"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ."—2 Cor. v. 20.

REV. RUFUS SPUR POPE, pastor of the First Universalist Society in Hyannis, Mass., died in that place June 5, 1882. He was born in Stoughton, Mass., April 2, 1809. His father removed from Stoughton to Dorchester, and thence to Marlboro, where the son spent his youthful days in agricultural pursuits. He received his education in the common schools and in the Marlboro Academy. While young he was drawn toward the ministry, and his love for it continued to the end. He spent some time in theological studies with the late Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, D.D., in Malden; and in 1833 preached his first sermon, in South Dedham. Besides his settlement in this place, he had pastorates in Milford, Sterling, and Hardwick, covering a period of ten years. In 1843 the society in Hyannis invited him to be their pastor. Accepting the call, he labored in this place faithfully thirty years. After closing his work here, he ministered to the church in Orleans three years, and briefly supplied some other parishes. His health has been gradually failing for some years.

Mr. Pope was a public man in more than one sense. He served Barnstable for years very faithfully and acceptably as one of its school committee, and was for two years representative from the town in the State Legislature. He filled for some time the office of Register of Probate for Barnstable County, and was for several years postmaster of Hyannis. He was an active and much respected member of the Masonic fraternity.

Rev. William M. De Long was born in Pittsfield, Otsego County, N.Y., Sept. 2, 1815, and died in Binghampton, N.Y., Oct. 30, 1877, aged sixty-two years. He was the youngest of a family of five brothers and nine sisters. When he was nine years old the family moved to Hastings, Oswego County. His mother became entirely blind by an inflammation in her eyes, and by reason of afflictions, of hard times and many children to provide for, the family was reduced to abject poverty. The father died soon after removing to Hastings, and the family was broken and scattered. The mother moved to Clark's Mills, near Utica, where she died in 1830, when William was fifteen years old. He lived a year in Sanquoit, with a friend of the family, and while there heard Rev. W. Bullard and Rev. Dolphus Skinner preach a few Universalist sermons, in which young De Long became deeply interested, as well as in reading the "Magazine and Advocate," and for this reason was dismissed from the machine-shop at Unadilla Forks by its proprietor, a Mr. Abel Stillman, who, however, reconsidered his unreasonable conduct, and reinstated Mr. De Long, who worked there long enough to acquire the money to pay for a year's tuition at Hartwick Seminary. He afterwards attended the New Berlin Academy. His faith in Universalism grew with his increased facilities for study, and in August, 1835, he preached his first sermon. He was ordained July 20, 1837, and preached under different engagements at Lebanon, Oran, and Binghampton, in New York. In 1841 he joined Rev. George Rogers in a missionary tour through Ohio and Indiana. For many years he itinerated over a large circuit in New York and Pennsylvania. He was twice married, first to Miss Mary Ann Ashcroft, who died in 1870, and in 1871 to Miss Mary Jane Swart, an acceptable preacher of the Universalist faith, who survives him. There is a good account of her in "Our Woman Workers," by Mrs. Hanson.

In 1873 Mr. De Long began to suffer from a paralytic affection, from which he could get no relief. These sentences, written and signed by him a short time before he had lost the power of guiding his pen, show the strength of his faith: "I know that God is, that my Redeemer liveth, and that we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is the source of my consolation."

Rev. W.B. Linnell was born in Birmingham, England, in 1804, and died in Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 6, 1868. His first settlement in the ministry was in Springboro, Ohio, in 1844, where he continued for seven years. He afterwards had a settlement in Fairfield, Ind.; Mt. Pleasant, Ia.; and Oquawka, in which last place he remained until the breaking out of the war. He then enlisted in the service of his adopted country as chaplain of the 10th Illinois regiment. Health failed him, and he returned to his home, after enduring the hardships of camp life for nearly a year. After recovering his health, he took charge of the church in Vevay, Ind. He was one of the pioneers of Universalism in the West, and did good service as a Christian minister. Having much of the missionary spirit, his appointments were always numerous, and they were made many weeks ahead. As a preacher, though not particularly brilliant, he was always efficient. He inherited the traditional shrewdness and humor of the Yorkshire people, who were his ancestors, in such a degree as to make him a marked character among his brother ministers. He was kind and tender-hearted to a fault, yet his will was unbending, and when his mind was once made up it was difficult to change him.

Rev. Joshua Britton came from Westmoreland, N.H., where he was born Aug. 14, 1803. His early life was spent upon a farm, where he had but limited opportunities for attending school. But he diligently improved those that offered, and at the age of eighteen began a successful career as a teacher, which extended over ten years, pursuing his studies at the same time, and still adding to his stores of knowledge. He had from youth a serious and devout mind, and was always a regular attendant on public worship. He was inclined to the faith of the Presbyterian Church until about the age of twenty-three, when he had opportunities for hearing the doctrines of Universalism advocated and defended by the late Rev. Dolphus Skinner, and others. He became deeply interested, and his intelligent mind eagerly drank in the new views presented. His faith grew stronger with the lapse of time, and he finally resolved to enter the ministry. He preached his first sermon in 1831, and was ordained at Burlington Flats, N.Y., June 6, 1832. He was settled over parishes in the State of New York till 1839, when he was in Chesterfield, N.H., for a year. He spent the next ten years in Dudley and North Chatham, Mass.; then three years in Stoddard and Richmond, N.H. He removed to Vermont in 1853, and preached in Brattleboro, West Concord, Lyndon, and Bradford for the next fifteen years, when he went to Fort Atkinson, Wis., which was his home for the remainder of his life. He was a faithful and excellent pastor; he had a mild and loving heart, and won many friends. If not one of the greatest ministers intellectually, he was one of the best spiritually, and his life was a pure and useful one. He died at Fort Atkinson, Wis., Oct. 30, 1878.

An instance illustrative of the orderly habits of the man was, years ago, related to the writer. The books in his library were always exactly in their places, and the backs of them in a straight line. At one time an exchange minister, who had the free use of the library during a Sunday's tarrying, had failed to replace the volumes he had taken down according to the rules of the proprietor. When Mr. Britton entered the study on his return home, while his brother was yet there, the first kindly salutations were scarcely over when the projecting volumes were all noted and quickly adjusted by their owner. A singular and timely suggestion.

