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CHAPTER XVIII.
LETTER TO MR. M'CULLOCH--TO MR. ERSKINE--AN ACCOUNT OF THE TROUBLES AT
NORTHAMPTON CONCLUDED.
the correspondence of Mr. Edwards with some eminent ministers in
Scotland, already introduced, has probably been found among the most
interesting parts of this Memoir; equally creditable to Mr. Edwards,
and to the excellent men, whose enlightened minds at once discerned
his uncommon worth. The admirers of Mr. Edwards are under the deepest
obligations to Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Erskine, whose name so frequently
has occurred, as the individual through whose exertions the various
works which principally form these volumes were first introduced in
this kingdom.--The letters which are found in this chapter will not
diminish the interest already felt by the pious and intelligent
reader.
"To the Rev. Mr. M'Culloch.
Northampton, July 6, 1750.
rev. and dear sir,
It is now long since I have received a letter from you: the last was
dated March 10, 1749. However, you having heretofore manifested that
our correspondence was not unacceptable to you, I would not omit to do
my part towards the continuance of it. Perhaps one reason of your
neglecting to write, may be the failing of such agreeable matter for
correspondence, as we had some years ago, when religion was
flourishing in Scotland and America, and we had joyful information to
give each other, of things pertaining to the city of our God. It is
indeed now a sorrowful time on this side of the ocean. Iniquity
abounds, and the love of many waxes cold. Multitudes of fair and high
professors, in one place and another, have sadly backslidden; sinners
are desperately hardened; experimental religion is more than ever out
of credit, with the far greater part, and the doctrines of grace, and
those principles in religion that do chiefly concern the power of
godliness, are far more than ever discarded. Arminianism and
Pelagianism have made a strange progress within a few years. The
church of England, in New England, is I suppose treble of what it was
seven years ago. Many professors are gone off to great lengths in the
enthusiasms and extravagance, in their notions and practices. Great
contentions, separations, and confusions, in our religious state,
prevail in many parts of the land. Some of our main pillars are
broken; one of which was Mr. Webb of Boston, who died in the latter
part of last April. Much of the glory of the town of Boston is gone
with him; and if the bereavements of that town should be added to, by
the death of two or three more of their remaining elder ministers,
that place would be in a very sorrowful state indeed, like a city
whose walls are broken down, and like a large flock without a
shepherd, encompassed with wolves, and many in the midst of it.
These are the dark things that appear. But on the other hand, there
are some things that have a different aspect. There have in some
places appeared revivals of religion. Some little revivings have been
in some places towards Boston. There has been some reformation, not
long since, in one of our colleges; and by what I hear there has been
much more of this nature in some other parts of the province of New
York, near Bedford river; something in several parts of New Jersey,
particularly through the labours of Mr. Greenman, a young gentleman
educated by the charitable expenses of the pious and eminent Mr. David
Brainerd, mentioned in his Life, which I think I sent to you the last
summer. And since I last wrote to Scotland, I have had accounts of the
prevailing of a religious concern in some parts of Virginia.
And I must not forget to inform you, that, although I think it has of
late been the darkest time in Northampton, that ever was since the
town stood, yet there have been some overturnings on the minds of some
of the young people here, and two or three instances of hopeful
conversion the last summer, and as many very lately.
When I speak of its being a dark time here, I have a special reference
to the great controversy that has subsisted here, for about a year and
a half, between me and my people, about the forms of communion in the
visible church; which has even at length issued in a separation
between me and my people; for a more particular account of which, I
must refer you to my letters to Mr. Robe and Mr. Erskine.--Besides, I
shall endeavour to procure the printed copies of the Result of the
Council, that sat here the week before last, with the Protestation of
some of the members, that these may be sent to you with this letter,
together with one of my books, published on the point in debate
between me and my people; of which I crave your acceptance.
I am now separated from the people between whom and me there was once
the greatest union. Remarkable is the providence of God in this
matter. In this event we have a striking instance of the instability
and uncertainty of all things here below. The dispensation is indeed
awful in many respects, calling for serious reflection and deep
humiliation in me and my people. The enemy, far and near, will now
triumph; but God can overrule all for his own glory. I have now
nothing visible to depend upon for my future usefulness, or the
subsistence of my numerous family. But I hope we have an
all-sufficient, faithful, covenant God, to depend upon. I desire that
I may ever submit to him, walk humbly before him, and put my trust
wholly in him. I desire, dear Sir, your prayers for us, under our
present circumstances.
