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[[Image:Bourne, George front.png|frame|Rev George Bourne used by permission of owner]] |
[[Image:Bourne, George front.png|frame|Rev George Bourne used by permission of owner]] |
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'''Reverend George Bourne''' (1780–1845) was a 19th |
'''Reverend George Bourne''' (1780–1845) was a 19th century [[United States|American]] [[abolitionist]] and [[editing|editor]] credited as the first public proclaimer of "immediate [[abolitionism|emancipation]] without compensation" of [[History of slavery in the United States|American slaves]]. |
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==Life== |
==Life== |
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He was born on [[June 13]], [[1780]] in [[Westbury, Wiltshire]], [[England]]. In [[1804]] he migrated to New York and became the editor and co-owner of the Baltimore Daily Gazette in [[1806]]. He migrated in [[1810]] to Virginia and became a [[Presbyterian]] minister. In [[1812]] he wrote and printed at home '''''The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable''''' by a citizen of Virginia. In his journalistic career he wrote over twenty-one books including biographies of Rev [[John Wesley]] and [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]. His book on [[Thomas Jefferson]] and his Presidency has been lost. He was one of the founders of the [[American Anti-Slavery Society]] and worked fervently at developing an American Protestant alliance of churches. He also was the editor of various publications dealing with anti-slavery and poperism most notably the Christian Intelligencer at the time of his death in New York City on [[November 20]] [[1845]]. |
He was born on [[June 13]], [[1780]] in [[Westbury, Wiltshire]], [[England]]. In [[1804]] he migrated to [[New York]] and became the editor and co-owner of the ''Baltimore Daily Gazette'' in [[1806]]. He migrated in [[1810]] to [[Virginia]] and became a [[Presbyterian]] minister. In [[1812]] he wrote and printed at home '''''The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable''''' by a citizen of Virginia. In his journalistic career he wrote over twenty-one books including biographies of Rev [[John Wesley]] and [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]. His book on [[Thomas Jefferson]] and his Presidency has been lost. He was one of the founders of the [[American Anti-Slavery Society]] and worked fervently at developing an American Protestant alliance of churches. He also was the editor of various publications dealing with anti-slavery and [[popery|poperism]] most notably the ''Christian Intelligencer'' at the time of his death in [[New York City]] on [[November 20]] [[1845]]. |
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=== Ancestry and Birthplace === |
=== Ancestry and Birthplace === |
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Rev George Bourne was born on the 13th day of June 1780, at Westbury, Wiltshire, England. It was a signal privilege to be descended from an ancestral line embracing some of the names illustrious as martyrs and confessors in the first annals of the Reformation and the era succeeding, and to be early placed under decided religious influences, and among favorable religious associations. His father, Samuel Bourne, was for thirty years a deacon of the [[Congregational Church]] at Westbury. His mother’s name was Mary Rogers, a lineal descendant of [[John Rogers (religious)]], the Proto-martyr in the reign of persecuting [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]], and who was the gifted translator and editor of the Bible which he published under the nom de plume of “Thomas Matthews” supplementing and completing the work of [[Tyndale]] and [[Coverdale]]. As a coincidence showing how different lines of early [[Reformation]] families united to give that remarkable development which fitted the pioneer for his work, it may be mentioned that his maternal grandmother was Mary Cotton, daughter of Dr [[Rowland Cotton]], physickal doctor Warminister, and preacher at Horningham, son of Seaborn Cotton and Prudence Wade, who was son of Rev [[John Cotton]], the first [[Puritan]] minister of Boston. On his father’s side, he reckoned the martyr [[James Johnston]], who suffered death at the Cross of [[Glasgow]], in 1684, in defense of “Covenant and work of Reformation,” at the time of the bloody [[Anglican]] persecution against the Presbyterians of Scotland. Here, then, were three lines of succession from men who loved the truth more than honor, or rewards, or life itself. No wonder that he stemmed the tide of slaveholders’ opposition for seven years in Virginia without fear, and sustained by Almighty power, denounced the Divine judgments upon the transgressors, which were so terribly fulfilled in the retributions of the late war. |
Rev George Bourne was born on the 13th day of June 1780, at Westbury, Wiltshire, England. It was a signal privilege to be descended from an ancestral line embracing some of the names illustrious as martyrs and confessors in the first annals of the Reformation and the era succeeding, and to be early placed under decided religious influences, and among favorable religious associations. His father, Samuel Bourne, was for thirty years a deacon of the [[Congregational Church]] at Westbury. His mother’s name was Mary Rogers, a lineal descendant of [[John Rogers (religious)|John Rogers]], the Proto-martyr in the reign of persecuting [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]], and who was the gifted translator and editor of the Bible which he published under the nom de plume of “Thomas Matthews” supplementing and completing the work of [[William Tyndale|Tyndale]] and [[Myles Coverdale|Coverdale]]. As a coincidence showing how different lines of early [[Reformation]] families united to give that remarkable development which fitted the pioneer for his work, it may be mentioned that his maternal grandmother was Mary Cotton, daughter of Dr [[Rowland Cotton]], physickal doctor Warminister, and preacher at Horningham, son of Seaborn Cotton and Prudence Wade, who was son of Rev [[John Cotton]], the first [[Puritan]] minister of Boston. On his father’s side, he reckoned the martyr [[James Johnston (martyr)|James Johnston]], who suffered death at the Cross of [[Glasgow]], in 1684, in defense of “Covenant and work of Reformation,” at the time of the bloody [[Anglican]] persecution against the Presbyterians of Scotland. Here, then, were three lines of succession from men who loved the truth more than honor, or rewards, or life itself. No wonder that he stemmed the tide of slaveholders’ opposition for seven years in Virginia without fear, and sustained by Almighty power, denounced the Divine judgments upon the transgressors, which were so terribly fulfilled in the retributions of the late war. |
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=== Early Years === |
=== Early Years === |
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He studied at the seminary at Homerton, London. "Being a staunch [[Nonconformist]], and inclined in favor of a [[republic|republican]] form of government, he wrote articles which attracted attention, even of the cabinet ministry of that day. He took part in the growing discussions regarding slavery and slave-trade, along with the Wilberforces, Clarksons, Buxtons, and their compeers." |
He studied at the seminary at [[Homerton]], [[London]]. "Being a staunch [[Nonconformist]], and inclined in favor of a [[republic|republican]] form of government, he wrote articles which attracted attention, even of the cabinet ministry of that day. He took part in the growing discussions regarding slavery and slave-trade, along with the Wilberforces, Clarksons, Buxtons, and their compeers." |
