by Mr. Peabody. Although Dr. Tuckerman had labored to prevent duplication
of charitable gifts and to organize the philanthropies of Boston in an
effective manner, with the increase of population the evils he strove to
prevent had grown into large proportions. In order to prevent overlapping,
imposition, and failure to provide for many who were really needy, but not
eager to push their own claims, Mr. Peabody organized the Boston Provident
Association in 1851. This society divided the city into small districts,
and put each under the supervision of a person who was to examine every
case that came before the society within the territory assigned him. The
first president of this society was Hon. Samuel A. Eliot, who was a mayor
of the city, a representative in the lower house of Congress, and an
organizer of many philanthropies. This society was eminently successful in
its operations, and did a great amount of good. Its friendly visits to the
poor and its judicious methods of procuring the co-operation of many
charity workers prepared the way for the introduction, in 1879, of the
Associated Charities of Boston, which extended and effectively organized
the work begun by Mr. Peabody.[22] Numerous other organizations might be
mentioned that have been initiated by Unitarians or largely supported by
them.[23]
[Sidenote: Humane Treatment of Animals.]
The work for the humane treatment of animals was begun, and has been
largely carried on, by Unitarians. The founder of the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was Henry Bergh, who was a member of
All Souls' Church in New York, under the ministry of Dr. Bellows. In 1865
he began his work in behalf of kindness to animals in New York City, and
the society he organized was incorporated April 10, 1866. It was soon
engaged in an extensive work. In 1873 Mr. Bergh proceeded to organize
branch humane societies; and, as the result of his work, most of the states
have legislated for the humane care of animals.
A similar work of a Unitarian is that of Mr. George T. Angell in Boston,
who in 1868 founded, and has since been the president of, the Massachusetts
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 1889 he became the
president of the American Humane Education Society, a position he continues
to hold. He is the editor of Our Dumb Animals, and has in many ways been
active in the work of the great charity with which he has been connected.
[Sidenote: Young Men's Christian Unions.]
The initiative in the establishment of Christian unions for young men in
cities, on a wholly unsectarian basis, was taken by a Unitarian. Mr. Caleb
Davis Bradlee, a Harvard undergraduate, who was afterward a Boston pastor
for many years, gathered together in the parlor of his father's house a
company of young men, and proposed to them the formation of a society for
mutual improvement. This was on September 17, 1851; and the organization
then formed was called the Biblical Literature Society. Those who belonged
to the society during the winter of 1851-52 were so much benefited by it
that they decided to enlarge their plans and to extend their influence to a
greater number. At the suggestion of Rev. Charles Brooks, minister of the
Unitarian church in South Hingham, the name was changed to the Boston Young
Men's Christian Union, the first meeting under the new form of organization
being held March 15, 1852. On October 11 of the same year the society was
incorporated, many of the leading men of the city having already given it
their encouragement and support.[24]
[Sidenote: Educational Work in the South.]
After the close of the civil war there was a large demand for help in the
South, especially amongst the negroes. Most of the aid given by Unitarians
was through other than denominational channels; but something was done by
the Unitarian Association as well as by other Unitarian organizations. Miss
Amy Bradley, who had been a very successful worker for the Sanitary
Commission, opened a school for the whites in Wilmington, N.C. Her work
extended to all the schools of the city, and was eminently successful. She
became the city and then the county superintendent of schools. She was
supported by the Unitarian Association and the Soldiers' Memorial Society.
Among the Unitarians who at that time engaged in the work of educating the
negroes were Rev. Henry F. Edes in Georgia, Rev. James Thurston in North
Carolina, Miss M. Louisa Shaw in Florida, Miss Bottume on Ladies' Island,
and Miss Sally Holley and Miss Caroline F. Putnam in Virginia.
In 1868 the Unitarian Association entered upon a systematic effort to aid
the negroes through co-operation with the African Methodist Episcopal
Church. The sum of $4,000 was in that year devoted to this work; and it was
largely spent in educational efforts, especially in aid of college and
theological students. Wilberforce University had the benefit of lectures
from Dr. George W. Hosmer, president of Antioch College, and of Edward
Orton, James K. Hosmer, and other professors in that institution. Libraries
of about fifty volumes of carefully selected books, including elementary
works of science, history, biography, and a few theological works, were
given to ministers of that church who applied for them. This connection
continued for several years, and was of much importance in the advancement
of the South.
