USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the South Congregational Church, New Haven : from its origin in 1852 till January 1, 1865 > Part 5
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"Resolved, That while, in compliance with his own deci- ded wish, we consent to the separation of Mr. Noyes from his charge, we bear our united testimony to the ability, faithfulness and success, as a Pastor and preacher, which have characterized his labors in this place.
" Resolved, That we express our cordial interest in the welfare of this flock of Christ, and earnestly pray the Great Head of the Church to send them a successor to the Pastor they have lost, who shall build them up in the faith of the Gospel, and who shall fully and fearlessly declare and ap- ply all its doctrines and precepts."
This united prayer of the Council, we may chari- tably believe, has been answered ; if not exactly in the way intended,-in a much better way. As "suc- cessor to the Pastor we have lost," God has sent us a man who " builds up his people in the faith of the Gospel ;" and who, if he does not preach or pray Abolitionism, and blood up to the horses' bridles, if necessary to accomplish that object, does preach and pray with the angel choir which heralded the infant Saviour, " Peace on earth, good will toward men." If he does not so " declare and apply all the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel" as to play into the hands of a political party ; if he does not preach election- eering sermons on the Sabbath, just before a Presi- dential election ; he does beat up recruits for the Cap- tain of Salvation ; he does electioneer for the King of kings. But the members of the Council appear not to have been satisfied with the manner in which their prayer was answered ; else why, eighteen months afterwards, did nearly the same body of men, with some others added, attempt to reverse that answer,
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by silencing or displacing the aforesaid " successor ?" But more of this in the sequel.
Mr. Noyes' "Farewell Sermon" was preached in the South Church, June 2, 1861, being the day before his resignation was to go into effect, and was soon after published. It was a sort of stern-chaser, dis- charged upon his people as he was about to leave them. He virtually admits the declining state of the Church and congregation, but attributes it mainly to the people themselves. He tells how many thousand calls he had made (4,449) during his connection with the South Church, how many prayers he had offered (1,000) in the course of those visits, and how many other good things he had done. He says,-" During the four years of colleagueship, I received to the Church one hundred by profession and forty-six by letter ; and during the three years since, seventy- seven,-thirty-six by profession and forty-one by let- ter,-making a total of 223." If Dr. Stiles, in giving an account of his own ministry, should be equally grasping, there would be very little left for Mr. Noyes. He would say, as Mr. Noyes does,-" During the four years of colleagueship, I received to the Church one hundred by profession, and forty-six by letter." And on the same principle might he not add,-"" 1 also sowed the seed, and, ere I left, saw the grain spring up, which was harvested by Mr. Noyes in the following June." If Dr. Stiles should say this,- which he would be far enough from doing,-how would it strike Mr. Noyes ? Would he deem it quite
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fair and honorable for Dr. Stiles to set to his own account all the fruits of their joint labor "during the four years of colleagueship," and so leave nothing for Mr. Noyes as the result of his three years' labor, after the in-gathering above mentioned, except nine persons admitted by profession, (an average of three per annum,) and a less number by certificate than were dismissed during the same period ? We simply ask the question, and according to the answer given, will be Mr. Noyes' verdict in his own case, with only this variation, that "during the four years of col- leagueship," which were in fact but three years and a half, Dr. Stiles was the principal, and Mr. Noyes the assistant.
In dealing with his people, the author of the Ser- mon was much less exposed to be over-indulgent and partial, than in reviewing his own labors. Accord- ingly he proceeds to "reprove, rebuke and exhort" them, agreeably to the instructions of Paul to Timo- thy, specifying " three things," which he says "have already retarded the growth and success of the Church, and which, if not corrected, will work more unfavor- ably in the future." They are as follows :-
"1. There has been an erroneous idea of the Pastor's work. Too much has been laid upon and expected of him." Under this head he asks :- " Is it not a fact too patent to be questioned, that upon him was placed almost the entire burden of the Church's affairs ? In addition to preaching and visiting, has he not had largely to sustain the Sabbath evening and weekly meetings, and even lead the singing ? Has not the opinion found expression in word as well as deed, that he was expected so to preach as to fill the Church
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and keep up a continual revival ? And by such an atti- tude would not he be disheartened and the Church par- alyzed ?"