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=== Marriage === |
=== Marriage === |
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"In the year 1802 he paid a visit to the United States to ascertain for himself the propriety of making this the field for ministerial labors. He was so much gratified that he determined to return and settle here, believing that in this favored land greater freedom of conscience and liberty could be enjoyed than in England. At that time Dissenters were still compelled to use the clergy of the Church of England for certain services which can now be performed by dissenting ministers. After his return to England, and determination to make the United States his home, he obtained consent of a young lady of [[Bath]], Somerset...She had been led to consecrate her life to Christ under the ministry of the Rev. Joseph Hughes, and was privileged to belong to the congregation of the Rev William Jay. ...They were married in St James’ Church, in [[Bristol]], September 6, 1804, and shortly after sailed for New York. While here in 1805 he met the notorious scoffer, [[Thomas Paine]], at the house of a bookseller in Maiden Lane, in which interview he obtained from Paine the confession of his motives, and of his capacity for writing his infamous attacks on Christianity, which was recently republished in the “Christian Advocate.” Mr Bourne's first settlement was at Baltimore, where also for some years he edited the Baltimore "Daily Gazette." |
"In the year 1802 he paid a visit to the United States to ascertain for himself the propriety of making this the field for ministerial labors. He was so much gratified that he determined to return and settle here, believing that in this favored land greater freedom of conscience and liberty could be enjoyed than in England. At that time Dissenters were still compelled to use the clergy of the [[Church of England]] for certain services which can now be performed by dissenting ministers. After his return to England, and determination to make the United States his home, he obtained consent of a young lady of [[Bath]], Somerset...She had been led to consecrate her life to Christ under the ministry of the Rev. Joseph Hughes, and was privileged to belong to the congregation of the Rev William Jay. ...They were married in St James’ Church, in [[Bristol]], September 6, 1804, and shortly after sailed for New York. While here in 1805 he met the notorious scoffer, [[Thomas Paine]], at the house of a bookseller in Maiden Lane, in which interview he obtained from Paine the confession of his motives, and of his capacity for writing his infamous attacks on Christianity, which was recently republished in the “Christian Advocate.” Mr Bourne's first settlement was at [[Baltimore]], where also for some years he edited the Baltimore "Daily Gazette." |
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=== A Citizen of Virginia, the beginnings of ministry === |
=== A Citizen of Virginia, the beginnings of ministry === |
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About the year 1809 he removed to New Glasgow, Virginia, and thence to Port Republic, Virginia. The first Presbyterian church built in that town was erected partly through his instrumentality and for his occupancy. He afterward removed to Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia, where he originated and became Secretary of the [[Religious Tract Society]], and also he came directly in contact and conflict with the system of American slavery as practiced in its palmy days, and his whole soul revolted at the injustice and iniquities which he constantly witnessed. Believing himself ordained to preach the truth, he failed not to denounce the evils of the system publicly and privately. He was not satisfied with denouncing the oppressors and the unjust judges of ancient Israel and Judah, but applied the diving [[ |
About the year 1809 he removed to New Glasgow, Virginia, and thence to Port Republic, Virginia. The first Presbyterian church built in that town was erected partly through his instrumentality and for his occupancy. He afterward removed to [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]], Rockingham County, Virginia, where he originated and became Secretary of the [[Religious Tract Society]], and also he came directly in contact and conflict with the system of American slavery as practiced in its palmy days, and his whole soul revolted at the injustice and iniquities which he constantly witnessed. Believing himself ordained to preach the truth, he failed not to denounce the evils of the system publicly and privately. He was not satisfied with denouncing the oppressors and the unjust judges of ancient Israel and Judah, but applied the diving [[oracle]]s to the case of the oppressors in [[Virginia]], and in [[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham County]], in the nineteenth century. This was a style of pungent application to which they were not accustomed, and it aroused bitter opposition in that vicinity. Some of the real Christians rallied around him, and quite a number were led to remove from Rockingham County and settle in the land of freedom in the new regions north of the [[Ohio River]]. But his steadfast opposition to the system of slavery was a constant offense to the slave-owners, who determined to get him away from Virginia; but he was equally determined to stay, and proclaim the truth. He was, of course, the object of persistent persecution from “fellows of the baser sort,” as well as from professed Disciples of Christ. One instance, which occurred in January 1812, shows the trials to which he and his wife were continually subject...." |
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=== Moving to the North: Germantown, Pennsylvania and Academy at Sing, Sing, New York === |
=== Moving to the North: Germantown, Pennsylvania and Academy at Sing, Sing, New York === |
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After a few years’ service in Germantown he was called to preside over the Academy at Sing Sing, Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, New York, and also to take pastoral charge over the Presbyterian Church there. In 1823, whole at Mount Pleasant, he published a work called, “Lectures on the Progress and Perfection of the Church of Christ...” |
After a few years’ service in [[Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Germantown]] he was called to preside over the Academy at Sing Sing, [[Mount Pleasant, New York|Mount Pleasant]], [[Westchester County, New York]], and also to take pastoral charge over the Presbyterian Church there. In 1823, whole at Mount Pleasant, he published a work called, “Lectures on the Progress and Perfection of the Church of Christ...” |
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=== Congregational Church and Lower Canada === |
=== Congregational Church and Lower Canada === |
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About the year 1824 he was called from |
About the year 1824 he was called from Mount Pleasant to take charge of the Congregational Church just commenced at [[Quebec]], [[Canada]], of which he was the first pastor... In Quebec, at the time, [[Romanism]] was dominant... the nominal control of the British Government did not extend to social life..." |
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== Ministry and Teachings == |
== Ministry and Teachings == |
Revision as of 21:00, 7 December 2006
Reverend George Bourne (1780–1845) was a 19th century American abolitionist and editor credited as the first public proclaimer of "immediate emancipation without compensation" of American slaves.