With the first of January, 1886, the Unitarian Association established a
bureau of information in regard to southern education, of which General
J.B.F. Marshall, who had been for many years the treasurer of the Hampton
Institute, was made the superintendent. This bureau, during its existence
of three years, investigated the claims of various schools, and recommended
those most deserving of aid.
In 1891 Miss Mabel W. Dillingham and Miss Charlotte R. Thorn, who had been
teachers for several years in the Hampton Institute, opened a school for
negroes in Calhoun, Ala. Miss Dillingham died in 1894; and she was
succeeded by her brother, Rev. Pitt Dillingham, as the principal of the
school. The Calhoun School has been supported mostly by Unitarians, and it
has been successful in doing a practical and important work.
During the first eight years of the Tuskegee Institute it received $5,000
annually from Unitarians, and in more recent years $10,000 annually. This
has been given by individuals, churches, and other organizations, but in no
sense as a denominational work. Concerning the aid given to the Hampton
Institute this statement has been made by the principal: "The Unitarian
denomination has had a very important part in the work of Hampton. Our
first treasurer was General J.F.B. Marshall, a Unitarian who made it
possible for General Armstrong first to gain access to Boston and secure
friends there, many of whom have been lifelong contributors to this work.
General Marshall came to Hampton in 1872, and for some twelve years took a
most important part in building up this institution. He trained young men
for the treasurer's office, who still hold important positions in the
school, and others who have been sent to various institutions. The home of
General and Mrs. Marshall here was of incalculable help in many ways,
brightening and cheering the lives of our teachers and students. Unitarians
have always had a prominent part in the support of Hampton. Mrs. Mary
Hemenway was the largest donor to the Institute during her lifetime. She
gave $10,000 for the purchase of our Hemenway Farm, and helped General
Armstrong in many ways."[25]
[Sidenote: Educational Work for the Indians.]
At three different periods the Unitarian Association has undertaken
educational work amongst the Indians. The first of these proved abortive,
but is of much interest. James Tanner,[26] a half-breed Chippeway or
Ojibway from Minnesota, appeared before the board of the Association,
February 12, 1855, in behalf of his people. He had been a Baptist
missionary to the Ojibways, but had found that he could accomplish little
while the Indians continued their roving life and their wars with the
Sioux. He therefore wished to have his people adopt a settled agricultural
life. The Baptist Home Missionary Society, with which he was laboring,
would not accede to his plans in this respect, and desired that he should
confine himself to the preaching of the gospel. Unable to do this on
account of his liberal views, he went to Boston with the hope that he might
secure aid from the Baptists there. He was soon told that he was a
Unitarian, and he sought a knowledge of those of that faith. He was thus
led to apply to the Unitarian Association for help, which was granted. He
secured an outfit of agricultural and other implements, and returned to his
people in the spring of 1855. In December of that year Mr. Tanner attended
a meeting of the board of the Association, accompanied by six Ojibway
chiefs. On this unique occasion the calumet was smoked by all present, and
addresses were made by the Indians. In April, 1856, the board reluctantly
abandoned this enterprise, because the money for the yearly expenditure of
$4,000, which it required, could not be secured.[27]
In 1871 President Grant inaugurated the policy of educating the Indians
under the direction of the several religious denominations of the country.
To the Unitarians were assigned the Utes of Colorado. The reservation at
White River was placed in charge of Mr. J.S. Littlefield, and that at Los
Pinos of Rev. J. Nelson Trask. Several other persons took up this work,
including Rev. Henry F. Bond and his wife. In 1885 the Utes were removed to
a reservation in Utah. In the spring of 1886 Mr. Bond returned to them for
the purpose of establishing a boarding-school amongst them; but, not
getting sufficient encouragement, he went to Montana, where in the autumn
he opened the Montana Industrial School, with eighteen pupils from the
Crows in attendance. Buildings were erected, farm work begun, carpenter and
blacksmith shops put in operation, all at a cost of $20,000. The school was
located on the Big Horn River, thirty miles from Fort Custer.