Rev. George Messenger was originally from Berkshire, Mass., removing from thence to the State of New York, and afterwards, in 1838, to Springfield, Ohio, where he ever after lived, a widely known and highly respected citizen. He was licensed as a preacher at Madison, N.Y., in 1824, and ordained, at Eatonsbush, N.Y., Oct. 12, 1826. He was an itinerant preacher, and much interested in the prosperity of the church where he resided. As one of the trustees of Buchtel College, he gave much of his time and attention to the supervision of the erection of the college building. For the last few months of his life he was very hard at work at Akron, and while thus engaged contracted a sickness which terminated in death. "It may be said of him," wrote the editor of "The Star in the West," "that he died a martyr to the work which had enlisted his sympathies, namely, establishing Buchtel College on a permanent basis. He subscribed largely and liberally to the fund for its erection, and was an unceasing worker in its behalf. His widow, since his death, has been a substantial helper to the institution. She endowed the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy, in memory of her husband, to the amount of $25,000; and has also contributed largely to the expenses of the institution, and given again and again for various special purposes."[49]

Rev. John Temple Goodrich, of Middlefield, Otsego County, N.Y., born in 1815, studied theology with Rev. Stephen R. Smith. In 1836, when less than twenty-one years of age, he was settled as a preacher in Oxford, Chenango County, N.Y., where he remained about twelve years. In 1850 he was called to the pastorate of the Universalist Church at Canton, N.Y., where he remained for five years, doing good work there and in neighboring places. An affection of his throat induced him to accept a call to Reading, Pa., where he labored two years, and where his influence was strong and extended as it had been elsewhere. After this he was persuaded to return to Canton, and take the agency of the new Theological School and College projected at that place, and served in that capacity for five years, successfully, preaching in the mean time in Canton and elsewhere. It was largely through his efforts that the New York Legislature appropriated $25,000 to the Canton schools. Released from this work, he became pastor of the Eighth Street Church, Philadelphia, where he remained four years, when he left them out of debt and himself out of health. After an interval spent in travelling, he went to Wilmington, Del., and supplied that missionary station for about two years.

While he lived in Canton, he held an oral discussion with Rev. Mr. Wheeler, Baptist, which continued several evenings, and was a marked success on the part of Mr. Goodrich. In Wilmington he held a written controversy with Rev. Mr. Hoffman, a Presbyterian minister, a success also. Years before this, he had held a written and oral discussion with Rev. Mr. Dyer, a Presbyterian, of Preston, N.Y., which gave the cause of Universalism an impetus in that place. Mr. Goodrich was not combative, and would not seek a controversy, nor would he shrink from one if duty called him to engage in it. He was devotedly attached to his family, and was anxious to close up his secular concerns, and settle down over some parish where the labor required was such as his health would enable him to perform. With this intent he left home on the 25th of September, 1871; went to Fulton, then to Watertown, to Rochester, and to Chicago, where he was seen by acquaintances, and where his name was entered on the register of the Metropolitan Hotel, for room No. 36, on the 5th of October, and where it afterwards remained, with bill unsettled. He, with many others, perished in the dreadful conflagration at that time.

Rev. Franklin Charles Flint was born in Nelson, N.H., June 16, 1836, and died in Shrewsbury, Mass., March 23, 1876. In 1840 his family moved to Hancock, N.H., and in 1842 to Shrewsbury, Mass., where he worked on his father's farm and attended a district school. At an early age he was quite studious, and desired a classical education. He went through his preparatory course at Thetford (Vt.) Academy, and in 1857 entered Amherst College. But, after spending two years there, he left, entered at Tufts, and graduated in 1861, the third in a class of twelve, with a philosophical oration. He was enabled to work his way through college by gaining, in a competitive examination, one of the scholarships granted by the State of Massachusetts to Tufts College, and by what he could earn in teaching school during his vacations. Upon graduating, he took charge of the high school in Westboro, Mass., and in the mean time turned his attention to theology. He preached his first sermon at Groton (now Ayer Junction). In 1863 he preached in Dana and vicinity, teaching meanwhile a select school. In 1864-5 he taught a select school at Hyannis, Mass., and afterwards was assistant in the academy at Dudley. In 1865 he removed to Chatham, on Cape Cod, where he was ordained, July 31, 1866. In 1867 he became pastor of the Universalist Society in Southbridge, Mass., where he proved himself a faithful minister, a useful member of the school committee, an efficient worker in the temperance cause, and by his active interest and co-operation in every good work, and by his frank and genial manners, won the respect and good will of the people in and out of his parish. In 1874 he took charge of the Willow Park Seminary, at Westboro, Mass., but resigned after one year. He preached for short periods at Oxford and Rockport. In 1874 he prepared for the press a memoir of the late Rev. W.W. Wilson, one of his predecessors in the pastorate at Southbridge. In 1875 he took charge of the Universalist Society in Attleboro, Mass., but failing health compelled him to resign the position in March, 1876. His people voted him leave of absence, hoping he might recover, and he went to his father's in Shrewsbury, but he rapidly grew worse, until death came to his relief. His record is with that of "the faithful in Christ Jesus."

Rev. Hope Bain was a Scotchman by birth, from Aberdeen. His father, once an officer in the British navy, removed with his family to Maryland, and died in Baltimore in 1812. The son served during the war of 1812, young as he was (fifteen), as a member of a Baltimore company of volunteers attached to the 5th regiment, and was in the battles of Bladensburg and West Point. He was at first a Presbyterian, and member of that church for many years. In 1830 he was appointed an agent to labor in West Tennessee, and in the valley of the Mississippi, for the American Sunday-School Union. He became a Universalist in 1847, and was ordained a preacher at Norfolk, Va., in 1848. He was for fifteen years a teacher in Virginia. He moved to North Carolina, in December, 1851, and preached, before the war of the Rebellion, in twenty-six counties, and, after the war, in six other counties. His last sermon was in Goldsboro, in 1875. Anticipating his approaching departure, he said that at the age of eighty-one he could not expect to remain here much longer, nor did he desire to. He was nearing a home where he should be united to loved ones gone before. He was widely known in North Carolina. He was a Union man in the strictest sense, thoroughly loyal to the government during the late war, which alienated from him many of his former associates and hearers, but he never wavered in devotion to his country, and to the cause of the Christian Gospel. Although without pecuniary resources, he continued to preach wherever there was an opening, and with little or no remuneration labored faithfully and steadfastly in the ministry as long as health and strength lasted. His faith uplifted and sustained him as he passed from these earthly scenes.

Rev. Woodbury M. Fernald was for several years a prominent preacher with the Universalists. He was born in Portsmouth, N.H., March 21, 1813, and died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 10, 1873. He was ordained at Portsmouth, N.H., in 1836. In 1838 he was pastor at Cabotville (now Chicopee), Mass. In 1840 and 1841 he was located at Newburyport, and while there published a volume entitled "Universalism against Partialism," an able statement of the contrast set forth. He was next in Stoneham as pastor for three years. In 1854 he removed to Boston, and becoming interested in the works of Swedenborg and the writings of Andrew Jackson Davis, he was after a while ordained as a Swedenborgian minister. He was so fascinated by the New Church doctrines as to become alienated from his former associates and lost to their ministry. He published, in 1854, a "Compendium of the Theological and Spiritual Writings of Swedenborg," and in 1859, "God in His Providence," in which he implicitly renounced the notion of "the eternity of Hell," and put forth a Universalist view of human destiny, turning Swedenborg's principles against the Seer's own conclusions, and making those principles the ground of an assurance of Universal Restoration. He published afterwards other works, evincing much ability. His sincerity was never doubted.

