his fellow-creatures. No one could more strongly feel that the love of God
was to be united with love to man. Nor was this a principle that rested in
kind wishes and pathetic feelings for the happiness of others, but it was
manifested in the most active exertions for their welfare. No scheme of
doing good was ever suggested to him into which he did not enter with
ardor. But the generosity of his mind was most displayed when any plans of
propagating religion, and of spreading the gospel among those who were
strangers to it, were proposed. In every thing of this kind he was always
ready to take the lead, and was ardent in endeavoring to inspire his
friends with the same spirit.
He was of a weak and delicate bodily constitution; and a severe cold which
he caught about the forty-eighth year of his age, brought on a consumption
of the lungs. The nearer he approached to his dissolution, the more
plainly was observed his continual improvement in a spiritual and heavenly
temper. Indeed, he seemed to have risen above the world, and to be daily
breathing after immortality. This disposition of his mind was ardently
expressed in several of his letters, and is manifest from his will, which
was made at this time, and is prefaced in the following language:—“Whereas
it is customary, on these occasions, to begin with commending the soul
into the hands of God, through Christ, I do it; not in mere form, but with
sincerity and joy; esteeming it my greatest happiness, that I am taught
and encouraged to do it, by that glorious gospel, which, having most
assuredly believed, I have spent my life in preaching to others; and which
I esteem an infinitely greater treasure than all my little worldly store,
or possessions ten thousand times greater than mine.”
A short time before his death, he had been induced to try the mild air of
the south; but change of climate did not produce the desired effect, and
Dr. Doddridge continued gradually to weaken, till death put a period to
his afflictions. In his last hours, he preserved the same calmness, vigor,
and joy of mind, which he had felt and expressed through the whole of his
illness. The only pain he had in the thought of dying, was the fear of
that grief and distress which his wife would suffer from his removal. To
his children, his congregation, and his friends in general, he desired to
be remembered in the most affectionate manner; nor did he, in the
effusions of his pious benevolence, forget the family where he lodged, or
his own servant. Many devout sentiments and aspirations were uttered by
him; but the heart of his wife was too much affected with his approaching
change to be able to recollect them distinctly. Though he died in a
foreign land, and, in a certain sense, among strangers, his decease was
embalmed with many tears. His age was 49 years.
John Murray.
A distinguished preacher of Universalism in the United States, born in
Alton, county of Hampshire, England, on the 10th of December, 1741.
When he had attained his eleventh year, the family removed to Ireland, in
the vicinity of Cork. While here, he was converted to Methodism, and
gained the attention of John Wesley, by whom he was appointed a
class-leader. He was very earnest and devout in his religious exercises,
and was regarded by his brethren as a valuable accession to their church.
About this time his father died, and he shortly after left Ireland for
England. He took up his residence in London, and was gradually led into
gay society. The secret monitor, however, frequently reproached him, and
finally brought him back again to the services of the sanctuary, and
quickened the flame of religious devotion. At this time his prejudices
against Universalism were very strong; his soul “kindled with indignation”
against them. But, shortly after his marriage to a very amiable young lady
of London, he was induced to visit Mr. Relly’s chapel, the preacher of
universal salvation; and, notwithstanding he had been so filled with wrath
against Mr. Relly, that, as he subsequently said, he thought it would have
been doing both God and man service to kill him, yet he was moved to
tenderness by his preaching and subsequently became an attendant on his
ministry. Rich were the consolations enjoyed by him and his amiable wife
in their new faith. But great sorrows awaited him; she sickened and died;
and the death-scene is described by himself, in his autobiography, with
thrilling effect. He would gladly have accompanied her to the
spirit-world. He was now alone; he felt himself a solitary being; he had
no taste for the joys of life; his mind dwelt only on death and eternity;
he was unfitted for society; and in this state of mind, Providence seems
to have directed his thoughts to America. He resolved to embark; and, in
the month of September, 1770, he landed upon the shores of New Jersey.
Here he became at once acquainted with a philanthropic landholder, by the
name of Thomas Potter, who, in the belief that God would send him a
preacher, had erected a meeting-house, and who insisted that Murray was
the man whom God had sent. In this house Murray commenced his labors as a
preacher; and from this time, he is to be contemplated as the public
advocate of Universalism, on the system of Relly. He soon visited the city
of New York, and various other cities and towns in the Middle States,
preaching the gospel whithersoever he went. His first visit to Boston was
made in October, 1773, and his second in September, 1774. It was during
this second visit that he was stoned in the pulpit of Rev. Mr. Croswell,
in School Street. About this time he visited Gloucester, Massachusetts,
which was afterwards his residence for many years. In 1775, he was
appointed by General Washington chaplain to the Rhode Island troops, in
the army then lying around Boston. He soon, however, returned to his
charge in Gloucester, where he remained, making frequent visits to
different parts of the United States, until October, 1793, when he was
ordained pastor of the First Universalist Society in Boston, which had
purchased the house of worship formerly occupied by the society of Dr.