I am, Sir, your respectful
and affectionate friend and brother,
jonathan edwards."
"P. S. My wife and family join with me in cordial salutations to you
and yours."
After Mr. Edwards was dismissed from his people, several months
elapsed before he received any proposals of settlement. During this
interval, the committee of the church found it very difficult to
procure a regular supply of the pulpit. When no other preacher could
be procured. Mr. Edwards was for a time applied to by the committee, o
preach for them ; but always with apparent reluctance, and only for
the given sabbath. He alludes to these circumstances in the following
letter; in which the reader will find, that he was a decided advocate
for the celebration of the Lord's supper every Lord's day.
Letter to Mr. Erskine.
"Northampton, Nov. 15, 1750.
rev. and dear sir,
Some time in July last I wrote to you, and ordered one of my books on
the Qualifications for Communion in the Church, to be sent to you from
Boston, with the letter. In my letter I informed you of what had come
to pass, in the issue of the late controversy between me and my
people, in the dissolution of my pastoral relation to them; and
ordered the printed Result of the Ecclesiastical Council, that sat
upon our affairs, and the Protest against the said Result, to be put
up with the letter; and also, at the same time, sent letters to my
other correspondents in Scotland, with the books, &c. I have as yet
had no call to any stated business elsewhere in the ministry; there
has been some prospect of my having invitations to one or two places.
The people of Northampton are hitherto destitute of a minister. They
have exerted themselves very much, to obtain some candidate to come
and preach to them on probation, and have sent to many different
places; but have hitherto been disappointed, and seem to be very much
nonplussed. But the major part of them seem to continue without any
relenting or misgiving of heart, concerning what has been done; at
least the major part of the leading men in the congregation. But there
is a number whose hearts are broken at what has come to pass; and I
believe are more deeply affected than ever they were at any temporal
bereavement. It is thus with one of the principal men in the parish,
viz. Col. Dwight; and another of our principal men, viz. Dr. Mather,
adheres very much to me; and there are more women of this sort, than
men; and I doubt not but there is a number, who in their hearts are
with me, who durst not appear, by reason of the great resolution, and
high hand, with which things are carried in the opposition, by the
prevailing part. Such is the state of things among us, that a person
cannot appear on my side, without greatly exposing himself to the
resentments of his friends and neighbours, and being the object of
much odium. The committee, that have the care of supplying the pulpit,
have asked me to preach, the greater part of the time since my
dismission, when I have been at home; but it has seemed to be with
much reluctance that they have come to me, and only because they could
not get the pulpit supplied otherwise; and they have asked me only
from sabbath to sabbath. In the mean time, they have taken much pains
to get somebody else to preach to them.
Since I wrote to you in July last, I received your letter, dated the
30th of April last, with your generous and acceptable presents of
Fraser's Treatise of Justifying Faith, Mr. Crawford's Manual against
Infidelity, Mr. Randal's Letters on Frequent Communicating, Mr.
Blair's Sermon before the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge,
with an account of the Society, and the Bishop of London's Letters to
the Cities of London and Westminster. The view the last mentioned
gives of the wickedness of those cities, is very affecting; and the
patience of God towards such cities, so full of wickedness, so heinous
and horrid in its kinds, and attended with such aggravations, is very
astonishing. That those cities and the nation, and indeed Christendom
in general, are come to such a pass as they are, seems to me to argue
that some very remarkable dispensation of Divine Providence is nigh,
either of mercy or of judgment, or perhaps both; of mercy to an elect
number, and great wrath and vengeance towards others; and that those
very things you take notice of in Isa. lix. are approaching, appear to
me very probable. However, I cannot but think, that, at such a day,
all such as truly love Zion, and lament the wickedness that prevails
in the earth, are very loudly called upon to united and earnest prayer
to God, to arise and plead his own cause, that he would make bare his
arm, that that may bring salvation; that now when the enemy comes in
as a flood, the Spirit of the Lord may lift up a standard against him.
