knew him. President Edwards called him "the late learned and very excellent Mr. Jonathan Dickinson." The Rev. Dr. Bellamy called him "the great Mr. Dickinson." The Rev. Dr. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, said, "The British Isles have produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Edwards." The Rev. David Austin, of this town, writing of him in 1793, gathers up the traditions of that day concerning him as follows:

There are those alive, who testify that he was a most solemn, weighty and moving preacher-that he was a uniform advocate for the distinguishing doctrines of grace, as his writings prove-that he was industrious, indefatigable, and successful in his ministerial labors—as to his person, that it was manly-of full size: solemn and grave in his aspect, so that the wicked would seem to tremble in his presence.*

His monument in the Presbyterian "Burying Ground" bears the following inscription:

Here lyes y body of yo Revd
Mr Jonathan Dickinson, Pastor
of the first Presbyterian Church
In Elizabeth Town, who Died Oct

y 7th 1747. Aetatis Suae 60.

Deep was the Wound, O Death! and Vastly wide,
When he resign'd his Useful breath and dy'd:
Ye Sacred Tribe with pious Sorrows mourn,
And drop a tear at your great Patron's Urn!
Conceal'd a moment, from our longing Eyes,
Beneath this Stone his mortal Body lies:

Happy the Spirit lives, and will, we trust,
In Bliss associate with his precious Dust.

Another monument, by the side of his, has the following:Here is interred the body of Mrs. Joanna Dickinson-Obiit. April 20, 1745. Anno Aetatis 63.

Rest, precious Dust, till Christ revive this Clay

To Join the Triumphs of the Judgement Day.

They had nine children. (1.) Melyen was born Dec. 7, 1709. (2.) Abigail, married to Jonathan Sergeant, a widower, of Newark. Her son, Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, was

* Edwards' Works, X. 879. Webster's P. Chh., p. 361. Preface to the Five Points, viii. t His first wife was Hannah, (born, 1709, and died, 1743), the daughter of the Rev. John

born in 1746, and married Margaret, daughter of Rev. Elihu Spencer, D. D., Mr. Dickinson's successor in the ministry here. Their children were Hon. John Sergeant, Hon. Thomas Sergeant, Hon. Elihu Spencer Sergeant, and Sarah, the wife of Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D. (3.) Jonathan, born, Sept. 19, 1713, graduated at Yale College in 1731, and died in 1735. (4.) Mary, married, (1.) to John Cooper, a tailor, of this town, and had a daughter, Martha, and two sons, William and Caleb Cooper. Mr. Cooper died in March, 1753, and she was married, (2.) to -- Plum, of Newark, and had Elizabeth, Mary, and Martha Plum, the latter married to David Burnet. She died in 1763. (5.) Joanna, born, Feb. 27, 1716, and died, May 9, 1732. (6.) Temperance, married to Jonathan Odell, of Ct. Farms, and had four children: Jonathan, Joanna, Eunice, and Elizabeth. Mr. Odell died, June 25, 1750. His son, Jonathan, was then a member of the Freshman Class of the College of New Jersey, at Newark, where he graduated in 1754-afterwards, entering the gospel ministry. (7.) Elizabeth, born in 1721, married to Mr. Jonathan Miller, of Barnet's Mills, in this town, and died, Nov. 27, 1788. (S.). (9.) Martha, married, Sept. 7, 1749, to Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountains, [Orange], N. J., and died, August 20, 1757, leaving three daughters, -Nancy, Elizabeth, and Jane. She is described as

A Lady endowed with many amiable Qualities; she was superior to most of her Sex in Strength of Genius, her intellectual Qualities were quick and penetrating, she had a Thirst for Knowledge, and was greatly delighted in Reading: Kindness, Ease and Friendship composed her natural Temper; she was an agreeable Companion, very obliging in her Behaviour, and admired and loved by all who had the Happiness of her AcquaintAs she was blessed with an early religious Education so the things of Eternity began betimes to exercise her: She had serious Impressions upon her Mind even from her Childhood, and began a Course of secret Prayer while Young. She was a most faithful Friend, an amiable and affectionate Companion, and the Heart of her Husband safely trusted in her.*

ance:

Nutman of Hanover, N. J. Her daughter, Hannah, was married, about 1759, to the Rev. John Ewing, [afterwards, D. D.], ofPhiladelphia. Mr. Sergeant removed at an early day to Princeton, N. J.

* Murray's Notes, p. 60. Sprague's Annals, III. 17. Hall's Trenton, p. 289. Rev. Caleb Smith, p. 48.

