USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Haddam > The two hundredth anniversary of the First Congregational Church of Haddam, Connecticut, October 14th and 17th, 1900. Church organized, 1696. Pastor installed, 1700 > Part 11
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We accept the invitation. It is fitting. You have a right to our fellowship in this matter. It would be nei- ther natural, nor expedient, nor Christian, nor decent to withhold a fellow-feeling and intelligible expression of it at such a time as this. When "birds of a feather fock together"; when all nature, from oysters to stars, appears to us in sympathetic groups, it were something monstrous if neighboring churches having a common Master, a common faith, a common polity, a common object, and largely a common history, should stand aloof from you this day in frigid isolation and indifference. We will not do it. Independency, pure and simple, is a hateful thing. Our fathers did not contemplate it in the Congregational polity. They meant independency qualified and softened and illumined by fellowship. The trees should stand together as a grove, interlocking branches and helping one another defy storms and shel- ter travelers.
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Accordingly, we, the other Congregational churches of Middlesex, come to-day, bringing to you our salu- tations, congratulations, and felicitations. We shake hands with you. We shake them long and well. We express the hope that you are in excellent health, and that you will be better to-morrow than you are to-day, and better at the end of the next century than you are at the end of this. Allow us to assist in ringing your bells and blowing your trumpets. May your shadow greatly enlarge from century to century! And, from century to century, may sister churches come up to help you celebrate ever brighter anniversaries !
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JAMES N. WRIGHT
TT was near the beginning of the last half-century of the time we celebrate that my father commenced his pastorate of this church.
It must have been in the spring or summer of the year 1855, unless my memory is at fault, that he became your minister.
As I remember it, we drove here, I think, from Glaston- bury : most of the family coming together in some sort of a two-seated carryall. Myself a youth at that time, I confess that I had some misgivings, lest in leaving the barren, rugged hills of Burlington, we should fail to find in the new parish, anything quite so pleasant and at- tractive as they. And I shall never forget, as we came to the summit of the hill which overlooks the town,- "Dickinson Hill," I believe, though I am not sure now as to the name,-and the little hamlet nestled amid the trees, with the silvery river flowing peacefully by, burst upon our view, what a thrill of delight it gave me. I had found the hills again, even more lovely than those I had left, and, in addition, I had gained the river,-the beautiful river, with its ceaseless, unending flow, and its never failing power to attract and charm.
I speak of my own feelings at that time, because I know them to have been the feelings of all.
My father had been born and reared on the banks of this same river, but his home had been on the rich, rolling
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meadows, and he must look far away, if he would see the spot where the hill tops touched the distant horizon.
But he loved the hills too: and here the hills and the river met, and he at once took them all, as it were, into his great, loving heart. From the very first, I think, he loved Haddam; and until the day of his death he never ceased to love it and its people, more, I believe, than any place in which, or any people among whom, his lot had been cast before. And it was a happy, delighted little family that drew rein, on that bright, sunny day, at the steps of the old "Hutchinson House," which stood hard by the little "green" where the court-house still stands to-day.
It always seemed to me almost a sacrilege to pull that dear old house down.
To be sure, it stood very near to the old burying- ground; and at times when I had been out late of nights, and was obliged to seek an entrance through its back door, my steps would seem to ring very loud on the hard flag-stones, and a chill and "creepy" feeling would come over me, lest the sound should disturb the slumbers of those who had rested so long there, and their ghosts should appear, to chide me.
I have shuddered as I opened the door of the old kitchen and let myself in quickly, barring it behind me and hastening to my chamber to pull down the window shades before the moonbeams should throw those phan- tom shadows athwart the pane!
But yet the days were sunny and bright there. I can never think of them otherwise. Indeed, about all my recollections of Haddam are of sunshine and summer.
I can hardly picture it in winter. It seems to me as though there was but little winter.
