is the way in which the liberal party brought itself to the task of
manifesting its own purposes. Its first organizations were tentative and
inclusive, without theological purpose or bias. No distinct lines were
drawn, and to them belonged orthodox and liberal alike. Their sole
distinguishing attitude was a catholicity of temper that permitted the free
activity of the liberals. One of the first organizations of this kind was
the Evangelical Missionary Society, which was formed by several of the
ministers resident in Worcester and Middlesex Counties. The first meeting
was held in Lancaster, November 4, 1807, when a constitution was adopted
and the society elected officers. "The great object of this Society," said
the constitution, "is to furnish the means of Christian knowledge and moral
improvement to those inhabitants of our own country who are destitute or
poorly provided." The growth of the country, even in New England (for the
operations of the society were confined to that region), developed many
communities in which the population was scattered, and without adequate
means of education and religion. To aid these communities in securing good
teachers and ministers was the purpose of the society. It refused to send
forth itinerants, but carefully selected such towns as gave promise of
permanent growth, and sent to them ministers instructed to organize
churches and to promote the building of meeting-houses. In this way it was
the means of establishing a number of churches in Maine, New Hampshire, and
Massachusetts. It also sent a number of teachers into new settlements in
Maine, who were successful in training many of their pupils for teaching in
the public schools. In several instances minister and teacher were combined
in one person, but the work was none the less effective.
In 1816 this society was incorporated, its membership was broadened to
include the state, and active aid and financial support were given it by
the churches in Boston and Salem. It was not sectarian, though, after its
incorporation, its membership was more largely recruited from liberals. In
time it became distinctly Unitarian in its character, and such it has
remained to the present day. Very slowly, however, did it permit itself to
lose any of its marks of catholicity and inclusiveness. In the end its
membership was confined to Unitarians because no one else wished to share
in its unsectarian purposes. At the present time this society does a quiet
and helpful work in the way of aiding churches that have ceased to be
self-supporting because of the shifting conditions of population, and in
affording friendly assistance to ministers in times of distress or when old
age has come upon them.
[Sidenote: The Berry Street Conference.]
The first meeting of the liberal ministers for organization was held in the
vestry of the Federal Street Church[13] on the evening of May 30, 1820,
which immediately preceded election day, the time when anniversary meetings
were usually held. The ministers of the state then gathered in Boston to
hear the election sermon, and for such counselling of each other as their
congregational methods made desirable. At this meeting Dr. Channing gave an
address stating the objects that had brought those present together, and
the desirability of their drawing near each other as liberal men for mutual
aid and support. "It was thought by some of us," he said, "that the
ministers of this commonwealth who are known to agree in what are called
liberal and catholic views of Christianity needed a bond of union, a means
of intercourse, and an opportunity of conference not as yet enjoyed. It was
thought that by meeting to join their prayers and counsels, to report the
state and prospects of religion in different parts of the commonwealth, to
communicate the methods of advancing it which have been found most
successful, to give warning of dangers not generally apprehended, to seek
advice in difficulties, and to take a broad survey of our ecclesiastical
affairs and of the wants of our churches, much light, strength, comfort,
animation, zeal, would be spread through our body. The individuals who
originated this plan were agreed that, whilst the meeting should be
confined to those who harmonize generally in opinion, it should be
considered as having for its object, not simply the advancement of their
peculiar views, but the general diffusion of practical religion and of the
spirit of Christianity."
As this address indicates in every word of it the liberal men were
sensitively anxious to put no fetters on each other; and their reluctance
to circumscribe their own personal freedom was extreme. This was the cause
that had thus far prevented any effectual organization, and it now withheld
the members from any but the most tentative methods. Having escaped from
the bondage of sect, they were suspicious of everything that in any manner
gave indication of denominational restrictions.
[Sidenote: The Publishing Fund Society.]
