A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN NEW ENGLAND
By HENRY S. BURRAGE, D. D.
(Part 2)
CHAPTER VI.
THE CONTEST FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
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THE General Court of Massachusetts, from the settlement of the colony, in providing for the support of the Christian ministry, followed the ecclesiastical law which had been in force in England long before the Reformation, viz.: That every man should be taxed for this purpose in the town, parish, precinct, or district where he lived, unless specially exempt. In 1638 it was enacted that "every inhabitant who should not voluntarily contribute to all charges, both in church and Commonwealth proportionately, according to his ability, should be compelled thereto by assessment."The second charter of Massachusetts, dated October 7, 1691, allowed equal liberty of conscience to all Christians except Roman Catholics. But the General Court, October 12, 1692, enacted a law requiring each town to have a minister for whose support the inhabitants of the town should be taxed, "each man his several proportion thereof." This law was subsequently somewhat modified, but its principal features were not changed; and in 1718, the General Court authorized also the imposition of a tax for the building
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and repairing of parish meeting-houses. Baptists, especially as they came to have churches of their own, also Episcopalians and Quakers, objected to these parish taxes.The first exemption act was passed in 1727, and had reference to members of Episcopal churches only. By an act passed in May, 1728, Baptists and Quakers were also exempted from parish taxes, provided they "usually attend the meeting of their respective societies assembling upon the Lord's Day for the worship of God, and that they lived within five miles of the place of such meeting." In December, 1731, the General Court passed a modified act with reference to the Quakers, omitting among other provisions the five mile limitation. The Baptist exemption act expired in 1733; and the Baptists in Rehoboth were at once taxed for the support of the established ministry, and some of the members of the church were imprisoned. Upon their application to the General Court, however, they were released, and a law like that enacted for the Quakers was passed for the relief of the Baptists. This law expired in 1747, and was then continued for ten years.
The "testimony" of Henry Fisk, an elder of the Baptist church in Sturbridge, Mass., illustrates the oppressive treatment to which the Baptists were still subjected:1 One brother was called from us and
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1 A. Bloice had a spinning wheel taken away in 1750, and was imprisoned in 1751. D. Fisk had five pewter plates taken from
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ordained a pastor of a Baptist church, and came for his family; at which time they seized him and drew him away, and thrust him into prison, where he was kept in the cold winter till somebody paid the money and let him out."The town collectors in Sturbridge, for 1750 and 1751, were prosecuted on account of these many oppressive acts; and when one of the cases came to the Supreme Court, by agreement it was referred to the judges, who gave a decision in favor of the Baptists. Then the collectors turned around and asked the town to indemnify them for their expenses in the case; and as the request was granted, the Baptists in Sturbridge were compelled to bear their share of the expenses which the collectors had incurred in defending their unlawful acts.
In 1752, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted
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him in 1750, and a cow in 1751. John Cory imprisoned, 1750. J. Barstow imprisoned, 1750. J. Pike, a cow taken, 1750. A cradle in 1750, and a steer in 1751, were taken from J. Perry. Trammel, and irons, shovel, and tongs were taken from J. Blunt in 1750, and he was imprisoned the next year. John Streeter had goods taken in 1750 and 1751; Benjamin Robbins, household goods and carpenter's tools. Household goods and a cow were taken from H. Fisk in 1750 and 1751. Josiah Perry was imprisoned in 1750. and a cow taken from him in 1751. Nathaniel Smith was imprisoned in 1750. David Morse was imprisoned and a cow taken away in 1750, and a yoke of oxen in 1751. Goods were taken from Phinehas Collier in 1750 and 1761. John Newel, goods taken in 1750 and 1751. John Draper imprisoned, 1751. — Backus, "History of the Baptists in New England," Vol. II., p. 95, note.
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a law that no minister or church should have power to give exemption certificates until there should be obtained "from three other churches, commonly called Anabaptists, in this or the neighboring provinces, a certificate from each respectively, that they esteem such church to be of their denomination, and that they conscientiously believe them to be Anabaptists "This action of the General Court was regarded by the Baptists as so unjust that they resolved to carry their case to England. Several meetings were held in 1753 and 1754, and money was subscribed for this purpose. A remonstrance against these oppressive proceedings was presented to the General Court in May, 1754, which so enraged some of the members that a motion was made to arrest the signers of the remonstrance. But Governor Shirley convinced them of the folly of such a course, and a committee was appointed for a friendly conference with the Baptists. In 1757, the laws for exempting Baptists and Quakers expired, and a new law was enacted by which only those were to be exempted from ministerial taxes as Baptists whose names were "contained in a list or lists to be taken and exhibited on or before the 20th of July annually to the assessors of such town, district, precinct, or parish; and signed by three principal members of the Anabaptist church to which he or they belonged, and the minister thereof, if any there be, who shall therein certify that the persons whose
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names are inserted in the said list or lists are really belonging thereto; that they verily believe them to be conscientiously of this persuasion, and that they frequently and usually attend public worship in said church on the Lord's Days." This law remained in force thirteen years. "No tongue or pen," says Backus, "can fully describe all the evils that were practiced under it."The Warren Association, with which the Baptist churches in Massachusetts were connected, very early took these matters into consideration. At the meeting in 1769, "many letters from the churches mention grievances, oppressions, and persecutions from the Standing Order; especially the one from Ashfield, where religious tyranny had been carried to great lengths."1 Accordingly a committee was appointed to draft petitions to the General Court of Massachusetts and Connecticut for redress. The following "plan to collect grievances" was also adopted: "Whereas, Complaints of oppression occasioned by a nonconformity to the religious establishment in New Enghind have been brought to this Association; and whereas, The laws obtained for preventing and redressing such oppressions have upon trial been found insufficient — either through defect in the laws themselves, or iniquity in the execution thereof — and whereas, humble remonstrances and petitions have not been duly regarded, but the same oppressive measures
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1 See Minutes of the Warren Association for 1769.
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continned: This is to inform all the oppressed Baptists in New England that the Association of Warren — in conjunction with the Western or Philadelphia Association — is determined to seek remedy for these brethren where a speedy and effectual one may be had." The following were appointed to receive "well attested grievances," to be by them transmitted to Rev. Samuel Stillman, Boston, viz.: Rev. Hezekiah Smith, of Haverhill, Rev. Isaac Backus, of Middleboro, Mr. Richard Montague, of Sunderland, Rev. Joseph Meacham, of Enfield, and Rev. Timothy Wightman, of Groton, Conn.1 At the meeting of the Association in 1770, it was unanimously resolved to send "to the British Court for help if it could not be obtained in America," and when the General Court of Massachusetts assembled, the Baptist Committee of Grievances, acting by the appointment of the Warren Association, addressed a petition to the General Court, in which reference was made to the ill treatment that had been received hitherto, and urged relief from the persecutions to which the Baptists were subjected.As the old exemption law had expired, a new law was now passed; but, notwithstanding the changes made, its provisions were wholly unsatisfactory. When the Warren Association met in September, 1772, another Committee on Grievances was appointed, with Mr. Backus as chairman, a position he held for
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1 Minutes of the Warren Association for 1769.
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ten successive years. He prepared an address to the public in which the case of the Baptists was fully and forcibly stated. In 1774, he addressed a letter to Samuel Adams, in which he said: "I fully concur with your grand maxim, that it is essential to liberty that representation and taxation go together. Well, then, since people do not vore for representatives in our legislature from ecclesiastical qualifications, but only by virtue of those which are of a civil and worldly nature, how can representatives thus chosen have any right to impose ecclesiastical taxes? Yet they have assumed and long; exercised such a power. For thev assumed a power to compel each town and parish in this Province to settle a minister, and have empowered the majority of the inhabitants to give away as much of their neighbors' estates as they please to their minister; and if they refuse to yield it to them, then to take it by force. And I am bold in it that taxes laid by the British Parliament upon America are not more contrary to civil freedom, than these taxes are to the very nature of liberty of conscience, which is an essential article in our charter. . . Two thousand dollars will not make good the damages that the Baptists in this Province have sustained within these ten years by being taxed by the other party, and by suing for their rights before judges and jurors who were of that party."1Not long after this letter was written, Mr. Backus
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1 Hovey, "Life and Times of Isaac Backus," pp. 196, 197.
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received information that eighteen members of the Baptist church in Royalston, who had presented their certificates according to law, had been arrested and lodged in Northampton jail for declining to pay their ministerial rates. Mr. Backus at once petitioned the General Court in their behalf, asking that the men should be set at liberty, and that effectual methods should be taken for the protection of the rights of all good members of civil society. As a result, an act more favorable to the Baptists was passed by both branches of the General Court, but failed to reach the governor.The opposition to British oppression had culminated in the call for a meeting of representatives of the Colonies in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, and the Warren Association requested Mr. Backus to attend and call the attention of the members of that body to the importance of securing the free and full enjoyment of religious liberty. A conference was arranged, at which there were present Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, of Massachusetts, Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward, of Rhode Island, and other members of the Congress, President Manning, of Brown University, Dr. Gano, and others. President Manning presented a memorial1 in behalf of the Baptists of Massachusetts Bay, calling attention to the oppressive laws enacted in the Province against Baptists, with illustrations of
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1 Hovey, "Life and Times of Isaac Backus," pp. 203-210.
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the way In which these laws were enforced. The Baptist position was clearly stated: "To give laws, to receive obedience, to compel with the sword, belong to none but the civil magistrate; and on this ground we affirm that the magistrate's power extends not to the establishing any articles of faith or forms of worship by force of law; for laws are of no force without penalties. The care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate, because his power consists only in outward force; but pure and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind, without which nothing can be acceptable to God. . . As the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and religion is a concern between God and the soul, with which no human authority can intermeddle, consistently with the principles of Christianity, and according to the dictates of Protestantism, we claim and expect the liberty of worshiping God according to our consciences, not being obliged to support a ministry we cannot attend, whilst we demean ourselve as faithful subjects." The Adamses, and other delegates from Massachusetts, attempted to show that the Baptists complained without reason. Samuel Adams intimated "that the complaints came from enthusiasts who made it a merit to suifer persecution"; but Mr. Backus and the other Baptists present were ready with facts in proof of their statements, and the members of the Congress promised to do all they conld for the relief of the Baptists, although John Adams, at one
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time in the discussion, said that a change might as well be expected in the solar system as that the great Puritan State would abolish its ecclesiastical laws. The Baptists who were present at the conference were not inclined to attach much weight to the promise they had secured, and before they left Philadelphia, a copy of Mr. Manning's "Memorial" and a copy of Mr. Backus' "Appeal," were placed in the hands of each delegate.1It was subsequently reported by the opponents of the Baptists that Mr. Backus went to Philadelphia to oppose the movement for uniting the Colonies in defense of their liberties; in other words, that they were willing to imperil the general interests of the people by making prominent their denominational grievances. In an address to the Congress of Massachusetts the members of the Baptist Committee of Grievances, through Mr. Backus, repudiated this suggestion! "The Baptist churches in this Province," they said, "as heartily unite with their countrymen in this cause as any denomination in the land; and are as ready to exert all their abilities to defend it." But thcv denied the right of the General Court to impose upon Baptists the burden of a ministerial tax as they denied
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1 Backus, "Hist, of the Baptists in New England," Vol II p. 202, note. See also Hovey's "Life and Times of Isaac Backus," pp. 203-215, 349-51; "Works of John Adams," Vol. II. pp. 397-399; and Guild's "Manning and Brown University," pp. 237-239.
