Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

heart.

pers, and feelings of the gracious || The first of these was entitled, Open Communion Examined, and was originally published in 1789, at the request of the Woodstock Association, whilst the author resid

ond was published in 1794, and was in answer to a tract of the Rev. Noah Worcester, entitled "A friendly Letter," addressed to the author. In 1806, these were republished in a volume, with the ad

"We add in the last place, a remark upon the effects of this work on individuals and on society at large. It has reclaimed the pro-ed in New Hampshire. The secfane swearer, the Sabbath breaker, the gambler. It has made the 66 young men sober minded." It has formed the minds of all who have embraced it to the love of virtue and religion. It has led them to the discharge of all the du-dition of an appendix, containing a ties of social and religious life with conscientiousness and fidelity. In a word, it has laid a foundation to hope, that in future life they will so conduct as to be ornaments to religion and blessings to the world." To this the most happy period of his ministry, Dr. Baldwin often referred with unspeakable pleasure to the very close of his life.

reply to Mr. Edwards's "Candid Reasons," together with additional remarks upon some sermons and pamphlets which had recently appeared on the subject.

The author's principal work in this controversy, was published in 1810, and is entitled, A Series of Letters, in which the distinguishing sentiments of the Baptists are exIn September, 1803, Dr. Bald-||plained and vindicated, in answer win, by the appointment of the to a late publication by the Rev. Baptist Missionary Society of Mas- Samuel Worcester, A. M. addressed sachusetts, commenced the publi- to the author, entitled, Serious and cation of the American Baptist Candid Letters. This is a volume || Magazine, then under the title of of about 250 pages, and contains a the Massachusetts Baptist Mission- pretty ample discussion of the prinary Magazine. This work was cipal topics of dispute between the first published semi-annually, then Baptists and Pedobaptists. This quarterly, afterwards once in two is considered the ablest of Dr. Baldmonths, and at present monthly. win's productions. It was written From its commencement until the in the meridian of his strength, upyear 1817, he was its sole editor. on a subject on which he had long From 1817 until his death, he was and deeply reflected, and at a time its senior editor, and continued when, by repeated trials, he had from time to time to enrich its pa- become aware of his own power, ges with the results of his experi- and could fearlessly rely upon the ence and the warnings of his wis- decisions of his own intellect. It dom. For many years, this was has accordingly given him a more the only Baptist religious periodical extensive reputation than any other work in America. To its influence, of his works, both on this and the and to the labours of Dr. Baldwin by other side of the Atlantic. The its means, may be ascribed in a great late Rev. Andrew Fuller, than whom degree the rapid progress which has no man was better able to decide been made in his own denomina- upon its merits, pronounced this tion in acquaintance with each oth- the ablest discussion of the queser, in missionary enterprise, and in tion he had ever seen. religious knowledge.

Dr. Baldwin has, however, been more extensively known to the world as an author, through his works on Baptism and Communion.

*

To enter into an analysis of these

*This volume, and Dr. Baldwin's other be purchased at the Bookstores of the works on Baptism and Communion, may publishers of this Magazine.

[ocr errors]

In

supposed that Dr. Baldwin receiv-
ed those marks of public attention,
which are usually bestowed upon
those who rise to eminence in their
profession. He was repeatedly
chosen chaplain of the general
Court of this Commonwealth.
1802, he was appointed to deliver
the annual sermon on the day of
the General Election. This ser-
mon was received with great atten-
tion, and two or three editions of
it were immediately printed. In
1803, he was admitted to the de-

letters, would on this occasion be irrelevant to our object. It could not be done without presenting an abstract of the whole matter in dispute. It will be sufficient to remark, that the letters enter quite fully into the merits of the controversy on most of its points, and || they every where exhibit a vigour of intellect, an acuteness of logic, and a perspicuity of reasoning, not often to be met with in works of this nature. Their style is simple, forcible, and direct; sometimes enlivened by the easy play-gree of Doctor in Divinity at Union fulness of a man, who feels entirely at home in his subject, and at others repelling with manly dignity the unhandsome aspersions which in those days it was too common to heap upon the Baptists, or those who defended them. Now that the hour of controversy has gone by, it is not, we believe, denied by candid men, even of other denomi-eral nations, that, able as was his antagonist, and he was in his lifetime the leader of his sect, yet that Dr. Baldwin had the decided advan-ger, and of not a few the presiding tage in the argument.

College, New-York. The degree of Master of Arts had been some time previously conferred upon him by Brown University, R. I. Of this institution he was first a trustee, and at the time of his decease had been for many years the Senior Fellow. Of Waterville College, Maine, to which he had been a lib

Of

benefactor, he was a Trustee from its first organization. most of the benevolent institutions of this city he was an active mana

officer. At the time of his death, he was president of the Baptist Board of Managers for Foreign Missions, and one of the Trustees of the Columbian College in the District of Columbia. He was a member of the Convention for amending the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the year 1821, and in all its deliberations. specially those which had any bearing upon the subject of religious liberty, he took an active part, and not unfrequently spoke with unusual ability.

