OF A NUMBER OF CHARACTERS, WHOSE HISTORY COULD NOT BE WITH CONVENIENCE INSERTED ELSEWHERE.

John Asplund — This singular man is, on account of his extensive travels, very generally known throughout the United States. According to information received from Mr. John Leland, he was born in the interior of Sweden. He was bred to the mercantile business, went to England about the beginning of the American war, where he acted some time as clerk in a store. He was either pressed or entered voluntarily into the British naval service, which he deserted on the American coast, and made his way into North-Carolina. There, about 1782, he embraced religion, and was baptized by David Walsh. Soon after, he joined the South-Hampton church in Virginia, then under the care of David Barrow. About 1782, he went back to his native country, visited England, Denmark, Finland, Lapland, Germany, and returned to Virginia. Not long after his return, he began to make preparations for his Register of the Baptist churches in America, which he published in a small quarto pamphlet in 1791. This work cost him about seven thousand miles travel, chiefly on foot, which mode of traveling he seems to have preferred. After this, Mr. Asplund traveled ten thousand miles more, and published a second Register in 1794.

By this time he had become personally acquainted with seven hundred ministers of the Baptist denomination. Mr. Asplund was a preacher of no great gifts, but was generally respected for a number of years. But at length he got entangled with land speculation, for which he was altogether unqualified. Some other things of an unfavorable nature exposed him to the censures of his brethren. The latter part of his life was spent on the eastern shore of Maryland, and there he was drowned from a canoe, in Fishing Creek, in 1807. He left a wife and one child. The Baptist churches in America have reason to respect the memory of this diligent inquirer into their number, origin, character, etc. His Register has been of peculiar service in the preparation of this work.

Isaac Backus, A.M. — It is much to be lamented, that he who took such unwearied pains to record the lives of others, has found no one among all his friends to write his own. Mr. Backus was one of the most useful ministers, that has ever appeared among the American Baptists. For about fifty years he was a laborious servant of their churches, and a considerable part of about thirty of the last of them, was devoted to historical pursuits.

This excellent man still lives in the memory of thousands of his brethren; but scarcely any biographical sketches of his life are preserved, except what are found in his own writings. The author of this work never saw him but once, of course he knows but little about him, except from report.

He has solicited those, who were well acquainted with this renowned father for many years, to draw a characteristic portrait, which should set in a proper light his distinguished merit. But as no one has been found to pay this tribute of respect, all that can be now done is to collect a few incidents of his life from his public writings and his voluminous journals and diaries.

Mr. Backus was born at Norwich, Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1724. His parents were pious and respectable members of the Pedobaptist church in that town, by whom he was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. His mother was a descendant of the family of Winslows, who came over to Plymouth in 1620; his father sprung from one of the first Planters in Norwich. In the New-Light Stir, in Whitefield’s time, some of Mr.

Backus’s connections united with the Separates, for which they were harassed and persecuted by the ruling party. His mother, when a widow, and some more of his relatives, were cast into prison for adopting religious principles contrary to law. It was in the midst of the New. Light Stir, that the subject of this memoir was brought to the knowledge of the truth, in the 18th year of his age. He united with a Pedobaptist church in his native town, and began in the ministry in 1746. About two years after, he was ordained pastor of a church in Middleborough of the same persuasion. In this town, he spent sixty years of his useful life. In 1749, he was married to Susanna Mason of Rehoboth, with whom he lived in the greatest harmony about fifty-one years. She, according to his own words, “was the greatest earthly blessing which God ever gave him.” As yet Mr. Backus was a Pedobaptist of the Separate order, and the church, of which he was pastor, was of the same character. They experienced blessings from the Lord, but persecutions from men. The publicans of the parish soon began to distress them for the support of their worship. Mr. Backus, among the rest, was taxed, seized, and imprisoned a short time, and then released without paying the tax, or coming to any compromise. Disputes respecting baptism were agitated in this church about this time, which were continued a number of years, and some of the members were constrained from time to time to go into the water. In 1751, Mr. B. was himself baptized, with six of his members, by Elder Pierce, of Warwick, Rhode-Island. From this period until 1756, this church practiced open communion, but in that year those who had become Baptists came out and formed a church upon the gospel plan, and Mr. Backus became its pastor.

This was the nineteenth Baptist church in the three States of Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, and Vermont. From this date to the death of this venerable man was a period of about fifty years, Nothing remarkable appears to have occurred in the discharge of his pastoral duties; but the part which he took in the general welfare of the Baptist churches, furnishes a number of incidents which ought to be recorded.

Mr. Backus early imbibed a settled aversion to civil coercion in religious concerns; he was taught its iniquity both by experience and observation; and few men have exerted themselves more than he in the support of the equal rights of Christians. In 1772, he was chosen an agent for the Baptist churches in Massachusetts, in the room of Mr. Davis, formerly pastor of the second church in Boston, then lately deceased. This agency was merely in civil affairs, and was executed by him, who was entrusted it, with much ability, and to some effect. Our brethren in this government were then so continually harassed for the support of the established clergy, that they found it necessary to have some one upon the watch, to advise on sudden emergencies, and to afford assistance to those who were in trouble. Their great object was to obtain the establishment of equal religious liberty in the land, which the predominant party were determined to prevent. About a year before Mr. Backus accepted the agency of the churches, he was requested to write their history, which he accordingly set about, and published his first volume in 1777.

