USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > Dubuque > Semi-centennial celebration of the First Congregational Church, of Dubuque, Iowa, May 12th and 13th, 1889 > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTI
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01716 3871
Harriette Rea
1839.
1889.
C
SEMI-CENTENNIAL
CELEBRATION
OF THE
First Congregational Church,
OF
DUBUQUE, IOWA,
MAY 12TH AND 13TH, 1889.
EDITED BY REV. C. O. BROWN, D. D., PASTOR.
." And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year * * * for it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you."-LEV. 25: 10, 12.
Alex Simplet Eng
PASTORS, 1839-1889.
REV. J. C. HOLBROOK, D. D.,
1842-1852.
1856-1863.
REV. JESSE GUERNSEY, D. D., . -
-
1
1
1853-1855.
REV. LYMAN WHITING, D. D ..
18 4-1869.
REV. JOHN S. BINGHAM, D. D.,
1 I
1
1
1
1
870-1882.
REV. C. E. HARRINGTON, D. D.,*
1
1882-1885.
REV. C. O. BROWN, D. D., -
1886
* Title conferred by Iowa College in June following the events recorded in this volume.
Goodspeed-
1241169
"A. ZEESE & CO. CHI
REV. J. C. HOLBROOK, D. D.
PREFACE.
There have been various and sufficient reasons for the con- siderable delay in the appearance of this volume; among others the unusual multiplication of duties for the compiler. But it is the opinion of all who have expressed themselves, that the many excellent things done and said at the Jubilee Cele- bration ought so far as possible to be put in permanent form. Hence this volume. The difficulty and labor of compilation have been increased not a little by the lapse of time between the event and publication. Many more addresses are given in full than was the original intention. To get together this scat- tered eloquence has been a good deal like gathering spilled honey. But the compiler is of the opinion that the fragrance and sweetness are not entirely lost. Surely the value is not.
Such occasions should be marked with our gratitude, if for no other reason, that we may do as the Psalmist did, "shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord."
Dubuque, October, 1889.
COMPLETE INDEX ON PAGES 152-157 .
THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
DUBUQUE, IOWA.
THE FIFTIETH YEAR.
On the 12th day of May, 1889, the Church entered upon the second half century of its existence. The Semi-Centen- nial was celebrated with exercises intensely interesting and full of joy from the opening hour to the close.
Great preparations had been made, and great expectations were indulged, but by common consent the result exceeded all that we had hoped. Weeks before, the Pastor had sug- gested the propriety of celebrating the event. The Church thereupon voted, in the regular Wednesday evening meeting, that the Deacons be invited to confer with the Trustees and that these be a Committee, with the Pastor as Chairman, to report on the expediency of such a celebration. Upon their reporting favorably, they were still further empowered to meet and appoint the necessary committees for securing the success of the undertaking. Committees were subsequently appointed on Program and Printing, Invitations and Enter- tainment, Finance, Music, Decorations, Banquet, and General Arrangements.
From the first everything moved forward with harmony and business like dispatch. Printed invitations bearing the cuts of various buildings in which the Church had worship- ped from the date of organization, were sent out to all the former Pastors and their wives, to every living member who had removed from the city, so far as the whereabouts could be ascertained, and to those former members who had re- moved their connection to other churches in the city ; also to
4
many prominent persons, in different parts of the land, who had been, in various ways, interested in the history and de- velopment of the Church.
All of the former regular Pastors, except Dr. Guernsey, were living ; but as their homes were divided by the full width of the continent and as three of them were past seven- ty years of age, it was thought to be exceedingly doubtful whether they could all be present. Particularly was solici- tude expressed in reference to Dr. J. C. Holbrook, who was in his eighty-second year and whose residence was on the Pacific Coast. But as the responses began to come they were uniformly favorable-Dr. Holbrook's being second, announc- ing not only his promise to be present, but his willingness to' take the parts assigned him on the program.