If these questions are to be answered in the affirm- ative, as they are evidently intended to be, they add Mr. Noyes' testimony to that of the Committee as to the dilapidated spiritual condition of the Church and congregation at that period. It is worthy of remark, that the evil of which Mr. Noyes complains, has not always existed in the South Church. It was not so under Dr. Stiles-it is not so under Mr. Carroll. On the contrary, there are very few churches within our knowledge, where so large a proportion of the male members are ready to be called upon for exhortation or prayer. How is it in the " Fulton street Prayer Meetings," as they are called, which are now held every Sabbath evening in the Chapel ? Is there any difficulty in finding laymen there who are willing to speak or pray ? None whatever. Numerically the church is not quite so large as when Mr. Noyes left ; and yet the attendance on these meetings is quadru- pled, and the spirit of them excellent. How is this to be accounted for ? It cannot be caused by the return of those "many members of the Church and congregation" who, under Mr. Noyes' administration, according to the Report of the Committee, " were in the habit of frequently going to the meetings of other churches,"-for they have not returned. On the contrary, almost all of them have left us for good. On the whole, we know not how to account for the
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different state of things in the same congregation under different ministers, except by attributing it, or much of it, directly or indirectly, to the ministers themselves. This is on the supposition that the com- plaint of Mr. Noyes on this head was well founded, which, to the extent indicated by his remarks, we must be permitted to doubt.
2. " A second element of weakness and injury to the Church, is the neglect of wise discipline."
Never until the preaching of this Sermon, did we hear it intimated that Mr. Noyes was more ready to administer " wise discipline" to delinquent members, than were the great majority of his Church. We had heard, that in regard to two Scotch people whom it was proposed to discipline on account of the sale and use of intoxicating liquors, Mr. Noyes objected to doing it at that time," because, he said, the Scotch were clannish, and if some of them were offended, they might all be, and leave. [A Scotch minister was then preaching once or twice on the Sabbath in Dr. Cleaveland's Lecture Room, and some of our
* On inquiring of some who were then members of the Standing Committee, we learn that we were not misinformed; and that in the matter of discipline generally, Mr. Noyes was certainly not in advance of the other members of the Committee in his efforts to promote it. According to the rules of the Church, it is made the duty of the Stand- ing Committee to "examine and report on all cases of discipline." If then the Standing Committee, (of which Mr. Noyes was ex-officio a member, and by position the leading member,) did not do their duty, why reproach the Church for the Committee's own neglect ?
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Scotch people were in the habit of attending.] In a few months after Mr. Noyes left us, these two persons were suspended from the privileges of the Church, and afterwards struck from the list of members ; as were two other persons, for similar offences.
3. "A third hindrance to the Church, is the unprecedented assumption of the minority."
What that assumption is, or was, Mr. Noyes does not say in so many words, but leaves it to be inferred that the minority assumed to overrule the majority. He says, "The pastoral relation, left to the tender mercies of a minority, has no security whatever, and better never be formed. It can be sundered at the capricious or malicious beck of a single individual." Well, who were the minority in the South Church ? Mr. Noyes' own friends and adherents. What is the proof that they were in the minority ? Their votes ; which on the resolution to accept his resignation, stood three or five* to sev- enty, as was testified by the Chairman of the South Church Committee before the Council which dis- missed Mr. Noyes. But we do not believe that this minority, or any other minority, claimed to overrule the majority. If they did, we never heard of it until announced in Mr. Noyes' Farewell Sermon. It is too absurd a position for rational men to take. Un- doubtedly the minority claimed a right to speak to
* There were three negative votes, and two persons did not vote.
