Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-03-25
Original ShettRes.
For the Monmouth Weekly Herald.
LIVES OF
Distinguished Jerseymen.
BY III henry ward.
XIV.
XIV.
Rev. James Manning, D. D.

to dlvest itself of ~sectarian preju-
dice, anu to regard e~minently, pious and
talented men # other denominations, with
as much veneration and esteem, as we
do those of our own. Are we not to
Judge them by their fruits? Shall we
think the less of the great. and good, and
eloquent Hall, because he was a Baptist?
Certainly not. Thank God, all persua-
sions of Christians have had " burning
and shining lights in their midst, whose
works are imperishable, and whose lives
were spent in the cause Of pure religion.
and of poor, sinful, fallen humanity. And
among just such philanthropists, the sub
ject Of the following Sketch. win ever
hold, in the remembrance of all good men,
a high and conspicuous station.
JAMES MANNING was born in New Jer.
sew, in the year 1889. His early youth
was not marked with any peculiar advan-
tages. He was thoughtful and sedate.
and had a streng desire to render himself
useful, and an earnest and p~ersevering
disposition to acquire knowledge. He
entered Nassau Hall at Princeton, in 1853.
He was a close student, and remarkable
for his orderly and industrious habits
He graduated at that excellent ~institu-
ton, in 1852. With a strong and vigor.
Gus mind, he could not fail, in the energy
of his character, of becoming one of the
best and most thorough scholars of the
age in which he lived. And such was ac-
tually the fact. But he regarded all his
~stupenduous attainments, as a stepping
stone merely, to his entrance into the sub
lime Temple Of Theology. And here he
had his preference; as he had a perfect
right so to do. He was ordained a min
lister of the Baptist Church. But when
he first commenced preaching. he met
with considerable opposition from mem
bers of other denominations, who feared
that his powerful talents would make a
great inroad upon their own pre.oceupied
ground. Accordingly, a number of the
jealous Baptist brethren, both of New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, directed his at
~tention to Rhode Island, where, they said.
he could enjoy enlarged religious freedom,
and render himself far more useful than
he then could, in his native State. They
had long seen and felt the necessity of es
tablishing a collegiate institution in which
young men could be educated for the Cos
pei Ministry. under the peculiar and dis
%tinctive teachings of the Baptist faith
Although we are utterly opposed to that
sectarian spirit which would make any
institution of learning, a propagandist Of
a particular creed; and believe in nation
al education in the broadest and most en-
larged sense of the term; yet such was
the characteristic feature of age, that Mr..
Manning could not well have avoided the
necessity Of being actuated by the same
predominating principle. He saw that
Yale and Nassau, the two leading Collie
ges of the Western World, were strictly
under Presbyterian influence, and ruled
by Presbyterians, while the Baptists were
thrown into the shade. With a warm
hearted ~liberality that is truly common.
dable, the friends of Mr.. Manning ad-
yanced large sums of money, for the pur-
pose of carrying their favorite project in
to effect. They solicited Mr.. Manning to
become President Of the New College; to
which he assented.
The charter was not granted until
1854, and in the following year, Mr.. Man
ming removed to Warren in Rhode Island:
where, he took the most strenuous meas
ures to forward the great work entrusted
to his care and keeping. In September
of the same year, he commenced his labors
as Principal of the Seminary which he
had founded; and he soon had the salts
faction of seeing it crowded to overflow
ing. with young and ambitious students
from all parts Of the Union. This fact
speaks highly in his praise as an able and
efficient instructor Of youth. Such was
the rapid increase Of pupils, that it be-
came indispensable to remoye the institu
ton to Providence, where an elegant and
spacious edifce was erected with sufficient
room for the accommodation of all. 1t
has since grown up into a great and -four
ishing University.
Soon after DR.. Manning had received
the Presidency Of Rhode Island College,
he was installed Pastor of the First Bap-
fist Church in Providence; and for a
number of years, continued in the faith
full discharge of his parechial duties, and
in the advancement of the welfare and
reputation of his ~favorite college. The
magnitude and intensity of his labors
would have been sufficient to have dis
couraged and worn out a less energetic
mind; but DR.. Manning was ons, OF those
remarkable men, who never undertook an
important work. without carrying it
through.
While the country vas involved in the
war of the Revolution, he took a decided
stand, and performed an active part, in
favor of her independence. In History
and Politics, he was as deeply yersed, as
in Divinity and the Classics. In 1856,
the people of Rhode Island chose him to
represent their interests in Congress-;
where be continued faithfully to serve his
country until his death; which took place
at Providence, in 1871, at the age of SO
years.
Thus, in the full vigor and prime oflife.
with a mind eyer active and intent in do
ing good, in whatever sphere and station
it pleased Almighty God to place him, he
was called away to a higher and nobler
state of being from q world of gloom and
sorrow, and tribulation, to one of glory,
and Joy, and eternal beatitude. The re-
cord of the lives of eminent men, can fur
nish but few instances of individuals, who
have rendered themselves more useful to
their fellow-men in their day and genera
knro aooamnlichod a upnofnr