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the right of the British Government to impose upon the colonists the tax of three pence a pound upon tea. Tills address having been considered, Congress recommended that when the General Court of Massachusetts should be convened, the Baptists should lay their grievances before it. The General Court met at Watertown, September 20, 1775, and Mr. Backus, in accordance with this recommendation, sent in a memorial in which the wrongs his brethren had suffered were rehearsed, and the right of every man to freedom from legal control in the worship of God was insisted upon. The memorial was referred to a committee of seven, of whom three were Baptists. This committee having reported, it was ordered that Dr. Fletcher — who was one of the Baptist members of this committee — have liberty to bring in a bill for the redress of such grievances as he apprehends the Baptists labor under. Dr. Fletcher brought in such a bill, and it was read once, but no action followed.At the meeting of the Warren Association, in 1777, Mr. Backus read an "Address to the People of New England," on the subject of religious liberty. At the meeting in 1778 also he read a paper on the same subject. This, like the address of the preceding year, was published and widely circulated. Dr. Stillman, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston, was chosen to preach the election sermon, in 1779. He chose as his theme, the relation of Church and State,
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and presented forcibly and eloquently the Baptist position.In Massachusetts, at this time, the formation of a State Constitution was under consideration. As early as 1776, a proposition was made in the General Court that a committee should be appointed to prepare a form of government. To this objection was made. It was said that such a matter should originate with the people, and the House at length recommended that deputies to the next General Court should be elected with power to frame, in connection with the Council, a form of government for the State. This was done, and at the next session a committee, consisting of four members of the Council and eight members of the House, was appointed to prepare a constitution. The draft of a constitution, prepared by this committee, was approved early jn 1778, and submitted to the people. The thirty-fourth article of this constitution was as follows: "The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship shall forever be allowed to every denomination of Protestants in this State." Another article, however, declared existing laws to be in full force until altered or repealed by a future law or laws of the legislature, and the Baptists of Massachusetts, insisting upon the insertion of a Bill of Rights, uniteii with those who for other reasons were opposed to the new constitution; and it was rejected by a large majority.
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It was evident that the people generally considered a convention as the proper body for the framing of a constitution, and such a convention was called to meet in Cambridge, September 1, 1779. A committee of twenty-six was chosen to draft a constitution, and the convention soon adjourned to meet again October 28. The proposed draft, which had been prepared by John Adams, was submitted at that time. The third article in the Bill of Rights, with which the constitution opened, led to considerable discussion. The statement in its first paragraph, that the legislature had the right, "and ought to provide at the expense of the subject if necessary a suitable support for the public worship of God," was one which the Baptists of Massachusetts could not endorse. They were represented in the convention, and while this article was under consideration, some amendments having been proposed, Rev. Noah Alden, pastor of the Baptist church in Bellingham, moved "that a committee be appointed to consider the proposed amendments of the said article as offered for the consideration of the convention and report thereon." The motion was carried, and Mr. Alden was made chairman of the committtee, which consisted of seven members, five of whom, according to Mr. Backus, were "great politicians," viz.: Hon. Timothy Danielson, Theophilus Parsons, Esq., Hon. Samuel Adams, Hon. Robert Treat Paine, and Caleb Strong. The remaining member of the committee, aside from
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Mr. Alden, was Rev. David Sanford, pastor of the Congregational church in Medway.Three days later this committee reported a new draft of the third article. This was read repeatedly, and an extended debate followed. The report of the committee was finally taken up by propositions, and debated. The whole report, with the amendments, was at length accepted, and was substituted for the original article prepared by Mr. Adams. The substitute did not express Mr. Alden's long cherished convictions with reference to religious liberty. It was more satisfactory, however, than the article which Mr. Adams prepared. That asserted the right and the duty of the legislature "to provide, at the expense of the subject, if necessary, a suitable support for the public worship of God, and of the teachers of religion and morals." The substitute withheld this authority from the legislature, and asserted the riglit and duty of the legislature to authorize and require the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God. In towns where the Baptists were in the majority, the Baptists would elect one of their own number as minister of the town. This, however, was not the religious liberty for which the Baptists of Massachusetts had long lifted up their voices. But, as Mr. Backus said, it gave to the majority in each town, parish.
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etc., the exclusive right of covenanting for the minority as to religious teachers, and so excluded the minority from the liberty of choosing for themselves in that respect. Moreover, Baptists also found cause of complaint in that individuals connected with other societies who wished to join them could not do so without applying for a special license, an arrangement which they regarded as peculiarly oppressive as well as inconsistent with natural rights.When the work of the convention was finished, copies of the proposed constitution were sent to the selectmen of each town in the State in order that the constitution might be submitted to the people. The votes of the people, for or against the constitution, were to be returned on the first Wednesday in June, 1780. At that date it appeared from the returns of the towns that more than two-thirds of the votes were in favor of the constitution, and the convention was dissolved June 16.
Mr. Backus, in April, 1780, had published an appeal to the people of Massachusetts, presenting the objections of the Baptists to the proposed constitution ; and when the Warren Association met at Royalston, September 13, a protest against the power claimed in the third article of the Bill of Rights was prepared, and received the signatures of the delegates. When the General Court met in October, this protest was presented, but the article was retained, and the Baptists of Massachusetts were compelled to
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continue the struggle in which they had been so long engaged.The old difficuhies at once re-appeared. In 1781 the east parish at Attleboro assessed ministerial taxes upon several persons who attended worship elsewhere. One of the parties, Mr. Elijah Balkom, who was seized for his tax, sued the assessors for damages before a justice of the peace. As judgment was given against him, he appealed to the County Court. Mr. Balkom was represented by counsel. The attorney-general of the State, Robert Treat Paine, appeared for the parish, and the judges unanimously gave to the appellant both damages and costs. Notwithstanding this decision, the Baptists continued to be annoyed by their opponents of the Standing Order. In 1781, a Baptist church was organized in Menatomy parish, Cambridge, now Arlington; and although a pastor was secured in 1783, the members were taxed for the support of Congregational ministers, and in 1784, three were imprisoned. They accordingly sued the assessors, and at the County Court, in September, 1785, judgment was given in their favor. At the Superior Court, in the following month, however, this decision was reversed. It was now suggested to the Baptists, by an eminent lawyer, that if they would give to the ruling sect certificates that they belonged to a Baptist society, and desired tliat their ministerial tax should be given to the Baptist minister, it could be secured by a suit. This
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opinion was based upon the following provision of the constitution: "All moneys paid by the subject to the support of public worship, and of the public teachers aforesaid, shall, if he require it, be uniformly applied to the support of the public teacher or teachers of his own religious sect or denomination, provided there be any on whose instructions he attends." Mr. Backus was not in favor of the course proposed. He regarded the giving of certificates as an improper submission to the civil power in religious concerns, and he would not retreat from the position he had fearlessly held. But the Cambridge Baptists, thinking less of the principle involved than of escape from the grip of their persecutors, "sued the money out of the hands of their oppressors from time to time, until they left oflf collecting such money; and the like was done in various parts of the country."The sufferings of the church and society at Cambridge received attention at the meeting of the Warren Association at Newton in September, 1786; and the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That as our denomination in this Commonwealth have been long oppressed by the Congregationalists, who have claimed the power of supporting religious ministers by tax and compulsion; and as in consequence of this, our brethren in Cambridge, besides their time and trouble, have lately been at the expense of thirty-three pounds, fifteen shillings, we earnestly recommend that each church in this Association
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raise a proportion of that sum, as soon as may be, and forward the same to Mr. Isaac Skillman, of Boston, or to Mr. Thomas Green, of Cambridge, for the relief of those sufferers. And this we do considering it is in the general cause of liberty these friends have stood forth, a cause which concerns the citizens of America at large, and particularly affects us; considering also that what they have done has evidently given a check to such oppressions, and that nothing tends more to bring them to an end than a full conviction in our oppressors that we are united in supporting each other in a determined refusal to give any countenance to these arbitrary claims of power over us. To these reasons for assisting our aforesaid brethren, we likewise add that we have frequently given encouragement to stand by each other in this cause, and are bound by sacred obligations to these expressions of obedience to Christ."The Constitution of the United States, adopted by the constitutional convention, was submitted to the several States for ratification, September 17, 1787. Its only provision concerning religion was the sixth article: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." This did not meet the wishes of the Baptists, who desired that it should contain a sufficient guaranty of religious liberty. Mr. Backus at first was among those who were strenuous in their opposition to the Federal Constitution on this account. In Massachusetts
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a convention for the adoption or rejection of the Constitution met at Boston, January 9, 1788. Among the Baptists in the convention were Dr. Stillman, of Boston; Mr. Backus, of Middleboro; and Mr. Alden, of Bellingham. President Manning also was present on account of his interest in the acceptance of the Constitution. He did not share the fears of many of his brethren, and labored to secure its adoption. Dr. Stillman took the same view. The Constitution was adopted — one hundred and eighty-seven yeas and one hundred and sixty-eight nays. By invitation of Governor Hancock, and doubtless as a recognition of President Manning's services in bringing; about this result, Mr. Manning was asked to "close the solemn convocation with thanksgiving and prayer." Dropping upon his knees he " poured out his heart in a strain of exalted patriotism and fervid devotion, which awakened in the assembly a mingled sentiment of admiration and awe."1The position taken by Mr. Manning, and those who agreed with him, was fully justified. An amendment to the Constitution was proposed in the following year to this effect: "Art. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." This amendment
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1 Guild's " Maiming and Brown University," pp. 404, 405.
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was adopted by the several States, and the Baptist doctrine of soul liberty became a part of the organic law of the United States.The Baptists in Massachusetts, however, were still subjected to oppressive measures. In January, 1790, a collector in Barnstable, for a ministerial tax of less than two dollars, seized the horse of one of the committee of the Baptist society in that town; and although the collector oifered to return a small part of the value of the horse his offer was refused. The Warren Association met in Boston, January 24, 1791, and a committee of the Association, of which Dr. Stillman was chairman, addressed a letter to the committee of the First Parish in Barnstable. After referring to the fact that the Baptist church in Barnstable belonged to the Warren Association, and the added fact that some of the members of that church had been repeatedly taxed and their property taken from them to support the Congregational minister in that place while they had a minister of their own to support, they say: "We, the committee of the Baptist churches, think it our duty to say, that in an age and country as enlightened as this is, such acts of injustice were not to be expected. . . As a denomination of Christians we stand on an equal footing with any in the Commonwealth, and this equality we mean to maintain by every proper method in our power. If the parish refuse to return the moneys taken from our society, and continues to tax them to the support of the
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Congregational minister of Barnstable, we shall be reduced to the disagreeable necessity of publishing the whole to the world, and of taking such other steps as shall appear to us necessary."1 Those who signed this letter knew their defenseless position before the law, but Avere strong in the conviction that at the bar of public opinion they would make out their case.In general, the Baptists of Massachusetts seem to have paid their ministerial taxes, and subsequently, for the support of their own ministers, secured the return of the money they had paid. In some communities this money was paid over without hesitation; in other cases a legal process was necessary in order to secure it. In 1811, in a suit for money thus paid. Chief Justice Parsons decided that no society, except a society incorporated by law, could be entitled to the privilege of this rebate. A petition signed by Dr. Baldwin and many thousands of the citizens of the State of almost every denomination was presented to the legislature, in which after a statement of facts the request was made that the several existing laws respecting the support of the ordinance of worship should be "so revised and amended that all denominations of Christians may be exempt from being taxed for the support of religious teachers, excepting those whose ministrations they voluntarily attend."
