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Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou

by Maturin M. Ballou · English · Gutenberg #36946 · 621,769 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou

Author: Maturin M. Ballou


        
Release date: August 2, 2011 [eBook #36946]

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHY OF REV. HOSEA BALLOU ***




Produced by Julia Miller, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)










                      BIOGRAPHY OF REV. HOSEA BALLOU.

                           BY HIS YOUNGEST SON,

                            MATURIN M. BALLOU.


     "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was
     strong in faith, giving glory to God: and being fully persuaded
     that what he had promised he was able also to perform."


    BOSTON:
    PUBLISHED BY ABEL TOMPKINS.
    1852.

    Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
                         ABEL TOMPKINS,
    In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
                         Massachusetts.

    STEREOTYPED BY
    HOBART & ROBBINS,
    NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERY,
    BOSTON.


                           TO THE
                 SECOND UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY
                         OF BOSTON,
    THIS BIOGRAPHY OF THEIR LATE PASTOR IS RESPECTFULLY
                         Dedicated,
                  BY THEIR HUMBLE SERVANT,
                         THE AUTHOR.


[Illustration: Portrait of REV. HOSEA BALLOU, Engraved by H. W. Smith]




AUTHOR'S PREFACE.


To say that the author experiences a degree of diffidence in writing
upon the theme and subject of these pages, would but inadequately
express his true feelings on taking up the pen for this object. But he
does it with a purpose of strict adherence to facts, nor will any matter
be suppressed or one iota added to the truth. No one who shall read a
dozen pages herein relating to the early life of Rev. Hosea Ballou, but
will at once acquit the author of any false pride as it regards
chronicling the events and circumstances of the subject's life. He is
most happy to state the facts literally, and he is satisfied as to the
verdict that every unprejudiced mind will render.

It may be said that a son cannot write a faithful history of a
parent--that such a production must needs be partial,--though we have
numerous instances of the contrary. To such an objection the writer
would reply, that there is but one side to truth, and it is this, and
this only, that the reader will find in these pages. He offers no
labored extenuation or defence,--there are no circumstances that require
it; no appeal or pleading for a verdict of acquittal,--for there are no
charges to refute; but he gives a simple, unvarnished biography of a
true Christian and a faithful disciple of the gospel, whose whole life,
even from earliest youth, has been a beautiful and consistent tribute to
truth. For some time previous to the decease of the subject of this
biography the author contemplated the present work, and for this purpose
has, at various times, kept minutes relative to dates of his father's
movements; and he has also been briefly assisted by memoranda and short
articles from his father's pen, which are embodied herein, relative to
his feelings concerning himself and his doctrine. The framework, so to
speak, of the book, has therefore been in hand for a considerable
period; and the placing of it in a proper form for the printer has been
all the author has attempted since the death of his respected father.

M. M. Ballou.

_Boston, Sept., 1852._




CONTENTS.


    CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY                                         9

    CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND PARENTAGE                                14

    CHAPTER III. EARLY LIFE                                        22

    CHAPTER IV. BECOMES A PROFESSOR OF RELIGION                    38

    CHAPTER V. COMMENCES TO PREACH                                 52

    CHAPTER VI. BECOMES A SETTLED MINISTER                         64

    CHAPTER VII. REMOVES TO PORTSMOUTH, N. H.                      89

    CHAPTER VIII. SETTLES IN BOSTON                               103

    CHAPTER IX. COMMENCES THE UNIVERSALIST MAGAZINE               120

    CHAPTER X. COMMENCES THE UNIVERSALIST EXPOSITOR               136

    CHAPTER XI. DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS             173

    CHAPTER XII. MR. BALLOU AS A CONTROVERSIALIST                 231

    CHAPTER XIII. SPIRIT OF HIS DOCTRINE                          258

    CHAPTER XIV. SENTIMENTS RELATIVE TO DEATH                     322

    CHAPTER XV. END OF HIS EARTHLY MISSION                        366

    CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION                                       392




BIOGRAPHY.




CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.


The gratitude of mankind has not failed to record with honor the names
of those who have been the inventors of useful improvements in the arts,
or the authors of scientific discoveries, of brave warriors and wise
statesmen; ancient history reveals to us the time when the inventors of
letters and the plough, were revered as divinities. If there are any who
are actually worthy of being remembered by the world, they are those who
have proved themselves, by the lives they have led, and by their holy
teachings, to be benefactors of the human family, and true followers of
Christ.

It is conceded by all, that biography is a most important species of
history. Through its agency, men who have been distinguished for merit,
talent, or any peculiar virtue, are remembered, and, though they may be
personally lost to us, yet the good influence they exerted during their
lives, is made to continue for our benefit. The biography of any eminent
individual must be, in some degree, a chronicle of the times in which he
lived, and thus, though the production may be of the most humble
character, the pages of history are enriched, and the records of the
past perfected. We think it was the Rev. John Ewart, M. A., a noted
English divine, who set it down as one of the most interesting
reflections relative to biographical reading, that we may see and know
in heaven, those whose life and excellent works we have read of here.
This is, perhaps, rather a peculiar argument, but not inappropriate in
this connection.

For our own part, we have ever perused, with the liveliest satisfaction,
any book of a biographical character, and believe that such works are
almost universally read with avidity and profit. With living men and
present measures, there is generally some prejudice or passion
connected. But when death has set his seal upon a worthy character, and
he has departed from the din and conflict of the world, then we can
receive the full benefit of his example. For it is very true that genius
rarely shines with full lustre until death hath unroofed it of envy. It
will, therefore, be my object in these pages to adhere to those facts
best fitted to illustrate the personal character of Mr. Ballou, and to
furnish the means of estimating aright the services he rendered to his
own and subsequent times, that his memory may remain to us in evergreen
freshness and beauty, and thus renew to posterity the savor of a good
life.

It is the usual practice with biographers to dwell at length and in
explanation upon the discoveries and doctrines of the object of their
labors, forgetting, apparently, that these things are almost universally
known already, and that the main design of a biography should be to make
public and illustrate the private life of those whom the world already
knows as philosophers, statesmen, divines, or otherwise. It is said of
Mallet, that he wrote the life of Lord Bacon, and forgot that he was a
philosopher. But this is rarely the case, for it is the prevailing
custom, and has ever been, to forget the man in the remembrance of the
philosopher. It is the traits of personal character, those slight, yet
important incidents and anecdotes which mark the individual's every-day
life, that, when preserved and recorded, form the great interest and
charm of biography. Plutarch, the writer of half a hundred lives, in
that of Alexander says:--"As painters labor the likeness in the face, so
must we be permitted to strike off the features of the soul, in order to
give a real likeness of these great men."

Hence, biography written in a true spirit, while something quite
different from history, is, nevertheless, an important supplement and
aid to it, throwing light into its dark corners, and explaining its
obscurity. For the historian, in the spirit of the painter or poet, must
dispense with all the minutiae of detail which would interfere with the
effect of his conception. He has a broad canvas, crowded with many
figures, and in the grouping of these, the bringing out of strong
points, the handling of the light and shade, many minor points must be
obliterated, or thrown into the background. He presents us with truth,
indeed, but not with the whole truth. The historian shows us the warrior
in the hour of battle, on the field of review, or in the pomp of a
military triumph; the statesman in the light of a senatorial victory, as
he appears before the broad gaze of the world; the divine clad in his
sacerdotal robe, at the high altar, or in the pulpit, at the moment of
addressing listening crowds, and swaying the hearts of men by the fervor
of his eloquence.

The biographer, on the other hand, dealing with individuals and not with
masses, painting portraits and not groups, is permitted a more elaborate
finish in the treatment of his subject. He shows us the soldier not only
in the hour of battle, but in the privacy of his tent, or in the bosom
of his family; the statesman in his study, or unbending from his public
tasks in social intercourse; the divine in the daily walks of life, in
the discharge of parochial duties, amid the toils and trials common to
all humanity. The biographer is often at variance with the historian in
treating the same subject. He often shows us the littleness of the
great; for many a prominent actor in the world's great drama wears a
mask upon the public stage that conceals his real features. Few men are
found abroad, beneath the searching light of heaven, with the same
aspect of soul, the same undisguised native promptings, visible in every
act and word, as characterize them at their own firesides, and
surrounded by those who know them most intimately. It is truly going
"behind the scenes" to enter the domestic circle, for there the
artificial man must be dropped, the cloak that is sometimes worn before
the eyes of the world is laid aside, and we have the soul unmasked
indeed.

It will be our endeavor, in the following pages, to illustrate the
perfect harmony of a Christian character, the daily beauty of whose
private life accorded with that of his public career; through whose
existence religion ran like a silver thread, linking all its component
parts together,--who "showed the path to heaven and led the way." The
world is anxious, when it contemplates the memory of such an exalted
character, to know the steps by which the subject rose to the situation
which he filled, as well as the incidents by which he terminated his
noted career. We are gratified to observe such characters in the private
walks of life, to follow them into their families and closets, and to
discover thus how those who challenged the respect and admiration of the
times in which they lived, conducted themselves amid those cares and
duties common alike to the humble and the exalted. These remarks will
introduce the reader to the plan of the present work.




CHAPTER II.

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.


Hosea Ballou was born, April 30th, 1771, in the town of Richmond, New
Hampshire, a small village situated in the county of Cheshire, in the
southern part of the State; at that time little more than an uncleared
wilderness. The site of his birth-place is now a most attractive and
lovely valley, scooped out from the rough hills and mountains of the
Granite State, and known as Ballou's Dale; surrounded by the most
romantic scenery, the beauties of which he used to dwell upon in after
years, and to sing their praise in verse. The neighboring country is of
a bold and rugged character, and is to this day but thinly settled. It
was here that he first drew breath in an humble cottage-home among the
hills.

The influence of nature in the formation of character has been much
insisted on by metaphysicians, and not without ample reason. The
qualities of men are found to assimilate very closely to the
characteristics of the country they inhabit. Thus the mountaineer is
bold, rugged, hardy, independent, and fond of liberty. In Europe,
surrounded on every hand by despotism, Alpine Switzerland has preserved
its political independence for ages. But especially is the power of
natural scenery witnessed in the nurture of deep religious feeling.

    "The groves were God's first temples."

The first prayer uttered by man was breathed to his Creator in a garden,
among the olive trees of Eden. The disciples of our Saviour listened to
their Lord in the deep wilderness, in the awful solitude of rugged
mountains. In the heart of mighty forests and by the shores of
ever-rushing rivers, the littleness of man, contrasting with the
grandeur of creation, speaks to his awakened soul of the omnipotence and
goodness of God. Where men are banded together in great cities, in the
midst of splendors and triumphs of art, they are apt to feel a pride and
self-reliance which abandon them in the face of nature. Apart from the
frequent spectacle of man's handiwork, the dweller in the country learns
how all human skill is impotent to imitate the smallest feature in the
great work of creation; to create the lightest blade of grass that bends
in the summer breeze; to fabricate even the minutest grain of sand that
sparkles by the river shore. Then, as he lifts his eyes from earth to
heaven, and beholds at night the starry host above him wheeling
unerringly upon their appointed courses, his mind cannot but
acknowledge the existence of God, and the immeasurable greatness of his
attributes.

It will be seen, in the course of this narrative, that the influences we
have alluded to must have produced a powerful effect upon a mind
constituted like that of the subject of this biography.

In relation to the genealogy of the family, we have it in detail as far
back, on the paternal side, as his great-great-grandfather, Matteaurian
Ballou,--so the name was spelled by him,--who came from England, though
a Frenchman by descent, about the year 1640. He occupied a portion of a
royal grant of land, about that time purchased from the Narraganset
tribe of Indians, by the agent of the crown. This tract was situated in
the present State of Rhode Island, where descendants of the family still
reside. This Matteaurian Ballou's oldest son was named John, whose
second son was named Matteaurian, who, also, had a son named
Matteaurian, who in turn had eleven children,--six sons and five
daughters. The youngest of the family was named Hosea, the subject of
these memoirs.

His father, Rev. Maturin Ballou, was remarkable for his unostentatious
manner, his forgiving spirit and meekness, and the strict consistency of
a life devoted, as he truly believed, to the service and glory of his
Divine Master. He remained a highly respected and influential member of
the Baptist church until the time of his death, at the age of eighty-two
years. When his son differed from him so materially in faith, though it
sorely grieved the parent's heart, it never for one moment influenced
him in his affection for his child. His conduct towards him was
uniformly kind and solicitous, as was also the son's regard for his
father of the most loving and respectful character. Whenever referring
to his father, the subject of this biography never failed to do so with
that respect and honor for his memory that was ever cherished by him,
and which formed a beautiful trait of his character.

In this connection it may not be inappropriate nor uninteresting to say
a few words concerning the brothers and sisters of Hosea, the youngest
member of the family. Benjamin, the oldest, was a man of strict
integrity, and possessed a penetrating and powerful intellect. For some
years the power of early influences and associations moulded his life,
and he preached the Baptist religion, but was subsequently converted to
Universalism, by his younger brother, Hosea, and lived and died in its
faith, continuing to the good old age of eighty-two years. This was the
grandfather of Rev. Dr. Ballou, of Medford, Mass.; Rev. William S.
Ballou, of Strafford, Vt., and Rev. Levi Ballou, of Orange, Mass.
Maturin was the second son, who was also a Baptist minister, of strict
morality and honorable career, but who died at the early age of
thirty-five years. In his manuscript, Mr. Ballou says, relative to this
brother: "He grew very liberal in his sentiments towards the last of his
labors, and was one of the most loving and devout Christians that I ever
knew." David was the third son, and he also preached the Baptist faith,
but, like the eldest brother, was ere long persuaded of the truth of the
doctrine of universal salvation, which he preached for many years,
possessing a strong and well balanced mind, and powerful argumentative
abilities. He died at the age of eighty-two. This was the father of Rev.
Moses Ballou, of Bridgeport, Ct. The fourth son was named Nathan, a man
of remarkable mental and physical strength, who gave his attention
mainly to agricultural pursuits, and who lived to be nearly eighty years
of age. This was the grandfather of the present Rev. Russel A. Ballou,
of West Bridgewater, Mass. Stephen was the fifth son and combining many
of the best qualities of his elder brothers, and possessing a most
upright and conscientious disposition, was yet remarkable for the
endowment of a large degree of native wit and good humor. He also
devoted himself to agriculture, and lived to nearly the age of seventy.
All of these brothers were possessed of a handsome competency, realized
by their own economy and industry. The daughters were variously
espoused, and lived, all but one, who died at the age of twenty, to be
venerable and honored in years, and with a numerous offspring.

On the maternal side, these children were descended from Lydia Harris,
daughter of Richard Harris, who, like his ancestors, was a Quaker. His
forefathers came to this country to escape the persecution of the
seventeenth century in England, when the infatuated and tyrannical
Charles was oppressing his subjects by restricting the freedom of
industry, and billeting soldiers upon the people in times of peace; when
the private papers of citizens were searched on mere suspicion, and when
the bigoted Laud ruled with as high a hand and reckless a purpose in the
church, as his royal master did in the state. Citizens claiming the
right of freely uttering what they honestly believed to be true, on the
subject of religion, were fined, whipped, and imprisoned. Ministers and
educated citizens were branded on the forehead, their noses slit, and
their ears cropped, for dissenting from Popish rites and ceremonies. To
escape such intolerable persecution, Quakers crossed the ocean. But,
alas! persecution followed them even in the wilds of America.
Individuals who had left home, friends, country and all, to gain the
privilege of worshipping the Almighty after the dictates of their own
consciences, did not hesitate to deny others that privilege for which
they had themselves sacrificed so much, simply because they differed
from them in form of faith.

We should not omit to mention in this place the remarkable degree of
affection that ever actuated the subject of this biography towards each
and all of the members of his father's extensive family; and this
feeling was reciprocal too; especially have we personally observed this
on the part of the brothers, whom he frequently visited, through the
entire period of their lives. Much older than himself, as far back as
our memory of them extends they were venerable and grey-haired men, and
treated Hosea more like a son than a brother. Their meetings together,
from time to time, were reunions of great satisfaction and happiness.
Fully admitting his superior scriptural knowledge and judgment, they
delighted to converse upon the theme of religion, and mutually to
express the strength of their faith and the joy they found in believing.
It was this younger brother who converted them to the belief of God's
impartial and free grace, and they died at last with their minds freed
from every doubt as it regarded the subject. One or two of these
brothers had believed what was called Universalism quite as early as had
Hosea, but they had believed it as it was then taught on the old
Calvinistic principle, which made it in reality anything but
Universalism. It was from this ill-defined platform, this faith of
inconsistencies, that Hosea brought their minds to embrace that creed
which is now acknowledged as the doctrine of the Universalist
denomination. When he spoke to them and of them, it was with that tender
and affectionate regard with which his heart was ever filled to
overflowing.

I have taken some pains to state the foregoing facts of genealogy thus
carefully, merely for the sake of completeness, and not for the purpose
of establishing the fact that the family is "an old one." The idea that
to be able to trace back one's pedigree any great length of time,
imparts any degree of merit or distinction in itself, is a palpable
absurdity, inasmuch as the further back we refer ourselves in our
origin, the more nearly do we approximate to the same ancestry with the
veriest serf in the world. Sir Thomas Overbury said of a man who
boasted of his ancestry, that he was like a potato plant,--the best
thing belonging to him was under ground! Mr. Ballou was no pensioner
upon the dead. The laurels that surrounded the brow of his riper years
were self-earned, and worthy of emulation.




CHAPTER III.

EARLY LIFE.


The life of Hosea Ballou may be said to have commenced with one of the
saddest of bereavements, for at the tender age of two years he had the
misfortune to lose his maternal parent, who died, leaving him the
youngest of eleven children. Thus it was his unhappy lot never to know
the fond regard and pure affection of a mother, that holiest tie of
humanity. Concerning this matter, Mr. Ballou says, in the brief memoir
or outline of his life with which he has furnished us, "My mother died
when I was about two years old, and, of course, I do not remember her;
but from all I can learn of my mother, I am satisfied that she was of a
most tender and kind disposition. But the treasure was gone before I
could realize its value." The care and guidance of the family then fell
upon the father, whose means for providing for his children's
necessities were of the most simple and limited character. This parent,
a pious and devout preacher of the Calvinistic Baptist denomination,
endeavored, to the best of his ability, to bring up his large family to
fear and serve a God who was merciful to those whom from all eternity he
had elected to be heirs of eternal life, but who was full of holy wrath
towards the greater portion of mankind;--a faith which the honest parent
little thought, at that time, his youngest son, through the
instrumentality of Providence, would so successfully battle against in
the spiritual warfare of after years.

In this connection, Mr. Ballou says:--"We were all taught, and in our
youth all believed, that we were born into the world wholly depraved,
and under the curse of a law which doomed every son and daughter of Adam
to eternal woe. But at the same time God had made provision for a select
number of the human family, whereby they would be saved by the
operations of the divine Spirit, which would result in what was called
conversion, sometime during the life of those elected. Those who were
not elected would remain without any effectual calling, die, and be
forever miserable. When I was a youth it was the sentiment of all
Christian people, as far as I knew, that not more than one in a thousand
of the human family would be saved from endless condemnation.

