• Elias Smith: Reformer, Preacher, Journalist, Doctor
  Elias Smith
  Title Page of The Christian's Magazine
  Title Page Herald of Gospel Liberty
  Home of Herald of Gospel Liberty in 1808
  Home of Herald of Gospel Liberty in 1921
• Horace Mann: Christian Statesman and Educator
  Horace Mann
  Antioch College

 

ELIAS SMITH
Founder of Religious Journalism

 

      This is one of a series of booklets prepared and issued under the direction of the Secretary for Department of Publishing of The American Christian Convention, that the members of our churches and Sunday-schools may be well informed as to the history and distinctive principles of

which accepts and proclaims:

      The Lord Jesus Christ as the head of the church.
      Christian our only name.
      The Bible our rule of faith and practice.
      Individual interpretation of the Scriptures, the right and duty of all.
      Christian character the test of fellowship.
      The union of all the followers of Christ, to the end that the world may believe.

      Several of the booklets are from the pen of John Franklin Burnett, D. D., who has given many years of his life to research and investigation of the subjects he presents. Others are by men of outstanding ability who have given many years of service in the Christian Church. They will present the distinctive principles of the Christian church as essentials in Christian life and the basis for church unity.

      While the booklets have not been prepared [3] especially for study books, yet the subject matter presented can be studied with profit by the individual, students, Christian Endeavor societies, Sunday-school classes, etc., particularly as a part of programs for stated week-day meetings. It is the hope of the Secretary for the Department of Publishing that they will be given by pastors to all new members as they are accepted into church. They are also intended for general distribution, by pastors and religious workers in our churches, to those who may be interested in the church and principles of the Christians.

      No. 1 is The Origin and Principles of the Christians with an account of the co-ordinating of the bodies of different sections.

      No. 2 is a historical and biographical sketch of Rev. James O'Kelly, who courageously stood for individual liberty in religious thought and worship.

      No. 3 sketches the life of Rev. Abner Jones, a pioneer in the thought that character and life are the true test of religious fellowship as over against dogma.

      No. 4 is a sketch of the life of Rev. Barton W. Stone, a scholar and religious teacher who advocated that the Bible is the book of life, and the only rule of faith and practice necessary for a Christian, as over against any formulated creed.

      No. 5 combines sketches of Elias Smith, publisher, and Horace Mann, educator. [4]

      No. 6 gives sketches of the pioneer women workers of the Christian Church.

      That all who use these booklets judiciously may be supplied, they will be sent free on request and payment of postage, 15c. for one dozen, 40c. for fifty, 75c. for one hundred. Order them from The American Christian Convention, or The Christian Publishing Association. Both are in the Christian Publishing Association Building, Dayton, Ohio.

      If the hopes and wishes of the Department of Publishing are even in a measure realized, the effort and expense of the publication of the series will be justified.

O. W. WHITELOCK,      
Secretary for Publishing. [5]

      The student of character easily discovers two classes of mind which stand in conflict to each other, and which quite equally divide leadership in directing society through its many changes. The first of these are the conservatives, who see all possible good in the days that have been; who [7] are satisfied with the attainments of the past; who seek salvation through its light, and regard all innovations as perilous. Such ones have no place for, nor patience with, the reformer. The second are the bold, aggressive men who emphasize the doctrine of progress, embody some new and revolutionary idea which they persistently push. To such ones the past is a gray old hypocrite; they call it the dead past, liar, tyrant, thief; they speak of it as slow and stupid. The truth such pioneers bring, they present in strong terms. They are brave and fearless. They arouse, agitate, disturb, change, rebuild.

      To the latter class the subject of this sketch belonged, for the prominent characteristic of his life and labor was reform. Though his spirit was kindly, there were times when his words seemed to hiss by the heat of his temper. This is accounted for somewhat by the spirit of the times in which he lived. He was born in the town of Lyme, county of New London, Connecticut, June 17, 1769, and was six years old when the embattled farmers met the English at Bunker Hill. His youthful ears heard the "shot that was heard around the world," and he caught the spirit of what it meant. Even at that early age there was born in him a hatred for Tories and Regulars, which more or less influenced all his after years, for in his old age he declared that though his hatred for the Tories and Regulars had departed from out his life, he still had an aversion to their [8] principles. There were times when he seemed to have an aversion toward almost everything and everybody. He says there were times when he was mad at himself and everybody else. During his life he developed an intense hatred for everything ecclesiastical, from the title Reverend to powdered wig and sermon notes that pertained to the established clergy, whether Congregational or Episcopalian; he could not long endure the toil of the pastorate; he loathed black clothes, saying they were more fit for a coffin than for a man; he was tormented with, broadcloth coats; he despised the three cornered hats when worn by clergymen; he cast aside for himself all ministerial paraphernalia, and refused all ministerial and scholastic titles; he felt himself hampered by the doctrines he was expected to preach, and longed for the liberty of the gospel; he turned from Calvinism to Universalism, and back again.^* Any proposed system of theology was promptly and decisively rejected when submitted to him; what he liked one day, he might not like the next; what he taught today, he might deny tomorrow, except those fundamental truths which he had discovered for himself by searching the Word of God. From these he never departed, and for them he had no apology nor modification. To him the doctrine of the trinity, close communion, vicarious [9] atonement, election and reprobation, were repulsive, and he did not hesitate to attack them with terse, crisp, fearless denunciation. He defined the ministry as follows: "Those whom God has made and sent; those whom men have made and sent; those whom the devil made and sent; those who made themselves, and those who never were made."

