Samuel Davies Was Born 300 Years Ago

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"I can tell you that I am as happy as perhaps Creation can make me: I enjoy all the Necessaries and most of the Conveniences of Life; I have a peaceful Study, as a Refuge from the Hurries and Noise of the World around me; the venerable Dead are waiting in my Library to entertain me, and relieve me from the Nonsense of surviving Mortals; I am peculiarly happy in my Relations, and Providence does not afflict me by afflicting them. In short, I have all a moderate Heart can wish; and I very much question if there be a more calm, placid and contented Mortal in Virginia.” — Samuel Davies, August 1751 Letter to John Holt

Samuel Davies was 300 years ago on this day in history, November 3, 1723, near Bear, Delaware. His parents were David and Martha Thomas Davies, and were of Welsh descent. He was a "son of prayer," and thus Samuel was named by his mother for Samuel the prophet. Originally, the Davies family was Baptist, but Martha came to embrace Presbyterian doctrine and her family was put out of the Baptist church. Samuel was educated first, it is believed, by William Robinson (who would later play such an influential role in Davies' pastoral career) at the English school at Hopewell (New Jersey) Presbyterian Church, and later at the Faggs Manor (Pennsylvania) academy run by Samuel Blair, who was not only a mentor, but a dear friend. 

Birthplace of Samuel Davies, near Bear, Delaware (photo by R. Andrew Myers).

In July 1743, William Robinson preached the first Presbyterian sermon ever delivered in Hanover County, Virginia. The people of Hanover were so thankful for his ministry that they took up a collection, which Robinson ensured was used to assist Samuel's theological education. Three years later, Davies was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Castle. He was ordained to the ministry in February 1747, and commissioned as an evangelist to minister to the congregation at Hanover, Virginia, and surrounding counties. He traveled south with John Rodgers, and became settled in his new Virginia home, accepting a call to serve as pastor of the Polegreen Church, beginning a very fruitful ministry. Davies earned the title "Apostle to Virginia" and "Apostle of the Great Awakening in Virginia." One particular focus of his ministry involved the spiritual care of slaves within his ecclesiastical bounds.

1862 sketch of Polegreen Church before it was destroyed in 1864.

Historic Polegreen Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia, as it appears today.

He was married to Sarah Kirkpatrick in 1746. She and her unborn son died the following year. In 1748, Davies married Jane Holt, whom he called "Chara," and with whom they had six children, one of whom died at birth. Jane was the muse who inspired several of Davies' poems. 

Davies and Gilbert Tennent traveled to the British Isles in 1753-1755 on a fundraising mission for the College of New Jersey, and the journal that Davies kept to record his experiences has been published. In 1759, he was called to serve as President of the College of New Jersey, replacing Jonathan Edwards. His departure from Hanover was painful for him because of the love he had towards his flock, but he answered what he believed was the call of duty. He set about cataloguing the library and his brief tenure at Princeton was very much appreciated by students and Trustees alike. 

He was the author of some treatises, as well as many letters, hymns (he is considered the first American-born hymn-writer), poems and sermons, some of which were published in his lifetime, and which were published in several volumes posthumously. His preaching helped to inspire frontier men who were fighting in the French and Indian War, and one person in particular who was deeply impressed with his homiletics was Patrick Henry, who a generation later became one of America's greatest orators. Davies was referred to by Martyn Lloyd-Jones as "the greatest preacher you have ever produced in this country."

On January 1, 1761, Davies delivered his Sermon on the New Year on the text Jer. 28:16, stating “it is not only possible — but highly probable, that death may meet some of us within the compass of this year.” Like previous Presidents of the College of New Jersey who had preached on this passage, such as Jonathan Edwards and Aaron Burr, Sr., Davies did indeed die in the selfsame year. He contracted a cold, and after bleeding by a physician, he got an infection and became mortally ill, breathing his last at home on February 4, 1761, at the age of 37. He was laid to rest at Princeton Cemetery, and his funeral sermon was preached by Samuel Finley. Thomas Gibbons, who preached a sermon commemorating Davies' life and death in England, published the first set of Davies' sermons in 1766. Notable biographies of Davies include George W. Pilcher, Samuel Davies: Apostle of Dissent in Colonial Virginia (1971); Dewey Roberts, Samuel Davies: Apostle to Virginia (2017); and Joseph C. Harrod, Theology and Spirituality in the Works of Samuel Davies (2019). 