Samuel Mather. His labors were not confined to this society, however; in
one respect he was a minister at large; he continued his itinerant habits,
more or less, until October, 1809, when he was stricken with the palsy. He
lived nearly six years after this affliction, and expired on the third day
of September, 1815. He was buried in the Granary burying-ground, where his
remains were suffered to lie unhonored until 1837, when they were removed
to Mount Auburn, and a monument was erected to his memory. The monument is
a beautiful fluted column, surmounted by an urn. It is encircled by a
belt, or tablet, on which two inscriptions are placed; on one side—
“JOHN MURRAY, Preacher of the Gospel; born in Alton, England,
December 10, 1741; died in Boston, September 3, 1815; reëntombed
beneath this stone, June 8, 1837.”
On the opposite side—
“Erected at the recommendation of the United States General
Convention of Universalists.”
Elhanan Winchester.
A distinguished advocate of Universalism, born in Brookline,
Massachusetts, September 30, 1751. In his nineteenth year, he was
converted, under the preaching of the Baptists; and it was by his labors
that the present Baptist society in Newton was originally gathered. In the
autumn of 1774, he made a journey to the Southern States. Early in 1778,
he first saw Siegvolk’s “Everlasting Gospel,” a work which originally
appeared in Holland, but which had been translated and published by the
Mennonites of Pennsylvania. It made a very deep impression upon his mind.
In 1779, he came back to New England, his convictions of the truth of
Universalism increasing upon him daily. He set out on his return to South
Carolina in the autumn of 1780, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 7th of
October. Here he intended to remain but a few days; but God evidently had
a great work for him to do in this place. Even his enemies acknowledged
that his “manner of preaching was popular, his address very fascinating,
and his appearance dignified and commanding.” The Baptist church in that
city invited him to tarry and preach to them, and he at length consented.
About this time he read “Stonehouse on Universal Restitution,” which
served to confirm him greatly in his belief of that doctrine.
Notwithstanding his great popularity, a discontent began to show itself in
certain members of the church. He foresaw that a storm was rising, and he
determined to prepare for it; not (to use his words) “by denying what I
had said, but by more fully examining, and determining for myself, whether
the sentiment was according to Scripture, or not. If I found it was not, I
was determined to retract; but if it was, to hold it fast, let the
consequences be what they might.” Such was his truly Christian resolution.
He avowed his belief in the final happiness of all men.
A majority of the church were in his favor; but, being a man of remarkably
peaceful disposition, he did not urge them to press their claims to the
meeting-house; but they retired to the hall of the university, where they
held their meetings for about four years, until they purchased a place for
themselves. During the rest of his life, he is to be viewed as the public
advocate of universal restitution. There were several eminent men who
adhered to him, and among others, Dr. Redman, and the celebrated Dr.
Benjamin Rush, who remained his correspondent when he was in Europe. Added
to all his other troubles, his domestic afflictions were very great. At
the age of thirty-two, he had buried four wives. The fifth was a desperate
fury, who gave him great trouble as long as he lived. After preaching
about six years in Philadelphia, he was seized with an irresistible
impulse to visit England. No persuasions could divert him from the
purpose; and in September, 1787, he arrived, almost penniless, and a total
stranger, in the great metropolis of the British empire. He preached in
different parts of London, and, by his fervid eloquence and earnest
defence of the restoration, he soon gathered a congregation, who took for
him the chapel in Parliament Court, in which he held his meetings until
his departure for America. He spent six years and a half in this country,
laboring assiduously to bring men to the knowledge of the truth; and a
deep and wide impression was made by his labors. In consequence of the ill
treatment he experienced from his wife, he was obliged to leave her; and
he quitted England privately, and came home, filling the friends whom he
had left behind with amazement, being ignorant at first what had befallen
him. He arrived in Boston in July, 1794. Various were the speculations in
this country in regard to his return. But he commenced at once his labors
as a preacher, travelling in several of the states,—visited his former
friends in Philadelphia, where he was joined by his wife, who had come
home to America, and whom he freely forgave. It became evident, about this
time, that his health was greatly impaired; and an increasing asthma
foretold a fatal termination. He came to Hartford, Connecticut, in
October, 1796, and raised a congregation, to which he preached until he
could preach no more. In April, 1797, he delivered a sermon, under a
strong presentiment that it was his last, from St. Paul’s farewell address
to the elders of the Ephesian church. He never entered the desk again. He
contemplated his death with serenity and joy. On the morning of his
decease, he commenced singing the hymn with several of his
friends,—“Farewell, my friends in Christ below,” but his voice soon
faltered, and the torpor of death fell on him. His friends became
disconcerted, and ceased to sing; but he revived a little, and encouraged
them to go on, joining in the first line of each verse, until his voice
was actually “lost in death.” This was on the 18th of April, 1797, in the
47th year of his age. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Strong,
of Hartford, who bore a frank testimony to Mr. Winchester’s excellent
character, and his final constancy in the doctrine he had preached.