The answer of each beloved Pastor added to the growing anticipations of pleasure and to the zeal of preparation. Early in the week before the event, came Dr. and Mrs. J. S. Bingham from their home in Traer and they were present in the Wednesday evening meeting of May 8. Later came Rev. and Mrs. C. E. Harrington from their home in Keene, N. H. Then came Dr. and Mrs. Holbrook from their home in San Francisco, and last came, Dr. Lyman Whiting from his home in South Williamstown, Mass. The reception of these beloved leaders, of former years, first by groups of friends at the depots then in the homes of their former par- ishioners, was most hearty and affectionate; and thus the happy occasion was fairly inaugurated. Other matters were largely laid aside and Christian greeting with Christian hos- pitality ruled the hour.
SUNDAY, MAY 12, 1889.
The day dawned with clear and beautiful weather. Accor- ding to the report of the daily papers, "It was truly a great day for this historic Church in Dubuque." Every Committee
5
had done its work faithfully and everything was in readiness to proceed with the printed program. The house was beau- tifully decorated with plants, flowers and branches covered with apple-blossoms. The portrait of Dr. Jesse Guernsey was hung conspicuously in an evergreen arch in front of the organ. Over the platform the figures "1839-1889" in gilt and evergreen were displayed.
According to program, 9:45-10:45 was given to the Chil- dren of the Sunday Schools. The Home School numbering about three-hundred, the Summit Branch School two-hun- dred and the Southern Avenue about fifty, assembled in the main audience room, the two branch schools having marched in order to the Church from their respective neighborhoods. The main floor of the auditorium was filled with Officers, Teachers and Children of the schools. Promptly at the open- ing of the hour the organ sounded and the five Pastors took seats on the platform, Rev. J. C. Holbrook D. D., Rev. Lyman Whiting D. D. Rev. J. S. Bingham D. D., Rev. C. E. Harrington and Rev. C. O. Brown D. D. The scene which greeted them was most interesting and inspiring. The exercises of this hour were in charge of Supt. E. J. Steinbeck of the home school. Each of the Pastors made brief re- marks feelingly contrasting the present scene with that of for- mer days, and each at the close of his remarks was greeted with a basket of flowers by representatives of the schools who came forward, and with appropriate words made the presen- tation. The whole hour was delightful and impressive. The Children were permitted to look upon and hear the venerable Pastors of former years and they in return to behold the fruits of their labors. Promptly at the close of the hour the Children filed out and thronged the galleries, while the pews of the main floor were quickly filled with the regular occu- pants and with visitors, both from other churches of the city and abroad.
The air was fairly electric with joyous anticipation, as the Pastors again took seats on the platform, after a brief interim.
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The organ gave forth its grandest notes as if touched with the spirit of the occasion. The music was a happy comming- ling of olden and modern hymns by the regular quartette choir of the Church, and by a chorus of many voices organ- ized for the occasion by Mr. H. A. Jordan. The leader of the regular choir was Mr. John Buettel. Before a word had been spoken faces in all parts of the house kindled with rec- ognition, and many eyes filled with tears as the memories of former times were brought thus vividly before them. After the Doxology, Rev. C. E. Harrington invoked the divine blessing and the present Pastor, Rev. C. O. Brown, D. D. de- livered the address of welcome as follows :
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
DR. C. O. BROWN.
"Fathers and Brethren : It becomes my delightful privilege, as the successor of more worthy men, to utter the welcome which every heart feels. The emblems of patriotic joy which hailed the completed century of free government, are scarce- ly yet removed and we are gathered in God's house to mark with prayer and praise the fiftieth anniversary of this Church. The years which we shall review hold a wonderful story ; wonderful in its display of swift-moving providences, which have transformed mining camps into cities, wild prairies into great, rich commonwealths, villages into cosmopolitan cen- ters of a world's commerce, art and literature, a small nation of fourteen millions into one of the leading powers among the nations of the earth.
Fifty years ago this great river, on whose banks we are met, was the frontier of civilization. To-day you are gath- ered from both oceans and you have come from homes which equally enjoy all of the privileges of civilization whether in
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the far west or in the east. You have come hither in cars which are palaces, and whether you have traveled east-ward or west-ward, you have found all the way between the homes of this great free America, whose frontier is no longer bounded by Indian camps and scenes of blood, but only by the com- merce-bearing seas.
