Notes for: Robert Woodward
1133. Rev. Robert Woodward CUSHMAN, GGGG Grandson, M. Born on 10 Apr 1800 in
Woolwich ME.<../RR_SRC.htm> Occupation: watchmaker & jeweler; clergyman &
teacher.
Notes of Henry Wyles Cushman: His father, who was a shipmaster, was lost in a
hurricane at sea, when young Robert was only five years of age; and this sad
event was followed, a few years later, by the death of his mother. Thus early
left an orphan, the period of youth was passed in various mechanical
employments, and in the possession of very limited means of education.
At the age of 14, unwilling to be longer dependent, and feeling that he must
prepare for an honest living, he went, on the injudicious recommendation of a
relative, into the interior, and into apprenticeship in the cabinet making
business. He soon found it a bad more; for neither his physical nor mental
organization seemed to be fitted for that occupation. He remained there two
years and returned to his friends.
He next selected a more suitable and far more agreeable business,--that of
watch-making and jewelry,--which would probably have been his employment
through life, had not aspirations for a higher work induced him to commence a
course of study. How mysterious and yet how grand are the ways of Providence!
In the very boy, while busily engaged in learning to adjust the minute wheels
of the watch, we find the germ of the future man, who is to be instrumental in
bringing many into "the way of salvation."
At the age of 16, the influence of religious truth awakened him to a new life.
Deeply impressed by the conviction that it was his duty to preach the Gospel,
he at once carried his new formed resolution into effect,--going from house to
house, exhorting the people to repent. The discouragements of friends and
pecuniary want however repressed his youthful zeal and again induced him to
resume a mechanical occupation. But so deep was the impression that a
"dispensation of the Gospel" had been committed to him, that every leisure
moment was devoted to study, and soon after a systematic course of preparation
was commenced.
His academic studies were pursued, partly with the Rev. S. Glover, at
Kingston, Plymouth Co MA, Plymouth Co MA, and partly at Lincoln Academy, New
Castle, Me. He was graduated at Columbian College, D.C., under the celebrated
Dr. Staughton, in 1826. He felt that injustice was done him at the time of his
graduation, in the assignments of his class. But subsequently circumstances
gave him an opportunity for a most noble revenge. It is a singular incident
that the President should have been dependent upon him for his character,
which the world is now reading from his monumental marble. At his death, a
monument was erected to his memory by those who had been his students, and the
inscription that was furnished by the subject of this article was selected
from all that were presented by his admiring pupils throughout the country,
and is now telling the story of his greatness to the thousands that, from all
parts of the world, visit the beautiful "Laurel Hill Cemetery" on the banks of
the Schuylkill.
In preparing for and pursuing his studies at College, he was subject to great
trials and difficulties. He had not "friends and wealth to aid him," but
supported himself by his own industry. By repairing watches, teaching school,
acting the part of Tutor and serving as Proctor in College, preaching as a
Missionary under burning summer suns, in vacations, in the South, and during
term time, he was enabled to pay his college expenses. when he graduated, he
had preached 273 sermons, partly in the stated supply of the pulpit, and
partly in missionary services during vacations.
When he commenced a preparation for a professional life, although surrounded
with difficulties and discouragements, he resolved that nothing should be
wanting on his part to stand high as a scholar and a preacher--to be a useful
and good man. He knew well that "what man had done he could do." With such
determination, we can easily account for the distinguished ability and
prominence of his subsequent life.
Of his college life, we adopt the language of another:
"He was one of the first graduates of Columbian College. He took a high stand
in his class, and was second to none in native talents and scholastic
attainments. His power of independent thought and self-reliance united to his
ardent devotion to study and untiring perseverance, gave promise, at the
commencement of his course, of the eminence which he has since attained.
"He was noticed, while in college, for his strict conscientiousness and
punctuality in the performance of every duty, both as a student and as a
Christian, and for the propriety and manly dignity of his bearing. His piety,
which was deep and ardent, manifested itself in active efforts to do good to
those with whom, in the providence of God, he had been placed, and who came
within the circle of his influence. He established a prayer meeting for the
neighborhood, which was sustained by himself and his fellow-students as long
as he remained in college, and was continued after he left. He visited often
among the poor and afflicted, and being himself deeply alive to the blessings
of kindness and sympathy, he was eminently fitted to impart to them kindly and
spiritual consolation. The death of his intimate friend and roommate
[Footnote: Ira D. Love of New York, a brother of Rev. Horace T. Love, late
Missionary in Greece], which occurred during the last year of his course, was
a deep affliction; and yet viewed in the light of a blessing, inasmuch as it
had an effect to deepen the tone of his piety and greatly quicken his progress
in the divine life."
At the time of his graduation he selected for the subject of his declamation,
one of the most abstruse and difficult in the range of human learning. It was
entitled "The Influence of Metaphysical Speculation on Force of Character." It
is decidedly characteristic. We give one or two extracts:
"By metaphysical speculation, however, we would not be understood to mean the
frequent perusal of metaphysical authors; for the most natural, and very
frequently, the only effect of this, is a dependence on the fallible memory
for a knowledge of what has been said, on a particular subject, by fallible
men; and, consequently, a reverence for their authority which is directly
hostile to independence of thought and of action--an intellectual infirmity,
which is sure to betray itself in servility of demeanor, and a perpetual
reiteration of names as to the sanction of sentiments. But we mean a habit of
withdrawing the attention from the phenomena of the material world, and fixing
it on the subjects of our own consciousness; of observing the phenomena, and
analyzing the powers of the mind; and, generally, of prosecuting extended
trains of reasoning on every description of abstract truths which does not,
like mathematics, draw the mind into a dependence on foreign aid.
