USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Historical sketches of the First Church in Hartford : a centennial discourse delivered in the First Church, June 26, 1836 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
* 1696. Trumbull 471.
16
like practice was about the same time introduced into the south church and gradually into many other church- es of the colony, and is, doubtless, to be regarded as one of the principal causes of the deep spiritual declension which overspread the churches about that period.
The Rev. Daniel Wadsworth succeeded Mr. Wood- bridge. He was a graduate of Yale College in 1726; was ordained Sept. 28th, 1732, and died Nov. 12th, 1747, in the 43d year of his age, and 16th of his ministry. During the ministry of Mr. Wadsworth, the third house of public worship was erected by this church and society nearly on the spot where our present house stands. The foundation of it was laid August 8th, 1737, and it was dedi- cated December 30th, 1739 *. The sermon preached by Mr. Wadsworth on the occasion, which I have seen, is in a neat, perspicuous style and breathes a truly evangelical spirit. Dr. Strong says of him that 'he was a close student, an accurate reasoner, and an evangelical preacher,' and adds 'his memory is precious to many of our aged christians.' He was succeeded by the Rev. Edward Dorr, who was ordained April 27th, 1748, and died October 20th, 1772, in the 50th year of his age and 25th of his ministry. He graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1742. He is remembered, by a few aged peo- ple among us, as an amiable and pleasant man, to whom they went to school in their early years. In a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Whitman of the South Church on the occasion of his interment, he is spoken of as a man of a clear understanding, of solid judgment, of a kind and benevolent disposition, ex- tensively versed in theoretical and practical divinity and a useful, instructive preacher. He enjoyed calmness and
* The foundation of the present house was laid March 6th, 1806, and was dedicated December 3d, 1807.
17
peace of mind during his protracted illness ; and as his end approached, he said to a friend that the prospect of death was not distressing to him, as he had a comforta- ble hope that his peace was made with God. I find this prayer at the close of the record, written by himself, of the exercises at his ordination. 'Give me grace, O God, to be a faithful, and make me a successful minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.'
During the period, now under review, and for a con- siderable time after, religion, in this place, and exten- sively through the land, was in a very low and declining state. The country was in an unquiet, disturbed con- dition. The standard of ministerial and christian effort was extremely low. There were no societies either for propagating the gospel at home or abroad. Meetings for conference and prayer were almost wholly unknown. The sum total of ministerial labor was to preach on the Sabbath, deliver a lecture preparatory to the com- munion and attend marriages and funerals in the parish .* Revivals were extremely rare, and by great
* The amount of labor expected of ministers at the present day is three of four times as great as it was fifty years ago. Besides bearing a part in pro- moting the numerous benevolent operations of the day, it is now deemed im- portant that a minister, in ad lition to the stated services of the Sabbath, should conduct a public meeting of some kind on Sabbath evening, preach or do what amounts to preaching two or three lectures during the week, and at the same time keep up a regular course of pastoral visitation.
Within a few years a great change has taken place in the public mind in regard to what were formerly called, by way of contempt, 'night meetings.' It is within the memory of many now living, that no such meetings were held in this city; and within the memory of most, that no stated place was provid- ed in which to hold them. The first lecture or conference room in this State, it is believed, was erected by individual members of this church, and this was no further back than 1813. Now such a room is regarded as an indispen- sable accommodation in every well regulated parish. The 'old conference house,' being inconveniently located and too small to meet the wants of the society, it was relinquished in 1831, and the present capacious and most convenient room provided. It was opened with appropriate services December 22d, 1831.
3
18
numbers, were regarded with suspicion and dislike. The half way covenant tended only to make half way christians and to drive all spirituality and life from the church. The Holy Spirit appears to have withdrawn his gracious presence from the churches ; ministers and people were extensively 'settled on their lees,' and a moral dearth, of the most portentous character, had overspread the land. As might be expected, the num- ber of persons, in full communion with this church, was extremely small; and for many years previous to 1795, when religion began to revive, comparatively few came forward to own the covenant.