When the disputes came on, which terminated in the Revolutionary War and the Independence of the United States, the Baptists united with the rest of the American people in resisting the arbitrary claims of Great- Britain; but it seemed to them unreasonable that they should be called upon to contend for civil liberty, if after it was gained, they should still be exposed to oppression in religious concerns. When, therefore, the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, the Warren Association, viewing it as the highest civil resort, agreed to send Mr. Backus as their agent to that convention, “there to foIlow the best advice he could obtain, to procure some influence from thence in their favor.” When he arrived in Philadelphia, the Association there appointed a large committee, of whom Dr. Samuel Jones was one, to assist their New-England brethren. “But our endeavors,” says Dr. Jones, “availed us nothing. One of them told us, that if we meant to effect a change in their measures respecting religion, we might as well attempt to change the course of the sun in the heavens.” Mr. Backus, failing of success at Philadelphia, on his return met the Baptist committee at Boston, by whose advice a memorial of their grievances was drawn up, and laid before the next Congress at Cambridge, near Boston, to which the following answer was returned: “In Provincial Congress, Cambridge, Dec. 9, 1774. “On reading the memorial of the Reverend Isaac Backus, agent to the Baptist churches in this government: “Resolved, That the establishment of civil and religious liberty, to each denomination in the province, is the sincere wish of this Congress; but being by no means vested with powers of civil government, whereby they can redress the grievances of any person whatever; they therefore recommend to the Baptist churches, that when a General Assembly shall be convened in this colony, they lay the real grievances of said churches before the same, when and where their petition will most certainly meet with all that attention due to the memorial of a denomination of Christians, so well disposed to the public weal of their country. “By order of the Congress, “JOHN HANCOCK , President. “A true extract from the Minutes, “John Lincoln, Secretary.”

Such an Assembly as is here mentioned, convened at Watertown, July 1775, to which our brethren presented another memorial, in which they said, “Our real grievances are, that we, as well as our fathers, have from time to time been taxed on religious accounts where we were not represented; and when we have sued for our rights, our causes have been tried by interested judges. That the Representatives in former Assembhes, as well as the present, were elected by virtue only of civil and worldly qualifications, is a truth so evident, that we presume it need not be proved to this Assembly; and for a civil Legislature to impose religious taxes, is, we conceive, a power which their constituents never had to give, and is, therefore, going entirely out of their jurisdiction. Under the legal dispensation, where God himself prescribed the exact proportion of what the people were to give, yet none but persons of the worst characters ever attempted to take it by force. How daring then must it be for any to do it for Christ’s ministers, who says, My kingdom is not of this world! We beseech this honorable Assembly to take these matters into their wise and serious consideration before Him, who has said, With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Is not all America now appealing to Heaven, against the injustice of being taxed where we are not represented, and against being judged by men, who are interested in getting away our money? And will Heaven approve of your doing the same thing to your fellow servants! No, surely. We have no desire of representing this government as the worst of any who have imposed religious taxes; we fully believe the contrary. Yet, as we are persuaded that an entire freedom from being taxed by civil rulers to religious worship, is not a mere favor, from any man or men in the world, but a right and property granted us by God, who commands us to stand fast in it, we have not only the same reason to refuse an acknowledgment of such a taxing power here, as America has the abovesaid power, but also, according to our present light, we should wrong our consciences in allowing that power to men, which we believe belongs only to God.”

This memorial was read in the Assembly, and after laying a week on the table, was read again, debated upon, and referred to a committee, who reported favourably. A bill was finally brought in, in favor of the petitions, read once, and a time set for its second reading; but their other business crowded in, and nothing more was done about it. In this manner have the Baptists always been shuffled out of their rights. After this, they made a number of attempts to get some security for their freedom from religious oppression, but none was ever formally given them. They had many fair promises, which were never fulfilled; and when the State Constitution was formed, the Bill of Rights was made to look one way, but priests and constables have gone another. The first article of the Bill of Rights declares “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unahenable rights,” etc. The second declares, “No subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience,” etc.

But notwithstanding all these declarations, many have been molested and restrained in their persons, liberties, and estates, on religious accounts.

These things we have thought proper to insert in Mr. Backus’s biography.

He was undoubtedlythe draftsman of some of the memorials of his brethren, and he was certainly the able and undaunted expositor of them all. His whole soul was engaged in the prosecution of his agency; insomuch that he became the champion of non-conformity in England, and was, on that account, much vilified and abused by the established party.

When he waited on the Congress at Philadelphia, he was accused of going there on purpose to attempt to break the union of the colonies. The newspapers abounded with pieces against him, some of which he answered, and others he treated as beneath his notice. In one, he was threatened with a halter and the gallows; but he had been too long inured to the war, to be terrified by such impotent threats.

In 1789, Mr. Backus took a journey into Virginia and North-Carolina, in which he was gone about six months, preached a hundred and twenty-six sermons, and traveled by land and water going and coming over three thousand miles. This journey was undertaken in consequence of a request from the southern brethren, for some one of the ministers of the Warren Association to come and assist them, in the great field of labor which was then opened before them.

These sketches give us some view of Mr. Backus’s labors abroad; the following list of his writings will inform the reader how he employed his time at home. This list was made out by himself, and was found among his papers.

His first publication was a Discourse on the Internal Call to preach the Gospel, in 1754. 2d. A Sermon on Galatians, 4:31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. 1756. 3d. A Sermon on Acts 18: 27. 1763. 4th. A Letter to Mr. Lord. 1764. 5th. A Sermon on Prayer. 1766. 6th. A Discourse on Faith. 1767. 7th. An Answer to Mr. Fish. 1768. 8th. A Sermon on his Mother’s Death. 1769. 9th. A second edition of his Sermon on Galatians 4:31, with an Answer to Mr. Frothingham. 1770. 10th. A Plea for Liberty of Conscience. 1770. 11th. Sovereign Grace vindicated. 1771. 12th. A Letter concerning Taxes to support Religious Worship. 1771. 13th. A Sermon at the ordination of Mr. Hunt.1772. 14th. A Reply to Mr. Holly. 1772. 15th. A Reply to Mr. Fish. 1773. 16th. An Appeal to the Public in Defence of Religious Liberty. 17th. A Letter on the Decrees. 1773. 18th. A History of the Baptists, Vol. 1. 1777. 19th. Government and Liberty described. 1778. 20th. A Piece upon Baptism. 1779. 21st. True Policy requires Equal Religious Liberty. 1779. 22d. An Appeal to the People of Massachusetts against Arbitrary Power. 1780. 23d. Truth is great antd willprevail. 1781. 24th. The Doctrine of Universal Salvation examined and refuted. 1782. 25th. A Door opened for Christian Liberty. 1783. 26th. A History ot the Baptists, vol. II 1784. 27th. Godliness excludes slavery, in Answer to John Cleaveland. 1785. 28th. The Testimony of the Two Witnesses. 1786. 29th. An Address to New-England. 1787. 30th. An Answer to Remmele on the Atonement. 1787. 3lst. A Piece on Discipline. 32d. An Answer to Wesley on Election and Perseverance. 1789. 33d. On the Support of Gospel Ministers, 34th. An Essay on the Kingdom of God. 35th. A history of the Baptists, Vol. III. 1796. 36th. A second edition of his Sermon on the Death of his Mother; to which was added a Short Account of his Wife, who died in 1800.

