Home!

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

"ToloT

THE PILGRIMS' FAITH REVIVED.

Preface

A good book needs none ; and the best preface cannot improve a bad one. Friend ! The writer is the inmate of a prison cell. Months ago, while in freedom, I agreed to prepare a volume for a Sunday School Society, designed to illustrate the causes of the decay, and the means of a revival of piety in the church and the individual mind. Its illustrations were to be drawn in part, from the history of the Puritan churches of New England, and in part, from such records of experience as every observing Christian treasures up, in his journey towards his Heavenly Home. It was to be a book of principles, with enough of illustration by incident and narrative to show their value and application to our duty.

Just as I was prepared to write, wicked men seized me, and thrust me into a felon's jail, on the charge of being — a sinner ? No ! but merciful, kind, compassionate to some of the poor of the land, contrary to the laws of Maryland. I have been tried, and convicted, on just such evidence as the Jews brought against i*ty Saviour and yours 5 neither more respectable nor more true. It is very possible the next years of my life may be spent in prison, with no companion to whom to open my heart, but Christ. Blessed be His Holy Name. No prison can exclude him from the soul.

Meantime, I had a few days of reprieve. One anxiety only has been in my heart. I have a wife and children. They are poor ; I in prison. How can I save them from want % By doing evil I will not ; perhaps by doing good I may. ^ Without books, with no helps, a few days labor will not impart to the long meditated volume the character which shall entirely fit it for a Sabbath School Society. But, by imparting to it somewhat more of a narrative form, even its value may not be impaired, while its interest shall be increased. It may do good to many, by showing them the paths of life, and it may help, too, to feed my family. If it is worth reading, it will do both.

So I have written. According to my best judgment it is fitted to do good, to attract attention to the saving truths of the gospel, and to lead men to love them. Otherwise I should not dare to send it to the press, even to gain an end so sacred as bread for the hungry. I have given it, so to

IV

PREFACE.

speak, a local scenery. I have drawn its scenes, its mcidente, its illustrations, mostly from the Home of mT«tooi It even takes, in part, the form of personal narrative. Other Mdents were not wanting, derived from countless sources, to XL-ate great prmcipks. But I love to connec ^everything I write with the endearments, the sorrows, the joys of Home; the scenes and friends whom I loved m youth. And Ihave trusted that it would give a more familiar Wlike character to views intended to gmde the steps of hose who seek a Home on high. There is not an mc den^ not a narrative or an illustration hut is true, in fact, so tar as 1 kno " Most of them are town from my owu peiW recollections, and are connected with the hfe and death of

^S^JSLJdl^ while I trust they will offend none, will I hope henefit some of my earlyandjhU loved associates. At the same time, to the genera 1 reader they illustrate traits of human character and pnrfa at action that are as universal as the elements of fallen or re-

pToStply the decline of spiritual rehgion m a Puritan church, and "its revival. . The causes of both are fflustrated by incidents of every kind, so as to presen .the coulast between the worldly and spiritual mind as vmdly

aS K one b musn-ation provoke a smile, another may cause a tear. Smiles and tears make up our life. I kvebofl^n their places. Sometimes they each sprmg from an heart of agony; sometimes each is the herald ot joy.

I have not avoided brief discussions of topics both profound and exciting. And I never go out J*?™** avoid a thought that is new, or possibly,, offensive, so be,

th to, Sef th^widter and his book you know, May it kelp you to Value and enjoy that W% rehgwr, . which ffls P the bosom of the prisoner with the Peace ; of God, and by which our feet may be safely guided m the .path that leads from our earthly dwelling-place to our Heavenly

Baltimore, Md. \ Dec. 20, 1844. J

Contents

Preface P a § es 3 > 4

Chapter I

Our town described— Early settlers— Piety with knowledge— Educated ministry— No village— No foreign source of corruption— The Pastor settled— Parish funds— The causes of declension. (1) Theoretical errors. (2) Bad morality— No life remains

13-30

Chapter II

The gold dimmed— Causes. (1) Civil rights conferred on church members only. (2) Half-way covenant— True views of the sacraments. (3) Worldly churches will have worldly ministers— Whitefield rejected— Teachers of error. (4) Influence of the Revolution— The way the tories paid taxes— War no friend of Christ . 31—48

Chapter VII

Relics of faith— A mother— Spirit in heaven— Old associations. The illustration— Old books— Conscience recognizes the truth- Literature and religion— The libraries— Home, a mission field ! —The faithful preacher— Social prayer, revived— The new commandment obeyed— Religion and education . . 92—107

Chapter IX

The mission sermons — Givers not losers — Weakness made strong; Folly, wise— The dream— The poor widow— The learned taught humility— The sailor preacher— The heart the best controversialist— The sons of Home, abroad— The natural heart shown

123—142

Chapter XV

Diversities of character — Causes. Natural gifts— Feelings vary — Education— Preaching— The metaphysicians— Course of Providence ; Facts— Diversities of belief. Illustrations— Sources of error— all truths saving—" The same Spirit"— Our Home above.