Memoir of

Mrs. Mary Dickinson survived her husband, and died, August 30th, 1762, in the 68th year of her age. Her remains repose in the Cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark, N. J. She was the widow of Elihu Crane, and the mother of Lewis, Christopher, Charles, Elder Elihu, Isaac, Hannah (married to Dr. Moses Scott), and Phebe (the wife of Rev. John Carmichael, of Chester Co., Pa.). Her granddaughter, Martha Crane (daughter of Elihu), was the wife of the Rt. Rev. John Croes, of N. Jersey.*

Mr. Dickinson was, by common consent, the greatest man, whose name adorns the Annals of the town. Tracy, in his "Great Awakening," p. 404, calls him "one of the greatest and safest men of that age;" and Dr. Sprague ventures the assertion,

It may be doubted whether, with the single exception of the elder Edwards, Calvinism has ever found an abler or more efficient champion in this country, than Jonathan Dickinson.

This peculiar prominence is a sufficient apology for giving him so large a place in this history. His name, during the nearly forty years of his ministry, gave the town itself a prominence both in the province and in the country.

CHAPTER XVI.

A. D. 1708-1747.

-

ECCLESIASTICAL--Rev. Edward Vaughan, Episcopal Missionary, arrives from England Call to Jamaica, L. I., declined-Poverty of his PeoplePreaches at Rahway, Woodbridge, and P. Amboy - Marries Mrs. Emott - Removes to Amboy - Returns-Church Edifice not finished for yearsAnnual Reports to the "Society "-Chh. Glebe - Opposes Mr. Whitefield— His Death and Character-Increase of Religious Congregations in 40 years.

REV. EDWARD VAUGHAN.

AFTER the departure of the Rev. Mr. Brooke, Nov., 1707, for England, the Episcopal Congregation were left without a preacher nearly two years. They were dependent entirely on missionary service from England. Urgent representations were made to "the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ;" and, in the summer of 1709, the Rev. Edward Vaughan was appointed their missionary for this region. Occasionally the Rev. John Talbot, of Burlington, extended his ministrations as far as this town, as may be learned from a letter written by him to the Secretary of the Society, Sept. 27, 1709:

I hear Mr. Vaughan is arrived at Boston, but is not yet come into this province, he will have enough to do to supply Mr. Brook's charge at Elizabeth Town, Amboy, Piscataway, who have had none since he left them; but I have done for them, maybe once in a quarter, or so; somebody occasionally passing by that way.*

Mr. Vaughan arrived shortly after the date of this letter and commenced his ministry here and in the neighboring

Clark's St. John's Chh., p. 34.

towns. He was from the West of England, and a brother of the Rev. Robert Vaughan, Rector of Llantewy and Vicar of Llantrissent, Monmouthshire, Wales, and of Jane, the wife of Thomas Godden, of Leather Lane, near Holborn, London. His prospects were by no means flattering. Writing from Amboy, Dec. 4, 1709, he says:

I believe that the most inverate enemies of our mother church would recant their pernicious notions were there a faithful pastor in every town to instil better principles into their minds; here are a vast number of Deists, Sabbatarians, and Eutychians, as also of Independants, Anabaptists, and Quakers, from which absurdities Mr. Brooke brought a considerable number of them to embrace our most pure and holy Religion, and I hope that my labors also will be attended with no less success, and observe that those late converts are much more zealous for promoting the interests of our church, and more constant in the public worship of God, than those who sucked their milk in their infancy.

Referring to the decease, in August, 1709, of the Rev. Mr. Urquhart, of Jamaica, he adds,-

Whose cure I have been solicited to supply, but declined it in obedience to the Society's instructions, whose leave and approbation for my removal to that cure I must humbly beg for these following reasons: 1st. That there is not one family in Elizabeth Town that can accommodate me with an ordinary lodging excepting Colonel Townly, who, upon the account of some difference with Mr. Brooke (though a gentleman of an unblemished character), hath declared never to entertain any missionary after him. Secondly. That my salary of £50 per annum will not afford me a competent subsistence in this dear place where no contributions are given by the people towards my support, and where I am continually obliged to be itinerant and consequently at great expenses, especially in crossing Ferries.*

Mr. Vaughan seems not to have obtained the desired leave, but proceeded to cultivate diligently the field assigned him. At the expiration of a year, Dec. 4, 1710, he informs the Secretary, that,

The people have not contributed any thing towards my subsistence since I came amongst them, and, indeed, to desire it from them, or to show an inclination for it, would very much tend to the dis-service of the Church, in causing our proselytes to start from us rather than bear the weight of such burthens, which to their weak shoulders and poverty,

Clark's St. John's Chh., pp. 35, 6.