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BY 
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REV. INCREASE N. TARBOX, D.D. E13ENEZER ALDEJST, M.D. 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
riMIE subject of this sketch was born in what is now the town of 
•-*- Randolph, Mass., March 17, 1788. At the time of his birth 
this territory constituted the southerly precinct of the ancient town of 
Braintree, and was organized into the separate township of Randolph 
in 1793. An Ecclesiastical Parish had been formed here May 28, 
1731. On the 8th of June last, corresponding in the New Style 
with the date above mentioned, the church at Randolph celebrated 
its 150th anniversary with appropriate and deeply interesting ser- 
vices. Had this event occurred in the days of Dr. Alden’s strength 
and activity, no man would have borne a more prominent part in it 
than he, for this was a field in which he was especially at home. As 
it was, the manuscripts and published articles which he had left be- 
hind became the chief sources*of information for those who took the 
principal parts in this commemoration. Throughout the services 
his name came up continually as authority for statements made, and 
was mentioned always with gratitude and love. 
Dr. Alden was of the seventh generation from John Alden of 
the Mayflower. The line of succession from this honored founder, 
as traced by himself and gathered from his volume entitled " The 
Alden Memorial,” is as follows : 6 
Of the eleven children of John and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden, the 
second was Joseph, who was born in Plymouth in 1624. In early 
manhood he became a citizen of Bridgewater. 
Of the five children of Joseph and Mary (Simmons) Alden, the 
second was Joseph, who was born in 1667. He was known as Dea- 
con Joseph, and lived in what is now South Bridgewater. 
Of the ten children of Deacon Joseph and Hannah (Dunham) 
Alden of Bridgewater, the eldest was Daniel, who was born Janu- 
ary 29, 1691. This Daniel remained an inhabitant of Bridgewater 
for a time, and then removed to Stafford, Conn. 
Of the eleven children of Daniel and Abigail (Shaw) Alden, the 
second was Daniel, who was born September 5, 1720. This last 
Daniel lived in Stafford, Conn., in Cornish, N. IT., and in Leba- 
non, N. II., where he died. He was known as Dea. Daniel. 
Of the twelve children of Dea. Daniel and Jane (Turner) Alden, 
the fifth was Ebenezer, who was born at Stafford, Conn., July 4, 
1755. 
Of the three children of Ebenezer and Sarah (Bass) Alden, the 
eldest was Ebenezer, the subject of this sketch, born (as before 
stated) March 17, 1788. 
His mother Sarah Bass was also a lineal descendant of John 
Alden of the Mayflower, in the line of Ruth his daughter, who mar- 
ried Samuel Bass, deacon of the First Church in Roxbury. By 
the same line the family was connected with the Adams family of 
Quincy, the mother of John Adams, the second president of the 
United States, being a descendant of Ruth the daughter of John 
Alden. 
Going back now a single step, let us make our departure from 
the first Dr. Ebenezer Alden. The track over which we have just 
travelled will serve to show that he came of a religious stock. He 
was educated at Plainfield Academy, Conn., and having pursued 
his medical studies with Dr. Elisha Perkins, was invited, in due 
form, to settle in the South Parish or precinct of Braintree. He 
was called there in 1781, as the man the people had chosen for their 
physician, just as the Rev. Jonathan Strong, D.I)., a few years later, 
was called to be their minister. This was a good old New England 
custom which we have now outgrown. It was just one hundred 
years from the coming to Randolph of the first Dr. Ebenezer Alden 
to the death of the second. These two men, in the qualities of their 7 
intellects and their characters, were in many respects alike, though 
the son had enjoyed larger opportunities for general and professional 
education than the father. When Dr. Alden, Sen., died at Ran- 
dolph (of typhoid fever), October 16, 1806, his pastor, Rev. Dr. 
Strong, said of him : " The duties of his profession he discharged 
with reputation to himself and great usefulness to his employers. 
His circle of business, though small at first, gradually increased 
until it became extensive. As a physician he was remarkably pru- 
dent, attentive and successful. During the latter part of his life his 
advice was much sought and respected by his brethren of the Fac- 
ulty in his vicinity. No physician in this part of the country pos- 
sessed the love and confidence of his patients to a higher degree. 
This was evident from the universal sorrow felt at his decease.” 
His own son, in the "Alden Memorial,” says of him: "He was 
eminently a child of the covenant, his parents and grandparents and 
theirs on both sides down to the first ancestors who came in the 
Mayflower, having been members of the Congregational Church ; 
and, so far as is known, having honored their Christian profession.” 
