publication of tracts, six of which were issued during the first year. In
connection with their publication a series of depositaries was established
for their sale. David Reed of The Christian Register became the general
agent, while there were ten county depositaries in Massachusetts, four in
New Hampshire, three in Maine, and one each in Connecticut, New York City,
Philadelphia, Charleston, and Washington.[13] For a number of years the
tracts were devoted to doctrinal subjects. Several of Channing's ablest
sermons and addresses were first printed in this form. Among the other
contributors to the first series were the three Wares, Orville Dewey,
Joseph Tuckerman, James Walker, George Ripley, Samuel J. May, John G.
Palfrey, Ezra S. Gannett, Samuel Gilman, George R. Noyes, William G. Eliot,
Andrew P. Peabody, F.A. Farley, James Freeman Clarke, S.G. Bulfinch, George
Putnam, Joseph Allen, Frederic H. Hedge, Edward B. Hall, George E. Ellis,
Thomas B. Fox, Charles T. Brooks, J.H. Morison, Henry W. Bellows, William
H. Furness, John Cordner, Chandler Robbins, Augustus Woodbury, and William
R. Alger. Ten or twelve tracts were issued yearly, those of the year having
a consecutive page numbering, so that, in fact, they appeared in the form
of a monthly periodical, each tract bearing the date of its publication,
and being sent regularly to all subscribers to the Association. In all,
three hundred tracts appeared in this form in the first series, making
twenty-six volumes.
For nearly half a century none of the tracts of the Association were
published for free distribution. They were issued at prices ranging from
two to ten cents each, according to the size, some of them having not more
than ten or twelve pages, while others had more than a hundred. So long as
there was an eagerness for theological reading, and an earnest intellectual
interest in the questions which divided the several religious bodies of the
country from each other, it was not difficult to sell editions of from
3,000 to 10,000 copies of all the tracts published by the Association. From
the first, however, there were many calls for tracts for free distribution.
To meet this demand, there was formed in Boston, by a number of young men
during the year 1827, The Unitarian Book and Pamphlet Society, for "the
gratuitous distribution of Unitarian publications of an approved
character." It undertook especially to distribute "such publications as
shall be issued by the American Unitarian Association or recommended by
it." This society also circulated tracts printed by The Christian Register
and The Christian World, the call for such publications having led the
publishers of these periodicals to give their aid in meeting the demand for
pamphlets on theological problems and on practical religious duties. The
society also distributed Bibles to the poor of the city and in more distant
country places, furnishing them to missionaries and others who would
undertake work of this kind. In the same manner they gave away large
numbers of books, their list for 1836 including Scougal's Life of God in
the Soul of Man, Ware's Formation of the Christian Character, and works by
Worcester, Channing Whitman, and Greenwood. The call for aid was
considerable from the western and southern states; and books were sent to
Havana, New Brunswick, and the Sandwich Islands. In the winter of 1840-41
this society was reorganized, an urgent appeal was made to the churches for
an increase of funds, and during the next few years its work was large and
important.
In the year 1848 was begun a special effort for the circulation of
Unitarian books, on the part of The Book and Pamphlet Society, The Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Piety, and Charity, as well as by the
Unitarian Association. In that year the second of these organizations sent
out circulars to 263 colleges and theological schools, offering to give
Unitarian books, to those desiring to receive them; and to 59 of these
institutions assortments of books worth from two dollars to one hundred
dollars were forwarded. The first request came from the Catholic College at
Worcester, and the last from the Wisconsin University at Madison. At the
same time the Association was pressing the sale and free distribution of
the Works and the Memoir of Dr. Charming, as well as various books by
Peabody, Livermore, Bartol, and others.
The Association began to make use of colporters about the year 1847. The
next year it had two young ministers engaged in this work, and by 1850 this
kind of missionary labor had increased to considerable proportions.
