of the New Testament. They accepted without question the ideas on this
subject that had been entertained by all Protestants from the days of
Luther and Calvin. When Theodore Parker and the transcendentalists began to
question the miraculous foundations of Christianity, many Unitarians were
quite unprepared to accept their theories. They believed that the miracles
of the New Testament afford the only evidence for the truthfulness of
Christianity. This issue was distinctly stated in the twenty-eighth annual
report of the Unitarian Association for 1853, wherein an attempt was made
to defend the Unitarian body against the charge of infidelity and
rationalism made by the Orthodox. The teachings of the transcendentalists
and radicals had been attributed to all Unitarians, and the leaders of the
Association felt that it was time to define explicitly the position they
occupied. Therefore they said, in the report of that year:--"We desire, in
a denominational capacity, to assert our profound belief in the Divine
origin, the Divine authority, the Divine sanctions, of the religion of
Jesus Christ. This is the basis of our associated action. We desire openly
to declare our belief as a denomination, so far as it can be officially
represented by the American Unitarian Association, that God, moved by his
own love, did raise up Jesus to aid in our redemption from sin, did by him
pour a fresh flood of purifying life through the withered veins of humanity
and along the corrupted channels of the world, and is, by his religion,
forever sweeping the nations with regenerating gales from heaven, and
visiting the hearts of men with celestial solicitations. We receive the
teachings of Christ, separated from all foreign admixtures and later
accretions, as infallible truth from God."[2] At the same meeting a
resolution was adopted, "without a dissenting voice," which declared that
"the Divine authority of the Gospel, as founded on a special and miraculous
interposition of God, is the basis of the action of the Association."[3]
As these statements indicate, the majority of Unitarians were very
conservative at this time in their theological position and methods. They
were nearly as hesitating and reticent in their beliefs as Unitarians as
they had been while connected with the older Congregational body. The
reason for this was the same in the later as in the earlier period, that a
predominant social conservatism held them aloof from all that was
intellectually aggressive and theologically rationalistic. They had
outgrown Tritheism, as it had been taught for generations in New England;
they had refused to accept the fatalism that had been taught in the name of
Calvin, and they had rejected the ecclesiastical tyrannies that had been
imposed on men by the New England theology. But they had advanced only a
little way in accepting modern thought as a basis of faith, and in seeking
a rational interpretation of the relations of God and man. Their belief in
a superhuman Christ was theoretically weaker, but practically stronger,
than that of the churches from which they had withdrawn; while the grounds
of that belief were in the one instance the same as in the other.
[Sidenote: Depression in Denominational Activities.]
The activities of the Unitarian Association were largely interfered with by
these differences of opinion. The more conservative churches were unwilling
to contribute to its treasury because it did not exclude the radicals from
all connection with it. The radicals, on, the other hand, withheld their
gifts because, while they were not excommunicated, they were regarded with
suspicion by many of the churches, and did not have the fullest recognition
from the Association.
This controversy was emphasized by that arising from the reform movements
of the day, especially the agitation against slavery. Almost without
exception the radicals belonged to the anti-slavery party, while the
conservative churches were generally opposed to this agitation. As a
result, anti-slavery efforts became a serious cause of discord in the
Unitarian churches, and helped to cripple the resources of the Association.
When, as the climax of all, the civil war came on, the Association was
brought to a condition of almost desperate poverty. Not more than twoscore
churches contributed to its treasury, and it was obliged, to curtail its
expenses in every direction.[4]
Up to the year 1865 the Unitarians had not been efficiently organized; and
they had developed very imperfectly what has been called denominational
consciousness, or the capacity for co-operative efforts. The Unitarian
Association was not a representative body, and it depended wholly upon
individuals for its membership. Not more than one-fourth or, at the
largest, one-third of the Unitarian churches were represented in its
support and in its activities. There were: Unitarian churches, and there
was a Unitarian movement; but such a thing as a Unitarian denomination, in
any clearly defined meaning of the words, did not exist. This fact was
explained by James Freeman Clarke in 1863, when he said that "the
traditions of the Unitarian body are conservative and timid."[5] How this
attitude affected the Unitarian Association was pointedly stated by Mr.
