Born: Dayton, Ohio, July 6, 1808.
Died: Baltimore, Maryland, July 8, 1867.
[WHILE preparing for this volume a short notice of the life of this distinguished brother,
we received the sad intelligence of his death. His discourse was already partially in type, and the
engraving nearly ready. Under these circumstances, it was thought best to retain him in the book,
although the original intention was to have no one appear in it but living preachers.
The lesson which this sad event teaches is one of solemn warning. While preparing a book, in which none but the living were to occupy a place, one of those selected is suddenly numbered among the dead. Truly, in the midst of life we are in death.
In consultation with the publishers, it was decided to give a more general notice of the deceased than was at first intended. It was believed this would be just and proper, and highly appreciated. In accordance with this decision, we have collected what material we could, in the short time allowed, from which to write a biographical sketch, and present the following as the result of our labors.]
DAVID STAATS BURNET was the eldest child of ISAAC G. and Mrs. K. W. BURNET, and was born in Dayton, Ohio, July 6, 1808. His ancestors, on both sides, were Scotch, and of very respectable character. His maternal grandfather was Capt. GEORGE GORDON, a native of Philadelphia. His paternal grandfather was Dr. WILLIAM BURNET, of Newark, N. J., a member of the Congress of 1775. He claimed lineal descent from GILBERT BURNET, Bishop of Salisbury, so conspicuous during the great English Revolution, under William, Prince of Orange.
When he was eight years of age his parents removed to Cincinnati, his father having formed a law partnership with the late NICHOLAS LONGWORTH. Subsequently the father served twelve years as mayor, employing the son as clerk, when at the age of thirteen. While in this employment, under the watchful care of his father, young David acquired those habits of industry and faithfulness which characterized him through life, and which laid the foundation of his future career.
He was educated in the Presbyterian faith, and was sprinkled, in accordance with the custom of that sect, about the time he entered his father's office as clerk. But his mind had already begun to investigate; and owing to the interest which he subsequently took in the cause of Sunday schools--having at the age of sixteen become associated with a Presbyterian official in conducting a very successful one--he was led to a close examination of the Word of God. This examination convinced him that some of his religious positions were wrong, and could not be reconciled with the Divine teaching. After prayerful consideration, he determined to change his religious connections, as his views had undergone a radical change, especially on the subject of human creeds and the ordinance of baptism. Accordingly, on the 26th of December, 1824, he was immersed by the Rev. JOHN BOYD, and received into the Enon Baptist Church.
It is worthy of remark that, at this time, he was unacquainted with the teaching of ALEXANDER CAMPBELL and those associated with him in pleading for a return to primitive Christianity; and yet, he rejected the authority of human creeds, and declined to accept any test of faith but the Word of God, basing his application for baptism on Rom. x: 6-10, not knowing that any one else had done so before. On this account, it was with some hesitation that he was received by the Baptists, his views being, in many respects, at variance with their established usage.
Immediately after his baptism he commenced preaching in the name of the Lord, notwithstanding, at that early age, he was offered admission to the West Point Military Academy by his uncle, the late Judge JACOB BURNET.
His life at this time becomes an interesting study, and the moral sublimity of his character challenges our unaffected admiration. Surrounded by a large circle of influential relatives and friends, who, if religious at all, had little or no sympathy with his views of Christianity; with wealth and worldly honors offered him without stint, he turned his back upon them all, and, like the great Lawgiver of Israel, chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures and honors of the world. It is only now and then that a young man, under such circumstances, deliberately selects the profession of an humble preacher of the Gospel. And when one does have the moral courage, by the help of God, to do it, his name should be held in everlasting remembrance among those who "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints."
Although little more than sixteen when he began to preach, such were his piety and earnestness, and such his devotion to study, that he made very rapid growth in his profession; so rapid, indeed, that at the age of twenty he was called to the pastoral care of a church in Dayton, O., and was held in great esteem as an earnest, faithful, and eloquent preacher of the Gospel.
