13^ a o:^ i::^. .^:^ i:a. "^2^ OF THE AT i PRINCETON, N. J. ^ i> ca ::\r _-vr I o ::v o !•- .. •, SAMUEL AGNE\V, OK PHILADELPHIA, PA. Q4^o.. ?9e. £-«► lb '-^^ MEMOIRS OF THE REV. KOAH WORCESTER, D. D. BY THE EEY. HENRY WARE, JR., D. D WITH A PREFACE, NOTES, AND A CONCLUDING CHAPTER, By SAMUEL AYORCESTER. BOSTON: JAMES MUNROE AND COIVIPANY 1844. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, Br James Munroe and Compant, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. boston: printed by thurston, torrt, & co., 31 Devonshire Street. PREFACE. In the year 1821 the Rev. Joseph Tuckerman, D. D., requested my father to write Memoirs of his own life, and about the same time I communicated to him a similar re- quest from his children. It was with great reluctance that he consented to make the effort ; but he commenced the work in June 1822, in a series of Letters addressed to Dr. Tuckerman, the last of which is dated Jan. 26, 1832. When I asked him, from time to time, what progress he had made, he always said that this work was very unpleas- ant to him, and that he could not do it well. His time w^as much occupied in writing on other subjects which he thought more important, and he added nothing to the Memoir in the last five and a half years of his life. Many years before his death he expressed a wish that the manuscripts which he might leave at the time of his death, should fall into my hands ; and he desired that Dr. Channing, Dr. Tuckerman, and Dr. Ware, Jr., should iv PREFACE. advise and assist me in making selections for publication. I requested him to leave a memorandum of his wishes on this subject, to which he assented. At a later period I requested him to leave very explicit directions in respect to his manuscripts ; and also to specify which of them he thought most important to have published, and which of his printed works he thought most useful to be reprinted. This last request was made because I thought it possible that the public might desire to have a uniform edition of his most important writings, together with his Autobiogra- phy. He seemed pleased with my suggestions, and said he would endeavor to comply with them. I mentioned to my father two reasons for making these requests : those whom he named as my advisers might be unable to assist me ; and my views on several religious doctrines were so different from his own, that it might be difficult to satisfy others that I acted impartially, and ful- filled my duty to him. Immediately after my father's death, Oct. 31, 1837, I took possession of all his papers, and examined them very carefully ; and, to my great regret, no directions, and no notice of my requests could be found. I was thus left under the necessity of acting according to what I could remember to have been requested by him, or assented to in answer to my suggestions. I made known my father's desire that Drs. Channing, Tuckerman, and Ware, should give me advice and assistance, and I gave them a full view of the MSS. which he had left. They treated me with PREFACE. ' V great kindness and justice, and examined the Memoirs and several other MSS. Not only these gentlemen and myself, but all the relatives of my father to whom I could show his Autobiography, were agreed in the decision that it ought not to be published as the Memoirs of Dr. Worcester. It does, indeed, record the principal historical facts belonging to a suitable Memoir. It also furnishes many other useful materials ; but it does not present his character and works as others saw them and ought to see them, — it does not give any fair and adequate view of the real usefulness of his labors, nor of the estimation in which they were held by the intel- ligent and virtuous of his own times. It was the earnest desire of Dr. Channing, Dr. Tucker- man, and many other friends of my father, that Dr. Ware should write his Memoirs ; but the feeble state of Dr. Ware's health, and his numerous and arduous labors, ren- dered it impossible for him to undertake the work at so early a period as was desirable. After he consented to perform it, he was delayed by sickness and by unforeseen labors ; and it was not till the autumn of 1842, that he was able to devote much attention to it. It is with pain that I remember the anxiety which was caused him by this delay. He often expressed sorrow that he had consented to write the Memoirs, and wished that I would employ some other person ; but I knew not how to find any one of equal qual- ifications ; and I constantly desired him to feel at ease on the subject, and not labor upon it till he had health and leisure. a* vi PREFACE. He had indeed a strong wish to write the Memoirs of Dr. Worcester ; and I am certain that no fault should be im- puted to him on account of his delaying and partially failing to perform the work. Dr. Tuckerman agreed to examine all my father's Man- uscripts, select the best, and prepare them for publication. In this he was to have some assistance from Dr. Channing. Dr. Tuckerman's health failed before he performed any part of this labor. His death and that of Dr. Channing, left the whole work for Dr. Ware and myself. He also has gone home before the work is completed ; and the duty of finish- ing it devolves upon me, when my health has become too feeble to perform it well. All those whom my father named as my advisers and assistants, have left me, to be- come his companions. When T visited Dr. Ware in Nov. 1842, it was agreed that I should make such inquiries of the booksellers, as would help us to decide how many volumes should be published. We proposed a selection from the printed works of my father, and one or two volumes from his Manuscripts, in addition to the Memoirs. The state of the book-market was such at that time, that it was deemed improper to pub- lish any part of these works ; and the advice given to Dr. Ware was, that the Memoirs should be finished, and that we should wait for a more favorable time for publishing. This removed from his mind the feeling that it was neces- sary to do the work now, and he permitted other duties to take its place. This accounts for his not completing the PREFACE. vii Memoirs previous to April 1843, when his health failed so much that he seems to have added nothing to this work. After his death in September, Mrs. Ware kindly sent me all the papers which she found relating to the Memoirs. It appears that Dr. Ware designed to have the work con- sist of eight Chapters. Five Chapters seem to be com- pleted, with the exception of a few facts, and the last labor of correcting the composition. I do not find any paper headed as Chapter VI., nor anything that I am certain was intended for it ; but I have put in this place what seemed most suitable . I find the beginning of Chapter VII., and such things as X have arranged under that head. For Chapter VIII. I find only a few fragments. He did not attempt to write it, and has left only a few scattered remarks. It seems to me and to others that the most important part of the work is done, that it is valuable, and should not be lost. It is indeed a very delicate and difficult task, to pre- pare these papers for publication ; and I should be wholly unwilling to undertake it, were not the relatives of Dr. Ware so competent and so ready to assist me. The reader will find that where I have made changes, they are made in brackets ; and that where I have added Notes, they are given as mine. I have omitted very few passages which Dr. Ware wrote. His account of the family of Noah Worcester, Esq., in the first Chapter, was very imperfect ; I have therefore omitted it, and inserted a statement in brackets. viii PREFACE. Dr. "Ware intended that the last Chapter should give an account of my father's last days, his sickness, and his death ; and also a review of his labors, and his character. It is necessary that I should write this Chapter ; and I can give the facts which are required, more easily than any other person. I can also add some things which the reader may wish to know, but which might not be easily said by another. But the general view of my father's character and labors, with which Dr. Ware intended to close the Me- moirs, must be omitted. The reader will regret that Dr. Ware did not write it ; but his regret will be less than he anticipates, when he finds how fully Dr. Worcester's labors are described, and how justly his character is delineated, in the Chapters which are completed. It may be expected that I should give a more particular account of the Manuscripts left by my father, than is con- tained in the following Memoirs. Dr. Ware did not read all of them ; but, relying partly on Dr. Tuckerman and myself, he selected and examined those which seemed to be most important. It may be well to name those which he set apart as the parcel which he had examined and retained, as what would probably go wholly or partialJy, into the volumes which he proposed to publish. 1. "The Messiah's Kingdom not of this world." This is particularly mentioned in the fifth Chapter of the Me- moirs and the Note following. 2. " Appeals to the Bible in Search of Truth." It is written in numbers, and treats of a great variety of sub- PREFACE. ix jects, and would make a large volume duodecimo. It is plain that this Manuscript was written with great care, and I recollect that my father expected me to publish it. 3. " Review of facts relating to the Redemption by Jesus Christ." This also was prepared with great care, and made ready for the press. It would perhaps make sixty or eighty pages. 4. " Letters to a Candid Minister concerning Redemp- tion." There are six letters, in five sheets. 5. " Select Inquiries on several subjects." This would make twenty or thirty pages. 6 "Philosophy of Reformation." This would make forty or fifty pages. These with a very few short pieces are what Dr. Ware regarded as the most important of the Manuscripts. Another parcel of the Manuscripts is marked as not hav- ing been read by Dr. Ware in January 1843 ; and it seems to me nearly certain that he never read them. The package consists of a very great number of short articles, on a great variety of subjects. Several of these would, I think, be found interesting and useful. The poetical articles are very numerous, and would make a large volume ; but Dr. Ware did not think that they should be printed. There are a few Sermons, and a great many other Manuscripts, which a judicious editor would not select for publication. My father seldom wrote any more than short notes for his Sermons ; and those which he preached from these notes, were gener- ally the best. X PREFACE. I do not yet find encouragement for printing even the most valuable of these Manuscripts ; but I am willing to show them to the friends of my father's sentiments, and publish them whenever it is thought prudent. In respect to the following Memoirs, I owe it to the memory of Dr. Ware, to say, that they seem to me to be written with great candor, ability, and fidelity. In some parts I discover marks of his very feeble health ; but on all the principal topics, I think the work will be found highly satisfactory. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Birth-place, Ancestors, Brothers. Life from childhood to manhood. Service in the war of the Revolution. Resi- dence in Plymouth. Deficiencies of education. How he learned to write. His marriage. His becoming School- master .1 CHAPTER n. Removal from Plymouth to Thornton. His religious charac- ter at this period. His occupations during the first years of his residence at Thornton. His study. The first book that he wrote. Became the Minister of Thornton; remarks concerning his Ministry. His early writings, and his habits in writing. Death of his wife ; her character. Second Marriage. Missionary labors. Muscular powers and loss of them. Changes in his opinions. Removal to Salisbury. . . . . .... 11 CHAPTER HI. Publication of Bible News with its attendant circumstances. He was invited to become the Editor of the Christian Disciple. 35 xU CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Removal to Brighton, Mass. Labors as Editor of the Christ- ian Disciple. His preparation for the works for which he is most distinguished; his Solemn Review of the Cus- tom of War, and the Friend of Peace. Character of these works. ........ 58 CHAPTER V. Later Inquiries and Publications on Redemption and Human Nature. Note by the Editor. .... 77 CHAPTER VI. Dr. Worcester's habits in writing and publishing. His pa- tience, candor, and conscientiousness. ... 96 CHAPTER VII. Expressions of the state of Dr. Worcester's mind at different periods, or his religious experience. — Editor's Note. 101 CHAPTER VIII. [By the Editor.] Selections from Dr. Ware's manuscripts. Extract from Dr. Channing's Sermon. Concluding remarks by the Ed- itor. ,......•• l*! MEMOIRS OF THE REV. KOAH WORCESTER, D. D. CHAPTER I. Birth-place, Ancestors, Brothers. Life from childhood to manhood. Service in the war of the Revolution. Resi- dence in Plymouth. Deficiencies of education. How he learned to write. His marriage. His becoming a School- master. [Noah Worcester was born Nov. 25th, 1758, at Hollis, N. H., then a new and obscure place, the settlement of which was commenced in 1730. He was the oldest son of Noah Worcester, Esq., who was a son of the Rev. Francis Worcester, who was for some years pastor of a church in Sandwich, Mass., and who died at Holhs in 17S3. The Rev. Francis Worcester was the great grand- son of the Rev. William Worcester, who came from Salisbury in England, and was the first minis- 1 2 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ter of the church in Salisbury, Mass., which was instituted in 1638 and was the 18th church, in the order of time, formed in Massachusetts Bay. In '' An Address dehvered on the Centennial Celebration to the People of Hollis, N. H., Sept. 15th, 1830, by the Rev. Grant Powers," there is a notice of Noah Worcester, Esq. and his family, from which the following extract is made. " The daughter of Mr. Taylor [one of the first settlers of Hollis], married Noah Worcester, Esq., whose memory is with us to-day as one of the fathers of the town for a long series of years. He had an active and vigorous mind, was one of the framers of the Constitution of this State, sustained the office of magistrate for more than forty years, and was a member of this church more than sixty years. Mr. Worcester and his wife [his first wife] had seven children, and of their posterity eighteen have either received the honors of college, or are now members of New England colleges. Eight are, or have been, ministers of the Gospel." The names of the five sons of Noah Worcester, Esq., by his first marriage, were as follows : — Noah Worcester, D. D., the subject of these Memoirs ; Jesse Worcester, a very intelligent and respectable MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 3 farmer, who resided on the paternal estate at Hol- hs ; Leonard Worcester, A. M., ordained pastor of the church in Peacham, Vt. in 1799 ; Thomas Worcester, A. M., pastor of the church in Sahs- bury, N. H., from 1797 to 1823; and Samuel Worcester, D. D., pastor of the church in Fitch- burg, Mass., from 1797 to 1802 ; and of the Tab- ernacle church in Salem, from 1803 till his death in 1821. Leonard Worcester, the only survivor of these brothers, a man greatly respected for his talents and virtues, and for the excellence of his ministerial character, was bred a printer, and carried on the business for some years in Worcester, Mass., and was at the same time editor of the Massachusetts Spy. After a useful ministry at Peacham of about forty years he was obliged, three or four years since, to retire from the public duties of his profession on account of declining health. Thomas Worcester, who was a man of good talents and much esteemed, died in 1831, having been a great invalid for several years. Samuel Worcester, the only one of the five brothers who had the advantages of a collegiate education, is well known as one of the most distin- guished theologians of his age in this country. His 4 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. name is associated especially with the cause of Mis- sions, he having been the Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions, from its institution in 1810 till his death.] These facts show what must have been the do- mestic discipline of the house in which the subject of these Memoirs spent his earliest years. Religion must have had there a favorite and familiar home. The air that he breathed during childhood was that of religion. His grandparents made part of the family, and he tells us that '' all united to make early a deep impression on his mind in favor of religion and against vice ; and that in these efforts they were so far successful, that his religious im- pressions were of the earliest date of any thing he can remember, excepting," he adds, " a burn which I received in my bosom when I was about two years old." From the time that he was twelve years old he was accustomed to lead the daily wor- ship of the family in the absence of his father. As a proof of the consciousness which at the earliest period was cultivated in him, he relates the distress MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 6 which he once endured, before he was five years old, at the idea that he had been guihyof the sin of falsehood in asserting as a fact what had been told him without his knowing it to be true ; and the relief which he experienced in having the difference between an unintentional departure from truth and a design to deceive, explained to him. He was taught to read at a very early age, and took pleasure in reading. He is remembered as being always accounted one of the best scholars in the school, and as employing his leisure time at home, in reading or studying, or teaching the younger children. The best opportunities of education were at that time and in that place but small, and his privileges became poor indeed as he advanced in years. For as he grew to be large and strong for his age, his services as a laborer were too valuable to be dispensed with, and he was only spared from the farm to attend the brief school of a few weeks during the winter season. Neither grammar nor geography made any part of his studies ; and scan- ty as his advantages were, they ceased with the winter of 1774-5, when he was but sixteen years old. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war the b MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. next spring, he joined the army as a fifer, and continued in the service for about eleven months. He narrowly escaped being made prisoner at the battle of Bunker Hill ; in the confusion of the retreat he ran toward a party of the enemy, and barely discovered his mistake in season to correct it. He again was in the army for two months, " to please his father"* he says, during the cam- paign of 1777. He was then fife-major. It was his fortune to be in the battle of Bennington ; where, as he said afterward, "he felt much worse in going over the ground the next day, than during the engagement." When the term of his enlistment expired, he was sohcited with some urgency to remain in the army, and offers were made to raise his wages to those of a non-commissioned officer ; but he disliked the business, and he was in love ; he therefore persisted in quitting the camp ; express- ing devout gratitude to that kind Providence which had led him unharmed through the terrible moral dangers to which he had been exposed. " One effect, however," he says, "occurred from my * His father commanded a company at the breaking out of the war, but it does not appear that he was ever in active ser- vice. — Powers' Address. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 7 being in the army, which I could not but observe with some alarm. From my childhood till I became a soldier, my sympathetic affections or passions were remarkably tender ; so that I was easily moved to tears by any affecting objects or circumstances. But the first funeral I attended at home after having been in the army, I was shocked to find myself so changed and so unmoved on such an occasion." The interval between his two military expeditions was in several respects an important period of his life. He resided for a time in the family of his uncle Francis Worcester at Plymouth, whither he had gone with a view to engaging in the manufacture of ma- ple sugar. Here was residing also his uncle's step- daughter, Hannah Brown, a native of Newburyport, a fine girl of sixteen, whose admirable qualities attracted his warmest affection. A mutual attach- ment grew up between the young pair, and spite of poverty, war, and youth, they pledged themselves to each other. This was in the season of 1776-7. He was eighteen years old, she was sixteen. It was during this winter too that he first occu- pied himself as an instructor. He undertook the care of the village school ; and, notwithstanding what we have seen must have been his very in- 8 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. adequate preparation for such a task, he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his employers, and pursued the occupation for nine successive winters. He was perfectly aware of his deficiencies, and anxious and resolute to remove them. He availed himself with diligence of the best means within his reach. How good these were, and what obstacles he had to contend against may be seen in his ac- count of them. " In the course of that winter, I probably ac- quired more useful knowledge than I had even before done in any two winters by going to school. After I became an instructor I felt the importance of learning, and exerted myself to obtain it by such means as were then within my power. I found myself deficient in the art of writing ; and being at Plymouth in N. H. in the summer season, where it was difficult to procure paper during the war, I wrote over a quantity of white birch bark, in imi- tation of some excellent copies which I found in that place. By this means I made considerable improvement in leisure hours and rainy weather. About this time I procured a dictionary, which was the first I ever had the privilege of perusing, though I was then in my eighteenth year." MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 9 So young, and yet already he had been in one battle and was soon to be in another, had taught school one winter, and was engaged to be married. This engagement, as was natural, seems to have hastened his settlement in life. In September, 1778, he purchased of his father the remainder of his minority, and left home for Plymouth, intending to make that town the place of his residence, and expecting to spend his days as a farmer, except so far as he might obtain employment as a schoolmaster. Here he was married the next year, on the day he was twenty-one years of age. And now, having accompanied him up to man- hood, what have we found in his circumstances, character or education, to give any prediction of the place which he was afterward to fill in life ? What was there so extraordinary, that, if he had died then, any one should say, " Alas, alas, the world has lost a benefactor ; the progress of man is put back ? " A conscientious child, a good boy, an enterprising youth, hopeful, diligent and brave ; but so far from being apparently on the path to liter- ary eminence or distinction of life, he has barely studied enough to attain the accomplishment of a district school teacher, and that in a region so ob- 10 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. sciire and so remote from the means of improvement, that his paper has been birch bark, and he meets no dictionary till he has reached his eighteenth year. No one could doubt that with his athletic frame, his capacity for labor and his spirit of enterprise, he would make his way in the world, and probably thrive. No one could doubt ihat with his exemplary correctness of life and readiness to serve others, he would be a useful member of society. But he was now settled for life, as a small farmer in a small place. To human eye there was no prospect that he could ever move in any other sphere, or be known beyond the hmits of his own village. In this case as in multitudes of others, how strikingly was the say- ing verified, "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps ! " CHAPTER II. Removal from Plymouth to Thornton. Hts religious charac- ter at this period. His occupations during the first years of his residence at Thornton. His study. The first book that he wrote. Became the Minister of Thornton 3 remarks concerning his Ministry. Mis early writings, and his hab- its in writing. Death of his wife ; her character. Second Marriage. Missionary laboi's. Muscular powers, and loss of them. Changes in his opinions. Removal to Salisbury. " From the facts and circumstances which have been already mentioned," — we now copy from the autobiography, — "it will be obvious to you, that to the time of my marriage, my advantages for acquiring knowledge must have been very small ; perhaps not half so good as are now generally enjoyed in my native town. * * * I shall here mention one fact which has seemed to myself re- markable, when compared with the course I have 12 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. pursued since I was twenty-five years of age. At the age of twenty-one, I think I had never written any compositions of my own of any kind, except such as the following. I had written letters on my own account and for others who had friends in the army. 1 had probably written notes, bonds, and deeds, some of which I recollect. When teaching a school, I was in the habit of composing copies for my scholars, and questions in Arithmetic, instead of taking them from books. Excepting such com- positions as have now been named, I have no recol- lections of having written any of my own till after I was married. I had, however, from my childhood been much in the habit of reflection and inquiry ; and probably I was too much inclined to argument and disputation, on various subjects. I think I was not more than twelve years old when this propensity was mentioned to me as one of my faults. Though the propensity was doubtless in some instances imprudently indulged, it was probably a means of my advancement in knowledge. " The first of my compositions of a nature differ- ent from those I have mentioned, were argumenta- tive, and in the form of objections to the first pro- posed constitution for the state of New Hampshire. MEMOIRS OP NOAH WORCESTER. 