Not only was he an able physician with a wide and increasing prac- 
tice, but he was also a medical teacher. Quite a number of young 
men were prepared by him for the medical profession, some of whom 
became eminent. He was cut off by a deadly fever, just when he 
was rising into special prominence as a man and a physician. lie 
fell in the very strength of his days, at the age of 51. His son was 
blessed with a life protracted to an unusual degree. 
Fhe childhood and youth of the son were passed therefore in a 
home of intelligence and Christian worth, lie grew up amid the 
associations and traditions of the old style of medical practice, when 
the country physician compounded his own medicines and carried 
them with him in large variety to suit the various exigencies that 
might arise. At that time the homes of the people were widely 
scattered ; the roads were rough and hard, and in the plain country 
towns apothecaries were almost unknown. To do business in any 
proper and efficient way, the physician must have his medicines and 
his instruments always with him, 
The year after Dr. Alden’s birth, i, e, in 1789, the Rev. Jonathan 
Strong, D.D., was settled in the parish as colleague pastor with the 
Rev. Moses Taft, who had been in office there for nearly forty years, 
and was now in the feebleness of age, Mr. Taft died two years 8 
Inter, in 1791, when Dr. Strong remained sole pastor till his death 
in 1814. Dr. Strong was therefore the minister of Randolph 
through all the early years of Dr. Alden’s life. The Rev. Thomas 
Noyes, of Needham, in the American Quarterly Register, vol. 8, p. 
54, says of him : " Dr. Strong’s labors were much blessed in three 
revivals during his ministry, in which he numbered more than two 
hundred converts. His influence was extensively felt. The Massa- 
chusetts Missionary Magazine and the Panoplist were enriched with 
his productions. He was one of the editors of the former work, and 
a Trustee of the Massachusetts Missionary Society from its forma- 
tion till his death.” From his earliest years, therefore, Dr. Alden 
received that bent of character, which brought him, all his life long, 
into close and living sympathy with the church and with all our 
great religious institutions. It is fair to credit a good measure of 
this influence to Dr. Strong. In a place such as Randolph was at 
that time, the families of the minister and the physician would be 
closely united. Especially would this be so when the physician him- 
self was a religious man, and closely identified with the church. 
One hundred years ago, schools to fit boys for college were rare. 
This educational work was largely done by settled ministers. Some 
of them, here and there, had family schools for this purpose. Dr. 
Nathan Perkins of West Hartford, Conn., Dr. Samuel Wood of 
Boscawen, N. II., and many others, became noted teachers, though 
they had parish cares also continually on their hands. Young Al- 
den, in preparing for college, pursued his studies under the direc- 
tion of his minister. 
Dr. Jonathan Strong was a native of Bolton, Ct., born in 17(54. 
Ilis father was of the same name, and was a farmer. When the boy 
was eight years old, the family removed to Orford, N. II. Dr. 
Eleazcr Wheelock had just then gone up to plant his Indiftn Charity 
School in the woods of New Hampshire, and so to lay the founda- 
tions of Dartmouth College. Here young Strong was educated, 
graduating with honor in 1786. He became a man of much more 
than usual mark in his generation. Quite a large number of the 
early graduates of Dartmouth were from Eastern Connecticut, and 
especially from the towns of Lebanon, Hebron, Bolton, Coventry 
Windham, &c., where Dr. Wheelock was familiarly known and 
much admired. Jonathan Strong went from Bolton, and was grad- 
uated at Dartmouth in 1786, and three years after was settled in 
Randolph. 9 
Young Alden was made rendv for college at ihe age of sixteen, 
and entered Harvard in 1804, graduating in 1808. After finishing 
his college course he went to Dartmouth College to studv medicine. 
Using his own language, as copied from the Alden Memorial, he 
"pursued his professional studies with Nathan Smith, M.D., at 
Dartmouth College, where he received the degree of M.B. in 1811 ; 
then attended the Lectures of Drs. Rush, Barton, Wistar, Physickv 
and others, in Philadelphia, and received the degree of M.D. from 
the University of Pennsylvania in 1812. He settled as a physician 
in his native town.” 
His father had died in 1800, while he was in college. Had his 
father been alive, very likely the medical education of the son would 
have gone on largely at home. Other men resorted to that home 
for their medical education, and it would have been altogether natu- 
ral that he should have done the same. As it was, he was fully 
educated, professionally, and entered upon his work under happy 
auspices at the age of twenty-four. 
Six years later, April 14, 1818, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Anne Kimball, daughter of Capt. Edmund Kimball, of Newbury- 
port. She was born June 14, 1791. 