"Youth were taught to be moral, but that morality was no security
against divine wrath. The conversion of the soul from the state of
nature in which all men were born into the world, was the only security.
One of the worst things ever taught to youth was, that in this world
there is more enjoyment in the ways of vice, iniquity, sin, and
unrighteousness, than in the ways of obedience to the commandments of
God. But we were taught at the same time that the wicked were running an
awful risk, for should they die without repentance, their everlasting
condemnation was sure. All the risk there was, lay in the possibility
that death might be sudden, and give no time for repentance. But the
fact that there is _in_ the way of strict morality, _in_ the path of
true religion, _in_ the road of righteousness, all the rational
enjoyment which our nature is capable of, and that any departure from
right is an equal departure from true happiness, was not taught, to my
knowledge, at that time. Nor did I ever understand this great truth
until taught it by the Scriptures, and my study of them, and by my own
experience."

It was the conscientious belief of Mr. Ballou's father that he ought not
to receive any remuneration whatever, either pecuniary or otherwise, for
his professional services; and, as he devoted himself with the utmost
zeal and the most untiring assiduity to his calling, and was possessed
of little or no personal estate, his family were all obliged to labor
very hard, merely to obtain a simple subsistence. But "even in this was
Heaven ordinant." Thus, from his earliest childhood, Mr. Ballou was
accustomed to toil and labor, and this too under the hardships of a
scanty supply of food and clothing. So destitute even of the most
ordinary articles of raiment, or the means of procuring it, was his
father's family, in the times of his boyhood, that many a long week has
he passed without an under garment of any kind upon his person, and
without shoes or stockings for his feet, even during the inclemencies of
winter, when his employment would frequently call him abroad for a large
portion of the day!

Notwithstanding all these privations and hardships, there was no
repining; the rich glow of health was upon his cheek, and a light and
happy heart, in spite of iron fortune, throbbed in his young breast.
Though such was his early experience, and such the vicissitudes of his
youth, yet in subsequent years he was destined to enjoy freely of the
liberal bounties of Providence, and, through his own frugality and
industry, to be able to give with open hands in charity to others. In
these years of prosperity and honor, when revered and beloved by a whole
denomination, and when ranked among the most powerful intellects of the
age, did he forget, or desire to conceal, the humble character of his
youth, its hardships and trials, or the companions of his early days?
Let those answer to whom he has related these things in censure of false
pride and the vanity of the world. Would it become us, then, who have
seen and realized the full bent of this noble spirit in him, to fail to
speak clearly of these matters? We opine not, and therefore these
records will be found to be full and complete.

The reader will probably agree with us, that there is something
exceedingly striking, as well as most affecting, in the domestic
circumstances to which I have alluded. The character of Mr. Ballou's
father, reminds us of one of those stern old Cameronians of Scotland,
so well described by one of the first writers of the age. With but
little sympathy for his creed, we must nevertheless respect his
sincerity; nor can we wonder at all, with his education in the faith
which he preached, and hampered by the illiberal spirit of the period,
which seemed to mildew every generous prompting of the human heart, that
he clung to it with inflexible tenacity. But we must contemplate with
unqualified admiration the heroic self-denial, the martyr-like firmness,
with which this servant of the Lord pursued what he believed to be the
path of his duty, amidst circumstances of such extraordinary
deprivation. Truly, he abandoned all to serve his Master. His severest
trial must have been to witness the privations of his family. A man can
endure in his own person what it costs him agony to witness inflicted on
those nearer and dearer to him than life itself. The struggles of that
little flock, bereft of a mother's tender care and guidance at the very
time when they most required it, must have given many an anxiously
painful day and night to a father's heart. Yet, we have seen how they
were sustained.

This is probably by no means an isolated case of trial. It is but a type
of the condition of many of the early settlers in a new country,--in
short, a picture of American pioneer life. It is from such beginnings,
and under such circumstances, that the most useful and energetic of our
countrymen have sprung. It is not to the lap of luxury that we are to
look for the source of manly character and manly virtues. The rough
nurture of his early years most unquestionably fitted Mr. Ballou for
the battle of life which he was destined to fight. It trained him for
the long and severe journeyings of his apostolic missions, and it warmed
his sympathies for the poor, while it gave him that indifference to ease
and luxury which so largely conduces to true mental independence. It
taught him also to rely under Providence upon himself; and these early
privations, while they strengthened and indurated him, rendered the
honorably acquired competence and comforts of his later years in life
doubly grateful and acceptable.

Notwithstanding this stern experience of his tender years, and in spite
of every hardship, and the severe labor he was obliged to perform under
such unpropitious circumstances, still he grew up strong, healthy and
vigorous, both in mind and body, possessing a form and face of manly
beauty, with expression and intelligence reflected in every feature. In
stature he grew to be six feet high, his figure very erect, with finely
formed limbs, and a bright, clear blue eye. His whole appearance
indicated good health even to advanced old age, his constitution being
naturally excellent, and his frugal and temperate habits seconding the
kindly purpose of nature. Heaven had marked him for its servant, and
breathed into his soul a spirit of energy and unflinching perseverance,
that no hardship could quench or diminish. Christ chose his disciples
from among the lowly fishermen of Galilee; God herein took an humble but
faithful follower from a cottage amidst the mountains.

Although descended from a devout and eloquent preacher of the
Scriptures, the reader will at once observe that Mr. Ballou was not
indebted in the least particular for the future lustre of his reputation
as a powerful and original thinker, writer and teacher of the gospel, to
his birth, or early condition in life, but that, on the contrary, he was
literally a self-made man, owing his position strictly to individual
merit alone. Enjoying none of the educational advantages resulting from
wealth, or even from a simple competency, yet he steadily rose above
every impending obstacle in his path, to the truly enviable position
which he attained in the hearts of thousands upon thousands who were led
through his teachings, both orally and through the productions of his
prolific pen, to see their God and Father as he is in all harmony and
beauty. Thus it is that poverty of condition and wealth of intellect go
often hand in hand.

"Where, in modern history," asks Rev. A. E. Abbott, in his late eulogy
upon Mr. Ballou, "can another instance be found of a man laboring under
such disadvantages, in the face of such opposition, and yet performing
such a work? Those who have heretofore accomplished much in that field,
have had all the advantages which the most thorough culture of their
times could give. Like the giant of Gath, they have taken the field
encased in polished armor; he, like the stripling of Bethlehem, came to
the contest with only the shepherd's sling and the smooth stones from
the brook."

As no general rule can be adduced for the formation of human character,
so long as the power of early association, the influence of education
and example, each and severally produce in different individuals exactly
opposite effects, so no general rule can be applied as to the result of
certain accessory circumstances. Therefore we deduce no result from the
mere fact of Mr. Ballou's father having been a professed minister upon
the character of his son, having no belief that genius is hereditary, or
that paternal authority can influence its natural course. Indeed, the
reader is doubtless well aware that the opposition of a father to the
natural bent of his child, rarely fails more strongly to develop the
original taste and purpose, generally arousing in the end a spirit of
resistance, that is pretty sure to strengthen by opposition.

Before the age of sixteen, by the utmost perseverance, ingenuity, and
industry, the subject of this biography had learned to read and write
with facility, almost entirely by his own unaided exertions, or with
little assistance of any kind; for had there been a school in the
neighborhood of Richmond, which was not the case, he could have found no
time to attend it, being ever laboriously engaged from morning until
night. He learned to form the letters of the alphabet in the following
ingenious and original manner, which he related to us when a mere child,
we were making the first advances in the use of the pen. After not a
little thought and sober calculation as to how he should accomplish his
purpose,--for pen, ink and paper were luxuries his father's means could
not command,--for paper he substituted thin pieces of birch bark,
neatly prepared for the purpose by his own hands, and for pen and ink he
used coals taken from the fire. With these rude materials, after the
labors of the day were over, seated on the floor, by the light of the
fire,--for candles were too expensive to be afforded in the frugal
household of his father,--he taught himself to write. A student,
actuated by such resolution and determination of purpose, must soon
become a proficient, in defiance of every minor obstacle; and thus he
speedily improved with these humble means.

Some further idea of the limited means of his father's family, and the
extraordinary disadvantages under which his early progress was made, may
be gathered from the fact, that the only books the house contained, or
in fact that the family had access to at all, were a Bible, an old
dictionary, and a well-thumbed pamphlet of the scriptural story of the
tower of Babel. A newspaper in the days of which we write, in the town
of Richmond, would have been considered a most rare curiosity. Perhaps
this very dearth of literary material led Mr. Ballou to be the more
intimate with that volume

    "Within whose sacred pages lies
    The mystery of mysteries,"

with which alone no student can be poor, without which the largest
library is incomplete. It has been remarked of the sacred volume, that,
as the face of nature is bedecked with colors and adornments to render
it agreeable to the senses, so its pages are filled with that luxury of
poetry and language and incident which commends it to every imagination.
Even the half-unbelieving Byron confessed that nothing in literature was
finer than the poetry of the Old Testament. Thus the word, like the bow
of promise, is gilded with the fairest hues. The solemn march of
historical narration, the sublime hymns of triumph, praise and
rejoicing, the records of battles and heroic deeds, the familiar
narrative, the interesting parable, the pithy proverb, the terse and
vigorous delineation of character, the sublime visions of inspired
prophecy, are all there. Of almost every style of literary composition
there is an example, captivating alike to the humblest reader and the
most cultivated critic. It is the beginning and the end of learning. In
the midst of the sublimest flights of human genius, amid the most
burning words of modern eloquence, introduce a passage of scripture, and
how poor will seem the language and the thoughts by which it is
surrounded!

Need we count that house poor in literary possessions which contains a
Bible?

If it be true that there are certain ennobling qualities, to produce
which a soil of privation and poverty is requisite, the reader is
doubtless already prepared to allow that Mr. Ballou was not deficient in
the necessary experience for their possession. A lack of those
advantages which are enjoyed in the "schools of human learning" did not
lead him in the least to undervalue the humble opportunities for
acquiring mental discipline and useful information that every-day life
graciously affords to all. But the clear, free river of knowledge and
unbounded information, that now pours out its wealth at the feet of the
people, was then undiscovered. It has been left to these more modern and
favored times for inventions in the arts to so revolutionize the means
of disseminating knowledge, as to lay the wealth of wisdom at the poor
man's door.

At the age of sixteen he left the paternal roof for the first time, and
made a journey on foot to Guildford, Vt., a distance of about forty
miles from Richmond. Here he visited an elder brother, and, after
working with him upon his farm through the season, returned to his
father's house again in the fall. About one year from the time of his
visit to Guildford, he visited another brother who resided in Putney,
Vt., where he also labored for a season upon the farm, employing all his
leisure moments to the improvement of such simple means as were within
his power to command, aided by the greater experience and better mental
cultivation of his brother. He remained through that season only at
Putney, however, and returned again in the fall of the year to Richmond.

At the age of eighteen he went to Smithfield, R. I., where many of his
relations, on the paternal side, were settled. Here also he devoted
himself to constant labor during the day, and to the eager perusal of
any and all books to which he could obtain access, during the evenings
and a large portion of the nights. He remained in Smithfield but about
six months, again returning to the place of his nativity. In making
these changes he was almost solely actuated by a desire for instruction
and general information, and this being his great aim, we have seen how
much he improved every available means to consummate it, and thus his
exploring and impressible mind was not a little enriched. The time
passed at home during the intermediate and subsequent periods to those
referred to, was employed by him upon his father's farm, in the tilling
of the soil, and in constant efforts to improve his mind. Those who were
older than himself were earnestly questioned for their experience. Those
who had enjoyed any educational advantages were eagerly sought after,
and regarded by him as favored beings, and their conversation listened
to with avidity.

The improvement and development of a mind in this condition, a healthy
mind in a healthy body, is exceedingly rapid. It is then

    "Wax to receive, and marble to retain."

It seizes eagerly on all the food placed before it, and rapidly digests
every acquisition. The condition of a mind with every appliance for
improvement at hand, is not unlike that of a person with every variety
and quality of food set before him for the gratification of a bodily
appetite. Repletion, satiety, and indigestion, follow in one case
precisely as in the other. Many of our modern students are crammed and
gorged with study. The mental appetite is over-indulged; and an attempt
to master too much is doubtless the besetting literary sin of the
present day. The cases of mental dyspepsia are as common as those of
the body. Sound scholarship consists not so much in the quantity of
material consumed, as in the quantity properly prepared for intellectual
nurture. A man may possess a fund of encyclopedic knowledge, and yet his
mental powers may be weakened by the very process of grasping so many
details. He may be good authority to appeal to, but will hardly prove a
sound thinker or a good logician. "Not many, but good, books," was the
golden advice of a wise man on the formation of a library. Self-made
men, like Mr. Ballou, are apt to make judicious selections in culling
the great field of knowledge, while those who pass through a regular,
systematic, academic training, are often forced to fill their minds with
a mass of matter for which they have no use, and to waste much time in
questionable acquirements, simply because in so doing they comply with
the requisitions of a prescribed formula.

It was customary for the young men of all classes in those days to
pursue athletic exercises, such as pitching the bar, leaping, wrestling,
and the like, these being regarded as the surest tests of bodily
strength. Possessing a powerful and active frame, he was ever the victor
in those sports; and from his marked success among his comrades in this
respect, and his fair and impartial disposition, he was universally the
umpire in all disputes growing out of these and like contests for
superiority that arose between one and another. In the matter of his
physical strength, particularly when young, he ever cherished, a
laudable degree of pride, and delighted in accomplishing a large amount
of work within the hours devoted to labor.

In this connection, Mr. Ballou says:--"I have the comfort, even in my
old age, of remembering that I was deemed in our family circle to be a
good child, and marked for giving evidence of being less averse to
necessary labor than others. Though this contributed somewhat to make me
proud, and to think well of myself, in other respects it was of some
advantage to me to be held in esteem by my mates, who ever showed that
they had a peculiar regard for me."

Mr. Ballou undoubtedly owed the vigorous health which carried him
through the exertions of a life protracted beyond the allotted span, to
the athletic training of his youth, in his labors and in his sports. One
of the besetting sins of the present mode of education is the almost
total neglect of physical training, and the forcing system applied to
the mind at the expense of the body. We hear much about sanitary reform
and the necessity of exercise; we write and read voluminous treatises on
the best mode of preserving bodily health, and almost all of us can talk
learnedly upon the subject, and yet in practice we set at naught all our
elaborate theories. How rare it is to see a vigorous, ruddy-cheeked
student. The ancients were wiser than ourselves in this respect, for
with them mental and physical training went hand in hand. A popular form
of instruction was that given orally in the open air; and thus, during
the very hours of study, the frame was submitted to the healthy
influence of pure air. The subject of these memoirs often referred to
the pale cheek, stooping form, and defective vision which are
characteristics of the American student, and he never failed to
inculcate on all proper occasions the preservation of health as a high
moral duty.

While of tender age, and in each successive year, he evinced an ardent
and constantly increasing desire for scriptural knowledge; and the
earliest dawnings of his young mind among his brethren were of a
character that gave promise of the Christian grace and excellence to
which he attained in after years. It is interesting and curious to trace
the unconscious, and, so to speak, the providential adaptation of the
early life to the future calling of riper experience. Mr. Ballou says,
in relation to this subject:--"I was remarkably inquisitive, even when a
mere boy, about doctrines. I was fond of reasoning on doctrinal points,
studied and talked much upon the subject of free will and necessity. I
well remember to have surprised my honored father with such a question
as the following: 'Suppose I had the skill and power out of an inanimate
substance to make an animate, and should make one, at the same time
knowing that this creature of mine would suffer everlasting
misery,--would my act of creating this creature be an act of goodness?'
The question troubled my father, and I let it pass without an answer."

These frequent questions had the effect of causing the father much
uneasiness of mind, and he used often to express great solicitude and
fear for the present and future welfare of his son. Many were his
endeavors to convince Hosea of the dangerous character of the sentiments
that seemed to be springing up spontaneously in his heart, but the
unprofitable nature of these efforts soon became apparent, from the fact
that the simple, natural arguments of the son confounded the father. Boy
as he was, he yet would not take the assertions of faith for argument,
but insisted upon reason, and understanding at all times the "root of
the matter."

To the honor of this truly pious and devout parent, it should be
remembered, however, that these controversies never elicited an
unchristian spirit, or the least anger towards his child. This was a
natural and beautiful characteristic of his father's disposition.




CHAPTER IV.

BECOMES A PROFESSOR OF RELIGION.


At the age of nineteen, there being what was termed a reformation in the
town of Richmond, Mr. Ballou was induced, believing it to be his duty,
to become a professor of religion, and accordingly at that time he
joined the Baptist church, of which his father was pastor, in the month
of January, 1789. It is very evident that he was partly induced to this
circumstance by the bearing of external circumstances and the immediate
associations about him, such as observing the conduct of others of his
own age, who at that time made a formal and public profession of faith,
and also by what he knew very well to be his father's earnest desire. It
seems, therefore, that these matters, rather than any earnest mental
conviction of faith, were instrumental in leading him to join the church
as he did,--inasmuch as none of those objections which he had often made
to his father's belief, had yet been cleared up to his mind.

But this joining of the church was plainly of immediate advantage to
him, as it led him to think still more seriously and earnestly upon the
subject of religion; but, owing to early prejudices, and his limited
means of acquiring information, or of possessing himself of any books
upon such subjects as would have been useful to him, his progress
towards the light of truth was but slow. Mr. Ballou says, in relation to
this conversion:--"I was much troubled in my mind because I thought I
did not stand in such fear of the divine wrath as I ought to do, or as
others had done before they found acceptance with God. I well remember
that as I was returning home from a conference meeting, one evening,
when about a quarter of a mile from home, being alone, I stopped under a
large tree, and, falling on my knees, prayed as well as I could for the
favor I sought." His connection with his father's church, though it
continued but a short period comparatively, seems to have made no slight
impression upon his mind and feelings, for he says:--"I have always felt
towards this people (the Baptist denomination) as one feels towards his
family, and though the religion of Christ consists in love to all men, I
have a peculiar feeling for the Baptists."

In his researches and reading concerning the creed that he had now
publicly professed, he found it impossible to bring his heart to conform
to the doctrine of eternal reprobation, and this in itself, as he
afterwards remarked, was an evidence of no inconsiderable importance, to
his mind, that it could not be true; for why should his Heavenly Father
have implanted in his heart an earnest desire for the salvation of all
mankind, unless that desire was susceptible of gratification, as is
every appetite, mental or physical, with which we are endowed by nature?
Such thoughts caused him much and incessant anxiety of mind, because the
very fact of his entertaining them, if the doctrine he had professed was
true, endangered his eternal salvation; while, on the other hand, if
this creed was not that taught by God's revealed word, then he was
needlessly suffering, to a degree that greatly depressed him.

No wonder that this double incentive led him to search the Scriptures
with the utmost care and attention, and to weigh and decide in his own
mind the relation that one portion bears to another, and finally, with
the help of Heaven, to make up his mind as to the true spirit and
doctrine of the whole. The reader can easily imagine the fervent prayers
he uttered, the sleepless nights he passed, and the arduous study he
performed, in his search for the light of truth. After all this anxious
solicitude, this solitary mental struggle, this prayerful communication
with Heaven, he at length declared himself a believer in the _final_
salvation of the whole human family.

Great was the surprise, disappointment, and chagrin of his father and
friends generally. Being looked up to by the young men of his own age as
a sort of leader in their secular plans and games, the influence of his
example was greatly feared as operating upon the younger portion of the
church; and as his joining it had been the occasion of much rejoicing at
the time, so his declaration of unbelief in its faith was the cause of a
proportionate degree of sorrow. His new declaration was at once
pronounced to be downright heresy, and he was accordingly excommunicated
from his father's church, the document with which he was honored on the
occasion carefully stating that nothing was found against him, but that
he believed in the doctrine that God would finally save all men.

