THE LADIES' REPOSITORY. JULY, 1869. 66 And, at the outset, I want to confess to a regret, which I now deeply feel, that a vanished hand" could not have held the pen which records the strength and beauty of a character that, through so much of endeavor and discipline, reached the saintly grades of excellence, and, from the highest stage of success in an earthly career, entered upon the employments and rest of immortality. Dear Starr King, so like a son in the eyes of Dr. Ballou, and himself so revering and loving the man, who, more than any other was his spiritual father, would have been the one to write the discriminating memoir of this brave scholar and sweet-souled Christian. And it would have been a delightful service to him. Mr. King could never look on the beauty of our New England landscape, never speak of our northern hills and lakes without some movement of the heart towards the appreciative friend with whom he had so often admired the cone of Washington as it VOL. XLII.-1 lifts over the North Conway interval; the beauty of Adams from the garden-like valley of the Androscoggin; and the articulation of the great Range as seen from Jefferson hill, and the Slopes of Cherry Mountain. I have heard Mr. King say, too, that he rarely read a book that stirred his soul, contemplated any fine expression in art, heard a thrilling speech, or got the effluence of any noble life, without some reference in thought and feeling to this man of fresh and kindling intellect, and full and contagious sentiment. The subtile sympathy between the two men was indeed wonderful, and as beautiful as it was rare. When Mr. King, then a mere boy, taught school in the town of Medford, this friendship began, and it grew through the years till all the distance between age and youth, mental ripeness and intellectual immaturity was bridged over, and soul met soul in such generous, reciprocal life, that it was hard for each to tell how far he had come on the way to meet the other. When his eloquent young friend went to the other side of the continent, called of God to be the apostle of liberty and the champion of a great cause, Dr. Ballou still held him by that tension of strong love, which is never broken by circumstance, nor weakened by distance. There was a sure path across the void. The slopes of Walnut Hill and the waters of San Francisco Bay were bound together by those ties of inter-communication which correspondence strengthens, and the more spiritual bonds by which the most distant in person becomes the nearest in soul. Nearly all of the letters which Mr. King wrote out of his "exile," contain some allusion to the man whom he held "as almost divine." There was scarcely a spot from the slopes of Mt. Shasta to the fig trees of Los Angelos, which his imagination did not glorify into some rare symbol of the character he revered. A letter which he wrote after Dr. Ballou had passed from men, overflows with sentiments moist with grief for the loss of one so dear. At the close of such a description of Mt. Shasta as only Mr. King could give, he writes: "Shasta! white, majestic, priestly! sacred to me forever, not only by its snowy splendor and enchanting form, but by association with our translated and transfigured Dr. Ballou. On the day I was looking at Shasta from its base, and thinking of that noble man, he was passing up to wear the garments "white and glistering," which were not put on him, but put out from him, the natural drapery of his truthfulness and sanctity. I feel his loss every week, and more and more. O, that I could have been with you in your service by his still form,-a temple from which the priest had passed to a greater usefulness and loftier worship!" But why linger with these personal reminiscences? Simply because it is easy, grateful to yield to the upper attraction of blended lives, and so to find polarity for everything in thought and feeling, which else might be aimless and wandering. Besides, we see men better when we are called to look at them through the lens of another's soul. Hosea Ballou 2d, the eldest son of Asahel and Martha Starr Ballou, was born in Guilford, Vt., Oct. 18th., 1796. This is a small town on the southern border of the State, and, like all the towns on the eastern slope of the Green Mountains, presents a singularly diversified surface, broken into wooded hill and beautiful valley, varied with cultivated fields and those rare pasture-lands whose undulation is towards the line of gently swelling domes which mark and name the entire region. The farm on which the subject of this sketch spent his early years, is situated on a branch of the Green river near its source, and about two miles from the "middle" of the town, - that point of gen eral centralization formed by the one church, the store, the post-office, and the few sparsely clustered dwellings. The farm-house was one of those square mansions with quadrangular roof, so common in the country a half a century ago. Here amid these scenes Hosea Ballou 2d. spent his childhood. Here during his youth and early manhood he lived and worked. In the planting and harvesting seasons he worked on the farm. The winters brought the scanty schooling of the old regime, and the genuine help of the fireside talks and studies. His mind opened in that still atmosphere and climate of domestic