      One thing should not be overlooked: When he spoke he spoke in his own name, and in no other. He did not give the opinions of sects or groups of men, but his own. He held himself alone responsible for what he taught. No man needed to listen to him to find what others taught. What other men believed, was to him of little moment. He listened to their arguments, but always felt free to accept or reject, as his judgment might approve. He rejected once for all the livery of all parties. When he learned of a people that took the name Christian, to the exclusion of all others, he was glad, and joined them. The name was then unpopular, but perhaps for that reason he accepted it. Had it been the popular name, he might have refused it. He shrunk from the narrow walls of sect and party. He feared and refused the shackles which parties impose. He did not regard himself as belonging to a sect, but to a community of minds that loved the truth, and sought to know it. He sought to escape the narrow walls of any particular church, and to live under the open sky in the broad light, seeing with his own eyes, hearing [10] with his own ears, and following the truth as God enabled him to know the truth.

      The sketch of Elder Smith, as given in this booklet, is not historical, and must be brief, and confined to his character, and for that reason the above facts are mentioned here.

      Two incidents in his early life will indicate quite fully the character of the man, who through all his years decided quickly and acted promptly. When he was about eight years old his mother, who was a member of the Congregational Church, desired to have him sprinkled. She feared that his father, being a Baptist, might object. She had, however, the support of a brother, who promised to aid her in her desire. His father, while he would not approve of the act, promised not to interfere, and to aid in having him go to church on the occasion. When Elias heard of the proposed sprinkling, he was greatly troubled, and made up his mind that he would never submit. On the day appointed for the christening he was induced to go to church, for he much desired to meet a cousin, whom he knew would attend. The forenoon service was concluded, and a recess taken between that and the one of the afternoon. When the afternoon service was about to open, young Smith espied a basin of water before the altar. He inquired of his cousin what it meant, and was told that it was for the christening, and that he was to be baptized. Immediately he rebelled, and started to leave the house. His cousin persuaded [11] him to remain, promising him to open the door of the pew if he decided to escape. When the minister went down the aisle to lead the boys forward, the cousin opened the door, and Elias made a bolt for the meeting-house door, was followed by his uncle, caught, dragged back before the sacred desk, and, as he puts it, "so confined, hands and feet, that I was obliged to receive what they called the seal of the covenant. I felt," said he, "such malice against the minister, and my uncle, that had my strength been equal to my desire we should all have been like Samson and the Philistines, with the house over our heads." He says, "My mother was greatly mortified at by stubbornness, and I at what caused it. I wiped off what they called the seal of the covenant in such a manner as to convince all spectators that the compelled was greatly enraged." From that day on Elias Smith was a sworn antagonist of child sprinkling, and his antagonism was open and forceful. A year later he witnessed a baptism by immersion, but took the precaution to do so from a safe and secure distance, for he was fearful that he might be forced to submit to this mode also. As young as he was, he contrasted the two modes, and in after years declared that he was well pleased with what he saw on that occasion.

      In 1782 his father, with his family, removed from Lyme to Woodstock, Vermont, a distance of a hundred and eighty miles. The larger part of this distance Elias had to travel on foot, but he [12] says he enjoyed it, for the reason that he saw if new towns, large villages, elegant buildings, magnificent bridges, lofty mountains and deep valleys." When they came to the place his father had selected, and he saw the cabin he had erected, the spirit of revolt asserted itself, and he determined to return at once to Connecticut, and suiting the action to the word, he started. He says:

      "After going to it and taking a general view of the house and land around, before the team came up, I determined within myself to return to Connecticut--thinking it better to be there to dig clams for my living, than to be in such a place. I was disappointed, grieved, vexed and mad, to think of living in such a place. Though I was some over thirteen years, I cried; part of the time because I was disappointed, and sometimes for madness. With this fixed determination to return, I went down to the team, and passed by the team down the steep and dismal hill as fast as possible. My father, observing my rapid course, called after me, asking me where I was going; and commanded me to return to him. I feared to disobey him and returned. He asked me where I was going; my reply was, to Connecticut. He ordered me to return. This order I obeyed, though with great reluctance, as it appeared to me better to die than be confined to such a place.