It was the object of the Montana Industrial School to remove the Indian
children from their nomadic conditions and to give them a practical
education, with so much of instruction in books as would be of real help to
them. The boys were taught farm work and the use of tools, while the girls
were trained in sewing, cooking, and other useful employments. At the same
time there was constant training in cleanliness, good manners, and right
living. The school was fairly successful; and the results would doubtless
have been important, could the experiment have gone on for a longer period.
In 1891 Mr. Bond withdrew from the school on account of his age, and it was
placed in charge of Rev. A.A. Spencer. With the 1st of July, 1895, however,
the care of the school was assumed by the national government.
Extended as this chapter has become, it has failed to give anything like an
exhaustive statement of the philanthropies of Unitarians. Their charitable
activities have been constant and in many directions. This may be seen in
the wide-reaching philanthropic interests of Dr. Edward Everett Hale, whose
Lend-a-hand Clubs, King's Daughters societies, and kindred movements
admirably illustrate the practical side of Unitarianism, its broad
humanitarian spirit, its philanthropic and reformatory purpose, and its
high ideal of Christian fidelity and service.
[1] Memoir, III. 17; one-volume edition, 465.
[2] Memoir, III. 61, 62; one-volume edition, 487, 488.
[3] Boston Unitarianism, 127.
[4] Harvard Graduates, 155.
[5] Boston Unitarianism, 253.
[6] Elizabeth P. Peabody, Reminiscences of Dr. W.E. Channing, 290.
[7] Eber R. Butler, Lend a Hand, October, 1890, V. 681.
[8] Elizabeth P. Peabody, Reminiscences of W.E. Channing, 273.
[9] Gilbert Haven, Anecdotes of Rev. Edward T. Taylor, 114.
[10] Ibid., 119.
[11] Gilbert Haven, Anecdotes of Rev. Edward T. Taylor, 330.
[12] American Notes, chap. iii.
[13] Frank B. Sanborn, Biography of Dr. S.G. Howe, Philanthropist, 110.
[14] Frank B. Sanborn, Biography of Dr. S.G. Howe, Philanthropist, 170.
[15] Reminiscences, 161.
[16] Francis Tiffany, Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix, 58.
[17] Francis Tiffany, Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix, 355.
[18] Ibid., 327.
[19] Ibid., 290.
[20] Ibid., 375.
[21] Report of the National Conference, 1895, 205.
[22] Sermons of Ephraim Peabody, introductory Memoir, xxv; Memorial
History of Boston, IV. 662, George S. Hale on the Charities of
Boston; A.P. Peabody, Harvard Graduates, 155.
[23] Besides the Fragment Society, the Children's Mission, and the Boston
Provident Society, already mentioned and still vigorously at work,
several other societies are wholly supported by Unitarians. Of these
may be named the Howard Benevolent Society in the City of Boston,
organized in 1812, incorporated in 1818; Young Men's Benevolent
Society, organized in 1827, incorporated in 1852; Industrial Aid
Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, organized in 1835,
incorporated in 1884.
[24] Alfred Manchester, Life of Caleb Davis Bradlee, 8; First Anniversary,
address before the Boston Young Men's Christian Union by Rev. F.D.
Huntington, Appendix.
[25] Personal letter from Mr. H.B. Frissell.
[26] Edwin James, A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John
Tanner during Thirty Tears' Residence among the Indians of North
America. (John Tanner was the father of James.)
[27] Quarterly Journal, II. 326, 344; III. 64, 257, 449, 625.
XVI.
UNITARIANS AND REFORMS.
The belief of Unitarians in the innate goodness of man and in his progress
towards a higher moral life, together with their desire to make religion
practical in its character and to have it deal with the actual facts of
human life, has made it obligatory that they should give the encouragement
of their support to whatever promised to further the cause of justice,
liberty, and purity. Their attitude towards reforms, however, has been
qualified by their love of individual freedom. They have had a dread of
ecclesiastical restriction and of any attempt to coerce opinions or to
establish a despotism over individual convictions. And yet, with all this
insistence upon personal liberty, no body of men and women has ever been
more devoted to the furthering of practical reforms than those connected
with Unitarian churches. No one, for instance, was ever more zealous for
individual freedom than Theodore Parker; but he was essentially a reformer.
