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 LIBRARY 
 
 
 
 OF THE 
 
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 Theo 
 
 logical Seminar 
 
 y, 
 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 • 1 
 
 Case,__^ 
 
 O+vtsi-Gn i 
 
 
 Slielf, 
 Book, 
 
 Section 
 
 
 Ho., 
 
 
 OF 
 
 INQUIRY OH Biissiowrs 
 
 AND 
 
 THE STATE OF RELTGIOX. 
 
 Sec: 
 
1 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF THE r 
 LATE, 
 
 AN OFFICER OF MARINES 
 
 IS THE UNITED STATES' SERVICE : ATTKBWABDS, 
 
 ATTORNEY AT LAW 
 
 IN TUE STATE OF PEIWSYLVAHIA : AND SUBBBdtrEHTLT, 
 
 A MINISTER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 PRINCIPAL AGENT 
 
 Of the American Goverrunent for persons liberated from Slave- 
 Sfiips, on the Coast of Africa ; 
 
 Where he terminated his Life in the month of May, 1820. 
 
 BY J.^ASHMUN. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY: 
 
 Sold by the Booksellers of the District of Columbia ; Richmond ; Petersbuis: ; 
 Norfolk ; Baltimore ; Philadelphia ; New York ; New Haven, and Boston. 
 
 Jacob Gickon,jimior, Printer. 
 1822. 
 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, io wit : 
 
 -♦4*+***t« l^E IT REMEMBERED, That on the tenth day 
 
 J. L s. I of December, in the year of oui- Lord one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and twenty-one, ind of the Independence of the l^niteil 
 States of America, the forty-sixth, J. Ashmmi, A. B. of the said District^ 
 hath deiwsited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof lie 
 claims as author and proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 
 
 « Memor of the Life and Character of the Rer. Samuel Bacon, A. M. 
 " Late an Officer of Marines in the United States' service : afterwards, 
 •* Attorney at law in the State of Pennsylvania : and subsequently, a 
 " Minister of the Episcopal Church, and Principal Agent of the 
 '• American Government for persons liberated from Slave-Ships, on the 
 
 «' Coast of Africa ; where he terminated his Life in the month of 
 
 " May, 1820. By J. Ashman." 
 
 In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
 " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securmg the copies of 
 maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies du- 
 ring the times therein mentioned ;" and also to the act, entitled " An act 
 supplementary to an act, entitled ' An act for the encouragement of lear- 
 ning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors 
 and proprietors of such copies during the times therein menioned,' and ex- 
 tending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etch- 
 ing liistorical and other prints." 
 
 Jn testimony -whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the 
 public seal of my office, the day and year aforesaid. 
 
 EDM. LLEE, 
 Clerk of the District of Columbia. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The late Rev. Samuel Bacon, about 
 two years previous to his lamented death, 
 commenced the preparation of a sketch of 
 the principal events of his life. In this 
 undertakinji^ he was induced to engage, in 
 the expectation of deriving some personal 
 benefit from the recollections which the 
 labour would supply his own mind ; and of 
 gratifying and profiting a few friends, to 
 whose perusal it might be proper to oifer 
 the narrative. Of this sketch he drew up 
 an outline ; in which, were put down, little 
 besides the dates of the principal occur- 
 rences of his history, down to the year 
 1817, and an enumeration of such related 
 subjects as he proposed to discuss in de- 
 tail. The first chapter only of this outline, 
 was all he lived, to complete. 
 
 His religious journal kept during the 
 tbe years i817 — 18 and 19, describes the 
 progress of his mind in that important 
 concern, with great fid.elity : and his cor- 
 respondence, and sepaijate papers, written 
 at difl^erent periods, ^d on a variety of 
 
IV 
 
 subjects, are numerous and extensive:— 
 and taken together, they have furnished 
 abundant materials for the illustration of 
 ever^^important trait of his character, and 
 the preservation of the most interesting 
 incidents of his life. 
 
 Few of his manuscripts were intended 
 for publication, at all ; and none of them, 
 in the state in which they came into the 
 author's hands : he has therefore used 
 the necessary liberty of correcting the style 
 and phraseology of nearly all the passages 
 introduced into the memoir: but in no 
 case has the sense of the original been vo- 
 luntarily perverted, nor his emendations 
 obtruded upon it unnecessarily. In the il- 
 lustration of subjects not essential to the 
 sketch, he has commonly either filled 
 an outline, or followed out an intention, 
 contained in Mr. Bacon's papers: but for 
 the manner in which this department of 
 the work has been executed, and for the 
 remarks interspersed, perhaps too freely, 
 along with the incidents of the narrative, 
 he is alone answerable. 
 
 On several topics he has been induced 
 to dilate, with a view to commend them 
 
to a lar,^er share of the piihlic interest. 
 This vemark applies, particularly, to the 
 concise statement of the objects and mea- 
 sures of the American Colonization 
 Society ; with which, indeed, the latter 
 part of Air. Bacon's history is inseparably 
 connected. From this cause, the writer 
 lias never withheld those testimonials of 
 his hearty attachment^ which the best 
 use of his humble talents in its behalf, 
 has been able to confer. 
 
 To several of the friends of the late 
 Mr. Bacon, who have kindly supplied the 
 deficiencies of his papers, he expresses 
 his gratitude : and humbly commends the 
 work to the blessing of God, and the 
 candid reception of all whom the exam- 
 ple of its pious subject is capable of bene- 
 fiting. 
 
 J. ASHMUN. 
 
 Washin^^ton City, January, 1823. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Introduction. Mr. Bacon's Ancestry. His parentage. 
 New England Characteristics. Social Regulations. 
 Common schools. Legal provision for the support of 
 Religion. The Standing Order. Mr. Bacon's early life. 
 His religious impressions. His early occupations, and 
 habits. Depressing circumstances of his youth. Pa- 
 rental affection, - - - - « 1 — 25, 
 
 CHAP. II 
 
 System of Divine Providence. Young Bacon's predilec- 
 tion for literary pursuits. Domestic incidents. His 
 entrance in a public school. Rigid economy. Account 
 of New England Grammar schools. His proficiency. 
 The recess. His ingenuousness. Termination of his 
 minority. His neglected religious education. Final 
 departure Irom his Father's house. His entrance in 
 Harvard University. His poverty. His College ser- 
 vices. Account of Harvard College. Its religious 
 character. Effects on the character of the students. 
 His progress. Termination of his College life. Dan- 
 gerous illness. Destitution of religious sensibility. 
 His entrance on a course of law reading. Edits the 
 National iEgis. His removal to Pennsylvania, 26 — 59. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Fallacious Patronage. His infidelity. Journey Into the 
 interior. Repeated frustration of his hopes Illness. 
 His settlement in Lancaster. His disinterested laboars. 
 His success. Edits the Hive. His removal to York. 
 Ilis^ appointment in the Marine service. Removal to 
 
Vll 
 
 Washington. Duel. His marriage. Change of his 
 religious views. His admittance to the bar. Illness. 
 His return to York. Death of Mrs. Bacon. His in- 
 dustry. Resignatian of his commission, . 60—82. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Nature of Regeneration. His visit to Massachusetts. 
 Alarming attack. Religious impressions. Relapses. 
 5!en^il anguis'i. His conversion. His connexion with 
 the Lutheran church. Means of his religious improve- 
 ment. The change of his habits. Union with tiie Epis- 
 copal church, . . - - . 82 — 97. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 His engagement in Sunday schools. History of Sunday- 
 schools. His labours in the cause. Method of disci- 
 pline. His humility. Multiplication of his labours. 
 Extraordinary exertions. His trials. Opposition. His 
 Zeal. His discretion. His faith. Religious tracts. His 
 Spiritual enjoyment. His success. Hymn, 98 — 14S. 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 Determination to relinquish his profession. Distribution 
 of his time. His devotional habits. Characteristics of 
 his piety. His superstition. Becomes a candidate for 
 orders. Success of his exertions to promote religion. 
 His visit to Philadelphia. Prosecution of his theologi- 
 cal studies. Ordination. Diary. Habit of prayer. 
 His delight in social worship. Extracts from his diary. 
 His professional pursuits. Illustrations of his humility. 
 Contrition. Conscious infirmities. His trials. Anti- 
 cipation of death, ... - 143—184. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Hi3 elevated standard in religion- The direct influences 
 of the Divine Spirit. Illustrations of spiritual influ- 
 ence in his experience. Illumination of his mind. 
 
VI li 
 
 His ardent pursuit of Holiness. Spiritual enjoyment. 
 His religion, practical. His rational Catholicism. Ad- 
 vantages taken of his christian spirit Nature of a call 
 to the Ministry. His motives for entering the Ministry. 
 His circumspection. His conscientiousness, 185—206. 
 
 CHAP, vni. 
 
 Hi6 entrance on a mission for the Bible Society. His 
 christian correspondence. Designation to the African 
 agency. His Ministerial talents and labours. Prose- 
 cution of his mission in Pennsylvania. Plans for ad- 
 vancing the cause. Variety of his labours. Reflec- 
 tions. Anecdotes. The missionary cause. Termina- 
 tion of his mission. Summary of his labours. His 
 ministerial talents, and character, - 207 — 226 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Origin of slavery in America. Evils of slavery. Degra- 
 ded state of freed blacks. History of the American 
 Colonization Society. Benevolent measures of the 
 government in behalf of captured Africans. Expedition 
 of the Elizabeth to the coast of Africa. Mr. Bacon's 
 departure from the United States. Organization of the 
 seivice. Journal of his voyage to Africa. Arrival at 
 Sierra Leone. Kroo-men. Natural history, 22r — 252. 
 
 CHAP. X- 
 Kev. Daniel Coker. Kizzel. Arrival in Sherbro. Mr. 
 Bacon's return to Freetown. Campelar. Native Kings. 
 Commeucementof the sickness. Its causes. Increasing 
 distress of the people. Their insubordination. Death 
 of Messrs. Crozer and Townsend. Mr. Bacon's sick- 
 ness. Last entry in his journal. Instance of inhu- 
 manity. Removal to Cape Shilling. Death. Charac- 
 ter. - - - ... 253—280. 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 REVEREND SAMUEL BACON. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The beneficial effects of a pious man's life 
 are but partially realised, if, at its close, the world 
 is denied a record of his example. And when 
 to eminent piety, were superadded a public char- 
 acter, active zeal and extensive usefulness, the 
 obligations of duty and interest conspire with 
 the gratitude of survivors, in requiring them to 
 cherish and perpetuate his memory. In the in- 
 ducement for presenting to the public a memoir 
 of the late Rev. Samuel Bacon, all these con- 
 siderations have their full influence. But tha 
 trait which shone most resplendently in his char- 
 acter, and on account of which his memorial 
 will long survive him, and his biography be chief- 
 ly valued, is that of his entire devotion to his 
 Saviour. In the last years of his life ^ his con- 
 versation was indeed in Heaven,' and * his walk 
 with God.' Superior te sectarian attachments^) 
 
^ MEMOIR OF BACON, 
 
 Ins fellowship was with the universal company 
 of the faithful ; and his religion was that of the 
 Bible. Its transforming energy received a full 
 exemplification in the total change which it pro- 
 duced in his character, tiie altered course of his 
 pursuits, and the celestial elevation which it im- 
 parted to all the affections of his mind. His 
 piety, in short, was characterised with a strength 
 and sublimity, of w hich even our privileged age 
 is believed to have furnished very few examples. 
 
 He was a native of the county of Wor- 
 cester in the state of Massachusetts ; where he 
 passed the twenty-three first years of his life. 
 The paternal ancestor from whom his branch of 
 the family descended, came to America about one 
 hundred and twenty years ago, and settled in the 
 province of Massachusetts bay, near Boston. 
 Passing alone in the night, duringa violent storm 
 of snow, across the isthmus which connects 
 Boston with Koxbury, he lost liis way on the 
 narrowest part, plunged with his horses into the 
 wintry surf, and miserably perished. On the 
 same night was born the grand-father of Sam- 
 uel. The father had been induced by the ex- 
 pectation of this event, to visit the town on the 
 preceding day, in order to procure necessaries 
 for the occasion. This is the family tradition. 
 
 A New England farmer has little interest in 
 tracing the genealogy of his ancestors above 
 the last, or the second preceding generation ; 
 and seldom has any other means of rescuing the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 3 
 
 events of their particular history from oblivion, 
 than l>y recourse to the memory of the oldest 
 living members of the family. The occurrences 
 of the last age, to such as are laboriously em- 
 ployed in the humble occupations of the pre- 
 sent, and have their tlioughts and their time 
 engrossed by their immediate duties, have re- 
 ceded too far, and are viewed as too detached 
 and separate from the actual scenes of life, to be 
 the objects of much inquiry. Hence, few events 
 indeed, of their domestic history, survive the 
 individuals personally conversant with them, 
 above half a century. But, from tlie patriarchal 
 age to which nearly every individual of Mr. 
 Bacon's family attained, its memorials subse- 
 quently to the catastrophe above noticed, are 
 sufficiently numerous and certain. 
 
 The causes to which the emigration of the 
 first settlers of Massachusetts may be traced, 
 operated almost entirely upon a particular class 
 of the English community. The early regula- 
 tions of the community conspired with this cir- 
 cumstance, to produce among them an almost 
 perfect identity of character : and, with the ex- 
 ception of their ministers, whose superior edu- 
 cation and talents gave them a deserved distinc- 
 tion, they all held nearly the same rank in so- 
 ciety. This, although humble, was not abject; 
 and the experiment has proved it to be better 
 adjusted to the preservation and advancement of 
 
4 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 general piety, prosperity and happiness, than 
 any other. 
 
 Mr. Bacon's American ancestors were far- 
 mers, —the proprietors of the soil which they 
 cultivated with their own hands ; procuring hy 
 incessant industry and strict frugality, a inoder- 
 ate competency for thr-mselves, and their nume- 
 rous families. Ephraira Bacon, the progenitor 
 whose birth has been mentioned, after attaining 
 to manhood, removed from Roxbury to Wood- 
 stock, in that part of Connecticut contiguous to 
 the county of Worcester in the state of Massa- 
 chusetts. There he settled, reared eight chil- 
 dren, and died at an advanced age. The family 
 constitution is remarkably vigorous. Of the 
 eight children of Ephralm Bacon, seven are 
 sons, and all are believed to be living at the pre- 
 sent time. The age of the youngest is sixty, and 
 6f the oldest, about eighty-four. Sickness, ex- 
 cept from casualties, is almost unknown to the 
 family : all of whom ** bore the appearance of the 
 freshness of youth, even to middle age.'' 
 
 Ephraim Bacon, the eldest of these brothers, 
 yemoved at the age of twenty-four, to Sturbridge 
 in Worcester county, about thirty miles from the 
 paternal residence at Woodstock ; where he ob- 
 tained one hundred and fifty acres of land, then 
 in an uncultivated state ; built a house with his 
 own hands, and married Hannah Chamberlain. 
 His removal took place about the year 176S. 
 These were the parents of Samuel Bacon, who 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 5 
 
 was the youngest of nine children, and born 
 at Stuihridge, July 22d, 1781. His raotljeu 
 who died in 1790, is thus characterised in the 
 afi'ectionate language of her late son: "Her 
 spirit was that of gentleness; kind, pious, 
 charitable, and humble. She knew but little 
 enjoyment in this world. I never but once 
 recollect seeing her out of lier room. She was 
 five years sick of a consumption, and nearly all 
 that time confined to her room, — commonly to 
 ber bed. Her parentage was respectable. So 
 much was she beloved and esteemed by all, that 
 a general joy seemed to pervade her christian 
 friends, when they heard of her release from suf- 
 ferings, by an exchange of worlds. Her last 
 words were a charge to her liusband respecting 
 ber young children. For myself in particular, 
 she bad great solicitude. She often wished 
 * Samuel might be like Samuel of old.' " 
 
 The surviving parent continues, at the age of 
 eighty-four years, to occupy the same farm, sur- 
 rounded with the scenery of his youthful days, 
 from wbich be seems never to bave been many 
 weeks absent. ^' It is there," — writes bis son 
 w itb feelings prompted by filial tenderness, and 
 characterised with mucb of the simplicity of 
 nature, ** It is there, he has laboured nearly 
 sixty years at the plough, the scythe, the axe 
 and the flail. It is there, his nine children were 
 born. The spot is rendered sacred by the death 
 of three children and a wife. There, often; very 
 
tJ MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 often, has the morning sun found him upon the 
 hills before him, and the evening star has a 
 thousand times lighted him at his labours. It is 
 that spot which has been moistened by his sweat 
 and his tears : there, have the wild and russied 
 rocks echoed the expressions of his grief, and 
 his mirth. It is that soil, which, for many years 
 sustained the firmness of his youthful tread, and 
 now feels the tottering footsteps of his age." 
 
 The religious character of parents must al- 
 ways materially affect that of their children. 
 Of his mother, the eubject of this memoir re- 
 marked, that, "^ for the time at which she lived, 
 she exhibited uncommon evidence of a truly 
 pious character,*' and took much pains to hnpress 
 his mind with the truths of religion. With her 
 husband, she was a professor of religion, and 
 member of the Baptist church ; in which con- 
 nexion he still continues. During SamuePs 
 minority his father occasionally observed the 
 forms of religion in his family; but appears at 
 that period, very imperfectly to have understood 
 its nature, and to have known little of its power. 
 
 A general trait of tlie laborious yeomanry of 
 New England, where the refining influence of the 
 gospel has not imparted a softened tone to the 
 affections of the mind, is roughness, and severity 
 of temper. To the formation of this charac- 
 teristic, a number of very obvious physical, 
 and other causes growing out of their circum- 
 stances, directly conspire. It may easily con- 
 
MEMOIR OF KACON. 7 
 
 sist, as commonly it docs, with perfect inilexi- 
 bility of principle, and correctness of moral de- 
 portment. And sucli, until advanced much be- 
 yond the limit of mature life, was the father of 
 Samuel Bacon. " He possessed,'' according to 
 his son's relation "a good education ; a strong 
 and masculine understanding, ecpial to all the 
 affairs of life ; sound reasoning powers; fertility 
 of invention ; a good judgment, and an enterpris- 
 ing, intrepid character : but no gentleness. Suf- 
 fice it to say, that to this day, while I feel the 
 love a son should feel, I almost tremble in his 
 sight. But blessed be God, and I record it 
 with gratitude, the scene is now changed. The 
 religion of Jesus Christ has imparted its meek- 
 ness to that rigid bosom, and the sun-set of his 
 life is almost without its clouds. It is serene, 
 and mild, and peaceful, as the closing eve." 
 
 Another kindred quality which the necessity 
 of severe and unremitting labour is extremely 
 apt to beget in persons situated remote from tlie 
 more fascinating objects of human pursuit, is ex- 
 cessive fi'ugality. Of the extent of this propen- 
 sity in a father charged with the provision of a 
 numerous family, it must be allowed that a son, 
 ardently bent on acquirements which would place 
 him above the humble rank inherited by the fa- 
 mily, and which, by a prescriptive association, 
 was now identified with its very name, is not 
 the best judge. Other reasons not so well seen, 
 might unite with the penurious disposition of a 
 
S MEMUlll OF BA-CON. 
 
 parent, or operate without it, to induce him to 
 oppose even unvvillius; hinderanccs to his son's 
 more liberal pursuits. It is still true, that the 
 needless severity of his father at this period, and 
 the measures adopted for the government of the 
 family, impressed on the iiitellcctual and moral 
 character of young Bacon, effects, of which ma- 
 ny adhered to him until an advanced stage of 
 his life, and some were retained to its very close. 
 
 The circumstances which go to form the sen- 
 timents of a New Englander, on almost every 
 subject, cannot be appreciated, nor his character 
 understood, without a particular survey of the 
 constitution and usages of the society from 
 which he receives all his early impressions. 
 
 The county divisions throughout New En- 
 gland, differently from those of most of the 
 other states, scarcely serve any other pur- 
 pose than that of a convenient classificatioa of 
 the population, and to define the jurisdiction 
 of magistrates and inferior courts. But the 
 corporate rights of the towns, or sections of from 
 four to six miles square, into which all the coun- 
 ties arc sub-divided, are guarded by the people, 
 as forming the palladiiira of their social pros- 
 perity. The otilcers of these corporations are, 
 "one, three or five select men. They are called 
 the fathers of the town. There is also an as- 
 sessor, a constable and a treasurer, a few ty thing 
 men, a town clerk, and other inferior officers. 
 They have annual town meetings in March 
 
MEMOIIt OF BACON, 9 
 
 when these officers are chosen. At these meet» 
 iugs any by-laws can be passed which are not 
 inconsistent with the laws of the state and the 
 United States, for their internal regulation ; and 
 any sum of money voted for the support of the 
 gospel and schools, and for the construction of 
 roads. The constitution recognises the duty 
 of every citizen to contribute a just proportion 
 of his property for the maintenance of public 
 worship, and his obligation to attend upon it : 
 and every man is in effect;, supposed by law to 
 be a congregationalist,* there being in nearly 
 every town a decided majority of that denomina- 
 tion, — until the contrary is shown. This deno- 
 mination, is hence called ' The standing order.' 
 The increase of other christians in the state has 
 occasioned loud complaints of the inconveniences 
 which they experience from the operation of this 
 system. Among the other things transacted in 
 the town meetings, the question is put by the 
 moderator 'How much money will you raise 
 this year for the support of schools ?' Several 
 motions are made, proposing different sums. At 
 length a certain sura is voted. It is then assess- 
 ed on the inhabitants in proportion to their pro- 
 perty, and goes to swell the aggregate of the 
 taxes for tlie state and county, and for religious 
 instruction, together with which it is collected^ 
 and goes into the town treasury. Each town 
 
 * See Appendix, Note I. 
 
10 MEliOIR O^' BACON. 
 
 being divided into a conveniont number of 
 wards, so that each war J may have as nearly as 
 may be, an equal number of iiihabitaots, of whom 
 no one shall be more than two or three miles 
 from a school ; this sum is divided araongst the 
 several wards in due proportion. The law pro- 
 vides under a heavy penalty, that each town, 
 containing a certain number of inhabitants, shall 
 maintain a grammar-school during the year. 
 But this provision is partially compromised by 
 the dividing of their towns into wards as above 
 stated, an<l supporting a school three months in 
 each, during the winter season ; which is con- 
 sidered as equivalent to a whole year, or more, 
 in one place. This practice has at last grown 
 into a general system, especially in country 
 toAvns. Many however, raise money enough to 
 support constant schools in each ward. During 
 the summer season while the boys are called oli* 
 to assist in the labours of husbandry, the country 
 schools are instructed by women ; in which girls 
 are taught common needle- work, and other ap- 
 propriate branches, and the young children ac- 
 quire the rudiments of learning. 
 
 *^ The school money, it has been said, is depo- 
 sited in the treasury of the town. A school com- 
 mittee-man is appointed at the town meeting for 
 each ward. It is his duty to obtain a teacher. 
 He generally applies to some neighbouring col- 
 lege or academy, and finds one suitable for his 
 purpose. No person is allowed to teach without 
 
MEMOIR OF BACOX. 11 
 
 baviDg been previously examined by the clergy- 
 man of the town, in which he proposes to teach, 
 and recommended by him as competent for the 
 business. He must also have a certificate of the 
 select-men of the town where his settlement or 
 home is, that he sustains a good moral character. 
 This done, he may begin, otherwise he is liable 
 to a penalty for teaching. The select-men, the 
 committee-man of each ward, and the clergymen 
 of the * Congregational order,' are, ex officio, a 
 committee to examine the schools in the town, to 
 report as to t!ieir proficiency, and censure or ap- 
 plaud accordingly. In respect to education the 
 great benefits to be derived from granting to towns 
 corporate privileges like these, is apparent. 
 When the teacher has completed his contract, he 
 makes out his account, charging the town with so 
 much service in teaching, at such a price per 
 month. This is passed by the select-men, and 
 paid by the treasurer. Thus the rich and the poor 
 are on the same footing as to the necessary branch- 
 es of an education. Indeed, the poor have the ad- 
 vantage, for the taxes are levied according to the 
 property which each possesses ; and the poor 
 who pay nothing, still enjoy all the benefits of 
 the school. The other advantages of the system 
 require no explanation.'' 
 
 The nature of the provision made by law for 
 the support of religious instruction and public 
 v/orship in Massachusetts, is accurately under- 
 
13 MEMOIR OF BACOJ^. 
 
 stood by few, even of our own citizens, who live 
 in the states where no such provision exists. 
 
 In the Declaration of Rights^ which serves as 
 the basis of legislation, for that state, it is assum- 
 ed, that "piety, religion, and morality" are ne- 
 cessary for the temporal well-being of the com- 
 munity ; and that the support of the teachers and 
 institutions of religion, are necessary to the pre- 
 valence and influence of religion itself. In con- 
 formity with this principle, it is declared to be the 
 duty of every person to contribute an equitable 
 proportion towards the support of religious insti- 
 tutions ; and, whgre there exists no conscientious 
 impediment, occasionally to attend at some place 
 of public worship. It is further declared to be 
 the privilege of everj town or parish, to choose 
 its own religious teachers ; and that, among the 
 ministers actually so chosen and officiating, every 
 individual shall have the right of directing the ap- 
 plication of his own tax, agreeably to his choice. 
 As all preference to any particular denomination 
 of Protestant christians, is expressly disclaimed, 
 the laws grounded on these principles, can be 
 partial in their operation only from the influence 
 of circumstances. It however, deserves to be 
 inquired, whether even the known or probable 
 circumstances which may obstruct their uniform 
 operation, do not render them justly exception^ 
 able. 
 
 The dissatisfaction expressed by the despi- 
 gers and neglecters of every form of religion, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 13 
 
 merits very little regard, provided religion be a 
 public blessing. There will then remain two 
 classes only, iu relation to whom these laws can 
 be considered as even apparently partial, or se- 
 vere. The first, consists of those conscientious 
 persons who, too v^'eak in the respective parishes 
 where they reside, to obtain, and provide agreea- 
 bly to law, for a minister of their own, are obliged 
 to contribute towards the support of one in whose 
 election they could not concur, and on whose min- 
 istrations they do not attend. Here is certainly 
 plausible ground of complaint : still, the ques- 
 tion of the expediency of the system, must be 
 decided by determining whether its advantages 
 to the community, outweigh these partial incon- 
 veniences. The sense of a majority of the peo- 
 ple of these states, has always, till very recent- 
 ly, declared itself in favour of the affirmative of 
 the inquiry. The question is of acknowledged 
 importance, and of very difficult solution. Ano- 
 ther class of persons are honestly opposed to 
 the principle of any legal interference whatever, 
 in matters of religion. But this is manifestly, 
 one of those extreme doctrines, which the fram- 
 ers of our general constitution were too wise not 
 to perceive to be utterly impracticable ; and 
 therefore, did not attempt to consecrate by its 
 admission into that instrument. All that they 
 attempted, was to restrain to its proper limits, the 
 degree of legal interference on this subject. Civil 
 government, without the sanctions of religion, 
 
14 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 must fall ; ami therefore, to guard the iuviola- 
 hWlty of these sanctions, and even to increase 
 their force, is a duty connected with that of self- 
 preservation. 
 
 The union of these two classes, seconded by 
 the indifference of too great a number to religion, 
 and its institutions^ in general, has very recently 
 obtained for them as favourable a modification of 
 the statute laws as they can admit, without a pal- 
 pable violation of their constitution. 
 
 It would be thinking too favourably of hu- 
 man nature to suppose that the religious order 
 almost exclusively privileged by the operation of 
 the former system, should not, in some instances 
 have asserted their legal rights with a precision, 
 and enforced them by measures but little calcu- 
 lated to conciliate the affections of their dissent- 
 ing brethern. The worst form in which the 
 execution of these laws ever appeared, was 
 In the legal pr^jcesses which followed the refu- 
 sal of persons of other denominations, volun- 
 tarily to pay the tax which they required. In 
 cases of this sort, where the clergyman for 
 whose support the money was assessed, either 
 could not, or would not relinquish it, the goods 
 of the recusant were distrained and sold, to pro- 
 duce it. The odium which could not fail to at- 
 tach, in the popular mind, to transactions of this 
 nature, has unquestionably gone further to wea- 
 ken the interest of the Congregational cause, 
 than all those extreme measures^ could ever do 
 
MliMOIR or BACOS\ 15 
 
 to stiengtlien it. For, the shape which the com- 
 plaint of the sufferer assumed with something 
 more than the semblance of truth, was, thp<.t • his 
 goods had been sacrificed for the support of a 
 religion which he did not believe, of a clergy- 
 man whom he only knew as his oppressor, and 
 of a form of worship which he never attended.' 
 The genius of the evangelical dispensation 
 doubtless demands the voluntary contribution 
 of christians for the support of its institutions. 
 The members of a christian community certainly 
 may consent to give to these contributions the 
 form of an equalised tax, without, in the least, 
 impairing the liberality of the principle on 
 which they are made. Nor would this effect 
 necessarily follow the investing of their civil 
 rulers with power to organize the system of taxa- 
 tion, and provide for its being carried into effect. 
 But, in order to avoid those offences which would 
 powerfully tend to defeat the good intention of 
 this arrangement, so far as the promotion of pure 
 religion is concerned, it is necessary that the com- 
 munity should possess an uncommon share of 
 piety, and that their acquiescence should be clieer- 
 ful, unconstrained, and general. Such was once 
 the character of a large portion of the New Eng- 
 land population; and the happiest consequences 
 resulted from the public provision made for the 
 support of religion, with very few of its evils. 
 And on that basis, was, in a great measure, built 
 the deserved reputation of those states for reli- 
 
16 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 gion and morality ; of which, after all proper 
 abatements are made, there certainly remains a 
 substantial fund, that no other christian country 
 of equal population can justly claim.* 
 
 In this community, under 'institutions such 
 as have been described, and in a secluded coun- 
 try situation, the subject of this memoir acquir- 
 ed the rudiments of knowledge and letters, re- 
 ceived his first religious impressions, and form- 
 ed all his early habits. His parents being Bap- 
 tists, are to be ranked among the non-conformists 
 of the time, and experienced in consequence, in- 
 conveniences which gave to their son's mind an 
 early bias against f the principle of religious 
 taxation, which he never afterwards entirely dis- 
 missed. The death of his mother, before lie 
 had completed his tenth year, left him entirely 
 dependent on the religious instruction and super- 
 intendence of his father, who, except aftbrding 
 him an opportunity of frequenting public wor- 
 ship, in a great measure neglected it. Being, by 
 the ecclesiastical system of that denomination, 
 denied any visible connexion with their church, 
 the kind and degree of religious tuition which 
 he received from an occasional attendance on 
 its public services, may be named any thing 
 else with more propriety, than a regular relig- 
 ious education. He had on several occasions 
 very affecting impressions of the awful interests 
 
 * See Appendix, Note II. t See Appendix, Note III. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 17 
 
 oT eterniiy, during bis boyhood ; but bis ac- 
 quaintance with the principles of the gospel was 
 so imperfect, and bis notions of religion so vague 
 and confused, that these emotions always pass- 
 ed off with the cause which excited them, and 
 tended in the event, to harden and pervert, 
 rather than permanently to benefit him. 
 
 His alarm on these occasions, appears to have 
 consisted only of a general apprehension that 
 his soul was unsafe, and that wrath was reser- 
 ved for him on account of his sins. His know» 
 ledge of the evangelical system was nearly re- 
 stricted to the doctrinal facts that there were a re- 
 surrection, a judgment, a Heaven and a Hell; 
 that the Son of God had died for the benefit of 
 man, and that sins were in some way expiated 
 through his sufferings. To a more perfect in- 
 sight into the truths of salvation, he had none 
 both able and disposed to guide him, — a con- 
 dition of his early lot, which he afterwards 
 found occasion to deplore, as his heaviest calam- 
 ity. The impressions which his mind had re- 
 ceived from the affectionate solicitude for his 
 spiritual welfare manifested by his mother dur- 
 ing iier protracted illness, contributed greatly to 
 heighten the constitutional tenderness of bis feel- 
 ings, and quicken the operations of conscience ; 
 and in their general effects, had a lasting 
 influence on his character. But, to her prayers 
 in his behalf, he afterwards attributed a more 
 important agency, in his salvation. 
 
18 MEMOIR OF BACOK, 
 
 Shortly after the death of this beloved par- 
 ent, he relates his first serious religious convic- 
 tions to have taken place ; which appear to have 
 been produced by the superstitious construction 
 that his neighbours gave to a very natural cir- 
 cumstance. A common plant had sprung up on 
 his mother's grave, which from its vigorous growth 
 and uncommon form, gave occasion to some 
 very weak predicti0;ns of an ominous nature, that 
 much alarmed him. The predictions of course, 
 failed ; but the impressions, as they gave hi;* 
 thoughts a strong direction towards religious 
 things, might have proved salutary, had he en- 
 joyed at the time, the guidance of a judicious 
 and pious spiritual instructor. This occurrence 
 was in his eleventh year. Ilis time from this 
 period^ became more occupied in the laborious 
 business of the farm, and a small portion only, 
 was lelt for the improvement of his mind in 
 the rudiments of learning. 
 
 Before the recent multiplication of books in 
 that part of the country, the course of reading 
 to which a country youth w as obliged to confine 
 himself, was commonly very limited. The 
 branches in Avhich instruction w as afforded in the 
 common schools, were those of reading, writing, 
 and common arithmetic. A brief elementary 
 treatise on each of these subjects, the Bible, 
 Watt's Psalms and Hymns, and a very few hered- 
 itary domestic volumes, commonly on religious 
 subjects, constituted the only library to which 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 19 
 
 he could have recourse. Thus situated, it 
 would be a solecism to suppose that a young 
 person, however constitutionally disposed to in- 
 tellectual pursuits, should acquire a taste, or 
 form a habit of reading. The character of 
 young Bacon's mind was unusually contempla- 
 tive and susceptible ; but, from the paucity of 
 objects on which his thoughts could dwell with 
 advantage, and the entire absence of those ex- 
 citements so necessary to the development of 
 its faculties, his cogitations were of a very un- 
 fruitful kind : and whole years past off without 
 any sensible advancement in knowledge, or 
 much mental improvement. This contempla- 
 tive turn made it "impossible,'' he states, ^<for in,e 
 to work alone. Whenever I attempted it I soon 
 fell into a profound reverie on the heavens, on 
 the trees, the birds, the plants, and scenery 
 about me, and would for hours be lost in thought ; 
 my axe or hoe would fall from my hand, and I 
 would think no more of it until roused by the 
 approach of my father or some one of the fami- 
 ly. I then would seize my implement, and ply it 
 with the greatest activity and the most poignant 
 regret for the time I had lost." This trait was 
 censured by his frends, and at that time lamented 
 by himself, as a very unfortunate one ; and tend- 
 ed, in conjunction with the domestic discords that 
 had multiplied in consequence of the second mar- 
 riage of his father, to embitter the whole of his 
 subsequent residence under the paternal roof. 
 
so MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 To this latler circumstance his writings several 
 times allude, in the language of grief tempered 
 with filial res|)ect. fie deplores it as the fatal 
 cause of domestic disorganization, of the de- 
 struction of family religion, and the neglect of 
 parental instruction, in the little scene which he 
 was obliged to consider, but could never feel to 
 be, a "home." Its effects on his character were 
 lasting. They may be traced in something like 
 a morbid dejection of spirits, which the happiest 
 scenes of his life were not able wholly to correct ; 
 and the want of early discipline manifestly ag- 
 gravated the natural irascibility of his temper. 
 But though occasionally passionate, and always 
 ardent in his attachments and pursuits, he was 
 not vindictive ; and the natural temperament 
 of his mind was uncommonly mild, placable 
 and affectionate. Cut off, by his situation, 
 from many of the temptations to vice, and oppor- 
 tunities of indulging in the seducing amusements 
 which smooth the path of ruin to tliousands of 
 the youth of our cities, he was addicted to no 
 open immoralities ; but still, grew up a stranger 
 to piety, to himself and to his God. Obscure as 
 liis path in life was, and harmless as were his 
 pursuits, they both lay in the w^orld. And 
 though ill at ease with himself, he did not at this 
 time know to what a debased state of moral 
 wretchedness, the "corruption of his nature" 
 had consigned him ; nor what he required to 
 
MExMOTR OF BACON. 
 
 compose an accusing conscience to peace, and im- 
 part happiness to his mind. 
 
 In his thirteenth year, a stronger religious 
 bias was given to his thoughts, than ever before. 
 He was suddenly and strangely seized, in his 
 bed, with a distressing aft'ection, probably of an 
 epileptic nature, which threatened to terminate 
 in immediate death. The family were aroused. 
 His father, who sometimes prayed in the do- 
 mestic circle, at his request, engaged in earnest 
 intercession for him. He was greatly affected by 
 the petition, '' Sparc thy young servant, who 
 believes himself dying,'' which he could never 
 forget. The paroxysm of his disorder passed 
 off for that time ; but the whole circumstance 
 made an impression which he was not able soon 
 to dismiss. On this occurrence, he subsequently 
 remarked, "Had I at that time been taught the 
 way of salvation, and had the true nature of my 
 case then been explained to me, tlie effect might 
 have been most salutary ; my whole life after- 
 wards, might have been a happy and useful one. 
 But I fear there was no one about me who knew 
 for himself, ^ the way, the truth and the life ;' 
 and of course, there was none to instruct me. 
 Although my father prayed, yet I neither at- 
 tempted, nor was I directed to do it myself. 
 I was entirely ignorant of the plan of salvation ; — 
 a young Hindoo could scarcely be more so," 
 
 In the occasional struggles which took place 
 in his mind, at this time, and for the space of 
 
22 MEMOIR OF BACOM. 
 
 three or four years afterwards, be recognised al a 
 subsequent period, the '' striving of the spirit of 
 God.' But bis ignorance concurred with bis 
 natural depravity, gradually to stifle and extin- 
 guisb the divine influence. Seldom did bis re- 
 ligious convictions lead him farther, than occa- 
 sionally to repeat the Lord's prayer on retiring 
 to rest. As he advanced towards manhood, even 
 this semblance of religious duty was neglected, 
 and a confirmed spiritual stupor rested on all the 
 faculties of his mind. 
 
 The five subsequent years of his life afford 
 scarcely any thing of interest or variety worth 
 recording. He more seldom read the scriptures, 
 than formerly ; and fast wore out of his feelings, 
 tiie slight religious traces of his earlier years. 
 The laborious scene upon which his life had 
 opened, and the limited range of objects to which 
 it confined him, were equally suited to repress 
 ilie active mental energies which lay unconscious- 
 ly buried in liis breast. His straitened circum- 
 stances, and even the garb in which he was oblig- 
 ed to appear, forbade him to associate on terms 
 of equality, even with his rustic companions ; 
 and produced a feeling of inferiority, which dis- 
 covered itself in an embarrassed deportment, and 
 became so much a habit, as never, he confessed, 
 entirely to leave hira. 
 
 In his eighteenth and nineteenth years, he 
 accounted himself happy in being able to obtain, 
 by earnest intreaty, the pitiful privilege of ex- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 23 
 
 iling liimself from his father's roof, and labour- 
 ing for a neighbouring farmer. This alternative 
 affordetl him neither emolument, nor mitigation 
 of toil ; his wages being applied to pay a sub- 
 stitute for performing his services at home. But 
 it removed him from beneath the depressing 
 frown of a parent, and from the din of too fre- 
 quent domestic discord and recriminations. 
 
 Blinded indeed, must that parent be by the 
 strength of habitual passion, who does not see, 
 and callous, in the extreme, his breast, if he 
 does not feel, for the effects which such treatment 
 of a child, and especially, which such an exam- 
 ple, must infallibly have on his character, and 
 happiness. In the sacredness of the domestic 
 retreat his little interests all instinctively centre. 
 It is nearly all the world he knows. The first 
 objects which his tender mind opening into ex- 
 istence, ever learns to love and venerate, are the 
 names of mother, sister and father. On that soft 
 area the young and unpractised powers of the 
 soul and body, make their first simple and imi- 
 tative efforts. Here are shed more tears than 
 water the whole path of life, besides ; and here, 
 are tasted the liveliest joys which the world has 
 power to awaken. Example, at this period of life, 
 not only makes a deep impression, but exerts a 
 transforming influence upon its susceptible sub- 
 ject. Hither, he instinctively looks back from all 
 his little excursions into the rougher and stranger 
 scenes of that life to which riper age is destined;^ 
 
'^'h MEMOIR or BACOX, 
 
 for resi, instruction and solace. Who, that has 
 unce been young, and whose childhood ever had 
 a home, but fecl.^ in reviewing that most innocent 
 and delicious period of his existence, these sof- 
 ieuing recollections steal over his soul 'till they 
 dissolve it ? If virtue, if piety itself have a con- 
 
 |;enial soil on earth, it must be here. And 
 lere, the economy of Heaven has designed 
 hat it should be. It is nature's appointment, 
 confirmed by the concurrent injunction of the 
 /gospel: ^ fathers, provoke not your children to 
 wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord.' Relying on the grace with 
 w hich he who gave, is willing to accompany a 
 sincere endeavour to obey this command, parents 
 may train their offspring to love and fear their 
 Saviour. But, associate in the youthful mind, 
 w ith the idea of a father, the image of terror : 
 divest home of its endearments and of its sa- 
 credness : admit contention, malevolence and 
 dislike, to usurp in that retreat, the places of the 
 opposite charities : let the natural guardians of 
 his morals, present too, an example of passion- 
 ateness and strife: drive him by needless severi- 
 ty, to look to strangers and the world, for an 
 asylum from domestic persecutions : and take 
 into the account the child's inexperience, tlie 
 volatility of the animal spirits, the weakness of 
 reason, and above all, the deep moral corruption 
 of his nature ; and a miracle of God's providence 
 and grace must preserve him, from the stupefac- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 25 
 
 tioii of all feeling on the one hand, or from out- 
 rageous proHigacy and depravation of principle 
 on the other. 
 
 That young Bacon suffered in both these 
 respects, and in the latter with some severity, is 
 less to be wondered at than regretted. When 
 man suffers himself, even through inadvertence, 
 to derange the most important part of the system 
 contrived by the wisdom of his Maker, for the 
 formation of young immortals to his service, the 
 deed is perilous, and the consequences may be, 
 beyond calculation, disastrous. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 CHAP. 11. 
 
 Who, that has not observed its progress, and 
 marked its increasing volume and strength, would 
 imagine that the little rill from the hill-side, could 
 ever swell to a navigable expanse*, and pour a 
 tributary flood into some neighbouring ocean ? 
 Or, who that contemplates separately and alone, 
 the first in a train of events which have conspired 
 to produce in the moral world, the most magnifi- 
 cent results, could possibly connect it with its 
 end? The river must be traced in its descent, 
 the links of the chain must be numbered, or we 
 should never credit the increase of the one, or 
 the wonderful continuity and connexions of the 
 other. To how slight a circumstance can every 
 reflecting person refer the origin of some of the 
 most momentous passages of his life ! The most 
 edifying impressions of the universal agency of 
 the Supreme Ruler of the world, may be derived 
 from contemplating the progress of his own coun- 
 sels, from stage to stage, in the way of their 
 fulfilment. The opposition of human wisdom 
 and strength, only discovers their own weakness 
 and folly. All human estimates of the probable 
 chances of their success and failure, are mocked 
 by the results. 
 
 *• There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, 
 
 Rough hew them how we will :" 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. »7 
 
 And, happily for man, although his weakness 
 and his ignorance cannot thwart, nor compre- 
 liend the plans of Heaven, yet may they submit 
 to be instructed and guided ; and this is all that 
 his duty and his happiness require. How often 
 is the providence of God employed for our high- 
 est good, without our co-operation ! how often 
 even against our best contrived and most strenu- 
 ous endeavours ! It is a delightful employment 
 of the man of prayer who ^commits all his 
 ways to the Lord," to review from the diff'erent 
 stages of his journey, the paths by which the 
 Lord has mysteriously led him. How few of 
 all does he discover to have been those of his 
 previous choice ! But the guardian providence 
 and mercies of God extend to the unthankful 
 and disobedient. Such indeed, walk in dark- 
 ness, and understand little of the ^ counsel of 
 the most High.' But where is the rational crea- 
 tion of God on earth, though an athiest in his 
 principles, and a profligate in his conduct, who 
 is not compelled to admit, and to admire, in not 
 a few of the events of his life, the marked in- 
 terposition of a superior power? An adventu- 
 rous scepticism may indeed do much,— and an 
 habitual disuse of sober reflection, by sinking 
 the intellectual into the sensual nature, still 
 more, to exclude from a man's mind the con- 
 viction of a particular providence. Still, the 
 doctrine has an advocate in his conscience, and 
 
2S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 boldly as it is sometimes disclainied, is never 
 wholly disbelieved. 
 
 Mr. Bacon is now known to have been de- 
 signed in the counsels of Providence, to exhibit 
 to the world a short and luminous career of dis- 
 tinguished usefulness ; and to leave to the ehris 
 tian church, in the effects of a signal example of 
 holiness and zeal, a still more invaluable legacy. 
 But, in his twentieth year, the utmost reach of 
 human sagacity could discover little in his prin- 
 ciples, or his circumstances, on which an oppo- 
 site designation in almost every particular, might 
 not with much greater probability, have been 
 predicted. He indeed, uniformly exhibited a 
 strong propensity for intellectual pursuits, and 
 an uncommon facility of acquiring knowledge. 
 But his highest ambition appears to have been to 
 acquire, eventually, a peaceful settlement and 
 comfortable subsistence in the humble sphere to 
 which his intercourse, and nearly all his acquain- 
 tance with the world, was restricted. The hills 
 which bounded his sight were to him as much 
 the flammantia limina mundi, as HerscheFs orbit 
 to the accomplished astronomer : and the phi- 
 losopher would nearly as soon lay the scene 
 of his own life in the regions beyond, as young 
 Bacon at the time, have meditated a pursuit 
 which should draw him out of his rustic solitude. 
 His friends attributing the effects of his contem- 
 plative disposition to indolence, judged him bet- 
 ter suited to succeed in some trade i of which 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S9 
 
 several of the most serviceable kinds can always 
 be exercised with advantage in an agricultural 
 population. Mechanical occupations pursued 
 even with diligence, are seldom so laborious as 
 those of a New England farmer : and Samuel 
 consented to be advised in this respect, rather 
 from the desirable change which such a plan 
 would make in his immediate situation, than from 
 any settled predilection for the life of a mechanic. 
 But his services had now become too valuable to 
 his father, to be conveniently dispensed with — and 
 some delay was incurred by the difficulty of deter- 
 mining on the business which should be at the 
 same time, the most profitable, and best suited to 
 the genius of the candidate. From these causes 
 Bacon had attained his twentieth year before it 
 was decided in what way he was to be disposed 
 of. ^' But, at this time" he relates, " a person 
 of imposing impudence and great loquacity came 
 into the neighbourhood, who professed to be a 
 physician. It happened to be a sickly season, 
 and he was soon called into business. Very 
 many people died, and the doctor's cojBTers were 
 filling fast. This latter circumstance attracted 
 my father's attention, and he thought his son 
 might as well learn the trade too, as it proved so 
 lucrative. The doctor indeed, was soon out of 
 vogue. But while his high credit lasted the 
 bargain was made by my father, and the plan 
 communicated to me for my concurrence. Des- 
 titute as I was of learning, and even of a know- 
 
30 MEMOIR OF BACOJS. , 
 
 ledge of what it imported, I still knew, and ven- 
 tured to say, that my education was not sulBScient 
 for the business. My father thought more edu- 
 cation useless. I was too sensible of my defi- 
 ciency in this point to be convinced, and it was 
 finally agreed I should go to live eight weeks, 
 with the pastor of the Baptist church of Stur- 
 bridge, to learn English grammar. The charge 
 for board and tuition was one dollar and twenty- 
 five cents per week. This was thought too extra- 
 vagant, and my father proceeded to Leicester aca- 
 demy, sixteen miles distant, to ascertain whether 
 a cheaper accommodation could not be procured. 
 He found that tuition there was one dollar per 
 quarter, and board could be had for one dollar a 
 week, so that in eight weeks, one dollar would be 
 saved by sending me to that school. It was accord- 
 ingly determined that I should go to Leicester." 
 It cannot be expected that his knowledge of 
 letters was at this time, very extensive. " I was 
 able/*' he states, '^ to read English, correctly, and 
 could spell well the common terms of the lan- 
 guage—understood the simple rules of arithme- 
 tic, and could write as bad a hand, nearly, as at 
 this time.* This was the extent of my learning. 
 I knew nothing even of English grammar, and, 
 as regards the stores of Latin, Greek, and other 
 classical learning, I believe 1 knew not that there 
 
 ^ Mr. Bacon's penmanship was executed with great 
 rapidity, and without much attention, often, eitlier to ele- 
 gance or legibility. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 3i 
 
 were such languages or literature in existence." 
 This, it must be granted, is an uncommon speci- 
 men of ignorance in a youth nearly arrived at 
 the age of manhood, in the enlightened and cul- 
 tivated state of Massachusetts. It would be 
 wholly incredible, if not viewed in connexion 
 with the very unpropitious circumstances of 
 young Bacon's situation during his minority. 
 His capacity for acquiring knowledge was cer- 
 tainly of a superior order, and he could have re- 
 mained in such ignorance, until that time of life 
 only in consequence of an absolute destitution 
 of the means of removing it. 
 
 In pursuance of the singular project whicii 
 his father had formed in concert with the doctor, 
 Samuel was conducted away to Leicester on the 
 first of April, 1801, and entered in the English 
 department of the grammar school in that town. 
 Some idea of the economy observed in provid- 
 ing this course of instruction, has been afforded 
 by the caution wiiich his father had previous- 
 ly bestowed on that point. The same pru- 
 dence was evinced in carrying the plan into ef- 
 fect. His father accompanied him on horseback, 
 carrying provisions to subsist himself and the 
 horses, until his return ; saw him provided with 
 two or three elementary books and a boarding 
 place ; paid the four shillings demanded for his 
 tuition ; and, on parting, impressed by a fresh re- 
 petition, some prudential maxims on the neces- 
 sity of habitual economy. To enforce this les- 
 
32 MEMOIR or BACON. 
 
 son by a practical comment, he presented his son 
 with twenty-five cents, which he informed him, 
 was to meet the incidental expenses of the term. 
 Samuel had gained his main point, and easily 
 overcame the chagrin occasioned by this very 
 restricted allowance for purposes which he kncAV 
 were of only secondary importance. 
 