In relation to this subject, Mr. Ballou says:--"Above all else, my
theological bias of mind predominated, and engrossed most of my
attention. As I had formerly been in the habit, while with the Baptists,
of speaking in their meetings, and of offering up prayer at conference
meetings, I now sometimes spoke my sentiments at meetings in my
brother's house. The church of which I was still a member thought it a
duty to call me to answer for the course I had taken, and I was called
upon to meet the accusation of believing in the salvation of all men. I
attended, but did not feel it my duty to deny the charge, or to renounce
my belief. I was therefore excommunicated from the church, my letter of
excommunication carefully stating that no fault was found in me, my
belief in the salvation of all men excepted. I shall ever remember the
tears which I shed on this solemn occasion."

It was about this period that Mr. Ballou, ever in search of improvement,
possessed himself of some book of a liberal religious character as to
the sentiments it inculcated, when his father, chancing to see him
reading it, told him decidedly that he would not have Universalist books
in his house. Promptly acquiescing, as he always did, in his father's
directions, a few days subsequent, the parent, on returning home, found
Hosea reading a book beside the wood-pile, out of doors. "What book are
you reading there?" he asked. "A _Universalist_ book," replied the son,
respectfully. An expression of dissatisfaction escaped the father, as he
turned away and entered the house. Watching until his son had placed the
book in the wood-pile, and left the spot, the parent resolved to possess
himself of it, and perhaps even destroy it. But, lo! when he opened it,
he found it was the Bible.

In an article written many years subsequent, relative to his conversion
to the faith of God's impartial grace, Mr. Ballou says:--"I found, when
conversing upon the subject, that my Calvinistic tenets could be made
either to result in universal salvation, or to compel me to acknowledge
the partiality of the divine favor. This gave me no small inquietude of
mind, as I was unable to derive satisfaction from sentiments which I
could not defend. That which more than anything else contributed to turn
my thoughts seriously towards the belief of Universalism, was the ardent
desire with which I found myself exercised that sinners might be brought
to repentance and salvation. I found it utterly impossible to bring my
feelings to consent to the doctrine of eternal reprobation, and I was
compelled either to allow that such feelings were sinful, or that my
Heavenly Father, in giving them to me, had implanted an evidence in
favor of the salvation of all men, the force of which I found no means
to resist."

As to Mr. Ballou's having been brought up in the faith of Calvinism, it
was not without its benefits upon his after life, for it gave to him a
most unlimited and perfect knowledge of the various items of faith
professed by that sect, as well as the common tenets of all those who
believe in the partial salvation only of the great human family. Owing
to an early desire to understand the doctrine of Christianity aright,
while yet of tender age he became familiar with the arguments used in
support of predestination, election, reprobation, the fall of man, the
penal suffering of Christ for the elect, and many other items of creed
relating to the moral agency of man. Concerning this subject, Mr. Ballou
says:--"As to the doctrine of Calvinism, in which my honored father was
a believer, and which doctrine he preached until nearly the end of his
public labors, my acquaintance with its various tenets, while quite a
youth, was by no means very limited, owing to the pious endeavors of a
parent whose affection for his children rendered him extremely anxious
for their spiritual welfare, and to an early desire of my own to
understand the doctrine of Christianity correctly." It was necessary
that he should understand these matters as he did, and as he could only
do, by serving an apprenticeship to them, so to speak, in order the
better to enable him to refute them in after years, when he should be
arrayed in a moral conflict against them. Thus the pious and well-meant
endeavors of his parent to inculcate the principles of his own faith in
the mind of his child were but a part of the well ordained purpose of
the Almighty, in raising up an able champion for the gospel of truth.

Mr. Ballou says, referring to the period just previous to his
declaration of faith and consequent excommunication:--"In the spring
after I joined the church in Richmond, I went, with my brother Stephen
and our cousin Jeremiah Harris, to the town of Westfield, in New York.
This town is now called Harford. Here we labored together during that
season, attending Elder Brown's meeting. He was of the Baptist order.
Even before I left home my mind had become somewhat shaken in regard to
the doctrine of endless punishment. I found it utterly out of my power
to reconcile it with what all Christians professed of love to the
unconverted; nor could I reconcile it with many plain declarations of
Scripture; but I was by no means persuaded that salvation was for all
men. My brother, knowing that I had trials of mind on this great
subject, expressed a desire that I should have a conversation with Elder
Brown relative to it, hoping thereby that my doubts would be removed. A
conference was therefore appointed, at the house of one of the elder's
deacons. There were a number present, and the elder requested me to name
some passage of Scripture which to my mind favored universal salvation;
expressing at the same time perfect confidence that he should be able to
show me that the passage did by no means favor such doctrine. I opened
to the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and read the
eighteenth verse, as follows:--'Therefore, as by the offence of one
judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.' The
elder did not appear to be at all acquainted with the text, for, instead
of directing his remarks to it, he seemed to wander far off, and to talk
very loud, and nothing to the subject. When he paused, I again read the
text, and asked the elder if the same _all men_ mentioned in the first
part of the text, were not mentioned in the last? This simple question
seemed to embarrass his mind; he was evidently out of humor, and
manifested a bitter spirit, which being discovered by my brother, caused
him to desire that the conversation should close, and it did. This
circumstance tended rather to strengthen my mind in favor of universal
and impartial grace, and to induce a more thorough examination of the
Scriptures and the subject. I had no other book than the Bible, and all
my early education lay like a broad sheet to cover that book from my
vision. But one or two passages were found, and from them I found my way
to others which seemed to agree with the first, and it was not long
before I was astonished at my ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible was
no longer the book it had been to me. I became entirely convinced of the
truth of the doctrine of Universalism."

It was therefore in the town of Westfield, N. Y., that Mr. Ballou came
fully to believe in the final salvation of all mankind. We do not mean
to be understood that he came at once to the full belief of the
doctrine that he afterwards taught, but that he made at this time the
earliest and most important advance towards the belief which he
subsequently declared, and which has since become the creed of
nine-tenths of the Universalist denomination. At this period he believed
the doctrine, as he says he preached it not many months afterwards,
being the fall before he was twenty-one, "when I began to speak in
public," he says, "believing and preaching universal salvation, on the
Calvinistic principles of atonement and imputed righteousness." The few
Universalists that then existed, having obtained proof, to their
satisfaction, that none of the human family would suffer endless
punishment, thought they had sufficient cause for rejoicing, and seemed
to be content to rest their discoveries there. Further _progress_ upon
this subject was left for Mr. Ballou to make and promulgate, as by
careful and unaided research he should come more fully to understand
this most important subject.

"At this time," he writes in his manuscript before us, "fully realizing
that the basis of all spiritual knowledge was the Bible, that blessed
book was ever with me, and not one moment in which I was freed from
necessary labor was occupied save in its perusal. I learned to love it,
to consult its pages with reverence, and prayerfully, that I might
rightly interpret its true meaning. I became very familiar with the
various important passages, which frequently gave me great advantage in
controversy, at that time, on points of faith; for it was the practice
of those days to blindly give credence to such faith as was taught from
the pulpit, and, leaving the minister to reason for the whole
congregation, they themselves rarely consulted the holy text, in a
spirit of inquiry, though they deemed themselves most devout and
reasonable Christians. By individual and careful explorations, I found
my Bible was able to teach me all I desired to know, and that, at the
outset, I had been miserably deceived in my early impressions of God's
word, by not examining and weighing the subject matter of divine
revelation for myself. But such is the force of habit that those early
impressions were at first constantly recurring to my mind, and acting as
stumbling blocks in the way of my onward progress."

It is often said that Rev. John Murray was an earlier preacher than the
subject of this biography; that he is called the father of Universalism
in America; and that Mr. Ballou received his opinions direct from him.
But those persons who say thus, or entertain themselves such an idea,
are mistaken; indeed, as often as this remark is made, it must always be
by those who have thought little, and known less, of the history of
Universalism. No one venerates the memory of Rev. John Murray more than
the author of this memoir, who, indeed, out of respect for his Christian
virtues and excellence, bears his name; but these records must be
faithful in all respects. So far from Mr. Ballou's having obtained the
opinions which formed the great and distinctive features of his doctrine
from Murray, that venerated minister did not believe the creed of
Universalists as taught by the subject of this biography, namely: _that
the Bible affords no evidence of punishment after death_. Even at the
time of Murray's death he held most tenaciously to his early belief; and
he even preached the doctrine on the old Calvinistic principles, between
which and the doctrine promulgated by Mr. Ballou there is a wide
difference.

While in the town of Westfield, a serious accident occurred to Mr.
Ballou, by which he nearly lost his life, being, by some accident, most
fearfully scalded. After much suffering from the injury thus received,
he perfectly recovered, and soon after returned once more to Richmond,
being not yet twenty-one years of age. He now first commenced the study
of the English grammar, and attended for a period a school kept in the
Quaker meeting-house in his native town.

Mr. Ballou says of this first attendance at school:--"It was a private
school, the first one ever opened in the town, and was supported by a
few young people with whom I united; and here I obtained the first
instruction in English grammar. I now set myself to work in earnest to
obtain learning. I studied night and day, slept little, and ate little."

At the close of this school, being actuated by an earnest desire to
obtain knowledge, and realizing more than ever the immense advantage it
bestowed, he determined, for a period, to devote his entire earnings to
this end; and, in pursuance of this purpose, he immediately entered the
Chesterfield (N. H.) Academy, where, by industry and incessant
application, allowing himself but a brief period of time out of the
twenty-four hours each day for sleep, in a very short space of time he
acquired a good knowledge of the ordinary branches of an English
education of those days. The tuition received by Mr. Ballou at this
academy was the first worthy of mention that he had ever enjoyed, and
was of vastly more importance to him than all he had been taught before,
or had himself acquired, as it regarded the rudiments of his native
language. Fortunately, the instructors employed were men of sound
ability, and consequently from his studies here he realized most
important and lasting benefit.

It was not alone the additional theoretical knowledge that he acquired
here that we refer to as being of so much advantage to him; it was also
that which he saw and realized while at this school. It was the spirit
of emulation that was imparted to his disposition by observing others in
their progress, as it regarded mental culture, and the acquirement of
useful knowledge. His early associations had been among that class who
had paid but little attention to mental cultivation. He had enjoyed but
a limited opportunity thus far to judge of the incomparable power and
importance of education; but now he realized it at a glance, and,
determining to let no means within his power remain unexercised in the
great purpose of obtaining knowledge and of cultivating intelligence, he
gathered his golden harvest from every available source, and stored it
in the cells of his brain.

We have heard him refer particularly to this period, as having devoted
the hours of the night, as well as those of the day, to enable him to
keep pace with more experienced minds and better cultivated intellects,
and how apparently gratified the preceptor was to see him able and
thorough in his recitations, knowing the strong disadvantages under
which he labored. It was his good fortune to make the acquaintance of
the teachers on good terms. They seemed prepossessed in his favor, and
were exceedingly kind, and even assiduous, in rendering him every needed
assistance in his studies. This was of unquestionable advantage to him,
and made him, if possible, more attentive than he would otherwise have
been as to studies and recitations, that those who had been so kind to
him might see that their labor was not thrown away. "I well remember,"
says Mr. Ballou, "the kindness and consideration exercised towards me by
Professor Logan, the principal of the academy, who seemed resolved that
my tuition should be of real benefit to me." And thus, indeed, it really
proved, forming a foundation on which to rear a structure of useful
knowledge, and the better to enable him to arrange and discipline his
mind.

On leaving the academy, he obtained a certificate testifying to his
sound moral character and ability, which document proved of considerable
benefit to him afterwards in obtaining various situations as a teacher.
Schools for the young were then kept but a short period at a time in New
England, and thus the teacher had often occasion to change the field of
his operations. Though thus engaged in the calling of a school-master,
his mind, he has frequently told us, was at all times, when not
immediately engaged with his pupils, occupied with the one great subject
that had already taken such root in his heart,--that of religion. His
Bible was ever in his hands or about his person for frequent reference,
and his earnest and constant prayer to Heaven was that he might be able
rightly to comprehend and analyze its doctrinal teachings.

He found his daily increasing knowledge of the Bible to be of great
advantage to him, as he says himself, in argument with others, and also
as it regarded properly weighing and arranging in his own mind its
various parts, and the bearing each sustained to the other. The early
knowledge thus obtained of the holy text never left him, and was
retained with most miraculous power and correctness through his entire
life.




CHAPTER V.

COMMENCES TO PREACH.


While Mr. Ballou was yet but twenty years of age, he made one or two
unsuccessful attempts to preach a regular discourse. That is, he
delivered sermons once or twice at the period referred to, before small
assemblies of his personal friends and relations. But so far from
satisfying himself in relation to his ability for public speaking, he
was quite disheartened by the result that attended these his first
efforts. Yet, by the constant solicitations of those who were curious to
hear him discourse upon the topic of his peculiar views, he continued to
speak, despite of the advice of his immediate friends and relations,
until he not only soon satisfied himself as to his abilities, but also
received the cordial approval of a large number of those who would, at
the outset, have discouraged him entirely.

In relation to this period of his life, Mr. Ballou gives us his own
words, and to the point. But the reader will please to mark that when he
speaks at this period of Universalists, he refers to those who thus
called themselves, but who would, in these days, be more properly
denominated Restorationists. The correctness of this statement will at
once be seen from the fact of his saying that he met John Murray, etc.,
at the first _Universalist_ convention which he ever attended, while
those who are acquainted with that honored teacher's tenets of faith are
aware, as we have already stated in these pages, that he lived and died
solemnly believing in a state of future suffering or punishment; and
more latterly during his life he sustained many controversies with Mr.
Ballou on this very subject.

"In September of the year preceding my beginning to preach," says Mr.
Ballou, "I went to Oxford with my brother David, to attend the first
Universalist convention I had ever met with. Here I saw John Murray for
the first time, and George Richards, and some other public preachers.
The next summer after I was twenty years old, I labored with my brother
on his farm, and late in the fall made my first attempt to preach. This
was on an evening, and at the house of Deacon Thayer, in Richmond. Mr.
Thayer had been a deacon in the Baptist church, but had become a
Universalist, and still retained his office with the last-named
denomination. My brother and Rev. Caleb Rich were present to hear my
first attempt to preach; and, according to what I could learn, they had
their doubts whether I had a talent for such labor, but were not without
some hope. The second time I attempted to preach was in the town of
Brattleboro', Vt., where my brother preached in the daytime, and I
undertook to speak in the evening, being overpersuaded to do so; but
this attempt was a failure, and I was greatly mortified, and thought,
for a time, that I would not engage in a work for which I was not
competent. However, it was not long before I became encouraged to try
again, after which I met with no remarkable failure to produce
discouragement."

The comparative failure of Mr. Ballou's earliest attempts at public
speaking, although soon afterwards followed by complete success, is not
at all surprising. It is exceedingly rare to find the first efforts of
orators satisfactory to themselves and to their friends. The first
attempt of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the most brilliant orator of his
time,--if, perhaps, we except Burke, who was, however, more
distinguished by the eloquence of his diction,--was a complete and
decided failure. But, knowing himself, he declared emphatically that "it
was in him, and must come out." When General, then Colonel, Washington
rose to respond to a complimentary address of the legislature of his
native colony, he found it impossible to express himself; and the first
efforts of the illustrious and lamented Henry Clay gave no promise of
his future eminence. It would be easy to multiply illustrations of the
fact that it is only step by step that fame and honor are attained. No
one springs at a bound to the summit of his reputation and usefulness.
It is only shallow pretenders who sometimes shine with a false lustre
at the outset of their career, soon to sink into utter insignificance.
But the true man, the man of sterling genius and worth, conscious of a
high mission, and confiding in Providence for the energy and inspiration
necessary to fulfil it, is not daunted with the obstacles that present
themselves at the outset of his career. They are regarded as trials and
tests as to his adaptedness to the purpose for which he is created. From
every rebuff he acquires new strength; he puts forth redoubled energy,
until at last he triumphs over every impediment, and stands forth in the
full energy of his being.

Had not Mr. Ballou been prompted by such a spirit as this, had he not
been possessed of an extraordinary vigor of character, for which he was
ever remarkable, he would hardly have persevered in his attempts to
preach under these discouraging circumstances. It will be remembered
that he did not sit down and compose a discourse which he afterwards
read to his audience; this is comparatively an easy task. He spoke
extemporaneously then, as he ever did afterwards. In subsequent years he
was frequently called upon for manuscript copies of his discourses for
publication. But the sermons were not written until after they had been
delivered; and it was not his practice to put on paper even the heads of
his discourse to take into the desk with him for reference in delivery.
Trusting entirely to his powerfully retentive memory, the arrangement of
his sermons was as methodical and correct as though penned in the
seclusion of his study. We have heard some persons, more nice than
wise, speak of his extemporaneous delivery as an objection, and find
fault because he did not write his discourses, and thus deliver them
from his notes in the pulpit. We have a word to say in relation to this
subject, since it has been thus referred to.

To speak extempore and at the same time to speak well and to the
purpose, to arrange certain points and arguments mentally with nice
precision, so as to deliver them with fluency and effect, must require a
strong and healthy intellect, a powerful and original mind. But a man
with an ordinary degree of mental cultivation, who cannot write a
discourse and read it afterward, must be singularly deficient in his
intellectual capacity. It is impossible for an audience to feel so deep
an interest in the service as that which is felt in listening to the
spontaneous outbreakings of a warm and ardent mind while it is engaged
upon the holy theme. The speaker must invariably grow enthusiastic in so
glorious a cause as he advocates, and his audience necessarily partake
of his feelings. But when there is any particular degree of spirit or
animation evinced by one who is reading his discourse _verbatim et
literatim_, it is of necessity a preconcerted exhibition, and as such
must fail of its effect with the majority. It may be said that no man
can lay out so well his matter, nor give so good and sound an argument,
spontaneously, as when he commits his ideas to paper. This, as a general
thing, must be conceded, for there are comparatively few intellects
sufficiently powerful to adopt the opposite course.

The advantages of extemporaneous speaking are doubtless many. It enables
the individual to place himself in closer contact with the feelings of
his audience, giving him the power to take advantage of any bright
thought that unexpected impulse may impart. An experienced commander
arranges the general plan of an engagement before going into battle, but
he can do no more, for circumstances must guide him in the conflict. He
must improve the opportunity to throw forward his forces just at the
right moment, not too soon nor too late, as such an indiscretion might
change the fortunes of the day, and lose the battle to him who would
else have won it. So with the preacher; he must watch the inner man of
his hearers, and, as he gains ground in the heart, follow up his
influence by well-sustained argument, and strengthen his position by
proper means made available at the appropriate moment,--neither too
lightly nor yet with too much force, but be guided safely by the
strength of the position he already holds in the minds of his audience.

Such things cannot be correctly anticipated, and laid down beforehand,
by comma and period, in the study. Mr. Ballou's arguments were arranged
with the utmost precision, his reasoning followed in the most logical
array, and all the while he was talking to the people in the most
unconcerned and familiar manner, as though each respective member of his
congregation was sitting by his own fireside and the preacher had
happened in. This is the mode of preaching which is effectual, and all
the flowers of rhetoric may seek in vain to attain a like influence
over the hearts and sympathies of an auditory. The latter mode of
preaching may please, but the former will convince; the first will make
worshippers, the last admirers. Thinks the reader that the simple
fishermen of Galilee--yet the chosen of God--sought by the vain and
gaudy ornaments of elegant delivery and studied eloquence to please the
people? No! They preached the holy word in all meekness, striving to
exalt not themselves, but rather the name of him who had sent them.