Grave of Samuel Davies at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, New Jersey (photo by R. Andrew Myers).

He once told his auditors: "Whatever, I say, be your Place, permit me, my dear Youth, to inculcate upon you this important instruction, IMBIBE AND CHERISH A PUBLIC SPIRIT. Serve your Generation. Live not for yourselves, but the Publick. Be the Servants of the Church; the servants of your Country; the Servants of all. Extend the Arms of your Benevolence to embrace your Friends, your Neighbors, your Country, your Nation, the whole Race of mankind, even your Enemies. Let it be the vigorous unremitted Effort of your whole Life, to leave the World wiser and better than you found it at your Entrance (Religion and Public Spirit: A Valedictory Address to the Senior Class, Delivered in Nassau-Hall, September 21, 1760 [1762])." It can certainly be said of Davies that he left the world wiser than he found it.

Jonathan Edwards Remembered

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You are pleased, dear Sir, very kindly to ask me, whether I could sign the Westminster Confession of Faith, and submit to the Presbyterian form of Church Government; and to offer to use your influence to procure a call for me, to some congregation in Scotland. I should be very ungrateful, if I were not thankful for such kindness and friendship. As to my subscribing to the substance of the Westminster Confession, there would be no difficulty; and as to the Presbyterian Government, I have long been perfectly out of conceit of our unsettled, independent, confused way of church government in this land; and the Presbyterian way has ever appeared to me most agreeable to the word of God, and the reason and nature of things; though I cannot say that I think, that the Presbyterian government of the Church of Scotland is so perfect, that it cannot, in some respects, be mended. — Jonathan Edwards, The Works of President Edwards: With a Memoir of His Life (1830), Vol. I, p. 412 (Letter from Jonathan Edwards to John Erskine dated July 5, 1750)

Jonathan Edwards was not a Presbyterian, but as a leader in the Great Awakening his sentiments were favorable to Presbyterianism, and his life touched the lives of many authors on Log College Press, including the missionary David Brainerd, and his son-in-law, Aaron Burr, Sr.

As President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), Edwards is closely associated with one of the great Presbyterian institutions in America and, in fact, was laid to rest at Princeton Cemetery. It was on this date in history, March 22, 1758, that Jonathan Edwards entered into glory. G.B. Strickler wrote (Jonathan Edwards [1903]):

…he was one of the most remarkable men the American church has produced, and as, although a Congregationalist, his history often touched and influenced that of the Presbyterian Church….

Historical marker located in South Windsor, Connecticut.

Edwards is widely thought of as America’s foremost theologian. John DeWitt spoke of him as “our greatest American Divine” (Jonathan Edwards: A Study [1904]). He was born on October 5, 1703, in East Windsor Connecticut. He had a spiritual awakening early in life, and after studying at Yale University, went on to serve as pastor of the church in Northampton, Massachusetts from 1727 to 1751. It was on July 8, 1741, that he preached one of the most famous sermons in American history: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University today holds many of Edwards' surviving manuscripts, including over one thousand sermons, and other materials, and his works — which currently total 26 volumes — continue to be published. Some of the most significant include A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (1737); A History of the Work of Redemption (based on sermons preached in 1739, first published in 1774; see the 1793 edition published by David Austin here); The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741); A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746); The Freedom of the Will (1754); and The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (1758). The 70 personal resolutions he wrote in his diary from 1722 to 1723 (300 years ago) have often been republished and have inspired countless thousands, if not millions.

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

Following Burr’s death in 1757, Edwards assumed the presidency of the College of New Jersey on February 16, 1758, and immediate set an example to the students by getting a smallpox inoculation, as a result of which he died just over one month into his presidency. One month later, his daughter of Esther died, and later that same year, his wife Sarah also passed away.