 The grammar schools established in all the 
 counties of this state, are commonly provided 
 with too instructors ; one of whom has the care 
 of the classical, the other of the English depart- 
 ment. Into the latter are admitted youths of 
 both sexes. The course of instruction in the 
 lower department, is understood to commence 
 where that of the common schools, ends. A very 
 good knowledge of the English language may 
 here be acquired, together with geography and 
 the most useful branches of mathematics. 
 
 In the classical department, the elements of 
 the Latin and Greek languages are the principal 
 objects of attention ; and young men acquire the 
 learning requisite for entrance in the colleges of 
 that country. The funds whicli support these 
 useful institutions are commonly the joint pro- 
 duce of public grants, and private munificence; 
 the exercise of tlie last by the individuals most 
 interested, being the usual condition on which the 
 first are made. These funds are secured from 
 alienation by an act of the legislature, and en- 
 trusted to the management of a board of trustees 
 invested with corporate powers : and together 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 3S 
 
 with a very moderate charge for tuition, paid by 
 the pupils, amply defray the expenses of the 
 school. 
 
 Bacon found himself, on being introduced to 
 this little scene of literary activity, addressed by 
 new objects of interest and ambition, to the in- 
 fluence of which he could not long remain insen- 
 sible. Scarcely a remark of his seniors in study 
 passed without notice, or failed to convey some 
 new idea, and excite a new train of reflections. 
 From hearing, he ventured to inquire ; and be- 
 sides his progress in the particular studies upon 
 which he was put, which was very extraordinary, 
 he acquired much information on other subjects^ 
 of which he was before utterly ignorant. His 
 application was incessant. Even his nights were 
 laid under large contributions. Three days serv- 
 ed him to commit to memory the principles of 
 English grammar, and his advancement in other 
 studies was equally rapid. He had entered upon 
 pursuits in which, for the first time, he felt con- 
 scious of a capacity to succeed. The field of 
 literature enlarged on his view beyond his former 
 conceptions on the subject — he was surrounded 
 by a multitude of youths destined to explore its 
 richer treasures ; his ambition was fired ; and he 
 formed a determination, from which he never 
 afterwards receded, to acquire an education of 
 the most liberal kind. Even at this period, that 
 native vein of benevolence which run through 
 his character, and which piety afterwards deveV- 
 5 
 
Sh MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 oped with peculiar lustre, had a principal share 
 in sustaining this almost romantic purpose. 
 Without patronage, without money, he indeed, 
 required the aid of his own sanguine tempera- 
 ment, and a very strong impression of the ad- 
 vantages connected with a good education, to 
 engage him in the pursuit of one. Bacon's am- 
 bition was of an ardent cast ; but, both in iti> 
 objects and its nature, was through life, marked 
 with an amiable regard to the rights and happi- 
 ness of others. Depressed as his spirit had ever 
 been by a load of cares, labours and troubles, 
 quite disproportioned to his strength, such was 
 the inherent ingenuousness of his nature that the 
 hope of enlarging the sphere of his usefulness, 
 more than the prospect of future distinction, at 
 this time animated his singular resolution. And. 
 "amidst my subsequent severest trials," he 
 states, " I have said to myself a thousand times, 
 let me press on to the completion of my object; — 
 it is the way to usefulness ; my capacity of doing 
 good depends on my perseverance. The anti- 
 cipation always impai^ted fresh vigour and cheer- 
 fulness to my zeal.'' 
 
 His first instructor at Leicester was Caleb 
 Boutelle, Esq. His proficiency under this gen- 
 tleman, in the brief term of eight weeks, was al- 
 most incredible. In June, he was recalled to the 
 work of the farm, and remained thus employed 
 until September. He had in the mean time, 
 ventured to express to his father, his wishes io 
 
MEMOIR OF BA.CON. 35 
 
 relation to an education ; but was forbidden, un- 
 der penalty of his severe displeasure, to indulge 
 so " wild and irrational an imagination." His 
 purpose, which he forbore to express, was, how- 
 ever, unshaken. As a very special indulgence, 
 permission was at length granted him to return 
 to school, for another term of eight weeks. This 
 indulgence was turned to the same good account 
 as the preceding; and in the month of Novem- 
 ber of the same autumn. Bacon was qualified 
 to take charge of the parish school, where Ife 
 had himself received the rudiments of learning. 
 He applied himself with great diligence and 
 success to the duties of this new and honourable 
 vocation, for the ensuing four months : and, at 
 the expiration of his engagements, was gratified 
 with very flattering commendations by his em- 
 ployers. His success served as a new incentive 
 to perseverance in his studies. His father drew, 
 and appropriated his wages; and finding that 
 his son's learning was likely to prove a source 
 of immediate emolument, was prevailed upon 
 by painful intreaty, to consent to his spending 
 another term of the same continuance as the two 
 preceding, at the grammar school. Bacon, im- 
 mediately on his return, begun Latin. The 
 grammatical forms commonly learnt by begin- 
 ners in that language, were committed to memo- 
 ry in five days. Before the expiration of the 
 two montlis to which his stay at school was li- 
 raited, he had entered upon the easy Latin poets. 
 
36 
 
 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 While employed as the preceding summer, in 
 the business of the farm, he completed his twen- 
 ty-first year ;— a point in life, to the attainment 
 of which, he had long looked forward with im- 
 patient anxiety. Pitiable indeed is the lot of 
 that son who can cherish without inexcusable 
 impiety, so unnatural an anticipation. Most 
 dangerous would be the doctrine that the exces- 
 sive rigour of a parent, or imperfections which 
 even a child is obliged to discover, can dissolve 
 the natural and immutable obligation of filial 
 obedience and submission ; or make the re- 
 straints and demands of parental authority a 
 grievance. The thought is alike abhorrent to 
 religion, and reason. Few domestic dissentions 
 ever leave the party sustaining the subordinate 
 relation, the least culpable : the quiet and sub- 
 missive attitude, which, in that case, it becomes 
 the duty of that party to assume, would com- 
 monly disarm the asperity of the other. Sel- 
 dom can the danger be on the side of conceding 
 too much : and, admitting the individual holding 
 the subordinate place to be the injured party, 
 his obligation to pursue the most pacific course, 
 is unimpaired by the circumstance. If redress 
 is the object sought, a submissive deportment is 
 surest to obtain it. But the dictates of reason 
 in this duty, are sanctioned by the express max- 
 ims of religion. The father is accountable to 
 his God, and not to his child : the child to God, 
 under his father. The same principle extends 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 37 
 
 itself with the necessary modifications, through 
 the other relations of domestic life, — a principle 
 plainly recognised in the word of God, but 
 which is less regarded even by christians of the 
 present, than of former ages ; and, with some 
 others, of greater importance, is in danger of 
 being even set aside, as the obsolete characteris- 
 tic of a less enlightened period ! 
 
 In the deportment of young Bacon under the 
 very painful and perilous discipline to which his 
 patience and his principles were subjected from 
 this cause, there is more to approve and less to 
 condemn, than many, possesi.sing better advan- 
 tages, and professing to be governed by sublimer 
 motives, have exhibited in less trying circum- 
 stances. It deserves moreover, to be placed to 
 his credit in the account, that parental tenderness 
 and instruction had never fully established in 
 his mind, the boundaries and land-marks of 
 filial duty. He had little more than an instinc- 
 tive impression on the subject, to guide him, until 
 his own uninstructed good sense suggested a few 
 additional principles, to which a certain correct- 
 ness of feeling on moral subjects generally, dis- 
 posed him to conform. Still, were his conduct 
 weighed in an impartial balance, it would doubt- 
 less appear that he is not to be wholly excused 
 from the blame of provoking or aggravating by 
 some unfilial acts, the very treatment of which 
 he complained. 
 
 <t. 
 
38 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 From a state of indigence, his father had, at 
 ihis time, risen to opulence. His farm had, by 
 several purchases, become extensive and valua- 
 ble, and a handsome amount of money, the earn- 
 ings of a life of industry and thrift, been accumu- 
 lated. After the labours of the season were com- 
 pleted, Samuel fully disclosed to him the purpose 
 he had formed in relation to an education ; and 
 added such an explanation of his motives, as he 
 hoped miglit secure his concurrence and aid. But 
 he was wholly disappointed ; and was required, 
 either to renounce the design, or no longer to look 
 to the paternal roof for a home. He did not he- 
 sitate to embrace the latter alternative ; and until 
 within a very few years of his death, experienced 
 the full effect of the hard prohibition. This was in 
 September, 180S. He immediately became an 
 exile from the scene of his childhood ; to which, 
 he never afterwards returned permanently to 
 reside. 
 
 He again repaired to Leicester, and devoted 
 a few weeks more to his classical preparations 
 for admission in Harvard college. The instruc- 
 ler in the Latin department, and the principal of 
 the academy during his connexion with it, was 
 Kbcnezer Adams, A, M. a gentleman who has 
 .since held a very respectable professorship in 
 Dartmouth college, and whom he never after- 
 wards mentioned but with gratitude and venera- 
 tion. The two following winters were spent in 
 school-keeping in Rutland, a town twelve miles 
 
MEMOIR OF BACO^. 39 
 
 from Leicester, and in the same county. A few 
 weeks in each season were also spared to assist 
 his father in securing the harvest. The proceeds 
 of his labour in both occupations went to defray 
 tlie expenses of his residence at the academy. 
 By this alternation of study and toil, he quali- 
 fied himself, and applied for admission as a 
 member of the freshman class in Harvard col- 
 lege, in the autumn of 1804. He was received 
 on a footing of equality with the other members 
 of the class. But the great increase in expense 
 in his new situation, was a source of distressing 
 embarrassment, for which it was necessary to 
 make immediate provision. The practice of the 
 most rigid economy was from his early habits, 
 no self-denial. He had travelled on foot with 
 his bundle, from his native town to Cambridge : 
 and had restricted his personal wants almost to 
 the simple demands of nature. But below this 
 point, it was in vain to think of reducing them, 
 A comparatively expensive and constant resi- 
 dence at the first literary institution on the con- 
 tinent, for four years, the short winter vacations 
 alone excepted, was to be provided for, or his 
 long cherished intention, and the prospect to 
 which it opened be absolutely abandoned. He 
 acknowledges himself especially indebted to the 
 kindness of Moses White, Esq. of Hutland, 
 ** whose friendship," he says, " he experienced in 
 many times of difficulty in prosecuting his stud- 
 ies.'' But the nature and extent of this obligation 
 
40 MfiMOlll 01 BACO:?f. 
 
 is not precisely explained. This gentleman ap- 
 pears to have been his only efTicient iiatron in 
 this interesting struggle for intellectual advance- 
 ment. To him he had only been known in the 
 character of a laborious and faithful instructor; 
 and probably his obscurity more than his want 
 of merit, had restricted him to the friendship of 
 a single individual, from whom any important 
 assistance or encouragement could be obtained. 
 
 Soon after his entrance in college, the pres- 
 sure of his poverty overcame the reluctance of 
 pride, and he applied for the birth of " Uolden 
 Freshman," which is a partially endowed scho- 
 larship in the university. The services which 
 the incumbent is expected to render as the con- 
 dition of enjoying its privileges, are equally la- 
 borious and humiliating. His business is to ring 
 the bell for all the exercises of college, — a duty 
 which recurs more than twelve times in the day; 
 and to kindle and attend all the fires in the dif- 
 ferent recitation rooms. He is uniformly occu- 
 pied in these attentions, while the students are 
 at table ; and all the perquisite connected with 
 the place, is the scanty pittance which happens 
 to escape the voracity of the hungry multitude. 
 
 Having secured this situation, the reflection 
 that it was the only condition on which he could 
 enjoy the advantages of a public education, re- 
 conciled him to its servile duties. His uniform 
 good sense, and a prospective view of conse- 
 quences, commonly prevailed over the sugges- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 41 
 
 tions of pride and the pressure of present incon- 
 veniences, in most of the engagements of hia 
 life. In the cheerful attention which he gave to 
 his humble duties, in the presence of several 
 hundreds of his equals, and for their accommo- 
 dation, this trait of his character shone with a 
 very amiable lustre. This service it must, how- 
 ever, be understood, does not necessarily prove 
 detrimental to the progress of the individual who 
 performs it. It often invigorates his health, by 
 the exercise which it aJQPords ; and occupies no 
 greater proportion of his time, than he ought to 
 devote to some form of relaxation from the se= 
 verer pursuits of his class. It has not seldom 
 happened that the scholar most distinguished in 
 his class for his accuracy in mathematics and 
 philosophy, is the Holden Freshman. The clas- 
 sics are best relished, and best understood by a 
 mind which unites a proper proportion of vigour 
 with those free and easy sallies of imagination 
 and feeling to which no habit contributes more, 
 than the cultivated intercourse of polite society. 
 An almost mechanical round of study and re- 
 creation, if persisted in, may make a man of 
 science, — but can hardly conduct to mediocrity 
 in the more liberal arts, A gradual refinement 
 of the taste which depends chiefly on its exer- 
 cise, is always the measure of the student's pro- 
 gress in these branches of learning. In this 
 article of a liberal education, Mr. Bacon ever 
 discovered a deficiency, which, is certainly to be 
 
I 
 
 4S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 attributed to the late perioil at which he engaged 
 in its acquisition, and the nnfavourable circum- 
 stances wiiich attended the prosecution of it, 
 rather than to any constitutional defect in the 
 qualities of his mind. 
 
 The colleges of New England, considered 
 as tlie perfecting feature of the excellent system 
 of popular instruction which obtains there, have 
 ever been its boast, and one of its brightest orna- 
 ments. Harvard College is the oldest institution 
 of this kind, not only in that country, but in 
 America. It was founded, and an appropria- 
 tion of four hundred pounds made to it, by the 
 general court, in 1636, sixteen years after the 
 arrival of the first colonists in New England, 
 and only six years subsequently to the first settle- 
 ment of the province of Massachusetts bay. At 
 that period, not only the surrounding country, 
 but almost the very site of the college, was an 
 uncultivated wilderness. The "governor, de- 
 puty governor and magistrates" of the province, 
 were constituted its original guardians, together 
 w ith the " president for the time being, and the 
 ministers of the coi^gregational churches in the 
 towns of Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, 
 Boston, lloxbury and Dorchester." The only 
 change in the overseers of the institution which 
 took place at the Revolution, consisted in the 
 substitution of the " lieutenant governor, council 
 and senate of the commonwealth" for the time 
 being, in the place of the "deputy governor and 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 43 
 
 magistrates/' By a still later change, the cler- 
 ical and lay members of this board have been 
 iucreased to fifteen of each order, with the power 
 of filling vacancies in their own body. The 
 direct application and management of the funds, 
 together with the appointment of professors, and 
 establishment of the standing laws of the institu- 
 tion, is committed to a corporate body, consisting 
 of seven persons, who are styled the " President 
 and Fellows of Harvard College." The acts of 
 this body are generally subject to the supervi- 
 sion of the overseers. The immediate govern- 
 ment and instruction of the college are adminis- 
 tered by the president, professors, tutors, libra- 
 rian and five proctors. 
 
 The institution went into operation in 16B8, 
 two years before its proper organization took 
 place. The original intention of the establish- 
 ment was chiefly to educate young men for the 
 church, in order to perpetuate in the new world, 
 a learned and able ministry. The most liberal 
 of its early benefactors was the Rev. John Har- 
 vard, who died in Charlestown in 1638, leaving 
 to it one half of his estate, amounting to seven 
 hundred and seventy-nine pounds seventeen shil- 
 lings and two pence sterling. To perpetuate the 
 memory of his munificent bequest, the name of 
 tliis benefactor was given to the institution. 
 
 Its early presidents and professors were, with 
 few exceptions, educated in England, and appear 
 to have been eminently learned, pious and able 
 
44j ' MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 men. The grants, donations and bequests subse- 
 quently added to the ori2;inal foundation, by the 
 state, and by individuals in England and A raerica, 
 have been numerous and valuable : and it con- 
 tinues to receive an annual appropriation of ten 
 thousand dollars from the treasury of the com- 
 monwealth. The edifices belonging to the col- 
 lege are ten in number, besides the president's 
 dwelling, and the medical hall in Boston ; and 
 the property subject to the disposal of the cor- 
 poration for the use of the institution, amounts 
 to six hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 On this very respectable foundation, are pro- 
 fessorships in divinity, mathematics, natural and 
 experimental philosophy, in Hebrew and the 
 other oriental languages, in rhetoric and the belles 
 letters, in metaphysics and ethics, in logic, natu- 
 ral history, the ancient and modern languages, in 
 moral philosophy and civil polity, and the applica- 
 tion of the sciences to the useful arts. It has like- 
 wise a lecturer on sacred criticism and ecclesias- 
 tical history and polity. Several of these profes- 
 sorships have been endowed by the munificence 
 of individuals. On most of the branches enu- 
 merated, the students have not only the advan- 
 tage of hearing lectures, but are arraigned in 
 regular recitations, under faithful instructers. 
 The other features of the system of instruction 
 common to all the colleges of New England, 
 and which have given them a material advantage, 
 in point of usefulness over most of the similar 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 45 
 
 institutions in the southern states, consist in the 
 exact classification of the students, the regular 
 and uniform succession of their studies, the ex- 
 clusion of resident undergraduates not regularly 
 entered in the classes, and the definite period 
 prescribed for the completion of the whole course. 
 
 The exactness of the discipline, and the in- 
 cessant diligence necessary to be observed by the 
 students, in order to accomplish the established 
 course of studies, tend to the same results. The 
 best education which our country can afford may 
 be accomplished at this college. 
 
 For admission into the lowest class specific 
 qualifications are prescribed, comprehending a 
 good elementary knowledge of the Latin and 
 Greek languages, and the mathematics. Four 
 years' residence is necessary to complete the 
 course. This term is perhaps as advantageously 
 employed by American youths in the earlier 
 stages of an education, as the same period could 
 be done in any other institution in the world. The 
 seminary may justly be considered as better adapt- 
 ed to the age and circumstances of this country, 
 than even the celebrated universities of Europe. 
 While it has educated a large number of useful 
 men, it has likewise formed to habits of study, and 
 imparted a taste for knowledge, to many individ- 
 uals who have afterwards become accomplished 
 scholars, and shone with distinguished lustre in 
 the different departments of life. The average 
 number of undergraduates has, for the last ten 
 
46 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 years, not much varied from two hundred and fifty. 
 Of fifteen presidents, wholiavein succession, been 
 at the head of this institution, ten were clergy- 
 men, and all of the congregational denomination. 
 The religious character of the Seminary has al- 
 ways been nearly identified with that of the com- 
 munity to which it belongs. Both were for- 
 merly strictly calvinistic. But during the last 
 thirty years a change, almost imperceptible at 
 first, and gradual in its progress, has been taking 
 place in the principles of the people of that part 
 of Massachusetts, from which its overseers, and 
 professors are principally chosen ; and, as the ne- 
 cessary consequence, in the religious character of 
 the college. A most portentous laxity of opin- 
 ions in religion, tending to loosen its hold on the 
 affections and the conscience, and depress the 
 christian faith towards the degraded level of a 
 mere human system, has succeeded to the exact 
 definitions and unbending orthodoxy of the puri- 
 tanical school. In the theological appendage 
 to the institution, erected on a distinct foundation 
 about five years ago, graduates from all the col- 
 leges are admitted, and the indigent assisted by 
 a charitable fund created for the purpose. 
 The professors in this department are under- 
 stood to be anti-trinitarian in their principles, 
 and the course of instruction so adjusted, as to 
 produce on the minds of the pupils an impres- 
 sion decidedly favourable to the same opinions. 
 The design of directly influencing the stu^ 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 47 
 
 dents in the formation of their theological theo- 
 ries, is however disclaimed : and the method of 
 instruction ostensibly pursued is, to lay open 
 the different religious systems, and explain the 
 grounds on which they are severally held, and 
 thus to direct the judgment to the adoption of 
 the most natural and consistent. Admitting that 
 this intention is honestly acted upon, it requires 
 but a slight observation of the grounds on which 
 young men take up their opinions on most sub- 
 jects, especially in religion, to predict the uni- 
 form result of this novel experiment. It sup- 
 poses that all who enter the course, have their 
 theological sentiments yet to form. And, from 
 what influence is it conceivable that such minds 
 will here receive their first and strongest bias ? 
 Evidently from the authority of their instructers; 
 although no such motive should be openly ap- 
 plied. And every lesson in the course must, 
 of consequence be suited, to produce more or 
 less directly, an exact agreement in their general 
 opinions, with those of their teachers. The 
 authority which the latter must thus exercise 
 over their minds, is naturally increased by the 
 flattering appeal which the avowed system of 
 instruction, pursued, makes to their youthful 
 vanity, by referring to their premature and unin- 
 formed judgments, the decision of questions in 
 theology on which they admit that nearly the 
 whole christian church has been in error for 
 nearly two thousand years ! As the advocates 
 
48 MliMOlH OF BACON. 
 
 of this new and perilous theology have adopted 
 no written confession of faith, it is difficult ex- 
 actly to define their theological tenets, and very 
 questionable whether they generally agree in the 
 adoption of any particular system. They per- 
 haps may be better characterised as entirely dis- 
 senting from the faith generally held by the dif- 
 ferent denominations of protestant christians, as 
 orthodox, than as advancing any consistent 
 scheme of their own. Their most distinguished 
 writers deny the doctrines of the trinity in unity 
 of the ever blessed God, — the supreme divinity 
 of our Saviour, and the distinct personality of 
 the Holy Ghost. They generally agree, like- 
 wise, in rejecting the plenary inspiration of the 
 Holy scriptures, the doctrine of the atonement, 
 the original corruption of human nature, the ne- 
 cessity of a radical change of the heart as a 
 qualification for future happiness, the eternity of 
 future punishment, and the direct influences of 
 the divine Spirit on the minds of believers. 
 
 The contrast which this enumeration of re- 
 jected doctrines will present to the mind ac- 
 quainted with the faith of the founders and prim- 
 itive patrons of Harvard College, and that knows 
 how to calculate the difierent effects of truth and 
 error, cannot fail to awake the most poignant re- 
 flections. May it impress a salutary lesson on 
 those who are charged with providing for tlie fu- 
 ture interests of any particular branch of the 
 christian church ! 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 49 
 
 The actual principles of a majority of the 
 instructers, corporation, and overseers of the col* 
 lege, were not at the period of Bacon's connex- 
 ion with it, so fully disclosed nor so generally 
 known, as at the present time. The discussion 
 of religious subjects then formed a very small part 
 of the business of any of the professors, and 
 was almost wholly confined to a small private 
 society of the students. The time of Mr. Ba- 
 con was too much engrossed by literary pursuits^ 
 to suffer his thoughts to be much occupied by 
 any other subjects ; and he appears to have passed 
 the whole of this interesting period of his life, 
 without any serious impressions in relation to his 
 spiritual interests. From the low state of piety 
 in the immediate circle to which his youth was 
 confined, the want of competent and systematic 
 instruction in religion at that time, and from 
 an allowed and long continued neglect of the 
 scriptures, he had for several years cherished a 
 doubt as to the divine origin of the christian 
 system. Being insensible of the natural repug- 
 nance of the human mind to the truths of divine 
 revelation, the absence of substantiatory evidence 
 formed the only motive for its rejection, of which 
 he was then conscious. He was even desirous 
 for a time, to obtain such proofs of the truth of 
 Christianity, as should confirm his belief of it. 
 But he seldom resorted to the scriptures them- 
 selves, for this evidence ; and, it is believed, 
 rested rather in the speculations of his own 
 
so MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 thoughts, than weighed the evidences^ statecJ in 
 any approved defence of revealed religion. The 
 most criminal indifference to so weighty an in- 
 terest, constantly prevailed during the whole pro- 
 gress of his mind, from a state of simple incerti- 
 tude, to confirmed scepticism. Infidelity is, in 
 the scriptures, condemned as a sin. And the 
 justice of the denunciation of so terrible a 
 penalty as everlasting death, against this in 
 common with every other species of unbelief, 
 is manifest from the fact, that the sceptic is al- 
 ways chargeable either with such vices as make 
 it his interest that the Bible should not be true : 
 or with the neglect of prayer to God for instruc- 
 tion, and of that diligent examination of the 
 evidences of religion, which the awful magnitude 
 of the concern demands of him. In all this 
 part of his conduct, he sins against the dictates 
 of religion, and his own natural impressions of 
 duty ; and, if on no other grounds, is liable, on 
 these alone, to the just judgment of Heaven 
 against all who disbelieve the gospel. 
 
 Mr. Bacon ever showed a peculiarly affec- 
 tionate and interested regard for children. His 
 most delightful occupation was that of instruct- 
 ing, and training them for future usefulness, res- 
 pectability and happiness. The arduous ser- 
 vice of instructing school in the recess of col- 
 lege duties, imposed by the slenderness of his 
 finances, w as from this constitutional trait, mate- 
 rially mitigated. He appears, to have engaged 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 51 
 
 til it with pleasure, alloyed only by the conside- 
 ration of its being an impediment to the advance- 
 ment of his literary pursuits. And he ever 
 gained a point of no slight importance to a 
 young man struggling into literary notice in that 
 country, by uniformly finishing his winter^s en- 
 gagement in this business, with the general, and 
 high approbation of his employers. The dili- 
 gence and skill with which he conducted the bu- 
 siness of instruction, were no more apparent in 
 the progress of his pupils, than the kindness 
 and beuevolence of his deportment, in their 
 strong attachment to his person. This latter 
 circumstance could not fail of securing the friend- 
 ship of the parents, and endearing his name in 
 the grateful rememberance of many who have 
 succeeded him on the stage of active life. 
 
 By the proceeds of school-keeping in the 
 winter, and the more ungrateful services attached 
 to his "Holden Freshman" privilege, he defray- 
 ed the expenses of his first year in college. At 
 the commencement of the second, he applied for 
 another servitorship, to which a similar privi- 
 lege, with a less laborious duty, was attached. 
 This consisted in waiting on the common table 
 of the college, — a duty which he as cheerfully 
 performed, as he availed himself of the petty 
 privilege of serving himself afterwards with the 
 mutilated fragments to which it entitled him. 
 
 During the third year he retained the same 
 college ^•privilege,'*' and continued to perform 
 
OZ MEMOIR or BACOX. 
 
 the same liumiliating duties. The winter of this 
 and the following year was spent in Sudbury, 
 Middlesex county, in his accustomed employ- 
 ment of school-keeping. His labours, privations 
 and confinement, brought on, in 1806, a decline of 
 health, which now threatened to interrupt his lit- 
 erary pursuits, entirely, and even in a short time, 
 to bring him to his grave. His complaints were 
 of a complicated character, and some of the symp- 
 toms alarming. His studies were still contin- 
 ued ; nor was he in a situation to dispense with the 
 trifling stipend to m hich his attentions as college 
 waiter, entitled him. Indeed, during the whole 
 of this year he neither relaxed in his studies, nor 
 abated any of his accustomed labours. 
 
 In the last year of his membership, yielding 
 to the force of necessity, he again accomplished, 
 with great injury to his health, and almost incredi- 
 ble sufferings, his customary term of school-keep- 
 ing. But the effort was two much. He returned 
 in March to Cambridge, resumed his studies, and 
 imprudently continued his residence there until 
 May. It was in vain longer to struggle against his 
 increasing and extreme debility, attended with 
 some of the most alarming symptoms of a pulmo- 
 nary consumption. He tore himself away from 
 the scene of literary enchantment ; and was en- 
 abled by the seasonable aid of some generous 
 benefactor, to indulge himself for a few weeks, in 
 several short excursions into the interior of New 
 England. The change of objects, society, and 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 53 
 
 air, and especially the release from the confine- 
 ment and studies of college, thus obtained, pro- 
 duced a trifling abatement of the most dangerous 
 symptoms of his complaint ; and he revisited 
 Cambridge in June, to attend the customary ex- 
 amination of the candidates for the first degree. 
 This examination is conducted in the presence 
 of the corporation, and overseers of the college. 
 He appears to have passed it with reputation. 
 His studies were however, not at present to be re- 
 sumed. He accordingly spent the remainder of 
 the summer and a part of the ensuing autumn, 
 either in travelling, or in the society of his 
 friends. The commencement in September, 
 when his class-mates received their degrees, 
 he was not able from his illness, to attend ; and 
 continued several months, in a state of al- 
 most hopeless debility. He was entirely sensi- 
 ble of the dangerous character of the disorder, 
 and of its almost certain termination in his dis- 
 solution. For several months he expected the 
 event with confidence ; but appears to have con- 
 templated it with composure, and even indijQfer- 
 ence. The tremendous prospect scarcely extor- 
 ted a single cry for mercy, or excited a thought 
 for the fate of his soul. This alarming destitu- 
 tion of feeling in an accountable and rational 
 beingjcan easier be accounted for, than vindicated. 
 His life had been uniformly, and in an uncom- 
 mon degree, upright, admitting the correctness of 
 the standard of duty which he had adopted. 
 
01 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 He cheerfully recognised his obligations towards 
 his fellow creatures, as far as their present con- 
 venience was concerned ; and it was his pleasure 
 to fulfil them ; but this was the limit of his bene- 
 volence, and of his most extended notion even of 
 religious duty. His vast obligations to God, and 
 the Saviour, — obligations enforced by all the 
 goodness concerned in his creation, and preser- 
 vation, and all the grace displayed in his redemp- 
 tion, and which are comprehended in the summa- 
 ry injunctions of both departments of revelation, 
 ^tolovc the Lord, with all the soul, the mind, and 
 the strength,'— these obligations, even in the 
 confident autici|)atiou of an early call into the 
 presence of iiiy Creator, were wholly unfelt. Let 
 U be recollected that Mr. Bacon at no period of 
 his life, certainly nut at the one now under re- 
 view, was accustomed to restrain his leflections on 
 other subjects, however grave and serious. On 
 topics of this kind, from the natural sol)riety of 
 his character, and contemplative turn of hi!;! 
 mind, his thoughts more readily dwelt than on 
 any other. But they were seldom intently di- 
 rected to the concerns of his soul ; and never, at 
 this period, were excited to a state of anxiety or 
 even of lively and interested inquiry, in re- 
 spect of the future state of his soul. His case 
 is a common one. Death, to the prosperous man 
 of the world, is usually little more than the idea 
 of his ceasing to enjoy the pleasures of life : to 
 the tender husband or parent, its most appalling 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 55 
 
 idea is that of his wiikmcil and orphan family ; 
 to the rich, it is formidal»le as involving a new 
 disposition, or the dissipation of his estate ; to 
 the scholar, as the, termination of his studies ; but 
 to the languid and siillering victim of a slow 
 decay, it often presents itself as opening an 
 obscure and gloomy, bnt not unfriendly asylum, 
 from the ravages of disease and pain. There is 
 indeed, an apparent variety in the views with 
 which these different characters regard the aw- 
 ful close of their mortal existence. But suppose 
 them uninfluenced by christian principles, and 
 they agree in more respects than they differ. 
 Death itself, and its consequences, as they affect 
 the soul, are regarded as little more than a final 
 sleep, of no importance except as it alters their 
 relation to the things of the present life. The 
 convincing power of the divine Spirit, by dis- 
 covering to the mind the purity and extent of the 
 law of God, by impressing on the heart a sense 
 of his holiness and justice, and arousing the con- 
 science from its sleep, and false hope from its 
 dreams of bliss, can introduce a new and awaken- 
 ing train of reflections in the breast not of the 
 dying only, but of the living. Such a man can 
 neither live nor die, without awful forebodings, 
 and intolerable anguish of spirit, till he has some 
 assurance that his condemnation is reversed, and 
 his peace established in Heaven. Mr. Bacon 
 "was not so convinced, and saw the probable 
 approach of the closing scene of his life without 
 
56 MEMOIR OF BACON, 
 
 emotion. But his God was merciful. He had 
 in reserve for him, blessings of which he had 
 never even conceived the value. Towards the 
 close of autumn the most formidable of his 
 symptoms disappeared. His returning health 
 was immediately laid under contribution, and 
 even forestalled in his eagerness to enter on a 
 course of professional study. His aim had from 
 the first, been elevated, and he was governed in 
 his choice of a pursuit in life, by the design of 
 securing the greatest possible measure of influ- 
 ence. His successful exertions for the improve- 
 ment of his mind encouraged him to engage in 
 the study of a science in which an inferior genius 
 must sink, and mere mediocrity of talents can 
 never excel. 
 
 He begun his course of law reading under 
 J. B. Caldwell, Esq. of Rutland, a few miles only 
 from the residence of his father. His interrup- 
 tions were frequent, and his progress for want of 
 health, he considered very slow. From reasons 
 which do not appear, he, in a few weeks, changed 
 this situation for another in the same town, in the 
 office of W. C. White, Esq. His progress un- 
 der this gentleman, as appears from a certificate 
 to which his signature is affixed, was highly cre- 
 ditable to his industry and his talents. 
 
 In July, 1809, he seems to have regained a 
 comparatively comfortable state of health. In- 
 duced by the hope of contributing by his pen to- 
 wards defraying his current personal expenses, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON, 57 
 
 all object of which his circumstances never suf- 
 Tered him to lose sight, he removed to the town 
 of Worcester, and undertook the management 
 of the National iEgis, a respectable weekly 
 news-paper of many years' standing Here he 
 continued to pursue the course of law reading on 
 which he had entered, with his accustomed dili- 
 gence, under the direction of Levi Lincoln, jr. 
 Esq. at that time the lieutenant governor of the 
 state. He was thus occupied until the ensuing 
 winter. Meantime his unremitting application to 
 the multiplied duties of his new situation, alone, 
 seemed to prevent him from recovering entirely 
 from the wound which he had inflicted by the 
 same weapon, on an excellent constitution. In 
 December following, he found himself still a val- 
 etudinarian. To a system disordered as his was, 
 and exhibiting a strong tendency to pectoral in- 
 flammation, and haemorrhage, the severe eff'ects of 
 a northern winter, in order to be known, must be 
 felt. A student subject to those painful symp- 
 toms must possess more than common, indeed 
 more than youthful fortitude, who will suffer 
 any consideration of the superior advantages of 
 a northern situation for acquiring professional 
 qualifications, to dissuade him from an immediate 
 removal to a softer climate. Mr. Bacon was 
 now much at his ease, excepting the single article 
 of health. His talents and industry had begun to 
 commend him to the notice, and favourable opin- 
 ion of a constantly widening civcle of respecta- 
 8 
 
j8 memoih of bacon. 
 
 ble individuals, on whose future patronage and 
 friendship he might venture to calculate in his fu- 
 ture advancement. He was by no means insen- 
 sible to these persuasive motives for remaining 
 in Massachusetts. But an infirm habit of body, 
 and its depressing effects on the mind, were evils 
 for the removal or mitigation of which he was 
 willing to forego all these advantages ; and ac- 
 cordingly yielded to the solicitations of an ac- 
 quaintance, residing in Philadelphia, and then 
 on a visit to Massachusetts, to accompany him 
 on his return to Pennsylvania. 
 
 His editorial career was too short, and the 
 scene of it too circumscribed during his residence 
 in Worcester, to admit a fair display of his tal- 
 ents in that department of literary labour. From 
 the general character of the articles from his pen, 
 an opinion is to be formed rather favourable to 
 his future promise, than to his actual achieve- 
 ments, in that capacity. His productions evince 
 some originality of thought, and considerable 
 fertility of invention. They are pointed and 
 animated. But his ardour rises sometimes to 
 intemperance of feeling; and his conceptions 
 need chastening. He wrote with rapidity, and 
 was very impatient of the labour of revising and 
 correcting his composition. His principles on 
 political and other related subjects, had been 
 adopted with sincerity, and were avowed with 
 candour : and he appears to have been ever 
 ready to enter with interest into any designs 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON, 59 
 
 having a benevolent aspect towards individuals 
 or the community. His taste for general and 
 polite literature, is apparent in the insertion not 
 only of a large number of selected articles of 
 this character, but of several of his own. Amons; 
 the latter are several poetical scraps. 
 
60 MEMOIK OF BACON. 
 
 CHAP. IIL 
 
 TitE recovery of his health was Mr. Bacon's 
 chief inducement to visit Pennsylvania. He 
 left the exact line of his future course to be 
 marked out by subsequent events. The flatter- 
 ing representations given by the individual who 
 induced him to remove, of the advantages to be 
 reaped from instructing a school in the city or 
 vicinity of Philadelphia, in connexion with hi* 
 own strong predilection for that business, had 
 determined him on the measure. What was 
 the nature of those representations is not stated 
 in his notes ; but on his arrival in Philadelphia, 
 he appears not to have realised his anticipations ; 
 and was not quite satisfied with the conduct of 
 his too officious patron. He indeed derived from 
 him little assistance which an entire stranger 
 could not as well have afforded him. 
 
 In this country, nothing can be more falla- 
 cious than the hopes excited in young men by 
 the promises of patronage. In whatever de 
 partment of life the proffered interest is to be 
 exerted in their favour, the probable result is the 
 same. The very constitution of our society ren- 
 ders the expectation of rising under individual 
 patronage most precarious. No individual is 
 secure for a day of being able to retain the in- 
 fluence over any portion of the community^ 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 6l 
 
 wbicli he believes himself to possess. He may. 
 at any time, be required to struggle, — and 
 struggle in vain, perhaps, with the popular cur- 
 rent, to maintain his own interest. The con- 
 nexion from which a young man may have ex- 
 pected important benefits, so far from assisting, 
 may thus come to prove the greatest detriment to 
 his advancement. These remarks will be seen 
 to have a special application to the profession of 
 the law. But they must be true as general 
 maxims, so long as society is young in America, 
 and probably as long as the republican principle 
 remains unchanged in the government, and so 
 largely pervades all the inferior departments of 
 the community. Success in no honourable pur- 
 suit can reasonably be anticipated on any other 
 condition than that of the blessing of God, 
 upon diligent, persevering, and upright indus 
 try. 
 
 Mr. Bacon found himself on arriving in 
 Philadelphia in December, 1809, in a very un- 
 pleasant predicament. His small provision of 
 cash was nearly out ; no opportunity of obtain- 
 ing a school in that city presented itself: with 
 the exception of the individual already named, 
 he was in the midst of entire strangers : of his 
 recommendations addressed to individuals he 
 seems never to have made much use : his health 
 was still infirm, and his spirits liable to extreme 
 depression ; and, as the greatestcalamity of all,he 
 was a stranger to the consolations and resources 
 
6Z MEAIOIR OF BACOK. 
 
 of religion, A cheerless infidelity had usurp- 
 ed in his mind the place of a resigned con- 
 fidence in the guardianship of Heaven ; and con- 
 verted any just impressions of the doctrine of a 
 particular providence and the universality of the 
 divine presence and agency, that might remain, 
 into a source of dread, rather than of relief. 
 But religion at this time afforded him about as 
 little annoyance as peace. It was not the sub- 
 ject which occupied his attention. But even at 
 this period, when a strong impulse of natural 
 affection was raised in his breast, his thoughts 
 would immediately recur to the topics of conso- 
 lation and hope, suggested by Christianity. Ac- 
 cording to these would be all the expressions of 
 his feelings, and the benedictions which they 
 would prompt him to invoke upon the objects of 
 his solicitude and love. A singular inconsis- 
 tency ! which, however, proves that even the 
 constitutional qualities of a sceptical mind, in or- 
 der to be amiable, are obliged to appear to syni- 
 lolize with the evangelical system. 
 
 After a short stay in Philadelphia, he pro- 
 ceeded on foot, and alone, into the interior of 
 Pennsylvania, in search of a school. The win- 
 ter had commenced, and on his arrival at Lan- 
 caster, his strength was quite exhausted. Being 
 unsuccessful in his application for a situation 
 here, he proceeded on the last day of December, 
 to York, which he had been induced to visit by 
 the prospect of obtaining the situation of classical 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 03 
 
 leaclier in a seminary of that place, Laving the 
 name of " York College.'' This place he knew 
 to be vacant; and during his stay at Lancaster, 
 had disposed his recommendations in such a 
 form as to give him, he thought, a fair chance of 
 succeeding in his application for it. Soon after 
 his arrival, the trustees of the seminary were 
 convened to consider his claims to the appoint- 
 ment ; and after organising the session in due 
 form, " I was ushered," he states, ^^ into the 
 room, and was thus addressed by their Rev. 
 President : * Sir, we have no doubt but you have 
 a good education : the people of your country 
 generally have ; but we wish to know how you 
 can write.' I directly turned on my heel with a 
 flush of indignation, saying to the gentlemen as 
 I retired, that it was no part of ray object in 
 presenting myself there, to be examined in pen- 
 manship, or spelling.'' On further inquiry he 
 learnt that this college was then on the footing 
 of the common schools, and that the situation for 
 which he had applied, was little more than that 
 of an abecedarian professorship. Without the 
 means of travelling in the public stage, and too 
 independent to be obliged to the generosity of 
 strangers, he soon after left York, on foot, for 
 Carlisle. The roads were bad, and the wcathet" 
 severe. He arrived in four days j and expe- 
 rienced the same ill success in the object of his 
 search, which had uniformly befallen him on this 
 unpleasant excursion . Proceeding from Carlisle 
 
64 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 to Shippensburg, he here found himself utterly 
 exhausted, and seriously ill. He threw himself 
 into the stage, immediately, and returned back 
 to Lancaster, as he then thou2;ht }vith all the 
 comfortless indifference of infidelity, '^ to die." 
 His circumstances, and the brooding melau- 
 uholy of his temper, at this time, favoured the 
 progress of disease in his system. But he was 
 mercifully saved from the grave; and in a few 
 weeks sufficiently recovered to renew his inqui- 
 ries for a school. He availed himself of the 
 recommendations with which he was furnished, 
 and used the influence of all the friends which 
 they procured him, and at length opened a 
 school, in Lancaster, beginning with five scho- 
 lars. Singular as the fact may be viewed, a few 
 years hence, he encountered very formidable op- 
 position in the pursuit of this humble object, and 
 from gentlemen of the first respectability, on 
 account of Jiis supposed political principles. 
 Such was the strength of party feeling at this 
 time in Pennsylvania. It had imparted a taint 
 to the most upright and dignified minds, and 
 with the virulence of a social pestilence, even 
 infested the commerce of humble life. A few 
 partisans alone, understood the true cause of 
 the popular agitation. The loudest in the cla- 
 mour could commonly give no rational account 
 of the abstract principles which they so boiste- 
 rously espoused, or of the motives of their own 
 't)nduct. The same characteristic may be ap- 
 
MEMOIE OF BACON. 65 
 
 plied to almost every scene of violent political 
 commotion in the nation. The existence of 
 parties, and a high excitement of party zeal ap- 
 pear to be evils inseparable in the present 
 state of human nature, from the form of govern- 
 ment to which, under Heaven, we are indebted 
 for so many public and social blessings. 
 
 In the useful but arduous sphere of labour 
 into which Mr. Bacon had now entered, he re- 
 mained until April, 1812. His scholars multi- 
 plied in this period, to an hundred and fifty : 
 nor, if his talents, his education, his predilec- 
 tion for the business of instruction, and the ar- 
 dour with which he prosecuted it, are considered^ 
 will this increase be otherwise regarded than 
 as their natural consequence. The pleasure re- 
 sulting from perceiving the success of his exer- 
 tions, and from promoting on a broad scale, the 
 improvement of the young, was the chief motive 
 which prompted to these extraordinary, and dis- 
 interested labours. Not only were the proceeds 
 of his school wholly expended on itself, but a 
 debt of several hundred dollars annually con- 
 tracted by its indefatigable principal for perfect- 
 ing his system of instruction. He had in the 
 same period, without any improper interference^ 
 united under his immediate superintendence^ 
 nearly all the different schools in the place. A 
 library of five hundred volumes was purchased 
 for their use ; the standard of education consider- 
 ably raised, and the most efficient, and an iini- 
 9 
 
66 
 
 MKMOIR OF BACOK. 
 
 form mode of instruction pursued in them alL 
 Mr. Bacon had the pleasure of perceiving the 
 unreasonable opposition experienced in the outset, 
 from several gentlemen of great influence, gra- 
 dually, and entirely disappear, and but one 
 sentiment of approbation and satisfaction prevail 
 among all classes of his employers. 
 
 The trait which shone so advantageously in 
 Mr. Bacon while occupied in these arduous la- 
 bours, is fully illustrated, and some important 
 maxims relative to the government of youth very 
 happily conveyed, in a manuscript, dated in the 
 camp, some years subsequently to the period 
 under review. It appears to be the copy of a 
 letter addressed to some person who had succeed- 
 ed him in one of his schools, and applied for 
 advice in relation to the system of discipline 
 which Mr. Bacon had adopted with so much 
 success. The appositeness of the remarks will 
 excuse the anachronism of their introduction in 
 this place. 
 
 *^ Yours of the 8th instant needs no apology.'- 
 " When you speak of my children^ you touch a 
 chord, which, like the harp of Memnon, needs 
 but a breath, to make the vibrations long and 
 deep." << My long intercourse with youth, and a 
 long and habitual reciprocation of the relative 
 duties, cares and pleasures, of teacher and pupil, 
 have wrought a sort of second nature in me ; so 
 much so, that the very term, ^ youth,' is sacred, 
 consecrated to innocence and purity." " For 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 67 
 
 these reasons you may be sure it must have been 
 one amongst the many painful events of my life 
 to leave my children of * * * * especially as 
 that also may be considered the final period of 
 my school-keeping. But, sir, you will allow 
 me to say, that I think the difficulties, of which 
 you complain, are rather imaginary than real. 
 The same avenues, through which I approached, 
 or perhaps, gained possession of their hearts, are 
 etill open for your access. ^ — To every teacher, 
 when he first enters on his duties, the very nature 
 of youth seems to address itself, in the inimita- 
 ble language of the Highland Bard, 
 
 " O come you in peace here, or come you in warP' 
 If he enter his little dominion with all the terri- 
 ble insignia of pedagogical domination displayed, 
 he must gain his ground by inches. But if he 
 ' come in peace,' if he come like a good angel, 
 seeking after objects, on which to exercise his 
 mercy, and pour forth the expressions of his 
 good will, the youth of his care will throw them- 
 selves into his arms, and give up to him their 
 hearts, and even that wonderful faculty, the un- 
 yielding will. In plain phrase, if he love them^ 
 they will love him. Go on. Appear to be, and 
 really be, anxious for their good ; labour for this 
 object in word and in deed ; and rely on it, sir, 
 they must be affected by it ; and while the prin- 
 ciples of human nature remain unchanged, they 
 will love you in return.'^ 
 
68 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary to state, tbat dur- 
 ing this period, his professional studies were 
 almost quite suspended. It was no part of his 
 character to be capable of moderating the pur- 
 suit of his main object, so as to leave him much 
 leisure for attending to any other. His inqui- 
 ries on religion seem to have been nearly discon^ 
 tinued ; its ordinances either seldom frequented, 
 or indifferently attended ; and the dominion of sin 
 acquiring the most complete ascendancy over 
 all the powers of his mind. 
 
 His deportment was, however, strictly cor- 
 rect ; and although he suffered his own miud 
 indolently to acquiesce in a vague system of 
 deism, he seldom or never used either argu- 
 ment or persuasion with others, in order to in- 
 duce any change of their religious principles. 
 Severely sarcastieal occasionally, in his repre- 
 hension of the excrescences which had in different 
 forms, grown out of the morbid state of particular 
 branches of the christian community, his con- 
 viction, if not of the sacredness, yet of the util- 
 ity of the moral principles of Christianity itself, 
 effectually restrained him from openly assailing 
 the system ; or, as far as appears, of wishing 
 for its general rejection. He even enforced those 
 precepts constantly on the minds of the youths 
 under his care. Although his candour at a sub- 
 sequent period, brought him to a confession of 
 having entertained all the negative characteris- 
 tics of infidelity ; it is but too safe a presumption 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 69 
 
 diat thousands who pass themselves for the 
 friends of the christian religion, are inwardly 
 infected with an equal degree of the same tor- 
 pid infidelity. To many of his intimate asso- 
 ciates at this time, the lurking poison of his 
 doubts and disbelief in relation to our holy re- 
 ligion, was undiscovered. 
 
 In the summer of 1810, his spirits were re- 
 duced to the lowest state of depression, in con- 
 sequence of bodily indisposition, and the pres- 
 sure of incessant and increasing cares, and a full 
 conviction of the vanity of worldly expectations ; 
 to all which may be added the constant annoy- 
 ance of a burdened conscience. The unhappi- 
 ness experienced from this latter cause, was felt, 
 but not understood. He found himself wretched 
 in the extreme, and existence itself an intolerable 
 burden. He knew of no remedy : and at one 
 period fully resolved on hazarding the awful ex- 
 periment of suicide. But the hand of God ar- 
 rested him, and prevented the execution of his 
 purpose. 
 
 From May to December, of the same year, 
 he edited a small weekly paper, denominated the 
 " Hive," which had some years previously, been 
 published in the same place ; and which, with 
 considerable exertion, he revived, to experience 
 in a few months, a similar doom, for want of pa- 
 tronage. Its character was miscellaneous, and 
 the editorial articles relate chiefly to subjects 
 
70 , MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 which his own pursuits and studies had render- 
 ed familiar to his thoughts. 
 
