s 
 
 I No. 
 
 ft 
 
 PROPERTY OF 
 
 1 HENRYK. ENGLISH 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 
 
 * 
 


M E M 1 It 
 
 OF 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL, D.D. 
 
 LATE 
 
 PRESIDENT OF HANOVER COLLEGE, IA. 
 
 AND FORMERLY DOMESTIC MISSIONARY AND MISSIONARY AGENT 
 TN THE WEST. 
 
 . . 
 
 
 
 BY JAMES WOOD, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR NEW ALBAJTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 NEW ALBANY: 
 
 JOHN B. ANDEBSON, PUBLISHER. 
 1851. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress in the Clerk s Office of the Dis 
 trict Court of the United States, for the District of Indiana, by JOHN B. AN 
 DERSON, Proprietor, in the year 1851. 
 
 HULLS & SHANNON, PRINTERS, 
 
 8* FOUETH STREET, LOUISV1LLB. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 "Inmttj nf lUliginns 3ni|um}/ r of Uaironrr Cnlkgt, 3n< 
 
 BY WHOSE REQUEST, AND FOR WHOSE SPECIAL BENEFIT 
 
 CTljia fHrmoir Ijas fetcit prepare li, 
 
 St is note 1> rspc rtf ullg Dr^tratrt), 
 
 t?n 1 1 1 t r S i n r r r r JfrienD, t f) r 
 
 * AUTHOR. 
 
 M15S954 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. A notice of hU early life and preparation for the gospel 
 
 ministry. 
 
 CHAPTER II. His labors as a missionary and pastor. 
 CHAPTER III. Hi* agency for the Board of Domestic Missions in the 
 
 Western States. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. His presidency of II mover College. 
 CHAPTER V. His last illness, &e. 
 APPENDIX, containing thoughts on Missions and Education in the 
 
 West. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The writer of the following brief memoir became ac 
 quainted with the subject of it in 1 822, at the Theological 
 Seminary at Princeton, N. J. Circumstances contributed 
 to their frequent intercourse, and to an intimacy which 
 continued till they left that institution. They were exam 
 ined and licensed to preach by the same Presbytery, and 
 at the same meeting ; having been classmates during their 
 theological course. Soon after this they occupied different 
 fields of labor, and seldom met for more than twelve years. 
 At the beginning of 1 837, they were, by the providence 
 of God brought together again, and their former intimacy 
 was renewed. From that time till his decease, a period of 
 twelve years and a half, they were often in each other s 
 society, and enjoyed the pleasure and benefit of mutual 
 counsels and prayers. This circumstance was doubtless 
 the principal reason for the request made to the author by 
 the Society of Religious Inquiry, of Hanover College, to 
 prepare a memoir of his life. 
 
 Several causes have produced unexpected delay in its 
 publication. It is now offered to the Christian public as an 
 expression of personal friendship for the deceased, and as 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a tribute to great moral worth, and ministerial diligence 
 and usefulness. It is presented also with the hope that it 
 may be instrumental in quickening the zeal of the church 
 in that "work of faith and labor of love * for which our 
 worthy friend and Christian brother was eminently distin 
 guished. The cause of Domestic Missions which he labored 
 assiduously to promote for many years, is not second in 
 importance to any other object of Christian benevolence ; 
 and he who spends his life and exhausts his energies in 
 order to advance it, will find an ample reward for his toil 
 and self-denial, not only in the moral and social benefits 
 conferred upon our country, but also in the priceless spirit 
 ual blessings which he will be the instrument of communi 
 cating to his fellow men. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A NOTICE OF HIS EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION FOR TIIE 
 GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 Dr. Sylvester Scovel was the youngest son of 
 intelligent and pious parents, who were born in 
 the State of Connecticut and died at Albany, N. 
 Y. Both of them lived to an advanced age. 
 His father was a farmer. He possessed great 
 energy in business, by which he acquired a com 
 petence for the support of his family in a respec 
 table style of living. He was always cheerful, 
 and the delight of those who knew him. As he 
 was happy in life, so he was also in death. His 
 mother, whose maiden name was Spencer, sprang 
 from one of the first families in her native State. 
 She was beautiful in her form and commanding 
 in her appearance. She taught her children the 
 
, _, ( { ( J>> < _ l , O "" 
 
 10 MEMOIR. 
 
 truths of the gospel with great diligence, and ac 
 companied her instructions by a holy walk and 
 conversation. The whole family, through the 
 blessing of God on the counsels and example of 
 their sainted parents, early consecrated them 
 selves to his service. Their residence, for a con 
 siderable portion of their lives, was in Peru, 
 Berkshire County, Massachusetts, at which place 
 Sylvester was born March 3d, 1796. 
 
 His earliest religious impressions, which proved 
 to be permanent, were in his thirteenth year. 
 His seriousness at that time resulted in what he 
 believed to be a change of heart; and from the 
 exercises of his mind recorded in his diary, there 
 is reason to conclude that he was not deceived. 
 Yet, as sometimes happens in cases of genuine 
 conversion, he appears, after eighteen months or 
 more, to have lost his first love, and, in a great 
 degree, his hope, and to have lived for several 
 years afterwards in a backslidden state. This de 
 clension was induced partly by his neglect to 
 make a public profession of religion, and partly 
 by his removal in 1812 from the quiet rural re 
 treat of his native home, to the city of Albany, 
 N. Y., where he engaged in business as a clerk 
 in the store of one of his older brothers. Though 
 he was sent away by his parents with fervent 
 
MEMOIR. 11 
 
 prayers to a covenant keeping God, that he might 
 not fall into the temptations and snares of a city 
 life, the change was too great not to have an in 
 jurious effect upon his piety. Mingling freely in 
 gay and fashionable society, and erroneously im 
 agining that he could serve God as acceptably 
 without disclosing his religious experience to any 
 one, as by coming out from the world, especially 
 at his early age, and connecting himself with the 
 church, he concealed the light that shone into his 
 soul, until the flame of devotion and hope, which 
 for a time had ascended up unto heaven with de 
 vout and joyful brilliancy, was reduced almost to 
 a spark, and that spark lay concealed in the ash 
 es of doubt and fear. His comforts of course 
 died away; prayer became, comparatively speak 
 ing, an irksome duty, and was consequently en 
 gaged in with less frequency than at first; and 
 he unwisely and vainly sought in parties of pleas 
 ure that relief from a troubled conscience which 
 his unfrequented closet had ceased to afford. 
 
 "How vain all outward effort to supply 
 The soul with joy! The noontide sun is dark, 
 Aiid music discord, when the heart is low." 
 
 And the heart of a backsliding Christian can 
 not be otherwise than low, when 
 
 Conscience wakes the bitter memory 
 
 Of what he was. what is, arid what must be 
 Worse," 
 
12 MEMOIR. 
 
 so long as he continues like backsliding Israel, 
 to "forsake God, the fountain of living waters, 
 and to hew out for himself broken cisterns that 
 can hold no water." 
 
 Our young friend remained in this uncomfort 
 able frame of mind till the spring of 1815, at 
 which time two gentlemen from the city of New 
 York, who were attending the Legislature at Al 
 bany, the capital of that State, took a prominent 
 part in a series of social religious "meetings held 
 by the pastor and session of the First Presbyte 
 rian Church of that city. Those gentlemen (one 
 of them in particular,) were unusually gifted in 
 prayer and exhortation, and they did not regard 
 themselves as compromiting their senatorial dig 
 nity by endeavoring to win souls to Christ. A 
 very considerable awakening ensued, chiefly 
 among the youth, and as the fruit of it, ten or 
 twelve young persons, of whom Mr. Scovel was 
 one, united themselves with the church. 
 
 From the account which he gives of his own 
 exercises at that time and onward, of his conver 
 sation with his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Niel, of the 
 impression made upon him by the preaching of 
 the gospel, and of the memorable communion 
 Sabbath, July 16th, 1815, when he for the first 
 time sat down at the table of the Lord, we infer 
 
MEMOIR. 13 
 
 that his religious views and feelings were substan 
 tially the same as they had been for a season six 
 years before. He was greatly humbled in view 
 of his past life; shed many tears before God as 
 he confessed to him his sins; had a distinct per 
 ception of the necessity of the atonement by Je 
 sus Christ, and of the work of the Holy Spirit in 
 regenerating the heart; and with a devout, be 
 lieving and joyful spirit, devoted himself unre 
 servedly to the service of our precious and di 
 vine Redeemer. All these he seems to have felt 
 and done before he was thirteen years of age; 
 and during the whole six years which intervened 
 between that time and the present, he continued 
 to have some faint impressions of the same char 
 acter. Now, when the work of divine grace was 
 revived in his soul, they appear again, the same 
 in kind as before, but with increased strength and 
 vigor. He was then almost a child, too diffident 
 to seek that comfort aud security which are found 
 in a public profession of religion, or even in a free 
 disclosure of his feelings to his parents or other 
 pious friends, and too inexperienced and volatile 
 to escape uninjured those counteracting influen 
 ces which are scattered like beautiful and fragrant 
 flowers along the paths of youth. Had he sought 
 a place and a name among God s people, as we 
 
14 MEMOIR. 
 
 verily believe he should have done, it is highly 
 probable that instead of four or five years of spir 
 itual declension, we should be able to record his 
 progress in the divine life during that period, and 
 his much earlier preparation for the gospel min 
 istry. 
 
 After his connection with the church he be 
 came one of her most active and devoted mem 
 bers, and soon felt and expressed a strong desire 
 to qualify himself for the ministry. But serious 
 obstacles were in his way. Some of his relations, 
 though pious, endeavored to dissuade him. They 
 urged him especially to postpone it for a time, on 
 the ground that the zeal he then manifested might 
 prove to be temporary; that a delay of twelve 
 months might result in his ceasing to have a de 
 sire to preach, &c. Another obstacle was the 
 want of pecuniary resources. His father, who 
 still resided at Peru, had sustained the loss of a 
 large part of his estate by the same cause which 
 the distinguished commentator, Dr. Scott, tells us 
 made the father of his wife poor, viz., that "he 
 never profited by the wise admonition, He that 
 hatetli suretyship is sure" In the present case 
 there was this apology for it, to-wit: that the act 
 was done to please and accommodate one of his 
 sons in commencing business. The effect was his 
 
MEMOIR. 15 
 
 inability to educate his son Sylvester, who ac 
 cordingly, in part from necessity, and partly to 
 gratify the wishes of friends, continued in busi 
 ness till the spring of 1817, when he reached the 
 age of twenty-one years; immediately after which 
 he made the necessary arrangements to pursue 
 his studies. He had indeed kept the subject 
 steadily before his mind during the two years 
 previous; and had financiered so successfully as 
 to provide himself with a considerable sum to 
 wards defraying his necessary expenses. Not re 
 ceiving as much while a clerk as he thought he 
 could earn in some other way, he prevailed on 
 one of his brothers, who is said to have been un 
 usually kind and generous, to furnish him with 
 merchandise, that he might set up business for 
 himself, for the sole purpose of accumulating 
 funds to expend in his preparation for the gospel 
 ministry. At the close of his brief mercantile 
 career of some twelve months, in which business 
 he had good success, he commenced his academ 
 ical studies, and in one year and a half thereafter, 
 which was in the fall of 1818, he entered Will 
 iams CoUege, Mass. His vacations were spent in 
 school-teaching, in reference to which he received, 
 as he was entering on his senior year, a flattering 
 testimonial from the Rev. Dr. Griffin, President 
 
16 MEMOIR. 
 
 of the College, certifying to his reputable stand 
 ing in the institution "as a man, a scholar and a 
 Christian." 
 
 He remained in College four years, during 
 which time, as well as during his previous aca 
 demical course, he appears to have experienced 
 the usual vicissitudes incident to a Christian life> 
 and to have made pleasing progress in divine 
 knowledge and grace. A desire to do good is 
 particularly prominent in his diary, and is testi 
 fied to in several communications written by 
 others. As a specimen of his feelings at that 
 period and before, we give a few sentences of 
 what he penned on the day of the first anniver 
 sary of his religious profession, the return of which 
 he seems to have regarded with peculiar interest. 
 "Much self-examination is necessary on this mo 
 mentous occasion. That I may be assisted in 
 this examination let me consider three things : 
 1. What have I done for God my Creator, and 
 for Jesus my Saviour? 2. What for my own 
 soul ? and 3. What for the souls of my fellow 
 mortals?" Sentiments like these pervaded al 
 most every thing he wrote of a religious charac 
 ter from that time onward; and they were so 
 strikingly manifest to others as to be men 
 tioned in one case with gratitude by a person 
 whose spiritual benefit he had greatly promoted. 
 
MEMOIR. 17 
 
 He thus gave evidence in several particulars 
 of his call to the gospel ministry. lie had been 
 tolled by divine grace into the kingdom of Christ, 
 without which it may be invariably assumed that 
 a man is not called to preach the gospel. He 
 possessed fervent and active zeal in the discharge 
 of those duties which devolved on him as a mem 
 ber of the church; which indicated a special qual 
 ification to be useful in the gospel ministry, pro 
 vided he had the requisite mental endowments, 
 and provided no serious defects of character 
 stood in the way. He felt an earnest desire to 
 engage in this ^vork; and since that desire was 
 awakened in his breast as the fruit of his Chris 
 tian experience, there is good reason for believing 
 that it was produced by the same Spirit who had 
 wrought in him his previous change of heart. 
 Again, though possessing an extraordinary talent 
 for business, and having a reasonable prospect of 
 acquiring wealth by continuing in it, he engaged 
 in business no longer than to acquire sufficient 
 means to fit himself for College, and with a view 
 to this end, after which he abandoned forever his 
 secular calling for the cure of souls. His renun 
 ciation of worldly emolument for the cause of 
 Ch //>/, ami his readiness to devote the little he 
 
 /;// his, /V/ ///*//x f m <l //////Av/ ft ))}?, to 
 
 
 
18 MEMOIR. 
 
 prepare himself for his future profession, savored 
 strongly of an impulse more than human. A su 
 premely selfish and worldly man hardly deserves 
 the name of Christian, and is totally unfit for a 
 Christian minister, the essence of whose official 
 work is but the outward expression of love to 
 his fellow-men. Hence, when God calls a man 
 to this sacred office, he subdues the native ava 
 rice and selfishness of his heart, and imparts a 
 spirit of enlarged and self-denying benevolence. 
 It gives us pleasure to remark, that many other 
 Christians are benevolent besides ministers of the 
 gospel. Still the benevolence required of a min 
 ister is peculiar. He must not merely give a 
 tenth of his income, but the whole of it, to the 
 service of Christ. He cannot become a minister 
 without consenting to spend his life with no other 
 pecuniary emolument than a comfortable, and 
 oftentimes a scanty support. If then a man of 
 the character and qualifications hitherto suppose^, 
 has within his reach an ample fortune, and yet 
 feels so strong a desire to preach the gospel, that 
 he deliberately chooses to relinquish his fair 
 worldly prospects for the sake of the gospel min 
 istry, and if withal he himself sincerely believes 
 that he is moved to this course by the Holy 
 Ghost, no stronger evidence of the divine will is 
 
MEMOIR. 19 
 
 usually afforded than is done by such a concur 
 rence of circumstances; and hence it is not only 
 right in such a case for a man to yield to these 
 impressions, but not to do so involves a culpable 
 dereliction of Christian duty. 
 
 Once more this evidence, already strong in 
 Mr. Scovel s case, was rendered decisive, by the 
 permanency of those desires and convictions of duty 
 of which we have spoken. His zeal for Christ 
 and his love for souls did not languish. The end 
 of "twelve months" after he made a public pro 
 fession found him as firmly fixed in his high and 
 holy purpose of preaching the gospel as at the 
 beginning; and during each succeeding step of 
 his literary course, his desires did not flag, nor 
 did he waver in his determination. There may 
 be strong desires for a short time, which are nev 
 ertheless transient. Hence a too hasty decision 
 is unwise, and liable to mislead. But if, after 
 much prayerful deliberation, the first intimations 
 of a divine call are continued, and rather in 
 creased than diminished, so that the feeling of 
 the heart is, "Woe be to me if I preach not the 
 gospel," there should be a devout and willing re 
 sponse, "Lord, here am I; send me." To doubt 
 in such a case, is sinful; and to disobey is a ten 
 fold aggravation of that sin it is rebellion against 
 
2ft MEMOIR. 
 
 the authority of Christ. We earnestly urge upon 
 those young men at whose request and for whose 
 special benefit this volume is penned, to examine 
 with due attention the subject of a call to the 
 gospel ministry; and while they are careful to 
 avoid "running without being sent, " let them be 
 equally so to avoid incurring the divine displeas 
 ure for their neglect of known duty. 
 
 Mr. Scovel graduated in the fall of 1822, and 
 after spending two or three months in teaching a- 
 school in his native place, he entered the Theolo 
 gical Seminary at Princeton, N. J. His venera 
 ble friend, Dr. Griffin, to whom he made known 
 his intention, furnished him with a letter of intro 
 duction to the Professors, enclosed in a note to 
 him. The first part of the letter is as follows: 
 
 "Williams CoUege, Nov. 28, 1822. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, It is with peculiar pleasure 
 that I comply with your request, by return mail. 
 The enclosed letter you will please to seal. I 
 have only time to wish you every blessing in the 
 pursuit of your course. 
 
 I hope you will be guarded against the views 
 of the limited atonement taught at P n. Many 
 have fallen before the influence there, who had 
 received such an education as you have." 
 
MEMOIR. 21 
 
 This well meant advice is a little remarkable, 
 coming, as it did, from a firm believer in the doc 
 trines of the divine decrees, predestination, and 
 personal election, as held by Calvinistic divines. 
 But he, like many other New England ministers 
 since the time of Edwards, made a distinction 
 between atonement and redemption, regarding 
 the former as general, the latter as particular or 
 limited; by which he supposed the subject to be 
 relieved of some of those difficulties involved, or 
 thought to be involved, in it, when no such dis 
 tinction is recognized. He published a volume 
 on the Atonement, for the special purpose of ex 
 plaining and defending these views; but the work 
 did not produce that strong impression on the 
 public mind which he probably anticipated, and 
 which the high standing, splendid talents, and 
 profound learning of the author led some of his 
 friends to expect. When we assume the infinite 
 sufficiency of the atonement, we lay a foundation 
 broad enough for the free offer of salvation to all 
 men; and hence nothing is gained by introducing 
 into the language of theology those nice distinc 
 tions, which, while they obviate no real difficulty, 
 greatly diminish, not to say destroy, the harmony 
 of divine truth. 
 
 It is perhaps sr:imly necessary to say that 
 
22 MEMOIR. 
 
 Mr. Scovel did "fall before the influence there;" 
 that he sincerely embraced those views of the 
 atonement which are taught in that Seminary and 
 in the standards of the Presbyterian Church, as 
 distinguished from those which consist partly of 
 those modifications of the reformed doctrine 
 which were introduced by Arminius and his fol 
 lowers. And in our judgment he was so far from 
 being injured by it, that he derived an important 
 benefit as a minister of the gospel, from having 
 his theological views cast in so scriptural a mold. 
 While in the seminary his standing as a scholar 
 was highly respectable; his amiable disposition, 
 and his affable and pleasant manners commended 
 him to all with whom he became acquainted; and 
 his fervent, humble piety, and his sincere attach 
 ment and devotion to the cause of Christ, in 
 spired universal confidence. He was licensed to 
 preach by the Presbytery of Albany in August 
 1824, but did not dissolve his connection with 
 the Seminary till the following May. His theo 
 logical course was abridged a few months on ac 
 count of pecuniary straits, which were sometimes 
 quite embarrassing, though sooner or later a kind 
 Providence always interposed to provide for his 
 wants. He has been heard to say "that at one 
 time while in the Seminary he was in very great 
 
MEMOIR. 23 
 
 need of funds, that going to a prayer meeting 
 much cast down, a letter was handed him by one 
 of the Professors when about to enter the room, 
 and upon opening it he found twenty-five dollars, 
 which just relieved his wants, but that he never 
 could learn from whom the money came." The 
 following note, found among his papers, doubtless 
 refers to this donation. It is signed by the Rev. 
 Dr. Miller, and dated Aug. 9, 1824, which was a 
 few days before he was expecting to attend the 
 meeting of Presby tery to sustain his examination 
 for licensure. 
 
 "Mr DEAR SIR: The enclosed is a sum of 
 money put into my hands to be devoted privately 
 to whomsoever I might think proper. You will 
 never know from whom it comes, nor will the 
 giver ever know the individual on whom it is be 
 stowed. I have no other agency in the business 
 than selecting the object; and as I have known 
 of the scantiness of your funds, and your pro 
 posed journey to the North, I have resolved that 
 it shah 1 be yours." 
 
 From this small incident we may learn that an 
 intelligent and scriptural trust in Divine Provi- 
 nence is never misplaced. After a student has 
 faithfully used the means which proper economy 
 mid industry require, in order to meet his current 
 
24 MEMOIR. 
 
 expenses, he is authorized and required to exer 
 cise confidence in God that he will provide for his 
 necessary wants. He must indeed be careful not 
 to appropriate any portion of his means in unne 
 cessary or injudicious expenditures. With this 
 precaution he will seldom, if ever, be compelled 
 to abandon his studies on account of the small- 
 ness of his resources. If the Great Head of the 
 church has called him to become a preacher of the 
 gospel, he has called him to prepare for it; and 
 if he perseveres in the path of duty, and humbly 
 and believingly applies to him for relief in the 
 hour of need, the manna will in due time descend 
 from the clouds, and the water gush forth from the 
 rock. 
 
 During his theological course he engaged reg 
 ularly from week to week in imparting Sabbath 
 school instruction, and in conducting, or aiding 
 to conduct social meetings for prayer and exhor 
 tation. A considerable number of these meet 
 ings were held in different neighborhoods near 
 Princeton, under the direction of theological stu 
 dents, two of whom generally went out together 
 on Sabbath afternoon, walking sometimes three 
 or four miles, and even farther, teaching a Sab 
 bath school and Bible class, and closing the whole 
 with a prayer meeting. The last was usually at- 
 
MEMOIR. 25 
 
 tended by scores of young people together with 
 their parents, who joined in the exercises with 
 apparent seriousness, and sometimes with many 
 tears. As a specimen of these meetings we will 
 copy a few extracts from the memoirs of Mr. 
 James B. Taylor, a devoted young man, who, at 
 this time, and for several years preceding, was 
 pursuing his studies at Nassau Hall in Princeton, 
 and at the High School in Lawrenceville, five 
 miles distant. The present writer was well ac 
 quainted with Mr. Taylor, was one of his teach 
 ers for eighteen months at Lawrenceville, and can 
 testify to the general correctness of the state 
 ments hereafter made. 
 
 "Before he had been one month at Lawrence 
 ville," says his biographer, "he established, and 
 with his pious fellow students, conducted a weekly 
 prayer meeting, about three miles from the vil 
 lage. It was among a people, the most of whom 
 seldom or never attended church. But yet, won 
 by the kind attentions of these young men, they 
 came together weekly in considerable numbers, 
 to hear hymns sung, listen to instruction, and 
 join in prayer to the Father of all. After giv 
 ing to a friend an account of this place, and of 
 the spiritual condition of the people, Mr. Taylor 
 adds, THERE I HOPE TO BE USEFUL." .... "This 
 3 
 
26 MEMOIR. 
 
 prayer meeting, which had been established on 
 Friday evening, was changed to Sabbath after 
 noon, and was regularly attended by Mr. Taylor. 
 The religious exercises thus held, soon produced 
 a desire for further reformation; and a Bible class 
 was formed, which he was requested to superin 
 tend." .... "His letters give some interesting 
 accounts of the effect of this prayer meeting. 
 To one of his sisters he writes thus:" . . . "No 
 doubt you wish to hear something of my prayer 
 meeting. On Sabbath afternoon, at four, I meet 
 about one hundred people, assembled in two 
 rooms, most of whom are ignorant of God. I 
 stand in the door between, and generally read to 
 them a sermon; after which I sometimes speak a 
 few words of exhortation. As yet I have seen 
 no effect, except that they have become more at 
 tentive; and instead of profaning the Sabbath by 
 labor in the fields, &c., they are seen at meeting. 
 I trust that good seed is sowing, and that it will 
 spring up in due time." In another letter he 
 writes, "I will inform you what I have been en 
 deavoring to do. The opportunity was afforded 
 to me of attempting something, by a recess of 
 three days in our school. On Sunday, the 2d 
 instant, I went as usual to attend my prayer 
 meeting, and found the house filled to overflow- 
 
MEMOIR. 27 
 
 ing. At the close of the meeting, according to 
 my previous plan, I told the people that I in 
 tended to spend two days in visiting from house 
 to house, as many of them as I could. Accord 
 ingly I commenced on Sunday evening my new 
 employment. At the first place where I called, 
 I found a young person greatly distressed on ac 
 count of sin. This case of awakening had oc 
 curred at our prayer meeting. There was very 
 great distress. I endeavored to oifer such in 
 struction as suited the case." .... "On Monday 
 I made ten visits." . . . "At the house where I 
 tarried that night, I found a young lady, in cir 
 cumstances similar to those of the person first 
 mentioned, bound down under a sense of sin, and 
 earnestly desiring the one thing needful. This 
 greatly encouraged me, for I do believe that she 
 is seeking the way of truth, the good old way. 
 Here also I met with one who appeared to be a 
 Christian indeed. how pleasant! It is like a 
 well of water in a thirsty land." . . . "On Tues 
 day I called at ten houses. At most of them I 
 presented one or more tracts." 
 
 We have introduced these extracts for two 
 reasons. One is, that they serve to show how 
 Dr. Scovel, while a student at College occupied 
 his leisure time; especially a portion of every 
 
28 MEMOIR. 
 
 Sabbath. The course he pursued was very sim 
 ilar to that above described. We are not able, 
 however, to state with certainty whether any 
 fruits of his labors were visible or not. But he 
 sowed the "good seed/ and if he did not reap 
 the harvest, this has been done since by others 
 who succeeded him in the same "work of faith 
 and labor of love." The other reason is, that in 
 view of these facts, we wish to invite the attention 
 of candidates for the gospel ministry to the op 
 portunities which are furnished them for doing 
 good while prosecuting their studies. In the vi 
 cinity of all our Colleges and Theological Semina 
 ries there are neighborhoods which present en 
 couraging fields for usefulness, similar to the one 
 above described, and to those contiguous to it, 
 which were regularly visited by Mr. Scovel and 
 other members of the Seminary. Though stu 
 dents are not justified in neglecting their studies 
 for any cause whatever, except ill health, and 
 though a sound discretion should be exercised 
 with regard to the manner of conducting these 
 meetings; yet without any interruption of studi 
 ous habits, and without trenching upon that offi 
 cial work into which they have not yet been in 
 ducted, there is ample room for the employment 
 of their gifts; and there is also abundant en- 
 
MEMOIR. 29 
 
 rourugement to do so from the hope of being in 
 strumental in saving souls. Many a young man 
 has commenced a course of preparation for the 
 ministry, who has been called to his final account 
 before he was permitted to preach a single ser 
 mon. Present opportunities for doing good 
 should therefore not be neglected, since they may 
 be the only ones we shall ever enjoy. 
 
 In looking over the catalogue of those in the 
 Semiuaiy at the time of Dr. Scovel s connection 
 with it, we have felt mingled and varied emotions. 
 Being there at the same period with him, his 
 companions and acquaintances were the same as 
 our own. The present location and circumstan 
 ces of some of them are unknown to us. Others 
 we can distinctly trace; and we contemplate with 
 pleasure and gratitude the stations of distin 
 guished influence in the church which some of 
 them occupy, and the fields of more retired yet 
 extensive usefulness which others are cultivating 
 with diligence and success. A few, from want of 
 health, and consequent inability to labor officially 
 in Christ s vineyard, or from some other provi 
 dential causes, have passed through many vicissi 
 tudes, and are now struggling with the various 
 inconveniences and ills of disappointed expecta 
 tion; and a considerable number, like the subject 
 
30 MEMOIR. 
 
 of this memoir, have been called to their final 
 account. The reminiscences thus revived are to 
 the writer full of interest, and the reflections they 
 suggest are highly instructive and salutary. 
 
 But our object in alluding to them now, is not 
 to descant on the pleasures of Christian friend 
 ship, nor to moralize on the uncertainty of life; 
 but to deduce a valuable lesson with regard to a 
 thorough preparation for the gospel ministry. 
 Though we do not find, in reviewing the above 
 list of students, that their subsequent standing 
 and usefulness can in every case be measured by 
 the length of time they spent in the Theological 
 Seminary, we obtain sufficient data for a forcible 
 appeal to all our candidates to take a full course 
 of literary and professional study. The young 
 man who feels in such haste to finish his prepa 
 ration, as to cut short his College course, and then 
 his Seminary course, however good his motives 
 may be for this proceeding, unless he enjoys an 
 equivalent for those advantages elsewhere, does 
 both himself and the church a serious injury. 
 Though he gains thereby a year or two in the 
 way of actual service in his Lord s vineyard, he 
 labors with more difficulty to himself and with 
 less efficiency in promoting the interests of reli 
 gion. There are many stations which he is in- 
 
MEMOIR. 31 
 
 competent to fill, for the want of sufficient previ 
 ous training; and the one he may occupy, he 
 could fill with far greater ease and advantage, and 
 with much larger and more permanent results to 
 the cause of Christ, if he possessed the additional 
 furniture which one or two more years of study 
 would give him. Dr. Scovel s theological course 
 was not abridged beyond three or four months; 
 and yet he advised young men not to imitate his 
 example in this particular, unless impelled by the 
 most urgent necessity. Whatever maybe thought 
 now by some ardent and impulsive young men, 
 concerning the length of time prescribed in the 
 plan of our Seminaries, they will not think it a 
 single day too long, when in subsequent life they 
 come to review the subject, and when under the 
 pressure of official duties and responsibili ties they 
 exclaim, with the most learned and in some re 
 spects the most eminent of all the apostles, "Who 
 is sufficient for these things?" Dr. S. has been 
 often heard to say, that if he had not laid up a 
 good body of divinity by a long course of prepa 
 ration, he would not have been able to sustain 
 himself as an agent, so little time had he during 
 his agency to devote himself to study. Though 
 a minister ought to be a student, as far as practi 
 cable, all his life, yet he is sometimes called to a 
 
32 MEMOIR. 
 
 field of labor very unfriendly to studious habits. 
 This circumstance was to Dr. S. one of the great 
 est trials of his agency. But being, as he be 
 lieved, in the path of duty, he felt called upon by 
 Divine Providence to practice this self-denial, 
 though it involved a great sacrifice of opportuni 
 ties which he might otherwise have enjoyed for 
 literary pursuits. As no candidate for the minis 
 try can know beforehand what field he may be 
 called to cultivate, or what may be his future ad 
 vantages or disadvantages for increasing his stock 
 of knowledge, he should not ask for his creden 
 tials to preach, until he is a "workman that needs 
 not to be ashamed," and is able "rightly to di 
 vide the word of truth." In the language of a 
 valuable correspondent, "the gospel is to be 
 preached to every creature; but every creature 
 is not prepared to preach the gospel, and least of 
 all those creatures who refuse to avail themselves 
 of the means of being thoroughly furnished for 
 their work." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 HIS LABORS AS A MISSIONARY AND PASTOR. 
 
 About a month after his licensure he received 
 an appointment from the Board of Domestic Mis 
 sions to labor for six weeks as a missionary in 
 five different neighborhoods on the Delaware 
 River between Trenton and Philadelphia. His 
 journal of this mission now lies before me; from 
 which it appears, that after spending a part of 
 each forenoon in study, he walked daily from 
 place to place, sometimes eight or ten miles, vis 
 iting families, engaging in personal conversation, 
 and distributing tracts; and at the close of the 
 day preaching the gospel to attentive, and some 
 times solemn and weeping audiences, congregated 
 in school-houses and private dwellings. After 
 completing this short mission, he returned to the 
 Seminary, remained there six months, and then 
 accepted an invitation from the congregation at 
 Woodbury, New Jersey, to preach to them as a 
 stated supply. Though this invitation extended 
 only to a single year, he continued there upwards 
 of three, and when he determined to leave, he 
 had in his hands a call from them for a perma- 
 
34 MEMOIR. 
 
 nent settlement. During his residence in that 
 place fifty-three persons were added to the church, 
 and the strength and prosperity of the congrega 
 tion were increased in other respects. A promi 
 nent member of that church has furnished the 
 following interesting statement: "The Rev. Mr. 
 Scovel labored with that ardent piety and indefat 
 igable zeal, which has characterized the man ever 
 since. His suavity of manner, and the interest 
 which he manifested for the good of all men, won 
 him the confidence and esteem, not only of his 
 personal friends and of his church, but of the 
 whole community. He labored in season and out 
 of season for the spiritual welfare of all, and es 
 pecially of his own congregation. Under his 
 ministry many were added to the church, who we 
 trust have been and will be saved. Some have 
 already entered into their rest, and others have 
 continued faithful to their profession, who we trust 
 will be ultimately saved." 
 
 "He not only labored himself, but had a re 
 markable faculty of setting others to work in the 
 spiritual vineyard. He assembled the leading 
 male members together, and not only prayed with 
 them and for them, but called upon them to take 
 part with him orally, and by this means gave 
 them confidence and assurance. Female prayer 
 
MEMOIR. 35 
 
 meetings were also encouraged successfully, and 
 these in addition to the weekly prayer meeting 
 and lecture, the Bible class and Sabbath school. 
 His labors extended to a second church at Black- 
 woodtown, six miles east of Woodbury, where he 
 was equally successful." 
 
 "It was at this time that the religious world 
 were drawn to supply the destitute with the Bible, 
 and they determined to place a copy in every 
 family. This was accomplished in that county 
 under the special superintendence of the Rev. 
 Mr. Scovel. Without his zeal, industry, and per 
 severance, there would have been a failure. The 
 county was very large, extending from the Dela 
 ware to the Atlantic, out of which there has since 
 been made three counties. Notwithstanding this, 
 he not only did not intermit his ordinary labors 
 in his own charges, but he obtained helpers from 
 the Seminary at Princeton and from individuals 
 in the county, called meetings in the villages and 
 other places, made speeches himself, and got oth 
 ers to address assemblages, and in this way was 
 the exploration made, the money necessary raised, 
 and the work thoroughly accomplished in a few 
 months. Such persevering, indefatigable indus 
 try I have never witnessed from any one since. 
 He left us for a wider field of labor, carrying with 
 
36 MEMOIR. 
 
 him the confidence and love of his congregation 
 and the community." 
 
 One of the first of those members admitted 
 by him to the communion of the church, was Miss 
 Hannah C. Matlack, daughter of James Matlack, 
 Esq., an ex-member of Congress, a gentleman of 
 wealth and influence, of good moral habits and 
 unimpeachable integrity, but a stranger at that 
 time to experimental religion, and not very 
 friendly to its professors as such, particularly to 
 ministers of the gospel. A special attachment 
 was soon formed between her and Dr. Scovel, to 
 the consummation of which, by marriage, her fa 
 ther made decided opposition. The obstacles 
 thrown in the way by him to the gratification of 
 their wishes, together with his personal ill feeling 
 towards Mr. S., arising from the above cause, 
 were the main reasons for his declining the call 
 from that congregation. He left Woodbury in 
 the fall of 1828, and after preaching six months 
 at Norristown, Pa., he received and accepted a 
 commission from the Board of Missions of the 
 Presbyterian Church, to labor as a missionary in 
 the West. He was married to Miss Matlack in 
 Philadelphia, on the morning of June 23d, 1829, 
 and on the same day they directed their steps 
 towards their new and distant home in the Ohio 
 Valley. 
 
MEMOIR. 37 
 
 Had we the talent and inclination formance, or 
 we might here introduce a narrative which, with 
 some expansion and embellishment, would form 
 by itself a volume of thrilling interest. Without 
 gathering our materials from the realms of fancy 
 or fiction, the simple facts in the case would fur 
 nish all the essential requisites for a regular dra 
 ma, partly comical and partly tragical, but ter 
 minating happily and honorably to all the par 
 ties concerned. Suffice it to say, that several 
 distinguished ministers in Philadelphia, after be 
 ing made fully acquainted with the circumstan 
 ces, advised their marriage; but they preferred 
 waiting for her father s consent, and after a delay 
 of two years, he reluctantly gave his permission; 
 though he did not witness the ceremony, nor in 
 vite the bridegrdom to his house. He even 
 threatened to disinherit his daughter, yet never 
 lost his affection for her, traveled once to the 
 West to pay her a visit, and toward the close of 
 his life, at which time he gave evidence of experi 
 encing a change of heart, he became wholly re 
 conciled, expressed kind feelings for both her and 
 her husband, and bequeated to her and her chil 
 dren a legacy which yields a competent support 
 for her large family. 
 
 On the subject of marriage, the distinguished 
 
38 MEMOIR. 
 
 and evangelical John Angel James, addressing 
 the young people of his charge, made the fol 
 lowing just remarks: "Parents have no right to 
 select for you, nor ought you to select for your 
 self without consulting with them. How far they 
 are vested with authority to prohibit you from 
 marrying a person whom they disapprove, is a 
 point of casuistry very difficult to determine. If 
 you are of age, and able to provide for yourselves, 
 or are likely to be well provided for, by those to 
 whom you are about to be united, it is a question 
 whether they can do any thing more than advise 
 and persuade." Again, "Their objections ought 
 always, I admit, to be founded in reason, and not 
 on caprice, pride or cupidity; for where this is 
 the case, and the children are of full age, and are 
 guided in their choice by prudence, by piety, and 
 by affection, they certainly may and must be left 
 to decide for themselves." 
 
 The latter part of this advice presents a mat 
 ter more grave in its character and more impor 
 tant in its results than even the consent of pa 
 rents; viz: that the contracting parties should be 
 guided in their choice "by prudence, \yy piety, 
 and by affection" The usefulness, as well as 
 happiness of preachers of the gospel is sometimes 
 so much affected by this circumstance, as to jus- 
 
MEMOIR. 39 
 
 tify us iii saying a word or two oil this poiiit to 
 candidates for the ministry. We might adduce 
 a thousand instances of happy marriages, as in 
 the case of the subject of this memoir, and of a 
 very large majority of all the clergy with whose 
 families it has been our pleasure to be acquaint 
 ed. But the sight of a single vessel stranded 011 
 the beach, teaches the mariner a more impressive 
 lesson than that of a hundred riding safely and 
 majestically in the ocean. Two of the most cel 
 ebrated preachers of the age in which they lived, 
 John Wesley and George Whitefield, were unfor 
 tunate in their marriages; the former in a very 
 high degree; showing that great and good men 
 are not always wise. Mrs. Wesley was not only 
 no assistance to her husband in his arduous work, 
 but she threw every obstacle which she could hi 
 his way. She even defamed his character, and, 
 in order to substantiate her charges, interpolated 
 his letters, and read them as thus altered by her, 
 to those whom she knew to be his enemies; in 
 tending thereby to blast his reputation and de 
 stroy his influence. Mrs. Whitefield did nothing 
 of this kind, but as his biographer says, "she had 
 no commanding virtues running in grand paral 
 lel with any of the noble features of her hus 
 band s character." Cornelius Winter reports, as 
 
40 MEMOIR. 
 
 we have it from Mr. Jay, that he "was not happy 
 with his wife;" that "she certainly did not be 
 have as she ought/ and that "her death set his 
 mind much at rest." Though this has been 
 doubted and even denied by Mr. Philip, yet the 
 singular text which Whitefield took when he 
 preached on the occasion of her death, appears 
 very much like an admission by him of its truth. 
 It was from Rom. 8: 20. "For the creature was 
 made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by rea 
 son of him who hath subjected the same in 
 hope." 
 
 We would urge upon candidates for the gospel 
 ministry, 1. Not to form this connection until 
 you have finished your professional studies, and 
 have entered, or at least are prepared to enter, 
 upon your official duties; and 2. That you form 
 this connection with mature and prayerful delib 
 eration, and endeavor, in the exercise of a sound 
 discretion, guided by the Spirit of God, to obtain 
 a companion, who for age, character, domestic 
 habits, and disposition to do good, will be, in the 
 language of Milton, 
 
 " Thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self, 
 Thy wish exactly to thy heart s desire." 
 
 On the arrival of Mr. Scovel at Cincinnati, he 
 met with a cordial reception from the venerable 
 
MEMOIR. 41 
 
 Dr. Joshua L. Wilson, who had a place already 
 marked out for him as the field of his missionary 
 labors. A short time before this, a pious lady, a 
 member of a feeble church some twenty miles 
 distant, visited Cincinnati, and in the presence of 
 this man of God, to whom hundreds were accus 
 tomed to apply for counsel, lamented their desti 
 tution of a preached gospel, and solicited his ad 
 vice with regard to the course they should pur 
 sue. His reply was, "My dear friend, do not 
 give way to despair, but remember who has said, 
 Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he will 
 send laborers into the harvest. Request your 
 sisters in the church to join with you in twilight 
 prayer every evening. If you cannot meet to 
 gether in person, your pray*s can be offered up 
 together at the same time and for the same ob 
 ject." She returned home and prevailed on a 
 few who were like minded, to offer up their peti 
 tions to Him who is the hearer and the answerer 
 of prayer, that they might soon have a shepherd 
 to take charge of that small and destitute flock. 
 Often in later years did that pious mother in Is 
 rael say, "If ever the Lord answered prayer, I 
 believe he did it in this case that Mr. Scovel 
 was sent in answer to those feeble petitions which 
 were offered up in humble dependence on the 
 1 
 
42 MEMOIR. 
 
 promises of God." The church referred to was 
 at Harrison, Ohio, which place, together with 
 Lawrenceburg, Indiana, situated on the Ohio 
 River, and several other intermediate and contig 
 uous points, embracing a district of over twenty 
 miles long, and an average width of ten miles, 
 constituted his field of labor for the first three 
 years. After this his ministry was confined to 
 narrower limits. Harrison became his central 
 and more important preaching point till 1836; 
 when he was removed by a call from the Board 
 of Missions to act as their agent in the West* 
 
 At the commencement of his labors the church 
 at Harrison consisted only of twenty-seven mem 
 bers, and their house of worship was barely en 
 closed, and not fit for use. Besides this, accord 
 ing to our best information, there was not a sin 
 gle organized church or a single house of worship 
 in the whole district. It was therefore in the 
 strictest sense a missionary field, requiring dili 
 gent, protracted, and self-denying exertions on 
 the part of the minister, to bring it under proper 
 culture. Congregations were to be gathered, 
 
 * NOTE Mr. Scovel is reported in the Minntes of the General As 
 sembly prior to 1833, either as a missionary or as a pastor of Law 
 renceburg, Elizabeth, Berea, Harrison and Providence churches; in 
 1833 and afterwards, as pastor of the last two, viz., Harrison and 
 Providence. 
 
MEMOIR. 43 
 
 scattered members to be visited aiid organized 
 into churches, Sabbath schools to be formed and 
 provided with teachers, and funds raised for erect 
 ing houses of worship; to all of which Mr. Scovel 
 applied himself with indefatigable energy and 
 perseverance; never forgetting, however, in his 
 ministrations and visits, the chief design of his 
 vocation, the "cure of souls." His labors were 
 crowned with success. Besides the accomplish 
 ment of those objects, which improved in a high 
 degree the external condition of society, there 
 were changes of a character purely spiritual, 
 which were still more cheering and important. 
 Conversions were frequent and numerous. Du 
 ring the seven years he cultivated these fields, 
 about three hundred made a profession of religion 
 under his ministry. They were not gathered in 
 by means of any special revivals, but by a grad 
 ual and constant work of grace. Not a single 
 communion season occurred during the whole 
 time without some accessions to the church. 
 
 The secret of his success may be learned in 
 part from the following communication received 
 from an intelligent lady who was a member of the 
 Lawrenceburg church from the time of its organ 
 ization till the close of Dr. Scovel s ministry there. 
 She writes thus: "lie combined in an eminent de- 
 
44 MEMOIR. 
 
 gree every Christian virtue, possessing that com 
 pleteness and symmetry of Christian character 
 so desirable. As a pastor, he was pre-eminent. 
 He was truly the father of his people, entering 
 with the deepest interest into all their feelings. 
 He wept with those who wept and rejoiced with 
 those who rejoiced. The poor and the rich shared 
 alike in his kind attentions and generous hospital 
 ity. All felt that in him they had a friend in whom 
 they might confide. He was always remarkably 
 cheerful and happy, and always polite and gentle 
 manly. Kindness of heart most kindly expressed 
 marked his intercourse with all with whom he as 
 sociated. He never resented an injury, but re 
 turned good for evil. He possessed great decis 
 ion and perseverance of character; hence his suc 
 cess in almost every thing which he undertook. 
 When the path of duty was plainly marked out 
 he advanced, surmounting every obstacle ; unde 
 terred by dangers and difficulties, he overcame 
 every opposition. Like a rock dashed by ocean s 
 wave, he was firm and unshaken amidst the 
 stormy elements. Was he ridiculed, as were the 
 builders of the walls of Jerusalem : he heeded it 
 not, but still went forward. He was always ready 
 to make personal sacrifices for the advancement 
 of the Redeemer s kingdom. The field in which 
 
MEMOIR. 45 
 
 ho labored was one of great difficulty, requiring 
 much wisdom and prudence, decision and perse 
 verance, self-denial and fortitude. His success 
 in that field is the best proof of his possessing 
 the necessary qualifications. He mad<3 great per 
 sonal sacrifices, sometimes laboring with his own 
 hands in building the house of the Lord. He 
 told me he felt as if he could sell his bed from 
 under him rather than the house should not go 
 up." 
 
 In addition to these we will mention two other 
 causes for his success, not distinctly brought to 
 view in the preceding extract. One is derived 
 from our long and intimate acquaintance with 
 his character and habits; the other from his man 
 uscript sermons which now lie before us. The 
 former relates to his praying, the latter to his 
 preaching. He habitually and devoutly recog 
 nized his dependence on God, and was frequent 
 mid earnest in his supplications for his Holy 
 Spirit to qualify him for his work and give him 
 success in it. As to his sermons, they were uni 
 formly on subjects which led him to discourse on 
 the great doctrines and duties of Christianity, 
 and his mode of treating them was such as to 
 bring out with clearness the marrow of the gos- 
 pol. Tho first sermon which ho over prepared 
 
46 MEMOIR. 
 
 appears to have been (from its date) on the text, 
 "I determined not to know any thing among you, 
 save Jesus Christ and him crucified." And^if 
 he had designed, by selecting that passage, to 
 give a pledge respecting his future ministry, we 
 should not expect to find his subsequent dis 
 courses much different from what they were. It 
 is not wonderful, therefore, that his labors were 
 blessed. God was honored by the truths which 
 he preached; they were, moreover, just such 
 truths as he has ordained for the conversion of 
 men; and he was equally honored by being often 
 addressed as the author of the Bible, and of all 
 those blessings which flow to mankind through 
 this channel; especially of that renewing and 
 sanctifying grace, which it is the great design of 
 the gospel ministry to impart, but in the com 
 munication of which it is only the instrument, 
 and not the efficient cause; and hence, He who 
 has styled himself "the hearer of prayer," must 
 be daily and fervently looked to by his minister 
 ing servants for those influences, without which 
 even Paul would have planted, and Apollos wa 
 tered in vain. 
 
 During the two years when his family resi 
 dence was at Lawrenceburg, there occured an ex 
 traordinary rise in the Ohio, by which the whole 
 
MEMOIR. 47 
 
 town was inundated. He and his family were 
 taken from the second story of his dwelling and 
 conveyed to a place of safety on the opposite 
 side of the river. His loss was serious, includ 
 ing among other things the greater part of his 
 library; which, however, the Lord kindly replac 
 ed, at least in part, through the agency of the 
 venerable Dr. Green of Philadelphia. This let 
 ter to Mr. Scovel, dated May 5, 1832, reads as 
 follows : 
 
 "Mr DEAR SIR I have been informed no 
 matter how that you lost a large and valuable 
 part of your library, by the inundation of Law- 
 renceburg in March last. Will you be so good 
 as to inform me, as soon as practicable, what 
 books you lost, and what those are which would 
 be most useful to you, whether they have hith 
 erto been in your possession or not. Please also 
 to tell me by what conveyance a box of books 
 might most safely be sent to you. You shall re 
 ceive some books, but I fear not to the amount 
 of what you have lost. But tell me what will be 
 most useful, and pray make no objections, nor 
 any particular acknowledgment to any but to 
 God to whom we are all indebted." 
 
 Just one week after the date of this letter, 
 and probably therefore on the very day of its re- 
 
1:8 MEMOIR. 
 
 caption, he received the following note from a 
 geVtleman of Lawrenceburg: 
 
 ^SiR I am under great obligations for your 
 goodness towards me and my family. Please ac 
 cept the enclosed bill." 
 
 The amount of money sent in this note we 
 have no means of ascertaining; but the fact is 
 worthy of recording with the preceding one, as 
 affording another illustration, such as often oc 
 curs in the history of God s people, of the kind 
 interposition of Divine Providence in behalf of 
 those who devote their lives to promote the good 
 of their fellow men. When our Creator sends 
 calamities of this kind upon a city, he does not 
 usually command the elements to spare the pos 
 sessions of those that honor and obey him, but 
 permits them to suffer in common with others. 
 The difference is made at a subsequent time. 
 While the sympathies of our nature are called 
 out for the relief of all to a certain extent, God 
 so orders it that special favor is extended to 
 those sufferers who endeavor to serve and please 
 him. 
 
 The flood at Lawrenceburg was one cause of 
 Dr. Scovel s removal from that place and settle 
 ment at Harrison, and this change of location 
 may be adduced as a still farther illustration of 
 
MEMOIR. 49 
 
 God s kindness to his servants in time of need. 
 The congregation at Harrison, from personal at 
 tachment, from sympathy for him in view of his 
 losses, and from their desire to contribute to his 
 comfort as their minister, purchased a parcel of 
 ground containing about ten acres, with a dwell 
 ing house, which they invited him to occupy as 
 a parsonage. This invitation, which he cheer 
 fully accepted, afforded him timely and valuable 
 assistance in the support of his family, and it 
 proved to be far more profitable to the people, 
 even in a pecuniary point of view, than it did to 
 him. 
 
 " Tvras like the oil Elisha s bounty blessed, 
 
 \Ybich grew by use and multiplied by spending." 
 
 Its cost was about four hundred dollars, from 
 a portion of which, by its sale in village lots, 
 they have since realized more than four thousand 
 dollars, and the part which they retain is now 
 worth two thousand dollars. So sure and unfail 
 ing is that Divine promise, "Whatsoever good 
 thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive 
 of the Lord." Eph. 6: 8. 
 
 But their pecuniary advantage was the small 
 est part of their reward. They secured for four 
 years the residence among them of a man whose 
 labors God eminently blessed for the promotion 
 5 
 
50 MEMOIR. 
 
 of their spiritual benefit. In the account which 
 we shall give of his ministry there, both before 
 and after this period, we shall make extracts 
 from letters received from the present excellent 
 pastor and two worthy members of that church. 
 Says one of these letters, "The aspect of things 
 soon changed. Old professors remembered whence 
 they had fallen, and returned to their first love. 
 Careless sinners were awakened, and in two years 
 more accessions were made to the church than in 
 fifteen or twenty years previous. The Sabbath 
 school, which was in a declining state, became 
 renovated, and several were added to the church 
 from it, who dated their first serious impressions 
 to the instructions therein received from Mr. Sco- 
 vel and his truly amiable and pious companion, 
 who became a teacher in the Sabbath school soon 
 after her arrival. For a long time scarcely a Sab 
 bath passed without some accession to the church. 
 In the pulpit Mr. S. was eminently successful in 
 winning souls to Christ; but it was not in preach 
 ing publicly that his greatest excellence consist 
 ed. In his pastoral visits he excelled most, if not 
 all others. He manifested a heartfelt interest in 
 all the concerns of his people, both temporal and 
 spiritual. In prosperity he rejoiced, in adversity 
 sympathized with all. Goldsmith s beautiful de- 
 
MEMOIR. 51 
 
 scription of the country clergyman is very appli 
 cable to him. In the house of mourning and af 
 fliction he was a ministering angel. When he 
 vi>ited those who were laid on beds of sickness 
 and languishing, he not only 
 
 "Allured to brighter worlds and led the way," 
 
 but with his own hands smoothed the pillow of 
 the invalid, and administered nourishment and 
 medicine, and words of kindness and consolation 
 in such a way as he only could do." 
 
 "Owing to the embarrassments occasioned by 
 the purchase of a parsonage and the expense of 
 finishing the meeting house,* there was never 
 more than three hundred dollars subscribed for 
 the pastor s salary, and even this small sum was 
 not fully realized. But notwithstanding his own 
 insufficient support, he was ever deeply solicitous 
 to foster a spirit of beneficence among his people 
 in regard to the benevolent societies of the pres 
 ent day. And when some expostulated with him 
 on this subject, remarking, that in proportion to 
 what his people through his influence were per 
 suaded to give for these objects, so much less 
 would they feel disposed to contribute to his sup 
 port, his reply was, that whenever a person gave 
 
 * XOTE. In finishing the meeting-house, the same letter states 
 that Mr. S. manifested untiring zeal and perseverance, laboring with 
 his own hands, &c. 
 
52 MEMOIR. 
 
 of his substance cheerfully, his benevolent feel 
 ings would be increased, and he would feel more 
 anxious to devise plans whereby he might be able 
 to contribute more and more yearly to aid in all 
 the different ways of doing good; that he would 
 even rejoice that these opportunities were afford 
 ed him. And said he, "Whenever myself and 
 family cannot possibly subsist on what I get from 
 my people, I shall consider it an indication of 
 Providence that I had better leave and go else 
 where. But never while they are doing all they 
 can for me and for the different objects of Chris 
 tian benevolence which have a claim upon their 
 contributions, will I leave them for the sake of a 
 larger salary 1 And most nobly did his actions 
 correspond with his avowed principles. In sev 
 eral instances liberal offers were made to him in 
 other places, but were promptly and decidedly 
 refused." 
 
 Says another of these letters, "He was inde 
 fatigable in his labors. He applied his physical 
 as well as his mental ability in building up the 
 church. It seemed to be his meat and drink to 
 do the will of his Master. Though poorly com 
 pensated, he was always happy when Zion pros 
 pered. On one occasion he remarked that he 
 was glad the Lord and the Board of Missions had 
 sent him to Harrison." 
 
M E M I R. 53 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Golliday s letter contains the 
 following: "Bro. S. possessed a peculiar talent for 
 a peace maker. He seldom if ever failed to re 
 concile those at variance. It is unhappily true 
 that difficulties often arise between brethren of 
 the same church. As soon as he learned of any 
 such difficulty he set about the work of reconcil 
 iation, and was always successful in his efforts. 
 He in short possessed to a very happy extent 
 the talents and graces that peculiarly fit a minis 
 ter of Christ for securing the respect of all class 
 es, and for rendering more than ordinary service 
 to the cause of the blessed Redeemer." 
 
 "His talent for family visitation rendered him 
 peculiarly useful as a pastor. When he entered 
 the field many had imbibed very loose notions 
 about religion; were tinctured with infidelity; 
 had neither the habit nor taste for the public 
 means of grace; and one important part of his 
 duty was to visit such persons, and if possible 
 induce them to attend the public worship of God. 
 His manner of approach and method of address 
 were happily calculated to conciliate and win 
 their respect and confidence, and to impress them 
 with a sense of the truth and importance of re 
 ligion. He was above the fear of man, and there 
 fore he had a heart to speak for his Master. 
 
54 MEMOIR. 
 
 
 
 Some of them afterwards became active mem 
 bers of the church ; and others, if not persuaded 
 to embrace the truth, were nevertheless softened 
 in spirit, and so great was their regard for him, 
 that when he visited Harrison after his removal 
 from that place, they would never fail to be pres 
 ent at church, knowing that he would preach, 
 though they were seldom seen in the house of 
 God at other times." 
 
 "If Bro. S. erred in any one thing more than 
 another, it was in spending too much time in pas 
 toral visits; in consequence of which he some 
 times preached with less preparation than he de 
 sired. When fully prepared, he was always in 
 teresting, instructive, and edifying." 
 
 These reminiscences furnished by intimate 
 Christian friends, contain several things which 
 deserve particular notice. One is, that he had a 
 small salary, and yet gave liberally, and encour 
 aged his congregation to contribute liberally to 
 advance the kingdom of Christ in other places. 
 He judged correctly when he inculcated most 
 earnestly among his people the sentiment that 
 an expansive benevolence exercised with refer 
 ence to the church at large, would rather increase 
 than diminish their ability to sustain the gospel 
 at home. Though an apparent solecism, it is so 
 
MEMOIR. 55 
 
 only in appearance. The explanation is easy. 
 "God is able," says Paul, "to make all grace 
 abound toward you; that ye always having all 
 sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
 good work." 2 Cor. 9: 8, And as he is able to 
 bless the liberal man, so he has promised to do it, 
 and this promise is so specific as to teach us that 
 we shall be blessed very much in proportion to 
 our beneficence. "He who soweth sparingly 
 shah 1 reap also sparingly, (see v. G) and he who 
 soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 
 Another circumstance is, that while he was re 
 markably free and affable in his intercourse with 
 society, he never forgot his station as a preacher 
 of the gospel, or lowered his standing or offin;ii 
 influence in the estimation even of worldly men, 
 by undue levity or unministerial language or con 
 duct. In this respect his example is worthy of 
 imitation by all who sustain or are seeking this 
 sacred office. 
 
 A third particular worthy of notice is, that 
 though not more attractive as a preacher than 
 many others, he produced so favorable an im 
 pression on his acquaintances by his personal in 
 tercourse, as to influence even the irreligious to 
 attend upon his ministry. We refer to this be 
 cause the majority of all who preach the gospel 
 
56 MEMOIR. 
 
 must depend for their success not solely nor 
 chiefly upon their pulpit talents, but upon the 
 force of divine truth, uttered in a plain and scrip 
 tural manner; and hence it is of great impor 
 tance that they gain the ears of the community 
 by a consistent Christian deportment, and agree 
 able and winning manners. The cause of Christ 
 is likewise more benefited on the whole by the 
 ministry of such men, than of those whose splen 
 did pulpit powers attract crowds to the sanctuary, 
 but who possess little that is attractive in a reli 
 gious point of view, when mingling in society. 
 Dr. S. indeed was sometimes less impressive in 
 the pulpit than he ought to have been, consider 
 ing the very respectable preaching talents which 
 he possessed. He preferred to sacrifice, in some 
 degree, his reputation in this respect, to what he 
 deemed a paramount good, by means of pastoral 
 visits and family instruction. In this particular 
 he probably went too far. Habitual preparation 
 for the pulpit is an imperative duty, and cannot 
 be neglected by any minister without more or 
 less injury to his people. No amount of pasto 
 ral labor out of the pulpit can fully compensate 
 for this neglect. But while preparation for pub 
 lic duties should be carefully made, pastoral vis 
 its are highly important, and should on no account 
 
MEMOIR. 57 
 
 be omitted, or performed so seldom as to make 
 the pastor and his people comparatively strangers 
 to each other. 
 
 We will notice one thing more, viz., that du 
 ring his ministry in that field, though there was 
 no powerful and extensive revival of religion at 
 any particular time, there was a continual ingath 
 ering of converts into the church of Christ, The 
 conversion of souls was the result at which he 
 constantly aimed, both in his preaching and con 
 versation. This controlled the choice of his texts, 
 formed a prominent part of all his prayers, and 
 whenever a new ease occurred, he hailed it with 
 expressions of gratitude and joy. 
 
 If a minister would become wise in winning 
 souls to Christ, he mi(*f (tint to ivin them; and ma 
 king this his great object from week to week, he 
 must proceed in the work by the use of scriptu 
 ral means, and with a devout and prayerful spirit. 
 The face of Moses shone when addressing the 
 congregation of Israel, because he had been with 
 God in the mount. So, if a gospel minister de 
 sires to shine, either in the pulpit or elsewhere, 
 he must hold frequent communion with God. 
 This is the source of true wisdom. If he should 
 not send forth coruscations of brilliant and daz 
 zling intellectual light, attracting and astonishing 
 
58 MEMOIR. 
 
 the multitudes, he will not fail to shine morally 
 and spiritually, reflecting divine light from the 
 great source and author of light itself; and the 
 sincere inquirer after truth will be attracted by 
 it, and be led thereby into the pathway of eternal 
 life. 
 
 Before closing this chapter it will be proper to 
 notice a few things which develope his character 
 as a husband and a father. From the circum 
 stances of his marriage, as hitherto related, the 
 reader will infer that he entertained the most de 
 voted affection for his wife. This was fully veri 
 fied afterwards, both in his tenderness for her when 
 they were together, and in his letters when ab 
 sent. In a short time after their arrival at the 
 West in 182 9, he left her in Cincinnati to attend 
 a meeting of Presbytery at Venice; from which 
 place he wrote after the following manner: 
 
 "Dearest: My enthusiasm at receiving your 
 delightful note is a little abated, now that twenty- 
 four hours are passed since its reception ; but I sig 
 nified my feelings at the time by every suitable 
 evidence of emotion. I had felt a kind of ner 
 vous anxiety to hear from you, which was greatly 
 allayed on knowing that you had been contented 
 and happy since I left, were well situated, and 
 enjoyed communion with God. Let us keep on 
 
MEMOIR. 59 
 
 praying ourselves and one another into a content 
 ed and happy frame of mind. We shall then have 
 a blessing which maketh rich and addeth no sor 
 row therewith." 5 
 
 The free, unrestrained, and affectionate man 
 ner which characterizes the above extract, per 
 vades nearly all his letters addressed to her up 
 to the close of his life; as also the same prayer 
 ful spirit, the cultivation of which he speaks of 
 in instances too numerous to be particularly re 
 ferred to. At the meeting of the Synod in Day 
 ton in 1831, he wrote thus: "I left you, my dear, 
 with a heavy heart, partly for fear of your lone 
 liness and excessive anxiety about me in my ab 
 sence; but, my dearest Hannah, try to commit 
 me to our covenant God, and be happy." .... 
 "Pray enough to enjoy a quiet, placid state of 
 mind. I am convinced more and more that this 
 has much to do with our health. But I doubt 
 not that for a still higher reason you will pray 
 often for me and for the souls committed to our 
 care. I trust also you will never omit family 
 worship in its season." 
 
 In the spring of 1835 he visited his aged 
 mother and other relatives in Albany, N. Y., du 
 ring which time Mrs. Scovel s friends from the 
 east paid her a visit in Ohio. With reference to 
 
GO MEMOIR. 
 
 this he wrote to her soon after leaving home in 
 the following manner: "I feel great anxiety, my 
 dear, about your religious influence with your 
 friends while they are there. We cannot tell 
 how much may depend upon it for a whole eter 
 nity. I would not that your religion should ap 
 pear to them austere or forbidding, but meek, and 
 at the same time firm" .... "I would that 
 they may see that you regard the claims of our 
 God upon us to be infinitely superior to all other 
 claims." On his arrival at Albany he wrote again. 
 "I found, says he, "fine cheer and great joy in 
 all hearts and faces; but the meeting with my 
 dear old mother was almost more than she could 
 bear. I perceive on her the weight of years, and 
 the additional weight of sorrows; but she bears 
 all in meekness, and seems ripening for the rest 
 of the people of God. Her companion, son, and 
 daughter-in-law have all paid the debt of nature 
 since I last parted with her. Time and youth 
 can heal many a wound that in aged hearts be 
 comes incurable. But she lives for a better 
 world, and will doubtless find infinite gain at last 
 in going there." Alluding again to the visit of 
 her parents and sister to her during his absence, 
 he says, "I hope nothing will be wanting that is 
 in your power to contribute to their happiness." 
 
MEMOIR. 61 
 
 Iii October of the same year he wrote to her 
 from Dayton, where he was attending the meet 
 ing of Synod: "This morning comes up the 
 Beecher case, and when Greek meets Greek then 
 comes the tug of war. * Synod is very full a 
 great many to speak a great press of business 
 and your poor husband is Moderator; a respon 
 sibility too high, as well as an elevation too great. 
 May the Lord guide and support." 
 
 In May, 1836, he went to Pittsburgas a Com 
 missioner to the General Assembly. From Gal- 
 lipolis, where he stopped to spend the Sabbath, he 
 addressed her as follows: "We came both safely 
 and comfortably to this point, but I found no cler 
 ical brethren on board, and felt very homesick. 
 As the solemn hour of twilight came on, my ear 
 caught the sound of music on the guard of the 
 boat; I quickly hastened to the spot; found the 
 singers to be a cluster of lady personages, of 
 whom I asked for "Days of absence." They 
 smiled, but I persisted. So they gave me Days 
 of absence sad and dreary. It was oldfashioned, 
 and at that they smiled; but it was melodious to 
 me, for I had been just long enough out from 
 
 * NOTE. This case was carried by appeal from the Synod to the 
 General Assembly, and after the opening of the latter, was withdrawn 
 by the prosecutor. 
 
OZ MEMOIR. 
 
 my earthly treasures to feel every tone and sen 
 timent of that plaintive piece. 
 
 I am more and more convinced, my dear wife, 
 that a happy home is an earthly all to me, and I 
 less and less wonder at the ruin of those who 
 cannot be happy at home." .... "This place 
 [Gallipolis] was settled near fifty years ago by 
 French emigrants, who passed through great 
 hardships, until by death and other causes, one 
 half or more were removed. However, the place 
 received its name from them, and the remnant 
 of them still remaining give a strong infidel tinge 
 to a population of about twelve hundred souls. 
 There is a tolerable Presbyterian Society here, 
 but their church is unfinished, and other things 
 augur too much of the Laodicean spirit. 
 Lord, keep us from this spirit it will ruin the 
 fairest prospects the world ever saw." 
 
 During the sessions of the General Assembly 
 he penned several letters. In one of them he 
 says, "I preached in the country on the Sabbath, 
 returned early on Monday attended a Com 
 mittee on Foreign Missions labored in the bu 
 siness of the house through the day, and threw 
 off a speech on home missions in the evening, at 
 the anniversary of the Board of Missions." . . . 
 "An application has been renewed to me to take 
 
MEMOIR. 63 
 
 charge of a great agency for the West, and have 
 our residence in Louisville, Ky. What say you?" 
 In another he says, "Yesterday we finished the 
 case of Mr. Barnes, after having it more than a 
 week on hand; and, mirabile dictu, not only 
 took off the suspension, but, by a small majority, 
 endorsed all his doctrines; a decision which will 
 inevitably do great mischief grieve the pious, 
 and ultimately, I fear, rend the church. Noth 
 ing was clearer in evidence than his sad departure 
 from the Confession of Faith, and yet the New 
 School made common cause with such departures, 
 and would not censure them at all. May the 
 Lord guide us in the solemn crisis." . . . "Prob 
 ably we shall not break up till the last of this 
 week, and possibly not till sometime next week. 
 But in accordance with your excellent exhorta 
 tion in your last, I shall stay as long as the great 
 business of the church requires my attention." 
 
 In most of the letters from which the above 
 extracts have been made, he either sends messa 
 ges of love to his children, or addresses a few 
 words to them in particular, which their mother 
 was requested to communicate. The following 
 are specimens: "Love to the dear little children, 
 to all my much loved household, not forgetting 
 to take to your own dear self the largest share 
 
64 MEMOIR. 
 
 of all." "I pray for you daily, and for our be 
 loved babes, that God would perfect in us his 
 grace and the work of God with power." These 
 expressions of tender affection for his children 
 exhibit the genuine feelings of his heart, as uni 
 formly manifested toward them at the fireside. 
 He was sufficiently stern to command their 
 prompt obedience, yet so affectionate as to make 
 their obedience the willing and spontaneous flow 
 of filial affection, rather than a coerced and re 
 luctant submission to mere authority. His great 
 est solicitude was directed to their spiritual good ; 
 the precious fruits of which he was permitted to 
 reap, before his decease, in the hopeful conver 
 sion of several of them to Christ. 
 
 These extracts, besides disclosing his views 
 and feelings in domestic life, exhibit incidentally 
 his character and standing as a presbyter. As 
 in every thing else he engaged in, so as a mem 
 ber of Presbytery, he was punctual in Ms attend 
 ance, diligent in attending to all the business 
 which came before it, and remained at his post 
 until the whole was finished. He was honored by 
 his brethren in several instances during the pe 
 riod we are now considering, with distinguished 
 marks of their confidence, by being placed on 
 important committees, being made the Modera- 
 
MEMOIR. 65 
 
 tor of Synod, and delegated as their Commis 
 sioner to the General Assembly; and that too at 
 a time of peculiar difficulty in the church, whose 
 interests demanded the exercise of the soundest 
 wisdom on the part of those who were called to di 
 rect her affairs. He was firm and decided, yet 
 never disposed to pursue rash or ultra measures. 
 His mind was discriminating, his judgment sound, 
 his action deliberate. Hence, though he did not 
 sway a public body by any unusual power in ar 
 gument, or by any burst of forensic eloquence, 
 he nevertheless exerted an influence which was 
 felt and respected. 
 
 On this subject several rules may be laid down 
 which a minister ought to adopt and adhere to, 
 if he would be useful in the judicatories of the 
 church. He should be punctual and regular in 
 his attendance; make himself acquainted with our 
 Form of Government and Discipline, and be fa 
 miliar with the rules prescribed therein for con 
 ducting business; endeavor, when in attendance, 
 to have a single eye to the glory of God and the 
 good of the church, and not the attaining of any 
 private, personal end; never assume to be a lead 
 er, by taking the chief direction of business, and 
 speaking on every question that comes before the 
 body; nor, on the other hand, wait to be led by 
 
66 MEMOIR. 
 
 others; but by a close attention to the subject 
 under discussion, form an opinion for himself, and 
 when necessary, assign his reasons for his views; 
 pay due regard to the opinions of others, and 
 act with becoming meekness towards his breth 
 ren, should their views prevail, instead of his 
 own ; and never leave the body, except under ex 
 traordinary circumstances, until the close of its 
 sessions. As we write this memoir more espe 
 cially for those who are preparing for the gospel 
 ministry, we deem it in place to make these sug 
 gestions, and to commend them to their partic 
 ular consideration. Those who have enjoyed the 
 instructions of the venerable Dr. Miller, know 
 with what earnestness he enjoined upon the stu 
 dents of the Seminary the duty of punctual at 
 tendance upon the judicatories of the church. 
 In his Memoirs of the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, he says ? 
 "He [Dr. R.] was accustomed often to lament 
 the negligence of this duty, which he observed 
 in many of his brethren, and to remark, that he 
 was persuaded they did not appreciate as they 
 ought, the importance, both to themselves and 
 the church, of a regular attendance on judicato 
 ries. He more than once declared, that he never 
 knew any minister attain to a large share of in 
 fluence or weight among his brethren, who was 
 
MEMOIR. 1)7 
 
 habitually negligent of such attendance. Nay, 
 he thought it, from the very nature of the case, 
 impossible that any one ever should. And there 
 are probably few points [adds Dr. M.] concerning 
 which all the experience of ecclesiastical men 
 more decisively concurs, than in supporting this 
 opinion." The Rev. Dr. Green, after expressing 
 the same sentiments, remarks: "The reason of 
 this seems to be, that a neglect in this particular 
 cannot take place, without indicating in him who 
 is chargeable with it, a criminal want of zeal for 
 the general interests of the church." Our con 
 gregations are entitled to our most diligent and 
 watchful care; and if we have families, they have 
 a claim to our presence and attention; but we 
 would say concerning them both, as they stand 
 related to Presbyterial duties, what our blessed 
 Lord did with reference to certain other things 
 "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave 
 the others undone." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 HIS AGENCY FOR THE BOARD OF DOMESTIC MISSIONS IN THE 
 T^ESTERN STATES. 
 
 In 1836 Dr. Scovel accepted an agency in the 
 West for the Board of Domestic Missions. Con 
 cerning this, an esteemed and valuable member 
 of the Harrison Church has made the following 
 communication. "In the spring of 1836, Mr. S. 
 was chosen by the Board of Domestic Missions 
 as their general agent for five Western States. 
 Before making it known to the church, he consult 
 ed privately with some of the members, who at 
 first expressed it as their decided impression that 
 it would be wrong for him to leave the sphere of 
 action where he had been the means under God, 
 of building up the waste places of Zion, and 
 where his usefulness was continually increasing. 
 But he conferred not with flesh and blood. Al 
 though he preferred the pastoral] connection to 
 any other mode of doing the will of his Heavenly 
 Father, yet he considered it a call of Providence 
 to him to give up the endearing relation of pastor 
 to a beloved flock, and who were most tenderly 
 
MEMOIR. 69 
 
 attached to him, and also to submit to continued 
 and also prolonged separations from his beloved 
 and interesting family. And this was to him no. 
 trifling sacrifice. For never was there a person 
 better calculated to confer and receive happiness 
 in his pastoral charge and in the scenes of domes 
 tic life. By his persuasions and arguments his 
 people were at length prevailed upon to give a re 
 luctant consent to have the pastoral relation dis 
 solved. But it was only by convincing them that 
 he would be more eminently useful to the cause 
 of Christ and the church in general, that they 
 were induced to part with him. On the 14th of 
 August he preached his farewell sermon from 
 Acts 20: 17th and 35th inclusive. It was a 
 most solemn and affecting scene; the beloved 
 pastor being several times so overcome by his 
 feelings as to be unable to proceed, and the peo 
 ple weeping on every side. The place was liter 
 ally a Bochim, and never will the scenes of that 
 day be forgotten." 
 
 In order to occupy a location from which he 
 could have easy access to every part of the field, 
 Dr. Scovel removed his family to Louisville, Ky., 
 and two years afterwards to New Albany, Indi 
 ana, four miles distant from the former city. 
 The latter clianuv was made from motives of econ- 
 
70 MEMOIR. 
 
 omy it being equally accessible with Louisville, 
 and the expense of supporting his family consid 
 erably less. Though absent from home a large 
 part of his time, he was there sufficiently often 
 to form numerous acquaintances in both of those 
 places, by all of whom he was much respected 
 and esteemed. His bland and easy manners, his 
 warm and devoted friendship, his dignified and 
 consistent Christian deportment, his kindness to 
 those in want and distress, his entire freedom 
 from backbiting and from personal collisions with 
 those around him, and his prompt and cheerful 
 readiness to assist the resident pastors, when 
 through sickness or absence, his pulpit services 
 were needed, are well known to many, and have 
 been mentioned by some in terms of strong appro 
 bation. 
 
 At the time he commenced his agency the 
 Presbyterian Church was seriously agitated by 
 differences of sentiment with regard to doctrines 
 and policy. The latter related in part to the 
 manner of conducting the work of missions. The 
 question at issue was, whether they should be 
 conducted by the church as such in her organ 
 ized capacity, or by voluntary associations. No 
 little difficulty had been experienced in some pla 
 ces by the operation of two institutions in the 
 
MEMOIR. 71 
 
 same field, which had the appearance (to say the 
 least) of attempting to rival each other in the 
 sympathies and patronage of the people. Dr. 
 Scovel, as may be inferred from his appointment 
 to this agency, sided with the Boards of the 
 church. But though these were known to be his 
 sentiments, it was also known that he was kind 
 and conciliatory towards those who were partial 
 to voluntary associations, and he was deemed to 
 be on this account better fitted for the work he 
 was invited to undertake. He was not sent to 
 carry on a war with other missionary institu 
 tions, but to promote the interests of our own. 
 And though his Christian graces were sometimes 
 tried, and the amount of his collections dimin 
 ished, by the existence of conflicting claims, he 
 patiently submitted, and moved forward, bearing 
 in his hand the olive branch of peace, and turn 
 ing neither to the right nor left, except for the 
 purpose of avoiding collisions and promoting a 
 spirit of unity and brotherly love among those 
 whose feelings had been chafed and soured 
 through the injurious effects of divided action. 
 His first annual report, which was made nine 
 months after the commencement of his agency, 
 exhibits great diligence, and, considering the cir 
 cumstances, a good degree of success. The only 
 
72 MEMOIR. 
 
 part of this report which we have in our possess 
 ion is an extract contained in the Annual Report 
 of the Board for 1837, which, with Dr. McDow 
 ell s introductory remarks, is as follows: 
 
 "Since the meeting of the last Assembly, the 
 Board have appointed the Rev. Sylvester Scovel, 
 of the Presbytery of Oxford, an Agent for the 
 Synods of Cincinnati, Kentucky, Indiana, Illi 
 nois, and Missouri. 
 
 Mr. Scovel accepted his appointment, and en 
 tered on the duties of his agency about the 1st 
 of August; his bounds are very extensive, and 
 include a vast amount of missionary ground. To 
 perform the duties of agent in such a field, re 
 quires great selfdenial, and much of the Spirit of 
 the Gospel. The Board rejoice in being able to 
 say, their agent has hitherto done well, and the 
 Lord has been with him. 
 
 In his report dated April 28th, he says 
 
 "This month closes three-fourths of a year, 
 since my engagement in the service of the Board ; 
 I expected that service would be a work of sac 
 rifice and selfdenial. I have found it so, but not 
 more so than was anticipated. I have been com 
 paratively happy, and always cheered, with the 
 hope of rendering some honor to the Master, 
 and some benefit to his beloved Church. In the 
 
MEMOIR. 78 
 
 service of the Board, in nine months, I have 
 preached one hundred and twenty-five sermons, and 
 delivered one hundred and thirty addresses , have 
 visited about seventy churches, secured to the 
 Board $3,500, attended six meetings of ecclesi 
 astical bodies, and traveled full four thousand 
 miles" 
 
 At this meeting of the General Assembly the 
 church was rent in two; and as one of its conse 
 quences, our agent experienced, for two or three 
 years, several additional difficulties. In some 
 places, churches whose members had previously 
 differed in opinion, were now actually divided, 
 and were so weakened by the operation, that in 
 stead of being "aid-giving," they were obliged to 
 become "aid-receiving" churches; and in other 
 instances, where they did not divide, there were 
 wounds inflicted, which required the hand of a 
 kind, discreet, and skilful physician, to heal. In 
 this he was very successful. Sometimes by his 
 personal exertions he brought parties together 
 which were on the point of complete separation, 
 and at others he prevented a division by procur 
 ing judicious and efficient ministers to labor 
 among them as missionaries or pastors. The 
 supply of many such vacant churches is to be as 
 cribed to his instrumentality, but for which they 
 7 
 
74 MEMOIR. 
 
 would have been torn asunder by the prevalent 
 spirit of discord, or have died out from the want 
 of spiritual culture. 
 
 The amount of collections were very consider 
 ably increased above those of the preceding year, 
 although it was a season of unusual pecuniary 
 pressure. This was owing in part to the aid he 
 received from several brethren as voluntary 
 agents, but principally to other causes. The ne 
 cessity of regular agents is very apparent from 
 the facts contained in his next annual report, to 
 which the reader s attention is invited. 
 
 Louisville, April otith, 1838. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER MCDOWELL The present An 
 nual Report from this Agency should not fail to 
 express devout gratitude to God that the West 
 has been enabled to sustain the West during the 
 past year. Over fiifty missionaries have been 
 sustained on this field by the efforts of the 
 churches within the field; and that this should 
 be accomplished, for the first time, in this year 
 of pecuniary pressure, is truly encouraging. 
 
 My general mode of operating towards this 
 result, has been to settle the different periods in 
 the year at which each Synod should be visited, 
 and then adhere as rigidly as possible to the sys- 
 
MEMOIR. iO 
 
 tern; stating at the proper time, before each con 
 gregation severally, the plans, successes, and 
 wants of the Board, impressing upon each, that 
 a like annual effort is to be made without the for 
 mality of an auxiliary, and then receive the sub 
 scription for the year. Indirect effort, of course, 
 has been kept up by all the influences made to 
 bear on the case. 
 
 In the detail of these efforts, I have visited 
 about one hundred and twenty churches, scatter 
 ed over Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and 
 Missouri; have delivered one hundred and seven 
 ty-five sermons, and one hundred and forty-five 
 addresses; have assisted at twelve protracted 
 meetings; labored in four revivals of religion; 
 and do trust that my poor influence has been 
 employed in other places towards bringing on 
 similar seasons of "refreshing from the presence 
 of the Lord." I am ashamed that I have no 
 more faith ; but must not forget the divine good 
 ness in giving such unequivocal evidence of favor 
 to my scattered ministry, both in cheering saints, 
 and in the conversion of sinners, as would well 
 compare with similar successes in any year of my 
 pastoral life. 
 
 I have been happy to find in most of the 
 churches visited an encouraging state of religious 
 
76 MEMOIR. 
 
 feeling, as indicated in various ways, but espe 
 cially by a decidedly advancing interest on the 
 subject of Missions. 
 
 This field has secured to your Board during 
 the yesLijSix thousand five hundred dollar s, in gath 
 ering which I have traveled over five thousand 
 miles, mostly on horseback or in my own convey 
 ance. Let it not be forgotten, however, that 
 fully one third of my time has been spent in va 
 cancies, or at stations already occupied as mis 
 sionary ground, where ministerial aid was given, 
 and the way prepared for the introduction of mis 
 sionaries as fast as they could be obtained. 
 
 A considerable amount of voluntary agency 
 has been employed on this field, but with very 
 little success. A few have made noble efforts; 
 but the great body of our dear brethren here are 
 so far missionaries themselves, that their necessa 
 ry absence from their wide and scattered charges 
 are all to which they are conscientiously willing 
 to yield. They will, however, I trust, be able to 
 accomplish more hereafter. But it is my delib 
 erate conviction that such agency will never be 
 so efficient that all others can safely be dispensed 
 with, and while it should be brought more vigor 
 ously into the field than hitherto, yet it can be 
 thus brought in, only as an auxiliary. This will 
 
MEMOIR. 77 
 
 be more apparent when it is known, that not even 
 three hundred dollars of the whole sum secured 
 to the Board here this year, has been secured, 
 without the direct or indirect effort of your Gen 
 eral Agent. Of the one hundred and twenty 
 churches visited this year, which have contribu 
 ted liberally to your cause, I know not of more 
 than six that were in the habit of contributing 
 any thing, until the establishment of an Agency 
 here "wholly given to this very tiling." A reg 
 ular Agent goes to three small churches one year, 
 and receives for our cause one hundred dollars; 
 a good and active brother goes the next year to 
 these three churches as a voluntary agent, and 
 receives just thirteen dollars twelve and a half 
 cents. An active, excellent pastor is invited to 
 call up our cause before his church; he does so 
 and receives twelve dollars and fifty cents; your 
 regular agent comes along at another time on a 
 week day, and receives fifty dollars from the same 
 church. 
 
 Other facts of this kind could be stated from 
 my note book, were farther illustration necessary 
 to show, that some one in each large field must be 
 wholly given to an agency as a means of any 
 large success. 
 
 Privations and trials ever await an Agent. 
 
78 MEMOIR. 
 
 His comforts, like those of his brethren, are very 
 much concentrated in his home, \\\s> pastoral charge 
 and his study; but from all these he is a stranger 
 and an alien; and in lieu of them meets the cold 
 and heat, the snow and rain, the frost and mud, 
 the blows and calms of a wanderer s life. He 
 shudders in the blast of the mountain top, and 
 then goes down to inhale fever and ague in the 
 vale below; if the fly of the prairie annoys him 
 in the dry season, he recedes but to the swimming 
 streams of the wet season, and thence again, still 
 worse, to the same streams engorged with snow 
 and ice in the cold season. With such scenes I 
 have been familiar by an absence from my family 
 four-fifths of the past year, while my vocation 
 brought me in continual contact with self, that 
 strongest remnant of a partially sanctified nature. 
 But it would be unjust not to say, that our cause 
 and its poor advocate have been every where re 
 ceived to an unexpectedly kind and hospitable 
 liberality, for which my thanks are now returned 
 to the grantors, as they have often been before 
 to "the Giver of every good gift." 
 
 I have been permitted to aid in the location of 
 twelve additional missionaries on this field in the 
 past year as near as I can now say, and yet "what 
 are these among so many?" The destitutions are 
 
MEMOIR. 79 
 
 still very great. In Kentucky alone are fifty va 
 cant churches, and over forty entire counties 
 lacking the stated Presbyterian means of grace. 
 The destitutions are nearly as great in Indiana 
 and Illinois, and far greater in Missouri. One 
 hundred missionaries are wanted this hour in the 
 West, but so great and so special a want of half 
 that number is felt, and they are so earnestly de 
 sired, under God, at the hands of your Board, 
 that I trust you will not fail of sending that num 
 ber the coming year into our wastes, where we 
 are far from our Father s house, and are literally 
 starving unto eternal death. 
 
 With great respect, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL, 
 
 General Agent. 
 
 His two next reports exhibit a still larger in- 
 nva.se both in missionaries and funds. He so 
 systematized his labors as to visit with regularity 
 the same churches at a particular period each 
 year. Hence those contributing in a given 
 month of the preceding year, were expecting him 
 at that very time again. This plan he continued 
 with beneficial results till the close of his agency. 
 A missionary spirit was also on the increase, and 
 there was more unanimity in the direction which 
 the churches gave to their benefactions. There 
 
80 MEMOIR. 
 
 was no increase, we believe, of a sectarian spirit, 
 though there probably was of a denominational 
 one. He inculcated the sentiment that all the 
 members of our church ought to contribute to our 
 own Boards. They might contribute to others 
 also if they chose ; but to give to others first, 
 and then to their own, or not to their own at all, 
 is as preposterous as for a man to neglect his own 
 family, and bestow his attention upon those of 
 his neighbors. This sentiment, so just in itself, 
 and so essential to the prosperity of any church, 
 had been practically departed from to some ex 
 tent in the Presbyterian body, to the great inju 
 ry of our missionary operations. The effect of a 
 return to the proper course on this subject was 
 immediately visible in the increased amount col 
 lected, and the consequent increase of efficiency 
 in the Board itself. The Board is only the organ 
 of the church, and it is impossible for it to be ef 
 ficient, unless adequate means are placed at its 
 disposal. His reports for 1839 and 1840 are as 
 follows: 
 
 MISSIONARY ROOMS, ) 
 Louisville, May 1st, 1839. 
 DEAR BROTHER MCDOWELL The former report 
 from this agency, stated the fact, that in the last 
 year "the West had sustained over fifty mission- 
 
MEMOIR. 81 
 
 aries." We are happy now to state, that nearly 
 twice that number are employed on this same 
 field, and that the West still sustains them. The 
 providence of God has wrought for us most sig 
 nally in the year now closed. Our greatest em 
 barrassment heretofore has been the lack of men; 
 but these have been raised up, till I have been 
 gladly called to aid in locating about fifty on this 
 field in the time, who are now supplying one 
 hundred and fifty of our famishing destitutions 
 with the bread of life. They are men of faith, 
 and prayer, and talent, and energy, who will 
 doubtless be owned of God in his blessed work, 
 and whose hope of good-doing is certainly not 
 the less for their being mostly western men. 
 
 Your system of itineracies is hailed with great 
 joy in the West. Our destitutions are so nu 
 merous and scattered, that no other plan can 
 reach their exigencies. Accordingly, this plan 
 was acted upon to some extent with us before its 
 regular adoption by the Board, but has been car 
 ried into effect in numerous cases, with the hap 
 piest results on this field since its adoption as a 
 system. And we do hope our young brethren, as 
 they successively become prepared for the work, 
 will be fired with a truly primitive zeal; a zeal 
 that faces the cross, the cost, the toil, the self- 
 
82 MEMOIR. 
 
 denial of the service; that looks not for an easy 
 settlement, but for a place to save souls; not for 
 "a snuggery," but for an itineracy. 
 
 In furtherance of your general objects, we 
 have established an office at this place, which, by 
 combining several other interests with ours, is but 
 slightly expensive to the Board, while it promises 
 large benefits to the cause. 
 
 There is manifestly an increasing interest felt 
 in the West on the subject of Domestic Missions. 
 Voluntary agencies are becoming somewhat more 
 effective friends are becoming more decided 
 and active contributions are increasing, and the 
 sentiment is gaining ground, that your Board is 
 the right arm of the church for conquering ter 
 ritory to the Saviour, and to leave that arm pal 
 sied by inaction, would be but to leave that Board 
 to a helpless inefficiency. 
 
 My system of operations has been kept forward 
 as usual. I have brought the claims of the 
 Board before one hundred and sixty churches, 
 sundered widely r rom each other, and scattered 
 over six States; delivered one hundred and fifty 
 sermons, and one hundred and forty-five ad 
 dresses; attended eighteen communion seasons, 
 and ten meetings of church judicatories ; found 
 eight individuals who nobly agreed to sustain a 
 
MEMOIR. 83 
 
 missionary each, and twenty who pledged the 
 sum requisite for honorary membership in the 
 Board; have traveled five thousand five hundred 
 miles, and secured to the Board in the time, 8,000. 
 
 In prosecuting this work, my toils and expo 
 sures, perils by land and water, and in the wilder 
 ness, have been truly severe; but no vicissitudes 
 of cold or heat, storm or calm, have been such a 
 suffering as absence from my family in the ill 
 nesses with which they have been at different 
 times attacked during the year. In an absence 
 of four-fifths of my time, I was necessarily gone 
 in most of these severe distresses, and was but 
 just returned from a weary trip to witness the 
 death of a beloved member of my household; and 
 when I saw that her soft eyes were glazed in 
 death, and I had never ministered a healing balm 
 to her oppressed spirit, nor to her wasted body, 
 I most keenly felt the sacrifice called for by an 
 agency. But her meek and pure spirit has gone 
 to her heavenly home, while our blessed Shep 
 herd has extended his tenderest care to the rest 
 of the household, both in sickness and health. 
 
 The correspondence has become an important 
 and laborious part of this agency, and often con 
 sumes the nights, as well as the days, of my short 
 intervals at home. But I am permitted 
 
84 MEMOIR. 
 
 times to feel how great is the privilege to toil and 
 suffer for Him "who hath loved us and given him 
 self for us;" may but his Spirit attend all our 
 missionaries and agents, then will our work be 
 joyous and blessed. Our destitutions are yet 
 immensely great, and the goodly number recent 
 ly located as laborers here, seems lost as a drop 
 in the ocean. In Arkansas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, 
 there is almost a total lack of Presbyterian means 
 of grace, while in Missouri there are but twenty- 
 five laborers to all its immense population; and 
 even in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and 
 Tennessee, we can scarcely count the waste pla 
 ces that remain. We want every brother who is 
 ready "to endure hardship as a good soldier," 
 and to all such, we earnestly say "Come over 
 and help us." 
 
 With great regard, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOYEL, 
 
 General Agent. 
 
 STEAMER AMAZON, OHIO RIVER, ) 
 May 1st, 1840. \ 
 
 DEAR BROTHER McDowELL It is known to 
 the Board that the Western Agency comprises 
 a very wide field. It extends from three to nine 
 hundred miles in different directions from Louis 
 ville; and while the travel that annually compas- 
 
MEMOIR. 85 
 
 ses this field, is excessively laborious, it has been 
 attended with greater dangers the last year than 
 ever before. But I have been kindly permitted to 
 go and return safely through storms, cold and ice. 
 
 The greatest embarrassment in the time is the 
 unparalleled "pressure" which has fallen upon 
 the country. By virtue, of a system of annual 
 calls, and by the force of principle in the con 
 tributors, your receipts in the West have not 
 fallen short, but will be shown, by the Treasurer s 
 Report, to have increased some four hundred 
 dollars in the year, beyond the receipts for any 
 similar period. 
 
 In accordance with the above fact, I would say 
 with gratitude, that our voluntary agencies are 
 becoming decidedly more effective; and we trust 
 the experiment in the West will fully show the 
 wisdom of the Board in sustaining only its com 
 paratively small number of agents, and thus draw 
 towards the Board, in still greater measure, the 
 affectionate confidence of the members of our 
 Church. 
 
 We have been permitted to locate a large num 
 ber of men and valued laborers on this field du 
 ring the year, at whose coming our wastes have 
 rejoiced, but owing to so many brethren ending 
 their connection with the Board, because their 
 congregations needed no further aid, our present 
 
86 MEMOIR. 
 
 number in the West is not greater than was re 
 ported in 1839. 
 
 The correspondence in these bounds is every 
 year becoming a heavier task; and for the wise 
 conducting of it, requires more time than can be 
 given by one who is obliged almost constantly to 
 travel. 
 
 In the year now closed, I have been absent 
 from my family about four-fifths of the time; 
 have brought the claims of the Board before one 
 hundred and eighty-five churches, widely severed 
 from each other; have delivered about two hun 
 dred sermons; have labored in six cheering revi 
 vals; attended fourteen communion seasons and 
 eight meetings of church judicatories; have trav 
 eled seven thousand five hundred miles, and se 
 cured to the Board in the time, eight thousand 
 four hundred dollars. 
 
 I cannot better describe the wastes that re 
 main in every part of my field, than to say, the 
 more of them that become cultivated, the more 
 appear to remain to le cultivated, while the cry 
 from the whitened fields waxes louder and louder 
 for the reaper forthwith to thrust in the sickle, 
 and gather the wasting harvest. 
 Most truly, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL, 
 
 General Agent 
 
MEMOIR. 87 
 
 Dr. S. took special pains while conducting his 
 agency to give opportunity to every member of 
 the church to contribute to this object. His 
 usual mode was to preach on the subject on the 
 Sabbath, and take up a subscription, to be paid 
 before he left the place. He then obtained the 
 names of all the members who were absent, and 
 called upon them at their houses. His perseve 
 rance in this respect, and particularly the urgen 
 cy of his personal applications, were sometimes 
 objected to, and opprobrious epithets were em 
 ployed with regard to him. Possibly his zeal for 
 the cause may have carried him too far in some 
 instances; but as a general thing we are persuad 
 ed the real ground of objection was not his indis 
 cretion, but an unwillingness to give, on the part 
 of those who took exceptions to his course. As 
 the venerable Secretary of the Board once re 
 marked, "An agent has to deal with the hardest 
 side of the human heart, and must expect, there 
 fore, in many instances, to meet with resistance." 
 Dr. S., however, was conscientious in the matter; 
 he was acting not for himself, but for the 
 Church of Christ, and was therefore indisposed to 
 relax his exertions or alter the mode of his pro 
 ceeding. 
 
 His reports for 1841 and 1842 exhibit the 
 
88 MEMOIK. 
 
 same diligence and success as the preceding, and 
 are worthy of special notice from their particular 
 allusions to the extensive destitutions of large 
 portions of the Western country, and the efforts 
 of Papists to pre-occupy thefield. This was a 
 theme which he often dwelt upon in his preach 
 ing. They are also deserving of notice from their 
 reference to several seasons of precious revivals 
 of religion which he was permitted to enjoy, and 
 to aid in promoting; shewing that agents who 
 possess the right spirit are not only useful in col 
 lecting funds, but in winning souls to Christ. 
 
 Louisville, May 10$, 1841. 
 The Board cannot be too well aware, that this 
 field is covered by more than thirty Missionary 
 Presbyteries that nearly every State to which 
 my labors extend, numbers fully half its counties 
 as destitute of Presbyterian preaching that one 
 thousand wastes, here and on the borders of the 
 field, demand immediate supply of the Gospel, 
 and that their only hope of supply hangs on the 
 benevolence of the Saviour, which ought to dwell 
 in the glowing hearts of his disciples. These 
 lone wastes, without a consecrated Sabbath, with 
 out a living ministry, without light or means, and 
 compassed by every force of error and infidelity, 
 
MEMOIR. 89 
 
 are annually increasing far beyond the ratio of 
 the national increase of our population, which is 
 equal to a State per year, and a congregation 
 each day. If these destitutions, already so ex 
 tensive, be left indefinitely to extend beyond all 
 power of the church to supply them, who can 
 look calmly on the consequences, when the vast 
 enterprize and resources of the country shall 
 unite to despise God and prostrate the nation? 
 Surely here is an immense responsibility resting 
 on the Church, the measure of which cannot be 
 less than the sending of every well-qualified man 
 that can be obtained, into these wastes, for their 
 cultivation. 
 
 Towards their supply, I am happy to say, that 
 more has been accomplished the present than in 
 any previous year. A large number of excellent 
 laborers have been located at some of the most 
 needy points; and the seeking, obtaining, and lo 
 cating brethren in these promising places, has be 
 come a most interesting and useful part of my 
 labors the last year, contributing to the cheering 
 fact that we nwv have a larger number of Mis 
 sionaries in the West than ever before of whom 
 it is a pleasure to say, that they are self-denied 
 men, acceptable to their people, and blessed of 
 God. A considerable number of them are occu- 
 8 
 
90 MEMOIR. 
 
 pied with itinerancies a sytem of labor not only 
 useful, but vital 9 to the interests of our church in 
 the West. While our wastes are spreading so 
 immeasurably beyond our power to supply either 
 with men or means, it is a first dictate to extend 
 every man s influence as widely as can be consis 
 tent with its efficiency. 
 
 But along with our prosperity in men has come 
 our distress for means. The usual privations, fa 
 tigues, and exposures, that are never few in an 
 agency, have been borne; but the unfeigned 
 money distress everywhere met, has made this 
 the bitterest year for an agent in the West. I have 
 traveled this year literally among "ruined hopes 
 and broken fortunes." And though this is not the 
 condition of many, yet they are in such various 
 ways connected with this condition of others, that 
 the collection of the Lord s dues for any object, has 
 required a sacrifice of feeling known to no man 
 who has not tried the work. The consequence 
 has been, that notwithstanding the great exer 
 tions called for by the necessities of the Board, 
 the receipts of the present year have fallen off to 
 a small extent, to the great inconvenience and 
 suffering of some of our Missionaries, who could 
 not promptly obtain their dues from the Board. 
 In accordance with the wishes of brethren in 
 
MEMOIR. 91 
 
 Missouri, Rev. W. W. Robertson, of Oxford, Ohio, 
 was appointed last fall by the Board, with a view 
 to his occupying Missouri and Illinois in the com 
 bined character of Agent and Evangelist. His 
 labors have been acceptable and highly useful; 
 but from sickness of his family, and other causes 
 beyond his control, have not resulted in any ma 
 terial increase of the funds of the Board. 
 
 While it is the commendable policy of the 
 Board to employ an amount of agencies utterly in 
 adequate annually to compass the surface of any 
 given field, I am happy to say that the co-opera 
 tion of a few brethren in these bounds as volun 
 tary agents, has been both efficient and encourag 
 ing; has been truly such as the Board depends 
 upon for the complete success of their noble en 
 terprise. There is here also a growing habit of 
 contribution to your funds a habit much aided 
 by a certain time in the year being appointed by 
 nearly every Synod in the West, for the presenta 
 tion of your cause in these bounds severally. 
 But let no man deceive himself by depending 
 upon this habit, without the unwelcome labor of 
 agents. Personally, I shall be happy when my 
 term expires. But is it not evident that no bu 
 siness can be done without some one to do it? 
 It may be said, there are plenty to do it in this 
 
92 MEMOIR. 
 
 department; but the fact will return upon you 
 at the end of the year in empty coffers and dis 
 honored credit, that there is no one to do the 
 work when there is no agent. From a five years 
 experience in this service, I give it as my most 
 deliberate conviction, that without an agency in 
 the West, you may not for the next year expect 
 a thousand dollars, out of ten thousand which you 
 ought to receive. 
 
 From the same experience, too, I am obliged 
 to utter my most solemn persuasion, that your 
 enterprise is, to souls, to the church, and to the 
 country, second to none in importance ; and to this 
 sentiment I rejoice that there is a most hearty 
 response from growing numbers in the West. 
 
 In the year now closed, I have been absent 
 from my family four-fifths of the time; have 
 brought the claims of the Board before one hun 
 dred and eighty churches; have aided in locating 
 twenty-five Missionaries ; have preached about 
 two hundred sermons; have labored in several 
 blessed revivals; have attended twelve communion 
 seasons, and ten meetings of church judicatories; 
 have traveled eight thousand miles, and secured 
 to the Board in the time, eight thousand dollars. 
 
 Most truly your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL. 
 
MEMOIR. 93 
 
 Louisville, May 10/fc, 1842. 
 MY DEAR BROTHER I need say nothing of 
 the extent of this field, covering as it does the 
 most of seven States and two Territories, nor of 
 the rapidly increasing population which every 
 year spreads more densely over the surface. Nor 
 need I carry forward your anticipations till the 
 next census, when the political destinies of the 
 whole Union will be in the hands of the dwellers 
 in this valley. But the influences now struggling 
 for ascendency in the West demand earnest at 
 tention. These are infidelity, error, and Cathol 
 icism. Infidelity is rampant, soul-destroying er 
 ror comes in like a flood, and the last, more pow 
 erful than all, is spreading its power over this 
 part of our land, having ten dioceses, and over 
 three hundred priests west of the mountains. 
 These forces are distributed wisely; they are sent 
 up our largest rivers to make early locations 
 where they can cluster the population around 
 them, and assimilate that population to their 
 habits and principles. Thus they keep on the 
 outskirts of our settlements to subjugate our 
 vast opening surface to their dominion. But 
 they visit every place that holds out to them the 
 hope of ascendency over the ruling masses of so 
 ciety. The past year has been signalized by the 
 
94 MEMOIR. 
 
 union of these and cognate influences to possess 
 the ground, and in many places they have actu 
 ally possessed it, so that these very places are 
 not now open to sound Presbyterian labors, as 
 they have been for years before. The question, 
 therefore, has never been urged upon the church 
 as it is this moment: "Shall ive go up and possess 
 the land? or leave it to be subdued and held by 
 these hostile influences. 
 
 In view of this state of the case, the impor 
 tance of your Board is strongly seen. Shah 1 we 
 send the tide of salvation over this whole sur 
 face? Shall we thus save the unevangelized 
 millions of the West, and thus save our country, 
 and thus send down to the latest day the streams 
 of healthful influence to which we could safely 
 commit our posterity? The answer, under God, 
 must be given by your Board. 
 
 We rejoice to report in this field a decided 
 increase of favor to your enterprise. This has 
 been shown by the earnest co-operation of some 
 brethren, and the large liberality of individuals 
 and churches, who, "out of their poverty and dis 
 tresses, have abounded in their liberality." This 
 is shown by an increase of contributions over the 
 amount received on the same field last year, 
 though "the pressure" of any other year was not 
 
MEMOIR. 95 
 
 a tithe of what has been suffered the present. 
 The measure of earthly loss was full before ; this 
 year it has overflowed, until banks and individu 
 als have tasted deeply the unmingled bitterness. 
 But though it is a matter of gratitude that our 
 Board has been to such an extent sustained, de 
 spite these distresses, yet the fact should not be 
 withheld, that sufficient means could not be ob 
 tained to pay the pittance promised to our mis 
 sionary brethren severally; and in consequence 
 some of them have suffered bitterly in their fam 
 ilies. Example : one brother writes to me that a 
 note against him had been placed in the hands 
 of the officer for collection; another, that he ex 
 pected a warrant upon his furniture to satisfy his 
 rent; and a third, that his character was suffering 
 because he could not pay his little dues; and all 
 because we could not raise the means which the 
 Board had promised them. 
 
 But amidst these trials a greater work has 
 been accomplished this year than in any previous 
 one. We have over one hundred missionaries in 
 the bounds of this agency, twenty-four of whom I 
 have been permitted to aid in locating during the 
 year. These men have been laborious and self- 
 denying, and their efforts have shared in the large 
 blessings of God. Many revivals have occurred 
 
96 MEMOIR. 
 
 in connection with their labors. "The solitary 
 place has been glad for them," and "the wilder 
 ness has blossomed" at their approach. 
 
 Rev. W. W. Robertson has continued his la 
 bors as agent and evangelist in Missouri and Illi 
 nois during most of the year; and though these 
 labors have not resulted in any increase of funds 
 to our treasury, yet they have been highly accept 
 able and useful among the churches of that re 
 gion, where he was instrumental in adding to 
 their communion one hundred and thirty in a 
 single month. 
 
 In the year now closed, the urgent necessities 
 of this agency have called for more sacrifices, in 
 all respects, than in any previous year. In half 
 of the year, in which an account was kept, I was 
 home only four weeks in the time, and my ab 
 sence has been about five-sixths of the tune for 
 the whole year. My labors have been too in 
 tense for my health, and for the last few months 
 my system has been sinking; I find it impossible 
 therefore to keep them forward in the same 
 measure. I have been enabled to bring the claims 
 of the Board before one hundred and eighty-five 
 churches, located long distances from each other 
 have preached about two hundred discourses 
 have labored in six blessed revivals have 
 
MEMOIR. 97 
 
 attended ten communion seasons and eleven meet 
 ings of church judica tones have traveled seven 
 thousand five hundred miles, and secured to the 
 Board in the time, over eight thousand dollars. 
 
 Thanks to God for the good done, and may he 
 enable us to do much more in every year to come. 
 
 Sincerely, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL. 
 
 On one of the covers of the Report of the 
 Board of Missions for 1842, found among Dr. 
 Scovel s papers, is pasted an engraving nearly as 
 large as the side of the page, representing Boaz 
 and Ruth. The latter is exhibiting to Boaz a 
 bunch of gleanings which she had gleaned after 
 his reapers; and underneath are the words "Thus 
 said Boaz to Ruth, Go not to glean in another 
 field." We notice this circumstance because it 
 illustrates Dr. Scovel s devotedness to that par 
 ticular department of labor in which he was en 
 gaged. The cause of Domestic Missions was 
 with him the "cause? which, above all others, 
 engrossed his thoughts, and enlisted his warmest 
 interest He was not indeed so exclusive as to 
 neglect or depreciate other objects. He rejoiced 
 in the success of all the Boards of the Church, 
 and of all other benevolent enterprises by whom- 
 9 
 
98 MEM OIK. 
 
 soever conducted, provided they were managed 
 wisely and scrip turally; and he contributed of his 
 substance in order to encourage and promote 
 them. Still, it was quite apparent that he gave 
 a decided preference to the cause of Domestic 
 Missions, and that he felt a stronger interest in 
 the Valley of the Mississippi than in any other 
 field. This, doubtless, arose chiefly from his vo 
 cation. Whatever he undertook to do, he en 
 gaged in with all his might. Some have object 
 ed to our employing agents on this very ground. 
 Each agent, it is alleged, magnifies his own par 
 ticular work, to the injury of other departments 
 of no less importance than theirs. There would 
 be force in this objection, provided our churches 
 were so crippled by the pressure of one cause as 
 to be unable to give to others. But the truth is, 
 that with the strongest representations which can 
 be made by each, those who give are not rendered 
 poor, and the amount contributed falls far short 
 of meeting the wants of either department, much 
 less the necessities of a perishing world. Though 
 every agent should say as he passes along, "Go 
 not to glean in another field," and should so in 
 terest those whom he might address, as to call 
 forth as large donations to each particular object 
 as is now contributed to all, this direction of Boaz 
 
MEMOIR. 99 
 
 would then be verified in a different sense from 
 that for which we have used it, and more in ac 
 cordance with its original import, viz : that they 
 need go nowhere else for their reward, besides 
 that which flows from contributing to each and to 
 all according to the extent of their ability. The 
 field of Boaz will furnish abundant gleanings for 
 the supply of their necessities and the promotion 
 of their comfort. 
 
 His next report, (which was the seventh,) ex 
 hibits more than double the number of mission 
 aries that were reported in the first, and another 
 interesting fact reported is, that pastors and sta 
 ted supplies had performed a large amount of 
 missionary service, in which the Lord had blessed 
 them in an unusual degree, making them the in 
 struments of converting not less than eight hun 
 dred souls. 
 
 Louisville, May 9$, 1843. 
 
 Mr DEAR BROTHER This is the seventh An 
 nual Report which I have been permitted to ren 
 der from this field. Though J have been com 
 paratively lost amidst the immense wastes I 
 would aid the Board to supply, yet is it cheering 
 to look back, and see what has been accomplished. 
 At my commencement, very few of the churches 
 in this field were in the habit of regular contribu- 
 
100 MEMOIR. 
 
 tions to our Board. Now, that habit is general 
 and regular. Then, in what was done, there was 
 no system. Now, the whole bounds of each Synod 
 expect to hear of Domestic Missions at a settled 
 time in each year. Then, there was little spirit, 
 and less co-operation here in this great work. 
 Now, there is much of both. Then, with an 
 abundant currency, collections were difficult. 
 Now, in an unparalleled depression of finances, 
 these collections nearly reach their usual amount. 
 Then, we had fifty laborers on this field. Now, 
 one hundred and ten. 
 
 This increase of missionaries cannot be appre 
 ciated without taking into account the large 
 number of charges that every year become self- 
 supporting, and so have disappeared from our 
 lists. But, though they need no further aid, it 
 should not be forgotten, they constitute a large 
 part of the strength by which to aid those who 
 are still feeble and dependent. They remember 
 their helpless days, and show their gratitude to 
 God and the Board by liberally aiding your noble 
 enterprise. 
 
 The financial distress of the West has advanced 
 upon us this year with rapid pace, until, in the 
 business community, every face gathered black 
 ness, and hope gave way to despair. This state 
 
Ml- MO IB, 
 
 -IQl 
 
 of things, I need scarcely say. added givatly to 
 the embarrassments and >a< -rilices of your agent 
 It is not easy to warm a man s benevolence into 
 action when he is under protest, and every mail 
 bringing him accounts of additional losses. And 
 yet against such discouragements have the la 
 bors of the last year been pushed forward, often 
 with a heart sickened with the distresses of those 
 to whom sympathy was extended, instead of any 
 ex I KM -tati Mi of aid from them. 
 
 Just here, however, sprang up a rich encour 
 agement. " Out of their deep poverty, some have 
 ahutindcd in their liberality." Some churches, 
 as well as individuals, have advanced tin s year 
 beyond all their former benefactions to your 
 cause. It cost them sacrifice. But when the 
 question was made, Shall the cause sink or be 
 sustained at sacrifice? they nobly faced the test, 
 and would "not serve the Lord with what cost 
 them nothing." 
 
 Another great encouragement has been, the 
 ri>ing spirit of pastoral missions. No one who 
 has attentively surveyed the unnumbered desti 
 tutions of this country, and then though of our 
 utter lack of men to supply them, has failed to be 
 oppressed with the view. The prospect ahead is 
 not less oppressive. At present rates, we never 
 
102 
 
 shall have men adequate to a full supply. After 
 all the Board can do, employing men willing and 
 able to go, not more than half will be reached. 
 To leave half these wastes, then, to hopeless 
 heathenism and ruin, or extend to them mission 
 ary service of pastors, has been a question of 
 thrilling interest, and has awakened an energy 
 needing but to be employed to its uttermost, in 
 order to bring joy and salvation to those that sit 
 in darkness. This energy has been employed the 
 last year by pastors and stated supplies, under 
 the divine blessing, to the conversion of proba 
 bly not less than eight hundred souls on this 
 field; while the prompt adoption of this plan by 
 all the Presbyteries, would doubtless realize much 
 larger results by another year. 
 
 A manifestly deeper sentiment in favor of 
 your enterprise comes every year to pervade our 
 communion. It is expressed by our State and 
 National Legislatures, and other intelligent indi 
 viduals, and we hope soon to see it not only uni 
 versal in this body, but operative in throwing a 
 broad and blessed light over all the darkness of 
 our horizon. 
 
 Rev. C. Sturdevant has labored three months 
 of the year, as a coadjutor in Tennessee and Al 
 abama, and has carried forward the work with 
 energy and success. 
 
MEMOIR. 103 
 
 In the year now closed, I have aided in loca 
 ting thirty missionaries have been absent from 
 home about five-sixths of my time have been 
 enabled to bring the claims of the Board before 
 one hundred and eighty churches have preached 
 about two hundred discourses have labored in 
 several cheering revivals have attended nine 
 communion seasons and eleven meetings of church 
 judicatories have traveled seven thousand six 
 hundred miles, and secured to the Board in the 
 time over seven thousand five hundred dollars. 
 
 But after all that has been done, our wastes 
 are wider, more desolate, and nearer to be de 
 voured by soul-destroying error, than ever be 
 fore. What is done to save them, must be done 
 quickly. 
 
 May the Lord of the harvest raise up and 
 thrust forth the laborers; and his people, to this 
 end, increase a hundred fold their prayers and 
 efforts. 
 
 Most truly, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL. 
 
 The report for 1844 shows a constant increase 
 of missionary spirit in the western churches 
 "the income for this year being fifteen hundred 
 dollars in advance of any previous year." It 
 
104 MEMO IB. 
 
 mentions also as " an encouragement not to be 
 forgotten, the deep interest taken in this work 
 by the ladies, in preparing and forwarding nu 
 merous boxes of clothing in aid of Western Mis 
 sions." This work has been continued ever 
 since, and has carried timely and substantial re 
 lief to many a needy and worthy family, who, 
 but for the beneficence of these excellent sisters 
 and mothers in Israel, would have suffered no 
 little inconvenience, and in some cases, absolute 
 distress. It is to be hoped that none of them 
 will become weary in "well-doing." The follow 
 ing is his report for that year. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER This eighth annual re 
 port from this field ought to express the deepest 
 gratitude for the advance of the Kingdom here, 
 and for the blessed instrumentality of the Board 
 in reaching such a result. The year now closing- 
 has been distinguished by the formation of one 
 Synod and several Presbyteries, composed, to a 
 large extent, of our Missionaries, of whom there 
 are near one hundred and fifty distributed in 
 thirty-five Presbyteries, which cover a territory 
 four times as large as the aggregate surface of 
 England, Ireland and Scotland. 
 
 Towards the supply of this immense field, we 
 
MEMOIR. 105 
 
 have more mis>i< diaries than in any previous year; 
 and yet "what are these among so many? 
 The whole missionary force of the Board is iusuf- 
 Ikient to cover the wastes of the West alone, 
 and thus keep the dragons from devouring it 
 with soul-destroying error. 
 
 The financial distress of the West lay heavy 
 upon us, for the first three quarters of the year. 
 Then, collections to any adequate extent, were 
 impossible. Vigorous means were plied, but with 
 much discouragement, except in cases of some 
 churches and individuals, who, even then, exhib 
 ited a noble liberality. 
 
 In the last quarter, the south wind blew 
 tilings grew soft, genial and kindly; carrying the 
 income for this year lull ill teen hundred dollars 
 in advance of any previous year. 
 
 An encouragement not to be forgotten, is the 
 deep interest taken in the work by the ladies, in 
 preparing and forwarding numerous boxes of 
 clothing in aid of Western Missions. This de 
 partment of effort is new, but full of hope from 
 the quarter from which it comes, and will always 
 be ;i most efficient aid to the cause, where it does 
 not materially diminish the money contributions 
 of the churches. Let these pious helpers know 
 that the actual wants of husbands, wives and 
 
106 MEMOIR. 
 
 children, have been supplied by their bounty, 
 and the Master has been clothed and comforted^ 
 in the person of his needy ministers and their 
 families. May they be encouraged to do much 
 for the coming year. 
 
 The plan for pastoral missions is a most im 
 portant auxiliary to your noble enterprise; but 
 for want of a thorough out-carrying of the plan 
 by all the Presbyteries, the results reached, 
 though highly gratifying, are not equal to those 
 of the last year. 
 
 In the year now closed, I have aided in loca 
 ting thirty-five missionaries; have been absent 
 from home four-fifths of my time; have been en 
 abled to bring the claims of the Board before two 
 hundred and ten churches, widely sundered from 
 each other; have preached about two hundred 
 discourses; have labored in several joyous revi 
 vals; have attended fourteen communion sea 
 sons, and twelve meetings of church judicatories ; 
 have traveled seven thousand eight hundred 
 miles, and secured to the Board in the time over 
 nine thousand dollars. 
 
 In looking out upon the prospect of another 
 year, the heart of benevolence sinks at a view of 
 the disproportion between the demand and the 
 probable supply of this field. Fifty additional 
 
-MEMOIR. 107 
 
 laborers would scarcely occupy the more promi 
 nent openings, and yet we cannot obtain that 
 number. Ten thousand dollars additional means 
 are urgently needed, and would carry light and 
 gladness to many a dark mind, but we cannot 
 even obtain the funds to meet promptly the 
 wants of those already in the field. Shall it al 
 ways be thus in a church, the nett income of 
 whose members is more than five millions of dol 
 lars per annum? Shall the millions of children 
 in this land that cannot read, still grope their 
 way to judgment in the same darkness in which 
 they are now enveloped? Will no kind hand be 
 outstretched for their rescue? Will the saints 
 pursue their gold, and leave them to perish V 
 Shall our enemies mark and designate our land 
 as their future possession, by the red lines with 
 which they encircle the map of the West, and not 
 awaken in us a struggle to hold this land sacred 
 to liberty and religion? 
 
 Shall the oppressed poor of Ireland give more 
 in "Peter s pence" every year, than the whole 
 Presbyterian Church for the salvation of our 
 country? The annual income of the Catholic 
 Society at Lyons is near four millions of francs, 
 having increased two hundred fold in the last 
 twenty years, and this to aid in extending over 
 
108 MEMOIR. 
 
 this country the influence of a despot. Shall the 
 income of your Board remain stationary in such 
 circumstances? Shall we fold our hands when 
 the enemy comes in like a flood? Let every 
 Christian meditate on these facts until his pur 
 pose is fixed, and his heart enlarged towards the 
 work of saving his country by means of that glo 
 rious gospel committed to his trust. 
 Most truly, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOVEL. 
 
 In his next report he alludes again to the sub 
 ject of clothing for missionaries, a depot for which 
 had been established at New Albany, la. "Had 
 the ladies," says he, "who contributed this cloth 
 ing, seen the supply of naked wants as I have 
 seen, it would fill their hearts and eyes with joy, 
 that they had thus been permitted to clothe and 
 comfort the Saviour in the persons of these his 
 beloved and needy servants." But we will let 
 the report speak for itself. 
 
 Louisville, May Sth, 1845. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER This ninth annual report 
 
 which I have been permitted to render from this 
 
 field, ought to be instead of an Ebenezer, on 
 
 which to inscribe the memorials of divine good- 
 
MEMOIR. 109 
 
 ness to the agent, and especially to the cause he 
 advocates. In addition to five hundred thousand 
 square miles, the former dimensions of this field, 
 we ought now to take in Texas and Oregon, to 
 the latter of which the first Presbyterian preacher 
 has already gone. 
 
 Over this immense surface, more excellent la 
 borers have been distributed this year than in 
 any previous one, and in this we rejoice; still a 
 multitude of cries for help could not be responded 
 to for want of men; for the same reason, many 
 portions of this great surface have been stolen 
 from us this very year by soul-destroying error- 
 ists, by whose efforts society is poisoned at its 
 very fountains, and whose pestilential breath 
 reaches the unpractised ears and unhackneyed 
 hearts of the children and youth. Under this 
 blighting influence, the laurels of our country 
 arc fading, and the church looks out upon "fields 
 white for the harvest," daily transformed into 
 mildew and death. 
 
 In the first half of the year now closed, the 
 political excitement, which, like a tornado, swept 
 over the land, rendered appropriate collections 
 not only difficult, but impossible. In the last 
 half, the churches have responded to the calls of 
 the Board with a noble liberality, and shown, both 
 
110 MEMOIR. 
 
 in word and deed, their vast increase of interest 
 in Western missions : accordingly, the Treasurer s 
 Report will show an advance beyond the receipts 
 of any former year. 
 
 The Rev. J. C. Eastman has performed a most 
 acceptable service for nearly four months of the 
 year, as an assistant on this field. 
 
 The plan for pastoral missions has accomplished 
 much for the Master, but needs more perfect sys 
 tem in each Presbytery, to reach its greatest re 
 sults. Such a system, animated by the Divine 
 Spirit, would achieve wonders towards a world s 
 conversion. 
 
 A permanent depot has been opened next door 
 to my dwelling in New Albany, for the reception 
 and disbursement of missionary clothing. From 
 that place, we have sent out this year about twice 
 the amount of last year, and that for supply of 
 pressing wants of missionary families on the fron 
 tiers. Had the ladies who contributed this cloth 
 ing seen the supply of these naked wants as I 
 have seen, it would fill their hearts and eyes with 
 joy, that they had thus been permitted to clothe 
 and comfort the Saviour in the person of these 
 his beloved, but needy servants. What congre 
 gation will not send us a box during the coming 
 year? 
 
MEMOIR. Ill 
 
 In the past year, I have aided in locating thir 
 ty-eight missionaries; have been absent from 
 home over three-fourths of my time; have been 
 enabled to bring the claims of the Board before 
 two hundred and twenty churches, widely scatter 
 ed over the West; have preached about two hun 
 dred discourses ; have aided in securing parsona 
 ges to feeble charges; have attended sixteen com 
 munion seasons, and thirteen meetings of church 
 judica tones; have traveled over eight thousand 
 miles, and have secured to the Board in the time 
 neaj ten thousand dollars. 
 
 In conclusion, I am compelled to say that dan 
 gers are thickening around our western land. 
 Not only is every destructive error abroad and 
 rampant, but Catholicity comes in with giant 
 stride. Their means are lavished upon us at the 
 rate of some four hundred thousand per annum, 
 while we raise a pittance to support sound labors. 
 Their officials and others are sent in upon us in 
 numerably, ready for any privation to advance 
 their superstition, while many holding the saving 
 truth are shrinking from the West, for fear of pri 
 vation and hardship. They already hold the bal 
 ance of power in some of our States, are pushing 
 their advantage, possessing our wastes, and thus 
 carrying out their settled plan to gain the ascen- 
 
112 MEMOIR. 
 
 dency in the West, and so unite their interests 
 in Canada, with those in South America and 
 Mexico. To ward off these dangers, what shall 
 be done? We want hosts of men "full of faith 
 and the Holy Ghost," with the boldness of Lu 
 ther, the mildness of John, and the self-denial of 
 Schwartz, to occupy the length and breadth of 
 the land. God give us such men, and then with 
 his blessing we are safe. 
 Most truly, your brother, 
 
 SYLVESTER SCOYEL. 
 
 At the meeting of the General Assembly of 
 1845, an Executive Committee was appointed at 
 Louisville, Kentucky, to conduct the operations 
 of the Board in the West. After this, Dr. Sco- 
 vel s reports do not appear in the annual reports 
 of the Board. The reports from this field were 
 made by the Committee. He continued his agen 
 cy under their direction, and with the same suc 
 cess as before, till Nov. 1846; when, having been 
 previously invited to the Presidency of Hanover 
 College, he resigned his agency, and entered on 
 a new sphere of labor. 
 
 In closing this part of his life, justice requires 
 us to say, that besides the fervent zeal and untir 
 ing energy which he manifested from first to last 
 
.MEMOIR. 113 
 
 in the prosecution of his important work, he de 
 voted to it not only time and labor, but money; 
 generously remitting three hundred dollars of the 
 salarv allowed him by the Board. In more in 
 stances, doubtless, than will be known till the 
 judgment day, and in some which are known, he 
 relieved the families of needy missionaries from 
 his own private resources, and he contributed di 
 rectly and largely to the funds of the Board and 
 other benevolent objects. By a reference to the 
 reports of the Board fur 1840 and 1847,it will be 
 seen that himself, and wife, and nine children were 
 honorary members of the Board, requiring a con 
 tribution of fifty dollars for each; and two other 
 friends and relatives of his are also reported as 
 honorary members, in all thirteen; all of whom 
 were constituted such by his liberality. He act 
 ed sacredly on the principle of preserving entire 
 his wife s estate; but as she and then* children 
 were well provided for in case of his decease, he 
 felt at liberty, after supporting his family, to be 
 stow his entire income upon objects of charity. 
 A part he gave for the relief of the poor, as the 
 providence of God placed them in his way; an 
 other portion he bestowed on different public ob 
 jects connected with the good of society, and es 
 pecially such as were designed to advance Christ s 
 10 
 
114 MEMOIR. 
 
 kingdom; and as large a sum perhaps as he gave 
 to all others put together, he appropriated to that 
 "cause" which lay nearest his heart, viz: Domes 
 tic Missions.^ When remonstrated with, that 
 he restricted his family expenses more than he 
 ought, in order to enable him to give, he replied, 
 "0, the cause of our Redeemer, which is suffer 
 ing for the want of more sacrifice and self-denial 
 among its professors! 0, the selfishness of the 
 human heart! People are not willing to give 
 when it involves them in sacrifice. It is the cry 
 ing sin of the church. Those principles (said he) 
 which he preached in the pulpit, he was resolved 
 upon practising in his family." According to 
 our judgment, his conduct in this particular can 
 be easily vindicated by a reference to the Word 
 of God. It met the approbation, as we believe, 
 of our Divine Redeemer, and we cannot doubt 
 that when Christians are thoroughly instructed 
 on this subject, and especially when they are fully 
 imbued with the spirit of Christ, it will be ap 
 proved and commended by all good men. 
 
 * NOTE. He gave at one time $100 to New Albany Theological 
 Seminary; at another, $100 to the Board of Education; and again 
 $100 to the Board of Foreign Missions; also* smaller sums to various 
 other objects, besides sending annually for seven years, $150, and some 
 times more, for the support of his aged mother an example of filial 
 piety worthy of imitation. To the Board of Domestic Missions he 
 gave, during the last four years of his agency, $300 per annum to sup 
 port a missionary. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HIS PRESIDENCY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 In the fall of 1846, Dr. Scovel was elected 
 President of Hanover college, in the state of In 
 diana ; he having, a short time previous, received 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from 
 the same institution. In extending to him this 
 invitation, the trustees, as we have reason to be 
 lieve, were influenced by several considerations. 
 First of all he was regarded by them as qualified 
 for the post, in a literary point of view though 
 he had devoted but little time to study for ten 
 years previous. His early scholarship was known 
 to have been good; he had acquired a large 
 amount of general information by traveling and 
 the perusal of books and periodicals; and he was 
 fond of scientific and literary pursuits. His very 
 sensible inaugural address, which was delivered 
 on the following March, and the manner in which 
 he discharged his official duties during the short 
 period which he was permitted to live, show that 
 he was competent for this responsible trust. 
 
110 MEMOIR. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 THE WEST AND WESTERN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 To restore our race to their original moral 
 rights, is the great object of revelation, law, and 
 education. Revelation finds man in the distance 
 from his Creator; redemption proposes to bring 
 him near ; divine laws are so many safe-guards 
 of his moral interests, and so many guides to 
 lead him in the right way; while education de- 
 velopes his powers and tends to place him erect 
 in all his relations, both human and divine. It 
 is education which comes within the range of hu 
 man possibilities, and it is this, by which the 
 barbarian rises by slow degrees to the rank of 
 civilization. "When we contrast the ignorance, 
 rudeness, and helplessness of the savage, with 
 the knowledge, refinement, and resources of civ 
 ilized man, the difference between them appears 
 so wide, that they can hardly be regarded as of 
 the same species. Yet compare the infant of 
 the savage with that of the philosopher and you 
 will find them in all respects the same. The 
 same high capacious powers of mind lie folded 
 up in both ; and in both, the organs of sensation 
 adapted to these powers are exactly similar. All 
 
MEMOIR. 117 
 
 the difference, which is afterwards to distinguish 
 them, depends upon their education. While the 
 mind of the savage, left entirely neglected, will 
 scarcely raise him above the level of the animals 
 around him, insensible to all the wonders of cre 
 ation, and shut out from all the treasures of na 
 ture, the more fortunate member of enlightened 
 society, whose capacities shall be evolved by a 
 proper education, will comprehend within the 
 ample range of his intelligence the universe of 
 God. 
 
 The untutored barbarian, like the beasts which 
 he hunts for subsistence, or from which he dreads 
 destruction, acts merely under the guidance of 
 instinct, or from the impulse of appetite, passion, 
 or feeling. A stranger to control, he acknowl 
 edges no law but his own will. Not disciplined 
 to subordination, or trained to reflect on the rela 
 tions of society, and the duties which arise out 
 of these relations, he submits to no superior, but 
 the leader whom he chooses to conduct him to 
 the gratification of his private or national ani 
 mosities; and his wildest desires are indulged 
 without the slightest regard to any future conse 
 quence, or to any feelings or interests but his 
 own. His enjoyments, therefore, are entirely 
 selfish, and spring from the gratification of the 
 
118 MEMOIR. 
 
 most ferocious passions or the most groveling 
 appetites. His devotion is a feeling of terror; 
 and the whole system of his superstition is a 
 abric reared by his vices, which it serves to for 
 tify and confirm. He may hope for immortality; 
 but the scenes which he pictures to himself be 
 yond the limits of time, derive all then* coloring 
 from his own dark imagination ; and the expecta 
 tion of a heaven of insulting triumph over van 
 quished foes, only inflames to greater violence 
 the malignant passions which rankle in his breast. 
 
 Can a nature thus selfish, thus fiend-like, be 
 transformed by any culture into the likeness of 
 man as we contemplate him in the more enlight 
 ened and happy regions of the world? Are the 
 benevolent schemes which embrace in their object 
 the happiness of millions, conceived by minds 
 akin to those, whose ingenuity was never exer 
 cised but in places of murder and devastation? 
 
 Yes! these natures opposite as they appear, 
 are formed originally after the same image. It 
 is to education alone, which, raising him above 
 the degrading dominion of sense, teaches him to 
 respect the voice of reason, and to follow her as 
 the guide of his conduct. It is education which 
 reminds him of the necessity of subordination 
 in regular communities; and which, convincing 
 
MEMOIR. 119 
 
 him how much the happiness of the individual is 
 promoted and secured by submission to govern 
 ment and laws, expands even his selfish feelings 
 into kindness and patriotism. It is education, 
 which, leading him to reflect on the ties t hat- 
 unite him with friends, with kindred, and with 
 the great family of mankind, makes his bosom 
 glow with social tenderness, confirms the emo 
 tions of sympathy into habitual benevolence, im 
 parts to him the noble delight of rejoicing with 
 those who rejoice, and the melancholy pleasure 
 of weeping with those that weep; in a word, 
 which renders his self love only a modification 
 of generosity, and enables him to gather his pu 
 rest bliss, from seeing others blest. 
 
 If this is the natural effect of educating even 
 the mind shrouded in the greatest darkness, 
 what are the institutions needed for this noble 
 work in the age and country in which we dwell? 
 There are three stages of society passed in the 
 settlement of a new country : the first, in which 
 the highest effort of political economy is to sup 
 ply the commonest necessities of the pioneer fam 
 ilies: the second, in which the system of inter 
 nal exchange commences, and the substantial 
 conveniences of life are reached: the third, in 
 which our cities and villages are reared; the 
 
120 MEMOIR. 
 
 farmer leaves his rude cabin for the stately dwel 
 ling, and surrounds himself with the comforts 
 and some of the luxuries of life. In the first 
 and second . stages, every energy is strung for 
 purposes other than mental advancement; and 
 the height of literary attainment is usually from 
 the speller conned by the cabin fire. We are 
 just approaching the third stage, and to it, only 
 portions of our country have yet attained. The 
 childhood of the West is passed, only so far as 
 to reach the period of vigorous youth. Every 
 thing is yet to be done principles are to be set 
 tled plans digested connections formed bus 
 iness entered upon and the whole future char 
 acter assumed, while as yet the great traits of it 
 exist but in the germ. This youth is however a 
 giant, tractable and generous under wise tuition, 
 but under ill-training and discipline, capable of 
 raising worse storms in his dominions, than ever 
 issued from the mountain smitten by the king of 
 storms. 
 
 According to M. Guizot, there are two great 
 essentials of civilization; social progress, and in 
 dividual progress. Of the former, our country 
 gives no doubtful indications, in subdued forests 
 and prairies, in the buzz and rattle of our ma 
 chinery, the flocks and herds, and varied indus- 
 
MEMOIR. 121 
 
 try of our States, the cotton fields and sugar 
 plantations of the South, the golden eared and 
 wide waving harvest of our own State, "the net 
 work of rail- ways threading our vallies and 
 climbing our mountains, the whistle of our steam 
 ers ascending every river, our mercantile ship 
 ping converting our ports into mimic forests, and 
 penetrating with the products of our industry 
 almost every harbor on the globe, all bear tes 
 timony to our social progress ; a testimony visi 
 ble to the world, and too conspicuous to be 
 denied." 
 
 Of the other essential of civilization, the indi 
 vidual progress, or the development of the in 
 dividual man, we cannot speak so confidently. 
 Something has been done in the present age in 
 laying foundations. Indeed it is an age of foun 
 dations, some of which, placed by wise master 
 builders, are well sustaining the superstructures 
 now rising upon them in beauty and fair propor 
 tions; others no doubt will disappoint the fond 
 expectations of their proprietors. But the abid 
 ing foundation must be laid, and speedily too, 
 for sustaining such appliances as will secure men 
 tal development, and that to the masses of the 
 9,000,000 population in this broad valley: a 
 population made up of the restless, the daring, 
 11 
 
122 MEMOIR. 
 
 and the enterprising of almost every kindred, 
 tribe, tongue, and people, homogeneous in noth 
 ing, and to be melted together only by the same 
 ness of the powerful means employed alike upon 
 all. Without this, you might make every acre 
 a garden, every village a Lowell, and every port 
 a mart of boundless commerce, and yet never 
 secure the happiness of society; that happiness 
 depends upon the harmonious combination of the 
 two great essentials of civilization. 
 
 In this state of our country, the question re 
 turns, what are the needful institutions for the 
 great work before us? Manifestly those adapted 
 to earlier and later periods of life, and to the ed 
 ucation of the whole man, physical, moral, and 
 intellectual. As appropriate means to accomplish 
 this, we enumerate Common Schools, Parochial 
 Schools, Academies, (male and female,) Colleges, 
 and Professional Seminaries. 
 
 The excellence of the Common School system 
 is the hope of carrying its benefits to all classes 
 of society; but the system is too new and feeble 
 to thrust out the warmth and the life from the 
 center to the extremities, in any of our States. 
 An immeasurable additional force would be given 
 to that system, by an able General Superintend 
 ent, aided, if possible, by a zealous County Su- 
 
 II 
 
MEMOIR. 123 
 
 perintendent, acting in concert with him in every 
 County. No work can be weh 1 done, but by some 
 one whose especial calling it is to do it. This 
 truth is so sanctioned by the common principle 
 of division of labor, as seen in every orderly 
 community, that it needs no other enforcement. 
 The Secretary of State, in Ohio, formerly Pro 
 fessor in this institution, states in his last report 
 to the Legislature, that "there are not less than 
 40,000 of then: citizens, over 20 years of age, 
 who can neither read nor write, and that there are 
 nearly 150,000 under that age, and within the 
 limits of the provision of the law, entirely illit 
 erate." The Secretary weh 1 remarks upon these 
 facts, "were there as many thousands in the 
 midst of us, who, through poverty or imbecility, 
 should pass their lives without any improvement 
 in their vital powers; who should, in the language 
 of Scripture, have eyes, but see not; ears, but 
 hear not; then: senses all torpid, then- limbs nerve 
 less and incapable of muscular movement, all but 
 lifeless, and yet alive, what should we think of 
 such existence, of such being? And yet that 
 which in debasement surpasses even our imagin 
 ation, if done to the body, is done by individuals 
 and the community, and permitted to be done 
 >y civilized governments, by ourselves, under the 
 
124 MEMOIR. 
 
 full blaze of Christianity, to the immortal mind, 
 to those lofty capacities which, in their nature 
 and destiny, as far exceed the physical powers as 
 mind excels matter spirit, clay heaven, earth." 
 At the last census in Indiana and Illinois, a still 
 greater proportion was entirely illiterate. These 
 facts and declarations are, at least, as fearfully 
 true of the other and newer Western States. 
 There are more than 2,000,000 of children with 
 out schools, in the West. 
 
 Do we need Parochial Schools ? They are, in 
 this country, so nearly an untried experiment, it 
 may be well to enquire, what is a Parochial 
 School? It is a school for each parish or congre 
 gation, sustained by the congregation, placed 
 under the direction of the pastor and principal 
 members, who select the teachers, aid them in 
 their work, especially in bringing a strong reli 
 gious influence to bear upon the school, thus 
 mingling the cup of knowledge with the cup of 
 salvation continually. But will not these schools 
 clash with the common school system? Not at 
 all. They should be a grade intermediate be 
 tween the common school and the academy, and 
 while the former is at every man s door, it can 
 be enjoyed until such advancement is made as to 
 prepare the pupils for the best profit at the Pa- 
 
MEMOIR. 125 
 
 roclrial School. These schools have not only 
 been fully tested in Scotland, but have been in 
 large part her salvation. They are a part of that 
 complete system of national education presented 
 to the General Assembly by Kuox and his fellow 
 laborers in 15GO, of the working of which system 
 it was affirmed more than two hundred years af 
 ter its establishment, that it had made them a na 
 tion of philosophers, heralds of liberty to all that 
 kingdom, a profoundly religious people, and that 
 not one of the pupils of those schools had been 
 arraigned before the tribunals of the country 
 charged with any crime. Other denominations 
 in this country have done something in this de 
 partment, perhaps more than Presbyterians, but 
 the last General Assembly warmly recommended 
 the system to all its churches, and it is my most 
 ardent aspiration that every Synod, Presbyter} 7 ", 
 and Session in our connection may speedily adopt 
 a system so calculated to make every wilderness 
 a garden of God. 
 
 Largely to the same effect are well conducted 
 academies. To the praise of this State be it 
 said, it has made provision for an institution of 
 this kind at every county seat. Few of these, 
 however, have as yet become efficient aids to lit 
 erature. We trust in the rising spirit of intelli- 
 
126 MEMOIR. 
 
 gence and the fostering care of the Legislature 
 to re-animate them, and thus make them accom 
 plish their original design. Then, and not till 
 then, will they compare with the preparatory de 
 partments in our Colleges, and the High Schools 
 erected by individual enterprise, and which are 
 certainly doing a noble work. 
 
 With these brief hints respecting the three 
 classes of minor institutions, we now come to the 
 fourth, beyond which we shall not detain you on 
 the present occasion. Do we then need Colleges? 
 First, do we need Western Colleges? Here is a 
 surface of 1,200,000 square miles, over which 
 must be thrown an intelligence so clear and 
 strong, as not only to suffice for the millions now 
 dwelling on that surface, but sufficient for the 
 20,000,000 that will occupy the same space in 
 1856; sufficient too for the 40,000,000 that will 
 be here in 1866 an intelligence that will reach 
 every cabin, and can be reflected from the Rocky 
 Mountains to the Pacific, and to Mexico. 
 
 Can you do this without Western Colleges? 
 We are now carrying forward an experiment, the 
 essentials of the success of which are religion and 
 intelligence. This experiment of free govern 
 ment in this country has reached the struggling 
 Greek, the Pole, the Italian, and even the serf of 
 
MEMOIR. 127 
 
 Russia, and waked the oppressed of all nations 
 to look for a similar boon for themselves and 
 their descendants. The hopes of the globe hang 
 upon us, and a voice from the other side of the 
 waters re-echoes, the hopes of the globe hang 
 upon us. What an undying curse will then be 
 upon us, if by ill-success in the experiment, we 
 dash these hopes forever. We are in danger of 
 this very ill-success. You perceive that Divine 
 Providence is rolling its millions of souls into our 
 borders, by which the whole responsibility of this 
 experiment seems to be thrown upon our Western 
 shores. In 19 years, according to the fact above 
 stated, these 40,000,000 will be dwellers in this 
 great valley; a population probably double the 
 number that will HHMI inhabit the Eastern slope 
 of the country, a population therefore holding in 
 hand the most fearful destiny ever held by mor 
 tals, touching the liberties of our race. Let the 
 West erect herself and look at the charge! Is 
 she ready for it? Can she be ready with so 
 small means, for spreading intelligence among 
 her present 9,000,000, and thus preparing them 
 to act favorably upon the heart and mind of the 
 next 9,000,000, and the next, and the next? 
 Colleges are confessedly the fountains; from these 
 must the Professional Seminaries and the Proles- 
 
128 MEMOIR. 
 
 sions be supplied ; from these must emanate sup 
 plies for the Academy, the Parochial School, and 
 the Common School. If proof were wanted, you 
 have but to observe the improved condition of 
 common schools within a circle of fifty miles 
 around any well ordered College. 
 
 As the redemption of the world draws near, it 
 has been the fond hope of our best men on both 
 sides of the waters, that this country would have 
 a large share in the world s evangelization; that 
 we should be permitted to carry the religion and 
 language of this land to the ends of the earth. 
 Favorable to this view is our civil and religious 
 liberty, the thorough severance of Church and 
 State, our freedom from the sustenance of a titled 
 nobility on the one hand, and an overwhelming 
 pauperism on the other; with abounding wealth 
 and sanctified intellect, what could we not do in 
 leading the conquests of Immanuel in all lands ! 
 If it be asked, can all this be done ? The answer 
 must come from between the Alleghenies and 
 the Pacific. But precisely within this range is 
 our danger. The East is settled ; she has wrought 
 out the problem of her safety by the patient op 
 eration of the most potent moral and intellectual 
 means, and will accordingly be prepared for her 
 part of the high destiny. On the other hand, 
 
MEMOIR. 129 
 
 the West is a generation ahead of its educational 
 means, Hooded with a population ignorant of our 
 religion and government, and chosen as the great 
 battle ground for the Beast, where his forces are 
 rallied for the last struggle for empire. If there 
 be an earthly power to meet these dangers, breast 
 these obstacles, and yet make our way to the 
 high destiny indicated, it is our Colleges. From 
 these must go forth the leaders of the host, to 
 dissipate ignorance, to conquer error, to subdue 
 and homologate the masses of society. We do 
 then certainly need Western Colleges. And if so, 
 they must be sustained; sustained by a noble pub 
 lic sentiment, such as will enable them to lift the 
 standard of education, and sustained too by the 
 people. They arc the people s institutions; they 
 meet the wants and promote the interests of the 
 people, and the people therefore should uphold 
 them, throw into their bosom the best of their 
 sons, impart to them due portions of their wealth, 
 and untiringly cast around them their cares and 
 their sympathies. 
 
 But if we must have Western Colleges, they 
 must be sustained by the generous youth of our 
 country. Love of country is almost universal, 
 but surely no country ever exercised this affec 
 tion for so cogent reasons. 
 
130 MEMOIR. 
 
 What would be love elsewhere, should be enthu 
 siasm here. Your country is not only the home 
 of the brave and the free, the home of your an 
 cestors, but your own peculiar home. It is a land 
 more fertile in soil, more beautiful in surface, 
 more genial in climate, a land of more noble 
 lakes, rivers, mountains, valleys, ravines and cas 
 cades, than the sun shines upon besides. It is a 
 broad land, that will soon sway the destinies of 
 the Union. Give then your mite of influence to 
 the institutions of your own native West. The 
 time is fully come, when in any profession, it is a 
 treasure to you to have your birth and training 
 here. Seek not then to expatriate yourselves 
 for an education. Never reflect such dishonor 
 upon the rising College or Seminary. Let not 
 another household be built up on the downfall of 
 your own. A thorough education in the West 
 is a better and surer passport to success, in any 
 profession or business here. This I say deliber 
 ately, after twenty years of the most careful ob 
 servation. But if you were even to bear sacrifi 
 ces to uphold the institutions of your own coun 
 try; a heathen could say 
 
 " Dulce ct decorum est pro Patria mori." (Hon.) 
 
 is not the less included in the greater, would you 
 hesitate to endure the less, while he bared his bo- 
 
MEMOIR. 131 
 
 som to the greater sacrifice? But is there sacri 
 fice in a Western education ? I believe our Col 
 leges teach the ancient languages sufficiently 
 thorough to improve the memory, to impart a 
 mild discipline to the mind, to give a copious use 
 of one s mother tongue, to polish style, and give 
 a nice discrimination in the meaning of terms. 
 Are these noble languages taught to any better 
 purpose eastward? Here are Mathematics, to 
 the aching of many a head, only to enable it to 
 think strongly, and in a straight line. Can the 
 exact sciences do any thing more there? Here 
 is Natural Philosophy, teaching the action of bod 
 ies one upon another, as wholes, and Chemistry, 
 that goes into particulars, and shows how these 
 bodies act upon one another by particles, thus 
 covering the whole ground : have they any big 
 ger book of nature there ? The West teaches the 
 Astronomy of the whole heavens : have they any 
 wider heavens there? Here we unfold that men 
 tal philosophy and ethics which acquaint a man 
 with his powers and duties: can the great "gnothi 
 seauton" be gathered better through other chan 
 nels ? No, gentlemen, it is the "limce labor" and 
 not the place, that is to shape you to greatness. 
 But it is said that Eastern institutions are near 
 two centuries older than ours, and therefore much 
 
132 MEMOIR. 
 
 better. If their superior age is a good reason 
 for draining the West of its youth, to be educa 
 ted in their halls, it will ever be a good reason, 
 for they will ever be near two centuries older than 
 those reared on our soil. If this objection is valid 
 for one student going East, it is valid for all, and 
 the consequence will easily be perceived; either 
 we shall forever have no Colleges here, or none 
 but dwarfs. Will the clear-sighted parent, or the 
 ardent youth of the West willingly contribute to 
 such a result? But our institutions eastward 
 have large libraries; yes, and by the help of God 
 we will have larger ones here in a few years. But 
 no Western College can suddenly grow to such 
 dimensions. It cannot spring into being like 
 Pallas from the head of Jupiter. It is a work 
 of time, especially at the stage of society which 
 we are now passing. Let every generous youth 
 contribute his modicum to the general influence, 
 and the work is done, and when done, is a work 
 to cheer, and bless, and save our country, forever. 
 That was a noble reply of Zeuxis, when asked 
 why he took such endless pains with the last pen- 
 cilings of his picture, "I paint for eternity." We 
 are laying foundations for eternity, and every tal 
 ented youth may do that now for his Alma Ma 
 ter which will make an indelible impression upon 
 
MEMOIR. 133 
 
 it, and through it upon coming ages, and so 
 cause unborn millions to rise up and call him 
 blessed. 
 
 Finally, do we need a Church College? A few 
 hints are all we propose. If we trace the learn 
 ing of any age, we shall trace it in close connec 
 tion with the religion of that age and country. 
 "The priests lips keep knowledge." The last 
 glimmerings of the dark ages went forth from 
 the cloister and the monastery. In later times, 
 the Scotch Church is a noble example. 
 
 The principle on which they set out was, "that 
 we are under the same obligation to give a pious 
 education to our children and adherents, that we 
 are to afford them a pious ministry," and that to 
 this end the church should select the teachers, try 
 their qualifications, and control them. If it is 
 absurd to place ourselves or others under an un 
 godly ministry, not less so is it to place them 
 under impious teachers; for these are next in in 
 fluence to the ministry. In pursuance of these 
 views, at the head of those Parochial Schools in 
 Scotland before alluded to, was a University, dis 
 tinguished to this day for a union of religion and 
 learning. There multitudes of the youth of that 
 country were educated. The system of church 
 education became so unalterably settled there, 
 
134 MEMOIR. 
 
 that when some six hundred of their pastors, with 
 their flocks, were compelled for principle s sake 
 to leave the establishment, they, now the Free 
 Church, in a few months after the disruption, en 
 dowed a College with $100,000. This they did, 
 when they went out from their former homes, 
 without a house and without a dollar, having 
 churches and manses to build, and all their other 
 foundations to lay at the same time. Here are 
 Church Colleges tested for more than two centu 
 ries, and after that long experiment, such were 
 the sacrifices with which the Free Church is ready 
 to continue them. Comment on such a fact is 
 unnecessary. Have not Presbyterians in this 
 country a still greater need of such an institu 
 tion? It is their high vocation of God in this 
 form to educate. A vocation to save men is a 
 calling to diffuse intelligence. The faith we cul 
 tivate requires light, and our hope of extending 
 sound doctrine is in precise proportion to our la 
 bors in diffusing intelligence. The cast of mind 
 most commonly met here is bold, enquiring and 
 incredulous. To impress such mind, we come 
 not with authority, nor with pomp and ceremo 
 nies, but with the simple power of truth. That 
 truth, from the book of nature and the book of 
 God, must, in blended colors, be thrown upon the 
 
MEMOIR. 135 
 
 mass of mind, and especially upon those in the 
 most plastic period of life. 
 
 But a Church College is required by the law of 
 self-preservation. The relation of the Church to 
 such a College is that of mutual support and de 
 pendence. The one cannot prosper without the 
 other. It is probably wise that College education 
 should be conducted denominationally. But 
 whether wise or unwise, the question is settled 
 that it is to be so done in the West. In a line of 
 States, lying north-west of the Ohio River, and 
 of which surface this point is near the center, 
 there are twenty-five denominational Colleges, and 
 of these one only is under control of the Pres 
 byterian Church. In these various institutions 
 is a body of talent and means sufficient to bear 
 the palm in educating on this surface. As to 
 ourselves, this practical question urges itself upon 
 us Shall we give our youth to other influences 
 during their College course, or keep them under 
 our own? However well the education might be 
 conducted under other hands, still, if there be 
 any thing in our "form of sound words" worth 
 preserving or extending, any thing that has sanc 
 tified the martyrdom of thousands that have died 
 for it, we must open our own halls and receive our 
 sons to educational honors, impressed with the 
 
130 MEMOIR. 
 
 signet of eternal truth. It is only thus we can 
 be preserved from defections to Papists, Ritual 
 ists, and enthusiasts; only thus that those who 
 "from their youth have known the Holy Scrip 
 tures," shall have this knowledge deepened into 
 fixed principles; and only thus by the daily im 
 pression of Bible doctrine, can you rear the strong 
 man ready for the great conflict with Anti-Christ, 
 which is fast approaching. The silent prepara 
 tion for this conflict is going on, on the part of 
 the enemy. Five heavily endowed Colleges, and 
 some fifteen or twenty institutions answering 
 similar purposes, are already planted by the Pa 
 pists in the line of States to which allusion was 
 made. These are the flanking posts of the ene 
 my, and diligently docs he hold and strengthen 
 them. Bye and bye the tocsin will sound, and 
 the hosts will muster for the fatal struggle, and 
 even till then some will scout the danger, and cry 
 peace, peace; but it will be when their chains are 
 forged, and when their clanking is heard on the 
 breeze. Let the Church awake then, and care in 
 time for the heritage God has given her. 
 
 To compass this self-preservation, this institu 
 tion was founded. It is a Church College, and 
 the only one possessed by our denomination in 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, amidst a 
 
MEMOIIl. 137 
 
 population of 4,000,000. It has been reared, 
 therefore, we trust, to a high destiny, and not 
 withstanding the newness of the country, and 
 past embarrassments from external causes, it will, 
 we doubt not, steadily move on to that destiny. 
 This we hope the rather, because it was founded 
 in prayer, poverty, and tears, to educate the heart 
 and mind for both worlds, and if it might be, to 
 rear many who would spend and be spent in break 
 ing the bread of life to the famishing in our wastes 
 and among the millions on the other side of the 
 world. To the accomplishment of these great ends, 
 with a full view of the responsibilities involved, / 
 give myself this day. I do it with no hope of suc 
 cess, except for the fervent sympathies, prayers 
 and co-operation of the church; the efficient ef 
 forts of the Board of Trustees, and especially the 
 co-labors of our brethren of the Faculty who have 
 already borne the burden and heat of the day. 
 We confide too in the talents, industiy, and good 
 conduct of those who are students, to sustain the 
 honor of the institution, and to give to us, in their 
 usefulness to the community and to the Kingdom 
 of our God, the reward of our toil. But chiefly to 
 God only wise, our covenant God, do we commit 
 this institution, and our poor labors to build it 
 up, rejoicing that the feeble are mighty in his 
 strength." 12 
 
138 MEMOIR. 
 
 In addition to his competency, as it respected 
 literary attainments, he was extensively and fa 
 vorably known as a Christian gentlemen, and 
 would be able, by his influence, to increase very 
 considerably the number of students. But es 
 pecially, he was known to possess in an unusual 
 degree financial talents, which qualified him pre 
 eminently for the collection and management 
 of the college funds. Such a man was greatly 
 needed, nay, was essential at that particular 
 juncture, to the progress of the Institution. 
 The college had experienced many disasters, and 
 was just recovering from the most serious of all, 
 viz : the surrender of its charter by the Board 
 of Trustees, and the projected establishment of 
 a university at Madison. Those concerned in 
 this movement were wise and conscientious men, 
 and acted, without doubt, from a sincere desire 
 to advance the public good; but the Synod of 
 Indiana refused to give it their sanction, and de 
 termined to prosecute the enterprise at Hanover. 
 Dr. Scovel, with a respectable minority of the 
 Synod, voted to sustain the trustees in their ac 
 tion, and to receive the Madison University un 
 der the care of the Synod. But, being over 
 ruled, he, and all those who had concurred with 
 him in opinion, cheerfully acquiesced in the 
 
MEMOIR. 139 
 
 decision of the majority, and have since assisted 
 as cordially in the support of Hanover College 
 as they had done before. 
 
 The Rev. J. F. Crowe, D. D., who had acted for 
 some time very successfully in raising funds for the 
 college, was obliged to suspend his agency by 
 domestic affliction; not, however, until ten thou 
 sand dollars, or more, had been secured. Im 
 mediately after accepting the Presidency of the 
 college, Dr. Scovel became its financial agent. 
 During the first four or five months he secured 
 as many thousand dollars; of which amount he 
 subscribed six hundred dollars himself, in the 
 form of scholarships, which was the plan adopted 
 by the trustees for completing the endowment. 
 At the time of his inauguration, which was some 
 five months after his election, it was announced 
 that the permanent fund amounted to fifteen 
 thousand dollars, all of which had been secured 
 within the brief space of three years, and about 
 one-third of it by his own efforts. Since that 
 time the endowment has steadily increased, until 
 it has reached the respectable sum of forty 
 thousand dollars. About one hundred and fifty 
 students have been in attendance during the past 
 year, some thirty or more of whom have recently 
 experienced, as is hoped, a change of heart. Not 
 
140 MEMOIR. 
 
 far from seventy were professors of religion be 
 fore ; making in all at this time more than one 
 hundred, or over two-thirds of the whole ; and of 
 these, one half have in view the gospel ministry; 
 while others, without having decided what pro 
 fession they will pursue, are seriously consider 
 ing the question of future duty. 
 
 Dr. Scovel took special interest in the spirit 
 ual welfare of the students. Very soon after 
 his removal to Hanover the College was blest 
 with a revival of religion, in which his own fam 
 ily shared largely ; and during most of the time 
 from that period till his death there was more or 
 less seriousness among the students. Within a 
 little over two years and a half, (which was the 
 period of his presidency there,) there were forty 
 or fifty hopeful conversions ; and at the time of 
 his last illness, several were anxious for their 
 souls, and several rejoicing in Christ. To this 
 state of things he contributed much he and 
 the other officers of the college co-operating 
 with each other from week to week, by their 
 prayers, in bible class instruction, and personal 
 conversation with the students, to produce such 
 a result. Many of them, it is believed, will 
 bless God through eternity for his kind Provi 
 dence in placing them in that Institution, be- 
 
MEMOIR. 141 
 
 cause of his distinguishing grace in bringing 
 them, while there, to embrace by faith the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The estimate in which he was held, both as 
 President of the college and in other respects, 
 is truly expressed by Rev. W. W. Hill, the ex 
 cellent editor of the Presbyterian Herald, a few 
 days after his decease: 
 
 "In his death, the College, which was rapidly 
 rising in public favor under his administration, 
 has met with a severe stroke ; and the church 
 of which he was a minister has been deprived of 
 one of her most untiring servants. Though not, 
 in the common acceptation of the term, what 
 the world would regard as a very learned or very- 
 great man, yet he was great in Napoleon Bona 
 parte s definition of greatness a man that was 
 able to do great things. To the most indomita 
 ble energy of character, he added an intense de 
 sire to serve the church and the age in which he 
 lived, which found a vent in many ways over 
 looked by other minds. We have for several 
 years past been intimately associated with him 
 in various capacities, and we always found him 
 busily engaged in executing or contriving some 
 scheme for the good of the church or the coun 
 try. To found and build up churches, schools, 
 
142 MEMOIR. 
 
 seminaries, and colleges, in this great valley of 
 the West, may be said to have been the master- 
 passion of his soul. It seemed to absorb his 
 whole time and attention, sometimes, as his 
 friends thought, to the neglect of his own per 
 sonal interests. No labors were too exhausting, 
 no sacrifices were too great, to deter him from 
 undertaking any plan which appeared to him to 
 be adapted to promote this one great object. 
 For this he lived, for this he labored, and for it 
 he prayed, and now he has gone to receive the 
 reward from that Master who has assured us thai 
 he is not unfaithful to forget our work of pa 
 tience and labor of love. We that remain may 
 hear a voice coming to us from his tomb, saying, 
 What thy hand findeth to do, do with ah 1 thy 
 might; for there is no work nor device in the 
 grave whither thou hasteneth. May we serve 
 our generation, according to our abilities, as 
 faithfully as he has done, and when we are gath 
 ered to our fathers, rest with him in those man 
 sions which the Master has gone before to prepare 
 for those who serve him." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HIS LAST ILLNESS, &C. 
 
 Dr. Scovel departed this life July 4, 1849, 
 after an illness of thirty-six hours, with that 
 fearful and unconquerable disease, the Cholera. 
 He had been ill for several weeks previous of a 
 diilereiit disease, but was nearly recovered from 
 it, when the Cholera broke out at Hanover with 
 such violence, that out of a population of four 
 hundred, twenty fell victims to this disease, 
 among whom were two students of the College, 
 candidates for the gospel ministry, and Dr. Sco 
 vel, President of the Institution. When the 
 cholera made its appearance in that place, in or 
 der to quiet the minds of the students he met 
 them in the College Chapel, read the 91st Psalm, 
 delivered an address, and offered a prayer. This 
 w r as followed by a meeting of the faculty, and by 
 numerous calls of the students at his residence 
 preparatory to their leaving the place, which fa 
 tigued him so much as to compel him to retire 
 to his bed, from which he never arose. Symp 
 toms of cholera were soon visible ; and though 
 
144 MEMOIR. 
 
 the usual remedies were promptly employed, his 
 physical nature, which was already enfeebled by 
 disease, sunk under the attack, and in the brief 
 period above mentioned, his spirit was released 
 from its clay tenement. He died with that com 
 posure of mind and that confidence in the Re 
 deemer which become a Christian. 
 
 Though he had occasionally complained for 
 some years that he was wearing himself out by 
 the multiplicity of his labors, that he was sink 
 ing under fatigue, &c., he had never been afflict 
 ed with any serious or protracted illness, with a 
 single exception, after he entered the ministry, 
 till the close of his life; and when he was taken 
 away, he died as he desired to die "with his 
 harness on." The sickness to which we allude 
 occurred while he was residing either at Law- 
 renceburg or Harrison. Concerning this a wor 
 thy correspondent, already quoted in this vol 
 ume, remarks, " I saw him brought, by a severe 
 attack of illness, to the brink of the grave. We 
 gave him up. His wife and a few of the female 
 friends were weeping around him, but he was 
 calm and peaceful. He said to us, dont weep 
 for me all is well. Then directing his remarks 
 to his wife, he said, Your loss will be my eter 
 nal gain. But his work was not done. He 
 
MEMOIR. 145 
 
 was restored to health to labor awhile longer in 
 his Master s vineyard." 
 
 His last illness was so brief, and attended with 
 so much prostration of body, that little opportu 
 nity was afforded for conversation; but after he 
 became sensible of his speedy departure, he ex 
 pressed entire submission to the will of God, and 
 a firm faith in the blood of Christ, through whose 
 merits he expected to be saved. He exhibited 
 no ecs fades; he uttered no extraordinary expres 
 sions of triumphant hope; but he manifested 
 what is equally satisfactory, that serenity, of 
 spirit which was the fruit of God s love shed 
 abroad in the heart that willingness to die 
 which arose from the evidence that he was about 
 to depart and be with Christ. There was, in his 
 case, no necessity of a death-bed scene, either 
 on his own account or for the comfort of survi 
 vors. He was prepared to die long before. He 
 so felt himself to be, and he was so regarded by 
 all his Christian friends. He often alluded to 
 death and the grave, to heaven and its joys, in 
 his public discourses ; and in such terms, and 
 with such a countenance, as to show that he had, 
 habitually, an assured, an abiding hope of eter 
 nal life. As we have not yet introduced a speci 
 men of his sermons, this will be a suitable place 
 13 
 
146 . MEMOIR. 
 
 to insert a portion of a discourse which he 
 preached several times, on the heavenly state. 
 He did not write many sermons in full, but only 
 outlines of sermons sometimes copious, at oth 
 ers very brief. Those which he wrote with care, 
 are very creditable productions ; but it does not 
 comport with our purpose in preparing this me 
 moir to publish his discourses. The outline 
 which we give may serve, however, as an exam 
 ple of his manner of sermonizing, though it is 
 introduced more especially to illustrate the state 
 of his mind not only during his last hours, but 
 long before ; and to lead the mind of the reader 
 to a pious contemplation of that holy and happy 
 world into which, we cannot doubt, he entered 
 at death. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 " There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." Rev. 
 xxi: 27, first clause. 
 
 The present state of man is encumbered with 
 evils, natural and moral. Being a part of his 
 sad birthright, they grow with his growth, and 
 cleave to him in every condition, and at every 
 stage of life. In vain does he attempt to thrust 
 them from him by the power of philosophy, or 
 flee from them, either by the pursuit of wealth 
 
MEMOIR. 147 
 
 or the retirement of the cloister. Even Christi 
 anity itself only alleviates, but does not remove, 
 the ills of life, so long as we remain in the pres 
 ent world. Who, that has felt the presence of 
 the evils, has not longed for a better state? 
 Who has not sighed for the habitation where the 
 "wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are 
 at rest? " Direct, then, your thoughts to this 
 "bright reversion," while we consider, 
 
 I. The habitation of the blessed. 
 
 II. What shall not enter there, and 
 
 III. Who and what shall enter there. 
 
 I. Heaven is a habitation. We cannot, nor 
 is it necessary to say what precise position in 
 unlimited space may be occupied by heaven. 
 The Scriptures represent it as being above; but 
 the term above is relative, that being below to 
 the Chinese which to us is above showing that 
 it is no certain circumscribed location, but sim 
 ply an ethereal region altogether fitted for the 
 residence of spiritual beings. It is, however, in 
 condescension to our weakness, called a house 
 a mansion a city. This last is the term applied 
 to it in the context, and, as you have heard, all 
 the treasures of oriental imagery are exhausted 
 in describing its grandeur. Every touch in this 
 description is a master effort the flight of a 
 
148 MEMOIR. 
 
 inind lifted up above itself by the inspiration of 
 God. No wonder, then, that the annals of this 
 kind of writing affords no parallel. The founda 
 tions of this heavenly city are garnished with 
 precious stones. Its walls are Jasper. Its 
 streets are pure gold. Its gates are pearls. Its 
 watchmen are angels. The throne of God and 
 the Lamb is in the midst of it. Out of this 
 throne issues the river of life, on whose bank 
 stands the tree of life, yielding twelve manner of 
 fruits. No temple is there. No night overcasts 
 its sky. No moon shines no sun rises. The 
 Lord God and the Lamb are the temple of 
 this Divine residence they are the sun which 
 shines with the splendor of everlasting day. 
 
 Whose imagination has not often visited the 
 earthly paradise given to man in innocence ? 
 Has not its cloudless sky, its life-breathing winds, 
 its delicious fruits, its fragrant flowers, its ver 
 dant groves, its every element ministering to the 
 bliss of man, often awakened your highest rap 
 ture? That name is used to describe the heav 
 enly abode. Says the Saviour, "He that over- 
 cometh shall have part in the Paradise of God." 
 But how infinitely superior is that heavenly habi 
 tation to the earthly paradise ! The one, too, 
 was temporary, the other is eternal. Present to 
 
MEMOIR. 149 
 
 your view all conceivable forms of beauty ; gather 
 all that can gratify your taste from every corner 
 of the universe ; augment it by all that Omnipo 
 tence can add ; then assure yourself that it is 
 etermU ; and you will form your best thought of 
 the beauty of heaven. It is, moreover, sublime 
 as well as beautiful. Its dimensions surpass all 
 that can be conceived of in nature, whether it 
 be the boundless landscape, the shoreless ocean, 
 or the cloud-capt summit. The angel who meas 
 ured it in the presence of John the divine, found 
 it to contain 12,000 furlongs ; and "the length, 
 and the breadth, and the height of it are equal." 
 And farther, the glory of the place conveys an 
 idea of sublimity which exceeds all human des 
 cription. The "glory of God and the Lamb doth 
 enlighten it," and every inhabitant from the high 
 est order of angels to the most humble believer, 
 redeemed by the blood of Christ, enjoys an ec 
 static view of that glory, and, also, reflects a 
 portion of it in his own spotless character and 
 perfect bliss. But the sublime of heaven befits 
 not an earthly pen. 
 
 II. Consider what shall not enter this holy 
 habitation. First of ah 1 , sin shall not be there 
 sin, that prolific cause whence proceeds every evil; 
 sin, the abomination of God and the grief of his 
 
150 MEMOIR. 
 
 people, shall never be there, not "anything that 
 defile th." With sin shall also be stricken out 
 the whole list of its consequences. No guilt, no 
 pollution, no shame, can enter there. Faction 
 and sedition distract not the armies of heaven. 
 No discontent, no intrigue, no base compromise 
 of principle, are there. There is no rebellion 
 there to quell; no rod of oppression to be broken. 
 The trumpet will have blown its final blast, the 
 last shout of battle will have ceased, and "destruc 
 tions have come to a perpetual end." Private, 
 separate interests can never alienate those heav 
 enly minds. Selfishness, that bane of social peace 
 and social confidence, cannot exist in sight of 
 yonder throne. Its iron grasp is broken, and its 
 icy coldness melted. No narrowness can con 
 tract, no coldness can chill those affections that 
 center so warmly upon the Eternal Source of 
 love. 
 
 By consequence, also, no natural evils can be 
 earned there. Pestilence walketh not there in 
 darkness, nor does haggard famine stalk abroad. 
 There earthquakes swallow not, and the tornado 
 sweeps not away the holy tenants above. There 
 is no sea to drown and no fire to burn them. 
 Death will not there invade the generations of 
 men, nor gather into its group the congregations 
 
MEMOIR. 151 
 
 of disease. He will collect no more the pallid 
 features, the crippled forms the fathers and the 
 children into his dark receptacles; nor can 
 he send blasting and mildew over the prospects 
 just opening to the vision of youth. " There is 
 no more death." 
 
 Evils will not exist there, arising from the 
 temptations of satan, and the persecutions of 
 wicked men. The adversary of souls, who goes 
 about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may 
 devour, cannot venture there. Of course, his 
 artful wiles, his cunning and deceit, his plans to 
 cool your zeal and turn your feet astray from the 
 narrow path, will not disturb you in that world. 
 Though still the prince of darkness, he will be 
 shorn of his power to hurt God s people, and be 
 led captive to his chains, by the triumphant Re 
 deemer. In like manner, the malice of wicked 
 men will have spent its force, and can never reach 
 you there. Neither the persecutions they bring, 
 nor the pains they inflict, will be experienced on 
 those heavenly hills. 
 
 Evils, which now exist within us and often dis 
 turb our peace, will, also, be unknown, Thither 
 remorse cannot follow you, nor fear of aught that 
 is evil. No hatred, envy, lust, pride, evil concu 
 piscence, unhallowed desire, covetousness, avarice. 
 
152 MEMOIR. 
 
 No worship of the creature more than the Crea 
 tor; no ungrateful thought, no chagrin of dis 
 appointment, nor the sorrow of purposes unat- 
 tained, and resolutions unperformed. You will 
 doubt no more, you will despond no more. No 
 brow of care, no aching heart, no overflowing 
 eye, no grief, or bereavement, will ever be seen 
 or felt in that blessed state. There will be no 
 indolence there to paralize the energy or retard 
 the progress of the immortal spirit in its upward 
 flight towards the adorable Source of all good. 
 Fellow Christians, how transporting the thought 
 of possessing, ere long, such a dwelling place as 
 this! 
 
 III. Consider who and what shall enter this 
 holy habitation. 
 
 With regard to the persons, the redeemed will 
 enter there. The church, the betrothed of Christ, 
 after a life of faithfulness on earth, will be received 
 by him into the marriage supper of the Lamb, 
 and be joined to him in a glorious and everlast 
 ing union. In obedience to the call, "Lift up 
 your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye ever 
 lasting doors, and the king of glory shall come 
 in," the Prince of Peace will proceed with his 
 numerous retinue to take possession of the heav 
 enly temple, and they shall go no more out 
 forever. 
 
MEMOIR. 153 
 
 As to what shall enter there, it will consist of 
 every element that is essential to complete the 
 bliss of God s people. 
 
 1. Perfection both of body and soul. There 
 will be no dullness of your spiritual apprehen 
 sions ; nothing to obscure your immortal vision- 
 Your reason will be perfect, your imagination 
 cloudless, your understanding illumined with a 
 flood of light, your whole soul pure and spotless, 
 your body raised incorruptible and glo 
 rious. 
 
 2. A fit employment. Praise, study of God 
 and his works. 
 
 3. A fulness of joy. "The redeemed shall 
 come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy up 
 on their heads, and they shall obtain joy and glad 
 ness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 
 
 4. A likeness to Christ. "Beloved, now are we 
 the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what 
 we shall be, but we know that when he shall ap 
 pear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as 
 he is." Then will be fulfilled that prayer of the 
 Saviour, "The glory which thou hast given me I 
 have given them, that they may be one, even as 
 we are one." "I will that they also whom thou 
 hast given me, may be with me where I am, that 
 they may behold my glory which thou hast given 
 
154 MEMOIR. 
 
 me." In accordance with this prayer the re 
 deemed will behold his glory as with open face, 
 and "be changed into his image from glory to 
 glory." 
 
 Humble Christian! a few more seasons of pray 
 er, a few more Sabbaths, and a few more com 
 munions past, and you shall commune with the 
 spirits of the just made perfect. Your last pang 
 felt, and your last enemy conquered, you will 
 mingle with the heavenly retinue, and sit with 
 them at yonder board of eternal love. There all 
 is grandeur and beauty to the eye, harmony to 
 the ear, and rapture to the heart. 
 
 * Lift up your heads, ye saints, on high, 
 And sing, for your redemption s nigh." 
 
 The third head of this discourse is only a brief 
 outline, which, in this respect, is similar to a ma 
 jority of his written sermons. In preaching them 
 he was accustomed to read as far as he had writ 
 ten, and to close with extemporaneous remarks. 
 One of his hearers, who had heard him preach 
 the discourse here given, observed that he closed 
 it with unusual interest and animation. May all 
 who read it be so happy as to reach that blissful 
 state. 
 
 After Dr. Scovel s decease, his bereaved widow 
 
MEMOIR. 155 
 
 received letters of condolence from ministers and 
 other friends; editors of newspapers and corres 
 pondents, in announcing his death, paid a re 
 spectful tribute to his memory, and two or more 
 ecclesiastical bodies adopted resolutions express 
 ing their high estimation of his worth. The fol 
 lowing is a Minute of the Synod of Indiana at 
 their sessions in Indianapolis, Sept, 1849. 
 
 "The Rev. Sylvester Scovel, D. D., President 
 of Hanover College, departed this life at his resi 
 dence in Hanover, on the 4th day of July, A. D. 
 1849, aged 53 years. 
 
 "He had been engaged in the work of the gos 
 pel ministry for about twenty-five years, and for 
 the last six years of his life had been a member 
 of this Synod. 
 
 "Our departed brother was distinguished for the 
 indomitable energy of his character, the uniform 
 and consistent piety of his life, his love for souls, 
 his devotion to the interests of the church, and 
 his zeal for the glory of Christ. In a word, what 
 soever things were true, and honest, and just, and 
 pure, and lovely, and of good report, it was his 
 aim to promote. 
 
 "As a man, he was eminently kind, amiable and 
 courteous; as a Christian, he was consistent and 
 
156 MEMOIR. 
 
 devoted; as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 he was faithful. 
 
 "He was a successful pastor, an untiring and ef 
 ficient agent, (in which capacity he labored ten 
 years under the direction of the General Assem 
 bly s Board of Missions, as the general agent for 
 the West,) and as the President of Hanover Col 
 lege, his labors were attended with their wonted 
 success. He possessed many traits of character 
 worthy of imitation, and we feel that in his death 
 this Synod has sustained an irreparable loss, and 
 the church of Christ has been bereft of one of 
 its most faithful laborers. Yet in the dispensa 
 tion that has removed him from us, we would re 
 cognize the hand of a wise and holy Providence, 
 and bow with uncomplaining submission to it. 
 We would bless the rod and him that has appoint 
 ed it. We rejoice in the hope that having served 
 God faithfully in his day, he has now been taken 
 to his reward in heaven. 
 
 "This Synod would express their gratitude to 
 God that his efficient labors were continued for so 
 long a time to the church, and they would be re 
 minded by his sudden departure, that the time is 
 short. Whatsoever, therefore, our hands find to 
 do, we should do it with our might. 
 
 " This Synod would also express their condo- 
 
MEMOIR. 157 
 
 lence with the bereaved family of our departed 
 brother, and pray that God would be a husband to 
 the widow and a father to the fatherless children. 
 
 "It was ordered that a copy of this Minute be 
 furnished by the Stated Clerk of Synod, and for 
 warded to the family of our deceased and lament 
 ed brother. 
 
 "A true copy, by order of Synod. Attest: 
 DAVID MONTFQRT, Stated Clerk" 
 
 Of the published newspaper articles, we insert 
 only a single one, from the pen of Prof. A. C. 
 Knox, of Hanover, an inmate of Dr. Scovel s 
 family at the time of his decease. 
 
 REV. SYLVESTER SCOVEL, D. D. 
 
 A righteous man hath fallen! One whose life 
 Was all a burning light his death an hour 
 Of peaceful rest. But yesterday, I looked 
 Upon that noble form unmoved and calm 
 Amid the dashing waves of life and what 
 A picture there I imaged full of hope 
 And coming usefulness. Twas but a dream, 
 That shed upon the leaves of coming time 
 The brightness of the past. The image formed, 
 As quickly fled the soul had found in Heaven 
 A home. 
 
 What manly grace, what dignity, 
 In every movement shone. Oh, how unlike 
 The studied arts that hide mere emptiness ; 
 
158 MEMOIR. 
 
 The tricks of naked self to shield her own 
 
 Deformity, and win an hour s applause! 
 
 The tearful eye, so eloquent in love 
 
 And kindness, spoke the tender and true 
 
 Of heart ; twas gushing tenderness, that oft, 
 
 When sorrow wept, would bleed, and pour the tear 
 
 Of sympathy. 
 
 For moral worth beloved, 
 In goodness great, in wisdom unsurpassed 
 That pure and heavenly wisdom from above 
 A friend to man he lived ; a sacrifice 
 To noblest deeds of love he fell, as falls 
 The Christian soldier, with his armor on, 
 All burnished for the fight. Just like a star 
 Of night, behind the sleeping wave of some 
 Unruffled lake, he calmly sunk to rest 
 No cloud bedimmed the sky; no lowering storm 
 Hung o er his setting sun. 
 
 Awhile I stood 
 
 Upon the mournful strand, and witnessed there 
 Those loved ones gathered round; while on the cheek 
 Of infancy and laughing youth, I saw 
 The tear of withered hope. Aye, see that heart 
 That mother s widowed bleeding heart in all 
 The agony of crushed affection how 
 It pours itself in prayer! Be still, my soul, 
 And leave her there with God. The bitter cup 
 A moment quaffed, is filled with Him in whom 
 All fulness dwells. The maddened ocean sleeps, 
 For Mercy sweetly whispers from the skies, 
 " Be still, ye troubled waves." She calmly rose 
 And kissed a last farewell to earthly hope, 
 To seek in God her joy. 
 
 I watched him there 
 Upon the cold and sullen wave, both long 
 
MEMOIR. 159 
 
 And mournfully, till Jesus now within 
 
 That bark I saw, in all his loveliness. 
 
 So cheeringly he looked the while, and shed 
 
 Amid the gloom such light, such smiles of hope 
 
 And joy upon the clouds that floated there 
 
 He threw, that Death s dark stream, and even Death 
 
 Itself seemed almost beautiful. When lo! 
 
 From out the murky clouds a sudden blaze 
 
 Of light, and love, and glory burst the rays 
 
 Of all the suns of heaven blended there 
 
 Too bright, too pure for flesh. Twas heaven s lore ; 
 
 Eternal, deep, exhaustless love, that flows 
 
 From off the throne for God himself is love. 
 
 Can this be death? From earth to heaven? 
 
 T is thus the Christian dies ; while angels waft 
 
 His ransomed spirit " where the wicked cease 
 
 From troubling, and the weary are at rest." 
 
 The following communication from Professor 
 M. Sturgus, has been furnished by request, ex 
 pressly for this Memoir. 
 
 Hanover College, Feb. 19, 1851. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER, I feel entirely inadequate to 
 give a proper estimate of Dr. Scovel s character 
 and services here, for your book. The following 
 hints are at your service, and you can condense 
 or extract at your pleasure. 
 
 When he joined us, upwards of ten thousand 
 dollars had been raised by Dr. Crowe towards an 
 endowment, and we had about seventy students. 
 
160 MEMOIR. 
 
 But Dr. C. was providentially prevented from far 
 ther prosecution of the endowment, and the in 
 stitution was suffering greatly, too, for want of a 
 head. Its religious condition was very discoura 
 ging; but eight or ten professors of religion in 
 all, and a very cold and lifeless state of feeling 
 pervading the church. At the time of his death, 
 how changed! The number of students had 
 doubled, nearly half of whom were church mem 
 bers, and the endowment fund had been increased 
 to thirty thousand dollars, besides a considerable 
 fund for contingent expenses, and a library worth 
 fifteen hundred dollars, all in the brief space of 
 two and a half years. The difficulties to be en 
 countered were innumerable. The institution 
 had been broken down by a succession of disas 
 ters, ending in the surrender of its charter. 
 Whilst a few clung to it with affection, the com 
 munity at large, from whom students and money 
 were to be drawn, regarded it with distrust. To 
 remove prejudices, diffuse correct information, to 
 establish confidence, and accomplish such results 
 in so brief a period, demanded an energy, tact, and 
 perseverance, a talent for business, a knowledge 
 of the country and of the Presbyterian Church, 
 East and West, and a reputation for sagacity and 
 success, which, perhaps, were united in no other 
 man in the West. 
 
MEMOIR. 161 
 
 The untiring energy and entire self-devotion 
 with which Dr. Scovel gave himself to this work, 
 as to every thing he undertook, are known to all 
 with whom he was associated; better known to 
 none than yourself. His every thought seemed 
 to be given to the College with a zeal and single 
 ness of heart which his colleagues can never for 
 get, and the amount of business which he could 
 accomplish, apparently without effort, was truly 
 astonishing "like a star, unhasting and unrest 
 ing," would well describe his whole career at this 
 place. And he was as disinterested as he was 
 diligent. I heard an incident from John L. Scott, 
 Esq., which is so characteristic, and so honorable 
 to his memory, that I think it should find a place 
 in his biography. He was in the habit of placing 
 any permanent fund he might have on hand with 
 
 & Co., until an investment offered. In 
 
 this way he had $1,100 of College funds, and 
 $1,000 of his own in their hands when they so 
 unexpectedly failed. Dr. S. was exceedingly 
 concerned about the loss to the College, made 
 several trips to Cincinnati, and held many anx 
 ious conferences with Mr. Scott, the assignee, 
 proposing various schemes to save the College 
 interests, but never once adverting to his own 
 loss. When Mr. Scott reminded him of this, and 
 14 
 
162 MEMOIR. 
 
 expressed his surprise respecting that, when so 
 eager about the other, "Ah," said he, "that is my 
 money I can do what I please with that but 
 this money belongs to the College, and it must 
 be made up. 5 
 
 His unvarying and delightful kindness and 
 courtesy were equally observable. In his inter 
 course with the students, with the faculty, and 
 with the world at large, it appeared never to de 
 sert him, and could not but be noticed by the 
 most casual observer. It certainly had much to 
 do with the great results he accomplished. His 
 brethren of the faculty of course enjoyed special 
 opportunities for perceiving the effects of this 
 trait of his character, and can never cease to re 
 member the cordial tone, the beaming counte 
 nance, the unaffected kindness, and the marked 
 and scrupulous courtesy and considerateness 
 which always marked his intercourse with them. 
 We were always of one mind, so far as it is pos 
 sible for independent men to be, and difficulties 
 seemed to vanish, when encountered with such 
 harmony and mutual sympathy. 
 
 Another trait which should be referred to, was 
 his ready and active sympathy with our poor 
 students, of whom, you know, we have always 
 many. Nothing could exceed his interest in 
 
MEMOIR. 103 
 
 them, or his active kindness in devising plans 
 for their aid. By many of them he can never 
 be forgotten. That he was the very soul of hos 
 pitality will be acknowledged and remembered by 
 all who ever partook of it. But the crowning 
 glory of Dr. Scovel s character, the mainspring 
 of all his exertions, and the ruler of all his life, 
 was his piety. This was observable and marked 
 in all he said and did, to a degree which I think 
 I have never seen exceeded. He thought, and 
 planned, and toiled for the cause of Missions in 
 the West, for building churches and schools, and 
 for the College, because the cause of Christ was 
 to be advanced by them. His mind seemed ever 
 awake to this thought, and ever on the stretch 
 how it might be promoted. His piety was an ev 
 ery day and every hour affair, which it was good 
 for us to witness. Often when he was borne 
 down with business, perplexed with financial af 
 fairs, wearied and exhausted, if any thing was 
 suggested which might promote the interests of 
 religion in any way, or the spiritual welfare of 
 the meanest human soul, I have seen how instant 
 ly his eye would glow, and his whole face light 
 up and assume another appearance. He was 
 never too weary, too busy, too listless or too 
 worldly for such a subject to interest him and 
 
164 MEMOIR. 
 
 receive his full attention. Surely no man ever 
 deserved better to take his place with him who 
 had "gained other ten talents;" perhaps never 
 did a man, certainly no man I ever knew, give 
 himself more entirely, heartily, and without re 
 serve, to his Master s service, and to "whatever 
 work his hand found to do." And I need not 
 tell you that he not only could work, and stir up 
 others, but give, and give liberally. 
 
 With such a tone of piety, and as President 
 of a Christian college, it may be readily supposed 
 that his religious influence on the students was 
 active and beneficial in the highest degree. He 
 took a warm personal interest in the religious 
 state of every student, made himself acquainted 
 with it as intimately as possible, and never lost 
 an opportunity of acting on it for good. And 
 no man s labors could have been more markedly 
 blessed. The first month of his residence was 
 the period of one of the most powerful revivals 
 of religion ever enjoyed in a Western college; in 
 which about thirty out of seventy students were 
 added to the church, and about one hundred in 
 all from a little village of two or three hundred 
 inhabitants. Nor has there been perhaps any 
 period since, when the Spirit s influences have 
 not been manifested, even to the day I am now 
 
MEMOIR. 165 
 
 writing, when the Lord appears to be visiting us 
 with a power never before witnessed. How dif 
 ferent had been the previous state of things, I 
 have before hinted. And under God, much of 
 this great and glorious change must be ascribed 
 to his character, his labors, and his example. 
 
 How can his Presidency here be better summed 
 up, than by saying that the College which he 
 found so low now possesses a permanent endow 
 ment of forty thousand dollars, which is rapidly 
 increasing, and numbers one hundred and fifty 
 students, of whom one half are professors of reli 
 gion,* and fifty are preparing to preach the gospel. 
 Yet he would have been the last to claim the 
 merit himself, and the first to ascribe all the glory 
 to God. Very truly, yours, 
 
 M. STURGUS. 
 
 To REV. JAMES WOOD, D. D. 
 
 CONCLUSION. In closing this memoir, we would 
 say to the reader, and especially those respected 
 young brethren to whom it ^dedicated, "Go and 
 do likewise." We have presented you the life of 
 one whose example may be imitated by all of 
 you, should you only possess his spirit. In this 
 
 * Since the above was written, thirty or forty more of the students 
 have made a profession of religion. 
 
166 MEMOIR. 
 
 circumstance lies the chief value of such a biog 
 raphy. A man may run a brilliant career, which, 
 though it inspires admiration, does not excite us 
 to emulate his conduct, because we regard it as 
 above our reach. He perhaps possessed talents 
 far superior to our own; or his advantages for 
 preparation were greatly above ours; or he en 
 joyed the influence and co-operation of wealthy 
 and powerful family connections ; or the times 
 and circumstances in which he lived were pecul 
 iarly favorable for usefulness and success; in 
 short, his history is so unique as to be ill adapted 
 to become a model for others; and hence, while 
 we are delighted in the perusal of his biography, 
 we derive comparatively little practical benefit. 
 In the present case it is otherwise. With ordinary 
 intellect, good common sense, and a gracious dis 
 position, all of you, by suitable exertions, may 
 become as pious and useful as he was. Be as 
 prayerful, meek and benevolent, as conscientious, 
 forgiving and upright, as active, zealous and per 
 severing in doing good, and you will be as favor 
 ably known and as much respected in the sphere 
 in which Providence may place you, as he was in 
 his. And when upon your removal by death, 
 your epitaph shall be written, it will record to 
 your honor, and the benefit of your descendants 
 
MEMOIR. 167 
 
 that highest and best eulogy ever bestowed on 
 mortals an eulogy furnished for God s faithful 
 servants by the pen of inspiration: "I heard a 
 voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed 
 are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth : 
 yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labors, and their works do follow them." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS AND EDUCATION IN THE WEST. 
 
 The prominent features of the preceding Me 
 moir are of such a character as to render perti 
 nent some additional thoughts on missions and 
 education in the West. When our country was 
 first settled, and during the period of its colonial 
 existence, it was like a garden, small in extent, 
 and set with choice plants. The comparatively 
 small strip of land lying east of the Allegheny 
 mountains was the sole surface of our occupied 
 territory; and so select were its first inhabitants, 
 that, as has been well remarked, "God sifted three 
 kingdoms in order to find seed with which to sow 
 it." Some changes, without doubt, took place in 
 a short time; but up to the period of our revolu 
 tionary struggle, so gradual was the increase of 
 our population, and so careful were the guardians 
 of society to provide for its best interests, that 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 science, morality, and religion, exerted a benign 
 and controlling influence in every part of the 
 country. Let us mark the progress of events 
 since that period. There have been added to our 
 former territorial limits, East and West Florida, 
 Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Oregon, 
 New Mexico, Utah, and California. Our present 
 boundaries contain an area on the Atlantic slope 
 of about 400,000 square miles; in the Missis 
 sippi valley of nearly 8,500,000 square miles, 
 and on the Pacific slope of 1,000,000 square 
 miles. From this it appears that in 1775, when 
 our nation assumed an independent existence, it 
 was only one sixth as large as it is now, and that 
 the increase has been chiefly in the West, consti 
 tuting what are now known as the Western and 
 Southwestern States and Territories. 
 
 The capabilities of this vast country for sus 
 taining a population, are above comprehension. 
 Not a State in the Union has reached a tenth 
 part of the population it is capable of sustaining, 
 and there were computed to be, prior to the ac 
 cession of the territory acquired from Mexico, a 
 thousand millions of acres of public lands wholly 
 unoccupied now, twice as much which in a 
 few years will become the home of many millions 
 of freemen. 
 
APPENDIX. 171 
 
 The census for 1840 gives the total of our 
 population at upwards of 17,000,000. Every 
 year since has added 5 or 600,000 more, making 
 the^aggregate at the present time of nearly 23,- 
 000,000. Reasoning from these data, and mak 
 ing a due estimate for the increase of this ratio, 
 there will be, within a century to come, 300,000,- 
 000 of human beings occupying the soil over 
 which is now extended the genial influence of our 
 civil and religious institutions. And if we might 
 proceed farther, we should find room, without ex 
 hausting our capabilities, for doubling and treb 
 ling that number. The territory of the United 
 States is about as large as the whole empire of 
 Great Britain, including all her colonies and de 
 pendencies in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, 
 which contains all together 180 or 200,000,000 
 of inhabitants; and it is more than twice as large 
 as the empire of China, which, according to a re 
 cent estimate, has a population of 360 millions. 
 Now let it be remembered that five-sixths of our 
 territory lies west of the Allegheny mountains, 
 and that the comparative increase of population 
 in different sections of our country is much 
 greater in the West than the East. It is but 75 
 years since the first permanent settlement was 
 made west of those mountains; and yet in 19 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 years afterwards, Kentucky, where this settle 
 ment commenced, had a population sufficient to 
 form a State. Fifty or sixty years ago all the 
 white inhabitants in the whole West and South 
 west, from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico, was 
 less than one fourth of a million. Now there 
 are within the same boundaries more than six 
 millions, or twice as many as were contained in 
 the original States at the declaration of Ameri 
 can Independence. Within fifteen years past 
 Ohio has increased in population fifty per cent, 
 Indiana and Missouri have doubled, Illinois and 
 Arkansas have trebled, Michigan has increased 
 nearly seven fold, while Wisconsin and Iowa have 
 received their entire population. Texas, which 
 a few years ago received its first settlers from 
 the United States, has become itself a large and 
 prosperous State; and New Mexico, which lies 
 contiguous, will soon imitate her example. If 
 we proceed farther, we "behold California, which 
 five years ago was almost unknown to the civil 
 ized world, now marching onward in the gigantic 
 strides of an independent and powerful State, and 
 attracting the attention of all nations. We "be 
 hold Oregon, all grown up in a few short years, 
 and now organized and in operation as a political 
 and civil commonwealth." We "see Utah, a 
 
APPENDIX. 173 
 
 name not spoken among us until within a few 
 weeks, and her place on the map of the world not 
 yet defined, knocking at the door of the Ameri 
 can Congress for recognition as a candidate for 
 the high destiny of political life." In short, we 
 "behold the entire field of the vast declivity of 
 our western domain, extending from the summit 
 ridge of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and 
 from the British Dominions on the north to Mex 
 ico on the South, a field but lately, for the most 
 part, an unknown and untraveled wilderness, but 
 now swarming with a population from every quar 
 ter of the world, and about to rival the old States 
 of the Union." 
 
 What ought to be done to evangelize and edu 
 cate the inhabitants of this vast territory? With 
 such facts before us as have been adduced, it does 
 not require a prophet s vision to enable us to pre 
 dict, that at no distant period the majority of our 
 population, and consequently the preponderance 
 of power and influence, will be in the West ; and 
 if its energies are allowed to grow up into giant 
 strength, without the benign appliances of sound 
 learning and pure Christianity, the result will be 
 most disastrous to our civil and religious liberty 
 most disastrous to the cause of human freedom 
 throughout the world. This result might be an- 
 
174 APPENDIX. 
 
 ticipated, even though the emigrants to these 
 sections of our country were all native Ameri 
 cans. Let them be without churches and school 
 houses, without ministers of the gospel, and teach 
 ers of the youth and children, and they would 
 soon become disqualified to maintain free institu 
 tions. But the danger will appear still greater 
 when we consider the fact that many of these 
 emigrants being from foreign countries, are unac 
 quainted with the genius of our government, and 
 are, to a very large extent, the votaries of a reli 
 gion which is inimical to civil liberty. The mere 
 circumstance of their being foreigners is not the 
 ground of our apprehension, but their want of 
 proper qualifications to become good citizens. 
 Our country was originally settled by emigrants 
 from other lands. Nearly every nation in Eu 
 rope furnished material to populate this new 
 world. And yet, though belonging originally to 
 different countries, though speaking different 
 languages, and accustomed to different forms of 
 of civil government, they soon coalesced and 
 found a homogeneous people. They were gener 
 ally men of intelligence and virtue, and were 
 brought here for the most part by the prompt 
 ings of one common sympathy, viz : to escape 
 the religious intolerance of the old world, and to 
 
APPENDIX. 175 
 
 enjoy liberty of conscience in the new. Here 
 were the English Puritans who fled from the per 
 secutions of the intolerant court of King James 
 the First and his successors; the Scotch and Irish 
 Presbyterians, who were forced from their country 
 rather than yield submission to an oppressive hi 
 erarchy; the French Huguenots, who barely es 
 caped with their lives from the inexorable vio 
 lence of Papal cruelty; and the Dutch Calvin- 
 ists and German Lutherans, who, though more 
 highly favored at home, saw fit to join their per 
 secuted brethren of other countries, and share 
 with them in the toils and perils of planting a 
 church in the wilderness, and founding for them 
 selves and their children free institutions. 
 
 If all or even most of those who are now emi 
 grating to our shores from other countries, and 
 seeking a home in the great West, were of such a 
 character, we should feel no apprehension for the 
 result. They would bring with them the ele 
 ments of good society, and would not rest satis 
 fied without enjoying the means of grace and fa 
 cilities for educating their children. It has ever 
 been the pride of America that she offers to the 
 oppressed of all nations an asylum where they 
 may breathe the pure air of freedom. Many 
 have availed themselves of the privileges thus 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 afforded, who were among our most useful and 
 valued citizens; and we rejoice to believe that a 
 considerable number of those who are coming 
 now are of this character. To such we give a 
 cordial welcome. But what shall we say of an 
 other portion, who are the refuse of other lands, 
 drawn from their hospitals and jails, too indolent 
 to support themselves by honest industry, or too 
 vicious to be allowed the common privileges of 
 society; but sent here, as we are told, at the 
 public expense, either to be sustained by our 
 charity, or to trespass upon our rights? Many 
 others, though less degraded, are too vicious to 
 become useful citizens, and too ignorant to share 
 in the duties and responsibilities of a republican 
 government. Most of them are from countries 
 whose government is monarchical, and yet they 
 come here, not like the immigrants of former 
 days, to escape from oppression and enjoy ra 
 tional liberty, but from other motives; and hence 
 they are poorly prepared for the change which 
 takes place in their relations. A large portion 
 of them, as has been already intimated, are the 
 votaries of a religion, which, though nominally 
 Christian, is a base mixture of Christianity and 
 Paganism, a religion which withholds the Bible 
 from the people, denies to its disciples the right 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 of private judgment, and places them, soul and 
 body, under the absolute control of their spirit 
 ual rulers a system which makes allegiance to 
 the Pope of paramount obligation to any civil 
 oath, and absolves its members from obedience to 
 the laws of the land, when it is required by the 
 good of the church. This class of emigrants, as 
 we have reason to believe, are brought here by a 
 preconcerted plan of operation, for the purpose of 
 spreading the Roman Catholic religion through 
 out our country. For their settlement here, and 
 for other purposes connected therewith, nearly a 
 million of dollars are annually contributed by Eu 
 ropean princes and other friends of Rome, with n, 
 view of controlling and revolutionizing our gov 
 ernment, and making these United States what 
 Austria and Italy now are. 
 
 Again we ask, what ought to be done? We 
 do not propose the abridgment of our territory, 
 but the placing of it under an efficient intellect 
 ual and moral culture. We do not ask to have 
 a check put upon the increase of our population, 
 but for the employment of those means by which 
 the millions who are ignorant and vicious shall 
 become intelligent, moral, and religious. The 
 West especially must be the object of our atten 
 tion, where society is in a forming state, and 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 where errors of every name gain an easy ascen 
 dency over the public mind; where our popula 
 tion, both native and foreign, is increasing with 
 greater rapidity than in any other part of our 
 country; where will soon be the balance of power, 
 by which will be largely influenced, and perhaps 
 controlled, the future character and destiny of the 
 United States, nay, of the whole world. We are 
 a commercial people, and are constantly bearing 
 to every shore the impress of our national char 
 acter. Our channels of commercial intercourse 
 with other countries, which have hitherto been 
 chiefly confined to our eastern ports, are opening 
 in the west ; and if the enemies of sound litera 
 ture, and of religious truth and righteousness, are 
 successful in their efforts to leaven this country, 
 and particularly the West, with the leaven of 
 popery and infidelity; to corrupt the morals and 
 extinguish the piety of our citizens, the death 
 knell of human rights will be rung all over the 
 earth, and anarchy or despotism will become the 
 eomrii^n lot of mankind. 
 
 We;My, then, that the cause of missions and 
 education is intimately connected with the happi 
 ness and hopes of this country and of mankind. 
 If by our remissness in establishing and sustain 
 ing Christian schools and churches, we suffer our 
 
APPENDIX. 179 
 
 country to be brought under the controlling in 
 fluence of the Man of Sin, or of blind fanaticism 
 or infidelity; it will be most disastrous in its 
 results. Our national banner will soon cease to 
 wave as the ensign of freedom, and our oppressed 
 and downtrodden descendants will curse us their 
 unfaithful sires, for our shameful betrayal of the 
 sacred trust committed to us by the God of hea 
 ven. Similar anathemas will likewise be pro 
 nounced upon us by those in other countries, 
 who are struggling for liberty, and are looking to 
 us as the model nation after which to frame their 
 political and religious institutions. But if we 
 are faithful and diligent in bringing our whole 
 country under the protecting and life-giving 
 influence of a sound Christian literature and an 
 evangelical ministry, this mighty nation becom 
 ing, in process of time, far mightier still, will be 
 as stable and enduring as it is great, and other 
 nations receiving from us our liberty and our 
 religion, will bless us as being under God the 
 authors of their happiness. 
 
 What the Board of Domestic Missions has 
 done in the West for the last fifteen years, may 
 be learned in part from the preceding memoir. 
 
 Interesting additional information is furnished 
 by the reports of the Western Executive Com- 
 
180 APPENDIX. 
 
 mittee, from the last of which (the report for 
 1851) we present the following extracts: 
 
 "In comparing our labors with those of the 
 preceding year, we find that we have re-commis 
 sioned two missionaries less than we did last 
 year, and commissioned thirty-five more, most of 
 them in new fields, not before occupied by them, 
 making a clear gain of thirty-three laborers in 
 our field, over the number of any former year. 
 The whole number commissioned in our field, 
 within the year, is one hundred and ninety-eight. 
 This does not include those who were in commis 
 sion at the commencement of the year, whose 
 commissions have not been renewed. This is a 
 greater advance in the number of laborers, than 
 has been made in any previous year since our 
 committee was appointed. We have received 
 into our treasury, excluding borrowed money to 
 the amount of $1,000, $20,643 48, being again 
 of 1,349 38, over the amount contributed last 
 year. Last year we received legacies to the 
 amount of $5,000, whereas, we have received 
 only about $2,000 the same way, the present 
 year. The above sums do not include $1,100 
 raised in the city of New Orleans, and expended 
 in the support of a missionary in that city, nor 
 $900 contributed by the Presbytery of South 
 
APPENDIX. 181 
 
 Alabama, and appropriated to missionaries com 
 missioned by them, nor a large amount, supposed 
 to be at least two thousand dollars, contributed 
 in St. Louis, and expended in the same way. 
 As applications for the commissions of a portion 
 of these missionaries were not made until the 
 year of their labors had almost expired, we have 
 deemed it best to report these sums in this way, 
 and not as coming regularly through our treas 
 ury. Excluding the above sums, it will appeal- 
 that the contributions from the churches exceed 
 those of the former year by about $4,349 38, 
 which shows that our cause is gradually gaining 
 a stronger hold upon the affections and contribu 
 tions of our people. Including the sums men 
 tioned above we have raised about $24,G43 48 
 in our whole field, in money, and $2,885 97 
 worth of clothing. 
 
 " When we compare the present state of mis 
 sionary operations in our field at this time, with 
 its condition six years since, the time of the ap 
 pointment of the committee in the West, though 
 we have much cause of regret that we have not 
 done more to push forward the work in this great 
 valley, confessedly the most important mission 
 ary field in the world, yet we have also much to 
 encourage us, and convince us that we have not 
 
182 APPENDIX. 
 
 labored in vain. On the first of May, 1845, 
 there were in commission in our field, ninety- 
 three missionaries. At the present time, there 
 are one hundred and sixty-one. The field then 
 included Michigan and Northern Indiana, which 
 have since then been transferred to the Eastern 
 Committee, but the Synod of Mississippi then 
 acted independently, though its funds were then 
 counted in the amount then raised for domestic 
 missions in our field. There were raised for the 
 year ending May 1st, 1844, $11,369 58. This 
 year we have raised on the same field, the Synod 
 of Northern Indiana excluded, $20,643 48, be 
 ing nearly double what was raised in 1845. 
 These facts, when compared with the growth 
 of this cause in other parts of the Church, 
 will show that the West, though by no means 
 doing her whole duty in the premises, is com 
 ing up to it with as much, if not more ra 
 pidity, than the other parts of the Church. We 
 mention them not to reproach others, or boast- 
 ingly to set forth the results of our own labors, 
 and the liberality of our Churches. We in the 
 West have done far less than we ought to have 
 done, and could have done had we been more 
 faithful. But we state them to encourage the 
 Board, and through them our brethren generally, 
 
APPENDIX. 183 
 
 in the older and more favored portions of the 
 Church, to assist us in spreading the gospel as 
 our Church holds and teaches it, in this wide 
 valley. Brethren, the field which we cultivate is 
 vast in extent and natural resources, its destitu 
 tions are without number, the souls of its teem 
 ing population are daily crowding into the eter 
 nal world, perishing for the want of a faithfully 
 preached gospel. Will you not help us to give 
 it to them now. Send us your best men, and 
 the money to sustain them, and we will receive 
 them with warm hearts, and see that none of 
 them shall "rust out" for the want of work 
 to do." 
 
 But Dr. Scovel s agency did not extend over 
 the whole field, nor do the present opera 
 tions of the Western Executive Committee. 
 The Synods of Ohio, Wheeling, and Pitts- 
 burg, have made their collections for this ob 
 ject through the treasury at Philadelphia ; and 
 the Synod of Mississippi has conducted its 
 missionary operation for most of the time inde 
 pendently of the Board. Our New Schooil)reth- 
 ren have also sustained a very considerable num 
 ber of missionaries in the West, under the direc 
 tion of the American Home Missionary Society. 
 But after all that has been performed, by both 
 
184 Al> PENDIX. 
 
 branches of the Presbyterian church, and all 
 other Christian denominations, there is an alarm 
 ing deficiency of the means of grace, the supply 
 of which demands prompt and energetic action 
 on the part of all who desire the prosperity of 
 our country and the salvation of perishing souls. 
 Though we should not be unmindful of our obli 
 gations to send the gospel to the heathen, but 
 should do far more to accomplish that object 
 than is now done by any branch of the church, 
 yet our own country has peculiar claims. That 
 Scripture is as true in spiritual as in temporal 
 things, "He that provideth not for his own, but 
 especially for those of his own household, hath 
 denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." 
 The common bonds of social brotherhood, and 
 the more tender ties of kindred, impose on us 
 the duty of planting and sustaining the institu 
 tions of our holy religion in every neighborhood 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. So vast has 
 become our national domain, that domestic mis 
 sions should be regarded more than ever before 
 as our great work. This is especially the great 
 work of western Christians. Every man here, 
 who has a heart to pray, a dollar to give, or the 
 ability to labor, should perform his part towards 
 evangelizing this immense territory. Nor should 
 
APPENDIX. 185 
 
 he relax his efforts until every setting sun shall 
 shine on thousands of Christian temples ; nor un 
 til western society shall possess in every other 
 respect those elements of stability and happiness 
 which are enjoyed by our friends and fellow citi 
 zens in the east. The magnitude of the work 
 should not appal but animate us. If we apply 
 ourselves to it with diligence and perseverance, 
 and are aided as we ought to be, by the whole 
 church, we shall, in a few years, be as rich in re 
 ligious privileges as we are in gold and other 
 valuable and precious metals. There is, indeed, 
 much missionary ground in every part of our 
 country. In saying, therefore, that the west is 
 the great missionary field, we do not wish to have 
 it understood that we regard it as the only one. 
 The Board of Missions, in our judgment, acts 
 wisely in appropriating a portion of the funds 
 placed at their disposal to sustain feeble churches, 
 and to cultivate destitute places in the east. 
 Many churches there that were once strong are 
 now feeble by the loss of members from emigra 
 tion, and it is as much a duty to aid them as to 
 aid feeble churches just organized; and there 
 are large districts there, in some counties, where 
 from want of culture no churches have ever been 
 planted, but where equal encouragement is offer- 
 18 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 ed to missionary labor, as in the new States of 
 the West. Still it will be admitted by all that 
 the West possesses peculiar claims, both from its 
 vast extent, and the amazing rapidity with which 
 it is peopled. Almost literally may it be said 
 that a nation has been born in a day; and it is 
 obviously a Christian duty to provide for it in 
 its infancy, "the sincere milk of the Word," 
 that under a faithful Christian nurture, its youth 
 and manhood may be as great and glorious as 
 its birth and infancy have been remarkable. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Next to a preached gospel, and in connection 
 with it, we should employ vigorous exertions to 
 establish and sustain Christian schools and colle 
 ges. The Western States, as such, have through 
 their legislatures performed and are now perform 
 ing a noble work in affording facilities for the 
 general diffusion of knowledge. And the Con 
 gress of the United States have pursued a lib 
 eral and enlightened policy towards the West by 
 appropriating public lands for purposes of edu 
 cation. But in addition to these, and without 
 conflicting in the least with them, Christians may 
 and ought to provide seminaries of learning, of 
 a high order, to be conducted under their own 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 supervision, in which the Bible, that book of 
 books, shall have a place in the class room, and 
 where the whole course of instruction shall be 
 adapted not only to sto re the mind with ancient, 
 heathen lore, but to make the student wise unto 
 eternal salvation. 
 
 In our judgment, therefore, the Presbyterian 
 Chuch is acting wisely in founding Colleges un 
 der her own supervision. Other denominations 
 are doing the same, and we have yet to learn 
 that they either conflict with each other or with 
 colleges established by the States. The follow 
 ing is a list of colleges connected with the Pres 
 byterian Church in the West and South-west: 
 Washington, near Jonesboro, Te. organized 1805. 
 Centre, Danville, Ky., " 1819. 
 
 Hanover, South Hanover, Ind., " 1836. 
 Oakland, Oakland, Miss., 1830. 
 
 McDonough, McDonough, 111., " 1838. 
 DesMoines, West Point, Iowa, " 1846. 
 Carroll, Waukesha, Wis., 1846. 
 
 Austin, Huntsville, Texas, 1849. 
 
 The last four have college charters, but are, at 
 present, only organized as academies. 
 
 In addition to what has been said in the Me 
 moir concerning Hanover, the following addi 
 tional information is taken from the last annual 
 catalogue. 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 " The entire annual expenditures of a student 
 need not exceed $100 or $120, viz: 
 Tuition, (winter term $15, summer 
 
 do. $10,) - $25 00 
 
 Contingent fee, - 1 00 
 
 Boarding with families, in a furnish 
 ed room, at 1 50 to 1 75 per 
 week, -pP $60 to 70 
 
 Fuel, lights, washing, &c., 10 to 15 
 
 Text books, &c., - 5 to 10 
 
 Boarding in clubs will cost from fifty cents to 
 seventy-five cents per week ; and many board 
 themselves at a lower rate. The other expenses, 
 for clothing, &c., will, of course, vary with the 
 taste and habits of the student. 
 
 " The village of Hanover is situated upon an 
 elevated bluff of the Ohio river, six miles below 
 Madison, Indiana, in a region of remarkable 
 salubrity and beauty. The village and neigh 
 borhood are characterized by morality, and the 
 absence of all ordinary temptations to vice and 
 idleness. Intoxicating liquors have never been 
 sold in the township; the traffic being prohibited 
 by popular vote. The Ohio river, and the rail 
 ways from Madison and Cincinnati, place Hano 
 ver within twenty -four hours of all the principal 
 points in Indiana, and western Ohio. 
 
APPENDIX. 189 
 
 "HANOVER COLLEGE is controlled by a Board 
 of Trustees, one half of whom are appointed by 
 the Presbyterian Synods of Indiana and North 
 ern Indiana. All of its officers are ministers or 
 members of the Presbyterian Church. Since 
 the publication of our last Catalogue, the Board 
 has purchased a farm, lying between the village 
 and the Ohio; upon a beautiful point of which, 
 overlooking the river, and commanding a view of 
 its course for fifteen or twenty miles, it is pro 
 posed to erect a new College building, so soon as 
 the necessary funds can be obtained." 
 
 Concerning Centre College we are enabled by 
 the courtesy of the President, the Rev. J. C. 
 Young, D. D., to furnish the following historical 
 notice: 
 
 "Centre College was chartered by the Legisla 
 ture of Kentucky, in 1819. Jeremiah Cham 
 berlain, D. D., the first President, went into office 
 in 1823. In 1824, the Board of Trustees, ac 
 cording to an arrangement with the Presbyterian 
 Synod of Kentucky, procured an Act of the 
 Legislature modifying its charter, so as to secure 
 to the Synod, on its payment of twenty thousand 
 dollars to the funds of the Institution, the right 
 of appointing the Board of Trustees. This con 
 dition having, in 1830, been completely fulfilled 
 
190 APPENDIX. 
 
 on the part of the Synod, all the members of 
 the Board have, since that period, been appointed 
 by the Synod, as their terms of office, from time 
 to time, have expired. One-third of the Board 
 are appointed each year. 
 
 "Dr. Chamberlain resigned his office in 1826, 
 and the Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D., succeed 
 ed him in 1824, the office having, in the mean 
 time, been temporarily filled by the Rev. David 
 C. Proctor. On the resignation of Dr. Black 
 burn, in 1830, John C. Young, D. D., the present 
 President, was elected. 
 
 "The number of Students varied, in the ear 
 lier period of the existence of the Institution, 
 from 50 to 110, and a very large proportion of 
 those in attendance, were pursuing only a partial 
 and irregular course. In 1 8 3 0, the number of stu 
 dents was 33 of all classes, including those in the 
 Grammar School as well as those in the College 
 Proper. Since that period, the number has been, 
 with slight temporary variation, steadily but 
 slowly increasing, until it has ranged, during the 
 last four years, from 165 to 185. The number 
 of those pursuing a full course has increased in 
 a much greater ratio. The graduating classes, 
 formerly very small, have been steadily enlarging, 
 aud for the last five years have averaged about 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 36. The graduates of the first twelve years 
 amounted to 55. This number the last ten 
 years will have enlarged, by the close of the 
 present session, to 333. About 1320 students 
 have been connected with the Institution, nearly 
 all of whom have received all their higher educa 
 tion from its instructions. 
 
