USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > East Haven > Historical discourse delivered at the centennial celebration of the dedication of the Stone meeting house, 1774-1874 > Part 7
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Mr. Charles H. Fowler then spoke as follows :
MR.ª CHAIRMAN : This day is a day of pleasure to us all. We are born of ancestry ennobled by strong virtue and wonderful persistency in doing whatever they believed would tend to the growth of a virtuous, noble, honest, and rugged manhood, and this building is a lasting monument to their self-sacrificing endeavors. I was born in East Haven, and though not connected with this parish church myself, yet, to my mother, who grew up to womanhood under its teachings, I owe a debt that can be canceled only by the efforts of a virtuous, noble, and honest life. I feel that every man whose parents grew up here has an interest in the heritage that has been left us by the strong men who laid these foundations.
This is a day of prophecy, in that so long as these rugged walls shall stand, and the memory of their builders shall be impressed upon the characters of living men, strength, virtue, and honest manhood, will be a bulwark in the defense of religion, liberty, and law.
Mr. Fowler then said, that the historical address of the pastor is of interest to many who are not here to-day, and, as a literary monument of painstaking industry, ought to be preserved. He therefore moved,
That the pastor be requested to furnish the manuscript of his address to a committee to be raised, for publication.
The motion was carried unanimously, and the committee appointed by the chair.
Mr. Fowler then moved,
That the thanks of this assembly be hereby tendered to the ladies of this parish, for a most bountiful and delightful dinner.
Which motion was passed, unanimously.
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Remarks were also made by Joseph C. Farnham, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., Joseph D. Farren, Esq., of Lawrence, Kan., by the chairman, Samuel T. Andrews, Esq., and others.
The concert in the evening, under the direction of Dr. J. G. Barnet, in spite of the storm, was fully attended, and was of unusual excellence.
The reception at the parsonage, after the concert, was a pleasant occasion, but the attendance was not as large as it would have been but for the unpropitious weather. Those present were mostly strangers, from abroad, who thus, to the last, testified their interest in the occasion which had called them to East Haven.
Thus ended a day, memorable in the history of this ancient church and society, a day whose services, reunions, and associations, have left an influence for good upon both. Esto perpetua.
APPENDIX.
THE
DECLARATION
Of the Affociation of the County of
New Haven in Connecticut,
Conven'd at New Haven, Feb. 19, 1744, -- 5,
Concerning the Reverend
Mr. GEORGE WHITEFIELD,
His Conduct, and the State of Religion at this Day.
2 Cor. 13, 8. For we can do nothing against the Truth, but for the Truth.
BOSTON :
Printed and fold by T. Fleet, at the Heart and Crown in Cornhill, 1745.
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THE
DECLARATION Of New Haven Affociation, &c.
W E the Servants of Jesus Christ, and (tho' un- worthy) Ministers of his holy Religion, being set as Watchmen to observe, what of the Night, to warn and guard against Errors and Corrupt · Doctrines, Disorders and bad Practices, and all such as teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome Words, even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Doctrines which is according to Godliness ; Do with Grief of Heart behold and lament the prevalency of Errors, the unhappy Divisions and Separations which are in divers Places, and the Confusions and Disorders upon Religious Accounts, which subsist in the Land, and think we are call'd, in a publick Manner, to bear our Testimony against the same, in this evil Day of our Jacob's Troubles; and in special, with regard to the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, we esteem it our Duty to withstand him, because we think he is to be blamed, and that in various Articles.
I. We can in no wise approve of his Itinerancy, in going from Country to Country, from Town to Town, and from one Place to another, under a Pretence of preaching the Gospel ; whereas we cannot understand that he hath any orderly Call thereunto, whatever Plea he may make of his having a special Mission and Com- mission from Heaven so to do. We are of Opinion,
that
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that such a Plea is no Justification, nor to be in any wise regarded, unless he can prove such his Mission by Miracle, or some other equivalent Attestation from Heaven, that may satisfy a Rational and Impartial Mind: For if his own Affirmation in this Case is to be received, every wild Enthusiast may do the same ; and it hath been the Manner of Enthusiasts so to do : Wherefore in this Case, if he bear Witness of himself, his Witness is not true .- We also declare against all that have copied after him in the Itinerant and stroll- ing-Way of proceeding, whether Exhorters or others, by Reason of whom the way of Truth is evil spoken of.