Such essentially was the state of things, when, in 1774, Dr. Strong was ordained pastor of the church. He was one of the most distinguished men of his day. Many whom I now address, remember him well as their spiritual in- structor, and not a few love and venerate his name as their spiritual father. It was his lot to come upon the stage at a most interesting period of our history. The country and the churches were in a transition state, pas- sing into new forms of government, and into a higher condition of spirituality and truth and christian enterprise. The period was eminently favorable for the develope- ment of talent and to the calling forth of effort. The age demanded men of clear minds and good hearts to revive the drooping cause of religion ; and it found them in such men as West, and Smalley, and the younger Ed- wards, and Goodrich, and Trumbull, and Hart, and Emmons, and Backus, and Dwight and Strong. These men were the principal agents, under God, of correcting some errors, both in doctrine and practice, which had long been gaining ground in the community, and of preparing the way for the happy era of revivals and of benevolent effort, which have since prevailed in our country.
19
In effecting this blessed change, no man, it is be- lieved, exerted a more decided influence than did the late venerated pastor of this church. Dr. Strong was made to exert an influence. He had a mind of the first order for activity and penetration. He possessed an almost intuitive insight into the character and mo- tives of men, and could, while very much concealed him- self, touch the springs of action in others and move them to execute his schemes. This talent, coupled with a sound judgment, great fertility of invention and readiness of execution, gave him an influence in intercourse with society which to some seemed unaccountable, and enabled him to realize most of his expectations and plan. Though the fact does but imperfectly appears in his writings, he was a man of extensive reading, well ac- quainted with the literature and science of the day, and had few equals in a knowledge of the religious and politi- cal state of the world. The former part of his ministry was not distinguished by any special tokens of success. It was a period of war and of great political excitement ; and though he did not neglect the proper duties of his office, it is but saying what he afterwards often confess- ed and lamented, that his mind was too much drawn off from his ministerial work by engagement in other pur- suits. But during the last twenty years of his life, he laboured with great fidelity and diligence and with most marked success. His preaching became more solemn and impressive, and was aimed more directly at the heart and conscience. The Holy Spirit set his seal to his labors, and great was the success which crowned the latter half of his ministry. In 1799, he witnessed a powerful revi- val among his people in which a large number were made the subjects of renewing grace. Four years pre- vious to this, the church enjoyed a season of refreshing,
20
during which a considerable number were added to its communion. In 1808, and again in 1813 this people were favored with a signal work of the grace of God. In these revivals the pastor rejoiced as the special fruits of heaven's mercy ; and he labored, in season and out of season, for the spiritual welfare of his people. In re- turn, he had the happiness to receive from them the testimony of a grateful affection and a most devoted attachment to him as their pastor and guide. In addi- tion to his labors in the pulpit, which, it has been said, during the last years of his life, were greater than those of any other settled minister in the State, he devoted much time to objects of general benevolence. He was the originator, and for many years the principal con- ductor, of the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, one of the ablest and most useful publications of the kind .* He also originated the plan of the Missionary Society of Connecticut, one of the earliest in this country, and which has extended the light of life to hundreds of thousands in the destitute parts of our land.+ His pub- lished sermons, though unadorned and often negligent in respect to style,¿ abound in clear and powerful ex-
* During the first five years of the publication of this work, the average number of copies printed was 3730. All the profits of the work were sacred- ly devoted to the permanent fund of the Missionary Society of Connecticut. In six years there had been paid into the treasury 7,353 dollars. The whole amount paid over to the Society was 11,520 dollars.
t He was likewise the first mover in the formation of the Connecticut Bible Society. He suggested the plan to his brethren at a meeting in Hartford, May, 1807. Had it then been carried into effect, this society would have been the first in the country. It was not formed till the May following. The Philadelphia Bible Society had been established a few months previous.