The following is the inscription on the stone erected to his memory:—
“The General Convention of the Universal Churches, in Memory of
their dear departed Brother, the REV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER, erected
this Monumental Stone.
He died April 18th, 1797, aged 46 years.
Twas thine to preach, with animated zeal,
The glories of the resurrection morn,
When sin, death, hell, the power of Christ shall feel,
And light, life, immortality, be born.”
Saint Genevieve.
Born at Nanterre, about five miles from Paris, in the year 423, about the
time of Pharamond, the first king of France. St. Germain, bishop of
Auxerre, observing in her, when yet very young, a particular disposition
to sanctity, advised her to take a vow of perpetual virginity, which she
accordingly did in the presence of the bishop of Paris. After the death of
her parents, she went to Paris. The city was about to be deserted, when
Attila, with his Huns, broke into France; but Genevieve assured the
inhabitants of complete security, if they would seek it by fervent
prayers. Attila took his course from Champaigne to Orleans, returned
thence into Champaigne, without touching Paris, and was defeated in 451.
By this event, Genevieve’s reputation was established. In a time of
famine, she went along the River Seine, from city to city, and soon
returned with twelve large vessels loaded with grain, which she
distributed gratuitously among the sufferers. This increased her
authority, and she was highly honored by Merovæus and Chilperic. Nothing,
however, contributed more to her reputation for sanctity, than the
circumstance, that, from her fifteenth to her fiftieth year, she ate
nothing but barley-bread, except that she took some beans every two or
three weeks, and, after her fiftieth year, some fish and milk. In 460, she
built a church over the graves of St. Dionysius Rusticus and Eleutherius,
near the village of Chasteville, where Dagobert afterwards founded the
abbey of St. Denys. She died in 499 or 501, and her body was placed in the
subterraneous chapel which St. Denys had consecrated to the apostles Paul
and Peter. Clovis, by her request, built a church over it, which was
afterwards called by her name, as was also the abbey that was founded
there. Another church, consecrated to this saint, was built adjoining to
the church of Notre Dame. Her relics are preserved in the former. The
church celebrates the third of January, the day on which she died, in
honor of her.
Gilbert Burnet.
Bishop of Salisbury, was born at Edinburgh, in the year 1643. He was
carefully educated by his father; and, having a strong constitution and a
prodigious memory, he applied himself closely to study, and acquired a
great portion of learning and knowledge, which he seemed to have ready for
all occasions. He travelled through France, Italy, and Holland, where he
formed connections with many of the greatest persons of his time, by whom
he was much respected for his talents and virtues. At Amsterdam, he became
acquainted with the leading men of the different persuasions tolerated in
the United Provinces—Calvinists, Arminians, Lutherans, Anabaptists,
Brownists, Roman Catholics, and Unitarians; amongst each of which, he used
frequently to declare, he met with men of such unfeigned piety and virtue,
that he became strongly fixed in a principle of universal charity, and an
invincible abhorrence of all severities on account of religious opinions.
The following sentiments, which he solemnly uttered towards the conclusion
of his days, are very expressive of the nature and power of true religion,
and of its influence upon his own mind:—
“I recommend,” he observes, “to all sorts of men, in the most serious
manner, the study and practice of religion, as that which is the most
important of all things, and which is both the light of the world, and the
salt of the earth.
“Nothing so opens our faculties, and composes and directs the whole man,
as an inward sense of God; of his authority over us; of the laws he has
set us; of his eye ever upon us; of his hearing our prayers, assisting our
endeavors, watching over our concerns; of his being to judge, and reward
or punish, us in another state, according to what we have done in this.