      "The dwelling place stood on the north side of a very large hill, half a mile from any house. Around the house, as it was called, there were twelve acres of land, that the trees were cut down and lay in different directions, excepting a small place where the house stood. There was no way to look, to see far, without looking up, as the trees [13] around prevented seeing any house or cleared land, in any direction whatever. The house was made of split bass-wood logs, locked together at the corners. There was no floor to the house, nor was there any roof to it. The grass had grown up within these wooden walls, and there was one large stump in the middle of the house; to heighten my trouble, as I thought, my father said would do for a light stand. We made a fire by the side of a log, cooked some dinner, and let our horse eat down the grass in the house, before we prepared it for a lodging place for a night. My father had prepared boards for a chamber floor, and shingles for the roof, but had not time to put them on before he returned. The shingles consisted of brown ash bark, eight feet long, and from four to six feet wide. We corded up our beadsteads on the ground; and before night placed over our heads several of those large pieces of bark, and at night, without any floor but the ground, having no door, with a few pieces of bark over our heads to keep off the dew, we lay down to sleep and all rested quietly till morning."

      When only five years old he was greatly concerned about his soul, probably influenced by the Northern Lights, which at that time were visible, and which many people believed a token of some dreadful calamity. At the age of sixteen he was converted, but many times afterward doubted its genuineness. He had made up his mind, from reading the Scriptures that immersion was the true mode of baptism, and accordingly was baptized at Woodstock, Vermont, by a Baptist preacher, at which time he was received to membership [14] in the Baptist church. Soon after his baptism his mind was greatly disturbed on the subject of preaching. After much deliberation and resistance he yielded to the call and entered the ministry of the Baptist church. He preached his first sermon in July, 1790. One reason for his hesitation in entering the ministry was his lack of educational preparation. (His schools days ended before he was thirteen years old). Subsequently, he attended school thirteen days to learn grammar, two days to learn arithmetic, and eight evenings to learn music. He taught all of these in the district schools with creditable efficiency. He was ordained a Baptist clergyman in August, 1792, at Lee, N. H. From that time on his labors were incessant in the interest of the church to which he belonged, though all the while he felt himself in bondage. He traveled over a large part of New England, and wherever he went he was greeted with large audiences of willing hearers. In 1798 he was formally installed pastor of the church at Woburn, by a council, among which were D. D.s and M. A.s all dressed in black and wearing bands. The whole proceeding was distasteful and loathsome to the young preacher, and his soul cried out in bitter protest, in a wail for deliverance, and yet he was passive. The slavery was more galling than ever, and yet he continued a member of the church, and a Baptist clergyman. But inevitably the tie was to snap, and his soul find liberty. By the year 1807 his mind was fully made up to quit [15] the ministry of the Baptist church, and he found the courage to follow his conviction of duty. Of this experience and decision he says:

      "For many weeks my mind was greatly troubled on account of the doctrine I had preached, my connection with the Baptists, the situation of my family, the trouble to be endured in consequence of leaving that place, and my connection with the church. By leaving them, my house and all there must be given up; and I was quite certain the most influential would be against me. My final determination was to risk all the consequence of being dismissed from what they called my pastoral charge. This was done in manner and form. A committee was appointed to settle with, me. They owed me according to anti-christian bargain, for preaching Calvinism, about one hundred and seventy dollars, and I took their note for the same. This was a sin committed ignorantly, which I believe is forgiven me, and which no poverty I hope will ever persuade me to do again.

      "Having settled my affairs in the month of September, 1801, I took my everlasting leave from installations and hireling plans, such bondage as I had endured there, and sat out in a chaise, with my wife and three children, one of which was born there, April 22, 1799, for Salisbury, N. H., and arrived there in a few days."

      His mental disturbance must have been severe, for he says:

      "At the time of leaving Woburn, it was my determination to preach no more, if I could remain in silence, choosing to labor hard for a living rather than to be so tormented with the doctrines I had preached, the bondage endured, and the cruel [16] treatment of such as would be my friends when bound to them, and enemies when free from such bondage."

      And later on he says:

      "While meditating upon these doctrines and my own situation, and saying, 'What shall I do?' there was a gentle whisper to my understanding in these words: 'Drop them both and search the Scriptures.' This command was immediately consented to; and instantly my mind was freed from the entanglement before experienced, and immediately I sung, 'Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler, the snare is broken and we are escaped, our help is in the name of the Lord.' From that moment, my mind was delivered from Calvinism, universalism and deism, three doctrines of men, which people love who do not love holiness. These three things I had been troubled with at times, for many years, but they left me then."