13 A Convention of delegates had formed a constitution, which they caused to be printed and sent to the different towns with a request that such objections as should occur might be stated in writing with reasons for their support, and forwarded to the Convention at their next meeting. I had the cu- riosity to examine the constitution, and finding some things in it which I deemed objectionable, I stated them in WTiting, and showed them to a neighbor. In consequence of these steps, I was chosen by the town as one of the committee to examine the constitution, and state such objections as should occur. As the committee were apprized of the fact that I had paid some attention to the subject, the task of wTiting was assigned to me. This 1 performed to the satisfaction of the committee and of the town. By this first effort, I acquired a taste for writing, and a hope that by further prac- tice I might be able to write to advantage.'' As no date is given, it is not clear whether this took place during Mr. Worcester's residence in Plymouth, or after his removal to Thornton. To the latter place, a small town in the neighborhood, he removed in February, 1782, about three and a half years after his marriage. Here his religious 2 14 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. character seems to have received a quickened devel- opment, and he made a profession of religion in the succeeding August. His brief account of this event it is proper to give in his own words. " When I removed from Plymouth to Thornton, neither my wife nor myself had joined any church as members. This neglect was not, I believe, in either of us, the fruit of disrespect to religion or its institutions. We had been educated under the influence of Christian instruction, and had grown up, as I trust, under the influence of religious principles. Though our love and obedience had been imperfect, we had a reverence for God, and for the precepts of the gospel. But neither of us could name the day of our conversion, nor could we honestly relate such distressing agitations of mind and subsequent trans- ports of joy as we had heard from the lips of others, and which we had been led to regard as the evi- dences of having been born of God. We had not duly reflected on the fact, that these are not the evidences of a good heart which are mentioned in the Bible. But after we removed to Thornton, we were under the ministry of the Rev. Experience Estabrook, an eminently pious man, and by his preaching and conversation we were led to a more MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 15 serious consideration of the importance of showing our regard to God and to the precepts of his Son, by becoming more openly professors of rehgion. And after much serious thought and inquiry we obtained such satisfaction that we were encouraged to become members of the church, though not both at the same time. '' I have long been convinced that the same incor- rect views by which we were detained from joining the church at an earlier period, have had a similar effect on the minds of many others, who were truly pious people ; and that such views have not only subjected many pious Christians to great per- plexity, but have retarded their advances in true godliness, and exposed them to temptation. It is on many accounts a great advantage to persons of real piety to be known as professors of religion, and particularly so as it tends to their greater watch- fulness and circumspection. When they are known as professors, they must be aware that it is expected of them to act according to their profession. But while they are known as non-professors they are often exposed to conform to practices which their consciences condemn." After thus joining the church, and probably in 16 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. consequence of the state of mind and feeling con- neted with that act, — he formed the habit, he says, of " examining religious subjects by writing short dissertations on different questions." He thus went through a long process of self-education ; not so much as is apparent, from views of ulterior advan- tage as simply from the activity of his own mind, and for the satisfaction of his thought. This he did in the midst of many hindrances. With an increas- ing family, and no means of subsistence but the labor of his own hands, he yet contrived to make time for the studies that interested him. In order to this it was necessary to subject himself to "exces- sive labor while at work ; " to snatch intervals as he could between school hours in the winter, on the sabbath, and in the night when others were sleep- ing. At this period and for many years after, he employed himself a portion of the time in shoe- making ; and much of his studying and writing was done while he sat at work upon his bench. At the end of the bench lay his lap-board, with his pen, ink and paper upon it. When thoughts came upon him clearly and were ready to be expressed, he laid down his shoe, placed the lap-board on his knees, and wrote. In this way, he informs us, he MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 17 wrote " nearly half of all that he wrote on religious subjects, before he began to preach ; — including the five sermons which formed his stock to begin with, and the first pamphlet which he ever pub- lished."* These habits of thought and study were gradu- ally preparing the way for a change of life. So inquisitive and active a mind could not be hidden. In the year 17S5, being excited by a sermon of the Rev. John Murray on the " Origin of Evil," he ventured to send what he had written to the press in the shape of "Letter" to the Author. Of this act and its consequences he thus speaks in his autobiographical letters. " "Whatever may now be thought by myself or others, as to the prudence of my publishing that work, or as to the correctness of its sentiments, that effort unquestionably prepared the way for my being approbated and received as a preacher of the gospel. I had abundant reason to think that the work was highly approved by a number of the most * He sometimes wrote in this manner at a much later period. I was born in 1793; and I distinctly remember seeing him thus employed. — Editor. 2* 18 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. distinguished ministers of the Hopkinsian denomina- tion. Prior to publishing that pamphlet I had often thought of the ministry as a desirable work, but I had never thought of it with expectation that I should engage in it, till the subject was proposed by my friend Mr. Church.* I had submitted to *The Rev. Selden Church, — of whom Dr. Worcester in another place speaks in the following terms. " A little prior to this I had become acquainted with the Rev. Selden Church, the minister of Campton, a town adjoining to Plymouth. He was a man of learning and ingenuity, and, as I believe, a pious man, but remarkable for his modesty. He was an acute metaphysician, though not very popular as a preacher. He was a Hopkinsian in his theological opinions, but a man of genuine candor. I had been educated in a firm belief of the Westminster Catechism. INIr. Church exercised towards me the most kind and condescending disposition, and seemed to take delight in doing all he could for the improvement of my mind. He lent me books and conversed with me till he shook my confidence in some of the articles of faith in the Westminster Catechism, and led me on by degrees till I adopted most of his Hopkinsian views. I have seldom been acquainted with a man of any denomination, who was less disused than he was to make his own creed a test in judging of the characters of those who diff'ered from him. A censo- rious disposition seemed to have no place in his heart; and yet few were more capable than he was of vindicating his own opinions, or of exposing what he deemed errors in MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 19 his inspection much of the Httle I had written on various subjects, and he was in the habit of using great freedom in his conversation with me. Near the close of one of our interviews, he put the question ; whether I did not think of becoming a minister ? The question was to me unexpected and surprising. I replied that I could not say I had never thought on the subject, but I had not thought of it as a thing attainable. He frankly expressed his opinion, that I might be more useful in that work than in any other. I stated what appeared to me very formidable objections. These he endea- vored to obviate, and assured me that in his opinion, there would be no difficulty in my obtaining the approbation of the ministers of the association to which he belonged, and he moreover advised me to others. In February, 1782, I removed from Plymouth to Thornton, where I was still nearer to my friend Mr. Church, than I was when I lived at Plymouth ; and our intimacy con- tinued and increased. The conversation and example of my friend were, I think, of great advantage to me, as to their influence in saving me from indulging or imbibing censorious feelings towards persons or sects of different opinions from my own. From that period to the present, I have regarded such feelings as unchristian, and as evincing a great want of humility and benevolence." 20 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. take the subject into serious consideration. With this advice I compHed, and was for many months in doubt as to the path of duty. I conversed with some other ministers, and private friends, who seemed to encourage the object. The more I reflected, the more I was incHned to undertake the work, if it could be done with a prospect of use- fulness. It was then and still is my opinion, that it is the duty of every Christian to seek for that situation in life in which he may probably be the most useful, or do the most good. After much reflection, I resolved to offer myself for examina- tion. [1786.] I readily obtained the approbation of ministers, and preached my first sermon at Bos- cawen in New Hampshire. From the time I began to preach, I was never refused the pulpit of any minister, either on account of my peculiar opinions, or on account of my want of a classical educa- tion. " Though I have never doubted the friendship or sincerity of those ministers, who advised and en- couraged me to become a preacher ; yet I have often doubted whether I could have given similar advice under similar circumstances. My want of education was great ; I had a wife and three chil- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 21 dren who depended for support on the fruit of my labors ; I was ennbarrassed with debt, by having purchased a farm at an unfavorable lime during the war ; I had found no leisure for regular study ; and when or where I should obtain regular employment as a preacher, was altogether uncertain. When in later years I have seriously reflected on these sev- eral facts, it has seemed to me wonderful that wise men should have advised me to make the attempt to become a minister, and also wonderful that I was induced to comply with their advice. But doubtless God had some wise design in so ordering the event." The preaching of Mr. Worcester appears to have been acceptable from the first, and so approved itself to Mr. Estabrook, the minister of Thornton, that he immediately recommended him to the people as his successor ; he being desirous to resign his charge. This he did in December, 1786 ; and Mr. Worcester, having sj)ent the subsequent win- ter as usual, in teaching school, preached for some months in the following spring and summer as a candidate, and was ordained over the church in Thornton, on the 18ih of the following October ; having been a preacher somewhat less than a year. 22 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. He had been a resident in the town for five years and a half; was well known and respected ; had served in many pubhc trusts ; had been school- master, selectman, town clerk, justice of the peace, and representative to the General Court. The people now testified their confidence in him by making him their minister. And here he fulfilled a useful and harmonious ministry of twenty-three years' duration. " I have never found in any place," is the testimony of one who knew, " so much harmony and mutual confidence as did exist between him and his people." The town was small and humble, and the people few and poor ; they met for worship in a dwelling house or school- house.* His salary scantily supported life, being * In this place Dr. Ware has marked a Query in the mar- gin, and I suppose it relates to the places where the society met for worship. Concerning this matter I have inquired of my oldest brother, now residing in Thornton, and he has inquired of others. The answer is, that the meeting-house in which my father preached was built in 1790, or 1791 ; and that, previous to this, the meetings were held "in private houses and barns." The building erected in 1790 or 1791, would not in the present age be called a Meeting-house. It was never finished inside, but the outer covering was decent in its day. — Editor, MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 23 two hundred dollars ; and as many could ill afford to pay their proportion of even that small sum, he was accustomed, as the time of collecting it drew nigh, to relinquish his claims by giving to the poorer among them receipts in full. The rehef granted them in this way, sometimes amounted to a fourth or even a third part of his salary. He was thus made to continue still dependent for his sup- port in a great measure on the labor of his hands, partly on the farm, and partly in making shoes. But he was far from fancying this scantiness of pay and necessity of toil any exemption from the obliga- tion to do the utmost for his people. On the con- trary, he was ready to engage in extra labor for them ; and when it happened, for example, as it ^sometimes did, that the provision for a winter school failed, he threw open the doors of his ovvn house, invited the children into his study, and gave them his time and care as assiduously as if he had been their regularly appointed teacher. Of the style and manner of his preaching, and the principles which he adopted in preparation for the pulpit, we have a brief account from his own pen. '' In the early part of my ministry I was in the 24? MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. habit of preaching what would now be deemed long sermons. I was seldom less than three quarters of an hour in the delivery of a discourse, and often exceeded an hour. I spoke too with unusual rapid- ity at that period of my ministry. Of course it was considerable labor to prepare my sermons ; for I wrote them out entirely, and was much confined to my notes in speaking. I had, however, a strong desire to acquire the power and habit of speaking without notes. But when I had preached more than two years, I almost despaired of ever acquiring what I so ardently desired. At length, however, I determined to make an effort. I wrote out my sermon as usual, and committed it to memory. I took my notes with me, that I might look at them if necessary. But I named and repeated the text, and delivered the discourse without looking at my manuscript. My people then met in a dwelling house, and some of them could not see the preacher. I was informed that those parishioners who were so situated as not to see me, had not the least suspicion that I spoke without reading. It had always been my aim to deliver my discourses as though I was talking to the assembly, rather than reading to them. Of course little change appeared in my MEMOIRS OF NOAH ^yORCESTER. 25 manner, when I began to speak memoriter. My success in the first attempt was greatly encouraging to my mind ; and I generally pursued the same method for several years — that is, writing my ser- mons, committing them to memory, and delivering them without looking at my notes. In this way I soon acquired a habit of speaking extempore as well memoriter. As my health became feeble, and as the labor of committing to memory was considera- ble, I found it necessary to change my course. I then adopted the method of writing what I could of my discourses, or so much as health would allow, and then copying the heads of the discourse, and some short memoranda, for illustration ; these I made use of in delivery instead of committing the discourses to memory. For a time my health was so feeble, that I had to discontinue preaching ; and when I resumed it I had not health to write my discourses — excepting some leading thoughts. At some periods of my ministry I must have resigned the office had I not been able to speak extempore. For the improvement of my own mind, I deemed it my duty to write as much as my health would per- mit, as I found that I could study best with a pen in my hand. I was far from the opinion that unwritten, 3 26 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. or unpremeditated discourses are more pleasing to God or more useful to men than those which are well studied and written correctly. The divine aid is as necessary in writing as in speaking, and is as sure to be obtained if duly sought ; — and as wri- ting is one of the best methods of improving the mind, it surely ought not to be neglected under the pretence of exhibiting a more perfect trust in God for what we shall speak in public for the benefit of mankind." " I seldom preached what could be termed an abstruse discourse. I endeavored to accommodate my preaching to the capacities of my audience, and to avoid giving a controversial aspect to my ser- mons. Whatever doctrine I attempted to illus- trate, 1 endeavored to apply it to practical pur- poses. " The changes which from time to time occurred in my own views of doctrines, or of particular passages of Scripture, had a salutary effect on my own mind. It occasioned me to become more and more aware of my own liability to err ; to be less self-confident and dogmatical in stating my opinions ; to be more candid towards those who dissented from me, "and to forbear any censorious denunciations MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 27 against the people of other sects, as though they must be destitute of piety. In the whole course of my ministry, I think I never did in any instance reproach the people of any sect as destitute of piety or the Christian character ; and wholesale censures ever appeared to me antichristian, and more deserv- ing of censure than any mere error of opinion. I frankly expressed my own opinions, and often ex- posed what I believed to be errors ; but I seldom named any sect in my preaching as possessing erroneous opinions. I had satisfactory evidence to my own mind that there were good people in each of the sects with which I had been particularly acquainted, and I entertained a hope that it was so with all the sects of professed Christians. It was therefore very painful to me to sit and hear a preacher of my own denomination reproach the ministers or the people of another sect. Such con- duct seemed to me more like the sin of reviling, than like the love required by the gospel. Very early I became convinced that the opinions of peo- ple in general are the fruit of education ; and that those who have had the misfortune to be educated in error, are objects of pity rather than censure." His activity of mind was constant. He was a 2S MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. Student and thinker. He entered with interest into the subjects which engaged public attention, and pursued with ardor and perseverance those which excited his own. He had the good habit of study- ing with pen in hand, writing his thoughts on the subjects which he w^ould thoroughly investigate. It has beed said, in exaggerated terms, but with some- thing of plausible foundation, " that it was his prac- tice to write a book on whatever subject he was studying ; that in studying grammar he wrote a Grammar ; that he did the same in Arithmetic, &c." This constant use of the pen naturally led to frequent publication. He contributed during this period to the public journals. He wrote largely, as we learn from a memorandum found among his papers, for the Theological Magazine in New York. The series of papers entitled " Tlie Variety," was from his pen. He published also in a periodical printed at Concord, and in the newspapers. The habit thus early formed of putting his thoughts on paper, followed him through life, and became a never-failing source of companionship and content, w^hen sickness and solitude closed against him the common resources of life. A ministry thus past in diligent study and the MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 29 usual routine of duty in a small and obscure parish, affords few materials for history. Important as the processes may be which are going on within, and inter- esting as they may be to the individual, they are interesting and known to others only in their subse- quent results. The events that we can relate dur- ing this period are few. One of the most important was the affliction which he suffered in the death of his wife, who was taken from him in November 1797, after a happy marriage of eighteen years. Her death was occasioned by the accident of fall- ing from her horse. The people assembling for worship on thanksgiving day, were met by the tidings that their minister's wife was in the agonies of death. A deep impression seems to have been made by the event. The afflicted husband preached in his place on the sabbath following, from 2 Cor. i. 3, 4 ; and late in life declared, that he never " before or since witnessed a more solemn assembly than on that occasion." The tenderness with which the memory of this early object of his affections dwelt upon his mind, is manifested in a little poem in which he vented his feelings when more than seventy years of age. Mrs. Worcester seems to have been a woman well deserving to be loved and 3* 30 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. remembered ; of quick parts and amiable disposi- tions ; "modest, prudent, industrious, truly pious, and highly esteemed by the people of the parish in which she lived ; as well as an exemplary wife and affectionate mother." Alas, how much illustrious worth in private places goes down unrecorded to the grave ! Let us, when we can, snatch from oblivion some of the humble names which were precious in their day, and cause them to live a little longer on the earth which they did something to adorn and bless.