When the church of Christ is like the ship, wherein Christ and his
disciples were, when it was tossed with a dreadful tempest, and even
covered with waves, and Christ was asleep; certainly it becomes
Christians (though not with doubting and unbelief) to call on their
Redeemer, that he would awake out of sleep, and rebuke the winds and
waves. There are some things that afford a degree of comfort and hope,
in this dark day, respecting the state of Zion. I cannot but rejoice
at some things which I have seen, that have been lately published in
England, and the reception they have met with in so corrupt a time and
nation. Some things of Dr. Doddridge's, (who seems to have his heart
truly engaged for the interests of religion,) particularly his Rise
and Progress, and Col. Gardiner's Life, and also Mr. Hervey's
Meditations. And I confess it is a thing that gives me much hope, that
there are so many on this side the ocean united in the Concert for
Prayer, proposed from Scotland; of which I may give a more particular
account in a letter to Mr. M'Laurin, which I intend shall be sent with
this. I had lately a letter from Governor Belcher, and in the
postscript he sent me the following extract of a letter he had lately
received from Dr. Doddridge. `Nor did I ever know a finer class of
young preachers, for its number, than that which God has given me this
year, to send out into the churches. Yet are not all the supplies,
here as elsewhere, adequate to their necessities; but I hope God will
prosper the schemes we are forming for their assistance. I bless God,
that in these middle parts of our island, peace and truth prevail in
sweet harmony; and I think God is reviving our cause, or rather his
own, sensibly, though in a gentle and almost unobserved manner.'
This which the Doctor speaks of, I hope is a revival of religion;
though many things, in many places, have been boasted of as glorious
revivals, which have been but counterparts of religion; so it has been
with many things that were intermingled with and followed our late
happy revival. There have been in New England, within these eight
years past, many hundreds, if not thousands, of instances very much
like that of the boy at Tiptry Heath, mentioned by Mr. Davidson, as
you give account in your letter. We ought not only to praise God for
every thing that appears favourable to the interests of religion, and
to pray earnestly for a general revival, but also to use means that
are proper in order to it; and one proper means must be allowed to be,
a due administration of Christ's ordinances: one instance of which is
that, which you and Mr. Randal have been striving for; viz. a
restoring the primitive practice of frequent communicating. I should
much wonder (had it not been for what I have myself lately seen of the
force of bigotry and prejudice, arising from education and custom) how
such arguments and persuasions, as Mr. Randal uses, could be
withstood; but however they may be resisted for the present, yet I
hope those who have begun will continue to plead the cause of Christ's
institutions; and whatever opposition is made, I should think it would
be best for them to plead nothing at all short of Christ's
institutions, viz. the administration of the Lord's supper every
Lord's day:--it must come to that at last; and why should Christ's
ministers and people, by resting in a partial reformation, lay a
foundation for a new struggle, an uncomfortable labour and conflict,
in some future generation, in order to a full restoration of the
primitive practice.
I should be greatly gratified, dear Sir, by the continuance of your
correspondence, and by being informed by you of the state of things,
relating to the interests of religion in Europe, and especially in
Great Britain; and particularly whether the affair of a comprehension
is like to go on, or whether the test act is like to be taken off, or
if there be any thing else done, or published, in England or Scotland,
that remarkably affects the interests of religion.
I have, with this letter, sent Mr. Bellamy's True Religion Delineated,
with a Sermon of mine at Mr. Strong's ordination; of which I ask your
acceptance, as a small testimony of gratitude for your numerous
favours to me. I ask a constant remembrance in your prayers, that I
may have the presence of God under my unusual trials, and that I may
make a good improvement of all God's dealings with me. My wife joins
with me in most cordial salutations to you and Mrs. Erskine.
I am, dear Sir,
your affectionate and obliged
friend and brother,
jonathan edwards."
"mr. erskine."
"At length," observes Dr. Hopkins, "a great uneasiness was manifested,
by many of the people of Northampton, that Mr. Edwards should preach
there at all. Upon which the committee for supplying the pulpit called
the town together, to know their minds with respect to that matter,
when they voted, That it was not agreeable to their minds that he
should preach among them. Accordingly, while Mr. Edwards was in the
town, and they had no other minister to preach to them, they carried
on public worship among themselves, and without any preaching, rather
than invite him. [37]
"Every one must be sensible," remarks Dr. Hopkins, who was himself an
occasional eye-witness of these scenes, "that this was a great trial
to Mr. Edwards. He had been nearly twenty-four years among that
people; and his labours had been, to all appearance, from time to time
greatly blessed among them: and a great number looked on him as their
spiritual father, who had been the happy instrument of turning them
from darkness to light, and plucking them as brands out of the
burning. And they had from time to time professed that they looked
upon it as one of their greatest privileges to have such a minister,
and manifested their great love and esteem of him, to such a degree,
that, (as saint Paul says of the Galatians,) "if it had been possible,
they would have plucked out their own eyes, and given them to him."
