"I asked him if it would be pleasant to have a word of prayer. He made an effort to rise, as if he greeted the proposition with great joy. I said, 'No, Doctor, you can't rise; do nothing; lie quietly, and I will kneel at your side with my hands in yours. Let us give each other to God our Father to-day.' He said, 'Well, we will.' I bent at his side, and with such simplicity and brotherly love and confidence in God as I could summon, sought the blessing of heaven upon him. He joined in the prayer; he buried his brow in one hand, and held my hand with the other. He seemed to glow with love. I asked the Lord to give him strength, and, if possible, to spare him to the church, and presented those wishes at the Throne of Grace which any of your hearts would prompt under similar circumstances. At the close of a brief prayer, as I said, 'Lord, Lord, grant these things to thy servant, for Jesus Christ's sake,' holding my hand with a firm grip, and lifting up his eyes towards heaven, in the same ringing, fervent, strong voice that you have heard so often from his lips, his whole nature said, 'Amen.'"
In 1856 Harvard College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Tufts College that of Doctor of Laws in 1878.[48]
During twenty-five years Rev. Joseph D. Pierce was pastor of the Universalist Church in North Attleboro, Mass. He was born in North Scituate, Mass., Nov. 15, 1815, and died in North Attleboro, Nov. 16, 1880. During his minority his educational advantages were limited to the public schools. After serving an apprenticeship as a carpenter, he entered the Derby Academy in Hingham. He taught in the public schools, devoting his leisure to reading and study. Resolved on entering the ministry, he began his preparatory studies with Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, in Medford, Mass. His first sermon was preached in East Boston, in 1839. He then supplied the pulpits in South Dedham and East Boston for a year, and was ordained in 1841. He was first settled at Hartland, Vt., where he also taught school, remaining until May, 1845, when he was called to North Attleboro. After a pastorate here of one year, failing health induced him to abandon regular preaching and engage in teaching. He became principal of the Attleboro Academy, continuing to some extent his pastoral work, and occasionally supplying at West Wrentham. In 1850 he took charge of the Universalist parish in Claremont, N. H., where he preached, teaching school also most of the time for five years. He also served as a member of the school committee in that town, and discharged the duties of his office with such marked ability and benefit to the schools that, upon hearing of his intent to remove to Massachusetts, a deacon of the Baptist Church said, "We cannot get along without him." By a unanimous invitation from the parish in North Attleboro, he was again settled there in 1855, where he remained until his death. He was representative of Attleboro in the State Legislature for 1868, and served his constituents with credit. He was an untiring student, logical in thought and method, and an effective preacher. He had great modesty, and never sought for oratorical display. His heart and hand were given to every good work. He was feeble in health, and endured much physical suffering. He once said that he had not known a waking hour free from pain for fifteen years, yet his religious trust and unsubdued spirit sustained him through a life of unremitting toil.
Rev. Thomas J. Carney, of Dresden, Me., was a minister of varied experiences, and a useful laborer in the Gospel field. He was taught the gospel of universal grace and salvation in the home of his childhood. He travelled over the States extensively in youth, and visited the West Indies, and afterwards studied for the ministry. The last years of his life were spent as pastor and missionary in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. He extended his journeyings and missionary work to Missouri and Kansas, and visited New Mexico. He was a man of strong convictions, and an earnest advocate of the doctrine which he loved. He made many friends, and well deserved them. Four church edifices are standing as monuments of his faithfulness. He was fatally injured by a fall from his horse, and died at Buffalo, Ill., in 1871. His wife was, before her marriage, Miss Julia A. Fletcher, a well known and very acceptable writer in our church and to the public.
Rev. James Munroe Cook was born in Marcellus, Onondaga County, N. Y., Nov. 24, 1818. He was a favorite in the family circle, and kindly regarded by his schoolmates and teachers. At an early age he was a diligent student of the Scriptures, and before he was fifteen years of age was not unfrequently engaged in defending the doctrine which he afterwards preached, and laboring to show to unbelievers its consistency and attractiveness.
In 1837 he came to Rochester, N. Y., and commenced his studies for the ministry with Rev. George Sanderson. He was a diligent student, and had a remarkably retentive memory. His first sermon was preached in Gates, near Rochester, in October, 1837. He had pastorates in Chili, Churchville, Perrinton, and Victor, N. Y. In November, 1845, he entered upon his duties as pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Providence, R. I. Through discouraging circumstances in the beginning of his work here, he went forward with great faith and earnestness, and realized a successful ministry. His pastorate in Providence continued four years, when, in November, 1849, he took charge of the Universalist Society in Baltimore, Md. His good reputation in Providence had preceded him, and he was warmly welcomed by his new friends. They were highly pleased with his pulpit ministries, and the services in the church were well attended, and his popularity in the city was increasing. But the society had a heavy debt upon it, and looked to Mr. Cook as the chief instrumentality in the removal of it. He saw what was before him, and realized the discouraging magnitude of the work. But he would not shrink from what was expected of him, and entered upon the effort with a bravery that overcame all obstacles, and secured the end desired,—the removal of the debt. But, alas! the strain had been too great; his strength gave way, and in the midst of his usefulness he was called to the higher life. He died in calm resignation, and in strongest hope of entering his final and immortal home.
Of his ministry, Rev. Dr. Thomas Whittemore, at the time of his death, in 1850, wrote:—
"As a preacher he excelled in certain respects. He was a man to move the masses. He spoke without writing, and delivered his message of divine truth with great power. He aimed not at elegant words and polished sentences, but to speak the truth in demonstration of the spirit. He aimed to reach the heart. He would keep the attention of a thousand people fixed intently upon his theme through a long discourse. His sermon, delivered in the Warren Street Church, during the session of the United States Convention in Boston, in 1845, is an illustration of the truth of what we say. There an immense auditory listened to him with the greatest interest for a long time, for they were unconscious of its rapid flight. They caught his feelings, they rejoiced with him, they wept with him, and at the close the general expression of the people was, 'that was the Gospel, that came from the preacher's heart and reached our hearts.'"
Cut off in the midst of his years, his memory is a blessing for what he was enabled during his short life to accomplish.
[47] Rev. Dr. T. J. Sawyer.