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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00085 0815
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MENTis HOPME ERDIYAR IN 1870-72, WITH THE WASHINGTON ELM.
FIRST CHTEROR IN HET
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LECTURES C
ON
THE HISTORY
OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE, Mass
BY
ALEXANDER MCKENZIE,
PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE AND SHEPARD CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY.
BOSTON : CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY. 1873.
UNIVERSITY PRESS : WELCH, BIGELOW, & Co., CAMBRIDGE.
1211164 PREFACE.
-
T HE materials for these lectures have been found in part in various histories which treat of the different periods and events, and in part in the records of the church. I have freely introduced collateral mat- ters whenever they explained the position or action of the church.
The first lecture was delivered December 18, 1870, and the last April 14, 1872. This will account for some repetitions which would have been out of place in an ordinary history.
I am indebted to Rev. John L. Sibley of the Univer- sity Library for advance sheets of his Memoirs of the Graduates of Harvard College, and for advice from time to time. I wish also to acknowledge the con- tinual encouragement I have received from my own parishioners, and especially from William A. Saunders, Esq., whose interest in our personal and local history has been of the greatest service to me. As this book
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$ 2,50
Goodspeed
PREFACE.
is now to be given to the public, I desire to dedicate its pages to those who in their turn constitute the First Church in Cambridge and the Shepard Congre- gational Society.
ALEXANDER MCKENZIE.
CAMBRIDGE, 1872.
FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
LECTURE I.
" WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS, O GOD, OUR FATHERS HAVE TOLD US, WHAT WORK THOU DIDST IN THEIR DAYS, IN THE TIMES OF OLD." - Psalm xliv. 1.
TT is in the order of nature and Providence, that one generation shall praise the works of the Lord to another, and shall declare his mighty acts. He teaches men by men, using them to illustrate his character and will, to announce his purposes, to glorify his name. Holy men of God, speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have given much of their teaching to the world by relating the history of men and nations. Inasmuch as the Lord changes not, and men are of one blood, the story of any human life, whenever, wherever its course may have run, is instructive to those who shall hear it. Not those alone who have found men- tion in sacred history, but others, in every age of the world, can teach us out of their experience, and reveal to us the ways of God with man. If it be true in other lands that the fathers can instruct the children, and that the lives of the fathers deserve the devout study of the children, surely here, in a land sought out in the name of God, and consecrated to his service at the beginning, by men who for love of him and of his
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
truth made themselves homes in the wilderness, and built up churches and schools and the institutions of free government, with his Word for their guide, his commandments for their statutes, his goodness for their comfort and strength, - surely here we must inquire concerning the former times, that we may know our place and duty, may preserve the memories and vir- tues of those into whose labors we have entered, may honor him who by his right hand and his arm and the light of his countenance gave them the land in posses- sion, because he had a favor unto them.
We are following the Divine method when we trace out the history of this ancient church, remembering the days of old, considering the years of many generations, asking our fathers that they may show us, our elders that they may tell us. From the tale which they have written, which has remained after their hands have be- come still, we are able to tell again what work the Lord did in their days, and by what men he gave to us the inheritance for which we bless him. The fathers of our land, of our church, were Englishmen. The spirit which compelled them to abandon the land which had given them birth, and the church in which they had been reared, belonged to the manliness of England's better days. They wanted purity and liberty in state and church. Willing to submit to all rightful author- ity, they could not consent to a tyranny which was both grievous and perilous, to oppression which burdened the conscience and blighted the life. They asked for other things for themselves and their children. They asked in vain. Some went out from the national church to secure by themselves what they must have at any cost. Separation dates from 1567. Scorned, hunted, afflicted
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LECTURE I.
