feet of Jesus; stalwart men, by reason of the truth that lives in them and feeds their strength. Give us a perfect organization for every benevolent mission of the church; give us liberal endowments for our theological schools; give us church edifices that shall attract the people to the worship of God in all our wide territory; but give us, especially, a Biblical Ministry, who shall preach with the unction of the Spirit and the Word, with clear and pungent reasoning out of the Scriptures, with the eloquence of the Cross.

ART. IV.—PRESIDENT WHEELOCK AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. By Rev. E. H. GILLETT, D. D., New York.

IT IS doubtful whether any two men can be mentioned, whose manuscript remains-for the most part hitherto unpublished—can be rendered more serviceable in throwing light upon the social, religious and civil history of New England, than President Wheelock and President Stiles. The life of each has been written, but with a meagre use of the abundant materials at command, and the result has been an individual portrait, rather than a vivid picture of the men and the events of their time. Indeed, the manuscript remains of both these men are so voluminous-that of Pres. Stiles embracing more than 40 manuscript quarto volumes, and those of Pres. Wheelock to be measured by the cubic foot-that the task of arranging and sifting them with a view to the publication of the results might well seem appalling. The biographers of Wheelock, especially, seem to have been content with giving a mere outline of his career, and surrendered his manuscript treasures to an almost unqualified neglect.

It would require volumes to do them adequate justice, but some portions of his journals and correspondence seem to us too valuable to be left longer to slumber unread and unknown. His position, character and relations were such as to make his letters very largely a reflection of the religious thought, and a record of the events, of his time, while the men with whom he

was more or less directly associated, are men, many of them with whom we desire a more intimate acquaintance than is afforded by the memorials of them which history has preserved.

President Wheelock was himself a remarkable man. He was one of the leading spirits of the "Great Revival" of the last century. He labored extensively as an itinerant. He corresponded with a great number of distinguished men on both sides of the ocean. In the cause of Indian Missions, his labors rank him with the apostolic Eliot. As the founder of Moore's Charity School, and subsequently of Dartmouth College, he appears before the world as a man of great energy, remarkable executive talent, and a large Christian faith. The wonderful experience of Müller's Life of Trust is anticipated in the unostentatious record of his career-a record so long buried from the world, and which now, after the lapse of a full cen-tury, comes before us in his own simple narratives, with a remarkable freshness and charm.

Eleazar Wheelock was born at Windham, Ct., April 22, 1711, old style. His earliest ancestor of whom we have any account, was his great-grandfather, Ralph Wheelock, born in Shropshire, Eng., in 1600, and educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge. As a sufferer for his non-conformity to the ceremonies of the English Church, under the domination of Laud, he fled to this country in 1637. In the following year, he was one of the founders of the church of Dedham, Mass., though not its pastor. Removing thence to Medfield, he became one of the principal proprietors. Without being settled as pastor, he preached at Medfield and other places, and, for several years during the period from 1653 to 1667, he was a representative in the General Court. His death occurred in 1683, and his descendants are numerous in Eastern Massachusetts.

The fourth son of Rev. Ralph Wheelock, born at Medfield in 1654, was Capt. Eleazar Wheelock. He early removed to Mendon. In the Indian wars he had command of a company of cavalry, and his house was sometimes converted into a fort for the safety of the settlers. To the savage foe his name was a terror, although in peace he is said to have treated the Indians with great kindness, and sometimes to have joined them

in their hunting excursions. He died, March 24, 1731, aged 77 years.

His son, Ralph Wheelock, was born in 1679 or 1680, probably in Mendon, and was one of the early settlers of Windham, Conn. The church-of which he was ordained deacon in 1729-was formed in 1700, and he remained in connection with it till his death, Oct. 15, 1748. His first wife, whom he married Jan. 8, 1707, was Ruth Huntington, of Norwich. Their second child, and first son, was Eleazar. After the death of his mother, his father (Sep. 30, 1726) married Mercy Standish, of Preston, a descendant of the celebrated Miles Standish. The only daughter, by this marriage, was the mother of Jerusha Bingham, who became the wife of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the father of President Kirkland of Harvard College.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, there is reason to believe that his heart was renewed by the Spirit of God. He immediately commenced his studies, preparatory to college, a legacy having been left him by his grandfather, whose name he bore, to defray the expenses of his education. Good conduct and proficiency in learning secured him a favorable standing as a scholar.

In 1733, Wheelock completed his course at Yale College. Among those with whom he must then have become acquainted, are quite a number with whom he subsequently corresponded. When he entered as Freshman, the celebrated Timothy Allen was a Senior, Joseph Bellamy and Aaron Burr were Juniors, while Abel Stiles, uncle of President Stiles, Benajah Case, and Benjamin Pomeroy, were class-mates. Daniel Humphreys, the famous James Davenport, Nehemiah Brainerd, Jonathan Todd, Timothy Woodbridge, and Ebenezer Devotion, were in the class below him, while Jonathan Ashley, of Deerfield, Jonathan Barber, associated with Whitefield, Moses Bartlett, and Andrew Bartholomew, must have become connected with the College before he left it.