The matter was the occasion of a long and animated
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1 Backus, "Hist. of the Baptists in New England," Vol. II., p. 352, note.
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discussion. Among those who addressed the house was Rev. John Leland, whose speech has been preserved. "The petitioners pray," he said, "for the right of going to heaven in that way which they believe is the most direct; and shall this be denied them? Must they be obliged to pay legal toll for walking the king's highway, which he has made free for all? Is not this a greater subordination than to sail under British licenses, or to pay three pence on every pound of tea? In Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, of the old Colonies; and in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio, the new States, there has never been any legal establishment of religion, nor any assessment to support Protestant Christianity for tlie good of the States; and yet, sir, these States have stood and flourished as well as Massachusetts. Since the Revolution, all the old States, except two or three in New England, have established religious liberty upon its true bottom; and yet they are not sunk with earthquakes or destroyed "with fire and brimstone."1
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1 Benedict, "General History of the Baptist Denomination in America," Vol. II., p. 484.
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for the purpose, such persoa shall ever afterward, so long as he continues such membership, be exempted from taxation for tlie support of public worship and public teachers of religion in every other religious corporation whatsoever.This law was not satisfactory to the Baptists, as it did not secure to them exemption from all taxes and certificates, yet it afforded relief from the oppressions they had so long endured.
A convention was held in 1820, for the purpose of revising the constitution of the State. Among the members of the convention were Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., of Boston; Rev. N. W. Williams, of Beverly; Hon. Hemau Lincoln, of Boston; and other Baptists, who were prominent in the endeavor to eradicate from the Bill of Rights those provisions that had proved so troublesome and oppressive. Tiie discussion was a protracted one. Dr. Baldwin and Mr. Williams stated the Baptist position clearly and forcibly.
Mr. Williams offered the following amendment to the fourth resolution of the committee: "Resolved, That every religious society, incorporated or not incorporated, shall have power to raise moneys for the support of their respective teachers and incidental expenses, in such manner as they shall determine by the vote of a majority of the legal voters assembled at any meeting, warned and held according to law." Daniel Webster, who was a member of the convention, opposed Mr. Williams' resolution. He was content with
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the constitution as it was, he said. Mr. Williams' resolution was defeated by a vote of one hundred and seventy-nine to one hundred and eighty-six. The amendments to the Bill of llights adopted by the convention, however, failed of ratification by the people, so that the third article of that bill remained in force. Nevertheless, the end came at length. During the session of the legislature for 1832-33, the third article of the Bill of Rights was so amended that the right of the several religious societies in the Commonwealth to elect their pastors or religious teachers, to contract with them for their support, and to raise money for erecting and repairing houses of public worship for the maintenance of religious instruction, etc., was fully recognized. This amendment was ratified by the people November 11, 1833, and Church and State in Massachusetts were forever separated. The great battle, so well fought, had at length been won.For his long-continued and unwearied labors in securing religious liberty, Isaac Backus deserves to be held in lasting remembrance. He did not live to witness the fulfillment of his hopes; but the value of his heroic services is recognized more and more, and recently a worthy memorial, dedicated June 30, 1893, has replaced at his grave in Middleboro, Mass., the earlier monument which bore only his name, and the date of his birth and death. On the new monument he is justly called "A Pioneer Champion of Religious Liberty."
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The value of the services of the Baptists in securing this victory has been gratefully acknowledged. Rev. John S. Clarke, D. D., in his "Congregational Churches in Massachusetts," referring to the struggle occasioned by the third article of the Bill of Rights, says:1 "Conceding to the framers of that article all honesty of intention and purity of motive, we must also concede to our Baptist brethren the credit of holding the truth on this point — a very great and practical truth, which has since been acknowledged by the nearly unanimous action of the Commonwealth in expunging that article, and leaving religion to its own inherent vital energy, with the promised blessing of God, for its support and propagation."The Baptists in other parts of New England had the same grievances, and contended earnestly in the same great conflict for religious liberty. In the district of Maine, in 1771, "a good riding beast" was taken from Joseph Moody, a member of the Baptist church in Gorham, who had refused to pay the ministerial tax. In a petition Mr. Moody carried his case to the General Court at Boston, with the request that the members of the Court, like the good Samaritan of old, would set him upon his own beast; but this was not done. At Berwick, the horse of Mr. Emery, the pastor of the church, was seized, and from Mr. John Emery, of York, the family pewter was taken, although both had provided themselves with the
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1 pp. 222, 223.
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certificates required by law, as had also Mr. Moody, of Gorham.The earliest records of the Baptist church in Newton, N. H., carry us back to October 7, 1767, when two of its members were in the firm grip of the law. On that date the church voted "to carry on Mr. Steward's and Mr. Carter's lawsuits, which are now in the law on account of rates imposed on them bv the Standing Order." Three years passed before the suit was settled, and it was then ordered to "proportion the whole costs of these suits." While a large part of the State was unsettled, in the new towns a grant of one lot of land was provided for the first settled minister, and another for the support of the minister, A few Baptist ministers obtained these lands, as they were the first settled in the places in which they resided.
When Rev. Job Seamans removed from Attleboro, Mass., in 1788, and became pastor of the Baptist church organized in New London that year, as he was the first minister in the town he received a grant of land, and he was also supported for a while by a tax; but at length finding it "to be such a bondage" to be supported in this way, he refused to accept further aid from the town.
In fact, the constitution of New Hampshire "provided that no person of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay toward the support of the teachers of another persuasion,
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sect, or denomination." While in a few cases Baptists and others were compelled to file certificates, or make some formal declaration of their faith, in order to obtain relief from the payment of parish rates, in general they were left to walk the peaceful ways they sought, asking only from the civil power that they should be let alone.The early settlers in Vermont were largely Congregationalists from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and a law was passed empowering parishes to levy a general tax for building meeting-houses and supporting their ministers. Vermont was admitted into the Union in 1791. Dr. Asaph Fletcher, who for many years had been interested in the movement for religious liberty, removed from Massachusetts to Cavendish, Vt., in 1787. He was a member of the convention which applied for the admission of the State into the Union, aud also of the convention to revise the constitution in 1793; and although he and others contended for a separation of Church aud State, their hopes were disappointed. Baptists in some cases continued to be taxed for the support of Congregational ministers, and were subjected not only to costs but imprisonment on account of their refusal to pay the same. Accordingly petitions were presented to the legislature in 1794, objecting to the certificate law on the ground that it was contrary to the rights of man, of conscience, and of the first, third fourth, and seventh articles of the constitution. The
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law, however, was allowed to stand until November 3, 1801, when the legislature passed an act repealing so much of the former act as related to procuring certificates; but the law still made the voters liable to be taxed for religious purposes, unless individually they should declare in writing that they were not in agreement in religious opinion with a majority of the inhabitants of the town, or parish. This law remained in force until October 24, 1807, when the legislature passed an act repealing all the oppressive statutes, and thus securiug religious as well as civil liberty to the people of the State. Two Baptist ministers, Rev. Aaron Leland and Rev. Ezra Butler, were at this time members of the legislature, and were prominent in bringing about this result. Mr. Leland was speaker of the House and Mr. Butler was a member of the Senate. From 1826 to 1828, Mr. Butler was governor of Vermont, with Mr. Leland as lieutenant governor.The laws of Connecticut at this early period, like those of Massachusetts, imposed ministerial taxes. The General Assembly at its May session in 1 729, exempted Quakers from the payment of these taxes. September 6, 1729, at North Kingston, R. I, the Baptist Association with which the Connecticut Baptist churches were connected, prepared and signed a petition to the General Assembly of Connecticut asking from that body that the Baptists also might be exempted from taxes to ministers and meeting-houses.
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Governor Jenckes of Rhode Island, concurred with others in a supplementary memorial to the same end, and the General Assembly, which met at New Haven, October 9, 1729, enacted such a law. This law continued in force until May, 1791, when the ruling party, wishing to make it more difficult to obtain such a certificate, passed a law requiring that the certificate to be valid should be signed by two magistrates. The Baptists remonstrated, and the law was repealed in October following, and a new law enacted only requiring a certificate from the party desiring exemption. Until 1756, the Quakers and Baptists were the only dissenters thus exempted. Like provision was then made for all dissenting persons who ordinarily attended the meetings of their own societies, and paid their due proportion, etc.; otherwise they should be taxed. In May, 1791, as indicated above, it was enacted that all exemption certificates should be signed by two magistrates. The new law met with much opposition, and the act was repealed in October following, and a new law enacted, which allowed a dissenter to write his own exemption certificate. The certificate system, however, was obnoxious to the Baptists of Connecticut as elsewhere. In churches and Associations they adopted resolutions demanding religious liberty, and their efforts were rewarded in 1818, when the new constitution was adopted which secured to the people of Connecticut the rights of conscience. The article which contained
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this provision was drafted by a Baptist minister, Rev. Asahel Morse, of Suffield. In his autobiography,1 Dr. Lyman Beecher, referring to this great change in the fundamental law of the State, wrote: "It was as dark a day as ever I saw. The odium thrown upon the ministry was inconceivable. The injury done to the cause of Christ, as we then supposed, was irreparable. For several days I suffered what no tongue can tell for the best thing that ever happened to the State of Connecticut. It cut the churches loose from dependence on State support. It threw them wholly on their own resources and on God."
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1 » Vol. I., p. 344.
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CHAPTER VII.
ORGANIZED MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.THE growth of the Baptists in New England during the last quarter of the eighteenth century was the result very largely of missionary activity. Men of apostolic spirit, believing in the gospel as the power of God unto salvation, made their way into the new settlements, gathered the people under the open skies, or in schoolhouses and barns, and declared their message with such tokens of the Divine approval that souls were converted and churches organized. The Warren Association at an early period in its history made arrangements for the supply of these infant churches. In 1778, Rev. W. Jacobs, Rev. Biel Ledoyt, Rev. J. Seamans, and Rev. E. Ransom were requested to visit "the northern parts of our country." At the next meeting of the Association a report was made of the labors of these brethren, when "very agreeable accounts were received of their free reception in many places, and some instances of very remarkable and glorious effects of the gospel." The churches in Massachusetts contributed eighty-one pounds and ten shillings for this service, and Elders Jacobs and Hunt were appointed to travel
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and labor in the northern towns in the fall, and Elders Aiden and Fletcher in the spring.As early as 1784, in the Stonington Association in Connecticut, and in 1790 in the Danbury Association, in the same State, arrangements were made for the supply of destitute churches.
