connection, without remarking, that the pastoral relation of this period, seems to have been regarded as peculiarly sacred. Both the church. and the ministry viewed it as a permanent, and in ordinary cases as a changeless relation. They knew nothing of that system of trade and speculation in the ministry, in which the churches have of late years so extensively engaged. And the ministry knew as little of that ambitiousness of place and station, which at the present time is one of its most unlovely features. Mr. Palmer, in the early part of his ministry, travelled somewhat extensively, penetrating the adjoining towns and counties, preaching the gospel wherever God in his providence opened the way before him. He seems to have labored with some degree of success in the town of Tolland, and while there, baptized the celebrated Shubael Stearns, and shortly after assisted in his ordination. This was about the year 1751. In 1764, he also baptized Simeon Brown, the first pastor of the Second Baptist Church in this town. From all these circumstances, it may, we

* See Appendix, letter B.

think, be fairly inferred, that Mr. Palmer was a man of no small moral worth, notwithstanding the unhappy termination of his ministry. We are disposed to regard the whole subject in the most favorable light on his part, to do justice to his character, and to relieve, if possible, the darkness in which the latter part of his life was shrouded. Whether he was restored to the church cannot be determined, for the records are again broken till 1781, before which time, doubtless, the aged man had gone to his reward.

Still, as the first pastor of this church, as exercising his ministry in a period which tried men's souls, as laboring extensively for the diffusion of truth, as a faithful coadjutor with our earliest ministers in the great work of gathering and planting our churches, as having baptized and assisted in the ordination of two men of such eminent worth, we are constrained to reverence his name and memory, and regard him as worthy to be enrolled among those noble men with whom he was sometime associated. He doubtless had to struggle with many embarrassments of a pecuniary character. A large proportion of his time was

devoted to the work of the ministry, and with the scanty allowances furnished him by his church, it was but natural that he should become discouraged and unhappy, in his official connection. His great error, after all, seems to have been one, which, at that time, was quite prevalent in these parts, namely, that internal impressions were decisive in all matters of duty and discipline. The church and council doubtless acted wisely in purging out this delusion; but the church was sadly behind its duty in not giving its pastor a comfortable support. Had this been done cheerfully, the connection might possibly have continued unbroken and happy until his death. Mr. Palmer was succeeded in his ministry by Mr. Eliezer Brown, a member and licentiate of the Second Church in Stonington. In this capacity, he seems to have served this church for the term of four years. He became a member of this church, 1769, and was ordained its pastor, January 24th, 1770. The ministers who assisted, were Joshua Morse,* Nathan Avery, Timothy Whightman, Simeon Brown,

*See Appendix, letter C.

and Solomon Sprague. Mr. Brown entered upon his ministry under circumstances somewhat discouraging; the church was in a scattered, languishing condition; yet his call to the pastorate seems to have been unanimous, and he was thence successful in gathering and uniting the scattered sheep. Indeed he seems to have been a man whom God had eminently fitted for the station he was to occupy; and he came to his work at a time when his services were greatly needed. We cannot forbear to notice, in this connection, the prudence and deliberation with which the church proceeded in the choice and call of a pastor, as well as the becoming modesty and patience. with which the candidate awaited that choice, and his consequent call to ordination. A period of four years is permitted to elapse between the dismission of their first pastor, and the final choice and settlement of his successor. During all this time, the young candidate preaches to the church. The church watch his steady demeanor, his ripening gifts, his growing worth; an attachment commences; they become convinced of his soundness in the faith, and of his ability to expound to them

and their children, the word of God. This lays a foundation for a connection between the pastor and people, of a long and happy continuance; and under ordinary circumstances, as in this case, to be dissolved only by death. Here is nothing of that haste and rashness in the choice of a pastor, which marks the decisions of many of our churches at the present day; and nothing of that prematureness of ordinations, under the burden of which, the denomination at this moment groans.

The ministry of Mr. Brown embraces a period of twenty-five years. The first years of his ministry do not appear to have been distinguished, by any unusual success in the enlargement of the church. From 1770 to 1781, there is an entire blank in the records, about which no definite information can be obtained. In 1784, according to a manuscript copy of the minutes of the Stonington Union Association, the church numbered ninety-seven. From this period down to the year 1791 – 2, the additions by baptism were few. The ministry, about this time, was much engaged in adjust

* See Appendix, letter D.