"Such alone is the character which exhibits the perfect stature, and is worthy
of the high and honorable appellation of a MAN--a character so essential to
true greatness, that without it, none ever deserved, or ever acquired an
immortality of fame.
"Does the love of honor, ye votaries of science, burn in your bosoms and
prompt you to aspire to a more durable renown than that which is lighted to
its grave by the same revolving sun that shines on its birth? While you
contemplate the facility and the brevity of your terrestrial existence, do you
feel a high-born spirit within you, pointing for a name and a praise among the
descending generations of our race? Do you feel that the hymn of blessing and
the tear of gratitude, from men who shall live in centuries yet unborn, would
be a reward for a life of arduous exertion in the cause of human happiness?
then dismiss every propensity to an abject and undiscriminating reverence for
example and opinion; and learn to exercise your own understandings on every
question presented to you, whether of sentiment or of action; think vigorously
and clearly before you act, ever nobly doing, though at the peril of solitude
in your opinions, to think for yourselves.
"Let your path be an onward career of duty; your panoply a conscious rectitude
of purpose; let your guide be reason, and your lamp be truth; and you may take
as your motto, 'while life remains nil, nil desperandum.'"
In the month of August, 1826, Mr. C. was ordained at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., as
pastor of the Baptist Church at that place, which he sustained on the small
salary of four hundred dollars per annum.
Finding himself reduced to the alternative of either seeking a larger sphere,
or resorting to some means, aside from his ministerial duties, for meeting the
deficiency of support, he decided to relinquish the pastoral charge and for a
season engage in teaching, without remitting pulpit duty, hoping, in the
course of a few years, to supply himself with the means by which, on returning
to the pastoral office, he might eke out a deficient salary.
The city of Philadelphia presented itself to him as the locality where,
without taking a pastoral charge, he would never want an "open door" for the
exercise of the ministry. With an intellect of the highest order, cultivated
by years of severe literary training, he had now attained the stature of
intellectual manhood, and was cordially welcomed as one of the happy company
formerly under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Staughton of that city. In
accordance with his purpose, his first object was to establish a "Young
Ladies' Institute," of a high order. In the prosecution of this cherished
purpose, continued with untiring perseverance, his labors were ultimately
crowned with complete success, his school being second to none of its class in
the
city.
But, with all his talent as a teacher, and his success in that profession, his
most judicious friends were of opinion that his qualifications for the pulpit
were still greater.
With all the toils and cares of the seminary he was seldom silent on the
Sabbath, and elicited from all sects admiration for his clear and impressive
manner of exhibiting Divine truth. To all this it may be added that his pen
was by no means idle. He was induced to assume the editorial management of a
religious newspaper called the "Christian Gazette," which office he filled
with distinguished ability.
This incident was connected with a series of endeavors on which he entered
immediately on his settlement in Philadelphia, for bringing to a close a
division which had unhappily existed for many years in the denomination in
that region, and which had led to the establishment of party papers; the
"Religious Narrator," the organ of one of the associations, and the "World,"
the organ of the other. Refusing to identify himself with either party, and
cordially serving both, he had the happiness to see a reconciliation effected.
The churches with which the difficulty originated, the associations into which
it had spread, and the denomination at large, acquiesced in the merging of the
papers above named in one, to be documented by him. This same difficulty
extended through all the benevolent operations of the denomination, but was
particularly prejudicial to its educational interests. He therefore could not
refuse his service, although gratuitous and superadded to this already
oppressive duties of the seminary and the ministry; and it is among the most
gratifying recollections of his past life, that he was able to conduct that
paper with impartiality, such as met the acceptance of all. Its circulation
increased with great rapidity, and the extent to which its editorials were
copied by the papers of the country, was gratifying evidence that the
"Christian Gazette" was regarded with favor beyond the denomination to whose
interests it was more especially dedicated. To be a peacemaker has always been
his highest ambition, and he has often remarked, that "one of the happiest
moments of his life was that in which, after a three days' debate in an
educational convention, he had been enabled to unite the parties in a
compromise, and was hailed by one of the most active as 'the Henry Clay of the
denomination!'"
The following interesting account of his residence in Philadelphia was
communicated by Rev. J. H. Kennard of that city:
"The Rev. Robert W. Cushman, D. D., located in Philadelphia, in the year 1818.
He received a very cordial welcome by all who had formerly known him as one of
a happy company of young men, who were students under the beloved and
distinguished Dr. Wm. Staughton, the successful instructor of many of the most
talented and useful ministers in the Baptist denomination.
"With an intellect of the highest order cultivated by years of severe literary
training, diligent reading and research, he had now attained the full stature
of an intellectual man, and was thoroughly furnished unto every good work.
"Under a full conviction of the importance of female education, his first
object was the establishment of a Young Ladies' Institute of a high order. In
the prosecution of this cherished purpose, with patient toil, he was eminently
successful. His school increased [Footnote: "The Institution increased slowly
for the first two or three years. A sense of propriety held me back from
soliciting patronage, and the first year of teaching brought me but $290; the
second but little over $700; and the third but little over $1000. So that at
the end of five years I had, as I have before said, only brought up the
arrears of expenditure. The school at last come to have such a reputation that
I had among my patrons not only all Protestant sects but Catholics,
Jews, Infidels and stage actors; and pupils not only from all sections of our
own country, but from the West Indies." --Extract from a letter of Rev. Dr.
