Griffin, Edward D. A Farewell Sermon; preached, May 28, 1809, at Newark, New-Jersey. Newark, N. J.: Printed by E. B. Gould, 1809. First Edition. [12091]
Removed, no wrapper, fine stipple engraving of Griffin as frontispiece, 8 1/4 x 5 inches, 29, [1] pp. Erratta line on final page. "A. Holmes, Presented by the Author, 3 July 1809" in brown ink top of title page. Very good. Pamphlet.
The text is Acts 20:32, "And now, Brethren, I commend you to God..."
The parting instructions of a pastor to his beloved congregation. Griffin had been appointed a professorship at Andover Theological Seminary and was soon to depart to fulfill that obligation.
The former owner whose note is on the title page is the Rev. Dr. Abiel Holmes (1763-1837). He was the pastor of the First Church in Cambridge for 40 years, and the author of Annals of America.
Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D. (1770-1837), born at East Haddam, Connecticut graduated at Yale College in 1790 with distinguished honor. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in New Hartford in 1795. He was pastor of the church in Newark, New Jersey, from 1801 to 1809, at which time he was appointed to the Bartlett professorship in Andover. In 1811 he was installed as pastor of the Park-street Church in Boston. In 1815 he returned to Newark as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. For fifteen years (1821-1836) he was President of Williams College.
“His ministry was marked by numerous revivals. Dr. Griffin was a man of large intellectual proportions...His power of clear, penetrating, and, at the same time of lofty and comprehensive thought – his skill and force in argument, his rhetorical genius and culture, his eloquence, his majestic person and manner, all pervaded and controlled by his enlightened religious devotion, performed efficient service for the Church, and place him among the greatest lights of his age.” – M’Clintock & Strong.