 Of this publication, Mr. Bacon remarks, 
 ^*It never obtained a very extensive patronage, 
 perhaps did not deserve it." Its pages exhibited 
 not so properly a variety, as a medley of articles ; 
 of which, far the largest proportion were inser- 
 ted rather for the amusement than edification of 
 their readers. Nearly one half of these were 
 fugitive pieces from Mr. Bacon's own pen. 
 They are indeed neither marked with chasteness 
 of style, nor evince much refinement of taste in 
 their author ; but they bear ample testimony to 
 his industry, the fertility of his invention, and 
 the captivating vivacity of his imagination. 
 The journal contains several poetical produc- 
 tions accompanied with copious notes ; which 
 discover a more than ordinary talent for this 
 species of composition, and an extensive but 
 not very accurate acquaintance with ancient and 
 modern classical literature. His pieces, with 
 scarcely an exception, were despatched to 
 press in an unfinished state, both in regard to the 
 treatment of their subjects, and the character of 
 ilieir phraseology ; and show rather what the 
 writer might have accomplished in this species 
 of authorship, with suflBcient leisure and care, 
 than actually lay the foundation for any lasting 
 literary reputation. Mr. Bacon's productions 
 are distinguished from those of all the occasion- 
 al contributors to his miscellany, by their ori- 
 
MEMOIR OP IJACON. 71 
 
 .finality, and a certain redundancy of broken 
 classical imagery : but the most correct, perbaps 
 the ablest pieces, were from the pens of some 
 of his correspondents.* 
 
 Mr. Bacon's labours in Lancaster were 
 neither appreciated nor rewarded as they deser- 
 ved to be. But as he had enjoyed signal suc- 
 cess, and could contemplate his exertions with a 
 high degree of satisfaction, he was too well plea- 
 sed with the situation to seek for any other. In 
 March, 181S, he unexpectedly received a polite 
 and urgent invitation from the trustees of the 
 school already mentioned under the name of 
 York College, to remove, and take charge of that 
 Institution. This call, he soon resolved to ac- 
 cept, on the condition of receiving a suflBcient 
 advance of money from the trustees, to pay off the 
 debts incurred on account of his schools in Lan- 
 caster. The condition was complied with on the 
 part of the trustees, without hesitation, and he 
 accordingly resigned his charge, and repaired to 
 York, on the first of April. 
 
 By the suggestion of a young officer of Ma- 
 rines, at that time stationed at Lancaster, he had 
 several months previously, sent in to the Execu- 
 tive an application for a commission in the same 
 corps. Of the success of this application he 
 never entertained but little expectation ; and at 
 the time of making his engagement with the 
 
 * See Appendix, Note IV. 
 
'7^ MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 trustees of the York academy, the circumstance 
 of the applicatiou scarcely occurred to his 
 thoughts. But when on the point of departing to 
 fulfil his engagement at York, he was surprised 
 with the arrival of a commission. Tlie appoint- 
 ment was to a second lieutenancy in the marine 
 corps. Having written to the commanding 
 officer of the corps, an account of his situation, 
 he proceeded directly to York, and undertook 
 the charge to which he had engaged himself; 
 and in a few days after, received from Washing- 
 ton a furlough for six months. His devotion to 
 the interests of the school during this period, 
 was entire ; and his success equal to that which 
 had distinguished his former labours. On the 
 expiration of his furlough, in October, he repair- 
 ed to Washington, and joined his corps. The 
 enthusiasm of his character was adapted to a 
 military life ; and a quick and operative sense 
 of honour, by which his feelings were uniformly 
 distinguished, was likely to ensure a faithful 
 and prompt discharge even of the most laborious 
 and perilous services. He shortly acquired a 
 good practical knowledge of the military art, as 
 far as the duties of his station required ; and 
 was eager for a more active participation in the 
 labours and hazards of war than the appointment 
 of the service seemed likely soon to allot to him. 
 
 In March, 1813, he was ordered, by his own 
 request, from Washington to New York, to take 
 charge of the guard of the Argus Sloop of war^ 
 
MEMOIR OP BACOX. 73 
 
 then lying in that harhour. By some oversight 
 the same command had been previously given 
 to an officer of inferior rank ; and he remained 
 in quarters, at New York, until tlie ensuing Au- 
 gust. He was now recalled to Washington, and 
 on the first of September, received the appoint- 
 ment of quarter -master of the corps, which he 
 accepted. In this capacity he continued to serve 
 eighteen months, when he resigned the appoint- 
 ment, and was reinstated in the rank to which 
 the regular course of promotion entitled him. 
 Destitute of that inward fear of God^ and 
 that principle of obedience to his authority, 
 which alone canrender the soul superior to the ty- 
 rannical laws of a perverted and spurious honour; 
 and a stranger to the power of divine grace in 
 restraining the inordinate dominion of the pas- 
 sions, he was easily seduced by pride and re- 
 sentment, to engage in a duel with an officer of 
 the same corps, on the pretext of terminating 
 some trivial disagreement. His antagonist in 
 this rash and criminal enterprise, had formerly 
 been one of his most intimate and confidential 
 friends, to whom he had once regarded himself as 
 under very particular obligations ! Which of the 
 parties was the aggressor and deserved the seve- 
 rest reprehension, in the quarrel which led to this 
 affair, it is no part of the writer's object, and 
 cannot be that of the christian reader, to inquire. 
 Suffice it to say, that Mr. Bacon lived to express 
 the deepest abhorrence of the unnatural act, and to 
 10 
 
7* MEMOIR or BACON, 
 
 regard the individual who participated with him 
 ill the sin and the peril of it, with a feeling of 
 affection and respect, which all the hlood that 
 has ever flowed in voluntary assassinations could 
 never inspire. The wretchedness of a common 
 apostacy, and the blood of an universal atone- 
 ment, to the faith of a christian, cannot fail to 
 present such considerations as must bind him 
 with the tie of essential brotherhood to every 
 individual of his species. On the basis of this 
 sublime view of the mutual relations of men^ 
 was Mr. Bacon's benevolence for all his fellow- 
 men, eventually established. Under the influence 
 of this spirit, suppose him to receive an injury 
 which should directly affect his character. Still, 
 it must be a brother who inflicted it ; and whom, 
 because he was his brother^ it would be impos- 
 sible for him to injure in return. Mr. Bacon's 
 subsequent detestation of the practice of duelling 
 was likewise founded on the knowledge which 
 faith had revealed to him of the strictness and 
 purity of God's holy laws, and the ^ exceeding 
 sinfulness of sin.' In an interview v/hich the 
 writer enjoyed with him a very few months be- 
 fore his death, the subject of duelling, with spe- 
 cial reference to his own case, was casually ad- 
 verted to in the conversation. He remarked, very 
 seriously, that " duelling is unquestionably mur- 
 derous : but, do not let us suppose duellists and 
 assassins are the only murderers. Where is the 
 man that is not, in the sight of God, chargeable 
 
MEMOIR OF BACOJv'. 75 
 
 with all that is essential to that and every other 
 abomination which can be named ? In his jud^^- 
 ment, we are all by nature much nearer a level 
 than we are apt to suppose." The enlightened 
 christian will be able to appreciate the real hu- 
 mility of these sentiments. The feeling w^hich 
 prompted them was an abhorrence of all iniqui- 
 ty too absolute to admit of his restricting the 
 condemnation of it to any particular act of liis 
 own, or any one species of sins in general. In 
 the affair alluded to, he received a severe wound 
 in the thigh, which disabled him from active duty 
 for several weeks. 
 
 On the last day of May, 1814, he married 
 Miss Anna Mary, the daughter of Jacob Bar- 
 nitz, Esq. of York, in Pennsylvania, to whom 
 he had been for more than two years, very 
 tenderly attached. This union was produc- 
 tive of much happiness to both the parties, dur- 
 ing its very brief continuance ; and to the wi- 
 dowed survivor, was the occasion of an infinite 
 benefit, with which the highest anticipations of 
 mere earthly felicity, are unworthy of a com- 
 parison. ^' This event," he writes, ^'^ produced 
 new feelings, and new principles of action. I 
 was deeply interested in the happiness of my wife; 
 and was almost compelled io fray. This prac- 
 tice I seldom afterwards omitted ; and came 
 by degrees to believe in the holy scriptures. 
 Deistical objections had suddenly and unaccoun- 
 tably ceased to trouble me, and I read my lon^ 
 
76 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 neglected Bible with assiduity and the deepest in- 
 terest. But/' he observes, in continuation, ^^ aftev 
 all, I confess that I had no religion, and had no 
 serious intention of seeking it. I did not, in- 
 deed, think a change of heart necessary." 
 
 All this, perhaps, can be justly resolved into 
 the operation of mere natural aflVction. His 
 marriage had given him an interest in an object 
 for whose happiness his benevolence was more 
 distinctly called into exercise than it bad ever 
 been before, for any other. The blessing of a 
 superior Power was earnestly desired, on her ac- 
 count ; but on the dreary plan of mere deism, 
 could be sought with no possibility of being ob- 
 tained. He began now to be sincerely willing 
 that the scriptures, and the christian scheme, 
 should be true, — and little more was necessary 
 in order to open his eyes upon the evidence 
 which proves them so. This process of feeling 
 and reasoning, the result of which ultimately 
 proved so salutary, however it may be explain- 
 ed on mere natural principles, was neverthe- 
 less conducted by the invisible finger of that 
 God, who is the author of nature itself, and the 
 sovereign disposer of all subordinate causes. 
 Many of his prejudices against Christianity con- 
 tinned, even while he admitted the truth of the 
 system. 
 
 The whole summer of 1814, Lieut. Bacon 
 was detained at AVashington. On the 18th of 
 June, he was promoted to a captaincy in his 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 77 
 
 corps. Except the few weeks during which the 
 English forces remained on the waters of the. 
 Chesapeakcj his division of the corps was not 
 called out on active d(i(y. 'I'his season of leisure 
 afforded him opportunity to renew the study of 
 the law ; of which he very industriously avail- 
 ed himself. His marriage seems to have social- 
 ised his feelings, by rousing him from that state 
 of morbid melancholy into which his mind in soli- 
 tude, was accustomed to subside. As the effect of 
 this improved habit of feeling, he oftener in the 
 absence of his wife, repaired to church on Sun- 
 days, read the scriptures, and attended to other 
 religious duties : — his pride and infidelity in the 
 form of a dark and sickly despondency of tem- 
 per, having formerly stood much in the way of 
 these observances. 
 
 On the 9th of January, ISif), he was admit- 
 ted to the bar, in Washington, having some 
 months previously, entered himself as a student 
 in the office of J. Law, Esq. of this city. His 
 qualifications were considered respectable. 
 
 Soon afterwards he was taken suddenly and 
 spriously ill : and from solitude, the expecta- 
 tion of death, and a conscious want of prepar- 
 ation for the event, his mind became more com- 
 pletely awakened to the impressions of religion 
 than it had !)een since the days of his childhood. 
 He read the scriptures witli increased avidity and 
 interest, and prayed with a fervour and affection 
 
78 MEMOIR OF liACOX. 
 
 unfelt before.* This show of piety continued no 
 longer tliau its cause lasted. He found no diffi- 
 culty, on recovering his health, to resume his 
 former habit of iudilTcrence. It was however 
 the preposterous indifference of a mind which 
 indolently acquiesced in the truth of Christianity,, 
 But he never afterwards apostatised to deism. 
 
 Mr. Bacon's mind was susceptible in a very 
 unusual degree^ to tlic impressions of kindness ; 
 and no feeling could be more easily inspired in 
 it than gratitude. This sentiment sometimes took 
 a decidedly religious cast, whenever he happen- 
 ed to see the connexion of his happiness or his 
 success in life, with an overruling providence. 
 
 The birth of his son in the month of March, 
 was an event well suited to call into strong action 
 this constitutional feeling of his mind ; and pro» 
 duced a fervent acknowledgment of the unme- 
 k'ited goodness of God, and a general purpose of 
 living more obediently to his commands. But 
 this pious transport was only the gush of a mere 
 natural affection, and soon spent itself. 
 
 About the same time, and while attached to 
 the marine service, he was licensed to practise 
 law in the courts of York county, in Pennsylva- 
 nia. On the resignation of his staff appoint- 
 ment, in May, he repaired to York, on the re- 
 cruiting service ; and on the first of August, 
 opened an Attorney's office in that place. The 
 
 ® See Appendix, Note V. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 79 
 
 luultiplicatiorij and perhaps the very nature of 
 his labours in this new profession, proved highly 
 detrimental to his better interests. He soon be- 
 came inflamed with the desire of distinction 
 and emolument, and entangled with a host of 
 cares, which, to a mind and temper like hisj 
 were especially vexatious ; and all together, ef- 
 fectually diverted his thoughts from the pursuits 
 of religion. 
 
 But Heaven was preparing a shaft to go 
 through his soul, and remind him, by the seve- 
 rest pang it had ever inflicted, of the precarious 
 nature of his best earthly enjoyments. His 
 youthful and amiable wife had nearly recovered 
 her accustomed health, when she became sud- 
 denly ill of a nervous complaint, attended with 
 very alarming symptoms. Medicine was baffled. 
 Hope hung trembling over the sinking patient^, 
 for a few days ; and reluctantly quitting its 
 charge, left the agonising husband to watch her 
 last convulsions. He saw her expire on the 
 SSth of August, 1815. The circumstances of 
 her death were such as afterwards filled him 
 with a melancholy pleasure to recollect them. 
 The strength of her faith, and the vigour of her 
 hopes afforded her not only an easy conquest of 
 the last enemy, but a sublime triumph over all hig 
 terrors. But the disconsolate husband was at 
 the time overwhelmed with unutterable distress, 
 Heindeed, saw in the stroke, the hand of Omnipo- 
 tence, and trembled. Bathe was neither humbled 
 
8U MEMOUi OF UACOK. 
 
 untlei" it, nor constrained to withdraw liis heart, 
 nor his coiiridenci% from the worlVl. The wound 
 in a few weeks ceased to bleed : he resumed his 
 accustomed avocations ; and surrendered him- 
 self, as before, to the mingled torrent of pas- 
 sions and cares which make up the busy life of 
 a man of the world. 
 
 The active ardour with which Mr. Bacon 
 prosecuted his professional and other labours^ 
 would be very inadequately represented, by call- 
 ing him merely industrious. His legal know- 
 ledge was never profound : but that, together 
 with all his other acquirements, was eminently 
 adapted to an object of which he seems never to 
 have lost sight, — to attain to eminence, as an 
 efficient practical character. This purpose was 
 partly theresult of the constitutional impetuosity 
 of his feelings, and the benevolence of his heart, 
 which led him naturally, to connect the design 
 of practical usefulness with all his plans ; and 
 partly, was' the dictate of dispassionate and 
 sound judgment. Mr Bacon knew himself to 
 be constitutionally better lifted for action than 
 study; and very properly judged that l)is most 
 strenuous eflbrts, at this period of his life, to 
 become accurately learned in the theory of his 
 profession, would be baffled by those very quali- 
 ties which, with due cultivation, might render 
 hira eminently useful as a practitioner. He 
 rapidly advanced in his profession ; and soon 
 acquired an extensive practice. He was inde- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 81 
 
 fatigable in his attention to the business put into 
 his hands ; and, in no known instance, depart- 
 ed from tliat unbending line of integrity which^ 
 through life, he most scrnpulously observed. 
 His habitual generosity was exercised to the 
 same liberal extent, as in the more circumscribed 
 sphere which he had formerly held. " From 
 his papers which have come to my hands since 
 his decease," writes an intimate friend, " I have 
 found, that in several instances where his poor 
 clients were pressed, he had advanced consider- 
 ■ able sums to relieve them without a hope of ever 
 being repaid." To the same pen the writer is 
 likewise indebted for the additional information, 
 that " Mr. Bacon not only spoke with great flu- 
 ency, but often with eloquence, at tlie bar ; and 
 even in the dry details of a law-speech, he ex- 
 hibited a richness and exuberance of mind that 
 always excited interest." 
 
 Mr. Bacon at this period enjoyed a healthy 
 habit of body, and a comparatively equable tem- 
 perament of mind ; possessed a good classical and 
 legal education ; a moral character, in the eye of 
 the world, untarnished : and such an experimen- 
 tal acquaintance with tlie world, as the daily in- 
 tercourse of several years with men of every grade 
 and description, was able to impart. Such quali- 
 fications soon gave him a commanding influence 
 in the community of which he was now a member. 
 When he resigned his commission as captain 
 ofmarines, in November, 181.^, he had received 
 11 
 
8S MEMOIR or UACON. 
 
 the appointinesit of deputy attorney of the Uni- 
 ted States district coiur, for York and Adams, 
 in Pennsylvania ; and was soon after elected 
 Major of a regiment of the Militia. His exer- 
 tions for improving the organization and disci- 
 pline of the militia, during the three years of 
 his residence in York, were unremitting and suc- 
 cessful. His situation in short, united almost 
 every ingredient which enters into the world's 
 definition of felicity ; and to the mind which aspires 
 after no better happiness than results from the 
 most propitious external circumstances, it must 
 have been enviable. But it is necessary only to 
 appeal to the experience of every reader, in or- 
 der to convey to him the best idea of that cheer- 
 less, and distressing vacuity of mind, which still 
 preyed on his internal peace. He was too hon- 
 est not to be conscious of the secret disgust which 
 he felt towards the very things which he was re- 
 solved should make him happy. He had al- 
 ways aimed to possess the best gi'fts of the world, 
 and at this time, could conceive of nothing bet- 
 tcr. But he was not happy. 
 
MEMOIlt OF BACON. 83 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 No speculation could be wilder or more ad- 
 venturous, than to attempt to trace, in the ever 
 varying sensations of a soul so susceptible and 
 so active as Mr. Bacon's, the precise method 
 observed by the divine Spirit in producing a 
 proper conviction of gin, and ^renewing his mind 
 after the image of Christ.' Omniscience alone 
 can interpret all the minute actings of the affec- 
 tions ; and separate from the compound of pas- 
 sion, imagination, and mere animal sensations, 
 the operations of divine grace. But the Spirit 
 of God seldom, or never converts the soul of an 
 adult sinner, without, in some stage of the work 
 exciting strong emotions : and, as incidents and 
 circumstances make up the tissue of every man's 
 life, they come necessarily to be associated with the 
 divine work itself. Still, the change itself which 
 the scriptures so fully describe, and so expressly 
 pronounce to be an indispensable qualification 
 for salvation, is of the most simple character; 
 and essentially distinct from all attendant cir- 
 cumstances. The seat of it is in the moral fa- 
 culties of the mind ; and it essentially consists 
 in a supernatural translation of the affections 
 from self, sin, and the world ; and their steady 
 and confirmed attachment to holiness, and to 
 God. Every heir of life has experienced this 
 
84 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 change ; and evinces its reality by a conduct 
 which a rational man would naturally expect 
 him to exhibit. He separates himself from the 
 pursuit of the lusts, vanities, and pomps of life, 
 and whatever else the change of his affections has 
 rendered distasteful and odious ; and follows af- 
 ter righteousness, peace, temperance, purity, 
 faith, Heaven, — all things, in short, which the 
 Spirit of God has taught him supremely to love 
 and value. Where these substantial proofs of 
 conversion are found, — admit that the man is de- 
 ceived in many of his own feelings ; admit that he 
 is weak, ignorant, or superstitious ; that his imagi- 
 nation ilUules him with its extravagant and vision- 
 ary creations : his weaknesses are no doubt to be 
 pitied, — but, who is authorised to pronounce him 
 merely because weak or visionary, devoid of the 
 grace of life ? A cloud floating in our atmos- 
 phere, may obscure the face of the sun ; but can- 
 not blot it from the system : its reiiection may be 
 broken and ruffled in the agitated pool ; while the 
 luminary itself holds its orbit undisturbed, and 
 pours a steady light. Grace may reign in the 
 soul, and govern the life, while a superstitious 
 imagination deforms the heavenly principle, and 
 ignorance clouds the understanding which it per- 
 vades. 
 
 The mysterious grace of God which was soon 
 to make of the subject of this narrative, a distin- 
 guished^ vessel of mercy,' had, unperceived and 
 even without his distinct concurrence^ wrought 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 8f» 
 
 a gradual preparation in his mind for thn 
 thorough renewal which followed. His feelings 
 were sooner excited, and his thoughts more ea- 
 sily fixed, by tlie truths of religion, than for- 
 merly. He visited his native place for the last 
 time, in September, 1816 : saw in many of his for- 
 mer acquaintances, a verymanifestchange of reli- 
 gious cl;aracter ; and seems to have been particu- 
 larly struck with the alteration wrought by the 
 same cause, in the domestic scene. His aged fa- 
 ther was drawing to the close of his protracted 
 pilgrimage in a devout and peaceful frame, — the 
 manifest offspring of a living faith in his Redeem- 
 er ; and appeared to derive such a sublime delight 
 from communion with his God, and from the va- 
 rious exercises of his worship and praise, as ar- 
 rested the attention, and excited some serious re- 
 flection*! in the mind of Samuel. On the night 
 succeeding the second day of his homeward jour- 
 ney, he had retired to his chamber in health, and 
 enjoyed an unusual redundancy of animal spirits. 
 The world and its pursuits presented themselves 
 to his imagination in their most attractive forms. 
 He dwelt upon his own prospects in life with 
 delisihtful anticipations, and was employing his 
 thoughts in arranging plans of future advance- 
 ment and emolument. By a strange bodily 
 sensation, the cause of which does not very 
 plainly appear, the vision was annihilated in a 
 moment ; and he fully believed himself in the 
 agonies of death. His respiration was burden- 
 
86 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 ed almost to suffocation ; and a paroxysm of 
 exhaustion, distress and convulsions, seized upon 
 the vital parts of the system, and seemed to his 
 affrighted imagination, to threaten immediate 
 dissolution. He then felt his unfitness to die, 
 and could contemplate in the eternity before him, 
 only a justly offended Grod, and a world of 
 dteadful retribution. His cries were reused in 
 an agony of despair and terror, to the burning 
 throne : but they were offered without faith, 
 and procured him no relief. He felt himself, to 
 employ his own language, '^ withering under the 
 touch of death," and perishing, without an hour's 
 reprieve, or a ray of hope. He petitioned for a 
 day, — for a few hours, only, of respite, from the 
 instant doom which he felt' impending ; and 
 tacitly resolved, with the solemnity of a religious 
 vow, to consecrate the precious moments which 
 sliould be afforded, wholly to the preparation 
 of his wretched soul for judgment. Whether 
 the imagination, or some physical affection be 
 supposed the piincipal cause of this distressing 
 paroxysm, its effects were the same. The ex- 
 pectation of immediate death could not have 
 been more strongly impressed by any cause 
 whatever: and the event itself could scarcely 
 have increased his alarm and terror. On ob- 
 laiuing relief, he ratitied his resolutions by a 
 deliberate promise to seek the Lord's favour 
 ontil he obtained it. The reader, but moderately 
 skilled in the deceitfuluess of his own heart, has 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 87 
 
 ^ilready anticipated tlie fate of resolutions origi- 
 nating as these did. Mr. Bacon spent the ensu- 
 ing day thoughtfully. He more than once ad- 
 dressed a forced petition to Heaven. The im- 
 pression daily got fainter; till, on his arrival ia 
 Philadelphia, he was the same thoughtless 
 worldling as before. 
 
 His health was again aflPected. A strong 
 temptation to violate the Sabbath by travelling 
 unnecessarily, occurred at the same time, and en- 
 snared him. His conscience was again arous- 
 ed, and, assisted in its rebukes by the recollec- 
 tion of vows so recently violated, stung him to a 
 transport of mental agony little short of mad- 
 ness. Often did he check the reins of his horse, 
 half resolved to proceed no further. An habi- 
 tual seriousness rested on his mind from this 
 time, until, with his returning health he suffered 
 himself to be overwhelmed with the cares of busi- 
 ness. Still, he continued to read the scrip- 
 tures, but lost that earnest spirit of inquiry 
 which on the occasions of his late alarm, so en- 
 tirely occupied his mind. He likewise found 
 all his convictions and purposes, too inoperative 
 to engage him in a course of habitual prayer. 
 He did not, for several weeks, repeat even the 
 Lord's prayer. In this one trait, the difference, 
 how marked ! between the unconverted formalist, 
 and the humble believer. * Will the hypocrite 
 always call upon God V is an interrogative, 
 which, in the answer it dictates, explains the 
 
88 MEMOIR OF BACOF. 
 
 true cause of Mr. Bacon's uniformly decliti", 
 ing seriousness, and tlic failure of liis best pur- 
 poses and attempts in religion. Without Christy 
 apprehended and formed in the soul by a living 
 faith, the sinner can do nothing. Armed with the 
 might of a divine Helper, the weakest believer 
 is enabled to adhere with general and persever- 
 ing consistency to the sincere purpose which he 
 ventured, with much trembling, and deep self- 
 distrust, to conceive before his God. The very 
 consciousness of his insufficiency constrains him 
 incessantly to cry to his Saviour for more grace. 
 Thus is secured his steady attendance on this vi- 
 tal exercise of the christian. And his prayer is 
 heard. He is never left without that supply of 
 the Spirit of grace which answers his present 
 need, and enables him to render a consistent ^ 
 however imperfect, an obedience to the com- 
 mands of Christ. Mr. Bacon had not embraced, 
 and did not confide in the promise, ^ my s;race 
 shall be sufficient for thee.' He was according- 
 ly left, to learn by repeated and a2:2;ravatpd re- 
 lapses, his own insufficiency. Here is the point 
 loo, which very many who commence a relisjious 
 course, never pass : and either resst. through life, 
 in around of mechanicfrl and heartless services ; 
 or, as more commonly happens, utterly aposta- 
 tise from the pursuit of religion, and become 
 its worst opposers. 
 
 The fear of death shortly invaded him again ; 
 excited a guilty conscience, to discharge its 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON, SQ 
 
 dreadful office with still bitterer criminations;, 
 and more alarming anticipations than before ; 
 and after many hours of fruitless supplication, 
 subsided into a tranquil calm of the soul. This 
 visitation of the hand of God he was not able 
 to forget entirely. He gave, from this period, a 
 more constant attendance on preaching ; read 
 the Bible, prayed, bought religious books, and 
 without discovering his intention to any one, was 
 disposed to make religion a very serious matter 
 both of inquiry and practice. He still appears 
 to have been a stranger to Jesus Christ, the 
 source and channel, of all efficient spiritual in» 
 fluences. The word sown in his heart was still 
 on ^ the stony ground where it had not much depth 
 of earth ;' and however promising in appearance, 
 was without root, and 'in the hour of temptation, 
 withered away.' He, indeed, was convinced that 
 he had not attained to a state of safety ; but, for a 
 short time had too much confidence in the effica- 
 cy of his own dead works " performed without 
 grace" to advance him to that desirable state, to 
 relinquish his dependence on them, and trust 
 alone, in the righteousness of Christ. With the 
 root of self- righteousness still vigorous in his 
 heart, was united its inseparable concomitant, 
 great ignorance of the way of salvation, by faith* 
 This indeed, is a mystery which can be fully 
 learnt only by experience. But Mr. Bacon 
 appears not to have possessed even that theoret- 
 ical knowledge of the important docti-ine wWch 
 IS 
 
90 MEMOIR OF BACOK. 
 
 many persons, as destitute of saving faith a-^ 
 himself, have nevertheless, acquired. Whik 
 he continued to acquit himself, with tolerable 
 regularity, in the duties to which he was now 
 addicted, his conscience slumbered ; and a vagu© 
 hope of finally escaping the wrath of God, and 
 obtaining his favour, held him fast in its delusion. 
 But God again suffered him to fall by a train of 
 temptations, an easy prey to sins, which he 
 could not reconcile with the character even of 
 a sincere and earnest inquirer in religion. He 
 had been invited by his gay associates, to unite 
 with them in a scene of fashionable dissipation ; 
 and so utterly destitute of firmness to withstand 
 the solicitation did he find himself, that he yield- 
 ed an almost unhesitating compliance. While 
 participating in this frivolous amusement, all 
 serious reflection was stifled ; and he was con- 
 scious of no other restraint on the levity of his 
 feelings, than that which the laws of decency 
 and custom impose. He was at this time, in 
 Lancaster. On his return to York, the next 
 day, he had leisure to review his conduct, in 
 the black shade thrown over it by the recollec- 
 tion of violated resolutions and vows, and the con- 
 sciousness of having offered a direct resistance 
 to the suggestions of the divine Spirit, and of 
 violating his own knowledge and convictions of 
 duty. He perceived that he had not only been 
 overcome by the temptation, but vanquished al- 
 most without an opposing struggle. His reflec- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 91 
 
 lions were distracting ; and hurried him into a state 
 of mind but little short of despair. He dared not 
 even pray for forgiveness. Either the agitation 
 of his thoughts, or real indisposition, impressed 
 strongly on his imagination the expectation of 
 sudden death. His health again became sensibly 
 affected ; and he ventured to pray only for 
 strength to reacli home, and permission to die 
 in the midst of his friends. He arrived. But hie 
 spirit fouud no rest : it had received a wound^ 
 Vi^hicU every recollection aggravated, and all his 
 attempts to heal were worse than idle. The hand 
 of the Almighty had inflicted it, and the remedy 
 was only with himself. He read the scriptures, 
 prayed, wept, but to no purpose. He was even 
 tempted to drown his anguish in intoxication : 
 but God mercifully overruled the intention. His 
 imagination was still full of the apprehension of 
 a sudden death — and while he repressed the 
 open expression of his feelings, he more than once 
 took a final leave as he supposed, of his child, 
 and his friends. His inward anguish and alarm 
 so far predominated as to overcome, at length, the 
 pride of heart which had hitherto restrained him 
 from availing himself of the counsel and society 
 of his pastor and christian friends. It cost him 
 even now, a severe struggle to withdraw himself 
 from a number of his customary associates, 
 and go and unbosom himself to the clergyman on 
 whose ministry he attended. In this interview, 
 ti) employ his own phraseology, " he cried and 
 
9^ MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 roared aloud :'' and it was not until he had freely 
 given vent to the strongest of his feelings, that he 
 could utter his errand in intelligible language. 
 The clergj'man found it needful to appease the 
 violent agitation of his mind ; and afterwards 
 imparted to him a variety of counsel ; the purport 
 of all which seems to have fallen much short of 
 Mr. Bacon's expectations ; and he returned dis- 
 appointed and dejected. Perhaps no pastoral 
 duty, not even that which the ordinary death-bed 
 calls upon a minister to perform, is so awfully mo- 
 mentous, or so difficult, as that of directing the 
 mind of a convinced and thoroughly awakened 
 sinner into the narrow path of salvation. Advance, 
 he must : and the very next step taken in such a 
 crisis, may be decisive of his eternal doom. 
 The skilful physician will endeavour to accom- 
 modate the advice afforded in different cases, to 
 their respective circumstances ; but the example of 
 the primitive ministers of the gospel, and the 
 very nature of the sinner's wants unite in deter- 
 mining that counsel to be the safest, and generally 
 far the most beneficial, which shall most magnify 
 the ofiBces of the Saviour, and enforce an im= 
 mediate recourse by faith, to his cross. The 
 more intelligibly this act of faith can be explain » 
 ed to his mind, and the more essential to his sal» 
 vation, it can be made to appear, the more effi- 
 cacious, as a means of grace, the advice will be 
 likely to prove. The inquirer himself, it is al- 
 ivays to be presumed, is a very incompetent 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 93 
 
 judge of the treatment best adapted to his own 
 case. Mr. Bacon's disappointment, on this oc- 
 casion, to whatever it might be owing, was pro- 
 bably serviceable to him ; as it more eifectually 
 taught him the fallacy of all expectations of re- 
 lief not founded on the mercy and power of God 
 alone. The perusal of " Doddridge's Rise and 
 Progress," which was put into his hands at the 
 time, was an important help ; as, by preserving 
 him from absolute despair, it gave him the power 
 of concentrating his thoughts without distraction, 
 on the great doctrines of salvation. His time 
 was as much devoted to inquiry on these subjects, 
 and to public prayer, as his secular avocations 
 would permit. Thenceforward he mingled more 
 freely, than ever before, in the circles of the 
 pious, and found a great advantage in their so- 
 ciety. It was by no means the least, that he was 
 at once delivered from many of the temptations 
 and dangers, unavoidably growing out of his 
 former connexions. The spirit of grace con- 
 tinued gradually to enlighten his mind, with a 
 clearer knowledge of the gospel ; and in a few 
 weeks, he found himself able to repose his soul 
 with a happy confidence on his Saviour. 
 
 At what moment the gift of faith was first 
 imparted, and his heart brought to bow with en- 
 tire submission to the yoke of Christ, does not 
 plainly appear. But, from the period to which 
 this part of the narrative refers, he seems never, 
 even for a day, to have remitted the pursuit of 
 
0-4 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 his salvation ; and scarcely to have declined, by 
 a single relapse, from those high attainments in 
 faith and holiness, which he was enabled through 
 an abundant supply of grace, to make with a ra- 
 pidity seldom exceeded by the most ^favoured 
 christian. But it will be seen, that the original cor- 
 ruptions of his heart were not at once, eradicated, 
 Hor the current of habit reversed, by an absolute 
 exertion of divine power. But grace eventually 
 accomplished this work by engaging all the pow- 
 ers of his mind in a long and arduous course of 
 exertion, vigilance and self-denial. His conflicts 
 were often sliarp and painful : but commonly of 
 momentary continuance. The fervency of his 
 prayers, and the habitual prevalence of a vigo- 
 rous faith gave him an easy and rapid conquest 
 of his spiritual foes. Nearly every struggle 
 against sin proved to him the occasion of a new 
 victory over it, till, by a dispensation as merciful 
 to him, as mournful to the world he left, he was 
 early translated to the scene of his everlasting 
 triumph. 
 
 The preceding narrative has brought down 
 Mr. Bacon's history to the month of April, 1817. 
 Sensible of the deficiency of his knowledge in 
 religion, and in conformity with an excellent 
 usage of the German Lutheran church, he lost 
 no time in enrolling himself among the catechu- 
 mens under its nurture and instruction. The con- 
 nexion was consummated on the 24th and 25th of 
 May, by his baptism, and admission to the holy 
 
ivieMoir of eacox. 9.^ 
 
 communiun. His participation in these ordi- 
 nances of his Saviour was not attended with all 
 that immediate henefit which many have derived 
 from them. Indeed, tlie standard of liis attain- 
 ments in piety, which he at first proposed to him- 
 self, was far from being elevated ; and lie nei- 
 ther sfought, nor expected those abundant com- 
 munications of the love of Christ which he af- 
 terwards so happily realised. But his face was 
 immoveably set, and his heart steadfastly di- 
 rected in the pursuit of eternal life. All inde- 
 cision on the main question of devoting his life 
 to the service of God was eifectually excluded. 
 He appears from the commencement of his re- 
 ligious life to have "■ continued instant in prayer ;' 
 and made the regular and frequent attendance on 
 this duty in private, a part of the stated business 
 of every subsequent day of his life; and in this 
 one practice, consisted^the principal means of his 
 uniform growth in grace, and eminent attainments 
 in holiness. The most distinguishable features in 
 his early religious character were deep humility, 
 and a spirit of ardent supplication : to both of 
 which, the most express promises of increasing 
 grace are made in the word of God. Although 
 connected with the Lutheran church, he confined 
 neither his intercourse, nor his fellowship, to the 
 members of that communion. He particularly de- 
 lighted to mingle with the little associations of 
 praying souls, belonging to different christian de- 
 nominations in the place, who * often assembled 
 
96 MEMOIR or BACOI'^. 
 
 themselves together' agreeably to the ad vice of the 
 apostle, for mutual exhortation and united inter- 
 cessions before the throne of their common Lord. 
 In this edifying practice the members of four or 
 five different communions were harmoniously 
 united. Mr. Bacon had perhaps, too precipi- 
 tately, as he afterwards supposed, attached him- 
 self to the Lutheran church. It is certain that 
 many, and indeed most of his chosen associates, 
 in whom was found that congeniality of reli- 
 gious feelings and views, which alone could now 
 lay the foundation for an intimate christian inter- 
 course, belonged to other denominations. And 
 whether the piety of the members of this church, 
 generally, was of a lower order, or whether the 
 customary expressions of it only, were of a less 
 ardent cast, he soon found in other churches the 
 means of spiritual enjoyment and improvement, 
 of which he had not been able to avail himself so 
 fully in his own. The use of- the German lan- 
 guage likewise, in which the ministrations of the 
 Lutheran church were frequently conducted for 
 the benefit of a part of the congregation, interrupt- 
 ed the progress of his own improvement, in this 
 communion. For these reasons, principally, 
 the worship, and general character of the Epis- 
 copal church on whose public and occasional 
 services he frequently attended, soon acquired 
 a decided preference in his mind. Believing 
 that his own advancement in grace would be con- 
 siderably promoted by a direct connexion with 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 9/ 
 
 it, he accordingly removed his relation from the 
 Lutheran, to this communion, a very few months 
 only after his union with the former. Of the 
 expediency of this step, christians of different 
 persuasions will judge variously. He ever after- 
 wards, regarded it as highly conducive to his 
 personal comfort, and public usefulness ; but 
 regretted sincerely, the painful sacrifice of feeling 
 which it cost him to dissolve his connexion with 
 a christian communion, to which he had many 
 reasons for cherishing a strong attachment. 
 
 Although occupied in no ordinary degree, in 
 the momentous concerns of religion, he abated 
 nothing of the diligence due to his secular du- 
 ties. He had been appointed in February, of 
 this year, prosecuting Attorney for the county of 
 York, and was deeply engaged in the business 
 of his profession. His industry was however, 
 the result of a new set of principles, and ter- 
 minated in objects essentially different from any 
 which had previously animated it. The love of 
 the world had subsided, and the strength of his 
 ambition for human distinction, was for ever 
 slain by the exhibition which faith had afforded 
 him of his suffering Saviour's cross. 
 
 13 
 
98 MEMOIR OF EA€ON. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Indolence was no trait of Mr. Bacon's cliai 
 acter : nor was it compatible with the imitation 
 of that Saviour's example, or the spirit of his 
 religion, whom he had voluntarily received 
 as his Lord and Master. To do good to others 
 became the next object of his ardent desire, after 
 he became satisiied of his own interest in so 
 great a benefit, as the regeneration and com- 
 mencement of spiritual life, in his own heart 
 His thoughts were naturally directed to the min- 
 istry, as the most eiVectual means of advancing 
 his Saviour's interests in the world, and apply- 
 ing the blessings of his gospel to the souls of men. 
 But for nearly two years a survey of the respon- 
 sibilities of that office, an enlightened view of 
 the requisite qualifications* and a lively percep- 
 tion of his own deficiencies, overawed the timid 
 aspirations of his mind to so high a vocation. 
 And the wisdom and kindness of God are now 
 apparent in the delay which intervened. He 
 was to be thoroughly disciplined for the hol^' 
 work, the sincerity of his zeal fully attested, 
 and the measure of his experience and know- 
 ledge greatly extended, by an humbler, and 
 perhaps, quite as useful an occupation. Some 
 thousands of neglected children w^ere destined 
 to receive through him the rudiments of a chris- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 99 
 
 tian education ; and the cause of Sabbath school 
 Instruction, to derive from his example and la- 
 bours, a practical demonstration of its excellence 
 and utility, wliich the exertions of no other in- 
 dividual in this country had so fully aiforded. 
 
 No field of benevolent labour could have 
 presented, which promised to reward the cul- 
 ture that such talents as Mr. Bacon's were em 
 inently calculated to bestow upon it, with a rich- 
 er Iiarvest. The care and instruction of youth 
 and children, were always favourite objects of 
 his attention. He habitually regarded them not 
 merely, as the prattling inmates of the domestic 
 sanctuary ; but as destined to become the con- 
 stituent members of human society, sustaining on 
 their own shoulders the mighty fabric, and occu- 
 pied in transacting its most weighty concerns. 
 While they waited only for their predecessors to 
 retire and give them their appointed place on the 
 stage of life, his benevolence prompted him to 
 seize the golden opportunity with a zeal ap- 
 proaching to enthusiasm ; and to infix in their 
 minds the knowledge and principles, of which 
 their destination was so soon to require the appli- 
 cation. The prospect which animated these ex^ 
 ertions was now expanded to infinity itself; and 
 even what related to the present world, was en- 
 larged to comprehend the interests of religion, tjie 
 vast amount of human happiness connected with 
 it, and the future prosperity of the churcli of 
 God. He had likewise, from long experience 
 
100 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 in training the young mind to improvement, be- 
 come thoroughly acquainted with its charactevj 
 and eminently skilled in its management. Sel- 
 dom bad be failed to secure tbe affection and 
 the confidence of bis pupils. 
 
 He lost no time in resolving to undertake, in 
 the fear of God, something for the spiritual ben- 
 efit of this interesting class of immortals. The 
 Sunday School system appeared to promise ad- 
 vantages, which no other known method of ju- 
 venile religious instruction possessed. The 
 surprising multiplication of these institutions 
 during the last thiriy years can have left very 
 few in any part of Protestant Christendom, en- 
 tirely unacquainted cither with their origin, or 
 happy effects. Their original design was to re- 
 claim from a habit of profaning the sacred day, 
 and to instruct in the rudiments of learning and 
 moraliiy, the children of the lowest classes of the 
 poor, whose education Avould else have been 
 utterly neglected. 
 
 The individual who fust conceived the be- 
 nevolent scheme, and partially reduced it to 
 practice, was Robert Raikcs, a member of the 
 society of Friends in Gloucester, England. 
 His personal exertions commenced in 1/81 ; and 
 all the advantages of tbe system, were, for about 
 two years, confined to the children of that single 
 town. His example at length, began to find 
 imitators ; and the christian public came by 
 degrees, to discover that tbe system of Sunday 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 101 
 
 school instruction offered the most effectual re- 
 medy which had ever been applied to the igno- 
 rance, irreligion, and innumerable other moral 
 and social evils arising out of the neglected edu 
 cation of the poor. Persons of all denominations 
 with whom the improvement of the condition of 
 the poor had been a matter of solicitude, began 
 to collect the neglected children and youths 
 within their iniluence, and place them under 
 proper instructers of both sexes, to be taught on 
 Sundays, the rudiments of learning and Christian- 
 ity. Thus far, they were satisfied with a simple 
 imitation of the plan pursued by Raikes, the ori- 
 ginator of the system. But the improvements, 
 which have been subsequently added, were neces- 
 sary to give to these institutions, their full and 
 proper effect. Without detracting from the praise 
 justly due to their disinterested founder, these im- 
 provements may be considered as extending, not 
 only to the mode of conducting them, but to the 
 object itself which the system designs to accom- 
 plish. In order to meet the expense, and extend 
 the benefits of these institutions, Mr. Raikes soon 
 found it necessary, to combine the exertions of 
 their friends into a systematic form. Sunday 
 school societies, consisting of the individuals di- 
 rectly engaged in supporting and instructing the 
 several schools of a particular district, were ac- 
 cordingly formed for mutual consultation and aid. 
 The advantages realised from these associations 
 led to the consolidation of all the societies in a 
 
lOS MEMOIR or BACO:^. 
 
 still larji^cr district, under a more general associa- 
 tion : and in 1803, the Sunday School Union 
 of London was formed, comprehending under it all 
 the societies, and country Unions in the kingdom. 
 The business of the union is conducted by a 
 board of managers ; and consists in preparing 
 suitable books for the use of the societies, in 
 systeraatising and improving the method of in- 
 siructing and organising the schools, in exer- 
 cising over them a paternal superintendence, and 
 extending all practicable encouragement and 
 aid to the whole. 
 
 The societies in the earlier stages of their ex- 
 ertions, uniformly paid their teachers for their 
 services. The Sunday school society of tlie me- 
 tropolis alone had expended in this way, as ear- 
 ly as the year 180G, four thousand pounds. 
 But, besides the expense attendant on this prac- 
 tice, it was perceived to be objectionable for a va- 
 riety of oth«r reasons. It was therefore resol- 
 ved, after sixteen years' experience of its disad- 
 vantages, to reform this part of the system. The 
 appeal was ac<:ordingly made to those on whose 
 benevolence the cause itself should impress a 
 sufficient motive to engage them in the self- 
 denying service. This resolution was adopt- 
 ed by many societies with painful apprehensions 
 for the probable result. But instead of a dimi- 
 nution of the number of teachers, the conse- 
 Kjuence was their immediate and surprising iu- 
 < rease, wherever the measure of gratuitous in 
 
MEMOIR OF BACOISr. 103 
 
 slruction was adopted. It was soon discovered 
 that thousands of persons of respectable charac- 
 ter and the most competent qualiflcations, whom 
 the offer of pecuniary compensation could ne- 
 ver engage in the service of teaching, stood rea- 
 dy to undertake it at the call of charity. The 
 cause immediately felt, in its remotest extremes, 
 the invigorating influence of this important im- 
 provement in the system; and found a host of 
 devoted and efficient advocates and coadjutors 
 raised up for its support in every part of the 
 kingdom.* This latter feature, has naturally led 
 to a gradual alteration in the whole character of 
 
 ■■ The extent to which Sunday schools have multiplied, 
 and their advantages been diffused, may be imperfectly seen 
 by the following very compressed statement formed from the 
 latest returns which have been published in an authentic 
 form. 
 
 In England, the plan of the National school partially 
 takes the place of the Sunday school system. There are 
 nevertheless in that country, more than 80 unions, containing 
 2,568 schools, 32,283 teachers, and 274,845 learners. The 
 scholars taught in succession for twenty years past, form an 
 average not much below this number. 
 
 In Scotland there was likewise supposed to exist in the 
 Sabbath evening schools, and the system of parochial in- 
 struction, a substitute for Sunday schools, established on 
 the English plan. But since the formation of an union in 
 this country, 567 new schools, and 39,1 83 children have 
 been received under its care. 
 
 The Sunday school Society for Ireland, reports the num- 
 ber of schools on their list to bo 1,091, and of scholar?, 
 113,525. 
 
iO'h MEMOIU OF BACOxN. 
 
 (he system. The experiment of more tliau 
 twenty years has fully demonstrated that no 
 other principle but that of an operative christian 
 faith and piety, can, on the present system, en- 
 gage in a persevering and zealous course of 
 Sabbath school labours, the professed friends of 
 the cause. The service is too humble, too labo- 
 rious, and attended with too few earthly rewards 
 long to animate any charity except that of the 
 gospel. Hence, universally, wherever these 
 
 The Protestant parts of France, and Holland are slow- 
 ly imitating the example of Great Britain, in the establish- 
 ment of a number of schools ; many of which, particularly 
 in Holland, are in a flourishing state. 
 
 By the exertions of Missionaries, schools have likewise 
 been commenced in most of the West India Islands ; in 
 Canada, New-Brunswick, New-Foundland, and at the dif- 
 ferent Missionary stations in India, West Africa, and the 
 American wilderness. At Sierra Leone, 4,000 are enjoy- 
 ing the benefit of these institutions. 
 
 Owing to the detached character of the efforts making 
 in this cause by every denomination of christians in the 
 United States, it is impossible to bring the aggregate re- 
 sults into a single view. While comparatively a very small 
 part of the ground which should be cultivated, has been oc- 
 cupied, much, very much, has been already effected, and 
 still more attempted, in this noblest of the efforts of char- 
 ity. The Sunday and Adult school Union of Philadelphia 
 combines a much greater number of schools than is associ- 
 ated under any other single body in this country. In May, 
 1821, tlie managers of tliis Union reported in their connex- 
 ion, in eleven different states, 31S school?, S,,724 teachers- 
 and 24, 218 scholars- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 105 
 
 excellent institutions have been formed, they 
 have naturally fallen into the hands of the most 
 devoted and spiritual of the Redeemer's fol- 
 lowers. Of this character, are, by far their 
 most influential, as well as a great majority of 
 their conductors and friends ; even while the 
 system indiscriminately invites all of exemplary 
 deportment, to aid in carrying on the work. Of 
 the objections originally alleged against these 
 schools, one of the most serious, represented 
 them as incompatible with the sacred design of 
 the Sabbath : nor is it quite certain that the 
 method in which they were originally managed, 
 may not, in some degree, have made them justly 
 liable to this exception. But the general piety 
 of the instructers, and the gradual modification 
 of the whole system in conformity to their con- 
 victions of the sacredness of this institution, have 
 so completely obviated the scruples even of the 
 most conscientious, as to secure in behalf of the 
 cause the entire approbation of christians of 
 every variety of faith and discipline in the world. 
 Without any prejudice to the advancement of 
 the scholars in the necessary branches of human 
 learning, every part of the instruction is made 
 strictly subservient to their religious improve- 
 ment. Hence they come to associate all the 
 knowledge of letters which they acquire, with 
 the truths and precepts of the scriptures. In 
 innumerable instances the members of these 
 schools have been known to imbibe along with 
 
10(i MEMOlll OF BACON. 
 
 the rudiments of learning, the spirit of the gog- 
 pel ; and during all their subsequent progress^, 
 have clearly displayed its holy iniiuence in their 
 improving tempers and habits ; and in riper age, 
 when surrounded with the cares and temptations 
 of life, have preserved a consistent course of 
 christian piety. 
 
 Mr. Bacon^s first step, towards the forma- 
 tion of Sunday schools in York county, was 
 fervently to commend the undertaking to God. 
 His next was to interest in the object, and en= 
 gage to second his exertions by a zealous co-ope- 
 ration, a select few, whose hearts were warmed 
 with the same sacred flame which animated his 
 own. Individuals of this character he saw were 
 to be drawn together from all the different chris- 
 tian societies in the place : — an object which he 
 happily accomplished by setting them the ex- 
 ample of sacrificing party-feelings and preju- 
 dices, so far as to meet and unite on the commoir 
 ground of a disinterested and practical charity^ 
 A Sunday school society for York county was 
 immediately formed, on the 7th of August, 1817,. 
 and down to the present date, it may be re- 
 marked in anticipation, has been so highly fa^ 
 voured, as to preserve a good share of the spirit 
 of harmony and christian love in which it origi- 
 nated. Mr. Bacon was placed in the chair; ami 
 held the same situation until he finally removed 
 from the county. A school for children was 
 opened on the 17th^ in the village of York;, with 
 
MEMOIR OP BACON. 107 
 
 twenty-six scholars. The number shortly in- 
 creased to two hundred ; and the society has 
 since exhibited on its rolls, more than three hun- 
 dred. 
 