Rev. Caleb Perin Mallory was a minister of the Universalist faith in Canada during most of his life. He died at Huntingville, P.Q., July 13, 1882, aged seventy-one.

He was born in Eaton, C.E. His early training was under the influence of the theology after the kind taught by Calvin and Arminius. Being of a thoughtful and studious disposition, however, he came to see in the teachings of the New Testament strong and unmistakable evidences of the Gospel of Universalism. When about thirty years old he appeared before the public as an advocate of it. Rev. L.H. Tabor, who officiated at the funeral, gave the following account:—

"As nearly as I can learn, he preached some three years in various places to good acceptance, and was ordained at Glover, Vt., Sept. 19, 1843, and in just one year from the time of ordination (Sept. 19, 1844), was installed at the request of several brethren residing in as many of the eastern townships over which he was installed. For several years he preached regularly at Huntingville and other places in the vicinity, and for over forty years had attended funerals and weddings, baptizing children and adults as the disciples of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. He was a Christian reformer, ready for every good word and work. No one man could have been taken from that community whose departure will be felt more. And when we saw the multitude that gathered at his burial, with weeping eyes, we were led to say,'Behold, how they loved him.' It was said, by good judges, that there were a thousand people at his funeral, some coming the distance of fifty miles.

"Brother Mallory was a man of great energy of character, often travelling and preaching under such adverse circumstances as would have discouraged others of less inherent power. His compensation for services has been comparatively small, but, sustained by the ministry of the reconciliation, he fainted not, occupying till the Master came."

In the yearly Universalist "Register," the names of nearly thirty women are given as ministers,—evangelists or with pastorates,—in the Universalist Church.[50] Among the number of those who have served in this capacity, the record is made of the death of the following:—

Mrs. Elvira J. Powers. She came into the ministry from the Canton Theological School as a licentiate of the New York Convention. At the end of six months she was compelled to give up her work on account of ill-health, and was not able afterwards to resume it. During the war of the Rebellion, in the office of nurse, she rendered good service, and wrote an interesting book of her experiences, entitled "Hospital Pencillings." A friend and former pastor speaks of her personal worth in very strong terms. "In fidelity to her conviction of duty, in her industry, zeal, and integrity, in her constant sacrifice of the superficial and temporal for the profound and eternal, her life was a great success." She died in Worcester, Mass., Sept. 21, 1871.

Rev. Fanny Upham Roberts, daughter of Frederic and Hannah R. Cogswell, both of whom were preachers in the "Christian Connection," was born in South Berwick, Me., in June, 1834. She joined the Congregational Church in Northwood, N.H., and was for some time a superintendent of a Baptist Sunday-school. She had, however, from a child been acquainted with the Universalist faith. In 1870 she began to give lectures in public on lyceum topics, and not long afterwards commenced preaching in Kensington, N.H., and Wells, Me. In the spring of 1871 she removed to Kittery, Me. (where she had been ordained), and preached there until April, 1875, when from loss of voice she resigned her post, and went to Minnesota, hoping to regain her health. But the change of climate failed to arrest her disease, and she steadily declined until death came to her relief. She died in Winona, Minn., Aug. 26, 1875. Her friends testify to her vigor of mind, her goodness of heart, and the graceful modesty and sweet womanly dignity that ever shone out in her life. An intelligent member of the Universalist congregation of Portsmouth, N.H., once informed the writer that in listening to her discourses, as he did occasionally, he was forcibly reminded of the logical clearness and strength of the elder Ballou.

Rev. Prudy Le Clerc Haskell was born in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 6, 1844, and died in Oxford, O., Dec. 27, 1878. In her youthful days she was thoughtful, intelligent, and studious. Her parents were Universalists in sentiment, and her mind was impressed by the influences of their religious faith. An only brother, who had intended to enter the Universalist ministry, died in a Southern prison during the war, and she felt herself called to take the place which he would have filled. She was ordained at Madison, Ind., Oct. 14, 1869, where she preached two years, and succeeded in gathering the scattered remnants of a former congregation into a living form. She then went to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and labored there successfully for two years, greatly endearing herself to the people; but the climate proving unfavorable to her, she was obliged to leave and return to the home of her parents in Aurora, Ind. She was afterwards settled at Mt. Carmel, Ind., at Jeffersonville and Newtown, O., and at Covington, Ky. She was an attractive and interesting preacher, and very popular as a pastor. While residing in Covington, she was united in marriage to Mr. Cassius L. Haskell, who afterwards entered the ministry. She had been married but a single year when her earthly life ended. The remembrance of an evening with her at a meeting in Mt. Carmel, O., is very vivid in the mind of the writer. She had been deeply interested in a new church organization there, and had induced a good number of young believers to become members. Her welcome and counsel to them were pervaded with the Christian spirit.

It has been thought advisable to append to this record of the departed the names of a few of the living ministers, now advanced in years, who have earned an honorable reputation by their works during the time included in the survey here taken. It would have been agreeable to the writer if the number of such could have been increased, but this was forbidden by the limits prescribed to this volume. Besides, as already stated, it will be understood that this historical sketching is by no means exhausted; that there is another and a larger roll of those passed on, who have done faithful service in the redeeming army, as there is a noble company of the living who are yet adding their good work to the history of the church, and whose names and deeds may in some future day be truthfully and gratefully given to an appreciative public. For this brief review we are able to take of the faithful dead and living, let us be thankful.

One of the most aged living ministers of the Universalist Church is Rev. Clement Fall Le Fevre, D.D., of Milwaukee, Wis. He was born in Berkhamstead, County of Hertfordshire, England, Nov. 12, 1797. He was christened in the parish church, as was the poet Cowper, who was a native of the same county. The father of Mr. Le Fevre was a clergyman and graduate of Oxford University, and was acquainted with the distinguished poet, and always held his works in high estimation. In 1814 Mr. Le Fevre had a commission in the British navy as second lieutenant of the Royal Marines, and was appointed to a frigate and sailed for Halifax. His war record was a short one, however, for with the peace of 1815 he was put on half-pay. He was never in any engagement with the enemy, and, as he writes, "my sword was never stained with American blood, and theirs was never stained with mine, and that I consider the better." Having no particular employment, he was for some time adrift as to a life-calling, but subsequently inclined to his father's profession, and in nautical phrase "bore up for a parson." His father was educating some young men for the Universities, and the son joined in their classes. Having by this means obtained some knowledge of Latin and Greek, he received ordination, and was adopted by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This was in the year 1821. His appointment was to a church in Canada, in the diocese of Quebec, where he remained until the close of the year 1829, when, rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity and endless punishment for the sins of this life, he withdrew from the ministry and communion of the Church of England.