 " For many years there were but two professors 
 and a teaeher of the Grammar School. There 
 are now four permanent professors, besides the 
 President, and two teachers of the Grammar 
 School. The number of students in the College 
 Proper is 140; and 44 in the Grammar School 
 total in both 188. 
 
 " The original amount paid by the Synod to 
 obtain the right of appointing the Board, was en 
 tirely consumed in the buildings, apparatus, 
 library, and current expenses, and in 1830 the 
 College was entirely destitute of means. Since 
 that period, funds have been contributed by the 
 liberality of various individuals, which as invest 
 ed by the Board, in stocks of various kinds, and 
 notes, yield about four thousand, eight hundred 
 dollars per annum. Of this amount, twelve 
 thousand dollars were given by Mr. Samuel 
 Laird, of Fayette County, to endow a Professor 
 ship. The Synod has resolved to raise the en- 
 
192 APPENDIX. 
 
 dowment to one hundred thousand dollars, or 
 sufficient to yield an income of six thousand dol 
 lars per annum, independent of tuition fees. 
 The additional income is to be appropriated to 
 the support of additional Professors, and the en 
 largement of the facilities for the study of the 
 Natural Sciences. Measures have been adopted, 
 which, it is expected, will soon carry into effect 
 the resolutions of the Synod, as an active and 
 successful agent is employed in raising funds. 
 
 " The College is located in Danville, a village 
 in the center of the State, 35 miles distant from 
 Lexington and 85 from Louisville. Excellent 
 turnpike roads lead to it from both these places. 
 The regular line of steam boats on the Kentucky 
 river, ply to a point within 17 miles of Danville, 
 and a regular stage runs between the town and 
 the landing. The village has been ever remark 
 able for its health, and for years past distin 
 guished for the moral and religious character of 
 its population. Parents can send their sons to 
 no place where their morals and health would be 
 
 more secure." 
 
 About Washington College, Tenn., the follow 
 ing brief account is all we have in our possession: 
 
 " Washington College, located near Jonesboro 
 in East Tennessee, is believed to be the oldest 
 
APPENDIX. 193 
 
 College west of the mountains. It was founded 
 through the agency of the Rev. Samuel Doak, 
 one of the fathers of Presbyterianism in the 
 West. It has stood from the earliest settlement 
 of the country, like a frontier fort, in defence of 
 knowledge and religion. Many of the sons of 
 East Tennessee have been trained within its 
 walls for all the learned professions. In later 
 years, Washington College has encountered even 
 sterner trials than when the country was more 
 in a missionary state. The necessity of the In 
 stitution, however, is magnified in the midst of 
 all its adversities; and the best interests of the 
 Presbyterian Church in that interesting and 
 opening country are depending upon its re-invig 
 orated life. 
 
 " The Board of Trustees have recently placed 
 the College more definitely and securely under 
 Presbyterian management, by giving to the Pres 
 byteries of Holston and Knoxville the right of 
 nominating in all cases of election by the Trus 
 tees, and of exercising visitorial powers. 
 
 "A committee of Holston Presbytery made 
 the following statement to the Board of Educa 
 tion in regard to the wants of the College. 
 
 " 6 We would on behalf of our Presbytery ear 
 nestly recommend that aid be extended to Wash- 
 17 
 
194 APPENDIX. 
 
 ington College. To sustain it on our resources 
 just now is impossible, and there is no disposition 
 to make the effort unaided. Aided for a few 
 years, it is believed, the College would become 
 independent and sustain itself. It is necessary 
 that the Faculty be composed of at least three 
 at once. We would not prescribe to the Board, 
 but would suggest that if they would sustain 
 the President for one year at eight hundred dol 
 lars, the Trustees would sustain two Professors, 
 and that less would suffice afterwards. The Col 
 lege has a good chemical apparatus, but needs a 
 library and philosophical apparatus. 
 
 " The public property of the institution i s 
 valued at ten thousand dollars, consisting of one 
 Professor s house, a boarding house, a college 
 building four stories, ninety feet by thirty-six, 
 and fifty acres of land. With the exception of 
 two hundred dollars paid by Salem church for 
 the pastoral labors of the Professors, the only 
 means of paying Professor s salaries are derived 
 from tuition fees. The debt of the College is 
 about fifteen hundred dollars, towards the liquida 
 tion of which the Trustees have recently en 
 gaged to pay out of their private means one 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 The latest catalogue of Oakland College which 
 
APPENDIX. 195 
 
 I have seen is that of 1845. The College had 
 then graduated in all 5G young men, ten of whom 
 were candidates for the gospel ministry. It had 
 a library of 4,000 volumes, and a permanent 
 fund of nearly 5G,000, exclusive of ground 
 and buildings, which are very valuable. 
 
 All these Colleges ought to receive the foster 
 ing care and liberal support of the church. And 
 besides these, other similar institutions should 
 be established and endowed as rapidly as the con 
 dition of society in the Western States will ren 
 der it practicable. Every Synod at least should 
 have a college; and where the territory embraced 
 in a Synod is large, or the population numerous, 
 or where other local advantages justify such a 
 measure, a still greater number may be estab 
 lished with much benefit to the community. 
 The Roman Catholics have a college in connec 
 tion with every cathedral; the result of which 
 arrangement is, that in ah 1 our large cities, and 
 in some small towns, a liberal education is ren 
 dered accessible to very many who would not 
 obtain it if there was no such institution located 
 in the place. Protestants ought to imitate their 
 example in this particular. They should do it 
 in self-defence, to prevent the youth of our cities 
 from being educated in schools adverse to bible 
 
196 APPENDIX. 
 
 Christianity and the genius of our American 
 government. They should do it, also, in order 
 to bring a thorough education within the reach 
 of hundreds and thousands of talented youth, 
 who are growing up in our cities without the re 
 quisite pecuniary means to pay the expense of 
 obtaining an education abroad. On many ac 
 counts a small village or a rural district is a more 
 eligible location for literary institutions. This 
 is admitted by all, and we would by no means 
 change the popular sentiment on this subject. 
 But in addition to these, our cities should have 
 schools of their own, inferior to none in the land 
 not as rivals to those in the country, nor with 
 a view of drawing away students from the latter, 
 but to meet a necessity which cannot be supplied 
 in any other way. The objection, that the suc 
 cess of the one must necessarily result in the 
 injury of the other, will be wholly removed, when 
 such a spirit prevails among the people as 
 there ought to be. From 200 to 250 stu 
 dents are as many as any college ought to 
 desire because it is as many as can be well 
 instructed and well governed by one Faculty. 
 Though this number is larger than is found at 
 present in any of our Western colleges, the rea 
 son lies not in the great number of colleges, but 
 
APPENDIX. 197 
 
 in the general apathy of our citizens on the sub 
 ject of giving their sons a liberal education. 
 When learning shall be valued above gold, and a 
 knowledge of letters shall be regarded as of so 
 much importance that our young men will not 
 be hurried into business before their minds are 
 properly cultivated, there will be no lack of stu 
 dents to fill all our colleges, and no lack of means 
 to support them. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 Of equal importance with colleges are Theo 
 logical seminaries, in which a thorough course of 
 theological instruction may be given to candi 
 dates for the gospel ministry. A single one of 
 these only will be noticed at this time, viz: the 
 Theological Seminary located at New Albany, 
 Indiana. Some historical account of this Semi 
 nary is peculiarly appropriate from its having 
 been at first identical, in one sense, with Hano 
 ver College, and from its having continued to be 
 closely connected with it for eight or ten years 
 afterwards. In our statement we shall avail our 
 selves, in part, of materials furnished, and lan 
 guage used, by two well known and highly es 
 teemed ministers in Kentucky. 
 
 Soon after the Western Theological Seminary 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 was located by the General Assembly at Alle 
 gheny, Pa,, in 1827, the conviction became gen 
 eral among the churches in the regions farther 
 west, that another Seminary was demanded. 
 This conviction gathered strength with the in 
 creasing strength and enterprise of the churches. 
 In 1830 a Theological Seminary was undertaken 
 by the Synod of Indiana at South Hanover; and 
 was conducted by that Synod in conjunction with 
 Hanover College for six years ; when the two 
 Institutions were separated from each other, but 
 continued to be carried on in the same place. In 
 1838, a meeting of Ministers and Elders, pres 
 ent at the sessions of the General Assembly, 
 was held for the purpose of deliberation respect 
 ing a permanent and well endowed seminary for 
 this region. That meeting appointed a commit 
 tee of five, who were directed to correspond with 
 the friends of the Hanover and Allegheny schools, 
 and lay before the Presbyteries in the West the 
 result of their inquiries. The committee ascer 
 tained that the friends of Allegheny would not 
 consent to its removal. The Hanover Directors 
 expressed their willingness to remove their school 
 to any point indicated by the voice of the church 
 es, "provided it be not much farther up the 
 river than South Hanover." The committee, 
 
APPENDIX. 199 
 
 therefore, issued a circular, directed to the Syn 
 ods and Presbyteries in the West, reciting these 
 facts, stating the importance of the object, and 
 inviting these judicatories to appoint delegates 
 to meet in convention at Louisville, in Novem 
 ber, 1838, in order to determine on the plan and 
 location of a seminary. On the assembling of 
 the convention, it appeared that delegates were 
 present from the Synods of Indiana, Ciucmmiati, 
 and Kentucky, and from seven Presbyteries. 
 The convention having adopted a plan for the 
 proposed seminary, took up the subject of its lo 
 cation. The following places were put in nomi 
 nation: Paris and Bardstown, Ky., and Hanover, 
 Charlestown, Corydou, and New Albany, Ind. 
 The minutes of the meeting inform us that "the 
 respective claims " of the places in nomination 
 were presented. They further state, that, "after 
 considering the whole subject with great care 
 and at considerable length, the convention deter 
 mined to locate the seminary at New Albany, 
 Indiana, and in this decision those who originally 
 preferred some other place cordially acquiesced." 
 Arrangements were accordingly made for com 
 mencing operations at New Albany, the following 
 year. But some unexpected occurrences pre 
 vented this from being carried into effect during 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 that year ; and, in the meantime, the institution 
 being still at Hanover, Elias Ayers, Esq., of 
 New Albany, since deceased, proposed to com 
 mence its endowment by a donation of $15,000, 
 on condition that a like sum should be secured 
 from other sources, and on the further condition 
 that the vote of the convention should be carried 
 out with regard to its location. In November, 
 1840, the seminary opened at New Albany, un 
 der the auspices of the Synods of Indiana and 
 Cincinnati. Its plan and location met the hearty 
 approbation of the churches in this region. 
 Within six years after its establishment five 
 other large and influential Synods connected 
 themselves with it, viz: Missouri, Illinois, Ken 
 tucky, West Tennessee, and Northern Indiana. 
 
 New Albany is admirably adapted to this pur 
 pose. It is accessible by river and by rail-way; 
 it contains an industrious and intelligent popula 
 tion ; means of living are cheap ; and it com 
 bines all the advantages needed for the student 
 in theology. It is admirably situated in relation 
 to the two parts of the country whose interests 
 are supposed to be conflicting. It is established 
 in Indiana, and yet near the largest city in Ken 
 tucky. Its Professors and students, therefore, 
 reside in a free state, and may yet have inti- 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 mate associations with the brethren and churches 
 in a state containing opposite institutions. Its 
 location on the one side of the river, and its inti 
 mate associations with brethren on both sides, 
 have secured for it the confidence and patronage 
 of four Synods on the one side and three on 
 the other. 
 
 The Seminary at New Albany enjoys, in other 
 ways, a singular combination of advantages. It 
 is established in the suburbs of a smaU city, but 
 within an hour s journey of a great population. 
 Louisville, New Albany, Jeffersonville, Portland, 
 and Shippingsport, are supposed to contain, in 
 the aggregate, at least sixty thousand souls, with 
 the prospect of an indefinite increase. There 
 are already seven churches of our order in these 
 places, some of them large and influential. The 
 professors will have ample opportunities in these 
 churches for the exercise of their gifts, as preach 
 ers, and of whatever powers they may possess 
 for the defense of the truth, and the refutation 
 of error. The pupils also will find, in this great 
 population, ample scope for their abilities to do 
 good, in sabbath schools, by tract distribution, 
 by visiting the poor and the sick, and by holding 
 meetings for prayer and exhortation. The loca 
 tion combines in a remarkable degree, the advan- 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 tages of retirement for study, and a wide field 
 for religious effort. 
 
 Since the first establishment of the seminary 
 it has educated considerably over 100 young 
 men ; four of whom are engaged in the foreign 
 missionary work, a large number are laborious 
 and successful pastors and missionaries in the 
 domestic field, and some have gone to their eter 
 nal reward. The library contains nearly 3000 
 volumes; and an endowment has been secured 
 for the support of two professors, besides the pro 
 fessorship endowed by the synod of Kentucky. 
 With vigorous exertions, a few years only will be 
 required, to place the Institution, with regard to 
 buildings, library, &c., on the most desirable and 
 permanent basis. Already, is it equal, in the 
 number of professors, to any other seminary in 
 the United States; and those who have pursued 
 their studies here, show by their standing and 
 usefulness in the church, that they have been 
 well instructed. We bespeak for this seminary 
 the patronage of the Western churches; and 
 what is equally important, yea much more so, we 
 solicit for it their devout and fervent prayers. 
 No local advantages, and no amount of pecuniary 
 endowment, can of themselves, make any institu 
 tion prosperous, whether it be literary or theo- 
 
APPENDIX. 20?) 
 
 logical; and hence, special prayer should be of 
 fered to God, that schools of every grade, from 
 the primary school and academy to the college 
 and theological seminary, may enjoy the gracious 
 influences of his Holy Spirit, to renew the hearts 
 of the unconverted, and impart a divine unction 
 to those who are already Christians. It is by 
 his agency that our churches are to be replen 
 ished with pious and useful members, and sup 
 plied with devoted and efficient ministers, that 
 society is to be elevated and made happy, and 
 the world enlightened and saved. 
 
 But we cannot avoid repeating the remark, 
 that even the grace of God does not supersede 
 the necessity of a full and thorough course of 
 study. This subject is so important, and candi 
 dates for the gospel ministry are so liable to mis 
 take their duty in respect to it, that in addition 
 to what we have hitherto said in the preceding 
 Memoir, we shall transfer to these pages an offi 
 cial paper adopted by the Board of Education, 
 in January or February last; which we earnestly 
 commend to the consideration of theological stu 
 dents and of the Presbyteries under whose care 
 they are prosecuting their studies. See The 
 Home and Foreign Record, for Feb. 1851, p. 21. 
 
 "The Board of Education, (deeming it their 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 duty to call the attention of the Church to what 
 ever seems to have an injurious effect upon the 
 thorough preparation of candidates for the minis 
 try, beg leave to submit a few considerations 
 against the practice of allowing young men to enter 
 upon the full work of the ministry before they have 
 completed their theological studies. Several cases 
 have occurred during the present year among 
 the candidates under their care, which justify 
 some remarks on this important subject. Whilst 
 the Board disclaim all attempts at dictation, they 
 believe that their statements will be received with 
 candor and weighed with deliberation. 
 
 "1. The practice of allowing candidates to com 
 mence the full work of the ministry before com 
 pleting their theological studies, is, in the first 
 place, doing them personally an injury. The Bi 
 ble has many allusions to the importance of 
 knowledge on the part of those who are to min 
 ister in holy things. An undisciplined and un 
 furnished mind, or one imperfectly trained, will 
 rarely be able to teach others to edification. The 
 existing arrangements of the theological course 
 are believed to have been planned in wisdom, and 
 to be sustained by the general testimony of ex 
 perience. Ministers are never found to regret 
 having remained in the Seminary the full period 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 prescribed by its regulations. On the contrary, 
 many a lamentation has been made by those who 
 have unwisely shortened their theological course, 
 and entered upon their work without adequate 
 preparation. No future diligence can make 
 amends for a deficiency at the beginning. It is 
 far better for the candidate, whatever his applica 
 tion as a student may be after he has engaged in 
 the ministry, to lay a good foundation in the 
 Seminary, on which to build the superstructure 
 of his future attainments. In most of our insti 
 tutions the course is now so arranged that the 
 student only goes through a part of systematic 
 divinity, unless he remains during the third year. 
 The Board are far from affirming that there may 
 be no worthy exceptions to the three years rule; 
 but their own observation has led them to notice 
 that those students whose attainments are the 
 highest, rarely wish to abandon prematurely the 
 privileges of the theological institution. The 
 candidates who are the least qualified to go forth 
 into the vineyard are too often those who are 
 seized with the desire to give up study. The 
 practice of licensing young men while in the 
 Seminary may be a good one, if it is linked with 
 the obligation to complete then* preparatory 
 course. Otherwise, it is believed to be common 
 ly fraught with evil. 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 All the considerations which establish in gen 
 eral the necessity of a full course, apply with in 
 creased power to the candidates under the care 
 of the Board of Education. Because the most 
 of them, having commenced their preparations 
 late in life, have greater need to prosecute their 
 studies during the full time contemplated by the 
 arrangements of the Seminary. The Board, there 
 fore, do not hesitate to state their conviction that 
 with rare exceptions, such as are not now with 
 in their view a great personal injury, is inflict 
 ed upon the candidates who are encouraged to 
 hurry through the Seminary, and to preach the 
 gospel with imperfect preparations. 
 
 "2. In the second place, the evil of allowing a 
 few candidates to leave the Seminary in the midst 
 of their studies, throws temptations in the way of 
 all, and relaxes the authority of a general and 
 salutary rule. It is probable that a large num 
 ber of candidates, if they had their own way, 
 would leave the Seminary at the end of the sec 
 ond year, if not before. Positive requirements 
 are necessary to enforce the duty of mature prep 
 aration for the work of the ministry. Just in 
 proportion, therefore, to the departures from the 
 strictness of the rule, will be the tendency to un 
 settle the minds of students in regard to their 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 own particular cases. All the candidates of the 
 Board have indeed, either by a written or implied 
 pledge, entered into obligations to pursue a three 
 years course of studies. And yet during the 
 present year, several have left the Seminary 
 without even consulting the Board, professing to 
 be caUed in conscience to preach the gospel of 
 Christ. The Professors in one of our seminaries 
 at the West lately memorialized a Synod on the 
 subject of resisting the tendencies in candidates 
 to shorten their time of study. It is believed 
 that, if the Presbyteries would be more strict in 
 this matter, the young men would consider it a 
 settled thing to pursue their studies for three 
 years, and would rarely think of interpreting 
 providence to mean an escape from a full course. 
 A thorough impression on the minds of students, 
 of the necessity of remaining in the Seminaiy to 
 the end of its session, is the surest mode of cor 
 recting the tendency complained of. 
 
 "3. In the third place, a wrong is inflicted upon 
 the congregations over whom superficially pre 
 pared ministers are placed. Our people expect 
 to be instructed and edified by those who are set 
 over them in the Lord. It is obvious, however, 
 that this just hope is impaired by allowing can 
 didates to shorten the process of their education. 
 
208 APPENDIX. 
 
 The requirements of our Church, even in their 
 strictest letter, are not so high as to occupy time 
 unnecessarily; nor do they aim at any attainments 
 which may be dispensed with in safety. Our con 
 gregations, being composed very generally of 
 thoughtful minds, and almost always numbering 
 those who are well informed and educated, have 
 a right to rely upon the authorities of the Church 
 for well-furnished ministers. In cases where a 
 call has been inadvertently made out to candi 
 dates, such as have been referred to, experience 
 soon reveals imperfections of ministerial qualifi 
 cation which other congregations in rotation are 
 left to the misfortune of discovering. 
 
 "4. Superficial training brings into discredit 
 the Board of Education, and the Church s entire 
 system of benevolent aid. A large part of the 
 candidates of our Church require assistance in 
 the prosecution of their studies; and such assist 
 ance can only be rendered by retaining the con 
 fidence of the people in the working of the sys 
 tem. Every incompetent or ill-trained minister 
 is a herald of wo to our educational operations. 
 The amount of evil which a single man can thus 
 inflict upon the plans of our Church, it is not easy 
 to estimate. The suspicion, even, of laxity in 
 our system, retards its efficiency, and impairs its 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 capacity of usefulness. No good cause can be 
 sustained in the midst of the indifference and 
 lukewanmiess produced by authenticated failures. 
 The Board of Education, and the whole agency 
 of our Church in providing for the education of 
 indigent youth, can only be successfally admin 
 istered on the principle of a strict, unvarying, 
 and high standard of ministerial qualification. 
 
 "5. The Theological Seminaries of our Church 
 have also a great interest in preventing unfur 
 nished men from entering upon the ministry. 
 They will lose also the confidence of the public 
 just in proportion to the number of badly quali 
 fied men allowed to go forth from their walls. It 
 is in vain for them to deny all participation in 
 this shortening of the course of studies. The 
 public has not the means of knowing in each case 
 where the responsibility rests; and the odium al 
 most always falls at last upon the institution 
 which has had the misfortune of enrolling the 
 names upon its catalogue. 
 
 " 6. The general character and prosperity of the 
 Presbyterian Church are identified with raising, 
 instead of lowering, the standard of ministerial 
 qualification. If there be any one thing on 
 which, under God, our resources for blessing the 
 world depend, it is the character of our ministers 
 18 
 
210 APPENDIX. 
 
 not merely their character for piety, which 
 they possess in common with the ministers of 
 other evangelical denominations, but their char 
 acter for learning also. The Board would by no 
 means magnify the latter above the former. The 
 true and safe course is to insist upon both. 
 This policy has been instrumental in giving to 
 our Church an influence which could have been 
 secured in no other manner. And our present 
 prosperity can only be perpetuated, in divine 
 Providence, by the maintenance of strict, and 
 even stern views of qualification for the sanctu 
 ary. The men who are the instruments of ac 
 complishing the most for the kingdom of Christ 
 are neither inferior in natural endowment nor in 
 culture. The demands of the age, the increas 
 ing stature of the ministers of other denomina 
 tions, and, in short, every consideration derived 
 from the word of God and the history of the 
 Church, in favor of a well-trained ministry, urge 
 our Presbyteries to discourage the shortening of 
 the theological course, to which some candidates 
 are always prone. 
 
 In conclusion, the Board would again affirm 
 
 that, whilst there are exceptions to the necessity 
 
 of rpmriring in all cases a three-years course of 
 
 ;ical study, especially under the circum- 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 stances of a thorough preliminary training, and 
 peculiar natural or spiritual endowments, it is 
 their decided conviction that such indulgence 
 should very rarely indeed be granted those can 
 didates who are assisted by the special funds of 
 the Church, collected under the plea of a full and 
 thorough ministerial preparation. The Board 
 are also satisfied that the individual cases which 
 have called forth these remarks, are by no means 
 clear exceptions, but that, on the contrary, two- 
 thirds of the students in our Seminaries might, 
 with equal propriety, turn their backs upon the 
 instructions there offered by able professors. 
 Further, in submitting these remarks to the 
 Church at large, the Board have designedly avoid 
 ed allusions to any Presbytery in particular, ex 
 cept so far as a knowledge of recent cases may 
 exist; and a general aUusion to these is the cause 
 and the j ustification of coming before the public 
 at all. 
 
 "Praying for that wisdom which is profitable 
 to direct, and for that harmony which is a good 
 and pleasant sight to see in Zion, the Board re 
 spectfully submit these remarks for candid con 
 sideration. 
 
 "In behalf of the Board of Education, 
 
 "C. VAN RENSSELAER, Vor. >Sfo." 
 
212 APPENDIX. 
 
 Young men thus thoroughly trained will be an 
 ornament to their profession, and a blessing to 
 the Church. To raise up a large number of such 
 men is the design of the Board of Education. 
 For this intelligent Christians are offering their 
 prayers and giving their money. Let not their 
 hopes be disappointed by the want of perseve 
 rance on the part of those who are to become the 
 future ministers of our country. We greatly 
 need an increase of nwnbers. "The harvest is 
 plenteous and the laborers few." We rejoice that 
 the pious are sending up continually their devout 
 petitions to "the Lord of the harvest to send 
 forth laborers into the harvest." May their 
 prayers be heard. May the spirit of preaching 
 the gospel animate the breasts of thousands of 
 our baptized youth. "The Lord hath need of 
 them." The field is wide, and fast ripening for 
 the harvest. A voice from heaven seems to say, 
 "When shall we send, and who will go for us?" 
 that our young Samuels would every where re 
 spond to the call, and devote themselves in ear 
 ly life to this sacred service. Let Christian 
 mothers dedicate their sons, as Samuel s mother 
 did him, to the holy office. But let those who 
 are called, not forget that obedience to the divine 
 call involves a preparation. Not to run, when 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 God says, Go, would be an act of disobedience 
 which no one can excuse. But the Divine call 
 must be interpreted scripturally. Though a man 
 may be truly called, it is obvious that lie is re 
 quired to wait until "his tidings are ready. To 
 run before he is sent, is kindred in its character 
 to a refusal to go when God bids him. 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 Instead of "forxnance, or" on page 37, first line, read for romance. 
 
A NEW WORK ON BAPTISM. 
 
 31 /nmiliar mlm n ClpMim 3Jfl|itism, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS, 
 
 Btsfgtuto (or JJounfl Cfcrfstlans zrits iJaptiatto CfjirDrrn. 
 BY JAMES WOOD, D. D. 
 
 Professor in New Albany Theological Seminary, Indiana. 
 PUBUSHED BY JOHN B. ANDERSON, NEW ALBANY. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The Editor of the Presbyterian Herald, says : " Dr. Wood s work is 
 a clear, concise, and fort-Uric presentation of the arguments in favor of 
 infant l>apti.-m by .-prinkliug or pouring, and is written in a kind con 
 ciliatory spirit, adapted to the common understanding." 
 
 A correspondent of the same paper remarks : " We hail with joy the 
 appearance of Dr. Wood s volume. .... Though t he, author may not 
 have removed all the difficulties an opponent may urge, he has fairly 
 met many of them, and in a spirit so kind and fraternal as to invite an 
 
 equally candid examination from the other side It is concise 
 
 and compressed, and yet comprehensive in its range of thought. In 
 this the author has obtained the happy medium which it must be con 
 fessed many other writers on this topic have missed It is 
 
 neither so large as to be expensive, nor so small as to be imperfect. . . 
 A third and chief excellence of this work is its admirable adaptation to 
 
 Sabbath School and Bible Class instruction For this purpose 
 
 it contains a complete list of questions, whose answers compose the book. 
 Having examined the questions with some care, I am prepared to adopt 
 the book as a text book in my Sabbath Schools, and hope to accomplish 
 much by its instrumentality. And if I do not over estimate this vol 
 ume, it will yet be introduced into riTany Sabbath Schools, where the 
 object is to train the youth in the doctrines of the Bible, as we under 
 stand them Of the engravings, the paper, the whole appear 
 ance of the volume, we can only say, it is highly creditable to those 
 engaged in its production. 
 
 The Presbyterian observes : " This treatise is excellent in matter and 
 manner, and remarkably well adapted for family reading. The argu 
 ment is strongly stated, and with all the boasting of Immersionists it 
 cannot be overthrown. We hope it may be widely circulated." 
 
 The New York Evangelist contains the following : " There are some 
 excellent qualities which will commend this work its perspicuity of 
 
arrangement aud argument its fairness and freedom from a contro 
 versial and acrimonious spirit and its thoroughness of discussion. 
 It first treats of the mode, then the subjects, then |the_irnportance, of 
 the ordinance of Baptism ; and embraces t in its range of argument, a 
 copious exegesis of all the Scriptural passages relating to the doctrine. 
 The engravings of Taylor s work on baptism, taken from ancient mod 
 els, and illustrating Scripture history, are also added. "VVe think that 
 pedobaptists will find the work a very useful, convenient, and sugges 
 tive manual on this subject, and all the better adapted to their wants 
 and wishes, because undertaking no controversial office, and aiming 
 simply to inform and strengthen the faith of those who find a sufficient 
 warrant for affusion, and for infant baptism, to justify them in practis 
 ing them. We hope the days of controversy and religious tilting with 
 our Baptist brethren are over." 
 
 A synopsis of this work is given in the Presbyterian Magazine, thus ; 
 " The matter of this excellent treatise on Baptism is divided into three 
 parts. Part I. discusses the mode of administering the ordinance, in 
 which the true scriptural theory is admirably presented. Part II. 
 examines the proper subjects of baptism. The right of children to this 
 ordinance is proved from their membership in the Old Testament 
 Church, which is identical with the present church, from Christ s treat 
 ment of little children, from our Saviour s last commission and the 
 practice of the Apostles under it, and from historical proofs. Part III. 
 brings to view the benefits of Christian baptism . After showing that 
 baptism is not a saving ordinance, and that the baptism of believers is 
 a seal of public profession of religion, Dr. Wood maintains that bap 
 tism is beneficial to infants. 1. From its connection with that gra 
 cious covenant which God entered into with believing parents and their 
 children. 2. From its tendency to secure to the child early religious 
 instruction. 3. By bringing the child into important relations to the 
 church, and securing valuable church privileges. 4. By its influences 
 on parents and the church, and through them on children. All these 
 points are well illustrated and enforced. The Spirit of the book is 
 free from sectarian acrimony, and is serious and persuasive. A man 
 who writes in such a spirit will find readers to appreciate his arguments . 
 The engravings and general appearance of the book, like the kindly 
 manners of a man of sense, contribute to the gratification of those who 
 hold intercourse with it. The engravings are twelve in number, and 
 are an apt emblem of apostolic argument. We ought to add that, al 
 though the title of this work on baptism has a modest reference to 
 young Christians, it is well suited to all, old and young." 
 
 The New York Observer says concerning it : " This is one of the 
 best popular treatises on the subject of Baptism that we have been led 
 to examine. The author states his points clearly, and supports them 
 with cogent arguments well adapted to the minds of those to whom 
 they are addressed. A series of questions is added, to aid parents iu 
 instructing their children in the book. Its thorough study in the fam 
 ily, would be productive of great intellectual and moral benefits." 
 
 The book is also noticed favorably by the Presbyterian Advocate, 
 Presbyterian of the West, Presbyterian Record, Central Christian Her 
 ald, and the Watchman and Evangelist. 
 
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