Especially in the West was much use made of the colporter, and in this way
in many of the states the works of Channing were sold in large numbers. By
these agents, tracts were given away with a free hand, and books were given
to ministers and those who especially needed them. The Western ministers,
almost without exception, served as colporters, selling books and
distributing them as important helps to their missionary labors. In many
communities zealous laymen took part in this kind of service, and the
several depositaries of books and tracts were used as centres from which
colporters and others could draw their supplies. As early as 1835 a general
depositary had been established in Cincinnati, and in 1849 one was opened
in Chicago.
The Association could not have undertaken any work that would have brought
in a larger or more immediate return in the way of religious education and
spiritual growth than this of the publication of tracts and books. Previous
to 1850 a doctrinal sermon was rarely preached in a Unitarian church, and
the tracts were the most important means of giving to the members of
established churches a knowledge of Unitarian theology. By the same means
many other persons were made acquainted with the Unitarian beliefs, and the
result was to be seen in the formation of churches where tracts and books
had been largely distributed.[14]
[Sidenote: Domestic Missions.]
The work of domestic missions from the first largely claimed the attention
of the Association, and it was one the chief objects in its formation.
During the summer of 1826 the members of the Harvard Divinity School were
sent throughout New England to gather information, and to preach where
opportunity offered. The special object was to make ministers and
congregations acquainted with the purposes of the Association. It was found
that there was much opposition to it, and that in many parishes there
existed no desire to have its mission extended.
Persons of all shades of belief were connected with many of the liberal
parishes, some of the churches not having as yet ceased their relations
with the towns in which they were located; and the ministers were not
willing to have theological questions brought to the attention of their
congregations. "The great objection everywhere seems to be," reported one
of the young men, who had travelled through many of the towns of central
Massachusetts, "that the clergymen do not like to awaken party spirit.
People will go on quietly performing all external duties of religion
without asking themselves if they are listening to the doctrine of the
Trinity or not; but the moment you wish to act, they call up all their old
prejudices, and take a very firm stand. This necessarily creates division
and dissension, and renders the situation of the minister very
uncomfortable."[15] The ministers did not preach on theological subjects;
and, while they were liberal themselves, they had not instructed their
parishioners in such a manner that they followed in the same path of
thinking which their leaders had travelled.
It was evident, therefore, that there was work enough in New England for
the Association to accomplish, and such as would fully tax its
resources.[16] It had turned its eyes toward the West and South, however;
and it was not willing to leave these fields unoccupied. In 1836 the
general secretary, Charles Briggs, spent eight months in these regions; and
he found everywhere large opportunities for the spread of Unitarianism.
Promising openings were found at Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit,
Marietta, Tremont, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Nashville, in which villages
or cities churches were soon after formed. It was reported at this time
that there was hardly a town in the West where there were not Unitarians,
or in which it was not possible by the right kind of effort to establish a
Unitarian church.
As a result of the interest awakened by the tour of the general secretary,
fourteen missionaries were put into the field in 1837. In 1838 twenty-three
missionaries visited eleven states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky Alabama, and Georgia.[17] They were
men of experience in parish labors, but they did not go out to the new
country to remain there permanently. They attracted large congregations,
however, formed several societies which promised to be permanent,
administered the ordinances, established Sunday-schools, and did much to
strengthen the churches. In 1839 seven preachers were sent into the west,
and at the next anniversary there was an urgent call made by the
Association for funds with which to establish a permanent missionary agent
in the field. Something more was needed than a few Massachusetts ministers
preaching from town to town with no purpose of locating with any of the
churches they helped to organize. Ministers for the new churches were
urgently demanded, but few men from New England were willing to remove to
the west; and, though recruits came from the orthodox churches, this source
of supply was not sufficient.