 The moral condition of no class of the pop- 
 ulation of Pennsylvania exhibits so much de- 
 basement and wretchedness, as that of the free 
 blacks. Mr. Bacon and his zealous associates 
 could not comtemplate so moving a spectacle 
 without pitying the sufferers. To pity, was 
 with him, to attempt their relief. A school 
 for adults of this class, without excluding others 
 of the same age who chose to attend, was ac- 
 cordingly opened, in September. But the op- 
 portunity for improving their minds thus afforded, 
 was still deemed too circumscribed ; and at Mr. 
 Bacon's suggestion was extended to four addi- 
 tional nights in every week. Not only did the 
 direction of these schools chiefly devolve on him- 
 self; but he constantly took an active and la- 
 borious part in the business of instructing them. 
 It was his ' meat and his drink' to be active for 
 his Saviour, and the souls whom he had redeem- 
 ed with his blood. Love to God, and its natur- 
 al offspring and best expression, love to the 
 souls of his fellow immortals, was the principle 
 which invigorated every effort, and directed his 
 zeal to the grand object of promoting their eter- 
 nal salvation. It could repose on no inferior in- 
 terest. His'^daily and nightly labours, prayers, 
 and nameless conflicts, were all directed to this 
 
108 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 end. This object furnished to all his addresses, 
 their subjects and illustrations ; shaped their 
 style ; softened and qualified his whole deport- 
 ment ; and in short, took the precedence in his 
 mind, of every other. Hundreds live to testify, 
 that their own salvation was thus pursued with 
 such ardour and perseverance, and led to such 
 sacrifices, as placed his sincerity in the sacred 
 work beyond all doubt, and proved the impres= 
 sions made by the declarations of holy writ on 
 the enlightened eye of his faith, to be much more 
 vivid than those which the events of time, and 
 the things of the world, could produce on his 
 imagination and senses. His views of the lost 
 condition and utterly corrupted character of the 
 imregenerate, whether old or young, were emi- 
 nently scriptural ; and resulted from the convinc- 
 ing comment on the declarations of scripture, 
 which the divine Spirit had written upon his own 
 heart. As a dependent instrument, he always 
 aimed to fix this conviction effectually in the con- 
 sciences of the youth of his charge, as an es- 
 sential prerequisite to repentance and conver- 
 sion. In short, he justly regarded children as 
 men in miniature, requiring the same atone- 
 ment, the same regeneration, the same divine 
 faith, and the same sanctifying spirit of grace 
 to deliver them from the " wrath of God revealed 
 from Heaven against all ungodliness, and un- 
 righteousness of men." The language of his 
 addresses was at once simple and forcible ; and 
 
MEMOIR OP BACON. 409 
 
 they commonly found out the conscience, to 
 which they were always powerfully directed. 
 ^' 1 am grieved," he declared, on one of these oc- 
 casions, ** to see you so careless of the salvation 
 of your souls. If a happy spirit could come 
 from Heaven and tell you how much it cost to 
 get there ; or if a miserable soul could come 
 from Hell and tell you of the unheard of and 
 unexpected torments it found there ; you would 
 all fall upon your trembling knees and begin to 
 pray. Many, many young persons, it is proba- 
 ble, are now in ruin and torment, for doing those 
 very things which you do, and for not doing 
 those very things which you leave undone, every 
 day. God's holy law is a very strict one. You 
 are all exceedingly wicked in his sight. He 
 says, you shall give an account of every idle 
 word. If you are angry with one another, 
 without good cause. He looks upon it as bad as 
 murder : if you covet or wish to possess the 
 good things of another, He looks upon it as bad 
 as stealing : if you tell or wish to tell falsehoods 
 about any person, He looks upon it as bad as 
 bearing false witness : if you love any person 
 or thing better than God, you worship that 
 person or tiling as an idol : if you spend your 
 time in idleness during the working days of 
 the week, or if you do not worship God faith- 
 fully on the Sabbath, you are condemned by 
 God for breaking that commandment; and soon 
 through the whole. Now yon are. every one. 
 
110 MEMOIR OF liACOJS. 
 
 tmder a sentence of condemnation. For you 
 liave broken God's holy laws, a thousand times ; 
 whereas, if you had only broken them once^ 
 God would have condemned you. It is most 
 certain^ if you do not repent of your sins and 
 pray to God to forgive them, you must go to 
 Hell. Every time you stay from school ; every 
 time you laugh or play in school ; every idle 
 word you speak in school ; every wicked idle 
 thought you think in school, God takes notice of, 
 and condemns you for it. You know, if a bad 
 man steal or murder or do any other crime, they 
 have him tried by the judge in court, and he is 
 condemned to be punished ; but if he repent 
 and become good, some good person may go to 
 the governor and get him pardoned ; and then 
 the man is not punished, but returns to his 
 friends. Now, these wicked things you liave all 
 done in the sight of God, and He has had you 
 all condemned to be sent to a dreadful Hell. 
 But if you will repent and confess to God how 
 bad you have been ; and if you sincerely cry to 
 Him to have mercy upon you, there is a mighty Sa- 
 viour who will go and plead with God for you 
 to be pardoned. It is Jesus Christ, who died 
 for you, and who w ell knows how much your 
 souls cost ; and God has promised to pardon all 
 wicked persons, who repent and cry for mercy, 
 because Jesus Christ died to obtain their pardon, 
 and make them for ever happy. O how good 
 was this Saviour, to die instead of us ! What 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. Hi 
 
 wicked creatures we are, who do not love such 
 a Saviour ! We are now going to fall down and 
 pray to God, while He stands looking into our 
 hearts. He sees what we are now doing. He 
 knows what we are now thinking : and hears 
 what we are now speaking. There is a wicked 
 little girl who is thinking bad ! God knows it^ 
 and it is written in the book of His remember- 
 ance. Oh what bad thoughts ! They |ire writ- 
 ten down and all the hosts of Heaven can read 
 them. We cannot read them now ; but they 
 will be told to all the world in the day of judg- 
 ment ; and then every one in this room will hear 
 them. Here is a little child who is speaking and 
 playing! God has had that put down too. Oh 
 how terrible it is to have it written in God's 
 book for all the world to read ! 
 
 " That child who would not come to school 
 last Sabbath, and who has been angry and told 
 some lies and would not learn the scripture les- 
 son ! All that is put down in that dreadful book^ 
 and that child is condemned to be cast into 
 Hell. But if the child will only pray for mercy, 
 God will forgive these great sins, for the sake of 
 our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ. And if we do 
 not pray soon, it may be too late ; because we 
 may die. So many are dying in the world, 
 that leai-ned people say, sixty persons die every 
 minute. They are dying as fast as you can say 
 dead, dead, dead, dead. Four persons are sup- 
 posed to have died, while I was saying those 
 
112 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 words. Ill the last half hour only, I expect eight-^ 
 een hundred persons have died. Whatamercj 
 none of us were in this number. Perhaps we 
 shall be among those who are to die the next half 
 hour. May Grod have mercy on us, and help us 
 to pray earnestly, that our souls may be convert- 
 ed and saved. 
 
 " My dear cliildreu, let me ask you who wants 
 to go to Heaven? Do you ? And do you ? And 
 do you? — Then you must pray. Prayer will open 
 the door for you. You must repent of your sins. 
 You must love God, and your Saviour. You 
 must love your teachers and each other. You 
 must come constantly to school. You must 
 bring all the other children that you can find. 
 You must continue to be learners in school, till 
 you get to be teachers ; and you must labour to 
 do good as long as you live." 
 
 Mr. Bacon seldom omitted any opportunity 
 of doing good which was providentially present- 
 ed. But his zeal was still directed by judgment, 
 and tempered with unfeigned christian aifection ; 
 and no labour to him was too humble which 
 promised to benefit an immortal soul. The suc- 
 ceeding paragraphs are extracted from a letter 
 addressed to a youth in Philadelphia, who at 
 its date, was but a single remove from child- 
 hood. 
 ^* Dear James, 
 
 **' It occured to me while sitting alone and 
 thinking of Philadelphia, its schools and its 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. US 
 
 chiltlren, that I might turn my acquaintance with 
 some of the youths to a good account. Per- 
 haps, I thought to myself, God will bless a word 
 of advice to James L. if I should sit down and 
 write him a letter. So I instantly took up my 
 pen, and have proceeded so far with it. I 
 thought within myself, that James loves me, 
 because I took notice of him and treated him 
 affectionately. I love him too ; not on account 
 of his dress ; not on account of his looks, or per- 
 sonal appearance ; not on account of his learning ; 
 not on account of his friends and relations ; but I 
 love him on account of his modest, meek, and 
 pious appearance, and because he loves and 
 obeys his teachers and strives to do good. I hear 
 he goes about to persuade boys to come to Sun- 
 day school, and does all the good he can. I 
 love him because I think he prays and reads his 
 Bible, and loves God. These are some of the 
 reasons, why I love James L. But the chief rea- 
 son why I love him is, not for any thing that he 
 now is, but for what he is capable of being, and 
 what he certainly will be, if he strives with all 
 his heart, — a saint in glory. Now surely, my 
 dear James, you will not suppose that one, who 
 loves you, would give you bad advice or tell you 
 things not true. Well, I am going to tell you what 
 is very true. You have a very wicked heart. 
 All people have wicked hearts at first ; when 
 they are young they are born with them : and 
 they all continue to be very wicked, till God 
 15 
 
114 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 gives them a new heart. Has God ever changed 
 your heart, or created it anew f Have you ever 
 been " born again?" has your soul ever been 
 converted? If not, James, you must pray to God 
 to create your heart anew. You must pray 
 every night and morning. Before you go to 
 Sunday school you must fervently pray to God 
 to give you grace to learn, and do good. You 
 ought not to be a teacher, till you have been 
 adopted by God into the number of his believ- 
 ing children. I desire you would ponder these 
 things in your heart and be earnest in prayer. 
 It is ou? privilege to '^ rejoice evermore, pray 
 without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks." 
 That is, to have a devotional, prayerful spirit, 
 aiid also to rely on God as our father in such a 
 manner, as to feel grateful for even his chastise- 
 ments, and to rejoice under the heaviest afflic- 
 lions, of a temporal nature. When you be- 
 come a true christian, what a happy boy you 
 will be ! Oh do not permit a moment to pass with- 
 out letting it carry home to God a good account 
 of you.'^ 
 
 The foregoing extracts are introduced chiefly 
 in order to illustrate the example which Mr» 
 Bacon gave, of a close imitation of his Saviour, 
 in a trait of his character which perhaps the 
 pride of our nature, renders it more difficult per- 
 fectly to copy, than many others, — his love and 
 condescension to little children. In a large 
 share of Mr. Bacon's labours for their benefit, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 115 
 
 the ordinary stimulants of false zeal, and hypo- 
 crisy, scarcely, it would seem, had room to ope- 
 rate at all. These are the exertions, therefore^ 
 which if not his most disinterested and useful, 
 certainly more than any others, evince to his 
 fellow-men, the abstraction of his affections from 
 the world, the purity of his zeal, and the opera- 
 tive strength of his faith. 
 
 The discipline of Sunday schools has been 
 a subject of much speculation, and one on which 
 a variety of opinions and practices have obtain- 
 ed among their friends. But wherever their ex- 
 alted object has been kept fully in view, the 
 proper mode of their government has generally 
 suggested itself. Mr. Bacon regarded these 
 schools as having almost exclusively the nature 
 of religious institutions ; and consequently re- 
 quiring that sort of discipline which the gospel 
 prescribes for training the children of the church 
 for its communion, and for everlasting salvation. 
 Perhaps a more faithful application of these 
 principles of discipline has seldom been made, 
 or been attended with better success, than in the 
 ease which Mr. Bacon relates in the following 
 extract. 
 
 " L. was a child often years old. He seem- 
 ed to combine in his disposition the cunning of 
 the serpent with the fierceness of the young tiger, 
 and mischievousness of the ape. The first time 
 he attended the Sunday school he stole a testa= 
 ment. He was detected in having it in posses= 
 
116 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 sion ; but persisted with the most daring effron- 
 tery in asserting that he had bought it. The 
 label of ^ Sunday school/ which was written 
 in it by the superintendant, was pointed out to 
 him : and that, together with confronting him 
 with the gentleman of whom he said he bought 
 it, and who explicitly declared he had not sold 
 it to him, seemed to have no other effect than to 
 induce him, in defiance of the most positive tes- 
 tiraony, to redouble his falsehoods and prevari- 
 cations. His case was pointed out to all the 
 teachers. We feared to do any thing that might 
 drive him from school, or throw him off our 
 hands unreformed. There was danger of ex- 
 citing the hostility of his friends, as he was a 
 favourite, and a spoiled child. We exhorted, 
 expostulated, and explained on the holy com- 
 mand,— 'Thou shalt not steal;' but without 
 any direct application to him. This course was 
 pursued for one year ; about half the Sundays 
 of which he attended school. We had flattered 
 ourselves that he was reformed. But judge of 
 our surprise, when we learnt by information from 
 another scholar, that our books had multiplied 
 on his hands at home, to the number of half a 
 dozen, which he had the hardihood to offer for 
 gale. We then felt him heavy at our skirts. The 
 plan of reformation was soon devised and adopt- 
 ed. L. was taken aside into a vacant room by 
 the superintend ant, and his crimes set in full 
 array before him. Warnings, entreaties, life, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 117 
 
 death, the gallows and the final judgment, 
 were all called up in aid of the cause of refor- 
 mation ; and at last his soul was commended to 
 God in earnest prayer. The superintendant, 
 having exhausted his stock of grace, turned him 
 over to one of the teachers. The same course 
 was gone through. This done, another teacher, 
 and so on, till seven in succession, exhausted all 
 they had to say. — You may judge of his feel 
 ings. At the close of the school, he went home. 
 His friends were at first enraged : but on being 
 told his crimes, and warned, themselves, to look 
 to it, that his blood did not lie at their doors ; 
 they became quiet. Two Sabbaths intervened, 
 and no L. appeared in school. But on the third, 
 he made his appearance with all the books under 
 his arm. He gave them to the superintendant, 
 took his seat, and soon manifested that he had 
 left behind him, his former uncomfortable pas- 
 sions and dispositions, and had brought in their 
 stead a temper entirely docile and larab-like." 
 
 On this case Mr. Bacon very justly remarks 
 to his friend, in favour of the course pursued 
 with the little delinquent, and generally, of the 
 utility of the Sabbath school discipline, that " to 
 estimate the value and probable eflPect of this 
 mode of reformation let us ask whether, if you 
 at the age of ten years had passed a Sabbath af 
 ternoon,from one to four o'clock under the reitera- 
 ted expostulations, and exhortation, w^atered 
 with the tears, and lifted towards Heaven by the 
 
118 mi:moir OP bacon. 
 
 prayers and siglis of seven earnest Sunday 
 school champions^ you could ever have forgotten 
 it ? It would probably have been a day fresh in 
 your recollection, as long as memory endured. 
 This method has to recommend it, unity of spi- 
 rit, concert of action, the labour of many, and 
 the experience, the grace and the prayers of all. 
 And if after this, the child should even leave the 
 school, two grand objects are gained : first, your 
 duty is done ; secondly, the child carries with 
 liim what he can never forgetJ^ 
 
 The experience of nearly forty years in the 
 management of Sunday schools, by so many 
 thousands of discerning and eminently active 
 christians, could leave little or nothing in the 
 system to be materially improved by the obser- 
 vations of an individual, in the short period of a 
 few months. Mr. Bacon accordingly acquiesced 
 in the plan as it had come into his hands ma- 
 tured by the wisdom of his predecessors. The 
 details of the system however, approved them- 
 selves to his judgment ; and gave free scope 
 for his zeal to exert itself to the utmost in inter- 
 csting the public mind, and diflfusing the benefits 
 of the institution, as widely as possible. But 
 it would be less than is due to Mr. Bacon's 
 zeal and fidelity in the cause, to conceal that his 
 active invention was constantly suggesting to the 
 society, to his correspondents, and all bis chris- 
 tian associates, some new expedients for carry- 
 ins; forward with increased effect their disinteres- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. i li) 
 
 ted labours. These suggestions were equally 
 creditable to his judgment and to bis heart. In 
 the very fervour of action, and the severest 
 struggles against opposition, seldom was be 
 known to advise, utter, or do any thing wbicb 
 in the event did not appear to be the result of 
 a rational and sober estimate of all the attendant 
 circumstances, and to prove eventually, benefi- 
 cial to the cause. 
 
 Having in a few months obtained from tbe 
 effects of the schools in the village of York, a 
 convincing demonstration of their inestimable 
 advantages, and in a good measure occupied the 
 iield which they were intended to cultivate, he 
 urged the society to depute their most active mem- 
 bers to other parts of the county for the pur- 
 pose of founding new schools. In this service 
 Mr. Bacon was foremost. The method observ- 
 ed was to assemble the inhabitants of the 
 several villages, and thickly settled parts of 
 the county, explain the design and advantages 
 of Sunday schools, and propose the formation 
 of an auxiliary society for supporting one or more 
 among themselves. When this representation 
 produced, as it seldom failed to do, the desired 
 effect, Mr. Bacon and his coadjutors assisted in 
 the formation of the schools, and even labo- 
 riously participated in their management and 
 instruction. During the year 1818^ six addi- 
 tional schools, with nearly the same number 
 of auxiliary societies, were thus established; and 
 
120 MEMOni OF BACON. 
 
 in tlic early part of 1811), twenty-six more! 
 In July, of this year, it was stated in the re- 
 port read before the parent society in York, that 
 there were then ^"thirty-three schools, employing 
 about 220 teachers, and containing 2,200 scho- 
 lars, within the county/' These schools, with a 
 very few exceptions, were all the fruits of Mr. 
 Bacon's personal exertions, and owed much of 
 their success, and the interest which they held 
 in the public mind, to his efficient superinten- 
 dence. Of the report containing this statement, 
 Mr. Bacon was the author. The effect pro- 
 duced on his feelings by so great success in a 
 cause which he considered far the most impor- 
 tant that had ever engaged his support, and the 
 incalculable amount of good which he anticipated 
 in the results, were rather deep humiliation, and 
 a sense of unproiitableness than a spirit of self 
 gratulation: — results which the power of divine 
 grace alone could have rendered possible ! " We 
 do not,'' the report proceeds, " review our labours 
 with complacency ; for we know we might have 
 done more ; we are sure we might have done 
 better.'' In the same report, he says, " We 
 have now closed our account of the schools. 
 We look at their number and wants, and while 
 we reflect on the circumstances of their establish- 
 ment, Ave find that they might have l)een more 
 numerous, and better conducted. We have 
 been, — we see and feel, ' we have been, unprofi= 
 table servants.' " 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 4^ 
 
 During a part of 1818, and 1819, his labours 
 arising out of his professional business, and his 
 attention to these schools, were too numerous 
 and exhausting for the strongest constitution and 
 the firmest health, long to sustain. The remo- 
 test of the schools which he statedly, and often 
 visited on the Sabbath, were twenty, and even 
 twenty-five miles distant from his residence. 
 He was obliged commonly, in every condition of 
 the weather and roads, to visit several of these 
 schools in the same day, addressing the pupils, 
 encouraging the teachers, examining the mi- 
 nutes, correcting what was wrong in the man- 
 agement, and even cultivating a particular ac- 
 quaintance with the individual scholars. In 
 performing these weekly circuits, he found it 
 very often necessary to encroach on one or both 
 the days contiguous to the Sabbath, in order to 
 accomplish them. His health was frequently as 
 low as would admit of such frequent exposures 
 and extreme fatigue ; and quite as good, as so 
 severe a discipline of his animal and mental 
 powers could reasonably be expected to permit 
 him to enjoy. The nature of these labours is 
 pourtrayed with a colouring so strong and yet so 
 natural and just, in a letter which Mr Bacon 
 addressed to an esteemed christian friend, as to 
 authorise a short extract from it, and atone for 
 the repetition of a few of the foregoing particu- 
 lars. "You would sometimes smile, and it 
 may be, at others weep at the detail of our ad- 
 
laa MEMOIR OF BACOK. 
 
 ventures and troubles. Had you seen me at 
 one time beating my way through the hills, 
 with great diflBculty, and some danger, — myself-, 
 horse, sleigh and all nearly bOried in snow- 
 banks : at other times, out late and early, in the 
 wet and cold ; drenched in rain ; often so ex- 
 hausted as t«» be hardly able to address an audi- 
 ence ; and ready, not unfrequently, to say that 
 my poor w eak constitution had at last received 
 its fatal blow ; — -you would exclaim that nothing 
 but divine help could have sustained me. You 
 may perhaps, be not quite informed of our me- 
 thod of organising a school in a new place. In 
 opposition to the views and wishes of our Board, 
 I succeeded in prevailing on them to embark in 
 the establishment of distant schools. It was a 
 hard point to gain. This done, a committee was 
 appointed to visit such places as offered a favour- 
 able opening. The committee gave notice of the 
 time and place at which the^^ would meet the 
 people to explain the nature of the schools. On 
 the Saturday preceding these appointments, the 
 committee would set out, and arrive in the neigh- 
 bourhood the same night, — next morning go to 
 the place appointed, — begin with singing and 
 prayer, and address them in a speech of an 
 hour, sometimes two ; in which you had bigotry, 
 prejudice and nationality to encounter ; together 
 with ignorance, and vice, and folly, in every 
 shape. You had to avoid the prejudices of 
 Quakers, Lutherans, Albrights. Dunkers, Ger- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 1S3 
 
 mao Presbyterians, English Presbyterians, Me- 
 thodists, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Deists, and 
 at last, my brethern, the cold Episcopalians. 
 The event generally was, that the people agreed 
 to have a school ; appointed the ofl&cers, and a 
 day for commencing it. The meeting was closed, 
 with prayer and praise. On the next Sabbath, 
 and copimonly, for one or two succeeding Sab- 
 batlis^ we must visit the same place to organise 
 the school, and teach it. It is in this way that 
 the schools on our records have struggled into 
 existence. And in this way may schools be 
 established in every county. A few, nay only 
 one zealous individual in the county towns, may 
 be the instrument of exciting the people, and 
 carrying on schools in any county. It has been 
 tried ; it is practicable. You see what the Lord 
 liath done for us here. Let a similar course be 
 recommended to other counties. He will do the 
 same every where.'' 
 
 Perseverance amidst the difficulties and la- 
 bours necessarily attending the advancement of 
 a good cause, requires less fortitude, and is a 
 more equivocal test of a sincere attachment to it, 
 than to be capable of rising above the mortifica- 
 tion of reproach, and the sneers of affected con- 
 tempt. There is no known principle in unre- 
 generate human nature that is proof against an 
 attack from this quarter. But the faith which 
 overcomes the world, opposes an impenetrable 
 shield for the protection of the believer fron) 
 
iM- 
 
 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 these sharpest of the shafts of persecutioD. He, 
 and he alone can ^ rejoice to be accounted worthy 
 to suffer shame for the name of Christ.' And 
 to this trial, Mr. Bacon's faith, was to a certain 
 extent, subjected in the prosecution of these pious 
 labours. " With the exception of myself," he 
 states, in the same letter, *^ we have not one ac 
 tive member above the grade of a mechanic. 
 We are shoe- makers, tailors, carpenters, ma- 
 sons, black-smiths,— almost to a man. I except 
 ***** who is yet a mere youth, but a very 
 useful and capable one. All our learned and 
 genteel people stand aloof. They neither raise 
 a hand, nor give a cent. These remarks apply 
 to the town only. — Yes, sir, it is cast upon us as 
 a matter of reproach, ' They are all young ;' — ■ 
 *They have no old established men amongst 
 them :'— ^ They are all low people, all mechan- 
 ics, except Bacon; and he disgraces himself 
 and his profession by associating with them.* 
 Yet, thanks be to God, Christ is our leader ; 
 and we shall triumph. This sort of censure re- 
 minds me of the old Pharisaical reproach, *Ts 
 not this the carpenter^s son ?' We have nomi- 
 nal members who are capable of doing much, 
 but tJiey do not pray. We cannot send them to 
 our schools. A praying apprentice boy would 
 be more likely to be successful." 
 
 Mr. Bacon never sought opposition ; but 
 evinced the most conscientious solicitude, on all 
 occasions, that his ^ good should not be evil spo- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 1S6 
 
 ken of.' His charity for bis fellow- men was 
 too fervent and universal to allow liim to desire 
 his own immortal crown to be brightened at the 
 expense of auy opposition from the unbelieving, 
 which might involve them in sin, or its punish- 
 ment. At a later date, than the period to which 
 the foregoing extracts refer, he enjoyed the satis- 
 faction of perceiving that the course which he 
 pursued led, in the providence of God, to a full 
 vindication of his conduct, in the eyes even of 
 his determined opposers : and that scarcely an 
 occasion of distrusting the purity of his motives 
 was left them. To a friend, he writes, in the 
 summer of 1819, *^ We have our trials. But the 
 circumstances of my having resigned my com- 
 missions, quit the practice of the law, and renounc- 
 ed every pursuit from which pecuniary emolument 
 is to be derived, are now known among the 
 schools, and have a surprising effect. The peo 
 pie are astonished. They charged me with in- 
 terested motives, before. But the occasion for 
 such an imputation, is so completely cut off, that 
 they have not a word to say. They believe me 
 in their consciences, sincere ; and every word I 
 address to them, makes an impression on their 
 hearts. I am inclined to think, that all I have 
 done for years past for the schools, will now pro- 
 duce fruit. My voluntary relinquishment of 
 oflBce, honour and money, will have an effect 
 not soon to be got over." 
 
1S6 MEMOllt OF BACUX. 
 
 Seldom has consummate christian prudence 
 been more speedily, and entirely triumphant, 
 than in the instance here related. But where- 
 ver it is exercised in the same degree, the good 
 eifects will always be apparent in the removal of 
 a multitude of obstructions to the progress of the 
 gospel, out of the way. Men will necessarily 
 hate the truth, and show their dislike to those 
 who most resemble their Redeemer, until their 
 hearts are renewed by his grace. But let it be 
 recollected, that every man's conscience, and 
 reason, as far as^^hey are not perverted by false 
 teaching, op clouded with ignorance, are on the 
 side of truth ; and whenever assisted by a strictly 
 circi:imspect and disinterested conduct in the ser- 
 vants of Christ, those faculties of the soul tend 
 strongly to disarm the open hostility which he 
 might otherwise raise against them. To the in- 
 quiry, which of the faults of the ministers of re- 
 ligion have most hindered the success of their 
 labours? The proper answer would doubtless 
 assign to the first place, their neglect to cultivate 
 inward holiness ; and to the second, their disre- 
 gard of the Saviour's command, ^ be ye wise as 
 serpents, and harmless as doves.' 
 
 The enthusiasm of Mr. Bacon's devotion to 
 the cause of Sunday schools was associated with 
 a feeling of the picturesque, a\kd derived its 
 support in part, from a strong sensation of the 
 morally sublime. This feeling was produced 
 by combining in the same view, the present cir 
 
MEMOIR or BACOK. 127 
 
 curasfances of these institutions with the bound- 
 less prospect of the future beuefits to which they 
 opened ; and, by mingling with all the cares 
 and fatigues which they caused him, the strongly 
 excited affections of his heart. Writing to a 
 friend of congenial character in Philadelphia, 
 he relates, that " I have just opened a school, 
 eighteen miles distant, at which forty-five scho- 
 lars, and one hundred and fifty spectators were 
 present ; who all went away exclaiming in the 
 language of the Poacher's Daughter, ^ What a 
 fine thing is a Sunday school !' After a short 
 address, twenty-four persons, in about ten mi- 
 nutes, stepped forward and gave, each, a dollar. 
 You would rejoice to have been present and to 
 have seen twenty-three boys from fourteen to 
 eighteen years of age form themselves into a 
 class, to become Sunday school scholars, — all 
 decently clad, healthy, serious, attentive, docile, 
 obedient ! It was a lovely sight. God bless 
 them ! A meeting had been previously proposed 
 and the inhabitants gathered from the neigbour- 
 ing country in every direction. — The result was, 
 that each one preferred his entreaties for a school 
 to be opened in his own neighbourhood. Thus 
 the Lord seems to have kindled a fire in ou^ 
 hills and mountains that may be expected soon 
 to break out in different places.*' 
 
 In a letter to the same friend at a subsequent 
 date, he states, " I was yesterday at three differ- 
 ent Sunday-school stations ; one at ten o'clock 
 
1:28 MLMUIR OF liACOiN, 
 
 in the morning, and the others at two, and five 
 in the evening. These schools are at the dis- 
 tance of fifteen, eighteen, and twenty miles from 
 York. Of course I was obliged to go out on 
 Saturday, and return on Monday. At two of 
 the places I examined schools, containing, the 
 one thirty, and the other eighty scholars : at the 
 other, 1 revived a suspended school. On next 
 Sunday I have likewise, three appointments, — 
 one to revive another suspended school, and the 
 other two to establish new ones. Our next re- 
 port will exhibit about thirty-five schools. I tell 
 you, my friend, I am actually astonished, — ex- 
 travagant as my anticipations have been, — I am 
 astonished at the extent of what I am enabled to 
 do. It is my God that helps. We build in 
 vain unless the Lord blesses. — But who will 
 take care of the schools when Samuel Bacon is 
 in Africa ? Who will willingly, place himself 
 in the hands of his God, and do what he, with 
 many infirmities, is endeavouring to do? Alas ! 
 I tremble for these schools. 
 
 " You will see on our last report * * * * town 
 Sunday school. I will place that by the side of 
 any similar institution averaging eighty scholars, 
 in Philadelphia. It is in the woods, — the town 
 itself is in the woods, and the school is one mile 
 from town. Yet there are habitations thickly 
 scattered up and down over the mountain, seem- 
 ingly only fit for rabbits and foxes, presenting 
 here and there a potatoe-field, or other cultivated 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 1S9 
 
 Spot. From these cottages are gathered in all, 
 about one hundred and forty children, who come 
 a distance of four, and even five miles. They 
 assemble in a log house, which serves the peo- 
 ple as a church. Here they learn ; — here the 
 Lord blesses. You should see them travelling 
 home with bare feet, as hard as the rocks they 
 climb, and with burnt faces, as brown as the 
 forests where they dwell! Your city Sunday 
 schools are hot houses where you rear a growth of 
 siciily plants ; — our mountain schools are glades^ 
 where the sturdy oaks of the forest grow." 
 
 To illustrate still further the degree in which 
 his heart was at home in these labours, and how 
 prominent a place the great object of doing good 
 held in all his thoughts, another extract of a 
 letter bearing a still later date, is here introduc- 
 ed. " We have a daily charity school of 
 one hundred scholars, taught every evening from 
 four to six o'clock. Last Sabbath, 1 visited two 
 of our schools in the country. On my approach 
 within two miles of one of them, I fell in with s. 
 little company of children, hastening to it, as cheer- 
 ful as the birds of the forest where I met them. 
 I followed them through the almost pathless 
 woods, — found thirty-five scholars, lialf adults, 
 gathered in the house of an old christian, under 
 the brow of a mountain. There the solitary 
 place rejoiced in a song of Zion : amongst the 
 wild shrubbery of the wilderness were seen 
 these blooming plants of immortal growth. T 
 17 
 
130 MEMOIR Of BACON. 
 
 rejoiced in the prospect of their one day singing 
 in Heaven. A new era, sir, is opening for Sun- 
 day schools in this region. Hear it and rejoice. 
 This school was established at the house of an 
 individual, with whom it continued until last 
 Sunday ; when another of its friends wished it 
 one Sabbath at his own house ; another still, 
 took the hint, and desired to accommodate it at 
 his house on the succeeding Sabbath. Now, 
 sir, I approve the plan, and shall encourage its 
 circulation from house to house. Thus the fa- 
 milies of a whole neighbourhood will in turn, 
 receive it; — and with it, the prayers, and the 
 praises which are offered in it. The expense 
 of a house will be spared; the children will 
 have the advantage of a more effectual restraint 
 on the levity of their behaviour ; and the 
 school will leave a blessing behind it, wherever 
 it goes. I pursue the hint. In neighbourhoods 
 where no houses can be found for a school, 
 we will adopt this plan. The fashion will 
 spread : half a dozen families will join and in- 
 struct their children in rotation : families will 
 learn to observe the Sabbath, and be taught the 
 work of prayer and praise : each will hear His 
 word ; and each, become a Bethel. — Knowing 
 as I do, the constitution of society and the cus- 
 toms of the people in our interior, I see this to 
 be all practicable. This school is in the arms 
 of two venerable, and aged farmers, who, to use 
 their own expression, ^have feai-ed the Lord 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 131 
 
 these thirty years;' and while they water it 
 with their prayers and counsels, those who are 
 younger and better educated, instruct the chil- 
 dren^' 
 
 Among all the trials which this pious philan- 
 throphist was obliged to sustain, the severest 
 arose out of those circumstances which seemed 
 to endanger the prosperity of the schools. His 
 sj)irit was often wrung by what he deemed the 
 remissness of some of t)ie members of the so- 
 ciety in carrying forward the work. Few of 
 his associates perhaps, possessed all his expan- 
 sive charity ; and fewer still, the warmth of his 
 natural temperament. But even his complaints 
 sprung from a principle of disinterestedness, 
 were blended with affection, and were chiefly 
 poured out into the bosom of God, in the same 
 prayer which plead for the souls of the unin- 
 structed children of the county. In his journal 
 under date of December 15, 1818, his feelings 
 on this subject, found utterance in the following 
 lamentation : 
 
 " Oh there is such a backwardness in the 
 members of our society to go as teachers to dis- 
 tant schools on the Sabbath ! It often seems I 
 am to be left alone, at last ! What coldness ! 
 What reluctance ! My spirit is often so grieved, 
 it almost sinks within me. I often seem to have 
 a mountain upon me, and no one to raise a finger 
 to help me bear it ! Oh my God ! I cry tp 
 Thee ! I cry to Thee ! Give me a clean heart, 
 
13S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 and then give me grace to pray, and faith to be» 
 lieve ; and I know that Thou wilt help ! — Oh 
 my brother, my brother, that have just left me ! 
 You have so grieved my heart, that I know not 
 what to think of you ! May God have mercy on 
 you V* 
 
 In Pennsylvania, as commonly happens among 
 a population of a various national origin, the des. 
 cendants of the German, and of the English set- 
 tlers, are dissociated by strong and nearly invinci- 
 ble jealousies. The former, view with very marked 
 suspicion, any measures which seem to tend ei- 
 ther to curtail their influence in the community, 
 or supplant their cherished, national characterise 
 tics by the substitution of manners and institu- 
 tions of English origin. One of the most ani- 
 mating circumstances distinguishing the for- 
 mation of the Sunday school society of York, 
 was the harmonious concurrence of these for- 
 merly discordant masses of the population, in 
 the sacred object. Managers, teachers, scholars, 
 belonging to the two classes, indiscriminately, 
 were for some months, seen amicably united in 
 the common objects of the institution. Besides 
 the direct advantages of the school, the eifects 
 of this union of parties in doing away their 
 mutual prejudices, promised to be of the hap- 
 piest nature. But in about one year after the 
 organisation of the school, Mr. Bacon had occa- 
 sion to communicate the following intelligence 
 to the " Union" of Philadelphia^ with which the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 133 
 
 society had then become associated. *' It was 
 necessary that we should be opposed in order to 
 be rendered faithful aud humble, and be made to 
 feel our dependence on ' the giver of every good 
 and perfect gift/ The German population early 
 took the alarm, and have now cjuite withdrawn 
 all countenance and support. A defection of 
 teachers, members, scholars and purses, follow- 
 ed. We had been at great expense in providing 
 rooms, books, furniture and fuel for three hun- 
 dred and fifty scholars. Our expenses during 
 the year just ended, have amounted to nearly 
 four hundred dollars. We likewise felt severe- 
 ly the loss of scholars, as well as of the means 
 of support. But never discouraged, though 
 often desponding ; never reviling, though often 
 persecuted, we cast our cares on Him, ' Who 
 careth for us ;' and are now rising from our par- 
 tial overthrow. When one source of revenue 
 was dried up, another seems to have opened. 
 Our Heavenly Father, blessed be His name, 
 knows our necessities ; especially the need we 
 have of ^ the continual dew of His blessing,' and 
 has enabled us to ^ask in faith believing;' and 
 we give Him praise, that He has often answered 
 our prayers. The spiritual welfare of our charge 
 is much nearer our hearts, than the temporal con- 
 cerns of the society." Happy frame of simple 
 confidence in an ever present, and faithful God ! 
 Faith like this can never fail : exertions sus- 
 tained by it, can never tire. His bosom was 
 
134 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 not indeed, entirely exempt from the agitations 
 of grief, anxieties and disappointment; nor was 
 it desirable in this state of exertion, that it 
 should be : but the anchor of his hopes was cast 
 deep within the veil, and secured to his mind that 
 perfect * peace which passes all understanding;' 
 and which ^ the world can neither give nor take 
 away.' He had suffered with the same equan- 
 imity, a still more painful frustration of his hopes 
 in the dissolution of the school for black adults, 
 a few months before. The opposition made to 
 the instruction of these forlorn people on various 
 pretexts, had proved too violent to render it ad- 
 visable any longer to persist in the attempt ; and 
 it had been accordingly relinquished. 
 
 In the benevolent cause of Sunday schools, 
 it has been seen that he spared no exertions in 
 his power to employ. They were indeed at one 
 period too great either for his health, or for the 
 proper discharge of his more secular duties. 
 The possibility of erring on this ground, was 
 however, seasonably perceived by himself, and 
 led to a more proportionate distribution of his 
 time among the various duties of his station. 
 But the fact requires to be distinctly stated, as 
 suggesting considerations of great practical im- 
 portance, that more than the whole amount of 
 time spent in these labours, was redeemed from 
 the imperceptible waste which mere indolence, 
 or unprofitable engagements had formerly caus- 
 ed in that invaluable talent ! His pecuniary 
 
Mi-MOIR OF BACON. 135 
 
 contributions are known to have been numerous, 
 and liberal. But their full amount, will not be 
 revealed until the day when all secrets are to be 
 disclosed, and good works receive their infinite 
 reward. 
 
 But no single species of the fruits of so ex- 
 alted a piety, can flourish and ripen alone. In 
 the very constitution of the society which ani- 
 mated and directed the efforts made in the cause 
 of Sunday schools, distinct provision had been 
 made for the circulation of the scriptures, and 
 religious tracts. And both these efficient aux- 
 iliaries of the work, were employed with the 
 happiest effects. Several instances might be 
 related, of the obvious instrumentality of the 
 tracts circulated in every part of the county, in 
 conjunction with the establishment of schools, 
 in reforming the vicious, ^ converting the sinner 
 from the error of his ways, and hiding a multi- 
 tude of sins.' Of a little tract entitled " Three 
 Dialogues," from its contents, he observed, 
 " It has been the means of stopping a persecu- 
 tion which had been raised against a good Sun- 
 day school teacher. It fell into the hands of a 
 mere moralist, who supposed his correct deport- 
 ment would save his soul. The tract alarmed 
 him : and thinking he must do something for the 
 persecuted christians in his neighbourhood, he 
 went to a leader of the opposition and told hira^ 
 that * he might well be alarmed, since even him- 
 self had become so on reading that tract.' The 
 
id6 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 persecutor admitted, if so good a man, as his 
 moral neighbour, had begun to think himself 
 wrong, and the praying people right, there might 
 be some truth in what those people said ; and 
 he would let them alone." The tracts presented 
 as premiums to the children were commonly 
 read by their parents, and often produced impres- 
 sions on their minds of a salutary character. 
 
 In the conclusion of this connected view of 
 Mr. Bacon's engagements in the^e arduous ser- 
 vices, it is due to the fidelity of his divine Lord 
 and Master, and proper for the encouragement 
 of all who shall imitate his example, to state that 
 he found in his labours a present reward, sur- 
 passing his boldest petitions, and nearly preclud- 
 ing the perception of his heaviest trials. The 
 economy of divine providence in this respect, 
 seems to be nearly uniform. The most faithful 
 and laborious of the Lord's servants are refresh- 
 ed with the richest consolations of the gospel, 
 even in the midst of their labours. Mr. Bacon 
 realised a large reward in knowing himself to 
 be the instrument of gathering much immediate 
 * fruit to life eternal.' A number of souls were 
 brought to sincere repentance, and saved from 
 their sins, * by the washing of regeneration and the 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost,' through his direct 
 instrumentality. A still greater number were 
 introduced into the same holy state by the me- 
 dium of the institutions which he had been prin- 
 cipally active in forming, and the means of grace 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 137 
 
 which had through these means, been placed 
 witliin their reach. He witnessed likewise, in 
 the more general effects of the system, a visi- 
 ble improvement of the moral habits, and the 
 religious condition of the many hundreds of 
 immortals, connected with the schools; and in a 
 still fainter degree, of the whole districts over 
 which they extended. He realised moreover, the 
 holy satisfaction of perceiving that many of his 
 prayers for spiritual and other blessings, personal 
 and general, were expressly answered : and that 
 the whole cause was the especial care of the in- 
 finite God, ^ whom unseen, he' constantly ^ loved/ 
 worshipped, and communed with. He enjoyed 
 the testimony of his own conscience, and the 
 witness of the divine Spirit in his heart, that he 
 was doing the will of God, and acting with his 
 approbation. * It was God that justified' both 
 him and his work : ' and who was he that could 
 condemn?' But there are spiritual communica- 
 tions of a higher and richer order, made to the 
 faithful servants of the Redeemer, even in the 
 present world; consisting in the direct, and 
 abundant out-pouring of those ineffable comforts 
 of his grace, that form the most perfect foretaste 
 of Heaven itself which the human mind is capa- 
 ble of realising on earth. These effusions of the 
 divine Spirit are not always essential to the sane- 
 tification of the soul : they are scarcely tasted 
 in this world, by many of the sincere and hum- 
 ble followers of the Lamb ; but are seldom with- 
 18 
 
13» MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 held entirely from those who devote the whole 
 soul, and voluntarily incur painful sacrifices, in 
 his service. They are at once a divine attes- 
 tation of approbation to eminent fidelity, and 
 one of the most animating motives to more vigo- 
 rous advances, and unwearied perseverance. A 
 few extracts from Mr. Bacon's private diary, 
 will furnish the most intelligible illustration of 
 this peculiar privilege of the faithful believer, 
 and furnish an additional testimony of the good- 
 ness and faithfulness of the God whom he serves, 
 in repaying into his bosom ^ an hundred fold' for 
 all he can resign or sufter in obedience to his 
 commands, ^ in the present life ;' without im- 
 pairing his title to the ' life everlasting.' 
 
 "November 1st, 1818, Sunday. — To day I 
 superintended the Sunday school in York. There 
 were present, about one hundred and ninety- 
 scholars and a sufficient number of teachers. I 
 received an unspeakable blessing ; being several 
 times so filled with holy joy that I could hardly 
 refrain from proclaiming it aloud. This school 
 is a glorious vineyard. OhthatGod would con- 
 tinue to help ! I have ever thought from the 
 first, that it would be the means of a revival of 
 religion in York, if we are faithful to our trust. 
 The members ^ go forth into the streets and lanes 
 of the city' and into the ' highways and hedges,' 
 and compel, by alfection and entreaty, the * poor, 
 the maimed, the halt and the blind' to ^ come in ;' 
 and ' still there is room." 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 139 
 
 ^^ November 22(\. — Have good reason to be- 
 lieve, that among the persons truly converted to 
 God, during the week past, are five Sunday 
 school scholars. Two others are convinced of 
 their ruined state, and deeply distressed. 
 Thanks be to God for his glorious work. Oh 
 that he would multiply the victories of his grace 
 and love, until they reach the ends of the earth !" 
 " January 17th, 1819. — Dillsburg. Came from 
 York to this place yesterday, to meet the people 
 and form a Sunday school. We were obliged 
 to struggle with many discouragements ; but 
 through the goodness of Gqj|cI, succeeded. I felt 
 his presence, and am sensible that he blest his 
 own cause through my instrumentality. At night, 
 met a few devout souls of the place, in a prayer 
 meeting. We had a season of blessings. Oh 
 the joy of communion with God ! Oh his un- 
 speakable goodness !" 
 
 <^ January 24th. — Yesterday, I gave a full 
 explanation to my ***** brethern, of my 
 conduct in relation to the schools ; which satis- 
 fied them, and restored christian harmony be- 
 tween us. I do sincerely love them as brethern 
 in Christ Jesus. The reconciliation was follow- 
 ed with a present and a precious blessing, to my 
 soul. To day, — at morning prayer, in church, 
 and at the Sunday school, I drank largely of the 
 consolations of the Holy Spirit ; and had much 
 freedom of intercourse with God. My spirit 
 
140 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 wrestles with him for sanctifying grace. Oh that 
 God would make rae wholly his own !'^ 
 
 "January 31st.~Was at the * * * * school 
 in the morning. Addressed the audience and 
 the scholars ; returned at one o^clock, to the 
 York school. I became much exhausted ; am 
 convinced I ought not to go so long without food, 
 as 1 frequently do on the Sabbath. Oh I feel 
 these schools a burden to my body ; but not to 
 my soul! Mybody is weak:— but God blesses my 
 soul. I have much of his sensible presence, 
 3,nd am willing to suffer on, my three score 
 years, or less or mo?'e, as it pleases him. God 
 Is good. God is love. Oh that God would 
 bless me still more and more; — that he would 
 bless me now, — I have such an hungering and 
 thirsting after his righteousness !'^ 
 
 ^^ February Sl2d.— -For three days past I have 
 been entirely occupied in travelling through dif- 
 ferent parts of the county, and forming new 
 schools. I last night, found my exertions dur- 
 ing the day had nearly destroyed me — and was 
 even apprehensive that I should not be able to 
 survive 'till the morning. To day, — my strength 
 is considerably restored. This evening in prayer 
 meeting, realised a foretaste of Heaven indeed. 
 Such an out-pouring of blessings I have scarcely 
 ever known before.'^ 
 
 " March 30th. Since the 5th of the pre- 
 gent month, my Sabbaths have been spent in our 
 ^i^nday ^chools; and have been uniformly ble^s= 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 14^1 
 
 ed to my comfort and edification. The labour 
 has been severe ; but soul and body have been 
 abundantly sustained : for which, I here record 
 my thanks to God." 
 
 "July ISth, I819.--During the past month, 
 I was much occupied in visiting distant schools, 
 and had a laborious season. But while abroad, 
 I was always happy, — filled with zeal and love; 
 although now conscious of having been unfaith- 
 ful. In this way God was pleased to afford me 
 support and help when labouring in his name, 
 and for the advancement of his cause.'' 
 
 Under date of November 28th, 1819, Mr. 
 Bacon has the following entry in his journal. 
 
 " Our Board of Managers met this evening 
 for the transaction of much interesting business. 
 I have often felt the want of something apprO' 
 priate to sing on these occasions, and to day 
 drew up the following lines." They are here 
 inserted, as closely connected with the subject of 
 this chapter, and in some measure, illustrative of 
 it. In the devout and evangelical spirit which 
 they breathe, consists their principal merit. 
 
 "HYMN, 
 
 For the Meeting of Sunday school Mana= 
 gers." 
 " Here, Saviour, let us take 
 
 Fresh counsel, at thy feet; 
 And by thy Spirit's presence, make 
 Our souls in one to meet.-r- 
 
14S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 Here, guide us by thy word, 
 
 And by thy Spirit too : 
 Give hearts to know thy will, Lord ; 
 
 Give willing hands to do. 
 
 Be thou the mind to plan, 
 
 Be thou the mouth to speak ; 
 
 And while thy great designs we scan, 
 Oh ! keep our spirits meek. 
 
 Lord, give us all thy mind ; 
 
 For less will not suflBce ; 
 That we may leave our sins behind, 
 
 And daily upward rise. — 
 
 In faith we'll plant the seed, 
 And water with our tears ; 
 
 Christ then will bid the increase speed, 
 And banish all our fears.'' 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 143 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The connected view afforded in the forego- 
 ing chapter, of Mr, Bacon's engagements in the 
 cause of Sunday schools, required a considerable 
 anticipation of the period to which the narrative 
 now, properly reverts. 
 
 In May and June, 1817? it appears from a 
 memorandum found among his papers, that Mr. 
 Bacon was engaged in the organisation of an in- 
 dependent military corps, for the county of 
 York; and during the following season, he con- 
 tinued to discharge the duties which an official 
 appointment in that service, devolved upon him. 
 In August, of the same season, finding that the 
 multifarious business of his profession, by expos- 
 ing him to the almost constant collision of the 
 worst passions, and most sinister transactions of 
 the irreligious and worldly, tended unavoidably 
 to distract his tlioughts and impede liis progress 
 in spiritual life ; he entered into an arrangement 
 for abandoning the business altogether. In this 
 proceeding he doubtless had his eye on the 
 apostolic advice, ' I would have you without 
 carefulness.' His motives were perhaps, more 
 to be commended than his judgment; and he 
 was possibly, influenced more by disgust for the 
 lawful business of life, which he ought to have 
 overcome, than by an enlightened estimate of its 
 
144 MEMOIR Ol BACON. 
 
 duties. At tliis date, liis intention to devote liis 
 life to the ministry seems to have been eml)ar- 
 rassed with fewer scruples than occurred on a 
 further examination of the question. But the 
 providence of Heaven, in a dispensation which 
 could not easily be misinterpreted or evaded, 
 absolutely overruled this purpose ; and he con*- 
 tinued in the practice of the law for nearly two 
 years afterwards ; fully satisfied, that in what- 
 ever way his divine Master might intend to dis- 
 pose of his services at a future period, it wag 
 his pleasure that he should, at present, continue 
 to exercise his profession, and glorify him in 
 the faithful discharge of humbler duties. But 
 his thoughts were incessantly revolving the 
 subject ; and he ventured in a few weeks to offer 
 his name to the Bishop of the Diocese, to be 
 entered on the list of candidates for orders. In 
 this act he was conscious of proceeding with 
 due circumspection ; but was still, undecided, as 
 to the ulterior course, which the intimations of 
 providence might afterwards require him to 
 take. 
 
