Mr. Channing was appointed Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Criticism in Harvard University, in 1812, but his health did not allow him to prepare a course of lectures, and he resigned the appointment the next year. In 1813 he was elected a member of the Corporation, at which board he retained a seat till 1826. The University conferred on him the honorary degree of D. D. in 1820.
Dr. Channing first appeared as a controversial writer in 1815, when he addressed his letter to Rev. S. C. Thatcher, “on the aspersions contained in a late number of the Panoplist, of the ministers of Boston and the vicinity.” This led to a public correspondence between him and the Rev. Dr. Worcester, of Salem. In 1819 he preached the sermon at the ordination of Mr. Sparks, at Baltimore, which produced the letters of Professor Stuart, and of Drs. Wood and Ware. In this sermon he took that position in behalf of Unitarianism, which he defended in many subsequent discourses, on public occasions, and in his own pulpit.
Dr. Channing being very feeble, embarked for Europe, in May, 1822, and returned home in August, 1823. During his absence, he visited Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Italy. In the autumn of 1830 he was again compelled, by his state of health, to leave the United States, and passed the winter of 1830-31 in St. Croix. One or two subsequent winters he spent in Philadelphia.
He probably derived permanent benefit from this absence to Europe, but still there was such an habitual want of vigor in his system, that, soon after his return, he desired an assistant in his ministry; and a colleague was settled in 1824. From this time he continued to officiate in the pulpit, with more or less frequency, as his strength permitted, till 1840, when he requested the society to release him from all obligation of professional service, though he desired to retain the pastoral connexion towards them. As his mind was relieved from the pressure of ministerial engagements, his attention was more and more given to the aspects which society, in its opinions, usages, and institutions, presents to the Christian philanthropist. He was led, by his interest in these subjects, to communicate to the public, at different times, his thoughts on questions of immediate urgency, involving high moral considerations, and devoted a large part of his time to an examination of the light which Christianity throws upon practical ethics.
Dr. Channing’s residence was in Boston, but for several years he had been accustomed to spend the summer in the country, amidst those influences of nature which he esteemed as even more grateful in their effects upon the mind than on the body. He chose his residence for the season of 1842, among the mountains that traverse the western section of Massachusetts, in whose beautiful seclusion he found a high degree of enjoyment, and a firmer tone of health than he had possessed for a long time. On his journey homeward, by way of Vermont, he was exposed to a temperature unusual at the season, and too severe for him to encounter with impunity, which produced an access of disease, that prevented his proceeding beyond Bennington. Here his illness steadily advanced till it overpowered the vital energy; and what at first were the slight apprehensions of his friends, were converted into anxious fears, that only gave place to the sorrows of bereavement. He observed the progress of his disease with the calmness that was habitual with him in every situation; expressed a sense of the Divine love even beyond what he had before felt, and manifested that exquisite tenderness of affection, which gave such beauty to his private life.
Dr. Channing’s illness extended over twenty-six days. As is usual in autumnal fevers, the action of the brain was increased, and the mind was crowded with subjects and images, which at times occasioned him distress, as depriving him of that control over his thoughts, which in health, and under previous attacks of disease, he habitually exercised. The nature of his complaint, also, made it necessary to avoid the excitement of the pulse inevitable upon conversation, and he therefore, as well as those about him, abstained from long-continued discourse. Still he said much that can never be forgotten; and the beautiful serenity, and the perfect trust which he exhibited, made the apartment in which he lay waiting for death, a place of holy instruction, and peaceful sympathies. He expressed a wish to die at home, but yielded himself wholly to the Divine will. His bodily suffering was at no time extreme. Towards the close of the disease there was an oppression on the chest, and he sank rapidly. He died at half past five o’clock, on Sunday, October 2, 1820.
Chinese Ingenuity.—The ingenuity of the Chinese is too often exercised for the purpose of fraud. Sometimes you will buy a capon, as you may think, of a Chinese, but find you have only the skin of the bird, which has been so ingeniously filled, that the deception is not discovered until it is prepared for being dressed.
They also make counterfeit hams. These are made of pieces of wood, cut in the form of a ham, and coated over with a certain kind of earth, which is covered with hog’s skin; and the whole is so ingeniously prepared, that a knife is necessary to detect the fraud.
A gentleman travelling in China some few years ago, bought some chickens, the feathers of which were curiously curled. In a few days, he observed the feathers straight, and that the chickens were of the most common sort. The man who sold them had curled the feathers of the whole brood, a little while before he sold them.