"To say I'd pressed her hand, 't was not for me—To share her friendship, it was not my gladness;'T was ne'er the blessing of these eyes to seeThe form whose slumber wakes this note of sadness.But O! I weep for those who yet remain,To know so bright a spirit hath ascended!Fond of that lyre, enraptured of its strain,I weep to hear its melodies are ended!"Short years ago, in boyhood's rosy morn,When Aspiration seemed its measure brimming,Longing for joys that crown the spirit-born,I heard the lays of life that she was hymning.Who that hath drunk those melodies that roseSweet as the murmur of celestial fountains,Hath not in fancy pictured her with thoseWhose feet are beautiful upon the mountains!
"To say I'd pressed her hand, 't was not for me—To share her friendship, it was not my gladness;'T was ne'er the blessing of these eyes to seeThe form whose slumber wakes this note of sadness.But O! I weep for those who yet remain,To know so bright a spirit hath ascended!Fond of that lyre, enraptured of its strain,I weep to hear its melodies are ended!"Short years ago, in boyhood's rosy morn,When Aspiration seemed its measure brimming,Longing for joys that crown the spirit-born,I heard the lays of life that she was hymning.Who that hath drunk those melodies that roseSweet as the murmur of celestial fountains,Hath not in fancy pictured her with thoseWhose feet are beautiful upon the mountains!
"To say I'd pressed her hand, 't was not for me—
To share her friendship, it was not my gladness;
'T was ne'er the blessing of these eyes to see
The form whose slumber wakes this note of sadness.
But O! I weep for those who yet remain,
To know so bright a spirit hath ascended!
Fond of that lyre, enraptured of its strain,
I weep to hear its melodies are ended!
"Short years ago, in boyhood's rosy morn,
When Aspiration seemed its measure brimming,
Longing for joys that crown the spirit-born,
I heard the lays of life that she was hymning.
Who that hath drunk those melodies that rose
Sweet as the murmur of celestial fountains,
Hath not in fancy pictured her with those
Whose feet are beautiful upon the mountains!
"The seraphs all had joy in fuller streams,When her pure lips their symphonies were swelling;They'll want her there, while God's own glory beams,And while the ransomed keep their starry dwelling,To hymn the beauty of immortal mind,—For, of that world, mind is the greatest splendor,—Lift holier anthems as new bliss they findAnd drink new life as loftier praise they render."
"The seraphs all had joy in fuller streams,When her pure lips their symphonies were swelling;They'll want her there, while God's own glory beams,And while the ransomed keep their starry dwelling,To hymn the beauty of immortal mind,—For, of that world, mind is the greatest splendor,—Lift holier anthems as new bliss they findAnd drink new life as loftier praise they render."
"The seraphs all had joy in fuller streams,
When her pure lips their symphonies were swelling;
They'll want her there, while God's own glory beams,
And while the ransomed keep their starry dwelling,
To hymn the beauty of immortal mind,—
For, of that world, mind is the greatest splendor,—
Lift holier anthems as new bliss they find
And drink new life as loftier praise they render."
He was a writer of attractive volumes containing Tales of Labor; "Summerfield, or Life on a Farm," "The Master Builder, or Life at a Trade," and "Merrimac, or Life in a Factory;" works of merit, which have been extensively read. His modesty, conscientiousness, devotion to duty, and religious spirit, all serve to make blessed his memory, a memory that can never be dwelt upon but with affection by those who knew most of him in life. In 1868 St. Lawrence University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He passed suddenly but peacefully away from the earth, in New York city, June 2, 1869, aged 53. His son, Rev. Charles F. Lee, is at present pastor of the Universalist church in Charlestown, Mass.
[45]The mother of Mr. King was a woman of keen intellect and of many virtues, and her talented son held her in highest esteem. As his popularity in California was increasing, there was a serious talk at one time of sending him as senator to Congress. The mother, hearing of this, wrote in a letter to her son: "Be on your guard. Don't let Satan take you to the top of Mt. Shasta, andshow you Washington!"
[45]The mother of Mr. King was a woman of keen intellect and of many virtues, and her talented son held her in highest esteem. As his popularity in California was increasing, there was a serious talk at one time of sending him as senator to Congress. The mother, hearing of this, wrote in a letter to her son: "Be on your guard. Don't let Satan take you to the top of Mt. Shasta, andshow you Washington!"
"There be of them that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.... Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth evermore. The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will show forth their praise."—Ecclesiasticus, xliv. 8, 14, 15.
REV. GEORGE BATES, one of the faithful ministers of Maine, was born there in the town of Fayette, in 1798. In early life he was a mechanic, but in due time, as Rev. W. A. Drew wrote of him, "He laid down the sledge of Vulcan, and put on the Gospel harness." He was a student for a time in the family of Rev. Hosea Ballou, at Boston. He was pastor in Livermore, and afterwards for twenty-five years in Turner, Me. It is worthy of note that after a suit at law, in which the town recovered the ministerial fund against the Congregational society, the people of Turner, by legal votes, dismissed the clergyman of that church, Rev. Allen Greeley, and settled Mr. Bates as the town's minister. With true liberality, on acquiring possession of this fund, the town parish made aper capitadistribution of it to all the societies in Turner, that each might enjoy its proportional share of support from the same fund.