In May, 1821, a year later than the foundation of the Berry Street
Conference, several gentlemen in Boston, "desirous of promoting the
circulation of works adapted to improve the public mind in religion and
morality," met and established a Publishing Fund. The publishing committee
then appointed consisted of Dr. Joseph Tuckerman, Dr. John Gorham Palfrey,
and Mr. George Ticknor. The Publishing Fund Society refused to print
doctrinal tracts or those devoted in any way to sectarian interests. The
members of the society made declaration that their publications had nothing
to do with any of the isms in religion. Their great object was the increase
of practical goodness, the improvement of men in all that truly exalts and
ennobles them or that qualifies them for usefulness and happiness. Most of
their tracts were in the form of stories of a didactic character, in which
the writers assumed the broad principles of Christian theology and ethics
which are common to all the followers of Christ, without meddling with
sectarian prejudice or party views. In such statements as these the
promoters of this work indicated their methods, their aim being to furnish
good reading to youth, and to those in scattered communities who could not
have access to books that were instructive. Besides the tracts of this kind
the society also published a series for adults, which were of a more
strictly devotional character, and yet did not omit to provide
entertainment and instruction.[14] This society continued its work for
many years, and it issued a considerable number of tracts and books that
well served the purpose for which they were designed.
[Sidenote: Harvard Divinity School.]
One important result of the theological discussions of the time was the
organization of the Divinity School in connection with Harvard College. The
eighteenth-century method of preparation for the ministerial office was to
study with some settled pastor, who directed the reading of the student,
gave him practical acquaintance with the labors of a pastor, and initiated
him into the profession by securing for him the "approbation" of the
ministerial association with which he was connected. Another method was for
the student to continue his residence in Cambridge, and follow his
theological studies under the guidance of the president and the Hollis
professor, making use of the library of the college. When Rev. Henry Ware
was inducted into the Hollis professorship, it was seen that some more
systematic method of theological study was desirable. He gradually enlarged
the scope of his activities, and in 1811 he began a systematic courser of
instruction for the resident students in theology. Ware "was one of those
genuine lovers of reform and progress," as John Gorham Palfrey said, "who
are always ready for any innovation for the better; who, in the pursuit of
what is truly good and useful, are not only content to move on with the
age, but desirous to move on before it."[15] This effort of his to improve
the methods of theological study proved to be the germ of the existing
Divinity School.
The Hollis professorship of divinity was founded by Thomas Hollis, of
London, in 1721. Samuel Dexter, of Boston, established a lectureship of
Biblical criticism in 1811. Both the professorship and the lectureship were
designed for the undergraduates, and not primarily for students in
theology. In 1815, however, it became apparent to some of the liberals that
a school wholly devoted to the preparation of young men for the ministry
was needed.
Those who subscribed to the $30,000 secured for this purpose were in 1816
formed into the Society for the Promotion of Theological Education in
Harvard University. This society rendered efficient aid to the school for
several years. At a meeting held at the Boston Athenaeum, July 17, 1816,
Rev. John T. Kirkland became its president, Rev. Francis Parkman, recording
secretary, Rev. Charles Lowell, corresponding secretary, and Jonathan
Phillips, treasurer. The society was supported by annual subscriptions,
life subscriptions, and donations. The school began its work in 1816, with
Rev. Andrews Norton as the Dexter lecturer on Biblical criticism, Rev. J.T.
Kirkland as instructor in systematic theology, Rev. Edward Everett in the
criticism of the Septaugint, Professor Sidney Willard in Hebrew, and
Professor Levi Frisbie in ethics. In 1819 Mr. Norton was advanced to a
professorship, and thereafter devoted his whole time to the school; and
during that year the school was divided into three classes. In 1824 the
Society for the Promotion of Theological Education took the general
direction of the school, arranging the course of study and otherwise
assuming a supervision, which continued until 1831, when the school
received a place as one of the departments of the University. In 1826 a
building was erected for the school by the society, which has borne the
name of Divinity Hall. In 1828 a professorship of pulpit eloquence and
pastoral care was established by the society, and in 1830 the younger Henry
Ware entered upon its duties.[16] He was succeeded in 1842 by Rev. Convers
Francis. In 1830 Rev. John Gorham Palfrey became the professor of Biblical
literature, and soon after the instructor in Hebrew. Rev. George Rapall
Noyes, in 1840, took the Hancock professorship of Hebrew and the Dexter
lectureship in Biblical criticism.
