Page:The librarians of Harvard College 1667-1877.djvu/40

 34 LIBRARIANS OF HARVARD COLLEGE. famous man in those days, renowned for his in- tegrity in doctrine, for his zeal in the gospel ministry, and for the goodness of his heart. . . When I first read Goldsmith's 'Deserted Village' it seemed to me that his parish clergyman, ' Pawing rich with forty pounds a year,' was either the real or the counterpart Pastor Nourse. This godly man was indeed highly useful in his time in educational as well as re- ligious matters; but if my childhood's memory . serves me well, his life was not a gay period of enjoyment, or rich with present rewards for work well done." And another writer says of him: "No more enthusiastic or self-denying teacher ever lived than Peter Nourse, and the town owed more to him than to any other of its citizens." AUTHORITIES: Bangor hist, mag., 1888, iv. 99. Barry, /flttory of Framing/tarn, 1847, p. 344. Emery, Ecclesiasti- cal hist, of Taunton, 1853, ii. 9. Maine hist. soc. Collections, 1890, 2d series, i. 181-182, 215. Merrill's interleaved triennial of 1839.

1808-l8ll.

Samuel Cooper Thacher, who was born in Boston, 14 December, 1785, was sprung from a long line of preachers. His father Peter, was the pastor of the Brattle Street church in Boston, and his grandfathers from the days of the Peter Thacher who in the beginning of the seventeenth century was a clergyman at Salisbury, England, had all been ministers. It was not strange, that immediately after his graduation at the head of the class of 1804, he should have " all his hopes and wishes directed " to preparing himself for the min- istry. He studied theology in Boston under Dr. Channing and then spent two years in Europe. Upon his return to this country, he was in 1808 elected Librarian. This office he held for the term of three years. At the inauguration of Pres- ident Kirk la ml in November, 1810, Thacher was appointed to deliver the Latin address of welcome, a performance for which he received high praise. Not long after this event, Mr. Thacher was called to fill the pulpit of the New South church in Boston, left vacant by Kirkland. His ordina- tion took place on the loth of May, 1811. He be- gan his pastorate with enthusiasm and success, but before many years his health failed, and the re- mainder of his life was a brave but unavailing struggle against consumption. In August, 1816, he sailed for England hoping to benefit by the change. The first winter he passed at the dreary Cape of Good Hope, and the next fall he went to Moulins, France. Neither of these places helped him much, and at the latter he died, 2 January, 1818. There he was buried and over his grave is a monument bearing a Latin inscription by his friend and classmate Andrews Norton, (Librarian, 1813-1821). Mr. Thacher was elected a Fellow of the Cor- poration, 19 February, 1816, but was present at a few meetings only before his departure for Europe. He was also a member of the American Academy. After his death his library, consisting of 676 lots was sold at auction. By vote of the Corporation the President was authorized to expend $50 at the sale on books for the College Library. Mr. Thacher wrote a number of articles for the Monthly Anthology, and published one sermon, preached at the dedication of the new church in 1814. His ser- mon on the Unity of God, in which he gives a clear exposition of the Unitarian doctrine, was printed in Liverpool in 1816 without his knowledge and reprinted in Boston and also in Worcester the next year. In 1824, was issued a volume of his Sermons, with a memoir by his successor at the New South church, Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, (H. U. 1814). Samuel Cooper Thacher was a man of great social attraction; at once gentle and sincere, affable and dignified, he endeared himself to all. "There never was a clergyman more sincerely loved, nor more deeply lamented," says his bio- grapher. Another old friend thus described him : " In person he was of middling stature and size. His features were regular, his complexion fair, and Ms countenance habitually lighted up with a cheer- ful smile." Dr. Channing, his old instructor, con- cluded his eulogy with these words : " He was one of the most blameless men, of the most devoted ministers, and of the fairest examples of the distinguishing virtues of Christianity." AUTHOKITIBS : Allen, Geneal. of descendants of Thomas and Antony Thacher, 1872, pp. 18-21, 23-26. Channing, Discourses, etc., 1830, pp. 598-603. Greenwood, Memoir, in Sermons by S. C. Thacher, 1824, pp. xii-buc. Sprague, Annals of Amer. pulpit, 1862, viii. 435-445.

1811-1813

John Lovejoy Abbot was born in Andover, 29 November, 1783. His father for whom he was named was a farmer. Young Abbot prepared for college at the Academy in his native town, and graduated from Harvard in 1805. He studied theology in Andover under Dr. Ware. For a year (1807) he held the office of reader in the Cambridge Episcopal church, and the next year he occasionally preached in neighboring pulpits. In 1811 he was made Librarian, and held the office two years. " In his capacity as an officer and librarian at college, there are numbers to bear witness to his ability, fidelity, and zeal. Distinguished for the decision of his purpose, and his attachment to the literary