Clarke, after several years of experience as its secretary. "The Unitarian
churches in Boston," he wrote, "see no reason for diffusing their faith.
They treat it as a luxury to be kept for themselves, as they keep Boston
Common. The Boston churches, with the exception of a few noble and generous
examples, have not done a great deal for Unitarian missions. I have heard,
it said that they do not wish to make Unitarianism too common. The church
in Brattle street contains wealthy and generous persons who have given
largely to humane objects and to all public purposes; but we believe that,
even while their pastor was president of the Unitarian Association, they
never gave a dollar to that Association for its missionary objects. The
society in King's Chapel was the first in the United States which professed
Unitarianism. It is so wealthy that it might give ten or twenty thousand
dollars a year to missionary objects without feeling it. It has always been
very liberal to its ministers, to all philanthropic and benevolent objects,
and its members have probably given away millions of dollars for public and
social uses; but it never gives anything to diffuse Unitarianism."[6]
Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop continued as the president of the Unitarian
Association until the annual meeting of 1858, when Dr. Edward Brooks Hall
was elected to that position for one year. After short pastorates in
Northampton and Cincinnati, Dr. Hall had been settled over the First Church
in Providence in 1832, which position he held until his death in 1866. At
the annual meeting of 1859 Dr. Frederic H. Hedge was elected president, and
he was twice re-elected. His interest in the Association was active, and he
often spoke at the public meetings. One of the ablest thinkers and
theologians that has appeared among Unitarians in this country, he always
rightly estimated the practical activities of organized religious
movements. He was succeeded in 1862 by Dr. Rufus P. Stebbins, who held the
office for three years. After a settlement in Leominster, Dr. Stebbins was
the first president of the Meadville Theological School from 1844 to 1856.
Then followed a pastorate in Woburn, after which he went to Ithaca and
opened a mission for the students of Cornell University, which grew into
the Unitarian church in that town. From 1877 he was pastor at Newton Centre
until his death in 1885.
The secretary of the Association from 1850 to 1853 was Rev. Calvin Lincoln,
who had been settled in Fitchburg for thirty-one years, and who was the
minister of the First Church in Hingham from 1855 until his death in 1881.
He was succeeded in 1853 by Rev. Henry A. Miles, who continued in office
until 1859. Dr. Miles was settled in Hallowell and Lowell before serving
the Association, and in Longwood and Hingham (Third Parish) afterward. His
little book on The Birth of Jesus has gained him recognition as a
theologian of ability and a critic of independent judgment. For three years
Rev. James Freeman Clarke was the secretary; and in 1861 he was succeeded
by George W. Fox, who served in that capacity until the annual meeting of
1865. Mr. Fox wrote the annual reports from 1862 to 1864, and efficiently
performed all the duties of the secretary which could devolve upon a
layman, with the exception of editing The Monthly Journal, a task which was
continued by James Freeman Clarke.[7]
[Sidenote: Publications.]
In spite of its restricted income during this troubled period, the
Association was able, owing to its invested funds,[8] to increase its
publishing operations to a considerable extent. The number of tracts
published, however, was much smaller; and their monthly issue was
discontinued in order to publish The Quarterly Journal of the American
Unitarian Association, the first number of which appeared in October, 1853.
During the first year each number contained ninety-six pages, which were
increased to one hundred and ninety-two in 1854, but reduced to one hundred
and thirty the following year. In 1860 this publication became The Monthly
Journal; and it was continued until December, 1869, each number containing
forty-eight pages. The Journal was sent to all subscribers to the funds of
the Association, to life members, to all churches contributing to its
funds, as well as to regular subscribers. Its circulation in 1855 was
7,000, and it increased to 15,000 before it was discontinued. It was used
largely, however, for free distribution as a missionary document.
The Journal served an important purpose during the seventeen years of its
publication, as a means of bringing the Association into touch with its
constituency and of making the people acquainted with its work. It
published the records of the meetings of the executive committee as well as
of the annual meeting, it gave numerous extracts from the correspondence of
the secretary, it contained the news of the churches, and all the
denominational activities were kept constantly before its readers. In its
pages were frequently published biographies of prominent Unitarians,
notable addresses were printed, sermons appeared frequently, and able
theological articles. During the editorship of James Freeman Clarke it
contained the successive chapters of his Orthodoxy: Its Truths and Errors.
