USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > Thirteen historical discourses, on the completion of two hundred years : from the beginning of the First Church in New Haven, with an appendix > Part 13
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
141
in Dedham ; Mr. Davenport by Richard Mather, of Dorches- ter. The controversy between the "Synodists" and the " Anti-synodists" divided the whole country. The question was indirectly a question of politics no less than of ecclesi- astical order ; for in Massachusetts, as well as in New Haven, the question who should be church members, involved the question who should partake of the right of suffrage. To Davenport, " gospel rules and patterns" were the pole-star, " from which," said he, " the compass of the last synod's conclusions seems to be varied by some degrees towards the antarctic."* The synod prevailed ; but Davenport was right. The decay of piety which he prognosticated, as the result of halfway covenanting, soon began to be more and more visi- ble. The Churches became gradually more and more a part of the civil constitution ; and the effects of a union of Church and State were continually more developed.
While this controversy was in progress, the First Church in Boston was bereaved of both its ministers. John Norton, who had succeeded John Cotton in the office of teacher, died suddenly, April 5, 1663; and to his place the celebrated John Owen was invited from England, and was on the point of coming, but was discouraged by the measures which were then in progress to extinguish the liberties of New England:+ John Wilson, who had been pastor of that Church from the date of its organization in 1630, died August 7, 1667; and thus that most considerable and influential of the New Eng- land Churches was, for the first time, left without a minis- ter. Many of the members thought that for such a Church, no young minister, and no minister educated in this country, could be a fit pastor. The eyes of the majority were turned towards Mr. Davenport, as by far the most distinguished of the surviving fathers of New England; and accordingly he was invited to that station, on the 24th of September, 1667,
* Hutchinson, III, 393. For the history of the synod, and of Mr. Daven- port's connection with it, see Hubbard, 587; Mather, Magn. V, 62, 77; Hutch. I, 223.
t Hutchinson, I, 226.
142
and a committee was appointed to convey letters to him and to his Church.
Against this movement on the part of the First Church in Boston, there was, within that Church, a strong opposition. Wilson and Norton had both been leading " Synodists ;" and by their influence the Church had been brought to adopt in practice the decision of the synod. The giving of this call to Davenport, the greatest of the " Anti-synodists," was a triumph of the party which in that Church had been the mi- nority ; and such a triumph would naturally have a great effect upon other Churches, and upon the politics of the col- ony as affected by the chief ecclesiastical question of the day. Opposition on such grounds, though exhibited in the formal " dissent" of "thirty brethren," among whom were many of the principal members "of that eminent Church," had of course no effect to discourage so strenuous an opposer of the new practice from accepting the call.
The messengers and letters from Boston, found here a much more unwilling reception from the Church than from the pastor. Mr. Davenport was beforehand inclined to a re- moval. The independent jurisdiction of his own colony had been extinguished. The principle that the trust of govern- ment and of electing magistrates, should be committed to none but members of the Churches,-for which he had so strenuously contended, and which he regarded as the only full security for the peaceable enjoyment of the gospel with its ordinances,-was here given up. "In New Haven col- ony," as he expressed himself, "Christ's interest was mise- rably lost."* Besides, the great ecclesiastical controversy of the day was to be carried on and decided in Massachusetts ; and there, his personal influence would bear upon the contro- versy far more efficiently than if he continued here. Under the influence of such considerations, he determined on re- moving, notwithstanding his attachment to his people, and their unwillingness to part with him.
* Hutchinson, III, 395.
1
143
This Church refused to accept his resignation, or in any way to consent to his removal. The utmost to which they could be brought by his persuasions, as well as the entreaties of the Church in Boston, was, that if he was determined to go, they would no longer oppose his determination, though they still refused to take the responsibility of consenting. Upon this he considered himself at liberty to act according to his own judgment ; and in 1668, probably in the month of April,* just thirty years after the commencement of his ministry here, he removed to Boston with his family. He and his son, with their wives, were received into the Church at Boston, on the 11th of October,t and his ordina- tion as pastor there,-or, as we should say, his installa- tion,-took place on the 9th of December.