2. We account the said Mr. Whitefield hath been a publisher of False Doctrine, in sundry Articles ; particu- larly in declaring in the Pulpit, that if any Man doubted of his Conversion, it was a certain Evidence that he had never experienced it, in those very Words, or Words full up to the same Sense :- That an unconverted Minister can no more be the Instrument of a Sinner's Conversion, than a dead Man can beget a living Child ; as tho' the Efficacy of the Ministry depended upon, and was limited to, the Sanctity of the Preacher ; as tho' Ministers were physical Causes, and not mere moral Instruments in the Conversion of Sinners: That a natural Man is a motley Mixture, half Beast and half Devil : And in fine, that God loves Sinners with a love of Complacency ; yea, that he loves Sinners as Sinners ; which whether Blasphemous, let others judge.
3. We think him guilty of uncharitable Censorious- ness, and Slanderous Reproaching, in the vile Aspersions, bitter Reflections, and condemnatory Censures he hath passed upon the main Body of the Ministry in this Land, tho' the most of them he was a perfect Stranger to, and of most of them it may be boldly said, that they are found in Faith, and of blameless Conversation, and his Superiours both in Age and Abilities :- Upon Arch Bishop Tillotson, to whose Name the venerable Dr.
Increase
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Increase Mather hath affix'd the Epithets Great and Good, and concerning whom, with Bishop Burnet, Dr. Colman hath both from the Pulpit and from the Press delivered these Words, (Mr. C-r's Ordination Serm. P. 18.) "So were Arch Bishop Tillotson and Bishop Burnet, Men of whom the Age was not worthy; of conspicuous Sanctity, abundant in their Labours, steady in their Conduct, of unspotted integrity, of an apostoli- cal Spirit, and ready, I believe to have died either for their Country or for Christ : yet these Great and Good Men have been loaded with Obloquy. But their Names must needs live in the History of the Church, if Truth do not perish from the Earth." Yet a raw and un- studied young Man starts up, and assaults the Charac- ter of the Great and Good A-Bp. in more opprobrious Language than that which the wicked Children used toward the Prophet, Go up thou Bald Head ; for he hath had the Front to say, and print, "that the Arch B-p knew no more of Christianity than Mahomet," which we think is very injurious, tho' we agree not in all Points with the Arch B-p. Bold and Daring Youth ! Go, tarry at Jericho, until thy Beard is grown.
-And upon our Colleges, our Beauty and our Glory, which have been, and are, and we pray that they may be, and hope that they will be, even to the latest Pos- terity, great and rich Blessings ; but Mr. W -- d hath said of them, that their Light is become Darkness, even Darkness that may be felt. We are astonish'd at the Impudence of the Man, and that he dare to closely imi- tate the Accuser of the Brethren.
4. He appears to us to be justly accus'd of uncom- mon Pride and Arrogance, and vanity of Mind, in his very liberal boasting (as he hath done in his Writings, especially in his Journals and the History of his Life) of his Intimacy with God, and his frequently receiving Messages from Heaven by the Holy Spirit, and his great Success here and there .- Had he never read,
or
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or had he forgot that counsel and Caution of the wise Man, Let another praise thee and not thine own Mouth, a Stranger, and not thine own Lips ?
5. He appears to us to be a great Enthusiast, in being led by Impulses and Impressions, and construing his little Feelings, or the sudden workings of his own. Mind, and his Dreams, to be the Suggestions of the Holy Spirit, without any good Scripture Ground so to do; and that sometimes, in such trival Matters, and in such a Manner, as can scarcely be clear'd of Prophaness.
6. Nor can we reconcile his Conduct and Practice, in publickly praying and administring the Sacrament among Presbyterians and Congregationalists, in the Ex- tempore Way, with his Subscription and Solemn Promises and Vows at the Time of his Episcopal Ordination ; nor see how his doing so is consistent with moral Honesty, Christian Simplicity, and Godly Sincerity.
These Things, which we have alledg'd against him as matters of Grievance and Offence unto us, we could easily, fully and particularly prove from his own Writ- ings, and otherwise, but that we think it needless; it having been sufficiently done by others, by the Presi- dent, Professors, &'e. of Harvard College ; by the Letter signed L. K. by Mr. Henchman's Letter ; the Vindica- tion (sarcastically so called) of Mr. WV-d, and other Peices which have been printed, and (as far as we know) never yet answered.
