46 History of Hingham. 



Rev. Nicholas Bowes Whitney, the second minister, was born in 

 Shirley, March 21,1772, and was graduated at Harvard College in 

 1793. He was ordained colleague pastor Jan. 1, 1800, and after 

 the death of Dr. Shute continued as sole pastor until April 15, 

 1833, when his connection with the parish was dissolved in the 

 thirty-fourth year of his ministry. He died Nov. 26, 1835. 



Rev. Charles Brooks says of him in a funeral sermon after 

 his death : — 



"Mr. Whitney had much ill health. Circumstances of constitution 

 led him to struggles which few could have more valiantly sustained. With 

 nerves tenderly strung, and a depression of spirits at times weighing 

 mountain-heavy upon him, he was not fitted to make speedy progress 

 among the sharp angles of life. He was naturally a diffident man. 

 That press-forwardness which offensively pushes itself into puhlic obser- 

 vation, which has no rest till it is seen, acknowledged, and admired, was 

 no part of his character. At a time when many seem striving for office 

 with twice the zeal they strive for heaven, it was comforting to find 

 one who courted neither place nor power. His home and his parish 

 were the centre, however wide the circumference. His ideas were clear, 

 natural, and practical. He loved no warfare. He was willing that others 

 should venture out upon the boisterous sea of controversy and bear the pelt- 

 ing of sectarian storms ; and wherever the waves of polemic strife ran high, 

 we found him mooring his bark far up in some quiet haven." 



Rev. Warren Burton, a graduate of Harvard College in 1821, 

 succeeded Mr. Whitney. His ministry extended from May, 1833, 

 to the latter part of 1835. 



Rev. John Lewis Russell was the minister for one year, begin- 

 ning in 1836 ; from May, 1842, to June, 1849 ; and rather irregu- 

 larly in 1853 and 1854. Mr. Russell was born in Salem, Dec. 2, 

 1808, and died there June 7, 1873. He was a graduate of Harvard 

 College in 1828. He was a man of eminent talents. The various 

 branches of natural history afforded him abundant scope for the 

 gratification of his tastes, and he was widely known among students 

 for his scientific knowledge. He was somewhat eccentric, at times 

 blunt and extremely outspoken, and was distinguished more as a 

 scientist than as a divine. It has been said of him in a memoir 

 by Rev. Edmund B. Willson, of Salem : — 



" Mr. Russell's chosen profession was that of the ministry. Though 

 he did not spend the greater part of his active years in permanent pastoral 

 relations with any religious society, his heart was in this calling. He was 

 interested in theological study, and marked its progress with a keen atten- 

 tion. He had great respect for good learning, and never failed to pay due 

 honor to true scholarship. Though his personal tastes led him persuasively 

 to the study of nature, and his deep moral convictions and humane feelings 

 impelled him strongly to certain forms of philanthropic discourse and action, 

 he set none the less value upon patient research, sound criticism, and the 

 fruits of thorough professional culture. 



"Mr. Russell showed marked fondness for botanical observation and 



