crease.

During the first seventeen years of Mr. Worcester's pastorate, only fifty-seven were added to the Church. But in the eighteenth year the Spirit was poured out wonderfully, and a revival took place, which continued two years. As the result of this revival, there were added to the Church, in 1817 and 1818, two hundred and twenty-five persons. A season of spiritual coldness, accompanied by distressing difficulties and much internal dissension, was soon experienced, and continued for a long time. During twelve years only twenty-three persons united with the Church by profession. In July, 1831, another revival commenced, as the result of which there were added to the Church, within the next fourteen months, one hundred and fifty-four persons-a larger number than were received into any

other Church in Vermont during the revival season of 1831. At the close of the year 1834, this Church was the largest in the State, with one exception.

Mr. Worcester's active ministry continued forty years. In 1840, the infirmities of his advancing years rendered it desirable that he should no longer be depended upon for regular ministerial labor; and a unanimous call was given to the Rev. David Merrill, then of Urbana, Ohio, to become his colleague. He accepted the call, commenced preaching in Peacham, June 27, 1841, and was installed Sept. 9, 1841. In 1842, a revival took place, and brought into the Church twenty-two new members. Mr. Merrill's death, in July, 1850, produced a general seriousness, which, in the following November and December, in connection with the labors of the Rev. James Gallaher, of Missouri, ripened into a revival, and added thirtythree members to the Church. The next pastor was the Rev. Asaph Boutelle, who commenced preaching in Peacham, Jan. 19, 1851; was installed Feb. 13, 1851.

M. D., a member of this Church, died Sept. 4, 1851, bequeathing $20,000 to benevolent purposes. In 1854, 1856, and 1857, there were seasons of more than usual religious interest, and from ten to fifteen hopeful conversions in each year. This Church also shared in "the great awakening" of 1858-9, as the fruits of which twenty-one additions took place.

PASTORS.

1. Rev. Leonard Worcester was one of sixteen children of Noah Worcester, of Hollis, N. H., at which place he was born, Jan. 1, 1767. His parents were pious, and gave him a careful religious training, but he enjoyed no other educational advantages than those of the common school. He learned the printer's trade with Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Ms., and entered into partnership with him in publishing books and the Massachusetts Spy, which paper he edited for some years. While connected with the Spy, he wrote and published a review of a sermon on election, by the Rev. Aaron Bancroft, which attracted attention to him as master of an uncommonly vigorous English style; and notwithstanding his lack of a regular education, he was advised by such men as the Rev. Nathanael Emmons, D.D., and the Rev. Samuel Austin, D.D., to enter the ministry. Without devoting any time to special theological study, he was licensed to preach by the Mendon Association, at Franklin, Ms., March 12, 1799. He preached twelve Sabbaths at Milford, Ms. ; commenced preaching at Peacham, June 23, 1799, and was ordained Oct. 30, 1799. Rev. Samuel Austin, D.D., of Worcester, Ms., preached the ordination sermon. retained the pastorate till his death, May 28, 1846.

He

Mr. Worcester had a strong, original mind. He paid little heed to the traditions of the elders, but pursued his investigations independently; and when he had arrived at conclusions, he held them with most tenacious gripe. But without being

at all doubtful concerning his own views, he was scrupulously tolerant of the conscientious views of others. His counsel was much sought in Church difficulties, and he had a rare faculty to discover the real difficulty and to remove it. He had a commanding personal appearance, better calculated to procure reverence than to win affection; and in society he was too inclined to be reserved and inaccessible. His pulpit preparations were made with great care; nor did he, except in rare cases, say anything which he did not find in his manuscript. He had a strong, clear, sweet voice, and an energetic delivery, and his sermons made a deep and lasting impression. He published nine sermons, an oration, and four controversial pamphlets. In 1804, he received the honorary degree of A. M., from Middlebury College, and in 1827, the same degree from Dartmouth College. He was twice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D.D., of Hadley, Ms., he had fourteen children, of whom nine came to adult age, and four became ministers.

2. Rev. David Merrill was one of thirteen children of Jesse and Priscilla (Kimball) Merrill, and was born in Peacham, Sept. 8, 1798. In youth, he showed a most voracious appetite for books. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1821, and at Andover in 1825, and received license from the Haverhill (N. H.) Association, Aug. 9, 1825. After preaching in various places in New England and at the West, a few months in a place, he commenced preaching to the Presbyterian Church in Urbana, Ohio, in the summer of 1827. Here he remained fourteen years, though he was not formally installed as pastor till May 26, 1835. He held a prominent and influential position among the clergy of Ohio, and his labors were abundant, not only in the ministry, but in other departments of Christian effort. In the temperance movement he was especially active. He was a corresponding editor of the Ohio Temperance

Advocate, for which he wrote numerous articles that were much admired for their terse and pithy style. In aid of the same cause, he wrote a sermon from Exodus xxi: 28, 29. This was the famous " Ox Sermon of thirty years ago, which had the unparalleled circulation of more than two and a half million copies. "The Mate to the Ox," a sermon from 1 Tim. v: 22, was published in 1833, and had considerable circulation at the West.

The difficulties which divided the Presbyterian Church into Old School and New School were at their hight while Mr. Merrill was at Urbana, and rendered his position very uncomfortable. His Church unanimously adhered to the Old School, while his opinions and sympathies were decidedly with the other party. He was therefore quite willing to return to his native parish; and there he continued, not without honor in his own country and among his own kin, till his death, July 22, 1850. He was a man of more than ordinary intellectual powers. His mind was practical, vigorous, fertile, and witty; his style, both in speaking and writing, very laconic; and his manner plain, but impressive. Few preachers were capable of producing a more marked effect upon an audience, and still fewer had that instinctive knowledge of human nature which enabled him to become all things to all men, that he might by all means

save some.

He first married, April 23, 1828, Mary Ann, daughter of Rev. James Hughs, of Urbana, by whom he had five children. She died May 21, 1836, and he married, Sept. 12, 1837, Mary Grandin, daughter of Dr. Benjamin V. Hunt, of Urbana, by whom he had six children.

His only publication, besides the sermons already mentioned, was an Address before the Mechanics' Institute of Urbana, July 4, 1838. After his death, a volume of his sermons was published, with a Memoir by Thomas S. Pearson.

3. Rev. Asaph Boutelle, son of Joseph and Hannah (Stearns) Boutelle, was born

graduated at Middlebury in 1832, read law with his father and with Judge Gould of Troy, N. Y., studied theology with the Rev. N. S. S. Beman, D.D., and completed his studies at New Haven Theological Seminary, in 1838. In October, 1838, he received and accepted a call from the Congregational Church in Keeseville, N. Y., over which he was ordained pastor, Jan. 19, 1839. Rev. A. D. Brinkerhoff, of Champlain, preached the serHe was dismissed in October, 1856, and, in October, 1857, was installed pastor of the first Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rev. R. W. Patterson, D.D., of Chicago, preached the sermon.

mon.

In 1838, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Ebenezer Brewer, of Barnet, Vt. She died in May, 1851, and in July, 1852, he married Frances, daughter of Ira Heywood, M.D., of Clintonville, N. Y.

4. Rev. David Merrill.

5. Rev. Evarts Worcester, son of Rev. Leonard and Elizabeth (Hopkins) Worcester, was born March 24, 1807. He was graduated at Dartmouth, in 1830, "distinguished for the activity and vigor of his mind, the extent of his acquisitions, the purity of his moral character, and the correctness of his moral principles." For nearly two years he taught the academy in his native place, and in 1833 was tutor at Dartmouth, in the mean time pursuing the study of theology under competent instructors. In June, 1835, he commenced preaching at Littleton, N. H., designing to remain only a few Sabbaths, but so deep an interest was awakened, and so urgently was he importuned to remain, that he accepted a call to the pastorate, and was ordained March 17, 1836. His father preached the sermon. In the following May, he married Ann, daughter of Rev. Prof. Roswell Shurtleff, D. D. He was soon attacked with bleeding at the lungs, with which he languished till Oct. 21, 1836, when he died. Such was the estimate of his talents and scholarship, that he was urged to accept a professorship in two different colleges.

6. Rev. Isaac Redington Worcester, brother of the preceding, was born Oct. 30, 1808. He studied medicine with Josiah Shedd, M.D., of Peacham, and at Dartmouth College, where he was graduated M.D. in 1832. After practicing a short time, he studied theology at Andover, and was licensed, Aug. 5, 1835, at Danville, Vt., by the Caledonia Association. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Littleton, N. H., Sept. 27, 1837, his father preaching the sermon, and was dismissed Dec. 13, 1842. For nearly four years he was Secretary of the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, after which he entered into the service of the A. B. C. F. M., first as Agent, and afterwards as District Secretary, and editor of the periodicals of the Board.

7. Rev. John Hopkins Worcester, brother of the preceding, was born May 28, 1812. He was graduated at Dartmouth, in 1833, and was ordained pastor of the 2d Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, Vt., Sept. 5, 1839. His father preached the sermon. He was dismissed Nov. 6, 1846, and was installed at Burlington, Vt., March 10, 1847. From his pastorate he was dismissed Oct. 11, 1854, since which time he has had the superintendence of a school at Burlington.

He married, Aug. 16, 1836, Sarah T., daughter of Wm. Wheeler, of Peacham, by whom he had two sons, who died in infancy. She died May 12, 1837, and he married, Nov. 30, 1840, Harriet E., daughter of Dea. Elnathan Strong, of Hardwick. She died Feb. 17, 1842, and he married, Aug. 23, 1843, Martha P., daughter of Dea. Luther Clark, of St. Johnsbury, by whom he had John H., born April 2, 1845. She died Aug. 23, 1848, and he married, Oct. 21, 1851, Catharine Fleming.

MINISTERS' WIVES BORN IN PEACHAM. Laura Bradley, wife of Rev. Samuel C. Bartlett, D.D.; Martha E. Carter, wife of Rev. Charles White, D.D.; Mary Carter, wife of Rev. Edmund O. Hovey, D.D.;

Hannah W. Clarke, wife of Rev. Nathan Ward, M.D.; Harriet Elkins, wife of Rev. Daniel R. Cady; Elizabeth Martin, wife

of Rev. George S. Woodhull; and Tabitha S. Wells, wife of Rev. Josephus Morton, were natives of Peacham.

IN few individuals has the truth of this inspired declaration been more signally verified, than in the case of the late Dea. Boyd, of Bangor. Though he has been more than thirty years dead, his memory is still fragrant and blessed among us. His name is often heard in our social circles, and thousands have learned to venerate his memory, who never saw him in the flesh.

Dea. Boyd's native place was Bristol, a romantic town on the sea-board in Lincoln county-one of the first settled, and most noted, in the history of Maine. Here was a fort, and a flourishing settlement, as early as the year 1665. At a later period, Gov. Phipps had a fort at Pemaquid, in Bristol, to protect the Eastern settlements from the French and Indians.

Here Dea. Boyd is supposed to have been born, about the year 1745. Of his parentage, and of the events of his early years, we are not informed. He could not have had great advantages of education; and he participated, without doubt, in all the adventures and hardships of border life. He owed his conversion, under God, to the earnest and faithful ministry of the Rev. John Murray, who was settled at Boothbay, but often extended his labors to Bristol, sometimes spending several weeks there.

This Mr. Murray was from the north of Ireland, and received his university education at Edinburg. He came to this country about one hundred years ago, and was first located in Philadelphia; but on account of some difficulty with his Presbytery, he soon left there, and came into the new settlements of Maine. He was installed at Boothbay in 1766, and remained there about fifteen years. Upon

the death of Rev. Jonathan Parsons, of Newburyport,' he removed to that place, where he continued till his death, in the year 1793. He was an eloquent and powerful preacher, and published many sermons and books. He spent much time in visiting from house to house; and it may be interesting to ministers and others in these days, and may do them good, to know something of the method of these parochial visits. On entering a house, he first saluted it, according to the direction in Luke x: 5. He next took a list of the family, ascertaining their number and ages, and noting who were church members, who could read, &c. He then collected them together, so far as practicable, and commenced his addresses; first, to the children, urging them to seek the Lord in the morning of their days; secondly, to young persons of both sexes, directing them to study the Scriptures, to be constant in secret prayer, to keep the Sabbath, to attend public worship, to associate only with the good, and to give themselves no peace till they had found peace in Christ. He concluded with an address to parents, insisting, first of all, on the necessity of personal religion, on their maintaining secret and family prayer, and on the due government and catechizing of their households. If he found any suffering under peculiar trials, he would, if possible, relieve them; if any were ignorant, he would instruct them; if any were in error or in vice, he would convince and reclaim them; if any were poor, he would assist them; if he found contentions and divisions in families and

1 This Mr. Parsons was a particular friend of Whitefield, who died at his house, and was interred under his pulpit.