Of Wheelock's favorite studies we may derive some hints from a letter addressed to him January 8, 1734, a few months after his graduation, and while he continued to reside at New

Haven. The writer is his class-mate, Abel Stiles, and he dates his letter from Lebanon, Ct.

"Professor Mathematice ad modum venerande, alias Neighbor Wheelock: If you do not send me a letter before you are many days older I shall think you worse than an infidel. I would entreat you to lay by your Newton, your Wiston and your Euclid, and let your scale and dividers be useless awhile; so long, at least, as to write a line to me. To what purpose is it to keep your mind everlastingly wrapped up in the contemplation of Saturn with his cohort of Satellites, and the Via Lactea with her multiplicity of stars invisible. In short, you have forgot that you belong to that inferior planet called Terra; you have taken your flight hence, and are seeking a freehold among constellations. But, hoping you would visit this globe again, I presumed to send this letter, intending it should remain in the place where you were wont to reside. With due regard, I am, in haste, your humble servant, A. STILES."

The superscription of the letter is "For Mr. Eleazar Wheelock, Student in Yale College, in New Haven." From this, as well as from other intimations, we are led to believe that, as a resident graduate, he continued his studies, devoting a portion of his time to theological pursuits, under the supervision of Rector Williams.

In 1735, Wheelock accepted a call to the North Society in Lebanon, known at that time as Lebanon Crank, now Columbia. His ministerial neighbors were Solomon Williams at Lebanon First Society, Jared Elliot at Goshen Society, Ephraim Little at Colchester, Thomas Clap, subsequently Rector of Yale College, at Windham, Joseph Meacham at Coventry, while Hebron was in confusion, without a pastor.

Previous to the commencement of the great revival in 173940, Rev. Stephen Williams, of Longmeadow, was one of Wheelock's most frequent correspondents. Though the former was many years his senior, the two men had married sisters, daughters of Rev. John Davenport, of Stamford, and sisters of the Rev. James Davenport, so famous for his enthusiastic excesses during the time of revival. A sister of Wheelock was married to Benjamin Pomeroy, his class-mate, who was settled at Hebron some few months after he had himself been settled at Lebanon, and thus were these two men of kindred spirit closely and permanently associated together.

Wheelock's earliest letters refer to Hebron. He writes to Stephen Williams, December 1, 1735 :

"Hebron is in the utmost confusion. I can't tell you half how bad they are. The day appointed for Mr. Pomeroy's ordination is next Wednesday, come fortnight, and whether he will be ordained or no is something doubtful. It looks almost like the going into the mouth of hell."

A few months later he writes again, August 26, 1736:

"It is somewhat probable they will settle Mr. Pomeroy at Hebron, and 'tis something probable, if they don't, Mr. Bliss's party will declare for Episcopacy."

At the same date he discusses the expediency of the ordination of John Sergeant as missionary to the Stockbridge Indians. It is curious to find the conservative Stephen Williams favoring it, and Wheelock, who subsequently verged so strongly to the lax ecclesiasticism of the revival, calling its wisdom in question. He doubts whether it can be justified on Scripture grounds, and believes no precedent can be found for it in Apostolic usage.

Another letter of Wheelock, bearing date August 18, 1737, reminds us that his childhood was less than a generation removed from the great witchcraft delusion of Salem. He writes to Stephen Williams :

"It is common talk at Windham, that old Goody Fullsom (the woman that Mr. Clap had so much difficulty in the church about, and at last excommunicated) is a witch; and, indeed, there are many stories which Mr. Clap has told me of her that looks very dark. . . . Mr. Clap told me yesterday, that on last Sabbath there came in an ill-looking dog into the room where Mrs. Abbie was sick, and her brother that was there took up a broom-staff and gave it a blow as hard as he could strike. The dog went away very lame, and the very instant, as near as they could come at it, the old woman, being at meeting at Scotland, roared out in the meeting house with a pain in her shoulder, and when Sheriff Huntington, the bone-setter, came to feel of it the next day, he found the bones much broken, insomuch that he could hear them rattle in the skin. But I would not weary out your patience."

But with the commencement of the great revival, the letters of Wheelock are of a different tone. He threw himself into it with his whole heart. It is doubtful whether even Bellamy exceeded him in activity or energy, or was so universally welcomed in other and distant localities. With an unquestionable piety, and a facility of extempore utterance, he combined other and peculiar advantages. He had a large measure of what might be called tact, nor was he too proud, upon conviction, to confess his mistakes, and improve by his own errors and the suggestions of others. As a speaker, he must have