188 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



BAPTIST SEMINARIES. 



FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCHES. 



The Baptists generally in Vermont are 

 active in the cause of temperance ; and in 

 the anti-slavery cause, they are not be- 

 hind any of their neighbors, but rather 

 take tlie lead. 



The Baptists in this state, like the Bap- 

 tists in other sections of the country, have 

 been slow to adopt vigorous and syste- 

 matic measures for the education of their 

 sons, inclined to the gospel ministry. 

 They have been thus backward, not be- 

 cause, as a body, they have been opposed 

 to education and improvement ; but be- 

 cause they thought tliat they discovered, 

 in some leading denominations, a dispo- 

 sition to lay more stress upon learning, 

 than upon piety, and to use coercive meas- 

 ures in sustaining their learned ministry. 

 All tliis prejudiced the minds of Bap- 

 tists, and made them cautions in adopting 

 measures for the education of their sons'. 

 The Baptists did not, at first, consider and 

 admit, as they now very generally do, that 

 while piety is considered as the mistress 

 in the gospel ministry, learning mav be 

 considered as her handmaid ; °and that 

 when the mistress and the handmaid are 

 associated, the ministry will more readily 

 command a voluntary support. Many o'f 

 the young men, from the Baptist denom- 

 ination in this state, have graduated at 

 some one of the colleges in the land, with 

 very creditable testimonials of scholarship 

 and piety. Some of these are now filling 

 important stations, as pastors of churches', 

 or as professors in our highest seminaries 

 of learning, or as missionaries to the 

 heathen. In 1833, the Baptists, in this 

 state, located an institution in Brandon, 

 called the Vermont Literary and Scientific 

 Institution. The building is of brick, 

 commodious and pleasant ; measuring 100 

 feet by 40, and three stories high, exclu- 

 sive of the basement, furnished with a 

 good library and philosophical apparatus. 

 This institution has not received that aid 

 from the denomination which it had rea- 

 son to expect when established. 



Several other schools have been opened 

 in the state, under the immediate super- 

 vision of the Baptists. Black River Acad- 

 emy, located at Ludlow, was opened in 

 1835. The building is of brick, two sto- 

 ries high, measuring 60 feet by 40. The 

 Leiand English and Classical School, es- 

 tablished at Townshend, affords •facilities 

 for acquiring a thorough education. The 

 Derby Institute, located at Derby in the 

 north part of the state, is very pleasantly 

 situated, and has recently commenced 

 operations under favorable circumstances. 

 .These institutions are all under the pa- 

 tronage of the Baptist denomination, but 

 furnish equal advantages to all who may 



be desirous of enjoying their benefits. 



The Baptist denomination in Vermont, 

 as well as the Baptist denomination at 

 large, differs from all other denomina- 

 tions, in their principles of church policy. 

 The Baptists are distinguished for their 

 simple adherence to the Bible, as their 

 rule of faith and practice, and resort not 

 to other autliorities to be guided and es- 

 tablished. They are distinguished for 

 their warm adherence to religious liberty, 

 and disclaim all alliance between church 

 and state, and all civil interference with 

 the rights of conscience. They are dis- 

 tinguished for their adherence to a per- 

 sonal profession of faith, and an immer- 

 sion of tlie body in water, as essential to 

 Christian baptism. 



The Baptists, in common with other de- 

 nominations, believe that baptism is a pre- 

 requisite to a participation of the Lord's 

 Supper. Hence they feel sacredly bound 

 to observe this arrangement, and that 

 there would be a departure from tlie rule 

 of their Divine Master,, were they to ad- 

 mit to his table, those who have not pre- 

 viimsly been baptized. With few excep- 

 tions, all Christian denominations practice 

 on this belief, and admit none to the sa- 

 cramental board, who have not in their 

 judgment, been baptized. The principle 

 on which Baptists and other denomina- 

 tions act in this instance is the same ; and 

 other denominations, who make baptism, 

 or something that they call baptism, a pre- 

 requisite to coming to the ordinance of 

 the supper, cannot censure the practice of 

 the Baptists, without condemning their 

 own, for Baptists only require, what in 

 their view alone constitutes this prerequi- 

 site, which is, Believe and he immersed. 



Section V. 

 Free Will Baptist Churches in Vermont. 



BY ELDER ZEBINA YOUNG. 



The Free Will Baptist denomination 

 was founded at Barrington, N. H., about 

 the year 1780, by Elder Benjamin Randel, 

 who was converted in the year 1770, 

 through tlie instrumentality of the Rev. 

 George Whitefield. The denomination 

 soon spread into New Durham, and other 

 adjacent towns. About the year 1791, a 

 lay member of the New Durham church, 

 whose name was Robert Dickey, came to 

 Strafford, Vt., to assist a relative in ma- 

 king a settlement at that place. While 

 laboring there in the capacity of a hired 

 man, his spirit was stirred within him 

 when he saw the people living in sin, and 