In the autumn or winter of 1827, the youthful preacher united with Elder WILLIAM MONTAGUE, of Kentucky, in the organization of the Sycamore-street Baptist Church of Cincinnati. This church numbered about eighty members at the time of its organization, and adopted a platform of principles much more liberal and progressive than those usually adopted by the Baptist churches at that time. But the principles of the Reformation, as advocated by ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, WALTER SCOTT, and others, now became very generally known, and their influence upon the Baptist churches throughout the West was very great, in some places completely absorbing whole districts, and enlisting a very earnest interest in favor of the plea for a return to Primitive Christianity. The Sycamore-street Church was not free from this influence, and it was not long until a division took place, the two portions forming different congregations, and finally growing into the present Ninth-street Baptist Church, and the Christian Church, corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. Brother BURNET adhered to the latter-named organization, and from that time until the day of his death was thoroughly identified with the movement, and a zealous defender of the principles and practices, as advocated by the Disciples of Christ.
And here again we find him yielding to his honest convictions in opposition to every worldly interest. It is difficult to conceive of a more self-sacrificing act than that which breaks away from wealth, position, fame, friends, relatives, and last, though not least, religious associations, and unites present hopes and an eternal destiny with a movement which promises nothing in this life but ignominy and shame, and, in the popular estimation, nothing in the life to come but everlasting ruin. Only honest and earnest convictions could induce any sane man to enter upon such an unpromising adventure. And yet this is just what the subject of this sketch did. The people with whom he associated himself religiously were, at that time, held in very low esteem by the different religious parties into which the Protestant world was divided. Nor could it be expected otherwise. The plea which they made struck at the very foundation of all the existing religious sects; hence it is reasonable enough to suppose the sects would bitterly denounce a movement which had for its object their complete destruction. This very attitude of the Reformation arrayed all the hosts of sectarianism against it. The contest was a fearful one, and the odds against the little Spartan band who plead for a return to apostolic Christianity were truly appalling. But truth is mighty and will prevail; and our brother lived long enough to see his brethren, who were so heartily despised at first, rise to be one of the most powerful and influential religious people in all the land. And to reach this success, no one labored more steadily and earnestly than he himself, sacrificing ease and comfort, traveling at times from one end of the country to the other, working by day and by night, preaching the Gospel, organizing, churches, writing for the papers, editing books, teaching school, in fact, doing any thing that was necessary toward pushing on the cause which lay so near his heart.
On the thirtieth day of March, 1830, he was married to Miss MARY G. GANO, youngest daughter of Major-general JOHN S. GANO. She had been immersed in 1827 by Rev. JEREMIAH VARDEMAN; and it is due to her to say here that she always faithfully co-operated with her husband in all his efforts to spread the Gospel of the grace of God. In 1833, he entered actively upon the work of an evangelist. He made an extensive and successful preaching tour through the Eastern States, passing through Virginia, then further north to the seaboard cities. The result of his labors in the cities visited was highly satisfactory. Great good was accomplished in stirring up the Disciples to a more active zeal, while a very general interest was created in favor of the Primitive Gospel. Many of the churches that now exist in those localities are the results of good seed sown during this tour.
On returning home he commenced his career as editor and publisher. From 1834 to 1840, he published the "Christian Preacher," a monthly magazine, containing choice discourses and essays on the great themes connected with man's redemption. This exerted a good influence, and had considerable circulation. In 1846, he published " The Christian Family Magazine;" then the "Christian Age," for several years. At another time he published simultaneously "The Reformer," "The Monthly Age," and "The Sunday-school Journal." He also edited the "Sunday-school Library," of fifty-six volumes, and an edition of the " Christian Baptist," in one volume. In all these publications he showed considerable ability, though his powers as a writer were not equal to his speaking talent. His home was in the pulpit, and he was never so able in any other department of labor.
As an educator he had considerable experience; and although he may not have excelled in this profession, his career was highly creditable to him. For two years he was President of Bacon College, Georgetown, Ky., and afterward Principal and Proprietor of Hygeia Female Atheneum, situated on the heights, seven miles back of Cincinnati. In both of these places he gave evidence of good executive talent and respectable ability as a teacher; but it was not the work he most desired; consequently, in 1844, he resumed the pastoral charge of the church on Sycamore street, Cincinnati, and subsequently at the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, serving in all sixteen years.