Jonathan Edwards is buried at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, New Jersey.

Henry C. McCook said this of one of his classic works (Jonathan Edwards as a Naturalist [1890]):

His work on “ The Will ” still keeps rank as one of the greatest books written by an American.

R.C. Reed once wrote of him (Jonathan Edwards [1904]):

He thought as we still think on the great doctrines of grace, being a zealous Calvinist, and was in accord with the Presbyterian Church in his views of government, though he lived and wrought and died in the Congregational Church. If, therefore, any class of persons should honor the name and cherish the memory of Edwards, those should do so who hold Calvinistic views of doctrine, and Presbyterian principles of polity.

Samuel Miller explains why we remember such a man as Jonathan Edwards (Lives of Jonathan Edwards and David Brainerd [1837]):

We owe to the dead themselves the duty of commemorating their actions, of cherishing their reputation, and of perpetuating, as far as possible, the benefits which they have conferred upon us.

As we likewise cherish the legacy of those great men and women who have gone before us and whose contributions to the kingdom of God on earth have left such an enduring mark, Jonathan Edwards stands out among the roll call of the saints, and it is with pleasure, and with thanks to God, that we take time today to honor his memory.

A New Year's Gift From Samuel Davies

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This year marks the 300th birthday of Samuel Davies (born on November 3, 1723). Minister of the gospel, missionary known as the “Apostle to Virginia,” President of Princeton, poet and more, Davies lived a brief life, but was a candle that burned very brightly.

At the age of 36, on January 1, 1760, Davies delivered A New Year’s Gift at the College of New Jersey at Princeton, a sermon based on Rom. 13:11: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (see Sermons, Vol. 3 [1864 ed.], pp. 52 ff).

Time, like an ever-running stream, is perpetually gliding on, and hurrying us and all the sons of men into the boundless ocean of eternity. We are now entering upon one of those imaginary lines of division, which men have drawn to measure out time for their own conveniency; and, while we stand upon the threshold of a new year, it becomes us to make a solemn contemplative pause; though time can make no pause, but rushes on with its usual velocity. Let us take some suitable reviews and prospects of time past and future, and indulge such reflections as our transition from year to year naturally tends to suggest. 

The grand and leading reflection is that in the text, with which I present to you as a New-Year's Gift: Knowing the time, that it is high time to awake out of sleep.

The following year, his last on earth, on January 1, 1761, Davies preached A Sermon on the New Year (Sermons, Vol. 2 [1864 ed.], pp. 195 ff), from Jer. 28:16: "This year thou shalt die." Because Davies died just one month later, on February 4, 1761, it has often been said (even by Davies himself before he died) that on this occasion Davies preached his own funeral sermon. Interestingly, he borrowed the same text that College of New Jersey Founder and President Aaron Burr, Sr. (1716-1757) had preached on his last New Year's Day on earth, as well as Jonathan Edwards, his father-in-law and successor. All three men — Jonathan Edwards, Jr. too can be added to the list — died in the same year that they preached a New Year’s sermon on Jer. 28:16. Davies said:

Thus it appears very possible, that one or other of us may die this year. Nay, it is very probable, as well as possible, if we consider that it is a very uncommon, and almost unprecedented thing, that not one should die in a whole year out of such an assembly as this. More than one have died the year past, who made a part of our assembly last new year's day. Therefore let each of us (for we know not on whom the lot may fall) realize this possibility, this alarming probability, 'this year I may die.' 

Time is a precious gift, and while long life is a blessing that we all hope for, yet, our times are wholly in God’s hand (Ps. 31:15), and each day we ought to treasure, with thankful hearts, doing good while we can with the time given to us.

Therefore conclude, every one for himself, 'It is of little importance to me whether I die this year, or not; but the only important point is, that I may make a good use of my future time, whether it be longer or shorter.' This, my brethren, is the only way to secure a happy new year: a year of time, that will lead the way to a happy eternity.

Note: An earlier version of this post was published on December 30, 2017.

