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FIFTY NOTABLE YEARS.
FIFTY NOTABLE YEARS.
"And I saw that there was an Ocean of Darkness and Death; but an infinite Ocean of Light and Love flowed over the Ocean of Darkness; and in that I saw the infinite Love of God."— George Fox's Journal. "Universalism was the evening star of the church as the night of the dark ages came on, and appeared as the morning star at the dawn of the Reformation."— Thomas Whittemore, D. D. Painted by H. Pratt. Engd. by J. Andrews & H. W. Smith. Hosea Ballou. Fifty Notable Years VIEWS OF THE MINISTRY
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
Every intelligent reader of that expressive line of Longfellow, "Let the dead past bury its dead," understands that if "the dead past" may be buried, as it deserves to be, the living past will be remembered, recorded, celebrated, honored in all time to come. It is well, always, that we have our eyes open to this fact. Among the many voices heard in the discussions going on in the religious world during the last half-century, has been that of Christian Universalism. It is still speaking more emph
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CHAPTER I.THE WORLD'S PROGRESS.
CHAPTER I.THE WORLD'S PROGRESS.
"Even now, after eighteen centuries of Christianity, we may be involved in some enormous error, of which the Christianity of the future will make us ashamed."— Vinet. "THE world moves." This is one of the confident sayings of those who believe in human progression. It is an ordination of Divine Providence from the beginning that man should realize mental and moral growth through the successive generations of his earthly life. And this divine purpose has been manifest in the past history of our r
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CHAPTER II.CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM.
CHAPTER II.CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM.
"Universalism is a living movement, organized out of the grandest ideas and spiritual facts of the universe; gathering into itself the richest and mightiest moral forces, and working towards the most positive practical ends; and a man is a Universalist, and is the better off for being a Universalist, only as some sense of what Universalism thus is, and of the force of its motives, and the reality of its work, flows down, a quickening power, into his being."— E. G. Brooks, D. D. THE name Universa
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CHAPTER III.UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA.
CHAPTER III.UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA.
"Christianity is recognized as a democratic element, profitable for all conditions of men, as the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are the palladium of our civil and religious rights."— Dr. J. W. Francis , author of "Old New York." UNIVERSALISM in America took its rise with the Republic. The coming of John Murray to our shores, and the proclamation of the gospel of universal grace, was but a little time previous to the issuing of the Declaration of Independence by the American co
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CHAPTER IV.EARLY ADVOCACY OF UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA.
CHAPTER IV.EARLY ADVOCACY OF UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."— Isaiah , xl. 3. REV. JOHN MURRAY, from England, landed on the shore of New Jersey in 1770. He came hither much oppressed in spirit on account of severe afflictions in England, and had determined not to place himself before the public again as a preacher. His published biography tells us how differently the arrangements were made by Providence respecting him. It is
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CHAPTER V.GROWTH.
CHAPTER V.GROWTH.
"Day by day the doctrine of the eternity of evil is being driven into its native night before a higher view of the nature of God, and a nobler belief in Him as the undying righteousness."— Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. AT the beginning of the present century, thirty years from the time of Mr. Murray's first preaching in America, there were a few more than twenty preachers of Universalism here. By the year 1813 there were forty; in 1840 there were four hundred and sixty-three. At the present time our
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CHAPTER VI.UNIVERSALISM.—UNITARIANISM.—RATIONALISM.
CHAPTER VI.UNIVERSALISM.—UNITARIANISM.—RATIONALISM.
"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."— Eph. ii. 20. SINCE the growth of the Universalist faith during the present century in our country, that phase of Liberal Christianity denominated Unitarianism has had its rise. It was an outcome of the Arminianism in orthodox churches. It advocated the doctrine of the Unity of God, in opposition to that of the Trinity as held by most of the churches in New England. [24] It also r
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CHAPTER VII.REFORM MOVEMENTS AND UNIVERSALISM.
CHAPTER VII.REFORM MOVEMENTS AND UNIVERSALISM.
"Universalism is the ultimate of every expansive thought, of every comprehensive sympathy, of all action that embraces man as man, and works in faith for the world's redemption."— Rev. E. G. Brooks , D. D. THE increasing interest awakened by the discussion of such topics of reform as peace, temperance, human freedom, the treatment of criminals, and others involving the moral uplifting and advancement of mankind, very naturally had its effect upon the Universalist Church. There were not a few in
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CHAPTER VIII.NEW ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.—UNIVERSALIST PROTEST.
