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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OE WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 REV. CALVIN DURFEE. 
 
 '■ In the various relations of life, Dr. Fitch was a pattern of kindness and fidelity.' 
 
 Dr. 'Woobbridge's Letter. 
 
 " I have always regarded Dr. Fitch as the real founder of this institution.-' 
 
 Judge Bishop's Rem.4.rks. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
 
 DePOSIIOET, 13 CORNHILL. 
 
 1865.
 
 (Eamfiritigc ^rcss. 
 
 D A K I K AND M E T C A L K.
 
 Fs 
 
 5 ^^-i3 
 
 DR. SAMUEL SHELDON FITCH, M.D., 
 
 NEW YORK, 
 
 A Nephew of President Fitch, 
 
 IS 
 
 Respectfully Dedicated, 
 
 BT 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 WlLLIAMSTOWN. March 25, 1865. 
 
 ^a ^-' yi.*~»
 
 EXPLANATOEY NOTICE. 
 
 Shortly after the death of Presidext Fitch, which occurred 
 at AVest Bloomfield, N. Y., his library and manuscripts fell into 
 the hands of his son, the Rev. Charles Fitch, then of Batavia, 
 N. Y., whose house, with all its contents, was soon after consumed 
 by fire. The late Dr. Hyde, of Lee, had been requested to pre- 
 pare a memoir of Dr. Fitch, but soon ascertained that the 
 materials left for such a work were so very scanty that he felt 
 unwilUng to make the attempt. The Rev. Dr. Nelson, of Leices- 
 ter, afterwards commenced, but, for the like reason, soon relin- 
 quished, the undertaking. But for the loss of his numerous and 
 exceedingly valuable manuscripts, an extended memoir of his life 
 and services would, unquestionably, have been given to the public 
 years ago. 
 
 In preparing this biographical sketch for publication, the author 
 has availed himself of whatever materials he could obtain, and 
 made free use of all the communications he has received. To 
 the late Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Sanders (whose wife was a sister of 
 Dr. Fitch) ; to the late Rev. Charles Fitch ; to the Rev. Presi- 
 dent Day, and to the late Pi-ofessor Kingsley, of Yale College ; to 
 the late President Davis, of Hamilton College ; to the Rev. Dr. 
 Walter Clarke ; to the late Mrs. Cogswell, of Hartford, for the 
 loan of a large number of letters from Dr. Fitch to her hus- 
 band ; to the Rev. Professor Dewey ; to the late Dr. Thomas 
 Robbins ; to the late James W. Robbins, Esq. ; to the Rev. Dr. 
 John Nelson, and to the Rev. Dr. John Woodbridge, — the author 
 1*
 
 VI EXPLANATORY NOTICE. 
 
 hereby acknowledges himself indebted, and expresses his grati- 
 tude for important assistance. 
 
 A brief memoir of President Fitch appeared in the " Ameri- 
 can Quarterly Register," in 1843. This volume is an amplifica- 
 tion of that article ; and its enlargement and republication, at this 
 time, are mainly owing to a suggestion and to the liberality of 
 Dr. Samuel Sheldon Fitch. 
 
 Acceptable aid and encouragement in bringing out this work 
 have likewise been received from two of the author's valued 
 classmates, — David Dudley Field and Josiah William Wheeler. 
 
 Whatever of distrust or hesitation might otherwise be felt about 
 giving to the public the results of his additional labor and re- 
 search is precluded by the many testimonials of approbation 
 received on the appearance of the original article ; of which none 
 is more decisive or more highly valued by the author than the 
 following, which he ventures to insert : — 
 
 Boston, May 4, 1844. 
 Mt dear Sir: — 
 
 I have received and have perused with great satisfaction your interest- 
 ing tribute to President Fitch. Accept my thanks for your kindness, 
 in remembering me on this occasion. It is but an act of justice from the 
 living to keep legible the inscriptions on the monuments of the departed 
 worthies ; and in this case you have left nothing to be desired. 
 
 Very truly your obliged friend, 
 
 GEORGE BANCROFT. 
 Rev. Calvin Durfee.
 
 COj^^TEI^TS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY USEFUL, AGREEABLE ; IF CORRECT, DIFFICULT — DR. 
 FITCH — HIS EXCELLENT ANCESTRY, 9 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE TISIE AND CORRECT PLACE OF DR. FITCH's BIRTH HIS PRIVATE 
 
 JOURNAL WHILE IN COLLEGE HIS STANDING AS A SCHOLAR 
 
 PRONOUNCES THE VALEDICTORY, 19 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 DR. FITCH DRAFTED AS A SOLDIER — TEACHES SCHOOL — IS AP- 
 POINTED TUTOR IN YALE COLLEGE RESIGNS AND ENGAGES IN 
 
 MERCANTILE PURSUITS — IS UNSUCCESSFUL IS APPOINTED A 
 
 TUTOR THE SECOND TIME — HIS INTEREST IN RELIGION — MAKES 
 A PROFESSION — IS LICENSED TO PREACH, . . . .34 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DR. FITCH ELECTED PRECEPTOR OF THE ACADEMY AT M'lLLIAMS- 
 
 TOWN APPLICATION FOR A COLLEGE CHARTER DR. FITCH 
 
 ELECTED PRESIDENT HIS MARRIAGE HIS FAMILY DEATH 
 
 OF HIS SON DR. FITCH's LETTER HIS ORDINATION PROS- 
 PERITY OF THE COLLEGE LETTER FROM DR. WEST TO DR. SAM- 
 UEL HOPKINS CONTINUED PROSPERITY TROUBLE IN COLLEGE 
 
 HON. C. A. DEWEY's REMARKS AT THE HALF-CENTURY MEETING 
 
 IN 1843, 39 
 
 (vii)
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE UP TO 1815 — EXTRACT FROM 
 
 THE SERMOX AND CHARGE AT DR. FITCH'S ORDINATION THE 
 
 FIRST REVIVAL IN COLLEGE THE HAYSTACK PRAYER-MEETING 
 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY ORGANIZED SECOND REVIVAL LETTER 
 
 TO DR. HYDE THIRD REVIVAL DR. J. EDWARDS' LETTER TO 
 
 DR. FITCH, 56 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DR. FITCH RESIGNS THE PRESIDENCY ACTION OF THE TRUSTEES 
 
 INSTALLED AT WEST BLOOMFIELD, N. Y. HIS SUCCESSFUL 
 
 MINISTRY THERE — RESIGNS — HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL, . 68 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 DR. fitch's visit TO EUROPE — THE LOSS OF HIS MANUSCRIPTS — 
 
 HIS PUBLICATIONS LETTERS FROM PRESIDENT DAY FROM 
 
 JAMES W. ROBBINS, ESQ. FROM REV. DR. JOHN NELSON FROM 
 
 REV. DR. JOHN WOODBRIDGE JUDGE PAIGE'S REMARKS RESPECT- 
 ING HIM HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE BRYANT'S RECOLLECTION 
 
 OF HIM HIS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER HIS NATIVE POWERS 
 
 DR. FITCH AS PRESIDENT AS A PREACHER A FRIEND OF GEN- 
 ERAL EDUCATION A LOVER OF GOOD MEN UNEXPECTED RE- 
 LIEF FROM G. H. BACKUS HIS INDUSTRY HIS SUPPORT UNDER 
 
 TRIALS DR. FITCH AS A FATHER, COMPANION, AND FRIEND 
 
 HIS MONUMENT AT WILLIAMSTOWN HON. JUDGE BISHOP's RE- 
 MARKS AT THE RE-INTERMENT OF HIS REMAINS DR. FITCH'S 
 
 BACCALAUREATE DISCOURSE IN 1799 — DR. FITCH'S MISSIONARY 
 DISCOURSE IN 1814, 90 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE CANDIDATES FOR THE BACCALAUREATE IN WIL- 
 LIAMS COLLEGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1799. BY THE REV. EBENEZER 
 FITCH, PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE, . . . .122 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF BERKSHIRE AND 
 COLUMBIA, AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING, IN HUDSON, N. Y., SEP- 
 TEMBER 20, 1814. BY EBENEZER FITCH, D. D., PRESIDENT OF 
 WILLIAMS COLLEGE, 143
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY USEFUL, AGREEABLE J IF CORRECT, DIFFICULT — DR. 
 FITCH — HIS EXCELLENT ANCESTRY. 
 
 lOGR APHY is a species of composition which 
 happily unites the useful with the agreeable. 
 If written with truth and fidelity, it can hardly 
 fail to be useful ; since it is, as an ancient said 
 of history, "philosophy speaking by example." 
 It shows us what qualities we must possess to 
 be useful and happy. It discloses the trials of 
 human life ; and teaches us how difficulties may be 
 met, and dangers averted or overcome. It likewise 
 sets before us the means by which the human char- 
 acter may reach its highest attainments and useful- 
 ness. 
 
 Nor is it easy to see how the biography of the wise 
 and good can fail to be agreeable. It introduces us 
 to the acquaintance of individuals, whose names have 
 awakened our curiosity, and perhaps our admiration. 
 It shows those finer and better traits of character 
 which we could not otherwise narrowly inspect. It 
 
 (9)
 
 10 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 makes us the companions of their toils and trials, 
 their sufferings and joys. It points us to that world 
 where their virtues are matured and their spirits 
 made perfect. 
 
 It is painful, however, to think that some great 
 and good men — such as manifest great talents, and 
 exert a wide and salutary influence on society — 
 leave behind them so few materials for the biogra- 
 pher. The traces of their lives and characters soon 
 become dim and obscure. When a few years have 
 swept over their graves, it seems next to impossible, 
 from the few scattered notices now to be found, to 
 delineate with any good degree of accuracy the feat- 
 ures of their moral and intellectual character. The 
 good Isis is represented as going forth, wandering 
 and weeping, to gather up the parts and fragments of 
 her murdered and scattered Osiris ; fondly yet vainly 
 hoping that she might recover and recombine all the 
 separate parts, and once more view her husband in 
 all his former proportions and beauty. So we often 
 do with the scattered mementos of our departed 
 friends. From a few imperfect sources we attempt 
 to give a faithful history of their lives, and a fac- 
 simile of their moral and intellectual features. Hie 
 labor, hoc opus est. 
 
 Impressed with sentiments like these, we have un- 
 dertaken the preparation of a brief biographical 
 sketch of the Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, D. D., for twen- 
 ty-two years President of Williams College. He 
 possessed a mind of a high order, and for uniformity
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 11 
 
 of deportment, consistency of character, ardor of 
 piety, kindness of feeling, diligence and fidelity in 
 discharging the various duties to which he was 
 called, had but few superiors. It has long been a 
 source of regret to many, that some memorial of 
 this excellent man has not been placed in some 
 permanent form. A simple, uncolored biography of 
 him, even at this late day, and though prepared un- 
 der great disadvantages, will, we trust, be acceptable 
 to our readers, — especially to the numerous friends 
 and alumni of Williams College. Besides, " some 
 information of this kind is commonly required as a 
 tribute, due to the memory of those who have dis- 
 tinguished themselves in the walks of learning and 
 religion ; ~and may animate others who are devoting 
 their lives to similar pursuits." 
 
 President Fitch was a lineal descendant of the 
 Rev. James Fitch, who was born at Bocking, Coun- 
 ty of Essex, England, December 24, 1622 ; and 
 came to this country with a brother by the name of 
 Thomas, in 1638. The ancient way of writing the 
 name was Fytche. Thomas settled in Norwalk, Ct., 
 and from him, according to Alden, descended the 
 Hon. Thomas Fitch, who was for a number of years 
 Governor of Connecticut. The Rev. James Fitch 
 came to this country when he was sixteen years old. 
 He had already acquired a correct knowledge of the 
 learned languages ; but spent seven years in prepar- 
 ing for the ministry, under the private instruction of 
 the Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, of Hartford.
 
 12 REV. EBEXEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 He was first settled in Saybrook, in 1646. In 
 October, 1648, he married Abigail Whitfield, daugh- 
 ter of the Rev. Henry Whitfield, of Guilford. Their 
 children were James, born Aug., 1649; Abigail, Aug., 
 1650; Elizabeth, Jan., 1652 ; Hannah, Sept., 1653; 
 Samuel, April, 1655 ; and Dorothy, 165H. Mrs. 
 Fitch died at Saybiook, Sept., 1659. 
 
 In the year 1660, the Rev. James Fitch removed 
 to Norwich with a large part of his congregation. 
 In October, 1664, he married, for his second wife, 
 Priscilla Mason, daughter of Major John Mason, 
 who distinguished himself as a commander of the 
 New England forces against the Pequot Indians. 
 The children of Mr. Fitch by his second wife were, 
 Daniel, born at Norwich, Aug., 1665; John,* Jan., 
 1667; Jeremiah, Sept., 1670; Jabez, April, 1672; 
 Anna, April, 1675 ; Nathaniel, Oct., 1679 ; Joseph, 
 Nov., 1681, and Ebenezer, May, 1683. These four- 
 teen, except the last, lived to have families of children, 
 from whom a numerous posterity has descended. 
 
 In his old age, the Rev. James Fitch removed to 
 Lebanon, to live with one of his children, and died 
 there in November, 1702, in the 80th year of his 
 age.f 
 
 * John Fitch settled in Windham, and from him descended the Rev. 
 Eleazer T. Fitch, D. D., Professor of Divinity in Yale College. 
 
 t The following is the inscription upon his monument, said to have 
 been written by his son, the Rev. Jabez Fitch, of Portsmouth, New 
 Hampshire: 
 
 In hoc sepulchro depositee sunt reliquire Viri vere Reverendi Domini 
 Jacobi Fitch, Natus fuit apud Booking in Comitatu Essexise in Anglia, 
 anno Domini 1622, Decembris 24; qui postquam Unguis et Uteris optime
 
 HEV. EBENEZEE FITCH, D. D. IS 
 
 The Rev. James Fitch's oldest son, James, settled 
 in Canterbury, about 1690, and was among its orig- 
 inal inhabitants. He built the first framed house 
 and barn in that town. He was one of the brave 
 men who were engaged in the famous Philip's war, 
 in 1675-6; and received a captain's commission be- 
 fore 1680. He was chosen major in 1686. He was 
 a magistrate, or member of the council of the colony, 
 as early as 1683 ; and continued to be reelected till 
 1708 or 9. " He was the first donor to Yale College, 
 who was not of the board of trustees. In October, 
 1701, he gave the college 637 acres of land in the 
 town of Killingly, and all the glass and nails, which 
 should be necessary to build the college edifice. 
 This benefaction had great influence in procuring 
 the charter, and in encouraging the friends of the 
 college in promoting its interests, and on this ac- 
 count is deserving particular consideration." This 
 James Fitch, Esq., — he is likewise called Major 
 Fitch, in Trumbull's History of Connecticut, — mar- 
 ried Elizabeth , Jan., 1676. Their children were 
 
 James, born (and died within a week after) Jan. 1, 
 
 institutus fuisset, in Nov-Angliam venit, ajtatis 16, et deinde vitam degit. 
 Harfordiffi per septennium sub institutione virorum celeberrimorum Dom- 
 ini Hooker et Domini Stone. Postea munere pastorali functus est apud- 
 Say brook per annos 14. Illinc, cum ecclesiiE majori parte Norvicum 
 migravit et ibi cceteros vitje annos transegit in opere evangelico. In senec- 
 tute vero prte corporis iufirmitate necessario cessabat ab opere publico ; 
 tandemque recessit liberis apud Lebanon, ubi, semi-anno fere exacto,. 
 obdormivit in Jesu, anno 1702, Novembris 18, sBtatis suae 80; vir ingenii 
 acumine, pondere judicii, prudentia, charitate sancta, laboribus, et om- 
 nimoda vitae sanctitate, peritia quoque et vi concionandi, nulli secundus. 
 2
 
 14 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 1677 ; James, June, 1679 ; Jedidiah, April, 1681 ; 
 Samuel, July, 1683 ; and Elizabeth, in 1684. Mrs. 
 Fitch died in October, 1684. Major James Fitch 
 married, May, 1686, Alice Adams, for his second 
 wife. Their children were Abigail, born 1687; Eb- 
 enezer, 1689; Daniel, 1692; John, 1695; Bridget, 
 1697; Jerusha, 1699; William, 1701; and Jabez, 
 1703. 
 
 In 1722, Major James Fitch (who died in 1727, 
 aged 78) gave to his son Jabez, " moved thereto by 
 love and parental affection," by deed, a piece of land. 
 This Jabez Fitch married Lydia Gale, in 1722, and 
 settled on the land which his father gave him. He 
 became captain, colonel, justice of the peace and 
 quorum, and was for many years a Judge of Pro- 
 bate. His children were Jerusha, baptized in 1723 ; 
 Alice, afterwards the wife of the Rev. Dr. James 
 Cogswell, 1725 ; Perez, 1726 ; and then there is a 
 chasm in the records till 1734 ; when the record of 
 baptisms commences again, and Lydia is baptized ; 
 Lucy, in 1736 ; Asahel, in 1738; and Abigail, in 
 1741. Mrs. Fitch died in 1753. Col. Jabez Fitch 
 married for his second wife, Elizabeth Darbe, in 
 1754. Some years afterwards, he buried his second 
 wife. He was married a third time when about 78 
 years old. He died in 1784, aged 81. We have un- 
 questionable authority for stating that Colonel Fitch 
 was a man of superior talents, unblemished charac- 
 ter, devoted piety, and of almost unbounded influ- 
 ence in his native town.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 15 
 
 Jabez, son of Colonel Jabez Fitch, was the father 
 of President Fitch. He was born in the parish of 
 Newent, May 23, 1728 or 9 ; it is uncertain which. 
 According to Norwich records, he was born in 1729 ; 
 but according to the record of his baptism by the 
 Rev. Mr. Kirkland, he was born in 1728. He mar- 
 ried Lydia, daughter of Dea. Ebenezer Huntington, 
 of Norwich, Aug. 22, 1754. Their children were 
 Perez, born Sept. 5, 1755, and died the next day ; 
 Ebenezer, the subject of this memoir, Sept. 26, 1756 ; 
 Lydia, Oct. 9, 1758, and lived ten months; Lydia, 
 June 14, 1760 ; Abigail, July 24, 1762, and lived just 
 nine months ; Jabez Gale, March 20, 1764 ; Sarah, 
 April 28, 1766 ; Anna (afterwards the wife of the 
 Rev. Dr. Sanders), Feb. 3, 1768 ; Chauncey, Jan. 17, 
 1771; Samuel, March 3, 1773; Lucy, March 24, 
 1777 ; and Alice, June 2, 1781. The father of Pres- ") 
 ident Fitch did not receive a college education. He 
 was, however, a physician of considerable eminence. 
 Medical students in great numbers resorted to him 
 for instruction. Of his twelve children, three died 
 in infancy ; the rest lived to mature age, and became 
 heads of as many families. His five daughters all 
 married men of college educalion. Two married 
 clergymen ; two, physicians ; and one a lawyer. 
 One son. Col. Jabez G. Fitch, was for twelve years 
 the United States' Marshal for the district of Ver- 
 mont, under the entire administrations of Washing- 
 ton and Adams. Another son, Chauncey Fitch, 
 was a physician, and afterwards a judge of a court i
 
 16 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 in Franklin County, Vt. ; and Samuel Fitch was a 
 merchant in Burlington. 
 
 Mrs. Fitch, the mother of the President, died at 
 Vergennes, Vt. To an intimate friend. President 
 Fitch thus writes : — " My mother left this evil world, 
 I trust for a better, on Monday, AjDril 4, 1803. We 
 have good ground to believe that she has made a 
 happy exchange, — that she has gone to that rest 
 which is prepared for the people of God. Her 
 funeral was attended on Thursday. The Rev. Job 
 Swift was expected to preach ; but he and my brother 
 Sanders, as my father was afterwards informed, 
 were both detained on account of sickness. After 
 waiting some hours, the large assembly moved to 
 the court-house, where they sung a funeral anthem. 
 As there was no one present who was willing to 
 offer a prayer on such an occasion, under his heavy 
 affliction and disappointment, my father attempted 
 it. And he states, ' I trust 1 was enabled to cast my 
 burden on the Lord. By his assistance I was car- 
 ried through, and felt more able to speak when I 
 closed, than when I began.' " To see a man, who 
 was himself standing on the verge of the eternal 
 world, before a large congregation where a minister 
 was expected to officiate, leading the devotions of 
 the people at the funeral of his own wife, is said to 
 have been a sight so affecting as to draw tears from 
 the eyes of all who were present. 
 
 Dr. Fitch, the father of the President, died Decem- 
 ber 19, 1806, in Sheldon, Vt., at the house of his
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 17 
 
 son, Dr. Channcey Filch, while on a visit. He died 
 of a lingering consumption. He was a man of em- 
 inent piety, and remarkably gifted in prayer. He 
 made a public profession of religion when a young 
 man; and for a number of years held the office of 
 Deacon in the church of Canterbury. " That relig- 
 ion," writes President Fitch, " which he had so long 
 professed, afforded him the greatest consolation to 
 the last. The near approach of death did not ap- 
 pear to terrify or alarm him. He regarded death as 
 a kind messenger sent by Heaven to release him 
 from a world of sin and trouble, and convey him to 
 mansions of eternal rest, there to meet his dear de- 
 parted friends, and spend an eternity with them in 
 contemplating the glory, and adoring the perfections 
 of their God and Saviour."' 
 
 President Fitch's mother, her father, her only 
 brother (Dea. Simon Huntington, of Norwich, who 
 was graduated at Yale College in 1741), and all her 
 sons, died suddenly ; most of them without an hour's 
 warning. 
 
 We shall now be excused for a brief recapitula- 
 tion. President Fitch's father was Dr. Jabez Fitch, 
 and his mother was Lydia Huntington. 
 
 His grandfather was Col. Jabez Fitch, and his 
 grandmother was Lydia Gale. 
 
 His great-grandfather was Major James Fitch, 
 and his great-grandmother was Alice Adams. 
 
 His great-great-grandfather was the Rev. James
 
 18 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Fitch, and his great-great-grandmother was Abigail 
 Whitfield. 
 
 President Fitch could truly make the sentiment of 
 the admired Cowper his own : — 
 
 " My boast is not that I deduce my birth 
 
 From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ; 
 But higher fur my proud pretensions rise, — 
 The child of parents passed into the skies."
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE TIME AND CORRECT PLACE OF DR. FITCH S BIRTH HIS PRIVATE 
 
 JOURNAL WHILE IN COLLEGE HIS STANDING AS A SCHOLAR 
 
 PRONOUNCES THE VALEDICTORY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 RESIDENT FITCH was the second child 
 of his parents, and was born * Sept. 26, 1756. 
 We must here be pardoned for a brief digres- 
 sion. The Rev. Dr. James Cogswell, who 
 was graduated at Yale College in 1742, and 
 who was for a number of years a minister 
 in Canterbury, married an aunt of President 
 Fitch, whose name was Alice Fitch. Their son, 
 Samuel Cogswell, was about the same age with 
 President Fitch. They were both fitted for college 
 by Dr. Cogswell, were classmates, and very intimate 
 friends. They were admitted members of Yale Col- 
 lege in 1773, and were graduated in 1777. Of this 
 Samuel Cogswell further mention will be made in 
 another place. 
 
 * It is stated in the history of Berkshire County, and on his tombstone 
 at West Bloomfield, N. Y., that Dr. Fitch was a native of Canterbury, Ct. 
 This is evidently a mistake. That he was brought up in Canterbury, 
 there can be no doubt. But his birth unquestionably occurred iu Nor- 
 wich. 
 
 (19)
 
 20 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 In the early part of his college life, President Fitch 
 commenced keeping a journal, which he continued 
 with a good degree of regularity, until the close of 
 his senior year. For the greater part of the time, he 
 recorded the leading events of every day. It is much 
 to be regretted, however, that during the last three 
 months of this time it is ivept in characters which we 
 have been utterly unable to decipher. Our extracts 
 from this journal, though brief, will be more copious 
 and extended than they would be, were it not for 
 the circumstance that scarcely any of his manuscripts 
 are now in existence. His journal commences 
 thus: — 
 
 " May 16, 1 774. As I have but one life to live, and that ex- 
 tremely shoi't and uncertain, so it becomes me to spend it in a 
 diligent preparation for a future state. And as a careful observ- 
 ance and recollection of God's providential dealings with me may, 
 by the divine blessing, promote my spiritual interest and welfare, 
 by being committed to writing, so I have resolved, now in my 
 youth, to draw up a brief account of my past life, taken j^artly 
 from my old papers, but chiefl}' from memory. And oh that, by 
 the free grace of God in Christ Jesus, I may not be permitted to 
 end this journal (provided I should keep it for some time, as is 
 my present intention) without some more perfect knowledge of 
 divine things, and a more sure hope of future happiness, than I 
 now possess." 
 
 " I was born at Norwich, Sept. 26, 1 756, on Sabbath afternoon ; 
 Sicut parentes aiunt, so my parents have told me. In my infancy 
 I was very weakly, — very subject to convulsion fits. I have often 
 heard my parents say that they had but slender hopes of my 
 living to grow up to years of manhood, for several years after I 
 was born. I continued weakly for some years, though, by degrees,
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 21 
 
 I outgrew the natural weakness ; and my feeble constitution grew 
 firmer and healthier. I remember nothing remarkable either re- 
 specting the awakening of my conscience, or the dealings of Prov- 
 idence with me, until I was ten or eleven years of age. About 
 that time I was wonderfully preserved from immediate death by 
 the sudden interposition of divine Providence. I was one day at 
 the river where some young men were at work, and, while they 
 were busily engaged, I took a notion to cross the river. It was 
 not deep. I had frequently observed others as they crossed it. 
 Having stripped myself, I had gone unobserved by them to the 
 further side of the river, where there was a narrow place, more 
 deep and rapid than the rest, which immediately carried me down 
 into deep water, though the stream still continued so swift as to 
 prevent my sinking. In this critical juncture. Providence so or- 
 dered it that one of the persons at work looked up and saw me. 
 He immediately cried out, when one of them sprang after me, 
 caught me without much diiBculty, and brought me to the shore. 
 I was not so far gone but that I knew and saw all that transpired ; 
 though when this young man came, I was just sinking, and must 
 have drowned inevitably, unseen and unobserved by any, had not 
 divine Providence interposed for my preservation and deliver- 
 ance. I remember to have been much terrified and frightened. 
 But, after I got out of the water, I was more solicitous to conceal it 
 from my parents (which I did for a year) than to prepare for 
 that death which I had so narrowly escaped." 
 
 The spring following, 1766 or 7, he was exposed 
 to a similar danger in crossing a brook. The jour- 
 nal then proceeds : — 
 
 " I recollect nothing remarkable from this time until the spring 
 of 1 768. Though I remember that during tlie interim I had more 
 thoughts of God and eternity than formerly ; and was sometimes 
 much affected at prayers, and when reading religious books. Dur- 
 ing the spring of this year, my father moved near to the meeting- 
 house. Soon after this, I was taken dangerouslv sick ; and mv 
 
 v^
 
 22 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 sickness continued for near a month, and bad well-nigh carried me 
 out of the world. But God, of his abundant goodness, was 
 pleased to spare my life and restore me to health again. During 
 this sickness and near approach to death, I had more thoughts 
 of eternal things than I ever remember to have had before ; 
 though I was much of the time inclined to drowsiness. I re- 
 member to have had such serious thoughts about death and 
 eternity as to be at times thrown into a flood of tears. In this 
 sickness I had a large swelling in my side, which threatened my 
 life. However, that went away of itself, and by degrees I began 
 to recover my health, though I remained weak for a long time. 
 As my sickness abated, my concern about religion began to wear 
 off. In the fall of this year, my grandfather * died. This event 
 made a deep impression on my mind. After his death, I was 
 brought under greater concern for my soul than ever before. 
 This anxiety for my soul was difierent from any that I had 
 befory experienced, both as to its degree and consequences or 
 attendants." But in what the difference consisted does not appear 
 from his journal. 
 
 " June 26. I awoke this morning with but little sense of divine 
 things. Soon afterwards attended prayers in the chapel. Next 
 I retired for secret devotions. This forenoon I heard the presi- 
 dent preach from Deut. vi. 4, — Hear, Israel ; the Lord our God 
 ii one Lord. Subject, The unity of the Godhead. Near the close 
 of the discourse, the president spoke of that hidden idolatry of the 
 heart, which is so displeasing to God. My conscience accused me 
 of great guilt in this particular ; for I knew myself to be often, yea 
 daily, guilty of this high-handed sin. p. ai. the president preached 
 from Rom. vi. 21, — What fruit had ye then in those things lohereof 
 ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. After 
 meeting, I betook myself to my room, where I had a good oppor- 
 tunity for reading, meditation, and prayer. But oh, how- poorly 
 was my heart prepared for such exei:cises ! " 
 
 " Sabbath, July 10. My first thoughts this morning were on 
 the importance of spending this day for God. I had some sense 
 
 * Probably his grandfather Hunthigtou.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 23 
 
 of my responsibilities and obligations to be prepared for a future 
 state. After prayers in chapel, I engaged in the duties of the 
 closet with some solemnity and interest. Heard Rev. Mr. Perkins, 
 of Hartford, preach in Mr. Edwards' meeting-house both parts of 
 the day : in the morning from that pathetic exclamation of 
 Thomas, recorded in John xx. 28, — My Lord, and my God; in 
 the afternoon the text was Acts xxiv. 16,' — And herein do I exer- 
 cise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, 
 and toivard men. He was admirably pathetic and copious in man- 
 ner and expression, elegant in style, and sublime in sentiment. 
 He showed what was recjuisite in order to have such a conscience. 
 First, a knowledge of our duty, and a faithful performance of it. 
 Second, he offered persuasive motives to induce us to have a con- 
 science thus void of offence. Third, he improved the subject in 
 offering a variety of excellent remarks. One observation was, 
 that there are in mortals four springs of action, to wit : apjjetite, 
 passion, reason, and conscience. He that acts from appetite, acts 
 like a brute ; he that acts from passion, acts like a child ; he that 
 acts from reason, acts like a man ; and he that acts from con- 
 science, acts like a Christian." 
 