Mr. Ballou says, relative to the period when he commenced to
preach:--"Mr. Logan, the preceptor, gave me a certificate when I left
the Chesterfield Academy, which was sufficient to enable me to get a
school in Bellingham, Mass. Here I taught school during the other days
of the week, and preached on the Sabbath. When I first engaged in
preaching, it was not with the most distant expectation that I should
support myself by the ministry; but I thought I could keep school some,
and labor some with my hands, and live with but a little income. From
Bellingham I went to the town of Foster, R. I., where my father formerly
lived, and there my father taught a large school and had good
compensation; and here also on the Sabbath I preached in the
school-house where I taught. From this place I went to Scituate, in R.
I., where I preached and taught school. My meetings grew very large, and
I was called on to go to different places,--to Smithfield, Providence,
Pawtucket, etc. After I had spent about two years in keeping school and
preaching, I found that I had used up all my earnings, had laid up
nothing, except that I had more costly clothing than when I first began.
And now, at the age of twenty-four, I was so much called on to preach
that I gave up keeping school, and devoted my time to the ministry,
receiving now and then some compensation for my services."

Mr. Ballou's life as a public minister may be said to have commenced at
the age of twenty. From that time, as it became known that he preached
the doctrine which was deemed by nearly all to be such a heresy, there
were numerous invitations, as he shows us above, pouring in upon him
from all quarters, to come and address the people concerning the faith
he had espoused. His labors were by no means confined to Rhode Island,
but he preached in the neighborhood of Richmond, and in various parts of
Vermont and Massachusetts, improving every moment of leisure time in the
most careful study of the Scriptures. He no longer preached on the
Sabbath only, but also on nearly every consecutive evening of the week.
It was easy to gather an audience, anxious and ready to listen to the
new and most happy doctrine that the preacher taught, and even at this
early period of his ministerial career he began to address those
spontaneous mass assemblies that in after years always gathered from all
directions to listen to him whenever he appeared. Entirely forgetting
himself, and with but one great object in view, that of preaching God's
impartial grace, and of convincing all who would listen to him of the
glorious truths of Universalism, he counted not the hours of mental
labor which now increased upon him, but labored hard and willingly with
his hands to clothe himself, receiving but a mere trifle for his
professional labors. Pay, at this period, he never demanded, and very
rarely expected; he was fully contented with the inward recompense which
he realized.

"At this period of my life," says Mr. Ballou, "my health was very
indifferent. I had most of the time a severe pain in the pit of my
stomach, and my appetite was far from being good, and so debilitated was
I in strength that I have even been obliged to sit while I preached. It
became necessary for me to procure a vehicle to journey in, being too
weak to ride on horseback; however, by care and good advice, I gradually
recruited. My travelling for that period was extensive, from Cape Ann
east, to the Connecticut River west, to Richmond north, and New London
and Hartford south. All my Sabbaths were employed, and many lectures
were attended during each week. I preached in meeting-houses when they
could be obtained, sometimes in school-houses, sometimes in barns, and
not very seldom in groves and orchards, and often in private houses.

"To the people, the doctrine I preached was new, and the opposition
lacked not for bitterness; and such was my condition that I was
constantly in conflict, and never allowed to put off my armor to rest,
day or night. All manner of evil reports concerning me were invented,
and the worst of slander circulated, all tending to make me regardless
of what my enemies said. My answer to all this slander was, while they
speak thus falsely of me, I am in no danger; if I am injured I shall do
that myself."

Theology was a subject of most sombre hue at this period in New England.
Calvinism had twined its choking fibres so closely about the sacred
tree, that its branches drooped, and its leaves withered in the sunshine
of truth. The doctrines taught from the pulpit, while they were listened
to as a duty, were yet repulsive to the heart of the hearer, and
abhorrent to his very soul. The principle of divine love was clouded
wholly from sight by the dark mass of murky error that enshrouded all
scripture teachings. The duties of man to his Maker and to himself were
held forth under fearful threats, as a penalty for disobedience, but the
idea that in the performance of our duty real happiness is alone to be
found, while sin most surely brings its own punishment, was never
publicly advanced. Sinfulness, aside from the liabilities of eternity,
was not held up to be avoided, but rather acknowledged to be pleasant
and desirable, while those who trod the paths of righteousness were
taught to consider themselves as self-sacrificing martyrs, and told to
look for their reward in eternity. It was these obvious inconsistencies
that at first challenged the attention of the subject of this memoir.
And when he stood up and boldly exposed these palpable errors, when he
preached _love_ while others preached _wrath_ to the people, it is not
singular that those who were so diametrically opposed to him in faith
should be ready to believe and propagate any stories that might reflect
upon his character, and thus detract from his influence as exercised
upon those who so eagerly listened to him, and in whose hearts, in the
very nature of things, he was sure of an answering and approving
sentiment.

It is a matter of regret that Mr. Ballou has left no record of his
journeyings and labors during this important period of his clerical
career, as such a narrative would have been most deeply interesting to
his family and friends. The amount of labor he performed must have been
prodigious, and fully accounts for the enfeebled bodily condition to
which he alludes. Every fibre of his intellectual frame must have been
constantly in a state of extreme tension; for his was not the easy task
of preaching on the Sabbath a written discourse which he had taken a
whole week to prepare, but, as we have said, he was called upon almost
daily to address large audiences and promiscuous assemblies. Nor was his
the pleasant duty of the navigator who follows the course of the stream
and the tide. He was a pioneer; he preached a new doctrine; and, as he
says, "the opposition lacked not for bitterness." It is not surely an
exaggeration to declare that Universalism in those days was popularly
regarded with as much hostility as Infidelity itself is now. Hence, in
addition to the severe fatigue of travel, the necessity of finding
constantly new arguments and new illustrations, to sway the minds of
constantly changing auditors, he had to battle valiantly, like a soldier
of Christ, against the most vigorous and determined opposition.

In this condition, how mentally and physically trying must have been his
incessant labors in his Master's vineyard! Neither by night nor by day
could he for a moment lay aside his armor. Standing alone, there was no
respite to his exertions. Later in life he beheld a host of able
followers ready to relieve him of a portion of his duties. His doctrine
was no longer the theme of obloquy and outrage. He outlived calumny and
detraction. But it will be seen that even in extreme old age he did not
spare himself; he did not suffer sloth to creep upon his spirit, nor
rust to gather on his armor. He was still the favored champion of his
cause, and ever ready to minister to the spiritual wants of his brethren
in the faith.

With the close of his itinerant labors, we now come to another important
and interesting epoch in his life.




CHAPTER VI.

BECOMES A SETTLED MINISTER.


The first place in which Mr. Ballou engaged permanently as a settled
minister was in the town of Dana, Mass., in 1794-5. The society here,
not feeling able to pay for an engagement which should occupy him the
whole time, engaged him for a portion, leaving him to supply the
societies in Oxford and Charlton, Mass., also, a portion of the time.
Having now become located, and his residence known, large numbers of
people from a distance gathered to hear him, not only on the Sabbath,
but frequently for several consecutive days of the week besides. Many
there were who held his doctrine to be such damning heresy that they
counted it a sin even to listen to it; while others of his religious
opponents, holding that "there is no error so crooked but it hath in it
some lines of truth," came and listened, and the seed not unfrequently
fell into good soil, bringing forth a hundred fold.

"Often was I greeted at this time," says Mr. Ballou, "by people who
would say, 'Sir, I heard you preach a sermon, a few weeks since, from
such a text,' naming it, 'and I have been uneasy and anxious in my mind
ever since. If your doctrine is true, I must understand and believe it.
But, alas! I fear it is too good to be true; it is so different from
what I have been brought up to believe that I cannot divest my mind of
early prejudices sufficiently to receive it, though Heaven knows how
gladly I could do so.' Then the individual would quote some passages of
scripture which seemed to him to be insuperable objections to the
doctrine I professed, and I would do all in my power to explain these
passages to his mind, in the way I had myself already learned to
interpret them. Usually, with the blessing of Divine Providence, I was
successful, at least in a large degree, and on the following Sabbath I
was pretty sure to find the honest seeker after truth among my
congregation, and the following Sabbath he would be there again,
attentively listening to the word, until, finally, he came forth and
openly espoused the blessed doctrine of God's impartial grace. Thus
encouraged with the growth of the seed that I strewed by the way-side,
my task was a grateful one to my soul, and I was constantly gladdened by
the visible fruits of my efforts in disenthralling men's minds of the
dogmas and blind creeds that early prejudice and the schools had
inculcated."

Let it be borne in mind that at this period he was preaching
Universalism on the principle of the final restoration of the whole
human family, not having satisfied himself yet that there would be no
punishment in a future state of existence, or, indeed, ever thought upon
this subject to any great extent. Owing to the very trifling amount of
his remuneration from the society in Dana, while he resided there,
besides tilling a small portion of land, he was obliged to keep school
during the week, and this engagement was often broken into for lecture
purposes. His keeping and teaching school was a benefit to him beyond
the pecuniary consideration he received, inasmuch as it familiarized him
with many branches of an English education which he would perhaps
otherwise never have acquired, or at least not nearly so thoroughly as
he did by this means.

Uninfluenced by the sneers of his opposers, and the poor remuneration he
received for the preaching of his belief, he never for one moment
wavered in a steadfast purpose, even at this early period, to preach
Christ and him crucified, and the unsearchable riches of God's goodness.
In this connection we are reminded of the remarks of the editor of the
New Covenant, Chicago, Ill., who, in his obituary notice of the decease
of Mr. Ballou, says:--

"But now we are called to mourn the departure of one who, when our cause
had scarcely a name to live,--when it was the subject of the sneer of
the bigot, as well as of the profane curse of the irreligious, and even
its warmest friends scarcely dared to hope for its resurrection to honor
and respect,--bent the energy of a giant mind to a life-long defence and
promulgation of the truth,--by his unanswerable arguments turned the
sneer of bigotry into a smile of hope, and the curses of the profane
into blessings,--of one who has done more in this age for the
liberalizing of religious sentiment than all his contemporaries
combined. Strong in the faith he preached, and steadfastly believing it
must at last triumph, from early youth to mature old age he has kept on
his armor and fought the good fight of faith, and death even found him
at his post as a faithful sentinel, and in the midnight hour he could
answer, 'All is well!'"

At the age of twenty-five, and while resident in the town of Dana, he
became acquainted with the family of Stephen Washburn, in the town of
Williamsburg, Mass., and, after an intimate acquaintance of about a
year, he married their youngest daughter, Ruth Washburn, who was some
eight years younger than himself. His wife, like her husband, had been
brought up to habits of industry and economy; she proved a kind,
constant, and devoted help-mate through his entire life, sharing with
him every joy and every burthen, and, by the influence of a naturally
strong and well balanced mind, a cheerful and gentle disposition,
exercising a most goodly influence upon his life and labors. She became
the careful and prudent mother of a large family, nine of whom lived to
rear families themselves during the life of their parents. Through their
whole lives there was a remarkable oneness of feeling, and a depth of
affection evinced by each for the other, that years served only to
increase, and old age to cement the more closely. But of this matter we
may yet speak more fully.

Mr. Ballou resided in the town of Dana for about seven years, devoting
every spare hour to careful study of the Scriptures, systematizing his
time by a careful division of the hours of the day, and permitting
himself but a very brief portion of time for sleep.

When we say that he devoted his time so assiduously to study, we do not
mean that he occupied himself in the perusal of books alone. He
_thought_ much, communed with himself alone, and even at that period
accustomed himself to a degree of inward or mental communion with
himself, that would seem to exclude the world about him, for the time
being, from his sense of seeing or hearing. This was more observable in
later years, when he often sat long in his study thus, sometimes with
his eyes closed, sometimes with their pupils directed to the floor or
the ceiling of the room, his lips moving, and at last, having seemingly
weighed well some important matter, he would rouse again as if from a
trance, and look about him with apparent satisfaction at the result he
seemed to have accomplished. Sometimes these moments were followed by
the use of the pen for records in his note-book of texts and sermon
heads, sometimes by a reference to the Scriptures, and sometimes by a
walk in the open air; then his lips would be seen to move, and he would
be quite oblivious to all outward circumstances. He studied thus,
carefully and deeply. At times he would walk in the fields or the woods
while thus occupied; and the family never disturbed him by any remarks,
or by calling his attention, while he was thus mentally absorbed. In
another part of this biography, reference will be found concerning this
peculiarity, as exhibited at a later period of his life, and observed by
one who was an inmate of his family, and a student of divinity with him.
The family were accustomed to his mood in these matters, but it usually
affected a stranger, or one not familiar with him, in quite an
impressive and solemn manner; it seemed so much as though he was
communing with unseen spirits, and a power that was invisible to those
about him or to himself, save through the powers of his mental vision.

It would seem that the little bodily rest which he allowed himself at
this period must have induced physical debility; and yet it did not
appear to do so. In travelling, a large portion of his short journeyings
were made in the evening; sometimes at midnight even, and often before
the break of day, in order to fulfil necessary appointments without
encroaching upon his arrangements at home. When stopping for his horse
to take rest and food, himself much fatigued, he would take his watch
from his pocket, and, laying it upon a table near some place where he
could find a recumbent position, he would carefully mark the time, and
say distinctly to himself, "I will sleep now for just one hour, when I
must awake and go on." Singular as this may seem, he has told us that he
never failed to awake at the expiration of the hour, and, much
refreshed, he would mount his horse and press on to fill some
professional engagement, perhaps twenty or thirty miles from the
stopping-place. At other times, while his horse was eating, he would
deliver a sermon, and, having completed it, would, without stopping for
any physical refreshment for himself, start off once more on his
mission.

"In searching the Scriptures," he says, "to enable myself to preach as
the divine oracles taught, I became satisfied that those who were then
called Universalists had founded their doctrine on wrong principles, as
well as other denominations. The doctrine of man's native depravity, of
original sin, of the deserts of eternal misery, of the vicarious
sufferings of Christ, by which he endured, in man's stead, the divine
penalty of God's law, whereby man could escape the punishment due to his
sins, was believed by those who called themselves Universalists, as well
as by Calvinists: also, the doctrine of the Trinity, holding that Christ
is equal to God, or, in other words, is God, being the second person in
the holy Trinity. All these notions, as it appeared to me, were
essential errors, constituting a mass of confusion. I soon renounced all
these views, and preached only God, and one mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus. All my brethren in the ministry, and all our
friends, stood on the old platform, and I found that I had to contend
with Universalists as well as with partialists. But I went to my work in
earnest, laboring, with all my skill and with all my limited talents, to
convince my brethren in the ministry, and all who heard me preach, that
the doctrines of the Trinity, of depravity, of eternal penalty, etc.,
were neither the doctrines of the Scriptures nor of reason. The
opposition to my sentiments fast gave way among Universalists, though
even among them I met with as bitter opposition, in some instances, as
from other denominations. The first time I preached in Bro. Murray's
church, in Boston, was during his absence in Philadelphia, and I then
came out fully with my Unitarian views, which produced great
disturbance. Some were violent in their opposition, while others, and
not a few, fell in with my manner of explaining the Scriptures. I was
then twenty-eight years of age."

Mr. Ballou says that his declaring his views on this occasion was the
cause of "great disturbance." This disturbance was so earnest that some
few of the audience, more bitter than the rest, rose in their seats and
declared that the sentiments which had been uttered were not in
accordance with Mr. Murray's views, etc. Whereupon Mr. Ballou simply
informed them that he had been invited, without solicitation on his own
part, to preach in that desk; that he came there to preach no one's
convictions but his own; that he never had consulted, and never should
consult, the taste of his audience as to the doctrine he preached to
them; but that he should proclaim the truth, as, by the help of Heaven,
he had been enabled to learn it from the Bible, and the truth only!

On the subsequent day Mr. Ballou was formally waited upon by a committee
from the Society, who thanked him for the discourse, and a majority
coincided also in his peculiar views.

The conclusions as to doctrine at which he arrived were based upon
severe study and profound reflection; and when we consider the age at
which he had elaborated and enunciated a creed of such vast importance,
a creed so entirely in advance of his contemporaries, we cannot fail to
be most forcibly impressed with the extraordinary originality and
remarkable precocity of his intellect. Such early vigor and maturity
would have been astonishing in one who had enjoyed all the advantages of
early training, all the aids afforded by the best theological
institutions and instructors; but in one who had passed through so many
hardships, overcome so many difficulties, and was so emphatically
self-taught and self-made, they can only be regarded as evidences of the
highest genius, and the immediate favorable interposition of Divine
Providence.

His unshaken faith and inflexibility of conviction are evinced by the
fact that he stood firm, not only against the opposing sects, but
against the disciples of the improved doctrine which he first preached.
It requires not a little energy to confront declared foes; but to
contend with friends, to risk the loss of their favor and support, is a
trial which few have the boldness to sustain. But the subject of this
biography knew not what temporizing meant; his whole life, his whole
intellect, all his energies, were devoted to the discovery of truth, and
the enunciation of the truth he discovered. Had he stood entirely alone,
without one single friend, without one single proselyte, he would have
spoken as he did, boldly, earnestly, candidly, the apostle and defender
of his faith. The inspiration of his mission was from on high; neither
applause nor opposition changed his views, or in the least affected his
serene and constant equanimity.

The patient and unruffled manner in which he always held a controversy
has been often remarked of him; himself the mark for all manner of
personalities and low reflections, he never descended to such a mode of
warfare, being fully content in the justice and power of his cause, and
considering that as more than equal to low cunning, or, indeed, any
trickery of those who opposed him so bitterly. Flattery would have been
equally powerless in effect upon him, for he looked not to man for
approval, but to his own conscience and his God. Love of applause is a
most natural trait in our dispositions. The hero of a hundred battles
feels his heart glow afresh at the grateful meed of praise; the
politician reads the glowing accounts of his own eloquence with secret
gratification; and who is there so humble that is not susceptible of
flattery, who so high in worldly honors that they do not acknowledge the
potency of applause? And yet we shall be sustained in the remark by all
who knew the subject of these memoirs intimately, when we say, that
neither ridicule nor flattery moved him in the least, the single purpose
of his life being his Master's business; and he ever acknowledged
himself, that he really endeavored to be (and beyond which he aspired
not) the servant of all men. Few persons, with his power over the
masses, and holding the position that was universally accorded to him,
but that would have often brought themselves as _individuals_, with
their _personal_ interests and desires, before the public;
self-aggrandizement will almost always discover itself more or less in
prominent public men. But he knew no such incentive; he had one grand
object in view, one which he never lost sight of, and which was more
than paramount to everything else combined;--it was to inculcate the
religion of God's impartial goodness and eternal grace.

In the thirtieth year of his age, he was induced to accept of the
invitation of the towns of Woodstock, Hartland, Bethel, and Barnard,
Vt., making the latter place his home. While resident here he devoted
himself to ardent and constant study, and in the year 1804 produced his
"_Notes on the Parables_," one of the most popular and useful books,
even to the present day, in the Universalist library. It has passed
through numerous large editions, and a new one, at this present writing,
is about to be put to press. It is a book containing nearly the same
amount of matter as the present memoir in the reader's hand. This book
was written and published at a time when Mr. Ballou's health was really
suffering from the effects of his unremitting labors, both mental and
physical.

