HARRIS, JOHN: English Congregationalist; b. at Ugborough (12 m. e. of Plymouth), Devonshire, Mar. 8, 1802; d. at St. John's Wood, London, Dec. 21, 1856. AB a boy he began preaching in the villages around Bristol, whither his parents had moved about 1815, and quickly won local fame as "the boy preacher." He entered the independent college at Hoxton in 1823, and in 1825 became pastor of the Congregational Church at Epsom, where he established his reputation as a preacher. In 1837 he was appointed to the chair of theology at Cheshunt College. When the independent col leges of Highbury, Homerton, and Coward were amalgamated into New College (London) in 1850, he became principal of this institution, and in 1851 professor of theology. In 1852 he was chosen chair man of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. He was also one of the editors of the Biblical Review, a regular contributor to Congrega tional and Evangelical periodicals, and the author of a number of meritorious works that have had a large circulation, particularly in America. The more important are: The Great Teacher (London; 1835), which is considered his best book; Mammon (1836), a prize essay of which more than 100,000 copies were sold; The Great Commission.(1842), a prize essay on Christian missions; The Pre-Adamite Earth (1846); and Man Primeval (1849). His Posthumous Works, composed of sermons only, were edited by P. Smith (2 vols., 1857).

Bibliography: Eclectic Review, 4th ser., iv. 303-319, xxi. 137-154, xxvi. 612-625; DNB, xxv. 15-16.

HARRIS, SAMUEL: Name of two American cler gymen. 1. Baptist, called the "Apostle of Virginia"; b. in Hanover County, Va., Jan. 12, 1724; d. there prob ably in 1'794. In his early and middle life he held many public offices, including those of -sheriff, burgess for the county, and colonel of militia. In 1758 he was converted under the preaching of two itinerant Baptist preachers, and became a dis tinguished exhorter among the poor white settlers. He was ordained in 1769, and in 1774 was invested by the General Association of Separate Baptists with the office of "apostle." He devoted his for tune to religious and charitable work, lived with extreme frugality, and suffered much persecution from the Established Church.

2. Congregationalist; b. at East Machias, Me., June 14, 1814; d. at Litchfield, Conn., June 25, 1899. He was graduated at Bowdoin College (1833), and after being principal of Limerick Academy__ Me. (1833-34), and of Washington Academy, East Machias, Me. (1834-35), entered Andover Theological Seminary, frbm which he was graduated in 1838. He then returned for three years to his principalship at East Machias, after which he held successive pastorates at Conway, Mass. (1841-51), and Pittsfield, Mass, '(1851-55). From 1855 to 1867 he was professor of systematic theology in Bangor Theological Seminary, holding this position jointly with George Shephard, acting pastor of the Central Church, Bangor, from 1855 to 1863. In 1867 he was chosen president of Bowdoin College, but resigned in 1871 to accept the Dwight professorship of systematic theology in the Yale Divinity School. In 1896 he retired as professor emeritus. In addition to numerous sermons, pamphlets, and contri butions to periodicals, he wrote: Zaccheus: or, The Scriptural Plan of Beneficence (Boston, 1844); Christ's Prayer for the Death of His Redeemed (1863); The Kingdom of Christ on Earth (Andover, 1874); The Philosophical Basis of Theism (New York, 1883); The Self-Revelation of God (1887); and God the Creator and Lord of All (2 vols., 1896).