He next removed to New York, and made his home at Hempstead, L.I., the native place of his wife; and here and at several places on the island and in the city of New York he frequently preached. In 1830 he received fellowship of the Universalists, at the New York and Philadelphia Association, met at New Brunswick, N.J. He was next pastor four years in Troy, N.Y., six in New York city, four in Hudson, and six in Milwaukee, Wis. In the last-named place he purchased a farm and settled down for the enjoyment of a permanent home. Although having no special pastorate, he has been doing much missionary work, has constantly attended the meetings of the church, and often written for its publications. His health at this present writing is quite firm for one of his years, a slight failure of eyesight and a partial paralysis of the right hand being his principal infirmity.

Mr. Le Fevre enjoys a deservedly high reputation. His pulpit talents have always been appreciated by his congregations. His discourses have indicated a keen and well-balanced mind, logical force, and ripe scholarship. In social life he has always exerted a salutary influence; his wit and humor being admirable accompaniments of his gentlemanly dignity and sympathetic spirit. He has proved a valuable acquisition to the church whose pleasure it is to make this truthful record of him.

Rev. Lucius Robinson Paige, D.D., is, with two exceptions,[51] the oldest living minister in the Universalist Church. He was born in Hardwick, Mass., March 8, 1802, and was educated in the public schools of his native village. On reaching his majority he began his work as a preacher, and did some effective missionary work as a layman. In 1825 he was ordained, and was settled at Springfield, Mass., where he remained four years. During this time, his faith being assailed by two ministers of the Methodist church, Rev. Timothy Merritt and Rev. Wilbur Fisk, Mr. Paige entered into a controversy with them, and proved himself an able advocate and defender of the Christian Gospel. The debate still exists in pamphlet form, and is one of the most pithy and searching that can be found. The spirit and behavior of the bigoted opponents of Universalism are strikingly illustrated, as well as the readiness and efficiency of the assailed one to meet and to deal with them. Mr. Paige was next minister in Rockport, and removed from there to Cambridgeport, where he was installed pastor of the First Universalist Society July 8, 1832. He held this position until 1839, after which he took no pastorate, but continued to preach frequently for more than twenty years afterwards, and has been active in the ministry until within a few years.

In 1833 he published his "Selections from Eminent Commentators," a work showing most conclusively the admission on the part of orthodox writers of the very ground taken by Universalists in their explanation of many passages of Scripture supposed to stand in opposition to Universalism. It was a strong call upon all candid inquirers after Christian truth, and has made its impress in the progress of Christian thought since it was issued. In 1838 he published "Questions on Select Portions of the Gospels," designed for Sunday schools and Bible classes. His greatest work, however, is his Commentary on the New Testament, the first volume of which was published in 1844, and the last in 1870. The work is the result of sound judgment, careful research and close thought, and is a monument of the steady and untiring industry of the writer. It has been highly acceptable to those on whose behalf it was prepared. While engaged upon it, he also contributed to the denominational papers, and gathered materials for the history of Cambridge, which was published in 1877.

He has also been actively engaged in secular pursuits. He was town clerk from March, 1839, to January, 1840, and from March, 1843, to May, 1846, and city clerk from May, 1846, to October, 1855, and representative in the General Court in 1878 and 1879. He was treasurer of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank from April, 1855, to April, 1871, and has been cashier and president of the Cambridge Bank. He received the degree of A.M. from Harvard in 1850, and D.D. from Tufts in 1861. Although he has retired from business, during the past few years Dr. Paige has given much attention to the preparation of a history of his native town, Hardwick, and after many years of hard work the task is completed and the manuscript is now ready for the printer. He is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and one of the oldest on the roll; also of the American Antiquarian and Phi Beta Kappa societies.

As a Mason he has stood high. He joined the Order in Little Falls, N.Y., in 1824, became Worshipful Master of the Hardwick Lodge in 1826, having previously been exalted to the Royal Arch degree at Greenwich, and having joined the Knights Templars in 1824. He is now the oldest Past Commander of the Knights Templars within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He became Steward of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1848, and deacon in 1850. The year following he was elected right worshipful deputy grand master. Upon retiring from that position, he became a permanent member, and is now the oldest surviving permanent member of the Grand Lodge. In 1861 he received the thirty-third degree Scottish, and was at once admitted a member of the Supreme Council. Here he served as Secretary two years, and Minister of State three years. He is now, as he has been for nineteen years past, resident representative of the Supreme Council of Belgium. One of the most noticeable events in the life of Dr. Paige was that of the celebration of his eightieth birthday, in the vestry of the Universalist Church in Cambridgeport, on the evening of March 8, 1882. A large company was assembled, and after a feast at the tables, very impressive exercises followed. Rev. O.A. Safford, pastor of the Universalist Church, presided, and introduced Dr. Paige to the company, who heard from him a very appropriate and affecting address. The assembly was then addressed by Mayor Fox of Cambridge, Rev. Dr. McKenzie of the Congregational church, Rev. Drs. Sawyer, Adams, Miner, and Capen, Rev. C.A. Skinner, J.A. Jacobs, Esq., the city clerk, and Capt. J.W. Cotton. A letter, expressive of his sincere and hearty respect for Dr. Paige, was read from Professor Longfellow. A handsome illustrated copy of Longfellow's Poems was presented to the doctor, bearing this inscription: "Presented by a few old friends, with their congratulations and best wishes on the 80th anniversary of his birthday."

On Monday, May 1, 1882, the Columbus Avenue Universalist Church celebrated the thirty-fourth anniversary of the pastorate of Rev. Alonzo Ames Miner, D.D., LL.D., who entered upon his duties as a colleague of the late Rev. Hosea Ballou, pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Boston, in place of Rev. Dr. E.H. Chapin, called to New York. Mr. Miner was born in Lempster, N.H., Aug 17, 1814. His ancestors on both sides were distinguished by good sense and firm physical constitutions. His remote American forefather, Thomas Miner, landed at Boston in the same year with the elder Winthrop (1630), and removed to Connecticut with the company of the younger Winthrop about 1646. His grandfather, Charles Miner, served in the Revolutionary War, and removed to New Hampshire soon after its close. Thomas Miner, his ancestor, was a descendant of Henry Bulman of the Mendip Hills, Somersetshire, England, who furnished Edward III., when on his way to embark for the wars of France, with an escort of one hundred men, selected from his servants and from the men employed in his mines. For this service the king honored him with a coat of arms, and changed his name to Miner.