CHAPTER VIII.NEW ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.—UNIVERSALIST PROTEST.
"What concord hath Christ with Belial."—2 Cor. vi. 15. THE New England Anti-Slavery Society was one of the most vigorous and persistent bodies that ever appeared on these western shores as a reformatory institution. Its chief leader was the indomitable Garrison, who had vowed that on the vexed question of American slavery "he would be heard," and whose "Liberator" was making its journeys from a Boston press throughout the land; hailed and patronized by a goodly company in the North, denounced as
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Temperance.
Temperance.
In no other period of the past has its work been so marked and cheering. In Great Britain and America its manifestations were almost simultaneous. Intemperance was seen to be a monstrous national vice, and societies were formed for the suppression of it. Abstinence from distilled liquors was at first the pledge taken; but subsequent discussion of the subject induced the next and safer step forward, of total abstinence from all intoxicants. From 1834 to 1838 nearly the whole of the original socie
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Peace.
Peace.
The history of our race is one of warfare. "Wars and fightings" have been realized among men from the beginning, and the world has not outgrown the sanguinary strife. Even during the time of which we are speaking in these pages, when so much has been done for the mental and moral enlightenment of mankind, these murderous human contentions have been going on in the Old World and the New. Our own nation has passed through one of the darkest passages of its history. The war of the Rebellion came of
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The Treatment of Criminals
The Treatment of Criminals
has been a subject of much thought and discussion during the generation just passed. It has been, and still is, an open question among the more thoughtful, whether the subject of the proper treatment of criminals has been regarded aright. We may justly plead for benevolent sympathy without being the apologist of crime. Conscience must be remembered as well as the cry of pitying tenderness, and punishment must have a meaning, or the distinctions of right and wrong are lost. "It will be a sad day,
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Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment
has elicited much attention during the time of which we are speaking. It has been discussed in newspapers, pamphlets, legislatures, pulpits, and lyceum halls. Some of our States have abolished the gallows, others are agitating this subject in their legislatures. The present governor (Long) of Massachusetts, in his annual messages of the last two years, has recommended the abolition of the death penalty. A large number of ministers of the Universalist Church have constantly affirmed their opposit
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The Position and Work of Woman
The Position and Work of Woman
has also been a subject of deep and widespread interest. Christianity has ever given to woman a place denied her by all other religions. As Christian thought has had freer course, and Christian theology and practical work new and brighter development, the relations of woman to the welfare and progress of human society have been more clearly understood and appreciated. Her rights in law are now more plainly and justly defined, and the importance of her equal education with the other sex admitted
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Other Questions.
Other Questions.
The philanthropic and successful efforts in behalf of the blind, the deaf and dumb, and feeble minded, of fallen women, and orphan children, are becoming more and more apparent every year, all in cheering accord with that restorative mercy and power evinced in Him whose mission was to relieve the sorrows and remove the afflictive evils that beset mankind. And no more unmistakable evidence of the decline of that horrible doctrine of endless suffering for the wicked can be realized, than the insti
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CHAPTER X.THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH AND ITS WOMEN.
CHAPTER X.THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH AND ITS WOMEN.
"Help those women which labored with me in the churches."— Paul , Phil. iv. 3. THE Universalist Church is much indebted to its faithful women. Taking into consideration its comparative numbers, no other church in America has been more signally favored in the genial and healthful influence of its writers who have borne the honorable name of Woman. They have been instrumental in spreading the doctrines of the primitive Gospel and the moral bearings of their religion before the world in most attrac
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CHAPTER XI.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS.
CHAPTER XI.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS.