 " Tuesday, Sept. 13. This day have been busily employed in 
 making preparation for Commencement. This evening I had an 
 agreeable interview with my father, who came from home to 
 attend Commencement, and to visit a brother of his at Stamford, 
 who is in a low and feeble state of health." 
 
 " Wednesday, 14. Attended Commencement exercises, which 
 were performed to the honor of college, and to the satisfaction of 
 the audience." 
 
 " Thursdaj', 15. In company with my father and cousin, Sam- 
 uel Cogswell, went to Stamford ; found my uncle weak in body 
 and dejected in mind, having but little hope of continuing long in 
 this evil world." Here young Fitch spent a week, enjoying the 
 company and conversation of his friends in a high degi-ee. In the 
 course of the next week, " returned to my father's house in Can- 
 terbury, and was not a little i-ejoiced to find my friends all alive
 
 24 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 and in good health, having been absent from them about four 
 months." 
 
 "January 11, 1775. Close of vacation. This is the first win- 
 ter vacation in this college. By vote of the corporation it contin- 
 ued three weeks. I remained at college the whole time." 
 
 " Friday, April 21. To-day tidings of the battle of Lexington, 
 which is the first engagement with the British troops, arrived at 
 New Haven. This filled the country with alarm, and rendered it 
 impossible for us to pursue our studies to any profit." The next 
 week he returned home. He then visited Providence, R. I. ; then 
 went to view the camp in Roxbury and Cambridge, Ms., and re- 
 turned the first of June to New Haven, and resumed his college 
 studies." 
 
 "June 13. I have neglected to keep a regular journal for a 
 short time past. It is now very apparent to me that when I left 
 New Haven last fall, and went to Stamford, falling into company, 
 I lost in some measure that melancholy with which I had been for 
 a long time troubled. For some months I did not attend with 
 regularity to my private devotions. During the winter past, I 
 have enjoyed better health than common, and pursued my studies 
 with a good degree of alacrity and success." 
 
 "July 16. Attended public worship in the chapel. In my 
 private devotions I formed some resolutions to live a better life 
 than I have done. As I have always had the ministry in view, I 
 think it high time for me to attend more seriously and diligently 
 to the things of everlasting importance. Considering the infinite 
 importance of being in a state of reconciliation and favor with 
 God, and in an habitual readiness for death ; considering, also, the 
 importance of pursuing my studies with diligence, so that I may 
 be prepared to be useful to my fellow-men, — I have determined, 
 by divine assistance, to pursue the following course : — 
 
 "As the care of my soul is of the first importance, and yet the 
 most likely to be neglected by me, I will, by the assistance of di- 
 vine grace, for the future be more attentive to my spiritual welfare. 
 And, 1st. I will have stated seasons for prayer, reading the Scrip-
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 25 
 
 tures and practical authors, for meditating on what I read, and for 
 self-examination. 2d. I will endeavor to maintain a sober, steady, 
 and regular course of conduct. 3d. In my intercourse with 
 friends, I will make subjects of divinity themes of conversation, in 
 all cases when it can be done to mutual edification. 4th. I will 
 endeavor to read a portion of Scripture every morning and 
 evening. 5th. I will aim so to behave toward my friends, as to 
 merit their regard and esteem ; and will strive to banish all envi- 
 ous and jealous thoughts toward them and toward all mankind. 
 
 " Respecting my studies, I resolve upon the following plan, 
 which I shall alter, if I find upon trial it will be for my interest: — 
 And 1st. I will rise at four in the morning, and will make it my 
 first business to fix my thoughts upon the duties, trials, and tempta- 
 tions of the day ; and will arm my mind with proper resolutions 
 to discharge the duties of the day with diligence and alacrity, and 
 guard as far as I can against temptation to sin, and a waste of 
 time. 2d. I will immediately read some portion of Scripture. 3d. 
 I will then begin the business of the day, and will endeavor to 
 have finished my college studies for the day (having attended to 
 them the evening previous) by noon. 4th. The afternoon shall 
 be devoted to exercise, general reading, and whatever of necessary 
 business may demand my attention. 5th. At the end of every 
 month I will make out a plan of the studies which I propose to 
 pursue the succeeding month. I will then divide these studies 
 into separate portions for each week ; and these studies shall be 
 the chief employment of my afternoons." 
 
 The careful reader will see that the above plan of 
 study bears some resemblance to that adopted by 
 Dr. Doddridge, as exhibited in his life, which young 
 Fitch speaks of having read about this time. 
 
 " Thursday, July 20. This day has been observed throughout 
 these colonies as a day of fasting and prayer. Of the propriety of 
 3
 
 26 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 observing such a day, there can be no doubt, when it is remem- 
 bered that we are now engaged in a war with England. War 
 was recently proclaimed by Congress. Our army has been for 
 ^ ^ several months before Boston. The result of this contest, God 
 only knows. It may end in the ruin of this whole country. But 
 Heaven grant that it may terminate in the security and firm estab- 
 lishment of civil and religious liberty." 
 
 " Sabbath, July 23. Attended public worship in the chapel. 
 Attended to private duties both morning and evening. In the 
 latter exercise my heart was affected with a sense of my sinful- 
 ness. I saw clearly my inability to save myself, and how abso- 
 lutely necessary the merits of Chi-ist are to our salvation. As I 
 have the ministry in view, and am wholly unqualified for such a 
 sacred work, I feel that I ought to leave the pursuit of trifles, and 
 live more to the glory of God. My college course is now half 
 spent, and but little done. By divine assistance, I will double 
 my diligence. The plan of study which I prescribed for myself 
 succeeds much better than I anticipated. This encourages me to 
 pursue it with perseverance." 
 
 " Sabbath eve, July 30. During the past week, I have prose- 
 cuted my studies with diligence, and I trust with some profit. 
 The plan of studies which I had determined on, I have executed, 
 so as to gain some time for other business." 
 
 "Aug. 6. I have not pursued the course of study the week past 
 which I had prescribed for myself To improve our abilities in 
 writing, our tutor has offered a book to the one who will hand in 
 the best composition." 
 
 " Aug. 13. The plan of studies, which I had proposed for my- 
 self for this week, 1 did not accomphsh. I had writing on hand, 
 which employed all the hours which were not devoted to classical 
 studies. What I wrote was a ti-ial of genius. I ventured to enter 
 the list with a number of my class, and write for a valuable book 
 offered by our tutor for the best composition. I had the good 
 fortune to have the book assigned to me." 
 
 " Tuesday, Sept. 26. To-day I am nineteen years old. I feel
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 27 
 
 that I am laid under great obligations to devote myself wholly to 
 the service of Him who made me, and has preserved me so long a 
 time ; who has favored me with so many undeserved mercies, and 
 such distinguished religious privileges. Time is ever on the wing. 
 It passes away with an amazing rapidity. Therefore, whatsoever 
 I do, must be done with diligence and perseverance ; for death will 
 soon come and close my probation." 
 
 " July 24, 1 7 76. Commencement-day. It was a private one. 
 C. Goodrich delivered the Cliosophic oration, — an excellent one, 
 and handsomely delivered. Strong and Lyman, a forensic dispute sj 
 on the question, ' Whether all religions ought to be tolerated.' 
 The subject was well and ably discussed. Porter, Howe, and 
 Mitchel, spoke a dialogue, and Russell pronounced the Valedictory 
 oration : all well performed. But, to crown all, Mr. Dwight deliv- , 
 ered an excellent oration on the pi'esent state and future growth 
 and importance of this country.* It was written and delivered in 
 a masterly manner. My collegiate life is fast draAviug to a close. 
 One year more, and I shall have done. The time is too short ; I 
 wish it were longer." 
 
 During the first part of the next month, he was 
 for a few days dangerously sick. On his recovery 
 he writes: "God has been very kind and merciful 
 to me. I deserve to die and perish forever; but he 
 has been pleased hitherto to spare my life. Oh that 
 I might improve his goodness to my salvation I " 
 
 " Aug. 24. Had the pleasure of seeing my dear friend, Samuel , 
 Cogswell. He brought me the painful news that college had 
 broken up, on account of the prevalence of the camp distemper." 
 
 "Sept. 11. This day aty father parted with us, to join our 
 army at New York. The parting was a painful one, as it may be 
 
 * It is erroneously stated in the life of Dr. Dwight, page 12, that this 
 oration was delivered in 1775. It was delivered in 1776.
 
 28 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 the last. But ^liis country calls, and lie must go. May God go 
 ■with him, preserve and return him in safety." 
 
 " Sept. 19. This was Fast Day in our State, on account of 
 public calamities." 
 
 " Sept. 26. Dies meus natalis. Oh, how swift, how fleeting is 
 time! One more year of my life is gone, — gone forever. Oh, 
 what a dream is human life ! How does it become me to improve 
 all my time to the best of all purposes, — the service of my Maker ! 
 Oh that another year might be allowed me for repentance ; and 
 may God in infinite mercy, before the close of this year on which 
 I now enter, make me experimentally acquainted with the way of 
 salvation through Jesus Christ ! Oh that I might be firmly and 
 sincerely devoted to his service and glory ! " 
 
 " Sept. 29. This evening, as my father is absent, I began to 
 pray in the family. Though embarrassed at first, yet I succeeded 
 /^beyond my expectations. Praise the Lord, O my soul ! " 
 
 " Oct. IG. Spent the evening in reading Thomson's Seasons. 
 They are delicious food for the mind. They afford not only en- 
 tertainment, but important lessons of instruction. He wrote in 
 such a masterly manner, with such a feeling sensibility, and such 
 a tender heart, that it would seem as though he must ever engage 
 the attention, awaken the feelings, and draw tears from the eye 
 of the reader. The gloom of nature in the winter is so exquisitely 
 painted, that it cast a deep solemnity over my mind, and called 
 forth the sympathy and compassion of my heart. Especially to- 
 ward the close, when he touched on the shortness and uncertainty 
 of human life, and all the enjoyments of time, my heart was 
 deeply and tenderly affected. I engaged in my devotional exer- 
 cises, this evening, with unusual engagedness and concern." 
 
 " Oct. 20. This evening my mother related to me her religious 
 experience. I was greatly affected, and rejoiced that I could en- 
 tertain such a good hope for one who i^so dear to me." 
 
 " Oct. 22. This morning had a most agreeable interview with 
 my father, who was returning from the army where he has passed 
 some months." 
 
 ^
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 29 
 
 " Nov. 1 2. Spent the day in study. Felt but little concern for 
 my spiritual welfare. Spoke extempore in the evening on the 
 injustice of the slave-trade." 
 
 "Dec. 14. Rose early, and went to see Mr. Manning; found 
 him dead, as I expected." Immediately after the death of this 
 youth, young Fitch went to Canterbury to carry the melancholy 
 tidings to the relatives of the deceased. He then adds under 
 date of 
 
 " Dec. 15. Between seven and eight o'clock, I reached home. 
 I had a most agreeable interview with my parents, brothers, and 
 sisters. I came home very unexpectedly to them all. I found the 
 neighbors assembled at our house, and engaged in a religious con- 
 ference. Two of our family had I'ecently been awakened ; and 
 two of our neighbors had been hopefully converted since I left 
 home. Oh that God would carry on his work gloriously, and 
 cause many to return and come to Zion ! " 
 
 " Dec. 16. This day I designed to return ; but, in compliance 
 with the urgent solicitations of my friends, I concluded to remain 
 till to-morrow. Spent the day mostly in conversation with my 
 friends. I found my dear parents unusually engaged in religion, 
 and I resolved to seek renewing grace with greater diligence. I 
 conversed with my parents about the state of my mind, with great 
 freedom. I had some conversation with my dear sister and brother 
 respecting their salvation, but not near so much as I desired. Oh 
 that God would not leave them, but translate them from the king- 
 dom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son ! " 
 
 " Dec. 1 7. This forenoon took an aflfectionate and an affecting 
 adieu of my dear friends. This has been a very affecting visit, — 
 the moi'e so as it was altogether unexpected. Meditated this day 
 on what I had seen and heard. Resolved in the strength of di- 
 vine grace to maintain a closer walk with God. Had some hope 
 that 1 should yet be made a monument of redeeming gi-ace, and 
 serve God in the work of the ministry." 
 
 "Dec. 18. This day parted with Mr. Manning, who thanked 
 me for what I had done, with tears in his eyes. I have reason to 
 3* 
 
 V^
 
 30 BEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 be thankful that God used me as an instrument of doing an act of 
 kindness to this bereaved and deeply afflicted family. Oh that I 
 had done it from purer motives ! " 
 
 "Dec. 21. Prayed this evening with some feeling and tender- 
 ness. Oh that I might be truly regenerated and devoted to God ! 
 I would gladly serve him in the ministry. I know I am entirely 
 unworthy of such a favor. But he sometimes chooses the weak 
 things of this world to accomplish his glorious purjwses. Perhaps 
 he may thus use me, which I pray may be the case." 
 
 "Jan. 1, 1777. Another year is gone, gone forever, without 
 the possibihty of being recalled. One more year is taken from 
 my life ; and yet I fear I am without an interest in Christ. I may 
 never see another New- Year's day. May it be my greatest con- 
 cern to spend all my time to the best of all purposes, — the service 
 of God, and seeking a good hope in Christ, which God grant I 
 may obtain." 
 
 "March 12. This evening the sirs (resident graduates) at- 
 tended our meeting, and we debated the question until eleven 
 o'clock, whether we should admit the ladies to our anniversary 
 exhibition as we did last year. It was finally determined in the 
 negative." 
 
 " March 13. Spent the day in making preparation for anniver- 
 sary. The actors were so displeased that the ladies were not to 
 be admitted, that it was thought best to call a special meeting of 
 the students this evening, and, the question being again put, it was 
 unanimously decided in the affirmative." 
 
 " March 1 7. At one o'clock walked in procession to the chapel, 
 and at two began to act the tragedy before the largest and most 
 splendid audience that we ever before had at anniversary. After 
 the tragedy was concluded, the comedy, called the West Indian, 
 was acted to the great entertainment of the audience, and was 
 deservedly applauded. I was never more agreeably entertained. 
 Every character was remarkably well sustained. After the exhi 
 bition, the procession returned as it came." 
 
 " March 22. This morning the President (Dr. Daggett) made 
 an address to the students, informing them that on account of the
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 31 
 
 impossibility of supplying college with provisions, it would in a lew / 
 days be dismissed ; and also that he had fully made up his mind to 
 resign the presidency of the college." 
 
 " March 28. Parted with my friends, and left New Haven." 
 
 Yale College suffered greatly during part of the 
 Revolutionary War. So much was the country ex- 
 hausted, that it was found difficult at times to 
 furnish the students with their ordinary food in New 
 Haven.* 
 
 In the spring of 1777, says the biographer of Pres- 
 ident Dvvight, " college was broken up. The stu- 
 dents left New Haven, and pursued their studies, 
 during the summer, under their respective tutors, in 
 places less exposed to the sudden incursions of the 
 enemy." The senior class, of which young Fitch 
 was a member, spent the summer in Wethersfield, 
 under the instruction of Dr. Dwight, who was then 
 a tutor in college. The junior class, under the Rev. 
 Mr. Buckminster, and the sophomore class, under 
 Mr. Baldwin, were in Glastenbury. And the fresh- 
 man class, under the Rev. Mr. Lewis, was in Farm- 
 ington. There was no public commencement at 
 Yale College in the fall of that year. At the stated 
 time for commencement, the senior class returned to 
 New Haven and met the government of college, 
 probably in the library room, and there, after listen- 
 
 * See Prof. Kingsley's Sketch of the History of Yale College, published 
 in the American Quarterly Register for 1835.
 
 32. REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 ing to the usual '•'• i^ro auctoritate mihi commissa" 
 &c., received their diplomas. 
 
 Just as this work is going into the printer's hands, 
 an educated lady has succeeded in deciphering the 
 hitherto obscure portion of Dr. Fitch's journal ; from 
 which a very few extracts will be subjoined. 
 
 " Wethersfield, July 20, 1777. Heard Mr. Dwight preach two 
 sermons to-day from Prov. vili. 17, — / love them that love me, and 
 those who seeh me early shall find me. The sermons were excel- 
 lent. They were evidently addressed to the graduating class." 
 
 " July 22. This has been quarter day. I spoke my dialogue 
 (Messrs. Wright, Lee, and Tracy, spoke the other parts), and the 
 Valedictory Oration, before a very large and splendid audience. 
 I trust I did myself credit. Indeed, all the parts were performed 
 to the entire approbation of the audience." His class consisted of 
 fifty-four, — a much larger one than had ever before graduated at 
 Yale. After their commencement exercises at Wethersfield, the 
 senior class returned to New Haven, and received their degrees." 
 
 Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1777, Dr. Fitch writes: "This day I 
 commenced Bachelor of Arts. Our degrees were signed by Mr. 
 Dickinson, and given to us in a private manner ; the circumstances 
 of the times preventing a public commencement. Spent the day 
 with classmates and friends. This day closed my academical life. 
 A retrospect of the four years spent in this seat of the Muses raises 
 in my mind alternately the emotions of approval and regret. The 
 confusion of war has frequently interrupted my studies, yet I have 
 the satisfaction to find that I have made some progress in the sci- 
 ences, though not so great as I could wish, and not near so much 
 as I might, had I been as diligent as I ought to have been. I 
 have ever had the ministry in view, and have flattered myself that 
 before my college life closed, I should have the spiritual qualifica- 
 tions requisite to a minister of the gospel. But, alas ! I now find
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 33 
 
 myself unqualified for that important employment. My parents 
 are desirous of having me devote my life to the work of the min- 
 istry, and I have always been willing to do so ; but, unless I am 
 called by the renewing grace of God, I can never think it my 
 duty to enter the Christian ministry. What the designs of Heaven 
 are in relation to me is now an awful uncertainty. Without 
 renewing grace, I must be wretched in time and through eternity. 
 No creature can be otherwise than miserable, who, like me, is 
 separated from the great fountain and perfection of happiness. 
 May the time soon come, when, by being assimilated to Christ In 
 temper and conduct, I may be a partaker of his blessedness."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DR. FITCH DRAFTED AS A SOLDIER — TEACHES SCHOOL — IS AP- 
 POINTED TUTOR IN TALE COLLEGE RESIGNS AND ENGAGES IN 
 
 MERCANTILE PURSUITS — IS UNSUCCESSFUL IS APPOINTED A 
 
 TUTOR THE SECOND TIME HIS INTEREST IN RELIGION MAKES 
 
 A PROFESSION IS LICENSED TO PREACH. 
 
 ^ HTLE a member of college, President Fitch 
 excelled in every department of study ; and 
 ¥inM ^^^^ highly esteemed for his blameless and 
 ■^*^^ gentlemanly deportment. The life of a dili- 
 gent and virtuous student in college com- 
 monly passes away without any very striking 
 incident or interruption. It is apparent from 
 his journal that from early life he was remarkably 
 conscientious and diligent in the pursuit of learning, 
 and in the cultivation of a well-balanced Christian 
 character. After receiving the honors of his Alma 
 Mater, he passed about two years at New Haven as 
 a resident graduate. During this period, while spend- 
 ing a short time in Canterbury, he was enrolled and 
 drafted as a soldier to go into the army. But he ob- 
 jected, on the ground that he was a member of col- 
 lege, and therefore not liable to do military duty. 
 On the other hand, it was contended that resident 
 
 (34)
 
 EEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 35 
 
 graduates were not members of college. Mr. Fitch 
 wrote to the President for his opinion on the ques- J 
 tion. President Stiles wrote back that resident grad- 
 uates were considered members of college. This re- 
 leased Mr. Fitch from doing military service. A 
 copy of his letter and President Stiles' answer are 
 both preserved among the records of Yale College. 
 Our whole country, it is well known, was at this 
 time in a very unsettled and agitated state. Mr. 
 Fitch spent nearly a year in teaching a select school 
 in Hanover, N. J. In a letter dated Jan. 4, 1780, he 
 says : — " My wages are about eight dollars and fifty v 
 cents a month, besides board and horse-keeping. I 
 am about five miles east of Morristown, and eight 
 from the army. Week before last I visited the 
 camp, and had the pleasure of seeing many old and 
 some dear friends. I found the log-house city on 
 the declivity of a high hill, three miles south of 
 Morristown. There the Connecticut line dwells in v 
 tabernacles, like Israel of old. And there the troops 
 of the other States lie, some at a greater and some 
 at a less distance, among the hills, in similar habita- 
 tions." 
 
 Mr. Fitch was admitted to his Master's degree, 
 and appointed a tutor in Yale College in the fall of \ / 
 1780. This office he resigned in 1783. He then 
 formed a mercantile connection with Henry Dag- 
 gett, Esq., of New Haven ; and, in pursuing the 
 business of the firm, he went to London in June, 
 1783, and returned the following winter with a large
 
 11 
 
 36 REV. EEENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 purchase of goods. Mr. Fitch not being acquainted 
 with what are familiarly termed " the tricks in trade," 
 nor with the state and wants of the country at that 
 time, made a most unfortunate purchase. " The 
 goods were of a quality and price, at least many of 
 them, above the wants and habits of the citizens of 
 Connecticut." The consequence was that he in- 
 volved himself in pecuniary embarrassment, from 
 which he did not extricate himself for a number of 
 years.* In 1786, he was a second time elected to 
 the office of instructor in Yale College, and officiated 
 as senior tutor and librarian till 1791. It is the 
 unanimous testimony of such men as the Rev. Dr. 
 Samuel Shepard, of Lenox, and the Hon. Jeremiah 
 Mason, of Boston, that he was highly respected in 
 that office. At that time the instruction of college 
 was given by the President and tutors. It is not, 
 however, our intention to represent Mr. Fitch, either 
 as a scholar or instructor, as the highest among the 
 high. His native talents and literary acquirements, 
 if not superior to the majority of his associates in 
 office, were unquestionably such as to secure for 
 him a high degree of respect and esteem, so far as 
 he was known. Still he was more distinguished for 
 his moral worth than for his intellectual powers and 
 literary attainments. 
 
 * In a letter dated April, 1797, President Fitch writes: "By the as- 
 sistance of my brother Jabez, I last winter effected a settlement of my old 
 debt with Mr. Daggett. The debt is now reduced to a little more than 
 six hundred dollars, which I can pay in a few years, if my life and health 
 are continued."
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 37 
 
 President Fitch was probably the subject of re- 
 newing grace in early life. Though from some ex- 
 pressions in his journal it would seem that he felt at 
 the time of writing it (in the language of Edwards 
 on the Affections) that " the Spirit was on the mind, 
 and not in it," yet in after years he referred the 
 date of his conversion to the period preceding his 
 entrance into college, supposing it to have occurred 
 when he was about fifteen years old. While in the 
 field, on a certain day, meditating on his moral state, 
 and contemplating his latter end, he saw himself to 
 be a careless transgressor of the divine law ; his 
 heart was overpowered with a sense of sin, and 
 melted into sweet submission to his Maker, who 
 now appeared " long-suflTering, abundant in good- 
 ness, rich in mercy, and worthy of all love and obe- 
 dience ; " and to use his own words, " he felt him- 
 self drawn to Christ, who now appeared to him 
 altogether lovely." In a letter to the Rev. Dr. James 
 Cogswell, dated Williamstown, June, 1796, he says: 
 " I remember the pious counsels which you gave 
 me and Samuel when we were school-boys together. 
 I retain some of the impressions which your preach- 
 ing, and particularly your instructions at catechising 
 the children in Canterbury, made upon my mind. 
 By the blessing of God, I trust they were not 
 thrown away." 
 
 Mr. Fitch made a public profession of religion 
 while a tutor at New Haven, connecting himself 
 with the college church. In the unpublished diary
 
 38 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 of President Stiles is the following entry : " May 
 6, 1787. Lord's day. 1 attended chapel all day. 
 Dr. Wales preached two sermons on Luke xiv. 22, 
 — And yet there is room. Mr. Tutor Fitch and Mr. 
 Tutor Denison were publicly admitted into the col- 
 lege church, and sat down to the Lord's table with 
 us, the sacrament being now administered." 
 
 President Fitch was licensed to preach the gospel 
 the same month that he made a public profession of 
 religion. The following is from the record of a 
 meeting of the Association of New Haven West, at 
 the house of the Rev. Mr. Brownson, in Oxford, 
 May 27, 1787: "Mr. Ebenezer Fitch, Tutor in 
 Yale College, having read a sermon before the as- 
 sociation, and having given evidence of his church- 
 membership, after examination as to his doctrinal 
 knowledge, and experimental acquaintance with 
 Christianity, was recommended to the churches as 
 a candidate for the evangelical ministry, qualified to 
 preach the gospel, wherever Divine Providence may 
 call him." The ministers present were Rev. Messrs. 
 Mark Leavenworth, Eliphalet Ball, Noah Williston, 
 David Brownson, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Wales, 
 Alexander Gillet, William Lockwood, and Abraham 
 Fowler.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DR. FITCH ELECTED PRECEPTOR OF THE ACADEMY AT WILLIAMS- 
 TOWN APPLICATION FOR A COLLEGE CHARTER DR. FITCH 
 
 ELECTED PRESIDENT HIS BIARRIAGE HIS FAMILY DEATH 
 
 OF HIS SON DR. FITCH'S LETTER HIS ORDINATION PROS- 
 PERITY OF THE COLLEGE LETTER FROM DR. WEST TO DR. SAM- 
 UEL HOPKINS — CONTINUED PROSPERITY — TROUBLE IN COLLEGE 
 — HON. C. A. DEWEY's REMARKS AT THE HALF-CENTURY MEETING 
 IN 1843. 
 
 LITERARY institution having been com- 
 menced in Williamstown, Mass., with an ex- 
 pectation that it would become a college, 
 Mr. Fitch was urgently solicited to dissolve 
 v;^ his connection with Yale College, and take 
 J^' charge of it. He was elected to the office 
 of Preceptor of the academy in Williamstown, Oc- 
 tober 27, 1790. It was not without much hesitation 
 and inquiry that he concluded to accept of this ap- 
 pointment. Early the next year, however, he re- 
 turned an answer of acceptance, and commenced 
 teaching a public school there Oct. 26, 1791, " It con- 
 sisted of two departments, — an academy or gram- 
 mar school, and English free school, — and under the 
 direction of Mr. Fitch immediately became pros- 
 perous. A considerable number of students re- 
 
 (39) 
 
 v/
 
 40 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 sorted to it from Massachusetts and the neighboring 
 States, and some even from Canada." 
 
 The reputation and prospective usefulness of the 
 institution strengthened the desire of the trustees 
 and people of Williamstown to effect more perfectly 
 the object in view, — namely, to erect the school into 
 a college. Accordingly a petition, evidently written 
 by President Fitch, and dated at Williamstown, 
 May 22, 1792, — about six months from the opening 
 of the academy, — was signed by William Williams, 
 Theodore Sedgwick, Woodbridge Little, John Ba- 
 con, T. J. Skinner, Seth Swift, Daniel Collins, Israel 
 Jones, and David Noble, and presented to the Legis- 
 lature, praying for an act of incorporation changing 
 the school into a college. This application proved 
 V successful, and a college charter was granted by the 
 Legislature June 22, 1793. In August of that year, 
 / Mr. Fitch was elected President, and in October fol- 
 lowing, Williams College was regularly organized 
 by the admission of three small classes. President 
 Fitch now entered upon a theatre of enlarged and 
 responsible action, — one for which, by his learning, 
 talents, and experience in teaching, he was well 
 adapted. In choosing him as the first President of 
 their infant seminary the trustees were eminently 
 united and happy. And that they were neither un- 
 wise nor disappointed in their choice cannot be 
 doubted by those who are acquainted with the early 
 history of the college. In his hands, and under his 
 care, it soon acquired celebrity and influence, num-
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 41 
 
 bers and usefulness, not surpassed, if equalled, by 
 any sister institution of that period in circumstances 
 no more friendly to success. 
 
 In May, 1792, President Fitch was united in mar- 
 riage to Mrs. Mary Cogswell, the widow of his in- 
 timate friend, cousin, and classmate, Samuel Cogs- 
 well, Esq., who has been before mentioned. Mrs. 
 Cogswell was the daughter of Major Ebenezer 
 Backus, of Windham, Ct., — a highly intelligent 
 and amiable woman. Previous to her first marriage, 
 she received a matrimonial offer from Samuel Cogs- 
 well, Esq., and President Fitch, about the same 
 time. Neither of them was aware that the other 
 had made her such a proposal. She was, however, 
 united to Mr. Cogswell in marriage. Samuel Cogs- 
 well, Esq., was a brother of Dr. Mason Fitch Cogs- 
 well, of Hartford, the originator and patron of the 
 American Asylum, in that place, for the education 
 of the deaf and dumb. Mr. Cogswell resided in 
 Lansingburg, N. Y., and was accidentally shot dead, 
 on a gunning party, by a friend and fellow- graduate 
 of Yale College, about the time that President Fitch 
 went to Williamstown. 
 
