SETTLES IN BOSTON.
After a peaceful and happy residence in Salem, of a little more than two
years, Mr. Ballou received a cordial invitation from the Second
Universalist Society of Boston to become their pastor. The invitation
was accepted; and, in the forty-fifth year of his age, he removed to
this city, and was installed December 15, 1817, in the church which was
built with the avowed purpose of obtaining his ministerial services; and
here he continued to preach to the people for over thirty-five years.
His letter of acceptance, addressed to the society, is as follows:--
"SIR: The call of the Second Universalist Society, in Boston,
inviting me to the labors of the Christian ministry with them,
together with the liberal terms which accompany said invitation,
have been duly considered; and, after weighing all the
circumstances relative to the subject, so far as my limited mind
could comprehend them, I have come to the conclusion that it is my
duty to accept their call on the conditions therein stated. I
largely participate in the 'peculiar pleasure' afforded by the
consideration of the unanimity of the society, and entertain an
humble hope that, with the continuance of this harmony, we may long
continue to enjoy all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.
"The society's most humble servant in Christ,
"HOSEA BALLOU."
"To JOHN BRAZER, Esq."
Rev. Thomas Whittemore, a devoted, constant, and consistent friend of
Mr. Ballou, and who was also regarded by the subject of these memoirs
almost like one of his own family, thus speaks of this period:--"This
society had just finished their house, the present venerable structure,
on School-street. They never for a moment had a thought of seeking any
other pastor than the Rev. Hosea Ballou, if it were possible to obtain
his services; and, accordingly, two months before the house was ready
for dedication, a letter of inquiry was dispatched to him, to draw out
his sentiments in regard to a removal to Boston. In the mean time the
house was hurried on to completion. Rev. Messrs. Jones, of Gloucester,
Turner, of Charlestown, Ballou, of Salem, and Dean, of Boston, were
invited to join in the dedicatory services; Father Jones being invited
to preach the sermon, and the others to arrange the remaining services
at their discretion. The dedication took place on Wednesday, October 16.
Mr. Ballou was not present, as he was at the time in the country. On
the following Tuesday a meeting of the proprietors was holden, and Mr.
Ballou was invited to take the pastoral charge by a _unanimous_ vote.
The salary was fixed, at first, at thirteen hundred dollars per annum,
to which donations of fuel were occasionally made. He was installed on
December 25, 1817. Rev. Paul Dean preached, on the occasion, from Acts
20: 24. He also gave the fellowship of the churches. Rev. E. Turner, of
Charlestown, made the installing prayer, and gave the charge. Rev.
Joshua Flagg, who had succeeded Mr. Ballou at Salem, offered the
concluding prayer.
"Thus was Mr. Ballou duly installed as pastor. The congregations that
attended on his ministry were exceedingly large. He soon became widely
known for his eloquence and boldness, and the novel nature of the
subjects discussed by him. His preaching was of a controversial and
doctrinal character. He explained, in his discourses, those texts which
had been supposed to teach the doctrine of a judgment in the future
state, and endless torment. He was repeatedly called on, by letter, from
inquirers after truth, to preach from particular texts of this
character; and, as he gave public notice of the time when he would
explain such passages, his audiences were immensely large. It was usual,
from Sabbath to Sabbath, to see the meeting-house filled, in the
forenoon, so that it was difficult to obtain a seat. In the afternoon,
many would be obliged to stand, especially in the galleries, and around
the head of the stairs; and in the evening the aisles would be crowded,
above and below.
"For the last six or eight years preceding the rise of the Second
Universalist Society, Universalism had produced little or no excitement
in Boston. The First Society remained stationary. Mr. Dean, its pastor,
preached little on those subjects on which he differed from other sects.
