USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > First church in Newark : historical discourses, relating to the First Presbyterian church in Newark; originally delivered to the congregation of that church during the month of January, 1851 > Part 17
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BURR AS PRESIDENT.
The College remained in Newark after its organiza- tion about eight years, during the first seven of which Mr. Burr officiated as its President, in connection with his duties as pastor of this Church. During the first three years of his Presidency he had no salary except what he received, as before, from the congregation of which he was pastor. But though the embarrassments of his situation were discouraging, no buildings having as yet been erected for the accommodation of the Col- lege," the students being dispersed in private families, the public academical exercises generally performed in the County Court House,t and the circumstances in many respects exceedingly unfavorable to the moral habits and literary improvement of the young men ;
lent in the sermon just referred to. The interpretation which I have given above, tombstone of Mr. Dickinson, where a great man is apt to bear all his honors, simply speaks of him as the pastor of the Presby- terian Church in Elizabethtown. All the contemporary notices which speak of him as President, are of the most ephemeral and casual sort. On the other hand, Gov. Belcher is repeatedly applauded, in the most formal and official manner, as the founder of the College; and yet Governor Belcher could have had no connection with it during Mr. Dickinson's life, as he came into the Province only a few weeks previous to his decease. President Finley, in his history of the College, published by order of the Trustees, in 1764, to which, says Dr. Green, quoting the words from Johnson, "regard is to be paid as to the narrative of one who writes what he knows, and what is known likewise to multitudes besides," speaks expressly of Mr. President Barr as the first who officiated in that station, and the town of Newark as THE PLACE AT WHICH THE COLLEGE WAS FIRST OPENED. (Sec Notes to Dr. Green's Discourses, pp. 803, 304.) These statements and representations seem to me to require something like the
viz : that the College over which Mr. Dick. inson presided, and which is connected with the present by no continuity of re- cords, officers or legal authority, was not regarded by contemporaries as having at- tained, strictly speaking, a permanent or. ganization ; and that which was subse- quently organized in Newark, under Gov- ernor Belcher's auspices, though it admit- ted to its honors the pupils who had before prepared themselves for their degree, was looked upon as, strictly speaking, a new beginning. This view seems to be ex- pressed very explicitly by Governor Liv- ingston, in his Eulogy on Mr. Burr, where he says : "To his unparalleled assiduity, next to the Divine blessing, is doubtless to be ascribed the present flourishing condi- tion of the College of New Jersey, which, from a mere private undertaking, is become the joy of its friends, and the admiration and envy of its enemies."
* "Nullum habens adhuc domicilium." See Burr's Oration on the death of Dr. Doddridge, Sept. 1752.
+ History by President Finley. See Notes to Dr. Green's Discourses, p. 304.
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BURR AS PRESIDENT.
yet the indomitable energy, vigilance and perseverance of the excellent President overcame all obstacles, and the College flourished, during that period, beyond the most sanguine expectations of its warmest friends .* Funds for its maintenance were at first entirely want- ing, and not easily to be obtained. The General As- sembly of the Province, from which its charter was obtained, took no interest in its welfare, and the appeal .
of the trustees for " countenance and assistance for its support," met from them no favorable response. But from what is recorded respecting Mr. Burr's character and circumstances, it may be presumed that he con- tributed freely from his own pecuniary means to pro- mote its interests ; and we know that, by the weight of his influence and his personal efforts, he was able to accomplish much, in securing for it the patronage of the liberal here and in other parts of the world. It was through his agency that subscriptions were ob- tained in Boston, among which was the sum of £100 from Col. Alvord, justly denominated by a student at the time, "one of the greatest benefactors the College is blessed with." His intense interest in the object is pleasantly illustrated by what the same student says of the effect produced upon him by hearing that the College had won £200 in a lottery, that "it hath given the President (who hath been sick these four or
* The testimony of Governor Livingston on this point has already been quoted, p. 186, note. That of Rev. Caleb Smith, in his funeral sermon, is equally explicit. " He must be allowed," he says, " under God to have had a principal hand in bringing it [the College] into existence, then fixing it
upon a solid basis, and at length rearing it up to that respectable condition and flour- ishing state in which we have the satisfac- tion to see it now. Forgive me the word flourishing, since his auspicious influence is no more."
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BURR AS PRESIDENT.
five days,) such a pleasure, that his spirits are greatly refreshed, which were before very low."*
Nor was it only in the pecuniary interest of the in- stitution that the influence of the President was distin- guished. Inclined to literary pursuits from his child- hood, and having already attained to no mean emin- ence, he applied himself at once on entering upon his new station, with new closeness to the branches of study to be taught in it ; and, having “ a singular turn for instruction," his success in this department was eminent.+ At this period he had never more than two tutors, and sometimes only one, to assist him. Besides the government of the College, in which he excelled, exercising generally a mild discipline, but resorting to severity with much decision whenever occasion required it ; } and the pains he took to cultivate the hearts of his pupils, that he might send them out good Christians, as well as good scholars, in which he is said to have had great success ; § we find him teaching personally the higher branches of mathematics, and giving lessons in
* Letter of Joseph Shippen to his father in Philadelphia, dated Newark, 18th June, 1750.
t Funeral Sermon by Rev. Caleb Smith. " With what dignity and reputation," says Governor Livingston, " did he sustain the office of President! Sensible how import- ant to the public, and through the whole thread of our existence, is the early cul- ture of the human mind, he considered himself, with the painter of old, as de- signing for eternity. He had the most en- gaging method of instruction. Not infe- rior to the extent of his capacity was his facility in communicating. No man had a happier talent of expressing his senti- ments, or calling latent truth from her dark and profound recesses." Eulogium,
pp. 16, 17. "Instead of turning every branch of learning into inexplicable mys- tery, the common pride of pedagogues, he set the most intricate points in the clear- est light," &c.
# On this point Governor Livingston speaks as follows: "With the same ease he secured the obedience and love of his pupils. He had the art of leading the will under invisible chains, and making reason no less prevalent than authority. Who, like him, could punish an offence, not only without the resentment, but with the ap- probation of the delinquent ?" &c .- pp. 18, 19.
§ Smith's funeral sermon, Livingston's Eulogy, and the obituary notices of Mr. Burr speak the same language.
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BURR AS PRESIDENT.
the calculation of eclipses. About the year 1751, the use of a philosophical apparatus was secured, containing an orrery, electrical machine, &c., and a course of experimental lectures given by a person employed for that purpose .* Not far from this time, Mr. Burr prepared a grammar of the Latin language, which was published in New York in the Spring of 1752, and under the title "Newark Grammar," was the standard for a long time in the College.t He is said to have been a very fine Latin scholar; and as a specimen of his composition in that language, there still exists in manuscript, an oration, delivered by him in Newark, before the Board of Trustees, on the death of that distinguished Divine and scholar, Philip Dod- dridge, D. D., whom he takes occasion to applaud as one who, when the College was struggling with diffi- culties in its infant state, adorned it with his friend- ship, and cherished and advanced it with his patronage and beneficence.}
The number of students, during this period, increased with great rapidity. About ninety took their first de- gree while the College remained in Newark; not a few of whom became eminent afterwards, both in the pul-
* Letters of Joseph Shippen.
+ Joseph Shippen, a student, writes un- der date of April 25, 1752, to his father : "I send you, per Mrs. Harris, the Presi- dent's new Grammar, as you desired, which is advertised in the last New York paper, so that I suppose that gentleman to whom you intended accidentally to have shown it without the preface, &c., with a view to know his judgment of it, will hear of its being published before you can have an opportunity of letting him see it."
# "Certe inter tot lugentes hand ultimum. locum sibi vindicat Collegium Neo Cæ- sariense. Jam enim nascenti, multis in- commodis colluctanti, rebus angustis op- presso, benignissime respexit, amicitia condecoravit, patrocinio et beneficentia fovit el auxit." Towards the close of this oration, he takes occasion to speak in terms of gratitude of John Alford and James Allen, "cum multis aliis Bostonien- sibus," who had favored the College with their bounty.
189
PROSPERITY OF THE COLLEGE.
pit and in civil life ; and honorary degrees were con- ferred on several very eminent names. Among the rest, Samuel Davies, the renowned pulpit orator, from whom Patrick Henry is said to have caught some of the fire of his eloquence, and who subsequently be- came the President of the College, here received the honorary degree of Master of Arts ; on which occasion "he delivered a Thesis Personales Distinctiones in Trinitate sunt æternæ, and vindicated it in a public dispute against three opponents."*
The presence of the College in Newark, made the place, during this period, a kind of ecclesiastical me- tropolis for the branch of the Church with which this congregation was connected. The meetings of the Synod were generally held here, and the time appoint- ed for them to begin was "the day after Commence- ment." Here, in the year 1752, Jonathan Edwards, the future President of the College, and its warm friend and counsellor from the beginning, who had then recently become the father-in-law of President Burr, took his seat in the Synod as a corresponding member, and preached, as the opening sermon, his fa- mous discourse from James ii : 19, afterwards published at the request of the Synod, under the title of "True
* See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketch- es of Virginia. The celebrated George Whitfield received a similar honor in 1754. Philip (Life and Times of George Whitfield, p. 186,) thus refers to it: "At New Brunswick (i. e. in his first visit,) he found, if not a warmer, a more influential friend in Aaron Burr, afterwards President of New Jersey College: one of the master spirits of his age and country. Whitfield
owed much to his friendship besides the degree of A. M. in 1754." Again, (p.419) speaking of a visit of Whitfield to Gover- nor Belcher, he says: "It was now the New Jersey commencement, and the Presi- dent and Trustees of the College presented Whitefield with the degree of M. A. He was pleased with this mark of their res- pect from the Senate, but much more with the synod of ministers," &c.
190
BURR'S MARRIAGE.
grace distinguished from the experience of devils."* Here the Synod of New York, animated by what their eyes saw in the proficiency of the students, and well aware that the school of the prophets was among the choicest institutions of their Church, devised and put in operation measures to secure for it, not the sympathy alone, but the pecuniary aid, of all their congregations ; and to engage the liberality of men of foreign lands in promoting the truly Christian design.t
During the first fifteen years of his ministry, Mr. Burr remained unmarried. On the 29th of June, 1752, he was united in marriage with Miss Esther Edwards, the third daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, she being at that time only 19 years of age. Mrs. Burr was a lady of very distinguished character and accom- plishments. She "exceeded most of her sex in the beauty of her person, as well as in her behaviour and conversation. She discovered an unaffected natural freedom towards persons of all ranks with whom she
Minutes of the Synod of New York, p. 246. Works of President Edwards, vol. x, p. 232.
t In the minutes of the meeting in 1752, already referred to, we find the following : "A motion being made to the Synod by the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, to obtain a public collection from all the congregations belonging to the Synod ; and the Synod having taken the matter into consideration, they do unanimously approve the motion, and earnestly recom- mend it to all the Presbyteries to see that every one of their members do endeavor to collect money in their respective con- gregations for that purpose, and also in vacancies where they have opportunity to do so; and the Synod order that all other public collections, before appointed by
them to be annually observed, be sus- pended on that account." To this order the Presbyteries promptly responded. Mr. Burr was requested by the Trustees to take a voyage to Europe in 1752, for the purpose of soliciting benefactions in Great Britain and Ireland. But his domestic and other duties preventing his acceptance of the appointment, Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies were sent on the embassy by authority of the Synod, and their efforts met with signal success. "The Institu- tion," says President Finley, "was hon- ored beyond the most sanguine expecta. tions, with the approbation and liberality of several political and ecclesiastical bo- dies, and of many private persons of the nobility and gentry among the laity and clergy of the various denominations."
-
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CHARACTER OF MRS. BURR.
conversed. Her genius was more than common. She had a lively imagination, a quick and pene- trating discernment, and a good judgment. She pos- sessed an uncommon degree of wit and vivacity, which yet was consistent with pleasantness and good nature ; and she knew how to be facetious and sportive, with- out trespassing on the bounds of decorum or of strict and serious religion. In short, she seemed formed to please, especially to please one of Mr. Burr's taste and character, in whom he was exceedingly happy. But what crowned all her excellences, and was her chief glory, was religion. She appeared to be the subject of divine impressions when seven or eight years old, and she made a public profession of religion when about fifteen." "Her religion did not cast a gloom over her mind, but made her cheerful and happy, and rendered the thought of death transporting."* The strength and beauty of her mind, her tenderness and warmth of affection ; above all, the power and grandeur of her piety, are remarkably exemplified in the letters which she wrote to her parents and other friends, when adversity had at length rolled all its bil- lows over her, and little remained this side of the tomb, on which to fix a hope. They are published in the memoir of her honored father,t and are among the sweetest morsels in that eminently instructive book.
It has been mentioned as a mark of eccentricity in Mr. Burr, but should probably be set to the account
Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, p. 581.
# In the Life of Col. Burr, by Matthew + Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, pp. 565- L. Davis, I find the following remark : 573.
"President Burr was alike celebrated for
192
BURR'S MARRIAGE.
of his very many and very urgent engagements, that, after the preliminaries of the marriage had been set- tled, the bride was sent for with her mother to come to Newark, and the wedding took place here amidst the scenes of her future usefulness."*
During the ministry of Mr. Burr, we find very little in the Town Records which relates to the affairs of
his eloquence and piety, but withal he young lady. As I have yet no manner of possessed no inconsiderable degree of ec- centricity." On what this remark is founded, besides the marriage which the writer proceeds to mention and describe, I do not know. It is contrary to all the contemporary testimony which I have seen. Indeed, it is affirmed by tradition, as a remark of one who knew them both, "that Mr. B. possessed all the personal accomplishments of his son, without his vices."
* The proceeding is very pleasantly de, scribed in a letter from one of his pupils- which, though somewhat humorous, I venture to transcribe in this connexion :
NEWARK, 6th July, 1752.
DEAR AND HONORED SIR-The best piece of news I have now to furnish you with, is the marriage of our President, as this must come very unexpected to you. I shall give you an account of his proceed- ings, as brief as they were themselves. In the latter end of May, he took a journey into New England, and during his absence he made a visit of but three days to the Rev. Mr. Edwards' daughter, at Stock- bridge; in which short time, though he had no acquaintance with, nor indeed ever seen the lady these six years, I suppose he accomplished his whole design ; for it was not above a fortnight after his return here, before he sent a young fellow, who came out of College last fall, into New England, to conduct her and her mother down here.
They came to town on Saturday eve- ning, the 27th ult., and on the Monday evening following, the nuptial ceremonies were celebrated between Mr. Burr and the
acquaintance with her, I can not describe to you her qualifications and properties ; however, they say she is a very valuable lady. I think her a person of great beauty, though I must say that in my opinion she is rather too young (being only twenty-one years of age,) for the President. This ac- count you'll doubtless communicate to mammy, as I know she has Mr. Burr's happiness much at heart. I conclude with my love and duty to her, love to
-, &c., &c., and am with due esteem, Your very dutiful and affectionate son,
J. SHIPPEN, Jr.
N. B .- Mr. Burr was in his thirty-sev- enth year.
In a subsequent letter, addressed to his mother, and dated Newark, 1st August, 1752, this same young gentleman, having at length formed his opinion on the impor -. tant question, expresses himself as fol- lows:
"I can't omit acquainting you that our President enjoys all the happiness the married state can afford. I am sure, when he was in the condition of celibacy, the pleasure of his life bore no comparison to that he now possesses. From the little acquaintance I have with his lady, I think her a woman of very good sense, of a genteel and virtuous education, amiable in her person, of great affability and agreeableness in conversation, and a very excellent economist. These qualifications may help you to frame some idea of the person who lives in the sincerest mutual affections with Mr. Burr."
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TRUSTEES INCORPORATED.
this congregation. The process of separation, between civil and parochial affairs, had been going on gradually for many years. Though the salary of the present min- ister had been voted in a town meeting; and the town, as such, were obligated nominally for its payment, yet, as a matter of fact, it was paid, like that of several of his predecessors, by those only who became specially obligated. A distinct set of assessors and collectors were always appointed for this rate; and the appoint- ment, during all this period, was made at a distinct meeting, called especially, it is to be presumed, for that purpose. Meanwhile, three new congregations had been formed within the town limits. That at the Mountain had long sustained a minister of its own; and the Episcopal Church, already incorporated, had been gradually gaining strength, till it had now completed a house of worship, and had a missionary constantly employed in its service. In these circumstances, it was thought desirable to complete the separation be- tween civil and ecclesiastical affairs, by securing for this congregation a distinct corporate existence. Ac- cordingly, on the 7th of June, in the year 1753, during the administration and under the favor of Governor Belcher, to whose kind regards the Presbyterians in this region were much indebted, a charter was obtained for that purpose. It is headed, "George the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith ;" and, premising that "the advancement of true religion and virtue is absolutely necessary for the promotion of the peace, order and prosperity of the State," and that "it is the
13
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TRUSTEES INCORPORATED.
duty of all Christian Princes and Governments, by the law of God, to do all they can for the encouragement thereof ;" with allusions to " the known loyalty of the petitioners, and of the Presbyterians in general to us- their firm affection to our person and Government, and the Protestant succession in our Royal House ;" and, taking care of course to assert, distinctly and repeat- edly, that it is all "of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion," proceeds to constitute a body of seven named individuals into " one body po- litic and corporate, in deed, fact and name, by the name of the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in Newark." The names of the original Trustees were Christopher Wood, John Crane, Nathaniel Camp, Jo- seph Camp, Jonathan Sergeant, Joseph Riggs and Is- rael Crane. The Minister or Ministers, Elders and Deacons of the Church for the time being, or the majority of them, are empowered to displace any Trus- tee, and to fill all vacancies that may from time to time occur, by electing to that office suitable persons out of the congregation. This charter modified, as we shall see presently, in its practical operation, is the same un- der which the congregation holds its corporate exist- ence and privileges to the present day.
The peculiar position of the Presbyterian Church during this period has already been noticed. As Mr. Burr was a young man when the measures which led to the division took place, he seems to have taken no prominent part in them. The first significant notice of him in the records of the Synod, is his being selected, in the year 1743, as the messenger to bear
195
COURSE OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK.
the last overtures of restoration to the ejected breth- ren .* Immediately on the consummation of the sepa- ration, and the organization of the new Synod, the brethren of the "new side" began to address them- selves with great vigor to their appropriate work. Without wasting their strength in fruitless recrimina- tions, they took measures to make their own influence as strong and effective as possible for their Master's service. We have already noticed the establishment of the College of New Jersey as one of the early fruits of these noble efforts. Their missionary operations, both in the new settlements and among the aborigines, were prosecuted with untiring vigor. And though their brethren of the " old side," anxious to free them- selves from all suspicion of participation in their ag- gressive movements, assured the Governor of Virginia, who complained of their missionaries, for " reviling our excellent liturgy," and "railing against our religious es- tablishment," that "these persons never belonged to our body, but are missionaries sent out by some who by reason of their divisive and uncharitable doctrines and practices, were, in May, 1741, excluded from our Synod ;" and taking the advantage of prejudices known to exist against them in some parts of New England, adroitly intimated to President Clap, of Yale College, that the brethren of the New York Presbytery had been influenced by their party preferences, "to join in encouraging some of your disorderly scholars,+ which we are far from vindicating ;" yet by a steady adher-
* Minutes, p. 166. to here. See Minutes of the Synod of 1 David Brainerd is probably referred Philadelphia, p. 187.
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PROSPERITY OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK.
ence to their settled policy of minding their Master's work, by extending the bounds of His kingdom, and winning souls to Him, the new Synod secured the sym- pathy and warm co-operation, not only of such men as Jonathan Edwards in New England, and Dr. Dod- dridge in the Old Country, but also of the General As- sembly and other Presbyterian bodies in Scotland and Ireland. Towards their brethren of the "old side," all their intercourse was confined to overtures of con- ciliation and re-union; and while they steadfastly ad- hered to their determination to consent to no terms which did not distinctly disavow or rescind the un- righteous protest, as they regarded it, by which a por- tion of their number were excluded from that body, they did not cease, from the first moment to the last, notwithstanding some very irritating rebuffs, to hold out the olive branch of peace.
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