 By his marriage. President Fitch became the / 
 father of eleven children, ten of whom were sons.* 
 
 * The two children left by Mr. Cogswell — Maria, afterward the wife of 
 Major Jonathan Sloan, and James Fitch Cogswell — President Fitch 
 treated as his own, giving the son a public education. He was graduated 
 at Williams College, in 1808. Three of President Fitch's children were 
 born at a birth. May, 1807, two of whom died the June following, of the 
 whooping-cough. One of the three is still living. Tlie children now liv- 
 4*
 
 y 
 
 42 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Five died young. The oldest of this number, Eben- 
 ezer, had just been admitted a member of college, 
 and died the night preceding commencement, 1807. 
 He was a professor of religion, and a youth of great 
 promise. 
 
 After describing some domestic afflictions, in a 
 letter to a relative. Dr. Fitch adds : — 
 
 " But a holy God had a still heavier affliction iu store for us. 
 Alas, must I tell you that my first-born, my Ebenezer, has gone 
 down to the grave? So, indeed, it is. In the summer of 1806 
 he obtained a hope that his heart was renewed by divine grace, 
 and he afterwards lived like a sincere and devoted Christian. On 
 the third Sabbath in January, he, with several others, made a 
 public profession of rehgion. He was unusually gifted in prayer 
 and. exhortation, and took a modest but active part in the religious 
 conferences of the young people. Several times in my absence 
 he prayed in the family with propriety, fervor, and solemnity. It 
 was usual for him to pray with his brothers in their chamber be- 
 fore retiring to rest, and immediately after they rose in the morn- 
 ing ; and we have evidence that he did not neglect secret prayer. 
 Thus was God, I humbly trust, in infinite mercy preparing him 
 for the great event which was so near at hand. On Saturday, 
 the 2i)th of August, he and several others of his mates were ex- 
 amined and admitted into college. The next day I preached, and 
 he was present all day. We had all been ill with a severe influ- 
 enza. He had it lighter than the rest of the family, and appeared 
 to be well over it. Sabbath evening he told his mother that he 
 
 ing are two sons and the only daughter, Mrs. Lucy Fitch Folsom, whose 
 husband is an eflScient chaplain in the army. Two of Dr. Fitch's sons 
 were graduated at Williams College, — Mason Cogswell Fitch, in 1815, 
 who died in 1852 at New Albany, Indiana, a man of wealth and influence; 
 the Kev. Charles Fitch graduated in 1818, and died in 1864, having filled 
 up a life of usefulness.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 43 
 
 felt unusually well, and retired to rest. Before sunrise on Mon- 
 day morning I found him afflicted with chills, wliich were suc- 
 ceeded by fever. I administered some mild remedies, which 
 seemed to remove his fever, and thought little of any danger in 
 his case. I was in the college till noon, and did not till three 
 o'clock take any alarm. I then found his fever high, and called 
 in a physician, who bled him, and all his strength and senses left 
 him at once, and he appeared to be sinking into the arms of death. 
 My pen will not allow me to describe the distressing scene which 
 followed. He expired just after twelve on Wednesday morning 
 of commencement-day. God enabled me to go through the usual 
 exercises of the day ; and on Thursday forenoon we attended the 
 funeral, and committed the. dear, darhng child to the dust. My 
 heai't daily bleeds under this sore affliction. But God be praised, 
 — the dear child, I doubt not, is with his Saviour. There, there 
 may he be. I wish not to recall him. His age was fourteen 
 years, six months, and five days. I have now lost a very obedient, 
 affectionate, pious, and promising child. But my loss is his in- 
 estimable gain. All is right. All is well. And may God have 
 all the praise." 
 
 " The President," says the Rev. Dr. Robbins, who 
 was present on the occasion, " though deeply af- 
 flicted, appeared remarkably well. He performed 
 the official duties of Commencement with great cor- 
 rectness and propriety. The funeral of his son was 
 attended the next day, and most of the students re- 
 mained to sympathize with their deeply afflicted 
 President and his family. When the corpse was 
 deposited in the grave, the bereaved father in a calm 
 and collected tone remarked : " I do not deposit 
 in this grave silver or gold, but my first-born, the 
 beginning of my strength."
 
 44 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 v^ The first Commencement of Williams College 
 
 was on the first Wednesday in Sept., 1795. On 
 the 17th day of June previous, President Fitch 
 was ordained a minister of the gospel, at Wil- 
 liamstown, by the Berkshire Association, with 
 special reference to his station as head of the col- 
 lege. The Rev. Epbraim Judson, of Sheffield, 
 preached the sermon from 2 Timothy iv. 2. Preach 
 the loord. The Rev. Dr. West, of Stockbridge, gave 
 the charge. And the Rev. Mr. Swift, of Williams- 
 town, gave the right hand of fellowship. In this he 
 remarks : " We rejoice at your readiness to engage 
 in the great work of the gospel ministry, and to 
 make preaching yom* business at college and other 
 places, so far as your study and business at college 
 will permit." 
 
 President Fitch received the honorary degree of 
 Doctor in Divinity, from Harvard University, in 
 September, 1800. 
 
 Williams College came into existence in a great 
 measure by the wise and persevering efforts of Pres- 
 ident Fitch, and prospered greatly under his influ- 
 ence and supervision. From an humble beginning 
 it was raised, chiefly by his instrumentality, to a 
 station of high and acknowledged respectability and 
 usefulness. For a series of years it continued to 
 advance with accelerated progress in usefulness and 
 reputation. Such was the rapidity of its growth, 
 and its almost unexampled prosperity, that at one 
 period of Dr. Fitch's presidency it enrolled upon its
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 45 
 
 annual catalogue about one hundred and forty stu- ^ 
 dents. It was resorted to from all parts of New 
 England and New York. 
 
 The following brief extracts from some of Presi- 
 dent Fitch's letters will be read, in this connection, 
 with interest : 
 
 "January, 1796. The number of students is increasing so rap- 
 idly that we are already in want of another college edifice. AVe 
 hope to obtain from the State a grant of a township of land in the 
 Province of Maine, which, if obtained, will enable us to erect 
 another building. At present, we have a very likely collection of 
 young men. They are very studious and orderly, and give us 
 scarcely any trouble." 
 
 V\/ 
 
 Through the influence of the late Dr. West, of 
 Stockbridge, who was for a number of years Vice 
 President of Williams College, Dr. Hopkins's Sys- 
 tem of Divinity was for a time one of the text- 
 books for the senior class. March, 1797, the Presi- 
 dent writes : " In future we shall read Doddridge's 
 Lectures in lieu of Hopkins's System." 
 
 The following letter from Dr. West to Dr. Samuel 
 Hopkins will be read, in this connection, with in- 
 terest : — 
 
 " Stockbridge, Sept. 19, 1797. 
 " You spoke in your last of our having prohibited your System u/ 
 being recited in Williams College. It is true, the trustees have 
 prohibited it. It was introduced as a classical study without the 
 order of the corporation. The President introduced it because, 
 as he told me, he thought it much exceeded anything of the kind 
 he had seen. But the civilian part of the board, it seems, were
 
 J 
 
 46 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 of another opinion. They judged that its being recited would be 
 injurious to the reputation of our new institution. The matter 
 was considerably discussed. The clerical part of the board were 
 all of one mind ; and were greatly opposed to its being rejected. 
 But when the vote for its rejection was taken, every hand was up, 
 excepting those of the ministers. Though the world seems to be 
 made for Csesar, yet we know that Zion's God reigns. The time 
 is not yet come for truth to prevail. But in God's good time it 
 surely will come. The evil one intends to hold the college, but 
 the Lord will support his own cause." 
 
 Williams College was early and intimately asso- 
 ciated with those views of theology which were ad- 
 vocated and defended by Dr. Samuel Hopkins, who 
 was for twenty-five years a clergyman in Berkshire 
 County. President Fitch, Dr. West, and the Rev. 
 Mr. Collins, and most of the clergy of the county 
 at that day were favorable to Dr. Hopkins's theo- 
 logical views. Williams College was likewise early 
 associated with the cause of missions to the hea- 
 then ; and its early missionary zeal was the result 
 or fruit of its theology. The one was the precursor 
 of the other. They stood related as cause and ef- 
 fect. And the fundamental truth in its theology and 
 missionary spirit was " disinterested benevolence ; " 
 which seems to hold about the same place in the re- 
 ligious world that the attraction of gravitation holds 
 in the natural world ; involving the great law of the 
 union and the progress of the race. 
 
 " January, 1 799. Things go well in our infant seminary. Our 
 number is hardly as large as it was last year. The scarcity of
 
 v/ 
 
 REY. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 47 
 
 money is one cause of this decrease. Some leave us through 
 mere poverty. But our ambition is to make good scholars, rather 
 than to add to our numbers ; and in this we mean not to be out- 
 done by any college in New England. Perseverance in the sys- 
 tem we have adopted will eventually give reputation to this insti- 
 tution in the view of all who prefer the useful to the showy." 
 
 "Dec. 1799. The college is in a prosperous state. The students 
 continue to be diligent and orderly. We admitted twenty-four v^ 
 freshmen, and have in all eighty-one members of college." 
 
 "June, 1801. Our college is prospering. We have admitted 
 forty-five freshmen and nine sophomores tliis year, and expect 
 to make the number up to sixty before commencement." 
 
 " Januai'y, 1802. Our freshman class this year is not as large 
 as usual, but we expect it will increase to twenty-five or more. 
 A larger number of them than usual are professors of religion ; 
 and I hope will make pious and useful ministers. Notwithstand- 
 ing the cruel and malicious slanders thrown so profusely of late 
 on the clergy, serious young men, who have the ministry in view, 
 appear not to be disheartened. The great Head of the church 
 will still, I trust, continue a succession of learned and evangelical 
 ministers in his churches in this land. He appears to be interpos- 
 ing remarkably for the increase and encouragement of his church 
 in one place and another ; and for the support of the great cause 
 of truth and piety. Amidst all the present dark and threatening 
 appearances, some light shines to console and animate the friends 
 of order, government, and religion. The clergy are now experi- 
 encing the trial of ' cruel mocking ; ' and it will not be surprising 
 if ' scourgings, bonds, imprisonments ' and other persecutions 
 should follow, for the trial of their faith and patience. It has 
 been usual for God to suifer his church to sink very low before 
 he appears to deliver and enlarge it. This will probably be emi- 
 nently the case previously to its last great deliverance and en- 
 largement. I trust that ministers and Chi-istians in general will 
 have grace and strength in proportion to their trials ; and have no 
 doubt that true religion will ultimately triumph."
 
 48 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 "April, 1802. We have lately liad trouble in college. The 
 judgments which we drew up and published to the classes re- 
 specting their examination in March, gave offence. Three class- 
 es in succession were in a state of insurrection against govern- 
 ment. For ten days we had a good deal of difficulty. But the 
 government stood firm, and determined to give up no right. At 
 last, without the loss of a member, we reduced all to due obe- 
 dience and subordination. Never before had I occasion for so 
 much prudence and firmness ; not even in the grand rebellion of 
 1782 at Yale. Most of the students are now very much ashamed 
 of their late conduct. The present generation of them will not, 
 I apprehend, burn their fingers again. They have found that we 
 will support our authority." 
 
 "March, 1803. We have both of our college buildings full of 
 students. Nearly thirty of them are serious professors ; and many 
 more of them are such amiable and moral young men that we 
 have strong hopes that they will become truly pious, and make 
 useful and devoted ministers of the gospel. This is truly encour- 
 aging, though there is at present no special attention to rehgion 
 among us." 
 
 Nothing occurred to check the prosperity of the 
 college, or cause any serious difficulty or discour- 
 agement, for fifteen years. In the summer of 1808 
 a disturbance took place among the students, con- 
 cerning which we propose to give some account, 
 nearly in the language of Dr. Chester Dewey. 
 
 In the summer just alluded to, the sophomore 
 class became very much dissatisfied with their tutor. 
 At that time the college had but four officers ; the 
 President taught the seniors, Professor Olds the 
 juniors, and there was a sophomore and a fresh- 
 man tutor. The sophomores wished to prevent the
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 49 
 
 continuance of their tutor in college after the aext ^ 
 commencement. Accordingly they presented a pe- 
 tition to the President and Trustees, signed by some 
 besides their own class, that their tutor might not 
 be reelected. This attempt on the part of students 
 to interfere with the government of the college cre- 
 ated agitation and disturbance. Those not belong- 
 ing to the class acknowledged their wrong, and were 
 forgiven. Here the matter rested till after com- 
 mencement, which passed off pleasantly, — the tu- 
 tors remaining in office, — and here it was supposed 
 the matter would end. The students returned, hop- 
 ing that everything would go on in peace. 
 
 But Professor Olds felt that the subject must not 
 be left so. He felt that the students must not be 
 allowed to interfere in matters where they had no 
 control. He felt that the tutor had been injured by 
 what the students had said and done. He had per- 
 suaded some of the students to make their acknowl- 
 edgments ; and now he wanted those most con^ 
 cerned in getting up the petition to do the same.. 
 The Faculty agreed with him in this opinion. 
 When Professor Olds presented the subject to the 
 members of the offending class (now under his in- 
 struction), each individual refused to put his name 
 to the paper. The junior class was now in direct 
 opposition to a measure adopted by the Faculty. 
 Recitations were at once suspended in that class, 
 and the whole college was in a state of high excite- j
 
 50 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 ment ; and the expulsion of some of those most 
 deeply implicated was seriously apprehended. 
 
 When the state of things was reported to the 
 Faculty, the President, after a more careful exami- 
 nation of the case, and obtaining the advice of 
 Judge Daniel Dewey, refused to sustain the Profes- 
 sor and tutors in the attempt to force a confession 
 from the juniors ; saying that he had been mistaken 
 in the facts, or he should not have consented to re- 
 quire the proposed acknowledgment. Was this 
 course in the President justifiable ? Most certainly. 
 
 In the midst of the excitement a committee of 
 the students waited on the President, and begged 
 to inform him of the ground on which they had 
 signed the objectionable petition ; that their motive 
 in doing it was to sustain the reputation and useful- 
 ness of the college ; that before presenting it, they 
 had made it a subject of special prayer; that if the 
 tutor remained, some of the students had made up 
 their minds to leave ; that if they had erred, it was 
 in discharging what they deemed to be a duty. 
 This representation and further examination pro- 
 duced a change in the President's course, which was 
 unexpected to the other officers. He said the mat- 
 ter had been managed by Professor Olds, in whom 
 great confidence had been placed, and that he had 
 come to conclusions, and had led them to adopt 
 measures, which the true state of the facts, and the 
 feelings and intentions of the students, did not au- 
 thorize. He therefore told the Professor that the
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 51 
 
 proposed measure was not called for, and must be 
 given up. Professor Olds now felt that he could 
 no longer hold a respectable standing in the eyes of 
 the students, — that he must be sustained or resign. 
 Without looking at the consequences, the tutors 
 sent in a hasty, inconsiderate resignation ; and in a 
 few hours that of Professor Olds followed. 
 
 The college was now left without any officer ex- 
 cept the President, and as the vacancies could not 
 be supplied at once, a recess of four weeks was 
 given to the students. At the expiration of that 
 time most of the students returned. Messrs. Ches- 
 ter Dewey, John Nelson, and James W. Robbins 
 were called to the tutorships. The students at once 
 devoted themselves to quiet and profitable study. 
 They pursued an unexceptionable course in all 
 things. Peace, order, and good feeling now ruled. 
 
 Professor Olds evidently misjudged on the dishon- 
 or of his situation. His keen sensitiveness led him 
 to terminate his connection with Williams College, 
 and afterwards with other institutions, in such a 
 sudden manner that many years of his life were 
 sadly embittered. His mind was of a high order; 
 he was a finished scholar, an excellent linguist, 
 and the whole system of mathematics then taught 
 in our colleges was perfectly at his command. 
 
 . But who were among the leading members of the 
 class which Professor Olds considered so refractory, 
 and so unceremoniously abandoned, and which Pres- 
 ident Fitch, at the peril of being thought wanting in
 
 f 
 
 52 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 firmness, defended? The late Dr. Justin Edwards, 
 the Rev. S. M. Emerson, Hon. Judge J. H. Hallock, 
 Hon. Judge Daniel Kellogg, Hon. Darius Lyman, 
 Hon. William H. Maynard, the Rev. Luther Rice, 
 one of the early missionaries to the East, and the 
 Rev. John Seward, an early missionary to the West. 
 
 " Still from this shock," says President Griffin, 
 " increased by exaggerated reports respecting the 
 extent of the disorders, the college did not recover 
 itself during the administration of Dr. Fitch." And 
 yet he was fully sustained in the course which he 
 pursued by all the Trustees, and by the friends of 
 the college generally. The subsequent history of 
 the class has clearly shown that he was in the right. 
 Time has been his vindicator. 
 
 We have given a somewhat full account of this 
 college rupture, because it evidently had no small 
 influence in hastening the President's resignation. 
 
 It will be seen, by consulting the Triennial Cata- 
 logue, that the largest class that was graduated at 
 Williams College during the presidency of Dr. 
 Fitch, was that of the year 1804. It contained 38. 
 That of 1811 contained 34. Those of 1808, 1809, 
 and 1814 contained 29. Those of 1805 and 1806 
 contained 26. And the last class that was gradu- 
 ated under Dr. Fitch (that of 1815), contained 24. 
 The following comparison will show the prosperous 
 condition of the college during the administration 
 of Dr. Fitch. During his presidency of twenty- two 
 years the whole number of graduates amounted in
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D.D. 53 
 
 \ 
 
 all to 460, — an average of about 22 annually. 
 During the six years of Dr. Moore's administration 
 the whole number of graduates was 90, — an aver- 
 age of 15 annually. The fifteen classes which were 
 graduated during the presidency of Dr. Griffin con- 
 tained in all 311, — an average of 21 annually. 
 
 In 1843, the Society of Alumni celebrated the 
 semi-centennial anniversary of the founding of the 
 college. Some of the remarks offered on that occa- 
 sion by the Hon. C. A. Dewey, who is familiar with 
 the early and later history of the institution, will 
 form a fitting close to this chapter. 
 
 " Williams here laid the foundation of a school of an elevated 
 character, and one promising great benefit to the youth in this 
 vicinity. It soon came to be felt that the cause of sound learning 
 and true piety demanded an institution of a more elevated charac- 
 ter, — one -which might extend its benefits to young men, not in 
 this town merely, but embracing a large circle in an extended 
 region. In the true spirit of our republican institutions, this college 
 was chartered, and by its establishment the facilities of a collegiate 
 education were widely extended. Here benefits of a practical 
 character were secured. It occupied a space remote from other 
 similar institutions ; its expenses were of small amount, and easily 
 brought within the compass of all who desired to obtain an educa- 
 tion. In truth, it extended the advantages to a large class of 
 young men, who, but for this college, would have been deprived 
 of the advantages of a liberal education ; and many, who have 
 now a controlling influence in the affairs of National and State 
 governments ; many who have adorned the hberal professions ; 
 and many who have gone forth to civilize and Christianize the 
 heathen world, would have remained in comparative obscurity 
 but for this institution. The advantages here offered were eagerly 
 5»
 
 54 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 embraced. Young men from every quarter here assembled. 
 Those who would have gone to no other institution were here 
 trained and fitted to be strong pillars in the church and state, — 
 filling the learned professions, occupjang the highest stations in 
 our universities and colleges, and honored by seats in our legisla- 
 tive halls. 
 
 " AVUliams College was peculiarly fortunate in its first officers. 
 President Fitch, that good man, who for twenty-two years presided 
 over it, brought to the presidential chair those qualities which 
 gave him extensive influence, and attracted the attention of the 
 friends of learning and science. Uniting the urbane manners of 
 the good-hearted gentleman, highly respectable talents, much and 
 long-continued experience as a teacher, and a heart abounding in 
 love to God and toward his fellow-men, he was beloved of all, 
 and esteemed of all. 
 
 " His early associates, as teachers, were men of the highest 
 order. Among them was Jeremiah Day, so long the distinguished 
 head of Yale College ; Henry Davis, who afterwards presidep 
 over Middlebury and Hamilton Colleges ; Thomas Day and 
 Warren Dutton, both lights of science and literature. And others 
 might with propriety be named In this connection. 
 
 " The college had indeed its palmy days, and the evidence of 
 its usefulness soon became apparent. If subsequently there have 
 been days of darkness and depression, they have been shared, it 
 is believed, in common with other similar institutions ; for what 
 college has not had its days of darkness and trial ? 
 
 " The period emphatically one of depression and discourage- 
 ment as to numbers was that of 1813, 1814, and 1815. The 
 question as to whether a new class was to enter at the new college 
 year was sometimes supposed to depend on the state of things in 
 a private classical school in the little village of Plalnfield, and 
 what numbers that good and venerable man and minister, the 
 Rev. Moses Hallock, could send us. There, In retirement, besides 
 his parochial duties, always faithfully performed, this venerable 
 man devoted his time most successfully to the classical education
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 56 
 
 of young men. Mr. Hallock never forsook us ; and in the days of 
 our greatest need always sent us from bis retired cloister a num- 
 ber of goodly youth, and in one instance, I believe, furnished 
 more than one half of the entire class." 
 
 Among the many young men who were jEitted for 
 this college by Mr. Hallock, and who rose to emi- 
 nence, may be named James Richards, missionary to 
 Ceylon ; Jonas King, missionary to Greece ; William 
 Richards, who went as missionary to the Sandwich 
 Islands, but became Minister of Public Instruction ; 
 and in this connection the name of William A. Hal- 
 lock, Secretary of the American Tract Society, ought 
 not to be omitted. Others have been distinguished 
 in different professions, among whom are William 
 H. Maynard, of the New York State Senate, and 
 founder of the Law School in Hamilton College ; 
 and Jeremiah H. Hallock, for years a presiding judge 
 in Ohio.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RELIGIOUS UISTORY OF THE COLLEGE UP TO 1815 — EXTRACT FROM 
 
 THE SERMON AND CHARGE AT DR. FITCh's ORDINATION THE 
 
 FIRST REVIVAL IN COLLEGE THE HAYSTACK PRATER-MEETING 
 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY ORGANIZED — SECOND REVIVAL — LETTER 
 TO DR. HYDE — THIRD REVIVAL — DR. J. EDWARDS' LETTER TO 
 DR. FITCH. 
 
 I^RESIDENT FITCH ever manifested a deep 
 and lively interest in the spiritual welfare of 
 those who were under his care and instruc- 
 
 ii tion. During his presidency, Williams Col- 
 lege was repeatedly visited by the special 
 influences of the Holy Spirit; and was made 
 instrumental of preparing many young men 
 for the ministry. More than this : it was honored 
 as the birthplace of American missions to the 
 heathen. It was here that such devoted men as 
 Mills and Hall, James and William Richards, and 
 others of a kindred spirit, received their early train- 
 ing for the missionary work. The repeated revivals 
 of religion, which were enjoyed in that favored col- 
 lege previous to 1815, occurred instruraentally in 
 connection with his faithful and pungent preaching. 
 " At the outset of his career, he took a decided stand 
 against French Infidelity, and had no little influ- 
 
 (56)
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 57 
 
 ence in staying its progress. His character for sin- 
 cerity and kindness added weight to his instructions, 
 and gave him decided advantages as a religious 
 teacher." The only way for the followers of Christ 
 to silence those who oppose and deride Christianity 
 is by a life of consistent and uniform piety. Such 
 a life will do what volumes of argument cannot ac- 
 complish. It will not only silence, but it will sub- 
 due. It will not merely close the mouth of the 
 scoffer, but it will find its way to his heart. Those 
 who were personally acquainted with Dr. Fitch, daily 
 took knowledge of him, that he had his " conversa- 
 tion in heaven." 
 
 To show the views of the founders and early pa- 
 trons of the college, we shall here introduce an 
 extract from the sermon and charge at Dr. Fitch's 
 ordination : — 
 
 " ' Our fathers have done well,' said the Rev. Mr. Judson, in his 
 ordination sermon, ' for they have encouraged the preaching of 
 the word. To promote this good design, they formed themselves 
 into small towns and parishes. In these they built houses for pub- 
 lic worship, settled ministers, and usually attended on pulpit in- 
 struction. In consequence of this wise regulation, the people of 
 New England have been the most virtuous and enlightened of 
 any in the world. And, what is infinitely more, multitudes are 
 now in glory, praising the ever-living God for the expression of 
 his mercy in giving them a place in this happy land of light.' 
 
 " They did more. They erected colleges, with a princij^al de- 
 sign to diffuse a knowledge of the word. They have appointed 
 divines to preside over them, that the youth might be instructed 
 in religion, as well as in the branches of collegiate science. And
 
 58 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 it gives us pleasure to see such an one at tlie head of Williams 
 College, to whom it may be proper, on this occasion, to say a few 
 words in particular. 
 
 " Sir, — After the solemnities of this day, in all your steps in 
 the field of science with the young gentlemen under your instruc- 
 tion, you will remember you are a minister of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, under the most solemn charge tu preach his word. Since 
 your residence will be at the college, you will feel yourself under 
 special obligation to instruct the youth in the things of religion. 
 Your advantages for it will be great. You will have the authori- 
 ty of a father ; for when we send our sons here, we constitute you 
 their parent. You will have the authority of a president. And 
 in a few moments you will have the authority of a minister of 
 the word. The sacredness of your office will give weight to your 
 example and instruction. With these advantages, and with the 
 Bible in your hand, and its i:)rinciples in your heart, you have a 
 happy prospect of doing good. You will also be under a charge 
 pressed upon j-ou in the presence of God and the Lord Jesus, and 
 the solemnity of the day of judgment, and the exceedingly im- 
 portant consideration that the word is the only thing that will 
 lead youth to a correct knowledge of God, of true virtue and 
 eternal life. You will often reflect that religion is the best qual- 
 ification they can possess, to prepare them for public usefulness, 
 when they leave this seat of learning, and go forth to be citizens 
 of the world. We, their parents, commit them to your care, 
 above all things wishing you would faithfully instruct them in the 
 things of God." 
 
 In his appropriate charge, Dr. West observes : — 
 
 " You are called to preside over the seminary of learning in 
 this place. You will remember that to train up youth for the 
 service of Christ in the great work of the ministry, was one prin- 
 cipal object which our pious forefathers had in view in the orig- 
 inal institution of colleges in this land. Divinity is one important
 
 REV. EEENEZER FITCH, D. D. 59 
 
 branch of instruction, to which you will be constantly called to 
 attend. We charge you not to teach for doctrine the command- 
 ments of men ; but that the instructions which you shall from time 
 to time give be drawn from the pure fountain of the word of 
 God. You will remember that the souls of these youth will be, 
 in an important sense, required at your hand. Watch for them, 
 therefore, as one that must give an account." 
 
 Theology has always been studied in Williams 
 College, not professionally, but as a part of a lib- 
 eral education. The Westminster Catechism has 
 always furnished, and does to this day furnish, the 
 regular exercise for the senior class every Saturday 
 forenoon. It was studied in Yale College when Dr. 
 Fitch was there, and by him was transferred to this 
 college. And perhaps no recitations have been more 
 'highly prized, or remembered with more profit. 
 
 The original guardians of Williams College were 
 men of large and enlightened views. Eight of the 
 thirteen original trustees were graduates of Yale 
 College, and most of them were men of distinguished 
 eminence. It was their full intention, from the first, 
 to have an institution of high order, and that should 
 not be inferior to their own Alma Mater, as soon as 
 their means would enable them to accomplish their 
 purposes. Especially did they intend that it should 
 be of a high religious character, and adapted to pre- 
 pare young men for the service of the church. 
 
 In the early days of the college, the number of 
 professors of religion was small ; still, even then 
 there were some who maintained a character for
 
 60 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 consistent and active piety. From the faithful 
 preaching of Dr. Fitch, and from the labor and pray- 
 ers of the few pious students who were connected 
 with the college, some received impressions which 
 were not effaced till they produced a permanent 
 change. Weekly prayer-meetings were sustained 
 in those early days with great uniformity. There 
 was one held for a number of years every evening in 
 the week at the ringing of the nine-o'clock bell. The 
 meeting was much in the form of family worship. 
 The Scriptures were read, remarks were made, and 
 prayer was offered. " This meeting was sustained 
 uniformly for four years," and, the writer adds, " I 
 believe will be remembered with joy by some in an- 
 other world." 
 
 It was often said, by Dr. Griffin, that revivals of 
 religion began to make their appearance in 1792, in 
 Litchfield and Berkshire counties. Soon after this, 
 revivals began to be enjoyed in the churches gener- 
 ally. The Rev. Mr. Swift, the pastor of the church 
 in Williamstown, was strongly impressed with the 
 belief that he should live to see a revival under his 
 ministrations. In the spring of 1805, this blessing 
 began to be realized, and continued between two 
 and three years. It soon extended to the college. 
 In the spring of 1806, a new impulse was given to 
 the revival in college, by the accession of Samuel J. 
 Mills, whose religious history is familiar, and whose 
 very name is " like ointment poured forth." There 
 were two other young men, classmates of Mills, who
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 61 
 
 were distinguished for their consistent piety and ac- 
 tive usefulness, — namely, James Richards and Rob- 
 ert C. Robbins. As the result of this early revival, 
 it is reported that thirteen made a profession of re- 
 ligion, of whom nine became ministers of the gospel. 
 Another account says, " Besides those who became 
 members of the church from the classes that were 
 graduated in 1805, 6, 7, 8, and 9, about seventeen 
 have since become professors of religion." 
 
 This revival, which commenced in 1805, extended 
 into 1807, so that late in that year Dr. Fitch writes, 
 " On my return from Sheldon, Vt., the 5th of Febru- 
 ary last, I found our excellent pastor, the Rev. Mr. 
 Swift, on his death-bed. I left him in good health, but 
 found him in a dying state. He lived, however, un- 
 til the 13th of February, and then left this evil world 
 to receive the reward of a faithful minister of Jesus. 
 His death brought great additional labors upon me. 
 The attention to religion still continued, and I at- 
 tended meetings and preached often. Since his 
 death, I have preached about fifty sermons here, be- 
 sides all the cares and distresses which have attended 
 me in my family, and discharging all my college 
 duties. Scarcely time has been left me to take my 
 necessary food and rest ; and I am still involved in 
 this scene of constant cares and labors, — too much 
 for any one man to perform." 
 
 Gordon Hall became pious in the summer of 1806. 
 August 1st of that year, he writes : " The revival 
 still continues, and, to the everlasting joy of sainis
 
 62 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 and angels, this glorious work has commenced in 
 college ; and a number of students have been hope- 
 fully converted." Hall died young ; but a life of rare 
 and consistent devotedness gave him a place in the 
 highest rank of missionaries. There is another indi- 
 vidual still living (1865), who, just before his gradu- 
 ation in 1806, came decidedly over "on the Lord's 
 side," and who for a series of years was made ex- 
 tensively instrumental in promoting a spirit of revi- 
 vals in college, and whose name is held in grateful 
 recollection by all his surviving pupils, — the Rev. Dr. 
 Chester Dewey. 
 
 " This revival," says Dr. Spring in his life of Mills, 
 "was among the most signal expressions of favor to 
 the church." He alludes to the well-known fact that 
 a zeal for missions to the heathen was here awakened 
 and developed among a choice circle of young men, 
 who sustained a weekly prayer-meeting, out of which 
 grew a foreign missionary association. " 1 have been 
 in situations to know," said Dr. Griffin, " that from 
 the counsels formed in that sacred conclave, or 
 from the mind of Mills himself, arose the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the 
 American Bible Society, the United Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society, and the African School, under the 
 care of the synod of New York and New Jersey ; be- 
 sides all the impetus given to domestic missions, to 
 the Colonization Society, and to the general cause 
 of benevolence in both hemispheres." 
 
 It was in the summer of 1806, that " Williams
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 63 
 
 College began to rise to the sacred distinction of be- 
 ing the birthjDlace of American Missions" to the 
 heathen. It was in the latter part of July or first of 
 August of this year that the prayer-meeting was 
 held by Mills and his associates under the haystack, 
 where the subject of missions to the heathen was 
 first proposed and prayed over ; and was shortly 
 after so far matured that, on the 8th of September, 
 1808, a Foreign Missionary Society was organized 
 in Williams College, — the first society of the kind 
 in this country, — and formed before the conversion 
 of the missionary. Dr. Judson. These incidents, 
 hardly known in their day, and certainly little noticed, 
 are now the acknowledged germ of that great instru- 
 mentality in civilizing and christianizing the world, 
 — the American Board of Commissioners for For- 
 eign Missions. The isolated fact that the training 
 which students here received was in the providence 
 of God made influential in the establishment of for- 
 eign missions, justly gives to the college the name 
 of " The Missionary College," and, to those who 
 were connected with it and guiding its affairs, a 
 reputation which will be immortal. 
 
 In the winter of 1812, another revival commenced 
 in the church in Williamstown, which shortly after 
 extended to the college ; but its influence was chief- 
 ly confined to the tv/o lower classes. During this 
 season of special refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord, it is reported that twenty-four were hopefully 
 converted, and a number shortly afterwards. An-
 
 64 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 other report is, that twenty-one were added to the 
 church, of whom thirteen became ministers of the 
 gospel. Several others felt the power of the revival, 
 and their subsequent lives showed that these impres- 
 sions or effects were not transient. 
 
 If our limits would allow, we should be glad to 
 give the particulars, respecting the conversion of the 
 late Rev. Charles Jenkins, who became a decided 
 and earnest Christian in this revival. He was after- 
 wards settled in Greenfield, and then in Portland. 
 Some of his sermons are before the public. But we 
 can only refer our readers to those full accounts of 
 these revivals which are published in the history of 
 the college. 
 
 How many a parent's heart might have been glad- 
 dened by the reception of such a letter as the follow- 
 ing ! Under date of April 20, 1812, Dr. Fitch writes 
 to the late Dr. Hyde, of Lee : — 
 
 f " We have great reason to bless God that he still continues his 
 good work among us. Not many instances of deep impression 
 have occurred of late ; but some are every week obtaining com- 
 fort, and giving hopeful evidence of a work of grace. We count 
 six or seven hopeful converts among the students, and ten or 
 twelve are deeply impressed. All who have obtained a hope are 
 members of the sophomore class except one, and I have great 
 satisfaction in informing you that this is your own son. He had 
 for some time been deeply impressed, and last Friday obtained 
 comfort. He called on Saturday afternoon, but I was out of my 
 study, and did not see him. This morning I sent for him, and, 
 Deacon Stratton happening to call in, we both conversed with 
 him. We think his case one of the most clear and hopeful that
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 65 
 
 has come to our knowledge in this revival. Very few who give \ 
 satisfactory evidence of a work of grace have come out with 
 those strong, lively, and ravishing views which sometimes attend 
 such a work. Still it has clear and indubitable marks of being 
 a genuine work of the Spirit of God. But in the case of your 
 son, and indeed in all the others, we must wait to see the fruits. 
 Two of my own children, C. and L., have been much affected, 
 but are now comfortable. I hardly dare allow myself to hope 
 that they are the subjects of a saving change. Professor Dewey 
 and Deacon S. think they give such evidence as ought to encour- 
 age a hope. "We must wait to see what fruit they produce. We 
 now have a hope for more than thirty since this revival com- / 
 menced." ^ 
 
 May 8, 1812, Dr. Hyde writes : " I have received 
 information that Alvan, my eldest son, who is a 
 member of college, is rejoicing in the Saviour. Dr. 
 Fitch has given me a short statement of his appear- 
 ance and manner of conversing, from which I am 
 led to hope in his case. I rejoice, though with 
 trembling." * 
 
 The last religious meeting of the students in the 
 spring term of 1812 has been mentioned as one of 
 uncommon interest. The exciting scenes of the re- 
 vival had passed away. The strong ties of brother- 
 ly affection which bound the students to one another 
 were about to be sundered. The meeting was ten- 
 
 * Eev. Alvan Hyde, Jr., was gi-aduated at Williams College in 1815, 
 and, after studying theology with his father and at Andover, became some- 
 what distinguished for his successful labors among the early churches in 
 northern Ohio. He was ordained at Madison, Ohio, Sept. 1, 1819, and 
 died in Lee August 12, 1824, at the age of 30. While living, he was much 
 beloved for his consistent piety, highly esteemed as a youthful preach- 
 er, and unaffectedly lamented in his earlj' death. 
 6*
 
 66 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 der and interesting throughout. Says one who was 
 present : " It devolved on me to preside. In se- 
 lecting a hymn to close, my eye chanced to fall on 
 the one beginning, ' Blest be the tie that binds.' 
 I had never seen or heard it before. I succeeded in 
 reading it without much faltering. A tune was 
 named, and singing commenced. About the third 
 verse, brother Burt (the Rev. Federal Burt, now in 
 heaven), who stood by my side, turned away and 
 wept aloud. The next verse w^as attempted, but 
 voices failed. The place became a Bochim. We 
 hung upon each other, and wept and wept, and so 
 closed the meeting, and went to our rooms to weep 
 alone." 
 
 In the spring of 1815, Dr. Fitch concluded to re- 
 sign the presidency of the college. Just before he 
 left, a third revival of religion commenced. In 
 the course of a few weeks some fifteen were hope- 
 fully brought into the kingdom ; and several others re- 
 ceived very salutary impressions, whose subsequent 
 lives showed the value of this revival to them. Pro- 
 fessor Dewey thinks that the first indications of this 
 revival were in connection with the faithful and 
 earnest preaching of President Fitch, which was at 
 this time uncommonly plain and pungent. It is 
 easier to trace the instrumental than the real causes 
 of religious awakenings. The real causes lie con- 
 cealed deep in the bosom of Christian experience, 
 and we never gain anything more than occasional 
 glimpses of them. But even the active instru-
 
 EEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 67 
 
 mentality of Dr. Fitch in promoting the religious 
 interests of Williams College will not be openly 
 and fully disclosed until that day "when the Lord 
 of hosts shall make up his jewels." 
 
 In 1815 the late Dr. Justin Edwards wrote to 
 President Fitch, asking his opinion about an at- 
 tempt that was then to be made to establish the 
 Monthly Concert of Prayer. Dr. Fitch's reply, we 
 regret to say, we have not been able to obtain. Dr. 
 Edwards — a former pupil of Dr. Fitch — writes as 
 follows in favor of a general concert of prayer, to 
 be ' held on the first Monday evening of every 
 month : " Have we not reason to hope, if such a 
 union could be formed, that light would break forth 
 upon us as the morning, and salvation as the noon- 
 day ? " " Will you have the goodness, dear sir, to 
 give us your thoughts on this subject, as soon as 
 convenient ? Should the plan meet the views of 
 gentlemen of influence in the different parts of 
 the country, measures will be taken to extend the 
 information as speedily and widely as possible." 
 " Could it be extended throughout the United 
 States, we should then unite with Christians, not 
 only in this country, but in numerous other coun- 
 tries, in supplicating the greatest blessing which 
 God can bestow."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DR. FITCH RESIGNS THE PRESIDENCY ACTION OF THE TRUSTEES 
 
 INSTALLED AT WEST BLOOMFIELD, N. T. HIS SUCCESSFUL 
 
 3IINISTRT THERE — RESIGNS HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL. 
 
 R. FITCH presided over Williams College 
 with a good degree of ability and success, 
 twenty-two years. And with the exception 
 of Dr. Manning, of Brown University, what 
 first President ever retained that station for 
 so long a period in this country ? He re- 
 signed his office in 1815, and immediately accepted 
 an invitation, which he had already received from 
 the Congregational Church and Society in West 
 Bloomfield, N. Y., to become their pastor. 
 
 Why did Dr. Fitch resign the presidency of the 
 college ? There was a concurrence of circumstances 
 which led him to do it. It is well known that dur- 
 ing a few of the last years of his presidency, the in- 
 stitution did not enjoy its usual degree of reputation 
 and prosperity ; notwithstanding Dr. Fitch was aided 
 by experienced and able teachers, and had the coun- 
 sel and cordial cooperation of a judicious and most 
 excellent prudential committee. It is enough to say 
 that the late Dr. Hyde, of Lee, was a prominent 
 
 (68)
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 69 
 
 member of this committee. Still Dr. Fitch had 
 brought himself to believe, and, it would seem, others 
 were induced to believe, that its isolated and seques- 
 tered location presented an insuperable difficulty or 
 hindrance to its growth and prosperity. 
 
 This was a leading argument which was after- 
 ward employed, — the one, by which all the Trus- 
 tees but three were induced to vote to remove the 
 college to Northampton, provided the consent of the 
 Legislature could be obtained. But if the location 
 of the college was the principal cause of its being on 
 the wane during the presidency of Dr. Moore, and 
 for a few years previous, how shall we account for 
 the fact that notwithstanding the many and power- 
 ful embarrassments it has had to encounter since 
 that time, it has been, for years past, enjoying a very 
 high, and even uncommon degree of reputation and 
 prosperity ? The funds of the institution were small. 
 It was difficult for Dr. Fitch to provide the means of 
 supporting a large and expensive family. Other col- 
 leges had come into existence ; namely, Middlebury, 
 Burlington, and Union. The consequence was, the 
 number of students in Williams began to decline. 
 Dr. Fitch could not bear to see the child of his affec- 
 tion and nurture droop in his hands ; especially he 
 could not endure the thought of having the cause of 
 its decline attributed to himself. And some, per- 
 haps, began to feel that it was desirable and expedi- 
 ent to have a younger and more popular man in his 
 place. The time had come when Dr. Fitch thought
 
 70 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 the public good and his own personal comfort, would 
 be promoted by his retirement. Besides, it is not to 
 be concealed that the college had about this time 
 to encounter an adverse influence, which no institu- 
 tion of the kind can ever meet and prosper. A cur- 
 rent had begun to set strongly against it in its present 
 location. An influence, secret and open, was at 
 work to effect the removal of the college to North- 
 ampton, or some town in the old County of Hamp- 
 shire. Nothing would satisfy a portion of the 
 community short of removing the college from the 
 beautiful hills of Berkshire to the valley of the Con- 
 necticut. The trustees were divided. The faculty 
 and many of the students finally came to be in favor 
 of a removal. Under all these circumstances, the 
 President judged it expedient to resign. 
 
 At a meeting of the President and Trustees of 
 Williams College, held May 2, 1815, the following 
 vote was unanimously passed, and may with propri- 
 ety be here introduced : " Whereas the . Rev. 
 President Fitch has signified to this Board his 
 determination to resign his office of President at the 
 ensuing commencement; and whereas, in conse- 
 quence of the state of the funds, the Corporation 
 have not been able to give him such a salary as his 
 situation and the increased expenses of living for 
 years past have required; therefore Voted, That there 
 ^ be granted to Rev. President Fitch the sum of twen- 
 ty-two hundred dollars ; one thousand thereof to be 
 paid him in the month of October next; six hundred
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 71 
 
 thereof in six montiis from that time, and the residue 
 in one year from October next." This sum was 
 cheerfully paid to Dr. Fitch, as a remuneration for 
 his long and faithful services as President of the 
 college, and was particularly gratifying to his feel- 
 ings. It was esteemed by him an act of generosity, 
 while the Board considered it an act of justice. It 
 was both. 
 
 As a further indication of the state of public feel- 
 ing on the subject of the removal of the college, we 
 here introduce a resolution which was offered by the 
 Rev. Dr. Packard, of Shelburne, and adopted by the 
 Board at the very meeting at which Dr. Fitch's res- 
 ignation was accepted : " That a committee of six 
 persons be appointed to take into consideration the 
 removal of the college to some other part of the 
 Commonwealth ; to make all necessary inquiries 
 which have a bearing on the subject, and report at the 
 next meeting." It begins to be more clearly mani- 
 fest why Dr. Fitch resigned the presidency of the 
 college. 
 
 Dr. Fitch was installed pastor of the church in 
 West Bloomfield, N. Y., in the fall of 1815. In re- 
 tiring, at the age of sixty, from a life of so much care, 
 toil, and activity, as his had been, he soon began to 
 feel and exhibit the enfeebling effects of age. He 
 continued, however, to discharge the regular and 
 arduous duties of a pastor for twelve years. He 
 was then constrained, by reason of age and its con- 
 sequent infirmities, to withdraw from his stated pub- 
 lic labors in the vineyard of his Lord.
 
 72 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Concerning his ministry in that place, Dr. William 
 F. Sheldon writes : " Dr. Fitch was a faithful min- 
 ister, instant in season and out of season, exhorting 
 and warning all, both old and young, to embrace the 
 gospel. He was remarkably punctual in fulfilling 
 all his appointments. Seldom was he absent from 
 the weekly prayer-meetings. Though advanced in 
 age, yet he never seemed to be tired of coming a 
 mile and a half to attend these meetings. For a 
 number of years he was likewise constant in attend- 
 ing a Bible class. Dr. Fitch was a successful minis- 
 ter. His uniform Christian conduct was a practical 
 illustration of his preaching. During his ministry 
 among us, we were favored with some precious 
 seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 
 His preaching was not unfrequently rendered quick 
 and powerful, to the conversion of souls." 
 
 But the character and results of his ministry in 
 West Bloomfield shall be given in his own words. 
 On taking leave of his people, Nov. 25, 1827, he 
 delivered a farewell discourse, which has never be- 
 fore been printed entire. We propose to insert the 
 whole of it, — for we are sure it will be read with 
 pleasure and profit, — from Acts xx. 32 : And now, 
 brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of 
 his f^race, which is able to build you nj), and to give you 
 an inheritance among all them luho are sanctified. 
 
 " This passage is a part of St. Paul's last solemn and affectionate 
 farewell to the elders of the chm-ch in Ephesus. He had before
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 73 
 
 preached in that city and vicinity about three years ; and gath- 
 ered a large church of Jewish and Gentile converts. They re- 
 tained a strong affection for him as their spiritual father, and he 
 for them as his spiritual children, whom he had begotten through 
 the gospel. Being now on his last journey from Macedonia to 
 Jerusalem, previous to his imprisonment, and not having time to 
 visit the Christians at Ephesus, he sailed by the city and landed 
 at Miletus, a seaport town on the coast, about thirty miles distant. 
 Thence he sent and called to him the elders of the church in 
 Ephesus, that he might give them his last instructions, counsel, 
 and advice, and take his leave of them ; for it seemed that it had 
 been revealed to him that he should see them no more. He ap- 
 peals to them as witnesses of his diligence and faithfulness in 
 preaching the gospel to them, — how he kept back nothing from 
 them that was profitable, but had showed them, and taught them 
 publicly, and from house to house, ' testifying both to the Jews 
 and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and faith towards 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore,' said he, ' I take you to re- 
 cord this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men-, for I have 
 not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.' ' Take 
 heed therefore,' said the apostle, ' unto yourselves and to all the 
 flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to 
 feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own 
 blood.' Near the close of this solemn farewell address, he intro- 
 duced the words of our text : ' And now, brethren, I commend 
 you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build 
 you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are 
 sanctified.' In improving these words as a subject of discourse on 
 the present occasion, I propose to consider, 
 
 " I. The import of this apostolic commendation of the brethren 
 ' to God, and the word of his grace.' 
 
 " n. What is implied in ' building them up,' and how this word 
 of God's grace was able, by his blessing, to build them up. 
 
 " And, HI. How it was able, by the same divine blessing, to give 
 them an inheritance among the sanctified children of God in heaven. 
 7
 
 74 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 " I. The import of this apostolic commendation of the brethren 
 ' to God, and to the word of his grace.' Commending them to God 
 was committing them to his care, protection and blessing, — to the 
 guidance and direction of his Spirit ; praying earnestly and fer- 
 vently that God would take them into his own gracious arms, and 
 ever have them under his own holy keeping, — that he would 
 shield them from danger, from temptation, and from every evil, — 
 that the banner of his covenant love might always be over them, 
 — and that he would guide them by his counsel tkrough all the 
 evils, dangers, snares, temptations, and troubles of this world, and 
 afterward bring them to glory. All this is implied in his com- 
 mending them to God ; and no doubt it was with strong desires 
 and fervent prayers that he thus commended them to the protec- 
 tion and blessing of Almighty God, their heavenly friend, in time 
 and forever. And so, if I had the grace of Paul, would I, my 
 Christian brethren and friends, commend you, on this solemn oc- 
 casion. 
 
 " He commended them also to the word of God's grace. Doubt- 
 less he calls it the word of God's grace, because it reveals a way 
 in which sinners may be saved by his unmerited favor, through 
 the atoning sacrifice of his Son, and the renewing and sanctifying 
 operation of his Spirit ; — a way in which his grace is eminently 
 and wonderfully displayed in the actual salvation of millions of 
 our apostate race. To this pure and precious word of God's 
 grace the apostle commends them. 
 
 " 1 . As the sure and infallible rule of faith and practice. 
 In this they learn what they are to believe and to do. In this 
 the character of grace is made known, — a Saviour is revealed, — 
 the terms are plainly stated on which salvation may be obtained, 
 and the consequences of accepting or rejecting this Saviour are 
 most solemnly disclosed. Here, too, their duty to God and their 
 duty to their fellow-men are most clearly stated and strongly en- 
 forced. To this rule the apostle commended his brethren as a 
 sure guide to sacred and correct principles and right Christian 
 practice.
 
 KEY. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 7o 
 
 " 2. He commended them to the word of God's grace as 
 the only sure ground of the Christian's hope. Without a Saviour, 
 there would be no hope for a sinner. Without the shedding of 
 Christ's blood, there could be no remission of sin. AVithout faith 
 in his blood, Christ to every sinner has died in vain. Has any 
 sinner a good hope of salvation ? What are the grounds of that 
 hope ? Has he believed in Christ ? If he has, then he has 
 repented of his sins, and they are forgiven. They are all washed 
 away in the Saviour's atoning blood. Christ has spoken peace to 
 his soul. He has been renewed by the Holy Spirit. There have 
 been imijlanted in his soul the fear and love of God, — a hatred 
 and renunciation of sin, and a principle of new and holy obedi- 
 ence. A holy life is the consequence of a new heart, — a life de- 
 voted to the service of God. Does the believing, hoping sinner 
 desire to know that he has good grounds for his hope ? He must 
 go to the word of God, and compare his heart and life with this 
 rule. ' To the law and to the testimony.' If he finds the evidence 
 to be good that he is a child of God and an heir of heaven, he 
 may then hope ' with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' 
 
 " 3. The apostle commends his brethren to the word of 
 God's gi'ace as the great source of Christian consolation. He who 
 has a good hope that he is a Christian may go to the word of God, 
 and appropriate to himself all ' the great and precious promises ' 
 he finds there. From these he may drink in abundant consola- 
 tion under his severest trials, and heaviest afllictions. This well 
 of consolation is full of living water. Christians can never draw 
 it dry. And the language of the Saviour to them is, ' Drink, O 
 friends, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.' To this ' word of 
 God's grace,' then, on this and on other accounts which I have 
 not time now to mention, I would, my Christian brethren and 
 friends, earnestly and devoutly commend you all. 
 
 " II. What is implied in building them up ; and how this word 
 of God's grace was able, by his blessing, to build them up. 
 
 " The church is the building of God. It is his workmanship, his 
 edifice, his temple. He laid the foundation, which is Christ
 
 76 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Jesus, his Son ; and lie has fitted, prepared, polished, and put into 
 this building every stone of which it is composed. This edifice 
 has been in building almost six thousand yeai-s, and is not yet 
 completed. Many more stones are to be laid, before the top- 
 stone will be brought forth with shouting. The word of God is 
 the great means or instrument which he uses in carrying on his 
 work on this building. In allusion to this, the expression ' build- 
 ing up ' and similar expressions are often used in the Scriptures, 
 and applied to the church, oi- a body of believers. To build 
 them up is to establish them in the belief and practice of the gos- 
 pel, — to make them stable, consistent, growing Christians, 
 sound and steadfast in the faith, — not carried about by every 
 wind of doctrine, not soon shaken in mind by dangerous errors 
 and heresies that may be propagated among them ; but firm and 
 unwavering in their belief of the great doctrines of the gospel, 
 and able and ready, if need be, ' earnestly to contend for the faith 
 once delivered to the saints.' Building them up implies also their 
 firm establishment in the regular, consistent, and uniform practice 
 of Christian duties ; in a word, that they may be exemplary, grow- 
 ing Christians, increasing in knowledge and grace, and adorning 
 the holy religion they profess, both by steadfastly adhering to its 
 doctrines, and uniformly practising its duties. All this, the word 
 of God, by the enlightening, quickening, sanctifying influence of 
 his Spirit, is able to effect, and is the great appointed means of 
 effecting, in their hearts and lives. We are to consider, 
 
 " III. How, or in what sense, the word of God's grace is able 
 also, through the same divine influence, to give Christians at last 
 a blessed inheritance among the sanctified children of God in 
 heaven. The Psalmist says, ' The law of the Lord is perfect, con- 
 verting the soul.' In the hands of the Spirit, it is the means or in- 
 strument of the sinner's conversion, and, in the same way, the 
 means or instrument of his progressive sanctification. It is the 
 means of his growth in knowledge and holiness, and of his prep- 
 aration for heaven. God's word is pure, and exerts a purifying 
 influence on the heart. It detects and exposes the secret sins
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCU, D. D. 77 
 
 which are harbored there. It opens the fountain of indwelling 
 corruption, and brings to light the hidden things of darkness. 
 It is a refiner and a purifier. It is like the fire and hammer to 
 break in pieces the flinty hearts, and cause godly sorrow for sin to 
 spring up there, and tears of genuine repentance to flow. It 
 strengthens the faith of the Christian, — even that faith which 
 works by love and purifies the heart, and works by love. So 
 that the true Christian becomes strong in the Lord, and zealous to 
 do his will, and prepared for every good work. It brightens his 
 hojje of heaven, and greatly increases his spiritual comfort and 
 joys. Though all worldly comfort should fail, he can rejoice iu 
 God his Saviour, even then. It points to the blessed termination 
 of his Christian course, — to the joys of immortality, — to the 
 mansions prepared for him above, — to a seat at God's right hand, 
 — to a crown and kingdom beyond the skies. All this the woi'd 
 of God, the aid and influence of the blessed Spirit, can do, and 
 does accomplish for the Christian. It is a light to his feet and a 
 lamp to his path, — his guide to truth and duty, to holiness and 
 peace, to comfort and joy everlasting. It is, then, in the sense 
 that has been explained, able to prepare him for, and at last to 
 put him in, the full and blessed possession of the inheritance of 
 the saints in light. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 " When a minister of Christ has for several years preached the 
 gospel to any church and congregation, it is a solemn and affect- 
 ing duty for him to commend them to God, and to the word of 
 his grace, and take a final leave of them. To this duty I am now 
 called. For more than twelve years I have preached, in this 
 pulpit, to this church and congregation. It becomes me on this 
 occasion to review my labors, and solemnly inquire how I have 
 preached to you. Have I followed 'cunningly devised fables,* 
 the opinions and errors of fallible men, since I undertook to preach 
 the everlasting gospel to you ? Have I withheld from you any 
 important and essential doctrine of Scripture, endeavoring to ex- 
 plain any one away, by putting false glosses upon, or by giving 
 7*
 
 78 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 wrong interpretations to, any portion of God's word ? Certainly 
 I have not knowingly and designedly done this ; but have endeav- 
 ored, in this important part of ministerial duty, to approve myself 
 to God, to my own conscience, and to the conscience of every 
 enlightened hearer. I have not designedly shunned to declare 
 unto you ' all the counsel of God ; ' to exhibit divine truth to 
 your minds, and impress it upon your hearts, by all the weighty 
 motives suggested by reason and Scripture ; to preach to you 
 the unsearchable riches of Christ, — the riches of his wisdom and 
 grace in the plan of salvation through his atoning blood, and the 
 effectual operation of his Spirit. Have I forborne to set the law 
 of God before you, and to prove to you that it is a righteous, holy, 
 and good law V — to bi-ing to your view the nature, extent, and 
 strictness of its requirements, and the awful penalties with which 
 it is sanctioned ? Have I ceased to show transgi-essors their sin 
 and danger, — the dreadful doom that awaits them if they do not 
 repent ; and to entreat and beseech them to forsake their sins, 
 repent, believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God ? Have I 
 neglected to warn the decent moralist, the self-righteous pharisee, 
 and the false professor ? — to detect their sins, and to expose them 
 to the view of their own consciences, and if possible bring them to 
 repentance ? If, in any or all these cases, I have not in some 
 good measure at least discharged the duty of a faithful minister 
 of Christ, you, my hearers, will be swift witnesses against me when 
 we stand together at the bar of Christ. Ah ! who of us can stand 
 at that bar, and bear the scrutiny of that solemn and decisive 
 day ? Who of us will dare to appear there in his own strength 
 and righteousness, and answer for his unnumbered sins ? My 
 hearers, we are all sinners, great sinners. In every duty we 
 have come short. Our best services are stained with sinful imper- 
 fections. It would be the highest presumption for us to hope that 
 we shall be acquitted when we stand at Christ's bar, unless our 
 sins have previously been washed away in his atoning blood, and 
 we stand there clothed in the immaculate robe of his righteousness. 
 I well know, my hearers, that my poor services in the sane-
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 79 
 
 tuary have in every respect been defective, — defective in mat- 
 ter and in manner. But what I have most to deplore, and to 
 be humble for before God and before you, is my great want of 
 ardent love to God and the Saviour, and to your immortal souls. 
 Had I felt more strongly the constraining influence of this love, 
 my heart would have glowed with warmer zeal for the glory of 
 Grod in your salvation. I should have judged more feelingly as 
 the apostle did, ' that if one died for all, then were all dead,' — 
 dead in trespasses and sins, and in imminent danger of eternal 
 death ; I should have had a more lively sense of my great re- 
 sponsibility to God and to you, — of the importance of greater 
 diligence, zeal, and faithfulness in my work, — of the unspeakable 
 worth of your immortal souls, and the imminent danger they are 
 in, if you are still impenitent, of perishing forever. I should 
 have prayed for you with more fervent importunity, preached to 
 you with more zeal and engagedness, and warned you more faith- 
 fully and earnestly to flee from the wrath to come, and accept of 
 the mercy offered to you in the gospel. This want of greater 
 love to God and to your souls is, in my apprehension, the gi'eatest 
 sin and imperfection that has attended my public services. Had 
 I always felt more fervent love, I should doubtless have preached 
 and prayed with more zeal and engagedness, and probably with 
 much greater success. I pray God to forgive me this sin ; and I 
 entreat you also to forgive it. And I earnestly beseech him not 
 to suffer any of your souls to perish through my want of love to 
 him and them, and fervor and faithfulness in preaching Christ and 
 him crucified to you. 
 