Besides these works, Dr. Baldwin published in the year 1820, a short essay on the subject of John's Baptism, a question which at that time, in consequence of the allusion to it in Mr. Hall's work on Communion, was considerably agitated. The design of the author was to establish the position, that John's Baptism was Christian Baptism; a doctrine which many were labouring to subvert. This, although written with ability, is probably inferior to his other works on this controversy. If, however, it To those who were acquainted lacks somewhat of the vigour of his with his reputation, it is needless former productions, it should be to remark, that of his own denomiremembered that the man of sev-nation in the northern States, he enty is not in all respects the man of forty-five.

No

stood decidedly at the head. important association seemed comWhilst thus actively engaged in plete unless it had enrolled him as the arduous labours of a pastor, as its president. No measure seemed the editor of an important periodi- to promise success, and it is but a cal work, and as a successful po-just tribute to his wisdom to add, lemical writer, it will of course be that very few succeeded, which had

His

not received his sanction. brethren may with much justice say of him, Unto him men gave ear, and waited and kept silence at his counsel. After his words they spake not again, and his speech dropped upon them. He chose out our way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

Within this widely extended sphere of usefulness, beloved and respected by all good men of every station and of every sect, did Dr. Baldwin walk until the close of life. No gusts of passion, no bitterness of resentment, no sectarian jealousy had alienated friends or exasperated enemies. He retained the entire confidence and veneration of the community to the last; for at the first, having honestly deserved it, by meekness and humility and sincerity, he daily evinced that with no other man could it be so safely trusted.

abundantly, the grace of Christian charity. The power with which he once could grasp a difficult subject and pursue to its results a striking chain of illustration, seemed perhaps gradually in his public performances to be leaving him; but yet the ardour of his piety was unabated, and his parental exhortations were frequently inimitably affecting. He spoke in the undisguised sincerity of his heart, as a man on the brink of eternity: and an audience would sometimes be melted into tears by the exhortation of his old age, which would probably have remained unaffected and unmoved by the eloquence of his more. vigorous manhood.

In private conversation, the change was far less perceptible. His memory, as is usually the case, was the power of his mind on which the hand of age had been laid most heavily. This was not, however, often discovered, unless he were About seven years before his suffering under the pressure of some death, he was attacked with a slight temporary indisposition. His judgparalytic affection, which gave his ment remained almost entire to the friends the first intimation that his last. We do not mean to say that active labours were drawing to a he could comprehend a train of abclose. From this his physical sys- struse reasoning as readily as at 45, tem soon recovered; but he always or see as intuitively the results of believed that his mind had received moral combinations; but on a matan injury, which would never be ter once fairly before him, his opinrepaired. He sometimes alluded ion during the last year of his life to it with some degree of emotion, was as sound as ever. As is comand seemed aware that his mental mon to old age, he delighted more energies, particularly his memory, in the narrative than in the abstract; were sensibly enfeebled. Whether but his narrative was always interthe change was owing to this at-esting, and his illustration pertinent tack or not, it is probable that his estimation of himself was correct. It was not, however, until about four years before his death, that his friends would allow that they beheld in his intellect any of the infirmities of age.

and happy. And thus, like the
sun at his setting, what was want-
ing in meridian splendour, was
more than supplied by the mild ra-
diance on which the
eye delighted
to dwell, and which threw abroad
its rich and mellowed glories more
profusely the nearer it approached
to the moment of its departure.

And when these were at last discovered, they were such as rendered him to the pious and the kind For about a year before his deman even more than ever interest- cease, his strength began visibly to ing. Old age had imparted none decline. His feeble voice and totof its fretfulness, but on the contra-tering step too well forewarned his ry, shed abroad upon him yet more friends that his venerable form was

He concluded the services with the 71st Psalm of Watts, 3d part C. M. and read with great feeling the following stanzas:

GOD of my childhood and my youth,
The guide of all my days,
I have declared thy heavenly truth,
And told thy wondrous ways.
Wilt thou forsake my hoary hairs,

And leave my fainting heart?
Who shall sustain my sinking years,

If God my strength depart?

soon to be gathered to his fathers. || self for me.
Of this, he himself was aware; and
frequently, both in public and in
private, alluded with much feeling
to the hour of his departure, now so
rapidly approaching. Rarely for
some time before his death, did he
attend a meeting with his brethren
in the ministry, without alluding to
the fact that he might never meet
with them again. Scarcely could
he hear of the happy departure of
a saint, especially if he were aged
or a minister of the gospel, without
betraying visible emotion. It was
not the fear of death. Dr. Baldwin
was not afraid to die. His faith
was firm, his hope was unclouded.
It was the tear which nature sheds
over the sundering of long-cherish-
ed, of much loved relations. It
was the tear which an apostle shed
when standing for the last time on
the sea-shore of Miletus, or which
a greater than an apostle shed when
surrounded by the weeping sisters
at the sad tomb of Bethany.