 The whole of Mr. Bacon's time, not spent 
 in the necessary business of his oiUce, and at the 
 bar, became towards the latter end of the year, 
 not only engrossed, but overcharged both with 
 stated and occasional religious exercises per- 
 formed either for his own improvement, or for 
 the salvation of others. 
 
MEMOIR OP BACON. 14^ 
 
 Mr. Bacon eminently exemplified in the al- 
 tered course of his life, the inspired description 
 of those in regard to whom, ' old things' are 
 said * to have passed away, and all things' to 
 have * become new :' but this characteristic of 
 the child of God was in nothing more unequivo- 
 cally evinced than in the exact distribution, and 
 entirely new appropriation of the several di- 
 visions of his time. No talent, with the improve- 
 ment of which we are charged, excepting only 
 the means of salvation directly connected with 
 our redemption and sanetification, is more val- 
 uable, or capable of being applied to a higher 
 use than this. The different duties to which 
 the hours of every day were successively 
 consecrated, and the means by which his early 
 progress in grace was so remarkably accelera- 
 ted, are exhibited in a form of rules constructed 
 on truly christian principles, which he adopted 
 on the first of October, 1817. He entitles them; 
 
 ^' Rules to be observed every day, by S. Bacon, 
 attorney at law : 
 
 " llise at six from October to March ; and 
 from April to September, at five. Ill health and a 
 habit of study require this degree of indulgence. 
 Earlier rising would be injurious to me. 
 
 " Attend to morning devotion. 
 
 " Pay the proper attention to my personal 
 comfort and appearance ; and breakfast. 
 i9 
 
146 
 
 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 *^ Examine my day-book and docket, for the 
 business of the day. 
 
 " Attend diligently to official business and 
 legal studies during the day;— taking care to 
 dine lightly, drink nothing but water, and main- 
 tain constantly, a watchful and praying spirit : 
 to * rejoice ever-more, pray without ceasing and 
 in every thing give thanks.' Religion is not to 
 make me neglect my business, but do it with 
 more fidelity and diligence. 
 
 " Take very little or no supper ; as it is apt 
 to cloud the mind, and hinder the life of my 
 evening devotions. 
 
 " After supper, attend in my office till seven 
 ©"clock, to any remaining business, and close 
 the worldly concerns of the day; taking care ^to 
 have a place in my office for every thing ; and 
 every thing in its place.' 
 
 ** At seven o'clock, go to some place of social 
 prayer or worship. This let me do, because we 
 are exhorted not to forsake the assembling ^of our- 
 selves together :' and because I find, by expe- 
 rience, that those who thus ' wait upon the Lord 
 shall renew their strength.^ Let me nevet at- 
 tend these meetings because I think myself bet- 
 ter than my neighbours, but to implore my Fa^ 
 ther in Heaven to preserve me from yielding to 
 the temptations which surround me, and which 
 abound within me. 
 
 "Return to my lodgings, and spend the remain- 
 der of the evening in reading and meditation. 
 
MEMOIR OP BACOjNT. 147 
 
 ^^ Attend to my evening devotion. 
 
 " Finally, never let me permit a known 
 duty to be omitted ; and let me do all the good 
 1 can. Even amidst the business of the day, 
 I lind time to do much for the benefit of myself 
 and others ; but often want the mind and means. 
 Let me constantly pray for l)oth.'' 
 
 The Bible was his constant companion ; and 
 its study filled up nearly all those short and bro- 
 ken intervals of time, which the most systematic 
 routine of duties will always leave unoccupied. 
 Kvery charitable association with which he was 
 connected, furnished, in the necessary meetings of 
 its members, frequent occasions of social prayer 
 and praise ; which he seldom suffered to pass 
 without due improvement. Hence, the different 
 charities, in the promotion of some, or all of 
 which, a large proportion of the respectable in- 
 dividuals of the place were united, became 
 strongly associated in their minds, with the ho- 
 liest services, and the highest considerations of 
 religion. His humility, aided by an enlighten- 
 ed knowledge of the duties of christians in 
 different relations, effectually restrained him, 
 from invading the sphere exclusively alloted by 
 the Divine Head of the church, to his commis- 
 sioned ministers. His circumspection and ten- 
 derness of conscience, even while actuated by 
 the most ardent zeal, and, in the exercise of his 
 characteristic energy prosecuting the most dif- 
 ficult services, were such as seldom to f»irnish 
 
148 MEMOIR Of BACOIV. 
 
 even a plausible pretext for offence or repreheu 
 sion, to his most vigilant opposers. His exam- 
 ple in this respect how worthy, and yei how 
 difficult, of imitation ! Few have accomplished, 
 in so short a time, and at so early a period of 
 their religious life, so much good : and vastly 
 flewer have been happy enough not to neutralise 
 or reverse much of the good they have effected, 
 by a larger mixture of indiscretion. This fact 
 is the more remarkable, as Mr. Bacon's tempera- 
 ment was ardent in the extreme ; and he seldom 
 suffered the time exactly proper for acting, to 
 pass unimproved. But the true reason of his 
 happiness in this respect, is explained by another 
 fact, from which the same result may always be 
 anticipated. Mr. Bacon * committed all his 
 ways to the Lord ;' even the particular details of 
 his engagements, secular and religious, were 
 faithfully commended to the divine blessing. 
 He knew it to be the privilege of believers, to 
 be directed in all their paths, by the unerring 
 guidance of the holy Spirit. This privilege he 
 humbly embraced ; and his confidence was never 
 disappointed. 
 
 From the date of his conversion, to his death, 
 Mr Bacon's health was delicate ; but owing to 
 the peculiar organisation of his system, he was 
 able always to recover after a short repose, from 
 a state of almost entire exhaustion of body and 
 mind, and seldom did he engage in any service 
 for the honour of God, or the good of men 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 149 
 
 which admitted sufficient scope for exertion, 
 without proceeding to the utmost limit of his 
 strength. To this cause is to be traced in a 
 principal degree, the occasional prevalence of 
 the imagination over the soberer faculties of the 
 mind, manifested in his speculations on several 
 of the incidents of his religious experience. A 
 sound body is essentially necessary to the exact 
 and regular exercise of tlie nicely balanced 
 mechanism of the understanding: and of this 
 blessing Mr. Bacon was at the present time de 
 prived. But it may be said in justice to his 
 character, and in truth, that no man's piety was 
 of a more rational kind than that which he ha- 
 bitually displayed, after a few months' expe- 
 rience had worn away the novelty of a religious 
 life. The practical principles of few christians 
 were more exactly ascertained to themselves, or 
 their judgment better enlightened by the lessons 
 of revelation, or more cautiously exercised on 
 every question of duty, than his. He might 
 perhaps, unnecessarily call up to his recollection 
 the shapeless images of a dream that were bet- 
 ter forgotten ; and might borrow from it instruc- 
 tion that were better derived from other sources. 
 But even this infirmity was, to say the least, inno- 
 cent in its effects, — it might to him, have proved 
 even a beneficial one. ^His dreams,' he ap- 
 pears to have ^ told as dreams ;' and never in the 
 least to have confounded their fancied interpre- 
 tations with the predictions of prophecy, or the 
 
150 MEMOIR Of UACOIN. 
 
 authority of the word of God. Even of his 
 dreams it may be said, that they evince the strong 
 and prevailing influence of pious feelings in his 
 mind. Happy for those who would too severely 
 censure this fault, rather of a disordered body 
 than mind, if their own thoughts and affections 
 are, like his, so habitually given to their Saviour 
 and to celestial themes, that the imagination 
 shall retain its hold upon them, when that is the 
 only faculty which wakes in the sleeping soul ! 
 He occasionally exhibited a similar propensity 
 which is easily traced to the same causes, to 
 fancy himself the subject of waking visions, and 
 supernatural impressions. But it is not known 
 that his judgment, except in two or three in- 
 stances, became the sport of illusions of this 
 nature ; and those occurred in the earlier stages 
 of his religious experience, when it was more 
 difiBcult to separate the actings of grace, from 
 the impressions of the fancy.* 
 
 On a visit to Philadelphia in May, 1818, as 
 a delegate to the convention of the lipiscopal 
 church of the diocese, either through mere de- 
 pression of spirits, or from the influence of pro- 
 bably, very insufficient reasons, he was nearly 
 induced to withdraw his name from the list of 
 theological candidates. This intention was, how- 
 ever, overruled by the very seasonable advice 
 of two of his clerical friends, to whom he com- 
 
 * See Appendix, Not« \h 
 
MElSIOin CV EACON. i^li 
 
 miinicated his scruples. "I rejoice,*' he re- 
 marks, in reference to his conduct on tliis occa- 
 sion, " that I did not take my own Avay : and 
 from this period I was more and more confirmed 
 in my purpose to enter the ministry.'' 
 
 During the summer, a small portion only of 
 bis time was devoted to the study of systematic 
 theology. But his rapid advancement in a prac- 
 tical acquaintance with the scriptures, and the 
 important science of experimental religion, 
 more than compensated his want of opportunity 
 for more abstract studies. He learnt in what 
 manner to offer the prayer of faith, to obtain tho 
 victory over the world, to mortify the corrup- 
 tions of his nature, and copy into his life the 
 example of his Lord. Nor was his light ^ hid 
 under a bushel.' He ^ glorified his heavenly 
 Father,' by an unstudied but conspicuous ex- 
 hibition in his own character, of the power of 
 his grace. A number of souls were evidently 
 turned ' from darkness to light,' by his means, dur- 
 ing this period ; and rich and numerous were 
 the blessings, which through his exhortations, 
 and prayers, were communicated to the little 
 flock of believers who formed his chosen, and 
 principal associates. In a letter dated October 
 l;ith, he writes to a confidential christian friend, 
 "My cup is full to overflowing. Help me to 
 praise ray merciful Saviour. A brother of mine 
 lately visited me. He was a confirmed deist. 
 Being older than myself, I ne2;lected, for some 
 
15S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 lime, to invite him to our stated prayer meetings^ 
 fearing the ridicule of sacred tilings which 
 might he expected from his satirical tongue. 
 But a sense ot'duty compelled meat length to take 
 him along. We went into meeting : in prayer, 
 lie was the only one present who stood. He 
 kept his position as erect as a post ; until, as I 
 was kneeling near him, 1 pulled him hy the coat^ 
 and he came upon his knees.— -God not only 
 gave me utterance, but enabled me to wrestle in 
 faith for his salvation. The next morning he 
 came very early into my room, begging me to 
 pray for him. I did so ; and kept him with mo 
 about twelve days. In the mean time he was 
 born both, ^ of the ivater and of the Spirit,^ 
 He partook of the holy sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper, and has left me, and all his sins be- 
 hind." 
 
 The brother referred to in this extract, has 
 since exhibited a life of consistent piety, and 
 been usefully employed in a public capacity, on 
 the coast of Africa. 
 
 Mr. Bacon's engagements during the remain- 
 der of the autumn and winter, continued much 
 of the same character as for the last preceding 
 half year. But, having resolved on drawing 
 his secular concerns to a close as soon as possi- 
 ble, and devoting the residue of his life to the 
 work of the sanctuary, be much better sustained 
 the character of an intrepid and indefatigable 
 evangelist, during this period, than that of the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACOK. 153 
 
 profession which he was shortly to lay aside. 
 He had associated with him, a gentleman of the 
 bar, into whose hands he gradually relinquished 
 the extensive practice which he formerly had in 
 the county. In this period he made several in- 
 effectual attempts to redeem, from the exactions 
 of his secular business, a few weeks, at least, to 
 be employed in the retired and uninterrupted 
 study of theology. But the cause of christian 
 benevolence in various forms, preferred such 
 numerous and pressing demands on his exertions^, 
 and his counsel, as wholly to fill up the inter- 
 vals of his leisure from more secular duties : and, 
 until the ensuing month of May, he had not ad- 
 vanced beyond the threshold of theological read- 
 ing. During the winter of 1818 — 19, and the 
 ensuing spring, he seldom devoted less than 
 three days in the week to the formation and su- 
 perintendence of Sabbath schools. The month 
 of May was passed in Philadelphia; where, by 
 changing the scene of his labours, and varying 
 their customary routine, he regained a better 
 habit of health than he had before enjoyed since 
 the commencement of his religious life. The 
 acquaintance which, during this season, he cul- 
 tivated with an extensive circle of humble and 
 devoted christians, for which that city is pre-emi- 
 nently distinguished, proved, in many respects_, 
 serviceable to him. It cemented with souls of 
 congenial character and feelings, an union, and 
 laid the foundation for a future correspondence 
 30 
 
154 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 which often in his subsequent labours and trials, 
 greatly assisted to sustain his weary hands, and 
 animate his drooping spirits. He learnt at the 
 same time, to discriminate more accurately be- 
 tween mere animal emotions and the kindlings 
 of the imagination, and those pure and sanctify- 
 ing influences of the Spirit of God on the mind^ 
 which like a deep and perennial fountain, ^spring 
 up in the soul, to life everlasting.' He returned 
 to York about the first of June. 
 
 Soon afterwards, he drew up, and published 
 in the Gazettes of York, a series of essays ex- 
 planatory of the objects of the American Coloni- 
 zation Society, with a special view to its vindica- 
 tion from the exceptions which had been ex*- 
 pressed by many, even of the friends of the black 
 population of this country. Mr. Bacon had for 
 several years, been a useful member of the Abo- 
 lition Society of Pennsylvania. His benevo- 
 lence was, however, of too disinterested a cha- 
 racter to suffer him to withhold from any good 
 cause, the support and patronage which he could 
 afford it. At an early period of the operations of 
 the Colonization Society, he perceived that their 
 measures were inspired by the same philanthro- 
 phic principle as those of the Abolition Society ; 
 and conceived them to be much more practica- 
 ble, more systematic, and equally expansive in 
 their final objects. He perceived likewise, that 
 these objects were not well understood even by 
 his brethren of the Pennsylvania Society ; and 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 130 
 
 that many prejudices existed which had their foun- 
 dation wholly in this ignorance. His essays were 
 therefore very seasonable, and happily adapted 
 to accomplish the ends of the writer. It was 
 unfortunate that the imperfections of their style, 
 owing to the haste employed in their production, 
 tended to restrict their publication to more cir- 
 cumscribed limits than from the facts which they 
 embodied, and the soundness of the reasoning, 
 they deserved. 
 
 The months of June and July, were passed 
 in York with fewer interruptions to his theologi. 
 cal studies either from business or charitable 
 engagements, than any former period. The sa- 
 cred scriptures formed the principal object of his 
 attention at this time ; and the course of his 
 reading on other subjects in divinity, although 
 limited, was in conformity to the regulations of 
 the canons, and of the House of bishops of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church, and pursued under 
 the particular direction of the Rev. Professor 
 Turner, of the Greneral Theological Seminary, 
 who spent several months of this summer in Phil- 
 adelphia. His extreme anxiety, to bring himself 
 to the sacred w ork as one that ' needs not to be 
 ashamed ;' his incessant and earnest cries for the 
 teachings of tlie divine Spirit ; the deep interest 
 of his affections in all evangelical subjects ; his 
 high sense of the dignity and responsibility of 
 the charge ; and above all, the entire devotion 
 of his soul to the pursuit of God's glory, and 
 
456 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 the salvation of men, stimulated his progress m 
 these preparatory studies in a measure altogether 
 surpassing that of his time or advantages. His 
 theological knowledge may be properly regarded 
 as consisting of a deep practical impression of 
 the most important truths of revelation, upon 
 his mind. It was unmixed with human theo- 
 ries ; because derived directly from the purest of 
 all sources : it was calculated for direct applica= 
 tion to the highest purposes of devotion, and 
 spiritual improvement: because sought express- 
 ly for these ends, and in the use of these very 
 means. 
 
 In the month of August, he again repaired to 
 Philadelphia to complete his preparations for 
 ordination, and assume the sacred ofiTice. He 
 had nearly disposed of all his secular connex- 
 ions with the world at this time, and enjoyed 
 in the increased abstraction of his thoughts from 
 temporal cares and labours, a repose of soul 
 which eminently comported with the sacredness 
 of his pursuit, and the solemnity of the approach- 
 ing scenes. He thus had the opportunity of 
 more fully ascertaining his true motives, and of 
 maturing his views, in devoting himself to the 
 ministerial service, and confirming his purposes 
 jn relation to its duties. The use which he 
 made of this opportunity, as relates to his own 
 spiritual improvement, will be seen in the ex- 
 tract? which are to follow from his jpurnal. 
 
MEMOIll OF BACON. 157 
 
 In the latter part of the summer of 18l9» 
 the managers of the Philadelphia Bible Society, 
 determined to execute a purpose which they had 
 for some time cherished, of diifusing more exten- 
 sively in the interior of the state, tlie benefits of 
 their institution, tlian they had ever attempted 
 before. It became necessary to employ in this 
 service, a person of peculiar qualifications. The 
 views of the board were soon directed to Mr. 
 Bacon, as the individual presented to their choice 
 by the especial providence of Him to whom 
 their prayers had been fervently addressed for 
 the means of accomplishing their important ob- 
 ject. His want of holy orders, and a number of 
 obligations of a secular nature, appeared to him- 
 self and others, for a time, to present an impas- 
 sable obstacle to his engaging in this mission. 
 But the last were removed in a way so clearly 
 providential, as to induce a very serious inquiry 
 whether it had not become a duty to apply for 
 ordination at an earlier period than he had before 
 thought compatible with a due preparation for 
 the ministerial oflSce. After seriously weigh- 
 ing the important question, he resolved to sub- 
 mit himself to the examination and advice of 
 the clerical committee on whose certificate the 
 Bishop of the diocese was to act, in conferring 
 ordination on theological candidates. This ex- 
 amination he sustained to the satisfaction of the 
 committee, in the beginning of September, and 
 was admitted to holy orders by the Kight llev. 
 
158 MEMOIR Ot hACOl-i, 
 
 Bishop White, of the diocese of Pennsylvania, 
 on the fifth of the same month. 
 
 In October of 1818, Mr. Bacon had commenc- 
 ed, as a means of his private improvement, a reli- 
 gious diary ; which was continued until his 
 ordination, without much interruption; and, 
 with more frequent intervals, from that time to 
 the commencement of his last illness. The 
 utility of this practice has been doubted ; but 
 certainly, on insufficient grounds. A religious 
 journal may indeed, be the oifspring of spiri- 
 tual pride, and the instrument of religious 
 vanity. And which of the means of grace may 
 not be corrupted by the same motives ? But 
 growth in grace is always aided by experience. 
 And the chief advantage of a religious diary, as 
 a means of spiritual improvement consists in its 
 cli'ect to fix more permanently in the memory 
 and impress more cllectually on the heart, the 
 lessons of experience. This advantage it pos- 
 sesses in a higher degree than perhaps any 
 other means. The most exact and striking de- 
 lineations of the character of eminent saints, 
 have likewise after tlieir decease, been drawn 
 from this part of their writings, with great advan- 
 tage to their successors in the christian warfare. 
 
 Mr. Bacon's journal seems to have been de- 
 signed for the improvement or inspection of no 
 person except himself. It was written with the 
 most unguarded simplicity, and bears every 
 characteristic of a most authentic registry of the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 159 
 
 religious operations of his own mint!, as it was 
 affected by a singular variety of circumstances. 
 So sensible did he become of the utility of the 
 practice, that after nearly a year's experience of 
 its advantages, he recorded an expression of re- 
 gret, and self accusation for a few weeks inci- 
 dental neglect of his journal. A religious diary 
 secures at least one important end, — that of en- 
 gaging the mind frequently, in reflecting on its 
 own exercises. It likewise may have the effect 
 to strengthen, by giving a distinct expression to 
 the pious purposes and feelings of the heart. 
 Both of these effects are directly connected 
 with the growth of divine life in the soul, and 
 die maintenance of a godly and holy life. 
 
 The first entry in his journal was made, Oc- 
 tober S8th, 1818. — The w4iole exhibits a gra- 
 dual progress in his christian experience, from 
 the untutored ardour of the young convert's first 
 love, to its comparative maturity in a habit of de- 
 vout affection, as pure as it was elevated. 
 
 Prayer has been significantly styled the na- 
 tural respiration of the new-born soul ; and the 
 gently distilling influence of the divine Spirit, 
 the etherial element on which it habitually feeds. 
 The subjed of this memoir has been seen in a la- 
 borious, but ineffectual struggle with the opposing 
 principles of his nature, to hold himself to the 
 stated performance of this duty, even after long 
 and frecpient intervals of its allowed neglect. 
 Rut now the holy work proceeds almost without 
 
160 MEMOIR OF BACOW. 
 
 constraint, or interruption. Nearly every ex- 
 pression of his feelings is blended with a fervent 
 invocation to the author of all spiritual influ- 
 ences, for an increase of those very desires 
 which prompts his petitions. Communion with 
 God, through his Son, and by the Holy Spirit,* is 
 now the most delightful, and therefore an uiii= 
 form exercise of the soul. It is the highest end 
 to which it aspires, and an employment, in which 
 could it be wholly absorbed, it would repose its 
 tired energies with inconceivable delight. 
 
 If among so many qualities peculiarly chris- 
 tian as Mr. Bacon exhibited in his character, any 
 one shone with pre-eminent lustre, it must be re- 
 ferred to the spirit of prayer, which constantly 
 informed his whole soul. Prayer was the first 
 employment of his waking mind in the morning ; 
 and the last of his weary thoughts, at night. So 
 entirely wrought into the frame and habit of 
 prayer, were the affections of his heart, that they 
 seemed to pursue their accustomed employment, 
 when sleep had entirely suspended the functions 
 of the bodily senses. '^^ 1 have remarked," he 
 states, in putting down the results of his short 
 experience on this subject, '^ that whenever I fall 
 asleep at night in the exercise of a holy praying 
 spirit, my soul prays through the whole night \ 
 Happy slumbers ! There is little in them of 
 that deep, death-like stupor which formerly char 
 
 * Epk II, IS 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. I6l 
 
 acterised my sleep ; but while all the purposes 
 of sleep as to the refreshment of body and 
 mind, are answered, I am still suflRciently 
 awake to hold communion with God. Oh that 
 my soul may be confirmed in this happy frame !" 
 On another occasion : — " In answer to prayer, I 
 arose this morning with a praying mind. For 
 this blessing I earnestly entreated God, on re- 
 tiring to rest. Even my sleep was a season of 
 prayer." This blessed influence rested, in the 
 same degree on his mind, through a season of 
 severe trial arising from the perplexing cares 
 of the ensuing day. 
 
 Mr. Bacon was so highly favoured of his 
 heavenly Father, as not only to receive all his 
 providential dispensations with filial submission 
 and gratitude ; but to be able to see the direct 
 connexion of most of his comforts, and many 
 of his chastisements either with his faithful per- 
 formance or his neglect, of this duty. November 
 14th, he thus writes : " I have been absent for 
 several days in the interior. A consciousness 
 of having neglected my duty towards my dying 
 friend ^ * * * * embittered ray mind. It was my 
 earnest prayer, that we might both be suffered to 
 meet again. God is good, and spared me to re- 
 turn, and find him still alive, and apparently not 
 so near his end as I expected. I repaired to his 
 chamber, and spent a solemn season of prayer 
 and earnest conversation with him. He feels 
 his need of a Saviour, and is earnest about his 
 31 
 
16S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 sours welfare. He appears in a good degree 
 resigned. May God have mercy on him, and 
 save his soul." On bringing his professional 
 business to a final close in the summer of 1819, 
 he has the following entries in his journal : 
 
 ^'^ .Tuly 14th. I am waiting in earnest prayer 
 for the Lord to help me. I have used all the 
 means in my power to extricate myself from tliis 
 last pressure of my temporal affairs ; which alone 
 appears to detain me in my present situation. 
 But my own providence and exertions can help 
 me no further. I know not what way to turn 
 myself — may the Lord disperse the cloud which 
 hangs over my future path. 
 
 " July SOth. To day, a most unexpected 
 deliverance has been wrought for me. A gentle- 
 man of Philadelphia has voluntarily advanced 
 me seven hundred dollars to enable me to leave 
 the place, and enter immediately on the prose- 
 cution of the important agency to which I have 
 been appointed. This indeed was least expec- 
 ted ! How soon the cloud has been broken — is 
 dispersed — is gone ! All is plain before me. 
 To what wonderful interpositions will not the 
 Lord sometimes condescend, in order to convince 
 us, that if we will trust him, he will help and 
 protect us !" 
 
 Mr. Bacon took great delight in social prayer 
 and praise : — a privilege which he ever thought 
 nearly connected with his comfort, and advance- 
 ment in the christian life. The fervour of his af 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. l63 
 
 lections seemed on these occasions, to be assisted 
 by the gentle excitement which the presence of his 
 christian friends supplied ; without feeling the re- 
 straint which a large promiscuous assembly, and 
 a more formal order of worship would be likely 
 to produce. These seasons were sought and en- 
 joyed almost every day. Often had he occasion 
 to record in his diary a thankful memorial of the 
 abundant blessings there dispensed to his own 
 soul, and to his friends. 
 
 It was natural that a person so constituted 
 as Mr. Bacon, should, in the commencement of 
 his christian experience, not only be strongly 
 susceptible himself to the impressions of exter- 
 nal excitements, but measure the good feelings 
 of others too much by the strength of their mere 
 animal emotions. Hence, he sometimes com- 
 plained of the " deadness" of himself and his 
 brethren, when few " sighs" and " tears," and 
 external *• expressions of rejoicing," were ex- 
 cited in their social meetings. None has a right 
 to forbid these manifestations of pious feeling : 
 for strong internal sensations, whatever may be 
 their nature or cause, are necessarily productive 
 of visible emotions: and it fully accords both with 
 the scriptures and enlightened reason, to believe 
 that the Spirit of Christ can produce in the mindi 
 of his people, stronger and more affecting sensa» 
 tions of love, rejoicing and desire, than any other 
 inferior cause. The danger is in making bodily 
 emotions the test of holy feeling, and aiming 
 
i^4i MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 rather to move the animal spirits, than to imp I ant 
 and invigorate holy dispositions in the mind. 
 The Spirit of God, without whose direct agency 
 there can be no right feelings or desires in the 
 heart, has his seat deep in the recesses of the 
 soul : and before he animates the affections, it 
 should always be remembered, that he sanctifies 
 them ; and all his blessed operations tend more 
 to the destruction of sin, than to the produc- 
 tion of present rapture. But both effects result, 
 to a certain extent, from the same divine influ- 
 ence. Hence the command to " rejoice ever- 
 more ;" and among the enumerated fruits of the 
 spirit, are "love, joy, peace." "The kingdom of 
 Heaven is not only righteousness," but " peace 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost." — Mr. Bacon hag 
 occasion in relation to these means of grace, to 
 say at one time, "At our morning prayer meet- 
 ing, I felt the Lord present to assist us all. In 
 the evening service, God was likewise there 
 with his blessing." On another occasion ; " At 
 evening prayer meeting," " a goodly company 
 was assembled. But there was little life: no 
 tears, no sighs, and almost no rejoicing. I had 
 great enlargement of desire and expression in 
 prayer," Soon after : ^^ I was not at our little 
 meeting to night. I regret it. I want food — and 
 even hunger and thirst for the bread and waters 
 of life." Again : at " social prayer meeting this 
 night, I enjoyed a refreshing repast. In prayer 
 and exhortation my feelings and desires were 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. lOP 
 
 carried strongly upwards in an unusual degree. 
 Bless God, O ray soul, for all his goodness." 
 Two days afterwards : •' met the little praying 
 circle at ***** * God gave me grace to press 
 the invitations of his eospel on the attention of 
 the Christless. Oh he is good to them ! He is 
 good to me ! To his name be all glory.'' — " In 
 church this evening," he again states, " the sea- 
 son was precious,— most comforting to myself, — 
 and profitable, 1 have reason to believe to many 
 others. Some hard hearts certainly relented ; I 
 hope were broken, for sin."—-" In singing the 
 lines 
 
 ' On wings of faith my soul shall flj, 
 Nor tire amidst the heavenly road,' 
 
 my mind was filled with a rich flow of consola- 
 tion." On another occasion he states, " This 
 evening I heard ****** preach. He appeared 
 animated with the spirit of grace. The season 
 was more than happy, it was a glorious one. 
 The power of the most High seemed to rest on 
 the congregation. Some souls I fully believe 
 will long remember the time.— May God be 
 praised." 
 
 Mr. Bacon never perceived that he spent a 
 greater proportion of his time in attendance on 
 these social and public exercises of devotion 
 than his own improvement and that of his friends, 
 demanded. And on that question he was better 
 able to judge and decide correctly, than any other 
 person 3 But he was by no means insensible of the 
 
l66 MEMOIR OF BACOiN. 
 
 need of circuraspeclion and vigilance, in guard- 
 ing against tlie peculiar dangers from which not 
 even these nurseries of prayer, and holy affec- 
 tions, were exempt. The very light which they 
 helped to kindle in his mind, discovered to him 
 the necessity of employi-g in conjunction with 
 them, other means of growing in grace, and at- 
 taining to that state of holiness which is the 
 liigh mark of every genuine christian. The 
 succeeding extracts will well illustrate this ex- 
 alting trait of his christian experience. 
 
 " December 18th. 1 last night, before re- 
 tiring to bed, had unusual comfort in private 
 prayer, and reading the scriptures. Oh that 
 God would deliver me from inbred corruptions ! 
 My greatest desire is for more enlargement and 
 faith, in private devotion. But languor and in- 
 sensibility, in too great a degree, succeeded. 
 This spiritual dcadness, in private — especially 
 in private devotion, is alarming. I detect in 
 myself a crying inconsistency. Often have I 
 felt a flow of love, and comfort, in social devo- 
 tion, and at the same time, not in private. This 
 I attribute, partly, to my attending prayer meet- 
 ings every night, and often leading in the exer- 
 cises; when I in a manner, exhaust my suppli- 
 cations, and have no more to ask. But private 
 prayer is most profitable, — God grant it may 
 prove to me the most delightful duty." Again : 
 " I thank God I am getting to feel the same de^ 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 167 
 
 light in private prayer, and the study of the 
 Bible, which 1 formerly possessed." 
 
 The praying christian is always stimulated 
 to perseverance in this duty, by a strong desire 
 after the holy comforts of divine grace. Such 
 was manifestly a constant motive of his ardent 
 supplications, in the mind of Mr Bacon. But a 
 cause no less universal, and no less effectual, is 
 the deep and increasing consciousness which 
 every regenerate soul possesses, of the power 
 of indwelling sin, the misleading tendency of 
 many of his perverse habits, and the humbling 
 nature and number of his bodily, mental and spi- 
 ritual infirmities. A sense of misery, and the 
 want of instant help, perhaps extorts every sin- 
 ner's first cries to God for mercy. And after 
 mercy is obtained, and the soul enjoys a heaven- 
 ly peace in believing, the sense of inbred cor- 
 ruption, instead of being removed, is heighten- 
 ed : — nay, the evil is then, indeed, first seen in 
 its extent ; and the dependence of the soul on 
 the influences of the holy Spirit, for health and 
 salvation, first felt as it should be. Let the work 
 of sanctification proceed to any degree of earthly 
 perfection : the eye of the understanding will be 
 proportionably freed from its natural dimness, 
 and enabled still to perceive new proofs of un- 
 sauctified desires, and new traits of the aliena- 
 tion of the soul from God. The evidence, 
 therefore, of a regenerate heart, and of an ad- 
 vanced state of spiritual improvement which the 
 
16S MtMOlIt 01 BACOIS. 
 
 believer must be expected to exhibit, is rather to 
 be sought ill an increasing sense of his imworthi- 
 ness and imperfections, than in the silence of his 
 complaints, and confessions, on account of these 
 evils. Mr. Bacon's complaints on this ground 
 were loud and frequent. The mental anguish 
 which be sometimes endured from a deep sense 
 of sinfulness, required the strong supports of 
 that grace which he possessed, to prevent him 
 from sinking under the burden.* He was dili- 
 gent, and through a constant * supply of the Spi- 
 rit of grace,' in a good degree faithful, in keep- 
 ing his heart. His affections arising from the 
 temptations of business, and the conviction of 
 much imperfection in his best obedience to the 
 law of Christ, constantly increased the measure 
 of his experience, and led on his mind to new 
 and stronger efforts of faith, and formed it to a 
 more confirmed habit of christian patience. The 
 passages in his journal which follow, explain 
 the exercises of his mind under these various 
 exigencies of his religious experience, during 
 a few of the latter months of his residence in 
 York. 
 
 " October 26th, 1818. I was this day deep- 
 ly engaged in my secular business : but was ha- 
 bitually sensible of the presence, and love of 
 God. My heart was, however, drawn in several 
 
 * " The burden of our sins is intolerable." — Commii' 
 fdon Service, intended for the use of converted persons, 
 
MEMOIR OP BACON. 169 
 
 instances^ towards the earth. Once or twice my 
 besetting infirmity, fretful neas, and impatience, 
 discovered itself. This I know to be exceedingly 
 displeasing to God, and pray that he would 
 give me grace to overcome it. I desire to do in 
 all my conduct just as my Saviour himself would 
 have done. That sweet, mild, affectionate, pa- 
 tient, holy temper of mind : — Oh ! I want it."— 
 *^ This day I fear has proved an unprofitable 
 one. How unfaithful ! how unguarded have 
 I been ! O God, I beseech thee in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, to sanctify my soul, and takeaway 
 these remnants of my corrupt nature," 
 
 " October 37th. Still unfaithful to my God. 
 I find when business presses, and I become 
 thoroughly immersed in it, I lose all lively sensi- 
 bility of the divine presence. I lose my praying 
 frame of mind. To what changes am I hourly 
 liable !" 
 
 " October 28th. Oh, the corruptions of my 
 nature ! my most earnest prayer is to be set free 
 from them. I pray for sanctifying grace. I 
 have this day imbibed too freely, alas ! the spirit 
 of the world ; and lost much of the holy joy 
 which I possessed a very few days ago. Before 
 repairing to the place of prayer, this evening, I 
 resolved to recover with God's help, the lost 
 blessing. I have wrestled for it, and can be 
 satisfied with nothing but Jesus Christ, and him 
 crucified. O God, slay this propensity to sin, 
 and offend thee, and fill me with the Holy 
 
lyO !»Et:MOTK OF BACON. 
 
 Grhost. My soul pants after full, free, present 
 salvation. Keep me faithful unto death ; I feel 
 how fatal is a single hour's neglect of watchful- 
 ness. Yet the Lord is gracious, and ready at 
 all times, to receive my sorrowing soul back to 
 his love." 
 
 " October S9th. I perceive, on reviewing 
 the exercises of my mind the past day, that my 
 whole heart, and soul, and strength, has not re- 
 turned to Jesns Christ. It is not many days 
 since my soul was raised above the earth, and 
 stretching still upward towards the heights of 
 salvaion ; filled with lioly joy, using every oppov- 
 tunity to bring sinners back to God, long- 
 ing for, and fully bent on the work of the min, 
 istry, I was so entirely rapt with the sweet 
 theme of salvation, that nothing else could give 
 me pleasure. My professional business was 
 tasteless, and almost odious to me. Last Mon- 
 day, commenced the county sessions. I tore 
 my mind from the loved subject, and devoted 
 it to my causes in court. A few hours' neglect 
 of watchfulness, only, intervened, and my joy 
 and comfort fled. I was not sensible of my loss, 
 until like Samson, I awoke and began as usual 
 to exercise my strength, and found, to my sorrow, 
 it was gone. I had, through grace, felt myself a 
 Samson with his hair at its full length. I 
 now am a Samson shorn. No longer ago than 
 ?ast Sunday, my soul was borne along on the full 
 tide of love and glory ; only four days have 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 171 
 
 elapsed and I am heavy, motionless, and unfit 
 for Heaven. O my God, help me 1 beseech 
 thee ! I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ." 
 
 "October 3lst. I feel sensibly at a dis- 
 tance from my God : and am struggling against 
 a host of corruptions, to approach nearer. I 
 hunger, and am not satisfied. I thirst, yet can- 
 not drink. My spirits are ruffled ; and I am 
 far from enjoying that calm repose of soul, 
 which I lately found in leaning by faith on my 
 Saviour. One cause of the disturbance of my 
 feelings 1 think I understand. I lately visited 
 some christian friends, whose manners did not 
 accord with my spirit. One exhibited a light- 
 ness of deportment, — and that disturbed me. 
 Another was affected, — and that disturbed me. 
 A third was apparently indifferent to the inter- 
 ests of religion altogether, that tried my patience. 
 
 God, help us all to overcome our weaknesses 
 and infirmities. While I pray that the levity of 
 the one, the affectation of another, and the 
 coldness of a third, may be removed, let me 
 pray that the peevishness of my own vile and 
 abominable heart may be removed also.'' 
 
 ^^November 2d. During the whole of this day 
 
 1 was thronged with business of the most per- 
 plexing nature, — so much so that I had no time 
 to eat. Yet my passions were bound and sub. 
 dued by the power of grace. God was my 
 Almighty Helper, through the day. My engage- 
 ments continued nearly throughout the night. 
 
17^ MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 Oh what do I owe God for so good a religion ! 
 It is good at all times, in all places, for all men." 
 
 " November 3d. This day I was so much 
 exhausted with my labours that I nearly fainted. 
 At night, business seemed a little to intermit, and 
 I went to the prayer meeting. Weak in body, 
 fainting in spirit. Oh, my wants were many ! — - 
 yet my soul had been happy through the day, 
 except that the fountain of corruptions was stir- 
 red, once or twice ; and I was much tried by it. 
 I joined in a prayer that was offered for purify- 
 ing grace, and for strength and health ; and ac= 
 tually received all I asked for, before I left the 
 house. Oh how refreshed even in body I was ; 
 and in soul, how strengthened ! I came home 
 prepared to endure my fatiguing labours with 
 alacrity. Glory to God the Father, Son and 
 Holy Ghost, ever, world without end." 
 
 " November 4th. Business was such to day 
 as almost to overcome my bodily strength : but I 
 still found amidst all my hurry, an occasional 
 moment for spiritual reflection and ejaculatory 
 prayer. I attended meeting at night, and found 
 it good to be there. My soul cries out still, for 
 sanctifying grace, and desires to be constantly 
 moving onward towards the prize of her high 
 calling. When I hear my friends making excuses 
 for absenting themselves from social payer meet- 
 ings, on the ground of wanting time, I cannot help 
 thinking that their want of a desire hinders them 
 more than a want of time. Amidst all my busi- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 17^ 
 
 iiess, as Attorney for the commonwealth, during a 
 week of quarter sessions, I still find time to 
 attend meeting almost every night. Oh the cold- 
 ness, the backwardness of some professors ! 
 And their very excuses founded on such insuffi- 
 cient grounds, are sins. — True, I sometimes go 
 without my dinner, and am sometimes up nearly 
 all night; but can I not afford occasionally to 
 exchange a trifle of perishing food for some- 
 thing, to sustain the soul ? And may 1 not some- 
 times omit to lay my body on a place of rest, 
 provided I can repose my soul on Jesus? Holy 
 Father, I need a fuller supply of thy grace. 
 And I beseech thee in the name of Jesus, to 
 give me strength of body and soul equal to all 
 my trials." 
 
 " November 5th. I have more than once 
 this week, been perplexed at the dispensation 
 of providence, in suffering the guilty to escape 
 detection and punishment. But I desire to thank 
 God that he has so far enlightened, as to enable 
 me to see, that he ^ ruleth in the army of Heaven 
 above, and among the inhabitants of the earth,' 
 and will ' cause even the wrath of men to praise 
 him ;' and that he has made me not only to per- 
 ceive but to acquiesce in his government." 
 
 *' November 9th. I have passed another busy 
 day : and have been distressed with temptations 
 to forsake the cause of Christ. These tempta- 
 tions I invited by the langour of my desires to 
 deave. to bis blessed interest. It was greater 
 
i74 MEMOIR Oi- BACON. 
 
 than I recollect for a long time past. Yet 1 
 strive against these suggestions. At meeting, this 
 night, I obtained some relief, and was a little 
 excited. I pray that the good Spirit of my God 
 may not leave me in a state of hopeless deso- 
 lation. Oh may he ever keep a reclaiming hold 
 on my wandering heart ! ' Heal my backslid- 
 iugs' and draw me onward — save me from these 
 temptations, and excite me to new diligence in 
 the cause of Christ." 
 
 *•' November llth. I left York for Getty s- 
 biu'i^, indisposed in body, and cold in spirit. 
 God has now restored the first, and warmed the 
 latter into life. My whole journey seemed to be 
 over-ruled by his good providence. But 1 was 
 unfaithful in all my duties, and want boldness 
 in the cause of Christ.*" 
 
 " November lath. Shame, shame, is my 
 part ! I suffered myself to slumber a few mi^ 
 notes, under both the sermons which I attended 
 to day; owing to my fatigue in the Sunday 
 school. But it is a wicked — a very vile thing to 
 sleep in church. God grant me grace to act a 
 better part hereafter ; and forgive me the past." 
 
 " November 17th. I have made very little 
 or no perceptible progress this day in the divine 
 life. The Lord has enabled me to resist one or 
 two temptations ; but Oh ! I am most fruitless, 
 and faithless ! — I called to see poor * * * * *. 
 He appears to be gaining strength, and 1 fear 
 5iis soul grows worse, as his body gets better. 
 
MEMOIR OF aACON. 175 
 
 Thus it is. The near approach of deatli will 
 make the most careless, inquisitive, often, about 
 their salvation. But their feelings on the return 
 of health, proclaim that they can live without a 
 Saviour. — My faith h perhaps, less depressed 
 to day than yesterday. But all will not do ; I 
 must have more religion." 
 
 <^ November Slst. God of love, grant me 
 grace to detect and expose the arts of Satan, 
 and of my own wicked heart ; and to overcome 
 them all through tlie blood and merits, and in 
 the name, of Jesus Christ. I find lately the 
 greatest reluctance to studying the Bible, and 
 to private devotion. How often has Satan pre- 
 vented me from reading the Bible at night ! It 
 is suggested, that ^ it is late ;' ^ your health will 
 sufler ;' ^ another time will do :" — and the same 
 of private prayer. I do not neglect it altogether, 
 but am so dead and lifeless in it that I hardly 
 know what to say. — May God help me for the 
 Saviour's sake. Amen." 
 
 " December i si. My business was to day 
 of a trying nature; but through grace 1 was 
 carried throngh it without difficulty. My God 
 assisted me. My haughty spirit was kept low." 
 
 ^^ December 2d. On carefully reviewing the 
 two last days, I discover much unfaithfulness. 
 The Lord grant me a watchful, as well as pray- 
 ing spirit." 
 
 "December 4th. I this evening was assailcdl 
 with another powerful temptation to return to 
 
176 MEMOIR OF liACON. 
 
 the world. But God gave me grace to resolve 
 never to do it. Lord, preserve me faithful to 
 the end. — I am cold in my devotions. Oh 
 that I might draw nearer to God in heart and 
 in life!" 
 
 " December 7th, At social worship, I did 
 not find the Saviour precious to my soul. Yet 
 I endeavoured to exhort others to be faithful, 
 and sinners to repent. — The prevailing state of 
 my mind is this : I desire to become holy, but 
 do not strive for it as I ought. I desire to be 
 more earnest and faithful in my private devo- 
 tions, but I do not faithfully employ the means 
 to obtain my end ; I do not read my B ble enough. 
 This is certain. May God help me to worship 
 him better in private ; to strive successfully for 
 holiness, and to read his holy word with more 
 fidelity." 
 
 *^ Decembier 9th. Alas ! My spiritual wants 
 are numberless ; and I am almost entirely des- 
 titute of faith in asking for their relief. I thank 
 God that I can recollect his past goodness to me, 
 when in a similar state of desolation and bar- 
 renness. He caused me to pray earaestly for a , 
 revival of his work ; and heard me. My bonds 
 were broken asunder, and my soul rejoiced in 
 its recovered liberty. Through the whole of 
 this day, the last spark of grace seemed to be 
 expiring in my soul. Oh that God would raise 
 it to a flame ! — I had some sensible aid in our 
 meeting this evening. Come, Holy Ghost ; come 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 477 
 
 quickly ; come and give ray spirit rest — not from 
 labour, but from sin.'' 
 
 "December lltli. How difficult I find it to 
 keep my mind staid on Jesus Christ ! This day 
 I have suffered much from wandering thoughts, 
 and wandering desires. O God, found and fix 
 my wayward soul on the ' Rock Christ Jesus.' — • 
 My brother ***** is with me. It appears 
 that I was the instrument of his conversion. 
 But he is certainly nearer his God than I am. 
 He is more humble, fervent, and faithful. How 
 great a change has God wrought in him ! How 
 much has he done for us both !" 
 
 "December 28th. The court commenced. 
 Business was urgent ; but 1 have great reason 
 to thank God for the aid he has afforded me in 
 the labours of the day. Our meeting at night 
 was a refreshing one." 
 
 "January 1st. 1819. God grant that the year 
 which begins to day, may advance me to many 
 new degrees of grace and holiness. I must 
 accuse myself of great coldness : but my de- 
 sires are for more warmth of affection. Oh for 
 grace to proceed ' from strength to strength, 
 until I appear at last in Zion, before God !'— 
 Especially I ask for grace and^strength, to pass 
 safely through the labours and troubles of the 
 ensuing week." 
 
 " January 4th. This day the quarter ses- 
 sions commenced : it has proved to me a sore 
 and tiresome one indeed ; but God, in manifest 
 S3 
 
178 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 answer to prayer, gave me a sufficient supply of 
 bodily and spiritual health." 
 
 "January 7th. I know I deserve the wrath 
 of God, for the coldness of my heart, and the 
 irritability of my disposition. It is my grief, 
 that I am so unlike Christ. How long, Lord, 
 how long shall my unfruitfulness, and propensity 
 to sin, continue V 
 
 " January 8th. Still I live without produc- 
 ing fruit to the glory of God. I have this day 
 remained at a distance from him, and what is 
 still worse, have at times felt less disposition to 
 return to him than usual. — I find the arrange- 
 ments of my business have involved me in con- 
 nexions w hich are likely to prove a sad snare to 
 me. I doubt much whether I did right in form- 
 ing them.'^ 
 
 ^^ January Hth. Business is still urgent. — 
 My faults are, a neglect of watchfulness, and of 
 ray Bible, — coldness in my private devotions, — 
 and indulging too long, in sleep, in the morn- 
 ing. Against these evils, let me watch and 
 pray with double diligence." 
 
 " January 12th. My soul is like the w intry 
 heath. How guilty a wretch I am ! How prone 
 by nature, and how bound by habit, to sin ! Bit- 
 terly do I regret that I deferred the work of re- 
 ligion in youth, to this period of my life ! But, 
 in vain. A life of sin and guilt is so ftir passed : 
 and the best I can now hope, is to offer to 
 God the remnants of my life, health, and facul 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 17fit 
 
 ties, so long misapplied. O God, forgive thy 
 servant, for his Saviour's sake." 
 
 "January SOth. Found an opportunity to 
 give explanations, and attempt to conciliate the 
 favour of some of my ***** brethren whose af- 
 fections have been much alienated from me in con- 
 sequence of the misconstruction put on some of 
 my expressions and conduct. Through God's 
 blessing, I partially succeeded. The most effec- 
 tual means I employed were the christian's ar 
 guments, — tears and entreaties." 
 
 "January 29tb. I am mercifully spared, 
 again to record the mercies of God, and my un- 
 worthy use of them, another day. I obtained 
 some relief from a burden which I have too long 
 carried, in being able to weep for my sins, and 
 those of a corrupt world, — I was yesterday, and 
 the day before, shorn of my strength, almost ira- 
 perceptibly. My soul is again toiling to reach 
 the heights of Pisgah. Oh for a vieyv of my 
 promised inheritance!" 
 
 " February Sd. This day I had business 
 to transact, in which I found the evident help 
 and presence of God. Our devotions in the 
 meeting for prayer, were cold and inanimate. 
 We are all ^filled with our own ways!' The 
 Lord have mercy on us, and save us from ^ hard- 
 ness of heart, and contempt of thy word and 
 commandment.' " 
 
 " February 11th. We are altogether a cold 
 and icy people. We want a fresh effusion of 
 
180 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 the Holy Spirit. Many of my bretliren mani- 
 fest surprising indifference. I am indeed sorely 
 disquieted for them. O Lord, send them thy 
 salvation!" 
 
 ^^ Marcli 30th. For some time past, I have 
 suffered my business too much to hariass and 
 distract my mind. I find it sometimes, not only 
 unpleasant, but disgusting. But this is owing 
 to the wrong slate of my heart : and at seasons, 
 I have been able to overcome it. It w as not the 
 fault of religion, but my want of more; and ne^ 
 glecting to exercise proper watchfulness.'' — 
 ^' My very profession is a snare to me. The 
 instrument with w liich I exercise it, is the mind, — 
 the very faculty in which my religion itself has 
 its seat. Often, when my affections have been 
 kindled to a holy fervour, and my heart filled 
 with divine love, have I applied my mind to the 
 investigation of legal principles, 'till it has be- 
 come entangled in the mazes and subtleties of 
 the law, and I have found myself proportiona- 
 bly dead to spiritual things, and the cause of 
 Christ. In this, nearly every other profession 
 has the advantage of my own. Nothing con- 
 vinces me more perfectly of the truth of the 
 christian religion, as revealed in the Bible, than 
 the utter contrast formed by the Spirit of Christ 
 as exhibited in his followers, and the spirit of 
 the world, as manifested in the carnal mind. 
 The difference is as apparent as that between 
 light and darkness. They are perfect incompat- 
 
MEMOIR OF BA.CON. 18t 
 
 ibles : the prevalence of either, entirely excludes 
 the other."* 
 
 "July 18th. During the whole of the last 
 month I was quite too cold, and distant from 
 God. " My mind was so occupied with the 
 changes in my circumstances, and so wounded 
 by ill treatment from an unexpected quarter, 
 that I found it required a greater eifort than I 
 was careful to make, to concentrate it on God. 
 There is, however, no excuse for unfaithfulness: 
 nor (\o I in the least justify myself for thus wan- 
 dering from a God of infinite ability to protect 
 me from all temptations. I bless God that he 
 has reclaimed me." 
 