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Once I remember to have driven down from Hartford to Haddam in a "cutter"; but the sun shone brightly, and there was no chill in the air. Once, too, I recollect being one of a sleighing party that drove to East Had- dam on the frozen river; but on the next day the ice broke, and the vexed river swept it on to the sea, and then rippled along as placidly as on a summer day.
Once, and only once, do I recall that a great snow- storm fell on the town, and the oxen, and the carts, and the plows were all brought out to clear the road and make a pathway for sleighs and pedestrians.
So I always think, as I prefer to think, of Haddam as a place where the air is soft, and the skies are bright, and the birds sing ceaselessly in the branches of its grand old trees.
I doubt not that you who live here, smile at a state- ment you deem so absurd, and shiver as you think of the days that count the time from December to March !
But do not rob me of my memory. Let it pass. It cannot harm you, and it is a very pleasant dream for me.
The period at which my father began his ministry in Haddam, might be termed, I think, one of transition : a time when there was a mellowing down of the stern theology, and the rigid rites of a religion which had been handed on from the centuries that had passed. Thought- ful people were beginning to discriminate between the "traditions of the Elders," and the precepts and com- mands of Jesus Christ himself. Henry Ward Beecher had already risen to fame and influence, and the plat- form of Plymouth Church was attracting more attention than the pulpits of New England. It was setting a pat- tern, and a pace, which many of the younger ministers were seeking to follow.
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My father was a progressive man. He was always conscious that the world moved, and he welcomed the knowledge which men of learning and of science were daily adding to the world's store. He never had a fear that scientific research would overthrow the truths of the Bible, and if old notions, and time-honored beliefs were set aside by it, he was ready to accept it, if only the demonstration could be shown to be correct. Yet, he was conservative, and he moved very cautiously, when matters of religion or of grave import were concerned. And amid all questionings, and through all the changes of the years, I do not think his orthodoxy could ever be doubted.
The changes which the "Beecherian" era-if it is proper to use that term to designate the condition-in- troduced to the worship of the churches were many and important.
It brought about shorter sermons, and led to a more familiar and conversational style of preaching, bringing the preacher and his hearers into closer sympathy. It cut away the high pulpit and brought the stately parson down from the cold pedestal which separated him from his listening people.
It encouraged and made easier extemporaneous preaching, where the eye and the hand could assist the voice in riveting the attention of the listener. It short- ened, too, the long prayer, making it more earnest and less perfunctory.
It led to the introduction of lighter and more cheerful hymns. Some of them, it is true, were very light in- deed: so light that they soared high, and soon were wafted out of the doors and windows to be heard no more by the long-suffering congregation. But there were
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others, full of sweetness and tender feeling, that were sung then, and are sung to-day, and bring delight and refreshment to the souls of believers. Such changes as these were welcomed by my father as helps to the people, and as aiding his ministrations to them.
During but a small portion of his pastorate did I re- main at home, but from an intimate knowledge, and a strong and sympathetic affection, I think I am able to estimate his character, and to speak of his labors here, with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
And if I were to name the characteristics of his life, and the motives which actuated it, I think I should place chiefest among them the following :
First. An ever present and burdening sense of the responsibilities of his sacred office, coupled with an ar- dent and longing desire to meet and discharge them all to the full extent of his ability.
Second. A tender, sympathetic, and loving nature, which was ever reaching out to comfort and help those around him, and which made the preaching of "the ter- rors of the law" always a painful and dreaded duty.
Third. A high sense of honor and justice, which stirred him vehemently, with a "righteous indignation," when he saw those principles ruthlessly violated.
To a conscientious New England minister of the olden type, the "burden of souls," as he was wont to express it, was a load that hung about him with almost crushing weight. He could not shake it off, nor shift it on to the shoulders of others. Constantly in his mind was that saying of our Lord:
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- dom of God."
And by divine authority he had been placed a watch-
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man upon one of the walls of Zion to warn the people of their sins, and to lead them into the way of life. Should he fail in the doing of this, he had failed in his great and sacred mission, and possibly made "ship- wreck" of his own soul.
