Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou

by Maturin M. Ballou

Often have we heard it said, "I had rather hear Father Ballou pray than any other person; it seems almost impossible not to follow him in every thought and expression." The truth is, his whole heart was in the prayer; he felt what he said; he humbled himself in sincerity before the throne of Jehovah; while the easy and spontaneous flow of devotional language that fell from his lips was calculated to charm the ear of the listener, and lead him to nearer communion with the omnipotent Being whom he heard so sincerely addressed. His prayers were void of that unpleasant hesitancy of speech which unfortunately too often characterizes the delivery of ministers in this exercise. His effort proved one smooth and liquid flow of devotional thoughts, from a soul fully baptized in the love of God. On such occasions, the altar of his heart seemed lighted, and it burned pure and bright before the throne of his Father in heaven. The immense power of prayer can hardly be overrated, or its real influence upon our minds properly conceived of, when uttered in such a manner as we have described. It then becomes the peace of our struggling spirit, the rest of our care, the calm of our tempest.

It was thus with all his religious exercises. He never failed to impress the hearer with his own sincerity, and to imbue his spirit with a devotional feeling that brought with it refreshing influence and vivifying hope.

His devotedness to his profession, his untiring zeal in the cause which he advocated, his frequent self-sacrificing exertions in its behalf, were the constant theme of his brethren in the ministry. His never-varying and earnest pursuit of his grand object,—that of convincing the world of God's impartial love to all mankind,—his perfect reliance on an overruling Providence, his perfect faith in the omnipotence of truth and virtue, were all so ardently realized and manifested in his heart and dealings with his fellow-men, as to be the remark of all who knew him. His own experience had taught him to place the fullest reliance upon the Divine goodness, for it had strangely supported him through adversity, and had carried him through many dark trials, triumphantly supporting him amidst discouragements which must otherwise have inevitably overwhelmed a less confiding spirit.

It was a most extraordinary circumstance for him to miss a single Sabbath from church; and we do not think this occurred a score of times up to his seventy-ninth year. The weather, however violent, either in town or country, as we have before remarked, never prevented him from attending to his professional appointments. Even in physical illness he never faltered, and has more than once fainted in the desk from bodily weakness, caused by attending to his services at church when physically unable to do so. We are forcibly reminded here of a portion of a letter from Rev. H. B. Soule, then colleague with Mr. Ballou, to Rev. Stephen R. Smith. Both of these brethren, whose light burned so bright and lovely at that time, were called home by their Maker before this elder servant in their Master's vineyard.

"You will want to hear a word of our Father in Israel. He continues in good health for a man seventy-three years old; he preaches yet as strong as most men at forty. Nothing but death will ever bring rest to his labors. Most men, at his age, would sit down, and in dreamy idleness or mere social converse wait their call. Not so with him; his God-given mission will not be finished till his lips are sealed forever. He will preach as long as he can stand; and as long as he does preach his preaching will be reverenced. Preach as long as he can stand! yes, and longer! When that aged frame, pangless and cold, sleeps in the grave; when that voice, eloquent so long with 'good tidings of great joy,' shall be hushed on earth, then will Father Ballou preach as he never did before. His life, with its sainted virtues, its noble toil, its Christian zeal, will be a sermon,—how thrilling, how divine, they will know who read it. May it be long ere it is written! God bless him in his old days, and sanctify his example to the young servant who stands beside him!"

The young brother who thus wrote spoke most truly. He studied well the character of him with whom he was associated; he realized the present effect of his words, and the future influence they must inevitably exercise. "His life," says the junior pastor, "when that voice shall be hushed upon earth, will preach as he never did before." That time has now come; we now realize this period referred to. "Though dead, he yet speaketh." Full of honors and of years, he has lain him down to sleep his last sleep; but he will still preach to us as eloquently as ever, perhaps with increased influence, through the memory of his pure and godly life, and the power of the works he has left behind. "By the world he will be remembered as the apostle of Universalism," says T. A. Goddard, the superintendent of his Sabbath-school, in his address to the school, "the advocate of the paternal character of God; and he will speak to men as of old, when he charged them to cast away their creeds and superstitions, and to search the Scriptures for themselves. To his people he will speak whenever they enter this temple, reminding them of the many years he dwelt with them in peace, and of the glorious truths that have dropped from his lips. To us he will speak, with his benignant eye, as often as we enter this room, telling us, in the language of the apostle, 'Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God.' This theme—the love of God—was, indeed, one which he delighted to dwell upon; and with what unction would he treat it in all its length and breadth!" Yea, though his personal work be ended, yet the influence of his life-long labors will be perpetuated for centuries.

