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145-532: Thomas Wentworth Higginson (December 22, 1823 – May 9, 1911), who went by the name Wentworth , was an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist , politician, and soldier. He was active in abolitionism in the United States during the 1840s and 1850s, identifying himself with disunion and militant abolitionism. He was a member of the Secret Six who supported John Brown . During

290-501: A "Socinian" view was James Freeman . Regarding the virgin birth of Jesus among those who denied the preexistence of Christ, some held to it and others did not. Its denial is sometimes ascribed to the Ebionites ; however, Origen ( Contra Celsum v.61) and Eusebius ( HE iii.27) both indicate that some Ebionites did accept the virgin birth. On the other hand, Theodotus of Byzantium , Artemon , and Paul of Samosata all accepted

435-451: A Black Regiment (1870), He contributed to the preservation of Negro spirituals by copying dialect verses and music he heard sung around the regiment's campfires. In his book, Drawn With the Sword , historian James M. McPherson cited Higginson as an example of a white officer in a black regiment who did not share the "[p]owerful racial prejudices" of others during the time period. After

580-565: A Democrat, but was defeated by Nathaniel P. Banks . Higginson was one of the leading male advocates of women's rights during the decade before the Civil War. In 1853, he addressed the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in support of a petition asking that women be allowed to vote on ratification of the new constitution. Published as " Woman and Her Wishes ," the address was used for many years in

725-603: A binder. The process of mixing graphite and clay, known as the Conté process, had been first patented by Nicolas-Jacques Conté in 1795. Thoreau made profitable use of a graphite source found in New Hampshire that had been purchased in 1821 by his uncle, Charles Dunbar. The company's other source of graphite had been Tantiusques , a mine operated by Native Americans in Sturbridge, Massachusetts . Later, Thoreau converted

870-1027: A church hierarchy that includes the election by the synod of a national bishop who serves as superintendent of the Church. Many Hungarian Unitarians embrace the principles of rationalist Unitarianism. Unitarian high schools exist only in Transylvania (Romania), including the John Sigismund Unitarian Academy in Cluj-Napoca , the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj , and the Berde Mózes Unitárius Gimnázium in Cristuru Secuiesc ; both teach Rationalist Unitarianism. The Unitarian Christian Association (UCA)

1015-537: A classic American work that explores natural simplicity, harmony, and beauty as models for just social and cultural conditions. The American poet Robert Frost wrote of Thoreau, "In one book ... he surpasses everything we have had in America." The American author John Updike said of the book, "A century and a half after its publication, Walden has become such a totem of the back-to-nature, preservationist, anti-business, civil-disobedience mindset, and Thoreau so vivid

1160-680: A common theological concept of the unitary nature of God. Unitarian Christian communities and churches have developed in Central Europe (mostly Romania and Hungary ), Ireland , India , Jamaica , Japan , Canada , Nigeria , South Africa , the United Kingdom , and the United States . In British America , different schools of Unitarian theology first spread in the New England Colonies and subsequently in

1305-419: A cultural and intellectual centre of a whole society, a place where ideas about society were openly and critically discussed. Henry David Thoreau This is an accepted version of this page Active Defunct Publications Works Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist , he

1450-807: A few years he became the leader of the Unitarian movement. A theological battle with the Congregational Churches resulted in the formation of the American Unitarian Association at Boston in 1825. Certainly, the unitarian theology was being "adopted" by the Congregationalists from the 1820s onwards. This movement is also evident in England at this time. The first school founded by the Unitarians in

1595-471: A front-page column to it for fourteen years. As a two-year member of the Massachusetts legislature , 1880–82, he was a valuable link between suffragists and the legislature. During the early part of the Civil War, Higginson was a captain in the 51st Massachusetts Infantry from November 1862 to October 1864, when he was retired because of a wound received in the preceding August. He was colonel of

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1740-470: A journal?' So I make my first entry to-day." Thoreau was a philosopher of nature and its relation to the human condition. In his early years he followed transcendentalism , a loose and eclectic idealist philosophy advocated by Emerson, Fuller, and Alcott. They held that an ideal spiritual state transcends, or goes beyond, the physical and empirical, and that one achieves that insight via personal intuition rather than religious doctrine. In their view, Nature

1885-794: A late-night excursion to count the rings of tree stumps during a rainstorm, he became ill with bronchitis . His health declined, with brief periods of remission, and he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly The Maine Woods and Excursions , and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of A Week and Walden . He wrote letters and journal entries until he became too weak to continue. His friends were alarmed at his diminished appearance and were fascinated by his tranquil acceptance of death. When his aunt Louisa asked him in his last weeks if he had made his peace with God, Thoreau responded, "I did not know we had ever quarreled." Aware he

2030-571: A leave of absence from Harvard, during which he taught at a school in Canton, Massachusetts , living for two years at an earlier version of today's Colonial Inn in Concord. His grandfather owned the earliest of the three buildings that were later combined. After he graduated in 1837, Thoreau joined the faculty of the Concord public school, but he resigned after a few weeks rather than administer corporal punishment . He and his brother John then opened

2175-467: A mutual friend. Emerson, who was 14 years his senior, took a paternal and at times patron-like interest in Thoreau, advising the young man and introducing him to a circle of local writers and thinkers, including Ellery Channing , Margaret Fuller , Bronson Alcott , and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his son Julian Hawthorne , who was a boy at the time. Emerson urged Thoreau to contribute essays and poems to

2320-619: A person of splendid health and astonishing capacity.... I think she has done more for me than anyone else by prescribing homeopathic arsenic as a tonic, one powder every day on rising, and it has already, I think (3 doses) affected me." In 1850, Higginson was the Free Soil Party candidate for Congress and lost. Subsequently, he was successively a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat. He described having had an interest in his early youth in Brook Farm and Fourierism . Higginson

2465-650: A pre-existent Jesus who was subordinate to God the Father were Lucian of Antioch , Eusebius of Caesarea , Arius , Eusebius of Nicomedia , Asterius the Sophist , Eunomius , and Ulfilas , as well as Felix, Bishop of Urgell . Proponents of this Christology also associate it (more controversially) with Justin Martyr and Hippolytus of Rome . Antitrinitarian Michael Servetus did not deny the pre-existence of Christ, so he may have believed in it. (In his "Treatise Concerning

2610-602: A protester, so perfect a crank and hermit saint, that the book risks being as revered and unread as the Bible." Thoreau moved out of Emerson's house in July 1848 and stayed at a house on nearby Belknap Street. In 1850, he moved into a house at 255 Main Street , where he lived until his death. In the summer of 1850, Thoreau and Channing journeyed from Boston to Montreal and Quebec City . These would be Thoreau's only travels outside

