Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/334

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312
EDWARDS
EDWARDS


to learn the dialect of the Oneidas. In conse- quence of the breaking out of war between England and France, in which the colonies were involved, young Edwards remained there only six months, and acquired but an imperfect knowledge of the language. The death of his father, soon followed by that of his mother, and their removal to Prince- ton, IST. J., materially changed his plans. Although left with insuificient means to complete his educa- tion, he determined to go forward, and, with the aid of friends, entered the grannnar-school at Princeton in February, 1760. The following year he matriculated at the College of New Jersey, at which institution he was graduated in ITtio. He began the study of theology under the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D. D., and received a licence to preach from tiie Association of Litchfield county. Conn., in 17G0. In 1767 he was appointed tutor at Prince- ton, wiiere he remained for two years, till he be- came, in January, 1769, pastor of the society at White Haven, Conn. Several members of his church were advocates of the " half-way covenant," while he, like his father, decidedly opposed it. His pastorate was also disturbed by the reaction among the New England churches that followed the ex- travagances that accompanied the " great awaken- ing" of 1740-2, and by the demoralizing influences of tlie Revolutionary war. The result of these un- toward circumstances was a dismissal from his charge, 19 May, 1795, for the ostensible reason that the society was unable to support a minister. In 1796 he was called to the church in Colebrook, Litchfield co., Conn. Here, in a retired country parisli, he found opportunity to pursue his favorite theological and metaphysical inquiries, and would have been willing to spend the remainder of his days there ; but he was called, in the summer of 1799, to the presidency of the then recently estab- lished college at Schenectady, N. Y. He was warmly welcomed by both students and citizens, and the talent for government that he subsequently displayed surprised even those who knew him best, his discipline being mild and afliectionately parent- al ; but he died the second summer after his in- auguration. He received the degree of D. D. from the College of New Jersey in 1785. His career re- sembled that of his distinguished father in so many particulars that the coincidence has at- tracted universal attention. They bore the same name, and were distinguished scholars and divines. Both were tutors for equal periods in the colleges where they were respectively educated. Both, after being settled in the ministiy, were dismissed on account of their doctrinal opinions, and were again settled in retired places, where they had leisure to prepare and publish their works. Both were called from the discharge of these duties to be presidents of colleges, and both died shortly after inauguration, one in the fifty-fifth and the other in the fifty-seventh year of liis age, each hav- ing preached on the first Sabbath of the year from the text, " This year thou shalt die." Nor was this resemblance confined merely to outward circum- stances; intellectually the two men were much alike. Dr. Emmons is reported to have said that " the father had more reason than the son ; yet the son was a better reasoner than the father " ; and Dr. Samuel Miller, of Princeton, remarked that "the son greatly resembled his venerable father in metaphysical acuteness, ardent piety, and the pur- est exemplariness of Christian deportment." The younger Edwards devoted a large portion of his life to the study and interpretation of his father's writings. He was thus well fitted to edit the latter's works, and did prepare for the press the "History of the Work of Redemption," two vol- umes of sermons, and two volumes of " Miscel- laneous Observations on Important Theological Subjects." In 1797 Dr. Edwards published "A Dissertation concerning Liberty and Necessity," which is, perhaps, the fairest exposition extant of the father's " theory of the will." He also printed numerous articles in the " New York Theological Magazine," under the signatures " I " and " 0," and many sermons in which his views were carefully elaborated. Among the latter may be mentioned three discourses " On the Necessity of the Atone- ment and its Consistency with Free Grace in For- giveness " (1785). They have been fi'equently re- published, and form the basis of what is now known as the " Edwardean theory of the atone- ment." Dr. Edwards also ranked high as a phi- lologist, and his " Observations on the Language of the Muhhekaneew Indians," etc., elicited the en- thusiastic praises of Humboldt. Nearly all his pub- lished writings were reprinted in two octavo vol- umes, edited, with a memoir, by Tryon Edwards (Andover, 1842).— Jonathan Walter, lawyer, only son of the second Jonathan, b. in New Haven, Conn., 5 Jan., 1772 ; d. in Hartford, 8 April, 1831, was grad- uated at Yale in 1789, and was afterward a tutor there. On taking his second degree, he delivered an oration in which he vigorously attacked the then existing state law by which the eldest son received a double portion of his father's property in case the latter died intestate, and the obnoxious statute was repealed in the following year, 1792. He studied law at Litchfield, settled in Hartford, and soon took high rank in his profession. He was gifted with quick perceptive powers, great acute- ness in reasoning, and an unfailing flow of lan- guage. Unremitting devotion to his legal studies and pursuits flnally undermined his health, and led to his early retirement from the more en- grossing duties of his profession ; his remaining years were mainly devoted to his family and to looking after his large inherited landed interests. Chief-Justice Williams has written a sketch of Mr. Edwards, which is contained in an appendix to the " Connecticut Reports." — Jonathan, son of Jonathan Walter, b. in Hartford, Conn., 7 Sept., 1798 ; d. in New Haven, 23 Aug., 1875, was graduated at Yale in 1819, and studied in the law-school of Judge Gould at Litchfield, Conn. He practised for many years in Hartford, where he held the office of judge of probate. About 1840 he removed to Troy, N. Y., of which city he was subsequently chosen mayor. He was also several times elected to the legislature. — Tryon, clergyman, another son, b. in Hartford, Conn., 7 Aug., 1809 ; d. in Detroit, Mich., 5 Jan., 1894, was graduated at Yale, studied law in New York, and theology at Princeton, and accepted a pastoral call to Rochester, N. Y., in 1834, whence he removed to New London, Conn., in 1845. He was subsequently called to Hagerstown, Md. (1867), and from there went to Gouverneur, St. Lawrence co., N. Y., in 1880, which charge he was obliged to relinquish in 1886 on account of failing health. While settled at Hagerstown he was largely influential in originating and organizing Wilson college, of which institution he was chosen the first president. In 1832 a prize tract on Sunday-schools appeared from his pen, and soon afterward " Christianity a Philosophy of Principles." He has since contributed largely to the religious literature of the time in both periodical and book-form. He is the author of " Self-Cultivation" (New York, 1835), and " Light for the Day, or Heavenly Thoughts for Earthly Guidance" (Philadelphia, 1879), partly original and