And they had a great interest in his affection: he had borne them on
his heart, and carried them in his bosom for many years; exercising a
tender concern and love for them: for their good he was always
writing, contriving, labouring; for them he had poured out ten
thousand fervent prayers; in their good he had rejoiced as one that
findeth great spoil; and they were dear to him above any other people
under heaven.--Now to have this people turn against him, and thrust
him out from among them, stopping their ears, and running upon him
with furious zeal, not allowing him to defend himself by giving him a
fair hearing; and even refusing so much as to hear him preach; many of
them surmising and publicly speaking many ill things as to his ends
and designs! Surely this must come very near to him, and try his
spirit. The words of the psalmist seem applicable to this case: "It
was not an enemy that reproached me, that did magnify himself against
me, then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou--my guide
and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto
the house of God in company." Let us therefore now behold the
man!--The calm sedateness of his mind; his meekness and humility in
great and violent opposition, and injurious treatment: his resolution
and steady conduct through all this dark and terrible storm; were
truly wonderful, and cannot be set in so beautiful and affecting a
light by any description, as they appeared in to his friends, who were
eye-witnesses.
"Mr. Edwards had a numerous and chargeable family, and little or no
income, exclusive of his salary; and considering how far he was
advanced in years; the general disposition of people, who want a
minister, to prefer a young man, who has never been settled, to one
who has been dismissed from his people; and what misrepresentations
were made of his principles through the country; it looked to him not
at all probable, that he should ever have opportunity to be settled
again in the work of the ministry, if he was dismissed from
Northampton: and he was not inclined, or able, to take any other
course, or go into any other business to get a living: so that beggary
as well as disgrace stared him full in the face, if he persisted in
his principles. When he was fixed in his principles, and before they
were publicly known, he told some of his friends, that if he
discovered and persisted in them, it would most likely issue in his
dismission and disgrace; and the ruin of himself and family, as to
their temporal interests. He therefore first sat down and counted the
cost, and deliberately took up the cross, when it was set before him
in its full weight and magnitude; and in direct opposition to all
worldly views and motives. And therefore his conduct, in these
circumstances, was a remarkable exercise and discovery of his
conscientiousness; and of his readiness to deny himself, and to
forsake all that he had, to follow Christ.--A man must have a
considerable degree of the spirit of a martyr, to go on with the
steadfastness and resolution with which he did. He ventured wherever
truth and duty appeared to lead him, unmoved at the threatening
dangers on every side.
"However, God did not forsake him. As he gave him those inward
supports, by which he was able in patience to possess his soul, and
courageously row on in the storm, in the face of boisterous winds
beating hard upon him, and in the midst of gaping waves threatening to
swallow him up; so he soon appeared for him in his providence, even
beyond all his expectations. His correspondents, and other friends in
Scotland, hearing of his dismission, and fearing it might be the means
of bringing him into worldly straits, generously contributed a
considerable sum, and sent it over to him.
"And God did not leave him without tender and valuable friends at
Northampton. For a small number of his people, who opposed his
dismission from the beginning, and some, who acted on neither side,
but after his dismission adhered to him, under the influence of their
great esteem and love of Mr. Edwards, were willing, and thought
themselves able, to maintain him: and insisted upon it, that it was
his duty to stay among them, as a distinct and separate congregation
from the body of the town who had rejected him.
"Mr. Edwards could not see it to be his duty to remain among them, as
this would probably be a means of perpetuating an unhappy division in
the town; and there was to him no prospect of doing the good there,
which would counterbalance the evil. However, that he might do all he
could to satisfy his tender and afflicted friends, he consented to ask
the advice of an ecclesiastical council. Accordingly a council was
called, and met at Northampton on the 15th of May, 1751.--The town on
this occasion was put into a great tumult. They, who were active in
the dismission of Mr. Edwards, supposed, though without any good
ground, that he was contriving with his friends again to introduce
himself at Northampton." A meeting of the church was summoned, and a
committee of the church appointed; who, in the name of the church,
drew up a remonstrance against the proceedings of the council, and
laid it before that body. The character of this instrument may be
learned, from the subsequent confession of one of the committee of the
church that signed it, who was principally concerned in drawing it up,
and very active in bringing the church to accept of it, and to vote
that it should be presented to the council. To use his own language,
it was "every where interlarded with unchristian bitterness, and
sarcastical and unmannerly insinuations. It contained divers direct,
grievous, and criminal charges and allegations against Mr. Edwards,
which, I have since good reason to suppose, were all founded on
jealous and uncharitable mistakes, and so were really gross slanders;
also many heavy and reproachful charges upon divers of Mr. Edwards's
adherents, and some severe censures of them all indiscriminately; all
of which, if not wholly false and groundless, yet were altogether
unnecessary, and therefore highly criminal. Indeed I am fully
convinced that the whole of that composure, excepting the small part
of it relating to the expediency of Mr. Edwards's resettlement at
Northampton, was totally unchristian,--a scandalous, abusive,
injurious libel against Mr. Edwards and his particular friends,
especially the former, and highly provoking and detestable in the
sight of God; for which I am heartily sorry and ashamed; and pray I
may remember it, with deep abasement and penitence, all my days."