At the meeting of the Woodstock Association in Vermont, in 1791, action was taken as follows: "Whereas, We find a number of our brethren in the ministry, viz., Elders Jedediah Hibbard, Joseph Call, Nehemiah Woodward, and John Hibbard, disposed to journey to the northward, to preach the gospel in a great number of infant settlements of Connecticut River, in the upper Coos country; also to journey through the north part of the State of Vermont, even as far as Caldwell's Manor, within Canada lines; being desirous to encourage so laudable a design, we recommend them as faithful ministers of Christ, wishing them much of the grace of God, that they may see the fruits of their labors. And as the journey will be very expensive, we recommend to the churches to raise something by contribution to defray the charges of said ministers in their journey. "Reports from the missionaries engaged in this service bear witness to the continued interest of the Association in subsequent years, and in 1804, occurs the following record: Voted, That Elders Seamans, Kendrick, and Higbee be a committee to form a plan for a missionary society and present it at our next
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meeting." The Woodstock Baptist Missionary Society was organized in 1806. In the Shaftsbury Association, in 1801, a proposition for raising a fund by contribution "for the purpose of sending missionaries to preach the gospel in distant parts of our frontier settlements, and as far as we may have opportunity, among the nations of the wilderness." At the meeting of the Association in 1802, a plan of organization was effected and operations were begun. Rev. Caleb Blood received an appointment as missionary of the Association, and labored from Cayuga Lake to the head of Ontario. In 1803, Lemuel Covell and Obed Warren went to Western New York and upper Canada; and so for each successive year missionaries were sent out by the Association. The same was true of the Vermont Association.Reference has already been made to the labors of Rev. Hezekiah Smith, in New Hampshire. Others, like Shepard, of Brentwood, Baldwin, of Canaan, and Ballon of Richmond, from 1770 on, performed a large amount of missionary service. At the meeting of the New Hampshire Association at Wells, in the District of Maine, June 13, 1799, it was voted "to send a missionary to preach and administer the ordinances of the gospel in the eastern country." Rev. Isaac Case, the pioneer Baptist missionary in Maine, was present at this meeting; and it was doubtless at his suggestion that this work was undertaken. He was likewise present at the meeting of the Bowdoinham
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Association, also in the District of Maine, August 29, 1799, when it was "voted to recommend to the churches in the Association to raise money by contribution for the support of a gospel mission." A collection of fifteen dollars for this purpose was made at the meeting, and a committee was chosen to "superintend the business." Mr. Case, who knew the needs of the eastern country, was ready to consecrate himself to the work, and he was accordingly selected as the first missionary of the Association. Resigning his pastorate at Readfield, he accepted the appointment with the prospect of a scanty support, and hurried away to the destitute fields. When the Bowdoinham Association met at Greene, August 27, 1800, the missionary was present with a report of his labors. In the Minutes of that year it is recorded: "Agreeably to a vote of the Association the last year. Elder Case visited the new settlements in the eastern part of the Province of Maine, as a missionary, to preach the gospel in places destitute of settled ministers, who reported a very pleasing account of the advancement of tiie Redeemer's kingdom. in many places he visited, and that there appeared to be a door open for great usefulness in preaching the gospel in those parts." There is also in the Minutes the added item: "Agreeable to a request of the Association the last year, a contribution was received . . . for the support of a gospel mission, amounting to forty-three dollars and ten cents."
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The New Hampshire Association at its meeting at Brentwood, N. H., June 11, 1800, "chose Elders William Hooper, Henry Smith, and William Batch. elder to employ a suitable ordained elder as a missionary to travel" into the eastern parts to preach and administer the ordinances of the gospel." Contributions from the churches were reported, and tlie collection at the Association for the mission amounted to twenty-five dollars and seventy cents.
Rev. John Tripp, of Hebron, District of Maine, made a missionary journey to the eastward in January and February, 1801.
The tidings that came from these missionaries stirred the hearts of the brethren in Massachusetts, as did the tidings that came from Carey and his associates in India; and May 26, 1802, the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society held its first meeting, at the First Baptist Church, in Boston. Those who were prominent in the organization of this society were animated, they said, by the laudable exertions which many of their Christian friends of different denominations on both sides of the Atlantic were making "to extend the empire of truth and promote the salvation of dying men." Article IV., of the constitution, was as follows: "The object of this society shall be to furnish occasional preaching and to promote the knowledge of evangelic truth in the new settlements in the United States; or farther, if circumstances should render it proper." The management
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of the society was placed in the hands of twelve trustees, of whom Rev. Dr. Stillman, of Boston, was chairman, and Rev. Thomas Waterman was secretary. The first missionaries appointed were Rev. Isaac Case, Rev. John Tripp, and Rev. Joseph Cornell. Messrs. Case and Tripp were requested to visit the new settlements in the District of Maine and New Hampshire, and Mr. Cornell was sent to the new settlements in the northwesterly parts of New York and the adjacent settlements of Canada.In September, of the following year, the society commenced the publication of the "Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine," the earliest Baptist periodical published in the country. For several years the magazine appeared only semi-annually, and the first volume of twelve numbers was not completed until January, 1808; but the information it contained with reference to the religious destitution of the new settlements, and the readiness of the people "but little removed from pagan ignorance" to receive the missionary and his message, had a powerful effect in developing the spirit of missions.
The organization of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society led the brethren in Maine to contemplate a more orderly method in the prosecution of their missionary work, and accordingly a constitution, similar to that of the Massachusetts society, was prepared and printed. Those interested in the formation of the Society met at Readfield,
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September 27, 1804, and organized the Maine Baptist Missionary Society. The sum of one hundred and thirty dollars was collected for missionary work, and a larger sum in the succeeding year. In August, 1806, the Society began the publication of the "Maine Baptist Missionary Register." Only two numbers, however, were printed, the second appearing in August, 1808.These two publications, one in Massachusetts and one in Maine, contain information nowhere else to be found concerning the beginnings of organized missionary work on the part of the Baptists of New England.
In the "Register" we have an account of Rev. John Tripp's missionary tour to places east of the Penobscot in January and February, 1801. In June, 1802, Mr. Tripp and Mr. Case visited Mount Desert, and other places in the vicinity. In October, Mr. Tripp spent a week in the new settlements upon and near the Androscoggin River. A Sunday was passed at Bethel. "I affected not to be a Calvinist or Arminian, but a Christian minister," he wrote. "I endeavored not to confound my hearers with bold assertions, but as much as in me lay to inform their understandings; and I have reason to hope it was not altogether in vain." In May, 1803, he was again in Bethel, and in June visited Rumford, Paris, Andover, Bethel, and Little's Grant (Woodstock).
Mr. Case's first published report to the Massachusetts
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Society was dated February 10, 1803. He had visited Meduncook (Friendship), Goshen (Vienna), Thomaston, Camden, Canaan, Vassalboro, Fox Island, Mount Desert, Ballstown (Whitefield), Hartford, Sumner, and Thompson's Grant. One of those whom he baptized on this tour was converted by a fitting word spoken by Mr. Case in 1783. At Vassalboro he had the help of Rev. Daniel Merrill, of Sedgwick, then a Congregationalist, "who was also out on a mission"; and Mr. Case adds: "We mutually joined together as two brothers engaged in the same great cause." He closed his report with these words: "There were so many doors open for preaching that I hardly knew what course to steer, or what place stood in most need. For if I had had a dozen bodies and as many tongues, they might have all been employed among the poor and destitute who desired to hear and thankfully attend on the preached word."Among those who performed missionary service in Maine was Rev. Sylvanus Boardman, of Livermore, the father of the distinguished missionary, George Dana Boardman. Early in 1804, Mr. Boardman visited Industry, Norridgwock, Canaan, Anson, New Portland, Greenstown, and Carratunk. "I went to the uppermost house in the highest settlement on the Kennebec River," he wrote, "but soon returned to the middle and lower settlements." He was absent from home twenty-eight days, and preached twenty-eight times. "I met with a kind reception from all;
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my wants were all supplied; and difficulties I experienced none, but what arose from my own sinful heart."Rev. P. P. Roots, a missionary of the Massachusetts Society, received an appointment in May, 1804, to visit the District of Maine. He was also employed in visitins: the destitute reo-ions of New York and Pennsylvania.
Referring to the persons whom he baptized on a missionary tour in the autumn of 1804, Rev. Isaac Case wrote: "Two of them are young men, Henry Hale and Thomas Perkins. They are at present studying with the Rev. Mr. Merrill, of Sedgwick, with a view to the ministry. It will be natural for you to inquire what effect it has upon Mr. Merrill, his students becoming Baptists. I will just say I have made him a short visit, and find him fully convinced of believers' baptism by immersion." Mr. Merrill was pastor of the Congregational church in Sedgwick. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1789, was ordained at Sedgwick in September, 1793, and under his ministry the Sedgwick Church had become the largest in the State. The inquiries of his students led him to make a thorough investigation of the subject of baptism. Convinced at length of the rightfulness of the Baptist position he frankly avowed to his people his change of views. The church called a council of Baptist ministers, February 28, 1805, in which council Dr. Baldwin of
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Boston, Rev. Elisha Williams of Beverly, and others participated. As a result of their deliberations, Mr. Merrill and a large number of his flock were accepted for baptism, and the Congregational church in Sedgwick became a Baptist church.It being understood that there were persons who purposed to bequeath property to the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society, an act of incorporation was secured from the legislature of the State, February 28, 1808, under the name of the Baptist Missionary Society in Massachusetts. The "Missionary Magazine" continued to publish interesting reports from missionaries who were employed by the Society in the New England States, also in New York and in the Canadian provinces.
In Connecticut, the measures with reference to missionary organization were adopted at an early period. The Danbury Association, in 1806, considered the subject of appointing a missionary. As the result of this consideration a committee was appointed to take charge of the work, and the churches were requested to contribute for its support. In 1810, the Danbury Association placed itself on record in this matter as follows: "As we consider it important that the destitute churches of this Association and others should enjoy the ministry of the word and the ordinances of the gospel; also that the servants of Christ receive a temporal support while fulfilling their duty; voted that Brethren Wildman, Mills, and
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Bradley be a committee to adopt a plan for this parpose, to be presented for consideration at our next meeting." The action of this committee, however, was anticipated by the organization in the Association, the next year, of the Connecticut Baptist Missionary Society, the constitution of which was adopted October 3, 1811. Under the direction of this Society, work in destitute fields was prosecuted with great vigor. It is stated that the gospel was preached in almost every county in the State and in some of the towns in adjacent States.In 1814, by invitation of the First Baptist Church, in Hartford, a convention was held for the purpose of considering the subject of "aiding the missionary operations in the East." Rev. Luther Rice was present, and at that time, August 31, 1814, the Connecticut Auxiliary to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions was organized. With its work in behalf of foreign missions, the Society soon began to combine work in behalf of domestic missions, and the constitution was accordingly modified. This organization, afterward known as the Connecticut Baptist Missionary Society, continued to prosecute its work for both foreign and home missions until the organization of the Connecticut Baptist Convention in 1823.