Cushman] both in the number of its pupils and in favor with the citizens of
Philadelphia, and those interested in the cause of education at a distance
also, until it became of an importance second to none in the city.
"While thus successful as a teacher, he was not insensible to his solemn
charge in the souls committed to his care, nor the importance of imparting
religious truth and exertina a holy influence over their minds and hearts.
This was done daily, and the desired result was attained. Many of the young
ladies under his instruction, not only became qualified for an intelligent
discharge of life's duties, and ornaments to the family circle, but also
active and devoted Christians to bless their generation.
"In connection with this Institute [Footnote: Known as "Cushman's Collegiate
Institution for Young Ladies"], was established a Literary and Missionary
Society, embracing not only his pupils but also many other pious and active
ladies of this city who esteemed it a high privilege to be thus associated for
objects so praiseworthy.
"But with all his qualifications and success as a teacher, the prevailing
opinion among his most judicious friends was, that his qualifications for the
pulpit were still greater, and its claims to his talents and labors stronger
than those of the school.
"Bro. Cushman loved the pulpit and amidst all his cares and toils of his
Seminary he was seldom silent on the Sabbath. Churches of our own and of other
evangelical denominations eagerly sought his service and were edified by his
preaching. Destitute churches and those having disabled pastors shared much of
his sympathy and his labors. As a preacher none could hear him without
admiring his clear, chaste and impressive manner of exhibiting divine truth.
In his preparation for the pulpit he was thorough, and in the delivery of his
message, serious and impressive, ever holding his hearers in fixed attention.
"Kindred to this, the sweetest employment of his active life were his efforts
in behalf of various benevolent societies, some of which were, at that period,
new and in need of decided and influential friends. The cause of missions, at
home and abroad--the circulation of the Scriptures--the education of young
ministers of the gospel--African colonization--the Temperance reform, and the
Publication of Religious books and tracts, all had his efficient support. On
many a platform in Philadelphia has he for years boldly stood and successfully
plead for these, and other objects of a similar character, in their several
distinct organizations.
"Dr. C. was one of the few, that from the first, espoused and zealously
advocated the 'American Baptist Publication Society,' which at that time was
feeble and almost friendless. To his influence and efforts including his
contribution to the number of its valuable publications, much of its present
prosperity may be traced."
From the above it will appear that the period spent in Philadelphia, was to
him, one of incessant toil. Few men had so great a diversity of labors, and
fewer still have been so successful in every department.
The following extract is taken from a letter which was drawn forth by an
editorial reference to some animadversion on his position, during the early
part of his residence in Philadelphia, and will show the immense amount of
intellectual labor he performed while living in that city:
"Since I have resided in this city (Philadelphia), which is now rather more
than six years, I have preached once a Sabbath, on an average for nearly
seven-eights of the time, in churches of seven different denominations--in
town and country, in meeting houses and private houses, in school houses,
college halls, and court houses, in log houses and in the open air; in prisons
and asylums; to infant schools, apprentices associations, and to sailors on
ship's deck. Besides being called on pretty frequently to deliver addresses in
behalf of bible societies, tract societies, domestic and foreign mission
societies, sunday schools, infant schools, maternal associations, and
temperance societies. I have been engaged in the service of these different
societies to the number of five or six, I believe, at the same time, either in
their boards or secretary ship; and into whatever ship I enter--let who will
get the helm I am pretty sure to get the laboring oar, because I have no
pastoral charge."
In the year 1840, the Bowdoin Square Church, in Boston, was organized,
composed principally of enterprising and intelligent members from other
Baptist Societies in the city. A commodious edifice was erected in an
attractive location, and a pastor with the requisite qualifications was then
the object to be sought. Dr. Cushman received an affectionate and unanimous
invitation to accept this office. Mindful of the obligations taken upon
himself in early youth, he responded favorably to the call, relinquished the
pleasant and lucrative position which he held in Philadelphia, and was
installed 8 July 1841. The reputation for scholarship and pulpit eloquence
which had preceded him, was fully sustained during his six years' residence in
Boston. The evident blessing of Heaven attended his labors, and his
resignation of the pastoral office was deeply regretted.
On leaving Boston, Dr. C. resided several years in Washington, D.C., where he
established and successfully maintained a "French and English Protestant
Female Seminary."
For a sketch of his life while in that city, we are indebted to an esteemed
correspondent:
"In the winter of 1847 and 1848, Dr. Cushman went to the city of Washington to
take charge of the E St. Church, during the absence of its pastor, Rev. G. W.
Sampson, on a tour to the East. He filled the post with his well known dignity
and ability, and it is not too much to say that the respectability of the
Baptist denomination was enhanced by his connection with it. His elegant
diction and beautiful elocution attracted many to the Church who had not
before attended there; and his sound scriptural views of Christian doctrine,
his valuable practical teachings and the predominance of Christ, crucified in
all his discourses, rendered his preaching always profitable and instructive.
There are many who will never forget the rich spiritual and intellectual
treats he has given them from the pulpit, or the heart-felt Christian
consolation he has afforded them in the time of sorrow and bereavement.
"During the period that Dr. Cushman officiated in the E St. Church, he was
invited to deliver the Oration before the Alumni of his Alma Mater, at the
annual commencement. His theme was, 'The Elements of Success in Life.' It was
published at the request of the Institution, and was worthy of its author.
