characteristics of this body; for substance, the existing rules are but the developement of the plans made half a century ago. The next year, 1819, the Association met at Bradford, June 27. Hampshire South (afterwards Hampden and now the two Hampdens,) and Salem, (now Essex South,) appear for the first time. This meeting was also noted for two matters of importance; one, the change from the original article which had read that the doctrines of the Catechism" be considered as the basis of the union of our churches," to phraseology which dropped allusion to the churches and thus no longer appeared to represent or control what had no connection whatever with the General Association, which being exclusively a clerical body and representing exclusively clerical bodies, had nothing to do with the churches; this however, did not pass without a good deal of debate, although approved by the district Associations. The second important event at this session was one which although somewhat transcending the declared purposes of the General Association, was yet a blessed one for the world, the organization of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

The record in relation to the latter matter reads thus: "Messrs. Adoniram Judson, Jr., Samuel Nott, Jr., Samuel J. Mills, and Samuel Newell, members of the Divinity College, [i. e., Andover Theological Seminary,] were introduced and presented a paper with their names subscribed, on the subject of a mission to the heathen. After hearing the young gentlemen, the business was committed to the Rev. Messrs. Spring, Worcester, and Hale; who reported resolves for instituting a Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, to consist of nine members, all in the first instance to be chosen by the General Association, and afterwards annually, five of them by this body and four by the General Association of Connecti

ed. The General Association proceeded to institute a Board of Commissioners, and made choice of the following gentlemen as members: His Excellency, John Treadwell, Esq., Rev. Dr. Timothy Dwight, Gen. Jedediah Huntington, and Rev. Calvin Chapin, of Connecticut; Rev. Dr. Joseph Lyman, Rev. Dr. Samuel Spring, Wm. Bartlett, Esq., Rev. Samuel Worcester, and Dea. Samuel H. Walley, of Massachusetts. Measures were provided for calling the first meeting of the Board."

So simple and unpretending is the record of the foundation of a Society which has done more to honor the American name than any other instrumentality, and which is still more precious to American Christians in that its hundreds of laborers are carrying the light of the Gospel of Christ to the darkened nations of the earth, in that it was the pioneer of American Missions, and in that it has not turned aside, for its life of near half a century, from the simple purpose of preaching the Gospel to a dying world.

It is a matter of interest to know who were present at that session. They were Levi White1 and Nathaniel Turner, from Berkshire; Benj. R. Woodbridge,3 from Mountain; John Emerson, from Northern

1 LEVI WHITE was born in Randolph, Ms.; was graduated at Dartmouth, 1796; studied theology with Dr. Burton, of Thetford, Vt.; was ordained over the Church in Sandisfield, Ms., June 28, 1798; was dismissed March 7, 1832, and removed to Michigan.

2 NATHANIEL TURNER was born in Norfolk, Ct., in 1771; grad. Williams, 1798; studied theology with Dr. Catlin; was ordained over the Church in New Marlboro, Ms., July 10, 1799, and died May 25, 1812.

3 BENJ. R. WOODBRIDGE was born in South Had

ley, 1774; grad. Dartmouth, 1795; was ordained over the Church in Norwich, Ms., Oct. 17, 1799; resigned June 28, 1831, and returned to South Hadley, and died in 1844.

cut.

tized 1,219 children. "He was a faithful and evangelical preacher," and devotedly prayerful.

1 VINSON GOULD was born in Sharon, Ct., in 1771; grad. Williams, 1797; studied theology with Dr. Backus, of Somers; was Tutor in Williams College from 1799 to 1801; ordained over the Church in Southampton, Ms., Aug. 27, 1801; dismissed Jan. 5, 1832; was installed first pastor of the Trinitarian Church in Bernardston, (a secession from the old Church,) Oct. 30, 1833; resigned Dec. 21, 1836, and removed to Southampton, and died in 1841.

2 JOHN KEEP was minister at Blandford; born in Longmeadow, Ms., 1781; grad. Yale, 1802; studied theology with Rev. Asahel Hooker, of Goshen, Ct.; was ordained in 1805; he was afterwards settled at Homer, N. Y.; was subsequently agent of Am. Education Society; was settled as pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio, May 1, 1835.

3 THOMAS SNELL, D. D., a native of Cummington, grad. Dartmouth, 1795; was ordained at North Brookfield, June 27, 1798, where he still remains, as the venerable senior pastor. He was the second Secretary of the Association, succeeding Rev. Enoch Hale in 1824, and serving for twenty-five years, when, in 1850, he declined a re-election, and received the thanks of the body for his faithful services. He received the degree of D.D. from Amherst College in 1828.

4 TITUS T. BARTON was born in Granby, Ms., in 1765; grad. Dartmouth, 1790; ordained as colleague over the Church in Tewksbury, Ms., Oct. 11, 1792; dismissed May 19, 1803; installed at Fitchburg, March 11, 1804; resigned Feb. 26, 1813; removed to Hilham, Overton Co., Tenn.; preached occasionally; removed, in the autumn of 1827, with the design of settling in Jackson, Ill., but died very suddenly, on his journey, Oct. 31, 1827, shortly after crossing the Ohio river.