A Hurricane 250 Years Ago Changed American History

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God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm — William Cowper (1773)

Recently, Hurricane Ian became one of the strongest storms ever to hit the American coast, leaving a trail of destruction and causing great loss of life in Florida and other parts of the Southeast. Two-hundred and fifty years ago, another major hurricane left devastation in its wake throughout the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and, eventually, the area between what is now Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama. This particular is known to history by several different names — Hurricane San Agustin of 1772, the Alexander Hamilton Hurricane of 1772 or Bernard Roman's Gulf Coast Hurricane of 1772 — and its association with Alexander Hamilton is what we aim to highlight today.

In August 1772, Alexander Hamilton, a native of the island of Nevis (now the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis), was living in Christiansted, on the island of St. Croix (then a Danish territory, now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands) and working as a store clerk. Earlier that year, in May, Hugh Knox — an Ulster Scot Presbyterian who had studied at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and was ordained by Aaron Burr, Sr. — had arrived at St. Croix from Saba, also in the Dutch West Indies. He had assumed the pastorate of the Scotch Presbyterian church in St. Croix but also served on occasion as the editor of the Royal Danish American Gazette. In God’s Providence, the hurricane that struck Christiansted on August 31, 1772 (reckoned by modern standards to have been a Category 5 storm) was to bring Hamilton and Knox together in such a way as to change American history.

A few days after the storm had left almost total devastation in St. Croix, Rev. Knox gathered his flock at the local Dutch Reformed church and delivered a sermon titled A Discourse Delivered on the 6th of September, 1772, in the Dutch Church of St. Croix: On Occasion of the Hurricane (1772). Young Hamilton had previously written some poetry that had been published in the Gazette. The same day that Knox delivered his discourse, Hamilton, then seventeen years old, wrote a letter to his father which, having shown it to Knox, was persuaded to allow it to be published in the Gazette. It appeared in the October 3rd issue, with a preface by Knox, and caused a sensation. Local businessmen were motivated to raise funds for the education of the young clerk who had described the destruction of his city and island so eloquently and vividly.

It is believed that Knox became Hamilton’s chief sponsor as well as his tutor and mentor. Hamilton’s biographer, Ron Chernow, attributes a change — as it appeared before and after the hurricane — in Hamilton’s poetry to a more religious tone, to the mentorship of Knox (Alexander Hamilton [2004], p. 34). By 1773, the funds had been raised for Hamilton to sail to the mainland, where he would go on to study at King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York City, and later served his adopted country as a Founding Father of the United States, as Secretary of the Treasury, and as an author of The Federalist Papers. His image appears today on the $10 bill. Tragically, he was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr, Jr. in July 1804. Chernow notes that it was almost certainly from the lips of Hugh Knox that Alexander Hamilton first heard the name Aaron Burr. It is one of the remarkable ironies of history that the son of the man who ordained Hugh Knox — it was Knox who, recognizing his talent, primarily encouraged Hamilton to come to America to study — should be the one who took Hamilton’s life.

Knox’s Discourse and Hamilton’s letter are both available to read at Log College Press here. It is worthwhile to contemplate the providential path that brought such a storm to St. Croix, that inspired Hamilton’s letter, that led to his removal to America, where he would go on to contribute to the founding of the new nation of the United States. Rather than remaining an unknown illegitimate store clerk in the Caribbean, because of a storm and a friend who saw something remarkable in his writing, Hamilton left a profound mark on a young nation despite his premature death. As Cowper has so wisely said, “God moves in a mysterious way.”

Davidson's Desiderata

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Early on in its history, in May 1853, a discourse was delivered at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Robert B. Davidson: Presbyterianism: Its True Place and Value in History (1854). After an overview of the history of Presbyterianism in Scotland and in early America, Davidson left his hearers with a list of things things desired or wanted in connection with the goal of preserving the history of Presbyterianism - a desiderata. This list was an inspired effort to steer the work of the Presbyterian Historical Society as it began to put into practice the vision of its founder, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer.