Published 1803.

Most of the pieces in the foregoing list were small but a number of them, besides his History, were considerably large.

In 1800, our historian published in a small octavo volume, An Abridgment of his History of the Baptists; and in 1805, the year before his death, he published a discourse under the title of A Great Faith described. After this he wrote a Sermon on the Kingdom of Christ, which has not yet been published. Besides these publications, Mr. Backus wrote a number of Circular Letters, and inserted a large number of pieces in different public prints. These news-paper communications were not upon the common political topics but were designed to expose ecclesiastical oppressions, and to defend his noble maxims of religious freedom.

This distinguished man finished his earthly course with great composure, November 20, 1806, in the 83d year of his age, and 60th of his ministry.

He had beea laid by from his public labors a few months previous to his death, by a paralytic stroke, which deprived him of his speech and the use of his limbs. But his reason was continued to the last, and in his expiring moments, he manifested an entire resignation to the will of Heaven. He left behind him a number of children, all of whom are respectable members of society. He never received much from his people; but by the blessing of Providence, he had accumulated an estate of considerable value.

It is presumed that but a few Baptists of the present day are sufficiently sensible how much they are indebted to the labors of this departed champion of their cause. “As a preacher’, he was evangelical and plain. His discourses, though not ornamented with the rhetoric of language, were richly stored with Scripture truth.” His historical works contain a vast fund of materials of the utmost importance towards a history of our denomination, which must have sunk into oblivion, had it not been for his unwearied care. [The following description, etc. was furnished by Reverend Dr. Baldwin.] Mr. Backus’s personal appearance was very grave and venerable. He was not far from six feet in stature, and in the latter part of life considerably corpulent. He was naturally modest and diffident; which probably led him into a habit, which he continued to the day of his death, of shutting his eyes, when conversing or preaching on important subjects. His voice was clear and distinct, but rather sharp than pleasant. In both praying and preaching, he often appeared to be favored with such a degree of divine unction, as to render it manifest to all that God was with him. Few men have more uniformly lived and acted up to their profession than Mr.

Backus. It may be truly said of him, that he was a burning and shining light; and, though dead, he left behind him the good name which is better than precious ointment. [This biography is taken almost verbatim from Semple’s History of the Virginia Baptists, as are most of those which follow of the Virginia brethren.] Elijah Baker was born in 1742, in the county of Lunenburg, of honest and reputable, but not opulent parents. When grown to the years of maturity, he was much addicted to frolics and sports of all sorts. Going to hear Mr. Jeremiah Walker preach, he became thoroughly convinced of the necessity of vital religion. His volatile disposition, nevertheless, kept him from seeking for it. However resolved when under preaching, all his resolutions would fail at the sound of a fiddle, or the cordial invitation of his pleasant, but carnal companions. He at last came to a determination to give his old companions one more frolic, and then forsake them forever.

This resolution he kept, and was no more to be found among the sons of carnal pleasure. He listened now, not to the music of the violin, but to sublimer music, the faithful preaching of the gospel. Thus, giving up the world, after many previous ineffectual efforts, his convictions soon became exceedingly sharp and pungent. Sometimes he was so convulsed as not to be able to stand. Heaven ultimately smiled; and Mr. Baker was constrained by the love of God, now shed abroad in his heart, to make profession of grace, and was baptized, anno 1769, by Mr. Samuel Harris.

Illiterate as he was, he immediately commenced public speaking. When he first made a profession, he was remarked for being often cast down with doubts respecting the reality of his conversion. This, however, did not hinder him from making great exertions, first as an exhorter and singer, and then as a preacher. Having exhorted about twelve months, his first labors were laid out chiefly in the county of his nativity, and the adjacent ones, where he was happily instrumental in planting and watering several churches. After about three years, he gave up all worldly cares, and devoted his whole time to preaching and other ministerial duties. About 1775, he began to stretch his lines, and to travel more extensively. Coming down into the lower end of Henrico, he, in conjunction with one or two others, planted Boar Swamp church, then, as his way would be opened, he extended his labors gradually downwards, and was the chief instrument in planting all the churches in the counties of James City, Charles City, York, etc. Then crossing over York river into Gloucester, preached in the lower end of that county with considerable success. There he formed acquaintance with Mr. Thomas Elliot, then a resident of Gloucester, but who had not long before moved from the eastern shore. Mr. Elliot, discovering a beauty in religion, felt his heart’s desire that his brethren in the flesh might be saved. Accordingly in the spring of 1776, they set sail, and arrived on the eastern shore of Virginia, on Easter Sunday, and went immediately to church, where an established clergy-man was that day to preach and administer the sacrament. After waiting for some time, and finding the minister did not come, Mr. Baker told the people that he would preach for them, if they would go down to the road. The novelty of the scene excited their attention, and the people went. Mr. B. had no other pulpit than the end of a large tree; which having mounted, he began one of the most successful ministerial labors that has fallen to the lot of any man in Virginia. Many wondered; some mocked; and a few were seriously wrought upon. He continued his ministrations from house to house, for several days; and when he left them he appointed to return again at Whitsuntide. At his second visit, he was accompanied by his brother Leonard, who was at that time only an exhorter. When they arrived, they were informed that the minister of the parish had appointed to preach against the Baptists, and to prove them to be in an error. Mr. Baker and his company went to hear him; but his arguments proved ineffectual, and the people followed Baker. His brother continued with him about a week.

They had meetings both day and night. The effects were not remarkable at first, but at every meeting there were good appearances. This encouraged Mr. Baker so much, that he resolved to remain there for some time: his brother left him laboring in the vineyard. His labors were greatly blessed.

He became at once almost a resident; for, indeed, filled as he was with increasing solicitude for the prosperity of the gospel, he could not be found elsewhere than at the places where he had evidences that God called him. After he married, he settled in Northampton county.

In doing so much good, it fell to Mr. Baker’s portion, as it generally happens, to give offense to the enemy of souls and his subordinate agents.