* *I cannot pass b}^ t]iis beautiful tribute to my motlier's memory without thanking Dr. Ware for it. From all that I have ever been able to learn concerning her, 1 have good rea- son to suppose that she was a woman of very uncommon excellence of character. She died when I was a little less than four years and three months old. But I remember a few of her reproofs and chastisements, and many of her caresses; and her countenance and some articles of her dress are dis- tinctly remembered. Indeed, she has generally seemed pres- ent and visible to my mind when I have thought of her. Others who have died seem removed and invisible ; but my mother often seems actually present so that she can impart to my mind her own thoughts and feelings. In every age of the Christian church many have believed that their departed friends were ministering spirits attendant on them ; but I suppose it uncommon for any one to be dis- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 31 Left with the charge of eight children, under circumstances of great trial and difficulty, it soon became imperative on the bereaved father to provide as he best might for their well-being. The sisters of his deceased wife joined with others in the advice, and he was married on the twenty-second of May, 1798, to Miss Hannah Huntington, a native of Norwich, Connecticut, then residing in Hanover, N. H. She lived to be the comforter of his later years, and died five years before him. " To her economy, industry, prudence, and unwearied solici- tude for his health and prosperity," he declared himself " much indebted, not only for his comfort, but for his ability to bring up his children and to pursue his studies." In 1802, on the formation of the New Hampshire tinctly conscious of the presence of such friends, and of com- munications from tliem. But, tliousands of times liave I been blessed with my mother's smiles when she approved my thoughts and feelings ; and as many times, when she disap- proved them, have I distinctly heard Jier say, — '•' Samuel, do not do so." Especially during my childhood and youth, shg seemed to be my guardian angel, and was often visible to me; and during fifty years I have had abundant reason to acknow- ledge her as my Faithful Mother. — Editor. 32 MEMOIRS OP NOAH WORCESTER, Missionary Society, Mr. Worcester was selected as its first missionary ; and in that character trav- elled and preached [in the northern towns of New Hampshire] during the autumn of that year, and during the summer of 1804, and perhaps at other times. In the latter part of the year 1806 he met with an accident, which was the occasion of much suffer- ing and continued infirmity. This was a partial rupture of the muscles from the tendons of the legs. For many months he was unable to walk or stand. The great change thus produced in his habits, brought on the dropsical tendencies, which did not leave him for three or four years. He never recovered the use of his limbs so as to walk with ease. Prior to this he had been a man of uncommon muscular power. He was noted for his capacity of labor on a farm. Very few, it is said, were willing to compete with him. This vigor of his younger days, stands in melancholy contrast with the feebleness of his body after he had passed the prime of life. The time was now drawing near when he was to leave his home and the people to whom for twenty- three years he had ministered. It was but a small MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 33 flock, and in humble circumstances. Notwithstand- ing their attachment to their minister, whose faith- ful services they appreciated, and whom they had seen rising in the midst of them, till he had be- come one of the most widely known and honored in the State, they yet found themselves unequal to his adequate support. When, therefore, in the fall of 1809, he received an invitation from Salisbury, to remove thither and take charge for a season of his brother's congregation, who was disabled by ill health, they consented to the dissolution of his connexion with the Society. His connexion with the Church was however retained, in the hope that he would return to them again. But this hope was vain. The progress of his studies had led to changes in his theological views, v/hich were already preparing the way for a final and complete separa- tion. His people, however, notwithstanding these changes, were willing and desirous to retain him among them as their minister. " Though my change of sentiments relating to the Trinity was prior to my removal from Thornton, and well known to the people of my charge, yet this change Avas in no degree the occasion of my removal from that place. It occasioned no alienation on the part of my peo- 34 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. pie. I lived with them in friendship to the last. I parted from them in friendship ; and with so much hope and expectation on both sides that I should return to them again, that the Church unanimously preferred that 1 should not be dismissed from them, although I had resigned my civil contract with the Town." By consent of all parties, he accordingly re- moved to Salisbury in February, 1810, and con- tinued there as the assistant or substitute of his brother for about three years. CHAPTER III. Publication of Bible News with its attendant circumstances, He was invited to become the Editor of the Christian Disciple. We have now arrived at the great turning point in Mr. Worcester's life. At the time of his re- moval to Salisbury in February, 1810, he was engaged in the publication of a book which an- nounced the result of his studies and thoughts on the doctrine of the Trinity, and which became the occasion of his separation from the associates and scenes of his past life. This was no hasty or ill considered publication. It was the fruit of long, anxious, and deliberate inquiry. As long ago as the year 1796, in the " Theological ^lagazine " for Jan- uary and February of that year, he had published a series of questions, "respecting the Personality of the Redeemer." These questions, while they evinced a mind in a state of inquiry and asking for light, 86 JIEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. yet plainly indicated that it had become wholly alienated from the common doctrine of a tri-personal deity. From this time, the subject had been a topic of frequent conversation between Mr. Wor- cester and his brethren in the ministry ; to whom, both individually and at meetings of associations, he read papers expository of the views he was inclined to adopt. After so much and so protracted study and discussion, in the course of which his opinions went through considerable modifications before they assumed their final shape, and which occasioned no breach of fellowship with his breth- ren of the clergy, though some of them expressed great concern, — his mind being at length quite settled, he prepared and published his w^ork. It was entitled "Bible News; or Sacred Truths relating to the Living God, his only Son, and Holy Spirit." * * This is the title of the second edition of the book; but the title of the first edition read thus : — BIBLE NEWS of the FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, in A SERIES OF LETTERS. in four Parts. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 37 It happened, as perhaps was natural, that those who were wilhng to continue their accustomed fellowship with him so long as his heretical opinions were confined to conv^ersation and private discus- sion, felt themselves called upon to withdraw their countenance when he appeared as their public promulgator and defender. This seems to have been wholly unexpected to him, and was severely felt by him as a wound. His sensitive mind suffered keenly from the symptoms of coldness and aliena- tion by which the publication was followed. This the rather surprised and grieved him, because he had received the highest marks of confidence from his brethren long after his heresies had been distinctly known to them. " If at any time," he said, " they had cause to be offended on account of my senti- ments, they had it many years ago." It was eight 1. On the Unity of God. , 2. On the Real Divinity and Glory of Christ. 3. On the character of the Holy Spirit. 4. An examination of difficult passages of Scripture. The whole addressed to a worthy minister of the Gospel, by Noah Worcester, A. M. Pastor of the church in Thornton. 4 38 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. years previous, that, with an express understanding of his heterodox tendency, he had been employed as first missionary of the New Hampshire Mission- ary Society, and had received a certificate so strongly recommendatory that he " doubted whether it were consistent with becoming modesty to show or read it, unless credentials were demanded of him." The discomfort which this occasioned him was great and lasting ; and he found himself imme- diately engaged in conflict, not only with his former associates, but with the public. The Hopkinton Association, of which he was a member, passed a vote * condemnatory of his book the following Au- *This vole was in these words : " Voted, that the doctrine contained in the above named publications, is, in our opinion, a departure from the pure faith of tlie Church of Christ ; tends to strengthen the enemies, and thereby greatly to injure the cause of Zion." Mr. Worcester published, " A respectful Address to the Trinitarian Clergy relating to their manner of treating oppo- nents." 12mo. pp. 50. " A Parable occasioned by a late portentous Phenomenon ; by the Pilgrim Good-Intent." pp. 24. "A Stranger's Apology for the General Associations." pp. 24. Also, several articles in the General Repository j viz.; Vol. i. p. 73; ii. 1 ; iii. 6. His brother Thomas like- wise published " A Defence of Truth and Character against Ecclesiastical Intolerance." pp. 24. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 39 gust ; and in November was published '' An Address to the Churches in connexion with the General Association of New Hampshire, on the subject of the Trinity." [Dr. Ware caused the following extracts to be copied, and added the remarks, but did not decide where they should be inserted. The Editor regards this as the proper place for them.] (C Such was my confidence in the correctness of the doctrine of the Trinity, that for a considerable number of years, after difficulties and objections occurred, I employed all my powers to obviate the objections, to find support for the doctrine, and to invent some illustration which might show the doc- trine to be consistent with reason. Not far from the time that I was approbated for the ministry, I wrote something by way of illustration which I exhibited to my friend Mr. Church. I supposed it to be possible with God to form a being with three distinct heads and minds united to one body. This, I imagined might be an apt illustration of three 40 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. persons in one being or one God. With ibis view of the subject, I rested pretty quietly for several years. But on a more careful attention to the lan- guage of Christ in relation to the Father and him- self, observing how constantly he represents himself as not God, but one sent by God ; dependent on God, obedient to God, doing the will of God, and not his own will, it became impossible for me to reconcile such language to the idea that he himself was the supreme Jehovah, or the same being as the Father. '' A little before I was twenty-one years of age, while on a journey, I took up a little tract written by Mr. Emlyn. I read in it perhaps an hour. I thought he reasoned forcibly, but persuaded myself he did not satisfactorily set aside the argument from the words of Christ, 'I, and my Father are one.' For a number of years I relied more on that text to support the idea that Christ is God, than any other in the Bible. I do not recollect to have read any thing else against the doctrine of the Trinity after that time, till I happened to see the life of Dr. Watts ; except a note in a pamphlet, which con- tained forcible remarks, and a severe censure on the ' damnatory clauses of the Athanasian creed,' MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 41 as used by the church of England. That note I well recollect excited in my mind a kind of horror which occasioned me to lay the pamphlet aside, and to put it in such a place that it would not be likely to fall into the hands of others. " I think it was about the year 1806 that I obtain- ed the reading of Watts's life accompanied by extracts from his writings, in the latter part of his life, on the Son and the Spirit of God. Soon after this I obtained the System of Divinity written by Dr. Hopkins. Of each of these Doctors I had a high opinion. I therefore resolved to compare their writings as they related to the doctrine of the Trin- ity. They were strongly opposed to each other in their views of the Son, and the Spirit. After ex- amining and comparing, I found myself unable to answer the arguments of Dr. Watts, but those of Dr. Hopkins I could answer to my own satisfaction. It appeared to me that Dr. Watts fairly proved that the Son of God was entirely dependent, that all his divinity consisted in the Father dwelling in him, and that the Spirit of God is not a dif- ferent person, but the active energy of the Father. "On becoming acquainted with the views of Dr. Watts, I found it possible for a man of acknow- 4* 42 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ledger! piety to be a dissenter from the contested doctrine. I had therefore less fear of the conse- quences of a thorough examination. If Watts could deny the independence of the Son of God and the personality of the Holy Spirit, a belief in the doctrine of three equal persons in the one God cannot be essential to piety and salvation. Such was my inference on finding so good a man as Watts among the dissenters from the doctrine. Prior to this my inquiries were very far from being impartial or free. For I was not only biassed by prepossessions in favor of the doctrine, but fettered by fears that inquiry might land me on ground that might endanger my Christian character, and my future happiness. Being in a great measure freed from these fetters, I pursued my inquiries with greater freedom and more satisfaction to my own mind. I had, however, no writings to aid me in ray inquiries written by any dissenter from the doctrine, except what I found in the Life of Watts, till after I had published Bible News. " But prior to this I had found, to my own satis- faction, that neither Moses and the Prophets, nor Christ and his apostles, had any belief in the doc- trine of the " Three one God ; " that they were MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 43 all Unitarian instructors, that is, that they all rep- resented Jehovah as One and not as Three. In all my inquiries relating to the Trinity, prior to pub- lishing, I had no conversation or correspondence with any dissenter from the doctrine. The reitera- ted reproaches and denunciations against all minis- ters of this description, had so prepossessed my own mind against them, that I had no wish to consult them. During these inquiries, after writins; much, but prior to publishing, I had occasion to pass through Boston, on my way from Connecticut to New Hampshire. I indeed stopped in the town to visit others, but I avoided making myself known to any minister of the town. This course was adopted from an unwillingness to have any intercourse with Unitarian ministers while engaged in such an inquiry. Such unfortunate prejudices would probably have retained their hold on my mind longer than they did, had I not been taught by experience, that little reliance is to be placed on representations which party passions give of those who avow a dissent from popular doctrines. This lesson I was soon taught, after my own dissent from the doctrine of the Trinity had been published. When I saw a number of my former friends and brethren in the 44 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ministry disposed to treat me in an unbrotherly manner, and to adopt measures which tended di- rectly to the ruin of my character and usefulness, without any cause known to me, except the avowed change in my opinions, it was perhaps natural for me to infer that many of the reproaches cast on other dissenters from the doctrine, originated in the same unkind and misguided zeal; — a zeal which violates the most important precepts of the gospels in support of a doctrine which no mortal under- stands." " You will naturally expect that I shall give some account relating to the change in my opinions on the doctrine of the Trinity. In the book entitled ' Bible News,' and in the ' Respectful Address to the Trinitarian Clergy,' I gave some account of what had been the operations of my mind, and the occa- sion of the change which had occurred. I have therefore the less to say on that subject in these letters. " It may be proper here to remark that I have no recollection of knowing that my integrity, piety or Christian character was ever called in question from the time I made a pubhc profession of religion, till MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 45 after I published my dissent from the doctrine of the Trinity. Even after it was known to my brethren in the ministry that I had dissented from that doctrine, they still treated me as a brother till after my first book on that subject was pub- hshed. " After the New Hampshire Missionary Society was organized, I became a member, and was ap- pointed as their first missionary. To induce me to accept that appointment, I was told by the first trustee that it was the wish of the Board, that I should go at that time, because, in their view, it was very desirable that their first missionary should be one whose character and talents would make a favorable impression in regard to the society and its objects. He also mentioned that it was thought my ability to preach without notes would be much in favor of the mission in the region to which they wished me to go. " When I met the Trustees to receive my instruc- tions and recommendation, another of the Board informed me, privately, that their regulations re- quired that I should be examined. But he apolo- gized for their pretending to examine one in whom they had such entire confidence. He said, however, 46 MEMOIRS OF NOAIl WORCESTER. that it was necessary to conform to the regulations, and the precedent might be very useful on future occasions, as they might not in all instances be so satisfied prior to examination ; but if I consented to be examined, others would not object. I freely consented to the proposed examination. I think all the Trustees, except one, were aware that I had then adopted Watts's views of the doctrine of the Trinity. That subject, however, was soon intro- duced, and occasioned some discussion. I frankly avowed my belief^ and told them if this was any objection, I was willing to relinquish the mission. After all that passed on the subject, they gave me a recommendation as ample as any modest man would have desired. " While I was writing the work which w^as after- wards published, a considerable part of it was read to three different Associations of ministers. Still I had no evidence that any individual of either was at all disposed to withdraw from me the hand of fellowship. But after the book was published, I experienced severe trials from several brethren, who had long been esteemed by me as cordial friends. " How far I was honest in my inquiries must be MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 47 referred to the searcher of hearts. That I was unbiassed while pursuing the inquiry, it would be folly in me to pretend. For all prejudices resulting from education, from regard to worldly interest, and to my own reputation, were thrown into the scale in favor of the doctrine. I had been educated in the belief, that the doctrine was true and essential, and I was well aware that my friends in the ministry were disposed to doubt the piety of dissenters from the doctrine. I had heard so much of the heresy, infidelity, and irreligion of those who had departed from the doctrine, that the thought of becoming of that class of ministers often filled my mind with dismay. But notwithstanding all these prepossessing and repulsive circumstances to bias my mind, such was the force of scripture language, and particularly the language of Christ himself, that I could not resist it ; but was led by it first to doubt the truth of the popular doctrine, and finally to dissent from it, at the risk of my character and worldly pros- pects. I have not, however, mentioned these facts as any proof of the correctness of the opinion which I formed ; but I think that Christian candor might admit them as some proof of my sincerity, and that I was not influenced in my decision by self- ish considerations. 48 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. " I am, however, aware that some suggested a a suspicion that I was influenced by a hope that I should become the head of an anti-trinitarian sect in this country. It might perhaps be well for such persons to examine their own hearts, to ascertain whether the suspicion arose from that love which ' hopeth all things, thinketh no evil, and seeketh not her own.' I may have given more reason than I am aware of for others to suspect that I have been ambitious to become the demagogue of a party ; but so far as self-knowledge extends I may say with truth that such a motive had no place in directing ray inquiries or my decisions. I was not so perfectly ignorant of the state of things in our country as not to anticipate painful consequences to myself, should my inquiries result in a conviction that the popular doctrine was untrue. I knew too well what was said of others, to expect that I might renounce the doctrine of the Trinity and still escape reproach." What Is especially interesting and instructive in these statements, is the evidence they afford of a devout and inquisitive mind, in the solitude of its own thoughts, without guidance, teaching, or advice from any Master in Israel, but dependent alone on MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 49 its Bible and its prayers, — finding its way to inter- pretations of revelation widely different from those usually admitted in the Church; — and this in the midst of misgivings and alarms ; in spite of preju- dices against these interpretations so inwrought and violent as to render them odious, and to make all their advocates objects of distrust and suspicion ; — in spite of the knowledge that to avow them, was to encounter obloquy, desertion, loss of influence, and probably exile. How interesting to look back to that lowly retreat, and see in imagination that fervent conscientious inquirer, fighting against the opposition of his own mind, the sacred associations of the past, the threatening evils of the future, the fears of friends, the anathema of the church, — yet steadily, resolutely giving heed to the scripture alone, and following where it leads in opposition to all the jarring voices of commentators and councils. The controversy in his own mind was not awakened from abroad ; it was not carried on by help of the discussions that were going on in the community ; it was finished with himself before it began with the country ; he awakened the discussion, not the dis- cussion him ; and he came out from this solitary process — unscathed by the war that had been 5 50 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. going on within — to give the world a new proof that it is possible to speak the truth in love in spite of the most adverse circumstances, and to retain the devotedness and sweetness of the Chris- tian spirit though departing from the orthodoxy of the Christian faith. As an argument for the correctness of the unita- rian construction of Christian doctrine, I would not make too much of this, or any similar example ; — as undoubtedly has been sometimes done ; — for instances very nearly if not quite parallel have occurred in the passing of members of any one community of Christians to any other ; and any church might be proved the true church, and any church false, if such reasoning were allowed. The true inference to be drawn, and that a most mighty and delightful one, is, that the essential vitality of Christianity does not lie in certain doctrinal dogmas; but that every faithful, devout, conscientious inquir- er finds it, whatever may be the form in which his notions of certain dogmas rest The great Father seems intentionally to show his children how worth- less in his eyes are their notions and speculations on all those inaccessible subjects, by allowing their minds under the brightest illumination, and after the most MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 51 earnest, laborious investigation, to find peace in the most opposite results. What a significant rebuke does this plain fact give to the arrogance of sectari- anism ! It was with the profound consciousness of truth like this, that Mr. Worcester came out from his anxiety, his studies, his controversies, and his sor- rows, with a liberality as wide as Christendom, and a modesty as gentle as his love of truth was strong, confident but not arrogant, and persuaded that Love, the Christian spirit, is better than the recep- tion of doctrinal truth, his life became hence- forth one living and perpetual plea for charity, and one uninterrupted protestation against any form of ill will, oppression, and dogmatism. The public attention was thus effectually drawn to the subject. In Boston especially, and its vicin- ity, the state of opinion was such as to cause this transaction to be regarded with great interest. The progress of opinion, which had there been long silent and unobserved, was now coming into greater activity and manifesting itself in outward expressions. There