 " But, my hearers, however imperfect and defective my manner 
 of preaching has been, I humbly trust in godly sincerity I have 
 preached to you the plain truths and the all-important doctrines 
 of the gospel ; truths and doctrines which I firmly believe, and 
 by which I wish to live and hope to die. And I have endeavored 
 to state and explain these truths and doctrines in the most plain 
 and intelUgible manner. I came not to you, my brethi-en, ' with 
 excellency of speech or of wisdom.' My aim has always been to 
 use ' great plainness of speech,' that all might understand ; for
 
 80 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 how otherwise could they be profited by preaching ? Learned 
 disquisitions and florid hai'angues never enlighten and save souls. 
 It has been my conscientious endeavor to feed you with the sin- 
 cere milk of the word, that you might grow thereby, — in a word 
 to preach Christ and his salvation to you in all the simplicity and 
 plainness of gospel truth. 
 
 " And now, my dear hearers, as I must one day stand at the 
 bar of Christ, and answer to him for the truths I have preached 
 to you, and the manner in which I have preached them, must you 
 not also stand at the same bar, and give an account how you have 
 heard and received these truths, and what improvement you have 
 made of them ? That will be a solemn day to you and to me. 
 Christ will be our common Judge ; and he will judge us both 
 strictly and impartially. That I have preached evangelical truth 
 to you plainly and solemnly, I certainly know. Have you re- 
 ceived this truth in faith and love into humble and obedient 
 hearts '? And have you brought forth fruit in holy and exempla- 
 ry lives ? Or have you refused to receive and obey divine truth, 
 turned a deaf ear to it, and closed your hearts against it ? Let 
 your consciences this day testify. They will testify another day, 
 at the bar of God, if they do not now. This blessed gospel, 
 truly and faithfully preached, will not be in vain. It will bring 
 glory to his grace or to his justice. It will prove to be the means 
 of your great salvation, or of your greater and more aggravated 
 condemnation. The apostle has assured you that it will be a 
 savor of life unto life, or of death unto death, to the souls of all 
 who hear it. Christ will not come to you by his ministers, and 
 call, invite, and entreat you to be reconciled to God through his 
 blood, and call and invite in vain. If you hear and accept the 
 invitation, your souls will live. Sjjiritual and eternal life will be 
 begun in you. But if you refuse and reject the kind invitation, 
 your souls will die. They will continue in a state of spiritual 
 death, and at last sink into death eternal. When the minister of 
 Christ thinks of this, how solemn, how momentous, does his work 
 appear ! With the apostle he exclaims, ' Who is sufficient for 
 these things ? ' And you, my hearers, should think of this when
 
 KEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 81 
 
 you hear the gospel preached, and hear for your lives ; remem- 
 bering that you must give an account how you hear, — remem- 
 bering that the consequences of hearing, receiving, and obeying 
 the gospel, or of slighting or rejecting its gracious offers, will to 
 you individually be inconceivably important and eternal. 1 pray 
 God to give you all a hearing ear and an understanding heart, 
 that you may cordially receive and love the truth ; that, hear- 
 ing and obeying the gospel, your souls may live and be nourished 
 up into the words of faith and of good doctrine, to life eternal. 
 
 " On this occasion, my Christian brethren and friends I think 
 it proper to give you the following brief account and state- 
 ment : — 
 
 " At the time of my installation, Nov. 29, 1815, this church 
 consisted of forty-eight members. Of these, four have since died, 
 five have been excommunicated, and seventeen dismissed. One 
 has never since been in town, and, whether living or not, I do not 
 know ; another has been absent several years, — though both, if 
 living, still retain their relation to this church ; leaving now in 
 town only twenty of the original members. 
 
 " Since my installation, one hundred and ninety persons have 
 been received as members of this clrurch, — one hundred and 
 forty-five of them upon their public profession of faith in Christ, 
 — one was restored, and forty-four were received by letters of 
 recommendation from sister churches. Of the whole number, 
 one -hundred and ninety, received since my installation, thirteen 
 have died, four have been excommunicated, and sixty-two regu- 
 larly dismissed. The whole number of members now in the 
 church is one hundred and thirty-three ; twenty of these, how- 
 ever, have removed so far from this town as not to be able to 
 worshijj with us on the Sabbath, or to attend the communion sea- 
 sons of the church. During my ministry, fifty-seven adults and 
 one hundred and fifty children have been baptized. During the 
 same time, two hundred and four persons have died in West 
 Bloomfield, being, on an average of the twelve years of my min- 
 istry, seventeen each year; twenty of them have died during a 
 little less than eleven months of the present year.
 
 82 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 " In reviewing the scenes and events of my twelve years' minis- 
 try in this place, I find many things to regret and deplore ; and 
 some which ought to excite my warmest gratitude and yours, and 
 call forth our united praise and thanksgiving to God. I have 
 great reason to regret the deficiencies and imperfections which 
 have attended my public services ; and my want of more zeal, 
 fervor, and faithfulness in discharging the various and important 
 duties of the pastoral and ministerial office ; and that so little suc- 
 cess has attended my labors. For my own sinful deficiencies I 
 ought to be humbled, and I desire to be humbled, before God and 
 before you. 
 
 " I see reason, also, to deplore some events which have taken 
 place in this society ; in particular and especially the introduction 
 and prevalence of an unscriptural oi^inion and dangerous error 
 respecting a most important point of doctrine, — the real divinity 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. This opinion supposes him to be an 
 inferior, subordinate, and dependent God, deprives him of his 
 real divinity, and degrades him to the rank of a creature. It, of 
 course, destroys his atonement, and leaves the perishing sinner 
 without help or hope. By the introduction and prevalence of 
 this heresy, and by the death or removal of a number of able 
 members of the church and congregation, the ability of the socie- 
 ty to supjDort the gospel is materially diminished. If, however, 
 they will be united and engaged in this important enterprise, 
 there is still ability in the society to provide a competent support 
 for a minister of Christ, without feeling it to be a burden. And 
 it is my earnest desire and prayer, my Christian friends, that you 
 will unitedly engage in this highly important concern. 
 
 " During my ministry, God has not wholly withheld from us 
 the blessed influences of his Spirit. At two seasons, especially, 
 the Spirit descended upon us like rain, and converts sprang up, 
 as willows by the water-courses. This — the greatest of all bless- 
 ings — should awaken and excite our warmest gratitude and 
 praise to God. I see in this congregation some of the spiritual 
 children which God graciously gave me as the fruits of my min- 
 istry ; and they will ever be dear to my heart.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 83 
 
 " During my labors in this place, T and my family have received 
 from you, my brethren and friends, many tokens of friendship, 
 and deeds of kindness and liberality ; for all which we return you 
 our united and cordial thanks. What is done to the least of 
 Christ's servants, out of love to him, he considers as done to him- 
 self, and will not fail to reward it. May he reward you, for all 
 your kindness and liberality to us, a thousand fold. 
 
 " And now, dear brethren and friends, I must take my leave of 
 you. And I do earnestly and fervently commend you to God, 
 to his care, protection, and blessing, and to the word of his grace, 
 which is able to build you up in the holy faith and practice of the 
 gospel, and at last give you an inheritance incorruptible and un- 
 defiled, among all his redeemed and sanctified children, in his 
 eternal, heavenly kingdom. Amen." 
 
 After his dismission, Dr. Fitch continued to 
 preach occasionally till within a short time of his 
 decease. In the summer of 1828, then in the seven- 
 ty-second year of his age, in company with his wife, 
 he visited New England. He called at Williams- 
 town ; then proceeded as far east as Boston ; and 
 took Canterbury, Norwich, and New Haven in his 
 way, on his return home. It was his last visit to 
 the scenes of his childhood and principal labors, and 
 was a source of much satisfaction to him during the 
 remainder of his days.* 
 
 * The following letter, from his Honor Lieut. Governor Childs, is in- 
 serted with pleasure, and will be read with interest : — 
 
 "Boston, Feb. 11, 1843. 
 
 " Bev. and Dear Sir : — It gave me great pleasure to learn that you had 
 
 prepared for publication a sketch of the life and character of the good Dr. 
 
 Fitch, — the venerable instructor of my youth. It gave me a melancholy 
 
 pleasure to meet him, in the fall of 1828, at that advanced period of life
 
 84 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Abating the ordinary infirmities of age, and an 
 injury of his foot, received in 1824, by which he 
 was lamed, he continued to enjoy a good degree of 
 health and activity of body, for a man of his years, 
 until within a few months of his death. He had 
 been, at times, troubled with an asthmatic affection, 
 but was able to ride and walk out. His breathing 
 was at times laborious, and, when reclining, was 
 painfully so. When sitting or walking, he was com- 
 fortable. His appetite for food was good ; and he 
 continued to enjoy the society of his friends as 
 much as ever. At times he expressed doubts as to 
 his continuing long in life ; still he evidently did not 
 anticipate a sudden departure from this world. 
 
 when of necessity the powers of body and mind were gradually failing. 
 He seemed, however, cheerful and pleasant, and was very happy in meet- 
 ing some of his former pupils and friends. He evidently felt that he had 
 nearly finished his course on earth. He exhibited, however, a calm resig- 
 nation to the will of his heavenly Father, and expressed a confident hope 
 of a glorious immortality. This strong hope gave unusual brightness to 
 a face naturally beaming with kindness and benignity. I well recollect 
 the deep impression, which his visit left upon my mind, that I should see 
 his face no more. It was his last visit to Berkshire. His friends were all 
 happj' to see him again, and he apparently received much comfort and 
 joy in their society. Much of his conversation related to occurrences of 
 by-gone days, the mention of which interested and animated him much. 
 As a token of the respect which we entertained for our venerable Presi- 
 dent, a few friends in Fittsfield presented him with some mementos of 
 their esteem, which he kindly and gratefully received, and which con- 
 sisted of a suit of clothes, and something over a hundred dollars in 
 money. Permit me again to express my high gratification that you have 
 prepared for the press a work which will perpetuate the memory of a 
 great and good man. Please accept my kindest regards. 
 
 " With much respect, yours truly, H. H. CHILD S."
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 85 
 
 Hence he arranged nothing as to his family or ef- 
 fects. During all this time his mind was tranquil, 
 and evidently much upon those things which are 
 unseen and eternal. His confidence in the wisdom 
 and rectitude of God's dispensations appeared to 
 be strong and consoling. In this state of health 
 and happy frame of mind he continued until Thurs- 
 day, March 21st, 1833. On the morning of that day 
 no material alteration was discovered. He appeared 
 much as usual. At noon he took some light refresh- 
 ment in his room, instead of dining with the family 
 as he had usually done. After dinner, on the return 
 of his wife, he observed that he should like to lie 
 down, as he felt that he could get some rest. With 
 a very little assistance he walked to the bed, and 
 laid himself down. As Mrs. Fitch was drawing the 
 clothes about his feet, she cast her eyes upon him, 
 and perceived that he had risen upon his elbows, 
 and was struggling for breath. She exclaimed, 
 " You breathe very hard." Receiving no answer, she 
 hastened to summon the family together, — in time 
 only to see him gasp two or three times, and all was 
 over. Thus suddenly closed a long and useful life. 
 
 " It is blessed to go when so ready to die." 
 
 He died about the same age of his father, — nearly 
 seventy-seven — without a groan ; or rather fell 
 asleep, serenely closing his eyes upon this world of 
 sin and vanity, where there is little more than the 
 joys of union and the tears of separation.
 
 86 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 " At noon-day came the cry, — 
 ' To meet thy God prepare ; ' 
 He heard, and caught his Captain's eye, — 
 Then strong in faith and prayer, 
 
 " His spirit, with a bound, 
 Left its encumbering clay ; 
 His tent at sunset on the ground 
 A darkened ruin lay. 
 
 " The pains of death are past. 
 Labor and sorrow cease ; 
 And, life's long warfare closed at last, 
 His soul is found in peace." 
 
 The next Lord's day his remains were conveyed 
 to the church, where he had so often and so faith- 
 fully held forth the word of life ; and where an im- 
 pressive and appropriate discourse was delivered to 
 a crowded assembly, by the Rev. Julius Steele. 
 The sermon was not published. From the manu- 
 script copy in our possession, we make the follow- 
 ing extract. It was founded on Romans viii. 28 : 
 And we know that all things work together for good 
 to them that love God. " Dr. Fitch was a man of 
 solid science and varied literature. He was a man 
 of great native mildness and amiableness of dispo- 
 sition. As a scholar, he ranked with the first of his 
 age in this country. As a companion, he was easy, 
 affable, and winning. As a teacher of youth, the 
 hundreds in our land to whom he imparted instruc- 
 tion are his memorial ; and through whom, ' he be- 
 ing dead, yet speaketh.' As a Christian, he was pro- 
 verbially meek [and humble. As a minister, he
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 87 
 
 seemed ever mindful of the apostolic injunction, 
 ' not to think of himself more highly than he ought to 
 think.' His error, if error it can be called, consisted 
 in his undervaluing himself as a minister of Christ. 
 His praise is in all the churches around us, and rose 
 as his sun of life declined. As a co-presbyter, we 
 loved him as a brother, and venerated him as a 
 father. We all loved Father Fitch." 
 
 " As a writer. Dr. Fitch ranked high. He was 
 classical and perspicuous. As a reasoner, he was 
 consecutive, pertinent, and accurate. Possessed of 
 fine and tender feelings himself, he seemed ever 
 most unwilling to utter that which would unneces- 
 sarily wound the feelings of his hearers. He was 
 eminently a son of consolation. Those most edified 
 by his preaching were the more intelligent and cul- 
 tivated part of the community. His manner of life 
 previous to his becoming a settled pastor inclined 
 him to aim more at benefiting his hearers through 
 the understanding than to influence and affect them 
 by addressing the passions. He was no blustering 
 declaimer. In plainness and gospel simplicity, he 
 reasoned concerning ' righteousness, temperance, 
 and judgment to come.' He dwelt much upon 
 'Christ and him crucified,' — upon the marvellous 
 love of God to man in that unspeakable gift. And 
 as he taught so he practised. He exemplified the 
 benevolence of the gospel in a high degree. 
 
 " It may be expected that I should speak of him 
 as the husband of one wife, and the father of a
 
 OO KEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 family. Incompetent as I feel myself to be to de- 
 lineate any part of the life and character of this 
 good man, 1 am entirely incapable of doing any- 
 thing like justice when I come to speak of him in 
 Jthe private walks of life. ' A kinder husband,' said 
 his bereaved and mourning consort, as we stood 
 bending over the cold remains of departed worth, ' a 
 kinder husband the world never furnished, woman 
 never had.' The nearest and dearest relations of life 
 he sustained, I had almost said, without a fault. In 
 all his domestic relations he seemed to be blameless. 
 Happy are they above most, who can call such a 
 man either husband or father. Few had more 
 friends, and more deservedly. Confidence he never 
 betrayed. With the feelings or reputation of a 
 neighbor he never trifled. To the best his house 
 could furnish, those who called upon him always 
 received a hearty welcome. Many are his debtors. 
 He lived to do good. He lived on the promised re- 
 ward of the saints at the resurrection of the just. 
 The good man's labors are now ended. His trials 
 are now over. He now sleeps in death. Last 
 Thursday, not at midnight, but at mid-day, the cry 
 was heard, ' Behold, the bridegroom cometh.' Our 
 departed friend hastened and delayed not to obey the 
 call. He was all ready to obey so hasty a sum- 
 mons. He arose from his seat, retired to his 
 sleeping-room, laid himself down, and as soon as 
 words can relate, slept in death's cold embrace, not 
 to awake again ' till the heavens be no more.'
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 89 
 
 Mourning friends, the good, the great, the amiable 
 man, the valued neighbor, the tried and faithful 
 friend, the fond husband, endeared by a thousand 
 kind offices, the affectionate and tender father, the 
 learned, pious, and estimable minister, is no more on 
 earth. From all the fond and long-cherished en- 
 dearments below, death has suddenly and forever 
 removed him. Of all earthly scenes he has taken 
 a last, a long farewell, and gone up to that rest 
 which 'remaineth to the people of God.'" 
 
 On a monument erected over his grave was 
 the following inscription : " In memory of the Rev. 
 Ebenezer Fitch, D. D., who was born in Canterbury, 
 Ct., 1756; graduated at Yale College, 1777; tutor 
 in the same about 8 years ; President of Williams 
 College 22 years ; Pastor of the Church in West 
 Bloomfield 12 years. He died March 21, 1833, aged 
 76 years. The righteous shall be in everlasting re- 
 membrance." 
 
 Mrs. Fitch died in the family of her daughter, 
 Mrs. Folsom, at Cleveland, O., Nov. 21, 1834. Her 
 death was peaceful and triumphant. She lived and 
 died in the faith and hope of the gospel.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DE. fitch's visit TO EUKOPE — THE LOSS OF HIS MANUSCRIPTS — 
 
 HIS PUBLICATIONS — LETTERS FROM PRESIDENT DAT FROM 
 
 JAMES W. ROBBINS, ESQ. FROM REV. DR. JOHN NELSON FROM 
 
 REV. DR. JOHN WOODBRIDGE JUDGE PAIGE'S REMARKS RESPECT- 
 ING HIM HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE BRYANT'S RECOLLECTION 
 
 OP HIM HIS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER HIS NATIVE POWERS 
 
 DR. FITCH AS PRESIDENT — AS A PREACHER — A FRIEND OF GEN- 
 ERAL EDUCATION — A LOVER OF GOOD MEN — UNEXPECTED RE- 
 LIEF FROM G. H. BACKUS — HIS INDUSTRY — HIS SUPPORT UNDER 
 TRIALS — DR. FITCH AS A FATHER, COMPANION, AND FRIEND — 
 HIS MONUMENT AT WILLIAMSTOWN HON. JUDGE BISHOp's RE- 
 MARKS AT THE RE-INTERMENT OF HIS REMAINS — DE. FITCH'S 
 BACCALAUREATE DISCOURSE IN 1799 — DE. FITCH'S MISSIONARY 
 DISCOURSE IN 1814. 
 
 HILE President Fitch was in Europe, he 
 traced the origin and history of his ancestors 
 back through many generations ; besides, he 
 always kept an exact account of all the 
 branches of his family settled in this country. 
 After his decease, all his manuscripts fell 
 into the hands of his son, the Rev. C. Fitch, 
 whose house with its contents was soon after con- 
 sumed by fire. His cotemporaries, like himself, have 
 nearly all passed away in the lapse of eighty-six 
 years ; so that very general incidents of his life only 
 
 (90)
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 91 
 
 can now be recovered from oblivion. This state- 
 ment is made with a view to anticipate and obviate 
 an objection to which this sketch of the life of Dr. 
 Fitch is liable, from its deficiency in minute informa- 
 tion, and in a discriminating estimate of his charac- 
 ter. And in this connection it may with propriety 
 be stated that he rarely published any of the pro- 
 ductions of his pen. A historical sketch of Col. 
 Ephraim Williams and of Williams College, pub- 
 lished in the Mass. Historical Collections, in 1802 ; 
 a Baccalaureate Discourse in 1799 ; a funeral dis- 
 course in 1812 ; and a missionary sermon at Hud- 
 son, N. Y., in 1814, include all his publications of 
 which we have any knowledge. From a few scat- 
 tered and necessarily imperfect sources must now be 
 obtained all our information respecting this truly ex- 
 cellent man. 
 
 After the brief general survey which has now been 
 taken of the more prominent events of his life, we 
 would attempt, as a service due to his memory and 
 friends, to add something more respecting his man- 
 ner of life, and his qualifications for those important 
 spheres in which he was called to move. Instead of 
 a full-drawn portrait of his character, however, we 
 are able to present only an imperfect outline. 
 
 Our readers will be able to form some general 
 estimate of Dr. Fitch's character from what is con- 
 tained in the following letters, which we here intro- 
 duce with much pleasure. 
 
 The first is from the Rev. President Day, of Yale
 
 92 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 College. — " My particular acquaintance with Presi- 
 dent Fitch was of short continuance, while 1 was a 
 tutor in Williams College in the years 1797 and 1798. 
 The institution had then been in operation but a few 
 years, yet it was rapidly advancing, under the active 
 and successful superintendence of Dr. Fitch. At that 
 early period there were not very frequent calls for stern 
 and vigorous discipline. The President was vigilant 
 and faithful, and enjoyed the confidence and cordial 
 co-operation of the subordinate instructors. He was 
 endeared to the students by his affectionate regard 
 for their best interests, and his self-denying labors 
 for their welfare. In the common intercourse of so- 
 ciety, he was social, instructive and benevolent. He 
 was unwearied in his endeavors to promote the wel- 
 fare of those within the reach of his influence. I 
 considered him a man of sincere and stable piety. 
 I rarely heard him preach. His discourses, so far as 
 I had the means of knowing, were sound, practical 
 compositions, without an affectation of profound re- 
 search, or refined metaphysical speculation. He 
 appeared to aim to be practically useful, rather than 
 to make a display of profound and original powers 
 of investigation. In the endearments of domestic 
 life he was distinguished for affectionate kindness, 
 and assiduous attention to the wants and wishes of 
 his family." 
 
 The next is from James W. Robbins, Esq., who 
 was graduated at Williams College in 1802. — "I 
 spent near seven years in Williamstown while Dr.
 
 EEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 93 
 
 Fitch was president, and a part of the time boarded 
 in his family. During more than thirty years, which 
 have since elapsed, the acquaintance which I have 
 had an opportunity to form with other men, has not 
 lessened the estimate which I then entertained of 
 his character. Perhaps the most prominent qualities 
 of his heart and disposition were purity and benevo- 
 lence. As a natural consequence of the purity of 
 his own intentions, he was very seldom suspicious 
 of others ; and his benevolent feelings were awak- 
 ened whenever an object was presented adapted to 
 their excitement; and his benevolence, when carried 
 out in acts of kindness and charity, was limited only 
 by the extent of his ability. As a scholar, his liter- 
 ary acquirements were highly respectable. His 
 official duties in connection with college, and the 
 many cares necessarily incident to the management 
 of a numerous and dependent family, did not leave 
 him sufficient leisure for extensive scientific investi- 
 gations, or for becoming acquainted with the whole 
 circle of general literature. As a teacher, he was 
 faithful and communicative ; and those students who 
 were instructed by him during their senior year, will 
 never forget the ability and interest Avith which he 
 explained and illustrated the writings of Locke, Paley, 
 and Vattel. As a Christian, he was sincere and de- 
 vout; desirous of knowing his duty, and, when 
 ascertained, was ready, beyond most men, to perform 
 it. As a preacher, he was more instructive than im- 
 pressive, but none could faithfully listen to his ser-
 
 94 EEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 mons without improvement. Dr. Fitch labored 
 assiduously for the interest of the college over which 
 he was called to preside, and for the moral and intel- 
 lectual improvement of the young men who resorted 
 to that institution." 
 
 " I shall never forget," writes the Rev. John Nel- 
 son, of Leicester, who was graduated at Williams 
 College in 1807, "the first interview which I had 
 with the venerable President Fitch. I entered col- 
 lege young and inexperienced, and with an over- 
 powering dread of so high a dignitary as I then sup- 
 posed the president of a college must be. It was 
 with a trembling step that I entered the study of Dr. 
 Fitch with my credentials in hand ; but there was 
 something so kind, so cordial, so fatherly in his greet- 
 ings, that my heart went forth to him at once as to 
 a guardian friend in whom I could safely trust. Nor 
 did I ever find anything in the spirit, the conduct, or 
 the bearing of my venerated President, which weak- 
 ened, or in any way effaced those early impressions. 
 On the contrary, while he faithfully maintained the 
 discipline of college, I ever found him ready to ex- 
 tend to all both the care and kindness of an affec- 
 tionate guardian and friend. But I did not fully 
 appreciate the domestic, the social, and the Christian, 
 as well as the official excellences of Dr. Fitch, till 
 at a subsequent period I became more intimately 
 associated with him as a member of the college fac- 
 ulty, and a boarder in his family. During the two 
 years in which I sustained these relations to him, I
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 95 
 
 was more and more impressed with the rare virtues 
 and excellences which composed his character. His 
 attachment and kindness to his numerous family I 
 found to be almost unexampled. His benevolence 
 to the poor and suffering flowed forth in one contin- 
 ued stream. His hospitality seemed to be unbounded 
 Christian hospitality. His intercourse with his friends 
 was free, cheerful, and yet characterized by an all- 
 pervading spirit of piety. As the head of a college, 
 Dr. Fitch was diligent, faithful and efficient. As an 
 instructor, he was clear, safe, and, to a good degree, 
 able. As a preacher, he was profitable and interest- 
 ing, and sometimes powerful. As a Christian, he 
 caused his light to shine brightly and uniformly. 
 Had he been less modest, less retiring, less at home, 
 his reputation, no doubt, would have stood much 
 higher. Had he gone abroad, and appeared before 
 the public like many other distinguished men of his 
 time, his name would have had a high place among 
 theirs." 
 
 " Concerning President Fitch," the venerable Dr. 
 John Woodbridge writes : " I have only to say he 
 was truly an estimable man, and was a great bene- 
 factor to the college in the early period of its histo- 
 ry. He was an excellent scholar in the various de- 
 partments of classical learning. To those who de- 
 sired it, he taught Hebrew and French, as I was 
 told, with a good degree of thoroughness ; and he 
 appeared ever desirous of doing all in his power to 
 promote the respectability and usefulness of his pu-
 
 96 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 pils. His paternal eye was on them while in col- 
 lege, and followed them, I cannot doubt, with lively 
 solicitude, after they had been withdrawn from his 
 special care into the various walks of public life. I 
 knew him only as the presiding officer and teacher ; 
 but I could bear witness to the kindness of his heart 
 when I was in trouble and needed his sympathy and 
 advice. For his counsel and encouragement, given 
 in my early years, I owe him a debt of gratitude. 
 In my review of early days, Dr. Fitch is one of 
 those individuals whose character brightens by the 
 reflections of the past. He had a mild, dark eye, 
 and a countenance beaming with goodness. In the 
 various relations of life he was, I am sure, a pattern 
 of kindness and fidelity. His orthodoxy was 
 straight-forward and explicit, like his own honest 
 and noble soul. If he had any fault as a teacher 
 and disciplinarian, it was the excess of lenity, more 
 than needless severity. He was, perhaps, sometimes 
 too irresolute and wavering for the full maintenance 
 of his authority. His menace might have been 
 sometimes more terrible than the execution. He 
 might in some cases have entreated when a com- 
 mand was necessary. He might occasionally have 
 wept, when he ought to have inflicted punishment. 
 J This, at least, was said by some not very friendly to 
 his administration. The location of the college at 
 that time, and the peculiar circumstances of the 
 country, placed him under circumstances of disad- 
 vantage and discouragement. These disadvantages
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 97 
 
 do not now exist. Yet he did a great work for 
 learning and religion in his day, and helped to lay 
 broad and deep foundations for coming ages. Peace 
 to his memory ; and may the blessing of God de- 
 scend upon the institution he loved, in answer to his 
 many prayers. 
 
 " The information I can give concerning him can 
 be of little consequence in his biography. I remem- 
 ber him as if I had seen him yesterday ; and yet I 
 cannot paint the impression he made upon my 
 youthful mind." 
 
 In his excellent address before the Society of 
 Alumni, in 1862, the Hon. A. C. Paige drops the 
 passing remark : " Our respected President (Dr. 
 Fitch), whose learning was only equalled by his 
 spotless virtue, and who was as conspicuous for 
 his piety as for his guileless simplicity, has long 
 since been lifted up among the sons of light." 
 
 • " Peace to the just man's memory, — let it gi'ow 
 
 Greener with years, and blossom through the flight 
 
 Of ages; let the mimic canvas show 
 
 His calm, benevolent features ; let the light 
 
 Stream on his deeds of love, that shunned the sight 
 
 Of all but heaven, and, in the book of fame, 
 
 The glorious record of his virtues write, 
 
 And hold it up to men, and bid them claim 
 
 A palm like his, and catch from him the hallowed flame." 
 
 In the following general summary respecting Dr. 
 Fitch, we shall aim to keep in mind the venerable 
 maxim, " i)(2 mortuis nil,, nisi bonuin ;^^ and at the 
 
 9
 
 98 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 same time not to give any overdrawn statement of 
 his good qualities. 
 
 In personal appearance, Dr. Fitch was rather be- 
 low than above the middling stature. " His coun- 
 tenance was grave, but rather pleasant than austere. 
 His appearance and deportment were always gen- 
 tlemanly and dignified ; though sometimes, through 
 his great modesty, not marked with perfect ease and 
 elegance." His personal appearance was certainly 
 much in his favor. 
 
 " "While I was a member of Williams College," 
 writes the poet Bryant, " Dr. Fitch was President, 
 and instructor of the senior class. I have a vivid 
 recollection of his personal appearance, — a square- 
 built man, of dark complexion, and black, arched 
 eyebrows. To me his manner was kind and cour- 
 teous, and I remember it with pleasure." He was 
 a man of good presence and comeliness ; combining 
 dignity with cheerfulness. 
 