life, stimulated by no external excitements, nor roused by worldly ambitions. In that great retirement all the motion was from rather than towards his soul. And so it seemed to continue to the end of his days. His first attempt in the line of systematic study was under the tuition of a Rev. Mr. Wood, who taught him the rudiments of the Latin language. Afterwards he attended school at Halifax Center, to which town his father had removed. When he was about seventeen years old he became deeply interested in the subject of religion. His whole soul was alive with the most real questions and problems. Day and night he wrestled with himself. There were beliefs in which he had been educated, that he could not take up into his essential life; ideas of God, and man and destiny, which were against reason and palpably repugnant to his sense of right, and thoughts of the divine goodness. He sought aid of those who were about him, but most of all of God in prayer; and the Holy Spirit gave that peace in believing, which never forsook him. He embraced the religious views which distinguish the Universalist Church, and yielded himself in consecration to their illustration and defence. His first sermon was preached in a schoolhouse that stood on the farm of Nathan Ballou, his great uncle, in the town of Munroe, Mass. His first settlement as pastor was at Stafford, Ct., where he remained four or five years. While at Stafford be married Miss Clarissa Hatch of Halifax, Vt. This was in 1820; and the next year he was installed as pastor of the Universalist Church in Roxbury. The sermon on that occasion was preached by Rev. Paul Dean; the charge was given by Rev. Hosea Ballou, familiarly known as Father Ballou, of Boston; the fellowship of the churches by Rev. Edward Turner of Charlestown. Hosea Ballou 2d. was then but twenty-five years of age. Those who knew him best in those days relate how full of Christian purpose everything was which he said and did. There was a future to be worked out, not for himself alone, nor for his parish exclusively, but for the cause, and the denomination, and the Church Universal. And he set himself resolutely to specific tasks for the good of his own parish, and to those private toils of the student through which he hoped to elevate the standard of general and theological education in the denomination of Christians to which he belonged. One of the first subjects to which Mr. Ballou gave his thought was the Church. He saw what too many fail to see now, that there can be no real prosperity and success in a society without this basis in religion. He believed in the church and its sacraments, and in the necessity of union and co-operation in the name of the Master. He early saw, too, that the welfare of the denomination, if not its very existence depends in a great degree upon the care of the young, and their proper instruction in the views of Christianity which we hold. Hence the first thing he did, after the formation of a church in December of the first year of his ministry in Roxbury, was to gather the children of the parish into a Sunday School. Then he called together the young men of the society for instituted labor in behalf of good order and temperance, that they might not only help themselves and each other, but become the center of a wider influence in the community. In all of these efforts Mr. Ballou was in advance of his time, and showed himself a leader in opinion, and in the use of those means, which though not popular with his brethren in the ministry, he felt to be right and Christian. His pastorate in Roxbury covered over seventeen years; and such years of service in the cause of the Master as few men in any church or communion know. In addition to all of the duties involved in pastoral care, pulpit ministrations, and the nameless work of one who is obliged to initiate and superintend everything, Mr. Ballou, at this period of his life, followed three lines of study, viz: Language, History and Literature; and I am inclined to think that his studies kept on in these general directions till he dropped all earthly employments. These studies were taken up independently of the subjects immediately connected with professional life, and pursued, it would seem, almost with the sole porpose of gaining greater mental precision, a wider range of illustration, and a fresher style. It is safe to say this in view of the marvellous accuracy, fruitfulness, and simplicity which distinguish all his writings. About the year 1824, Mr. Ballou began the study of the Christian Fathers with the intention of preparing his "Ancient History of Universalism." This history, which was published in 1829, traces the doctrine from the time of the Apostles to its condemnation in the fifth general Council, A. D. 553. The book also contains an appendix which brings the history of our views down to the era of the Reformation. Four years of earnest, persistent study were given to this book; and it will always remain a standard work among Universalists. It shows that the religion which we hold dates back to the early Christian times, and that it comes down to us one stream of unbroken history, lost from sight only in the turbid sea of the Middle Ages, and re-appearing in the new centuries of moral freedom to flow on an increasing tide, augmented by fresh