As one generation succeeded to another, and as the children of his flock advanced from childhood to youth, and from youth to maturity, if they had not been con- verted, and united themselves with the church, he felt that he had not accomplished that whereto he had been sent; and the minister's heart was heavy, and his head was bowed. That my father during much of his ministry was perplexed and troubled, at the small visible results that followed his labors, I know full well.
"Revivals" of religion were reported from other towns, and other churches were increasing largely their membership, while the additions to his own church were few, and its condition often best described by that dreaded word, lukewarmness. At times I think all that saved him from utter discouragement were the leaves of Holy Writ, from which he would quote for his comfort such passages as these :
"I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase"; and this he felt assured God would do, in his own good time, if only he himself should prove himself faithful.
"And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not"; and many times he was well nigh to fainting.
To preach to men of the punishment which he believed awaited the unrepentant sinner, in a future life, was, as I have said, always painful. His affection and sym- pathy were so great that it was very difficult for him
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to do this; and he preached upon this subject only so often as he felt that duty compelled it.
I am sure he would never have done so, had he been able in any way to satisfy his conscience in the omission.
I may not be altogether correct in my recollection, but the impression remains with me that only about once a year did he allow himself to preach to his people a sermon, the subject of which was "hell," or "eternal punishment," as the final destiny of the wicked; and the effect of this on himself, was that of great depression, if not of real illness.
He was greatly pained by the injustice of men, and endeavored, by example and preaching, to instil into their hearts a lively sense of justice, and a keen and manly sense of honor.
Generosity was with him a cardinal virtue; and he ever urged it upon his people, not in the sense of large or extravagant giving, but that every one should give according to his ability to do, and that the ability should be faithfully and conscientiously estimated.
He was deeply interested in all that affected not only the religious, but the moral and material welfare of the people : in education; in everything that would beau- tify and enrich the place; that would make homes more comfortable and pleasant; that would facilitate travel and increase prosperity.
In evidence of this, I wish to quote to you some open- ing sentences of a sermon or address which he delivered to you at the time of the proposed building of the Val- ley Railroad. He said :
It is the all comprehensive duty of the minister of the gospel to labor to promote the moral and spiritual interests of his fel-
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low men. He is consecrated to that work. Nevertheless, he may, and others for him, take a narrow and mistaken view of his field of activity. He, like other people, is to take the world as it is, and to use whatever wisdom he has in endeavoring to influence men, directly and indirectly, to secure their best, their spiritual good.
He is not forbidden, but obliged to discourse on whatever habits, practices, institutions, stand in the way of his efforts to save men. ยท . He is not forbidden, but obliged to advocate and en- courage whatever improvements or enterprises tend, though in- directly, to advance the moral welfare of the community.
Such was his belief, and in that belief he was led to take a vital interest in all that affected the welfare of the people, in all that concerned the welfare of the town or of the State. It led him to be deeply interested in the. affairs of the nation, and to have decided opinions as to the right and wrong side of questions upon which political parties were divided. These opinions on ques- tions of national policy, or matters which concerned the State and town, he would at times express to his peo- ple. I doubt not, he even laid himself open to the charge of preaching "political sermons."
But at all such times, his stern sense of justice, of honor, and of right, was forced to triumph over his affectionate and loving heart. And if those who may have been wounded by his words could have known of half the suffering it caused him to utter them, they would never have laid them up against him.
In any attempt to estimate or to gage a minister's in- fluence, or to compute the results which have followed his labors, I feel that failure is so nearly certain, that it had best never be made. The influence is so far- reaching, so subtle, and works so silently to its end, that much of it may never be known. The results of such
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labors, too, appear perhaps oftenest in ways which elude the public eye, and at times when the connection between the cause and effect has been lost sight of or forgotten.
"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."