in many ways, these little bands of Separatists suffered, and kept the freedom and the faith. One of these new churches, founded after the Apostolic model in the year 1606, in the village of Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, tarried for twelve years in Holland, then crossed the seas, and at Plymouth became the first church in New England ; for nine years the only Protestant Church in the Western World, unless there were some remains of an ecclesiastical organization in the almost forsaken colony of Virginia. But many who were greatly dis- contented with the Church of England were not willing to become Separatists, but sought to find within its fold the freedom and purity they desired. These were the Puritans, as their enemies called them in derision. It became plain to many of these, at last, that the hope of reformation was vain, and that the liberty sought could only be found in another land. They turned their eyes westward. Colonization in New England was much discussed among the Puritans. A company known as the " Dorchester Adventurers " came over in 1624, and two years later settled down in Naumkeag. In 1629 a royal charter created a corporation under the name of the " Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." Under this charter the colony of Massachusetts conducted its affairs for fifty-five years. The charter said nothing of religious liberty. Great accessions were made to the settlement at Naumkeag, which was changed to Salem, and in this year (1629) the second church on these shores was organized. It is clear that these settlers at Salem had no intention of separating themselves from the English Church when they gave up their home. But the formation of a new church came about naturally, providentially. There was
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
much sickness among the colonists, and Samuel Fuller, the Plymouth physician, was called to their aid. He was a deacon as well as a doctor, and, besides caring for the physical wants of the sick, gave the new-comers information concerning the church at Plymouth. His account of things in the older settlement was instructive to those who had heard a far different report of their Separatist neighbors. Governor Endicott of Salem wrote to Governor Bradford of Plymouth acknowledging his love and care in sending Dr. Fuller, and added, " I re- joice much that I am by him satisfied touching your judgment of the outward form of God's worship." The Salem colonists proceeded to organize a church. There were with them two nonconformist clergymen of the Church of England, both men eminent for virtue and learning, and these were chosen to the chief offices. Mr. Samuel Skelton was chosen pastor, and Mr. Francis Higginson, teacher. Mr. Higginson, at the request of his brethren, drew up a "Confession of Faith and Cove- nant." "On a set day, with preaching and praying and fasting, thirty persons assented to the Declaration which had been prepared ; and, after thus constituting them- selves a church, ordained their pastor and teacher with the laying on of hands. In their proceedings they sought the fellowship and counsel of the Plymouth church, which was represented by Governor Bradford and others, who were so long hindered by cross-winds that they came in too late for the earlier services of the day, but were in season to extend the right hand of fel- lowship, and to give to their brethren their blessing and good wishes. These Salem Puritans builded larger and better than they thought. Accused of being Separatists, the ministers replied, " that they did not separate from the
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LECTURE I.
Church of England, nor from the ordinances of God there, but only from the corruptions and disorders there ; and that they came away from the cumbersome prayers and ceremonies, and had suffered much from nonconformity in their native land, and therefore, being in a place where they might have their liberty, they neither could nor would use them, because they judged the imposition of these things to be sinful corruptions in the worship of God. The Governor and Council, and the generality of the people, did well approve of the ministers' answer."
But this was, in fact, separation from the English Church, and their other proceedings were independent of her usage and her authority. The ministers who had received Episcopal ordination were ordained by their own church to the particular care of that church. Elders and deacons were also chosen and ordained by the church.
This was building on the ancient foundation. These men had learned something in their days of trial at home, something in the study and meditation of their long voyage, with the Bible to teach them the ways of the primitive churches. In a new land, filled with a free spirit, glorying in the liberty wherewith they had been made free, encouraged by the example and counsel of the Pilgrims, it is not strange that they went back to the former simplicity, and built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself for the chief corner-stone.