Though organized and conducted by the Unitarians, the Divinity School was
from the first unsectarian in its purpose and methods; for the Society for
the Promotion of Theological Education, on its organization, put into its
constitution this fundamental law: "It being understood that every
encouragement be given to the serious, impartial and unbiassed
investigation of Christian truth, and that no assent to the peculiarities
of any denomination, be required either of the students or professors or
instructors."
[Sidenote: The Unitarian Miscellany.]
The first outspoken periodical on the liberal side that aimed at being
distinctly denominational was published in Baltimore. Dr. Freeman preached
in that city in 1816, with the result that during the following year a
church was organized there. It was there in 1819, on the occasion of the
ordination of Rev. Jared Sparks as the first minister of this church, that
Dr. Channing gave utterance to the first great declaration of the Unitarian
position, in a sermon that has never been surpassed in this country as an
intellectual interpretation of the highest spiritual problems.
In January, 1821, Rev. Jared Sparks began the publication in Baltimore of
The Unitarian Miscellany and Christian Monitor; and for three years he was
its editor. For another three years it was conducted by his successor in
the Baltimore pulpit, Rev. Francis W.P. Greenwood, who continued it until
he became the minister of King's Chapel, when it ceased to exist. During
the six years of its publication this magazine was ably edited. It was
controversial in a liberal spirit, it was positively denominational, and it
had a large and widely extended circulation. It reported all prominent
Unitarian events, and those of a liberal tendency in all religious bodies.
Attacks on Unitarianism were repelled, and the Unitarian position was
explained and vindicated. Mr. Sparks was as aggressive as Andrews Norton
had been, and was by no means willing to keep to the quiet and reticent
manner of the Unitarians of Boston. When he was attacked, he replied with
energy and skill; and he carried the war into the enemies' camp. His
magazine was far more positive than anything the liberals had hitherto put
forth, and its methods were viewed with something of suspicion in the
conservative circles of Massachusetts. He published a series of letters on
the Episcopal Church in The Unitarian Miscellany, which he enlarged and put
into a book.[17] Another series of letters was on the comparative moral
tendencies of Trinitarian and Unitarian doctrines, and these grew into a
volume.[18] Both were in reply to attacks made upon him, and both were
regarded with suspicion and doubt by the men about Cambridge; but, in time,
they came to see that his method was sincere, learned, and honest.
In The Unitarian Miscellany, as in all their utterances of this time, the
Unitarians manifested much anxiety to maintain their position as the true
expounders of primitive Christianity. They did not covet a place outside
the larger fellowship of the Christian faith. A favorite method of
vindicating their right to Christian recognition was by the publication of
the works of liberal orthodox writers of previous generations. Such an
attempt was made by Jared Sparks in his Collection of Essays and Tracts in
Theology, with Biographical and Critical Notices, issued in Boston from
1823 to 1826. In the general preface to these six volumes, Mr. Sparks said
that "the only undeviating rule of selection will be that every article
chosen shall be marked with rational and liberal views of Christianity, and
suited to inform the mind or improve the temper and practice," and that the
series was "designed to promote the cause of sacred learning, of truth and
charity, of religious freedom and rational piety." In the first volume were
included Turretin's essay on the fundamentals of religious truth, a number
of short essays by Firmin Abauzit, Francis Blackburne's discussion of the
value of confessions of faith, and several essays by Bishop Hoadley. That
these writings have now no significance, even to intelligent readers, does
not detract from the value of their publication; for they had a living
meaning and power. Other writers, drawn upon in the succeeding volumes were
Isaac Newton, Jeremy Taylor, John Locke, Isaac Watts, William Penn, and
Mrs. Barbauld. The catholicity of the editor was shown in the wide range of
his authors, whose doctrinal connections covered the whole field of
Christian theology.