His removal in such circumstances occasioned much diffi- culty. The minority of the Church in Boston charged him and the other elders with equivocation, because they com- municated to the Church only those parts of the letters from New Haven, which seemed to imply a dismission, whereas it was maintained that if the whole had been read, it would have appeared that there was no dismission. Several letters were written, and messengers were sent from that Church to this, in the hope of prevailing on this Church " to declare their owning of the letter sent from them to be a true dis- mission of Mr. Davenport." Of that correspondence nothing remains but a fragment of one of the letters from this Church. That fragment is so full of reverent affection to- wards their pastor, even after he had torn himself away from them, and breathes so much of the Christian spirit, that it is well worthy of preservation. "Though you," say they, "judge it the last expedient for your relief, and the remedy
* A deed executed by Mr. Davenport, as trustee of Gov. Hopkins's estate, bears date 18th April, 1668. In this deed he describes himself as pastor of the Church in New Haven ; yet it was executed with the obvious design of leaving New Haven.
+ Records of First Church in Boston.
# Emerson's Hist. of First Church in Boston, 110.
144
of some evils growing in the country, as also we might do the same, if we had nothing before our eyes but his accom- plishments and fitness for high service to God in his Church ; but being so much in the dark about his way in leaving this Church and joining to yours, that we are not without doubts and fears of some uncomfortable issue, we therefore cannot clearly act in such a way as is expected and desired. We are of the same mind as when we returned an answer to your first letter, thus expressing ourselves :- We see no cause nor call of God to resign our reverend pastor to the Church of Boston by any immediate act of ours, therefore not by a for- mal dismission under our hands. It is our great grief and sore affliction, that we cannot do for him, whom we so highly es- teem in love for his work's sake and profitable labors among us, what is desired, without wrong to our consciences. Any thing that we have or are, beside our consciences, we are ready to lay down at his feet. Such is our honorable re- spect to him, our love to peace, our desire of your supply, that we shall go as far as we safely can in order to his and your satisfaction in this matter, having before us for our war- rant, Acts xxi, 14, ' When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.' Therefore, to suppress what we could say touching that passage in our first letter whereof such hold hath been taken, and what we have said in our last letter to you, of our reverend pastor's making null the liberty before granted, which we doubt not we are able clearly to demostrate, yet if this will satisfy, (but not otherwise,) we are content to wave and bury in si- lence, and leave both yourselves and him to make what im- provement you see cause (without any clog or impediment from us upon that account ) of the liberty before mentioned." " As he hath been a faithful laborer in God's vineyard at New Haven for many years, to the bringing home of many souls to God, and building up of many others ; so it is and shall be our prayer to God to lengthen his life and tranquillity in Boston, to double his Spirit upon him, assist him in his work, and make him a blessed instrument of much good to
145
yourselves and many others. The good Lord pardon, on all hands, what he hath seen amiss in these actings and motions, that no sinful malignity may obstruct or hinder God's bless- ing upon Churches or Church administrations. As himself and his son have desired, we do dismiss unto your holy fel- lowship Mr. John Davenport, Junr., and Mrs. Davenport elder and younger, desiring you to receive them in the Lord as becometh saints, and imploring Almighty God for his blessing upon them from his holy ordinances in their com- munion and walking with you. The God of all grace sup- ply all your and our need, according to his riches in glory through Jesus Christ. Thus craving your prayers for us in our afflicted condition, we take our leave, and rest yours in the fellowship of the gospel.
NICHOLAS STREET,
in the name and with the consent of the Church of Christ at New Haven."
Mr. Davenport was, at this time, more than seventy years of age. What minister so far advanced in life, would now be called from one Church to another, because of the emi- nency of his qualifications for usefulness ? When was there ever another such instance of competition and controversy between Churches, for the enjoyment of the ministry of one who, always an invalid, had numbered more than three-score years and ten ? How rarely can you find a Church who, when a minister has torn himself away from them, retain for him so strong and reverent an affection ?
Those in the Church at Boston, who had protested against the call given to Mr. Davenport, were inflexible in their op- position. Having applied in vain for a dismission, they sece- ded, and formed a new Church, now known as the "Old South Church in Boston." A new impulse was thus given to the controversy then in progress. The two Churches,
* Wisner, Hist. of Old South Church in Boston, 74. The date of the letter, of which these fragments were found among the papers of the Old South Church, was " 12, 8, 68," i. e. 12, Oct. 1668.