After this remonstrance of the church had been read before the
council, they immediately invited the committee, by whom it was
signed, to come forward, and prove the numerous allegations and
insinuations which it contained; but they refused to appear and
support any of their charges, or so much as to give the gentlemen of
the council any opportunity to confer with them, about the affair
depending, though it was diligently sought; and though, by presenting
the remonstrance, they had virtually given the council jurisdiction,
as to the charges it contained, yet they utterly refused to
acknowledge them to be an ecclesiastical council. The council then
invited the church, as a body, to a friendly conference, to see if
some measures could not be devised for the removal of the
difficulties, in which the ecclesiastical affairs of the town were
involved; but although this was earnestly and repeatedly moved for, on
the part of the council, it was repeatedly and finally denied on the
part of the church.
The council having heard what Mr. Edwards, and those who adhered to
him, had to say, advised, agreeably to the judgment of Mr. Edwards,
that he should leave Northampton, and accept of the invitations which
he had received, to take charge of the Indian mission, as well as of
the church and congregation, at Stockbridge; of which a more
particular account will be given.
As a proper close to this melancholy story, and to confirm and
illustrate what has been related, the following letter from Joseph
Hawley, Esq. to the Rev. Mr. Hall, of Sutton, published in a weekly
newspaper in Boston, May 9, 1760, is here inserted. This gentleman was
a near kinsman of Mr. Edwards, [38] though his active opponent; he was
a lawyer of distinguished talents and eloquence.
"To the Rev. Mr. Hall, of Sutton.
Northampton, May 9, 1760.
rev. sir,
I have often wished that every member of the two ecclesiastical
councils, that formerly sat in Northampton, upon the unhappy
differences, between our former most worthy and reverend pastor, Mr.
Jonathan Edwards, and the church here, whereof you were a member; I
say, Sir, I have often wished every one of them truly knew my real
sense of my own conduct in the affair, that the one and the other of
the said councils are privy to. As I have long apprehended it to be my
duty, not only to humble myself before God, for what was unchristian
and sinful in my conduct before the said councils, but also to confess
my faults to them, and take shame to myself before them; so I have
often studied with myself, in what manner it was practicable for me to
do it. When I understood that you, Sir, and Mr. Eaton, were to be at
Cold-Spring at the time of the late council, I resolved to improve the
opportunity, fully to open my mind there to you and him thereon; and
thought that probably some method might be then thought of, in which
my reflections on myself, touching the matters above hinted at, might
be communicated to most, if not all, the gentlemen aforesaid, who did
not reside in this county. But you know, Sir, how difficult it was for
us to converse together by ourselves, when at Cold-Spring, without
giving umbrage to that people; I therefore proposed writing to you
upon the matters, winch I had then opportunity only most summarily to
suggest; which you, Sir, signified would be agreeable to you. I
therefore now undertake what I then proposed, in which I humbly ask
the divine aid; and that I may be made most freely willing, fully to
confess my sin and guilt to you and the world, in those instances,
which I have reason to suppose fell under your notice, as they were
public and notorious transactions, and on account whereof, therefore,
you, Sir, and all others who had knowledge thereof, had just cause to
be offended at me.
And in the first place, Sir, I apprehend that, with the church and
people of Northampton, I sinned and erred exceedingly, in consenting
and labouring, that there should be so early a dismission of Mr.
Edwards from his pastoral relation to us, even upon the supposition
that he was really in a mistake in the disputed point; not only
because the dispute was upon matters so very disputable in themselves,
and at the greatest remove from fundamental, but because Mr. Edwards
so long had approved himself a most faithful and painful pastor to the
said church. He also changed his sentiments, in that point, wholly
from a tender regard to what appeared to him to be truth; and had made
known his sentiments with great moderation, and upon great
deliberation, against all worldly motives, from mere fidelity to his
great Master, and a tender regard to the souls of his flock, as he had
the highest reason to judge. These considerations now seem to me
sufficient; and would (if we had been of a right spirit) have greatly
endeared him to his people, and made us to the last degree reluctant
to part with him, and disposed us to the exercise of the greatest
candour, gentleness, and moderation. How much of the reverse whereof
appeared in us I need not tell you, Sir, who were an eye-witness of
our temper and conduct.
