Background

William Rounseville Alger was born on December 22, 1822 in Freetown, Massachussets, United States He was the son of Nahum and Catherine Sampson (Rounseville) Alger. His father was a man of ability, but "unfortunate in his affairs. "

Education

Though had to work from an early age, Alger gave his early morning hours and evenings to study, and even while at his work, it is said, memorized pages of history and grammar and worked out problems in arithmetic. Such preparation finally enabled him to enter an academy at Pembroke, New Hampshire, and at twenty-two he enrolled in the Harvard Divinity School, graduating in 1847.

Career

Young Alger went to Boston and worked first in a grocery store and later in a broker's office. Subsequently he secured employment in a cottonmill at Hooksett, New Hampshire. In 1847 Alger was ordained and became pastor of All Souls' Unitarian Church, Roxbury, Massachussets.

On January 7, 1855, he was installed as pastor of Bulfinch Street Church, Boston.

Later he made a name for himself by an extended period of theatre preaching.

In 1868 he was appointed chaplain of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It was then the custom, it is said, for most of the members to remain outside the chamber till the prayer was over. Alger made short prayers and had a full attendance.

From 1874 to 1878 he was pastor of the Church of the Messiah, New York, and later held brief pastorates in Denver, Colorado, and Portland, Maine.

He was a favorite on the lyceum platform, and much in demand as a speaker for special occasions. At these times he did not hesitate to say what he thought ought to be said even though it brought him into temporary disfavor. Thus in 1857, chosen to deliver the Fourth of July oration in Boston, he criticized the pro-slavery attitude of the people so strongly that the city refused to publish the oration or give the customary vote of thanks. Seven years later, however, it made amends. He lived more in the world of literature than of action.

His memory was unusually retentive and he became familiar with a wide range of literature. The Poetry of the East (1856), consisting of translations of Persian, Sanskrit, and Arabic poems, went through several editions, although his acquaintance with these literatures was only through French and German translations. His Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian (1877), is a notable work, elaborate, painstaking, and exact, but diffuse and full of digressions; his Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life (1864), written after twelve years of patient labor, is a scholarly work of much value. Besides the books mentioned he published: History of the Cross of Christ (1851); The Nature, Grounds, and Uses of Faith (1853); and many other works.

Achievements

• Alger is best known for his writings on religion which were important to the development of comparative religious studies. He is mostly notable for his works The Poetry of the East (1856) and A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life (1860).

Works

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  • The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life

    (This collection of literature attempts to compile many of...)

  • The School of Life (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The School of Life But those who were vicio...)

  • Life of Edwin Forrest the American tragedian

    (Life of Edwin Forrest, the American tragedian This book, ...)

  • The Christian Examiner. September, 1861; The Theory of a Personal Devil

    ( About the Book The history of Christianity concerns the...)

  • A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life: With a Complete Bibliography of the Subject

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • The Friendships of Women

    (Using biographic narrative, the author examines many comb...)

  • Solitudes of Nature and of Man or the Loneliness of Human Life

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Our civil war, as seen from the pulpit: a sermon preached in the Bulfinch-Street church, April 28, 1861

    (Originally published in 1861. 22 pages. This volume is pr...)

  • The Poetry of the Orient
  • The genius and posture of America.: An oration delivered before the citizens of Boston, July 4, 1857

Views

Quotations: "A crowd always thinks with its sympathy, never with its reason. "

"After every storm the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul's indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer. "

"Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason. "

"A fretful fancy is constantly flinging its possessor into gratuitous tophets. "

"Heart's-ease is a flower which blooms from the grave of desire. "

"Cunning is the dwarf of wisdom. "

Membership

Alger was a Freemason.

Connections

In 1847, Alger married Anne Langdon Lodge. They had two children.

Father:

Nahum Alger

Mother:

Catherine Sampson (Rounseville) Alger

Spouse:

Anne Langdon Lodge

Brother :

Nahum Alger

Son:

Philip Rounseville Alger

Son:

Henry Lodge Alger

References

• A Genealogical History of That Branch of the Alger Family Which Springs From Thomas Alger of Taunton and Bridgewater, in Massachusetts. 1665-1875