The same modesty which caused the eagerly expected preacher to avoid the crowds at the wharf, was evinced at the close of the religious service; when he made haste into the porch, on purpose to avoid Mr. Sewall's taking notice of [him] in public. How little did the meekhearted Christian scholar think, in that interesting hour, that he had reached the scene of his life-long labors, and the sacred spot of ground with which his name and virtues would ever after be associated! Was it the hope of hearing his college classmate, Mr. Sewall, preach; was it the fact that the wishes of the Old South people respecting him had come to his knowledge; or was it the good hand of God, foretokening his purpose to bless a beloved Church, which guided the footsteps of that still and thoughtful worshipper ?

2

On the 25th of August, 1717, more than a month after his arrival in this country, Mr. Prince preached, for the first time, in Old South Meeting-house. "September 29th, he was requested to supply the pulpit half the time for two months, and complied. December 20th, the Church gave him a call; which he accepted February 9th, and was ordained October 1, 1718." In this connection, with his friend Sewall for an associate, he labored forty years-till he went from his work to his reward. Dr. Wisner, speaking of the co-pastorate of these two men, says, it furnished "an example of mutual affection and union of purpose and pursuit, for which the annals of collegiate charges will be searched for a parallel, I fear, almost in vain." One cause of this unfaltering brotherly love, was, no doubt, the custom of the pastors to meet often for seasons of prayer. This is the source to which Dr. Wisner traces their life-long harmony and affection. But were there not other causes, some of them lying back of this? Though Dr. Sewall had been

1 Robbins MS., Vol. iii.

4

2 Dr. Wisner's Hist. Old South Church. 3 Ibid. 4 Mr. Sewall was made Doctor of Divinity, by the

pastor of the Old South Church more than five years, when Mr. Prince was settled, yet in age Mr. Prince was his senior by a year and three months. Yet so unassuming, and so unambitious, was the great New-England Annalist, that in his sermons we find him alluding to his colleague as 'your Rev. senior pastor."5 The difference in age was so small, however, that the two pastors could not well help agreeing, in their plans for the oversight of the Church. The prosperity of the parish was an object to be sought equally by both, since it could not reflect at all on the past course of either. They had, moreover, been "intimate" friends; and the fact that they were classmates in college must have had its favorable influ

ence.

Besides, they were treated by their people in a strictly impartial manner, which left no occasion for a sense of injustice on either side. They did not, like some parishes, cut down the salary of the "senior" pastor; nor did they compel the new associate,-by whom a full share of the joint labor was no doubt performed,—to take a smaller sum than his colleague. On the 2d of October, 1719, the day after the first anniversary of Mr. Prince's ordination, and a few weeks before his marriage,—the Old South Church passed the following votes: "VotedThat three pounds, five shillings per week be allowed, and by the deacons paid, to Mr. Joseph Sewall, our Reverend Pastor. Voted-That three pounds five shillings per week, be allowed and paid to Mr. Thomas Prince, our Reverend Pastor, from the time of his marriage; and that he be desired, by the committee aforementioned, to remove into one of the ministerial houses of the Church, as soon as may be." Such records as this are highly honorable to the men who ordered them; and it is not to be wondered at, that University of Glasgow, in 1731-an honor which Mr. Prince never received, though the older, and much the more learned man of the two.

6

5 Sermon on the death of his daughter Deborah Prince, et. al.

6 Old South Records, Bigelow's Copy, Vol. i. p. 29.

such pastors as Sewall and Prince,—with such a people,-toiled together happily and harmoniously. And the history of that joint pastorate, is a sufficient refutation of the charge, so often preferred in more modern days, that such a relation is inconsistent with a contented mind and great public usefulness.