His ministry in Cincinnati was attended with a steady and permanent success. He never produced any very marked impression on the city, but kept the church in a growing condition, receiving always the confidence of his brethren, and the respect and esteem of all who knew him. While occupying this position, he devoted himself closely to study, taking a very general course of reading, especially in some of the departments of ancient and modern history. Here also he became acquainted with pastoral work, a department of labor not very well understood at that time by preachers of the Christian Church. Owing to the small number of preachers, it was impossible to supply many of the churches with regular pastors. The preachers had to do chiefly evangelical work, and consequently, had little or no experience in developing the resources of a single church. Brother Burnet saw that pastoral labor must be done in the churches, and especially the city churches, before they could ever reach that spiritual growth which would enable them to exert a proper influence on the world. Holding these views, he labored not only for an increase of the ministry, but for such a ministry as would be able to build up the churches as well as convert the world. He did not measure power by many, but by much. Numbers in a church are well enough, but strength is not always in numbers. Discipline, long and patient discipline, is necessary to develop real power, and this can not be had without a thorough organization, and some one to take the oversight, who feels the responsibility of watching for the souls of the people. He did not argue that the pastoral office is a distinct office from the eldership, but that it is a part of the work of the eldership. But as the elders selected by the churches are generally not competent, or else will not perform this work, such men should be provided as conscientiously feel it to be their duty to " feed the flock of God." This course would alone give such prosperity to the churches as would make them the "pillar and support of the truth."
In 1857 he was called to the pastoral care of the church on Seventeenth street, in the city of New York. At the conclusion of one year's labor he resigned, and spent the following year along the seaboard from New York to Texas. The next year was spent in Missouri and Kansas, where his labors were greatly blessed, several hundred additions being made to the churches. It was during this tour that he conducted one of the most remarkable meetings of his life, at Paris, Missouri. For several weeks the interest was so great that all the merchants in the place, by common consent, closed their business houses every day at ten o'clock, to enable them to attend church. It is said by those who heard him, that his power in the pulpit during this meeting was truly marvelous .
When he returned from this tour, he again took charge of the church corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, Cincinnati, but in the fall of 1860, at the earnest solicitation of many brethren, he was induced to resign and take the corresponding secretaryship of the American Christian Missionary Society. This placed him again actively in the general field, and gave him additional opportunities for extending his travels and his already large acquaintance among the brethren. But our civil war beginning in 1861, and the resources of the Society being largely cut off, he gave up the secretaryship, removed to Baltimore, Maryland, and became pastor of the church in that city. There he remained until his death, which took place on the 8th of July, 1867, being just fifty-nine years and two days old.
His last hours were in accordance with his whole life, full of faith and hope. His sickness, in its aggravated form, was of short duration. He had not been well for some time, but no one considered him seriously ill. He had just resigned his pastoral charge at Baltimore, and was about to remove to Louisville, Kentucky, where he had been called to the pastorate of the church on the corner of Walnut and Fourth streets. He preached his farewell sermon to the church which he had so faithfully served, on Lord's day, June the 30th, and the labors of that day apparently developed the germs of the disease of which he died. On the day following, he sought in quietness to relieve himself of his distress, but without success. On Tuesday morning, although quite feeble, and severely suffering, he insisted on meeting an engagement to administer the ordinance of baptism to two persons who had made the confession the previous Lord's day. In the performance of this act he had to be supported to and from the church. On Wednesday he was too ill to rise, and was at once placed under rigorous medical treatment; but the most skillful and unremitting attention was unavailing. The work of death from this time proceeded, and on Monday morning, at eleven and a half o'clock, was accomplished.
It is a pleasant reflection to his friends to know that during his entire illness his intellect was unclouded and his faith undimmed. The evening before he died, he said to those at his bedside: "Brethren, my faith is strong in God; I die in the faith of the Gospel, and have no fears." Next morning, just before death, he said: "My path is clear before me, and I have nothing against any one." Many of his last moments were spent in repeating the Psalms, especially the twenty-third, alternately in Hebrew and English.
On the Wednesday following his death, a large concourse of the brethren and friends assembled at the Christian Church in Baltimore, to pay their last respects to the honored dead. An appropriate discourse was preached by Brother A. N. GILBERT, of Syracuse, N. Y. His remains, in charge of his brother JACOB BURNET, Esq., and two brethren appointed by the Baltimore church, were then taken to Cincinnati, where, on Friday afternoon, his funeral took place, from the church corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. An eloquent funeral discourse was delivered by ISAAC ERRETT, of Cleveland, Ohio, a valued friend of the deceased, and, for many years, a co-laborer in the Gospel, after which the remains were followed by a large number of relatives and personal friends to Spring Grove Cemetery, where they were interred in the family burying-ground.
