Hello all,

I found a handful of recent H-Net reviews that might be of interest to
members of the ATHG.  I don't believe they have been crossposted to this
list yet, and I apologize to members who consider them so much more
useless clutter.

This is #1 of 4.

Jon

----------------------
Jon Stephen Miller
Department of English
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa  52242
[log in to unmask]

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Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 13:38:01 -0400
From: H-Net Reviews <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: H-Net Review Project Distribution List <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Hirrel on Davis, _Leonard Bacon_

H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by [log in to unmask] (July, 1999)

Hugh Davis.  _Leonard Bacon:  New England Reformer and Antislavery
Moderate_.  Baton Rouge:  Louisiana Sate University Press, 1998.  xi
+ 293 pp.  Notes, bibliography, and index.  $60.00 (cloth), ISBN
0-8071-2287-4.

Reviewed for H-SHEAR by Leo P. Hirrel <[log in to unmask]>, U.S.
Army Center of Military History

Within the Congregational community of the nineteenth century,
Leonard Bacon commanded a degree of respect that few of his
colleagues could match.  Beginning with his pastorate at New Haven's
Center Church during the 1820s and lasting through his death in
1881, Bacon contributed to the intellectual life of the Church
through his writings, his editorial work on various publications,
and his positions of leadership within the clerical councils.  Until
now, however, he has lacked a detailed biography.  In this
well-crafted study, Hugh Davis fills the need for a biography of
Bacon and provides a valuable resource to anyone interested in
religion or reform within the nineteenth century.  Davis skillfully
examines both manuscript collections and printed works to provide a
portrait of the person as well as a description of Bacon's role
within the mid-nineteenth century community.

Bacon began his professional career at New Haven's Center Church,
one of the most important communities within the antebellum
Congregationalists, and he remained within the church throughout his
entire professional career.  His pulpit enabled him to reach many of
Connecticut's most prominent citizens, and he expanded his influence
through extensive writings within the religious publications of the
time.  During his career he served as an editor and/or contributor
to the _Christian Spectator_, the _Quarterly Christian Spectator_,
the _New Englander_, and the _Independent_, plus miscellaneous other
publications.  In short, he was a formidable influence upon New
England Congregationalism from the mid-1820s to the 1870s.

His career, especially during the early years, came at a time when
the New England Congregationalists were vigorously promoting a
variety of benevolence societies and social reform.  Bacon joined in
these efforts but, Davis emphasizes, always with a sense of
moderation.  He supported tract and missionary societies, along with
other popular activities of the era.  He supported temperance
activities, although not endorsing the position that alcohol was
always sinful.  Like most American Protestants of his time, he
considered the Roman Catholic Church as a threat to the nation and
its religion, but without the vitriolic language of the more
vehement anti-Catholic writers.

Bacon's penchant for moderation is most evident in his writing about
slavery.  Indeed his moderation led to some inconsistent arguments,
as well as criticisms from both abolitionists and conservative
clergy.  He very much wanted for the South to end slavery, but on
its own volition.  He did not join the view that all slaveholding
was sinful, and he held in the possibility of a Christian slave
owner.  Moreover, he was an active supporter of colonization during
the opening phases of the debate over abolition.  Through the course
of the 1840s and 1850s, the prospect of slavery extending into the
West caused Bacon to lose sympathy for the South.  In short, his
moderation produced inconsistencies that contributed to accusations
of being pro-slavery.

Theologically, Bacon could be classified with the New Haven
theologians, such as Nathaniel William Taylor.  He distrusted the
conservatives, and he was distressed by the Presbyterian schism.  He
is well remembered for the comment that the difference between
Taylor and Tyler was "the letter a."  During his later years he
became one of Horace Bushnell's few supporters.

Well into the second half of the nineteenth century, Bacon remained
an elder statesman of the Congregational community.  He remained
active politically and in the religious affairs of the community,
most notably during Henry Ward Beecher's trial for adultery.

Hugh Davis presents us with a workmanlike biography.  His extensive
research and balanced judgement allow him to portray both the public
and private sides of his subject.  The writing is clear and direct.
If I absolutely must do some nitpicking, I might suggest better
explanations of such terms as the Plan of Union or the Saybrook
Platform.  Otherwise I can find very little to criticize.

As I have suggested in my own work _Children of Wrath_, the New
School Congregationalists and Presbyterians played a critical role
in the formulation of antebellum reform movements.  In this
admirable work, Davis has presented a portrait of an important
member of this community.  His book will be an important resource
for anyone interested in U.S. religious or social history.

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