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JAMES SHEERIN : 1885 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL HAND WRITTEN BY A 20 YEAR OLD ST. STEPHEN'S COLLEGE MAN WELL ON HIS WAY TO HARVARD, CAMBRIDGE AND THE PRIESTHOOD

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is a very well-written journal of a young man who went on to play a significant role in the Episcopal Church in New England in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Dating from 1885, the hard-bound journal measures 7 1/2 by 4 ¾, has about 180 pages and is about 50% complete. The binding on the spine is broken but all pages are intact. The writing is legible. James Sheerin was born in Scotland in 1865. Brought to the United States at age five by his parents, he enrolled at St. Stephen's College NY (now Bard College) in 1885. Graduating in 1888, he filled several roles in the Episcopal Church and was ordained a priest in 1892. Sheerin had a varied and successful career. He continued his studies with stints at Harvard and Cambridge and served in several parishes, notably in New York City and Cambridge. He passed away in 1933. This journal dates from 1885, when Sheerin entered St. Stephen's College. It does not follow a day-by-day chronology but rather serves as a journal where he recorded thoughts over a period of 2 years. He talks about how he sought work to pay for his education and clearly was no fan of working underground in the mines: "... I had not the money to pay that fifty dollars ... and then no decent clothes! I looked everywhere for work but none presented itself except coal mining but I would not take that having vowed when I quit the mines never to return". He did finally agree to work in an open-pit mine. He suffered some injuries but was able to continue and pay for his education. In 1887, he wrote about what he was reading: "... Today I read Gray's Elegy written in a Country Churchyard. It is the first opportunity I have had to read this elegant poem and to speak briefly. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me so much of Goldsmith's style in the "Deserted Village" and is in every way equal to it in beauty and elegance of diction. ..." In commenting on his studies and reading, one can see the foundation for his later career being laid down: "In the last year I have read a number of books on oratory, extemporaneous speaking, Lectures on preaching, etc. I read nearly all of the Yale lectures on preaching and enjoyed them thoroughly. [ ], John Hall's and Phillip Brook's were very interesting. The later is my ideal as a preacher. ... He is such a grand man intellectually and morally ..." He also made it clear, his attitudes towards certain other characteristics he had obviously seen: "... His (referring to Brooks) reputation is almost wholly from his power as a pulpit orator, and his goodness and charity, a contrast with his contemporaries who dabble in politics, humourous lectures etc...." Toward the end, he writes: "... These lectures are splendid things and if I study, as I am doing, the different styles of oratory used, I certainly ought to form a fair judgement of what true oratory is." His last entry is in many ways a synopsis of his professional life: "He always read and studied men and things". This is an excellent insight into the early stages of James Sheerin's formation as a priest and orator. Not only valuable to a researcher delving into the history of the Episcopal Church, it also opens a window into liberal arts education in late Victorian America.. Illustr.: /. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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