Nothing will give us such a detestation of sin, and such a sense of the
goodness of God, and of our obligations to holiness, as a right
understanding and firm belief of the Christian religion.
“By living according to the rules of religion, a man becomes the wisest,
the best, and the happiest creature that he is capable of being. Honest
industry, the employing of time well, a constant sobriety, an undefiled
purity and chastity, with continued serenity, are the best preservatives,
too, of life and health; so that, take a man as an individual, religion is
his guard, his perfection, his beauty, and his glory. This will make him a
light in the world, shining brightly, and enlightening many round about
him.
“Thus religion, if truly received and sincerely adhered to, would prove
the greatest of all blessings to a nation. But by religion I understand
something more than receiving particular doctrines, though ever so true,
or professing them, and engaging to support them, even with zeal and
eagerness. What signify the best doctrines, if men do not live suitably to
them; if they have not a due influence upon their thoughts and their
lives? Men of bad lives, with sound opinions, are self-condemned, and lie
under a highly-aggravated guilt.
“By religion I do not mean an outward compliance with forms and customs,
in going to church, to prayers, to sermons, and to sacraments, with an
external show of devotion; or, which is more, with some inward forced good
thoughts, in which many satisfy themselves, while these have no visible
effect on their lives, nor any inward force to control and rectify their
appetites, passions, and secret designs. These customary performances, how
good and useful soever when understood and rightly directed, are of little
value when men rest on them, and think, because they do them, they have
acquitted themselves of their duty, though they still continue proud,
covetous, full of deceit, envy, and malice. Even secret prayers, the most
effectual means, are designed for a higher end; which is, to possess our
minds with such a constant and present sense of divine truths, as may make
these live in us, and govern us, and draw down such assistance, as to
exalt and sanctify our natures.
“So that, by religion, I mean such a sense of divine truth as enters into
a man, and becomes the spring of a new nature within him; reforming his
thoughts and designs; purifying his heart; sanctifying and governing his
whole deportment, his words as well as his actions; convincing him that it
is not enough not to be scandalously vicious, or to be innocent in his
conversation, but that he must be entirely, uniformly, and constantly,
pure and virtuous, animated with zeal to be still better and better, more
eminently good and exemplary.
“This is true religion, which is the perfection of human nature, and the
joy and delight of every one that feels it active and strong within him.
It is true, this is not arrived at all at once, and it will have an
unhappy alloy, hanging long even about a good man; but, as those ill
mixtures are the perpetual grief of his soul, so that it is his chief care
to watch over and to mortify them, he will be in a continual progress,
still gaining ground upon himself; and as he attains to a degree of
purity, he will find a noble flame of life and joy growing up in him. Of
this I write with a greater concern and emotion, because I have felt it to
be the true, and, indeed, the only joy which runs through a man’s heart
and life. It is this which has been, for many years, my greatest support.
I rejoice daily in it. I feel from it the earnest of that supreme joy
which I want and long for; and I am sure there is nothing else which can
afford any true and complete happiness.”
This eminent scholar, Christian, and divine, departed this life on the
seventeenth of March, 1714.
THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS.
Name. Place. Denom. Open. Prof. Stud. Total.
Bangor Bangor, Cong. 1816 3 43 139
Theol. Me.
Seminary
New Hampt. N. Baptist 1828 2 36 75
Theo. Inst. Hampt.,
N. H.
Gilmanton Gilmanton Cong. 1835 3 26 21
Theol. Sem. do.
Theological Andover, Cong. 1808 5 142 785
Seminary. Mass.
Divinity Cambridge, Cong. 1816 2 27 191
Sch. Harv. do. Unit.
Univ.
Theological Newton, Baptist 1825 3 33 137
Institution do.
Theol. Dep. N. Haven, Cong. 1822 3 61 245
Yale College Ct.
Theol. Inst. E. Cong. 1834 3 29 37
of Conn. Windsor,
do.
Theol. Inst. New York, Prot. 1817 5 74 186
Epis. Church N. Y. Epis.
New York do. do. Presbyt. 1836 4 129
Theol. Sem.
Theol. Sem. Auburn, Presbyt. 1821 4 71 344
of Auburn do.
Hamilton Hamilton, Baptist 1820 4 27 124
Lit. and Th. do.
Inst.
Hartwick Hartwick, Lutheran 1816 2 3
Seminary do.