I have dwelt upon this procedure, because it was the first instance in which Puritans, not Separatists, formed a Congregational Church. Other churches followed in Charlestown, Dorchester, Boston, Roxbury, Lynn, Water- town. With Congregational churches at the basis of
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
civil society, a Republican form of government for the State was inevitable. These earliest churches were a prophecy of the Nation. We come now to Cambridge. It was at first designed to build here a fortified town, and to make it the capital of the Province. The ground was laid out, the lines of the fortification drawn, the streets arranged at right angles. Some idea of the topog- raphy of the place may be derived from such names as Market Square, Creek Street, Water Street, Crooked Street, Spring Street, Long Street, Marsh Lane. Gov- ernor Winthrop set up the frame of a dwelling-house on the spot where he first pitched his tent. The Deputy- Governor, Dudley, completed a house and moved his family into it. Other gentlemen of high standing pre- pared to reside here. The place received the appro- priate designation of Newtown.
As the relations with the Indians became more settled, it was thought that the neighboring peninsula offered superior advantages for the capital, and it was accord- ingly established in Boston. The removal of Winthrop's house to Boston greatly offended Dudley, and "the ministers, for an end of the difference, ordered that the governor should procure them a minister at Newtown, and contribute some toward his maintenance for a time," or else make Dudley a suitable recompense. It was in 1631 that the plan for Newtown was changed. There wevina still to have remained some thought that this place might become the metropolis, and it received legis- lative patronage. In 1632 the Court of Assistants levied an assessment upon the several plantations " to- wards making a palisade about the new town." A writer who was here at this time thus describes the place : " This is one of the neatest and best-compacted
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LECTURE 1.
towns in New England, having many fair structures, with many handsome contrived streets. The inhabi- tants, most of them, are very rich." In some of the earliest years the annual election of the governor and magistrates was held here, when the people assembled under an oak which stood upon the northerly side of our Common. In this year (1632) the town received a con- siderable addition to its numbers by the arrival of the Braintree Company, as it was called, better known to us as Mr. Hooker's Company. Thomas Hooker was a graduate and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England, where he displayed great ability and fidelity. After leaving college he preached with acceptance and success. In 1630 he was silenced for nonconformity, to the great regret of many of the clergy of the Estab- lished Church. He taught school for a time, having John Eliot, afterwards the apostle to the Indians, as an usher. It was while in the family of Hooker that Eliot was converted, and under his influence that he decided to devote himself to the Christian ministry. Besides being silenced, Hooker was put under bonds to appear before the High Commission Court. His bond was paid by a friend, and he remained for a short time in retirement, and then crossed to Holland, where he re- mained for three years. Meanwhile the emigration of the Puritans to this country was going forward, and many of Hooker's friends came over. There were about two hundred emigrants in one company. Many of these settled in Newtown, where they erected a meeting-house preparatory to the full establishment of the ordinances of religion. Having enjoyed Mr. Hooker's ministry in other days, they desired to have him accompany them, which he was unable to do. But returning to England,
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
and with great difficulty escaping from his enemies, in the midsummer of 1633 he sailed for New England, in company with John Cotton and Samuel Stone. A pas- sage of six or seven weeks brought them to Boston. The voyage was enlivened with three sermons or expo- sitions on almost every day ; and also with the birth of a son to Mr. Cotton, who at his baptism was called Seaborn.
The people could hardly fail to play upon the names of the ministers, and liked to say, merrily, " that their three great necessities would now be supplied ; for they had Cotton for their clothing, Hooker for their fishing, and Stone for their building."
A Church was organized at Newtown, and with fast- ing and prayer Mr. Hooker was chosen pastor, and Mr. Stone teacher. Both had received ordination in Eng- land, but were again ordained by their own church to the offices to which they were elected, in the presence of " neighbor ministers," who gave the right hand of fellowship. What their meeting-house was we are not told. In the year of its erection the first house of worship in Boston was built. That had mud walls and a thatched roof. Into that house came John Cotton from St. Botolph's Church in Boston, England, one of the most stately parish churches in the land, and able to contain five thousand people. It was a change, from the lofty cathedral tower to the low door of the New England meeting-house. It was more than balanced by the joy of preaching the gospel, a free man to free men. But to guard against fire, it had been ordered in the pre- vious year that in Newtown no man should " build his chimney of wood, nor cover his house with thatch." It is probable, therefore, that the house here was of logs.
