LIFE

OF

ALONZO AMES MINER, S.T.D., LL.D.

BY

GEORGE H. EMERSON, D.D.

ILLUSTRATED.

BOSTON:

UNIVERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE.

1896.

PREFACE.

THE

HE life of Dr. Miner, as described in these pages, is commended, first of all, to believers in the Universalist interpretation of the Christian religion: it may revive for the older, precious memories; it is hoped that it will be instructive to the younger, and incite them to emulate the noble example which even an imperfect description could not wholly obscure.

The biography is commended to all who love their fellow men, and have hearts to feel for, and hands to help, their less fortunate brethren. Dr. Miner, intensely devoted to the denomination into which he may be said to have been born, never thought of sectarian limits when there was an opportunity to help the needy, to rescue the fallen, to encourage and cheer those who were walking in ways of wisdom and righteous purpose.

As these pages have multiplied upon the author's hands, it has at times seemed as if the great man whom they seek to portray was in his presence, as if the familiar accents were again heard. Whatever may prove to be failure in the preparing of this history, the charge can never rest against the biographer that he has had "no feeling of his business." The very arduous task has, at every stage, been a labor of love.

It would have been childish, inexcusable modesty to suppress any useful particular because it had some personal relation to the author. An intimate acquaintance and friendship covering more than half a century must embrace many things known only to the author. It is, however, hoped that in no instance has the biography become autobiographical.

Thanks are due to many friends who have put the author in possession of pertinent information. Special mention must be made of the services of Rev. Messrs. S. A. Parker, of Bethel Vt., and Luther Rice, of Watertown, N. Y., in furnishing particulars of Dr. Miner's boyhood and youth, to not a few the most welcome feature of the work; also of the industrious endeavor of Miss M. Louise Fields (Mrs. Miner's niece), in making available the ample material garnered in the homestead.

That a work so largely made up of names, dates, and places, could, with any reasonable amount of labor, escape occasional error, is not within the limits of rational expectation. One error was discovered too late for correction. Its being noted here seems, however, an incidental good, in that it specially emphasizes the truth of history, that the pastorate in School Street was very prosperous from 1848 to 1867, when it was interrupted by incidents pertaining to the securing of an associate pastor. The" decade of prosperity interrupted" would have been accurate had the statement included two decades. Should the work be so fortunate as to reach a second edition, correction of serious errors will be made; and the pointing out of such to publisher or author will be a welcome favor.

Dr. Miner was great in so many directions, was so inwrought with theological, denominational, educational, and humanitarian activities that the great task has been one of judicious selection from ample and varied materials. He was literally an embodiment of many great movements; it is hoped that attempts to set him in proper and interpretative relations to the varied antecedents have not altogether failed of their purpose.

No formal dedication is attempted. The Christian community, the Universalist church, the worker in every reform, the helper in every humanitarian endeavor, may well accept the biography as meant for each and all.

BOSTON, November 19, 1896.

G. H. E.