returned, but found his congregation diminished and impoverished. For the remainder of his life he was obliged to depend on the weekly contribu- tions of his hearers and the assistance of friends. In January, 1799, paralysis deprived him of the use of his limbs. He was an early advocate of the emancipation of negro slaves, freed his own, and originated the idea of sending the liberated slaves to Africa to act as agents of civilization. The agitation that was begun by him led to organized political action in Rhode Island and the passing of a law, in 1774, forbidding the importation of negroes into the colony, followed after the Revolution by an act of the legislature declaring all children of slaves that should be born subsequent to 1 March, 1785, to be free. He was the author of the modifications of the Calvinistic theology that came to be known as Hopkinsianism. He believed that the inability of the unregenerate is owing to moral and not to natural causes, and that sinners are free agents and deserving of punishment, though all acts, sinful as well as righteous, are the result of the decrees of providence. The essence of sin, he thought, consisted in the disposition and intention of the mind. Dr. Hopkins was an exceedingly modest and devout man, and exemplified the disposition of unselfishness and benevolence which he regarded as the basis of a Christian life. He was the original of one of the principal characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Minister's Wooing.” His theological theories, which created an epoch in the development of religious thought in New England, were first presented from the pulpit, and were developed, with some modifications, after his death, by his friends, Stephen West, Nathaniel Emmons, and Samuel Spring. Among his published sermons are “Sin, through Divine Interposition, an Advantage to the Universe; and yet this is no Excuse for Sin or Encouragement to it” (1759); “An Inquiry whether the Promises of the Gospel are made to the Exercises and Doings of Persons in the Unregenerate State” (1765); “The True State and Character of the Unregenerate” (1769); and “An Inquiry into the Nature of True Holiness” (1773). His “Dialogue Showing it to be the Duty and Interest of the American States to Emancipate all their African Slaves” appeared in 1776. His theological views were expounded in “A System of Doctrines Contained in Divine Revelation” (1793). He published a “Life of President Edwards” and lives of Susannah Anthony (1796), and Mrs. Osborn (1798). A dialogue on the nature and extent of true Christian submission, an address to professing Christians, and sketches of his own life were included in a collection of his works published by Dr. Stephen West (Stockbridge, 1805). A subsequent edition of his collected writings contains a memoir by Dr. Edwards A. Park (Boston, 1852). A “Treatise on the Millennium,” originally published with the “System of Divinity,” was reissued in 1854.
HOPKINS, Samuel, pioneer, b. in Albemarle
county, Va., about 1750; d. in Henderson. Ky., in
October, 1819. He was an officer in the Conti-
nental army, fought with distinction at Princeton,
Trenton, Monmouth, and Brandywine, and at the
battle of Germantown his battalion of light in-
fanty was nearly annihilated, while he was severely
wounded. He was lieutenant-colonel of the 10th
Virginia regiment at the siege of Charleston, and
after the death of Col. Richard Parker became its
colonel, and served as such till the end of the war.
He was made a prisoner, with the other officers, at
the surrender of Charleston on 20 May. 1780. While
they were conveyed in a British vessel to Virginia
he complained to the captain of the harsh treat-
ment and starvation to which they were subjected,
and threatened to raise a mutiny on the ship unless
they were treated as officers and gentlemen. This
bold language secured for the sufferers proper care
during the rest of the voyage. In 1797 he settled
on Green river in Kentucky, and served for sev-
eral sessions in the legislature of that state. In
October, 1812, he led 2.000 mounted volunteers
against the Kickapoo villages on the Illinois river,
but the party was misled by the guides, and, after
wandering for several days about the prairie, re-
turned against the wishes and commands of the
officers. In November he led a band of infantry
up the Wabash, and destroyed several deserted
villages, but lost a part of his force by an ambus-
cade. The Indians declined a combat, and he was
compelled by the severe cold to return to Vincennes,
after destroying a town on Wildcat creek ; but im-
mediately afterward the Indians sued for peace.
Gen. Hopkins was elected a representative in con-
gress from Kentucky, and took his seat on 26 June,
1813. After the conclusion of his term, which
ended on 2 March, 1815, he retired to his farm in
Hopkins county, which was named for him.
HOPKINS, Samuel, author, b. in Hadley,
Mass., 11 April, 1807; d. in Northampton, Mass.,
10 Feb., 1887. His great-grandfather, the Rev.
Samuel, of West Springfield, Mass., who was mar-
ried to a sister of Jonathan Edwards, published
" Historical Memoirs Relating to the Housatunnuk
Indians " (1753). He was graduated at Dartmouth
in 1827, studied theology in the Andover semi-
nary, was ordained at Montpelier, Vt.. on 26 Oct.,
1831, was pastor there four years, and afterward
seven at Saco, Me., and after 1844 preached for
several years as stated supply at Standish, Me. He
published " Lessons at the Cross," under the pen-
name of " Samuel Hartley " (Boston, 1853) ; and
the same year a second edition under his own name.
He was also the author of " The Youth of the Old
Dominion," based on colonial annals (1856) ; and
" The Puritans and Queen Elizabeth " (1860), which
passed through several editions. He wrote an
essay on the signification of certain Hebrew words,
which Prof. Edwards A. Park began to publish in
the " Bibliotheca Sacra " ; but after two instal-
ments had appeared the publication was discon-
tinued on account of the conclusions that were sug-
gested by his researches.
HOPKINS, Samuel Miles, jurist, b. in Salem, Conn., 9 May, 1772 ; d. in Geneva, N. Y., 9 March, 1837. He was graduated at Yale in 1791, admitted to the bar in 1793, and began practice in Oxford, N. Y. In 1794 he removed to New York city, where he became a successful lawyer. He served
in congress as a representative from New York in 1813-'15. and was a member of the state house of representatives in 1820-'7. From 1821 to 1831 he resided in Albany, and from 1832 to 1836 he was judge of the New York state circuit court. He received the degree of LL. D. from Yale in 1828.
He published a volume of " Chancery Reports (New York, 1827), various papers on the subjects of the state and national legislatures, crime, and prison discipline, and a treatise on " Temperance " (Geneva, 1836).— His son, Samuel Miles, clergyman, b. in Geneseo, N. Y., 8 Aug., 1813, studied at Yale and at Amherst, where he was graduated in
1832, spent two years at Auburn theological seminary, and completed his course at Princeton in 1836. He was ordained in 1840, was pastor of Presbyterian churches at Corning, Fredonia, and Avon, and in 1847 became professor of ecclesiastical history and church polity in Auburn theological seminary
