Be others far exceeding these in light,
Not bounded, not corrupt, as these same be,
But infiniteness in largeness and in height,
Unmoving, uncorrupt, and spotless bright,
That need no sun t' illuminate their spheres,
But their own native light far passing theirs."
[Sonnet 40.] The record of the first minister of a flourishing American town and a brave patriot of the revolution is a matter of interest. Thomas Allen was born in Northampton and was a descendant of Samuel, one of the first settlers, whose father—dying at Windsor in 1648—is supposed to have come over from the west of England with the Dorchester people in the ship Mary and John in 1630.—His grandfather, named also Samuel, was an unswerving friend of Jonathan Edwards and a deacon in his church. Mr. Allen graduated at Harvard college in 1762 in a distinguished class, among whose members were Gov. Gerry, Judge F. Dana, and Drs. Eliot and Belknap. He was ordained at Pittsfield in Berkshire county, Mass., April 18, 1764, and here passed the remainder of his life; he died after a ministry of 45 years Feb. 11, 1810, aged 67 years: I was ordained his successor Oct. 10, 1810.—He was not only a faithful and eloquent minister; but a patriot, and a chaplain in the army, and on one occasion he played the part of a soldier. He marched Aug. 15, 1777 with a company of his own people in a three days' campaign to Bennington to check the advance of Burgoyne:—the next day he shared in the assault and the victory;—and the third day he returned home to preach the gospel to his rejoicing people Aug. 18th. His trophies often delighted my eyes in subsequent years,—two large, square, white flint-glass bottles, which he captured with a Hessian surgeon's horse, and gave the wine to the wounded.
His wife was Elizabeth, the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Lee, the first minister of Salisbury, Conn.; she was descended from Gov. Bradford of Plymouth; she died in 1830, aged 82. Of their 12 children the writer of this is the only survivor.—On the death of his eldest daughter, Mrs. White in London, he went to England in 1799 in order to bring his little grand-child to his house: in London he became acquainted with the eminent ministers Newton, Haweis, Rowland Hill, and Bogue, and from them caught a pious zeal for the promotion of foreign missions. He published sermons on the death of his daughter, E. White, 1798; of Moses Allen, 1801; of his son Thomas, 1806; Massachusetts election sermon, 1808.
[Sonnet 41.] The sublime passage of scripture, which is here versified, may admonish us, that we are travelling rapidly to the end of time in respect to its being our period of probation for eternity. It is the solemn voice of the Gospel,—"Behold, now is the accepted time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!"