were already symptoms of an approaching contro- versy. The appearance at this moment of a bold and free-minded advocate of liberty and truth, burst- 52 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ing away by solitary study and the unaided action of his own mind from the old prescriptive theology, was well adapted to make a sensation. Mr. Wor- cester became an object of much interest and sympathy, and his cause was made identical with the great movement against ecclesiastical authority. A new journal adapted to the condition of the times was about being estabhshed. In looking round for some one to take the editorial charge of it, who would unite talent in writing, and skill in reasoning, with christian gentleness of manner and a cathohc largeness of spirit, the projectors of the work turned their eyes to Mr. Worcester, and summoned him from his retirement. He was personally unknown to them and they to him. But they were drawn toward him by sympathy with his admirable spirit of freedom and firmness united wath liberality and devotion, and could not doubt that it was he to whom the new enterprise should be given. In the letter addressed to him in opening the correspondence, January, 11, 1813. They said ; — " It has long been the opinion of many friends of Scriptural truth, that we need a periodical pub- lication, which shall be adapted to the great mass of Christians, and the object of which shall be to MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 53 increase their zeal and seriousness, to direct their attention to the Scriptures, to furnish them with that degree of Bibhcal criticism which they are capable of receiving and applying, to illustrate obscure and perverted passages, and, though last not least, to teach them their Christian rights, to awaken a jealous attachment to Christian liberty, to show them the ground of Congregationalism, and to guard them against every enemy, who would bring them into bondage. Our conviction of the impor- tance of this work has been strengthened by the appearance of a publication in the Panoplist recom- mending the immediate erection of ecclesiastical tribunals. * * * " You may expect aid from gentlemen in this town and vicinity. With the sentiments of these gentlemen you are generally acquainted. They are not precisely agreed as to the person or dignity of Christ, nor do they w^ish that the work should be devoted to any particular view of that subject. Whilst they are willing to admit the arguments of all sects, they wish chiefly to exhibit those relations and offices of Christ which Christians generally acknowledge, and to promote a spirit of forbear* 54 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ance and charity, among those who differ on this and Other difficult subjects. As to the pecuharities of Calvinism, they are opposed to them, without censuring those who embrace them. They are opposed to that system, particularly as it prostrates the independence of the mind, as it teaches men that they are naturally incapable of discerning relig- ious truth, as it thus generates a timid and super- stitious dependence on those who profess to have been brought from darkness into light, as it so commonly infuses into its professors a censorious, uncharitable spirit. You will do us the justice to believe, that in this business we are not actuated by the spirit of partisans. We have long given proof of our aversion to contention by bearing patiently and silently misrepresentations of our characters and sentiments. We have no desire to diffuse any re- ligious pecuharities. Our great desire is to preserve our fellow Christians from the systematic and un- wearied efforts which are making to impose on them a human creed, and to infuse into them angry and bitter feelings towards those who differ from them. Our great desire is, to direct men to the word of God, and to awaken in those Christians MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 55 who receive this as their only standard, a more devout, serious, earnest and affectionate piety than they often discover " We must copy here at length Dr. Worcester's account of the transaction, which was to make so entire a change in his life. '^ At the very time my brother seemed to be regaining his health, so that there was a probability that he might resume his labors, I received an invi- tation, as you well know, from clergymen whom I had never seen, and with whom I had no prior cor- respondence, to remove to the vicinity of Boston, and become the Editor of the Christian Disciple — a periodical work then about to be established. I could not but regard in this occurrence, the hand of a merciful God. The prejudices of many of the clergy of New Hampshire had become so much excited on account of my change of opinion, that I deemed it very improbable that I should find any em- ployment in that State as a preacher, should I leave Salisbury. Indeed I had thought it probable that I should be obliged to leave the State and go to Canada for employment. The invitation therefore to become the editor of the Christian Disciple I accepted with feelings of gratitude to my divine Benefactor, and 56 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. to the four strangers * who thus provided for me an Asylum. It was not, however, without deep concern that I accepted the invitation. I had serious doubts with respect to my quahfications for the work proposed. Not only so, my prejudices, which had arisen from clamor and reproach against the persons who gave the invitation, were such, that I had strong fears that they would not be found by me persons in whose society I might find satisfac- tion. Hence, prior to removing, I deemed it pru- dent to visit them and become personally acquainted with them. I did so, and found them, as I thought, very different characters from such as had been described to me. I had indeed reason to suppose that on various subjects their opinions were different from mine. Of this difference they were not igno- rant. But they appeared to me not only men of intelligence, but of candor and piety — not disposed to make our differences of opinion an occasion of ahenation. " In May, 1S13, I removed with my family to Brighton, and conducted the Christian Disciple to *Dr. Channing, Dr. Lowell, Dr. Tuckerman, and Rev. S. C. Thacher. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 57 the close of 1818. I then relmquished it on ac- count of debihty. I never regretted, and never thought I had any reason to regret my connexion with the four clergymen who invited me to this vicinity. Several years before I gave up the work a fifth gentleman became associated as one of the proprietors, whose benevolence to me will, I hope, be rewarded by God.* All my associates were to me both friends in need and friends indeed ; and I cannot but regard them as the friends of God, and of the best interests of mankind." *This passage relates to the Rev. Francis Parkman, D. D. ■ Editor. CHAPTER IV. Removal to Brighton, Mass. Labors as Editor of the Chris- tian Disciple. His preparation for the works for which he is most distinguished; his Solemn Review of the Cus- tom of War, and the Friend of Peace. Character of these works. In May, 1813, as we have seen, Mr. Worcester took up his abode at Brighton. No change could well be greater than that which now took place in the circumstances of his being. His whole position in society, his public and his private relations, were altered. A new home, and a wholly new circle of associates, friends, and pursuits awaited him. His mind being now settled on the great subject which for so many years had exercised and agitated it ; being withdrawn from the scenes of excitement and controversy which had grown out of his publication ; he was free to engage without restraint in whatever other subjects of truth or duty should present them- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 59 selves. It did not suit the character of his mind to be without some subject of absorbing interest ; and he soon found himself taken up with two trains of thought, which for some time gave direction to his life. The first of these was favored by his duties as editor of the Christian Disciple. That journal not being designed for doctrinal and controversial discussion, nor for theological learning, but for the instruction of the people in their religious rights and the promotion of spiritual and moral improvement, he gave himself freely to the advocacy of the great duty of Liberty and Charity ; making that work distinguished for its unqualified devotedness to the individual rights of opinion, and the sacred duty of a liberal regard to them in other men. His own experience had led him to think much of the evils of controversy, and of the christian duties of for- bearance, gentleness, candor and charity toward those who difler in religious opinion. Bigotry and censoriousness seemed to him among the greatest crimes of the christian church. Every thing that he henceforth wrote bore testimony to his deep feeling on this subject ; and till his waitings and his life became one continual plea for liberality and love. The " Disciple," as it came forth with its monthly 60 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. burden to the church, might remind one of the aged disciple John, who is said from sabbath to sabbath to have risen before the congregation to repeat the affectionate exhortation, " Little children, love one another." The other subject was not unconnected with this : that of War and Peace. It had enlisted his earnest attention before leaving New Hampshire ; it soon grew to be the chief topic of his life ; by which he was to earn the title of a Benefactor of Mankind, and be remembered and honored to the latest age. His own statement we copy here from his auto- biographical letters, written in 1823. " When a child I was delighted with military exercises and parade. While very young I was chosen captain of a company of boys. For several years prior to the Revolution there was considerable talk of a war between Great Britain and the people of this country. Before this I had heard of the Quaker opinion, and this was perhaps all I had ever heard against war. But when the prospect of a war w^ith Britain had become a topic of conver- sation, I had opportunity to hear the Quaker opinion not only expressed but vindicated by a neighbor, MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 61 who was educated among Quakers, and had imbibed their views of war. He, however, was a Baptist preacher. Though I hstened to his arguments, I was Httle influenced by them, for my father and a rauhitude of others were on the other side of the question. So little was I influenced by arguments against war, that on the next evening after the war commenced, I enlisted voluntarily as a soldier. During the two campaigns that I was in the army, I do not recollect that I had any scruples of con- science in regard to the lawfulness of the business in which I was engaged ; yet I was not pleased with the life of a soldier. " Before the close of the war I was married, and settled in Plymouth, N. H. Soon after this the Rev. E. Estabrook was ordained in Thornton. He was known as a minister who denied the law- fulness of war. In a short time after his settlement, I had a wish to remove to Thornton, but I had some scruples in regard to sitting under the ministry of one, who in regard to war held the Quaker principle to be correct. But as he was deemed a pious man, and was prudent in regard to urging his views of war, seldom mentioning them in his dis- courses, I concluded to become one of his parish- 6 62 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ioners. Soon after I removed to Thornton I was requested to serve the town as a selectman. The town was called on for a soldier to serve during the war ; and my office required me to hire the soldier. This I did, without any scruple as to the lawfulness of the service. This was near the close of the war, and it was perhaps the last service I was called to perform in favor of the Revolutionary struggle. About the time the war closed, Mr. Estabrook put into my hands a book to read in which the principles of war were examined in re- spect to their agreement or disagreement with the precepts of the gospel. I have forgotten the name of the author, if it was in the book. The work had a powerful influence on my mind, and though I did not feel convinced that defensive war was un- lawful, my views and feelings on the subject of war became greatly changed, even in regard to trainings and every thing of a military character. I could no longer take pleasure in any thing of a military nature. I had not, however, thoroughly examined the subject, and I still retained the idea that defen- sive war and preparations for war were neces- sary evils^ and to be supported as means for preventing greater evils. I did not then understand MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 63 that all wars are conducted in an offensive as well defensive manner, nor that the spirit of all war is repugnant to the spirit required by the gospel, and exemplified by the Prince of Peace. My ideas on the subject were dark, perplexed and confused. After I became the minister of Thornton, I was reg- ularly requested to pray with the military company when they met for training. This duty I performed under the delusive impression, that being prepared for war was the surest means of preventing war. This was then the popular doctrine, in which I acquiesced. But in praying on such occasions I ever felt deeply, that the business of war was hor- rible, and opposed to my own feelings as a christian, and to the spirit which, as a minister, I constantly inculcated. I used to pray that the business on which we met, might be the means of preventing the necessity of our ever again having occasion to resort to the use of military w^eapons. I had another motive for attending the trainings. My people appeared to have a sincere affection for me ; and I had a hope that my presence and my prayers might be the means of preventing disorderly and vicious conduct. But long before I left Thornton, I be- came fully convinced that the military trainings and 64 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER, reviews were not merely useless, but exceedingly pernicious in regard to the morals of the commu- nity ; that they were in fact means of danger, and not of safety to the country. This opinion I freely expressed to the Colonel of the regiment, who was also a member of the State legislature. As a sub- stitute for trainings I then proposed nearly the same plan which was since proposed by General Calvin Jones of North Carolina, on resigning his office of Major General of the militia. " The war of 1812, between Great Britain and the United States, was the occasion of perfecting the revolution in my mind in regard to the lawfulness of war. I was residing in Salisbury when war was de- clared. I had been for several months very attentive to the measures which were pursued to exasperate the minds of the people, and prepare them for the horrid conflict. I was indeed well satisfied that our coun- try had suffered injuries from Great Britain, by the impressment of our seamen, and by spoliations under the Orders in Council. But I was also satis- fied that these evils were exaggerated by the repre- sentations of our people ; and that the impressment of our seamen was not authorized by the government of Great Britain. I regarded the war as having MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 65 resulted from our own party contests, and the indul- gence of vile passions; — and, on the whole, as unnecessary and unjust. Soon after the war com- menced, I preached two sermons with a view to lead my hearers to proper reflections on the dan- ger of indulging party passions, and the practice of reviling. In these I gave no opinion on the justice of the war. The discourses were published and were applauded by the people of both parties. On the day appointed by Mr. Madison for national fasting, I delivered a discourse on the pacific con- duct of Abraham and Lot to avoid hostihties be- tween their herdsmen. The President had called on ministers of the gospel to pray for the success of our arms. This I could not do ; and I deemed it my duty to assign my reasons for the neglect. This part of my duty I endeavored to perform in a manner both impressive and inoffen- sive. This discourse was also published, but it gave offence to the advocates for the war. Though I could not pray for the success of our arms, I could pray that the lives of the soldiers on both sides might be preserved, and such were my pray- ers during the war. " In 1813, I removed from Salisbury to Brighton. C* t>6 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. There I had much opportunity to become acquainted with the baneful influence of the war spirit, and with the progress of the war. The more I ob- served and reflected, the more I was shocked with the barbarity of war and its demorahzing influence, its contrariety to Christianity, and every benevolent feeling. In 1814 my mind became so impressed with the subject, that I resolved to maket he inquiry whether the custom of war was not the ef- fect of popular delusion. When I began to write I aimed at nothing more than an article for the Christian Disciple, of which I was then the Editor. But as T wrote, my mind became more and more interested, and instead of a short article for a peri- odical w^ork, I wrote the Solemn Review of the Custom of War, which was published in Decem- ber, I think the very w^eek that the Treaty of Peace was signed at Ghent. " While writing that part I became thoroughly convinced that war is the effect of delusion, totally repugnant to the Christian religion, and wholly unnecessary except as it becomes necessary from delusion and the basest passions of human nature; that when it is waged for a redress of wrongs, its tendency is to multiply wrongs a hundred fold ; and MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 67 that in principle, the best we can make of it, is doing evil that good may come. It is now more than eight years since I began to write the Solemn Review ; and I believe I may say with truth, that when awake, the subject of war has not been ab- sent from my mind an hour at a time in the whole course of the eight years. On the most thorough examination I am firmly of the opinion, that there has never been any error among Christians more grossly anti-christian, or more fatal in its effects, than those which are the support of war ; that what are called preparations for war are the natural means of producing the calamity, — and that the popular be- lief, that being prepared for war is the means for avoiding it, has been contradicted by the experience of more than a thousand years among the nations of Christendom. In asserting my present views, I have this consolation, that the more there are who embrace them, the fewer there will be to encourage and pro- mote the horrid practice, and the more there will be to employ their influence for its abolition ; and that if all men would cordially adopt such views, war would be rendered impossible. " Though I frankly express my own views of war and my perfect abhorrence of the military system 68 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. of national rapine and murder, as perfectly needless, unjust, and opposed to the spirit of the gospel, I have no doubt that many men, better than myself have been of a different opinion. I cannot, howev- er, but doubt whether they would or could have long continued of the opposite opinion, had they be- stowed half as much attention on the subject as I have done, or as they have probably bestowed on other subjects of far less importance. I suspect that no one thing in the history of Christians will cause greater astonishment to posterity in a more enlightened age of the world, than the fact, that professed ministers of the Gospel throughout Christ- endom have been so generally advocates and abet- tors of war ; and that while Christians of different sects have been alienated from each other, and have spent much of their time in contending about unin- telligible and unimportant dogmas, they could unite in the atrocious work of shedding human blood in the political contests of nations. Private or indi- vidual murders are justly esteemed and punished as among the grossest of human crimes ; yet whole- sale murder for the settlement of trivial national controversies has been licensed, sanctioned, and even commended by the rulers of Christian nations, MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 69 and applauded by the ministers of the Christian rehgion of almost every sect in Christendom ! "Notwithstanding all my zeal in the cause of peace, and the perfect conviction of mind that the war spirit and all the forms of national hostilities are in direct opposition to the precepts and the spirit of the gospel, 1 have never felt myself authorized to make my own views of the subject a test of the Christian character, or to call in question the piety of my fellow Christians who have been advocates and promoters of war. But I can say with the greatest truth, that I am unacquainted with any errors which have been adopted by any sect of Christians, which appear to me more evidential of a depraved heart than those which sanction w^ar, and dispose men to glory in slaughtering one another. Should we call to mind any one of the supposed essential doctrines of any sect of Christians in New England, we might ask with confidence, what is the evil of denying or disbelieving that doctrine, when compared with the evil of believing that it is con- sistent with the spirit and precepts of the gospel for Christians of different nations to engage in war — to meet in the field of battle and destroy one anoth- er, by hundreds, by thousands, and by tens of 70 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. thousands ? If a man of apparently good character avows a behef that human infants are not by nature totally sinful, there are a multitude of churches who would refuse to admit him to their fellowship. Yet another man who believes in the doctrine of total sinfulness by nature, may perhaps be admitted to tlieir communion, with his hands wreaking with the blood of many brethren whom he has wantonly slain in the games of war, and this too while he justifies those fashionable murders ! " The sermon on the National Fast in August, 1812, mentioned in the passage just quoted, is a discourse of great clearness and power ; a worthy beginning of the work to which its author afterward devoted so large a portion of his life. It is partly occupied in showing that the war then recently declared was without sufficient justification, and so far might be thought open to the charge of having a party design. But it was written in any but a partizan spirit ; with great solemnity and modera- tion ; and states fundamental principles which are independent of all temporary circumstances. The publication of this sermon may be regarded as the first act in that powerful operation which was henceforth to constitute the main object of his life. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 71 Without losing his interest in other subjects, he consecrated himself to this. After being for a brief season diverted from it by the care of the Christian Disciple and other unwonted occupations in a new abode, he in 1814 gave vent to his whole soul in that remarkable tract, " A Solemn Re- view OF THE Custom of War;" one of the most successful and efficient pamphlets of any peri- od. It has been translated into many languages, and circulated extensively through the w^orld. It is one of the chief instruments by which the opinions of society have been affected within the present century. The season of its publication was favor- able ; the world was wearied with battles and longed for rest. It found a response in the heart of the community, and many able men were ready to repeat and enforce its doctrines. It was followed by the formation of The Massachusetts Peace Society on the 28th of December, 1815, and by the publication of '' The Friend of Peace," which began in 1819,* and was continued in quar- terly numbers for ten years ; being almost entirely * He relinquished the Christian Disciple at the close of 1818. — Editor. 