 " Dr. Fitch," says Professor Dewey, " was a man 
 of fine personal appearance, of rather courtly man- 
 ners, and dignified carriage." 
 
 As a Christian, Dr Fitch was sincere, devout, 
 consistent, and uniform. He aimed to keep his 
 heart with all diligence, and adorn the doctrine of 
 God his Saviour in all things. It is the united tes- 
 timony of those who knew him best, that he was 
 remarkably exemplary as a Christian. No one could 
 be long in his society, says a competent judge, with- 
 out perceiving that his mind was strongly imbued
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 99 
 
 with religious feeling. He was evidently a Christian 
 of a high order. He was not without a share of 
 those failings which are common to fallen man. 
 
 '' But e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side." 
 
 " In my early years," writes Mrs. S., " I was deep- 
 ly impressed with the consistency and perfection of 
 his Christian character; ever displaying, as he did, 
 the most entire and childlike submission to the will 
 of his heavenly Father. Indeed, whenever I have 
 endeavored to conceive of a person fully under the 
 influence, and moulded by the pure and ennobling 
 principles of the gospel, my mind involuntarily re- 
 curs to Father Fitch as affording a lovely exemplifi- 
 cation." 
 
 Dr. Fitch possessed native powers of mind of a 
 high, if not of a preeminent order. They were 
 characterized by solid strength, rather than brillian- 
 cy. They were capable of deliberate and manly, 
 rather than high-wrought efforts. His memory was 
 strong and retentive ; hence the large fund of useful 
 anecdote which was ever at his command, and 
 which he employed with happy success at the reci- 
 tations of his pupils, and to enliven and instruct in 
 the social circle. His patient industry in the pur- 
 suit of knowledge, added to his original capacity 
 for acquiring it, gave him a high standing among 
 his classmates in college, and a high place among 
 his literary associates in subsequent years. During
 
 100 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 his presidency at Williamstown he was somewhat 
 extensively known as a man of solid and varied 
 learning. " He was a man," says Professor Dewey, 
 " of strong powers of mind. The more difficult 
 parts of the philosophy of his day, natural and 
 moral, so far as the means of investigation were at 
 his command, he readily comprehended and made 
 his own ; and that knowledge he could easily trans- 
 fer into the minds of others. I well remember many 
 points which he presented and illustrated to our 
 class in an indelible manner. Had chemistry been 
 taught in his education, he would have made a 
 chemist of high respectability." Dr. Fitch was a 
 man of a well-balanced mind. It may be said of 
 him as Chalmers said of Urquhart : " He had the 
 amplitude of genius, but none of its irregularities. 
 There was no shooting forth of mind in one direc- 
 tion so as to give a prominency to certain acquisi- 
 tions. He was neither a mere geometer, nor a mere 
 linguist, nor a mere metaphysician ; he was all put 
 together ; alike distinguished by the fulness and 
 harmony of his powers." The cast of his mind 
 was practical, rather than brilliant. 
 
 In his younger days he wrote some poetry very 
 creditable to his taste and genius. A niece once 
 requested him to furnish her with some lines for a 
 mourning piece, which she was embroidering in 
 memory of a departed sister. He wrote the follow- 
 ing impromptu : —
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 101 
 
 " When thy dear Saviour wakes the dead. 
 And bids tliy dust arise, 
 Then tliou shalt leave this humble bed, 
 And meet him in the skies." 
 
 Among his papers that were destroyed, his children 
 well recollect there was a manuscript book contain- 
 ing a large number (probably all) of his poetic arti- 
 cles. A few of his pieces have come into our hands. 
 We have concluded to insert the two following pro- 
 ductions of his youthful pen : — 
 
 " ODE TO INNOCENCE. 
 
 " Fairest daugliter of the skies. 
 Stranger to the least offence, 
 Nobly scorning all disguise. 
 Lovely, smiling Innocence. 
 
 " Deck'd in robes of purest snow, 
 Bright and fair as summer's morn, 
 Beauteous as the flowers that blow, 
 Meads and valleys to adorn. 
 
 " Not the myrtle's cooling shade, 
 Not the rural lover's bower. 
 Not the calm, sequestered glade. 
 Blooming with each fragrant flower ; 
 
 " Not the bliss that Science pours 
 O'er the bright, enraptured mind, 
 When on eagle wings she soars 
 To the utmost bounds assigned ; 
 
 " Not the honors of the great, 
 Titles of a sounding name. 
 Splendor, power, and pomp of state, 
 Towers and sceptres, wealth and fame, — 
 9*
 
 102 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 " Can to bliss he knew before, 
 
 When in thy pure garb arrayed, 
 Hjs pained bosom e'er restore, 
 Who from thee has hapless strayed. 
 
 " Choicest friend of mortals here, 
 None, without thee, can be blest ; 
 Yet thou loveliest dost appear 
 In the blooming fair one's breast. 
 
 " There, in charms that ever please, 
 We thy loveliness behold ; 
 Such, 'mid Eden's bowery trees, 
 Adam saw in Eve of old. 
 
 " Such in fair Honora's mind. 
 
 Bright as morning's pearly dew, 
 With each gentle virtue joined, 
 We with pleasing rapture view. 
 
 " May she, O celestial fair ! 
 
 From thy footsteps never rove ; 
 But thy purest pleasure share, 
 Till she join the train above." 
 
 The affecting circumstance which gave rise to the 
 following lines was this : A young lady, an ac- 
 quaintance of his, commenced life with an ample 
 fortune, and most flattering prospects of usefulness 
 and happiness, but in one year to a day from her 
 marriage lay a corpse. They were written when he 
 was a youth. 
 
 "BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 "Ah ! Delia, art thou then no more ? 
 Is this thine early doom ?
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. lOo 
 
 Are all life's flattering prospects o'er, 
 And thou beneath the tomb ? 
 
 " Is this the end of hopes so bright, 
 Fair hopes of happy days, 
 Of years, long years, of pure delight ? — 
 So dies the meteor's blaze ! 
 
 " Pale are those cheeks which late were warm 
 And fresh as blooming May, 
 Alas ! too soon that lovely form 
 Has found a bed of clay! 
 
 " Ah ! hapless youth, she's gone, she's dead ; 
 All faded are her charms. 
 Delia, thy lovely Delia's fled 
 Forever from thy arms. 
 
 " Lo, in her clay-cold bed she lies. 
 
 Beneath the verdant sod, 
 
 While her departed spirit flies 
 
 To meet her Saviour God. 
 
 '• Oft to her grave, at close of day. 
 Wilt thou, sad swain, repair. 
 Weep o'er her dear departed clay. 
 And mourn thy Delia there. 
 
 " Oft, tender maids, at spring's return, 
 With gentle swains shall come. 
 And, while her early fate they mourn. 
 Strew flowers o'er her tomb. 
 
 " But thou, alas ! afflicted youth, 
 
 What comfort canst thou find ? — 
 She was all gentleness and truth. 
 Meek, tender, fair and kind.
 
 104 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 " She tliy fond hopes and wishes crowned ; 
 Thy joys were bright and pure ; 
 To thee all nature sniU'd around ; 
 Thy bliss appeared secure. 
 
 " Ah, sad reverse ! But, oh, forbear 
 To murmur or complain ! 
 Shall man, rash man, presumptuous dare 
 Heaven's counsels to arraign ? 
 
 " From His kind hand the blessing came, — 
 
 The choicest Delia proved ; 
 ■ What once he gave, may he not claim, 
 
 And still be feared and loved ? 
 
 "One pledge of chaste connubial love 
 She's left to soothe thy woe ; 
 Let this a father's kindness prove, 
 His care and culture know. 
 
 " Let this sweet babe some balm impart, 
 To dry a sister's tears. 
 Heal a fond mother's bleeding heart, 
 And bless thy future years. 
 
 " Learn hence, fond youth, how false and vain 
 Earth's noblest pleasures prove ; 
 Her bi'ightest joys are dashed with pain : 
 True bUss is found above ! " 
 
 Dr. Fitch engaged with ardor and perseverance in 
 the investigation of every subject to which he turned 
 his attention. Still, his scholarship seems to have 
 been general, rather than confined to any particular 
 branch of science. He understood thoroughly the 
 whole course of study pursued in our colleges at
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 105 
 
 that period. With the Latin and Greek languages 
 he was very familiar. The Hebrew, too, received a 
 share of his attention, to which he and his cotempo- 
 raries were, no doubt, encouraged by that distin- 
 guished Hebrician, President Stiles. He was like- 
 wise familiar with the French language. His hand- 
 writing was very fair and rather superior, — better 
 when he was seventy than when a tutor in college. 
 
 Dr. Fitch was well qualified, in most respects, to 
 have the instruction and guardianship of young men. 
 It would not, probably, be considered strictly cor- 
 rect to assert that he was, on the whole, preemi- 
 nently qualified to stand at the head of a college. 
 He possessed the talent of government, however, to 
 that degree that he was revered and beloved by his 
 numerous pupils. Some have thought that he was 
 deficient in decision or firmness. His tenderness of 
 feeling may have led him, in some instances, to 
 shrink from enforcing or executing all that he had 
 threatened in case of delinquency or disorder. Still 
 he was not strikingly deficient in this trait of charac- 
 ter. The instances were not common in which he 
 fell short, in the issue, of doing all that wholesome 
 discipline required. " For years," says one of his 
 associates in office, "we had no case in which Dr. 
 Fitch did not bear up his end well in the govern- 
 ment of college." The same valued friend and for- 
 mer instructor adds : " Dr. Fitch was too good a 
 man, too pure in his feelings, too affectionate 
 toward his pupils, too desirous of the happiness of
 
 106 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 all around him, to allow me to take up any little 
 failure in some trait of character." The friends of 
 Dr. Fitch would be the last to deny that in connec- 
 tion with his many excellences he had a share of 
 those imperfections which belong to man. But to 
 dwell upon these would be productive of no good. 
 If any one should wish to see his failings delineated, 
 it must be done by some other pen than ours. 
 
 The president of a college is regarded as a kind 
 of parent or guardian to all the young men. And 
 he must give attention to all their inquiries and 
 wants, whether real or imaginary. Dr. Fitch, from 
 his early education, natural kindness, practical wis- 
 dom and experience in teaching, was peculiarly fitted 
 to meet these demands upon his time and patience. 
 He almost invariably secured the entire confidence 
 and respect of his pupils. He showed himself to be 
 their friend ; and they in turn cheerfully reciprocated 
 his friendship. He treated them as young gentle- 
 men, and they rarely failed to be gentlemanly in 
 return. " The instructor was forgotten in the friend 
 and father." We have almost invariably heard those 
 who were graduated at Williams College during his 
 presidency, speak of him in the highest terms of re- 
 spect and veneration. And why should it not be so ? 
 For, not only over their studies, but their health, 
 their morals, their present and eternal welfare, he 
 watched with paternal care and anxious solicitude. 
 As a consequence, few instructors have been more 
 uniformly and gratefully remembered by their pupils.
 
 KEY. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 107 
 
 -45 a preacher, Dr. Fitch's qualities partook of the 
 solid rather than of the brilliant and showy. His 
 sermons, so far as we have had the means of ascer- 
 taining, were characterized by plainness of style, 
 clearness of illustration, soundness of argument, and 
 the simplicity of the gospel. His manner was sol- 
 emn, earnest, and affectionate. He was a biblical, 
 instructive, and practical preacher. In his religious 
 sentiments he was strictly orthodox. He belonged 
 to the school of Edwards. A clergyman of reputa- 
 tion says of him : " His accuracy in language and 
 rhetorical correctness in composition were perhaps 
 carried to excess. His delivery was good. His 
 voice was full and sonorous, and his enunciation 
 distinct and forcible. In composition he evidently 
 inclined to the pathetic." 
 
 From his Baccalaureate discourse, delivered in 
 1799, from the text, — Bid covet earnestly the best 
 gifts ; and yet shoiv I unto you a more excellent ivay^ — 
 we make the following brief extract : — 
 
 " However desirable and -worthy of pursuit the best natural 
 and acquired gifts may be, there is still a more excellent and 
 glorious way. This is the way of holiness ; which leads directly 
 and certainly to present peace and future happiness. Talents 
 •without piety, gifts without grace, will not profit you at last. 
 Splendid abilities may dazzle the eyes of men, and command 
 their admiration and applause ; but true virtue alone can procure 
 the divine favor, and ensure the rewards of a better life. This 
 alone gives real worth and importance to genius and erudition, to 
 brilliant talents and extensive knowledge. What do wit, genius,
 
 108 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 and learning now avail Hume and Bolingbroke, Shaftsbury and 
 Voltaire ? Pi'ostituted as these talents were by them to the in- 
 famous cause of infidelity and vice, what purpose do they now 
 answer, but as flaming torches to light them to the lowest pits of 
 their infernal prison, and show them, in tenfold horrors, the 
 regions of eternal darkness ? What would they now give for one 
 cheering ray of that heavenly religion which they once hooted 
 and despised, — for one drop of his atoning blood, whom, with the 
 rage and malice of fiends, they so often reviled and blasphemed '? 
 You, my young friends, have formed, I trust, a more just estimate 
 of the worth of religion. But its real value cannot, in the present 
 state, be fully told or conceived. When the splendors of eternal 
 day shall burst upon your astonished vision, or the pit of endless 
 despair yawn upon you, then, and not till then, will you know its 
 infinite worth, — its high and everlasting importance." 
 
 But the crowning excellence of Dr. Fitch as a 
 preacher, remains to be mentioned. He was wise 
 to win souls to Christ. During his residence at 
 Willi am stown, numbers were hopefully converted 
 through his instrumentality, and prepared for exten- 
 sive usefulness in Zion. And during his twelve 
 years' ministry in West Bloomfield, though his con- 
 gregation was not large, and he in the evening of his 
 days, still the admission to that church averaged six- 
 teen annually. Not a year passed, while he minis- 
 tered to that people, but that some were brought out 
 of darkness into marvellous light, and confessed 
 Christ before men. 
 
 It hardly need be added that Dr. Fitch took a 
 deep and lively interest in the cause of education in 
 general. Could he devote eight years of his early
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCU, D. D. 109 
 
 life to the duties of an instructor in Yale College, 
 three years to the office of preceptor at Williams- 
 town, and twenty-two to the presidency of the col- 
 lege ; educate some young men almost entirely at 
 his own expense ; take an early and prominent part 
 in the efforts of the American Education Society, 
 and in the establishment of the Theological Sem- 
 inary at Auburn, — unless the cause of education, 
 especially the preparation of pious young men for 
 the gospel ministry, was with him an object of ab- 
 sorbing interest ? 
 
 Dr. Fitch was truly a lover of good men. He was 
 given to hospitality. He was liberal to all who 
 called upon him, as much so as his means would 
 allow. He was the best beloved by those who knew 
 him best. He made many friends, and had no ene- 
 mies. It may be questioned whether he had an 
 enemy in the world. Perhaps no man was ever 
 more beloved by all his neighbors wherever he lived. 
 His doors were freely opened, and all his guests were 
 made to feel that they were welcome to the best 
 that his house could furnish. He never amassed 
 much wealth ; he had little more than a bare com- 
 petency. Still, by joining economy with liberality, 
 he passed his days in circumstances of comfort, 
 honor, and content. His virtues and learning were 
 his richest inheritance. His best hopes were his 
 treasures laid up in heaven. 
 
 During his presidency, he aided some young men 
 in obtaining an education probably beyond his pecu- 
 10
 
 110 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 niary ability. One of them, the day after his grad- 
 uation, on taking leave of the President, assured him, 
 if ever he should become able to do so, he would 
 remunerate him for his kindness and confidence. 
 More than twenty years afterward, when Dr. Fitch 
 had retired from the ministry and was receiving no 
 regular income, he had contracted some debts which 
 he had not the means of paying, besides living in a 
 house which he did not own. All unexpectedly there 
 arrived at his dwelling in West Bloomfield, one 
 evening, an individual whom Dr. Fitch did not rec- 
 ognize. It was soon, however, ascertained to be 
 Gordon H. Backus, a nephew of Mrs. Fitch, and 
 who was graduated at Williams College in 1806. 
 He had been successful in his profession as a lawyer 
 in Richmond, Va., and had now come to redeem the 
 pledge, given years before, that, if ever he should be 
 able to do so, he would give his venerable friend and 
 patron something better than thanks for his educa- 
 tion. He ascertained that evening Dr. Fitch's pecu- 
 niary circumstances. The next day he presented 
 Dr. Fitch with a receipt for all his debts, a deed of 
 the house in which he lived, and two thousand dol- 
 lars in cash. " Cast thy bread upon the waters ; for 
 thou shalt find it after many days." 
 
 Dr. Fitch was a man of untiring' industry/. If he 
 was not, strictly speaking, a diligent and laborious 
 student; if he was not uniformly and indefatigably 
 engaged in the pursuit of some great and worthy 
 object; if he was not always employed about that
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. Ill 
 
 which pertained to his office or profession, still he 
 was a remarkably industrious man. None of his 
 time was suffered to run to waste. Every hour of 
 his life appeared to be conscientiously devoted to 
 some valuable purpose. With him no hours could 
 strictly be called leisure hours. Besides the needful 
 time for repose and refreshment, he was uniformly 
 occupied in his study, in his official duties, in his 
 garden or wood-house, in attending to his domestic 
 concerns, or in some way promoting the good of his 
 fellow-men. His labors were always arduous, and 
 sometimes excessive. Besides performing all his 
 domestic and collegiate duties, he frequently preached 
 on the Sabbath, and sometimes for months in suc- 
 cession ; and the calls on him for services abroad 
 were somewhat numerous. Under the pressure of 
 so many cares and labors, his constitution, not orig- 
 inally remarkably firm, must have failed but for his 
 regular exercise in the open air, to which he habitu- 
 ally accustomed himself. There is much salutary 
 counsel and practical wisdom in the following sen- 
 tence contained in a letter to his son, then just 
 settled in the ministry. " The garden has been my 
 p'hysician, — let it be yours.'''' During the twenty-two 
 years of his presidency at Williamstown, the regular 
 performance of his official duties was never known 
 to be interrupted by sickness, but once, for a single 
 week. His constitution was preserved, to a great 
 extent, hale and vigorous till near the close of life. 
 The source of Dr. Fitch's support and comfort in
 
 112 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 the day of affliciion and trial may be inferred from 
 the following letter, which is strikingly characteristic 
 of him. It was written near the close of his life, 
 and addressed to two of his children, then deeply 
 afflicted. " About noon to-day, I took from the office 
 your letter, conveying to us the distressing tidings 
 of your dear little Harriet's death. This is indeed 
 an afflictive dispensation ; but no doubt perfectly 
 wise and good. My thoughts have repeatedly antici- 
 pated it, and I may almost say foreboded it. Such 
 precious gifts as your two lovely babes appeared 
 almost too much for any imperfect mortals to receive 
 and safely retain. So prone are the hearts of God's 
 partially sanctified children to doat on such rich gifts 
 from his munificent hand, and even to idolize them, 
 that he often sees it to be best and necessary for 
 their good, soon to take them back. This he un- 
 questionably has a right to do, and always will do, 
 when he sees it will promote the spiritual good of 
 those he loves. What son or daughter is there 
 whom the father does not chasten for their profit and 
 growth in grace ? This he does, sometimes more 
 and sometimes less severely, and always in covenant 
 love and faithfulness to his children. Watts says : -^ 
 
 * The brightest things below the sky- 
 Give but a flattering light ; 
 We should suspect some danger nigh, 
 Where we jDOSsess delight.' 
 
 Sad experience often teaches the Christian that this
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 113 
 
 sentiment is true. When our hearts are too much 
 set on any earthly object, there is always reason to 
 apprehend that our heavenly Father will, in kind- 
 ness, take that object from us. And shall we com- 
 plain of an act of kindness and tenderness in him 
 whose love to his children is unfailing? This love 
 always directs Him to consult their highest and best 
 interest in all his dealings ; some of which, to answer 
 this kind and benevolent purpose, must be trying and 
 afflictive. Prosperity is much more dangerous to 
 them than adversity ; worldly comforts, than disap- 
 pointments and afflictions. I do not say, my dear 
 children, that your affections were in an uncommon 
 degree set upon your lovely babes. But it would be 
 very natural if they were. The temptation was un- 
 usually strong, and you must have had more than a 
 common share of grace to resist and overcome it. 
 Perhaps you find they were, and now see the reason 
 why your kind heavenly Father has thus dealt with 
 you. If so, this should be a motive to the most 
 humble submission to the divine will, and entire 
 resignation to this afflicting providence. It is a se- 
 vere trial of your faith, patience, and acquiescence in 
 the pleasure of Him who does all things well. His 
 grace can, and I trust will, not only support you, but 
 comfort you under this sore bereavement,, and bring 
 you out of this furnace of affliction, as gold purified 
 by fire. We deeply feel the affliction ourselves, and 
 tenderly sympathize with you. It is our earnest 
 prayer that God will be pleased to spare your little 
 
 10*
 
 114 REV. EBBNBZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 son, and not add sorrow to sorrow. But he knows 
 what is best. His pleasure will be done, and it is 
 our duty to acquiesce, whatever it may be." 
 
 In bringing this biographical sketch of President 
 Fitch to a close, we are deeply and painfully sensible 
 of its imperfections. While preparing it, we have 
 often been led to wonder that one so useful, distin- 
 guished, and deserving has been hitherto overlooked, 
 while many inferior to him have been largely noticed. 
 The preceding representations of him, we are fully 
 satisfied, fall below what they ought to have been. 
 We have not reached the standard at which we 
 aimed. But our consolation is that we have done 
 what we could to rescue from oblivion the life and 
 character of one who deserves a far better and more 
 extended memorial. Though Dr. Fitch was modest 
 and unobtrusive, and never appeared to be reaching 
 after applause or popularity, still, the life which he 
 lived, the character which he sustained, and the 
 labors he performed, ought to secure for him a pre- 
 cious and enduring record in the history of his times. 
 And now, with the addition of a single paragraph, 
 we lay down our pen. 
 
 As a companion, father, and friend, Dr. Fitch was 
 all that his nearest connections could desire him to 
 be. "A kinder husband," said his bereaved widow, 
 " the world never furnished. His unremitting atten- 
 tion to me, during my late illness, contributed greatly 
 to his being taken so suddenly to the grave." An- 
 other member of his family remarks : " I think I can
 
 EEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 115 
 
 unhesitatingly say that I never knew one better cal- 
 culated to render a home-circle cheerful and happy 
 than my deceased father. Anticipating every wish 
 of wife and children, and in his own manners uni- 
 formly bland and affectionate, the cheerful and 
 happy influence of his presence and conversation 
 was daily felt throughout our whole circle. He 
 was also characterized by a remarkable equanimity 
 of temper. In the varied trials incident to every 
 family's experience, during my whole life I never 
 saw his bright, sun-lit countenance shaded by a 
 frown ; nor did 1 ever have any evidence that his 
 equilibrium of mind was disturbed." As a father, 
 he was uniformly affectionate, kind and provident. 
 His children invariably revered, loved, and obeyed 
 him, and were emulous to please him. As a friend, 
 few have been more highly esteemed and valued. 
 " I know not," says Dr. Davis, " that I have ever 
 known a purer or more benevolent man, — a man for 
 whose integrity and uprightness I have entertained 
 a more profound respect." His circle of warm- 
 hearted friends was somewhat extensive. His ac- 
 quaintance was deservedly sought ; his presence im- 
 parted intelligence and pleasure to every circle in 
 which he moved. He evidently lived not for himself, 
 but for the good of his generation. He uniformly 
 aimed to diffuse happiness around him. "Without 
 the prospect of reward in the present life, he was 
 sustained and animated with the hope of a reward 
 in the world to come. Upon that reward for which
 
 116 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 his Lord had so manifestly been preparing him for 
 a long course of years, he has no doubt, through 
 grace, joyfully entered. And hundreds and hun- 
 dreds, who have enjoyed his society and shared in 
 his labors for their benefit, now " rise up and call 
 him blessed." 
 
 At a meeting of the alumni of Williams College, 
 held August, 1863, — thirty years after the death of 
 Dr. Fitch, — it was decided to erect a monument to 
 his memory on this spot — the principal scene of his 
 successful and useful labors. The work was in- 
 trusted to the Executive Committee, who were also 
 requested, if possible, to procure a portrait.* Liber- 
 ally aided by Dr. S. S. Fitch, of New York, the 
 committee found no difficulty in securing from a few 
 of the alumni the necessary funds, — five hundred 
 and fifty dollars. The monument (made in Pitts- 
 field) has two plinths or bases, the lower one four 
 feet square, with a die or main pillar, surmounted by 
 a handsome urn, — the whole about fourteen feet 
 high, and weighing six and a half tons. It was 
 erected in the college cemetry, on the last of June, 
 1864, and bears the following inscriptions: — 
 
 * In addition to his liberal contribution toward the monument, and his 
 aid in publishing the sketch of President Fitch, the alumni are now to be 
 indebted to the liberality of Dr. S. S. Fitch for a large and well-executed 
 portrait of his worthy uncle. No reasonable pains or expense have been 
 spared to procure one that shall be correct and acceptable.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 117 
 
 [On the West side.] 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS 
 COLLEGE, 
 
 Born at Norwich^ Ct.y 
 
 SEPT. 26, 1756; 
 
 GRADUATED AT YALE COLLEGE, 1777, 
 
 TUTOR THERE 8 YEARS. 
 BECAME PRECEPTOR OF 
 
 THE ACADEMY AT WILLIAMSTOWN, 
 
 OCT., 1790. 
 
 President or the College, 1793 ; 
 
 RESIGNED THE PRESIDENCY 
 
 1815; 
 
 INSTALLED AT WEST BLOOMFIELD, N. Y., 
 NOV. 29, 1815. 
 
 RESIGNED NOV. 25, 1827. 
 
 DIED THERE MARCH 21, 1833, 
 AGED 76 YEARS.
 
 118 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 [On the North side.] 
 
 Pk^s. Fitch Reliqui-E 
 
 ad ofpid. gul. allat.e sunt, 
 
 et hoc mondmentcm erectum est 
 
 ab suis cognatis et colt, gul. alumnis, 
 
 ANNO 1864. 
 
 [On the South side.] 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 VIR CLARISSIMUS 
 
 DOCTRINA ET INDUSTRIA, 
 
 HUJIANITATE ET PIETATE ; 
 
 EJUS EXEMPLUM ET PRECEPTA 
 
 SU^ iETATI PROFUERUNT, 
 
 ET rUTURIS TEMPORIBUS BENE FACIENT.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCII, D. D. 119 
 
 At the suggestion of some of Dr. Fitch's relatives, 
 his remains (found in a good state of preservation) 
 were removed from West Bloomfield, N. Y., to 
 Williamstown ; and on Tuesday evening, July 5, 
 1864, immediately after prayers in the chapel, the 
 Faculty and some of the Trustees, and other grad- 
 uates and friends of the college, who were attend- 
 ing the senior examination, repaired to the college 
 cemetery, and reverently consigned the honored re- 
 mains to their new resting-place. The feelings 
 prompted by the occasion found a fitting expression 
 in the following remarks, made by the Hon. Judge 
 Bishop, of Lenox : — 
 
 " In the little box around -which we are standing are the ashes 
 of an eminently good and useful man. They are all that remains 
 on earth of him who first gave form and vitality to the institution 
 whose buildings crown the elevations of this valley, and from 
 which so many have gone out to enlighten and elevate mankind. 
 Among those here, I am told, I am the only one who was a mem- 
 ber of college during his presidency. Of his own and the suc- 
 ceeding generation, few remain. There are impressions made up- 
 on the heart which time cannot efface. The relics before us 
 bring back again, in full force, the sentiments of reverence Avhich 
 the living presence inspired. I see his dignified form again, his 
 grave and benignant features, his courteous demeanor, his happy 
 smile, and feel again the veneration which the lapse of half a cen- 
 tury has not extinguished. In September, 1814, I entered col- 
 lege. Dr. Fitch left it in September of the year following. I 
 knew him only as a presiding officer. As such, he made the ac- 
 quaintance of the students of the several classes. He regarded 
 them as his children, and his government of them was that of a 
 father. He was coercive, reluctantly and judiciously coercive.
 
 120 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 when persuasive kindness failed, and only then. He mingled 
 with his pupils with cheerful, serene familiarity. His manners 
 were those which high attainments give to a good heart and re- 
 fined breeding. 
 
 " He was a Christian gentleman. In the devotional exercises 
 of the college he was impressively earnest and solemn. The su- 
 premacy and authority of divine truths, as revealed, were ear- 
 nestly enforced. No one who heard him discourse upon their rel- 
 ative importance will ever forget how he placed them high above 
 all scientific and literary attainments, and his urgent advocacy for 
 their diffusion throughout the world. He dwelt with peculiar 
 delight upon Christian missions, the good they had wrought, and 
 their prospects. Initiated by such a man, it is no wonder that 
 this college stands preeminent for its missionary zeal, — that 
 Mills, and Hall, and James Richards should have become what 
 they were, under the inspiring teachings of one so able and so 
 devoted to the spread of the gospel. The impress which he 
 made in this respect upon the college still lasts. This is most 
 obvious to those who knew it early and know it now. May the 
 mantle cast upon it by him whose bones are here, cover it forever ! 
 