He was a persistent advocate of peace, temperance, education, the rights of
women, the rights of the slave, the abolition of capital punishment, reform
in prison discipline, and the application of humanitarian principles to the
conduct of life.
[Sidenote: Peace Movement.]
"It may be doubted whether any man who ever lived contributed more to
spread just sentiments on the subject of war and to hasten the era of
universal peace," said Dr. Channing of Noah Worcester, who has been often
called "the Apostle of Peace." It was the second contest with Great Britain
that led Dr. Worcester to consider the nature and effects of war. In
August, 1812, on the day appointed for a national fast, he preached a
sermon in which he maintained that the war then beginning was without
sufficient justification, and that war is always an evil. In 1814 he
further studied the subject, with the result that he wrote a little book
which he called A Solemn Review of the Custom of War.[1]
The Solemn Review was widely circulated, it was translated into many
languages, it made a deep and lasting impression, and it had a world-wide
influence in preparing the minds of men for the acceptance of peace
principles. The remedy for war it proposed was an international court of
arbitration.[2] Through the efforts of Dr. Worcester the Massachusetts
Peace Society was organized December 28, 1815, one of the first societies
of the kind in the world.[3] William Phillips was made the president, and
Dr. Noah Worcester the corresponding secretary, with Dr. Henry Ware, Dr.
Channing, and Rev. Francis Parkman among his councillors. On the executive
committee with Dr. Worcester in 1819 were Rev. Ezra Ripley and Rev. John
Pierce. Other Unitarian members and workers were James Freeman, Nathaniel
L. Frothingham, Charles Lowell, Samuel C. Thacher, J.T. Kirkland, and
Joseph Tuckerman; and, of laymen, Moses Grant, Josiah Quincy, and Colonel
Joseph May. In 1819 Dr. Worcester began the publication of The Friends of
Peace, a small quarterly magazine, a large part of the contents of which he
wrote himself. After the first number, having obtained the assistance of
several wealthy Friends, he relinquished the copyright; and the numbers
were republished in several parts of the country, thus obtaining a wide
circulation. He devoted himself almost wholly to this publication and the
advocacy of the cause of peace until 1829, when he relinquished its
editorship. "This must be looked upon as a very remarkable work," wrote
Henry Ware, the younger. "To his wakeful mind everything that occurred and
everything that he read offered him materials; he appeared to see nothing
which had not a bearing on this one topic; and his book becomes a boundless
repository of curious, entertaining, striking extracts from writers of all
sorts and the history of all times, displaying the criminality and folly of
war, and the beauty and efficacy of the principles of peace."[4]
In his efforts hi behalf of peace, Dr. Worcester had the support of Dr.
Channing's "respectful sympathy and active co-operation."[5] According to
Dr. John Pierce, Channing was the life and soul of the Massachusetts Peace
Society. "For years," says his biographer, "he devoted himself to the work
of extending its influence with unwavering zeal, as many of his papers of
that period attest."[6] From his pulpit Dr. Channing frequently expressed
his faith in the principles of peace, and he strongly advocated those
Christian convictions and that spirit of good will which would make war
impossible if they were applied to the conduct of nations.
Not less devoted to the cause of peace was Dr. Ezra S. Gannett, of whom his
son says: "He thought that reason, religion, the whole spirit as well as
the letter of the gospel, united in forbidding war. Probably, he was
non-resistant up to, rather than in, the absolutely last extremity;
although he writes that an English book which Dr. Channing lent him as the
best he knew upon the subject, 'has made me a thorough peace man!'"[7]
"Let the fact of brotherhood be fairly grasped," wrote Dr. Frederic H.