 " August 6th. For the last ten days, I have 
 been much tried ; and several times lost my re. 
 lianceonGod. He nevertheless appeared, — and 
 somewhat remarkably, for my deliverance. Once 
 I found myself evidently under his displeasure ; 
 but his promises restored peace and joy to my 
 mind. How have my obligations to him accu- 
 mulated !" 
 
 ^^ August 20th. I do earnestly pray for a will 
 more resigned to the dispensations of my heaven- 
 ly Father. My besetting sin is a captious and 
 complaining temper — the very opposite of chris- 
 
 * An inspired Apostle referred to this evidence as to a 
 well known and obvious fact, in the inquiries, " What fel- 
 lowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? And what 
 communion hath light with darkness ? And what concord 
 hath Christ with Belial ?" 
 
182 MEMOIR OF BACON, 
 
 tian meekness, and patience. Oh for grace to 
 overcome it ; and to do all the will of God !" 
 
 Besides the burden of indwelling sin, and 
 the temptations growing out of his connexions 
 with an ensnaring world, and the nameless 
 * crafts and assaults of the Devil,' — from neither 
 of Viiiich, was he at any time many hours exempt, 
 Mr. Bacon was obliged during ihe same period, 
 to struggle incessantly against many bodily in- 
 firraities. His complaints were complicated, and 
 of such a nature as to excite his nervous system 
 to a constant state of diseased action. When 
 this fact is considered, in connexion with the 
 other circumstances which have been adverted 
 to, it will be a cause of admiration, that he was 
 enabled to preserve so good a degree of equa- 
 jiimily. In the whole of the period embraced 
 by the foregoing extracts from liis journal, we 
 perceive little or nothing of that dull and listless 
 depression of spirits, under which he formerly la. 
 boured. This infirmity resulted, perhaps, chiefly 
 from unsound health : but a sickly mind in his 
 case, as in most others, co-operated with a disor- 
 dered body : and, both the principles and the spi- 
 rit of the gospel concur to disallow it. And this 
 holy religion was, through the grace of God, suffi- 
 ciently operative in Mr. Bacon's heart, to pre- 
 vent a recurrence of so painful a condition of the 
 mind. Even the infirmities of believers are 
 sanctified to their good : and this blessed eifect we 
 are sometimes permitted to see, without taking 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 183 
 
 into view the retributions of a future world, 
 Mr Bacon found occasion to say, when exhaus- 
 ted with fatigue and much indisposed, *'^»'iiy ill- 
 ness has not been without its use to me. It 
 brought me back to a sense of absolute depen- 
 dence on my God, and a closer union with my 
 Saviour — and thus has been the means of re- 
 storing me to my religion, from which I had 
 wandered, during the preceding week. The 
 words of my Lord, * Fear not ; it is I ;' and, I ' am 
 the living bread ;' gave me unspeakable com- 
 fort." "Returning from Lewisburg,'' he after- 
 wards mentions," my health sustained a severe 
 injury. I was indisposed through the day. But 
 my soul obtained a blessing. My God seems to 
 cherish and uphold me." 
 
 The unsettled state of his health, and a 
 habitual affection of the system, tending to 
 epileptic spasms, obliged him to be constantly 
 apprehensive of a speedy dismission from the 
 world. Without in the least abridging his plans 
 of usefulness, this circumstance was made the 
 means of invigorating his zeal, and hastening his 
 progress through every labour, and every stage 
 of preparation for the dread event. Present duty 
 was always the object which filled his mind, and 
 engrossed his time. Future labours, and future 
 ti'ials, and the time, manner, and other circum- 
 stances of his death., were committed with entire 
 confidence, to the wisdom and goodness of his hea- 
 venly Father. "On comparing the present state 
 
181: MEMOIU UI' liACOxV, 
 
 of my health with that which I have [xisscs&ed 
 for several years past," he writes in the spring of 
 1819, " I find it has undergone a great change for 
 the worse. I am now labouring oinder a severe 
 cough, which, should it increase, I think must 
 soon carry me oif. I am willing to die ; but it 
 is my duty to be willing likewise to live, as long 
 as I can do good.''— On another occasion : 
 *^ The death of ***** * which I witnessed, 
 has had a happy eflect in tranquillising my 
 mind, and engaging it in the contemplation of 
 my own dissolution. I would look beyond the 
 grave for the consummation of my hopes." — 
 *^ Only let me be found ' doing my Lord's will,' 
 and what is the differen^ce, whether a fit of the 
 apoplexy or a lingering consumption, be commis- 
 sioned to take me home?" ^' Holy Father," he 
 prays on another occasion of reflection on the 
 precarious state of his health, " prepare me for 
 death. When I rise in the morning, let me go 
 about the duties of the day as if to prepare to 
 die at night. Thus shall ^ I be found watch- 
 ing.' — My health evidently fails ; and I often 
 wish to die : but perhaps I am wrong." 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 185 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 It is proper to exhibit, a little more at large, 
 llie exalted object to which the strongest aspira- 
 tious of Mr. Bacon's soul were directed. His 
 was a mark no less elevated than the perfection 
 of that holiness, of which he had been already- 
 made, in a certain degree, the partaker. He had 
 been entirely captivated with the discovery of 
 his Saviour's image, which had been made to the 
 eye of his faith ; and his spirit never found entire 
 repose until it was changed from one degree of 
 resemblance to a still higher, — and eventually so 
 sanctified throughout, as to reflect from every 
 part, his unclouded glory. What were his ex- 
 pectations as to the degree of holiness attainable 
 in the present life, does not clearly appear. But 
 he knew that believers were permitted and re- 
 quired to aim at perfect purity : nothing less could 
 bound his expansive desires, or satiate the per- 
 petual thirst of his soul : and whether the point 
 was to be attained in life, or at death, or beyond, 
 was not so much an object of his inquiry, as, by 
 what means he should reach it. "Jesus," he 
 states in his journal, ^' is sweet and precious to 
 my soul. I feel determined, through grace, to go 
 on in a life of godliness, taking Jesus for my all. 
 1 will, with joy, sacrifice every thing that will 
 not help me on to Jesus. Placing him before me^ 
 S4' 
 
ii56 MEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 and pressing on to the mark of his perfection, 
 1 will dismiss every impeding care, — will ^ lay 
 aside every Aveight and the sin which most 
 easily besets me,' and still go onward to .Tesns. 
 God Almighty help me, Jesns help me, Holy 
 Spirit help me, to keep this resolution." " Ho- 
 liness of heart and life," he repeats, " is what I 
 w ant, and must have : God for Christ's sake, will 
 I believe, bestow it, if I strive with persevering 
 earnestness for it." Subsequently : " Our meet- 
 ing was thinly attended this evening, — but it 
 was a refreshing season. I desire to live nearer, 
 and still nearer to God. I want more faith, more 
 love to God, more of the entire spirit of my blessed 
 Saviour. Oh for more spiritual energy, — to be 
 ^ strengthened with all might in the inner man !' '* 
 Still later : "Dr. * * ***preached, to-day, on 
 ^Holiness of heart. ' The discourse came home to 
 my conscience, forcibly. My mind is greatly ex- 
 ercised for ^holiness of heart.' It is the sub- 
 ject of my constant prayer. Oh that God would 
 hear me ! — ^ I will sprinkle clean water upon you, 
 and you shall be clean ; from all your filthiness 
 and your idols will I cleanse you,' is a promise 
 that habitually dwells in my thoughts. Give me, 
 Lord, a clean heart, and cleanse me from all my 
 idols. Oh affix the seal of Heaven to my soul ! 
 I cannot be satisfied without thee — thee, for my 
 only portion." In reviewing his progress for a 
 few days, he states on another occasion, " I am 
 very unfaithful, yet my only prevailing desire 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 187 
 
 is, holiness of heart. Oh I need it ; I desire it ; 
 I pray for it ; 1 must have it ! Wliile I live, 1 
 will live for it. Nothing will ever satisfy me 
 but perfect holiness.'^ 
 
 Blessed Spirit ! Thy prayer is heard ; too 
 soon for us, thy largest desires are fuliilled, in 
 the kingdom of God ! Drinking at the Fountain- 
 head of holiness, thou canst thirst no more ! 
 
 But the Saviour's benediction and promise^, 
 'blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness, for they shall be filled/ have their 
 partial accomplishment, in the present world. 
 To very few could the qualification on which 
 this promise depends, be appropriated with more 
 manifest propriety, than to Mr. Bacon. The 
 command of the Saviour, * ask that your joy may 
 be full,' was, likewise, through grace, in a good^ 
 degree obeyed by him. He was incessant in 
 his petitions for this very blessing. Why is it, 
 that the doctrine of the divine influence on the 
 minds of the saints, has fallen, in this age, if not 
 into partial discredit, yet into so low and re- 
 stricted a practical use, among those who are 
 most interested in it? The orthodox cannot, 
 indeed, disbelieve the promises which relate to 
 so great a blessing ; — the doctrine is retained in 
 all our formularies of faith ; but why is it not 
 more valued ? Why are the blessings which it 
 implies, so remissly sought, — and so little ex- 
 pected ? Next to the truth, that our redemption 
 has been eflPected by the blood of the Son of 
 
188 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 God, none more deeply concerns our blind and 
 corrupted race, than that of the purchase and 
 mission of the Holy Spirit to purify our hearts, 
 bring down a foretaste of Heaven into our souls, 
 and enlighten our understandings to comprehend 
 the divii.e mysteries of the gospel. No promises 
 are more iateiligible and express, than those 
 which relate to this inestimable privilege of be- 
 lievers. The ^1 'vctrine has indeed, been fearfully 
 corrupted, and abused. The enemies of the gos- 
 pel could not have taken a measure of more fa- 
 tal efficacy, for dimming its lustre, and curtail- 
 ing its influence. This very consideration, in- 
 stead of sinking its estimation in the minds of 
 christians, and enfeebling the efforts of their 
 faith in securing its benefits, should the more 
 endear it to their hearts, and engage them in 
 asserting its full influence in the economy of 
 grace. Had every professing christian afford- 
 ed in bis own example, the same practical 
 illustration of the nature and extent of the ope- 
 rations of the Spirit on the heart, as the subject 
 of this memoir, not only would its opposers 
 be silenced, but so illustrious a feature of our 
 holy religion would impart to the whole sys- 
 tern, in the view of the world, a glory Avhich 
 it has never exhibited since the age of the apos- 
 tles. The narrative of this part of his christian 
 experience forms a necessary supplement to the 
 foregoing; without which the whole would be 
 less scriptural, and manifestly imperfect. 'Wis- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 189 
 
 dom's ways are' evinced by it to be ^ ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths' to be those 
 of ^ peace.' It displays in an attractive light, a 
 specimen of those pure joys of the soul, pecu- 
 liar to them who love God ; with which ^ no 
 stranger intermeddles ;' and which, the rapt apos- 
 tle declares, ^ eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 nor has it entered into the heart' not illuminated 
 by the divine Spirit, to conceive.* 
 
 At the close of a well spent evening, he was 
 able to write, " Thanks to the Lord, I have 
 again been owned as his child, and blessed with 
 his love. I repaired to the place of our weekly 
 exercise of prayer, in a praying spirit ; and no 
 sooner entered, than I felt tiie return of the 
 < sweet Messenger of rest.' The holy Spirit 
 evidently resumed his place in my mind. It was 
 my duty to lead the devotions of the occasion. 
 Every word came with an unction of love and 
 affection. Grace ruled, and almost inspired the 
 language and expression. I could sing with 
 ineffable sweetness and ease. O holy, lovely, 
 adorable Saviour, ' thou knowest all things, thou 
 knowest that I love thee !' I had the opportunity 
 to speak a few words for him who was so near 
 and so unspeakably good, to me, I trust, to inter- 
 
 * A slight attention to the apostle's argument in con- 
 nexion with these words, will discover them to relate pH«- 
 cipalhj, if not wholly, to the spiritual communications made 
 to the Saints, in the present world. 1. Cor. ii. 8, 9, 10. 
 
iOO MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 ested hearers, and in faith that it will not be uu- 
 productive.'^ 
 
 In another entry in his journal, he " desires 
 to thank God that he has warmed his heart with 
 liis love, and that he has not to complain of spi- 
 ritual lethargy to the same degree as formerly. 
 He lived during the whole of the day in a region 
 of etherial sunshine — so calm, so placid, so 
 deeply peaceful to the mind," as to draw fortii 
 i\m exclamation, * Oh this religion of Christ, 'tis 
 a glorious work ! What joys to be compared to 
 those of his love !'' — " How true is it,'' he re*^ 
 anarks in the fruition of these same gracious 
 communications, " how true is it, that the teach- 
 ings of the Holy Spirit Mead us into all truth !' 
 1 have this evening had a view of things which 
 could only be revealed by the Spirit. With 
 what a power of vigilance and discernment 
 docs the Spirit dwelling within the followers 
 of Christ, arm the soul ! How quick is it to dis- 
 cover the workings of sin, both in ourselves, and 
 in our brethren ! O ])eloved Saviour, O blessed 
 Ood, I desire all thy communicable fulness !" 
 In the Autumn of 1818, he states, " The 
 reading of Davies's sermon on the resurrection, 
 caused me to tremble, and cry for mercy to be 
 shown me on that da}'. But praised be the 
 name of the Lord, on close examination, I find 
 myself in a state of reconciliation to God, — and 
 am overwhelmed with a sense of his goodness 
 ill receiving such a wretch. ^Oh how great 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 191 
 
 is his goodness ! ' "' — A few weeks later he 
 wpifes; ^^ In conversation and prayer with & 
 christian brother, I enjoyed a great freedom of 
 access, and nearness of communion with my 
 God. He hears with my intlrmities, and ^ heals 
 my backslidings,' for his Son's sake. For some 
 time past, I have been kept under the shadow of 
 the Almighty, and in Christ Jesus, my soul ex- 
 claims, ^ DO condemnalion — no condemnation !' '* 
 In January following, he had occasion to note 
 in his journal, " I this day was drawn still 
 nearer to the source of holiness and love. Never 
 have I realised in so short a time, so much of 
 salvation. At an interview with a very few of 
 my dear brethren this evening, I spent an hour 
 of glory — and enjoyed a feast of marrow and 
 fatness. For several days past, my joys have 
 occasionally, been all unutterable." — In Febru- 
 ary, he thus describes the happy state of his 
 feelings : ^^I spent the evening in social prayer 
 and praise, and the glory of the Lord rested 
 upon me ; his holy Spirit filled me. The words 
 * I have made you, and I will bear, even I will 
 carry you, and I will deliver you,' were delight- 
 fully applied to me. Joy, abundant joy, was the 
 sensation which prevailed in my mind above all 
 others. My ^ peace was as a river^, and my 
 righteousness as an overflowing stream.' I can- 
 not doubt, I do not doubt, but God has begun to 
 purify my sonl. I love holiness ; and God grant 
 
19S MEMUili Ol' liACOX. 
 
 I may ever make holiaess my only hope in Cjlirist 
 Jesus." 
 
 •Ill the last ol' March, 1819, Mr. Bacon re=. 
 views his religious experience from that date up 
 to the 5th of the same month, and with his cus- 
 tomary sincerity states, that '^ for the greatest 
 part of the time, I have heen kept in a happy 
 state of mind, have had very few trials of my 
 religion, and been wonderfully the subject of 
 divine grace.'" 
 
 Mr. Bacon- s very theory in religion, may be 
 properly termed, practical. He could conceive 
 of nothing that deserved the name which did not 
 comprehend love to God, faith in the Saviour, 
 and charity to men, — each manifesting itself in 
 its appropriate fruits. Hence, the barriers which 
 some others choose to throw around themselves, 
 and the members of their own particular religious 
 sect, and which are sustained chiefly by certain 
 verbal definitions of subordinate points of faith, 
 were to him unknown ; and unless interposed 
 by the bigotry of others, in a manner that oblig- 
 ed them to be felt, were wholly disregarded. 
 Between those who know the truth as it is in 
 Jesus Christ, by the revelation of the Spirit, — 
 whose names are written in Heaven, — and who 
 have enteicd into an everlasting covenant with 
 God and his people : and the servants of sin and 
 heirs of death eleinul. he saw an infinite difler- 
 euce. On this, he ever insisted. Professing 
 christians of all names, were subjected to the teat 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 193 
 
 of a comparison of their characters and lives, 
 with the plainest marks of discrimination alleged 
 in the scriptures between these diflerent classes. 
 A unity of faith in true believers, he knew there 
 must be : and he was often, liappily able to de- 
 tect this essential unity, by a comparison of the 
 temper and character ; where others, insisting 
 on an identity of phraseology in the definitions 
 of their faith, would discover nothing but dis- 
 cord ; and exclude from their fellowship those 
 whom Christ had received. But, with this safe 
 and scriptural Catholicism, few have exercised 
 more discrimination in a practical application of 
 the true principles of estimating the claims of 
 professors, to the character of real christians. 
 There were in his view, not only many doctrines 
 to which such must assent ; but a deep, lasting 
 and visible change, to be wrought by them, in 
 their hearts and lives. Those, and those only, 
 could he embrace as his brethren in Christ, 
 whose orthodoxy was a living and operative 
 principle of faith, productive of good works. 
 On all these, whatever names they bore among 
 men, he saw inscribed by the finger of God, in 
 the most legible characters, the new name by 
 which their birth-right is ascertained on earth, 
 and their inheritance will be awarded in Heaven. 
 On a certain occasion, he writes, '' I have lately 
 had my spirit grieved by hearing certain indivi- 
 duals venting their slanderous and pitiful spleen 
 against ray Methodist brethren. Alas ! What 
 3.'> 
 
194 MEMOIR OF BACON.' 
 
 a want of grace do tliey shew ! I thank God, he 
 has made mc love all his children, whatever 
 name tliey may bear." On another occasion, 
 writing to a christian friend, he says, "I feel 
 bound to praise God that he has not permitted 
 ine to become a bigot to a sect of the christian 
 church. It is the Bible and its author ; it is 
 Christ, and him crucified ; it is salvation by 
 faith ; these are the grand and wonderful themes 
 that are to exercise our minds and animate our 
 souls, and move us to action. I am of Paul; and I 
 of Apollos ; and I of Cephas ! division and 
 party ! — This is the great error of christians. 
 Let us have done with it. We must all be of 
 Christ, and blessed be our God that we are get- 
 ting to see eye to eye." 
 
 Of the strength of his habitual affection for 
 his christian brethren, the following passages 
 from his journal will furnish a remarkable proof : 
 when it is considered that the individual to 
 whom they relate lielonged to a communion be- 
 tween which and his own, the visible difference 
 was very strongly marked. "I spent the even- 
 ins; with brother *****. I love him as a dear 
 brother. His voice, ever since I first heard it in 
 prayer, has been music in my ear." Soon after- 
 wards : " Brother ***** is now with rae. 
 His society has always proved beneficial to me. 
 I am strengthened by his counsel, and stirred up 
 by his example. I trust our mutual prayers may 
 draw down upon us a mutual blessing. I am 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 195 
 
 singularly attached to him. I cannot say, tliat 
 I love any earthly object more than him, except 
 my son, — and I am not sure even of that. He 
 appears to be the most faithful christian that I 
 ever met with. An unction from the holy One 
 rests abundantly upon him. I shall soon part 
 with him. God grant we may meet above, 
 where parting scenes are ' felt and feared no 
 more.' " 
 
 In the following incident which Mr. Bacon 
 casually records in his journal, for November, 
 1818, more than one trait of his greatly altered 
 character will be illustrated ; and at the same 
 time a species of injurious treatment, of the most 
 cruel description, be exposed, which can afford 
 no gratification except to minds that are near- 
 ly lost to the feelings of common humanity. 
 To take advantage of the known principles of an 
 humble christian, who is deterred by the fear of 
 his God, and prevented by his love to men, not 
 only from inflicting an injury, but even from 
 wishing to retaliate it upon his persecutor, to 
 wrong and wound him, certainly evinces a com- 
 pound of moral depravity, and unmanly self- de- 
 basement, which, it is to be hoped, does not of- 
 ten meet in the same human breast. 
 
 "In the business of the day I experienced sev- 
 eral trials of patience : — one was of a severe de- 
 scription. In a cause in which Mr. * * * * ^ was 
 opposed to me, I had occasion to cite ' Peake's 
 Evidence/ in reference to unliquidated dam- 
 
196 MEMOIR OF BA(jOi\% 
 
 ages, I contended that tbey could not be an 
 oflfset in a case similar to the one in hand. I 
 said, (and it was the very point on which the 
 merits of the case turned) *This is law. —It is 
 the law of Pennsylvania.'— -Mr ^ * * * * saw 
 the bearing of the cited passage, and several 
 times rudely interrupted my remarks by declaring, 
 "^That is only English law.' I said 'gentlemen, 
 this is the law of Pennsylvania :-— this book is 
 law in Pennsylvania : and it is rather unfair in 
 you, Mr. * * * ^ * to misrepresent it.' I pro- 
 ceeded, amidst his still more frequent interrup- 
 tions ;— but injustice to my client, was obliged 
 to insist that the cited authority was laic. Eight 
 or ten times in succession, he declared I was ^ a 
 fool.' 1 paid no regard to his opprobrious lan- 
 guage; and he became gradually warmed to a 
 high state of exasperation, and said, my asser- 
 tions were * false.' I at length replied that 
 * Mr. ***** had lately been to Philadelphia 
 to take new lessons in politeness, and that he 
 was a gentleman.' I also told the referees, that 
 it was * impudence in the plaintiff's counsel to 
 deny that the passage in question was law.' — I 
 am not conscious of having felt the least emotion 
 of anger : but on reilection, I regret the sarcas- 
 tic nature of my reply, and my attempt to wound 
 his feelings by ridicule. But he most unfairly 
 and untruly misrepresented the law, and called 
 me ^ fool' and ^ liar' for maintaining it. — The 
 time wasj when I should have instantly seized 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 197 
 
 a deadly weapon on such an occasion; and suf- 
 fered nothing but blood to atone for the indigni- 
 ty : — 1 acknowledge it with remorse and shame. 
 But, thank God. I have no disposition now, to 
 injure any man. Several gentlemen of the bar, 
 have taken advantage of ray religion, more than 
 once, when I fully believed, and do still believe^ 
 that I was stating the truth, to call me a ' liar.' 
 They all know that if 1 were a sinner like 
 themselves, or if I were as once I was, they 
 would as soon have eaten coals of fire, as accus- 
 ed me to my face of ^ lying.' But they know 
 also, that my nature is now changed, and that 
 my religion, and my dispositions forbid my re- 
 taliating evil for evil : I thank God he holds the 
 reins of my passions in his own hand, and all 
 this abuse is not suffered to make me angry. 
 I receive these things as a part of that persecu- 
 tion with which I have laid my account as the 
 portion of < all who will live godly in Christ 
 Jesus.' " 
 
 About three months after the date of this 
 occurrence, Mr. Bacon attended the individual 
 to whom it principally refers, in his dying mo- 
 ments. He had visited him almost daily, ad- 
 ministering the most affectionate and salutary 
 counsel during the last stages of his illness; 
 and, in putting down a few reflections excited by 
 his death, observes, " We have often differed 
 about our professional business; and perhaps 
 he sometimes used me ill. But as it usually 
 
198 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 happens, both parties were in fault. In refer- 
 ence to our last dispute," (that just related) *^ I 
 regret that I said any thing in retaliation of the 
 injury he did me. 1 heartily forgive all my ene- 
 mies ; and pray Sod to forgive me for not living 
 with Mr. * ■* * '^' •- an 1 all others, so as to re- 
 commend religion as much in my conduct, as by 
 my lips." 
 
 It would be difacult to assign a cause more 
 directly or vitally affecting the interests of reli- 
 gion, than the cluiracter of its ministers. Their 
 designation to the cncred office has hence, in 
 every orthodox and tru'^y evangelical branch of 
 the christian church, been submitted to the espe- 
 cial providence of Him with whose message they 
 are charged. No miiaculous interposition, ei- 
 ther in the designation, or the ministrations of 
 the christian pvi^stliood, is now to be expected 
 by the church. But its aivine Kead observes 
 an uniform method, both in delegating, and aid- 
 ing in their work, the ministers of the gospel ; 
 in which the supernatural influences of his holy 
 Spirit have a direct and most important concern. 
 In the appointment of ministers, the church in- 
 deed, has an agency : — and commonly a large 
 share of the guilt incurred in the ordination of 
 improper persons, rests with her. Her duty is 
 not so properly to select, as to ascertain by the 
 rules of scripture, whom Christ has selected for 
 this work ; and confer a formal authority on 
 those whom He had previously prepared by his 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 199 
 
 providence and his grace, and ^ moved by his 
 Spirit/ to receive it. 
 
 It by no means follows, that the authority 
 conferred by ordination is not essential to the 
 ministerial character : judging from scripture 
 precedents, we are certainly led to the conclu- 
 sion that the right oT ministering in the word 
 and sacraments, can in no case have place with- 
 out the concurrence of ejclesir.stical ordination, 
 with those qualifications \/hich are prior in their 
 order, and of paramount importance. 
 
 These are of two classes. The first are 
 such as all the living members of Christ, whether 
 called to act in a public, or private capacity, 
 possess in common ; and they are essential to the 
 christian character. It was Mr. Bacon's happy 
 distinction not only to exhibit to others the most 
 lucid proofs of his regeneration and acceptance 
 as a child of God, but to possess in his own 
 breast, the ^witness of the Spirit,' to his adoption, 
 and a steadfast hope of salvation. Some share 
 of this confidence is essential to the regenerate 
 character : a still larger share appears ordina- 
 rily necessary to the ministers of Christ ; and 
 few have enjoyed this humble assurance in a 
 higher degree than Mr. Bacon, while preparing 
 for the ministry. His devotion to the service 
 of his Redeemer was unequivocal ; his delight 
 in it, supreme ; his zeal was ardent, and his ex- 
 perimental knowledge of the efficacy of evan- 
 gelical truth, and the power of divine grace, 
 
jJOO MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 was tliorougli and various. Considered as a 
 christian, few will hesitate to pronounce him emi- 
 nent. With the other qualifications, which with- 
 out being peculiar to those who are called into 
 the public service of the sanctuary, are still es- 
 sential to that vocation, he has been seen to have 
 been amply endowed. In a talent for commu- 
 nicating instruction, for conciliating the affec- 
 tions of men of various and opposite characters 
 and prejudices, and for avoiding offences, he par- 
 ticularly excelled ; and in the christian virtues 
 of humility, self-deinal, forbearance, and dis- 
 interestedness, he was a shining example to the 
 church and the world. 
 
 To the extent of these qualifications, Mr. 
 Bacon was especially fitted for the holy work 
 of the ministry. But these alone, it must be 
 confessed, could never authorise him to leave a 
 profession in which divine providence had situ- 
 ated him, and made him eminently useful. 
 Many christians in similar circumstances, are 
 misled by their own zeal, the advice of their 
 brethren, and a partial survey of the question 
 of duty, to turn aside from the open path in 
 which divine providence has fitted them, with 
 most comfort to themselves, and advantage to the 
 cause of Christ, to pursue their way to Heaven. 
 An indefinite increase of faithful evangelists 
 and pastors is certainly needed: and woe to 
 them who are called to the work, if they do not 
 preach the gospel ! But those who are appa- 
 
BilEMOIR OF BACON. §01 
 
 reiitly directed in the overruling providence of 
 God, to a different pursuit, and are manifestly 
 useful in their sphere, should most cautiously 
 verify their call to tlie exercise of the sacred 
 function, before they venture to adopt it. By 
 such persons the consideration may be profita- 
 bly remembered and applied, that a labourer 
 merely unskilful, may do the cause of religion a 
 positive disservice both by abandoning his 
 proper station of usefulness in life, and by 
 occupying the place of a more accomplished, 
 workman. It would be but a most unacceptable 
 expression of zeal or love for the Redeemer, to 
 presume that his interest in the world, requires 
 the ministry of those whom he has not chosen ; 
 or that he has indeed chosen those who are not 
 well appointed to the holy calling. But the 
 work of the christian ministry is various, and 
 will always require the employment of a great 
 variety of gifts and qualifications : and recourse 
 must, at last, be had both by individuals, and 
 the ordaining authorities of the church, to the 
 evidence of a special calif in order to decide 
 the question of duty. Those who are obliged 
 to inquire into the true nature of this call, and 
 to act in obedience to it, have great need of the 
 especial illumination and guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit. For the direction of such, a more parti- 
 cular detail of Mr. Bacon's principal trials and 
 encouragements, and of the methods by which 
 50 
 
SOS MEMOIR OF UACON. 
 
 divine Providence finally introduced him into 
 the ministry, may reflect some useful light. 
 
 He appears to have had impressions on this 
 subject, evpn prior to the full establishment of 
 his hopes in relation to his own salvation : which 
 however, had very little or no weight in the ul- 
 timate decision of the question. This was very 
 properly taken on far diflTerent grounds. Desi- 
 rous, above all things, to promote the glory of 
 God, and the salvation of men, he was naturally 
 induced to inquire into the most effectual means 
 of realising these ends. The ministry occur- 
 red as offering more fully to combine his talents 
 and exertions in the accomplishment of his de- 
 vout wishes, than any other profession. Hence, 
 the sacred office came to assume in his estima 
 tion, a dignity, and the ministerial work a desi- 
 rableness, which raised in his mind for both, a 
 strong and decided predilection over every other 
 pursuit. The possibility that God might design 
 for him so great an honour and happiness, at an 
 early period of his religious course, and ever 
 afterwards, prevented him from entering into any 
 permanent engagements which might, in the 
 least, counteract the gracious purpose. On per- 
 ceiving that the indications of Providence ap- 
 peared to favour this habitual bent of his de 
 sires; that the advice of his most judicious 
 christian friends, concurred ; that his most active 
 and public labours for the promotion of the 
 cause of Christ, were both acceptable to his piotis 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S03 
 
 friends, and useful to the souls of all classes ; 
 that these labours were attended with great per- 
 spnal comfort, and the evident approbation and 
 blessing of God ; and when he reflected also, 
 that he had constantly committed himself to the 
 direction of God, in fervent prayer ; it was im- 
 possible for him not to entertain, in addition to 
 his strong desires, for entering the ministry, an 
 animating hope of their eventual gratification. 
 A lively sense of the numerous imperfections, 
 and deficiencies which his own eye, much better 
 than those of his fellow-men, could discover in 
 his christian character, for the responsible and 
 difficult work, would often damp the rising hope, 
 and produce a momentary fluctuation of his pur- 
 pose. But he remarked, when the frame of his 
 mind was most spiritual, and his affections purest, 
 and best directed, that his doubts were propor- 
 tionably few, and his inclination towards the 
 work, strongest. To a judicious and intimate 
 christian friend, he thus unbosomed himself, in 
 the early part of the year 1819 : ^^ Since I have 
 experienced a change of heart, and the purposes 
 of my soul have been turned in a new, and I 
 would humbly hope, in a heavenly direction, the 
 current of my desires has been flowing towards 
 the ministry. Consequently, every thing which 
 could be brought to bear on this object, has been 
 made to do it. But what could be accomplished 
 in the sliort space of two and a half years, in 
 the ipidst of a busy profession ? and that with 
 
3l>4^ MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 a constitution crumbling to pieces under the pres 
 sure of sedentary habits ? But with regard to 
 my unfitness, and un worthiness for this awful 
 charge, what shall I say ? I feel overwhelm- 
 ed with its awful responsibilities. I cannot par, 
 ticularise, — I am all unfit. Human learning, 
 whatever mine may be, is not a grain in the ba- 
 lance. I feel no worthiness or fitness ; but, as I 
 said before, the current of my desires has been 
 setting towards the ministry. The Shepherd 
 and Bishop of Souls has never suffered me to be 
 at rest on that subject. I have been ^pressed in 
 spirit' to preach the gospel, and that continually. 
 1 have sometimes, for a short time, induced the 
 belief, that it could not be my duty, circum- 
 stanced as I have found myself. But I am 
 now afraid to resist what I must think is the 
 will of my Heavenly Father. I am willing to 
 be ' as clay in the hands of the potter.' ' Thy 
 will be done/ is the language of my most fer- 
 vent aspirations to God. I cannot say less 
 than that I am willing to do any thing for the 
 cause of my Redeemer, that it is his will I 
 should do. I consider myself as wholly his. 
 Wherever, and whenever, I can find it to be 
 his will that I should labour, then and there, I 
 say ^ Speak, Lord, thy servant waits to hear.' " 
 The direct influence of the Spirit of God 
 on his mind, the effects of which Mr. Bacon 
 characterises by being "pressed in spirit to 
 preach the gospel," is distinctly recognised by 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 200 
 
 the Episcopal church in the ordination service, 
 as a qualification universally necessary for the 
 sacred office. It may be described more particu 
 larly, as a strong conviction of the duty of en- 
 tering the ministry, founded on rational and 
 scriptural evidence of possessing the requisite 
 qualifications for the work, attended with an 
 ardent and prevailing love of it, and enforced 
 by the direct agency of the divine Spirit on the 
 mind. The line of duty was so distinctly drawn 
 in his mind by these concurring testimonies, that 
 he employed in his diary, the following deci- 
 sive language in relation to it, in March of 1819 : 
 ^' I am now satisfied of my call to the office of 
 the ministry. But past experience has convinced 
 me, that in giving up my mind to my secular 
 business sufficiently to enable me to do it justice, 
 the state of my feelings may alter, and I shall 
 begin to doubt my call. I now enter it on re- 
 cord, that however I may hereafter doubt, 1 still 
 have been clearly taught my duty, and must re- 
 cur to this date and page to set me right." 
 
 But however satisfactory to his judgment 
 and conscience, this body of evidence may have 
 proved, Mr. Bacon never contemplated the work 
 without trembling. The greatness of its res- 
 ponsibilities, and the consequences as they must 
 affect his own eternal state, of a faithful or ne- 
 gligent performance of its duties, presented 
 themselves to his enlightened mind, with awful 
 interest. This feeling was enhanced by n snr 
 
306 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 vey of the effects which his ministry must pro- 
 duce on the present, and everlasting happiness 
 of a multitude of his fellow immortals; and on 
 the interests of Christ, and the manifestation of 
 the divine glory, in the church and the world ! 
 Had his faith been less vigorous, and his love 
 and fear of God less operative, his sensations in 
 the anticipation of this work, would have been 
 proportionahly less overwhelming. An unstu- 
 died expression of these feelings on the approach 
 of his ordination, is furnished in the following 
 extracts from his diary : 
 
 " August 10th. Every thing seems to pro- 
 mise well in respect to my ordination. But 
 the good Lord help me ! As I draw nearer the 
 solemn occasion, 1 feel more sensibly the awful 
 nature of the vocation. Oh for more of the 
 grace of God ; more light ; more strength from 
 Heaven ; more of Christ!'^ 
 
 *•' Auirust 20th. This vile and wicked heart ! 
 I almost shudder to undertake with it, the duties 
 of the ministry. Help me ; humble me, O my 
 God : and make me as a little child !" 
 
 '• September 6th. Having previously sus- 
 tained the requisite examinations, I was yester- 
 day, ordained deacon, by the Right Rev. Bishop 
 AVhite. It was a severe trial; but the Lord sus- 
 tained me in a remarkable manner. His pre- 
 sence comforted me. I preached twice on the 
 same day, and the Lord gave me grace to do it 
 much better than my fears had apprehended." 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S07 
 
 CHAP. YIII. 
 
 The day succeeding his ordination, had been 
 previously fixed by Mr. Bacon, for commencing 
 his mission in furtherance of the views of the 
 Philadelphia Bible society. The experience 
 which he had acquired by his successful exer- 
 tions in behalf of Sabbath schools, in a part of 
 the same region, had eminently qualified him for 
 this service. The objects of the mission are 
 stated in the instructions of the committee by 
 whose immediate appointment Mr. Bacon had 
 been engaged in it, to be, " To form and bring 
 into existence, or lay the foundation of bringing 
 into existence, hereafter, Bible societies or asso- 
 ciations in any part of the state, where it shall be 
 proper to make the attempt.*' The committee 
 " pledged the most zealous and active co-opera- 
 tion and support of the Bible society of Phila- 
 delphia, to all associations that might form for 
 the sole purpose of distributing the sicred scrip- 
 tures." The route, and particular means of 
 executing the purposes of the society, which it 
 would be proper for their agent to adopt, were 
 very properly submitted by the committee, to his 
 own judgment, and to the direction of future cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 The cause of disseminating the sacred wri- 
 tings both in christian and foreign countries^ 
 
'^08 >!£M01R OF iiACUi\. 
 
 needs not to justify or recommeml it, the sufliage 
 of an iiidividisars opinion ; and perhaps can 
 gain little at the present day, from the example 
 of any particular instance of zeal and disinteres- 
 tedness, however sincere and fervent. But it is 
 from Mr. Bacon's journal and corres[)ondence^ 
 dining the performance of this tour, that the 
 most satisfactory and numerous testimonies of 
 his clerical talents, and fidelity can be derived ; 
 and the progressive maturity of his christian 
 character in an interesting part of the last year 
 of his life, be best traced. 
 
 Before leaving Philadelphia he had arrang- 
 ed with his pious friends a plan of correspon- 
 dence ; and secured for himself and his mission, 
 a special rememberance in their daily prayers. 
 Among these friends, were to be found the mem- 
 bers of.scveral different religious societies, vrhose 
 peculiarities, were lost in the deep interest which 
 they had been taught to feel in the advancement of 
 the gospel, and the salvation of their fellow-men. 
 The very respectable member of the committee, 
 with whose elevated and enlightened piety, the 
 lone of his own, could accord in the happiest uni- 
 son : and who as well from that circumstance, as 
 the station he held in the board, engrossed a prin- 
 cipal sliare of his correspondence while employ- 
 ed on this mission, was attached to a christian 
 communion different from his own. But in a 
 communication and interchange of pious feel- 
 ings the most unreserved, by these two distin^ 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 209 
 
 guished proficients in the school of Christ, not a 
 discordant sentiment seems to have been ad- 
 vancedj nor a jarring emotion to have interrupt- 
 ed the sweet and holy communion of their 
 spirits. The entire correspondence would be 
 highly appreciated by every truly pious rea* 
 der;butits admission is necessarily precluded 
 by the plan of this memoir. A few of the most 
 interesting passages in Mr. Bacon's letters, 
 only, can with a due regard to the unity of the 
 narrative, be here introduced. 
 
 Mr. Bacon had already received several 
 communications from Washington, explanatory 
 of the designs both of the Government, and of the 
 Colonization society, in reference to the forma- 
 tion of a settlement for the reception of li- 
 berated Africans and free blacks of the United 
 States, on the Coast of Africa. The offer of a 
 situation in the projected expedition had been 
 informally made him ; and he was now waiting 
 for the events of Providence to explain to him 
 more fully in what way it would be proper for 
 him to treat that application. From the first, 
 he had evinced a willingness to engage in the 
 service, if no future obstacle should be inter- 
 posed ; and both entered upon, and executed 
 his present mission, with that to Africa in im- 
 mediate prospect; although his appointment 
 was neither made, nor accepted, in form, until 
 more than a month after his return. 
 27 
 
SiO MEMOIU OF BACON. 
 
 Ilia letter written from York four days after 
 the commencement of this mission, and only 
 five days after his ordination, to a christian 
 friend in Philadelphia, after naming several of 
 his pious brethren in that city, he subjoins, ^' Do 
 let all these my beloved friends, know that I 
 can never reward them for their prayers, before, 
 at, and after my ordination. I can only pray 
 God to bless them, as he has in consequence of 
 their supplications, blessed me." 
 
 Under the same date Mr. Bacon wrote to 
 another christian friend : ^' Your approbation 
 of my first sermon encourages me. I make a 
 point to give a practical application to every 
 doctrine. I think myself right; but many judge 
 differently." **** ^'I started from Philadelphia 
 quite asleep ; and was not half awake at West- 
 Chester : — but I am now begisining a little to open 
 my eyes on the magnitude of my object !" * ^ * * 
 "At Columbia, the Lord gave me uncommon help. 
 ^ All the ends of the world shall see the salvation 
 of our God,' was the text. I had no time for 
 preparation : — but as I was walking over the ten 
 miles between Lancaster and Columbia, I occa- 
 sionally took out my pocket Testament to see 
 what the Lord would show me. At length, my 
 eye was directed to the 6th verse of the iii. 
 chap, of Luke. I saw it was quoted from Isai- 
 ah ; and on my arrival in the village, took a 
 Bible, and turned to it. The Lord opened ray 
 mind's eye, and helped me abundantly." — Mr. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. SI I 
 
 Bacon's pnlpit preparations were generally of 
 a very similar description. Among Ins volumi- 
 nous manuscripts was not found, it is believed, 
 an entire discourse for the pulpit. Engaged, as 
 he constantly was, in the laborious prosecution 
 of other collateral labours, he neither had suf- 
 ficient time, nor did the nature of his pursuits 
 require him, to observe the same exactness in 
 the style and method of his addresses, which 
 the periodical demands of a parochial charge 
 would have rendered necessary. His talents 
 too, were of that peculiar character which, while 
 they less fitted him for proficiency in the seclusion 
 of the closet, enabled him better to dispense 
 with that advantage, than most of his clerical 
 brethren. Add to this, the maturity of his mind, 
 its various furniture, and a habit of public speak- 
 ing, acquired by several years' practice at the 
 bar, — and few but must approve of the method he 
 observed in his pulpit performances, without de- 
 ducing from his example a single argument in 
 recommendation of a similar practice to his ju- 
 niors ; who can justly pretend neither to his pe- 
 culiar qualifications, nor his apology, for the ex- 
 temporaneous performance of their pulpit duties. 
 Mr. Bacon carried with him, wherever he was 
 called to officiate, an example — a character — a 
 weight of influence, which, itself, partially ac- 
 complished the work of every discourse, before 
 he opened his lips : — an advantage w hich a 
 
S18 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 younger man of the best promise can scarcely be 
 expected, in any instance, to possess. 
 
 Although the accomplishment of the specific 
 objects of his mission engrossed its full share 
 of Mr. Bacon's sincere and zealous endeavours, 
 he never lost sight of the great and paramount 
 ends of the gospel ministry. In the letter from 
 which the last quotation is extracted, he adds : 
 "What can be done for your society, with 
 God's ever-needed help, shall be done. But, 
 my soul is in pain for Zion. For her, her Bible, 
 and her children, my waking and my sleeping 
 hours are filled with ceaseless solicitude. 1 do 
 pray that the Lord may give me souls, as well 
 as Bible societies, for my hire." 
 
 Having been for a very few days engaged in 
 his work, he adopted the plan of sending his 
 appointments forward, one, two, and even three 
 weeks before him, into the different counties and 
 villages which he intended to visit: together 
 with a general annunciation of his object, and 
 an invitation to the people, to assemble at the 
 period specified, in readiness to act in the man- 
 ner which a due consideration of the important 
 object, and their particular circumstances should 
 render most advisable. By observing this course, 
 and writing beforehand to most of the influ- 
 ential individuals, clergy and people, in the se- 
 veral counties, he was enabled to combine in fur- 
 therance of the objects of his mission, a large 
 portion of the moral strength of the different 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S13 
 
 communities through which he passed. Sep- 
 tember 15th, he thus writes under the York date. 
 ** My course is shaped by circumstances, which 
 in my opinion, fully approve it, but which I 
 really am at this moment too much agitated to 
 detail. Oh, sir, I am tearing asunder the ten- 
 derest ties in this place, leaving my friends ap- 
 parently for ever, as to the present world. There 
 are dear christian souls here, — some amongst 
 others, that claim me as their spiritual father. 
 I cannot trust myself on this subject, — and 
 must quit it." ****"! preached here twice 
 on Sunday. — At evening, we had the house, yard 
 and street, filled. My voice reached them all." — 
 '^ I am bound to tell you, my dear sir, that al- 
 though the prospect of parting with my be- 
 loved friends is a sore and heavy trial, yet ever 
 since I was ordained, I have had the unceasing 
 presence of God. My soul has been all prayer 
 and praise. God gives me grace to bear all. 
 He is my all — my only, and my all-sufficient 
 hope, — my strength and my salvation. The 
 spirit is willing ; but the flesh is weak." 
 
 In prosecuting his tour from York, he visited 
 Gettysburg, and other places in Adams county ; 
 but complains of the most disheartening indifter- 
 ence and disinclination to move in furtherance of 
 the Bible cause, in some of his clerical brethren, 
 there. He considered their excuses as quite in- 
 sufficient ; and was for a short season, severely 
 tried by the coldness of his reception. From 
 
S14 MI'.MOIU OF BACON. 
 
 Cliambersburg he next writes, under date of the 
 18th : " I have surmounted the conflict which 
 the part my friends chose to take, produced iu 
 my feelings, and have given them over to God in 
 praver ; and feel now quite at ease." * * ^ " In 
 this county,(Franklin) ray labours have been 
 pleasant and successful. The Bible cause 
 prospers. It is in good hands — which are ac- 
 tuated by zealous hearts. What a contrast be- 
 tween this and Adams ! There, I could do no- 
 thing, because nothing had been done before. 
 Here I can do nothing, because every thing 
 has been done already.'^ ^^ ui i)egin to find 
 that, to travel all day, and preach every night, 
 is by no means, an easy task." 
 
 The cause of christian benevolence in all 
 its various branches, is so perfectly identical and 
 unique, as to turn all temperate competition to 
 the strengthening of the common interest. This 
 fact is happily exemplified in the following pas- 
 sage from a letter dated " Newville, September 
 SOth ;" and was occasioned by the occurrence in 
 this part of the tour, of several Bible hs^soci- 
 ations, auxiliary to the American, instead of the 
 Philadelphia, Bible Society : " 1 find the friends 
 of the American Bible society every where, at 
 first, jealous of my mission, and cool in their 
 reception of me. But they have their feelings 
 much changed, if I can get an opportunity to 
 preach to them. Your magnanimous resolution 
 to send an agent to aid the cause of the biblk, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. ^15 
 
 without confining him to efforts in favour oi 
 your own institution, * heaps coals of fire on 
 the heads/ of your suspecting friends (for it 
 would be hard to call them enemies) and will 
 raise your character more than a thousand auxi- 
 liaries, witiiout it."' 
 
 The remarks and suggestions which Mr. 
 Bacon proceeds, in the same letter, to make in 
 relation to the best mode of eliciting and com- 
 bining the resources of the religious public in 
 favour of the Bible cause, are capable of the 
 same advantageous application to any of the 
 great charitable objects of the day : and the 
 time must come — and may it speedily arrive, 
 when that, or some similar expedient shall be 
 generally adopted for obtaining the means of 
 evangelising and converting the world : "Let a 
 general association be formed in every coun- 
 ty: of which the members are to pay one, 
 and two dollars, annually : and in every vil- 
 lage and congregation, erect an auxiliary; of 
 which the terms of membership shall be fifty, 
 and even twenty-five cents. To effect this, let 
 a missionary be employed to spend, at least, 
 four or six weeks, in every county, with instruc- 
 tions to leave the collections in the treasury of the 
 associations in which they shall be respectively 
 obtained. By this means no county could be ex- 
 pected to produce the cause less than one thou- 
 sand dollars. From many, three times that 
 amount would be realised. — The great advan- 
 
S16 
 
 MEMOIK OF BAOUxN. 
 
 tage of village associations, is, that they admit ol 
 so reducing the terms of membership as to 
 bring them within the means of all, and thus 
 uniting in the object, the entire community. It 
 is better for the cause to have two hundred con- 
 tributors of twenty-five cents each, than fifty at 
 a dollar. You, in the former way, interest the 
 feelings, and stir up the gifts and virtues, of all. 
 From donors of twenty-five cents, you train 
 them to become contributors of dollars, in a few 
 years. Again; suppose twenty men scattered 
 throughout a county, and all, the members of one 
 society. Two or three only, in the county-town, 
 have the business to do :— -the rest are idle. But 
 if you have twenty auxiliaries, you have work 
 enough for all : each has a post of duty to fill, 
 and his zeal is kept warm by the excitement. 
 Besides, the more local you make the societies, 
 the deeper interest you excite in those who are 
 its members, to cherish and support it." 
 
 So difficult would it appear to have been for 
 this zealous missionary to spare his zeal where 
 good might be done, or to confine its range to 
 any single class of benevolent objects, that few 
 besides would have effected as much for any one 
 in the same time, as he found the means of ac- 
 complishing for several. That branch of his 
 correspondence which was carried on with the 
 particular friends and promoters of Sunday 
 schools, discovers so much ardour, observation, 
 and industry to have been exercised in behalf 
 
MEMOIR OF liACON. 2i7 
 
 of these institutions, as naturally to induce the 
 supposition that no other object could have shav- 
 ed his attention. On the other hand, when it is 
 considered that, besides the time spent in writing 
 to individuals on his route, in forming, advising, 
 and exciting to increased duties, a great num- 
 ber of Bible associations, — he travelled upwards 
 of one hundred miles, and preached eight times, 
 weekly, and kept up a very full and almost daily 
 correspondence with the committee, — it is nearly 
 incredible that he should have been concerned 
 in any cause, except the direct business of his 
 mission. 
 
 On the 22d of September, he reached Har- 
 risburg ; having pressed the object of bis mis- 
 sion in Lancaster, York, Gettysburg, Chambers- 
 burg, Shippensburg, Newville, and Carlisle, 
 and every intermediate village and settlement 
 where it could be done with the prospect of ad- 
 vantage. His perseverance, and judicious zeal 
 is evinced in a single paragraph of his letter, un- 
 der the Harrisburg date. " This mission is 
 most seasonable, — bad as the times are thought 
 to be. You can scarcely imagine the cries and 
 groans of distress throughout the country. But, 
 I will not listen to them. If retrenchments are 
 to be made, the Lord's treasury is no place to 
 begin them at. I tell the people to lay hands 
 first on their sins, and follies, and extravagancies ; 
 to place them under a heavy contribution indeed, 
 before they venture to defraud religion of its 
 38 
 
§18 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 claims.'' — He had now, to a certain extent, made 
 himself acquainted by actual experience, with 
 the nature of a minister's duties and consola- 
 tions, and from a deep sense of both, states, 
 " I must say, I am a happy man ; and would 
 not be out of the ministry for a thousand worlds. 
 I am a poor worm ; but the Lord does bless me: 
 and I will praise him." 
 
