USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Torrington > History of Torrington, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1737, with biographies and genealogies > Part 56
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BIOGRAPHIES.
to plant the standard on the banks of the Ganges and the Indus, long remembered his instrumentality in their conversion and missionary zeal. His cotemporaries at the college delighted to linger on the recollection of his excellence ; and could never forget how the sal- vation of the dear youth with whom he was associated, the revival of pure and undefiled religion, and the desolations of the heathen world, were themes that often drew tears from his eyes and persuasion from his tongue, as he visited from room to room, and walked from grove to grove.
As illustrative of the energy and zeal with which he pursued his religious life the following extracts from his journal are given.
" June 25, 1806. I hope I shall have an opportunity to retire and address the Throne of grace to day without molestation. O that God would be with me, and assist me in the performance of duty ! It will be a stupid time indeed, if the Lord does not pour down his spirit and convince me of my unworthi- ness and dependence. O how unworthy we are at this institution to partake of the crumbs that fall from our Master's table ! Blessed be God, he lias, as I trust, wrought a good work upon the hearts of some, and is forcing conviction and light upon the minds of others. I hope nothing may retard the progress of this most glorious work.
Thursday, 26. Attended conference this evening, composed principally of the Freshman class. A very good meeting. Many very solemn; K- much cast down. It was very evident God was striving with some of his disobedient® creatures. The work is the Lord's, and he is abundantly able to carry it on. Arise, O Lord, thou and the ark of thy strength. It seems to me I never longed so much for the Sabbath as I do now. I am afraid the impressions of my classmates will wear off. But all things are possible with God.
Saturday, 28. Think I feel something of a praying frame this morning. O for more fervour, more engagedness, more activity, in the cause of the blessed God ! I hope this may be a sweet day to my soul. Think I see something of my unworthiness.
Sabbath morning, 29. Have some view of my dependence upon God and of my awful stupidity. I pray God to be with me to-day, and keep me from injuring his cause, and preserve me in a praying frame. At noon, just returned from meeting-an uncommon time with me-think I have never been so carried above this world before; never found myself so nigh the cross. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, give me, unworthy me, a spirit of praver! O humble me-keep me at the foot of the cross. Grant that I may always feel uneasy when I wander from that delightful place! Grant that I may make it my home there, and never wound my Redeemer in the house of his friends !
November 10. [After vacation ] I have been in town two weeks. Pro- fessing Christians not so much alive as they generally were last term. O that God would revive us again! that his saints might rejoice, and that immortal souls might be ransomed from eternal death. O that he would make his children feel their dependence, and bring them to cast themselves at his foot- stool. All our strength is from the Lord ; I hope he will not cast us off forever, but carry on his work as best pleases him We are brought very low; and if the Lord look not upon us, where is our hope ? Where can we look but to the holy hill."
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The revival referred to was not extensive, but the part which Mr. Mills took in the work, and the peculiar, earnest interest which he manifested for the good of others, is quite appropriately presented by one of his most valued classmates, who afterwards was successfully engaged in the ministry. "During the last term of his first year, there was a revival of religion in college, which commenced in his class. It was then my opinion, and I believe the general opinion, that Mr. Mills was principally instrumental in the hands of God, in producing the blessed work. Certain it is, that no one was so much resorted to as he by those under serious impressions. He was singu- larly devoted and engaged, a little before the revival commenced, and while it lasted. Nor did he, after it had ceased, relapse into that state of apathy and indifference so common with many, and to which there are so many temptations in college. It may well be said of him, that he walked with God, and I trust his footsteps were seen long after he left the college."
It is important to the understanding of some parts of his subse- quent history, to observe the invariable tendencies of his mind toward the grand objects of benevolence to which his life was so sacredly devoted, and upon this another extract from his journal while in college will throw some light on this subject.
