Protracted Meetings. Sec Revival.
Proud, Joseph, an English minister of the New Jerusalem Church, who was bom in the second half of the last century, is noted as the author of several of the ablest polemics ever issued by the Church of which he was a much esteemed member. He died about 18G0. His works are: Reply to Dr. Priestley's Letters on Swe- denborg (1792, 8vo) : — Hymns for the New Church (12mo) :— Jehovah's Mercy, a poem (8vo): — Unitarian Doctrine Refuted (Lond. 180G, 8vo) : — Letters on the Fundamental Doctrint s oftht Unitarian Religion (1808, 8vo): — The Aged Minister's Last Legacy to the New Church (Birm. 12mo; 2d ed. Lond. 1855). See Sprague, Annul* of the Ama: Pulpit, ix, 67.
Proudfit, Alexander Moncrief, D.D., an American divine of much celebrity, was born at Pequa, Pa., in 1770, and was educated at Columbia College, New York (class of 1792). He entered the ministry of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and was made pastor of the congregation at Salem, N. Y., in 1795, where he lived until 1835, when he became agent of the American Colonization Society. lie resigned that post in 1842. and died in 1843. He published: Discourses on the Ruin ami Recovery of Man (Salem. 1806, I2mo; again, 1813, 12mo) : — Discourses on the Leading Doc- trines and Duties of Christianity (1815, 4 vols. 12mo) :— a work on the Parables (1820, 12mo) :— and a number of single Sermons, Tracts, etc. (1798-1830). See Mem- oir of the late A.M. Proudfit, />./>.. etc., by John For- syth, D.D., minister of the Union Church. Newburgh, N. Y. (12mo), reviewed in the Mcth. Quar. Rev. vi, 358. by R.W. Dickinson ; Sprague, A nnals of the A mer. Pul- pit, ix, 67 ; Memorial Volume A . B. C. F. M. 1862, p. 114; Princet. Rev. Oct. 1846, p. 609.
Proudfit, John, D.D., son of the precedine-, was horn at Salem, N. Y.. in 1804, graduated at Onion Col- lege in 1823, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in
1826. After a brief settlement as pastor at Newbury- port, Mass., he was elected professor of ancient lan- guages in the University of the City of New York, where he remained from 1833 until 1838. He then spent some time, in Europe, and in 1841 accepted the professorship of Latin and Greek literature in Rutgers College. In 1854 his chair was confined to Greek lit- erature alone. He resigned in 1861, and transferred his ecclesiastical relation in 1864 to the Presbyterian Church. After a second protracted residence in Eu- rope, he enlisted in the service of his country, and din- ing the war was an exceedingly devoted and useful chaplain to the soldiers of the IT. S. Army, being located on Bedloe's Island, in New York Harbor. After his re- turn from the war he lived in New York City. He was a sincere and devout believer in the religion which he preached. His daily walk seemed to be "close with God," until, at last, " God took him." He died of pneu- monia in 1870, after a very short illness, perfectly sub- missive to the will of the Lord and happy in the pros- pect of heaven. Dr. Proudfit was an eminent classical scholar and divine. His mind was highly cultivated, his tastes were refined, and his public life was distin- guished by bis devotion to literary and theological pur- suits. He was a frequent contributor to religious news- papers, and to the Princeton Review and other serial publications. For some time he was editor of the New Brunsicick Quarterly Review. In these periodicals he was actively engaged in the discussion of the exciting controversies connected with what is known as -'Mer- cersburg theology." He edited an edition of Plautus and other classical works. His scholarship was far greater than his ability as a practical teacher of youth. His sermons were always carefully elaborated in style, elegant in expression, and evangelical in spirit, but his quiet delivery failed to give them the power to which their real merits entitled them. Some of these were published by request, among which is A Baccalaureate Discourst to th< Graduating Class of 1841 in Rutgers College, one of the best specimens of his pulpit efforts. Dr. Proudfit was unusually tall and slender, dignified in appearance, with an intellectual head, benevolent lace. and polished manners. He excelled as a conversation- alist, being full of anecdote and illustration, and happi- ly interweaving his reminiscences of public men and incidents of travel in foreign lands. He took a deep in- terest in the evangelization of the papal nations of Eu- rope, and was familiar with the great religious questions of those Ian. Is. (W.J.R.T.)
Proudfit, Robert, D.D., an eminent American divine and educator, was born at Hopewell, Pa., June (). 1777. and graduated at Dickinson College, Pa., in 1798. In 1801 lie was ordained, and installed as pastor of the Associate Reformed Church at Broadalbin, N. Y., in which charge he continued until 1818, when he ac- cepted an invitation to the professorship of Greek and Latin at Union College, Schenectady, which situation he filled with distinguished ability until 1849, wh< n. by an act passed by the board of trustees of that college, he was relieved from active duty, and assumed the title of emeritus professor in the same institution. During the whole time he was in active duty as professor, Dr. Proudfit did not neglect the call of his sacred profes- sion, and, while his health permitted, he ceased not to preach the Gospel whenever he had opportunity. The zeal and earnestness with which he labored for the Master's cause gained many souls to the Church, and Dr. Proudfit's memory is in the hearts of many made happy by his agency. He died at Schenectady. X. V„ Feb. 11, 1862. See Wilson, Presbyt. Hist. Almanac (1862), p. 306.