Dr. Alden was now fully launched upon his life work, and bv de- 
grees came to fill the place which the father had left vacant, until 
at length he more than filled it. By virtue of his superior educa- 
tion, both as a physician and surgeon, and by his native powers and 
faculties, eminently fitting him for success, he was widely known 
and recognized as a leading member in his profession. Not only was 
he thoroughly instructed in matters pertaining to his special calling, 
but he had also an innate love for studies historical and ecclesiasti- 
cal. He grew to be a prominent Congregational layman, and his 
knowledge and experience in this department were often called into 
use. He was a Pilgrim of the Pilgrims, and he understood well the 
difference between the Congregationalism that came over in the May- 
flower and that which early prevailed in the Massachusetts Bay and 
was embodied, in 1648, in the Cambridge Platform. He found 
great satisfaction in tracing out the way by which the latter style of 
church polity was gradually displaced in New England and the for- 
mer brought to the front. The writer well remembers the pleasure 
Dr. Alden had, between twenty and thirty years ago, in a new edi- 
tion of John Wise’s famous book, "The Church Quarrel Espoused,” 10 
sind what measures he took to promote its circulation. He recog- 
nized in the Rev. John Wise—settled 1683-1725 over the Second 
Church, Ipswich (now Essex)—one of the stoutest defenders of the 
liberty of the New England churches as against the dominating pow- 
er of the ministers. It was in 1710 that the above book was first 
published, and it was largely through this volume and another from 
the same pen published in 1717, entitled "A Vindication of the 
Government of the New England Churches,” that a healthier direc- 
tion was given to New England Congregationalism. 
Dr. Alden was a Bibliophile, and early began to be a collector of 
rare books and pamphlets, especially those appertaining to the civil 
and ecclesiastical history of New England. He built up a choice 
private library at a time when such enterprises were not so common 
as now. That library still remains, and doubtless contains many 
specimens, in the shape of pamphlet and bound volume, which the 
collectors would call precious nuggets. 
It was because of such tastes and tendencies as have thus been 
briefly noticed, that Dr. A. was long ago recognized as a " wise 
master-builder” in our ecclesiastical and educational departments, 
and for the last forty or fifty years (until laid aside by blindness and 
extreme age) he has been an active worker in these connections. 
It would probably be difficult to find another man who has been 
identified with so many religious and educational interests for such 
long ranges of time. The year after his marriage, i. e. in 1819, 
the first Sabbath School was organized in Randolph. He was cho- 
sen its superintendent, and continued in the office for nearly forty 
years. In 1827 he was made one of the Trustees of the Massachu- 
setts Home Missionary Society. He held this office by reelection 
and performed its duties for forty-two years, until 1869. In the 
year 1837 he was chosen one of the Trustees of Phillips Academy 
and of Andover Theological Seminary. This office he retained 
forty-four years, till his death, though in his later years he was not 
able to attend the meetings of the trustees. For forty-one years, 
from 1840 to his death, he was one of the corporate members of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. From 
1841 to 1874 he was a Trustee of Amherst College. From 1842 
to 1867 he was a director of the American Education Society. 
There was another class of organizations for which he had a lively 
sympathy, and with which he was in active cooperation. He had a 11 
strong love for antiquarian and genealogical pursuits, and especially 
as they appertained to the origin and growth of New England. In 
all these connections he was an industrious worker. He early be- 
came a member of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester. 
He bore a prominent part in the formation and growth of the Amer- 
ican Statistical xlssociation. He became a member of the N. E. 
Historic, Genealogical Society in 1846, the year after its organiza- 
tion, and soon after its present building was erected in Somerset 
Street, paid, of his own good will, $500 towards the Librarian fund. 
With all the early movements toward the formation of the Congre- 
gational Library, now grown to fair proportions, he had the most 
cordial fellowship and participation. 
Then again, as a prominent member of the medical profession, he 
was brought into quite another set of associations. He was connect- 
ed with medical societies, county, state, national, not as a mere 
looker on, or listener, but as one who contributed interesting papers 
and valuable information for their meetings. Of an observing and 
studious mind, he held also the pen of a ready writer, and took spe- 
cial delight in adding to the general stock of human knowledge. 
Still again : he was a bold and aggressive worker in the temper- 
ance movement, especially in its earlier days, and before it had be- 
come so intermingled with party politics. He was for many years 
known as a public lecturer upon this subject, and from his estab- 
lished character as an able physician, his lectures carried with them 
unusual weight. 
