Hon. Mr. Quincy was speaker, in 1736: "I most humbly present to your
honor, and this honorable house, the first volume of my 'Chronology of
New England,' which at no small expense and pains I have composed and
published for the instruction and good of my country." He published
three parts of the second volume, and made elaborate preparations for
its continuance. He began his work at the patriarchal period, and
brought it down with careful attention to reliable facts into the
earliest annals and descriptive history of Plymouth Colony, throwing
light on the mode of living and thinking of the Puritans by copious
quotations from their diaries. If his diligent and inquisitive mind
could have completed this wonderful production,--bringing it to the
middle of the 18th century,--it would have been such a perfect and
minute account of the early history of New England that there would
have been nothing for later historians to glean. It was, however,
unappreciated at the time of its publication, which was a discouragement
to him, though he always maintained, with his peculiar insight into the
needs of coming ages, that the time would surely arrive when his
patient and laborious work would meet with some reward,--a prophecy
which has been more than fulfilled as far as the historians of New
England are concerned.
The last work of his busy life was the revision of the Bay Psalm Book.
Mr. Prince, in his account of this undertaking, gives an idea of the
thoroughness of his preparatory work. He says: "The old Psalm Book,--the
first book printed in all North America, or in the New World,--this
version of 1640, by the clergymen, John Elliot, of Roxbury, Mr. Richard
Mather, of Dorchester, and Mr. Thomas Weld,--was liked so much, that it
was used by some congregations in England while I was there." "To gain
sentiment," he says, for his own version, "I read every verse in English
Bible and Polyglot; also in Hebrew, with Moulane's Interlineary, the
Septuagint, the Chaldee, the ancient Latin, Latin versions of Syriac and
Arabic, Castalio, Tremilius and Junius, Ainsworth and De Mies. When I
met with difficulty I searched the following ancient lexicons:
Avenarius, Schindler, Pagnini, Mercer, Buxtorfs two lexicons, namely,
Hebrew and Chaldaic, Leigh, Castillus, Bythun, and Martin Albert." There
were also various interpretations from another long list of names; while
he looked into New England version for groundwork, he compared with
twelve metrical versions.
A contemporary says: "It showed his wonderful industry and remarkable
scholarship." His professional labors throughout fifty years were very
arduous, but he brought the same careful preparation into all branches
of his daily occupations that we find in his published work. In addition
to his theological studies, which were naturally absorbing, and his
historical research, he was thoroughly conversant with polite
literature. At his death his library, which he had deposited in the
belfry of the Old South Church, said to be his study, remained there
intact and undisturbed for seventeen years. The books were on shelves,
the manuscripts and maps in boxes and barrels. At the breaking out of
the Revolutionary war they were still left where Mr. Prince placed them,
though the old meeting-house became the camping ground of British
soldiery. Pews and pulpit were burnt, to enable the riding school--which
the soldiers inaugurated--a better opportunity for its operations. Gov.
Winthrop's old residence, next door to the church, opposite the foot of
School street, which had been used some time as a parsonage, fell a
victim to the lawlessness of the soldiers, who used the beams and
rafters of this memento of the earliest Puritan days for firewood, while
many of Mr. Prince's books and manuscripts were immolated on the same
altar. It has been suggested that some were taken by the spectators who
thronged to witness the exhibitions, as manuscripts known to have
belonged to this library were found--so the catalogue states--as remote
as in a grocer's shop in Nova Scotia. It would be difficult to
conjecture which would have caused the greater grief to Mr. Prince,--the
desecration of the church, whose construction had been a daily delight,
and where he had earnestly labored for so many years, or the sacrifice
of a portion of the results of the patient toil of a lifetime. This
material, however, which was consigned to the flames, would have been of
great benefit to historical societies, who now treasure the minutest
facts that bear upon our past history. In 1814, when society had
recovered its equilibrium, and began to feel a dawning pride in the
great achievement that made of the colonies a free and independent
nation, an interest naturally increased in those things that pertained
to their earliest chronicles. The Historical Society looked over the
books and pamphlets belonging to Mr. Prince, removing the historical
portion to their rooms, while the ecclesiastical was sent to the house
of the pastor of the Old South. In 1860 it was considered desirable to
place them all together in the Public Library of Boston, where they
would be under the guardianship of the city, and be far more accessible,
though still the property of the Old South.