2755-552: A quarterly periodical, The Dial , and lobbied the editor, Margaret Fuller, to publish those writings. Thoreau's first essay published in The Dial was "Aulus Persius Flaccus", an essay on the Roman poet and satirist, in July 1840. It consisted of revised passages from his journal, which he had begun keeping at Emerson's suggestion. The first journal entry, on October 22, 1837, reads, " 'What are you doing now?' he asked. 'Do you keep

2900-554: A signatory to the Oregon State Constitution, founded the first Unitarian church in Oregon in 1865. Eleven Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Unitarians: Robert Millikan and John Bardeen (twice) in physics; Emily Green Balch , Albert Schweitzer and Linus Pauling for peace; George Wald and David H. Hubel in medicine; Linus Pauling in chemistry; and Herbert A. Simon in economics. Four presidents of

3045-773: A significant number of Italians who took refuge in Bohemia , Moravia , Poland, and Transylvania in order to escape from the religious persecution perpetrated against them by the Roman Catholic and Magisterial Protestant churches. In the 17th century, significant repression in Poland led many Unitarians to flee or be killed for their faith. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Unitarians in Britain often faced significant political persecution, including John Biddle , Mary Wollstonecraft , and Theophilus Lindsey . In England,

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3190-569: A similar refusal, were all pertinent, well considered, and reasoned. I took great pleasure in this deed of Thoreau's. Thoreau revised the lecture into an essay titled " Resistance to Civil Government " (also known as "Civil Disobedience"). It was published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in May 1849. Thoreau had taken up a version of Percy Shelley 's principle in the political poem " The Mask of Anarchy " (1819), which begins with

3335-446: A story for all ages; and include sermons, prayers, hymns and songs. Some will allow attendees to publicly share their recent joys or concerns. This section relates to Unitarian churches and organizations today which are still specifically Christian, whether within or outside Unitarian Universalism. Unitarian Universalism, conversely, refers to the embracing of non-Christian religions. Some Unitarian Christian groups are affiliated with

3480-505: A theology and as a denominational family of churches , was defined and developed in Poland, Transylvania, England, Wales, India, Japan, Jamaica, the United States, and beyond in the 16th century through the present. Although common beliefs existed among Unitarians in each of these regions, they initially grew independently from each other. Only later did they influence one another and accumulate more similarities. The Ecclesia minor or Minor Reformed Church of Poland , better known today as

3625-719: A tool for missionary work or encouraging conversions. In India, three different schools of Unitarian thought influenced varying movements, including the Brahmo Samaj , the Unitarian Church of the Khasi Hills , and the Unitarian Christian Church of Chennai , in Madras, founded in 1795. As of 2011, "Thirty-five congregations and eight fellowships comprising almost 10,000 Unitarians now form

3770-719: A two-year experiment in simple living , moving to a small house he had built on land owned by Emerson in a second growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond , having had a request to build a hut on Flints Pond , near that of his friend Charles Stearns Wheeler , denied by the landowners due to the Fairhaven Bay incident. The house was in "a pretty pasture and woodlot" of 14 acres (5.7 hectares) that Emerson had bought, 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2.5 kilometers) from his family home. Whilst there, he wrote his only extended piece of literary criticism, " Thomas Carlyle and His Works ". On July 24 or July 25, 1846, Thoreau ran into

3915-707: A voyage to Europe for the health of his wife, who had an unknown illness, Higginson organized a group of men on behalf of the New England Emigration Aid Company to use peaceful means as tensions rose after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 . The act divided the region into the Kansas and Nebraska territories, whose residents would separately vote on whether to allow slavery within each jurisdiction's borders. Both abolitionist and pro-slavery supporters began to migrate to

4060-678: A women's rights tract, as was an 1859 article he wrote for the Atlantic Monthly , "Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet ?" A close friend and supporter of women's rights leader Lucy Stone , he performed the marriage ceremony of Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell in 1855 and, by sending their protest of unjust marriage laws to the press, was responsible for their " Marriage Protest" becoming a famous document. Together with Stone, he compiled and published The Woman's Rights Almanac for 1858, which provided data such as income disparity between

4205-504: Is alive?" (Letter 260) He was not – his reply included gentle "surgery" (that is, criticism) of Dickinson's raw, odd verse, questions about Dickinson's personal and literary background, and a request for more poems. Higginson's next reply contained high praise, causing Dickinson to reply that it "gave no drunkenness" only because she had "tasted rum before"; she still, though, had "few pleasures so deep as your opinion, and if I tried to thank you, my tears would block my tongue" (Letter 265). In

4350-464: Is best known for his book Walden , a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay " Civil Disobedience " (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument in favor of citizen disobedience against an unjust state. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated

4495-661: Is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.... But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." Amos Bronson Alcott and Thoreau's aunt each wrote that "Thoreau" is pronounced like the word thorough ( / ˈ θ ʌr oʊ / THURR -oh —in General American , but more precisely / ˈ θ ɔːr oʊ / THOR -oh —in 19th-century New England). Edward Waldo Emerson wrote that

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4640-423: Is considered a factor in the decline of classical deism because there were people who increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists. Several tenets of Unitarianism overlap with the predominant Muslim view of Jesus and Islamic understanding of monotheism . The Christology commonly called " Socinian " (after Fausto Sozzini , one of the founders of Unitarian theology) refers to

4785-737: Is not required. The modern Unitarian Church in Hungary (25,000 members) and the Transylvanian Unitarian Church (75,000 members) are affiliated with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) and claim continuity with the historical Unitarian Christian tradition established by Ferenc Dávid in 1565 in Transylvania under John II Sigismund Zápolya . The Unitarian churches in Hungary and Transylvania are structured and organized along

4930-814: Is proximate to the Radical Reformation , beginning almost simultaneously among the Protestant Polish Brethren in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the Principality of Transylvania in the mid-16th century; the first Unitarian Christian denomination known to have emerged during that time was the Unitarian Church of Transylvania , founded by the Unitarian preacher and theologian Ferenc Dávid ( c.  1520 –1579). Among its adherents were

5075-498: Is remembered as a correspondent and literary mentor to the poet Emily Dickinson . In April 1862, Higginson published an article in the Atlantic Monthly , titled "Letter to a Young Contributor," in which he advised budding young writers to step up. Emily Dickinson, a 32-year-old woman from Amherst, Massachusetts , sent a letter to Higginson, enclosing four poems and asking, "Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse

5220-539: Is the outward sign of inward spirit, expressing the "radical correspondence of visible things and human thoughts", as Emerson wrote in Nature (1836). On April 18, 1841, Thoreau moved in with the Emersons . There, from 1841 to 1844, he served as the children's tutor; he was also an editorial assistant, repairman and gardener. For a few months in 1843, he moved to the home of William Emerson on Staten Island , and tutored

5365-513: The American Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian and non-theistic churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship. As a result, people who held no Unitarian belief began to be called Unitarians because they were members of churches that belonged to the American Unitarian Association. After several decades, the non-theistic members outnumbered the theological Unitarians. Unitarianism, both as

5510-482: The Civil War , he served as colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers , the first federally authorized black regiment , from 1862 to 1864. Following the war, he wrote about his experiences with African-American soldiers and devoted much of the rest of his life to fighting for the rights of freed people, women, and other disfranchised peoples. He is also remembered as a mentor to poet Emily Dickinson . Higginson

5655-704: The First South Carolina Volunteers , the first authorized regiment recruited from freedmen for Union military service. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton required that black regiments be commanded by white officers. "We, their officers, did not go there to teach lessons, but to receive them," Higginson wrote. "There were more than a hundred men in the ranks who had voluntarily met more dangers in their escape from slavery than any of my young captains had incurred in all their lives." Higginson described his Civil War experiences in Army Life in

5800-458: The Great Lakes region in 1861, when he visited Niagara Falls , Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee , St. Paul and Mackinac Island . He was provincial in his own travels, but he read widely about travel in other lands. He devoured all the first-hand travel accounts available in his day, at a time when the last unmapped regions of the earth were being explored. He read Magellan and James Cook ;

5945-501: The Holy Spirit . This Christology existed in some form or another prior to Sozzini. Theodotus of Byzantium , Artemon and Paul of Samosata denied the pre-existence of Christ. These ideas were continued by Marcellus of Ancyra and his pupil Photinus in the 4th century AD. In the Radical Reformation and Anabaptist movements of the 16th century this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle, Lelio Sozzini . Having influenced

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6090-644: The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), founded in 1995. The ICUU has "full member" groups in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, EUU, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain. Sri Lanka and the United States. Brazil is a Provisional Member. The ICUU includes small "Associate Groups", including Congregazione Italiana Cristiano Unitariana, Turin (founded in 2004) and

6235-637: The Logos , or the Word, a being begotten or created by God, who dwelt with God in heaven. There are many varieties of this form of Unitarianism, ranging from the belief that the Son was a divine spirit of the same substance (called Subordinationism ) or of a similar substance to that of God (called Semi-Arianism ) to the belief that he was an angel or other lesser spirit creature of a wholly different nature from God. Not all of these views necessarily were held by Arius ,

6380-585: The Mid-Atlantic States . The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in North America was by King's Chapel in Boston, from where James Freeman began teaching Unitarian doctrine in 1784 and was appointed rector. Later in 1785, he created a revised Unitarian Book of Common Prayer based on Lindsey's work. Unitarianism is a proper noun and follows

6525-478: The National Urban League , and Florence Nightingale in humanitarianism and social justice; John Bowring , Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Elizabeth Gaskell in literature; Frank Lloyd Wright in the arts; Josiah Wedgwood , Richard Peacock and Samuel Carter MP in industry; Thomas Starr King in ministry and politics; and Charles William Eliot in education. Julia Ward Howe was a leader in

6670-605: The Polish Brethren to a formal declaration of this belief in the Racovian Catechism , Fausto Sozzini involuntarily ended up giving his name to this Christological position, which continued with English Unitarians such as John Biddle , Thomas Belsham , Theophilus Lindsey , and James Martineau . In America, most of the early Unitarians were "Arian" in Christology (see below), but among those who held to

6815-524: The Polish Brethren , was born as the result of a controversy that started on January 22, 1556, when Piotr of Goniądz (Peter Gonesius), a Polish student, spoke out against the doctrine of the Trinity during the general synod of the Reformed ( Calvinist ) churches of Poland held in the village of Secemin . After nine years of debate, in 1565, the anti-Trinitarians were excluded from the existing synod of

6960-629: The Polish Reformed Church (henceforth the Ecclesia maior ) and they began to hold their own synods as the Ecclesia minor . Though frequently called " Arians " by those on the outside, the views of Fausto Sozzini (Faustus Socinus) became the standard in the church, and these doctrines were quite removed from Arianism. So important was Socinus to the formulation of their beliefs that those outside Poland usually referred to them as Socinians . The Polish Brethren were disbanded in 1658 by

7105-557: The Sejm (Polish Parliament). They were ordered to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave Poland. Most of them went to Transylvania or Holland, where they embraced the name "Unitarian". Between 1665 and 1668 a grandson of Socinus, Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. , published Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant ( Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians 4 vols. 1665–1669). The Unitarian Church in Transylvania

7250-525: The Trinity or affirms the belief that God is only one person . In that case, it would be a Nontrinitarian belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian movement. For example, the Unitarian movement has never accepted the Godhood of Jesus, and therefore does not include those nontrinitarian belief systems that do, such as Oneness Pentecostalism , United Pentecostal Church International ,

7395-469: The True Jesus Church , and the writings of Michael Servetus (all of which maintain that Jesus is God as a single person). Recently, some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century term biblical unitarianism to distinguish their theologies from Unitarianism. Unitarianism is a Christian theology and practice that precedes and is distinct from Unitarian Universalism . In the 1890s

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7540-403: The University of Leiden in the Netherlands for the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town . There are two active Unitarian churches in Ireland, one in Dublin and the other in Cork. Both are member churches of the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland . Unitarianism was a latecomer to Denmark. Some of the inspiration came from Norway and England – family members of

7685-463: The arctic explorers John Franklin , Alexander Mackenzie and William Parry ; David Livingstone and Richard Francis Burton on Africa; Lewis and Clark ; and hundreds of lesser-known works by explorers and literate travelers. Astonishing amounts of reading fed his endless curiosity about the peoples, cultures, religions and natural history of the world and left its traces as commentaries in his voluminous journals. He processed everything he read, in

7830-414: The first Unitarian Church was established in 1774 on Essex Street, London , where today's British Unitarian headquarters is still located. As is typical of dissenters and nonconformists , Unitarianism does not constitute one single Christian denomination ; rather, it refers to a collection of both existing and extinct Christian groups (whether historically related to each other or not) that share