They put him into Accomack prison, and kept him there many days. The most atrocious attempt upon this harmless man, was that of seizing him by a lawless power and carrying him on board of a vessel in the adjacent waters, where they left him, having contracted with the Captain to make him work his passage over the seas, and then leave him in some of the countries in Europe; alleging that he was a disturber of the peace. This took place on Saturday night. He was immediately put to work, and kept at it until late at night. The next day being the Lord’s day, he asked and obtained leave of the Captain to sing and pray among the crew. The Captain attended, and was convinced that he was a good man. Without delay, he set him on shore. In the meantime, his friends had dispatched a messenger to the Governor, to obtain authority to prevent his being carried forcibly away. This they obtained; but Mr. B. was discharged before his return. 2 He met with various kinds of persecution, which only served to confirm his faith, and inflame his zeal in his Redeemer’s cause.

Mr. B. was a man of low parentage, small learning, and confined abilities.

But with one talent he did more than many do with five. He is said to have planted ten churches on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake bay. At the last Salisbury Association, which he attended when nearly worn out with disease, at the close of the meeting, he addressed the audience in a most melting and powerful manner; then returning to Doctor Lemon’s, soon died.

He had declined in health a considerable time before his death; and having a wish to see his brother Leonard, of Halifax, Virginia, to whom he was fondly attached, he wrote him a letter dated September 21, 1798, of which the following is an extract: “ — And now, brother, are you struggling through the trials of this life, leaning upon your Beloved? laboring, and waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus, who shall change our vile bodies and fashion them according to his glorious body? Or have you got into a lukewarm state, which I fear has been too prevailing amongst some! “Dear brother, some of my complaints are such, that Ido not expect to continue long in this world. However, I leave that to my dear Redeemer, who has the power of life and death in his own hands. But in all probability I shall never be able to come out as far as your house again: dear brother, I should be very glad to see you, if you could make it convenient to come over once more, while I live. I will pay all your expenses. And if our dear mother is yet alive, I can send out some rehef to her. As to religion, thanks be to God, there is some stir amongst us. I have baptized eight lately.”

It seems his brother could not go immediately; but started in a few weeks, and arrived just time enough to see him die: which took place, November 6th, 1798.

As he died at Doctor Lemon’s, it will be most suitable to quote the Doctor’s own words respecting him. “In Mr. Baker, I found the Israelite indeed; the humble Christian; the preacher of the gospel in the simplicity of it; and the triumphant saint in his last moments. In his preaching he was generally plain and experimental, always very express on the doctrine of regeneration; never entering upon the doctrines by which he conceived he should give offense to one or another. In his last illness, I attended his bedside day and night, for three weeks, and had many most agreeable conversations with him, on the glorious things of the kingdom of Christ.

He retained his senses to the last minute, and seemed rather translated, than to suffer pain in his dissolution. Death was to him as familiar in his conversation, as if he talked of an absent friend from whom he expected a visit.”

He was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Copeland, a lady of respectable connections, by whom he had one son, now living. She died, and he then married a widow lady on the eastern shore, who had no child by him.

Robert Carter , Esq. once a member of the Virginia Executive Council, and on that account, common ly called Counsellor Carter, was baptized by Mr. Lunsford, shortly after he began to preach in these parts. He was one of the richest men in the State of Virginia, having, as some say, seven or eight hundred negroes, besides immense bodies of land, etc. After being baptized some years, he became conscientious about the lawfulness of hereditary slavery. In a letter to Mr. Rip-pon of London, he says, “the toleration of slavery indicates very great depravity of mind.” In conformity to this sentiment, he gradually emancipated the whole that he possessed. 3 This was a noble and disinterested sacrifice. For fourteen or fifteen years he continued an orderly Baptist. But being a man naturally of an unstable disposition, and falling in with certain Arminian writings, he fully embraced their doctrines. Had he stopped here, he might still have continued in the Baptist society, though not so happily as before. But, alas! there are so many wrong roads in religious pursuits, that when a man once gets wrong, it is impossible to foresee where he will stop. From the Arminian errors, Mr. Carter fell into the chimerical whims of Swedenborg.

When he first heard of the books of that singular author, he made very light of them; but upon reading them, having a mind naturally fond of specious novelty, he fully embraced the whole of that absurd system, and was, of course, excluded from the Baptists. He was now as zealous for the New-Jerusalem church, as he had been formerly for the Baptists. He moved to Baltimore, in order to find a preacher and a society of his own sentiments, and expended large sums of money to have Swedenborg’s writings republished. He continued orderly in his moral conduct, and died a few years since, after having lived to a considerable age.

James Chiles appears to have been a Virginian. Before he embraced religion, having a sturdy set of limbs and a resolute spirit, he often employed them in bruising his countrymen’s faces. Gambling was also with him a favorite employment. But God, who is rich in mercy, plucked him as a brand from the burning. He gave evidence to his friends that his heart was changed, but from his oddities he was never converted. He was a member of the first Separate Baptist church north of James River. He was always wrapped up in visions, and pretended to be taught of God how any matter was to eventuate. It happened, however, with him, as with the Trojan prophetess, that if he had the gift of prophecy, his contemporaries had not the gift of faith. But notwithstanding all his imperfections, his success as a preacher was great. He was the first instrument of planting the gospel upon Blue Run. He also broke the way into Albemarle, where many were converted by his means. In various other places, God set seals to his ministry. After a few years, he moved to South-Carolina, where he planted a large church. He retained his notions about visions to his last.

Report says, that after meeting with misfortunes, and being reduced in his property and health, he went to the house of a woman, and told her that his God said, he must die there that day. She said, “I hope not, Mr.

Chiles.” “Yes,” said he, “my God says so: but, however, I will return a while, and consult my God again! ” He retired for the consultation, and returning said, “Yes, madam, my God says, I must die to-day.” The woman again expressed doubts. She said, “You look too well, Mr. Chiles, to die so soon.” He said, “I will try my God once more.” After retiring for some time in prayer, he came back and said, “It is fixed; the decree is irrevocable; today I must die in your house.” Having so said, he stretched himself upon the bed, and yielded up the ghost.

