
him into the Presbyterian Church. Thus were Scots, Irish, and Puritans
harmoniously joined in brotherhood.
Ten years of growth had so enlarged the original presbytery that it
was divided into four, and in 1716 a higher organization was effected
under the name of the Synod of Philadelphia. " It was the opening
germ of one of the goodliest growths of Christendom. Its branches,
high and strong, reach now from ocean to ocean, scattering more and
more the seeds of piety, learning, freedom, and social order." In 1717
Dickinson united with the presbytery of Philadelphia. He was subse
quently included in the presbytery of New York, and no man did more
to unify its various elements. In the synod he was a leader, highly
esteemed for his manliness, spirituality, powerful mind, uncommon wis
dom, and calm judgment. He was firm in his beliefs and convictions,
yet forbearing amid differences of opinion. His pen was sometimes in
controversy, his heart was always full of charity, and he seemed the

570 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
model of a Christian gentleman. In him were combined strong thought,
warm devotion, and strict integrity. If the wicked trembled in his pres
ence, it was because they respected his apostolic character and bearing.
His varied talents met the needs of his place and time. His successes
refuted the notion that a man of versatile powers and many employ
ments cannot be efficient. He maintained honorably and quite contem
poraneously the several characters of a profound theologian, a mighty
preacher, a diligent pastor, an active and wise churchman, the warm ad
vocate of missions and revivals, an eminent educator, and an earnest
peace-maker. The synod had its controversies. It saw the need of a constitution
to preserve the unity of the church, of which it was the highest court.
For this purpose the members generally were willing to adopt the West
minster standards, except the articles which related to the civil power.
But the question rose, whether the synod should require a personal adop
tion of the Confession of Faith. Many were unwilling to subscribe to
the very words of every doctrinal article. Dickinson led the opposition,
but went to an extreme. He yielded to none in his thorough Calvinism ;
he zealously advocated the doctrines of the confession ; yet he opposed all
creeds drawn up by uninspired men, lest they should become a substi
tute for the Word of God. He thought that a general acknowledgment
of a doctrinal system was a sufficient bond of union ; that the church had
her true defense against laxity and error in other means ; that she should
carefully examine candidates for the ministry in Scripture truth and
piety, revive the ancient discipline, and diligently set forth the pure gos
pel ; and that subscription would cause disunion. On this path he had
few followers then, and he has none now, in the church tliat he loved.
But his conciliatory spirit was manifest five months later, in 1729, when
he served on the committee which reported the Adopting Act. It was
harmoniously passed. It disclaimed all " authority of imposing our faith
upon other men's. consciences." It required every candidate and every
mmister to declare " his agreement in opinion with all the essential and
necessary articles of said confession." It provided for the honest scru
ples and the mistakes which did not pertain to articles " essential and
necessary in doctrine, worship, or government." Thus the constitution
was adopted, and Dickinson cordially adhered to it.
He was not the man to cherish lax views upon any important subject.
He had no sympathy with " the latitude-men " of England and Ireland,
who held positions in the Presbyterian Church and drew their salaries,
while they rejected her essential principles and met in coffee-houses to
talk flippantly against all tests of personal faith and piety. The same
mental disorder, in the guise of moderatism, was entering the church of
Scotland. It took the vitality from Christian faith, regeneration and
holy living. Personal religion melted away under its breath. The

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN DICKINSON. 571
epidemic threatened America. Dickinson was one of the most earnest
men in resisting it. While pleading for the " Reasonableness of Chris
tianity," in a timely volume, and for the right use of human reason in the
study of divine revelation, he was strongly averse to rationalism. He
would not divorce liberality from truth, for in holy truth genuine charity
has her greatest power and highest joy.
In his scientific mind he carried a definite system of theology and
church polity. He believed them to be thoroughly Script- Dickinson's
ural. He defended them in published sermons, pamphlets, "piT6 Pom's-"
and small volumes, whose terse style and compact arguments adapted
them to popular use. The best of them were republished in Edinburgh,
Scotland, where Dr. John Erskine said that the British Isles had pro
duced no writers on divinity, in the eighteenth century, equal to Dick
inson and Jonathan Edwards. The little book, often reprinted, with the
title of " Dickinson on the Five Points of Calvinism," is but one of sev
eral treatises on the subjects involved in that system of theology.
The ministers of that time did not forget the heathen at home. Since
the days of John Eliot the gospel had won triumphs among the red men
of the forests. In New England there were more than thirty Indian
churches. Why not labor for the conversion and civilization of the
Indians between the Hudson and the Delaware rivers ? The tribes
were friendly. Dickinson was one of three Presbyterian ministers
who wrote in their behalf to the society in Scotland for propagating the
gospel in foreign lands. The reply authorized them to employ mission
aries. But where find the men ? David Brainerd had been a shining
light among his fellow-students at Yale College, during the great revival
of 1741, and had lamented the coldness of certain teachers. For saying
privately of a tutor, " He has no more grace than this chair," he was
required to do more than freely admit the fault and promise to refrain
from improper censures. He must make public confession of a private
remark. This he refused to do, and he was expelled. The pleas of the
Hartford ministers could not secure his restoration, but they directed his
studies in theology and were active in his licensure to preach the gospel.
In November, 1742, he was engaged for the work among the Indians.
During his remaining five years of earthly life he labored among them
as an apostle, often seeking rest and health in the house of Dickinson.
His toils, travels, endurances, successes, and journal of spiritual experi
ences form one of the brightest chapters in missionary enterprise. His
biography by Jonathan Edwards, to whose daughter he was betrothed,
was read in the British Isles, and it contributed greatly to the Christ-like
spirit which ushered in the grand era of Protestant missions throughout
the world.
Three schools added powerfully to the extension and vigor of early
Presbyterianism in this country. In his academy at New London, Ches-

572 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
ter County, Pennsylvania, the accomplished scholar, Dr. Francis Alison,
won high distinction as an educator. In the wilds of Neshaminy, about
twenty miles north of Philadelphia, William Tennent built " that eagle's
nest, the Log College." Out of it went those two famous Samuels,
Blair and Finley, to establish other schools ; and those ardent preachers,
the younger " Tennents, four worthies of immortal fame,
Brothers in office, birth, and heart, and name."
At Elizabeth was Dickinson, instructing young men in the classics, nat-
The father of ura^ sciences, and theology. The expulsion of David Brai-
Prineeton. ner(j from Yale caused a general indignation, which was
favorable to his enterprise. The Rev. Aaron Burr and other Presbyte
rian ministers felt convinced that they must have a college for their own
denomination. In 1746 a charter was obtained for " Nassau Hall," the
original of the College of New Jersey. It was Dickinson's school, en
dowed with new privileges. He was its first president. He lived but
one year longer to impress his character upon it. Then it wandered,
like Israel's ark, until it rested permanently at Princeton. To be the
founder of such an institution, with its national glory, is an enduring
honor. The great revival which moved the whole realm of Protestantism was
an unspeakable blessing to the American colonies. It brought out the
vitality of religion. It gave fresh life to all churches. To them it added
thousands of converts. It gave evangelical Christianity the force of a
common law. It prepared the people for the Christian independence in
which they afterwards asserted and won their free nationality. But
with the good results there were some evils. A strife arose concerning
means and methods. Whitefield and the Tennents employed a few meas
ures which history has not justified. The eminence of Jonathan Ed
wards in promoting the revival gave him a public right to protest against
undue excitements. He sent forth his book on the " Religious Affec
tions " to correct those emotional fervors which came not from the Spirit
of God. Thus a controversy ran through the whole land. It was not
limited to any one body of Christians. Certain ministers preached
against the revival ; others replied with burning censures upon Meroz
and all who came not up, in their way, to the work of the Lord. Thus
fell the hot rebukes of Gilbert Tennent in his famous Nottingham ser
mon. Dickinson kept his soul in patience and moderation. He agreed with
Edwards, and also gave welcome to Whitefield, for both were " laborers
together with God." It pained him to see two parties in the synod, di
vided upon questions which calmer times would settle. They differed
mainly in regard to revival measures, the classical education and examina
tion of candidates for the gospel ministry, the right of one minister to

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JONATHAN DICKINSON. 573
preach uninvited in the parish of another, and the constitutional author
ity of the synod. The new side, or the New Brunswick men, among
whom were the Tennents, asserted too extremely their freedom. The old
side, in which were Andrews and Alison, was charged with an anti-re
vival spirit. The New York presbytery took conciliatory A ]eadcr ol
ground ; in it Dickinson stood as a peace-maker. But di- union-
vision seemed inevitable. In 1741 the new side withdrew from the
synod. Dickinson still labored earnestly to restore harmony. He and
his presbytery remained in the synod of Philadelphia until 1745, when
they withdrew in a fraternal spirit, joined the new side, and with them
formed the synod of New York on the basis of the Adopting Act. They
were certainly true Presbyterians. The extreme leaders of the new side
virtually admitted some of their previous mistakes. Their zeal became
purified, their charity expanded, their extreme views modified, and they
were as earnest as Dickinson for a thorough education of ministers.
When the venerable founder of the Log College was in his grave (Will
iam Tennent died in 1746), they brought its spiritual coals to glow afresh
on the new hearthstone of Nassau Hall.
During the seventeen years of separation the old synod declined from
twenty-six ministers to twenty-two ; the new synod increased from about
twenty to seventy ministers. But the proper spirit was not rivalry : it
was reunion. For this Dickinson was earnest so long as he lived. No
one had more friends in both bodies. No one did more to loosen the
bonds of past controversies, and fix the minds of men upon the vital
principles of Presbyterianism. Each side discovered the merits of the
other to be far greater than its mistakes. Gilbert Tennent preached no
more censorious and fiery Nottingham sermons. Robert Cross no longer
was regarded as unfriendly to revivals. The two men had parted as
battling cavaliers in the disunion : they came to be neighbors when Ten
nent was a pastor in the city of brotherly love. " Its civilization capt
ured and tamed the lion." When the old synod sent Dr. Alison and
others to herd the scattered flocks in Virginia and North Carolina, they
were urged to promote peace and unity, to avoid all party spirit, " and
to treat every minister of the gospel from the presbytery of New York,
of the like principles and peaceful temper, in a brotherly manner ; as we
desire to promote true religion, and not party designs." Thus time,
grace, good sense, and work in new fields were effecting wonders. Con
troversies about measures must die ; it is the greater truth that lives.
Both synods were moving towards the path of reunion which Dickin
son was earnest to make straight, when he was called to the eternal
home (upon the 7th of October, 1747). Nearly half of the ministers
of 1741 were in heaven ; others were near its gate. In 1755 the old
side proposed that the two bodies should unite "as though they had never
been concerned with one another before, nor had any differences ; which

574 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
is the truth as to a great part of both synods." And thus they did unite
in 1758, in Gilbert Tennent's church, and with him as moderator, joining
their two names in one, and combining their forces to advance the king
dom of Christ. One of the last acts of these fathers in this joyful ses
sion was the appointment of a day when all the churches of the reunited
synod should pray for God's blessing on the armies which were to decide
whether their land was to be an English or a French domain. It was
decided the next year by the British conquest of the Canadas. Men
have thought that a divine Providence then assigned to Protestantism
and to Christian liberty the best part of the New World. Men now
think that if it shall be thus retained, there must be more union in heart
and effort among all the Christians who value freedom, law, literature,
the public schools, and the Protestant churches. — W. M. B.

LIFE VI. JOHN WITHERSPOON.
A. D. 1722-A. D. 1794. PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
This star was shining in a distant sky when first seen by an Amer
ican. That prince of preachers, Samuel Davies, was appealing to the
British churches in behalf of the college at Princeton, New Jersey. He
was seeking golden sovereigns and not a president. In 1754, when rest
ing at a Scottish town, he made this entry in his journal : " The nobility
and gentry, who are lay-elders, are generally high-flyers ; and have en
croached upon the rights of the people, especially as to the choice of
their own ministers  There is a piece published under the title of
the Ecclesiastical Characteristics, ascribed to one Mr. Weatherspoon, a
young minister. It is a burlesque upon the high-flyers under the name of
moderate men; and I think the humour is nothing inferior to Dean Swift."
In 1759, Davies, whose eleven years of brilliant successes began the
flourishing era of Presbyterianism in Virginia, removed to Princeton as
the fourth president of the college. He lived to preside over it but six
months. The chair was ably filled by Dr. Samuel Finley until his
death in 1766, when the trustees looked to Old Scotia for a successor.
John Witherspoon was born in 1722, at Yester, about fourteen miles
Descended from eas*- °^ Edinburgh. His father was an accurate scholar and
John Knox. influential pastor. His mother traced her lineage, through
an unbroken succession of ministers, to John Knox. She had much of
his spirit, firmness of opinion, and love of fatherland. She takes rank
with the devoted mothers of Timothy, Augustine, Anselm, and the Wes
ley s. It was largely through her faithfulness that her son John, proba
bly the youngest child, became a steadfast Christian in his youth. In
the public school of Haddington, he evinced a powerful grasp of mind.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WITHERSPOON. 575
At the age of fourteen he entered the University of Edinburgh, and in
his twenty-first year he was licensed to preach the gospel. There he
was the associate of William Robertson, the later historian and leader
of moderatism ; also of John Erskine, the later theologian who heard
speeches in the general assembly of 1796 against foreign missions, and
rose indignantly, saying, " Moderator, rax [reach] me that Bible," and
then proved that the gospel was intended to be sent to all nations.
With an independence of thought and action he declined to be the
assistant of his honored father, and away in the west of Scotland he set
tled in the large parish of Beith. He married Elizabeth Montgomery,
of Ayrshire. In a time of great excitement he went to Falkirk to see
the battle there, in 1746, when the young pretender, Charles Stuart, won
a victory over the royal army, and hoped to gain the British throne,
which his grandfather, James Second, had lost by an unpatriotic devo
tion to Rome. The young pastor was captured by the rebels and held
in prison for two weeks. He must have remembered what his ancestors,
such as John Welsh and his brave wife (the daughter of Knox), had en
dured from the Stuarts. When released he duly appreciated the civil
and religious liberties established by William Third, maintained by his
royal successors, and still guaranteed by the utter defeat of the rebels.
But he saw another danger to religious liberty. In its rankness it
was growing into an extreme liberality of doctrine. It was reducing
personal faith to mere opinion. Too many pastors, and even professors
of divinity, were not pronounced in their views ; they glossed their laxity
with the name of moderation. They were moderate in their theology,
their preaching, their piety, and their efforts to check the skepticism of
David Plume. Pleas for orthodoxy were ridiculed. To meet all this
Witherspoon published anonymously, in 1753, the " Ecclesiastical Char
acteristics, or the Arcana of Church Polity." It made a At tnirty.one
great sensation. It was uniyersally popular. In ten years stira Scotland.
it reached a fifth edition. Men were as eager to find out the name of this
Pascal of the north, as more admiring Scots of the next century were to
identify the author of Waverley.
While suspicion was still clutching at him he was invited in 1757 to a
church in Paisley. But the presbytery objected to his settlement, al
though his recent essay on justification gave him high rank as a practical
theologian. The people brought their complaint to the synod. He sup
ported them. Without denying or admitting the authorship of the scath
ing and irrepressible book, he employed his fine humor in showing that
the writer of it was doing good service to truth and moral honesty, and
his masterly speech forced his opposers either to confess their laxity, or
avow their soundness in doctrine. They yielded, placed the call in his
hands, and installed him at Paisley. The next year he was chosen mod
erator of the synod. In due time he put forth his " Serious Apology "

576 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
for the offensive book, avowing the authorship and still defending it.
Assailing the evils of his age, he raised another commotion. When the
" Tragedy of Douglas," written by Rev. John Home, was filling the Ed
inburgh theatre, he sent forth his exposure of the " Nature and Effects
of the Stage." One result was that the clerical tragedian retired from
the ministry and devoted himself to literature.
In his fidelity to the pastoral office Witherspoon laid bare a reported
evil in his own parish. Certain young men of the socially higher ranks,
thinking that infidelity was the newest fashion, imitated the London
clubs. On the night preceding an administration of the Lord's Supper
in the church, they met and turned their festivity into a profane travesty
of that sacred ordinance. A rumor of it soon spread through the town.
The people talked with abhorrence of " the mock sacrament." Perhaps
the reports made to Witherspoon were too highly colored. Laudably
zealous for good order, moral decency, and the honor of the Redeemer,
and sufficiently prudent to wait a fortnight, he preached a sermon on
" Sinners sitting in the Seat of the Scornful." The pointed allusions
were clearly understood. His discourse went out from the printer's
hand in an Address to the Public, and with the names of the young men
accused. They prosecuted him and won the case, subjecting him to a
fine and to expenses which greatly embarrassed him until he was relieved
by generous friends. Aiming to act rightly he had incautiously stepped
into a costly school wherein he was taught a lesson against rashness.
There were in him practical abilities, scholarship, fortitude, and in
creasing greatness of soul which all thoughtful and magnanimous minds
recognized. The University of Aberdeen in 1764 conferred on him the
degree of doctor of divinity. Among his publications of that year was
his celebrated Treatise on Regeneration. It broadened his reputation.
He soon had calls from a church in Dundee, and two foreign churches
in Dublin and in Rotterdam. He declined them all.
Scarcely were his parishioners assured of retaining him, when a voice
chosen hy across the ocean reached his ear. The College of New
Princeton. Jersey had elected him to fill the chair made vacant by
the death of Dr. Finley. The patriotic Richard Stockton, Esq., of
Princeton, who was then in London, visited him and thus wrote in
March, 1767 : " It is a matter absolutely certain, that if I had not gone
in person to Scotland, Dr. Witherspoon would not have had a serious
thought of accepting the office, because neither he, nor any of his
friends with whom he would have consulted, had any tolerable idea of
the place to which he was invited, had no adequate notions of the im
portance of the College of New Jersey, and, more than all, would have
been entirely discouraged of thinking of an acceptance, by an artful,
plausible, yet wickedly contrived letter sent from Philadelphia to a gen
tleman of Edinburgh  I certainly have succeeded in removing all

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WITHERSPOON. 577
the objections which have originated in his own mind. Those of Mrs.
Witherspoon I could not remove, because she would not give me an op
portunity of conversing with her, although I went from Edinburgh to
Paisley, fifty miles, on purpose." Still further he wrote quite amusingly
of his earnest diplomacy : " I have taken most effectual measures to
make her refusal very troublesome to her. I have engaged all the emi
nent clergymen in Edinburgh and Glasgow to attack her in her intrench-
ments, and they are determined to take her by storm, if nothing else will
do. This has a favorable aspect, and is, at the same time, surprising,
because they were, upon my first coming, so unwilling to part with her
husband, but the light in which I have set the affairs of the college has
made them perfect proselytes."
Nevertheless the good woman held her fortress against this array of
clerical forces. She did not yet surrender. The doctor's admirable af
fection overcame his usually indomitable will. The college trustees de
spaired of conquest. They chose the Rev. Samuel Blair as president. But
while he was considering the acceptance of such an honorable position,.
he learned that Mrs. Witherspoon had quite repented of her triumph,,
and attained the heroism to leave her native land for a distant home..
Perhaps her heart had been attached to the graves of five children ; per
haps she now looked forward to the welfare of the remaining three sons-
and two daughters. She was just the woman America needed. With a
magnanimity that touched the doctor's heart, Mr. Blair cleared the way
for the reelection of Witherspoon, who accepted the office. Twenty-
four years of pastoral faithfulness entitled him to publish his farewell
sermon on " Ministerial Fidelity in Declaring the whole Counsel of God."'
Thus he " relinquished home, relatives, friends, and the advantages
and comforts of advanced cultured surroundings, to come over to this-
new land, where Presbyterianism was yet in its infancy, and institutions
of learning were struggling for support. He came to accept the presi
dency of Princeton College and to promote the cause of learning and
religion here. Such was his purpose alone, but unconsciously to him,
the Almighty intended to enlarge the sphere of his usefulness, and make
him a founder of the republic."
On an evening in May, 1768, all Princeton was in a fervor of delight.
Nassau Hall was brilliantly illuminated. The residents were not more
happy than were the people who rode in from the surrounding farms
and villages. If a stranger got out of the stage-coach to look about in
wonder, it was enough to say that Dr. Witherspoon had arrived.1 The
whole province shared in the joy. Already had he begun his work, for
in London he had collected some funds and three hundred choice books
for the college. At his inauguration, in the next August, he delivered
1 In 1868, Dr. James McCosh, as genuine a Scot, was honored with a similar welcome to
the same presidency. 37

578 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
an address in Latin on the " Union of Piety and Science." To promote
that union was his steady effort during the twenty-six years of his presi
dency. He looked upon every student as having, not only an intellect,
but an immortal soul. He trained young men, not only to advance
truth, but to serve their country and live for God. He was an educator
of all the human powers.
Ever willing to render praise for all the wise measures of his prede
cessors, he was earnest for progress. He made no violent changes in the
college. He sought improvement rather than innovation. He quietly
introduced such measures as would more fully qualify his pupils for
active life. The American colleges seem to be indebted largely to him
for the method of teaching by lectures. With such a wide range of
subjects, he could hardly be a specialist in his very profitable lectures on
rhetoric, taste and criticism, moral philosophy, history, and divinity.
Advantages were offered for the study of the Hebrew and French lan
guages, in which he was an adept. Wnen he assumed, in addition to his
other duties, the chair of theology, his salary was increased to four hun
dred pounds. He visited New England, and the churches, particularly
those of Boston, contributed about one thousand pounds to the college.
Other funds were donated by the southern colonies.
To these various engagements were added the duties of a pastorate.
The Presbyterian church of Princeton was under his care for about
twenty-six years. It was blessed with a remarkable revival of religion,
in which many students were converted and prepared by divine grace for
the coming " times that tried men's souls." It is worthy of notice that
great spiritual revivals preceded the great political Revolution.
The mighty movement of that period did not spring from one creed
His zeal for in- alone, nor one form of church polity. No writer can
• dependence. justly claim for any religious denomination a monopoly of
patriotism. Let all lovers of freedom be duly honored. The historian,
George Bancroft, affirms that the first voice publicly raised for the com
plete independence of the colonies came from the Presbyterians. As soon
¦as they heard of the Puritan blood shed at Lexington, they were willing
to make their resistance a revolt. The month of May, 1775, was remark
able for their assemblies and utterances. Those who met in the counties
•of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, and Mecklenburg, North Carolina, com-
¦mitted themselves fearlessly to the cause of liberty. That same month
the synod — then the highest court of their church — sent forth a pas-
'toral letter drawn up by a committee, of which Drs. Witherspoon and
Rodgers were leading members. It was wisely adapted to " this impor
tant crisis." It brought the practical truths of the gospel to remem
brance. It urged loyalty to the king, but the union of the colonies ;
mutual esteem and charity among all religious denominations ; vigilance
in social government and morals ; a careful maintenance of the rights of

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WITHERSPOON. 579
conscience ; humanity and mercy, especially among all who should be
called into the field of war. " That man will fight most bravely who
never fights till it is necessary, and who ceases to fight as soon as the
necessity is over." Thus the synod stood abreast of the Continental
Congress in the advance to a higher freedom. At that date even Wash
ington " abhorred the idea of independence." But the greatest men grew
rapidly in those days.
During the long struggle Witherspoon said, " When I first came into
this country, nothing was farther from my expectation than the contest
that has now taken place between Great Britain and the colonies." In
his view revolution was a last resort, but not then a repulsive crime.
He was of a blood that loved freedom. His heart beat warm for hu
manity. Against the " divine right of kings " he placed the diviner rights
of honest people and of enlightened conscience. In an age when republics
were limited to Switzerland and the Netherlands, he dared to be a repub
lican. He valued all the relations of a common language and blood, a
common religion and life, between the old country and the new. But
these only made the British injustice more glaring and the oppression
more intolerable. With his strong convictions of right, " he soon com
prehended the nature of the dispute and its blessings, and not only ar
dently espoused the cause of the colonies, but early believed and urged
that they should unite for defense and declare for independence. Natu
rally he found himself an advocate of the rights of the colonies, and the
people of his adopted State, seeing in him the qualities necessary for the
times, called him for a leader."
He was not a politician in any other sense than that of a high-toned,
honest, unselfish, Christian statesman. The first time that he ever car
ried a political subject into the pulpit was May 17, 1776, the day ap
pointed for a public fast by the Continental Congress. He then preached
a sermon which helped to make the history of a critical period. It was
upon the " Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men." All
patriots saw marvelous wisdom in it, for therein he affirmed that the
cause in which America was then in arms was the cause of justice, of
liberty, and of human nature, and earnestly exhorted the people to union,
firmness and patience, industry and economy. Among the gems that
sparkle in it are these : " He is the best friend of American liberty who
is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion. An
avowed enemy to God I do not scruple to call an enemy to his country.
I do not wish you to oppose any man's religion, but everybody's wicked
ness. The cause is sacred, and its champions should be holy."
In this country the sermon was received from the press with marked
approval and great effect. Its author was known to be " as high a son
of liberty as any in America." It was republished in Glasgow, and care
fully guarded with notes by editors who wished to expose the preacher

580 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V
as a traitor, rebel, and " a chief promoter of the American revolt." The;
wrote that " the scheme of independence, it is said, was first planned b;
him, and success to the independent States of America, we are told, wa
a favorite toast at the doctor's table when entertaining a number of del
egates before it was resolved on by the Congress." They were glad t<
publish rumors that might disgrace him in Scotland ; we are glad tha
the rumors grew from the simple fact of his being one of the most ad
vanced patriots. Heroes like him took their place at the front, as if re
sponding to the call of the hour : —
" God give us men ! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands :
Men whom the lust of office does not kill ;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor ; men who will not lie."
In a few days he was elected a delegate to the Congress of New Jer
His work in sev> at Burlington. In it he sat but ten days, yet this wa:
Congress. time enough for him to take a zealous part in the expulsioi
of the royal governor as an enemy to the country, in ending the rule oi
King George Third over that province, and in the formation of a nev
government. It was not a time to discuss the right, but to achieve thi
fact, of a revolution. If he did not assist in framing the original consti
tution of that State, " he was a master spirit in giving it an impetus, an<
in securing the independence of the colony."
This provincial body sent Dr. Witherspoon, Richard Stockton, an<
three other delegates to the Continental Congress, then in session a
Philadelphia. They took their seats during the warm debate on thi
question of American independence. They found that many member;
doubted whether any delegates were empowered to vote for such an ex
treme measure. But these five Jerseymen had been fully authorized t<
assume this moral courage. They were already accomplished revolution
ists. On July 2d, Witherspoon insisted that the country was not onl;
ripe for independence, but was in danger of decay for the want of it. L
one of his eloquent speeches he said, " For my own part, of property '
have some, of reputation more ; that reputation is staked, that property
is pledged, on the issue of this contest. And although these gray hair
must soon descend into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather that the;
should descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at thi;
crisis the sacred cause of my country."
Among the signatures to the Declaration of Independence is the nami
of one minister of the gospel. It is that of John Witherspoon, the onl;
clergyman in the general Congress. The weight of his opinions, ex
pressed by voice and pen, was acknowledged in every session during
four years. Near the close of 1779 he resigned his seat, lest its reten

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WITHERSPOON. 581
tion should involve him in debts which he could never cancel, but chiefly
because the college at Princeton was in desolation.
The students very generally had enlisted in the war. The college ¦
had been captured and held by British troops as a barrack. Washing
ton had regained it, and made it the temporary home and hospital of
patriotic soldiers. The library and philosophical apparatus, which Dr.
Witherspoon had been so diligent in collecting, were sadly injured.
" The church where he preached was also rifled of its pews for fire
wood, and his farm was plundered of its stock. It cost something to be
a patriot in those days, and he paid for it dearly. During the disper
sion of the college the trustees met once in May, 1777, at Cooper's
Ferry, opposite Philadelphia, and authorized Dr. Witherspoon, if the
enemy removed out of the State, to call the students together at Prince
ton, and proceed with their education in the best manner he could, con
sidering the state of public affairs, and, if more students could be col
lected than he could instruct himself, to obtain such assistance as might
be necessary. As soon as circumstances allowed, but gradually, the
college buildings were cleansed and repaired, and by his efforts, with
the assistance of Professors Stanhope Smith and Houston, the institu
tion struggled along with a feeble existence."
In 1781 he was reelected to Congress, for his constituents felt that his
wisdom and energy were needed in the hall of national councils. His
dress showed that he was there as a " minister of God," in both a sacred
and a civil sense. The calls for the public observance of days of fasting
and prayer were usually, if not always, written by him. Many of the
most important papers on national affairs and measures came from his
hand. Neither his courage in the strife nor his confidence in God ever
faltered in the darkest day. He was six years in Congress. When he
returned, in 1782, to his more professional duties in college and church,
the sky was brightening with victory and the promise of advantageous
peace. The next year the United States were recognized by Great
Britain as an independent nation. His visit to his native isle, on a com
mission to solicit donations for the college, was not favored by a people
who were still sore over defeat and loss. Some of them could not for
get the Scotch edition of his sermon on the Dominion of Providence, and
they could not yet believe its doctrine of national liberty. It is not
known that he was invited to preach, except at Paisley. On the voy
age one eye was so injured that it became sightless. He toiled on, lead
ing the college to a national reputation, reuniting the ties between the
Presbyterian churches of Great Britain and America, and adding to his
publications. After his death his works were collected in six or more
volumes, and published at Philadelphia and Edinburgh. Not then was
he stigmatized by the notes of an editor. There were admirers abroad
to read an American book.

582 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Dr. Witherspoon was conspicuous in the circle of eminent men who
elevated the Synod into the General Assembly of the Pres-
Opens the first .,-,,, -it -, ¦ ¦•
American gen- bytenan Church, and adjusted its constitution to the state
of affairs in the republic. The federal constitution was
adopted almost contemporaneously with it. He opened the first assem
bly, in May, 1789, with a sermon, and was glad to see Dr. John
Rodgers as the first moderator. He was the chairman of a committee to
draft an address to President Washington. In it were these golden sen
tences, worthy of a thousand repetitions : " Public virtue is the most
certain means of public felicity, and religion the surest basis of virtue.
We therefore esteem it a peculiar happiness to behold in our chief mag
istrate a steady, uniform, and avowed friend of the Christian religion.
.... We shall consider ourselves as doing an acceptable service to
God, in our profession, when we contribute to render men sober, honest,
and industrious citizens, and the obedient subjects of a lawful govern
ment. In these pious labors we hope to imitate the most worthy of our
brethren of other Christian denominations, and to be imitated by them."
The reply of Washington showed his high appreciation of these senti
ments, and of the prayers offered for the country and for himself.
When the next autumn leaves were falling, the excellent Mrs. With
erspoon passed into the better world. The doctor was left quite alone.
One son of great promise had given his life to the cause of liberty ; the
other two had homes in the South. One daughter was the wife of Prof.
Stanhope Smith, who would be the next college president ; the other
married Dr. David Ramsay, the historian. In 1791 Dr. Witherspoon
wedded Mrs. Dill, who was more than forty years his junior. Soon after
this event he was riding through Vermont in search of lands which had
sadly reduced his finances ; his horse fell, and the remaining sound eye
was so injured that he became totally blind. Yet with a secretary he
did a vast amount of work. He still preached every third Sabbath until
his days were almost ended. His descent to the grave was that of a
patriarch who was leaving a tribe of spiritual sons to heed his noble
example, and who had sublime views of the heavenly land. His spirit
crossed the border in November, 1794, and he was beyond the reach of
sin and blindness.
Men who knew and loved Dr. Witherspoon as a teacher, associate, or
counselor thought him worthy of full description. What the brush of
the elder Peale did for his manly features the pen of Ashbel Green at
tempted for his character. He was of medium height, rather corpulent,
with a presence almost as majestic as that of Washington. He assumed
nothing ; his noble bearing was natural. He did not think about it, and
yet he never forgot its He tried no arts of Chesterfield. The plain man
in dress was seen to manage his Tusculum farm with dignity. His fond
ness for agriculture was quite equal to his failure in it. He jocosely

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WITHERSPOON. 583
said that scientific farmers could generally assign good reasons for their
want of success. In his garden he won richer triumphs.
Until he was blind he usually traveled in the saddle. The students
admired his dignified horsemanship. Pie said that in Scotland it was
very indecorous to put a horse on the gallop. He never did it there, and
only once in America : it was when the British army was marching on
Philadelphia, and Congress adjourned to Lancaster, riding thither post
haste to escape seizure by the enemy's cavalry. Like Washington, he
regarded punctuality as a cardinal virtue. On the man who failed to
keep an engagement at the hour he rarely wasted any more time or
confidence. When he was roused by injustice, his indignation was that of gentle
natures, honest and tremendous, but not many suns went down upon his
wrath. His temper may have been naturally high, and flaming at times
against wrong, but it came to be subdued by reason, grace, and vigilance.
His keen satire usually fell only on those who deserved it, and then to
scourge arrogance or vice. His wit, fine humor, and aptness in telling
a good story were kept for his more intimate friends in the social circle,
and for those who enjoyed his hospitality. They did not appear in his
sermons. Prayer was an element in his daily life. He sought to walk with God
and to commend the gospel by a solid example. Scholar as he was, he
was " more a man of genius than of learning." He read choice books
and digested them. He was a deep thinker, a close investigator of im
portant subjects, a treasurer of valuable knowledge. He paid the drafts
upon his information at sight, and had no mental panics. He wrote his
discourses, and delivered them from memory with such grace that he
seemed to speak extemporaneously. Pie cared little for the merely ex
ternal forms of oratory ; he manifested the heart and reality of it.
When it was known that he was to preach, he had large and attentive
audiences. His object was to set forth the word of God, to make plain
the way of eternal life, that the hearers might be saved and glorified
together with Christ.
It was peculiarly fitting that his name should be prominent in the lit
erature and honors of the centennial year, and that the Church, whose
spirit he so ably represented in his civil career, and citizens, whose rights
he advocated, should erect to him a monument. His statue of bronze,
colossal in size, was reared in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. There
he appears in the picturesque costume of that olden time, — the ample
coat and vest, the neat cambric neckerchief, the short clothes and low
shoes, and the Geneva gown in exceedingly graceful folds hanging from
the shoulder. There the magnificent statue, for years we cannot num
ber, will attract the gaze and evoke the admiration of the millions who
will pass along the beautiful Lansdowne drive. — W. M. B.

584 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE VII. HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG.
A. D. 171 1-A. D. 1787. LUTHERAN,  AMERICA.
In common with other Protestants, the first Lutherans who emigrated
to this country came to escape persecution at home. In the central and
southern portions of Germany, the influence of the Reformation failed to
rise superior to the Roman Catholic power ; so that whatever cities or
districts within that territory had received Protestant doctrines became
the objects of Catholic vengeance. Many and severe were the hardships
and sufferings which their inhabitants had to endure for conscience' sake.
Their towns and provinces were depopulated, their property was confis
cated or laid waste. England, Holland, and the northern states of Ger
many offered homes to the fugitives; and the New World, which was
just opening, became an asylum for these unfortunate people.
The first Lutherans who settled in this country were from Holland.
First Lutherans They came in 1626, and settled in New York. While this
in America. territory remained under the control of Holland, they were
compelled to worship in private, being forbidden by the laws of the
mother country to hold public services. When, in 1664, it became a
province of England, permission was obtained from James, duke of
York, for the conducting of worship in public. They were also granted
the privilege of sending to Germany for a pastor who should minister to
them in religion.
In the year 1644, the first Lutherans from Germany arrived. Vari
ous detachments came during the remainder of this century, to which
large numbers were added in the first half of the next. They were gen
erally from the Palatinate and other states in which intolerance did not
allow any mode of worship contrary to the established religion. These
early emigrants, who were fully consecrated to a holy and pious life,
could not be driven into submission against their convictions.
In 1733, the Salzburgers, a body of Lutherans called after Salzburg,
their native country, came to Georgia, settling about twenty miles above
Savannah. Thirty thousand of these people had been driven from their
homes by persecution. Georgia had just been chartered as a colony, and
it had been stipulated that it should become the asylum of " distressed
Salzburgers and other Protestants." The " trustees " of the colony and
" The Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge," one of the
noble institutions of England, took a deep interest in the wandering
Salzburgers. They invited them to find homes in the New World, and
furnished them with passage money ; and upon the arrival of the emi
grants they gave to each one a certain amount of land, with the privi
leges of English citizenship. These people were under the spiritual

Cent. XVII. -XIX] HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG. 585
guidance of several devoted pastors, and they became noted for their
piety, faithfulness, and prosperity.
Numerous detachments of Lutherans came, in like manner, to nearly
every colony from Maine to Georgia. Pennsylvania, how- Lutherans in
ever, was the province which attracted the largest number. Pennsylvania.
Its climate was genial ; so was the welcome extended by William Penn.
He threw wide open the doors of his colony, and invited all men " who
believed in God and lived peaceably with their neighbors, to come and
find a home."
Many years intervened between the arrival of the first Lutheran emi
grants and that of the first Lutheran ministers, except in the Swedish set
tlement in New Jersey. The Plolland Lutherans were in this country
nearly fifty years before they had among them any one authorized to
exercise the functions of the ministerial office. Jacob Fabricius, who
arrived and began his labors in 1669, was their first pastor. Previous to
his coming, they had depended altogether on lay supervision and instruc
tion. The time between the arrival of Lutherans in Pennsylvania and the
coming of Muhlenberg, the first minister, was almost a hundred years.
As his training and his coming grew out of one of the most important
movements that ever affected the Protestant church in Germany, it will
be profitable to revert to it.
Spener and Francke produced in their country a genuine revival of
piety.1 They saw the dead formalism into which the church of the
seventeenth century had fallen, and labored to arouse her from her
lethargy. They urged the necessity of regeneration, and of true piety
in both the ministry and the laity. They insisted on the better ob
servance of the Sabbath day and the duty of all Christians to labor for
the kingdom of God.
Spener based his theology on the Bible as confirmed and explained by
personal experience, while the orthodox party based its theology on the
Bible as explained by the symbolical books. Orthodoxy regarded the
observance of the Word and of the sacraments as the basis of the church,
while Pietism, as the views of Spener were called, declared the church
to exist in its true believers.
The methods of church work which Spener and Francke practiced were
revolutionary. The former instituted classes for instructing the young ;
he established prayer-meetings and conventicles for the study of the
Scriptures. The latter became a professor in the University of Halle,
where he "began to lecture to his students in theology on the different
books of the Bible, instead of the various forms of philosophy, that he
might prepare them to make practical expositions of divine truth. Both
preached against worldly dissipation and amusements, against dancing,
i See pp. 400-420.

586 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
against the theatre, and against card-playing. Under their preaching and
influence missions were established. The University of Halle sent mis
sionaries to every part of the world. Out of such a spirit was the Amer
ican Lutheran Church born, for its founder, Henry Melchior Muhlen
berg, was a disciple of Francke, and was trained under his influence.
Muhlenberg was born in 1711. His parents were poor. The father
Muhienherg a*ea when his son was but twelve years of age. The boy
guided for work. eariy studied the German and Latin languages, and was dil
igently instructed in the doctrines of the Christian religion. After the
death of his father, he was compelled to engage in manual labor until
he reached his twenty-first year. He now applied himself to the study
of Latin, Greek, French, and Hebrew. He attended the University of
Gottingen at twenty-four. Though confirmed at twelve, his real religious
experience did not commence until this period. When awakened and
converted he at once gave himself up to the solemn duties of a Christian
life. In connection with some fellow-students he gathered together the
poor, neglected children about the streets, and taught them the element
ary branches of learning and religion. This was regarded as an irreg
ularity by some of the clergy and school-masters, and the young men were
brought to trial. Being ably defended they were acquitted.
In 1738, Muhlenberg was sent to Halle, where he "had committed to
him the instruction of the primary classes, whence he was regularly trans
ferred, until he had passed through all the departments successively, and
was finally placed in charge of the classes in theology, Hebrew, and
Greek." At the University of Halle he became fully imbued with the
spirit and devotion of the Pietists.
In 1741, Dr. Francke was requested by the Germans in Pennsylvania
to send them a minister. The mission was proposed to Muhlenberg,
who, after due consideration, accepted it. At the close of the year 1741,
he resigned his position at home, and by the 13th of June, 1742, he was
Reaches Amer- on nis wav to tne Western World. He sailed to Charleston,
ica- South Carolina, for the purpose of examining the condition
of the Lutheran church in Georgia, for he had been made the overseer
of all the German Lutheran settlements in this country, and it was part
of his mission to report year by year the welfare and progress of the
church to the University of Halle. He spent a month with the Salz
burgers, and then set out in a sloop for Philadelphia, where he arrived
in the latter part of November, 1742.
His coming was most opportune. There were none to minister to the
religious wants of the people, except several self-constituted pastors, who
were men without education and without piety. Though the first Ger
mans in America were men of earnest devotion, they could not, without
religious advisers, retain their piety, or transmit it to their children. They
consequently declined rapidly in spirituality. When Muhlenberg came

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG. 587
he found their religious condition most deplorable. There were no
churches and no school-houses, save one building in New Hanover, and
that too poor for occupancy. He at once undertook to build churches
and school-houses for the religious and secular instruction of both old
and young. Very few of the young could read, and teachers of suitable
character and qualifications could not be procured. So Muhlenberg be
came both pastor and teacher. "Necessity," he says, "has compelled
me to become a teacher of children. One week I keep school in Phila
delphia, the next in Providence, and the third in New Hanover ; and I
think God's grace is visiting us. It was, however, high time that I should
come. If affairs had remained a few years longer in the same state in
which I found them, our poor Lutherans would have been scattered, or
turned over to heathenism." Describing the religious con- Hig picture of
dition of the country, he says, " Atheists, deists, and natu- America.
ralists are to be met with everywhere. I think that there is not a sect in
the Christian world that has not followers here. You meet with persons
from almost every nation in the world. God and his Word are openly
blasphemed. Here are thousands who by birth, education, and confir
mation ought to belong to our church, but they are scattered to the four
winds of heaven. The spiritual state of our people is so wretched as to
cause us to shed tears in abundance. The young people are grown up
without instruction and without knowledge of religion, and are turning
to heathenism." This sad condition did not appal the heart of our noble
missionary, or make him sigh for the more desirable field he had left, but
he set about energetically to supplant this moral desolation with spirit
ual life and activity.
He was elected pastor of three churches, one at Philadelphia, one at
New Hanover, and one at New Providence. These were almost forty
miles distant from each other. For two and a half years pastor Muhlen
berg was alone in his work in Pennsylvania, but in 1745 other ministers
arrived from Halle, who came at the earnest request of the missionary
and the people. New congregations were at once organized, the circle
was enlarged, and efforts were made to reach every German community.
Muhlenberg was the leading spirit in every movement ; his eye was on
every church ; his counsel was sought in every difficulty. The congre
gation at New York having become divided, he was sent for to bring
about a reconciliation. He made them a visit, proposed a solution of
their troubles, and succeeded in restoring peace and harmony.
The work of bringing the scattered Germans under religious training
was so well carried on that at the beginning of the second half of the
eighteenth century, eight years after the arrival of the first missionary,
there were eight ministers laboring in Pennsylvania, having twenty-three
organized churches under their charge.
Muhlenberg never consulted his own ease in his work. As soon as he

588 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
was relieved at one point he sought another. He traveled far and wide,
His Paul-like responding to the call of duty among the churches from
activity. New York to Georgia. He preached in churches, in pri
vate houses, in the open air, and carried the gospel from house to house
in pastoral visitation. He adapted himself to the wants and tastes of
the people. He was able to preach in either the German, Dutch, or
English language, sometimes Using all three the same day. Had his
wise policy been pursued by his immediate successors, so much of the
work performed by him and his co-laborers would not have been lost to
the church of which they were members ; but those coming after them,
-confining their ministrations to the German language, were not able to
hold those who were growing up under the influence and training of
the English language and customs.
Every means by which piety could be cultivated was practiced byrpas-
tor Muhlenberg. Immediately on his arrival in this country he organized
prayer-meetings for the edification of the church ; these he could seldom
attend. They were held often, three times each week, some pious lay
men presiding. Prayers were offered, the Bible and books of religious
value were read. So marked were these meetings that wicked men some
times made it an object to disturb them by casting stones against the door,
His catholicity am^ by reviling the worshipers as pietists and hypocrites.
of spirit. jje was a promoter of revivals of religion. He and Dr.
Helmuth speak of " protracted meetings " with great satisfaction. The
interest which the people took in their preaching during such efforts was
manifested by the " audible weeping of the congregation, and the advice
sought in private concerning the salvation of their souls."
Muhlenberg had no stated forms by which worship should be invaria
bly conducted. When he used a liturgical service it was short and sim
ple, but he believed that a minister should be bound to no system. In
all his services his object was to lead men to Christ, so he adopted any
method that would bring about the desired end. His preaching was plain
and simple • he used both the formal discourse and the more practical
method of question and answer. Sometimes, immediately after the ser
mon, the congregation was questioned on the leading points presented
in it ; they were requested to find the proof texts, which led them to
bring their Bibles to. church. The afternoon hour was frequently em
ployed in question and answer, the subject being either the morning
sermon or some other portion of the Bible, or the catechism. He ex
pressed his notion of preaching as follows : " In our discourses we ought
to make no ostentatious display of learning, but study simplicity. We
should neither strike into the air, nor employ low and vulgar expressions ;
not introduce too much matter into a sermon, but discuss the subject fully,
and apply it to the heart. Our sermons should not be dry, but practical.
Religion should be presented not as a burden, but as a pleasure. Let us

Cent. XVII.-XIX] HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG. 589
sow with tears, let us aim at the edification of each individual soul, and
give heed to ourselves and to our doctrines."
Muhlenberg, with his co-workers, was never satisfied until he had
brought those under his instruction into full Christian experience. He
everywhere insisted on rigid discipline. His strict views concerning the
sanctity of the Sabbath in many places brought him into trouble with
those who looked upon it as a day for general recreation and amusement.
Of the general results of their labors he and his associates in the min
istry declare that with the middle-aged, who had grown up without in
struction, they were unsuccessful, but that from the young they derived
great encouragement.
A serious difficulty had arisen among the pastors who labored amid
the Lutherans of Georgia. Muhlenberg made a journey to that prov
ince in 1774, for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation. He met
pastors and people, and exhorted them to mutual forbearance and for
giveness. He finally obtained an agreement that they would bury all
former contentions and offenses. On his return from this meeting he
wrote the following words : " I was so tortured and worried in body and
spirit that I had to lie down. 0 Lord, how much has not the. enemy of
man already won, if he can effect a breach between ministers and col
leagues in a church ! What hateful mischief he does to the sheep when
he has disarmed the shepherds ! How despised is the holy office and its
dignity in the sight of Hamites and Canaanites, when they have seen the
nakedness of the fathers, and scoff at it ! "
In 1748 was held the first conference of Lutheran ministers in Penn
sylvania. Six were present, with a corresponding number
<• -i -¦• ¦ ¦ -»«• i -i Presides over
of laymen. As the leading spirit, Muhlenberg was made the first con-
president. At this meeting, John V. Kurtz was set apart
to the gospel ministry, being the first Lutheran minister ordained in this
country. Conferences or synodical meetings continued to be held with more or
less regularity by the fathers of the Lutheran Church. These meetings
were turned to great profit. Muhlenberg speaks of one in this lan
guage : " After the close of public worship all the ministers convened at
my house, and held a Biblical colloquy on the essential characteristics of
genuine repentance, faith, and godliness, in which they endeavored to ben
efit each other, according to the grace given them, by communicating the
results of their own experience and self-examination, so that it was a
cheering and a delightful season. The residue of the evening was spent
in singing spiritual hymns and psalms, and in conversation about the
spiritual condition of our churches ; and so short did the time appear
that it was three o'clock in the morning before we retired to rest. Oh,
how delightful it is when ministers, standing aloof from all political and
party contests, seek to please their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, and

590 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
have at heart the welfare of their churches and the souls intrusted to
their care, and are willing rather to suffer reproach with the people of
God than choose the treasures of Egypt ! "
During the Revolutionary War, the Germans generally were strong
supporters of the colonies. Though thousands of them had taken the
oath of allegiance to England, they still felt that for their own sake and
for that of their children they must sustain the colonial cause. Conse-
a patriotic old quently many of them were among the proscribed. Muh-
aaa- lenberg was included in that number. He retired from
Philadelphia during its occupancy by the British troops. Some of his
friends crossed the lines into the city, and when they returned he said,
"They report that the name of Muhlenberg is made very suspicious
among the Hessian and English officers in Philadelphia, who threaten
bitterly with prison, torture, and death, if they can catch the old fellow."
One of his sons, a Lutheran minister, left the pulpit for the camp, and
after the organization of the government he was elected speaker of the
first three houses of Congress.
In 1782 Dr. Muhlenberg was compelled to retire- from the active
ministry. He died in 1787, in the full triumph of an inspiring faith.
His life was one of pure devotion to the cause of Christianity. He was
practical and direct in all his teachings ; he taught a religion that touched
not only the head, but also the heart. He fraternized with all Chris
tians, no matter what name they bore, for with them he recognized but
one Lord, one faith, one baptism. His mind was born to command and
inspire ; while his piety and exemplary character made him in his ad
vanced years an object of veneration to all with whom he came in con
tact. Those who came immediately after him did not adopt his method
and spirit, which however have been taken up and pursued by later
leaders of the Lutheran Church in the United States. — B. F. P.

LIFE VIII. MICHAEL SCHLATTER.
A. D. 1716-A. D. 1790. REFORMED (GERMAN), — AMERICA.
All know the story of the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England :
how that in order to carry out in peace their conscientious views in re
spect to church order they crossed the ocean and founded here new com
monwealths, that have been so favored by Providence as to grow far
beyond their original expectations. The story of the first settlement of
the Germans in large numbers in the colony of William Penn is not less
interesting than the well-known story of the Pilgrims. They left their
beautiful homes in consequence of religious persecutions, and many of
them found a welcome refuge first in England before coming to America.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] MICHAEL SCHLATTER. 591
They were more severely persecuted than were the non-conformists of
England. Not only were they not allowed to worship in peace, accord
ing to their reformed faith, but active, violent, and persevering efforts
were made to compel them again to become Romanists. In 1686 the
great Augsburg league was formed by the emperor and many princes,
which undertook to defend the borders of the empire, in pursuance of
which the western frontier of Germany was sorely oppressed. In 1689
the Palatinate was given over to pillage and plunder by the French. The
commander, Melac, laid a great portion of the city of Pleidelberg in
ashes. Cities and villages shared a similar fate. Many of the inhab
itants perished in the cold, and many others who tried to rescue their
goods were slain. In consequence of a long-continued series of persecu
tions, there now followed such an exodus as is without a parallel in the
history of Europe, excepting the ancient migration of the Germanic peo
ples, and the Saxon invasion of England in the fifth century. We are
told " that the traveler who to-day visits the Palatinate will often hear
the farmer call his dog ' Melac,' ' Melac,' in detestation of the memory
of the inhuman butcher who nearly two hundred years ago made the
castellated Rhine run red with innocent blood."
Nothing in history is more beautiful than the warm sympathy and love
that existed in the post-Reformation age between the different branches
of the reformed churches in the different parts of Europe. When the
Palatines were driven out of their homes, thousands of them fled to
England, where they were kindly received, protected, and aided, as John
de Laski and his brethren from Friesland had been previously. When
Knox and thousands of the best men of Scotland and England were com
pelled for a time to flee to the Continent, they found a safe refuge and a
Christian reception in Frankfort (Germany) and in Geneva (Switzer
land). When, in the days of the infamous Alba, more than two hundred
thousand families fled in terror from Holland, they were received with
open arms by the neighboring German provinces (now included in West
phalia) and in the distant Palatinate. When the Huguenots were driven
in such great numbers from France, they found brethren of the same re
formed faith ready to help them in Germany and England. And it was
the powerful voice of Cromwell speaking from England that stayed for
a time the persecutions of the Waldenses.
The original emigration from Germany, which forms the root of the
two denominations in America known as the Reformed and , ,
The home of the
the Lutherans, came from that province in Germany then German Re-
known as the Palatinate. It is the most fertile and most
beautiful part of Germany, lying on its frontiers over against France,
through which contending armies have for ages passed and repassed. It
has long since ceased to be a separate kingdom. A portion of it (Rhen
ish Bavaria) belongs now to Bavaria ; another portion, with the ancient

592 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
capital, Heidelberg, forms the southern part of Baden ; and a third por
tion has recently been annexed to Prussia.
Soon after the territory of Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn
by the king of England (on the 4th of March, 1681), the Germans com
menced to settle in this new colony. As early as 1730 a report made to
the synod of South Holland states, " Not long after the first settlement
many of the oppressed inhabitants of Germany, and particularly out of
the Palatinate, and the districts of Nassau, Waldeck, Witgenstein, and
Wetterau, emigrated to Pennsylvania, with their wives and children.
.... At this time the Reformed, holding to the old Reformed Confession,
constitute more than one half of the whole number, being about fifteen
thousand." From this time on German emigration increased, so that in
a single year more than thirty thousand left the Palatinate alone, to seek
a Patmos in the New World. They settled at first near Philadelphia, hut
later mainly in the fertile valleys of Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Maryland; thence along these same valleys into Virginia, North and
Scuth Carolina. Those Palatines who had first gone to England at the
invitation of Queen Anne, numbering about seven thousand, presented a
petition whose opening words will best describe their condition : " We, of
the distressed Palatinate, whose utter ruin was occasioned by the merciless
cruelty of a bloody enemy, the French, whose prevailing powers some
years ago, rushing like a torrent into our country, overwhelmed us at once,
and who, not being content with money and with food necessary for their
occasions, not only dispossessed us of all support, but inhumanly burnt
our homes to the ground, — we, being deprived of both shelter and food,
were turned into the open fields, and driven with our families to seek what
shelter we could find, being obliged to make the frozen earth our lodging,
and the clouds our covering." These settled first in Scho-
The German Re- . °
formed in harie, New York, where they were ill treated by the author
ities, so that about the year 1712, under the leadership of
Conrad Weiser, they constructed rafts, floated down the Susquehanna to
the mouth of the Swatara, and took up their abodes near the waters of
the Tulpehocken, in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
These Germans formed in many instances the outposts of civilization,
and served to protect not a few English communities from the incur
sions of the Indians. But the people were mostly poor. They were not
able to bring ministers of the gospel with them, but they brought over
their Bibles, catechisms, hymn books, and devotional works. In many
settlements they had pious and excellent schoolmasters. In most cases
they formed congregations, built churches, and by their side at once planted
school-houses, each with a dwelling and land for the occupancy of the
schoolmaster. These often, when there was no minister, conducted a reli
gious service by the reading of sermons and prayers, and the people sought
and found spiritual edification in these services, and in singing the grand

Cent. XVII.-XIX] MICHAEL SCHLATTER. 593
old hymns and chorals of the fatherland. As early as 1726 a log church
was built in Skippack, Pennsylvania. A few ministers came from Ger
many, and extended their labors with considerable success over the vari
ous German settlements. The man who was to organize these congrega
tions into a compact whole, and thus to lay a stable foundation for future
growth, was the Rev. Michael Schlatter, the story of whose life and labors
we are now to tell.
Michael Schlatter was born in Switzerland (the cradle of the Re
formed Church), in St. Gall, then a large city, lying in a Schiatter's early
beautiful valley on the bank of the Steinach, on July 14, ule-
1716. His parents were pious members of the Reformed faith, and he
was early consecrated to God in the covenant of baptism. He grew up
under the ministrations of a devoted pastor, Rev. Christopher Stahelin.
He made a public profession of religion at the age of fourteen, received
a superior education at the university, made a tour through Holland
and Northwestern Germany, and as a candidate for the ministry spent
some years in Holland, where he was also ordained. Returning to Switz
erland, he became a vicar in 1745, assistant pastor in St. Gall for a
time ; and then on January 9, 1746, he again went to Amsterdam, in
order to offer his services to the synods of Holland for supplying the des
titute German churches in Pennsylvania, whose cry for help had been
for some years heard, especially in Holland. " In 1731, while the Hol
land synod was in session in Dortrecht, eight hundred exiled Palatines
passed through the place to take ships at Rotterdam for America. They
were visited by the whole synod in a body, and were furnished by them
with provisions and medicines. After exhortation, prayer, and singing,
they were dismissed, with the assurance that they might rely upon the
church of Holland for support in their new homes."" There is extant a
letter from Rev. Jedidiah Andrews (Presbyterian), of Philadelphia, to
Rev. Thomas Prince, of Boston, dated 1730, in which he says, "There
is besides in this province a vast number of Palatines, and they come in
still every year. Those that have come in of late years are mostly Pres
byterians, or, as they call themselves, Reformed, from the Palatinate,
about three fifths being of that sort of people. They did use to come to
me for the baptism of their children, and many have joined with us in
the other sacrament." In another letter he says, " There is lately come
over a Palatine candidate of the ministry, who has applied to us at the
synod for ordination. The matter is left to three ministers. He is an
extraordinary person for sense and learning. We gave him a question
to discuss about justification, and he has answered it in a whole sheet
of paper in a very notable manner. His name is John Peter Millen : he
speaks Latin as well as we do our vernacular tongues, and so does an
other, Mr. Weiss."
Mr. Schlatter's services were accepted ; on the 23d of May, 1746, his
38

594 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
instructions were made out, and on the 1st of June he sailed for the New
World. His work was to include the following: (1) to visit Reformed
settlements, to organize congregations, to preach to them, to baptize their
children, and to prepare proper church records ; (2) to ascertain what
each congregation would pledge itself for toward the support of a min
ister, and to unite weak congregations under one pastorate ; (3) to enlist
the cooperation of the ministers already in America, and to form a
synod ; (4) to visit the ministers annually ; and (5) after this work had
been accomplished to preach as the other ministers.
After a voyage of two months he landed at Boston, and by the 6th of
Lands in the September arrived overland at Philadelphia, where he was
New world. most affectionately welcomed by the elders of the Reformed
church. He found Philadelphia to be a city of ten thousand inhabitants
(being next largest in size to Boston). It had, at this time, the fol
lowing churches : (1) the English (or Episcopal) church ; (2) the Swed
ish church ; (3) the German Evangelical (or Lutheran) church ; (4) the
Old Presbyterian church ; (5) the German Reformed church. Besides
these, there were two Quaker meeting-houses, one Baptist, one Roman
Catholic, and one Moravian church. At once he commenced his work,
and in the brief space of ten days accomplished what would have re
quired most men almost as many weeks. With intense activity he pros
ecuted his missionary journeys among the new settlements in Pennsyl
vania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, preaching, administering the
sacraments, encouraging ministers and people, organizing congregations
and forming them into suitable fields of labor. He found four regular
German Reformed ministers laboring in Pennsylvania (Boehm, Weiss,
Reiger, and Dorstius), and upon his invitation they, for the first time,
met together in Philadelphia, on the 12th of October, 1746, to prepare
organizes the tne wav ^or a formal organization of the synod. This took
first Bynod. p]ace tne next year, September 29, 1747, in Philadelphia,
at which time thirty-one ministers and elders were present. Rev. J. B.
Reiger opened the synod by a sermon based on Psalm cxxxiii., a very
; appropriate text for such an occasion.
Besides acting as superintendent, Schlatter labored as pastor in the
¦churches in Philadelphia and Germantown. A few incidents from this
?early period of his labors will interest the reader. On the 6th of De-
¦ cember, 1747, the new church in Philadelphia was used for religious
•service, although it had as yet neither windows nor pulpit. The reason
-was that the number of hearers had so far increased that the old church
• could contain only one half of those who attended. A crowd of people
¦worshiping in the dead of winter in a building without windows manifests
•stern earnestness in the worship of Almighty God. In August, 1748,
Schlatter was greatly encouraged by the arrival of three ministers sent
out by the Holland synod. In October he was deeply saddened to hear

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] MICHAEL SCHLATTER. 595
from his home that one of them had there accidentally lost his life by
the discharge of a gun in his own hands. After laboring for nearly two
years, Schlatter says in one of his reports, " I cannot refrain from refer
ring briefly to the fact that these three congregations [in New Jersey],
from gratitude for the services I have rendered them, handed me a pe
cuniary reward ; and this is the first money which, since my arrival in
America up to this time, I have received from any congregation for my
labor and pains. Also in my own congregations, up to the present time,
I have drawn no salary. I must state, however, that different congrega
tions have offered me some money, but I declined receiving it, in order
to convince them that I did not seek theirs, but them ; while in the mean
time God has provided for me in a way that calls for devout praise, and
has also enabled me to be content with little."
After laboring thus, with most intense activity, for five years, Schlatter,
at the request of the synod, made a visit to Europe, in 1751, in Europe for
a mission from which flowed vast results for good to the Amenca's sake.
churches in America. He had arranged sixteen fields of labor (or
charges), including forty-six congregations ; but of these only six, com
posed of fourteen congregations, were supplied with ministers. Making
a final visitation to the churches, attending the sessions of the synod, and
partaking of the Lord's Supper once more with his people on Christmas
day, Schlatter embarked on the 5th of February, 1751, at New Castle,
and on the 12th of April landed in Holland. He at once attended the
meeting of the Classis of Amsterdam, and in conjunction with a com
mittee of the same drew up and printed an " Appeal " in behalf of the
American churches. This was soon after translated and printed in Ger
man, and also in English. The synod of North Holland appointed him
to visit Switzerland and Germany, to secure ministers for the American
field. He spent four months in this work. This Appeal bore good fruit
in each of these countries. The immediate result of his labors was that
he was enabled to sail from Holland, on his return way, March, 1752,
with six newly-ordained, learned, and pious ministers, together with sub
stantial aid in money and seven hundred German Bibles, five hundred of
which were in folio, which were presented to him by members of the
churches of Amsterdam. After a protracted voyage of four months he
arrived again in the midst of his brethren in Pennsylvania. We will
here introduce some interesting extracts from this Appeal of Schlatter.
In the introduction, the committee of classis say, " This man, worthy,
learned, and gifted of God with many talents, after he became acquainted
with one and another of the members of our classis .... was recom
mended to the deputies of both synods  These saw in him so
many evidences of firm and correct judgment, peculiar fitness, and glow
ing zeal to serve the church of God also in those distant regions, that
they regarded it good and proper, not only to send him into this field as

596 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
a regular shepherd and teacher, but also, with the full consent of both
synods, to invest him with one of the most important commissions.''
" As regards the condition of the churches in Pennsylvania, we have
received so much light from the extensive diary in which Mr. Schlatter
has given an account not only of his frequent journeys to many con
gregations, near and remote, but also of his acts and labors in them,
that we were in the highest degree surprised at the unwearied and almost
incredible labors which this faithful servant of God — whom in this re
spect we may call an apostolical man — has devoted to the churches in
Pennsylvania, and rejoiced in view of the divine support which he has
experienced in them."
Schlatter himself says, " During the winter months [of 1747], when I
for the most part remained at home, I received many soul-stirring letters,
from large and small congregations in remote regions. Besides this,
delegates came to my house daily, among whom were some who had
come two hundred, yea, three hundred miles. Among others, there
were two men who came from Virginia, three hundred miles from here,
bearing a most urgent and moving letter from the destitute congregations
in those parts  The recollection of this scene even now again
affects me in the tenderest manner, and it seems to me that a heart of
stone would have been moved to sympathy in witnessing the many tears,
and in reading and hearing the touching petitions, with which they so
humbly presented their case. Oh, that the church in the blessed Nether
lands, where the chief Shepherd, by the hand of a host of faithful under-
shepherds, makes his people feed in green pastures, could have before
them a full picture of the true condition of so many congregations in a
widely-extended country ! " " My intercession is not for a handful of peo
ple, for one or another poor family, for a little flock that has fled from
popery, but for more than thirty thousand of the Reformed household of
faith, living in the land of their pilgrimage, — in a land that is large and
wide-spread, yea, fully twice as large as the United Netherlands.''
" I reject with disgust all ill-odored self-praise, and I cannot glory
save in my infirmities ; but if it may serve to the awakening of others
who may be able to come to our aid, I will, in all lowliness, and to the
praise of that God who supported me and gave me the will and the
power to labor, say that from the year 1747 till the beginning of the
year 1751 I have traveled in this part of America, in the service of
the lost sheep, to collect them together, to bring them into order and
edify them, a distance of more than eight thousand miles, — not reckoning
my passage across the ocean ; and this, for the most part, on my own
horse, by day and by night, without respect to heat or cold, which is
often alike severe in this country, — yea, without avoiding danger, as not
counting my life dear unto myself. .... Amid all this traveling about,
I preached six hundred and thirty-five times, and through all these la-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] MICHAEL SCHLATTER. 597
bors God has spared my health and strength, and has not suffered my
desire and zeal to serve the churches to be extinguished, but rather to
be increased."
An address to the Swiss cantons by Rev. H. B. Hudmaker, minister
at the Hague, and one of the deputies of the synod, says : " Mr. Schlat
ter, who in the past years was sent thither from hence, has laid before
our synod the fact that there are thirty thousand Reformed scattered far
and wide through that region ; that they have hardly six ministers, and
need at least six more, besides an annual addition to the salary of all ;
and that there is most of all a great need of school-masters and support
for. them  Our synods resolved to lend them assistance, but, bur
dened as we are with the care of more than one hundred oppressed
churches in Europe, we felt that we were not in a condition to bear this
burden ourselves, and found it necessary not only to apply to our civil
authorities, but also to call in the aid of foreign civil and ecclesiastical
help, especially from those who externally stand in a nearer relation to
the Pennsylvania brethren than we ourselves  We hope that you
also will cheerfully lend your aid by a general collection in money, which
you will send to us for them, that thus our hands may be made strong
and effective by your state and church contributions, so that we may
firmly erect and sustain the standard of the gospel in those regions. To
this end we have also invited the brethren in England to make common
cause with us, and not without the hope of a happy result. So that
.... there may be found in that land a pleasant place of refuge for the
oppressed Reformed who fly thither from Europe  And may the
mutual cooperation of the Reformed Swiss, Germans, Hollanders, and
English, in the establishment of the American church, and the fraternal
correspondence occasioned thereby, be a testimony that we are one, and,
at the same time, prove a blessed means and incentive to a still more in
ward brotherly union."
H. M. Muhlenberg (Lutheran) wrote to Halle : " Yea, when this rep
resentation of Mr. Schlatter, first published in Dutch, had been translated
into English by an English preacher in Holland, it made such an im
pression upon the English nation that even his majesty, the king of Great
Britain, and the royal family were graciously moved to contribute a large
sum, who were followed by rich assistance, also, from the principal lords
and dignitaries. These gifts, which, it is said, amounted to twenty thou
sand pounds sterling, were, by order of his majesty, placed in the hands
of certain trustees, constituting ' A Society for Propagating the Knowl
edge of God among the Germans,' from the interest of which free schools
are here to be established and sustained under the inspection of Mr.
Schlatter." From 1752 to 1755 Schlatter continued his labors as pastor and as
superintendent of the work of missions among the German churches of

598 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the Reformed faith. Immediately after this he was appointed agent and
Schlatter's va- superintendent of the London Society for the Establishment
ried labors. of Schools in Pennsylvania. He accepted the office, because
the position would require him to travel through the country, and, as the
synod affirmed, he could still maintain a certain supervision over the
scattered congregations, and labor for the advancement of the church.
He continued in this work from 1755 to 1757. In the latter year the
French war broke out, and, as a portion of the royal army was composed
of Germans, he accepted the post of chaplain in the fourth battery, which
was operating in Nova Scotia. As such he was present at the siege
of Halifax, and the seven weeks' siege of Louisburg. After 1755 his
residence was on Chestnut Hill, ten miles from Philadelphia, where he
had a small farm which he named " Sweetland." Here, after the war,
he dwelt in comparative quiet and retirement, respected by the whole
community and the public men of the state, preaching frequently at
Barren Hill and other places. A quaint anecdote, illustrating his patri
archal character, comes down to us from this period : " It was customary
in those days for the female worshipers at Barren Hill to wear short
gowns and neat aprons. On occasions when he preached there, as he
proceeded up the aisle toward the pulpit, — which he always did in a very
hurried .manner, — he would suddenly stop, and without saying a word
would seize hold of one of these clean aprons to wipe the dust from his
glasses, which he usually carried in his hands when not in use."
Dr. Harbaugh speaks of one trait in his character as follows : " Prom
inent amid every other trait in Mr. Schlatter's character is his extraor
dinary industry and perseverance. He was a man of astonishing energy
of character. In a review of his life, nothing strikes us so forcibly as
this. It seems as if no obstacles in the path of duty could make him
hesitate. No difficulties discouraged him ; no trials disheartened him ; no
failures could break down his courage, or take away his elasticity. What
ever he believed ought to be done he was willing to undertake. A true
Swiss, he was not to be subdued ; nor would he cease pursuing his path,
though difficulties rose before him, like hills on hills, and Alps on Alps,
in the land of his birth."
He retained his mental and bodily vigor in a remarkable degree in his
old age. His death took place in the month of November, 1790, in the
seventy-fifth year of his age, at his home on Chestnut Hill. His remains
were taken to Philadelphia, and now lie buried in the beautiful Franklin
Square of that city. — J. H. G.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN. 599
LIFE IX. PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN.
A. D. 1726-A. D. 1813. UNITED BRETHREN,  AMERICA.
The history of past ages, and especially that which relates to the
church of God, most clearly indicates that when God wants a man for a
certain purpose He will raise him up. The very circumstances with
which such a man may be surrounded will be so controlled by an ever-
present and ever-working Providence that each and all will assist in
preparing him for his work. The history of Luther, Calvin, Wesley,
and their coadjutors will verify this. So will the life of William Otter-
bein, founder of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, who, when
God wanted a man to awake the Germans in America, was made his
honored instrument in accomplishing that work.
In studying Otterbein and his times, it will be well to note here and
there the clear manifestations of the hand of God. When we study the
lives of men, we are prone to seek clear conceptions of their characters.
This is as it should be. We do not err in that we find too much in the
men whom we study, but in that we see in their lives too little of the
hand of Him who is everywhere at work. Whatever, therefore, may be
said of the learning, eloquence, zeal, and success of Otterbein as a re
former, he deserves no credit save in that he submitted himself to the
will of God. It was God in him that gave him whatever success he had.
He alone is able to raise up men for his work. " Foreseeing what will
be needed at a particular juncture, He selects and prepares the means He
designs to use. His plans and purposes for the most part are hidden from
the world ; even they whom He intends to use are not aware of the part
they are to perform."
Philip William Otterbein was born in Dillenberg, in the duchy of
Nassau, in Germany, on the 4th day of June, 1726. His Earl lif in
father, John Daniel Otterbein, was rector of a Latin school Germany.
in Herborn, and subsequently pastor of a congregation in Fronhausen
and Wissenbach. He was a minister in the Reformed Church, and was
noted for his learning, piety, and zeal. His son, Philip William, was
educated for the ministry, and solemnly ordained at Herborn in 1749.
He was well instructed in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, philosophy, and divin
ity. Soon after his consecration to the office of the ministry he com
menced his pastoral work in Dillenberg. He was then about twenty-four
years of age. It certainly speaks well for him that he was so soon
chosen as pastor in his native town.
Although Otterbein was well instructed in theology, he had not at this
time experienced a change of heart. But withal he was a man of con
science, and earnestly desired to enter into the possession of all there was

600 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
in the gospel for him to enjoy. With him there was nothing of such
importance as the Word of God. What he believed to be the truth he
would expound and enforce with great earnestness. His sermons were
remarkable for their plainness, spirit, and evangelical power ; and God
owned the truth, for the truth's sake. And whilst nothing could be said"
against the character of Otterbein, nor against the truths he taught, yet
some of his friends advised him to use greater caution in his exhortations
and reproofs. But, even as Daniel, when he knew that the writing was
sealed, went to his chamber and prayed as aforetime, so Otterbein went
to his pulpit and preached as aforetime. Owing to this plain and ear
nest manner of preaching the truth, both the clergy and the magistrates
were turned against him, and the authorities were privately solicited to
arrest his preaching. When his pious mother learned that there was such
opposition to his preaching she said to him, " Ah, William, I expected
this, and give you joy. This place is too narrow for you, my son ; they
will not receive you here ; you will find your work elsewhere." She did
not think that she was uttering a prophecy which would be fulfilled in
the manner it was. She seemed only to realize that her son was emi
nently fitted for the work of the ministry, and her faith in God was to
the effect that a way would be opened for him.
While Otterbein was undergoing this severe ordeal in his native town
His can to word came to him from what was then called the New
America. World, that the people were perishing for want of the bread
of life. This turned his attention to America. Here we see the hand
of God. If he would have adopted the policy the clergy and magistrates
desired, he would have found a lucrative and easy field at home. But
God wanted a man to come to America to break the bread of life to the
famishing Germans, and the very opposition that was raised against him
in his native town was made the means of thrusting him out over the
wide sea, to become one of the standard-bearers of the cross of Christ in
a foreign land.
In the year 1751, Michael Schlatter returned from America, after
having spent several years as an exploring missionary. He represented
the wants of the people as being very great ; in council with the synods
of North and South Plolland, he made a call for six young ministers to
go to America as missionaries. Otterbein immediately responded to the
call, and was accepted. He at once set about making the necessary ar
rangements for his departure. His separation from his mother was a
severe trial to both. She had given her son to the Lord, yet when the
hour drew near for him to depart it was a greater trial than she had
anticipated. She retired to her closet, and there importuned God for
courage and strength to bear up under the ordeal. Returning from her
devotions, she took her son by the hand, and said, " Go, my son ; the Lord
bless thee, and much grace direct thy steps. On earth I may not see thy

Cent. XVH.-XIX] PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN. 601
face again, but go." " With what strange and beautiful courage and grace
can a mother's love bind its sacrifice upon the altar !" " On earth I may
not see thy face again, but go." It was even so : on earth she saw his
face no more. Upon the evening of July 27, 1752, he landed in New
York. In August, 1752, Otterbein entered upon his labors at Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. He gave himself wholly to the pastoral work, for he be
lieved that it could engage all his powers. He was a man of order, and,
finding almost everything out of order, he resolved to bring order out
of confusion. It is but just to state that at this time (1752), both in
Germany and in America, the doctrine of the new birth was well-nigh cov
ered up with forms and ceremonies. But few of the clergy knew any
thing about it experimentally. Otterbein himself, though regularly or
dained, had never been a subject of this change.
There was a remarkable coincidence in John Wesley's experience and
that of Otterbein. In his journal Wesley says, " I went to Awakened jn
America to convert the Indians, but oh, who shall convert splrlt-
me ! " Otterbein came to America to convert the Germans, and was not
himself converted. He had studied the Word of God, and obtained a
pretty clear idea of the nature of conversion. Its power he was led
to feel in the following manner : On a certain Sabbath he preached one
of his pointed sermons on the necessity of a new heart and life. At
the close of the sermon one of his congregation, who had been touched
by the power of truth, came to him in tears, and asked what he must do
to be saved. The question was brought to Otterbein as it had never been
before. Paul could tell the jailer in a few words what to do, but here
was a learned, eloquent minister who could not tell a poor penitent soul
what he must do to be saved. He looked upon the man, and with deep
emotion said, " My friend, advice is scarce with me to-day." This inci
dent brought him to a crisis. He had for a long time felt the necessity
of a new heart, but had not sought it with full faith. He had often
preached it to others, and now another preached it to him. He imme
diately repaired to his study, and there remained in earnest prayer until
God in mercy gave him a new heart. If his preaching up to this time
had been plain and logical, it was none the less so now, and, besides, was
accompanied with an unction which neither he nor his people had felt
before. Having now entered into a new life, he was eminently fitted for
a leader. He was calm, dignified, humble, and devout.
Otterbein remained six years in Lancaster, during which time he
experienced no small degree of trouble. His people were disorderly,
not willing to endure the restraints which the gospel imposed. The
majority of them knew nothing about a change of heart. They relied
upon forms and ceremonies. This grieved the pastor, for he most ear
nestly desired to lead them into a higher and better life. Those acquainted

602 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
with the history of the churches in America a hundred and twenty-five
years ago, especially among the Germans, will understand how difficult
it must have been to lead them away from the mere forms of religion
into a life of faith, purity, and love. Still his work at Lancaster was by
no means a failure. His name by tradition is to this day in honorable
mention by many in that city. The author of the " Fathers of the Re
formed Church " thus speaks of Otterbein : " Under his [Otterbein's]
ministry the old small wooden church which stood in the back part of the
grave-yard was superseded by a massive stone church on the street, which
was built in 1753, and was not taken down till 1852, having stood almost
a century. Internally the congregation greatly prospered. Evidences
of his order and zeal look out upon us from the records in many ways,
and enterprises started in his time have extended their results in the
permanent features of the congregation down to this day."
Like many earnest and faithful servants of God, he could not accom
plish what he desired, because he preached and insisted upon a change of
heart. Many of his brethren in the ministry, as well as in the laity, were
turned against him. But he was not to be diverted from his purpose.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified was his all-absorbing theme. He had
launched his vessel, and would not put into port until the Master bade
him. Near the end of the year 1758 he resigned his charge with a view
of entering a field where he hoped to find a people more willing to receive
the Word of Life.
From Lancaster he went to Tulpehocken, where he took charge tem
porarily of two congregations. Plere he found less opposition and more
freedom. His purpose was not only to fill the pulpit on the Sabbath, but
to win souls to Christ. To accomplish this he went from house to house,
like a. true pastor. It was a new measure, and the people were sur
prised to see a man so in earnest. Here for the first time he introduced
evening meetings, at which he would read portions of Scripture, sing,
pray, and exhort the people. This was another new measure, and the
people were not a little astonished at it. For one to be so concerned
about the souls of others was new and strange. At this time there was
not a Methodist society in America. Those who were church members,
especially among the Germans, were mere nominal Christians. Otterbein
understood the situation, and, like Isaiah, would not rest nor hold his
peace until the people were aroused. " What does this mean ? " said some ;
" the minister and men and women kneel and pray and weep, and call
upon God, for Jesus' sake, to have mercy upon them. Who ever heard
of such procedure ? " These prayer-meetings afforded important aid to
the blessed work of reformation.
While Otterbein was scattering the precious seed in and around Tul
pehocken, another link was being formed, which, under the hand of God,
was to be welded into the chain which was being wrought out. It was

Cent. XVII.-XIX] PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN. 603
not by accident or chance ; God did it in his own way. It is wonderful
how God will sometimes bring together elements which in their nature
are altogether dissimilar. Otterbein was well educated and regularly
ordained to the office of a minister, and if it had been left to men to
select a co-laborer no doubt the choice would have been from among
men of high culture in a literary sense. But God's ways are not man's
ways, nor his thoughts their thoughts.
Martin Boehm was the son of a farmer, and a farmer himself. He was
a minister elect in the Mennonite society, of which his parents were mem
bers. Whilst it is doubtless true that the Mennonites in former times
were among the most enlightened and spiritual people in Europe, it is
also true that in America, at the time of which we are now writing, they
were devoted to forms, having lost their spiritual power.
Soon after Boehm was elected preacher he made an effort to preach,
but failed, and so for a number of times. This distressed him very much.
To be a preacher, and yet have nothing to preach, was, to his sensitive
nature, very humiliating. To teach others the way of salvation, and not
know the way himself, finally drove him to earnest prayer. " I felt con
strained," he said, " to pray for myself, and while praying my mind be
came alarmed. I felt and saw myself a poor sinner. I was lost. My
agony became great. I was plowing in the field, and kneeled down at
each end of the furrow to pray. The word Lost! Lost! [Verlohren ! Ver-
lohren !] went every round with me. Midway in the field, I could go no
farther. I sank down behind the plow, crying, ' Lord, save me ! I am
lost ! ' Then came to me the thought or voice, ' I am come to seek and
to save that which is lost.' In a moment I was filled with unspeakable
joy, and I was saved."
Here now were two men brought into the light and liberty of the sons
of God, who up to this time had not seen each other. They were mem
bers of churches widely different from each other. But religion is a
unit, — one thing. All are baptized by one Spirit into one body. Two
precious revivals were now going on : one under the labors of Otterbein
at Tulpehocken, and the other under the labors of Boehm among the
Mennonites. A meeting (called in the German language a grosse versammlung) was
appointed to be held in Isaac Long's barn, near Lancaster,
rr ° ' ' The occasion of
Pennsylvania. It was to be a general meeting for all who the name
-, . i _ _ . ° , , ° United Brethren
desired to attend. It is not known by whom this meet
ing was appointed, most probably by Boehm. The time came, and with
it the members of the various churches : German Reformed, Mennon
ites, Tunkers, and Lutherans ; possibly other denominations were repre
sented. Some came for one thing, and some for another, but nearly all
were drawn together out of curiosity. They were anxious to see what
would grow of such a meeting, for it was new and strange. Here these

604 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
two evangelical ministers met for the first time. Boehm was a small
man, and was dressed in the plain style of a Mennonite preacher. Ot
terbein was a large man, and dressed in the ordinary clerical style of
his church. There was a striking contrast in the personnel of the two
men. Boehm, in his plain and neat attire, preached the opening sermon. All
eyes were turned upon him as he stood expounding the Word of God.
No one listened with greater interest than did Otterbein. As the heart
of the preacher warmed with his subject, it kindled and fed a flame in
the heart of the other. At the close of the sermon, and before Boehm
had time to resume his seat, Otterbein arose and, folding him in his arms,
exclaimed with a loud voice, " We are brethren ! " This was a strange
and unexpected turn of affairs, — the scholarly Otterbein holding in his
arms the plain and unassuming Boehm, and this, too, upon their first meet
ing. It was not the result of education, nor of any natural affinity ; it
was simply a proof of the unity of religion, — baptized by one Spirit into
one body. Boehm lived for many years, and was the honored instrument
of winning many precious souls to Christ. After their first meeting, these
two evangelical preachers often met, and were fast friends until death sep
arated them.
In 1760, Otterbein accepted a call from the Reformed church at Fred
erick, Maryland. Here, as at Tulpehocken, he entered upon his labors
with all the zeal and ardor of a man who felt the worth of perishing souls.
The salvation of souls was to his mind paramount to everything else.
During his stay at Frederick he extended his labors into the regions round
about, holding services in barns, private houses, and often in the open
air. Scores of precious souls were awakened and brought to Christ
through his labors at and around Frederick.
Dr. Zacharias, pastor of the Reformed church in Frederick, in a cen
tenary sermon makes the following remarks concerning Otterbein : " Dur
ing Mr. Otterbein's labors here the church in which we now worship was
built ; also the parsonage which has been the successive residence of your
pastors ever since  A few letters are still preserved in our archives,
written by Mr. Otterbein, while at York, to members of this charge.
From these letters, brief as they are, you may easily gather the spirit of
the man. Though laboring in another field, he remembered with affec
tionate kindness and concern the people whom he had recently left. He
mourned over them, and endeavored to profit them by imparting to them
his godly council, and offering up in their behalf his earnest prayers."
This testimony, coming from such a man as Dr. Zacharias more than
eighty years after Otterbein had served them as pastor, shows the very
high esteem in whicli he was held among the people. But no wonder,
for " he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and faith."
An educated German gives this testimony concerning the appearance

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN. 605
and preaching of Otterbein : " Nearly half a century has passed since I
became acquainted with Otterbein, and never will I forget the impression
made upon my mind when I first saw and heard him. It was on Good
Friday, in the forenoon, when by the persuasion of a friend I entered
the church where he officiated. A venerable, portly old man, above six
feet in height, erect in posture, apparently about seventy-five years of age,
stood before me. He had a remarkably high and prominent forehead.
Gray hair fell smoothly down both sides of his head, on his temples ; and
his eyes were large, blue, and piercing, and sparkled with the fire of love
which warmed the heart. In his appearance and manners there was
nothing repulsive, but all was attractive, and calculated to command the
most profound attention and reverence. He opened his lips in prayer to
Jehovah. Oh, what a voice, what a prayer ! Every word thrilled my
heart. I had heard many prayers, but never one before like this. The
words of his text were these : ' Thus it is written, and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that repent
ance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.' As he proceeded in the elucidation of
the text and its application, it seemed that every word was exactly adapted
to my case, and intended for me. Every sentence smote me. On the
following Sabbath I again went to his church, when he took special notice
of the young stranger, and gave me an invitation to visit him on the fol
lowing day. I complied with the friendly request with some reluctance,
it is true, but was received with such unaffected tenderness and love, and
addressed with so much solicitude for my salvation, that my heart was
won." In 1765 Otterbein closed his labors at Frederick, and accepted a call
to York, Pennsylvania. Here he labored for nine yearsJ Pursues his
with his usual zeal and success. During all these years at work in the Re-
Tulpehocken, Frederick, and York, he was continually being
joined by additional laborers, most of whom had been awakened and
brought into the true light through his and Boehm's instrumentality.
But it was no part of Otterbein's purpose to organize a new church.
He only sought to win souls to Christ, and impress upon the consciences
of the people, and especially the formal professors of religion, " that a
vital union with Christ was essential to a religious life." But God in
tended him for a leader, and so controlled the circumstances that without
his own choice he was soon placed at the head of a new denomination.
From York Otterbein removed to Baltimore. This was in the year
1774. He was in the forty-eighth year of his age, and the twenty-
fifth of his ministry. " Nearly twenty years had passed since he had
entered fully into the light and liberty of the sons of God; and during
all that period he had labored incessantly, in public and private, to pro
mote in the churches a revival of Bible religion." 11 he had been in-

606 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
fluenced by the love of ease or money, he would doubtless have remained
in charge of some of the more wealthy and popular congregations. But
he had a higher and nobler aim. He was after souls for the Master; and
many a poor wanderer was led by him into the fold of Christ.
About this time it was that he formed the acquaintance of Francis As-
bury, and they remained firm friends up to the time of Otterbein's death.
When Asbury was to be ordained to the office of bishop (1784) such
was his confidence in Otterbein that he requested that he should assist in
his ordination. Otterbein, many severe conflicts past, finally organized
n™„™. „ „„w at Baltimore " The United Brethren in Christ," a church in
Organizes a new 7
denomination. doctrine and discipline distinct from and independent of all
other denominations. This, as already intimated, was not his own choice ;
there was a combination of circumstances, over which he seemed not to
have any control, that forced him into this measure. This organization
was perfected September 25, 1800. The new communion, in its formal
existence, began, therefore, almost contemporaneously with the new cent
ury. Otterbein was chosen to lead the new body in the office of bishop,
Boehm being associated with him.
" The great meetings which had been so happily inaugurated at Isaac
Long's had been attended from year to year by the richest blessings.
They had become an institution of no small value. Thither went up
the people of God from all quarters and churches, as the tribes of Israel
flowed together at the feast of tabernacles." Otterbein was nearly always
present at these meetings. Many there were who bitterly opposed this
work, but still it went on. When one had tasted the precious word of
truth, he would say, " Oh, this precious gospel must be preached to my _
neighbors. ! "
Otterbein continued in Baltimore for nearly forty years. Here, as at
Tulpehocken, Frederick, and York, his work was attended with tokens
of the divine sanction. Scores and hundreds of souls were brought to
Christ. " The little wooden church in which his congregation first wor-
shiped gave place to a larger structure, and that in turn to the spacious
edifice which now stands on Conway Street."
At length, after spending sixty-two years in the ministry, the end was
reached, and on the 17th of November, 1813, he fell asleep in Jesus.
The last vocal prayer offered up at his bedside was by an evangelical
Lutheran minister, the Rev. Dr. Kurtz, a personal friend of Otterbein.
The last words of Otterbein were these : " Jesus, Jesus, I die, but Thou
livest, and soon I shall live with Thee." Turning to his friends who had
come to see how their pastor and leader would meet death, he continued,
" The conflict is over and past. I begin to feel an unspeakable fullness
of love and peace divine. Lay my head upon my pillow, and be still."
" He taught us how to live, and oh, too high
A price of knowledge, taught us how to die I "

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] PHILIP WILLIAM OTTERBEIN.

607

The remains of Otterbein were buried in the church-yard on Howard's
Hill, in the city of Baltimore. The grave is adorned with two plain
marble slabs, the upper one resting on four pillars of marble, with the
following inscription : —

HIEE BUHEN
DIE GEBEINE DES VEBSTOBBENEN
WILLIAM OTTERBEIN.
GEBOBEN 4 JUKI, 1726 ;
GESTORBEN 17 NOVEMBER, 1813.
SEINES ALTERS,
87 JAHEE, 6 MONATE, 13 TAGE.
" Selig sind die Todten die in dem Herrn
sterben; sie ruhen von ihrer Arbeit; denn
ihre Werke folgen ihnen nach."

HEEE BEST
THE REMAINS OF
WILLIAM OTTERBEIN.
born JUNE 4, 1726;
DEPARTED THIS LIFE NOVEMBER 17, 1813
AGED
87 YEABS, 6 MONTHS, 13 DAYS.
" Blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord; for they rest from their labors, and
their works do follow them."

Four months after the death of Mr. Otterbein, the Methodist confer
ence met m the city of Baltimore. On the last day of the conference
Bishop Asbury, who was a warm personal friend of Mr. Otterbein,
preached a sermon in Otterbein's pulpit. Referring to the occasion in
his journal, Asbury said, "By request, I discoursed on the character
of the angel of the church of Philadelphia, in allusion to William Otter
bein, — the holy, the great Otterbein, — whose funeral discourse it was
intended to be. Solemnity marked the silent meeting in the German
church, where were assembled the members of our conference and many
of the clergy of the city. Forty years have I known the retiring mod
esty of this man of God towering majestic above his fellows in learn
ing, wisdom, and grace, yet seeking to be known only to God and the
people of God."
Otterbein was not a partisan. " A man of a more catholic spirit never
lived," — pure in character, simple and easy in his manners, benevolent
in heart, and humble in spirit. Though persecuted through the most of
his ministerial life, he did not murmur nor complain. When denounced
as an " enthusiast," " false prophet," and " fanatic," he would weep over
his enemies. " But it was as a preacher and as an evangelist that he
most excelled." When he was eighty years old, Bishop Newcomer heard
him preach, and thus speaks of it : " Oh, what feelings penetrate my soul
whenever this old servant of Christ declares the counsel of God ! In
depth of erudition and in perspicuity of thought he is unique and match
less." Two generations have passed since that sainted father in Israel
fell asleep in Jesus, but his works still follow him. — J. W.

608 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE X. JAMES MANNING.
A. D. 1738-A. D. 1791. BAPTIST, — AMERICA.
James Manning has been selected to represent the Baptists of the
colonial period in American history ; not that he represents them alto
gether, but rather that, rising from among them, he led them into the
new era which followed. He closed the first volume of their history and
opened a new page. The son of the earlier time, he was the father of
a new generation of better training and ampler fortune. His active and
public life covers the period between 1762 and 1791, during which the
colonies became a nation, and many new paths opened to American life
and religion. He thus belonged to both periods, and to the transition
from the one to the other.
There is another name, of earlier date, related, indeed, to the very
His predecessor, beginnings of colonial history, and illustrating the same
Roger Wiiuams. town of Providence and colony of Rhode Island where
Manning spent his years, which might for some purposes take the first
and representative place. The history of the Baptists in America begins
with Roger Williams. ' He had not always been of them, and was not
long with them. He came from England a Puritan and a Separatist.
At Plymouth and Salem he had been an accepted minister of the Word,
but his advanced opinions gave offense, and provoked the authorities to
banish him from the colony of Massachusetts Bay. He passed beyond
its borders, and planted a colony and a state on the shores of Narragan-
sett. Most of his companions, like himself, were dissenters from the
ecclesiastical order in Massachusetts Bay, and had taken refuge with him
for sake of a larger liberty of opinion. He says, " Having, in a sense of
God's merciful providence unto me in my distress, called the place Prov
idence, I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed of con
science." x Here he received lay baptism at the hands of one of his
associates, and with eleven other persons joined in the formation of a
Baptist church, the first in America, with but one other like it, as far as
we know, in England. This was in the year 1638-1639. In a short
time he separated himself from all churches, becoming a " seeker."
Williams, not only as the progenitor of a long and numerous line of
Baptists in America, but on account of his early and courageous advo
cacy of entire freedom in religion, and his establishment of a colony and
a state, the first in the civilized world to incorporate these principles into
its law and practice, is an illustrious figure in our early history. The
Baptists have always counted his among their honorable names, and have
set him forward as their representative. And yet he gave them no con-
i Deed of K. Williams to his associates in 1638, Rhode Island Colonial Records, i. 22.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JAMES MANNING. 609
scious impulse, and would have disclaimed all praise of leadership. In
fact, prior to 1740, the Baptists had had small growth, and only such as
comes of itself, without the championship of leaders, or the strength
and productiveness of association. In that year George Whitefield
landed at Newport, in Rhode Island, and became for thirty years one of
the principal agencies in a mighty spiritual movement, one of whose
issues was a more rapid multiplication of the churches of the Baptists.
In 1734, at the time of the great awakening under Jonathan Edwards,
there were but fifteen Baptist churches in New England ; * and in 1740,
when Whitefield began to lift up here his trumpet, there were only
thirty-seven, with less than three thousand members, in all
-T , ._ ..r-rt^ -a*- Baptist progress
.North America, rifty years later, m 1/90, when Man- in the days of
ning was just closing his life, there were eight hundred and ™ ng'
seventy-two churches, with nearly sixty-five thousand members,2 they
having multiplied twenty-fold.
The early Baptists were inconsiderable in numbers, their ministry had
little learning, and they suffered the manifold disabilities of a dissenting
minority. But before the Revolution, indeed, on the heels of the Great
Awakening, their more rapid growth began. An acute and learned writer
in the "North American Review"3 (1876), in reviewing religion in-
America for the first century of the republic, ascribes this growth to-
" two distinct causes : " One was, that they insisted on a personal ex.-
perience of religion as the absolute condition of admission to the
church of Christ, the characteristic doctrine of the Great Awakening,
But besides this, there was another and perhaps more potent reason :
" A distinctive characteristic of the Baptists was the energy with which
they extolled the gifts of the Spirit, and advocated an unlearned minis
try. On this latter point, as we have already seen, the Congregational-
ists took high ground. Even Edwards, the most powerful promoter of
the revival, would not allow that a man should enter the pulpit ' who
had had no education at college.' Against what seemed to them an un
righteous prejudice in favor of 'the original tongues,' both Separatists
and Baptists strenuously maintained ' that every brother that is qualified
by God has a right to preach according to the measure of faith.'
' Lowly preaching ' became their favorite watch-word, and it marked
the beginning of a popular tendency destined to make itself deeply felt
in the religious institutions of New England. The Baptists not only
gained a controlling influence with a devout but humble class, who had
little appetite for the elaborate discussions of the Congregational divines,
but they were powerfully helped by the prejudice which exists, in every
community, against the exclusiveness of superior culture. The rapid
growth of the Baptists was, in large part, a democratic protest, and it is
1 Horey, Life of Backus, 261.
2 Cramp, Baptist History, 527.
8 North American Review, January, 1876, art. i., by Prof. J. L. Diman.
39

610 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
a noticeable fact that even during the war their numbers steadily aug
mented." Whatever truth there may be in this view, it is also true
that at the same time with the expansion of this denomination of Chris-
Mannmg a tians, there appeared among them a movement towards a
leader in educa- higher education, in which James Manning was a leader.
He was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, October 22,
1738, and graduated at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, Sep
tember 29, 1762. At the time of his graduation there were but six col
leges in the country. Of these, two were in New England under the
control of the Congregationalists, one in New Jersey under the Presby
terians, and three under the Episcopalians in New York, Pennsylvania,
and Virginia. It was natural, with a rising desire for better education
among a growing Christian communion, that they should desire a college
of their own. This desire came to the surface most strongly among the
Baptists of Pennsylvania, who had organized an association of churches,
which was the only one in the country for nearly sixty years. The
Philadelphia Association had taken action and started a movement to
wards a college, looking to Rhode Island as the colony where, from the
religious persuasion of a large number of the people, and the liberal
spirit of its government from the beginning, they would be most likely
to find an open field and friendly encouragement. Manning went there
in July, 1763, undoubtedly under the impulse of this action, and by his
efforts the project of " a seminary of polite literature subject to the gov
ernment of the Baptists " was set on foot, and a liberal charter obtained
from the General Assembly. It was called Rhode Island College, re
ceiving its present name of Brown University in honor of its greatest
benefactor forty years later, in 1804. Manning had been previously
•ordained to the ministry, and in the spring of 1764 he removed to War
ren, a town not far from Providence, where he combined the offices of
pastor of the church and president of the college for a number of years.
The church had been formed as a result of his preaching, and he had
been appointed president of the college, having first undertaken a school
which proved to be the beginning of the college. The transfer of the
college to Providence, a step which proved of the greatest advantage
to the infant institution, was a great trial to him. " So affectionately
desirous," says Professor Goddard, " was Dr. Manning of the people of
his care, many of whom had, through his instrumentality, experienced
the transforming efficacy of the religion of Christ, that he could not find
it in his heart to leave them. To avoid a separation so painful to his
sensibilities, he even proposed to resign the elevated position to which
he had just been appointed. To this proposition his influential friends
would not listen, and they persuaded him to abandon all thought of re
signing the presidentship. While we are compelled to think that his
¦decision was a wise one, we honor the feelings which well-nigh betrayed

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JAMES MANNING. 611
his judgment. Under similar circumstances, how few men would have
faltered ; how few would have sought to renounce the pathway to literary
and social distinction for the unambitious career of a village pastor ! "
Bnt in Providence a larger opportunity was prepared for him, and he
found ample scope for his gifts as a preacher as well as an Manning!9 work
educator. For three quarters of a century the church in Providence.
founded by Roger Williams had been the only one of any persuasion.
When Manning removed to Providence, in May, 1770, it was more than
one hundred and thirty years old, and yet in a population of four thou
sand people it had but one hundred and eighteen members. For all this
time it had been going on, receiving neither from within nor from with
out any vigorous impulse. Its ministers had been natives, bred on the
spot, and were generally in advanced years, at work for their daily bread,
and without special training. Like the early Baptists and Quakers in
England, they discarded singing and music in worship.1 Moreover, very
early, and almost from the start, the church had adopted the rite of im
position of hands in connection with baptism, and insisted upon it as
prerequisite to the communion of the Lord's Supper. It had been ex
tremely rigorous as to this rite, and refused prayer or communion with
those who did not conform to the practice. This singular tenacity for
an essential rite was the sign of a contracted spirit, and very likely the
reason for a contracted influence. Whatever more liberal views may
have existed were suppressed. But the advent of President Manning
emancipated the more liberal tendencies, and started the church on the
higher career which it has followed for more than a century. His com
ing was like a fresh breeze. The old torpor began to stir. The old
strictness relaxed. Religion was powerfully revived. The college came
bringing fresh impulses and new demands. It joined itself to the church
in many ways. A meeting-house was erected " for the public worship of
Almighty God, and also for holding Commencement in," so spacious and
elegant that it still stands, five years more than a century old, the most
notable structure for religious purposes in a city with a hundred thou
sand people, though built in a village with no more than four thousand
inhabitants. Manning found congenial spirits, men of enlarged views,
who could appreciate a minister of more liberal training, and, whose
hands were ready for works of improvement. His very first Sunday
brought to a crisis the differences of opinion in regard to the imposition
of hands as requisite to communion. The minister and a section of the
church holding the narrower and stringent view withdrew, and he was
at once invited to take pastoral charge. Thus his love for the active
ministry of the Word was gratified, while he was called to the front as
leader in an enterprise of education most important to that growing
1 W. Tallack, George Fox and the Early Baptists; R. Barclay, The Inner Life of the
Religious Societies of the Commonwealth.

612 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
branch of the Christian church to which he belonged. He became at
once the minister of the oldest church of the Baptists in America, and
president of their first college, and no position could be more command
ing. And he had admirable fitness for the position. He was of impressive
Manning's per- presence, of large and handsome person, of elegant and
sonai gilts. genial manners. His learning, if not extensive, was suf
ficient, and his eloquence in ail public address very effective. He was
the first clergyman of liberal education who had ministered to the con
gregation. To all his gifts was added the dignity of his office. And
above all was an ardor of. piety and an excellence of character which
allayed prejudice and won respect. Though he was but thirty-two years
old, his talents and his attainments gave him prominence at a time when
there were few educated clergymen in his denomination, and few persons
equal to leadership in an educational enterprise, while his youth lent a
charm and a power quite inspiring in such a community.
In the winter of 1774, while the people were engaged in the erection
of the large meeting-house modeled after St. Martin's-in-the-Fields in
London, a power greater than Manning's was felt among them. He
writes to a friend in England, " In the beginning of the winter of 1774,
it pleased the Lord in a most remarkable manner to revive his work in the
town of Providence, and more especially among the people of my charge.
Such a time I never before saw. Numbers were pricked to the heart.
Our public assemblies by night and by day were crowded, and the audi
tors seemed to hear as for the life of their souls. It was frequently an
hour before I could get from the pulpit to the door, on account of the
numbers thronging to have an opportunity, of stating the condition of
their minds. Never before did I experience such happy hours in the
pulpit. Day and night my dear people resorted to my house to open to
me the state of their souls, insomuch that it was with difficulty I could
at any time attend to secular business ; and I think I may say with truth
that I had as little inclination as leisure for it, further than absolute
duty required. And what added peculiarly to my happiness was that
the Lord visited the college as remarkably as the congregation. Fre
quently, when I went to the recitation room, I would find nearly all the
students assembled and joining in prayer and praise to God. Instead of
my lectures on logic and philosophy they would request me to speak to
them of the things concerning the kingdom of God  In the space
of about six months I baptized more than one hundred persons 
Thus the glorious work continued, and rather increased, until the fatal
19th of April, when the affair at Lexington happened, which, like an elec
tric shock, filled every mind with horror and compassion." x
The war of the Revolution, precipitated by " the affair at Lexington,"
1 Guild, Manning and Brown University, 246.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JAMES MANNING. 613
through all its hard years of public distress, arrested the springing life
of church and college. Fortunately, the meeting-house had
been finished and dedicated between the battles of Lexing- triot in political
life
ton and Bunker Hill, and the church had a home, though
its members were scattered and its life languished. The college was
closed, and its building was used for a barrack or a hospital for soldiers.
There were no students and no Commencements. No degrees were con
ferred till 1786. It was in that year that Dr. Manning was elected a
delegate to Congress. He had few inclinations fori political life, but he
ardently sympathized with his struggling country, and his position and
character drew to him the spontaneous confidence and suffrage of his fel
low-citizens. The proceedings of the Congress were not public, and what
part Dr. Manning took in its deliberations we do not know. That he
filled his place with the dignity of a gentleman, the uprightness of a
Christian, and the fidelity of a patriot is clear from the whole tenor of his
life. His life was now near a sudden and premature close. He seems al
most to have expected it, although he was only in his fifty-fourth year,
and bearing upon his person the signs of undecayed vigor and health.
In April, 1791, he notified the corporation of the college of his desire to
be relieved from his office when a successor should be appointed. On the
last Sabbath of the same month he also preached a sermon of farewell to
the church. On the 24th of July following, while engaged in prayer in
his home on Sunday morning, he was taken with apoplexy, and with no
revival of consciousness soon passed to his eternal rest, as "universally
lamented," says the historian of the Baptists, Isaac Backus, " as any man
that I have known."
For nearly thirty years he had been in Rhode Island, devoting his
life to the highest interests. He had given a new impulse to an an
cient church, which became one of the first as it was the oldest of the
communion to which it belonged. In the birth and beginnings of a
college which for two generations was the only one belonging to Amer
ican Baptists, he had the principal part. His learning, his powers,
his character, his fidelity in all trusts, his sympathy with the depressed
and feeble churches of his own religious persuasion, his leadership in
their aspirations after liberal education, gave him great honor in his
own day, and a position of singular eminence, if not of primacy, in
the generation of Baptists which closed the colonial and began the na
tional period of our history. In the long time between Williams and
Manning there arose among them no name more illustrious, and no per
son who more fitly and more nobly represents them. One imagines that
if Williams had remained among them and of them, with his genius, his
university training, his enthusiasm, so strong in the courage of his opin
ions, so magnetic in his influence over others, devoting the fifty years

614 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
of his life in America to the propagation of their sentiments and the in
crease of their churches, the future would have been different, and Man
ning might have entered on quite another inheritance, and found his work
in a good measure anticipated. But Providence is wiser and stronger
than any man, or any number of men, and takes its own hours and ways,
and waits till it is ready, and times and locates, arrests and hurries', pre
cedes and follows, according to a wisdom and a will of its own. These
men both served its purpose, and made a way for others, a way for the
conception of Christianity which they had embraced to advance to a
wider dominion and a history in missions, in education, quite beyond
their dreams. — S. L. C.

LIFE XII. FRANCIS ASBURY.
A. D. 1745-A. D. 1816. METHODIST EPISCOPAL, — AMERICA.
Francis Asbury, the pioneer bishop of America, was born in the
parish of Handsworth, Staffordshire, England, August 20, 1745. He
was of humble extraction, his father being a gardener by occupation.
Both the elder Asbury and his wife were members of the Established
Church, and they were careful — the mother especially — to indoctrinate
their son in the fundamental truths of the gospel. There were but two
children in the family, Francis, and a sister, who however died in in
fancy. But though he thus came in for a double share of tenderness on
the part of his mother, he does not seem to have become in any sense a
spoiled child because an only one. Perhaps this is to be attributed to
the truly religious atmosphere of his home, which was sanctified by
daily reading of the Scriptures and prayer. As soon as he was old
enough he was sent to school, his father affording him every opportu
nity within his means, to acquire a good common English education, but
ms sufferings as n^s success as a student was not what could have been de-
a school-boy. sire(j_ The teacher " was a great churl," and beat the lad
so unmercifully that he conceived a dislike not only for him, but for his
books as well, and at length became quite discouraged. The religious
tendency of the boy's mind became quite apparent at this time. After
suffering from some fresh cruelty inflicted by the master, oppressed with
the shame and sorrow consequent upon the punishment, he used to re
tire, as soon as he could, to some unfrequented place, and there pour out
his heart to God in prayer. He became quite pensive and retiring, a
trait of character for which he was, in some measure, distinguished
through life.
Finding that he did not make the advancement in his studies which
he desired, his father removed him from school, and set him to work

Cent. XVH. -XIX] FRANCIS ASBURY. 615
under the direction of a person who appeared to understand him better
than the teacher had done, and who treated him kindly. The change of
treatment had a beneficial effect upon the boy, which soon became ap
parent ; for, while he did not neglect his work, he also soon commenced
to apply himself to reading during his hours of leisure, and rose rapidly
in the estimation of those with whom he was associated. No better
proof is required of the carefulness with which his parents had in
structed him in religion, or of his own docile disposition and religious
bent of mind, than the fact that, no matter how provoked, he never
uttered " an oath," and always scrupulously adhered to the truth. A
moral, upright boy, young Asbury's religious principles may be said to
have been firmly established by the time he was fourteen years of age.
About this time he became very much interested in the conversations
of a pious man who occasionally visited at his father's house ; but, as in
the case of the Wesleys, he seems to have been more indebted to his
mother than to any one else for the religious impressions made upon his
susceptible mind. Having become anxious for his personal salvation, he
now entered more fully on a life of constant prayer and serious reflec
tion. The fame of John Wesley and the Methodists had reached this hum
ble Staffordshire home, but as the new people were everywhere spoken
against, young Asbury was somewhat doubtful as to the propriety of
going near them. Upon consulting his mother, however, he found that
she entertained a favorable opinion of them. Indeed, she recommended
her son to attend their meetings and judge for himself, as to whether
the influence they exerted was for good or ill. An opportunity soon pre
sented itself. The Methodists were to have a meeting some miles dis
tant from his father's house, and thither he went in company with a
friend. Arrived at the place of worship, everything he saw excited his
surprise. From beginning to end the entire service was altogether dif
ferent from any to which the lad had hitherto been accustomed. The
preaching place, instead of being a church or chapel, was a private resi
dence, the people knelt at time of prayer, and in response to the earnest
petitions of the preacher, many of them said " Amen ; " the congrega
tion sang without a choir, and the peculiar melody of the tunes, and the
adaptation of the words of the hymns to the tunes, not merely surprised,
but delighted him, and, to cap the climax, the preacher " prayed without
the use of a prayer-book," and preached without " a sermon-book." But
though all this appeared very strange to the young listener, he never
theless considered it a very good way, particularly as the preacher not
only spoke readily but clearly as well, pointing out the plan of salvation,
the necessity of faith in Christ, and the " confidence and assurance " of
the children of God. The inquiring mind of young Asbury at once
grasped this idea of the confidence and assurance of God's children, and

616 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
he determined not to rest till he obtained it. Upon his return home with
Enters u on a ^s PurPose m view, he went with a young friend, of like
religious life. frame of mind with himself, into his father's barn to pray
for the desired blessing, and in answer to the petition, he says, " I believe
the Lord pardoned my sins and justified my soul." He was then about
sixteen years of age. About a year after his conversion he began to ex
ercise his gifts as a local preacher, and when between twenty-one and
twenty-two years of age, he commenced his regular ministerial careei
under the direction of Wesley.
From the beginning it was evident to a person of Wesley's discern
ment that .Asbury had within him the elements of true greatness.
Though no collegian, not even an educated man, as the term is under
stood, his pulpit efforts were from the outset highly appreciated by the
people. Crowds attended his preaching, and competent judges were sur
prised at his ready utterance and his power in moving his audiences.
He was therefore gladly received on the various circuits to which Wes
ley appointed him ; and so characteristic of the man, and of the times too,
was the zeal with which he entered on his ministry, that for some years
he would not distract his mind from what he believed to be his legitimate
work, or leave his flock long enough to attend the sessions of the con
ference. If his seniors devised and planned the work, he was content to
carry out those plans though he had no hand in the planning.
Pie was unassuming in manner, and quite prepossessing in his personal
appearance. Though always sedate, as was the manner of the early
Methodist preachers, he was nevertheless cheerful. In dress he was neat,
without any appearance of foppishness. In demeanor he was courteous,
and always ready to evince his sympathy for those who were cast down
in feelings, or who were afflicted or oppressed ; and so far as can be ascer
tained, he appears to have been impartial in the administration of disci
pline. Such being the characteristics of the man, it is not surprising that
chosen by wes- Wesley should have considered him competeut to fill the
ley for America, position which he shortly after assigned to him in America.
Accounts of the religious destitution of the American colonies had
reached Asbury in his English home and fired him with a zealous de
sire to go to their relief, so that when Wesley approached him upon
the subject, he was as willing to go upon the mission as Wesley was to
send him.
In 1771 Wesley, in compliance with the earnest solicitations of the
American societies for more missionaries, laid their case before his con
ference, and asked for volunteers ; and in response to this call, Francis
Asbury and Richard Wright offered themselves. They were accepted,
and the supervision of the entire work in America was entrusted by Mr.
Wesley to Mr. Asbury. Then they immediately commenced to make
preparation for their voyage.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] FRANCIS ASBURY. 617
And now commences a new epoch in the life of Francis Asbury. He
goes to America as Mr. Wesley's representative there, and is to enter
upon a new and altogether untried field of operations. In many respects
the old methods and plans of working, so well adapted to the people of
the Old World, will be utterly impracticable in the New. Hereafter,
in most cases his plans must be determined by the exigencies of the case
in hand ; he will have no precedent by which to be guided. In short, it
may be said his actual career is but now begun.
But short time was spent in leave-taking ; a few of his more intimate
friends were visited, an affectionate and final earthly farewell was taken
of his parents, and then he set out for Bristol, where he remained from
the latter end of August till the 4th of September, when he and his as
sociate, Mr. Wright, set sail. Such unwavering faith had Asbury in
God's providential care for him, and in the genuineness of his call to
the work, that though so insufficiently supplied with means that by the
time he reached Bristol he had not one penny in his purse, he neverthe
less felt assured that funds for his journey would be provided in due
time. Nor was he disappointed, for some friends in the city supplied
him with the necessary clothing, and ten pounds. " Thus," says he,
" I found by experience that He will provide for those who trust in
Him." During his protracted voyage, however, lasting nearly two months,
Mr. Asbury found that what was sufficient clothing for comfort in Bristol
was very insufficient for one exposed to the cold blasts of the boisterous
Atlantic ; but in mid-ocean no oversight on this point could be remedied,
and he endured the discomforts of his position with a spirit befitting one
who had resolved to " endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
The captain treated both him and Wright courteously, permitting them to
preach on board when they desired to do so, which they accordingly did
several times. The responsibility resting upon him in view of the mis
sion he had undertaken to an unknown people occasioned. him consider
able anxiety, but he wrote, " I have great cause to believe that I am not
running before I am sent."
On the 27th of October the missionaries landed at Philadelphia, where
Asbury preached, and after spending a few days in the city Beaclles Phila_
and vicinity, where they were treated very kindly, they pro- deIPhia.
ceeded to New York, visiting Staten Island, en route. In New York,
too, they were cordially received, and Asbury at once set to work to gather
accurate information concerning the strength and requirements of the so
cieties, in order that he might send a correct report to Wesley. At this
time (1771) the Methodist societies on the entire continent of America
numbered only about six hundred members, with ten preachers. Of
churches there were very few, and those far apart. Their principal preach
ing places were court-houses and occasionally private houses, barns, or

618 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the woods, according as they had friends or influence. How widely dif
ferent this from the status to which Methodism had attained long before
Asbury's death, and largely through his instrumentality.
But though Asbury had been so very cordially received by his breth
ren on his arrival, his path was nevertheless very far from being strewn
with roses. His view of administering discipline and of a general plan
of working was in some slight particulars different from theirs, and
occasionally his judgment on these matters was questioned ; but while
courteous to his brethren, he was also firm where he was sure he was
right, as will be seen in the following extracts from his journal : " I am
fixed to the Methodist plan, and do what I do faithfully as to God. ....
At present I am dissatisfied. I judge we are to be shut up in the cities
this winter. My brethren seem unwilling to leave the cities, but I think
I shall show them the way. I am in trouble, and more trouble is at
hand, for I am determined to make a stand against all partiality." That
he did make such a stand, and that he was successful in preventing
many irregularities from creeping into the church at this period, is
much to his credit and to the credit of those associated with him, even
though they sometimes differed from him in judgment. His preaching
was quite as acceptable to his American hearers as it had been to his
English hearers, and he was quite as zealous in the discharge of his
ministerial duties upon this side of the ocean as he had been upon the
other, and even more laborious. To make up for lost time he became a
diligent student ; and that his studies might not interfere with the per
formance of other duties, and also because it was one of the good old
" Methodist plans," to which he was fixed, he became an early riser.
When well he was seldom found in bed after five o'clock in the morn
ing, and he often rose at four. The hours between rising and breakfast
were given to prayer, meditation, and reading, and in order to utilize
each instant he often continued his reading on horseback, while going
from one appointment to another. Being still a young man, compara
tively speaking, with his mind in full vigor, he in this way acquired a
large amount of very valuable information, which he wisely funded for
future use. By carefully economizing every leisure moment in this way
he was able to carry on an extensive correspondence, and post his jour
nal from time to time.
But a new era in the history of the nation was at hand, and the events
connected therewith very materially affected Asbury, and influenced his
after life.
It had been a work of time to get all the societies into the exact me-
Hardships dur- tn°dical working order which both he and Wesley desired,
ing the Bevoiu- and scarcely was this object attained when the Revolution-
tionary War. * ° ,
ary War began to loom upon the horizon. At its com
mencement a few of the leading preachers determined to return to Eng-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] FRANCIS ASBURY. 619
land at once, but while Asbury was Still an honest Englishman, he was
also too true-hearted a missionary to leave his flock in such perilous
times. The Methodist, societies were dearer to him than even Old Eng
land, or his much-loved kindred ; and beside this, his own utterances
show that he was in sympathy with the colonists in their struggle ; so
he determined to remain and await the issue. But neither zeal nor
heroism saved him from reproach, misapprehension, and annoyance. In
some of the States he was forbidden to preach at all, in others his mo
tives for remaining were aspersed, and for a year he had to take refuge
with Judge White in Delaware, by whose hospitable family he was
treated with every mark of respect. Nor did he alone suffer obloquy.
Freeborn Garretson and others of his heroic associates, being native-
born, hoped that they might be allowed to continue their labors, and
attempted to do so, but they were persecuted and imprisoned. While
Asbury was secreted at Judge White's, what he considered his legitimate
work, that for which he lived, was of necessity almost entirely given up ;
though when he dared he would venture out to pray with and preach to
the families in the vicinity of the judge's mansion.
At last the terrible storm of war was over, and Asbury was free once
more to go where he would about his Master's business, and indefatiga
bly as ever he traveled north and south, east and west, far as the set
tlements extended, striving to gather in again' the flocks which had been
scattered so widely during those long years of bitter strife between the
two countries. Most ably and faithfully did he discharge the duties of
the position which had been assigned to him by Wesley.
The Revolutionary War swept away every vestige of church and state
connection in the colonies now become an independent nation, and also
left the Methodist societies in an undesirable condition in regard to gen
eral organization. In consequence of this, Wesley, who now felt him
self untrammeled, so far, at least, as America was concerned, by his con
nection with the state church in England, proceeded to make provision
for the organization of the societies into a regular independent church.
To this end, therefore, he ordained Messrs. Whatcoat and Vasey elders,
and Dr. Coke general superintendent, giving him letters of episcopal
authority, and commissioning him and his associates named above to pro
ceed to America and ordain Asbury to the office of bishop, and also to
ordain deacons and elders, — in short, to organize the church so that the
people might receive the sacraments from their own pastors.
As soon as possible after Dr. Coke's arrival a general conference of
the American preachers was called, which convened at Baltimore De
cember 25, 1784, when Wesley's scheme was heartily con- Asbury becomes
curred in and Asbury was unanimously elected by his biah°P-
American brethren themselves, as well as appointed by Wesley one of
the bishops of the newly organized church, which was entitled the
" Methodist Episcopal Church."

620 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Dr. Coke, who had been ordained by Wesley, and who had also been
elected bishop at the same time with Asbury, now proceeded to ordain
him to the office and work of a bishop, and who that has carefully traced
Asbury's subsequent career will say that his was not truly an apostolic
episcopate, in the proper sense of the New Testament term ? Had he
traveled weary miles undeterred by summer's heat or winter's cold, by
hunger or by fear of danger, had he crossed wild mountains and forded
unbridged rivers, wooed sleep unsheltered in the wilderness or on the
naked floors of rude frontier cabins, and in every way labored diligently
for the advancement of his Master's kingdom, before his ordination;
after it he was in travels and in sacrifices and in labors yet more abun
dant. Formerly his oversight and jurisdiction had been somewhat cir
cumscribed, and his labors, even then Plerculean, were sometimes fol
lowed by a brief season of rest ; but now his responsibility for the over
sight of all the societies upon the continent was unshared by any one
during the absence of Dr. Coke, and hereafter there would be no season
of rest as long as the physical frame would bear the strain.
January 3, 1785, he says, " Rode fifty miles through frost and snow to
Fairfax, Virginia, and got in about seven o'clock." Two days after :
" We had an exceedingly cold ride to Prince William, little less than
forty miles, and were nearly two hours after night in getting to Brother
Hale's." Again next day : " We passed Fauquier Court-House and came
to the north branch of the Rappahannock, which we found about waist-
high and frozen from side to side. We pushed the ice out of the track,
which a wagon, well for us, had made, and got over safe." Nor were
such toils and dangers rare incidents in his experience. On one occa
sion he made a tour of three hundred miles on horseback in nine days,
_ and rode forty miles of the route without food for man or beast. He
was in peril from robbers, and sometimes from false brethren. His ab
horrence of slavery and his manly protests against the "sum of all vil-
lanies " brought down upon him the enmity of those in favor of the
peculiar institution. It is little wonder that nature would from time
to time assert herself, and let even a bishop know that her laws were
not to be broken with impunity, that after all he must care a little
for the health of his own body, as well as for the health of the church.
In consequence of his constant overwork and exposure, he was fre
quently prostrated by severe attacks of illness, but as soon as he was
able to sit upon his horse he was up again and off. His one object — if
we may be allowed to count three in one, as he united them — appeared
to be the salvation of the people, the glory of God, and the extension
of the church.
Asbury was possessed of uncommon shrewdness, and could generally
read the characters of those he met at first sight, but not being infallible
he sometimes found himself mistaken, to his cost. He was a rigid dis-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS ASBURY. 621
ciplinarian of a military cast, and occasionally made enemies of those
who ought to have been his friends.
Being a bachelor himself, he had not as much sympathy for the mar
ried preachers, or those desiring to be married, as he ought, perhaps, to
have had, for they certainly endured very great hardships. Plis remarks
on the marriage of some of his preachers were occasionally quite amusing.
A case or two in point will suffice as illustration. " I went," says he,
" to see brother Plartley under his confinement, who is in jail for preach
ing, and found him determined to marry. He thought it his duty before
God. I could only advise a delay till he was released from impris
onment." Later on, " Brother Hartley is now married and begins to
care for his wife  I find the care of a wife begins to humble my
young friend, and makes him very teachable. I have thought he always
carried great sail, but he will have ballast now." Several years after,
writing of another, he says, "Jonathan Jackson is married. O thou
pattern of celibacy, art thou caught ? Who can resist ? Our married
man was forty years of age." Again, six years later than the date of the
last extract, " At the chapel I found preachers in abundance, and a
larger congregation than I had expected  Here are eight young
men lately married ; these will call for four hundred dollars per annum
additional, — so we go." After all, his excessive admiration of celibacy
resulted from an ardent desire for the extension of the work.
As the years came and went, after his elevation to the episcopacy,
there was no abatement of his labors. Little wonder then Asbury,a abun.
that he was impatient of laxity in others. But at last dant labors.
these years of unremitting toil and care, accompanied by the frequent
attacks of illness consequent upon them, told so seriously upon the phys
ical energies of the now aged bishop, that it was deemed imprudent for
him to pursue his journeyings alone ; accordingly he was allowed a trav
eling companion, whose business it was to care for him and preach when
the bishop was unable to do so himself.
In due time, as the work extended, first, Bishop Whatcoat, and at his
death, Bishop MacKendree, were elected as his associates, and ordained
to the same office. But no subdivision of labor, no amount of care or
attention, could prevent the infirmities of old age coming on apace. By
the beginning of the year 1815, Bishop Asbury was so worn down with
years and ill health, that it was with great difficulty he could walk from
his carriage to the pulpit, yet notwithstanding his extreme debility he
continued to preach, and to plan for the well-being and extension of the
church. At Cincinnati he and Bishop MacKendree had " a long and
earnest talk," relative to the prospects of the work in the West, and his
shrewdness and remarkable foresight, even in advanced age, are proved by
the following extract, very nearly among the last in his voluminous jour
nal. He says, " I told him [MacKendree] my opinion was that the

622 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
western part of the einpire would be the glory of America for the poor
and pious ; that it ought to be marked out for five conferences, to wit :
Ohio, Kentucky, Holston, Mississippi, and Missouri, in doing which, as
well as I was able, I traced out lines and boundaries."
He attended the Ohio conference held in September, 1815, and also
the conference held in Tennessee the following October. Concerning
the business of this last conference he makes this note : " My eyes fail,
I will resign the stations to Bishop MacKendree — I will take away my
feet. It is my fifty-fifth year of ministry, and forty-fifth year of labor
in America. My mind enjoys great peace and consolation. My health
is better, which may in part be because of my being less deeply inter
ested in the business of the conference." Yet weakened as he was by dis
ease and the infirmities of age, he still cherished the hope of being per
mitted to meet once more with his brethren in the general conference
which was to assemble in May, 1816, in Baltimore, the city where a little
more than thirty years before he had been ordained to his responsible of
fice, the duties of which he had so well and faithfully performed. It
was not to be. What little strength he had had began to fail him rapidly
now, but his indomitable will still kept him up. Journeying from place
to place, as he was able, he, with his traveling companion, J. W. Bond,
at length in March, 1816, came to Richmond, Virginia, where on the
24th of that month he preached his last sermon. By this time he was
so weak that Mr. Bond and other friends entreated him not to tax his
little remaining strength by attempting to preach, but to no purpose ; he
said he must deliver his message to the people of that church once more.
So, finding further entreaty useless, they carried him from the carriage —
he could now neither walk nor stand — to the pulpit, where, seated on a
table previously arranged for him, he addressed his deeply moved con
gregation. His message delivered, he was carried back to the house of
his friend, where he rested over Monday. Tuesday, Thursday, and Fri
day he continued his journey until he reached Spottsylvania, where in
the house of his old friend, George Arnold, he calmly and peacefully
passed away on Sabbath, March 31, 1816. How truly it might be said
of him that he ceased at once to work and live. Some little idea may
be gained of his travels and labors from the following brief summary
contained in the preface of the " Life and Career of Francis Asbury,"
by the late Bishop Janes.
" In his annual or semi-annual journeys he visited Massachusetts twenty-
three times after 1791, the date of his first visit, and during the forty-five
years of his ministry in America he visited the State of New York fifty-
six times, New Jersey sixty-two, Pennsylvania seventy-eight, Delaware
thirty-three, Maryland eighty, North Carolina sixty-three, South Caro
lina forty-six, Virginia eighty-four, Tennessee and Georgia twenty times
each, and other States and Territories with corresponding frequency.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILLIAM MA CKENDREE. 623
.... In his unparalleled itinerant career he preached about sixteen thou
sand five hundred sermons, or at least one a day, and traveled about two
hundred and seventy thousand miles, or six thousand a year, presiding
in no less than two hundred and twenty-four annual conferences, and
ordaining more than four thousand preachers." The numbers in society
at his death were two hundred and fourteen thousand two hundred and
thirty-five, with six hundred and ninety-five preachers, which, compared
with the membership when Mr. Asbury came to America, forty-five years
before, under the direction of Mr. Wesley, namely, six hundred members
with ten preachers, shows accurately what God had wrought through the
instrumentality of that truly apostolic bishop. — T. W.
LIFE XIII. WILLIAM MACKENDREE.
A. D. 1757-A. D. 1835. METHODIST EPISCOPAL, — AMERICA.
Few events in the history of the church in modern times have ex
cited more interest than the marvelous growth and development of Meth
odism in the Southern and Western States of the American Union.
This is attributable, under God, to the peculiar adaptation of its econ
omy to the character of the country and its population, and to the agents
who were called to labor in this vast field in the cause of Christianity.
The church could not have been organized throughout the length and
breadth of this immense territory, sparsely populated as it has been dur
ing the greater part of its history, by the ordinary appliances of the ec
clesiastical bodies which were in existence at the time of the American
Revolution. The population was too widely scattered and the people
were too much divided in their religious opinions and proclivities — to
say nothing of the general unconcern about religion — to call ministers,
if they could have been procured, and to place them in settled pastorates,
if they could have been supported. In a few of the cities and other
centres the old regime obtained ; but this was mostly confined to offshoots
of the churches of England and Scotland, which could do but little in
the work of evangelizing the rural populations.
But Methodism had both the economy and the men for the work. It
did not wait for its ministers to be called by the people, and to be guar
anteed a support ; it sent them forth among the people, whether they
wanted them or not ; whether or not they would receive the evangelists
thus sent, and mmister to their wants. It did not wait till ministers
could be educated in science, literature, and theology, as taught in the
schools. Methodism never undervalued these attainments, but it never
considered them a sine qua non for the ministry. It demanded certain
qualifications which were considered indispensable. Concerning all can
didates for the ministry these questions were asked : —

624 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
"1. Do they know God as a pardoning God ? Have they the love of
God abiding in them ? Do they desire nothing but God ? And are
they holy in all manner of conversation ?
" 2. Have they gifts (as well as grace) for the work ? Have they (in
some tolerable degree) a clear, sound understanding, a right judgment in
the things of God, a just conception of salvation by faith ? Do they
speak justly, readily, clearly ?
" 3. Have they fruit ? Are any truly convinced of sin and converted
to God by their preaching ? "
If these questions were answered in the affirmative, the candidates
were admitted to the ministry, and employed in work to which they were
adapted, in the judgment of those who were placed over them in the
Lord. They were of the people — a plebeian ministry — and they
found no difficulty in adapting their style of address, their social in
tercourse, modes of life, etc., to the people whom they served.
They went forth like the primitive evangelists, — " taking nothing of
the Gentiles." They were, indeed, allowed to receive entertainment
from the people, " eating and drinking such things as they gave," and
thirty-two pounds Virginia currency, or twenty-four pounds Pennsylvania
currency, if they could get it, and the same for their wives, with eight
pounds for each child under eleven, and six pounds for each child under
six years of age ; subsequently it was raised to sixty-four pounds, and
then to one hundred pounds and their traveling expenses. But this
" allowance " they seldom realized.
Methodism was a flexible system; hence it underwent all necessary
changes to adapt it to the altered conditions of society. It was fortu
nate in having at its head, for over thirty years of its early history, a
man of strong common sense, varied attainments, good executive ability,
and apostolic zeal, — the venerable Bishop Asbury. This remarkable
man was a keen judge of character ; he read men as we read books ;
and he gathered around him those who were like-minded with himself ;
and of these he put in prominent positions those whom he could trust to
execute all his well-laid plans. Among these, and the standard-bearer
among them, was William MacKendree, eminently a man after his own
heart. William MacKendree was born in King William County, Virginia,
July 5, 1757. He came of worthy and pious parentage, but received
a soldier in the on^y sucn a limited education as was common in those days
Reyoiution. -m fae Old Dominion. He entered the army, as a soldier, of
the Revolution, and served the last two years of the war under General
Washington. Shortly after he entered the service he was made an ad
jutant, and because of his great business qualifications and remarkable
energy he was placed in the commissary department, where he did much
to support the allied forces of Washington and Rochambeau at the siege

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILLIAM MACKENDREE. 625
of Yorktown, where Cornwallis surrendered his sword. But he seldom
alluded to this military episode in his life, and could not be induced to
apply for a pension for his services. He said he contended for liberty ;
that gained, he asked no more.
From a youth he was under serious impressions in regard to religion,
and in 1787 he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. At a conference
held in Amelia County, Virginia, June 17, 1788, he was admitted on trial
into the Virginia Conference, and stationed at Norfolk and Portsmouth.
The next year he was sent to Petersburg, but at the end of the first
quarter he was transferred to Union Circuit, South Carolina. He was
sent the next year to Bedford Circuit, Virginia, but the third quarter he
was sent to Greenbrier Circuit, the fourth quarter to Little Levels, on
the western waters. The next year he was sent to four circuits, to serve
each one quarter ! He was the next year presiding elder of the Rich
mond District, and the year after he was placed on a mountain district
of the Baltimore Conference. The next year he was returned to the
Richmond District, but after one quarter he was sent by the bishops to
take charge of what was called the Western Conference, embracing Ohio,.
Kentucky, Tennessee, all Virginia west of New River, and one circuit
in Illinois.
These rapid and sudden changes furnish a pregnant illustration of the-
ease with which the great Methodist army was mobilized in those early
days. Paul's Epistles abound in military metaphors, and the fathers of
American Methodism seem to have studied them to great effect. Every
itinerant preacher was trained to " endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ." Those who joined the sacramental host were pledged to
obey orders, to submit to the military discipline without which such a
ministry could not be made available. When they were admitted into full
connection in the conference, among other charges this was given them : —
" Act in all things not according to your own will, but as a son in the
gospel. It is therefore your duty to employ your time in the manner
which we direct : in preaching, meeting the classes, visiting from house
to house, and especially visiting the sick ; in reading, meditation, and
prayer. Above all, if you labor with us in the Lord's vineyard, it is need
ful you should do that part of the work which we advise, at those times
and places which we judge most for his glory."
If any one found it a test too severe, he was allowed without blame
to retire into the ranks of the local ministry (as many did), and preach
when and where he listed. The local preachers, in time, outnumbered
the itinerants, as they do now ; and immense service they have done to
the cause.
For twenty years MacKendree labored assiduously, and with great suc
cess, in these important fields, especially while he was in charge of the
Western Conference. He was the very man for this work. Like Na-
40

626 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
poleon he lived in the saddle. On his trusty steed he scaled high mount-
He li-rea in the au:s> forded deep streams, waded through mud and mire, and
saddle. penetrated pathless forests and jungles. He headed his noble
band of co-laborers, and was "in labors more abundant," — " in journey-
ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by his own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren ; in
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and heat, if not in nakedness, — besides those
things that were without, that which came upon him daily, the care of
all the churches."
That which gave him so much power and efficiency was the singular
capacity and tact which he had observed in his great model, Asbury, of
gathering around him noble, heroic men, like himself, who heartily en
tered into all his evangelistic plans, and executed them like loyal and
valiant soldiers of the cross, with a spirit
" Such as in the martyrs glowed,
Dying champions for their God."
One of them, Jesse Walker, was usually sent forward as engineer to
reconnoitre, select suitable positions, and then report to the general in
command. MacKendree would then bring his heavy ordnance and his
light arms into the field ; the former wielded by such heroes as John
McGee, William Burke, John Page, Lewis Garrett, and others ; and the
latter by Thomas Wilkerson, Larner Blackman, James Gwin (who was
at one time General Jackson's army chaplain), Samuel Dowthett, and
others ; who upon occasion could wield the heavy ordnance too.
All these noble pioneers have gone to their reward. I did not enjoy
the personal acquaintance of many of them ; but my late glorified friend,
the Rev. A. L. P. Green, D. D., often described them to me, so that I
seem to know them all, and their great leader as well. Dr. Green was
familiar with them, and with MacKendree, whose " minister " he was in
the latter part of the patriarch's life. He served him " as a son in the
gospel," and he never grew weary in conversing about him and his asso
ciates. Dr. Green at one time lived with James Gwin, and he was the
traveling companion and intimate friend of MacKendree. He had a
.-singular faculty — transcending that ascribed to Papias, but he was more
'trustworthy than that father — of treasuring up the incidents in the lives
¦ of these venerable men. He gives an account of the pioneer work of
MacKendree and his associates, extending through a few weeks in the
•year 1807, as a sample : —
" Jesse Walker was sent td Illinois, there being at that time but one
• circuit in that State, and a young man by the name of Travis was sent to
Missouri. In the summer of this year, William MacKendree, who was
(then in charge of what was called the Cumberland District, which ex-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILLIAM MACKENDREE. , 627
tended to Elinois and Missouri, took with him James Gwin and A. God
dard (Gwin was then a local preacher, and Goddard was traveling what
was then called Barren Circuit), and set out to visit Walker and Travis.
They crossed over the Ohio, and entered into the State of Illinois, trav
eled all day, and, finding no house to stop at, passed the night in the wil
derness. Next day they shared a like fortune, camping out at night
again. During this night their horses got away, and they did not find
them till about noon the next day ; but that night they found a lone
settlement, and tarried with a poor family who were living in a tem
porary hut or camp. Next night they reached the house of a Mr. B.,
who received them kindly. The Mississippi was not far off, and there
being no way to get their horses across it at that point, they left them
with Mr. B., took their baggage on their shoulders, and went on foot to
the river, which they crossed in a canoe, and after walking twelve miles
they came to the house of a Mr. Johnson. Here they met young Travis,
who had gotten up a little camp-meeting in the wilderness. At this
meeting their labors were greatly blessed. When it closed they returned
again to Mr. B., and went to a camp-meeting in the bounds of brother
Walker's work, called the Three Springs.
" Here they found a few faithful members of the church, but hosts of
enemies. One individual, in particular, who was a leader of a band of
persecutors, had called a council among them to form a plan to drive the
preachers off. He stated to his clan that if the preachers were permitted
to remain, and could have their way, they would break up all the gam
bling and racing in the country, and that they could have no more pleas
ure, or fun, as he called it. So the determination among them was to
arm themselves, go to the camp-meeting en masse, take the preachers
and conduct them to the Ohio River, carry them over, and let them know
that they were to keep on their own side, and never trouble them again.
This purpose was made known to the preachers in advance of their ap
pearance on the encampment. On Sunday, while Mr. MacKendree was
in the midst of his discourse, preaching to a large and interested con
gregation, on the text, ' Come now, and let us reason together,' etc., the
major, as he was called, and his company, rode up and halted near the
congregation. The major told his men that he would not do anything
until the man had done preaching. Mr. MacKendree was then in the
prime of life, his voice loud and commanding, his bearing that of un
daunted courage, while a supernatural defiance seemed to shoot forth
from his speaking eyes. He was sustained by the presence of Gwin,
Goddard, Walker, and Travis, who sat near him. The prayers of the
faithful were being sent up to heaven in his behalf, and, above all, the
divine presence was with him. Such was the power of his reasoning,
that he held the major and his party spell-bound for an hour. During
his remarks, he took occasion to say that himself and the ministers that

628 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
accompanied him were all citizens of the United States and freemen,
and had fought for the liberty which they enjoyed, but that their visit to
that place was one of mercy, their object being to do good to the souls
of men in the name of Christ. As he drew his remarks to a close, aw
ful shocks of divine power were felt by the congregation. At length
mourners were called for, and scores crowded to the altar. At this mo
ment, the major uudertook to draw off his men and retreat in good order,
but some were already gone, others had alighted, turned their horses
loose, and were at the altar for prayer. He led off a few of them to
the spring, and after a short consultation, none of them seemed inclined
to prosecute their purpose any further, and at once disbanded. Several
of the number were converted before the meeting closed, and became
members of the church.
" On the same evening, about the going down of the sun, a man came
up to Mr. Gwin, and said to him, ' Are you the man that carries the
roll?' 'What roll?' said Mr. Gwin. 'The roll,' said he, 'that peo
ple put their names to that want to go to heaven.' Brother Gwin, sup
posing that he had reference to the class-book, referred him to brother
Walker, who took his name. The wild look and novel manner of the
man indicated derangement. He left the camp-ground, and fled to the
woods, with almost the speed of a wild beast. Nothing more was seen
of him until the next morning, at which time he returned to the encamp
ment, wet with the dew of the night, in a state of mind which was dis
tressing beyond description ; but during the day he was happily and
powerfully converted to God, and was found sitting, as it were, at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. He afterward gave the
following account of himself. He lived in what was called the Amer
ican Bottom, was very wicked, and professed to be a deist. A short time
before, he dreamed that the day of judgment was coming, and that three
men had been sent on from the East to warn him of his danger, which
had distressed him greatly ; and when he saw the three preachers, Mac
Kendree, Gwin, and Goddard, pass his house, he recognized them as the
same persons whom he had seen in his dream, and he had followed
them to the camp-meeting, and they had warned him of his danger, sure
enough. It was said of this man that he possessed a large estate, was
very influential in his neighborhood, and was ultimately instrumental in
doing much good.
" At the close of this meeting, one hundred persons connected them
selves with the church."
It is no marvel that when another bishop was needed to supervise the
MacKendree connection, William MacKendree was selected for the office.
made bishop jje was piace(} jn tnia responsible position by the general
conference of 1808, and remained in it for nearly twenty-seven years.
The work which he performed in that long period is almost incredible.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] WILLIAM MACKENDREE. 629
Like Asbury, he never married, so that he was at home everywhere. It
took very little to support him, so that he was never embarrassed with
temporal matters, — never "entangled with the affairs of this life."
As an executive officer he was rarely excelled. He presided in con
ference with great dignity and impartiality. His keen insight into the
characters of men, and his perfect familiarity with all parts of the con
nection, eminently fitted him for the delicate and difficult task of " sta
tioning the preachers."
He was a strict constructionist in regard to the constitution and laws
of the church, and would lay down his office, or, for that matter, his life,
before he would sanction any serious infringement of them. There were
occasions when he showed his unwavering and invincible regard to the
old landmarks, as may be seen in that excellent work, " The Life and
Times of Bishop MacKendree," by one of his great admirers, — one of
his sons in the gospel, on whom his mantle has fallen, — the Rev. Bishop
Paine. But I have no occasion to enlarge on this point in the present
sketch. I would not have the impression made that Bishop MacKendree did
not labor in the North and East, as well as in the South and West, or
that he was not held in as high esteem there as here. He traveled, and
preached, and presided, as a bishop, all over the Union, and he was
everywhere regarded as " a chosen vessel," exceeded by none as an able
minister of the New Testament, and a faithful ruler in the Church of
God. By so much exposure and toil Bishop MacKendree, in his old age, be
came the victim of asthma and neuralgia, from which he suffered much ;
yet he continued to preach till within a few weeks of his death. His
last sermon was preached in the church which bore his name in Nash
ville, and which, before this story shall be published, will give place to
another on the same sacred spot, bearing the same time-honored name.
The writer preached a watch-night sermon, the last in the sacred fane,
December 31, 1876, when the bishop's last attendance at a watch-night
service, in the same place, forty-two years before, was spoken of by one
who was present on the occasion. His last sermon was preached there
in 1834. Dr. Green heard it, and in speaking of it says, " I can in my
imagination see him this moment, as he last stood on the walls of Zion
with his sickle in his hand ; the gray hairs thinly covering his forehead,
his pale and withered face, his benignant countenance, his speaking eye ;
while a deep undercurrent of thought, scarcely veiled by the external
lineaments, took form in words, and fell from his trembling lips, as, by
the eye of faith, he transcended the boundaries of time and entered
upon the eternal world. But he is drawing to the close of his sermon.
Now, for the last time, he bends himself, and reaches his sickle forth to
reap the fields ripe for the harvest. How balmy the name of Christ as

630 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
he breathes it forth, standing as it were midway between heaven and
earth, and pointing to the home of the faithful in the sky ! I look again :
the sickle sways in his hand, his strength is measured out, and he closes
up his ministerial labors on earth with the words, ' I add no more,' while
imagination hears the response from the invisible glory, ' It is enough ! ' "
Shortly after this, the bishop repaired to the house of his brother, Dr.
James MacKendree, in Sumner County, Tennessee.
He suffered much from an inflammation of his index finger, and this
was the apparent, proximate cause of his death, illustrating the senti
ment, — "An earthquake may be hid to spare
The man that 's strangled by a hair."
But it matters not when or how we die, if we die in the Lord.
"A thousand ways hath Providence
To bring believers home."
He was very patient and cheerful during his illness, and grateful for
the unceasing attentions of his friends. Once when he
awoke from sleep, he said to his favorite sister, Nancy,
and his nieces, who were watching by his bedside, " You are like lamps
burning while I sleep, to cheer me when I wake ! "
Dr. Green spent a night with him just before his death. At one time
the doctor said to him, " Bishop, I may live when you have passed away,
and wherever I go your friends will want to hear from you ; what shall
I say to them ? " He replied, " Tell them for me, that whether for time
or for eternity, All's well!" This, his favorite saying, was the last con
nected utterance that fell from his lips. These dying words became the
burden of a song, which has gained great popularity, and has cheered
the heart of many a dying saint. It was composed by R. Jukes, and is
Hymn 495 in the writer's " Songs of Zion : " " What 's this that steals,
that steals upon my frame ? " Bishop MacKendree died March 5, 1835.
I may add a word or two respecting his personal appearance. Dr.
Green describes him as about five feet ten inches in height, and weighing
on an average one hundred and sixty pounds. He had fair skin, dark
hair, and blue eyes. Some say his eyes were of another color, but a
venerable matriarch of Columbia, Mrs. Porter, a step-daughter of one
of the bishop's sisters, told me the other day they were light blue. He
had a faultless form, regular features, great strength. His countenance
evinced deep thought, but upon occasion it would kindle into a very
lively expression. He was exquisitely neat in his person. He was gen
erally clean-shaved and well-dressed, his favorite costume being a 'long-
waisted, single-breasted black coat, black vest, breeches, and long stock
ings, polished shoes with silver buckles, a white stock, and broad-brimmed
hat. He was a most venerable and dignified personage. He was very
methodical and punctual and exact in all things. He usually retired at

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILLIAM MACKENDREE. 631
nine o'clock, and rose at five. He was remarkable for the ease and affa
bility with which he accommodated himself to all classes of society, high
and low, rich and poor, learned and rude, bond and free, and this was
one secret of his great success. He was calm and collected in the pulpit,
though he sometimes rose with his subject to a high pitch of oratory.
His sermons were usually short, especially in his later years, thereby
differing from those of many old preachers. His public devotions were
also concise, and withal simple, comprehensive, humble, and greatly edi
fying. On Tuesday, October 3, 1876, 1 took part in a very solemn service,
at the translation of the remains of Bishops MacKendree and Soule.
Bishop MacKendree had been interred in the family burying-ground,
Fountain Head, Sumner County, Tennessee. During the late war his
tomb had been desecrated by soldiers, and was desolate and exposed.
Bishop Soule, who was in some respects the successor of Bishop Mac
Kendree, — a man of similar heroic cast and apostolic zeal, — died in
Nashville, Tennessee, March 6, 1867, and was buried in the old Nash
ville cemetery ; I officiated, with others, at his funeral. It was thought
advisable to translate the remains of both bishops (the consent of rela
tives being granted) to a suitable spot in the grounds of the Vanderbilt
University, near Wesley Hall, and to place a monument over them.
On opening the coffins Bishop Soule was not distinguishable, except by
the frontal arch, which marked him in life as a man of towering intellect ;
and of Bishop MacKendree nothing remained but a few bones and
"dust," scarcely to be separated from the mother-earth in which he had
lain ! But these remains are sacred and precious !
With due solemnity, devout men, ministers of Christ, bore them to
their last resting-place, followed by the officers and students of Vander
bilt University, and a large company of interested friends. Suitable de
votional exercises were conducted by the writer, the Rev. F. A. Owen
leading in prayer, hymns were sung, and an impressive discourse was
delivered by Bishop Mactyeire, who drew the characters of the two
bishops, — one, of the chivalrous South (Virginia), the other, of the Pu
ritan North (Maine), a descendant of the Soule who came over in the
Mayflower ; yet both of one heart and of one mind, true yoke-fellows in
cultivating the gospel field and spreading Scripture holiness over these
lands. The Rev. Dr. J. B. McFerrin followed with a brief address.
The double grave was then covered in by the students of Vanderbilt
University. What America, and especially the Southern and Western States of
the American Union, owe to these heroic, self-sacrificing, and laborious
apostles of the church, no pen can describe ; " the day shall declare it."
— T. S.

632 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE XIH. WILBUR FISK.
A. D. 1792-A. D. 1839. METHODIST EPISCOPAL,  AMERICA.
Great moral revolutions have ever been accompanied by powerful in
tellectual quickening. Religious energies will soon be expended in aim
less struggle unless they are directed and controlled by a cool judgment
and a cultured reason. Religious zeal may arouse the multitude from
sloth and indifference, and even push the people to a height of endeavor
truly sublime, but abiding good can be secured only by careful cultivation
of the regulative faculties of the whole man.
Hence true reformers have ever been foremost in their careful interest
„. for the education of the young. No men of the sixteenth
The great re- . .
formers were , century were more deeply imbued with the spirit of reform
true educators. . . , T T n .__. . , T
in education than were Luther and Melanctnon. Indeed, it
may be truly said that Protestantism gave to the people the common
schools, and furnished to the masses an education for its own sake. John
Wesley, also, placed in the front rank of importance the question of the
education of the people who had been converted through his own instru
mentality and that of his preachers, so that the earnest question pro
posed at the very first conference of his preachers was, " Can we have
a seminary for laborers ? " Therefore it was but in accord with a spirit
ual law that when the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized on
these western shores the chiefest concern of its first bishop, Asbury,
should be in the education of the people. He distinctly declares in his
" journals " that the question of education caused him more serious
thought than any other single interest. This concern is evidenced by the
fact that as in England, so in America, in the very year of the organiza
tion of the church, Coke and Asbury projected a college whose founda
tions were laid within a year. Various efforts were made to establish
academies and seminaries in different portions of the country. While
these attempts were only partially successful, they nevertheless afford an
index of the desire of the leading thinkers of the church to steady the
great revival movement by appropriate literary and scholastic training.
Methodism must be counted especially fortunate in the choice of her
first representative educator in the North, and must attribute much of her
subsequent success in academic and collegiate education to the spirit and
eminent ability of Wilbur Fisk, the first president of Wesleyan Univer
sity, Middletown, Connecticut.
He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, August 31, 1792, of respect-
Parontage and aD'e an<^ pi°us parents, who were of genuine Puritan stock.
early training. The son eariy received careful religious instruction by read
ing the Scriptures, by the study of the catechism, and most of all, per-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILBUR FISK. 633
haps, by the mild and cheerful spirit which the virtuous parents ever
manifested in their home. Upon the boy's character and life were
early seen the blessed effects of this parental solicitude. Naturally of
an ardent temperament, and sometimes yielding to the influence of
self-will, young Fisk was, nevertheless, conscientious, and early acquired
great aptitude in the narration of his religious experience in the neigh
borhood meetings. Even in academic life his marvelous ability to in
fluence and control mind was manifest. With a calm self-possession
and an easy poise which he had acquired, he was seldom overwhelmed
with surprise or found off his guard in the presence of an opponent.
His collegiate life at Burlington, Vermont, and at Providence, Rhode
Island, was brilliant in the line of scholarly attainment, but the brightness
of his piety had grown dim, and, like too many others who Conegiate and
have become careless of early instruction, young Fisk, on lesal tKUnmg-
graduation, cherished the ambition of occupying a chief seat in the councils
of the nation, and had thus somewhat stifled the voice of duty which had
earlier so clearly pointed out the way in which he should walk. As the
surest stepping-stone to future political preferment he began the study of
the law with great vigor and success.
But God had other and, as we must believe, holier work for him in
store. The ministry of reconciliation was to be preached by this man of
power and grace. The struggles which he underwent in relinquishing
his legal studies and in entering the itinerant ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church (then a most despised body of religionists), in the face
of strong opposition from his early and most cherished college friends,
and from the woman to whom he had become betrothed, were such as
well-nigh to rend asunder his troubled soul. But when the decision
was once reached, such was his spiritual organization that no reservation,
mental or moral, was possible. With a zeal and energy truly wonderful
he gave himself to the work of saving souls.
The hardships and exposure of this itinerant life were very trying,
and it is hardly possible to conceive how any dishonest Itinerar,t iife
man of culture could be induced to give himself to such and experiences.
a work. Yet Fisk did not escape these imputations of an unsanc-
tified ambition, even from the side of his professed friends. But his de
votion and success in saving the souls of the people soon silenced all op
ponents. His study of the law had given him added cogency of argument
with the people, and his style of preaching at this time resembled the
earnest plea of an advocate who was laboring to convince a jury who
had in their hands an issue of infinite moment. This portion of his
public career made him entirely familiar with the polity and life of the
church of which he was a minister, and thus eminently fitted him to un
derstand the peculiar training needful for the young men who were after
wards to enjoy his instructions in collegiate life. The mission of the

634 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Methodist Episcopal Church to the settlements which"' were so rapidly
made by the hardy pioneers demanded an exceptional education on the
part of her preachers. These settlers were as a class possessed of a ro
bust good sense and a strength of will which must be directed by equal
good sense on the part of those who would lead them to a knowledge of
the truth as it is in Christ, and by men who could easily adapt them
selves to the rude conditions and homely fare of frontier life. The itin
erant who was compelled to travel hundreds of miles to compass his wide
circuit, and to preach from six to twelve times each week, must neces
sarily carry his library in his portmanteau, and prepare his sermons in the
saddle. With this border work the cultured, polished Fisk became en
tirely familiar. Hence he was prepared later to say to the most gifted
young man who might come under his instruction, " God's vineyard is
broad, and abundant harvests will be garnered by your faithful service.
Small earthly rewards' you may expect ; even sacrifices and hardships await
you, but you have better companionship than that of kiDgs, — ' Lo ! lam
with you.' " While he thus knew the trials of border life, he knew also the
delights and comforts of the best New England homes, and found a wel
come reception to the families of the most opulent of other churches
than his own.
He began his work as an educator at Wilbraham Academy in Connecti-
Begins his work cut> m 1826. This infant seminary had thus a giant for its
as an educator. nrs(. principal. Well does his biographer remark that Fisk
was now in a position for which he was admirably qualified. His natural
talents and his education, his great facility in the transaction of business,
his knowledge of men and quick insight into character, his affability,
sound judgment, and practical good sense, were all important qualifica
tions for his new position of usefulness. His government was eminently
paternal. Pie carried the students and their interests on his heart, and
his efforts in their behalf were truly amazing. Amid all the toils inci
dent to the founding of an academy for the growing church, Fisk was
ever planning for better things and grander results. No man had a
clearer view of the necessity of blending culture with piety in order to the
future triumph of the church, and the permanent security of the state.
It is not strange, therefore, that the eyes of the whole church were
turned towards him as their natural and acknowledged leader.
To invitations to high stations in other institutions of learning and in
ecclesiastical work, he returned a firm declinature, convinced as he was
that the honor and prosperity of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the
North were most intimately connected with the success of this rising
academy. No posts of honor or of ease could for a moment swerve him
from his purpose to direct the educational movements of the church. To
the success of this darling enterprise were consecrated all his choicest
powers. To such heroic men, who have so nearly achieved this victory

Cent. XVTL-XIX.] WILBUR FISK. 635
of self-abnegation, has the church ever turned in its hours of peril and in
its determining crises. The Methodist Church in America had reached its
educational crisis. Two colleges in name had already been commenced ;
several academies and seminaries had done much good in their several
spheres. But she had already outstripped all other churches in the num
ber of her communicants ; wealth had greatly multiplied in their hands,
and a strengthening conviction was felt by the leading men of the North
and East that in order to meet the increasing responsibilities and achieve
the largest success in the future, Methodism must also provide for the
higher and liberal education of her sons.
Acting upon this conviction, the New York Annual Conference, at its
session of 1829, adopted measures for the early establish- _ . ,
1 ^ Elected presi-
ment of an institution of collegiate grade, and in 1830 Fisk dent of wesiey-
was elected first president of Wesleyan University, founded
at Middletown, Connecticut. Of all men in American Methodism he
then occupied the very foremost place. He brought to this new position
ripened powers and a national reputation, and thus he directed public at
tention to this enterprise from the very beginning of its history. He
was acknowledged the peer of the ablest collegiate presidents of the
country, and his counsels were sought in the settlement of many impor
tant questions which were pressed upon the management of the higher
institutions for solution.
Notwithstanding her- financial endowment was necessarily limited and
inadequate, Wesleyan University attracted some of the best talent of the
church, and her students compared most favorably with those of the
older colleges. The supreme desire of Dr. Fisk was to send forth a
body of men who should exemplify a sanctified manhood, and become
important forces in properly moulding public opinion. Hence he spared
no pains to foster in the university a controlling religious influence. His
holy life gave great weight to his earnest personal appeals to consecrate
the powers to the service of Christ. The revivals of religion among
the students gave him inexpressible delight ; " These young men," said
he, " are training and girding themselves for the great enterprise of sub
duing the world to Christ, and how strongly does this commend our lit
erary institutions to the patronage of the Church ! "
It was to the great West of the American continent, which was being
so rapidly populated, and which he saw was in the near fut-
ure to hold the balance of power in the nation, that Fisk
frequently turned his most anxious thought. This belt of population
would be a belt of barbarism unless the churches should throw into its
midst the leavening influences of the gospel. Preachers and teachers
could with the greatest difficulty keep pace with the restless enterprise
of the immigrants. He saw that to save these new empires to an en
lightened Christianity, and to lay firmly the foundations of their institu-

636 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
tions, political, social, and educational, a host of young men properly
trained and burning with zeal for the salvation of souls must be pre
pared in his own college. Hence his untiring industry to supply this
pressing need ; hence his wide correspondence with the foremost men of
his own and other churches on a subject which so constantly pressed
upon his attention. The results have fully justified these anxieties and
these sacrificing labors. Much of the wonderful success of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church west of the Alleghanies, and much of the broad
and enlightened policy adopted in her work, have been the immediate
result of the advice of Wilbur Fisk, and of the labors of the alumni of
Wesleyan University. " I wish we could fill that country with sound,
pious teachers," said he. " Indeed, I want to send out enough to set the
world on fire! I have done educating youths for themselves ; my sole
object, I think, will be hereafter to educate all I can get for the world."
This accounts for the fact that during the first twenty years of its his
tory so large a proportion of the alumni of Wesleyan University became
preachers and teachers.
A man of superior culture and broad views, whose sympathies were as
. . , wide as humanity, and yet under the direction of a sound
Anxiety for a JJ J
trained minis- judgment, could not but be keenly alive to the deficiencies
of the ministry of his church in order to the most effective
work in the future. Hitherto the preachers of the Methodist Church had
accomplished marvelous results by virtue of an untiring industry and an
unquenchable zeal. Other churches had been thereby greatly stimulated,
and yet they had yielded nothing of their former intellectual and profes
sional preparation. Fisk, therefore, clearly saw that unless more gen
erous provisions were made for theological training, the Methodist clergy
must soon work at a fearful disadvantage, and the influence of that com
munion must steadily decline. Consistently with its history, the Meth
odist Church had hitherto done what was possible to instruct its can
didates in doctrines and polity. Their theological seminary had been in
the field, their professor of theology had been the senior preacher, under
whose direction the junior was to study and work ; the examinations
were held at the session of the annual conference, and thus a not insig
nificant degree of knowledge and mental discipline was secured. The
great defect of this system was its inability to prepare raw material for
the responsibilities of the Christian pulpit and pastorate, since the cir
cumstances were often very untoward, and the senior preachers them
selves were frequently insufficiently prepared to be guides to those who
were under their supervision. It was no uncommon thing for the young
itinerant to painfully study out his Greek Testament by the light of the
pitch-pine fire in the cabin of the pioneer, and master his systematic
theology in the saddle while hurrying forward to his distant appoint
ment. But however zealous, and however industrious, these preachers

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILBUR FISK. 637
could not be thus fully prepared for ministering to a more settled and
intelligent society, which must soon succeed to this initial period. Fisk,
in common with a few other broad-minded men, was deeply anxious
to supply this felt deficiency in the training of the ministry. He did
not, however, favor the founding of separate theological seminaries. His
opposition came from lack of funds, from want of properly qualified
professors, and, most of all, from a fear that the instruction in these ex
clusively theological schools might be too speculative in character and
result in mere dogmatism, or that, by being excluded for a term of years
from the activities of Christian work, the ardor of the piety of the can
didates might be unhappily lessened and chilled. It is well known that
many of the ablest men of other churches still share this feeling. It
was his custom to form voluntary classes in theology ; by this means the
leisure hours of the students could be occupied by such subjects, and
their reading directed to such topics, as would more especially fit them
for the responsibilities of the Christian ministry. It is not too much to
say that many who now occupy foremost places in American Methodism,
received their strongest impulses and caught their burning enthusiasm in
these theological classes of Dr. Fisk.
Closely related to theological education was the subject of missions.
" The field is the world," said the Divine Christ. " The Zeal for mis_
world is my parish," said John Wesley. From the hour of sions-
his consecration to the work of the Christian ministry, Fisk had flamed
with missionary zeal. Two classes of missions had specially interested
him, namely, that to Liberia, on account of its connection with the
scheme of African colonization, whose cause he had heartily espoused,
and that to the native Indian tribes both in Upper Canada and in Ore
gon. For the former mission he had offered himself in person ; for the
use of the Mohawks he had urged the translation of a portion of the
Scriptures ; and the Flathead mission in Oregon was his own origination.
Hence his great concern as an educator was to keep the wants of the
missionary work ever prominently before the thought of the students of
the university, and his platform efforts at the conferences and on an
niversary occasions were always powerful and effective.
The arduous labors and the constant anxieties attendant on founding
the university, together with his consuming zeal for every
-,,.,, • -, , -, , . ¦ , Tour to Europe.
religious and philanthropic work, had made serious inroads
upon a constitution naturally delicate and now terribly overworked. It
was, therefore, a necessity that he leave his work for a time and seek
recreation in the Old World. Consequently in the autumn of 1835 he
embarked in company with a few friends for Europe. He was charged
with duties in themselves onerous and honorable, which he discharged in
a manner entirely satisfactory to the great church whose delegate he was,
and with a dignity and an unction which proved a blessing to the British

638 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Wesleyan conference which received him. On this entire tour his was
the same inquiring mind, the same tender heart, the same loving solici
tude for the students and for the philanthropic and religious enterprises
to which he had consecrated his life.
During his absence in Europe he was elected a bishop of the Method
ist Episcopal Church by a very large majority ; indeed, his
Elected bishop , F , ., , .,-,,.,,, . , , ,
of the m. e. election was hailed with delight by the entire church both
North and South. To this expression of confidence and
esteem Dr. Fisk felt that he must return most careful and deliberate an
swer ; but after mature study he concluded that his was a mission of
Christian education rather than a mission of general superintendency in
the entire church. While this decision was a matter of surprise to many,
and of earnest protest on the part of some of his most loved friends, to
Fisk himself the way of duty seemed plain.
On his return from Europe he brought the increased power coming
Devotion to stu- ^rom travel and wide observation to bear upon the univer-
dents- sity of his own creation, and now of his strengthening and
almost consuming love. The piety, humility, and simplicity of this truly
saintly man had become well-nigh perfected. No one could be more
free from all assumption of superiority in his intercourse even with the
most lowly ; none could be less careful of that dignity which so many
believe should be thrown over men in high official station. From this
time his preaching became even more warm and evangelical than ever
before. During a most precious revival with which Middletown was
blessed under the pastorate of the recently deceased Dr. G K. True, in
1837, the students of the university became deeply interested for their
own salvation. This noble and holy president now became an angel of
guidance to many a young man, who afterwards successfully proclaimed
to others that gospel which had there saved his own soul. Fisk's pul
pit and chapel ministrations during this period of refreshing were di
vested of all those stately forms of art with which too many delight to
clothe their thoughts, and were in simplicity and in the demonstration of
the Spirit ; thus they were a powerful means of arousing, comforting,
encouraging, and instructing the young men who have since occupied
the foremost stations in the educational and ministerial work of the
Methodist Church. It is probable that no college president ever se
cured a more complete respect and love of his students and faculty,
or a more constant affection and confidence of the church at large. His
piety was so deep, vigorous, and uniform, yet so natural, cheerful, and
utterly lacking in officiousness and cynicism, that it became diffusive and
pervasive, and warming like the sunlight. His gentle dignity and grace,
his total unselfishness, his delightful simplicity, exalted even common
duties to the dignity of holy opportunities.
The sunset of such a life must be glorious. As with the early Chris-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN HENRY LIVINGSTON. 639
tians in the Roman catacombs, so Fisk's dying day was his true dies
natalis, and the anticipations of his happy spirit left their impress on
its former dwelling-place : for
"Living light had touched the brow of death."
He died February 22, 1839. A plain shaft, rising in the little college
cemetery at Middletown, bears the simple inscription, —
WILBUR FISK, S. T. D.
FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
Him American Methodism reveres as her true saint in the work of
Christian education. — C. W. B.

LIFE XIV. JOHN HENRY LIVINGSTON.
A. D. 1746-A. D. 1825. REFORMED (DUTCH), — AMERICA.
Among the ministers of the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America,
no name is held in higher veneration, esteem, and gratitude than that
of JohnJB. Livingston. The circumstances under which he was led to
enter the ministry ; the valuable services which be was able to render
to this branch of the Christian church at a most disturbed and critical
period in its history ; the eminent qualifications of heart and intellect
that he brought to every position he was called to occupy, and with
which he adorned every relation of life ; his success in impressing others
with the divine truths and spiritual influences that filled his own soul,
— all endeared him to the hearts of the people, and attested the divine
guidance that signally marked his career.
Like many another of the most devoted and useful servants of God,
he was connected with an honorable and pious ancestry, and 0J Dutch and
thus shared in the rich promises of a covenant-keeping Scoto)l lineage.
God. He was a descendant, in the fourth generation, of the Rev. John
Livingston, the eminently devoted and successful minister of the gospel
in Scotland, and the ancestor of the Livingston families in this country.
Upon his death (August 9, 1672), at Rotterdam, Holland, whither nine
years previous the bold and earnest preacher had removed to escape the
intolerant spirit that prevailed in his native country, his son Robert
came to America, connecting himself by marriage with the distinguished
Schuyler family. He was given three sons, Philip, Robert, and Gilbert.1
1 Among the children of Philip were Philip Livingston, Esq., one of the noble patriots
who signed the declaration of American independence, and devoted his best energies to the
service of his country, and William Livingston, LL. D., for several years governor of the
State of New Jersey, a man distinguished for remarkable intellectual force and ardent piety.
To the branch represented by Robert belonged the late celebrated Chancellor Livingston.
(See the memoir of Livingston, by Rev. A. Gunn, D. D.)

640 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
John Henry Livingston, the grandson of Gilbert, and son of Henry
and S. Conklin Livingston, was born at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County,
New York, on the 30th of May, 1746,. After studying in a school at
Fishkill, and under a private tutor at home, he entered the Freshman class
in Yale College in September, 1758, at the early age of twelve years,
and graduated with honor in July, 1762.
Being ambitious to obtain worldly distinction, he decided to devote
himself to the legal profession. After studying two years his health
failed, and, fearing that his sickness might prove fatal, he became anxious
for his salvation, and earnestly sought pardon and peace through faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Though favored with the advantages of a re
ligious education, and occasionally impressed with the transcendent im
portance of the claims of God and eternal realities, still, up to this time,
the prizes of earthly ambition and the fascination of worldly success had
filled his imagination and absorbed his thoughts. But God had a higher
and nobler work for him to do than his own plans had compassed, and
through suffering and bodily weakness drew him to Himself.
On recovering his health, he resolved to prepare for the Christian min
istry. Under the advice of the Rev. Dr. Laidlie, of New York, from
whom he received the warmest encouragement in the prosecution of his
theological studies, he determined to enter one of the universities of.
Holland. He was greatly influenced to take this step by the hope that
his residence in Holland might help him to be the instrument of heal
ing the sad dissensions that existed at that time in the Reformed Dutch
Church in this country. Accordingly, on the 12th of May, 1766, when
studies in Hoi- ne was scarcely twenty years of age, he sailed for Amster-
land- dam, bearing with him letters to distinguished individuals,
by whom he was cordially received. He pursued his theological studies
with diligence for four years at the University of Utrecht, winning the
love and respect of many. On the 5th of June, 1769, he was examined
for licensure by the classis of Amsterdam, and became a candidate for
the ministry. Soon after he was invited to become the second English
preacher of the Reformed Dutch Church in the city of New York.
Having received the degree of doctor of divinity from the faculty of
the University of Utrecht, after a most rigid examination conducted in
the Latin language, and having been ordained by the classis of Amster
dam, the young divine returned to his native country, and arrived in New
York September 3, 1770.
His personal friends, and the officers and members of the church over
which he had been called to preside, welcomed him home with the warm-
Labors in New est affection, and with deep gratitude to Almighty God.
York city. jyT_ Livingston at once entered upon his ministerial work
with renewed physical health, with mental powers disciplined to careful
study and laborious investigation, with earnest zeal tempered with great

Cent. XVH.-XIX.] JOHN HENRY LIVINGSTON. 641
discretion, with a heart warm with love to Christ. Pie possessed a broad
catholic spirit and intense desires for the harmony and unity of the
church with which he had cast in his lot.
His first sermon was preached in the Middle Dutch Church, in Nas
sau Street, to a large and deeply interested audience, from 1 Cor. i. 22—
24. Although he was associated with colleagues of established char
acter and pulpit ability, yet he manfully assumed his full share of labor,
preaching twice on Sunday, visiting the people, and attending two, and
sometimes three, catechetical exercises every week. It was soon appar
ent that he was rapidly gaining the confidence and affection of his peo
ple, and the respect and esteem of the entire community. The fervor
of his piety, manifested out of the pulpit, as well as in it ; his prudence
and Christian courtesy in private intercourse ; his earnest and attractive
style of preaching, presenting as he did, to saints and sinners, the truths
and promises of the gospel with great clearness, force, and persuasive
eloquence, secured for him a wide popularity, based upon tne best feel
ings of the human heart.
Soon after his settlement in New York, he directed his efforts towards
effecting a reconciliation between the famous Ccetus and Conferentie
parties, that had so long and so seriously divided the church, — an object
that he had in vain attempted to accomplish while residing in Holland.
To appreciate the magnitude of this undertaking, and the value of the-
services rendered to the church by the settlement of the difficulties,
mainly through the instrumentality of Dr. Livingston, we need to have
before us the details of the unhappy schism that had destroyed the
peace of the Dutch churches in America, and had raged so violently as'
to threaten the destruction of the denomination. But our limits will
only allow us to quote Livingston's words, in connection with the mo
tives that prompted him to remain in the church in which he had been
baptized and reared : " There was another motive that imperceptibly,
yet powerfully, inclined me to this determination. An unhappy schism
and controversy had for several years subsisted in the Dutch churches
in America, which, unless soon suppressed, threatened the annihilation
of that whole denomination. The precise grounds of the dispute, or the
best means for reconciling the contending parties, I had not then com
pletely surveyed. The existing facts, however, were notorious and afflict
ive ; and I understood enough to convince me of the inevitable ruin that
was impending, and must soon be experienced ^f those dissensions were
not healed. For the restoration of peace and prosperity in this distin
guished portion of the Lord's vineyard I felt an ardent desire, and it was
powerfully impressed on my mind that God would render me, however
unworthy and unfit for that arduous work, an instrument in his hand to
compromise and heal these dissensions, and to raise the reputation and
establish the dignity and usefulness of the Dutch Church in America.
41

642 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In what way these great objects were to be effected, or how the Lord
would prepare and afterwards employ me for that purpose, I did not
know ; nor did this excite any difficulty or uneasiness. The point was
settled in my mind, and I was fully persuaded that it would be accom
plished. This removed all further hesitation, and fixed my determina
tion to abide in my own church."
In about two years after he began his efforts to effect a reconciliation,
it was accomplished, and he adds, " The posterior dealings
Dutch Re- of divine Providence, and the gracious fulfillment of my
expectation, have afforded me abundant evidence that my
choice has been crowned with the divine approbation."
In October, 1775, Dr. Livingston was married to Sarah, the youngest
daughter of Philip Livingston, at Kingston, whither the family had re
moved from New York, on account of an apprehended invasion by the
British forces. A more happy connection could scarcely have been
formed, as the lady was distinguished for all those qualities of heart and
character that constitute the tranquillity and joy of a Christian home.
As many families had left New York, which was in a defenseless con
dition, and the congregations were greatly broken up, Dr. Livingston re
mained for some time with his father-in-law, visiting New York as often
as was practicable, and preaching (alternately with Dr. Laidlie, who had
removed to Red Hook) to the remnant of the flock until September,
1776, when the British forces took possession of the city.
Soon after, he was invited by the consistory of the Dutch Church in
Albany to preach for them during his exile, or as long as it might suit
his convenience. He removed to Albany with Mrs. Livingston and his
infant son, and labored in conjunction with the devoted and excellent
Dr. Westerle for three years, when, owing to the feeble state of his
wife's health, he retired to the Livingston manor. By the people of
Albany he was highly appreciated and beloved for his faithful and at
tractive presentation of gospel truth, his ardent piety, and his elevated
religious conversation. In April, 1780, a call was extended to him to
settle permanently in Albany ; but he declined it, deeming it best to re
main at the manor, and preach to the destitute churches in the vicinity.
Wherever his lot was cast, he exercised the greatest diligence in the serv
ice of his divine Master, laboring to strengthen the faith and brighten the
hopes of God's people, and to win souls to Christ. The national troubles
weighed heavily upon his heart, and he fervently prayed for the success
of the American cause, and rejoiced in every victory that liberty gained
over oppression.
After remaining about eighteen months at the manor, he removed to
his father's residence in Poughkeepsie, and supplied the pulpit of the
i church, at that time in want of a pastor, until the evacuation of New
York by the British troops, in November, 1783, when he returned to re-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN HENRY LIVINGSTON. 643
sume his pastoral charge in that city. The seven eventful years since
his departure had wrought sad changes in his congregation and wide
circle of friends, and traces of the outrages committed by the enemy
were visible in many parts of the city. Several churches His churches at
were in a ruinous condition, among which were the Middle the close of the
and North Dutch churches, that had been used as prisons,
the interior having been entirely destroyed. His bosom friend and wise
counselor, the excellent Laidlie, had passed away from the earth, and
of the four ministers of the Collegiate Church, connected with it at
the beginning of the war, Dr. Livingston was the only one who returned
at its close to resume his ministerial work. Girding himself anew for
service, and seeking guidance and strength from above, he undertook the
sole charge of the congregation, and was indefatigable in his labors to
sustain and advance its interests.
After the unhappy difficulties in the denomination, already mentioned,
had been removed, and harmony was restored, a plan was adopted of ap
pointing a professor of theology ; and the requisite funds having been
raised, application was made to the classis of Amsterdam, and by them to
the faculty of the University of Utrecht, to recommend a suitable person
for the position. They at once referred to Dr. Livingston as possessing
higher qualifications than any one they could send from Holland, and
advised his appointment. But the storm of war that had already begun
interrupted the project, and the matter was deferred until peace was re
stored to the nation.
In October, 1784, a convention of ministers and elders was held, and
the honorable office of professor of theology was unani- TlleolOKical pro.
mously conferred upon Dr. Livingston, who, after prayer- fess°r-
ful consideration, declared his acceptance of the same. The 19th of
May, 1785, was the time fixed for his inauguration. The exercises were
held in the old Dutch church in Garden Street, and the inaugural oration
was delivered in Latin, before the General Synod, the name that the
convention had now assumed. The subject selected was " The Truth of
the Christian Religion," which was treated with his usual argumentative
force and clearness and elegance of style.
But the duties of this position, added to the care of a large congrega
tion, which previous to the war had been served by four ministers, broke
down his health, and for change of air and necessary exercise he re
moved in the spring, or early in the summer, of 1786, to Flatbush, Long
Island, whither his students followed him. Since his appointment he
had lectured to the class five days every week, and much of his time
at this period was necessarily, yet delightfully, employed in gather
ing into his church a rich harvest, as the fruit of the divine blessing
upon his faithful labors. During the nearly three years that he was sole
pastor of the church he received over four hundred persons to the com-

644 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
munion on profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was
" one joyful revival season," in which his mental energies were strength
ened and his soul encouraged and stimulated by heavenly influences,
while the strain upon his physical powers was unavoidably severe. He
was willing, however, to spend and be spent for the Master who af
forded him such signal tokens of his favor and approbation.
The rare combination of natural gifts and varied acquisitions of this
devoted servant of the Lord enabled him to serve the church in nearly if
not all the departments of its work. In 1787 he was appointed chairman
of a committee to prepare and publish a selection of Psalms for the use of
the church in public worship. He also proposed that a constitution of
the church be drawn up, presenting in a condensed form its doctrine,
worship, and government, and was a prominent member of the commit
tee appointed to prepare it. His associate, Dr. D. Romeyn, rendered
most efficient and important service in this work. It is regarded, how
ever, by Dr. Gunn as no injustice to the memory of this able and most
useful divine to give to Dr. Livingston the title of " father
Father of the & &
Reformed Dutch of the constitution of the Reformed Dutch Church m the
United States of America." This constitution was sol
emnly ratified by the General Synod held at New York on the 10th of
October, 1792.
Although Dr. Livingston was at this time in a measure relieved of his
arduous labors by colleagues who were associated with him in his minis
terial work, yet in the summer of 1809 it was evident that his health
was becoming impaired by his constant toil. In consequence of this, he
was excused from preaching more than once on the Sabbath. On the
revival of Queen's College, at New Brunswick, arrangements were made
between the trustees of that institution and the General Synod that the
professorate should be united with the college, and in October, 1810, Dr.
Livingston was transferred from New York to New Brunswick to fill
the double office of professor of theology and president of the college.
It was a great sacrifice for him to sunder the tender ties that had so
long bound him to his work and friends in New York ; but his noble
spirit was accustomed to make sacrifices, and after forty years' service
in the ministry, and twenty-six in the professorship (the latter without
compensation), he yielded to the stern necessity that took him to another
field. Under his administration, which continued fifteen years, the col
lege prospered, and during his ministry of fifty-four years nearly two
hundred students were trained under his instruction for the gospel min
istry. While in apparent health, and discharging his official duties with vigor
and unwonted cheerfulness, his career was suddenly brought to a close.
Probably the last letters that he wrote were addressed to his son under
date of January 13 and 15, 1825, to express his sympathy in the death

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN HENRY LIVINGSTON. 645
of an infant member of his family. His tender domestic affection ap
pears throughout these letters, as may be inferred from the closing words
of the last : —
" Now, my dear, my sweet, my beloved children, I mourn with you.
I help you to bear your burdens ; my heart and love are with you. I
bless you both most tenderly, and all the precious flock, and am your
loving father, J. PI. Livingston."
On the 19th of January he made several visits in the morning and
delivered a long lecture to the students on Divine Providence. The even
ing he spent with his colleague in conversing with great animation and
delight upon divine themes. After engaging in family worship, in which
he seemed to draw specially near to God, and to remember every object
dear to his heart, he retired at the usual hour, and in the morning was
found asleep in Jesus. His tranquil countenance and natural position
indicated that he had passed away without a struggle to the realms of
celestial light and everlasting blessedness.
Livingston's presence, in public and private, was commanding and dig
nified, and awakened a feeling of reverence in the minds portrait 0f the
of strangers and those who were most intimately associated man-
with him. He was tall and erect, with a noble person, and a countenance
beaming with intelligence, affability, and kindness. His manners were pol
ished and courteous, and for the members of his family and his intimate
friends he manifested the most tender regard and affection.
His conversational powers were remarkable, and, like all his other
gifts, were consecrated to the good of mian and to the glory of God.
One of his earliest students, who enjoyed the intimacy of private inter
course with him, says, " I never knew him, in any circle in which he
might be found, to hold a conversation of any length which he did not
turn into some channel for religious improvement. This was done in a
manner so discreet, appropriate, and gentle as not only to avoid awaken
ing prejudice, but to conciliate respect and good- will. It was not uncom
mon for him, in mixed companies, when the secular concerns of the day
were the theme of conversation, to interweave religious sentiments and
reflections so naturally deduced, so wisely stated, and so courteously and
kindly applied that even those who were generally most indifferent to
religion could not but reverence it as it thus appeared to its venerable
representative and minister. In his intercourse with Christians his con
versation was like ointment poured forth, and his pupils will testify, one
and all, that they never enjoyed an interview of any length with him in
which the Lord Jesus Christ was not brought prominently before them,
and valuable bints were not given, bearing upon the culture of the spiri
tual life."
As we may naturally suppose from a testimony like this, he was regu-

646 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Iar and devout in his private religious duties. He spent much time in
prayer and in holy meditation. He sought strength and guidance from
above, and lived near to God. He daily walked in the light of divine
truth, and drank from the fountain of living waters, and streams of be
nign influences flowed from him in every direction. His piety gave tone
to his whole demeanor, rendering him eminently discreet in the manage
ment of ecclesiastical matters, tender of the feelings of others, and wise
in the selection of the best means for the best ends. He was cautious
rather than bold and adventurous in proposing and advocating measures
for the good of the church, and yet ever evinced the greatest courage in
sustaining its doctrines and discipline, and persevering in the support of
whatever he deemed vital to its welfare and prosperity. He loved and
maintained with the warmest affection and unwavering determination the
cardinal truths of Christianity, receiving with implicit faith the words of
inspiration, and accepting Christ as the centre of theology, the mediator
between God and man, the only source of pardon and eternal life.
As a preacher, Dr. Livingston attained to a distinguished rank. His
Of the preacher commanding personal appearance, his striking elocution
and professor. an(j characteristic gesticulation, his deep convictions of the
absolute truth of God's Word, and his vivid apprehension of the tre
mendous consequences of accepting or rejecting the gospel message ren
dered his preaching most impressive. The success attending his public
ministrations in the city of New York and elsewhere, when in the full
ness of his vigor, abundantly attest his superior pulpit power. He usu
ally preached from carefully prepared copious notes, but was able, with
very little preparation, from his large intellectual resources and his ac
curate knowledge of the Scriptures, to instruct and edify his hearers.
His appeals to the impenitent were often very powerful and search
ing, but he specially loved to revive the hopes of the desponding, and to
cheer the weary pilgrims in their struggles to overcome sin and the
world, and win the rewards that were set before them. He loved to un
fold the exceeding great and precious promises, that make the blessed
ness and glories of the future a present consolation, stimulus, and
power. To the professor's chair Dr. Livingston brought a knowledge of the
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, a rich fund of theological learn
ing, and the varied and choice acquisitions he had gained during his
four years' connection with the university at Utrecht, of whose distin
guished theologian, Bonnet, he had been a favorite pupil. His manner
of giving instruction was calculated to awaken the earnest attention and
interest of his pupils. He delivered his lectures with ease, clearly pre
senting the topics in logical order, showing the authority and harmony
of the doctrines of the Bible, and their relations to human belief and
practical life. With his students he sat as a father among his children,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] WILLIAM WHITE. 647
and their respect and affection for him prepared them to receive his in
structions to their hearts as well as their intellects. Their subsequent
faithfulness in preaching " the truth as it is in Jesus," their adherence
to the doctrines of the church, and their success in the ministry, bear
testimony to the value of his training and teachings, and the moulding
influence of his godly character and life.
While the Reformed (Dutch) Church has an existence, the name of
John PL Livingston will be held in the highest veneration, and in most
affectionate and grateful remembrance. — R. W. C.

LIFE XV. WILLIAM WHITE.
A. D. 1748-A. D. 1836. EPISCOPALIAN, — AMERICA.1
William White, the son of Colonel Thomas and Esther White, was
born in Philadelphia, on the 4th of April, 1748, New Style. He gradu
ated at seventeen from the then College of Philadelphia (now the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania), and, yielding to 'the call of the Holy Spirit, he
determined at that early age to devote himself to the Christian ministry.
Accordingly, he began his theological studies. The exercises which most
interested and benefited him were those held by himself and four other
young men looking forward to the ministry, under the direction of the
Rev. Dr. William Smith, the provost of the college. During the Sun
day evenings of a few months for three successive years, these young
men wrote out and delivered notes and exegesis upon Bible history.
These exercises, having been first submitted to the provost for correction
and approval, were then delivered in public in the hall of the old college,
two speaking in turn each evening, and the provost at the conclusion en
larged on the themes discussed by these youths.
"¦ Although," says Bishop White, " this was far from being a complete
course of ecclesiastical studies, it called to a variety of reading and to a
concentration of what was read." "There was also use," he adds, "in
the introduction to public speaking."
Five years of this kind of study were passed in this city, prolonged
in his case, because he had graduated so early from college. There were
then no schools of the prophets, wherein the candidates for the ministry
could prepare themselves for their sacred office. The desultory teaching
of private and irresponsible ministers was all that could be obtained
after the pupil had taken his college degree.
1 Of this life story, by the Rev. Dr. William Bacon Stevens, bishop of the (P. E.) dio
cese of Pennsylvania, only the opening and closing sentences were prepared by its au
thor for this work. The remaining portions, with other interesting matter, were read on
the occasion of the reinterment of the remains of William White in the chancel of Christ
Church, Philadelphia, in 1876, and were published in pamphlet form for a limited circula
tion — H. M. M.

648 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Having pursued his studies diligently and conducted himself with so
briety and discretion, young White was ready for his ordination. But
here another difficulty rose before him. There was no bishop in Amer
ica, and to obtain orders he must cross the Atlantic and seek
ordination 8eek them at the hands of English prelates. This was a griev-
abroad. oug hardship for the ministerial candidates, and was a se
rious drawback to the prosperity of the church in the colonies of Great
Britain. A'voyage across the Atlantic then was quite a different thing
from a voyage now. One fifth of all the candidates who set sail for
England perished abroad.
When to this danger of the seas was added the loss of time and the
expense of the voyages to and fro, costing usually one hundred pounds,
a sum equivalent to the yearly salary of most of the clergy at that time,
we can easily understand what a formidable barrier existed against the
increase of the ministry, and how much moral courage and firmness of
purpose were requisite before a young man would resolve to take up such
heavy crosses in order to become a minister of Christ.
These colonies were then under the episcopal jurisdiction of the lord
bishop of London, who superintended them by means of certain clergy
men who were termed commissaries, and to whom was committed a cer
tain amount of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This arrangement, however,
only partially remedied the evil arising from their not having any bishop.
Churches were unconsecrated, the baptized were not confirmed, candi
dates could not be ordained, and the wholesome regimen of the episco
pacy was altogether wanting.1 Such was the condition when the youth
ful White, unable to get orders in his native land, was about to proceed
to England for them.
He sailed from Chester for London on October 15, 1770, in the ship
Britannia. Of the incidents of his voyage we know nothing, but can
well imagine the discomforts and dangers which at that period, and with
such comparatively small and ill-furnished ships, he must have endured.
1 Tet both clergy and laity, over two hundred years ago, saw the necessity of bishops
and sought earnestly to secure their appointment. When the plan was proposed in 1638
to send a bishop to the American plantations, it was thwarted by the outbreak of troubles
in Scotland. When in 1673 the Rev. Dr. Alex. Hurry was nominated by Lord Chancellor
Clarendon, and approved by King Charles Second, and even a draft of letters-patent was
prepared, the plan was defeated because the endowment was to be out of the public customs.
When again in 1713 Queen Anne responded favorably to the request of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, that bishops should be appointed for the colonies, and the so
ciety actually fixed upon and purchased a residence for the bishop at Burlington, New Jer
sey, the death of the good queen again frustrated the design. George First was also fa
vorable to the plan, but the rebellion in Scotland absorbed the public mind, and Sir Robert
'Walpole discountenanced the project. Later still, Edmund Gibson, bishop of London, re-
newedly pressed the matter upon the attention of the government, and memorials were sent
to him from the clergy of Maryland, of New England, of Christ Church, Philadelphia, and
St. Ann's, Burlington, urging the sending of a bishop to America. The plan was sustained
and advocated by Bishops Seeker and Tennison, by Bishops Lowth, Butler, Benson, Sher
lock, and Terriek; but the rising difficulties between the colonies and the mother country,
and the extreme opposition and jealousy of the opponents of the Church of England in this
country, prevented the execution of the design, and so the church for a hundred and fifty
years had existed here without a local episcopate.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] WILLIAM WHITE. 649
Nor will it be difficult for us to surmise the joy which he felt when the
cry of " Land ho ! " was sung out from the mast-head, and then watched
with ever increasing delight the unfolding panorama of the shore, until
the ship cast anchor in its destined port, and he trod, for the first time,
the soil of the dear old motherland.
He was received in England by his aunts, Miss White and Mrs. Weeks,
and though he took lodgings in London, he spent a considerable portion
of his time with them at Twickenham, ten miles from Westminster,
where he said he " took pleasure not only in the society of an agreeable
circle of friends to' which I was admitted in that earthly paradise, but in
rambles in the neighborhood."
He had come to England for a solemn purpose, and he at once set
about the work of securing his ordination. Several obstacles, however,
were in his way. First, he was not of canonical age. The thirty-fourth
canon of the Church of England requires that a person desiring to be a
deacon shall be three and twenty years old. William White lacked sev
eral months of being three and twenty, and was thereby obliged to ob
tain a faculty or dispensation from the archbishop of Canterbury grant
ing ordination infra cetatem for persons of special abilities, before the
canonical age.
Another difficulty lay in the fact that he was not a graduate of either
of the two great universities, Oxford or Cambridge, as specified in the
thirty-fourth canon. While, however, the usual formal testimonials were
drawn up upon a supposition that the candidate was a B. A. of some col
lege of Oxford or Cambridge, yet the same canon made provision for such
cases as had not these degrees, and under this exceptional clause William
White became eligible for holy orders. Having obtained the various
letters testimonial and presented them to the bishop through his secre
tary or chaplain a month before ember week, he was then requested to
present himself for examination by the bishop and three clergymen.
This he successfully passed, so that the examining chaplain told a friend
of his aunt, " that his examination would have been an honor to either
of the universities," and then he subscribed, according to the requisition
of the thirty-sixth canon, a declaration of allegiance and of the royal
supremacy ; of conformity to the use of the Book of Common Prayer,
and an acknowledgment of the binding authority, ex animo of the thirty-
nine articles, " taking them in the true literal usual and grammatical
sense." These and all other preliminaries having been complied with, he was
ordained deacon, December 23, 1770, in the Chapel Royal of St. James's
Palace, Westminster, by Dr. Philip Yonge, bishop of Norwich, acting
in behalf of Dr. Richard Terrick, bishop of London. The aim of years
of study had been reached, and he stood trembling on the threshold of a
ministry which stretched itself onward sixty and five years.

650 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Not being of canonical age to obtain priest's orders, he remained in
Hi. tw ears in England until he could do so. He had no special clerical
England. duty to perform, and hence was left free to pursue those
studies which fitted him for a higher ministry, and make that acquaint
ance with England and Englishmen which his means and time enabled
him happily to do. He took several journeys to different parts of Eng
land and passed some weeks at Oxford. His visit to this university he
greatly enjoyed, making friends of the fellows and tutors of its several
colleges, and enjoying the public exercises not only in the preaching
which he heard in St. Mary's, but also in the convocations and exami
nations at which he was present.
The religious condition of the Church of England at this time was lam
entably relaxed. Error of doctrine of a subtle kind had been broached
by men in high positions. Worldliness had so invaded the church that
routs and balls were held even in the palace at Lambeth, a fact which
drew down upon Archbishop Cornwallis the rebuke of George Third.
There was a fearful latitudinarianism in the opinions of the clergy which
led to continued controversy. The discourses from the pulpit were mostly
of a philosophical or moral character. Church people, and even the
clergy, indulged, with but little restraint, in the so-called pleasures of the
chase, the ball-room, and the theatre, and the general tone of morality
throughout the land was low and doubtful. As a consequence, infidelity
grew apace and became fashionable and popular. That this statement is
not too broad is evident from the words of Archbishop Seeker, who died
in 1768, who says in one of his sermons : " It is a reproach, I believe,
peculiar to the Christians of this age and nation, that many of them seem
ashamed of their Christianity, and excuse their piety as others do their
vices." The great doctrines of grace so strongly set forth in the liturgy, the ar
ticles, and the homilies, and which were expounded so forcibly by the
divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were weakened and
altered into almost another gospel ; and hence had arisen stronger dissent
on the one hand, and that remarkable Wesleyan movement on the other,
which was at that very time sapping the strength of the church and
raising up against her and out of her very midst some of her strongest
opponents. Such was the state of the Church of England when William White
was there for deacon's and priest's orders. To one coming from such a
remote and quiet colony to the bustle and excitement of London, and to
one educated under a system so diverse from that in the great schools
and colleges of England, there was much to dazzle and lead astray. It
is therefore the more to be thankful for, that one so young as William
White was enabled to bear up against all these adverse and misleading
influences, and not only to maintain an unblemished moral character

Cent. XVII.-XIX] WILLIAM WHITE. 651
amidst so many alluring temptations, but also to retain his Christian
faith unswayed by the theological and ecclesiastical errors then rife and
freely broached.
April 25, 1772, he was ordained to the priesthood by Dr. Terrick,
the bishop of London. The same bishop also licensed him to officiate
in Pennsylvania. He was now ready to return. He sailed Rehlrns t0
from England in June, on the ship Pennsylvania Packet, America.
Captain Osborne, but owing to calms, light winds, and the bad sailing
qualities of the ship in which he embarked, he did not reach Philadel
phia until the 19th of September, when he once more entered the home
circle which he had left over two years before, and now stood before
them an ordained minister of Christ.
Before he left England he had been invited by the vestry to become as
sistant minister of the " united churches," but action was deferred until
the 30th of November, 1772, when, with his friend and college-mate, the
Rev. Thomas Coombe, he was formally elected to that office, and he at
once entered upon its duties, at a salary of one hundred and fifty pounds
per annum.
There were then but three Episcopal churches in the old city, namely,
Christ Church, St. Peter's, and St. Paul's, and but little over two hun
dred Church of England clergymen in all the thirteen colonies. There
was no bishop, no organized diocese, no church academy or church col
lege, no church periodical, no Sunday-school, no missionary society, and
no hospital. At the end of a century there are seventy-three Episco
pal churches in Philadelphia, the clergymen of our church number nearly
three thousand, comprised in forty-eight dioceses and missionary juris
dictions, while ninety-seven bishops have been consecrated for service
in our branch of the Holy Catholic Church in these United States. There
are a score of church colleges and theological schools, an equal number
of church periodicals, while our great societies for missions, for Sunday-
schools, for church publications, for educating young men for the minis
try, and our hundred asylums, orphan-houses, church homes, and church
hospitals, like a net-work of holy charity cover the land.
White had been an assistant minister of the united churches not four
years, when the Declaration of Independence was made, and the po
litical distractions and turmoils of eleven years' restiveness under King
George culminated in the birth of a free nation. To the Episcopal
clergy in this country, that act was fraught with disaster. At their or
dination they had taken the oath of allegiance to the king ; in their lit
urgy, which they had solemnly vowed to use, were prayers for the king
and royal family and the Parliament of Great Britain, and with few ex
ceptions they derived their support from the stipends paid to them by
the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
They were thus placed between the upper and the nether millstone ;

652 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
for, if they yielded to the American spirit, cast off the supremacy of the
crown, and renounced praying for the king, they violated their ordina
tion vows and lost their stipends, and if they continued to use the liturgy
as it was, they compromised themselves before the public. As a conse
quence, most of the clergy embraced the royal side, and they were per- ,
His course as a secuted, fined, beaten, expatriated, and in one instance at
patriot. ieast giaiu. William White, living in Philadelphia, then the
political centre of the country, and knowing the sentiments of the most
wise and thoughtful men of the colonies, was ready to cast in his lot
with the fortunes of the new republic, and at once acquiesced in the
change which the vestry of the united churches, on the very day when
independence was declared, required its rector and assistant ministers to
make, namely, " to omit those petitions in the liturgy wherein the king
of Great Britain is prayed for."
That this was not the result of a momentary impulse, under the po
litical excitement of the time, is evident from what he says in his MS.
Autobiography, where he records his careful study of English history
and the English Constitution, from the times of the Saxons to the Revo
lution of 1688 ; his thoughtful reflections on the causes of American
discontent, and his deliberate choice of adherence to the policy and acts
of the Continental Congress. His firmness and courage were tested by
an incident connected with his taking the oath of allegiance to the United
States, in 1776. " When he went to the court-house for the purpose, a
gentleman of his acquaintance standing there, observing his design, in
timated to him, by a gesture, the danger to which he would expose him
self. After having taken the oath, he remarked, before leaving the court
house, to the gentleman alluded to, ' I perceive by your gesture that you
thought I was exposing my neck to great danger by the step which I
have taken. But I have not taken it without full deliberation. I know
my danger and that it is the greater on account of my being a clergy
man of the Church of England. But I trust in Providence. The cause
is a just one and I am persuaded will be protected.' "
The next year he was chosen chaplain to Congress, then sitting in
York Town. " He continued chaplain until that body removed to New
York. When, after the adoption of the existing Constitution, the Con
gress of the United States returned to Philadelphia, he was again chosen
one of their chaplains, and continued to be so chosen at each successive
Congress by the Senate until the removal of the seat of government to
Washington, in 1801." He was thus officially brought into close rela
tionship with the leaders of American thought and action, as well as
personally, through his brother-in-law, Robert Morris, the great financier
of the war of the Revolution.
In 1779, Mr. White, was unanimously elected rector of Christ Church
and St. Peter's. This placed him virtually at the head of the church in

Cent. XVIL-XIX] WILLIAM WHITE. 653
Pennsylvania, and put him in a commanding position as to all eccle
siastical affairs. So soon, therefore, as the American successes secured
to us a distinct nationality, he, in company with a few others, took counsel
together, looking to a union of all the Episcopal clergy in all the States ;
and it shows the high estimation in which he was held, that „„
. c. a t Father of the
at the first meeting in New Brunswick in May, 1784, he American Epis-
• -i-i ¦ -i t ¦ ¦ i -r copal body.
presided at the meeting, and opened it with a sermon. It
is not necessary to detail the steps which led to the formation of our
American church, but no one mind was more directive and controlling
in all the assemblies than William White's.
He was the first to suggest the introduction of the laity into the coun
cils of the church, the first to suggest synodal or diocesan action, and
the first to suggest a general convention made up of representatives
from the lower assemblies ; and the first draft of the constitution was
from his pen.
In this constitution there were engrafted certain principles of eccle
siastical law, which were unknown in the Church of England, and which,
though partially appearing in some of the older constitutions of the
Saxon church, and of the primitive eastern dioceses, had, for more than
a thousand years, been kept out of sight in the ascendency which the
priesthood had claimed and exercised over lay people. Those principles
were : (1) the organization of the church as an ecclesiastical body, with
full and perfect power of self-government, and entirely independent of
secular control ; (2) the introduction of the laity as joint councillors
and legislators, with equal voice and vote with the clergy in such church
conventions ; (3) the giving to the several dioceses the right to elect
their own bishops, subject to confirmation by the whole church, and in
which election and confirmation the laity have equal voice with the
clergy ; 4th, the full and equal liberty of each national church to model
and organize itself and its forms of worship and discipline in such man
ner as they may judge most convenient for their future prosperity.
Accustomed as we have been, all our lives, to these principles, we
cannot understand what a really great advance was made in the then ex
isting order of things, when Dr. White boldly brought them out and had
them incorporated in the fundamental constitution of his church. The
English " convocation," the nominal voice of the Church of England,
had long been silent, and the functions of that clerical assembly were so
restricted by parliamentary act as to stifle its power. With a political
sagacity that grasped at once the sound maxims which the framers of
our civil government embodied in the Constitution of the United States,
and with a foresight which saw that for a free people, with free institu
tions, the church, as an organism, must conform so far as possible to the
liberal views of the body politic; he, with his few companions, in his study
in Walnut Street, above Third, drew up that instrument which is the

654 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
church's Magna Charta. And what is the result ? That document,
brief as it is, has been everywhere hailed as one of the wisest ever
penned by man for the purposes for which it was made. Not only has
it worn well in the working machinery of the church, for more than
fourscore years ; not only has it been reproduced in its general princi
ples in the constitutions of forty-four organized dioceses, not only has it
kept us together amidst all the strain and severances of civil war, but
it was copied in its essential features in the new constitution of the
Church of Ireland, when that ancient church ceased to be established by
law, and became on the first day of January, 1871, self-governing and
free. On the 14th of September, 1786, he was unanimously elected bishop
of the newly formed diocese of Pennsylvania, and the sum of three hun
dred and fifty pounds, currency, was voted to defray the necessary ex
penses of the voyage of the bishop elect to and from England.
On the 2d of November, the same year, he sailed with Dr. Provost,
who had been elected bishop of New York, from New York, and, eighteen
days after, landed at Falmouth, making the shortest passage across the
Atlantic then recorded.
Through the kind offices of John Adams, then the American minister
at the court of St. James (afterward the second president of the United
States), and his grace, the lord archbishop of Canterbury, the prelim
inaries of his consecration were arranged. On the 4th of February, he
and Dr. Provost were consecrated bishops in the chapel of
Becomes bishop. L L
the palace of Lambeth. They left London the next day
for Falmouth, sailed from that port on the 17th of February, and on the
afternoon of Easter Sunday landed in New York. The day of their
return to America was the emblem to their church of its resurrection from
the deadness of the past to the life and hope of the future.
Of the three bishops consecrated in England, namely, William White,
Samuel Provost, and James Madison, Bishop White was the most prom
inent and active. His position as presiding bishop gave great weight to
his opinions ; and his thoughtful, calm, and judicious views, quietly ex
pressed and firmly held, may be said to have shaped the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the United States for nearly half a century. He is
the only one of the early bishops who has left behind him published
works, unfolding the proceedings of those early efforts to organize the
church, and the only one who has expounded the theological sentiments
of our creed and catechism and ordinal.
It is most fortunate for his church that Bishop White, with that pru
dence and foresight which always distinguished him, wrote out his
" Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church," his " Lectures on the
Catechism," his commentary on " The Ordination Offices," his ten " Pas
toral Letters of the House of Bishops," and sundry other valuable and

Cent. XVII.-XIX] WILLIAM WHITE. 655
important publications. He was frank in the expression of his views,
and manfully defended what he regarded as the sound doctrines and pure
worship of the church over which he presided. As we look back to the
difficult times in which he exercised his functions as one of the founders
and legislators and subsequently rulers in the church, we cannot but
thank God that so blameless a man in his Christian life, so scholarly a
man in his mental culture, so calm a man in times of popular excite
ment, so forecasting a man amidst threatened perils, and so firm a
man amidst the unsteady opinions of the day, was given to the church
at that time, to be to it, in its separation from the mother church, and
its erection into an independent one, what Washington was to the civil
movement of the Revolution. Both were men of marked characteris
tics ; each eminently fitted for his respective work, each saw it carried
into completion, and each ruled as the first president of the organ
ization. I should feel myself derelict in duty did I not state, in a few words,
the sentiments of Bishop White, so far as they bear on some of the ec
clesiastical and doctrinal issues of to-day. These views are found in his
carefully prepared volumes, in his correspondence, and in MSS. left
ready for the press, but which have never yet been given to the public.
From these sources we learn that Bishop White would have had no
sympathy whatever with those radical views which are held His views of doc-
and taught by some persons, whereby episcopacy is decried, triEe and oraer-
the prayer book reproached as teaching error, the canons of the church
disregarded, the language of the offices of the church omitted or altered,
and schism and secession openly urged, if certain claims are not author
itatively conceded. For this spirit he had no favor.
On the other hand, we learn from his writings that he would discoun
tenance and reject those tractarian and ritualistic teachings and doings,
which now, alas, are so stealthily or openly proclaimed.
I cannot better set forth his ideas than by quoting his own language.
" As to our church, although she commemorates a great sacrifice in
the Eucharist, yet she knows of no offering of anything of this descrip
tion, except in the figurative sense in which prayers and alms are sacri
fices. She calls the place on which her oblation is made, not an altar,
but a table ; although there is no impropriety in calling it an altar also,
the word being understood figuratively. And so as to the mmister in
the ordinance, although she retains the word priest, yet she considers it
as synonymous with presbyter, which appears from the Latin standard
of the Book of Common Prayer and is agreeable to etymology."
In his conducting of public worship he was exact, but simple and un
ostentatious. He regarded the service as a worship, not as a spectacle ;
to be rendered with reverence, not with pompous parade ; to inspire de
votion in the soul, not to minister to the mere sensuous and assthetic ele-

656 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
ments of our nature. So much did he act upon these principles that he
never bowed at the name of Jesus in the Creed, and even wrote two
articles in defense of his not doing it. He never turned to the east
to say the Creed or the Gloria Patri. He never in the pulpit turned
his back upon the congregation during the ascription after the sermon.
He never preached in a surplice, but always, when not engaged in-
episcopal duties, in the black gown. He never required the people to
rise up as he entered the church, and at the close of the service to re
main standing in their pews until he had left the chancel. He never
asked the congregation to stand up while he placed the alms basons,
with the offertory, on the Lord's table, or notified the communicants
to continue in their places, after the benediction, until the clergy had
reverently eaten and drank what remained of the consecrated bread and
wine. These and other like practices, the outcroppings of sacerdotal
assumptions, were utterly foreign to his wise and benign views and
teachings. He magnified his office, not by arrogant claims, or by extolling unduly its
sacred functions, but by a loving discharge of its duties, un
der the eye of God, in the humility of a servant, and with
the fidelity of an apostle. His loving nature, sound judgment, and en
lightened mind also kept him from holding intolerant or unchurching
dogmas in reference to other Christian bodies. Throughout his long life
he carried out the spirit and letter of his ordination and consecration
vows, — " to maintain and set forward quietness, peace, and love among
all Christian people." His views upon this point were well defined in
one paragraph of the instructions which he gave to the first missionaries
of our church to China in 1835. Addressing the Rev. Messrs. Hanson and
Lockwood, the bishop says : " In the tie which binds you to the Episco
pal Church, there is nothing which places you in the attitude of hostility
to men of any other Christian denomination, and much which should
unite you in affection to those occupied in the same cause with yourself.
You should rejoice in their successes, and avoid as much as possible all
controversy and all occasions which may provoke it, on points on which
they may differ from our communion, without conforming in any point
to what we consider as erroneous."
Acting himself in this spirit, he became one of the founders of the
Bible Society of Philadelphia, and was its president until his death.
He presided at its annual meetings when held in other than Episcopal
churches, and when its anniversaries were held in our churches, ministers
of different denominations stood before him in the chancel, and addressed
the people. He was also one of the founders of the Society for the
Institution and Support of First Day or Sunday Schools, an organization
made up of Christians of different religious bodies. Thus, while he never
compromised his principles as a churchman, or sacrificed a single convic-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JACOB ALBRIGHT. 657
tion of duty, he yet secured the respect of all classes of the community ;
and all denominations united at his death to do honor to this prince and
father in Israel.
Let us thank God for the life and labor of such a man. " He being
dead yet speaketh." In the beautiful language of Wordsworth in one of
his Ecclesiastical Sonnets, —
" To thee, 0 saintly White,
Patriarch of a wide-spreading family,
Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn,
Whether they would restore, or build, — to thee,
As one who rightly taught how zeal should burn,
As one who drew from out Faith's holiest urn
The purest stream of patient Energy." (Part iii., Son. xv.)
He died in Philadelphia, at his residence in Walnut Street, on Sunday
the 17th of July, 1836. " His end," says his biographer, Dr. Bird Wil
son, " was marked by the serenity and by the deep-seated and sweetly-
calm religious consolation and trust in the mercy of God through the Re
deemer, which were in perfect consistency with his own declared prin
ciples of religion and with the uniform character of his feelings, con
versation, and life." — W. B. S.

LIFE XVI. JACOB ALBRIGHT.
A. D. 1759-A. D. 1808. EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION, — AMERICA.
Jacob Albright, the founder of the " Evangelical Association of
North America," was born in the year 1759, near Pottstown, Mont
gomery County, Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania German parents. He
was baptized in infancy by a German Lutheran minister, and at a later
period catechised and received into the membership of the Lutheran
Church. In his neighborhood, experimental and practical religion was
then at a low ebb among the German churches, and there was also-
very little of enterprise and business among the people of that section.
Young Albright, however, was possessed of considerable talent and
energy, and hence found himself embarrassed by his surroundings. The
schools of those days were "home-made" private enterprises. Penn
sylvania did not adopt the public-school system until many years after
ward. In such a school Jacob Albright learned to read and write Ger
man, and a little of arithmetic. The reading and writing exercises were
quite bare of grammatical and elocutionary instruction. Jacob's mind
did not feel at home amidst the surroundings of " Fuchsberg " (Fox's
Mountain), as that section was popularly called ; so when he had married
Miss Elizabeth Cope, he moved away about seventy miles into Lancaster
42

658 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
County, Pennsylvania. In that naturally rich county, he found that bricks
Early business were needed, and tiles much in demand for roofing pur-
career, poses ; even large barns as well as houses were thus roofed in
those days ; so he started a " Ziegelhiitte," or a tile and brick yard, having
learned that business when he lived at home. He was quite success
ful in this occupation, and was highly respected by his customers and the
people generally, who called him the " tiler," which title some prefaced
with the valuable adjective " honest." In the midst of a successful busi
ness career, and surrounded by a prosperous family, Albright saw death
enter his household in the year 1790, and carry off several of the little
ones in quick succession, which deeply pained and affected him. The
pungent funeral sermons delivered by Rev. Anton Howtz, a German Re
formed minister, so touched his conscience that he considered these
deaths as a loud call of God upon him to repent and turn to the Lord.
For until that time he had lived careless about spiritual and eternal
things that pertain to the salvation of the soul, in moral darkness and sin,
as did others around him. He now fell into a deep trouble on account
of his sins. Strange yet true it was that he could not find any one who
was able to point him to Christ and explain the simple way of salvation
through faith in Him. The fact was that in his church, and other Ger
man churches around him, justification by faith, regeneration by the
power of the Holy Spirit, and the assurance of adoption into God's fam
ily were unknown, at least experimentally, and Christianity consisted
of a mere outward form and profession. The Methodists, it is true, had
come into Albright's neighborhood by that time, but as they were much
despised and misrepresented, Albright did not go near them. Finally,
he met a lay-preacher named Adam Ridgel, who was evidently a truly
pious man. He showed Albright the way to the cross of Christ, and they
met and prayed together, until Albright could claim the atonement as
availing for him, and thus he realized that Christ died for him, yea, even
him, and was filled with peace and joy in believing. With a heart full of
gratitude towards God, whom he now could address as " Abba, Father,"
he wanted to tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour he had found,
but to his surprise he found opposition, yea, even persecution, rising
against him. He now looked around to find kindred hearts with whom
he could unite in spiritual fellowship, " for," says he, " I needed some
-experienced Christians to watch over me, and assist me in fighting the
:good fight of faith, and working out my soul's salvation." He soon saw
the necessity and advantage of being under good church discipline ; he
had no sympathy with such as wanted to be free from the " yoke," as
they called it, of a proper church organization. However, in his own
church he met with opposition and persecution ; so he went to his next
neighbor, who was a Methodist class-leader, and inquired into the dis
cipline and government of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JACOB ALBRIGHT. 659
he became highly pleased. He was led soon to join himself to this com
munion. He thus had found a congenial church home, and went forward
serving the Lord with a joyful, willing heart. By and by the Methodists
gave him an exhorter's license, and he now and then delivered a public
address to his fellow-Christians and fellow-men which was not without
good effect. He had, however, as yet not the least thought of becoming
a preacher of the gospel.
During the first few years of his Christian course he learned to under
stand that the Germans in America were in a deeply depraved condition,
and he earnestly prayed for their salvation with an increasing sympathy.
He now asked God to awaken and send forth good shepherds to seek
these wandering sheep, and lead them to the great Chief-Shepherd, who
laid down his life for them. One day, while he was thus praying, a light
shone upon his soul, and a question arose within : " Was it CaUed t0 hi8
mere chance that the deplorable condition of your fellow- life-work.
men so touched your heart that you were led thus to pray ? Or is the
hand of Him who guides the steps of a man, as well as the course of
nations, in this matter ? How would it be if his infinite love had chosen
you to lead your brethren into the way of saving knowledge, and into a
participation of the mercy of God ? " In his soul this light shone clearer
still, and he heard an inward voice : " Go, labor in my vineyard. Trust
in me for strength and help and success in saving souls." But now
arose a number of objections in his mind. He said, " Lord, there are so
many talented and learned men who are better qualified for such a work,
and have greater resources and influence ; behold, I am so feeble and
incompetent ! " When he looked at himself and the greatness and the
difficulties of such a work, he became discouraged, and asked God to ex
cuse him and send another one. But then his conscience would tell him
that he must obey the voice of God, that his grace would be sufficient,
that He would grant him the sufficiency from above. The great peril
and loss resulting from disobedience, and also the great reward that awaits
the faithful servant, were clearly portrayed before his mind. These
cogitations troubled him greatly, but he was not willing to go into the
vineyard. Finally, a severe sickness befell him, which brought him to
the brink of death, and he recognized herein the chastising hand of his
heavenly Father. He humbled himself under the mighty hand of God,
asked for mercy, and solemnly promised the Lord if He would restore him
he would go and preach the gospel. He then rapidly recovered, and his
mind was again filled with light, and his heart with peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost. He now speedily arranged his temporal affairs, and started
out as an evangelist and itinerant preacher of the gospel, which he
preached wherever he found hearers and open doors, in houses, churches,
market-places, barns, on the roadside, and in the woods. He preached
more particularly such doctrines as involve Christian experience and

660 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
practice, as repentance, faith, conversion, regeneration, and inward and
outward holiness according to the Methodistic view of these doctrines,
which appeared to him to be in accordance with the Holy Scriptures.
His labors were blessed with good results in the salvation of sinners, and
soon a little flock claimed him as their spiritual father and looked to him
as their God-given pastor.
The Methodist Episcopal Church at that time did not intend to enter
upon the German field in America, and hence the labors of Mr. Albright
were not regarded by her, and so it happened — perhaps providentially,
for Providence often " happens " — that Albright was, by the course of
events, separated from that church, while he was following a divine call,
of which he was fully persuaded.
It was in the month of October, 1796, that he commenced preaching
the gospel; in 1800 three classes or congregations were
Organizes the ° r i ,
Evangelical As- organized; in 1803 a council was held by the chief mem
bers of the society to consider what steps might be neces
sary to give the work something more of form and organization. The
members of this council consisted of some of the most respectable citi
zens of Pennsylvania, who by the grace of God had been led to Christ
through the labors of Albright. They adopted a declaration in which they
firmly testified to the good character of Jacob Albright as a man and
a Christian, and recognized him as their pastor, and a true minister of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Before the close of the meeting he was or
dained as a minister of the gospel by united prayer and the laying on of
hands, in accordance with Acts xiii. 1-3.
Albright continued henceforth to labor zealously and successfully for
the salvation of souls, amidst great hardships and difficulties and bitter
persecutions, until 1807, when the first regular conference was held in the
month of November, by which he was unanimously elected bishop, and
also requested to compile articles of faith and a discipline for the guid
ance of the then so-called " Albright people," but he soon afterward sank
into consumption, and died happy in the Lord, in the spring of 1808, —
the result probably of extreme hardships, severe labors, and over exer
tion in the work. Shortly before his decease he expressed to one of his
co-laborers some uncertainty in his own mind whether God intended the
work which was now commenced to continue as a separate organization,
but said that if Providence designed it should continue, He would raise
up competent men who would carry it on ; and God did raise such
men !
Several years thereafter this branch of the Christian church adopted
the following as their proper church name : " Die Evangelische Ge-
meinschaft von Nord Amerika," which was translated into The Evangel
ical Association of North America. The work has since grown wonder
fully every way, even beyond all expectation and belief. This denomina-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT DONNELL. 661
tion now numbers nineteen annual conferences, about one thousand itiner
ant preachers, and one hundred and ten thousand members. It has spread
over many States of the Union, into Canada and into Europe, and has also
missionaries in Japan. All this, together with an exceedingly prosper
ous book establishment at Cleveland, Ohio, an orphan institution at Flat
Rock, Ohio, the Northwestern College, and a Biblical Institute at Naper-
ville, Illinois, a well-organized missionary society, a Sunday-school and
tract union, etc., and above all the assistance of the Holy Spirit, gives a
promising prospect for the future.
The labors of the Evangelical Association are now conducted in both
the German and the English language.
From the foregoing paragraphs it is already evident that this de
nomination is Methodistic in both doctrine and church polity. However,
in the latter respect some important variations exist which some very
sensible men have regarded as improvements. The bishops are elected
every four years by general conference ; the presiding elders, likewise,
every four years by the annual conferences. The bishops have no trans
ferring power, and the presiding elders, who are practically bishops on
a smaller scale, are the assistants in stationing the preachers. To the
office of bishop is, however, attached a high ideal. He must excel every
way, — live holier, work more, and preach better than other preachers,
and be a pattern to all.
In conclusion, we add a brief personal description of Jacob Albright, by
whom God pleased to bring about such a work as this. He was nearly
six feet high, had smooth black hair, a high clear forehead, small, deeply
set, piercing eyes, aquiline nose, mouth and chin well proportioned, a
symmetrical form, a white complexion, the sanguine and choleric tem
peraments well combined. Hence he was a beautiful man, graceful in his
movements, cheerful and yet determined, and altogether adapted to make
a favorable impression. When he preached, from a heart filled with the
love of God, people hung upon his words, and were overwhelmed by the
power and attractions of the gospel of Jesus Christ ; and those whom
he led to the Saviour loved him as their spiritual father. He was, in
deed, " a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." — R. Y.

LIFE XVII. ROBERT DONNELL.
A. D. 1784-A. D. 1853. CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN,  AMERICA.
What is called the great southwestern revival of 1800 commenced in
1797 under the ministrations of the Rev. James MacGready. MacGready
was educated at Canonsburgh, in Pennsylvania, under the direction of
Dr. MacMillan. Having finished his academical education he also studied

662 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
theology with Dr. MacMillan. The Presbyterian ministers who cooper
ated with MacGready in the revival were also regularly educated men,
but their number was small. The work soon extended itself over South
western Kentucky, and what was then called the Cumberland country,
which lay adjacent. Congregations were multiplied, and calls became so
numerous for the preaching of the Word and for the ordinances of the
gospel, that it was soon found impossible to supply the demand.
In their exigency the revival preachers — ¦ as they were called — were
advised to select out promising men from among the subjects of the
revival, or others, and encourage them to prepare for the ministry, al
though they might not have, and might not be able to acquire, the quali
fications customary in the Presbyterian Church as a preparation for that
work. At first three were selected and recommended to the presbytery.
With some difficulty they obtained licensure, and at length ordination ;
still the number was not sufficient for the increasing demand. Congrega
tions were multiplying a great deal more rapidly than the laborers. Oth
ers were called out to meet the growing want. Amongst these was the
subject of this present story.
Robert Donnell was the son of William and Mary Bell Donnell, and
was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, in April, 1784. William
Donnell, the father, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and partici
pated in the battle at Guilford Court Plouse, in 1781. The Donnell
family seem to have been originally Seceders (as a part of the United
Presbyterian body were once called), but to have joined the Presbyte
rian Church some time previous to 1784, as Dr. Caldwell is represented
as having baptized their son, Robert, in his infancy.
In October, 1789, William Donnell started with his family for the
Cumberland country, and made his final settlement in Wilson County,
Tennessee, about eight miles from what is now Lebanon. Here Robert
Donnell grew up to manhood. In the manuscript which is one of my
guides in this story, it is stated that the whole of his school education
His school ufe consisted of what he acquired in nine months, and that he
of nine months, acquired this before he was thirteen years old. The ac
count is not improbable, owing to the condition of the country at that
time. Flavel's " Husbandry Spiritualized," his father's Bible, and Rus
sell's " Seven Sermons " were his text-books in learning to read, and
these were carried on pack-saddles over the mountains when the family
came to Tennessee.
In 1800, when he was in the seventeenth year of his age, Mr. Donnell
professed religion. Plis own account of his religious experience, after
wards narrated to his friends, was substantially the following : " I had
been," said he, " for some time in great distress of soul on account of
my sins, and after having spent several hours, late one afternoon, in the
secret grove, seeking rest and finding none, I returned to my mother's

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT DONNELL. 663
house ; and just as I was setting my feet on the threshold I was enabled
to put the rope around my own neck, to prostrate myself before the
cross divested of all self-dependence, and to rely alone upon the merits
of Jesus Christ." This account is characteristic. He soon became an
efficient helper in holding prayer-meetings, and in otherwise promoting
the interests of religion in his neighborhood. He would often exhort his
friends and neighbors, " with melting heart and streaming eyes, to flee
the wrath to come."
At what time his thoughts began to be directed to the work of the
ministry we do not know. Such thoughts, however, would be a natural
outgrowth of the feelings and exercises which have been mentioned.
We may judge, therefore, that it was not long after his profession of re
ligion, that the necessities of the times began to press themselves upon
him, and he began to consider the question seriously of offering himself
as a candidate for the ministry.
The Cumberland Presbytery, which included the Cumberland country,
had been dissolved, but the informal " council " had taken its place. As
soon as he heard of the formation of the council, he resolved to put
himself under its care with a view to the sacred office, and stand or fall
with the revival party. It will be understood that there was great con
fusion in the Presbyterian Church in the West during these times, and
older men hardly knew how to direct then- steps. This young man, how
ever, was in earnest, and he looked beyond himself and the wisdom of
men, for guidance. The following is his own account of the final strug
gle of his mind upon the question of duty. It occurred at a camp-meet
ing near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He says, " While the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper was being administered, I looked over the large con
gregation, thought of the scarcity of preachers, the distracted state of the
church, and became so affected that I retired to the woods to pray, and
there remained all night. The burden of my prayer was, ' Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do ? ' I thought I saw the path of duty plainly
marked before me, and resolved to pursue it."
Accordingly he presented himself before the council in 1806, and
was received, as far as they felt authorized to receive him.
In their informal capacity they did not feel themselves at Presbyterian
liberty to transact presbyterial business. He was encour
aged, however, to exercise his gifts as an exhorter and catechist. With
this authority he entered upon his work, and soon became practically and
really an efficient preacher, although he had received no formal license.
He was at first directed to occupy a portion of the country lying between
the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, and labor as he could for the promo
tion of the kingdom of Christ. It required three months to go round
his circuit. Of course open houses, hard beds, and rough fare otherwise
often awaited him, together with trials perhaps still more severe. But

664 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the account is that " God in a very remarkable manner crowned his la
bors with success."
In 1809 he penetrated into Northern Alabama, and commenced the
work of collecting and, as far as he felt himself authorized, of organizing
congregations in what was then a new but rapidly opening country. He
was in this country when he received intelligence of the reorganization
of the Cumberland Presbytery in 1810. This presbytery, it may be
remarked by the way, thus organized as an independent presbytery* be
came the nucleus of what has grown into the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. The following is his own account of his labors, hopes, and
fears : —
" I was traveling," says he, " in Alabama Territory, when I heard of
the constitution of the Cumberland Presbytery by Messrs. McAdoo,
Ewing, and King. If I ever was free from sectarian feelings, it was at
that period. I often thought within myself, For what am I laboring ?
I am connected with no church, and know not that I ever shall be.
For what, then, do I labor if I cannot build up a church ? My answer
to myself was, Only for the glory of God, and the salvation of precious
souls. But what will become of the few so strongly united in the bonds
of love ? This could only be settled by the great Head of the church.
Of Him I often sought an answer, and I am persuaded He did answer ;
as for some time before the presbytery was constituted, I became quite
calm on the subject, under a firm persuasion that the Lord would open
a way for us. I was in this frame when the intelligence reached me
which caused me to feel truly thankful to God who had thus opened a
way for us, a feeble handful of his followers, to become more exten
sively useful." *
Donnell was licensed to preach at the Big Spring meeting-house, in
n 'den Wilson County, Tennessee, in 1811. He had been really
tifled with the preaching, however, since 1806, and had already acquired
Cumberland r b. ' „ „ . ' , J 1
Presbyterian some eminence, lne following year he was set apart. to
the full work of the ministry with the usual formalities,
at the Three Forks of Duck River.
On the 17th of March, 1818, he was married to an estimable lady of
Jackson County, Tennessee. It was a marriage in the Lord. Previous
to his marriage Donnell, as we have seen, labored chiefly as an itiner
ant minister. He traveled extensively, especially throughout the south
ern portion of his church. It may be safely asserted that the labors of
no man in any of the denominations were more signally blessed. He
possessed vigorous health, a fine constitution, and in all his labors a feel
ing was manifested that he belonged to God. After his marriage he
settled in Alabama, and became nominally a farmer. It "was his family,
however, that was settled ; he himself still continued the most active and
1 Life and Times of Finis Ewing.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT DONNELL. 665
laborious minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Many con
gregations were collected through his agency in Tennessee and Alabama.
A number of them are still flourishing, yielding fruit from the precious
seed sown by his ministry.
The General Assembly of 1831, in conformity with several petitions
from that country, appointed five missionaries to Western Pennsylvania,
of whom Donnell was one. Their mission was eminently successful,
his labors with those of the others being greatly blessed.
Having lost his wife in 1828, he was married a second time, to Miss
Clara M. Lindley, in 1832. Miss Lindley was the daughter of Rev.
Jacob Lindley of Pennsylvania. She had been engaged for some years
as an instructress in the South.
Sometime about 1830, he commenced a series of efforts in the city of
Nashville. The result was the introduction of Cumberland Fonnds noted
Presbyterianism into that city. As the fruits of seed thus churches.
sown are two congregations, one in the city proper, the other in Edge
field. The former is one of the largest and best in the city ; the other
is promising. In 1845 he went to Memphis for the purpose of organizing a con
gregation and aiding in building a house of worship. After spending
some months there, and accomplishing the object of his visit, he returned
home, and in a short time was called to the pastorate of the congrega
tion of Lebanon, Tennessee. He remained in Lebanon until February,
1849, when he moved to Athens, Alabama, which became, as he ex
pected, his last earthly home. He had now passed half through the
seventh decade of his life, a period when serious men begin to think of
setting their house in order. He built a mansion, comfortable rather
than otherwise, as a home for his family, and from this mansion he en
tered into his rest.
His last years were spent mostly in quietude. He preached occasion
ally when he was able. On the third Sabbath in November, 1853, he
officiated at the funeral of three aged Christians a few miles from his
home. His text on the occasion was, " These all died in faith." It was
his last sermon. He lingered, however, to the 24th of May, 1854,
when he died. Thus he came to -his grave in a " good old age," like a
shock of corn gathered in its season. His death occurred in his seventy-
second year.
At the time of his death he was the oldest vice-president of the
American Tract Society. He had been for years a devoted friend of
the American Bible Society, and a promoter of its interests. In favor
of temperance he was outspoken, and a temperance man from principle
long before there were temperance societies.
He was a member of the Cumberland Synod in 1825, when the de
cisive step was taken towards the establishment of Cumberland College,

666 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
and gave his unqualified support to the institution while there were
hopes of its success, and in 1842 was a member of the commission
appointed for the location of Cumberland University. Of the latter
institution he continued a steadfast friend and supporter through his
remaining life.
An authority says, " He was perhaps instrumental in the conversion of
as many sinners, organized as many congregations, assisted in building
as many houses of worship, and brought as many young men into the
ministry, as any contemporary minister of his own or any other denom
ination of Christians." This is, no doubt, a faithful testimony.
Donnell preached the opening sermon at the meeting of the first gen
eral assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The meeting
was held at Princeton, Kentucky, in 1829. The subject was "Solomon's
choice of wisdom and understanding, that he might be able to judge the
people of God, and go in and out before them in a becoming manner."
The sermon was characteristic.
From the time of Donnell's maturity in the ministry, he was regarded
Leader of his as *ne leader of the southern portion of the church to which
people. kg belonged. No other man contributed so much towards
directing its theological inquiries or its practical policy. For thirty years
he was the highest human authority in these matters. He was a great
natural man. Furthermore, by extraordinary application and industry
in his early ministry, he had made himself a respectable scholar. It used
to be said that he carried his English grammar and other elementary
books in his saddle-bags on his circuits, and studied them on horseback
between his appointments. This was probably true, as it was the cus
tom of those days. He possessed great administrative abilities, and
could hardly have been otherwise than a leader. At the same time it is
to be remarked that no man seemed less anxious to be a leader. If he
was ambitious, the world never knew it.
Personally, he was a man to be observed anywhere. His figure was
commanding. He was something over six feet in height ; his usual
weight in later life was about two hundred and twenty. He was always
neatly dressed, stood erect in the pulpit, delivering his message in an
unusually solemn and impressive manner. He never descended to what
are called the arts of elocution. Nature had done enough for him in
that .respect. His voice was like the voice of a trumpet ; he never lacked
words, and notwithstanding the defects of his early education, his words
were always well selected. His thoughts were very clear, and his
method of utterance unusually distinct. No man needed to misunder
stand him. Above all, there were a spirituality and an unction in his
pulpit ministrations which subdued, while his mind and manner led.
He seemed often to be absolutely overwhelming. He was not always so,
it is true, but he was always interesting. Donnell belonged to a race of

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT DONNELL. 667
men in the Southwest which has passed away. We may not expect to
see their like again.
A few brief personal recollections will close this sketch. I saw Rob
ert Donnell for the first time in my early boyhood. He called at my
grandfather's, with whom I then lived. He was accompanied by his
mother, an aged lady of serious and quiet appearance. But one thing
occurred in this visit which made any impression upon my mind. My
grandfather had a large family Bible which he had carried over the
mountains from Virginia to this country. This, with the hymn-book,
Confession of Faith, and the "Travels of True Godliness," made up the
principal part of his library. Donnell, in walking over the house, found
the Confession of Faith, and made some jocular remark about it. The
controversy was then raging which gave rise to the Cumberland Pres
byterian Church. The old gentleman relished a joke, and retorted in a
very pithy one. I shall never forget his words, but they were too anti
quated for such a story as this.
I saw him no more until the fall of 1817. He had then become one
of the most popular preachers in the church. The occasion was a camp-
meeting at the Beech church in Sumner County, Tennessee. He de
livered a sermon occasioned by the death of Rev. William McGee, one
of the old revival ministers who had given in his adhesion to the new
organization. Mr. McGee had once been the pastor of the Beech con
gregation. It was an exceedingly tender occasion. The preacher him
self wept freely, and but few eyes were dry in the great congregation.
I was then a very young Christian.
In 1820, he preached at the same Beech camp-ground. It was late
in October, and the weather was unusually cold for the season. He was
then in the prime of life, and was certainly a noble specimen of human
ity. He preached in the open air ; there was no shelter, and snow was
falling during most of the time of the sermon. But the large concourse
of people kept their places, and heard with unflagging attention, and ap
parently with deep interest. The text was, " That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eter
nal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." I had been licensed to preach but
a few days before, and was perhaps in a good frame of mind for hearing.
It is certain that I never heard a sermon with more intellectual interest.
" Sin hath reigned unto death " in throwing darkness into the under
standing, in perverting the judgment, in controlling the will, in impair
ing the memory, in depraving the affections, in subjecting the body to
the power of disease and death. Grace reigns in enlightening the un
derstanding, in correcting the errors of the judgment, in persuading and
enabling the will, in rendering the memory more tenacious of what is
good, in renewing the affections, and, finally, in restoring the body to
life and immortality in the resurrection of the just. This is an outline
of the sermon which was delivered that cold day.

668 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In 1823 the Cumberland Synod met at Russellville, Kentucky. At
the close of the sessions a camp-meeting was held at a place about four
miles from town. Donnell preached on Saturday evening. His text
was, " I speak as unto wise men ; judge ye what I say." Of course,
such a text was chosen because it afforded any degree of latitude. The
sermon consisted of an exposition and vindication of the doctrines of the
youthful church. On one topic he gave a direction to my own thoughts
which they have still kept. I had entertained a confused notion that
- regeneration was a sort of physical change. The sermon of that even
ing relieved my mind on that subject. It seems to me now that he was
very distinct and satisfactory, and the wonder is that with the means of
information which Cumberland Presbyterians then had, he could have
been so much so. The next day he preached a funeral sermon. It was
a massive discourse.
It has been stated already that he preached the opening sermon of the
first general assembly. In 1843 he delivered a sermon at the general
assembly at Owensboro, Kentucky, upon the life, character, and death
of the Rev. Samuel King, one of the three who constituted the inde
pendent Cumberland Presbytery in 1810. In his latter years he showed
in his efforts in the pulpit something of the effects of age. He was al
ways heard, however, with interest. He continued to preach, too, while
he had physical strength for his work. Both nature and grace had
fitted him for the pulpit. It was his throne. He loved its labors, and
would have stood in the front rank of preachers in any Christian com
munion. — R. B.

LIFE XVIII. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.
A. D. 1788-A. D. 1876. DISCIPLES, — AMERICA.
.Alexander Campbell was born in the county of Antrim, Ireland,
September 12, 1788, in sight of Shane's Castle, the ancient ruin of which
still stands on the northern shore of Lough Neagh. On his mother's
side he was descended from the French Huguenots, and on his father's
from ancestors originally from the west of Scotland, and claiming both
clanship and kinship with the race Dearmid — the Campbells of Argyle-
shire. His father received both his academical and his theological edu
cation at the University of Glasgow, — the latter in the school of the
anti-burgher Seceders, under Dr. Archibald Bruce, of Whitburn. Both
father and mother were eminent for piety and the most earnest devotion
to the study of the Scriptures, and but few sons ever enjoyed finer ad
vantages in literary instruction and religious training than they diligently
labored to afford their son Alexander. He was, indeed, from a very

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. 669
early age, marked by rare and remarkable gifts of body and mind, and it
required a high order of wisdom in discipline and of skill in instruction
to give proper direction and guidance to his expanding powers. Fond of
all manner of sport, by flood and field, he was nevertheless constantly
and firmly held to his studies, and carefully cultured in all that could
draw out and expand his powers, and fit him for the high walks in intel
lectual pursuits to which nature so evidently destined him.
Speaking himself of his father he says : " His family training and dis
cipline were peculiarly didactic, Biblical, and strict  The Bible was,
during the minority of his family, a daily study and a daily recitation.
.... I can but gratefully add that to my mother as well as to my father
I am indebted for having memorized in early life almost all the writings
of King Solomon, his Proverbs, his Ecclesiastes, and many of the Psalms
of his father, David. They have not only been written on the tablet of
my memory, but incorporated with my modes of thinking and speaking."
With such preparation of discipline as this was the powerful nature of
Alexander Campbell nurtured through its period of formation. Not,
however, without strong tendencies of resistance and counter-struggling,
which under other masters, and a less divine and devoted guidance, might
have made the " reformer of Bethany " only a great barrister, or an Irish
agitator, — the peer of O'Connell in the House of Commons, or a patriot
statesman, by the side of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, in American pol
itics. For nature had given him the elements of greatness, and fashioned
him for a ruler and leader of men.
From his father's academy at Rich Hill, where he had labored both as
pupil and as teacher, he passed to the University of Glasgow. stuaies in gc u
Professors Young and Jardine were his favorites in the de- land-
partments of philosophy and logic and belles-lettres, — and Dr. Ure's
lectures and experiments in the Anderson Institute, just then founded,
introduced him to the very fountain-head of modern physics. For seven
teen hours per day he bent his vigorous powers to his tasks. In after
years, while president of Bethany College, he was fond of telling his stu
dents that though his name came among the first on the alphabetical class
rolls, he never failed to return his " adsum " to the call of the professor.
Outside of the university he formed " a very happy acquaintance with Dr.
Greville Ewing, and Dr. Wardlaw, then prominent actors among the Scotch
Independents, as well as with Dr. Moultre, Dr. Mitchell, and others of
the Presbyterian faith." From such influences as these he received im
pressions that gave both impulse and direction to his after life, and had
much to do, doubtless, in preparing him for his extraordinary career.
In 1809 he migrated to the United States, and hastened to join his
father, Thomas Campbell, who had preceded him, and was already settled
at Washington, in Western Pennsylvania, whither he had been sent by
the Associate Synod of North America as a Seceder minister, under

670 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the Presbytery of Chartiers. He found his father already engaged in
an attempted " reformation," — and scarcely recognized on terms of ec
clesiastic fellowship by the Seceders, because of his persistency in reject
ing " all human authority in matters of religion," and his " plea for union
on the simple basis of the Scriptures." The principle and the object of
this movement at once commended it to the judgment and religious con
victions of Alexander Campbell. It was in harmony with the deepest
convictions of his mind as to the divine origin of all that is binding on
the human conscience in matters of faith and religion, and his strong,
positive intellect and resolute will accepted its fundamental proposition,
with the absoluteness of an axiom. But there was nothing in the scheme
to inspire ambition, or to tempt selfishness. Seemingly, it was a barren
and impractical dream.
They were strangers in a new world, without position or wealth. The
country was yet almost a wilderness, and they were removed from the
busy centres of social, political, and ecclesiastical influence. What but
isolation and proscription could a secession like this promise to the act
ors ? Evidently, for a young and gifted pioneer, there was not a ray of
promise of either honor or wealth on the side of dissent and secession.
But on the other hand, the way was open and inviting. Pittsburgh, not
far off, was already a growing and busy city of four or five thousand in
habitants,- and soon tempting offers came to Alexander Campbell to em
ploy his fine education in the conduct of a literary and classical acad
emy in that city. A thousand dollars was at that time a tempting salary
to a young man just starting in life, and especially to one who had been
accustomed in Ireland to see old and gifted Seceder ministers paid only
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars per year.
Besides, there was the open way to large circles of friendly influence and
avenues of honor and promotion. But Ms heart had already passed
through an experience that prepared it to choose " the better part," and
the decision was promptly and firmly made.
Speaking of himself when seventeen years old, he says : "From
Experience of the time that I could read the Scriptures, I became con-
reiigion. vinced that Jesus was the Son of God. I was also fully
persuaded that I was a sinner, and must obtain pardon through the merits
of Christ, or be forever lost. This caused me great distress of soul, and
I had much exercise of mind under the awakenings of a guilty con
science. Finally, after many stragglings, I was enabled to put my trust
in the Saviour, and to feel my reliance on Him as the only Saviour of sin
ners. From the moment I was able to feel this reliance on the Lord
Jesus Christ, I obtained and enjoyed peace of mind. It never entered
my heart to investigate the subject of baptism or the doctrines of the
creed." This was the beginning of his public profession of religion, as
a communicant with the Seceders.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. 671
Later, when sailing out of Lough Foyle with his father's family for
America, the vessel was caught in a storm and driven to pieces on the
reefs of the island of May. " Sitting on the stump of a broken mast,
.... and musing upon the vanity of the aims and ambitions of human
life, he thought of his father's noble example, devoted to God and the
salvation of his fellow-beings, and in that solemn hour resolved that, if
saved from the present peril, he would give his life to the ministry of the
gospel." And still again, when his voyage was, renewed, and he was
brought into a like peril, this sacred vow of self-consecration was re
peated. It was a covenant which, calm amid the fury of the elements,
his soul had made with his Maker and Redeemer, and the new situation,
in the midst of safety and the brightening hopes of worldly advantage,
could not tempt him to break it. The crisis of his life seemed to have
been prepared for him by his Heavenly Parent, and he did not hesitate
as to his choice.
Under his father's guidance, therefore, he gave himself industriously
to special preparation for his chosen work, and on the 15th of July,
1810, he preached his first sermon. It was in one of nature's stately
groves, rudely seated for the purpose, and to an audience naturally curi
ous to hear the " young scholar from Glasgow." Even his critical father
pronounced it " good," and calls from many quarters were soon made to
hear the " young man who was a better preacher than his father," so that
it is reported that during the remaining six months of that year he de
livered one hundred and six sermons ; some in private houses, some in
barns, a few in churches , but the greater number in selected groves of
the native forest. His ministry soon took a wider range, and he made
missionary tours into the neighboring parts of Virginia and Ohio,
preaching wherever he could find an audience : to individuals of prom
inence, — - like Philip to the eunuch, — to fireside groups, in court-houses,
and occasionally in such pulpits as were opened to him, — " to mixed
audiences of Presbyterians, Unionists, Methodists," and others.
So far? his father's movement for a larger union of Christians had only
resulted in a complete isolation of himself and his associates from the
fellowship of all existing ecclesiastical organizations. This was contrary
to his hopes and expectations. " He would have liked," as D'Aubigne'
says of Calvin, " to see all the churches transformed, rather than set
themselves apart and form a new one." But this could not be. An
earnest overture had been made to the Presbyterian synod of Pittsburgh,
but it was distinctly refused. Hitherto, they had cooperated under the
name of " The Christian Association," but laid no claim to independent
church organization ; but now no other course seemed left
them, and " The Christian Association " was organized into pies' church.
the "Brush Run Church," with Thomas Campbell as its
elder, several deacons, and Alexander Campbell as its licensed preacher.

672 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
His preaching, during these years, was in no characteristic sense po
lemic. Still, it was a firm, practical protest against much that was dear to
the existing parties, in that it refused to be subjected to their control.
" Am I asked," said he, " why I am not a party man, — why I do not
join some party ? I ask in return, Which party would the Apostle
Paul join if now on earth? Or, in other words, which party would re
ceive him? I dare not be a party man. (1.) Because Christ has forbid
den me  (2.) Because no party will receive into communion all
whom God would receive into heaven  (4.) Because all parties
oppose reformation. They all pray for it, but they will not work for it.
None of them dare return to the original standard."
Having adopted the principle that he would conform his religious life
in all things strictly to the precepts and precedents of the sacred Script
ures, it was not long till he was led to challenge the authority of psedo-
baptism. The question indeed came to him in a pressing practical form,
not to be evaded. In 1812 he married a Miss Brown, who with her
father's family was a member of the Presbyterian Church. The ques
tion rose, " Shall we baptize our first-born ? " This led to further ques
tions respecting baptism. The discussion, thus begun, was engaged in by
the whole of the Brush Run congregation, and the result was that in a
shqrt time not only Alexander Campbell and his father and their families,
but nearly all the members of the organization, were immersed. Those
who did not follow in the action soon withdrew their fellowship, and the
Brush Run Church became, so far as this institution could character
ize it, a Baptist church. They reserved, however, their independent
position as to creeds and confessions of faith. " I have set out," said
Alexander Campbell to the Baptist minister whom he requested to im
merse him, " I have set out to follow the Apostles of Christ and their
master, and I will be baptized only into the primitive Christian faith."
Hitherto he had preached as a licentiate of the Brush Run congrega
tion, and now the question of his " ordination " was raised, and this like
everything else was brought to the test of the Scriptures. " Utterly re
pudiating the claim of apostolic succession, of priestly supremacy, and the
communication of any official grace by superiors to inferiors, or that the
clergy had any inherent or transmissible power in them, as it respects
ordination," he nevertheless saw that it was a clearly established apos
tolic custom, and accepted it as a solemn and Scriptural mode of setting
persons apart, and of committing them, when chosen by the church, to
the discharge of official duties. He believed himself "called to the
ministry by many tokens J of the divine purpose ; " he had already, by
solemn vows, consecrated himself in heart to the work, and it was right
and Scriptural that he should be formally set apart by "ordination."
1 In an entry madeby him at the time, he states twelve separate "instances of divine
power which he considered bound him under special obligations to devote himself to this
service of God."

Cent. XVH.-XIX.] ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. 673
According to his light was his obedience. As he represented it, " This
band of reformers had engaged themselves to be, not a sect, with its
truths and its errors equally stereotyped and equally immutable, but a
party of progress, as learners in the school of Christ." Soon they were
brought into a prominence that excited attention, discussion, controversy,
and bitter opposition.
For a number of years, from his immersion in 1812 to his debate with
McCalla in 1823, his labors in the ministry, though zealous and arduous,
were confined to the limited region round about his home in West Vir
ginia. He managed a farm, toiling arduously with his own hands ; con
ducted the Buffalo Seminary, which he established in his own house ;
and preached whenever and wherever he could get an audience, without
charges on any one. In a letter written to an uncle in Ireland during
this period, he reveals in a few bold strokes his views of the country and
his own religious status. " I have had," he says, " my horse shod by a
legislator, my horse saddled, my boots cleaned, and my stirrup held by
a senator. Here is no nobility but virtue ; here there is no ascend
ency save that of genius, virtue, and knowledge. A farmer here is
lord of the soil, and the most independent man on earth. I would not
exchange the honor and privilege of being an American citizen for the
position of your king  After long study and investigation of
books, and more especially the sacred Scriptures, I have, through clear
convictions of truth and duty, renounced much of the traditions and er
rors of my early education. I am now an Independent in His accolmt of
church government ; .... of the faith and view of the his belief-
gospel exhibited in John Walker's seven letters to Alexander Knox, and
a Baptist as respects baptism  What I am in religion, I am from
examination, reflection, and conviction, not from ipse dixit, tradition,
or human authorities ; and having halted and faltered and stumbled, I
have explored every inch of the way hitherto, and I trust through grace
' I am what I am.' Though my father and I accord in sentiment, neither
of us is a dictator or an imitator. Neither of us leads ; neither of us
follows." His views and his course as to baptism excited very general inquiry in
the sphere of his influence, but both he and his father had hitherto ear
nestly deprecated the thought of giving their investigations a controver
sial cast, and these inquiries were mostly restricted to the private circles
of fireside examination of the Scriptures. But in 1820, John Walker,
of Ohio, a Presbyterian, made offer to a Baptist preacher by the name of
Birch to debate the question of baptism either with him or with any one
he might select. Mr. Campbell was urged to meet this challenge. The
correspondence shows that he did so with great reluctance, but, as he
says, his " unwillingness to appear, much more to feel, afraid to defend "
his position on the subject overcame his scruples. The discussion was
43

674 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V..
oral, but it was afterwards written out and published by Mr. Campbell.
It had a large circulation, and excited an interest beyond all expectation.
It seems to have been the first step in his course which suggested the
use of the press for a wider diffusion of his plea for a return to "prim
itive order " in all things relating to faith and practice in religion.
The combined cares and labors of the farm, the Buffalo Seminary,
and the increasing and widening calls upon him in the ministry, had
somewhat impaired his health, and he determined to change his method
of work, and to employ the power of the press in the propagation of
his own views. The result was the establishment of a printing press
at his retired home in the hills and forest solitudes of West Virginia,
and the issue of a monthly periodical which he called the " Christian
Baptist." The first number was issued on the 4th of July, 1823. It
was literally a child of faith and hope, for there was as yet no sub
scription list, no backing of authority, and no ecclesiastical affiliation
to afford promise of patronage. But many circumstances concurred to
give it a speedy introduction to the public. It was in the boldest sense
aggressive, especially upon the " clergy " and all humanisms in religion,
and marked by an energy in the positive assertion of the " primitive or
der of all things in religion," that won for it a notoriety unparalleled in
religious journalism. Simultaneously with its issue Campbell made his
first visit to Kentucky to debate on baptism with the Rev. Mr. McCalla,
a Presbyterian divine, by whom he had been challenged. This created
among the Baptists, who were numerous in Kentucky, a profound admi
ration for Mr. Campbell, and they eagerly sought his " Christian Bap
tist," that they might learn something more of their " admired cham
pion," and in a short time the ecclesiastic circles all over Kentucky were
ablaze with the excitement which the debate and his writings produced.
This unpretentious monthly was continued for seven years, and its influ
ence was widespread. Mr. Campbell was earnestly invited to make ex
tensive tours, and Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee were all visited by
him. Wherever he went multitudes poured out to hear him, and his life
was one unremitted " labor in word and doctrine." It has been computed
that in these seven years he printed and circulated forty-six thousand vol
umes of his writings in the defense and dissemination of his views. The
" Christian Baptist" was in 1830 superseded by the " Millennial Har
binger," a monthly of sixty pages, which was continued till 1864.
The limits of this article forbid more than a passing allusion to the
His hooks and m'ghty labors of this extraordinary man. His published
his great debates. wor]jS amount to about sixty volumes. He held, besides
the debates with Walker and McCalla, already mentioned, other discus
sions, in all which he displayed the remarkable powers of memory,
wit, ridicule, sarcasm, and repartee for which he was distinguished ; but
these were ever subordinated to the defense and elucidation of truth,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. 675
the reproof and discomfiture of tradition and authority, and the exposure
of superstition and delusion. His great learning, ready invention, adroit
skill as a dialectician, and keen penetration by which he saw at a glance
into the heart of all questions, and drove the point of his javelin straight
to the vital point of controversy ; these, with a coolness and self-posses
sion that no fire of assault could excite, nor artifice of sophistry embar
rass, constituted his irresistible power as a debater. He always thoroughly
understood his subject, — both sides of it, — always entered into its dis
cussion with a deep conviction of its importance, always subjected it to,
with him, the one test of verity, the sacred Scriptures, always thought
himself right, and never doubted that with the truth on his side, he
could debate successfully with any antagonist.
His devotion to truth was chivalric. His soul rose like David's against
any champion who defied the cause of Christ. When he first saw the
arrogant and unaccepted challenge of Robert Owen, the socialist, to dis
cuss with any of the clergy his infidel doctrines, Mr. Campbell replied,
" I have felt indignant at the aspect of things in reference to this infidel
and lawless scheme," and immediately took up the gauntlet, " relying,"
as he expressed it, " on the Author, the reasonableness, and the excel
lency of the Christian religion." And when, in the College of Teachers,
Bishop Purcell affirmed that " the Protestant Reformation had been the
cause of all the contention and infidelity in the world," Mr. Campbell im
mediately challenged him to make good his calumny in public debate, and
so brought on the most notable and powerful exposure of Romanism that
has ever been made. In 1843 he held the most comprehensive, learned,
and famous discussion of his life, the debate with Dr. Rice at Lexington,
Kentucky. Almost every controversial topic in the wide range of the
ology came under consideration, directly or indirectly, in this discussion,
and the comprehensive sweep of Mr. Campbell's learning and genius
never shone more conspicuously than in the majestic power with which
he handled the sublimest and the profoundest questions ever grappled by
the human mind.
He was the friend and patron of every enterprise that had in it the
purpose and the promise of enlightening and civilizing the masses of men.
The cause of education stood, in his esteem, next to Christianity, at once
its product and its ally ; and to bring its powerful agency to her aid
was his cherished object in the founding of Bethany College.
He had labored long and earnestly to excite the people to 1S °° ege'
the study of the Word of God ; had compiled, revised, and published
and circulated widely new versions of the Holy Scriptures ; had taught
multitudes of people how to study the Bible, and excited whole commu
nities, all over the land, to the formation of Bible classes, and the in
vestigation of divine truth for themselves ; had claimed for it its place
and agency in the conversion of the world to Christ ; and his thought

676 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
was still further to honor the sacred oracles, and incorporate their power
with the elements of our public life, by founding a college in which the
Bible should be a text-book. No man understood better the power of
education, or believed more fully in the maxim that whatever is to ap
pear in the life of a people should be put into the studies of the schools.
A college founded upon the Bible was but the natural offspring of his
life-long struggle to bring all things in religion to the one standard of the
Word of God.
His reverence for the Bible, his faith in the power of the Word to
work out the revolution of the world, his constant and unremitted study
of it, his ability to repeat it and runthe long chain of sequences in its
mighty arguments, his comprehension of its meaning, his grasp of its
wondrous system and scheme, his sympathy with its all-comprehending
philanthropy, his lofty admiration and conception of the majesty, dignity,
and glory of its Christ, his humility and his confidence before this pres
ence as revealed in our nature, his power to magnify and exalt in the
minds and hearts of men the love of God as manifested in the gift of
his Son for their redemption, his power to grasp and model into shape
and hold up before the imagination in vivid and sublime pictures the
deep things of God, — the great mystery of godliness, — these are some
of the points in which Alexander Campbell stood out among men, con
spicuous in his generation.
Socially he was one of the most genial of men. The abounding buoy
ancy of his spirits lifted all men out of their despondency,
His private life. f , / , ,
and imparted to them, for the time, an energy and heart
above themselves. In his family his presence was a perpetual benedic
tion. Severe as he was in the religious discipline of his household in
the study and knowledge of the Scriptures, there was nothing of the
ascetic in his life or bearing, and cheerfulness shone as a blessed atmos
phere wherever he went. In converse he was a discourser. You could
not, you did not want to interrupt him by replies. No matter what the
topic might be, he soon struck off some grand analogy that led him to
Christ and his redemption, and the current of his thoughts became too
deep, the soarings of his imagination too high, the majesty and sweep of
his thought too sublime and wide, for you to feel like interrupting him,
or to wish to arrest him. In his many and long tours, his intercourse with
the thousands who thronged to hear him, whether in the pulpit, in the
stage-coach, or by the fireside, was, as it were, an unbroken monologue
on the one sublime but myriad-sided theme of the gospel.
As he lived so he died. He gradually blossomed into a beautiful old
age, just forgetful enough of the concerns of this world to feel no an
noyance from them, just mindful enough of them to throw over them the
sweetness of a most divine charity ; and with respect to the objects of
the future life, lifting up to them a clearer vision and a more rapturous

Cent. XVH.-XIX.]' JOHN MASON PECK. 677
t
joy of anticipation, as he day by day drew nearer to their possession.
" Heaven seemed to lie about him," as he walked in holy meditation
among the trees of his own planting ; and when in his eighty-eighth year,
at the close of a lovely Sabbath day in March, his eye rested upon the
light of the setting sun as it streamed into his chamber, almost his last
words were, " Yes, the setting sun ! It will soon go down. But unto
them that fear his name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with heal
ing in his wings." — W. K. P.

LIFE XIX. JOHN MASON PECK.
A. D. 1789-A. D. 1857. BAPTIST, — AMERICA.
The fact, though humiliating, should be salutary in its influence, that
very few persons are remembered for any long period after they die.
Of almost all " born of women " it may be said, they live, they die, and
are forgotten. Here and there a name is found on the page of history,
but the names of countless millions are not there, and were never there.
As there is this general tendency to oblivion, — a tendency which can
not be arrested, — the only thing the living can do is to rescue, as well as
they can, the names of a few from forgetfulness. These names must
obviously be few. The many cannot be remembered. As Protestant
Christendom is divided into different religious denominations, it is well
for these denominations to preserve a record of some, of their represent
ative men, if not of all. Such men are to be found, and among them, in
the Baptist denomination, is John Mason Peck, who, in his generation,
was a zealous laborer in the kingdom of his Lord.
Of Puritan descent, he was born in Connecticut on the 31st of Octo
ber, 1789, a year signalized by the inauguration of George Washington
as the first president of the United States. The only child His earl dif.
of poor parents, he was required, when about fourteen ficulties-
years of age, through the physical disability of his father, to perform
the chief labor of cultivating their small farm. Devoting the largest
part of the year to the pursuits of agriculture, he availed himself during
the winter of the advantages of the common school. These advantages
were quite limited as compared with those of the present time. Boys
and girls were taught spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Geog
raphy and grammar were not included in the regular studies of the
common schools. Dr. Peck in after years may have disparaged himself
at this period of his life, for he referred to himself as " more stupid and
sluggish than ordinary lads." When at eighteen years of age he taught
school, for a time he felt and deplored his deficiencies, but, as is often
the case, a consciousness of ignorance stimulated effort in pursuit of

678 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
knowledge. He was constantly adding to his stock of information, and
became more intelligent than most young men of his age.
Like many boys, John had religious impressions at an early age, which,
however, were only occasional and transient. It was not until he
reached his eighteenth year that his impressions became deep and per
manent. He was induced to attend a meeting where a revival was in
progress. " Here," to use his own words, " I was brought to see myself
a guilty sinner before God, deserving his wrath. These exercises con
tinued and increased for about one week. I viewed myself lost without-
the interposition of God's mercy. My distress increased, and my bur
den became heavier, until the end of the week, when I was delivered,
and found a peace of mind and a joy in God which I had never felt be
fore. Insensibly, my heart was drawn out to love and praise the Lord.
.... My hope was not at first as clear and bright as it afterwards be
came, when a fuller discovery was made of the way of salvation through
the merits of Christ."
From this epoch in his life Mr. Peck seems to have been recognized
as a member of a Congregational church to which his parents belonged.
The change which had taken place in him involved preeminently his
spiritual nature, but a wonderful impulse was given also to his mental
nature. His mind became more vigorous and active. It was quickened
and strengthened by contact with the glorious truths of the gospel,
though his literary attainments were very meagre. It appears strange
now that Mr. Peck did not seek the advantages of thorough scholarship,
but instead of doing so he married when nineteen years of age. It is to
be supposed that at the time he did not expect to become a minister of
the gospel, for with such an expectation it is scarcely credible that he
would entangle himself with the cares of a family, and preclude himself
from the benefits of a suitable education. We must not, however, be
severe in our judgment, as we know not all the circumstances surround
ing him.
Bringing his bride to the paternal home, where he was born, he lived
there with his parents for about two years. The birth of the first
child of the young married pair led to important results, — results which
changed Mr. Peck's denominational relations for life. It was expected
that the child would, as the common phrase was, be " dedicated to God
by baptism," but the mother saw no Scriptural authority for the baptism
of infants, and while the father did not agree with her he was induced
to examine the subject, and became greatly perplexed concerning it.
In his perplexity he had numerous interviews with the Rev. Lyman
Beecher, whose name was afterward known throughout Christendom.
Mr. Beecher was of course as able as any other man to present the ar
guments in favor of infant baptism, but they did not satisfy Mr. and
Mrs. Peck. Their child was not baptized.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN MASON PECK. 679
Having remained with his father for two years, Mr. Peck decided to
remove to the State of New York. Leaving his native Connecticut,
which he ever loved, he found a home in Green County, New York.
Here he had a better opportunity than before of becoming acquainted
with Baptists. Nor will it surprise any one that he with his wife
became Baptists. Their renunciation of infant baptism led them of ne
cessity to believe that the rite as administered to them was null and void.
Regarding themselves unbaptized, and believing baptism to be not a
parental but a personal act, they began to inquire, What is baptism?
After due examination they found but one answer to this question.
They were immersed on a profession of their faith in Bntera the Bap.
Christ. Having become members of the New Durham tI8t clmrch.
Baptist Church, it was not long before the church, according to the usage
of the Baptist denomination, gave license to Peck to preach the gospel.
He "conferred not with flesh and blood," but the next day made his first.
attempt at expounding a text. His missionary impulses led him to dis
cuss Mark xvi. 15, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature." He seems to have preached with great personal enjoy
ment, and, like many young preachers, he thought the light and glory of
that day would never be followed by darkness or gloom. Alas for him,
one week did not pass away before he had what he calls " sore trials."
Having as a licensed minister preached acceptably for about two years,
his ordination was called for by the church in Catskill, New York, and
was granted by a council met for the purpose on the 9th of June, 1813.
From that time forward he preached the gospel and administered the
ordinances as he had opportunity. In 1815 he became acquainted with
Rev. Luther Rice, who was performing almost superhuman labor in
traveling through the North and the South, and in appealing to the
churches in behalf of foreign missions. Rice found in Peck a congenial
spirit and received important assistance from him. Indeed, the soul of
Peck was so imbued with the spirit of missions that he was contemplat
ing a personal consecration to the enterprise. Often he found himself
secretly saying, " Here am I, send me." A moment's reflection, how
ever, convinced him of his lack of qualifications for so important a work.
His zeal in the missionary cause led him to acquaint himself with the
plans and purposes of the Baptist Triennial Convention for Foreign
Missions, formed in the year 1814, of which Rev. Dr. William Staugh-
ton was corresponding secretary. Dr. Staughton was pastor in Philadel
phia, and was thought by many to be the most eloquent man of his
generation. His energy and industry were almost incredible. He often
preached four and five times on the Lord's day, lectured in schools and
academies on week-days, visited the sick and attended the funerals of
the dead, maintained an extensive correspondence, and had theological
students under his instruction.

680 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
The further Mr. Peck prosecuted the work of the ministry, the more
conscious he was of his need of theological training. He was no doubt
drawn by his missionary sympathies to Dr. Staughton, and amid many
difficulties arrangements were made for him to =pend about two years in
Philadelphia. There was not at that time a regular theological school
among the Baptists of America, and it was thought a great privilege to
have the instruction of Dr. Staughton. It was a severe trial to Peck to
leave his family in their New York home, but it seemed to be a neces
sity. He sacrificed domestic comfort for the sake of qualifying himself
as well as possible for the great work of his life. He visited his family
once or twice a year.
Very soon after the formation of the triennial convention, in 1814,
the policy of sending missionaries to the Missouri Territory was dis
cussed by the board of managers. This immense region lying west of
the Mississippi was a part of what was called the " Louisiana Purchase,"
An apostle of made by President Jefferson from France in 1803. Peck
the West. an(j one 0f jjjg fellow-students, Rev. James E. Welch, were
appointed missionaries to this territory on the 17th of May, 1817. Peck
wrote, " The long agony is over. The board have accepted Mr. Welch
and myself as missionaries to the Missouri Territory during our and their
pleasure, and have appropriated the sum of one thousand dollars to de
fray our getting to St. Louis and for the support of the mission. In
this I think I see the hand of God most visibly."
At once Peck made arrangements to start with his family for his
Western home. He left his father's house on the 25th of July. His
mode of conveyance to his place of destination was " a little one-horse
wagon," in which was found room for the father, mother, and three chil
dren. The journey to the Mississippi, now requiring less than two
days, demanded then several months of laborious travel and no little ex
posure to danger. Almost a month was spent in getting from Philadel
phia over the Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburgh. Thence Peck made
his way through the State of Ohio, passed into Kentucky, where he
joined his colleague Welch, and on the 6th of November they crossed
the Ohio River at Shawneetown. They were then in Blinois, at that
time a Territory, but admitted into the Union as a State the next year
(1818). There had been very heavy rains and the Ohio River had risen
rapidly, and many parts of the country were submerged. The mission
aries were in great perplexity, and it was finally decided that Mr. Peck
and family should go by boat to St. Louis and leave Mr. Welch to make
his way by land as soon as the subsidence of the waters would permit.
The only boat available was called a keel-boat, afterward described by
Mr. Peck as follows : —
" A keel-boat in shape very nearly resembled a canal boat, but with a
gunwale on each side twelve or fifteen inches in width. Besides hoisting

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN MASON PECK. 681
a sail in a favorable wind, especially when going down stream, there
were three modes of propelling a keel-boat in passing up stream. These
were the use of the cordelle, the setting pole, and occasionally bush
whacking. Except in crossing a river, when oars were used, the boat
had to creep along shore."
The splendid steamboats which now ply on the Ohio River, with their
luxurious accommodations, present a gratifying contrast to the keel-boats
of other days. Indeed, the " bushwhacking" operation, which consisted
in catching hold of the limbs of trees and dragging the boat along, is now
regarded as something to laugh at, but there was nothing laughable in
the effort to get the keel-boat up the Mississippi, though it may have
gone down the Ohio with but little difficulty. This Mr. Peck fully as
certained, and had his patience severely tested. In addition to the dif
ficulties of the navigation he was, when near Cape Girardeau, assailed
by disease, which for a time threatened a serious pulmonary affection.
The little boat reached St. Louis the first day of- December, more than
four months from the time Peck set out on his laborious journey. He
had traveled over twelve hundred miles. Having landed at St. Louis,
the first thing was to procure accommodations for himself and family,
and the best he could do was to rent, for twelve dollars a month, " a
single room." He found some respectable families, but the most of the
people were wicked and of vulgar tastes, while many of them were blas
pheming infidels. The latter had been known to engage in " a mock
celebration of the. Lord's Supper," and in "burning the Bible," while
they openly said that " the Sabbath never had crossed, and never should
cross, the Mississippi." These were discouragements, but they pro
claimed in trumpet tones the great need of missionary labor. As soon
as possible Peck and Welch began to prosecute the objects of their mis
sion. " They rented a school-room and commenced teaching, while for
want of better accommodations they occupied the same room on the
Sabbath and on Wednesday evening for preaching. In February they
constituted a small church. In April they baptized several candidates,
using for the first time, as they thought, the great river for this solemn
Christian ordinance. Very soon they opened a subscription for building
a church edifice, and were greatly cheered by obtaining on it nearly
three thousand dollars  In the mean time, they opened a Sunday-
school' for the instruction of colored children and adults, and were soon
cheered with finding nearly one hundred names enrolled as pupils." I
presume there can be no doubt that this was the first Sunday-school for
colored children west of the Mississippi, and it therefore has a chrono
logical distinction worthy of remembrance.
It would be agreeable to dwell in detail on the various labors of the
missionaries in St. Louis. This, however, cannot be done.
Peck could not long resist bis desire to explore certain parts of Mis-

682 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
souri and Illinois, and he therefore, as he found it practicable, made
preaching excursions from St. Louis, and learned the religious state of
things in many places. The brethren whose missionary he was received
from him the first trustworthy information from important parts of the
Great West. In one of his excursions Peck had an interview with " the
veritable Daniel Boone, the pioneer and hunter of Kentucky." He was
very favorably impressed by the conversation of the old man, who
" spoke feelingly and with solemnity of being a creature of Providence,
ordained by Heaven as a pioneer in the wilderness to advance the civil
ization and extension of his country." Boone was then (1818) more
than eighty years old.
At the present time, in reading Mr. Peck's diary, we are almost forced
to the conclusion that there was too little concentration in his labors.
His motives were unquestionably pure in traveling and preaching through
a large extent of country, and no doubt some of the seed which he sowed
in so large a field sprang up and bore fruit. Indeed, to this day there
are delightful reminiscences of his labors of love, and when he was im
portuned by those who had not heard a sermon for years to repeat his
visits it was well-nigh impossible for him to decline compliance with re
quests so earnestly made. Still, it might have been better if, for several
years, he had concentrated his efforts as a missionary at St. Louis. The
brethren under whose appointment he was acting most probably thought
so, for it is obvious that results at St. Louis did not equal their expecta
tions. They seem to have been rather impatient of speedy results. It
is often the case that missionary boards indulge hopes destined to partial
disappointment. There does not seem to have been any serious com
plaint of the St. Louis missionaries, but they were informed July 9,
1820, tljat the mission was closed. Two of the reasons influencing the
action of the board were these : (1.) " The want of ample funds for a
vigorous prosecution. (2.) A supposition on the part of the board that
this region would be soon supplied by the immigration into it of preach
ers from the Middle and Eastern States." Peck was directed to remove
to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and join Isaac McCoy in his labors among the
Indians. The board was earnestly requested to reconsider the subject,
and such reasons against his going to Fort Wayne were assigned by
Peck as induced a compliance with his wishes. His connection with the
board of the triennial convention was, however, dissolved.
In the year 1822, Peck received an appointment from the Massachu
setts Baptist Missionary Society. His commission bears the signature
of two honored names, Thomas Baldwin, president, and Daniel Sharp,
secretary. We must consider the state of things then, or it will appear
incredible that the society agreed to pay the missionary only " five dollars
a week " while engaged in actual service, and he was " to raise as much
as practicable of this amount on the field of his labors " ! It is not

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JOHN MASON PECK. 683
strange that the life of a missionary is proverbially regarded as one of
trials and privations. Peck's meagre support did not diminish his zeal
nor paralyze his energy. He was obliged, however, to consult economy,
and in doing so removed to Rock Spring, Illinois, which thenceforth was
his home. Obtaining a half section of unimproved land, and aided by
his neighbors, he erected suitable buildings, and began to till the soil to
supplement a support which could not otherwise be secured. His con
genial work was preaching the gospel, and to men of lethargic tempera
ment the extent of his ministerial labors seems scarcely credible. " In
season and out of season," in town and country, by day and by night,
he proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation. To quote from one of his
letters : —
" With sincerity of soul I can say there is no pursuit that affords such
exquisite satisfaction as activity and success in measures to promote the
gospel. I might dwell upon the difficulties attendant on an itinerating
life, as absence from home, exposure to sickness, storms, cold, mud,
swimming rivers, and not unfrequently rough fare ; but these are trifles
not worthy of one moment's anxious concern. To live and labor for
Him who died for the redemption of man is the highest favor we need
seek after in this transitory life."
This extract breathes the missionary spirit ; and the missionary spirit
would be the martyr spirit, should the days of martyrdom return. Peck
was the ardent friend of missions, and while laboring in the good cause
learned to his sorrow that many families were without the Word of God.
He did not hesitate, therefore, to undertake the formation of Bible soci
eties, that the people might be supplied with the Scriptures. During the
next year (1823) he accepted an agency from the American Bible So
ciety, and engaged actively in the organization of auxiliary societies. In
connection with this work, he became impressed with the necessity of a
society to promote Sunday-schools, and arranged his plan of operation.
It is worthy of remark that this was a year before the formation of the
American Sunday-School Union. There was in that day no man in Illi
nois or Missouri so devoted to the circulation of the Bible and the pro
motion of Sunday-schools as was Mr. Peck. It was his deep interest in
the Sunday-school enterprise which induced him, twenty years later, to
accept, for a time, the secretaryship of the American Baptist Publication
Society, whose head-quarters are in Philadelphia. The success of this
organization was not for some years after its formation in 1824 very satis
factory ; but it is now a great power in the denomination that sustains it.
Its business and benevolent receipts are not far from half a million of
dollars annually. Peck regarded it as a grand means of doing good.
His prayers for its prosperity were frequent and fervent.
Though by no means a perfect literary or theological scholar, Peck felt
a profound interest in the cause of education. Very soon after his re-

684 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
moval to the West he began to consider the project of founding a semi
nary, chiefly with a view to the education of young ministers. The diffi
culties in his way were so great that they yielded only to his heroic
energy and unfaltering perseverance. In 1827 the institution which he
styled Rock Spring Seminary was established, which, in process of
development, became the Alton Seminary, and is now Shurtleff College,
where the advantages of collegiate and theological training are enjoyed.
Truly, the seed sown by Mr. Peck is bearing fruit, " some thirty, some
sixty, and some an hundred fold."
It was during a visit to the Eastern States, in 1826, that Peck had an
interview with Jonathan Going, of Massachusetts, and im-
Father of the -,,.,,. ,. »
Home Mission pressed him most deeply with the importance of an Amer
ican Baptist Home Mission Society. Six years after, such
a society was formed in New York, and Dr. Going was appointed its
first secretary. The formation of the society had special reference to the
preaching of the gospel to the destitute thousands of the West, and it
was Peck who gave information as to their condition. It seems, there
fore, that a society now employing three hundred missionaries is histor
ically traceable to the active mind and benevolent heart of John Mason
Peck. If this had been the only work of his life, it was well worth while
for him to live.
From what has been already said, it will be inferred that Peck had
enlarged views of the power of the press. This is true, and it is to be
said in honor of his enterprise that he became "editor and publisher of
the first religious newspaper in that wide region, where so many have
since flourished." It was very appropriately called " The Pioneer." It
was printed first at Rock Spring, afterward at Alton, and styled the
" Western Pioneer ; '' but it was subsequently united with the " Baptist
Banner " of Louisville, Kentucky, and the two papers are perpetuated
in the " Western Recorder." Peck's was a prolific pen. He wrote ex
tensively for religious papers, and, strange as it may seem, amid his mul
tiform labors he published two volumes, " Guide to Emigrants " and
"Life of Daniel Boone." Of the former volume Dr. Lyman Beecher
expressed a very high opinion, and it is enough to say of the latter that
it was published in Dr. Sparks's American Biography. While Peck was
a laborious preacher and a forcible writer, it is useless to attempt to de
cide whether he accomplished more good by the living voice or by the
pen he wielded so industriously. This is a question which can find
no accurate answer till the light of eternity dispels the obscurity of our
present conceptions.
In the year 1852 Peck received from Harvard University the title of
Doctor of Divinity. No man cared less for such honors, and few men
were so worthy of them. He appreciated the compliment as coming from
an institution whose religious views were not congenial with his own.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN MASON PECK. 685
Too often the distinctions of title are conferred by denominational col
leges for denominational reasons, and comparatively young men aspire
to and obtain the coveted doctorate. Harvard honored Dr. Peck when
he had reached his threescore years, when his stores of knowledge were
unquestionable, and the powers of his mind were in full maturity.
The reader of this story will have seen that Dr. Peck was remarkable
for originating plans of doing good. It was therefore characteristic of
him when, in 1853, he projected the American Baptist Historical Soci
ety. This institution has its head-quarters in Philadelphia, and its chief
object is to gather up and preserve the writings of Baptists in times past
and present. In carrying out this object much has been done and more
will be done. Dr. Peck, at the formation of the society, could scarcely
have thought that in after years his friend and fellow-student, Rev. Dr.
Howard Malcom, would so zealously espouse and promote the interests
of the organization.
But the most active and the most useful life must have an end. The
best men are frail and mortal. Dr. Peck, after many years spent in mul
tifarious labors to advance the cause of Christ, perceived that the time
of his departure was at hand. Mrs. Peck died October 24, 1856, and he
survived her but a few months. His death occurred March 14, 1857.
Their wedded life embraced a period of nearly half a century. When
husband and wife have borne together for long years the burdens of life,
it is a merciful providence when they die about the same time, so that the
survivor does not long weep at the grave of the dead. Mrs. Peck had
been, during her religious life, troubled, more or less, with doubts as
to her acceptance with God ; but on her dying bed she " had gained
clearer views of the all-perfect righteousness of Christ, and all doubts
were gone."
Dr. Peck, when asked how he felt in view of death, said, " I feel as I
always have felt since relying on Christ. If I were not ready for death,
this would be a poor time to prepare. But I have no fear of death at
all. I assure you I am a stranger to any such feeling as fear in refer
ence to dying. Tell this to all these kind friends  I have never
done anything that can save me. All my works could never rescue
me from destruction. Only Christ is my Saviour, my whole depend
ence." There is perfect consistency between unreserved reliance on grace for
salvation and zealous activity in the performance of good works. This
fact was exemplified in Paul. The grace that saved him stimulated him
to abundant labor. It was so with Dr. Peck. Saved by grace, he was
obliged, under the impulses of sanctified gratitude, to abound in the
work of the Lord. He now rests from his labors, and his works do fol
low him. " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." John, the be
loved disciple, heard a voice from heaven uttering these precious words.

686 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
I am glad he listened to a voice from heaven, for if he had listened to
any of the ten thousand voices of earth he would have recorded a very
different sentiment. He would have written, Blessed are the living, —
those who live in circumstances of worldly affluence and splendor. He
hearkened to a voice from heaven, which said, " Write," — commit it to
the imperishable pages of inspiration for the comfort of the saints in all
ages, — " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth ;
yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their
works do follow them."

LIFE XX. FRANCIS WAYLAND.
A. D. 1796-A. D. 1865. BAPTIST, — AMERICA.
Francis Watland may stand for a typical American, grown from
American soil, formed by American institutions, and penetrated by the
American spirit. He abhorred oppression and injustice, and the wrongs
inflicted by monarchs and nobles and social castes. He sympathized
with the people, and with all institutions that guarded their rights and
strengthened their manhood. He was practical in aim and self-reliant
in spirit, and believed that a nation can prosper only as every man
makes the most of himself.
He was born in New York, March 11, 1796. His parents, of good
English stock, emigrated to this country in 1793. They had little cult
ure,, but possessed robust common sense, sterling integrity, and sincere
piety. The father, by trade a currier, soon amassed a competent fortune
for those days, and retired from business to become a preacher of the
gospel. In the war with Great Britain, in 1812-1815, most of his prop
erty, invested in marine insurance companies, was lost, and he was able
subsequently to give little aid to his children in acquiring a liberal edu
cation. The son always cherished a profound reverence for the memory
of his parents, especially of his mother, and ascribed his success in life
to their precepts, example, and counsels.
His education, apart from the home training, was of little value, till he
came under the influence of Dr. Nott in his college course. Most of his
teachers he thought incompetent for their work. One of them, who had
some reputation, " never taught anything," requiring only a repeating of
the text. Others asked no questions, nor made suggestions beyond the
text-book. For a little time he was under the instruction of Mr. D. H.
Barnes in the classics, an extraordinary teacher, for whose inspiring in
fluence he felt a profound gratitude through life.
But to Dr. Nott, the honored president of Union College, he always
ascribed the most potent influence in forming his intellectual character.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] FRANCIS WAYLAND. 687
He loved this great teacher with a reverence bordering on idolatry. He
asserted that " attendance upon Dr. Nott's course of instruction formed
an era in the life of every one of his pupils." He thought Dr. Nott
" decidedly the ablest man he had ever known intimately."
He graduated with distinction at the early age of seventeen, and en
tered on the study of medicine, at first in the office of Dr. Moses Hale,
and six months later in the office of Dr. Eli Burritt, of Troy, New
York. The latter was a man of remarkable logical power, and an en
thusiast in his profession. He took great interest in his young student,
and stimulated ambition by wise appeals. " Now, Wayland," said he,
" if you will bone down to it, and give your time and strength to your
studies, I will make a man of you." The appeal was effective, and the
promise was fulfilled.
At this time occurred a curious change in young Wayland's intellect
ual tastes. He had been an inveterate reader of novels and books of
travels, taking no interest in more solid reading. He suddenly lost all
love for novels. He describes the change : " I was sitting by a window,
in an attic room which I occupied as a sort of study or reading-place,
and by accident I opened a volume of the Spectator, — I think it was to
one of the essays forming Addison's critique on Milton ; it was, at any
rate, something purely didactic. I commenced reading it, and, to my
delight and surprise, I found that I understood it and really enjoyed it.
I could not account for the change. I read on, and found that the very
essays which I formerly passed over, without caring to read them, were
now to me the gems of the whole book, vastly more attractive than the
stories and narratives that I had formerly read with so much interest.
I could explain it on no other theory than that a change had taken place
in myself. I awoke to the consciousness that I was a thinking being,
and a citizen, in some sort, of the republic of letters." : From that time
he abandoned novel-reading, and his reading was restricted to works of
standard excellence.
During this period he came also under the influence of a woman of
remarkable character and culture, Mrs. Lavinia Stoddard. He always
regarded her as a person of extraordinary power, possessing " an intel
lect capable of any amount of acquisition, and able to master with ease
any conception. With these endowments were united a power of ex
pression, and an ability to do anything which she determined to accom
plish. She was withal a perfect woman ; all was delicate and refined,
while all was true and pure and lovable." He looked upon the inti
macy with her and her husband as worth more to him than his college
education. Towards the close of his medical education he passed through the
great change which shaped his life. The son of religious parents, he
1 Life and Labors, vol. i., p. 42.