7975-488: The religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus" to Unitarians, though the phrase was used earlier by Congregationalist Rollin Lynde Hartt in 1924. Worship within the Unitarian tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings of God , while the focus of the service may be simply the celebration of life itself. Each Unitarian congregation is at liberty to devise its own form of worship, though commonly, Unitarians will light their chalice (symbol of faith), have

8120-400: The Beagle . He kept detailed observations on Concord's nature lore, recording everything from how the fruit ripened over time to the fluctuating depths of Walden Pond and the days certain birds migrated. The point of this task was to "anticipate" the seasons of nature, in his word. He became a land surveyor and continued to write increasingly detailed observations on the natural history of

8265-489: The Bét Dávid Unitarian Association, Oslo (founded 2005). The largest Unitarian denomination worldwide today is also the oldest Unitarian denomination (since 1565, first use of the term "Unitarian" 1600): the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (in Romania , which is in union with the Unitarian Church in Hungary). The church in Transylvania still looks to the statement of faith, the Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios (1787), though today assent to this

8410-414: The Civil War, Higginson became active in the Free Religious Association (FRA) and in 1870 delivered the speech The Sympathy of Religions , which was later published and circulated. The address argued that all religions shared essential truths and a common exhortation toward benevolence. Division among the faiths was ultimately artificial, he said: "Every step in the progress of each brings it nearer to all

8555-403: The Concord Academy, a grammar school in Concord, in 1838. They introduced several progressive concepts, including nature walks and visits to local shops and businesses. The school closed when John became fatally ill from tetanus in 1842 after cutting himself while shaving. He died in Henry's arms. Upon graduation Thoreau returned home to Concord, where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson through

8700-404: The Danish Lutheran Church, to one where this was no longer assumed ( ). Biblical Unitarianism identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches that God the Father is one singular being , and that Jesus Christ is a distinct being, his son, but not divine. A few denominations use this term to describe themselves, clarifying the distinction between them and those churches which, from

8845-456: The Divine Trinity" Servetus taught that the Logos (Word) was the reflection of Christ, and "that reflection of Christ was 'the Word with God" that consisted of God Himself, shining brightly in heaven, "and it was God Himself" and that "the Word was the very essence of God or the manifestation of God's essence, and there was in God no other substance or hypostasis than His Word, in a bright cloud where God then seemed to subsist. And in that very spot

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8990-416: The Evangelical man as the Mohammedan?" Although his own relationship to evangelical Protestants remained strained, he saw the exclusion of any religious mindset as fundamentally dangerous to the organization. Higginson spoke at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 and praised the great strides that had been made in the mutual understanding of the world's great religions, describing the Parliament as

9135-402: The German liberal theology associated primarily with Friedrich Schleiermacher , the psilanthropist view increased in popularity. Its proponents took an intellectual and humanistic approach to religion. They embraced evolutionary concepts, asserted the "inherent goodness of man", and abandoned the doctrine of biblical infallibility , rejecting most of the miraculous events in the Bible (including

9280-558: The Individual in relation to Government", explaining his tax resistance at the Concord Lyceum . Bronson Alcott attended the lecture, writing in his journal on January 26: Heard Thoreau's lecture before the Lyceum on the relation of the individual to the State—an admirable statement of the rights of the individual to self-government, and an attentive audience. His allusions to the Mexican War, to Mr. Hoar 's expulsion from Carolina, his own imprisonment in Concord Jail for refusal to pay his tax, Mr. Hoar's payment of mine when taken to prison for

9425-474: The National Woman's Rights Central Committee since 1853 or 1854, he was one of nine activists retained in that post when that large body of state representatives was reduced in 1858. After the Civil War, Higginson was an organizer of the New England Woman Suffrage Association in 1868, and of the American Woman Suffrage Association the following year. He was one of the original editors of the suffrage newspaper Woman's Journal , founded in 1870, and contributed

9570-421: The Newburyport Lyceum and against the wishes of the majority of the board, Higginson brought Ralph Waldo Emerson to speak. Higginson proved too radical for the congregation and resigned in 1849. After that, he lectured on the Lyceum circuit, initially receiving about $ 15 for each talk (Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo Emerson could command $ 25). The Compromise of 1850 brought new challenges and new ambitions for

9715-411: The Secret Six fled to Canada or elsewhere after Brown's capture, but Higginson never fled, despite his involvement being common knowledge. Higginson was never arrested or called to testify. In 1879, Higginson was elected to represent Cambridge's first and fifth wards in the Massachusetts House of Representatives . He was re-elected in 1880. He made another run for U.S. House of Representatives in 1888 as

9860-411: The Unitarian Chapel was known as the "Mayors' Nest". Numerous Unitarian families were highly significant in the social and political life of Britain from Victorian times to the middle of the 20th century. They included the Nettlefolds , Martineaus , Luptons , Kitsons , Chamberlains and Kenricks. In Birmingham, England , a Unitarian church – the Church of the Messiah – was opened in 1862. It became

10005-454: The Unitarian Union of North East India." The American Unitarian Conference (AUC) was formed in 2000 and stands between UUA and ICUU in attachment to the Christian element of modern Unitarianism. The American Unitarian Conference is open to non-Christian Unitarians, being particularly popular with non-Christian theists and deists . As of 2009, The AUC has three congregations in the United States. Unitarian Christian Ministries International

10150-426: The Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by King's Chapel in Boston, which settled James Freeman (1759–1835) in 1782, and revised the Prayer Book into a mild Unitarian liturgy in 1785. In 1800, Joseph Stevens Buckminster became minister of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, where his brilliant sermons, literary activities, and academic attention to the German "New Criticism" helped shape

10295-421: The United States was the Clinton Liberal Institute , in Clinton, Oneida County, New York , founded in 1831. Unitarians charge that the Trinity , unlike unitarianism, fails to adhere to strict monotheism. Unitarians maintain that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself. They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest

10440-477: The United States were Unitarians: John Adams , John Quincy Adams , Millard Fillmore , and William Howard Taft . Adlai Stevenson II , the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, was a Unitarian; he was the last Unitarian to be nominated by a major party for president as of 2024. Although a self-styled materialist, Thomas Jefferson was pro-Unitarian to the extent of suggesting that it would become