236—255

HOME!

" They left unstained, what there they found, Freedom to worship God I"

Felicia Hemans.

Chapter I

Our town described-^Early settlers — Piety with knowledge — Educated Ministry — No Tillage — No foreign source of corruption — The Pastor settled— Parish funds. Two causes of declension, (1) Theoretical errors, (2) Bad morality — No life remains.

" Home ! home ! sweet home !

Be it ever so homely, There's no place like home !"

" Our town," the scene of my narrative, is one of the first thirteen incorporated towns of New England. I shall call it simply, Home. Long years have passed since I ceased to be more than a chance visitor there ; but there's not a hill, nor a stream, not a quiet meadow, or forest grove, not one of its dwellings — many of which bear the mosses of nearly two centuries on their venerable roofs, in which I do not feel that tender, and ap- 2

14 HOME.

propriating interest which is ever linked with that sweet word, Home. No lapse of time, no change of pursuits, no alienations of feeling or sentiment blot from my memory one scene of my childhood. In my dreams, in the prison cell of a distant city, I revisit every old haunt, think where I plucked the butter-cups and violets; and the old moss grown nut tree, the button wood where the oriole hung her nest of fine thread, far beyond the reach of the most daring ; the dear old mansion where my early youth was passed so rapidly; and, more than all, the playmates, whose every feature, every joyous laugh, every little sorrow, all seem as vividly before me, as if it were yesterday's scenes.

So, no matter what the maps call it, its name shall be Home.

The first white settler in Home, was one of my own ancestors. His humble calling, a tanner, did not exempt him from the malice of those who "wore out the Saints of the Most High," in the Fatherland. So, gathering up his household goods, cheered by the smiles of his Christian partner, he crossed the waste of waters, and, with a courage few dared imitate, plunged into the wilderness above twenty miles from any habitation of a Christian man. His meek confidence in them, and the utility of his calling, gained him the favor of the

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savages, and they gave him a large tract of cleared land, part of their own corn fields, as a token of their love and gratitude. His line of descendants still live on the hallowed spot where the first prayer ascended to our Fathers' God from the domestic altar. He came to the town in ] 622. A few years more converted the wild woods and swamps into the fields and rich meadows of the pleasant farming and fishing town of Home.

The eastern border, for some twelve miles, rests on the sea-shore. It is a long, rocky beach, on which the surges never cease to beat, which has been the last sand touched by many a shipwrecked sailor, and is interrupted by several high hills, or cliffs. In some past century these cliffs were long promontories, jutting out into the ocean waves. Storm after storm has beat upon them, and now, more than two thirds of their soil has fallen, and been washed away. Twenty years ago, I remember riding on firm soil, at a safe distance from the then peaceful brink of one of the cliffs, more than an hundred feet beyond the present reach of the fierce waves. And the huge rocks that once dotted the top, now help to break the power of the waters, far out from the shore. These cliffs, in 1622 were covered with the cornfields of the Indians. At the foot of one of them stood their wig-

HOME.

warns. Near by, stands the old mansion, or its successor, built on the soil they gave the friendly Christian tanner. Between another, and a rocky headland, is our little tide harbor, giving shelter to our fishing craft, and a few vessels engaged in the coasting trade.

For more than fifteen miles, our southern border rests on the winding banks of a little river, famed for its excellent fisheries, and still more for its shipbuilding. Here our carpenters launched the first American vessel that ever doubled the stormy Cape Horn, and coasted the western shores of our continent. It was manned, in part, tradition says, by our towns-people.

From the broad meadows of the river banks, the land rises gently towards the North and West, towards a range of hills that we call mountains, though the dwellers on the sides of the White Hills would smile at the designation. Mount Hope, the highest, may be 300 feet above the tide level. From these hills many little brooks and streamlets find their way to the river, and sea side. There is not an abrupt hill, not a precipice, save one on the sea shore, in all the town. The hills slope gently down to the streams; and these flow with hardly a murmur, through the woods and wilds till they are lost in the large river, having just descent enough

HOME.

to supply mill sites to saw the boards, and grind the corn and rye we use. The whole tone of the scenery is quiet, peaceful, loving, if I may so apply the word. The soil is everywhere good, yielding fair returns to the farmer's toil.