"After the return of Mr. Sampson to his pastoral charge, Dr. Cushman decided
to remain in Washington in the capacity of a teacher, having in view the
establishment of a Protestant school for young ladies, which should prevent
the frequent accessions to Romanism resulting from the influence of Roman
Catholic schools in the community. Twelve years of successful teaching in a
young ladies' school in Philadelphia had eminently fitted him for the
undertaking. His school was of a high order, and those who placed their
daughters under his care gave flattering testimonials of his devotion to their
interests. The result of his peculiar mode of instruction was seen in the
expansion of mind and strength of moral and intellectual character in his
pupils. A number of the young ladies who were inmates of his family became
pious, and connected themselves with the Church; and their consistent life has
since shown, not only the genuineness of their piety, but the faithfulness and
force of his Christian instructions.
"Dr. Cushman was called to endure trials of a peculiarly perplexing and
harassing nature, while in Washington,--trials which severely tested his
Christian meekness and forbearance;--but the calm dignity and submission with
which he bore them raised him in the estimation of his friends and made his
Christian graces shine more brightly. As a proof of the estimation in which he
was held in that city, his name was twice presented as candidate for the
Chaplainry in Congress. But it was his friends alone who moved the measure.
Dr. Cushman was, emphatically, no office-seeker. He voluntarily declined in
favor of another clergyman of Washington, considering the dignity of his high
calling as minister of our holy religion, greater honor than human governments
have in their power to bestow. He never courted attention from 'the powers
that be;' but conscious of his own rectitude and integrity of purpose, he
quietly pursued the path duty had marked out for him.
"In 1848 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him,
without his knowledge or consent, by the 'Granville College,' Ohio. For
reasons which it is not necessary to explain, he immediately declined the
proffered honor, and has never used it.
"The removal of the pastor of E Street Church to another field of labor, in
the autumn of 1850, left the pulpit again vacant. This vacancy existed two
years, during a part of which time he supplied the pulpit, and as far as was
consistent with his imperfect health and the exhausting labors of his school,
performed the duties of pastor.
"In 1852 Dr. Cushman was re-called to the pastorate of the Bowdoin Square
Church, Boston, over which he had previously been settled for a period of six
years. The call was a pressing one, but though he loved the work of the
ministry above everything else, he nevertheless decided not to accept, feeling
assured that Providence had called him to the work in which he was engaged. He
continued in Washington till the summer of 1853, when he removed to Boston to
take charge of a young ladies' school in that city. His departure was
sincerely regretted by his friends to whom he had so long ministered in holy
things, and by the Christian public, by whom his influence had been felt as a
man and a clergyman."
The following, taken from the Boston Journal of July 1853, shows,
conclusively, the public appreciation of his abilities and services:
"REV. DR. CUSHMAN. -- We see by a card in the Washington Union, that Rev. R.
W. Cushman, a Baptist clergyman, well known and respected in this city, has
announced his intention to resign into other hands his Protestant French and
English Boarding School. He will be succeeded by Rev. Stephen M. Myrick. Dr.
Cushman has been successfully engaged in teaching at Washington, five years,
and his institution has been entitled to and has received the confidence of
the public. In the language of the editor of the Union, Dr. Cushman has won
golden opinions by his efficient, enlightened, and faithful labors as an
instructor of youth."
As a writer, his style is chaste, elegant and terse, and as a speaker he is
eloquent and convincing. He has, therefore, been called upon to give sermons
and addresses on public occasions, almost without number,--several of which
have been published.
We subjoin a list of his published works:
1st. TRACTS. The Christians' Stewardship,--a tract on the right use of wealth.
The Anchor for the Soul,--a tract for seamen.
Christ Rejected,--a narrative--pp. 12. Philadelphia.
An Important Question. -- Some forty thousand of this were circulated in the
course of a few months after its first issue.
2d. SERMONS. The Moral Likeness of Men, contemplated as a ground of
Encouragement in Missionary Labor. -- Delivered before the Society of
Missionary Inquiry, in Hamilton Lit. and Theol. Inst., N.Y.
A Calm Review of the measures employed in the Religious Awakening in Boston,
in 1842. Delivered in the Bowdoin Square Church, June 28, 1846.
The Expediency of Christ's Ascension. Published in the Baptist Preacher for
April, 1850.
A Solemn Providence Sanctified. Occasioned by the death of President Harrison.
Delivered in Bowdoin Square Church on the National Fast, May 14, 1841.
3d. LITERARY DISCOURSES. Elements of Success in Life. Delivered at the first
annual meeting of the Alumni Association of Columbian College, July 12, 1848.
pp.29. Washington, D. C., 1848.
Summer's Cares in Summer Time. Addressed to the Graduating Class of Wake
Forest College, N. C., of 1852. pp.22. Raleigh, N.C., 1852.
Requisites of American Female Education. Delivered before the Columbian
Teachers' Association, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. pp.72.
4th. BOOKS. Bowdoin Square Church Book. A manual of history, doctrine and
counsels for that Church.
A Pure Christianity the World's Only Hope. pp.115. New York, 1849.
Temptations of city Life. Addressed to young men.
Grace and Apostleship. Illustrated in the life of Adoniram Judson, founder of
the Burman Mission. pp. 144. Philadelphia, 1853.
Lives of the Apostles. This was written on the basis of an English abridgment
of Cove.
Baptist Manual. Mostly a compilation for the American Baptist Publication
Society.
In addition to the foregoing, quite a number of addresses, controversial
letters, communications for the periodical papers, on various subjects, and
poetic effusions, are scattered in newspapers, magazines, reviews and annual
reports,--a list of which it would be difficult to procure.