10585-758: The United States. It is as a result of this trip that he developed lectures that eventually became A Yankee in Canada . He jested that all he got from this adventure "was a cold". In fact, this proved an opportunity to contrast American civic spirit and democratic values with a colony apparently ruled by illegitimate religious and military power. Whereas his own country had had its revolution, in Canada history had failed to turn. In 1851, Thoreau became increasingly fascinated with natural history and narratives of travel and expedition. He read avidly on botany and often wrote observations on this topic into his journal. He admired William Bartram and Charles Darwin 's Voyage of

10730-711: The abolitionist movement began to accept Brown as a martyr, and by the time of the American Civil War entire armies of the North were literally singing Brown's praises . As a biographer of Brown put it, "If, as Alfred Kazin suggests, without John Brown there would have been no Civil War, we would add that without the Concord Transcendentalists, John Brown would have had little cultural impact." Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. In 1860, following

10875-537: The advice of Emerson, using Emerson's publisher, Munroe, who did little to publicize the book. In August 1846, Thoreau briefly left Walden to make a trip to Mount Katahdin in Maine , a journey that was later recorded in "Ktaadn", the first part of The Maine Woods . Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1847. At Emerson's request, he immediately moved back to the Emerson house to help Emerson's wife, Lidian, manage

11020-482: The arrest and trial of the free black Frederick Jenkins , known as Shadrach. Abolitionists helped him escape to Canada . He participated with Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker in the attempt at freeing Thomas Sims , a Georgia slave who had escaped to Boston. In 1854, when the escaped Anthony Burns was threatened with extradition under the Fugitive Slave Act, Higginson led a small group who stormed

11165-412: The belief that Jesus Christ began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesus pre-existed his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging from the belief that Jesus was simply a human ( psilanthropism ) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son ( adoptionism ) to the belief that Jesus literally became the son of God when he was conceived by

11310-539: The boat so perfectly, either with two paddles or with one, that it seemed instinct with his own will, and to require no physical effort to guide it." He was not a strict vegetarian, though he said he preferred that diet and advocated it as a means of self-improvement. He wrote in Walden , "The practical objection to animal food in my case was its uncleanness; and besides, when I had caught and cleaned and cooked and eaten my fish, they seemed not to have fed me essentially. It

11455-685: The boy." ("Emily Dickinson's Letters," Atlantic Monthly , October 1891) After Dickinson's death, Higginson collaborated with Mabel Loomis Todd in publishing volumes of her poetry – heavily edited in favor of conventional punctuation, diction, and rhyme. In White Heat (Knopf, 2008), an account of Higginson's friendship with Dickinson, author Brenda Wineapple credits Higginson with more editorial sensitivity than literary historians have previously noted. Higginson's prominence within intellectual circles helped to promote Dickinson's poetry , which remained strange and startling even in its altered form. His works included: , Unitarianism Unitarianism

11600-660: The churches associated with the Christian Church in Italy . Notable Unitarians include classical composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók ; Ralph Waldo Emerson , Theodore Parker , Yveon Seon and Thomas Lamb Eliot in theology and ministry; Oliver Heaviside , Erasmus Darwin , Joseph Priestley , John Archibald Wheeler , Linus Pauling , Sir Isaac Newton and inventor Sir Francis Ronalds in science; George Boole in mathematics; Susan B. Anthony in civil government; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper , Whitney Young of

11745-527: The college". He commented, "Let every sheep keep its own skin", a reference to the tradition of using sheepskin vellum for diplomas. Thoreau's birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord. The house has been restored by the Thoreau Farm Trust, a nonprofit organization, and is now open to the public. The traditional professions open to college graduates—law, the church, business, medicine—did not interest Thoreau, so in 1835 he took

11890-574: The culmination of the FRA's greatest ambitions. After the Civil War, he devoted most of his time to literature. His writings show a deep love of nature, art and humanity. In his Common Sense About Women (1881) and his Women and Men (1888), he advocated equality of opportunity and equality of rights for men and women . In 1874, Higginson was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society . In 1891, Higginson became one of

12035-416: The dispersal of seeds by winds or animals. In this lecture, first presented to a cattle show in Concord, and considered his greatest contribution to ecology, Thoreau explained why one species of tree can grow in a place where a different tree did previously. He observed that squirrels often carry nuts far from the tree from which they fell to create stashes. These seeds are likely to germinate and grow should

12180-482: The early 1840s. Higginson claimed that Child's book, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans , first convinced him to speak against slavery. Higginson was a strong advocate of homeopathy . In 1863, he wrote to his wife Mary Channing Higginson: "and also Ms. Laura Towne, the homeopathic physician of the department, chief teacher and probably the most energetic person this side of civilisation [sic]:

12325-538: The end of his first year of divinity training, he withdrew from the school to turn his attention to the abolitionist cause. He spent the subsequent year studying and, following the lead of Transcendentalist Unitarian minister Theodore Parker , fighting against the expected war with Mexico . Believing that war was only an excuse to expand slavery and the Slave Power , Higginson wrote antiwar poems and went door to door to get signatures for antiwar petitions. With

12470-495: The equivalent of Bunker Hill ; he called it a rehearsal for the violence to come. As sectional conflict escalated, he continued to support disunion abolitionism, organizing the Worcester Disunion Convention in 1857, favoring the North's secession from the slave-holding South and federal government. The convention asserted abolition as its primary goal, even if it would lead the country to war. Higginson

12615-432: The existence of a triune God . Unitarian Christology can be divided according to whether or not Jesus is believed to have had a pre-human existence. Both forms maintain that God is one being and one person and that Jesus is the (or a) Son of God , but generally not God himself. In the early 19th century, Unitarian Robert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history: Unitarianism

12760-427: The face and personality of Christ shone bright." ) Isaac Newton had Arian beliefs as well. Famous 19th-century Arian Unitarians include Andrews Norton and William Ellery Channing (in his earlier years). Although there is no specific authority on convictions of Unitarian belief aside from rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted: In 1938, The Christian Leader attributed "

12905-437: The face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs. Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist , delivering lectures that attacked the fugitive slave law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown . Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced

13050-451: The family's sons while seeking contacts among literary men and journalists in the city who might help publish his writings, including his future literary representative Horace Greeley . Thoreau returned to Concord and worked in his family's pencil factory, which he would continue to do alongside his writing and other work for most of his adult life. He resurrected the process of making good pencils with inferior graphite by using clay as

13195-648: The federal courthouse in Boston with battering rams, axes, cleavers, and revolvers. They could not prevent Burns from being taken back to the South. A courthouse guard was killed, proof that "war had really begun." Higginson received a saber slash on his chin; he wore the scar proudly for the rest of his life. In 1852, Higginson became pastor of the "fervently anti-slavery" Free Church in Worcester. During his tenure, Higginson not only supported abolition, but also temperance, labor rights, and rights of women. Returning from

