THE

QUARTERLY REGISTER.

VOL. VIII.

MAY, 1836.

No. 4.

MEMOIR OF REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS, D. D.

PRESIDENT OF UNION COLLEGE.

JONATHAN EDWARDS, D. D., the second president of Union college, Schenectady, was born at Northampton, Mass., on the 26th day of May, O. S., 1745. He was the second son and the ninth child of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton, and afterwards president of the New Jersey college, and of Mrs. Sarah Edwards, daughter of the Rev. James Pierrepont, [commonly written Pierpont,] of New Haven, Conn. In his infancy and early childhood, he was afflicted with an inflammatory weakness in his eyes, which almost entirely prevented his learning to read until a much later period than is common for children in New England. At length, by the repeated application of various remedies, the inflammation in some degree abated, and he was enabled to apply himself moderately to the rudiments of knowledge. He was also subjected to the inconveniences resulting from the unhappy contest between his father and the church and society of Northampton, which terminated in the dismission of Mr. Edwards. The family removed to Stockbridge in 1651, when this son was six years old. The circumstances of his situation at Stockbridge, are thus detailed by himself, in the Preface to his Observations on the Language of the Muhhekaneew Indians, 1788. "When I was but six years of age, my father removed with his family to Stockbridge, which, at that time, was inhabited by Indians almost solely; as there were in the town but twelve families of whites or Anglo-Americans, and perhaps one. hundred and fifty families of Indians. The Indians being the nearest neighbors, I constantly associated with them; their boys were my daily schoolmates and playfellows. Out of my father's house, I seldom heard any language spoken besides the Indian. By these means, I acquired the knowledge of that language, and a great facility in speaking it. It became more familiar to me than my mother tongue. I knew the names of some things in Indian, which I did not know in English; even all my thoughts ran in Indian; and though the true pronunciation of the language is extremely difficult to all but themselves, they acknowledged that I had acquired it perfectly; which, as they said, never had been acquired before by any Anglo-American. On account of this acquisition, as well as on account of my skill in their language in general, I received from them many compliments applauding my superior wisdom. This skill in their language I have in a good measure retained to this day."

As his father intended him for a missionary among the aborigines, he sent him in October, 1755, when he was but ten years of age, with the Rev. Gideon Hawley, to Oughquauga, on the Susquehannah river, to learn the language of the Oneida Indians. In the Preface from which we have quoted above, he says, "In my tenth year, my father sent me among the Six Nations, with a design that I should learn their language, and thus become qualified to become a missionary among them. But on account of the war with France, which then existed, I continued among them but about six months.† Therefore the knowledge which I acquired of that language was but imperfect." The Indians were so much pleased with his attainments, and his amiable disposition, that, when they thought their settlement exposed to inroads from the French, they took him upon their shoulders, and carried him many miles through the wilderness, to a place which they deemed secure.

In the month of February, 1760, when he had almost completed his fifteenth year, he commenced the study of the Latin language, at a grammar-school, in Princeton, New Jersey. In September, 1761, he was admitted a member of the college of New Jersey, in the same town. In September, 1765, he received the degree of bachelor of arts. In the year 1763, and while he was in college, at a time of general attention to religion in Princeton, Mr. Edwards obtained a hope of his reconciliation to God through Christ. This was during the presidency, and under the impressive preaching of Dr. Finley. The following dedication of himself to the service of God, which was made by him at that time, was found among his papers after his death.

"Nassau Hall, [College of New Jersey,] Sept. 17, 1763.

"I, Jonathan Edwards, student of the college in New Jersey, on this 17th day of September, 1763, being the day before the first time I proposed to draw near to the Lord's table, after much thought and due consideration, as well as prayer to Almighty God, for his assistance, resolved in the grace of God to enter into an express act of self-dedication to the service of God; as being a thing highly reasonable in its own nature, and that might be of eminent service to keep me steady in my Christian course, to rouse me out of sloth and indolence, and uphold me in the day of temptation.