tributaries, and bearing upon its bosom the most precious freights of human hopes. During the preparation of this History, Mr. Ballou was more than ever filled with the idea that, as a denomination, we ought to build more strongly and wisely; that a faith which has such a past, ought to work out a grand future; and that its ancient record should be supplimented by the faithfulness, scholarship and consecration of its modern defenders. His best thought was given to the elevation of our people, the creation of a denominational literature, the infusion of new life into the old ways, and the opening of fresh paths towards success. One object, especially, was close to his heart-the publication of a dignified Review whose pages should reflect our brightest minds and welcome the freshest and ripest | years, Mr. Ballou accepted a call to settle statements concerning our religion. Many of our clergymen now living remember with how much earnestness, and with what recurrence of appeal he urged the necessity of this Review. In July, 1830, the first number of the Universalist Expositor was printed. Mr. Ballou, in connection with his uncle, Hosea senior, was its editor; and, under that title, and the title of the Universalist Quarterly, he continued to edit it to the day of his death. The Quarterly at once took rank with the best Theological Reviews in the land; and it detracts nothing from the manifest ability of other contributors to its pages, to say that the Quarterly won its way to favor, in and out of the denomination, through the energy of the one man who put his best life into it. His broadly-conceived, wellreasoned articles, braced with vigorous sentences, and adorned with almost every idiomatic and rhetorical excellence, gave to our highest periodical its character. It was through these rare productions that so graced the pages of the Quarterly, that very many, who thought they knew him well, first found out the man and the student. Month after month he poured out the great wealth of his learning, winning the most thoughtful readers by the accuracy of his knowledge, the strength and beauty of his style, and the nameless charm with which his own strong sense and genial humor invested everything which he wrote. It is well-known that the severer studies of this faithful and reverent scholar were relieved by lighter toils, and the gratification of the simplest tastes. He was a lover of letters, and few men knew more of philosophy, or revelled with greater delight in the fresh disclosures of science. A poet himself, he was in sympathy with all true song, and lived much with those who, as he used to say, dwell in the "magic region." It was a delight to walk with him upon the hills, by the sea, or in the summer woods, for it was on these "rambles" that he would reveal the golden treasures of his soul, giving out of his abundant life things new and old, repeating aloud grand old ballads, scraps of quaint verse, massive sentences of ancient oratory, and the "marked" passages out of favorite English bards. over the Universalist parish in the town of Medford, Mass. Here he remained, the devoted pastor of a devoted flock, about sixteen years. A man of large attainments, of urgent intellectual tastes, delighting in the society of cultivated persons, he yet never forgot that he was the minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, and set to bear witness to the truth of his Gospel. So meek was he, so humble in his walk from day to day, that the poorest poor came forth to meet him; and none could think, in his presence, that such simplicity, gentleness, considerate affection, veiled such greatness. Recognition, however, of this peer in the realm of thought, was inevitable. The best minds in New England found out his hiding-place, and that other and more interior retirement which had invited his best faculties. The oldest American University bestowed upon him her honors, and generously acknowledged the literary attainments of this graduate of the common schools. In 1854, D.. Ballou was elected the first President of Tufts College. He entered upon his duties in 1855, after spending a year abroad. To the college he gave the vigor of his later years and the fruits of a valuable experience. In his character, and by his ample learning he was a tower of strength to the young institution, and his name is inseparably linked with its prosperity. Dr. Ballou was President of the Faculty, and Professor of History and Intellectual Philosophy. In the capacity of teacher he was enabled to exert an immediate influence upon the minds and characters of the young men under his care. They came near enough to him in the class-room to get the effiuence of his life. There was always something greater than the subject of the lesson, greater, too, than the wise words of the teacher. It was the man, the power of a life. He was greater than anything he ever said or did; and though the student might not accept the teaching, he could not resist the teacher. Dr. Ballou's manner of conducting a recitation was peculiar. He rarely ever put a series of direct questions. He oftener began by giving an outline of the subject; or, by approaching it from some new side; or by illustrating some principle After a pastorate in Roxbury of seventeen of underlying truth. To one unacquainted |