USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > Raritan > Forty years at Raritan : eight memorial sermons with notes for a history of the Reformed Dutch churches in Somerset County, N.J. > Part 22
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versational powers were of the highest order. He could mingle learn ing in his common talk without pedantry, and impart to you the most important instruction when he seemed only to be amusing you. In all companies he became, insensibly, a leader in conversation, and the place seemed to be involuntarily conceded to him, in acknow- ledgment of his superior abilities.
" The memory of Dr. Cannon was one remarkable trait in his mental endowment. His mind, perhaps, was neither so original nor so wide in its range of thought as to distinguish him much from others, but his memory was immense-a perfect storehouse, even of names and dates. He seemed never to have forgotten any thing, and from the wide field over which his reading had extended he was able on all occasions to adduce facts and circumstances pertinent to the subject in hand. His most intimate friends were often surprised when a com- paratively new theme was introduced into conversation, to perceive, as he went on, how perfectly he was acquainted with every impor- tant particular belonging to it, and with what accuracy he could recall the fruits of his study, after years must have intervened since his at- tention had been directed to it. In fact, the whole range of his ex- tensive reading was always at his command.
"The learning of Dr. Cannon was the result of studious habits main- tained through his whole life. Originally his advantages, except in a good knowledge of the classics, had been few. Ile had taken no col- legiate course, and he was licensed to preach when he was only twenty years of age. While serving the church at Six-Mile Run he lived in retirement upon his own farm, and having no taste for agri- cultural employment, he was left to himself, to find the wherewithal to fill up his life in books and in study. He must have been a greedy reader, and not in light works either, but in the more solid and in- structive." We remember once being greatly surprised at the inti- mate knowledge which he manifested of the substance of a great work, then just published, and in further conversation ascertained that it had been obtained from an ancient Latin work, published in Holland two centuries ago, not from the work we were speaking of at all.
In the best sense it may be said that Dr. Cannon was a learned man, and that his stores were all his own. He was called by his students "a walking library," and the books which he carried in his mind were the best on all the subjects of learning then published. If there ever was a self-made man he was one, and if there ever was a perfect triumph of self-reliance, he was that man. His industry must
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have been prodigious ; for he acquired all his learning not only un- aided, but while pressed with the duties of a large congregation, none of which he intermitted at any time for the sake of study. Indeed, it may be safely affirmed that no one was ever more painstaking and multitudinous in his efforts and eare in visiting the sick, instructing the ignorant, and comforting the afflicted than he was; and, more- over, he wrote all his sermons, and committed them to memory. When we think of it all, we are astonished ; his labors must have been prodigious. And yet he was the least like a pining student.
When he went into the seminary, he at once assumed the position of one of the most learned among its professors ; and he ever retained it. ITis published lectures explain how it was so. They do his in- telleet, his mind, and his heart equal honor ; and are, in fact, the full. est and completest treatise on the subject extant.
In mental conformation, Dr. Cannon resembled Leighton more than Edwards or Chalmers, and Bates more than Owen or Howe. He was more extensively read than Dr. Livingston, and a better theologian than Dr. John Ludlow. His mind was not so grand as it was clear, logical, and deliberate. His views of truth were more distinguished by their exactness and solidity than by any far-reaching or deep- searching power; and yet when he had discussed any theme, there was little left to be said by any one who came after him. Though he might not have absolutely exhausted it, he had evidently seen all its prominent points and traversed to the extent of its legitimate houn- daries. He was consequently not so much an awaking as an instruc- tive preacher ; and yet we remember how, on the installation of Pre- sident Frelinghuysen, his eloquence and power rapt completely away the whole vast congregation.
Christians of mature piety, possessing an experimental knowledge of the way of life, always loved to listen to his discourses, and ac- knowledged themselves to have been edified in doing so. A sober mind could find real pleasure in his chaste and perspicuous mode of presenting truth, though one that was giddy and frivolous might have preferred the noisy, impetuous declaimer. His pulpit efforts were uni -. formly sound, sensible, and evangelieal, manifesting care, culture, and piety. He could be eloquent, and sometimes rose to a high degree of pathos and power. Ordinarily his strain of preaching resembled more the music of a running brook than the loud roar of the rushing cataract. He was more like "the disciple whom Jesus loved " than "the sons of thunder" who would fain have called down fire from heaven to consume gainsayers. His sermons were uniformly models
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of good taste ; in their style chaste and perspicuous ; in their sentiment solid and judicious, and in their method instructive and logical. In the excellent qualities of the best preachers, Dr. Cannon had but few equals. His voice in early and mature life was feeble, but fine and musical; afterward it grew in compass, and allowed him to reach even the remote hearers in a large house.