Home was early settled by a large number of energetic men, who, without exception, engaged in farming. Even the ministers, till within my own recollection, cultivated the parsonage lands, set apart for the support of the gospel by the piety of the early settlers. The physicians followed the same example. So did the merchants. And as for a lawyer, to this day, with over 4000 people, we have neither crimes nor quarrels enough to support one! They, too, have been farmers, although several of them have adorned the highest judicial stations in the Commonwealth and the Nation.

Till within ten years, there was nothing like a village in Home. The people are so evenly distributed over its wide surface, that each lives on his own separate farm, yet not a house in all Home is out of sight of its neighbor. I remember one house, in my boyhood, that was so surrounded with noble pine forests, that, in spite of its situation on a hill top, no other house was visible from it It was a topic of general congratulation, among the neighbors, when the fall of several huge trees, that 2 # jg HOME.

had braved the storms of centuries, gave that lonely family a view of a chimney top, perhaps a hundred rods away ! " Yes, we feel much more social, now," remarked the kind woman, who for thirty years had not been able to see her neighbors without going to their houses, or receiving their visits.

There are, there always have been, some rich, very rich men in our town. But the social inequalities that riches and poverty too often create were scarcely ever known. I remember one rich man who made himself very generally odious, because he would have his hired laborers eat in the kitchen, instead of seating them at the family table. "He was.so proud, he would die poor," was once said of him! He did not, but his children may.

For a century and an half, hardly a foreigner has entered Home. The few who came were soon assimilated to the habits and feelings of a people born, living, and dying on the same soil. I can remember twenty families in one section of the town, which, for seven, eight and nine generations have lived on the same spot; no rare thing in the old countries, but quite so in our new and ever moving land No foreign sources of corruption, therefore, ever came in to make the sons unworthy to bear the names of their sires. If they have fallen, the root of evil is from within.

HOME.

The first settlers were generally men of property. Many of them were scholars and accomplished gentlemen. They impressed on their children a love of learning, and a refinement of manners that has never wholly disappeared, in the darkest periods of the annals of Home.

Sound in their religions faith, taught the value of a good hope towards God by the lessons of persecution, there was not, perhaps, for two generations a head of a family who did not belong to the church ; not a house in which the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving was omitted.

No law was ever needed to induce the people to sustain a sufficient number of excellent free schools. And, for more than a century from the settlement, a public " grammar" school, supplied to all who desired it, the means of a more enlarged course of study. While the rigor of the early faith and piety remained, no town set a greater value on the higher branches of education than the people of Home.

At an early period two large churches were gathered, and pastors were settled ; men who combined the most fervent piety with the best education the Universities of the mother country, or our own infant Harvard could afford. An ignorant

20 HOME.

clergyman was never suffered to disgrace a pulpit, in Home. Oh, had the people always cared as much for the deeper dishonor done to it, by the want of a pure faith and the graces of the Spirit, how different would have been the results ! Piety without knowledge soon becomes mere weak fanaticism. But knowledge without piety only " puffeth up" the natural heart with pride, and leads the spirit far away from God.

Nothing better illustrates the spirit of our fathers, than the mode of providing a pastor, as it is spread out, on many a page of the early town records of Home. The whole town took part in it ; for not a family was found in its limits who lived without, at least, the forms of religion. It was a municipal act, as well as an act of the members of the church, in their ecclesiastical capacity. This was, indeed, an error of our fathers, which later experience has corrected. But with them, the hearts of all so united in the work, that it made little difference in the first century.

The first step was to assemble all the church, and appoint a day of public fasting and prayer, that God would guide them in the selection of a candidate for the pastoral office. From sunset till sunset again, the entire people faded, literally. In every house, the reading of the Scriptures and prayer oc-

HOME.

cupied the intervals of public worship. Commonly some neighboring pastor preached to them two sermons, appropriate to their condition, and to the solemn duties connected with their objects. Those long, long sermons ! Each from two to four hours long ! How did our fathers and mothers endure it, even in summer weather, not to speak of the cold, icy winter's day, when the sun had no power to melt the icicle on the sheltered south eaves, and neither stove nor fireplace shed a genial glow over any part of their vast wooden edifices for worship. Their faith warmed them, or else they were made of sterner stuff than their children.

Then followed the appointment of a committee of the wisest men of the church to take the advise of the neighboring churches and pastors respecting a candidate, unless, indeed, one of eminent gifts was at hand, respecting whom no such advice could be needed.