      In his distress he looked about for companionship, and to his delight and surprise he found others who, like himself, were struggling for light and liberty. A number of them met at Sandborton, in the spring of 1802, and organized what they called "The Christian Conference." The membership was almost wholly of Baptist clergymen. Smith had written out a series of articles setting forth his belief, which were read at the meeting. In September of the same year "The Christian Conference" met, at which time the articles were highly approved, and arrangements made for their publication. He says, "This was a bold and important step at this time, for by these [17] articles we condemned all others. The next step was to disown these, and hear Christ in all things." Elder Smith had, previous to this time, deliberately concluded to disown all names but the name Christian, and had taught that the name Christian was the only one for Christ's followers to wear. In the year 1802 he began his work in Portsmouth, N. H., where in 1803 he organized a "Church of Christ," owning Him as their only Master, Lord and Lawgiver, and agreeing to consider themselves Christian without the addition of any unscriptural name. The Baptist churches at Brentwood, Berwick, Madbury, and some other towns, were asked to send their elders and chosen brethren to meet with them, and see if they could give them the hand of fellowship as a "Church of Christ" according to the New Testament. They came and organized a council, proposing to constitute a church according to the order of the Baptists. Elder Smith told them they need not do that, for they were already a church, whether the Council acknowledged them so or not. They agreed to consider them a "Church of Christ" in fellowship with them. Smith says, They thought we were Baptists, though we were called by another name. In June, 1803, Elder Abner Jones visited Portsmouth. Smith says that Jones was the first free man he had ever met. He declares that before Jones came he thought himself almost alone in the world, though the Baptists thought he belonged to their faith and order. He was with [18] them, he says, in body, not having formally withdrawn in any public way, and was then a member of "The Christian Conference." Elder Jones attended several sessions of this Conference, but would not join it because of the articles of faith which had been drawn up and adopted, declaring them both needless and harmful. The church at Portsmouth soon laid the articles aside, and at Hopkinton in 1805 "The Christian Conference" agreed they were useless, and that the New Testament was the only and all-sufficient rule for Christians.

      It was at this point, and at this time, that all barriers were removed and Elias Smith came fully into the fellowship of the Christians, and the Church at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, became a Christian Church in the sense in which we use it when we say Christian Church. The road over which Smith traveled was long, rocky, and full of thorns, but he traveled on, and reached the goal. He believed that beyond the circle of all he knew was the boundless area of eternal truth, and like Columbus in seeking a new world, he risked his all on the unknown sea that he might find the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and he came to a safe port, and anchored safely in the harbor of the sure Word of God.

      In 1805, Elder Smith began the publication of a magazine. He named it "The Christian's Magazine." A reproduction of the title page of this periodical may be found on insert page of this [19] booklet. It was published once in three months, and paid for when delivered to subscribers, at twelve and one-half cents each. In this publication he scathingly criticized the established ministry of the church, and their popular sermons. He held a pen in one hand, and a battle axe in the other. All that pent-up feeling against useless forms, powdered wigs and church paraphernalia now had outlet through this printed mouthpiece. His hitherto trammeled mind simply reveled in the luxury of its freedom, and riotously went forth to hill and to make alive.

      A Mr. Isaic Wilber, then a member of Congress, proposed to Elder Smith to publish a religious newspaper, through which to advocate religious liberty. This proposition appealed to him, and especially so seeing that Mr. Wilber offered liberal financial support, but it was promptly declined, lest by accepting it he would abridge his own liberty of utterance, and unpleasantly involve his friend.

      On September 1, 1808, he issued the first number of the Herald of Gospel Liberty, saying at the time that it was the first religious newspaper of the world. After a hundred years that statement stands authenticated. Many investigations have been made concerning the claim of the Herald of Gospel Liberty to priority, all of which have contributed evidence to the correctness of the claim made by its founder and first editor. This paper has had a continuous existence in fact, though [20] not in form, nor name, since its beginning in 1808. It is now (1921) published at Dayton, Ohio, and is issued weekly. Rev. Alva Martin Kerr, D. D., is editor, and Mr. Netum Rathbun is business manager.