Of his many publications, we can give extracts from but a few; the design of
this work being mainly to give facts, we have not space for extended
quotations. We give only enough to show his style as a writer, and his
abilities as a profound thinker and a logical and convincing reasoner.
From "A Pure Christianity, the World's Only Hope," originally prepared for the
Boston Baptist Association, we give the following extract:
"The last thing we mention, but, with the exception of the first named,--the
supremacy of the Scriptures,--the most indispensable of all conditions to the
efficacy of Christianity, is, that the individual professor of religion
possesses an appropriate character.
"The true theory of the Christian Church is, that none shall belong to it but
real Christians; persons who believe the doctrines of the Gospel, who have
truly repented of sin, and heartily forsaken it; whose affections are set on
things above, and whose lives re regulated by the Christian precepts.
"To this theory the practice in religious profession can never, perhaps, be
made fully to conform, on account of the deceitfulness of the heart, and the
influence of sinister motive; but it must at least aim at it: and the only
hopeful, as it is the only scriptural polity, is that which acknowledges the
theory and does its utmost to carry it out, in the admission of members.
"It is for want of this that the name of Christian has so lost its power.
Better, far better, for the hope of the world's salvation would it be if
Christianity could point to but three hundred out of ten thousand, and say,
'These are my jewels;' than that they world should point to a host of
'baptized infidels, worse for mending, washed to fouler stains,' and reply:
Are not these also thy sons?
"The prevalence of a merely nominal Christianity has well nigh banished the
knowledge of the nature of real Christianity from the world. The grand
apostasy, setting out with the error that the ordinances were endowed with a
kind of charm without which even infancy could not be saved, converted the
church into a sort of universal receptacle of good and evil: an ark of safety
for the lion as well as the lamb, the vulture as well as the dove.
"The doctrine of infant baptism and birthright membership has done an amount
of injury to the cause of vital Christianity which no human mind will ever be
able to estimate.
"The great Destroyer, with his two-edged sword of mischief cutting right and
left, has gone through the world inflicting a double damnation: betraying one
half of mankind into a fatal apathy with the belief that their heaven was
secure, because they had been christened, and had access to the Eucharist; and
the other, into a rejection and contempt of Christianity itself as a system of
priest craft."
At the 13th annual meeting of the American Bible Society, the following
resolution being under consideration, viz:
"Resolved, That the co-operation of the different denominations of Christians,
in the distribution of the Bible, without note or comment, has a happy
tendency to allay party feeling and strengthen the cause of evangelical
religion," Rev. Dr. Cushman made an address from which we make a short
extract:
"The Bible cause brings us together under circumstances calculated to elicit
the universally acknowledged characteristics of the Christian, and nothing
else. It calls us together as on the mount of God, where we are elevated above
the vale which is divided by sectarian walls; and we feel that the place is
too holy, and too hear to heaven, for disagreement. It is the rendezvous of
the Lord of our Hosts; where the banner, the stainless banner of the Prince of
Peace waves a truce to every hostile feeling, and where the dearest object on
earth to us all, the lamp of his word, is the point of attraction.
"And, while from this height we look far down on the abodes of darkness and
guilt, and breathe forth the sigh of compassion for those who know not God, we
find that we are all of one heart: and, as the sigh breaks forth into enquiry,
how shall the darkness be dispelled? and is answered, 'with the Bible!' by
one; 'with the Bible!' by another; and by all of every denomination, 'with the
Bible!' we learn that in one thing we are all of one mind; and by uniting in
the divine employ of scattering the light of knowledge abroad, we enkindle the
fire of love amongst ourselves.
"In this view of the subject, sir, I cannot but consider the Bible cause,
uniting, as it does, the hearts and hands of good men of every name, as the
bow of promise to the storm-stricken world! And although it may tell that the
sun shines not yet in a cloudless sky, and that its pure rays, in their
descent, have suffered refraction and separation by the dark clouds on which
they have fallen; yet it presents them, even there, ranged side by side, and
sweetly mingling; announcing that the terrors of the storm are already
subdued, and awakening the sure expectation of a brighter to-morrow, when
those rays shall be blended again into one."
On the 12th July, 1848, Dr. Cushman delivered an address at the first annual
meeting of the Alumni of Columbian College, Washington, D.C. (where it will be
remembered he graduated 22 years before), on the "Elements of Success"--one of
the ablest productions of his pen. It would be a great satisfaction if our
limits would allow us to give it entire,--but we can give but one extract--the
introductory paragraphs:
"Gentlemen, Alumni of Columbian College: -- The twenty-fourth anniversary of
our Alm Mater has called us together from our different and distant homes, to
the first anniversary of our literary brotherhood. We come, for the most part,
strangers to each other. More than a score of classes have passed from her
halls since some of us were there. Many of us, therefore, are known to each
other scarcely by name. But we have a common bond: a kind of intellectual
consanguinity connects us with each other. The Institution, whose youngest
sons have this day shown how faithful and skilful has been her care to them,
has nursed us all, and given us the beginnings of what we are.
"We all look back to days when we, like them, were conning our lessons amidst
the quiet groves of yonder classic hills; and we can well remember with what
emotions we looked forward to that day of days--the last, the greatest of
college life, the most thought of, the most coveted, and yet the most dreaded,
as 'bit with fates' and full of portents--when we should receive, as they have
this day received, her farewell counsels and benediction; and should go forth
to seek our part to act, and our place for action, in the busy world. It was
to us then an untried world. -- But it had been the object of our
contemplation--the theme of our study; and we thought we knew it well,
geographically, scientifically, historically, politically, and
religiously. We had laid our plans as to the part we should play in it, and
had schooled our powers that we might play it with success.