Joseph Cook . — Mr. Cook was born of pious parents in the city of Bath, Somersetshire, England, and called by divine grace in the early part of life, under the ministry of the late celebrated and much-esteemed Reverend George Whitefield, at the chapel of the late Countess Dowager of Huntingdon, at Bath. Mr. Whitefield was exceedingly kind to him, and often took him out with him in his carriage, to converse with him about divine things. As he very soon gave clear evidence, not only of a sound conversion, but also that he had ministerial gifts, Lady Huntingdon, who had a great regard for him, which continued to her dying day, sent him, in the 19th year of his age, to her college at Trevecka, in Brecknockshire, South Wales. Here he apphed himself closely to his studies, and made considerable improvement. He was much esteemed by his tutors and fellow-students, being of a good, obliging temper; but what most endeared him was his lively, spiritual turn of mind, and his readiness to help and comfort any who were in trouble of soul. His very first excursions in the villages, to exercise his gifts, the Lord owned, so that he preached with acceptance and success.

In September 1771, Lady Huntingdon received a sensible anonymous letter, requesting her to send a minister to Margate, in the Isle of Thanet, describing it as a licentious place, particularly at the watering season. She made known the contents of it to one of her senior students, Mr. William Aldridge, and gave him the liberty of choosing any student he pleased in the college to accompany and assist him in this important work. He fixed upon Mr. Cook, who cordially approved of the design. Preparations, therefore, were made for the journey, and after taking an affectionate leave of all at college, attended with many hearty prayers for their safety and prosperity, they proceeded to the place of action. Being utterly unknown to any person at Margate, they began to preach out of doors. Many attended, and not in vain. Several were savingly wrought upon, and turned from the error of their ways, while old professors were stirred up, who seemed to have been settled upon their lees; and now these itinerants preached not only at Margate, but at many other places in the Isle of Thanet.

About this time, many persons in Dover, not satisfied with Mr. Wesley’s ministers and doctrine, having left his meeting, and assembled in a private room for exhortation and prayer, sent a very pressing invitation to Messrs. Aldridge and Cook, which they accepted. The former preached at Dover for the first time, in the market-place, on a Sabbath.day, but met with great opposition. A Presbyterian meeting-house, which had been shut up for a considerable time, was therefore procured by the persons who had given them the invitation, in which Mr. Aldridge and his colleague ever afterwards preached, while they continued at Dover. It was now agreed on by all parties, that Messrs. Aldridge and Cook should supply Margate and Dover constantly, and change every week; accordingly, Mr. Cook came to Dover, and preached on the next Tuesday evening. His first text was Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.” Many attended, and were much struck at the sight of such a youth, who delivered his discourse extempore, which was a new thing to most of them.

This sermon was, he believes, peculiarly blessed to Mr. Atwood, now one of the Baptist ministers, at Falkstone, in Kent, so that he was obliged to say, “Here is a man that has told me all things that ever I did: surely he is a servant of Christ.” Mr. Cook continued to supply Dover, in his turn, for some time, and was remarkably useful in winning souls to Christ. Mr.

Cook and Mr. Aldridge occasionally preached also at Deal; and at Falkstone their word was signally blessed: to many, several of whom afterwards joined the Baptist interest, and one of them became a Deacon in Mr. Atwood’s church.

Two years after, the students were called in from all parts of the country to the college in Wales, to form a mission for North-America, as very pleasing and en-couraging letters had been received by Lady Huntingdon, desiring her to send faithful and zealous ministers thither. She therefore willingly entered into the plan, laying the whole of it before the students, with her earnest request that they would take the same into mature consideration, and especially make it matter of prayer; and that then, those who saw their way clear to go, would declare it. At length, Mr. Cook, with others, freely offered themselves for this service, came up to London, and related their views of this work before many thousands in the Tabernacle, Moorfields, and elsewhere; an account of which was printed. After taking a very affecting farewell, they embarked for America, with the Reverend Mr. Percy, who afterwards returned, and had a meeting- house, at Woolwich, in Kent. However, the ship was detained in the Downs by a contrary wind. Mr. Cook, being so near, wished to see his friends at Dover once more. He went therefore unexpectedly, and preached a lecture, which was remarkably owned. Several of his fellow-students also went the next Sabbath to Dover t preach. A fair and brisk gale sprung up in the night; the ship sailed, and they were all left behind. Two of them remained in England, Mr. Henry Mead, a minister now belonging to the establishment, in London, and Mr. William White, since deceased. Mr. Cook, with the rest, were yet determined on the voyage, and prosecuted the plan. On their arrival in America, as they had all preached in England, and considered themselves authorized to do so on their general plan, they traveled about the country, and preached with much acceptance among serious Christians of different denominations, but particularly among the Baptists, whom they found in a lively state of religion at that time. Though these students, were commonly considered as belonging to the Episcopal church, then the established religion of the Southern colonies, and seemed fond to keep up this idea among the populace, yet they generally appeared pleased with the company and conversation of the Baptists; and the most of them gave it to be understood, that they had received convictions respecting the justice and propriety of the Baptists’ distinguishing sentiments, which, by one or two of the students, was represented to have arisen from the introduction of a young man of Baptist principles into the Countess’s Seminary at Wales, whose arguments had made so great an impression on the minds of the students, that her Ladyship thought proper to discard him. Mr. Cook, however, kept himself considerably reserved, and more at a distance from the Baptist churches than the rest. Messrs. Hill and Cosson, after fully professing Baptist sentiments, in their conversation among the Baptists, joined the Presbyterians. Mr. Roberts, who had professed the same in a letter to one of the Baptist ministers, united himself with a respectable congregation of Independents in Georgia, and, on some misunderstanding arising, left off preaching, took a commission in the army, rose to the rank of Heutenant-Colonel, and died. Mr. Lewis Richards for a while suppressed his convictions, and engaged in a parish, as candidate for the rectorship, but some time after united himself to the Baptist church at the High Hills of Santee, was baptized by the Reverend Mr. Furman, and is now pastor of the Baptist church in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mr. Cook had obtained the office of a parish, but on his marriage with a young lady, Miss Elizabeth Bulline, of Baptist parents, then dead, at the village of Dorchester, about eighteen miles from Charleston, he determined to settle there, and preach to a mixed people: in respect of religious profession, a great part of them were, and are Episcopalians; a number, the posterity of a Baptist church, which has become extinct, that once flourished under the ministry of the Reverend Isaac Chanler, a pious and eminent divine; and the remains of an Independent congregation, removed to Georgia, the same mentioned above, to which Mr. Roberts had united.