Then in addition to all his other talents and activities, he was a 
singer, and took a lively interest in church music. Through the 
whole of his public life in Randolph, he was a leader and organizer in 
this department, and this love continued with him to the last. In the 
year 1869, at the time of the National Peace Jubilee in Boston, the 
writer well remembers a brief interview with him, as he was about to 
enter the great building erected for the concerts on the back bay. 
He was one of the chorus singers, and had his singing-book under 
his arm, and entered into the whole business with the enthusiasm of 
youth. He was at that time eighty-one years old. Of the great 
multitude of singers who made up the chorus for that first jubilee, 
he was, without much doubt, the oldest, but he yet carried with him 
a large measure of the zeal and energy of his earlier years. He 
made one of the vastly larger chorus in the International Jubilee of 
1872, being then eighty-four years old. 12 
Not long; nft-er this his eye-sight began to fail him, and little by 
little the shadows of night gathered about him, until at length he 
was wrapped in total darkness. His last years were passed in the 
quiet of his home, and in the society of his kindred and neighbors. 
But with the eye of his mind he still watched the goings on of the 
great world, and was interested in all passing events. He died Jan- 
uary 26, 1881, aged 92 years, 10 months and 9 days. 
The wife of his youth had passed away ten years before, April 14, 
1871. Three children survive him. These are the Rev. Ebenezer 
Alden, born August 10, 1819, who was ordained a Congregational 
minister in 1843, and spent five years as a pioneer home missionary in 
Iowa, being a member of the " Iowa Band.” Since 185Qrhe has been 
the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Marshfield. While he 
was yet young in the ministry, he had, as one of his parishioners, 
no less a man than Daniel Webster, and it fell to his lot in 1852 to 
conduct the simple funeral services of the great statesman in the 
Webster mansion at Marshfield. It was like Mr. Webster to prefer 
that his funeral should be in the plain New England fashion, and 
should be conducted by his country minister. The second son is the 
Rev. Edmund Kimball Alden, D.D., who was ordained to the Con- 
gregational ministry in 1850, and after serving for some twenty-six 
years as Congregational pastor at Yarmouth, Me., Lenox, Mass., 
and in Phillips Church, South Boston, is now one of the Secretaries 
of the American Board. There was another son, Henry Augustus, 
born August 8, 1826, who became a civil engineer and died June 9, 
1852. There were three daughters, of whom Mary Kimball died 
August 18, 1860, and Anne Kimball died Dec. 28, 1854. The 
remaining one, Sarah Bass Alden, now occupies the homestead at 
Randolph, and has had the care of her father in his declining years. 
Dr. Alden left a memorandum indicating his general wishes as to 
the disposal to be made of his property, which was considerable. It 
was not in the shape of a mandatory will. He constituted his three 
surviving children his executors, but, confiding in their judgment, 
gave them certain discretionary powers that they might decide mat- 
ters according to the circumstances of the case at the time of his 
death. He however named such societies, institutions and organiza- 
tions, as he wished to have remembered in the distribution to be 
made. It was his general plan that a certain portion of his property 
should be divided in this way. Acting upon these hints and sug- 13 
options, Ins children are now engaged in this work of distribution. 
The amount to be divided will he larger than at first anticipated, as 
the property has of late increased in value. Almost all the societies 
and institutions with which Dr. Alden was connected in his life, 
came up before him for remembrance in this final disposition of his 
property, such as the American Board, the Massachusetts Home Mis- 
sionary Society, the American College and Education Society, the 
Seamens’ Friend Society, Amherst College, Iowa College, Phillips 
Academy and Andover Theological Seminary, the American Anti- 
quarian Society, the American Statistical Association, the N. E. 
Historic, Genealogical Society, the Congregational Library, Stough- 
ton Musical Society, &c. To all he left gifts large enough to cheer 
and gladden, but exactly how much each will receive cannot be told 
till the estate is fully settled. 
We have already implied that Dr. Alden was a writer as well as 
a busy actor, but the larger portion of all his writings were of a 
kind to serve the purposes of the passing time, and cannot well be 
reported in a paper like this. Nevertheless, he has left behind some 
published works in the shape of pamphlets and books, among which 
are the following : Address before the Dartmouth Medical Society : 
Boston, 1820. Medical Uses of Alcohol. Tribute to the Memory 
of Dea. Ephraim Wales: Boston, 1855. Historical Sketch of 
the Origin and Progress of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 1838. 