5 JOSEPH GOFFE was born in Bedford, N. H., in 1767; grad. Dartmouth, 1791; was ordained over the Church in Millbury, Ms., Sept. 10, 1794, resigned Dec. 8, 1880; removed to Boston for some years, and then returned to Millbury, and died in 1846.

6 HUMPHREY C. PERLEY was born in Boxford, Ms., Dec. 24, 1761; grad. Dartmouth, 1791; ordained over the 1st Church in Methuen, Dec. 2, 1795; resigned May 24, 1815; was installed over the 2d Church in Beverly, Dec. 2, 1818; resigned June 13, 1821; he died in 1838.

7 SAMUEL MEAD was born in Rochester, Ms., Dec. 18, 1764; grad. Brown, 1788; studied theology with Rev. Ephraim Judson, of Taunton; ordained over the 2d Church in Danvers, (now the Church in South Danvers,) Jan. 8, 1794; resigned Jan. 1803; was installed over the 2d Church in Amesbury, June 6,

Dutch and Thomas Holt, from Essex Middle; Manasseh Cutler' and Samuel Worcester from Salem; Salmon Cone and Evan Johns, from Connecticut; Enoch Hale, as Secretary, and Jonathan Allen,10 minister of the Parish; Rev. Samuel Spring, D.D., Dr. Pearson, "late Professor," and Rev. Messrs. Morrison and Dana, Presbyterians, were made honorary members.

Of this number it is easy to perceive who were governing spirits. While the missionary purpose originated in other minds, the plan adopted by the General Association seems to have a clear parentage. "On the 25th of June, 1810," says Dr. Worcester, "serious deliberation, attended with fervent prayer, was held at Andover, relative to the burning desire of three or four theological students there, to be employed as missionaries to the heathen. The result was, to refer the momentous question to the General Association of Massachusetts. The next day, Dr. Spring took a seat in my chaise, and rode with me to Bradford, where the General Association was to convene. In the conversation on the way, the first idea, I believe, of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was suggested; the form, the number of mem

1804, and died March 28, 1818, "at Cambridge, where he was a patient, afflicted with insanity."

8 EBENEZER DUTCH was born in Ipswich, Ms., in 1751; grad. Brown, 1776; was ordained over the 2d Church in Bradford, (now Dr. Perry's in Groveland,) Nov. 17, 1779, and died Aug. 4, 1813.

9 MANASSEH CUTLER, L.L.D., was minister at Hamilton (then Ipswich Hamlet.) Born in Killingly, Ct., May 28, 1742; grad Yale, 1765; was admitted to the bar, but by and by determined to study theology; was ordained at Hamilton, Sept. 11, 1771; was Chaplain in the Revolutionary army through two campaigns; was offered, by Washington, a commission as Judge of the U. S. Court for N. W. Territory, but declined; was elected to Congress in 1800, and again in 1802; L.L.D., Yale, 1789; member of Acad. of Arts and Sciences, of the Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, and of various other literary societies. He died July 28, 1823.-(See Sprague's Anuals.)

10 JONATHAN ALLEN was born in Braintree, Ms., was graduated at Harvard, 1774; studied theology with Rev. Ephraim Judson, of Taunton; was ordained over the 1st Church in Bradford, June 8, 1781; died March 6, 1827.

bers, and the name, were proposed. On the 27th, the question came before the Association, and the report of the Committee, which was adopted by that body, was the substance of the result of the conversation in the chaise." (Life, II: 106.) Messrs. Spring, Worcester and Hale were the Committee alluded to.

Doubtless the members of the body at that session hardly knew the importance of the step which was then taken, even for its members. Its tendency was to bring the General Association into notice as an active force for the promotion of religion. Hitherto it had struggled for existence. From this time it became more prominent. The friends of orthodoxy recognized the men engaged in it, and soon came to regard it as a centre of union. One by one all the outside Associations which held orthodox views, came into union with it; Union (now Norfolk) in 1811; Unity (now extinct) in 1816; Old Colony in 1820; Worcester North in 1821; Andover (the former Wilmington,) Barnstable (now divided into Brewster and Vineyard Sound,) and Suffolk (now Suffolk North and Suffolk South,) in 1823; Worcester Central in 1825; Harmony in 1826; Taunton in 1827; Middlesex Union in 1828; Middlesex South, and Pilgrim in 1830; Woburn in 1835; Mendon, after a long and stubborn refusal, in 1841; Hampshire East in 1842; Bridgewater in 1850; and Salem in 1851; while there has gone out of it, Westminster, now a Unitarian body under the name of Worcester West; and in 1858, Bridgewater and Pilgrim united in one to appear under the venerable name of Plymouth. The last of the old orthodox Associations to come in, was Mendon. It had refused in 1803, in 1804, and 1807; there the matter rested until 1841, when a vote of union was passed. The principle reason for this long delay was deference to Dr. Emmons, whose sentiment was, "Associationism leads to Consociationism; Consociationism leads to Presbyterianism; Presbyterianism leads to Epis

copacy; Episcopacy leads to Roman Catholicism; and Roman Catholicism is an ultimate fact."

