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Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (23 July 1793 – 3 April 1870) was an American
Unitarian minister and pastor of the First Church of Boston from 1815 to 1850. Frothingham was opposed to
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
and the interjection of
transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in New England. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Wald ...
into the church. He also wrote sermons, hymns, and poetry.
Early life
Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham was born on July 23, 1793, in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts the son of Ebenezer Frothingham and Joanna Langdon. He attended
Boston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...
under the charge of Samuel Hunt. He graduated from
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
College in 1811 at the age of eighteen and gave a commencement speech entitled "The Cultivation of the Taste and Imagination," which was described by Dr. Pierce as "written with purity and pronounced with elegance."
Career
In 1812, Frothingham became the first Instructor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard.
On March 15, 1815, Frothingham became an ordained Minister of the
First Church in Boston
First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church (originally Congregationalist) founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building, located on 66 Marlborough Street in the Back ...
. He remained there until March 1850.
Frothingham had been five years in the pulpit when the
Unitarian controversy broke out. The
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
was formed in 1825. In March 1835, the twentieth anniversary of his settlement in the First Church, he preached:
The dependence was on miracle. Frothingham said, in a sermon on the "Manifestation of Christ":
In a sermon entitled "The Ruffian Released", preached in 1836, he said:
He disagreed with the philosophy of ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'',
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's famous novel, which seemed to imply that a change of outward conditions would effect a change of character, that the social arrangement was radically wrong, and that the "paralysis of the person" was contingent on "the narrowness of the lot", which ran counter to his beliefs.
The following is from Parker's journal:
Frothingham was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1856.
He corresponded with
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
, and was a thorough student of the
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
when such scholarship was rare in America.
Family
In 1818, Frothingham married Ann Gorham Brooks, daughter of Peter Chardon Brooks and sister of the wives of
Edward Everett
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massa ...
and
Charles Francis Adams, Sr.
Charles Francis Adams Sr. (August 18, 1807 – November 21, 1886) was an American historical editor, writer, politician, and diplomat. As United States Minister to the United Kingdom during the American Civil War, Adams was crucial to Union effort ...
They had three children, all born in Boston.
Octavius Brooks Frothingham
Octavius Brooks Frothingham (November 26, 1822 – November 27, 1895) was an American clergyman and author.
Biography
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (1793–1870), a prominent Unitarian preacher, ...
was born November 26, 1822, and became an author. Ward Brooks Frothingham was born November 16, 1828, and resided for a time in
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
, serving in two town offices.
Ellen Frothingham Ellen Frothingham (25 March 1835 - 1902) worked in the United States as a translator of German-language works into English.
Biography
She was born in Boston, the daughter of Nathaniel Frothingham. She studied German literature, and was well known ...
was born March 25, 1835 and became a translator (German into English).
Ann Frothingham died on July 4, 1864, in
Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 census.
History
It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, but this has never b ...
.
Illness
In the summer of 1826, Frothingham was afflicted by weekly violent headaches.
In 1859, on a third foreign tour of eighteen months, in Europe with his wife and daughters, Frothingham first became aware of a defect in his vision. He could not enjoy picture-galleries, and saw distorted figures and blurred colors. He consulted oculists in Paris and London, but no disease was visible in his eyes. When he returned home in the autumn of 1860, the dimness had increased.
In 1865, he underwent an unsuccessful operation on his eyes and became totally blind. His disease was of the nature of glaucoma and was incurable.
Work
Sermons
*''Deism Or Christianity? Four Discourses'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, (1845) reprint (March 4, 2009),
''Two Hundred Years Ago: A Sermon Preached to the First Church, on the Close of Their Second Century'', 1830, Printed for the Society ''God with the Aged: A Sermon Preached to the First Church, Jan. 7, 1849'' J. Wilson, 1849.
''Christian Patriotism: A Sermon, on the Occasion of the Death of John Adams'' Munroe and Francis, 1826.
* ''Sermons in the Order of a Twelvemonth'', 1852.
Hymns
"60R O You Whose Presence Glows In All", Hymns of the Spirits Three
Poetry
In the introduction to a translation of the first of the Elegies of Propertius, a writer in the Augustan Age of Roman poetry, Frothingham says:
*
Xenia epigram
The ''xenia'' motif in Roman mosaic is a still life motif consisting of a grouping of various items, mostly edible, representing a generous offering (a ''xenia'') from a wealthy host to guests. The items are often spread across different compartm ...
"The Crossed Swords", Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. ''An American Anthology, 1787–1900'', 1900*
* "Sartor Resartus", ''Christian Examiner'' for September, 1836, N. L. Frothingham.
References
External links
*
''Frothingham, N.L. (Nathaniel Langdon) (1793–1870)'', Harper's Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frothingham, Nathaniel Langdon
Harvard College alumni
1793 births
1870 deaths
19th-century Unitarian clergy
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American religious writers
People from Burlington, Massachusetts