The house which was so promptly provided for Mr. Prince, and into which he soon moved, stood on the east side of what is now Washington Street, nearly opposite the present publishing-house of Messrs. Ticknor & Co. It had formerly been the residence of Governor Winthrop, who once owned the "platt" of ground now in possession of the Old South Society; and Mr. Prince, in the advertisement to the Second Part of his Annals, says that Winthrop "deceased in the very house I dwell in." The structure was of wood, and was taken down by the British to serve them for fuel during their occupancy of the Old South Meeting-house. The lady who presided as wife and mother in this sumptuous home, was " Mrs." Deborah Denny, who had accompanied the young minister on his return from England. The title prefixed to her name does not indicate that she had previously been married; Mr. Prince was wont to mention unmarried ladies in this way, after the English fashion of that time. His daughter, who was never married, and who died near the age of twenty-one, is called "Mrs. Deborah Prince" in his funeral sermon for her. Mr. Prince was the father of five children. The eldest of these was Thomas. He seems to have inherited his father's love of learning, and was graduated at Harvard College. He was the editor of the Christian History, published during the Great Awakening, and in which Mr. Whitfield is so warmly defended. But his early promise of usefulness was not fulfilled; for he became the victim of wasting sickness while still a young man, and died in the 27th year of his age. The Boston Gazette says, in noticing his "lamented" death, that "he

was a young gentleman of great penetration, solid judgment, and of sober pious. conversation." Mr. Prince never had another son. Of his four daughters, the two eldest died in early womanhood, and the youngest in infancy. His only child that ever married, was Sarah, the youngest but one. She became the wife of Lieutenant-Governor Gill,-not, however, till after her father's death; and she died childless, the 5th of August, 1771.1 Hence the family became extinct thirteen years after the decease of its founder; and the name has been perpetuated only through some of the collateral branches. We may say, in this connection, that Mr. Prince, near the close of his life, was the owner of several large tracts of land, It is probable that they came into his possession mainly by inheritance. He left land "in Shepscut, in the county of York," beyond Hartford in Connecticut Colony," "in the county of Hampshire," "in Boston," "in Plymouth Colony," "in Wareham," "in Leicester, in the county of Worcester," "in the East and West Wing of Rutland." The "East Wing of Rutland" is now a town by itself, bearing the name of PRINCE-TON. Lieutenant Governor Gill, who inherited the estate, and had his "mansion" here, probably caused it to be thus named, in honor of his distinguished father-in-law. 2

The public ordination of Mr. Prince, as we have already stated, took place October 1, 1718. The services of the day were described as follows, by Judge Sewall: "Mr. Wardsworth began with prayer, very well, about past ten. Mr. Prince preached from Heb. 13:17. Mr. Sewall prayed. Dr. Increase Mather asked if any had to object; asked the Church vote, who were in the gallery, fronting the pulpit; and asked Mr. Prince's acceptance of the call. Dr. Increase Mather, Dr. Cotton Mather, Mr. Wardsworth, Colman, Sewall, lay their hands on his head. Dr. Increase Mather prays, gives the 1

884.

Drake's Memoirs, N. E. Hist.-Gen. Reg., pp. 383, 2 Drake's History of Boston, p. 638, (n.)

66

charge, prays again. Dr. Cotton Mather gives the right hand of fellowship. Dr. Increase Mather, when he declared whom the Elders and messengers had appointed to do it, said it was a good practice. Sung Psal. 68, 17-20;1 and Mr. Prince gave the blessing." Of the sermon, preached by the Pastor elect, Dr. Chauncy says, no ordinary man could write" it. It displays a critical acquaintance with the original text of the Scriptures, and a wide range of study in history, theology, and classic literature. The first part of it is very much divided, and subdivided; and the several topics are discussed in the most comprehensive manner-the whole showing that the young Pastor need not fear to measure swords with the most learned of his associates. Toward the close of the discourse, however, he drops the more scholastic style, and addresses his hearers in that direct and simple speech, which was most natural to him. Turning to his future charge, and associating his colleague with himself in thought, he says, "I must draw to a close, with humbly desiring these things of you: that you would indulge and nourish in you a dear affection for us; that you would account us the compassionate and faithful friends of your precious souls, and endeavor to cultivate a peculiar acquaintance with us; that you would freely repair to us under all your afflictions and spiritual troubles; that you would let us know how you benefit and edify by our ministry; that you would always give us a free and open access to your hearts and consciences; that you would never forget to pour out your earnest prayers every day for us." We have been obliged to abridge this extract, and to forbear quoting much more in the same strain-all going to show that the speaker thought more of men's souls than of any reputation for learning, and that the near view of his responsibility as a Christian Pastor made him eager only to do good. He was never

1 Bay State Collection.

2 Wisner's Hist. O. S. Church, p. 101, (n.)

.....