Mr. Bates was one of the best of country pastors. He was at home everywhere, and a welcome visitor inmost homes where he went. He was clear and scriptural in his expositions, and in his discourses "a workman that needed not to be ashamed." He was a minister of consolation far and near, and had many calls to officiate on funeral occasions. No clergyman in Maine was more respected and honored than he. His departure took place at his home in Lewiston, Me., Jan. 24, 1875, at the age of 77.
Ezekiel Vose.A small, lame, modest, but wide-awake-looking man was this minister, as the writer remembers his first meeting him in Northern New Hampshire. He came from the First Universalist Society in Boston, and settled in St. Johnsbury, Vt., preaching there and in many other places in Vermont and New Hampshire for some years. He had enjoyed only common educational advantages, but was a studious man and a strong and clear thinker. He wrote but little. His preaching was usually extemporaneous, not always very methodical in plan, but usually successful, especially in making his subject plain. He could say a great many things in one of his missionary discourses, and would bring them in quite miscellaneously. But they were usually things which proved interesting to his hearers, especially to those who had seldom, if ever, listened to ministers of our faith. Long remembered will be a discourse which he gave in the writer's hearing one winter evening in Dorchester, N. H. A large corner school-house was packed full, and the speaker stood in one corner with his little Bible in hand. His text was, "Prove all things;" and so wide was his range in topics, and so many things did he undertake to prove, and so long, and rapidly and earnestly did he talk tothat attentive audience, that it seemed as though no man in the same time could come nearer than he to a compliance literally with the direction of the text! He was a sincere, humble, warm-hearted Christian. Every one who knew him thought and spoke well of him. From St. Johnsbury he moved to Orleans, Mass., and afterwards to North Turner, Me., where, after a busy and useful life, he died in 1861, aged 67.
Rev.Lemuel Willisof Windham, Vt., was born April 24, 1802. His father was a convert to Universalism as taught by Rev. Elhanan Winchester, and the son was educated in the same faith. At an early age he became the student of Rev. S. C. Loveland, of Reading, Vt., and in July, 1822, preached his first sermon. His first professional labors were in Washington, Stoddard, Marlow and Acworth, N. H. His subsequent pastorates were at Troy, N. Y. from 1826 to 1828; then in Salem, and afterwards in Lynn and Cambridgeport, Mass. and Portsmouth, N. H. At the time of his death, Dr. G. H. Emerson wrote of him justly:—
"He always preached well. There was in his preaching a good basis of thought, with a practical application, and a tone of fervent piety. But he had and has no 'earthquake' gifts. The city did not run mad because Lemuel Willis preached. We have heard one of his supporters say that he does not remember one sermon that would be called poor; but in all his Salem ministry he never once startled his hearers. His manner is best described by the wordimpressive. Steady work, steady power, and ever-increasing influence, and theradiationmore than the example of a good life, made him successful in the purest sense of this much abused word. But not alone in Salem, but everywhere, Mr. Willis did goodin his character of minister. Literally he was all minister. He cared to know only Christ and Him crucified. And to this end all personal interests were subordinate. Not alone in the pulpit, but on the street, in the house, at the private gathering, he was the minister. But as he never put the minister off so he never put the minister on. It was his nature to be a minister and he could never seem to be otherwise."
Mr. Willis seemed the embodiment of a dignity, not offensive but agreeable. It is said that on one occasion he was in company at a store in Salem with one of the orthodox pastors of that city, who was a very animated and cheerful man in conversation. After they had left the store, a gentleman who had quietly listened to them both, on asking the proprietor what clergymen they were, was told, and was asked to "guess" which one was the Orthodox and which the Universalist. His decision was directly contrary to the facts. Mr. Willis departed this life at his home in Warner, N. H., July 23, 1878.
A younger brother of Lemuel, Rev.John H. Willis, was born in Windham, Vt., March 6, 1807. At the age of eleven he became deeply interested in a Calvinistic Baptist revival, and was immersed in the Connecticut River in very cold weather, when the ice, a foot thick, had to be cut away for the purpose, and soon afterwards joined the Baptist church in Chesterfield. By reading and reflection he became an intelligent and zealous Universalist. He was a good scholar, and taught school successfully when quite young. He worked as a mechanic for some years, and in 1830 went to Salem, Mass., where his brother Lemuel was then settled, and after studying a year under his direction he began topreach, speaking in several places in Worcester County, to the acceptance of the people. He was ordained at Greenwich, Mass., Nov. 23, 1831. He was pastor for varying periods at Dana, Greenwich, Petersham, West Boylston, Annisquam, Wakefield, Irving, Orange and Warwick, Mass., in Brattleboro', Cavendish and Chester, Vt., and in Stafford, Conn. In 1850 he was elected to the Mass. Legislature, and was for several years station-agent at Irving on the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad. Yet amid his secular labors and cares he still preached and lectured often, especially in behalf of the Temperance reform. He was noted to the end of his days for his spiritual fervor and religious enthusiasm. He died Oct. 9, 1877, at the house of his daughter, Mrs. W. R. Shipman, at College Hill, Mass., aged seventy years.