With the latter, Mr. Cook formed his closest connection, preaching ordinarily in the place of worship belonging to them. The dispute between Britain and the Colonies was now become very serious; the sword was drawn; blood had begun to deluge the field of battle, and a general concern for religious as well as civil liberty, possessed the breasts of the Americans. A temporary form of government, agreed on by South- Carolina, while a reconciliation to Britain on equitable principles was hoped for, had continued the partial establishment, and legal support of the Church of England. This convinced the Dissenters of the necessity of uniting and making vigorous exertions for obtaining the equal enjoyment of all the privileges proper to a free people. For they now saw, that the Episcopalians, who generally possessed the most conspicuous stations, with their usual appendages of wealth and influence, while they declaimed against the unconstitutional claims of Britain, and were very fond of receiving the assistance of their dissenting brethren in the national struggle, were determined to secure to themselves every exclusive and partial advantage in their power. An invitation was now given to ministers and churches of various denominations, but principally to the Baptists, among whom the business originated, to meet at the High Hills of Santee, at the seat of the Baptist church there, which is nearly the center of the State, to consult their general interests. To this meeting, which was held early in 1776, came Mr. Cook, with two other of the young gentlemen mentioned above, and continued there to the next Sabbath, after the business was concluded, which being the season for the administration of the Lord’s supper in that church, divine worship was publicly attended on the two preceding days. On Saturday, Mr. Cook had all invitation to preach; and a little before service began, he took aside Mr. Hart, the minister of the Baptist church in Charleston, who had staid to assist at the solenmity, and Mr. Furman, the pastor of the church at Santee, who was then very young in the ministry, and has since succeeded Mr. Hart in Charleston, requesting their advice on a matter under which his mind labored. They were informed by him, that he had, for a considerable time, felt strong convictions respecting the propriety of believers’ baptism, and its necessity in order to a universal obedience of Christ, in a becoming manner. That he had endeavored to silence his conscience, and avoid the means of conviction, during a great part of the time; but that of late he had felt such guilt and shame in reflecting on his past conduct, as compelled him to a serious consideration of the subject, with a full determination of heart to do whatever appeared to be the will of God; and that the result of this investigation was the most satisfactory evidence in favor of what he had so long thought his duty. This, with the forcible application to his mind, of Ananias’s address to Paul, “And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord,” made him anxious to comply with his duty without delay, especially as a favorable opportunity then offered. “I have only to add, gentlemen,” concluded he, “that I should be glad of your advice, whether to embrace the ordinance immediately, or defer it to be administered among the people where I live; and if I submit to it immediately, seeing my sentiments and intention have been hitherto unknown to the public, whether it would be proper to make Ananias’s address to St. Paul,just now mentioned, and from which I have felt so much conviction, the subject of the discourse I am about to deliver, and just in the light I now behold it, as it apphes to myself? This, I confess, is the dictate of my own mind, and I would not wish to act unadvisedly.”

The ministers were both of opinion, that it would be best not to delay the administration, and that it was proper he should follow the dictate of his mind respecting the subject, and method of preaching proposed. He preached accordingly to the surprise and conviction of many, and was the next day baptized by the pastor of that church, the Reverend Mr. Furman, after satisfying the church respecting his acquaintance with experimental religion; and on farther consideration, having enjoyed his visits before, and being fully satisfied with his ministerial qualifications, they began to contemplate his ordination. He was accordingly ordained a few days after by Mr. Hart and Mr. Furman. A vacancy having taken place in the church of Euhaw, by the death of an excellent divine, the Reverend Francis Pelot, Mr. Cook soon received a call to take the pastoral care of it, which he accepted, and preached there without interruption for some time; but the invasion of the State taking place, and his exposed situation, near the seacoast, having already, subjected, him to losses and distress, he removed to an interior part of the country, where he continued to the conclusion of the war, but suffered anew in the ravages of the State by the troops under Lord Cornwallis and other commanders; so that when he returned to the Euhaw, on the commencement of the peace, he was reduced to a state of poverty. Previous to his leaving Euhaw, he had lost his first wife, and married a second; some circumstances attending this marriage, gave displeasure to a number of his friends, and himself acknowledged he was chargeable with imprudence in the transaction, for which he was sorry.

Hitherto nothing very considerable had appeared in Mr. Cook’s ministry in America, towards promoting the kingdom of Christ; but on his return to his church, having passed through some humbling scenes, and entering more fully into the gospel spirit, he labored with much success. The church had been greatly reduced before he took charge of it, and at his return was almost become extinct; yet it pleased God, by his ministry to add a pleasing number to it in a few years. The account of additions, by baptism, presented to the Association, for the five last years of his life, was 78; many of these are persons of real worth and respectability.

In the September of 1790, he wrote a letter to Mr. Rippon, of London, in which he gave a pleasing account of the beheving Negro church at Savannah, and then added, “My sphere of action is great, having two congregations to regard, at a considerable distance from each other, exclusive of this where I reside; as, also, friendly visits to pay to sister churches, and societies of other denominations, who are destitute of ministers, frequently riding under a scorching sun, with a fever, twenty miles in a morning, and then preach afterwards. Our brethren in England, have scarcely an idea of what hardship we struggle with, who travel to propagate the gospel. I have been in a very poor state of health for two months, but it has not prevented an attention to the duties of my station.

O, what a blessing is health! We cannot be too thankful for it.”