Tribute to the Memory of Dea. Wales Thayer. Tribute to the 
Memory of Mr. Samuel Whitcomb. Early History of the Medi- 
cal Profession in the County of Norfolk, an Address before the 
Norfolk District Medical Society: Boston, 1853. Memoir and 
Correspondence of Mrs. Mary Ann Odiorne Clark : Boston, 
M. S. S., 1844. Memoir of Bartholomew Brown, Esq. : Ban- 
dolph, 1862. Memorial of the Descendants of the Hon. John Al- 
den, 1807. Enlarged 18(H), octavo, pp. 184. 
Some of these publications required a large amount of labor and 
careful study. For example, The Early History of the Medical 
Profession in the County of Norfolk involved brief biographies of 
the numerous physicians of the county during the earlier <»enera- 
tions, a work to be accomplished only by much correspondence and 
patient research. 
But these few publications would give only a faint idea of all that 
he accomplished by his pen. In a local paper he published a long 14 
series of articles on the history of Braintree and Randolph, going 
into the business minutely, taking up the several portions of the 
territory, and tracing the early families in their various localities. 
Indeed, he was the local historian, the public chronicler of Ran- 
dolph, and, to a large extent, of the region lying around. 
By his intellectual character, as also by his large enterprise and 
activity, he was a man to come to the front, wherever he might hap- 
pen to live, and bear a large share in human affairs. The totality 
of life within him was greater than in ordinary men, and it was 
natural for him to put himself forth in thought and action. Hence 
through the long years of his active life he was intensely busy, aim- 
ing to fill his place punctually and thoroughly in all his multiplied 
relations. Though connected with so many societies and associa- 
tions, hardly any one was more likely to be present at their recur- 
ring business meetings than he. 
In the year 1801, July 3, occurred in Braintree the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the ordination and settlement of Dr. Richard S. Storrs. 
The occasion was one of very marked interest, both from the emi- 
nent character of Dr. Storrs himself, and from the conspicuous men 
who took prominent parts in the services. Among the last named 
was Dr. Alden, who followed the Rev. Dr. Park in the exercises of 
the afternoon. The presiding officer of the day was the Rev. Richard 
S. Storrs, Jr., of Brooklyn, N. Y., and in introducing Dr. Alden he 
said : "We have heard of the Ministers of Braintree, Dr. Alden 
will gi,ve us, from his knowledge and his personal recollections, a 
true sketch of the People of the town, and of their former manners 
and life.” 
From this address of Dr. Alden we will, in conclusion, select two 
or three passages, which will illustrate more perfectly than any gen- 
eral description can do, the style of the man and his manner of 
thought. lie said : 
“I have been requpsted to present some 1 reminiscences of Braintree fifty 
years ago,’ by which I understand in the olden time: but with a special cau- 
tion to be very brief—‘ ten minutes better than an hour ’—as if by any nec- 
romancy it were possible to bring up not oidy Samuel [Rev. Samuel Niles], 
but three generations of bis people, and cause them to pass before you like 
a moving panorama at the bidding of your minister. Nevertheless, as it 
was my privilege to commence professional life with him and sometimes to 
prescribe for him, it is but reasonable that I should now consent that be 
prescribe to me; which I do, not only cheerfully but thankfully, because it 15 
affords me opportunity publicly to express the respect I have long enter- 
tained for him and for his people.” 
But in the first place it was needful to give the boundaries of the 
place which he was going to describe, and these were as follows : 
“ The ancient Branthy was hounded, north by Neponset River and 
Massachusetts Bay ; east by Narraganset; south by the Old Colony and 
* terra incognita ’ long in dispute; west by Punkapog and Unguety—in- 
cluding the present towns of Braintree, Quincy and Randolph. Monatiquot, 
or modern Braintree, was bounded north by Merry Mount; east by Iron 
Works’ line; south by Cochato and Scadin Woods ; west by the Blue Hills, 
extending, in the dialect of Father Niles, ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’” 
Dr. Alden had in this address a somewhat lengthy and graphic 
passage on the singing question, as it was discussed in the churches 
before the middle of the last century. Throughout almost every 
part of New England the fierce discussion went on, and many 
churches were well nigh rent asunder by the violent feelings awak- 
ened. The beauty and majesty of ancient New England conserva- 
tism are strangely exhibited in this conflict. The effort was to bring 
the people out of the miserable droning habit of singing four or five 
tunes only, and that by rote, and to teach them so to read music 
that they could sing all tunes by note. Dr. Alden said : 
“ The evil became so intolerable that Rev. Thomas Walter, by request 
of several ministers of Boston and the vicinity, prepared and published, in 
1721, a musical manual and tune book. * * * And here is a copy of it, 
the identical one which belonged to Elisha Niles, Esq., youngest son of the 
minister and executor of his estate. The names of twenty-two of the most 
eminent clergymen of the colony are attached to the recommendatory pre- 
face. But the name of Samuel Niles is not there. He insisted upon the 
‘ old way ’ and his oion way. Nor would he yield the tithe of a hair to any 
solicitations, lay or clerical. 