In the seminary he was honored, beloved, and admired. Few, in fact, had a stronger hold on the young men who sat at his feet; and their affectionate regard for his memory seems to be increasing with their years.
After a protracted work in the church and in the seminary, he was at last called to his rest. We heard him when he was just "on the borders of Immannel's land" speak of his faith and trust in Jesus as a great Saviour, and how he hoped to see him in heaven. Amid the silence of the Lord's day, when the incense from the prayers of all the saints was ascending before the throne, his spirit severed the silver cord and mounted up to God. It was a fit time for such a man to die. He had always felt his soul gladdened by the communion of saints, and now it went away to enjoy it in glory. He sleeps beside the other " worthies" in the crowded cemetery of the old church in the city of New-Brunswick, awaiting a resurrection to eternal life. He died on the 25th July, 1852, and his monument is inscribed :
"This monument is erected by the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church to the memory of Rev. James Spencer Cannon, D.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Church Government, and Pastoral Theology in the Seminary of New-Brunswick, and Professor of Meta- physics in Rutgers College.
"Born in the Island of Curacoa, January 29th, 1776. Died in New- Brunswick, July 25th, 1852. Commanding in person, dignified in ad- dress, richly endowed with various knowledge, distinguished for piety, and devoted to the duties of his holy calling, he officiated as Pastor of the Church of Six-Mile Run for thirty years with signal fidelity and success, and for twenty-six years he conducted the studies of his de- partment in the Seminary in a manner to secure the highest commen- dation of the Synod."
It will be long before another so complete in all the essential ele- ments of greatness and goodness is found to occupy the place his death has left vacant. One of the old school of gentlemen, scholars, and preachers, he appears to our recollection as the beau-ideal of a great and good man, and we love to recall many happy hours spent in the closest and most confidential intimacy. It was grateful then
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to be permitted to sit at his feet, and it is grateful now to remember that he permitted us to do so. It has been a labor of love to twine this chaplet of flowers and lay it on his grave.
Dr. Cannon wore his clothes always in the same fashion; and it was no slight advantage to his large and dignified person that he did so. His garb became him ; and some persons thought he had a little pride in it. It certainly did not lessen the dignity of his impressive person and courteous deportment. He certainly had chosen it well.
He married the daughter of his benefactor, Elias . Brevoort, of Hackensack, on the 7th October, 1796. Her name was Catherine. They had twelve children ; four of whom received a collegiate edu- cation. Only three of his children survive.
Dr. Cannon published, besides the Lectures on Pastoral Theology, an oration on the 4th of July, a sacramental sermon, and, for the use of the students, some notes on chronology. It is known that he had a large amount of manuscript, but it is not known what was done with it.
His memory was greatly embalmed in the hearts of his people at Six-Mile Run ; and his example quoted in every thing that was good. It is yet alive. The aged think there was no one equal to him. Ilis ministry was blessed in many conversions, but there was no marked season of revival during its continuance, except that which had its centre in Somerville in 1820 and 1821, and extended over all the churches of the county-at least to some extent. He built up a strong church, and the fruits of his labors are yet known among his people. In all time to come, he will be reckoned as one of the great men who labored in Somerset County, and had a large share in making the churches what they are-perhaps the best ordered and best instruct- ed religious societies in the State. Dr. Alexander, of Princeton, was accustomed to refer to them as such.
When Dr. Cannon resigned his charge at Six-Mile Run, the church remained without a pastor until 1827, when the consistory united in a call to the Rev. James Romeyn, of Nassau, New-York. Mr. Romeyn was, at this time, comparatively a young man, having been in the ministry only about seven years, but his reputation as a most effet- tive preacher had preceded him; nor were the high expectations which had been formed disappointed. For six years he made the force of his character and the power of his pulpit services tell effectively upon the interests of the church. He was one of the most splendid and earnest preachers of his day. His utterance resembled the rush of a torrent, and his style and illustrations flashed upon his hearers like a pyrotech-
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nic display. He forced you to listen, and when he had gained yonr at- tention, he enchained it. One says of him, " He was of an exceedingly sensitive temperament ; and this peculiarity measurably unfitted him for contact with a rough world, out gave extreme ardor to the pur- suit of studies he loved, and rendered him, with his strong mental en- dowments, perhaps the most eloquent of our preachers. He was a flame of fire in the pulpit. His utterance was rapid in the extreme,. yet in his best days distinct; his posture a little stooped, his eye fol- lowing his notes closely, his action not ungraceful, and his whole man- ner vivacious, ardent, impressive. His style was sententious, brilliant, and full of scripture ; of which a leading word or two gave you the pas- sage and its use in the argument. His quotations and allusions of all kinds, and his abundant, and to any but himself redundant, com- parisons and figures, so characterized his sermons as to render them altogether peculiar." Often a closing sentence gave the finishing touch and the conclusive argument to the whole preceding paragraph. For instance, in showing how science fails in religion, and how little it uses of what science glories in, he says, "To attempt thus to back revelation, is like holding a lamp beside the sun, or gilding gold, or propping up the Alps." In speaking of forms without power he says, " We may be stable as a pillar, and conservative as salt, and prove notwithstand- ing like Lot's wife-a living body transformed into a dead mass, and be nothing but a monument of folly and disobedience after all."
" When he had well gotten into his subject, he often seemed to be on fire, and then he flashed out upon his hearers light and heat like a burning comet ; and all so rapid, so impetuous, so surprising that his whole audience became electrified. With not only his face glow- ing, but his whole system quivering, you wondered where it would end, and not unfrequently feared lest it should consume him. It cost him a great deal to preach ; no wonder his nervous system became shattered and failed him apparently long before his work was done! He burnt out like a flaming taper."
In person he is described as "tall, with a large face and a broad, high and retreating forehead ; an aquiline nose, almost too large even for such a face; grayish blue eyes ; light brown hair, parted on his forehead from the right side, short, thick, and smooth. In manner he was gentle, affable, and kind. Social in his disposition, a true friend, and a pure-minded, upright, honest man. He could not be call- . ed an elegant man, but he impressed those who saw him for the first time; and no one ever spoke with him, even for a few moments, with- out remembering something which he had uttered, and feeling that
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there was a power in the man which made him at once worthy of love and fear."
We copy from a notice of him in Corwin's Manual the following in- teresting reminiscences : "In the seminary it was said of him, he was never tardy in time or loose in preparation. In his intercourse with his fellow-students he was blithe and joyous, with an unfailing smile. of good-fellowship. Ile was never angry, though his nature was im- pulsive. His early efforts at sermonizing showed the budding of that rich and exuberant imagination which so eminently distinguished his more mature efforts. He could pursue a principal thought and its successive inferences, corollaries and suggestions, until it made almost a complete circle of Christian doctrine. When he had made one of these successful efforts, which showed him to be a head and shoulders taller than any of his seniors, he did not seem to be aware of the fact.
" As a-preacher, he never occupied as conspicuons a position as his abilities merited, partly on account of shattered health, and partly be- cause he shunned publicity. His rapid and impetuous delivery im- paired to some extent the effect of his sermons, but his mind worked in them like a steam-engine.
" His discourses exhibited great intellectual power, being always well prepared, full of the marrow of the Gospel, glowing imagery, and brilliant thought ; but his wonderful rapidity of utterance often, at first, seemed to confound his hearers, and demanded from him closer attention than he was able to give. He always came to the sanc- tuary with ' beaten oil,' feeling deeply the responsibility of winning souls to Christ. His conscientiousness in this direction even prevent- ed him from entering upon extensive fields of usefulness when they were offered him. In preaching, he gathered his illustrations from every department of nature, science, and history. His reference book was a storehouse of the choicest gems, gathered from a wide field of reading and research, hence he was never at a loss for the apt and the beautiful when he sat down to prepare one of his sermons."