The repeated calls made for larger resources with which to carry on the
work of domestic missions resulted in meetings held in Boston during the
year 1841, at which pledges were made to a fund of $10,000 yearly for five
years, to be used for missionary purposes. This sum was secured in 1843 and
the next four years, so that larger aid was given to missionary activities
and to the building of churches. At the annual meeting of 1849 special
attention was given to the subject of domestic missions, and plans were
devised for largely extending all the activities in this direction. Much
interest was taken in the western work during the following years, and
slowly new churches came into existence. In 1849 Rev. Edward P. Bond was
sent to San Francisco, where a number of New England people had held lay
services and formed a church, and in a few years a strong society had grown
up in that city. Mr. Bond also went to the Sandwich Islands; but he was not
able to open a mission there, owing to ill-health. In the South the work
languished, largely owing to the growth of anti-slavery sentiment in the
North, with which Unitarians were generally in sympathy.
From 1830 to 1850 the Unitarians were confronted by the greatest
opportunity which has ever opened to them for missionary activities. The
vast region of the middle west was in a formative state, the people were
everywhere receptive to liberal influences, other churches had not been
firmly established, and there was urgent demand for leadership of a
progressive and rational kind. Here has come to be the controlling centre
of American life,--in politics, education, and social power. A few of the
leaders saw the opportunity, but the churches were not ready to respond to
their appeals.
The work accomplished by the Association during the first twenty-five or
thirty years of its existence, the period reviewed in this chapter, was
small, compared with the opportunity and with the wishes of those who most
had at heart the interests for the promotion of which it was established.
Yet there was wanting in no year encouragement for its friends or something
accomplished that cheered them to larger efforts. In 1850, at the
twenty-fifth anniversary, historical addresses were delivered by Samuel
Osgood, John G. Palfrey, Henry W. Bellows, Edward E. Hale, and Lant
Carpenter; and a hopeful review of the labors of the Association was
presented by the executive committee. First of all its efforts had been
directed to securing religious liberty. Then came its philanthropic
enterprises, and finally its missionary labors. During the quarter of a
century one hundred churches that were weak and struggling, owing to their
situation in towns of decreasing population or in cities not congenial to
their teachings, had been aided. More than fifty vigorous churches had been
planted in the west and south, nearly all of them helped in some way by the
Association. There was a renewed call for strong men to enter the
missionary field, and it was uttered more urgently at this time than ever
before. Special pride was expressed in the high quality of the religious
writings produced by Unitarians, and in the nobleness the men and women who
had been connected with denominational activities.[18]
[1] An eighteenth-century term for the Congregational churches, which
were the legally established churches throughout New England, an
supported by the towns.
[2] Boston Unitarianism, 67.
[3] Memoir of Dr. Channing, one-volume edition, 215.
[4] Ibid., 432.
[5] Ibid., 427.
[6] Memoir of Ezra Stiles Gannett, by W.C. Gannett, 103.
[7] The records give the following names: Drs. Freeman, Channing, Lowell,
Tuckerman, Bancroft, Pierce, and Allyn; Rev. Messrs. Henry Ware,
Francis Parkman, J.G. Palfrey, Jared Sparks, Samuel Ripley, A.
Bigelow, A. Abbot, C. Francis, L. Capen, J. Pierpont, James Walker,
Mr. Harding, and Mr. Edes; and the following laymen,--Richard
Sullivan, Stephen Higginson, B. Gould, H.J. Oliver, S. Dorr, Colonel
Joseph May, C.G. Loring, George Bond, Samuel A. Eliot, G.B. Emerson,
C.P. Phelps, Lewis Tappan, David Reed, Mr. Storer, J. Rucker, N.
Mitchell, Robert Rantoul, Alden Bradford, Mr. Dwight, Mr. Mackintosh,
General Walker, Mr. Strong, Dr. John Ware, and Professor Andrews
Norton.
[8] John Brazer, The Christian Examiner, xx. 240; Alonzo Hill, American
Unitarian Biography, i. 171.
[9] The Liberal Christian, March 3, 1875.