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their brethren on affairs of common interest, and to influence their votes if they could convince their judg- ments. But this, so far from being an " unprece- dented assumption," is a universal and just claim. Yet it appears to be the only basis for the charge preferred by Mr. Noyes under this head ; for, in an- other place (p. 13) he says, "If the majority, after being teased and tormented by them [the minority] for a time, should yield to their unreasonable demands, his pleasant and useful relation to them would be broken up, and he set adrift, when he might have labored on successfully for years." So, after all, there is no assumption of power on the part of the minority ; they only "tease and torment :" just as a fly teases and torments an elephant, until at length the noble animal, overcome by its importunity, sur- renders at discretion ; and thus the "small yet influential minority " becomes a majority. But to drop the figure,-we know of nothing to prevent a minority, however small, from endeavoring to bring the majority over to its views by sound argument or undeniable facts ; and if successful, the presumption is, that the minority were right, and the majority wrong. In the case before us, there was no necessity for such an effort : for no sooner had there been a comparison of views, than it was seen at once that a large major- ity were in favor of a change. And when the vote was taken on the acceptance of Mr. Noyes' resigna- tion, it was, as we said before, all but unanimous. It was a perfectly free, fair and full vote of the
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Church, and was unanimously sanctioned by a Coun- cil composed entirely of men in sympathy with Mr. Noyes on all the agitating questions of the day. There was every disposition on the part of his people, one and all, to make the separation as harmless as possible, both to his ministerial reputation and to his personal comfort. With this view they gave him $500, and it was in their hearts to increase the amount by voluntary contributions at a parting soiree, to be held in the Ladies' Parlor of the Chapel ; and at the same time to put forth expressions of sentiment which would relieve the discomfort felt on all hands in sundering a relation so sacred and so long continued. Such a parting interview was pro- posed to Mr. Noyes through a Committee, but de- clined. He preferred a different course,-and hence these comments.
From what has been said, it appears that each of the three leading positions of the Sermon was founded in error. If not " unprecedented assumptions," they were nevertheless " assumptions," unsustained by sub- stantial facts.
There is one good thing in the Sermon, where the preacher says to his people, " Kindly, yet earnestly do I counsel you to give to my successor your sym- pathy and cooperation, if you would have new and more glorious things done for you by his ministry." Some of us are trying to heed this wholesome counsel. The way the preacher's special friends have done it, is a caution.
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Mr. Noyes had not been long disconnected from the South Church, before he received and accepted an invitation to the pastoral charge of a Church in Fair Haven, Conn., where he still continues his labors.
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CHAPTER IV.
MINISTRY OF REV. MR. CARROLL.
After Mr. Noyes left the South Church, its pulpit continued vacant for about a year. In the course of that period, forty-four different clergymen occupied it successively, some of them very able men, inclu- ding several pastors of churches. For a number of months, neither wing of the Church seemed disposed to make any movement towards the settlement of another minister. All knew that there was a lurking antagonism among the members, which would be likely to show itself whenever a suitable occasion should occur to bring it out. Some of them hoped that time would reconcile differences, and for that reason were willing to wait. At length, on the 24th of October, 1861, at a meeting of the Church, a pro- position was made to invite Rev. J. PARSONS HOVEY, D. D., (since deceased,) of the Eleventh Presbyterian Church in New York, to become our Pastor ; and on the following day, at an adjourned meeting of the Church, the motion was adopted. A large majority of the Church and Society were in his favor ; but a few individuals objected, on the ground that he was disloyal, a pro-slavery man, and a Secessionist ; or to that effect, The Church took the trouble to test the truthfulness of these allegations, by sending their two Deacons down to New York, to inquire into the facts.
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The Deacons called upon Rev. Dr. Thompson, for- merly of the Chapel Street Church in this city, Rev. Dr. Hatfield, Rev. Dr. Asa D. Smith, and Rev. Mr. Coe, of the Am. Home Missionary Society, all of them strong anti-slavery men, from whom, and from other sources, they learned that Rev. Dr. Hovey was one of the most estimable ministers in the city ; that he was not a Secessionist, nor in any proper sense a pro-slavery man, nor disloyal to the government. And when another Committee of this Church and Society waited upon his Presbytery, to present our call, there was a general outburst of, "We cannot spare him ;" "Nobody can fill his place ;" " He is doing invaluable service where he is," &c., &c. His own Church also were in great alarm at the prospect of losing him ; paid up the arrearages of his salary ; offered him more ; and by a strong Committee urged upon the Presbytery the absolute necessity of retain- ing him where he was, unless they were willing to see his large Church and Society, with its eleven hundred Sabbath scholars, broken up and disbanded. Accord- ingly the Presbytery passed a Resolution, requesting the South Church to desist from the further prosecu- tion of the call. Dr. Hovey felt himself bound by the rules of the Presbyterian Church to abide by the decision of the Presbytery, and so the call was with- drawn. This was voted at a meeting of the South Church, Dec. 1, 1861.