The quasi-ecclesiastical relations of the General Association with other bodies, were gradually perfected. In 1809, it entered into "correspondence," exchanging delegates with the General Associations of Connecticut and New Hampshire; in 1811, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, continuing the correspondence with both branches, after the disruption of that body, until 1856, when that with the Old School body was dropped by mutual consent; in 1812, the General Convention of Vermont; in 1821, the Evangelical Consociation of Rhode Island; in 1835, the General Association of New York; in 1843, the General Association of Michigan; in 1844, the Congregational Union of England and Wales; in 1845, the General Convention of Wisconsin, and the Congregational Union of Canada East (now Canada;) in 1846, the General Association of Iowa; in 1849, the Association of Oregon, afterwards the General Association of Oregon and California, since 1856 divided into two General Associations; in 1855, the General Conference of Ohio; in 1857, the General Associations of Kansas and Minnesota; in 1858, the Congregational Association of Nebraska.

In addition to the foregoing relations, there was broached, in 1818, a project to unite all the General Associations of New England by means of a "Committee of Union" into one general organization. This plan originated with the General Association of Connecticut. Drs. Worcester and Hyde, and Rev. Thomas Snell, were deputed by the General Association to meet delegates from the other bodies at Northampton, Oct. 3, 1818; they reported the next year in favor of the plan, and that a "Committee of Union" meet annually on the 3d Wednesday of October. This report was adopted. The new organization had its first session at the house of Rev. Abel Flint, D. D., Hartford; it

was composed of Drs. Flint and Lyman Beecher for Connecticut, and Dr. Hyde and Rev. Mr. Snell for Massachusetts; it appeared that New Hampshire and Vermont declined the union, but the body proceeded to business; Dr. Hyde was chairman and Dr. Flint, Scribe; Dr. Hyde preached; a two days' session was held; Dr. Beecher was appointed to preach at the session of the next year; but in 1821, the "Committee of Union" recommended its own dissolution; the recommendation was adopted, and the project, soon generally forgotten, but which, had it succeeded would have essentially united all our Congregational Associations into one compact body and changed our whole. polity, came to an unregretted end.

So, also, did another ecclesiastical project expire in its birth, but not without crippling the General Association itself. It came up in the shape of appointing a committee, in 1814, to examine "into the history of" "an ancient document" found among the papers of Cotton Mather, which contains an answer to the question, what further steps are to be taken that councils may have due constitution and efficacy;" the Committee were also to consider "the expediency of a recommendation by this body of the plan of discipline there proposed." "Rev. Jedediah Morse, D.D., Rev. Samuel Austin, D.D., Rev. Leonard Woods, D.D., Rev. Samuel Worcester, D.D., Rev. Enoch Hale, Rev. Joseph Lyman, D.D., and the Rev. Timothy M. Cooley" were the Committee; they reported in an elaborate paper, in 1815, not recommending the proposals (which are the same as printed in Wise's Churches' Quarrel Espoused,) but proposing the establishment of Consociations. The General Association, after full discussion ordered the reports to be printed for public information, and the subject to be called up at the next session. It was done; and although the evils growing out of the disjointed fellowship of the churches in that time of doctrinal tribula

tion had doubtless suggested the plan, yet in 1816, all this body dared to do was to say that "they believe that the Report....accords in its general principles, with the examples and precepts of the New Testament" and that they had no objection to the organization of the Consociations wherever the ministers and churches were inclined that way; and even this qualified approbation lost several Associations and gave countenance to the assertions of those who looked upon that body as covertly intending a system of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Of the formidable powers sought to be conferred on Consociations, of the steadfastness with which the churches resisted the usurpation, and of the cotemporary literature thereby brought out, (some of which is in the writer's possession,) a further account may be given at a future period.

Another work of the General Associa

tion was the organization of the Domestic Missionary Society. This, organized in 1818, was the result of the struggle of the evangelical churches for existence. The General Association organized that body, with a constitution providing that it be constituted of the General Association, and of other members by subscription or election,-the Moderator and Scribe of the latter to hold the same position in the former, and that its object be confined to Massachusetts Proper. There was already a Society, the "Massachusetts Missionary Society," in existence; but by its charter, it could disburse no funds in this State; hence the necessity of a Society attending to waste places at home-a work which is now properly demanding still greater attention than it has received. The new body and the old Society united (by legal permission,) in 1827, when it was agreed that the united organization should be represented by two delegates in the General Association.

The meetings, temporary affairs, and preachers of the General Association at its various sessions, have been as follows:

1 "Massachusetts Proper" was exclusive of Maine.