Mr. Whittemore is remembered as a controversialist, and with those who beheld him chiefly in this light his other qualities may not have been fairly estimated. His very position as a Christian theologian was aggressive. He came into the field to face what he deemed religious error, and to give it battle, asking only that freedom of thought and expression which Christian faithfulness demands. During his active life, years ago, a ministering brother (Rev. T. J. Sawyer, D. D.) wrote of him:--
"Perhaps some may think him wanting in refinement and grace, and others, I know, regard him as at times bolder and plainer than necessary. That he deals severely with some of his opposers is certain, yet, with all his severity, there is a frankness and manliness which challenges the respect even of his enemies. Then it is but just to remember the school in which he has been disciplined. He who has been called to stand at the head of the prominent Universalist press of New England for the last twenty years must have learned ere this to defend himself and his course. It has been no warfare for paper hats and silk gloves. The head needed a helmet of steel, and the hand must know how to grasp the sword and spear. Reflect for one moment on the Batcheldors, the McClures, the Cooks, the Matthew Hale Smiths, with whom Mr. Whittemore has been called to contend, and then tell me if the old soldier has not come out of the fight with charity and kindness worthy of admiration. Paul fought with beasts at Ephesus; Whittemore has been scarcely more fortunate in Boston. Upon the whole, Mr. Whittemore is a man whose life and character deserve high consideration. He is supposed by some to be too much a party man, and to consult with too much exclusiveness the interest of the denomination of which he is so prominent a member. Perhaps it is so, but if this charge is sustained against him, I hope I may be included in the same condemnation."[43]
Mr. Whittemore's strong traits were: 1. Positiveness of interest in the Christian Gospel. He had a positive faith to promote and defend. He seemed to realize the force of Paul's statements: "I know whom I have believed." "Therefore we are always confident." 2. Fervor. He believed in Christian earnestness and zeal; was more afraid of frost than of fire in the churches. 3. Industry. This in him was indomitable. One of his sayings was, "Dead fish float with the tide,--live ones swim against it." He was one of the living ones, who stemmed opposition and wrought victories. The grand words of our poet Fields are illustrative of him,--