This oft-quoted passage promises not definite or visible results, and so the minister must for the most part wait for this knowledge, until the time shall come when "every man's work shall be made manifest."
In this connection, I am reminded of the words of a clergyman of my acquaintance, which he said to me not long ago, as he was commenting upon his own labors in a church of which he had been the minister for the past decade. He said :
If we cannot see the results which we had hoped to see, if the church is not as prosperous now as we had expected it to be, or as it was perhaps three or four years ago, it is not a reason for great discouragement. I am comforted by the fact that twice every Sabbath, during all these years, there has been drawn together here a large and attentive congregation, to whom the Word has been preached, and the services of the church admin- istered; that on every Sunday sermons have been preached; and the regular and orderly services and offices of the church, both Sundays and week-days, have not failed to be held: and no man can estimate the amount of good that has been accomplished thereby.
In the main, I think my father relied on the "regular" and "orderly" services of the church, in the ways or- dained by it, to carry on his work here. He was in no
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way a sensational preacher, and never sought for strange or startling effects.
His methods were those of the "regular" and "or- derly" kind, and he multiplied "means" and opportuni- ties only when conditions especially favorable seemed to warrant and justify them. In the matter of "revivals," so called, I think his soul was at times distressed, by reason of his distaste for the unusual means often thought necessary to promote them; and his ardent, long- ing desire that his own church might experience them. During my own stay here, I do not recall any such radi- cal uplifting of spiritual life in the church as could be properly termed a powerful religious revival.
I do remember, that in the winter of 1857, I think it was, when a general religious awakening prevailed throughout a large portion of New England, that the Haddam church shared in it with others, and that a goodly number was added to its membership.
Though absent from home during the most of that winter, I recall a Sunday spent here, and especially the evening meeting, which was one of unusual interest and solemnity.
After a season of exhortation and prayer, the pastor gave the customary invitation to anxious ones to come forward to the front pew. I sat in one of the center pews, on the north aisle, about two thirds of the way down to the door. Directly opposite me, across the aisle, sat my brother. He sat perfectly still after the invita- tion was given, making no move toward the front. A few had gone forward, and the pastor repeated the invitation. I knew of the great longing he felt that my brother should on that night take the great step that should seal him an heir of heaven. Still he moved not.
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I began to feel a great sympathy for my father, and a rising indignation for my brother.
I looked toward him. Then, I looked at him long and sharply. But he gazed straight ahead, avoiding me, or not heeding. I could stand this perversity-this dis- regard of all our wishes-no longer. I stepped across the aisle, and asked him why he did not go up. He made no answer. He moved not a muscle, but continued to gaze past me as before. I think I had forgotten now my sympathy for my father, and my indignation for my brother had burned into wrath. I drew nearer to him, placing myself so that my right arm was concealed as much as possible from the congregation. Then, bending over him, I hissed in his ear, "Don't you want to be saved ?" while, at the same time, with my fist I delivered him a blow full in the ribs. He heard the venomous words, and he felt the mean, contemptible blow, but he answered not, and he moved not. He was no hypocrite, and he had not reached the condition of a convicted, peni- tent sinner ready to throw himself at the foot of the cross and cry for mercy; therefore, no feeling of affection for a father, whom he dearly loved, could persuade him to take a step, which for him would have been a fraud and a lie; neither was he to be hammered into the king- dom by the rude fist of a belligerent brother.
I do not know that he ever went forward to the "'inquirers' " seat, or that he ever rose in his place, a sup- pliant for special prayers ; but I know this : that on a dis- tant battle-field he did his duty well; that in the hos- pital he died, with full faith in his father's God; and that his last message to him was, "I shall meet you all n heaven."
This old, familiar place brings vividly to my mind's
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eye, that little company of men : the leaders and "pil- lars" of the church, who, year in and year out, assisted my father in the conduct of those "regular" and "or- derly" means of grace. Among these was Deacon George Brainerd, the senior deacon of the church.