"Insignificant as the denomination of Universalists may now appear in the eyes of the world, it is not to be doubted that the time is coming when it will occupy in this country, and throughout all Christendom, a much more commanding position, and men will ask for the beginning of what they shall then see, and love to read the story of our present struggles and victories."— Rev. T. J. Sawyer, D. D. IT is within the first century of our national republic, just passed, that this great faith in the
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CHAPTER XII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
REV. THOMAS F. KING was a minister of rare qualities. He came up from the humble walks of life, and by hard study and the improvement of every opportunity for mental culture, became a scholar of excellent acquirements. He was an enthusiastic believer in the Gospel, and one of its most eloquent preachers and defenders. He was especially acquainted with the evidences of natural and revealed religion, and well prepared to present them for the consideration of sceptical minds. His voice was rich, de
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CHAPTER XIII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XIII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
"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
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CHAPTER XIV.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XIV.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
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
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CHAPTER XV.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XV.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
A HIGHLY-esteemed minister of our faith, and a vigorous and stirring advocate of Christian reform, was Rev. Elhanan W. Reynolds . Although his career as minister and author was not long, the most valuable years of his life were given to the work of promulgating the Gospel. He was settled as pastor in Java, Sherman, Buffalo, Jamestown, Watertown, and Lockport, N. Y.; in Norwich, Conn.; and Lynn, Mass. He was a highly acceptable preacher, and wielded a fruitful and facile pen. His little volume, "
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CHAPTER XVI.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XVI.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
REV. SAMUEL C. LOVELAND resided nearly all his lifetime in Vermont. He was born in Gilsum, N. H., in 1787. His opportunities for schooling while young were but few, but he improved them, as he had a strong desire for study. He wished to be eminent as a scholar and linguist, but from force of circumstances was self-taught. His parents had become deeply interested in the doctrine of Universal Salvation about the time of Mr. Winchester's return from England, who preached a few times in the region w
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CHAPTER XVII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XVII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
"As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."— Jesus. A FERVENT and devoted servant of the Christian Master was Rev. A. W. Bruce . Born in Bennington, Vt., he was taught the Methodist faith, and held it until his nineteenth year, when by his own diligent investigations he became a believer in Universalism. After practising as a physician for a short time, he entered the ministry, and became an indefatigable and successful worker therein. He was ordained in 1843, had settlements i
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CHAPTER XVIII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
CHAPTER XVIII.SKETCHES OF MINISTERS—continued.
REV. ZADOC H. HOWE, of Maine, after receiving an academical education in Readfield, Me., prepared for the ministry, and was ordained in 1846. After a service of some years in his native State, he removed to Monroe, Madison County, Wis., where, after preaching a year and a half, he was compelled by failing health to suspend his labors. A severe bronchial trouble, making public speaking difficult, was the cause of frequent removals. For the last six or seven years of his life he was postmaster of
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Living Ministers.
Living Ministers.
It has been thought advisable to append to this record of the departed the names of a few of the living ministers, now advanced in years, who have earned an honorable reputation by their works during the time included in the survey here taken. It would have been agreeable to the writer if the number of such could have been increased, but this was forbidden by the limits prescribed to this volume. Besides, as already stated, it will be understood that this historical sketching is by no means exha
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The Birthplace of Hosea Ballou.
The Birthplace of Hosea Ballou.
In concluding the accounts of ministers here given, it seems appropriate to add a brief reference to an event of recent occurrence, to which the attention of the Universalist public had been specially called. We refer to the meetings held under the direction of the "Cheshire Association," on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 18th, 19th, and 20th of August, 1882, in Richmond, N. H., the birthplace of Rev. Hosea Ballou, and in honor of this distinguished and venerated man. During these days, disco
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CHAPTER XX.EDUCATIONAL AIDS.
CHAPTER XX.EDUCATIONAL AIDS.
THE Universalists, like some others of the Christian sects in America, were at first destitute of the educational forces which have so signally aided and strengthened the more popular churches of the land. They had no colleges, no academies, or theological schools at their command. Although some of their ministers were very respectable scholars, giving good evidence of their literary attainments in their pulpit instructions, and now and then an uncommon genius would appear, making his talents sp
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CHAPTER XXI.THE LAITY.
CHAPTER XXI.THE LAITY.
"All the members have not the same office. One body in Christ, and severally members one of another."— Rom. xii. 4, 5. ALTHOUGH in the biographical sketches contained in this volume those of the ministry are made conspicuous, the writer is sensitively aware of the fact that many devoted and honorable laymen, who have faithfully and essentially sustained the ministry, are equally worthy of record for their works' sake. A separate volume, such as we are not able to make up, would be required to do
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CHAPTER XXII.THE PRESENT OUTLOOK.
CHAPTER XXII.THE PRESENT OUTLOOK.
"No man can be assured of his own salvation, except he see the same salvation in the same Saviour for all men, as well as for himself; which is to love his neighbor as himself."— Richard Coppin. [59] THAT the errors connected with what has been deemed the Orthodoxy of the past are passing away is undeniable. We have been noting this on every page of this volume. The Christian pulpit and the religious and secular press are bringing out new confirmations of it continually. Take two indications; fi
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