Everything seemed to conspire to make the life of Thomas Prince an
exceptionally happy and fortunate one. He had remarkable opportunities
from his birth to develop all his natural capabilities, and in spite of
his Puritan surroundings he gained a liberal view of life, and
appreciated and profited by the facilities for culture that were open to
him. He traced himself the genealogy and characteristics of the Prince
family, and we find in him the modified traits of his English and
Puritan forefathers, who, though strictly religious, were not so
fanatical as many about them. His great-grandfather, the Rev. John
Prince, who lived in the reign of James I. and Charles I., was educated
at Oxford, and became rector of East Shefford, Berkshire, Eng. Thomas
Prince says of him: "Of whom there was this remarkable, that he was one
of the Puritan ministers of the Church of England who in part conformed
and who greatly longed for a further reformation. He had married a
daughter of Dr. Toldenburg, D.D., of Oxford, by whom he had four sons
and seven daughters. Every one of the children proved conscientious
non-conformists even while their parents lived, without any breach of
affection. Thus they continued pretty near together until the furious
and cruel Archbishop Laud dispersed and drove their eldest son, with
many others, to this country."
Walter Money, F.S.A., local secretary of Berks, writes of the old church
at East Shefford, of which Rev. John Prince was rector from 1620 to
1644: "The church where he preached still stands, being used only for a
mortuary chapel, a new one for use having been erected near by. The old
chapel is a most interesting building of the time of Henry VIII., and
considered worthy to be described in full in archaeological works found
in the British Museum. It contains a remarkable monument of Sir Thomas
Fettiplace and his wife Beatrice, whose old manor-house adjoined the
church. There is an exquisite view of the latter in the British Museum."
The rector's oldest son, also named John, was destined for the ministry,
and had been three years at Oxford before coming to this country. On
arriving here, thinking his preparatory work too meagre for his
profession, he devoted himself to husbandry. He settled in Hull, in
1633. His son Samuel, the father of Thomas, was born in 1649, and his
son chronicles of him, "That he was healthy and strong in body, vigorous
and active in spirit, thoughtful and religious from youth, esteemed for
his abilities and gifts, especially of his power of arguing; a zealous
asserter of New England liberties, with charity to others, instructive
in conversation." He represented the town of Sandwich nineteen times in
legislative councils. He had two wives; the second was Mercy, daughter
of Governor Hinckley, and Thomas was her oldest son. Governor Hinckley
was a man of superior ability, distinguished in the history of Plymouth
Colony. "He had been from first to last the associate, in weal or woe,
of its great and good men, and had lived himself chief among the
survivors to see the last chapter written in its immortal annals." His
grandmother Hinckley was a daughter of Quartermaster Smith, who came
from England. Her grandson, Thomas Prince, says of her: "To the day of
her death she shone in the eyes of all as the loveliest and brightest
for beauty, knowledge, wisdom, majesty, accomplishments and graces
throughout the colony." Governor Hinckley had seventeen children, their
names corresponding to the spirit of the times. Among them we find
Mataliah, Mehitable, Mercy, Experience, Thankful, Reliance, Ebenezer,
and Bathsheba. Thomas Prince himself, one of fourteen children, was born
at Sandwich, the first town settled on the Cape in 1687. When eleven
years old he went to his grandfather Hinckley's, and remained with him
until he entered college. Here he imbibed his taste for chronology and
his love of books. His grandfather fostered him in his youthful ambition
of founding a library, and gave him many from his own collection. During
his long life of eighty years Governor Hinckley became thoroughly
acquainted with all events of importance that had happened in the new
world, and the eager boy was fed and stimulated by companionship with
him, and all the moving spirits of the day who frequented his
grandfather's house. His early attention to religious subjects, his wide
culture, and remarkable sympathy with everything pertaining to his own
times, was the blossoming fruit instilled into him by an honorable
ancestry, who from the early part of the seventeenth century had been
consistent Puritans, and filled places of trust with honor and fidelity.