"My health," he says, "in those years which I passed in Vermont, was
generally very good. I had some time, previous to removing from Dana,
been gaining health and growing more corpulent, so that my uniform
weight for several years was about two hundred pounds." But at the time
when he wrote the "Notes," for a considerable period he had been
over-tasked, and so much so as to materially affect his health. The
roads about the country were of a very poor character, and being unable
to use a vehicle on many of the routes over which he passed, he was
frequently obliged to accomplish his journeys on horseback, which was a
severe draft upon his strength. In his first preface to the edition of
Notes on the Parables, the author thus refers to the subject of the
book:--

"In my travels through the country in discharge of duties enjoined by
the ministry of the Saviour of sinners, I have met with more opposition
to the gospel preached to Abraham from false notions of the parables of
the New Testament, than from any other source. Often, after travelling
many miles and preaching _several_ sermons in a day, I have found it
necessary to explain various parables to some inquiring hearer, when my
strength seemed almost exhausted. At such times I have thought a volume,
such as the reader has in hand, might save me much labor, and I have
often said to myself, If God will give me a few weeks' leisure, I will,
with his assistance, employ them in writing 'Notes on the Parables.'
This favor has at length been granted, though it was by depriving me of
that degree of health that was necessary to the performance of the
journeys which I had already appointed, yet preserving so much as to
render me composed in my study."

This is undoubtedly one of the most valuable books in the Universalist
library; particularly valuable from the fact of its treating, in the
clearest and most forcible manner, upon those peculiar doctrinal points
which, more than all others, have been the theme of contention among
professed Christians. At the time when Mr. Ballou published this work,
his mind was not fully made up as to the subject of punishment after
death; but the matter had already resolved itself to this in his mind;
that if any suffer in the future state it would be because they would be
sinful there. It was not long subsequent, however, that he came to the
full knowledge and conviction that the doctrine of future punishment was
nowhere taught in the Bible, and this creed he thenceforth ever most
assiduously preached on all occasions.

In his preface to the fifth edition the author says:--"On account of so
many of the parables being used by believers in endless punishment to
support and enforce that sentiment, the author of the Notes was induced
to study them with special reference to the question whether they might
not, with more propriety, be applied in a different manner. Of this fact
he became fully satisfied; even as much so as he is now. But, though he
entertained no scruples on that point, he was not so happy as to be
fully satisfied, in every case, as to the true intent of the parable. In
this situation he cautiously endeavored not to apply any parable to a
subject which was not found to be embraced in the system of truth which
the Scriptures clearly and evidently support. Little harm is done by
applying a parable to a subject to which it was not intended by the
author to apply, provided the subject to which it is misapplied be a
truth clearly supported by either Scripture or man's experience; but to
misconstrue any passage of the divine testimony so as to give support to
what is not true, is unquestionably no small damage; and if the error be
of magnitude, whereby our Heavenly Father is represented in an unlovely
character, or our confidence in his goodness diminished, such
misconstruction is not only a reprehensible violence on the Scriptures,
but a dishonor to their divine Author. I am persuaded that a just
knowledge of the parables is almost indispensably necessary to a
knowledge of the doctrine preached by Christ, as much of his public
communication was in this way. It is in the parables of Christ that we
learn the nature of the two dispensations or covenants; the situation of
man by reason of sin; the character of the Saviour as the seeker and
savior of that which was lost; the power of the gospel as a sovereign
remedy for the moral maladies of man, and its divine efficacy in
reconciling and assimilating the sinner to God. It is by the parables
that we learn the unprofitableness of legal righteousness in point of
justification to eternal life; the absolute necessity of becoming new
creatures, in order to enter the kingdom of God; the true character of
the Saviour as the Lord our Righteousness, and his divine power to make
all things new."

The "_Notes on the Parables_" have unquestionably led thousands of minds
to valuable improvement in the knowledge of the Scriptures, and
converted many a longing soul to the precious and joyful belief of
universal salvation. At the time when these Notes were written, the
light which has now become so general and evident to nearly every candid
seeker after truth,--the true light of the gospel of Christ,--seemed to
be but just dawning; the warm and genial sun of the true faith but
faintly tinged the east; but ere long it rose steadily and majestically,
until it radiated its noon-day warmth, in meridian splendor and beauty.
We should remember that the author of the "Notes" enjoyed the use of no
other book than the Bible in forming and promulgating his own opinions,
which have since become the general belief of the Universalist order.
The book is especially lucid and original in its style, and bears in its
pages constant evidence of deep and careful research.

In an excellent book lately issued by the publisher of this biography,
entitled a Memoir of Rev. S. R. Smith, written by Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer,
D. D., of Clinton, N. Y., we find the following incident related,
referring to this period of Mr. Ballou's life. It is from the pen of the
subject of the memoir, Rev. Stephen R. Smith, concerning whose Christian
excellence too much cannot be said.

"By what means the intelligence that Hosea Ballou would preach on the
following Sunday, in a place fifteen miles distant, could have been
conveyed to a very young man, who did not then know a single
Universalist in the world, is not remembered. He went, however, and
heard a discourse in the morning, from Zech. 6:13; and, for the first
time in his life, felt that he had listened to a sermon that neither
involved an absurdity nor a contradiction. The congregation was not
large, and occupied a school-house in the present city of Utica, then a
meagre and muddy village. A larger congregation was anticipated in the
afternoon, and arrangements were made for the service in the open air,
under some trees, on the bank of the Mohawk river. There, in due time, a
large auditory assembled, and listened to one of Mr. Ballou's best
discourses, from Deut. 33: part of the 16th with the 17th verse. It was
a glorious day, early in June. The silence of Sunday was around us; the
bright blue heavens above us, partly veiled by the branches of a few
scattering oaks; the clear, quiet river at our side; the ruddy and
healthy preacher, in all the vigor of manhood, before us, and pleading
the cause of God and humanity with a group of most attentive hearers.
Such a scene is not to be forgotten; and, altogether, it was one, in
every respect, calculated to make the most lasting impression. And such
certainly were its effects upon the mind of the writer. For, while it
left him without any pretension to the knowledge or belief of
Universalism, as a system of religious truth, it certainly satisfied him
that it was consistent with itself, and with all that we see and know of
the Deity and his moral government. It is scarcely to be doubted that
similar impressions were made on many persons in that congregation."

While resident in Barnard, he wrote also his "_Treatise on Atonement_."
This book, though written so many years since, is still as popular as
when first issued from the press, and has passed, like the "Notes,"
through several large editions. It is contained in a volume of between
two and three hundred pages, and is justly esteemed as one of the
soundest productions that has ever emanated from the author's pen, and
we may, perhaps, add without apparent arrogance, one of the most
thoroughly philosophical and argumentative works of the age. In the
Modern History of Universalism, the author, in speaking of the change of
opinion generally from the ideas preached by John Murray, Winchester,
and other early ministers, says that the belief in the Trinity,
atonement, and kindred notions, was discarded through the influence of
this book.

"The labors of Hosea Ballou, of this city," says the author, "may be
regarded as one of the principal means of the change. In the '_Treatise
on Atonement_,' he has treated the subject at length, maintaining the
subordination of the Son to the Father, the eternal and impartial love
of God to all creatures, and holding forth the death of Christ not as
the cause, but as the effect of this eternal principle of the divine
nature. The very wide circulation of this work evinces the high
estimation in which it has been held by the American Universalists."

We subjoin also the following notice of the "Treatise," because we think
it a most truthful critique relative to the book, which we desire to
have the readers of this biography to understand. In this review, which
appeared not long since in the Evangelical Magazine, the editor says:--

"The decided manner in which the doctrine of vicarious atonement is
rejected, the prominence given to the belief that Jesus was a dependent
being, dependent like ourselves on a common Father and God, and that he
was sent to preach the truth and illustrate its requirements, and by his
exclusive influence to reconcile man to his Maker, were subjects so new,
so startling, that for a time the work appears not to have been very
well received. But the important object was attained. The public
attention, and especially that of Universalists, was drawn to the
consideration of these fundamental and momentous doctrines. The author's
views were very generally adopted by the order, and the book obtained
unbounded popularity. It deserves this distinction, for it doubtless
wrought the great revolution that transformed Universalism from the
Unitarian hypothesis, with all its concomitants, into the simple and
intelligible system formed in the doctrine of the indivisible oneness of
God. It is, perhaps, impossible to estimate the influence which this
work has had upon the so-called Unitarian controversy in New England.
But this much is quite certain, the 'Treatise' was one of the earliest
publications that openly and distinctly rejected the doctrine of the
Trinity, and manfully met the prevailing prejudices respecting that
subject. But aside from these matters, there is not another book in the
country, on the same subject, that has been read by half the number of
persons, or wrought conviction of the truth of the doctrine of the
Divine unity in one half so many minds, as this '_Treatise on
Atonement_.'"

These notices, as we have just intimated, are introduced here to give
the reader, who may not be otherwise acquainted with the "Treatise," a
correct and clear idea of the work. Though among the earliest of Mr.
Ballou's publications, this book is far from being deficient in any
point, either as to sound logical reasoning, or in force and earnestness
of style. Simple, yet profound, it is within the capacity of the
humblest to comprehend and fully understand, while it cannot fail to
challenge the admiration of the scholar and philosopher. It is written
in the plain, straightforward manner which so distinguished his after
productions, and which never failed to carry conviction with it. "The
'Treatise' has been pronounced by one of the strongest minds of the
age," says the publisher of the sixth edition, "to be one of the
soundest arguments in the English language." Were the author's
reputation to rest solely upon this work, we should feel satisfied at
the manner in which his memory must be handed down to posterity.

In his preface to the first edition of the book, he says:--"Many
circumstances might be mentioned, which, in their associations, have
induced me to write and publish the following treatise; but I can say
with propriety, that the principal object was that in which I always
find the greatest happiness, namely, to do what I find most necessary in
order to render myself useful to mankind."

At the time of the publication of this "Treatise," Mr. Ballou had by no
means arrived at such a degree of understanding and belief upon the
subject of the Scriptures as was the case in after years, and, with wise
fore-thought, he thus speaks his mind in the preface to the first
edition:--

"I have often been solicited to write and publish my general views on
the gospel, but have commonly observed to my friends that it might be
attended with disagreeable consequences, as it is impossible to
determine whether the ideas we entertain at the present time are
agreeable to those which we shall be under the necessity of adopting
after we have had more experience; and knowing, to my satisfaction, that
authors are very apt to feel such an attachment to sentiments which have
been openly avowed to the world, that their prejudice frequently
obstructs their further acquisition in the knowledge of the truth, and
even in cases of conviction their own self-importance will keep them
from acknowledging their mistake."

Though he was thus cautious (and what judgment, prudence, and cool
reasoning are evinced in this paragraph), the only change that
experience did bring about, in the author's mind, was, that he became
even more fully convinced, as the experience of years ripened the
harvest of his wisdom, of the truths of his former belief, and made
still further _progress_ (a word that he loved and lived up to), in
addition to certain points that are but lightly touched upon in the
work.

The following letter, relating to this and other works, was elicited by
the presentation to Mr. Ballou of a set, in a new and uniform edition
with some of his subsequent publications; the constant call for these
books, even after several large editions had been exhausted, and a long
period of years had elapsed since their first being issued, requiring
this fresh publication of them. Mr. Ballou having parted with the
copyright at the time of publication, they were of course in the hands
of the trade. This letter is introduced here as illustrative of the
humble estimate he put upon his own important labors and discoveries,
and is also in style very like him. It bears date 1844, and was written,
consequently, when he was seventy-three years of age. It was addressed
to the editor of the Trumpet, and appeared in the editorial columns of
that paper.

     "BR. WHITTEMORE: Please permit me to acknowledge with gratitude a
     favor I have received from Br. Abel Tompkins, consisting of four
     volumes of my writings: my Notes on the Parables of the New
     Testament; my Treatise on Atonement; my course of Lecture Sermons,
     and my Select Sermons. It gives me much pleasure to learn that
     these works have been so favorably regarded by the denomination
     with which I have had the happiness to hold an unbroken and
     uninterrupted connection for more than half a century, as to
     warrant this new edition. The improved style in which these volumes
     now appear cannot fail to give entire satisfaction to all who have
     a good taste, and will doubtless facilitate their sale.

     "When, more than forty years ago, I wrote my 'Notes' and
     'Treatise,' I had never seen any work in defence of the doctrine of
     the Divine unity, and the dependency of the Son upon the Father.
     When this circumstance is duly considered, the reader will be
     satisfied that the writer must have exerted the limited powers of
     his mind to their utmost capacity. This is all the credit he
     claims.

     "HOSEA BALLOU."

Mr. Ballou has long been allowed the credit, which is also most justly
due to him, of having been the first Unitarian writer in this country;
for, as he says above, he had never seen any book in defence of the
doctrine of the Divine unity when he wrote in favor of those principles
in the works referred to. Another evidence of the fact is, that Mr.
Ballou's sentiments at that time were considered most strange and novel
by all.

"In this Treatise," says Rev. Thomas Whittemore, "Mr. Ballou took the
ground that God was never unreconciled to man; that man was the party
who needed reconciliation, for God is love from eternity to eternity,
and that God's love to sinners was the cause of Christ's being sent by
the Father to redeem them. He held that Christ was not God himself, but
the Son of God; a distinct being from the Father,--a _created_ being;--a
doctrine which he had believed and preached for ten years, having
commenced to preach it as early as 1795. He must therefore be regarded
as the earliest defender of Unitarianism the country has produced."

Mr. Ballou says, relative to the doctrine of the Trinity:--"I had
preached but a short time before my mind was entirely freed from all the
perplexities of the doctrine of the Trinity, and the common notion of
atonement. But in making these advances, as I am disposed to call them,
I had the assistance of no author or writer. As fast as these old
doctrines were, by any means, rendered the subject of inquiry in my
mind, they became exploded. But it would be difficult for me now to
recall the particular incidents which suggested queries in my mind
respecting them."

The reader will at once be prepared to admit that Mr. Ballou must have
expended much time and labor in the research and study of the
Scriptures, necessary to enable him to write and publish these works, in
a cause, and upon a theme, wherein he was a pioneer. He steered his
barque into new waters, and was obliged himself to stand ever with the
"lead" in his hand, to ascertain the true soundings, and keep thus in
the narrow channel of truth. Concerning this matter, he has said, in an
article furnished for a work entitled "Modern History of
Universalism:"--

"I never read anything on the doctrine of universal salvation before I
believed it, the Bible excepted; nor did I know, that I can now
recollect, that there was anything published in its vindication in the
world. Nor had I ever heard a sermon on the subject, except in boyhood I
once heard Brother Rich, but concerning that sermon I realized nothing."

In speaking of his advance towards the knowledge of the truth, after his
conversion, he says, in a published article:--

"It may be proper for me to state one circumstance which had no small
tendency to bring me over to the ground on which I have for so many
years felt established. It was by reading some deistical writings. By
this means I was led to see that it was utterly impossible to maintain
Christianity as it had been generally believed in the church. This led
me of course to examine the Scriptures, that I might determine the
question, whether they did really teach that Jesus Christ died to
reconcile an unchangeable God to his own children. You cannot suppose I
was long in finding that, so far from teaching such absurdities, the
Scriptures teach that 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world to
himself.' The question concerning the Trinity was by the same means as
speedily settled."

It is an interesting and curious fact that he should have been aided, as
it were, by the darkness of error to find the light of truth. The
obvious inconsistency in his former belief, made evident by the deist,
did not win him to the faith of the latter, but rather led him to
investigate for himself, and to find a religion more congenial with the
native promptings of his own heart and the evidences of the Bible. His
was an exploring mind; he was not content to receive this faith, or that
position, because others believed it, or because it had remained so long
the unchallenged and unquestioned creed of the church. He must look into
the matter and understand for himself, and make all parts of a doctrine
to harmonize with each other, before he could reconcile it with his own
reason and convictions.

This was a trait of character not alone observable in him as it related
to the subject of religion; he applied the same rule to the affairs of
every-day life, to political economy and business arrangements. He was
always open to conviction, to reason and evidence, but could never
embrace blindly any proposition whatever. Because the political party
which the nearest assimilated to his views of the proper mode of
government adopted this or that policy, he did not by any means consider
it his duty to coincide with them, against his sober conviction, and he
never did so; on the contrary, as often criticising the measures of one
political party as another, and frequently finding much excellence, and
principles worthy of commendation in the national policy of both. For
this reason he could not be a politician, had he experienced an
inclination that way. He was too honest.




CHAPTER VII.

REMOVES TO PORTSMOUTH, N. H.


After the expiration of a period of six years from the time of his first
settlement in Barnard, Vt., and during which season he enjoyed an
uninterrupted flow of kindness and good fellowship with the societies of
his charge, he accepted the invitation of the society of Portsmouth, N.
H., to become their pastor, and to devote his whole time to the good of
the cause in that place. He had formed within the circle of his
professional labors in Vermont a host of kind and warm-hearted friends,
and it was a considerable period after the proposition had been made to
him, before he could make up his mind to accept it. He did so, at last,
however, influenced by several reasons.

First, the large field over which he was obliged to travel, while
settled in Barnard, involved not only much physical labor and expense,
but also the loss of a large amount of time, that might be devoted to
more profitable pursuit. Then the pecuniary emolument offered him at
Portsmouth was considerably larger than he had yet received, and his now
growing family rendered such a fact to be a necessary consideration. And
yet, let it not be supposed that there was any mercenary trait in his
character; such was as foreign to his nature as was deceit, or guile of
any sort, as the progress of this biography will show. He realized,
also, that, while such a change would diminish his physical labors, it
would doubtless enlarge the sphere of his usefulness, bringing him in
contact with larger audiences and more miscellaneous assemblages than
usually gathered to listen to his public communications in a less
thickly settled district.

He says, in this connection:--"I have found throughout my life, that
whatever place I have long tarried in, I have become greatly attached
to, and to the people with whom I associated. This was peculiarly the
case in Barnard, and among the neighboring societies, with whom I was,
for a period of six years, most agreeably, and I trust profitably
associated. I long weighed the proposal from my friends in Portsmouth in
my mind, before I could consent to break up a connection which had
afforded me so much real satisfaction. But might I not render myself
more useful by accepting this call? Was it not the design of my Master
to enlarge my sphere of usefulness in his service? These things I
weighed carefully in my mind, and prayed for counsel and power to enable
me to judge of my duty aright; until, finally, believing it to be my
duty, I accepted the call of my brethren in New Hampshire, and
accordingly removed to Portsmouth."

Duly weighing these matters, he deemed it his duty, as he says, to bid
his brethren in Vermont farewell, and he removed to Portsmouth in the
year 1807, being in the thirty-sixth year of his age. Here he was
installed, Nov. 8, the sermon on the occasion being preached by Rev.
Edward Turner, then of Salem. Though the pecuniary emolument, before
referred to, was somewhat more than he had formerly received, yet it
required an exercise of the utmost frugality and prudence to enable him
to support his family comfortably. Indeed, this could not be done upon
his salary as pastor of the Universalist Society alone, and therefore,
in addition to his other numerous and arduous duties, he again taught
school for a considerable period, while resident in this place, assisted
by Hosea Ballou, 2d, now Dr. H. Ballou, of Medford. If it be true, as
Lord Bacon has said, that reading makes a _full_ man, conversation a
_ready_ man, and writing an _exact_ man, then teaching certainly
embraces the advantages to be derived from all three; and this Mr.
Ballou found to be the case, as he has often said.