688 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
had never become a Christian by personal conviction. Of a religious
An era in his nature himself, he had never exercised faith in Jesus, or
li£e- submitted his will to God's will. But God had chosen him
for eminent service, and summoned him now to a new course of life.
Pie describes the change : " I had never for a single day in my life laid
aside all other business, and earnestly sought of God the renewing in
fluences of the Ploly Spirit. I resolved that, dismissing every other
thought, I would devote one day to reading the Scriptures and prayer,
that I might be able to say that I had at least done something for the
salvation of my soul.
" I at once put my resolution into practice. I retired to my chamber,
and spent a day in this way. I perceived very little change in my feel
ings, save that a sense of the importance of the matter had so grown
upon me that I resolved to spend the next day in the same manner. At
the end of the second day, I determined to spend still a third day in the
same employment ; and at the expiration of that day, I determined to
do nothing else until I had secured the salvation of my soul." 1
With the entrance on the Christian life came a change of profession.
He turned from medicine to theology, feeling that God called him to the
ministry of the gospel. In the following autumn he entered the theo
logical seminary at Andover, then in the ninth year of its existence.
Moses Stuart, the most learned Biblical scholar in the country, was there,
in the vigor of his manhood, inspiring young men with his own en
thusiasm. Young Wayland soon felt the power of this great teacher, and
was aglow with zeal in the study of the Scriptures. He spent but a
single year at Andover, but he never lost the impressions received under
Professor Stuart ; and at the semi-centennial anniversary of the sem
inary, in 1858, he paid a glowing tribute to the memory of his early
friend and instructor. A warm friendship continued through life.
The year was one of sore pecuniary trials. The father had just lost
both his property and his pastorate, and could afford no help. There
were no influential friends to give the needed aid, and educational socie
ties were not yet born to assist the deserving. He was pinched for
money to buy needed books, and even to obtain clothing and board ; and,
though eager to return and complete his course, he saw no way of meet
ing the inevitable expenses.
With great reluctance he abandoned theological study to accept an
appointment as tutor in Union College, by which he could earn his daily
bread. It was a good position for mental growth. Daily association
with Dr. Nott and Dr. Yates, and with younger men, like Wisner and
Potter (afterwards Dr. Wisner and Bishop Potter), kept him at his
best, while the broad range of studies he was obliged to teach compelled
incessant toil. He always looked on the four years spent at Union as
i Life and Labors, vol. i., p. 51.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] FRANCIS WAYLAND. 689
of great service to him intellectually, and spiritually as well ; for in the
latter part of the period he was brought into intimate relations with
Dr. Nettleton, the famous evangelist, and received a new unction for the
work of the ministry. He began to preach occasionally in destitute
neighborhoods ; and it may encourage young men to know that the ser
mons cost him prodigious toil. " It took me weeks — I know not but I
might say months — to write a discourse of moderate length. I wrote
and rewrote with endless care and anxiety. How men prepared two
sermons a week I could not conceive."
In 1821 he accepted a call to the pastorate of the First Baptist
Church, Boston, and began his labors in that city in August A pastor in Bo8.
of the same year. Few ministers in this day would dare ton-
accept such a call from a divided church. The vote stood in the church.
fifteen to ten, and in the society seventeen to fifteen. A strong minority,
favoring a candidate of more popular gifts, but of slender intellectual
furniture, determined to annoy him and drive him from the pulpit. But
his unaffected humility and large charity, combined with a rare tact,..
soon made them ashamed of their unworthy aims, and converted many
of them into warm friends. For more than five years he remained in
Boston, quietly and faithfully doing his work as preacher and pastor ;.
loathing all display, courting no popularity, but gradually winning the
ear of the public as one of the profound thinkers and great teachers of
the American pulpit. His sermon on the " Moral Dignity of the Mission
ary Enterprise," preached in October, 1823, and soon after published,
placed him at once among the foremost American preachers, and made
his name familiar on the other side of the Atlantic. Successive sermons,
also published, on the " Duties of an American Citizen " and on the
"Death of Ex-Presidents Adams and Jefferson," added to his reputa
tion, and convinced the public that a young man of rare originality and
force was coming to the front in Boston, to whom the world would do
well to listen. Had he remained in the pulpit for life his name might,
perhaps, stand at the head of American preachers. It would be hard,.
at least, to find four sermons from any other preacher, under thirty
years of age, worthy to be compared with those mentioned in breadth
and grandeur of thought and in simple majesty of style. They will
long hold their place among the classics of the American pulpit.
One almost regrets that he did not continue in the calling he was so
well fitted to adorn, recalling the criticism of Robert Hall on his mis
sionary sermon : " If he can preach such a sermon at twenty-seven, what
will he do at fifty?" But in 1827 he accepted the presi- n ^
J . Over the univer-
dency of Brown University, and the vigor of his manhood s% at Provi-
and the ripeness of his attainments were given to the cause
pf Christian education. The fortunes of the college were at a low ebb. It
had lost, in a large measure, the confidence of the Baptist denomination,
44

690 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
which was its chief patron. Discipline was neglected ; a love of sports
superseded the love of study ; and the college was deficient alike in phil
osophical, apparatus, in library, and in endowments. It was soon evi
dent that the corporation had made a wise choice of a leader. A new
life and energy pervaded the college. Disorderly students felt the strong
hand of a master, and submitted to the new discipline. Sluggish minds
caught the spirit of an earnest teacher, and lovers of study were stirred
to an intense enthusiasm. The young president put equal vigor into
' instruction and administration. No droning was tolerated in the recita
tion room, and no mischievous pranks went undetected or unpunished.
His keen eye and firm hand were everywhere, and Brown University
under Wayland passed through changes as rapid and marked as Rugby
under Arnold. The citizens of Providence and the friends of the college
welcomed the revolution, and responded cordially to the calls of the pres
ident for funds to carry out his broad views of education. New build
ings were erected ; a moderate endowment was raised ; ample apparatus
was furnished for instruction in chemistry and natural philosophy ; and a
liberal fund was obtained for the enlargement of the library. The col
lege took its place among the best institutions of the country, and its
president was recognized as one of the great educators of the age.
The early years of the presidency were years of intense mental toil.
A singleness of purpose governed his entire life. He indulged in no recre
ation, even in vacations, nor even in a wide course of liberal studies. He
aimed simply to become master of the studies in his own department ; to ac
quire eminent power as an instructor ; to make the college worthy of public
-confidence, and a place of thorough intellectual discipline for its students.
His lecture-room was a throne, where he ruled with an imperial majesty
iby divine right. Socrates wielded no higher power over the young men
¦of Athens than Francis Wayland over the senior classes of Brown Uni
versity. Many men of eminence in the state and in liberal professions
trace their intellectual birth to his words, and his eulogy of Dr. Nott is
-equally true of himself : " Attendance on his instructions formed an era
in the life of every one of his pupils." 1 His own enthusiasm inspired his
i On Dr. Wayland's retirement from the presidency, Judge B. F. Thomas, of Massachu
setts, in presenting some resolutions of the alumni, paid to his former teacher the following
-tribute: —
" It has been my privilege for three years to be your pupil. I have, seen and have had
¦other eminent masters : Joseph Story, whose name is identified with the jurisprudence of
his country ; John Hooker Ashman, who, an invalid for years, and dying at the early age
of thirty-three, left behind him no superior in Massachusetts, whose mind had the point of
a diamond, and the clearness of its waters; Pliny Merrick, who graces the bench on which
I have the honor to sit, but of whom my near relation forbids me to speak as I would. A
quarter of a century has passed since I left these walls with your blessing. I have seen
something of men and of the world since. I esteem it, to-day, the happiest event of my
life that brought me here ; the best gift of an ever kind Providence to me that I -was per
mitted for three years to sit at the feet of your instruction. If I have acquired any consid-
.eration in my own beloved commonwealth, if I have worthily won any honor. I can and
do, with a grateful heart, bring them to-day and lay them at your feet. Teu'cro duce et
auspice Teucro."

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS WAYLAND. 691
associates in the faculty, and they emulated him in zeal, and adopted his
motto that the only road to success lies through every day's hard work.
His experience in teaching soon created discontent with the text-books
in use, and compelled the attempt to supply others of better quality.
His works on moral philosophy and political economy were welcomed by
instructors as model text-books, and still hold their place in many col
leges after a period of forty years.
As he acquired a conscious mastery of college duties, the energy of his
nature asserted itself in important labors for the improvement of the
city and State which had become bis home. He did much pmla,nttu.0pic
to re-organize the system of public education, to establish work-
the Providence Athenaeum and many noble institutions of benevolence,
and to carry into effect reforms in prison discipline. He taught a Bible-
class in the First Baptist Church on Saturday afternoons, for the ladies
of the city from all denominations. He had a similar class at his own
house one evening in the week, to discuss personal difficulties in relig
ious matters. One of his class gives a striking testimony to the fidelity
of his instructions, and to his great power over young women, by affirm
ing that many members of the class were belles in the city, belonging to
wealthy and fashionable families, but they resolutely excluded dancing
from their evening companies. He was profoundly interested in a class
in the state-prison, teaching it for many years, and making it a fountain
of spiritual life to wretched convicts. He came gradually to be regarded
as the first citizen in Rhode Island, whose counsel was to be sought for
every public enterprise, whose sympathy could be relied on in every phil
anthropic movement. Nor were his labors confined" to his own State.
He was a trusted leader in the missionary societies of his own denomina
tion, and a counselor whose advice and help were sought by educational
and scientific and benevolent institutions in all portions of the United
States. In 1840, when in his forty-fifth year, he went abroad for a few months
of rest and travel. This tour brought into prominence two traits of
his character: the one an incapacity for rest; the other an intense love
for his native country. He did not enjoy foreign travel, though it gave
him an opportunity for familiar intercourse with distinguished men, who
welcomed him as an honored guest. His heart turned with eager long
ing to the home he had left, the friends endeared by long association,
and the chosen work of his life. Nor could he content himself with
repose or recreation. His mind was incessantly busy, reviewing the
past to discover its failures by the new views opened in Europe ; plan
ning for the future to do wiser and more effective work. This constant
study abroad led to the publication, in 1842, of a little volume entitled
" Thoughts on the Present Collegiate System in the United States," in
which he gave utterance to new opinions which he had adopted on the

692 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
need of a radical reform in the curriculum of study, to adapt it to the
practical wants of a vigorous nation.
The views thus early expressed took definite shape in the reorganiza
tion of the college in 1850. In a report to the corporation he gave a
clear statement of the changes he thought needful, and received both
the authority and the means to carry them into effect. It is simple jus-
Leader in col- ^ice to his memory to say that the special lines of study
lege reforms. jn sc;ence and the arts now established in the leading col
leges of the country are due, in a large measure, to the suggestions of
Dr. Wayland in this report to the corporation, and to the changes intro
duced into Brown University. To him belongs the honor of remodeling
collegiate education, and adapting it to the practical needs of the nine
teenth century.
The prodigious amount of labor required to introduce the new system,
and the pressure of responsibility in insuring its success, proved too
great a strain on the constitution of Dr. Wayland, already worn by over
work, and his physician enjoined the necessity of rest. In 1855 he ten
dered his resignation as president, which was accepted with great reluc
tance by the corporation. He retired to a new and beautiful home in
the eastern part of the city, near the bank of the Blackstone, where he
intended to spend the evening of his days in quiet, devoting his leisure
to such literary religious work as Providence might bring to his hands.
He could not be idle, and several published works belong to this period
of his life. " The Apostolic Ministry," a sermon preached at Roches
ter, made a profound impression by its criticisms on the current style of
preaching, and excited a sharp controversy. A similar result followed
a little volume entitled " Notes on the Principles and Practices of Bap
tist Churches," in which he expressed views differing from those of many
of his brethren. " Sermons to the Churches " were rich in wise counsels
and practical lessons ; and in " Salvation by Christ " he put into perma
nent form some of his sermons notable for simplicity of style and richness
of thought. A brief " Life of Dr. Chalmers " laid special emphasis on
the single-mindedness of the great preacher, and his pastoral fidelity in
laboring for the salvation of souls.
In 1857, Dr. Granger, the pastor of the First Baptist Church, Prov
idence, died; and the church invited Dr. Wayland to perform pasto
ral service until a permanent pastor could be obtained. He accepted
the invitation, regarding it as a providential call to illustrate in practice
the views of preaching and pastoral work which he had recently de
veloped in theory, and which had given offense to some of his breth-
a model pastor. ren- For sixteen months he filled the office, and it is
not extravagant to say that in no pulpit in the country was
the truth preached with more simplicity and directness, and in no parish
was pastoral labor done with more systematic fidelity, and with more

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS WAYLAND. 693
singleness of desire to save men. Plistory can hardly furnish a finer
illustration of the morally sublime than the devotion of this great man
to his accepted work. With a stern self-denial, born of conscientious
conviction, he crucified his literary tastes in the pulpit, laid on the shelf
all his elaborate sermons, and aimed to preach so simply that children
could not fail to understand the truth, and so pungently that every
hearer should feel a personal need of salvation. He alludes to this
victory over himself : " I had held some important offices of a literary
character. _ I had published some things which were more than usually
successful. I had had some reputation as a good writer. All these antece
dents would seem to point to a mode of preaching in harmony with them.
I could not but feel that to preach otherwise would appear to many a
falling off, a sinking away ; that it would, in a word, induce many per
sons to think less of me." The self-crucifixion was heroic and com
plete. In the sixteen months of service he attempted to preach no great
sermons, but only those fitted to do immediate good.
The self-denial in pastoral work was more sublime. It is affecting to
read, in the " Life of James Hamilton," of his cheerful surrender of liter
ary ambition to his duty as pastor. He had collected ample material for
a Life of Erasmus. He was familiar with the times, with the men and the
movements of that stirring period, and longed to put into permanent form
the studies of a life-time. But the routine of parish life, apparently trivial,
absorbed his energy, — calling on old women to comfort them, meeting his
elders for humdrum talk. Pie weighed the matter in the scales of con
science. The routine was accepted, and, with a single sigh, the precious
manuscripts were laid on a shelf, never to be taken down again. Dr.
Wayland's sacrifice was more complete. " The moment I assumed the
duties of pastor I relinquished every other engagement and occupation. I
laid away my manuscripts, put aside all labor for myself, and devoted my
self to the service of the gospel." His son adds the comment, " Not
only did he give up all authorship ; he relinquished all reading. He did
not, we believe, even read a review during the period of his pastoral la
bors. He employed in studying the Bible and in prayer all the time
not consumed in needful exercise, in preparation for the Sabbath, or in
visiting the congregation."
He visited the entire parish during his brief term of service, and this
involved prodigious labor. His own home was at one extreme of the
city, far removed from the larger part of the congregation. He was
now past sixty years of age, with physical energy impaired by long and
severe mental toil. The parish being an old one, the people were scat
tered in all parts of the city. It required great diligence . to find them,
and long walks to reach them. He went always on foot, fearing that
some of the poor would take offense at a pastor visiting in a carriage,
and spiritual good would be hindered. Day by day he threaded the

694 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
streets of Providence, and climbed its high hills, to find the scattered
sheep of his flock, and to bring in tender lambs into the fold. Begin
ning his visits in the later hours of the forenoon, when morning work
might be finished, he continued them till evening, often reaching his
home again only when an evening meeting was ended, and not always
partaking of regular meals. As he did not find the male members of
families at their homes, he sought them at factories and stores and offices,
determined that no one should be overlooked. He resolved to visit no
house without introducing the subject of religion as a personal matter,
and that in every case, unless it was manifestly best to omit it, he would
pray with the family. He held personal religious conversation with
nearly every member of the parish, finding many who confessed that no
one had ever before talked with them directly on their spiritual needs.
Such systematic and earnest labor could not fail of results. The con
gregation increased on the Sabbath ; the lecture-room was often crowded
during the week ; the spiritual life of the church was quickened, and
many converts were gathered. The revival was neither so extensive nor
so fruitful as he had hoped to see it, but he had reason to believe that at
least seventy in his own parish began a Christian life, while many in
other congregations were led to Christian character by his earnest words.
These sixteen months always lingered in his memory as the pleasantest
part of his ministry.
Refusing an earnest call from the church to become a permanent
pastor, from a conviction of inability to fulfill the duties, he retired again
to private life. A delightful kind of recreation was found in his garden,
which became famous in Providence for its extreme neatness, and for
the choicest flowers and fruits. In it he spent several hours each day,
with the same energy and enthusiasm which were given to brain work
in the study. He took great pleasure in showing the garden to visitors,
and in sending specimens of its fruits and flowers to friends.
It was perhaps an inevitable penalty of retirement from public duties
that his spirits drooped, and he became more familiar with clouds than
sunshine in his closing years. In middle life, when brain and heart were
at highest tension, and each day was crowded with public duties, his
cheerfulness was electric, and misanthropes and Cassandras went from
his presence constrained to take more cheerful views of life and of hu
man progress. But when the pressure of public duty relaxed, and the
mental powers, relieved from the long strain, brooded in meditation in
stead of working for practical results, a curious morbidness colored the
old views of life, and his familiar talks with friends were generally in a
minor key. Like the Grecian Nestor, he deplored the growing degen
eracy of the age. Pie could see few signs of advance, many of 'retro
gression, a decaying piety in the churches, a loss of fidelity and earnest
ness in the pulpit, and a decline of moral vigor in college faculties and

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] FRANCIS WAYLAND. 695
students. John the Baptist, in his prison cell, cut off from active labor,
lost faith in the Messianic work of Jesus. And it is not surprising that
Francis Wayland, in the mental reaction consequent upon a life of lei
sure after intense toil, looked often on the darker side of things, and was
tortured with doubts if the Messianic kingdom was making progress
among men. Nor is it improbable that fatal disease had already begun
its work by clouding the intellect and benumbing the heart. Declining
health and anxieties incident to the long civil strife might naturally
create gloom and forebodings even in a hopeful mind.
But personal piety ripened, and made his home radiant with Christian
peace, when clouds obscured the spiritual horizon without. As he drew
near to the end of life, his love for the Bible deepened, and prayer be
came more real and helpful. He wrote to a friend, " I have lately read
the Bible more than ever in my life, in the same space of time, and at
every new reading I find more to love and admire." The hour before
breakfast was always given to secret prayer and reading the Scriptures.
During this hour he read the Bible for devotion, not at all for criticism.
The day closed, as it had begun, with communion with God. " After
family prayers," writes his son, " were his own devotions, and those who
occupied the room above the study heard his voice last at night, as it
had been the first sound in the morning." A young friend asked him,
" Can you always feel, when you pray, that prayer is a reality ? " His
answer was prompt : " Almost always I can ; and the older I grow, the
more fully I am convinced that it is a real thing to ask God for bless
ings, and to receive them in answer to prayer."
The civil war caused him many hours of gloom. He saw in it the
divine retribution for national sins, and bowed meekly to Faithful to the
the stroke, choosing rather to fall into the hands of God end-
than into the hands of man. But in the darkest hours of national ca
lamity, when the hopes of leaders drooped, he never doubted the final
issue. His faith was unfaltering that slavery would be overthrown, and
justice and freedom would triumph. His voice and pen responded freely
to his country's call ; his counsels inspired the wavering, and his courage
kindled new hopes in the desponding.
The assassination of President Lincoln brought him once more before
the public, and furnished a striking proof of the esteem in which he was
held by his fellow-citizens. Wlien the sad news reached Providence, a
general wish was expressed that Dr. Wayland might appear in some
church or public hall, and give counsel suited to the solemn hour. A
delegation of leading men conveyed to him the public wish. Pie de
clined the task, but consented to address in a quiet way any friends
who would gather at his house towards evening. The afternoon closed
with a heavy rain, and no public notice had been given of the proposed
service ; but a company of fifteen hundred men, comprising the first

696 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
citizens of Providence, gathered at even-tide, and marched in procession
more than a mile through the falling rain, to stand in close ranks before
his dwelling. Raised upon a rude platform, hastily erected, Dr. Way-
land talked to his fellow-townsmen in a strain of dignified eloquence
never surpassed in his best days. The virtues of the martyred presi
dent, the atrocious crime, the cloud overshadowing, the country, and the
delicate tribute of his neighbors stirred mind and heart to highest activ
ity, and the crowd retired awed to reverent silence by the grandeur of
the man no less than by the grandeur of his words. It was a fit per
oration to his long life of public service.
A few months later, in a less public manner, he uttered his last relig
ious counsels. The Warren Association, with which he had been con
nected for nearly forty years, met on September 13th and 14th, in the
Central Baptist Church, Providence. The pastor had sent him a special
request to be present, and, though the church was two miles from his
home, he attended promptly every service, excepting that of Wednesday
evening. On Thursday afternoon he took part in the conference
meeting, with which the association closed, and no one who was present
can ever forget the solemnity of his words, or the tender earnestness of
his appeals. He spoke as if already loosed from this world, and await
ing the summons to a better life. Many listened tearfully, with a
foreboding that they should never hear his voice again. On Friday of
the following week he felt strangely listless, and on Saturday did not
leave his bed. On the next Tuesday the stroke of paralysis, long
gathering, suddenly fell. He lost the power of motion, and articulation
became difficult. The disease could not be arrested, and on Saturday
evening, September 30, 1865, after some days of unconsciousness, the
end came.
During the week of sickness a general anxiety had pervaded the city.
The inquiry was on hundreds of lips every day, "How is Dr. Wayland?"
And when the tolling bell of the First Baptist Church announced, on
Sunday morning, that the struggle was over, the grief was universal, for
all felt that Providence and Rhode Island had lost their greatest
citizen. An immense crowd gathered at the First Baptist Church on Wednes
day, October 4th, to look on his lifeless face and follow him to burial.
The large edifice could not hold the company of mourners. Clergymen
from other States and from other denominations, statesmen, educators,
authors, and personal friends in all walks of life united in a tribute of
loving homage. Dr. Caswell, an associate and friend of forty years,
made an address, simple but beautiful ; and Dr. Caldwell, his pastor, and
Dr. Swain, a Congregational clergyman, conducted the devotional serv
ices. A year later, at the commencement of Brown University, September

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] RICHARD FULLER. 697
4,' 1866, Professor Chace, one of the earliest graduates under Wayland's
administration, and for many years a colleague in instruction, delivered
a memorial discourse to the alumni of the college. It was a worthy
tribute to the great teacher, whom all his pupils revered, and to the great
man, whom they all loved. — H. L.

LIFE XXI. RICHARD FULLER.
A. D. 1804-A. D. 1876. BAPTIST, — AMERICA.
Mant men are good ; few are great, and they are great only in a com
parative sense. Human greatness is the result of vast intellectual en
dowments, large educational advantages, close application to study, and
wide opportunities for the exercise of talents. The lack of any one of
these elements of greatness, though it may not preclude eminent useful
ness and honorable distinction, will prevent those high attainments which
dignify the leaders of human thought and win the admiration of intel
ligent and discriminating observers.
Richard Fuller, the subject of this story, was a great as well as good
man. He was descended of a highly respectable family of the State of
South Carolina, noted for the number of able and distinguished men
born within its limits. His birth occurred in the town of Beaufort, on
the 22d of April, 1804. It was his good fortune to receive his early in
struction from that ripe scholar and eloquent preacher, the elder Dr.
William T. Brantly, equally well known and esteemed in the South and
in the North. In the seventeenth year of his age, young Fuller, having
mastered his preparatory studies, entered Harvard University, Massa
chusetts, soon proving himself to be one of the best scholars of his class.
Fixing his ambitious eye on the highest honors of the institution, he re
solved, by the most intense application to study, to secure them. When
they seemed to be almost within his grasp, he was seized with symptoms
of a pulmonary disease, which compelled him reluctantly to abandon his
studies, and betake himself to the use of means for the recovery of his
health. So satisfactory, however, had been his progress in learning that
he graduated with his class in 1824, being about twenty years old.
Fuller had chosen the profession of law, for which his genius and taste
peculiarly fitted him. Returning to his native town, he entered at once
on his professional career, and was not long in finding clients. At a
bar whose members were distinguished for their legal knowledge and
their eloquence, he immediately, by the force of his genius, placed him
self in the front rank of advocates. He soon acquired a lucrative prac
tice, and the richest emoluments and the highest honors of the legal pro
fession were spread before him.

698 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
At this period an event occurred deeply affecting the after life of the
rising barrister. A young widow, of amiable disposition, refined manners,
and excellent judgment, having her ample estate involved in litigation,
employed him as her counsel. He not only vindicated her rights, but
won her heart, secured her hand, and became the manager of her val
uable property. Mrs. Fuller survives her husband, and it is now only
proper to say that a more congenial and happy union was never formed.
To the close of his life, on all suitable occasions, he continued to speak
of her in terms of the highest commendation, and with all the ardor of
a young lover.
A still more important event in his life was approaching. Daniel
Converted under Baker, a Presbyterian, well known in those days as a suc-
Daniei Baker. cessful evangelist, held a series of meetings in Beaufort.
Fuller was among the converts on the occasion. He had been for some
time nominally a member of the Episcopal Church, making no profession
of piety. Very soon after his conversion he was baptized by the Rev.
Henry O. Wyer, of Savannah, Georgia, and united with the Baptist church
in Beaufort, of which his parents were members. His conversion and
call to the ministry seem to have been simultaneous. Immediately, like
converted Saul, he " conferred not with flesh and blood," but entered on
his life-long work of persuading sinners to be reconciled to God. In the
year 1832 he was ordained to the ministry, and became the pastor of
the church of which he was a member. The general truth stated by
Jesus, that a prophet is without honor in his own country and ^mong his
own kindred, was signally reversed in the case of Fuller. He was no
where more admired, more loved, or more useful than in the town where
he drew his first bneath and engaged in his boyish sports. Nor did he
limit his labors to his native village, but preached the gospel among the
slaves of the cotton plantations on the sea-coast, as well as to refined
audiences in the cities and towns of his native State and of Georgia,
everywhere attracting great crowds, who, whether they were rich or
poor, learned or rude, hung with equal delight and profit on his minis
trations. It was not possible that so bright a light as the pastor of the Beaufort
Baptist church should be long concealed. The time for the manifesta
tion of his powers to the large denomination of Christians with which
he was connected was at hand. In the year 1841, the Baptist Triennial
Convention of the United States was held in the city of Baltimore. It
was largely attended by the representative men of the churches. Fuller
had been appointed at the previous meeting to deliver the introductory
sermon. Few persons present had heard him, but his fame had preceded
him, and the congregation was on tiptoe to hear his sermon. His text
was, " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me ; "
and his theme was " The Power of the Cross." It was heard with pro-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] RICHARD FULLER. 699
found attention, great admiration, and intense feeling. I afterwards
heard him deliver sermons much superior to it in richness of thought,
genuine pathos, and commanding eloquence, but this discourse estab
lished his pulpit reputation, and gave him a place in the front row of
American Baptist preachers.
He received many tempting invitations to settle with wealthy city
churches ; but as salary was no object with him, and he
greatly loved his field of labor, his removal seemed improb- more his ufe-
able. He was elected, however, to the pastorate of a new
church (the Seventh) in the city of Baltimore ; and for strong and pe
culiar reasons, which need not here be mentioned, he accepted the office,
and entered on its duties, in a new and spacious building which had been
erected for his reception, in August, 1847. Here, for nearly twenty-five
years, he continued his earnest and faithful ministry, attracting crowds by
his eloquence, adding largely to the membership of the church, and ex
erting a most excellent influence in the rapidly growing city. No pastor
was more loved and honored by his flock than he. He commanded their
admiration in the pulpit by the splendor of his gifts, and won their
hearts in private by the gentleness and simplicity of his manners.
"In the spring of 1871," says Dr. Brantly, his companion in labor
and life-long friend, " a handsome marble house of worship, one of the
ornaments of Baltimore, was completed by the church of which Dr.
Fuller was pastor, and he was invited to take charge of a colony of some
two hundred persons, who within a short time were dismissed from
the Seventh Church to prosecute the new enterprise. According to our
figures, the doctor was then sixty-seven years of age ; and it would or
dinarily have been a hazardous experiment for so old a man to embark
in the work of building up a new interest. But his success was remark
able. The congregations were at once large ; additions by experience and
letter were numerous ; so that in the few years that elapsed between the
dedication of the house and the death of the pastor the number of mem
bers had been more than doubled, and the indebtedness of the church fully
provided for."
The most brilliant life must end. "In the midst of his usefulness
and vigor, his form erect, his mental vision unobscured, and when friends
were hoping for other years of usefulness in addition to the many he had
lived, a malignant carbuncle appeared on his right shoulder, detaining him
from his pulpit and confining him to his bed. The disease progressed so
rapidly that in a short time his medical attendants despaired of his recov
ery. The Christian hero promptly accepted the providence with sub
mission, and even with joy. He calmly disposed of all earthly interests,
then dictated a letter to his church, assuring them of his ' perfect peace
in Jesus,' and calling upon them to be faithful to God and his truth._
Never did a death-bed afford sublimer illustration of the power of the

700 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
gospel to sustain the soul in ' the supreme struggle,' as he spoke of his
last moments to a friend. ' To one,' said he, ' in my situation, the most
important question is, If a man die, shall he live again ? The world does
not believe that he will. The church only half believes it. But I know
it, and I rejoice in it. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ stamp
eternal verity on this doctrine. I have fought a good fight ; I have fin
ished my course ; and there is a crown laid up for me.' Love to Christ
was the ruling passion of his life, and it was the dominant passion in his
dying hour. Knowing that his tongue would soon be silent, he asked in
most plaintive tones but a short time before he died, ' Who '11 preach
jesus ? ' — thus indicating his concern for the glory of his ever-dear Lord.
He died on Friday morning, October 20, 1876, and was interred by the
side of two of his daughters, in Greenmount Cemetery."
" Never," says Dr. Brantly, " have I seen a large city so thoroughly
moved as was Baltimore when, last fall, it was announced that the elo
quent and beloved Fuller was critically ill. And when it was under
stood that he was no more, the grief was profound and universal. On
the day of his interment it seemed, such was the thronging on every
street which the funeral cortege passed, that the whole community had
turned out to offer the tribute of tears."
Dr. Fuller was a remarkable man, and would have been so considered
His personal an- m anv aSe' in anv country, and in any department of human
pearance. ]jfe# jje was cast jn one 0f nature's finest moulds. He
had " a sound mind in a sound body." No one saw him without being
impressed by his appearance. Tall, well proportioned, vigorous, and com
manding in person, he moved as a prince among men. His open coun
tenance, beaming eyes, and pleasant but not handsome features gave in
dication of the noble intellect dwelling within. His mind, clear and
discriminating, was equally original, logical, and imaginative. If he had
not genius, which too frequently shines only to dazzle and mislead, he
had what was far better, masculine sense, a well-balanced intellect, and
a ready command of all his powers. His mind and body were well fitted
to each other, constituting him a man thoroughly developed, and suited
for arduous labors, physical and intellectual.
Fuller was a man of earnest and consistent piety. Converted in his
maturity, he furnished, by the abandonment of his lucrative profession,
the devotion of his powers to the ministry, and the consecration of his
ample income to pious purposes, such proofs of the sincerity of his love
to Christ as few ministers have been able to do. None doubted, or could
doubt, the genuineness of his conversion, for he left all to follow Christ.
His piety was not only sincere, but consistent, free alike from asceticism
and from levity, from bigotry and from latitudinarianism. Faith was
probably the most prominent trait in his piety. He had a firm and un
wavering conviction of the truth of Christianity, which did not fail him

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] RICHARD FULLER. 701
in his " supreme struggle." His humility was little less conspicuous than
his faith. With greater cause for self-exaltation than any minister I have
known, he continued throughout life a plain, unostentatious preacher,
free from the jealousy and envy by which inferior minds are so often
afflicted. Prayer was the natural breathing of his pious heart. At any
time and in any place, when circumstances would permit, he would say,
" Let us pray ! " and his prayers were usually brief, tender, and ear
nest. Fuller would have attained to eminence in any art, science, or profes
sion that called for the exercise of a clear and vigorous intellect and
unwearied industry. He was an excellent writer, considering that author
ship was merely incidental to his profession. Had he devoted himself to
composition, he would have attained to distinction and enduring fame.
As it was, he reached no mean rank as a writer. His published sermons
would be an honor to any pulpit, in any age and in any country. Many
of his articles in the " Religious Herald," of which he was an associate
editor, were rich in thought, brilliant in illustration, and equally graceful
and nervous in style. His controversy with Dr. Wayland on the subject
of slavery, while he was comparatively young, was conducted with ad
mirable courtesy, and with no little skill and vigor. No careful reader
of the discussion, whatever might be his views of the questions at issue,
could doubt that the New England dialectician found in the Southern
preacher " a foeman worthy of his steel."
It was, however, as a speaker rather than as a writer that Dr. Fuller
excelled. Like him many could write, but like him few His excellence
could speak. Pie had rare gifts for platform speaking. His a3 a Pri»cher.
addresses were remarkable for their combination of argument, illustration,
pathos, humor, wit, and sarcasm, delivered with inimitable grace and
power. It was equally difficult to listen to his best strains without laugh
ter and without tears. Some of his speeches, in which he gave free
course to his wit, the sallies of his imagination, and the glowing bursts
of his eloquence, were both attractive and overwhelming. Many years
ago, he spoke at an anniversary of the American Colonization Society, in
Washington city, with Clay and Webster ; and the preacher, in the es
timation of an intelligent hearer, bore away the palm from the illustrious
statesmen. In the pulpit, not on the platform, Dr. Fuller gained his highest repu
tation. The pulpit was his throne. From the hour of his entrance on
the ministry to the close of his life, he was wholly consecrated to it.
All posts of honor and of profit deemed suitable for ministers were
open to him. Plis extensive learning, his resplendent talents, his popular
manners, and his high social position eminently fitted him to succeed as
a professor or president of a college, or as a lecturer in any department
of art, science, or philosophy, or indeed in any employment for which

702 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
knowledge, judgment, and industry were required ; but, like the late
Dr. Witt, of Virginia, he was, and he desired to be, " nothing but a
preacher." To the success of his ministry he devoted not only himself,
with all his powers and time, but his wealth also. To him no toil and
no sacrifices seemed great, if they but secured the object of his ministry,
— the salvation of sinners.
More than any other prominent minister I have known, Dr. Fuller
confined his preaching to " Christ and Him crucified." Others might
preach science, or philosophy, or moral reform, or politics, or introduce
largely into their discourses sensational topics ; but he preached Christ,
only Christ. It must not, however, be supposed that his sermons were
comprised within a narrow range. To him the theme was inexhaustible.
Before his capacious mind it spread out into a boundless field for instruc
tion and exhortation. No thirsty sinner ever went to hear him without
being led to the fountain of living waters. Whether he preached to a
refined and fastidious city audience, to a large representative assembly of
ministers and theologians, or to the illiterate negroes of the rice planta
tions of South Carolina, his subject was the same, — Christ, the only and
all-sufficient Saviour of sinners. No doubt, the power, influence, and
usefulness of his ministry were greatly increased by the transcendent
importance of the topics of his sermons.
In debate or in counsel, Fuller might have been equaled or excelled ;
but in the highest order of pulpit power, he had no peer within the range
of my observation, and that has been extended through a period of more
than half a century, and among English-speaking preachers on both sides
of the Atlantic. He had a rare combination of pulpit talents. To an
imperial presence he added a clear, sonorous, mellow, flexible, and power
ful voice, lively and tender sensibilities, a mind well disciplined and richly
stored with divine truth, a perfect command of language, and an imper
turbable self-possession. He was a born orator. That he possessed pul
pit power in an extraordinary degree none who ever heard him preach,
under favorable circumstances, will question. The proofs of this power
were seen in the crowds, of all classes and in all places, that attended his
ministry ; the delight with which they heard his words ; the deep, tender,
and persuasive impression usually made by his sermons ; the multitudes
converted, edified, and comforted by his ministrations ; and the churches
founded or built up by his labors.
I attended meetings with Fuller in the South and in the North, in the
East and in the West, in which were gathered the best talent of the de
nomination in this country, with distinguished preachers from foreign
lands, and I recollect not a single instance in which he was not, by com
mon consent, appointed to fill the most important pulpit, and at the most
important time ; and rarely did he fail to meet the excited expectation of
his crowded audience.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] RICHARD FULLER. 703'
Of all sermon-writers, ancient or modern, James Saurin, pastor of the
French church at the Hague, was one of the most profound and brilliant.
He was evidently Fuller's model, especially in his early ministry. On
hearing him frequently, one conversant with the writings of Saurin could
not fail to notice the striking resemblances between their discourses.
Fuller had closely studied the works of the French pastor, and, con
sciously or unconsciously, had imbibed his spirit and copied his style. More
than twenty years ago, I heard Fuller preach a sermon on God's Contro
versy with his People, founded on Micah vi. 2. It was a grand effort.
I was, however, haunted by the impression that it was substantially a
repetition of Saurin's sermon on the same subject. On returning to my
library, I took down his work and read the sermon. It is one of the finest
productions of his glowing intellect. It was evident that Fuller had read
the discourse, and was indebted to it, in part, for the plan of his own ; but,
while the subject was fresh in my memory, I felt convinced that the Amer
ican had excelled the French preacher. There was m the sermon of
Fuller a range of thought, a sublimity in description, a brilliancy of il
lustration, a beauty of style, and a pathos in expression to which the
masterly discourse of the pastor at the Hague — at least, as it appears in
the translation — could not lay a just claim.
Only the preaching of Jesus was faultless. Dr. Fuller, in his best
sermons, often overstepped the modesty of nature. His constant aim to
be impressive led him occasionally to be theatrical and extravagant in
manner and declamatory in style. His desire for immediate results some
times led him to neglect instruction to secure efficiency ; to deal less
with the understanding and the conscience, and more with the sympa
thies and the passions, than was demanded to secure the highest meas
ure of usefulness. Still, take him all in all, he was, within the limits
of my acquaintance, if not unrivaled, certainly not excelled, in pulpit
power. This portrait will be ended with a single remark : Few ministers can
reasonably hope to rival Dr. Fuller in gifts and reputation, but all may
Cherish his spirit, follow his example, preach the gospel that he pro
claimed, honor the Master that he served, and share in the rewards that
he sought ; and let them remember that piety is better than talents,
prayer can accomplish more than eloquence, and diligence can outstrip
genius. — J. B. J.

704 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE XXII. TIMOTHY DWIGHT.
A. D. 1752-A. D. 1817. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
Among the theologians of New England and of America during the
period which extended over the latter part of the last century and the
early part of the present one, no man was more eminent than President
Dwight, of Yale College. A grandson of Jonathan Edwards, he inher
ited great intellectual power and a tendency towards theological study
and thought. He was also naturally brought, in consequence of this re
lationship, under the influence of the philosophy and the doctrinal views
of Edwards. But, with the clearness and force of an independent mind,
he rose above mere imitation, and became a teacher who, modifying and
advancing the system of his master, brought a new inspiring influence to
those who followed him. In the progress of thought on all the great
subjects within the field of Christian truth, from the beginning of our
country's history until now, he was, in a peculiar sense, a connecting link,
binding the past and the present. He was also a grand motive power,
impelling earnest scholars to press forward in their investigations, and to
follow boldly and freely wherever the light of revelation might lead
them. The story of his life, like that of all men who find their home in a
university, is mainly a narrative of a thoughtful, earnest working for the
truth. But his great executive ability, his large-minded interest in all
that was good, his magnetic influences upon those around him, his far-
seeing outlook into the future, made him a constant energizing force in
public life ; so that scarcely any man in America has ever had a wider
fame or a more commanding personal power.
He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, May 14, 1752, where
Grandson of n's father was a prominent citizen, and where his maternal
Edwards. grandfather, Edwards, had, until within a short time, been a
pastor and religious teacher of the church. By descent he was connected
with some of the noblest families in the land, — the Hookers and Stod-
dards and Winthrops, — as well as with the two of which he was the im
mediate offspring. He was the heir of both intellectual and moral power
of a high order, and was gifted by nature with a large mind and with a
large heart. From his earliest years he exhibited extraordinary qualities.
His memory was remarkable. He is said to have learned to read before
he was four years of age. In his early boyhood he became an attentive
reader of books. Treasuring his knowledge thus gained, and being inquisi
tive, with the eagerness of a wakeful and open mind, he made rapid
progress in learning. When he was only eight he was largely prepared to
enter Yale College, and though he was too young to pursue the course at

Cent. XVII.-XIX. ] TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 705
that time, he was graduated at the early age of seventeen. Two years after
graduation he became a tutor in the college, and continued in this official
position from 1771 until 1777. At this time there were but two profess
orships in the institution, so that the instruction of the students was for
the most part in the hands of the president and three or four tutors, who
were young men. The classes were thus very dependent on these young
men, and were brought under their influence to a degree which at pres
ent can scarcely be appreciated. Mr. Dwight, from the beginning of his
work as a teacher, gained the respect and admiration of his pupils. He
stimulated their minds and awakened their enthusiasm. It is said that he
so greatly impressed the friends of the college, as well as the students,
that even from his early manhood he was regarded &s, a person em
inently qualified to be the head of the institution. While holding the of
fice of tutor, and largely occupied with his duties of instruction, he car
ried forward his own studies energetically in various lines. He read law,
with the intention of devoting himself to it as his life's work. He also
gave himself, with much earnestness, to the study of the Principia of
Newton. At the same time, with the many-sided tastes and mental apti
tudes which characterized him, he cultivated literature and poetry. As is
well known to all who are conversant with the early history of American
literature, he was one of the first poets who appeared on this side of the
ocean. Though not- a poet of a high order, or one who can be compared
with those of a later day, he accomplished something in that time of
small beginnings and of small things. He pointed the way, at least,
in the darkness of that period, towards the light in the distance, and was
as far beyond those who preceded him, perchance, as he was behind those
who followed. In a word, he had a love for everything that the mind
can enjoy, and an inspiration to impart to every pupil who came under
his influence.
On leaving the tutorship in the college he entered the army of the
Revolution as a chaplain, but by reason of the death of his father he was
constrained to resign this office in 1779, and to take up his residence in
Northampton, Massachusetts, in order that he might assist his mother in
providing and caring for her large family. Having re- T;elT6Tear8a
mained there a few years, he became pastor of the Congrega- Pastor-
tional church in Greenfield Hill, Connecticut, in 1783. In this quiet,
rural parish he continued for twelve years, working with energy for the
good of his people, and preaching the gospel with great power. His fame
immediately extended over the whole region where he lived. Strangers
from abroad were attracted to the village to listen to his sermons. Very
soon he was recognized everywhere as a leading minister. His counsel
was sought on every side, and the public mind was directed more and
more towards him as one from whom the country could hope great
things. He" was, we may say, by his very nature a teacher. He was
45

706 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
deeply interested in the young, and enjoyed nothing more than the work
of educating and training them to a high intellectual and moral life. For
this reason, as well as because of the limited support which his parish
could afford him, he established very soon after removing to Greenfield
Hill a school for young persons of both sexes. This school soon be
came quite celebrated. Pupils resorted to it from all parts of the coun
try. It was so successful and won so high a reputation that students are
said to have left Yale College for the purpose of connecting themselves
President of w'tn i'- The fee^ng became a very general one that the
Yale- presidency of the college should be offered to him as soon
as a vacancy occurred. Accordingly, when Dr. Stiles died, in 1795, the
trustees of the institution immediately elected him to the office. He ac
cepted it, and very soon removed to New Haven.
The college was at that time just closing the first century of its ex
istence. It was a very critical period in its history. The eighteenth
century was passing into the nineteenth. The new age was opening new
thought, new studies, new opportunities. A man of great force and en
ergy and wisdom, a man who could foresee the demands of the coming
years and could devise and carry out plans to meet them, was called for.
If ever the right man appeared at the right moment, it was in this case.
The unanimous testimony of all who were associated with him in the
instruction and government of the college is that he was the originator
of its prosperity and growth during the last eighty years. Immediately
on assuming his office he became an energizing influence in every line of
needed action. He inspired all his colleagues and helpers with his own
large ideas and unquenchable enthusiasm. No branch of study seemed un
important to his mind. No new science begau to open itself but he in
stantly turned his thoughts to the providing of means for its cultivation in
the institution. With a wonderful insight into character, he selected young
men of especial fitness for the new chairs of instruction. These young
assistants not only became earnest cooperators with him in the carry
ing out of his plans, but, being in his society constantly, were infused
with his ideas, and borne on in their individual working by his sympathy
and friendship. He had so wide-extended knowledge and such a true esti
mate of every department of learning that all could turn to him for
counsel and aid. The value of such a man to an institution at such a
point in its history cannot be too highly appreciated.
His official life as president of the college continued for twenty-two
years', from 1795 to 1817. ¦ Before the close of this period the college
had more than doubled its number of students. It had established pro
fessorships in the leading branches of study. It had enlarged its organ
ization so as to prepare for and include schools of professional instruction
in medicine, law, and theology. Of these schools, one had begun a flour
ishing existence, another had been unfolded in its germ within the col-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 707
lege curriculum, and the means had been secured for the beginning of
the third within a few more years. The college, which for a hundred
years before had been little more than an academy of a high order, had
begun to develop itself towards a university. The plans were all pre
pared, the possibilities all well considered, the growth was actually com
menced, the future made secure, before his work was finished. The
period of his presidency was a creative period. When it came to its
close such results had been accomplished that his successors had only to
go forward in the line of his own action, in order to reach all the grander
achievements of the present day. He determined who his successors
should be in the time immediately following his own by imparting his
thoughts and the energy of his soul to his associates. They grew up
around him with a love and reverence, a devotion to him as a teacher,
and a belief in his wisdom, such as have rarely been surpassed. They
knew that he moved in the right course, because they saw how steadily
and safely the institution advanced from year to year. They felt, when
they had themselves passed into later life, and he was no more among
them, that the same course was the wisest and best. His influence thus
remained, though his presence was gone. It passed down from those who
succeeded him to those who succeeded them, and has not ceased, even to
this day, to be a power exerting itself in the traditions and character
and spirit of the university. New men have arisen, but the old life and
the old impulse, in their measure, still linger. Every great institution has
its peculiar character, — the genius of the place, as we may say, — which
remains the same from generation to generation. This peculiar character
which marks Yale College is due to President Dwight in a greater degree,
probably, than to any other man who has been connected with it during
its whole history.
When Dr. Dwight became president of the college, the influence of
French infidelity was very powerful. The young men of .
the country turned aside from the Christian faith, and even pionship of the
arrayed themselves in opposition to it. In the college there
were scarcely any professing Christians. It is said that at one time
there was only a single member of the church among the students. The
condition seemed almost a hopeless one, and the prospects were very dis
heartening. But the president entered into the conflict with skepticism
with his characteristic energy and ardor. With powerful sermons in the
college pulpit, and with earnest and convincing arguments in the lect
ure-room, he pressed upon his pupils the claims of the religion of Christ.
He stood forth in the institution as a defender of the faith, victorious in
his assaults upon the enemy, and, by the force of his reasoning and the
nobleness of his character, he led those who listened to his teaching to a
firm belief in the gospel. The whole college was revolutionized in this
regard. Revivals of great power were experienced. The church was

708 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
filled with earnest Christians. The moral influence of the place was
made to bear upon all who came to it. The reign of infidelity was ended,
and the students were settled upon firm foundations. Perhaps no more
striking or happier change has been accomplished by a single man within
the last one hundred years than was here seen.
But not only as a defender of the faith did Dr. Dwight affect the relig
ious character of his pupils. He was a preacher of unusual ability. He
commended the claims of the divine law to the minds and consciences of
the young men. By his eloquence, his profound thought, his tender
sympathy, his manifest sense of the invisible things, his elevated views
of duty and of life, his concentration of all his faculties in devotion to
Christ, he had, as he spoke from the pulpit, an overmastering power.
The impression produced by his preaching on the Sabbath was deepened
as he met the students in his daily exercises with them. In the rec
itation-room he unfolded before them and urged upon them the great
truths of life, and in his private intercourse he was always, like a faith
ful friend and father, pointing them upward to higher things. Gifted
with extraordinary powers as an extemporaneous speaker and as a con
versationist, he was able to carry the influence of his public efforts as a
minister of the gospel and a professor of theology into the hours and
work of every day, and thus to give continually an impulse and stimulus
to the whole student community towards the service of God.
He discharged during the whole term of his presidency the duties of
the college preacher. In this way he was enabled to set before the suc-
Dwight's " The- cessiye classes the system of theological truth which is em-
oiogy." bodied in his " Theology," a work of four volumes, which
was published soon after his death. This work has had great influence
both in Great Britain and in our own country. It presents, in the form
of sermons, elaborate discussions of the various doctrines of the Chris
tian system. With great clearness, calmness, and moderation, with noth
ing of the wild vehemence of a too ardent advocate, yet with great rhe
torical force and with all the qualities of the best discourses of the age,
these sermons set before the reader, as they did before the hearers when
they were originally delivered, a very full and admirable statement of the
truth. It is a matter of no surprise to us when we learn that they have
been made a text-book in theological science in England and Scotland,
and that the clergymen of the non-conforming churches, who are now in
middle life or beyond it, have very generally known and studied their
pages in the days of their preparatory education. These volumes will
mark an era in theological thought in American history. They will be
treasured in libraries after they have passed beyond the notice of the
general reader, and will be a guide to the investigator as he attempts to
gain a knowledge of the opinions of the age that gave them birth.
In his sermons and his religious teaching, however, Dr. Dwight aimed

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 709
especially at practical results. He felt that his work, in the position
which he was called to occupy, was that of an educator of young men.
But education, he thought, could reach its highest development and real
ize its noblest end only when it should bring to the mind the knowledge
of spiritual truth. He accordingly consecrated his energies and his ef
forts to the securing for all who came under his teaching such an educa
tion. He was not, therefore, a mere speculative philosopher ; nor was
he a man who could dwell alone in the abstractions of theological sci
ence. Whatever depth and profoundness of thought characterized him,
be brought everything to bear upon the elevation of the minds of others
and the purification of their hearts. Though he was an influential theo
logian, and as such carried forward theological knowledge to new stages of
advancement, he did not, for the reason mentioned, take such a position
among religious thinkers and philosophers as President Edwards did.
That eminent man was, in the truest and highest sense, an originator
and a discoverer. His was one of the great creative minds of the world.
The genius of President Dwight was of a different order. He had the
clearest apprehension of truth ; admirable powers of statement ; a free
spirit of inquiry, which bore him onward to new views ; an open, honest,
courageous soul, which waited for further revelations, and believed that
more light was to come from God. He was therefore qualified in a re
markable degree to present the truth, as he had learned it from those
who preceded him, in the best form ; to add to it, as imperfectly appre
hended in former days, the greater symmetry and fullness which his own
thought and studies discovered to him ; and to guide his followers in the
way which should lead them not only beyond the earlier teachers, but
even beyond himself. In this field, as in others, he was a heroic leader,
taking all the good which was handed down to him, and pressing on with
it to all the good which the future held in its own possession. He was a
leader who impressed all about him with his ability, his sincerity, his
heroism, and his love of truth, and thus a leader whom younger men
were glad to follow. He gained the universal respect of his contempo
raries, the universal reverence of his pupils. He made, as far as was
possible, every man who was brought under his influence a thinker. By
his example he rebuked narrowness and intolerance. By his precepts
he urged men to follow the truth, whithersoever it might lead them. By
the magnetism of his personal presence and his spoken words he incited
them to be fearless, large-minded, confident, believing theologians. Pie
accordingly affected the theological thinking of the country in as great a
degree as any one except President Edwards himself, and must be reck
oned among those who have accomplished great results in this divine
science. Indeed, it was due to him especially that the theology of Ed
wards, as distinguished from the old Calvinism of the early days of New
England, became established as the commonly accepted system. He had

710 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the remarkable power of taking the great thoughts of a man like Edn
wards, of holding them freely and intelligently in his own mind, without
being bound in fetters by them ; of rejecting all injurious additions and
outgrowths connected with them by the speculations of others, and de
veloping them healthfully for himself; and of leading the best minds to
accept them as thus held, and to make them the basis of their own opin
ions. It was in this way that he became, in a sense, the originator of
theological thought as it has unfolded itself in New England since his
death. As a man, Dr. Dwight was tall of stature, commanding in person, with
a countenance evincing both strong intellect and benevolent character.
He was interested in all things which interested other minds. He knew
His personal much of a vast number of subjects, and thus was fitted to
gifts- meet men of every class within their own fields of thought
or of business. His gift of eloquent discourse was even more strikingly
manifest as seen in conversation, according to the testimony of very
many who knew him, than it was in his public efforts. In social life,
therefore, he was admired greatly. He was full of kindness, ready al
ways to help others, abounding in sympathy and charity. Like all men
of his order, he held his opinions strongly, and was positive in his expres
sion of them. But he had a generous spirit, and showed hospitality to
new ideas. In his Christian character he was humble, earnest, loving,
devoted. He trusted wholly to Christ, and preached Him as the power
of God unto salvation.
In a brief story like the present, no complete view of the man and
no complete narrative of his career can be given. It is only possible to
set forth his character and work in some aspects, and let this imperfect
representation speak to the reader of what he did. The great monu
ment commemorating his life of mental and moral activity is Yale Col
lege. He was its second founder, as it were, to whom is due its origin
as a university. The extent of his influence can be measured only when
all the good can be computed which has been accomplished by his pupils
in every sphere of life, all of whom — however widely they differed in
other respects — were united in ascribing to him a wonderful influence
on their minds and hearts. The results for theology which came from
him were the admirable presentation of Christian doctrine in his pub
lished volumes, and the inspiration to honest study of the truth and to
freedom in Christian thought which he gave to his contemporaries and
successors. The best testimony to his worth and nobleness and power
as a man is found in the love of those who knew him personally and are
still in life, and in the honorable reputation in which his name is held
wherever the English language is spoken, or the hymns of the church
are sung. — T. D.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] LYMAN BEECHER. 711
LIFE XXIII. LYMAN BEECHER.
A. D. 1775-A. D. 1863. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
Few men have exerted a wider and more powerful influence upon
their country and times than Lyman Beecher. The eighty-eight years
of his life cover a period in which some of the most important move
ments, moral, theological, and political, were in progress in America, and
in all these he was intensely interested and widely efficient.
Like that of many of the strong men of New England, his early
youth was spent upon a farm, and he was inured to daily labor, and bred
up in all the economies and frugalities of a Connecticut farmer's life.
But the uncle who adopted him soon perceived the workings of a mind
and spirit which needed a larger sphere, and of his own accord offered to
him the opportunity of a college education.
In the year 1793 he left the village of North Guilford and entered
Yale College, at New Haven. At that early period the advantages of
this institution, as respects library and apparatus, were inferior to those
of many high schools and country academies in these days. But in his
Sophomore year the college was reinforced by the accession of Dr.
Dwight to the presidency, and from that time Mr. Beecher's whole mind,
character, and education came under the formative influence of this dis
tinguished man. When Dr. Dwight took the college, its condition was
one of great demoralization. The college church was almost extinct.
Most of the students were skeptics. Wine and liquors were kept in many
rooms, and intemperance, gambling, and licentiousness were common.
In the class before Beecher, the leading students were professed infidels,
calling each other Voltaire, Rousseau, D'Alembert, and glorying in the
writings of the encyclopedists. In the pride of their new-found philos
ophies, these young disciples boasted that the faculty would never dare
to meet them in free discussion. Quite to their surprise, however, when
they handed to Dr. Dwight their subjects for class disputation, he selected
this, " Is the Bible the Word of God ? " and told them to do their best.
He heard all they had to say, and answered them, preaching a course of
lectures every Sunday morning for six months ; and by the end of that
time the whole public sentiment of the college was changed and purified.
In his Junior year young Beecher became the subject of a deep personal
religious experience, in which, for a long time, he struggled alone and
unaided with all the mysterious problems of theology. As light gradu
ally dawned on his mind, he embraced the Christian ministry as his ap
pointed vocation, with a humility, a single-heartedness, and a sincerity
somewhat in contrast to the ambitious views with which some modern
young men enter this field.

712 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
He feared that he might not get a settlement, and accepted thankfully
a call to the quiet village of East Hampton, on the southeast extremity
of Long Island. A place mor-e humble, obscure, and out of the great
world could scarcely be found : there was not a store in the town ; it
was seven miles from a post-office ; and the main street of the village
showed strips of green turf in the middle of the road, marking the rarity
of travel,
Mr. Beecher, however, threw himself into his work in this place with
as much zeal and energy as if it were the only place to be thought of
upon earth. A letter from his wife, shortly after their settlement, gives
the following picture of his labors : —
" Mr. Beecher has preached seven or eight times a week all winter.
Last week, for example, he preached twice in town and gave two lect
ures, besides a funeral sermon on Gardiner's Island and five sermons to
the Indians and whites down on Montauk Point. He lectures every
week at some of the adjoining villages, Wainscott, four miles, Amaghan-
sett, three miles, Northwest, seven miles, The Springs, seven, and an
other place with ar. ugly Indian name. Some week; he lectures at two
or three of these places, and when not at these places, has held meetings
afternoons and evenings, and sometimes forenoons."
In the central village of East Hampton, the prevalent spirit of skep
ticism had found a foothold. There was in the place an infidel club,
not large in point of numbers, but composed of men of talent, education,
and indefatigable zeal. Two of the teachers employed in the village
academy had proved to be skeptics, and their influence had done great
evil. When Mr. Beecher came upon the stage, he says, " I did not at
tack infidelity directly, not at all ; I preached right to the conscience.
Every sermon with my eye on the gun to hit somebody. Went through
the doctrines, showed what they did n't mean, what they did, knocked
away objections, and drove home on the conscience." This sentence gives
an idea of what was the peculiarity of Dr. Beecher's preaching through
life. It was individual, the result of close observation of the personal
character and needs of his bearers. He cultivated the society, the inti
macy, and the friendship of those of the most adverse views. His people
were amazed to hear of him as dining with a deist and going out hunting
with another deist ; but while mingling as a man among men, he was
always studying character and watching his opportunities, if by any means
he might save some. Those most opposed to the doctrines he repre
sented were often warmly attached to the man. In time his ardent zeal
and burning energy woke up the still and quiet community about him,
and a powerful religious awakening was the result, in which many con
verts were added to the church.
His expenditure of vital energy began to tell upon his strength. He
was seized with an illness followed by a long period of ill-health ; he

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 713
was laid up, unable to preach, for nine months. After a while, by vigorous
out-of-door exercise, he recovered his strength and resumed his labors.
During this time, he prepared for the press his first published sermon,
" On Dueling," a sermon called forth by the celebrated and fatal duel
between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. It was first preached
before presbytery at Aquebougue, and at their request prepared for pub
lication. A stray copy of this sermon by a nameless young minister found
its way to New York, where an effort was being made in the ministry
to get up an association against dueling, and the sermon was shown to
the great Dr. Mason, who then stood at the head of the Presbyterian
Church. Dr. Mason reviewed the sermon with approbation, drew up a
constitution, and publicly recommended the object. At the next synod,
at Newark, Mr. Beecher brought up the resolution of forming an anti-
dueling society, but in the mean time certain politicians had raised an op
posing party. For „he first time, young Mr. Beecher poured out his
whole soul in t;lUt powerful, vigorous, and condensed style of impas-
sicned oratory which marked his after life, bearing down opposition and
carrying all before it. The opposition was overruled, and the resolu
tion carried. The synod started forthwith a series of efforts that perma
nently affected the whole Northern mind. When Plenry Clay was up as
candidate for the presidency in after years, forty thousand copies of
this sermon were printed and distributed as a campaign document ; it
never ceased to be a power in the politics of the country. In 1808 he
preached before the synod, at Newark, his sermon on the text, " Thy will
be done," which was by request printed, and attracted great attention in
the theological world. The title of the sermon was " The Government of
God Desirable." It was a statement and a vindication of the principles
of the divine administration in this and all worlds, its whole tone inspir
ing, cheerful, and triumphant, like the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the
Romans. Dr. Bacon, of New Haven, says of this sermon, that " it is well
worthy to be ranked with the greatest discourses of the elder Edwards,
which it resembles in its solid massiveness of thought and terrible ear
nestness, while it excels them in a certain power of condensed expres
sion, which often makes a sentence strike like a thunderbolt."
A mind of such energy and vigor could not long be allowed to rest in
an obscure situation, and in a few years Mr. Beecher accepted an invita
tion to the town of Litchfield in Connecticut. Litchfield was a rural
town, in a hilly, picturesque region, a county seat, and a place of great
importance and influence. It united more intelligence, culture, and edu
cation than could be found in any other town in the State, excepting the
collegiate seat of New Haven. The law school, under the care of the
celebrated jurists, Judge Tappan Reeve and Judge Gould, drew to the
place young men of the finest minds from every State of the Union.
The female academy, under Mr. I. P. Brae and Miss Pierce, attracted

714 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
an equal number of young ladies from all parts of the country. The
governor of the state for some years resided there. Colonel Talmage,
the friend and associate of General Washington, was a leading member
of the church, and a number of distinguished lawyers and civilians of
wealth and family made Litchfield their residence. Besides these, there
was an extensive outlying, rural population of farmers, who from a cir
cuit of seven or eight miles round came in their farm-wagons every
Sunday to attend church.
But with this variety of education and position, there was never any
occasion given to feel that the sympathies of the new pastor were more
with the rich and the cultured than with the rural and laboring portion
of his flock. Brought up as a farmer's boy, he always retained in his
heart the sympathies of that wholesome life ; his illustrations and images
were largely drawn from it, and in every farm-house he was felt by its
inmates to be as one of themselves.
As before, in his little parish at East Hampton, he preached three times
every Sunday, and four times in the week, in the school-houses lying north,
south, east, and west of the town hill.1
i Here it may be in point to give a brief view of that system of doctrine which he
preached. We extract a summary from a sermon published during his Litchfield pastor
ate, entitled, The Faith once Delivered to the Saints.
" The faith once delivered to the saints includes in it, among other doctrines, the fol
lowing : —
" 1. That men are free agents, possessing such faculties, and placed in such circum
stances as render it practicable for them to do whatever God requires, making it reason
able that He should require it, and fit that He should inflict literally the entire penalty
of disobedience.
" 2. That the divine law requires supreme love to God and impartial love for men, to
gether with certain overt duties by which this love is expressed, and that this law is sup
ported by the sanctions of eternal life or death.
" 3. That the ancestors of our race violated this law, and that as a consequence of their
apostasy, all men as soon as they become capable of accountable action do, of their own
accord, 'most freely and most wickedly withhold from God the supreme love, and from
man the impartial love, which the law requires, besides violating many of its practical
precepts. "4. That according to the principles of moral government, obedience, either antecedent
or subsequent to transgression, cannot avert the penalty of law ; and that pardon, on con
dition of repentance merely, would destroy the efficiency of moral government.
" 5. That an atonement for sin has been made by Jesus Christ, with reference to which
God can maintain his law, and forgive sin upon condition of repentance towards God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that all men are sino.rely invited to return to God with
an assurance of pardon and eternal life if they comply.
"6. That compliance with these conditions is practicable in the regular exercise of those
powers and faculties given to man as an accountable creature, and is prevented only by the
exercise of a voluntary criminal aversion to God, so inflexible that by motives merely men
are never persuaded to repent and believe.
" 7. That God is able by his Spirit to make such application of truth to the mind of man
as shall unfailingly convince of sin, and render him joyfully obedient to the gospel.
"8. That this special influence of the Holy Spirit is given according to the supreme dis
cretion or good pleasure of God, and yet ordinarily is so associated with the use of the means
of grace, as to create ample encouragement to attend upon them, and to render all hopes
of conversion while neglecting or rejecting the truth, or while living in open sin, presump
tuous. "9. That believers are justified through the merits of Christ, received into covenant with
God, which insures their continuance in holiness forever; while those who die in their sins
will continue to sin willfully and be punished justly forever.
"10. That God exercises a providential government which extends to all events in such
a manner as to lay a just foundation for resignation to his will in afflictions brought upon

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 715
The preaching of Dr. Beecher was never abstractly metaphysical or
dry doctrinal statement. The doctrinal statement was only a foundation
on which he based a strong personal urgent plea with the hearers to do
something immediately, and with all their might. Nothing was reckoned
success by him that did not result in the conversion of souls to God, —
the radical change of heart and life.
The New England mind in his day was thoroughly possessed and
leavened by Calvinistic metaphysical theology. Often the absolute su
premacy of the Divine Being was asserted in forms which practically
nullified human ability, and left the impression that man was subject to
the commands of a hard master, who required what he had received no
ability to perform. Dr. Beecher asserted that perfect free agency was
the only proper foundation of just government. His children still re
member that he would never permit them to commit to memory the an
swer of the Assembly's Catechism which says, " No mere man since the
fall is able perfectly to keep the commandments of God." This dec
laration he altered into the statement, " No man since the fall is will
ing to keep the commandments of God." This style of preaching and
appeal was of a kind fitted to produce results, and consequently the
active years of Dr. Beecher's labors in Litchfield were largely taken up
in revival labors in that and the neighboring towns, in gathering in con
verts, and building up churches. One of the family letters in the earlier
part of his ministry speaks of a " continual revival " as going on in
Litchfield. Besides this, Dr. Beecher's attention was early called to the subject
of public reform. When he went to Litchfield intemperance prevailed
through society to a fearful extent. The habit of drinking spirituous
liquors pervaded all ranks of society, and was countenanced by the ex
ample of ministers, at whose stated ecclesiastical meetings the brandy
bottle and the tobacco pipe held a prominent situation. Here and there
in all ranks of society might be counted hapless victims lost to themselves
and their friends, through the curse of intemperance. In the year 1812
Dr. Beecher moved in the general association that a committee be ap
pointed to report on the ways of arresting the tide of intemperance. As
chairman of that committee, Dr. Beecher presented a report recommend
ing the following measures : —
us by the wickedness of men, and for gratitude in the reception of good in all the various
modes of human instrumentality ; that all events shall illustrate his glory, and be made
subservient to the good of his kingdom ; and that this government is -administered by a pur
pose or plan known and approved of by Him from the beginning.
"Finally, that the God of the universe has revealed Himself as existing in three persons,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, possessing distinct and equal attributes, and in
some unrevealed manner so united as to constitute one God."
This short statement contains the sum of that system of doctrines on which Dr. Lyman
Beecher founded his ministry, and upon which he grounded his pungent appeals to men
to repent and turn to God at once. Full ability to accept the gospel as offered, and obliga
tion to accept immediately, — those were the salient points of his ministry.

716 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
1. That all ministers in the Association should preach upon the sub
ject". 2. That the District Associations should abstain from the use of ardent
spirits at ecclesiastical meetings.
3. That members of churches abstain from the unlawful vending or
purchase and use of ardent spirits, exercise vigilant discipline, and Cease
to consider the production of ardent spirits a part of hospitable enter
tainment. 4. That parents cease from use of ardent spirits in the family, and warn
their children of the danger.
5. That farmers, manufacturers, and mechanics substitute palatable and
nutritious drinks, and give if needful additional compensation to those in
their employ.
6. To circulate documents on the subject among the people.
7. To form voluntary associations to aid the civil magistrates in the
execution of the laws.
In one year, by the vigorous prosecution of these measures, the tem
perance reformation was aroused in full force in New England. In
1813 the Massachusetts Temperance Society was founded, and since then
by correspondence, preaching, lecturing, and organization, the work has
been kept up in America, and its example spread to England, Scotland,
and the Continent. Dr. Beecher's six sermons on the nature, causes, and
cure for intemperance were the offspring of a great personal anxiety and
affliction for two noble and much beloved men in his parish who had
fallen under the dominion of this fatal tyrant. They produced an im
mense impression at the time, and have been among the most efficient,
permanent documents of the temperance reform in both this country and
Europe. They have been translated into many foreign languages, even
into that of the Hottentots, carrying with them the burning energy which
first gave them birth.
The remedy for intemperance, as proposed by Dr. Beecher in that
early period, was that which in later days originated and gave efficiency
to the Maine law : It is the banishment of ardent spirits from the list
of lawful articles of commerce by a correct and efficient public sentiment,
such as has turned slavery out of half the land, and will yet expel it
from the world."
In this same year, 1812, also, Dr. Beecher attended the first meeting of
the American Board of Foreign Missions, and returning full of zeal
called together several laymen and clergymen from various parts of the
county, who organized the Litchfield County Missionary Society, the
first auxiliary of the American Board. The missionary enthusiasm thus
awakened had a decided effect in enlarging and strengthening the piety
of the New England mind. It widened the field of vision, enlarged sym
pathies and charities, and taught noble lessons of self-sacrifice and self-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 717
devotion. The first missionaries to foreign lands bore with them the heart
of the American churches, aud an influence constantly came back from
those mission fields to enrich the piety of those who sent laborers thither.
The general state of the country in the years immediately following
the war of 1812 was such as to create in Dr. Beecher's mind grave anx
ieties.' Political parties were intensely bitter ; the experiment of a free
representative republic was yet a new and untried one ; the war brought,
as wars always do, some demoralization and disturbance, and the old set
tled foundations of New England morality were threatened- on all hands.
The Congregational ministers of New England, however, were a very
able and united body, fully aware of the dangers of the times and prompt
to meet every exigency. As yet, the Congregational Church was the
form of religion supported by law. Every property-holder was by law
taxed for its support. But French infidelity, which at this time breathed
a poisonous atmosphere across the Atlantic, began to excite in the popu
lar mind a secret uneasiness and resistance which made itself felt in
society. Dr. Beecher, with the instinct of a sagacious foresight, per
ceived an impending change in the institutions of New England, and
exerted all his influence in preparing for it. He published a sermon on
the " Building of Waste Places," of which he says in his biography, " The
churches did not understand all I meant by the sermon. I foresaw what
was coming. I saw the enemy digging at the foundations of the standing
order. I went to work with deliberate calculation to defend it, and to
prepare the churches, if it fell, to take care of themselves."
The sermon on the " Building of Waste Places " resulted in forming a
domestic missionary society, for the work of home evangelization ; churches
were thus built up everywhere through the State.
In due time, however, the standing order fell ; the years in which this
change was working in society were years of great anxiety and activity
to Dr. Beecher and the Congregational ministers of Connecticut. By a
union of all the minor sects with the democratic party, a complete sepa
ration of church and state was finally attained. All laws protecting relig
ious institutions, or securing the support of the ministry, were repealed,
and the whole field was flung open to the free guidance of moral in
fluence. Of this time Dr. Beecher says in his biography : —
" It was as dark a day as ever I saw. The odium thrown on the min
istry was inconceivable. The injury done to the cause of Christ was, as
we then supposed, irreparable. For several days I suffered what no
tongue can tell for the best thing that ever happened to the State of
Connecticut. It cut the churches loose from their dependence on state
support ; it threw them wholly on their own resources and upon God.
They say ministers have lost their influence ; the fact is they have gained.
By voluntary efforts, societies, missions, and revivals, they exert a deeper
influence than they could by cocked hats and gold-headed canes."

718 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In a letter written at the close of the struggle, he says, " On the whole
I have concluded to give up the ship, not to enemies who have deter
mined to take it, but to Christ, who, I doubt not, will save it."
In the very midst of the darkest part of the struggle, Dr. Beecher was
called to encounter the heaviest possible affliction, in the death of a wife
who had hitherto been to him a guide, a reliance, and an inspiration.
She was one of those rare human beings who seemed always to live in
the love and living presence of God, and who saw all things in the light
of heaven ; never disturbed, discouraged, or dismayed ; her last words,
even in the shadow of death, were words of triumphant faith and cheer
ful hope. Her departure was a terrible blow, yet hers was one of those
natures whose influence never dies, and to the latest hour of his life, her
spiritual presence was ever with her husband.
Gradually, through faith and prayer and the habit of constant activity,
cheerfulness and hope returned, and Dr. Beecher formed a second con
nection, which secured to his large family the cares of a faithful, affection
ate mother. His influence, widely extended through New England, caused
him to be heard of as a power in Boston. He was first invited there to
labor in a revival, and this in due time was followed by an invitation to
take the charge of the Hanover Street Church, a new enterprise in the
north part of the city. He removed to Boston in the spring of 1826.
At the time Dr. Beecher commenced his ministry in Boston Unitarian-
ism was dominant not only in the city but in the State. Harvard Col
lege was under that influence, and it was familiarly stated that all the
elite of intellect, of family, rank, and fashion, were of that way of think
ing. The church that Dr. Beecher took was in an unfashionable part
of the city, and numbered only thirty-seven members. In his reminis
cences of this period he says, " I made no attack on Unitarians. I car
ried the state of warm revival feeling I had had in Litchfield for years.
I knew nobody there. I took those subjects that were unquestioned, but
solemn, to make them tell on the conscience. I began with prudence, be
cause a minister, however well known at home, however wise and suc
cessful, has to make himself a character anew, and find out what material
is around him ; people came to hear ; there was a great deal of talk about
me, great curiosity. They would hear and then run me down, and declare
they would never go again ; but they did go, and many who came to scoff
remained to pray."
It was Dr. Beecher's custom to follow his public appeals by immedi
ate private labors with such as they affected. Soon the number of these
was so great that a specific meeting for those who wished personal re
ligious instruction was appointed. The first week fifteen came, and
twenty the second ; but the fourth time there were three hundred, and
for many months the weekly inquiry meeting numbered four or five hun
dred. Dr. Beecher has left a record of how he conducted these meetings.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 719
'' It was singular to see the changes of language and manner as I
passed from one class to another. A large portion would reveal their state
easily, and need only plain instructien. Another class would have diffi
culties ; could not see, realize, or feel anything ; did not know how to
begin. To such a careful course of instruction was given. Another
would plead inability, could not do anything. Many of these said
their ministers told them so. Now I rose into the field of metaphysics,
and began to form my language for purposes of discrimination. Next
came the infidel and skeptical class, whom I received with courtesy and
kindness ; but after a few suggestions calculated to conciliate, I told
them that the subject was one that could not be discussed among so
many, but that I should be happy to see them at my house, and in that
way I succeeded many times. While I was in the inquiry room the
church held a prayer-meeting in a room near by, and as conversions hap
pened every night, — ten, twenty, or thirty, — I went in and reported to
them. That was blessed. They waited in hope and prayer, and I went
in to carry the good tidings.''
At the first season appointed for the reception of members seventy
new converts united with the church, more than doubling its numbers.
From this time for four years, a constant revival extended not only
over Boston but through the State. Churches were built up, and con
verts gathered, and religious topics became the leading subjects of inter
est and thought through the community.
Dr. Beecher's pastorate in Boston was extended only through six
years, being the shortest of his life ; but it was the most active, powerful,
and efficient. Besides the constant revival in his own church, bringing
incessant personal labor with individual seekers after religion, there was
the " care of all the churches," in the sympathy and zeal with which he
took into his heart the fortunes, successes, and trials of all the other
churches of the State.
It was a time of intense excitement. The decision given by the su
preme court of Massachusetts in the Groton case had spread dismay
among them. In this case a society worshiping in the church had out
voted the communicants, and taken possession of the church funds and
building and the communion service. The church appealed to law, and
a decision was rendered in the supreme court of the State that " the
church, as the body of communicants were called, had no existence in
law, and that the church property and funds belonged to the society who
habitually worshiped in the building." This opened a wide door by
which any number of persons, of all characters and views, by taking
pews in a church might control its property and settle whatever minister
they chose. As a consequence the orthodox churches in several places
were dispossessed of their property, and obliged to take the burden o'
building new churches.

720 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
The so-called liberal party, which held it as a prime tenet, " that it was
no matter what a man believed if he only were honest," nevertheless, in
the stress of religious controversy, showed themselves as capable of in
tolerance as the most orthodox, and instances were not unknown where
families were divided, and the member who had united with an orthodox
church was cast out of the home circle. In this white heat of contro
versy all sorts of opprobrium rained down upon the orthodox. Their
doctrines were caricatured, their conduct slandered. Dr. Beecher himself
came in for a large share of this abuse, which he accepted with the most
vigorous cheerfulness. He says of this time, " I cared no more for it
than for the wind. I knew where I was and what I was doing, and that
I was right. I used to think sometimes, as I walked the streets, If you
could know anything vile about me, you would scream for joy ; but you
don't. All sorts of vile letters were written to me by abandoned people,
but all this malignity did us no harm." About this time, a caricature of
Dr. Beecher was exhibited in the shop-windows of Boston, representing
him with two faces on one head : dn one side black and with a fierce and
threatening scowl, grasping thunderbolts and forked lightnings, while on
the other side he exhibited a meek, fair face, and held out in his hand
an olive branch. When Dr. Beecher preached his six sermons on intem
perance preparatory to a series of temperance efforts among the churches
of the State, the indignation of all the makers, venders, and drinkers of
ardent spirits was arrayed against him.
As an indication of popular feeling at this time, it is remembered that
when Hanover Street Church was destroyed by fire, the firemen sat on
their engines around the blazing ruins and sung a parody of a well-
known hymn — " While Beecher's house holds out to burn
The vilest sinner may return."
Besides Dr. Beecher's constant preaching, three times every Sunday
and several evenings every week, he wrote and published various ser
mons, essays, and reviews in the " Spirit of the Pilgrims," which cost him
much research, study, and care. He attacked the decision in the Groton
case, and exhibited its inconsistency with the spirit and history of Massa
chusetts law from the founding of the State. Subsequent judges have
so modified this decision that churches are no longer exposed to this
form of intolerance.
Dr. Beecher also preached a series of sermons exposing the designs of
.the Roman Catholic Church in taking possession of America, and rous
ing the churches to contrary efforts. In addition to all the other excite
ment about him, these sermons roused the wrath of the Irish population,
and threats of violence were freely showered upon him, without in the
least disturbing his equanimity.
The last one or two years of his Boston pastorate, there gathered in

Cent. XVII.-XIX] LYMAN BEECHER. 721
the moral firmament signs of an approaching controversy, which was
subsequently to divide the orthodox ranks. Dr. Beecher saw the first in
dications, feared and deplored them, spent much time, and wrote many
letters to avert such an evil.
It will be seen from the whole history of Dr. Beecher's ministry, that
the bent of his mind was more for practical efficiency than for dogmatic
construction. To persuade men to become Christians and lead the Chris
tian life was his one object, and he valued doctrines only as means to
that end. With a mind strictly logical and keenly perceptive, he no
sooner came to apply the received doctrines of Calvinism to individual
cases, than his modes of presentation and statement varied often from
the formulas of old standards. The views wrought out by an attempt
to apply the teachings of the gospel to living souls were soon felt to be
different from the technical and metaphysical statements which had been
spun into systems by theologians in their closets.
His intimate friend and fellow-laborer, Dr. Taylor, now stood at the
head of a new school of theology in New Haven, Connecticut, which
was exciting great sensation in the theological world, and before long
Dr. Beecher began to find himself an object of suspicion and solicitude
among brethren who had hitherto only admired and approved.
The whole basis of religious thought and controversy has now so
shifted its ground, that it is difficult for the modern student to appreciate
the intensity of feeling which, for some years, convulsed all the theolog
ical mind of the United States, concerning the doctrines of man's free-
agency and ability and God's sovereignty.
On the one side, men of action, who worked for results, contended thafc
man was absolutely free, and able at all points to fulfill all the require
ments, of both law and gospel ; and on the other side, the metaphysi
cians asserted that these views destroyed the divine sovereignty. The
men who worked for results exhorted people to study the Bible, pray,
attend the ministry of the Word, with good hope of thereby attaining
to Christian life ; while the opposite party mustered in alarm all the old
statements of confessions of faith, which one and all are similar in spirit
to this of the Protestant Episcopal Church : " Works done before the
grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to
God, forasmuch as they spring not from faith in Christ, nor do they
make men meet to receive grace, yea, rather, forasmuch as they are not
done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not
but they have the nature of sin."
The theological mind of America was at issue on these points, one
part insisting on man's absolute inability to good and dependence on the
Spirit of God, and the other side insisting that God never commanded
man to do what he was not fully able to perform. Princeton taught the
extreme form of the old conservative side, and New Haven the extreme
46

722 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
of the advanced New England theology, while Andover held a middle
ground between the two. Meanwhile a design had arisen in the hearts
of some Christian men to establish, at Cincinnati, a theological seminary
for supplying ministers to the Western States, and they made overtures
to Dr. Beecher, as the man of all others to conduct this enterprise.
Speaking of this time, he says, " There was not a place on earth but
that that I would have opened my ears to for a moment. But I had felt
and thought and labored a great deal about raising up ministers, and the
thought that I might be called to teach the young ministry of the broad
West flashed through my mind like lightning. I went home, ran in and
found E  alone in the sitting-room. I was in such a state of emo
tion and excitement that I could not speak, and she was alarmed. At
last I told her. It was the greatest thought that ever entered my soul ;
it filled and displaced everything else."
The state of his people, whose church had just been burned down,
and who were depending on him to assist in rebuilding and gathering to
gether in a new location, made it impossible at this time to entertain the
project. But after the church had been rebuilt, and the affairs of the so
ciety were in prosperous order, the proposal was made again. It was an
application to leave a situation where he enjoyed every worldly advan
tage. He had conquered a position in Boston. He was sure there of
an ample and generous support for his family, he was surrounded by an
admiring and loving church and congregation, associated with brethren
in the ministry whom he ardently loved, and who loved and respected
'him in return. All this he renounced for missionary work in founding a
new institution in a Western State hundreds of miles away.
Among Dr. Beecher's private papers was found a most affecting and
solemn appeal to God, written at this time, in which he poured forth all
his feelings as a child to a parent : " Thou knowest the burning desire
of my heart for the West, and the burden of my soul for the millions of
my countrymen there are not hid from Thee. To my tears Thou hast
been witness, and to my great heaviness and continual sorrow, which
cannot be uttered, for my country and for this whole, most miserable
world, — Thou Lord knowest. I do, therefore, now consecrate myself to
Thee, O Lord my Saviour and my God, in the service to which I trust
Thou hast called me, in raising up the foundations of thy kingdom at
the West. I accept in thy sight, and for thy sake and thy kingdom, the-
call to Lane Seminary, and the call to the church in Cincinnati, which
Thou hast purchased by thy blood : and I resign to Thee the church
and people whom Thou hast given me here, who are ineffably dear to me,
and this city, the scene of many conflicts, where Thou hast guided, sus
tained, and defended me ; all these churches, some of which have risen
by my instrumentality, and all those ministers whom I have loved and
who have loved and aided me, — especially those dearly beloved brethren

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 723
in the ministry, with whom I have seen 'eye to eye. Lord, at thy bid*
ding I resign them all to thy care and keeping."
It was in this spirit that he laid before the church his decision to re
move to the West.
In this address he thus states the ground of his acceptance : " The
exigencies of our country demand seminaries, expositions of doctrine,
and preachers of such zeal and activity as guarantee, by the grace of
God, the continued effusion of his Spirit. And the question whether
the leading seminary of the West shall be one which inculcates ortho
doxy, with or without revivals, is, in my view, a question of as great im
portance as was ever permitted to a single human mind to decide. If I
accept, I consider the question settled, that a revival seminary takes the
lead, so much as probably to give a complexion forever to the doctrines
and revivals in that great world."
In estimating his fitness for the work he reviews his ministerial career:
" For the first ten years preaching to a congregation of implicit believers
in the doctrines and revivals, .... but in the presence of a crafty cavil
ing infidelity, which had led away nearly the whole generation of young
men ; the greater portion of whom I left members of the church, and
nearly all of them rescued from infidelity and settled in the doctrines of
the gospel ; the next sixteen years, in a field where my predecessor had
pushed the unexplained points of hyper- Calvinism to the confines of Anti-
nomianism, throwing off some to Arminianism, and embodying others
into a band of doubting, chafed murmurers, — all of whom, during my
ministry, or since, have become convinced of the truth, and become mem
bers of the church. The last six years I have been explaining and vin
dicating the same system where, to a fearful extent, all definite belief in
the Bible and its doctrines had ceased, and where all the great elements
of moral government and all efficient sense of responsibility had passed
away, and if I may trust my own observations, and that of others, not
without marked indications of a return of public sentiment to the Bible,
its doctrines and institutions.
" The result has been, that, though I have never been immured with
books in my study, or occupied as a disputant in theological controversy,
yet my mind has been constantly exercised and disciplined in the exposi
tion for popular apprehension, and the application for saving purposes, of
the great doctrines of the Reformation; and when I look back and see
that one third of my ministry has been occupied in the labors of revivals
among my own people, I have dared to hope that in my mode of ex
plaining and applying the doctrines of the Bible I have been guided by
the Spirit, and the call now made upon me to write upon the minds and
hearts of a new generation of ministers the results of an extended ex
perience leads me to inquire whether He, who sees the end from the be
ginning, may not have been preparing me for the self-same thing by the
unusual vicissitudes of my ministry."

724 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In conclusion, Dr. Beecher alluded briefly to the threatened controver
sial division among the orthodox of New England. He expressed his
belief that the differences between the two parties had been exagger
ated ; that " though there were shades of difference among ministers, they
respected circumstantials, not fundamentals, and are not inconsistent with
revivals and the blessing of God on either side."
" And when," he added, "I see the cause of temperance, and missions,
and revivals, all moving the right way, and such dark clouds dispelled as
just now threatened over a great portion of the church, .... I cannot
believe God intends to give up the ministers of New England to the in
fatuated madness and folly of rushing into an angry controversy ; and if
they should do it, I could not perceive it to be my duty to remain and
wear out my strength and spirit in contending with good men.
" Against the enemies of the Lord I can lift up the spear with good
will, but- with the friends of the Lord Jesus Christ I cannot find it in my
heart to enter into controversy, — no, I cannot do it — I cannot do it."
Dr. Beecher's church, trained by their pastor in missionary spirit, ac
knowledged the needs and superior claims of the great West, and resigned
their beloved pastor to the work in a spirit of love and prayer.
On the 14th of November, 1832, Dr. Beecher with his family arrived in
Cincinnati. Here he assumed at the same time the position of pastor to
the Second Presbyterian Church, and president of the new theological
seminary, situated on Walnut Hills, about two miles from the city.
Here Dr. Beecher spent nineteen years, — the most trying, perplexing,
laborious, and stormy period of his life.
It would seem as if every element of discord and debate were let loose
like the winds from the cave of -ZEolus, to swoop down upon the infant
enterprise. Lane Seminary was upon the borders of a slave state, and the slav
ery controversy was even then shaking the land as with an earthquake.
The Presbyterian Church, a large proportion of whose Southern mem
bers were slaveholders, was surging and heaving with wild excitement
upon this subject, and every meeting of a general assembly was dis
tracted and almost convulsed by it ; and it was during Dr. Beecher's first
seven years of labor that the crisis came which finally rent the Presby
terian Church in twain.
The theological controversy which Dr. Beecher had dreaded, and from
which he had hoped to withdraw, burst out immediately with renewed
vigor on his arrival at the West. The new school doctrines and the old
school doctrines began to array their lines of battle through the whole
United States. The old school party formed an alliance, offensive and
defensive, with the proslavery party in the South to resist the agitating
efforts of the abolitionists. The new school body, preaching imme
diate repentance and forsaking of sin, denounced slavery as sin against

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 725
God, calling for immediate repentance, and requiring ecclesiastical dis
cipline.1 The antislavery party at this time was in two divisions : —
(1.) Those outside of all existing organizations who denounced the
Constitution of the United States as a covenant with death, and an agree
ment with hell, and the church as a den of thieves. At the head of this
party stood Garrison and the " Liberator."
(2.) Those who, like Charles Sumner in the state and Dr. Albert
Barnes in the church, deemed it their duty to remain in existing organ
izations, and endeavor to use them for the purpose of promoting eman
cipation. In this party Dr. Beecher was a leader.
Immediately on his arrival in Cincinnati he was beset on one side by
the theological attack of the " old school " party, and on the other by the
no less dangerous attacks of the radical abolitionists. Dr. Joshua Wilson,
of the First Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, brought charges of
heresy against him in the Cincinnati Presbytery, and he underwent a
public trial. He was acquitted in presbytery, and the case appealed
to synod ; acquitted in synod, it was appealed to the general assembly,
where at last Dr. Wilson was induced to withdraw his charges, and Dr.
Beecher was suffered to go clear. Thus, for a space of three years,
the controversy with good men which he deprecated was forced upon
him, and the time which he had hoped to give to revivals of religion
and the conversion of souls was consumed in writing theological state
ments and defenses.
Meanwhile slavery agitation was introduced into the youthful seminary,
by the inception of a large class of pupils of the Oneida Manual Labor
Institute, under the leadership of Theodore Weld. This class discussed
the subject of slavery for nine consecutive nights, and began immediate
labors among the free colored population of Cincinnati.
As only a river separated that city from slave territory, the reaction
was immediate. Lane Seminary was threatened with demolition, and at
that period there was the best reason in the world for believing that the
threat would be executed. In those days a mob from across the Ohio
twice destroyed the antislavery printing-press of Dr. Bailey, throwing
his types into the Ohio River. They promenaded the streets of Cincin
nati, abusing and threatening the free colored people, so that respectable
families found it difficult to save the lives of their own servants. There
was no efficient interference of city authorities ; no retribution in courts
of justice for such acts, and had the mob fulfilled their threats of burning
down Lane Seminary there would have been no legal redress.
Under these circumstances it cannot be wondered at that the trustees
of the seminary, as legal guardians of the property, took the matter into
their own hands, and, in the absence of Dr. Beecher and the faculty dur-
1 Chiefly true of the Southern old school and the Northern new school. But many
Northern old school, as Drs. MacMaster and Thomas, were for abolition, and most Southern
new school, as Dr. Ross, were strongly for slavery.

726 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
ing a summer vacatiou, passed votes whose effect was designed to -stop
the antislavery discussion in the seminary, and the antislavery labors of
its students in the community.
These laws, passed during Dr. Beecher's absence, caused the secession
from the seminary of a class of forty young men. His utmost powers
of mediation were used on his return with both parties in vain. The
young men left, and went to Oberlin, and there formed the nucleus of a
new theological seminary ; and thus in fact Dr. Beecher's removal to the
West was the means of founding two theological schools instead of one.
Dr. Beecher's conduct on this occasion has been severely criticised.
The extreme abolitionists contended that he and his fellow professors
ought to have followed the example of the students and resigned their
professorships. But this in effect would have been to surrender the insti
tution to the defenders and allies of slavery. Dr. Beecher felt it his duty
to hold the fort for better things.
The landed endowments of the seminary were rich, but they were in
great part the gift of a family who, with one exception, then belonged
to the old school party, and bitterly repented the donation, and only
waited for some legal pretext to recover the possession. Plad they
been able to prove that the institution, instead of fulfilling the purposes
stated in its charter, had been in effect changed into an abolition propa
ganda, they could have brought suits with a fair pretext; and there was
at that time little favor to be hoped from the decision of courts. Dr;
Beecher was at all times an open and avowed antislavery man. Lane
Seminary, from the first, received colored students on equal footing with
whites ; and a former slave, named James Bradley, was a member of the
very first class, and treated with especial consideration by faculty and
students. Those professors who were especially called by Dr. Beecher to his
side were also outspoken and decided antislavery men ; and he soon had
laboring with him, as ministers in the Presbyterian Church, five sons,
all outspoken and determined abolitionists, and each in his sphere doing
their utmost in pulpit and ecclesiastical meetings to intensify the anti-
slavery feeling in the Presbyterian Church. It may well, therefore, be a
question whether the antislavery influence of Dr. Beecher and his family
was not in their chosen line and sphere quite as efficient a factor in the
final result, as those of the radical abolitionists.
For a while, however, the interests of Lane Seminary suffered on
all hands. The attacks on Dr. Beecher's orthodoxy alarmed some ; the
ultra abolitionists were disgusted because the seminary did no more in
the cause of the slave ; the proslavery party threatened its destruction
because it did so much. The classes from 1836 to 1840 were sensibly
diminished in numbers, and in 1837 the failure of Arthur Tappan de
prived the institution of the divinity professorship, on the income of
which Dr. Beecher's salary depended.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 727
In one of the doctor's commonplace books was found entered the fol
lowing memorandum : " I have this morning received a letter from New
York, informing me that my draft on Mr. Tappan has been dishonored
on account of his suspension of payment. Thus has the ground of my
support failed  But my confidence that it was the will of God
that I should come here has not failed, my confidence that the end of
my coming would be the establishment of Lane Seminary has not failed,
and my confidence that God was well pleased with my coming, and ap
proved my motive, and will sustain me in my life of dependence on Him
as He has done, has not failed. And though one half a needed income has
suddenly stopped, and I know not precisely in what manner my wants
are to be supplied, I desire to praise Him who has clothed and fed me
and mine to this day, that I do not distrust Him, but am cheerful and
happy in my confidence in Him, whose I am and whom I serve."
Meanwhile the great under-current in the Presbyterian Church was
steadily drifting towards disunion, for in this same year, 1837, the gen
eral assembly, meeting in Philadelphia, passed a resolution to cite before
them all those presbyteries and synods that were suspected of heresy,
the ministers and the elders of all such synods to be deprived of a seat
in the next general assembly. By this method four synods, covering two
thirds of New York and part of Ohio, were " exscinded," numbering five
hundred and ninety-nine churches and fifty-seven thousand communicants.
While heresies in doctrine were the nominal cause of this attack, it is to
be remarked that the synods thus indicated were those that had been in
the front ranks of the antislavery protest. Private letters from leading
Southern clergymen had already explained that Southern members could
not and would not longer tolerate a union with abolitionists, and this
high-handed proceeding was the means of effecting a separation.
In 1838, therefore, Dr. Beecher was at the decisive meeting of the
general assembly. The roll of the assembly was called, omitting the
four synods. Their representatives offered their commissions, which
were refused without explanation. Immediately the new school portion
rose and read a declaration to the effect that whereas, contrary to law,
certain synods are denied a seat in the assembly, " We now proceed to
organize the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United
States of America with as little disturbance as possible." Moderator
and clerks being elected, the new school proclaimed that the General As
sembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States was now or
ganized, and would proceed forthwith to the First Presbyterian Church.
The new school assembly marched down the aisle, the greater part of the
throng following them, and walked in procession to the First Church.
Thus were the new and old school assemblies divided, and • so com
pletely was it a question other than that of doctrine,1 that there remained
in the new school church only three presbyteries in slave-holding States.
l The "Minutes" make it largely a question of church order. Thus regarded the ex
scinding, however severe, may not have been "highhanded," but constitutional. — H. M. M.