Let me thy power and truth proclaim
Before the rising age,

And leave a savour of thy name
When I shall quit the stage.

The land of silence and of death
Attends my next remove!
O may these poor remains of breath
Teach the wide world thy love.

His audience felt assured that this was his last testimony to them in favour of the gospel; but little did they think that he had read or they were singing his requiem, and that the two first lines of the last stanza were so soon to be literally accomplished.

Dr. Baldwin, as our readers are already apprised, died suddenly and from home. He had left Boston to attend the commencement of Waterville College, and arrived at On the following day, Aug. 29, Hallowell on Friday, August 26. he proceeding to Waterville. He The voyage seemed beneficial to seemed better for the ride, and spent his health, and on the succeeding the afternoon in walking over the Sabbath he preached twice in the College premises, and examining Baptist meeting-house in that town. the condition of the institution. In His text in the afternoon was, Gal. the evening he officiated at the do11. 20. The life which I now live, I mestic altar with peculiar devotion live by the faith of the Son of God, and solemnity, and after bidding who loved me, and gave himself for each individual an affectionate me. In this his last discourse he adieu, retired to rest at about nine bore testimony to the supports, o'clock. After sleeping apparently which during his long life he had well for about an hour, he seemed derived from the gospel of Jesus to awake, and answered in his usual Christ. He declared that his only manner, a question respecting his hope of pardon and acceptance with health; he then suddenly groaned, God was through the mediation of and was no more. His usefulness a crucified Redeemer. With an and his life terminated together. emphasis which sensibly affected Spared the pains of death and the his audience, he adopted as his own agonies of separation, "he was not, the language of his text, and de-for God took him ;" and almost clared, The life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave him

whilst he listened to the voice of affection on earth, the plaudit burst upon his ear, Well done, good and

faithful servant, enter thou into the || remarks upon the character of Dr. joy of thy Lord. Baldwin, and a list of his publications.

Every token of respect for the memory of the deceased was shown by the Trustees and Faculty of Waterville College. On Wednesday his remains, enclosed in a lead-proof positive of his power. Judged

en coffin, were sent to Buston, attended by the Hon. Mark Harris, of Portland, who had been appointed by the Trustees to accompany the afflicted widow with her sad charge to the place of his former residence. They arrived there on Friday, September 2.

The history of a man's life is the only sure evidence of his ability. What a man has done we hold to be

by this standard, Dr. Baldwin certainly will be ranked among the most eminent men of his profession in this country. To say nothing of his publications, some of which have become standard works on the subjects of which they treat, it is evident that no man not highly gifted of nature, could ever under his circumstances, have acquired so extensive an influence, and retained it to the last, entire and undimin

interests into the hands of another, unless he be abler than themselves. And he who for so long a time united the suffrages of all, could only have retained them by giving repeated proofs of undoubted native pre-eminence.

On Monday, Sept. 5, a prayer was offered at the house of the deceased by the Rev. STEPHEN GANO, of Providence. The other funeral services were attended at the meet-ished. Men do not confide their ing-house of the Second Baptist Church by a thronged and deeply affected congregation. The Rev. JOSEPH GRAFTON, of Newton, who offered the concluding prayer at the installation of the deceased, prayed. Rev. Mr. SHARP, of Boston, delivered the funeral discourse from Acts xi. 24. He was a good man. Rev. Mr. WAYLAND closed the services with prayer. The body was then conveyed to the family tomb, followed by thousands, who were anxious to testify their respect for this faithful and distinguished servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this consideration will be more striking, if we recollect the circumstances under which Dr. Baldwin entered the ministry in this city. His opportunities for improvement, either by reading or intellectual association, had been limited. He had read little, he had seen little; but God had given him the ability to think. He was of an

Dr. Baldwin was twice married. His first wife was Miss Ruth Hun-age at which the intellectual habits tington, of Norwich, Conn. She of most men are formed. They was the mother of all his children. are too wise to learn, and too much Of these, the only survivor is Mrs. attached to the habits of their early Ruth Holt, the wife of Mr. Benja-education to amend them. Hence min Holt, of this city. Mrs. Ball too frequently, to men of this age, win died February 11, 1812. On a change of location is the end of the 1st of December, 1812, he was usefulness. "As a bird that wanmarried to Miss Margaret Duncan, dereth from her nest, so is a man of Haverhill, Mass. who still sur- that wandereth from his place." vives to mourn her irreparable loss, But not so with the subject of this and whose affectionate and assidu- memoir. The change was a great ous attention to the kindest of hus-one, but he was equal to it. He bands will forever endear her to all looked upon the relations of society by whom he was beloved. in the light of common sense and of truth. He perceived what was required in the situation which he had entered. He saw what he

It only remains that we close this imperfect memoir with a few

[blocks in formation]
« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »