USA > New York > New York City > Recollections of persons and events, chiefly in the city of New York; being selections from his journal > Part 4
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The conversation was free and general, turn- ing very much on religious subjects. The inquiry was started by Gov. Clinton, how we are to ac- count for the great change respecting the truth of Christianity which has taken place of late years in the minds of the educated classes, and especially among public men.
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" What are the main causes," he asked, "which have produced it or brought it about ?"
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" As to the fact," said Chancellor Kent, "there is no doubt, there can be no doubt. I remember," he added, "that in my younger days there were very few professional men that were not infidels, or at least so far inclined to infidelity that they could not be called believers in the truth of the Bible. What has led to the change ?"
Although the question was addressed imme- diately to me, I was desirous to learn the views of those around me, and replied that I should like to hear how the gentlemen themselves would answer the question.
Chancellor Kent at once said, "One great reason of it is with the ministers of the Gospel themselves. As a profession, they are better qualified for their work than they were formerly. Notwithstanding the venerable names of Edwards, Davies, and some others, who are to be had in all reverence for their learning and ability, take the clergy as a class, and they were not, forty or fifty years ago, what they are now. Pains are taken to educate ministers for their work, and to raise them more to a level with educated minds
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in other professions. If thinking men are to embrace Christianity, our understandings, as well as our consciences, must be addressed. We must have argument as well as exhortation ; and I be- lieve one great reason which has contributed to place educated men on the right side of the question, is that we find our clergy able to give us both ; to act like Paul, who reasoned concern- ing righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, while he also rebuked with all long suffer- ing and doctrine. When the great Apostle had occasion to preach before the men of Athens, he showed himself a man of learning, and preached in a way that constrained the Athenians to hear him with respect."
" There is, no doubt, much in that," said Mr. Van Vechten. " An intelligent ministry for in- telligent hearers is indispensable, and the founders of theological seminaries which have recently been established in our country, deserve all praise as wise men and good Christians. They begin at the foundation. We have as good materials in this country for making an able ministry as " can be found in any other. But we must pro- vide for making them, and not leave them in the
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raw material. There is an emulation springing up in this matter among the different Denominations, which is among the best signs of the times."
" These considerations all speak to the point," said Gov. Clinton, "and I will add another rea- son which I think has operated to produce the happy result. It is the more frequent and friendly intercourse which now subsists between the clergy and the more intelligent classes of the laity. Although in former times we had such able men among the American clergy as have been named, they seem to have been too much secluded from mankind. The consequence was injurious to themselves; for to a clergyman whose business it is to act on the human mind, acquaintance with men is as important in its place as acquaintance with the truth he is to preach to them. But it was still more injurious to men of cultivated minds, on whom their high attainments might have enabled them to exercise a salutary influence. They were too much left to contemplate religion only as it was presented to them in their inter- course with men far inferior to themselves in tal- : ent, learning, and general cultivation. Indeed," he added, with much earnestness, "while I would
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not have a pastor of the most brilliant attainments neglect the humblest member of his flock, I would also have him consider all men of minds like his own entitled to a portion of his pastoral care. Let him take every fit opportunity to bring them into active sympathy with himself in the wide fields of knowledge, and he will soon- find how much good he may do them as a minister of the Gospel. In this respect our Bible Society Anni- versaries, and such occasions, are of great service. They bring leading clergymen and leading lay- men together on the same platform, to speak and consult on the same great subjects; and on both sides we gain confidence in each other by becom- ing better acquainted with each other."
"We should not forget another cause," he went on to say, " which has greatly contributed to the change. The twenty or thirty years which spread over the latter part of the last century and beginning of the present, have given demon- stration of the awful results to which infidelity leads. Facts which speak for themselves, and too loudly to be disregarded, have shown that infidelity makes war on the social and civil welfare of man, as well as on his eternal safety.
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No man can read the history of France during her Revolution, and the convulsions following it, without a deep conviction that the horrors which then shocked the civilized world sprung mainly from the absence of a religious sentiment in the nation. No thinking man can contemplate such atrocities without concluding that the tree is evil which produces such evil fruit. I have sometimes thought that the Almighty seemed to have al- lowed that deluge of guilt and misery to over- spread France and other nations, in order to show them in frightful clearness what must be the con- sequence of that general renunciation of Christian- ity into which the distinguished men of the times were so inclined to fall. It was enough, if any thing could be enough, to make every wise man pause and turn back. It was the sight of a whirlwind reaped by those who had sowed the wind.
" But," he continued, " here is another thought that has often presented itself to my mind. So far as I know, when men of enlarged and dis- ciplined minds have renounced infidelity and em- braced Christianity, they have very generally be- come what is usually called evangelical Christians."
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"Yes, it is so," was observed by several in the company; and name after name being given in proof of it, I was asked, " Why is it that such men usually embrace evangelical doctrines ?" I replied :
"It is because they have studied the subject carefully. We must suppose that their change from infidelity to faith in the Bible as an in- spired book, is the result of thoughtful investiga- tion; and in my view, no man can study the Bible in the spirit of sound philosophy, and not find in it as its prominent teachings, what are usually termed the doctrines of grace."
" You remind me," said Chancellor Kent, " of a story respecting Lord Bolingbroke and Dr. Church. I can repeat it word for word, as I have read it."
" As the story runs," he continued, "Lord Bolingbroke was one day sitting in his house, reading Calvin's Institutes, when he received a morning visit from Dr. Church .: After the usual salutations, he asked the Doctor if he could guess what the book was, which then lay before him; 'and which,' (added his Lordship,) 'I have been studying.' 'No, really, my lord, I cannot,'
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said the Doctor. 'It is Calvin's Institutes,' replied Bolingbroke; 'what do you think of these matters, Doctor?' 'Oh, my lord, we don't think about such antiquated stuff; we teach the plain doctrines of virtue and morality, and have long laid aside those abstruse points about grace.' 'Mark my words, Doctor,' (said Bolingbroke,) 'you know I don't believe the Bible to be a di- vine revelation; but they who do, can never defend it on any principle but the doctrine of grace. To say truth, I have at times been al- most persuaded to believe it upon this view of things; and there is one argument which has gone very far with me, in behalf of its authen- ticity, which is, that the belief in it exists upon earth, even when committed to the care of such as you, who pretend to believe it, and yet deny the only principles upon which it is defensible.'"
When he had finished the story, he added, "I cannot vouch for the truth of the anecdote ; but I will say if it is not true, it ought to be." "I see no reason to question it," said Gov. Clinton. "I consider John Calvin as one of the greatest of men, and to whom full justice has scarcely been rendered even at this late day.
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Great men who act as reformers or projectors very seldom receive their just reward while they live. On the contrary, they usually have to en- counter opposition, misrepresentation, and re- proach. In some cases justice is rendered soon after they are in their graves, when they can no longer be pursued from motives of personal pique or jealousy; but in other cases they and their labors are not fully appreciated till centuries after their death. The seed they have sown does not produce its fully ripe fruit till generation after generation has passed by. Such a reformer was John Calvin. I am not going to say whether his theology might or might not be improved. Nor do I say he was always right in his views or his conduct. No mere man is always right.
" But when you consider what he did, and what he had to encounter when doing it, Calvin is seen to be a wonderful man. Indeed, gentle- men," he added, "we of the laity must admit that the aggregate of great intellect found among the clergy, exceeds that of any other profession. Law has its profound men, medicine has its skil- ful men, but in men of comprehensive and ele- vated understanding, who can grasp and elucidate
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great questions, divinity outnumbers both law and medicine. President Edwards I consider as a host in himself. His writings analyze, while they defend, the doctrines of the Bible; and he has so interwoven theology with sound philosophy, that you can no more resist his reasoning than you can overthrow the clearest demonstration in Euclid. What clean work, for instance, has he made of his opponents in his Treatise on Original Sin. He is there the inductive philosopher to an ex- tent that would have gratified Lord Bacon to his heart's content."
Acknowledging, as I best might, the kind manner in which he had spoken of the clergy, I observed that no one could refuse them the cred- it of having formed the great majority in the array of gifted spirits who unchained the intellect of Europe at the time of the Reformation; and that, especially in Great Britain, the high charac- ter of divines in the days of Elizabeth, was far from being lost at the present day.
" Certainly," he replied; " and when I spoke in such terms of commendation respecting an Amer- ican divine, I would not be considered as under- rating the great lights of the Church in England
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and Scotland, or on the Continent of Europe. But," he continued, " when I reflect what a great falling off in sound theology has taken place in Germany and Holland during the last hundred years, and compare it with the noble army of divines that have arisen during this period in Eng- land, Scotland, and America, I feel that if the nations on the European Continent took the lead in introducing the Protestant Reformation, Eng- land, Scotland, and America have become, and will remain, the great bulwark and defence of the Protestant faith."
" All right, all right !" exclaimed Chancellor Kent. " But let us return to Calvin. I have been amused at times to see how some men will run down John Calvin, who are very high in their praises of 'the judicious Hooker,' as they call him. And yet, if I am not mistaken, Hooker has com- mended Calvin as one of the best theologians the world ever saw." Turning to me he asked, "Is it not so ?"
I answered, that no one could bestow higher praise on Calvin than we find coming from Hooker ; and that he not only places him first among French divines, but also pronounces him entitled to honor
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throughout the world, both for the system of the- ology contained in his Institutes, and for his Com- mentaries on the Bible .*
" Hooker's testimony should certainly be view- ed as very decisive," said Gov. Clinton. " Per- haps I have admired Calvin the more as he ap- pears to me to have taught, on the subject of government, the leading principles of freedom and popular rights, and with such clearness of view, that I have sometimes wondered where he got them."
" You need not wonder," I replied. " If you mean such principles of government as the choice of rulers by the people to be ruled, he got them from the Bible. This he could find not only in the polity of the Church in Apostolic times, but he found it also in the Old Testament, as the cardinal principle on which Moses organized
* The following is Hooker's language : " I think him (Calvin) incom- parably the wisest man that ever the French Church had since the hour it enjoyed him. Though thousands were debtors to him, as touching divine knowledge, yet he to none, only to God, the author of that most blessed portion, the Book of Life." "Two things there are which have deservedly procured for him honor throughout the world; the one, his exceeding pains in composing the Institutes of the Christian Religion ; the other, his no less industrious travails for exposition of Holy Scripture according to the same Institutes."
البونيه
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a government for the commonwealth of the He- brews."
With his usual grave manner, Mr. Van Vech- ten asked, "How do you make that out? I knew that he could find it in the Acts of the Apostles, but I never saw it in the Pentateuch."
referred to the passages in Exodus and I Deuteronomy bearing on the question, and, while I was speaking, could not help noticing the ex- pression of eager interest which Gov. Clinton's face assumed.
"There it is, there it is, Mr. Van Vechten," he exclaimed, before I had well finished; " as plainly as you ever found law in Blackstone, there you find in Moses the great principle of govern- ment by representation; rulers chosen by the people ruled as an acknowledged constituency. And here we see that the distinguishing feature in free government which many have claimed as the discovery of modern days, was known to Moses, and by Moses recognized and enacted as a part of constitutional law in the Hebrew State. Gentlemen," he added with great animation, "I believe the world will never cease finding new evidences of the divine inspiration of the Bible;
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and just as knowledge at large advances, do these evidences multiply. It is no matter what the science may be; it may be the science of govern- ment, or the science of astronomy, or the science of physiology, just according as they are improved or thoroughly understood, they all seem in their respective places to bring fresh testimony to the divinity of that one book. Compare the Bible in this respect with other works. Take Milton's 'Paradise Lost;' you learn the whole proofs of its authorship in an hour, and the question is settled. There is no more to be said about it. On the other hand, take the "Letters of Junius;" you pursue the question of their authorship day after day, and find nothing reliable. The whole subject seems more and more confused and uncer- tain as you proceed. But go to the Bible, and you find on the very face of the book, argument plain and unanswerable, showing who is its author. You see matter and manner before you which could have emanated from no finite mind. And then as you go further on in the volume itself, and as time goes on bringing to light new discoveries in the world of nature, the evidence still rolls up higher and higher, no previous ar-
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gument lost or weakened by the discoveries of others that are new, but all combining to show in greater strength that the book comes from the great fountain of knowledge and mercy. Can any thing be more delightful or satisfying than to pursue a chain of evidence that in this way bright- ens and widens with every step we take in fol- lowing it?"
As we rode home, Gen. Van Rensselaer ex- pressed the high gratification he had enjoyed from the conversation of the evening, and he asked me to make a memorandum of it. I have done so to the best of my recollection.
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CHAPTER VI.
INTERVIEW WITH COL. AARON BURR .- GENERALLY AVOIDED BY HIS FORMER ACQUAINTANCES AFTER HIS RETURN FROM EUROPE .-- INTEREST FELT ON HIS BEHALF ON ACCOUNT OF HIS RELIGIOUS PARENTAGE .- HIS COLLOQUIAL POWERS .- HIS SENSIBILITY AT THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS PARENTS .- SORROW OVER THE DEATH OF HIS DAUGHTER .- HIS RESENTMENT AT FEELING HIMSELF SO GENERALLY PROSCRIBED .- HIS DESPONDENCY AS TO HIMSELF .- HIS DEATH.
I HAVE just passed through a remarkable scene, in which I have been an actor, with the famous Col. Aaron Burr.
Since this gentleman's return from Europe, he has resided in our city, and has pursued his pro- fession as a lawyer. . His antecedents, in the death of Gen. Hamilton, and other unfavorable events of his history, combined with a general belief that his profligacy is much the same as it was in his former days, have kept the great ma- jority of our respectable citizens aloof from him. And yet it seems there are those who think of him with interest and sympathy, chiefly on ac- count of his religious parentage.
There is a Society in the city, comprising
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many of our most intelligent Christian ladies, not only from different churches, but from different denominations, who have recently made the case of Col. Burr the subject of conversation among themselves, and of special prayer. They have reminded each other that he is the grandson of the excellent and distinguished Jonathan Edwards, " whose praise is in all the churches ;" that he is the son of a pious father and mother, who were taken from him by death, leaving him an orphan in his infancy; and, though he has long led an abandoned life, and apparently turned his back on the God of his fathers, yet these pious, pray- ing ladies say they cannot but hope that yet there may be mercy in store for him, as "the seed of the righteous." To their credit be it said, Christian mothers are always inclined to take a strong hold of the promises to parents on be- half of their children, and, in the instance of such a man as Col. Burr, they think there is something to be hoped from the assurance-" I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee."
But here the question arose, what means should be used on his behalf? How is he to be
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reached ? He is never seen in a church, where he might be subdued by the power of a preach- ed Gospel. He is found in no religious society ; on the contrary, all his associations and accom. paniments seem to be of a character to remove him from any religious influences.
It seems the ladies came, at length, to the conclusion, that some one of the clergy in the city should be selected to call upon him, and make a serious and solemn appeal to him on the subject of his responsibilities, and the sin of his past and present mode of life. Last Tuesday
morning Mrs. N- and Mrs. J called to inform me that, after a full discussion, the ladies had unanimously fixed on me as the cler- gyman who should be requested to undertake the delicate and difficult task. I objected to the selection, as I was far from being the oldest or best known among the clergy of the city. But I soon found they had come determined not to be denied, and my respect for their well-known piety and intelligence led me to promise that I would comply with their request as I best could, in the hope that, if no good was done, at least no harm could result. I have made my visit, and God
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only knows what impression may have been made on the mind of the man; but it certainly became, at last, a most affecting scene to both of us.
It was in the evening that I called on him. He was at tea ; and yet, when I sent in my name, he at once met me in the hall and asked me into his parlor, expressing, with much politeness, his pleasure in seeing me; all which would, per- haps, have been expected by those who were ac- quainted with his habitual comity. He invited me to join him in a cup of what he said was, to him, "tired Nature's sweet restorer." Tea, he added, was every thing to him, and that he often went on sipping it through a whole evening. I hoped he would not break in upon this habit be- cause I happened to be present, and, accordingly, tea was before us during the greater part of our conversation. Perhaps it may have rendered our interview the more free and easy; for very free it certainly was. I kept nothing back; neither did he, so far as I could judge.
I am not surprised at the influence Col. Burr is said always to acquire over those with whom ' he converses. . There is a charm, a fascination, in his colloquial powers that I have never seen
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surpassed, if equalled. If he recounts his trav- els, there is a graphic distinctness in his descrip- tion of cities and scenery, that takes you at once to the places; if he tells you of his intercourse with distinguished men, he gives you a picture of their appearance, their tones of voice, their whole manner, so that you see them before you and hear them speak; and in such exhibition of men and things, he was exceedingly interesting during the early part of our interview.
At length I took occasion to observe that as he was again in New York, it was seen that his interest in scenes abroad had not entirely wean- ed his mind from his own country, and that he might be pleased to know that there were friends who took a deep interest in his welfare, where he would, perhaps, not be likely to expect it. He paused and looked at me with an eager ex- pression of face, evidently expecting from me some further explanation of my remark. I at once stated to him the occasion and object of my visit, and at whose request it was made. While I was speaking, and, no doubt, with considerable emotion on my own part, he seemed completely absorbed in his attention to what I was saying,
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and when I paused, he exclaimed, "Do I under- stand you rightly ? Do you say that these Christian ladies-and with the husbands of some among them I have formerly been acquainted- have thought of Aaron Burr with kindness, and have made me a subject of their prayers for Divine mercy on my behalf? . It is-what I little expected; and, as a gentleman, I thank them for their kind remembrance of me. Be so good as to assure them of i :. But, sir, I fear it is all . in vain. I fear they are asking Heaven for what Heaven has not in store for me."
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"They do not take that view of your case, Col. Burr," I replied; "and now that we are so singularly thrown together, will you allow me to speak plainly, though I hope kindly, on the subject ?"
"Certainly, certainly, most certainly," he an- swered, with strong emphasis; "why should I not? You can have but one motive in holding this interview. Let me hear what you would say. You have met me with a look of kind- ness; you speak to me in tones of kindness. I do not so often meet with this from gentlemen in New-York as to cast it behind me. Speak
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plainly to me, and I will speak plainly to you." ..
I at once asked, "Where am I to begin ? Must I inquire, in the words of Paul, 'King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ?' And may I. add, 'I know that thou believest ?' Do you believe in the truth and inspiration of the Bible ?
He replied, "I suppose I am generally con- sidered an infidel. But I am not an infidel, in the proper sense of the word. I will not so disparage my own power to judge of evidence as to deny that the Bible is true. The only real infidel is the man who does not think, and be- cause he is afraid to think. We will pro- ceed on the supposition that the Bible is to be believed."
I expressed my pleasure at hearing him say so ; and upon alluding to his religious ancestry, through many generations, I dwelt especially on the deep piety of his mother, and on her hopes and anxieties for him at his birth, when he was first placed in her arms, and her prayers that the `mantle of the father might fall upon the son. I referred to his extreme illness`when he was yet
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in infancy, to the agony which his mother felt at the thought that she would then have to part with him, and to the strong effort of her faith when she endeavored to surrender him to God, in the hope that whether he should die or live, she might meet him in heaven. I alluded, also, to the persevering efforts made by ministers of the Gospel, when he had become an orphan, to train him up in the way he should go; and re- marked that he well knew how far he had sur- rendered himself to evil courses, and in what utter forgetfulness of God his whole life had been spent.
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