  1. Collections of pamphlets, tractates, controversial and other essays, bearing on the history of the Presbyterian church in this country, especially touching the Schism of 1741. These should be bound in volumes, and arranged in chronological order, handy for reference. No time should be lost in this work, for pamphlets are very perishable commodities, and speedily vanish out of sight. A copy of Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks on the Protest cannot now be obtained. One was understood by Dr. Hodge, when he wrote his History, to be in the Antiquarian Library, in Worcester, Mass., but the work is reported by the librarian as missing. This shows us that we should hoard old pamphlets and papers with Mohammedan scrupulosity, especially when there are no duplicates.

  2. Collections, like Gillies’, of accounts of Revivals, and other memoranda of the progress of vital religion. Such collections would be supplementary to Gillies’ great work, which does not embrace the wonderful events of the present century in America.

  3. Collections of memoirs of particular congregations, of which quite a number have been at various times printed, and which ought to be brought together and preserved.

  4. Collections of occasional Sermons, both of deceased and living divines. As old productions are of interest to us, so such as are of recent publication may interest posterity. Such collections would furnish good specimens of the Presbyterian pulpit, and might be either chronologically or alphabetically arranged.

  5. Collections of discourses delivered about and after the era of the Revolution. They would exhibit in a striking and favorable light the patriotic sympathies of the clergy at that period, as also the popular sentiment on the independence of the States, and their subsequent union under the present constitution.

  6. A similar collection of Discourses preached on the day of Thanksgiving in the year 1851, would be very interesting; exhibiting the various views held on the Higher Law, and the preservation of the Union, and also the value of the Pulpit in pouring oil on the strong passions of mankind.

  7. Biographical sketches of leading Presbyterian divines and eminent laymen. It is understood that one of our most esteemed writers is engaged in the preparation of a work of this sort, embracing the different Christian denominations. Whatever emanates from his elegant pen will be sure to possess a standard value; but it is thought, from the very structure of his projected work, such a one as is now recommended will not interfere with it, nor its necessity be superseded. Mark the stirring catalogue that might be produced, names which, though they that bare them have been gathered to their fathers, still powerfully affect us by the recollection of what they once did, or said, or wrote, and by a multitude of interesting associations that rush into the memory: Makemie, the Tennents, Dickinson, Davies, Burr, Blair, the Finleys, Beattie, Brainerd, Witherspoon, Rodgers, Nisbet, Ewing, Sproat, the Caldwells, S. Stanhope Smith, John Blair Smith, McWhorter, Griffin, Green, Blythe, J.P. Campbell, Boudinot, J.P. Wilson, Joshua L. Wilson, Hoge, Speece, Graham, Mason, Alexander, Miller, John Holt Rice, John Breckinridge, Nevins, Wirt. Here is an array of names which we need not blush to see adorning a Biographia Presbyterianiana. And the materials for most of the sketches are prepared to our hand, and only require the touch of a skilful compiler.

  8. Lives of the Moderators. There have been sixty-four Moderators of the General Assembly; and as it is usual to call to the Chair of that venerable body men who enjoy some consideration among their brethren, it is fair to infer that a neat volume might be produced. Many were men of mark; and where this was not the case, materials could be gathered from the times in which they lived, or the doings of the Assembly over which they presided.

  9. A connected account or gazetteer of Presbyterian Missions, both Foreign and Domestic, with sketches of prominent missionaries, and topographical notices of the stations. Dr. Green prepared something of this sort, but it is meagre, and might be greatly enlarged and enriched.

  10. Reprints of scarce and valuable works. It may be objected that we have already a Board of Publication, who have this duty in charge; but it is not intended to do anything that would look like interference with that useful organ. The Board are expected to publish works of general utility, and likely to be popular, and so reimburse the outlay; this society would only undertake what would not fall strictly within the Board’s appropriate province, or would interest not the public generally, but the clerical profession.

  11. A continuation of the Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church to the present time. The valuable work of Dr. Hodge is unfinished; and whether his engrossing professional duties will ever allow him sufficient leisure to complete it is, to say the least, doubtful.

  12. Should that not be done, then it will be desirable to have prepared an authentic narrative of the late Schism of 1838; or materials should be collected to facilitate its preparation hereafter, when it can be done more impartially than at present. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge did a good service in this way, by publishing a series of Memoirs to serve for a future history, in the Baltimore Religious and Literary Magazine.

  13. It might be well to compile a cheap and portable manual for the use of the laity, containing a compact history of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Other proposals on Davidson’s list include a history of the rise and decline of English Presbyterianism; a history of the French Huguenots; and a history of the Reformation in Scotland as well as biographical sketches of Scottish divines.

It is a useful exercise for those who share Davidson’s interest in church history to pause and reflect on the extent to which the goals that he proposed have been met. The Presbyterian Historical Society itself — located in Philadelphia — has certainly done tremendous legwork in this regard as a repository of valuable historical materials which has allowed scholars the opportunity to study and learn from the past. We are extremely grateful for the efforts of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Samuel Mills Tenney’s similar vision led to the creation of the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Montreat, North Carolina. The PCA Historical Center in St. Louis, Missouri is another such agency that has done great service to the church at large as a repository of Reformed literature and memorabilia.

We do have access today to Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks Upon a Protestation Presented to the Synod of Philadelphia, June 1, 1741. By 1861, we know that a copy was located and deposited, in fact, at Presbyterian Historical Society. Though not yet available in PDF form at Log College Press, it is available for all to read online in html through the Evans Early American Imprint Collection here.

The biographical sketches then in progress that Davidson referenced in point #7 were carried through to publication by William B. Sprague. His Annals of the American Pulpit remain to this day a tremendous resource for students of history, yet, as Davidson wisely noted, though many writers have followed in Sprague’s footsteps on a much more limited basis, there is always room for more to be done towards the creation of a Biographia Presbyterianiana.

Regarding the Lives of Moderators (point #8), we are grateful for the labors of Barry Waugh of Presbyterians of the Past to highlight the men that Davidson had in mind. The lists and biographical sketches that he has generated are a very useful starting point towards achieving the goal articulated by Davidson, and help to bring to mind the contributions of Moderators to the work of the church.

There are a number of organizations that have taken pains to reprint older Presbyterian works of interest. Too many to list here, the contributions of all those who share this vision to make literature from the past accessible to present-day readers is to be applauded, including the efforts of Internet Archive, Google Books and others who digitize such works. We at Log College Press also strive to do this both with respect to reprints and our library of primary sources. For us, the past is not dead, primary sources are not inaccessible, and the writings of 18th-19th century Presbyterians are not irrelevant. It is worth noting that there are topical pages with growing resources available on Log College Press that highlight material on biographies, church history, the 1837 Old School / New School division, sermons and much more.

Much more could be said in regards to the extent to which organizations, historians and others have carried forward the goals articulated by Davidson. But for now we leave it to our readers to consider Davidson’s Desiderata, articulated over 150 years ago, and its connection to our shared interest in preserving the history and literature of early American Presbyterianism.

A Virtual Tour of Princeton Cemetery

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William H. Foote once wrote of Moses Hoge (Sketches of Virginia, Second Series, p. 373):

He also visited Princeton College, which, in 1810, had conferred on him, in company with his friend, Mr. [Archibald] Alexander, the degree of S.T.D.; and passed a few days with Dr. Alexander. A cold easterly rain was falling the whole time of his visit. He examined thoroughly the condition of the two institutions, the College and the Seminary, with reference to the two in Prince Edward. He rejoiced in the extended influence of his friend Alexander, and [Samuel] Miller the co-laborer. He could not refrain from a visit to the grave-yard to meditate by the tombs of [Aaron] Burr, [Sr. and Jr.]; [Jonathan] Edwards, [Samuel] Davies, [John] Witherspoon, and [Samuel Stanhope] Smith. As he tarried in that hallowed spot, the bleak wind pierced his diseased frame, and hastened his descent into the valley of death. His heart was elevated as he went from grave to grave, and read the epitaphs of these Presidents of College and teachers of Theology; and his body under the cold rain was chilled in preparation for his own resting in the silent tomb. The conversations of Hoge and Alexander those few days, had there been a hand to record them, laying open the hearts, as by a daguerrotype, of men of such exalted pure principle, so unselfish and so unlike the mass of men - what simplicity of thought, benevolence in feeling, and elevation of piety! -- but there was no man to pen what all men would have been glad to read. Mr. Hoge took his seat in the Assembly - but his fever returned upon him, of a typhus case, and by means of the cold caught in Princeton, became too deeply seated for medicine to remove. He bowed his head meekly to the will of the Head of the Church, and fell asleep in Jesus, on the [5th] of July."