There went out from New England a talented advocate of the Universalist faith in the person of Rev.Theodore Clapp, a native of Easthampton, Mass., and a graduate of Williams College, in the same class with William C. Bryant. His theological studies were pursued at Andover, Mass., and he was licensed as a minister of the Presbyterian church in 1817. He became pastor of the First Presbyterian church in New Orleans, succeeding the brilliant Sylvester Larned, whose fame as a pulpit orator was far extended. Mr. Clapp proved a fitting successor of him, and achieved great celebrity for his pulpit gifts. Henry Clay pronounced him the most natural pulpit orator he had ever heard. His church in New Orleans was usually crowded.
Some twelve years after his settlement in New Orleanschanges occurred in his theological opinions, which led to the dissolution of his relations with the Presbyterian Church. He was deposed from his ministerial office for heresy, and was afterwards known as an independent minister, cherishing Universalist and Unitarian opinions. This change of relations however did not alienate his parish from him. The church building at an earlier date had passed into the hands of the well-known Hebrew millionnaire, Judah Truro, and by his liberality Mr. Clapp occupied the church and preached to his old hearers. His services will long be tenderly remembered in New Orleans. During twenty seasons of epidemic cholera and yellow fever, Mr. Clapp was at his post of duty, and by his ministry of consolation carried comfort to the great multitudes stricken by the pestilence. His "Autobiographical Recollections" is largely devoted to these memorable seasons, and is one of the most interesting volumes ever published. In later years of his life he felt compelled by failing health to relinquish the work of the ministry, and in 1866 departed this life in Louisville, Ky., aged 74. Of him it was said by Dr. Alexander Campbell that he could not believe the doctrine of endless misery if he tried: "You have too much benevolence," added the Doctor. He read this in the face of Mr. Clapp, in the soft lines, and in the warm and benignant glow, that told of a heart full of sympathy and pity.
A stirring and industrious laborer in the propagation of the Universalist faith was Rev.John A. Gurley, of Connecticut. At the early age of twenty he was preaching in Maine, and after a short settlement in Methuen, Mass., he purchased a denominational paper,the "Star in the West," and went to reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. He became pastor and editor in that city. He did much missionary work, journeying into distant States and Territories, holding discussions and preaching wherever he had opportunity, the circulation of his paper constantly increasing. His bodily powers becoming weakened by over-exertion, he deemed it advisable to change his mode of life somewhat, and disposed of his paper and ceased to preach. He subsequently became an active politician, served two terms as representative in Congress from Ohio, and was at the time of his death the appointed Governor of Arizona. Although apparently a frail man, he was capable of great endurance, and few of his years have put more diligent work into a life. He was emphatically an executive man, and had the faculty of making all his plans and movements tell to advantage. He was fond of theological debate, and during the presidency of the elder Dr. Beecher at Lane Seminary, he sought to draw out that noted man in a statement of his arguments against Universalism. He received promises more than once from the doctor that his request should be answered to his entire satisfaction, but the fulfilment of them was never realized. Mr. Gurley was a genial man and an attractive companion. He made many friends in his life, and will not be forgotten by the Universalists in Ohio, who regretted that he could not have devoted the last of his life solely to the interests of the church.
Rev.Enoch M. Pingreewas by birth a New Englander, born in Littleton, N. H., but through some of the most important years of his ministry a laborer in the West. He was one of the born ministers, and hadgood opportunities for study at the Methodist Seminary in Newbury, Vt. At this school he was an earnest advocate of the Universalist faith, which rendered him unpopular with most of the students and teachers. He distinguished himself in the lyceum and debating society, and exerted such an influence as to call out the professors to defend their cause against the arguments and bold positions of this ardent youth. After preaching a little in New England, he started for the West, in 1837. He was pastor in Cincinnati and Louisville, and a missionary in various places in the Western States. Here he became developed from a quiet and diffident man into a bold and confident advocate of his sentiments. He became a public debater, and "waxed valiant in fight" in many controversies. His published discussion with Dr. Rice, an able and distinguished Presbyterian divine, does him great honor. He was a busy, sympathetic, and faithful pastor, also a ready thinker, fluent speaker, and rapid writer. His industry was untiring, and it wore him out at last. In discussion he was candid as well as strong, never descending to any low or unmanly reference to his opponent, no matter how much abused, nor attempting to take advantage of the prejudices of the people. Religious discussions were matters of purest conscience with him. His ministry was brief, but one of intense vigor and action. Greatly beloved by multitudes of friends, he departed this life in 1849, at the early age of thirty-three.
Rev.Thomas J. Greenwood, before his entrance upon the work of the ministry, held the position of overseer in one of the mills in Lowell, at the beginningof the growth of that city. He was born in Newton, Mass., and was a fairly-educated, strong-minded, and trustworthy man. An attempt had been made to establish a Universalist Society in Lowell, and Mr. Greenwood was deeply interested in it. The mill authorities were opposed to the movement, and intimated to this their employee that his heresy could not be favorably regarded by them, and that if he continued to be its active supporter, they and he must part company. His conscience was true to principle as the needle to the pole, and he readily accepted their terms, and turned away from their service to enter and honor another, to which he afterwards gave the most of his life. He had profitable pastorates in New England, his last three having been in Dover, N. H., and Malden and Saugus, Mass. His good reputation was in all our churches, as a ready and vigorous writer, an eloquent preacher, a loving and industrious pastor, and, more than all, a royal man. A faithful biographer (Rev. A. J. Patterson, D. D.) has written of him:—
"He was the central figure in the entire community where he dwelt. His manly, dignified presence, his genial manners, his willing, helpful hand in every worthy cause, his charity towards other sects, his kindness to the poor, his pity for the erring, his sympathy in chambers of sickness and towards all kinds of suffering, his words of more than human comfort at the open grave, and withal his rare good judgment and solid common sense in everything, caused him to be respected and consulted far beyond the circle of the church. He was devoted to all public interests, served several terms in the Legislature of Massachusetts, and was once nominated for the National Congress from his district."