In the vicinity of Boston there was no movement in favor of
Universalism. There were scarcely ten Universalist pastors in
Massachusetts. The cause was evidently languid. The rise of the Second
Universalist Society in Boston, and the removal of Mr. Ballou thither,
produced a new state of things. There arose a commotion among the
elements; but the effect was to purify the atmosphere, and give men a
clearer and more extended vision. New societies, holding Mr. Ballou's
sentiments, soon began to arise around Boston."
On settling in Boston, he at once found a host of true and solicitous
friends, whose interest in his ministry, respect for his character, and
attention to his general welfare, enlisted in their behalf his warmest
feelings of regard; sentiments which were ever cherished by him to the
last, and frequently recurred to at his own fireside, and in the quiet
of his family circle. Exercised by a realizing sense of this fact, the
more keenly when he remembers that his father can give oral form to
these feelings no longer, the author of this humble biography has at
its commencement dedicated it to the subject's cherished friends.
We have thus given a memoir of Mr. Ballou's life up to the period of his
settlement in Boston, where he was destined to operate upon a more
extended field of action,--where his mental and physical powers,
thoroughly trained and tested as they had been, were to be taxed more
heavily still; and where he was destined to build for himself a name
that will live in the grateful memory of future generations, and to
erect for himself a monument that points further heavenward than eastern
pyramids,--the savor of a truly Christian life.
Immediately on his becoming settled in Boston, in addition to the duties
of his pastoral charge, and that of writing for two or three religious
periodicals, Mr. Ballou was obliged to answer the frequent demands that
poured in upon him, from every quarter, to lecture and to preach in the
numerous towns within ten, twenty, and often fifty miles of the city, at
a time when the means of communication were, at best, but very
indifferent,--rendering it necessary for him to drive his own vehicle,
in order to reach the desired point without loss of time. So frequent
and urgent were these demands for his services, in towns and villages of
New England, that week-days, as well as Sundays, were occupied in
holding forth to the people, who came from far and near to hear him. Not
unfrequently were several consecutive days thus employed; portions of
the night even being improved in travelling between the several places
when at a great distance apart, and sleep, or rest of any sort, being
but sparingly indulged in. But so zealous was he in the glorious cause
that filled his whole soul,--so thoughtless of self, and so wedded to
his Master's business,--that his own labors seemed to him as nothing;
and neither his energies nor his spirits were wearied for a single
moment. The bow of his mind and body both seemed ever strung and bent,
yet never to lose their elasticity. The amount of actual physical labor
which he thus performed can hardly be estimated; but certain it is that
he must have been almost miraculously sustained, to have endured so much
fatigue without most serious injury.
"Soon after coming to Boston," says Mr. Ballou, "opposition to my
Unitarian views, and to the way in which I explained many important
passages of Scripture, put on a serious aspect. Most of this opposition
was exercised by professed Universalist preachers. There was much
hypocrisy and low cunning set to work in order to check my success; but,
though this was a source of much grief to my heart, it was the means of
calling into action all my resources, which I found it necessary to put
in requisition for the defence of the truth. All this resulted in good.
My editorial duties, my necessarily long sermons three times on every
Sabbath, giving evening lectures at home and in the neighboring towns,
tried to the utmost my physical powers of endurance. With all these
engagements, I was writing and publishing the two volumes of my Lecture
Sermons, and my Select Sermons, which proved too much for my strength,
and I brought on a weakness in my left side that has affected me for
years."
The weakness here referred to was doubtless caused by sitting for hours
together at his writing-table in his study, with only such brief
intervals as were necessarily consumed in taking his frugal meals. At
such times he partook very sparingly of any kind of nourishment,
declaring, when solicited on this point, that his brain was clearer, his
mind more vigorous, when he ate but little, than when he allowed himself
fully to satisfy his appetite. During the hours devoted to writing he
was never disturbed; his children never for one moment forgot that he
was thus engaged; and though they might pass through his apartment,
still it was with a careful step and noiseless way, that showed their
constant consideration for one whom they so much venerated. When he was
thus engaged, for the last thirty years, having become relieved of the
immediate domestic cares of her family, his wife always sat with him,
sewing, knitting, or reading, but never interrupting him. Thus they
grew, year by year, when he was in the house, more and more inseparable,
and the tender regard of each seemed to increase for the other as year
after year whitened their venerable locks.