Impressed with the importance of increased exertions to extend "the knowledge of divine truth to awaken men from a fatal security in sin," Baptists in Boston and vicinity organized, November 13, 1811,
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the Evangelical Tract Society. Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., was elected president; Ensign Lincoln, secretary, and Heman Lincoln, treasurer, while on the committee by which its affairs was managed were Rev. Lucius Bolles, Rev. William Batchelder, Rev. Daniel Sharp, and Messrs. Henry Howes and Amos Smith. At the first annual meeting, May 26, 1812, in the report of the committee, allusion was made to the work the Missionary Society had accomplished, but it was urged that the Tract Society was needed "to furnish the heralds of peace with evangelical books and tracts" for general circulation, and it was added: "Should our funds at any time be adequate, our plan admits of uniting the distribution of Bibles together with the tracts."The Baptist Missionary Society in Massachusetts still earnestly prosecuted its beneficent work. The Board in its report in 1812, said: "The northwesterly part of the State of Pennsylvania and the westerly part of the State of New York have been visited by several of our missionaries, and the solitary places cheered by the glad sound of the gospel. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with some parts of Lower Canada, have also been visited; and the precious seed of the kingdom sown among them by the labors of our brethren. Nor have the destitute in Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the District of Maine been overlooked."
In fact, the Baptist Missionary Society in Massachusetts
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was continually enlarging its field of operations. In the annual report for 1814, those who supported it were urged to remember that there were "large districts of our country, which from the scattered situation of the inhabitants, are unable to support the gospel. These poor people, who are like sheep without a shepherd, have claims on your benevolence."John M. Peck, who was born at Litchfield, South Farms, Conn., October 31, 1789, having become interested in mission work by the influence of Rev. Luther Rice, received an appointment from the Triennial Convention in 1817; and July 25, with his wife and three little ones, he set out in a small one-horse wagon for St. Louis. Here he organized a church in 1818; and from this point he carried on various missionary enterprises in the regions beyond.
The Baptist churches that had already been planted in the Mississippi Valley were largely antinomian and anti-mission. By the members of these churches, Sunday-schools, Bible Societies, etc., were regarded as unscriptural and hostile to Christianity. John M. Peck had not so learned Christ, and an irrepressible conflict arose, in which after a long and severe struggle the evils that had been wrought by illiterate antinomian and anti-mission preachers were for the most part extirpated. But complaints from these sources reached the Triennial Convention in 1820, and as a result, through the influence of the Southern
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and Western representatives, support was withdrawn from the Western mission, and Mr. Peck was left to continue his self-sacrificing work unaided. Help, however, he must have; and in 1822, the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts, after receiving a soul-stirring appeal from the ardent missionary, gave him an appointment in its service at a salary of five dollars a week. The opportunity for missionary work in the West, Mr. Peck rightly estimated. "My mind is often deeply impressed," he wrote in 1824, "with the thought that I am laboring for future generations"; and so, with fiery energy, he devoted himself to his great task. In 1826, he attended the Triennial Convention in Worcester, Mass., where he met Rev. Jonathan Going. To him he opened his heart, disclosing the burden he felt for the vast territory into which settlers in great numbers were already making their way. At the meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts immediately after, he sketched the needs of the great West, and unfolded a plan for missionary operations. He also spent three months among the Baptist churches of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, telling his experience and urging the claims of the West as a mission field. Then he hastened back to his work.In 1831, Rev. Jonathan Going, commissioned by the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts to explore the western field, joined Mr. Peck. Together
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the two traveled over large portions of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky and when at length they separated at Shelbyville, Mr. Peck wrote in his diary: "Here we agreed on the plan of the American Baptist Home Mission Society." At the meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts in November, 1831, Mr. Going made a report concerning the needs of the Western field; and a resolution was adopted that the Baptists of the United States ought to form a general society for mission work in the United States, especially in the valley of the Mississippi; and a deputation, consisting of Dr. Sharp, Dr. Bolles, and Mr. Going, was appointed to visit the city of New York, and confer with the Baptist brethren there, especially with the members of the New York Baptist Missionary Convention, which also had a mission in the West. As a result of this conference the American Baptist Home Mission Society was organized in New York in April, 1832. Manifestly the influences that led to its organization were largely from New England; but as the Foreign Missionary Convention now had its headquarters in Boston, the headquarters of the Home Mission Society were wisely located in New York.New England has not only retained its interest in the work of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, but that interest has been strengthened with the progress of the work. Rev. A. P. Mason, D. D., who had been District Secretary of the Society for New
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England since 1866, died March 17, 1892; and was succeeded by Rev. F. T. Hazlewood, D. D.The contributions to the treasury from the organization of the Society furnish evidence of the interest New England has felt in the work of home missions. A record of these contributions will be found in the appendix, marked "A."
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CHAPTER VIII.
NEW ENGLAND BAPTISTS AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.INTEREST in foreign missions on the part of the Baptists of New England was first awakened by the work which Carey and his associates began in India. Carey corresponded with some of his American brethren, and his letters were published in the "Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine." There were those in this country who desired to engage in the foreign work, but Carey, writing July 30, 1807, said: "It has always been my opinion that all in America, whose hearts the Lord stirs up to this work, should either go to the Indians or the back part of their own country, or to the neighboring islands, Cuba, St. Domingo, etc. I hope these fields will be soon occupied with laborers in the harvest of the Lord." Contributions were early secured for the translation of the Scriptures by Dr. Carey and his associates; and in the "Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine," for March, 1812, there is a reference to the collections for this purpose made in some of the churches. The collection at Dr. Baldwin's church, in Boston, amounted to one hundred and forty-five dollars, and that of "Baptist Friends," in Middleboro, to seventy dollars.
151When Judson and his associates announced their purpose to carry the gospel to the heathen, the hearts of the members of the New England Baptist churches were deeply moved. The " Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine," for March, 1812, refers to the ordination of Messrs. Newell, Judson, Nott, Hall, and Rice at the Tabernacle in Salem, February 6; and then follows the note: "Messrs. Newell and Judson, with their wives, sailed from Salem, in the brig 'Caravan,' Captain Heard, on Wednesday, the 19th inst. [February], amidst the prayers and benedictions of multitudes, whose hearts go with them, and who will not cease to remember them at the throne of grace."
But why should not American Baptists as well as Congregationalists be engaged in this work? was a question often asked. There were those who had strong convictions concerning this matter; and so "The Salem Bible Translation and Foreign Mission Society" was organized in January, 1812, "to raise money to aid the translation of the Scriptures into the Eastern languages at present going on at Serampore under the superintendence of Dr. William Carey; or if deemed advisable at any time to assist in sending a missionary or missionaries from this country to India."
At length, Dr. Baldwin, of Boston, received a letter from Mr. Judson, dated Calcutta, August 31, 1812, announcing his change of views concerning baptism and inclosing a letter, dated August 27, 1812, in
152which Mr. Judson had requested baptism for himself and his wife at the hands of the Serampore missionaries. This of itself was a trumpet call to American Baptists to engage in foreign mission work. But it appears that Mr. Judson, in an interview with Dr. Bolles, of Salem, just before his departure for Calcutta, suggested the formation of a society among the Baptists in America for the support of foreign missions. He now reminded Dr. Bolles of that interview. The dissolution of his connection with the American Board was inevitable. Moreover, Carey and his associates could not undertake his support, and so he turned to those whom he could now call his Baptist brethren in the United States, and suggested that if they should organize a society for the support of a mission in the East he was ready to enter upon the work as their missionary. Mr. and Mrs. Judson were baptized at Calcutta, September 6, 1812, by Rev. William Ward, who also baptized Mr. Rice, November 1, following. The Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society met in Boston, May 26, 1813; and the trustees in their report said that the baptism of Judson and Rice might justly be considered as a call "upon us to extend our views and missionary efforts to that quarter of the globe"; adding, "societies have been formed and are now forming among our brethren in different places for this purpose." The first of these societies was "The Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts,"
153which had its origin in a meeting held at the house of Dr. Baldwin, in Boston, on the receipt of Mr. Judson's letter. The hand of Providence was manifest, and in the constitution of the society provision was made for co-operation with other societies in forming a General Committee for the prosecution of foreign mission work. A similar society was organized in Rhode Island. The Connecticut Society's Auxiliary to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions was organized in Hartford, Conn., August 31, 1814.
The Boston Society at once assured Mr. Judson that if his connection with the American Board was dissolved, his support would not fail. By request of the society, Rev. Daniel Sharp wrote to the directors of the Baptist Missionary Society in England proposing that Mr. Judson should become a missionary of that society, the Baptist churches in the United States guaranteeing his support. The directors replied that in their opinion it would be better to organize in the United States a society for foreign mission work. The arrival of Mr. Rice hastened such a movement. He was present at the meeting of the Boston Society in February, 1814, at which time there were also present delegates from the Salem and Haverhill Societies. Arrangements were made for the preparation of an address to the Baptists of the United States, aud Mr. Rice was requested to travel in the Middle and Southern States, and secure the organization of societies to co-operate with those in New England. Such
154societies were organized, and from these, delegates were at length summoned to meet in Philadelphia, May 18, 1814, "to organize a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort for sending the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen and to nations destitute of pure gospel light." Twenty-six clergymen and seven laymen, from eleven States and the District of Columbia, met at the appointed time and organized "The General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions."
The second article of the constitution provided that the Convention should be "a Triennial Convention"; and this became the popular designation of the society. The constitution also provided that for the transaction of its business during the recess of the Convention, there should be a Board of twenty-one Commissioners, known as the "Baptist Board of Foreign Missions for the United States." Such a Board was elected, of which Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., of Massachusetts, was made president; Rev. Wm. Stoughton, D. D., of Philadelphia, corresponding secretary; and John Cauldwell, of New York, treasurer. Its first work was to appoint Mr. Judson as its missionary, and to provide for his support and the support of his family. Rev. Luther Rice was also appointed a missionary, but he was directed to remain in the United States for the present " to assist in originating societies or
155institutions for carrying the missionary design into execution."
As at first organized tlie Convention was designed only for the support of foreign missions, but the constitution was modified subsequently in several particulars so as to include home missions, and the training of young men for the gospel ministry. The establishment of Columbian College, at Washington, D. C, was the work of the Convention. But at the fourth triennial meeting, held in New York, in April and May, 1826, all connection with Columbian College that included responsibility was dissolved, the seat of the Convention's operations was transferred to Boston, and its executive control was intrusted to a Board resident in New England. "The most important act of the late Convention," says an official publication of that year, "was the revision of the constitution, by which its exertions were limited exclusively to missionary operations. It is now a simple body with one undivided object, and that object is the promulgation of the gospel among the heathen."