 In his next, dated Jersey- Shore, Lycoming 
 county, October 6th, he writes, *' Do pray for 
 me. One prayer of faith — the * effectual fer- 
 vent prayer of the righteous,' would help me 
 much. Think of your poor weak, exhausted, 
 wandering missionary ; often so oppressed as 
 not to be able to hold up his head. I am now, 
 too far spent totwrite : — and must drink my herb- 
 tea, and go to bed." * * * * " One thing I be- 
 lieve I may state, and that is, that, hitherto, we 
 have succeeded in getting all the money the peo- 
 ple bring to church with them, out of their pock- 
 ets. In one instance, an old German came sev- 
 eral miles into town on Monday morning, to give 
 a dollar, after having heard the Sunday even- 
 ing sermon, at which he had contributed his 
 cent — all he had with him." ****"! preach 
 every where, and at all times, if an opportunity 
 serves. At Millersburg, 1 arrived at sun set, ask- 
 ed for permission to preach ; obtained a place — 
 the Methodist meeting-house ; — and in less than 
 an hour after my arrival, without any previous 
 notice, was preaching to two hundred people.^* 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S19 
 
 ^ * jjt tft What a privilege is that christian inter- 
 course with my dear Philadelphia brethren, of 
 which I am now deprived ! Oh could I but 
 meet them in these mountains ! — but, we will 
 try to meet in the skies.^^ 
 
 From " Warriors' Run, October 5th," he 
 writes : " I have need of your letters, and of 
 your prayers. I look through the formidable 
 list of my appointments, and sigh and even weep 
 over it; and cry for help, to Heaven. My 
 health is unsettled. I should not be surprised, 
 if some of these mountains should afford me a 
 shelter in sickness ; nor must you, if some of 
 them furnish me with a grave. But I live, and 
 am willing to die, for the Lord. His presence 
 is my abiding solace : — no hiding of his face, 
 or withdrawing of his favour, does he call me 
 to experience." 
 
 A passage in his letter from Bellefonte, on 
 the 7th, while it depicts strongly, the pious 
 frame of his feelings, would seem almost to 
 carry in it a presentiment of the early as well as 
 the signally happy terminationof his own earthly 
 labours. *• I had a lonely ride through the woods 
 this day, of nearly twenty miles. — The yellow 
 tints of autumn upon the trees, and the fading 
 green of the fields seemed continually to admon- 
 ish me of my own destined decay, and indeed 
 made me more than half willing to consider my- 
 self as an autumnal leaf just about to fall. I could 
 not however forbear wishing I might be rather 
 
S30' MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 like the peaeh-trees every where to be seen broken 
 down and absolutely killed by the fruit which 
 they bad brought to full maturity. Oh if I 
 could fall by the luxuriance of my fruit-bearing ! 
 but the Lord's will be done.'" 
 
 A very unequivocal proof of his sincere love 
 of the work in which he was so laboriously 
 active, was, the unaflected cheerfulness with 
 which he pursued even the most arduous and 
 painful parts of it. The following paragraphs 
 are from under the date of ^^ Milton, October 
 11th." 
 
 " Tliis afternoon," he observes, " at two 
 o'clock. I preached at Watsonstown, according to 
 a prior appointment. On my arrival, I was about 
 to stop at a tavern door, when an old man thus 
 addressed me ;— i^Don't-stophere : yonder is the 
 house where you are to stop, and the barn where 
 you are to preacli. And when you have done 
 that, I'll thank you to come and spend the night.' 
 I determined that, since the Lord had made me 
 a new threshing instrument, as he promised Jacob, 
 I would not use it with the less zeal for being 
 on a threshing- floor. I did ray best : The con- 
 gregation was determined to liear the sermon at 
 greater length at the nearest church. ^ For,' said 
 they, Miad we thought it would have been like, 
 this, we would have had all the people out.' " 
 
 Mr. Bacon's labours in the promotion of all 
 the objects to which he had hitherto been devote 
 edj! were much in detail. But his mi.nd was ca- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S21 
 
 pable of the most comprehensive survey of the 
 more general relations, and remoter results, of 
 charitable and christian exertions : and it was 
 the benevolence of his heart, and a principle of 
 duty, which prompted him to such labours as, 
 hurable and subordinate in themselves, were still 
 the necessary parts of the system. But he never 
 lost sight of the relative place which they held in 
 the grand outline which they all went to fill. ^^ I 
 have placed this cause," he writes, under date 
 of October 13th, "on the broad basis of the 
 wants of six hundred millions of heathens,— 
 making those of the million of people within 
 our own limits,wliom 1 suppose to be destitute— 
 a matter of subordinate concern : and insisting 
 that, until every human being can read the won- 
 derful works of God in his own language, our 
 eiforts must be unremitting. If we rest the 
 subject on any basis of smaller dimensions, the 
 people directly imagine that their aid is no longer 
 wanted." 
 
 It was Mr. Bacon's earliest and uniform 
 opinion, that among all the measures dictated by 
 the benevolence, and executed by the zeal of the 
 present age, for the spread of the gospel, there 
 could exist no possible cause of unfriendly com- 
 petition. Hence, in urging the claims of one 
 o])ject of christian benevolence, he was careful 
 not to disparage the just merits of any other. 
 The comparative value of Bible and Missionary 
 efforts, has been often canvassed ; but, from the 
 
SS2 M£MOUt 0I< iiACO:^. 
 
 intimate connexion subsisting between tbein, 
 and their direct tendency by different means to 
 the same blessed results, it can never be exactly 
 estimated by human sagacity. Any disquisition 
 proceeding upon the attempt to contrast their 
 respective merits, or upon any other grounds 
 than the intention of magnifying the importance 
 ef both, must be considered in the character of an 
 unprofitable, if not a misleading speculation. — 
 Mr. Bacon continues ; " The interest, and zeal, 
 and means, of this part of the community, have 
 lately been pre-engaged in favour of the Mission- 
 ary cause by the exertions of an agent from the 
 parent society. Of this however, I would not 
 complain, if the cause of Bibles were not beaten 
 down, in order to raise that of missions upon it. 
 This is wrong. In organising associations for 
 Bibles, I commonly advert to the importance of 
 missions; but in pleading for missions, they de- 
 preciate the Bible cause : and have in some in- 
 stances raised the former, on the ruins of the lat- 
 ter. One instance, I find, where Bible funds 
 have been transferred from their object, to aid 
 missions. This is ^ a pious fraud,' at least." 
 
 Having traversed no less than twenty-one 
 of the counties of Pennsylvania in different di- 
 rections, and in the incessant exercise of zeal 
 and industry, such as have been described, he 
 returned to Philadelphia, on the fifteenth day of 
 November. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACOX. 2133 
 
 Tlie report which he presented to the com- 
 mittee on tlie 23d, is an interesting, and to the 
 institution for which it was prepared, must have 
 proved, a highly useful document. An enlarg- 
 ed view of the cause to which it related, was 
 presented ; a body of valuable specific informa- 
 tiouj adduced; and many measures of great 
 prospective advantage to the Bible interest, were 
 suggested for the consideration of the society, 
 which were supported by arguments founded on 
 actual experience and observation. The conclu- 
 sion of this report exhibits the following summa- 
 ry view of the labours of its indefatigable author, 
 in this interesting mission, accompanied with a 
 very appropriate expression of the characteristic 
 piety and humility of his feelings : — " In fine, 
 your agent was absent from this city sixty-nine 
 days ; traversed twenty-one counties ; preached 
 seventy-four discourses ; and during that time 
 travelled more than one thousand miles. He 
 has had much fatigue and many anxious hours 
 for the success of this mission. When he looks 
 back on the distance, the time, the labour, the 
 heat, the cold, the weakness of body and want 
 of faithfulness, by which his journey has been 
 rendered memorable to him, he cannot but ad- 
 mire the degree of health and happiness which 
 he now enjoys ; and is sensibly affected with the 
 boundless goodness and unmerited grace of God. 
 If your agent was enabled to endure fatigue ; 
 if he could plead the cause of the Bible; if 
 
S34 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 people conld be gathered to hear; if a disposi- 
 tion to imbibe instruction was witnessed ; if their 
 feelings could be excited and drawn out into ac- 
 tion ; all was done by the Lord. There is no 
 room for the board or their agent to feel the 
 slightest self-gratulation. But there is room to 
 praise God continually, that so much has been 
 done ; and to lament for that unfaithfulness, 
 which has prevented much more, that ought to 
 have been done.*' 
 
 The board of managers of the Philadelphia 
 Bible society, in their report read on the next 
 annual meeting, made very honourable mention 
 of the zeal and fidelity which their agent had 
 evinced in performing this mission; and from the 
 report of the same board in the year still subse- 
 quent, it appears that the effects of his labours 
 were visible in the substantial benefits which 
 they had conferred on the cause of the Bible, in 
 their territorial limits. 
 
 A strong impression in favour of that, and eve- 
 ry congenial measure for extending and increas- 
 ing the knowledge and power of the true religion 
 among men, was certainly made wherever this 
 mission reached. Besides referring this effect 
 to the direct blessing of God, to which it is ulti- 
 mately to be wholly ascribed, we are able to see 
 in the qualifications of the instrument, and the 
 fitness of the means employed, a positive adap- 
 tation^of both, to the production of the happy re- 
 sult. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 3S5 
 
 Mr. Bacon was an honest advocate of the 
 Cause he plead : and his sincerity implied more 
 than a cold assent of the nnderslanding to the 
 reasons which prove the importance of the ob- 
 ject. Every consideration which he pressed 
 upon others, had deeply affected his own heart. 
 A sacred warmth and impressive sincerity of 
 feeling, manifested themselves in every expres- 
 sion, and every effort which the cause drew from 
 liim. From the very conformation of human 
 nature, this qualification alone, must have gained 
 to his message not only the attention, but the 
 partial assent of all, and the cordial and active 
 concurrence of a large majority, of his auditors^ 
 wherever he moved. 
 
 He was wholly devoted to his work. Every 
 inferior and unrelated concern was not only un- 
 able to divert his pursuit, but was nearly dis- 
 missed from his heart, and excluded from his 
 thoughts. His work was before him; and it 
 engrossed the undivided energies of his body 
 and mind. 
 
 He was likewise faithful. More is implied 
 in this quality, than an industrious and diligent 
 attention to the work of his mission. He had 
 made the cause his own : — every advantage was 
 sought and seized with active and untiring avidi- 
 ty : his mind was bent incessantly on the sub- 
 ject, — inventing arguments, devising means, sur- 
 veying for information, the past, and pressing for 
 fresh motives to exertion, into the future. His 
 29 
 
^S6 MEMOIR OF BACON, 
 
 work was, in a manner, identified with his exis= 
 tence itself ; and its success interwoven with the 
 highest ideas of happiness which he suffered 
 himself to cherish. 
 
 It must be added, that he was also eloquent. 
 His address was respectable; his elocution dis- 
 tinct and just? his language impressive; and 
 his conceptions original and striking. This 
 would have been the entire definition and utmost 
 reach of his eloquence, had not divine grace laid 
 the foundation of a far higher and more affecting 
 kind. His look, his manner, his voice, his sub- 
 ject,his arguments, his allusions, — every thing iu 
 short, belonging to the composition and delivery 
 of his discourses, which could serve as the in- 
 dex of his feelings and the ruling passion of 
 his mind, took its character from that ^ unction 
 from the holy One,' by which his soul had been 
 so richly imbued. His eloquence was that of a 
 messenger jfrom God, breathing the temper of 
 Heaven, forgetting himself while treating with 
 immortal natures, for the honour of the King of 
 glory, and searching by the light which had been 
 imparted to his own mind, the dark recesses of 
 the hearts of others. The criterion of true el- 
 oquence is its power to convince, to impress, and 
 to move the mind, for useful ends. Subjected 
 to the test of this standard, Mr. Bacon must, 
 as a preacher of the gospel, be pronounced elo- 
 quent. 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. SS7 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Shortly after the discovery of this country, 
 and its first settlement by the subjects of Euro- 
 pean governments, the latter were seduced* 
 by representations originating in the inordinate 
 cupidity of the adventurers, to extend their sane- 
 tion to a traffic, by which all their American pos» 
 sessions were eventually filled with enslaved Af- 
 ricans. So flagrant a violation of the sacred 
 laws of humanity could not fail, in the just pro- 
 vidence of God, to entail on the very communi- 
 ties which it was employed to benefit, evils but 
 little less numerous and various, that the ini- 
 quity itself had been complicated. Before the 
 epoch of the independence of this country, this 
 trade formed an important branch of the com- 
 merce of England, and was freely permitted in 
 nearly all her American colonies. But the adop- 
 
 * It has beeOv satisfactorily proved by an English phi- 
 lanthropist, that Charles V. of Spain, and Elizabeth, of En- 
 gland, who first legalised this trade in their respective do- 
 minions,, were both very imperfectly acquainted with its 
 cruelty and injustice, as respects the immediate victims of 
 it, and grossly deceived as to its impolicy in relation to the 
 colonies themselves ; at the time they were prevailed upon 
 to give it their sanction. The former lived to be more cor- 
 rectly informed as to the inhuman nature of the traffic, and 
 actually revoked, in 1542, the license which he had granted 
 for carrying it on, twenty-five years before. 
 
338 MEMOIR OF BACOK. 
 
 iion of republican forms of government in the 
 different states, made way for the institution of 
 6uch municipal regulations as had the effect to 
 preclude the further importation of slaves into 
 that section of the country lying to the north and 
 east of Maryland. A provision was likewise 
 incorporated in the Federal constitution, in 1787, 
 by which (Congress was authorised to pass an 
 act for the entire abolition of the trade by Amer- 
 ican citizens, at the expiration of twenty years. 
 A law to that effect was, accordingly, enacted in 
 I8O7. But prior to this era, all the individu- 
 al states had adopted regulations either abolish- 
 ing slavery directly or prospectively, in their re- 
 spective limits ; or giving to individual propri- 
 etors a discretionary right, on certain prudential 
 conditions, to liberate their own slaves. The 
 consequence was, the rapid accumulation in the 
 community, of a class of people, freed indeed 
 from personal bondage, but stiU separated by 
 indelible characteristics, from the great body 
 of citizens ; destitute of many of their privi- 
 leges, and generally debased in morals, and in 
 intellect, quite below the grade of christian, 
 and even of civilized society. Their improve- 
 ment has been the object of benevolent legis- 
 lation in some of the states, of charitable as- 
 sociations in others, and of general solicitude, 
 in all. But every year witnessed an increase 
 of their numbers, and an aggravation of the 
 Qvils attaching to their anomalous relation to the 
 
MEMOIll OF B/VCOX. 3^9 
 
 slave population of the country, on the one hand, 
 and to the white citizens, on the other. Their 
 example corrupted the first ; and their hahits of 
 vice and idleness were a sore annoyance to the 
 last ; while their own existence which they were 
 taught by no religious or intellectual culture to 
 direct to any valuable end, seemed destined to 
 prove, in the present and future world, a still 
 heavier curse to themselves. 
 
 In devising measures for improving or al- 
 tering the condition of these people, there were 
 consequently presented, three distinct classes of 
 evils to be provided against ; each of which was 
 calculated to interest in its redress, a numerous 
 and intelligent class of the community. And 
 such was the fact. The wealthy slave-holder, 
 if moved by no worthier motive, was obliged to 
 yield to the interested consideration of preser- 
 ving the people of his plantation from an inter- 
 course with the free blacks ; which experience 
 had unhappily proved to be injurious both to 
 their morals and to their happiness. The effects 
 of their improvident and predatory habits, and 
 dissolute examples, were felt by a still more nu- 
 merous class of citizens ; none of whom could 
 be wholly indifferent to the application of an 
 appropriate remedy. And, finally, every bene- 
 volent mind could not fail to be moved by com- 
 passion for their calamitous lot, to devise some 
 measure of effectual and permanent relief. 
 
S30 MEMOIR OF BACOxN, 
 
 Thus, each of these three descriptions of per- 
 sons have been heard to recommend their coloni- 
 zation ; — but the last only, have ever evinced an 
 efficient zeal in the cause, or contributed much 
 important aid and encouragement towards any of 
 those charitable measures which provide for the 
 happiness and ulterior improvement of the ob- 
 jects of colonization. It would be to wrong the 
 character of the members of the American Colo- 
 nization Society, to confound, without this dis- 
 crimination, the motives of its active members, 
 with the various suggestions of interest which 
 may have influenced individuals of very oppo- 
 site characters, to declare themselves favourable 
 io that part of their plan which proposes to re- 
 move the free blacks out of this country. This 
 measure has been deliberately approved by the 
 30ciet3^, as essential to the execution of their be- 
 nevolent purpose in respect to the free blacks 
 themselves : and as its eflfects must prove highly 
 beneficial to the American community, this con- 
 sideration may very properly have its weight, in 
 the minds of all. Still, it is maintained that 
 the measures of this institution, have without 
 an exception, been taken with the same tender 
 regard to the interests of the people for whose 
 colonization they provide, as if their accomplish- 
 ment would draw in their train no advantages to 
 any other class of the population. Their pro- 
 ceedings stand recorded for the perusal of the 
 world : to which they can appeal with conii- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 331 
 
 iknce for the proof of their entire accordance 
 with the spirit, and the precepts of the gospel. 
 The ohjects of this institution stated in the order 
 in which their accoraplishment* must proceed, 
 are, 
 
 1st. The formation of a christian settlement, 
 organised after the form of the best constituted 
 societies, on the coast of Africa : 
 
 2dly. The transportation of as many of the 
 free black people of this country, as shall be de- 
 sirous of removing, to such settlement : 
 
 3dly. The persevering application of the best 
 means of promoting the moral and social im- 
 provement and happiness of the colonists, and 
 their posterity, as long as the circumstances of the 
 latter, shall require their fostering care : and 
 
 4thly. The civilization and religious instruc- 
 tion, of the native AJrican tribes. 
 
 The society was formed in January, I8I7. 
 Considering their objects as strictly national, and 
 possessing strong claims upon the patronage of 
 Congress, the Managers submitted, in the same 
 year, a proposition for its adoption by tlie gene- 
 ral government. Their memorial was favoura- 
 bly received ; but it has never yet been deemed 
 advisable to press the final decision of the ques- 
 tion which was taken on it. 
 
 During the year 1818, the mission of Messrs, 
 Mills and Burgess, to the western coast of Af- 
 rica, was performed ; and a valuable accession 
 of local information respecting the country, ob- 
 
S3S MEMOIR OF BACOxN. 
 
 tained by the society, by means of their united 
 researches. Early in the year 1819, it had be- 
 come an object of immediate interest with the 
 society, to send out a select company of black 
 people, under suitable superintendence, to com- 
 mence the contemplated settlement. 
 
 By the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 
 of this year, the President of the United States 
 was authorised to institute an agency in Africa, 
 for the purpose of providing an asylum for such 
 Africans as should be liberated by our ships of 
 war, from vessels seized in the violation of the 
 provisions of the same law, for the entire sup- 
 pression of the slave-trade. This act, without 
 recognising the plan of colonization as it had 
 been repeatedly commended by the society, to 
 the favourable notice of Congress, authorised a 
 collateral measure so nearly identified with it^ 
 as in eft'ect, to subserve nearly the same purpose. 
 The passing of this act, and its benevolent 
 bearing on the welfare of the African race, 
 could not but be regarded l>y the society as a 
 providential interposition directly propitious to 
 their own cherished objects : and they resolved to 
 improve the advantage which was thus offered 
 them, by so adapting their movements, as to de- 
 rive from the measures of the Government, the be- 
 nefits of a formal co-operation In this view it was 
 i determined to make the station of the Government 
 ^ ^^ agency on the coast of Africa, the site of the colo- 
 eerrj^d .^ settlement ; and to incorporate in the set 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 333 
 
 tlement, all the blacks delivered over by our ships 
 of war to the American Agent, as soon as the 
 requisite preparations should be completed for 
 their accommodation. 
 
 Mr. Bacon had been known as the decided 
 friend of both objects : and recommended to the 
 appointment of the Executive as the principal 
 Agent of the Government, early in the summer 
 of this year. 
 
 About the period of his return from the 
 Bible mission, it was determined by the Govern- 
 ment, to send a transport and ship of war to the 
 coast of Africa, for the purpose of carrying out 
 two agents, and as many mechanics and labour- 
 ers as should be necessary to prepare a recep- 
 tacle for any persons that might be liberated 
 from American slave ships. Accordingly, the 
 Sloop of War, Cyane, of 24 guns, was put in 
 commission, and the Elizabeth, a merchant ship 
 of three hundred tons, eventually chartered, 
 for this service. The former was ordered to 
 cruise on that station, for the purpose of inter- 
 cepting vessels engaged in the slave-trade, under 
 the American flag. Both of these vessels were 
 lying at that time, in the harbour of New York. ■ 
 
 Having received priests' orders, on the 34th 
 of November, in Philadelphia, Mr. Bacon en- 
 tered immediately into the service of the Coloni- 
 zation society. In this engagement he contin- 
 ued until the 8th of January, 18S0, when he re- 
 ceived from the Executive of the United IState§^ 
 30 
 
Wit) 
 
 S34 MEMOIR OF DACO!^, 
 
 government, his commission and instructions for 
 the agency to which he had been previously de- 
 signated. 
 
 The Government had consented to receive on 
 board the Elizabeth, such useful fiee black per- 
 sons, recommended by the Society, as the ser- 
 vice of the agency should require on the coast. 
 
 About thirty families, comprehending eighty. 
 nine individuals, of different sexes, and ages, 
 had been selected by the Society from a much 
 greater number of applicants, for this expedi- 
 tion ; and were now assembling in the city of 
 New York. Mr. Bacon was instructed to pro- 
 ceed to that city to receive these people, equip 
 them for the voyage, and superintend their em- 
 barkation. He accordingly left Philadelphia 
 on the 26th of November. Under this date, on 
 board the steam-boat, he thus writes to the 
 venerated mother of his late wife : " My en- 
 gagements were such, while in Philadelphia, 
 that I could not find a moment's time to address 
 you." * * * ^'Ihave parted this morning with my 
 dear child, — my beloved relations from York, 
 and with hundreds of praying and affectionate 
 friends. I cannot dwell on this subject. — My 
 heart sickens with the recollection of the pain- 
 ful circumstances of it. But glory to God, I do 
 not mourn as one without hope. If I never see 
 father, mother, child, sisters and brothers again, 
 in this world ; we have reason to glorify God 
 and praise his holy name^ that we part in body, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 235 
 
 and but for a season, — I am determined to meet 
 you in Heaven." * * * " God, bless and save 
 my child ! — I desire that he may be piously 
 brought up, — and have the benefit of a good ex- 
 ample, and good precepts." * * * " It is my ear- 
 nest desire and prayer, that God may qualify and 
 call him to preach the gospel." * * * " I was or- 
 dained presbyter on the 24th instant, by Bishop 
 White, in St. Peter's church, and preached on 
 the same evening to about two thousand coloured 
 people, in Bethel church." " My health has not 
 been better for many years past." 
 
 On the l6th of December he writes from 
 New York : " After a day of fatigue and anxie- 
 ty, I redeem a moment from sleep, to inform my 
 dear friend, that we are now on the point of suc- 
 ceeding in chartering a vessel for our voyage." 
 " We have nameless difficulties to contend with, 
 and numberless obstacles to surmount. Some of 
 these arise out of the lukewarmness, some out 
 of the hostility, and many from the avarice of 
 men ; and others from the opposition of the 
 great enemy of all good. But the gloom begins 
 to break away, and light to dawn upon our cause. 
 Satan literally ^ has his seat' in Africa. But 
 we have too much reason to believe he is not 
 confined entirely to foreign shores." ***** 
 " We expect to meet him arrayed with all his 
 force, and in readiness to oppose us, inch by 
 inch, in Africa. But he who fights for us, we 
 are confident, must prevail. The Lord gives 
 
{83# MEMOIR CP BACOX. 
 
 US grace; and I feel more and more disposed 
 to prayer and earnest importunity for success 
 in this great cause." 
 
 The mind, in reviewing a series of past 
 events, finds it difficult so to confine its survey 
 to the painful, or the pleasing, alone, as to admit 
 the uncompounded feeling of pleasure, or of 
 pain, which either, contemplated separately, is 
 capable of producing : but calling up by the 
 same effort of memory, the images of both, it 
 derives from them the opposite emotions of grief 
 and joy, and melts them into one uniform sensa- 
 tion. So the eye turned upon a distant land= 
 scape over which spots of light and shade are 
 alternately scattered, admits the rays reflected 
 from both; but so mingled and confounded to- 
 gether as to spread over the whole scene, a twi- 
 light uniformity of colouring. It is impossible 
 at this period, to advert to the pleasing anticipa- 
 tions expressed in the following passage from a 
 letter of the Slst of December, without painfully 
 connecting in idea, the event by which they were 
 so soon, and so affectingly frustrated. " Though 
 on the eve of sailing, I am in high spirits, — quite 
 happy, my dear mother, in my prospects, and 
 hopeful that a sea voyage and warm climate 
 will contribute to lengtl»en my days. I should 
 not outlive three winters in this country. I 
 find every winter wears my constitution away 
 very fast. Were I to stay here, I should have 
 a confirmed cough in two raonths; — I am happy 
 
MEMOIU OV 13AC0N. 2S7 
 
 in the prospect of a lengthened span, and in- 
 creasing usefulness/"' 
 
 On the 27th of December, be left New York 
 for the city of Washington, where he arrived 
 on the S9th, and remained until the 13th of Jan- 
 uary. This period was very usefully filled up 
 in learning, by personal conference with the exe- 
 cutive officers of the general government, and the 
 managers of the Colonization society, the views 
 of both, in reference to the interesting expedi- 
 tion with the direction of which he was char- 
 ged. It is also due to his memory to state, that 
 his own good sense suggested a number of im- 
 portant hints in relation to the undertaking, 
 wliich served as the basis of some of the official 
 instructions which he received on the occasion; 
 and that his zeal and perseverance were happily 
 instrumental of removing several formidable ob- 
 skcles to the execution of the plan, which even 
 then threatened, to delay it to a remote and 
 uncertain period, and thwart some of the best 
 hopes of its friends altogether. 
 
 To his visit to the metropolis at this time, the 
 writer of this memoir is indebted, for the only op- 
 portunity he enjoyed, of cultivating with Mr. Ba- 
 con, a personal intercourse. Short as the term of 
 his stay was, it proved amply sufficient to disco- 
 ver to the observation of those with whom he asso- 
 ciated, many of the estimable characteristics of his 
 mind. Such was the simplicity of his manners, 
 and the candour of his character, as to show out 
 
2SS MEMOIU OF UAO(J:s\ 
 
 in the most natural expressions, the genuine quali- 
 ties of the heart. The impression which these 
 were capable of making on the mind of one, till 
 then a stranger, has constituted his chief motive 
 for engaging in the interesting labour of prepar- 
 ing for the world, this huml)le memorial of his 
 warth. It seeks no higher merit than that of 
 giving to one of the brightest examples of piety 
 and christian benevolence, in the age, a just 
 exhibition. The most striking feature in hig 
 character was the apparently entire abstraction 
 of his thoughts and aifections from every grovel- 
 ling terrestrial object; — a trait evinced rather by 
 the inimitable and peculiar sanctity, and unaf- 
 fected humility of his deportment, than by any 
 other form of expression. The most unskilful 
 observer of the human character could hardly 
 escape the impression, that a peace ineffable 
 reigned in his mind, and placed it perfectly «it 
 rest, above the reach of the passions, and com- 
 motions of ordinary life, on the elevated ground 
 of an intimate communion, and constant inter- 
 course with God. 
 
 His breast seemed to be a sanctuary hallowed 
 for the constant residence of the most devout^ 
 and sublimated affections of which the human 
 soul is capable in the present world. The most 
 natural employmeut of his thoughts, was prayer; 
 and their most delightful exercise, praise. The 
 eye of his faith had pierced through the veil of 
 sensible things, and seemed to feed with awful 
 
MEMorii OP BACON. 23Sr 
 
 rapture, on the uncreaied glory of*' e eternal God- 
 head. Tosuclia man, death must he regarded only 
 as the soarins; of the soul to the holy object of its 
 supreme attraction, and intimate knowledge, in 
 the present world. The deepest wave of the 
 last flood can hardly obscure — it cannot even 
 for a season, extinguish, the light of the celestial 
 vision ! — Such are the reflec tions which the last 
 interview of this man of God must have excited 
 in the bosoms of many of his American friends. 
 Wherever he moved, he carried a kind of palpa- 
 ble demonstration of the truth and pow er of the 
 gospel, which greatly strengthened the faith, 
 quickened the zeal, and encouraged the hopes, of 
 the pious; and was calculated to give energy to 
 the imperfect convictions of the careless on the 
 subject of religion. 
 
 The methods of God's providence are mys- 
 terious and inscrutable : and all human attempts 
 to conjecture the reasons on which the measures 
 of his government are founded, commonly discover 
 more of profanity and weakness, than of the ex- 
 ercise of a judgment enlightened and regulated 
 by the maxims of revelation. But there is no- 
 thing merely conjectural in the supposition, that 
 He who reads the future of every man's life and 
 destination, does prepare for approaching scenes, 
 by a special interposition, such as surrender 
 themselves to the guidance of his holy Spirit. 
 The belief is scriptural : it is also confirmed by ob- 
 servation. It is now easy for his friends to per- 
 
S40 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 ceive, tliai; Mr. Bacon was at the time of his 
 crabarkation for Africa, rapidly advancing in the 
 improving temper of his mind, through the hist 
 stages of earthly maturity for the holy society of 
 his Saviour, and the saints in Heaven. 
 
 On the 13th of January he left Washington 
 on his return to New York, travelling through 
 the interior of Pennsylvania. He now visited 
 his friends in York, for the last time. From the 
 nature of the undertaking in which he was en- 
 gaged, he indulged little expectation of ever re- 
 newing his visit to that place ; and passed the 
 three da;ys of his stay there, in a way that well 
 became his last. After preaching several times 
 to the little flock from which the great Sliepherd 
 had separated him to higher services, he met 
 them around the communion altar; and both to 
 himself and them, the pain of a long and event- 
 ful separation appeared to be nearly excluded 
 by the joys of christian fellowship, and com* 
 munion with the Father of their spirits. 
 
 He arrived in New York, on the 19th, where 
 his colleague, John V. Bankson, Esq. and Dr. 
 Samuel A. Crozer, the Agent of the Coloniza- 
 tion society soon after, joined him ; and the 
 people destined for tlie voyage, were already as- 
 sembled. On the SOth, he thus writes to his 
 friends in Pennsylvania : ^^ I arrived safe, yes- 
 terday morning ; and find we shall be at sea in 
 a very few days." ^ * ^'^ We have some hundreds 
 of applications from the black people which we 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S41 
 
 are obliged to refuse. "I am perfectly convinced 
 that the Lord has led me on step by step, to quali- 
 fy me for this business. You, and my dear 
 friends, and my child, will never have cause to 
 regret this undertaking. We are making our 
 purchases, and lading the ship — and perhaps 
 shall only receive the letter which you send by 
 return of mail." 
 
 On the 30th of January, the entry in his 
 journal states, " From the 19th, to this date, I 
 have been incessantly engaged in purchasing and 
 putting on board the Elizabeth, our provisious, 
 tools, implements and other necessaries. I have 
 preached on Sundays, in the different churches in 
 the city. To-morrow is the day fixed for em- 
 barking the people.^' 
 
 Monday 31st, was an interesting day. The 
 people assembled at the African church, to the 
 number of several thousands, to witness the so- 
 lemnities with which it was expected the em- 
 barkation would be attended, and join in a pro- 
 cession to the vessel then lying in the North 
 River. But before the doors were opened, it 
 was perceived that the rush which must follow^ 
 would endanger the lives of many of the multi- 
 tude : and they were ordered to be kept shut. 
 The concourse then moved towards the ship ; 
 but Mr. Bacon foresaw the disastrous conse- 
 quences of bringing so unmanageable a con- 
 course, as four or six thousand eager spectators, 
 down to the verge of the river ; and stopped its 
 31 
 
24S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 further progress. He ascended a neighbouring 
 piazza, and after fervently commending the mul- 
 titude to God, and addressing them in a few ap- 
 propriate words, he returned to the street, and 
 with great address and prudence, sent the ship's 
 people, individually, on board. The concourse 
 still kept their ground, until the people were all 
 secretly embarked. *'• The fact was not known,'' 
 says Mr. Bacon, " till I announced it, to the 
 great surprise of the multitude : — and thus pro- 
 bably, were numbers restrained from rushing, 
 through inconsiderate curiosity, into a watery 
 grave." 
 
 Before the wind proved favourable for putting 
 to sea, the Elizabeth found herself closely ice- 
 bound, and incapable even of dropping down into 
 the Harbour. In this situation she remained until 
 the 6th of February, when a passage was opened 
 through the ice, and the ship run out to sea, with 
 a fair wind. The crew were all in good health, 
 at this date ; and manifested a harmonious and 
 subordinate spirit. The agents were animated 
 with a common principle of benevolence and 
 zeal ; and many of the emigrants appeared in- 
 fluenced by the religion which a majority of the 
 most influential, professed to have embraced with 
 a true faith. 
 
 In the organisation of this service, Messrs. 
 Bacon and Bankson had been appointed colle- 
 giate Agents of tbe Government of the United 
 States, to whom the direction of the expedition 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON, 243 
 
 was entrusted. The people were all considered 
 as attached to this joint agency, and to remain 
 entirely subject to its controul, as long after their 
 arrival on the coast, as their services should be 
 needful, or until they should receive a regular 
 discharge. Their official instructions required 
 them to make the island of Sherbro, on the coast 
 of Africa, their first place of destination, and 
 either there, or in some more eligible situation, to 
 land the people and stores, and proceed to erect 
 cottages for the accommodation of themselves, 
 and at least, three hundred captured Africans. 
 They were likewise instructed to plant and 
 cultivate corn and vegetables ; and contribute by 
 their own industry, to subsist and defray the 
 expenses of the establishment. 
 
 Mr. Samuel A. Crozer was the sole Agent 
 of the Colonization society ; who was entrusted 
 with the goods and stores sent out by the society, 
 for the purposes of conciliating the favour of the 
 native chiefs, purchasing lands, and ministering 
 to the health and comfort of the people. The se- 
 lection and purchase of a territory for the con- 
 templated settlement, were committed to this 
 agent ; who was instructed to avail himself of 
 the advice and good offices of the agents ap- 
 pointed on the part of the Government. In 
 planning this expedition, great confidence had 
 been reposed in the statements of Messrs. 
 Mills and Burgess in relation to the friendly 
 disposition of the natives on and near the Sher- 
 
S44I MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 bro River ; the salubrity of the climate; aiiil 
 the eligibility of the site which they had re- 
 commended for a place of settlement. The in- 
 structions of the agents were framed in a ^ene. 
 ral conformity with their recommendations. It 
 is only to be regretted that those gentlemen had 
 not spent a longer period in that country, explor- 
 ed the coasl more extensively, and used the means 
 of acquiring a more exact and certain know- 
 ledge of the different subjects on which they 
 were obliged to report. The instructions of 
 the agents had been drawn up under an erro- 
 neous impression, as to the true state of several 
 of these particulars ; and to this cause must be 
 partially attributed the fatal miscarriage of the 
 expedition. 
 
 The subsequent extracts from Mr. Bacon's 
 journal of the voyage, discover it to have been 
 marked with some circumstances of an unpro- 
 pitious and eventful character, ^» Monday, 
 February 7th, 1820. Still lying to, off the high 
 lands of Neversink, waiting for the Cyane who 
 is still within the Light. The people were com- 
 fortably lodged through the night. We soon 
 got under way, and proceeded to sea. The 
 wind was fair most of the day, and carried 
 us forward at the rate of ten miles an hour. 
 Nearly all the people on board are sea- 
 sick." " February 8th. The people are reco- 
 vering from their sickness. The weather is 
 still favourable. The evening closed in cheer- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. ^45 
 
 ful worship of God ia the steerage, by the 
 emigrants; neither of the agents being well 
 enough to be present.'' ^^Jb'ebruary 10th. At 
 night, it began to blow, and the gale became tre- 
 mendous ; which lasted till morning. The aw- 
 ful scene we passed through is not to be described. 
 I however, never lost sight of the promises of 
 God ; and never, for a moment, doubted of our 
 eventual arrival on the coast of Africa : but 
 through much tribulation and distress. I still felt 
 it a duty to pray continually and earnestly, and 
 felt an unshaken reliance in the efficacy of the 
 prayers of the church of God. I considered 
 God had entered into covenant with his church, 
 to answer their prayers for its success. Christ 
 is the head of the church ; he must prevail, and 
 so must all the faithful prayers of his people. I 
 found it sweet to be here, and did rejoice in the 
 dominion of God." " February 11th. A little 
 before sun-set, the wind began to rise; and 
 it soon blew a gale, more severe, if possible, 
 than in the preceding night." We shipped 
 nearly a hundred seas, — some of which were 
 very heavy. The binnacle was washed off, and 
 compasses broken. Sometimes the ship was 
 before the wind ; — sometimes she was rolling in 
 the trough of the sea ; sometimes they lost all 
 command of her. During the latter part of the 
 night, they hove to, and we rolled about till day- 
 light, when the wind abated. These three last 
 nights were awful ones indeed ; but in the midst 
 
246 MEMOIR OF BAGON. 
 
 of the dangers, — when every sea seemed to 
 be about to swallow us up,- — and every fresh 
 blast of wind stronger than the last; in the 
 midst of all, I rejoiced in God and in the ^ help 
 of his countenance/ I could ask myself, whe» 
 ther there was another place in the universe, 
 I would prefer to be in, at that moment? — and 
 I desire to give glory to God, that I could say, 
 there was none. Duty had called me here ; 
 God was with me; and I was happy. A cove- 
 nant God ; a triumpiiant Saviour ; a holy Bi- 
 ble ; and a peaceful conscience, — all how pre- 
 cious 1" " February ISth, We have a calm sea, 
 and the people were on deck, and seemed to 
 gain new life and spirits. We have prayers in 
 the cabin, morning and evening. We fell in 
 with the wreck of the Schooner ' Elizabeth, of 
 Boston.' The Mate boarded her, and found 
 no one on board. We lay to for some time, in 
 hope of falling in with some of her crew in her 
 long boat. A general sentiment of gratitude 
 seemed to pervade our people, that the Eliza- 
 beth, of New York (our ship) was not in a simi- 
 lar condition." 
 
 On the I6th, having the prospect of speaking 
 a ship bound into the United States, Mr. Bacon 
 wrote to his friends in Pennsylvania : 
 
 "We are proceeding rapidly towards the 
 jdace of our destination, with a delightful breeze 
 and charming weather. The thermometer in 
 nur companion-way, is standing at 66 de- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S-i7 
 
 grees.'^ "We have now been out ten days. 
 We parted from tlie Cyane going out of the 
 harbour of New York, and have not heard of 
 her since.'' " W^e have little to say in relation 
 to the behaviour of our people, except in their 
 commendation. No accident has occurred since 
 we came out of port, to damp our spirits. Every 
 thing seems to be as it should be. Harmony 
 prevails. — We want only more gratitude." 
 
 In consequence of the recommendation of the 
 agents, the Rev. Daniel Coker, on the 18th, 
 formed a society in conformity to the Methodist 
 discipline; consisting of twenty-five communi- 
 cants. Three magistrates had likewise been 
 appointed for the preservation of order among 
 the emigrants, and the protection of their respec- 
 tive rights. 
 
 •'^February 19th. We have continued our 
 consultations for the good of our charge. It is 
 determined to call our colony by the name of the 
 country where it shall be established.'' * * * 
 •'• To-day I was able to preach in the steerage : 
 and gave notice of two services on next Sabbath ; 
 we also notiiied a fast on the same day, and a 
 general thanksgiving when we should arrive iu 
 sight of Africa." 
 
 Mr. Bacon here relates a perilous scene of 
 confusion and strife between some of the oflScers 
 of the ship, and a part of the passengers, in 
 consequence of the very reprehensible miscon- 
 duct of the latter ; in which the authority of the 
 
:5J4S l^lEMOIR OF BACOX. 
 
 master came near being overpowered by the vio» 
 lence of the people. The interference of the 
 agents was, ai first, altogether unavailing to 
 quell the disorder ; but by a prudent decision of 
 conduct on their part, seconded by the forbear- 
 ance of the officers of the vessel, the difference 
 was, through the blessing of God, happily 
 composed without the necessity of proceeding to 
 those extreme measures which the case seemed 
 at first, too likely to provoke. The unlucky 
 dogs that had been the cause of the commotion 
 which threatened so serious a terminatioi^, were 
 thrown overboard ; and no overt act of insubor- 
 dination on the part of the people, was repeated 
 during the remainder of the voyage. In refer- 
 ence to this affair, Mr. Bacon, with his usual 
 piety, states : "' At one moment, there was great 
 appearance of a general engagement between 
 the ship's crew and emigrants ; in which case 
 many lives would have been lost, and the sliip 
 exposed to be cast away for want of persons 
 capable of navigating her. It was a great in- 
 stance of God's mercy that we were not ruined 
 in a moment. Blessed be his name, that we 
 were saved from self-destruction." 
 
 ^•February 25th. This day we observed 
 as a season of fasting and prayer. I preached 
 in the morning, from Ezra viii. verses 31, S3, 
 23. God gave me his assistance; and we 
 had a profitable season. Several of the col- 
 oured preachers and exhsrters continued the 
 
MEVIOIU OF B VCO\. 24:9 
 
 services through the day. Peter Small, the chief 
 actor in the \site. disturbance, apologised for his 
 conduct, and we have had a day of quiet and 
 harmony ; I bless the Lord for all His mercies, 
 especially for the peace which he has restored 
 to us." 
 
 A dangerous leak was providentially disco- 
 vered and stopped, on the 1st of March, wfiich 
 had, for several days, filled the ship's hold at the 
 rate of twenty-four inches in an hour. 
 
 It was but too apparent that a mutinous spirit 
 was secretly working in the minds of some of 
 the people on board ; who waited only to be lan- 
 ded in Africa, in order to vent it in such acts of 
 personal hostility to the agents, and of direct 
 resistance to their authority, as would subvert 
 the very design of the expedition. In order to 
 test the temper of the people, and if possible, to 
 anticipate any unruly proceedings which might 
 grow out of it, when it should become necessary 
 to subject them to a more rigid controul than the 
 circumstances had hitherto required, Mr. Crozer 
 published on the same day, the instructions of 
 the society, in relation to the apportionment of 
 lands,* in the contemplated settlement. This 
 was accompanied with a full explanation of the 
 relation which the people sustained to the Colo- 
 nization society, and to the government of the 
 United States, respectively ; and of the obliga- 
 
 * See Appendix, Note VII. 
 
250 MEMOIR or BACOK. 
 
 tions and duties, mutually attaching to them and 
 the directors of the expediliou. Indications of 
 strong disaffection were, on this occasion, mani- 
 fested by a few individuals; but a large majority 
 acquiesced in tlie authority of the agents, at the 
 time ; and the dissatisfied persons in a few days 
 afterwards, apologised for their contumacy, and 
 petitioned to be restored to confidence. The 
 journal proceeds : 
 
 " March Sd. At half past ten, land was 
 discovered over our lee-bow — the ship standing 
 B. E. It proved to be the Islands of Fuego 
 and Brava, the most western of the Cape Verds. 
 We were unable to weather them, and are now 
 becalmed a little to leeward of them." 
 
 ^^ March 7th. We are now on soundings. 
 A Sunday school was formed on board the ship 
 to-day : Bibles were distributed to the crew ; 
 and I gave to each a prayer-book. They ap- 
 peared grateful for them.'' 
 
 "March 8th. We enjoy uninterrupted quiet 
 on board : and are one hundred and twenty 
 miles to the nortli-west of Cape Sierra Leone.'' 
 A variety of orders were issued to regulate the 
 intercourse of the people with the colonists of 
 Sierra. Leone; and appointments distributed 
 among them, principally with a view to secure 
 their attachment to the service. A committee of 
 three, was dignified with the title of " Members 
 of Council;" another was called, the "Com- 
 mittee of Trade:" To these were likewise ad» 
 
MEMOlli OF BA.CON. 251 
 
 ded a ^- Register of Public Acts," and a " Co- 
 lonial Secretary." This measure was produc- 
 tive of a very happy effect, and reflects credit 
 on the good sense of the agents. 
 
 *< March 9th. At nine o'clock this morning," 
 the jojirnal states, '^ We discovered the high- 
 lands in the neighbourhood of Cape Sierra Le- 
 one : and on entering the harbour of Freetown, 
 about three o'clock in the evening, were boarded 
 by a canoe carrying several Kroo-raen, who per- 
 form nearly all the hard labour of the town. This 
 race of people are remarkably large and well 
 proportioned, and generally, have fine intelligent 
 countenances. Their country is on the Guinea 
 coast, in latitude about 5 degrees N. whence they 
 sail in their canoes to the different European posts 
 on the coastj and hire themselves at the rate of 
 four dollars per month : and are frequently ab- 
 sent from home for several years. Their whole 
 dress, when employed in their work, consists of a 
 single piece of cotton, or bafta. Our people clo- 
 thed those who came on board, decently. At 
 four o'clock, we dropped our anchor in the har- 
 bour of Sierra Leone. We were immediately 
 visited by a number of officers from shore ; and 
 saw several American emigrants brought out 
 some years since, by Captain Paul Cuffee ; all of 
 whom were respectable in their appearance, 
 and happy in their circumstances. Our sick 
 have all recovered, and passengers and crew 
 enjoy perfect health. We spent the evening 
 
253 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 on board, in acts of thanksgiving and praise. 
 Surely we have reason for gratitude." 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. ^53 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 It is due to the zeal, good judgment, and 
 uniform fidelity of the Rev. Daniel Coker, of 
 the Methodist church, who went out in the 
 Elizabeth, and of the value of whose services, 
 both during the voyage, and on the coast, the 
 agents made very honourable mention, and the 
 society have received the most substantial proofs, 
 to observe in anticipation, that he has continued 
 to the present time, to justify, by a consistent 
 course of upright and discreet conduct, the con- 
 fidence reposed in him. 
 
 On the 10th, Mr. Bacon, and his colleagues 
 went ashore ; and, as the natural history, and 
 a local knowledge of Africa, are becoming sub- 
 jects of general interest in this country, the ex- 
 tracts from his journal are here continued. 
 
 '^ We visited the market. It was too late 
 for meat or fish ; — but tropical fruits and vegeta- 
 bles were abundant. We saw bananas, plan- 
 tains, pine-apples, oranges, limes, guavas, rice, 
 cassada, yams, sweet-potatoes and other pro- 
 ductions of the country.'' " Several small beeves 
 were grazing in the streets ; and all quite 
 fat." " The market- women seemed to be all 
 Kroos or Timinies." ^' Myself, with two others 
 again went on shore about four o'clock, and 
 strolled down to the, Kroo-men's village. Oh, 
 
2j4i memoir of bacon. 
 
 what a field for evangelical labour amongst 
 them ! How lamentable that these fine people 
 <lo not attract the notice of the religious world. 
 We passed their hamlet, and saw hundreds of 
 them engaged in a variety of sports and amuse- 
 ments."' The following extracts of a letter to 
 a friend in Philadelphia, are in continuation of 
 the same subject. *' You may depend on it, 
 there is work for us here : there is work for 
 Missionaries ; for teachers ; for good men of all 
 descriptions." " I am struck with wonder at 
 the appearance of the native Africans. The sickly 
 and depressed countenance of a Philadelphia 
 coloured man, is not to be seen amongst them. 
 A noble aspect, — a dignified mien, —a frank and 
 open countenance, the entire demeanor of the 
 wild man ! Sir, it is worth a voyage to Africa to 
 see the Kroo-men. I was present at one of their 
 amusements, not much unlike your opera per- 
 formances. The speakers were accompanied by 
 a pleasant music on a sort of shepherd's pipe. 
 There were more than one hundred present ; 
 and seated on the ground in a circle. The 
 speakers and actors had their places in the cen- 
 tre. I could not understand them. 1 remained 
 some time speculating about the origin of this. 
 I could almost persuade myself that they were 
 fast bccnm/mg civilized ! as theatrical amuse- 
 ments seem to indicate a state of civilization 
 above the savage life. I suppose the play I saw, 
 and tliose performed in Philadelphia have, the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 2^3 
 
 one, about as raucli religion as the other.*^ ^"•'These. 
 people never sell each other for slaves, nor suf- 
 fer any others to do it. Jjeinji; faithful to them- 
 selves, they have none of those sufferings to en- 
 dure whicli other tril)es feel with so great se- 
 . verity.*' 
 
 " March lith. I again went on shore, for 
 the purpose of visiting Leicester Mountain ; 
 but twice missed my way, and returned. I pass- 
 ed six or seven native villages, and asked for 
 water at as many different huts. I always met 
 with the most friendly reception. The natives 
 manifest much benevolence of feeling.'' "March 
 12th. I preached at 10 o'clock, on the ship's 
 deck. — Several coloured men fron Sierra Leone, 
 were present." " The ship's crew were very at- 
 tentive, and seemed impressed with sacred truth. 
 At one o'clock 1 called by appointment on governor 
 M'Carthy, and met with a civil reception." 
 " One half the coloured population here would 
 instantly emigrate if we would receive tliem. 
 Tills we shall of course, prevent. Religion is 
 in a languishing state in Freetown." • 
 
 ** March 13th. Dining to day with the colo- 
 nial governor, our table was entirely and sump- 
 tuously supplied, from the productions of Africa. 
 Those of no country are more various ; and stil] 
 the greater part are of spontaneous growth.'' 
 "The English have claims on all that part of 
 the coast, which stretches from Sierra Leone to the 
 Gambia, north : and as far as Cape Shilling. 
 
