John Leland, The Writings of John Leland, ed. L. F. Greene, Religion in America (New York, NY: Arno Press, 1969).

Introduction

John Leland (May 14, 1754 – January 14, 1841) was a bigger-than-life character, the sort that seems crafted for an enthralling biography. This book is not a biography, but a compilation of more than one hundred writings from the pen of John Leland – everything from political speeches to private letters, and autobiography to personal proverbs. John Leland was a Baptist preacher, a political activist, and a one-of-a-kind American; and L. F. Greene has provided the reader with first-hand exposure to Leland’s own thoughts in the man’s own words. This is the kind of book that historians want within reach while reading the fascinating biography, so that they might chase down footnotes and have more access to the subject at hand. 

The Writings of John Leland was originally published in 1845 by G. W. Wood and reprinted by Arno Press in 1969 (access a PDF version online HERE). L. F. Greene was the original editor and compiler of these writings, and I was unable to find much information at all about Greene. The editor says in the preface that the suggestion to produce such a work initially came from “the Leland family,” but there is not much to learn about the editor. Greene’s humility is obvious in the repeated statements of “inadequacy,” insufficient time, and hope that an “abler hand” might accomplish the task instead.^[1] It does seem that Greene was not the best person for the job of publishing this kind of work (as I shall address below in my critique), but generations of readers and historians are grateful for the effort.^[2]

Book Summary

Leland’s writings are eclectic, but they can be generally categorized under several headings: (1) biography, (2) public arguments, (3) sermons and speeches, (4) letters, and (5) philosophical musing.

Biography

The first writing of the book is “Events in the Life of John Leland,” which is a fast-moving autobiography of Leland’s entire life.^[3] This opening chapter is exemplary of the way in which Leland tells stories of his life and experiences, and the reader is introduced to quite a lot of information in this first essay. Leland tells of his coerced baptism as a young child in the late 1750s. He recounts his pietistic and mystical conversion to Christianity as well as his punctilious baptism as a New Light convert of the First Great Awakening, both in in June of 1774. Leland’s internal call to preaching ministry had been percolating in his mind for some time, but on the Sunday following his baptism, he believed that call was miraculously confirmed. Leland tells little of his marriage to Sally Devine in September of 1776 and much of his itinerate preaching escapades, including a meticulous reporting of baptisms performed (1,515 by Leland’s own count on October 30, 1831).^[4] Such is the content of most of Leland’s biographical writings.

It is interesting to note here that Leland does not include very much of his experiences as pastor of the Third Baptist Church of Cheshire, Massachusetts, either in this opening narrative or in the other biographical writings within. Leland was the official pastor of this church (on-and-off) for about forty years, but he largely used the church and town as something of a home base for his itinerate ministry. In fact, one of the main examples of Leland’s bizarre individualism (even strange for a Baptist in the early nineteenth century!) is his unwillingness for more than a decade to fulfill his pastoral duty of administering the Lord’s Supper among the Cheshire church.

Public Arguments

Leland’s public arguments often came in the form of newspaper articles, and these epitomized his efforts to influence public opinion on a number of issues, including religious liberty, political policy, and chattel slavery. One article published in the Virginia Chronicle in 1790 exemplifies all three. Leland offers a brief history of Virginia as an English chartered state that became a state of the American republic. He explains a little of the various religious sects that populated the region and their development and distinctions over time, arguing for civil policy that would allow freedom of religious expression among the inhabitants. Leland believed that “Civil government is certainly a curse to mankind; but it is a necessary curse, in this fallen state, to prevent greater evils.”^[5] And Leland argued that the civil government and the church must necessarily be disentangled from one another, so that each could pursue its God-ordained ends. He wrote, “No national church, can, in its organization, be the Gospel Church.”^[6]

And yet, Leland was not interested in a society that was free from moral constraint, and his advocacy for the liberation of African slaves is a strong example. While Leland was less clear in his solution for the “evil” of slavery in his later years, he was perfectly clear in 1790. Leland wrote, “The whole scene of slavery is pregnant with enormous evils… If these… attend it, why not liberate them at once? Would to Heaven this were done! The sweets of rural and social life will never by well enjoyed, until it is the case.”^[7] Regrettably, Leland was unusual among his Baptist peers in early America in such a direct and public assault on an obvious evil.

Sermons and Speeches

Leland did not manuscript his sermons, and what content we do have of them seems to indicate that he preached a mixture of revivalism and patriotism. Occasionally a listener would transcribe them or summarize them. Leland most often preached as a revivalist itinerate, but he was also a sought-after preacher for special occasions. One such sermon was preached at the ordination of Reverend Luman Birch in 1806. Herein we may learn something of Leland’s view regarding the minister’s “call” or sense of divine appointment to the ministry of preaching.