" O that I might be aroused from this careless and stupid state, and be enabled to fill up my life well ! I think I can trust myself in the hands of God, and all that is dear to me, but I long to have the time arrive, when the gospel shall be preached to the poor Africans and likewise to all nations."
Here is exhibited the onward moving of an unyielding mind of a philanthropist, almost unequaled among men except under special Divine inspiration, grasping with marvelous eagerness for the instru- mentalities by which to lift a degraded world to affluence, righteous- ness and holiness. Said he to a brother of kindred spirit in the ministry, "Brother, though you and I are very small beings, we must not rest satisfied until we have made our influence extend to the re- motest corner of this ruined world." This was the real man, though one of the most modest of men, yet this was the largeness of his heart and his purpose in the exercise of his responsibility as an in- telligent being. Simply to become a missionary himself, and live and die in pagan lands, surrounded with all the evidences of successful labor, was with him a very small matter. His charities were the most exalted, and his plans most sublime, and he knew how to labor
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for an interest, distant enough to bring nothing to himself, and form a purpose to feel and act efficiently for more than two-thirds of the human race, never baptized by the Christian name. If it be asked, why this man, knowing so much less of the needs and conditions of the heathen, stretched out his hands to such a mighty work, the answer comes from thousands of years gone by, why should Moses, a stranger forty years, go back to Egypt to lead the people to de- liverance, or why should John the Baptist preach in the wilderness more than others ?
MR. MILLS AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.
From the very first dawn of hope of his own interest in saving grace, Mr. Mills's mind was directed to the heathen world, and from that hour his interest in its behalf continued to increase, and to the work of their enlightenment his life seemed consecrated. It was this that led him to leave his farm and enter school and college, and while laboring in the revival in college in behalf of those immediately around him the great study of his mind was for those far away in the shadow of death, and under impressions his mind was directed more and more to the design of propagating the gospel among the heathen in foreign lands, by means of missionaries from this country. And it is remarkable that his mind, then that of but a youth in college, should have been directed in those channels, which the missionary enterprises of the western world have followed ever since.
" The dawn of a missionary spirit had begun to appear in some of the American churches before this period. To those who have ob- served the signs of the times there is no doubt but that a new era had dawned on the other side of the Atlantic before the coming in of the eighteenth century. In the year 1792, the first missionary society was established by Carey, Fuller, Pearce, and Ryland, at Kettering, in England. In 1795, the London Missionary Society was instituted, and from that period missionary institutions have been increasing in number throughout the four quarters of the globe. America began gradually to participate in the sacred spirit. Aside from an establishment formed by the Moravians in 1734, and a branch of the society in Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge among the Indians in North America, which was instituted at Boston, in 1787, the honor of commencing the first missionary exertions in the United States belongs to the general assembly of the Presbyterian church. At their first session, as early as the year 1789, that body passed an order requiring the churches under their care to take col-
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lections for a missionary fund ; and in 1802, they established a stand- ing committee of missions, which has been in successful operation since that time. The New York missionary society was instituted in 1796 ; the Connecticut missionary society in 1798 ; the Massa- chusetts missionary society in 1799 ; and the New Jersey missionary society in 1801.
Hitherto, however, the attention of the western world had been exclusively directed to domestic missions, among the new settlements and Indian's. To the eye of the few who watched its growth, it was obvious that the germ of this tree of life had been gaining strength and activity, but it was not destined to shoot out its branches to the river, and its boughs to the ends of the earth, until the period at which we have now arrived. That she had a distinguished part to act in the conversion of six hundred millions of our guilty creation abroad, beyond her destitute at home, was a thought that had never till now sunk into the bosom of the American church. Why was it so ?. Surely no nation possessed greater advantages for disseminating religious truth, whether we regard resources or men ; and no nation was under greater obligations to make many and great obligations for this exalted object. Why should the nations of Europe, in the midst of all their conflict and blood, have been sending their sons through different continents and to the islands of the sea, while America, this land of freedom, peace, wealth, and privilege, circum- scribes her exertions to a handful of men within her own territory ?
