itual pride, at the present day. But in his case there is no straining-no attempt to make a great display of humility and heart-brokenness―-but all appears to be natural and sincere. He was undoubtedly inclined to the mystical form of development, in his piety; and this may be inferred not only from the character of his early reading, but also from the impression he made generally on his contemporaries. This does not imply that he was at all vague, in the articles of his belief, but that he inclined to the meditative rather than the active duties of the Christian life. Piety has rarely shone with a more beautiful or sweeter light, than in the character of Thomas Prince. He had not so much the impetuosity of Peter, as the gentleness of John; he loved the closet more than the field. But the day is over, when men are to be condemned for not showing their piety in one form rather than another. If they have the substance of faith in Christ, that faith has its loveliest growth always in the direction of their natural tastes. Mr. Prince had more of the Oriental than of the Occidental element in his genius. This is shown by his studies, and by the pains which he took to furnish his Library with works illustrating the history and literature of the East. It is pleasant to us to trace these characteristics back almost to the beginning of his history; to find that he was promptly attentive to the grand concern of life, and that his piety, even in its germination, took the form which suited his type of mind. It was legitimate and unconstrained. It was not twisted into an abnormal shape, but grew up in the natural way, partaking of all the peculiaritles of his nature, till it budded and blossomed and bore fruit, after its kind. Even in his childish pursuits at Sandwich, amid such influences as we might expect in an independent and refined Christian home, his piety took root and began to grow—a piety of which his subsequent devotedness, as described by his associates and friends, was but "the bright consummate flower."

66

Filial affection must have been a marked trait in the early character of Mr. Prince. His peculiar temperament-which was ever quiet, shrinking and childlike-the commonness and excellency of this virtue in the times in which he lived, combine with many other things in leading us to this conclusion. It certainly is a noticeable fact, that his mother's name appears in a favorite volume of his childhood; that it is written with his own unpracticed hand, which also states that it was her gift; and more especially noticeable is it, as indicating the strength of his filial attachment, that the same fact is again recorded carefully, after the lapse of many years. In a discourse preached to children, soon after his settlement as Pastor of the Old South Church, Mr. Prince has given us some glimpses of this lovely trait in his character. Speaking of the obligations to early piety, he says to his youthful hearers, God has also been very gracious to you in the circumstance, time and place of your birth. He has brought forth many of you of rich and honorable parents: and what is a thousand times greater privilege, God has made many of you to come of those that are virtuous and godly. The most of you are born in His gracious covenant: a distinguishing favor. . . . To be sure, your early devotion to God will be exceedingly delightful to your religious and solicitous parents. It will be their great honor and joy; as your neglect of piety will be their most sensible disgrace and sorrow." In such direct and fervid appeals as this, we see proof that he was no wayward child; that he prized the blessing of a Christian home; that love for the father and mother who watched over his boyhood, was a lifelong principle with him; that he gladly paid the homage which is due from children to their greatest earthly benefactors. His reverence for the aged, for the great men of past times, and for his ancestors, which was so conspicuous a trait in his life, had its beginning far back in childhood, when he so piously recorded his

obligations to his mother. The letters which he wrote during his journey to Europe, and which are preserved in his diary, breathe the same filial spirit. They are addressed to his "honored and dear parents;" and though occupied with pious reflections, for the most part, they reveal the heart of an affectionate and grateful

son.

