Sermons on the Most Important Principles of our Holy Religion: 2
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Sermons on the most important principles of our holy religion Volume 1
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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(The blessedness of the liberal: a sermon preached in the ...)
The blessedness of the liberal: a sermon preached in the Middle Dutch Church, before the New-York Missionary Society, at their first Institution, November 1, 1796 This book, "The blessedness of the liberal", by Alexander Macwhorter, is a replication of a book originally published before 1796. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.
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MacWhorter was born on July 15, 1734 in New Castle County, Delaware. He was the son of Hugh and Jane MacWhorter.
His father's ancestors, who spelled the family name McWirter or McWhirter, and his mother's as well, had emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland. Hugh, a linen merchant in the county of Armagh, came to America and settled in Delaware about 1730.
Upon his death in 1748, Alexander went with his mother to North Carolina, where three older children were then living. Here he was awakened to a vivid sense of his sinfulness through the preaching of Rev. John Brown, a "New Light" minister, and for several years experienced great distress of mind. After a time he returned to Delaware.
Education
MacWhorter attended an academy in Newark. Later, he spent two years at the school of Rev. Samuel Finley, West Nottingham, Pennsylvania, where "he was enabled for the first time to rest his soul on Christ. " In May 1756, he entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey, graduating in the autumn of 1757.
After studying theology under Rev. William Tennent of Freehold, New Jersey, in August 1758, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. Yale had conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity upon him in 1776.
Career
Ordained at Cranberry, New Jersey, July 4, 1759, MacWhorter was soon afterwards installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church, Newark. Here, except for a brief interim, he remained until his death forty-eight years later. During this period, he gathered into his church the fruits of six extensive revivals; rose to leadership in his denomination; and in the days of the Revolution was one of the most conspicuous patriots among the clergy of his locality.
While on a visitation to the churches of North Carolina with Elihu Spencer in 1764, he developed "a hectick, accompanied with expectoration of blood. " In 1775, appointed by the Continental Congress, he went to North Carolina to try to win over the Loyalists. His patriotic activities attracted the notice of the British, who, when they invaded Newark in November 1776, inquired for MacWhorter, who had fled, and ransacked the parsonage.
In a letter written to Congress March 12, 1777, he describes the unjustifiable conduct of the enemy. When Washington was encamped opposite Trenton, MacWhorter advised with him regarding the safety of New Jersey, and was present at the counsel which recommended the crossing of the Delaware. In the summer of 1778, he became chaplain of General Knox's brigade, but resigned the following year because of the condition of his wife, who had been struck by lightning.
Sought by the British and his parish impoverished by the war, in 1779, he accepted a call to the church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and to the presidency of Charlotte Academy. Scarcely had he settled here, however, when Cornwallis entered the town, and MacWhorter and his family were forced to flee, losing what books and other belongings they still possessed. After a brief stay in Abington, Pennsylvania, in April 1781, he resumed his pastorate in Newark.
From 1772 until his death, he was a trustee of the College of New Jersey, and when the college buildings were burned in 1802, he went to New England and raised $7, 000 for their restoration. On Christmas 1806 he was injured by a fall, and in the following July he died.
Achievements
In 1788, MacWhorter aided in forming the constitution of the Presbyterian church of the United States, and was a trustee of the general assembly. He was also a trustee of Princeton college for thirty-five years, and took an active part in soliciting funds in New England for rebuilding the college after the fire of 1802.
A member of almost all the important committees of the synod, MacWhorter was also influential in settling the confession of faith and framing the constitution of the Presbyterian Church of the United States. He was a charter trustee of the General Assembly, serving until 1803.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
Personality
For some period of time, MacWhorter was partially incapacitated for a couple of years, he sought a cure in the climate of Boston, where, strangely enough, he became well, and thereafter was in vigorous health, except for "a paralytick affection in his hands, which he inherited from his father. "
A man of cool deliberation and sound judgment, never sanguine, always cautious, he was at his best in deliberate assemblies and in the management of large affairs.
Quotes from others about the person
"He possessed little fancy, but a deep and solid judgment, " said the assistant of his later days, Rev. Edward D. Griffin. "His genius had no uncommon share of vivacity; it held a stately and even course. It had no wings; but it stood like the pillars of the earth. He never would have gathered laurels in the paths of poetry; but he would have filled with superior dignity the seat of justice".
Connections
In October 1759, MacWhorter married Mary, daughter of Robert Cumming of Freehold, high sheriff of the county of Monmouth.