At the evening meetings, he was always the first to t "rise" in "prayer," and he could usually be depended | upon to supplement with a few words the remarks of the minister.
He led the singing at these meetings, and though, as I remember, his range of tunes was not wide, usually beginning with "Peterboro," and ending with "Silver- street," or beginning with "Silverstreet" and ending with "Peterboro," they were all familiar to the peo- ple. Of a kind and genial nature, he yet read me a lesson once, that, as long as I live, I shall never forget.
I had been taught, as was so common then, that young Christians should "take up their cross" on all occa- sions, and cross-bearing was very generally interpreted | to mean, "bearing testimony," or speaking and praying in meeting. Now, as my ancestors for some generations back, had been given to speaking and praying in meet- ing, it came about that, by some sort of inheritance, I [] possessed a trait which made "speaking in meeting" to ! me no cross at all. Consequently, my voice was heard in meeting much too often for the edification of the elect. It happened at one of the neighborhood meetings, which was held at the deacon's own house. After the opening exercises, when the meeting had been thrown open to all, I rose and made some remarks.
I have not now the least idea of what I said, or how long I spoke. I only know that when I sat down, it
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was with a feeling of great self-satisfaction,-a con- sciousness that I had made a very nice little speech.
I had no sooner resumed my seat than the good dea- con slowly rose to his feet; with closed eyes and folded hands, his usual attitude for speaking and praying, he said, "The Apostle says, Let all things be done decently and in order." I know not what more he said, it does not matter, but from that text he flayed me alive, and left no doubt in the minds of his hearers, as to who and what he meant. I have often wondered since, whether, if young converts were urged less persistently to take up their cross in meeting, but more earnestly to bear it in labors of love and good works, and to pray more in secret, to their Father who both heareth and seeth in secret, it might not be better for their own souls, and more edifying to the souls of those who attend the prayer-meetings.
Deacon Cyprian Brainerd was another conspicuous "pillar" of the church, as the leader of the choir for many, many years, contributing so prominently and sub- stantially to the "regular" and "orderly" service. With what difficulty and labor he performed those services, so punctually and so continuously, year after year.
How many times he rowed his boat back and forth across the river, and climbed up the hill to the church,, it would be hard to compute; but I think that only ab- sence inevitable or illness ever made his place vacant.
As that choir rises before me, I see on one side a long line of fair young women, and behind them are older ones. On the other side, there is a shorter line of men, of various ages, and a few are sitting behind.
As they rise and sing, I can see that the lips of the women are parted, but I cannot see that their lips move.
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Of the men, I cannot see that their lips are parted even; and yet somewhere and somehow the sound gets out, and much of it is fresh and sweet and mellow; and Deacon Cyprian's choir in the old Haddam church is accounted one of the best in the towns around.
The erect figure of Major Hayden rises before me. His place was well forward, under the very "droppings" of the sanctuary itself.
I hear his clarion voice, which age had failed to weaken, ring out, as he "raised" the "tune" to the closing hymn on communion Sundays. It was always "Coronation," I believe; and his enthusiasm in singing lent itself to the congregation, and men, women, and children joined together in rolling out the notes of that grand old choral.
"Brother" Oliver Smith, Mr. David Ventres, and there were many others whose names I might recall, but others whose names have passed from my memory, who were my father's supporters and helpers in his work.
But any allusion to the personnel of the Haddam church in the early years of this closing half-century, would be conspicuously lacking, if no mention were made of the name of Uncle Moses Tyler. "Uncle Moses," as he was familiarly called by young and old, was a unique and picturesque character.
My remembrance of him, is that of a man who believed in his religion, and lived it.
To his minister, he was a good friend and counselor ; and his life of faith and cheerful hope was ever a source of encouragement and inspiration to him.
The services of the church were his delight. He was "powerful" in prayer and exhortation, and his earnest- ness and sincerity were so unmistakable that they lent
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