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Gc 974.402 D86b 1822109
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01115 2144
AN
ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED AT DUDLEY, MASSACHUSETTS,
MARCHI 20, 1853.
WITH TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE TOWN.
BY JOSHUA BATES, D. D.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
BOSTON: PRESS OF T. R. MARVIN, 42 CONGRESS STREET. 1853.
1822109
1:
D .1 .
2844245
Bates, Joshua, 1776-1854.
An anniversary discourse. delivered at Dudley, Masadi. setts, March 20, 1853. With topographical and he-www ...! ;. tices of the town.' By Joshua Bates, D. D. Boston, Press o. T. R. Marvin, 1853. 38 p. 231.
CHRU CARD
1. Dudley, Mass .- Illst.
1-11370
Library of Congress F74.DSB3
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D284427
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DR. BATES'S
ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE,
Dudley, Mass.
MARCH 20, 1853.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
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DISCOURSE.
1 SAMUEL VII. 12.
THEN SAMUEL TOOK A STONE AND SET IT BETWEEN MIZPEH AND SHEN ; AND CALLED THE NAME OF IT EBENEZER, SAYING: HITHERTO HATH THE LORD HELPED US.
Ir was to Samuel an occasion of great interest, when he performed this significant act, and uttered this language of pious gratitude. The Philistines, in the time of Eli, his predecessor in office, had defeated the armies of Israel ; and taken and car- ried away the ark of the covenant. But by the miraculous interposition of Heaven, the Philistines were led to fear the ark, and cause it to be sent back to the borders of the land of Israel; and sub- sequently to flee before the men of Israel, who pursued and smote them, until they came to Beth- car. Thus the way was prepared for the restoration of the ark, that symbol of the divine presence and favor, to its appointed place, in Shiloh. This suc- cess and these bright prospects, in the view of pious Samuel, demanded a grateful acknowedgment to Him who had thus blessed him and his people, in
their contest with " the uncircumcised Philistines," and so far restored to the repenting children of Israel this token of his favor and their wonted relig- ious privileges, with the hope of seeing still better days. Accordingly, he " took a stone and set it between Mizpeh and Shen ; and called the name of it Ebenezer, [a stone of help, ] saying: Ilitherto hath the Lord helped us."
This example of devout and thankful acknowl- edgment of the goodness of God, is worthy of imitation by all, who can look back and recollect seasons of divine interposition in their favor, and call to mind blessings bestowed upon them ; whether in their individual capacity, or in any of the various relations of life which they sustain. I have thought, therefore, that the text would form a suitable intro- duction to a discourse on the present occasion ; and might lead both you and me, my brethren, to some interesting recollections and meditations ; might call into exercise some pure emotions of gratitude to our Heavenly Father, and induce us to form new resolutions of obedience and devotion to his service. For this is the nearest Sabbath to the tenth anniver- sary of my installation and induction into the office of pastor and teacher of the Congregational Church and Society in this place.
So far as it regards myself, I might indeed go further back, in my recollections and acknowledg- ments. For within a week of this day, no less than four anniversaries, of great interest to me, are clustered together-my birth-day, the day of my
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first public consecration to the work of the gospel ministry, the time of my formal introduction into the office of a teacher in one of the schools of the prophets, and finally, my consecrated connection with you, as pastor and teacher of this church.
This is my birth-day ; and if any one should address me in the language of Pharaoh to Jacob, and ask, " How old art thou ?" I should not an- swer in the complaining language of that much afflicted and greatly tried patriarch : " Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been ; and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrim- age." No! for I could not thus answer with truth. But I should rather say : ' Many and good have the days of the years of my life been ; and I have fully attained to the days of the years of my fathers in their pilgrimage.' For I am this day threescore and seventeen years old-seven years beyond the common age even of those who live out all their days-having been born at Cohasset, on the 20th day of March, 1776, three months and a half before the birth of our country-before the declaration of the independence of the United States of America.
This day, likewise, is near to the anniversary of my ordination ; for on the 16th day of March, 1803, fifty years ago last Wednesday, I was ordamed to the work of the gospel ministry, and constituted pastor of the " First Congregational Church in Dedham." There I continued fifteen years, labor-
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ing with great satisfaction, and not without apparent success, among a people whom I loved, and by whom I was treated with kindness and respect ;- from whom, therefore, I was reluctantly separated ; but in obedience to a call of Providence, and under an ecclesiastical sanction which I could not dis- regard.
Another anniversary, to which I have likewise alluded, occurred on Friday last. For on the 18th day of March, 1818, thirty-five years ago, my in- auguration, as the presiding officer of Middlebury College, took place. In that position I remained more than twenty-one years; laboring substantially in the same cause, to which I had been previously devoted ; preaching and teaching, in the pulpit and in the lecture-room ; assisting, as I was able, in the training of many precious young men, for the service of the church, of their country and the world ; and securing, at the same time, to a large and beloved family of my own, as I hope and believe, a sound and liberal education, for the benefit of their gen- eration.
The fourth and last-named anniversary in the clus- ter, will occur on Tuesday next. For on the 22d day of March, 1843, ten years ago, at the age of sixty- seven, forty years from the time of my ordination and first settlement in Dedham, I was installed as pastor of this church, and charged anew to preach the everlasting gospel with all patience and long- suffering. Such an instance of late re-settlement in the ministry is not to be found, I believe, in the
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ecclesiastical history of New England. But it took place in accordance with my earnest desire. For when I took a dismission from Dedham, it was with a full purpose, if permitted, to leave the business of college instruction, in season for re-settlement in the ministry, that I might spend my last days alto- gether in the work to which I had been devoted, with the hope of finishing my course with joy, " close to the altar of God." In this desire I have been so far gratified. For here I have been labor- ing for these ten years-too languidly I confess, and with many obstacles to encounter-yet with a good degree of satisfaction ; and, I hope, with some benefit to the church and to the cause of truth and righteousness. But, at present, I will proceed no further in speaking of myself exclusively. For the naming of this fourth anniversary brings before me scenes, and revives recollections, equally interesting, my brethren, to you and to me. To the consideration of these reminiscences, let me ask your candid attention ; while, with truth and sim- plicity, I briefly recount what I recollect, calculated to call forth our grateful acknowledgments of the goodness of God toward us; and induce us, with united hearts and hands, to set up a memorial to his praise. For, in the review, I am confident we shall find occasion to say : " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
When I came here, ten years ago, I found a reg- ularly organized Congregational church* of about
* See Appendix, Note A.
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one hundred members, and a small society loosely connected with it ; surrounded, or rather inter- mingled with the members of two other societies, Methodist and Universalist ; in the midst of a pop- ulation, within the limits of the township, of 1,300 or 1,400, including a few persons who attended public worship in other towns, and many who attended nowhere, and considered themselves as belonging to no religious association. The propor- tion of these several classes of the inhabitants of Dudley, I could not ascertain with sufficient accu- racy, to justify me in making a numerical statement. The latter class, however-the non-attendants- seemed to be much the largest. Of course, the number of stated attendants in this house was small, and that of the constant attendants much smaller. Though a few seemed to be truly devoted to God and his service, loving Zion and mourning over her desolations ; yet a general spirit of languor and discouragement seemed to me to have pervaded the community, and even to have crept into the church. Indeed, it was evident, that this spirit had been long spreading itself abroad, and weakening the bonds of this religious society. The fact that they had suffered this house to be sold, to pay the salary of a former minister, and thus become the property of individual proprietors,* with that other fact, that their legal organization had been lost, so that as a society they had become incapable of holding prop-
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* See Note B.
