[235] more. This wide connection in ministerial brotherhood shows Mr. Turell to have enjoyed the respect and esteem of the clergy, as well as the approbation and confidence of the churches. President Allen, in his Biographical Dictionary, speaks of him thus:--
He was an eminent preacher, of a ready invention, a correct judgment, and fervent devotion, who delivered divine truth with animation, and maintained discipline in his church with boldness tempered by prudence.An anecdote is told of him, which may mean much or little. It was reported that Mr. Whitefield was to preach in Medford the next sabbath. A man from Malden came, and took his seat in the meeting-house. He thought he was listening to the wonderful preacher, and went into corresponding raptures. For a week he praised “the unparalleled,” and then learned that he had listened to Mr. Turell. We do not suppose that Mr Turell was one of those men who can make ice perform the offices of fire; nor was such a man then needed in Medford. In his intercourse with his people, he was kind-hearted, social, and dignified. There was about him a morning freshness which was very agreeable. At home, he was hospitable and generous; a lover of anecdotes, even when they related to his own personal beauty, which was remarkable. As a preacher, he was clear, direct, and scriptural; following the habit of that day, which was to amass texts from Scripture in proof of Christian doctrine and useful morals. The unflinching directness of the following is more apparent than its classic taste. He was preaching on selfishness; and, after designating certain people, he said:--
They are so selfish, that, if their neighbor's barn was on fire, they would not lift a finger to extinguish the flames, if they could only roast their own apples.In his theological sentiments, he sometimes revolved round the Assembly's Catechism, and believed that he was thus revolving round the Bible. A parishioner of his, who had moved into the country, where no stated sabbath exercises and worship could be enjoyed, wrote to Mr. Turell (1760), lamenting his absence from public worship and the use of Christian means. Mr. Turell writes a very good letter, in which he says to him: “You have your Bible, which contains ”