He departed this life in Malden, Sept. 12, 1874.
Fraternally Yours, E. G. Brooks.
Fraternally Yours, E. G. Brooks.
Fraternally Yours, E. G. Brooks.
Rev.Elbridge Gerry Brooks, D. D., was born in Dover, N. H., July 29, 1816, and died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 8, 1878. During his infancy his parents removed to Portsmouth, where he passed the years of his boyhood. He was a strong, healthful youth, and was blessed with parents who were devoted to his highest welfare, and whose exemplary religious characters made a deep impress upon his after life. Just previous to his ninth birthday, a sad accident occurred, by which his leg was so severely injured that amputation became necessary. He bore the painful operation with manly fortitude, and during the consequent confinement saw many of the pleasing visions of his coming life dispelled. When he recovered, however, his brave nature did not brood over his misfortune, but his heart was made more tender by it, and as he grew older was filled with a strong religious interest, and he early decided to devote himself to the Christian ministry. His pious parents, rejoicing in the zeal and enthusiasm of their crippled boy, did all in their power to encourage his aspirations and to have him suitably fitted for his chosen calling.
At that time, Rev. T. F. King was settled in Portsmouth, and, discerning the rare promise of his young friend, gave him hearty and effective encouragement. After acquiring such knowledge as the Portsmouth schools could give him, he was aided by his faithful pastor in the further pursuit of his studies, and at the early age of nineteen he began to preach. His first sermon was delivered in Portsmouth, and gave great satisfaction to those who heard it. He was first settled in Exeter, N. H.; then in Amesbury, Mass., where he was ordained, Oct. 19, 1837; then in East Cambridge, Mass.; then in Lowell, and, in 1846, took charge of theparish in Bath, Me. In 1850 he returned to Massachusetts and settled in Lynn, where he remained nine years. In 1859 he was called to the Sixth Church in New York, where he remained eight years, and until he was chosen, in 1867, General Secretary of the United States Convention. His duty in this new capacity was to direct and take the lead of the missionary enterprises and to visit all sections of the country. His labors were manifold and arduous, but very efficient and successful, until his health became impaired, and he was obliged to resign his office and return to his family. After resting a few months, and partially recovering his strength, he accepted, in November, 1869, an invitation to the Church of the Messiah in Philadelphia, to which he gave the last years of his useful life, and where he joyfully resigned that life April 8, 1878.
As a preacher, Dr. Brooks was in the front rank of our ministers. As another has written:—
"He was entirely consecrated to his work, and in the pulpit he spoke as one having authority. His sonorous voice and majestic bearing were in perfect harmony with his clear and forcible presentation of his thought, and emphasized his urgent appeals to the conscience of his hearer. He was by nature an ardent reformer, and was always true to his convictions. He could not keep back the smallest fragment of what he believed to be God's truth. He early threw himself, heart and soul, into the anti-slavery cause, and during the war of the rebellion his clarion voice gave no uncertain sound."
He was a clear and vigorous writer. His two volumes, "Universalism in Life and Doctrine," and "Our NewDeparture," evince this. They are valuable additions to our church literature. He was one of our best organizers. Seldom absent from our conventions, and nearly always serving on executive boards and important committees, nearly every department of our church work received an impression from his hand. In 1867 Tufts College conferred on him the degree of D. D.
It has been truly said of him:—
"He was born into Universalism. He was cradled in its arms. He was taught it at his mother's knee. He believed it from his earliest conscious years. He never was influenced by any other faith. What he was it made him. Let no man say it is not the power of God unto salvation, while we can point to such examples of its influence in life and death. He has gone to that home which his faith made so real to many souls."
H. W. Smith.EbenrFisher.
H. W. Smith.EbenrFisher.
H. W. Smith.
EbenrFisher.