It also printed one or more chapters of Alger's History of the Doctrine of
the Future Life. The secretary of the Association was its editor, and he
made it at once a theological tract and a denominational newspaper.
The increase in demand for Unitarian tracts and books had been so large
that early in 1854 the executive committee of the Association decided that
a special effort should be made to meet it. They called a meeting in
Freeman Place Chapel on the afternoon of February 1, which was largely
attended. An address was given by Dr. Lothrop, the president, who said that
Channing's works had reached a sale of 100,000 copies, and Ware's Formation
of Christian Character 12,000, that there was an urgent call for liberal
works that would meet the spiritual needs of the age. A large number of
prominent ministers and laymen addressed the meeting, and expressed
themselves as thoroughly sympathy with its objects. A committee was
appointed to consider the proposition made by Dr. George E. Ellis, that a
fund of $50,000 be raised for the publication of books. This committee
reported a month later through its chairman, George B. Emerson, in favor of
the project; and it was voted that the money should be raised. It was
easier to pass this vote, however, than to secure the money from the
churches; for in 1859, after five years of effort, the sum collected was
only $28,163.33.
The money secured, however, was immediately utilized in the publication of
a number of books. Three series of works were undertaken, the first of
these being The Theological Library, in which were published Selections
from the Works of Dr. Channing; Wilson's Unitarian Principles Confirmed by
Trinitarian Testimonies; a one-volume edition of Norton's Statement of
Reasons for not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians concerning the
Nature of God and the Person of Christ, with a memoir of the author by Dr.
William Newell; a volume of Theological Essays selected from the writings
of Jowett, Tholuck, Guizot, Roland Williams, and others, and edited by
George R. Noyes; and Martineau's Studies of Christianity, a series of
miscellaneous papers, edited by William R. Alger. The Devotional Library,
the second of the three series, included The Altar at Home, a series of
prayers, collects, and litanies for family devotions, written by a large
number of the leading Unitarian ministers, and edited by Dr. Miles, the
secretary of the Association; Clarke's Christian Doctrine of Prayer; Thomas
T. Stone's The Rod and the Staff, a transcendentalist presentation of
Christianity as a spiritual life; The Harp and the Cross, a selection of
religious poetry, edited by Stephen G. Bulfinch; Sears's Athanasia, or
Foregleams of Immortality; and Seven Stormy Sundays, a volume of original
sermons by well-known ministers, with devotional services, edited by Miss
Lucretia P. Hale. A Biblical Library was also planned, to include a popular
commentary on the New Testament, a Bible Dictionary, and other works of a
like character; but John H. Morison's Disquisitions and Notes on the Gospel
of Matthew was the only volume published.
[Sidenote: A Firm of Publishers.]
In May, 1859, a young business man of Boston, James P. Walker, established
the firm of Walker, Wise & Co., for the publication of Unitarian books. In
1863 Horace B. Fuller joined the firm, and it became Walker, Fuller & Co.
This firm took charge of all the publishing interests of the Association,
and the head of the house was ambitious of bringing out all the liberal
books issued in this country. Among the works published were: The New
Discussion of the Trinity, a series of articles and sermons by Hedge,
Clarke, Sears, Dewey, and Starr King; Lamson's Church of the First Three
Centuries; Farley's Unitarianism Defined; Recent Inquiries in Theology,
essays by Jowett, Mark Pattison, Baden Powell, and other English Broad
Churchmen, edited by Dr. F.H. Hedge; Alien's Hebrew Men and Times; Dall's
Woman's Right to Labor; Muzzey's Christ in the Will, the Heart, and the
Life; Ichabod Nichols's Sermons; Martineau's Common Prayer for Christian
Worship; Cobbe's Religious Demands of the Age; Ware's Silent Pastor;
Frothingham's Stories from the Patriarchs; Clarke's Hour which Cometh and
Now Is; Parker's Prayers; a second series The Altar at Home; Hedge's Reason
in Religion; Life of Horace Mann by his wife, as well as certain novels,
historical works, and books for the young. The demand for liberal books was
not large enough, however, even with the aid of the Association, to make
such a business successful; and in the autumn of 1866 the publishing firm
of Walker, Fuller & Co. failed. In part the business was carried on for a
time by Horace B. Fuller.