# Though there are many fine passages in his writings, he appears to have felt in regard to mere style much as did the 'famous Hooker.' 'That this discourse (Survey of Church Discipline) comes forth in such a homely dress and coarse habit, the reader must be desired to consider, it comes out of the wilderness, where curiosity is not studied. Planters, if they can provide
21
hibitions of truth; and may be regarded as among the best sermons extant, to be read in religious meetings, in a season of revival. As a preacher, he possessed the rare talent of presenting great truths in a clear, practi- cal manner. Dispensing with technical language and metaphysical niceties, he presented the doctrines and precepts of the gospel as matters of common sense, no less than of revelation, and thus labored to make his hearers feel that religion is a personal, vital concern, and that there is no excuse for neglecting it a single moment. Though he had an almost irrepressible propensity to wit and sarcasm,-a dangerous talent for a minister to pos- sess, and sometimes used by him as it should not have been,-yet it has often been remarked, that nothing ever escaped his lips in the house of God, calculated to excite a ludicrous thought, or awaken a vain smile. His whole manner in conducting the services of the sanctuary was deeply solemn and impressive,-adapted to hide the man and present God; to exclude the world and bring near eternity. He became hopefully a christian while a member of college ; and his light steadily increasing, shone brightest at its going down. In his last sickness, which was short, he enjoyed the consolations and hopes of that religion which he had so long recommended to his people. He died December 25th, 1816, in the 69th year of his age, and 43d of his ministry.
This church has reason to hold his name in ever grateful remembrance, as among the ablest and most useful of its pastors, and, especially, as an instrument,
cloth to go warm, they leave the arts and lace to those that study to go fine. As it is beyond my skill, so I profess it is beyond my care to please the nice- ness of men's palates. They who covet more sauce than meat must provide cooks to their mind .- The substance and solidity of the frame is that which pleaseth the builder; it is the painter's work to provide varnish. Preface to the Survey &c.'
22
blessed of God, for the reviving of religion in this place and introducing a higher standard of christian character and action.
The present pastor was ordained March 4th, 1818, and is now in the 19th year of his ministry. It seems but yesterday that I stood here to take upon me the vows of ordination and consecrate myself your servant for Jesus sake. But I have lived to serve you longer in the ministry, than several of my ' predecessors ; and long enough to have buried a great proportion of those, who took a part in my call and settle- ment over you as a minister. The years I have spent here have been years of care, and anxiety and toil ; but years also of satisfaction and joy in my work. Though I feel that I have reason for great humiliation and re- pentance for innumerable deficiencies in duty, yet I desire to record it, to the praise of Him who called me to serve him in the gospel, that my labor has not been in vain. There have been five special seasons of ingathering among this people since I was set over them in the Lord; besides occasional droppings of heavenly mercy. The whole number admitted to the church during my ministry is 732. The present number of members on the catalogue is 585. Since I have been with you, two new churches of our denomination have been established in the city, chiefly by members from this church,-the North in 1824, and the Free Church in 1832 .* The churches in East and West Hartford were also colonies from this church, -- the former established in 1701,-the latter in 1711. The mother rejoices to see these her children springing up and prospering around her; and while, as is natural, she feels a peculiar at-
* Ninety seven members were dismissed to form the North Church, and eighteen to form the Free Church.
23
tachment to her own offspring, and to those that bear her own name, she prays, with the most sincere affec- tion, that grace, mercy and peace may be multiplied to all, of every name, that love our Lord Jesus Christ.