Added interest in the missionary operations of the Convention had been awakened by the return of Mrs. Judson to this country, in 1822, on account of her health. She arrived September 25, and remained until June 22, 1823. Dr. Wayland said of her that he had never met a more remarkable woman, and the impression she made upon the Christians she met was most profound. On her return to Burma she was
156accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Wade. Then followed the terrible experiences at Ava and Oung-pen-la, where for twenty-one long, weary months, Mr. Judson suffered untold horrors in a loathsome confinement, followed from prison to prison by his heroic wife, busy in the endeavor to minister to his wants and seeking in all possible ways to secure his release. The release came at length by the advance of the British troops, but Mrs. Judson did not long survive the terrible strain to which she had been subjected, and she was buried at Amherst. Mrs. Judson's story of those days at Ava and Oung-pen-la, never to be forgotten, had thrilled the hearts of the friends of missions everywhere, and nowhere more than in her own loved New England. There was not a Baptist home in which her vivid recital was not read, and many a heart was stirred with a desire to engage in a service where even such sufferings were possible; and now [how] the tidings of her death profoundly affected hearts that had already been moved by her own womanly words.
Meanwhile, George Dana Boardman, who was born in Livermore, Maine, February 8, 1801, and was graduated at Waterville College, in 1822, had heard the cry that went up when Colman died in Arracan, "Who will go to take his place?" and he had answered, "I will go." He reached Amherst with Mrs. Boardman, after Mrs. Judson's death, and helped place by her mother's side, under the hopia tree, the
157little Maria who had just breathed her last. At Moulmein he was joined by Judson and Wade; and afterward at Tavoy, among whose hills he witnessed the baptism of a goodly number of converts, he finished his labors and went to his reward. And so the call went back to the New England hills, "Who will take Boardman's place?"
When the Board was removed from Philadelphia to Boston, Rev. Dr. Stoughton resigned the office of corresponding secretary, which he had discharged with great zeal and ability since 1814, and Rev. Lucius Bolles, D. D., of Salem, Mass., was made his successor. During the first ten years of its history, the Triennial Convention received contributions aggregating seventy-three thousand five hundred and sixty-three dollars. Urgent appeals were now made for an increase of contributions demanded by the progress of the work. In 1838, Rev. Howard Malcom, who by appointment of the Convention had visited its missions in Asia, was made financial secretary of the Board, while Rev. Solomon Peck was elected corresponding secretary for the Foreign Department, and Dr. Bolles was assigned to the Home Department; but in 1842, on account of ill health. Dr. Bolles was obliged to resign, and after a lingering illness he died in Boston, January 5, 1844, after faithfully serving the Board seven years.
The Board at this time was burdened with a troublesome debt. The slavery question also, was
158becoming a perplexing one. A crisis in respect to this was reached when the Alabama Baptist Convention sent to the Board a series of resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the Baptists of that State, and demanding an "explicit avowal that slaveholders are eligible and entitled equally with nonslaveholders" to appointments by the Board either as agents or as missionaries. The Board replied that all members of the Convention, whether slaveholders or not, were unquestionably entitled to all the privileges which the constitution granted or permitted; but that the constitution guaranteed to no one the right to be appointed to any office, agency, or mission; that the Board had the appointing power, and its members were accountable only to the Convention for the proper discharge of their duties. It was added, however, that with reference to the question implied in the resolutions addressed to the Board, its members were agreed that "if any one should offer himself as a missionary having slaves, and should insist on retaining them as his property, they could not appoint him." As soon as this answer was made known, the churches in the Southern States withdrew from the Convention and organized the Southern Baptist Convention.
By request of the Board of Managers, the president of the General Convention called an extra session of that body in New York, on the third Wednesday in November, 1845. A new constitution was adopted, and arransements were made for securing from the
159State of Pennsylvania a modification of the original charter; also an additional charter from the State of Massachusetts. These measures having been perfected, the reorganized Convention, under the name of "The American Baptist Missionary Union," entered upon its work in May, 1846. One of the missionaries of the Convention, Rev. J. L. Shuck, of China, entered the service of the Southern Baptist Convention. All the rest remained in the service of the Union. The debt of forty thousand dollars, which had been increased in recent years, was provided for by a subscription which was completed before the reorganization was consummated; and free from all disturbing influences, and with the loyal support of a growing constituency, the Missionary Union took up the great work to which it had been called. Unquestionably for the peace of the churches the separation had come none too soon. That it had been brought about amicably and honorably was a noble tribute to the Christian character of those who were prominent in the movement.
It was while these changes were in progress that Dr. Judson returned to the United States. He had married Mrs, Sarah H. Boardman, widow of George Dana Boardman, April 10, 1834, and it was on account of her health that he had turned his face homeward. Mrs. Judson died near St. Helena, September 1, 1845, and there she was buried. Dr. Judson and his three eldest children continued their
160sorrowful journey and reached Boston October 15. The great loss he had sustained in the death of Mrs. Judson gave a peculiar tenderness to the welcome he received after an absence of thirty-three years. Yet all felt that that welcome should at once have public expression, and on the evening after his arrival a meeting was held in Boston, at which Dr. Sharp, president of the Board, in the presence of a large audience, spoke fitting words of Christian greeting. During his stay in this country, Dr. Judson visited many of the churches in New England, and as well some in the South connected with the new Convention, and also the colleges at Providence and Waterville. Everywhere his presence awakened the profoundest sympathy. Members of all denominations, and men of all classes of society, came together in testimony of their appreciation of one who had done and suffered so much for his fellow-men. Dr. Judson was married to Miss Emily Chubbuck (Fanny Forester) June 2, 1846, and sailed for Burma, July 11th, following. Only a few years of service remained to him, however, and he died at sea, April 12, 1850, aged sixty-two. His exalted character, his untiring and self-denying devotion to his work, and his heroic endurance of untold sufferings, will ever give him a conspicuous place in missionary annals.
But from time to time other workers had been added to the missionary force of the Union, and there were now missions in Burma, India, Siam, Assam,
161China, Western Africa, and in France, Germany, Denmark, and Greece. But the causes that had led the Baptists of the South to withdraw from co-operation in mission work with their brethren in the North, affected more and more strongly the body politic, and in the autumn of 1860, with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, secession quickly came on the part of the South, and with the attack on Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861, the Civil War opened. Notwithstanding the severity and the prolongation of the struggle, the work of the Missionary Union did not slacken. The great battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania occurred May 14-18, 1864, and the jubilee of the Missionary Union was celebrated at Philadelphia, May 24-26th, following. At that meeting there were references to the conflict then waging [raging?]; but the time for the most part was given to a review of fifty years of missionary service now concluded. Not one of the originators of the Triennial Convention was then living. All had passed on to their rest and reward. But their names were recalled, and the portraits of thirteen adorned the walls of the First Baptist Church, where the meetings were held. The annual sermon, entitled, "The Missionary Resources of the Kingdom of Christ," was preached by Rev. S. L. Caldwell, D. D., of Providence, R. I. Of the various papers read, especially noteworthy was that by Rev. Baron Stow, D, D., of Boston, on "The Early History of
162our Missionary Organization, with Biographical Sketches of its Founders." The Executive Committee called attention to the pressing wants of the Union. The number of missionaries, it was stated, was less than twenty years previous. During the past ten years the effective force on the field had been reduced one-third. Instead of one hundred and twenty-four missionaries, including missionaries' wives, there were less than eighty. The memories of the past stirred the hearts of the people. It was a fitting time for enlarged operations, and the committee suggested that fifty thousand dollars should be raised as a jubilee fund in addition to the ordinary contributions. The Union accepted this suggestion. More than thirty thousand dollars was contributed for this purpose during the jubilee session, and this stim was subsequently increased to fifty-three thousand eighty-five dollars and one cent. The regular contributions of that year also were seventeen thousand six hundred and seventy dollars and thirty-two cents more than in the preceding year, and amounted to one hundred and fifty-three thousand one hundred and ninety-five dollars and fifty-seven cents. Only once since 1857 had the receipts of the Union reached the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. In the history of the Missionary Union a new era in giving had opened.
Meanwhile the work abroad had greatly prospered. Dr. Judson reached Rangoon July 13, 1813, and
163baptized his first convert June 27, 1819. In 1830 there were about three hundred members in all the churches connected with our missions. In 1840, the membership had risen to about three or four thousand. In 1850, it was eleven thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight; in 1860, twenty-five thousand four hundred and eight, and when the Jubilee occurred, it was about thirty-five thousand.
The Telugu Mission, at the Jubilee in 1864, received a much-needed reinforcement. At the annual meeting of the Union in Providence, in 1862, the question, "Shall the Telugu Mission be Abandoned?" came up for the third time. A resolution was presented recommending the abandonment of the mission; but Dr. Warren, corresponding secretary, urged that the question should be deferred until an opportunity could be had for consultation with Dr. Jewett, of the Telugu Mission, who was then on his way home. Dr. Jewett, on his arrivalj entered an earnest protest against the abandonment of the mission. If the Union declined to aid him, he said, he would go back alone and live and die, if need be, among the Telugus. It was at length decided that he should return if his health was restored, and that the mission should be reinforced. Rev. John E. Clough, in August, 1864, received an appointment to this mission, and November 30th, following, Avitli his wife and Dr. Jewett, he sailed from Boston, and reached Nellore. India, April 22, 1865. In the following
164year Mr. Clough reraoved to Ongole, where was commenced that wonderful work which has made the story of the Telugu Mission read like an extract from the Acts of the Apostles. Thousands in the following years were added to the church at Ongole, two thousand two hundred and twenty-two being received by baptism in one day, July 3, 1878. In 1870, the churches connected with the Missionary Union, reported forty-six thousand nine hundred and sixty-four members. In 1880, the membership had increased to eighty-three thousand three hundred and eight; in 1890, to one hundred and thirty-eight thousand two hundred and ninety-three; and in 1893, to one hundred and sixty-nine thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine, of which eighty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-four were connected with the churches in nominally Christian lands, and eighty-seven thousand four hundred and fifty-five with churches in heathen lands, forty-eight thousand eight hundred and fifteen being Telugus.
At the meeting of the Union at Providence, R. I., in May, 1877, Secretary Murdock read a paper entitled: "Shall We Reduce the Scale of Our Missions?" In it reference was made to the enlargement of the work proposed at the jubilee meeting in 1864. At that time a fund of fifty thousand dollars was secured to begin this work. In two years twenty-three new missionaries had been put into the field, and there was no debt. The close of the third year,
165however, showed a large deficit, but the Executive Committee continued the work of reinforcing the missions until, in 1877, one hundred and thirty-four new missionaries had been sent out. Yet for eleven years there had been a deficit of from five hundred dollars to fifty-three thousand dollars, or an average debt of twenty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-three dollars and sixteen cents for the whole period from April, 1867, to April, 1877; and the committee was not prepared to go farther in the line of advance without some new guaranty of support. The paper read by Dr. Murdock was referred to a special committee. In its report the committee said, "That besides the obligation placed upon American Baptists by the last command of their ascending Lord, the signal providences by which their hands were first put to the foreign missionary work in Asia and in Europe had left them no option but to prosecute it according to the full measure of their ability and the necessities of the work." It was thought desirable that the seventeen thousand dollars of debt incurred during the preceding year should be paid. This amount was soon secured, and so much more that only eleven thousand dollars were lacking to clear off the entire indebtedness of the Union, which was forty-seven thousand dollars. The receipts of the Union, which were two hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven dollars and fifteen cents in 1877, were increased to two hundred and seventy-eight
166thousand seven hundred and twenty-three dollars and fourteen cents in 1878. Only once since have they been less than that amount, and that was in 1879. In 1880, the receipts were three hundred and fourteen thousand eight hundred and sixty dollars and eighty-eight cents; in 1887, they were four hundred and six thousand six hundred and thirty-nine dollars and thirty cents; and since that time they have been as follows: In 1888, four hundred and eleven thousand three hundred and eighty-five dollars and thirty-nine cents; in 1889, four hundred and fourteen thousand eight hundred and ninety-five dollars and eighty-six cents; in 1890, five hundred and fifty-nine thousand five hundred and twentyseven dollars and seventy-five cents; in 1891, four hundred and ninety-two thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars and ninety-one cents; in 1892, five hundred and eighty-nine thousand seven hundred and seventy-two dollars and ninety-three cents; and in 1893, eight hundred and sixty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty one dollars and ninety-five cents. Nor do these last figures represent the entire receipts of 1893, as will appear later.