"Years have since passed over us. And they have offered to us their lessons of
wisdom. They have taught us much we then did not know, and much that never can
be learned in the cloister. -- The most efficient of teachers is the daughter
of time and of suffering. It has seemed to me, nevertheless, that something of
that knowledge which we have to accredit to experience might be gained in a
manner less painful; at a time, in the outset of life, when it would be more
valuable, as it would have been more available.
"If we improve the present occasion by a review of some of the lessons on
success in life, which we have gathered either from our own experience or from
our observation of the success or the mistakes of others who began the career
of life with us, we shall, perhaps, spend the present hour as agreeably as we
could spend it by the discussion of a topic less practical. Such a survey,
though it may prove too late to be greatly serviceable to ourselves, may yet,
perhaps, render some service to our junior brethren who have to-day attained
their academic majority."
As a pulpit orator, Dr. Cushman has always stood high in the public
estimation. To appreciate eloquence it must be seen and heard. To feel its
lofty, almost magnetic power, we must be within the range of the human voice.
And while action is the great prerequisite of an orator's influence, yet still
"that is the most enduring form of eloquence which is shown in the written
word."
As a sample of his style and manner in the pulpit, we give an extract from a
sermon preached in the Bowdoin Square Church, Boston, 17 May 1841, on the
National Fast, occasioned by the death of President Harrison. It is the
closing paragraphs:
"I cannot persuade myself to close an attempt to derive improvement from this
afflictive dispensation, without expressing the conviction that we shall fail
of much of the benefit that may be drawn from it if it teach us not to
sympathize with those on whom it has fallen most heavily; and if it prepare us
not, as a nation, to give expression to our sympathies in a way more effective
than eulogy of the dead, or resolutions of condolence for mourning survivors.
Ours are obligations which cannot be thus discharged. The lamented Harrison
was, in no ordinary degree, the benefactor of his country. While yet a
stripling, he gave himself to her service in the hardships and perils of
border warfare, And when the sword and the tomahawk gave place to the pipe of
peace, he served her in the forming of treaties; in procuring the cession of
lands; and in the survey and sale of them. In this way he very greatly added
to her territory, wealth and power. So constant was his employment through a
long life in the public service, and so prominent was the part he acted in all
the events by which the region west of the Ohio has risen from a trackless
wild into populous and happy sovereignties, that the history of the great
North-West may be said to be his own history.
"In this service he had almost unparalleled opportunities for enriching
himself; but he was content with humble competency; and while he added to the
wealth of his country, he himself remained comparatively poor. He has had but
few equals in any age for self-sacrificing devotion to his country's
interests; and his name will be enrolled in history as the Fabricius of
America. Let the nation remember the example which that model of patriotic
virtue has set her; and, while she honors the dust of the glorious dead, let
her evince her sense of the value of his services by a generous requital of
them to those who are not only first in the inheritance of his fame, but
deepest in sorrow and suffering by his death.
"There is one, a lone and aged widow, to whom this stroke has come, as it can
come to none of us. To smooth the path of her, the helper of the nation's
benefactor, has become a national duty. Let it be the nation's pleasure.
"Loved and honored consort of our country's chosen head, receive our
sympathies! Thy tears fall not alone: millions weep with thee; and, if they
might, would father to support thy footsteps, and speak some word of comfort.
On the bosom of Almighty Love, where He, thine own and ours, sank to rest,
there is room for thine agonized heart. To the God of the widow we commend
thee! Give thy days to Him; and, though the well known foot-fall may never
again break the silence of thy chambers, the presence of Christ the Redeemer
shall disperse their gloom; and the day-spring from on high shall cheer thy
pathway to the land where, among the angels of God, the pure in heart find
their best love again, and shall be parted no more forever!"
In June 1852, Dr. C. prepared a discourse to be delivered "to the Graduating
Class of Wake Forest College, N. C.," but by a providential circumstance was
prevented from delivering it. It was published at the request of that class.
The title of the discourse was "Summer's Cares in Summer Time." The text was,
Prov. x: 5.
-- "He that gathereth in summer is a wise son." We give two short extracts:
"Let us then consider, thirdly, what are the habits to be shunned, and what to
be
cultivated, for making the most of the summer of life.
"1. First, I would say, eschew a sun-lit pillow.
" 'Love not sleep,' said the sage of Israel, 'lest thou be a poor man.' 'He
who rises late,' said our own Franklin, 'may trot all day and not have
overtaken his business at night.'
'Mornings,' said the poet, 'are mysteries:'
'Three blessings wait upon them, one of which
Should move,--they make us holy, happy, rich.'
"2. Keep clear of day-dreaming.
"It has nothing to do with life and duty. It is only a thief of time. It
vitiates the imagination; nurses irresolution; and turns thought into a
vagabond.
"3. Do not procrastinate.
"If a thing is not attended to in its proper time, it will haunt you, standing
in the way to everything else. If what is before you be a duty, there is a
time for it; and its own time is the best.
"4. Systematize your employments.
"Map out your work: it is the way to avoid loss of time and keep clear of
perplexity. It is the only way of escaping the mortification of forgetfulness,
and the mischief of leaving things undone. Do not study at random: set your
studies before you rather than have them fall in your way. Have an object in
every study; and have a good reason for it.
