USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Essex County, Mass., 1865 > Part 10
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" The historian, who collects brilliant examples of virtue for the instruc- tion of mankind, will dwell with delight on the character of Dr. Tappan. He possessed, in an uncommon degree, the various qualifications which
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adorn the gentleman, the scholar, and the Christian. His manners flowed from a heart replete with benevolence, and were calculated to conciliate the affection and esteem of men of all ranks, and of Christians of every denomination.
" He held a distinguished rank among the literati of our country. His studies were chiefly directed to those branches which were calculated to render him useful in his office at the University, and eminent as a minister of the holy religion. And though exalted attainments in these studies excite not that admiration which their intrinsic excellence deserves, though none but the wise and good can duly estimate that philosophy which inspires
' The better fortitude Of patience and heroic martyrdom,'
yet these are most necessary to render individuals happy, and states prosperous.
" The glory of Dr. Tappan's character shone with unequalled resplen- dence in piety to God and benevolence to man. He possessed an ex- quisite sense of right and wrong, of decorum of character, and of chastity in conduct. Though firmly attached to those sentiments which he con- sidered the doctrines of Scripture, his charity embraced the sincere of every denomination. No ambition is so pure as that which animates men to aspire to excel in deeds of benevolence. Of this spirit Dr. Tappan was possessed. He was qualified, in an eminent degree, to make men wise and good. In public, he was highly acceptable and successful. His eloquence flowed from a heart deeply impressed with the truth of that religion which he preached. Who ever heard him describe the
· charms of religion, without feeling that his good resolutions had gained some accession of strength? Who ever heard him dwell on the 'terrors . of the law,' without confessing that the anger of Heaven against the finally impenitent would be just ?
" Deeply is this loss felt by our University. Seeing that her sons have lost a father, her patrons an associate, her festival is changed into mourning, and her honorable seats are clothed with the habiliments of the grave.
" Cut down in the midst of his days and usefulness, his death, though happy for himself, is too soon for his country. How he loved her glory, and lamented her wrongs; how he endeavored to assuage the violence of party, and to vindicate the manners and principles of the pure age of our republic, are in the memory of all who observed him revolving in his ex- alted sphere.
" Those who feel gratitude ought to express it. But how inadequate
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is language to give life to the sentiments of the heart. While we are humble under a sense of the calamity which we sustain, we must rejoice that the favored servant of heaven is translated from toil to glory, and that he is distinguished among those
' Quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat ; Quique pii vates, et Phœbo digna locuti.'"
There is a still more extended notice of Dr. Tappan in the Centinel, of Sept. 14, 1803.
Mr. Tappan was married by Rev. Oliver Noble, March 21, 1780, to Mary Sawyer, daughter of Dr. Enoch and Hannah (Moody) Sawyer. She was born March, 1759, in West Newbury, and died Sept. 11, 1831, in Augusta, Me.
The names of their children were, -
1. Sarah, b. January 7, 1781; d. May 6, 1799.
2. Enoch Sawyer, b. March 4, 1783 ; d. July 26, 1847 ; grad. H. U. 1801; M. B. 1806 ; M. D. 1811 ; M. M. S. S.
3. David, b. - , 1785 ; H. U. 1804; d. May 26, 1843.
4. Mary, b. March 22, 1757 ; d. Nov. 7, 1757, in W. Newbury.
5. Benjamin, b. Nov. 7, 1788 ; H. U., 1805 ; ord. at Augusta, Me., Oct. 16, 1811 ; dis. 1849 ; appointed Sec. of the Maine Miss. Society, June 27, 1849 ; d. Dec. 23, 1863, in Augusta, Me., aged 75.
6. Hannah, b. Nov. 30, 1790; d. March 26, 1857, in Augusta, Me.
7. George Washington, b. Dec. 31, 1792; d. Sept. 17, 1793, in Cambridge.
8. Mary Eliza, b. Dec. 1, 1795 ; d. Sept. 14, 1796, in Cambridge.
9. Mary Eliza, Twins, b. in 1798. 10. Joseph, 20, 1798.
( One died July 30, the other Aug.
The following is a list of Dr. Tappan's publications :
Two Discourses delivered on the Sabbath after his Ordination at New- bury, April 24, 1777. A Sermon on the Character of Amaziah, 1782. A Fast Sermon, 1783. A Thanksgiving Discourse on the Peace, 1783. A Sermon on the death of Rev. Moses Parsons, Dec. 14, 1783. Two friendly Letters to Philalethes, 1785. A Sermon at the Ordination of Timothy Dickinson, Feb. 18, 1789. An Address to the Students of Andover Academy, July 18, 1791. Election Sermon, May 30, 1792. A Sermon before an Association at Portsmouth, 1792. A Farewell Sermon at Newbury, 1793. A Fast Sermon at Cambridge and Charles- town, April 11, 1793. A Sermon at the Ordination of John Thornton Kirkland, Feb. 5, 1794. A Sermon on Eight Persons drowned at New- bury, July 24, 1794. A Discourse to the Class which was to graduate in 1794. A Discourse to the Class which entered in 1794. An Ad- dress to the Students at Andover, July, 1794. A Thanksgiving Sermon
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at Charlestown, Feb. 19, 1795. A Discourse on the death of John Rus- sell, a Student, Nov. 17, 1795. A Discourse to the Class which entered in 1796. A Sermon before the Convention of Ministers, June 1, 1797. A Fast Sermon at Boston and Charlestown, April 5, 1798. Two Ser- mons at Plymouth, after the Ordination of the Rev. James Kendall, Jan. 5, 1800. A Discourse on the death of Washington, Feb. 21, 1800. A Sermon at the Ordination of Nathaniel Hill Fletcher, in Kennebunk, Me., Sept. 3, 1800. A Sermon on the death of Lieut. Governor Phillips, 1802. A Sermon at the Installation of the Rev. Hezekiah Packard, Sept. 1802. A Discourse on the death of Enos Hitchcock, D. D. 1803. A Sermon on the death of Mrs. Mary Dana. April, 1803.
POSTHUMOUS.
Lectures on Jewish Antiquities, 1807. Sermons on Important Subjects, 1807 ; to which is prefixed a Biographical Sketch of Dr. Tappan, and the Sermon preached at his funeral, by Dr. Abiel Holmes.
NOTE. - The original spelling of the name was Toppan. Dr. Tappan so spelled his own name when he published the sermons preached the Sabbath after his ordina- tion.
LEVI FRISBIE,
Was the son of Elisha and Rachael (Levi) Frisbie, and was born in Branford, Ct., -, 1748. He was baptized May 8, 1748. His father was a land-holder, and probably a farmer in easy circumstances. At the age of sixteen Levi gave evidence of piety, and began to fit for college under the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock of Lebanon, the founder and first President of Dartmouth College. He also studied with Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem. He entered Yale College in 1767. Here he stayed over three years, but finished his education at Dartmouth, in 1771, and was one of the first class, consisting of four, which graduated in that insti- tution. In 1772, May 21st, he and David Maccluer were ordained at Dartmouth College, as missionaries to the Indians at Muskingum, " where a remarkable door is opened for the Gospel." In 1772, June 19th, he and his fellow-laborer set out on their mission, expecting to be supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.
When on their journey, they heard that the Indians, to whom they were going, were inclined to a war with the English. Before getting to the immediate vicinity of their intended station, Mr. Frisbie was taken dangerously sick with a fever. He recovered, and as the condition of the Indians at Muskingum was very unsettled, he and Mr. Maceluer spent about seven months among the white population, making their
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chief place of residence at Fort Pitt. After this period, he returned to New England.
We are informed that Mr. Frisbie, still desirous to prosecute the duties of a missonary, travelled to the southward and also to Canada. But this specific manner of preaching the gospel he was constrained to relinquish, on account of the unsettled state of the country, occasioned by the Revolution. In March, 1775, as Mr. Rogers was unable to perform his pastoral duties, Mr. Frisbie was engaged to assist him. Being ap- proved by the people, they gave him a call, and he was installed Feb. 7, 1776. With his brethren in the ministry he was deeply interested in the struggle of our country for independence. When the tidings of peace came, he was selected by the town to deliver an oration. This was pub- lished ; also a Funeral Address at the interment of Rev. Moses Parsons of Newbury, 1779; two Fast Sermons ; a Thanksgiving Sermon ; Eulo- gy occasioned by the death of Washington, 1800; A Sermon before the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians ; also, a Poem of one hundred and eighty lines, being a Eulogy on Moor's Charity School and Dartmouth College. This may be found in " Wheelock's continua- tion of the narrative of the Indian Charity School, etc., 1771." This was probably delivered at the Commencement that year.
The last days of Mr. Frisbie were considerably embittered by the loss of some of his parishoners, who left him to aid in the formation of a new society in the town. . His sensibility was great, which, added to the infirmities of his age, led him to think more of such a defection than he would have done in his earlier life, and to apprehend worse effects from it than really followed.
Mr. Frisbie died Feb. 25, 1806. The last office which he performed in the house of God was to administer the communion, when he introduced Rev. D. T. Kimball to his pulpit. This was Sept 21, 1805. The par- ish voted $100 to purchase mourning for his family. The Rev. Asahel Huntington of Topsfield preached his funeral sermon.
He was first married to Zeruiah, the eldest daughter of Samuel Sprague of Lebanon, Ct. She died Aug. 21, 1778. He was married a second time, June 1, 1780, to Mehitable, daughter of Rev. Moses and Mehitable (Dummer) Hale, of Newbury, now West Newbury. She was born in Newbury, Nov. 2, 1751, and died April 6, 1828, aged 76.
. Their children were, -
1. Sarah, b. Nov. 22, 1781.
2. Levi, b. Sept. 15, 1783; grad. at H. U. 1802; Tutor from 1805 to 1811 ; Professor of Latin Language from 1811 to 1817 ; inducted as Al- ford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, Nov. 5, 1817. He died at Cambridge July 9, 1822 ; aged 38.
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3. Nathaniel, b. Dee. 13, 1785.
4. Mehitable, b. Nov. 4, 1791.
Rev. Mr. Frisbie was of light complexion, above the common height, and rather large. His power as an orator we have no means of know- ing, but from his published effusions. It appears he ventured on some daring flights, unusual among the moderns, and which nothing but suc- gess could justify.
Hume has mentioned one of the strokes in Cicero, in one of his orations against Verres, in which he says, If I were to go into the most deserted solitude and deplore these deeds to the rocks and precipices, yet even these mute objects would respond to the atrocity, and he asks, whether any mod- ern would use such a bold and poetic figure.
In his Eulogy on Washington, Mr. Frisbie has the following para- graph :
"The sighs of sorrow are as sincere as his virtues, and as extensive as his fame. Our churches are hung with sables, and every object seems clad with a garment of woe. The countenances of the young and the fair have lost their smiles ; their faces are covered with a gloom, and their eyes suffused with tears; children lisp the praises of Washington, and weep that he is dead ; the hardy bosoms of statesmen and warriors are softened with grief, and their manly eyes do not disdain to pour a tribute of tears on the grave of their own and their country's father and friend. Virtue and religion lament the loss of their favorite son ; and were any so obdurate as not to lament it, they might expect that the plains, and the forests, and the rocks, which have witnessed his virtues and achievements, would reproach their stupidity by bursting into sighs and groans." - Eulogy on the late Gen. George Washington, p. 33.
SAMUEL SPRING,
Was the son of John and Sarah (Read) Spring. He was born in Uxbridge (now Northbridge), Mass., Feb. 27, 1745-6. His father was a large landholder, a deacon and a justice of the peace. From his office in the church we infer that all his children were baptized in infancy. His son labored with him on the farm until he was eighteen years old. The father then consented, after much entreaty, to give him a collegiate education.
Dr. Spring graduated at the College of N. J., in 1771 ; received his doctorate from W. C. 1807. He studied divinity successively with Rev. Drs. Witherspoon, West of Stockbridge, Hopkins of Newport, R. I., and Bellamy of Bethlehem, Conn. He was a chaplain in the Revolutionary war, and attached to the division of Arnold in the assault on Quebec, and was engaged in the battle when Montgomery fell.
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.
He was ordained over the North Church and Society, Newburyport, Aug. 6, 1777. He died in Newburyport, March 4, 1819.
He was President of the Merrimac Bible Society ; of the Merrimac Humane Society ; one of the founders and visitors of the Andover Theo- logical Seminary ; one of the original delegates who founded the Ameri- can Bible Society ; one of the founders and one of the executive com- mittee of the A. B. C. F. Missions.
He was married Nov. 4, 1779, to Hannah Hopkins, daughter of Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., of Hadley. Her mother was Sarah Porter, daughter of Judge Eleazer Porter, of Hadley, and widow of Rev. Chester Williams. Mrs. Spring was born at Hadley, Aug. 10, 1760, and died at Newburyport, June 11, 1819.
Their children were, -
1. A son b. and d. Sept. 4, 1780.
2. Margaret Stoddard, b. Apr. 26, 1783; m. Aug. 27, 1807, Bezaleel Taft, Jr. ; who grad. H. U. 1804, and was Att'y-at-Law, in Uxbridge. She died July 25, 1816.
3. Gardner, b. Feb. 24, 1785.
4. Hannah, b. Sept. 5, 1788; d. Mar. 16, 1796.
5. Walton, b. Sept. 6, 1790 ; d. May 8, 1809.
6. Samuel, b. Mar. 9, 1792.
7. Lewis, b. Oct. 20, 1793 ; lost at sea, 1815.
8. Mary, b. Nov. 12, 1795 ; d. Aug. 30, 1796.
9. Pinkney, b. July 6, 1798 ; grad. Y. C. 1819 ; d. - , 1820. 10. Charles, b. July 25, 1800.
11. John Hopkins, b. Sept. 21, 1802.
Three sons of Dr. Spring grad. at Y. C. Gardener in 1805; S. T. D., Hamilton Coll. 1819 ; LL. D., Lafay., Penn., 1853 ; ord. in New York, Aug. 8, 1810.
Samuel grad. in 1811; Andover Theo. Seminary 1821 ; approbated May 8, 1821 ; ord. Abington, Mass., Jan. 2, 1822; dis. Dec. 6, 1826; inst. North Ch. Hartford, Ct., Mar. 21, 1827 ; dis. Jan. - , 1833 ; inst. First Ch. East Hartford, Ct., Feb. 14, 1833 ; dis. July 14, 1861 ; S. T. D., Columbia College, 1858.
Pinckney grad. in 1819, and died in 1820.
The following sketch is from his ministerial neighbor and friend, Rev. Dr. Withington, of Newbury :
Samuel Spring, D. D., was for many years a prominent member of our Association. He was rather in the minority, being on the Hopkin- sian side of the chief dispute of his day. Dr. Dana of Ipswich, Dr. Tappan of West Newbury, and Mr. Braman of Rowley, were old school Calvinists. Dr. Spring and Dr. Parish were Hopkinsians, then called the New Divinity.
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His mind was first impressed with religion while reading a Defence of the Copernican System to his class while in college ; and this perhaps gave a type to his subsequent piety. The grandeur of God was his per- petual theme. Even Christ and redemption were, in his theology, affect- ing only as an exhibition of the grandeur of God. He was licensed to preach the gospel in 1774. The next year he joined that section of the army which was sent to seize Canada and subdue Quebec ; and I have heard him describe pathetically the famine and sufferings of that expedition. Though a clergyman, there was not a braver heart in that heroic band than his own ; and a story is told (though I never heard him allude to it), that when the army reached Quebec, one of the captains faltered, and Spring offered to head the company in the escalade, but was not per- mitted by the general. as he said it might confuse the men ; no one could look on his eye and not believe the story credible. On the first Sabbath in February, 1777, he preached as a candidate to the people to whom, for forty-two years, he became a pastor. He labored among his people until within a few weeks of his death, which happened March 4, 1819.
His publications were, besides occasional sermons, a Dialogue on Duty, and a volume of Disquisitions. The first was a controversy with Dr. Tappan of West Newbury, and both of them were strongly marked with the peculiarities of his school.
It was impossible to meet Dr. Spring, and not be struck with the strength of his purpose and the quickness of his intuition. He saw into character with a glance, and was not often prone to err on the indul- gent side. Lurking vanity, disguised ambition, foolish affectation, were sure to be detected by him ; and when the occasion called for it, sharply rebuked. Yet he was very companionable; his relaxation was more agreeable from the general sternness from which he seemed to let him- self down. Though he seemed to be a dogmatist in his preaching, yet he was a man with whom you could discuss any subject, even his most dar- ling opinions. His range in the pulpit was too narrow, and his exhibi- tion of the gospel was too partial. Sovereignty was his favorite theme. He was not an orator, but often when earnest, commanded the closest at- tention. He was a splendid specimen of New England's clergy ; for there were giants in the earth in those days.
"FARMINGTON, Me., November 20, 1861.
" REV. S. J. SPALDING, NEWBURYPORT, MASS.
" My Dear Brother, - You have asked me to give you my recollections and impressions of the late Dr. Samuel Spring, of your city. This request is not the most easy with which to comply. The distance of time which has elapsed since his death, has taken much from the freshness and power of these recollections and impressions, and has tended to increase their indistinct and evanescent na- ture. My strong personal attachment to him also as my spiritual father, may have an undue influence in such matters; and after all, the very best things I may
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fail to record, and note only those which may not suit the taste, or meet the ap- probation of others. But, in the language of the apostle Peter on a certain oc- casion, I will say, ' Such as I have, give I unto thee.'
Truly yours, ISAAC ROGERS.
Dr. Spring was above the middle height. His bodily frame was strong and athletic, and his whole appearance was majestic and com- manding, so that as you approached him, especially if a young man, it would be with emotions of diffidence nearly akin to reverence. His eyes were a light blue, penetrating and piercing, with a large round head that added not a little to his power in the pulpit and to his great influence over others. He was a man of strong prejudices, and yet of a consum- mate knowledge of human nature. To those whom he well knew, he was a firm and lasting friend and a most wise and judicious counsellor. With those who did not suit his tastes or views he cared not to asso- ciate, or with them to have much to do.
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He was, however, quite easy to unbend, and very affable and even facetious in conversation with his intimate acquaintance. His wit was ready and keen, and he dearly loved and highly enjoyed a good joke. It is said, that before his marriage the General Association of Massachu- setts met in the western part of the State. On his way to the meeting, he called on Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of Hadley, who had a number of daugh- ters, from which he subsequently selected his wife. Dr. H. invited him on his return to stop and dine with him. To this Mr. S. agreed. Among other articles, a sparerib was served for dinner. Dr. H. says to Mr. S., " To which piece shall I help you ?" " To one of the ribs, if you please," says Mr. S., with a look and manner that gave no doubtful indication of his meaning.
Not long after I united with his church, I called to see a family in the south part of the town, who belonged to the Society of the Rev. Mr. Milton, with whom and the Doctor there had never been a very good understanding. This family desired me to invite Dr. S. to visit them, as they were in sickness and affliction. Several days after, I called on the Dr., and communicated to him their desires. Stretching himself up, and bending back his head, with an arch smile, " Do you suppose," said he, " that I am going to call on that Miltonian ?" While the fact was, as he afterwards assured me, he had already made them a call, and had a most pleasant and agreeable visit.
Clergymen of his day were far more largely political than they are now, and had much more to say, both in their preaching and prayers, in relation to national affairs. Hence, when the embargo, non-inter- course, and war measures of the Jefferson and Madison administrations
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were prosecuted, on Fast and Thanksgiving days, and even at other times, the Doctor was plain, and explicitly bold and fearless in his opposition to both the men and the measures. At one time he took his text in Eze- kiel 27 : 26, -" Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters," and applied the words to the civil rulers of that day, very much to the dis- quiet of the few of his hearers who differed from him politically.
At another time, when Napoleon I. had made his escape from Elba, and was, as the Dr. thought and believed, coming to America, he, in prayer, on one Sabbath morning, said, quoting from Jeremiah 20: 7, "O Lord, thou hast deceived us, and we are deceived." The next day one of his church members, who differed from him in politics, undertook to call him to account for using sueh language. "Why, brother K.," replied Dr. S., " are you not any better acquainted with your Bible ? Go home and read it over until you find the words I used in prayer there recorded."
A few of us young men used to meet on Friday evenings for prayer and religious conversation. We invited the Dr. at one time to meet with us. On his inquiring as to the state of my mind, I recollect saying to him, that I thought the devil was very busy with me indeed, as I had a great many evil thoughts, and wandering thoughts also in prayer. . " You must be careful, my young friend." said he, " not to lay too much blame to the devil, for your own heart is bad enough to originate those thoughts."
He was not so anxious to increase membership in his church, as he was to promote a heightened and stable piety in its members. I well recollect, that after I had indulged about six months a hope of having been renewed in the spirit of my mind, I went with considerable diffidence to see him about making a public profession and uniting with the church. He received me very cordially, but thought it was rather too soon, and advised me to wait still longer before taking such an important step. In his better judgment, as I viewed it, I acquiesced. Indeed, I supposed that he had seen or known something in my life inconsistent with my hope in Christ, and concluded, of course, to abide his decision, and it was not until six months more had elapsed, that with much trembling and many fears, the profession was made. The desire, however, to make it was strengthened, and my carefulness and prayerfulness promoted by the course which he thus pursued, and I always loved him the more for it. But this, perhaps, was one of the extremes of that age ; and if it had its evils, it by no means follows that the other extreme of hasty admis- sions, into which the churches have now so generously fallen, has not many and great evils also. Few and far between were then the cases of discipline which are now multiplied, and numerous as the "leaves in
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Vallombrosa." And the limited doctrinal knowledge and increasing worldliness of most professors of religion of the present day, is in striking contrast with the enlightened views and sober and godly lives of the church members of that generation.
The following is a complete list of the publications of Dr. Spring. They have all been collected by Rev. A. G. Vermilye, D. D., now of Utica, N. Y., and by him presented to the Library of the Essex North Association.
1. Thanksgiving Sermon. (Newburyport, 8vo, pp. 32. 1777.)
2. Sermon "On Sinners coming to Christ." (Newburyport, 8vo, pp. 47. 1779.)
3. Sermon on Family Prayer. (New Haven Magazine, pp. 28. 1780.)
4. Three Sermons to little Children. (Newburyport, 16mo, pp. 82. 1783.)
5. Dialogue on the Nature of Duty. (Newburyport, 16mo, pp. 192. 1784.)
6. Sermon at the Ordination of the Rev. Benj. Bell, Amesbury, Mass., Oct. 13, 1784. (Newburyport, Svo, pp. 64.)
7. Sermon on knowing and trusting God. (Newburyport 8vo, pp. 46. 1785.)
8. Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. Pearson Thurston, Feb. 1, 1792, Somersworth, N. H. (Dover, Svo, pp. 26.)
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