[Sidenote: The Brooks Fund.]
An important work in the distribution of books was inaugurated in 1859 in
connection with the Meadville Theological School, by means of the Fund for
Liberal Christianity established at that time by Joshua Brooks of New York.
He appointed as trustee of the fund Professor Frederick Huidekoper, who
gave his services gratuitously to its care, and to the direction of the
distribution of books for which it provided. The sum given to this purpose
was $20,000, which was increased by favorable investments to $23,000. The
original purpose was to aid in any way that seemed desirable the cause of
liberal Christianity, and a part of the income was devoted to helping
struggling societies. In time the whole income, with the approval of the
donor, was centred upon the distribution of books to settled ministers,
irrespective of denomination. In 1877 the whole number of books that had
been distributed was 40,000. At the present time about $1,000 yearly are
devoted to this work, the recipients being graduates of the Meadville
Theological School, and the ministers of any denomination who may ask for
them, provided they are settled west of the Hudson River. The demands upon
the funds have increased so rapidly that it has become necessary to reduce
the amount of each gift.
[Sidenote: Missionary Efforts.]
The missionary activities of the Association did not actually cease even in
these dark days. In May, 1855, Rev. Ephraim Nute was sent to Kansas, which
was then the battle-ground between the pro-slavery and the anti-slavery
forces of the nation. He established himself at Lawrence, and was the first
settled pastor in the state. With the aid of the Association a church was
built at Lawrence in 1859, which was the first in the state to receive
dedication and to be used as a permanent house of worship. Mr. Nute went
through all the trying scenes preceding the opening of the civil war, and
did his part in maintaining the cause of liberty. He was succeeded by Rev.
John S. Brown in 1859, who labored in this difficult field for several
years.
A church was organized in San Francisco in 1849, without the aid of a
minister; and there was gathered a large and prosperous congregation. In
1850 Rev. Charles A. Farley took up the work; and he was succeeded by Rev.
Joseph Harrington, Rev. Frederick T. Gray, and Rev. Rufus P. Cutler. Thomas
Starr King preached his first sermon in the church April 28, 1860; and he
spoke to crowded congregations until his death, March 4, 1864. On January
10, 1864, a new church was dedicated, in the morning to the worship of God,
and in the afternoon to the service of man.
Among those who carried forward the Unitarian cause in the middle west was
Rev. Nahor A. Staples, a brilliant preacher and a zealous worker, who was
settled in Milwaukee at the end of 1856, and who made his influence widely
felt around him. In 1859 Rev. Robert Collyer began his work in Chicago as a
city Missionary; and the next year Unity Church was organized, with him as
the pastor. In 1859 Rev. Charles G. Ames began his connection with the
Unitarians at Minneapolis, and he subsequently labored at Bloomington.
After a short pastorate in Albany he began general missionary labors on the
Pacific coast. A characteristic type of the western Unitarian was Rev.
Ichabod Codding, who preached at Bloomington, Keokuk, and Baraboo, but who
had no formal settlement. He was a breezy, radical, and ardent preacher,
bold in statement and picturesque in style, a zealous advocate of freedom
for the slave, and warmly devoted to other reforms. He was fitted admirably
for the pioneer preaching to which he largely devoted himself; and his
strong, vigorous, and aggressive ideas were acceptable to those who heard
him.
[Sidenote: The Western Unitarian Conference.]
There was organized in the church at Cincinnati, May 7, 1852, the Annual
Conference of Western Unitarian Churches. At this meeting delegates were
present from the churches in Buffalo, Meadville, Pittsburg, Wheeling,
Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, Cannelton, Quincy, Geneva, Chicago, and
Detroit. Much enthusiasm was expressed in anticipation of this meeting,
many letters were written, approving of the proposed organization, and
large expectations were manifested as to its promised work. In harmony with
these large and generous anticipations of the influence of the conference
was its statement of purposes, as presented in its constitution. It was
organized for "the promotion of the Christian spirit in the several
churches which compose it, and the increase of vital, practical religion;
the diffusion of Gospel truth and the accomplishment of such works of
Christian benevolence as may be agreed upon; the support of domestic or
home missionaries, the publication of tracts, the distribution of religious
books, the promotion of theological education, and extending aid to such
societies as may need it."