Mr. Prince entered Harvard College soon after the completion of his sixteenth year-a comparatively advanced age in those times. We infer, from this circumstance, that his mind was already furnished with much useful information, and his tastes and habits of thinking somewhat matured. It is not probable that he was moulded, as much as students are wont to be, by his residence at College; though this disadvantage, if it may be esteemed such, was attended with the advantage of a previous mastery of himself, which enabled him to pursue his studies in an independent and successful manner. The traditions respecting his ancestors, some of whom were distinguished Divines in the English Church, and the fact that he was the grandson of a governor of Plymouth Colony, no doubt had their influence in stimulating him to strive for high attainments in scholarship. We may suppose that but few excelled him in the regular studies of the course; and it is also evident, from what he says about beginning his Library at this time, that his investigations extended far beyond the ordinary routine of College life. He seems to have been seized, about this time, with an unconquerable thirst for universal knowledge; which, in such a mind as his, was the natural result of attempting to make a large collection of books. Few works which he put into his Library were unread: many of them were carefully studied, and filled with annotations from his pen. He began to read Divinity immediately after his graduation, which he continued for a little more than a year and a half, when he sailed for England. It appears to have been mainly as a Chris

not as an

tian student, seeking to enlarge and perfect his scholarly acquirements, that he made this visit to the Old World. Dr. Wisner, in his History of the Old South Church, says that Mr. Prince “travelled, visiting different countries, idle spectator, but as a diligent observer of men and things, which appeared from the knowledge and experience he had gained in his travels.'" It is not impossible that he had some thought of fitting himself for the position of an instructor in his Alma Mater. Such a hope would imply no unworthy ambition, and would well accord with his tastes and training. Yet he nowhere drops any intimation of this, so far as we have seen; and if he was disappointed in any such scholarly aspirations, he bore the ill success meekly and uncomplainingly. He did not fret, and openly declare his sense of unjust treatment-like the impetuous Cotton Mather —when he saw men of far less learning than himself, elected to vacant chairs in the University.

The embarkation of Mr. Prince for Europe took place on the 29th of March 1709, "from the Scarlet Wharf in Boston, on board the Thomas and Elizabeth, of 450 tuns, 24 guns and 40 men." This vessel was one of a " fleet for Barbadoes, consisting of 8 Ships, 2 Brigantines and 2 Sloops" 1 a large enough armament, one would suppose, to satisfy the young traveller both as to dignity and safety. From the following entry, made in his Journal April 7, we may learn in what estimation Mr. Prince was held on board ship, and also what were his views of the proper discipline of sailors: The Captain ordered me to draw up some laws for the good government of our ship, which are publicly to be read to-morrow." The result of this command was the following code of "laws and orders, to prevent and punish profaneness and immorality, and for the better management of the ship: I. Whosoever shall curse or swear, speak falsely, absent from dinner, wor

1 Robbins Manuscript, Vol. ii.

ship, or sleep at it [worship,] shall receive three ferrules. II. He that steals, shall for the first offence sustain the penalty of five ferrules on each hand; but for the second he shall have ten lashes. III. For fighting the punishment is five ferrules; and he that shall be found most guilty shall have seven. IV. For drunkenness the first time six ferrules; the next, he shall wear the collar at the commander's pleasure. V. He that shall sleep on deck, in his watch, shall sustain the penalty of three ferrules; but if in his hammock, of four. VI. For cheating the glass, affirming the pump sucks when it does not, or leaving it before it does, three ferrules. VII. If any shall be found to have neglected information, for four hours, of the breach of the forementioned laws, he shall have two ferrules." The word "ferrule" is not defined in our modern dictionaries, in any such sense as Mr. Prince evidently uses it here. probably an instrument of punishment with which his experience as a school-boy had made him familiar. Neither does he inform us as to its size and shape, nor as to the amount of force with which it was to be applied,-matters of some importance, we should suppose, to the unlucky offenders.

It was

After a voyage of twenty days, Mr. Prince landed at the island of Barbadoes, which fact he records with an expression of gratitude to God. Here he remained nearly five months, making a multitude of curious observations, quite as noteworthy as many which figure in more modern books of travel, though hardly arresting the eye as it glances along his Journal, owing to the brief and unpretending style in which they are recorded. We are interested to give a single paragraph, in this connection, which has reference to the subject of slavery; and which shows that Mr. Prince was not one of those travellers who are content with seeing only the sunny side of the peculiar institution. June 12, he says:

1 Robbins MS., Vol. ii.

""Tis computed that in this Island, to no more than 8,000 whites, there are no less than four score thousand negroes; all absolute slaves, till kind death wrests them out of the hands of their tyrannic masters. But alas! the miserables are entirely restrained from reflecting on themselves, and on a future state. They know no interest but theirs that own them; who engross all their strength and labor,—and their time also, except what the Supreme Governor has mercifully reserved to himself. Then [i. e. on the Sabbath] they are at liberty to enjoy their own thoughts, and to regale themselves in the mean pleasures of a brutal appetite, and which scarce reach any farther than a drowsy joy for the transitory interruption of their slavery. Then it is, they endeavor to drown or forget their burdensome cares, by the most frantic amusements they can imagine." There is more in the same strain. But this is enough to show what English Slavery was a little more than a hundred years ago; and could Mr. Prince return to the earth, and travel over some Southern plantations, it is probable that his impressions of American Slavery would be equally gloomy and revolting.

On the 4th of September, Mr. Prince · left Barbadoes, and continued his voyage, still on board the "Thomas and Elizabeth," to London. The records in his Journal show that this voyage afforded him great satisfaction; that his days were spent in an unusually pleasant and happy manner. Every paragraph reveals the student, and the lover of new and curious information. He reached his destination after a voyage of a little more than two months. His arrival shall be described in his own language. "I took wherry [from Deptford] to London. Passed by multitudes of shipping; and in an hour landed at St. James' Stairs, in Wapping; where I lodged. But could not persuade the civil people who entertained me, that I was born and educated in New England; they apprehended it necessary that at

2 Robbins MS. Vol. ii.

least I had been before in London, and they wondered as much at my carriage and deportment, as at the fulness and accuracy of my language. And thus, per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum, I've escaped the various chances and perils of the sea, am arrived at the happy port, and have the joyful satisfaction to see my self in the greatest and most flourishing city of the universe. DEO TER OPT: MAX: GRATIÆ."1 Here we see the sensitive student, anxious lest some defect in his speech or manner might betray his provincial education, and exulting in the fact that he had so far triumphed over the difficulties of the scholar in a new country, as to pass for a gentleman born and educated in England. His first sight of London was the fulfilment, no doubt, of the proudest dream of his childhood. We are drawn to the susceptible nature which could show such enthusiasm, and abandonment of itself to joy, in such a moment; and as we read the fervid exclamations, which escape his free pen, we are sure that he had a large, tender and patriotic heart.

Mr. Prince remained in London and its vicinity four months,-from the 18th of November, to the 17th of March. This time was spent, as we might expect it to be by a young and enthusiastic traveller, in a city which had been the boast of his ancestors. His knowledge of distinguished scholars and divines, of famous structures, localities and relics of the past grew rapidly, as his Journal shows. During one of these four months he was ill "of small pox;" from which, however, it does not appear that he suffered any permanent injury, but on the contrary received much benefit: for he writes, on recovering, "I find my spirits more vigorous

. . than ever; . . . . my senses clearer, my blood warmer; and in fine, the whole compages of nervous fibres with their fluids, exercise a greater force and a more equal motion." After this new item of science, which he had compelled