While resident in Portsmouth, notwithstanding the labors of the week,
the necessary preparation for the Sabbath, and the earnest efforts that
were required of him upon that sacred day, still he pursued a course of
religious investigations into the subject of the holy text, that we are
at a loss to know when he found time to consummate. It was at this
period that he wrote his "Candid Review," in reply to a work by Rev.
Isaac Robinson, A. M., upon some important doctrinal points. It is
contained in one volume of two hundred pages, and adduces some of the
strongest arguments in favor of impartial and universal grace that have
ever been published, either by himself or others. This book was
exceedingly popular at the time of its first appearance, and created not
a little excitement among religious controversialists in New Hampshire,
and, indeed, throughout the New England States.

He also wrote, while resident in Portsmouth, a series of letters
addressed to the Rev. Joseph Buckminster, upon important doctrinal
subjects, which was published in one volume. A Controversy with Rev. Mr.
Walton was written and published here, besides one or two minor works,
including a school catechism, for a long period of years in general use
among the denomination. In addition to the labor necessary to produce
these in connection with his regular professional duties, he was also
associate editor of a religious quarterly, entitled the "Gospel
Visitant," in which, however, he had no further interest than his
editorial connection. His contributions to this work were copious, and
marked by the same profound reasoning capacity and lucid style that have
characterized every work he has produced. It was while engaged in
editing this publication that he came to the full belief that there was
no punishment after death, and ever after, he preached the doctrine of
universal salvation in this spirit, and labored strenuously in its
defence and support.

Relative to this subject Mr. Ballou has written:--"I cannot say that I
was fully satisfied that the Bible taught no punishment after death,
until I obtained this satisfaction by attending to the subject with Bro.
Edward Turner, respecting the doctrine of the Scriptures upon this
question. We agreed to do the best we could, he in favor of future
punishment, and I on the contrary. Our investigations were published in
a periodical called the 'Gospel Visitant.' While attending to this
correspondence, I became entirely satisfied that the Scriptures begin
and end the history of sin in flesh and blood, and that beyond this
mortal existence the Bible teaches us no other sentient state but that
which is called by the blessed name of life and immortality."

In another article relative to the same subject he says:--"The doctrine
of punishment after death has, by many able writers, been contended for;
some of whom have argued such punishment to be endless, and others
limited. But it appears to me that they have taken wrong ground who have
endeavored to support the latter, as well as those who have labored to
prove the former. They have both put great dependence upon certain
figurative and parabolical expressions, or passages of Scripture, which
they _explain_ so as to cause them to allude to such an event. It
appears to me that they have not sufficiently attended to the nature of
sin, so as to learn its punishment to be produced from a law of
_necessity_, and not a law of _penalty_. Had they seen this, they would
also have seen that a perpetuity of punishment must be connected with
an equal continuance of sin, on the same principle that an effect is
dependent upon its cause."

This brief paragraph will show the reader how Mr. Ballou was accustomed
to argue upon this subject, of such vital importance to all, and which
is a question still in the minds of many of our Universalist brethren,
both ministry and laity.

At the expiration of six years from the date of his settlement in
Portsmouth, and during which time his association with the people of his
charge, and others in that place, had been not only of the most pleasant
and agreeable character, but also highly profitable as it regarded their
mutual spiritual advancement, up to the period of the war with Great
Britain, he made his arrangements to leave Portsmouth, having received
an invitation from the Universalist Society in Salem, Mass., to settle
in that town, and to devote his professional services to their especial
good. Mr. Ballou says of his connection with the society in
Portsmouth:--

"My connection with the people of Portsmouth was very cordial and happy,
until that gloomy war-cloud which brought on a conflict with England
came over the land. The anti-war party was numerous, and very
influential; and, as I could not consent that my country was in the
wrong, a bitter spirit became manifested towards me, which so operated
towards the close of the war, that I became satisfied it was my duty to
stay in that place no longer; and as the society in Salem was without a
pastor, I received an invitation, which I accepted, to remove to that
delightful place."

This was by no means a solitary instance or evidence of the warm
patriotic fire that ever burned brightly in his bosom. He was ardently
attached to the republican principles of our government, and never
failed, on every suitable occasion, to evince the most earnest
attachment for his country. Though a constant and untiring student of
divinity, yet he was by no means a novice in political economy; the
basis of our institutions, and their true spirit as set forth by the
constitution, the influences and natural results of our style of
government, and the political soundness of the nation, were themes on
which he was more than well informed, but yet he always carefully
avoided mingling in party politics.

He removed to Salem in the month of June, 1815, where he found many
cordial and true friends, whose memory and companionship he cherished to
the close of life. While resident here he wrote a pamphlet in reply to
one by John Kelley, A. M., entitled "Solemn and Important Reasons
against becoming a Universalist." This review was comprised in a
pamphlet of eighty pages, and is a strong and powerful argument in favor
of the principles which the author believed, and which he advocated with
such successful zeal. These minor publications of Mr. Ballou's, when now
referred to, convey but a faint idea of the interest which they then
produced. Their extended and immediate influence was evident. Vast
numbers were sold; some zealous people, rejoicing at the joy
unspeakable to which they had themselves attained through the author's
writings and public communications from the pulpit, purchased them by
wholesale, and distributed them gratis, far and near. His hearers, too,
largely increased in numbers, and he was rewarded for his labors by
witnessing the rich harvest that he was reaping in his Master's
vineyard, and the number of souls he was leading in the paths of truth.

While resident in Salem, he also wrote a series of letters in reply to a
series addressed to him by Abner Kneeland, inquiring into the
authenticity of the Scriptures. The book formed of the letters referred
to makes a volume of two hundred and fifty pages. The first edition was
published in Salem, in 1816, the second in Boston, in 1820. The origin
of these letters, which created no small degree of attention, at that
period especially, was as follows: Rev. Mr. Kneeland having at various
times expressed serious doubts and fears relative to the genuineness of
the holy Scriptures, and the system of Divine revelation therein
contained, solicited Mr. Ballou to enter into a correspondence with him
upon the subject, in which Mr. Kneeland agreed to do his utmost to
disprove the truth and authenticity of the Bible, while Mr. Ballou
should take the opposite ground, and as strenuously defend it.

It was thought that this mode of discussion would be of mutual benefit
to them, and at the time of its commencement was designed solely for
their private use. But they were finally published, at the solicitation
of friends, and with the hope that they might be productive of more
extended good. These letters, which are somewhat lengthy, and indeed
necessarily so on the part of Mr. Ballou, who assumed the laboring oar,
were always written, as he has told us, at a single sitting. They are
highly valuable, and were more particularly so at that period, as
forming a powerful chain of evidence in favor of Christianity, and are
characterized, on Mr. Ballou's part, by a vigorous accuracy and earnest
desire after truth, which prepossesses the reader in their favor.

Mr. Ballou knew very well the misgivings as to the truth of the Divine
revelations by which Mr. Kneeland's mind was exercised, and,
notwithstanding other pressing duties and regular engagements, he
consented to a discussion which must needs cost him many hours of study
and labor, hoping thereby to lead one soul, at least, to a full and
clear belief in the gospel of Christ. These letters reached the number
of ten on either side before the correspondence was brought to a close,
when Mr. Kneeland was compelled by the force of evidence frankly to
acknowledge his entire satisfaction and conversion; and having found
such joy in believing, such relief at being released from the iron
thraldom of doubt and fear, he was exceedingly anxious to publish the
entire series of letters.

It should be remembered that at the present day, when we have so many
excellent books to consult, and can avail ourselves of the experience
and research of so many able minds,--men who have fought the good fight
of faith,--it is a very easy matter to sit down and defend the gospel
against the arguments of the sceptic, the ground being already
thoroughly canvassed for us pro and con, and weapons keen and bright
placed in our very hands. But Mr. Ballou enjoyed none of these
advantages; his tools were wrought from the native ore, and skilled
after the fashion of his own mind. Every line he wrote, every opinion he
advanced, was the result of deep and careful study, without the
assistance of any other book save the Bible itself.

"As 1815 was the year after the war closed," says Mr. Ballou, "all kinds
of provisions were extremely dear, and my salary was so poorly paid,
that I could not get money enough from my friends to meet my expenses;
and during the two years and four months I tarried here, I was compelled
to spend about three hundred dollars more than I received, of money
which I had by me when I came to Salem."

While resident in Salem, he applied himself with unremitting industry
and diligence to his studies, devoting his time wholly to writing upon
the subject of his faith, and the exercise of his professional duties as
a minister. His labors here were particularly blessed with success, and
the converts to his church were many. The Salem society under his charge
vastly increased in influence and numbers, and Mr. Ballou had reason to
rejoice at the very evident success of his labors with this people. When
he first came to Salem, his doctrine, even by professed Universalists,
was thought to be too radical, too universal, in short _too good_; but
ere he left them, they had fallen almost unconsciously into his mode of
belief, gradually, step by step, though the passage had been so easy
that they had not realized the change until they found themselves
already convinced.

It was not his practice to assail the unbeliever at once with blunt,
open refutation of his principles, nor to stagger him by an array of
unanswerable arguments, but realizing that a casual analogy often
convinceth when the mind will not bear argument, he adopted an easy and
soothing course of reasoning, and thus gradually and easily sought his
object. Thus was many an otherwise hopeless spirit turned from the
darkness of error to the light of truth. Endeared to all his
acquaintances by his unostentatious character, and by his mild, patient,
and prudent habits, the separation from his society in Salem was
mutually a hard task.

As soon as it was understood that Mr. Ballou had been talked of as
pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Boston, Rev. Paul Dean, of
respectable and influential standing in the order, and settled in
Boston, strove by every manner of means to defeat this purpose. He
feared the bold, unflinching, and manly style of preaching, for which
Mr. Ballou had already become widely celebrated. Himself a man who
avoided all sectional controversy in his preaching, he foresaw that the
advent of Mr. Ballou in Boston would compel him to come out openly and
acknowledge either that he was a Universalist or that he was not. He was
not willing to risk his popularity in the matter, and therefore strove,
by letters and orally, to dissuade Mr. Ballou from coming to Boston,
and finally he declared to him that if he came hither he should consider
it a breach of fellowship, and should ever after treat him accordingly.

Mr. Ballou was not one to be intimidated by threats; personal fear was a
quality that he never realized. He came to Boston, and the sequel shows
a result that is perfectly satisfactory to his friends. Mr. Dean was not
prepared to make any great sacrifice for the sake of truth; it was not
at that time popular for him to preach downright Universalism. The
opinions of most men are governed by circumstances, quite as much as by
truthful evidence; but Mr. Ballou, with a single eye to truth, never
catered for the popular taste, never asked whether the promulgation of
this or that great principle of truth would be acceptable and popular;
he had no such policy in his composition, but dealt only in wholesome
truths, and such as his own heart had baptized in the clear, welling
waters of conviction.

The editor of the _Christian Freeman_, Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, not long
since published an account of his first interview with Mr. Ballou, which
we subjoin in this connection, as being applicable in placing the
subject of the controversy, which is well known to have existed, between
Mr. Ballou and Mr. Dean, in a proper light. In speaking of his first
visit to the city of Boston, from his home in Maine, the writer says:--

"At this time the scheme was in vogue with a few brethren, among whom
Brs. Turner and Dean were conspicuous, for a division of the
denomination, and the erection of a new order, which it was calculated
would be the leading order, nearly swallowing up the other, to be
entitled 'Restorationists.' We impute no evil motive to any one; but
those on whom we called before reaching Bro. Ballou, felt it to be their
privilege to make the projected scheme the chief subject of
conversation, and to express much of the feeling of dissatisfaction
towards Bro. Ballou. We were made to feel quite unhappy; and as we had
heard of Bro. Ballou as a stern and severe man, we expected to be even
more harassed with a talk of 'troubles and difficulties' when in company
with him. At length we were introduced to his presence, and took his
friendly hand. He sat down by us, and with much interest and affection
he inquired into our labors and prospects, and into the interests of the
cause in Maine. We waited to hear him introduce the subject of the
'difficulties' but we waited in vain. At length we attempted to draw him
out, by asking him of the nature of the 'difficulties' among the
brethren here. 'I am ignorant,' said he, 'of any real difficulties.
Certain brethren are believers in a limited future punishment; but I
cannot see that that is any occasion for difficulty. Certainly I know of
no reason why I should have any trouble with these brethren, or esteem
them any the less for their seeing cause to believe as they do. But if
they require me to believe it as essential to the Christian faith, I
feel that it is proper for me to call on them for the proof of the
doctrine. We cannot see with each other's eyes; we must be willing to
allow each other to judge for himself. I love those brethren, and wish
them prosperity and happiness.' And tears started from his eyes when he
spoke. We felt that he spoke from the heart. There was no envy, no
scheming, no party spirit about him. He sought a knowledge of God's
word, and would 'speak God's word faithfully,' and accord the same right
to others.

"And such we have ever found him. We have lived in neighborhood with him
twenty-four years, and have found him one of the most modest,
unassuming, liberal-minded and true-hearted men we ever knew. He was
always pained to see one crowding upon another. He would see all working
and prospering, and rejoicing in each other's prosperity and happiness.
May his spirit be with us all."

We might dilate upon the subject of this controversy, but it is not a
congenial theme. Suffice it to say, then, that the shafts of envy and
ambition launched forth against Mr. Ballou, were as innocent and
harmless, as it regarded him, as the summer winds. It is true that they
caused him anxiety of mind, and not a little annoyance, in disproving
the malignant charges brought against him; but, in the end, these tests
only caused his purity of character to shine out with more surpassing
brilliancy.




CHAPTER VIII.

SETTLES IN BOSTON.


After a peaceful and happy residence in Salem, of a little more than two
years, Mr. Ballou received a cordial invitation from the Second
Universalist Society of Boston to become their pastor. The invitation
was accepted; and, in the forty-fifth year of his age, he removed to
this city, and was installed December 15, 1817, in the church which was
built with the avowed purpose of obtaining his ministerial services; and
here he continued to preach to the people for over thirty-five years.
His letter of acceptance, addressed to the society, is as follows:--

     "SIR: The call of the Second Universalist Society, in Boston,
     inviting me to the labors of the Christian ministry with them,
     together with the liberal terms which accompany said invitation,
     have been duly considered; and, after weighing all the
     circumstances relative to the subject, so far as my limited mind
     could comprehend them, I have come to the conclusion that it is my
     duty to accept their call on the conditions therein stated. I
     largely participate in the 'peculiar pleasure' afforded by the
     consideration of the unanimity of the society, and entertain an
     humble hope that, with the continuance of this harmony, we may long
     continue to enjoy all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

     "The society's most humble servant in Christ,
             "HOSEA BALLOU."

     "To JOHN BRAZER, Esq."

Rev. Thomas Whittemore, a devoted, constant, and consistent friend of
Mr. Ballou, and who was also regarded by the subject of these memoirs
almost like one of his own family, thus speaks of this period:--"This
society had just finished their house, the present venerable structure,
on School-street. They never for a moment had a thought of seeking any
other pastor than the Rev. Hosea Ballou, if it were possible to obtain
his services; and, accordingly, two months before the house was ready
for dedication, a letter of inquiry was dispatched to him, to draw out
his sentiments in regard to a removal to Boston. In the mean time the
house was hurried on to completion. Rev. Messrs. Jones, of Gloucester,
Turner, of Charlestown, Ballou, of Salem, and Dean, of Boston, were
invited to join in the dedicatory services; Father Jones being invited
to preach the sermon, and the others to arrange the remaining services
at their discretion. The dedication took place on Wednesday, October 16.
Mr. Ballou was not present, as he was at the time in the country. On
the following Tuesday a meeting of the proprietors was holden, and Mr.
Ballou was invited to take the pastoral charge by a _unanimous_ vote.
The salary was fixed, at first, at thirteen hundred dollars per annum,
to which donations of fuel were occasionally made. He was installed on
December 25, 1817. Rev. Paul Dean preached, on the occasion, from Acts
20: 24. He also gave the fellowship of the churches. Rev. E. Turner, of
Charlestown, made the installing prayer, and gave the charge. Rev.
Joshua Flagg, who had succeeded Mr. Ballou at Salem, offered the
concluding prayer.

"Thus was Mr. Ballou duly installed as pastor. The congregations that
attended on his ministry were exceedingly large. He soon became widely
known for his eloquence and boldness, and the novel nature of the
subjects discussed by him. His preaching was of a controversial and
doctrinal character. He explained, in his discourses, those texts which
had been supposed to teach the doctrine of a judgment in the future
state, and endless torment. He was repeatedly called on, by letter, from
inquirers after truth, to preach from particular texts of this
character; and, as he gave public notice of the time when he would
explain such passages, his audiences were immensely large. It was usual,
from Sabbath to Sabbath, to see the meeting-house filled, in the
forenoon, so that it was difficult to obtain a seat. In the afternoon,
many would be obliged to stand, especially in the galleries, and around
the head of the stairs; and in the evening the aisles would be crowded,
above and below.

"For the last six or eight years preceding the rise of the Second
Universalist Society, Universalism had produced little or no excitement
in Boston. The First Society remained stationary. Mr. Dean, its pastor,
preached little on those subjects on which he differed from other sects.
In the vicinity of Boston there was no movement in favor of
Universalism. There were scarcely ten Universalist pastors in
Massachusetts. The cause was evidently languid. The rise of the Second
Universalist Society in Boston, and the removal of Mr. Ballou thither,
produced a new state of things. There arose a commotion among the
elements; but the effect was to purify the atmosphere, and give men a
clearer and more extended vision. New societies, holding Mr. Ballou's
sentiments, soon began to arise around Boston."

On settling in Boston, he at once found a host of true and solicitous
friends, whose interest in his ministry, respect for his character, and
attention to his general welfare, enlisted in their behalf his warmest
feelings of regard; sentiments which were ever cherished by him to the
last, and frequently recurred to at his own fireside, and in the quiet
of his family circle. Exercised by a realizing sense of this fact, the
more keenly when he remembers that his father can give oral form to
these feelings no longer, the author of this humble biography has at
its commencement dedicated it to the subject's cherished friends.

We have thus given a memoir of Mr. Ballou's life up to the period of his
settlement in Boston, where he was destined to operate upon a more
extended field of action,--where his mental and physical powers,
thoroughly trained and tested as they had been, were to be taxed more
heavily still; and where he was destined to build for himself a name
that will live in the grateful memory of future generations, and to
erect for himself a monument that points further heavenward than eastern
pyramids,--the savor of a truly Christian life.

Immediately on his becoming settled in Boston, in addition to the duties
of his pastoral charge, and that of writing for two or three religious
periodicals, Mr. Ballou was obliged to answer the frequent demands that
poured in upon him, from every quarter, to lecture and to preach in the
numerous towns within ten, twenty, and often fifty miles of the city, at
a time when the means of communication were, at best, but very
indifferent,--rendering it necessary for him to drive his own vehicle,
in order to reach the desired point without loss of time. So frequent
and urgent were these demands for his services, in towns and villages of
New England, that week-days, as well as Sundays, were occupied in
holding forth to the people, who came from far and near to hear him. Not
unfrequently were several consecutive days thus employed; portions of
the night even being improved in travelling between the several places
when at a great distance apart, and sleep, or rest of any sort, being
but sparingly indulged in. But so zealous was he in the glorious cause
that filled his whole soul,--so thoughtless of self, and so wedded to
his Master's business,--that his own labors seemed to him as nothing;
and neither his energies nor his spirits were wearied for a single
moment. The bow of his mind and body both seemed ever strung and bent,
yet never to lose their elasticity. The amount of actual physical labor
which he thus performed can hardly be estimated; but certain it is that
he must have been almost miraculously sustained, to have endured so much
fatigue without most serious injury.

