J. Andrews & H.W. Smith.
Henry Bacon.
Rev. Henry Bacon.—How shall we write of that minister of all work, of versatile genius, nervous temperament, indomitable will, constantly alive in his love of Universalism, rooted and grounded in its theology, and full of its healthful and hopeful spiritualism as the sea is of water! He was a Boston boy, of the old North End, born June 12, 1813; a hearer of Dean and Streeter and Ballou in his youth, and taught at home by precept and example in the excellency of the knowledge of the Gospel of limitless grace. He was a born minister, for it was as natural for him to think and speak and write Universalism as it was to breathe God's air. He entered the ministry early in life (1834), and was successively pastor of the societies in East Cambridge, Haverhill, and Marblehead, Mass; Providence, R. I.; and Philadelphia, Pa. He was for many years editor of the "Ladies' Repository," a monthly publication issued at Boston by Mr. Abel Tompkins; and his prolific pen often sent out sermons, tracts, and pamphlets in advocacy of the faith of which his soul was so full. As another (Rev. John Boyden) said of him: "He was a living encyclopædia of current facts, and a living philosopher to arrange and expound them." The Universalist Reform Association appointed him their Corresponding Secretary, and an annual report on the topics usually embraced in their discussions was expected from him, because, as one remarked, "He got hold of everything."
He consecrated himself to his labors, and in them he was abundant. The poet Quarles describes him:—
"Thy life's a warfare, thou a soldier art,
Satan's thy foeman, and a faithful heart
Thy two-edged weapon, patience thy shield,
Heaven is thy chieftain, and the world thy field."
His preaching gave evidence of his consecration to his work. It seemed as though he could never tire of the pulpit service. He was always ready to speak for God's truth. His words were earnest, full, and strong; his illustrations inexhaustible; and there was an unction in all he said which gained the sympathy of every hearer susceptible of religious emotion. Up to the last of his working he loved the pulpit, and stood up in it until exhausted nature would allow him to remain there no longer. And when he withdrew with reluctance from that sacred place, it was to finish his work in the retirement of his home, to give his dying testimony to a life full of the beauty and strength of divine truth. He departed this life in Philadelphia, March 19, 1856. A biography of him by his wife has been given to the public.