 " I have always regarded Dr. Fitch as the real founder of this 
 institution, — that had he not been, it would not have existed as 
 it now does. He came here early, — a ripe scholar, apt, and 
 eminently qualified to teach. He was thoroughly equal to 
 impart all that an education then thought liberal required. No 
 collegiate institution was near ; increasing population and intel- 
 ligence demanded one. He was qualified to supervise and con- 
 trol it. The materials for its inception were at hand. He sug- 
 gested their use, and, in a good measure, directed their applica- 
 tion. May he not, therefore, be permitted to share, without im- 
 pairing, the just fame of him whose munificence is acknowledged 
 by the name with which the institution has been christened ? 
 
 " I retain with a good degree of distinctness the impression 
 which his preaching made upon my mind, and the characteristics 
 of his eloquence. His sermons were no academic discourses, pol-
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 121 
 
 islicd and elaborate, of lofty style and glowing imagery, challeng- 
 ing for the speaker the admiration of his audience. He spoke for 
 truth's sake, not for his own. He loved the truth better than he 
 loved himself. He preached it, that others might be brought to 
 love it. This was the end of his preaching. To that end all his 
 forces were directed. His sermons were full of the deep sensi- 
 bilities of his own pure and affectionate nature, made active by 
 the clear conviction of the truths which he enforced. He seemed 
 impressed with the belief that his audience were to be influenced 
 and drawn to the truth through the affections, — that, the heart 
 once touched, the reason ceases to cavil, and the will becomes sub- 
 missive. In a word, his was the eloquence of Christian love, pu- 
 rifying aU that is tender, affectionate, and holy in the heart. 
 
 " To you, sir, whose active and disinterested devotion to the 
 college, founded in no small measure by the good and learned 
 man whose name and deeds we hope to perpetuate, I tender my 
 cordial thanks and congratulations. You have brought from a 
 distance, to be buried here amidst the scenes of his usefulness, all 
 that is material which is left of him. We now bury ' these 
 sacred relics ' at the foot of the very appropriate monumental 
 marble which you have caused to be erected, and on which you 
 have written his name and character. This was due to his mem- 
 ory, to the college whose first president he was, and is worthy of 
 one enrolled among her steadfast and devoted sons. 
 
 " In the name of the few surviving pupils of President Fitch, I 
 thank you for this manifestation of your appreciation of his 
 worth, and recognition of his eminent services in the cause of 
 science, humanity, and Christian civilization." 
 11
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE CANDIDATES FOR THE BACCALAUREATE 
 IN WILLIAMS COLLEGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1799. BY THE REV. 
 EBENEZER FITCH, PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 " CoTet earnestly the best gifts ; and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. 
 — 1 Corinthians xii. 31. 
 
 HE Christian philosopher often contemplates, 
 with pleasing astonishment, the works of 
 God. Their number, variety, properties, 
 powers, and uses excite his admiration of 
 ^j ^ the divine wisdom. The goodness displayed 
 tW in their formation, in their fitness for the ends 
 intended, and capacities for enjoyment, calls 
 forth his gratitude and praise. But man, the last 
 and noblest piece of divine workmanship in this 
 world, claims the greatest share of his attention. He 
 sees him to be distinguished, in several important re- 
 spects, from the inferior orders of animals. Their 
 powers are very limited, and admit of little enlarge- 
 ment or improvement ; his may be improved and en- 
 larged almost to infinity. Tlieir capacities for enjoy- 
 ment are scanty, and admit only the low, gross pleas- 
 ures of sense ; his are large, highly improvable, and 
 (122)
 
 KEY. EBEXEZER FITCH, D. D. 123 
 
 fitted for the noblest intellectual and moral pleasures. 
 Distinguished as man is from the inferior orders of 
 creatures, is it not strange that any, boasting of high 
 claims to reason and philosophy, should be so brutish 
 as to suppose him destined to the same common lot, 
 — to perish forever, and be forgotten ? Reason and 
 revelation concur in their decision, that he has a far 
 higher and nobler destiny. The breath of the Al- 
 mighty has made him immortal, and given him 
 powers capable of endless progressive improvement 
 in knowledge and virtue, and capacities for commen- 
 surate enjoyment of the purest intellectual and mor- 
 al kind. 
 
 But the mental powers and faculties of man were 
 not made to grow, like vegetables, or animal bodies, 
 without any labor or exertion of his own. They 
 need diligent culture, vigorous exercise, the aids of 
 science, and the benign influence of religion, to 
 bring them to maturity. The understanding must 
 be enlarged, strengthened, and enriched with knowl- 
 edge, and the will and affections amended, regu- 
 lated, and improved by virtue. The cultivation of 
 the heart should keep pace with the growth and en- 
 largement of the mental powers. Intellectual en- 
 dowments, natural or acquired, can never alone raise 
 man to that elevated rank in the scale of being 
 which his Maker designed him to hold. Virtue and 
 religion must unite their happifying and ennobling 
 influence to raise him to the true dignity of a ra- 
 tional, immortal creature. " Covet earnestly," says
 
 124 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 the apostle, "the best gifts ; and yet show I unto 
 you a more excellent way." 
 
 On this occasion, young gentlemen, the last I ever 
 expect of speaking to you publicly as a class, I feel 
 it to be my duty to address you with the freedom of a 
 friend, and with the seriousness and engagedness 
 becoming a minister of Christ. To impress on your 
 minds some of the interesting truths suggested in the 
 text, I shall endeavor, in the first place, to show you 
 that there are some gifts which are highly valuable, 
 and worthy your diligent pursuit, and point out 
 some of the ways in which they may be improved ; 
 secondly, to suggest some motives which ought to 
 influence you to the diligent pursuit and faithful im- 
 provement of them ; and, thirdly, to make it evident 
 that there is a still more excellent and important 
 way. 
 
 In the first place, I am to show you that some 
 gifts are highly valuable, and worthy your diligent 
 pursuit, and point out some of the ways in which 
 they may be improved. Gifts, talents, or powers, 
 are natural, supernatural, or acquired. Natural gifts 
 or talents, though capable of being increased and 
 improved, and applied to valuable purposes, cannot 
 be objects of pursuit. They are such as God, their 
 author, has been pleased to make them. Thus, one 
 man has a gift or talent which enables him to excel 
 in one walk of science, one art or profession, and 
 another in another. He who has not one of these 
 gifts can never acquire it by any labor, study, or ex-
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 125 
 
 ertion. " Poeta nascitur, non fit^'' * said the Romans ; 
 and the same observation is equally applicable to 
 every natural gift or talent. 
 
 There are also supernatural gifts. Of these the 
 apostle had been particularly speaking in the pre- 
 ceding context. These were the gifts of miracles, 
 of prophesying, of healing the sick, and of speaking 
 or interpreting an unknown language. Among the 
 primitive Christians, many, by the immediate agen- 
 cy of the divine Spirit, were endowed with these ex- 
 traordinary, miraculous gifts. They answered, at 
 that day, the important purpose of facilitating and 
 expediting the spread of the gospel among rude, 
 unenlightened, idolatrous nations. God by them 
 bore testimony to the doctrines of the cross, in a 
 manner calculated to silence the cavils of unbeliev- 
 ing Jews, and bring conviction to the minds of ig- 
 norant Gentiles. But the reasons for bestowing 
 these miraculous gifts on the ministers of religion 
 long since generally ceased, and with them the gifts 
 themselves. It does not appear, therefore, that it is 
 now the duty of Christians to pray for them, or 
 desire them. 
 
 Acquired gifts, or talents, are those of which I 
 mean principally to treat, and which I would recom- 
 mend as objects worthy your diligent and strenuous 
 pursuit. 
 
 Science or knowledge, extensively considered, is 
 
 * A man is horn^ and not made,, a poet. 
 11*
 
 126 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 a gift or talent of general use and application. It 
 is, in ten thousand different ways, conducive to the 
 improvement and happiness of man. Without it, 
 he would still be a savage, elevated by his natural 
 powers only above the brutal herd. All the refine- 
 ments of society, all its accommodations and ele- 
 gant delights, owe their origin to science. Contrast 
 the condition of savages with that of civilized na- 
 tions, and see the striking difference. View, if you 
 can, without the mingled emotions of astonishment 
 and pleasure, the benefits resulting to individuals 
 and society from the cultivation of the human mind, 
 and the treasures of knowledge with which it has 
 been stored. To recount them all would be a task 
 as difficult and endless as to number the stars, or 
 tell the sands on the sea-shore. Many of them, in 
 a highly improved state of society, are, like air and 
 light, so common as hardly to be noticed. We see 
 and feel and enjoy them, without considering from 
 what source they spring, or reflecting that they are 
 not natural or incidental. 
 
 Philology, or the knowledge of language, is valua- 
 ble, principally, as the means or instrument either of 
 acquiring or communicating other knowledge, and 
 as the medium of social intercourse. Endowed by 
 our beneficent Creator with the faculty of speech, it 
 becomes us to improve it, as the means, not merely 
 of interchanging our thoughts in the common con- 
 cerns of life, but of communicating to each other 
 the knowledge of him and his works. The man
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 127 
 
 who becomes eminent in the use of this faculty ac- 
 quires a commanding influence over the opinions, 
 passions, and actions of his fellow-men. He has it 
 in his power, not merely to please, instruct, and per- 
 suade, but to convince, arouse, animate, impel. 
 Paul of Tarsus was celebrated, even by the learned 
 heathen of that day, as one of the first orators of 
 the age. And to what a noble purpose was his or- 
 atory applied I Thousands now in heaven, converted 
 under his preaching from gross ignorance and idola- 
 try, or an obstinate and blind attachment to Juda- 
 ism, can testify, and will testify forever. 
 
 Need I undertake to point out to you, young gen- 
 tlemen, the numerous inferior advantages and uses 
 of oratory ? Is it not one of the first qualifications, 
 one of the most brilliant ornaments of the lawyer 
 and the statesman, as well as of the divine ? Dili- 
 gently cultivate, then, this talent; earnestly covet 
 this highly valuable and useful gift. 
 
 Were it, on this occasion, proper, I might proceed 
 to recommend to your diligent and persevering pur- 
 suit every branch of useful knowledge. I might 
 mention the many advantages derived from a knowl- 
 edge of this terraqueous globe, its numerous and 
 various inhabitants, their manners, laws, history, 
 forms of government, civil, literary, and religious in- 
 stitutions. I might eulogize the benefits resulting 
 from natural science, and invite you to examine, 
 with philosophic care and accuracy, and contem- 
 plate, with devout admiration, the various produc-
 
 128 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 tions of infinite skill, power, and benevolence in this 
 material world. I might show you how such re- 
 searches invigorate the powers of the mind, enlarge 
 the bounds of knowledge, contribute to the conven- 
 ience, accommodation, and happiness of man, and 
 raise his views to that Almighty Being who called 
 the world into existence, and who superintends, reg- 
 ulates, and controls all the operations of this vast 
 and complicated machine. In short, I might un- 
 dertake to point out to you all the various uses and 
 advantages of the knowledge of those arts and sci- 
 ences which compose a course of liberal education, 
 and which have engaged so large a share of your 
 attention during your academic life. But, pleasing 
 as would be the task, I must waive it for one more 
 important and better suited to the occasion. 
 
 General science, as was observed, is a talent or 
 gift of extensive application and utility. The man 
 whose mind is enriched with every kind of knowl- 
 edge can, as occasion may require, bring out of his 
 treasure things new and old. He has in himself, 
 whether alone or in company, a fund of rational 
 pleasure. He can entertain and instruct the listen- 
 ing circle, and shed on all around him the light of 
 wisdom and knowledge. In how many ways, and 
 to how great an extent, may he be useful to his fel- 
 low-men ? If he is disposed to improve his knowl- 
 edge for the good of others, he is the blessing and 
 the ornament of society. What a debt of gratitude 
 is due to men of such eminent erudition as Bacon
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 129 
 
 and Boyle and Newton and Locke! And, to 
 the honor of human nature, we might add to this 
 list a long catalogue of names truly illustrious in 
 the republic of letters. 
 
 But, to become eminent for general knowledge, 
 great abilities, much leisure, long and close applica- 
 tion are requisite. Few, therefore, shine as general 
 scholars, while many figure in some particular de- 
 partment of science. That knowledge is always 
 most valuable which is most useful. That which is 
 most directly applicable to the common occasions 
 and occupations of life merits your first attention 
 All that knowledge, especially, which conduces to 
 extensive usefulness in professional life, should be 
 eagerly sought by youth who design to engage in 
 the learned professions. It becomes, in their hands, 
 a gift or talent of constant, daily use. The mere 
 scholar, the man of idle speculation, who pursues 
 his researches in science solely for the purpose of 
 gratifying his taste or curiosity, or acquiring fame, 
 is a useless drone in society. It should always be 
 your aim to improve your knowledge for some valu- 
 able purpose. 
 
 To men of education, the learned professions 
 open the fairest and largest field for usefulness. To 
 figure and be useful in either of them, much partic- 
 ular knowledge must be added to the general stock. 
 When, by a course of laborious study, you have 
 made this addition, you will possess a gift or talent
 
 130 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 which may be employed to great advantage for the 
 good of mankind. 
 
 To relieve the pains and heal the maladies to 
 which our frail bodies are subject is an important 
 and benevolent office. Our compassionate Saviour 
 often discharged it ; not, indeed, as an ordinary, but 
 as an almighty physician. He did not deem even 
 the hours of the Sabbath too sacred to be employed 
 in this friendly and necessary duty. All the individ- 
 ual happiness consequent upon the continuance of 
 life and the enjoyment of health, and all the bene- 
 fits thence resulting to others, may, and often do, de- 
 pend, under God, upon the seasonable, judicious, 
 and skilful application of the healing art. Let, 
 then, those who would, in this way, be eminent and 
 useful, diligently seek and benevolently improve this 
 gift. 
 
 In every society laws are necessary to regulate 
 the civil conduct of individuals. As men and as 
 Christians, we all have important rights which we 
 wish to enjoy, and which duty requires us to protect 
 and defend. Till that happy, promised period shall 
 arrive, when fraud and injustice, theft and violence, 
 adultery and murder, with every other species of 
 wickedness, shall cease, our property, our rights, and 
 our lives will need the protection of wise and salu- 
 tary laws, executed with firmness and impartial jus- 
 tice. A thorough knowledge of these laws, in the 
 present highly improved state of society, has be- 
 come an arduous and important study. To under-
 
 KEV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. 1). 131 
 
 stand them in their true spirit and principle, explain 
 them clearly, and apply them with precision and 
 justice, constitutes the business of a useful and nec- 
 essary profession. If to your fund of general 
 knowledge you add the hard-earned treasures of 
 juridical science, you will have a gift or talent 
 which, if used with honor and integrity, will pro- 
 cure you wealth and reputation, and be of essential 
 service to your fellow-men. It will, also, furnish you 
 with still greater gifts, and fit you for a higher sta- 
 tion and more extensive usefulness in the depart- 
 ments of civil life. 
 
 But the gift most to be desired, because it may 
 be applied to the highest and noblest purpose, is to 
 be exercised in another profession. Men have not 
 only temporal, but eternal interests to be advanced 
 and promoted by the labors of the learned, the vir- 
 tuous, and the pious. As much as the soul in na- 
 tive dignity and worth surpasses the body, as 
 much as eternity exceeds time in duration, so much 
 do the interests of a future life exceed in impor- 
 tance those of the present. Our pain or pleasure 
 in this life is, at most, slight and momentary ; but, in 
 the life to come, one or the other will be exquisite 
 and endless. God, whose all-comprehending view 
 takes in at once the whole of our existence, with all 
 our concerns and interests, has shown us by his con- 
 duct, in a manner more convincing and impressive, 
 if possible, than the strongest declarations in his 
 word, the importance of our well-being in the life
 
 132 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 to come. Though he has not been unmindful of 
 our present felicity, he appears unspeakably more 
 solicitous about our future welfare. He has been, 
 if I may so say, at infinite trouble and expense to 
 rescue us from misery, and procure us happiness in 
 the coming world. We are redeemed, not by cor- 
 ruptible things, as silver and gold, but by the pre- 
 cious blood of the Son of God. This was the in- 
 finite price paid for our salvation. Had all the an- 
 gels in heaven died for us, it would have availed 
 nothing. Divine justice demanded an infinite ran- 
 som. The death of the great Emmanuel alone 
 could be accepted as an adequate atonement for the 
 guilt of fallen man. Such was the evil of sin, and 
 such the worth of the soul in the view of omni- 
 science ! Through Christ's atoning blood, pardon, 
 peace, and eternal life are tendered to guilty men. 
 The divine Saviour himself proclaimed the joyful 
 news of this great salvation, and appointed in his 
 church an order of men, to be continued in every 
 successive age, whose business it is to publish the 
 same glad tidings. They are his ambassadors, 
 commissioned to proclaim the terms of peace and 
 reconciliation to a world in arms against him, their 
 rightful Sovereign. High and honorable is their of- 
 fice ; solemn and interesting are the duties and ser- 
 vices it requires. These ministers of the Prince of 
 Peace need all the aids of human learning, as well 
 as the teachings of his Spirit, to qualify them for 
 their important trust. All who desire this office
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 133 
 
 should earnestly covet these gifts. They should not 
 be novices, lest they be elevated with pride, and fall 
 into the snare of the tempter. Their divine Master 
 directs them " to be wise as serpents, though harm- 
 less as doves." They must be able, by sound doc- 
 trine, to stop the mouths of gainsayers, to instruct 
 the ignorant, support the weak, reclaim the errone- 
 ous, console the afflicted, raise up the desponding, 
 and animate the drooping Christian; to reprove, 
 rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering, meekness, 
 and wisdom. To do all this, and much more, 
 which the important duties of their sacred office 
 require, is a task too arduous for any man who 
 is not enlightened by the Spirit of God, aided by 
 his grace, and assisted by all the helps of human 
 learning. In no other business or calling is it so 
 necessary that a man should be a scholar as well as 
 a Christian. Useful knowledge, then, is a gift of 
 high importance to the minister of Christ. He 
 should covet and seek this knowledge earnestly, as 
 one of the best acquirable gifts. While young, es- 
 pecially, he should spare no pains, labor, or study to 
 possess it, and should make it the business and 
 pleasure of his life to employ it diligently, with all 
 his other gifts, in promoting the divine glory, and 
 the immortal interests of his fellow-men; I proceed. 
 
 Secondly, to suggest some motives which ought 
 to influence you to the diligent pursuit and faithful 
 improvement of these gifts. 
 
 Permit me, in the first place, to suggest as a mo- 
 
 12
 
 134 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 tive, your own interest and reputation. In the 
 course of your collegiate life, you have acquired a 
 considerable stock of useful knowledge. This is 
 not only valuable in itself, but it will enable you, 
 with greater ease and expedition, to make large ad- 
 ditions. It is a broad and solid foundation, on 
 which a noble and elegant superstructure may be 
 erected. The road to the temple of Science is now 
 open before you. Most of the obstructions are re- 
 moved. You have progressed in it a considerable 
 way. Will you stop here, and proceed no farther in 
 a path which conducts directly to honor and useful- 
 ness ? Would this be reputable ? Would it com- 
 port with your interests ? If you love books, you 
 will make them the companions of all your leisure 
 hours. If you desire knowledge, you will seek it 
 as silver, and search for it as for hid treasures. You 
 will not rest satisfied with present literary attain- 
 ments, but labor, as you have leisure and opportuni- 
 ty, to acquire more knowledge, and to become emi- 
 nent for science. To this both interest and reputa- 
 tion strongly prompt you, as they do also to a diligent 
 and faithful improvement of your gifts, whether 
 natural or acquired. By these you hope to procure 
 for yourselves the supports, comforts, accommoda- 
 tions, and, perhaps, elegancies of life. By a right 
 use of these, you may merit and obtain the good 
 opinion, if not the applause, of men. 
 
 I may suggest, as a second motive, the just and 
 reasonable expectation of your friends. Great have
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 135 
 
 been their care and solicitude for your progress in 
 knowledge, and perseverance in a course of virtuous 
 conduct. Your parents and friends have been at no 
 small expense to give you the advantages of a col- 
 legiate education. They have raised expectations 
 of finding that you have greatly profited by these 
 advantages, that you will do honor to yourselves 
 and to them, and be blessings and ornaments to so- 
 ciety. Can you bear the idea of disappointing their 
 well-founded hopes ? Do not the sentiments of 
 honor, of filial affection, duty and gratitude, glow 
 in your bosoms, and inspire you with a resolution to 
 be and to do all, and more, if possible, than they ex- 
 pect? This is the best, if not the only way, in 
 your power to make them suitable and acceptable 
 returns for all their care and anxiety, expense and 
 trouble. You never can know, till you are parents 
 yourselves, the feelings of a parent's heart. His so- 
 licitude for the preservation, improvement, reputa- 
 tion, temporal prosperity, and eternal welfare of his 
 offspring often exceeds your conception. Trem- 
 blingly alive to everything that nearly concerns 
 them, he spares no pains, he grudges no expense, 
 to fit them to be useful, respectable, and virtuous 
 members of society. Think of this, my young 
 friends, and let an equal solicitude possess your 
 minds, and influence you to everything useful, laud- 
 able, and virtuous. 
 
 A third motive, which I would urge, is the just 
 claim which society has to the labors and services
 
 136 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 of. men of education. " That we are born, not for 
 ourselves, but for our country," was the noble sen- 
 timent of a heathen. Shall not Christians think as 
 nobly? Shall the man rich in knowledge hoard 
 his treasure as the miser does his gold ? Shame- 
 ful selfishness ! What ! Have stores of knowledge, 
 which cannot be diminished by communication nor 
 exhausted by distribution, and yet not communicate 
 nor distribute! And this, too, when so much good 
 may be done ; when soi many may be made wiser, 
 and better, and happier by the means! Forbid it 
 honor, patriotism, piety! Talents for usefulness 
 should not be buried in a napkin. To whom much 
 is given, of them much is required, both by God and 
 their country. Countless are the ways in which 
 your gifts may be employed for the public good. 
 Men of abilities, science, and virtue easily acquire 
 influence. They can do much for the encourage- 
 ment of learning, true patriotism, and good morals, 
 which are all highly important, as they are necessa- 
 
 j ^ry to the support of social order, good government, 
 
 ' and religion. In this day, especially, of general and 
 alarming danger, when every civil and religious in- 
 stitution is threatened with ruin, when a spirit of 
 vandalism, hostile to rational liberty, and to every- 
 thing dear to us as men and Christians, has already 
 devastated the fairest parts of Europe, and menaces 
 the civilized world with universal carnage, rapine, 
 and desolation, every man of science, every friend 
 / to virtue and his country, is called upon to exert
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 137 
 
 every nerve to stem the raging torrent. You cannot 
 innocently remain idle spectators of the awful ca- 
 tastrophe of nations, the prostration of all good 
 government, and the extirpation of morality and re- 
 ligion from the earth. All this, and more, appears 
 evidently to be comprised in the infernal plan of the 
 combined atheists and revolutionists of the present 
 day. Witness their dark conspiracies, now brought 
 to light, their daring, persevering, and deadly efforts, 
 nay, their own direct and positive declarations. 
 Stand, then, at your posts, and die like men, rather I 
 than suffer that liberty for which our fathers bled, 
 that government which they established with so 
 much wisdom, and that religion which they held 
 dearer than life, to be sacrificed at the unhallowed 
 shrine of atheism and French philosophy. Let the 
 sticklers for this philosophy deny that religion and 
 government are in danger from a combination of 
 men desperate in wickedness, and prepared for every 
 enormity. With the same modest assurance they 
 may deny that the sun enlightens the world. Your 
 information is such that their confident denial can- 
 not, in the least degree, shake your belief. You 
 know that the world is now in possession of the 
 fullest evidence of this unhappy and alarming fact. 
 You know that, not only in Europe, but in our own , 
 enlightened country, the principles of deism, athe- / 
 ism, and disorganizing politics, have, of late years, 
 made rapid strides. Is no danger to be apprehended 
 
 from such principles ? Do they not sap the pillars i 
 12* ^ — 1
 
 138 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 of society ? Are not many well-meaning but unin- 
 formed persons, by the wicked arts of ambitious 
 men, drawn into the vortex of these principles, and 
 marshalled on the side of opposition to the wisest 
 and best goverimient on the globe? While you 
 hold the vile arts of such deceivers in abhorrence, 
 pity even the willing victims of their sophistry and 
 falsehood. Labor to enlighten, undeceive, and con- 
 vince them. Obstinate as many of them are in 
 their prejudices and opinions, possibly truth and 
 reason may at length prevail, and triumph over their 
 errors and delusion. God, in his kind providence, is 
 now opening the eyes of some of them. He appears, 
 also, to be turning the scale against the enemies of re- 
 ligion and rational liberty in Europe. But the same 
 abominable and ruinous principles are likely long to 
 ferment in the bosom of society, and endanger the 
 existence of everything dear and valuable to men 
 and to Christians. Great care and circumspection, 
 vigorous and unceasing exertions, will still be re- 
 quired of the friends of God and their country, to 
 guard against the fatal tendency of these principles, 
 and secure mankind from their pernicious effects. 
 Let your learning, patriotism, and piety be employed 
 for this important and benevolent purpose. 
 
 From you, young gentlemen, society claims many 
 other services. Time does not allow me to enumer- 
 ate them. Most of them your own reflections will 
 readily suggest. There is, however, one highly im- 
 portant kind of service, which a sense of duty for-
 
 KEY. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 139 
 
 bids me to omit. This extensive and growing 
 country is at present in great need of religious in- 
 structors. Many of our old towns, and a great 
 number of our new settlements, have none to break 
 to them the bread of life. A plentiful harvest of 
 souls is in danger of being lost for want of laborers. 
 Does not the cry of many " ready to perish " ring in 
 your ears, and call you to the vineyard? If wealth 
 and fame do not await you, in this sacred employ- 
 ment, the blessings of perishing immortals will come 
 upon you, and a crown of glory be your eternal re- 
 ward. How important is it to the civil and literary 
 interest of society, as well as to the immortal wel- 
 fare of the souls of men, that all should have the 
 benefit of religious instruction! Ignorance, immor- 
 ality, and impiety will, otherwise, soon prevail, and 
 envelop our land in the darkness of heathenism. 
 Our wise and free government will be prostrated in 
 the dust, anarchy will succeed, and despotism close 
 the tragic scene. Our religion — the pure and holy 
 religion of the gospel — will be exchanged for the 
 dark, chaotic systems of infidelity, or the gloomy 
 horrors of annihilation and atheism. But, blessed 
 be God ! we entertain better hopes respecting our 
 government and our religion. Jehovah reigns ! He 
 will defend his own cause. He will protect his 
 church. Against it the gates of hell shall not ulti- 
 mately prevail. We have many favorable tokens of 
 his presence and protection in the effusions of his 
 Spirit on many places, in the continuance of wise
 
 140 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 and upright men to be our rulers, and in the general 
 superintendence of his kind providence over all our 
 national concerns. 
 
 I will suggest but one motive more, and that is of 
 the highest moment, and ought to have the most 
 persuasive and commanding influence. God claims 
 your best services. They are justly and unalienably 
 his due. All your powers and faculties, your talents 
 and opportunities for usefulness, should be devoted 
 to him. He is served, his glory is promoted, when, 
 with upright views, you labor to advance the hap- 
 piness of his creatures. Unprofitableness is inex- 
 cusable and criminal. To neglect the improvement 
 of the talents he has given you is ingratitude and 
 disobedience. Your being, your powers, your ad- 
 vantages for education, and the knowledge you 
 have acquired, are all his gifts, and he justly requires 
 that you employ them for his glory. The period al- 
 lotted you for active usefulness is short, but the con- 
 sequences, to yourselves and to others, of improving 
 or neglecting it, will run through eternity. Let 
 these and similar considerations animate you to 
 diligence, zeal, and faithfulness in the discharge of 
 every personal, social, and religious duty. 
 
 I am, thirdly, to show you that however desirable 
 and worthy of pursuit the best gifts may be, there is 
 still a more excellent and glorious way. This is the 
 way of holiness, which leads directly and certainly 
 to present peace and future happiness. Talents 
 without piety, gifts without grace, will not profit
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 141 
 
 you at last. Splendid abilities may dazzle the eyes 
 of men, and command their admiration and ap- 
 plause. But true virtue alone can procure the 
 divine favor, and insure the rewards of a better life. 
 This alone gives real worth and importance to 
 genius and erudition, to brilliant talents and exten- 
 sive knowledge. What do wit, genius, and learning 
 now avail Hume and Bolingbroke, Shaftesbury and 
 Voltaire ? Prostituted as these talents were by 
 them to the infamous cause of infidelity and vice, 
 what purpose do they now answer but as flaming 
 torches to light them to the lowest pits of their in- 
 fernal prison, and show them, in tenfold horrors, the 
 regions of eternal darkness ? What would they 
 now give for one cheering ray of that heavenly re- 
 ligion which they hooted and despised? — for one 
 drop of His atoning blood, whom, with the rage 
 and malice of fiends, they so often reviled and blas- 
 phemed ? 
 