728 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
It was a dramatic and striking attendant on this event, that the day of
the disunion Liberty Hall was iu flames, set on fire by the proslavery
mob, and the next day the African Hall on Thirteenth Street was on
fire, the mob cutting the hose to prevent its destruction.
As usual, in those days, there was no efficient resistance of the author
ities to these outrages, and the blame of the whole transaction was
thrown upon the abolitionists.
The decision as to which body was to be recognized as the Presby
terian Church was appealed to the courts in the State of Pennsylvania.
The first decision in the Nisi Prius term, under Judge Rodgers, was in
favor of the new school. The court in bank, however, reversed this de
cision in favor of the old school. A suit of ejectment was now com
menced against the officers of Lane Seminary, as not belonging to the
Presbyterian Church of the United States. The Plon. S. P. Chase argued
the case in favor of Lane Seminary, and succeeded in obtaining a decision
that placed the institution on firm legal grounds for all time. From this
time the difficulties in the establishment of the seminary were substantially
overcome. In 1839 Dr. Beecher returned with enthusiasm and success to his
labors as a revival preacher. He visited Oxford College, and spent there
two happy weeks preaching and conversing with religious inquirers. It
was estimated that at this time there were over one hundred converts,
eighty from the college. In his private memoranda Dr. Beecher thus
speaks : " The Lord has permitted the accumulation upon me for the last
few years, in domestic and public cares, anxieties, and labors, a greater
pressure of responsibility and suspense, of baffled plans and hopes, than
ever before in my life ; and withal in a state far distant, among strangers,
and remote from the cheering sympathy of that host of friends who had
grown up around me, and on whom the slanders and misrepresentations
of alienated friends and the conspiracy of religious party spirit could
have no influence to embarrass my success. In the mean time my mind
and body were tasked by responsibilities sufficient for the time and re
sources of two men  Often has been the time when I thought the
last cord was broken, and my last work on earth done ; and now if any
man can say it, I can say, Having obtained help of God I continue to
this day. I trust God is preparing for me ' at the West a more open
door with less distraction from adversaries, .... where the cooperation
of cordial friends will afford me opportunities of cheerful efficient ac
tion." From this time, the course of the seminary became every year more
prosperous. Two professors had resigned during the season of discour
agement, and their places were filled by young men who brought vigor
and strength to the institution. The lines being now thoroughly drawn
between the old and new school parties, the theological controversy

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] LYMAN BEECHER. 729
ceased, and the churches set themselves quietly to the culture of spiritual
religion. The young colleges of the West, Jacksonville, Marietta, Craw-
fordsville, Oxford, and Western Reserve, were in sympathy with the
seminary, and sent a yearly increasing number of students. Powerful
revivals of religion began to be heard of through the churches, and the
students from Lane exhibited a truly evangelical enthusiasm in meeting
the labors and hardships incident to establishing new churches in a new
country; so that Dr. Beecher, writing to a friend in 1842, says, "The
Lord has delivered and prospered, so that I look back on all, as the ship
looks back on squalls and head winds past, when favoring gales give her
a prosperous course."
The difficulties which Dr. Beecher encountered during these seven
stormy years that established Lane Seminary were enough to have wholly
broken down a less determined man. In the very midst of the ecclesias
tical trial, his wife, the mother of four of his children, sunk under the
debilitating Western climate, and died. Rumors most unfavorable to him
were circulated through all the circle of his Eastern friends, exposing him
to a constant galling fire of letters of alarm, inquiry, and remonstrance.
The foundation of his pecuniary support gave way ; students were indus
triously prevented from joining the seminary ; some of the professors left
in despair ; and in all this stress of weather the only man who did not for
an instant lose hope and courage, or admit the thought of abandoning the
enterprise, was Dr. Beecher.
He worked, said Professor Stowe, during all these years like a Her
cules. Disappointment followed disappointment, obstacle was piled on
obstacle. Ossa piled on Pelion, and Olympus on Ossa ; friends fell off,
foes multiplied; endowments diminished, and salaries ceased; prejudices
were inflamed, and students kept away. Still he was hopeful and jovial,
always good-natured and never irritated. If students would not offer
themselves he would go after them ; if regular income failed he would
beg '; if he could not clamber over an obstacle he would go round it or
dig through it ; disappointed in one thing he would hope for another that
would surely be better when he got it. He was not only hopeful and
cheerful, but a spring of hope and cheer to all around him, and the sound
of his rapid elastic footstep, and the ring of his confident tones, seemed
to inspire courage wherever he came.
He fulfilled to the letter his own advice to his students : " When things
are so bad and so dark that it seems as if you could n't hold out another
minute — don't let go then — you may be sure a change is coming, and
many a cause has been lost because a man could n't hold on."
In May, 1851, Dr. Beecher resigned the presidency of Lane Seminary,
which he left well established and prosperous, and returned to New Eng
land, where he devoted himself to the labor of preparing his works for
the press. For several years he continued to preach occasionally, and to

730 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
labor in revivals. When he was no longer able to do this he settled in
Brooklyn, and became a constant attendant on the preachings and prayer
meetings in Plymouth Church. To hear his own son continuing in the
course begun under his teachings was almost as good as to be young
himself. Gradually his power of expression failed, and his mind was overclouded
and wandering, but the ruling passion was still strong in him. A friend
seeing him sitting as he often sat, as if in deep thought, said, " Dr.
Beecher, you know a great deal ; tell us what is the greatest of all things."
His eye flashed, his face kindled, and he said, " It is not theology, it
is not controversy, but it is to save souls ! " To save souls had been
from first to last the passion of his life.
A short time before his death the veil that had settled over his mind
was suddenly rent, and he had a full enjoyment of the Beatific Vision ; a
vision not of earthly glory or physical brightness, but of the perfections
of God. His face became radiant, his utterance strong. He said, "I
have begun to go. Oh, such scenes ! I have seen the King in his beauty !
Blessed God for revealing Thyself. How wonderful that a creature can
approach the Creator so as to awake in his likeness ! " He spoke of each
of his children, and left his parting blessing upon them. From this ec
stasy he fell into a sweet sleep, his face still illumined with a solemn and
divine radiance, and so in his eighty-seventh year he entered into rest. —
H. B. S.

LIFE XXIV. CHARLES FINNEY.
A. D. 1792-A. D. 1875. CONGREGATIONAL, — AMERICA.
There was nothing extraordinary about the circumstances attending
the birth and early life of the subject of this story, to warrant the ex
pectation that he would be a man of special mark, or wield any unusual
influence. But the most casual reader of this brief record of a life abound
ing in labors rewarded with peculiar success will not fail to be impressed
with the fact that Providence raised up this man, and endowed him with
rare gifts for a special and great mission. Charles Finney was born in
Son of a New tne llttle town of Litchfield, Connecticut, August 29, 1792.
England farmer. j_x;s father, Sylvester Finney, was a farmer in a rather small
way, and a good neighbor, a happy, jolly man, beloved by every one.
He brought up a large family, every member of which became an honest,
law-abiding, and respected citizen ; only one, however, besides Charles,
entering a profession. George, the youngest of the sons, was also a
minister. The family removed to Oneida County, New York, when Charles was

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHARLES FINNEY. 731
about two years old, and a few years later moved again into the wilder
ness on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Remaining at home until
about twenty years of age, assisting on the farm, and attending such
schools as were occasionally in session in the neighborhood, Charles
rarely heard a sermon, and knew little of religious teaching. Then he
went into New Jersey, near New York city, and commenced teaching.
For six years he continued to teach and to study, intermitting the teach
ing at two or three different times to attend a session of a New England
high school, and in 1818 entered a law office in Adams, New York, as
a student. In studying elementary law, he found frequent reference to the Script
ures, especially to the Mosaic Institutes, as authority for many of the
principles of common law. Consequently he bought a Bible,
the first he ever owned, which he read and pondered a good buys his first
deal in connection with his law studies, but with very little
comprehension of much of it. He now attended religious services reg
ularly on the Sabbath, and sometimes the weekly prayer meeting, when
his duties did not require his attention at the office. He became more
and more interested in religion, and in the teachings of the Bible ;
holding long and frequent conversations with his pastor on the doctrinal
points of the gospel ; reading diligently, and finally praying earnestly
that he might know the right way, and have courage to walk in it. Sud
denly, as the light from heaven shone upon Saul of Tarsus, the gospel
plan of salvation, complete and full, dawned upon his mind, and he ac
cepted the sacrifice Christ had made for him with a heart overflowing
with love and gratitude. At once he said to himself, " I will preach the
gospel." Pie gave up a law case which was to be tried the next morn
ing after this experience, saying to his client, " I have a retainer from
the Lord Jesus Christ to plead his cause, and I cannot plead yours," and
immediately set about talking with all whom he met on the great impor
tance of their souls' salvation. He went from house to house the whole
day, and several persons professed conversion from the hour when Mr.
Finney talked to them in his simple, direct, and earnest way, of their duty
to God. The time was ripe for the man, and God raised him up. The
whole village was awakened, and almost every one in it, young, middle-
aged, and old, was converted.
After some weeks spent in daily and hourly labor among the people,
he went for a brief visit to his father, who lived in the small town of
Henderson. His father met him at the gate and asked after his health.
He replied, " I am well, father, but how is it that I never heard a prayer
in my father's house ? " The old man dropped his head, and tears came
into his eyes, as he answered, " Come in, Charles, and pray yourself."
Both father and mother, and some of his brothers and sisters, became
converts, and the religious feeling spread all through that community
also.

732 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In the spring of 1822 he put himself under the care of the presbytery,
and as he had not means to go to Princeton, his pastor, the Rev. Mr.
- Gale, was appointed his instructor. In March, 1824, he was
Begins to preach. L , i •
licensed to preach. Although frankly acknowledging that
he did not subscribe to all the doctrines of the Presbyterian denomina
tion, he did not fail to convince all that he was called to preach, the
numerous conversions attending his lay labors corroborating the evi
dence. Many men have preached effectively, and swayed masses with the
force and earnestness of their speech, but to few has been given such an
array of physical advantages to aid them in their work, as was granted
to this young man, now about to go forth to do battle against sin and evil.
He was of tall figure and majestic presence ; he had a noble head, a keen
blue eye, that could transfix with its sharp, penetrating gaze, or melt with
its tenderness, a voice sonorous and clear, without harshness, and capable
of stirring the heart like a clarion, or of bringing tears to the eyes with
its pathetic pleading ; above all, a magnetism which fascinated and held
in closest attention all in his presence. His peculiar mental characteris
tics were quickness of perception, clearness of discrimination, and logical
acuteness. With these advantages, physical and mental, and a soul imbued with
the love of God and of immortal souls, wholly devoted to his work, what
was lacking to make sure his success ? Pie himself tells us that he had
always felt that the great need in the preaching of the gospel was the
" baptism of the Holy Ghost poured out on the preacher." " This," he
says, " is not the gift of tongues, nor the power to work miracles, but a
divine purifying, an anointing, bestowing on its subjects a divine illumi
nation, filling them with faith and love, with peace and power." This
" baptism " he sought and found, and then he went forth armed and
equipped, beginning his modest labors in a little place called Evans's
Mills, in Jefferson County, New York. From this time on for a period
of fifty years, the record is one of constant labor ; in season and out of
season, in church and by the way-side, in city and country, in this coun
try and in England, with an activity and intensity that nBver faltered,
and a zeal for God and the souls of men almost without parallel. After
preaching a short time at Evans's Mills he was urged to go to Antwerp,
an adjacent town. Pie accordingly divided his time between the two
places, allowing an occasional evening for a sermon at a German settle
ment near by. Nearly every soul in Evans's Mills was brought into the
church, and among the Germans the work was surprising, several middle-
aged persons learning to read that they might read the Bible. The whole
, , community was converted. Mr. Finney says, " I preached
A whole com- J .......
munity con- the atonement of Jesus Christ, his divinity, his divine mis
sion, his perfect life, his vicarious death, his resurrec
tion, repentance, justification by faith. I insisted upon the voluntary

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHARLES FINNEY. 733
total moral depravity of the unregenerate, and the unalterable necessity
of a radical change of heart, by the Holy Ghost, and by means of the
truth." At this time he was ordained by the presbytery, and for six months
labored in that same region of Western New York, going on horseback
from town to town, visiting from house to house, attending prayer meet
ings, preaching day and night. He says, " I preached out-of-doors, I
preached in barns, I preached in school-houses, and a glorious revival of
religion spread all over that new country." One element of his success
among this uneducated population was the simplicity of his language,
and the use of numerous and common illustrations. It was his study so
to present the truths of the gospel, which were made for every soul of
man, that they should reach the humblest and most illiterate, to make
them clear to the comprehension by illustrations such as would be most
familiar to those addressed. He was blamed at times for using too much
repetition, but he contended that it was necessary, especially in dealing
with minds unused to consecutive thought, to repeat the same truth over
and over again, at first to attract attention, then to still repeat, until the
subject was fixed in their memory. That there are now persons living
who can not only tell the texts from which he preached in those days,
but give a clear synopsis of the discourse, proves the wisdom of his
course. At Antwerp he found a very wicked and profane community, with
only three pious women in it, one of whom opened her parlor for the
first meeting. In walking about the town, a sort of terror took hold of
him, hearing the cursing and swearing in the streets, and at every place
of business. He appointed a preaching service in the school-house on
Sunday, and on Saturday, while praying for help to reach and save these
godless people, this text of Scripture came home to his heart to comfort
him : " Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace ; for I am with
thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee." When he went to the
school-house on the Sabbath morning, he found it packed to its utmost
capacity, and without any preparation he opened his pocket Bible, and
read the text that offered itself, " For God so loved the world, that He
sent his only begotten Son," etc. The people listened with awed atten
tion ; they quailed when he told them how they requited God's love with
blasphemy, and at last nearly the whole audience was in tears. In the
afternoon he was invited to come into the church, and from that time the
good work spread in all directions. Afterward he preached in Gouver-
neur, Western, Rome, Utica, Auburn, Troy, New Lebanon, and many
smaller places. Everywhere the same deep interest was manifested ;
everywhere the gospel presented in its simplicity, and with earnestness,
wrought wondrous things, and thousands turned from evil courses and
became persistent Christians. Preaching morning and evening, holding

734 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
inquiry meetings after each service, visiting from house to house, some
times preaching twice a day in one place and then riding several miles
to preach a third time, left no time for the preparation of sermons.
Never was the promise, " For it shall be given you in that hour what ye
shall speak," so remarkably fulfilled. The man seemed inspired each
day, and the text from which he should speak and the points to make in
each instance appeared to be given him directly from above. He went
into a little village where the houses were almost all on one street, strag
gling along for a mile or two, and it was told him that there was not a
religious family on the street. He preached in a school-house on the
same street from the words, " The curse of the Lord is in the house of
the wicked." A profound impression was made on the villagers, many
were converted at once, and the feeling spread rapidly, until not a family
remained impenitent. In one family sixteen children and grandchildren
united with the church at one time, and seventeen of one family at an
other. Of course, there was opposition ; such revivals were contrary to
all precedent, and many expostulated, some earnestly opposed. But the
preacher had no time to quarrel with any, his only answer being, " God
seems to bless my efforts ; while He does, I shall believe that I am right,
and never cease my labors."
In this way the time passed until 1828, when he was invited to go
His work in *o Philadelphia and labor. He accepted the invitation,
Philadelphia. preaching in different churches as they were opened to him
for several months, until urged to take a central position, and preach
steadily in one place. The largest church then in the city was a Ger
man church on Race Street, and this was the place fixed upon for the
continuance of his labors. It was said to seat three thousand persons,
and nightly it was crowded to its utmost capacity. He preached here
for a year and a half, and there was no abatement of the revival during
the entire period. The converts were numerous in all parts of the city,
and they united with all the different denominations, for there was noth
ing sectarian uttered or countenanced at any time by their teacher. In
the spring of 1829, when the Delaware River was high, the lumbermen
came down with their rafts from the lumber regions of Pennsylvania.
In that section of country were large tracts of forest, through which
were scattered the log-cabins of the lumbermen and their families. They
were there, without schools, without churches, without teaching of any
sort. Some who went down to the city with their floating lumber
strayed providentially into the evening meetings on Race Street, and be
coming much interested went again, until many were converted, and
went home carrying the good news ; and the work of conversion spread
in all that wild region, over a tract of country eighty miles in extent,
until it was reported that five thousand persons had been converted, and
that without a minister, or a single sermon, through the instrumentality

Cent. XVII.-XIX] CHARLES FINNEY. 735
of the few who carried the blessed story as they heard it in Philadel
phia. Afterward the preacher labored in New York city for several months,
and in the fall of 1830 he went to Rochester. The city Greatworijm
contained then a population of about ten thousand, and K°°hester.
during the revival which followed eight hundred persons were converted.
A revival of like proportion now would number six or seven thousand
converts. In commencing his labors in Rochester, he began, as was his
custom ever after, to preach to the church, first trying to revive it, and
bring it into a proper frame of mind to assist in the work among the
unconverted. An eye-witness of those labors says, " The duties and re
sponsibilities of a Christian life were so portrayed as absolutely to amaze
and frighten the cold and backslidden professor. The sins of worldli
ness, lukewarmness, and neglect of duty were set in startling colors ; the
atmosphere of the place seemed surcharged with the solemnity of eter
nity, and there was in the speaker the dignity and majesty of one of the
old prophets. His words were like flames of fire. False hopes were
consumed, backsliders were brought trembling and astonished to the feet
of the Saviour. Reconciliations were effected between estranged breth
ren. The sermon from the text, ' Am I my brother's keeper ? ' and that
from the words, ' Others save with fear and trembling, pulling them out
of the fire,' made a prodigious impression. Christians being thus aroused,
he was prepared to preach to sinners. He began with the law, showing
what its requirements are, and what its penalty, and the justice of them ;
how absolutely necessary to the order and stability of the moral uni
verse, and how fearful a thing it is then to sin against the law-giver and
all the interests of the universe." When persons were awakened by
these presentations, and tremblingly asked, " What shall we do to be
saved ? " then with great pity and tenderness they were pointed to the
cross, to the Lamb of God, who bore our punishment for us; and his ex
ceeding love was opened to their view, in all its fullness and power, and
with tears and entreaties they were urged to accept it until a heart of
stone could resist no longer.
All the towns in the vicinity were aroused. The preacher went from
one to another as he could find time, and taught and helped them. Over
twelve thousand members were added that year to the churches of the
Rochester presbytery alone, besides the great ingathering into churches
of other denominations. But it was not by members alone that the good
results were shown ; the only theatre in the city was converted into a
livery stable, and a circus into a factory ; grog-shops were closed, the Sab
bath honored, and men seemed to live to do good. Among the converts
were lawyers, judges, physicians, merchants, bankers, and master mechan
ics ; and as all the leaders of society had changed their modes of life and
feeling, social life, business, and civil affairs, all had a different tone.

736 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Even the courts and prisons felt the change ; the jail was nearly empty
for years afterwards. The preacher visited Rochester again in 1842, a
third time in 1856, and each time one thousand souls were given him as
his hire. One of the converts of the first revival says feelingly, " It is
not too much to say that thousands are indebted to that wonderful man
for their success in life, for position, competence, influence, home, kin
dred, friends, and daily joys ! What miserable shipwreck many of them
might have made, both for this world and the next, had he not met them,
and moved them by his mighty influence, it is not difficult to conject
ure." In 1832 he went for a second time to New York, where the Tappan
brothers and others purchased the Chatham Street Theatre
In New York .
city. " The and fitted it up for a church. Plere he preached to throng-
Evangelist." . , „ , ..,.„,
ing thousands for two or three years, until the site of the
Broadway Theatre, which was destroyed by fire, was for sale, when his
friends bought it, and erected, after plans suggested by himself, the
Broadway Tabernacle. During the years at Chatham Street Chapel, so
many were the converts, that they were urged to go into different parts
of the city and establish new churches. The result was the springing
up of seven young churches, which all flourished and grew, without how
ever diminishing in the least the crowd that worshiped in the chapel.
About this time need was felt of a religious newspaper, which should
represent the advanced ideasin religious teaching, and aid Charles Fin
ney in his work. Accordingly the New York " Evangelist " was estab
lished. Finney's morning sermons were reported for this paper; and
when he could find time, he contributed other papers, on theology, practi
cal piety, etc. These papers were afterward printed in a volume, under
the title, " Finney's Lectures on Revivals," and twelve thousand copies
were sold at once. They were afterward reprinted in England and
France, and translated into Welsh and German, one London publisher
issuing eighty thousand copies. The Congregational ministers of the
principality of Wales appointed a committee to inform the preacher of
the great revival that had resulted from the translation of this book into
Welsh. Those who built the " Tabernacle," and who were the leading members
of the church, decided that it should be governed as a Congregational
church. Accordingly, Finney took his dismission from the presbytery,
and became pastor of that church as a Congregationalist. Pie was ever
after identified with this denomination, although, as has before been
stated, very liberal in his views, and shunning anything like sectarianism
in teaching and in feeling. In 1835, the college at Oberlin, Ohio, was
founded, and Charles Finney was urged to take the chair of theology ;
the plan being to make the school ultimately a university, but prox
imately to fit young men for the ministry. He hesitated for some time ;

Cent. XVII.-XIX] CHARLES FINNEY. 737
his work seemed to him peculiarly that of an evangelist ; but at last he
consented to spend a part of each year teaching in this Western semi
nary, with the privilege of carrying on his labors in New York in the
winter. This arrangement was carried out for two or three years, but
was found to be too great a tax upon his strength, and the number of
students greatly increasing in Oberlin, the duty to the college seemed
paramount, and he resigned his pastorate in New York. He became
pastor of the church in Oberlin, which for more than twenty years was
the only church in the town, and finally numbered nearly two thousand
communicants, so that it became necessary to divide it. For a number
of years he thus increased in labors, as pastor of so large a church, as
professor of theology, and during the vacation in college when his strength
would at all allow, as preacher, toiling in other towns and cities, some
times in the East, then again in the West, at Cincinnati and other
places. Twice during this time he went to England, where he preached in
Houghton, Birmingham, Worcester, and in Whitefield's Tab- His work m
ernacle, Finsbury, London. This last place of worship England.
could seat three thousand persons. It was constantly filled, although
week-day religious services were then almost unknown in London.
Upon the first call for those who would like personal conversation upon
the subject of the soul's salvation, to repair to a certain hall in the
neighborhood at the close of the preaching, some fifteen or sixteen
hundred persons thronged in, and filled the room to its utmost capacity.
There was weeping and audible sobbing all over the house, as the
preacher in the simplest and clearest way pointed out to them the duty
of immediate and entire submission to God. This was only one of many
evenings that followed in that large church in the midst of London,
where he labored for nine months. He was often accosted in the streets,
when walking in different parts of the city, by perfect strangers, who
would say, " Beg pardon, Mr. Finney, but I can't pass you without stop
ping to thank you for the great good your sermons have done me." A
rector of an Episcopal church attended the meetings several times, and
then went to preaching with all his might to promote a revival in his
own parish. He established meetings at twenty different places in the
parish, and in a short time fifteen hundred persons were converted as a
result of his efforts. When Finney left London, four or five Episcopal
churches were holding revival services, and the number of converts was
increasing. It was ten years before Finney went again to England.
He found to his astonishment that the work had never ceased, but had
been spreading in all directions. In 1858, after preaching a few weeks
in Houghton, he went to Borough Road Chapel, London. Here he met
with the same large success, and what is better, left the church so awak
ened and in earnest, that, for years after, they expected, and really did
47

738 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
have, conversions every week. Before returning home he visited Edin
burgh, and also Aberdeen, with blessed results. After this he returned
to England for a few months, preaching in Bolton and in Manchester.
In the former place sixty mill-hands were converted in one evening, at
a meeting held for their especial benefit in the mills. After two years
of this constant and wearing labor, he returned to Oberlin, and resumed
his teaching and preaching there.
On returning from the first visit to England, Finney had become pres-
. ident of the college, without, however, resigning any of his
Oberlin ; his other duties. He continued to fill this place until a very
few years before his death, when advancing years, and their
usual infirmities, made it necessary for him to be relieved from some of
his cares. He taught his classes until the end of the college year pre
ceding his death, and preached but a very short time before the close of
his life, with much power and earnestness. In the language of one of
his pupils and friends, " He was for more than a generation the best
known representative of Oberlin abroad, and its constant inspiration at
home." He elaborated a system of theology which, while it was essen
tially the same as that taught by the advanced school of New England
theologians, was yet so modified, and as he regarded it improved, as to
deserve its cognomen, " Oberlin theology," and he upheld its doctrines
with potent logic and earnest zeal. The principal characteristics of this
system, as distinguished from those of other schools, cannot be better
stated than in the language of an Andover (Massachusetts) theologian,
in a " Critical Review of President Finney's Theological System." He
•says the tenets are : " (1.) The human will is self-determining in its action.
'(2.) All obligation is limited by ability. (3.) All virtuous choice termi
nates upon the good of beings, and in the ultimate analysis on the good
of being in general. (4.) The will is never divided in its action, but is
at each instant either wholly virtuous or wholly sinful." The fitness of
President Finney for this new field of work will be apparent if we recall
the description of his mental traits already given. They were quickness
of perception, clearness of discrimination, and logical acuteness. In ad
dition to these he had an earnest determination to know nothing but the
truth. On all these points there has been much discussion and difference
-of opinion, but the subject which excited most opposition, and on account
>of which many of his early friends and co-laborers withdrew their sym
pathy from him for a number of years, was the doctrine of sanctification.
As regards exactly what he taught, there has been widespread and per
sistent misunderstanding. The doctrine grew naturally out of the position
that the will is altogether sinful or altogether virtuous in every act. He
claimed that when we obey God wholly, we are then as perfect as we
can be, at that moment, in that act. But he never taught that a man
iwas made holy by one act, so as always to remain so. Pie held simply

Cent. XVII.-XIX] CHARLES FINNEY. 739
that it is our duty to obey perfectly now, and to aim also to obey God
the next moment, to watch and pray, to depend upon the Holy Spirit,
to continue in obedience, and that this state of constant obedience is
sanctification, and that by prayer and watchfulness, and the help of the
Spirit, man may hope to attain to " the stature of a perfect man in Christ
Jesus." In teaching he encouraged discussion and inquiry in the freest manner,
and if in the progress of the discussion he obtained any new light on a
vexed question, he cheerfully admitted it, and made the change in his
subsequent statements. At one time when his own words were quoted
against the position he was maintaining, he smilingly replied, " Well, I
don't agree with Finney on that point." Pie was always cordial and
cheerful in the class-room, impressing upon all, however, the fact that his
most earnest wish was for their spiritual insight into truth, and their per
sonal growth in the divine life, that so they might teach others that which
they themselves knew and had experienced. Later he compiled his the
ological lectures in a volume called " Finney's Systematic Theology."
It was republished in England, and in the preface, Dr. Redford, a prom
inent theologian of Worcester, England, says, " As a contribution to
theological science in an age when vague speculation and philosophical
theories are bewildering many among all denominations of Christians,
this work will be considered by all competent judges to be both valuable
and seasonable."
The pastorate of so large a church, whose members were scattered
over several miles of territory, would, in itself, seem occupa- Ab a pastor . hi3
tion enough for one person. The pastor was necessarily tenderness.
obliged to place some limit to his efforts. He never made social visits,
he never went out to dine or take tea with a neighbor. All his time
and his utmost strength were fully taxed by his duties. Yet no call for
sympathy or help was ever neglected. The sick could testify to his daily
visitation, to the support afforded by his brief prayer at their bedside,
and his kindly interest in their recovery. Up to the last day of his life,
his horse and carriage were brought to the door whenever the weather
was fine, that he might go to drive some hopeless invalid, or frail conva
lescent, out for the air. He was in every sense of the word the father of
his people. He baptized their children, he married the young men and
maidens, comforted the dying with strong words of faith and cheer, and
buried the dead, not without tears of sympathy with the bereaved, but also
with such assurance of hope and immortal life that they could not but
be consoled. Two or three years before his death, at nearly eighty years
of age, he resigned his pastorate, which he had wished to do for some
time, but had been prevented by the universal protest of the church and
of all his friends.
But he still preached occasionally, as he had strength, and to no one

740 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
would he ever delegate his mission to the poor, the sick, or those suffering
under any affliction. The writer vividly recalls the fact of his coming in
one afternoon about two weeks before his death, very tired, and much
heated, and when asked where he had been, he replied, " To visit that sick
girl away over on  Street." He walked about two miles on a warm
August afternoon, because a sick girl wished to see him. It might readily
be imagined that a man of such ready sympathies and strong enthusiasm
would often be imposed upon, and much of his time wasted by unworthy
calls ; but his strong common sense always prevented that. One night, a
little after midnight, the household were startled by the loud ringing of
the door-bell. Mr. Finney himself arose and opened the door. A tall
black man stood there, who said, " Mr. Finney, dey hab got de debil ober
hyar in de school-house, and de Lord wants you to come ober and drive
him away ; de Lord wants you to come." Mr. Finney replied quickly,
" Not He, at this time of night," and shut the door.
One lonely Sabbath afternoon, in the latter part of August, 1875, he
spent with some of his children and grandchildren gathered about him,
in singing sacred music and in loving converse. His voice seemed al
most as strong and musical as ever ; it was sweet and clear, and not at
all tremulous. The little party broke up about five o'clock, with fare
well kisses, and calling back from the gate, " We '11 come over again in
the morning, father." He retired about eight o'clock. Between ten and
eleven he awoke in great pain, and after a few hours of suffering he en
tered Paradise, just as day dawned on the world which he had done so
much to bless. To those standing about his bedside, who had been wit
nesses of his long, earnest, and laborious life, it seemed that through the
pale dawn they heard a voice from heaven saying, " Well done, good and
faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." — H. F. C.
LIFE XXV. ISABELLA GRAHAM.
A. D. 1742-A. D. 1814. ASSOCIATE REFORMED, — AMERICA.
The American metropolis, unlike the great Old World centres in so
many things, differs from them in this also, that in affairs of church she
never has dominated the surrounding population. Leaders of religion
have none the less abounded here, noble men and devoted women. Of
the latter none better deserves to be remembered than Isabella Graham.
The grandchild of one of the founders of the Secession church of Scot
land, she justly belongs to the United Presbyterian household. Among
all American leaders sprung of Seceder lineage, she may fairly be called
the foremost woman, even as her pastor and almost son, John Mitchell
Mason, whose name will often appear in this story of her life, may be
reckoned the foremost man.1
i For other leaders of Seceder lineage see Lives XVII. and XVIII.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ISABELLA GRAHAM. 741
To acquaint ourselves with the Christian body, in whose membership
in New York city she will be found for more than a score covenanters
of years, it will be necessary to return to events occurring isged™e ^it*
in Scotland some years before her birth. In 1688 the Re- formed.
formed, or Presbyterian, communion became again the established church
in Scotland. The rights granted to it did not, however, include as much
as was desired by many who had maintained their covenant with God
and their brethren even unto blood. Yet the establishment of the church
on the terms offered by the government was accepted by the vast major
ity. The few who rejected it set up an independent organization, calling
themselves the Reformed Church, though better known as the " Cove
nanters" (1706). A few years later (1733), others, ministers and mem
bers of the state church, found its rule too oppressive to be borne. For,
instead of giving the Christian people of a parish the election of their
pastor, the state gave it to a " patron " who possessed property in the
parish, and, perhaps, titled position. Besides, opposition was made by
the state to freedom of doctrine. For these reasons, Ebenezer Erskine,
with his brother and other ministers, and with many people, seceded from
the state church, and set up the Associate presbytery. Like the Re
formed body, they, and other detachments who joined them afterwards,
had a second name, and were popularly called " the Seceders." They,
too, 'as Dean Stanley says, stood essentially upon the Covenant. Both
Covenanters and Seceders were, for evident reasons, well prepared to be
come emigrants from home and fatherland at a fitting opportunity. In
deed, not a few of their fathers had already, in the time of the last Stu
arts, been sent for religion's sake across the ocean, doomed to hard labor
in the colonies. When the war of independence began, there were in
America a Reformed Presbytery, an Associate Presbytery of New York,
and an Associate Presbytery of Philadelphia. By the close of the war
these had grown very near to one another. The father of John Mitchell
Mason, Dr. John Mason, of New York city, who had left his pulpit to
serve in the army of Washington as chaplain, became an active agent in
their union. All the Reformed ministers and all the Associate save two
came together, constituting the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.1
The two who held out, receiving help from Scotland, continued as an As
sociate church until 1858, when a further union took place, forming the
present United Presbyterian Church of North America. This commun
ion, in its early and grand characteristics, — deep religious
enthusiasm; heart hatred of bondage, whether ecclesiastical of Isabella Gra-
ham's church.
or personal ; extended intellectual culture for both men and
women, and especially for ministers ; strict Sabbath observance ; strong
1 This was in 1782. Reformed ministers coming from Scotland continued the Reformed
organization, which endures to this day, numbering, however, less than two hundred min
isters in its two divisions.

742 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
church discipline; and scriptural as opposed to frivolous psalmody, — will
be found nobly exemplified in the life of Isabella Marshall Graham.
Isabella Marshall was born in Lanark, in Scotland, July 29, 1742.
From her mother, Janet Plamilton,1 of whom she says, "Never was there
such a mother, — her delight was with God, her closet was a Bethel, her
Bible was her heart's treasure," Isabella early received religious im
pressions. In the woods of Elderslie, an estate (near Paisley) which
her father had rented, she knew a bush under which, as she believed,
she gave herself to God before she was ten years old. Upon reaching
her eleventh year, having received a legacy of a hundred pounds, she
asked that it might be applied to her education. She was sent (1752) to
a boarding-school, in which she spent seven winters, receiving a training
far above common for that day. At the end of her course of study she
entered the communion of the Paisley church, of which John Wither
spoon (see Life VI.) was then pastor. At twenty-three Isabella married
a physician of Paisley, John Graham, who was already, by a former
marriage, father of two sons, both of whom became, at a later day, dis
tinguished officers of the British army. " I was the wife," she wrote
thirty-five years afterwards, " of a man of sense, sentiment, and sensibil
ity, who was my very first love and lover, and that love ripened and im
proved with years."
When, two years after marriage, her husband was made a surgeon of
the British army and ordered to Canada, she attended him on his jour
ney. An infant son was left with her parents, who planned to follow
and to find a home in America. The five years following, ever looked
upon by Mrs. Graham as outwardly the most joyous days of her life,
were spent in garrison in Quebec, Montreal, and Fort Niagara, four of
them at the last place, near the mighty cataract. The husband receiving
She sees New orders to Antigua, in the West Indies, the wife bravely fol-
ttwflrsuinw lowed him through the forests, taking three infant daugh
ters (the child left in Scotland having died there) and two
Indian captives, their servants, by the way of the Mohawk and the
Hudson to New York city. She then, for the first time, beheld the
scene of her future labors.
Severer discipline than she had yet known was still to educate her for
her career in this New World metropolis. Within a year after reaching
Antigua she was stricken by two profound sorrows, the death of her
mother and that of her idolized husband. " At one blow," she writes,
" He took from me all that made life dear, the very kernel of all my
earthly joys, my idol, my beloved husband." A widow on a strange
shore, with but slight resources, not amounting in all to a thousand dol
lars, Mrs. Graham resisted the urging of her friends that she sell her
1 Her mother's father, a "ruling elder," the grandparent named above (page 740), was
with the Erskines in forming tho Associate Church of Scotland.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ISABELLA GRAHAM. 743
servants. A few months before she had uttered her mind on slavery in
a letter to her husband, then away upon military service : " I am told
that you have taken a number of prisoners. I know not if you have
any right to entail slavery on these poor creatures. If any fall to your
share, do set them at liberty." Now she writes of her two slaves to a
friend in Antigua, " If it should please God to take me away in my
approaching confinement, let Diana be sent with my children. As for
Susan, I am at a loss what to do with her ; my heart tells me I have no
right to entail slavery upon her and her offspring. I know I shall be
blamed, but I am about to be called to account "by a higher power than
any in this world for my conduct, and I dare not allow her to be sold.
I therefore leave it to herself, either to remain here, or, if it be her de
sire, to accompany the children. She wrote at the same hour to her
father in Scotland, commending to him her little ones. She included in
her message her step-sons, saying : " Though I did not suffer a mother's
pangs for them, Heaven knows how equally I love them with those that
cost me dearer." She charged him : " Remember to give my love to all
my dear children." To her brother, also, she sent tender words.
The widow, in her trial, found friends in Christians, even in some
whose church names were very strange to her. " Do you Finds friend8 in
remember," she writes to a friend, long afterwards, " how the WeBt Inaies-
much I used to say about our dear Methodist society in Antigua, and the
three holy, harmless, zealous Moravian brethren ; and how the preachers
gave each other the right hand of fellowship ? . . . . The Lord brought
me into their fold a straggling lamb. These poor people nourished me
with tenderness  Never, never shall I forget the labors of love of
that little society. How many such stragglers as I may be wandering in
both East and West Indies, and may be restored by these precious mis
sionaries ! I owe them of my labors more than others. I send you a bill
of fifty pounds."
Instead of death Mrs. Graham found in Antigua a higher and better
life. She became, too, the mother of a son, and with her babe and her
girls took ship to Scotland. Hastening to her father, she found him hot
in the " large ancient mansion in which she left him, but in a' thatched
cottage consisting of three apartments." By being surety "for friends he
had lost all his property. His health, too, had gone. Plis daughter added
him to her family of four, and supported all of them, first at her father's
house at Cartside, making butter and selling it, feeding her vicissitudes in
children on porridge, and clothing them in homespun. Aft- Scotlan,i-
erwards for two years she taught a small school in Paisley, near by. Her
slender earnings, with a widow's pension of sixteen pounds, were all her
income. The little capital brought with her she had invested, by the
advice of a friend, in muslins, to be carried in his vessel and sold in the
West Indies ; but the ship was taken by the French. Of her situation

744 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
at Paisley she says, a few years after, " To this same town I returned
a widow, helpless and poor, neglected and forgotten. I taught my little
school, and earned my porridge, potatoes, and salt. I found myself totally
neglected by some who once thought themselves honored by my acquaint
ance." In the midst of her poverty it was suggested to her by the wife of an
army officer to open a school in Edinburgh. In want of means, she was
surprised by a remittance from the gentleman who had taken charge of
her muslins, he having, without her knowledge, insured them, and recov
ered the insurance. She was thus enabled to remove to Edinburgh (1779)(
and to open a school. This she conducted with success for eight years.
Among her near friends were the mother of Sir Walter Scott, then
a mere boy, and the Viscountess Glenorchy. The death of the latter,
her active patron and that of her father, helped sunder Mrs. Graham's
ties to her native country. Her heart went out, especially since the war
of independence was over, to America. She welcomed the suggestion of
her old pastor, Dr. John Witherspoon, favoring her removal to the United
States. " She had entertained," her daughter writes, " a strong partiality
for America ever since her former residence there, and had indulged a
sweet expectation of returning. It was her opinion and that of many
pious people that America was the country where the church of Christ
would preeminently flourish. She was therefore desirous to leave her
offspring there." One serious mistake she seems to have made : she left
her son, now fifteen, behind her, without his mother's care or sisters' re
straint. The boy grew up with impetuous and roving spirit, after two
years turned sailor, and five years later was last heard of upon a vessel
which was taken by a French cruiser. Another child which was left by
Mrs. Graham in Scotland prospered. This was the Penny Society,
formed at her instance, composed of poor people, who laid aside each a
penny a week as a fund to help them in sickness. It afterwards became
endowed as " The Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick."
Mrs. Graham's apprentice work in schools and charities in Great
Britain well fitted her to be a master workman in the New
Finds home and __ . .
welcome in New World, and m its greatest city, she reached New York
'September 8, 1789, and was welcomed by John Mason, by
whom the church of her mother was nobly represented in America. In
that church she at once found a home, and ties of love which she never
sundered. Although the chief reasons for the setting up of the separate bodies of
the Associate and the Reformed had been left behind when Great Britain
was left, yet there remained many arguments for clinging to the " testimo
nies " of two centuries. So John Mason and his friends maintained their
denomination, and Isabella Graham labored in it, in the city of New York
over twenty years. The Associate, the Reformed, and afterwards the

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ISABELLA GRAHAM. 745
United Presbyterian churches became a reservoir into which precious
streams from the " old country " flowed, and from which they have poured
forth to bless all the communions and all the states of this land. Mrs.
Graham worked by the side of John Mason three years, and then mourned
his death as that of a brother. She had seen her two daughters (one
having entered the church in Scotland) received into his communion.
" Dr. Mason," she says, " was a city set upon a hill. He was Kelations to her
with the army during the war after the evacuation of New pis'018-
York, and had great influence over the soldiers ; preached the gospel of
peace uniformly, but never meddled with politics, though he was fully
capable  I had the honor to close his dear eyes, and to shut those
dear lips from whence so many precious truths have proceeded, and to
mix with the ministering spirits who attended to hail the released."
If Mrs. Graham lost a brother in John Mason, she found an almost
son in John Mitchell Mason, the successor of his father. He was now,
at twenty-four, just completing his studies in Edinburgh. That they
were after Mrs. Graham's heart, we cannot doubt, for his father had
charged him, " Read Boston, Erskine, Harvey, the Marrow of Modern
Divinity, and the Synod's Catechism " (all of them strong diet, approved
of United Presbyterians). The young student, called home by his fa
ther's death, was accepted by Mrs. Graham and the rest as their pastor
(1793). " Our young Timothy, John Mitchell," she writes, " is a per
fect champion for the gospel of Jesus. The Lord has well girded him
and largely endowed him. He walks closely with God and preaches
like a Christian of long experience. He was ordained about two months
ago in his father's church, and a few weeks after married a lady of emi
nent piety, and preached all day, both the Sabbath before and after.
There is probably no church in New York where discipline is so strict,
nor one which has so many communicants. He is reckoned a lad of
great talents, and many, even of the idle and careless, go to hear him."
Side by side with Mason, Mrs. Graham walked all her active years, and
when at last she fell asleep, her fame was first sounded by the notes of
his golden eloquence.
Mrs. Graham's New York school for young ladies was from the first
a success. After three years she writes that " business " is good, " a
house full of boarders and about sixty scholars." A description of her
school says, " Her little republic was completely governed by a system
of equitable laws. On every alleged offense, a court martial, as they
termed it, was held, and the accused tried by her peers. There were no
arbitrary punishments, no sallies of capricious passion. The laws were
promulgated, and obedience was indispensable. The sentences of the
courts martial were always approved and had a salutary Her great work
effect." Mrs. Graham's work as a teacher may be dis- as a teacher.
missed with the statement that George Washington admired and patron-

746 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period- V.
ized her school, and John Mitchell ' Mason said of it at her death,
"Twenty-five years ago she opened in this city a school, the benefits of
which have been strongly felt and will be long felt hereafter in different
and distant parts of our country. She succeeded in that most difficult
part of a teacher's work, the inducing youth to take an interest in their
own improvement, and to educate themselves by exerting their own fac
ulties." After retiring from her school Mrs. Graham's home was with
her two daughters (the eldest having died). She felt always an exceed
ing tenderness to her children, as strikingly appears in her letters to her
son and in her memorial of her departed daughter.
Mrs. Graham's philanthropy overflowed in her school. It was even
more plainly visible in her connection with enterprises outside of her
life profession. First may be named Dr. John Mitchell Mason's theo
logical seminary, the first entitled to the name upon this continent.
Receiving unexpected profit by an investment in city lots soon after
coming to New York, Mrs. Graham writes, " Quick, quick, let me ap
propriate the tenth before my heart grows hard." Half of the tenth
„ . . she sent to missions, as already described, the other fifty
Her interest m . .
a theological pounds she gave for a theological seminary. As this was
in 1796, the year which Dr. Mason's biographer names as
that when he conceived the idea of the seminary, Mrs. Graham's gift must
have been one of the very first sums given to theological schools on1
this continent. Her pastor's anxiety for trained preachers, says his son-
in-law, came from the fact that " the seceding portion were deeply im
bued with evangelical spirit and earnestly desired to strengthen and
perpetuate it." This sent Mason to Great Britain to seek aid. Mrs.
Graham speaks of his mission in a letter to a friend (1801) : "I wrote
you that our dear Mr. Mason leaves us next month for Britain. His
errand is to state the situation of this country, so greatly in want of min
isters and of the means of educating ministers. Many of his people
are dissatisfied, as he has two congregations to supply and a large family
of his own. Why should he be the man ? For my own part I think he
is the very man. Though I love my minister, value his ministry and his
person, I hope the general interest of Christ's body is more dear to me,
and of infinitely more importance than my private comfort." Mrs. Gra
ham followed closely her pastor's journey as he established " articles of
correspondence" with the Scotch Seceders, and thus secured preachers
for America, and as he gathered a thousand pounds, mostly in London,
for his seminary, enough to secure its successful opening. This school,
let it be noted, became the training place of such fathers of the United
Presbyterian Church as Dr. John T. Pressly of Allegheny, who calls
Mason " one to whom I am under inexpressible obligations," and Dr.
David MacDill of Ohio, who as valedictorian took leave of Dr. Mason's
school with the words, " To the seminary we say, If I do not remember

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ISABELLA GRAHAM. 747
thee let mj tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." Plow deeply
MacDill, who was in New York city in Mrs. Graham's time, and others
of the students esteemed her may be concluded from one of the brill
iant editorials of MacDill in the " United Presbyterian." He says,
treating of " Woman's Rights," "We admit no intellectual inferioriiy
of the sex  But the Christian church was designed to train up
not a Semiramis, nor yet Queen Elizabeths nor Madame de Staels, but
.... Isabella Grahams."
Not only in education, but in missions, Mrs. Graham was by her pas
tor's side, or ahead of him. Even while he was abroad, A ieader in mis-
meeting Wilberforce and the great English leaders of for- BioM-
eign missions, and winning by his sermon on " Messiah's Throne " the
declaration from Robert Hall, who heard him in London, " I can never
preach again ! " he was still receiving impulse from the quiet woman in New
York. He writes from Great Britain : " I have just seen a letter from
Mrs. Graham. She is up riding on her high places, but it is all from the
expectation that glorious successes are about to attend the gospel. She
reckons much on the commotions in Kentucky" (see Life XVIII.). As
early as 1796 Mrs. Graham had obtained from England missionary
periodicals, and had secured a score or so of subscribers for them. She
writes that- year to a friend of the forming of the New York Missionary
Society. Was not this, which was for the Indians, the first foreign
missionary society, strictly speaking, in America ? * Moreover, she raised
up a woman in her pupil and assistant, Miss Farquharson, who became
(1805) " the first American missionary to foreign lands." How fully
she was trained by Mrs. Graham may be concluded from the fact that
after they both had left teaching they were for six years close compan
ions in missionary work in New York city. Morrison, the leader of
Christianity in China (Life XXXVI.), when in New York was under
the roof of Mrs. Graham, and wrote her afterwards as " My ever dear
mother Graham." Vanderkemp and other leaders of missions were
known to her through their correspondence with her pastor. As an
important event she noted in a letter to a friend that upon " the second
Wednesday of February (1798), we commenced our first monthly
meeting for prayer." Her zeal for foreign missions may be left with the
inquiry, What woman was more eminently a pioneer of all the vast
organized " woman's work for woman " throughout America ?
Mrs. Graham's charity began, however, at home. In 1797 her house
saw the forming of the Society for the Relief of Poor Wid- Her works of phi-
ows with Small Children, of which she became first direc- lanthr°py-
tress. She certainly could feel tor such widows if any could. In the
1 It is of course to be understood that more than one denomination had, as such, engaged
in missions to the Indians, the Moravians having done so most notably. But had any as
sociation been formed within the American church before 1796 for evangelizing pagans as
its sole or primary object ?

748 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
spring of 1806 she presided at the organization of the first asylum for
orphan children in the city of New York. Without waiting for a build
ing the ladies hired a house, and Mrs. Graham or one of her daughters
taught every day until means were raised to pay for a teacher. The next
year a building was begun. She was throughout life one of the trustees
of this asylum property, which was afterwards exchanged for the present
beautiful property at Bloomingdale. In 1811 a Magdalene Society arose
under a board of ladies which elected Mrs. Graham to the office of presi
dent, which she filled until her death.
Her efforts were called out not merely by the holding of office. She
gave an afternoon each week for a time (1812) to teaching the catechism
to the children of the Lancasterian School. She was for years a visitor
of the New York Hospital, especially of the insane in it ; also of the sick
female convicts in the State's prison. She joined (1814) in a Society for
the Promotion of Industry among the Poor, which employed several hun
dred women, paying them for their work. Of this she became a manager.
She helped organize (1814) the young people working in factories near
her home into a Sabbath Morning Adult School, which continued after
her death as a Sunday-school. She visited in a season of distress upwards
of two hundred poor families (1804—5). Besides looking after their bodily
wants she distributed to them Bibles, and this before the time of the
Bible Society, whose institution she afterwards joyfully recorded (1809).
" I am not dealing in romance," exclaimed Mason, recounting in his fu
neral discourse her works ; " the night would be too short for a full enu
meration of her worthy deeds. Suffice it to say that they ended but with
her life!"
To the spirit of a philanthropist Mrs. Graham added that of a patriot
Her patriotism ^et even *n ^e moment when the nation was lauding the
departed Washington, she did not forget the deepest need of
her country. While she joined to declare " great things were due him,"
she yet hoped little from adulators who were " bursting with gratitude to
a creature, with enmity to a Saviour God." She was ever intent on mak
ing America a land pleasant to dwell in, depending much for this upon
the ministry. "In this New World," she asked, "shall such men be reck
oned of none account, and their labors of no value ? No ! The wealth
of the Indies cannot balance their work! " At Rockaway Beach, Long
Island, where she spent the last five summers of her life, and in different
churches in New York city, she lent strength to her pastors.
She was approaching her seventy-second anniversary and was within
ten days of it when taken severely ill. Two days before (Sabbath) she
had taught in her school of adults, and sat at the Lord's table. The
day before she had given religious lessons at the orphan asylum. Upon
the fifth day of her illness she sent for an old friend, with whom she had
an agreement that one should attend the other's dying hours. With a

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 749
sweet expressive smile Mrs. Graham welcomed her, saying, " I am going
to get the start of you. I am called home before you. It will be your
office to fulfill our engagement." Three days she sank, ever full of joy.
" Yet I could weep," she said, " for sins against so good a God." When
very low and able to say but one word, that word, accompanied with a
smile, was " Peace." Within two days of her anniversary, July 27,
1814, she fell asleep. Her burial was without eulogy.1 A month later
Dr. Mason celebrated her memory in noble words, which were published
under the title of " Christian Mourning."
Although Isabella Graham was a genuine product of the Secession
churches of Scotland, cherishing their communion and their psalms, car
rying in her pocket, as a part of her " Provision for Passing over Jor
dan," one always used by her pastor upon sacramental occasions, the
tender one hundred and third, "0 thou my soul, bless God the Lord;"
she was nevertheless not the property of the " psalm-singing " churches
only, but was given by them to the Church Universal, and especially to
the women of the church in America, who look back to this Christian
daughter, sister, wife, mother, lover of her kind, not indeed as a " saint,"
yet as " a witness and a leader." — PI. M. M.

LIFE XXVI. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER.
A. D. 1772-A. D. 1851. PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
The overflow of Scottish population into the northern parts of Ire
land, which took place at various times, but reached a climax in the sev
enteenth century, resulted in the formation of what was virtually a new
race, known as the Scotch-Irish. There was doubtless, in some instances,
admixture of blood, but in many cases, as in that of the Alexanders,
there seems to have been none whatever ; yet the new settlers, whilst
retaining the most strongly marked peculiarities of their ancestral stock,
unquestionably laid aside some of the traits of their Caledonian fore
fathers, and acquired some of the characteristics of the southern Celt.
Thus there were combined in happy proportion in the character of this
stalwart people the best qualities of both the older races. There was
one thing above all others, in which the Scottish immigrant refused to
1 Funeral addresses we're distasteful to her pastor, Dr. Mason. " When his son James
died at Carlisle," says Dr. MacCartee, " I went there to attend the funeral and was re
quested by some members of the family to beg the doctor to allow an address to be made
at the grave for the sake of his son's young companions in college. I did eo. He at once
replied, 'No, no, these things are so often abused.' Of course, I did not urge the mat
ter. As the young men who served as pall-bearers lifted the coffin, the afflicted father ex
claimed, in tones which those present can never forget, ' Young men ! tread lightly, ye
bear a temple of the Holy Ghost! ' Then, overcome by his feelings, he dropped his head
upon my shoulder and said, ' Dear MacCartee, say something, which God may bless, to
his young friends.' " An address was made, and very soon a revival, powerful and pre
cious in its fruits, began in the college and the town.

750 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
walk in the steps of the man of Donegal or Tipperary, and that was
his religion. If it is true that the denizen of Southern Ireland is inflex
ible in his adhesion to the Church of Rome, it is equally true that his
northern neighbor is not a whit less firm in his hold upon the tenets and
usages of Protestantism. Indeed, wherever it has been carried, the name
Scotch-Irish has come to be regarded as a synonym for the word Presby
terian. Not content with their translation from one to another of the British
Bv birth a vir- Islands, large numbers crossed the Atlantic and joined the
ginian. colonies that had effected settlements in America. One of
these settlements was in the Valley of Virginia. Archibald Alexander
was born near Timber Ridge, in Augusta (now Rockbridge) County,
Virginia, on the 17th of April, 1772. His father was of an honora
ble lineage, being a scion of the ancient house of the MacAlexanders
of Tarbert, in Kentyre. His mother was Ann Reid, the estimable
daughter of a wealthy land-holder of the same colony. Both of Archi
bald's parents were reputable and pious people. The house in which
Archibald first saw the light was, like most others of that day, built
of square logs, and was situated not far from a little mountain-stream,
familiarly styled South River. When he was about three years old his
father removed to the south of the North River, to what was known
as the Forks, a name given to the whole territory lying between the
James River and its north branch. The scenery of the fertile region
in which the future theologian's boyhood was passed was in a high de
gree picturesque and romantically beautiful. Not many miles away was
the famous Stone Bridge, or " Natural Bridge," as it is universally de
nominated, and in plain view rose the cerulean outlines of the House and
the Jump Mountains. Archibald's father inherited from his ancestors a
love of books, and in common with his Scotch-Irish neighbors knew the
value of learning. Archibald was, like young David, " ruddy and of a
beautiful countenance." From the first he showed signs of intellectual
vivacity, and was selected out of a family of nine children as the one
who was to receive a liberal education. Like the rest he was early put to
school. His first teacher was " Jack Reardon," an English convict, who
had been transported for crime and was a servant of his father. From
him he learned little more, he says, than how to exercise his lungs.
Then he fell under the tuition of one Stevenson, and afterwards of an
other Englishman and " redemptioner " of the name of Rhodes. He
looked back upon the year under them with much satisfaction.
At ten years of age Archibald was placed under the guidance of the
His masters Gra- -^ev- William Graham, a graduate of the College of New
ham, Priestly. Jersey, who had set up, at Timber Ridge Meeting-House,
the Liberty Hall Academy, a chartered institution which had been taken
under the care of Hanover Presbytery, and was afterwards developed

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 751
into Washington College. The school had existed before Mr. Graham
came into the State, but at a point some six or seven miles to the east.
It was now situated on the edge of Mr. Alexander's estate. The build- v
ings had not yet gone up, and meanwhile studies were carried on in one
of the upper rooms of Mr. Graham's house. Here it was that the bloom
ing boy was admitted to some intimacy with classical learning. His
master taught few books, and was in the habit of warning his pupils
against the danger of forming their opinions from the number, or even
from the weight, of the authorities that could be cited in their support,
instead of adopting them as the result of their own independent re
flection. Some of the young men took this advice kindly and profited
by it, among whom was Archibald Alexander. To others it proved a
stumbling-block. Another of his masters, and the one with whom he was brought into
the closest daily contact, was James Priestly, the usher, a man equally
remarkable in his way, and one who stimulated to the utmost young
Archibald's dawning genius and slumbering love of learning. Some
times he would take the boys to a romantic spot, where a large spring
breaks from the hill-side and pours itself noisily into the river below.
Here Priestly would harangue his pupils in the words of Demosthenes,
and with all the fire that could have been looked for in the Grecian ora
tor. His wondering disciple, from whose recollections we make this
report, says that when the sentiments he uttered were sublime, the gifted
usher would be raised to such heights of enthusiasm as to be transported
beyond himself.
Notwithstanding the advantage of such teachers, our young scholar
made at this time what he conceived to be but humble attainments.
This does not seem to have been the usher's judgment, though, for he
spoke of him to his father as a boy of great promise. The school had
become very corrupt, and Archibald had fallen into several doubtful (or
more than doubtful) practices, though restrained by bashfulness or timid
ity (as he says) from going to the point of excess that had been reached
by other of the boys. He also was favored about this time with the in
structions of a new usher, Archibald Roane, afterwards governor of Ten
nessee. This was when he was entering upon the study of Horace. On
the departure of Mr. Roane, Archibald fell more constantly than before
under the tuition of Mr. Graham. The curriculum of studies was the
same as Dr. Witherspoon's at Princeton. They had the same text-books,
and transcribed Witherspoon's lectures on moral philosophy and criti
cism. It was the desire of the principal that Archibald should take a
regular degree ; and there was no doubt entertained of his ability to do
so, as he had always been placed in the first grade, though he himself
modestly ascribed the favor shown him more to his youth and small stat
ure, and to his prompt answers, than to any solid desert. It turned out,

752 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
however, when his father came back from a journey to Fredericksburg,
that he had made an engagement for him as tutor in the family of Gen
eral Posey, of the Wilderness, twelve miles west of that city.
In this situation Mr. Alexander did a great deal of hard reading, and
acquired at this time the foundation of all the accuracy he afterwards
gained in the Latin language. In his latter years he has been heard to
say that for half a century he had read more Latin than English. His
reading of authors in the vernacular was miscellaneous and discursive.
He addicted himself much to history and travels, and indeed everything
that could give him information. Plis thirst for knowledge was at all
periods of his life unquenchable. He tried to interest himself in Locke's
Essay, but failed to comprehend it ; and it was not till long afterwards
that he disclosed his extraordinary proclivity for the science of the mind
which became his favorite branch of study.
At General Posey's he met an aged Christian lady, Mrs. Tyler, a
. , „ member of the Baptist Church, who gradually succeeded in
An aged lady r .
the agent in nis turning his thoughts more and more into religious channels.
conversion. nShe conversed with him, put books into his hands, and went
with him to hear preachers. She was a lover of the writings of John
Flavel, and naturally wished to put his books in the hands of her Pres
byterian friend. Learning that Flavel was a Presbyterian he sought at
once to discover what were his views of regeneration. He was a total
stranger to works on the evidences of Christianity. He was not even
aware that any such works had been written ; though he had often heard
of the infidel arguments, he had not hitherto paid any attention to them.
Now he calmly interrogated himself as to the ground of his belief.
This he felt all the more urged to do, as so large a number of intelligent
Virginians, and others, had embraced the deistical views that had been
propagated from France. Into a trunk of classical and scientific books
that had been sent to him from home some kind lady had thrown a cheap
pamphlet which he had often seen tossing about the house, and which he
was now displeased to recognize. On opening it, however, he was at
once arrested by the title, " Internal Evidences of the Christian Religion,
by Soame Jenyns, Esq." The family had gone to church, and he sat
down to read. The effect upon his mind was overwhelming. When he
ceased, the room had the appearance of being illuminated. He had not
been without transient religious impressions while yet a little boy in Au
gusta. Once the seriousness vanished instantly from his mind on hearing
his parents speak slightingly of the sermon. Now he began to be in
concern. Before this he had often prayed mentally at critical times, but
was not in the habit of secret prayer. Now, every fair morning, he went
out into the fields to meditate. Having found some plots of green grass,
shut in by thickets, and overhung by great beech trees, he made a booth
or arbor with his knife; and used to resort to this sequestered spot

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 753
with his book on the Lord's Day. On a particular Sunday evening the
place became solemn and delightful to such a degree that he was loath to
return home. This was not accompanied by a radical reformation of char
acter. Mrs. Tyler was accustomed to make use of his services as a reader.
One Sabbath evening he had been led to select Flavel's " Method of
Grace," and the sermon on Revelation iii. 20, " Behold, I stand at the
door and knock." The discourse was upon " the patience and forbear
ance and kindness of the Lord Jesus to impenitent and obstinate sin
ners." As he read on, his voice began to falter, and at length he laid
down the book, rose up hastily, and with a full heart repaired to his
little sylvan oratory. There he threw himself upon his knees ; and after
some minutes was overwhelmed with a flood of joy. He did not after
wards remember that he had at this moment any distinct views of Christ.
For a few days he walked carefully ; but in a week his former feelings
returned, and when he was tempted he transgressed as before. The rec
ollection filled him the next day with unutterable anguish. The inter
course with Flavel and good Mrs. Tyler enabled him to comprehend better
than he had done the cardinal doctrines of the Christian system. A little
book, " Jenks on Justification by Faith," which fell into his hands about
this time, had an effect not unlike the perusal of Soame Jenyns. Before
he had been leaning on the old covenant ; now everything appeared
clear as if written with a sunbeam. A good sermon was a feast now to
the ardent young inquirer. This year, 1788-1789, he afterwards re
garded as an epoch in his spiritual history. If not actually regenerated,
he was at this period much enlightened and savingly awakened. He now
began to seek for the truth as for hid treasure. To John Flavel, he was
wont to say, he certainly owed more than to any uninspired writer.
At the end of a year he returned to his native haunts among the
mountains of Rockbridge. This was the era of the " Great Keij„!ous expe.
Revival," as it was called, and the Presbyterians of the day rj.eil?fsQauri.n|
were divided into the Old Side and New Side, agreeably to vivai."
their inclination to frown upon or to encourage the awakening. The
friends of Mr. Alexander belonged as a general thing to the Old Side.
His pastor and old preceptor, Mr. Graham, had been invited across the
mountains to witness the revival scenes, and took his former pupil along
with him. On the way a novel and impressive sight presented itself. A
large company of young people moved slowly by on horseback, sing
ing hymns. Most of them were young converts, who had attended the
Rev. Nash Legrand from Caswell County, North Carolina. They had
traveled fifty or sixty miles in order to attend the sacrament, and were
full of zeal and of solemn and tender feeling.
As soon as nearly all the people who were returning had passed, they
espied the imposing figure of Dr. John Blair Smith, the son of the ven
erable Dr. Robert Smith, of Pequea, Pennsylvania, and a brother of
48

754 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the famous President Samuel Stanhope Smith, of Princeton. The two
clergymen saluted one another heartily. Mr. Graham was soon induced
to cooperate with the movement ; and his pupil never knew a man to
be more transformed. They visited Prince Edward, and were hospita
bly received at Hampden Sidney, of which Dr. Smith had resigned the
management into the hands of the Rev. Drury Lacy, of " the silver
hand." Hearing much whilst on this journey of bodily convulsions, Mr.
Alexander was much perturbed at the want of these physical manifesta
tions in his own case. The travelers journeyed to the verge of " the
mountain " again, into Bedford, and when they had arrived at Liberty
were joined by a large party of friends from Rockbridge, among whom
was Mr. Alexander's eldest sister. While at Liberty he went a little out
of town to a thicket near a wood for meditation and prayer. Suddenly
there came over him such a melting of heart as he never knew before or
after. In looking back upon this experience in after life, the subject of
these pleasing emotions was disposed to ascribe it to a quick change in the
animal system, and to the relief arising from a flow of pent-up tears.
This gush of feeling was succeeded by a sweet composure of spirit. He
could not recall any thought of Christ, or much contrition for sin. In a
few hours everything was as it had been before. He was gradually
brought to the conclusion that his case was desperate, and that he would
certainly be damned. This was a sober and deliberate influence, and pro
duced no agitation. The justice of God, it seemed to him, could be satis
fied in no other way.
On their return to Lexington the young disciples, in the simplicity of
their hearts, fully expected an immediate outpouring of the Spirit among
their neighbors and friends ; nor were they wholly disappointed. Some,
however, opposed the work of grace, and some good men looked coldly
upon it. Much extravagance and some fanaticism had been mixed up
with the revival, though in Virginia the preaching had been uniformly
sound, and the measures resorted to were commonly Scriptural. One day
in the forest, at the foot of a projecting rock in a dark valley, Alexander
tasted the bitter cup of despair. He knelt upon the ground, and poured
out a broken cry for help, when in a moment he had such a view of the
crucified Redeemer as was without parallel in his after experience, filling
his mind with joy and even transport. For a few days he was full of
serenity, and yet he soon fell back into darkness. In the autumn of the
year 1789 he made an open profession of his faith. His first communion
was not on the whole a comfortable one. He greatly feared, lest he had
eaten and drunk damnation to himself. The second approach that he
made to the Lord's table was, however, an occasion of delightful peace
and assurance.
In subsequent controversies about what were styled " new measures,"
there were some who called Dr. Alexander a cold recluse who had nevei

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 755
felt the glow of revival warmth in his own heart, little imagining m the
midst of what scenes he had been awakened and converted. Soon after
becoming a communicant he began to study for the ministry, and was sent
as a ruling elder to Philadelphia, to the meeting of the general assembly,
where he first saw Witherspoon and. other leaders, and attended upon the
debates with the keenest interest.
After the completion of his theological studies, he was licensed as a ,
probationer for the gospel ministry, and was sent out by the „
r ° A . ' Goes as a mis-
synod of Virginia as a missionary into the sparsely occu- sionary through
Virginia
pied territory within their bounds. He was accompanied
on this errand by a classmate, a young man of talents and piety. For six
months they journeyed on horseback, going from house to house in the
hospitable country. One night they had much conversation with James
Shelburne, an old mill-wright, wearing a leathern apron, who (though an
unlettered man) had become a Baptist preacher. They felt it to be their
duty to question him as to his call to the ministry ; but before he was done
with them, the old man made them look with some doubt on their own
call. Their way lay through Charlotte and Prince Edward, and after
their separation Mr. Alexander took charge of the churches of Brien's
and Cumberland.
This region had enjoyed the pastoral services of the Rev. William
Robinson, one of the pioneers, the Rev. Robert Henry, whose ministry
had been greatly helpful to the blacks, and of that great man, the Rev.
Samuel Davies, afterwards president of the College of New Jersey ; and
there were some who still remembered the incomparable eloquence of
Whitefield, who had passed through the country. The conditions of life
in the new settlements east of the Blue Ridge had produced many re
markable characters, some of whom are not unknown to fame. Others
lived in greater obscurity. Col. Samuel Venable used to be likened by
Mr. Alexander to Benjamin Franklin, and the Rev. Samuel Brown to
Jonathan Edwards. In this region lived two of the greatest orators
whom America has produced, — Patrick Henry and John Randolph of
Roanoke. It so chanced that the subject of this memoir was present at
Charlotte Court on the occasion of the meeting of these distinguished
men for the first and only time of their lives at the same hustings. He
was already acquainted with Henry (then old and infirm), and afterwards
numbered Randolph among his hearers, he having been known to make
a detour for the purpose of hearing Alexander preach. Among the in
timate friends of this period were the eccentric but gifted Conrad Speece,
a preacher of great originality and force, and the Rev. John H. Rice,
one of the foremost men in the roll of the Virginia ministry, the founder
of the Union Theological1 Seminary in Prince Edward.
For a short time Mr. Alexander was president of Hampden Sidney
College, which had fallen into a very low state. He was chosen by
the Presbytery of Hanover a commissioner to the general assembly.

756 THE' CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
which adopted the famous " Plan of Union," the repeal of which led to
the disruption of the old church. Before returning, he
Hampden-Sid- went as a delegate from the general assembly (which at
this period always met in Philadelphia, then the chief city
of the land) to the general association of Connecticut, and took the oc
casion to make an extensive journey through New England, where he
formed the acquaintance, and received the hospitable courtesies, of the
venerable Samuel Hopkins, and others equally noted. Mr. Alexander
engaged in amicable discussion with some of the leaders of the new the
ology, and seems to have made a favorable impression on the people with
whom he was brought in contact. He preached everywhere, and always
in the free and hearty style to which he had accustomed himself in Vir
ginia, never taking a note into the pulpit. He had schooled himself to
follow trains of premeditated reasoning, and was prone to indulge in
graceful rhetorical embellishments. He was small, with a dark, piercing
eye, and a flute-like voice that vibrated with emotion and penetrated to
any distance.
Declining the appointment of Phillips professor in Dartmouth College,
on his return to his native State, he was married to Janetta Waddel, a
daughter of the celebrated James Waddel, of Louisa County, the
"blind preacher" of Mr. Wirt's "British Spy," and an orator the ac
counts of whom seem almost fabulous, and remind one of the stories of
Patrick Henry and Whitefield. In 1801 he had been invited to a pas
torate in Baltimore, but did not accede to the call. A few years later he
became the successor of Dr. Milledoler, in Philadelphia, with the pas
toral care of the Third Presbyterian Church, in Pine Street. The peo
ple he ministered to were of simple manners, and contained many from
fhe neighborhood of the navy yard, with a considerable proportion of
shipmasters and pilots. The predominant ingredient was the good old
Scotch-Irish element he was so familiar with. His labors here were
faithful and most acceptable, though irksome, and were pursued in a
climate unfavorable to Mr. Alexander's health. The studies of his ear
lier days were now much enlarged, and a goodly number of volumes
began to fill the shelves of his library. Among other linguistic studies
he took lessons in Hebrew, under a learned Jew by the name of Hor-
witz. During a great part of his life Mr. Alexander was in the habit
of reading at least one chapter daily in the Hebrew Bible.
In the year 1812, Archibald Alexander was appointed by the general
assembly professor of the theological seminary that had
father of Prince- just been set up at Princeton. For a time the whole work
of organizing the institution, under the plan of the assem
bly, was in the hands of Alexander, then just forty years old. He had
no predecessor, and had scarcely a precedent. He devoted himself, not
only to the outward administration, but to Hebrew, Greek, criticism, her-
meneutics, and theology, including dogmengeschichte. This was the year

Cent. XVH.-XIX] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 757
of the war with England, which was carried on, however, almost exclu
sively on the high seas. Late in the following year he was joined by
Dr. Samuel Miller, who was his colleague for nearly forty years, and
with whom, during that entire period, he lived in unbroken harmony and
tender love. Dr. Miller assumed the chair of history and polity. Never
were two men more unlike. Dr. Miller had been formed on the stately
model of President Stanhope Smith. He was not only a perfect speci
men of the Christian gentleman, but was regular as a clock in all his
habits, and singularly punctilious in his regard for all the niceties of the
social rubric. He was a truly affable, learned, godly man, and a man
of excellent ability. As time brought its changes, others were added to
the faculty, as notably Dr. Charles Hodge, who was to exert such a
mighty influence on the church, and whom his theological preceptor and
associate likened to Calvin without his severity. Yet the older race of
students naturally thought first of the two original professors. Dr.
Alexander was now exactly at his meridian. He was at this time, as at
all times, severely bound down by no rules, except such as are dictated
by Christian propriety. Scrupulously clean, he seemed to give no thought
to his dress. Though his study door was open to anybody and every
body, he was sometimes known to show amiable signs of weariness. He
was in all things preeminently a child of nature as well as of grace. In
the pulpit he was at his best when purely extemporaneous. A learned
chief justice once styled him, jocosely, " the prince of Methodist preach
ers." Just at this point, a memorable change took place in his general
mode of life. Although in his youth a bold and expert horseman, and
one who lived much in the open air and in the saddle, he now con
fined himself strictly to exercise in his carriage, and as the years ad
vanced became a voluntary prisoner to his study, and almost literally to
his well-worn elbow-chair. A corresponding change occurred in his
preaching. Until near seventy he did not take paper into the pulpit, ex
cept on the occasion of his trials before presbytery. Now he took to
reading, and with a marked decline in the power of his delivery. At the
close he used to push up his spectacles on his forehead, cast those light
ning glances about him, and launch out untrammeled as if upon his na
tive element. The raising of his glasses always acted on his auditors
like a sudden burst of sunshine. The March winds preyed fearfully on
his nervous system, and he was urged by Dr. Rice and other of his Vir
ginia friends to consult his health and return to the South. He con
sented so far as to revisit the scenes of his more active experience, where
he was received with open arms by attracted crowds, and where his
preaching made an impression that is remembered to this day. Some
what later he reluctantly declined an invitation to a chair in the Virginia
Union Theological Seminary.
Mr. Alexander, from this time onward, buried himself more and more
among the Latin theologians of the seventeenth century. His method

758 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
of teaching was partly by text-book and partly by lecture ; partly, also,
by animated criticisms upon the written theses of the students, as well
as upon their oral discussions. Pie was surprisingly versed in geography
and the exact sciences. His topographical faculty was something mar
velous. He never forgot a road or a way-mark, and had the charges of
his widely scattered pupils, and indeed the minutest localities of the
entire country, so far as he was acquainted with it, mapped off in his
mind with all the particularity of a drawn chart. He was still devoted
to metaphysical inquiries, and paid great attention to the evidences and
the canon, and brought out popular works on these subjects, as well as on
the history of the Jews and the history of the colonization of Liberia,
and in his later years an admirable treatise on ethics. The Rev. Dr.
MacGuffey, long the brilliant professor of mental philosophy in the
University of Virginia, once remarked to the writer, that whenever Dr.
Alexander touched an intripate question in intellectual or moral science,
it was " with the spear of Ithuriel." His elaborate reply to Dr. Murdoch
on the " Atonement," and to Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, on the
" Nature of Cause," were greatly admired for the fairness, the lucidity,
and the cogency of their argument. Dr. Alexander was to some extent
implicated in the ecclesiastical movements connected with the division of
the Presbyterian Church in 1837 and 1838, into the branches known as
Old and New School, but always deprecated the agitation
which made that division a necessity, and pursued a course
throughout in his relations with both parties, that was marked by his char
acteristic prudence and wisdom. The position he occupied was a pecul
iarly trying one, and it is generally allowed that in his conduct he united
candor and fairness with delicacy and Christian affection.
The last years of his life were uneventful, but abundant in labors in
the professor's chair and among the congregations. In the class-room
and in the conference on Sabbath afternoon, his eye would kindle and
his face shine, and he sometimes, on these occasions, in reasoning and
power of analysis, in lucid statement and ripe spiritual wisdom, seemed
raised above himself, and spoke like one almost inspired. His sermons
lacked much of the earlier pictorial quality, but if less graphic were, if
possible, even more perspicuous and accurate, and certainly more pro
found. Wis forte was clearly in experimental theology. His knowledge
of fallen human nature, especially when under the workings of the Holy
Spirit, was so amazing that President Woolsey, late of Yale College,
one of his pupils, has even ventured so far as to call him " the Shake
speare of the human heart." In person and manner he was said to re
semble William Wilberforce, the English philanthropist and Christian
author. The most obvious trait of his preaching was its simplicity.
Children and servants could understand all he said. This was also the
distinguishing trait of his whole character, "his utter simplicity." His
modesty and self-forgetful naivete were those of a little child.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 759
When in his prime he was thin, though he afterwards grew more stout,
with an inclination to corpulence ; his complexion was clear, ms personal ap_
and his soft brown hair already beginning to be silvered, p°arance.
albeit it never became altogether white ; his countenance was wonder
fully mobile and animated, and his eye that of an eagle. Latterly he
had a stoop of the shoulder and a characteristic swaying, irregular gait.
A broad cloak hung at an angle on one side, and he would dart sudden
downward glances to the right or left. He was of mercurial spirits, and
in the social circle and at the home fireside o$en full of vivacity, affec
tionate gayety, and banter. In his best moods it would be hard to find
his equal as a raconteur} He was however subject to fits of silence and
depression. Few men were ever more deeply reverenced or widely
loved. His life was hid with Christ in God. For an hour at twilight
every evening, he suffered no interruption of his privacy, and was be
lieved to be then engaged in devotional or serious meditations. His
face came to show unmistakable traces of a mellowed Christian expe
rience. His very appearance was that of a holy as well as aged and
benevolent man. His colleague, Dr. Miller, preceded him to the other
world ; and Dr. Alexander, with all the solemnity of the eternal state in
his manner, preached the funeral sermon on the occasion of his interment.
He announced his own departure as near at hand, and made his prepara
tions for the great journey as calmly and methodically as if he had
been going back to Rockbridge, among his native mountains in old Vir
ginia. It was a blessed sojourn in the land of Beulah. His influence
was by this time second to that of no man in the church. The cloud of
his distinguished and undistinguished pupils rose up to praise him in at
the gate. The hour of his euthanasia was not long postponed. After
the most impressive and gratifying testimonies of his composure and as
surance, he was gathered to his fathers, and was buried by the Synod of
New Jersey, then in session in Princeton, on Friday, the 24th of Oc
tober, 1851, in the eightieth year of his age. And the whole church
joined in the cry, " The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof."2 —
H. C. A.
1 Dr. Alexander left behind him, besides his devoted widow, who did not long survive
him, six sons and a daughter: James "Waddel, William Cowper, Joseph Addison, Archi
bald, Samuel Davies, Janetta, and Henry Martyn. Of these, three are now gone, who
once added to the indescribable charm of the circle at Princeton. James was the accom
plished professor, in both the college and the seminary, where he succeeded Dr. Miller,
and the gifted and beloved pastor of the Duane Street and the Fifth Avenue and Nine
teenth Street churches. He was also a distinguished author. William was an able law
yer and legislator, and then the first president of a large insurance company. Addison
was the well-known professor in the seminary and commentator on Isaiah, Acts, Matthew,
and Mark. He was a rare linguist and brilliant genius. As a preacher he at times ex
celled most of his contemporaries. The two last named had a vein of original humor, and
both were endowed with powers of memory that were almost unexampled. Dr. Alexander
never appeared to better advantage than when chatting with his wife and children.
2 See the charming narrative of his conversation in his last hours with the pastor of the
church of his family, the Rev. Dr. William E. Schenck. (Sprague's AnnaUj vol. iv-)

760 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE XXVII. CHARLES HODGE.
A. D. 1797-A. D. 1878. PKESBYTEKIAN, — AMEEICA.
The paternal grandfather of Charles Hodge, with his two brothers,
emigrated from the north of Ireland in 1735, and settled in Philadel
phia. They were by education Presbyterians, and by grace pious men,
and gladly cooperated in the great revival which soon after visited the
city of their adoption under the preaching of Whitefield. They were
among the founders and first office-bearers of the Second Presbyterian
Church, founded in 1740, whose first pastor was the apostolical Gilbert
Tennant. Charles Hodge's father was a godly physician, whose health
was broken by the exposures incident to his disinterested labors through
out the yellow fever epidemics occurring from 1793 to 1795. His mother,
a descendant of French Pluguenots, was born and educated among the
orthodox Congregationalists of Boston. He thus writes of his own earli
est life : " When my father died in 1798, he left a widow, little more than
thirty years of age, and two children, Hugh Lenox, aged two years, and
Charles, aged six months. It is no marvel that mothers are sacred in the
His mother eyes °^ ^ae^v children. The debt they owe them is beyond
all estimate. To our mother, my brother and myself, under
God, owe absolutely everything. To us she devoted her life. For us
she prayed, labored, and suffered.
" Our early training was religious. Our mother was a Christian. She
took us regularly to church, and carefully drilled us in the Westminster
Catechism, which we recited on stated occasions J;o Dr. Ashbel Green,
our pastor. I think that in my childhood I came nearer to the apostolic
injunction, ' Pray without ceasing,' than in any other period of my life.
As far back as I can remember I had the habit of thanking God for
everything I received, and asking Him for everything I wanted. If I
lost a book or any of my playthings, I prayed that I might find it. I
prayed walking along the streets, in school and out of school, whether
playing or studying. I did not do this in obedience to any prescribed
rule. It seemed natural. I thought of God as an everywhere present
Being, full of kindness and love, who would not be offended if children
talked to Him. I knew He cared for sparrows. I was as cheerful and
happy as the birds, and acted as they did."
He received his classical education in Somerville, and at the academy
in Princeton, New Jersey, and entered the college in the latter place in
the fall of 1812, just after the inauguration of his old pastor, Dr. Ashbel
Green, as president of the college, and of Dr. Archibald Alexander as
the first professor of the new theological seminary of the Presbyterian
Church.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHARLES HODGE. 761
His religious experience having gradually ripened, he, with his friend
Kinsey Van Dyke, made a profession of faith in the Presbyterian church
in Princeton, January 13, 1815, in the middle of their Senior year. The
afternoon of the Saturday preceding there was a sergeant with a drum
mer in the town enlisting recruits for the then pending war with Great
Britain. One student abruptly hailed another with the announcement
that " Hodge had enlisted." " Is it possible ! " was the He enlists.
response. " Yes, he has enlisted under the banner of King
Jesus." This stand, as Dr. Green judged, cooperating with other provi
dential events, was influential in bringing to a crisis the great revival in
the college which immediately ensued. One half of the previously un
converted students were brought to a knowledge of Christ, and among
these several who were eminent in the Christian ministry, and life-long
intimate friends of Charles Hodge : as John Johns, bishop of Virginia,
Charles P. Mcllvaine, bishop of Ohio, W. J. Armstrong, secretary of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, William James,
Charles Stewart, etc.
Mr. Hodge entered the theological seminary under the instruction of
those eminent servants of God, Drs. A. Alexander and Samuel Miller,
in the fall of 1816. At the close of his course in 1819 he was selected
by Dr. Alexander to be his assistant in teaching the original languages
of Scripture. After having spent the winter of 1819-1820 in Philadel
phia, preparing for his work under the instruction of the Rev. Joseph
Banks, D. D., of the Associate Presbyterian Church, and having been
licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, he commenced his work in
the seminary in midsummer, 1820. In 1822, having been ordained by
the Presbytery of New Brunswick, he was elected by the general as
sembly professor of Oriental and Biblical literature in their seminary at
Princeton. In this department he labored with great diligence, and laid the foun
dation of considerable learning in the various special branches connected
with it. But conscious of his need of greater advantages of instruction
than were at that time afforded in America, with the permission of the
board of directors, he left his family and his work in the seminary, and
spent two years in special studies in Paris, Halle, and Berlin, gtudjes in Eu_
from the fall of 1826 to that of 1828. He attended the r°Pe-
lectures, among others, of De Sacy in Paris, of Gesenius and Tholuck
in Halle, and of Hengstenberg, Neander, and Humboldt in Berlin. By a
blessed providence he was thrown, in Halle, and yet more in Berlin, into
a circle of most gracious and loving young Christians about his own age,
as Tholuck, Otto and Ludwig von Gerlach, and others. Among these
congenial spirits he was permitted to give as well as receive light and
comfort. The intimacy and endearing tenderness of these Christian
friendships is proved and illustrated by the letters he continued to receive
for many years.

762 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
On his return to America, in the autumn of 1828, Mr. Hodge conse
crated himself with renewed enthusiasm to his work as professor of Ori
ental and Biblical literature. He prepared extensive courses of , lectures
on Biblical criticism, hermeneutics, special introduction, sacred geog
raphy, etc. He delivered to the Junior class exegetical lectures on
Paul's Epistles, an exercise which he continued twice a week without
interruption for fifty years, to the end of his life.
In 1825 he had commenced editing a quarterly publication, entitled
the "Biblical Repertory," designed to furnish translations
Founds the ° , .
"Princeton He- and reprints of the best contemporary foreign essays upon
view." ^-v
theological and religious subjects. On his return from
Europe he enlarged the scheme by making it the vehicle for original con
tributions to the same class of literature, adding to the former title that
of "Princeton Review." He continued to be the editor and principal
contributor of this review until 1868, having, as far as can be now as
certained, contributed one hundred and thirty articles, many of which
gave to the review the larger share of its reputation and influence among
the churches of America and Europe. The most important of these
have been republished in Great Britain, and have been gathered into
volumes and published in this country under thetitles " Hodge's Essays,"
" Princeton Essays," and " Hodge's Church Polity."
These articles cover the whole field of theology and ecclesiology, and
of the great practical, ecclesiastical, and moral questions of the day.
From 1835 to 1868 he wrote every year a review of the action of the
general assembly, which series all parties acknowledge have exerted a
very powerful influence upon the current opinion and history of the
church. A writer on the " American Press " in the " British Quarterly Review "
for January, 1871, says of the " Princeton Review: " " It is, beyond all
question, the greatest purely theological review that has ever been pub
lished in the English tongue, and has waged war in defense of the West
minster standards for a period of forty years, with a polemic vigor and
unity of design without any parallel in the history of religious journalism.
If we were called to name any living writer, who to Calvin's exegetical
tact unites a large measure of Calvin's grasp of mind and transparent
clearness in the department of systematic theology, we should point to
this Princeton professor."
Professor James McGregor, in the " British and Foreign Evangelical
Review " for July, 1874, says : " Greatness of nature has been exhibited
in remarkable measure from first to last by the Princeton school in gen
eral, and by Dr. Hodge in particular. They have in their controversies
been earnest, eloquent, warm, even passionate, but they have invariably
spoken as true Christian gentlemen, who in relation to adversaries make
due allowance for human infirmities. They have shown themselves to be
manly men of the heroic type."