Dr. Miner was so feeble in his youth that it seemed doubtful whether he would grow up into mature life. But good care and judicious training wrought a change for the better, which was doubtless aided by a vigorous will. His education was gained at village schools and academies in New Hampshire and Vermont. He began teaching between terms when he was sixteen years of age, and in 1835 took entire charge of the Scientific and Military Academy at Unity, N.H. His first discourse in the pulpit was delivered in February, 1838. In 1839 he received ordination, and was settled in Methuen, Mass. In 1842 he removed to Lowell, where he became an efficient yoke-fellow with the pastor of the First Universalist Church, and where they made good proof of their ministry in the pulpit and through the press. Dr. Miner remained in Lowell as pastor of the Second Society until the removal of Rev. E.H. Chapin from Boston to New York, when he was called to take his place as colleague with Rev. Hosea Ballou at the Universalist Church in School St. On the death of Mr. Ballou, he became pastor of the church, which office he still retains. His health failing him partially in 1851, he visited Europe, and on his return found that his church edifice had been remodelled during his absence, at a cost of $20,000. Subsequently, in 1872 the building in School Street was put to secular uses, and the edifice now occupied on Columbus Avenue was erected at a cost of $150,000. During his long pastorate, two colleagues have been settled with him, Rev. Roland Connor, for a short time, and Rev. Henry I. Cushman, now pastor of the First Universalist Church in Providence, R.I.

In 1862, after the decease of Rev. Dr. Ballou, President of Tufts College, Dr. Miner was chosen to this office, and took upon himself its duties in connection with his work as pastor in Boston. His energy seemed adequate to this double task for a time, until it became evident to him and his friends that the interests of both college and parish required his main attention to be given to but one of them. He chose the parish, to the great satisfaction of its members, and Rev. E.H. Capen, one of the alumni of the college, was elected its president.

Through his past life-course Dr. Miner has been one of the most indefatigable of toilers. As a Christian minister and reformer he is widely known. His pulpit talents are of the highest order. His clear, strong, and readily modulated voice, his sharp logic, often "on fire," his good scholarship, his aptness not only in making his points, but in the elucidation of them; his thorough acquaintance with the evidences of his faith, and especially with the scriptural proofs of it; his directness in striking at the wrong, as he perceives it, with most telling blows, and his uncompromising adherence to what he considers the right, are sure to gain him a respectful and serious hearing wherever he comes before the public. His many published discourses evince his power as a theologian, and his little volume, "The Old Forts Taken," embodies a searching review of some of the over-confident statements of Rev. Joseph Cook on the religious signs of the times. It would have been well for Christian truth, and for some of the churches professing it, whose representatives so readily applauded many of the stirring and sensational words of Mr. Cook at the moment of their utterance in Boston, could they have listened also to a close and rigid questioning of them by Dr. Miner. The Universalist Church generally, we think, would be quite willing to abide by the presentation of its faith and the claims of it, by him. At a conversation circle, embracing members of the "Radical Club," held in Boston within a few years, where all shades of religious opinion were represented, the question "Is Christianity a Finality?" or, in substance, can any religion superior to it be given to man? was proposed for consideration. After various discussions on the subject from the purest orthodoxy to the most radical "liberalism," Dr. Miner, who had come in while the subject was under discussion, was invited by the chairman to speak. His statements were very readily made, viz. that the Christianity of the New Testament included the best religion conceivable by man, meeting his deepest spiritual wants, answering his highest aspirations after the purest life here, and his most anxious hopes respecting the future of himself and the race. All this is presented, and its complete fulfilment with all souls assured through Christ, the promise of whose mission is, that ultimately "God shall be all in all." If Christianity is true, therefore, it will have no successor. The discussion was at an end. As a Christian reformer Dr. Miner has gained a deserved prominence. He has been outspoken on the subject of Capital Punishment, advocating its abolishment, and in the Anti-slavery war proved himself one of the veterans. It is in the Temperance reform, however, that he has taken a strong and marked interest. As an advocate of Prohibition he is one of the leaders in the land. The pamphlet on Prohibition, published in 1867, containing his arguments on the subject before the Massachusetts Legislative Committee in the Representatives' Hall, is one of the most readable documents of the times.[52] His ready answers to the questions proposed to him, and his telling questions pressed upon the advocates of liquor license laws, on that occasion, evinced a mastery of the situation not often realized. In temperance conventions and conferences he has often some searching criticisms on the city officials in their evasions of the laws respecting the liquor traffic; and on every available occasion when called to speak on the moral needs of the State and the moral responsibility of the people, he is quite sure to give a few ringing notes emphasizing the temperance reform. Dr. Miner has been for ten years past President of the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance.

As an educator Dr. Miner has done good work. He began it early, and has never lost interest in it. As president of the college, a member of the State Board of Education, and Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Normal Art School, he has been true to it constantly.

His business talent is well known. He is a safe and far-seeing financier, to whom the interests of the busy movers "on 'change" are somewhat familiar. In all financial plans and operations demanding his action he is especially and effectively at home. He is President of the Universalist Publishing House, and is still one of the trustees of Tufts College. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Harvard College, and that of LL.D. by Tufts soon after his resignation of the presidency of that institution. He was one of the "Hundred Boston Orators;" having been called to deliver the oration before the authorities and citizens of Boston, July 4, 1855.

The positiveness and persistence of Dr. Miner have sometimes had the effect to alienate rather than conciliate those who might conscientiously differ from him in their convictions of right and duty. It is to be lamented, however, that where we find one possessing his degree of positiveness in what he believes to be right, we are more or less "troubled on every side" by those who are only half-men because of the low policies and expediencies by which they are governed. His confidence in the right seems instinctive; as he says, "A mountain can be tunnelled; a principle never." A Boston secular journal just now speaks of him:—

"His honesty nobody has ever questioned. If he hit hard, he hit where he believed hard hitting was warranted and indispensable. It is fortunate for the world, perhaps, that he took a liberal side in theology. Had he been a Calvinist, he would have been as uncompromising as any one of those Puritan inflexibles who drove Baptists into Rhode Island and Quakers into eternity; had he embraced Catholicism, heretics would have fared the worse for it, and he could hardly have found his fitting place anywhere short of the college of cardinals, with its possibilities toward the chair of St. Peter. By the same qualities that make him a terror to his enemies, he binds his followers to him with hooks of steel."[53]

Rev. Thomas Jefferson Sawyer, D.D., was born in Reading, Windsor Co., Vt., Jan. 9, 1804. His father was one of the earliest settlers of the town, having removed with his father's family from Pomfret, Conn. The son enjoyed very good advantages for acquiring a common-school education, and at the age of eighteen had gained such a mastery of the branches then taught in such schools as to become a teacher, in which capacity he served three or four months every year until he entered his profession. He entered Middlebury College in the autumn of 1825, having completed his preparation after he was twenty-one, and graduated in 1829. As there were no theological schools to aid him, he went to study with Rev. William S. Balch, then at Winchester, N.H., who was soon called to Albany. Mr. S. remained in Winchester through the winter, preaching occasionally, reading the Iliad of Homer, and studying such theological works as he had opportunity to find.