[10] Although Lewis Tappan took a zealous interest in the formation of the
Unitarian Association, as he did in all Unitarian activities of the
time, in the autumn of 1827 he withdrew from the Unitarian
fellowship, and joined the orthodox Congregationalist. In a letter
addressed to a Unitarian minister he explained his reasons for so
doing. This letter circulated for some time in manuscript, and in
1828 was printed in a pamphlet with the title, Letter from a
Gentleman in Boston to a Unitarian Clergyman of that City. Want of
Piety among Unitarians, failure to sustain missionary enterprises,
and the absence of a rigid business integrity he assigned as reasons
for his withdrawal. This pamphlet excited much discussion, pro and
con; and it was answered in a caustic review by J.P. Blanchard.
[11] Moses George Thomas was a graduate of Brown and of the Harvard
Divinity School, was settled in Dover, N.H., from 1829 to 1845,
Broadway Church in South Boston from 1845 to 1848, New Bedford 1848
to 1854, and was subsequently minister at large in the same city.
[12] In writing to Charles Briggs from Newport, under date of July 30
1836, Dr. Channing wrote, "In the pressure of subjects, when I saw
you, I forgot to say to you, that I cannot accept the office with
which the Unitarian Association honored me." That is the whole of
what he wrote on the subject. No one else was elected to the office
for year. It is evident, therefore, that his name should occupy the
place of president.
[13] The depositaries in Massachusetts were at Salem, Concord, Hingham,
Plymouth, Yarmouth, Cambridge, Worcester, Northampton, Springfield,
and Greenfield; in New Hampshire, at Concord, Portsmouth, Keene, and
Amherst; in Maine, at Hallowell, Brunswick, and Eastport; and, in
Connecticut, at Brooklyn. In 1828 the number had increased to
twenty-five in Massachusetts, six in Maine, seven in New Hampshire,
one in Rhode Island, four in New York, two in Pennsylvania, and two
in Maryland. At the first annual meeting of the Unitarian Association
a system of auxiliaries was recommended, which was inaugurated the
next year. It was proposed to organize an auxiliary to the
Association in every parish, and also in each county. These societies
came rapidly into existence, were of much help to the Association in
raising money and in distributing its tracts, and energetic efforts
were made on the part of the officers of the Association to extend
their number and influence. They continued in existence for about
twenty years, and gradually disappeared. They numbered about one
hundred and fifty when most prosperous.
[14] During the first twenty-five years of the Association, 272 tracts of
the first series were issued, and also 29 miscellaneous tracts and 37
reports. The number of copies published was estimated as 1,764,000,
making an average of 70,000 each year. Of these tracts, 103 were
practical, and 93 doctrinal; and, of the doctrinal, one-half were on
the Divine Unity, one-sixth on the Atonement, ten on Regeneration,
five on the Ordinances, four on Human Nature, three on Retribution,
and two on the Holy Spirit. In the Monthly Journal, May, 1860, Vol.
I. pp. 230-240, were given the titles and authors.
[15] From a letter of Samuel K. Lothrop, afterward minister of the Brattle
Street Church.
[16] The following letter is of interest, not only because of the name of
the writer, but because it gives a very good idea of the work done by
the first missionaries of the Association. It is dated at
Northampton, Mass., October 9, 1827. "My dear Sir,--I designed when I
left you to send some earlier notice of my doings than this; but as
it has not been in my power to say much, I have said nothing. Mr.
Hall is preparing an account of his own missions, but thinks it not
worth while to send it to you till it is completed. The first Sabbath
after my arrival I preached here. The second, for the convenience of
the Greenfield people, an exchange was made, and I went to Deerfield,
and Dr. Willard went to Colrain. There were some unfavorable
circumstances which operated to diminish the audience, but they were
glad to see and hear him. The fourth Sabbath (which followed the
meeting of the Franklin Association) I preached at Greenfield, and
Mr. Bailey went to Colrain. I enclose his journal. The fifth Sabbath
at Deerfield, and Dr. Willard at Adams in Berkshire. I have not seen
him since his return. I have told the Franklin Association I would
remain here till November, and in consequence have been thus put to
and fro, but expect to preach the three coming Sundays in
Northampton. I have offered my services to preach lectures in the
week, but circumstances have made it inexpedient in towns where it
was proposed. The clergymen are very glad to see me, having feared
that the mission was indefinitely postponed. They find the better
sort of people in most of the towns inquisitive and favorably
disposed to views of liberal Christianity. It is a singular fact, of
which I hear frequent mention made, that in elections Unitarians are
almost universally preferred when the suffrage is by ballot, and
rejected when given by hand ballot. In Franklin county it is thought
there is a majority of Unitarians. I have been much disappointed in
being obliged to lead a vagrant life, as you know I came hither with
different expectations, and hoped for leisure and retirement for
study, which I needed much. But it would not do for a missionary to
be stiff necked, and so I have been a shuttle. I have promised to go
to New Bedford the first three Sundays of November. With great
regard, your servant, R. Waldo Emerson." From this letter it will be
seen that Emerson supplied the pulpits at Northampton and Greenfield
in order that the ministers in those towns might preach elsewhere.