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHARLES HODGE. 763
Dr. Charles P. Krauth, of the Lutheran Church, said at Dr. Hodge's
semi-centennial commemoration, April, 1872, that he (Dr. Hodge) had
always treated of the doctrines of churches differing from his own, " with
candor, love of truth, and perfect fairness."
As a controversialist, for forty-five years, Dr. Hodge was characterized
by preeminent self-consistency, persistence of convictions, As a controTer-
and a uniformly consistent expression of them ; by great Blallst-
clearness of style and thoroughly logical arrangement of material, and
consequent development of the principles adopted ; by absolute fidelity to
truth as he conceived it, and devotion to its maintenance, for the glory
of Christ and the good of souls, without a shadow of a thought as to the
approbation or the offense of men.
As a preacher he was instructive and edifying, but not popular. His
sermons were elaborate expositions of some fundamental doctrine of the
gospel, often exhibited on the side of experience and practice. He read
them quietly, without gesture, but with great solemnity and tenderness of
tone and manner.
As a man in all the manifestations of his inward life in his family, and
with his intimate friends, he was a Christian of the type of John. He
was reverent, tender, joyous, full of faith and hope and love. He spon
taneously cast off whatever tended to depress him, and always looked on
the bright side of things. When he looked Godward his attitude was
adoring love ; when he looked manward his face radiated benevolence.
He was a life-long controversialist, because he believed that the truth as
he held it was essential to the glory of God and the salvation of men.
Yet he was devoid of all personal animosities, and he truly loved all,
except in the few cases in which it appeared to him beyond doubt that
the persons not loved were judicially given up to be identified with the
lies they taught.
As a teacher he had great power, which resulted in part from his
character, and the reverence that excited, partly from the
. As a teacher.
fullness of his knowledge and the clearness of his statements,
and partly from his method. He possessed an almost perfect skill in
practicing the Socratic method, in eliciting thought, and leading to con
clusions by questions. He stimulated thought, and taught his students
how to use their faculties, and brought them to fixed convictions through
personal experience of the truth, and its relation to the conscience and
the life.
In all these relations and functions his distinguishing attributes were
great tenderness and strength of emotion, and power of exciting it in
others ; an habitual adoring love for Christ, and absolute submission of
mind and will to his word ; a chivalrous disposition to maintain against
all odds, and with unvarying consistency through all the years of a long
life, the truth as he knew it ; crystalline clearness of thought and ex-

764 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
pression ; and an unsurpassed logical power of analysis, and of grasping
and exhibiting all truths in their relations. As he sat every Sabbath
afternoon in the conference of students and professors, he spoke on all
questions of experimental and practical religion, freely, without paper,
in language and with illustration suggested by the moment. The mat
ter presented was a clear analysis of the Scriptural passage or theme,
doctrinal or practical, chosen for the occasion ; an exhaustive statement
and clear illustration of the subject ; a development of each doctrine on
the side of experience and duty, and a demonstration of the practical
character of all doctrine, and of the doctrinal basis of all genuine relig
ious experience and practice. As to the manner, the entire discourse was
in the highest degree earnest, fervent, and tender to tears ; full of con
viction and full of love.
In 1835 he published his " Commentary on the Epistle to the Ro
mans;" in 1839 and 1840 his "Constitutional History of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States ; " in 1841,
the " Way of Life," intended to instruct inquirers and young Christians as
to the true nature of Christian doctrine on its practical and experimental
side. It has been republished in England and translated into other lan
guages, and thirty-five thousand copies have been circulated in America.
Christians of all denominations have acknowledged their indebtedness to
it. Dr. Hodge published his "Commentary on Ephesians " in 1856,
that on First Corinthians in 1857, and that on Second Corinthians in
1859. His great life-work, " Systematic Theology," in three large oc
tavo volumes, aggregating two thousand two hundred and sixty pages,
was published between 1871 and 1873. These have had a large circu
lation in America and Great Britain, and are text-books, or books of
primary reference, in many theological seminaries. In 1874 he pub
lished a small book entitled, " What is Darwinianism ? " in opposition to
the prevailing atheistic theory of evolution.
He was made Doctor of Divinity by Rutgers College, New Jersey, in
1834, and LL. D. by Washington College, Pennsylvania, in 1864, and
moderator of the general assembly in 1846.
From 1830 to 1840 he was afflicted with an obscure affection of the
nerves of the right thigh. It was the cause of great pain immediately
from the nature of the affliction itself, and mediately from the remedies
resorted to by his physicians. He was for several years confined to a
horizontal position, part of that time with his limb in an iron splint. He
was lanced, and burned with the actual cautery, and treated with electric -
and cold baths. For some years his classes gathered round his couch in
his own room. Afterwards he went to meet them, first on crutches, and
then leaning on a cane. He used one reclining chair, occupying a fixed
spot in his study for more than forty-five years, and his writing was done
until comparatively recent days on a board supported by his left arm

Cent. XVII.-XIX] CHARLES HODGE. 765
and hand, while he was extended in an almost reclining position on his
chair. This affliction was acquiesced in by him with the utmost cheerfulness,
and doubtless contributed much to deepen and sweeten his religious ex
perience. It was by such means that his faith strengthened and became
in appearance as vivid and as certain as sight, and that his sanctified
affections went out in an ever-increasing flame of adoring love toward
his Lord, and of holy brotherly kindness toward all Christians.
In 1840 Dr. Hodge was transferred to the chair of didactic theology,
hitherto occupied by his venerated preceptor, Dr. Archibald Alexander.
His special adaptation to this new chair had been strikingly demonstrated
by his articles in the " Princeton Review" on doctrinal subjects, and by
his " Commentary on Romans." His singular power in analysis, logical
exposition, and effective polemics had become universally recognized.
But it was one of the most conspicuous of the many favoring providences
which distinguished his life, that he was at first constrained to turn his
attention against the natural bent of his tastes and talents to the study
of the original languages of Scripture, and to the practice of extended
exegesis. It was doubtless largely due to the fact that for twenty years
he was thus professionally engaged with purely exegetical studies that
bis subsequent theological writings were so predominately Scriptural in
their form and spirit. The result has been that while his commentaries
and exegetical lectures have been, to a marked degree, dominated by the
ological ideas, it is true even to a greater extent that all his theological
statements and arguments are controlled by and suffused with the in
spired Word.
From the date of his employment as assistant teacher of Oriental and
Biblical literature in 1820 to his death in 1878, over three Teaches three
thousand candidates for the ministry of the various evangel- thousand cler
ical churches had passed under his instruction. The influ
ence of such a man, exerted through so many channels for so long a time,
must have been immense. It was, however, directly exerted through the
class-room and through the press, especially through his numerous articles
upon all the great matters of current ecclesiastical interest which ap
peared in the " Princeton Review ; " and the ministry, through which
class he reached his entire generation throughout the Christian world.
On the 23d of April, 1872, the fiftieth anniversary of his election as
professor, there was observed in Princeton a semi-centennial commem
oration or jubilee. Four hundred of his former students enrolled them
selves as having come up from every part of the land to pay their respects
to their aged professor. The faculties of all the Presbyterian theolog
ical seminaries, and several of those belonging to the Episcopal, Meth
odist, Congregational, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, were repre
sented. All branches of the Presbyterian churches of Great Britain

766 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
and Ireland saluted him by letter or representative with expressions of
their respect, confidence, and love. Episcopal bishops, venerable profess
ors, and pastors of all communions sent him congratulatory addresses.
Dr. Joseph T. Duryea, of Brooklyn, delivered an oration on " Theology
as a Science." Dr. H. A. Boardman, of Philadelphia, delivered to Dr.
Hodge, in the name of the directors and alumni of the institution, a con
gratulatory address.
" That you should live to see this mighty mechanism in motion, to
guide into so many of its countless channels this broad stream from the
Fountain of living waters, is a distinction so rare and so exalted that we
cannot but look upon you as a man greatly beloved of God, and honored
as He has scarcely honored any other individual of our age  We
render the praise to Him whose providence and grace have made you
what you are, and given you to us and to his church  Again.
with one heart and voice do we the directors and alumni of the semi
nary, the faculties and graduates of sister institutions, the represent
atives of the other liberal professions, and your friends of every name
and calling here assembled, congratulate you on this auspicious anniver
sary, and pay you the tribute of our grateful love."
In his reply, while defining the life-long principles of his senior col
leagues, and of himself, he said : " When I was about leaving Berlin on
my return to America, the friends whom God had given me in that city
were kind enough to send me an album, in which they had. severally
written their names, and a few lines as remarks. What Neander wrote
Eis motto for was ™ Greek, and included these words : OiSeV lv lav™,
Princeton. nothing in our self ; iv Kvpia 7ravra, all things in the Lord;
<S fiwai Sov\(.veiv Sofa «ai Kav\y]/J.a, whom alone to serve is a glory and a
joy. These words our old professors would have inscribed in letters of
gold over the portals of this seminary, there to remain in undiminished
brightness as long as the name of Princeton lingers in the memory of
man." The singular perfection of such a life-work is due to the remarkable
combination of a variety of elements : natural endowments of intellect
and conscience and affections, divine grace, great diligence and supreme
moral courage, felicitous circumstances, eminent position, and length of
days. He died June 19, 1878, in his eighty-first year; his nervous system
exhausted, his physical life ran gently out, while his mind was as clear
and his spirit as free and strong as ever. He died with all his family
around him, as the setting sun glorifying the lower heavens, with the
peaceful brightness of his faith and love. To a weeping daughter he
said, " Dearest, don't weep. To be absent from the body is to be with
the Lord. To be with the Lord is to see Him. To see the Lord is to
be like Him." — A. A. H.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALBERT BARNES. 767
LIFE XXVIII. ALBERT BARNES.
A. D. 1798-A. D. 1870. PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
Albert Barnes was born at Rome, New York, December 1, 1798.
He died in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Decern-
ber 24, 1870. These two dates mark the earthly limits of
an eminently useful and godly life. The life was begun in skepticism.
It grew toward golden completeness under a profound conviction of the
truth as revealed in the Word of God. It ended in full, unshaken faith.
Its early years were uneventful. Its young and vigorous manhood was
given to Christ. Its maturity marked a period of rare interest in the
history of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, linked itself in-
dissolubly with that history, gave to the church one of the truest and
purest of her living epistles, and gave to the world " The People's Com
mentator." Its eventide was a beautiful sunset; the Christ-like spirit
seemed bathed in the glory streaming through the open gates of the city
of God, as if he stood just this side the river, looking into the other
country, " beholding the King in his beauty," and "'seeing Him as He
is." Doubtless the early skepticism of Albert Barnes gave him, ever after
wards, that characteristic of clearness in perceiving, and of fairness in
stating, the difficulties and objections of the disbeliever, which in so
marked a manner appears in his published works. He was accustomed
to say that doubts and difficulties born of his own questioning and skep
tical heart had seemed to him to be of far greater force and magnitude
than any he had ever seen suggested by rationalism and infidelity. An
article in the Edinburgh Encyclopasdia, by Dr. Chalmers, entitled " Chris
tianity," first commanded his assent to the truth and divine origin of the
Christian religion. But he resolved to yield to its claims no further than
thenceforward to keep aloof from its active opposers, and to lead a
strictly moral life. One year later, in Hamilton College,
~,. -.T ~r . . . iii i His conversion.
at Clinton, JNew York, he experienced the deeper change
that set in entirely new channels the currents of his life. He became a
Christian, gave up his fondly cherished plan of preparation for the legal
profession, consecrated himself to the work of the ministry, and, upon
graduating at Hamilton College in 1820, pursued a four years' course of
theological -study at Princeton, New Jersey, and was ordained and in
stalled as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Morristown, New Jer
sey. After nearly five years in this pastorate, he was called to the
charge of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, with which
church he retained official connection to the day of his death.
Upon the ministry of this man of God was set early and abundant

768 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
seal. A revival of remarkable extent and power occurred during his
ministry at Morristown. The windows of heaven were opened over that
place, and all the region round about was refreshed with the copious
shower. His pulpit and pastoral ministrations were also greatly blessed
of God in Philadelphia, and frequent revivals marked the history of that
long pastorate. These seasons of special interest were never superficial
excitements. While always marked by deep feeling, it was rational emo
tion, born of profound conviction by the truth. For throughout his
entire ministry, this Scriptural preacher held firmly to the persuasion,
publicly avowed and acted upon in his first charge, " that injury is not
done in a revival by a full exhibition of God's plan of saving men, ac
cording to his sovereign will and pleasure." The pulpit ministrations
of Mr. Barnes were characterized by Scripturalness, clearness, fullness of
treatment, fairness in dealing with objections, and thoughtful spiritual
power. There were four great movements that either originated or were
brought to prominent public notice about the time of Albert Barnes's
opening ministry. Upon each of these he left a powerful impress. The
history of two of them cannot be written without conspicuous reference
to his influence.
Of these four great movements, the temperance reformation was one.
The temperance Promptly and decisively Mr. Barnes sprang to the advo-
reformation. caCy 0f j^s great leading principle, entire abstinence from
all intoxicating beverages. There were nineteen distilleries within the
limits of his first parish when he began to preach. Liquor was exten
sively manufactured and sold in the region of country about Morristown.
Drinking customs widely prevailed. What Mr. Barnes understood to be
the truth of God on this subject, he fearlessly preached, and with such
bold fidelity and persuasiveness as to effect a complete revolution in
some of the most cherished and most fortifying habits of social life ;
while in nearly every one of the distilleries within his influence the fires
were put out, to be rekindled no more.
To the principles thus early avowed, he adhered unswervingly, giving
them public advocacy on all suitable occasions till he died.
Another of the great movements that came to conspicuity in the first
The antislavery na^ °^ *ne present century, and which at last culminated in
movement. c^vjj war an(j emancipation, was the antislavery movement.
Mr. Barnes's first critical study of the New Testament, there in the quiet
of his home at Morristown, led him to feel and to say that the gospel
was an epistle of deliverance to the captives ; that to give liberty to the
slave and restore him to freedom was to confer the highest benefit and
impart the richest favor ; and that by the freedom of the truth all prison
doors would finally be opened and all chains of slavery broken. From
that time onward he never hesitated, from the pulpit and by the press,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALBERT BARNES. 769
in the clearest and most unmistakable terms to express his convictions
on the evils, the crimes, the wrongs of slavery. He was no enthusiast
or fanatic in this matter. He was' not in anything. Behind his boldest
and freest and most radical utterances there was no passionate excess of
feeling, — only the calm, sober conviction of a truth-loving, earnest, con
scientious man of God ; and to give that conviction embodiment in
speech on fit occasion, at whatever risk and at whatever cost, was as
much a matter of course, with him, as to eat his daily bread. He never
uttered a word in public or in private in favor of any illegal interfer
ence with the institution where it existed. What he did and all that he
did, beyond endeavoring to secure a constitutional change of the laws,
was clone as a preacher and a commentator, by a candid and thoughtful
exposition of the Word of God in its application to the duties and the
rights of man. In his pulpit and in his notes, he never sought popular
ity by silence. Turn to any page of his commentary, where there is a
passage regarded as bearing upon the subject of slavery, and there it
will be seen that he ever consistently entered a calm but vigorous Chris
tian protest against this at that time strongly buttressed and gospel de
fended, but in his judgment most abominable, institutional iniquity.
He lived to see America without a slave, and he entered heartily into
the work of educating and elevating the long-enthralled race.
A third great movement, assuming importance in the early years of
Mr. Barnes's ministry, was the Sabbath-school. His dis- r^ Sabbat]l.
cerning mind saw that an emergency had arisen in the es- school.
tablishment and rapid spread of this new institution. He was struck
with the need of a plain and simple commentary on the gospels, which
could be put into the hands of teachers, furnishing them an easy ex
planation of the sacred text. He at once, while still at Morristown,
entered upon those Scripture studies, the fruits of which j,irat Oommen.
were subsequently given in " Notes Explanatory and Prac- tary-
tical on the Gospels, designed for Sunday-School Teachers and Bible
Classes." This first venture bore date, Philadelphia, August 25, 1832.
It is perfectly safe to say that no single book has gone into so many
hands as a help to the understanding of God's Word in the instruction
of the Sabbath-school. He little dreamed then that the purpose thus
formed, and upon the prosecution of which he thus early entered, would
make his name a household word wherever the English tongue is
spoken. He had no thought, in the unambitious effort to give simply
the results of the critical study of the gospels, and by avoiding all ab
struse and scholastic discussion to afford a useful interpreter to the
young and the unlearned, that he was to place himself foremost among
Bible commentators in the number of his readers, and to go around the
world like the beautiful feet of morning, publishing in various languages
his exposition of the word and work of Christ. He gave the early
49

770 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
hours of morning to this work of exposition. Promptly at nine o'clock
every day, he left it and turned to his more direct pulpit and pastoral
duties. By the preparation of these first notes, the steps of this good
man were established in that quiet path where he " prevented the dawn
ing of the morning " in communion with God and in the careful and
prayerful study of his holy Word for well-nigh forty years.
The habit of spending a small portion of each day in annotating the
Scriptures grew to be a pleasure and a preference, and he continued it
until in 1834 appeared his " Notes Explanatory and Practical on the
Acts of the Apostles," and on the Epistle to the Romans. One book
after another followed, as this man of method persevered year by year
in his study of the Word, until, to his own surprise, he found himself at
the end of the New Testament. During these years he had also written
his annotations successively on Isaiah, Job, and Daniel. Subsequently
his " Notes on the Psalms " appeared. Meanwhile other works in the line
of his ministerial labors were given to the press. His pen was never
idle. Among his more important published works are, " The Way of
Salvation," " The Atonement," " Lectures on the Evidences," and " Life
circulation ot °^ St. Paul." He lived to see edition after edition of his
.commentaries, commentaries exhausted, until' more than half a million of
volumes were sold in his own country, and perhaps even a greater num
ber in England, Scotland, and Ireland, while translations of many of his
notes were made into the languages of France, Wales, India, and China.
This remarkable result is the fullest proof that the life-labor of Mr.
Barnes met a wide necessity. The man needs no other monument com-
imemorative of his faithful toil. Without any original design on his
part, when no eyes were turned to him in expectation of any grand
.achievement, an overruling Providence selected the instrumentality,
prompted to the conception of the early task, inspired a love for its en
larging way, guided the steps of the faithful expositor, and led to the
completion of a work which, in extent and fidelity and beneficent influ
ence, is one rarely allotted to man. He ended his exposition of the
Book of God, February, 1868, with these memorable words : " I cannot
close this work without emotion. I cannot lay down my pen at the end
of this long task, without feeling that with me the work of life is nearly
. over. Yet I could close it at no better place than in finishing the ex
position of this book ; and the language with which the book of Psalms
Itself closes seems to be eminently appropriate to all that I have expe
rienced. All that is past, all in the prospect of what is to come, calls
for a long, a joyful, a triumphant Hallelujah ! "
It was indeed a long task, and the Christian world, with one voice,
says it was well done.
His commentaries are adapted to the people. They meet, as they
were designed to meet, the common mind. They are charged with com-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ALBERT BARNES. Ill
mon sense. They are free from the processes of critical study, yet they
furnish ample proof of it in its results. They are eminently spiritual
and practical. With faithful exposition of the letter of the Word is
woven a happy discerning of the mind of the Spirit. They bear abun
dant witness to that true communion with God .which, their author testi
fied, if he ever had it in his life, was closely connected with those calm
and quiet morning hours when his mind was brought into close contact
with the truth inspired by the Holy Ghost. They are pervaded by those
qualities, and they possess those characteristics which made them the
best — as they were deservedly the most widely appreciated and most
generally used — Scriptural expositions in any language for the ordinary
reader. A fourth great movement, with which Mr. Barnes's whole ministerial
life was influentially connected, was that which led to the Geological
division, and at last to the reunion, of the Presbyterian movement.
Church. It looked toward such an adjustment of human liberty and
divine sovereignty as would secure for personal responsibility a profound
emphasis, while still exhibitive of man's absolute dependence upon God's
sovereign will and pleasure for salvation. It was aggressive and yet
conservative. It involved a change in the methods of presenting gospel
truth, and a change in traditional terminology.
Some men saw in it a grave peril to sound theology, threatening the
integrity of the entire Calvinistic system. Others viewed it as a whole
some effort so to state the great doctrines of grace as to be loyal to the
truth on the divine side, while giving the human will a more responsible
activity. Beyond a doubt, the extreme of the movement as seen in New
England, and possibly in other quarters, swept men to an assertion of
human ability, and of related truths, out of all harmony with the recog
nized teaching of Calvinistic theology.
The controversy within the Presbyterian Church Was long and bitter,
culminating in the division of the church in 1837. These were painful
years to Albert Barnes. But through them all he bore himself with a
firmness that never passed by its excess into obstinacy ; with a gentleness
that never degenerated into weakness ; and with a patience that was
never ruffled. Tenaciously holding to what he believed to be the truth,
expressing with no " bated breath " his own convictions, condemned by
a lower judicatory, but acquitted at last by the highest court known in
the church, he came out of the conflict as he had entered it, with a char
acter untarnished and a name above suspicion or reproach. However
men may have differed as to the soundness of some of his doctrinal
statements and positions, they did not differ as to the purity of his mo
tives and the guilelessness of his spirit.
Mr. Barnes remained conspicuously connected with what was known
as the New School Branch of the Presbyterian Church, until in 1869

772 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the separate bodies came together again, in substantial and catholic
unity, on the basis of the common standards — the Westminster Confes
sion of Faith and the Catechism. With pen and tongue, through press
and pulpit, this laborious and able man of God unquestionably contrib
uted largely, by his temperate and balanced presentation of the agency
of God and man in redemption, to that state of things which made the
reunion of the Presbyterian Church possible, and which so happily
characterizes the union as actually accomplished. And whether or not
all would express themselves as in accord with his " views " and termi-
Kdeiity to no^°SJj all wul most certainly believe this public avowal
truth. which he made late in life : " I have aimed in my ministry
to declare the whole counsel of God. I have embraced the Trinitarian
system of religion and the Calvinistic system, and have not concealed
the features of these systems from the world. I have endeavored to set
forth the doctrines of human depravity and of the atonement and of the
necessity of regeneration by the Holy Ghost. I have defended the doc
trine of decrees, of election, of justification by faith, and of future ret
ribution. I have endeavored to show to men that they could be saved
by no merit of their own, and that their own works will avail them noth
ing in the matter of justification before God." Surely, he not only
" fought a good fight," but he " kept the faith."
As he approached the close of his life, his own testimony was that
" the objects of eternity became overpoweringly bright and grand." Yet
he did not lose his interest in this world, as the scene of the develop
ment of the great plans of God. He cherished to the last the cheer-
fullest views of the world, of the certain progress of the race, of the
destiny of man. " Never," said he in his seventieth year, " never in
the history of the world, did young men enter on their career with so
much to cheer them, to animate them, to inspire them with hope, to call
forth their highest powers for the promotion of the great objects which
enter into the civilization, the progress, and the happiness of man. The
opinions of a man at seventy years of age have been long maturing,
and he is not likely materially to change them. I shall cherish these
views till I die, and I shall close my eyes in death with bright and glo
rious hopes in regard to my native land, to the church, and to the
world." Pie was full of years and full of honors when God called him to the
higher honors of the skies. What shall we say of such a man ? He was
distinguished by a rare balance of faculties. He had also a rare com
mand of his faculties. He was " conscience incarnate," a man for the
stake, if need be, but not for a compromise of what he believed to be
the truth. Yet his heart was full of charities withal. His affectionate-
ness and childlikeness won for him a peculiarly tender regard. As a
friend he knew no guile, there being deep-rooted in his heart every ten-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] THOMAS HEWLINGS STOCKTON. 773
der and sympathetic virtue. As a man, he was singularly regardful of
the rights of man, and was always the champion of all that were op
pressed and that were of low degree. As a patriot he loved his country
too well to defend her in wrong. As a pastor he won and kept his peo
ple's hearts. As a reasoner he was calm, comprehensive, logical. As a
commentator he was remarkable for simplicity, clearness, and fidelity.
As a preacher he was instructive, convincing, balanced, and bold, never
breaking faith with truth. As a man of God he witnessed a good con
fession, and dying the death of the righteous, he passed into " the better
country." The fragrance of his name fills the whole earth. — ¦ H. J.

LIFE XXIX. THOMAS HEWLINGS STOCKTON.
A. D. 1808-A. D. 1868. METHODIST PROTESTANT, — AMERICA.
This eminent Christian was born at Mount Holly, Burlington County,
New Jersey, June 4, 1808. His ancestry was respectable, intelligent,
pious. His religious views were decidedly Methodistic, his inclinations
and preferences having been influenced by his social surroundings, as his
grandfather's family, his father's family, and his early associates were
connected with that denomination of Christians, himself uniting in that
church fellowship in early life. His attachment to the Wesleyan doc
trines and means of grace was ardent, unfaltering, throughout his life ;
nor did his dissent from the Methodist Episcopal Church order ever
dull his affection for the denomination, or interfere with his pure love for
those who preferred and sustained its ecclesiastical arrangement.
His opinions of church order, that led him into dissent from the ec-
clesiasticism in which he was trained, grew out of the peculiarity of his
mind, and his close observance of the Scripture history, impressed as
he was with the evident facts that our divine Lord forbade
. -. H13 father.
mastery, requiring brotherhood, rejecting hierarchy, and
demanding ministry, service. Accordingly, when " his father, William S.
Stockton, son of two of the earliest Methodists in the State of New
Jersey, — 'a simple-hearted, active-minded, observant, thoughtful, honest,
earnest, zealous, sanguine American freeman and Christian, desiring and
aiming only to do good, and setting so much value on all great rights
and interests as to be willing to toil and make sacrifices in their behalf,'
— originated in 1821 the 'Wesleyan Repository,' open to the discussion
of such reforms as were deemed desirable in the ecclesiastical polity of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, at a time when the son was of an age
to become deeply interested in such matters, this publication and the con
troversy growing out of it led to radical views by Thomas Stockton on
church government." *
i Memorial Discourse, by Rev. J. G. Wilson.

774 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In the same tender, loving, excellent discourse from which we have
just quoted, we have the views of Stockton as to the comparative mer
its of spiritual and ecclesiastical Methodism. " Primitive Methodism ap
pears to have been the purest and most useful revival of the truth as it is
in Jesus, ever known in the history of the church. Even in its present
numerous and diverse forms, I think it may be said of it, with entire
propriety, at least in relation to our own country, that, if Providence
should decree that only one of the existing systems of Christian agency
should remain in existence after this night, there is reason to desire that
it might be, and to believe that it would be, the great Methodist system ;
the most hopeful of all, by far, in view of the salvation of the people at
large. But originally Methodism was only spiritual. Since then it has
become ecclesiastical. Its spiritual character has always been its glory.
Its ecclesiastical character has always been its shame. From the begin
ning, its government has been an intermitting volcano, starting, at va
rious intervals, into flaming eruption, and filling the circuit of its power
with saddest devastations. Alas, for all man's governments ! Alas, for
all over-government ; all unyielding government, all idolized govern
ment ! Would to God that Christ might be confessed all in all, that
the time might be hastened in which ' the government shall be upon his
shoulder' and nowhere else, in which his people shall be 'not without
law to God, but under the law to Christ,' and to no one else." 1
He was no partisan ; party spirit, machinery, schemes, he held in utter
abhorrence. His mind, his heart, he knew to be open to the eye of God,
and he never concealed them from the eye of man ; any one who wished
might know his aims and desires. Plonestly endeavoring to be instructed
by the divine word, he was never ashamed of what he had learned, but
was ever ready to impart the sacred lessons to others, in the firm faith
that true wisdom was to be derived from no other than the holy, copious
source of all truth.
Having selected medicine as a profession, he commenced the study of
it under Dr. Thomas Dunn, of Philadelphia, where he was then residing,
but Providence had made a different selection ; for the "Wesleyan Reposi
tory " having attracted the attention of Revs. N. Snethen, Asa Shinn,
Samuel K. Jennings, Alexander McCaine, John S. Reese, and many
others of the Methodist Episcopal ministry and laity, a reform in the
government, so as to admit lay representation, in connection with the
previous demand for an elective presiding eldership, and diminution of
the episcopal prerogative, was insisted upon ; terminating in
Methodist Prot- the expulsion of some of the reformers in Baltimore and
estant Church. , . .
elsewhere, and compelling a distinct organization of an
other church, known as the Methodist Protestant Church, with lay rep
resentation and elective presidency, and without bishops.
1 Memorial Discourse, page 21.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] THOMAS HEWLINGS STOCKTON. 775
This movement involved William Stockton and his son, of course,
and they identified themselves with and took part in the moulding and
outset of the new organization, of which they were sincere and self-
sacrificing supporters, their pens, purses, and persons surrendered in
hearty allegiance, as might have been expected of men of their integrity
and piety. Young Stockton, after preaching a few times in Philadelphia,
in 1829, was received as an itinerant into the Maryland annual confer
ence of the Methodist Protestant Church, and appointed to a circuit on
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where his deep piety, his innate gentle
ness of manner, his extraordinary eloquence, and his inimitable style of
preaching, secured the affection, admiration, confidence of the crowded
audiences who attended his wonderful ministry of the glorious gospel of
Christ. His pure Christian character, his exact truthfulness and integ
rity, his affectionate disposition and fraternal bearing, with his transcend
ent ability in the pulpit, — in connection with the prudence, talents, and
marked ability of the superintendent of the circuit, Rev. Dr. John S.
Reese, of sainted memory, and the meekness, pious deportment, learning,
and ample ministerial endowments of their youngest colleague, the so
much regretted Rev. Charles W. Jacobs, — fixed the eyes of very many
upon the young church in which these excellent and gifted men minis
tered, and won for it popularity and support. The public saw that these
ministers were true Christians, true Methodists, differing from others of
that name not at all in doctrine, but only in ecclesiastical order, and gave
them respect and support.
In 1830, Stockton, then but twenty-two years of age, was ap
pointed a delegate to the convention which formed the constitution and
discipline of the Methodist Protestant Church, and was stationed in Bal
timore, superintendent of the two churches there comprising the station ;
his ministry drawing crowds of intelligent, appreciative auditors, and oc
casioning the conversion of many, and their adhesion to the young de
nomination. In 1832 he was returned to the Eastern Shore, and made
his home in Easton,- Talbot County, where his memory is still cherished
by his surviving contemporaries. In 1833-1834 he was stationed in
Georgetown, District of Columbia, and elected chaplain to Congress,
where vast multitudes attested his popularity and unsurpassed power as
a proclaimer of the gospel, which glowed in his heart and gushed in
wondrous sweetness from his lips. He was pronounced to be nature's
orator, and his gifts were regarded as extraordinarily eminent.
He was again stationed, 1836-37, in Baltimore, at St. John's, which
had become a distinct charge. It was thought at this time by the best
medical skill that his lungs were so much diseased that his stay upon
earth would be limited to a few months. It is remarkable that when
this opinion was communicated to him by his sympathizing and faithful
physician, he could not credit it ; he appearing to feel within him a

776 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
decided contradiction, an instinctive assurance that more days would be
allotted him ; and this remarkable experience re-occurred twice in other
cities. The general conference of 1828 elected him editor of " The Method
ist Protestant," the official paper of the church, published weekly (as at
this day) in Baltimore ; but he could not consent to certain rules of pub
lication established by the book committee, the controlling authority, and
he declined the position, resigning his superintendency of St. John's, and
removing with his family to Philadelphia. Here he preached in the
hall of the Philadelphia Institute, Filbert Street, with his accustomed
power and success ; organized the First Methodist Protestant Church,
1839 ; dedicated their house of worship, a fine structure built at the cor
ner of Wood and Eleventh streets ; and ministered therein with great
popularity and usefulness, until 1847, when he was invited to the Sixth
Street Methodist Protestant Church, Cincinnati, where he remained the
greater part of three years, exerting his usual commanding influence.
Early in 1849 he was elected president of Miami University ; but, while
that position was very desirable for many reasons, he decided that duty
required him to decline it, which he did, and remained at his post. Cer
tain great plans for extending his influence beyond the limits of the
specific church he was serving, and the Methodist Protestant Church gen
erally, occasioning dissatisfaction, he resigned his superintendency De
cember 24, 1849, and commenced services in the Unitarian chapel, where,
though known to be a clearly pronounced Trinitarian, he was treated
with a kindness that he ever after spoke of with grateful recognition.
He next occupied the Masonic Hall, where he had more space, and for
the use of which he had cause to express his sense of obligation ; for he
was the open opposer of all secret associations, although some of them
embraced many of his most esteemed and beloved brethren and friends.
In the midst of his efforts in these unusual pulpits and engagements
with the press, he received an invitation from St. John's, Baltimore, then
an independent Methodist Protestant church, under the pastorate of
Rev. A. Webster, D. D., to the position of co-pastor, with no other obli
gation than to preach in the evening of each Sabbath. He accepted,
went on, commencing his labors to crowded congregations, and continued
among those loving, admiring friends, with much usefulness, until 1856 ;
when, after having aided in sustaining the pulpit of the Fayette Street
Reformed Presbyterian Church, after the death of Rev. John M. Dun
can, D. D., until they could find a pastor, he again returned to Philadel
phia, where he continued to try to be useful, preaching and publishing,
until 1860 ; when he was once more elected chaplain to Congress, and
reelected in 1862.
In 1865, after a happy union of thirty-seven years, he was separated
by death from his beloved, faithful wife, the mother of his eleven chil-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] THOMAS HEWLINGS STOCKTON. Ill
dren ; to which last fact he thus alluded, upon presenting her with a
copy of Mrs. Welby's Poems : " Your poems, my dear Anna, are in
eleven volumes. Two of them the Lord was so pleased with that He
has put them, in gold binding, on a pearl shelf in his own library in
heaven. The other nine are yet with us, awaiting his approval. May I
stand by your side when you see them there, in one complete and beau
tiful collection."
The few years of his own further earthly stay were passed in great
physical debility, but with no failure of his intellectual force or brilliancy.
He bore clear testimony to the excellency of the gospel and the power of
divine grace ; conversing with his children and Christian friends, in his
usual serene and instructive manner, until October 9, 1868, when he de
parted to his rest.
His intellectual endowments were wonderful ; equally so were his
oratorical gifts ; the exact sympathy between his soul and body consti
tuting him the most graphic and overpowering of preachers. His imagi
nation was apparently inexhaustible ; equal, as his auditors felt, to any
demand upon it : from any high point, from which it might be supposed
further ascent was impossible, he gracefully rose with the ease and fresh
ness of an incipient flight. The same might be said of his logic and
rhetoric ; and to use those great powers, he had the most suitable instru
mentality, in his tall form, dignity of manner, large expressive eye, clear
voice of wonderful compass and force, perfect enunciation, the most pli
able facial muscles, and such angelic sweetness of expression in his coun
tenance, that at times he seemed to be unearthly.
The church in whose organization he took the deepest interest con
tains the elements that he approved, and in its commun- characteristics
ion he continued throughout life. Methodistic in its doc- "aist Protestant
trines, means of grace, and modes ; but in its order, non- churoh-
episcopal, with an elective presidency, a regular itinerancy, balanced by
a full lay representation ; so that both the lay and ministerial delegates to
the general conference, the legislative body, are elected by the votes of
the ministers and laymen of the annual conferences, voting by order ;
a majority of each order being necessary to the election of any delegate,
lay or ministerial. The progress of the church was embarrassed awhile,
as in the case of others, by the slavery agitation, causing a serious divis
ion from the Southern conferences ; but since the war this has been
all harmoniously adjusted, and the several sections are once more acting
in happy and prosperous union ; their statistics entitling them to rank
among the leading denominations of American Christendom. This re
sult Dr. Stockton did not live to see ; but though the Methodist Protestant
Church was never just what he, or any of its founders, desired, yet he
deemed it the most liberal form of Methodism, and continued his iden
tification with it to the close. His heart longed for a union of all the

778 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
denominations of Christians, that the unity of spirit might be manifested
in a unity of form ; sectarianism disappearing, vanishing out of sight,
substituted by blessed Christian unity ; " that they all might be one ; "
the one Church of the one Lord ; Christ the Master, Christians breth
ren : as it will be in the end, and as is now the tendency, evidenced by
the mutual attraction of all evangelical denominations, as they pleas
antly and efficiently cooperate in active exertions for the spread of the
gospel, at home and abroad. — A. W.

LIFE XXX. JOHN TAYLOR PRESSLY.
A. D. 1795-A. D. 1870. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN, — AMERICA.
The United Presbyterian Church of- North America represents a type
of Calvinistic Presbyterianism in close resemblance to that of the earlier
history of the Church of Scotland. It was formed by a union of ele
ments of secession from that church whose aim it had been to preserve
some of its best attainments. The Reformed Church of Scotland, or,
as sometimes called, the Covenanter, was constituted of those who refused
to acquiesce in the Religious Settlement of 1688, mainly because of its
annulling some of the covenant obligations of the church and kingdom of
Scotland. The Associate Church of Scotland, sometimes called the Se
ceder, came into existence by the secession of 1733, in maintenance of
the rights of congregations and the interests of the " marrow doctrines "
of the gospel as endangered by the patronage and moderatism of the
times. Men of both these churches appeared in this country before our
Revolutionary War. After the independence of our nation had been
secured, most of the ministers and members of these churches entered
into the union which gave origin to what became known as the Associate
Reformed Church of North America. Two ministers and several con
gregations of the Associate Church did not enter this union, but kept up
its continued organization. They were soon strengthened by large ac
cessions from the mother church in Scotland, and speedily grew into a
strong and influential body. Both of these churches prospered — the
Associate and the Associate Reformed — and worked each by the side of
•the other, sometimes talking and negotiating for union, but without avail
until 1858, when they united on the basis of the Westminster standards
in connection with a specific testimony for such doctrines of th«m as had
suffered perversion or neglect, and against some of the more flagrant
errors and evils of the times.
Thus came into existence what is now known as the United Presby
terian Church of North America. And nothing more is needed to indi
cate its distinctive character than the brief statement made of its origin

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JOHN TAYLOR PRESSLY. 779
and the ecclesiastical elements from which it was formed. It is stoutly
Calvinistic in faith and Presbyterian in order of govern- Unitoa presby.
ment. The Psalms of the Bible, in the best possible version, 'erians.
are its authorized system of praise. Its laws of fellowship guard care
fully the purity and good order of the church. In old-fashioned fortitude
it arrays itself against all flagrant immoralities and evils, of whatever
form and however formidable. It is uncompromisingly antislavery, and
was so when slavery so dominated the land as to make even churches
foster and defend it. And now it arrays itself with like faithfulness and
fortitude against the scarcely less formidable evil of oath-bound secret
societies, the great social evil of the times, demoralizing the church as
well as society at large. In all respects it seeks to maintain the claims
of God, the supremacy of his law and authority in all the relations of
life. Among those who acted a leading part in organizing this church, and
in maintaining the principles it represents, no one was more „
0 A A *- Pressly's family
conspicuous than John Taylor Pressly. He was born in
Abbeville District, South Carolina, March 28, 1795. His ancestors were
among the best people and most influential in the early history of his
native State. It has been truly said of him, " He was an honored mem
ber of an honored family." In a large connection of such families his
father and mother, David and Jane Pressly, were distinguished for intel
ligence and godliness. Their home was one in which the Lord dwelt and
in which his name was honored. In such a home, where Christian in
struction and Christian example were combined in forming the best home
influence, the subject of this memoir was born and grew up to manhood.
Every member of the family, including three brothers who became min
isters of the gospel and two others who became distinguished physicians,
and two sisters, one of whom became the wife of a minister and the
other of a physician, gave to the world a useful and honored Christian
life. John, however, was the central figure of the family, and became the
most distinguished. In early life he gave promise of his after eminence
in piety and learning. He made a profession of religion while quite
young, and as early manifested a love of study. His first church mem
bership was in the Cedar Spring congregation, in connection with the
Associate Reformed Synod of the South. He began his studies in an
academy in the immediate neighborhood of his home. Afterwards he
entered Transylvania University, Kentucky, where he was graduated in
1812, in the eighteenth year of his age. Long before this his mind had
been turned to the ministry of the gospel. Determined to have the best
theological training then to be had in this country, he repaired to the
seminary in New York, at the time under charge of the famous Dr. John
Mitchell Mason [see Life XXV.]. There he completed a full course of

780 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
three years' study, and returning home in the spring of 1815, he was
licensed by the Second Associate Reformed Presbytery of South Caro
lina, as a probationer for the ministry.
For a year he devoted himself to missionary work, traveling on horse-
His work in the Dac'£ through several of the Southern States, and so far
South. north as Pennsylvania and New York. On his return home,
in the early summer of 1816, a call awaited him to take pastoral charge
of the congregation in which he was born and was baptized, and in which
he had made a profession of religion. This he accepted, and on the 3d
of July of that year was ordained and installed as its pastor.
His pastorate of this Cedarville congregation continued for fifteen
years, peaceful, pleasant, and prosperous. He had done his work as a
preacher and pastor in a way to bind his people to him in the strongest
and tenderest bonds of respect and affection. His heart was bound just
as strongly to them. God had blessed his relation to them, and blessed
his work among them. He would have been satisfied and glad to close
his life in their service. But God had other work for him of more im
portance, and with a wider range of influence, and made the call to it so
clear and conclusive as to be imperative. Hard as it was for him to be
separated from a people endeared by so many precious associations, he
could but obey.
He had become widely known, not only as a great preacher himself,
but as one eminently qualified to educate preachers. The brethren of his
own synod had recognized this, and had invited him to become their
theological professor. He did not see his way clear to give consent. Soon
after the Associate Reformed Synod of the West had its attention turned
to him for a similar work. It had established a theological seminary at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1825, that had begun a work of great prom
ise. Its chair of theology had been made vacant by the death of its first
professor, Dr. Joseph Kerr. After searching diligently and prayerfully
for one to fill this vacancy, the synod with entire unanimity elected this
rising man of the Synod of the South. In all the proceedings which
resulted in his election, and in the manner of it, the leadings of Provi
dence were manifest. Deeply impressed with a sense of the divine call
to this work he obeyed, and at once began his preparations to engage in
it. He was elected on the 10th of October, 1831, and at the opening of
the next year, the 5th of January, 1832, appeared in Pitts-
in western burgh, and the week after entered on the duties of his pro
fessorship. His singular fitDess for the work was soon rec
ognized and widely known, and added a new and great attraction to
the seminary. Students were drawn to it from all parts of the church,
North and South.
His powers as a preacher were as soon and as generally felt, and caused
no little rivalry among the vacant congregations in the vicinity of the

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JOHN TAYLOR PRESSLY. 781
seminary for his pastoral services. A congregation recently organized in
the neighboring city of Allegheny was the most convenient, and, although
at the time among the youngest and feeblest of the congregations seek
ing his services, was preferred. Its call, made October 15, 1832, was ac
cepted. At the next meeting of the synod the seminary was located in
Allegheny, instead of Pittsburgh.
The pastorate now begun was one of the most successful of modern
times. The audiences increased week by week. The membership mul
tiplied correspondingly. In a short time, the little congregation had
grown into one of the largest and most influential of its denomination, or
indeed of any denomination, in the vicinity. A new and larger church
building was soon required to accommodate the swelling numbers ; and
still another, larger and more commodious, with the finest auditorium in
the twin cities, was built before Pressly's death. His pastorate of this
congregation, covering thirty-eight years, was remarkable for an unbroken
confidence and affection between pastor and people. They were a mut
ual joy and rejoicing to each other. To his people there was no preach
ing like his, or deportment so truly and nobly Christian. His influence
over them- seemed unbounded. We cannot wonder at the success of his
ministry among them. So strong in the hearts of his people, so strong
in his own character, so mighty in the Scriptures as he proved himself
to be, and withal so watchful, faithful, and tender as a pastor, the wonder
would have been if the results had been less. And not in his own con
gregation merely did the effects of his work appear.
While it so prospered, other congregations by overflows from it were
gathered around it, which have since become large and influential. The
present strength of his denomination in and around the two cities of Pitts
burgh and Allegheny is largely due to the power he put forth for it.
And it is, perhaps, not claiming too much to say that other evangelical
denominations owe much to the influence of his life and work. He im
pressed himself on the whole religious community in which he lived.
When he died people of all the denominations felt that a great man had
fallen in Israel.
He died on the 13th of August, 1870, in the seventy-sixth year of his
age and the fifty-fifth of his ministry, leaving a memorial in his work and
a fragrance in his name through which his memory has been made dear
to countless hearts.
A man of such prominence among his brethren and such usefulness in
the church, it must be believed, had some uncommon elements of power.
Everything in him and about him as he stood among men, His „ersonal ap.
and in every sphere in which he moved, marked him as a pearance.
man above the general average of men. He had a commanding per
sonal appearance. He was blessed with great bodily strength in stately
form, and moved with a dignity, even majesty, that commanded attention

782 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
and admiration wherever he appeared. In social life his presence was
always felt as that of a great man, above all as a man of God.
His mind seemed to be formed on a corresponding scale, and capable,
with ease, of an amount of work under which most men would have
sunk. The magnitude of the mental work through which he went, with
out any apparent difficulty, was wonderful. For sixteen years he had
the whole work of the seminary in connection with the most arduous
pastoral labors. Part of this time he edited a religious newspaper. And
all this time he had a leading part to act in the councils and the manage
ment of the general work of his church. And with all this, done with
scrupulous punctuality and completeness, he found time to contribute
largely to the periodical literature of the times, and to prepare several
volumes on disputed points in theology. The man who could do with
ease all this work must have had no ordinary power. Something, it is
true, must be credited to his order of working, so systematic as to have
a time and place for every part of it, each part receiving the needed
attention at the proper time. This was a mental habit with' him, into
which his naturally strong and facile mind readily fell. It shows the
value of system, but it also shows the greatness of the mind that so
worked and to such grand results.
His preaching was of the best style of the pulpit, that which threw
its whole force into the exposition and application of the Word of God.
There was nothing of the sensational or rhapsodical in his style. It
made no pretense of meeting the ideals of those who think of pulpit
powers as made up of dazzling human thought set in the forms of a fas
tidious rhetoric and delivered with the studied arts of oratory. It was
the simple, clear, earnest preaching of a man who knew and felt that it
was the truth of God that was the means of saving souls, and who gave
all his power to explain and impress this truth on the minds and hearts
of his hearers. He was remarkable for clearness of conception and ex
pression. Here, perhaps, was his great power as a preacher. But he
had also a good delivery. His fine personal appearance, his strong, so
norous, and well modulated voice, and his action, always dignified and
solemn, gave to his delivery power approaching the magisterial. He ex
celled in expository preaching. While no man knew better than he how
a sermon should be constructed to best bring out the truth and force of
a text, he delighted in explaining the Word of God in its connection and
continuity, and much of his preaching was of this kind. He has left rich
products of his expository studies, which, it is hoped, will yet be given
to the public.
As a professor of theology he had few if any superiors. It was here
His work as tnat ^'s clear, comprehensive, richly furnished, and finely
professor. disciplined mind appeared at its best. He was a master in
every department of the course of study, and made his instruction so

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN EGEDE. 783
clear that only the veriest dullard could fail to understand him. The
great principles of theology, as taught by him, appeared as verities not
to be questioned. So they were seen, at least, by his students ; with
them he was oracular. They venerated him as a teacher, and loved him
as a father. Some among them have finished their work and have gone
to the reward of the labors for which he trained them. But hundreds
of them still live, holding his name in most affectionate remembrance,
and showing in their work the impress of his teaching. Through them
he being dead yet speaketh. It is as if his voice were still sounding in
the church. It is more. It is the influence of his life and work going
out in varied and multiplied channels in the interest of sound doctrine
and the saving power of the gospel.
It is not for us to know now how far that influence will yet reach ;
how many, in its widening circle, it will bring into the kingdom as the ,
,ages pass ; or how many will be in the world of glory as the grand result.
All that must be left to the revealings of eternity. It is enough now
that we have the instruction and animation of the example of a man who
lived such a life and left such a living memorial of himself. — D. R. K.

LIFE XXXI. JOHN EGEDE.
A. D. 1686-A. D. 1758. LUTHERAN, — GREENLAND.
Whenever anything notable has been done for the kingdom of God,
it will be found that the task has been performed through a single indi
vidual. Some one person has conceived the enterprise, having been
equipped and prepared for the work in some peculiar way. This is true
of the mission in Greenland. Its never-to-be-forgotten leader, like Von
Westen, the pioneer of the mission to Lapland, was a Norwegian.
In the southern part of Seeland island, a region noted for its beautiful
forests, green coves, and glassy lakes, lived in the sixteenth
. , • , „ -r, -, , ,. Egede's family.
century, in the parish of Egede, a preacher of some note,
named Hans Coiling. His descendants adopted the name Egede (from
Eich, or oak) from the village in which the family resided. A son of the
house, Paul Egede, moved at a later period to Norway. He was a civil
officer in the Nordland district, and the parish of Tenjen. His wife bore
him a daughter and three sons. The eldest one was the renowned John
Egede, born January 31, 1686.
As a youth, John studied in Copenhagen. When twenty-one (1707)
he preached in Waagen, in the parish of Salten, and in Nordland. He
there married his excellent wife, Gertrude Rask, who has won with him
an immortal name. He now first heard of the settlement in earlier days
of Greenland by emigrants from Iceland, of the establishment there of

784 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
a church with bishops, and that for centuries the country had been sep
arated from the civilized world and had sunk back into heathenism.
Egede supposed that the present inhabitants were descendants of Nor
wegians or Icelanders. He was filled with the thought of rekindling
in Greenland the quenched flame. He could not rest. This was the
day of the new dawning of mission activity in the evangelical church.
Frederick Fourth, of Denmark, had sent missionaries to Tranquebar, to
lead the heathen there to Christianity. Thomas von Westen had begun
his blessed work in Lapland. The Moravians had been awakened to
think of missions through the visit of Zinzendorf to Copenhagen. Mis
sion efforts, it is true, were detached, and in a measure unintelligent.
Yet the seeds which were to grow to the great tree had already been
planted in the soil of the church.
How long Egede carried in his heart the thought of his enterprise,
¦what obstacles he met in his home or in his neighborhood, how Often his
hopes were frustrated and himself laughed at as a fanatic or dreamer,
how often doubts entered his own heart whether his burning zeal for the
reviving, of dead souls in Greenland was not a device of the devil, and
how frequently he went for support to the Word of God, there is not time
to tell. The sweetest victory which God gave him was in his wife,
Gertrude Rask, who had detained him from his enterprise through con
siderations such as flesh and blood had presented to her. Her will was
changed so that she was filled with as great longing to go to Greenland
as was her husband. She grew to be his staff, arousing his courage ; his
comrade, never desponding, never fainting even in the sorest of life's
emergencies. At last we find Egede, after ten years of enduring trials, oppositions,
After ten years and disappointed expectations, with his wife and four little
land.'" Green" cllildren setting sail, May 2, 1721, from the harbor of Ber
gen. Three vessels and forty-six persons now, after hard
enough effort, accompanied him to the land of his desire. The 12th of
June they could descry the coasts of Greenland, but they were surrounded
by fearful icebergs which threatened to crush their ships, nor could they
find any way through. The shipmasters lost courage. The sailors wanted
to turn and go home, the peril was so great. It seemed, even to Egede,
that God had forsaken him. In this hour of need Egede appropriated
the promise of the one hundred and seventh Psalm to those " that go
down to the sea in ships." He got comfort too from the story of Paul's
shipwreck. His prayers were answered. The vessels found their way
through. The land of his heart and his prayer was reached. They
landed July 12th, on the island of Imeriksok, at the west extremity of
the district of Baals. He named the place Good Hope (Godthaab).
With what eyes must Egede have looked upon the poor inhabitants of
this ice-encircled coast, in whom he had expected to find the descendants

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN EGEDE. 785
of the old heroic Northmen ! For he had before him an entirely strange
race, with a peculiar language, of a construction different from every
other known tongue. There is not space here to describe the Esquimaux.
Subsisting upon the coasts of Greenland and Labrador by the taking of
seals and of fish, and by hunting, they, happy in their conceit, called
themselves men (Inuit), all others aliens (Kablunat). Their conceptions
of things spiritual were very limited. They had few names for all that
could not be seen by the eye. Their "Angekokks," or "medicine-men,"
shrewder than the others, wielded a kind of rule over them. Other
government was unknown. Communism in earnings and enjoyments
was everywhere the rule. Their dwellings were low huts of mud in the
winter, and tents of skin in the summer.
Egede, with the untiring industry which had distinguished him at
home, labored for the poor souls for whose sake he had left An Es.uimati
his fatherland and his office. With immense labor he mas- to the Esqui
maux.
tered the Greenland tongue. He brought his children up
with the Greenlanders that they might acquire the language and the ac
complishments upon which the people prided themselves. He found an
especial helper in his son Paul, who was afterward his successor, and the
maintainer of the mission. There is something very affecting in the way
in which he dealt with the Greenlanders in reference to divine truths.
He had his son draw pictures of Bible personages and events. He
would then explain them as well as he could to the attentive listeners.
He received Esquimaux children into his family to gain through them
the language and the affection of their parents. He did not shrink from
staying in the fearfully stinking huts of the people. He and his faithful
wife knew nothing save love and patience, the fruit of their faith in Him
who had loved and called them. What trials of faith did Egede not have
to undergo ! His circumstances at home had compelled him to seek the
support of the Bergen trading company, and of the Danish government.
This connection of trade with the mission, of an established church au
thority with a work of Christian love, became a scandal from which the
mission in Greenland has even now hardly recovered. When business
was unprosperous, the merchants threatened to withdraw their support.
At last this actually came to pass. Commerce had no thought of pro
moting Christianity, and often sent to Greenland immoral, depraved peo
ple, who tore down by their scandalous lives what Egede had builded
up. The government had undertaken both the Greenland commerce and
the Greenland mission. It knew as little about one as about the other.
One grand plan of colonization after another, unsuitable every way, was
projected, and soon came to an end. The colonists sent over were men
and women from houses of correction, who soon put an end to them
selves. King Frederick Fourth dying (1731), his successor Christian
the Sixth, seeing no material returns from Greenland, at the commence-
50

786 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
ment of his reign issued the strict command that all the colonists should
be withdrawn, and that all Europeans should come home. This was to
Egede a fearful blow. The germs and blossoms which even now were ap-
Gertmde Egede's Pearmg would all be destroyed ! He could not bring him-
great faith. seif i0 agree to forsake Greenland, neither could his dear .
wife. Lying upon a bed of sickness, she strengthened her husband, and
persuaded from eight to twelve persons to remain with him. Resting on
God, who is rich to all who call upon Him, Egede's faith was not put to
shame, though it had many a trial. Terrible inward struggles came upon
him ; his soul was beset with anguish. He thought that he was forsaken
of God. Though comforted by his comrades and children, he could not
find repose " till his God pitied him, rescuing him from hell, and bringing
him again to life." It was a misfortune too that the king, again inclin
ing to the mission (1733), gave permission, at the entreaty of Count Zin-
zendorf, to the Moravian Brethren to settle in Greenland. Their coming
was a blunder, not only because the ways of the Moravians, who gather
the people about them in one spot, were ill suited to the Greenlanders,
who as nomads must go from place to place in order to get a living, for
¦which cause the Moravian colonies are still the very poorest ; but also
because Egede, who at first welcomed the Brethren, became suspicious of
¦the orthodoxy of the Moravians, as did many in that day. Out of this
grew an unedifying correspondence between Egede and the Moravians,
the latter taking his well-meant words angrily. Even till to-day there is
no hearty union of the Danish and Moravian missions in Greenland.
They labor not with each other, but alongside of each other.
Still God's Word made quiet progress. Many souls were won by the
'Great Fisher of Men through the hand of his faithful servant. Two
losses, however, affected Egede's heart very painfully. A Greenland
boy, the only survivor of six who had been sent (1731) to Copenhagen,
• came back, alas, bringing with him the small-pox. One of Egede's dar
lings, Christian Frederick, sickened and died, as did the boy. Quickly
¦the disease spread, raging fearfully among the natives, who had never
known such a plague. There died at Good Hope five hundred within
.a few months. Those infected hurried from place to place, in spite of
¦ every entreaty and warning, and carried the pestilence north and south.
From two to three thousand were sacrificed to sickness, despair, and ill
¦ways of living. At this period of fearful trial, the love and patience of
Egede and his wife shone forth in the clearest light. Who can avoid
'being amazed, seeing husband and wife nursing the sick, taking them
into their home, seeking out everywhere the poor, giving them bodily
help and Christian consolation, and putting the dead in their graves?
Egede lived as it were in a graveyard. " Was he right in not leaving
the country in 1731 ? Was not the trial a divine chastisement ? " This
question came to him when he beheld the great desolation which the

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN EGEDE. 787
sickness had produced. The sorrowing laborer was comforted of God
by finding so many of the dying who in their last hours thanked him for
their souls' salvation, and so many of the living who now opened their
stubborn hearts to the gospel. Thus this sorrow was made a door
through which many entered into the kingdom of God.
A still severer trial came to Egede before he was able to lay down his
pastorate in Greenland. His faithful companion in joy and in sorrow,
Gertrude Rask, succumbed to the fatigues of the hard life and the sea
sons of severe sickness. She fell asleep in the arms of her dear ones,
happy in her faith in her Saviour. Egede felt deeply her loss. He
knew what she had been to him in times of struggle and of want, of suf
fering and of trial. He was thankful though afflicted, for he comforted
himself in the departure of his wife by the sure hope of their joyful re
union. Meantime his son Paul had finished his studies in Copenhagen, had
been ordained, and had come back to Greenland (1734). „ , ,
' v J Egede's son
Egede could commit the work into his hands. The govern- takes up the
-, , -, , i -i , • work-
ment granted leave to the weary wayfarer to lay down his
office and come back to Denmark. He gave a farewell address (from
Isaiah xlix. 4), under which the hearts of the Greenlanders, who flocked
from all sides, grew warm. He felt that he could do something at home
for his cherished field, and with his weakened strength could do nothing
more in Greenland. With the remains of his wife, of one son, and of
two daughters, he left the scene of his care and sorrow on August 9,
1736, and reached Copenhagen September 9th, where in the Nicolai
Church he found his faithful companion a grave.
He toiled in Copenhagen for the Greenlanders in many ways. Labor
ers for the mission were needed. At his motion a Greenland seminary
was begun, in which those who would go to that land as missionaries could
be instructed especially in its language. He was given the oversight of
the mission. The mission college was supported by the state. We will
not here consider how little his enterprise was promoted by this college.
The dear old Egede found his labor in it repugnant. He asked and re
ceived his dismissal (1747), and settled in Stubbekjobing, on the Island
of Falster, with his married daughter. He there spent the evening of
his life, till upon November 5, 1758, he was called to his Master. He
was buried in Copenhagen by the side of his first wife, for he had mar
ried a second time (in 1740). His funeral discourse was preached by
pastor Dorph from the significant words, " There was a man sent from
God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear wit
ness of the light, that all men through him might believe." Egede had
labored for half a century, and at his death was seventy-two years of
age. The memory of the just is blessed. Egede's children labored in

788 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Greenland a long time. We find among them Paul Egede, a name
never to be forgotten, John Egede Saaby, Henry Christopher Glohn,
and others. In the closing decade of the last century and the first of
the present, the love felt to the people so far away was chilled by the
cold wind of rationalism. The mission college slowly died. With few
exceptions, the men sent out were youths who had passed their examina
tions in Copenhagen only tolerably, and went to Greenland to establish
a claim to some place at home. The indestructible power of the gospel
is shown in that Christianity which was preserved and advanced in
Greenland chiefly by simple native catechists, who united fishing and
hunting with their work, yet struck its roots deep into the soil. The
population has not diminished, but increased. There are from nine thou
sand to ten thousand souls, who through God have become a changed
people. When life was reawakened in the church at home, it sent fresh
germs of life to Greenland. The laborers there, now, according to the
judgment of the present writer, who knows them well, are faithful serv
ants. At eight stations, four in North Greenland (Upernivik, Omanak,
Jacobshavn, Egedesminde) and four in South Greenland (Holsteinborg,
Godthaab, Frederikshaab, and Julianehaab), there are ten ordained Dan
ish ministers, and about forty native catechists. The Moravians also
have five stations. Though the mistakes may have been many, yet the
faithful founder of the mission shall join one day with a great multitude,
saved in Greenland, to sing, " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father ; to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen." — C. H. K.

LIFE XXXII. DAVID ZEISBERGER.
A. D. 1721-A. D. 1808. MORAVIAN,  INDIANS OP AMERICA.
Christian missions seem most successful when they raise a strong
.nation out of savagery, giving it new life and Christian civilization, thus
introducing it to history. Yet they deserve our sympathy as well when
they turn their love to a people near extinction, though they achieve
little save to brighten at least its life evening by the trust and love of
the gospel.
Such a people are the various tribes of American Indians. To Ger
many, to the brotherhood of Herrnhut, especially, accrues the merit of
having shown them the kindness of Christ. This mission had, however,
to contend with peculiar difficulties. These sprang far less from unsus-
ceptibility or opposition on the side of the Indians, than from the feuds
which prevailed in the period of which we have to speak. For not only

Cent. XVII.-XIX] DAVID ZE1SBERGER. 789
a oonstant strife existed between French and English for the mastery in
America, but there arose also the great war in which the colonies struck
for independence. In addition came the intrigues of European traders,
who found that the conversion of the Indians hurt their business, and
took advantage of military disturbances to calumniate the Moravians
and to make them suspected by the English government. Thus on their
missions there came frequent storms ever and again, wasting their field
of toil when it stood out in fairest bloom. Such was the scene of the
activity of the remarkable man of whom our story tells.
David Zeisberger was the son of a wealthy and pious farmer in the
village of Zauchtenthal, in Moravia, where he was born April 11, 1721.
Like many of their faith, his parents sought escape from the persecu
tions then waged by the Romanists of Bohemia and Moravia. They
found refuge and welcome in Herrnhut, the newly founded colony of
Count Zinzendorf [see page 472]. Soon, however, they journeyed on
to America, whither many of their country people had gone before them.
Their little son David they left behind under the care of the brethren
in Herrnhut. When he was fifteen years old, Zinzendorf took him
upon a journey with himself to Holland and placed him in the Moravian
settlement of Herrndyk. The boy felt hampered by the ,
^ x ¦* A runaway boy.
strict discipline prevailing. He ran away, accompanied by
a youthful relative of like feeling, and embarked for America, the cap
tain of a vessel giving him his passage. He gave his parents a surprise,
not wholly pleasant, by his unexpected arrival.
The Brotherhood, engaged since 1733 in evangelizing the Indians, had
in 1743 established a colony named Nazareth, some sixty or seventy
miles to the north of Philadelphia. Two years earlier (1741) they
had founded Bethlehem, on the Lehigh, a tributary of the Delaware.
Thither David traveled, little impelled by that holy trait of love to the
Master which so characterized his people. Yet even there, being asked
if he would not be a Christian, he answered decidedly, " It will come, and
all shall see that I am a converted person." But in his twenty-second
year he gave no evidence of conversion. He was counted of no use for
the purpose of the mission.
When, therefore, Zinzendorf, who had visited the Brotherhood in Penn
sylvania, was returning to Europe (1743), it seemed advisable to let
Zeisberger go also. He was moved to accompany the count ; already
the travelers were on board ; the anchor was weighed. A companion of
the count, David Nitschmann, asked Zeisberger if he were glad that he
was going to Europe. " No," was the decided answer, joined with the
confession that nothing was such a heart-desire to him as to be a Chris
tian. " Then stay," was the advice of the kind brother. Zeisberger at
once left the ship and returned to Bethlehem to remain in the forests of
America.

790 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Not long was it till the glimmering spark in the heart of the youth
was kindled into a glow. Once there was sung in a meeting of the
Brethren, —
" Abyss of love ! eternal, blest, revealed in Jesus Christ profound !
How burns, how flames each fiery crest, whose measure mind has never found !
What lov'st Thou? Race of sin and shame. What sav'st Thou? Sons who curse thy
name."
The words vanquished the young man's heart. Tears of penitence and
gratitude rolled from his eyes. The love of God to sinners made on
him a living indelible impress, turning his soul newly and powerfully to
Christ. His resolve was quickly taken. He would carry the gospel to the sav
ages. To them — poor, hopeless, despairing heathen — he would an
nounce the comforting message of God's grace, which blesses all who by
faith embrace the Crucified. In an incredibly short time he acquired,
with help given him by a missionary, the language of the Mohegans.
With a little trouble he learned, by going among the Iroquois, the dialect
of that widespread and powerful nation. Thus prepared, and full of the
courage, perseverance, and patience of one whom Christ's love con
strains, he began the work which he had made his life's task. It was
not his design to take a settled station. His view was a broad one. He
would labor among the tribes as such, and thus give his work perma
nence. He had found that the Indian races, especially the Delawares
and the Iroquois, or " Six Nations," though frequently hostile to the
whites, maintained treaties and friendly relations among themselves, and
showed to missionaries living with them toleration and kindness.
Zeisberger was fitted, by his knowledge of the languages and customs
of the Indians, for dwelling among them. In his love for them he
adopted their way of life. In the hunt he killed the game with ready
and skillful hand. He applied himself to their household arrangements
and to Indian architecture. He thus gained everywhere among them
immense regard and peculiar influence.
The mightiest among their tribes was the Iroquois, whose national
zeisberger by affairs were treated in a gathering of chiefs held in Onon-
Lake Oneida. daga, on the south bank of Lake Oneida. There was the
council-house, an edifice reared of lofty forest trunks, interlaced with
bark of trees. In this, around a blazing fire, the chieftains gathered for
consideration of their public matters after certain solemn forms. Thither
we see Zeisberger journey oft repeated times, in the first period of his
activity, through pathless wildernesses without inhabitants, going through
a thousand dangers to mediate treaties and alliances by the council fires
of Onondaga. He was assigned a place of honor among the chiefs, and
as he knew by his mighty gift of language how to touch their hearts,
his judicious counsels usually prevailed.

Cent. XVII.-XIX] DAVID ZEISBERGER. 791
His first journey to Onondaga was with Bishop Spangenberg, who in
1745 visited the Moravians in America. One day, all means of sub
sistence in the forests failed the pilgrims. They were exhausted by hun
ger and fatigue. Spangenberg turned to Zeisberger, and said affection
ately, " My dear David, get your fishing tackle ready, and catch us a
mess of fish." The other declined, since there could be no fish in such
clear water, especially at that time of year. Spangenberg said, " Inas
much as I ask it, my dear David, fish ! Do it this once, if only out of
obedience." " Well, I will do it," he said, but thought in his heart,
" The dear brother knows just nothing about fish ; and, indeed, it is out
of his line of business." But when he cast his net, how was he surprised
at once to find it full of a multitude of great fishes ! The hungry men
not only supplied their hunger, but by drying the rest at the fire made
quite a provision for their further journey. " Did I not say to thee,"
Spangenberg asked with a smile, " that we have a good heavenly
Father ? "
Zeisberger strove with untiring zeal to Christianize some Indians whom
he had gathered into a flourishing settlement. Telling them of God's
love in Christ, and supporting his words by his love, he found his way to
the hearts of the poor children of the forest. They heard their teacher's
voice, even when it scourged them. They obeyed it as it called them,
as was sometimes necessary, from relapse into their former mode of liv
ing. Once as he thus spoke, " as fathers talk to their children," a chief
tain owned his instant overwhelming power, and said, " My brother, I
feel subdued even as a little child." The glowing apostle-like fervor of
Zeisberger forced him into the deepest forests and remotest wilds. Thus
he reached Goshgoschink on the distant Ohio. The people Zeisberger by
were credited with having no equals in blood-thirstiness and the ohl°-
wickedness. They put captives to death by the most refined cruelties. But
even over them Zeisberger, through Christ's love, gained an influence.
True, his counsels were at first little heeded. Plis life was sought. He
had to dwell, his adherents with him, one whole winter in a blockhouse to
escape their attacks, and at last was driven from this also. But the seed
of the gospel which he had sown rooted itself even in such soil as this.
The Goshgoschink council in solemn assembly agreed that every one in
the village should be allowed to hear the gospel ; that Zeisberger's par
don should be asked for the injuries inflicted on him, and that he should
be assured of all friendship. They said, proud, blood-thirsty warriors,
that they were his brethren ; his God should be their God ; they were
ready, too, whithersover he would go, to go with him.
Zeisberger's quiet labors in converting and training the Indians were
often hindered. Through traders from Europe hostile tribes were stirred
up against the mission settlements. Attacks occurred more than once,
ending in horrible massacres. Calumnies against the missionaries were

792 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
carried to the government, bringing on them legal persecution. More
than once Zeisberger felt constrained to flee with his newly won church,
like a second Moses, through endless wildernesses, deep into the densest
forests of America. He would save his people from perdition at the
hands of Christian civilization. The hardships of such journeys were
unspeakable. The wanderers press through pathless wilds, climb mount
ain ridges, cross rushing rivers, often exposed to sore dangers from hos
tile Indians. Victuals failing, the adults allay hunger by ill-tasting roots,
the children by the peeled-off bark of the slippery elm. They obtain
help of God even in these extremities. Often they are strangely deliv
ered. At last the wanderers reach a resting-place, under Zeisberger's
leadership ; a new settlement is made by the industry of his flock. Neat
cabins, fields, and gardens, with a little church, meet the gaze. Leisure
is granted the preacher to train the community, instructing them by
Scriptural selections, and by hymns in the Delaware and the Mohegan.
Thus, for more than a quarter of a century, Zeisberger labors, with un
speakable efforts and invincible energy of mind, to plant Christianity, by
means of love, among the poor natives, and to guard it when planted
from growing dangers.
In 1771 Zeisberger met Netawatmis, chief of the Delawares, a remark
able man, of strong and decided character, and was invited
Zeisberger settles
in what is now by him to form a new settlement on the Muskingum, far
beyond the Ohio. The invitation was accepted. The col
ony of Schonbrunn rose (1772) and throve splendidly. Netawatmis then
invited the Indian communities elsewhere established, of which some
stood in rich bloom, to join Schonbrunn. So under Zeisberger's lead a
little Christian state was erected in the deepest forest, an oasis in the
spiritual waste of Indian heathendom. The number of converted Indians
reached four hundred and fourteen. A new and joyous life of faith and
love prevailed. The chief's family became Christian. Netawatmis him
self, although he attended divine worship constantly, to his sorrow could
not decide to acknowledge Christ. Another chief of the Delawares,
Killbuck, also called White-Eyes, resembling his comrade in valor, mag
nanimity, judgment, and moral character, was won to the gospel side.
The new converts grew in spirit, in knowledge, and in strength of be
lieving. Zeisberger was and continued the soul of all, flourishing among
these sons of the forest as a patriarch in the midst of his family, respected,
loved, and reverenced by all. He was wont to name these the golden
days of his life.
They were of short duration. Netawatmis died in 1777. When he
felt his end near, he summoned the chiefs and counselors of the Dela
wares. He expressed to them his wish that all the Delawares receive
the gospel, and suffer not the name of Christ to perish from their nation.
They promised him to fulfill, as far as possible, his desire. Then he called

Cent. XVH.-XIX] DAVID ZEISBERGER. 793
Zeisberger, and begged him to tell something more of the love of Christ.
In the midst of the missionary's prayers, offered with tears and deep
groans, the old man closed his eyes. All the chieftains stood tremblingly
about the couch of their dead leader ; then White-Eyes spoke, the Bible
in his hand : —
" My friends, you have just heard the last wish of our de'ad chief.
Let us obey him. We will kneel down before God who created us,
and pray Him that He will be gracious to us and reveal his will. As we
cannot tell to those yet unborn the holy covenant which we have sworn
by this corpse, we will pray the Lord our God that He will make it known
to our children and children's children."
To the funeral of the chief came a numerous embassy of the Iroquois.
Tribe jealousy was forgotten. Iroquois and Hurons approached with
Delawares in silent grief the place of burial. The chief of the Iroquois
embassy wrapped the body in clean buckskin, and strewed the grave with
oak leaves. Zeisberger was among the mourners, wearing a Delaware
dress. As the earth covered his friend's body he wept bitterly, before
the eyes of all, an outburst of feeling to which the others by their rules
were strictly forbidden to give way.
After this the war of American independence broke out. The mission
aries, led by Zeisberger, employed every means to keep the Indians neu
tral. Nevertheless parties rose among them, creating variance between
the tribes. An English governor at Detroit, below Lake Huron, incited
the Indians against the Americans. Thus the missions were in danger
from different sides.
Zeisberger, with his people, quitted the sweetly flourishing Schonbrunn,
having first destroyed the dwellings and the church to save them from
pagan outrage. For a time he dwelt in a settlement near by. His life
was threatened, and was saved as by miracle. He made a journey to
Bethlehem with this result, that at the desire and request of the brethren,
he took in his sixtieth year a wife, Susanna Lekron. Returning, he and
two helpers were taken by a British agent, named Eliot, and were put in
chains. All the villages of the Christian communities were destroyed,
their churches thrown down, and the dwellings burned. Only on the
pledge that they would promptly emigrate with the Christian Indians to
the Sandusky River, were the missionaries set at liberty. With sorrowful
hearts the little persecuted band looked back at the wasting of their dwell
ing-place on the Muskingum, where the grace of God had been so richly
shown them, and the gospel had made so blessed a progress, and arrived
after an endlessly painful and perilous roaming of four weeks on the
southwest bank of Lake Erie. Here a place of dwelling Z6!sl)erger by
had been assigned them by the British commandant. It Lake Erie-
was sterile and inhospitable. Winter was at the door. Yet the perse
cuted band did not lose courage or cast away hope.

794 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Soon the missionaries were summoned to Detroit before the British
governor to answer accusations. With three associates Zeisberger, in
this inclement season, had to undertake the laborious journey. Benumbed
by cold, tormented by hunger, with clothing rent and soiled, carrying
their luggage upon their backs, the messengers of Christ entered Detroit.
They had to wait for hours before the governor's door. They were then
directed to a French family, by whom they were kindly entertained.
An Indian chief named Pipe was set up by the governor as Zeisber
ger's accuser. He came into court, carrying in his left hand a stake,
upon which were two human scalps all bloody ; but he and his comrades
failed in the work of accusation. He explained rather that the mis
sionaries were good men. The father (the governor) should speak good
words to them. The missionaries were acquitted by the governor, and
assured by him that their Christian labors pleased him. They were al
lowed to return to their people, were supplied with clothes and other nec
essaries, and told that a door of welcome would ever be open to them.
The much-tried men gladly turned to their abode on Lake Erie. Deep
distress was soon after experienced. The cold had greatly increased.
Their provisions were almost exhausted. They were in danger of dying
from the rigors of the climate. Some of their number were sent off to
their former home on the Muskingum to collect some grain left there,
and to bring it. They fulfilled their errand, and were returning when an
American scouting party of several hundred white men made their appear
ance. The Indians, since they were peaceful, thought that they had
nothing to fear. The whites seeming friendly, the Indians joined their
ranks. But scarcely had they approached when the others claimed them
as prisoners, and bade them prepare within a few hours to die. In Chris
tian resignation the Indians asked one another's forgiveness for wrongs
which they perchance had done ; then kneeled down and prayed fer
vently together. Resolutely they said to the inhuman mob, " We have
commended our spirits to God, and He has given us firm confidence of
heart that He by his grace will receive us into his heavenly kingdom."
Thereupon a daring villain snatched up a heavy hammer, and dashed in
the skulls of fourteen of them. He reached the hammer to another with
the words, " My arm gives out, do you make haste." And so were miser
ably slain ninety poor victims, reddening with their martyr-blood the earth.
A few only escaped to carry the news of this act of infamy to their
brethren. The heathen Indians, stirred deeply by this horrible murder,
swore bloody revenge, which they also took. To Zeisberger it was the
heaviest blow that ever befell him.
Meantime the British governor had assigned the missionaries a suitable
Zeisberger lives tract of land on Lake Huron, for their settlement. The
m Michigan.- gospel there found an entrance into the surrounding tribes,
the savage Hurons and Chippewas. The hostility of the Huron chiefs

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] DA VID ZEISBERGER. 795
prevented, however, the secure carrying on of these mission efforts.
When, therefore, the American Congress, at the making of peace with
the Indians, expressly reserved for the Christian converts the lands on
the Muskingum possessed by them before, Zeisberger with his entire
community, which had again increased to the number of three hundred
or four hundred souls, decided to emigrate to the old loved residence.
Twelve years lasted the journey, which was hindered now by the fury of
the elements, now by disturbances breaking out anew. At last it was
permitted our hero, the old man of seventy-six, after seventeen years'
absence to set foot again upon the place of his love and his longing. He
now called it Goshen, because he viewed it as the preparation place for his
heavenly Canaan. There, in unbroken peace, he lived from this time on,
honored and beloved of the poor Indians whose souls he had won for
Christ, a teacher and model also for the younger missionaries.
Gently, yet perceptibly, the marks of an advanced old age came upon
him. First, his feet refused him service, a sore trial to one who was
accustomed by their help to carry about the bread of life. He yet had
strength at eighty-seven to exchange letters with distant friends, and to
undertake corrections of his writings upon the Onondaga and Delaware
languages. At last he could not do even this. He became blind. Now
he could only from his adoring heart exercise his mind upon the manifold
grace of God which he had experienced in his eventful pilgrimage.
In October of 1808 he felt that the end was nigh. Plis sickness was
painless. But one thing caused him unrest, the spiritual closing days m
condition -of the Indians. His children in Christ, clinging to East okio-
him so fervently, entered in small companies to his couch. " Father,"
they said, "forgive us everything whereby we have caused thee pain.
We will yield our hearts to the Saviour, and live for Him only in the
world." The venerable man believed, exhorted, and blessed them. " I
now depart to rest from all my labor, and to be at home with the Lord.
He has never yet left me in need, and now, too, He will not fail me. I
have reviewed my whole course of life, and have found that there is
much here to be forgiven." After a silent prayer, he exclaimed, " The
Saviour is near. He will speedily come to bear me home." In the
midst of the singing of spiritual melodies which the Indians began, he
gave up his spirit.
Zeisberger lived to almost eighty-eight. Sixty-seven years he devoted
with marvelous love, perseverance, and power to his ministry among the
Indians. By his natural gifts, by his acquirements in the speech of the
Indians, by the great influence he gained among them, by his decided and
energetic disposition, fitting him to rule, he could easily have controlled
the Indian tribes, and, by taking part in the war, have won fame and
power. Pie preferred the quiet triumphs of the gospel, amid peculiar
poverty and obscurity.

796 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
By the love of Christ which moved him, by the power of the Word,
by zeal and courage, by self-denial and endurance, he became a truly
apostolic character. As we look over the results of his preaching the
gospel to the unfortunate Indian folk, the sorrowful question forces itself
upon us : Were these poor aborigines of the New World so utterly un
fitted for civilization through Christianity and religious training ? Or
weighs not their destruction as a sore crime on the soul of European
Christian humanity ? — K. F.

LIFE XXXIII. CHRISTIAN FREDERIC SCHWARTZ.
A. D. 1726-A. D. 1798. LUTHERAN, — INDIA.
This German name, with its memories, takes us away to the East
Indies, that ancient land of wonders in nature and in art. Since the
year 1000, its allurements and treasures have stirred blood-stained con
querors and greedy merchants from western lands to every art of deceit
and violence. It was also to learn from those lands how beautiful upon
its noble mountains and over its fertile valleys " are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth." The Apostle Thomas, Christian tradition says, was the first
apostle of the Indies. From him the " Syrian " Christians, who were
found by the Portuguese explorers upon the coast of'Malabar, traced
their descent. It appears certain, that for more than fifteen hundred
years there existed along the coast, from the northern extremity of India
up to Malabar, a Christian church in the midst of the heathen. It re
ceived its bishops from the patriarchs of Babylon and Antioch, until the
Portuguese and Jesuits (1599) brought them by their artifices under the
Church of Rome, which was before unknown to them. Christian Arme
nians, too, were early found doing business as merchants in India. Rome
and her Jesuits, led by Francis Xavier, a great man of his kind, " con
verted" the Plindoos by hundreds of thousands, to the papal church.
They adopted the garments, manners, and customs of the pagan priests
in order to achieve their end the more easily. The Portuguese were com
pelled to give way to the Dutch. But these, too, used secular means to
make Protestants of the people rapidly and superficially. The seed of
the life everlasting was not sown.
A genuine gospel mission was begun in India for the first time through
Modem missions the agency of Frederick Fourth, king of Denmark, when
in India. that nation obtained from the rajah of Tanjore the city of
Tranquebar, upon the eastern coast. Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, a German,
was recommended by August Francke, of Halle, to conduct a mission

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHRISTIAN FREDERIC SCHWARTZ. 797
in that territory. Supported by Denmark, Halle, and England, he per
formed great labors there from 1706 until 1718. His work was further
carried on by Schultz, who completed a translation of the Bible into
Tamil, which had been commenced by Ziegenbalg. After 1740 it was
aided by Fabricius. Between 1706 and 1750 some eight thousand souls —
Hindoo, Moslem, and Romanist — were brought to the evangelical faith.
This success gave encouragement for pushing the work forward. A new
instrument for this end was already chosen of God in Germany. By him
the object sacred to the friends of Christianity in England, Denmark, and
Germany was to be promoted in a most blessed way through almost half
a century, and through the period of the first triumphant advance of the
British flag in that large population of one hundred and twenty millions.
His name was Christian Frederic Schwartz.
He was born October 26, 1726, at Sonnenburg, in Prussia. His parents
were persons of estimation. His mother, dying when he was a child,
consecrated him to the service of God. The excellent teacher of the
Latin school in his town trained the boy early to the fear of God, and to
silent prayer. Christian would often go away from his comrades to a
solitary place to seek of God the forgiveness of his sins. The father, an
intelligent and devout man, strictly exhorting his son to be sincere and
self-denying, went with him on foot to the high school at Kiistrin, where
Christian became a diligent student, though chiefly with a view to secular
ends. The impressive sermons of Pastor Stegmann counterbalanced the
influence of frivolous companions. The family, especially the daughters,
of a lawyer who was a friend of the leaders of the University of Halle,
directed the youth to religion and to reading of a beneficial kind. He
was attracted especially to August Francke's " Blessed Footprints of the
Living and Almighty Creator " (as these were seen in the work of his
famous Orphan House in Halle. See page 464). At two different times,
when attacked by serious illness, Christian resolved to give himself en
tirely to God. His good resolutions were, however, not yet firmly estab
lished. When twenty years old he went to Halle University. Elected
as a teacher of the Orphan House, he was strengthened in mind by the
evening prayers which he was asked to conduct, and by the devotional
meetings, led by Pastor Weiss. He now was enabled, with help from
Francke, to resolve to live wholly for God. The text of his first sermon,
" Master, .... at thy word I will let down the net," was in harmony
with the profound humility of soul and childlike trust in God's Word
which he afterwards exhibited.
The youth was at this time led by Schultz, the missionary, who was
then putting, through the press at Halle the Bible in Tamil,
¦ i -i <¦ , ¦ , -r t Schwartz at
to engage in the study of this southern Indian language. Haiie; becomes
Little by little Christian entertained the thought of becom- a ml
ing a missionary. He heard with pleasure that Francke was looking

798 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
about among the students for new recruits for the Indian mission. The
resolve was awakened within him to offer himself for the work, if he
could, gain his father's consent. The elder Schwartz had different plans
for his first-born. Yet after brief reflection he yielded, contrary to gen
eral expectation, and gave to his son, who had come to entreat him, his
blessing, bidding him in God's name to forget the father's house and the
fatherland, and to go and bring souls to Christ in the far-off country.
Schwartz came back with joy to Halle, having resigned magnani
mously all claim to his patrimony in favor of his brothers and sisters.
A few days after this he was offered a lucrative pastorate in Germany.
But he had put his hand to the plow, and would not look back. He
was ordained in September, 1749, with two others, in the Lutheran con
sistory at Copenhagen. In December, he went over to London, and by
February 1, 1750, was ready to sail. For a whole month his ship was
kept in the harbor of Falmouth by adverse winds. Other ships, which
were at that time on the open sea, were in many cases wrecked. Schwartz
recognized the first of his deliverances from danger. He was enabled to
overcome seasickness and a severe attack of fever. He passed the months
in study of the Scriptures, in other useful studies, and in prayer, till, on
July 17th, he saw the coast of Cuddalore lying before him in all its glory.
Not long after he had landed, his ship went down in a tempest. Schwartz
and his comrades, in excellent health, reached Tranquebar July 30th, and
were heartily received by the brethren. He there acquired the Tamil so
rapidly that he was able in four months to preach his first sermon in the
language in the church of Ziegenbalg. He plunged into his work. He
began simple catechetical lessons with the youngest children in the Tamil
and Portuguese schools. He carefully instructed two classes of candi
dates for church membership. The same year he introduced four hun
dred of these inquirers into the church through baptism. He addressed
himself immediately afterwards to those journeyings which he so long
continued throughout all southeast India as far as Ceylon. He published
the glad tidings of salvation among Hindoos, Moslems, and Christians, in
city and in country, to friend and to foe, in cold and in heat, in war and
in peace, day and night, with a thousand-fold return of blessed results.
There we behold Schwartz sitting and teaching one day under the
shadow of a majestic banyan of seventy paces circumference ; another
day under a little hut builded by himself of the leaves of the palm-tree ;
now upon a turf seat by the wayside, now in front of a pagoda, chafing
in spirit at the wild excesses of superstition, while he addresses the de
luded devotees in friendly way, adjuring them, " not as contemned, but as
brothers, children of a common Father," to think upon making their
peace with God ! Again we hear him speaking upon the rampart of a
fortress, amid the whirling clouds of dust, of repentance and of belief in
the Lord, or singing in the palace of a mighty prince, whom he wins by

Cent. XVII.-XIX] CHRISTIAN FREDERIC SCHWARTZ. 799
his Christian friendliness and frankness of address, the German hymn,
" My God, to Thee my heart I give." Again he is standing at a thresh
ing-floor, speaking to the natives busied in threshing out their rice, or is
teaching the keeper of a garden to cultivate spiritual fruit, or he is in the
hospital with the sick, or with the Brahmins on the bank of the sacred
river, in the city gate, in front of the great mosque of the Moslems, or
among the wounded in the English camp, where he hears an English sol
dier, who has followed his flag thirty-two years, in reply to the question,
" How long hast thou followed the Lord Jesus Christ?" answer, "I have
not yet entered his service." To-day Schwartz is on shipboard, and Mos
lem sailors listen to his stories of the life of Christ. To-morrow he is
among Romanists, and they lend an ear to the man of peace. A prom
inent Hindoo, in conversing with him, said, " Thou art a priest of God
to all kinds of people." He did indeed contrive, as did Paul, to be made
all things to all men, that he might by all means save some.
The talents of Schwartz for mission work were so evident from the
beginning that he was soon intrusted with the oversight and
_..».,.«,.. . iit Becomes leader
leadership of all the Christian congregations and schools of missions in
south of the River Carery. Amid the noise of the war
that was raging between England and France, he pushed on his work
in and around Tranquebar. The pagans in many places received him
with marked respect, and of their own accord contributed toward his sup
port. But the Danish colony of Tranquebar was too narrow a place for
his efforts. He went on foot, a friend with him, to the populous city
of Tanjore, and there obtained leave to preach the gospel in the palace
of the prince. Aided by British officers he builded in the great city of
Trichinopoli a chapel and a school as the beginning of a station. In
the year 1766 this charming and well-situated place was made his espe
cial field of labor. Only eternity can unfold all the work done by him
here or from here as a centre, all that he became to natives and Eu
ropeans, from Madura and Madras, even to Tinnevelly, attracting co-
laborers to him and imparting blessing to all ages and classes. His cor
dial nature, his affable address, his stores of information, his eloquence
upon both religious and worldly matters, was for decades afterwards a
delightful remembrance in the minds of those who met him. One man,
who had been greatly prejudiced against Schwartz, furnished, after years
of acquaintance and friendship, the following description : " The very
first sight of the man made it necessary to lay aside prejudices. His
clothing was generally pretty well worn, and out of the fashion. His
form was above the average in height, well built, erect, and unassuming
in its carriage ; his complexion dark but wholesome, his hair black and
curly, his look full of strength and manliness, gleaming with sincere
modesty, straightforwardness, and benevolence. You may conceive the
impression which even the first sight of Schwartz would make upon the

800 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
minds of strangers." When he had fully mastered the copious, difficult
language of the ancient intellectual and wealthy Tamil folk, he for five
years studied thoroughly their entire mythology and literature, which
proved incalculably useful to him in instructing and convincing the peo
ple of Malabar. He also acquired the Portuguese at Tranquebar, so that
he might approach the large numbers of this nation scattered over India.
In Trichinopoli, where Schwartz was cut off from all outside society,
except for a time that of the missionary Dame in Tanjore, he accom
plished a great deal with but very small means. Content with an apart
ment in an old Hindoo edifice, in which there was enough room for him
self and his bed, he accepted with a cheerful countenance as his daily
bill of fare a dish of boiled rice with a few vegetables. A piece of dark
cotton cloth, woven and cut after the fashion of the country, was the
clothing of his body the year through. Free from every care of earth,
his only wish was to do the work of an evangelist among the poor Hin
doos. The catechists, whom he raised up from among them, ate at his
table, supported out of his yearly income of six hundred guilders. The
great English garrison of Trichinopoli having no religious instruction
or worship, Schwartz became interested in them. It must astonish every
one who knows the English soldiery in India, to know that the mission
ary succeeded in winning over the entire force to the side of the gospel.
At first he gathered them to public worship in an old out-building. But
they soon decided that they could afford a part of their pay to erect a
church edifice. Only a man like Schwartz could, with the small sum
given him, have erected a beautiful, lofty, roomy structure. Besides, he
builded a mission-house and an English and Tamil school, to which he
applied the year's pay given him as chaplain of the garrison by the gov
ernment of Madras. He declined a considerable legacy left him by an
officer to whom he had imparted religious instruction. He refused the
presents of the prince of Tanjore. For a missionary must show under
all circumstances that selfish ends do not control him in his labors for the
gospel. Schwartz enjoyed good health the most of the time in this torrid coun
try. The peace of heart which won him no boisterous delights, but a
quiet, profound, constant joy, upheld and strengthened his body as it grew
old. Under the Almighty's protection, he again and again was saved
from great peril. Once, for example, when he had risen before daylight,
he sat down near a very venomous serpent, but was not touched by it.
At another time (1772), when the powder magazine of the fortress blew
up and the ground was strewn with ruins and with dead bodies, he with
his catechists, pupils, and church members remained unharmed. It was
to be expected that Schwartz should turn to Christ thousands of people,
tender children, rough soldiers, gentle youths, and hoary old men. He
was found everywhere with comfort and aid, hastening to the wounded

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] CHRISTIAN FREDERIC SCHWARTZ. 801
and sick in body or in soul, and that in trying times and amid the terrible
devastations of war. In Trichinopoli he lived to see how first twenty
and then thirty soldiers covenanted to give themselves truly to Christ, '
and then supported their spiritual father by visits to the sick, but espe
cially by an upright life among the heathen. After the year uig abode ^
1778, Schwartz made his permanent residence in Tanjore. Tanjore.
This city, built on what was counted holy ground, was a favorite abode of
Hindoos, and was adorned with the most splendid pagoda in India, as well
as with the wealthiest pagan institutions. Before this period Schwartz,
from his knowledge of the language and public affairs of the country, and
also from his disinterestedness and courage, had been made a mediator
between the English government and the pagan princes. He was now
most respectfully solicited by the English to go (1779) on an embassy to
the rude conqueror, Hyder Ali of Mysore. Schwartz turned the journey
to Seringapatam to account everywhere, preaching peace through Jesus
Christ. At the court of the terrible foe of the English, he immediately
won the public confidence. When, upon his return, a present of money
was forced upon him by Hyder Ali, he gave it to the English govern
ment. When he was bidden keep it, he asked that it should be appro
priated to the building of an English orphan asylum in Tanjore. He
also bujlded a church in that city for the Tamil congregation. When
Hyder Ali, deceived and enraged by the British, ravaged with an army
of one hundred thousand men the province of the Carnatik, bringing all
the horrors of war, famine, and death upon the field of Schwartz's labors,
the latter proved himself an angel of deliverance to both soldiers and
citizens. For seventeen months more than eight hundred hungry people
came every day to his door. He collected money, prepared and distrib
uted provisions to both Europeans and Hindoos, at the same time seeking
to administer to them spiritual consolation. Such an impression had been
made by him personally upon the terrible Hyder Ali, that the latter, amid
his bloody victories, gave the strictest orders to his officers " to suffer the
venerable Father Schwartz to go about everywhere without hindrance,
and to show him all kindness, since he is a holy man, and will not injure
me." Thus " the good father," as the pagans called him, could continue
his peaceful seed-sowing among the hostile camps which had spread over
the whole country. It was his intercession which protected the city of
Cuddalore, in the face of the savage hosts of the enemy.
Schwartz was chosen by the English government (1785) a member of
the council of administration for Tanjore. For his noble services in this
office he was granted a British pension of one hundred pounds annually.
When the old prince of Tanjore was given an heir to his crown, Schwartz
was proffered the guardianship of the prince. He declined, naming in
stead the father's brother, Ameer Sing. The latter, in acknowledgment,
gave him the revenues of a village for his Christian schools and orphan
51

802 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
children. When Ameer Sing behaved badly towards Sersudscha, the
crown prince, Schwartz was obliged to become guardian, and
Guardian of the , , , . , , , -, rr ¦ „ f ^
prince of Tan- to take a large share in the unsettled affairs of the state. He
brought about an improvement in the administration of law
and of finance, and an increase of the revenues. He was surrounded from
morning till night by natives of every condition, whose disputes he settled ;
by needy widows, whom he employed in spinning and in other labor ; by
poor girls, who did knitting while he instructed them ; by young catechists
and missionaries, to whom he gave wise counsels. Besides all this, he
engaged in preaching and in founding and conducting the schools of the
province, the means for which he received from the old rajah of Tanjore,
whose confidence he retained undiminished through a space of thirty years.
Thus Schwartz at seventy years of age remained in his full strength,
a German oak in the land of the palm. His position grew ever more
lonely ; his old friends were gone ; he was forewarned of his departure
through a disease of the feet. Schwartz had remained unmarried (would
that other missionaries could consent to forego marriage, at least at the
start), and yet was most thoroughly adapted by his social, loving nature
to enjoy the married life. He was prostrated for three months by a pain
ful sickness connected with the trouble in his feet, and was thus prepared
for the end of life. Still he was able to join with strong voice in the
hymn, " Christ is my Life," and to say that he was ready either for
further labor or for a speedy departure. He submitted everything to the
will of God. Pie commended his spirit to Him who had redeemed him.
Then singing, in concert with his brethren about him, the hymn, " 0
Dies while sing- Sacred Head now Wounded," with head erect and lips
ins- open, he expired in the arms of a faithful and affectionate
native assistant, at four o'clock on the morning of February 13, 1798.
The court of his home resounded with loud weeping, when the people
gathered there heard of the death of their comforter and father. Prince
Sersudscha hastened thither to behold the form of his loved guardian.
At the grave the sobs of the multitude hindered the singing of the burial
hymn. The prince erected in the city where he lived a marble monu
ment " to the revered Father Schwartz." Upon a granite tablet in the
chapel of the mission he placed also an inscription in English verses,
praising his " father " and expressing a desire to be worthy of him. In
later years the prince, though lacking courage to become a Christian, en
deavored to honor the memory of the deceased missionary by pious insti
tutions for the young and the sick. The East India Company in 1807
erected a monument to the patriarch of Christian missions in Hindostan,
in St. Mary's Church of Fort George at Madras. But the most precious
memorial of his work for the missions in Southern India, to which he left
all his property, was the multitude whom he led to a Christian life, and
the company of valiant men whom he trained to carry on the work.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 803
When Gericke as missionary went to South India in 1803, he saw the
fruits of the seeds sown by Schwartz. Whole villages came to him for
instruction. He baptized thirteen hundred pagans, while his catechists
formed eighteen churches, and baptized twenty-seven hundred persons.
There have since been found, in sixty-two villages surrounding a church
erected by a Hindoo woman whom Schwartz baptized, more than four
thousand Hindoo Christians. — H. V'M.