Mr. Ballou was particularly remarkable for his punctuality, and always took precaution that no matter, of whatever description, should be delayed by him. This was a point upon which he was always exceedingly tenacious. Often have we heard him say that punctuality is not merely a duty that we owe to others, but absolutely a duty to ourselves, and one of the most important principles that can be adopted and observed in every and all relations of life; and upon this belief he ever acted. If he had an engagement to proceed to any of the neighboring towns to preach, or was about to commence a journey of any considerable length, which was very often the case, he always allowed a reasonable period of time to spare at the place of starting, and took good precaution that he should never find it necessary to hurry in any emergency. In short, he made it a strict and abiding principle to be punctual in every case, important or comparatively otherwise. This was one reason why he was enabled to accomplish so much,—the proper division of time, and adherence to the appointed period for each specific purpose, giving him great command of his resources. Thus it has been said of him that he seemed completely independent of time and place, and so it would almost appear.

Burning with a constant desire to be about his Master's business, he could not remain idle for a moment when he realized that he might be profitably employed to the end of promulgating and enforcing the religion he taught. As we have before said, personal convenience or comfort were not taken into consideration at all; he was ever ready, ever willing, to respond promptly at each call; but so numerous were these, that he was obliged to adopt the principle of supplying the society first who came to him first, and those persons who read our denominational papers will have noticed that his appointments were frequently announced, up to the very last, for weeks in advance. The good that he undoubtedly accomplished in these itinerant missions must have been incalculable. Realizing that he could occupy but an hour or so in a place, he usually took up some prominent point of theology, and, by his masterly handling of the subject, cleared its questionable character entirely from the hearer's mind; and thus having gained one step before them which would impart a degree of confidence in his faith and general mode of explanation, he would then go over a most extensive field of faith, pointing out features here and there, and the props that should be raised to sustain this portion and that, and leaving the minds of the people, at last, strongly impressed with a system of theology that they might themselves understandingly pursue and reason upon, taking for a groundwork or platform that which he had clearly elucidated to their minds as the true fundamental basis of the gospel of Christ.

In reference to his frequent travels about the country, we would that it were possible to obtain more of the numerous incidents, so illustrative and characteristic, that used so constantly to occur to him. One anecdote strikes us at this moment, which is not without its bearing, as it relates to his power for repartee, or rather, we should say, his ability to turn the most familiar subjects into argumentative use and advantage.

When it is remembered that Mr. Ballou's belief was that salvation is the process of making people happy, the point of the following anecdote will be appreciated. It happened, on one of his short excursions in the neighboring country, that he stopped at a public house, where he had occasion to pass through a room which a woman was about to engage in cleaning. She had heard that he was at the house, and, being of a different faith, she determined to ask him, if an opportunity offered, just one single question, which, in her simplicity, she conceived to be perfectly unanswerable by those who believed in the doctrine Mr. Ballou advocated. As he came in, she began:—"Your name is Ballou, I believe, sir?"—"Yes, madam," said he, "my name is Ballou."—"I'm told that you preach," said the woman, "that all mankind are going to be saved."—"Yes," replied he, "I do."—"Well, Mr. Ballou," continued she, "do you believe they will be saved without first becoming perfectly holy? Do you believe they will be saved just as they are?" He looked at her mop. "What are you going to do with that mop?" he asked.—"Why, sir," replied she, "I'm going to mop up the floor."—"Are you going to mop up the floor," he asked, "before it becomes perfectly clean? Are you going to mop it up just as it is?"