In passing from these brief sketches of the history of this church and its ministers, to some reflections suggest- ted by them, I am led to remark,
1. That this church has always held substantially the same system of doctrine. I say substantially ; because there has doubtless been some variety in respect to modes of explanation and statement. But there has never been a time, since Hooker and Stone first pro- pounded here the doctrines of the Puritans, when those doctrines, in their essential principles, did not enter into the faith of this church. It has always believed in the divinity and atonement of Jesus Christ ; in the fall and consequent entire sinfulness and ruin of man; in the ne- cessity of regeneration by divine influence; in justifica- tion by faith in the Redeemer; in the moral government and universal purposes of God and in a future state of everlasting rewards and punishments, to be adjudged to men according to the deeds done in the body. These doctrines have been held with greater strictness, and preached with greater clearness and power, at some times than at others; and it is worthy of special notice, that when they have been held with the greatest strict- ness and preached with the greatest power, then the church has been most prosperous, and has shared most largely in the special tokens of the Holy Spirit's pres- ence and influence. The darkest and most sterile period, in the history of the church, was during the fifty years, that preceded the ministry of Dr. Strong ; including indeed a part of his ministry ; and this precisely is the period during which the doctrines referred to had the
24
least prominency in the preaching of the pastor and the feeblest hold on the faith of the people. This is an in- structive fact ; and it should lead us to prize the faith of our pilgrim fathers, not less than their piety; and to build all our hopes of the future prosperity of this church and society, on a firm and steady adherence to the great, essential doctrines of the gospel.
2. This church has from the first been friendly to re- vivals of religion and owes all its prosperity to these oft repeated tokens of heaven's mercy. There have been seasons of long continued suspension of divine influence, when the church was brought very low, both in spirituali- ty and in numbers. This was especially the case, during the period just referred to ; when indeed, there was a gene- ral moral dearth through the country. But there never has been a time, since the planting of this church, when its pastors did not look with a friendly eye upon revivals, and its members did not regard them with decided ap- probation and favor. The excellent men who founded the church were the subjects of revivals and had been trained up under their influence. The ministry of Mr. Hooker, while in his native land, was crowned with ' wonderful success' by the Holy Spirit. At Chelmsford, where, for some time, he served as lecturer, multitudes, under his preaching, became the subjects of renewing grace, many of whom removed to this country and were the founders and first members of this church. After its establishment in this place, signal were the displays of grace in the midst of it. An early writer, referring to this period, exclaims,-O, that converting glory which did then appear ; multitudes were converted to thee, O Zion. Let me say, multitudes, multitudes were con- verted to thee, O Hartford, to thee, O New-Haven, to thee, O Windsor. Owing to the imperfection of our
25
records, we cannot now ascertain the number or extent of the seasons of refreshing, which were subsequently enjoyed by this church ; but from incidental circum- stances, as well as from the known character of its pas- tors, I find reason to believe, that such seasons were not unfrequent, and that, throughout the whole history of the church, they have been welcomed as special bless- ings from God. How revivals were regarded under the ministry of the late Dr. Strong I have already intima- ted. During the last twenty five years of his life he wit- nessed four revivals among his people. The most powerful of these was in 1799, when large numbers were added to the church, the tone of its piety much elevated, and the state of religion, generally, in the city, greatly improved. The last commenced in 1813, and continu- ed nearly two years, at no time very powerful, but mark- ed with a constant, silent descent of divine influence, and producing abundant and most happy results. The church, containing, I am informed, but fifteen male members, at the settlement of Dr. Strong in 1774, be- came large and flourishing in consequence of the revivals that took place under his ministry, happily united in sen- timent and greatly enlivened in its graces, and at the time of his death in 1816, it contained four hundred members. Since my ordination in 1818, there have been as before stated five revivals in the congregation ; and what I have often said from this pulpit, I now repeat ; this church is what it is very much from the in- fluence of revivals of religion. If there is, among this people, any cordial belief and love of the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel; any serious practical regard to the duties of the christian life; any self denial and bear- ing of the cross and following Christ according to his commands; any active benevolence and prayerfulness
4
26
and readiness to do good ; in a word, any pious, efficient concern for the glory of God and the salvation of sinners, either at home or abroad, in christian or in heathen lands,-all this is to be traced, in no small part, to the influence of revivals of religion ; and it is to be found in an eminent degree, among those who have been added to the church as fruits of revivals. Let this church then continue to regard revivals as the most precious of God's gifts. Let it never be forgotten, that it was planted in the spirit of revivals; that it has prospered by the spirit of revivals, and that all its hopes of future prosperity depend on the continuance of these seasons of mercy. If ever this church ceases to feel its dependence on the Holy Spirit, or comes to regard with unbelief or indiffer- ence his special influence, as connected with the salva- tion of the soul,-that day will the sun of its prosperity go down, and God will write upon the doors of its sanc- tuary, ' the glory is departed.'
