Dr. Rush’s Eternal Hope

The Lesser Known Boudinot

At the time of his death in 1813, Dr. Benjamin Rush was heralded as one of America’s three most notable Founders, along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.¹ He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, served under three Presidents, helped found five universities and colleges, is titled “The Father of American Medicine,” led both the abolition and prison reform movements, and founded American Sunday Schools and the nation’s first Bible Society. His Christian faith was not only the driving motivation for doing good, but also his hope for the future.

Rush composed this letter to friend and fellow patriot, Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819) of Newark. (Elisha’s older brother was the better known, Elias Boudinot, president of the Continental Congress and a framer of the Bill of Rights during the first federal Congress.)

Elisha was also active in the Patriot cause, serving on the Council of Safety and later as a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.² He helped a slave win his freedom,³ worked to prepare men for the Gospel ministry, ⁴ and was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark.

Elisha Boudinot was so loved and respected in his community that when his home burned in January 1797, the neighbors not only turned out en masse to rebuild it⁵ but also established the city’s first fire department to prevent similar future losses.⁶

Condolences

In this inspiring letter Rush offers his friend comfort following the loss of his wife, Catharine. He looks forward to a time when “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4) and reminds his friend that they do not grieve “as those who have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13).

The hope of resurrection was especially important to Dr. Rush in Philadelphia in 1797. During the notorious Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, 5,000 people (10% of the city’s population) had fallen victim to the disease, and an additional 20,000 had fled the city. The mosquito-borne illness struck again in 1797, prompting President Adams to consider temporarily moving the seat of government out of Philadelphia.⁷ Rush, who had courageously treated the city’s victims in 1793, again felt the eerie effects of the epidemic, describing “the passing hearse, the shut up houses, and the silent streets of our city.”

This letter, sold at auction in 2011,⁸ is yet another striking example of the living faith of America’s Founding Fathers.

Autograph letter signed, Benjamin. Rush, Philadelphia, September 8, 1797, to Elisha Boudinot, Newark, New Jersey.

Transcript

My dear Sir:

Permit me to join in the general sympathy your late bereavement has excited in the breasts of all your friends. “Is Dr. Mather still in the land of the living” said one of his friends who inquired after him at his door in his last illness. “No (said the aged saint who overheard the inquiry) he is in the land of the dead, but he is going to the land of the living.” Yes – my dear friend, we live among the dead; and in a valley of human bones. Every newspaper we pick up is an obituary of departed friends, or fellow citizens. At the present awful moment, the passing hearse, the shut up houses, and the silent streets of our city, all proclaim that we are made of the dust, & that we are doomed to return to it. But let us not complain as those who have no hope. The grave shall ere long be robbed of its prey. Even Hell itself shall give up its prisoners. The Conquests & Grace of Jesus Christ extend to the utmost limits of fire & misery, & all, all shall in due time be made to partake of the benefits of this infinite Atonement. Your late excellent consort will I doubt not be among the first fruits of his glorious resurrection. Let those considerations comfort you under your present affliction. My dear Mrs. Rush shares deeply in your grief, and joins with me in respectful & affectionate [comfor^ts] to your aged and afflicted parents Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She joins likewise in love to all the children⁹ with my D^r Sir, your sincere friend.

Benjm Rush

PS: The fever increases, but it is confined chiefly to one part of the city. I have hitherto been preserved, except from a light attack of it, which confined me but one day. “Brethren pray for us.” – Mrs. Bradford continues to mend but slowly.¹⁰