1 Robbins MS. Vol. ii.

2

even sickness to yield him, he sailed from London for the Madeira Islands, 17th of March, 1710. The ship stopped but two days at these islands, when the voyage was continued to Barbadoes; and after remaining here somewhat more than two months, Mr. Prince returned to Great Britain in the same vessel which had originally brought him from New-England. Certain expressions in his letters, written during this second visit to Barbadoes, indicate that his circumstances were by no means agreeable. His uniform and outspoken piety seems to have got him many enemies, on that island of slaves and slave-drivers. He sends word to his father aud mother, to remember him " at the throne of Grace; that I may with an equal and courageous spirit, bear up under, and triumph over, the disheartening evils which attend me; and thereby may be happily accomplished for some peculiar service to God and the world." In a letter to a friend in Boston, written just before his departure for England, he speaks more particularly of the character of the people in Barbadoes: "Such is the despotic and absolute reign of debauchery, so imperious its dictates, so strong its supports, so incontrollable its power, so numerous its assertors and defenders,-that a man has need of the powerful assistance of Heaven, superadded unto his own most earnest endeavors, to enable him to resist the raging and impetuous torrent, much more to get head and advance against it. What a perplexing thing may you imagine it to be, that I am obliged to hear so much horrible profaneness, and to see so many brutish immoralities, and yet not in a capacity so much as to rebuke them. . . . . But how dangerous, at the same time, are my own circumstances! . . . . I would fain convince them that the practice of religion is so far from being inconsistent with the enjoyment of the true pleasures of life, that it rather refines them, and makes

them more relishing. But while I am en

2 Robbins MS., Vol. iii.

deavoring to confirm it by my own example, I am in danger of extending my compliances beyond the inviolable bounds of Christianity. By this means, when I reach forth my arms to receive them, they draw me within the circle and power of their vortex, and whirl me into the same inextricable misery."" Fearing such a result as this, it is probable that the persecuted young preacher made but few advances to his wicked associates; and his remark is well worthy the thoughtful notice of those who attempt to help on Christianity by coquetting with social evils, or who think to overcome an established and gigantic wrong by making con

cessions to it.

On the 8th of October, we find Mr. Prince in London again, making entries in his Journal respecting the political troubles of the country, and strongly condemning the measures of the Tories. His sympathies were evidently with the more liberal party; and, in all the questions affecting the welfare of America, he seems to have manifested a hearty love for the land of his nativity. A prediction respecting the ultimate independence of this country, which was made by him duing his stay in England, is worthy of mention here. It may be found in a postscript to an unpublished letter, in the Old South collection at the rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The letter was written in 1730, by Rev. John Meadows of England, and addressed to Mr. Prince at Boston. The postscript is in Latin; we know not for what reason, unless the writer feared that his reminding Mr. Prince of a remark unfavorable to the mother country might get abroad, and be construed as treasonable, should he venture it in the common language. Alluding to the strifes in Parliament respecting the Colonial policy, and also to the troubles between the Assemblies and Governors in New-England, this correspondent says: "From the beginning of the forementioned strife, I have not once

1 Robbins MS., Vol. iii.

reflected on what you, dear brother, while you were living in England, in free conversation (if I rightly remember) declared to me; namely, that in about an hundred years the New-England people would be powerful enough to withdraw from the realm of Old England, and advance to the dignity of a free and independent nation." This prophecy cannot be regarded as merely a lucky guess on the part of Mr. Prince. It was the result of careful observations, both at home and in Great Britain; and it shows that he was wont to generalize his stores of information,-that he not only possessed a vast magazine of facts in his memory, but also had a statesmanlike and far-seeing intellect. If he had lived a few years longer, he would have seen his prediction fulfilled in a little more than half the time he had allowed for it.

It is uncertain how long Mr. Prince remained in London, upon this second visit. His Journal continues for nearly a month, with accounts of sight-seeing, lectures at Gresham College, and other characteristic notices, till suddenly we lose sight of him for a period of more than six years. This time was probably spent for the most part in the parish of Coombs, Suffolk county; where he ministered with much acceptance to a congregation of Dissenters, and where he was urged to settle permanently. But his strong attachment to New England overbore all reasons for remaining in the Mother Country. The object of his travels had been accomplished; and, with his mind thoroughly disciplined and furnished, he set his face resolutely towards the home of his childhood. Nor were the people of Coombs, some of them at least, less firmly resolved still to be his parishioners. Not being able to retain him in their native country, they accompanied him. There were three families of these, consisting in all of twenty-seven persons; and one of the number was Deborah Denny, who afterwards became the wife of Mr. Prince.

One event, which took place during