Theol. Sem. Newburgh, Ass. 1836 3 11
As. Ref. Ch. do. Ref. Ch.
Th. Sem. N. Br’wick Dutch 1784 3 36 179
Dutch Ref. N. J. Ref.
Ch.
Theol. Sem. Princeton, Presbyt. 1812 5 113 714
Pr. Ch. U. do.
S.
Sem. Luth. Gettysburg, Evang. 1826 3 26 130
Ch. U. Pa. L.
States
German York, do. G. Ref. 1825 2 20
Reformed Ch.
West. Theol. Alleghany Presbyt. 1828 2 31 175
Seminary T. do.
Theological Canonsburg, Asso. 2 22 47
School do. Ch.
Theological Pittsburg, Asso. 1828 1 19
Seminary do. Ref.
Mercersburg Mercersburg,
Theol. Sem. do.
Epis. Theol. Fairfax Co., Prot. 1822 4 43 126
School of Va. Epis.
Va.
Union Theol. Pr. Ed. Co., Presbyt. 1824 3 20 175
Seminary do.
Virginia Richmond, Baptist 1832 3 67
Baptist do.
Seminary
Southern Columbia, S. Presbyt. 1831 3 18 62
Theol. C.
Seminary
Theological Lexington, Lutheran 1835 2 10 20
Seminary do.
Furman High Hills, Baptist 2 30 30
Theol. do.
Seminary
Lit. and Eaton, Ga. Baptist 1834 10
Theol.
Seminary
South-West. Maryville, Presbyt. 1821 2 24 90
Theol. Sem. Ten.
Lane Cincinnati, Presbyt. 1829 3 61 43
Seminary Ohio.
Theol. Dep, Gambier, do. Prot. 1828 3 10
Ken. College Epis.
Theol. Dep. Hudson, do. Presbyt. 3 14 6
Wes. Res.
Col.
Theological Columbus, Lutheran
School do.
Granville Granville, Baptist 1832 2 8
Theol. Dep. do.
Oberlin Oberlin, do. Presbyt. 1834 4 58
Theol. Dep.
Indiana S. Hanover, Presbyt. 2 10
Theol. In.
Seminary
Alton Theol. Upper Alton, Baptist 1835
Seminary Il.
Carlinville Carlinville, Presbyt. 1838
Theol. Sem. do.
Theol. Dep. N. Palmyra, Presbyt. 1
Marion Col. Mo.
For a notice of the Roman Catholic seminaries, see page 325.
Progress Of Christianity.
M. LAFFON DE LADEBAT, of France, computes the number of Christians, in
each century, since the Christian era, as follows:—
1st century 500,000
2d 2,000,000
3d 5,000,000
4th 10,000,000
5th 15,000,000
6th 30,000,000
7th 25,000,000
8th 30,000,000
9th 40,000,000
10th 50,000,000
11th 60,000,000
12th 70,000,000
13th 75,000,000
14th 80,000,000
15th 100,000,000
16th 125,000,000
17th 155,000,000
18th 200,000,000
Since the commencement of the nineteenth century, the number of Christians
has increased, with great rapidity, in all parts of the world.
FOOTNOTES
1 The 21st of the former Articles is omitted, because it is partly of
a local and civil nature, and is provided for, as to the remaining
parts of it, in other Articles.
2 “As far as it respects civil affairs, we believe it the duty of
Christians, and especially all Christian ministers, to be subject to
the supreme authority of the country where they may reside, and to
use all laudable means to enjoin obedience to the powers that be;
and therefore it is expected that all our preachers and people, who
may be under the British or any other government, will behave
themselves as peaceable and orderly subjects.”
3 “The question is, not whether God, all things considered, has
purposed the existence of sin rather than to prevent it; but for
what _reason_ has he purposed it? Some affirm this _reason_ to be,
_that sin is the necessary means of the greatest good_. Now, what I
claim, and all that I claim, is, that _no one can prove this to be
the reason_ why God has purposed the existence of sin, and that some
other may be _the true reason_, without affirming what the true
reason is.”
4 The Exode did not begin until Terah’s death; then Abraham left
Haran, and the Exode began, as is clearly proved by Acts 7:4.
5 Exode in Egypt from Abraham to wilderness state.
6 Joshua was a young man when he came out of Egypt, (Exod. 33:11;)
could not have been more than 45 years old then; 85 when he entered
Canaan, and 110 when he died, leaves 25 years.
7 Judges begin. See Judges 2:7-15.