Of the Alexander family, A.A. Hodge once said (Henry Carrington Alexander, The Life of Joseph Addison Alexander, Vol. 2, p. 583):

Of this one great family, A. A. Hodge once said, “I never go to Princeton without visiting the graves of the Alexanders – father and sons – and I never think of them without having my poor staggering faith in God and in regenerated humanity strengthened. Let us uncover our heads and thank God for them.”

Princeton Cemetery is comparable to Westminster Abbey or Bunhill Fields, where so many godly saints are buried - John F. Hageman described it as "the Westminster Abbey of the United States." The number of Log College Press authors who have been laid to rest here is numerous; included are Archibald Alexander, James W. Alexander, Joseph A. Alexander, Aaron Burr, Sr., Samuel Davies, A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge, Samuel Miller, B.B. Warfield, John Witherspoon, and so many more.

For those who are unable to visit Princeton Cemetery in person, or who wish to revisit the cemetery virtually, take a tour of this special place online here. See where the past Presidents of Princeton (including Jonathan Edwards, Sr.) are buried, along with a President and Vice-President of the United States, and many other luminaries with Princeton connections. This writer has spent many hours touring the grounds, including a visit to the grave of Charles Hodge on the 140th anniversary of his entering into glory. We can all be thankful for the technology to be able to revisit Princeton Cemetery, especially in a time of isolation.

When the plague comes - pastoral compassion in centuries past

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Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:…I was sick, and ye visited me:… (Matthew 25:34-36)

As cases of Coronavirus appear in China and the epidemic begins to spread around the world, concerns arise about not only physical health but also how to minister to those in need. It is an age-old question. Ministers have often asked themselves whether it is better to flee to safety or risk exposure to contagion for the spiritual well-being of those who are suffering.

There have been many plagues, many epidemics in human history, and there are many stories of compassion to the suffering. The 1665-1666 Great (bubonic) Plague of London, which killed an estimated 100,000 people in a period of 18 months, is one striking example. The event which inspired English Presbyterian Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) also inspired the ministry of English Presbyterian Thomas Vincent, highlighted in the 1993 play by Anthony Clarvoe The Living, in which Vincent was a main character and his compassion for the sick, with whom he stayed at great risk to himself (seven members of his own household died during the epidemic). Vincent later wrote God’s Terrible Voice in the City (1667), as a call for men to turn to God in repentance. Vincent’s The True Christian’s Love to the Unseen Christ (1677) also contains a description of the plague and his ministry during the pestilence. It was for the love of Christ and Christ’s flock that he stayed during the plague ministered to those in need.

I Preach'd, as never sure to Preach again,
And as a dying man to dying Men! — Richard Baxter, Poetical Fragments Heart-Imployment with God and it Self

Jonathan Edwards, among his first acts as President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), preached a New Year’s Sermon in 1758 on Jer. 28:16 ("This year thou shalt die"), while Princeton, New Jersey was in the midst of a smallpox epidemic. He later received an inoculation, which led to his death two months later. (His predecessor, Aaron Burr, Sr., and successor, Samuel Davies, and his own son, Jonathan Edwards, Jr. all preached on the same text in the same year in which they died.)

…time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance. We know that it is very short, but we know not how short. — Jonathan Edwards, “The Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming It”

Ashbel Green, who wrote the heartfelt A Pastoral Letter, From a Minister in the Country, To Those of His Flock of Who Remained in the City of Philadelphia During the Pestilence of 1798 (1799), encouraged his flock during a yellow fever epidemic not to assemble for public worship. He lost a dear friend to the disease, John Blair Smith, in 1799, and his concern was to protect his flock as a shepherd. The pestilence visited Philadelphia several times while he ministered there and in surrounding parts. His diary entry for November 6, 1802, records this joyful note: “Thanks to God who has preserved us all from the pestilence, shown us many favours, and returned us again to our home. O let us live to his praise; I hope this day I have had some freedom at the throne of grace.”