LIFE XXXIV. JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP.
A. D. 1747-A. D. 1811. REFORMED, — AFRICA.
In the latter part of the last century great interest began to be awak
ened in England in mission work among the heathen. This led to the
forming of the London Missionary Society in 1795. Their first efforts
were directed to one of the South Sea Islands. Their attention, how
ever, was soon turned to South Africa. But how and where could they
find a suitable man to lead the way into those trackless wilds, and under
take to introduce the gospel to the most barbarous and degraded of human
beings ? While the directors of the society were asking this question,
the Lord was preparing an answer by raising up for them, in the person
of John Theodosius Vanderkemp, of Holland, a pioneer who should be
worthy of the grand and Christlike enterprise they had in mind.
He was born in 1747, at Rotterdam, where his father was a minister
of the Reformed Dutch Church. For the first five years of a liberal
training, John went to the university in Leyden. He then
t , ii i t. i An army officer.
entered the army, where he served for sixteen years, and
rose to be captain of horse and lieutenant of the dragoon guards. Leav
ing this service, he went to Edinburgh to pursue his studies in the univer
sity there. Thus helped he became distinguished in the study of philos
ophy, chemistry, indeed in all the sciences, and made himself acquainted
not only with the ancient classics but also with many of the best lan
guages of modern Europe. Returning from Scotland, he entered upon the
practice of medicine, wherein he rose to great repute and esteem. From
this time on, the hand of the Lord becomes more manifest in preparing
the way for his entering upon one of the most arduous and self-denying
enterprises to which, in those days, man could be called.
During his studies, though a member of the church of his fathers, he
became much tinctured in mind with infidelity. Having come now to
maturity of years, he retired with his wife and only child to a residence
in the country, where he sometimes amused himself in sailing with his
family on the river. On one of these occasions a sudden storm burst
upon them, upset the boat, and left only himself to be barely rescued

804 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
from the watery grave into which his two nearest relatives sunk to rise
no more. His faith in infidel sentiments was now shaken ; he got new
views of Christ, and heartily embraced the entire gospel system.
Being now called to the charge of a large hospital, during a war with
France, he ministered alike to the bodies and the souls of his patients,
with great acceptance and success. The sick esteemed him as theirfather,
and the servants obeyed as children. The hospital closing at the end
of the war, he began to lead a retired life and devote himself to his
Oriental studies, and to the completing of a commentary he was writing
on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans.
In this way was the Lord raising up one who, by great firmness of char
acter, distinguished talents, much knowledge of human nature, and eminent
attainments in general culture and religious experience, should have his
soul kindled to a glow with a desire to raise the standard of the cross in
one of the wildest, darkest parts of the earth. Reading an address which
the London Missionary Society had put out, he became deeply interested
At fifty called m tne subject of missions. Parts of the address made such
to his life-work. an impression upon -his mind that he fell upon his knees
and cried, " Here am I, Lord Jesus ; Thou knowest that I have no will
of my own, since I gave myself to Thee." And again he says : " I heard
the voice of the Lord saying, ' Whom shall I send, and who will go for
us ? ' Then said I, ' Here am I, Lord, send me.' "
He wrote to the directors of the society in London, offered his serv
ices, was examined and at once accepted, and on November 3, 1797,
was ordained a missionary to South Africa. Returning to Holland to
settle his affairs, he was the means of forming two missionary societies
in his own country, — one at Rotterdam, called the Netherland Mission
ary Society, and another at Friesland, both to cooperate with the society
in London in the cause of African evangelization. Meantime, three other
men, Messrs. Kicherer, Edmond, and Edwards, became interested in the
subject, offered themselves, and were accepted and appointed as fellow
laborers with Dr. Vanderkemp.
On the 23d of December, 1798, all embarked for Africa. The Hills-
boro, in which they took their passage, was a convict ship, and chosen
by them for this reason, that they might have opportunity to render hu
mane and Christlike service to some of the most wretched and abandoned
of men, on their way to their mission field. And for such service there
was much occasion. When a pestilent fever broke out among the con
victs, this man of God and friend of humanity, with his intrepid brethren,
ceased not, day or night, to minister to their wants and distresses, both
temporal and spiritual, exposing themselves to all the dangers of infec
tious and putrid disease to alleviate distress, and pluck, if possible, the per
ishing as brands from the burning. Nor were the prayers and labors vain,
for ere they reached the Cape several gave evidence of a saving change,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 805
while some who died on the passage went hence in the hope of a blessed
immortality. March 31, 1799, Dr. Vanderkemp landed at Cape Town, and was
kindly received by the governor and the other Europeans Lands at th
whom he found there. During his stay at the Cape, a CaP°-
deep interest was awakened in mission work, and a society, called the
South African Society for Promoting the Spread of Christ's Kingdom
at the Cape of Good Hope, was formed. Here, too, the doctor gave
a portion of almost every day to Christian work among the slaves, Mo
hammedans and Hottentots, "some of whose hearts," says he, "were evi
dently baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, though the customs
and rules of this country did not allow them to be baptized with water."
The London society had committed the direction of the mission to
the doctor himself ; but his good sense, humility, and generous nature
soon led him to ask to be released from this distinction and exclusive
responsibility, as he believed that the cause which was to him most pre
cious could be best served by having a perfect equality established be
tween himself and the brethren associated with him.
Having procured the needed oxen, wagon, driver, leader, and other
outfit for a long journey and continued abode in a wild and barbarous
region, received the presents and best of benedictions from the slaves
who had enjoyed his ministry, and been encouraged and strengthened
by the prayers of all the good whose acquaintance he had made, on the
22d of May, 1799, the doctor took a tender and gracious leave of the
Cape. For a few days, the route of the four missionaries was the same,
and took them through a most delightful region. But coming to Rode-
zand, Messrs. Kicherer and Edwards went to the Bushmen, while the
doctor and his coadjutor, Edmond, set off anew and alone, May 29th, for
Caffraria. They soon entered the Carrow, where, for eight days, jour
neying through a dismal wilderness without ever seeing a human habita
tion, they were exposed to a great variety of perils ; now from the strait-
ness and roughness of the passage between mountain ridges, now from
the savage Bushmen who lived by plunder, and now from the wild beasts
that often disturbed their slumbers and kept them on the alert at night.
Arriving at Gamka River, June 12th, they passed a restful night and
joyous day with a Mr. De Beer. Their journey from this place onward
was very fatiguing, and fraught, too, with no little danger. The weather
was cold, the country was infested with wild beasts, and their lives were
often imperiled by pillaging men, Bushmen equipped with poisoned ar
rows, and more to be feared than the leopard and lion. They reached
Graaf Reinet June 29th, and had a most hearty welcome. And here,
too, as in every place, they failed not to reward the hospitality shown
them by earnest, loving labor in preaching Jesus Christ, day by day,
publicly and from house to house.

806 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
The shorter the pendulum, the quicker and stronger the beat ; so the
nearer the doctor drew to his long-sought field, the more his zeal and
courage enlarged. And well it was so, else the now rapidly increasing
difficulties and dangers had been too great for his triumph over them.
Plaving spent a few days of delightful intercourse and labor with Christian
friends at Graaf Reinet, on the 10th of July he set forward for the dark
places that lay beyond, which, just now, were overflowing with deeds of
cruelty. Colonists, Hottentots, and Caffres were in a state of anarchy
and strife, so that the danger of the missionary's being waylaid, robbed,
and murdered was constant, often imminent. Yet nothing daunted, he
pursued his journey with the utmost diligence, and took every opportunity
to preach the gospel to the different races and classes he met, sometimes
in crowds, along the way. Ten days' travel brought him to the Great
Fish River, which at that time was the southern limit of Caffre land.
From this point he sent a delegation of three men to ask permission
Meets the king °f tne Caffre king, Geika, to come and visit him. After a
of the caffres. week's absence the messengers returned with a favorable
reply, bringing the king's tobacco-box for a passport to him. But such
were the hostile movements of the rebel Caffres, stealing the doctor's oxen,
and threatening his life and the lives of all his company, that he was
compelled to wait for more peaceful times. After a month's delay he
started again, though the perils of the way still remained. " But," says
the doctor, " the more the difficulties and dangers were mentioned, the
more I was excited in mind to go forward, and found my faith increased."
Three weeks of eventful and wearisome travel brought him to Geika's
residence. After some delay his Caffrarian majesty made his appearance,
having his ministers of state by his side. His lips and cheeks were painted
red, his body covered with a long robe of leopard skins ; in his hand he held
an iron kiri, while on his head he wore two diadems, one of copper and
one of beads. Receiving the tobacco-box, which had been sent for a pass
port, now filled with beads, he gave it to his attendants, but spoke not a
word, and hardly winked an eye. After half an hour's mute audience, an
interpreter appeared, and the king, taking his seat upon the ground, with
his captains by his side, deigned to open his mouth. Dr. Vanderkemp
stated to him the object of his mission. Geika replied that the time of his
coming was very unfavorable, as all the country was in a state of confusion,
and advised the missionary not to think of remaining with him, yet gave
him permission to unyoke his oxen and pitch his tent. The king had been
prejudiced against the missionaries, being told that they were spies and
assassins, and had enchanted wine with which to kill him. For more
than a fortnight they waited in suspense and pressed their suit, but got no
permission to remain. Indeed everything seemed forbidding, and vio
lence began to be feared. " But," says the doctor, " I found my rest and
strength in the Lord, and got much comfort from his Word."

Cent. XVH-XIX] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 807
One more attempt being made, the king yielded, confessed his neglect,
said he was at fault, but had been very much occupied with the festivals
of his marriage ; adding that he was glad that God had put it into the
hearts of these men to come into his country. " So then," said he, "let
Tinkana [Dr. Vanderkemp] take the field on the other side of the Keis
Kammer River, and be free to go and come in my country as he may
please." The missionaries immediately set off for the station assigned
them, and reached it October 20, 1799. Having selected a spot for a
house, felled a few trees, and cut some thatch for building, " I kneeled
down on the grass," says the doctor, " thanking the Lord Jesus that He
had provided me a resting-place before the face of our enemies and Satan,
praying that from under this roof the seed of the gospel might spread
northward through all Africa."
The doctor soon opened a school in which he taught the English and
Dutch languages to eleven pupils of various nations. And now, early in
December, just as he is beginning to get fairly settled in his work, a dep
uty from the governor at the Cape arrives at Geika's, sends for the
doctor, and begs him to withdraw from Caffre land till more peaceful
times can be restored. But Geika will not consent to his leaving, and
is so offended with the messenger from the Cape that he is barely pre
vented by his mother and uncle from killing him on the spot.
Soon after this, December 29 th, the doctor's colleague, Edmond, took
his departure and went to the Cape for the purpose of pros- AIon6 -m Caflre
ecuting a design he had long cherished of going to India, land-
thus leaving Dr. Vanderkemp to struggle alone with the many difficulties
that beset his work. The parting was very fraternal and tender. Hav
ing gone together over the river, they knelt and wrestled for a time with
God, in prayers and tears, after which Mr. Edmond departed ; while the
doctor, having given him his last and best benediction, went upon a hill,
and with a lingering eye followed his wagon for about half an hour, till,
as he says, " It sunk behind the mountains, and I lost sight of him to see
him no more."
The doctor returned to his cheerless home with a sad yet resolute and
hopeful heart. His labors and dangers during the succeeding year were
many ; but his faith and courage were set in God, by whose watchful prov
idence he was saved more than once from impending death, and through
whose gracious aid he was joyously permitted to see his labors blessed.
Teaching school and preaching the gospel continued to engage his time
and strength. The king himself sometimes expressed a desire to be in
structed, and once remarked that " he imagined one time or another he
should be a Christian," adding also that " his mother and another woman
wished to be instructed in the Christian religion." For a time he put
himself under mission teaching, and attended school with the children.
But he was still the slave of superstition, ignorance, and caprice, so that,

808 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
in April, after the doctor's situation had come to be somewhat comfortable,
and his labors more apparently effective, he ordered him to remove. This
broke up the school, and interrupted important plans, but was in some
respects overruled for good.
His attendants and pupils now included the three races of Hottentots,
Caffres, and colonists. At length, one of the former, a Hottentot woman,
named Sarah, began to give evidence of a work of grace in her heart,
and was in due time baptized, together with three children. " And oh,"
says Dr. Vanderkemp, " how did my soul rejoice that the Lord had given
me in this wilderness, among tigers and wolves, and at such a distance
from Christians, a poor heathen woman with whom I could converse con
fidently of the mysteries of the hidden communion with Christ. Oh,
that I may not be deceived ! Lo, my winter is past ; the voice of the
turtle is heard in the land." Others expressed an interest in the Christian
faith, and some gave such evidence of a change of heart as greatly en
couraged him in his work.
But this development of interest in the gospel seemed to arouse all the
greater opposition and prejudice against the missionary and his work.
More than once did Geika determine on the doctor's death ; and it was
known that, on one occasion, he actually came with an armed force to
murder him and his people. Forbearing, however, to narrate the accounts
we have of the bloody deeds which the cruel and freakish king and his
servants were instigating and perpetrating, it is enough to say that the
lives of all who indicated attachment to Dr. Vanderkemp, or had taken
up their abode near his station, whether native or European, were so
much endangered that at the close of the year they determined to leave
the country and seek a place of more security. As there was reason to
doubt if this could be safely done by any open or direct move, those who
Hunts elephants na^ tne enterprise in' charge resolved to go out privately,
to save his life. or under the guise of hunting elephants. They invited the
doctor to accompany them. To this he was at first opposed ; but seeing
all his people bent on leaving, he finally consented to go with them, and
so continue his labors among them. The company numbered some sixty
souls, all more or less under instruction, besides many of the wild yet well-
disposed Caffres, who, however, eventually turned back to the old homes.
This wandering mode of life, men and women, flocks and herds, being
generally on the move during the day, and passing their nights, if pos
sible, where grass, woods, and water could be found, continued for more
than four months. But the doctor rested not from his mission work ;
nor did he fail to find repeated manifestations of religious interest among
the people of his charge. And now, as ever, the doctor showed himself
no respecter of persons, having under instruction men, women, and chil
dren from some four or five tribes and nationalities, — English, Hottentot,
Caffre, Tambookee, and some of a mixed blood, Dutch and native. In

Cent. XVH.-XIX] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 809
this and in other ways, during these wanderings, the doctor had the best
of opportunity for prosecuting his study of the natural, social, and civil
history of that new and hitherto unexplored field, — the soil, climate,
animal and vegetable life of the country, as also his study of the language,
religion, maimers and customs, population, and government of the people.
For broad and valuable research in these fields, his taste, genius, and
varied learning gave assurance of eminent fitness, while the rich results
achieved gave proof of great industry and perseverance.
Arriving at length at Graaf Reinet, May 14, 1801, the doctor had a
cordial reception, and was rejoiced to meet several missionaries, among
whom was Mr. Read, who had just been sent out from London to assist
him. The doctor was soon invited by the elders of the church in this
place to settle over them in the ministry. But he declined the call and
continued to give himself to mission work, especially among the wretched
Hottentots, many of whom, in constant danger of being seized in their
defenseless and secluded homes and held as slaves by the Dutch colonists,
had fled thither for protection. The doctor's congregation soon came to
number about two hundred. But his attention to this class of heathen
roused a spirit of speedy and violent opposition among the colonists in
the vicinity, many of them resorting to arms and threatening to burn and
destroy the town, unless the government would put a stop to the pro
ceedings of the missionaries. The doctor promptly interposed his con
ciliatory offices, and was at length instrumental in having the rebellion
brought to an end.
His congregation of Hottentots kept up and continued " to increase
in number, knowledge, and grace." The school which he was teaching
increased also, so that by September it had come to number sixty-two.
The situation was now so promising that the missionaries resolved to
erect the buildings necessary for making this a permanent station. The
government gave a piece of land for the purpose, and the buildings were
erected. But another rebellion being set on foot because of the privi
leges afforded the natives at Graaf Reinet, Dr. Vanderkemp proposed to
have some new place selected for a Hottentot settlement, to which this
wretched and persecuted people might be removed, where they could be
effectually shielded from the wrongs which the envious and wicked Boers
were continually practicing upon them, and where, too, they could be
not only educated and Christianized, but also taught industrial habits
and useful pursuits which would procure a better means of subsistence and
make life more comfortable. This plan was approved by the government
of the colony, which granted for the settlement a piece of ground near
Algoa Bay. So hearty and generous was the approval which Governor
Dundas gave the plan, that he sent a shipload of articles from Cape
Town, to be used in laying the foundation of the institution, and in sup
port of the people for a time on their first arrival at the new settlement.

810 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
On the 20th of February, 1802, Dr. Vanderkemp and Mr. Read took
their departure from Graaf Reinet, with a part of their congregation,
which, as they journeyed on, was somewhat increased, so that when they
arrived at the chosen settlement, " Bota's Place," March 5th, it numbered
one hundred and sixty Hottentots. The station, or farm, was about three
miles from the bay and seven from Fort Frederick. It combined many
advantages, and the buildings were such as to allow of the missionaries
entering at once upon the work of instruction. Very soon, however, it
was found that the stagnant water of the place was injurious to health.
Dr. Vanderkemp was so affected by this and by a severe rheumatism as
to be laid aside from active service and confined much of the time to his
bed for nearly a year. The principal care of the station now devolved
upon his faithful and indefatigable coadjutor, Mr. Read.
But this new settlement, like the former, was subject to much hardship
and peril from the malice and assaults of the colonists. Such were the
tumults and injurious reports raised, that Governor Dundas eventually
forbade the missionaries receiving any more natives into the institution.
In September, the governor visited them, and was so much impressed
with the good they were doing and the danger they were incurring, that
he advised them to take quarters • in Fort Frederick, from which he was
just then removing the garrison. They at first declined ; but having
been repeatedly attacked by their enemies, and had many of their cattle
stolen and some of their people killed, they retreated, with their people,
into the fortress, and remained there for some months. Yet the work
of the Lord went on, so that from September to April the missionaries
reckoned more than twenty hopeful conversions among the Hottentots,
some of whom Dr. Vanderkemp baptized sitting in his bed. At the time
they were compelled to take up their abode in the fort, the institution
had increased to three hundred souls ; but this number was somewhat
diminished by the removal.
About this time the colony passed from the rule of the English into
Founds Bethels- *ne hands of the Dutch again, and the new governor, Jan-
dorP- sens, went through the country, inquiring into the causes of
its calamities. On this tour his mind was much prejudiced against the
missionaries, but on meeting them and seeing their work, he became at
once convinced of the utility of their labors, and proffered assistance in
the way of forming a new station. The place chosen was about seven
miles north of the bay, and took the name " Bethelsdorp," or village of
Bethel. The missionaries and their people took possession of their new
station about the 1st of June, 1803, and now for the first time after his
long sickness, the doctor began to enter upon active duties and take
charge of public worship. The station was laid out in the form of a
parallelogram, and the borders were marked off into squares for Hotten
tot dwellings. In the centre they built a church, to which were attached

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 811
four wings for the use of the mission families. On the 2d of July, just
a month from their entering upon the new field, the church was ready for
religious service and for the school. Much success attended their efforts,
so that at the close of the year the missionaries say, " The Lord's work,
to the glory of his name, has this year been conspicuous. Heathen dark
ness has fled before the gospel light, and the power of converting grace
has triumphed over the power of Satan, in the hearts of these pagans to
whom we have been called to preach the gospel of Christ."
During the next year, 1804, the work went on with less of interrup
tion, yet the malignant opposition of the Boers, though restrained, was not
much abated. Under date of April 2d, the doctor writes, " The congre
gation of our church increases continually, also the power of grace, by
which the Lord from above gives evidence that our preaching is not in
vain." And again, under date of November 1st, " The work of converting
grace still continues, and now and then, as we trust, a pearl is added to
the crown of Jesus. In the course of this year, I have baptized twenty-
two adults and fourteen children. The whole number of our church
members is forty-three." The number of people at Bethelsdorp, at this
time, was three hundred and twenty.
The following year, the loud and long-continued clamor of the Boers
against the mission was such that early in March the doctor was sum
moned to the Cape, and there detained till it seemed probable that the
missionaries would be compelled to leave the colony. For this they had
begun to make preparation, purposing to go to Mozambique or Mada
gascar ; when early in January, 1806, the colony came back into the
hands of the English. The missionaries were now allowed to remain
and resume their labors, and the doctor was sent back to Bethelsdorp, in
one of the wagons which the English general, Sir David Baird, had
taken from Governor Jansens. Arriving at the institution, " We find,"
says the doctor, " to our joy and comfort, the work of converting grace
going on prosperously and with power."
Some of the more advanced of the Hottentots now began to go out
and labor, as mission helpers, among their countrymen in the colony, and
in so doing were much blessed of God. In 1807 a good religious inter
est began to be manifest among the Caffres, who had now been brought
under the teaching of the missionaries at Bethelsdorp. The following
year, 1808, an outstation was formed at Stuurman's Kraal, and put
under Mr. Read's care. The population at Bethelsdorp had gradually in
creased until a second and now a third square had been carried round the
first. The fields were covered with cattle, which numbered some twelve
hundred head, besides sheep and goats. The number of houses in the
squares was between seventy and eighty, each house averaging not less
than ten souls. The people, men and women, became industrious, the
children were trained to diligence and to useful habits, the girls were

812 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
taught knitting, among other things, and in one year earned in this way
no less than two hundred and seven dollars. In short, the institution
now attained to such a growth, solidity, and strength, that the doctor
began to consider the question of leaving it soon to the care of some
other missionary, that he might devote the remainder of his own days to
the work of the Lord in some nation as yet ignorant of the way of life.
One plan he had in mind was to make a tour to the northeast, beyond
the limits of Caffraria, for the purpose of commencing a chain of mis
sion settlements, which should extend along the east coast of Africa, the
first of which, after Bethelsdorp, should be among the Tambookees, on
the north of the Caffres. Or, failing to find the way open in this direc
tion, his desire was to attempt a mission in Madagascar.
Waiting instructions from England, Dr. Vanderkemp continued his
work at Bethelsdorp, meantime projecting a plan for an asylum where
neglected children might be cared for in a proper manner. During the
year he made a visit to Stuurman's Kraal, when many were deeply af
fected by his preaching, and gathered to hear him in such numbers that
the meetings had to be held in the open. air. The population at Bethels
dorp had now become a thousand, and many who had been enemies to
the missionaries now came to receive instruction at their lips. The gov
ernor of the colony, Lord Caledon, also took a deep interest in the work
and offered every possible assistance.
In 1810 Mr. Read made a journey into Caffraria, where the people
gave him a joyous reception, and asked him to send them a missionary.
Kind inquiries were made concerning " Tinkana," and a strong desire ex
pressed to see him. To the discerning, reflecting Caffre, still untaught
as he was, the doctor's good name seemed all the more fresh and fragrant
for the years that had passed.
In one of Mr. Read's letters to the directors in London, he refers to
a deliverer of l^e great cruelty which the Hottentots are continually suf-
the oppressed. fering at the hands of the Boers, and tells how Dr. Van
derkemp had been so affected by a knowledge of it, in several instances,
that within a period of three years he had paid about five thousand dol
lars out of his own pocket to redeem some of these wronged and wretched
creatures from bondage. In this and in every other possible and proper
way did the doctor give his voice so eloquently against oppression, and
so earnestly did he plead the cause of humanity, as to inaugurate a strug
gle which, though long continued, yet, through the subsequent persever
ing efforts of Dr. Philip and others, finally culminated triumphantly in
the Hottentots' effectual deliverance from their chains. When a com
mittee was appointed by Lord Caledon to investigate the numerous
charges of cruelty and murder brought against the colonists in the vicin
ity of Bethelsdorp, Dr. Vanderkemp was summoned to the Cape to testify
as to what he knew of the matter. The result was that his excellency

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 813
had no doubt as to the truth of the charges, and appointed commission
ers to visit the several districts where the bloody crimes had been perpe
trated, and bring the guilty to the punishment they deserved. This
effective exposure of the grievous wrongs so long practiced upon the
Hottentot race was one of the last public services which the doctor was
able to render that people, whose deliverance from thraldom, both tem
poral and spiritual, had now been the object of his solicitude for more than
a decade of years.
Missionaries having arrived from England to take charge of the work
at Betkelsdorp, Dr. Vanderkemp began to prepare for the new mission
he had long had in mind, and was directed to the choice of Madagascar
as the more open of the two or three fields to which his thoughts had
been turned. But while he was waiting an opportunity to engage a pas
sage thither, the great Head of the Church accepted the will for the deed,
and turned his thoughts to another region. Having had about a week's
intimation that his end was drawing near, on the 15th of December, 1811,
after having briefly testified to the assurance of his faith in the grace
and providence of God by saying, " All is well," he went to enjoy the
eternal rest and bliss the Lord had prepared for him in heaven. The
number of his years was about sixty-four, the last thirteen of which he
had devoted with great fidelity to the service of his Master, in one of the
most self-denying fields within the knowledge and reach of God's people
at that day.
Doubtless it would be saying too much — more than can be said of
any man in this life — to claim that in the memorable subject of this
narrative the critical eye could never have seen any imperfection. To
err is human ; the sun itself has its spots. On the other hand, who
will question the opinion which one well acquainted with his life, charac
ter, and labors has expressed, that, " for combining natural talents, ex
tensive learning, elevated piety, ardent zeal, disinterested benevolence,
unshaken perseverance, unfeigned humility, and primitive simplicity, Dr.
Vanderkemp has, perhaps, never been equaled since the days of the
Apostles " ? Well does the venerable Moffatt say of him : " He came
from a university, to stoop to teach the alphabet to the poor naked
Hottentot and Caffre ; from the society of nobles, to associate with beings
of the lowest grade in the scale of humanity ; from stately mansions
to the filthy hovel of the greasy African ; from the army, to instruct
the fierce savage in the tactics of a heavenly warfare under the banner of
the Prince of Peace ; from the study of medicine to become a guide to
the balm in Gilead and the physician there ; and, finally, from a life of
earthly honor and ease, to be exposed to perils of waters, of robbers, of
his own countrymen, of the heathen, in the city, in the wilderness."
Thus lived, wrought, prayed, and prevailed the untiring, unselfish Van
derkemp, the great apostolic pioneer in African missions. — L. G.

814 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
LIFE XXXV. HENRY MARTYN.
A. D. 1781-A. D. 1812. EPISCOPAL, — PERSIA.
" Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile " is a description in
few words of Henry Martyn, one of God's soldiers, who was made per
fect through suffering, and now shines forth as one of the noblest and
most lovable characters in the whole missionary history of the church in
modern times. Nature and grace combined to make his character beau
tifully symmetrical, and to stamp it with a completeness such as is rarely
seen. He was an acute mathematician, and yet a great lover of poetry;
an accomplished scholar, and yet a simple Mary-like spirit ; thoroughly
versed in the master-works of Greece and Rome, and yet more thoroughly
a master of the Holy Scriptures ; a loftily soaring, and yet a deeply pene
trating mind ; at ease in his work, yet always pressing forward ; earnest,
yet cheerful ; withdrawn from the world, yet delighting in existence ; ex
tremely conscientious, yet not painfully so ; of ardent affections, and yet
chaste ; a man of thought, but just as truly a man of action ! After he
had once found the peace of God which passeth understanding, he lived
every day penitently and prayerfully studying the Scriptures, devoted to
the honor of his Redeemer and the salvation of his fellows, rejoicing with
them that rejoiced, weeping with them that wept, harmless and simple as
a child, high-spirited and strong as a man complete in Christ Jesus. He
therefore lived a precious life within a few years ; filled not with deeds
outwardly dazzling, but with labor the glory of which is hid with Christ
in God, and will be revealed in his own good time.
Henry Martyn was born in 1781, at Truro, in the county of Cornwall,
England. Of hopeful promise, he was set apart to be a scholar. He
acquired learning with great facility and with an increasing ambition.
Boasting himself, as a youth, of having never lost an hour, he was disposed
to be jealous and quarrelsome whenever he failed of the principal prize.
The gentle endeavors of a Christian sister were of no avail. The reminder
of a friend that we must learn first of all to honor God seemed to him
mere foolishness. Invitations to repentance and humility only vexed him,
until the sudden announcement of the death of his loved father came upon
him like lightning out of a clear sky. His sister wrote him that the last
words of the dying man were, "All is vanity; the only excellence is
humbleness and child-like belief upon God's grace in Christ Jesus." She
told him how their father had thought especially of his absent son, and
had implored for him a humble heart and the favor of God. The light
ning entered Henry's soul, and burned up with clear flame the wood, hay,
and stubble, heaped together in the mind of the youth so full of worldly
knowledge. In his humility he began to cry to God. His open Bible

Cent. XVII.-XIX] HENRY MARTYN. 815
presented to him the command, " Enter in at the strait gate." His soul
in fear resolved from that day onward to seek life along the narrow path.
When not twenty years old he passed his public examinations with
great credit, especially in mathematics. He was kept of God from en
slaving himself anew to his wicked foe, selfish ambition. He retired from
school, and entered the higher school of prayer and of study of the Script
ures, in the quiet of his home, under one of his father's friends, with a few
excellent young men as his companions. He resolved to be a clergyman.
But he was not content to labor as such at home. Through descriptions of
the apostolic zeal of Brainerd, the valiant American missionary, of the
achievements of Schwartz, of Germany, in the East Indies, in near half
a century of effort, and of the deeds of Carey, who rose from a shoe
maker's bench to be a doctor of divinity, Martyn came to feel that he
too must enter upon the work of foreign missions. Through Martyn becomes
conflict of soul and fervent prayer he became assured that a missionary.
he was appointed of God to this labor. He placed himself under the
society recently established in the Church of England for missions in
Africa and in the East. In the mean time, by devoting himself to the
work of preaching, he gained experience in the care and comfort of
souls, and in the relief of the poor. He filled his places of preaching to
overflowing. He was kept from self-exaltation not only by prayer, to
which he gave half his nights, and by meditation, to which he gave all his
Sabbaths, but also by temptation, which Martin Luther once called the
third fountain of strength to a disciple. He, with his sisters, lost their pat
rimony, so that his heart's desire to be a missionary seemed overthrown.
Yet his prayer was, " Not as I will, 0 Lord, but as Thou wilt." At last
he saw the longed-for yet trying hour when he was to leave his father
land and his friends, to go to the land which God should show him.
He received ordination in London, being in his twenty-fourth year.
With deep emotion and holy purposes he took leave of his parish. He
used the time at his disposal to acquire the necessary foreign languages.
When he embarked at Portsmouth his people gave him a compass as a
keepsake. On his knees he prayed that the Word of God might be their
guide and his through the wilderness of earth to the home in heaven.
He spoke a last farewell, having formed his purpose to live and to die on
distant shores. He did not forget upon the voyage his obligations to his
fellow-voyagers. In the face of contempt and indifference he gathered
about him every day a little company whom he awakened and strength
ened. In tempest and in pestilence he stood by his post. At the Cape
of Good Hope the troops landing had to go to meet the enemy. Mar
tyn joined himself to one of the divisions, to tend and to comfort the
wounded. The unfortunate ones were helped by his encouragements and
prayers. Having remained for a time with loved companions in Cape
Town, now held by the British, he sailed on to India. He went to work

816 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
in Madras, glad in God, though deeply burdened by the condition of the
people. " Oh that one soul might be led by my' agency to Christ," was his
in Madras, Cai- single request. The rays of the Indian sun, to which he
cutta, Dinapore. wa8 not use(j} and the deep death shadows in which the people
of the beautiful land were reposing, tried Martyn severely. Only his faith,
overcoming the world, could have upheld him in soul and in body. Mad
ras was not to be his abiding home. He had to go to Calcutta. After
a stormy passage he was received by friends there gladly. They gave
him shelter in a forsaken idol temple, which was turned by Martyn into
a chapel. He was called to pay his tribute to the hot climate in a severe
sickness. Afterwards he began his work of preaching, with courage. The
story of the cross made him both friends and foes. He got encouragement
from the former and discipline from the latter. He soon removed to his
own especial field of labor, Dinapore, a city of forty thousand inhabitants.
Martyn made use of every opportunity to acquire the living language
of India and also the old Sanskrit, intending, with the help of a native,
to prepare a version of the Bible. His first effort in Dinapore was for
setting up schools for the Hindoos. He soon had five schools, attended
by a great number of children. Four times every Sunday he taught
Europeans and natives the Bible, either in public or in private. The free
feast was loathed by " cultivated " Christians and Moslems. Among the
poor and the sick of the hospitals was there some longing for the bread
of life. The Hindoos seemed dull and almost unfitted for a pure Chris
tianity through the erroneous lessons of Romanist missionaries. These
beginnings in hope and in fear were very arduous. The far-away, soli
tary man rarely heard from his friends. From home came distressing
news. His best loved sister, his helper in Christian attainments, had
died. A young lady, very dear to him, whom he with the advice of
friends sought for his life's companion, did not yield to his desire. Yet
he now only the more completely and exclusively gave himself to think
of God, forgetting all beside, and to conform his life wholly to the dying
of the Lord Jesus.
The finishing of his translation of the New Testament into Hindoo
gave Martyn great delight. He at once devoted himself with all his
might to the Persian and Arabic, in order to translate the Bible into
these languages. Pie read the Koran in company with an Arabian
scholar. He wished to fight Islam with its own weapon, for which there
was abundant opportunity.
Though frail in body, he listened to a call to a field yet farther re
moved. He journeyed thither day and night even in the exceeding heat.
He had little bodily strength left him. But the strength of God was
made perfect in his weakness. He began his labors without wearying.
His time was filled up with preaching, praying, Bible exposition and
translation, and visits to the hospitals. His first public sermon to hea-

Cent. XVH-XIX.] HENRY MARTYN. 817
thens was delivered at the close of the year 1809. A crowd of begging
Hindoos had gathered about him. Martyn read the first part of Genesis
to them in his Hindoo version. Speaking to them simply of God, the
Almighty Father, Creator, and future Judge, he was received with loud
approbation. At times as many as eight hundred persons would gather
about his door. One time they were deeply moved by a sermon on re
pentance, which he based upon the destruction of the city of Sodom.
The translation of the Bible into Persian, made under Martyn's direc
tions, did not satisfy those who were judges. He therefore
i-i -r. ¦ « ,¦ • i. To Persia to
resolved to go to Persia and to Arabia, in order to subject finiBh the Per-
his Persian version which was finished, and his Arabian
which approached completion, to a thorough revision, and to correct mis
takes in accordance with the judgment of learned natives of the two
countries. With his weak frame holding his stout soul, he took leave of
India in his longing to carry the gospel to the Persians and Arabians.
Upon June 9, 1811, he arrived at Shiraz, the Persian literary capital.
Hardly recovered from the exceeding fatigues of the journey, he began
a new translation of the Bible into Persian. He was lent assistance in
this by Said Ali, a member of the self-deifying sect of Mohammedans,
known as the Softs. With him and his comrades Martyn held many
discussions upon grace and truth. He reached Ali's heart especially
when they were going through the twelfth chapter of John. The Per
sian involuntarily exclaimed in wonder at Jesus loving his disciples so
dearly. Tears filled his eyes as to him — a seeker, as he said, " from his
youth up " — Martyn imparted the true religion, and bade him yield his-
soul to his dear Lord and Redeemer. Beneath the budding vines, by the-
clear river, under the shade of the citron, Martyn, in the stillness of the
Sabbath, meditating upon the Scripture and singing holy songs, with
drew himself from the cares and toils of his witness-bearing, which he
purposed continuing as long as his tongue could move. His presence in
Shiraz excited great noise. The scholars resorted to him, and he re
ceived them. He was at hand for a public discussion with the most
noted masters of the Koran and the leader of the Sofis. His noble
character, his fearless frankness, his profound and clear replies, left abid
ing marks in the souls of many of his hearers. His words exerted quiet
power even at banquets. When the chief of a Persian school wrote
a work in defense of Mohammed, Martyn met him at once with a bold
reply. The impressions made by this and others of his writings cannot
be described. Long after, it became evident for the first time how many
had been led by Martyn to direct their thoughts to Christ.
As soon as his translation of the New Testament was sufficiently ad
vanced, Martyn began to turn the Psalms into Persian. After he had
succeeded in this he went from Shiraz by way of Ispahan to the court
of the Persian sovereign, to present to him the two volumes. On the
52

818 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
way some stout conflicts arose with learned Mollahs. Martyn bore wit
ness fearlessly. Not a hair of his head was hurt, although the others
cried in rage, " See, he has blasphemed God." Sick in body he reached
Tabriz and found the English ambassador. The latter pre-
The Shah re- , , , . , n, , , , i -,,
ceiTes Martyn's sented the translations to the ohah, by whom they were well
received, and afterwards carried them to St. Petersburg.
Printed in that city, the books came back to Persia in a thousand streams
of life and blessing.
It was Martyn's choice to live and to die among the pagans for whom
he labored. But his frame, shattered by toil and by the climate, refused
to serve him. He therefore resolved to build himself up in his native
air, and afterwards with new strength to go preparing the way of God
among the heathen. With great difficulty summoning up his energies,
he left Tabriz for Constantinople and far-off England. Passing Mount
Ararat robed in green, he thought, as he looked upon its sides, of Noah,
and prayed for a propitious voyage through life's rude storms, and for a
happy landing upon the everlasting hills. He reached Erivan. In the
Armenian cloister of Etschmiadschin, he strove to stir one brother, Se-
rafino, to a reform of the church in Armenia. He passed by Kars in
the land of the rude Koords, and came to populous Erzeroum. As he
journeyed he sent touching letters home. His cherished diary, also, was
.a silent witness to his precious spiritual life and aspiration. When op
pressed by disease in Erzeroum, he heard the flying news that the plague
was in Constantinople, and in the cities on his way. With death in
front of him, and death behind him, he cried, " God, thy will be done,
be it life or death, if Thou only remember me ! " He could not remain
:Still. When racked by fever he was obliged to follow his merciless guide
in a rapid ride through forests and swamps, mountains and vales, not a
soul near him, in that strange land, in whom he could put confidence. In
a little village where the horses were changed, he took a seat in a garden,
thinking quietly and joyfully of his God, his companion in loneliness, his
friend and comforter. " Ah, when will time make place for eternity !
When will appear the new heavens and the new earth, in which dwelleth
righteousness ! There nothing unclean shall enter. No evil such as has
made men lower than wild beasts. There shall be seen or heard none
•of those vicious things which increase and embitter here below the sor
row of one who is dying." These were the last words which he wrote
in the diary which he left behind him. Reaching Tokat, near Sinope,
His lonely death ^e ^a.& to lay down his pilgrim staff in the midst of his
in Tokat. days and of his journey. He died October 16, 1812, when
not thirty-two years old. His lonely grave is marked by a simple stone
with an inscription. More enduring than stone or bronze is the memo*
rial which he established in hearts — how many they were ! — which he
led in the way to heaven. Every New Testament and every Psalter

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT MORRISON. 819
which the Plindoo or the Persian reads in his own language is a remem
brancer of the confessor and faithful witness, who spared not himself nor
counted his life dear to him as he stood true to his Master until death.
Evangelical missions, when asked for martyrs, can quietly and securely
point to the hero whose bones whiten in Tokat. — H. V'M.

LIFE XXXVI. ROBERT MORRISON. '
A. D. 1782-A. D. 1833. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN, — CHINA.
The scattered notices found in the writings of the peoples in Western
Asia concerning the civilization, numbers, power, and arts of the Chinese
are too fragmentary to enable us to gather a clear idea of the real knowl
edge which was undoubtedly possessed of that race up to the time of
Christ. The distance between the valleys of the Euphrates and the
Yangtse was so enormous that the difficulties of travel by land or sea
prevented direct trade and intercourse between their inhabitants ; and
hence vague and absurd rumors and notions of each other's manners and
resources came to be received as authentic history^ These notices on
the part of the Occidentals generally indicate a high ideal of the Chinese,
while the few records extant in their books show a profound ignorance
of the Caucasian nations. It is with this exalted conception in mind,
therefore, that the remarkable prophecy respecting the land of Sinim,
found in Isaiah xlix. 12, foretelling the introduction of the gospel into
China, should be read. It seems meet and proper, too, when we reflect
on the antiquity, populousness, and institutions of this land, that this ear
liest certain mention of it should be a promise of its belonging one day
to the Redeemer's kingdom.
In the earliest days of the Christian Church, the labors of the Apostles
and their near disciples were directed to the lands lying beyond Partbia,
into Bactria and India, if we may trust the early Syrian records collected
by Assemanius ; but it was not until the Nestorian Church had separated
from the Eastern as a distinct branch, in the fifth century and afterwards,
that any systematic efforts to preach the gospel among the Chinese were
commenced. What plans those churches adopted to maintain the mission
ary societies, select or train their agents, support and guide them when
in the field, and keep up that mutual knowledge and sympathy in them
selves and their missionaries, without which both would become disheart
ened and fail, we have no satisfactory records. The probabilities are
that the risks of travel through Central Asia, along the valley of the
river Tarim, and across the Desert of Gobi into the regions of the Yel
low River, interfered with regular intercourse, and compelled the mis
sionaries to depend chiefly upon their own resources and converts to

820 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
keep up their work. Yet it is a little strange that the records and results
of the labors of the Nestorian missionaries among the Chinese for a
period of nearly eight hundred years, between the sixth and fourteenth
centuries, should be confined to a single tablet, erected at Si-ngan fu in
A. d. 781, containing a few thousand characters ; and to scattered notices
by Marco Polo, Abu Said, and Carpini, of some weak churches in Pe
king, Chinkiang, and Hangchau. No translations of any part of the
Scriptures, no tracts, apologies, hymns, or creeds used by them, and few
or no quotations by native heathen authors from such writings, have yet
been met with in China. No ruins of churches or monasteries, nor any
vestiges of tombs of eminent men, have yet been pointed out as having
once belonged to the King Kiao, or Illustrious Religion, as this faith was
called. The most reasonable explanation is that both priest and people
gradually fell away into the form, from having lost the power, of the
Cross. Possessing no version of the Bible from which they could learn
their duty and their hopes, they relapsed into idolatry.
The extent of the missions commenced in Northern China by the
Roman Catholics under Corvino and his successors, a. d. 1300-1369,
during the Mongol dynasty, need not be detailed ; for their churches
seem to have been swept away amidst the troubles ensuing on its de
struction by Hungwu, founder of the Ming dynasty. The meagre ac
counts left to us indicate that their work was chiefly confined to the
Mongols, into whose language the New Testament was translated ; but
no permanent traces existed when Matthew Ricci and his associates
arrived in Canton, in 1581, and resumed the work. That work has been
carried on since Ricci reached Peking, in 1601, to the present time, with
the skill, energy, and perseverance which characterize the papal church,
and the number of the converts is now to be reckoned by hundreds of
thousands. Their cathedrals, churches, convents, chapels, schools, asy
lums, and workshops, suitable to their plans and needs, are scattered
throughout the eighteen provinces of China.
But with our ideas of what constitutes the essential elements of the
mission enterprise as commanded by Christ, we cannot select Ricci as the
typical name to be associated as leader with the church of God among
the Chinese. In all the human qualifications of a leader, he will bear
comparison with any name which can be mentioned as connected with
the cause of Christianity in China ; but neither he nor his associates or
successors have distinctly preached the evangel of a free salvation through
faith in Christ. They have never prepared and systematically given the
Word of God to the people in their own language ; have never put it in
front as the revelation of God to man, which he must read and obey,
because it contains the only and sufficient law, guide, and sanctions for
his conduct here, and the foundation of his hopes hereafter. Besides
this initial defect in their plan of missions, the Roman Catholics there,

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ROBERT MORRISON. 821
as elsewhere, have put forward the names of Mary and various canon
ized saints so prominently that the converts hear and think more of them
and their virtues than they do of Jesus ; and this misplacement is further
strengthened in ignorant minds by the images and pictures set up in all
places of worship. The second commandment having been expurgated,
the converts know no prohibition restraining them from paying the same
worship to these new images which they had paid to their old idols ; and
this notion of the essential likeness between the two is confirmed by the
similar ceremonies conducted by the Buddhist priest in his pagoda to the
foreign priest in his church.
Notwithstanding the inculcation by the Roman Catholics of most of
the great truths of revelation, we must still decline to look upon them as
having laid the foundations of the church of Christ in China. They had
the field wholly to themselves up to about 1845, and during nearly two
hundred and fifty years spread themselves over the land, acquiring power,
wealth, and official position, to a degree which alarmed the government,
and often led it to adopt harsh measures to repress their' schemes and
diminish their converts. Judged by their fruits, however, they have all
along, in a few most vital points, laid aside the commandments of God to
hold the traditions of men ; and their work must therefore be tested by
that righteous trial to which God will bring it at last, and show whether
it has a place in the living temple of his redeemed.
It is for these reasons that we have selected the name of Robert Mor
rison to lead this notice of the foundation of the church of „, ^
The true leader
Christ in China. Though he died only a comparatively of the church in
short time ago, the interval is long enough to judge his life-
work candidly ; for the subsequent changes there have been so great as
to throw his life and times back into the past almost as much as if he had
lived a century ago. He landed at Canton when the restrictive policy
of the Chinese government was in its full strength, and its spirit of se
clusion was upheld by the equally restrictive system of the British East
India Company. The open propagandism of Christianity was impossible
at that date, and its profession entailed suspicion, imprisonment, perhaps
death, on a native. The simulacrum of imperial power at Peking began
at that date to show in every part of its organization that the energetic
hand of the Emperor Kienlung no longer guided and strengthened the
showy bark of state, which, in the next generation, would collide dis
astrously with the successor of that same East India Company. It was
time for the preparatory work of making translations and dictionaries.
to begin, and for proof to be given that the Chinese language could be
made to convey the message of God to that race.
Robert Morrison, the son of James and Hannah Morrison, was born
January 5, 1782, at Buller's Green, Morpeth, in Northumberland, and was
the youngest of eight children. His youth was spent at Newcastle-upon-

822 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Tyne, and he was early apprenticed to his father in the trade of a last
"and boot-tree maker, until he began his regular studies for the ministry.
He enjoyed the counsel, example, and constant nurture of godly parents
while at home, and was a favorite of his mother, who looked to him
for her support in declining years, and whom he dutifully served until her
death in 1802. His parents were not numbered among the learned or
honorable, but they taught him the Holy Scriptures from a child, and his
pastor explained their truths, and catechised him in his knowledge of
them. On one occasion, in his thirteenth year, Mr. Hutton tried him on
the Scottish version of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which
Robert repeated throughout without making a mistake, although not al
lowed to do this at one effort. A memory so retentive was well adapted
for acquiring the Chinese language.
In 1798, at the age of sixteen, he joined himself with the church in
which his father was an elder, and soon after turned his thoughts toward
the ministry. His opportunities at that time for study were very limited.
His daily labors in the shop were continued from six in the morning till
the same hour in the evening, in order to gain an hour in the forenoon
for recitations in the classical languages. His tutor, Mr. Laidler, a minis
ter of the town, so cordially seconded his efforts to fit himself for his
work that eighteen months after he was able to enter Hoxton Academy
with creditable preparation.
A youth spent in such an uneventful manner furnishes no striking in
cidents for the biographer. It is like the natural and steady growth of
an oak, which by and by endures and resists the storms and winters be
cause its roots have struck deep in the earth. During the time young
Morrison was at this academy, his purpose matured to become a mission
ary ; and the record o.f his feelings and hopes shows how honest and
earnest he was in his studies and devotions, all bringing him to one con
clusion. His offer was accepted by the directors of the London Mission
ary Society in May, 1804, and the next month he was taken into their
training institution at Gosport.
An extract or two from his letter to them is worth quoting : " About
His account of seven years ago, I was brought to rest my soul on Jesus
his call. Christ for eternal salvation. I should say that about two
years after I was filled with an ardent desire to serve the Lord Jesus and
the spiritual interests of my fellow-men in any way, however humble.
It was then I formed the design of engaging as a missionary. I can
scarcely call it a design ; it was only a wish, an ardent desire. I was
then in an obscure situation, nearly three hundred miles from town, and
had no one to encourage or second me. For a long time I thought of
it ; the crying necessity for missionaries dwelt upon my mind. I prayed
to the Lord to dispose me to that which was well-pleasing in his sight,
and if agreeable to his will to fulfill the desire of my heart. I conceived

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT MORRISON. 823
that nothing could be done without learning. I therefore saved a little
money from what my father gave me, to pay a teacher of Latin, which I
learned in the mornings before six o'clock, and in the evenings after seven
or eight 
" I am afraid I should sin were I to keep back. I do not consider it
as good and laudable only, but as my duty. Knowing that Jesus wills
that his gospel shall be preached in all the world, and that the redeemed
of the Lord are to be gathered out of every kindred and tongue and
people ; recollecting, moreover, the command of Jesus to go into all the
world to preach the gospel to every creature, I conceive it my duty, as a
candidate for the holy ministry, to stand candidate for a station where la
borers are most needed."
It was true in Morrison's case, as it has been with so many other men,
that the power of principle can sustain, and the obligations of duty can
impel, the human will to form and carry out high purposes, irrespective
of religion ; but when a filial fear and ardent love for Christ are super
added, the highest stimulus to action is found. One radical difference
between ancient and modern civilization springs from the harmonious co
operation of these three elements working in human society ; and the
missionary cause aims to apply the love of Christ as a renovating power
to all phases of pagan, Moslem, and papal civilization by putting God's
law and truth underneath the elementary principle and sense of duty al
ready in them, but which are too weak alone to elevate them.
Soon after Morrison's acceptance, two of the lay directors of the soci
ety, Messrs. Hardcastle and Reyner, proposed that a mission Appointe(j t0
to China should be begun, limiting its immediate objects to China.
acquiring the language and translating the Bible. Their proposal was
agreed to, and Mr. Morrison was designated as their agent to commence
it. A version of the Word of God appeared to these men all-important
in their scheme ; and they justly saw in that initial work the basis and
assurance of everything requisite to the evangelization of China. We
may fairly ask the advocates of all other plans of missionary labor to
show that any of them have ever succeeded in saving souls or elevating
human society.
During his course at Gosport, Mr. Morrison endeavored to learn some
thing of the spoken Chinese language from a Cantonese named Yong
Sam-tak, then in London ; and of the written language by copying a
manuscript Latin and Chinese dictionary, and a version of the New Tes
tament as far as Hebrews. Both these manuscripts proved of great as
sistance in his future labors. If we could ever learn who had made this
translation, his name and labors would deservedly be held in esteem ; but
we can recognize a providence in placing the manuscript where it came
into good use, and thereby honoring the work of the unknown scholar,
who was probably a Roman Catholic.

824 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
In addition to the usual studies, Mr. Morrison took a course in medi
cine, and also acquired some insight into astronomy, with a view to their
future use. It is not surprising that he wished to seek and intermeddle
with all wisdom, as he surveyed the vast field he was about to enter, of
which so little accurate knowledge for his guidance was at hand. At
this time the East India Company was so strongly opposed to the resi
dence and work of missionaries throughout their dominions that they not
only refused them a passage to India, but, as in the case of Mr. Morrison,
would not even take them as passengers to a country like China, in which
they had no territory. It is hard, at this distance of time, to appreciate
the force of their sordid fears, and still less to sympathize with the un
sound, selfish arguments which they urged to fortify their unchristian
position, — a position from which they were not finally dislodged until the
mutiny of 1857 swept them and their policy away like chaff on the thresh
ing-floor when driven by a winter's wind. It was in vain to ask them
for a passage to Canton, and the society sent Mr. Morrison to New York,
hoping there to find a ship to take him to his destination.
He was ordained in London, January 8, 1807, in company with Messrs.
Gordon and Lee, two missionaries going to India by way of New York.
On the 26th Mr. Morrison received a letter of instructions, signed by
Joseph Hardcastle and George Burder, the secretary and treasurer of the
society, in which they gave an outline of their purpose in sending him
forth, and stated the two great objects to be kept in view after he had
learned the language. " When this is done," they remark, " you may,
probably, soon afterwards begin to turn this attainment into a direction
which may be of extensive use to the world. Perhaps you may have the
honor of forming a Chinese dictionary, more comprehensive and correct
than any preceding one, or the still greater honor of translating the
sacred Scriptures into a language spoken by a third part of the human
race  We hope that you will experience all the beneficial effects
that can be expected to flow from a course of action which is unblamable,
discreet, and conciliating. We confide with much cheerfulness in your
conduct as the representative of our institution, the character and reputa
tion of which depend greatly on the disposition and proceedings of the
persons to whom its countenance is afforded."
With these high objects in view, and a heart full of zeal and patience,
Robert Morrison left England January 31, 1807, the first Protestant mis
sionary to the Chinese. More than a thousand years before, the Nes-
torians had preached the outlines of Christianity to them ; and so had
their successors in the Papal and Greek churches. The Jews and Mo
hammedans had likewise both declared the existence and power of the
one true God. Their teachings and example had all failed to turn the
Chinese from idolatry, for neither of them had yet put forth the Book,
the revelation of God's law and salvation, and based all their teachings

Cent. XVH.-XIX] ROBERT MORRISON. 825
on its sanctions and promises, as they pointed erring souls to the cross of
Christ. On arriving in New York, after a rough passage of eighty days, Mr.
Morrison and his companions were received by Divie Be- Ia . N
thune, Rev. Dr. Mason, Robert Ralston, and other friends d'y-
of missions, who assisted them all in getting other ships, and courteously
entreated them during their stay in America. Mr. Morrison was favored
by a letter from James Madison, then secretary of state, to Mr. Carring-
ton, the United States consul at Canton ; and the agreeable acquaint
ances whom he made during his sojourn did not forget him when in
China. He obtained a passage in the Trident, whose captain charged
him only for his proportion of the stores. An anecdote is recorded
of him on the day of his departure, which exhibits the view generally
taken of his enterprise by worldly men, and his own sense of it. "When
he was going down to the wharf to embark, he stopped in at the counting-
house of the ship-owner. After all business matters were arranged, the
latter turned to Morrison with a sardonic smile, saying, ' And so, Mr.
Morrison, you really expect that you will make an impression on the idol
atry of the great Chinese empire ? ' ' No, sir,' said Morrison, with more
than his usual sternness, ' I expect God will.' "
He sailed on the 12th of May, and the leisure of the long voyage al
lowed him opportunity to progress in Chinese, with the help of Yong
Sam-tak ; so that he arrived in Canton, September 7th, with rather more
knowledge of that language, probably, than any of his successors. His
coming in an American ship enabled him to land there as au Lands in 0Mna
American; and his friend, Sir George Staunton, advised as an American.
him, under the circumstances, to remain where he was in the American
factory of Messrs. Milnor and Bull, on the terms they offered him. This
was partly to avoid the notice of the Chinese officials and Hong-mer
chants, and also to relieve the British authorities in the East India Com
pany of the duty (as they thought it) of immediately inquiring into his
objects ; for no British subject was allowed to stay there but on account
of trade.
Mr. Carrington also gave him valuable assistance and good counsel as
to his course. Thus both Great Britain and the United States aided him
from the time he left home till he settled down in his own lodgings at
Canton ; and through them he was enabled to begin his work in peace,
and secure such countenance in it that he had no fears of being imme
diately sent out of the country. These two nations have ever since
cooperated in their direct efforts to promote the same good end.
At that time Chinese officials put many obstacles in the way of learn
ing the language, and a native scholar who ventured to assist a foreigner
in doing so ran the risk of being branded as a han Men, or traitor, and
exposed to heavy exactions. Mr. Morrison's ability to talk a little Latin

826 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
served him in good stead, and he obtained the aid of two or three schol
ars, one of whom spoke Latin fluently ; but their high charges and other
great expenses of living were a source of anxiety, lest it should discour
age his friends in England. The Romish clergy in Macao would not
permit him to reside there to carry on his work. He therefore lived for
three months very quietly in two rooms on the ground-floor of Messrs.
Milnor and Bull's factory, in Canton, dressed in the native costume,
associated almost entirely with the natives, ate with his teacher, and
devoted himself so assiduously to his studies that his health began to
suffer. His good sense, however, soon taught him that such things were
more likely to attract unpleasant attention than to promote his object,
and he laid them aside. The propriety of adopting the Chinese dress
has since been often discussed. The Roman Catholics are all required
to put it on, and many of the German Protestant missionaries prefer it ;
but now that foreigners openly travel over the country, it rather attracts
than eludes popular observation, and has simply its cheapness and con
venience to recommend it.
Morrison now obtained rooms of his own above the ground-floor,
and was freed from anxiety about the adverse action of the company's
committee in respect to his being allowed to live at Canton, of the pro
priety of which they claimed to be the sole judges. At this time, and
for nearly forty years after, all foreigners residing there were restricted
by the Chinese authorities to certain houses along the river-side, called
collectively the Shih-san Hang, or Thirteen Factories ; so that he had no
choice of getting cheaper lodgings among the natives in the city or sub
urbs. The chief and members of the company aided him with books, and
in many ways individually showed their sympathy with his objects ; pro
cured rooms for him at Macao during the summer mouths, when he had
become so weak that he could hardly walk, and intimated their willing
ness to ask for aid in printing his contemplated dictionary. He was fur
ther actuated by a. desire not to implicate his servants or teachers with
their own officials, and thus carried his habits of economy and seclusion
to such a degree as to hazard his mission and life by his extreme pri
vacy. In October, after having settled himself for the winter on his return
from Macao, he was obliged suddenly to leave Canton, owing to the pro
ceedings of Admiral Drury in his attempt to protect Macao as a Portu
guese colony against the expected attacks of the French fleet, which
irritated the Chinese rulers, and led to the Committee ordering all British
subjects away from Canton to Macao as a precautionary measure. His
disappointment was great at this interruption, but he found opportunity
still to continue his labors, keep up his Sabbath services with his ser
vants, and take better care of his health. Pie became acquainted also
with the family of John Morton, from India, whose daughter Mary he

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT MORRISON. 827
married on the 20th of February, 1809. On that day, too, he received
and accepted the offer made by the East India Company interpreter of
to become their official interpreter at Canton on a yearly ^J^ India
stipend of five hundred pounds.
These two events changed the whole aspect of his life, and relieved
him from the harassing uncertainty as to his ability to remain in China,
or commence his mission anew in Penang or Malacca, to which he was
even then looking. His lonely life was now enlivened by the comforts
and company of a household ; his honest fears of involving the society
in expense were removed by a liberal allowance ; and his anxiety lest
his native assistants should leave him, or become implicated by helping
him, was abated by his position as official translator to the company.
His unsolicited appointment to this responsible position within eight
een months after his arrival is the best possible testimony to his scholar
ship, prudence, and consistent character. He himself thought that his
acceptance of the post might tend to remove any aversion of the direct
ors of the company to missionaries, when they found that they were
ready to serve their interests ; but in this he was quite mistaken. The
same policy which in India led them to uphold idolatry actuated them
against all missionary efforts, and no favor was ever shown Morrison or
his associates in China ; nor was he himself ever rated as a covenanted
servant of the company, but kept in the inferior grade of a hired trans
lator. He was once curtly dismissed, in 1815, without the least chance
being given of explaining his conduct, on the charge of having printed
and published in China the New Testament, together with several relig
ious tracts, which, being effected in defiance of an edict of the emperor
of China, might, they apprehended, give rise to serious mischief (!) to the
British trade in China. However, the order was not carried into effect
in China till he had defended his course, when it was silently withdrawn.
He continued to serve the company for twenty-five years, till their
Chinese establishment was dissolved. At this time, and ever after, this
same company was doing all it could to introduce opium into China, in
contempt of repeated edicts of successive emperors, by raising and pre
paring it in India for smugglers to take out.
Mr. Morrison's subsequent course showed the same diligence, pru
dence, and piety which we have already seen to characterize him ; and
in this way he was daily preaching to the natives around him in a prac
tical manner most intelligible to them. The moral habits of most for
eigners there exhibited great disregard of the precepts which he was
inculcating; but his example had its influence, while he himself lamented
the little success of his labors. It should be stated that he was not by
nature calculated to win and interest the skeptical or the fastidious ; for
he had no sprightliness or pleasantry, no versatility or wide acquaint
ance with letters, and was respected rather than beloved by those who
cared little for the things nearest his heart.

828 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
Though now much occupied with official duties, he never ceased to
explain and urge the claims of the gospel upon all natives who were in
his employ, but even to the end of his life he had no opportunity to
preach them publicly. These private ministrations gradually became
well known throughout the limited circle of natives connected with for
eigners, and during a course of years gave his household a religious char
acter, the more noticeable from its peculiarity.
It is not easy to convey a just idea of the contemptuous treatment
with which the officials of that day "managed" foreigners at Canton.
They saw that one way to maintain their authority was to prevent them
from learning the language by punishing all natives who assisted them
in any way, sold them books, or cut blocks to print their translations.
Even the bishop of Macao issued an anathema against those who should
have intercourse with Morrison, or give him Chinese books ; and the
company's committee would not have hesitated to deport him, if the local
authorities had complained against him for propagandism. The great
object to be gained at first was to keep a footing in the country ; and
under such circumstances his faith and patience were best exhibited by
proving in his conduct that he was " inoffensive and harmless," as he
says, in a letter of December 4, 1809, he had been reported to be among
the heathen.
The directors of the society, when alluding to his official position,
remark, " We do not wish that honorable and even apparently advan
tageous connections of a political nature should be pursued and enjoyed
by our missionaries, if they at all be found to interfere with their des
ignation and proposed exertions for the spiritual good of the heathen
among whom they dwell ; but there appears to be a peculiarity in your
situation and circumstances which makes a degree of political patronage
and support almost essential to the existence of your mission, and to the
facility and support of its operations."
This principle has been adopted by all missionary societies, and its
propriety cannot be disputed. Mr. Morrison, about this time, printed
one thousand copies of the Acts of the Apostles, followed by a version
of Luke and some tracts to explain Christian truth. A grammar of
the language was prepared in 1811, but not printed at Serampore until
1815, owing, among other things, to the want of Chinese type ; and
progress was made in the translation of the Bible and preparation of the
dictionary. On the 4th of July, 1813, he was cheered by the arrival
of Mr. and Mrs. William Milne, the only colleagues from Great Britain
who ever joined him in China. Their arrival was reported to the Por
tuguese authorities, who in full senate decreed that they should not
remain. The governor sent for Mr. Morrison, and announced that the
court had ordered him to send Mr. Milne away, that it was contrary to ,
their religion for him to stay in Macao, and that the East India Com-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ROBERT MORRISON. 829
pany had requested the court not to allow Englishmen in the colony.1
A written application to the chief of the company for Mr. Milne to be
regarded as assistant translator for a limited time was rejected. He
therefore set out for Canton sixteen days after lauding, as the Chinese
authorities were not so obstructive as the Portuguese or British. He
remained there four months, when he started on a voyage through the
Indian Archipelago to find the best place to establish a mission and carry
on its work publicly and unopposed. He returned to China in Septem
ber, 1814, and soon after settled at Malacca. This excellent man wore
himself out, laboring beyond his strength, and shortening his life by
attempting too many things. He died in June, 1822, leaving behind him
an admirable resume of the outlines of Christianity in a tract called
" The Two Friends," through which he yet speaketh to myriads of Chi
nese. In 1814, the first part of the Chinese and English Dictionary was
in such a state of forwardness as to warrant Mr. Morrison to begin print
ing it, under Mr. Thorn's superintendence, as soon as the necessary Chi
nese type could be made. This type was all cut by hand with chisels
on small blocks of tin or type-metal cast in suitable sizes, and the font
was added to as the work required. It was employed in many books,
and gradually increased, till it contained nearly twenty-five thousand
characters and about a hundred thousand separate types of two sizes.
After constant use for forty-two years, half the time in possession of Mr.
S. W. Williams, then printer of the American Board at Canton, to whom
it had been given by the British superintendent of trade, it was burned
there in December, 1856. It was by far the most expensive font of
type ever made.
On the 16th of July, 1814, " at a spring of water issuing from the foot
of a lofty hill by the sea-side in Macao, away from human
J J •* Morrison bap-
observation," Morrison baptized Tsai Ako, the first convert tizes the first
to the Christian religion whom he had welcomed to the fel
lowship of the faith. He had this happiness only a few times afterwards.
In the early part of that year he sent a copy of the New Testament in Chi
nese to the Bible Society in London, which made a grant of five hundred
pounds for printing it. In his letter he fully acknowledges the aid he
had received from the manuscript copied at the British Museum in trans
lating the Acts and Pauline epistles, the other books being entirely his
own work. At this time he was also occupied in superintending the
printing of the dictionary, in addition to his official duties and mission
labors on the Sabbath. His constraint in the latter branch led him to
1 To show the change since that date, it may be stated that in 1857, when the clergy
objected to the American missionaries opening chapels in the Bazaar, the governor replied
that they had a perfect right to preach to the Chinese in any way they pleased, and he
should not interfere. Many of the Portuguese dropped in from time to time at the serv-

830 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
cast about for some means of enlarging their sphere, and in October.,
1815, he issued proposals to Christians in Great Britain to establish' by
and by a college, a press, a missionary society, and a theological seminary
at Malacca. There had been, at that date, no opportunity for the trial,
and he could not understand, as we can now, that the basis of a Christian
people was first wanted to furnish such institutions with a suitable soil
for their natural growth.
On the 13th of July, 1816, he started for Peking as interpreter to
Lord Amherst's embassy, in which the chief labor of the correspondence
and interpreting devolved on him. On the return to Canton overland, he
had an opportunity to see the Chinese people in their own country, and
ascertain the views of the officials on many points connected with foreign
countries. He resumed his varied labors on his return, January 1, 1817,
and went on with them far removed from his wife, then in England for
her health, and from his two children. He was this year honored by
the University of Glasgow with the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Mr. Milne was now able to assist him in the translation of the Old
Completes the Testament, which was completed on the 29th of November,
Bible in Chinese, -y g19 . j£nne translated ten books, and each revised the
other's work. The Bible Society defrayed the cost of printing it, and
then, as now, evinced a lively interest in aiding its distribution. In a long
letter of this date to the directors of the London society, Morrison
modestly recounted the difficulties of his work, described the principle he
had adopted in rendering the original, and acknowledged his consciousness
of its imperfections as a first translation. He ends his letter with an ex
pression of his " trust that the gloomy darkness of pagan skepticism will be
dispelled by the day-spring from on high, and that the gilded idols of
Buddh and the numberless images which fill the land will one day assur
edly fall to the ground before the force of God's Word, as the idol Dagon
fell before the ark. These are my anticipations, although there appears
not the least opening at present." His hopes were well founded ; for
since his death the distribution of the Word of God has reached the ut
most bounds of the empire, and its truths are discussed by people of
every rank and condition.
The dictionary was finished in November, 1823, at an expense of twelve
thousand pounds for seven hundred copies, generously defrayed by the
East India Company. It consists of six quarto volumes, numbering in
all four thousand five hundred and ninety-five pages; it is arranged in
three parts, namely, one Chinese-English part according to the radicals
and one according to the syllables, and an English-Chinese part. The
undertaking was commenced on too great a scale, and towards its close
the author was obliged to hurry through his task ; so that in fact the syl
labic part proved to be the only really useful portion. This was re
printed in 1855 in one octavo volume at the mission-press in Shanghai.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT MORRISON. 831
Both these important objects had been proposed to him on his depart
ure from England in 1807 ; and by the goodness of God in preserving
his health, and the liberal aid of the Bible Society and the East India
Company in printing the two books, he was enabled, on his return in
1824, to bring complete copies with him. Other minor publications in
Chinese and English, issued during the same period of sixteen years, at
tested his industry and erudition.
While pursuing his own labors, he sought to interest his personal
friends and the Christian public in his enterprise of establishing the
Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, under the supervision of the London
Missionary Society and the personal care of Dr. Milne. The foundation
was laid November 11, 1818, by Colonel Farquhar. Dr. Milne repre
sented the founder of the college, delivering an appropriate speech, and
mentioning the chief object in view in opening it to be the reciprocal
cultivation of Chinese and European literature by students of either lan
guage, especially those designed for mission work. Malay was subse
quently introduced to some extent. To this end Dr. Morrison gave lib
erally himself (he told his brother more than half of his property), and
induced others to aid his philanthropic views. Buildings were put up,
and a promising beginning was made ; but a few years' experience proved
that the project was premature in that region, and the institution never
rose above a grammar-school up to the time of its dissolution and of the re
moval of the mission to Hongkong (1845). It accomplished enough,
however, to reward its founders and teachers for their labors, and several
works for aiding in the study of Chinese and Malay were printed by its
professors. The number of native students seldom exceeded thirty, one
of whom, named Show-teh, was afterwards employed at Peking as inter
preter. In January, 1823, Dr. Morrison visited Singapore and Malacca,
and cooperated with Sir Stamford Raffles, the governor of the former
colony, in starting the Singapore Institution, which has existed with
varying degrees of efficiency to the present time.
On reaching Malacca, he thus gives expression to his feelings : " The
college and the native students gave me great satisfaction ; the Chinese
youths sang the one hundredth Psalm, which was composed in Chinese
by my former assistant Koh. Finding the good use which had been
made by my dear William of my Chinese books and my funds, and the
freedom of worshiping the blessed God without mandarin interference,
altogether produced on my mind a most pleasing effect. Oh, how grate
ful should I be ! I hope this work will never cease till China be evan
gelized, and then it will be useless."
While at these two British colonies, he diligently aided in giving greater
efficiency to the college by encouraging its officers and students, and pre
paring books for the latter. He also lifted up his voice with the governor
for the abolition of licensing gambling shops and of the slave-trade, both

832 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
of which were upheld before that time. ' His return to China was to a
lonely home, for Mrs. Morrison had died in June, 1821, and the two
children had been sent to England. This induced him to find opportunity
to visit his native land. Few missionaries have ever gone home who
had better earned the respect and approval of the Christian world. The
mission work in China was left in the hands of a newly ordained native
evangelist, Liang Afah, a convert of Dr. Milne's, whose piety and zeal
were proved during nearly thirty years of faithful service among his
countrymen, sometimes at the risk of his life, preaching and itinerating,
as well as composing, printing, and distributing tracts.
Dr. Morrison reached England in March, 1824, bringing with him ten
Reception in thousand volumes of Chinese books, which were, after con-
Engiand. siderable detention, released from bond without duty, and
finally placed in University College, London. He was honored by the
court of directors with a public dinner, and soon after presented to the
king, George Fourth, to whom he offered a copy of the Bible in Chinese
and a map of Peking. The authorities of Newcastle gave a public din
ner in honor of his visit ; and his time, strength, and abilities were all
taxed to the utmost, to reply to and satisfy the demands made on him.
Before he left England he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,
and, what he regarded as more honorable, one of the directors of the Lon
don Missionary Society. It was at the annual religious anniversaries in
London that the heartiest congratulations on the results of his labors
were extended to him ; and probably no missionary ever received so
marked an ovation by all classes of his countrymen as did Robert Mor
rison in the year 1824, owing, no doubt, to the combined religious and
political duties he had fulfilled in China. In Paris distinguished men
paid him attention, and in Ireland and Scotland, too, he successfully ad
vocated the cause of missions and the college at Malacca, to which
Lord Kingsborough gave fifteen hundred pounds as a permanent fund.
He also set forth the desirableness of establishing a professorship of
Chinese in one of the universities, urging as one argument for it that
as the British possessions in the East gradually approach the Chinese
empire and Cochinchina, a knowledge of the Chinese language seems de
sirable to his majesty's government.
In November, 1824, he was married to Miss Eliza Armstrong, and with
his two children was preparing to return to Canton, when he was urged
to remain in England another year in order to assist in starting a lan
guage institution, at which all the living languages were to be studied,
in aid of the propagation of Christianity throughout the world, a project
which met with favor among good men acquainted with India. The so
ciety was formed June 14, 1825; suitable buildings were rented in Hol-
born for students, and Dr. Morrison lectured and taught three months
on the Chinese language to fourteen students. It did not, however, en-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ROBERT MORRISON. 833
dure, and within three years was given up. The objects were too general
and vague to meet the wants of any one class, and it is better, on the
whole, for a missionary to learn a language where he is to speak it. A
special society for training and supporting women in mission work in pagan
lands was advocated by him, and he taught three young ladies in Chinese
while in London, to show his earnestness in the project, and to fit them
for their life work. Such a society was formed a few years afterwards,
and the example of these young ladies aided materially in encouraging
its founders.
In such labors and others of a kindred sort two years passed away,
when the time approached for him to embark on his return to China.
His visit had aroused and increased the interest in the spiritual welfare
of China throughout the Christian people of England, and at his depart
ure he was assured by words of counsel and sympathy from public bodies
and private individuals that his efforts had not been in vain. He sailed
on the 5th of May, 1826, and reached Macao September 19th, having
spent a fortnight at Singapore. Plere he found that the buildings of the
Singapore Institution were not so far finished as to admit of receiving
pupils, that insufficient funds remained to complete them; and, what was
worse, that little interest was taken in the object. He felt this failure
deeply, as in it he saw the loss of five thousand nine hundred dollars
which he had contributed to the establishment of the school. When he
reached China, his colleague, Liang Afah, was glad to greet him, and
showed him three publications prepared during his absence. After a few
days he gathered around him those who had formerly served him ; others
known in earlier days also came to his services. He concluded, from
what he could gather, that the influence of divine truth on their minds
had deepened, and no serious obstacle had prevented Liang Afah from
making known the truth. The members of the company, unsolicited, con
tributed five hundred pounds for the college at Malacca ; and he soon
found congenial work and society, though the old endeared friends had
mostly departed. His official duties in the factory, his efforts to extend
his missionary influence, correspondence with the brethren in other sta
tions, and work on a projected commentary on the Scriptures and revis
ion of his translation, together furnished occupation for all his time. His
letters to his wife at Macao all indicate his sense of the paramount im
portance of the mission work, and he was happy in seeing its beginnings
in Java, Siam, and Sumatra.
In February, 1830, he welcomed Messrs. Bridgman and Abeel as the
first fellow-workers from the American churches, who were Welcomes the
succeeded by Messrs. Stevens, Tracy, and Williams, before *«' fromAmer-
he died ; his English colleagues were all distributed in the ica-
Archipelago. His reflections upon the arrival of the first two indicate
the longing of his heart for congenial society : " My own health and
53

834 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
strength begin to fail ; but as I am going off the stage, I rejoice that it
has pleased the Lord to send others to continue the work." His posi
tion in the factory had been made so irksome by his superiors that he
wrote out his resignation as an alternative of relief from their interfer
ence. He had also recently lost six thousand dollars by a failure. Still
he continued at his Chinese writings, and prepared a series of Scripture
lessons as a compend of Biblical truth, and a miscellaneous compilation
of knowledge called the " Domestic Instructor," the type of both being
cut at Canton. He issued from the company's press a small English-
Chinese vocabulary in the Canton dialect, which was of some use to the
trading community. The commentary was never completed. He also
aided Mr. Bridgman in filling the pages of the " Chinese Repository," a
monthly magazine devoted to the diffusion of information about the far
East, and wrote translations from the Chinese for newspapers at Canton
and Malacca. These comprise all the important works he published dur
ing the eight years after his return.
As his strength declined, he was assisted in his translating labors by
his oldest son, John Robert, whom he had trained for his successor, and
cheered by the brightening prospects of the diffusion and reception of the
gospel in China. The Bible, in whole or in part, and other books, had
been distributed along the coasts of China and in the Indian Archipelago,
and thus he saw that the field was gradually opening. His liberality
was constant, and his plans fordoing good found a few co-workers among
the foreigners. One such plan was to open a coffee-shop in Canton
for sailors coming up from the ships, to prevent them going to the Chi
nese grog-shops, where they were poisoned by the drugged samshoo
offered them for drink. In reply to a letter from the treasurer of the
London Missionary Society, inquiring how Christian knowledge could be
diffused through the Chinese Archipelago, he details his scheme for the
establishment of central and local mission stations, schools, and presses,
with vessels, crews, and itinerating preachers to carry out the design.
It was an impracticable and costly plan, and shows an earnest desire for
the extension of the truth rather than much sagacity as to the practical
details. A more encouraging paper was drawn up by him and Mr.
Bridgman on the 4th of September, 1832, which day completed twenty-
five years since he landed, stating the direct and indirect results of mis
sionary labors during that period, and looking hopefully to a vast expan
sion of the work. The eleven foreign and native preachers, the ten
converts and score of pupils, the Scriptures and tracts issued as mentioned
in it, have, under God's blessing, since multiplied to hundreds, thousands,
and millions.
One last exhibition of the petty spite of the company's committee in
China against his missionary efforts appeared in June, 1833, when he
was peremptorily ordered to " suspend the issue of any further publica-

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ROBERT MORRISON. 835
tions from the printing-press in his house at Macao." This press had
issued four numbers of a religious newspaper and a sermon preached at
Whampoa, all in the English language, which the vicar-general there
complained of to the governor as contrary to the doctrines of the Roman
Catholic Church ; and he, in his turn, to the president of the committee,
who willingly became their tool to suppress this publication. Dr. Mor
rison stopped it, therefore, protesting " against the whole proceeding as
an act of usurped authority, tyranny, and oppression on the part of both
Portuguese and English at the bidding of a popish priest."
In July, 1834, the arrival of Lord Napier as British superintendent
of trade confirmed Dr. Morrison's appointment as Chinese interpreter
to the crown, on the dissolution of the company, at a salary of one thou
sand three hundred pounds. He entered on his duties immediately, and
prepared to accompany the commission to Canton. On the passage from
Macao he was exposed to heat and rain during one night, and reached
Canton completely exhausted. Sharp discussions arose between the Chi
nese and British authorities, as soon as the latter refused to call their
dispatches pin, or petitions, and employ the Hong-merchants as their
official medium of communication. Thus began a quarrel which has
not yet altogether ceased. The controversy gave Dr. Morrison much
anxious concern, and prevented his taking needed rest. On the Sab
bath evening after his arrival he gathered his domestics and others for
worship, and strained himself to conduct it. His son says, " A greater
than usual degree of solemnity appeared to pervade the little congrega
tion, as we received from those lips the words of everlasting life."
During the week, his feebleness increased so that he decided to return
to Macao, where the- heat was less oppressive. One who was with him
the afternoon before his death says, "After his. arrival, about a week
before his decease, he left his house but two or three times, though he
continued to attend to his official duties almost to the last hour. Though
weak, he could walk into another room, talk feebly, and unite in sup
plicating the divine mercy. He said that he thought his life was in
danger, but I did not, and I think he did not anticipate so speedy a
change. I sat by him, and he repeated many passages of Scripture : 'I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee,' ' We have a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens,' and such like. He then prayed
aloud for all of us, if he should be taken away ; that God would be mer
ciful to Eliza and the dear children, and bless them with his protection
and guardian care ; that the Lord would sustain him, and forsake him not
now in his feebleness ; and for the Chinese mission, that grace and peace
might rest on all the laborers. And having said these things, he lay
down to rest."
That night, August 1, 1834, he was released from "sickness and suffer
ing, almost before his son and those standing around were aware of his

836 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
departure, and while they were devising restoratives preparatory to his
sailing in the morning for Macao. He was fifty-two years six months
old, and almost twenty-seven years had passed since he landed in Canton.
His remains were buried beside those of his first wife, in Macao. Nine
years afterwards those of his gifted son, John Robert, were laid near by.
Whoever writes the history of Christianity in China must turn to the Prot
estant cemetery in Macao with reverence, for there are the graves of the
Morrisons, of Samuel Dyer, Dr. Morrison's colleague and pupil, who came
to China only to die, and of two or three American female laborers.
On my arrival in Canton, in October, 1833, I made the acquaintance
of Dr. Morrison and his son, and saw him many times during the winter,
where he mostly remained till February. He appeared prematurely old,
and his person had become so corpulent that moving about was a great
exertion to him. He was able, however, to keep at his desk, and was
devising plans for work to the last. On his return from Macao, in Au
gust, he expressed more solicitude about the result of the negotiations
then beginning with the Chinese than fears as to the condition of his
health. It was a gratifying sight to me, who had so recently reached the
field, to see this pioneer in mission work, after a lonely service com
menced amid obscurity and doubt, cheerful in his daily duties, and ready
for whatever the Master willed, whether life or death. As he had ex
pressed himself when leaving New York, twenty-seven years before, sure
that God would make an impression on the idolatry of the Chinese em
pire, he now saw that his hope had not been in vain ; his work had in
deed been far different in its details from what he had planned in his
mind, but the aim had been unwavering and the results promising.
Dr. Morrison's writings attest his industry, care, and erudition. The
list of his published works in Chinese amounts to twelve books, of which
the translation of the Bible, the " Family Instructor," and a few geo
graphical and religious tractates are the chief. In English there were
nineteen separate works, including his dictionary, grammar, Canton
vocabulary, and " View of China for Philological Purposes, for the JOse
of Chinese Students," a Life of W. Milne, four volumes of sermons,
miscellaneous translations from the Chinese, and minor pamphlets called
forth by passing events or discussions. All of them are now difficult to
procure. The dawn of China's regeneration was breaking as his eyes closed on
the scene of his labors, and these labors contributed to advance the new
era, and his example to inspirit his successors to more and greater tri
umphs. Plis name, like those of Carey, Marshman, Judson, and Martyn,
belongs to the heroic age of missions. Each of them was fitted for a
peculiar field. Morrison was able to work alone, uncheered by congenial
companions, and sustained by his energy and sense of duty, presenting
to foreigners and natives alike an instance of a man diligent in business,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 837
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. His life was mostly passed in the
midst of those who had no sympathy with his pursuits, but his zeal never
abated, nor did he compromise his principles to advance his cause. His
translations and his dictionary have been indeed superseded by better
ones, built up on his foundations, and guided by his experience; but his
was the work of a wise master-builder, and future generations in the
Church of God in China will ever find reason to bless Him for the
labors and example of Robert Morrison. — S. W. W.

LIFE XXXVII. ADONIRAM JUDSON.
A. D. 1788-A. D. 1849. BAPTIST, — BURMAH.
Adoniram Judson, the first American Baptist missionary to Burmah,
was born in Maiden, Massachusetts, August 9, 1788. As a child he gave
promise of unusual ability, reading in the Bible at three years ; at four,
preaching to his little sister ; at seven, found lying on the ground, with
a hole in the hat which covered his eyes, proving by a method of his
own the self-originated problem, " Does the earth or the sun move ? "
in his fourteenth year, prepared for college ; in his sixteenth, entering
Brown University a year in advance ; in his nineteenth, graduating with
the highest honors. Acute in intellect, with great powers of acquisition,
and unfaltering perseverance and persistence, the boy gave indications
of the future man. Recognizing his own abilities, and assured by the
confidence of his father in the future which was before him, his ambition
was stimulated by the expectations of a brilliant career ; but his attain
ments, thus early, as through life, were the result of unflagging dili
gence. At the time of his leaving college, infidelity, like a black wave, was
sweeping over the land. Free inquiry in matters of religion was re
garded by the young man of independent thought as a part of education.
Young Judson, like many another, cutting loose from the moorings of
traditional faith, drifted, he knew not whither. But the Spirit of God,
whose instrument he was to become, watched over him on the illusive
waters, and saved him from the shipwreck which he courted.
The death, under peculiar circumstances, of a brilliant and talented
young man, his companion in intellectual pursuits and relig- Deep spjrituai
ious doubts, forced back upon him the truths he had tried to conflicts.
abandon. Having no fixed faith, he was well-nigh in despair. Still
clinging at heart to his deistical sentiments, and doubting the authen
ticity of revealed religion, he yet recognized his personal sinfulness and
the need of some great moral renovation. His moral nature became
thoroughly aroused, and he was deeply in earnest.