In April, 1830, he went to New York, and took charge of a small society there in Grand Street. The chapel in which he preached had been built and was for several years occupied as an Episcopal church. It was afterwards purchased by the Universalists.

In 1832 Mr. Sawyer entered upon his ministry with his people in a new place, a church on Orchard Street. The church was built three or four years before by a small society of the Reformed Dutch Church, from which the property fell into the hands of two enterprising builders who had been the contractors for it when it was erected. It was rented to Mr. Sawyer for two years. He was then a young minister of scarcely two years' standing in New York, and had entered the ministry only two years and a half before. He had been married six months and had no cash investment. Four members of his congregation became his security for the payment of the rent, and he in turn pledged for their security the whole income of the church,—pew-rents, collections, and all. Under the circumstances he was assuming quite a responsibility. The income of the society had been small, and its receipts now were not equal to the rents alone. Besides, Universalism in New York had suffered greatly through the defection of Abner Kneeland, and the consequences of his lamentable course were still fresh in the memory of all. Divisions and heart-burnings still existed, and the prospect was not greatly encouraging to the new adventurers. Yet it was seen that, if success was to be realized, a new movement, as independent as possible of the old issues, must be made. Hence this piece of wise policy in securing a new location, and beginning church-life under new auspices. It was a bold step, but a good Providence had directed it. Mr. Sawyer writes of it:—

"I well remember the joy we all experienced when we entered the Orchard Street Church. The transition from the little Grand Street chapel which we had previously occupied was striking enough. The church was large, very large, to my unpractised eyes. True, it had no side galleries, as it had afterwards, and was in every respect inferior to what it became, but I doubt if Solomon, when he first entered his majestic temple, felt more deeply impressed with its greatness or its awful sanctity than I did on the day when we first occupied this church. It seemed to me a goodly place, where, as I hoped, Universalism was to be revived and restored in that great city."

There were prophecies of failure on the part of some friends, but the persistence and faithfulness of the young pastor (encouraged by his companion, whose whole heart was in her husband's work) and his brave adherents, by God's blessing, wrought success.

In 1832 the city of New York was visited fearfully with the cholera. It was suggested by some that the church should be closed during the epidemic, and the members of the congregation were one day desired to remain after service to express their opinions on the subject. Many were about to leave the city, and thought the church might be closed for two or three months and the pastor dismissed to the country. At last Captain Packard, a somewhat eccentric but warm-hearted and worthy man, rose and said that he should remain in the city, and if ever he needed the support and consolations of religion, it was during such seasons as they had already entered. If the pastor felt alarmed and desired to leave, he of course would not complain, yet he should greatly desire to come up to the house of his heavenly Father to listen to his word and worship at his altar. This settled the question, and the Orchard Street Church was open regularly, morning and afternoon, through the whole of that gloomy and trying season. And in this case, as always, the path of duty proved in the end the path of greatest advantage. Many—perhaps a large part—of the churches in the city were closed, and the pastors gone. The minds of the people were seriously impressed, and the Gospel of infinite grace proved itself well fitted for such an emergency. The Universalist church was uniformly well attended, and great good was accomplished by its ministrations. The society continued to increase. Old friends, whom circumstances had alienated or caused to stand aloof from the movement, returned one after another and forgot their former difficulties and discontent. The best of feeling existed among the members and greatly encouraged all hearts.

Though the Reformed Dutch Church gave up their new house on Orchard Street, yet no sooner had it come into the possession of Universalists than the members of that communion began to express a most lively concern for the interests of religion. Dr. Sawyer writes:—

"The 'Christian Intelligencer,' their religious journal, soon began to pay some attention to Universalism; and Dr. Brownlee, one of the boldest, if not one of their ablest, men and ministers, commenced a course of lectures against the doctrine. The lectures were repeated in the Dutch churches in the city, and briefly reported in the 'Intelligencer.' An attempt was made to get them repeated in the Orchard Street Church, but failed. The Doctor was quite too busy to permit it. His lectures were regarded by his friends as exceedingly able and altogether irrefutable. He possessed a great deal of assurance, and made assertions with vast boldness and emphasis. As a reasoner he was but a third or fourth rate man. The ad captandum was his forte, and among those who knew nothing of Universalism, and undoubtingly believed in endless misery, his reasons were satisfactory if not convincing."

The lectures were closely examined by Mr. Sawyer before large congregations. It was a grand opportunity, and he improved it. This review was afterwards given to the public through the press. The attack intended to check the spread of Universalism served to increase and strengthen it. During Mr. Sawyer's subsequent pastorate of thirteen and a half years, other controversies followed. With Rev. Mr. Slocum, a Presbyterian clergyman, he held a discussion that occupied fourteen evenings, and added twenty families to the Universalist congregation. He answered Rev. Mr. Remington, a Methodist clergyman, and reviewed Rev. Dr. Parker's lectures on Universalism. These lectures of Mr. Parker had been preached and published in Rochester some years before, and were, without essential alteration, repeated in several churches in New York. Mr. Sawyer happened to possess the Rochester copy of the production, and very much to the astonishment of many he replied to the learned Doctor's lecture on the very evening after he had delivered it in the immediate neighborhood in the morning. Another debate was also held by Mr. Sawyer with Rev. Mr. Hatfield, the substance of which was published in a small volume entitled "Universalism as it is." It was a rule with this sentinel on the Universalist watch-tower in that city never to allow any antagonist of "the faith," whose position and character deserved attention, to pass unnoticed or unanswered.

The Orchard Street Church was emphatically a success. After Mr. Sawyer left it in 1845, it enjoyed the effective pastorates of Rev. Otis A. Skinner, since deceased, and Cyrus H. Fay (still useful and honored among our older ministers), and others. It has probably done more for the diffusion of Universalism than any other single society in the State. All the societies in its immediate neighborhood, Bleecker Street, Murray Street, Fourth Street, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, were first formed by members of Orchard Street, and may be regarded as offshoots from that parent stock. It labored not merely for itself, its own ease or aggrandizement, but for the good of the cause, a veritable missionary institution.