13340-543: The first of three trips to northern Maine. His expectations were high because he hoped to find genuine, primeval America. But contact with real wilderness in Maine affected him far differently than had the idea of wilderness in Concord. Instead of coming out of the woods with a deepened appreciation of the wilds, Thoreau felt a greater respect for civilization and realized the necessity of balance." Of alcohol, Thoreau wrote, "I would fain keep sober always. ... I believe that water

13485-944: The first recorded student protest in the American colonies. David Henry was named after his recently deceased paternal uncle, David Thoreau. He began to call himself Henry David after he finished college; he never petitioned to make a legal name change. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia Thoreau . None of the children married. Helen (1812–1849) died at age 37, from tuberculosis. John Jr. (1814–1842) died at age 27, of tetanus after cutting himself while shaving. Henry David (1817–1862) died at age 44, of tuberculosis. Sophia (1819–1876) survived him by 14 years, dying at age 56, of tuberculosis. He studied at Harvard College between 1833 and 1837. He lived in Hollis Hall and took courses in rhetoric , classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. He

13630-818: The founders of the Society of American Friends of Russian Freedom (SAFRF). He edited its public appeal "To the Friends of Russian Freedom". Later, in 1907 Higginson was the vice-president of the SAFRF. In 1905, he joined with Jack London , Clarence Darrow , and Upton Sinclair to form the Intercollegiate Socialist Society . Higginson was an Advisory Editor for the second attempt at the Massachusetts Magazine . Higginson died May 9, 1911. Although his death record states that he

13775-497: The founders, and the wife of Edward Grieg. 1900–1918 the society priest was Uffe Birkedal, who had previously been a Lutheran priest. He held the first worship 18 February 1900. A founding general assembly 18 May 1900 elected Mary Bess Westenholz as the first chairman of the Society. The Society newsletter was named 'Protestantisk Tidende' 1904–1993, and then renamed 'Unitaren', reflecting a gradually changing perception of being part of

13920-613: The household while her husband was on an extended trip to Europe. Over several years, as he worked to pay off his debts, he continuously revised the manuscript of what he eventually published as Walden, or Life in the Woods in 1854, recounting the two years, two months, and two days he had spent at Walden Pond. The book compresses that time into a single calendar year, using the passage of the four seasons to symbolize human development. Part memoir and part spiritual quest, Walden at first won few admirers, but later critics have regarded it as

14065-513: The late 19th century, evolved into modern British Unitarianism and, primarily in the United States, Unitarian Universalism . In 16th-century Italy, Biblical Unitarianism was powered by the ideas of the Non-trinitarian theologians Lelio and Fausto Sozzini , founders of Socinianism ; their doctrine was embraced and further developed by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, it's represented by

14210-539: The local tax collector , Sam Staples, who asked him to pay six years of delinquent poll taxes . Thoreau refused because of his opposition to the Mexican–American War and slavery , and he spent a night in jail because of this refusal. The next day Thoreau was freed when someone, likely to have been his aunt, paid the tax, against his wishes. The experience had a strong impact on Thoreau. In January and February 1848, he delivered lectures on "The Rights and Duties of

14355-545: The local laboratory of his Concord experience. Among his famous aphorisms is his advice to "live at home like a traveler". After John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry , many prominent voices in the abolitionist movement distanced themselves from Brown or damned him with faint praise . Thoreau was disgusted by this, and he composed a key speech, " A Plea for Captain John Brown ", which was uncompromising in its defense of Brown and his actions. Thoreau's speech proved persuasive:

14500-424: The luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. Thoreau was an early advocate of recreational hiking and canoeing , of conserving natural resources on private land, and of preserving wilderness as public land. He was himself a highly skilled canoeist; Nathaniel Hawthorne , after a ride with him, noted that "Mr. Thoreau managed

14645-410: The methods and findings of ecology and environmental history , two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity , and attention to practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in

14790-547: The most varied and unusual instructive sayings. Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts , into the "modest New England family" of John Thoreau, a pencil maker, and Cynthia Dunbar. His father was of French Protestant descent. His paternal grandfather had been born on the UK crown dependency island of Jersey . His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led Harvard's 1766 student " Butter Rebellion ",

14935-496: The name should be pronounced "Thó-row", with the h sounded and stress on the first syllable. Among modern-day American English speakers, it is perhaps more commonly pronounced / θ ə ˈ r oʊ / thə- ROH —with stress on the second syllable. Thoreau had a distinctive appearance, with a nose that he called his "most prominent feature". Of his appearance and disposition, Ellery Channing wrote: His face, once seen, could not be forgotten. The features were quite marked:

15080-418: The namesake of this Christology. It is still Nontrinitarian because, according to this belief system, Jesus has always been beneath God, though higher than humans. Arian Christology was not a majority view among Unitarians in Poland, Transylvania or England. It was only with the advent of American Unitarianism that it gained a foothold in the Unitarian movement. Among early Christian theologians who believed in

15225-486: The nose aquiline or very Roman, like one of the portraits of Caesar (more like a beak, as was said); large overhanging brows above the deepest set blue eyes that could be seen, in certain lights, and in others gray,—eyes expressive of all shades of feeling, but never weak or near-sighted; the forehead not unusually broad or high, full of concentrated energy and purpose; the mouth with prominent lips, pursed up with meaning and thought when silent, and giving out when open with

15370-552: The pencil factory to produce plumbago, a name for graphite at the time, which was used in the electrotyping process. Once back in Concord, Thoreau went through a restless period. In April 1844 he and his friend Edward Hoar accidentally set a fire that consumed 300 acres (120 hectares) of Walden Woods. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what

15515-634: The political thoughts and actions of notable figures such as Leo Tolstoy , Mahatma Gandhi , and Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau is sometimes referred to retrospectively as an anarchist , but may perhaps be more properly regarded as a proto-anarchist . In his seminal essay, "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau wrote as follows: "I heartily accept the motto,— 'That government is best which governs least;' and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,— 'That government

15660-540: The powerful images of the unjust forms of authority of his time and then imagines the stirrings of a radically new form of social action. At Walden Pond, Thoreau completed a first draft of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers , an elegy to his brother John, describing their trip to the White Mountains in 1839. Thoreau did not find a publisher for the book and instead printed 1,000 copies at his own expense; fewer than 300 were sold. He self-published on

15805-464: The predominant religion in the United States. In the United Kingdom, although Unitarianism was the religion of only a small minority of the population, its practitioners had an enormous impact on Victorian politics, not only in the larger cities – Birmingham , Leeds , Manchester and Liverpool – but in smaller communities such as Leicester , where there were so many Unitarian mayors that

15950-469: The rest. For us, the door out of superstition and sin may be called Christianity; that is an historical name only, the accident of a birthplace. But other nations find other outlets; they must pass through their own doors." He pushed the FRA to tolerate even those who did not accept the liberal principles the Association espoused, asking, "Are we as large as our theory? ... Are we as ready to tolerate ...