Although in the first half of the eighteenth century religious
fanaticism was on the decline in Europe it held sway still, in a
measure, in the colonies. There had been many instances of intolerance
and tyranny on the part of the clergy in the past. Cotton Mather's
implacable spirit found vent in the superstition and cruelty that
characterized the Salem Witchcraft, while other ministerial leaders were
prominent in the persecution of the Quakers. Joseph Sewall and Thomas
Prince were educated under the Cottons and Mathers, but their lives
presented a striking contrast to these fiery expounders of the Christian
faith. Tolerance, benevolence, and humility shone conspicuously in their
united careers. The serious character of the books collected and read by
young Prince from his tenth year shows not only his daily training, but
the inherent tendency of his mind toward that profession which he
afterwards adorned. Mr. Sewall, his colleague, says of him, "That his
crowning glory was that he was pious from his youth." He entered Harvard
College at sixteen, and, after graduating, devoted two years to the
study of divinity in Cambridge. His acquirements in theology, science,
and history were marvellous, and, with his diligence and love of
research, he turned with great energy to Europe as a wider field, where
he could add indefinitely to his already fine attainments, and where the
ease and grace of an older civilization left their stamp on his future
deportment and endeared him to his people and the whole community. In
1709 he sailed for England by the way of Barbadoes, thence to Madeira,
and, after another trip to Barbadoes, he finally settled in England in
October, 1710, making his home there seven years. There is one volume of
his journal covering this period, bound in vellum, at the Massachusetts
Historical rooms, presented by the Rev. Chandler Robbins. It is a
miracle of neatness and precision, but in such fine penmanship that it
is difficult to decipher. His love of detail is manifest in the most
accurate information in regard to the ship's progress in her various
voyages; and in his account of the small-pox and measles, both of which
diseases assailed him at this time, the daily symptoms were chronicled
in the most vivid manner. He attended theological lectures in London and
at various universities, becoming in 1711 pastor of a church in Combs,
Suffolk County, England. For six years this young American pursued his
profession with enthusiasm, in the midst of a population who were
devoted to him. Before returning to America he formed a church at
Battisford, next parish to Combs, and when he returned to his native
land many of his congregation came with him.
The chapel was then closed; one part of the flock settled at Needham
Market, the other at Stowmarket,--these churches still existing. In
Combs began the romantic period of his life. He became interested in
Deborah Denny, a child of twelve when he came to the village, who grew
up under his ministrations. Her family for centuries was famed for its
piety and was thoroughly devoted to the interests of the church. Her
training had been as strict in religious matters as Mr. Prince's. In her
eighteenth year Deborah sailed for America, with her brother Samuel, to
join another brother, who had settled here previously. Mr. Prince took
passage on the same vessel, and two years later they were married at
the house of her brother, Daniel Denny, at Leicester, by Rev. Joseph
Sewall, Mr. Prince being ten years older than his bride. He had been
urged to continue his residence abroad; but his longings for home were
too powerful for their inducements, and later in life he was known to
have regretted spending so many years away from what he then had learned
to consider his true sphere of usefulness.
He landed in Boston on a July Sunday, 1717. He notes it thus in his
journal: "The captain sent his pinnace to carry me up. I landed at Long
Wharf about three quarters of an hour before the meeting began, and by
that means escaped the crowds of people, five hundred it was said, who
came down on the wharf at noon, inquiring for me. But now, the streets
being clear, I silently went up to the Old South Meeting House, where no
one knew me but Mr. Sewall, in the pulpit." The churches of Hingham,
Bristol, and the Old South gave him urgent calls to become their pastor.
His choice fell upon the Old South, whose pastor, Mr. Sewall, was a
cherished friend and classmate.
Mrs. Grace Denny, Mrs. Prince's mother, in her letters to "daughter
Prince," regretted that she was to be subject to the temptations of a
city life, fearing it would be a snare and hindrance to her growth in
grace, and advocated the choice of Hingham as a residence. In 1719
Boston was a goodly town of only twelve thousand inhabitants, governed
with strict Puritan laws, some of which were even oppressive, giving
small opportunity to indulge in the frivolities of life, even if one
desired, and least of all to a pastoress of the Old South Church.