 You, my young friends, have formed, I trust, a 
 more just estimate of the worth of religion. But 
 its real value cannot, in the present state, be fully 
 told or conceived. When the splendors of eternal day 
 shall burst upon your astonished sight, or the pit of 
 endless despair yawn before you, then, and not till 
 then, will you know its infinite worth, its high and 
 everlasting importance. Enough, however, is now 
 known to convince every rational man that to pos- 
 sess and practise it is his highest interest, as well as 
 his indispensable duty. This is that wisdom which
 
 142 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 is " the principal thing," both for present enjoyment 
 and future felicity. All her ways are pleasantness, 
 all her paths are peace, and her rewards are glory, 
 honor, and immortality. Let, then, this heavenly 
 wisdom be your companion and your guide through 
 the world, upon the broad theatre of which you are 
 now entering. Act well the various parts which 
 Providence may assign you. As you will leave be- 
 hind you a fair reputation for laudable progress in 
 science, and for orderly and amiable deportment, 
 preserve and increase this reputation by future dili- 
 gence, usefulness, and virtue. Think often on what 
 you owe to yourselves and to your friends, to your 
 country and your God. Labor more to be virtuous 
 than to be learned, — to be good than to be great. 
 Value less the applause of men than the testimony 
 of a good conscience, and the approbation of your 
 Maker. 
 
 We commend you to the grace, protection, and 
 blessing of Almighty God. May he direct you in 
 all your ways, improve you as instruments of great 
 good to men and glory to his name, make you bless- 
 ings to your friends, your country, and the world, 
 and, at last, crown your faithful and benevolent ser- 
 vices here with immortal glory and felicity in the 
 world above. Amen.
 
 A SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF BERKSHIRE 
 AND COLUMBIA, AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING, IN HUDSON, N. 
 Y., SEPTEMBER 20, 1814. BY EBENEZER FITCH, D. D., PRES- 
 IDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 " For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
 pulling down of strong-holds." — 2 Corinthuks, x. 4. 
 
 AUL was honored by God as the founder of 
 the Corinthian Church. Apollos, Silvanus, 
 Timotheus, and others, labored with him in 
 watering it, and building itup in the faith and 
 order of the gospel. Under their ministry 
 it soon became a numerous and flourishing 
 church. But false teachers crept in, and en- 
 deavored to alienate the minds of the brethren from 
 their spiritual fathers and teachers. Their wicked 
 endeavors were so far successful as to produce very 
 unhappy contentions and divisions, and cause Paul's 
 claim to the apostleship to be called in question. 
 They reviled him, and aifected to despise him for his 
 smallness of stature, his humble appearance, and 
 unassuming deportment. " His bodily presence," 
 said they, " is weak, and his speech contemptible." 
 
 (143)
 
 144 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Some years before, when, in the presence of Felix 
 and Brasilia, he reasoned of righteousness, temper- 
 ance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled. And 
 two years after this, when he made his very able 
 and eloquent defence before Festus and Agrippa, 
 they felt and acknowledged the power of his elo- 
 quence. Longinus speaks of him as one of the first 
 orators of antiquity. But it is evident that when he 
 preached at Corinth he was no longer distinguished 
 as an orator. The ecstasy, or trance, mentioned in 
 the twelfth chapter of this epistle, when he was 
 caught up to the third heaven, and heard unspeaka- 
 ble words, might have so affected his nerves as to 
 injure the organs of speech, and produce a lasting 
 impediment. It is no improbable conjecture that 
 such an impediment was " the thorn in the flesh, the 
 messenger of Satan sent to buffet him, lest he should 
 be exalted above measure." " For this thing," said 
 he, " I besought the Lord thrice, that it might de- 
 part from me. And he said unto me, ' My grace is 
 sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made perfect 
 in weakness.' " God probably intended it should 
 fully appear that the vicious and idolatrous Gen- 
 tiles were not converted by the conclusive reasoning 
 and persuasive eloquence of Paul, but by the power 
 and grace of his Spirit. That this was the fact, Paul 
 appeals to the Corinthians themselves in his first 
 epistle. " And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
 came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom. 
 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 145 
 
 in much trembling. And my speech and my preach- 
 ing was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, 
 but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power : 
 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of 
 men, but in the power of God." The same senti- 
 ment appears in the words chosen for our text. 
 " The weapons of our warfare," saith the apostle, 
 "are not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
 pulling dowH of strong-holds." 
 
 These words naturally lead us to consider the fol- 
 lowing things : — 
 
 I. The means employed in the propagation of 
 the gospel. 
 
 II. The great Agent who gives efficacy to these 
 means ; and, 
 
 III. The effects produced. 
 
 We are first to consider the means employed in 
 the propagation of the gospel. 
 
 When Christ was about to enter upon his public 
 ministry, he sent a herald before him to prepare the 
 way. .lohn the Baptist came, as Isaiah and Mala- 
 chi had foretold, preaching in the wilderness of Ju- 
 dea, and saying, " Repent ye ; for the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." When John's short ministry 
 terminated in his imprisonment by Herod, Christ 
 himself appeared as a public teacher. The Spirit 
 of the Lord was eminently upon him, because he 
 had anointed him to preach the gospel to the poor, 
 he had sent him to heal the broken-hearted, to 
 preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of 
 
 13
 
 146 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 sight to the blind. He, indeed, spake as never man 
 spake, and evinced his Messiahship by a series of 
 the most benevolent and stupendous miracles. But 
 when, by his death and resurrection, his mediatorial 
 work on earth was fully accomplished, to whom did 
 he commit the prosecution of his great design of 
 instructing, reforming, and saving an ignorant, apos- 
 tate, perishing world of sinners? Did he commit 
 this immense and godlike work to mighty princes 
 and potentates at the head of armies and nations ; 
 or to great, wise, and learned sages and philoso- 
 phers? Such a measure human policy — the wis- 
 dom of this world — would probably have dictated. 
 But the divine Saviour, who perfectly knew the 
 hearts of men, the state of the world, and the work 
 to be accomplished, chose very different instruments. 
 During his public ministry he selected twelve plain, 
 illiterate men as his constant attendants, to receive 
 his instructions, imbibe his doctrines, and be witness- 
 es of his miracles. To these men he committed 
 the work of publishing his gospel through the world, 
 — of instructing, and reclaiming from error, prejudice, 
 and sin, millions of Jews and Gentiles. This was 
 their commission : " Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to every creature." Was ever so 
 arduous a task assigned to men ? Did God ever 
 require any of his creatures to perform a work so la- 
 borious, so difficult, and, to human strength, so im- 
 possible ? Yet they undertook it, and accomplished 
 it, in a way which fully accorded with the purpose
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 147 
 
 and requirement of God. And by what means did 
 they accomplish it ? Certainly not by human pow- 
 er or policy. Not by the aid of eminent natural 
 abilities, learning, or eloquence. They possessed 
 none of these, — they used none of these. They were 
 a small, feeble band of plain, unlettered men. They 
 stood alone, unaided, unbefriended by any human 
 power, civil or ecclesiastical. Nay, all the world 
 was in hostile array against them. The Jewish ru- 
 lers, priests, and people, aided by the Roman arm, 
 had just crucified their Lord and Master. All the 
 supposed interests, all the religious and political 
 prejudices, and all the jealousies and passions of 
 that disappointed nation united in rejecting his 
 claim to be their Messiah, and in despising and per- 
 secuting his followers. They had, therefore, nothing 
 but ill-will, contempt, persecution, and death to ex- 
 pect from their own countrymen if they adhered to 
 Christ's cause, and endeavored to propagate his 
 religion. Nor, if they turned from the Jews, and at- 
 tempted to carry the glad tidings of salvation to the 
 Gentiles, was their prospect of safety and success, 
 to human appearance, less gloomy and discourag- 
 ing. Prejudices equally strange and numerous 
 were to be overcome, difficulties equally formidable 
 to be surmounted, and equal if not greater dangers 
 to their persons and lives to be apprehended. To en- 
 counter all this host of difficulties and dangers, and 
 accomplish the great object of their mission, what 
 were their means ? What was their defensive ar-
 
 148 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 mor, and what were their offensive weapons ? The 
 apostle assures us they were not carnal. All the 
 powers of reason and eloquence could not remove 
 the prejudices of one Jew, and bring him cordially 
 to own and receive the despised and crucified Jesus 
 of Nazareth as his Messiah. Nor could they per- 
 suade one Gentile to abandon his idols and his sins, 
 believe in a crucified and risen Saviour, and worship 
 the only true God. Yet multitudes, both of Jews 
 and Gentiles, discarded all their deep-rooted preju- 
 dices, laid aside their hostility to Christ, embraced 
 the self-denying doctrines of his gospel, and not 
 only became his humble followers, but zealously la- 
 bored in his cause, and patiently and nobly suffered 
 for his sake. How was all this effected? By what 
 the wise men of this world, as the apostle informs 
 
 ^us, were pleased to call, the foolishness of preaching. 
 Paul was the only one of the apostles who, as far as 
 we know, possessed any considerable share of learn- 
 ing or eloquence. And yet he informs us that Christ 
 sent him to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of 
 words, not with plausible reasonings, rhetorical 
 flourishes, and the arts of Grecian or Roman elo- 
 quence ; but in plain, unadorned language, lest the 
 
 ) cross of Christ should be made of no effect. With 
 great plainness of speech, he presented the impor- 
 tant doctrines and duties of the gospel to the under- 
 standing and the conscience. His message to man 
 was solemn and interesting, and he was aware that 
 no decorations of oratory could give such energy to
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 149 
 
 his doctrine, and bring truth so powerfully home to 
 the conscience and the heart, as to produce lasting 
 and saving effects. His aim and his practice was, 
 by plain and faithful preaching, in demonstration of 
 the spirit and of power, to commend himself to every 
 man's reason and conscience, in the sight of God. 
 This preaching was the means of awakening and 
 saving thousands. The stupid and thoughtless were 
 aroused from death-like sleep to a sense of their aw- 
 ful danger, the consciences of old and hardened sin- 
 ners were appalled, and they cried out, " What must 
 we do to be saved?" Trembling, humbled peni- 
 tents were comforted, and hope divine sprang up in 
 their despairing, sinking souls, and believers were 
 edified, encouraged, strengthened, animated, and 
 made to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory. The means employed to produce these hap- 
 py effects were a plain, faithful, solemn exhibition 
 of evangelical doctrine and duty to the understand- 
 ing and consciences of men. It pleased God, 
 saith the apostle, by the foolishness of preaching, to 
 save them that believe. This is the appointed 
 means ; a God has ever honored and blest, and 
 will continue to honor and bless, the means which 
 his own infinite wisdom appointed. The treasure 
 of the gospel is committed to earthen vessels, — to 
 frail, feeble, perishable instruments, — to men of like 
 passions with others, conscious of many defects and 
 imperfections ; destitute of those human accom- 
 plishments, great talents, learning, and eloquence, 
 
 13*
 
 150 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 which the world admires ; without wealth, authori- 
 ty, or powerful friends; exposed to all the infirmities 
 and temporal evils incident to men, — to scorn, deri- 
 sion, and abuse from the wicked, and but partially 
 freed from the Christian's greatest burden, — the 
 effects of indwelling sin. God could have commis- 
 sioned angels to proclaim to man the glorious truths 
 of the gospel. Or he could have put this treasure 
 into more splendid vessels by sending the most emi- 
 nent and admired, the most wise, learned, and elo- 
 quent of the sons of men, to instruct mankind and 
 carry to them the joyful and glorious news of sal- 
 vation through the atoning blood of Immanuel. 
 But God designed that the honor of saving sinners 
 should not be given to any created instruments or 
 :agents, but wholly to himself; he designed that the 
 excellency of the power should fully appear to be 
 of God, and not of men. 
 
 We proceed briefly to consider, 
 
 II. The great Agent who gives efficacy to the 
 appointed means. 
 
 We have seen, my brethren, the ancient heresy of 
 Arius and the more modern one of Socinus revived 
 in Europe, and embraced by men eminent for tal- 
 ents and erudition. Not a few of the professed 
 friends and ministers of Christ in our own country 
 have fallen into these fundamental errors. They 
 have been left to believe a lie, to bring in damnable 
 heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, 
 and, there is great reason to fear, are bringing upon
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 151 
 
 themselves and their followers swift and awful de- 
 struction. Denying the real divinity of the Son of 
 God, they are led to call in question every essential 
 doctrine of the gospel, and obscure its whole glory, 
 by the thick mists of dangerous and fatal error. 
 With the divinity of Christ, they, of course, deny 
 the personality and agency of the Holy Spirit. But, 
 my brethren, I trust none of you have so learned 
 Christ ; if so be ye have heard him, and have been 
 taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. You be- 
 lieve, as the Scriptures plainly and abundantly teach, 
 that fallen men are so thoroughly depraved as to 
 have no moral goodness remaining in their hearts, 
 no principle of holy obedience and true benevo- 
 lence, no supreme love to their Maker, or cordial 
 good-will to their neighbor. Nay, you believe, as 
 Scripture asserts, that " the carnal mind is enmity 
 against God;" that it is not subject — that, indeed, 
 it cannot be subject — to the divine law. You see 
 the declarations of Scripture fully and awfully veri- 
 fied in the condition of our apostate race in the 
 present age and in all past ages. You behold, in- 
 deed, the whole world lying in iniquity, forgetting 
 the Lord their Maker, casting his laws behind their 
 backs, and trampling his authority under their feet, 
 saying to him by their practice, if not by their 
 words, " Depart from us ; ive desire not the knowledge 
 of thy waysr The natural fruits and consequences 
 of this universal depravity you view with astonish- 
 ment, in the total ignorance of the true God, the
 
 152 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 gross superstition, the stupid idolatry and polythe- 
 ism, and the shocking and enormous vices of the 
 whole heathen world, ancient and modern. You 
 behold the same bitter root of depravity producing, 
 in abundance, its hateful and baneful fruit in every 
 civilized, enlightened, Christian country on the 
 globe. Nay, to come nearer home, you feel its ex- 
 istence, and deplore its influence and effects in your 
 own hearts. 
 
 Can all the fine moral precepts and learned dog- 
 mas of philosophy reform a world so depraved and 
 desperately wicked ? Can even the most lucid and 
 striking exhibition of divine truth, the zealous, pa- 
 thetic, and powerful preaching of the word of life, 
 unaccompanied by the influence of the Spirit of 
 God, effect this great object? If we can rely on 
 the declarations of Scripture and the testimony of 
 experience, we know that even this will avail noth- 
 ing without the powerful cooperating energy of the 
 blessed Spirit. It is his important office, in the 
 economy of redemption, to enlighten the under- 
 standing and to renew and sanctify the heart. Nat- 
 ural men are extremely ignorant about spiritual 
 things. They have no proper knowledge of the 
 real character of God. They see no beauty or 
 glory in any of his perfections. Their understand- 
 ing is darkened, saith the apostle, and they are 
 alienated from the life of God through the igno- 
 rance that is in them, because of the blindness of 
 their heart. It is the office of the Spirit to dispel
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 153 
 
 ignorance and darkness from such benighted minds. 
 And in all cases of saving illumination, that God, 
 who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
 shines in their hearts, to give the light of the knowl- 
 edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ. Such divinely-illuminated souls are born 
 of the Spirit. They are renewed in knowledge after 
 the image of God. They have an unction from the 
 holy One. The Spirit has begun the blessed work of 
 sanctification in their hearts. And he assuredly will 
 carry it on — and he alone can carry it on — to 
 the day of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Need I take up your time, my Christian friends 
 and brethren, in adducing passages of Scripture in 
 proof of a doctrine so abundantly taught in the Bi- 
 ble, and I trust so firmly believed by us all, as that 
 the Spirit of God alone gives saving efHcacy to the 
 preaching of the word, and to all the other ap- 
 pointed means of grace ? Hear only the assertion 
 of the great apostle of the Gentiles : " / have 
 planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.''^ 
 If other proofs are required, they may easily be 
 found in declarations and examples both in the 
 Old Testament and the New. I will, therefore, de- 
 tain you no longer on this branch of our subject, 
 but proceed to consider, — 
 
 III. The effects produced, through the cooperat- 
 ing agency of the Spirit, by the means which God 
 appointed for the spread of the gospel. 
 
 These effects, my brethren, have been truly great
 
 154 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 and glorious. They have astonished and delighted 
 the friends of the Redeemer on earth, and have giv- 
 en unspeakable joy to the angelic choirs. Among 
 them there is joy over one sinner that repenteth. 
 And who can count the myriads of sinful men who, 
 since our Saviour's ascension, have repented and 
 gone to glory? Soon after that event, the Spirit, 
 like a mighty, rushing wind, descended and rested 
 on the disciples. And they were all filled with the 
 Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues 
 as the Spirit gave them utterance. Immediately 
 upon this, the preaching of the gospel, through the 
 powerful influence of the Spirit, began to produce 
 its happy and glorious effects in the hearts of men. 
 Three thousand were that day converted, five thou- 
 sand a few days after ; daily additions were made 
 to their number, and even multitudes, both of men 
 and women, we are told, flocked to the Saviour, and 
 found mercy and salvation. From Jerusalem, this 
 blessed work soon spread to all the cities and vil- 
 lages of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and then to 
 the Gentiles. During the lifetime of the apostles, 
 a great proportion of the heathen throughout the 
 vast Roman empire, and some beyond its limits, 
 heard the word of life preached, and multitudes of 
 them forsook their idols, and became Christians. 
 On every side the Redeemer extended and multi- 
 plied the triumphs of his cross, till, in less than three 
 centuries from his ascension, Christianity, under 
 Constantine the Great, became the religion of the
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 155 
 
 whole Roman empire. The heathen idols had fall- 
 en before the banner of the cross, their temples 
 were closed or demolished, their magistrates divested 
 of power, and their oracles silenced. All this the 
 apostles and their followers effected by the preach- 
 ing of the gospel, accompanied by the powerful in- 
 fluences of the Spirit upon the hearts and con- 
 sciences of men. So fully does it appear, as the 
 apostle asserts in our text, " that the weapons 
 of our warfare were not carnal, but mig-hty through 
 God, to the pulling down of strong-holds." Satan 
 had for ages been erecting, enlarging, and strength- 
 ening his strong-holds through the world. All the 
 heathen nations had, for more than twenty centu- 
 ries, " acknowledged his sway." This " prince of the 
 power of the air" had reigned supreme in their 
 hearts, had made them his willing captives, and led 
 them blindfold at his pleasure, by millions and mil- 
 lions, to endless ruin. Except the Jews, not a na- 
 tion or tribe was to be found on the earth that had 
 not, from time immemorial, been the blind, zealous 
 votaries of his cause, and the willing slaves of his 
 power. We read in St. Luke that the seventy, 
 whom Christ had sent forth to preach, returned 
 again with joy, saying, " Lord, even the devils are 
 subject unto us through thy name." And he said unto 
 them, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heav- 
 en." Thus did he fall, when his usurped dominion 
 on earth, and the idolatrous worship he had estab- 
 lished, were, in a sudden and surprising manner, by
 
 156 REV. EBBNEZER FITCH, D. I>. 
 
 the preaching of the gospel, thrown down and de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 Time will not permit me to trace the effects which 
 the promulgation of the gospel produced, in differ- 
 ent ages and countries, from Constantine to our 
 day. Gloomy, indeed, was the state of Christianity 
 through the greatest part of the intervening ages. 
 While the man of sin — the apostate Bishop and 
 Church of Rome — held their usurped dominion 
 over the persons and consciences of men, and spread 
 the dark cloud of their superstition and idolatry 
 over the western Roman empire, a few, and but a 
 few, real followers of the Lamb appeared to assert 
 his cause. But at the era of the Reformation, the 
 Saviour began again gloriously to triumph over the 
 powers of darkness. Converts to the pure doctrine 
 and practice of his gospel, from the dark recesses 
 of Popish bigotry and superstition, were multiplied, 
 and true religion again shed its benign influence on 
 the hearts of individuals, and on the state of socie- 
 ty. From that day to the present, notwithstanding 
 the prevalence and reign of infidelity in some Chris- 
 tian countries, the trophies of the Redeemer have 
 been numerous and increasing ; and we have the 
 strongest reasons, from prophecy and the intima- 
 tions of Providence, to hope and believe that they 
 will continue to increase, till all the nations of the 
 earth shall flow unto Christ and be saved. 
 
 Having this hope, my brethren, are we to sit 
 down, in a state of ease and indolence, to see the
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 157 
 
 progress of the Redeemer's cause, the gradual ex- 
 tension of his kingdom through the world? God 
 has ever employed instruments, human agents, his 
 ministers and people, to carry on his work, and by 
 their agency he ivill continue to carry it on. He is 
 indeed perfectly able to accomplish all his purposes 
 of mercy and grace to men without the intervention 
 of any instruments, means, or agents. He is rich in 
 mercy unto all that call upon him. And he has as- 
 sured us that " Whosoever shall call upon the name 
 of the Lord shall be saved," But " how shall they 
 call on him in whom they have not believed ? 
 and how shall they believe in him of whom they 
 have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a 
 preacher?" As the preaching of the word is the ap- 
 pointed means to bring men to the knowledge of 
 God and Jesus Christ, the Saviour, — to the exercise 
 of faith in him, and salvation through his blood, — 
 our duty is plain. If we wish sinners to be saved; 
 we must send the gospel to them. This, my breth- 
 ren, is the very object for which we have associated. 
 For this we are laboring, for this we are receiving 
 the charities of God's people, that we may hire 
 faithful laborers, and send them forth into the vine- 
 yard. And, surely, the faithful laborer in the vine- 
 yard of God is worthy of his hire. The Lord hath 
 ordained that they who preach the gospel should 
 live of the gospel. Missionaries to our infant set- 
 tlements and to the heathen must receive aid and 
 support from us, or from similar societies of Chris- 
 
 14
 
 158 REV. EBBNEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 tians. Many such societies have, within a few- 
 years, been formed in our country. And, blessed 
 be God, he is opening the hearts of his people liber- 
 ally to contribute of their abundance, for the accom- 
 plishment of their infinitely important and benevo- 
 lent designs. I call their designs infinitely important 
 and benevolent ; and are they not indeed so ? Who 
 can estimate the worth of one soul? Shall we weigh 
 in the balance against it the treasures of this, or of 
 ten thousand worlds ? The endless happiness of 
 one immortal creature infinitely outweighs them all. 
 Think of the millions of such creatures, now in our 
 world, who are in the most imminent danger of per- 
 ishing for lack of vision. The joyful sound of par- 
 don and salvation through the merits of a bleeding 
 Saviour has never reached them. They hardly know 
 that there is a God to be worshipped, or a soul to 
 be saved. If they acknowledge and worship any 
 god, it is one which their own vain imaginations 
 have conceived, and their own hands have formed, — 
 a stock or a stone. They sit in darkness and in the 
 shadow of death. No ray of gospel light has ever 
 darted upon them from the Sun of righteousness. 
 In vain is it to them that a Saviour has bled for 
 guilty men, and that the Spirit of inspiration has 
 dictated the volume of eternal truth, in which life 
 and immortality are brought to light. They have 
 never heard of this precious volume. They have 
 never been told that they are sinners, and need a 
 Saviour. They have no apprehension of what
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 159 
 
 awaits them after death. If they attempt, with 
 prying eyes, to look into the world beyond the 
 grave, thick mists of impenetrable darkness wholly 
 obstruct their view. Not a gleam of Christian hope 
 gilds their path through life, or points them to a 
 brighter world. And when death removes the veil, 
 what astonishment, despair, and horror will seize 
 them! View, my brethren, their present unhappy 
 state, — consider for a moment the awful and end- 
 less wretchedness that impends them ; and if a 
 spark of Christian compassion and benevolence is 
 alive in your hearts, you will not only pity them 
 and pray for them, but lift a vigorous arm to snatch 
 them from eternal ruin. You will use your best 
 and most strenuous endeavors to send heralds of 
 peace and salvation to them, with the Word of Life 
 in their hands. Your treasures of gold and silver 
 will be opened, and you will, as the Lord enables 
 you, cheerfully cast your free-will offering into his 
 treasury, that his ambassadors of peace to the be- 
 nighted and perishing nations of India, Africa, and 
 the Isles may be refreshed on their way, and sup- 
 ported in the arduous enterprise of carrying to them 
 the glad tidings of salvation, and entreating them, 
 in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. 
 
 Nor will you, my brethren, overlook the thousands 
 of our fellow-citizens and countrymen, whose con- 
 dition is scarcely less deplorable than that of the 
 heathen. Doubtless many of my hearers have seen 
 the report of the two young gentlemen, Messrs.
 
 1 60 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 Mills and Schermerhorn, who, in 1812, " were em- 
 ployed by the Connecticut and Massachusetts Mis- 
 sionary Societies to make a tour through the south- 
 western parts of the United States, not only to 
 preach as missionaries, but to gain information as to 
 the state of religion in that immense tract of coun- 
 try." Their report exhibits a melancholy and pain- 
 ful view of the state of religion in those parts of our 
 country and in the territories adjacent. Multitudes 
 of immortal creatures in those extensive and thinly- 
 settled regions are destitute of the means of relig- 
 ious instruction. So far from enjoying the stated 
 ministration of the word, they seldom, if ever, hear 
 a sermon from an itinerant preacher of any denom- 
 ination. Nay, many of them have never seen the 
 Bible, and have scarcely heard that there is a 
 Saviour. Observing no Sabbath, without a Bible 
 to read, or a minister to instruct them, they are sink- 
 ing fast into a state of gross ignorance and vice ap- 
 proaching to heathenism. It is estimated that not 
 less than two millions within the United States and 
 their territories are in this deplorable condition. 
 They are perishing by thousands, in this land of 
 vision, for want of Bibles to read and ministers to 
 preach to them the great and precious truths of the 
 gospel, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Do not 
 our hearts yearn over them ? They are our coun- 
 trymen, our brethren, our fellow-mortals. Their 
 souls are as precious as our own. If our own sal- 
 vation is of infinite importance, so also is theirs.
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 161 
 
 Has God furnished us with the means of sending 
 the gospel to any of them; let us hasten to discharge 
 this important duty, and, at the same time, lift up 
 united and fervent cries to his throne, that he will 
 accompany our endeavors with his blessing, and 
 make the preaching of his word effectual to the sal- 
 vation of multitudes ready to perish. 
 
 Great, my brethren* are the encouragements pre- 
 sented to us in his word and providence. Prophe- 
 cies in abundance foretell the enlargement of the 
 church, the prosperity of Zion, in the latter days. 
 In these days we live. God is faithful ; he will not 
 suffer one iota to fail of all the great and glorious 
 things which he has promised to his church. Christ 
 must, and assuredly will, have the heathen for his 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for his possession. All the ends of the earth will 
 look unto him and be saved. The Jews will be 
 again gathered into their own land, and into his 
 church, and with them the fulness of the Gentiles. 
 He will accomplish all his infinitely benevolent pur- 
 poses of mercy and grace to this fallen world, in his 
 own time, and by his own appointed means, — a 
 preached gospel. He can and will make his word 
 quick and powerful, and effectual to the salvation of 
 thousands and millions of sinners. He can clothe 
 his ministers with salvation, enrich them with all the 
 gifts and graces of his Spirit, make sinners tremble 
 under their faithful and powerful preaching, and 
 saints shout aloud for joy. He can render the weap- 
 
 14*
 
 162 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 
 
 ons of their warfare, with which his Spirit has fur- 
 nished them, mighty and irresistible. All the strong- 
 holds of sin and Satan through the earth shall, in 
 due time, fall before them. All kings shall serve 
 him ; all nations bow at his feet and worship him. 
 Nothing shall be left to hurt or annoy in all his holy 
 mountain. Peace shall come to Zion as a river, 
 and righteousness as an overflowing stream. Satan, 
 for a thousand years, shall be bound and shut up in 
 the dark prison of hell, and the saints possess the 
 kingdom, under the peaceful reign of Messiah, their 
 Prince. 
 
 These, my brethren, are some of the great and 
 glorious things foretold of Zion, the city of our 
 God. They will all be accomplished in the millenni- 
 um, which is certainly near at hand. Look, in the 
 light of prophecy, on the present state of the world 
 and the church. God has been shaking and over- 
 turning the nations in a manner unusually awful 
 and terrible. Wars and desolations have prevailed, 
 proud tyrants have been humbled in the dust, the 
 power and influence of the man of sin reduced to 
 a shadow, and the waters of the mystical Euphrates 
 in a great measure dried up. A spirit of harmony 
 pervades all denominations of Christians ; their zeal 
 is enkindled, and burns with increasing ardor. They 
 are uniting their efforts to extend the Redeemer's 
 kingdom. Already have their endeavors been 
 crowned with very encouraging success in India, 
 Africa, and other heathen countries. The Scriptures
 
 REV. EBENEZER FITCH, D. D. 1G3 
 
 have been translated into many languages, and sent 
 to nations who never before saw the Bible. Nu- 
 merous societies for this purpose, and also for send- 
 ing missionaries to the heathen nations around the 
 globe, have, within a few years, been formed in 
 Europe and America. God, who excited this spirit 
 of harmony and zeal in the breasts of Christians, 
 and prompted them to these measures, is giving us 
 the strongest intimations that he is about to usher 
 in the glories of the millennial day. Let us derive 
 fresh courage and resolution from these intimations 
 of his providence, as well as from the gracious and 
 highly encouraging promises in his word. The 
 work, my brethren, is the Lord's, but we may be 
 willing instruments in his hands. To this honor let 
 our hearts aspire. And to him be all the praise and 
 the glory of his great salvation forever. Amen.
 
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