      Elder Smith was untiring in the matter of publishing, including in his literature, pamphlets, printed sermons, books, and working several months on a New Testament Dictionary. Among the contributions to the kingdom of God, the church paper takes high place, and had Elias Smith done no more than to give to the church the religious newspaper, he would be entitled to enrollment among the world's worthies. The religious newspaper ranks with churches, colleges and philanthropies as an indispensable institution to Christian progress. Not one of these could live without the church paper. The conservation and the preservation of the church's prosperity, character and efficiency are in the hands of the editor of the church paper, more than any other one person. His opportunity is to construct or destroy, to elevate or degrade, to build up or tear down, to inspire or discourage, to unite or divide the church. To have spiritual life there must be interest, and to have interest there must be information, and to have information there must be communication, and to this last and all important place the church paper has come in such a time of need.

      The church paper is the open avenue for official [21] communication between conventions, conferences and boards. The proceedings of our general convention, local conferences, and various boards would be known to a limited number only, were it not for this avenue of information. And the same is true regarding the fellowship of the church. The church paper brings the entire brotherhood into fellowship; and without it, such fellowship could not exist, the loss of which would be incalculable. Then, too, it is the unifying force of the whole church, and as such directs the energy of the church toward one common denominational purpose. Were it not so, much of the energy of the church would be spent in the interest of such diversified activities as to make any united effort impossible. And it should be remembered that the church paper is the most effective method of interdenominational acquaintance and co-operation. The various denominations come to know each other quite largely through their church papers, and it is safe to say that no one thing has done more to break down denominational prejudices, and create a spirit of Christian unity, than this denominational acquaintance one with another.

      Every week the editor of the church paper speaks to thousands of hearers, and together they speak to millions, and not one of them all who does not owe a debt of gratitude to Elias Smith, who, with a holy courage and a firm faith, went forth in this line of Christian activity. Smith [22] did not have a constituency on which to depend, nor a purse sufficient for his needs, nor an organization to back his efforts, and but few friends to give him sympathy and encouragement, but with determination that marked his every effort he launched upon the great disturbed sea of human thought, this invaluable avenue of information and inspiration. As I write I am wondering if there is one editor of today who sits in his easy chair, in his well-furnished office, with its mahogany furniture, and its telephone, with its modern typewriter and efficient stenographer, his errand boy, and all the other conveniences which they now have, ever has any real appreciation of the man to whom the honor of giving the world its first religious newspaper belongs.

      But there is another field in which Elder Smith served, and that, too, with zeal, and in which he reached a high proficiency. He practiced the "Thomsonian System" of medicine, and built up a lucrative practice, and many remarkable cures are accredited to his skill as a physician. Morrill, in "History of the Christian Denomination," closes his historical sketch of Elias Smith in the following words:

      "The career of this man was very remarkable and very romantic and checkered. As a minister of the Gospel he had remarkable success in revival work, but failed as a settled pastor. As a reformer he was extreme in denunciation, but utterly fearless in championing what he believed was the truth. Through all his vagaries he clung to [23] the Bible as inspired and God-given. He had a true vision of religious liberty, and never lost opportunity to declare his position. When traveling and lecturing on Thomsonian medicine, he also preached as occasion offered itself. As a journalist and author he was both prolific and brilliant, compelling attention. In the medical profession he won success and notoriety. Had his education been commensurate with his ability, his life-story would read much differently. With a character above reproach, a tender conscience, and a keen sense of liberty, he preserved his manhood through every trial. His labors were prodigious, and in the early nineteenth century New England he was a commanding figure. His portrait, published in 1816, indicates a stature a little above medium, a well-knit body endowed with great power of endurance; his forehead was high, with hair combed well back; the features strong, prominent, with some irregularity of outline; the eyes rather severe and showing effects of early strain and soreness. As a speaker his presence was commanding and his address engaging; for he spoke entirely without notes, with natural voice and ease, avoiding the boisterous manner then quite common with ministers declaiming off-hand."

      He died in Lynn, Mass., June 29, 1846. [24]

 

The house in which The Herald of Gospel Liberty was first printed,
Portsmouth, N. H., 1808. [25]

 

 

The house in which The Herald of Gospel Liberty is now printed.
Dayton, Ohio, 1921 [26]

 

      The richest production of any country is the great man. He is more than mountains, rivers, seas and lakes. He is more valuable than gold, silver and precious stones. There is nothing so great and so good as he. The thoughts of such a man live and throb through succeeding generations. His voice is heard in the parliament of nations, and the congress of states. He is cotemporary with the present, though born in ages past. So far as a man is great and good, he belongs to all time, and so far as he is not this, it is needless to know him. The present should reverently regard the past, for it had its great men whom, perhaps, though the world forgets, may in an important sense still become its teachers. As a people we are grateful to God for our schools, our literature and our pulpits, but we are more grateful for the few or many great men he has given us, among whom we mention the Hon. Horace Mann, the Christian statesman and educator.

      It has not been long enough since Mr. Mann's departure for him to become a memory, if indeed he ever shall. It seems but yesterday since his impressive form was seen amid the trees and shrubbery of the college campus, and his voice heard in the lecture and recitation room.