5. Do one thing at a time.
"It was the boast of Caesar, I believe, that he could do five! I would not
attempt to follow his example. An undivided attention is the best guaranty of
success. A whole hand, a whole head, and a whole heart, employed on the same
thing, are the 'many hands' of the proverb that 'make light work.' The only
way for a single soldier to conquer an army, is to take it in detail. And the
only method of doing a great many things, and doing them well, is to do one at
a time. The great secret of the success of such men as Brougham, and Chatham,
and others who have borne the world on their shoulders and filled it with
their deeds and fame, and yet had leisure to play with their children, was
their power to carry out the Duke of Newcastle's maxim: 'I do one thing at a
time;' a power of preventing one thing from intruding upon another.
"Many men never attain this: their minds can never be alone with the matter in
hand. Their study has no doors: it is a place which everything, real and
imaginable, has access to.
"They sit down to think out some subject; to commit something to memory; or to
read some author: and, before they are aware, their thoughts are away to
something else. They call them back and begin again. But before they have gone
through a paragraph the truants are again away. And this process is repeated
till the struggle becomes as ludicrous as it is painful."
His sermon "on the dangers to young men in our large cities," was a timely
production, and evinces the author's talents and sincere desire to do good.
His Lecture on Female Education," which in his modesty was simply "printed,"
not published, is throughout replete with proofs of finished scholarship and
perfect mastery of the subject on which he writes.
While Dr. Cushman has been one of the most laborious preachers as well as
teachers of the young; while dogmatic theology and pulpit eloquence have
engrossed much of his attention; while the early training of the female mind
has been his employment for many years of his life, yet the muses have not
been forgotten or neglected. He has never written very extensively as a poet,
yet the effusions of his mind in that department of literature are to be found
in many of the periodicals of the day.
We dare not speak of him as a poet, for that is ground we have never
cultivated,--but leave the reader to judge for himself from the following
examples: with this single remark, that, evidently, if he had courted the
muses as he has studied the scriptures, he might have been eminent as a writer
of the higher order of poetry.
A friend remarks, -- "Dr. C.'s poetic effusions, of which specimens have
occasionally appeared, anonymously, in the public papers, are distinguished by
his usual characteristics,--good sense, great facility in the use of language,
and a perfect self-possession,--indicating that ample resources are ever at
command."
~THERE'S REST IN HEAVEN~
Though late we saw the tempest rise,
And clouds that gathered in the skies,
By pealing thunders driven --
Though moaning winds were rushing there,
As if the spirits of despair
Were wailing in the upper air,
And round the earth were driven;
Yet softly now, in summer's sky,
Those clouds in gold and purple lie
Along the west, at even;
They even the abodes of angels blest;
The climes of purer worlds confest,
Where sainted spirits find their rest,
Who've left the earth for heaven.
And now, upon the brow of night,
Evening's fair herald hangs her light, --
Planets, and Pleiades seven,
And countless stars their forms display;
And now the orb of silver ray,
The blessing of her gentle sway,
To the calm eve has given.
"And thus," I hear my Saviour say,
"The storms of life shall pass away;
Thy sins are all forgiven!
Pilgrim of earth, dismiss thy fear;
The clouds that gather o'er thee here
Shall leave thy path and disappear;
There's rest for thee in heaven!"
==========================
~AN AMARANTHINE FLOWER~
"Whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die." -- Jesus Christ.
(An Original Metre)
I saw her at the house of prayer,
With eye of light; the rose of health
Bloomed on her cheek. Her buoyant tread
Bespoke a joyous heart, and head
That never ached. A child of wealth,
She stood among the fairest, fair.
Yes! Laura at the house of prayer!
And while around a giddy throng,
Gave and returned with smile and nod,
To beauty what they owed to God,
She poured the swell of holy song,
And knelt in low prostration there.
Devotion o'er her features raised
A light, that told of inward peace;
An antepast of opening heaven,
In one who felt her sins forgiven,
And panted for a quick release,
And presence with the God she praised.
She's gone! but whither? Look ye down
To search among the clods beneath?
Suppose ye that the immortal mind
Within the shades of death ye'll find?
And will ye for the monster wreathe
Of cypress boughs, a victor's crown?
'Tis true she fell beneath his stroke,
And God the awful mandate gave;
'Tis true she sinned, and with her race
Was doomed to find a resting place
Within the dark and silent grave;
Yet Christ hath not his promise broke.
Behold! amid celestial spheres,
Her spirit walks the paths of light!
And hark! her lyre, for Him who reigns,
She wakes to more than angel strains,
Where youth immortal fears no blight,
And bliss eternal knows no tears.
We are indebted to a friend and brother in the ministry of Dr. C. for the
following pertinent and interesting remarks respecting him:
"Dr. C. is pre-eminently a good man. His most intimate acquaintances, while
admiring his intellectual power and charmed with the brilliancy of his
rhetoric which adorns his private conversation as well as his more public
efforts, are still most deeply impressed with his conscientious fidelity to
truth and duty. The love and fear of God are the prominent and controlling
elements of his character. To a stranger he appears cold, and to the rude and
intrusive he can wrap himself in an exterior absolutely freezing. But where
his confidence is gained, he is warm-hearted, and open as a summer's day. He
possesses, naturally, a feminine refinement of feeling, a keen sensitiveness
which is liable to be frequently wounded by the collisions of a rough world.