Hedge, "and war becomes impossible."[8] "The tremendous extent and
pertinacity of the habit of human slaughter in battle," wrote Dr. William
R. Alger, "its shocking criminality, and its incredible foolishness, when
regarded from an advanced religious position, are three facts calculated to
appall every thoughtful man and startle him into amazement." "It is vain,"
he said, "to undertake to impart a competent conception of the crimes and
miseries belonging to war. Their appalling character and magnitude stun the
imagination and pass off like the burden of a frightful dream."[9]
Worcester's Solemn Review convinced Rev. Samuel J. May "that the precepts,
spirit, and example of Jesus gave no warrant to the violent, bloody
resistance of evil; that wrong could be effectually overcome by right,
hatred by love, violence by gentleness, evil of any kind by its opposite
good. I preached this," he said, "as one of the cardinal doctrines of the
gospel, and endeavored especially to show the wickedness and folly of the
custom of war."[10] In 1826 he organized a county peace society, the first
in the country; and his first publication was in advocacy of this
reform.[11]
Of the men connected with political life, Charles Sumner was the most
devoted and influential friend of the peace cause. As early as March, 1839,
he wrote to a friend, "I hold all wars, as unjust and, unchristian." His
address on The True Grandeur of Nations, given before the mayor and other
officials of Boston, July 4, 1845, was one of the noblest and most
effective utterances on the subject. Though a considerable part of the
audience was in military array, Sumner showed the evils of war in
uncompromising terms, denouncing it as cruel and unnecessary, while with
true eloquence, great learning, and deep conviction he made his plea for
peace. "The effect was immediate and striking," wrote George W. Curtis.
"There were great indignation and warm protest on the one hand, and upon
the other sincere congratulation and high compliment. Sumner's view of the
absolute wrong and iniquity of war was somewhat modified subsequently; but
the great purpose of a peaceful solution of international disputes he never
relinquished."[12] He said in this oration that "in our age there can be
no peace that is not honorable; there can be no war that is not
dishonorable." This statement was severely criticised, but it indicates his
uncompromising acceptance of peace principles.[13] He added these
pertinent sentences: "The true honor of a nation is to be found only in
deeds of justice and in the happiness of its people, all of which are
inconsistent with war. In the clear eye of Christian judgment vain are its
victories, infamous are its spoils."[14] He further declared that "war is
utterly and irreconcilably inconsistent with true greatness."[15] These
views he continued to hold throughout his life, though in a more
conciliatory spirit; and on several occasions he presented them before the
Peace Society and elsewhere. When in the Senate he was a leader of the
cause of arbitration, and exerted his large influence in securing its
adoption by the United States as a means of preventing war with foreign
countries. As late as July, 1873, he wrote to one of his friends: "I long
to witness the harmony of nations, which I am sure is near. When an evil so
great is recognized and discussed, the remedy must be near at hand."[16]
The work done by Julia Ward Howe for the cause of peace is eminently worthy
of recognition. One chapter of her Reminiscences is devoted to her "Peace
Crusade" of 1870. The cruel and unnecessary character of the
Franco-Prussian war led her to write an appeal to mothers to use their
influence in behalf of peace. "The august dignity of motherhood and its
terrible responsibilities now appeared to me in a new aspect," she writes,
"and I could think of no better way of expressing my sense of these than of
sending forth an appeal to womanhood throughout the world, which I then and
there composed."[17] She printed and distributed her appeal, had it
translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Swedish, and then
spent many months in corresponding with leading women in various countries.
She invited these women to a Women's Peace Congress to be held in London.
After holding two successful meetings in New York, she began her crusade in
England, holding meetings in many places, and also attending a Peace
Congress in Paris. She hired a hall in London, and held Sunday meetings to
promote the reform she had deeply at heart. The Women's Congress was a
success, and after two years of earnest effort Mrs. Howe had the
satisfaction of knowing that she had done something to promote peace on
earth and good will among men.
[Sidenote: Temperance Reform.]
Unitarians have been active in the cause of temperance, but again as
individuals rather than as a denomination. The emphasis they have put on
the importance of individual opinion and personal liberty has made them
often reluctant to join societies that sought to promote this reform by
restrictive and coercive measures. As a body, therefore, they have shown a
greater inclination to the use of moral suasion than legislative power.