In the publication of The Unitarian Miscellany, Mr. Sparks had the business
aid of the Baltimore Unitarian Book Society, formed November 19, 1820,
which was organized to carry on this work, and to disseminate other liberal
books and tracts. This society distributed Bibles, "and such other books as
contain rational and consistent views of Christian doctrines, and are
calculated to promote a correct faith, sincere piety, and a holy practice."
In the year 1821 was formed the Unitarian Library and Tract Society of New
York; and similar societies were started in Philadelphia and Charleston
soon after, as well as in other cities. Some of these societies published
books, tracts, and periodicals, all of them distributed Unitarian
publications, and libraries were formed of liberal works. The most
successful of these societies, which soon numbered a score or two, was that
in Baltimore. This society extended its missionary operations with the
printed page widely, sending tracts into every part of the country, the
demand for them having become very large. Its periodical had an extended
circulation, its cheapness, its popular character, and its outspoken
attitude on doctrinal questions serving to make it the most successful of
the liberal publications of the time.[19]
[Sidenote: The Christian Register.]
On April 20, 1821, was issued the first number of The Christian Register,
the regular weekly publication of which began with August 24 of that year.
Its four pages contained four columns each, but the third of these pages
was given to secular news and advertisements. The first page was devoted to
general religious subjects, the second discussed those topics which were of
special interest to Unitarians, while the fourth was given to literary
miscellanies. Almost nothing of church news was reported, and only in a
limited way was the paper denominational. It was a general religious
newspaper of a kind that was acceptable to the liberals, and it defended
and interpreted their cause when occasion demanded. The paper was started
wholly as an individual enterprise by its publisher, Rev. David Reed, who
acted for about five years as its editor. He had the encouragement of the
leading Unitarians of Boston and its vicinity; and, when such men as
Channing, Ware, and Norton wished to speak for the Unitarians, its columns
were open to them. Among the other early contributors were Kirkland, Story,
Edward Everett, Walker, Dewey, Furness, Palfrey, Gannett, Noah Worcester,
Greenwood, Bancroft, Sparks, Alexander Young, Freeman, Burnap, Pierpont,
Noyes, Lowell, Frothingham, and Pierce.
In his prospectus the publisher spoke of the growth of the spirit of free
religious inquiry in the country; and he said that in all classes of the
community there was an eagerness to understand theological questions, and
to arrive at and practice the genuine principles of Christianity. His ideal
was a periodical that should present the same doctrines and temper as The
Christian Disciple, but that would be of a more popular character. "The
great object of The Christian Register," he said to his readers, "will be
to inculcate the principles of a rational faith, and to promote the
practice of genuine piety. To accomplish this purpose it will aim to excite
a spirit of free and independent religious inquiry, and to assist in
ascertaining and bringing into use the true principles of interpreting the
Scriptures."
For a number of years The Christian Register conformed to "the mild and
amiable spirit" in which it began its career, rarely being aroused to an
aggressive attitude, and seldom undertaking to speak for Unitarianism as a
distinct form of Christianity. When the liberals were fiercely attacked, it
spoke out, as, for instance, at the time when the Unitarians were charged
with stealing churches from the orthodox.[20] Otherwise it was mild and
placid enough, given to expressing its friendly interest in every kind of
reform, from the education of women to the emancipation of slaves,
thoroughly humanitarian in its attitude, not doctrinal or controversial,
but faithfully catholic and tolerant. It was a well-conducted periodical,
represented a wide range of interests, and was admirably suited to
interpret the temper and spirit of a rational religion. It is now the
oldest weekly religious newspaper published in this country. As the leading
Unitarian periodical, it is still conducted with notable enterprise and
ability.
Another periodical also deserves mention in this connection, and that is
the North American Review, which was begun by William Tudor, one of the
members of The Anthology Club, in May, 1815. While it was not religious in
its character, it was from the first, and for more than sixty years, edited
by Unitarians; and its contributors were very largely from that religious
body. The same tendencies and conditions that led the liberals to establish
The Monthly Anthology, The Christian Disciple, and The Christian Examiner,
gave demand amongst them for a distinctly literary and critical journal.