72 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. written by himself. This must be looked upon as a very remarkable work. One is surprised at the fertility of resources and the ingenuity of illustra- tion by which he was able for so long a time to vary his expositions of a subject which seems to most persons easily exhausted. To his wakeful mind every thing that occurred and every thing that he read offered him materials, he appeared to see nothing which had not a bearing on this one topic ; and his book became a boundless repository of curious, entertaining, striking extracts from writers of all sorts and the history of all times, displaying the criminality and folly of war, and the beauty and efficacy of the principles of peace. He threw his reasonings and speculations into the most various forms ; dialogue, epistle, parable, and verse ; some- times perhaps languid, often diffuse, but always glowing with the truest spirit of humanity and faith ; never extravagant, never uncharitable, and often enlivened with a quaint shrewdness of remark and a certain gentle humor and semi-sarcastic satire, which just opened upon the reader like the quiet heat-lightning of a summer day's twilight, and then disappeared. If to some persons who had less enthusiasm for the subject than himself, he seemed MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 73 at last to have written out, it is what might have been reasonably anticipated ; but it does not cease to be a matter of astonishment, that he sustained himself so admirably for so long a time, and created four volumes so affluent and powerful as The Friend of Peace. It is to his services in this cause of the highest Philanthropy, that Dr. Worcester owes his chief distinction, and must forever lay solid claim to the reverence and gratitude of mankind. His inde- pendent and true-hearted pursuit of truth, his most humble and gentle advocacy of it in catholic writing and holy hving, give him place among the eminent disciples of Christ. His labors for peace elevate him to a rank among his IMaster's most efficient co-workers, and the substantial Benefactors of his race. Here he did something toward a palpable advancement of Christianity and Civilization. He carried the world perceptibly forward. He opened a new era in its history. By commencing a syste- matic enterprise against war, he set in motion an agency which unites itself with the multitude of other agencies now carrying forward the progress of man, and which are so knit together and so reci- procally strengthen each other, that they make sure 7 74 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. the conquest of the world. What other Christians had eloquently plead for, but hardly dared to hope, he has made practicable. And we already witness the auspicious result of his efforts. The extensive change which has taken place in the sentiments of men respecting war ; the disapprobation expressed in so strong terms by leading statesmen, and the diminished honor paid to military greatness by men of letters ; the readiness with which opportunities of battle are now shunned, when formerly they w^ould have been sought ; and in which mediation has been accepted for peace sake, where nations would once have rushed to blood ; the universal tone of the religious press and the pulpit, so frequent and loud, which formerly spoke so rarely, and so often in the tone of the common world ; and not least, the express and active combination of Peace Societies, speaking every where through Christ- endom by their agents and their books ; all these and other signs which display the coming on of a new day for man, — bear witness to the value of his labors, and attest his claim to be crowned among the substantial Benefactors of earth. Other causes have operated widely, powerfully, profound- ly ; the religious, political, commercial condition of MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 75 men, favor the progress of peace, and by them Providence is leading forward the great consumma- tion. But they work indirectly and blindly. For the permanent and indestructible basis of any great improvement, there is always needed the founda- tion of some great principle, well understood and intelligently acted upon. The world can be changed only by a change of its ideas. " Opinion is queen of the world ; '^ and he does most for peace, who does most to change opinion respecting the right and innocence of war, and the duty of peace. Let other influences favor the movement as they may, the grand decisive influence must always be traced to him who set in motion that direct action which* goes at once to the bottom of the subject, and allies the highest truth and sternest motives that govern men, in sacred and uncompromising hostility against the evil. This did Dr. Worcester. He crea- ted the combination ; his followers are already le- gions, and their number daily increases. The change advances rapidly. And in that blessed day which is coming, when war shall no longer be the chief occupation of government, and the immense treas- ures and splendid talents now occupied in corrupt- ing shall be expended in blessing mankind, what name 76 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. will be repeated with heartier gratitude, than that of him who did first and most to accelerate the happy- era ; what higher eulogy will be found than the fact which he wished written on" his tombstone, " He WROTE THE FrIEND OF PeACE." CHAPTER V. Later Inquiries and Publications on Redemption and Human Nature. — Note by the Editor. In the year 1S2S, on completing his 70th year, Dr. Worcester felt that it was time to relieve him- self of some of his burdensome responsibilities, and seek more of that repose to which age invites. He accordingly resigned his office as Secretary of the the Peace Society, and discontinued the publication of the Friend of Peace. It was not that he wished to cease from occupation, and abandon himself to repose. His mind was still active, and pursued with eagerness the inquiries in which he was interested. It was now turned with engrossing attention to the great question of the purpose and influences of the Saviour's sufferings ; and in thinking and writing on this he for a long time occupied his leisure hours. "It was a subject on which I had failed, up to that time, of obtaining views perfectly satisfactory to my own 78 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. mind. By former inquiries, I had indeed been led to relinquish a considerable part of the Calvinistic theory relating to that subject ; still I was much in the dark, and unable to answer many important questions which often occurred to my mind. * * I began to write on the subject in March, 1827. In the course of that year, I obtained such satisfaction on the subject as I never before possessed. In 1S2S, I revised what I had before written, and made considerable addition to the quantity of man- uscripts on various questions. In the autumn of that year, my mind became so absorbed in these inquiries, that I found it difhcult to write for the Friend of Peace, a work which for twelve years had occupied nearly all my time, and for which I had written with great delight. I found it incon- venient to have my attention divided between two subjects of such importance ; and that I might, for a time, bestow my whole attention on the subject of the Atonement, was one reason why I wished to discontinue the Friend of Peace, and my labors for the Peace Society. From early in December of the last year, to the middle of August in this, [1829,] my time was incessantly devoted to ques- tions relating to the Atonement. * * I may say MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 79 with truth, that the employment was to me delight- ful ; and I am not without hope that my labors will be found useful to many humble Christians of inquiring minds. For I have not a doubt that many such have been embarrassed by such views of the subject as they received by education." The result of these studies was given to the world in 1829, in a small volume under the tide of " The Atoning Sacrifice, a display of Love not of Wrath." It excited a good deal of attention. It shortly passed through a second edition here, and has been republished three times at least in England. It bears evidence of the manner in which it was composed. Being made up of a series of separate essays and independent inquiries, such as would form successive stages of a minute investigation, and not having been, after the investigation was ended, digested into one orderly treatise, it may be thought to lack the apparent concatenation and progress which are necessary to give such a work its whole power. But as a collection of materials to aid an anxious inquirer, especially in the elucida- tion of the many minor questions and the interpreta- tion of texts, the book is of inestimable value ; as well as a delightful specimen of the tenderness, 80 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. solemnity, and devoutness of spirit in which so momentous a subject should be treated. The title of the work discloses its aim ; — which was not to decide which of the almost innumerable schemes of the atonement is to be received as the scriptural and true ; but to demonstrate that none can be true which does not found its efficacy in the Love of God ; that all notions of a vicarious or substituted punishment, of an operation on the Divine mind whereby it was rendered placable by the satisfaction of blood, are anti-scriptural ; and that therefore all doctrinal expositions which favor them are inadmis- sible. This idea prevailed more and more in the author's mind as he advanced in years, and came to possess it with such strength, that he appears to have become unable to contemplate the common doctrine, without shuddering, or to speak of it with- out involuntary horror. The numerous papers on the subject which he left behind him show how long and how anxiously his mind dwelt on the sub- ject. He more and more completely and habitually tried all religious views of the Divine Character and Administration by the standard of the Paternal Relation, and the thought of a vicarious atonement became more and more insupportable. His in- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 81 creasing filial piety shrunk from it with growing abhorrence. "Is it not deeply to be lamented, that a doctrine has been long popular among Christians, which ascribes to God a disposition and character which no ruler nor parent can imitate with- out becoming odious in the view of well-informed and benevolent men ? " After the pubHcation of this work on the Atone- ment, Dr. Worcester gave his time to the prepar- ation of a small book on " The Causes and I'^vils of Contention among Christians ; " a subject familiar to his thoughts and near his heart, and on which he had in various forms and at various times already written much. It did not occupy him long, and was issued from the press in 1831. He thus expressed his feelings on the occasion. " May 19, 1S31. The last signature of my Let- ters to Christians on the Causes and Evils of Contention has been corrected, and the work will probably be published in a few days. It has been my aim to do seme good if possible, to correct some injurious opinions, to abate the heat of party passions, and to promote that love and harmony among Christians of different opinions, which was the object of our Saviour's prayer, as well as of his 82 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORESTER. New Commandment. The want of this love, and the indulgence of an opposite spirit have, in my opinion, been the principal obstacles to the progress of Christianity. How the Letters will be received is to me very uncertain. Such are the prejudices of different sects at the present time, as to give reason to fear that many will prejudge what I have written, and refuse to read the book. I hope, however, that there are some candid people of the different sects who will not only read but approve, so far as what I have written is according to the scriptures." Dr. Worcester's charitable hopeful- ness was always strong. Pursuing the train of thought which had so long engaged him, he now turned to inquiries relative to the origin and causes of human sinfulness. " Soon after I had published on the atoning sacrifice, my mind was turned to that of human depravity or man's liability to sin. But it was not without some fear and trembling that I resolved to make a more thorough examination of this interest- ing subject. It was hardly probable that at so late a period of my life, I should be able to make a very thorough examination of a subject so difficult ; and I felt a reluctance to leaving anything in writing which might be unsatisfactory even to myself. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 83 '' Yet I could not be contented with such views as I then possessed of a subject so interesting to myself and to all our race ; and one in which the character of God is so deeply involved. No view of the subject had then been presented to my mind, which did not in some way or other seem to im- peach either the wisdom or the benevolence of the Deity ; at length I found myself unable to vindicate the wisdom and benevolence of God on any theory which I had examined. I had no doubt that his wisdom and benevolence were consistent with man's liability to sin, and with the universality of the fact; but hoio they were so I was unable to explain. To obtain a satisfactory explanation was the object of my inquiry. I have now great reason to acknow- ledge the goodness of God in not only prolonging my life and giving me health to pursue the inquiry, but in granting me such light on the subject as afibrds great satisfaction to my own mind. I need not here repeat the circumstances which attended the first burst of light into my mind, as they are briefly related in a Preliminary statement of Facts, or the First Letter to Friends. But scarcely any other favor of Providence to me has been contem- plated with more pleasure and gratitude, than that 84 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. in which I seemed to be clearly shown that man's liability to sin has resulted not from the displeasure but the benevolence of God. In no part of my life did I ever enjoy so great happiness in contem- plating the character of God as it is displayed in the government of the world, and his conduct to- wards mankind, as I have in the last six months. I have written on the subject with great pleasure, and perhaps greater pleasure than I had previously written upon this or any other subject. I may add, my conscience bears me witness that it has been my aim to write in such a manner as will exhibit the character of God to my fellow men in a just and amiable light, corresponding with John's declaration, 'God is love.'" The following is the passage above referred to from the "Preliminary Statement." " Though prior to engaging in the ministry I had discarded the doctrine that Adam's posterity ' sinned in him and fell with him,' and also the doctrine of imputation, I still retained the Hopkinsian idea of an ' established connexion ' between the sin of Adam and the first moral exercises of his posterity. My views at that period were very similar to those more recently published by Dr. Taylor and his MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 85 New Haven associates. Subsequent inquiries, how- ever, had in some respects modified my views of the consequences of Adam's sin, before 1 wrote the work on the Atoning Sacrifice. On inquiry I could find no proof of the supposed ' ' estabhshed connexion/ But the universal liability of mankind to sin was too obvious to be questioned ; and how to account for this but by the displeasure of God, was still to me an insurmountable difficulty. With this difficulty on my mind I commenced a series of inquiries relating to the sources of human depravity, and the importance of christian education. Month after month I examined the scriptures, and wrote on different questions. On several points I obtained much satisfaction. Still, however, the question occurred, ' How could it be consistent with divine goodness, that all the posterity of Adam should be subjected to such a state of liability to sin as is witnessed in every quarter of the world ? ' "With this question I was embarrassed till early in June, 1S30. Then, while intensely pursuing the inquiry, with ardent desires for light, the follow- ing questions occurred with the suddenness of light- ning : ' Does not liability to sin result from the kindness of God — tiie numerous favors which he 8 86 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. bestows upon us, and not from his displeasure? And on due inquiry will not this be found to be the fact, as the Atoning Sacrifice was found to be a ' display of love, not of wrath ? ' " These questions occurred in such a manner, and with what appeared to me such a divine light, that I could not but regard them as the suggestions of the Divine Spirit, the Comforter which was promised by Christ to teacli us all things. I had little time for reflection before a new, spacious and delightful field of contemplation and inquiry was opened to my view, which I have endeavored to portray in the following chapters. Immediately I took my pen to sketch the thoughts which had occurred, that nothing might be lost ; and I wrote with such reedom and delight as I had seldom before experienced. I seemed to myself to have entered a new world of thought and reflection. At every advancing step, the character of God, like the path of the just, seemed to shine brighter and brighter ; and the guilt and inexcusableness of sin was more and more manifest. " My reading has been too limited for me to say, that other writers have not given a view of the subject similar to the one which may be seen in the MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 87 following pages. But if they have, I am confident that what they wrote was never read by me. Had such views been presented to my mind forty or even ten years ago, they w^ould have saved me from much perplexity and intense study. But if the views obtained are the truth, they are worth more than all the expense I have been at to obtain them. I must, however, gratefully acknowledge, that they seem to me rather as special favors from Heaven, than as the fruits of my own researches. Yet, when discovered, the theory appears so natural, the solution of the difficulty so plain, that I cannot but feel amazed that it did not occur to my mind many years ago." This work was published in 1833, in a large duodecimo volume of more than three hundred pages, under the title of "Last Thoughts on Im- portant Subjects: In three Parts; — 1. Man's Liability to Sin : 2. Supplemental Illustrations : 3. Man's Capacity to obey." The general pur- pose and character of the book are evident from his own language quoted above. Growing out of his thoughts on the Atoning Sacrifice, it is pervaded by the same fundamental idea. His central govern- ing position, the principle from which all his rea- 88 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. soning proceeds and by which his conclusions are tested, is the Love of God, in his character of Father, By the analogy of that beautiful Relation he tries all interpretations of doctrine, and holds that nothing can stand which militates against the benignity, tenderness and justice of a Fatherly government. Hence the tendency to sin in human nature cannot be owing to the blighting influence of Divine displeasure, entailing corruption on the race because offended with the progenitor ; but it results from that lavish goodness of the Creator, which bestows in profusion faculties and bounties, which are necessarily liable to abuse and open to tempta- tion. It is a proof of the infinite Love, not of the Wrath of God. This view is set forth in a great variety of statement, with abundance of pertinent and ingenious illustration, and with much acuteness of critical and logical discussion. So that the volume is not, as works on such subjects are too apt to be, a dry metaphysical dissertation ; but a collection of interesting essays, enlivened with illus- trations by anecdote and parable, instructive with scriptural interpretation, and an earnest vindication of the paternal character of God, and the benignity of the Divine administration. The book is loose MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 89 in its arrangement, and in its style diffuse ; but its contents are highly attractive and valuable, and indicate a singular youthfulness of mind in so old a man. While this work was in preparation and passing through the press, the mind of its author became busied with other thoughts, and began with the interest of earlier days new investigations in the regions of truth. A singular and admirable exam- ple in a man who had completed his threescore and ten, anxious to gain yet more truth, inquisitive for further light, and solicitous to change his views if he can be persuaded of error. We are reminded of the words of Edwards, which stood as the motto of the Theological Magazine in w^hich he was accustomed to write in his younger days, — words, which were fit to be inscribed on the banner under which he marched so long as he remained militant below; — "I observe that old men seldom have any advantage of new discoveries ; because they are beside a way of thinking they have been long used to. Resolved, if. ever I live to years, that I will be impartial to hear the reasons of all pretended discoveries, and receive them, if rational, how long soever I have been used to another way of think- 8* 90 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. ing." Dr. Worcester was ready not only to ''re- ceive " discoveries, but to go forth in search of them, a most unusual enterprise for a septuagenarian. How interesting is the account which he gives of the inquiries to which he was now directij-ig his thought ! ''January 28, 1831. On January 2d, 1829, a new query occurred to my mind on reading the followins; words of Paul : ' We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.' (2 Cor. iv. 7.) These words I regarded as having been uttered by Paul in relation to himself and the other apostles, who had been endowed with supernatural powers to enable them to propagate and establish the gospel among both Jews and Gentiles. Excepting Paul, all the apostles appear to have been men unlearned when they entered the school of Christ and came under his guidance. They were men who had been educated for fishermen, mechanics, or publi- cans, and not for any learned profession ; and Paul himself was a tent-maker, though he had been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. Who but God and his Son would have selected such unlearned men, as the primary and principal agents for estab- ishing a new religion, which was destined to make MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 91 its way in opposition to the most inveterate preju- dices of Jews and Gentiles, and to be the means of a moral reformation of the world, and of the eternal salvation of innumerable millions of our race ! Yet such it seems was the plan, and the selection of agents adopted by infinite wisdom. Why so ? ' That the excellency of the power might be of God ; ' in other words, that it might be obvi- ously a work of God and not of human contri- vance. " While pursuing such reflections, in view of Paul's words, the following query occurred to my mind. Is it not possible that I have been under a mistake In supposing it to be necessary that the Messiah should have been originally a person of a nature and dignity superior to the greatest of men and of angels ? Js it not very possible that Jesus was selected for the Messiah on the same principle that he selected his apostles ? ' that the excellency of the power might be of God ^ ^ He assured his disciples that 'he could do nothing of himself;' that ' the Father in him did the works.' May it not then be, that the nature of the Messiah's dignity has been gi-ossly misapprehended by Christians, and as really so as the nature of his kingdom was mis- 92 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. apprehended by the Jews ? Perhaps I have been under a mistake by not clearly distinguishing between natural and spiritual dignity. " Thoughts and inquiries of this kind I then wrote down, in the hope that I might at some future day examine the subject more thoroughly. I de- ferred them to a future day, because I was then engaged in writing on another subject. On looking over some papers, in January 22, 1831, I found the notes that I previously wrote, and was much surprised to find that two years had elapsed since I wrote the minutes on this subject. But my mind had been occupied during that period with other subjects, which appeared to me important. How- ever, should my life and health be spared for a few weeks, I think it will be my duty to pursue the inquiries in relation to the nature of the Messiah's dignity and kingdom. I am now at a loss how the inquiry will result in my own mind. The truth I wish to know ; and if on this point I have been ignorant, or have entertained incorrect views, I hope God will smile on my inquiries, and enable me to write something which will be to his glory, the good of my fellow Christians, and my own spiritual benefit. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 93 " May 19, 1831. I have also made some progress in my inquiries relating to the INIessiah's kingdom, and the nature of spiritual dignity. Should life and health be prolonged, I hope not only to improve my own mind, but to write something which may be useful to others. I have become convinced that great errors still prevail in regard to the Kingdom of Christ ; and I suspect that the nature of His dignity has been little understood by myself and by Christians in general. Perhaps a mistake on this point will account for the lamentable fact, that many who profess to be the disciples of Christ, are led to imagine that they evince love to him, by bitter revilings against those who dissent from their views of his natural dignity. Whether I shall live to complete anything in writing on this subject 'which will be even satisfactory to myself, is very questionable. If not, I hope others will be led to pursue the subject till Christians shall be brought to feel, that they can never obtain spiritual dignity by their contentions about the natural dignity of Christ, and that to be great in his kingdom they must be of the disposition of Him who ' made himself of no reputation,' ' came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.' The due 94 MEMOIRS OF NOAH AYOKCESTER. prevalence of such a temper would soon put an end to the present quarrels between different sects, and Christians would be known by their love one to another." In the course of his inquiries on this subject, Dr. Worcester wrote many chapters, and made some progress toward the completion of a work of some magnitude. He did not finish it ; and does not appear to have arrived at views absolutely decisive to his own mind. But as the course of thought, so far as he pursued it, was unusually interesting in itself as well as to him, and lay in singular harmony with his most favorite, most deeply founded and long cherished sentiments and feelings, it has seemed due to him to publish among his Remains the larger part of what he prepared. Note by the Editor. The preceding chap- ters were written by Dr. Ware in a book ; and I have supposed that he intended to copy this chapter and the remainder of the work into the same book, making alterations and additions. But I do not certainly know that such was his intention ; and this chapter seems to me to have been prepared with care. I therefore make no alterations, except such MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 95 as the text shows that he wished me to make. If any doubt can arise whether this chapter contains all that Dr. Ware intended, it must be excited by his last paragraph. Speaking of the last subject treated of, he says, '' it has seemed due to him to publish among his Remains the larger part of what he prepared." But Dr. Ware had in his posses- sion, and had read, the manuscript which my father wrote on this subject. He was at full liberty to do what he pleased with it ; but he has not extracted anything from it, nor made any reference as if he intended to have any part of it printed. What he has copied is from the autobiography. He probably thought, as Dr. Channing did, that the other man- uscript on this subject w^as not in a suitable state for publication ; and he probably considered what he did copy, as presenting a fair view of my father's wavering thoughts on this subject. To this I fully accede ; but it does not appear that he has given " the larger part " of what my father wrote on this subject, although he may have given the larger part of what he '' prepared.^^ It is possible that Dr. Ware wrote this sentence under the impression that all or nearly all that my father wrote on this subject would be published in a separate volume. CHAPTER VI. Dr. Worcester's habits in writing and publishing. — His pa- tience, candor, and conscientiousness. It seems minecessaiy, after the history contained in the preceding chapters, to attempt any formal statement or digest of Dr. Worcester's rehgious opinions. Enough has been stated for informa- tion, and nothing is wanted for authority. What deserv^es notice more perhaps than anything else, is his great conscientiousness in seeking the truth and declaring his convictions, his openness to further light on all subjects of inquiry, and the union of firmness and candor with which he held all truth. It is far more important that we mark and hold up to view these high traits of moral character, than that we seek to ascertain what were the intel- lectual views through whicli his mind passed and in which it rested. His conscientiousness and patience in the search of truth was a prominent trait. He deeply felt his MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. 97 responsibility, and acted on the conviction that he was bound to get as much light as possible and fol- low it without scruple wherever it should lead. In doing this he was eminently cautious to guard against self-deception and hasty conclusions. He used the greatest deliberation of patient inquiry, turning the subject over and over, that he might be sure no im- portant view escaped him, and that through over- sight or precipitancy he might not delude himself or mislead others. In this he was a model for the imi- tation of all inquirers. There are many whose rash and positive course is wholly the opposite of his. They adopt as most incontrovertible the view which for the present is satisfactory to their own minds ; they hold for absolute truth whatever now shows itself to them as truth ; and are impatient to publish it as such for the benefit of the world. They es- teem it a duty to proclaim it without delay. Some men of eager and restless minds make the public the confident of all their processes of thought ; as they go on from one speculation to another, each seeming to them for the time the great truth, they utter it as such, however crude and undigested ; they thus keep all within their influence in that same state of unsettledness in which they are themselves living, 9 98 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER, and not a few they fix in some of the views which they themselves shortly reject as poisonous errors. Dr. Worcester had too much uprightness as well as modesty to venture on so mischievous a hazard. He felt the responsibility of religious speculation to be solemn ; he did not count himself to have the moral right to run the risk of misleading other minds by the publication of sentiments, however apparently true to his own mind, which had not been long dili- gently searched, and confirmed by the most deliberate and extensive inquiry. Thus, while his whole fife was a course of study and progress, he was no weathercock or chameleon. He mastered his sub- ject before he published. For more than twelve years did he pursue his investigations concerning the trinity. On so momentous a subject he dared not assume that his new views were of course right, and rush out to hft up his voice in the highways pro- claiming his great discovery. He waited for con- firmation. He continued to examine, think, talk, discuss ; and only after long contemplation of the subject on every side, so as to escape the possibility of having overlooked any important consideration, did he perform his great duty of publishing his mind. So in regard to other subjects. His views on the atonement and on human sinfulness were wrought MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 99 out with the same dehberation and conscientious caution. They were published only after many years of calm, continued religious thought. It is admirable to observe how the patient and scrupulous old man goes over the ground again and again, ten- derly watches against error, and waits year after year before he divulges views which fill his own heart with peace, lest by any self-delusion he should spread erroneous speculations adapted to mislead. His fairness in statement, and ingenuousness in discussion, are equally to be observed. He entered on argument, not as an intellectual enterprise, or a trial of logical skill, but as a moral duty, in per- forming which he was subject to the laws of honesty and truth rather than of mere logic ; and he would have regarded the disingenuousness, and perversion of an opponent's language, and misstatement of his meaning, and false inferences, and other artifices of debate which often disgrace the annals of theological controversy, no less dishonorable, dishonest and criminal, than the concealments and unfair proceed- ings in commercial life, which are branded as fraud and punished by the universal reprobation of man. Perhaps in the history of religious discussions, there is no example of one who more uniformly, conscien- 100 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. tioLisly, determinately kept in view this great respon- sibility, and guarded the temper of debate with more scrupulous anxiety. It formed the expression and complexion, as it were, of his writings. To some it even seemed to be carried to an undue extreme. But all the world had been wilfully erring on this great point. It seemed to him a practical denial of the fundamental law of the Master ; and he felt him- self called on to devote his life and powers to efforts to rescue it from its neglect, and restore it to the honor which is properly its due. CHAPTER VII. Expressions of the state of Dr. Worcester's mind at different periods, or his religious experience Editor's Note. In this chapter it is proposed to collect from va- rious papers some of the few expressions which Dr. Worcester from time to time recorded, of the state of his mind, and his religious experience. They are for the most part written on loose pieces of pa- per, generally brought out by the recurrence of some interesting event, or the arrival of some era. He kept no regular diary of his religious life, for rea- sons which he has stated in his autobiographical let- ters, and which it seems proper to insert in this place. " There was a portion of my hfe, after I entered on the ministry, in which I kept a journal of the exercises of my mind, and various occurrences of Providence. This I continued to do till I became impressed with the idea that the practice exposed to 102 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. temptation. I then discontinued the practice and destroyed the journals I had kept. I had read diaries which had been kept by others, some of which were very satisfactory and entertaining, in others I thought I discovered in the writers too great a desire to exalt themselves. I could not but fear that I might be guilty of a similar fault." 1831. "The month of November has again ar- rived. It has been a remarkable month in the his- tory of my life. It was the month of my birth, and that of two of my brothers and one of my sisters ; the month of my first marriage, and of the death of my first wife ; of the death of my oldest daughter, and of the birth of my youngest." In this connection may properly be stated a few other facts, the precise date of which is uncertain, w^iich help to show the estimation in which he was held, and to mark the steps by which he came for- ward into life. One of these is, the effort that was made by a person of influence to secure for him the office of clerk of the court for the county. The failure was a sad disappointment at the time, as it offered to him a safe living and honorable employ- ment, at a time when his prospects were very limited and uncertain. He afterward saw reason to con- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 103 gratulate himself on the disappointment. " Had I then obtained the office," he said, '' I should proba- bly have been fixed in a course of civil or political employments for life, exposed to numerous perils and snares, and denied the pleasures I have enjoyed as a student of divinity and a teacher of religion. It was surely well for me that God's thoughts were not as my thoughts." After this he was for several years sent as representative to the General Court, and was appointed a justice of the peace. A few years later, while settled in the ministry, an endeavor was made to persuade him to stand as candidate for the House of Representatives in Congress ; but to this proposition he would not listen for a moment. He had then chosen his j)i'ofession, and no other em- ployment had any attractions for him." Brighton, May 16, 1814. *' Of all I have published at any period of my life, I can say that what I wrote appeared to me to be true at the time of writing ; but I have always beea liable to err ; nor have I been unwilhng, as I have advanced in life, to relinquish former errors as fast as they were discovered. Some things, which once appeared to me correct, now appear incorrect ; 104 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. Other things which once appeared very important, appear now of less importance, whether correct or not. Some of my earher writings I have not ex- amined for many years, and they doubtless contain something which I should now view as incorrect, or unimportant. In many instances, I should now change the mode of representation, and some things I should suppress." March 26, 1815. " Since I have been in my present situation, I have enjoyed much comfort, and I hope I have done some good. But why I was ever thought of as an Editor for a periodical work, I cannot tell. God knows, and he had some good end in view. If I may have been the instrument of exciting attention to the spirit of the christian religion, and of showing the evil and danger of those things which are inconsistent with the christian temper, or injurious to the souls of men and the peace of the church, I shall have occasion to rejoice." Nov. 24, 1815. " "If I am thankful for anything, I think I am thankful that I was not called out of the world in MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. 105 darkness on the subject of war, and that my mind has been led to examine the subject with so much care. I have also reason to bless God that what I have published on this subject has been so w^ell received by Christians of difierent sects ; and that there is so much reason to hope that the tracts will be extensively useful. Had as much clamor been raised against these writings, as against some others that I have published, it would have been very trying to me, and perhaps I should not have borne the trial in a christian manner. I think if I were now on my death bed, it would be to me a matter of great joy that I was not called prior to my writing on that subject, a subject so intimately con- nected with the nature, the success, and the glory of the gospel ; and one on which the lives and the salvation of so many of my fellow men are depend- ing. On no other account have I more desire to live another year, than that I may pursue my inqui- ries relating to the nature of Christianity and its blessed tendency to reform as well as to save man- kind. How great delusions I may yet be in, I know not ; but if my hfe shall be spared, I hope I shall be enabled so to pursue my inquiries, and to correct what is still erroneous in my views of 106 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. religion, as not to live in vain, in respect to myself or my fellow men. But 1 feel a pleasure in the thought, that however soon I may be called, what I have written in the course of the last year will not die with me. God I believe will raise up others to pursue, and to improve the subject till it shall produce a powerful effect on the christian world. My mistakes others will correct, and the hints which I have given others will improve, and the light will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Long after the name and the wri- tings of Philo Pacificus shall have been forgotten, thousands of posterity may be enjoying peace, life, and happinesSj in consequence of what he has written. Not only so, many souls may be saved from the bottomless pit, and become heirs of im- mortal bliss, by the blessing of God on his endea- vors for the good of mankind. O Lord grant that it may be so." April 20, 1817. " It is now nearly four years since I came to this place, as editor of the Christian Disciple. In the course of these years 1 have experienced much of the mercy of the Lord, and have enjoyed much MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. 107 comfort in my attempts to correct what I have beheved to be erroneous in my own past opinions and in the opinions of others. It has been my aim to search out, and to pubhsh the truth. Still, it is probable that future inquiries will detect some errors in what I have honestly written. Perhaps also it will appear to impartial minds, that I have not been always prudent in my manner of exposing what I believed to be error. I claim no exemption from human infirmities, although my conscience bears me witness that it has been my aim to pro- mote peace on earth and good will among men of all descriptions.'' Nov. 25, 1817. "No year of my life has been crowned with more mercies than the last ; none more satisfactorily spent in respect to myself ; and I hope 1 have not lived in vain as to the good of others. By far the greater part of my waking hours have been employed on the subject of war and peace ; and the more I reflect and examine, the more important the subject appears, the more I wonder at myself and others, that it w^as so long neglected. I can reflect on no part of my life or my labors with more pleasure 108 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. than on what has been devoted to the cause of peace. For all I have been enabled to do in so good a cause, I am indebted to Him who has the residue of the spirit — to Him be all the praise. May his spirit still guide me, uphold me, and furnish me — save me from error, preserve me from sin, and make my heart and my life conformable to the principles of justice, love, and peace, which his word inculcates, and which I have endeavored to disseminate and enforce. Knowing my sun is going down, that my time is short, may I be more and more active to have my work done, and well done, before the night shall come which will put an end to my labors on earth. May I daily imbibe more and more of the spirit of him who was meek and lowly of heart ; in this way may I seek and find rest to my soul. While I expose the wicked- ness of war, may I ever feel true compassion for those who are still bewildered by the custom. What scenes are before me, what trials await me, are known to him who cannot err. May his grace be sufficient for me, to preserve me from despon- dency and distrustfulness, and from the indulgence of any passion, or the adoption of any measure, by which his name would be dishonored, or the cause MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 109 of truth and peace injured. While I live mindful that my great change is at hand, may I ever derive comfort from the thought that God will live when I shall be laid in the grave ; that he can lay aside one instrument, and employ another to carry on his work ; that he can enable those who shall succeed me to correct my involuntary errors, and supply my defects ; and that he can even promote the cause which lies nearest my heart, by removing me from the world. May I also so live as to maintain a well grounded hope, that after I have done all in my power to promote peace on earth, I shall go to a world of uninterrupted peace, where my ears will be no more assailed with the din of arms or the clamor of men who thirst for blood ; where Christ- ians of all denominations will cease to reproach each other, and be of one heart and one soul in abhorring all their past bickerings and strife, and cordially unite in giving praise to a sin-pardoning God, and to the Lamb who hath loved us and redeemed us unto God by his blood. *' During the period of ten years' residence in Brighton, I have enjoyed a state of as much tran- quillity as I could reasonably have anticipated in any part of the world, and have been treated with more 10 110 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. attention and respect than I have deserved. Very seldom have I had a word of unpleasant altercation with any human being ; and I have not, that I recollect, received more than one letter from any one quarter, which I had reason to suppose was written with a design to wound my feelings. Nor have I been aware of any intended insult or dis- respect from the clergy of any denomination. Those who have dissented from my opinions have treated me with kindness, so far as I have had intercourse with them, or have been acquainted with their conduct towards me. As their opinions have been different from mine, their objecting to my views ought not to be regarded as unfriendly or disrespect- ful. I have also objected to theirs, without indulg- ing towards them unkind or disrespectful feelings." August 26, 1831. " I am now old, on the borders of the grave, and it is with me the day of adversity. My beloved wife is very sick, and will probably live but a few days. In this situation I set down to answer some questions which others may propose. As it is known to many that I have relinquished all hope of being saved on the ground of a vicarious punish- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. Ill ment, endured for me by Him who * loved us and gave himself for us,' some of my acquaintance may wish to know whether I have given up all hope of salvation. They may ask on what ground my hope rests, if I have a hope ? Whether I regard my- self as so righteous or sinless as to have no need of pardoning mercy ? and if not, in what way I hope for the pardon of my sins ? " In reply to such inquiries I am permitted to say even in this hour of trial and in the prospect of death, that I have a consoling hope of pardon and salvation. It is not, however, as a sinless being that I hope to be saved. But to me it is a ' true saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.' I believe that ' God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life ; ' that ' the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.' Such divine declarations I regard as ' good tidings,' for I feel that I have great need of pardon for my numerous offences. My hope of salvation is based on that ocean of the Father's love which * spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,' that he might reveal to us the way of life, 112 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. be the Mediator between God and our guilty race, the hght of the world, the way, the truth and the life. Believing in the record which God gave of the Son, and which the Son gave of the Father, as disposed to pardon all who repent and obey the gospel, I hope in divine mercy." Sept. 1831. " There was a portion of my life, after I entered on the ministry in which I kept a journal of the exercises of my mind, and various occurrences of providence. This I continued to do till I became impressed with the idea, that the practice exposed me to temptation ; I then discontinued the practice and destroyed the journals I had kept. I had read diaries which had been kept by others, some of which were very satisfactory and entertaining, in others I thought I discovered in the writers too great a desire to exalt themselves. I could not but fear that I should be guilty of a similar fault. Even now, I could state many things relating to the exer- cises of my mind in relation to religion while I was young — also many perilous situations in which I was placed, many temptations to which I was ex- posed, and many instances of the preserving mercy MEMOIRS OF NOAH AVORCESTER. 113 of God. But similar things have probably been common to hundreds and even thousands of others. I can recollect enough to excite in myself both wonder and gratitude, as well as contrition ; and these perhaps are the best uses which can be made of such recollections." Nov. 5, 1831. '' Some persons will doubtless deem it an objec- tion to my character, that so many of my writings have been on controversial subjects, and I am aware that controversy is too often conducted in a manner which tends to sour the mind, and to alien- ate the affections of a writer from those who dis- sent from his opinions. Indeed I have little doubt, that some controversial writers have indulged to- wards each other as bitter and unchristian feelings, as are indulged by the soldiers of different coun- tries in their sanguinary strife. How far I have been guilty of indulging such feelings, God perhaps only knows ; others must judge for themselves in view of what I have written. Were I to review all I have written, I should doubtless find a number of things which I should regret, and wish they had been differently expressed. But I have no recol- 10* 114 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. lection of having written anything with a desire to injure the character of any brother whose opinions were different from mine. It is now some conso- lation to me, so near the close of life, and in the prospect of so soon finishing my course, that I have ever written on controversial subjects with a deep conviction of my own liability to err — even on those points on which I have most strongly expressed my dissent from others ; and that it has been my aim to express this dissent with friendly feelings, and without calhng in question their Christ- ian character, on account of their opinions. If in any instance I have failed of so doing, it has wholly escaped my recollection. Indeed if such a viola- tion of the laws of love should now be pointed out to me, I should feel bound to retract it as unchrist- ian and indefensible. " What am I, that I should assume the preroga- tive of God, in judging the hearts of my fehow men, my Christian brethren ! What am I that I should dare to censure thousands of fellow Christ- ians as the enemies of God, because they happen to differ from me in their interpretations of some ambiguous words or phrases, which are used in the Bible ! Most of these dissenting brethren are wholly MEMOIRS OP NOAH WORCESTER. 