838 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
With this conflict going on in his heart and mind, he turned, with
the candor which during his whole life marked his pursuit of truth, to
a calm and careful examination of the grounds of Christian faith. To
aid him in his investigations, he entered the theological seminary at
Andover, then under the care of men eminent for learning and piety,
and in its seclusion he gave himself up to undistracted attention to his
spiritual interests. He opened all the doors of his soul to the light of
truth, and it gradually came in. With his whole nature he surrendered
himself to the will of God, recognizing Christ in his atoning character,
and accepting Him as his Saviour. The change was so deep and radical
that no shadow of misgiving or doubt ever clouded his future. From
this time forth the trusting and appropriating "My' Lord, and my God,"
was the expression of his unquestioning faith. Plis dreams of ambition
vanished ; his plans of life were changed ; he simply asked, " How shall
I so order my life as best to please God ? " With earnest striving after
personal holiness, hq joyfully consecrated himself, all that he was and
all that he was to be, to the service of Christ.
In December, 1808, a few weeks after going to Andover, he made a
solemn dedication of himself to God. In May, 1809, he united with the
Congregational church in Plymouth, of which his father was pastor, and
decided to continue his studies at Andover. Almost without a question
he had decided upon the ministry. When he saw Christ as the only way
of salvation for his own soul, he accepted it as his obligation and choice
to devote his life to the salvation of lost men.
In September of this year he read Buchanan's " Star in the East,"
which made so powerful an impression on his mind that after several
months of serious consideration he gave himself, in enthusiastic but
thoughtful consecration, to the evangelization of the heathen. At a later
period the reading of Symes's " Embassy to Ava " fixed his desires on a
mission to Burmah, which, in the providence of God, was to be his future
field. Almost simultaneously, the minds of three or four young men in Will
iams College and in Andover became similarly impressed with regard
to their duties to the heathen in this and other lands. Their sentiments
became known to each other, and the faith and purposes of each were
strengthened. This point in the history of American missions is a most interesting
one. As years have passed since the beginning of the American foreign
missionary enterprise, we see that this was a prepared time ; we see the
purposes of God running like a thread of light through the thoughts of
men's minds and the tendencies of the times ; and minds and times were
shaped for the events which were to follow. God builded better than
these young men knew.
Already the English missionary societies had made successful begin-

Cent. XVH.-XIX.] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 839
nings in India, but the spots of light were few and small. Drs. Ryland,
Fuller, and Sutcliffe had kindled the flame of missionary zeal in Eng-,
land ; and in this country, Drs. Worcester, Stoughton, and others, men
of enlarged views and deep and earnest piety, were praying and elo
quently preaching our duties to the heathen world. As has been said,
" it was the sun on the mountain tops, which showed that the sun had
risen," but the light was mostly on the mountain tops. Missionary soci
eties of a limited character had been formed, but there was as yet no
general organization uniting the churches of the country for supporting
missions to the heathen. The churches were widely separated, commu
nication was difficult, and they were ignorant of their strength. It wanted
the occasion to call out, and call together, the scattered ele-
_, . . a One of four to
ments. lhis occasion was given when four young men of occasion the
Andover, glowing with Christian ardor and love for souls, American
offered themselves, upon the 28th day of June, 1810, to go
to the uttermost parts of the earth to tell of the love of Jesus.
In this new emergency, which they had not anticipated and for which
they were not prepared, the American churches naturally turned for
direction and aid to the London society, with its larger experience, and
would gladly have united with it in the support and conduct of the
new mission.
Although regarding the proposition with the utmost kindness, the Eng
lish society did not deem it practicable. Thus thrown back upon them
selves, to meet the exigency the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions was formed, which timidly but determinedly took up
the support of its own missions.
In February, 1812, Judson married Miss Ann Hasseltine, the noble
and heroic woman who shared with him, with a devotion and a faith
equal to his own, the vicissitudes, the trials, and the self-denials of those
early years of suffering and solitude in which the mission to Burmah was
planted. They sailed soon after, with Rice, Nott, Newell, and others,
— whose names have become household words, — the first American
missionaries to India.
The hand of God led Judson on the water as on the land, preparing
him in a peculiar manner for the execution of his purposes. On ship
board, the minds of himself and his wife were led to a reexamination of
the subject of baptism, as also of the Scriptural proofs. An earnest ex
amination of these points led them to a change of views, and, on arriv
ing at Calcutta, they requested immersion at the hands of the English
Baptist missionaries. Their changed views necessitated a change in their
future plans, and the separation in labor from their associates was painful
in the extreme.
Alone in a heathen land, cut off from support by the board which sent
them out, they turned to the Baptists in the United States, then a com-

840 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
paratively feeble body, with no adequate missionary organization, but with
a deep interest in missions existing throughout the denomination. The
appeal met with an enthusiastic response, and resulted in forming the
American Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, an organization which
in 1845 assumed the- present name of the Baptist Missionary Union.
Thus were formed two noble institutions which have dotted with their
missions almost the whole extent of heathendom, which have witnessed
results the most sanguine could hardly have anticipated, and whose be
neficent influences eternity alone can unfold.
The little company of the Caravan, which embarked at Salem for Cal
cutta, amidst the doubts of their friends and the sneers of those who
were not, had hardly set foot on Indian shores when a barrier stronger
than that of paganism opposed them. The East India Company, then
in the flush of its power and intolerance, either from avarice or from
antagonism to their object, peremptorily forbade their settling in any of
the company's territory, and resisted, by every means in their power,
the introduction of Christianity among the millions of its subjects in
Bengal. After many delays and dangers, while attempting to find a home in
judson in Bur- tne ^e °^ Erance, they were driven by fresh persecutions
tmh- and adverse seas to Rangoon, where, out of the reach of
Christian power, they were permitted, but not by man, to teach the gos
pel of love and grace. From the intolerance of a nominally Christian,
they had escaped to the intolerance of a truly heathen government.
The government of Burmah was an unmitigated despotism, and en
mity to the spread of the new religion was bitter in the extreme. Forced
to pursue their work secretly, Mr. Judson gave the first years to the
acquisition of the language, a language rich in its sacred literature, but
having no known affinities to any other Indian tongue, and, to the first
foreigner attempting to acquire it, one of unusual difficulty.
His purpose was so to master its construction and peculiarities that
he might think in it as in his vernacular ; that he might thus be able to
render with exactness, into the language of a people who had no knowl
edge of it, the word of the living God. So persistent was his assiduity,
that he acquired in a few years such a knowledge of it that he was said
to write and speak it with the familiarity of a native and the elegance
of a cultivated scholar. Nothing but absolute mastery limited his de
sire for command over a language which was to be the vehicle of the
lively oracles, and with which he was to assail an idolatry grown vener
able by antiquity. Buddhism, the religion of Burmah, possessed a moral
code remarkable for the purity of its precepts, and recognized the strict
est system of future rewards and punishments. Reeking with law and
penalty, it contained no allusion to repentance, no hint of forgiveness.
How was he straitened within himself, till he could proclaim the holy

Cent. XVII.-XIX] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 841
doctrines of forgiveness and peace, through an atoning Saviour, Jesus
Christ, the Son of the only God !
During these years of silent labor, the churches at home became im
patient of results. Doubtless the echoes of this impatience reached him
when he penned those words of faith and trust, words as sublime in their
trust and faith as were ever penned by the hand of man : " If they ask
again, ' What prospect of ultimate success is there ? ' tell them, As
much as that there is an almighty and faithful God, who will perform
his promises, and no more. If this does not satisfy them, beg them to
let me stay and try it, and to let you come, and to give us our bread ; or
if they are unwilling to risk their bread on such a forlorn hope as has
nothing but the Word of God to sustain it, beg of them at least not to
prevent others from giving us bread, and if we live some twenty or thirty
years, they may hear from us again." He adds, further, after speaking
of the degradation of the people, and the comfortless life of missionaries,
— except what was found in each other and in their work, — " How
ever, if a ship was lying in the river ready to convey me to any part of
the world I should choose, and that too with the approbation of all my
Christian friends, I should prefer dying to embarking." Such faith, such
fidelity, such zeal, such holy devotion ! Do we wonder that the windows
of heaven were opened, and the blessing came down like a gracious rain
on the seed-sowing ?
Having acquired facility in the use of the language, he began what he
would gladly have taken as the labor of his life, — the oral preaching of
the gospel to the few inquirers he could gather round him. A zayat
was opened by the road-side, and a few timid inquirers came stealthily
to hear the strange new story. The thoughtful, cautious, philosophical
Burmese heard such words as no Buddhist books contained. They heard
of a God, eternal, unchangeable. They came again ; they inquired ; they
pondered ;' they believed ; they received the instantaneous pardon of re
pented sin. How beautiful the simple story of the cross became to those
ears which had heard only of aeons of hopeless suffering for unatonable
sin ! How satisfying the confidence in a God who could not change, in
place of Guadama, the synonym of change ! Such was his hope for the
whole Burman people.
Few instances of clearer faith can be found than in those early con
verts in Burmah. Of Moung Shuay-Pau he says, " He is a The flrst Bur.
fair specimen of a cautious Burman, who turns a thing over mese c°nTerta-
ten thousand times before he takes it, but when he once takes it, he holds
it forever." Of Moung Bo, " He has relinquished Buddhism, and got
through with Deism and Unitarianism, and now appears to be near the
truth." Of Myat-Kyan, " He has been an inquirer after truth many years,
and has diligently investigated the systems of Buddh, of Brahma, of
Mohammed. At length he has embraced the religion of Jesus Christ,

842 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
with all his mind and soul." A little church was gathered around them
in Rangoon. The Burmese government had made one long step in
progress. Foreigners were allowed to worship according to the dictates
of their own conscience, undisturbed, but it sacredly guarded its own
people from the proselytism of religious teachers, and the native Chris
tians embraced the new faith in the face of persecution and death.
In the hope of obtaining tolerance and protection for them, Mr. Jud
son resolved upon a visit to Ava, the capital of the empire. He pro
cured an interview with the king, but in his effort he was unsuccessful.
Of this failure he says characteristically, " The result of our toils and
travels has been the very best possible ; a result which, if we could see
the end from the beginning, would call forth our highest praise. 0
slow of heart to believe and trust in the constant presence and overruling
care of our almighty Saviour ! "
Still the work continued to spread, and prospects were brightening,
when the alarming illness of his wife made it necessary for her to return
to America. Left entirely alone Judson devoted himself with redoubled
energy to the translation of the New Testament and the labors of the
zayat. When persecution relaxed he employed most of his time in re
ligious instruction ; when the sky darkened, he turned with earnestness
to the work of translation. The mission had been reinforced by Mr.
Hough, a printer, and the press was beginning to do its work.
Two years later, 1832, his new associate, Dr. Price, was summoned by
an imperial order to Ava, on account of his medical skill. Mr. Judson,
regretfully leaving the few faithful disciples in Rangoon, accompanied
him as interpreter at court, hoping, with better facilities, to continue his
labors on the Testament. Both were favorably received by the king ;
they were recognized in their character as religious teachers, and a grant
of land was given on which to build a " kynung." Mrs. Judson returned
after a two years' absence, in improved health ; the translation was near
completion, and the long-indulged hope of a successful establishment in
the capital of the empire seemed about to be realized.
There had been faint rumors of war, and while there was but a speck
in the sky, the war-cloud burst upon them. The Burmese emperor had
cherished the ambitious design of invading Bengal, and while Bandoola
was on his march of conquest into Cambodia, Rangoon was unexpectedly
taken possession of by the English. Amazement and dismay spread
through the capital. All foreigners were under suspicion. Judson and
Price were thrown into prison as spies.
We will not relate the heart-sickening sufferings of those twenty-one
in prison in months of captivity, or the almost superhuman devotion and
ATa" fortitude of that heroic woman who walked sublime amid
the terrible scenes of Ava and Oung-pen-la; whose character rose to the
height of the morally grand ; whose heroism and heroic endurance drew

Cent. XVH.-XIX] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 843
tears from the eyes of Christian soldiers and barbaric men ; whose elo
quence softened hard hearts ; who, begirt with the power of her own
moral atmosphere, beautiful in person and superior in intellect, walked
unscathed amid the pollutions of barbarism, and became the " author of
those eloquent and powerful appeals to the Burman government which
prepared them by degrees for submission to terms of a sincere peace."
Success crowned the English arms, and those dark prisons were opened.
After the order of release came, Judson was forcibly retained as inter
preter in the Burman camp. Exposures threw him into a violent fever.
Six weeks more of suffering and cruelty, and he was permitted to return
to Ava and his home. What was his anguish, on entering that home,
to find his little emaciated baby, born amid the horrors of those prison
days, in the arms of a squalid Burmese nurse, and the wife who had
followed him from prison to prison in noonday heat and midnight dews,
lying as one dead, where she had fallen, the Burman neighbors saying,
" She is dead, and if the king of angels should come in, he could not re
store her." But the touch of lips and the sound of a voice dearer to her
than any other on earth brought her back again, and they were permit
ted another brief period of suffering and service together.
The government had learned Judson's value, and it was with great dif
ficulty that he was released from its service. The time came at length.
Sir Archibald Campbell demanded it, and sent him and his family down
the river surrounded by eight gilded boats. It was with reference to this
that in later years he said to friends comparing the most exquisite joys
they had experienced, " But what do you think of sailing down the Ir-
rawaddy on a cool moonlight evening, with your wife by your side and
your baby in your arms, free — all free ? I can never regret my twenty-
one months of misery when I recall that one ever delicious thrill."
On reaching Rangoon they found the little church scattered, the mis-
sion-house destroyed, and it was thought better to find another place of
missionary labor. Amherst, in the Tenasserim district, under British
protection, was selected, and thither they went to rebuild their hearth
stones and their altars. They gathered some of the disciples and began
teaching. An important treaty was to be concluded at Yendabo. At
the earnest desire of the commissioner, and with the assurance that, if
possible, the treaty should contain articles of toleration toward the native
Christians, and with Mrs. Judson's added persuasions, he made it his
duty, and went. Toleration was. not secured, and what was the bitterness
of his grief to find on his return that death had removed his wife, for
ever. A grave by the hopia tree, the precious memory of what she was,
and the little emaciated Maria, were all that was left him of her love and
loveliness. Smitten to the earth, the bereaved husband turned to the source of
strength that had never failed him, and labored on. The manuscript of

844 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
the New Testament, which Mrs. Judson had kept secreted in the prison
at Ava, was saved to him. Dr. Bennet had arrived to take charge of the
mission press at Maulmain, whither the mission had been removed soon
after the death of Mrs. Judson in 1826. Still directing inquirers to the
truth, and superintending the printing of the New Testament, he gave
himself especially to the completion of the Old. Seven years more of
labor, and on the 31st of January, 1834, he wrote that memorable
" Thanks be to God, I can now say I have attained. I have knelt down
Completes the w*tn tne 'ast ¦'ea^ m my cand> an& imploring his forgiveness
Burman Bible. for an £ne sms which have polluted my labors in this depart
ment, and his aid in future efforts to remove errors and imperfections
which may necessarily cleave to the work, I have commended it to his
mercy and grace, I have dedicated it to his glory.
" May He make his own inspired Word, now complete in the Burman
tongue, the grand instrument of filling all Burmah with songs of praise
to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Touching as were the records of his heart during these lonely years,
we must pass them by.
The visit of Mrs. Judson to America, the sufferings through which they
had passed, and their own faith had quickened the flame of missionary
zeal throughout the American churches ; money poured into the treasury ;
new missionaries were sent out ; new fields were opening, near and dis
tant ; the Karens, a new people, were being gathered in ; the East India
Company, which at first drove them from its borders, covered them with
its protecting wing ; native converts were increasing ; a native ministry
was being raised up, of men strong in character and strong in faith ; the
Bible and other religious writings had been scattered broadcast, and car
ried or blown leaves of the tree of life, God knew whither ; and these
years had been to Dr. Judson years of unusual growth and ripening of
Christian character.
Again, after years of loneliness, the fires were rekindled on his deso
lated hearthstone. Little Maria had long slept under the hopia tree.
George Dana Boardman had entered upon and closed his brief but fruit
ful missionary labors. His widow had for years carried on his unfin
ished work in the Karen jungles, until a church of two hundred members
crowned their seed-sowing. It was fitting that two such lives should
be united, and in 1834, at Yarry, God gave his benediction on their mar
riage vows. In her new home Mrs. Judson aided, cheered, and strength
ened her husband, the worthy successor, intellectually and morally, of
Ann Judson.
In 1834 the churches in Burmah numbered six hundred and sixty-six
members. The following year seven hundred and eighty-six were added;
the next year eleven hundred and forty-four. The wilderness was blos
soming.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 845
It had been Dr. Judson's most intense desire during all the years of
his missionary life to give himself to the preaching of the gospel, but
the preparation of a Burman dictionary was urged upon him, and in
1843 he writes: " Several years were spent in translating the Bible, and
several more in revising it and carrying the last edition through the
press. After which, in May last, I commenced a dictionary of the lan
guage, a work which I had resolved and re-resolved I would never touch,
but as the Board and my brethren urged it, and as Burmah continued
shut against our labors, and there were several missionaries in this place,
I concluded I could not do better than to comply.
" We are apt to magnify the importance of any undertaking in which we
are warmly engaged. Perhaps it is from the influence of that principle
that, notwithstanding my long-cherished aversion to the work, I have
begun to think it very important ; and that having seen the accomplish
ment of two objects on which I had set my heart when I first came out
to the East, — the establishment of a church of converted natives, and the
translation of the Bible into their language, — I now beguile my daily toil
with the prospect of compassing a third, which may be compared to a
causeway designed to facilitate the transmission of all knowledge, relig
ious and scientific, from one people to the other."
Repeated and severe attacks of sickness had come to Dr. Judson, and
to his laborious and faithful wife. Mrs. Judson's health, for some time
declining, had been so thoroughly prostrated that there seemed to be no
hope but in a journey beyond the tropics. Strong as were his domestic
affections, tender as was his love for his wife, much as he longed to see his
native land, nothing but an imperative duty would have drawn him from
his post. Medical skill had been exhausted, and he embarked with his
almost dying wife in July, 1845, for Boston. A temporary improvement
raised the hope in both that he might return to his work, while she should
pursue the homeward journey alone. But the disease returned with new
violence, and as they were nearing St. Helena, her spirit passed away.
Again the light of his home had gone out, and a precious form was laid
to sleep in a lonely grave in St. Helena, to await, with that other at Am
herst, the resurrection of the just.
Mrs. Judson had given India twenty years of successful service. She
had blessed the home and carried on the labors of the sainted Boardman ;
she had acquired the language in such perfection that Dr. Judson said of
her, " There is scarcely an individual foreigner who speaks or writes the
Burman language so acceptably as she does." She was the author of
valuable books, tracts, and hymns, and in many ways had been a most
efficient helper to her husband in their home, in their missionary labor,
and in their Christian lives.
Her work was finished, and leaving the precious dust, he reembarked
with his motherless children, and after an absence of thirty-three years

846 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
again set foot on his native shores. Hardly was his arrival known, when
. .. a spontaneous outburst of welcome from all denominations
In America after i . . _ . , .
thirty-three surprised and almost bewildered him. He who on shipboard
had questioned where he would find lodgings, found a hun
dred homes opened to him as an honored guest, and the hearts of mill
ions of American Christians did him reverence. The humble missionary
who had labored on, heedless that any eye saw him but that of the One
he served, could not recognize iu himself the object of these demonstra
tions ; he was surprised, humbled, almost offended at what was really the
involuntary tribute of Christian hearts to Christian heroism. He seemed
to himself to have done nothing, and he shrunk from public assemblies
in his honor.
Dr. Wayland, whose guest he was while in Providence, thus recalls
his spirit at family worship, which he conducted after a meeting of wel
come in that city : " His prayer on that occasion can never be forgotten
by those who heard it. So lowly abasement in the presence of unspot
ted holiness,- such earnest pleadings for pardon for the imperfections of
those services for which men praised him, so utter renunciation of all
merit for anything he had ever done, so entire reliance for acceptance
with God only on the merits and atonement of the gospel sacrifice for
sins, I think it was never my happiness to hear. Such, I believe, was the
habitual temper of his mind that the more his brethren were disposed to
exalt him, the more deeply did he seem to feel his own deficiencies, and
the more humble was his prostration at the foot of the cross."
The thirty-three years of absence had made great changes. Well
might he say, " Where are the well-known faces of Spring, of Worces
ter, and Dwight ? Where are Lyman and Huntington and Griffin ? And
where are those leaders of the baptized ranks who stretched out their
hands to me across the waters and welcomed me to their communion ?
And where are my early associates, Newell and Hall and Rice and
Richards and Mills ? But why inquire for those so ancient ? Where
are the succeeding laborers, and those who succeeded them? And where
are those who moved amid the dark scenes of Rangoon and Ava and
Tavoy ? Where those gentle yet firm spirits which tenanted forms del
icate in structure, but careless of the storm, now broken and scattered and
strewn ?"
There were great changes, not only in the workers but in the work,
which was making its beginnings well-nigh over the whole earth — Europe,
Asia, Africa, the wilds of North America, and the islands of the seas.
Delightful as was much that he saw and felt and enjoyed at home,
he turned to his little orphaned children left behind, to the native church
in Maulmain, to his brethren over the water, and to his heavy work on
the dictionary, with longing heart. Pie desired to be gone.
In July, 1846, he married Miss Emily Chubbuck, — Fanny Forrester,

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] ADONIRAM JUDSON. 847
of literary fame, the gifted lady who cheered his last years with the gentle
ministries of love and affection, — and sailed again for Burmah. Finding
the work advancing in all departments in Maulmain, he determined to go
to Rangoon, where he might avail himself of learned men and books in the
prosecution of the dictionary, and might be in the way of new openings
into the heart of the country. A new king was on the throne, more in
tolerant than his predecessors, and he was forced to return to Maulmain.
He continued his labors unremittingly until November, 1849, when he
was attacked by a violent fever. He partially recovered, but it was the
beginning of the end. Every resource was exhausted, the disease was
reaching the springs of life.' The only hope lay in a sea-voyage. He
was carried on shipboard on the 3d of April, and .in a little more than a
week after he embarked, on the 12th of April, 1849, he closed his earthly
labors, and entered on the rewards of the just made perfect.
We cannot forbear giving some extracts from Mrs. Judson's account of
his last days. " As his health declined his mental exercises Hi8 closing
at first seemed deepened, and he gave still larger portions days-
of his time to prayer, conversing with the utmost freedom on his daily
progress and the extent of his self-conquest. One day he said earnestly,
' I have gained the victory at last. I love every one of Christ's re
deemed, as I believe He would have me love them, and gladly would I
prefer the meanest of his creatures, who bears the name, before myself.1
.... From this time no other word would so well express his state of
feeling as that one of his own choosing — peace. He remained calm and
serene, speaking of himself daily as a great sinner who had been over
whelmed with benefits, and declaring that he had never in all his life
before had such delightful views of the unfathomable love and infinite
condescension of the Saviour as were now daily opening before his eyes !
' Oh, the love of Christ ! the love of Christ!' he would suddenly exclaim,
while his eye kindled, and the tears chased each other down his cheeks.
We cannot understand it now, but what a beautiful study for eternity ! "
At another time, on being told that it was feared by most of the mis
sion that he could not recover, " 1 know it," he replied, " and I suppose
they think me an old man, and imagine it is nothing for one like me to
resign a life so full of trials ; but I am not old, at least in that sense.
Oh, no man ever left this world with more inviting prospects, with
brighter hopes, with warmer feeling." His face was perfectly calm, even
while the tears broke away from the closed lids and rolled one after
another down to the pillow. To some suggestion which his wife vent
ured to make, he replied, " It is not that, I know all that, and feel it in
my inmost heart. Lying here on my bed when I could not talk, I have
had such views of the loving condescension of Christ, and the glories of
heaven, as I believe are seldom granted to mortal man. It is not that I
shrink from death that I wish to live, neither is it that the ties that bind

848 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
me here, though some of them are very sweet, bear any comparisons
with the drawings I at times feel toward heaven ; but a few years would
not be missed from an eternity of bliss, and I can well afford to spare
them, both for your sake and for the sake of the poor Burmans. I am
not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world, yet when Christ
calls me home I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from
school. Perhaps I feel something like a young bride resigning the as
sociations of her childhood for a yet dearer home ; though only a very
little like her, for there is no doubt resting on my future." " Then death
would not take you by surprise if it should come even before you got
on shipboard? " "Oh, no," he said, "death will never take me by sur
prise, do not be afraid of that, I feel so strong in Christ. He has not led
me so tenderly thus far to forsake me at the very gate of heaven. No,
no, I am willing to live a few years longer if it should be so ordered.
and if otherwise, I am willing and glad to die now. I leave myself en
tirely in the hands of God, to be disposed of according to his holy will."
And with such peace he passed into the holy presence.
" If," as Kingsley says, " in the shallowest natures there are unfath
omable depths," what may we expect from natures eudowed to affluence,
and enriched by culture and Christianity ? Judson's intellectual endow
ments were of a rarely high order, and his Christian character was ripe
and remarkable. The key-note of this character was struck at the outset
of his religious life. The question, " Is it pleasing to God ? " decided all
his religious actions. In his conversion he gave himself without conscious
reserve to God ; and it was his constant endeavor to become conformed
to his will and likeness. And God led him by a royal highway, through
sacrifices of ambitions, through imprisonments, through sickness, through
sufferings, through the rending of the tenderest ties, over the graves of
loved ones, through appalling views of his own sinfulness ; and volun
tarily abasing himself before God, the Most High exalted him. He
walked on the mountain tops of holiness.
Judson was a man of strong convictions. To believe that a principle
was right, and not to embrace it; to see that a course was duty, and not
to pursue it ; to hesitate in accepting the consequences which his convic
tions involved, was impossible to his mental and moral constitution. He
believed in God and in sin, in eternal life and in eternal death ; he be
lieved it his duty to save souls from that death, and it was his purpose
to live for that life. With these convictions he cheerfully yielded his
ambitions, he voluntarily turned his back on paths in which he might
have won success; Gifted in many ways he might have excelled in many
things. He made high attainments as a scholar, he was brilliant as a
writer, he was eloquent as a speaker, the English government acknowl
edged his capacity for statesmanship. But none of these things turned
him from the direct work of giving the gospel to men. He mastered

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WILLIAMS. 849
the Burman language, and the results are among the most remarkable
in the field of philology, and mastered it to give to the Burman peo
ple our sacred writings in such a form as might convey the precise mind
of the Spirit. To do this, no effort was too great. He added the Pali,
a difficult language, because it contributed its aid, but we hear no word
of it from him. He could repeat Burmese and Pali poetry by the hour,
but he would not deviate from his one purpose to transcribe it. He en
joyed its literature, but he would not give one hour to selfish gratification
in the acquisition of it.
It was the requirement of his nature to do everything in the best
manner. As our natural character gives direction and color to our relig
ious character, so, in him, this law within gave direction and complete
ness to his religious life.
To do perfectly was the necessity of his mind ; to be pure within was
the demand of his inner soul. To do perfectly, with a pure heart, the
will of God made his life a grand unity; his death, a triumph over death;
the life beyond, unspeakable glory. — H. PI. K.

LIFE XXXVIII. JOHN WILLIAMS.
A. D. 1796-A. D. 1839. CONGREGATIONAL, — OCEANICA.
John Williams, the apostle of the islands of the South Seas, was
born June 29, 1796, at Tottenham High Cross, near London. Plis father,
a business man, troubled himself but little about the education and the
inner life of his children. Williams must be numbered with that great
company of God's workmen whose hearts their mothers nurtured in the
faith through prayer and precept and a quiet walk with God. Yet Will
iams's mother was not unaided. A loving grandmother was allied with
her in her devoted labors. A Timothy-like picture rises then before us,
with a Eunice and a Lois, who led to God a gifted, lively boy in his ear
liest years, and sowed the seeds of holiness in his heart. Their sowing
took root. The times of devotion in the boy's home became his glad
hours. Falsehood grew to be to him like poison. In his school years,
without his mother knowing it, he composed a morning and an evening
prayer, — the one in prose, the other in poetry. They were a beautiful
reflection of his fervor of spirit. When he was fourteen, he left home,
his parents apprenticing him to a well-to-do iron manufacturer of London,
named Tonkin. He was expected to learn only the busiuess of selling
the goods, and not the theory or practice of making them. Yet he ac
quired both the latter. His talent and liking for the practical part of
the work was so great that he spent all his leisure hours in the smithy.
He learned to fashion some articles so aptly and neatly that they went
51

850 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
from his hand direct to the shop or to the show-window. How this dex-
An excellent terity was to serve him later on in life was hid from him,
mechanic DUt wag tnown to God. The way in which He trained
Williams so wisely and well moves our wonder. Nothing was wanting in
the preparation of the future missionary. Even the errors of the youth
were made by God to serve his purpose. There are brooks which, from
their source to their end in sea or river, remain pure, clear, and trans
parent. They are detained in no slough, toiling through it with diffi
culty. Of few men can the like be affirmed as to their spiritual career.
Few go in undisturbed course from childhood on through youth to true
manhood in Christ Jesus. Even Williams's life found its way, which
was prepared by a mother's and a grandmother's prayers, lost amid the
unclean waters of the world and the flesh. God's Word was forgotten,
prayer neglected, the church abandoned. Drinking-places were fre
quented. Loose company was sought, to the reproach of the name of
Christ. Yet his life outwardly was honest.
God's workman was not to be ruined by Satan. His career in sin was
quietly yet effectively checked. Sunday, January 30, 1814, Mistress
Tonkin went in the evening to a religious meeting. By the light of a
street lamp she recognized her apprentice walking to and fro in front of
a drinking-place, and asked him what he was seeking. Young Williams
answered frankly that he was waiting there for his friends, with whom
he was expecting to pass a jolly night. He was out of humor that they
were not prompt at the hour, but were making him wait for so long a
time. The good woman, knowing that she ought to act a mother's part
to the youth, very decidedly asked him to attend her and go to church
instead of to a drinking-shop. After some resistance, the youth gave
himself up to be her prisoner. He little thought that this very evening
he should become a prisoner and a bondman of Jesus Christ. The
preacher, who was named East, expounded the saying, " What shall it
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? "
He spoke from the heart to the heart. The eyes of Williams were opened.
He saw his need, but he saw at the same moment God's royal way of
safety prepared and opened through Christ Jesus. To-night the brook
burst forth from the stagnant slough, and began flowing on in its fixed
channel to the sea of Eternal Love. Williams turned to God's Word
with diligence and zeal. The church and the sacrament became dear to
him. The whole gospel, the God-Man, his deeds and his words, became
to him living realities. The Holy Spirit illumined his heart with glad
ness. He grew in the grace and in the knowledge of his Lord and Sav
iour Jesus Christ. His mother's love had sown the seed, his mistress's
His quiet church faithfulness had saved it, the preacher had nourished it.
training. Other help now came to give the youth his full growth and
to prepare him for his labors as a missionary. In the parish of which

Cent. XVH.-XIX] JOHN WILLIAMS. 851
Williams was a member, there was a young people's association, whose
chief workers were thirty young men. The leader was the pastor,
Browne by name. It met every Monday evening at eight o'clock, and
opened with prayer and singing, after which followed a discussion upon
a subject announced eight days before, introduced by an address from
one of the members. Several of the evenings during the year were
reserved wholly for prayer. Williams was one of the most gifted and
efficient members of this society, which proved to him his university,
preparing him in part for his future efforts. He learned here to take up
a Scripture topic and to analyze and present it in free, unhackneyed lan
guage. As a teacher in the Sabbath-school he employed the talent in
trusted to him, gaining by fidelity and aptness the affection of his pupils
and the respect of his associates.
From one society he passed into another. Already mission societies
were in active existence in London and vicinity. Besides the anniversa
ries, quarterly meetings were held in small districts, in which, by ad
dresses founded on the Bible, by prayer, and by reports from mission
aries, the members strengthened themselves to persevere in their work.
Williams belonged to such a circle. And here it was that the thought
arose to him whether he could not be used of God among the heathen.
It grew into a most profound desire. Then followed a childlike prayer,
" Lord, if it is not thy plan and will that I become a missionary, then
tear the wish with all its roots out of my soul." But precisely the op
posite came to pass. The longing of Williams for missionary service
became ever more active. He searched his heart with all diligence, ask
ing whether his old nature had not ensnared him ; whether he was not
self-seeking, or if indeed the saving of poor lost souls was the aim of
his labors. The longer he inquired, the more boldly he could say, " I
will present myself a sacrifice to Him who gave Himself for me."
So, in the year 1816, he proffered his services to the London Mission
ary Society, addressing a letter to the directors, narrating with exact
care his inner and outer life. He made the request, " Should you con
scientiously find no opening to accept me, I pray God, and ask of you,
that for my soul's good you will not in the least wise encourage me to
seek the missionary office." It is the language of an upright man, and
one to whom God will send good-speed.
Williams passed the required examination, and was accepted (July,
1816). That he might at once be unhindered in his new calling he was
given, by his master, the seven months remaining of his apprenticeship.
Men being in demand, this young man, so gifted and so apt for every
work, was to be sent out speedily. South Africa and Polynesia were the
lands to which the eyes of the mission society were directed. Williams
was choseD for the latter. The laborers in the Society Islands especially
needed helpers. The new converts there without guidance would fall

852 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
back into paganism. The youth of twenty years should, within a few
months, go thither in the service of his Master, accompanying other mis
sionaries. The interval before departure was employed by Williams in conscien
tious preparation. The best hours of each day, and his chief strength,
he gave to training in theology under his pastor. All his remaining time
he spent in the shops of joiners, carpenters, weavers, and ship-builders,.
in printing offices, and in all of them he was actively at work. He pur
posed being an intelligent guide of the pagans in external civilization.
On the 30th of September, 1816, he was ordained in Surrey Chapel,
at the same time with eight comrades, to the service of God among the
heathen. A Bible was put into his hand with the words, " Go hence,
loved brother, and be faithful to the trust that is given thee ; faithful in
season and out of season, faithful in proclaiming the precious truths
which this book contains." Following these words, another said, " Go
hence, loved youth and brother, and though thy tongue cleave to the roof
of thy mouth, let it still witness to poor sinners the love of Jesus ;
though thine arm fail thee and threaten to fall from its socket, let it yet
knock at the hearts of thy fellow-sinners till they open to the Saviour
of the world." Upon this day the heart of Williams, already offered,
was sealed to the service of God.
Before leaving England Williams was joined in marriage with a Chris
tian young lady who faithfully, to his death, fulfilled her promise to be
his helper in his external and in his soul life. The 17th of November,
Sails for the 1816, he left England, sailing by Rio Janeiro to Sydney.
Here he came to know- the missionary Marsden, who served
Christ with great self-sacrifice in New Zealand. A protracted delay in
Sydney was employed by Williams in service as a preacher and a
teacher, and in gaining knowledge regarding the people of Polynesia.
At last, November 17, 1817, a year after leaving England, he landed in
Eimeo, one of the Society Islands. His field of work, assigned him in
common with missionary Threskeld, was Rajatea, an island which longed
for the day, but had not yet seen the sunrise. Two years before, mis
sionary Wilson, of Tahiti, with nineteen native Christians, King Pomare
among them, were cast upon this island. The king, Pomatoa, with his
whole people received them cordially. In return they opened their treas
ures, preaching to them a Saviour. After the departure of Wilson and
his party to Tahiti, a longing for instruction remained in Rajatea. Will
iams labored here by himself from 1817 to 1823. This island was his
training school, and the land of his first love ; a love which never cooled
during his life. First of all he threw himself energetically into the work of
learning the speech of the country. After ten months he could preach in
it. Pomatoa and the rest of the chiefs met him with assistance and friend
ship. In Williams's view the gospel and culture were to advance to-

Cent. XVII.-XIX] JOHN WILLIAMS. 853
gether. He builded a chapel. He erected a neat little house for him
self, and to serve as a model of better dwellings to the natives. Around
it a well-planned garden soon bloomed with flowers and food-plants,
European and Polynesian. Near it was a school-house in which young
and old were given to drink the water of life. Its blossoms were soon
more lovely than those in his garden. The Word fell on receptive soil.
Chiefs and common people, old men and lisping children, mothers carry
ing nursing babes in their arms, priests of Oro who wanted cleansing
from shed blood, came into the school. The king and the queen seated
themselves in the row with the rest as learners and inquirers.
Rajatea was the chief seat of the idol Oro, to whom for centuries, be
fore and after battles, countless human offerings had been devoted. Will
iams, zealous as he was, was very careful of making wild assaults on this
or other idols. The wooden images would be thrust down from their
seats when they had fallen from their places in the hearts of their wor
shipers. Here in Raiatea. a plan was developed in Will-
. , . , „ '. , . . , , , His broad plan.
lams s mind for a systematized mission to be extended over
the maze of surrounding groups of South Sea Islands. Three helpers
were wanted in the service of the Master, a printing-press, a mission-
ship, and native agency. Primary books and eleven hundred copies of
Luke's Gospel, which had been brought out in the language of the re
gion through a missionary (Ellis), were soon sold upon the island. By
and by the entire New Testament was printed. Williams bought the
first mission-ship iu the South Seas, and established a connection between
New South Wales and the islands. Himself, the London society, and
Governor Brisbane, of New South Wales, bore the cost. Later, he
builded a ship of his own, in order to have it entirely at his own dis
posal. Before loug he drew his converts into mission-work. Not only
was a mission aid society founded, but pious and gifted youths were
trained by him for service in the schools, and for evangelizing labors
on the neighboring islands. The islanders proved themselves intelli
gent, admirable servants of God, joyful even unto death. By his advice
the king of Rajatea gave this and other islands ruled by him a law
book grounded upon God's Word. To secure a more certain sustenance
for the people, who hitherto had depended upon fishing and upon the
fruits of the islands, sugar plantations were begun. A great church was
builded under Williams's leadership, to serve as the cathedral of this
group of islands. And for all these activities the toiler drew strength
and wisdom from the unfailing fountain of the Divine Word. All who
beheld Williams, either here or later in his work upon the Harvey and
the Samoa Islands, were amazed at his freshness, his elasticity, and his
firm hold upon his work.
Amid this comprehensive activity, which, during his stay upon Rajatea,
reached to Baraboa (of the Society Islands), Rurutu, Raratonga, Aitu-

854 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period V.
taki (of the Harvey or Tubuai Islands), Williams heartily and tenderly
cherished his connection with his home. A real treasure lies before us
in his precious letters to his kindred. This correspondence reached its
acme when he heard of the death of his mother, so far away from him.
With thanksgivings for this, that such a mother had been given him of
God, with sorrow and tears for her loss, are mingled fresh praises for
her entrance into glory. He knocks, too, how softly, at the hearts of his
loved ones with admonitions and with prayers that they abide true to
God, so that their deaths may be like hers, the death of the righteous. He
ventures — a hard task for a son — to preach repentance and salvation to
his father, beseeching him to yield his heart to the Master who so long has
wooed him, especially through his beloved life-companion. The letters
show a wondrous delicacy. What joy to Williams when missionary Nott,
His father's wno visited his father on his dying bed, sent his last greeting
message to him. t0 n;g son wjtn tne following message, " Tell him, oh tell
him, that the son has been the means of the saving of the father."
In the years from 1823 to 1830 Williams had journeyed several times
to the Harvey Islands. The native teachers did excellent service there.
He himself, by his meekness, love, truth, and unfailing faith, exercised
an almost incredible influence over the people. After a few years the
idols fell, and the entire people were either baptized or under instruc
tion for baptism. Upon Raratonga a church was builded, which was
thronged on Sundays by some two thousand Christians. Yet this serv
ant of God pressed restlessly forward. His progress was from east to
west. While other missionaries with native helpers labored on Rajatea
and the Harvey Islands, he, the pathfinder, turned to the Samoa group
(Sawaii, Upolu, Tutuila, etc.), and sailed thither May 24, 1830. First
he visited the Friendly Islands (Tongatabu, Wawau, Eua, etc.). He
found there the missionaries of other societies, who gave him the hand
of friendship. It was resolved that no one should interfere with another's
field of labor, and that the Samoa Islands should be left to Williams.
God's blessing went with him. On Sawaii, he met a welcome from Chief
Melietoa, and after a few years, out of sixty or seventy thousands of na
tives, fifty thousand were either baptized or under preparation for bap
tism. He was aided here by the fact that the people had no idols except
the god of war. Yet there was no lack of pagan cruelties and unholy
superstitions. Everywhere around Williams found the fields white, while
the laborers were few. Sore wars, too, were prevailing. If a king be
came Christian, some chief made use of the spite of the pagan element,
collected it about him, and sought with its aid to displace the king
and to enthrone himself along with his idols. Several petty wars were
carried on, which through the clemency of the Christian kings redounded
to the glory of Christianity. False teachers sprang up among the young
Christians, who were often disposed to receive their strange messages.

Cent. XVII.-XIX.] JOHN WILLIAMS. 855
European liquor-sellers and deserting sailors proved pests to the volatile
islanders. Williams, with his faithful comrades (Pitman, Barf, and Biiza-
cotte), kept watch and removed obstacles. It was easier, then, to awaken
souls to religion than to preserve them in a religious course of life.
Williams, to promote his work, returned home. He wished to kindle
the zeal for the Polynesian mission into a clearer flame, and His four years at
he succeeded. Arriving in England June 12, 1834, after home-
eighteen years' absence, he remained at home for four years. They
were years when the love of missions in England and in all evangelical
Europe was greatly increased. Williams magnified the works of God by
enthusiastic speeches, ever bearing the stamp of genuineness, which he
delivered in great assemblies before the high and the low. He also
wrote a book, " Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands." He
received from all sides favorable reports from it. Thirty-eight thousand
copies were sold within nine years. His chief desire, to have a suitable
mission-ship, fit for any sea, was granted. With free-will offerings he
was able to purchase the Camden for ten thousand pounds sterling. By
especial providence a pious and skilled captain was given him, — Captain
Morgan. Nine new missionaries were to accompany him on his return.
On the day of his departure, April 11, 1838, London was in a commo
tion, as if a conquering king was going out to war. The very pilot, who
was entitled to twenty or twenty-five pounds, wished to add his services,
in taking the ship out, to the contributions of the multitude. Williams,
having for the last time taken the Lord's Supper in a home church, went
his way joyously with his wife and his new comrades. In his soul was
engraved the motto, " Neither count I my life dear unto me." He went
round the Cape to New South Wales. In Sydney he formed a mission
aid society for Australia, who gave five hundred pounds as their first
contribution for his work. He left Sydney October 25th, and arrived
prosperously at Tutuila, one of the Samoa Islands.
The following year was for Williams a most glad time. He visited
again all the groups, the Society, Harvey, and Samoa Isl- .
ands. As corn and flowers grow in warm spring nights, so turn to the
South Seas.
the work of God had grown in his absence. Everywhere
beautiful white churches gleamed from the island upon his sight, builded
during the four years. Everywhere the young societies extended to him
a welcome as to a father coming home, and such he was. It was a jubi
lee which almost overwhelmed him. Many a one, who at his departure
was a stubborn pagan, met him as a happy child of God. His path was
through a lovely harvest field. He saw that the work was in good hands
and was growing abundantly. He wanted to go beyond. Before him
lay the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Upon November 3, 1839,
he kept, on Upola, along with his Samoans and his own family, his last
Sunday. He preached from Acts xx. 36, "And when He had thus

856 THE CHURCH'S REFORMED PROGRESS. [Period' V.
spoken, He kneeled down and prayed with them all." He had asked the
teachers of the Samoa congregation who of them would go in the Mas
ter's service among the people of the New Hebrides. Thirty chosen
men proffered themselves. Williams selected twelve of them, and or
dained them as evangelists. With them went missionary Cunningham
and a young Englishman named Harris, who was staying at the islands
for his health, but was so taken with Williams that he wished to go with
him to the west before returning to England, to fit himself for mission
duty. They sailed westward November 4th ; on the islands Roturna and
Tanna they left two teachers, having first satisfied themselves of the
friendliness of the people. November 20th they cast anchor off the coast
of Erromanga. The dwellers on this island were the last to whom Will
iams offered the pearl of great price. They came down to
His martyrdom. ,
the shore of Dillon Bay. Williams, with Cunningham and
Harris, went in a boat near the land. The chief brought at their request
— which they made known by signs, for the speech of the islands was
strange to all three — a vessel of water. Confiding in the favor thus
shown, the three stepped ashore. When they thought they had won the
hearts of the islanders, by making some little presents, they went some
distance inland. Suddenly the natives attacked them with their war
clubs. Harris was struck down upon the land ; Williams in the shallow
water, through which he was escaping to the boat. Cunningham alone
escaped. This was November 20, 1839. The real murderers of Will
iams were perhaps the sandal-wood merchants, who had shed much in
nocent blood on that coast, and had stirred the natives to revenge them
selves upon all white men. The body of Williams was eaten by the
savages. His fate was mourned by the young Christians in Samoa and
other islands, as by children. The blessing which he had brought
to them remained. He still lives a model missionary in his faith and
love and hearty devotion, in his plans of raising up native helpers, in his
union of external culture, such as may suit the circumstances of a people,
with the culture of the heart through Christ Jesus. With right has he
been named the Apostle of the South Seas. No other man exerted so
deep and so blessed an influence upon the lives of that far-away people.
— F. A.

APPENDIX.

I.
ROLL OF WRITERS OF THE LIVES OF THE LEADERS OF OUR
CHURCH UNIVERSAL.
EUROPEAN WRITERS.
The Rev. Dr. F. Ahlfeld, Pastor in Leipzig  John Williams.
The Rev. Dr. Feiedeich Aendt, Pastor in Berlin .... Anne Askew.
The Rev. Dr. C. Beckek, Pastor in Konigsberg  Wishart.
The Rev. Dr. C. Blndemann, Church Superintendent in Grim-
men  Monica, Augustine.
The Rev. Dr. Bouteewek, Director of Gymnasium, Elber-
feld  Columba, Aidan.
The Rev. J. C. F. Buek, Pastor in Echterdingen  Bengel.
The Rev. Dr. David Eedmann, Church General Superintend
ent, Breslau  Baxter.
The Rev. Dr. A. E. Feohlich, Professor, Aarau, Switzer
land  Zwingle, Laborie.
The Rev. Dr. K. Feommann, Church General Superintendent in
Petersburg  Zeisberger.
The Rev. Dr. K. R. Hagehbach, Professor of Theology, Basel,
Switzerland . . . Clement, Athanasius, (Ecolampadius, Renata, Bern,.
The Rev. J. Haetmann, Dean in Tuttlingen  Brentz.
The Rev. Dr. K. Hase, Professor of Theology in Jena .... Savonarola.
The Rev. Dr. F. R. Hasse, Professor of Theology in Bonn . . Anselm.
The Rev. Dr. Feed. Haupt, Pastor in Gronau  Hildegard.
The Rev. Dr. P. Henkt, Pastor in Berlin  Calvin.
The Rev. Dr. H. Heppe, Professor of Theology in Marburg,
Cranmer, Hooper, William of Orange.
The Rev. Dr. L. Heubnee, Director of Seminary, Wittenberg . Luther.
The Rev. Dr. Wilhelm Hoffmann, Church General Superin
tendent, Berlin  John of Monte Corvino.
The Rev. Dr. Hundeshagen, Professor of Theology in Bonn . Vrsinus.
The Rev. Dr. Cheistian H. Kalkar, Pastor in Copenhagen . Egede.
The Rev. Dr. Che. Fk. Kling, Dean in Marbach  Origen.
The Rev. Dr. Feed. W. Keummacher, Court Preacher in Pots
dam  Lawrence, Chrysostom, Buss, Gerhardt, Oberlin.
The Rev. Dr. Gotthakd Lechlee, Professor of Theology in
Leipzig  Bede, Wiclif, Oldcastle, Ridley.
The Rev. Dr. H. Leo, Professor of Philosophy in Halle . . . Patrick.
The Rev. Dr. Peter Lokimee, Professor in Presbyterian Col
lege, London ...  Hamilton.
F. L. The Rev. Dr. Feed. Lubkee, Director of Gymnasium in Flens-
burg  Columban, Boniface, Alfred.

F.

A.

F.

A.

C.

B.

C.

B.

B.
C.
F.
B.
D.
E.
A.
E.
F.
K.
F.
K.
R.
H.
J.
H.
K.
H.
F.
R.
H.
F.H.
P.
H.
H.
H.
L.
H.
W
.H
H.
C.
H.
K.
c.
F.
K.
F
W.
K.
G.
L.
H.
L.
P.
L.
H

,F. M.

H

. V'M.

C.

B. M.

A.

. M.

A.

. N.

E.

N.

J.

J. VO.

J.

C. T. 0.

R.

P.

F.

P.

T.

P.

F.

R.

A.

R.

L.

R.

J.

D. R.

K.

G. R.

K.

H. S.

C.

S.

H.

C.

A.

R.

B.

C.W.

B.

W

. M

. B.

S.

L.

C.

R.W.

C.

H.

F.

C.

T.

D.

858 APPENDIX.
T. M. The Rev. Dr. Thomas MacCkte, Professor in Presbyterian Col
lege, London  Jot1" Knox.
Dr. H. F. Massmann, Professor of Philosophy in Berlin . . . Ulfilas.
The Rev. H. Ton Merz, Church Prelate in Stuttgart,
Roussel, Schwartz, Martyn, Wilberforce, Fry.
C. B. Moll, Church General Superintendent, Konigsberg . . Wessel.
The Rev. Adolf Monod, Pastor in Paris, France  Blandina.
The Rev. Dr. August Neandee, Professor of Theology in Ber
lin  Bernard, Aquinas, Melancthon.
E. Noeldechen, Head Teacher,- Magdeburg  Claudius.
The Rev. Dr. J. J. Van Oosteezee, Professor of Theology in
Utrecht  Thomas a Kempis.
The Rev. Dr. J. C. T. Otto, Professor of Theology in Vienna . Cyril.
Dr. Reinhold Pauli, Professor of Philosophy in Gottingen, Alfred the Great.
The Rev. Dr. Ferdinand Pipee, Professor of Theology, Berlin . Polycarp.
The Rev. Dr. T. Peessel, Dean in Schorndorf  Rabaut.
The Rev. Dr. F. Ranke, Director of Gymnasium, Berlin,
Perpetua, Hans Sachs, Peterson.
The Rev. A. Rische, Pastor in Schwinkendorf  King Louis.
The Rev. Louis Rognon, Pastor in Paris  Coligny.
The Rev. J. D. Rothmund, Pastor in St. Gall  Gall.
The Rev. K. G. Von Rudloff, Cathedral Preacher in Nisky, Guthrie, MacKail.
The Rev. Dr. K. H. Sack, Chief Consistory Councilor, Bonn, John Wesley.
The Rev. Dr. C. Schmidt, Professor of Theology in Strassburg, Remy, Tauter.
H. E. S. The Rev. Dr. H. E. Schmieder, Director of Seminary, Witten
berg . Paphnutius, Spiridion, Ambrose, Jerome, Austin, Waldo, Magda-
Una Luther, Paleario, Zinzendorf.
K. S. The Rev. Dr. K. Semisch, Professor of Theology in Berlin,
Ignatius, Justin, Irewzm.
C. W. S. The Rev. Dr. C. W. Staestedt, Professor of Theology in Lund,
Sweden  Ansgar.
A. T. The Rev. Dr. August Tholuck, Professor of Theology in
Halle  Spener, Francke.
F. T. The Rev. F. Teechsel, Pastor in Berne, Switzerland .... Farel.
J. 0. V. The Rev. J. 0. Vaihingee, Cathedral Preacher in Cannstadt, Gustavus Adolphus.
L. W. The Rev. L. Wiese, Church Counselor in Berlin  Cyprian.
AMERICAN WRITERS.
The Rev. Dr. H. C. Alexander, Professor in Union Theological
Seminary, Hampden-Sidney, Va  Alexander.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Beard, Professor in Theological Semi
nary, Lebanon, Tenn  Donnell.
The Rev. Dr. C. W. Bennett, Professor in Theological Depart
ment of Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y  Fisk.
The Rev. Dr. W. M. Blackburn, Professor in Theological Semi
nary of Northwest, Chicago, 111. . Makemie, Dickinson, Witherspoon.
The Rev. Dr. S. L. Caldwell, President of Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y  Manning.
The Rev. Dr. Rufus W. Claek, Pastor in Albany, N. Y. . . Livingston.
Mrs. Helen Finney Cox, Cincinnati, 0  Finney.
The Rev. Dr. Timothy Dwight, Professor in Theological School,
Yale College, New Haven, Conn  Dwight.
J. H. G. The Rev. Dr. J. H. Good, Professor in Theological Department,
Heidelberg College, Tiffin, 0  Schlatter.

APPENDIX. 859
L. G. The Rev. Dr. Lewis Geout, late Missionary to South Africa, W.
Brattleboro, Vt  Vanderkemp.
A. A. H. The Rev. Dr. Aech. A. Hodge, Professor in Theological Semi
nary, Princeton, N. J  Hodge.
S. H. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Hopkins, Professor in Theological Semi
nary, Auburn, N. Y  Brewster, Hopkins.
Z. H. The Rev. Dr. Zephaniah Humphreys, Professor in Lane
Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, 0  Edwards.
J. B. J. The Rev. Dr. J. B. Jetee, Editor of the Religious Herald, Rich
mond, Va  Fuller.
H. J. The Rev. Dr. Heeeick Johnson, Professor in Theological Semi
nary, Auburn, N. Y  Barnes.
H. K. Mrs. Helen Kendrick, Rochester, N. Y  Judson.
H. L. The Rev. Dr. Heman Lincoln, Professor in Theological Semi
nary, Newton Centre, Mass  Wayland.
H. M. M. The Rev. Dr. Henry M. MacCracken, Pastor in Toledo, 0., Isabella Graham.
J. M. P. The Rev. Dr. J. M. Pendleton, Pastor in Upland, Pa. . . . Peck.
W. K. P. The Rev. Dr. W. K. Pendleton, President of Bethany College,
Bethany, W. Va  Campbell.
B. F. P. The Rev. B. F. Prince, Professor in Wittenberg College, Spring
field, 0  Muhlenberg.
W. B. S. The Rev. Dr. W. Bacon Stevens, Bishop of the Pennsylvania
Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia . White.
H. B. S. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Hartford, Conn. . . . Lyman Beecher.
T. 0. S._ The Rev. Dr. Thomas 0. Summers, Professor of Theology in
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn  MacKendree.
J. W. The Rev. Dr. J. Weavee, Bishop of the United Brethren, Day
ton, 0  Otterbein.
T. W. The Rev. Dr. Thomas Webster, Pastor in Newbury, Canada .
S. W. W. The Hon. S. Wells Williams, LL. D., Professor of Chinese Lit
erature, Yale College, New Haven, Conn  Morrison.
R. Y. The Rev. R. Yeakel, Bishop of the Evangelical Association,
Naperville, 111  Albright.
D. R. K. The Rev. Dr. David R. Keee, Professor in Theological Sem
inary, Alleghany, Pa  Pressly.
A. W. The Rev. Dr. A. Webstek, Pastor in Baltimore, Md  Stockton.

860

APPENDIX.

n.

COMPLETE ROLL OF LIVES.i

JANUARY.

FEBRUARY.

MARCH.

A. D.

a. d.

A. ».

1. New Year

1. IGNATIUS .
107
1. Suidbert . . .
713
2. Martyrs of the Books 303
2. Mary [Purification]
Bible
2. JOHN "WES-
3. Gordius, Martyr .
303
3. ANSGAE . .
865
LEV . . .
1791
4. Titus 
Bible
4. Rabanus Maurus
856
3. Balthilde . .
680
5. Simeon ....
Bible
5. SPENER . . .
1705
4. WISHART •
1546
6. Christ and Wise
6. Amandus . . .
679
5. AQUINAS .
1274
Men ....
Bible
7. Geo. Wagner .
1527
6. Fridolin . . .
514
7. Widukind . .
785
8. Mary Andrea
1632
7. PERPETUA .
202
8. Severinus . .
482
9. HOOPER . . .
1555
8. TJRSINUS .
1583
9. Catharine Zell
1562
10. Oetinger .
1782
9. CYRIL . .
869
10. Paul the Hermit
340
11. Hugo St. Victor
1142
10. Martyrs in Armenia
320
11. Fructuosus . .
259
12. Jane Grey . . .
1554
11. Hoseus . . .'
1566
12. John Chastellain
1525
13. SCHWARTZ .
1798
12.- Gregory ....
604
13. Hilary of France
368
14. Bruno ....
1008
13. Roderick ....
857
256
15. Von Loh .
1561
14. Matilda ....
968
15. John Laski . .
1560
16. Desubas ....
1746
15. CRANMER .
1556
16. Geo. Spalatin .
1545
17. HAMILTON .
1528
16. Heribert . . .
968
17. Antony the Hermit
356
18. SYMEON . . .
107
17. PATRICK . .
460
18. Jno. Blackader .
1686
19. Mesrob ....
441
18. Alexander . .
251
t Babylas . . .
' j Isabella . .
250
20. Sadoth ....
346
19. Mary and Martha
Bible
1526
21. Meinrad ....
863
20. Ambrose of Siena .
1287
i Fabian ....
' | Sebastian . . .
250
22. Didymus ....
395
21. Benedict ....
543
304
23. Ziegenbalg . . .
1719
22. Nicolas the Hermit
1488
21. Agnes ....
304
24. Matthew ....
Bible
23. Wolfgang . . .
1566
22. Vincentius . . .
304
25. Olevian ....
1587
24. Florentius . . .
1400
Bible
26. Haller ....
1536
25. Mary [Annuncia-
24. Timothy ....
Bible
27. Bucer 
1551
Bible
25. Paul [Conversion]
Bible
28. JOHN OP
26. Liudger ....
809
26. POLYCAEP .
167
MONTE COR-
27. Rupert ....
718
27. CHRYSOSTOM
407
VINO ....
1306
28. Von Goch . . .
1475
28. Charlemagne . .
814
29. Ethelbert [assigned
29. Eustace ....
625
29. Juventus, etc. .
363
also to 24th Feb
30. Heermann . . .
1647
30. Henry Miiller . .
1675
ruary].
31. Ernst of Saxony . .
1675
31. HANS SACHS
1576
i As edited in Germany by Dr. Ferdinand Piper, corresponding with the names for all the days of
the year in the Improved Evangelical Calendar. The lives translated into English and edited in the
present work are printed in capitals. The figures after names indicate the yeax of some principal
event in the life referred to, usually of its beginning or close.
APPENDIX.

861

COMPLETE ROLL OF LIVES — Continued.

APRIL.

MAY.

JUNE.

a. r>.

A. D.

A. D.

1. Fritigil . .

. . 400

1. Philip and James .

Bible

1. OBERLIN

. 1826

2. Theodocia

. 307

2. ATHANASITJS

373

2. BLANDINA

. 177

3. Tersteegen

. . 1769

3. MONICA . . .

388

3. Clotilda . .

^ 540

4. AMBROSE

. . 397

4. Florian ....

300

4. Quirinus . .

. 300

5. Scriver . .

. . 1693

5. Frederick the Wise

1525

5. BONIFACE

. 755

6. Albert Diirer

. . 1528

6. John of Damascus .

754

6. Norbert . .

. 1134

7. PETERSON

. 1552

r Domatilla . . .
7- \ Otto ....

300

7. GERHARDT

. 1676

8. Chemnite

. . 1586

973

8. FRANCKE

. 1727

9. Von Westen

. . 1727

8. Stanislaus . . .

1079

9. COLUMBA

. 597

10. Fulbert . .

. . 1028

9. Gregory Nazianz .

390

10. Barbarossa .

. 1190

11. Leo the Great

. . 461

10. Heuglin ....

1527

11. Barnabas . .

. Bible

11. John Arndt . . .
1621
12. RENATA .
. . 1575
13. JUSTIN .
. . 161
12. Meletius ....
381
13. Le Febvre .
. 1702
14. Eccard
. . 1611
13. Servatius ....
383
14. Basil . . .
. 379
14. Pachomius . . .
348
15. WILBER-
16. WALDO .
. . 1197
Bible
PORCE .
. 1833
17. Mappalicus .
. . 250
16. Five Lausanne Stu
16. BAXTER .
. 1691
18. Luther [at Wor
ms] 1521
dents ....
1553
17. TAULER .
. 1361
19. MELANC-
17. Joachim ....
1202
18. Pamphilus .
. 309
THON .
. . 1560
18. Martyrs under Valens 370
, PAPHNU-
20. Bugenhagen .
. . 1558
19. ALCUTN . . .
804
19. ) TIUS
. 325
21. ANSELM .
. . 1109
20. Herberger . . .
1627
' Council of Nic
e . 325
22. ORIGEN .
. . 254
21. Constantine and Hel-
20. Martyrs of Pragi
le . 1621
/ George, kille
r of
337
21. CLAUDIUS
. . 1815
23. ? Dragons
. . 200
22. Castus and Emilius
300
22. Gottschalk .
. . 1066
( Adelbert .
. . 997
23. SAVONAROLA
1498
23. Gottfried Arnold
. 1714
24. Wilfrid . .
. . 709
24. Cazalla ....
1559
24. John the Baptist
. Bible
25. Mark . . .
. . Bible
25. AUSTIN OP
25. Augsburg Con
^es-
26. Trudpert . .
. . 643
ENGLAND .
608
. 1530
27. Catelin . .
. . 1554
26. BEDE ....
735
26. John Andrea
. 1654
28. Myconius . .
. . 1546
27. CALVIN . . •
1564
27. Seven Sleepers
. . 250
29. Berquin . .
. . 1529
28. Lanfranc ....
1089
28. IRENffiUS
. 202
30. Calixt . . .
. . 1656
29. ZEISBERGER
1808
29. Peter and Paul
. Bible
30. Jerome of Prague
1416
31. Joachim Neander
1780
862

APPENDIX.

COMPLETE ROLL OF LIVES — Continued.

JULY.

AUGUST.

SEPTEMBER.

A. D.

A. D.

A. D.

1. Martyrs at Brussels

1523

1. Maccabees . Apocrypha

. Bible
2. Mary [Visitation]
Bible
2. Martyrs under Nero
64
2. Mamas . .
. 274
i Otto of Bamberg •
3- [ PALEARIO
1139
3. Thorp ....
1407
3. HILDEGARD 1197
1570
1527
4. Ida von Herzfelc
. 820
4. Ulrich of Augsburg
973
5. Salzburgers . . .
1731
5. Mallio . .
. 1553
5. OLDCASTLE
1418
6. Christ [Transfigura-
6. Waibel . .
. . 1525
6. HUSS . . .
1415
Bible
7. Spengler . .
. 1534
7. Willibald . .
786
7. Nonna ....
374
8. Corbinian
. 730
8. Kilian . . .
689
8. Hormisdas . . .
421
9. Paschal .
. 1560
9. Ephraim of Syria .
378
9. Numidicus . . .
258
10. Speratus . .
. 1551
( Canute . . .
1036
10 (LAWRENCE
( Jerusalem Destroy
70
11- BRENTZ .
. 1570
10- < WJLLIAM OF
ed
12. Peloquin . .
. 1553
'orange .
1584
11. Gregory of Utrecht
775
13. FAREL .
. 1565
11. Placidus . . .
630
12. Anselm of Havelberg
1158
u ( CYPRIAN
1 Dante . .
. 258
12. Henry of Germany
1024
13. ZINZENDORF
1760
. 1321
13. Eugenius ....
505
14. GUTHRIE . .
1661
15. Grumbach .
. 1554
14. Bonaventura . .
1274
Bible
16. Euphemia
. 311
15. Ansver . . .
1066
16. John the Wise . .
1532
17. Lambert . .
. 709
16. ANNE ASKEW 1546
17. Gerhard ....
1637
18. Spangenberg .
. 1792
17. Martyrs of Scillita .
200
18. Grotius ....
1645
19. Thomas St. Pau
. 1551
18. Arnulf . . .
640
19. Sebald ....
800
20. MAGDALEH
A
19. Louisa Henrietta
1667
20. BERNARD . .
1157
LUTHER
. 1542
20. Marteilhe . . .
1723
21. Moravian Missions
1732
21. Matthew . .
. Bible
21. Eberhard . . .
1496
22. Symphorianus . .
180
22. Mauritius
. 302
22. Mary Magdalene
Bible
23. COLIGNY . .
1572
23. LABORIE [I
ive
23. Gottfried of Hamelle 1552
24. Bartholomew . .
Bible
Martyrs]
. 1555
24. THOMAS A
25. LOUIS ....
1270
24. Moser . . .
1785
KEMPIS . .
1471
26. ULFILAS . .
388
, RABAUT
j Peace of Augsb
1795
Bible
27. Jovinian ....
400
urg 1555
26. Christopher
28. AUGUSTINE .
430
26. Lioba ....
779
27. Palmarius . . .
1200
29. John Baptist Be
27. Graveron . .
X557
28. Bach 
1750
headed ....
Bible
28. Cologne Martyrs
. 1529
29. Olaf 
1030
30. CLAUDIUS . .
839
29. Michael . . .
. Bible
30. WESSEL . .
1489
31. AIDAN . . .
651
30. JEROME . .
. 420
31. Schade ....
1698
APPENDIX.

863

COMPLETE ROLL OF LIVES — Continued.

OCTOBER.

NOVEMBER.

DECEMBER.

1. REMY ....

A. I).
545

1. All Saints

A. It.

1. Eligius . .

A. 1).
. 659

2. Schmid . . .

1564

2. Victorinus . . .

304

2. Ruysbroeck .

. . 1381

3. Ewalds ....

695

3. Pirmin ....

753

3. Groot . . .

. . 1384

4. Francis ....

1226

4. BENGEL . . .

1752

4. Gerhard of Ziitphen 1398

5. Carnesecchi . .

1567

5. EGEDE . . .

1751

5. Crispina . .

. . 304

6. Henry Albert . .

1651

6. GUSTAVUS

6. Nicolas of Myra

. 400

7. BEZA . . .

1605

ADOLPHUS .

1632

r Odontius .
7-|Hiller . .

. 1605

8. Grosthead . . .

1253

7. Willibrord . . .

739

. 1769

9. Dionysius . . .

Bible

8. Willehad ....

789

8. Rinkard .

. 1649

1555

9. Staupitz . .

1524

9. Schmolck . .

. 1737

11. ZWINGLE .

1531

10. LUTHER . .

1546

10. Eber . . .

. 1569

12. Bullinger . . .

1575

11. Martin of Tours .

400

11. Henry of Ziitphen 1524

13. ELIZ. FRY .

1845

12. Von Mornay

1623

i SPIRIDION . 325

14. RIDLEY . . •

1555

13. Arcadius ....

437

12' | Vicelin .

. 1154

15. Aurelia ....

500

14. Vermigli . . .

1562

, Odilia . .
13- \ Berthold .

. 720

16. GALL ....

635

15. Keppler ....

1630

. 1272

17. Edict of Nantes

16. Creuziger . .

1548

14. Dioscurus

. 250

[revoked] . .

1685

17. Bernward . .

1022

15. Christiana

. 330

18. Luke . " . . . .

Bible

18. Gregory of Armenia

331

16. Adelheid . .

. 999

19. Bruno of Cologne .

965

19. Elizabeth of Hesse

1231

17. Sturm . .

. 779

20. Lambert . . .

1530

20. JOHN WILL

18. Seckendorf .
. 1692
21. Hilary the Hermit .
372
IAMS . . .
1839
19. Clement of Egyp
t . 220
22. Hedwig . . .
1243
21. COLUMBAN .
615
20. Abraham
. Bible
23. HENRY MAR
22. Q3COLAMPA-
21. Thomas . .
. Bible
TYN ....
1812
DIUS . . .
1531
22. MACKAIL
. 1666
/ Arethas . . .
522
23. CLEMENT . .
100
23. Du Bourg .
. 1559
24. \ Peace of Westpha-
24. JOHN KNOX
1572
24. Adam, Eve .
. Bible
' lia . . . .
1648
25. Catharine of Egypt
306
25. Christmas
. Bible
25. John Hess . . .
1547
26. Conrad of Constanz
976
26. Stephen . .
. Bible
26. Frederick the Elector 1576
27. Margaret Blaarer
1541
Bible
27. Frumentius . . .
356
28. ROUSSEL . .
1728
28. Innocents
. Bible
28. Simon and Jnde
Bible
29. Saturninus . . .
250
29. ALFRED THE
30. Andrew . . .
Bible
30. Christopher [Du
ke] 1568
GREAT . . .
900
31. JOHN WICI
IF 1384
30. Sturm . . .
1553
31. Luther's Theses .
1517
864

APPENDIX.

in.

STATISTICS OF OUR CHURCH UNIVERSAL
BY DENOMINATIONS AND COUNTRIES, SHOWING, POR THE WHOLE EARTH, THB
NUMBER OP CONGREGATIONS PROPESSING THE CHRISTIAN NAME.
AMERICA, OCEANIOA, AND AFRICA.

1. Lutheran . .
2. Reformed (German) .
3. Reformed (Dutch} .
4. Presbyterian . . .
5. Presbyterian, United
6. Presbyterian, Cumb.
7. Episcopal
8. Baptist 
9. Methodist Episcopal .
10. Methodist ....
11. Congregational . .
12. Evangelical Association
13. United Brethren . .
14. Disciples ....
All others ....

United States.

3,883
1,347 506
7,157 783
1,8722,980
tl4,954 tl8,304 t2,010 3,3331,8541,4422,000 1,000

Canada.

140
t733

+546 710
+267
1,385 t90+50130
1100 100

Other lands
of N.A.

125

110
166

South
America.

119

Oceanica.

200 135
+301 100

112

207 20

6054

100
1000

1 Roman Catholic
2. Greek Catholio
3. Old Catholic
4. Armenian .
5. Nestorian
6. Jacobite . .
7. Copt . . .
isinian .

UNREPORMED ORGANIZATIONS.
6,920 +1,012 *5,000 *8,000
2

:*3,000

EUROPE.

Lutheran ....
Reformed (German) .
Reformed (Dutch)
Presbyterian . .
Presbyterian, United
Presbyterian, Cumb.
EpiscopalBaptist 
Methodist Episcopal .
Methodist . .
Congregational . .
Evangelical Association,
United Brethren .
Disciples ....
All others . . .

England and
Wales.

4,0002,601
6,2383,069

437

Scotland.

2,555 526134 90

in-.;

601
400 29
1208.

Holland and
Belgium.

*320
*1,700

?115 11

10

Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden.

*7,754

Russia.

*2,000 40

UNREPORMED ORGANIZATIONS.

1. Roman Catholic

*1,261

117

3,600

*6,378

*3

*6,700

2. Greek Catholic

_
-
_
_
*56,000
3. Old Catholic .
4. Armenian . .
170
5. Nestorian. . .
6. Jacobite . . .
_
7. Copt ....
_
_
8. Abyssinian . .
-
•
-
-
-
-
The t denotes number of pastors, instead of number of congregations.
The * denotes number of congregations estimated one for every thousand of population.
APPENDIX.
EUROPE ( Continued).

865

Austria.

Italy.

Switzerland

Germany.

France.

Other
Lands.

1. Lutheran . . .

*1,250

i I 19,700 1
j 230/

450

2. Reformed (German) .
.
•1,000
_
3. Reformed (French) .
.
-
*500
*586
12
4. Presbyterian . . .
2,075
56
-
-
5. Presbyterian, United
-
-
—
6. Presbyterian, Cumb.
-
20
3
86
12
12
9. Methodist Episcopal
-
-
10. Methodist ....
5
10
11. Congregational . .
12. Evangelical Associati
on
29
13. United Brethren . .
-
-
S.
UNREFOE
MED ORGANIZATION
1. Roman Catholic .
*27,904
*26,725
*1,085
12,000
*38,500
21,309
2. Greek Catholic
*3,053
*5
5
-
12,022
3. Old Catholic .
-
121
2,000
4. Armenian . .
-
-
5. Nestorian
6. Jacobite . . .
T. Copt ....
t
8. Abyssinian . .
: i
-
-
-
-
-
ASIA.
West Asia
India,
Rest of
Asia.
and
Burmah,
China.
Japan.
Total.
Persia.
and Siam.
1. Lutheran . . .
68
35,425
2. Reformed (German)
15
18
-
2,722
3. Reformed (Dutch &I
r'ch)
10
7
13
3,384
4. Presbyterian . .
27
80
45
5
15,362
5. Presbyterian, United
-
10
3
8
1,359
6. Presbyterian, Cumb.
-
1,872
7. Episcopal .
-
-
-
-
-
7,360
i
526
20
2
27
17,968
9. Methodist Episcopal
43
)61(
5
-
18,665
10. Methodist . . .
40
30
—
_
9,299
11. Congregational
75
60
-
7,984
12. Evangelical Associati
on.
-
-
1,383
13. United Brethren .
1,472
14. Disciples ....
-
2,637
All others .
-
*2,000
Gr
and Total
128,452
UNREFORMED ORGANIZATIOrt
S.
1. Roman Catholic
.
_
-
*201,000
2. Greek Catholic
-
*71,000
3. Old Catholic . .
-
121
4., Armenian . .
«30
-
*12,022
5. Nestorian . .
*166
-
-
*165
6. Jacobite . . .
. . 200
-
*200
7. Copt ....
8. Abyssinian . .
!
-
-
-
-
j *3,000
1 Of these, all but 1,500 are " Evangelical," and include both Lutheran and Reformed.
The * denotes number of congregations estimated one for every thousand of population.
The above Table of Statistics of the church throughout the earth by denominations and congre
gations has been constructed (no similar table being known) on the latest denominational reports at
hand, or upon the statements of cyclopedias. It of necessity is very imperfect, yet may serve to
show in what lands each denomination prevails, and also to indicate the slight degree in which some
portions of the globe have been possessed by the church. Possibly it may serve beside to suggest to
some student cf statistics the preparation of a like table of greater fullness and accuracy. — H. M. M;
866

APPENDIX.

IV.

INDEX OF ONE THOUSAND BIOGRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATIONS, FOR
THE USE OF THE PREACHER AND OF THE TEACHER IN THE
SABBATH-SCHOOL.
NOTE FOE THE ASSISTANCE OP THOSE HAVING THIS WOEK IN THEEE PAETS.
All references to pages 1-264 are to Part First. — Earlier Leaders.
All references to pages 265-540 are to Part Second. — Later Leaders — Europe.
All references to pages 541-856 are to Part Third. — Later Leaders — America, Asia, Africa, and
Oceanica.

A.
Absent-Mindbdness, 215.
Absolution, 248.
Adaptiveness, 189, 538.
Adventures, 299, 331.
Adversity, 147. (See Trials.)
Affliction, 307. (See Trials.)
Ambition, 81, 432.
Angels, 277.
Anger, 583.
Anti-Popery, 38, 131, 158, 161, 166, 198,
220, 221, 225, 241, 248, 253, 266, 285,
298, 720.
Antislavery, 529, 530, 559, 561, 724,
743, 768.
Apostles, 3, 14, 15.
Asceticism, 8, 57, 202. (See Monkery.)
Authorship, 26, 111, 146, 189, 215.
(See Books.) B.
Backsliding, 102.
Baptism, 103, 275.
Beauty, 432, 481.
Benediction, 121, 124, 194.
Bereavement, 275, 278, 319.
Bible, 13, 23, 73, 156, 159, 165, 175, 182,
204, 210, 218, 243, 244, 253, 260, 266,
268, 280, 310, 324, 327, 382, 383, 388,
400, 410, 462, 466, 816, 823, 844.
Bible Study, 25, 95, 97, 204, 235, 237,
293, 470.
Blessedness, 198.
Books, 136, 152, 191, 216, 225, 227, 253,

272, 282, 293, 294, 305, 343, 357, 373,
415, 458, 513, 522, 528, 555, 829.
Boyhood, 170.
Brothers, 195, 517, 523.
Brotherhood, 604, 656.
Bravery, 126, 254, 267, 268, 271.
Burials, 278, 300, 341, 421, 446, 533,
607, 631, 787.
Business, 229, 466.

Call to Life Work, 292.
Call to the Ministry, 87, 109, 170,
176, 186, 195, 603, 663, 731.
Cards, 262, 475.
Catechism, 269, 294, 297, 301, 303, 304,
305, 450, 463, 512, 567, 588.
Celibacy, 57, 325.
Charity, 120, 124, 125, 151, 179, 196,
464, 528, 534, 537, 538, 539, 597, 748.
Chastity, 71.
Cheerfulness, 296.
Childhood, 63, 86.
Childlikeness, 272.
Children, 276, 277, 494.
Christian Communion, 20.
Christian Love, 199.
Christmas, 98.
Christ's Person, 1, 3, 6, 31, 64, 98, 154,
158, 191, 200, 374, 473.
Christ's Righteousness, 197.
Christ's Work, 6, 98.
Church and State, 145, 156, 171, 174,
190, 192, 241, 249, 256, 260, 268, 286,

APPENDIX.

867

288, 307, 311, 319, 355, 381,390,417,
422, 424, 444, 499, 501, 545, 741, 785,
717.
Church Corruption, 210, 211, 250, 519,
553, 650.
Church Creeds, 284, 299, 302, 310, 382,
385, 389, 440, 443, 476.
Church Disputes, 27, 65, 75, 110, 154,
220, 223, 283, 285, 288, 313, 442, 457,
641.
Church Government, 173,192, 306, 311,
318, 339, 416, 429, 471, 478, 483, 521,
522, 569, 570, 606, 653, 774.
Church Unity, 35, 42, 166, 238, 289,
334, 343, 459, 471, 513, 521, 573, 589,
597.
Civilization, 163, 167, 345, 368, 496,
497, 541, 547, 567.
Commentaries, 159, 470, 770.
Compromise, 286.
Confessing Christ, 54, 60, 72, 248,
271, 285, 351, 358, 376, 387, 396, 408,
409, 485.
Confessing Sins, 112, 248, 257, 264, 395.
Conflict, 239,415.
Conscientiousness, 444.
Consecration, 94, 202, 219, 266, 292,
338, 364, 462, 494, 510, 518, 527, 533,
557, 601, 784.
Consolation, 28, 225.
Conversion, 11, 40, 102, 108, 114, 176,
195, 266, 327, 509, 519, 534, 615, 670.
Courage, 51, 68, 149, 164, 254, 267, 271,
314, 324, 366, 370, 396, 401, 405, 406,
417, 418, 454, 495, 498, 503.
Courtesy, 272.
covetousness, 16.
Crosses, 160. D.
Deacons, 46.
DEATH, 125, 206, 232, 245, 276, 290, 300,
308, 315, 319, 334, 362, 439, 460, 546,
582, 802.
Devotedness, 577, 589, 595, 600, 683,
797, 804.
Diligence, 146, 336, 674.
Discipline, 91, 157, 318, 333, 552.
Dishonesty, 62.
Distress, 197.
Doubt, 474, 510.
Dream, 277.
Dbinking, 716.

Dying Courage, 55.
Dying Testimonies, 21, 56, 85, 92, 103,
113, 121, 138, 180, 193, 200,206,239,
249, 258, 264, 270, 314, 320, 340, 341,
351, 367, 378, 387, 394, 397, 420, 446,
472, 482, 490, 504, 507, 508, 516, 524,
533, 606, 630, 685, 749, 847.

E.
Egotism, 8.
Eloquence, 82, 88.
Episcopacy, 8.
Evangelists, 11, 169, 624.
Exile, 592.
Exposition of the Bible, 310.
F.
Faith, 7, 165, 204, 236, 270, 277, 474,
506, 507, 518, 825.
Faithfulness, 69, 80, 228, 229, 268, 273,
306, 361, 461, 480, 492, 514, 529, 553.
Fasting, 61.
Fathers and Children, 23, 53, 76, 86,
142, 204, 206, 265, 276, 277, 297, 298,
308, 315, 321.
Fearlessness, 83.
Fellowship, 19.
Firmness, 273.
Fleeing Evil, 18.
Foreign Missionaries, 163, 166, 169,
176, 474. . (See Missions.)
Frankness, 234, 237, 255, 261, 270, 330,
417.
Freewill, 342, 556.
Friendship, 227, 257, 281, 287, 333, 339,
396, 413. G.
Gentleness, 458.
GOD, 162, 200, 549, 563.
Good Works, 246, 270.
Grief, 278. H.
Habits, 390, 523, 582, 583.
Heaven, 195, 508.
Holy Spirit, 183, 184, 191, 271.
Home, 180, 275, 279, 440, 523, 529, 536.
Home Missions, 196, 328.
Honesty, 270.

868

APPENDIX.

Humility, 118, 125, 226,237, 271,272,
281, 465, 5551
Husbands, 100, 203, 269, 347, 348.
HYMNS, 90, 440, 446, 447, 448, 471, 523.
Hypocrisy, 366, 542, 561.
I.
Idolatry, 438.
Image, 155, 158, 160, 426.
Incarnation, 191.
Independence, 179, 479.
Industry, 110, 120, 135, 179, 188, 194,
196, 215, 229, 235, 240, 291, 322, 437,
544.
Influence, 233, 259, 264, 468, 523, 524,
531, 540.
Introspection, 196.
Intolerance, 199, 566.
J.
Jesting, 296.
Joy, 395, 447, 808.
Justice, 205.
Justification, 281, 327.
K.
Kingdom of God, 150.
KlNGLINESS, 129, 201, 207, 212, 215, 324,
500.

Labors, 596, 620.
Last Will, 147.
Law and Gospel, 259.
Laws of Moses, 145, 159.
Lay Work, 220, 224, 243, 246, 247, 291,
294.
Learning, 279, 294.
Legends, 140.
iLetters, 459.
Letter- Writing, 276, 277.
sLewd Books, 262.
Liberty, 59, 302, 428, 430, 526, 563, 575,
578, 579.
1l1braries, 293, 309.
Licentiousness, 96, 105, 107.
:Life, Love of, 193.
Literature, 296.
Longing for Heaven, 290, 411, 420.
Lord's Prayer, 239.

Lord's Supper, 244, 283, 289, 297, 305,
311, 313, 319, 332, 342, 357, 359, 392,
402, 443, 451, 477.
Loss of Children, 275.
Love, 7, 166, 273, 277, 467, 476, 563.
Love to God, 200, 204, 236, 237, 473.
M.
Magnanimity, 387, 390, 457, 554.
Marriage, 269, 275, 291, 307, 339, 354,
406, 433, 447, 459, 476, 481, 487, 496,
523, 535, 550, 621, 742.
Martyrs, 2, 5, 13, 20, 45, 48, 52, 55, 74,
175, 178, 258, 378, 407, 409,412,413,
488, 490, 504, 841, 843, 856.
Mass, 401, 417.
Meditation, 194, 231.
Meekness, 214.
Memory, 17.
Metaphysics, 222.
Miracles, 456.
Missionary Ship, 177, 545, 565.
Missionary Spirit, 206, 217.
Missions, 117, 123, 127, 128, 149, 163,
166, 169, 171, 175, 181, 182,208,217,
218, 466, 467, 478, 479, 515, 538, 554,
562, 566, 571, 575, 586, 594, 747, 838.
Money, 290, 341.
Monkery, 57, 67, 78, 96, 97, 105, 115,
214, 241, 251, 265.
Morality, 12, 294, 490, 527.
Mothers, and Mother's Influence,
23, 53, 76, 86, 101, 142, 186, 194, 203,
213, 214, 227, 251, 297, 301, 315, 321,
485, 517, 533, 574, 577, 600.
Motives, 151.
Mourning, 278, 294.
Munificence, 26, 43, 89, 301.
Music, 3, 90.
Mysticism, 223. N.
Names, 363.
Nature, 30, 195, 335, 542, 549, 550.
Noted Sermons, 168. 0.
Old Age, 288, 290, 296, 334, 532, 598,
629, 740, 836.
Organizing Talent, 196, 219.

APPENDIX.

869

Orphans, 464.
Overwork, 197.

P.

Paganism, 10, 71, 853.
Paintings, 99, 262.
Pantheism, 216.
Parents and Children, 201, 203, 204,
206, 207, 265, 274, 276, 279, 319, 320,
327, 337, 339, 349, 352, 365, 372, 379,
380, 435, 445, 472, 473, 489, 491, 500,
509, 513, 524, 533, 547, 551, 593, 744,
854.
Pastors, 145, 243, 360, 450, 455, 484,
493, 500, 512, 576, 587, 739.
Patience. (See Affliction.)
Patriotism, 89, 144, 241, 274, 295, 297,
309, 418, 487, 498, 502, 526, 579, 580,
590, 613.
Penitence, 175.
Persecution, 178, 222, 245, 247, 249,
252, 262, 263, 298, 307, 328, 344, 346,
377, 386, 391, 395, 399, 403, 423, 427,
480, 483, 486, 490, 503, 505, 519, 591,
608, 809.
Philanthropy, 492, 560-562.
Piety, 469, 509, 550.
Pilgrimage, 161.
Plain Speaking, 61.
Poetry, 292.
Poor, 48.
Popery, 38, 156, 248, 261, 393, 412.
Prayer, 119, 178, 197, 215, 231, 248,
249, 257, 267, 297, 359, 361, 396, 408,
436, 451, 461, 476, 480, 546, 548, 588,
846.
Prayer Answered, 108, 113, 269.
Preaching, 78, 119, 123, 137, 215, 220,
223, 224, 243, 251, 260, 269, 299, 309,
316, 318, 322, 330,. 336, 387, 410, 414,
418, 420, 442, 451, 463, 488, 493, 495,
514, 518, 546, 548, 588, 605, 745.
Predestination, 289, 599.
Presentiments, 87.
Prophecy, 12, 178, 262, 471.
Purity, 296. R.
Reason and Faith, 284.
Rebuking Sins, 252, 261, 333, 358, 360,
419. 454, 494, 552, 560.

Reform, 193, 221, 243, 245, 250, 251,
253, 260, 262, 270, 279, 298, 312, 316,
318, 322, 324, 330, 332, 339, 384, 416,
425.
Relic Seeking, 181.
Religious Debates, 154.
Renown, 226, 832.
Resignation, 257, 263, 277, 278.
Rest, 167, 174, 193, 598.
Restfulness, 189, 193, 231.
Revenge, 149.
Revival, 411, 452, 453, 477, 548, 551,
572, 585, 588, 602, 604, 609, 733-735,
744.
Ritualism, 150,398.
Romance, 32. S.
Sabbath, 536.
Sabbath-Schools, 88, 528, 769.
Sabbath Study, 93, 316, 320.
Sacraments, 244, 283, 289, 383.
Saint Worship, 297.
Saving Faith, 237.
Schools, 105, 116, 134, 146, 153, 155,
168, 174, 177, 187, 206, 208, 234, 280,
292, 303, 309, 319, 356, 465, 493, 572,
576, 610.
Science and Religion, 146, 187, 199,
216.
Scriptures, 155, 159, 165, 175, 179,
182.
Self-Conquest, 146, 165, 203, 231.
Self-Devotion, 9, 195, 202, 259, 266,
445,475, 517.
Self-Inspection, 196, 510.
Selfish Motives, 151.
Self- Will, 197.
Separation, 452, 543, 545.
Sermons, 168.
Servants, 99.
Shepherds, 59.
Sin, 84, 204, 256, 564.
Slanders, 66, 288.
Social Life, 458.
Song, 292, 293.
Soul, 181, 550.
State and Church. (See Church and
State.)
Strange Providences, 299, 800.
Strange Superstitions, 263, 266, 327.
Subduing Self, 165, 220, 233, 279.
Suffering fob Christ, 164, 617.

870

APPENDIX.

Supernatural, The, 198.
Superstition, 172.
Swearing, 299.
Sympathy, 591, 596. T.
Talents, 433.
Teaching, 155, 188, 353, 464, 465, 472,
578, 587.
Temperance, 24, 716, 768.
Thankfulness, 83, 92,-147.
Theological Seminaries, 303.
Theology, 282, 708, 714, 738.
Thirst for Truth, 236, 238, 322.
Toleration, 491.
Tombs, 326.
Torture, 50, 506.
Tradition, 36.
Transubstantiation, 244, 402.
Travel, 96, 301, 449.
Trials, 230, 258, 265, 269, 271, 283, 287,
315, 347, 351, 375, 411, 445, 463, 510,
511, 530, 532, 786.
Tribulation, 230, 254, 255, 287, 307,
325.
Trust in God, 163, 350, 435, 446,
462.
Turning-Points in Life, 164, 167.
U.
Unfaithfulness, 106, 210.

V.
Visions, 176, 209, 210, 456, 499, 508, 538.
Vows, 150. W.
War, 428, 434, 436.
Way of Life, 221, 223, 236, 238, 375,
519.
Weakness, 288.
Widows, 100.
Wills. {See Last Will.)
Wisdom, 155, 235, 419, 497, 537.
Wise Counsels, 123, 130, 205, 212.
Wives, 100, 275.
Woman's Work, 124, 172, 208, 212, 213,
234, 265, 276, 369, 370, 371, 400, 401,
489, 747.
Women Missionaries and Leaders,
122, 172, 178.
Works, 165.
Worldliness, 40, 79.
Worship, 297, 611. Y.
Youth, 77, 142, 153, 188, 234, 259, 265,
297, 280, 301, 308, 337, 423, 431, 441,
449, 469, 473, 526, 548.

Zeal, 172, 202, 329, 333, 404, 475.

INDEX.

NOTE FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF THOSE HAVING THIS WOEK IN THREE PAKTS.
All references to pp. 1-264 are to Part Pirst. — Earlier Leaders.
All references to pp. 265-540 are to Part Second. — Later Leaders — Europe.
All references to pp. 541-856 are to Part Third.' — Later Leaders —America, Africa, and Oceanica.

A Kempis, 226-234, 517.
Abelard, 200.
Adamnan, 116, 117.
Adeodatus, 103.
Africa, Church of, 563.
Aidan, 122-126.
Albigenses, 201.
Albret, Joanna, 357, 358.
Albright, 657-661.
Alcuin, 152.
Alesius, 404.
Aleth, 195.
Alexander, 749-759.
Alexandria (see Egypt).
Alfred, 141.
Alypius, 107.
Ambrose, 47, 85-93, 189.
America, Church of, 541,
etc.
America, Indians of, 788-
796.
American Board, 839.
Anacletus, 30.
Anderson, 322-325.
Anglo-Saxons, 142-148.
Anicet, 19.
Anne Boleyn, 379-382.
Anselm, 186.
Ansgar, 176.
Antichrist, 35.
Antioch (see Syria).
Antony, 67.
Apostles, I, 3.
Apostles' Creed, 6.
Aquinas, 213.
Arians, 69, 87, 102.
Arius, 64-66.
Arndt, 449, 461.
Asbury, 614-623.
Asia Minor, Church of, 14-
22.
Askew, Anne, 400-403.
Asser, 146.
Associate, 741.
Associate Reformed, 741.
Athanasian Creed, 70.
Athanasius, 62-70, 86.

Augsburg Confession, 285.
Augustine, 46, 47, 56, 105-
113, 162.
Austin, 126-133.

B.
Baptists, 608-614, 677-697,
837-849.
Barbarossa, 212.
Barnes, 768-773.
Basil, 88, 105.
Basilicus, 84.
Bataille, 346-352. '
Baxter, 508-516.
Bede, 133-141.
Beecher, 711-730.
Bengel, 468-472.
Bernard, 194-201, 209.
Beza, 352-362, 366.
Blandina, 49-52.
Boethius, 146.
Bohrne, 457.
Boniface, 140, 166-175.
Bora, Catharine, 269, 271.
Bowes, Margery, 415.
Brainerd, 571.
Brentz, 297-300, 316.
Brethren of the Common
Life, 226; 227, 234.
Brethren of the Free Spir
it, 225.
Brewster, 541-546.
Briconnet, 328.
Britain, Church of, 114-
148, 186-194, 239-249.
Brunehilde, 165.
Bucer, 297, 338, 384.
Bullinger, 302, 314.
Biires, Idelette de, 339.
Burmah, 837-849.

Calvin, 298, 332, 333, 335-
345, 348, 354, 370.
Campbell, 668-677.

Cannstein, 467, 476.
Capito, 316.
Cecelius, 40.
Charles Fifth, 288, 295.
Charles Martel, 169, 174.
Charles the Great, 153, 156.
China, Church of, 217-219,
819-837.
Chrysostom, 76-85.
Ciaran, 117.
Cistercians, 195.
Claudius, 157-162.
Clement of Alexandria, 23.
Clement of Rome, 29-32,
183.
Clotilda, 150.
Clovis, 149.
Coligny, 358, 362-367.
Colman, 125.
Columba, 116-122.
Columban, 163-166.
Comgall, 163, 166.
Congregationalists, 541-
565, 609, 703-740.
Constantine, 59, 63, 66, 73.
Constantinople, Council of,
75.
Constantius, 66.
Cotta, 265.
Councils of Nice, 57, 58, 60,
76.
Covenanters, 741.
Cranmer, 379-388, 415.
Cromwell, Oliver, 512.
Cuthbert, 138, 139.
Cynics, 13.
Cyprian, 39-45.
Cyril, 181. D.
Damasis, 95.
Dante, 250, 370.
Davies, 574.
Dickinson, 569-574.
Didymus, 96.
Disciples, 668-676.
Docetes, 6.

872

INDEX.

Dominicans, 214.
Donatus, 104, 110,111.
Donnell, 661-668.
Druids, 115.
Dwight, 703-710.

E.
Easter, 19.
Edward Sixth, 389, 415.
Edwards, 547-557, 703.
Edwin, 122.
Egede, 479, 783-788.
Egypt, Church of, 22-29,
57-59, 62-70.
Eliot, John, 513, 546.
Elizabeth, Queen, 415.
England (see Britain).
Epiphanius, 81.
Episcopalians, 647-657,
814-819.
Erasmus, 279, 328, 342.
Erastus, 306.
Ethelbert, 128, 129.
Eudoxia, 81, 82.
Eusebins of Cesarea, 1, 49,
65.
Eusebius of Nicomedia, 65,
67.
Eustochium, 96.
Evangelical Association,
657-661.

Farel, 326-335, 338.
Felicitas, 52-56.
Finnev, 730-740.
Fisk, Wilbur, 631-639.
Florentius, 226.
Fox, 405.
France, Church of, 148-157,
194-208, 326-367, 482-
508.
Franciscans, 214.
Francke, 461-468, 585, 586.
Frederick the Wise, 268,
275.
Friends, 534-540, 559.
Fry, 533-540.
Fuller, 697-703.

G.
Gall, 166, 169.
Gaul, Church of, 32-39, 49-
52.
Gerhardt, 375, 439-448.
Germany, Church of, 163-
175, 208-213, 222-339,
265-320, 439-488.

Gnostics, 2, 5, 18, 34, 35.
Goths, 70, 76, 112.
Graham, 740-749.
Greenland, 783-788.
Gregory of Cesarea, 27.
Gregory of Nazianz, 95.
Gregory of Rome, 127, 128,
146.
Groot, 226.
Gurney (see Fry).
Gustavus Adolphus, 431-
439.
Gustavus Vasa, 323.
Guthrie, 501-505.

H.
Hamilton, 403-410, 413.
Hegesippus, 1.
Henry, 8, 379, 388.
Henry of Navarre, 360,
366.
Hilary, 68.
Hilda, 124.
Hildegard, 208-213.
Hodge, Charles, 761-766.
Holland, Church of, 429.
Hooper, 397-400.
Hopkins, 557-565.
Hosius, 68.
Huguenots, 363-367.
Huss, 250-259.

I.
Ignatius, 3-10.
India Missions, 796-803.
Irenseus, 32-39, 49.
Italy, Church of, 29-32, 85-
93, 157, 213-217, 219-222,
259-264, 368-379.

J.
Jerome, 93-99.
Jerusalem, 1.
Jesuits, 429.
John of Milic, 250.
John of Monte Corvino,
217-219.
John the Constant, 275.
Judson, 837-849.
Julian, 63, 69.
Justin, 10-14.

K.
Kentigern, 119.
Knox, 411,413-421.
Kurtz, 589.

L.
Laborie, 346-352.
Lambert, 405, 409.
Lanfranc, 186.
Laski, 304, 384.
Latimer, 386, 389, 396, 397,
402.
Lawrence, 46-49.
Lefevre, 327, 328, 380.
Leo First, 46.
Leo Tenth, 267.
Linus, 30.
Livingston, 639-647.
Lome, 116.
Louis Ninth, 201, 215.
Lull, 558.
Luther, 265-279, 293, 313,
321, 336, 342.
Luther, Magdalena, 274-
279.
Lutherans, 337, 442, 584-
590, 796-803.

M.
MacGrady, 661.
MacKail, 505-508.
MacKendree, 622-631.
MacMillan, 661.
Makemie, 565-569.
Manicheans, 101-106.
Manning, 608-614.
Marcionites, 18, 19.
Marot, 369.
Martin of Tours, 188.
Martyn, 814-819.
Martyr, Peter, 302, 384.
Mary, Bloody, 385, 391,
399.
Mary, Queen of Scots,
416-418.
Maturus, 50.
Melancthon, 279-291, 297,
301, etc.
Meletians, 66.
Methodists, 517-525.
Methodist Episcopal, 614-
640.
Methodist Protestant, 773-
778.
Methodius, 181.
Milne, 828-832.
Moffatt, 813.
Monica, 99-104.
Montanists, 42.
Moravians, 479, 518, 519,
788-796.
More, Hannah, 528.
Morrison, 819-837.
Muhlenberg, 467, 584-590,
597.
Mystics, 223.

INDEX.

873

N.
Nestorians, 218.
Nicene Council, 57, 58, 60,
65.
Nicholas of Basel, 224.
Nitschmann, 482.
North Africa, Church of,
39-45, 52-56, 99-113.

0.
Oberlin, 492-500, 525.
Oberlin College, 726, 736,
738.
Oceanica, 849-856.
Ochiuo, 384.
CEcolampadius, 315 - 320,
328.
Olaf, 180.
Oldcastle, 246-249.
Olevian, 304, 305.
Origen, 22-29, 97.
Orosius, 146.
Otterbein, 599-607.

P.
Paleario, 371-379.
Palestine, Church of, 1-3,
10-14.
Pantamus, 23.
Paphnutius, 57-59.
Papias, 16.
Patrick, 114-116.
Paul, 3.
Paul of Antioch, 23.
Paula, 96.
Peck, 677-686.
Peking (see China).
Peregrinus, 4. .
Perpetua, 52-56.
Persia Missions, 814-819.
Peterson, 320-326.
Philip of Hesse, 281, 287,
313, 409.
Pietists, 452, 462.
Pliitschau, 467.
Polycarp, 14-22, 37.
Pothinus, 50.
Presbyterians, 415, 565-
583, 724-728, 732, 749-
773.
Presbyterians, Cumber
land, 661-668.
Presbyterians, United, 740-
749, 778-783.

Pressly, 778-783.
Prudentius, 46-49.

Q-
Quakers"(see Friends).
R.
Rabaut, 486-492.
Radbod, 71.
Reformed, Dutch, 639-647,
803-813.
Reformed, French, 482-
484.
Reformed, German, 442,
594, 604.
Reformed, Scotch, 416,501-
508, 741.
Remy, 148-152.
Renata, 338, 368-371.
Reuchlin, 280.
Ridley, 386, 388-397.
Robinson, John, 543.
Rome, Church of, 38, 46-
49.
Roussel, 486-492.

Saba, 74.
Sachs, 291-296.
Saint Bartholomew, 360.
Sales, Francis de„361, 366.
Sanctus, 50.
Savonarola, 259-264.
Scandinavia, Church of,
176-180, 320-326, 431-
439, 783-788.
Schade, 455.
Schlatter, 590-598.
Schwartz, 796-803.
Scotland (see Britain).
Semi-Arians, 66.
Servetus, 344, 355.
Slavonians, Church of, 185,
186, 250-259.
Spangenberg, 791.
Spener, 448-460, 475, 585.
Spiridion, 59-62.
Staupitz, 266, 279.
Stockton, 773-778.
Symeon, 1-3.
Synods, of Arle, Milan,
Rimini, etc., 68.
Syria, Church of, 3-10.

T.
Tauler, 222.
Taurant, 346-352.
Tennents, 572, 573.
Tertullian, 39, 42.
Tetzel, 266.
Theodore, 135.
Theodosius, 75, 79, 91.
Thomas Christians, 218.
Trigolet, 346-351.

U.
Ulfilas, 70-76.
United Brethren, 603-607.
Ursinus, 300-308.

V.
Valentinians, 19.
Vandals, 112.
Vanderkemp, 803-813.
Vernon, 346-351.
Viret, 331, 339.

W.
Waldensians, 221, 222.
Waldo, 219, 221.
Wales, Church of, 163.
Wayland, 686-697.
Wesley, Charles, 517-523.
Wesley, John, 516-525,527,
616.
Wessel, 233-239.
White, 647-657.
Whitefield, 520, 521, 572.
Wiclif, 239-246.
Wilberforce, 528-5.33.
William of Orange, 421-
429.
Williams, John, 849-856.
Williams, Roger, 608-613.
Winfrid (see Boniface).
Wishart, 410-412.
Witherspoon, 574-583.
Wolmar, 353.

Zeisberger, 788-796.
Ziegenbalg, 467, 796, 797.
Zinzendorf, 472-482, 525".
Zwingle, 308-315, 317, 341.