If ever I preached with fervour, like a dying man to a dying man, it was during the time of this calamity. — Ashbel Green’s autobiography, p. 280

George Dodd Armstrong, author of The Summer of the Pestilence: A History of the Ravages of the Yellow Fever in Norfolk, Virginia (1856), made the decision to stay and serve his suffering flock during the 1855 epidemic. Barry Waugh writes:

The first cases of yellow fever occurred about mid July 1855 in Portsmouth and the source of the contagion was believed to be a steamer from the island of St. Thomas. The citizens of Norfolk were concerned that the fever would be transmitted across the Elizabeth River to infect its citizens. Their fears were confirmed in short order when cases were diagnosed in Norfolk. As the severity of the epidemic in both cities unfolded, Rev. Armstrong struggled with whether or not a minister should remain in the city or flee with the others seeking safety. He decided to stay with his family and he would pay a price for his decision. However, his decision to stay rested upon the providence and sovereignty of God.

For myself, I can say that, in the prospect of the possible spread of the fever throughout our city, I have no anxious thought. The pestilence, when raging in its most terrible violence, and when man stands appalled before it, is yet ever under God’s control, and can claim no victims but such as are given it (p. 29).

Another pastor who confronted the challenges of a yellow fever epidemic was Benjamin Morgan Palmer in New Orleans. Douglas Kelly writes in Preachers With Power: Four Stalwarts of the South, pp. 99-100:

This central motivation of Palmer’s life [a desire “to see the healing hand of the Good Shepherd laid upon the multitudes for whom he felt responsible”] is illustrated in self-sacrificial actions during perilous circumstances in both New Orleans and Columbia. In 1858 the pestilence of yellow fever struck New Orleans, and large numbers of people left the city. While this included many pastors who abandoned their flock, Dr Palmer remained in order to visit the sick and dying, and in the words of his biographer, ‘to offer the consolation of the Gospel, and any other service which it was in his power to give…’ During that year, some 4,858 people in that city died of the fever and Palmer not only visited his own people, but others, particularly those who had no pastor. Indeed, it was his custom, while on his beneficent rounds, ministering to his own people, to enter every house on the way which displayed the sign of fever within; to make his way quietly to the sick room, utter a prayer, offer the consolation of the Gospel, and any other service which it was in his power to give, and then as quietly to leave.’

Twenty years later, in 1878, Palmer was equally faithful and active in visiting those who were once again struck down by another outbreak of yellow fever. Increasing age had not affected his activity in the least. He wrote to his sister, Mrs Edgeworth Byrd, the following report on his pastoral work at that time: ‘You will form some idea of the trial, when I state that during three months, I paid each day from thirty to fifty visits, praying at the bedside of the sick, comforting the bereaved, and burying the dead; and that, too, without intermitting the worship of the Sabbath or even the prayer meeting in the week.’ Such actions prompted a famous Jewish rabbi of New Orleans to observe, ‘It was thus that Palmer got the heart as well as the ear of New Orleans. Men could not resist one who gave himself to such ministry as this.’

In the Selected Writings of Benjamin Morgan Palmer, edited by C.N. Wilborn with selections made by Caleb Cangelosi (who suggested the very topic of today’s blog post), there is an article which he published in the Southwestern Presbyterian (April 1, 1869) titled “Never Too Late,” which gives a sample of his ministerial endeavors during the epidemic of 1867. A man on his death-bed was converted by means of the prayers and earnest supplications of Palmer thus affirming an old maxim found in Matthew Henry’s commentary: “While there is life there is hope.”

In all of these scenes of pastoral ministry, the love of Christ constrained these men to do what they could to help those in need, often at great risk to themselves. We are not all called to such circumstances, but we are all called to such love. And we are called further to pray for the suffering around the world. May these examples from history stir us up to greater compassion for the sake of Christ.