This good man had now almost finished his course. The circumstances of his dissolution may be collected from a letter, written by one of his dear friends, of which the following is an extract:

To the Reverend Mr. Rippon, London. Euhaw, South-Carolina, Oct. 4, 1790, Reverend Sir, I could have wished a more agreeable event than the present had been the occasion of my address to you; but, when I consider I am fullilling the promise made to the Reverend Mr. Cook, of this place, now with God, it seems to afford a kind of melanchdy pleasure. About ten weeks before his decease, he returned in the middle of a sultry day, from preaching to a congregation about twenty miles from hence, complaining of feverish symptoms, with a dry cough, a tightness of the breast, and great lassitude; notwithstanding which, he relaxed not his labors. In this state he contiuued, till two weeks before his exit, when he delivered his last sermon from Ephesians l:6. To the praiseof the glory, of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. He was then so weak, that I feared he would not be able to proreed, but he was greatly supported, and much engaged. He reminded the congregation of the truths he had taught, assured them he felt acquitted of the blood of all men, having fully declared the counsel of God in his ministry. He pathetically addressed himself to his hearers of every age, rank and station, confident, as he told them, that this was to be the last sermon they were ever to hear from him; and then concluded with a solemn farewell. The succeeding Sabbath he was to have preached on St. Helena Island.

On Thursday following, the symptoms began to be so alarming, that I feared he could not continue long. He desired me to read to him the 324th hymn in your Selection, entitled, The Christian remembering all the way the Lord has led him. Some time after, he assured me, he died in the firm behef of the doctrines he had preached, and requested I would write to his friends in England. He sent for Mr. Bealer, an amiable man, and Deacon of his church, since dead, and consulted with him about the interests of the church, particularly about obtaining a successor to the pastoral office; and as the following Sabbath was the sacramental season, when he was assured the ordinance would be administered by his brethren in the ministry, who were to be present on the occasion, he said, ‘“ Next Sabbath, when you are feasting below, I shall be at the banquet above.” He fixed on the place of his interment, and requested that the Reverend Mr. (now Dr.) Froman, of Charleston, should be desired to preach his funeral sermon from 2 Timothy 1:12. For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. From this time he inclined to be silent, and seemed engaged in secret prayer. On Friday was rather easier; and on Saturday morning, he joined in prayer with me Rev. Mr. (Now Dr.)

Holcombe, of Philadelphia, who came to assist at an ordination.

About noon he grew worse. Dr. Mosse, one of the members of his church, who attended him in the last stages of his illness, writes thus, in a letter to a friend, concerning the last day of Mr. Cook’s life: “Mr. Cook appeared to me to have a heart fully resigned to the will of God; some time before his death, he told me, that his whole hope of eternal salvation was built on the sure foundationstone, Jesus Christ; but I do not feel, said he, that great comfort and joy I have often experienced, and which I felt twelve or fourteen days ago, as noted in my diary.” “Visible tokens of dissolution inducing a friend to ask if he should pray with him, he gave assent, and, at the conclusion, audibly said,AMEN; after which, he spoke no more intelligibly, but continued struggling with the last enemy till half past three, Lord’s day morning, Sept. 26, 1790; when he was released from all his labors, leaving a disconsolate widow under great affliction; an only child, a son by his first wife, about 15 years of age, in whom all his earthly hopes seemed to center, as he possesses a love of religion, with a thirst for learning, 4 and a church, almost every member of which looked to him as a common brother in Christ. His remains were interred the same evening, immediately after the administration of the sacrament, when a very tender and animated exhortation, to an audience dissolved in tears, was delivered at the grave by Dr.

Holcombe, who succeeded him in the charge of the church. The funeral sermon, by Dr. Furman, was not delivered for a considerable time after, owing partly to the distance of 80 miles, and partly to several unavoidable hindrances. Mrs. Cook surived her husband but a few weeks, being taken off by a short and severe illness. Mr. Cook was of a middle stature, and slender make, but had acquired a degree of corpulency a few years before his death.

His mental powers were good, and had received improvement by an acquaintance with the liberal arts and sciences, though his education had not been completed. His conversation was free and engaging. As a preacher he was zealous, orthodox, and experimental. He spoke with animation and much fervor; though his talent lay so much in the persuasive, that at the end of his sermon he frequently left the audience in tears. He was taken from his labors at a time when his character had arisen to considerable eminence, and a spacious field of usefulness was opening all around him, and at a time when he was greatly endeared to his people. He was a little in advance of 40 years, at the time of his death. This account of Mr. Cook is found in Rippon’s Register, from which it has been copied, with little variation. Some expressions which regard affairs in America have been altered, to make the narrative conform to the present time. What changes have taken place in the persons and events described in England, I’m not able to state, only that Mr. Percy, who went back to England, is I conclude the same person who is now an Episcopal minister in Charleston, South-Carolina.

Lemuel, Covel was, it is believed, a native of the State of New-York; he was sent out into the ministry by the church in Providence, Saratoga county, thirty or forty miles above Albany. He commenced his ministerial labors under great disadvantages, being both poor and illiterate; and most of his life was spent under the pressure of poverty and worldly embarrassments. But notwithstanding he was obliged to labor almost constantly for his support, such were the astonishing powers of his mind, that he became one of the most distinguished preachers in the Baptist connection. His talents were far above mediocrity, his voice was clear and majestic, and his address was manly and engaging. The doctrine of salvation by the cross, was the grand theme on which he dwelt with peculiar pleasure; and his preaching was of the most solid, perspicuous, and interesting kind. He lived the religion he professed, and exemplified by his conduct the rules he laid down for others. As an itinerant preacher, his zeal and success were equalled by few; and perhaps exceeded by none among the American preachers. Missionary concerns lay near his heart; and in every thing pertaining to them, he seems to have been a kindred spirit to the famous Pearce of Birmingham. He traveled much among the churches in New-York and New-England, and had often explored new and destitute regions. A little while before his death, the church in Cheshire, with which John Leland is connected, had settled him as their pastor, had assumed the debts in which misfortunes had involved him, and his prospects for comfort and usefulness were never greater. As he was much inclined to travel, the church had settled him under the expectation, that he would be with them but a part of the time, and the Missionary Society of Boston most gladly afforded him their patronage what time he wished to itinerate. Dark and mysterious indeed was that providence, which cut off, in the meridian of life, and in the midst of usefulness, this worthy man.