- 19
146
the First and the South, had no mutual communion, and the whole colony of Massachusetts took sides with one or the other. The questions about the recommendations of the synod, had become involved with, and in a measure super- seded by, questions about the conduct of Mr. Davenport and the old Church on the one hand, and the proceedings of the new Church and its adherents on the other .* It is not strange then that under his short ministry in Boston, there were no large additions to the Church.+ Nor did he succeed in ar- resting the progress of the innovation which he so greatly feared. The "half-way covenant", system prevailed in the Churches of New England for more than a century ; and it is only within some forty years past, that the views of which Davenport was the champion in 1662, have triumphed.
This distinguished man died, suddenly, on the 11th of March, 1670; and was buried in the tomb of his friend John Cotton .¿ Much of his character has been exhibited in the details of his life, which have been given ; but before we take our leave of him, it may be useful to notice a few traits more particularly.
.
From his early youth to his death, he was devoted to study. Those lucubrations of his, which in London were protracted into the late hours of the night, were not discon- tinued when he had removed into a deeper wilderness than that which is now spread around the base of the Rocky Mountains. Here he was "almost continually in his study , and family, except some public work or private duty called him forth ;"'§ and "he was so close and bent a student that the rude pagans themselves took much notice of it, and the Indian savages in the neighborhood would call him, So big study man."||
* Hubbard, 602. Mather, V, 82. Hutch. I, 270. Wisner, Hist. of Old South Church, 6 and 69. This is one of the most valuable of the contribu- tions to the ecclesiastical history of New England.
t Emerson, History of First Church, Boston, 112.
# Ibid. 120. Mather, III56. The tomb of Cotton and Davenport is in the Stone Chapel burial-ground.
§ Church Records.
| Mather, Magn. III, 56.
147
The fruit of his studies was manifest in his sermons, and in his published works. He was eminently familiar with the Scriptures, which he often quoted in the original tongues, for the sake of exhibiting some delicate shade of meaning, invisible in the translation. His skill in evolving from the Scriptures not merely their historical or grammatical signifi- cation, but those " uses" of " doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness," for which " all Scripture is pro- fitable," showed that his studies brought him into commun- ion, not with the letter only, but with the living Spirit. He was a true master of the art of logic, as it was taught in those days, an art in the practice of which the mind was trained to the power of acute discrimination and analysis. Instead of being-as his weaker cotemporaries were prone to be-a slave to the technicalities of the art, he used them as easily as an expert workman uses the tools of his trade. None in a debate could better state the point in question ; none could detect more promptly, or expose more strikingly, the fallacious statements, or the inconclusive arguments of an opponent. His various stores of knowledge afforded him at need, those ready and lively illustrations which are often more effective than dry argument can be. Some specimens of a work in Latin from his pen, show that he used that lan- guage, not as many theologians have used it, with barbarous idioms, but with a degree of gracefulness and elegance .*
I cannot but conceive of him as characterized by great dig- nity of manners, combined-as true dignity must ever be --- with courtesy. "He had been acquainted with great men, and great things;" he had seen the world in all its phases ;
* Mather (Magn. III, 54,) gives several passages from a letter to Dury, the Peace-maker, written by Davenport and subscribed by all the ministers in the colony. The entire letter I have not seen. One passage is worth transcri- bing, and if all our wrangling Doctors had Latin enough to understand it, and grace enough to act accordingly, it would be better for the Churches.
" Sincere de erroribus judicare, et errores tamen in fratribus infirmis tole- rare, utrumque judicamus esse Apostolica doctrina consonum. Toleratio vero fratrum infirmorum, non debet esse absque redarguatione, sed tantum absque rejectione."