Concerning the period of his early settlement in Boston, Rev. Sylvanus
Cobb says:--"When Mr. Ballou entered upon his labors here, benignantly
warring upon the hurtful errors which enslaved and paralyzed the common
mind, and elucidating those prominent gospel truths which are the bread
of life to the soul, there was an extensive movement of mind in the
city, and in the region round about, far and near. When the Twenty-six
Lectures, published by Henry Bowen, were in the process of delivery, the
church was usually filled an hour before the set time of beginning, and
multitudes would be going away who could not find entrance. He had done
much before this, by his ministry in other places, and the publication
of his Notes on the Parables, Treatise on Atonement, and controversy
with Robinson, to advance the cause of truth; but he was now
providentially placed at a commanding stand-point, a central position,
the commercial emporium of New England, whence his influence went out
through all the land. Business men, from different parts, who had
occasion to be in Boston over the Sabbath, would go in at School-street
church, become convinced by the able expounder's arguments, go home,
taking with them some of his publications, and commence a work in their
respective neighborhoods, which, in many cases, resulted in the
formation of societies."
As a sample of the spirit he was forced to encounter, and the animosity
felt against Universalists generally, and their teachings, by the clergy
of other persuasions, we relate the following anecdote. Being in the
town of Mattapoisett, Mass., during one of his short journeys into the
neighboring country to fulfil professional engagements, Mr. Ballou found
that he must stop there for the night. It was soon known in the village
that he was to remain for this period, and he was at once waited upon
by a committee chosen for the purpose, and informed that the town's
people were exceedingly anxious to hear him preach, and that permission
had been obtained for him to hold forth in the Orthodox meeting-house,
if agreeable to himself. Mr. Ballou cheerfully consented to their
wishes, and the people were notified accordingly. It is proper to state,
that several among those who invited Mr. Ballou to preach here, were
themselves large share-holders in the meeting-house, and in two
instances members of the church. Notwithstanding all this, when Mr.
Ballou came to the meeting-house, not anticipating the least opposition
to his purpose, he was met at the door by the Orthodox clergyman then
officiating here, and who positively forbade his entrance. In vain did
Mr. Ballou attempt calmly to reason with him; still the excited pastor
insisted most vociferously that he should not enter, although fully
informed of all the circumstances. Nor would he yield until at length he
was absolutely dragged away forcibly by his own friends.
Erasmus, the reformer of the fifteenth century, "who stemmed the wild
torrent of a barbarous age," was not more strongly opposed by the
bigoted Catholics of his day, who charged him with having "laid the egg
that Luther hatched," than was Hosea Ballou by the partialists of his
times. Particularly was this the case during the early and middle period
of his public labors. The reformation begun by Luther has been well
termed "an insurrection of the human mind against the absolute power of
spiritual order." Its earliest fruit was the vigorous but narrow belief
of Puritanism; then followed the more liberal creeds of the subsequent
period; but it seemed to be left for Mr. Ballou to strike out and
illustrate the doctrine of perfect freedom through Christ, of entire
impartiality and free grace, which the doctrine of universal salvation
inculcates.
Relative to the bigotry and unreasonable spirit often evinced towards
the subject of this biography, and the cause he advocated, we are
reminded in this connection of another anecdote, which is authentic, and
which the subject of these memoirs related to his family.
Not long after Mr. Ballou's settlement in Boston, he received a pressing
invitation to visit the island of Nantucket. The inconvenience of
communication between the island and the main land was considerable, but
he consented, and passed some ten days there, preaching every successive
day and evening to large and interested audiences, creating a very
earnest movement in the matter of religion. On his return, arriving at
New Bedford, he took the stage coach for Boston, and in it found but one
other person. Scarcely had the journey commenced, when his
fellow-passenger opened the conversation by saying,--
"You are just from the island, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir," was the reply.