And, although it does not become me to pronounce decisively, on a
point so disputable, as was then in dispute; yet I beg leave to say,
that I really apprehend, that it is of the highest moment to the body
of this church, and to me in particular, most solicitously to inquire,
whether, like the Pharisees and lawyers in John Baptist's time, we did
not reject the counsel of God against ourselves, in rejecting Mr.
Edwards and his doctrine, which was the ground of his dismission. And
I humbly conceive, that it highly imports us all of this church, most
seriously and impartially to examine what that most worthy and able
divine published, about that time, in support of the same, whereby he
being dead yet speaketh. But there were three things, Sir, especially,
in my own particular conduct before the first council, which have been
justly matter of great grief and much trouble to me, almost ever
since; vis.
In the first place, I confess, Sir, that I acted very immodestly and
abusively to you, as well as injuriously to the church and myself,
when with much zeal and unbecoming assurance, I moved the council that
they would interpose to silence and stop you, in an address you were
making one morning to the people, wherein you were, if I do not
forget, briefly exhorting them to a tender remembrance of the former
affection and harmony, that had long subsisted between them and their
reverend pastor, and the great comfort and profit which they
apprehended that they had received from his ministry; for which, Sir,
I heartily ask your forgiveness; and I think, that we ought, instead
of opposing an exhortation of that nature, to have received it with
all thankfulness.
Another particular of my conduct before that council, which I now
apprehend was criminal, and was owing to the want of that tender
affection, and reverend respect and esteem for Mr. Edwards, which be
had highly merited of me, was my strenuously opposing the adjournment
of the matters submitted to that council for about two months; for
which I declare myself unfeignedly sorry; and I with shame remember,
that I did it in a peremptory, decisive, vehement, and very immodest
manner.
But, Sir, the most criminal part of my conduct at that time, that I am
conscious of, was my exhibiting to that council a set of arguments in
writing, the drift whereof was to prove the reasonableness and
necessity of Mr. Edwards's dismission, in case no accommodation was
then effected with mutual consent; which writing, by clear
implication, contained some severe, uncharitable, and, if I remember
right, groundless and slanderous imputations on Mr. Edwards, expressed
in bitter language. And although the original draft thereof was not
done by me, yet I foolishly and sinfully consented to copy it; and, as
agent for the church, to read it, and deliver it to the council; which
I could never have done, if I had not had a wicked relish for perverse
things: which conduct of mine I confess was very sinful, and highly
provoking to God; for which I am ashamed, confounded, and have nothing
to answer.
As to the church's remonstrance, as it was called, which their
committee preferred to the last of the said councils; (to all which I
was consenting, and in the composing whereof I was very active, as
also in bringing the church to their vote upon it;) I would, in the
first place, only observe, that I do not remember any thing, in that
small part of it, which was plainly discursive of the expediency of
Mr. Edwards's re-settlement here, as pastor to a part of the church,
which was very exceptionable. But as to all the residue, which was
much the greatest part thereof, (and I am not certain that any part
was wholly free,) it was every where interlarded with unchristian
bitterness, sarcastical and unmannerly insinuations. It contained
divers direct, grievous, and criminal charges and allegations against
Mr. Edwards, which, I have since good reason to suppose, were all
founded on jealous and uncharitable mistakes, and so were really gross
slanders; also many heavy and reproachful charges upon divers of Mr.
Edwards's adherents, and some severe censures of them all
indiscriminately; all of which, if not wholly false and groundless,
were altogether unnecessary, and therefore highly criminal. Indeed, I
am fully convinced, that the whole of that composure, excepting the
small part thereof above mentioned, was totally unchristian--a
scandalous, abusive, injurious libel, against Mr. Edwards and his
particular friends, especially the former, and highly provoking and
detestable in the sight of God; for which I am heartily sorry and
ashamed; and pray that I may remember it with deep abasement and
penitence all my days. Nor do I now think, that the church's conduct
in refusing to appear, and attend before that council, to support the
charges and allegations in the said remonstrance against Mr. Edwards
and the said brethren, which they demanded, was ever vindicated, by
all the subtle answers that were given to the said demand; nor do I
think that our conduct in that instance was capable of a defense. For
it appears to me, that, by making such charges against them before the
said council, we necessarily so far gave that council jurisdiction;
and I own with sorrow and regret, that I zealously endeavoured, that
the church should perseveringly refuse to appear before the said
council, for the purpose aforesaid; which I humbly pray God to
forgive.