“ Meanwhile some of his people had provided tune books, and were bent 
on ‘ making melody to the Lord ’ by note. Then came the ‘ tug of war.’ 
Original sin, with which the pastor was familiar, and afterwards wrote a 
treatise upon it, as he did upon ‘Indian Wars,’ broke out into actual trans- 
gression. The people assembled for public worship, but no minister came. 
They sent him word that they were all ‘ present before the Lord to hear 
all things which were commanded him of God.’ He responded that he 
would not preach in the meeting-house unless they would sing by rote ; and 
he invited all who were so disposed to repair to the parsonage, where he 
would preach, and they might sing ‘ in the old way.’ * * * Council after 
council convened without success to settle the controversy. At length, all 
parties having become weary, the last council, more fortunate, if not more 
sagacious than the rest, came to this unanimous, most profound and success- 
ful result, which was adopted, but never, so far as I cau ascertain, recorded 16 
on the church books: ‘Voted that the council recommend to the pastor and 
church at Monatiquot, that in conducting public worship they sing part of 
the tune by note, and the rest of the tune by rote.' ” 
There were probably a great many churches in New England 
where the old system of rote singing went out at last by some such 
compromise as in this case. 
W e might give other interesting passages from this address, but 
these will suffice as examples of Dr. Alden’s manner, and with these 
we conclude our article. 
[Reprinted from the New- England Historical and Genealogical Register for October, 1881.] dfwwral anareests. ADDRESS AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE. 
BY KEY. JOHN C. LABAREE, PASTOR. 
A patriarch among us has fallen. lie has died in a good old age, an 
old man, and full of years, and is gathered to his fathers. We have long 
regarded him as a venerable man. Yet we are surprised to find how far 
back we are carried by this one extended life. It covers a period longer 
than that of our American Republic. When Dr. Alden was born, the first 
President of the United States had not been inaugurated, nor the Federal 
Constitution ratified. 
For those primitive times the circumstances of his early life were very 
favorable. His childhood was largely spent in the noble old mansion of his 
father’s, which till lately formed so familiar a land-mark in our town. 
His education was carefully attended to. He passed from stage to stage 
in his studies till he returned to his native village to take up the profession 
of his father, and unfold that strong and striking character which now stands 
before us in its completeness. 
By nature our honoured friend was richly endowed. He would have 
been a man of mark in whatever calling in life he might have chosen. His 
mind was clear and acute, broad and masculine; his perceptions were quick, 
his judgment discriminating, his will strong. To nature’s gifts he added a 
careful and rigorous discipline of his powers. The material which Provi- 
dence gave him was faithfully improved. His habits of thought were ex- 
cellent; his study of a subject was sj'stematic and searching; his cross- 
questioning worthy of a trained lawyer. He went to the heart of a matter 
and brought his mind to a decision he did not often have to reverse. His 
improvement of time, his methods of investigation, his orderly and patient 
arrangement of knowledge, iiis readiness in recalling what he wished to 
use, his conscientious care in reaching a conclusion, furnish a fine model for 
young men, whether in business or literary pursuits. 
But his mental powers were not those to which our friend gave the most 
interested attention. Iiis mind w'as directed at an early period to the claims 
of religion. Always respectful to the subject, he came at last face to face 20 
with the personal duty of repentance toward God and faith toward our 
Lord Jesus Christ. It was a serious hour, a bitter struggle, — one to 
which he referred, not often, but always with very tender feelings. At 
that time, as he believed, he learned a lesson, never to be forgotten, of 
human depravity and divine grace. His long and unalterable devotion to 
the Saviour and the teachings of Scripture bear witness to the genuineness 
of the change he had experienced. lie united with this church in 1816, at 
the age of twenty-eight years. From that period tire enlargement of 
Christ’s kingdom in the world was the object to which he devoted his 
talents. Ilis whole life confirmed the interest with which he sang the hymn 
“I love Thy Kingdom, Lord.” 
The church of Christ was to Dr. Alden as a citadel which he was ap- 
pointed to aid in strengthening and defending. lie thoroughly studied its 
necessities. Its weak points and its grand strategic points were well under- 
stood by him. The call for defensive and aggressive warfare he heartily 
responded to. He loved the work. Nothing else in life was of so much 
account to him. 