Thus ended the earthly career of a noble hero of the Cross. His life had been glorious, and his death was triumphant. He rests from his labors, and his works do follow him. In deep sorrow, though not as those who have no hope, we adopt the sentiment of the poet:
"Fallen--on Zion's battle-field,
A soldier of renown,
Armed in the panoply of God,
In conflict cloven down !
His helmet on, his armor bright,
His cheek unblanched with fear--
While round his head there gleamed a light,
His dying hour to cheer.
"Fallen--while cheering with his voice
The sacramental host,
With banners floating in the air--
Death found him at his post.
In life's high prime the warfare closed,
But not ingloriously;
He fell beyond the outer wall,
And shouted, Victory !
"Fallen--a holy man of God,
An Israelite indeed,
A standard-bearer of the cross,
Mighty in word and deed--
A master-spirit of the age,
A bright and burning light,
Whose beams across the firmament
Scattered the clouds of night.
"Fallen--as sets the sun at eve,
To rise in splendor, where
His kindred luminaries shine,
Their heaven of bliss to share.
Beyond the stormy battle-field
He reigns in triumph now,
Sweeping a harp of wondrous song,
With glory on his brow !"
Brother Burnet was in stature somewhat below the medium height; but his presence was so commanding as to impress upon the observer that he was no ordinary man. He had a healthy physical organization, susceptible of great endurance, and a large well-balanced brain; and this accounts for the immense amount of physical and intellectual labor he was able to accomplish, his whole life being characterized by great activity and energy.
His manners were somewhat formal and stiff, arising, doubtless, from a too sensitive nature, which instinctively shrank from familiar contact with any but the most intimate friends. He was always, however, deferential and courteous to even the humblest individual, but his natural reserve sometimes subjected him to the charge of exclusiveness. Nevertheless, he was one of the most social and agreeable of men, but his sociability was not of that free, outspoken kind which disarms criticism and makes every one feel perfectly at home. It was none the less genuine, however, on this account.
As a scholar, he had respectable attainments, having made considerable progress in the study of the languages, especially Hebrew and Greek. He was also very fond of the sciences, and was quite familiar with natural history.
As a speaker, he was more of an elocutionist than a rhetorician. His declamation was easy and graceful, his voice rich and melodious, and his power to control an audience, when fully aroused, unsurpassed by any preacher in the ranks of the Disciples. But, like all great orators, he was not always equal to himself. It required a suitable occasion to bring him out in his full strength. It is said by those familiar with his preaching, that he never was so powerful as when conducting a successful protracted meeting. At such a time he seemed to be inspired, and spoke as if his lips had been touched with a Divine eloquence. His ability as a writer, however, was not so great. His style was too diffuse, and was not always free from rhetorical blemishes, especially in the use of metaphors.
He had fine executive talent, and always made his successes permanent. He never lost any ground. If he did not always go forward, he never went backward. He did not stop in the formative state of a work, but carried it forward to organization. In fact, he was distinguished as an organizer; and the present system of societies among the Disciples owes its origin to his efforts more than to those of any other man. In a letter to the editor of this work, dated Baltimore, February 28, 1867, he says: "I consider the inauguration of our Society system, which I vowed to urge upon the brethren, if God raised me from my protracted illness of 1845, as one of the most important acts of my career." He was President of the Bible and Missionary Societies while they co-existed, and was, at the time of his death, President of the General Missionary Society, having been elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the venerable and lamented ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.
He was also a growing man. He never ceased to devote himself to constant and laborious study. He felt it to be his religious duty to make every sermon he preached better than any he had ever before preached. Hence he did not belong to that class of preachers, who, after preaching a few stereotyped discourses, have nothing more to say. His mind was fertile in resources, and his industry equal to the severest demands of his profession. As he grew in years, he grew also in power, so that his last years were the years of his greatest usefulness. His success in Baltimore, though made at an advanced age, was by far the most decided of his whole life. The church there was in a very low condition when he took charge of it, and owing to the civil war which was then raging, he found many difficulties in the way of any permanent progress. Nevertheless, he continued to work on, trusting in God that good results would come by and by. These results did come; for, during the last year of his ministry, the most gratifying success attended his preaching of the Gospel. Large numbers were added to the church, while the older members were built up in their most holy faith. Never was the cause more firmly established in the city of Baltimore, and never were the prospects more flattering than on the last days of his ministry there.
While it is a source of great regret that he was cut off in the midst of so much usefulness, it affords no little satisfaction to reflect that a life, so full of self-denial and labor, closed at last in the midst of such triumphant success.