His constitution, naturally slender, had been much impaired by frequent attacks of disease, and by his too extensive labors of various kinds; and while traveling as a missionary in upper Canada, in October, 1806, he, after a short illness, finished his earthly course. Elders Elkanah Hohnes and David Irish were, at that time, engaged in the same field of missionary labors; the last of whom thus describes the mournful event of Mr. Covel’s death. “At this meeting, (that is, at Charlotteville)I heard that my dear brother Covel was dangerously ill. I therefore concluded to leave them, and go and see him, and then return again. The attention appeared so great in many places, that I could not believe it to be my duty to leave them yet. Accordingly, on Wednesday I set out, accompanied by two brethren. We were at this time 60 miles from the place where brother Covel was sick. We rode until we came within about 20 miles, when we heard he was dead and buried! Oh, how my poor heart felt! I was left among strangers almost miles from home, and one of the most dear and intimate friends I ever had, taken away in such an unexpected time! But the Judge of all the earth has and will do right. Brother Covel had done his work, and went off in the triumphs of faith. We came to the place the next morning, and found Elder Holmes preaching his funeral sermon, and a solemn time it was. After sermon we attended to settling brother Covel’s business, and the next day set out to return to Townsend, where we arrived the day following, and found the church met together; and when we informed them of the death of brother Covel, the whole assembly appeared to be most deeply affected. It appears that this church was mostly the fruit of his labors in his former visits. When he was with them last year, he assisted in their constitution. I think I may truly say, that there has never been any preacher in these parts more highly and more universally esteemed than he was; and a greater and more universal lamentation I never heard in any place for any man, than in Upper Canada for him. But alas! he is gone. May God grant, that like Samson, he may slay more at his death than he has done in all his life. Some of the church in Townsend, in their lamentation, would break their silence and cry out, “O, my father in the gospel!” “O that blessed minister of Christ, who was used as God’s instrument to open my eyes — shall I never see him again in this world!” We then joined and sang the third hymn of the second book of Dr.

Watts, and concluded the opportunity in prayer to Almighty God, that he would sanctify this dispensation to the good of many precious souls.”

Mr. Covel left a widow and five children to mourn his loss.

Elijah Craig was one of the first converts to the Baptist preaching in Virginia. When Mr. Samuel Harris came and preached an experience of grace in Pittsylvania, he found his heart could testify to the truth of it, having some time previously experienced a change, which he had not viewed as conversion, but only the encouragement of Heaven to go on to seek. He was now so strengthened, that, in conjunction with certain young converts in his neighborhood, who were of the Regular Baptists, he undertook to exhort, etc. and to hold little meetings in the neighborhood.

His tobacco-house was their chapel. Being most of them laboring men, they used to labor all day, and hold meetings almost every night, at each other’s houses, and on Sundays at the above-mentioned tobacco-house.

By these little prayer and exhortation meetings, great numbers were awakened and several converted.

Mr. Craig was one of the constituents of the Upper Spottsylvania church; he was also one of those who were afterwards dismissed from it, to form the church on Blue Run, over which he was soon afterwards ordained pastor. He was certainly a great blessing to Blue Run church, for under his care they flourished. He was accounted a preacher of considerable talents for that day; which, united to his zeal, honored him with the attention of his persecutors. They sent the sheriff and posse after him, when at his plough. He was taken and carried before three magistrates of Culpepper.

They, without hearing arguments, pro or con, ordered him to jail. At court, he, with others, was arraigned. One of the lawyers told the Court, they had better discharge them; for that oppressing them, would rather advance than retard them, He said, they were like a bed of camomile; the more they were trod, the more they would spread. The Court thought otherwise, and were determined to imprison them. Some of the Court were of opinion, that they ought to be confined in a close dungeon; but the majority were for giving them the bounds. After staying there one month, preaching to all who came, he gave bond for good behavior, and came out. He was also confined in Orange jail, at another time. He was a preacher of usefulness for many years after he commenced; but finally falling too much into land speculations, his ministry was greatly hindered. In 1786, he moved to Kentucky, where, continuing his land speculations, that bewildering pursuit, which has ruined the reputation and usefullness of so many in Kentucky and elsewhere, he became obnoxious to the church, and was excommunicated 1791. How long he stayed out, is not known. He was, however, restored; and continued in the church until the year 1808, when he died.

He was naturally of a censorious temper; and always seemed better pleased to find out the faults than the virtues of mankind. This, however, so long as he was warm in religion, was checked by a superior principle; but after he declined in his religious exercises, and became a land speculator, he could seldom be pleased. As good a proof as any that can be named, of this peevish temper, may be gathered from two pamphlets, his only writings that have ever been published. In the one, he undertakes to prove that stationed preachers or pastors of churches, are precluded, by the Scriptures, from receiving any compensation for their services. In this pamphlet, he takes so many opportunities to condemn preachers for being money-seekers, that it would seem the main design of the publication was, to indulge a fault-finding temper. The maintaining of such a sentiment was censurable, because it is contrary to Scripture and reason and it was certainly ridiculous to advance it in Kentucky, where preachers are so much and so generally neglected by the churches. A person, acquainted with the negligent spirit and parsimonious maxims of the Kentucky Baptists, in viewing the title-page of this pamphlet, would be led to think that the author intended ironically to reprove the churches, rather than to censure the avarice of their ministers. His other pamphlet was a personal philippic against Jacob Creath, on account of some private dispute between Creath and a Mr. Lewis; the former the pastor, and the latter one of the principal members of the Town-Fork church, in the neighborhood of Lexington. Without saying any thing about the merits of the case, or the provocation given by Mr. Creath, candor compels us to say, that no provocation can justify the style of this pamphlet. It is written with a pen dipt in poison. The Baptists are a free people; and every one in these matters, says and does that which seemeth right in his own eyes: but it is to be hoped, that the present, nor any other generation, will ever witness another publication, written in the style or temper of the above pamphlet; and that, too, by one Baptist preacher against another.

Samuel Eccles was a native of Roscoramon, in Ireland, and began professional life in the capacity of a merchant in his own country; but proving unfortunate in trade, soon after his engaging in it, he went to France, and as a friend to liberty, took an active part in the revolutionary war, in which that country was then engaged. But the enormities practiced there, under the name of liberty, both by the government and army, induced him, in a little time, to resign his commission, and come to America. He landed in South-Carolina; and here it pleased God, shortly after his arrival, to impress his mind with the importance and excellence of religion; and, from being a man of the world and a soldier, he became eminent for piety and devotion. Having made a serious profession of religion, his attention was turned to the ministry; and that he might be qualified to perform the duties of this important station to advantage, he availed himself of the opportunity afforded by the establishment of the Baptist Educati