for him, and accordingly began his preparation for the Christian ministry at the Cambridge Divinity School, in 1825. He was ordained June 19, 1828, as the pastor of the Second Congregational Unitarian Society of New York City. His arduous labors in the great metropolis continued until November, 1833, when he retired from his post, and sought comparative rest for a time through only occasional supplies of vacant pulpits. He was installed as associate pastor of the Unitarian Church in Quincy, Mass., June 7, 1835; Rev. Peter Whitney, who had long been settled over the society, still retaining his official connection with it. Mr. Whitney, after a ministry to this church of forty-three years, died in 1843; and Mr. Lunt was thenceforth its sole pastor until his death in 1857. The latter, having for a long time cherished a desire to visit the Holy Land, preached Dec. 28, 1856, what proved to be his last sermon to his beloved people, and embarked for his pilgrimage to Palestine on board a vessel that bore him directly on, past European shores, to the distant East. Having arrived in Egypt, he pursued his way to Sinai; but on the day after he left the Convent, and while still prosecuting his journey to Jerusalem, he was taken sick, and his disease became more and more alarming as the party moved on. All effort that could be made for his recovery proved unavailing; and during the second night after his arrival at Akabah, the ancient Ezion-Geber, at the head of the Eastern arm of the Red Sea, he sank to his rest, almost in sight of the blessed "acres" which he had travelled so far to behold and tread. He was buried, March 21, 1857, in a grave excavated in the upper part of a mound out on the desert, a short distance from the castled village. Six years afterward, a party of Americans and foreigners were pursuing this same route to the Holy City, when one of them, on their approach to Akabah, recalling some beautiful lines which Rev. S. G. Bulfinch, D.D., had written on the death of Dr. Lunt for the "Christian Register," and to which he had given the name of this place as a title, was thus reminded that they were drawing near the spot where the eminent and venerated Christian preacher, scholar, poet, and saint "Turned dying eyes Upon Asian skies, And dropped on Moslem ground." After reaching the village and making various inquiries, they were led to the grave, but found no stone to tell the stranger where the body lay. They procured a slab from the castle, chiselled it with suitable inscriptions, set it firmly into the earth over the sacred dust, and requested the chiefs of the town, and Hassaneen the dragoman, to have a watchful care of the rude and simple monument, and to direct to it, as they should have opportunity, such of our countrymen as might in subsequent years visit this remote settlement on their way from Sinai to Jerusalem. Dr. Bulfinch's lines, as well as Dr. Frothingham's touching "Lament," written on the same occasion, may be found elsewhere in this volume. Dr. Lunt was honored with the degree of D.D. by Harvard College in 1850. Numerous pamphlet sermons and biographical and historical discourses, as well as many articles which he contributed to the "Christian Examiner” and other periodicals, illustrated his extensive range of knowledge, his depth and power of thought, his finished style and his chastened eloquence, and above all the strength and beauty of his Christian faith. Among the most remarkable of his published discourses are two which he delivered, Sept. 29, 1839, on the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Gathering of the First Congregational Church of Quincy; one at the interment of John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, March 11, 1848; one commemorative of Daniel Webster, Nov. 25, 1852; one before the Theological School, at Cambridge, in 1852 ; and the Dudleian Lecture, in 1855. In reference to the last two, Rev. Chandler Robbins, D.D., in preaching a sermon on the character and life of Dr. Lunt, said that they were among the "most profound, brilliant, and masterly productions that have illustrated the highest of the sciences in recent times," and that they "at once lifted their author to a high rank in the esteem of his professional brethren for metaphysical acuteness, erudition, and eloquence." This able preacher and "thoughtful scholar " also compiled, in 1841, an excellent hymn-book, “The Christian Psalter," and was himself a poet of no ordinary gifts or rank. His productions in this department of literature reveal the grave, meditative spirit of the author, while they show that he was possessed of a high degree of imaginative power and lyric fervor. Many of them were hymns and odes written for the Quincy Church Sunday School. for Installation Services, Anniversary Celebrations, and other like occasions. His longest poem was one which he read before the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Cambridge, in 1837. A small but finely printed and elegantly bound volume, edited by his daughter, Mary E. Lunt, and published by his son, William P. Lunt, has very recently been issued under the title of "Gleanings," giving brief selections or extracts from his prose writings, and also some of his hymns and poems. From this little book we copy a few pieces to enrich our own pages, and to hint to the reader what choice things beside may be found in Miss Lunt's beautiful memorial of her father. The following lines are in many Church Collections: : OUR FOREFATHERS. Written for the public schools of Quincy, and sung by them at their Fourth of July Celebration, 1837. WHEN, driven by oppression's rod, Our fathers fled beyond the sea, Their care was first to honor God, And next to leave their children free. Above the forest's gloomy shade The altar and the school appeared; In this their precious hopes were reared. Armed with intelligence and zeal, Their sons shook off the tyrant's chain, The altar and the school still stand, Before thine altar, Lord, we bend, With grateful song and fervent prayer, THE CHRISTMAS TREE. Written for the Christmas Celebration of the Sunday School of Dr. Lunt's Church at Quincy, Dec. 25, 1849. CHILDREN. 'HE Christmas Tree! THE The Christmas Tree! "Twas planted long ago; The angels sung their hymn above, As we sing ours below: Of auld lang syne we sing, Of Christmas long ago; The angels sung their hymn above, As we sing ours below. The Tree by holy hands was set In days of auld lang syne; Its boughs with heavenly dews were wet, Of auld lang syne we sing, &c. Thousands have met around the Tree Have plucked the fruit, and thankfully Of auld land syne we sing, &c. The Tree with gifts has loaded been Of auld lang syne we sing, &c. TEACHERS. Come, children, take the gifts you see, The fruit upon the heavenly Tree Of auld lang syne we sing, Of Christmas long ago; The angels sung their hymn above, THE HIGHER BIRTH. FAREWELL, farewell, thou fostering Earth! The gift of life I now resign: The spirit waits a higher birth; My useless dust I now resign. From thee rich stores of thought I've gained; The beauty that is on thy brow Waked infant passion in my heart; But higher glories ravish now, And bid me hence depart. Thy tender ties, relations dear, First gently taught me how to love: The stormy blasts have firmer made The spreading roots of virtue's tree; But chiefly in thy radiant face, Where lower beauties meet and shine, My race is run, my toils are o'er, And safely reached the destined goal: I drop my chrysalis of clay: On new-fledged wings I take my flight; Up to the brilliant Source of day I rise from Death's dark night. LATIN HYMN.-"LUX ECCE SURGIT AUREA." |