*This excellent missionary was a native of Connecticut, and graduated at Yale college in 1749. He commenced his missionary labors in 1752, at Stockbridge. In September, he made an excursion to Schoharie, in the country of the Mohawk Indians, and after his return to Stockbridge, he opened his school again at the beginning of winter, under the patronage of Mr. Edwards. Here he was the instructor of the children of a number of Mohawk, Oneida, and Tuscarora families, and preached to them on the Sabbath. It being determined by the Commissioners for Indian affairs in Boston, to establish a mission in the country of the Iroquois, or Indians of the Six Nations, he engaged in the plan. In May, 1753, accompanied by Timothy Woodbridge, a gentleman who possessed great influence with the Indians, he set out on his journey, and on the fourth of June reached the place of their destination, Onohoghgwage, or Oughquauga, where he was favorably received by the Indians. July 31, 1754, Mr. Hawley was ordained at Boston, and soon returned to his station, where he remained till May, 1756, when the French war obliged him to withdraw. April 10, 1758, he was installed pastor of the Indian church at Marshpee, Mass. He died Oct. 3, 1807, aged 80 years. He was a very successful missionary, and greatly beloved by the Indians. He published in the Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. iii. 188-193, iv. 50-67, biographical and topographical anecdotes respecting Sandwich and Marshpee, and a letter giving a narrative of his journey to Oughquauga.

Erroneously stated in Dwight's Life of Edwards, to have been twelve months, p. 542, and in the Conn. Evang. Mag. vol. ii. p. 378, to have been four months.

His class consisted of thirty-one members. Among them were John Bacon, afterwards a distinguished civilian in Massachusetts; Joel Benedict, D. D.; Jacob Rush, LL. D.; Ebenezer Pemberton, LL. D.; Theodorick Romeyn, D. D.; David Ramsay, M. D., the historian of the revolution. The class was the largest which had at that time graduated at the college. The college tutors were Jacob Ker, Samuel Blair, and James Thompson.

Dr. Finley died in Philadelphia, July 17, 1766, in the 51st year of his age. He emphatically died in the Lord. "My very soul," he said, "thirsts for eternal rest. I see the eternal love and goodness of God. I see the fullness of the Mediator. I see the love of Jesus. O, to be dissolved, and to be with him; I long to be clothed with the complete righteousness of Christ. A Christian's death is the best part of his existence."

"Eternal and ever-blessed God! I desire with the deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, to come in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, and present myself before thee, sensible of my infinite unworthiness to appear before thee, especially on such an occasion as this, to enter into a covenant with thee. But notwithstanding my sins have made such a separation between thee and my soul, I beseech thee, through Christ thy Son, to vouchsafe thy presence with me and acceptance of the best sacrifice which I can make.

"I do, O Lord, in hopes of thy assisting grace, solemnly make an entire and perpetual surrender of all that I am and have unto thee, being determined in thy strength to renounce all former lords who have had dominion over me, every lust of the eye, of the flesh and of the mind, and to live entirely devoted to thee and thy service. To thee do I consecrate the powers of my mind, with whatever improvements thou hast already or shalt be pleased hereafter to grant me in the literary way; purposing if it be thy good pleasure to pursue my studies assiduously, that I may be better prepared to act in any sphere of life in which thou shalt place me. I do also solemnly dedicate all my possessions, my time, my influence over others, to be all used for thy glory. To thy direction I resign myself and all that I have, trusting all future contingencies in thy hands, and may thy will in all things and not mine be done. Use me, O Lord, as an instrument of thy service! I beseech thee, number me among thy people! May I be clothed with the righteousness of thy Son; ever impart to me through him all needful supplies of thy purifying and cheering Spirit! I beseech thee, O Lord, that thou wouldst enable me to live according to this my vow, constantly avoiding all sin; and when I shall come to die, in that solemn and awful hour, may I remember this my covenant, and do thou, O Lord, remember it too, and give my departing spirit an abundant admittance into the realms of bliss! And if when I am laid in the dust, any surviving friend should meet with this memorial, may it be a means of good to him, and do thou admit him to partake of the blessings of thy covenant of grace, through Jesus the great Mediator, to whom with thee, O Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be everlasting praises ascribed, by saints and angels! JONATHAN EDWARDS."