The failure to secure the services of Dr. Hovey was a great disappointment to some of our members, who
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knew him personally, and who had hoped, from his kind and conciliatory bearing, long experience, and high qualifications, both as a Pastor and Preacher, that he would be able to unite the jarring elements of our Church and congregation, and thus prevent a rupture, which otherwise seemed inevitable. The Committee of Supply, consisting of Deacons Minor and Horsfall, had nearly exhausted the list of candid- ates, and no one of those who had been heard, ap- peared to be the man for us. In the case of one of them, a motion had been made to engage him as Sta- ted Supply for one year, but the majority voted no.
Under these circumstances, on Sunday morning, December 29th, 1861, a young man made his appear- ance in our pulpit, who, until the day previous, was unknown, even by sight, to any person in the house ; and who, in his turn, had never seen an individual belonging to the Church or congregation. It after- wards appeared that a clergyman in the interior had sent his name to our Committee of Supply, as one who might, perchance, be acceptable to us, and we to him. On the strength of this recommendation, the Committee had written to him, inviting him to preach one Sabbath : and here he was, a perfect stranger, in a strange pulpit, having never before been in New Haven. The first impression which he made upon the audience, was not entirely favorable. But he had not proceeded far, before what had seemed to be over- action, disappeared in the real warmth and energy of his discourse. His text was,-" Therefore the un-
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-
godly shall not stand in the judgment." Ps. 1 ; 5. It was a powerful and deeply impressive sermon. When the service was over, the general inquiry was, " Who is the preacher ?" "Where is he from ?" &c. It was soon learned that his name was CARROLL, and that he was a son of Rev. Daniel L. Carroll, D. D., the successor of Dr. Lyman Beecher, in Litch- field, Conn. A few of our members had sat under the preaching of Dr. Carroll, in Litchfield, and re- membered him with the highest veneration and res- pect. In the afternoon, the young man preached from the text, "Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him." Daniel 5; 6. This discourse was in no way inferior to the for- mer. At the quarterly meeting of the Sabbath School on Sunday evening, he addressed the children, keep- ing them spell-bound for nearly an hour. The entire services of the day were full of interest, and a gene- ral desire was expressed to hear him again. Accord- ingly, the Committee of Supply invited him to oc- cupy the pulpit on the following Sabbath, January 5, 1862, to which he consented. The morning of that day was our regular Communion season. Mr. Carroll administered the Sacrament, addressing the Church with much effect, from the words, "It is fin- ished." In the afternoon he preached from the text,
" But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us ;
for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." Luke 24; 29. In the evening, being the Monthly Missionary Concert, Mr. Carroll was present, and took
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part in the exercises. Although laboring under great physical weakness, few persons in the congregation were aware of it, and still fewer would have inferred it from any lack of energy or power in his perform- ances. There was, however, a general desire to see and hear more of him, and a general feeling that we had at last found our man. The Committee, there- fore, invited him to preach a third Sabbath ; but he respectfully declined, remarking, that they had had a fair specimen of his preaching ; that if he should preach a dozen times, he might not do any better, and he hoped he should not do worse. At a meeting of the Church on the following Friday evening, Jan. 10th, it was-
" Voted, That the Society be requested to extend a call to Rev. J. Halsted Carroll, to supply the pulpit and act as Pastor for the term of one year."
On the next day, Jan. 11th, 1862, the call was for- warded to Mr. Carroll, at Brooklyn, N. Y., and soon afterwards he signified his acceptance of the same, as follows :-
"BROOKLYN, N. Y., Jan. 17, 1862. "DEAR BRETHREN :-
" After deliberate and prayerful consideration, I feel that duty directs me to the field of labor and love to which you, as a Church, have so unitedly and recently called me.
