THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
the expression of Christian belief in virtuous action and humanitarian sympathies. He dwelt much upon love as expressing God's purpose in the mission of Christ and as the supreme manifestation of Christian character. He emphasized the human element in Christ and Christianity, which was too much overlooked by Calvinism, and paid one of the most beautiful and eloquent tributes 3. His Doc- to the perfection of the moral character trines, In- of Christ. He held up his example as fluence,and the great ideal to be followed. He Character, foimd in Christ a perfect manifestation of God to men, and at the same time the ideal of humanity, who spoke with divine authority. He firmly believed in his sinlessness, miracles, and resurrection. He was " always inclined," he wrote as late as Mar. 31, 1832, " to the doctrine of the preexistence of Christ " (Memoir, ii. 133). He was, therefore, not a humanitarian, like Priestley, but rather an Arian, as his nephew calls him. His talent and generous cast of mind were averse to controversy, and he paid little attention to metaphysical questions. He preferred to dwell upon " Christ's spirit, his distinguishing moral attributes, the purposes of his mission " (letter of Mar. 31, 1832, Memoir, ii. 133), and the problems of practical Christianity. He remained a supematuralist to the end; and his last utterances on the Gospels and the character of Jesus are among the strongest and noblest. Of the resurrection he said (letter, Nov. 20, 1839, Memoir, ii. 145): " The resurrection of Christ, related as it is to his character and religion, and recorded as it is in the Gospels, is a fact which comes to me with a certainty which I find in few ancient histories." In a letter, July 6, 1841, regretting omissions in a recent sermon of Theodore Parker, he wrote: " Without miracles the historical Christ is gone.
In regard to miracles I never had the least difficulty. The grand miracle is the perfect divine character of Christ, and to such a being a miraculous mode of manifestation seems natural. It is by no figure of speech that I call Christ miraculous." Channing, however, was not so much a theologian as a preacher and a philanthropist. He was no dreamer, but a practical reformer. He labored for the purification of life and society, and entered heartily into schemes for the abolition of slavery, of intemperance, of prison-abuses, and of war, and for the circulation of the Bible. He had an exalted idea of the nobility of human nature, and an undying faith in freedom and progress.
Channing's works have been published in various forms (complete ed., 6 vols., Boston, 1848; 1 vol., 1875; London, 1880; etc.), and have been widely circulated in English and translations. The best known are Evidences of Christianity, 4. Works, addresses delivered at Cambridge, 1821; a treatise on Slavery, 1841; discourses on the Character of Christ; and critical essays on Milton, F melon, Bonaparte, and Selfculture. The centenary of his birth was celebrated at Newport on Apr. 7, 1880, and memorial meetings were also held in New York, Brooklyn, Washington, and several cities of New England. The comer-stone of the Channing Memorial Church at
Newport (dedicated Oct. 19, 1881) was laid at this time. (P. ScHAFFf) D. S. Schaff.
Bibliography: Memoir of W. E. Channing, with Extracts from his CorreapondeTice and Manuscripts, by his nephew, W H. Channing, 3 vols., Boston, 1848; Channing, sa vie et ses ceuvres, with preface by C. de R^musat, Paris, 1857, enlarged ed., 1861; C. A. Bartol, Principles and Portraits, Boston, 1880; C. T. Brooks, William Ellery Channing, a Centennial Memory, ih. 1880; Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Reminiscences of William Ellery Channing, ib. 1880; The Channing Centenary, ed. R. M. Bellows, ib. 1881; W. W. Fenn, W E. Channing and the Growth of Spiritual Christianity, in Pioneers of Religious Liberty in America, ib. 1903. Also J. H. Allen, The Unitarians, in the American Church History Series, New York, 1894; G. W Cooke, Unitarianism in America, Boston, 1902; J. W. Chadwick, William Ellery Channing, Minister of Religion, ib. 1903; and other works mentioned under Unitarians.
CHANNING, WILLIAM HENRY: Unitarian, nephew of William Ellery Channing; b. in Boston May 25, 1810; d. in London Dec. 23, 1884. He was graduated at Harvard, 1829, and at the Cambridge Divinity School, 1833. He filled many pastorates, most of them of short duration, the longer and more important being at Cincinnati, 1838-41; Rochester, N. Y., 1852-54; Liverpool, England, 1854-61 (Renshaw Street Chapel, 1854- 1857; Hope Street Chapel, 1857-61, where he succeeded Dr. James Martineau); Washington, D. C, 1861-65. He returned to England in 1865 and spent the rest of his life there, making several visits, however, to his native land. He was an eloquent speaker, but more successful as a lecturer and occasional preacher than as pastor; an earnest, spiritual, and enthusiastic man, but visionary and impractical. The chief elements of his creed were faith in God, belief in Jesus Christ as the perfect man, and a boundless hope for humanity to be realized through organization and external remedies. Schemes of social reform captivated him, he sympathized with the Brook Fairn experiment, and adopted many of the ideas of Fourier. The antislavery struggle in America enlisted his ardent support, and, while pastor in Washington during the Civil War, he labored untiringly for the Union cause and for the relief of the wounded in the field. He was chaplain of Congress, 1863-64. In 1869 he delivered a course of Lowell lectures at Boston on the " Progress of Civilization." He published many sermons, addresses, and articles, and edited several short-lived periodicals; translated Jouffroy's Introduction to Ethics (2 vols., Boston, 1841); prepared a Memoir of his uncle, William Ellery Channing (3 vols., 1848), and edited a volume of his discourses. The Perfect Life (1873); edited the Memoir and Writings of his cousin, J. H. Perkins (2 vols., 1851); and, with James Freeman Clarke and R. W. Emerson, edited the Memoirs of Margaret Fuller (2 vols., 1852).
Bibliography: O. B. Frothingham, Life of William Henry Channing, Boston, 1886.