In the autumn of 1845 Mr. Sawyer removed with his family to Clinton, Oneida Co., N.Y., and took charge of the Clinton Liberal Institute. He succeeded in converting it into a Universalist school, and opened in connection with it a primitive theological school from which he sent out about twenty-five students, more than twenty of whom are still in the ministry well and successfully employed. At the close of 1852 he returned to New York, and, having preached for what was formerly called the Dry Dock Society a year, he returned to his old parish and continued with it until the spring of 1861, when, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, and the volunteering of his oldest son on his farm at Clinton, and on account of parish affairs in that distracted time, he resigned and went to Clinton, where he remained, preaching for the parish there until January, 1863, when he again returned to New York, and took the editorial charge of the "Christian Ambassador." This paper was founded by Philo Price in 1831, under the name of "The Christian Messenger," of which Mr. Sawyer was the theological editor for several years. It passed under several names, and is now published at Boston as the "Christian Leader," united with the Universalist weekly formerly issued in this city.

In the autumn of 1865 he removed his family from Clinton to Star Landing, N.J., and took possession of a farm he had just purchased there. Here he remained, managing the farm and preaching occasionally, until the autumn of 1869, when he came to College Hill, Mass., and assumed the duties of Professor of Systematic Theology in the Divinity School, to which he had some time before been elected. He was one of the original trustees of Tufts College, having called the educational convention held in New York in 1847, which resulted in the establishment of the college. He was also chiefly instrumental in calling the first meeting in New York city to consider the necessity of establishing a theological school, which resulted in the founding of the Canton Theological School and the St. Lawrence University, of which he was also one of the original trustees, and for several years President of the Board. He received the honorary degree of S.T.D. at Cambridge, in 1850.

Among the published works of Dr. Sawyer are his Letters to Dr. W.C. Brownlee and to Rev. Stephen Remington in review of their Lectures against Universalism; the Occasional Sermon delivered before the United States Convention of Universalists in New York, September, 1841; "Endless Punishment, its Origin and Grounds Examined, with other discourses," 1845; Review of Rev. E.F. Hatfield's "Universalism as it is," 1841; Two Discussions with Rev. Isaac Wescott on Universal Salvation; "Who is Our God? The Son or the Father?" a Review of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 1859; a preface to the Philadelphia edition of Petitpierre on "Divine Goodness," in 1843; "Endless Punishment in the Very Words of Its Advocates," Boston, 1879; an article in the North American Review, one of a series on the subject of Endless Punishment, in the March and April numbers of 1878. Besides the Occasional Sermon already noted, he has preached two others before the United States Convention, one in Middletown, Conn., and the other at Rochester, N.Y., in 1876. From the beginning Dr. Sawyer has taken a deep interest in the literature of Universalism. He has written much for the "Quarterly" and for the other church periodicals. He was instrumental in originating the Universalist Historical Society, which has now a very valuable library at Tufts College.

Dr. Sawyer has been an incessant and faithful toiler; and in all his work, whether as preacher or teacher, has sought the promotion of the Gospel of Universal Grace. His adherence to the work and advancement of the Universalist Church has been steady and unfaltering, and his defence of the Christian Revelation as an authoritative dispensation from Heaven through Jesus Christ, clear and unequivocal, in admirable contrast with the flippant rationalism and scepticism which have in too many instances found expression under the names of "Liberal Christianity" and "Free Religion."

There is a church edifice in New York city in 127th Street, near Lexington Avenue, which represents the Second Universalist Society of New York, organized in 1828. It was completed two years ago, and is called the "Sawyer Memorial Church."

Among the older living ministers who have made themselves specially and constantly useful in the Universalist Church during the last half-century, no one is deserving of more grateful notice than Rev. Thomas Baldwin Thayer, D.D. He was born in Boston, Sept. 10, 1812. Having received the usual rudimentary training and experience of boyhood, he successively passed through the grammar schools of his native city, and at an early period in youth he entered the Latin school under the direction of Mr. B.A. Gould. The young student had testimonials that his diligence was observed with marked approval. He entered college at Cambridge, where by permission he was to pursue his studies for the first year, without college rooms, under the tutorship of Mr. F.P. Leverett, the distinguished author of the Latin lexicon. For certain reasons he was induced at the end of his first year to abandon a collegiate course, and from the duties of a college student he very soon entered the Hawes Grammar-school in the capacity of an assistant. Soon after this, Mr. Leverett, resigning his position as principal of the Latin School in Boston, opened a private institution, mainly with a view to prepare students for college, and invited his former pupil to become his assistant, which invitation Mr. Thayer accepted. It was while connected with this school that his purpose to devote himself to the work of the ministry was formed.

His first engagement to preach was with the Universalist Society in South Dedham (now Norwood), where he supplied the pulpit for several months. This made his work quite arduous. His duties in his school and those in the growing parish kept him constantly and closely employed. In June, 1832, Mr. Thayer received Letters of Fellowship from the Boston Association, and was ordained by the same body in the following December. In April, 1833, he accepted an invitation from the First Universalist Society in Lowell, and entered upon a pastorate there, which he kept for twelve years. While in this city, as another has written:—

"Encouraged by the large congregations which regularly attended on his preaching, he was moved to consider whether it were not possible to meet the inquiring spirit of the people by a course of sermons under circumstances which would give opportunity to present the leading doctrines of Universalism to a larger number of persons than could be accommodated in a church. This thought was communicated to some of the leading members of the society, and after due consultation, followed by prompt action, it led to the experiment of a series of sermons in the capacious City Hall. The immense room was filled with attentive hearers throughout the entire course. He then proposed that, in conjunction with his own labors in the church, regular preaching should be held four or five Sundays in the City Hall, and that a subscription of fifty cents from each person friendly to the project should defray the expenses incident thereto. Rev. J.G. Adams was engaged to supply the specified time. The result was that to this day the meetings have never been discontinued. The germ was originated, which, under the ministry of Rev. Zenas Thompson, developed into the Second Society, now worshipping in the beautiful edifice on Lowell Street."[54]

From Lowell Mr. Thayer removed to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1845. His six years in this city were years of great usefulness to his church and beyond its limits. He connected himself with the Odd Fellows, and became editor of the "Golden Rule," a paper published in the interest of the fraternity. In 1847 he gave a series of lectures on "Social Progress," which were reported in part for the N.Y. "Tribune," as also a series of lectures on the "Dangers of City Life," especially in reference to young men. He was active in advocating social reform, the efforts for juvenile vagrants, and for the moral elevation of the poor.

Dr. Thayer has remarkable qualifications for a Christian minister, teacher, pastor, and writer. His sermons are always alive with thought, easily and earnestly delivered, doctrinally strong and clear, practically pointed, and plain; a mixture often of forcible preaching (not reading) from manuscript, and freest extemporaneous outpouring, sweet and fresh with the heavenly fragrance of the Gospel. In his Scripture readings at the opening of the church service, he is usually very acceptable to the hearers, interspersing the reading with explanatory words and brief practical inferences.