Life
He was born on June 13, 1780 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England. In 1804 he migrated to New York and became the editor and co-owner of the Baltimore Daily Gazette in 1806. He migrated in 1810 to Virginia and became a Presbyterian minister. In 1812 he wrote and printed at home The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable by a citizen of Virginia. In his journalistic career he wrote over twenty-one books including biographies of Rev John Wesley and Napoleon Bonaparte. His book on Thomas Jefferson and his Presidency has been lost. He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society and worked fervently at developing an American Protestant alliance of churches. He also was the editor of various publications dealing with anti-slavery and poperism most notably the Christian Intelligencer at the time of his death in New York City on November 20 1845.
Ancestry and Birthplace
Rev George Bourne was born on the 13th day of June 1780, at Westbury, Wiltshire, England. It was a signal privilege to be descended from an ancestral line embracing some of the names illustrious as martyrs and confessors in the first annals of the Reformation and the era succeeding, and to be early placed under decided religious influences, and among favorable religious associations. His father, Samuel Bourne, was for thirty years a deacon of the Congregational Church at Westbury. His mother’s name was Mary Rogers, a lineal descendant of John Rogers, the Proto-martyr in the reign of persecuting Queen Mary, and who was the gifted translator and editor of the Bible which he published under the nom de plume of “Thomas Matthews” supplementing and completing the work of Tyndale and Coverdale. As a coincidence showing how different lines of early Reformation families united to give that remarkable development which fitted the pioneer for his work, it may be mentioned that his maternal grandmother was Mary Cotton, daughter of Dr Rowland Cotton, physickal doctor Warminister, and preacher at Horningham, son of Seaborn Cotton and Prudence Wade, who was son of Rev John Cotton, the first Puritan minister of Boston. On his father’s side, he reckoned the martyr James Johnston, who suffered death at the Cross of Glasgow, in 1684, in defense of “Covenant and work of Reformation,” at the time of the bloody Anglican persecution against the Presbyterians of Scotland. Here, then, were three lines of succession from men who loved the truth more than honor, or rewards, or life itself. No wonder that he stemmed the tide of slaveholders’ opposition for seven years in Virginia without fear, and sustained by Almighty power, denounced the Divine judgments upon the transgressors, which were so terribly fulfilled in the retributions of the late war.
Early Years
He studied at the seminary at Homerton, London. "Being a staunch Nonconformist, and inclined in favor of a republican form of government, he wrote articles which attracted attention, even of the cabinet ministry of that day. He took part in the growing discussions regarding slavery and slave-trade, along with the Wilberforces, Clarksons, Buxtons, and their compeers."
Marriage
"In the year 1802 he paid a visit to the United States to ascertain for himself the propriety of making this the field for ministerial labors. He was so much gratified that he determined to return and settle here, believing that in this favored land greater freedom of conscience and liberty could be enjoyed than in England. At that time Dissenters were still compelled to use the clergy of the Church of England for certain services which can now be performed by dissenting ministers. After his return to England, and determination to make the United States his home, he obtained consent of a young lady of Bath, Somerset...She had been led to consecrate her life to Christ under the ministry of the Rev. Joseph Hughes, and was privileged to belong to the congregation of the Rev William Jay. ...They were married in St James’ Church, in Bristol, September 6, 1804, and shortly after sailed for New York. While here in 1805 he met the notorious scoffer, Thomas Paine, at the house of a bookseller in Maiden Lane, in which interview he obtained from Paine the confession of his motives, and of his capacity for writing his infamous attacks on Christianity, which was recently republished in the “Christian Advocate.” Mr Bourne's first settlement was at Baltimore, where also for some years he edited the Baltimore "Daily Gazette."
A Citizen of Virginia, the beginnings of ministry
About the year 1809 he removed to New Glasgow, Virginia, and thence to Port Republic, Virginia. The first Presbyterian church built in that town was erected partly through his instrumentality and for his occupancy. He afterward removed to Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia, where he originated and became Secretary of the Religious Tract Society, and also he came directly in contact and conflict with the system of American slavery as practiced in its palmy days, and his whole soul revolted at the injustice and iniquities which he constantly witnessed. Believing himself ordained to preach the truth, he failed not to denounce the evils of the system publicly and privately. He was not satisfied with denouncing the oppressors and the unjust judges of ancient Israel and Judah, but applied the diving oracles to the case of the oppressors in Virginia, and in Rockingham County, in the nineteenth century. This was a style of pungent application to which they were not accustomed, and it aroused bitter opposition in that vicinity. Some of the real Christians rallied around him, and quite a number were led to remove from Rockingham County and settle in the land of freedom in the new regions north of the Ohio River. But his steadfast opposition to the system of slavery was a constant offense to the slave-owners, who determined to get him away from Virginia; but he was equally determined to stay, and proclaim the truth. He was, of course, the object of persistent persecution from “fellows of the baser sort,” as well as from professed Disciples of Christ. One instance, which occurred in January 1812, shows the trials to which he and his wife were continually subject...."
Moving to the North: Germantown, Pennsylvania and Academy at Sing, Sing, New York
After a few years’ service in Germantown he was called to preside over the Academy at Sing Sing, Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, New York, and also to take pastoral charge over the Presbyterian Church there. In 1823, whole at Mount Pleasant, he published a work called, “Lectures on the Progress and Perfection of the Church of Christ...”
Congregational Church and Lower Canada
About the year 1824 he was called from Mount Pleasant to take charge of the Congregational Church just commenced at Quebec, Canada, of which he was the first pastor... In Quebec, at the time, Romanism was dominant... the nominal control of the British Government did not extend to social life..."
Ministry and Teachings
"Several ably written accounts of the rise, progress and history of antislavery conflict in America have been published, but for lack of data covering the earlier presentations of that form of Antislavery known as “abolition without compensation,” or “immediate abolition,” they have failed to account for its origin. They have not explained why there was so great a change from the spirit and method of the advocates of emancipation of the era following the Revolution. It is fully time, therefore, that the persistent advocate of the doctrine of “immediate abolition without compensation,” the originator of the American Antislavery Society and conflict, should be duly noticed, more especially as it will relieve the Churches from the apprehension that the contest originated with opponents of Christianity.”
