REV. JAMES P. WESTON, D. D.

BY REV. GILES BAILEY.

N the Autumn of 1839, having finished a preparatory course of theological studies with one of the then prominent clergymen of Massachusetts, a course which, in accordance with the demands of the day, had occupied the full period of six months, Providence led our steps to the State of Maine. Spending the first Sunday in one of the villages on the ever beautiful Kennebec, we found that an appointment had been made for us to preach the next Sunday in Montville, a farming town in Waldo county, some thirty miles further to the eastward. We were young and enthusiastic in those days, and seldom stopped to inquire concerning the size or importance of the place where we were asked to speak, or the amount of compensation we were to receive. Journeying thither by stage, most of the way in the night, over one of the hilliest roads we ever travelled, we met with hospitable reception and comfortable quarters, at an old-fashioned country tavern. The post office was kept in or near the house; and during the Saturday afternoon many of the good people of the place called for their letters, and were introduced to "the young minister from Massachusetts," who was to preach on the following day. Among the number was one who was introduced as "the High School Teacher." He made a longer call than the others, and asked us to take a walk. We soon be

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came tolerably well acquainted. We learned something of his feelings, aims, and hopes He was a member of the Senior Class in Bowdoin College, absent on leave, teaching a private school in South Montville, for the purpose of procuring means with which to finish his course. He was a devout and earnest Universalist, deeply interested in the welfare of the denomination, and anxious for the prevalence of its doctrine and spirit. His mind had been turned towards the ministry, but he shrank from the thought of entering upon a calling which he regarded as so sacred; and his great desire was to do something for the cause, in the capacity of a teacher. During a stay of some weeks in the vicinity, we were often together, at his boarding-place, in the homes of mutual friends, in his school, and at religious meetings. The intimacy thus formed we have ever counted among the pleasantest of our ministerial experience. That young man was James P. Weston, afterwards to become one of the best preachers and pastors of our Maine ministers, the most earnest and persistent of our workers in the cause of denominational education, and finally the respected and honored President of Lombard University in Galesburg, Illinois.

James Partelow Weston was born in that part of Bristol, which is now the town of Bremen, Lincoln county, Maine, July 14, 1815. Lying near the sea-coast, the soil of the township is hard and unproductive, and a large portion of the population are

engaged in sea-faring pursuits. His father, we believe, was a farmer, and young Weston was early inured to a life of rugged industry. The place afforded but few advantages to its aspiring young men who thirsted for knowledge. A district school, taught two or three months in the Summer by a "mistress," and about the same length of time in the Winter by a "master," was all the schooling the children enjoyed. But meagre as the opportunities were, they were sufficient to awaken the highest aspirations in the breasts of some of those who grew up under their benefit. In two of the families in one neighborhood, three of the boys became college graduates; one of whom was to be a teacher of eminence in the public schools of Massachusetts; one, a Bishop in the Protestant Episcopal church; and the other, the President of a college. A benign influence in those homes fostered the laudable ambition of the boys. The parents were men and women of intelligence, fond of reading, well versed in the political and religious questions of the day, and keenly feeling the need of better facilities for educating their children. And a small public library threw its weight into the scale which determined the course of the most ambitious of the boys and girls.

So well had young Weston improved these limited opportunities, that, at the age of sixteen, he was qualified to teach a school, like

that which he had been accustomed to at

tend. The term continued three months and one fourth, at the end of which he returned to his home, feeling rich with the thirty-two dollars and a half, the amount of his wages, safely stowed away in his pockets. Astor is reported to have said, that his first thousand dollars cost him more than his subsequent millions; and it was doubtless more precious to him than all the accumulated wealth of his later years. That the young teacher's services were acceptable to his patrons, is to be inferred from the fact that he found employment in two different districts in the same town the following winter. Teaching was henceforth to be his business for several months every year, as a means of paying his way at the preparatory schools and in college. We find him engaged in five different towns, usually two terms a year. He was thus, at the same time, fitting him

self by practice in the school room, for the high positions he has since occupied and now so successfully fills as a public educator.

His first school away from home was attended, in the Autumn of 1832, in the Lincoln Academy at Newcastle, then in charge of a preceptor of considerable note. He tells us that he boarded in the family of a good Baptist clergyman, paying at the end of the term, in full for board, fourteen dollars and seventy cents, probably from the carefully saved earnings of the previous winter. It was while here that he fully resolved to avail himself, in spite of his limited resources, of the advantages of a complete collegiate In accordance with this purpose, he entered the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, in the spring of 1834, remaining a member of the institution, and only absent at times while teaching common schools, till fully prepared for college. A portion of this time he wrought, some part of the day, in a shop connected with the Seminary, for making chairs; and he was thus be ter able to meet the expenses of his preparatory course.

course.

The Maine Wesleyan Seminary was then, as now, intensely sectarian. Every effort was made to convert the pupils to the Methodist faith, and attach them to the Methodist church. Many cases are reported of collisions between the pupils and the teachers, arising from differences of opinion in religi ous matters. In some instances, the course of the latter has seemed overbearing and unchristian; and the feelings and reputation of students have been needlessly injured, because they have not been disposed to acquiesce in all the measures adopted for the making of proselytes. Mr. Weston's opinions were well known. He was at that early age a decided Universalist. But we never heard that he ever had any difficulty with the instructors. While never yielding his right to

enjoy and express his opinions, and never assenting to the lofty assumption of superiority in those who set up exclusive claims to piety, his modest, conciliatory, and gentlemanly demeanor commanded the respect of both teachers and pupils. Those who knew him at that early period, and were brought in daily contact with him at the seminary, speak of him in terms of friendship and love.

Even then, he was an effective preacher of Universalism, by his Christian life.

He entered Waterville College in August, 1836. Remaining there but two years, he finished his collegiate course at Bowdoin College, taking his first degree in August, 1840, and his second in course in 1843.

The Autumn following his graduation was happily spent in teaching a select school in Readfield, at the close of which he went to Waterville to take charge of the Liberal Institute, a Universalist seminary, then in existence in that village. His connection with the school continued till April, 1843. His leisure moments were employed in reading with reference to the ministry, and his first sermons were preached in that place, Feb. 7, 1841, the pastor of the church, the late Rev. Calvin Gardner, filling an appointment in a neighboring town. He was soon engaged to preach in West Waterville and Sidney, which he continued to do regularly till he left the school. He was ordained at the session of the Maine Convention, held in Augusta in June, 1842.

Feeling that his services were needed in the cause of denominational education, he accepted a second time the offer of the preceptorship of the Liberal Institute, and returned again to Waterville. Resigning the position in the Winter of 1853, he became the Principal of Westbrook Seminary.

The affairs of the seminary were in a precarious condition. The Trustees took but little interest in its concerns. The teachers of the preceding few years were not permanently employed, and cared little but for the short periods of their engagement. The attendance had been small, and the reputation of the school was low. Besides this, the Orthodox had fixed their eyes upon th property, and were quietly negotiating for its permanent alienation from the Universalist denomination. Mr. Weston's acceptance of the charge frustrated these schemes. Pupils resorted thither, from all parts of the State. The buildings and grounds were put in order. A good cabinet, much valuable apparatus, a laboratory, and a chapel were procured. Friends became interested. Funds were raised with which to purchase a board

15, 1843.

The selection was a fortunate one for the Gardiner society. It was in a chaotic condition. The well directed efforts of the new pastor soon brought order out of this chaos. The meetings were well attended; the Sunday School flourished; a church was organized, and prosperity followed. A strong social element in the place bore heavily against the society; but, though its very existence had been quietly ignored, such were the Christian life and efforts of the pastor, that he compelled a recognition of his parish as a Christian body, and of himself as a Christian minister. His influence is yet felt in the city; and his name is always mentioned with respect by people of all denominations. He remained in this place of usefulness till May, 1850.

ferent societies and influential laymen were visited by the Principal, and subscriptions for the benefit of the school were secured. One of the coldest winters of our northern climate was spent by Mr. Weston in travelling over the State for this purpose. The Legislature was appealed to, and a portion of the public lands, which it had long been the policy of the State to grant for the benefit of literary institutions, was donated to the seminary. Thus a small permanent endowment was secured, and money obtained with which a large and commodious boardinghouse was erected on the seminary grounds. The school began to receive general recog nition, and rose to the rank of a first class academic institution.

While Mr. Weston was thus laboring so efficiently for Westbrook, he attracted the attention of the Trustees of an institution at the West, needing a similar work in its behalf. A President for Lombard University, at Galesburg, Ill., was wanted, and he was tendered the position. Resigning the place he had so well filled in the Westbrook Seminary, he repaired to Galesburg, and