Amen.

Soon after leaving college, he entered on the study of divinity under the instruction of the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D. D., of Bethlem, Conn.* Oct. 21st, 1766, he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Litchfield Association of Congregational Ministers, in Connecticut. The following year he spent in preaching as a candidate for the ministry, but in what towns it is not now known.

In 1767, he was appointed to the office of tutor in the college of New Jersey, which he accepted. Here he remained two years. Some months after his election, he was chosen professor of languages and logic. At the same time, Mr. Blair and Dr. Hugh Williamson were appointed professors. Mr. Blair alone saw fit to accept the appointment. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Yates, formerly a professor in Union college, now of Chittenango, N. Y., in a letter to the writer of this article, says; "The name of Jonathan

* Dr. Bellamy was the intimate friend and correspondent of Dr. Edwards's father, and accorded mainly with him in theological sentiments. See Trumbull's Connecticut, ii. 159.

The first year was the interval between the death of Pres. Finley and the accession of Pres. Witherspoon. The first professor in this college was Mr. Blair, who was appointed professor of divinity and moral philosophy. The fellow tutors of Mr. Edwards, were Ebenezer Pemberton and Joseph Periam. Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, of Monmouth, N. J., (grad. 1766,) speaks of Mr. Periam as "an excellent tutor."

Edwards was associated with great literary and religious attainments, in the estimation of those who in his day had been connected with the college of New Jersey, either as students or as managers of the interests of that college. His diligence and proficiency while a pupil in the institution, and his industry and fidelity when called to take a part in the labors of instruction and government, secured to him the esteem and affection of his contemporaries."

During his residence in Princeton, he was invited to preach in the society of White Haven, in the town of New Haven, Conn. On the 5th day of January, 1769, he was ordained to the pastoral charge of that church and society, where he continued until May, 1795.*

"For several years previous to his dismission," remarks a writer in the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, (understood to be the son of Dr. Edwards, J. W. Edwards, Esq., of Hartford,) "an uneasiness had subsisted in the society, arising from different religious opinions which sprung up, and were adopted by some of the leading, and most influential men among his parishioners. Those sentiments which originated the uneasiness, were of a nature opposite to the sentiments of Mr. Edwards, and of the church and society at the time of his ordination. This diversity of opinion, may justly be considered as the principal cause of the separation between Dr. Edwards and his people; though others of inferior moment, and taking their rise from this principal one, had their influence. The ostensible cause, however, assigned by the society, was their inability to support a minister. In the month of May, 1795, he was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council, at the mutual request of the pastor and the society."

In January, 1796, he was re-settled in the ministry in the town of Colebrook, Litchfield county, Conn., where he continued to preach to a very affectionate people till called to the presidency of Union college, in June, 1799. In this town he intended to have spent the remainder of his days. A change of audience enabled him, in some measure, to relax from the task of a weekly preparation for the Sabbath, and furnished him with more time to pursue his favorite study of theology. To this the retired situation of Colebrook greatly contributed.

were

"The views of truth held by Dr. Edwards," remarks Dr. Yates, strictly Calvinistic; and as held by him, they were pre-eminent for their correct, extensive, and well-digested principles-and for their strictness and consistency. In his conversation and preaching, his exhibition of truth was destitute of ornament. He obviously sought nothing but truth itself undisguised, and he presented it to the mind luminously and with great simplicity. Though he always regarded the opinions of his fellow men with due respect, yet he investigated for himself, and yielded ultimately and implicitly to none but the Father of spirits, speaking in his written word. In his opinions, he had great decision and firmness, because they were deliberately formed, after patient and thorough investigation. The unyielding tenacity with which he held and defended what in his opinion was revealed truth, might have left the impression of obstinacy on the minds of errorists and superficial judges; but candid and observing men would always discover in his writings sufficient cause for unyielding firmness; so clear, comprehensive and unanswerable were his exhibitions of truth. Whatever he undertook to do, he did thoroughly and perspicuously."

A reviewer of his Observations on the Language of the Muhhekaneew

* His predecessor in the ministry, was the Rev. Samuel Bird, who officiated from 1751 to 1768.