148
and he appears to have been always treated with that respect which is not often withheld from those in whom the honest self-respect from which proceeds true dignity of manners, is mingled with the kindness which is the soul of courtesy .*
His sermons, as he prepared them for the pulpit, appear to have been, not discourses fully written out, after the manner now adopted by the most accomplished New England preachers, but outlines with somewhat extended sketches of the leading topics, to be completed and enlivened by the freedom and fire of extemporaneous utterance. Hence we can only very imperfectly judge of his power in the pulpit by any specimens of his preaching which have come down to us. That there was life and force in his discourses, may be seen on almost any page of his " Saints' Anchor-hold." But the testimony of his cotemporaries, is all that we have to tell us of what he actually was in the pulpit. One who was long acquainted with his reputation, and who after his removal to Boston must have often seen him, says : He was " a person beyond exception and compare, for all ministerial abilities ;" and that even in his latest years, "he was of that vivacity, that the strength of his memory, profoundness of his judg- ment, floridness of his elocution, were little, if at all, abated in him."+ Another, who in his youth was the particular friend of Davenport the aged, says, "He was a princely preacher. I have heard some say, who knew him in his younger years, that he was then very fervent and vehement as to the manner of his delivery, but in his later years he did very much imitate Mr. Cotton, whom, in the gravity of
* I find on the Colony Records, an expression of Mr. Davenport's, which seems to me sufficiently characteristic to deserve a place here. In the trial of a case of defamation, " Thomas Staplies, of Fairfield, plaintiff, Mr. Roger Ludlow, late of Fairfield, defendant," 29 May, 1654, Mr. and Mrs. Davenport were called by the plaintiff to testify to a conversation at their house, between them and the defendant. In regard to that conversation, Mr. Ludlow asser- ted " that he required and they promised secresy ;"-to which Mr. Daven- port replied, that " he is careful not to make unlawful promises, and when he liath made a lawful promise, he is, through the help of Christ, careful to keep it."
+ Hubbard, 602, 603.
149
his countenance he did somewhat resemble. Sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat."*
Let us call up the shade of our ancient prophet. I see him rising in his pulpit. The folds of his gown conceal, in part, the slenderness of his figure, worn thin with years of infir- mity. The broad white bands falling upon his breast, starched and smooth,-the black round cap, from beneath which a few snowy locks show themselves,-the round face and del- icate features, which, but for the short white beard, might . seem almost feminine,-the dark bright eye, which shows that age has not yet dimmed the fire within,-complete the venerable image. Every eye is fixed upon him. He names his text. As he reads it, all rise to show their reverence for the " Scripture breathed of God." After they have been seated again, he proceeds. He unfolds his text historically and critically. He raises from it some one point of . " doc- trine." He " proves" that doctrine by an induction of in- stances from Scripture, or by the accumulation of proof-texts. He illustrates it, shows its connections with other truths, and justifies it to the understanding, by "reasons" drawn from the nature of things, and evolving the philosophy of the subject. He closes and applies his discourse with " uses," or inferences, drawn from his doctrine for " instruction," or " comfort," or " admonition," or "exhortation," till the last sands are falling in the hour glass. Meanwhile the listening congregation knows no weariness. The weighty thought, the cogent argument, the flashing illustration, the strong ap- peal to affection or to hope, the pungent application, the flow of soul in the fervent yet dignified utterance,-keep fast hold on their attention. "They sit under the shadow of his doc- trine as it were with great delight, and find the fruit thereof sweet to their taste."+
If we turn from the survey of his talents and accomplish- ments, his studies and performances, to look upon his heart in its moral affections and habits, it is not enough to say that he was a man of eminent piety. His religious character was
Increase Mather, Magn. III, 10.
t Hubbard, 603.
150
marked with some lineaments particularly worthy of obser- vation.
Nothing is more manifest in his writings, or in his life, than that he had a strong sense of duty. There is no element of human nature more exalted than that instinctive recognition of the force of obligation, which no depravity can entirely extinguish, but which rises to its just ascendency over infe- rior sensibilities only as it is quickened by the Spirit of God. The sentiment which sees good, even the highest good, and beauty, even the most glorious beauty, in doing right-that sentiment controlling the will, and shedding its sanctity over the thoughts and affections, is the image, and in a sense the presence, of God in the soul of man. This is what we. mean by the sense of duty. It was strong in the heart of our first pastor. When he had clearly proved, in respect to any matter, what was duty-what was the application of the rules of righteousness-what God required-there was to him the end of the argument. "Lay this foundation," said he, " doth God require it ?"