25ft MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 perhaps beyond it^ south.'' *^ Oh Africa, my 
 heart bleeds for thee, and thy scattered and 
 weeping children I Is it not of the justice of 
 God, that we, the white people, cannot well ex- 
 ist in this climate ? God only can keep it for 
 Africa!'' 
 
 At the last preceding date, the Cyane had 
 not arrived in Sierra Leone. The charter-party 
 of the Elizabeth gave the agents no authority 
 to detain that ship beyond a very few days on 
 the coast. Not only a place of settlement, but 
 even of debarkation, was yet to be sought, for 
 the passengers and stores. Kizzel, an African 
 of some consideration on the coast, and the pro- 
 prietor of a small settlement on the Island of 
 Sherbro, in whom, from the recommendations 
 of Messrs. Mills and Burgess, tlie confidence 
 of the agents had been unsuspectingly reposed, 
 was at his residence, forty leagues distant from 
 Sierra Leone. The soundings near the entrance 
 of the Sherbro, had not been taken ; and great 
 doubt was entertained as to the practicability 
 of bringing the ship down to Kizzel's settle- 
 ment, from the shoalness of the water. Under 
 these circumstances Mr. Baukson was imme- 
 diately despatched in a small vessel, to explore 
 the Sherbro sound, and provide a suitable place 
 for the landing of the stores, and for the accom- 
 modation of the people, until a site should be 
 chosen, and lands obiained, for their permanent 
 establishment, la order the more effectually to 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 257 
 
 execute the purposes of the expedition, Mr. Ba- 
 con on the 17th^ purchased the Augusta, a shoo- 
 ner of one hundred tons' burden, on board of 
 which a part of the Elizabeth's freight was trans- 
 ferred on the same day ; and both vessels imme' 
 diately proceeded to sea. Having doubled cape 
 Sierra Leone, the vessels proceeded towards 
 the entrance of the Sherbro sound, where the 
 Elizabeth, unable to proceed further with safety, 
 anchored on the 18th. The schooner, in running 
 too near the shore, grounded ; by which she 
 sustained a trifling injury ; but was got off on 
 the same day. 
 
 Mr. Bankson having returned on board, from 
 his visit to Kizzel's residence, made a report 
 highly favourable to the wishes of his colleagues^ 
 both as to the facilities for landing, and the coq> 
 veniences for accommodating the people, and 
 depositing the stores, at that place. Kizzel 
 had likewise tendered the best use of his in- 
 terest with the King and head-men of the ad- 
 jacent coast, in opening with them, an immedi- 
 ate negotiation for the lands, and bringing it to 
 a speedy issue. Animated by these flattering 
 prospects, the agents made immediate prepara- 
 tions for the trans shipment of the stores and 
 people, from the Elizabeth, to KizzePs town. 
 The distance was about six leagues. 
 
 March 20th, Mr. Bacon arrived off Campe- 
 lar, the place of Kizzel's settlement. ^^ At 
 half past ten," he states. " I went on shore and 
 88 
 
^8 MEMOIR or BACON* 
 
 was received with joy by Mr. Kizzel and lii& 
 people. He wept as we walked together, to hie 
 house. I dined with him on fish and rice^ 
 dressed with palm oil. Our people were sent 
 on shore, in boats. We unladed our schooner, 
 and sent back Mr. Bankson to the ship for the 
 stores. All the people got fixed during the day, 
 in the huts provided by Mr. Kizzel ; and at se- 
 ven o'clock, we all went in o the little chuich 
 and had a joyful season of evening prayer. 
 About twenty native Africans, nearly naked^ 
 were present. The sight of natives mingling in 
 our morning and evening worship, and even 
 joining in the tune, and some of the words of our 
 songs of praise, was a refreshing one. Mr, 
 Kizzel is a pious man ;* and has kept up wor- 
 ship amongst them a long time. I exhorted 
 in English, and he in Sherbro. This was an 
 affecting season of devotion ! It was worth liv- 
 ing an age to participate in it, with our feelings !" 
 The Cyane having arrived at Sierra Leone, 
 immediately despatched a boat to Campelar, for 
 Mr. Bacon, whose advice was necessary to be 
 taken in relation to her future employment on the 
 coast. Mr. Bacon accordingly left Campelar on 
 the S4th; and touching at the residence of 
 George Caulker, the proprietor of the Plantian 
 Islands, he thus describes his interview with this 
 
 * Mr. Bacon was unhappily obliged before his death, 
 either to reverse, or greatly modify his charitable judgment 
 of the piety of this individual, 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 259 
 
 African chieftain. A considerable part of his 
 wealth has been amassed by means of the inhu- 
 man traflBc in the persons of his countrymen. 
 
 ^^On our arrival at the Plantains, about 
 twelve at night, Caulker was in bed : he was 
 awakened, and received us at the gate of his 
 fortress. He had a white robe wrapped about 
 him ; and wore a turban of figured cambrick. 
 His reception of us was friendly. His house 
 is covered with thatch in the native style ; but 
 has, in the centre, one room finished in the 
 European manner. Ke gave up to Lieut. String- 
 ham and myself, his own bed-room, and afforded 
 a comfortable accommodation to the boat-men. 
 He has the air and manners of a Scottish chief- 
 tain. He was evidently suspicious of the mo- 
 tives of our visit, and was far from approving 
 our errand to the coast. He has a battery of 
 five dismounted guns, a high wall on two sides 
 of his inclosure, and ranges of houses on the 
 other sides. He is a man of intelligence ; gen- 
 teel in his address ; has many wives ; and pos- 
 sesses considerable influence." 
 
 Mr. Bacon arrived on board the Cyane in 
 the harbour of Sierra Leone on the S6th. It 
 was Sunday ; and he was obliged to pass the 
 evening amidst the unseasonable festivity of a 
 dining party, in which the principal oflBcers of 
 the English colony had been invited to join. 
 The effect of this profanation, on his feelings, is 
 noticed with emphasis in bis journal. The next 
 
iSBO MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 day, it was arranged, that the schooner Augusta 
 should be manned from the Cyane, and the com- 
 mand of her delivered to Midshipman Town- 
 send ; while the ship proceeded to prosecute 
 her cruise, and return to the United States, 
 
 On the 28th, Messrs. Bacon, Townsend, 
 and six men from the Cyane, accordingly, left 
 Sierra liCone, in an open boat ; and arrived at 
 Campelar on the 30th. 
 
 From this date to the 3d of April, the agents 
 were occupied in superintending and assisting 
 in the unlading of the Elizabeth, in the erection 
 of store-houses for the goods, and providing foi* 
 the accommodation and comfort of the people. 
 
 The Island of Sherbro is separated from 
 that part of the coast which bears the same name, 
 by a sound navigable for small vessels, and 
 from one and a half to four leagues broad. 
 Into this sound fall several rivers which admit 
 of boat navigation from five to thirty miles from 
 their mouth. This Island is about ten leagues 
 in length, and is covered with a luxuriant vege- 
 table growth : but it consists wholly of alluvial 
 ground, and like the whole adjacent coast, risei? 
 but a few feet above the level of the sea. Cam- 
 pelar is situated near the middle of the Island, 
 on the east side : and the ground on which it 
 stands, with much of the contiguous country, is 
 during the rains, extensively inundated. In addi- 
 tion to the manifest insalubrity of its situation, 
 the water is so strongly impregnated with for- 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. Sbl 
 
 eigu substances as to be rendered highly offen- 
 sive to the taste. The agents had notwithstanding 
 these forbi'dding circumstances, been inveigled 
 into an arrangement with the proprietor of the 
 spot, by which the people were to remain upon 
 it, while the negotiations for the lands were pro- 
 ceeding, by the most positive assurances of its 
 salubrity on the part of Kizzel, and a promise 
 of effectual assistance in bringing the native 
 chiefs to an early conference with the agents. 
 
 The dominion of the whole Sherbro coun- 
 try is distributed among a number of petty chiefs, 
 who all acknowledge to their king, a subjection 
 which is nearly nominal ; and possess an abso- 
 lute right of government in their respective dis- 
 tricts. A sort of paternal respect is shown by 
 the people to these head-men ; while a great de- 
 gree of personal freedom is enjoyed; and no 
 important act of government, or judicial deci- 
 sion, in which the former are generally interest- 
 ed, takes place, without the concurrence of the 
 elders of the tribe. 
 
 The territory which had been designated by 
 the former agents on the coast, and was the ob- 
 ject of the approaching negotiation, commenced 
 about thirty miles from Campelar, at the head 
 of boat navigation on the Bagroo river. King 
 Fara, who resided on the Island of Sher- 
 bro, was the reputed proprietor of the tract; 
 bat was unable to cede it, without the consent 
 and advice of king Sherbro and the chiefs. 
 
S63 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 Mr. Bacon soon perceived in Kizzel, a dis- 
 position for which he was not able satisfactorily 
 to account, to procrastinate the general council, 
 which he had promised his aid to obtain : and, 
 on the 3d of April, he ascended a small river 
 about ten miles from the sound, in order to visit 
 the chief, Kara, at his own residence. Of his 
 reception by Fara, and the conference which 
 ensued, he gives the following relation : 
 
 " We were received, and seated in the ^ pala- 
 ver' or council house, on native mats. The king 
 and head-men of his tribe, were arranged on 
 the opposite side ; and after our presents had 
 been produced and accepted, the ' palaver' began. 
 "I stated through Mr. Kizzel, the objects of our 
 visit to Africa and the improvement and benefits 
 likely to accrue to the native tribes, from our re- 
 ligion, agriculture, and the mechanic arts. He 
 listened to my words ; said they were all true ; 
 and professed to be highly gratified. He said he 
 owned the land where we wanted to sit down ; 
 and would sell it : but king Sherbro must first 
 be consulted as he was the king of the whole 
 country. He promised to come in two days, to 
 Campelar and give me further information." " I 
 am more and more pleased with the Sherbro 
 people. They are kind and attentive to our 
 wants. This country is capable of becoming a 
 continued garden. My health is excellent : I 
 know not that it was ever better." 
 
.\w:moiu of bacon. S6i^ 
 
 Anxious to secure the lands with the least 
 possible delay, and apprehensive that the pro- 
 fessions of Kizzel ought not to be confided in, 
 Mr. Bacon proceeded on the next day, to the 
 principal town of Somano, the chief of Bendou, 
 situated on the left of the sound, about twenty 
 miles south of Campelar. Professions of good 
 will, and a promise of concurring in any 
 grant of lands which should be agreed up- 
 on in a council of the chiefs, were obtained 
 from this chief without difficulty ; but Mr. Bacon 
 was able to obtain no assurance of an early 
 ' palaver.' 
 
 " After our interview with the chiefs," he 
 continues, "we walked several miles into the 
 country. The head-man, Tasso, was our guide, 
 who took good care to tell us under what trees 
 the ' greegres' were ; and that if we went 
 where they were, we should get a variety of 
 distempers. He showed us a collection of na- 
 tive medicines, and explained their uses." " I 
 never saw a country of equal fertility. The 
 most luxuriant growth of cotton trees, currant 
 trees, lime and orange trees, and a variety of 
 timber trees and shrubbery ; together with bana- 
 nas, plantains, cassadas, yams, ground-nuts, 
 sweet-potatoes, and acres covered with pine- 
 apple plants, lined our walks for miles. Tasso 
 was very friendly, — introduced us to his wife : 
 lamented that he had no palm wine for me ; and 
 promised to visit Campelar." " On my journey 
 
364 MEMOIR 0¥ BACON. 
 
 down, we stopped at Mrs. Andersons, on York 
 Island, and found the largest oranges I ever saw. 
 I got one that measured fifteen inches in circum- 
 ference." " I could not fail to admire the beau- 
 tiful healthy children in numerous groups, 
 wherever we go. King Fara said yesterday, 
 he would come if God phases^ — a mode of 
 speech worthy of a christian." 
 
 On Mr. Bacon's return from this excursion, 
 he was much afflicted to find that several of the 
 people at Campelar, had, during the day, ex- 
 hibited unequivocal symptoms of a violent at- 
 tack of fever. These consisted of pains in the 
 head, back, and limbs, attended with inflamma- 
 tion of the eyes, lassitude, and depression of 
 spirits. On the next day, the number of sick 
 amounted to fifteen. The trans-shipment and 
 landing of the Elizabeth's freight was not yet 
 completed, and fully occupied the other agents ; 
 while Mr. Bacon was employed in providing 
 shelter for the goods and people, ashore. The 
 latter began to manifest the utmost impatience 
 to remove from Campelar, on account both of 
 the badness of the water, and the apprehended 
 insalubrity of the situation. 
 
 The agents had found no leisure since their 
 arrival at Campelar, to organise the different de- 
 partments of the service ; and by assigning to 
 the people their respective employments and du- 
 ties, to avail themselves sufficiently of their aid 
 in sustaining the burden of labour which pressed 
 
Memoir of bacon. 265 
 
 upon their own shoulders. The consequence wag, 
 that their strength was exhausted with incessant 
 bodily exertion, and imprudent exposure to the 
 direct rays of a vertical sun, through the day, and 
 the damps of pestilential exhalations at night. 
 Many of the black people at the same time, would 
 scarcely give themselves the trouble properly to 
 prepare their own food ; by their indolence man- 
 ifestly inviting disease, and laying open the 
 system to the worst effects of the malignant pro- 
 perties of the water and climate. But there 
 were moral evils scarcely less formidable, daily 
 becoming more apparent in consequence of the 
 general idleness. It afforded to the seeds of 
 dissatisfaction which bad never been entirely 
 eradicated from their minds, a prolific growth. 
 Scarcely a circumstance of their lot, but admin- 
 istered some pretext of complaint against the 
 agents. The following picture of the distressing 
 scene which was now presented, is thus sketched 
 by Mr. Bacon, on the 6th of April : " We have 
 now twenty, one sick of a fever. We try the 
 country practice of bathing, and find it succesful 
 in some cases. We have not tried it suflBciently, 
 fully to attest its efficacy. The schooner is now 
 absent for the remainder of the freight ; and Dr. 
 Crozer is with her. Mr. Bankson is sick ;--I 
 suppose on board the vessel. I have heard the 
 complaints of the people this day, because there 
 is no good water to be had on the Island, — be- 
 cause they were brought to this place, — because 
 31 
 
add MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 I did not take possession of the land by force, — 
 because tlie people are visited with sickness, — 
 because tliere is not fresh meat, sugar, molas- 
 ses, flour and other luxuries to be distributed 
 to them, — because I have not shoes and clothing 
 for them, — because I cannot give them better to- 
 bacco, — because the ^ palaver' is not over, — be- 
 cause 1 take the best measures I can, to bring it 
 to a conclusion, — because the houses are not 
 better, — and because they have meat and bread 
 to eat. They complain of every thing they 
 have ; and are clamorous for every thing they 
 have not. We erected one additional house, to- 
 day for our people; and have two store-houses 
 already finished, in which our provisions and 
 goods are tolerably secure." 
 
 "We have suffered much from the depreda- 
 tions of our own people ! Even our high-toned 
 professors have been repeatedly detected in 
 petty thefts, falsehood, and mischiefs of the most 
 disgraceful nature. I am pained to the heart, 
 with tliese indications of gross hypocrisy. — It is 
 a dark picture : but its shades are truth." 
 
 On the eyening of the 7th, the number of sick 
 had increased to twenty-five. What added to 
 the distress was, the absence of Mr. Crozer, who 
 was almost the only individual attached to the 
 service capable of prescribing and preparing the 
 necessary medicines with a scientific knowledge 
 of their uses. Mr. Bacon gave his own person- 
 al attendance to the sick : and administered with 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. 267 
 
 his own hand, the best remedies which he could 
 devise. In these offices, he was employed dur- 
 ing the day, and through a great part of the 
 night. On the same day he preached to those 
 in health, preparatory to the communion ; and 
 addressed the natives through Kizzel, 
 
 April 8th, was a day of aggravated distress. 
 The schooner returned, bringing back Messrs, 
 Baukson, Crozer, and Townsend, all severely 
 ill ; as were also two of the schooner's crew. 
 Five more on shore, were added to the number 
 of the sick, reported the day before; — makingin 
 all, thirty-five. Of these much the greater part 
 were adult persons. The most useful of the colo- 
 nists were, nearly to an individual, in the number. 
 Twenty-five of the sick exhibited symptoms of 
 a dangerous character; and all, appeared to be 
 hourly getting worse. Almost the whole care of 
 the sick, as well as of those in health, now de- 
 volved on this agent ! ** I passed the day," he 
 writes, ^^ in visiting the sick, inquiring into their 
 wants, and administering medicines. Wherevei- 
 I move, I meet with little besides groans, and 
 tears. The fever is bilious; and in many 
 cases, attended with delirium. Among the cau- 
 ses of the sickness, I reckon the following, as 
 the principal. A too free use of thie country 
 fruits ; — the neglect of personal cleanliness ; — 
 alternate exposure to the sun, and dampness 
 of the night ; — the want of flooring to the huts ; — 
 constitutions not seasoned to the climate : and 
 
»«b MEMOIll OF BACON. 
 
 ill the case of those employed about the schoo- 
 ner, excessive fatigue, and anxiety of mind, and 
 remaining for hours in the water, and in wet 
 clothes, while landing the goods. Many of the 
 sick obstinately refuse to take medicines ; some 
 declaring, they will sooner die than submit to 
 do it.'' 
 
 To a person placed in Mr Bacon's circumstan 
 ces, at this period, and actuated by his disinter 
 csied and benevolent spirit it is not to be sup- 
 posed, that a prudential regard for his own 
 health would occur with sufficient force, to oc- 
 casion any relaxations in his attentions to others. 
 The following enumeration of duties whicli 
 he undertook at this time daily to perform, 
 shows, but too clearly, that he imposed upon 
 hrmself, a task to which human strength is utter- 
 ly unequal. Some of the privations and labours 
 to which he submitted, manifestly appear to 
 have been imprudent and unnccesisary. But 
 it would be improper too severely to censure in 
 him a fault which few besides would be liable to 
 commit. '^ Who can describe the burden under 
 which I am obliged to struggle, in feeding this 
 people, — enduring their complaints,— listening 
 to their tales of trouble,— inquiring into their 
 sufferings,^— ad ministering medicine, — labouring 
 with my own hands in building houses for 
 them, — and toiling at the oar, and handling 
 casks, in unloading the vessel and landing the 
 ^oods !— In addition to all this, I have the spiri- 
 
MEMOIR OF KACON. S69 
 
 tual concerns of the whole company to look af- 
 ter. I go without stockings, entirely, — often witli- 
 out shoes ; — scarcely wear a hat, and am gener- 
 ally without a coat: — I am up early, and not in 
 bed until ten, or eleven o'clock. . I eat little, and 
 sehlom use any other refreshments except hard 
 ship-bread, salt meat and water." " I labour 
 more, — am more exposed to heat, and wet, and 
 damp, and hunger, and thirst, than any one: 
 and yet, blessed be God, I continue in health." 
 " In addition to all this, I have the weight of the 
 whole interest on my mind : — all the care, — all 
 the responsibility, — all the anxiety. But God 
 be praised, 1 have peace within." " There are 
 eight entire families sick; amongst whom there 
 is not one able to dress his own food, or wait 
 upon a child. Oh God who can help, but 
 thou?" 
 
 Mr. Bacon found time to annex to this af- 
 fecting recital of his personal anxieties, and the 
 common sufferings, the following postscript. " Is 
 it asked, do I yet say ^ colonize Africa ?' I reply. 
 yes. He that has seen ninety native Africans 
 landed together in America, and remarked the 
 effects of the change of climate through the 
 first year, has seen them as sickly as these. 
 Every sudden and unnatural transition pro- 
 duces illness. The surprising fertility of the 
 African soil, the mildness of the climate, during 
 a great part of the year, the numerous commer- 
 cial advantages, the stores of fish, and herds of 
 
270 MEMOIR OP BACON. 
 
 animals^ to be found here, invite her scattered 
 children home. — As regards myself, I counted 
 the cost of engaging in this service before I left 
 America. I came to these shores to die : and 
 any thing better than death is better than I ex- 
 pect." 
 
 The 9th of April was Sunday. " At the 
 very hour," he continues, "I have been accus- 
 tomed to listen to, and aid in the praises of God, 
 I am hearkening to the groans, and mingling my 
 sighs with thos« of the sick and afflicted. Hav- 
 ing preached a preparatory sermon on Thursday 
 evening, 1 to-day administered the holy sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's supper to those of the Epis- 
 copal church, and six of the Methodist : and 
 we had a sweet season." 
 
 His colleague, Mr. Bankson, and several of 
 the people, were delirious through the day : none 
 appear to have passed the crisis of their disor- 
 der; and a few new cases occurred. Those 
 who returned sick in the schooner, had not been 
 removed on shore ; and it was determined, at 
 Mr. Crozer's and Mr. Townsend's request, to 
 send her to Sierra Leone, with the sick on 
 board, for medical assistance ; — the three effec- 
 tive seamen, with what attention Mr. Townsend 
 could bestow, undertaking to navigate her. But 
 the wind standing for two days, in an unfavour- 
 able quarter, it became at that time impracticable 
 to move her. 
 
MEMOIU OF BACON. ^71 
 
 On the lOtli, the commencement of the wet 
 season was indicated by two or three violent 
 gusts of thunder and wind, succeeded by tran- 
 sient showers of rain. 
 
 The people discovered the utmost impatience 
 to be removed from Campelar, and even in- 
 timated in a written memorial which they pre- 
 sented, an intention to take the direction of their 
 afiairs into their own hands. They were assem- 
 bled and remonstrated with ; after which, their 
 groundless agitation subsided, and their disor- 
 derly purpose was abandoned. 
 
 It had now become apparent^ that their faith- 
 less host, Kizzel, had employed a secret influ- 
 ence to produce and aggravate the disaflection of 
 the people. Mr. Bacon determined to rely no 
 longer on his mediation, or agency, in conduct- 
 ing the negotiations ; and proceeded on the Hth 
 to visit Koag Kouber, a prince and son of king 
 Sherbro, at his own town, on the Bagroo. The 
 interview was productive of no immediate re- 
 sults ; but discovered a disposition in the prince 
 to admit of no unnecessary delay in bringing 
 forward the general ^ palaver.' Mr. Bacon re- 
 turned on the 13th, and found the sickness not 
 in the least abated. Mr. Crozer committed his 
 agency in form, to the Rev. Daniel Coker ; and 
 awaited the closing scene of life, with composure. 
 
 The next day one of the sick on shore died: 
 and new cases occurred. Mr. Townsend came 
 on deck, during the preceding night in a fit of 
 
XJ^ MEMOIR OF BACON 
 
 delirium, and fell overboard. He was with dif- 
 iiciilty rescued ; but had the violence of his 
 fever increased by tlie accident. At nisjht, Mr. 
 Bacon states : '^ There arc only six or eight of 
 the people in health— and the sick cannot be 
 properly taken care of. I am still well, and en- 
 joy the supreme protection and favour of God." 
 
 On the 14th, occurred another death. Mr. 
 Bacon found time to add ; *^ We have been in 
 hourly expectation of Mr. Crozer's death. God 
 be praised, I am yet well : but am continually 
 engaged, — continually. Every duty — adminis- 
 tering medicine, nursing tlie sick, praying over 
 them, burying the dead, serving out provisions, 
 and hearing complaints — all — all, still fall, upon 
 me. But God helps me." 
 
 " April 15th. Our whole number of sick is 
 nearly forty. Mr. Crozer died, about one o'clock 
 on board the Augusta. I was engaged in prayer 
 by his side when he expired. This is a season 
 of grief, indeed. He said a few days ago, that 
 ' Jesus was precious to him, but less so than he 
 could M'isli.' These are dark seasons. Mr. 
 Townsend's case is hopeless. Others are very 
 low. Grace alone, could enable me to bear up 
 under afflictions like these. O God, send us thy 
 help/" 
 
 Tlie iGth, was marked by the death of Mid- 
 shipman John S. Townsend, and one of the sick 
 on shore. The remains of Messrs. Crozer and 
 Townsend, were carried to the grave by the 
 
MEMOIR OF BA.CON. S7S 
 
 American seamen of the Augusta, and buried 
 with the honours of war. Mr. Bankson was 
 supposed to be convalescent, and at twelve 
 o'clock, removed on shore. Mr. Doughen, a 
 young gentleman who went out under Mr. Ba- 
 con's patronage; and who had hitherto retained 
 his health, became ill : and he was himself con- 
 siderably indisposed, at night. 
 
 Under the date of the succeeding day, Mr. 
 Bacon inserts the following memorandum. " I 
 was yesterday indisposed ; and am to-day more 
 so. I have taken an emetic, and otherwise pre- 
 pared for the illness which seems to be approach- 
 ing." 
 
 While confined to his room he was able to 
 adjust the current accounts of the expedition, 
 with the assistance of an amanuensis ; and en- 
 ter in the books an imperfect copy, with his own 
 hand. 
 
 The following are the last notes which he 
 was able to write. They are feebly traced with 
 a pencil in characters which are barely legible : 
 
 " April 19th. The wife of Augustin died 
 last night, and was buried to-day, Mr. Coker 
 and Kizzel started to day, for Yonie, with the 
 goods appropriated for carrying on the ' palaver/ 
 in order to hasten it," * * 5^ " I last night, con- 
 tracted a slight cold, — have used the warm bath, 
 and some gentle medicines; and feel a little 
 relieved. I have been careful not to weaken 
 my stomach and digestive organs, by too copious 
 
S74 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 draughts, especially of water ; — as that indul- 
 gence carried oif Mr. Crozer, Towusend, and 
 others." * * * * 
 
 " April 20th. Still sick." * * * * 
 " * * * 21st. The same." * * * * 
 <i ^- * * 22(i. * * same." * * * * 
 The sufferings of the people were now ar- 
 rived at that extreme point which hardly admits 
 of being exceeded. Mr. Doughen was confin- 
 ed to his couch : Mr. Bankson, although recov- 
 ering, was still incapable even of administering 
 to his own personal wants. The only three 
 persons sufficiently intelligent to take the pro- 
 per oversight of the affairs of the people, su- 
 perintend the administration of medicines, and 
 direct to such means as were requisite to their 
 comfort and recovery, were necessarily sent to 
 Yonie, to meet the native kings who had agreed 
 to assemble at that place. The anxiety which 
 this state of things created in Mr. Bacon's mind 
 could not fail greatly to enhance his sufferings, 
 and accelerate the crisis of his disorder. He 
 distinctly expressed more concern on account of 
 the sufferings of the people, and the darkening 
 prospects of the enterprise, tlian on account of 
 bis own illness. In contemplating his own 
 death, he saw little, except a bright and bound- 
 less expanse of glory piercing with its light the 
 gloom which hung over the dying scene. But 
 his heart was wrung with the anticipation of the 
 svent, as it would affect the welfare of the 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. ^75 
 
 colonists, and the success of the expedition. 
 On this theme he had vented his feelings in the 
 most pathetic language. But even in this hea- 
 viest, and doubtless his last trial, he found re- 
 lief by a vigorous eifort of faith in the mercy of 
 God : and by ultimately confiding in the wisdom 
 and righteousness of all his purposes. The last 
 expression of the pungent sensations which 
 arose out of this survey of a prospect so dark 
 and distressing, recorded by his pen, is accom- 
 panied with the petition, manifestly dictated by 
 the fervent wishes of his heart, — " Thy will be 
 done." 
 
 From the S2d, to the S8th of April, there 
 was no Intelligent friend to observe the progress 
 of his symptoms, or administer the medicines 
 and comforts which their varying characteristics 
 demanded. He had consigned himself to the 
 hands of his God ; and waited submissively, the 
 result of his afflictive dispensation. 
 
 To be obliged to censure, where it would be a 
 pleasure to commend, is painful : and to accuse of 
 neglecting the ordinary offices of humanity, those 
 who have deserved and possessed our gratitude, 
 is doubly wounding to the heart. Our people have, 
 both before and subsequently to this date, received 
 favours from individuals, and the government of 
 Sierra Leone, which have called forth public 
 expressions of gratitude. But why, at the period 
 of these occurrences, and for several weeks af- 
 terwards, was no medical aid tendered, — why, 
 
S76 MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 when urgently solicited, was it denied, to our 
 sick and dying people, by their English neigh- 
 bours ? Sierra Leone was at that time, healthy : 
 and it was a matter of notoriety, that the only 
 medical gentleman attached to the American ex- 
 pedition, had died at an early period of the sick- 
 ness. On the 38th, a small vessel from Freetown 
 anchored in sight of Campelar. A barge was 
 despatched from her with two individuals, who 
 proved to be servants of the colonial govern- 
 ment of Sierra Leone ; and one of them, an act- 
 ing physician. They were welcomed with joy. 
 But after announcing, as the object of their visit, 
 some trivial, and obviously incredible matter of 
 trade, — making a leisurely survey of the calami- 
 tous circumstances of the people, and displaying 
 the utmost indifference to their sufferings, they 
 returned on the same evening, to their vessel. 
 The intreaties of those in health, seconded by 
 the tears, and cries of the sick and dying, had 
 been addressed to them in vain, for medical at- 
 tendance-^and even for advice, as to the mode 
 of treatment proper for the disease. Both were 
 refused. After much intreaty, they reluctantly 
 consented to receive Mr. Bacon into their schoo- 
 ner, and convey him the next day, to Sierra 
 Leone ; and for that purpose promised to keep 
 their vessel in its station, until nine o'clock, on 
 the following morning, when it was agreed, that 
 Ije should be sent on board, in his own boat. 
 A^cprdingly, on the morning of the S9th, he 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S77 
 
 was conveyed in a very debilitated state, from 
 Campelar, and arrived at tiie anchorag;e ground, 
 before the hour appointed for the sailing of the 
 schooner. But on the approach of the boat, the 
 vessel drew up her anchor, and set sail for Sierra 
 Leone ! Mr. Bacon ordered the men at the oars 
 to overtake her ; and the lightness of the wind, 
 for a season, favoured the effort. A press of 
 sail was, however, set ; and though followed at 
 a moderate distance for several hours, the vessel 
 at length ran so far ahead as to set the exertions 
 of the boat-men at defiance.* It was now noon. 
 Mr. Bacon had been exposed to the direct rays 
 of the sun, for six hours, with no better covering 
 than a silk umbrella ; nor was it possible to regain 
 a better shelter, before night. He ordered the 
 men to direct their course towards the Plan- 
 tain Islands ; where the boat arrived in the 
 evening of the same day. After resting through 
 the night, Mr. Bacon was carried aboard the 
 boat, early in the morning of the 30th, and 
 passed the whole of another day in the same ex- 
 posed condition as he had done the preceding. 
 His fever had now attained a degree of violence 
 which almost deprived him of the power of 
 speech ; and rendered him apparently insensible 
 to passing occurrences. On the evening of this 
 day he was landed at the recent English settle- 
 ment on Cape Shilling ; and very hospitably re- 
 
 * See Appendix, Note VIII. 
 
i37S MEMOIR OF BACON. 
 
 ceived by Captain William Randle, the super- 
 intendant of the station. Every requisite atten- 
 tion was bestowed upon him by that gentleman, 
 and his family ; and his mind appeared soothed 
 by the kindness which was evinced. But reme- 
 dies came too late to do him good. 
 
 During the next day, he was able to recline 
 for short intervals on a sofa; and to take a small 
 part in the conversation. But his disorder was 
 hastening rapidly, to a fatal termination. He 
 perceived it, and expressed in the intervals of 
 liis sensibility, his acquiescence in the sovereign 
 pleasure of God. The cause in which he had em- 
 barked retained a strong interest in his affections, 
 to the last. In his last conversation, he feebly 
 asked, ^' Dear Brother Randle, do you not think 
 
 wc have happiness reserved that will ?" 
 
 \s the interrogatory was unfinished, the gentle- 
 man to whom it was addressed, did not immedi- 
 ately reply : when, Mr. Bacon continued, ** What 
 do you say to my question ?" A hope was then 
 expressed, that the Saviour would reserve for 
 both, a happiness which should abundantly com- 
 pensate their present sufferings. He replied, 
 and they were some of his last words, " Ah ! 
 that is all I v»'ant.*' 
 
 This last effort of reason and speech, took 
 place about eleven o'clock, on the night of the 
 Ist of May. The languid current of life ebbed 
 gradually away, until half past four, on the fol- 
 lowing morning ; when he expired. Jllis remains 
 
MEMOIR OF BACON. S79 
 
 were interred on the same day, in the burial 
 ground attached to the church in the settlement : 
 and though deposited by the hands of strangers, 
 on a foreign and pagan shore, they rest under 
 the sure protection of the christian's Saviour, 
 and in '' the certain hope of a glorious resurrec- 
 tion."* 
 
 In his person, Mr. Bacon was tall; the struc- 
 ture of his frame was masculine, and rather indica- 
 tive of strength, than characterised by symmetry 
 of proportion. His features were strongly mark- 
 ed ; and the expression of his countenance blend- 
 ed an interesting pensiveness with the lineaments 
 ef an intelligent and vigorous mind. His attach- 
 ments were ardent ; his passions quick and vio- 
 lent ; and his friendships affectionate and perma- 
 nent. He was impatient of opposition, rapid in: 
 his movements, and determined in his purposes. 
 Inflexible integrity, unbounded generosity, and a 
 sincerity incapable of disguise, run through the 
 entire texture of his character. 
 
 His learning was various ; and his taste clas- 
 sical : but the first was not profound ; nor the 
 last exact. His legal acquirements were all of the 
 useful kind ; his standing at the bar respectable : 
 and his professional reputation increasing. 
 
 By regeneration, every constitutional excel- 
 lence was heightened, and a foundation laid for 
 those pre-eminent spiritual attainments^ in which 
 
 * See Appendix, Note IX. 
 
280 MEMOiU OF BACO^N. 
 
 he had few equals, — perhaps no superiors. His 
 zeal has hcen seen to be ardent ; his devotion 
 entire ; his hopes, elevated to sublimity ; and 
 his faith invincible. The love and fear of God 
 tempered together in just proportions, formed the 
 prevalent feeling of his heart ; his very thoughts 
 were prayer ; his habit of obedience to the di- 
 vine laws, prompt and unhesitating; and his 
 'love of the christian brother-hood, unfeigned.' 
 The mystery of ^ God manifest in the flesh,' and 
 the character, work and otTices of the Redeemer, 
 formed the theme of his untiring admiration, his 
 incessant rejoicing, his increasing gratitude, and 
 his highest praise. In the service of such a Mas- 
 ter, enforced by such motives, his talents, health, 
 and life, were regarded as infinitely too cheap an 
 offering. To Him, they were all deliberately 
 consecrated : for Him, they were all cheerfully 
 resigned. And his memory shall be blessed. 
 The American church will long cherish it with 
 affection : and it shall hereafter freshen in the 
 hearts of millions in another hemisphere, when 
 the work in which |ie fell shall have its consum- 
 mation, in the civilization of Africa, the re- 
 turn of all her exiles, and the subjection of a 
 countless population to the dominion of Christ. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 THE denomination of " Congregationalist," in refer- 
 ence to iUe relifjious societies of New England, is used in 
 an appropriate, and not according to the original, sense of 
 the teim. In strict phraseology, several sects of Baptists 
 and other Christians, in those, and the other states, are con- 
 gregationalists, but known by different names. The terra 
 " Congregationalist" in its common use, designates the ori- 
 ginal and prevalent denomination, who adopt essentially, 
 the same system of faith, and have ever been in christian 
 fellowship, with the Presbyterians ; from whom they differ 
 only in their system of ecclesiastical government and dis- 
 cipline. The government and affairs of the church are 
 administered by the whole congregation of communicints; 
 of which each constitutes a separate and independent ec- 
 clesiastical body, which neither admits, nor exercises the 
 controul of any other. This order sometimes, although 
 improperly, are dejiominated Presbyterians. 
 
 NOTE TI. 
 
 The direct testimony of Mr. Bacon to the general ex- 
 cellence of the New England character, cannot be withheld 
 without disappointing an intention v/hich he seems to have 
 entertained, of publishing at some future period, a jrraphi- 
 cal illustration of the habits, morals, and religion of the 
 people; with a view to the extermination of certain pre- 
 judices which so greatly detract from their just estimation 
 in other sections of the country. The strongest of these 
 prejudices, he correctly supposed, have their oriann in ig- 
 norance. In the outline of these sketches, which Mr. Ba- 
 con prepared about two years previous to his death, the 
 following very just observations occur. "In New Eng- 
 land, the laws of the several states are generally better ex- 
 36 
 
282 APPENDIX. 
 
 eciited than in the middle and Southern states. Religion 
 is much more generally attended to. Education is foster- 
 ed, and good morals protected. But there is in the lower 
 classes of the people, a species of low cunning and intrigue, 
 which is sometimes rendered dangerous amongst a less 
 suspicious and more ignorant people. It is this class of 
 people who, finding their own laws too strict for them, ge- 
 nerally remove to a distant part of the country, where 
 their arts and deceptions find a better opportunity for ac- 
 tion. Go amongst the people of that country, you will 
 find them hospitable, moral, religious. Industry and hard 
 labour, characterise the most of tliem. If it is asked what 
 are the distinguishing traits of the New England character, 
 it might be said, they are, enterprise, perseverance, shrewd- 
 ness, industry and economy. Upon this subject much might 
 be said. The character of these people is not understood." 
 
 NOTE III. 
 
 In an imperfect sketch of the present state of New 
 England, which Mr. Bacon drew up a few years only before 
 his death, he exercises on this subject, an unreasonable se- 
 verity of reflection, which was unusual for him at that time 
 to indulge on any other, and which can be best vindicated bj 
 attributing it in part, to the eftects of early prejudice. The 
 following remarks are extracted from these papers : "As 
 to the religion of the New England states, the " Standing 
 order" not unfrequently exercise some degree of persecu- 
 tion. All offices are attempted to be holden by them, and 
 having the law on their side, they make all contribute to 
 their worship, who do not produce written testimony that 
 they contribute to some other mode. Every person is obli- 
 ged to go to church once in three months, under a penalty ; 
 and sabbath-breaking is considered as a crime of no small 
 magnitude. Yet too much hypocrisy may sometimes be 
 seen under the demure garb and face of a congregationalist 
 as well as others. It is predicted that the unnatural union 
 of church and state will take place in those states, if not 
 
APPENDIX. ^83 
 
 guarded against. • The standing order' will probably grow 
 more and more arrogant and powerful, if the laws in their 
 favour be not relaxed. One great advantage which they 
 possess is, that * power and authority' is on their side." 
 
 The allusion contained in the foregoing extract, to the 
 public sentiment on the violation of the Sabbath, must not 
 be understood as an expression of any other feeling in Mr. 
 Bacon, than that of approbation. Of the crime of violating 
 the Sabbath, no person was more sensible, or felt a deeper 
 abhorrence than himself. It may be further remarked, and 
 probably from a better knowledge of the actual tendency 
 of the congregational system in New England at the pre- 
 sent time, than Mr. Bacon possessed in 1817, that whatever 
 consequences might be dreaded from the legal patronage 
 enjoyed by that body, continuing in a state of religious lan- 
 guor, and general conformity to the world, the recent very 
 extensive revival of true religion amongst them, has visibly 
 arrested the aspiring tendencies of the system, and directed 
 the ambition of a great portion of their members in the pur- 
 suit of far sublimer, and more appropriate objects. 
 
 NOTE IV. 
 
 Mr. Bacon was fully sensible of the imperfection of all 
 his poetical productions. Being written for his own amuse- 
 ment, or the gratification of a few of his particular friends, 
 they ought not to be too readily subjected to the eye of 
 public criticism. The piece which follows, is taken without 
 much attention to the selection, from those which have fallen 
 into the liands of the writer ; and offered as a fair specimen, 
 (and one must suffice) of their general character. Its faults 
 and beauties are alike apparent. 
 
 THE GHOST OF A SACHEM. 
 
 The war-song arose on the night's drowsy pinions. 
 It rose from the site, where his wigwam once stood : 
 
 On the banks of the Mohawk, his sire's wild dominions. 
 It roll'd in shrill echoes,-- -the song of the tvood. 
 
284! APPENDIX. 
 
 The sky-towering wilds of the untrodden mountains. 
 Reporting the full notes, by distance made mild ; 
 
 The Mohawk's rude billows, in haste from their fountains. 
 In consonance echoed, " the prince of the wild .'*' 
 
 By the flash of the far distant fire's dying embers, 
 I saw the red chieftain arise from the earth ; 
 
 He review'd each old haunt ; for the spirit remembers 
 Each scene, that to joy or to sorrow gave birth. 
 
 His shoulders o'erspr'^ad with his battle-worn blanket. 
 His enai^ns of mildness all huns; by his side ; 
 
 His wounds weepingblood. while his native earth drank it: 
 For the "ghost of the sachem" appeared, as he died. 
 
 "How oft." he exclaimed, "have my visits nocturnal 
 Been made to this spot, where my kindred all fell ? 
 
 And let me still wander, "great spirit," supernal ! 
 And still let the war-note on midnight's ear swell. 
 
 " My old oaks, that stood like my tribe, long unshakenj 
 Brav'd the tempest, and storm, and the elements' roar; 
 
 My warriors, — my tribe— the destroyer has taken ; 
 The children of nature shall reign here no more. 
 
 " The tlme-moulder'd stumps of my forests now shew me. 
 They're pilferpd, some towerins; wi<>;wam to rear. 
 
 No more my own lund$, as their sachem, shall know me ; 
 Their vales are all furrowed — their groves are not here. 
 
 " The buflfiilo, hence, with his bulky distention. 
 The elk and the deer fro'n the river banks hie ; 
 
 The mammoths, that bellow'd in dreadful convention, 
 No more shall here battle with powers of the sky ! 
 
 " The chase, that among vonder hill-tops resounded ; 
 That fired the young red-nian with enterprise high. 
 
 The veil, that exults, when the fleet deer is wounded, 
 No longer on wind or on breeze passes by- 
 
 " The council-fire's blaze, where I oft quell'd commotion, 
 No longer Ulumines <^he "loom of t'^e night ; 
 
 No lonser arises the fire of devotion ; 
 No longer the war-dance leads on to the fight ; 
 
 "How oft have \ buried the blood-thirsty hatchet ! 
 For the nMtenmn beso^ic^ht, and the sachem was brave ! 
 
 How oft did his treachery tempt me to snatch it; 
 AJid not e'en his wife or his little oneSj save ! 
 
APPENDIX. 28.1 
 
 « In an hour of repose the fell rifle was levePd ; 
 It murdei'd my boys, and my a;itls, and my wife ! 
 
 T le Mohawk received tliem; their straight hair dishevel'd: 
 It next sought their chief, and robb'd him too of life ! 
 
 " But the day-star approaches the darkness to banish ; 
 I haste to the ' land of tny fathers' in rest ; 
 
 The breezy dawn comes, and each spirit must vanish ; 
 The grave is my home, and tlie darkness my guestP 
 
 NOTE V. 
 
 At this season Mrs. Bacon had been for some time ab- 
 sent from Washington on a visit to her friends in Penn- 
 sylvania. Her approaching confinement was anticipated 
 by her husband with the utmost solicitude. His feelings 
 appear to have consisted of a singular mixture of social 
 and religious aftection, excited to an uncommon degree, and 
 flowing forth inditferently towards all his friends. He 
 composed, and constantly repeated, for a course of weeks, 
 the following prayer, from which a few extracts are here 
 uiserted, as characteristic of the state of his mind at the 
 time. 
 
 " Almighty and merciful God, wilt thou suffer a repen- 
 tant sinner to throw himself at thy foot-stool at this time 
 and implore thy pardoning mercy, — thy forgiving kindness. 
 Oh, Father in Heaven, let me humbly thank thee for the 
 blessings thou hast vouchsafed me for the day past and for 
 all thy kindness thus far in life. Let me more especially 
 pour out my soul before thee in gratitude, thankfulness and 
 praise, for affording us the way of grace and the hopes of 
 salvation through a Redeemer. Let me never forget to 
 thank thee for this only source of happiness, revealed to us 
 in thy holy word. O God, accept my thanks for thy past 
 blessings on my wife and on our union : for the length of 
 days and measure of health and comfort granted to my 
 aged father, and for thy goodness and mercy to all my bro- 
 thers and sisters and their several families. Forgive, O God, 
 I humbly beseech thee, all our sins. Dispose and enable 
 us to Uvea righteous and Godly life ; to repent of our sins 
 
fioO AVI'ENDIX. 
 
 and thus make ourselves worthy of thy forgiving grace. 
 Bless my fatlier with health and strength ; and may he be 
 at last prepared for, and receive thy pardoning grace May 
 my days be spent in doing good, and serving thee. May the 
 offspring of our union be endowed with the senses and affec- 
 tions of human nature, capable of rendering it a blessing to 
 its parents ; and may it be so educated as to serve thee in 
 sincerity and truth, and at last be fitted for immortal life. 
 Heavenly Father, teach me how to pray and what to pray 
 for. Not my will, O Lord, but thine be done ; for thou hast 
 so taught us to pray, * Our father, &,c.' " 
 
 NOTE VI. 
 
 An instance fully illustrative of the influence which sen- 
 sible impressions assisted by the imagination, could exert on 
 Mr. Bacon's judgment, while oppressed with bodily indispo- 
 sition, occurs in his journal. Few will be disposed to resort 
 to the supposition of a directly supernatural agency in or- 
 der to account for the singular sensation ; nor is it consi- 
 dered necessary. That his mind was at the time in a most 
 happy and eicvated frame of devotion, and that the effect 
 of the impression was entirely salutary ; there can be little 
 doubt. Perhaps the pious reader may recollect sensations 
 of his own mind of a similar kind, wliich, had they been as- 
 sisted by a livelier imagination and a higher state of nervous 
 excitability, might !»ave had for a short time, the like impo- 
 sing effect on his judgment. 
 
 "January 2d. This day my temporal business was less 
 urgent, and I had leisure to rest; bu t was exercised with 
 anxiety about the trying business of the approaching week. 
 I was a few moments at the house of two of my neighbours ; 
 and was requested to pray in both. My desires for more grace 
 were strong and fervent. On returning to my lodgings, sud- 
 denly abright light appeared to illuminate the whole room. 
 I immediately rose up and looked about with surprise, but 
 not with fear. I praised the Lord, and was happy — but 
 remained for some time in a happy surprise: when it oc- 
 
APPENDIX. 287 
 
 curred to me that I had lost my eye-sight, or that some ma- 
 terial change had taken place in the organs of vision. I 
 went out to ascertain whether I could discern objects 
 by moonlight ; as the night was a bright one. I found on tri- 
 al, that my eyes were as usual. I then retiirned, and examin- 
 ed my stove ; but not a spark of fire was to be found in it. 
 No natural objects about me were rendered visible by it. 
 My shutter and door were closed, and the light of the moon 
 could not enter. Still the glorious vision continued; un- 
 til at length, my doubts prevailed, and I lost it. I still re- 
 gard it as a dispensation fraught with love to my soul ; 
 and often sigh, * My God repeat that heavenly hour, that 
 vision so divine.' " 
 
 NOTE vir. 
 
 The following is an abstract of the document promul- 
 gated on this occasion ; which is given as illustrative of the 
 equitable principle on which the society intend to act in the 
 distribution of lands to African settlers. 
 
 Every married man arriving or marrying in the colony 
 within one year from its commencement, to receive twenty- 
 five acres for himself, twenty-four for his wife, and ten for 
 each child, as near the town as convenient : and every fami- 
 ly is entitled to a lot in town. 
 
 Every single man to receive thirty acres in the country, 
 and a lot in town. 
 
 Minors, and females not included in the former classes, 
 to be entitled each, to twenty-five acres of land, without 
 the town. 
 
 Labourers and machanics, as a motive to industry and 
 good conduct, to receive at the discretion of the agents, 
 each ten acres in addition to the allotment above specified. 
 
 The agents only are authorised to buy or negotiate with 
 the natives for land. 
 
 The colonists in order to hold their lands and lots, must 
 reside in the colony and cultivate them. 
 
 Grants forfeitable by misconduct. 
 
IBS 
 
 At-rKKDlX. 
 
 NOTE Vllf. 
 
 It is not in^iniKitofl fhat the government of Sierra TLe-- 
 one positively interfered in preventing the t^xtension of me- 
 dical assistance to the colonists in Sherbro. But the utter 
 indifference which even the officers of that colony seem to 
 have evinced, to the unparallelled suiTeringsofthe American 
 people, demands an explnnation. It is not pretended that 
 anj other obligation, than that vi^hich arises from the profes- 
 sion of a common Christianity, and the possession of a com- 
 mon nature rested on the n to afford reliefto their afflicted fel- 
 low beings in this case. Let the cruel perfidy of the two un- 
 principled individuals referred to in the memoir, rest with 
 themselves : the cause of humanity demands of the gentle 
 men attached to the board of direction of the English govern- 
 ment at Sierra Leone, a vindication from what appearsto have 
 been aconduct indirect violation of its most sacred laws. 
 
 Perhaps it is due to the justice of Heaven to state, that 
 one of the two English visitants toCampelar on the 28th, 
 met, shortly after his return, a sudden and violent death : 
 and the other is believed to be nov/ undergoing an infamous 
 punishment for felony. 
 
 The clergymen and missionaiies of Sierra licone, are 
 from their circumstances and duties, to be entirely excepted 
 from any part ot the foregoing censure. 
 
 NOTE IX. 
 ]Mr. Bankson continued to amend, for a few days, when 
 he was subjected to a fatal relapse, v/hich carried him ofFou 
 the ISth of May. Mr. Doughen recovered, and returned 
 to the United States. The whole crew of the Augusta and 
 about twenty of the black people, died. The remainder in 
 a few weeks regained their health ; of whom the greatest 
 number continued under the care of the Rev. Daniel Co' 
 ker in Sierra Leone, until the month of March, 1821, 
 when new agents arrived with supplies, and a reinforcement 
 of colonists, from the United States. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
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