Rev.Ebenezer Fisher, D. D., has won honorable distinction in the Universalist Church. He was born in Charlotte, Me., Feb. 6, 1815, and died in Canton, N. Y., Feb. 21, 1879. His father was one of the pioneers of Eastern Maine, and the son passed his early years in a new country, in the midst of hardships incident to such a condition. With the exception of a single term at the Readfield Seminary, he had no advantages beyond what were afforded by the common schools of his native town. His early religious training was in the Orthodox church, against whose gloomy doctrines his whole soul revolted. When about sixteen years old a few Universalist books and papers were put into his hands, the perusal of which, in connection with the Bible, brought him "out of darkness into marvellous light," and he gradually formed the purpose to fit himself for the Christian ministry. Hesought and obtained fellowship of the Maine Convention in 1840, and in 1841 settled at Addison Point, Me., until in April, 1847, he accepted a call to Salem, Mass., where his pastorate was eminently successful. In November, 1853, he removed to South Dedham (now Norwood), where he remained until 1858, when he was appointed President of the Theological School at Canton, N. Y., and thenceforth he gave his time, labor, thought, and strength to a work for which he proved himself peculiarly fitted. For more than twenty years he was the honored head of the first Universalist Theological School, and during that time one hundred and three students were graduated, who are now scattered over the country, and bearing testimony to his faithful teaching, his rare devotion to duty, his profound scholarship, and his eminence in all Christian virtues. However marked may have been the results of his labors in other fields, his work in the Theological School was the most important and conspicuous, and will be his most enduring monument. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him in 1862 by Lombard University. Rev. I. M. Atwood, D. D., his successor as President in the Canton Theological School, thus truly and graphically presents him to us:—
"A grand man, made up in a large and noble fashion, with paternal benignity in his face and a note of sonorous warning in his voice, able, acute, aggressive, unmovable, the sturdy strength and wintry rigor of his nature relieved by a certain charm of tenderness which affected one like the scent of sweet flowers amid the majesty of the primeval woods; in his preaching a strain of deep sincerity which made the hearer feel the solemn reality of those things about which there is so much superficial prattle,—a great, brave, patient spirit, loyalto the truth, trustworthy as a star, and of such a breadth and strength of moral build as made him an imposing Christian force in the community,—such to our thought was Ebenezer Fisher, who fell asleep Friday morning, Feb. 21, 1879, having just passed his sixty-fourth birthday.
A well-remembered elder of apostolic aspect and spirit was the Rev.Seth Stetson, born in Kingston, Mass., in 1776, and dying at the age of ninety-one in Brunswick, Me. He was reared in the faith of the Puritan fathers, near the old Plymouth rock; learned the trade of a ship-carpenter, emigrated to Maine, gave himself to much study, entered the Congregationalist ministry, and was pastor in Maine and Massachusetts for some years. When the Unitarian controversy arose in New England, he became deeply interested in it, accepted Unitarianism as the truth of God, preached it as a missionary, and soon saw clearly the doctrine of the salvation of all men as a revelation of the Scriptures. He was minister of this faith in Charlestown and Salem, Mass., and afterwards had several pastorates in Maine. His heart and life were full of the spirit of the great Christian Master. Universalism to him was not only a divine word, but a regenerative power. The love which it inculcated he possessed and exercised. His heavenly spirit beaming from his pleasant countenance and pervading his sweet conversation made him welcome everywhere. What the New Testament says of another was applicable to him: "A good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith."
Rev.William Bell, son of a Calvinistic clergyman, was for many years an active advocate of the Universalistfaith. The rigid theology of his father had the tendency to push him into Deism, until the light of the greater Gospel broke upon his mind. After years spent in mechanical pursuits, with a moderate education, under the instruction of the senior Rev. Hosea Ballou, he began to preach, obtained fellowship, and spent the first ten years of his ministry in New Hampshire and Vermont. Subsequently he became editor of the "Watchman and Christian Repository," at Woodstock, Vt., and in after years of the "Star of Bethlehem," in Lowell, Mass. He preached much up to his seventy-eighth year, retaining his vigor of body and mind. He was plain and direct in his style as a preacher, keen in his expositions of what he deemed error, a good logician, strongly doctrinal in his discourses, and deeply religious in feeling. One of the last occasions of his speaking in public was at the Centennial Convention in Gloucester in 1870. Near the close of his life he wrote a strong and searching letter to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher in review of a sermon on future punishment published by him. He died in Boston in 1871.
"An able minister of the New Testament" was Rev.Calvin Gardner, a native of Hingham, Mass., and pastor in Charlestown, Duxbury, Lowell, and Provincetown, Mass., and for twenty years in Waterville, Me. In early life he wrought at his trade in one of the mechanic arts. Becoming interested in the doctrine of Universal Salvation, he entered the ministry in 1825. He was a reader and thinker, a sound theologian, and forcible preacher. He was always welcomed at associations and conventions, and listened to with interest bythose who came to be fed with the plain and wholesome food of the Gospel. He was a genial companion and high-minded man. He passed suddenly away by death while seated in a store which he had entered but a little while before.
The weapons which your hands have foundAre those which Heaven itself has wrought,Light, Truth and Love;—your battle-groundThe free, broad field of thought.Whittier.
The weapons which your hands have foundAre those which Heaven itself has wrought,Light, Truth and Love;—your battle-groundThe free, broad field of thought.Whittier.
The weapons which your hands have found
Are those which Heaven itself has wrought,
Light, Truth and Love;—your battle-ground
The free, broad field of thought.
Whittier.
REV. JOSIAH GILMAN was another of the sturdy mechanics who came from the forge, and after his best endeavors to gain a tolerable preparation for the ministry, entered it, if not with much mental culture, yet with a heart full of love of the new faith into which he had grown out of that theology which one of the Beecher sisters has said evinces "an awful mistake somewhere." He was always alive with his theme. His work in the pulpit was as strong and as faithfully done as any which he had wrought out upon the anvil. He was a useful missionary. No one could have been more conscientious than he respecting the religious qualifications of a Christian minister. His own character was the best illustration he could give of his ideal. That was above reproach.
Mr. Gilman had a stentorian voice when excited in speaking, but was often slow in speech, and to some hearers might seem at times wanting in animation. It is related that while preaching in a country place inNew Hampshire one hot summer afternoon, a part of his audience being hard-working haymakers, his discourse became somewhat quiet in its manner, so that an evident drowsiness had taken hold of some of the listeners. The speaker, perceiving it, suddenly paused for some seconds, and then bringing his clenched hand down quite loudly upon the desk before him, exclaimed good naturedly, "Come brethren, wake up! and let us take another view of this subject." The call was effective, and both speaker and hearers were in sympathetic wakefulness to the end. The good man departed this life in Lynn, Mass., in 1858, aged 67.
Another comer from the anvil, a strong, cheery, blunt, warm-hearted man, deeply in love with the truth of the Gospel, and running over with zeal in his advocacy of it, was Rev.Emmons Partridge. He was superintendent of the Sunday school in the First Universalist church in Providence, R. I., while Rev. David Pickering was its pastor. He entered the ministry with but little scholarly preparation for it; but somehow, by divine grace, he did quite an acceptable work as a missionary and as pastor of a number of societies. God chooses his own instruments in his work, and this minister was one. Without the graces of oratory, he was a plain and often instructive preacher, because he was usually highly charged with his subject and eager to declare it to his hearers. If his illustrations were sometimes homely, they were usually to the point, and if they excited a smile carried a conviction. He was ready in expedients, if these were necessary, to win the good will of his neighbors who might be strongly prejudiced against his theology. "I had hard work,"said he, "to get the kind attention of one man. I tried many ways: but at last, as we were both very much interested in raising rare kinds of poultry, I opened his heart towards me by occasional exchanges of choice eggs with him!" He could meet pulpit embarrassments coolly and more successfully than others might have done. Lecturing one evening in his pulpit at Watertown, Mass., he came to a place in his manuscript where the matter was confusedly mixed. The leaves had been wrongly stitched together, and he vainly tried to put them in order. Despairing of this, he quietly and quaintly remarked, "Well, this is strange. I thought I put these leaves in as they ought to be, but they are so mixed that I can't make anything out of them. I think I will say the rest without the notes!" and he did, to the satisfaction as well as amusement of the audience. He died somewhat advanced in years, highly esteemed by all who knew him.
Rev.William I. Reesebegan to preach in Central New York, in Onondaga County, and was ordained at the session of the Cayuga Universalist Association in 1824. For a few years he was the minister of the Universalist societies in East and North Bloomfield, and then of the church in Portland, Me. He went to Buffalo on call of the church there in the early spring of 1834, and there in the succeeding summer his earthly ministry suddenly came to a close. It was the second year of that terrible visitation, the Asiatic cholera, and the city to which he had only just removed was awfully ravaged by the sweep of the dark-winged pestilence. Unfalteringly at his post of duty in all those dark days, devoting himself to loving ministries among sick andsuffering and dying people, showing himself everywhere an angel of mercy and consolation, he fell a victim at last to the desolating scourge, and in the prime of his grand manhood, the good fight fought, the faith kept, the course finished, he passed on to receive his crown, and to be enrolled among the brightest and most faithful of ministering spirits.
Rev.Albert A. Folsom, an active and devoted minister, was born in Exeter, and passed his early life in Portsmouth, N. H. He had settlements in Maine and Massachusetts, and departed this life, aged 39, at Springfield, Mass., in 1849, after a ministry there of five years. He was very acceptable to his congregations, in all his pastorates. He had a rich voice, subject to a wise control, was a ready speaker, and could acquit himself in a most happy manner. He often had texts handed him when entering the church, which he discussed to the evident satisfaction of his hearers. He was social and companionable, and his views of life and Providence were very hopeful. In his home he was a light and blessing. No minister ever had warmer friends than he.
William Cutter Hanscom, a sincere and zealous young man, a clerk in a prominent dry goods store in Portsmouth, N. H., left his secular pursuits to prepare himself for the ministry in the study of the Rev. T. F. King of that town. He was soon known as an acceptable preacher, and, receiving ordination, was called to two pastorates, the first at Newmarket (Lamprey River village) N. H., the second at Waltham, Mass. He had much mental ability, was a vigorous and rapid writer,and an energetic and enthusiastic speaker. He was greatly beloved by a large number of friends, and his pastorates were a joy to him and of much profit to the churches. He was an evangelist in the true sense of the word. His career was short, as he was cut off by consumption, at Cambridgeport, and was buried at Waltham, in 1838. But his pathway was an illuminated one, and its light lingers in many memories. He departed at the early age of twenty-three.
Rev.Merritt Sanford, born in Readsboro, Vt., and religiously educated in the Methodist church, became by attentive reading and much anxious thinking a believer in that divine goodness which will bring all souls at last in conformity to its will. With but ordinary means of education in country schools, he grew, by close mental application to study, to be a scholar of very considerable acquirements, and entered the ministry at the age of twenty-three. He was minister in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. He was a quiet but forcible preacher, because of the soundness, strength, and aptness of his discourses. He was continually growing mentally and spiritually, was deeply conscientious and devout, and left a fragrant memory wherever he sought to do his work. He closed his earthly life after a short illness, in Warren, Mass., in May 1849, aged 37.