He was perhaps too much of a slave to his pen, and often wasted upon twenty or thirty persons in a district school-house, the fruits of study. and composition that ought to have edified thousands. The fact was, he did not know what kind of a man he was, and what he was capa- ble of doing; and it was not the fear of man, much less an anxious desire to please, that impelled him to all his labor, but his high sense of the preacher's responsibilities, and his unbending desire to do all in his power to " commend the truth to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
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James Romeyn was a minister's sou, born in his father's house in Greenbush, Albany County, in the year 1797. He graduated at Columbia College, in the city of New-York, in 1816, his father having before this time removed to Hackensack. He studied theology in the seminary at New-Brunswick, under Dr. Livingston, with whom he held confidential relations, and often accompanied him on the little ex- cursions which he made to preach or to attend to his business. Besides his labors at Nassau and Six-Mile Run, he became the successor of his father, J. V. C. Romeyn, at Hackensack, for three years. Then he labored four years at Kaats Kill, then at Leeds for two years, then at Bergen Neck for six years, and finally was attacked with paralysis just after he had been pleasantly settled at Geneva, New-York. He had many calls to labor in other places. Perhaps he changed his position too often. His temperament was extremely nervous, and a little thing was sufficient to unsettle him. From Geneva he came to New-Brunswick, had himself declared " Emeritus," and died Septem- ber 7th, 1859. He left two sons, one of whom is now the pastor at Hackensack, in his father's and grandfather's church ; and his widow Johanna Rodgers, still survives him. For so great a man, he may be said to have been constitutionally one of the most unsteady of men He did a noble work, but how much more and nobler he was capable of doing !
On his tomb in the cemetery at Hackensack, N. J., where his re- mains rest, these words are inscribed :
REV. JAMES ROMEYN. . Born Sept. 30, 1797. Died_Sept. 7, 1859.
"Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord ! I have passed my days as a Minister of Jesus Christ. That is enough ! that is enough ! I am satisfied ! God has led me by a right way. Bless the Lord, O my soul !"-JAMES ROMEYN.
" These are they which came out of great tribulation, and Lave washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."-REV. 7:14.
We have a distinct recollection of James. We enjoyed confiden- tial intercourse with him, and can, from personal acquaintance, testify how much truth there is in these friendly and flattering notices of him. Indeed, in describing his peculiar traits of character and his prominent excellences, it is difficult to make an overstatement. Mentally he was a giant, physically and constitutionally little more than a child. You could love him, and then you felt as if you could chastise him because he was so weak, so wavering, so distrustful of him-
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self. He ought to have filled the first pulpit in the land, and he filled some that were almost the least prominent. Like the flower of which Gray sings in his Elegy, he wasted his sweetness on the desert air.
THE CHURCH OF READINGTON-AT FIRST NORTH- BRANCH.
THE records of this church were kept in early days in a remarka- bly elegant handwriting by Albert Stoothoff. They have become much worn and need to be restored. We have found in them seve- ral items of information not previously known. They commence in these words :
" Anno 1719 : The church over the North-Branch, begun in 1718, is completed. The first sermon was preached in it on the 21st of Feb., 172g, by Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, the first settled preacher of the four united places, as Raritan, Six-Mile Run, Three- Mile Run, and North-Branch.
The baptismal register commences February 21st, 1720, when An- dreas Ten Eyck and Adriantje his wife had a son baptized named Matthew.
The names on the first page are Abraham Dubois, John Pursell, Jacob Sebring, Joshua Crison, Daniel Sebring, Jan Hendricksen, Koenradt Ten Eyck, Derck Van Veghten, Michael Van Veghten, Alexander McDowal, Benjamin Burt, Jan Van Sicklen, Coert Jan- sen, Jacob Stoll, Teunis Van Middlewaert, George Hall, Albert Louw, William Rosa, Paulus Bulner, and Lucus Schermerhorn. We give them as among the original or first supporters and members of Readington church. This is not a complete list, but, by their re- curring frequently, they are shown to have been, at least, among the most active, and nearly all have had successors even down to the present time.