      Horace Mann was born in Franklin, Mass., May 4, 1796. After he completed his course in Brown University, he studied law. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1827, and in 1836 was President of the State Senate, and for eleven years [28] Secretary of the State Board of Education. In 1848 he was elected to the United States Congress, in place of ex-President John Q. Adams. On September 15, 1852, he was nominated for Governor of Massachusetts, by the Free Soil Party, and on the same day was offered the presidency of Antioch College, situated in what was then a real frontier community of Ohio.

      He accepted the presidency of the college, and at the close of his term in Congress, entered upon his duties. That Mr. Mann stood high in his party is revealed by the following paragraphs taken from a few of the many speeches made after his nomination, and before it was known that he had accepted the presidency of Antioch College:

      "As to the candidate we have nominated, I shall say nothing but that his fame is as wide as the universe. It was my fortune to be, some time since, in Guildhall, London, when a debate was going on. The question was, whether they should instruct their representatives in favor of secular education. They voted that they would not do it. But a gentleman then rose, and read some statistics from one of the Reports of the Hon. Horace Mann. That extract reversed the vote in the Common Council of London. I never felt prouder of my country. I call upon the young men of the Commonwealth, who have grown up under the inspiration of his free schools, to sustain their champion, and to carry his name over the hills and through the pleasant valleys of Massachusetts during the present canvass, with that enthusiasm which shall result in a glorious victory."--Hon. Anson Burlingame. [29]

      "Gentlemen, you have selected, as your standard-bearer in the coming contest, one of the ablest men of Massachusetts, and of the country. For six years he has on the floor of Congress, with fidelity, maintained the principles of the 'old man eloquent,' whose successor he is. The Whigs in convention assembled, a few days after the death of Mr. Adams, whose closing years were devoted to freedom and humanity, resolved that they wished their representative to follow in the track of Mr. Adams, and to be true to liberty. Mr. Mann was the nominee of that convention.

      "Within a few days he has uttered, on the floor of Congress, one of the most brilliant speeches for liberty that ever fell from human lips in our own or any other country. Over the struggles of the future it will exert an influence perhaps unequalled by any effort of our time."--Hon. Henry Wilson.

      The American Christian Convention--then The General Christian Convention--met in Marion, N. Y., October 2, 1850. The main work for which the Convention assembled was to consider the question of education, and to found a college of high rank and suitable equipment, which would not only represent the Christians in educational matters, but which would also represent the principles of the people founding it. The Convention was composed of representative men, from all sections of the United States, and from sections in Canada in which the Christians had churches. The temper and determination of the Convention was set forth in the following resolution, offered by Dr. J. E. Frees, of Philadelphia: [30]

      Resolved, That our responsibility to the community, and the advancement of our interest as a denomination, demand the establishment of a college.

      The resolution was debated at length, and unanimously and enthusiastically adopted.

      Immediately upon the adoption of the resolution, the Convention raised a committee of thirty-four, on Ways and Means, with a sub-committee of thirteen for executive purposes. This Provisional Committee was empowered to locate said college in some "accessible, healthy place, offering sufficient inducements." It was resolved "that we agree on the sum of one hundred thousand dollars as the standard of our zeal and our efforts in raising the means for establishing the contemplated college." It was also resolved "that the sum stated by the committee shall be raised by the disposal of scholarships at one hundred dollars each, which scholarship shall be negotiable. Whoever then subscribes and pays one hundred dollars will own a scholarship, giving such persons the right to keep one student in college continually, free from educational charges, and whosoever subscribes and pays fifty dollars, will have a like privilege half the time." It was provided that no one should be allowed to vote who did not own one full share of stock, and no one was allowed to own more than ten shares. It was also resolved "that at least two-thirds of the Board of Trustees, and a majority of the Board of Instruction, shall at all times [31] belong to the Christian Church." And it was resolved "that the college shall afford equal privileges to students of both sexes." And last of all it was resolved "that our proposed college shall be known by the name of Antioch College." Yellow Springs, Ohio, offered the "sufficient inducement" and the college was located there. Horace Mann was the first president, serving from 1852 to 1859. The college almost leaped into popularity and prosperity, so far as its influence and attendance went. This was partly due to the ability and fame of its president, and partly to its morale. The enrollment of students in 1855-6 reached three hundred and fifty-three, and in 1856-7 five hundred and thirty-nine. At a public meeting, held during the presidency of Dr. D. A. Long, Rev. E. A. DeVore gave an address, in which he said that Horace Mann, the first president, gave distinction to Antioch College. Immediately Dr. DeVore concluded his address, Rev. Jenkyn Lloyd Jones arose and said, "Horace Mann did not give distinction to Antioch College, but Antioch College gave distinction to Horace Mann." He then went on to say that any college, anywhere, founded as Antioch College was founded, and for the purpose for which it was founded, and standing for the principles for which it stood (here he mentioned the principles of the Christian Church) would give distinction to any man--even as great a man as Horace Mann.