The church in which Mr. Prince was ordained by Increase and Cotton
Mather, and Mr. Sewall, and where he delivered his own ordination sermon
to admiring crowds, was not the historical structure of the present day,
although it occupied the same site. The street in front was lined with
beautiful mulberry trees, and bore the name of 'Marlboro', from the
great Duke and General. The parsonage was next door north, and opposite,
on Milk street, was the home of Josiah Franklin, where Benjamin was
born. There were handsome residences in the vicinity, and the streets
even then were paved with cobble-stones.
Rev. Mr. Wisner, on the one-hundredth anniversary of the erection of the
present Old South, gave a pleasing account of the lives and work of
Joseph Sewall and Thomas Prince. He said, "Forty years these excellent
men associated and labored for this congregation, in firm friendship, in
perfect unity, which few can emulate. Their journals show never a shadow
of difference. They had remarkable tempers. Mr. Sewall notes in his
journal that he and Mr. Prince always prayed together before their
different church services, and occasionally spent portions of a day
mutually devoted to private humiliation in united prayer."
The present meeting-house was erected in 1729. A day was set apart "to
humble themselves before God, for all their unfruitfulness under the
means of grace enjoyed in the old meeting-house, and to bless the
building of another one."
Mr. Sewall prayed with the workmen before they began to take down the
house. It is curious to note the remarkable faith in direct answer to
prayer in those days. President Dwight lays emphasis upon the fact, and
gives the following instance in the life of Mr. Prince as evidence: "It
was the destruction of the French fleet, under Duke D'Anville, in 1746.
Forty ships of war, destined for the destruction of New England, were
fitted out at Brest for the purpose. Our pious fathers, apprised of the
danger, called a meeting for fasting and prayer. While Mr. Prince was
officiating and praying most devoutly to God to avert the calamity, a
sudden gust of wind arose (the day had been perfectly calm and clear),
so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the windows. The reverend
pastor paused in his prayer, and, looking around upon the congregation
with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and with great
devotional ardor supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to
frustrate the object of our enemies, and save the country from conquest
and popery. A tempest ensued, in which a greater part of the French
fleet was wrecked on the coast of Nova Scotia. The Duke D'Anville
committed suicide. Many died with disease, and thousands were consigned
to a watery grave. The small number who survived returned to France,
broken in health and spirits,--the enterprise was abandoned, and never
renewed." Many who were present have left accounts of Mr. Prince's
earnestness on this occasion.
Probably no two men could be more devoted to the religious interests of
their church and the community at large than these, yet Mr. Prince
records, eighteen years after the beginning of his pastorate, that the
ministers of Boston made an extraordinary effort to arrest the decay of
godliness, but with no abiding results, and this was particularly
noticeable in his own congregation. There seemed to be no change in this
respect until the coming of Whitfield, in 1740, when he preached "to
breathless thousands in the old South Church." Mr. Prince welcomed this
apostle with enthusiasm. His own sermons were full of vigor, and a
brilliant imagination embellished them with abundant illustrations, but
depth of thought and zealous research made the majority of his writings
far above the comprehension of the multitude. His printed funeral
sermons are quaint in their deep, black borders, with drawings of
death's heads similar to those that adorned the tombstones. His sermon
after the death of George I. may have embodied the feeling prevalent at
that time; but, in view of the more critical light thrown upon the
character and reigns of the Georges by historians and satirists of our
day, this eulogy is a curiosity, with its almost childish enthusiasm and
simple-hearted loyalty. The following are passages from his sermon:--
For my part, I shall never forget the joy that swelled my heart
when in the Splendid Procession, at his Coronation, preceded by all
the nobles of the kingdom and his son and heir-apparent, one other
hope, with their Ermine Robes and Coronets, that Royal face at
length appeared, which Heaven had in that moment sent to save these
Great Nations from the Brink of Ruin. Nor do I speak of it as my
case alone, but as what appeared to be the equal transport of the
multitudes around me. The tears of joy seemed to rise and swell in
every eye, and we were hardly able to give a shout thro' the
laboring passions that were swelling in us. He was in some respects
a Father to the Kings of the earth, or at least a powerful and
decisive mediator and umpire among them. The eyes of the greatest
princes were turned to him. In these distant parts of his Dominion
we have felt the happy influences of his happy reign. He was the
darling and protection of his people, the great support of the
reformed interest and the arbiter of Europe. George II. is a Prince
of winning countenance and manly aspect, had considerable treasure
of useful learning, and with him a most amiable Princess, the
reigning glory of her sex for beauty, knowledge, wit, discretion,
the sweetest temper, the most cheerful, affable and engaging
countenance and carriage, with every charming virtue; in the bloom
of her youth preferred her chaste religion to all the glories of
the Imperial family, and became the love and admiration of every
protestant.