He perceived that if the church of God is to prosper, the utmost care 
must be paid to the family. By counsel and example he impressed this 
principle. His own home he sought to make a model Christian home. Its 
hours of prayer and praise he loved, and held sacred from every inter- 
ruption. With him it was a strong point that family worship should not 
he merely formal, but interesting and instructive. And he was accustomed, 
with great plainness and tenderness, to encourage Christian parents to special 
fidelity in all the duties of household piety. He also felt the need of some 
method of religious instruction additional to that generally enjoyed in the 
family. And the suggestion of the modern Sabbath School was, therefore, 
cordially welcomed by him. In 1819 he organized the school in this 
church. For thirty-nine years he continued its superintendent, and then as 
a teacher held his place for a score of years longer. 
From the home and the Sabbath School Dr. Alden followed with special 
interest the youth who entered on a course of higher education. That the 
church should pay most careful attention to her future pastors and teachers 
and educated men, was to him self evident. He entered into the study 
of methods of education with his accustomed energy and thoroughness. 
And he was thus introduced to one of the most important spheres of in- 
fluence which Providence called him to fill. His services as a member 
of the Board of Trustees of Phillips Academy and the Theological 
Seminary at Andover, and of Amherst College, are by the nature of the 
case but little known to the world. They will be alluded to by one es- 
pecially qualified to speak of them. But we know something of the 
intelligence and fatherlv solicitude with which he followed young men 
•O v %J o 21 
through school, college, and seminary. The day of “ prayer for colleges ” 
was always an occasion of much interest in the Randolph Church, and 
one to which our friend was ever ready to contribute stirring words, and 
fervent prayers that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into 
his harvest. He had a peculiarly kind feeling for young men who had 
chosen his own profession. From his wide professional experience he had 
seen how great are the opportunities for good open to the Christian physician. 
Young ministers were sure of a welcome to his home and heart. 
He entered into their plans with zest. Were they to remain in New Eng- 
land, or to plant new churches in the growing West, or to seek yet more 
distant fields of labor among heathen nations, he followed them all with 
love and prayer. Their trials, their reverses, their progress, were watched 
by him with intelligent sympathy, as he studied the missionary reports of 
the day. These organs of Home and Foreign work have had few more 
constant and appreciative readers for the past fifty years. 
The Home Missionary Society and the American Board were objects of 
his special interest and aid. To the former he committed the care of a son, 
who was one of the honoured “ Iowa Band,” and who went with a father’s 
benediction to that western wilderness for years of fruitful service. In 
behalf of the other he was also a life-long and most devoted friend. He 
gave efficient aid in organizing and maintaining among the churches of the 
Norfolk Conference the Palestine Missionary Society formed in 1820, one 
of the earliest auxiliaries of the Board. 
Meanwhile his own home church was never neglected by reason of his 
many broader fields of influence. He gave to it the energy and enthusiasm 
of his young manhood, and for sixty years it has been strengthened by his 
counsels and examples and prayers. He loved the sanctuary, and all the 
ordinances and meetings of the church. Long professional rides were often 
necessary before services, and again after services were over, but they were 
always timed so as to give him the calm enjoyment of the house of God. 
His seat vacant, signified to all that some case was very critical. And for 
years after he was wholly deprived of sight, one of the greatest comforts 
in his affliction, and which he would not readily forego, was to be led t;> bis 
familiar seat in the church twice every Sabbath day. The silent influence 
of such an example has reached many hearts. 
Those who did not believe as he did, yet cherished a sincere respect for 
his fidelity to his convictions and his strength of purpose. 
By the members of the church, it is not invidious to say, no one of their 
number was regarded with so great veneration and affection as Dr. 
Alden. Few were so well qualified to advise and encourage. He possessed 
a rare knowledge of the Bible, an extensive and accurate acquaintance with 
theology, a profound personal experience of religious truth, a deep insight 
into human nature; adding to these attainments, his wide intercourse with 22 
men, his relation to many societies and institutions, and his rich endowments 
of mind and heart, and we see that he was fitted in an unusual manner to 
guide and instruct the church. Many an anxious inquirer has he wisely 
directed to the Saviour they were seeking. Christian friends, beset with 
temptations, or perplexed with doubts, have often found in him the safe 
and sympathizing counsellor they needed. Ilis visits as “the beloved phy- 
sician ” were double prized by numerous families to whom he was enabled 
to bring peace of mind as well as healing of the body. 