* * And now, as I accept your call, my fervent prayer to the Great Head of the Church, is one which I know will be endorsed and uttered by you, and the dear people of God you represent, that I may "come to you in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ;" and
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when come, that I may " know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."
"Affectionately yours, in the bonds of a common Lord,
J. HALSTED CARROLL.
Messrs. Thomas Horsfall and E. S. Minor, Committee."
This cheering intelligence was soon blighted by the receipt of a letter from Mrs. Carroll to one of the Dea- cons, stating, under date of Brooklyn, January 31st, that in consequence of Mr. Carroll's severe indisposi- tion, his physicians had ordered him as far South as he could go, so as to enable him to escape the coming Spring here ; and that the state of his health was such as would prevent his undertaking the duties of a charge for at least six months to come. It was, therefore, " with tearful regret, and yet with submis- sion to the mysterious providence creating the neces- sity, that Mr. Carroll must, for your sakes, recall his acceptance, and thus release you from the obligations which his acceptance involved."
At a meeting of the Society's Committee, holden on the 1st of February, 1861, the above-mentioned letter was read and considered :- Whereupon, the following Resolution was unanimously adopted :-
" Resolved, That the Committee of the South Church Society have heard with deep regret the statements com- municated by Mrs. Carroll, through Deacon Horsfall, with regard to the impaired health of her husband; and of the necessity imposed upon him by medical advice, to postpone all professional and pastoral labor for some months to come; and they sympathize deeply in the regrets expressed by Mr. and Mrs. C. in his consequently being obliged to recall his acceptance of the engagement we had proffered him.
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And that while this Committee regard his proposal to re- call his acceptance, as highly honorable to Mr. Carroll, they earnestly request that he will allow the engagement to stand, with the hope that by the kind providence of God, at the end of six months, if not before, he may be able to assume the duties to which with such gratifying unanimity our people have called him."
This action of the Society's Committee having been communicated to the Church at a special meet- ing, held on the 2d of February, 1862, the latter body adopted the following resolution :
"Resolved, That this Church do hereby concur in the sentiments of the Society's Committee as embodied in the resolution just read; and would earnestly pray the great Head of the Church to have our Pastor elect in His holy keeping, and if it please Him, to restore him speedily to health, that we may enjoy the benefit of his labors."
The above resolutions were forwarded to Mr. Carroll by a Committee, and elicited the following reply :
BROOKLYN, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1862.
My very dear Brethren :
The minutes of the South Congregational Society's Committee, adopted at a meeting held Feb. 1st, together with the resolution endorsing them, passed by the Church on the following day, were received duly, and the generous request contained therein "to permit the engagement to stand," has been carefully and comprehensively considered in all its relations both to you and to myself.
The honor thus conferred is one which I sincerely appre- ciate, and cannot too highly estimate ;- whilst the sweet sympathy tendered in this hour of sickness and despond- ency, and the manifestations of attachment evidenced, evoked the sweetest and most cordial reciprocity. Upon this deliberate re-expression of your choice of me as your
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minister, and upon the strength of the reciprocal love I bear you as a Church of Christ, I base my hearty accept- ance of your renewed proposal :- feeling too, that the same Providence re-decides me which first led me to you, gave me a call from you, directed my affirmative answer, com- pelled afterwards the withdrawal of it, and now, by your recent action, permits and prompts my re-acceptance.
The interval of separation ere we expect to meet and mingle in endearing fellowship, I trust will be one of prepa- ration and prayer on the part of both; preparation of mind and heart, that will but furnish more thoroughly for every good word and work, both preacher and people. My time shall be yours, spent with reference to you, though absent from you; whilst my heart is already yours, in all its warmest out-goings of Christian love.
Permitting me again to thank you for the honor, sympa- thy and attachment, manifested toward me in this renewal of your call, I close this my answer with a hope, and a prayer ;- the earnest hope that by the kind blessing of our dear God, I shall be entirely restored to wonted health and vigor at the expiration of the mentioned months,-and with the oft-repeated prayer that Jesus, the great Head of his Church, will give me multitudes of deathless souls as the seals of my ministry among you, to be set, at last, as pol- ished jewels in His own radiant crown of rejoicing.
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