pedantic, even in his published works; though these often exhibit vast erudition; and his spoken discourses seem always to have been in that plain, Saxon style, which made it easy for a child to catch the thought. Many illustrations of this might be given, had we the space for them. He ever spoke of himself in terms of disparagement. It would be difficult to find, in all his writings, an expression which savors of vanity or ambition. In this particular he differed vastly from his learned friends, the Mathers. He even doubted his fitness for the pastoral office, and says, I "should scarcely have engaged in it, were it not for the persuasion of others, and the repeated call of Providence by so many churches.3 . . . . . There is another consideration," he also says, "which affects me with the utmost concern and abasement; and that is my succeeding such great and illustrious persons as have so conspicuously distinguished and adorned your Society, and made it the more renowned and venerable throughout all the country." We should doubt the sincerity of such expressions-knowing, as we do, that Mr. Prince never had an equal for learning in the pastorate of the Old South Church were they not in entire harmony with the life and style of the man. This extreme self-distrust caused Mr. Prince to be a very dependent person socially. He threw himself on the affection of his people. He did not conceal the longing of his heart, for their sympathy and tender forbearance. His private trials were often unbosomed in the public discourse. He felt that all troubles ought to enter into the common stock, among those who are one in Christ. His sermons reveal this yearning for the love of his people, in many places; and he was wont to speak of their joys and sorrows, as freely as of his own. His preaching abounded in facts, therefore, and was a kind of journal of the experience of the parish, with pious reflections. His personal appearance

3 He had received calls from at least three churches in England.

4" Ordination Sermon," Dedication, pp. 2, 3, 4.

must have added a peculiar charm to this affectionate, confiding style of address. If the painters and engravers have done him justice, he must have been a very handsome man. His large, full eye has a womanly softness, the mouth is exquisitely sweet and playful, all the features are regular, though manly, and the elevated open brow reveals his frankness and truthfulness of soul. His ordinary preaching, though it abounded in hortatory and emotional passages, was never theless well filled with the milk and meat of the Gospel; and on public occasions, as some of his printed discourses show, he could exhibit the depth and range of a well-furnished thinker. Some of his Thanksgiving sermons show that he was an eager student of the facts of nature, as they were then understood. His power in the pulpit was not due to any arts of the orator; for he read his discourses from a small manuscript volume, which, owing to some defect of vision, he held close to his face; and he very rarely made a gesture, or raised his voice, or allowed his eye to wander from the written page. Yet that low tone, tremulous in the still House of God, revealed the unaffected love and earnestness of the holy man, and went to the hearts of his hearers, oftentimes, with overwhelming power.

cal standards; yet he does not seem to have come fully up to the doctrinal views of his co-laborer in Boston. “You say,” writes Mr. Prince, "you cannot yet assent to this position, that a denial of the Deity of Christ is as culpable as that of the Father: . . . . for guilt arises chiefly from the proportion of light; God the Father is known in a hundred instances by nature and Scripture, which yet say nothing of the godhead of the Son. To which I might answer-I know not an instance in nature, wherein any one of the three particular persons, or whatever you call them, whether Father, Son or Holy Spirit, is discovered to us; and as for the Scriptures, I know not that in one instance, they discover any one of these subsistences, without at least one of the others."* From this point he proceeds to argue very learnedly, and as we think conclusively, that the Deity of the Father is no more clearly revealed than that of the Son, in the Inspired Volume. We are sorry that we cannot quote more of this ingenious and thorough argument. But a statement of its subject-matter is enough to fix the theological position of Mr. Prince; since it is well understood what general system of belief one must logically adopt, if he believes in the proper Divinity of the Redeemer.

No one

was more earnest than Mr.

1740. Mr. Whitfield received his full

If there were any doubt as to the strict Orthodoxy of Mr. Prince, it would be removed by his letters to Isaac Watts on the Deity of Christ. The eminent hymnologist of London has never been suspected of any wide departure from the evangeli

1 See the engraved Portrait prefixed.

2 See "Columbian Centinel" for Dec. 29, 1821.

sympathy and hearty cooperation. And when many of the churches in and around Boston had become hostile to the movement, and were charging its friends with fanaticism, the "great Itinerant" found in Mr. Prince a warm and able defender. When letters of warning came in, from prominent Divines, associations of ministers, and Harvard College even, both the Pastors of the Old South Church stood their ground firmly; and, with tongue and pen, by giving up their pulpit to Tennent and Whitfield, and with their prayers and brotherly counsel, they helped 8 Robbins MS., Vol. iii.