[Wilson, James Patriot]. Moral Agency; or, Natural Ability consistent with Moral Inability: being Remarks on "An Essay on the Inability of Sinners, by a Presbyterian". Philadelphia: Published by Thomas and William Bradford | Anderson & Meehan, Printers, 1819. [12093]
Removed, no wrapper, "Dr. Porter, Andover" in brown ink at top of the title page, 8 1/4 x 5 inches, 36 pages. Good. Pamphlet.
"By a Christian." Attributed to James P. Wilson at WorldCat: "Attributed to Wilson by William B. Sprague in his Annals of the American Pulpit, v. 4."
A salvo in the New School vs. Old School debate, with Wilson defending the New School position. Wilson is responding to Jacob Janeway's An Essay on the Inability of Sinners, published in 1818.
James Patriot Wilson, D.D. (1769-1830), born at Lewes, Delaware; graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1788. “He acted, for some time, as Surveyor-General for the State of Delaware. He was admitted to practice at the Bar. The unexpected death of his wife, and the assassination of his brother before his eyes, made such an impression of the importance of eternal things that he quitted the law for the pulpit. He was ordained pastor of the Lewes Church, as successor of his father, in 1804. In 1806 he accepted a call from the First [Presbyterian] Church in Philadelphia. In May, 1828, he retired to his farm, a little south of the village of Hartsville, Bucks county, about twenty miles from the city, on account of the infirm state of his health, preaching, nevertheless, to his congregation as often as his health permitted. For some years before his death his infirmities compelled him to preach sitting on a high chair in the pulpit. His resignation of his pastoral charge was accepted in the Spring of 1830. Dr. Wilson was characterized by a few eccentricities, but they were overlooked, or only excited a smile, in view of his sterling worth. As a preacher, he was perfectly deliberate and impassioned, handling the most abstruse subjects in a masterly manner, speaking for an hour without the least assistance from notes, yet drawing on the stores of memory replete with recondite learning, especially of the Greek and Latin Fathers. He was regarded as one of the most learned divines of his day.” – Nevin, Presbyterian Encyclopædia. For extensive remarks on Dr. Wilson see Sprague's Annals, vol. iv., pp. 353-364.
The former owner: Ebenezer Porter, D.D. (1772-1834), b. Cornwall, Conn.; d. Andover, Mass. A graduate of Dartmouth College (1792), Porter was a Congregational minister at Washington, Connecticut;, in 1812 he was appointed professor of sacred rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary, Massachusetts and in 1827 its president, retaining the positions until his death.
“As a theological instructor, Dr. Porter had few equals. He was remarkably well endowed for the training of young men for the holy ministry.” - M’Clintock & Strong, The Cyclopedia to Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature (1880).
Dr. Porter published many sermons and was the author of several valuable manuals for young ministers and on Revivals of Religion.