Nor can we forbear to enumerate some of the Evils and Mischiefs which have follow'd his Conduct, and Management of those that have gone in his Way, and that (as we think) are the natural Consequents of the same,-viz .- The Ministry is cast into much Con- tempt, and their Usefulness greatly clog'd and obstruct- ed :- The Minds of People in matters of Religion are strangely unhing'd and fluctuating, and many turn- ing away, some to Quakerism some to Anabaptism, &c. insomuch that many know not what to think or where
to
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to fix, and are tempted to suspect all Revealed Religion to be a mere Flam and Nullity.
Antinomian Principles are advanc'd, preach'd up and printed ;- Christian Brethren have their Affections widely alienated ;- Unchristian Censoriousness and hard judging abounds, Love stands afar of, and Charity cannot enter ;- Many Churches and Societies are broken and divided ;- Pernicious and unjustifiable Separations are set up and continued, particularly at New Haven and Milford, which have more especially fallen under our Observation :- Numbers of illiterate Exhorters swarm about as Locusts from the Bottomless Pit ;- We think upon the whole, that Religion is now in a far worse State than it was in 1740.
Nor have we any good Account that the said Mr. W-d hath reflected upon himself, as to these his Faults, evil Deeds, and Misdemeanours, held forth Re- pentance, and ask'd Forgiveness in an open and publick Manner, as we think the Rules of the Gospel do strictly require.
For all which Reasons, and others that might be mention'd, it is our Judgment that the said Mr. G- Whitefield should not be allowed to preach any where, or to have Communion ; and we do hereby publish and Declare, that it is our Purpose and Determination, that we will not admit the said Mr. W -- d into any of our Pulpits, nor receive him to Communion in any of our Churches ; and that we will Caution the People under our Charge against going to hear him any where, 'till he hold forth Repentance according to Gospel Rule, and bring forth Fruit meet for Repentance.
It hath truly been Matter of Grief to us, that so many of the Ministers in Boston did caress, applaud and follow the said Mr. IV -- d, and even bow'd before him, at his first coming, which we conceive hath had an un- kind Influence into the Country, and set the Things of a bad and dangerous Tendency a going; and it is still
more
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more grievous to us, that so many Ministers in Boston appear so attach'd to him since his Return, after the bad Effects of his former Visit are so manifest and glaring ; nor do we see Reason to dissent from the Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Eells, whose Words in his printed Letter are these ; I verily believe, that God in Judgment, and not in Mercy to this People, hath sent him again into this Country. It is verily surprizing to us, and what we cannot account for, that Mr. W-d, under his Cir- cumstances, publickly charged with so much moral Scandal, and no way clear'd of the same, should be im- prov'd to administer the holy Sacrament, ( Tell it not in Gath ) and that a Gentleman of Character should attempt a Vindication of him in his prevaricating with solemn Vows and Promises.
But we gladly improve this Opportunity to send our publick Thanks to the Reverend and Honoured Gen- tlemen of Harvard College, the Reverend Associations, and particular Ministers, who have appear'd so valiant for the Truth, against the Errors, Enthusiasm, and en- croaching Evils of the present Day.
Thus in a Sense of Duty, we make known our Sen- timents and our Resolutions ; and God forbid that we should cease to pray for the Peace of our Jerusalem : For our Brethren and Companions sake, we will now say, Peace be within thec, because of the House of the Lord our God, we will scek thy Good. Amen.
Samuel Whittelsey, Moderator, Pastor of a Church (in Wallingford. Jacob Heminway, Joseph Noyes, Samuel Hall, Isaac Stiles, East-Haven, New Haven, New Cheshire, North Haven, Thomas
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Thomas Ruggles,
Guilford,
Jonathan Merick,
North Branford,
Theophilus Hall,
Meriden,
Samuel Whittelsey,
Milford,
Jonathan Todd,
East Guilford,
Nathan Birdsey,
West Haven,
Benjamin Woodbridge, Amity.
Not being present at the Meeting of the Associa- tion, but having had Opportunity to peruse the above Declaration, I do fully agree with the Association therein, as tho' present.
Nathaniel Chauncy, of Durham.
North Guilford, February 21, 1744, -- 5.
I the Subscriber, not being present at the Meeting of abovesaid Association, yet do fully agree with, and consent unto the above Declaration of my Brethren, not to improve the Rev. Mr. Whitefield.
Samuel Russell, Pastor of North-Guilford.
3477-79 70 .
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