"Soon after coming to Boston," says Mr. Ballou, "opposition to my
Unitarian views, and to the way in which I explained many important
passages of Scripture, put on a serious aspect. Most of this opposition
was exercised by professed Universalist preachers. There was much
hypocrisy and low cunning set to work in order to check my success; but,
though this was a source of much grief to my heart, it was the means of
calling into action all my resources, which I found it necessary to put
in requisition for the defence of the truth. All this resulted in good.
My editorial duties, my necessarily long sermons three times on every
Sabbath, giving evening lectures at home and in the neighboring towns,
tried to the utmost my physical powers of endurance. With all these
engagements, I was writing and publishing the two volumes of my Lecture
Sermons, and my Select Sermons, which proved too much for my strength,
and I brought on a weakness in my left side that has affected me for
years."

The weakness here referred to was doubtless caused by sitting for hours
together at his writing-table in his study, with only such brief
intervals as were necessarily consumed in taking his frugal meals. At
such times he partook very sparingly of any kind of nourishment,
declaring, when solicited on this point, that his brain was clearer, his
mind more vigorous, when he ate but little, than when he allowed himself
fully to satisfy his appetite. During the hours devoted to writing he
was never disturbed; his children never for one moment forgot that he
was thus engaged; and though they might pass through his apartment,
still it was with a careful step and noiseless way, that showed their
constant consideration for one whom they so much venerated. When he was
thus engaged, for the last thirty years, having become relieved of the
immediate domestic cares of her family, his wife always sat with him,
sewing, knitting, or reading, but never interrupting him. Thus they
grew, year by year, when he was in the house, more and more inseparable,
and the tender regard of each seemed to increase for the other as year
after year whitened their venerable locks.

Concerning the period of his early settlement in Boston, Rev. Sylvanus
Cobb says:--"When Mr. Ballou entered upon his labors here, benignantly
warring upon the hurtful errors which enslaved and paralyzed the common
mind, and elucidating those prominent gospel truths which are the bread
of life to the soul, there was an extensive movement of mind in the
city, and in the region round about, far and near. When the Twenty-six
Lectures, published by Henry Bowen, were in the process of delivery, the
church was usually filled an hour before the set time of beginning, and
multitudes would be going away who could not find entrance. He had done
much before this, by his ministry in other places, and the publication
of his Notes on the Parables, Treatise on Atonement, and controversy
with Robinson, to advance the cause of truth; but he was now
providentially placed at a commanding stand-point, a central position,
the commercial emporium of New England, whence his influence went out
through all the land. Business men, from different parts, who had
occasion to be in Boston over the Sabbath, would go in at School-street
church, become convinced by the able expounder's arguments, go home,
taking with them some of his publications, and commence a work in their
respective neighborhoods, which, in many cases, resulted in the
formation of societies."

As a sample of the spirit he was forced to encounter, and the animosity
felt against Universalists generally, and their teachings, by the clergy
of other persuasions, we relate the following anecdote. Being in the
town of Mattapoisett, Mass., during one of his short journeys into the
neighboring country to fulfil professional engagements, Mr. Ballou found
that he must stop there for the night. It was soon known in the village
that he was to remain for this period, and he was at once waited upon
by a committee chosen for the purpose, and informed that the town's
people were exceedingly anxious to hear him preach, and that permission
had been obtained for him to hold forth in the Orthodox meeting-house,
if agreeable to himself. Mr. Ballou cheerfully consented to their
wishes, and the people were notified accordingly. It is proper to state,
that several among those who invited Mr. Ballou to preach here, were
themselves large share-holders in the meeting-house, and in two
instances members of the church. Notwithstanding all this, when Mr.
Ballou came to the meeting-house, not anticipating the least opposition
to his purpose, he was met at the door by the Orthodox clergyman then
officiating here, and who positively forbade his entrance. In vain did
Mr. Ballou attempt calmly to reason with him; still the excited pastor
insisted most vociferously that he should not enter, although fully
informed of all the circumstances. Nor would he yield until at length he
was absolutely dragged away forcibly by his own friends.

Erasmus, the reformer of the fifteenth century, "who stemmed the wild
torrent of a barbarous age," was not more strongly opposed by the
bigoted Catholics of his day, who charged him with having "laid the egg
that Luther hatched," than was Hosea Ballou by the partialists of his
times. Particularly was this the case during the early and middle period
of his public labors. The reformation begun by Luther has been well
termed "an insurrection of the human mind against the absolute power of
spiritual order." Its earliest fruit was the vigorous but narrow belief
of Puritanism; then followed the more liberal creeds of the subsequent
period; but it seemed to be left for Mr. Ballou to strike out and
illustrate the doctrine of perfect freedom through Christ, of entire
impartiality and free grace, which the doctrine of universal salvation
inculcates.

Relative to the bigotry and unreasonable spirit often evinced towards
the subject of this biography, and the cause he advocated, we are
reminded in this connection of another anecdote, which is authentic, and
which the subject of these memoirs related to his family.

Not long after Mr. Ballou's settlement in Boston, he received a pressing
invitation to visit the island of Nantucket. The inconvenience of
communication between the island and the main land was considerable, but
he consented, and passed some ten days there, preaching every successive
day and evening to large and interested audiences, creating a very
earnest movement in the matter of religion. On his return, arriving at
New Bedford, he took the stage coach for Boston, and in it found but one
other person. Scarcely had the journey commenced, when his
fellow-passenger opened the conversation by saying,--

"You are just from the island, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir," was the reply.

"Well, they say old Ballou is over there, preaching his heresy. Did you
see him?"

"Yes, I saw him," was the calm reply.

"Well, he's a rough old fellow. I don't like him."

"Why not?" asked Mr. Ballou.

"Because he preaches that all men will be saved and go to heaven in
their sins, and no man in his senses can believe that."

"But, sir, did you ever hear him preach?"

"No; I hope not," said the man.

"Then you may be misinformed as to what he does preach," said Mr.
Ballou, mildly. "Now I think he would say, if he were here, that he did
not believe nor preach as you have represented."

"But what does he believe, then?" said the stranger, somewhat earnestly.

"I think he would say that sinners are to be saved _from_ their sins,
not _in_ their sins. Christ came to save the world from sin, not in sin;
and furthermore we are told in the Scriptures that 'he that is dead is
free from sin,' and he that is freed from sin must surely be holy, and
consequently happy."

"Sir, if I may be so bold," said the stranger, after looking for a
moment somewhat critically, "where do you live when at home?"

"I live in Boston, sir."

"Whose church do you attend?"

"Mr. Ballou's church, sir."

"What is your name?"

"My name is Ballou," he replied, pleasantly.

The man was of course confounded. He stammered forth some excuse; but
though he listened to Mr. Ballou's kindly-meant remarks with the utmost
attention, yet he was evidently very ill at ease, and, watching his
opportunity, left the stage at the next stopping-place.

By careful study, aided by his natural quickness of conception and
vigorous powers of mind, he had, without other assistance than that of
books, acquired a practical knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages,
which greatly assisted him in his profession, by enabling him to
translate the most important passages from the original Scriptures, and
thus to throw light upon many points that had heretofore been in some
degree shrouded in mystery, by the one-sided and partial translation
given in our own version of the Bible. At the present day it is well
known that our common translation of the Scriptures is deficient in
several instances, and this too at the most important and most critical
passages. This being the case, Mr. Ballou found the power of translating
for himself to be of the utmost importance as an aid to repel false
argument, as well as being a matter of much personal satisfaction and
enjoyment.

"At different times, and for several years," says Mr. Ballou, in
reference to this subject, "I have attempted to solve peculiar passages
of Scripture, which were so difficult to understand as to lead me to
question the correctness of their reading from the original. In order to
do this, I have studied Greek, and have had some aid from Greek scholars
and Greek lexicons, and have consulted various commentators; possessed
myself of the Septuagint, or Greek Testament, and other Greek works.
With all these helps and efforts, I have been enabled to satisfy myself
relative to any particular passage. I have found but little benefit from
these means in regard to the Old Testament; in respect to the New, I
have often been assisted, and found that my little knowledge of Greek
has been more useful. For similar ends and purposes I obtained a Hebrew
Bible, lexicon, grammar, etc.; but, though I have bestowed not a little
labor on the Hebrew, my other avocations and cares have prevented any
great degree of proficiency, though I have experienced much aid and
assistance in elucidating many points. I might say about as much of my
Latin Bible, lexicon, grammar, and reader. I have made some considerable
use of all these books, and have given many of my leisure hours to the
Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, but I profess to know so little of
them that it is hardly worth naming; though I must acknowledge I have
found them of considerable use when some arrogant disputant should think
to silence me by an appeal to the original. But it is a fact that I have
never met with many college-learned ministers who appeared to have
retained much of their Greek, if indeed they ever had much. I think it
would require no little study and observation to determine the question,
which amounts to the most, the benefit which the public gain by the
extra learning of their clergy, or the imposition they suffer by
estimating that learning above its value."

This last reference should not be misconstrued by the reader, as
conveying the idea that the subject of this biography was opposed in
any way to education, or educational movements. Those who knew him best
will bear ready testimony to the contrary. Indeed, his own struggles in
obtaining knowledge had given him a just estimate of the true value of
such conveniences as should facilitate the dissemination of intelligence
far and wide. "When I look about me," he says, "and contrast the great
improvements in the means for gaining knowledge,--when I behold the
youth of to-day and remember the youth of my own boyhood,--I am struck
with the contrast that facts present relative to education. I am also
rendered thankful to a Divine Providence, which has been pleased to
advance the improvement in mental culture and the facilities for
learning, in an equal degree with the surprising advancements which have
been accomplished in the arts and sciences. Few are so poor or lowly now
that they may not enjoy the advantages of schools and able teachers, and
I may add that few there are who do not avail themselves of the rich
opportunity which is offered them for storing their minds with
knowledge, and thus preparing themselves for useful members of society.
Half a century since, the case was very different; schools were little
thought of among the poor, and children in the country could seldom be
spared from home to attend those that were occasionally opened. Yet I am
satisfied that the advantages which were offered at that time were even
more assiduously improved than they are at this period. This, however,
was but natural, under the circumstances." No man put a higher estimate
upon knowledge than he did, but it was useful, practical knowledge that
he valued. He had no respect for mere titles and college honors. He had
seen the eclat of a college diploma go further with many simple people
than a sound argument or the possession of sterling wisdom would have
done, and it is not surprising that the observation of such weakness
should have led him to speak out, as we have seen him do in this
connection. He may have felt the remark, too, which his opponents
sometimes sneeringly made of him, that he never enjoyed a classical or
collegiate education.

We have a few words to say relative to this reflection. Now, we solemnly
believe, and are prepared to argue, that a collegiate education would
have materially detracted from his _usefulness_. A scholastic or classic
course of study seems to unfit men in a great degree for active life.
The practical too often becomes merged in the ideal, and the mind grows
effeminate. A theoretical knowledge of human nature is imbibed, and we
are led to contemplate our fellow-men through a false medium; for
essayists write of men as they should be, but rarely as they are. Mr.
Ballou was acknowledged by all who knew him, to possess a remarkable
degree of knowledge concerning human nature, but it was gathered from
men, not books, from experience,--Time's free school,--not from theory.
No other kind of knowledge would have fitted him for the peculiar path
he was born to pursue. A pioneer should be what he was; a follower, the
roads once cleared, and the track made smooth, might, perhaps, without
danger, be less practical and more imaginative. Education, to be truly
useful, should be unequalled in its ability to instruct us in the things
about us, and to strengthen us for the duties that lie in our path of
life. The true being, end, and aim of all study should be, "to improve
men in the best reason of living," while any learning that aims above
the practical interests of life is comparatively unimportant. Even in
the ministry,

    "Church ladders are not always mounted best
    By learned clerks and Latinists professed."

"That learning which makes us acquainted with ourselves," says Mr.
Ballou, "with the powers and faculties of the human mind, with divine
truth, which is plainly revealed, with its power on the mind and heart,
with the concatenations of cause and effect, and to understand our
every-day duty, which grows out of our wants and the wants of those
about us, is learning of a better quality than that which only enables
us to call things by different names, without giving us a knowledge of
their natural qualities either for good or evil."

The main characteristic of Mr. Ballou's habit of mind was that of
looking at all things in a practical point of view. The importance and
real value he attached to things were deduced from his estimate of their
_use_. He regarded life as made up of constantly recurring duties, and
his appreciation of principles, of religion or philosophy, was carefully
regulated by this standard, as to the application they bore to every-day
matters.

The great end of all acquirements should be the ability to discharge
more effectually our duties as men and citizens. "He who is not a better
neighbor, brother, friend, and citizen," says an eminent writer,
"because of his superior knowledge, may very well doubt whether his
knowledge is really superior to the ignorance of the unlettered many
around him." Or, to state this great truth more in brief, a man knows no
more to any purpose than he practises.




CHAPTER IX.

COMMENCES THE UNIVERSALIST MAGAZINE.


On the third of July, 1819, Mr. Ballou commenced the publication of the
Universalist Magazine, in connection with a practical printer,--Mr.
Henry Bowen. As usual in every enterprise wherein he embarked, he
entered into the purpose and plan of the paper with all his heart, its
avowed object being the more extended dissemination of the gospel of
truth, and the elucidation of Christ and his mission on earth. It will
be observed that in whatever new position we find the subject of these
memoirs, it is secondary to, or rather in furtherance of, his Master's
business; he could have entered into no other pursuit, could have been
contented and happy in no other occupation. It was meat and drink to
him, it was the very breath he drew, and the only great object and
purpose of his life-long career.

The object of the Magazine, as stated in the editor's salutatory
article, was to discuss the principles of doctrine, religion, and
morality, and all articles calculated to promote improvement in these
essential matters would be freely admitted into its columns. "The
Universalist Magazine invites the sentiments of different
denominations," says the editor, "to evince themselves to the best
advantage, clothed in their most simple light, and shining in their
purest lustre, that the mind of the reader may be able to know where to
bestow a justifiable preference." Those persons laboring in their minds
under difficulties and doubts concerning any passage of Scripture, were
urged to communicate the same to the Magazine, where they would be
publicly answered, and thus many might reap the advantage of the queries
and the answer. "All articles calculated to elevate the mind to the
contemplation of divine things, to reduce haughtiness, to humble pride,
to exalt the Divine Being, to endear the Saviour, to cultivate piety, to
admonish, to warn, or to justly rebuke, to administer comfort and
consolation, will be gratefully received, and as speedily as convenient
communicated to the public." These were the main objects, and this the
plan of the paper, and to which the editor strictly adhered. Some of the
strongest arguments in favor of universal salvation, which ever emanated
from the pen of Mr. Ballou, were first printed in this paper, and the
influence it exerted was too evident not to challenge the attention of
both friends and foes at that period.

The Universalist Magazine was destined to attain to the most extended
popularity, and proved to be of eminent service to the cause which was
so ably treated upon in its columns, each number for a series of years
containing an essay upon some important passage of the holy text, with
the original construction as put upon it by Mr. Ballou, besides the
elaborate reviewal of numerous discourses and articles which appeared in
other religious magazines, opposed to Universalism. The paper was issued
weekly, and drew very largely upon his time and pen. In his editorial
capacity, even as early as this period, when a systematic effort in the
cause of temperance had scarcely been thought of, and the subject was
seldom if ever referred to in public, we find some forcible articles
from him upon this subject.

This spirit was strictly in accordance with his private life and habits.
Living at a period when it was universally customary to offer a guest or
caller a glass of wine, let him come at what hour of the day he might,
and when the decanters and glasses always stood invitingly upon the
side-board, yet he never used ardent spirit as a beverage, never partook
of it at all, even in after years, when perhaps a partial stimulant
might have been of physical benefit to him, because of a fixed principle
in his own mind concerning its pernicious effects. But, as we have
before intimated, this temperate habit was by no means confined to
ardent spirit alone; the same abstemiousness characterized his daily
meal. He partook only of the simplest food, and of that sparingly. This
excellent habit grew to be a second nature to him, and in all places and
under all circumstances was always exercised.

In connection with essays, leading articles, reviews and sermons, which
he furnished for the Magazine, he also contributed many fugitive poems
to fill the poet's corner. It should be remembered that they were
generally written at a few moments' warning in his sanctum, and in
answer to the printer's call. All of them are, however, indicative and
characteristic of the spirit and state of mind which possessed his
heart. The following piece, taken at random, is a sample.

                 IMMORTALITY.

    "That orient beam which cheers the morn,
      And drives the murky gloom away,
    Through trackless ether swiftly borne,
      To welcome in the infant day,
    Reminds me of the heavenly light,
      Whose rays, dispersing error's gloom,
    Open to man a glory bright,
      In a fair world beyond the tomb.

    Those varying scenes of beauty fair,
      Which welcome in the youthful spring;
    The blooming fields, the fragrant air,
      The leafy groves and birds that sing,
    Remind me of that promised day,
      When from the dead mankind shall rise,
    As pure as light, and wing their way
      To spring eternal in the skies."

For some years Mr. Ballou continued as sole editor of the Magazine, in
addition to his other writings, and the ever pressing duties of his
profession. After gaining a firm footing, this publication passed into
the hands of Rev. Thomas Whittemore, an able and zealous man, who is
still the editor and proprietor. Mr. Ballou continued to write for its
columns regularly for more than thirty years. Mr. Whittemore has changed
or added to its original title, so that it is now known as the Trumpet
and Universalist Magazine, one of the most largely circulated and
popular publications in the whole denomination.

During the year 1819 and the year preceding it, Mr. Ballou had occasion
to make several replies, in pamphlet form, to reviews of his sermons
which he was at that time delivering before the Second Universalist
Society, and which he was induced to write out and publish, by their
request. The reviews here referred to were written by the Rev. Timothy
Merrit, a Methodist minister of this city. In the year 1820, Mr. Ballou
published a pamphlet of some length, entitled "Strictures on a published
Sermon, by Dr. Channing." During this year he also compiled a collection
of hymns, for the use of the denomination generally, but more especially
for the convenience of the School-street Society, with which he was
connected. This collection contained about _fifty_ original hymns from
his own pen, and is the second book of the kind he published, the first
being issued while he resided in Barnard, Vt.

It was about this period that the following incident occurred, and which
we give herewith in Mr. Ballou's own words:--

"By the following anecdote it may be seen into what inconsistencies men
are liable to be drawn by an intense desire to maintain favorite
sentiments. I had an appointment to preach a lecture in the town of
Canton, Mass., where Universalism was quite new, and where there were
but few who believed it. At the time appointed I was there, and among
the many who were present as hearers, was a Methodist minister, whom
before I had never seen. After our introduction, he very civilly asked
me if I was willing, after I got through my discourse, that he should
have the liberty of offering some remarks in relation to it. I replied
that I should have no objections to his having that liberty, reserving
to myself the right to reply to his remarks. To this he agreed. As I
knew my hearers had assembled with an expectation of hearing the
doctrine of Universalism held forth, I took for my text a passage which
seemed to me a strong one in favor of the doctrine: First Tim. 2:
4,--'Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth.' In my discourse, I relied on the will of God as the
foundation of my belief in the final salvation of all men. My sermon was
lengthy, and I endeavored to strengthen my arguments, as well as I
could, by many scriptures and various illustrations, but still relied on
the will of God as the foundation on which stood the superstructure I
raised. When I had got through, I signified to the congregation that our
worthy brother, the Methodist minister, desired to make some remarks on
my discourse, and that I hoped they would candidly listen to what he had
to say.