Leland listed six descriptors of the way in which ministers are “called” to their role. First, the “call to the ministry does not depend upon the brilliancy of natural talents.”^[8] God Himself furnishes the man for the task to which he is called. Second, it does not “depend upon the acquisition of schools.”^[9] The Holy Spirit must enlighten the preacher’s mind, and no amount of education would sufficiently prepare him. Third, the call to ministry is not the same as “a gracious call out of darkness into the marvelous light of the gospel.”^[10] All saints or Christians are called in this way, but ministers receive an additional and distinct call. Fourth, “it is not subservient to the will or choice of men.”^[11] What God calls a man to do cannot be thwarted by the obstinance of mere mortals who may not recognize it. Fifth, “it is not miraculous.”^[12] The call to preaching ministry does not have to be accompanied by signs and wonders. And sixth, “the call is by special mission.”^[13] By this Leland asserted that preachers are those who have received a special gifting from Christ, namely “the furniture of mind” and “a constraint to improve.”^[14]

It is not hard to hear Leland making an argument here for his own ministry calling as well as his general view of what it means to be “called” as a minister more generally. He certainly embodied these descriptors in his own life and ministry.

Letters

Leland wrote various letters to politicians, to Baptist associations and churches, and to private parties. In 1836, Leland wrote to the Honorable George Nixon Briggs, a Massachusetts senator at that time and the Governor of Massachusetts from 1844-1851. While Leland began with some statements of apparent humility, he did not hesitate to instruct the senator that his particular committee had “grown to a giant” that “abused” its civil power.^[15]

Leland used the medium of a circular letter of the Shaftsbury Association in 1793 to urge Baptists to embrace the Bible as “the only confession of faith they dare adopt” and to resist any use of “pope or king” to coerce unity of beliefs or practice.^[16] In this letter, Leland outlined his argument that the Bible is the “guide” and “sure word of prophecy” to “direct [the] course” of Christians in the world.^[17] In summary, he asserted that the Bible has stood the test of time, it has “weight in the argument,” it is harmonious in its teaching, it is attested by fulfilled prophecy, it is “sublime” in its “style,” it produces “wonderful effects” in those that read and heed it, it has adherents who have been willing to endure “patient sufferings” to obey it, it has remained in the face of terrible “attempts to destroy” it, it presents a better ethic than any other in the world, it reflects the character of God Himself, judgments have fallen upon those who have “destroyed these writings,” and God has preserved those who have aimed to keep the words of it in their lives.^[18] Whatever we might say of Leland’s hermeneutic or his consistency with Scripture, we read in his words a proclamation of a high view of Scripture itself.

Philosophical Musings

Like many Baptists of his day, Leland was not formally educated as a theologian. However, his mind was active, and his thought was both rational and contemplative. Some of the most interesting writings from Leland’s pen are recorded at the end of this volume in a chapter entitled “Short and Unconnected Sentences.”^[19] These include speculative philosophical ideas, personal development principles, and biblical thought experiments (just to name a few). 

Critique

This volume is the sort that historians love. It provides a one-stop-shop for primary source documents on a key figure in Baptist and American history. But this particular compilation of writings has a major flaw – it offers almost no historical or narrative context for the documents contained within. L. F. Greene give dates and titles for most of the documents, but there is no explanation for the occasion, the likely motives, or the context from which Leland likely wrote these various texts. Because of this lack, historians are prone to feel some frustration with it as well. It is probably beneficial to read Eric Smith’s biography of Leland (John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America) before picking up this volume so that the reader might gain some insight to these details that would otherwise be missing.

Conclusion

There is no substitute for primary source documents. This volume offers the reader a direct perspective of John Leland in his own words. His thought, activism, preaching, and public rhetoric was a major influence on the societal, political, and religious developments on the early American landscape. The reader will benefit greatly from having access to these writings. But the reader will find even greater benefit from reading this volume in light of other works that may provide the necessary context for understanding the significance of the writings here.

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^[1] John Leland, The Writings of John Leland, ed. L. F. Greene, Religion in America (New York, NY: Arno Press, 1969). 3.

^[2] Dr. Eric Smith is an historian and John Leland biographer, and he believes that “L. F. Greene” is Louise Greene (Leland’s granddaughter). I have confirmed that one of Leland’s daughters (Fanny) did marry James Greene, the son-in-law who took in the aging widower after Leland’s wife died in 1837 (Leland, 45). It is possible that James and Fanny Greene (also sometimes spelled “Green”) did have a daughter named Louise, and it is indeed possible that she is L. F. Greene. James A. Patterson cites “Louise F. Greene” as the editor of Writings of the Late Elder John Leland in his biography of James Robinson Graves, published in 2012. Smith does the same in his biography of John Leland, published in 2022.

^[3] Leland, 9.

^[4] Leland, 38.

^[5] Leland, 103.

^[6] Leland 107.

^[7] Leland, 96-97.

^[8] Leland, 311. 

^[9] Leland, 311.

^[10] Leland, 311.

^[11] Leland, 311.

^[12] Leland, 312.

^[13] Leland, 312.

^[14] Leland, 312.

^[15] Leland, 676.

^[16] Leland, 196.

^[17] Leland, 196.

^[18] Leland, 196-199.

^[19] Leland, 723.