At that time, Rev. T. F. King was settled in Portsmouth, and, discerning the rare promise of his young friend, gave him hearty and effective encouragement. After acquiring such knowledge as the Portsmouth schools could give him, he was aided by his faithful pastor in the further pursuit of his studies, and at the early age of nineteen he began to preach. His first sermon was delivered in Portsmouth, and gave great satisfaction to those who heard it. He was first settled in Exeter, N. H.; then in Amesbury, Mass., where he was ordained, Oct. 19, 1837; then in East Cambridge, Mass.; then in Lowell, and, in 1846, took charge of the parish in Bath, Me. In 1850 he returned to Massachusetts and settled in Lynn, where he remained nine years. In 1859 he was called to the Sixth Church in New York, where he remained eight years, and until he was chosen, in 1867, General Secretary of the United States Convention. His duty in this new capacity was to direct and take the lead of the missionary enterprises and to visit all sections of the country. His labors were manifold and arduous, but very efficient and successful, until his health became impaired, and he was obliged to resign his office and return to his family. After resting a few months, and partially recovering his strength, he accepted, in November, 1869, an invitation to the Church of the Messiah in Philadelphia, to which he gave the last years of his useful life, and where he joyfully resigned that life April 8, 1878.
As a preacher, Dr. Brooks was in the front rank of our ministers. As another has written:--
"He was entirely consecrated to his work, and in the pulpit he spoke as one having authority. His sonorous voice and majestic bearing were in perfect harmony with his clear and forcible presentation of his thought, and emphasized his urgent appeals to the conscience of his hearer. He was by nature an ardent reformer, and was always true to his convictions. He could not keep back the smallest fragment of what he believed to be God's truth. He early threw himself, heart and soul, into the anti-slavery cause, and during the war of the rebellion his clarion voice gave no uncertain sound."
He was a clear and vigorous writer. His two volumes, "Universalism in Life and Doctrine," and "Our New Departure," evince this. They are valuable additions to our church literature. He was one of our best organizers. Seldom absent from our conventions, and nearly always serving on executive boards and important committees, nearly every department of our church work received an impression from his hand. In 1867 Tufts College conferred on him the degree of D. D.