him peculiar attractions. Now and then he has made excursions into the neighborhood to disturb the pure and fragrant enjoyment of some pleasant hamlet. Generally he has made choice of the premises of a certain Captain around which he has

diffused the atmosphere of his peculiar genius with so much generosity, and produced thereby such a pungent, irritating action upon the martial temper as well as olfactories of the commander, as to rouse him to a well-appointed and vigorous attack upon the intruder. Success has generally attended the bold and perilous enterprize of the Captain against this annoying and odious tenant. The Church has been his most quiet abode his city of refuge. The pulpit, as it were, his citadel; for beneath it has been his place of rest. Here he has revelled in sweets all his own, and yet not all his own, for many unfortunates have been compelled to participate. He is a most unwelcome guest. It is not that he is ever seen; it is not that he is ever heard; but he is most sensibly perceived as the horse snuffeth the battle from afar how sensibly, let those bear witness who have had experience. He is an old covenanter. He was a pretty regular attendant upon the ministry of the departed. The honest Town's people, born and bred in the purest of atmospheres, have been wrought at times to a high pitch of excitement and justifiable indignation. Tongues have been busy and loud; resolutions have been passed by large majorities; downright and vig

50

HARD CATCHING ONE.

orous measures have been taken ot expel the enemy. By the assistance of boys hired to creep through the loopholes of the granite underpinning, and with long sticks to explore the broad ground-plot of the sacred edifice, he has been forced to retreat with loss; whether a gain to the pursuers may be a matter of doubt. His hole was once discovered beneath the flight of stairs that leads to the galleries. He was furnished with leave of absence and his nest bountifully tarred. Had he been taken in propria persona, there is no doubt he would have been treated by the enraged or highly incensed Islanders as a genuine abolitionist, and not allowed to escape but with a full suit of tar and feathers. He is again in possession of his redoubt, bnt has taken a less pregnable position -- beneath the pulpit and the deacons' seats. When I left the Vineyard, he remained triumphant over all opposition, more redolent and devoted to the Church than ever. What may be lis fortune hereafter, or that of generations yet to come who may assemble in this place of worship, I am not prophet enough to foretell.

Yours.

REV. JOSEPH THAXTER.

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LETTER VIII.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, 18-.

was induced to entered CamEither before or

MR. JOSEPH THAXTER, to whom I alluded in my last letter, was born in Hingham in the year 1744. He was in youth a cooper by trade. It is reported of him that in consequence of good luck in the purchase of a lottery ticket he prepare himself for college. He bridge and was graduated in '68. after his Collegiate course he taught school in his native town and went by the title of Master Thaxter or Master Jo. Though he subsequently made some advance in the study of medicine, he did not give himself to its practice. Divinity became his favorite pursuit and profession. He commenced preaching in 1771-and remained faithful to the cause of his Master until removed by death in 1827, a pe riod of fifty-six years. In "76, he entered the army as a chaplain. His commission to fill this station is an interesting document :

COMMISSION.

The Council of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay to Joseph Thaxter, Gentleman, GREETING.

WE being informed of your exemplary life and manners, and reposing especial trust in your abilities and good conduct—do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you, the said Joseph Thaxter, to be Chaplain of the Regiment whereof John Robertson Esq. is Colonel, raised by this Colony to reinforce the American Army until the first day of April next. You are therefore carefully and diligently to inculcate on the minds of the soldiers of said Regiment, as well by example as precept,

52

CHAPLAIN'S COMMISSION.

the duties of religion and morality, and a fervent love to their country, and in all respects to discharge the duty of a Chaplain in said Regiment, observing from time to time such orders and instructions as you shall receive from your superior officers according to military rules and discipline established by the American Congress, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you, for which this shall be your sufficient warrant.

Given under our hands and the seal of the said Colony at Watertown, the twenty-third day of Jan. 1776, in the sixteenth year of the reign of his Majesty King George the Third.

By Command of the Major part of the Council,

PEREZ MORTON, R. Secretary.

At the commencement of the revolution, on the 19th April, 75, before his appointment as Chaplain, he was at Concord bridge. During the war he was present as Chaplain at Cambridge and White Plains, on the North River, and in New-Jersey until March '71. In '80, he became Pastor of the Church in Edgartown. His salary was originally £100. In the latter part of his life it was reduced to $275. There has been some difference of opinion particularly on the Vineyard, as to the religious views of Mr. T. He was unquestionably liberal. To verify this assertion beyond a doubt a few passages will be subjoined, taken here and there from his discourses, of which he wrote some twentyfive hundred :

"Those who make Jesus Christ and the great eternal Jehovah the same being, take away my Saviour-I cannot find him in their books but I bless God I can find Him in my Bible."

"To think well of his nature is necessary to the dignity and happiness of man. There is a decent pride which is congenial to virtue. That conscionsness of innate dignity which shows

EXTRACTS FROM HIS SERMONS..

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him the glory of his nature will be his best protection from the meanness of vice. Where this consciousness is wanting, there can be no sense of moral honor, and consequently none of the higher principles of action. What can you expect from him who says it is his nature to be mean and selfish? and who can doubt that he who thinks thus, thinks from the experience of his own heart, from the tendency of his own inclinations. Let it always be remembered, that he who would persuade men to be good, ought to show them that they are great. We may ven. ture to affirm that a bad heart and a truly philosophic head have never been united in the same individual. Vicious inclinations not only corrupt the heart, but if indulged, darken the understanding, and in this way lead to false reasoning. Virtue alone is on the side of truth. No man will take pains to practice virtue who has not a high sense of the dignity of his nature, and the worth of his precious and immortal soul. The more we contemplate the dignity of man as a rational and immortal being, the higher sense we shall have of the worth of our souls, and the greater and the more irresistible will be our motives to the practice of virtue and religion. We shall fear to degrade ourselves by base and vile actions. It is the practice of piety and virtue that dignifies and exalts human nature. It gives the mind an elevation above the vain and empty pleasures of this vain and transitory life. It raises it to contemplate scenes of future bliss in the heavenly world, where disrobed of mortality, the rough passions, and craving appetites that now war against our happiness, we shall be raised to the highest dignity, partake of angelic joys and drink of rivers of pleasure that flow at God's right hand forevermore.”

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May I never be led to judge a brother or send him to hell for what I may think an error. He may be right and I wrong. Let the error be on which side it may, he that judgeth is guilty of a much greater error,by a wilful violation of the law of Christ.

Oct. 9th, 1772. "In the beginning God made man in his own Image, that is, in a small degree of similitude; for he was created a free, rational, moral agent, and was exempt from the pollution of sin and guilt. He had an immortal soul, furnished