Rev.Alexander R. Abbott, who was somewhat advanced in life when he gave himself to the ministry, was a native of East Livermore, Me. His early life was that of a hard toiler, his advantages for obtaining an education were limited, but his thirst for knowledgeovercame his early deficiencies. With little if any aid from others, he became proficient in French and Latin and the mathematics, and for many years was successfully employed in teaching. His first sermon was preached while residing in Lowell, Mass., in 1844, and his ordination took place in the following year. His first settlement was in Bath, N. H. For a time he was employed as a missionary, to preach in destitute places within the limits of the Boston Association. Afterwards he was settled successively in Newburyport, Mass., Pawtucket, R. I., Gardiner, Me., South Dedham, Mass., Hudson, N. Y., and Rockland, Me. He was an indefatigable student, and a clear, strong preacher. No useless verbiage encumbered his discourses. He grappled with the hardest questions in theology, and brought light out of them. His last sermon before the Maine Convention is remembered as a clear and masterly treatment of one of the problems which has greatly occupied the religious thought of the day. He stirred the consciences of his hearers. He was outspoken as an anti-slavery man, when to be so was to incur the hostility of men of both political parties, and endanger his success in the places of his settlement. The temperance cause always found in him a firm, consistent, and able advocate. And while he was thus efficient in performing the more rugged duties of his calling, he was equally well-fitted, by the tenderness of his heart, for the more sympathetic offices of the ministry. The death of Mr. Abbott, at Rockland, Me., in 1869, was occasioned by disease of the heart, aggravated by the fracture of a limb. He was conscious and composed to the last.
Rev.Henry C. Leonardcame into the ministry atHaverhill, Mass., where he had studied under the direction of Rev. Henry Bacon. He was born in Northwood, N. H., April 25, 1818, and died at Pigeon Cove, Mass., March 7, 1880. His earliest labors were on Cape Ann, at Gloucester and in other neighboring places. He was afterwards settled four years in East Thomastown (now Rockland), Me. He then removed to Orono in 1847, where he remained about eight years, and then went to Waterville, in 1854. At the breaking out of the war, in 1861, he closed his labors in Waterville, and accepted the position of chaplain in the Third Maine Infantry. He was afterwards transferred to the Maine Eighteenth Infantry, and then to the First Maine Regiment of Heavy Artillery, where he remained, greatly beloved by officers and soldiers, till his term of service expired in 1864. He was publicly pronounced by Gen. Howard the most faithful chaplain he ever saw.
In 1865 he took charge of the Universalist Society in Albany, N. Y., where he remained three years. He moved to Philadelphia in 1869, and was pastor of the Lombard St. Church two years. He then returned to his home at Pigeon Cove, Mass., intending to remain there permanently. But he was called to be pastor at Deering, Me., and was Professor of Belles-lettres at Westbrook Seminary at the same time. His last pastorate, at Annisquam, Mass., began in December, 1875. He preached for the last time Sept. 28, 1879. He was for a time editor of the "Gospel Banner" and of the "Universalist." He published a volume of sermons entitled "A Sheaf from a Pastor's Field;" also a little work called "Pigeon Cove and Vicinity."
Mr. Leonard was a writer of rare accomplishments. Had he chosen literature for a profession, and cultivatedmore fully his rare poetic gifts, his name might have been prominent among the writers of the country.
He was an enthusiastic lover of nature, and delighted to dwell in her outer temple. He had a sunny nature, and wherever he lived, won hosts of friends by his geniality and radiant joyousness of heart. The truest, most cultivated and intelligent of all denominations welcomed him to their companionship, and recognized the purity of his life, the elevation of his thought, and his rare intellectual endowments.
Rev.Abraham Norwoodbegan preaching in Annisquam, Mass., and was ordained in 1833. He had been a student with Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, in Malden. He was a member of the Congregationalist Church in early life; but, finding himself dissatisfied and troubled with his theology, he gave much attention to the study of the Bible, and became thereby a firm believer in Christian Universalism. He had a clear and vigorous intellect, and great aptness in setting forth his opinions. He was settled in South Dennis and Marblehead, Mass., in Fiskville, R. I., in Canton, Mass., and in Salisbury, from 1845 to 1855. He then went to Meriden, Conn., and acted as State missionary, with rare fidelity, for six years. He was widely known in Connecticut, and, after the close of his regular ministerial labors, served the town of Meriden in several positions of trust. He was warmly interested in education, and a faithful and devoted laborer in the Temperance cause. Besides his work as a preacher and pastor, he wrote and published two books,—"The Book of Abraham," and "The Pilgrimage of a Pilgrim." While marked with the quaintness of the author, they are direct and telling in their setting forth of Christian truth.