3. This church has been greatly distinguished for its character of stability and harmony. With the excep- tion of the difficulty before alluded to, I cannot learn, that any thing has ever occurred, in the management of its affairs, essentially to mar its peace or endanger its union. It would seem, that there has always been a good degree of unanimity in the call and settlement of its ministers ; as there also has, under their respective ministrations .* Ten pastors have been settled over the
* The manner of calling and settling a minister, long practiced in this church, and generally in the congregational churches throughout the State, is the following,-The church first call the minister ; the society or parish, at a legal meeting, concur in the invitation, and vote the salary ; at the time ap- pointed, he is set apart to his office, after due examination into his qualifica- tions, by a select council of ministers and delegates from neighboring church- es, or by consociation, as is practiced in some parts of the State. In a few cases, in this vicinity, there has recently been a departure from this course of procedure,-the society moving first in presenting the call, and thus
27
church ; the present is the tenth,-and nine of them lie sleeping among the people to whom they preached. This Society has never dismissed a minister ; a fact, which speaks much in favor of the character, both of the people and of the ministers who have served them in the Lord .* I find many things on record, which show the uniform respect and affection, with which the pastors have been treated by the people to whom they have ministered. Not only has suitable provision been made for their support, but repeatedly have special grants been made to them, as expressive of confidence and esteem ; and various acts of sympathy and kindness done, to assist and encourage them, in their work. To this uniform kind feeling, on the part of the church and society, it is doubtless owing, that their minis- ters have lived and labored here, in peace and suc- cess ; happy in the ties which bound them to the peo- ple of their charge, and have died and gone to rest with those to whom they broke the bread of life.
Were I permitted to add my testimony in the case, I should feel constrained to say, that by no official, or as- sociated act of this congregation, has a half hour's uneasi- ness been occasioned me, during the more than eighteen years that I have served them as a minister. To the goodness of God, we are no doubt, primarily and most thankfully, to ascribe the stability and harmony, which
taking the precedence of the church. This, by a vote of the Hartford North Consociation passed in 1832, was decided to be an irregularity, and a suffi- cient ground for a council to refuse to proceed in the ordination.
It was also voted at the same time that ' this body deem any agreement made between a minister and his people, at the time of his settlement, pro- viding for a termination of the relation on terms prescribed by themselves, in- dependently of the advice of the Council, is improper and irregular.'
* The removal of Mr. Whiting with a number of members to form the South Church can hardly be regarded as an exception to the above statement.
28
have so long characterized this religious community. Were I to assign a secondary cause of this, I should sug- gest the fact, that none are here accustomed to assume the right to dictate, or govern without the consent of others ; or to carry any measures by means that will not commend themselves to calm consideration and sound judgment ; and when the majority have decided a case, the minority are accustomed peaceably to acquiesce. Let it be our fervent prayer that the spirit of conciliation and peace, that has for so many years blessed this church and congregation, may live and reign in our bosoms, and be transmitted to those who shall come after us, even unto the end of time.
4. I deem it proper to remind you on this occasion that this is a congregational church. And the vital, funda- mental principle of a congregational church is, that it has in itself the power of self government ; the right to choose and appoint its own officers, and to regulate all its concerns, independent of external jurisdiction, and responsi- ble to none but God. This principle lies at the founda- tion of this church. It was placed there by Hooker and Stone and the godly men who followed them into the wilderness. Let it lie there. It is a good foundation. It rests upon solid rock, even the truth of God and primi- tive practice. It has served us well for two hundred years. For two hundred years it has continued to pre- serve the church in peace, in purity and great general prosperity. Why then should it be exchanged for another? ' True, this is a consociated church ; and I deem it a happy circumstance that it is so. But it has not by this lost its independence. The consociation has no original jurisdiction at all over this church. It is simply a standing council of arbitration or appeal, to which parties, having a difficulty in the church, may go
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.