      It would require a real imaginative genius to [32] give the reader a picture of the primitive condition of that part of Ohio in which Antioch College is located, as it was in 1852. It is difficult to imagine the feeling of a cultured New England educator when first he saw the state of the country, then undeveloped, in which he had chosen to spend his energies. Some one had written that "the change from the quiet comfort of a New England home would be found matter both for laughter and for tears." When he first saw it the site was a wheatfield, and only two years before the forest trees had been cleared from the college site and adjacent fields, and the huge stumps were still standing. There was great discomfort in the college buildings. The stoves, which were to heat the entire structure, did not arrive for quite a while after the school opened, and the first meals eaten in the dining-room were from tables made by spreading boards across the joists, the dining hall not yet being completed, except the frame work. Stock was running at large in the village and surrounding neighborhood. Twice Mr. Mann planted his garden with seeds and plants from his New England home, only to have it destroyed by the stock that had free range of the streets and alleys. All this, and much more, did Mr. Mann have to endure, for there were various kinds and degrees of trouble, which he either had to settle or ignore, the latter not being like him to do. Many of the troubles he rose above, and pushed on his work. Mrs. Mann, in "Life of Horace Mann," [33] says: "Several years after coming to Antioch, when driving one day over one of those broad wastes, when occasionally a solitary log-house showed that human interests were beginning to be linked with nature, his companion remarked, 'I should not like to be a pioneer.' 'Are we not pioneers?' he answered, not bitterly, but sadly; for he had already been made to feel that the borders of civilization are, in their social aspects, but a short way removed from barbarism."

      His educational career not only included his work as President of Antioch College, but educational lectures, which he gave in many cities, and on many occasions; the secretaryship of the State Board of Education for eleven years; developing the common school system; the establishment of Normal Schools, and a visit to European countries, especially Germany, in order to study the school systems there, that he might the better serve the interest of education in America.

      The force of the man as teacher and mental inspirer is beautifully and impressively set forth in a letter by the Rev. H. C. Badger, who was a student in Antioch College at the time Mr. Mann was President. He says:

      "His mode of teaching was suggestive and stimulating; not so holding his flock to the dusty, travel-worn path as to forbid their free access to every inviting meadow or spring by the way. It was his wont to hear us recite a few hours each week, assigning special lessons to special pupils, giving each some question, some theory, some [34] matter-of-fact inquiry, on which each could pursue investigations at leisure, and prepare a paper to be read before the whole class, and be commented upon by himself. The range of these topics (when political economy was the subject)--taking in questions of agriculture and soil-fertilization, of canals and railroads, of commerce, of cotton-gins or steam-ploughs, of population, of schools and churches and public charities in their economic relations, and of those rising civilizations which bear up art and foster science, both necessitating and making possible greater civil and spiritual freedom, yet having their roots among these lower material conditions--illustrates the comprehensiveness of Mr. Mann's favorite methods of educating and instructing our minds.

      "But even this was not so peculiar to him as a certain personal impulse he imparted to all who came in contact with him,--the impetus with which his mind smote our minds, rousing us, and kindling a heat of enthusiasm, as it were, by the very power of that spiritual percussion. It was in this that he was so incomparable. A man might as well hope to dwell near the sun unmoved as not to glow when brought to feel his fervid love of truth and heartfelt zeal in its quest. The fresh delight of childhood seemed miraculously prolonged through his life; truth never palled upon his mind; the world never wore a sickly light. And this cheerful spirit, which was at bottom nothing but the most living faith in God and man, was so contagious, that indifference, misanthropy, despair of attaining truth, gave way before it, or were transformed into a like hearty enthusiasm.

      "Then, in guiding the new-roused impulse, he was so conscientious and candid, so careful not to [35] trench on the borders of individuality, nor to let our loving respect for him so fix our eyes on his opinion that we should lose the beckon of some proximate truth, that we felt him as gentle to guide as he was powerful to inspire."

      In his early life he was not identified with any church, though none who knew him would question his faith, or his character. He and his wife and his niece united with the Christian Church at Yellow Springs, Ohio, under the pastoral care of Rev. D. F. Ladley, the first pastor of the church. Mr. Mann's membership was based upon his declaration of faith.

      Rev. N. Summerbell, who later on was pastor of the church, but yet during Mr. Mann's life, says: "The Christian Church at Yellow Springs, Ohio, was the only church of which he was ever a member, or the leading principles of which he fully indorsed."