Rev.Charles Spearwas a remarkable man; a printer by trade, a philanthropist by nature, a self-sacrificing Christian by divine grace. He was quiet and unostentatious, but persistent as fate in his work. He was a Massachusetts man. He commenced life in humble condition, and his constant liberality to every object and form of distress kept him poor. His high religious zeal and strong philanthropy forced him into the ministry, and into ministrations especially connected with human degradation and suffering: the abandoned, the outcast, the down-trodden, the intemperate, and especially the prisoner, were his parishioners. His absence of mind, forgetfulness of self, and disregard of (if not inability in) pecuniary matters, often subjected him to painful embarrassments when from home; but that Providence on which he relied for aid as for guidance, always provided friends and means to deliver him. Mr. Spear's work on Capital Punishment, and his larger one on the "Titles of Jesus," are readable and valuable books. Besides these, his literary labors produced "Voices from Prison," and a periodical called (like himself) "The Prisoner's Friend," extended through several years. Had he belonged to almost any other denomination than the Universalist, he would have been much more widely known and more highly praised during life, and his death would have been announced and his funeral attended with greater eulogy and higher honors. Previous to his death he had been chaplain in the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D. C., where he died in April, 1863. His wife was a faithful helper in his hospital work. His funeral services in Washington were attended by a Presbyterian (Dr. Sunderland). The body was removed to Boston for burial.
Rev.James W. Putnam, who died in Danvers, Mass., where he had been a beloved and successful pastor, was a man of admirable qualities. He was just past forty when he departed. Rev. Dr. Miner said of him, in an address on the funeral occasion, that he had known the deceased twenty-four years before, when a pupil in New Hampshire,—a boy in years, but a man in character:—
"As a pastor for sixteen years in one parish, where he constantly grew in strength, in the affections of his people, in the opportunities for public usefulness, serving not only his parish, but the town, the sure test of his worth is to be seen. His character was so well rounded, so complete, so efficient in all particulars, that no one trait seemed to predominate over another. He was very modest and unassuming. When Tufts College conferred an honorary degree upon him, it was so unexpected that, though he saw the statement in the papers,—saw his own name,—he did not suspect that it meant himself, but some other person! He had given the highest evidence of his hold upon his people. Twice he represented the town in the legislature, an experience which often breaks the pastoral relation and sows the seed of disaffection. But he came back from that official service to a united parish."
His settlement in Danvers was his only one. Calls to other parishes with strong financial inducements were declined. He felt that the pastoral relation should be broken as seldom as possible, a consideration which, if more generally regarded, would be of great blessing to many churches.
Rev.James W. Denniswas pastor in Stoughton, Mass., for ten years. He was justly and highly esteemed.Much afflicted with a painful and fatal disease, he had great conflict of mind because of his inability to meet all his duties as he desired; the sympathies of his people were strongly enlisted in his behalf, and they shared with him in some measure his trials. He died in the triumphs of the unfailing hope of the Gospel, and was buried by his friends of the church in the cemetery which his own words had helped to consecrate. "It was an affecting sight," writes one, speaking of his funeral obsequies, "and a sure testimony of the profound esteem in which he was held. Little children, tearful women, and strong men were bowed in deepest grief. I shall never forget the appearance of one old patriarch who approached the coffin with tottering steps, laid his hand upon the head of the deceased, and then placing it upon his own forehead, turned away with an expression of the deepest sadness, as though he had lost a treasure never to be replaced in this world. I saw him again at the cemetery, standing at the door of the sepulchre, with eyes suffused, his gray hairs fluttering in the wind, and his head bowed in the attitude of prayer." Mr. Dennis died in 1863, aged thirty-eight.
Rev.Henry B. Soulewas of Dover, Duchess Co., N. Y. He was another instance of "the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties" in his youthful days. He was determined to educate himself, and through much anxiousness and privation and toiling he found his way in 1835 to Clinton Liberal Institute in New York, where he was afterwards a tutor. The next year he was encouraged to prepare for the ministry by his kind and honored friend, Rev. S. R. Smith. His first work as a pastor was at Fort Plain, N. Y. He was subsequentlyat Troy, Utica, and in 1844 removed to Boston and became assistant pastor with Rev. Hosea Ballou. Here he proved himself adequate to his position. His sermons were forcible, well arranged, and calculated to convince the understanding and enlist the affections. A year's pastorate in Gloucester was a happy one. Then he was minister in Hartford, Conn., where his first sermon was preached to forty-one, his second to sixty-four hearers, and his last to a crowded house. In 1852 his ministry in Lyons, N. Y., commenced. At the end of its first month he had suddenly departed,—a victim of that fearful disease, small-pox. But his bright life shed its radiance back upon many souls who had been blest by his ministries, and his name has since been an honored one in our churches. His widow, who survived him, has won an honorable reputation in our church by her literary publications, and by her devotion to our missionary interests under the auspices of the Woman's Centenary Association, of which she was the first president, and in whose employ she has for three years labored faithfully as a missionary in Scotland. An interesting biography of her husband was prepared by her and given to the public in 1852.
Rev.Obadiah H. Tillotson, of New Hampshire, was an active worker in the ministry; a successful pastor in Worcester, Mass., Hartford, Conn., Northfield, Vt., and in other places. He departed this life in 1863. He was a ready speaker, and was ardent and resolute in his ministerial work. "His ability," writes a friend, "as a public debater was signally shown in a protracted discussion (in Worcester) with a religious opposer who was put forward to defeat him if possible. Four nightsthe contest went on, and the result was a complete success. He more than met the expectations of his friends, and the opponent afterwards acknowledged that of all his contests (and he was a gladiator) Mr. Tillotson was the strongest opponent he had ever met. There was much of sunshine in his soul, and it beamed out upon others in his social life. For a time he studied and practised law, but his old love for the ministry returning, he entered it again with renewed zeal, and continued earnest and faithful in its work unto the end."