In his earlier days Dr. Alden did hard but very useful work as a pioneer 
in the cause of truth. He was an earnest advocate of Foreign Missions 
when the subject was but little understood. He introduced the Sabbath 
School when there was much prejudice against it. He was an outspoken 
friend of total abstinence when such a position was extremely unpopular. 
He aided many a good cause in its infancy and weakness, which has now 
grown strong in the hearts of the people. He found them feeble, he has 
left them vigorous. Their progress gave him great satisfaction. He could 
see that the world has grown better since first he knew it, and he rejoiced. 
He did not, indeed, endorse every modern idea of professed reformers; some 
of them he stoutly refused to accept; yet he spoke of them with charity. 
Instead of the characteristics which often come with age. he seemed to us to 
grow more gentle and mellow. lie was clothed with increasing wisdom 
and grace. His words fell with more love and tenderness, and all felt that 
he was ripening for his home above. 
To these words let me add the more jiersonal testimony, which it is my 
privilege at this hour to bear to the pleasant relations that have existed be- 
tween Dr. Alden and myself. Coming to this church a young man, now 
fifteen years ago, it was with fear and trembling, occasioned largely by the 
commanding position of him who now worships in the upper sanctuary. 
Yet I have here to witness that he was most charitable to his young min- 
ister. lie has been a considerate listener, a judicious adviser, a critic less 
severe or frequent than he might justly have been. He cherished a pro- 
found regard for the ministerial office, and did not forget to pray earnestly 
and tenderly and constantly for him who filled it. He guarded his good 
name with jealous care, went to him and not to others with his faults, and 
when he and his pastor could not entirely agree, he still remained the same 
kind and helpful friend. REMARKS AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE. 
THE HON. AI/PHEUS HARDY, OF BOSTON. 
In the death of Dr. Alden, a strong and vigorous light has ceased to burn 
on earth. Its rays were not confined to this town, or to this vicinity, it was 
far reaching, healthful and helpful in all its influence. 
It is now nearly thirty years since I first made Dr. Alden’s acquaintance. I 
was invited by his friend and my friend, the late Rev. William A. Stearns, 
President of Amherst College, to take a seat as one of the Trustees of that 
institution. Trained as I had been to a business life, I hesitated to accept the 
position, to step within the circle of Christian Education, and might not, had 
not Dr. Alden so kindly and so encouragingly taken me by the hand and given 
me a warm welcome. We were at once made colleagues on the finance commit- 
tee, and thus I began to know of his fidelity and conscientious discharge of his 
duty. There, as at Andover, where we were similarly connected on the 
Phillips Academy Board of Trustees, he was scrupulously exact in the 
discharge of every duty. It was not enough that the treasurer reported 
. sundry funds as in hand, but he must see them, and verify every item. He 
did not accept the position as Trustee for the small honor such an election 
conferred, but to attend the meetings promptly and meet every varied duty 
as work he had assumed and that must be accomplished. Ilis judgment 
was sound and leading. His firmness was tempered with kindness. His 
opinions, if they differed from others, were given with manly courtesy. At 
Andover, where I met him most frequently, he was ever faithful, shrinking 
from no toil. Those old rusty ledgers bear his marks of fidelity; he pored 
over them as conscientiously as over his bible. 
'The Academy, no less than the Seminary, shared his care ; his thoughts 
were for the boys, as well as for the more advanced students. He 
realized that within their ranks were those who were to fill our pulpits, 
to be our legislators and exert an influence in the world; in the true spirit 
of the founders of that school he would have their hearts cultivated, while 
the head was educated, and would have religion and education go hand in 
hand. 24 
It lias been reported by the press that he bad resigned bis position as 
Trustee at Andover ; true, but bis resignation was not accepted. The Board 
of Trustees appreciated bis services too highly, and respected him too much 
to sever his relations; they would have him die as he did in the harness. 
For a professional man he had, largely, business habits; habits of exact- 
ness, application, fidelity, frugality, the conditions of success. 
His views of Christian duty were as broad as the Gospel plan; he drank 
of its living fountain. 
He was alive to the elevation and salvation of men in all lands and all 
climes. 
I have rarely met a man whose whole being was so permeated with the 
idea of loyalty to duty. This one thing I must do, and do well, was his 
constant aim. The tenor of his life was expressed in the spirit of the 
beautiful hymn, commencing 
“ A charge to keep I have— 
A God to glorify.” 
lifter fje fjab serbcb fit's oton generation fjg tfte to til of ©oh, 
fye fell on sleep, anti toas lartf unto fjts fathers.