The candidate came. For six months or a year he " went in and out before the people," preached the word, visited the sick, comforted the afflicted, taught the young, counselled the aged. In a word, he discharged, as he was able, all the offices of a pastor. Even all this did not decide his settlement, in every case. Another day of prayer and fasting was observed, "to know the mind of the

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Spirit whether He would call" the candidate to the permanent discharge of these duties. If any doubt remained, the matter was still deferred, and other days of prayer set apart. Then, if the people were united, the advice of the surrounding churches and pastors was sought ; not, indeed, as having any binding control over their choice, but as a matter of brotherly affection and courtesy. Then followed the solemn services of the ordination. No wonder that the pastoral relation, so maturely formed, was an enduring bond, that nothing but death, or the misconduct of the pastor could sever. Care was needed, in forming ties, so sacred in their objects, with which the spiritual welfare of an entire generation was to be bound up.

Before the final decision, the people, in their municipal capacity, assembled to provide, in a suitable manner, for the support of their pastor, so that no grinding necessity might compel him to neglect his study for the labors of the field ; though it was not deemed improper for him to sow and reap his own glebe, as well as scatter the seeds of spiritual life, and gather in the harvest of immortality.

At these meetings, as well as on the ordinary Sabbath services, every person, of every age, not in actual attendance on the sick, was expected to be present. Causeless absence was noted, the offend-

HOME.

er visited and tenderly reproved. And, if admonition did not avail, he was fined, as an offender against the rules of good morals, as well as the laws of God's house. We deem this unwise ; but our fathers, erroneous as they were in some things, judged rightly of the value of social worship, both to the morals and spiritual well-being of man.

The pious, in every generation, have their modes of imparting religious instruction to the young. Our fathers knew its vital import, as well as we. In every family that feared God, family instruction was given on the Sabbath, and from day to day, " rising up early and teaching them " to walk in the path of life. The pastor, too, every month, assembled the youth, not merely to hear the catechism, but to give such lessons on its great truths as were adapted to their age.

I do not wonder that errorists ridicule that old catechism ! Its quaint terms, half obsolete, save in books of technical theology, cannot obscure the brightness and logical harmony of the great truths it contains. And it is a foolish undervaluing of the intellectual powers of our children, to suppose that most of them cannot understand these primary doctrines of the Bible, stated in logical form, as well as when clothed in the attractions of parable, or story. Error can never gain control over the conscience,

24 HOME.

when the mind is imbued with clear, logical conceptions of these divine truths.

In both the parishes of Home, the raring piety of our fathers made ample provision, by large vested funds, for the permanent support of the ministry. I say ' erring f for it is far better to leave to every generation the duty, and blessing too, of feeding their spiritual guides, by their own free-will offerings. They love their pastor more, because they impart to him their " carnal things," in return for the spiritual joy, peace and comfort they derive from his labors. The widest observation proves that the pastor's dependence does not diminish his fidelity. It is the reverse, with all who are fitted, either by nature or grace to preach the gospel at all. And those who best "commend themselves to every man's conscience, in the sight of God," by a plain and loving exhibition of the guilt of man, and the glory of the cross will always, or almost always, find the most liberal support.

For more than a century the hopes and prayers of the fathers of Home were justified by the general piety, pure morality, and high intelligence of their descendants.

One instance of their superiority over the general prejudices of their age, I am too proud of to omit. The witchcraft delusion, after destroying thou-

HOME.

sands of lives in every part of Protestant and Catholic Europe, began to infect the land of the Pilgrims also. For a brief period, the popular delusion was strong. The wisest magistrates, the profoundest scholars, the most devout ministers were carried away with it. In a few instances even death was inflicted upon victims, not more deluded than those who adjudged their doom. But, even when the frenzy was at its height there were not wanting wise and good men who pitied the weakness they could not help censuring ; and who deemed a merciful forbearance a better remedy for popular delusion than the hangman's scourge and rope. The people of Home from the very first, resisted the mania. Their enlightened members of the Governor's council, and of the Legislature, with the hearty concurrence of both pastors and people, strove to rescue the supposed witches from their fate, and to repeal the sanguinary edicts against them. It is a matter of history that their efforts were ultimately crowned with success. Intelligence so much in advance of their age, firmness in resisting a force to which a Hale and a Mather yielded, deserve high praise. I am proud of my early Home.

The causes that dimmed the lustre of the most fine gold, in their details, I reserve for another chapter. Some general thoughts will close this, 3

HOME.