"He then rose and remarked on various points of my arguments, allowing
their justness and propriety. 'But,' said he, 'as the conclusions which
have been drawn in favor of the salvation of all men rest entirely on
the will of God, if we can prove that God's will is not done, in many
instances which may be named, it follows necessarily that the doctrine
contended for may not be true.' This he then labored to make out. Now,
feeling confident that he had shaken my foundation in the minds of our
hearers, he proceeded to quote passages upon which he relied to prove
the endless misery of the wicked. When he had got through and sat down,
I arose and told the people that I knew no better way to answer to what
our brother had urged, than to allow that he had refuted the doctrine of
the salvation of all men by proving the failure of God's will in many
instances; and this being granted, it also must be granted that God's
will in regard to the endless misery of sinners might fail of being
accomplished also! This reply came so suddenly on the minds of the
congregation that it brought them on their feet, and the aspect which
they presented was so peculiar as to abash our brother, and induce him
to say something more, which the people did not stop to hear. He then
turned to me, and said that he did not mean what I had stated to the
audience. I told him in reply that what I had to do with, was what he
had said."

This is but an example of the various incidents, controversies, and
adventures that he was constantly encountering on his frequent missions
into the country; vicissitudes that taught him much of human nature,
and rendered him ever prompt and ready in reply, familiarized him with
various temperaments, dispositions, and phases of character, and thus
enabling him to speak and act more understandingly when again assailed
in a like manner, as well as to put his experience to other available
use.

In the latter part of the year 1821 and the beginning of '22, Mr. Ballou
passed a considerable period in the cities of New York and Philadelphia,
which places he was induced to visit by the united invitation of the
several societies in these two cities. While in the latter place, he
delivered eleven sermons, which the societies procured a stenographer to
transcribe in short-hand, as delivered extemporaneously from the pulpit.
These sermons were published soon after in Philadelphia, making a book
of two hundred pages, a second edition being published in Boston about
ten years after. Mr. Ballou's manner of delivery was so distinct, his
enunciation so clear, his language so impressive, that a practical
short-hand writer could easily transcribe every word he uttered in a
discourse. There was never any hurry, no impetuosity, no excitement that
betrayed the speaker into undue haste, but, though all was tempered with
warmth and zeal, still it was such admirably controlled earnestness as
never to confuse the mind that followed his spontaneous utterance. We
well remember when the book herein referred to was handed to him for the
first time. "I am surprised," said he, "for this seems almost
miraculous; here are my own words and thoughts literally as I uttered
them, in living and indelible lines upon these pages, while my pen has
never transcribed one letter of the matter. I might have improved this
by reviewing it for the press, but, after all, _it is as God sent it_!"
Reading on, he would pause now and then to say, "I should not have
remembered that I said that, if it was not so literally recalled to me."
These sermons being upon important doctrinal points and subjects, as
indeed were nearly all his sermons, are of peculiar value. The book is
also a very excellent sample of Mr. Ballou's extempore style of
preaching, as these sermons were printed from the reporter's notes,
unrevised by the author, who, indeed, did not see them until they were
sent to him in Boston in book form. At the time these sermons were
delivered, the churches were always crowded to their utmost capacity.
The Sabbath was not only thus occupied, but also many days and evenings
of each week, the simple announcement of a meeting being quite
sufficient to ensure a large and attentive audience for the occasion. In
the mean time, in private circles, Mr. Ballou was forming extensive
personal acquaintance with the hospitable citizens, among whom he
counted some of the warmest friends in the cherished host, who continued
such with him to the closing hours of his earthly career.

"The largest audience I remember to have addressed," he says, "was in
Washington Garden Saloon, Philadelphia, which my friends had procured
for me, finding the meeting-houses far too small to accommodate the
crowds that thronged to our meetings. This hall, which will accommodate
some six thousand people, was crowded to excess. On no former occasion
did I ever feel more pressed with the weight of duty which lay upon me,
nor a more sensible need of divine assistance. The attention of the
audience, and the multitude of friendly hands which were extended to
receive my adieu, seemed to speak a language which signified the
approbation of my divine Master, which, to me, is far better than life."

One of the most marked peculiarities of Mr. Ballou's character was not
only his almost inexpressible degree of simplicity, but his perfect
self-possession, and unmoved and placid calmness, under any and all
circumstances. When he arose to address an audience of thousands, as was
the case above referred to, they awed him not; he would have spoken the
same in a private dwelling of New Hampshire, before a few hastily
assembled friends, or, with the same prophetic unction, in a barn;--the
village school-house or the city church were all alike to him. When he
arose to address an audience, whether of thousands or of scores, it was
always with a heart so full of his theme, so lowly and humble before his
Maker, that not a thought betrayed itself in action of a character to
indicate that he considered _himself_ in the slightest degree, or that
there was such a being as self in existence. And then, when he spoke, it
was not with the adornments of rhetorical elegance, nor with a striving
after effect; not one useless or unnecessary word fell from his lips;
it was simplicity and impressiveness personified. Such preaching was
_natural_; there was not an artificial element in it. No wonder that it
produced such results; no wonder that he should witness the visible
fruits of his labors ripening about him.

It was no spirit of fanaticism that created such a furore in the public
to hear him, it was not _fear_ for their own good hope of salvation that
brought people together in such masses; it was not excitement, that
grand agent of revival meetings generally. No; it was a far worthier
influence than these; it was a desire to hear the good tidings that the
preacher dispensed, as he alone could do. It was to partake of the bread
of life that they came, and they were filled. He was emphatically the
messenger of "peace and good will to men;" and the multitudes who came
to hear the words of promise from his lips, received them as the
shepherds did to whom the angels bore the glad tidings as they "watched
their flocks by night."

After the departure of Christ, and the death of his immediate disciples,
a darkness had crept upon the hearts and souls of mankind; faith in the
boundless love of the Creator had been weakened, as belief in his
vengeance strengthened, and nearly all Christian creeds were gloomy,
disheartening, and repulsive. To dispel these erroneous views,--to
withdraw the clouds that hid the brightness of the bow of promise,--to
reveal all the priceless tenderness and love of the divine nature,--to
radiate the light of hope upon a darkened world, was a task as glorious
as ever fell to the lot of man. What more thrilling discoveries ever
dawned upon the human intellect than those which revealed themselves to,
and rewarded the prayerful search of, him of whom we write? We can
easily understand how the greatness of this mission strengthened and
sustained him in his arduous duties, in his daily gospel labors, in his
long journeyings, in his voluminous exertions with the pen and in the
pulpit. Verily the hour and the man had arrived. It mattered little that
he did not spare himself, that he gave himself up wholly to his
vocation; it was not destined, not designed, that he should succumb in
the good fight; vigor and energy were given him to support him through
all his trials, up to the very verge of a long and eventful life, when
the chief end of his existence had been accomplished.

Not long subsequent to his return from this journey to New York and
Philadelphia, he published a series of "_Lecture Sermons_," in one
volume of four hundred pages. This book, like every one that ever
emanated from his pen, had a very extensive sale, passing through
several large editions, and still finds a ready market. These "Lecture
Sermons" give, like the "Treatise on Atonement," an evidence of the fact
that the author was always working in new veins of thought. He was not
one contented to follow in the beaten track of others; his motto from
the outset was _progress_; and each new work that emanated from his pen
and comprehensive mind, gave fresh token of research and discovery. Not
long after the issuing of the "Lecture Sermons," he published another
book, entitled "_Select Sermons upon Important Passages_," making a
book of three hundred and fifty pages. Like the previous work, this book
is peculiarly characteristic of its author, and treating, as it does,
upon deeply interesting and doctrinal points, it has found a wide
circulation. These books are distinguished alike for patient research,
wise reflections, deep penetration, and the soundness of their moral
influence. The last work has passed through seven editions.

Mr. Ballou was frequently heard to remark, that if we would reason in
reference to the divine economy as we do concerning other matters, we
should soon discard many of the false notions which do so much towards
enshrouding our spirits in darkness, and thus preventing our progress
towards the goal of gospel truth. In illustration of this, we subjoin
the following anecdote, in his own words, as furnished for the
Universalist Magazine at the time of its occurrence. It happened to him
while on a journey from Boston to Watertown, New York, in the year 1824.
While absent from his paper, Mr. Ballou was in the habit of supplying
his editorial columns through the mail, partly made up of correspondence
from the points he visited, and relating to such matters and themes as
were calculated to interest a mind of his peculiar character. The
following anecdote is taken from one of these letters.

"The day following, a widow belonging to Pittsfield, Mass., entered the
stage in that town to go to Denmark, New York, to visit her young son,
whom she had not seen for six years, and who is now about fifteen. This
lady I found to be quite orthodox in her views, and disposed to
question me concerning mine. At the inn in Albany where the stage stops,
we had some serious conversation on the subject of the ignorance and
unbelief of man. Her queries concerning this subject were directed in
the usual way, and were designed to prove that in consequence of
unbelief in the Saviour, the sinner is expected to be cut off forever
without mercy. Having noticed in this lady an anxious desire to find her
son, and perceiving that her affections were tender towards her
fatherless child, I thought proper to try to open her eyes by means of
appealing to her natural affection.

"'Madam, do you think your son will know you?' I asked. She, with
manifest emotion, replied, 'It is so long since he saw me, that I do not
think he will!' 'And should you find that he has forgotten you, so as
not to recognize your person and countenance, do you think he would be
in danger on that account of losing your favor?' Tears started into her
eyes, and the weight of the question was sensibly manifest. She replied
in the softest accents in the negative. 'Well, madam,' I continued,
'should you find that your son has forgotten your countenance, and
should you inform him of the fact of which you find him ignorant, and
yet he should not believe you, should you then feel unkindly towards
your son?' She fully appreciated the question, and answered in the
negative. I then called her attention to the remarkable passage in the
forty-seventh chapter of Isaiah, in which the divine kindness is
commended to exceed the compassion of a mother to her tender offspring.
She signified her satisfaction, and gave me to understand that the
argument had reached its object."

This anecdote, striking and beautiful in its bearings, is also
particularly interesting as being so perfect an illustration of Mr.
Ballou's style of argument. He always brought the subject home to the
feelings and affections of his hearers, illustrating his theme by the
simplest facts. His examples by way of explaining his subject were ever
so aptly chosen, as to seem to have occurred almost solely for his use;
these illustrations were ever drawn from every-day life, and from the
most familiar subjects about us. The family circle afforded an infinite
variety of bearings and illustrations, exceedingly well fitted to
delineate his belief; and those who have been accustomed to hear him
preach, will remember how frequently he referred to the homes of his
hearers for illustrations. In this respect his discourses were a close
imitation of his Master's, who spoke as never man spoke.

There lies open before us at this moment the autobiography of Rev. Abel
C. Thomas, where he speaks of Mr. Ballou on the occasion of his (Mr.
Thomas's) first visit to Boston, and his meeting with the subject of
this biography. "No one will deem me invidious in mentioning Hosea
Ballou. There he stood in the simplicity and maturity of a child-man.
Was it marvellous that his heart-speech should tingle within me as the
voice of a father? He stood up the taller in his manhood for having
bowed to brotherly fellowship with a boy. There was no distinguishing
grace in the act; it was his way _alway_, and he was only the taller on
that account. He was preaching then (O! how luminously and forcibly he
was preaching!) at the age of threescore."

It was ever thus that strangers were impressed on meeting with him. They
had heard, of course, much of Hosea Ballou, they had read his books, or
his essays through the newspaper press; by name and reputation they had
long known him. Some had imagined him proud, austere, and distant. They
approached a man, for the first time, who had reached to his extended
span of life, to his experience and world-wide celebrity, with some
degree of awe; but his warm pressure of the hand, the tender and soft
expression of his eye, the soothing and melodious voice, (that gentle,
soothing, yet impressive voice, how strongly our senses recall it now!)
the kind word,--these instantly dispelled any feeling of distance that
might have arisen in the breast of the new comer; and he found impressed
on every word he uttered, on every lineament of his features, on every
sentiment of his heart, a spirit of divine _simplicity_.

Arrogating nothing to himself, unassuming to the utmost degree, he
counted his own services as nothing, and only aspired to be known as his
Master's follower, and the servant of all men.




CHAPTER X.

COMMENCES THE UNIVERSALIST EXPOSITOR.


During the year 1831 Mr. Ballou commenced, with his nephew, Rev. Hosea
Ballou 2d, the editorship of the "Universalist Expositor," a quarterly
publication. He continued for two years as editor of the work, and
afterwards as a regular contributor for a number of years.

In November, 1834, Mr. Ballou was again induced to make the cities of
New York and Philadelphia a professional visit. He had, previous to this
date, and repeatedly afterwards, been earnestly solicited to settle in
New York, as well as in Philadelphia. Indeed, a systematic effort was
made in the former city to obtain his services permanently, and he was
offered the pecuniary consideration of several hundred dollars more per
annum than he then or ever after received from the Second Universalist
Society in Boston. Besides this increase in salary, there were several
other important inducements offered in order to influence him to settle
among them. But Mr. Ballou had, after so many years' residence and
pastorship in this city and over a society he so much loved, become
deeply and ardently attached to the associations of his charge, and had
formed ties of friendship and love that were almost too strong to sever.
He, however, returned an answer at last to these reiterated applications
and proposals, that he would lay the subject before his society, and
they should decide the matter for him. The society in New York signified
their willingness to have the matter thus settled; and he accordingly
represented the same to the Second Universalist Society, telling them
exactly his own feelings, and bidding them to decide the matter for him.
There was but one voice in the society; the feelings he had expressed
were entirely reciprocated; the vote that he must remain with them, was
unanimous; there was not one dissenting voice. He had been tried, and
found faithful. Cheerfully acquiescing in this decision, the subject was
dropped,--an understanding being had, and indeed a promise given on Mr.
Ballou's part, that he would visit New York professionally as often and
for as long a period at a time as he could make it convenient.

The following letter was written to his wife from New York, during his
visit to that city in this year. It is one in his usual style, and will
show the reader the tender relationship of his domestic associations,
and also the reliance in Divine Providence which ever actuated him. He
never wrote the briefest letter without expressing the same religious
sentiment. The letter is dated New York, October 30, 1834.

     "MY DEAR: It is with gratitude to the kind Protector of our lives,
     that I inform you of our comfortable health. We had a very good
     passage from Boston to this city, except that the sea was quite
     boisterous, which caused our daughters to be quite sea-sick during
     the night. We arrived in this city about nine o'clock, A. M., and
     were kindly received by Col. Harson and family, where we are at
     home until to-morrow morning, when we expect to leave for
     Philadelphia. Clementina and Fiducia" (the two daughters with him)
     "rode about the city yesterday, and had a view of nearly all its
     beauties. We took tea with Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer last evening, where
     we had the pleasure of meeting with Bro. Fuller, who will supply my
     desk and bring you this letter. I preached in Bro. Le Fevre's
     church on Tuesday evening, and have an appointment in Bro. Sawyer's
     church for this evening. I hope that your cold has subsided, and
     that the family are in good health. You will remember that Bro.
     Fuller is a stranger in Boston, and that he will need those
     attentions which will make him feel at home. Give our love to all
     the inmates of our house, and, by the blessing of Heaven, expect us
     at the time appointed.

     "Affectionately yours,
            "HOSEA BALLOU."

     "Ruth Ballou."

We need hardly pause here to analyze this letter. The reader will at
once recognize, in its composition, the affectionate husband and father,
the devout Christian, and the thoughtful friend, all of which were
innate qualities in the writer's heart. The address of the letter was
the style he always adopted towards his wife. The commencement of the
same is a perfect type of his constant acknowledgment of the Divine
favor. The reference to the children who were with him, evinced the same
thoughtfulness for their enjoyment and comfort that exercised his mind
to his last days; his inquiry for his wife's health, hoping that her
"cold" was better, was another evidence of his solicitous affection for
his companion; and, finally, his recommending the bearer as he
did,--"You will remember that Bro. Fuller is a stranger in Boston, and
that he will need those attentions which will make him feel at
home,"--are all most significant of his mind and heart.

"Immediately after my first visit to Philadelphia," says Mr. Ballou, "a
second society was formed, and a large meeting-house was built in
Callowhill. From this society I received a very urgent invitation to
become their pastor; but, as my Boston friends felt desirous to have me
stay with them, I could not think it my duty, for a few hundred dollars
more remuneration for my services annually, to leave them, as my salary
was at that time sufficient for my wants. So late as the year 1844, by
invitation from the Callowhill society, I visited and preached for them
for four weeks. While I was there, my friends proposed sending to Boston
for Mrs. Ballou, with a desire that I would continue with them for an
indefinite period. But my age admonished me not to undertake too much."

We may add here the following memorandum from notes which he gave the
author of these pages relative to a subject before alluded to,
concerning the matter of a larger pecuniary offer for his professional
services:

"At one time, while I tarried in New York, the Pine-street Society
presented me with a pressing invitation to settle with them, offering me
some hundreds of dollars more than I was then receiving for my
professional services, to induce me to remove to New York city. This
official invitation, together with a very brotherly letter from the
society in New York to my own in Boston, in which they endeavored to
assign good reasons for my removal, I took with me to the Second
Universalist Society, in School-street. I had previously given my
friends in New York to understand that I would not be persuaded to leave
Boston, unless my society would give their cordial consent to such a
measure. After submitting this letter to my society, I was given to
understand, in an official manner, that, by a unanimous vote, my society
had resolved that I must remain with them. This of course ended the
matter, as their wish was my guide."

We have related these circumstances more particularly to show the reader
that Mr. Ballou was actuated by no mercenary motive in this matter, and
indeed to prove that it was a principle altogether foreign to his
character. We see that the offer of a greater pecuniary emolument (we
believe the New York society offered him eight hundred dollars more than
he was then receiving per annum, and also to bear the incidental
expenses attendant upon his removal) had no influence upon his mind. If
his society no longer desired his services, he was ready to leave them
at once. If they were still attached to him, and preferred his
ministration to that of any other individual, no pecuniary inducement
should part them. We may use his own words, and say that the evidence of
the unabated regard of the people of his charge, of their undiminished
attachment to him and his services, rendered him far happier than any
amount of silver and gold could possibly have done. Indeed, there was
not one spark of mercenary feeling existing in his heart; it was
contrary to his very nature.

Those who knew Mr. Ballou best were well aware of his punctilious
notions as it concerned money affairs. He would not himself owe any man,
and he liked "short settlements," believing in the old adage that they
"make long friends." He was scrupulously exact in his dealings, and
would be careful not to be overpaid or underpaid in a money transaction;
and these peculiarities may have, with some, led to a belief that he was
penurious in his disposition, though this was by no means the case.
Could we with propriety refer to his numerous private deeds of charity,
to the open-handed dealing that evinced the generous nature of his
disposition and the liberality of his heart, we could exhibit a list of
facts that would disabuse the mind of any one of such an unfavorable
impression. We feel tenacious upon this point, realizing as we do the
untruth of any such 

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