115 unknown to me ; many of them have probably better talents than I have, and on many accounts have had greater advantages than myself, and surely I do not know that they have been less careful or less hum- ble in their inquiries than I have been in mine. What then is this self-sufficient and censorious spirit, which so often appears in sermons and in controversial writings, but the spirit of those Phar- isees who ' trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.' If at this late period of my life, I should find evidence that such is the spirit with which my controversial writings are imbued, I should shudder at the prospect of my final reckoning." Jan. 26, 1833. " Being now in my seventy-fourth year, 1 must expect soon to follow my wife to the house appoint- ed for all the living. But am I prepared for the event } What are the best evidences of prepara- tion for death ^ These are important questions, worthy of daily attention. I hope they will not be forgotten by me, or any more treated with neglect. How long God may see fit to prolong my life is to me unknown nor should this be my greatest 116 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. concern. I should indeed be willing to live as long as it shall be God's pleasure to preserve me ; but in itself considered, I do not think it is desirable that old people should survive their usefulness. I cannot pray that it may be so with myself." Note. — In my last conversation with Dr. Ware, I stated to him my father's views concerning the duration of the misery of the wicked, and concern- ing the personality of God ; and we agreed that a statement of these views should be given in the Memoirs. As I do not find this statement in what Dr. Ware has written, it seems to be my duty to supply it. My father was accustomed to teach plainly in his sermons, that the misery of the wicked would be eternal. After his views on many subjects became Unitarian, I was interested to know whether he had adopted the opinions of his Unitarian brethren in favor of Restoration. He very frankly stated that he considered the Lord's answer to the ques- tion, — c6fre there few that be saved, as deciding that those who died in sin would never be made happy. The text referred to is Luke xiii. 23-30. Within a year or two of the time of his death, I MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. 117 heard him repeat these verses with great solemnity, and he then added, — " The Lord certainly knows whether all icoulcl be saved ; could He have given this answer if He had known that all would he saved 7 I think not : I think He teaches plainly that the wicked, or those who die in sin, will never he saved,'''' He left a short MS. relating to this subject, which confirms all that I have stated. About the year 1817, after I had embraced the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, I had several conversations with my father concerning the popular denial that God should be regarded as in the human form, or in any form. I inquired whether we could possibly have any definite and determinate idea of a being, to whom we ascribed no form ; and I showed that the Scriptures repre- sent God as in in the human form. I told him that I could not distinguish between atheism and belief in a God without form, a God of whom we have no determinate and formal idea, an impersonal God. The conversations on this subject were long and numerous. There can be no doubt that my father distinctly understood me as insisting that the Di- vine Being is the Divine Man ; that He is to 118 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. be thought of, believed in, and worshipped, and as having all the organs and members belonging to this form, a head, body, arms, hands, feet, &c., as the Scriptures say. I denied that we had any right to substitute human philosophy for revelation on a subject of which we can know nothing but what is revealed. In the first conversation my father hesitated, and did not admit that I was right. My comparing the common faith in an impersonal God with atheism, startled him, and he reproved me. But a day or two after this, he said he was convinced that we must believe in God as in in some form, in order to believe in Him at all ; and that we ought to think of Him as in a perfect human form. To this I assented, and reminded him that I had not conveyed the idea that we should think of God as an imperfect man like ourselves, but as the One ONLY DlVIiNE MAN. To this he readily agreed; and in many subsequent conversations — some of them in his last years — he said that those who did not think of God as in the human form, could have no definite faith in him. I often endeavored to convince him that the Father and the Son should not be thought of as two MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 119 persons or beings, but that the Son of God is God as He is manifested in a visible, bodily form, and that in this Divine Humanity, or Son of God, dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity bodily. I did not, however, succeed in my endeavors ; and I have no doubt that he continued to the time of his death to believe that God and the Son of God are two persons or beings. It may not be improper to mention in this place, that while my father was preparing his work on the Atoning Sacrifice, he desired me to show him what Swedenborg wrote on the subject. He read a considerable part of it, and seemed greatly pleased to find that the doctrine of the New Jerusalena represents the Divine Being as perfectly merciful. But his belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is not God, but a person distinct from God, prevented his adopting the doctrine of Redemption as taught by Swedenborg. On hearing him repeat one of the texts which teach that we are icashed, cleansed, purified, and redeemed by the blood of Christ, I asked him whether this blood was the material blood which was shed on the cross. In the course of this con- versation I desired him to examine as far as he could ]20 MEMOIRS OF Noah woucester. the texts which tell what it is by which we are washed^ redeemed, and sanctified. Soon after I read to him a discourse, in which I had endeavored to prove that this blood means the divine blood and not material blood ; and that the divine blood, is the DIVINE TRUTH THE TRUTHS OF THE Sacred Scripture. After I had read the discourse, he said very emphatically, that I had '' demonstrated the truth of my main proposition, viz., that the Lord's bloody by which we are said to be cleansed, redeemed, &c., means in Scripture the divine truth, and not the material blood which was shed on the cross." This subject was referred to in several other conversations ; and he gave me good reason to believe that he rejoiced in this spiritual view of the Lord's Blood. — Editor. CHAPTER VIII. [By the Editor.] Selections from Dr. Ware's manuscripts. Extract from Dr. Channing's Sermon. Concluding remarks by the Editor. Among the papers of Dr. Ware which have been submitted to me, I find a few things which were intended for this chapter. Nothing is written out, but only sketches of his thoughts are found, and these have been much altered to render them intelligible. I give them in the best manner that I can ; and I have no doubt that they will convey the author's meaning. REMARKS OF DR. W^ARE. We have thus followed the life of this good man from its beginning, through its long course of pro- gress and change, to its closing days of tranquil and holy rest. The picture which it leaves on our 11 122 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. hearts, Is one of eminent beauty. Consistent, up- right, conscientious, and beneficent, it displays dis- tinctly the traits of the faithful Christian ; and its example is one of adherence to duty, and devotion to truth. Rarely do we find a truer instance of fidelity to one's sense of right, independent and unawed, with a meeker regard for the liberty and independence of others, and a more absolute sub- mission to the authority of the Divine Word. It was the union of these which made his Christian life, and as character is always constituted in part of its native endowments, and original temperament, so here also his original temperament formed a groundwork never obliterated, upon which the su- perstructure of his ultimate character rested. In such occupations the few remaining years of his life wore tranquilly away. He went less and less abroad. He retreated more and more to the contemplative solitude of his study. His infirmi- ties sensibly increased upon him. But he struggled on ; and it was beautiful to witness the consistency with which he patiently waited, serene, tranquil, humble, and grateful, the arrival of his summons to depart. See him then during these last years of debility MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 123 and retirement. He lives humbly and almost alone; his daughter is with him to attend and cheer him ; infirmity confines him much to the house, but he goes abroad for the little exercise of body which he can bear, — chiefly walking in the neighboring grounds of Mr. Parsons. His mode of hfe in the highest degree patriarchal, frugal, simple, his habits moderate, his wants few ; and for the Providence which grants a supply to them, and the generous friends who contributed to his living, he never wants the luxury of a heart full of the most affect- ing gratitude. Subject to severe ill turns, liable at any hour to be cut off; burdened with the weariness of perpetual languor ; living on sufferance from day to day ; he sits serene, gentle, cheerful, more than resigned, thankful, occupied as ever with thoughts of others, with solicitude for the w^elfare of man, and cares for the kingdom of God. Nothing es- capes his attention that concerns the honor of Divine truth, and the advancement of righteousness and charity. Shut out from the world, his spirit is in the midst of it ; and his Httle study witnesses his labors still in its behalf. War, oppression, error, intemperance, slavery, occupy his mind, and his pen ; and sheet after sheet, testifies to the lively 124 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. sensibility and deep concern with which he still pursues the great and favorite interests of humanity. The papers consisting of remarks on the several important questions pertaining to these topics as they came up in the events of the day, and the discussions of the journals, would make volumes. The last subject on which he was writing, was slavery. He wrote and re-wrote with care a con- siderable treatise for the press, not many months before his death ; and the various articles which lie among his papers show that he had looked into all the questions which pertain to that vexed subject, with the perseverance and earnestness which be- longed to his younger days. Here, as always, he was found steadfast on the side of right and hu- manity. He had a great fondness for metrical composition. When he sat musing by himself, and his feelings glowed with devotional or philanthropic sentiment, they spontaneously found vent in verse ; and very numerous are the hymns of praise and personal gratitude, humanity and faith which remain among his papers, the memorials of his passing frames of thought, and records of interesting occurrences. From the readiness with which he assumed this MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 125 mode of expression, the enjoyment which it evidently afforded him, and the care with which many of these productions have been copied and preserved, it is plain that he not a little valued them. But the love and taste for poetry do not always imply the power to excel in it. Natuer had endowed him with the poetical temperament, and he had a large aptitude for poetical forms of thought. This is seen every where throughout his writings in his tendency to figurative illustration, especially in his love of the parable and allegory ; of which his works furnish many beautiful examples, and his verses abound in them. But his education had unhappily denied him that culture of the taste and that power over language, which are essential to successful poetical expression ; and his essays are valuable only as evidences of the perpetual greenness of his soul, and of his ever ready sensibility to religious truth, and all the goodness there is in life and the universe. It is truly affecting to observe the records of daily gratitude and faith, morning and evening and mid-day noted down in impromptu verse, as if they would not be denied their song ; and how passing events and memorable occasions, — a birth day, a new-year's day, and other anniver- 11* 126 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. saries, — called out the ready music of his religious lyre. It is remarkable, however, that, of formal hymns, suited to be sung to our common tunes, he wrote almost none ; for he was fond of music, and was a good singer. In early and middle life he paid no little attention to that science. He was a teacher of music. His voice was particularly melodious, and he entered into the act of singing with a heartiness of evident devotion, that was truly impressive to behold. His appearance in his pew at Brighton, " with his silver locks flowing to his shoulders, his countenance a little elevated, and full of the seriousness, earnestness, and delight which belong to this act of worship, while his voice was readily distinguished through the whole house," is described as having been eminently striking and beautiful. In politics he always took a strong interest, like the other prominent men of his time. With his father and brothers he belonged to the Federal party, and retained his attachment to it, but without violence of party spirit, and with good feelings towards opponents. He was familiar with the his- tory of the government, and formed very definite opinions concerning all its leading measures. His reverence for Washington was unlimited. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 127 His personal appearance was striking. He pos- sessed a large frame, and at some periods of his life weighed two hundred and thirty pounds. His bodily presence was portly and dignified ; his man- ners had an unusual suavity, and he wore an habitual air of bland deference toward others which amount- ed to an almost feminine gentleness. The expres- sion of benignity and meekness in his countenance was very striking to strangers. The peculiar sweetness of his manners was in part a family trait. The same was conspicuous in his brothers whom I have seen. It probably was increased in him by the perpetual discipline he exercised himself to maintain over a temperament naturally hasty and irritable, and which he thus kept in such a subjection, that few who knew him in his riper days ever suspected that his beautiful meekness was the attainment of a sharp struggle and laborious self-control. " There was a sort of majesty in his meekness," says one ; " for it was a laborious acquisition, and sat upon him like a crown. How many conflicts did it not indicate, and how many victories too ! With this impression I never could look upon him but with wonder, nor think of him without deriving encouragement and strength for the ordeal of man's spiritual progress." 128 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. The portrait by Alexander, painted for Dr. Tuckerman, and now in possession of one of his sons, represents him with great truth. The best likeness, in the judgment of some of his family, " as showing his profile, his whole personal outline, and most frequent attitude," is found in the sketch of an old clergyman reading to a convict, engraved for the Religious Offering, 1840. The portrait of Hobbes in Knights' Portrait Gallery is remarkably like him. Among Dr. Ware's papers I find a memorandum showing that he intended to insert a part of Dr. Channing's Discourse, entitled A Tribute to THE Memory of Noah Worcester, D. D. I shall here copy what I suppose was intended. The reader will notice a few errors in respect to Dr. Worcester's publications. For statements of facts, the preceding pages are to be consulted. REMARKS OP DR. CHANNING. Within a few days, a great and good man, a singular example of the philanthropy which Jesus MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. 129 Christ came to breathe into the world, has been taken away ; and as it was my happiness to know him more intimately than most among us, I feel as if I were called to bear a testimony to his rare good- ness, and to hold up his example as a manifestation of what Christianity can accomplish in the human mind. I refer to the Rev. Noah Worcester, who has been justly called the AposUe of Peace, who finished his course at Brighton during the last week. His great age, for he was almost eighty, and the long, and entire seclusion to which debility had compelled him, have probably made his name a strange one to some who hear me. In truth, it is common in the present age, for eminent men to be forgotten during their lives, if their lives are much prolonged. Society is now a quick-shifting pa- geant. New actors hurry the old ones from the stage. The former stability of things is strikingly impaired. The authority which gathered round the aged, has declined. The young seize impatiently the prizes of life. The hurried, bustling, tumult- uous, feverish Present, swallows up men's thoughts, so that he who retires from active pursuits, is as little known to the rising generation as if he were dead. It is not wonderful then, that Dr. Worcester 130 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. was so far forgotten by his contemporaries. But the future will redress the wrongs of the present ; and in the progress of civilization, history will guard more and more sacredly the memories of men, who have advanced before their age and de- voted themselves to great, but neglected interests of humanity. Dr. Worcester's efforts in relation to war, or in the cause of peace, made him eminently a public man, and constitute his chief claim to public con- sideration ; and these were not founded on acci- dental circumstances or foreign influences, but wholly on the strong and peculiar tendencies of his mind. He was distinguished above all whom I have known by his comprehension and deep feeling of the spirit of Christianity, by the sympathy with which he seized on the character of Jesus Christ as a manifestation of Perfect Love, by the honor in which he held the mild, humble, forgiving, disin- terested virtues of our religion. This distinguish- ing trait of his mind was embodied and brought out in his whole life and conduct. He especially expressed it in his labors for the promotion of Uni- versal Peace on the earth. He was struck, as no other man within my acquaintance has been, with MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 131 the monstrous incongruity between the spirit of Christianity and the spirit of Christian communities, between Christ's teaching of peace, mercy, forgive- ness, and the wars which divide and desolate the church and the world. Every man has particular impressions which rule over and give a hue to his mind. Everyman is struck by some evils rather than others. The excellent individual of whom I speak was shocked, heart-smitten, by nothing so much, as by seeing, that man hates man, that man destroys his brother, that man has drenched the earth with his brother's blood, that man in his insanity has crowned the murderer of his race with the highest honors ; and, still worse, that Christian hates Christian, that church wars against church, that differences of forms and opinions array against each other those whom Christ died to join together in closest brotherhood, and that Christian zeal is spent in building up sects, rather than in spreading the spirit of Christ and enlarging and binding to- gether the universal church. The great evil on which his mind and heart fixed was War, Discord, Intolerance, the substitution of force for Reason and Love. To spread peace on earth became the object of his life. Under this impulse he gave 132 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. birth and impulse to Peace Societies. This new movement is to be traced to him above all other men, and his name, I doubt not, will be handed down to future time with increasing veneration as the ' Friend of Peace,' as having given new force to the principles which are gradually to abate the horrors, and ultimately extinguish the spirit of war. The history of the good man, as far as I have learned it, is singularly instructive and encouraging. He was self-taught, self-formed. He was born in narrow circumstances, and to the age of twenty- one was a laborious farmer, not only deprived of a collegiate education, but of the advantages which may be enjoyed in a more prosperous family. An early marriage brought on him the cares of a grow- ing family. Still he found or rather made time for sufficient improvements to introduce him into the ministry before his thirtieth year. He was first settled in a parish too poor to give him even a scanty support : and he was compelled to take a farm on which he toiled by day, whilst in the evening he was often obliged to use a mechanical art for the benefit of his family. He made their shoes, an occupation of which Coleridge has some- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 133 where remarked, that it has been followed by a greater number of eminent men than any other trade. By the side of his work-bench he kept ink and paper, that he might WTite down the interesting thoughts, which he traced out or which rushed on him amidst his humble labors. I take pleasure in stating this part of his history. The prejudice against manual labor as inconsistent with personal dignity is one of the most irrational and pernicious, especially in a free country. It shows how little we comprehend the spirit of our institutions, and how deeply we are tainted with the narrow maxims of the old aristocracies of Europe. Here was a man, uniting great intellectual improvement with refine- ment of manners, who had been trained under unusual severity of toil. This country has lost much physical and moral strength, and its pros- perity is at this moment depressed, by the common propensity to forsake the plough for less manly pursuits, which are thought, however, to promise greater dignity as well as ease. His first book was a series of letters to a Bap- tist minister, and in this he gave promise of the direction which the eftbrts of his life were to as- sume. The great object of these letters, was not 12 134 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. to settle the controversies about baptism, about the mode of administering it whether by immersion or sprinkling, or about the proper subjects of it whether children or adults alone. His aim was, to show that these were inferior questions, that differ- ences about these ought not to divide Christians, that the ' close communion ' as it is called, of the Baptists, was inconsistent with the liberal spirit of Christianity, and that this obstruction to Christ- ian unity ought to be removed. His next publication was what brought him into notice, and gave him an important place in our theological history. It was a publication on the Trinity, and what is worthy of remark, it preceded the animated controversy on that point which a few years after agitated this city and commonwealth. The mind of Dr. Worcester was turned to this topic not by foreign impulses but by its own work- ings. He had been brought up in the strictest sect, that is, as a Calvinist. His first doubts as to the Trinity arose from the confusion, the perplexity, mto which his mind was thrown by this doctrine in his acts of devotion. To worship three persons as one and the same God, as one and the same being, seemed to him difficult if not impossible. He ac- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 135 cordingly resolved to read and examine the Scrip- tures from beginning to end, for the purpose of ascertaining the true doctrine respecting God and the true rank of Jesus Ciirist. The