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erty, or of securing the fulfillment of joint obliga- tions, proves conclusively, that this despondency had nearly reached a fatal crisis. There was such a want of mutual attachment and union of effort, as raised in my mind a doubt whether it were pos- sible to awaken a spirit of harmony, and restore mutual confidence among the scattered members of the former Congregational society ; whether, there- fore, I ought to cast in my lot among you, and attempt to help those who were disposed to help one another, in resisting the downward tendency of social and religious order ; and thus to raise the hopes and combine the energies of the friends of God and his church, and of all who love the cause of truth and order and salvation. But believing that I had been sent here for a special purpose, I came to the conclusion that it was my duty to accept the call of the church, and take up my abode with you. Nor have I ever regretted the decision. For I have been among you without fear; and I cannot but hope that good has been done, and that the final result will be blessed to me and to you and to many who are to come after us. It does not become me to boast, nor will I boast of anything done by me alone ; for by the grace of God I am what I am, and have done what I have done. To Him, therefore, belongs all the glory. Indeed, I have more occasion to humble myself than to boast; to mourn over my mistakes and deficiency of action, rather than to claim merit, and speak of energy and success. But something, I may say without
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boasting, has been done by the various instrumen- talities which have been put in requisition, to give stability to social order, and promote the cause of truth and salvation.
The first thing done for this purpose, was to obtain an Act of the General Court of Massachu- setts, legalizing the records of the society ; and thus enabling the members to organize themselves anew, under a voluntary constitution ; so as to hold prop- erty and act efficiently as a corporation, agreeably to the laws and constitution of the Commonwealth. The second step in these preparatory efforts of consolidation and union, was to procure the relin- quishment of the personal rights of property in this house of worship, by a regular transfer of the prop- erty, held by individuals, to the newly organized society.
Without these preparatory steps, there could have been but little hope of giving stability to a Congre- gational society in this place ; or of laying a foun- dation for united and continued efforts to secure the regular and faithful preaching of the gospel. You might, indeed, have had occasional preaching by men of all descriptions, coming and going as the wind blows and the tide ebbs and flows. But very little benefit can result from such a floating ministry. It is calculated rather to pull down than to build up · the best institutions of society-institutions pro- motive of peace and harmony-of truth, love and salvation. A ministry, to be permanently useful and effective, must itself be permanent-must be con-
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nected with a well organized church and a stable society-must thus have something to stand upon and feel secure. But however important these incipient movements, as preparatory to united and efficient action, they would have been in vain with- out the direct means of religious instruction and the instrumentalities of religious improvement, to which they are subservient, if not indispensably necessary.
What these means and instrumentalities are, so far as they have been used here, for these ten years, I will now endeavor briefly to state. Among them, that of preaching the gospel I have viewed as first in point of order and importance ; and this in- strumentality I have endeavored to use faithfully, according to the measure of talents and grace given me. How I have succeeded, it becomes not me to say ; but I may say without impropriety, I have preached much, and as well as I could .* I have tried to learn the truth and preach the whole gospel, as it was laid open to my mind; keeping nothing back which I found clearly revealed and evidently stated in the Bible. I have sometimes preached in course, following the natural order of connected subjects, or the order of the inspired records ; and sometimes I have selected my texts and chosen my themes of discourse, with reference to the changing circumstances of time and place ; adapting my remarks to the occasions which called
* See Note C.
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them forth; and thus have I endeavored so to divide the word of God as to give to every man a portion in due season ; and, as far as possible, to commend myself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. I have earnestly desired to preach the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel. When I came among you, I came with the full determination " to know," or rather to make known " nothing among you but Christ Jesus and him crucified." How far I have adhered to that resolution, judge ye. Say ye, who have been my constant, candid hearers, whether I have ever indulged myself in political preaching, in spec- ulative preaching, or even in controversial preach- ing ? My desire certainly has been, to " preach the word," the simple word of God, and in the plain, direct and simple manner which that word prescribes-" speaking the truth in love.">
Of the ability with which I have preached, or of the success of my preaching, I dare not speak-I cannot speak. I only know that so far as it has corresponded with the teachings of Christ and his Apostles, it will prove " a savor of life unto life," to them that have heard and believed ; but of " death unto death to them that perish," whether they have heard or refused to hear. Indeed, I expect not to learn the full result of my ministry here, and else- where, till it shall be revealed in the judgment day, and seen in all its consequences, direct and indirect, immediate and remote, through the coming ages of eternity. The motives of action and the fidelity of
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execution are all that belong to me. Of these I need not speak ; of these I need not even think, except in my closet, before a heart-searching and a sin-pardoning God !
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The next instrumentality in order, which I name, and which is indeed the next in point of impor- tance, is our Sabbath school. This has been main- tained, summer and winter, during the whole period of my ministry here, under the same approved superintendent ; and has been a very efficient means of interesting children and youth in the study of the Bible, and of leading adults and even experi- enced Christians to an intimate acquaintance with the word of God ; and thus of preparing them to meet the objections of unbelievers and errorists ; to judge of the soundness of the preaching which they hear ; and to receive with meekness, embrace with readiness, and hold with firmness, the truth as it is in Jesus. Hence, in the promotion of the cause of truth and pure religion among us, I have considered our Sabbath school as second to no instrumentality but the preaching of the gospel.
Our monthly church conferences and weekly prayer meetings have, likewise, been important auxiliaries in the system of means adopted and used among us ; - not so efficient, however, as they might have been, and as they would have been, if the whole church could have been persuaded, as far as practicable, to attend the former constantly, in a right spirit ; and if all the members of the congre- gation would have attended the appointed praver
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meetings as constantly as they could, consistently with health, distance, and special and imperative calls of duty. But we are a scattered people, many living remote from the place of meeting ; and per- haps I have expected too much from this instrumen- tality of good. I do hope, however, that whoever shall come after me, will receive more aid and encouragement in his labors from the prayer meet- ing ; and find his hands held up more steadily by Aaron and Hur-by the prayers of the church. For I am persuaded that the efficacy of preaching in any place depends very much on prayer, to obtain the aid and agency of the Holy Spirit. No man, however devoted to his work, can indeed preach in the power and demonstration of the Spirit, with- out this co-operation of the church-withont that united, fervent prayer of faith which lays hold of the promises, and brings down the influences of the Holy Spirit to give efficacy to the word preached. Yes, Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase ; and he giveth it in answer to prayer.
I may therefore name, as a distinct instrumen- tality of spiritual good among us, a small female prayer meeting, usually held and perseveringly main- tained once in two weeks. This too, I doubt not, has been the means of obtaining spiritual blessings ; and I have most sincerely wished that greater num- bers of our devout women, old and young, were so situated as to be able to meet occasionally for prayer and conversation on the interests of the Redeemer's
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kingdom, without being under the restraints neces- sarily imposed on mixed assemblies. Such confi- dential, unembarrassed meetings of pious females, are among the best means of their growth in grace, and the best preparatives for exerting an extended Christian influence. A minister of much experience in pastoral labors and great spiritual discernment, once said to me, that he considered the female prayer meeting, in a certain village of which we were speaking, as the thermometer of the relig- ious state of that community. He added, when the female prayer meeting prospers there, religion in the church and in that community prospers likewise ; and when that declines, this also lan- guishes ; and many fall away from the faith, and from the faithful and earnest use of the means of grace.
Another instrumentality of good used among us, likewise under female influence, I must not omit to name-a benevolent sewing circle -- a society of female friends, who meet together and labor to- gether for a few hours, once in two weeks, for the purpose of doing something for the support of mis- sions and the spread of the gospel, especially in the waste places and new settlements of our own country. And although a portion of their funds has sometimes been devoted to other uses, much has been done by the association for this purpose. But the incidental and collateral benefits of its meetings have been scarcely less obvious than the direct effects and declared purpose of the associa-
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tion. These meetings have served to promote kind social feelings ; to bring together and hold together, in love, many who would otherwise have remained strangers to each other. The religious influence of the meetings has, as far as I could see, been in all respects favorable. For though they have been eminently social, affording opportunity for free and cheerful conversation, yet the whole intercourse has been rendered conservative and promotive of good feelings and religious improvement, by the reading of the Bible and missionary journals, and more especially by the closing devotional exercises. For myself, I have always been disposed to encourage this social and benevolent association ; because I have viewed it as useful and promotive of social enjoyment and Christian friendship. I have consid- cred it, indeed, one of the strongest bonds and most efficient preservatives of the Congregational Society in Dudley.
Still another instrumentality for religious improve- ment among us, I ought not to pass over in silence, because without it public worship in this house could scarcely have been maintained. I refer, in this remark, to our associated singing choir. To them, and especially to their chorister, for the time and labor employed in preparation for the important service assigned them in the sanctuary, the church and congregation are under great obligation. For, though our choir is small, it is efficient and well instructed ; and the style of their singing is, in my judgment, sufficiently elevated for the solemn exer-
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cises of public worship, and well calculated to pro- duce the best effects of church music.
I name but one more instrumentality of religious improvement, which has been successfully used among us ; and that is, our stated and systematic contributions for missionary and other benevolent purposes. This might, indeed, be considered as one of the fruits of grace rather than a means of grace. But truly it is both-both means and end- both cause and effect ; for while it proceeds from a benevolent spirit, it serves to cherish benevolent feelings and strengthens benevolent principle. In- deed, the Scripture adage, " He that watereth shall be watered also himself," is applicable not only to individuals, but to societies ; so that it has become a common remark, founded on common observation, that a liberal missionary church will be a prosperous and growing church ; but that one which possesses no diffusive spirit, and confines all its charities and labors to itself, has no vitality in it, and must, there- fore, sooner or later languish and dic. Truly- according to the economy of heavenly origin-truly, " there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." And all this is true of individ- ual man and of men associated together. I pity the man to whom God hath given riches, and withal no heart to enjoy them, or to render them subservient to purposes of benevolence. I pity, too, the church or society whose charity begins and ends at home- where no diffusive spirit of love dwells-where all
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the love professed or seen, is a love of self-where nothing is done to send the gospel to the heathen, and no compassion felt for a world lying in wicked- ness and perishing for lack of vision. "O my soul, come not thon into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united."
As a church and society, compared with some others, we have indeed done but little in the work of benevolence. But we have done something ; and this has evidently redounded, not only to the glory of God, but to our spiritual good-to the growth of grace in us, and the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom among us. During the ten years of my ministry here, there has been con- tributed
To the American Board of Com. for Foreign Missions, 8889 98 Amn. Home Miss. So. (including a legacy of #500) 1,071 35
American Tract Society, .
. 173 45
.. American Bible Society, 74 55
Several other Benevolent Societies, 350 47
Amounting to the sum of . $2,559 80
And this is exclusive of what may have been con- tributed by individuals, without my agency, to some of the benevolent institutions, and to promote some of the benevolent operations of the day. To God be all the glory, but to us the reward of grace, in the fulfillment of his gracious promise to them that give cheerfully ; for " God loveth a cheerful giver."
Thus have I briefly enumerated and described such of the instrumentalities of good, employed
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among us and by us, as occurred to my mind. How much, for good, has been accomplished by each of them-how much in establishing Christian principle, in cherishing Christian hope and forming Christian character, I will not attempt to decide. Indeed we cannot see and fully comprehend the individual effects, nor even the combined results, of these several agencies, till they are brought out at the judgment of the great day and viewed in the light of eternity. But their general tendency we may see even here ; and some of the more obvious effects, produced by their combined influence, I will endeavor to state with caution and candor, while I name some of the changes among us which I have observed, and speak of the present condition and future prospects of this church and society.
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