"Well, they say old Ballou is over there, preaching his heresy. Did you
see him?"
"Yes, I saw him," was the calm reply.
"Well, he's a rough old fellow. I don't like him."
"Why not?" asked Mr. Ballou.
"Because he preaches that all men will be saved and go to heaven in
their sins, and no man in his senses can believe that."
"But, sir, did you ever hear him preach?"
"No; I hope not," said the man.
"Then you may be misinformed as to what he does preach," said Mr.
Ballou, mildly. "Now I think he would say, if he were here, that he did
not believe nor preach as you have represented."
"But what does he believe, then?" said the stranger, somewhat earnestly.
"I think he would say that sinners are to be saved _from_ their sins,
not _in_ their sins. Christ came to save the world from sin, not in sin;
and furthermore we are told in the Scriptures that 'he that is dead is
free from sin,' and he that is freed from sin must surely be holy, and
consequently happy."
"Sir, if I may be so bold," said the stranger, after looking for a
moment somewhat critically, "where do you live when at home?"
"I live in Boston, sir."
"Whose church do you attend?"
"Mr. Ballou's church, sir."
"What is your name?"
"My name is Ballou," he replied, pleasantly.
The man was of course confounded. He stammered forth some excuse; but
though he listened to Mr. Ballou's kindly-meant remarks with the utmost
attention, yet he was evidently very ill at ease, and, watching his
opportunity, left the stage at the next stopping-place.
By careful study, aided by his natural quickness of conception and
vigorous powers of mind, he had, without other assistance than that of
books, acquired a practical knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages,
which greatly assisted him in his profession, by enabling him to
translate the most important passages from the original Scriptures, and
thus to throw light upon many points that had heretofore been in some
degree shrouded in mystery, by the one-sided and partial translation
given in our own version of the Bible. At the present day it is well
known that our common translation of the Scriptures is deficient in
several instances, and this too at the most important and most critical
passages. This being the case, Mr. Ballou found the power of translating
for himself to be of the utmost importance as an aid to repel false
argument, as well as being a matter of much personal satisfaction and
enjoyment.
"At different times, and for several years," says Mr. Ballou, in
reference to this subject, "I have attempted to solve peculiar passages
of Scripture, which were so difficult to understand as to lead me to
question the correctness of their reading from the original. In order to
do this, I have studied Greek, and have had some aid from Greek scholars
and Greek lexicons, and have consulted various commentators; possessed
myself of the Septuagint, or Greek Testament, and other Greek works.
With all these helps and efforts, I have been enabled to satisfy myself
relative to any particular passage. I have found but little benefit from
these means in regard to the Old Testament; in respect to the New, I
have often been assisted, and found that my little knowledge of Greek
has been more useful. For similar ends and purposes I obtained a Hebrew
Bible, lexicon, grammar, etc.; but, though I have bestowed not a little
labor on the Hebrew, my other avocations and cares have prevented any
great degree of proficiency, though I have experienced much aid and
assistance in elucidating many points. I might say about as much of my
Latin Bible, lexicon, grammar, and reader. I have made some considerable
use of all these books, and have given many of my leisure hours to the
Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, but I profess to know so little of
them that it is hardly worth naming; though I must acknowledge I have
found them of considerable use when some arrogant disputant should think
to silence me by an appeal to the original. But it is a fact that I have
never met with many college-learned ministers who appeared to have
retained much of their Greek, if indeed they ever had much. I think it
would require no little study and observation to determine the question,
which amounts to the most, the benefit which the public gain by the
extra learning of their clergy, or the imposition they suffer by
estimating that learning above its value."
This last reference should not be misconstrued by the reader, as
conveying the idea that the subject of this biography was opposed in
any way to education, or educational movements. Those who knew him best
will bear ready testimony to the contrary. Indeed, his own struggles in
obtaining knowledge had given him a just estimate of the true value of
such conveniences as should facilitate the dissemination of intelligence
far and wide. "When I look about me," he says, "and contrast the great
improvements in the means for gaining knowledge,--when I behold the
youth of to-day and remember the youth of my own boyhood,--I am struck
with the contrast that facts present relative to education. I am also
rendered thankful to a Divine Providence, which has been pleased to
advance the improvement in mental culture and the facilities for
learning, in an equal degree with the surprising advancements which have
been accomplished in the arts and sciences. Few are so poor or lowly now
that they may not enjoy the advantages of schools and able teachers, and
I may add that few there are who do not avail themselves of the rich
opportunity which is offered them for storing their minds with
knowledge, and thus preparing themselves for useful members of society.
Half a century since, the case was very different; schools were little
thought of among the poor, and children in the country could seldom be
spared from home to attend those that were occasionally opened. Yet I am
satisfied that the advantages which were offered at that time were even
more assiduously improved than they are at this period. This, however,
was but natural, under the circumstances." No man put a higher estimate
upon knowledge than he did, but it was useful, practical knowledge that
he valued. He had no respect for mere titles and college honors. He had
seen the eclat of a college diploma go further with many simple people
than a sound argument or the possession of sterling wisdom would have
done, and it is not surprising that the observation of such weakness
should have led him to speak out, as we have seen him do in this
connection. He may have felt the remark, too, which his opponents
sometimes sneeringly made of him, that he never enjoyed a classical or
collegiate education.
We have a few words to say relative to this reflection. Now, we solemnly
believe, and are prepared to argue, that a collegiate education would
have materially detracted from his _usefulness_. A scholastic or classic
course of study seems to unfit men in a great degree for active life.
The practical too often becomes merged in the ideal, and the mind grows
effeminate. A theoretical knowledge of human nature is imbibed, and we
are led to contemplate our fellow-men through a false medium; for
essayists write of men as they should be, but rarely as they are. Mr.
Ballou was acknowledged by all who knew him, to possess a remarkable
degree of knowledge concerning human nature, but it was gathered from
men, not books, from experience,--Time's free school,--not from theory.
No other kind of knowledge would have fitted him for the peculiar path
he was born to pursue. A pioneer should be what he was; a follower, the
roads once cleared, and the track made smooth, might, perhaps, without
danger, be less practical and more imaginative. Education, to be truly
useful, should be unequalled in its ability to instruct us in the things
about us, and to strengthen us for the duties that lie in our path of
life. The true being, end, and aim of all study should be, "to improve
men in the best reason of living," while any learning that aims above
the practical interests of life is comparatively unimportant. Even in
the ministry,
"Church ladders are not always mounted best
By learned clerks and Latinists professed."
"That learning which makes us acquainted with ourselves," says Mr.
Ballou, "with the powers and faculties of the human mind, with divine
truth, which is plainly revealed, with its power on the mind and heart,
with the concatenations of cause and effect, and to understand our
every-day duty, which grows out of our wants and the wants of those
about us, is learning of a better quality than that which only enables
us to call things by different names, without giving us a knowledge of
their natural qualities either for good or evil."
The main characteristic of Mr. Ballou's habit of mind was that of
looking at all things in a practical point of view. The importance and
real value he attached to things were deduced from his estimate of their
_use_. He regarded life as made up of constantly recurring duties, and
his appreciation of principles, of religion or philosophy, was carefully
regulated by this standard, as to the application they bore to every-day
matters.
The great end of all acquirements should be the ability to discharge
more effectually our duties as men and citizens. "He who is not a better
neighbor, brother, friend, and citizen," says an eminent writer,
"because of his superior knowledge, may very well doubt whether his
knowledge is really superior to the ignorance of the unlettered many
around him." Or, to state this great truth more in brief, a man knows no
more to any purpose than he practises.