Preaching against slavery
"Among many instances of his intrepidity in preaching against slavery in the very seat of its power, is the following; Being requested by some of his people to preach on the sin of theft, particularly intended for the benefit of the slaves, who were guilty of all sorts of petty thefts, especially of poultry, he complied with the request. He preached a forcible sermon from the eighth commandment, giving the moral and social aspects of the sin its various purloining.” After which, and in his peroration, especially addressed to masters, he said, “But what do you think of the sin of kidnapping men and women (made in the image of God) from the coast of Africa, whose whole crime is their color, and stealing and selling them into slavery? What do you think of those who continue the robbery, and sell their children for slaves? If the theft of money, produce, poultry, and other values is so great a crime, what terrible turpitude and depravity does it not evince to sell the image of God, and keep men in bondage?" and more, to like effect. If a bombshell had suddenly exploded in the midst of that congregation, (as actually occurred in churches of Charleston years afterwards,) it could not have produced greater alarm and consternation in that audience. When service was over the fierce looks and stern visages of the bulk of the hearers who crowded around him, and their angry remonstrances, showed that indeed a spiritual thunderbolt had fallen upon them from the sacred page served to light up the moral darkness induced by slavery."
The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable" 1812
Mr. Bourne was so determined on “carrying the war into Virginia” and maintaining it, that he acquired the art of setting type, and printed his diatribes against American slavery right there. While at Harrisonburg, Va., about 1812, he wrote and published a book called The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable... He was a Micaiah to them, constantly prophesying evil to the covetous slaveholders; an Elijah, continually denouncing the judgments of Jehovah upon those who oppressed the poor and needy...In that book he developed his theory of “immediate abolition without compensation... Its invectives are so keen and so pungent as to have formed the model for that style of denouncing the evils of slavery which became afterward so noted in the armory of Garrison and his friend, Wendell Phillips, and others."
Character and abilities
Mr Bourne was one of the most indefatigable students and workers of his day. He was scarcely ever without pen and paper, or book, in hand, even at his meals. In addition to the constant demand on him for matter for his paper, he was incessantly preparing articles, and preparing books for the press, for the Harpers, the Appletons, and other publishers.
To avoid "rusting out" he was also engaged lecturing and preaching, Sabbaths and week-days. Very few men surpassed him in the variety and extent of his literary acquirements. To great mathematical knowledge he added large attainments in philological lore, and as a linguist he ranked high.
His proficiency in the Hebrew language was shown in his preparation of the English-Hebrew portion of Roy's Hebrew Lexicon. His memory was exceedingly retentive, and was stored with treasures called from the richest sources. It was said of him that he was a living concordance, gazetteer, Bible dictionary, etc. His general style of preaching was extempore and incisive.
He was a fluent speaker, forcible, convincing, eloquent, and at times terrible in his denunciations of the giant evils and inequities of this era. Multitudes thronged to hear him wherever he was announced to speak upon these topics. Rev Dr W C Brownlee was wont to say, "There are two men to whose preaching he always listened to with delight-Rev Dr Alexander and George Bourne."
Among the books of which he was the author are the following, in addition to those referred to: Picture of Quebec, Old Friends, The Reformers, Loretta, the History of a Canadian Nun; also, his masterly analysis of the history, doctrines, and practices of the Church of Rome, published under the title American Textbook of Popery, and Illustrations of Popery. This was pronounced by Rev Dr Dowling, compiler of the Pictorial History of Romanism, the best compendium on Popism, especially for ministers and students, that has ever appeared. It was the result of forty years of study and thorough acquaintance with every phase of the controversy. It is the concentrated information derived from over seven hundred volumes of writings of the most noted doctors, bishops, deans, cardinals, saints, and popes of the Romish Antichurch, and of the Greek, Oriental, and English Church, and of the "Fathers" and historians of the first four centuries. It is a picture of Romanism drawn from its own records, chapter and verse being given for every quotation. It contains a chronological table of the date of every corruption and innovation upon the apostle simplicity and primitive usages of the Churches of Christ. The argument from history which he has thus presented is a very strong one against the pretensions of the Papal hierarchy to be "the Church of Christ founded by the Apostle Peter." He has therein demonstrated it to be the mystical Babylon, begun in apostasy from the faith, amplified by succeeding teachers of errors during centuries of increasing corruption, and fully displayed as the Antichrist by the Council of Trent."
Mr Bourne possessed a cheerful disposition, and the fruits of pure and active religion were manifested in his daily walk and conversation. His faith was ardent; no doubts of the sovereignty of God or of the final accomplishment of his designs ever entered into his mind. His discriminating eye beheld in the events of the passing period the glimmering of the dawn which precedes the rising of the millennial day. He recognized the approach of the Sun of Righteousness who will dispel the moral darkness of pagan and papal superstitions, and believed that the predictions of the Divine oracles in regard to the "Mystery of Iniquity" are in process of fulfillment; and in expositions of those prophecies he constantly delighted. Religion was the medium through which he viewed all sublunary things, and to which all his labors were made subservient. His love of the truth was so strong, and his zeal in this defense so great that sometimes he appeared to transcend the limits of gentleness in his controversial writings. This was partly the result of ardent temperament, and partly because of his own keen perception of the truth; owning to this he did not so well realize the position of some of those in mental darkness, who, from wrong education, powerful discipline, evil habits, innate proclivities, and selfish bias, were impervious to the light, and yet might be better approached by gentle arguments than by open denunciation. Some have supposed that, at times, more of the suaviter in modo, combined with his fortiter in re, would have rendered his labors still more extensively useful in the conversion of the devotees of Rome and of slavery; but no one doubted his whole-souled devotedness and sincerity in his life-work of the destruction of those evil systems. With regard to other matters, and in the social relations of life, Mr Bourne manifested cheerfulness, kindly interest, and sympathy toward all. In personal appearance he was agreeable and prepossessing; of a vigorous frame and robust constitution; affable in manner, ready in conversation, and beloved by those who knew him best..."