16095-407: The rise of environmental history and ecocriticism as academic disciplines, several new readings of Thoreau began to emerge, showing him to have been both a philosopher and an analyst of ecological patterns in fields and woodlots. For instance, "The Succession of Forest Trees", shows that he used experimentation and analysis to explain how forests regenerate after fire or human destruction, through

16240-408: The same English usage as other Christian theologies that have developed within a religious group or denomination (such as Calvinism , Anabaptism , Adventism , Lutheranism , Wesleyanism , etc.). The term existed shortly before it became the name of a distinct religious tradition, thus occasionally it is used as a common noun to describe any understanding of Jesus Christ that denies the doctrine of

16385-506: The same letter, Higginson warned her against publishing her poetry because of its unconventional form and style. Gradually, Higginson became Dickinson's mentor and "preceptor," and he visited her twice, in 1870 and 1873, at her home in Amherst. Higginson never felt that he fully understood Dickinson. "The bee himself did not evade the schoolboy more than she evaded me," he wrote, "and even at this day I still stand somewhat bewildered, like

16530-502: The sexes as well as a summary of gains made by the national movement during its first seven years. He also compiled and published, in 1858, " Consistent Democracy. The Elective Franchise for Women. Twenty-five Testimonies of Prominent Men ," brief excerpts favoring woman suffrage from the speeches or writing of such men as Wendell Phillips , Henry Ward Beecher , William Henry Channing , Horace Greeley , Gerrit Smith , and various governors, legislators, and legislative reports. A member of

16675-602: The split of the antislavery movement in the 1840s, Higginson subscribed to the Disunion Abolitionists, who believed that as long as slave states remained a part of the Union, the Constitution could never be amended to ban slavery. Higginson re-entered divinity school, and after graduating in 1847 and being ordained as the minister of a Newburyport Unitarian church (see below), he married Mary Channing. Mary

16820-637: The spreading mass of humanity in North America. He decried the latter endlessly but felt that a teacher needs to be close to those who needed to hear what he wanted to tell them. The wildness he enjoyed was the nearby swamp or forest, and he preferred "partially cultivated country". His idea of being "far in the recesses of the wilderness" of Maine was to "travel the logger's path and the Indian trail", but he also hiked on pristine land. In an essay titled, "Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher", environmental historian Roderick Nash wrote, "Thoreau left Concord in 1846 for

16965-505: The squirrel die or abandon the stash. He credited the squirrel for performing a "great service ... in the economy of the universe." He traveled to Canada East once, Cape Cod four times, and Maine three times; these landscapes inspired his "excursion" books, A Yankee in Canada , Cape Cod , and The Maine Woods , in which travel itineraries frame his thoughts about geography, history and philosophy. Other travels took him southwest to Philadelphia and New York City in 1854 and west across

17110-619: The subsequent growth of Unitarianism in New England. Unitarian Henry Ware (1764–1845) was appointed as the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard College, in 1805. Harvard Divinity School then shifted from its conservative roots to teach Unitarian theology (see Harvard and Unitarianism ). Buckminster's close associate William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) was settled over the Federal Street Church in Boston, 1803, and in

17255-686: The territories. After his return, Higginson worked to keep activism aroused in New England by speechmaking, fundraising, and helping to organize the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee . He returned to the Kansas territory as an agent of the National Kansas Aid Committee , working to rebuild morale and distribute supplies—crates of rifles, revolvers, knives, ammunition, and a cannon—to settlers. Higginson became convinced that abolition could not be attained by peaceful methods. He celebrated Kansas as

17400-402: The town, covering an area of 26 square miles (67 square kilometers), in his journal, a two-million-word document he kept for 24 years. He also kept a series of notebooks, and these observations became the source of his late writings on natural history, such as "Autumnal Tints", "The Succession of Trees", and "Wild Apples", an essay lamenting the destruction of the local wild apple species. With

17545-553: The unemployed minister. He ran as the Free Soil Party candidate for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district in 1850 but lost. Higginson called upon citizens to uphold God's law and disobey the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 . He joined the Boston Vigilance Committee , an organization whose purpose was to protect fugitive slaves from pursuit and capture. His joining of the group was inspired by

17690-517: The virgin birth). Notable examples are James Martineau , Theodore Parker , Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederic Henry Hedge . Famous American Unitarian William Ellery Channing was a believer in the virgin birth until later in his life, after he had begun his association with the Transcendentalists. Arianism is often considered a form of Unitarianism. The Christology of Arianism holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as

17835-555: The virgin birth. In the early days of Unitarianism, the stories of the virgin birth were accepted by most. There were a number of Unitarians who questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible, including Symon Budny , Jacob Palaeologus , Thomas Belsham, and Richard Wright , and this made them question the virgin birth story. Beginning in England and America in the 1830s, and manifesting itself primarily in Transcendentalist Unitarianism , which emerged from

17980-621: The woman suffrage movement, the first ever woman to be elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters, and author of the " Battle Hymn of the Republic ", volumes of poetry, and other writing. Although raised a Quaker, Ezra Cornell , founder of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, attended the Unitarian church and was one of the founders of Ithaca's First Unitarian Church. Eramus Darwin Shattuck,

18125-679: The word first appears in a title in Stephen Nye 's A Brief History of the Unitarians, called also Socinians (1687). The movement gained popularity in England in the wake of the Enlightenment and began to become a formal denomination in 1774 when Theophilus Lindsey organised meetings with Joseph Priestley , founding the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country. This occurred at Essex Street Church in London. Official toleration came in 1813 . The first official acceptance of

18270-432: The world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. Thoreau felt a need to concentrate and work more on his writing. In 1845, Ellery Channing told Thoreau, "Go out upon that, build yourself a hut, & there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive. I see no other alternative, no other hope for you." Thus, on July 4, 1845, Thoreau embarked on