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LECTURE 1.
Many years after its erection a vote was passed in Town Meeting that the church should be repaired " with a 4 square roofe, and covered with shingle." This house stood on the west side of Water, now Dunster Street, a little south of Spring, now Mount Auburn Street. It is particularly recorded that the house had a bell upon it. It must have been a small, plain structure. The plainness of the early churches was in part a neces- sity, and in part an intentional departure from the archi- tecture which had been left. The colonists built for use. They needed a house to meet in, and one which would answer this purpose made them quite content. They gave it a name which clearly explained its use, and called it the meeting-house. It was used for the general gathering of the people. In many cases it was furnished with means of defence against the Indians.
In a few months the people of Newtown complained that they were straitened for want of room. They asked of the General Court leave "to look out either for enlargement or removal," which was granted. At the next meeting they asked leave to remove to Con- necticut. They said that there was not land enough, especially meadow, so that they could not maintain their ministers, nor receive more inhabitants. Mr. Hooker said that it was an error that towns were set so near together. By removing, as they proposed, they would get more room, and keep out other settlers from the place they should possess. It has been conjectured that there were certain personal jealousies between the leading men in Boston and Newtown, which made a separation desirable. But this cannot be proved. Strong objection to the removal was made, and the matter was found difficult of adjustment. After the
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
excellent custom of the time, the whole Court agreed to lay the question before the Lord, and a Fast Day was kept in all the congregations. When the Court as- sembled again Mr. Cotton preached from Haggai ii. 4, upon the relations of the magistracy, the ministry, and the people. The fasting and preaching seemed to have a good effect, as the Newtown congregation "accepted of such enlargement as had formerly been offered them by Boston and Watertown, and so the fear of their removal to Connecticut was removed." But the result was only temporary ; the desire to remove continued. At last leave was granted, and in the summer of 1636 Mr. Hooker's church and congregation, a hundred in number, with great difficulty made their journey of above a hundred miles, travelling by the compass, through a trackless wilderness, driving their cattle with them. Mrs. Hooker, being in feeble health, was carried in a horse-litter. The company formed a settlement in Connecticut, where some preparation had already been made, and called the place Hartford, after the birth- place of Mr. Stone. Mr. Hooker was at Newtown less than three years, but he distinguished himself as a preacher and counsellor, and was an efficient man in the affairs of both church and state. After his removal he was connected with many important movements through the New England colonies. He was one of the moderators of the Synod held at Cambridge in regard to Anne Hutchinson. He was invited to be a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines which formed the famous Catechisms. He left at his death a goodly number of printed works. He died in 1647, at the age of sixty-one. Some one standing in tears by his bed- sido said, "Sir, you are going to receive the reward of
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LECTURE I.
all your labors." He replied, " Brother, I am going to
receive mercy." John Cotton honored his memory with elegiac lines of which I give the first two stanzas :
" To see three things was holy Austin's wish, -. Rome in her flower, Christ Jesus in the flesh, And Paul i' the pulpit : lately men might see Two first, and more, in Hooker's ministry.
" Zion in beauty is a fairer sight Than Rome in flower, with all her glory dight ; Yet Zion's beauty did most clearly shine In Hooker's rule and doctrine, both divine."
With this we come to our own church. There were those who had more recently come out from England who stood ready to purchase the meeting-house and dwelling-houses and other immovable property which Hooker's company desired to leave, and these things were accordingly transferred to them. It was not their design to remain here permanently, but here they stayed. Here their successors worship, even in this house. We must read again the story of their leader, whose name is preserved in connection with the church. I shall give you this story somewhat in detail be- cause of its historical value, as showing the position of the Puritans at that time, and the causes which drove them across the seas. Thomas Shepard was more than a founder, for he shaped the beginnings of the church and gave it a character, a strength and beauty, which have endured, and shall stand through the long future. If we study the character of the man, or survey his works, we admire him, and give him praise for that he wrought out. I would that we all were familiar with his life and with his works. His · written words should be in every house, that he may
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
still teach in a perpetual pastorate. I have in my care, as his successor, a small book, some five inches long, which contains in his own handwriting the Biography and Diary of Thomas Shepard, and a few pecuniary accounts. He lives, therefore, in his own record of his life. An excellent Memoir of Shepard, with a brief but instructive account of the times in which he lived, was written by the late lamented pastor of this church, and is now in our Sabbath School Library.
The year 1605 was marked in England by the in- famous plot to destroy the King and Parliament. On the 5th of November, the day when the plot was dis- covered, " and that very hour wherein the Parliament should have been blown up," there was born in Tow- cester, in Northamptonshire, a child who was named Thomas, after the doubting disciple, because the father thought his son would hardly believe that " ever any such wickedness should be attempted by men against so religious and good a Parliament." William Shepard, the father, was a prosperous grocer, a wise and prudent man, and " toward his latter end much blessed of God in his estate and in his soul." So earnest was he in his love of the truth, that he removed from a town where there was no good ministry, that he might be under the stirring preaching which the Puritans offered. The mother died when Thomas was about four years old, when the father married again. He died when the son was about ten years of age. The childhood of the boy was unpromising. He was sent when very young to his grandparents, where he was surrounded with ignorance, and much neglected. He was then sent to his uncle, who lived in " a little blind town," where he was more content, and learned the corrupting sports of
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LECTURE I.
the youth of that day. On his return home his step- mother treated him harshly, and his father sent him to a free school in Towcester, kept by a Welshman, who was exceedingly cruel towards him, so that the boy was wholly discouraged from desire of learning, and often wished he was a keeper of beasts instead of a school- boy. But upon the death of his father he was taken by his brother, who agreed to bring him up for the use of his portion of £100, and who was faithful to his trust, being both father and mother to the orphan boy. He had prayed heartily for his father's life while he was sick, and promised to serve God better if his prayer should be granted. His religious impressions were therefore early. He came under the care of a better teacher, who gave him a desire to be a scholar, and at fourteen he was admitted a pensioner at Emmanuel Col- lege, though " very raw and young." He was studious in college, and became proud of his attainments. But he lived in neglect of God and private prayer. There were times when his heart was touched, but he resisted all good influences, and fell into bad company, and even became intoxicated once or twice. Shame and remorse followed his indulgence. The searching preaching of Dr. Preston, Master of the College, gave him knowledge of himself, and he determined to flee from the wrath to come and to lay hold upon eternal life. He found the way hard and long. Doubts and questionings assailed him. His struggle was severe and protracted. But he prevailed, and at last he found rest. " The Lord gave me a heart to receive Christ, with a naked hand even a naked Christ, and so he gave me peace." The God of his father and mother remembered the youth, and he was blessed according to their desire.
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FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE.
The covenant which parental faith had made and sealed brought its blessing to the favored child. He left col- lege with a high reputation for scholarship, and with the usual honors of the University. He was unde- cided what to do next. In the religious condition of England, his way was much hedged up. He came for a time under the ministry of Thomas Hooker, which he found profitable. There was a plan in those days for supplying with preachers parts of the country which were without a proper ministry. The Puritans raised a fund for this purpose, and the men who were appointed were called Lecturers. They were not to remain in any place, upon this foundation, for more than three years. Thomas Shepard was appointed a Lecturer, and received Deacon's orders in the English Church, " sinfully," he afterwards thought. He was sent to the town of Earles-Colne, where, so far as he could find, there was but one man who had any god- liness. But his earnest labors were widely blessed, especially to the chief house of the town, where he won to the Lord and to himself his steadfast friend Roger Harlakenden, whose mortal part now lies in yonder bury- ing-ground. Then "Satan began to rage, and the com- missaries, registers, and others to pursue him as thinking he was a nonconformable man, when for the most of that time he was not resolved either way." He stood on
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