It was thus with the originator of the "Antislavery conflict." Believing that all other preceding modes and plans of opposing slavery were futile and incompetent for the mighty task, he felt called upon to institute a new form-that of Immediate and Unconditional Emancipation."
...By his Picture of Slavery, and by his labors among the Methodist Churches, North, he aroused many of the Northern preachers to that enthusiasm for liberty which culminated in the division of the M E Church.
The Southern Churches regarded George Bourne as an agitator, a firebrand, a disturber of their peace, and the Northern proslavery ministers and presses opposed and calumniated him with much vigor. Religious newspapers, which then bespattered him with reproaches and ridicule, have, since the edict of Emancipation, been loud in praise of those who carried out his plans and methods. Some have had the candor to admit that his estimate of slavery and his prescience far excelled their own.
He...for some years acting editor of the Christian Intelligencer, the organ of the Reformed Dutch Church, in whose office, then situated in Fulton-street, the present site of the Fulton-street Union Prayer-Meeting, he received the heavenly message to "come up higher." On the afternoon of November 20, 1845...Thus ended, in the sixty-six year of his age, the life of the intrepid pioneer of antislavery.
Funeral services
The funeral services were held in the Middle Dutch Church, corner of Lafayette Place and Fourth-street, on the Sabbath following, the 23rd of November. Rev Thomas De Witt, in the course of his remarks, said of him, that like as was said of John Knox, the Scottish -Reformer, "There lies one who never feared the face of man." To use the language of another, who ardently love him—Lewis Tappan:
"Thus has fallen an intrepid advocate of human rights, with his harness on, in a vigorous old age, after a life of singular health, activity, and usefulness. His death is a severe loss to the Antislavery cause, the cause of Protestant Christianity, and the Republic of Letter. Throughout his whole life he was an example of laborious efforts for the intellectual, moral, and physical good of his race. He was the vindicator of oppressed humanity, and labored incessantly for the deliverance of men from political, ecclesiastical, and physical bondage. He was as bold and uncompromising as John Knox, and dealt hard blows, but not with an unamiable temper, upon the foes of truth, freedom, and Christianity. He was a man of wit, keen in his invectives, and terrible in his rebukes. He was honest, sincere, frank, intrepid, self-denying, laborious, "fearing neither wicked men nor the devil."
"This concise and eloquent analysis of his character and labors was from one of his coadjutors, who knew him long and intimately, and rendered him much aid in doing his life-work. His opponents, who received the hard blows which he dealt at the false systems which he attacked, perceived only the sterner side of his character, and supposed him to be severe and harsh in temper, but he was only so against systems and those who supported error knowingly; to others he was affable, genial, and tender, always ready to sympathize and side with the oppressed of every nation.
It would appear, as has been said, as if he were conscious of a mission, and could not rest while the American Churches tolerated slavery. Like the ancient prophet, applying the words to our American Israel, he could say, with burdened feeling:
For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, And the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Opinion of peers
Testimony by William Lloyd Garrison
As it has been so long taken for granted that Mr. Garrison was the originator and prime leader of the Antislavery conflict, I will, before giving a sketch of The Pioneer of “Antislavery” in America, present to the public a copy of a letter addressed to the writer by Mr. Garrison in 1858. It was written currente calamo, in answer to the writer of the African Civilization Society, “to promote the Christian civilization of Africa,” and “the cultivation of cotton there by free labor.” In this beautiful panegyric Mr. Garrison renders ample testimony to the friend and preceptor from whom he derived his doctrines, his enthusiasm, and who animated his courage for his life-long work of abolition.
“Boston, Nov. 18, 1858. My Dear Friend—It gave me the greatest gratification to receive and read your letter of the 8th instant. It seemed next to receiving an epistle from your venerated father, whose memory will ever be dear to me, and whose labors, sacrifices, and perils in the cause of the millions in our land who are “appointed to destruction” ought to be biographically chronicled and perpetuated. I confess my early and large indebtedness to him for enabling me to apprehend, with irresistible clearness, the inherent patibility with the spirit and precepts of Christianity. I felt and was inspired by the magnetism of his lion-hearted soul, which knew nothing of fear, and trampled upon all compromises with oppression, yet was full of womanly gentleness and susceptibility; and mightily did he aid the Antislavery cause in its earliest states by his advocacy of the doctrine of immediate and unconditional emancipation, his exposure of the hypocrisy of the Colonization Scheme, and his reprobation of a “Negro-hating, slaving-holding religion.” He was both a “sun of thunder,” and “a son of consolation.” Never has slavery had a more indomitable foe or freedom a truer friend.
William Lloyd Garrison
“You inquire whether you father was not the author of the work entitled Slavery Illustrated in its Effects upon Woman, published in this city, in 1837, by Isaac Knapp. He was, as every line of it bears witness. I wish it could be republished and a million copies of it be distributed broadcast…I thank you for sending me a copy of the Constitution of the African Civilization Society, and the pamphlet by Benjamin Coates, which I have briefly noticed in the Liberator of this week. I am not prepared to state my views of this new movement at length, but I heartily wish prosperity to every benevolent effort to increase the growth of free cotton, whether in Africa, India, or elsewhere, and thus to strike a heavy blow at slavery pecuniarily. I am in hopes, however, that we are nearer the jubilee than such a movement would seem to imply. Still, let every just instrumentality be used for the eternal overthrow of slavery.
Yours to break every yoke, Wm Lloyd Garrison to Theodore Bourne.”
“Mr. Garrison’s phrase, “hypocrisy of the Colonization scheme,” would have been more accurate had he written “hypocrisy of some of the advocates of Colonization; for while George Bourne had many conflicts with those Colonizationists who presented that scheme as a cure for slavery, his boundless love for the Christian missions permitted him to look upon the work of Christian civilizations in Africa with great favor. Had the published objects of the American Colonization Society been identical with those of the colored men now enlisting in the work of the Christian civilization of Africa, he could have had no controversy with its advocates. When Mr. Garrison penned the foregoing letter, recommending that the “life, labor, and sacrifices” of George Bourne in behalf of the enslaved should be biographically chronicled and perpetuated,” he did not know that his own life and labors would have been several times chronicled before even this brief sketch should be made public.”