Another part of my conduct, Sir, of which I have long repented, and
for which I hereby declare my hearty sorrow, was my obstinate
opposition to the last council's having any conference with the
church; which the said council earnestly and repeatedly moved for, and
which the church, as you know, finally denied. I think it discovered a
great deal of pride and vain sufficiency in the church, and showed
them to be very opinionative, especially the chief sticklers, one of
whom I was; and think it was running a most presumptuous risk, and
acting the part of proud scorners, for us to refuse hearing, and
candidly and seriously considering, what that council could say or
oppose to us; among whom, there were divers justly in great reputation
for grace and wisdom.
In these instances, Sir, of my conduct, and in others, (to which you
were not privy,) in the course of that most melancholy contention with
Mr. Edwards, I now see that I was very much influenced by vast pride,
self-sufficiency, ambition, and vanity. I appear to myself vile, and
doubtless much more so to others, who are more impartial; and do, in
the review thereof, abhor myself, and repent sorely: and if my own
heart condemns me, it behoves me solemnly to remember, that God is
greater and knoweth all things. I hereby own, Sir, that such treatment
of Mr. Edwards, wherein I was so deeply concerned and active, was
particularly and very aggravatedly sinful and ungrateful in me,
because I was not only under the common obligations of each individual
of the society to him, as a most able, diligent, and faithful pastor;
but I had also received many instances of his tenderness, goodness,
and generosity to me as a young kinsman, whom he was disposed to treat
in a most friendly manner.
Indeed, Sir, I must own, that, by my conduct in consulting and acting
against Mr. Edwards, within the time of our most unhappy disputes with
him, and especially in and about that abominable `remonstrance,' I
have so far symbolized with Balaam, Ahitophel, and Judas, that I am
confounded and filled with terror, oftentimes, when I attend to the
most painful similitude. And I freely confess, that, on account of my
conduct above mentioned, I have the greatest reason to tremble at
those most solemn and awful words of our Saviour, Matt. xviii. 6..
`Whoso shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, it
were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea;' and those in Luke x.
16.. `He that despiseth you, despiseth me: and he that despiseth me,
despiseth him that sent me;' and I am most sorely sensible that
nothing but that infinite grace and mercy, which saved some of the
betrayers and murderers of our blessed Lord, and the persecutors of
his martyrs, can pardon me; in which alone I hope for pardon, for the
sake of Christ, whose blood, blessed be God, cleanseth from all sin.
On the whole, Sir, I am convinced, that I have the greatest reason to
say as David, `Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy
loving-kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions; wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin: for I acknowledge my transgressions, and my
sin is ever before me. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all
mine iniquities; create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me; cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy
Holy Spirit from me; restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and
uphold me with thy free Spirit. (Ps. li. 1-3, 9-12.)
And I humbly apprehend, that it greatly concerns the church of
Northampton most seriously to examine, whether the many hard speeches,
spoken by many particular members against their former pastor, some of
which the church really countenanced, (and especially those spoken by
the church as a body, in that most vile `remonstrance,') are not so
odious and ungodly, as to be utterly incapable of defense; whether the
said church were not guilty of a great sin, in being so willing and
disposed, for so slight a cause, to part with so faithful and godly a
minister as Mr. Edwards was; and whether ever God will hold us
guiltless, till we cry to him for Christ's sake to pardon and save us
from that judgment, which such ungodly deeds deserve. And I most
heartily wish and pray, that the town and church of Northampton would
seriously and carefully examinee, Whether they have not abundant cause
to judge, that they are now lying under great guilt in the sight of
God; and whether those of us, who were concerned in that most awful
contention with Mr. Edwards, can ever more reasonably expect God's
favour and blessing, till our eyes are opened, and we become
thoroughly convinced that we have greatly provoked the Most High, and
have been injurious to one of the best of men; and until we shall be
thoroughly convinced, that we have dreadfully persecuted Christ, by
persecuting and vexing that just man, and servant of Christ; until we
shall be humble as in the dust on account of it, and till we openly,
in full terms, and without baulking the matter, confess the same
before the world, and most humbly and earnestly seek forgiveness of
God, and do what we can to honour the memory of Mr. Edwards, and clear
it of all the aspersions which we unjustly cast upon him; since God
has been pleased to put it beyond our power to ask his forgiveness.