      From The Life of Horace Mann, by Mrs. Mann, I take the following:

      The circumstances of his joining the Christian denomination, of which he speaks himself in one of his letters, has been made the occasion of traducing his character for truth and openness. Any man can be accused of insincerity by those who disagree with him. He has been accused of it, in politics by those who were angry with him for not adopting their views, and because he chose to make his own discriminations, and reserve to himself the right of breaking away from party, when he thought parties forgot great principles in their partizan zeal; and he has been accused of it in [36] religious matters, both by those whose latitudinarian views went beyond all freedom of thought that he attained, and by those who feared all freedom of thought.

      But the whole matter is definitely settled by Mr. Mann himself, who, in a letter to Samuel Downer, dated Yellow Springs, Ohio, November 9, 1853, says:

      Last Sunday, Mrs. M---- (Mann), R----, and I joined the Christian Church. We thought our influence for good over the students would be increased. We had no ceremony of baptism; we subscribed to no creed. We assented to taking the Bible for the "man of our counsel," as it was expressed, with the liberty of interpretation for ourselves; and we acknowledged Christian character to be the only true test of Christian fellowship. That is all.

      I was requested to speak for myself before the church. I said that, ever since I had known the theological views of the Christian denomination, I had found them to be more coincident with my own than those of any other denomination; that I believed the whole duty of man consisted in knowing and doing the will of God; that I desired to express this belief and to show my regard for those who held it by uniting with them; that my views for years had undergone no change. And then I entered an explicit caveat against the idea that belonging to any visible church was essential to salvation, quoting the case of Cornelius, the centurion. I was unanimously voted in; and so of the others, without their saying anything, except through me, that they also wished to join.

      Horace Mann said of the Christians:

      They call themselves Christians, not [37] invidiously, but devoutly. They take the Bible as their rule of faith and practice, and in a true Protestant spirit allow liberty of interpretation.

      It may not be fair to Mr. Mann, nor correct in statement, to say anything more about his religious belief than he himself has said, and yet I feel justified in saying that he believed in one God, the Creator and Ruler over all things; in Jesus Christ as the manifestation of God in human conditions; in the office of Jesus Christ as supreme in human redemption; he did not believe in the Calvinistic teaching concerning sin and the atonement; neither did he believe that the death of Christ was to satisfy the law broken by Adam for all his posterity. He believed that the race was not lost by Adam's transgression, but that it had been ascending steadily from creation. He believed in the possibility of developing human life into the likeness of Jesus Christ. It is quite evident that Mr. Mann believed in Christianity on other grounds than through the miracles recorded of it, and it is equally evident that religion in its most all-embracing sense was the native atmosphere of his soul. The Rev. O. J. Wait had addressed a letter to him asking a number of questions about his religious belief, to one of which he replies as follows:

      "You ask me whether, 'if my lectures should move the whole school to devotion and tender solicitude for their salvation, I would oppose such results.' Well do you say that you 'do not hesitate at my answer.' Had you not added this, I [38] should have exclaimed, 'May God pardon you for such a question!' The most rapturous moments of my life are when young people come to me in private, or write to me, saying that their whole view and plan of life, their ideas of duty and of destiny, have been changed by what they have heard from me. Thanks be to God, the occasions of this kind are not few, but many; and there is scarcely a week in my life, when, by letter or otherwise, I have not some such assurance."

      I can close this brief sketch with no more fitting tribute than in the closing paragraph of his last Baccalaureate Sermon. It was given to the students of Antioch College in 1859:

      "So, in the infinitely nobler battle in which you are engaged against error and wrong, if ever repulsed or stricken down, may you always be solaced and cheered by the exulting cry of triumph over some abuse in Church or State, some vice or folly in society, some false opinion or cruelty or guilt which you have overcome! And I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts these my parting words: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."

      He died at Yellow Springs, Ohio, August 2, 1859, and his remains rest in the North Burial Ground, of the city of Providence. [39]

 

HORACE MANN

 

 

ANTIOCH COLLEGE

 

[ESHM 1-40]

      The electronic version of J. F. Burnett's Elias Smith: Reformer, Journalist, Doctor; Horace Mann: Christian Statesman and Educator (Dayton, OH: The Christian Publishing Association, 1921) has been produced from a copy of the book held by the Disciples Christ Historical Society.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. In the printed text, extended quotations are set in the same size type as the body, but with no leading between the lines; in the electronic text, they are set off as block quotations. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 9:      sumitted [ submitted
 p. 15:     resistence [ resistance
 p. 28:     cotemparary [ cotemporary
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 8 May 1999.
Updated 2 July 2003.