They had gained that form of liberated and catholic culture which made such
works possible, and to a large extent they afforded the public necessary to
their support. Mr. Tudor was succeeded as the editor of the review by
Professor Edward T. Channing, and then followed in succession Edward
Everett, Jared Sparks, Alexander H. Everett, John Gorham Palfrey, Francis
Bowen, and Andrew P. Peabody, all Unitarians. Among the early Unitarian
contributors were Nathan Hale, Joseph Story, Nathaniel Bowditch, W.H.
Prescott, William Cullen Bryant, and Theophilus Parsons. For many years few
of the regular contributors were from any other religious body, not because
the editors put restrictions upon others, but because those who were
interested in general literary, historical, and scientific subjects
belonged almost exclusively to the churches of this faith.
[Sidenote: Results of the Division in Congregationalism.]
The controversy which began in 1805 continued for about twenty years. The
pamphlets and books it brought forth are almost forgotten, and they would
have little interest at the present time. They gradually widened the breach
between the orthodox and the liberal Congregationalists. It would be
difficult to name a decisive date for their actual separation. The
organization of the societies, and the establishment of the periodicals
already mentioned, were successive steps to that result. The most important
event was undoubtedly the formation of the American Unitarian Association,
in 1825; but even that important movement on the part of the Unitarians did
not bring about a final separation. Individual churches and ministers
continued to treat each other with the same courtesy and hospitality as
before.
That the breach was inevitable seems to be the verdict of history; and yet
it is not difficult to see to-day how it might have been avoided. The
Unitarians were dealt with in such a manner that they could not continue
the old connection without great discomfort and loss of self-respect. They
were forced to organize for self-protection, and yet they did so
reluctantly and with much misgiving. They would have preferred to remain as
members of the united Congregational body, but the theological temper of
the time made this impossible. It would not be just to say that there was
actual persecution, but there could not be unity where there was not
community of thought and faith.
When the division in the Congregational churches came, one hundred and
twenty-five churches allied themselves with the Unitarians,--one hundred in
Massachusetts, a score in other parts of New England, and a half-dozen west
of the Hudson River. These churches numbered among them, however, many of
the oldest and the strongest, including about twenty of the first
twenty-five organized in Massachusetts, and among them Plymouth (organized
in Scrooby), Salem, Dorchester, Boston, Watertown, Roxbury, Hingham,
Concord, and Quincy. The ten Congregational churches in Boston, with the
exception of the Old South, allied themselves with the Unitarians. Other
first churches to take this action were those of Portsmouth, Kennebunk, and
Portland.
Outside New England a beginning was made almost as soon as the Unitarian
name came into recognition. At Charleston, S.C., the Congregational church,
which had been very liberal, was divided in 1816 as the result of the
preaching of Rev. Anthony Forster. He was led to read the works of Dr.
Priestley, and became a Unitarian in consequence. Owing to ill-health, he
was soon obliged to resign; and Rev. Samuel Gilman was installed in 1819.
Rev. Robert Little, an English Unitarian, took up his residence in
Washington in 1819, and began to preach there; and a church was organized
in 1821. While chaplain of the House of Representatives, in 1821-22, Jared
Sparks preached to this society fortnightly, and in the House Chamber on
the alternate Sunday. When he went to Charleston, in 1819, to assist in the
installation of Mr. Gilman, he preached to a very large congregation in the
state-house in Raleigh; and the next year he spoke to large congregations
in Virginia.[21] More than a decade earlier there were individual
Unitarians in Kentucky.[22] On his journey to the ordination of Jared
Sparks, Dr. Channing preached in a New York parlor; and on his return he
occupied the lecture-hall of the Medical School. The result was the First
Congregational Church (All Souls'), organized in 1819, which was followed
by the Church of the Messiah in 1825. In fact, many of the more intelligent
and thoughtful persons everywhere were inclined to accept a liberal
interpretation of Christianity.