The moral changes wrought during the past half century have swept on with equal pace to corresponding results. The heathen world is to-day wide open to the Gospel where before it was closed ; large areas are under progress of evangeliza- tion ; two hundred millions of copies of the Scriptures in more than two hundred tongues and dialects are flying abroad on their healing wings ; dark continents are opening to the light ; missionary activity has increased more than six fold; Russian serfdom, American slavery and Brazilian slavery have gone down; the public conscience on matters of tem- perance and moral purity has been wonderfully quickened ; on all matters of charity, public and private, we are far beyond the level of fifty years ago, while war is surely giving way to peaceful means of international arbitration.
Nor has the more personal history of these years been lacking in the demonstration of the fact that moral influences moving from any given center quickly extend, like widening circles to either shore. In this gathering of former Pastors, Plymouth Rock salutes the Golden Gate and both alike salute the grand prairies of the Mississippi Valley. Here they find the common center. To-day their work is broadened till its outlook is westward upon the Alleghanies and eastward upon the Rockies.
We meet to rehearse the modest part which this Church has had in the moral movements of such an age; to com- memorate the goodness of Almighty God who has marked its course with love and dealt with its members as a Father ; to note how apostolic blessings were not all consumed in one apostolic age, but how the fires of Pentecost are still burning and how the pillar of cloud and of flame still goes before.
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Brethren, it is a singular and almost exceptional providence that all, save one, who have served this church in the regular pastorate, have been spared to gather and to greet on this familiar platform to-day. In my work as your successor I have become familiar with your names, and somewhat famil- iar with the history of your work here. Some of it has found record in the church book, in formal entries of the the Clerk; but more, vastly more, has found record where cherishing memories keep it green and where Christian char- acter is exhaling its fragrance still. Oh, Fathers and Brethren, I, too, have learned to love you and esteem you very highly . for your work's sake.
From the heart, therefore, in the name of this Church which loves you, in the name of our one Lord and Master I bid you, and all who have come up to this feast, welcome. In so doing I only greet you at the threshold of your own. This is your pulpit; this is your Church ; these are your children and grand-children in the faith. In the history of the home more often the children who have gone forth return at Thanksgiving time to the shelter of the ancestral roof. But to-day the rule is reversed. The children are here and the grandchildren. The fathers have been far away and have returned. It is our thanksgiving time. We are glad that you have come. Let these walls hear again the tones of your true and eloquent speech. Let the welkin ring. It is well that you have come. We want the children's children to look upon the men whom God used here as the shepherds of his flock in former years. Welcome, then, thrice and many times welcome."
Following the address the choir and congregation rising sang a jubilee hymn as follows:
JUBILEE HYMN.
Sing aloud with holy glee, 'Tis our year of jubilee ; Hither bring with loud acclaim, Praises to Jehovah's name.
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Sing the mercies of these years, Their rejoicings and their tears ; How in faith our fathers wrought, And in doubt their Father sought.
Tell of trials in the past, Which were turned to joys at last ;
Tell how victories, through the Son, For the Lord of Hosts were won.
Sing from memory's tablet green, Loved ones gone to the Unseen ;
Gently from love's myrtle bed, Twine a chaplet for our dead.
O Jehovah, Lord, to-day, Thee we praise ; to Thee we pray ;
Do Thou still our glory prove, Till we join the church above.
Dr. Whiting then read selections of Scripture appropriate to the occasion. An anthem by the choir followed and Dr. Bingham led feelingly in prayer. An old-time anthem was rendered by the chorus which had in it many voices of former years. In introducing Dr. Holbrook who was with the Church almost at the beginning and onward for nearly twenty- one years, the Pastor proposed that the audience receive him standing. Every one in the great audience arose, and as the venerable doctor stepped forward to the desk many were moved to tears. Notwithstanding his more than eighty-one years he is still a man of remarkable vigor. He had arrived only the day before after six days journeying but displayed no tokens of weariness. From the opening to the close of his sermon he moved forward with strong, clear voice and elo- quence. His text was Mat. 16; 3 and his theme, " The Signs of the Times." His discourse was a learned review of the hopeful indications which everywhere greet the broadening Kingdom of Christ. It showed that the speaker was not a de- spondent looking to other times as better than these, but that he regarded this as the best epoch in the world's history, well
IO
along toward the final conquest. His sermon showed that he had kept his heart young and fresh and his mind fully abreast with the latest scientific and religious thought of the age. Happy are the men who can thus keep the sympathies of their youth and prime and grow gracefully old. Happy are the people who can have, for years, the ministry of such a man and who can hear from him such an address and behold in the unfaded freshness of the speaker an illustration of the blessings promised in the third verse of the first Psalm.
SERMON .- "The Signs of the Times."
DR. J. C. HOLBROOK.
Mat. 16; 3. " Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the Signs of the Times ?"
The Scribes and Pharisees of our Savior's day, like many people now, were exceedingly weather-wise. They could pre- dict fair or foul weather from the appearance of the sky at night or morning, but they were blind to the indications of the advent of the expected Messiah. And for this Christ sharply rebuked them in the text and context. It is both our duty and our privilege to study not only the Scriptures but also the operations of God's providence, and to notice the progress of events that serve to indicate the advance of the kingdom of Christ, and to encourage the hope of the speedy and ultimate triumph of Christianity on the earth.
We live unquestionably in a period of unparalleled interest and import to our race, and are on the eve, or we may say in the very midst of vast political and moral changes. This cen- tury, now nearing its close, has been distinguished beyond any that preceded it by such changes, and the next will wit- ness, beyond a doubt revolutions in society and in the relig- ious condition of mankind, greater and more beneficial than
II
have ever before been seen. There are "signs of the times," plainly discernible that indicate that the most glorious pre- dictions of the Scriptures in regard to the coming of Christ's kingdom, for which his people have been long praying are about to be fulfilled.
The word of God certainly fully warrants the belief, that be- fore the final consummation of the earth's history, there is to dawn a far brighter era than has ever yet shed its blessings on mankind-that golden age long anticipated and which has entered into all the visions which Christians have indulged, when all false religions shall have been abolished and the true and living God shall be universally known and honored, and when the evangel of Christ shall have carried to all nations blessings innumerable in its train, elevating humanity in morals, intelligence and physical comforts far beyond any- thing that has yet been known.
I am aware that there is no little skepticism on this point among those who, like the Scribes and Pharisees, are blind to the "signs of the times," but to the eye of faith the horizon is all aglow with indications that "the morning cometh" when "the Sun of Righteousness shall rise upon the nations with healing in his wings" and dissipate the darkness which has long overshadowed so many lands and fill the earth with the splendor of his full orbed glory.
Let me specify some of these "signs of the times," that serve to warrant such expectations.
I. And the first which I shall mention is, the fact that Christianity has now become firmly established in the confi- dence of the civilized world.
The most powerful, influential and progressive nations are Christian nations. Not that there are not skeptics and infidels among them, but the great mass of the people are believers in the divine authority of the Bible, the institutions of Christian- ity are established among them and its principles are the basis of their government, infidels forming but a small minority of
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the people, and even of the leaders in literature and science. It was not to be expected that the Bible, with its humble doc- trines and self-denying precepts, should be accepted by all, or gain its present supremacy without a contest. Christ foresaw and foretold this. "I am not come," said he, " to send peace on earth but a sword." A great battle was to be fought morally and intellectually, to establish its claims and it has been fought and the victory won.
Every conceivable means has been employed to parry those claims, and talents of every grade have been brought into the field against it. Not only has force been used to crush it but every form of argument and ridicule has been arrayed against it and repeated over and over again. And all this needed to be met and overcome before the Gospel should make any important aggressions upon the kingdom of darkness and achieve any wide-spread progress in the earth.
From the first entrance of Christianity in the world and for centuries, there has been a mighty warfare waged against it but all in vain. The giants of infidelity in every successive period have been met and vanquished on all their chosen fields of battle. As fast as assaults were made God has raised up able defenders of the faith, and the Bible, like some lofty promontory against which the waves of the ocean have for ages dashed in vain, still stands, and defies all human effort to destroy it. Nothing, in fact, but a divine revelation could have sustained itself in such an ordeal as the Bible has passed through.