Such terms, I am persuaded, the great and righteous God will hold us
to, and that it will be vain for us to hope to escape with impunity in
any other way. This I am convinced of with regard to myself, and this
way I most solemnly propose to take myself (if God in his mercy shall
give me opportunity); that so, by making free confession to God and
man of my sin and guilt, and publicly taking shame to myself, I may
give glory to the God of Israel, and do what in me lies to clear the
memory of that venerable man from the wrongs and injuries I was so
active in bringing on his reputation and character; and I thank God,
that he has been pleased to spare my life to this time, and am sorry
that I have delayed the affair so long. Although I made the substance
of almost all the foregoing reflections in writing, but not exactly in
the same manner, to Mr. Edwards and the brethren who adhered to him,
in Mr. Edwards's life, and before he removed from Stockbridge, and I
have reason to believe that he, from his great candour and charity,
heartily forgave me and prayed for me; yet, because that was not
generally known, I look on myself obliged to take further steps; for
while I kept silence my bones waxed old, &c. For all these my great
sins, therefore, in the first place, I humbly and most earnestly ask
forgiveness of God; in the next place, of the relatives and near
friends of Mr. Edwards. I also ask the forgiveness of all those, who
were called Mr. Edwards's adherents; and of all the members of the
ecclesiastical councils above mentioned; and lastly, of all christian
people, who have had any knowledge of these matters.
I have no desire, Sir, that you should make any secret of this letter;
but that you would communicate the same to whom you shall judge
proper: and I purpose, if God shall give me opportunity, to procure it
to be published in some one of the public newspapers; for I cannot
devise any other way of making known my sentiments of the foregoing
matters to all who ought to be acquainted therewith, and therefore I
think I ought to do it, whatever remarks I may foresee will be made
thereon. Probably, when it comes out, some of my acquaintance will
pronounce me quite overrun with vapours; others will be furnished with
matter for mirth and pleasantry; others will cursorily pass it over,
as relating to matters quite stale; but some, I am persuaded, will
rejoice to see me brought to a sense of my sin and duty; and I myself
shall be conscious, that I have done something of what the nature of
the case admits, towards undoing what is, and long has been, to my
greatest remorse and trouble, that it was ever done.
Sir, I desire that none would entertain a thought, from my having
spoken respectfully of Mr. Edwards, that I am disaffected to our
present pastor; for the very reverse is true; and I have a reverend
esteem, real value, and hearty affection for him; and bless God, that
he has, notwithstanding all our former unworthiness, given us one to
succeed Mr. Edwards, who, as I have reason to hope, is truly faithful.
I conclude this long letter, by heartily desiring your prayers, that
my repentance of my sins above mentioned may be unfeigned and genuine,
and such as God in infinite mercy, for Christ's sake, will accept; and
I beg leave to subscribe myself,
Sir, your real, though very unworthy friend,
and obedient servant,
joseph hawley."
On the whole it is evident, that while the dismission of Mr. Edwards
was, in itself considered, an event greatly to be regretted, it was at
the same time, in every part of it, most honourable to himself, and
proved in its ultimate consequences an essential blessing to the
church of God. Probably no one event, of apparently malignant aspect,
ever did so much towards reforming the churches of New England. Many
difficult subjects of theology, also, needed at that time to be
thoroughly examined and illustrated; and to this end, some individual
of expanded views and profound penetration, as well as of correct
faith and elevated piety, was to be found, who could give the strength
of his talents and his time to these investigations. The providence of
God had selected Mr. Edwards for this important office; but so
numerous and engrossing were the duties of the ministry at
Northampton, that, had he remained there, he could not have fulfilled
it but in part. To give him abundant opportunity and advantage for the
work assigned him, he was taken from that busy field at the best time
of life, when his powers had gained their greatest energy, when the
field of thought and inquiry had been already extensively surveyed,
and when the labours of the pulpit were fully provided for and
anticipated; and was transferred to the retirement and leisure of a
remote frontier village. There he prepared, within a little period,
four of the ablest and most valuable works which the church of Christ
has in its possession.
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[37] This vote appears to have been passed in the latter part of
November, a few weeks only before Mr. Edwards received proposals of
settlement, which he ultimately accepted.
[38] The father of Mr. Hawley married Rebekah, the fifth daughter of
the Rev. Mr. Stoddard, the sister of Mr. Edwards's mother.