Ecclesiastical History. 45 



in the Convention of Massachusetts which ratified the Constitution of the 

 United States, and on this occasion voted and took an active part in favor 

 of adopting the Constitution. In the brief sketches of the debates which 

 have been preserved there is the substance of a speech which lie deliv- 

 ered on the subject of a Religious Test, which strikingly illustrates his 

 liberality and good sense. It is characterized by a vigorous and manly 

 tone, taking the ground that to establish such a test as a qualification for 

 offices in the proposed Federal Constitution, would be attended with inju- 

 rious consequences to some individuals, and with no advantage to the com- 

 munity at large. 



After the close of the Revolutionary war, Mr. Shute devoted himself 

 almost entirely to his parochial duties, indulging occasionally, by way of 

 recreation, in agricultural pursuits. 



In 1790 he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from 

 Harvard College. 



In November, 1797, on account of the infirmities of age and a failure 

 of his sight, he wrote to his parish, " Whenever it shall become necessary 

 for you to settle and support a colleague with me, I will relinquish my 

 stipulated salary, and I will do it as soon as you shall supply the pulpit 

 after I must resign preaching." In April, 1799, he renewed the proposi- 

 tion in a letter to the parish, in which he remarks : "This relinquishment 

 of my legal right in advanced age, in the fifty-third year of my ministry, 

 I make for the Gospel's sake, — persuading myself that, this embarrass- 

 ment being removed, you will proceed in the management of your reli- 

 gious concerns with greater unanimity and ardor." 



Dr. Shute relinquished his public labors in March, 1799, from which 

 time he retained his pastoral relation until his decease ; but gave up his 

 salary, as he had proposed. The Rev. Nicholas Bowes Whitney, a native 

 of Shirley and a graduate of Harvard College in 1793, was ordained as a 

 colleague of Dr. Shute, January 1, 1800. Dr. Shute died August 30, 

 1802, in the eighty-first year of his age and the fifty-sixth of his ministry. 

 At his funeral a sermon was delivered by the Rev. Henry Ware (senior), 

 the successor of Dr. Gay as pastor of the First Parish. In that sermon 

 Dr. Ware represents him as having enjoyed a distinguished rank among 

 his brethren for talents, respectability, and public usefulness ; as having 

 possessed a quick perception and clear discernment, and been capable of 

 tracing a thought in all its various relations ; as having aimed in his 

 preaching at enlightening the understanding, impressing the heart, and 

 improving the life ; as having framed his discourses in such a manner 

 that they were level to common capacities, while yet they furnished food 

 for the more reflecting and intelligent; as having united great solemnity 

 with great pertinence in his addresses at the throne of grace ; as having 

 mingled with his people with great freedom and kindliness, and sought to 

 promote their advantage, temporal as well as spiritual, by every means in 

 his power. In short, he represents him as a fine model of a clergyman, 

 and as having enjoyed in an unusual degree the confidence of the commu- 

 nity in which he lived. And I may add that tradition is in full accord- 

 ance with Dr. Ware's statements. 



Dr. Shute possessed an excellent constitution, and lived to the age of 

 fourscore years in the enjoyment of an uncommon degree of health until 

 near the close of his life. The partial loss of sight was borne with pa- 

 tience and serenity, and the approach of the end of life did not deprive 

 him of his usual cheerfulness. 