“Mr. Garrison’s account of the effect produced upon him from the teachings of George Bourne is not only an eloquent eulogy, but a positive declaration of the source from which he derived the peculiar doctrine of “abolition with compensation,” that distinguished the modern Abolitionists from the Emancipationists of the former period. It also explains why George Bourne is called the Pioneer of Antislavery. He was the early and persistent advocate of the doctrine that no recompense should be made to slaveholders. Almost all opponents of slavery who had preceded him had recognized the propriety of compensating the slave-owners when a ransom was demanded. Mr. Bourne looked upon compensation as a compromise with oppression and sin, and labored with great energy to overthrow that as an error. Long before the earnest labors of Benjamin Lundy commenced in Western Virginia, George Bourne, as will be seen, had violently attacked the system in Central Virginia, by preaching lecturing, and publishing tracts and books written with great earnestness and vigor. In order of sequence, of the three pioneers whose thoughts and whose labors gave tone to the modern Abolition movement, we may thus arrange them: George Bourne, 1805-1845, Benjamin Lundy, 1815-1838, William Lloyd Garrison, 1830-1865. To what extent Mr. Lundy may have been influenced by the labors of Mr. Bourne in Virginia does not appear, but he upheld the standard nobly until it was grasped by Mr. Garrison. The extensive acquirements, effective eloquence, and fearless courage of the earliest of these three pioneers had much to do with his success in starting the movement; yet without the conversion of Mr. Garrison to his views the doctrine of “immediate and unconditional emancipation” would not have attained as speedily its growth and its influence upon national affairs. As appears from the lucid and discriminative articles on Mr. Garrison by Dr Dorchester, Benjamin Lundy had also made an impression upon him in favor of Antislavery principles; but, as we perceive from his own testimony, he ‘felt and was inspired by the magnetism of that lion-hearted soul which knew nothing of fear,” and which had four years faced danger and death in behalf of the oppressed.”
Censorship by the Presbyterian Church
He was compared to Luther, to John Knox, and to Elijah, the Teishbite in his zeal against the worshipers of Baal....His opponents among his ecclesiastical brethren of the Presbyterian Church determined to silence him, and drive him from the sacred soil of Virginia. They followed him with ecclesiastical persecution; the Presbytery of Lexington, Virginia, suspended him, and presented him to the General Assembly as a setter forth of strange and unacceptable doctrines, offensive to the Churches of that region..."
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
In obedience, however, to the rules of the Presbytery, he appeared in due form before the General Assembly. There his presence and his arguments forced the questions of slavery upon the representatives of the Presbyterian Church. ... It took place in the city of Philadelphia. Dr. Campbell stated that he could only compare it to the appearance of the Martin Luther before the Diet of Worms. On the side of the modern reformer, burning with zeal for the purification of the Church from the pollutions of slavery, were a few sympathizing friends; on the other were almost all the dignitaries of the Presbyterian Church, South and North; the occupants of the places of trust and power, clerical and lay, determined to silence this Antislavery advocate who would turn the Church and nation right side up.
The scene was, indeed, one of transcendent interest, for there, in the consciousness of truth and right, and with the keen interest...He so far convinced the Assembly by his able vindication of his course, that he was relieved from the ecclesiastical censures, and the suspension was removed."
Resolutions concerning Slavery of 1818, General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
But as he still continued to preach against the system, he was gained presented before the bar of the General Assembly, and again the vexed question was brought to the notice of the entire Church. For four successive sessions of the General Assembly, 1815, 1816, 1817, and 1818, he compelled their attention, and as the result of these debates the resolutions known as the “Resolutions concerning Slavery of 1818” were passed. Meantime he had been compelled to quit Virginia, whence he removed to Germantown, near Philadelphia, The Minutes of the Presbyterian Church of those years present the case, of course, as favorably as they could for the slave-holding prosecutors of George Bourne, who by Jesuitical cunning endeavored to turn aside the force of his denunciation. The terrible results of the endeavor of that Church to compromise the necessity for promptness in resisting the beginnings of evil policy in the Churches.
Processions and symbols of Catholicism
"... he began preaching against the errors of Rome with all the intrepidity which had marked his course in Virginia against slavery. Very soon he originated, and was Secretary of the Quebec Bible Society, auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was also interested in the formation of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. He devoted much of his time to the study of Romanism from its authorized books, and from the practical exhibition of its results..."
New York and the publication of The Protestant
It required great courage to compel the priest to return the book, as the bigotry and hatred of heretics belonging to that sect was rampant at that time in Quebec, and his life was there at all seasons in danger in consequence of his fearless attacks upon the Papacy. He maintained the conflict, however, with great vigor, and became not only the champion of Protestant Christianity, but the emancipator of Protestants from the subserviency which had induced them to wink compliance with Romish exactions. While other champions have arisen who have done valiantly for the Church of Christ against Rome, to him belongs the credit of taking the early lead in the conflict against the Papacy in the United States. Having thoroughly investigated the system in Canada, he beheld with alarm the prospect of its growth in the United States, from the European immigration which commenced to increase in volume about the year 1828. He perceived that American Protestants knew but little of the dangers to be apprehended, and that few of the ministers knew much about the Papacy from actual experience of it power. He determined to return to New York and make it his special duty to withstand the inroads of Romanism, and arouse the attention of American Christians to the true character and design of the Papacy, and to the dangers which would environ the Republic should Popism gain ascendancy. With this design he removed to New York in October 1828, and on the first day of January 1830, he commenced the publication of The Protestant, the first Journal published in America devoted to the antipapal controversy. Its prospectus was commended by scores of leading ministers of the various branches of the Church.
Raising the standard of Protestantism, 1830
“His trumpet blasts awoke the sleeping genius of Protestantism, and although that his solicitude for the safety of the Republic, and of the Churches, was greater than necessary, and that his style of attack lacked in the suaviter in modo, yet none questioned his ability to conduct the controversy which he originated against Romanism. Subsequent events have shown the guiding hand of Divine Wisdom in sending him to Canada to acquire that insight into the Papal system which fitted him afterward to arouse the Christian Churches to the conflict against its errors. When he raised the standard of Protestantism, in 1830 in New York, there was no “Protestant Society”, no “Christian Alliance” or “Christian Union,” to stand behind and encourage him. As with his work against slavery in Virginia, he had to commence single-handed, unsupported by any association..."