views at which he arrived were so different from what prevailed around him, and some of them so peculiar, that he communicated them to the public under the rather quaint title of ' Bible News relating to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.' His great aim was to prove, that the Supreme God was one person, even the Father, and that Jesus Christ was not the Supreme God, but his Son in a strict and peculiar sense. This idea of ' the pecuhar and natural sonship ' of Christ, by which he meant that Jesus was derived from the very substance of the Father, had taken a strong hold on his mind, and he insisted on it with as much confidence as was consistent with his deep sense of fallibility. But, as might be expected in so wise and spiritual a man, it faded more and more from his mind, in proportion as he became acquainted with and assimilated to the true glory of his Master. In one of his unpublished manuscripts, he gives an account of his change of view in this particular, and, without disclaiming expressly the doctrine which had formerly seemed 136 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. SO precious, he informs us that it had lost its im- portance in his sight. The Moral, Spiritual dignity of Christ, had risen on his mind in such splendor as to dim his old idea of ^ natural sonship.' In one place he affirms, ' I do not recollect an instance [in the scriptures] in which Christ is spoken of as loved, honored, or praised on any other ground than his Moral dignity.' This moral greatness he declares to be the highest with which Jesus was clothed, and expresses his conviction, ' that the controversies of Christians about his natural dignity, had tended very little to the honor of their Master, or to their own advantage.' The manuscript to which I refer was written after his seventieth year, and is very illustrative of his character. It shows, that his love of truth was stronger than the tenacity with which age commonly clings to old ideas. It shows him superior to the theory, which more than any other he had considered his own, and which had been the fruit of very laborious study. It shows how strongly he felt, that Progress was the law and end of his being, and how he continued to make progress to the last hour. The work called ' Bible News ' drew much attention, and converted not a few to the doctrine of the proper unity of MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 137 God. Its calm, benignant spirit had no small in- fluence in disarming prejudice and unkindness. He found, however, that his defection from his original faith had exposed him to much suspicion and re- proach ; and he became at length so painfully impressed with the intolerance which his work had excited, that he published another shorter work called 'Letters to Trinitarians,' a work breathing the very spirit of Jesus, and intended to teach, that diversities of opinion, on subjects the most mysteri- ous and perplexing, ought not to sever friends, to dissolve the Christian tie, to divide the church, to fasten on the dissenter from the common faith the charge of heresy, to array the disciples of the Prince of Peace in hostile bands. These works obtained such favor, that he was solicited to leave the obscure town in which he ministered, and to take charge, in this place, of a periodical called at first the Christian Disciple, and now better known as the Christian Examiner. At that time, (about twenty-five years ago,) I first saw him. Long and severe toil, and a most painful disease, had left their traces on his once athletic frame ; but his counte- nance beamed with a benignity which at once at- tracted confidence and affection. For several years 12* 138 MEMOIRS OF NOAII WORCESTER. he consulted me habitually in the conduct of the work which he edited. I recollect with admiration the gentleness, humility, and sweetness of temper, with which he endured freedoms, corrections, re- trenchments, some of which I feel now to have been unwarranted, and which no other man would so kindly have borne. This work was commenced very much for doctrinal discussions ; but his spirit could not brook such limitations, and he used its pages more and more for the dissemination of his principles of philanthropy and peace. At length he gave these principles to the world, in a form which did much to decide his future career. He published a pamphlet called ' A Solemn Review of the Custom of War.' It bore no name, and appeared without recommendation, but it immedi- ately seized on attention. It was read by multitudes in this country, then published in England, and translated, as I have heard, into several languages of Europe. Such was the impression made by this work, that a new association, called the Peace Society of Massachusetts, was instituted in this place. I well recollect the day of its formation in yonder house, then the parsonage of this parish, and if there was a happy man that day on earth, it MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORESTER. 139 was the founder of this institution. This society gave birth to all the kindred ones in this country, and its influence was felt abroad. Dr. Worcester assumed the charge of its periodical, and devoted himself for years to this cause, with unabating faith and zeal ; and it may be doubted, whether any man, who ever lived, contributed more than he, to spread just sentiments on the subject of War, and to hasten the era of universal peace. He began his efforts in the darkest day, when the whole civil- ized world was shaken by conflict, and threatened with military despotism. He lived to see more than twenty years of general peace, and to see through these years, a multiplication of national ties, an extension of commercial communications, an establishment of new connections between Christ- ians and learned men through the world, and a growing reciprocity of friendly and beneficent influ- ence among different states, all giving aid to the principles of peace, and encouraging hopes which a century ago would have been deemed insane. The abolition of war, to which this good man devoted himself, is no longer to be set down as a creation of fancy, a dream of enthusiastic philan- thropy. War rests on opinion, and opinion is more 140 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. and more withdrawing its support. War rests on contempt of human nature, on the long, mournful habit of regarding the mass of human beings as machines, or as animals having no higher use than to be shot at and murdered, for the glory of a chief, for the sealing of this or that family on a throne, for the petty interests or selfish rivalries which have inflamed states to conflict. Let the worth of a human being be felt ; let the mass of a people be elevated ; let it be understood that a man was made to enjoy unalienable right, to improve lofty powers, to secure a vast happiness ; and a main pillar of war will fall. And is it not plain that these views are taking place of the contempt in which man has so long been held ? War finds another support in the prejudices and partialities of a narrow patriotism. Let the great Christian prin- ciple of human brotherhood be comprehended, let the Christian spirit of universal love gain ground, and just so fast the custom of war, so long the pride of men, will become their abhorrence and execration. It is encouraging to see how outward events are concurring with the influences of Christ- ianity in promoting peace, how an exclusive nation- ality is yielding to growing intercourse, how different MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 141 nations by mutual visits, by the interchange of thoughts and products, by studying one another's language and literature, by union of efforts in the cause of religion and humanity, are growing up to the consciousness of belonging to one great family. Every rail road connecting distant regions, may be regarded as accomplishing a ministry of peace. Every year which passes without war, by interweav- ing more various ties of interest and friendship, is a pledge of corning years of peace. The prophetic faith, with which Dr. AYorcester, in the midst of universal w^ar, looked forward to a happier era, and which was smiled at as enthusiasm or credul- ity, has already received a sanction beyond his fondest hopes by the wonderful progress of human afiairs. On the subject of War, Dr. Worcester adopted opinions w-hich are thought by some to be extreme. He interpreted literally the precept. Resist not evil; and he believed that nations as well as individuals would find safety as well as ' fulfil righteousness ' in yielding it literal obedience. One of the most striking traits of his character, was his confidence in the power of love, I might say in its omnipo- tence. He beheved, the surest way to subdue a 142 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. foe, was to become his friend ; that a true benev- olence was a surer defence than swords, or artillery, or walls of adamant. He believed, that no mightier man ever trod the soil of America than William Penn, when entering the wilderness unarmed, and stretching out to the savage a hand which refused all earthly weapons, in token of brotherhood and peace. There was something grand in the calm confidence, with which he expressed his conviction of the superiority of moral to physical force. Ar- mies, fiery passions, quick resentments, and the spirit of vengeance miscalled honor, seemed to him weak, low instruments, inviting, and often hastening the ruin which they are used to avert. Many will think him in error ; but if so, it was a grand thought which led him astray. At the age of seventy, he felt as if he had discharged his mission as a preacher of peace, and resigned his oflice as Secretary to the Society, to which he had given the strength of many years. He did not, however, retire to unfruitful repose. Bodily infirmity had increased, so that he was very much confined to his house ; but he returned with zeal to the studies of his early life, and produced two theological works, one on the atonement, the MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 143 Other on human depravity or the moral state of man by nature, which I regard as among the most useful books on these long agitated subjects. These wri- tings, particularly the last, have failed of the popu- larity which they merit, In consequence of a defect of style, which may be traced to his defective education, and which naturally increased with years. 1 refer to his dIfFuseness, to his inability to con- dense his thoughts. His writings, however, are not wanting in merits of style. They are simple and clear. They abound to a remarkable degree in ingenious illustration, and they have often the charm which original thinking always gives to com- position. He was truly an original writer, not In the sense of making great discoveries, but in the sense of writing from his own mind, and not from books, or tradition. What he wrote, had perhaps been written before ; but In consequence of his limited reading. It was new to himself, and came to him with the freshness of discovery. Some- times great thoughts flashed on his mind, as if they had been inspirations ; and in writing his last book, he seems to have felt as if some extraordinary light had been imparted from above. After his seventy-fifth year he ceased to write books, but 144 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER, his mind lost nothing of its activity. He was so enfeehled by a distressing disease, that he could converse but a ^ew moments at a time ; yet he entered into all the great movements of the age, with an interest distinguished from the fervor of youth, only by its mildness and its serene trust. The attempts made, in some of our cities, to propa- gate atheistical principles, gave him much concern, and he applied himself to fresh inquiries into the proofs of the existence and perfections of God, hoping to turn his labors to the account of his erring fellow-creatures. With this view, he entered on the study of nature as a glorious testimony to its almighty author. I shall never forget the delight which illumined his countenance a short time ago, as he told me, that he had just been reading the history of the coral, the insect which raises islands in the sea. ' How wonderfully,' he exclaimed, ' is God's providence revealed in these little creatures.' The last subject to which he devoted his thoughts, was slavery. His mild spirit could never reconcile itself to the methods in which this evil is often assailed ; but the greatness of the evil he deeply felt, and he left several essays on this as on the preceding subject, which, if they shall be found unfit MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 145 for publication, will still bear witness to the intense, unfaltering interest with which he bound himself to the cause of mankind. I have thus given a sketch of the history of a good man who lived and died the lover of his kind and the admiration of his friends. Two views of him particularly impressed me. The first was the unity, the harmony of his character. He had no jarring elements. His whole nature had been blended and melted into one strong, serene love. His mission was to preach peace, and he preached it not on set occasions, or by separate efforts, but in his whole life. It breathed in his tones. It beamed from his venerable countenance. He car- ried it, where it is least apt to be found, into the religious controversies, which raged around him with great vehemence, but which never excited him to a word of anger or intolerance. All my impressions of him are harmonious. I recollect no discord in his beautiful life ; and this serenity was not the result of torpidness or tameness ; for his whole life was a conflict with what he thought error. He made no compromise with the world, and yet he loved it as deeply and constantly as if 13 14G MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. it had responded in shouts to all his views and feelings. The next great impression which I received from him was that of the sufficiency of the mind to its own happiness, or of its independence on outward things. He was for years debilitated and often a great sufierer ; and his circumstances were very narrow, compelling him to so strict an economy, that was sometimes represented, though falsely, as wanting the common comforts of life. In this tried and narrow condition, he was among the most contented of men. He spoke of his old age as among the happiest portions if not the very hap- piest in his life. In conv^ersation his religion man- ifested itself in gratitude more frequently than in any other form. When I have visited him in his last years, and looked on his serene countenance, and heard his cheerful voice, and seen the youthful earnestness with which he was reading a variety of books, and studying the great interests of humanity, I have felt how little of this outward world is needed to our happiness. I have felt the greatness of the human spirit, which could create to itself such joy from its own resources. I have felt the folly, the insanity of that prevailing worldhness. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 147 which in accumulating outward good, neglects the imperishable soul. On leaving his house and turn- ing my face toward the city, I have said to myself, how much richer is this poor man than the richest who dwell yonder. I have been ashamed of my own dependence on outward good. I am always happy to express my obligations to the benefactors of my mind ; and I owe it to Dr. Worcester to say, that my acquaintance with him gave me clearer comprehension of the spirit of Christ, and of the dignity of a man. And he has gone to his reward. He has gone to that world of which he carried in his own breast so rich an earnest and pledge, to a world of Peace. He has gone to Jesus Christ, whose spirit he so deeply comprehended and so freely imbibed, and to God whose universal, all-suftering, all-embracing love he adored, and in a humble measure made manifest in his own life. But he is not wholly gone ; not gone in heart, for I am sure that a bet- ter world has heightened, not extinguished, his affection for his race ; and not gone in influence, for his thoughts remain in his works, and his memory is laid up as a sacred treasure in many minds. A spirit so beautiful ought to multiply itself in those 148 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. to whom it is made known. May we all be incited by it lo a more grateful, cheerful love to God, and serener, gentler, nobler love of our fellow- creatures. The fidelity of Dr. Ware has left but a few things to be added by the Editor. Soon after my father commenced preaching, he became extensively known. He was honored with the degrees of A. B. and A. M. by Dartmouth College, and with that of D. D. by Harvard Uni- versity in 1818. He wrote with uncommon rapidity and accuracy, but did not read so fast as many others. After his limbs became feeble in 1806, his habits were se- dentary ; and very few men are able to study so much as he did. I think that twenty years of his life may be selected, during which his average daily time of study was not less than fourteen hours. But he was very regular in taking exercise, as much as he felt able to bear, and of such kinds as best suited the state of his health. All his habits were marked by promptness, en- ergy, and punctuality. He rose very early during MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 149 his whole life, and wanted his simple breakfast as soon as it could be prepared. He was then ready for the labors of the day ; worked with all his might at whatever seemed his duty ; desired and endeavored to have all labors go on very quietly, but with energy ; and, at an early hour in the evening, he was thankful that the time of rest had arrived. After he came to Brighton he preached many times in Boston and the neighboring towns ; but, for about twenty years before his death, his liability to spasmodic affections rendered it unsafe for him to attempt to preach. My father had four sons and six daughters by his first wife, but none by the second wife. The first daughter died in infancy, and the last was still- born, after the fall which was the cause of my mother's death. Four sons and four daughters lived to adult age. The youngest of these daugh- ters lived with him till his death, and had the prin- cipal care of him during the last seven or eight years of his life. After the year 1817, my step-mother had very little to do with the domestic concerns. She was almost wholly devoted to my father. She read a 13* 150 MEMOIRS OP NOAH WORCESTER. great deal to him, took care of bis papers, folded and stitched his pamphlets, and rendered him every service that she could. The affairs of the house belonged to my sister. She was assisted for some years by a faithful niece, whose memory is very dear to all who knew her. But for the very com- fortable home which my father enjoyed during his last years, he was almost wholly indebted to my sister. She merited and received his full confi- dence. She watched over him and served him day and night ; and when she might sleep, she placed herself so near him, as to be aroused by the gentlest call. If he was enabled to be in any degree useful during this period of his life, the blessings of a peaceful home gave him this ability ; and my sister was the principal and often the sole medium, through whom the Lord bestowed these blessings. For many years my father W'as Postmaster at Brighton ; and in several cases when nearly all others were removed, he was not molested. The duties of the office devolved on my sister ; and when the business of the town had greatly increased, and large sums of money must lie in the office over night, my sister was fearful for its safety, and de- MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 151 sired my father to resign. The increase of the village had also rendered the distance of the Post Office inconvenient to the people ; but their kind- ness to my father and sister prevented their complaining. And it is but an act of justice to the people of Brighton to say, that they treated my father with very great kindness and respect, and were always ready to bestow on him any favors which he desired. He was very sensible of their kindness, and I take great pleasure in recording it, and thanking them for it. It has been mentioned that my father was subject to paralytic affections, and also to turns of entire prostration of strength, arising probably from some degree of ossification of the heart or arteries. The first case of paralysis, and one of the severest which he ever suffered was, I think, in the summer of 1815. INIy younger brother and myself were sitting in the chamber, and heard our step-mother call us in a troubled tone of voice. On entering the sitting room we saw father on the floor, quiv- ering and speechless, and mother was trying to raise him. We set him in a chair, and soon saw that one side of him was paralyzed. We began to rub him, but were conscious that we knew not 152 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. what ought to be done. It so was, that I had a phial of aqua ammoniae in my pocket ; and a thought that I ought to apply it came with much distinct- ness. We removed his coat, applied the wash to his hand, arm, shoulder, breast, and one side of his face, and also to his nose. He was instantly so sensible of relief, that he extended his tongue to have that also washed with the ammoniae. He be- came able to speak within a f^ew minutes, and also rose and walked to his room ; but his tongue and lips felt the effects of my harsh medicine for many days. He had less of these paralytic affections, and more of the other kind, in his later years. We doubted not that he would die in one of these spasms from disease of the heart ; but the violence of these spasms rather diminished after he was seventy years of age ; and, at last, his lungs which had seemed to be very good, became much dis- eased ; and he died of pulmonary consumption, Oct. 31, 1837. The ill turns which depended on a disease of the heart, rendered it necessary that he should avoid all occasions of excitement, and hence that he should keep at home. He was well aware that his body could not bear MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 153 much excitement of the mind ; and he therefore generally avoided discussions with those who dif- fered from him. This gave to the last years of his hfe a more placid character, than properly belonged to him. He was constitutionally exchable ; and when his health was feeble, it took but little to dis- compose him. Those who visited him at Brighton w^ere generally his warm friends, who came to ap- prove and encourage his works. In their presence he could be calm and happy ; and those who had known him more, and had constant intercourse with him, knew how to avoid what would trouble him. There was nothing harsh and vindictive in his character. When irritated he was severe ; but his deep and ever-active sense of justice and mercy, and his abhorrence of strife, always overcame his excitement so soon, that none were willing to remember it. For about five weeks before his death his health rapidly declined. He was quite conscious that he was failing, and said, — ''I think I may not be here long, and I know not why I should desire to be." He took his last meal with the fiimily one month before his death, but continued able to sit 154 MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. up a part of each day till the last five days. He suffered much from indigestion, and his lungs were evidently diseased. He bore his severe pains with admirable fortitude. Near the last hour he was in much distress from pain in the left side. A part of the last day he seemed bewildered, but most of the time he was conscious of his condition, and was willing to die. His funeral took place at the meeting house in which he had worshipped during his residence at Brighton ; and the services were performed by the Rev. Daniel Austin. His body was placed in a tomb at Brighton, but was afterward removed to Mount Auburn, where a Monument with the fol- lowing inscription was erected to his memory. MEMOIRS OF NOAH WORCESTER. 155 (On one side.) To NOAH WORCESTER, D. D. Erected by his Friends, In commemoration of zealous Labors In the Cause of Peace: And of the Meekness, Benignity, and Consistency Of his Character, As a Christian Philanthropist and Divine: " Speaking the Truth in Love." (On the other side.) NOAH WORCESTER, Born at HoUis, N, H., Nov. 25, 1758: Died at Brighton, Mass., Oct. 31, 1837: Aged 79 years. " Blessed are the Peacemakers, For they shall be called The Children of God." DATE DUE II iiwi imnn (^ ■^-AeeilTT ««««*«.= • '^•'^wiPPiiiii ^'i^.tirtii fff GAYLORD PRINTED IN U..S.A. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 01046 0030 ^^^^1 iliiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiliifliiiiii