"Nathaniel Rogers was born at Haverhil, in Suffolk, England, in the
year 1598. He was the second son of the Rev. John Rogers of Dedham,
and a descendant of the martyr. He studied at the Grammar School at
Dedham, till he was nearly fourteen years old, and was then admitted into
Emanuel College, Cambridge. Here he was a most diligent and exact
student, and was distinguished by his acquisitions in the various branches
of academic learning. Under the instruction of his excellent parents, he
became early impressed by the great truths of religion, and resolved to
devote himself to the ministry of the Gospel. It is related of him that, in
the hurry of business, he went out one morning from home, without attending
to his usual private devotions, and that he was subjected to a serious
injury from the stumbling and falling of his horse. He recognised in the
circumstance an admonition which he ever afterwards heeded, not to allow
any worldly engagements to interfere with his accustomed attendance on
the duties of the closet.
Mr. Rogers, having completed his course at the University, gave the first
specimen of his ministerial abilities, in the capacity of domestic chaplain to
a person of rank. After continuing in this situation about two years, he
became assistant to Dr. Barkham, the minister of a large congregation at
Booking in Essex. As the Doctor's ecclesiastical sympathies were known
to be with the views and measures of Bishop Laud, it was a matter of surprise
to many that he should have employed, as a curate, a son of one of the
most noted of the Puritans. Mr. Rogers was greatly beloved by the people,
many of whom fully appreciated his earnest and self-denying labours ; and
though the Doctor evinced little liberality towards him in a pecuniary way,
while yet he treated him with general civility, the people, by their private
contributions, cheerfully made out for him an adequate support.
He seems originally to have been but little embarrassed in conforming
to the ceremonies of the Established Church of England ; but his scruples
were much increased by a conference which he had on the subject with
Thomas Hooker, who was at that time lecturer at Chelmsford. Shortly
after this, Dr. Barkham having noticed that Mr. Rogers left off the surplice,
on the occasion of his officiating at the funeral of some distinguished individual,
expressed his dissatisfaction by giving him leave to find another field
of labour.
Having remained at Booking about five years, he was presented to the
living in Assington, Suffolk, where, by the favour of the Bishop of Norwich,
he was suffered to continue in quietude five years more. Here his
ministry commanded great attention, and was apparently attended with an
uncommon blessing. Persons of all classes, not only from the town but
the surrounding country, thronged to hear him, so that his church was constantly
filled to its utmost capacity. It became evident to him, however,
that he could not much longer retain the position which he held ; and he
therefore, in anticipation of coming evil, resigned his living into the hands
of his patron, and determined to migrate to New England.
Mr. Rogers had, previous to this time, married a daughter of Mr. Robert
Crane of Coggeshall,—a gentleman of large property, who would gladly have
maintained him and his family, if he would have remained in England, and
yet did not feel at liberty to oppose his removal. He accordingly embarked
with his family for New England, June 1, 1636 ; but the vessel did not
cast anchor in Massachusetts Bay until the 16th of November. Before
their arrival they had become well nigh discouraged, and had begun even
to agitate the question whether they should not return to England; but,
having kept a day of fasting and prayer in reference to it, they were quickly
relieved by the return of good weather and favourable winds, and were
shortly after safely landed in port. Mr. Ralph Partridge, another Puritan
minister, came in the same ship with Mr. Rogers.
The year after his arrival, Mr. Rogers was a member of the Synod that
met at Cambridge, with a view to suppress the famous Antinomian controversy.
He was first invited to settle at Dorchester ; but, as those who had
come with him from England, could not be accommodated there, he went
with them to Ipswich, where he was ordained as pastor, February 20, 1638,
the sermon on the occasion being preached by himself, from II. Cor. ii., 16 : —"a sermon," says Cotton Mather, "so copious, judicious, accurate and
elegant, that it struck the hearers with admiration." John Norton was
ordained, at the same time, as teacher, having previously ministered in that
capacity in connection with Mr. Ward.
For more than a dozen years, Mr. Rogers laboured in harmony with his
colleague, and much to the acceptance of his congregation. His health,
however, was far from being firm, and he had frequent turns of raising
blood, in which he used to comfort himself by saying with another, that
"though he should spit out his own blood, by which his life was to be
maintained, yet he should never lose the benefits of Christ's blood, by
which he was redeemed." He was subject also to severe fits of hijpocondria,
during one of which, his friend John Cotton thus addressed him in a
letter :
" I bless the Lord with you, who supporteth your feeble body, to do Him service,
and meanwhile perfecteth the power of his grace in your weakness. You know who
gaid it, ' Unmortified strength posteth hard to Hell, but sanctified weakness creepeth
last to Heaven.' Let not your spirit faint, though your body do. Your soul is precious
in God's sight; your hairs are numbered; and the number and measure of your
faintingfits and wearisome nights are weighed and limited by his hand, who hath
given you liis Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Him your infirmities and bear your
sicknesses."
About two years before the death of Mr. Rogers, Mr. Norton, his colleague,
was invited to the pastoral charge of a church in Boston. This was
the origin of no inconsiderable uneasiness at Ipswich, and of a severe trial
to Mr. Rogers, as he was suspected by some of not being sufficiently active
to retain his colleague. Though he was not, at this time, far advanced in
years, yet he was fast sinking under bodily infirmities. He had been, during
a great part of his life, given to the excessive use of tobacco ; and, having
become convinced that the habit was not only injurious to his physical constitution,
but beneath the dignity of his Christian and ministerial character,
he undertook to abstain from it altogether. About the time that he made
this change, he was seized with a sort of epidemic cough, which, though not
at first of a threatening character, soon reached a fatal termination. One of
his last acts was to bless the three children of his daughter, who had
evinced towards him the most tender and dutiful affection. In his dying
moments, he enjoyed the utmost peace, and exclaimed in joyful submission,
with nearly his last breath,—" My times are in thy hands." He died July
3, 1655, aged fifty-seven years. His estate in Old and New England
amounted to twelve hundred pounds. His wife, Margaret, died January 23,
1656. He left five sons and one daughter. His eldest son, John, was
afterwards President of Harvard College. His daughter was married to
the Rev. William Hubbard.
Mr. Rogers' only publication is a Letter to the Honourable House of
Commons at Westminster, on the subject of Reformation, bearing date
1643. He left in MS. a Vindication, in Latin, of the Congregational
Church government, from which Cotton Mather has preserved a considerable
extract. The reason given for his not having published any of his discourses
is, that his health would not allow him to bestow upon them the
labour which was necessary to give them the finish which his exquisite taste
demanded. He is known to have kept a diary ; but it seems to have been
entirely for his own benefit; and his friends to whom he entrusted it, in
obedience to his express injunction, committed it to the flames.
Cotton Mather says of Mr. Rogers,
"He might be compared with the very best of the true ministers which made the
best days of New England."
Hubbard, his son-in-law, the Historian, says,
"He had eminent learning, singular piety and holy zeal. His auditory were bis
epistle, seen and read of all that knew him."