Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 3).djvu/25

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
1793-1803]
Preface
21

vented its acceptance, and the place was filled by Tobias Lear.

In 1789 our author was "approbated to preach," and the following year received his A.M. degree, delivering on the occasion the Phi Beta Kappa address. During the two succeeding years he served as the librarian of his alma mater, and was elected (1792) a resident member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The year 1793 saw Harris installed as pastor of the first church of Dorchester—a relation which was continued through over forty years of faithful and acceptable service. A careful pastor, he exposed himself during the epidemic of yellow fever in 1802 to such an extent that he contracted the disease, and during his convalescence the Western journey was planned and undertaken as a means of recuperation. In this it was eminently successful, and upon his return to Dorchester Harris plunged anew into literary and philanthropic labors. Within the next few years he aided in founding the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Humane Society, the American Peace Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Archæological Society at Athens, and was chosen corresponding member of the New York Historical Society. His addresses and sermons on different occasions found their way into print, until nearly sixty were published. Harvard honored itself by conferring upon him the degree of doctor of divinity in 1813, and during his entire later life he acted as overseer in the college corporation. His eldest son, a well-known entomologist, served as Harvard librarian for twenty-five years (1831-56).

After a second severe illness (1833), Dr. Harris visited Georgia, and thereupon published a biography of Oglethorpe. In 1838 he resigned his pastorate and spent