Nearly related to this sentiment was his confidence in God. Confidence in God cannot be, where there is no controlling sense of duty; he who lives for selfish ends cannot trust the providence of God, for God's ends and his are not coincident. So on the other hand, where the sentiment of confidence in Him who sways the destinies of all, is weak, there the sen- timent of duty is weakened in proportion. If we cannot trust God, why should we concern ourselves with duty ? If there is no power above and around us, to take care of us and of all, and to make truth and righteousness triumph in the end, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. "If we build God's house," said Davenport, "God will build our house." "While we are attending to our duty, God will be providing for our safety."
Habitual communion with God was the secret source of this strong practical confidence. "A young minister* once
This young minister was probably Increase Mather, whom his son, in his account of Davenport, frequently denominates by some such periphrasis.
151
›
receiving wise and good counsels from this good and wise and great man, received this among the rest, 'that he should be much in ejaculatory prayers; for indeed ejaculatory pray- ers-as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are they,- happy is the man that has his quiver full of them.' And it was believed that he himself was well used to that sacred skill of 'walking with God,' and 'having his eyes ever to- wards the Lord,' and 'being in the fear of the Lord all the day long,' by the use of ejaculatory prayers on the innu- merable occasions, which every turn of our lives does bring for those devotions. He was not only constant in more set- tled, whether social or secret, prayers ; but also in the midst of all besieging incumbrances, tying the wishes of his devout soul to the arrows of ejaculatory prayers, he would shoot them away to the heavens, from whence he still expected all his help."*
It is always easy to detract from greatness and from good- ness ; for the greatest minds are not exempt from infirmity, and the purest and noblest bear some stain of human imper- fection. Let others find fault with the founders of the New England colonies, because they were not more than human ; be it ours to honor them. We have no occasion to disparage the wisdom or the virtues of the lawgivers of other states and nations ; nor need the admirers of Calvert or of Penn detract from the wisdom, the valor, or the devotion of the . fathers of New England. Not to Winthrop and Cotton, nor to Eaton and Davenport, nor yet to Bradford and Brewster, belongs the glory of demonstrating with how little govern- ment society can be kept together, and men's lives and prop- erty be safe from violence. That glory belongs to Roger Williams ; and to him belongs also the better glory of strik- ing out and maintaining, with the enthusiasm though not without something of the extravagance of genius, the great conception of a perfect religious liberty. New England has learned to honor the name of Williams as one of the most
Magnalia, III, 54.
,
152
illustrious in her records ; and his principle of unlimited reli- gious freedom, is now incorporated into the being of all her commonwealths. To Penn belongs the glory, of having first opened in this land a free and broad asylum for men of every faith and every lineage. To him due honor is conceded ; and America, still receiving into her " broad-armed ports," and enrolling among her own citizens, the thousands that come not only from the British Isles, but from the Alps, and from the Rhine, and from the bloody soil of Poland,-glories in his spreading renown. What then do we claim for the Pilgrims of Plymouth-what for the stern old Puritans of the Bay and of Connecticut-what for the founders of New Haven ? Nothing, but that you look with candor on what they have done for their posterity and for the world. Their labors, their principles, their institutions, have made New England, with its hard soil and its cold long winters, "the glory of all lands." . The thousand towns and villages,-the decent sanctuaries not for show but for use, crowning the hill- tops, or peering out from the valleys,-the means of educa- tion accessible to every family,-the universal diffusion of knowledge,-the order and thrift, the general activity and enterprise, the unparalleled equality in the distribution of property, the general happiness resulting from the diffusion of education and of pure religious doctrine,-the safety in which more than half the population sleep nightly with un- bolted doors,-the calm, holy Sabbaths, when mute nature in the general silence becomes vocal with praise, when the whisper of the breeze seems more distinct, the distant water- fall louder and more musical, the carol of the morning birds clearer and sweeter-this is New England ; and where will you find the like, save where you find the operation of New . England principles and New England influence ? This is the work of our fathers and ancient lawgivers. They came hither, not with new theories of government from the labo- ratories of political alchymists, not to try wild experiments upon human nature, but only to found a new empire for God, for truth, for virtue, for freedom guarded and bounded by
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.