"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."—Isaiah, xl. 3.

REV. JOHN MURRAY, from England, landed on the shore of New Jersey in 1770. He came hither much oppressed in spirit on account of severe afflictions in England, and had determined not to place himself before the public again as a preacher. His published biography tells us how differently the arrangements were made by Providence respecting him. It is a remarkable record, that of his meeting with Thomas Potter, who declared that he had been long waiting for the minister who had now come, that he must preach in the new meeting-house which had been builded for him; and who, in face of the preacher's refusal to comply with his request, declared that the wind would not change for him to leave in the vessel until he had delivered his message. After a severe mental conflict the stranger consented to preach on the following Sunday. Due notice was given, and the house was filled with attentive listeners.

There had been some other preaching of Universalism in different places in America previous to this time, as there were here and there those who cherished the faith and made public avowal of it. Dr. George de Benneville, a fugitive from France because of religious persecution, established himself near Germantown, Pa., as a physician, and being a devout believer in Universalism, took occasion often to advocate it in public, with much effect. This beginning on the part of Mr. Murray, however, opened the way to a systematic, permanent movement, and led to the establishment of Universalist churches. He preached much in New England, and was settled in Portsmouth, N.H., and afterwards in Boston, where he remained pastor of one church for nearly thirty years. In his preaching at first, Mr. Murray did not design to establish a separate sect. He was welcomed by ministers and their followers into orthodox pulpits, until his outspoken views respecting the salvation of the race raised a strong opposition against him, which made him an object of persecution, and marked him as the propagator of a dangerous heresy. Thus excluded from Christian communion and fellowship by other sects, it was but reasonable and just that the believers in Universalism should assume for themselves the rights and privileges of a distinct and independent Christian fraternity; so that other sects were responsible for the separation of this branch of the Christian church from themselves. It has been justly said by another:—

"If there was sin in this schism, in this separate religious organization, it was a sin for which the other sects of those times should bear the blame. They turned us out of doors, because we dared express our earnest solemn opinions, and we had only these two alternatives,—to stay out of doors or go in at those which were hung on Universalist hinges. Does anybody to-day condemn us because we chose the latter? We do not uncharitably condemn them for the course they took; they acted, in most cases, conscientiously; and it was, perhaps, a providential necessity of the times that the two elements should separate; that the two classes of Christians, holding views so opposite, should walk apart for a while. Denied the fellowship of other churches at the start, we have tried to be content with the fellowship of Christ; and we neither desire nor ask for any other until we are deemed worthy of it. That we can endure to be called heretics, even infidels, that we can stand alone, and yet live, and grow, and win the respect of the best part of the world, is already demonstrated. Our great anxiety in the future will be to show to all right-minded people, by our life rather than our word, that we are Christians, that this last form of Protestantism is only more genuine, because nearer the truth, than the first."[14]

Contemporary with Mr. Murray during his early ministry in America were Elhanan Winchester, a highly gifted and effective minister; Thomas Jones, formerly of the Lady Huntington connection in England, and afterwards settled at Gloucester, Mass.; Adams and Zebulon Streeter, Caleb Rich, Thomas Barnes, Noah Parker, Noah Murray, George Richards, William Farwell, Joab Young, Hosea and David Ballou, Edward Turner,—most of these preachers in New England; Abel Sargent in Western Pennsylvania, and a few others. Dr. Joseph Priestley was for a time in Philadelphia, where he advocated the doctrine of the final restoration of all souls; and Rev. Dr. Mayhew and Rev. Dr. Chauncey, although not identified with the work of the ministers already mentioned, had made distinct avowals of this same faith. A remarkable fact in connection with the history of most of these men is, that they were not from theological schools, nor largely endowed with literary qualifications. They were men of clear mental perceptions, were well versed in the Bible, ready and apt in their references to it, of sincere convictions, and of indomitable will. They went forth in readiness for whatever encounters might await them, never fearing what theological forces might appear in their way, so long as they felt assured that "the sword of the Spirit" would not fail them, and that they should be made "strong in the Lord," and victorious in his might. Well has it been written:—

"It will be brave reading when somebody shall display to us how the faith came quietly to exist at far distant points, Pennsylvania, New York, New England, variously born of widely different antecedents, but gradually converging to a general likeness by the time John Murray came to be the nucleus around which all should centre, an organic but unorganized mass, without form but not void. Then will follow the long history of separated and desultory warfare with the established prejudices and partialities of the Christian sects, during which every verse of Scripture was discussed, every doctrine examined from the base, every conventional habit of thought dragged to the light and called to account, every inch of theological ground stubbornly fought over. All this while there were annual meetings called the General Convention and recognized as a centre of denominational union, but they were little more than voluntary mass-meetings; all authority was jealously reserved to societies or local Associations, with the largest liberty of individual preference, and Universalists, like Israel under its Judges, did as seemed good in every man's sight. Men in less deadly earnest, or dealing with doctrines less profound and fundamental, would have formed a close compact early in their history. But it was in the nature of the case that these revolted thinkers should be shy of new bonds, and that these divers searching the deeps should think little of the surface. It was only when there came to be multitudes born in the faith, with intellectual habits and social affinities based on Universalism, with established worship and gathered congregations scattered across the continent, that the imperative need of a firm union for work and discipline was felt; and to reach this point had taken almost a hundred years."[15]

As time passes, and new phases of the church representing the Universalist faith appear, and new advocates of it arise, these days of its first advocacy in our land may lose their significance to many minds in the increasing attractions connected with the same church in the present time. But he who would see most clearly the hand of Divine Providence in the breaking of the light of this new dispensation upon our shores, will hold in just and sacred estimation this "day of small things," when these faithful ones stood forth to declare its glad tidings. So graphically have the words of another given the deserved tribute to their works, that we gladly record them in these pages.

"The early defenders of Universalism were plain, earnest men, aroused to the exertion of all their energies by the presence of a great thought. The truth of God's universal love and benevolent purpose in creation possessed them. They saw it everywhere, prefigured in Hebrew types, predicted by the prophets, implied in every word of Jesus, enforced in every letter of his apostles. They taught it in all places, and by all methods, in parish churches and district school-houses, in fields and workshops, in pulpits with stones flying about their heads, in rooms filled with the odor of nauseous drugs, in face of the reckless slander of the undignified and the quiet contempt of the dignified portion of the clergy. They were armed at all points, like the old war engines that, overturned every moment, always stood right side up. They turned the tables upon the literal Calvinistic interpreters, and held a text to floor every opponent. They were not moved by ridicule, for they possessed a keen sense of the ludicrous, and knew well how to expose the absurdities of the piebald theology of the churches. To the threats of their opponents they opposed Hudibrastic rhymes; to their missiles, words like old Murray's, 'While I have a "thus saith the Lord" for every point of doctrine which I advance, not all the stones in Boston, except they stop my breath, shall shut my mouth or arrest my testimony.' To the arguments of their adversaries, a logic like that of Ballou, simple as the talk of a little child, strong as the tramp of a giant. There were varieties of opinion among them; they had not all come up to the mount of their elevation by the same path, but the sublime truth 'God is Love' burned like an undying flame in their souls, and united them like brothers. Thank God that the sleep of the church was awakened by these strong champions. Nobly they spake their words in days when it was a disgrace in the eyes of men!"[16]