The autumn of 1843 found Parker so much worn out by toil that a voyage to Europe was recommended for recreation. A friend was near to supply the pecuniary needs of such a journey, and he set out September 9, to remain a whole year on the other side of the Atlantic. It proved no holida}' trip for sight-seeing, but a serious pilgrimage. He returned like a student from his task. Unfortunately, however, his visit to the Old World had filled him with vast and ambitious schemes. The little church, of which he had borne a pencil-drawing on the fly-leaf of his European joui-nal, in sight of the splendid cities with their vast cathedrals, had made him discon- tented with his circumscribed sphere, and he longed for broader fields and greater responsibilities. He deemed himself called to higher work. But how to get beyond his circumscribed circle of influence at West Roxbury, now that even the most radical of Unitarian clergy dared not to invite him to his pulpit, was the question. His sympathizers were numerous in all the churches, and evinced their love for him by constantly crowding his little country church Sunday after Sunday, whither many came from the city to sit under his preaching. He soon saw very clearly that he must first leaven the little lump that came to his own door, and so he wrought with them until they were powerful and enthusiastic enough to promise his support in the metropolis; and in January, 1845, about a year and a quarter after his return from Europe, Parker removed to Boston, with a view of forming a permanent congregation in that city. It was as yet simply an experiment, but it proved suc- cessful. The masses are ever ready to applaud the de- structive elements in society. Those who toil quietly to build up are hardly known, but those who come to tear down and destroy are warmly welcomed, loudly proclaimed, and constantly cheered. So it hap]iened that within a twelvemonth Parker was firmly estab- lished as a religious teacher. He preached in the 3Ie- lodeon, and became the minister of what he always called "The Twenty-eighth Congregational Societ}- of Boston." He there and then presented the extraordi- nary spectacle of a man who vigorously and emphati- cally repudiated all the fundamentals of Christianity,
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and who denied that there was "any great moral or rehgious truth in the New Testament which had not been previously set forth by men, for whom no miracu- lous help was ever claimed,"' still professing to be a Christum minister ! There was no Church orgauization, and no sacraments were administered. The public services consisted simply of a single discourse every Sunday on some literary, philosophical, theological, or political topic, having more or less of a moral or religious bearing, with music and a certain kind of praj-er. His congregation, which was large, as might be expected, was made up of men of diverse religious opinions, comparatively few of whom agreed with him, except in his thorough opposition to evangelical Chris- tianity and his general philanthropic sentiments. The mass of his hearers were men of considerable thought, who had a taste for religious discussion, but who had reasoned themselves away from the Bible — had become dissatisfied with the churches, and had passed into va- rious phases of unbelief. There were atheists, deists, physical and spiritual pantheists, fatalists, spiritualists, come-outers, universal sceptics, and secularists. There were many persons of high culture, wealth, and social position. The more radical reformers, dissatisfied with the indifference of some of the churches to great public vices, and the complicity of others in them, naturally gathered around a man who boldly attacked all public sins, and delighted to pour forth his scorching invective upon those religious bodies who only rebuked unpopu- lar wickedness. Thus a large element of his congrega- tion consisted of those who, having no especial religious or irreligious principles, were attracted by the fasci- nating manner, the novel matter, the trenchant wit, and other high intellectual qualities of his discourses. He was not what is popularly termed an eloquent speak- er— though he was something far better. Neither his person, altitude, gesture, nor elocution indicated the great orator. There was no splendid declamation, no soaring flight, no electrifying of the audience as by some rhetorical machinery. He had learned, what so few of our scholars ever know, how to convey great thoughts in common language. Not that his vocabu- lary was meagre or vulgar — though there was some- times an approach to coarseness in his expressions. On the contrary, his range of language was remark- ably extensive, and his command of appropriate terms almost unlimited. He was thus able to popularize the most abstruse thought, and convej' it in the most fa- miliar words. His fertility of illustration was un- bounded, and his brief similes and metaphors some- times gave possession of a valuable idea which whole pages of writing might otherwise have failed to bring out. In reading as -well as in hearing him, all felt that an ordinary man was placing before them ex- traordinarj' thoughts. It is true that sometimes when discoursing on some popular sin before which the Church and the political parties had been awed into silence, his soul would become mightily stirred, and then the momentum was almost terrible. A natural rhetoric would marshal his phrases in wonderful order ; his fiery words would tingle in the ears of those who heard them ; there was then an eloquence which in- spired whole multitudes after the sublimest manner. Ordinarily, however, he spoke in a plain, easy, con- versational waj', using familiar but striking illustra- tions, garnishing, and yet helping the argument with strokes of irresistible humor, not sparing the terri- ble sarcasm in which he was an adept, often palpa- bly extravagant in his statements, now and then violating the conventional canons of good taste, but always making his point tell, at Avhatever sacrifice. Besides |)reaching on Sunday, Theodore Parker is said to have engaged largely in parochial duties, at- tending to the wants of the jioor and the afflicted. Of these we find no definite account; but from the benevo- lent char.acter of the man we have no doubt that he devoted some time to these genial employments. In