Protestant Reformation Society
‘This style of language, so common among the Reformers, and among the sturdy Covenanters and the Irish Protestants of that day, whole it served to stir up Protestants, did little toward the conversion of Romanists, who, being unaccustomed to the scriptural language of the apostles, supposed that they were the objects of a trade of abuse, and shutting their ears, failed to understand the force of his arguments and demonstrations drawn from Scripture, history, and reason. He frequently met the fierce opposition of men influenced by prejudice and passion, who could not bear in patience his exposition of the doctrinal errors and “pernicious ways” of their priestly leaders; but he braved all the storms which he raised, and accomplished his purpose of arousing Protestant Christian against the insidious designs of the Jesuits and other emissaries of Rome in the United States. He had the satisfaction of being at last supported by a goodly array of the ministry and the wise-hearted among the laity who influenced public opinion. He was the originator of the “Protestant Reformation Society,” which led to other associations, the Christian Alliance being one of them; these after a time united, and were merged into the “American and Foreign Christian Union...
He continued the publication of "The Protestant” for three years, and a constant controversy against the hierarchy of Rome; preaching and lecturing incessantly against Romanism, and pointing out the political dangers which have been so lamentably verified since control of the Tammany Hallorganization passed into the hands of the hierarchy, by the connivance of ambitious and designing political demagogues.
Dr W C Brownless became his principal coadjutor, and the “Protestant Vindicator” succeeded to the “Protestant,” which maintained the controversy for some years longer. But he did not forget his ancient foe, slavery; he was equally devoted to the destruction of that iniquitous system, and as a result of his labors, coupled with those of Mr. Garrison, who had established the “Liberator” in Boston, in 1831, the “American Antislavery Society” was formed. Thereafter his attention was divided between the two foes of the Republic and of a pure Christianity. He transversed the Eastern and Middle States, extensively, lecturing and preaching against either of them or both, as seemed necessary. It was said of him and of his associates, as of the apostles at Thessalonica, “Here come those who turn the world upside down.” Besides his constant labor of editing, preaching, and lecturing, he wrote miscellaneous articles chiefly against the “twin-systems of error,” and several books intended to arouse the sympathies of the North against slavery.”
Opposition to Slavery sprang from within the Churches
Under the title of "Picture of Slavery in the United States", he published his former work originally printed in Virginia. "The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable," adding largely to it from his personal recollections of the system and its evils, and illustrated with pictures of scenes that had occurred under his notice there. He also published "Slavery Illustrated in its Effect upon Woman," depicting the terrible social evils resulting from the complex features of Southern society, and the laws regulating slavery. These publications drew upon him a storm of censure and abuse from the South, and denunciations from the proslavery press and ministry of the day, but opened the eyes of the lovers of freedom, and nerved them to greater boldness. These books contain the system of "abolition without compensation" which became the shibboleth of the Garrison wing of Abolitionists."
Picture of Slavery
To those who have not seen the volume it may be well to present a few extracts from Bourne's Picture of Slavery in the United States, the first portion of which embodied much of the text of the book published by him in Harrisonburg, VA., about the year 1812. In one of the paragraphs of the introductory chapter the following appears:"
Will subsequent ages credit so monstrous a statement—that preachers of the Gospel eighteen hundred years after angels had sung "On earth peace, good-will to men!" were proverbially devoted participants in all the enormities and iniquity of man-stealing?—P.9.
That any person should have effrontery sufficient to commence and persist in an infernal trade with the bodies and souls of men, where the illumination of the Gospel determines our duties, responsibility, and destiny, is proof, more than ample, of the innate tendency of the human race to every moral obliquity. What apology shall be patiently heard at the present era for upholding a traffic which necessarily includes every species of iniquity, and which is the offspring of an un-allowed avarice that conducts to hell?—P.9.
The conduct of religious professors and rulers loudly demands the severest castigation.—P.10
Slavery originated in avarice, indolence, treachery, evil concupiscence, and barbarity; and its constant fruits have been robbery, disease, faithlessness, profligacy of every species, and murder. Crimes of every degree, and blood-stained with all types of atrocity and cruelty, have incessantly marked it course, until after three hundred years of infernal desolations, the long-suffering of God and the patience of man are almost exhausted.—P.81.
Effects of Slavery on the Slave-Holders.
1 The first effect of slavery. It inflames them with haughty self-conceit. 2 A marble-hearted insensibility.—P.86. 3 They become sensual, and lose that instinctive pudicity which God, for the wisest and holiest purposes, has implanted in the hearts of mankind.—P.87. 4 Slave-holders are always irascible and turbulent.—P.98. 5 It destroys every correct view of equity, and fills the practitioner of the system with all injustice and knavery.—P.104. 6 It renders men violent in cruelty.—P.122. 7 It is the prolific source of all infidelity and irreligion.—P.131.
The illustrations used in connection with the foregoing propositions were so startling as to arouse that intense aversion to slavery at the North that marked the controversy. In his prelude to this portion of his book he says:
Time and labor are too precious to be wasted in boyish fencing with a blunt lash, and shooting, children-like, with pop-guns."
The Present Contest Is a War For The Extermination of Slavery!
The period has arrived when slavery must be entirely abolished. To tolerate its abominations for an hour extends a pestilence through the Union, adds fuel to the volcano which is ready to burst forth with all its devastating fury upon the Republic, increases a mass of moral corruption which now is mortifying in the body politic, and with the most open, provoking effrontery calls for the vengeance of Heaven, and the retributive curse of God upon our guilty country. What citizen with a sane mind can possibly suppose that the righteous Arbiter of Providence will much longer permit a horde of oppressors, haughty, presumptuous, "past feeling, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful,” profligate, unrighteous, turbulent, persecutors, cruel, impious in principle and filled with all practical ungodliness, to doom two millions of our fellow-immortals, American citizens, to every contrivance of misery and vice here, (and to hell hereafter,) only to gratify their atrocious hardheartedness and lusts, and to glut their insatiate thirst for despotism and blood?