In tracing the progress of the missionary spirit in this country, in respect to foreign missions, we have little else to do than follow the leading events of Mr. Mills's life from his first year in college to the em- barkation of the American missionaries for Calcutta, under the direction of the American Board of Commissioners, in the year 1812. As already intimated his devotion to the missionary cause was early and invincible. It was not, however, until he became a member of college that his spirit in regard to missions came to view. Then the subject took a definite form in his mind, engrossed the meditations of his serious hours, took deep hold of his feelings, and became the burden of his prayers and heart. It seems to have been a peculiar visitation of the Spirit of God that turned all the solicitude and affec- tion of his heart to this subject. He reflected long and prayed much, before he disclosed his views and when he determined to unburden his mind, by conversing with two or three of his more intimate fellow stu- dents, it was in a manner that deserves to be related. He led them into a meadow at a distance from the college, to a retirement, probably
1806
BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN MISSIONS.
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familiar to himself, though little exposed to observation or liable to be approached, where, by the side of a large stack of hay, he devoted the day to prayer and fasting, and familiar conversation on this new and interesting theme ; when, much to his surprise and gratification, he found that the spirit of God had been enkindling in their bosoms the flame which had so long been burning in his own. It will not be surprising to learn, that from this hour, this endeared retreat was often made solemn by the presence, and hallowed by the piety of these dear young men." It was to this consecated spot they repaired to cherish the high born influence, and dedicate themselves re- newedly to Christ in this blessed cause; to spend many a precious day in humiliation, fasting and prayer, and there to offer to a present God those early and fervent supplications to which may be traced the institution of foreign missions in the new world."2
When Mr. Mills had made known his mind, and had found these companions in the spirit of the missionary work for heathen lands ; and when they had fully devoted their lives to this work, he commu- nicated the intelligence to his parents and family at home. These tidings greatly affected the heart of his affectionate mother, and to find comfort with a sister-in-law, Mrs. Austin, she took the letter and repaired to her house and read it. Here she gave free expres- sion to the feelings of her heart and while walking back and forth in the house, the tears falling as if she were heart broken, she exclaimed, " But little did I know when I dedicated the child to God what it would cost and whereunto it would end." It has been said that his mother had dedicated him to the service of God as a missionary, but it does not appear that she had any idea of the service of a mission- ary to foreign lands. She intended him for the ministry, and possi- bly for the ministry in new parts of this country, but as there is a living witness to the occurrence at the house of her sister-in-law, and to the surprise she then manifested that her son might be taken far away to a strange land, it is evident that she was now realizing that the cost to her heart was far greater than she had ever imagined it might be. "How little did I know what it was going to cost," was her repeated exclamation. The spirit and enterprise of foreign missions were scarcely known through the country until brought to the attention of the people by these young men ; for when they formed themselves into a society for inquiry concerning missions,
" These young men were Samuel J. Mills, Jr., Gordon Hall, and James Richards.
2 Memoir, p. 27.
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the movement was judged to be the offspring of an over heated zeal that would soon cool and be forgotten, and none probably were more surprised at the idea than his mother although she looked upon it as the call of God, while others laughed that the heathen should be noticed in the call of God.
The mind of Mr. Mills had now received a new impulse, and his paramount object was to devise measures to carry the plans which had begun to present themselves in some definite shape, into immediate execution. Having, as he supposed, accomplished what he could for the cause in Williams college, he left that institution, and became a resident graduate a few months at Yale college. His ostensible object was the study of theology, but his real object was to ascertain whether there were not some kindred spirits in that institution, who could be excited and encouraged to participate in this glorious enter- prise. While here he became acquainted with Obookiah, a youth from the Sandwich Islands, whom Rev. Edwin W. Dwight had found in the streets of New Haven and taken him in charge with the purpose of instructing him in letters as he was greatly desirous of ob- taining an education. By a pleasing coincidence of circumstances, Mr. Mills, on his arrival at New Haven became the companion of Mr. Dwight and was deeply interested in this youth. He soon con- ceived the plan of educating him as a missionary to his native islands, and took him in the course of the winter to his father's at Torringford and afterwards to Andover, patiently instructing him in the knowledge of what is useful in this life, and momentous to the life to come. It was in consequence of the design to educate this youth as a mission- ary that the plan of a missionary school was conceived and finally established at Cornwall, Ct.
The following spring Mr. Mills became a member of the Theo- logical seminary at Andover, soon after which his mother died, which was a sore bereavement to him. Hearing of her sickness he hastened home and coming up the old road to Torringford, past the burying ground, he saw her newly made grave, and stopped to visit it. "Here," he says, " I gave vent to the most impassioned woe."
In 1811, he and others formed at Andover the Society of Inquiry concerning missions ; from which as early as 1829, over thirty had gone out as missionaries under the American board.
In 1812 and 1813, he made a missionary tour through some of the southern and western states in company with the Rev. John F. Scher- merhorn of the Dutch Reformed church, and in 1814 and 1815, he
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made a second tour, accompanied by the Rev. Daniel Smith of Natchez, going as far as New Orleans and returning through the western parts of Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Five or six hundred miles of this route was a mere wilderness. In New Orleans, in March, 1815, he found no Bibles for gift or for sale, but being particularly entrusted by the Philadelphia Bible Society with the dis- tribution of a quantity of French Bibles, he readily appropriated them according to directions, and they were received with great eagerness by the people.
In connection with the efforts then being made in regard to Bible distribution Mr. Mills is credited with exerting much influence to hasten the organization of the American Bible Society, an institution which has done and is doing a marvelous great work in publishing and distributing Bibles.
Mr. Mills was ordained as a missionary with Messrs. Richards, Bardwell, Poor, Warren and Meigs, on the 21st of June, 1815, at Newburyport, Mass.
In 1816, he secured the formation of the African school, under the care of the Synods of New York and New Jersey, to fit colored young men to preach and become missionaries.
It appears that at this time Mr. Mills was very much interested in and devoted to a plan of his own proposing, of a missionary tour into South America, with a view to explore the country, and prepare the way for missionary enterprise in that interesting part of the world. He made overtures of this nature to the American Board, and the plan for such a tour was once in a very considerable degree matured, but it was found necessary to abandon it for a time.
While some of his plans were ripening for execution, he spent the summer and autumn of 1816, in the city of New York, where he devoted himself to inquiries into the moral condition of the poor, with a particular view to supply them with Bibles and tracts. His judg- ment of the importance of this work, and of the moral state of society in the cities, are seen somewhat in his journal kept at the time, and indicates that there was a great necessity for such a work as he at- tempted to do.
HIS INTEREST IN AFRICA.
From the very first of Mr. Mills's meditations on missionary in- terests, his mind was directed toward the African race ; and after- ward more and more, the civil, moral, and spiritual degradation of
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the children of Africa, both in this land of civilization and Christianity, and their own native regions of darkness, lay with continual weight upon his mind, and particularly after his first visit to the middle and southern states. Those to whom he unbosomed himself on this sub- ject, could easily perceive that he was actuated by a power of feeling, and a confidence of faith, and a disinterestedness of desire, that pre- pared him to compass sea and land, to perform any labor, to endure any losses, to sustain any sacrifices in the prosecution of his design, and, if it were necessary, to die in the service of Africa. With the piety of the Christian, and the wisdom of the statesman, he early suggested, as one of the means of accelerating this work of benevo- lence, the establishment of a school, to qualify young men of color for preachers and teachers to the African race. While he was linger- ing in New York and New Jersey, in the summer and autumn of 1816, he suggested and matured this plan. In his itineration through the states, he had been preparing the minds of many gentlemen of influence to favor such an establishment, and had received from them so much encouragement, that he was heard to say, that if only a treasury was opened at the north, it would be filled from the slave- holding states.1 By very wise methods the subject was brought before the synods of New York and New Jersey, and the school was estab- lished and successfully conducted several years. The agency of Mr. Mills in giving existence to this institution was very affectionately acknowledged by the board of directors in their report to the synod in 1818, soon after the tidings of his decease.
That portion of the report reads as follows : " But while the board refer to these encouraging events, they cannot pass over one which has filled them and many of the friends of Zion with sorrow. They allude to the death of him to whom, though his modesty and retiring nature concealed his agency from the world, the praise really belongs of originating the African school, as well as several other institutions, which rank among the most important and beneficial in our country, who died in the service of Africa. The name of Samuel J. Mills ought to be known to the churches, and to be had in grateful remembrance, while worth is honored, and humble, disinterested, laborious piety is beloved.
For a mind teeming with plans to extend the Redeemer's kingdom, wholly devoted to that single object, and incessantly engaged to rouse others to the same spirit, they fear they shall not soon look upon his like again. When
* This was while the abolition societies were encouraged in several of the southern states, and before the change of sentiment morally and politically in that part of the nation had taken place.
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Africa has lost such a friend, her helpless and wretched state is more than ever to be pitied. Who will catch his falling mantle, and rise up to plead the cause of a poor outcast race !"
Soon after the organization the board of directors for this school, Mr. Mills accepted an appointment as their agent, to solicit dona- tions in the middle states, and in this work was very successful. Soon after this, in January, 1817, the American Colonization Society was organized in Washington, D.C., and if there was one object to which Mr. Mills considered himself chiefly devoted, it was the in- terest and success of this society. Wherever he went, this object was kept in view ; and the hope of doing something to promote it, was one of the reasons which induced him to take the tour of the states. While engaged in the different states he manifested his won- derful skill to collect facts and to influence men with arguments and draw them to his views.
In the commencement of their operations, no small degree of em- barrassment was felt through want of information as to the most eligible places for the establishment of a colony. With a view to obviate this embarrassment, it was resolved to commission persons of suitable qualifications to explore the western coast of Africa. This commission, replete as it was with responsibility, was put into the hands of Mr. Mills. No sooner had he accepted it, than he saw the importance of having a colleague to share the burden with him in his arduous mission, and he selected the Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, then late professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Bur- lington college, in Vermont.
All things being arranged, the day before sailing, in writing to his father he said : " My companion and myself engage in this mission with perfect cheerfulness. I hope we feel that unless the Lord is with us, all is in vain. If the colonization plan be of God, sooner or later it will prosper ; if not approved by him, let it fail." He left America on the 16th of November, 1817, and after a short and perilous voyage, arrived in England in December.
Having tarried in England a time he proceeded to Africa, where he spent over two months in visiting different localities and made his selection, where now LIBERIA rests as a nation.
Mr. Mills's work was well nigh done. Few men apparently were more matured for "the glory of the revealed " than he. For several of the last weeks of his life particularly he enjoyed peculiar mani- festations of the Divine glory and favor. While in waiting for a
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passage to England, it was his happiness to be the guest of the Rev. Samuel Brown, an English missionary from the Methodist connec- tion, a man of an excellent spirit, and who "knew the heart of a stranger." Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Burgess were led to take notice of the spirituality of Mr. Mills during that period, and even to make it the subject of private remark. At their stated seasons of prayer, these brethren expressed great delight when the duty devolved on him to lead in the devotions, and great satisfaction in his peculiar nearness to God, and his sweet and delightful views of another world. To adopt the sentiment of his colleague, "Notwithstanding my own apprehensions while in Africa, there was something in Mills, while we were at Sierra Leone, which left the impression on my mind that he was ripe for heaven, and would go before me."
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