The first elders of this congregation, appointed in 1719, were Cor- nelius Bogaert and Jan Hendricksen; the first deacons, Abraham De la Meter and Andreas Ten Eyck.
Anno 1721, September 6th, a new choice was made, and Emanuel Van Etten was elected elder and Jan Lowe as deacon, and they were
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ordained October 8th. The elder whose time expired was Jan Hen- dricksen-the deacon, Abraham De la Meter; so that the consistory then stood : elders, Cornelins Bogaert, Emanuel Van Etten ; deacons, Andreas Ten Eyck and Jan Lowe.
Anno 1722, on the 26th September, a new election was again had, and Abraham De la Meter was chosen elder and Volkerd Dercksen deacon. Jan Lowe went out of office, so that then the elders were Cornelius Bogaert, Emanuel Van Etten, and Abraham De la Meter; the deacons, Andreas Ten Eyck and Volkert Dercksen. In 1727, Andrew Ten Eyck was chosen elder and Pieter Van Neste deacon ; Emanuel Van Etten went out of office, and those who had been elected were ordained September 3d. To the foregoing names were added, as elders or deacons, during the succeeding years up to 1736, Thomas Bouman, Abraham Loth, Simon Van Arsdalen, Dirck De Mott, Jan Van Neste .- The consistory was in that year a full board, consisting of three elders, Andreas Ten Eyck, Dirck De Mott, and Jan Van Arsdalen, and three deacons, Abraham Lott, Pieter Van Neste, and Jan Van Neste.
In 1736, a most important movement was made at a meeting of the Great Consistories, embracing the four united congregations. It was resolved that an additional pastor should be called as a colleague to Dominie Frelinghuysen, and a call was accordingly prepared and sent to Holland, to the care of G. Van Schuylenborgh, promising £80 currency, a house with fifty acres of land, a free horse and free board in all the congregations while in the performance of his pas- toral duties, with the expenses of examination and ordination, and a free passage.
Two years previous to this a corresponding movement had been made at Three-Mile Run, and the Rev. Vincentius Antonides, of Long Island, had ordained a consistory ont of the malcontents, consisting of Daniel Sebring and Peter Kinne as elders, and William Rosse and Francis Waldron as deacons. In this there was concert of action, at least in the three congregations of Three-Mile Run, Harlingen, and North-Branch. Raritan does not appear to have been represented in any anthoritative way, though there were individuals who sympa- thized with it. North-Branch was, in fact, one of the churches in which the " Conferentie" feelings prevailed to a considerable extent. We find indications of this down until the days of Dr. Hardenbergh, and references are frequently made to it in their minutes. It would even seem that, at one time, they hoped to gain possession of the church,
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and establish one of their own ministers in it. They complain bit- terly of the failure of Fryenmoet to secure the confidence of the peo- ple, and of the conduct of those who refused to admit him; and again, in the case of Leydecker, the same desire is exhibited, and may be traced down to the time when Hardenbergh was called. They call him " the pretended student."
We may now pause a moment to estimate the two opposing influ- ences existing in the church. The Conferentie were not men of pro- gress, but the contrary. They reprobated the idea of independence of Holland, opposed bitterly the attempt to found an institution of learning, and would have nothing, until it was forced upon them, but a ministry from the Fatherland. They were thus impracticable men. Under them the church would have died out.
On the contrary, the Coetus earnestly labored to build up, provide what was necessary, and their preaching and their lives sought to promote spiritual and evangelical Christianity. Their success is our prosperity. We are reaping what they sowed.
At the same time, the following persons were appointed helpers in the different churches-following, as was affirmed, the example of Paul in 1 Cor. 12 : 28: " God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues"-namely : In New-Brunswick, Roelef Nevins, Hendrick Vischer, Abraham Ouke; Raritan, Hendrick Bries and Theunis Post ; North-Branch, Simon Van Arsdalen; Six-Mile Run, Elbert Stoothoff. These per- sons, after being chosen, were set apart to their work as catechize- masters and leaders in the prayer-meetings, and they were empowered to hold their exercises publicly, even in the church, in the absence of the pastor.
They were also directed to have an oversight over all the mem- bers of the church, teaching them, guiding them, and encouraging them in their Christian life and duty.
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