The only effectual and Christian method to remove the danger and curse of kidnapping, with all its ferocity anguish, and crimes, is evident: instantly, universally, and altogether, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free-P.136
It was from these and other like statements in regard to slavery and the slave-holders, that the early abolitionists drew their "inspiration" in their attacks upon that system. Accepting these views and principles, Mr Garrison received and held aloft the abolition standard on which these legends were inscribed: "Abolition without compensation;" "No compromise with slave-holders;" "No communion with men-stealers;" "The contest is a war for the extermination of slavery."
The results of their efforts have become historical, terminating only after the moral warfare became first political, then sectional, and finally an armed strife involving the loss of over a million of lives, five thousand millions of dollars, and a legacy of two thousand millions of war debt, and hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans. Had the energies of the three Pioneers been devoted to the work of insuring the passage of laws securing to the slave-owners one thousand millions of dollars in bonds, payable from proceeds of revenues and lands, it is possible that the terrible price paid for the freedom of the slaves might have been saved. But "what might have been" cannot be known until the last scene in the grand displays of divine Omnipotence shall have been enacted, the great books of God's Omniscience shall be opened, and the universe shall resound with glad hosannas and hallelujahs to Him "who doeth all things well."
As a corroboration of the fact that the opposition to slavery sprang from within the pale of the Churches, and not merely from the benevolent impulses of humanitarians the following extracts will be timely. At the close of the Picture of Slavery is an article entitled "Manstealing and Slavery Denounced by the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches"
National Antislavery Society
At a meeting of delegates to form a National Antislavery Society convened at Philadelphia, December 4, 1833, it was—
Resolved That George Bourne, William Lloyd Garrison, and Charles W Dennison, be a committee to prepare a synopsis of Wesley's Thoughts on Slavery, and of the Antislavery items in the note formerly existing in the Catechism of the Presbyterian Church of the United States; and of such other similar testimony as they can obtain, to be addressed to Methodists, Presbyterians, and all professed Christians in this country, and published under the sanction of this convention."
In conformity with that appointment the committee selected from the records of the Presbyterian Church every article of general interest which adverts to this momentous subject. This they published under the title of Presbyterianism and Slavery. They also published, under the title of Methodist Discipline, with every thing material in the tract of John Wesley respecting slavery.
These, with other valuable articles, appear as an "Appendix" to the Picture of Slavery, and afford important aid to those who seek for information upon those topics.
Antislavery Riots in New York, 1834
Many of the old citizens of New York remember the bitterness of the contest, the stormy meetings, the continual uproar, and the frequent mobs and riots which the Antislavery controversy occasioned in New York as well as in numerous other localities. Some have thought that, if the doctrine of "compensated emancipation" had been presented instead of Abolition, the result would have been achieved without the terrible expenditure of life and treasure which eventuated. Others believe that no moral suasion or offered compensation could have removed the curse of slavery, and that it is useless in this case to speculate on "what might have been"—we know what was, and what has been—and that perhaps Divine Justice required the awful retribution of blood for blood. In this view it would seem that his eminent servant of God was conscious of a mission, that he could not avoid the duty allotted to him, and that his courage, fidelity, and intrepidity were bestowed upon him to enable him to discharge the task. A striking instance of his courage was admiringly related by the late Thomas Downing and by Dr Henry Highland Garnet, as occurring during the Antislavery riots in New York about the year 1834:
An Antislavery meeting was held at Broadway Hall, in Broadway, above Howard Street, next to the famous Tattersalls. That large, quaint building stood gable end to the street, and its sloping roof descended just below the side windows of the hall of the meeting. Among other noted speakers Mr Garrison was present; while the exercises were progressing, an onslaught was made upon the meeting by the "plug-uglies," "buttenders," "subterraneans," and other ruffians, sworn to exterminate the Abolition fanatics. Armed with sticks and clubs, and with a furious noise, they rushed upon the terrified audience, aiming particularly, however, at the rostrum and the speakers. Mr Garrison was safely got away through one of the side windows. George Bourne stood forth to receive the "Tammany Braves," and placing his cane before him with hands extended he said, "Stand back, ye villains! What do you want here? Stand back I say!" The leaders and the advancing band stood still for a moment in astonishment and mute admiration of the courage of the burly looking "dominie," whose splendid physique and fearless eye showed them an undaunted foe. At last one of them swung his hat and cried out "Three cheers for the dominie!" which they gave with a will, and leaving him unmolested, they chased out the remainder of the audience, who were glad to escape without personal violence.
Garrison, the special object of their venom, escaped unharmed. The Pioneer of Antislavery and "Antipopery" had so frequently faced excited crowds and angry mobs as to be quite prepared for his demonstrations. But the limits of this sketch permit only a glance at his persistent labors in his busy ministerial life of over forty years, during which he originated and took large share in the arduous work of the great controversies mentioned, in their preliminary stages.
Dutch Reformed Church of New York
Shortly after his return to New York from Canada, he united with the Reformed (Dutch) Classis of New York, of which he continued a member until his death. His first pastoral charge in New York was in Provost-street, (now Franklin,) afterward at Huston and Forsyth Streets, and subsequently at West Farms, but most of his time was devoted to the controversy against Popism and slavery.
In addition to his labors of preaching, lecturing, and journeying in forming Antislavery and Reformation societies, he edited and had republished many of the controversial works of the sixteenth and following centuries. Among others Fulke's Confutation of the Rhemish Testament Notes, and the Rhemish Testament;" Baxter's "Key for Catholics or Jesuit Juggling:" Scipio DeRicci's Female Convents; "Secreta Monita," of the Jesuits;"Taxatio Paplis;" "History of the Waldenses" "Middleton's Letters from Roman"; "Luther, on the Galatians;" "Davenant on Colossians;" "Bower's History of the Popes, etc.
Various biographies of the early 20th century U.S. antiwar socialist Greenwich Village radical Randolph Bourne, mention a grandfather on his father, Charles Bourne's side, who was a famous abolitionist, a pastor at Sleepy Hollow in New York, and a writer. It would seem that George Bourne was his grandfather.