18415-748: Was a Unitarian ministry incorporated in South Carolina until its dissolution in 2013 when it merged with the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church. The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church has recently undergone reorganization and today is known as the Unitarian Christian Church of America. In addition, the Unitarian Universalist Faith Alliance and Ministries follow a Progressive Christian format honoring Sacred Space and Creation Spirituality. The Unitarian Christian Church of America (UCCA)

18560-408: Was a fervent supporter of John Brown and is remembered as one of the " Secret Six " abolitionists who helped Brown raise money and procure supplies for his intended slave insurrection at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia . When Brown was captured, Higginson tried to raise money for a trial defense and made plans to help the leader escape from prison, though he was ultimately unsuccessful. Other members of

18705-576: Was a member of the Institute of 1770 (now the Hasty Pudding Club ). According to legend, Thoreau refused to pay the five-dollar fee (approximately equivalent to $ 153 in 2023) for a Harvard master's diploma, which he described thus: Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give

18850-623: Was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts , on December 22, 1823. He was a descendant of Francis Higginson , a Puritan minister and one of the original settlers of the colony of Massachusetts Bay . His father, Stephen Higginson (born in Salem, Massachusetts , November 20, 1770; died in Cambridge, Massachusetts , February 20, 1834), was a merchant and philanthropist in Boston and bursar of Harvard University from 1818 until 1834. Through his mother he

18995-676: Was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is actually buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the intersection of Riverview, Lawn, and Prospect paths. Higginson's deep conviction in the evils of slavery stemmed in part from his mother's influence. He greatly admired abolitionists, who, despite persecution, showed courage and commitment to the worthy cause. The writings of William Lloyd Garrison and Lydia Maria Child were particularly influential to Higginson's abolitionist enthusiasm during

19140-652: Was called as pastor at the First Religious Society of Newburyport, Massachusetts , a Unitarian church known for its liberal Christianity. He supported the Essex County Antislavery Society and criticized the poor treatment of workers at Newburyport cotton factories. Additionally, the young minister invited Theodore Parker and fugitive slave William Wells Brown to speak at the church, and in sermons he condemned northern apathy towards slavery . In his role as board member of

19285-556: Was dying, Thoreau's last words were "Now comes good sailing", followed by two lone words, "moose" and "Indian". He died on May 6, 1862, at age 44. Amos Bronson Alcott planned the service and read selections from Thoreau's works, and Channing presented a hymn. Emerson wrote the eulogy spoken at the funeral. Thoreau was buried in the Dunbar family plot; his remains and those of members of his immediate family were eventually moved to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. Most of

19430-509: Was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at sixteen. He graduated in 1841 at age 18 and taught at a private school for four months, but he detested it and became "a tutor of the three children of his Brookline cousin, Stephen Higginson Perkins". After that, in 1843, he became "a nonmatriculated student at Harvard". In 1842 he became engaged to Mary Elizabeth Channing. He then studied theology at the Harvard Divinity School . In 1845, at

19575-408: Was established in order to restore " primitive Christianity before later corruptions set in". Likewise, Unitarian Christians generally reject the doctrine of original sin . The churchmanship of Unitarianism may include liberal denominations or Unitarian Christian denominations that are more conservative , with the latter being known as biblical Unitarians . The birth of the Unitarian faith

19720-572: Was first recognized by the Edict of Torda , issued by the Transylvanian Diet under Prince John II Sigismund Zápolya (January 1568), and was first led by Ferenc Dávid (a former Calvinist bishop, who had begun preaching the new doctrine in 1566). The term "Unitarian" first appeared as unitaria religio in a document of the Diet of Lécfalva , Transylvania , on 25 October 1600, though it

19865-651: Was followed soon afterwards by chapels in Sydney and Adelaide, and later regional centres including Ballarat. The modern church, no longer unitarian Christian, retains properties in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller congregations elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand. The Unitarian movement in South Africa was founded in 1867 by David Faure , member of a well-known Cape family. He encountered advanced liberal religious thought while completing his studies at

20010-684: Was formed on 1 October 2016 through the merging of the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church and the Unitarian Christian Conference. The church's current ministry in on-line and through local fellowship gatherings. The current senior pastor and current president of the UCCA is the Reverend Dr. Shannon Rogers. The UCCA has both ordained and lay members. The first Unitarian Church in Australia was built in 1854 in Melbourne and

20155-1012: Was founded in the United Kingdom in 1991 by Rev. Lancelot Garrard (1904–93) and others to promote specifically Christian ideas within the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC), the national Unitarian body in Great Britain. Just as the UUCF and ICUU maintain formal links with the Unitarian Universalist Association in the US, so the UCA is an affiliate body of the GAUFCC in Great Britain. The majority of Unitarian Christian publications are sponsored by an organization and published specifically for their membership. Generally, they do not serve as

20300-421: Was insignificant and unnecessary, and cost more than it came to. A little bread or a few potatoes would have done as well, with less trouble and filth." Thoreau neither rejected civilization nor fully embraced wilderness. Instead he sought a middle ground, the pastoral realm that integrates nature and culture. His philosophy required that he be a didactic arbitrator between the wilderness he based so much on and

20445-454: Was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to

20590-509: Was not widely used in Transylvania until 1638, when the formal recepta Unitaria Religio was published. The word Unitarian had been circulating in private letters in England, in reference to imported copies of such publications as the Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians (1665). Henry Hedworth was the first to use the word "Unitarian" in print in English (1673), and

20735-569: Was related to Boston's influential Storrow family. His grandfather, also named Stephen Higginson , was a member of the Continental Congress . He was a distant cousin of Henry Lee Higginson , founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra , a great grandson of his grandfather. A third great grandfather was New Hampshire Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth . Higginson entered Harvard College at age thirteen and

20880-403: Was the daughter of Dr. Walter Channing , a pioneer in the field of obstetrics and gynecology who taught at Harvard University , the niece of Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing , and the sister of Henry David Thoreau 's friend Ellery Channing . Higginson and Mary Channing had no children but raised Margaret Fuller Channing, the eldest daughter of Ellen Fuller and Ellery Channing. Ellen

21025-508: Was the sister of the Transcendentalist and feminist author, Margaret Fuller . Mary Channing died in 1877. Two years later Higginson married Mary Potter Thacher, with whom he had two daughters, one of whom survived into adulthood. Higginson was also related to Harriet Higginson, whose Wooddale, Illinois, home was the first commission of famed architect Bertrand Goldberg in 1934. Having graduated from divinity school, Higginson

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