The table found in appendix, marked "B," gives the amount contributed to foreign mission work by the Baptists of New England from the beginning of our foreign missionary movement. Bequests are not included.
At the anniversary of the Union held in Cincinnati
167in 1891, it was decided that the centennial of the foreign missionary enterprise begun at Kettering, Eng., October 2, 1792, should be celebrated during the fiscal year 1892-3, and that an attempt should be made to raise a Centenary Fund aggregating at least one million dollars. A permanent Centennial Committee was appointed with Rev. H. C. Mabie, D. D., home secretary of the Union, as chairman, and Rev. O. O. Fletcher, D. D., as field secretary. At the meeting of the Union in Philadelphia, in 1892, this committee, in a report, outlined its plan of operations. Rev. J. N. Murdock, D. D., Honorary Secretary, read a paper entitled, "A Century of Missions." Special missionary conferences in various sections of the country were held. In Associations and State Conventions the centenary of missions received especial attention. District secretaries and Associational secretaries attended to the work in the churches. In this way a great historic event was worthily celebrated, offerings were made, and at the meeting of the Union at Denver, Colorado, in May, 1893, the Centennial Committee reported that the receipts of the year from all sources had been one million ten thousand three hundred and forty-one dollars and forty-six cents. "This money," said the committee, "has been given in the main, not by a few individuals, nor through bequests of the dving, but by the rank and file of the churches through the ordinary channels of church collections. There has
168been a clear gain, from these sources alone, of over three hundred and sixty thousand dollars during the year."
The Union suffered a great loss in the burning of Tremont Temple, Boston, March 19, 1893. The offices of the Union were on the upper floor of the building, and nearly all the contents of the rooms, including the Union's valuable library and museum, with portraits and other objects of great interest and value, were destroyed. The insurance was sufficient to restore such articles as could be replaced, but many of the articles could not be duplicated. All the securities, accounts, records, and correspondence of the Union were saved, as the fire-proof vaults of the Union were uninjured.
From the beginning the Union has been exceedingly fortunate in its executive officers. Rev. Wm. Stoughton, D. D., was corresponding secretary, from 1814 to 1826, when the headquarters of the Society were transferred to Boston. Rev. Lucius Bolles, D. D., was made his successor, and served from 1826 to 1843. Rev. Solomon Peck, D. D., was elected corresponding secretary in 1838, in order that Dr. Bolles might have assistance, and remained in the service of the Union until 1856. The services of Rev. R. E. Pattison, D. D., were secured from 1841 to 1845. Rev. Edward Bright, D. D., was appointed corresponding secretary in 1846, and served until 1855. Rev. J. G. Warren, D. D., then received an
169appointment, and continued in the service of the Union until 1872. Rev. J. N. Murdock, D. D., who had been assistant corresponding secretary since 1863, was elected corresponding secretary in 1866, and served the Union with distinguished ability until his resignation in 1891, when he was made honorary secretary for life. He also performed the duties of corresponding secretary during the year following his resignation. Rev. H. C. Mabie, D. D., was elected corresponding secretary in 1890, and was granted leave of absence to visit the missions of the Union in Japan, China, Burma, and India. In 1892, the Board elected three corresponding secretaries: Rev. H. C. Mabie, D.D., Rev. S. W. Duncan, D. D., and Rev. E. F. Merriam. In 1893, Rev. H. C. Mabie, D. D., was elected home secretary; Rev. S. W. Duncan, D. D., foreign secretary; and Rev. E. F. Merriam, became editorial secretary. For many years Rev. W. S. McKenzie, D. D., has been district secretarv of the Union for New England.
CHAPTER IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL WORK. -- pp. 170-195CHAPTER X. PROGRESS SINCE EIGHTEEN HUNDRED. -- pp. 196-215
CHAPTER XI. PROGRESS SINCE EIGHTEEN HUNDRED (Continued). -- pp. 216-240
CHAPTER XII. THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL MOVEMENT. -- pp. 241-264.
CHAPTER XIII. THE BAPTIST WOMEN AND CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. -- pp. 265-280.
281
CHAPTER XIV.
SOME WAYMARKS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.Isaac Backus, a hundred years ago, referring to the doctrinal position of the Baptist churches in New England, said that their faith and practice came the nearest to that of the founders of New England "of any churches now in the land"; and he mentioned fourteen points of their belief. The second and third are these: "That in infinite mercy the eternal Father gave a certain number of the children of men to his beloved Son, before the world was, to redeem and save: and that he, by his obedience and sufferings, has procured eternal redemption for them. That by the influence of the Holy Spirit, these persons individually, as they come into existence are effectually called in time, and savingly renewed in the spirit of their minds." This declaration was in harmony with the declaration of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, which as the London Baptist Confession of 1689, an adaptation of the Westminster Confession for use in Baptist churches, was generally recognized as an approved standard of Baptist belief. But the preaching of Whitefield and others during the great revival and subsequently, had made prominent the universality of the atonement of Christ;
282and there were those in Baptist churches who had been powerfully influenced by these views. Benjamin Randall, the founder of the Freewill Baptist denomination, was of this number. At first a Congregationalist, he became at length a Baptist, and was baptized by Rev. William Hooper at Berwick, Maine, August 14, 1776, on the day of Mr. Hooper's ordination. Not long after he began to preach, and in his preaching he invited sinners to accept offered pardon, God being unwilling "that any should perish." Men might reject his message, but it was because of the unwillingness of their hearts to accept Christ as their Saviour, and not because of any insufficiency not the provisions of the everlasting gospel which he had received.
In this he supposed he was in agreement with his Baptist brethren. Calvinism and Arminianism he had never heard discussed. "As the doctrine of Calvin had not been in dispute among us," he once said, "I had not considered whether I believed it or not. But as the Lord had shown me a universal atonement and fullness enough in Christ for all men — the appearance of grace to all men — that the call of the gospel was to all, and that God was not willing that any should perish — that same love constrained me to go forth, and call upon all to come to Christ and be saved!"
Early in 1779, Mr. Randall was asked in a public assembly by one of his brethren why he did not
283preach the doctrine of election as Calvin held it. A discussion followed, and this was the beginning of a movement which resulted at length in Mr. Randall's withdrawal from the Baptist denomination, and also in the withdrawal of those who were in agreement with him. It is worthy of note, however, that there was in Mr. Randall's case no other compulsion than a feeling on his part that to him withdrawal was the path of duty. Mr. Randall was not disfellowshiped by the church with which he was connected. "I applied to the church to which I belonged for a dismission," he says, "but they would never grant it. Neither was there ever a committee appointed by the church to labor with me that ever I knew of; and so they let me alone." In fact, Mr. Randall, at the outset, and for some time even, had no thought of founding a new denomination. In organizing a church at New Durham, N. H., he and his brethren organized what they called a Baptist church. Other churches were constituted holding similar views. The breach between these churches and regular Baptist churches gradually widened, and the lines at length were firmly drawn.
There can be no doubt but that the discussions that attended the beginnings of the Freewill Baptist movement modified in some degree the views of Baptists in those parts of New England where the Freewill Baptists were most numerous. More powerful in New England generally, however, was the influence
284of Andrew Fuller, the gifted pastor at Kettering, England, who in 1785, in opposition to the hyper-Calvinistic views of many of his brethren, published his "Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation." A conflict followed in which Fuller bore a heroic part. His "Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared," and his "Gospel its own Witness," were powerful instruments in modifying the extreme views that had hitherto been held by Baptists in England. These writings found their way into New England, and aided in bringing about a like result there.
But as to the fundamental doctrines of grace the Baptists of New England were immovable. In the great Unitarian apostasy many in the Puritan churches were swept away, but the Baptists were uninfluenced by this movement except as they received help from it because of their steadfastness.
When Judson's change of views proved a trumpet call for American Baptists to engage in mission work, the Baptists in New England were ready for a prompt and hearty response. The hyper-Calvinists had no ear for that call. Anti-mission Baptists, they had no message for the heathen nations, and they would do nothing for those who had. But happily now they were few in number, and their constantly lessening influence was no hindrance to the enthusiastic efforts of the great body of New England Baptists in behalf of missions.
At length, however, it was deemed best that the
285doctrinal belief of the churches should have a better expression than was presented by the Philadelphia Confession. Attention was called to the matter in the New Hampshire Baptist State Convention at the meeting in Concord, June 24, 1830, and a committee was appointed to prepare a "Declaration of Faith and Practice, together with a Covenant," and to present the same at the next annual meeting. At that meeting the committee reported that some progress had been made in the work, but the committee at its own request was discharged, and one of the committee, Rev. Ira Pearson, was appointed to complete the work. His report was presented June 26, 1832, and referred to a committee of three, together with the author. This committee reported in favor of adopting the articles with slight alterations, but after discussion voted to refer them to the Board. The Board referred them to Rev. Baron Stow, and Rev. John Newton Brown, for revision. In October, 1832, Mr. Brown presented the revised articles, and after their consideration, the work of the committee was accepted, and Mr. Brown was requested to prepare a copy of the articles, including such alterations as had been suggested by the Board. Still further amendments were adopted at a subsequent meeting of the Board. The amended copy then received the unanimous approval of the Board, and was recommended to the churches of the State. The probabilities are that the work was very largely that of Mr. Brown. In 1853, 286 in a republication of the Declaration and Covenant, "with such revision as on mature reflection he deems called for, after the lapse of twenty years," and supplying two new articles, one on repentance and faith, and the other on sanctification, Mr. Brown announced himself as the author of the original publication.1
286
In general the Baptist churches in New England have found that the New Hampshire articles of faith are an adequate expression of the body of doctrines held by them. There have been individuals, in some instances prominent ministers, who have believed, thought, and practised, in some respects contrary to the common faith. Some churches have been led to place themselves, at least for a while, in opposition to the general belief. But the denomination has been wise in its action in such cases. When possible it has allowed dissent and dissenters to remain within it. "To attempt the contrary would be to fail in the design of the attempt, and to accomplish its opposite. A break or schism has taken place only when dissent has so made issue with the denomination, that, without the break, the doctrine of the dissent must be endorsed. As a church is manifestly not responsible for all the sentiments, principles, or practices of all
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1 Rev. William Hurlin on "The Circumstances Attending the Formation of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith." — Minutes of the New Hampshire Baptist Anniversaries, 1891, pp. 54-56.