By many in the community he is misunderstood. A casual observer would describe
him as proud, and give him but little credit as a follower of the meek and
lowly Jesus. But the truth is, God made him upright. In this respect he
remains unfallen. He has no assumed airs of humility. He never bows or cringes
to conciliate human favor, nor indulges in religious cant to secure a
reputation for piety. But he is an honest man, -- honest in his Christian
profession -- honest as a minister of Christ. No word escapes his lips, in
private or public, designed for mere effect. But we will not indulge in these
encomiums while he is yet living. Dr. Cushman is now in the meridian of
life,--united the strength of manhood with the vigor and freshness of his
early days. Long may he be spared as an honor to society and to the good name
which in these brief sketches we wish to perpetuate and embalm."
Such is a brief sketch of the life and character of one of the most
distinguished of our name. Limited as we are by the design of this work to
deeds and facts, we can only say, in conclusion, that in reviewing his course,
from his Baccalaureate address, in 1826, through a period of almost thirty
years, we find that industry, perseverance, perfect independence of mind and
thought, a deep, practical piety, as shown in a life of intense labor, and a
determination to do much for humanity in the highest walks of life and duty,
are among the striking characteristics of his literary and religious life.
Hence he has ever been an eminently good, useful and distinguished man.
Note: As Rev. Dr. Cushman is now (1854-55) in the "full tide of successful
experiment," as the Principal of the "Mount Vernon Ladies' School, No. 6
Allston street, Boston," it is proper that it should be noted in this work.
For the purpose of showing his position and views relating to that school, we
make an extract from a circular issued by him in 1853:
"Having been for six years a pastor in this city, he may suppose himself not
altogether unknown. But never having been engaged in the education of youth
here, it is proper for him to say that teaching has been the chief employment
of his life. He was teacher of a school before he was of age; was engaged in
teaching, part of the time, while in college; had been teaching for thirteen
years in Philadelphia when he was called to the pastoral office in this city;
and has been engaged in the same employment at Washington since his
resignation at Bowdoin Square.
"In reference to a report which has been industriously circulated among the
patrons of the school, that it is henceforth to be a sectarian institution, he
bets leave to say that there is neither the purpose nor the danger of it.
During the eighteen years that he has spent at the head of two female schools,
in which he has educated the daughters of Congregationalists, Episcopalians,
Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Unitarians, Universalists, and even
Catholics, Infidels and Jews; embracing all stations in life, from the highest
offices in the government to managers and occupants of the stage, he knows not
that the religious element of his instructions was ever objected to on the
ground of its being sectarian. And he hopes to avoid cause for dissatisfaction
here. The school will indeed be Christian, and a Protestant school. In any
narrower sense it will not be sectarian. But although, in the instruction
which will be given, care will be taken to avoid occasion for uneasiness to
parents of different persuasions, yet the supreme importance of man's
spiritual interests will be ever recognized; and the affections and duties of
piety will be held in view as opening the surest avenues to happiness on
earth, and the only path to the bliss of heaven."
That school is now (1854-55) attended by a large number of pupils, and is one
of the best ladies' schools in the country. As "order is Heaven's first law,"
so he thinks it should have a predominating influence in all schools. And
nowhere is it more perfectly carried into practice. From our own personal
observation we can testify to that fact. Every thing literally moves on by
clockwork, and if two minutes pass beyond the time appointed for the
commencement or the close of any duty, it is a remissness which he cannot
excuse in himself, nor easily permit in others under his direction. Although
the school comprises in the range of its studies, as at present organized, no
less than 20 classes, yet it is so classified that every pupil in it knows her
duty for every hour of the week, and the moment for the commencement of every
recitation. And although five recitations may all be going on at the same time
in the establishment, the different branches of study are so arranged that no
young lady by being in one recitation shall lose the opportunity of being
present at any recitation belonging to the range of studies which she is
pursuing. We can confidently recommend that school to the public as one of the
most valuable and useful in the country. Long may he live, thus to benefit the
world, by training the female mind in the path of duty and usefulness; and by
such a mission of Christian labor, do what he can to fit the race for a higher
civilization,--for happiness and Heaven.
On 14 Sep 1826 when Robert Woodward was 26, he first married Lucy SPRAGUE, F,
daughter of Hon. Seth SPRAGUE, M.<../RR_SRC.htm> Lucy died on 9 Nov 1841 in
Boston MA.<../RR_SRC.htm>
They had the following children:
1925 i. Austin Sprague , M (1827-)
1926 ii. Charles Melville , M (1829-)
1927 iii. Emily Sprague , F (1832-)
1928 iv. Clara Woodward , F (1834-)
1929 v. Walter Stevens , M (1837-)
In Oct 1843 when Robert Woodward was 43, he second married Eliza
DELAHOY-MILES, F, in New Brunswick.<../RR_SRC.htm> Born on 25 Aug 1811 in
London ENG.<../RR_SRC.htm>
<../RR_SRC.htm>Notes of Henry Wyles Cushman: Widow of Rev. Frederick William
Miles of Frederickton--a lady of distinguished intelligence and Christian
virtues. Her maiden name ... Delahoy ... of French Huguenot descent. She bore
him 3 children, 2 of whom died in infancy.
They had the following children:
1930 i. Roberta (Died as Infant), F (1844-1845)
1931 ii. Ella , F (1846-)
1932 iii. Robert Woodward (Died as Infant), M (1848-1848)
1134. Samuel CUSHMAN, GGGG Grandson, M. Born in 1802 in Woolwich
ME.<../RR_SRC.htm> Samuel died in 1821, he was 19.<../RR_SRC.htm>