It is a striking fact that infidel books become so soon ob- solete and are forgotten. There is now almost no demand for such works of former days and you can scarcely find them in any respectable book-store, while the Bible is found everywhere and is being multipled by millions and being translated into every language spoken by man. If then all the talents and resources that have been employed against it in the past have failed to undermine its influence how vain is the expectation that it can be done now. Can any
I3
severer ordeal await it than it has already gone through ? A great point then has been gained and the Gospel has won for itself a prestige and position which are indestructible. Christianity is moving on irresistibly to new victories daily among the nations, and to the final conquest of the world. Henceforth it will as little heed its enemies as did the grand army of Sherman in the late war in its magnificent march to the sea.
II. Another " sign of the times" is found in the marked de- cline of all the leading false systems of religion on the earth.
While Christianity is marching on gaining new conquests these old systems are shut up within their original boundaries, and becoming effete, and their empire tottering to its fall. There are no measures being taken to propagate these sys- tems beyond their present limits, while Christianity is aiming for and expects the conquest of the world.
Says Prof. Hitchcock of Union Theological Seminary, New York: "Christianity superceded Judaism, and Mahometan- ism has failed to supercede the superceder. There remains only Buddhism, Brahmanism and Zoroasterism, and not one of them has ever dreamed of conquering the West. Christian- ity is alone in its ambition, its purpose, its expections of uni- versal dominion. If any one really believes, or is really afraid, that Christianity is now at last, in decadence in its turn, let him only put his ear to the ground and hear the tramp of the legions. The skirmishes are frequently disastrous to us, but the great battles all go one way. Mankind must have a re- ligion and they will have the best."
Mark the difference between Christianity and any other or- ganized form of religion. Mahometanism, Buddhism, Heathen- ism anticipate no future spread or conquests. Their priests and votaries are not seen in London, New York, Berlin and Paris propagating their systems. The Chinese land on our shores for purposes of gain but with no hope or intent of superceding our religion with their own. But Christian mis-
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sionaries are penetrating everywhere and are found in the capitals of Turkey, China, Japan and India and in Africa and on all the islands of the sea, and the Christian church is in- stinct with enterprise and the hope of universal triumph.
It is the universal testimony both of missionaries and others, including English officials, that paganism in India is wavering and passing away and that the day is not distant when the millions who have been under its sway will cast it off. It has already lost its hold to a great extent on the high- er classes.
Japan with its thirty millions of people is passing through a peaceful political, and is on the eve of a complete religious, re- volution that will place it among the Christian nations. China, though slow in the march of change, must surely at no distant day abandon her superstitions as modern improvements are being introduced and the labors of our missionaries are pros- ecuted and converts are multiplied; while Turkey is being rapidly permeated by Christian truth. No where on earth do we see any indications of the spread of false religions (if we except Mahometanism in some parts of Africa) but every- where are seen marks of decadence and death.
III. The rapid progress of Science and the Arts is also an encouraging " sign of the times."
This is fatal to all false systems of religion but in the high- est degree favorable to the true. Art and especially science are sometimes regarded, I know, as antagonistic to Christian- ity, but they are really its handmaids and have done much to extend its sway and are destined to do more. Indeed without these the operations for its spread could never have been begun or carried on on the present scale. The more true science is developed the more does it illustrate the Scriptures. The God of nature and of the Bible are the same and the rev- elations of both are entirely harmonious. No enlightened Christian fears the progress of science, but he hails it as a powerful co-operative force with God's word.
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I know that some claim that the march of science will leave the Bible far in the rear but Professor Gray of Harvard, an eminent scientist, declares that this is a mistake; he says: "The cause of Christianity, when all is sifted, will not suffer at the hands of Science." And this is the avowed opinion of most of the ablest scientists of the age.
Science and art combine to facilitate all the operations of Christians for the spread of the Gospel. The invention of printing multiplied and cheapened the Bible and other books and tracts; the mariner's compass and steam enable us to traverse the oceans and continents with speed and ease; med- ical science facilitates the access of missionaries to the hea- then, and the superiority of Christian nations impresses upon others the value of their religion and undermines confidence in their own. Blot out all that science and art have done and throw us back into the darkness of the middle ages and how would all our missionary operations be crippled.
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