President Cheney says of Mr. Prince "he may be justly characterized as
one of our great men;" but he deplored that he sometimes devoted so much
attention to minute and trifling circumstances of things, and gave too
great credit to surprising stories. This, no doubt, may at times have
been unnecessary, and would certainly be a failing at the present time,
when writing on all subjects is so universal; but in Mr. Prince's case
it took the form of an advantage to posterity, as this love of detail
caused him to hand down to all generations the most life-like
descriptions of daily life and conversation of his own and remote times.
Although he saw a particular providence in every act, every word, every
wind that blew, and every storm that arose, yet Mr. Sewall said of him,
"that the great truths and doctrines of the Gospel were his chosen
subjects. He spake as the oracles of God, as one that felt the Divine
Excellence. Some of his discourses even have received impressions in
England."
The great tenderness of his nature was particularly prominent in his
family relations. He trained his children in the paths of knowledge, his
well-disciplined mind making him a safe and wise teacher; while, like
him, they were pious from their youth. His only son graduated with honor
from his own college, and had just started on a literary career with
flattering success, when consumption caused his death, in his
twenty-fourth year. Two daughters, also, at the early ages of twenty and
twenty-two, were taken from the household, and in their old age one
daughter only was left to these parents. Mr. Prince's contemporaries
speak of his wonderful resignation at these repeated afflictions. His
sermon on the death of his daughter Deborah gives the religious
experience of a young girl who, in those rigorous Calvinistic days, had
her sweet young life overshadowed by the terror of God's wrath for what
she considered her unbelief. A few extracts will give a good idea of Mr.
Prince's impassioned, pathetic, and even dramatic style, and his
apparently "trifling details" add vividness to the picture. His son
besought him to dispense with the custom of a funeral oration in his
case; but the feelings of the father were sacrificed to what he
considered his duty to the youth of his congregation on the occasion of
his daughter's death.
He said: "You have known her character; I need not give it to this
assembly, and I am more especially restrained, not only by my near
relation, but by what she said to me, with all the emotions of a grieved
heart, three or four days before her death. 'Dear father, I have been
told you speak to people in my commendation. I beg you would not. I am
a poor, miserable sinner; you cannot think how it grieves me.' On these
accounts I must forbear her character; but because God's dealings with
her, both before and in her sickness, have been remarkable, I cannot but
think it will be for his glory and your advantage to present some of
them to you. As she grew up, God was pleased to refrain her from
vanities, move her to study her Bible and best of authors, both of
history and divinity. Dr. Watts and Mrs. Rowe's writings were familiar
to her. The spirit of God worked upon her at fourteen, but she did not
join the church until two years later, when she narrowly escaped
drowning, in her father's bosom. For, as I had just received her in my
arms, in a boat, in order to go on board a vessel in the harbor, bound
to her Uncle Denny's, at Georgetown, on the Kennebec river, the boat
steered off, and I fell back with her into the salt water, ten feet
deep, with which she was almost filled, and we both continued under it,
out of sight of her brother and sister looking on, for about a minute.
If a couple of strangers from Connecticut had not been near at hand to
reach her quickly, in a minute or more she had been past recovery....