There are two generic modes in which a religious community become corrupted. Their morality may be debased, while their attachment to correct theoretical truths is not, at first, abated. Or, their faith in sound doctrines may be shaken, without affecting the tone of social morals, often for a long period.

Both these modes of corruption destroy spiritual life in the soul, equally. " Faith without works is dead, living alone," no matter how strong it may be, or with how vivid feelings it may be connected. And the most correct outward life will not obtain the pardon of our sin; for "the just shall live by faith."

The evil of a dead faith, besides separating the soul from God, will certainly, in the end, destroy good morals. Dead faith has fruits ; but they are bitter as the apples of Sodom.

The evil of impure living will, in the end, destroy correct faith ; for sinners, determined to live in sin, " will not hear sound doctrine," but " heap to themselves teachers," who will connive at their sins, and persuade them they are in the road to heaven, while the pit is wide open to devour them alive.

Such are the restraints thrown around the ministry, that corruption in morals seldom begins with them. But the world has but one example,— that

HOME.

of Swedenborg — of errors in the theory of the faith which do not spring from the teachers of religion. Examples of both modes of corruption are common enough in all ages and in every land. Our own supplies many. When men begin to regard religion as something intended for the Sabbath, the sick bed, or old age, instead of the guide of their daily life in all its actions, civil, as well as individual and social, it is easy to see that their faith is dying ; it will soon be dead. They may still have deep and pervading religious excitements, and call them " revivals." There may be a keen sense of sin, humiliation ; followed by peace, joy, rapture ! The human soul is naturally devout. The worshipper of Brahma and Guadama may have as sincere and profound emotion as the follower of Christ. Is his heart purified ? His life gives the answer. The Spanish pirate had his priests. With profound humility, with many tears, with deep remorse, with penance and scourges he bought absolution ; then filled with hope, he returned to his work of butchery. The slaveholder of our land, often professes a correct creed, has clear views of the divine character, sees the evil of sin, in general, humbles himself, finds peace, and deems himself forgiven. Then he turns to make the poor work without wages, sells the righteous in the market, "a boy, for a har-

HOME.

lot, a girl, for a pair of shoes and tears asunder the ties of nature and love. Still he thinks he is a child of God. The debased morals of churches that allow slavery has been very widely followed by doctrinal errors, far more widely than northern men are aware. Popular preaching, in these churches, more and more fails to exhibit the humbling doctrines of the cross, and becomes merely eloquent appeals to the natural feelings and sympathies, or acquired tastes of the audience. Among the more ignorant classes, dreams and delusions more gross than witchcraft, and animal — or if you will — magnetic excitements, as baleful as they are foolish, take the place of a correct faith and pure life.

Instances of the other form of corruption are found, among us, in small sects, and in individuals. My narrative will supply many. Though, in a community like New England, where the public law is one, for the rich and the poor ; where no man's vices are screened by his dependance or his power ; where in every town some correct religious faith and practice sheds light on the lingering darkness) even gross religious errors cannot debase the morals of social life, so soon, or so widely, as happens in the other class of cases.

Besides, as this form of corruption begins always with the ministers, those who preach a lax faith, in

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doctrines, are often the more eager to enforce a correct outward deportment and amiable manner. They have lost the highest sources of power to enforce a pure life ; but they may be diligent in using the influences that remain. As they declare heaven depends on correct morals and amiable social conduct, they often succeed in forming such characters as that of the young ruler, who lacked but " one thing," the spirit of self-denying love that should have given harmony to the inner and outward man.

This class of teachers are eager to show that without the cross, without an atoning Saviour, and a sanctifying Spirit, they can make men as lovely in their social life, as pure in morals, as free from acts of dishonor or dishonesty, as those who combine evangelical faith with the same teachings of morality. In a town where purifying agencies of greater power once acted, or still exist, with some power, they succeed in many instances.

" When Jesus looked upon him, he loved " the young ruler. As he looks down from his throne in glory, where he still wears man's loving nature and human sympathies, no doubt he loves, in the same degree, the amiable fruits of the labors of these teachers. " But one thing thou lackest." The life of faith they do not live. The heart of 3*

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love for divine purity, justice and goodness they do not possess. They will " go away sorrowful " from the gates of glory, which they thought would so certainly open to receive them.

So then, the emotion, the enthusiasm of faith may exist, in connection with a corrupt morality.

And amiable manners and correct morals may remain after correct ideas of the gospel of salvation are lost.

The one is "faith without works." Can faith save him ? The other is " works without faith." Is a man justified by works only ? Neither is an example of true religion. In that, " faith works by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the world."