When the conference organized, Rev. William G. Eliot was elected the
president, Mr. Charles Harlow and Rev. A.A. Livermore the recording and
corresponding secretaries. During the year $994.22 were raised for
missionary purposes, and three missionaries--Boyer, Conant, and
Bradley--were kept in the field, mainly in Illinois and Michigan. The
reports of these men, given at the second meeting of the conference, held
in St. Louis, were full of enthusiasm and courage. At this meeting the
constituency numbered nineteen churches, located in eleven states. Several
struggling societies had been aided, assistance given to young men
preparing for the ministry, and many tracts and books had been distributed.
A book depositary was opened in Cincinnati, and it was proposed to
establish one in every large city in the west. The call was for a much
larger number of preachers, it being rightly maintained that only the
living man can reach the people in such a region. "The Unitarian minister
is _per se_ a bookseller and colporter also, and he can thus preach to
multitudes who never hear his voice."
The early anticipations of a rapid advance of Unitarianism in the west were
not realized, partly owing to the want of ministers of energy and the
necessary staying qualities, and partly to the fact that tradition is
always far more powerful with the masses of men and women than reason.
Before the organization of the conference new churches appeared at
infrequent intervals, though, if those that have ceased to exist were
counted, they would not be so remote from each other in time.[9] From the
first there was in the west a distinctive attitude of freedom, which was
the result in large, measure of its fluctuating conditions, and the absence
of fixed habits and traditions. In 1853 the missionaries of the conference
were instructed that "in spirit and in aim the Conference would be
Christian, not sectarian, and it does not, therefore, require of them
subscription to any human creed, the wearing of any distinctive name, or
the doing of any merely sectarian work. All that it requires is, that they
should be Christians and do Christian work, that they should believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ as one who spake with authority and whose religion is the
divinely appointed means for the regeneration of man individually and
collectively, and that they should labor earnestly, intelligently,
affectionately, and perseveringly to enthrone this religion in the hearts
and make it, effective over the lives of men." Such a statement as this,
indeed, was quite as conservative as anything put forth by Unitarians in
New England; but behind it was an attitude of free inquiry that gave to
western Unitarianism distinctive characteristics.
In 1854 a committee reported on the doctrinal basis of the conference, in
the form of a little book of sixty-five pages, bearing the title of
Unitarian Views of Christ.[10] It was widely circulated, and served an
excellent missionary purpose. When the conference accepted the report, in
which it was declared that Jesus is the Son of God and the miracles of the
New Testament facts on which the gospel is based, a resolution was
unanimously passed, asserting that "we have no right to adopt any statement
of belief as authoritative or as a declaration of the Unitarian faith,
other than the New Testament." In 1858 it was the opinion of the conference
that "all who wish to take upon themselves the Christian name should be so
recognized." The next year the conservatives and radicals came face to
face, the one party asking for the old faith according to Channing, while
one or more of the other party asserted their disbelief in the miracles and
in the resurrection of Christ. In 1860 the conference declared itself
willing to "welcome as fellow laborers all who are seeking to learn and to
do the will of the Father and work righteousness, and recommend that in all
places, with or without preaching, they organize for religious worship and
culture--the work of faith and the labor of love."
The meeting at Quincy in 1860 was one of great interest and enthusiasm. The
missionary spirit rose high; and it was proposed to put into the field an
aggressive worker, and to give him the necessary financial support. To this
end a missionary association was organized, with Rev. Robert Collyer as the
president, and Artemas Carter, a successful business man of Chicago, as the
treasurer. Before the result desired could be realized, the war gave a very
different direction to all the interests of the western churches. Of the
twenty-nine ministers in the west at this time, sixteen went into the
army,--twelve as chaplains, two as officers, and two as privates,--while
several others devoted themselves to hospital work for longer or shorter
periods. Rev. Augustus H. Conant, Rev. Leonard Whitney, Rev. Frederick R.
Newell, and Rev. L.B. Mason answered with their lives to their country's
call.