287its members; and does not endorse and maintain all those sentiments, principles, and practices as of God; and hence is not called to withdraw from every imperfect member, and thus annihilate itself; so has the Baptist denomination, like every other religious community, properly retained, and thus far fellowshiped those holding doctrines contrary to the common faith. It has always done this, and this it must and will do always. Not to do it is dissolution sudden and complete. But to claim this retention and fellowship of dissentients as an endorsement of their doctrines, and as constituting them Baptist doctrines, is a confusion. An issue may be so made up that the denomination must either accept the dissent or separate from the dissenters. Separate then it must, or deny itself. Such has been its practice hitherto. It has thus far stood together in doctrine a compact body."1
During the century the proportion of educated ministers in the Baptist churches of New England has greatly increased, and is now very large. "Renouncing their preference for 'lowly preaching,' they have become zealous promoters of ministerial education; among their divines are men whose names are ornaments of American scholarship, but it is a noticeable fact that their valuable contributions to religious literature have all been in the line of biblical
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1 Rev. G. D. B. Pepper, D. D., "Baptists and the National Centenary," pp. 55, 56.
288exegesis."1 Brown University, Colby University, and Newton Theological Institution have done a great service in securing this result. All honor, however, to the fathers who, with less advantages, wrought so nobly in laying the foundations of so many of the New England ciuirches! Not a few of them, though destitute of the training of the schools, were highly educated men. They made the best of the opportunities that were theirs. But unquestionably, with the extension and diffusion of knowledge, and the increased facilities for acquiring an education, the ministry in the Baptist churches of New England has made that progress which the general advance in intelligence has demanded. Some of the older ministers have called attention to a change in the preaching in the Baptist churches. Dr. Benedict, in his "Fifty Years Among the Baptists," referring to the earlier part of the century, said: "Then, and with our orthodox Baptists, a sermon would have been accounted altogether defective which did not touch upon election, total depravity, final perseverance, etc." Certainly this would not now be a defect. The doctrines are still held, but "thought and study have extended knowledge, both sacred and secular, into many a new field, and along many a new line, far beyond the boundaries which shut it in a hundred years ago, and our facilities of communication have
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1 Prof. J. L. Diman, "Religion in America, 1776-1876," North American Review, 1876, p. 28. 289
289brought this knowledge more or less closely and fully to all the people. Thus is life more complex, the universe more vast. Hence has arisen a necessity for that wider range of doctrinal view and discussion which we see realized."1 We have not a new theology, but the old theology adapted to the present needs of men. The fact that Baptists find their doctrinal basis in the Bible, and not in a creed, holds them fast to sound doctrine, although in their preaching the emphasis on certain doctrines may be different at different times.
Upon all the great moral questions agitating the people, the Baptists of New England have given abundant expression to their convictions. Concerning temperance a voice was raised early in the present century. In 1806, Rev. John Tripp, in the circular letter of the Bowdoinham Association, District of Maine, referred to excessive drinking as a "habit which prevails to the utter ruin of many and the injury of millions"; and he added, alluding to the young, "shall we teach them to be sober and temperate and not be so ourselves?" In the Minutes of the same Association, in 1824, is the following note: "We have learned with much pleasure that the inhabitants of Jay voted in town meeting that no spirituous liquors should be sold around the meetinghouse during the session of the Association, and that
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1 Rev. G. D. B. Pepper, D. D., "Baptists and the National Centenary," p. 57.
290persons were appointed to carry this vote into effect." A little later we begin to hear of total abstinence, and at length of measures for the entire suppression of the liquor traffic. In many of the churches temperance societies were formed, and efforts were made to instruct the young in sound temperance principles. Baptist Associations and State Conventions also, year by year as the movement went on, placed on record their unalterable convictions concerning the evils of intemperance, and their purpose to do everything in their power to educate the public with reference to these evils, and to use all lawful means for the destruction of the liquor traffic throughout the land.
Slavery also, as it existed in the Southern States, early attracted attention in the Baptist churches of New England. First, there were efforts made to aid the Colonization Society; and then, not long after 1830, the immediate abolition of slavery was urged. It was not forgotten that a large portion of the Christian community in the slave-holding States belonged to Baptist churches, and that these, our brethren, regarded it as a duty to do all in their power to promote the temporal and spiritual welfare of their slaves; but none the less earnestly did the various Associations and State Conventions and Anti-slavery societies declare their opposition to slavery, and especially to the effort which at length was made to extend its domain into free territory. When the Civil War opened, the hand of God was recognized in it, and
291from time to time throughout the war resolutions were adopted expressing an unshaken confidence in the ultimate triumph of the National arms and the overthrow of slavery. These ends having been secured, the duty of the churches with reference to the emancipated race was at once recognized, and organized efforts in behalf of the freedmen received hearty support. While the churches were considering the evils of slavery, the memorable discussion between President Wayland, of Brown University, and Rev. Dr. Richard Fuller, of South Carolina, occurred. Dr. Wayland represented the intense convictions, not only of the Baptists of New England, but throughout the North; while Dr. Fuller spoke for his brethren in the South. It was a discussion which was characterized by the Christian spirit of the disputants, as well as by the ability with which the argument was maintained.
With the advance of the century, more attention has been paid to the social life of the Baptist churches in New England. The aim has been to bring together the members of the churches and those worshiping with them, and so to make use of social influences in promoting the work of the church. To these purely social gatherings the Social Union has been added, an organization not only to promote good fellowship on the part of the members of neighboring churches, but to interest them in the various enterprises in which the denomination is engaged. The
292Boston Baptist Social Union, instituted in 1864, was the first of these organizations. It owed its origin to the suggestion of the late Hon. J. M. S. Williams, of Cambridge, and when instituted had an enrollment of forty-six members. At the meeting preliminary to organization, Hon. James H. Duncan, of Haverhill, was present, and Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester, presided. One of the questions before this meeting had reference to the name which the new organization should bear. The decision was not an easy one; and, as the company was about to separate without agreeing upon a name, the late Mr. Benjamin F. Brooks said, "Let us call it a Social Union." The suggestion was adopted. The Late Hon. J. Warren Merrill was its first president, and he has had a long line of worthy successors. The Union has now about three hundred members, who meet monthly. After a collation, vital questions are presented for consideration, questions concerning education, missions, church extension, and whatever pertains to the general welfare of Baptist churches; and practical results have followed. The Boston Baptist Social Union has had a powerful influence in advancing Baptist interests in New England, and is making that influence felt with added force year by year.
Not only have other Social Unions been formed among the Baptists of New England, as in Springfield, Worcester, Salem, Mass.; Hartford and Norwich, Conn.; Providence, R. I.; and Portland, Me.;
293but by Baptists outside of New England. Congregationalists, Methodists, and Episcopalians also have adopted the idea and established flourishing organizations upon the same plan.
In the Young People's movement, everywhere now so prominent, the Baptists of New England have had a part. Young people's societies half a century ago were known by various names. In connection with the Christian Endeavor movement, commencing in 1881, many Christian Endeavor Societies were organize! in New England Baptist churches. But subsequently it was felt by many that there would be a gain to all the work in which as Baptists we are engaged if in these societies more was made of those principles for which as Baptists we stand. At the Baptist Anniversaries in Chicago, in May, 1890, a meeting was held to consider the question of organizing Baptist young people's societies. Such societies were soon formed in some of the Western States, and in July, 1891, the Baptist Young People's Union of America was organized — a Union designed to embrace societies of young people of every name connected with Baptist churches. Stare Unions have since been formed in most of the New England States, and doubtless such Unions will soon be formed in all of the New England States.
The Depository of the American Baptist Publication Society, for Sunday-school and other publications, was established in Boston, February 17, 1870.
294Already the society had depositories in New York, St. Louis, and Chicago. The Boston Depository was opened in Tremont Temple, and there it remained until the fire in 1879, when it was compelled to seek quarters elsewhere. In the reconstruction of the Temple, it was found impossible for the depository to secure adequate accommodations, and permanent quarters were obtained at 256 Washington Street, where the business of the Boston branch of the Publication Society has since been transacted.
The first depositary of the Society in Boston was Mr. Howard Gannett. The business of the branch naturally was not very large at the first, but the increase was steady. Mr. George H. Springer succeeded Mr. Gannett, and under his direction the business has grown to large proportions. The Baptists of New England find at the depository denominational literature, including hymn books, Sunday school library books, lesson helps, tracts, etc., and the general trade also is quite extensive.
At the rooms of the Boston branch house is the office of the New England District Secretary, Rev. Charles H. Spalding, whose work it is to promote the interests of the Bible and missionary departments of the Publication Society in his district. Mr. Spalding was appointed district secretary in October, 1886, and makes the position exceedingly helpful to the Baptist churches in New England. His predecessors were Rev. William C. Child, D, D., and Rev. Andrew Pollard, D. D.
295The Baptist press in New England has had no unimportant part in the development of the many Baptist interests in the New England States, and especially in the development of intelligent Christian character in Baptist families. The "Christian Watchman" was established in Boston, in 1819. In 1848, the "Christian Reflector," which had its origin in the anti-slavery agitation, was united with the "Christian Watchman," under the title of the "Watchman and Reflector." At the close of 1875, the "Christian Era," which was commenced in Lowell, Mass., in 1852, was united with the "Watchman and Reflector," and the paper has since been known as the "Watchman." It has had able editors, a valuable corps of contributors, and in general has worthily represented the Baptists of New England.
The "Christian Secretary," designed to represent the interests of the Baptist churches in Connecticut, was first issued February 2, 1822, at Hartford. With the exception of a brief period — July, 1837, to March, 1838 — when the paper was united with the "Gospel Witness," a New York religious journal, the "Christian Secretary," with few changes in its editorial management, has faithfully served the Baptists of Connecticut.
The Baptists of Maine sought to make the "Waterville Intelligencer," founded in 1822, a medium of communication with their churches in the State; but they soon found that through this medium "they did
296not always speak what they wished." Not long after, the publication of the "Baptist Herald" was commenced at Brunswick; but the "Herald" was antimission in its tendency, and the paper was soon discontinued for lack of patronage. November 11, 1828, the first number of "Zion's Advocate" was published at Portland, and under this title the paper has since appeared, except for a short time following the union in 1839 of "Zion's Advocate" and the "Eastern Baptist," a paper commenced in Brunswick, November 15, 1835, and also for a short time commencing September 3, 1848, when the paper was known as "Zion's Advocate and Eastern Watchman." Mention should also be made of the "Christian Review," a quarterly, the publication of which was commenced in Boston, in 1836. A fund was subscribed at the outset to guarantee its publication against loss. Later, for a while, the "Review" was self-supporting; but its list of subscribers at length declined, and in 1863, at the close of the twenty-eighth volume, it was sold to the publisher of the "Bibliotheca Sacra."
CHAPTER XV. THE PRESENT CONDITION AND OUTLOOK. -- pp. 297-305.==============================
[Henry S. Burrage, The History of New England Baptists, American Baptist Publication Society, 1894; via Internet Archive. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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