[17] Fourteenth Annual Report, 14. "They were the following: Rev. George
Ripley, Boston; Rev. A.B. Muzzey, Cambridgeport; Rev. Samuel Barrett,
Boston; Rev. Mr. Green, East Cambridge; Rev. Calvin Lincoln,
Fitchburg; Rev. E.B. Willson, Westford; Dr. James Kendall, Plymouth;
Rev. George W. Hosmer, Buffalo; Rev. Warren Burton, Dr. Thompson,
Salem; Rev. J.P.B. Storer, Syracuse; Rev. Charles Babbidge,
Pepperell; Rev. John M. Myrick, Walpole; Rev. J.D. Swett, Boston;
Rev. A.D. Jones, Brighton; Rev. Henry Emmons, Meadville; Rev. J.F.
Clarke, Louisville; Rev. F.D. Huntington, Rev. B.F. Barrett, Rev.
G.F. Simmons, Rev. C. Nightingale, Mr. Wilson, of the Divinity
School; and Mr. C.P. Cranch. Among the places where they preached
are Houlton Me.; Syracuse, Lockport, Lewiston, Pekin, and Vernon,
N.Y.; Philadelphia and Erie, Pa.; Marietta, Zanesville, Cleveland,
and Toledo, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Owensburg, Ky.; Chicago, Peoria,
Tremont, Jacksonville, Hillsboro, and several other places in
Illinois."
[18] For a most interesting account of the growth of the denomination, see
The Christian Examiner for May, 1854, lvi. 397, article by John
Parkman.
VII.
THE PERIOD OF RADICALISM.
Before the controversy with the Orthodox had come to its end, a somewhat
similar conflict of opinions arose within the Unitarian ranks. The same
influences that had led the Unitarians away from the Orthodox were now
causing the more radical Unitarians to advance beyond their more
conservative neighbors. English philosophy had given direction to the
Unitarian movement in America; and now German philosophy was helping to
develop what has been designated as transcendentalism, which largely found
expression within the Unitarian body. Beginning with 1835, the more liberal
Unitarians were increasingly active. Hedge's[1] Club held its meetings,
The Dial was published, Brook Farm lived its brief day of a reformed
humanity, Parker began his preaching in Boston, Emerson was lecturing and
publishing, and the more radical younger Unitarian preachers were bravely
speaking for a religion natural to man and authenticated by the inner
witness of the truth.
The agitation thus started went on its way with many varying
manifestations, and with a growing incisiveness of statement and
earnestness of feeling. The new teachings gained the interest and the faith
of the young in increasing numbers. In pulpits and on the platform, in
newspapers and magazines, in essays and addresses, this new teaching was
uttered for the world's hearing. The breeze thus created seems to have
grown into a gale, but The Christian Register and The Christian Examiner
gave almost no indication that it had blown their way. In the official
actions and in the publications of the Unitarian Association there was no
word indicating that the discussion had come to its knowledge. All at once,
however, in 1853, it came into the greatest prominence, as the result of
action taken by the Unitarian Association; and, thenceforth, for a quarter
of a century it was never absent as a disturbing element in the
intellectual and religious life of the Unitarian body.