Dr. Thayer is well known as an author. In the early days of his ministry he published a volume entitled "Christianity against Infidelity," an able and a timely offering to the public,—a strong and candid appeal to the reader in behalf of the Christian Gospel from the Universalist standpoint. The work was some years afterwards enlarged, embracing the objections to historical Christianity by Strauss and Renan, and replies to them. A republication of this work would be timely now, in this season of theological thought, of religious drifting and doubt, of indifference and scepticism. His "Theology of Universalism" is a work of great merit, as also his admirable volume "Over the River." They deserve a place in the library of every minister, and should find a home in every Universalist family.

His most valuable work, however, has been done as editor of the "Universalist Quarterly." His qualifications for this service are striking. In addition to the able discussions in the publications from the pens of other authors, the department containing the editor's outlook into the religious world, his notes and comments on the times, and his discriminating notices of new publications, is of itself a rich and welcome entertainment to all who are familiar with the pages of the Quarterly, a review reflecting great honor upon the Universalist Church, and which the Universalist fraternity cannot afford to lose or neglect. After closing his ministry in Brooklyn, Dr. Thayer had a second pastorate in Lowell with his old society, during which a severe calamity came to him. He was thrown from a carriage by a frightened horse, and so badly injured that for some time his survival seemed very doubtful. His many friends were deeply anxious, and the strain upon his physical system was intense. But through all this terrible sorrow his faith and hope sustained and inspired him, and the lessons of his sickness and Christian endurance were to many souls more impressive than any they had ever received from his pulpit ministrations. It was a cheering event to hosts of friends that he was gradually restored to the calling he so much loved, though with the effects of the accident upon him which must go with him through life. He afterwards removed to Boston, and was for a few years the much-esteemed pastor of the Shawmut Universalist Church in this city. Since his resignation there he has frequently supplied pulpits in the vicinity of Boston, always to great acceptance. At the present time he is engaged principally in his work with the pen.

Notwithstanding the unquestionable qualifications of Dr. Thayer as a public speaker, he is usually inclined to distrust himself, but no one of our ministers, when called upon to present any question of importance at the public assemblings of the church, is more acceptable than he. His lively musical notes of Christian truth and earnestness are sure to awaken a response in the souls of the listeners.

Rev. William Stevens Balch, of Elgin, Ill., is one of the oldest of the Universalist ministers now in active service. He was born in Andover, Vt., April 13, 1806. He received fellowship as a minister, of the General Convention at Saratoga, N.Y., in September, 1827, and ordination in Claremont, N.H., in June, 1828. His first location was in Windham County, Vt., boarding in Dummerston, preaching in neighboring towns one Sunday in each month, travelling on foot to the several stations, and receiving the payment of five dollars per Sunday. He remained there preaching in nearly every town in that region, until invited to his first settlement in Albany, N.Y., January, 1831. Being after a time worn down with over-exertion, he felt obliged to leave, and was settled next in Watertown, Mass., to which place he had been invited before going to Albany. His health soon improved, and he found himself in the receipt of a salary of $450. But again his health failed, and he was induced to remove to Claremont, N.H., in April, 1832. He preached there half the time, and supplied in Hartland and Springfield, Vt., and Newport, N.H., until a new church in Claremont was finished. Here he was very actively employed, not only as a pastor, but in doing missionary work in every direction.

In September, 1835, at the General Convention held in Hartford, Conn., he was recommended by Rev. Dolphus Skinner to a committee of the society in Providence, R.I., which was there to find a preacher "not committed to Restorationism or Ultra-Universalism," in reference to which isms the parish was quite divided. Mr. Balch consented to supply three Sundays, not as a candidate, for he desired to live in the country. He was, however, invited and urged to settle there, which he did, after some hesitancy, in March, 1836. His ministry proved a successful one. In two years the large church was crowded, and a second society was formed in the city. In 1842 he was invited to go as a candidate to the church in Bleecker St., N.Y. He declined, but soon after received a call to become the pastor there. Having become interested in what was known as the "Dorr" movement, and freely expressing his wish to have a "Republican form of government" by a Constitution, and seeing a political storm brewing, he accepted the call from New York, and settled there in November, 1842.

In 1848 he visited Europe, intending to go to Palestine. The troubles of that year made it difficult to go further than Rome. In 1852 he was asked by two men, not of his church, with whom a third joined, to go abroad if he wished, with full permission and means to journey as far and stay as long as he pleased. He was wise enough to accept the generous offer, and travelled extensively in Europe, extending his journey to Palestine, across the Desert, and through Egypt to Nubia.

After seventeen years' hard work in preaching, lecturing, and writing on religious and moral reform topics, he became quite worn down, and resolved to take life a little more leisurely for his body's sake, an exceedingly difficult course for him. He went to Ludlow, Vt., in 1859, preaching there half the time, and supplying other places, lecturing, and really working as hard as when in New York city. He then had another removal, to Galesburg, Ill., where he preached five years, and again resolved to retire, and removed to Hinsdale in 1870. But he still preached. In 1871 he was urged to come to Elgin, Ill., where the minister's work was still before him. In 1877 he entered the plea of old age and resigned, purposing a visit to California. Meantime he was invited to preach a Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa. The result was another pastorate. He refused to "settle," but consented to supply a few Sundays until the society could obtain a pastor. He continued three years and three months, not removing his family, but staying there. His ministry gave great encouragement to the church in Dubuque.

In 1880 Mr. Balch visited California; in 1882 the City of Mexico; and last winter Florida. At the present time his health is quite firm. As he writes of himself, "I am comfortably situated, use no glasses except in dim light; and am fairly content in contemplating the past, still busy with the present, and hopeful of a happy and immortal future."

When in Providence, R.I., Mr. Balch gave a course of "Lectures on Language," which were published in 1838. He also wrote a "Grammar of the English Language, explained according to the Principles of Truth and Common Sense," published by B.B. Mussey, Boston, and passing through four editions. In 1849 his volume "Ireland as I saw it" was issued, and in 1881 "A Peculiar People," the first edition of which sold in eight weeks. He is the author of a "Sunday-School Manual," published in 1837.

The business capacity of Mr. Balch was evinced in his raising funds for the Theological School at Canton, N.Y., taking charge of the location, plan, and rearing of the buildings, and selection of a principal. He afterwards completed the raising of a large fund for the institution, obtaining also $10,000 for the library, and securing the valuable libraries of Dr. Credner, and Rev. S.C. Loveland. He devoted much time to the business of making the "Christian Ambassador" of New York a denominational paper, and placing it on a sound financial basis. His work in these particulars was well and faithfully done.

Mr. Balch has always been a very ready and popular speaker with the masses. The graces of oratory he has not sought, but his talking power seems inexhaustible. Although in favor of fraternal organization for the good of the cause, yet his ideas in reference to creeds and to centralized authority are not accordant with those of many others of his brethren, who hold in high estimation the work he has done in the spirit and in the truth of the Gospel.

Black. Phot. H. W. Smith.

W. H. Ryder.