USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Bridgewater > Semi-centennial discourse before the First Congregational society in Bridgewater, delivered on Lord's day, 17th September, 1871 > Part 1
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.
Gc 974.402 B76h 1989038
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 7699
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/semicentennialdi1871hodg
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
A
Semi-Centennial
iscourse
BEFORE THE
st.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY IN BRIDGEWATER, Mais.
DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY, 17TH SEPTEMBER, 1871.
BY
RICHARD MANNING HODGES,
A FORMER MINISTER OF THE SOCIETY.
WITH HISTORICAL NOTES.
CAMBRIDGE : PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. MDCCCLXXI.
DEAR SIR,
In behalf of the members of the First Congregational Society in Bridgewater, I have the pleasure of tendering you their thanks for your very highly interesting Discourse, delivered on the Sunday following the fiftieth anniversary of your ordination as Pas- tor of that Society, and of requesting a copy of the Discourse for publi- cation.
Very respectfully, I am, dear Sir,
Yours, most truly,
ARTEMAS HALE.
BRIDGEWATER, September 23, 1871.
To Rev. RICHARD M. HODGES, Cambridge, Mass.
1989038
To Hon. ARTEMAS HALE.
MY DEAR SIR, - The spirit that prompted the preparation of the Discourse which you, and those whom you so fitly represent, ask to have put into a permanent form, will, I trust, outlive appointed times and special occasions, and therefore I comply with your request.
As in youth, so in age,
Your friend,
CAMBRIDGE, October 20, 1871.
R. M. HODGES.
2
THIS DISCOURSE,
WITH ITS
MEMORIES, AFFECTIONS, AND HOPES,
IS DEDICATED TO THE
First Congregational Society in Bridgewater,
BY ITS FOURTH MINISTER,
RICHARD MANNING HODGES.
CAMBRIDGE, 1871.
-
The day on which these proceedings took place was one of the most pleasant in the gift of Autumn, and the pulpit was decorated with flowers, the beautiful emblems of purity and love.
Order of Services.
VOLUNTARY BY ORGANIST.
ANTHEM.
PSALM XXIII.
HYMN. ADDISON.
W HEN all thy mercies, O my God ! My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love, and praise.
Unnumbered comforts on my soul Thy tender care bestowed, Before my infant heart conceived From whom those comforts flowed.
IO
Ten thousand thousand precious gifts My daily thanks employ ; Nor is the least a cheerful heart
That tastes those gifts with joy.
Through every period of my life, Thy goodness I'll pursue ; And after death, in distant worlds, The glorious theme renew.
SELECTION FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT.
B UT the hour cometh and now is, when the true wor-
shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must wor- ship him in spirit and in truth.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Now ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God ;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner- stone.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
II
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he pruneth it that it may bring forth more fruit.
For the tree is known by his fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Wherefore by their fruits shall ye know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
In my Father's house are many mansions. I am going to prepare a place for you. And when I have been and prepared a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So then when this corruptible shall have put on incor- ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
I2
O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus.
PRAYER.
THOU who wast our Father's God! we worship
Thee as our God. We thank Thee that from age to age Thou hast manifested Thyself as unchangeable in Thy perfections, as wise and righteous and paternal in Thy government.
We praise and bless Thee, God of mercy and God of love, for the mission and work of Thy dearly beloved Son, in enlightening, regenerating, and blessing the world. We thank Thee for the sacred influences and beneficent results which the Gospel of Jesus Christ has exerted and accomplished in the ages that are past.
I3
We pray that its elevating and transforming power may continue to be felt more and more, until the supremacy of truth and righteousness, of peace and love, shall be established on the earth.
O Thou, the God of our youth and the God of our age! we thank Thee for this hour. We thank Thee that Thy providence accompanies every moment of our existence. We thank Thee that every hour of life, if hallowed to holy ends, is associated with memories that never die, - memories that are the blessed harbingers of immortality. May the remembrances connected with this house of prayer, and these hearts elevated and expanded by the love of Thee and the spirit of Thy Son, be sanc- tified to us.
O Thou Sovereign Arbiter of life and of death ! we adore the providence that has ordained that many whom we knew and loved, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, dear to our homes and to our hearts, should be summoned to go the way whence they shall no more return for ever, while the same providence has vouchsafed that we should live here yet longer, rejoicing in the light of each other's countenances, in the affections of each other's hearts, in the means of grace and in the hope of glory. Help us to be faithful to all the obligations which Thy mercy and love apportion to us. Help us wisely and well to improve all our opportunities. Help us faithfully and gratefully to use all our privileges.
May the children of the fathers, who here worshipped from one sacred season to another, gather around this altar in humble and devout homage, praising Thee, the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. May they be united by the bond of a true and fervent
3
14
faith, and by affections, aspirations, and hopes that, living in Thee, will never die.
And may he, our brother, who is the ordained teacher and friend of this Christian communion, be a faithful servant of the true Master, earnestly desiring to be bap- tized with a baptism that shall receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. Here may he live, and here may he die, having finished a work over which the angels in heaven will rejoice, and leaving a memory that shall be sacred and sanctifying.
May all who love our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, show by their spirit of charity and their works of benefi- cence the sincerity and strength of their love.
May we learn from the study of Thy word, from the lessons of Thy providence, from communion with Thee, with continually increasing trust, and with an ever brightening hope, to say, Father, Thy will be done !
In the full assurance of faith in Thy dear Son, and of gratitude for the teachings, the consolations and hopes of His religion, we offer to Thee our prayers and praises, ascribing to Thee, the only God, supreme worship and glory everlasting. Amen.
ANTHEM.
DISCOURSE.
LORD'S PRAYER.
15
HYMN. WATTS.
W THEN I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes.
Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall, May I but safely reach my home, My God, my heaven, my all !
There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast.
BENEDICTION.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
At public worship in the evening, the pastor of the Society Rev. GEORGE HERBERT HOSMER, presented, in the light of Chris- tianity, and in the benignity of Providence, the memorial event of the day.
DISCOURSE.
" And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year."
LEVITICUS XXV. IO.
"I remember the days of old."-PSALM cxliii. 5.
"Having obtained help from GOD, I continue to this day." - ACTS xxVi. 22.
O N this occasion, which I dedicate to a public recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination to the Christian ministry, my first thought is due, and it is gratefully paid, to the Giver and Preserver of my life, for the providence, always full of tenderness and compassion, which has crowned my days. Although long since sepa- rated in official relation from the people whose spiritual interests were, on the 12th of September, 1821, committed to my charge, I have never been separated from them, or their successors, in the exercise of a true and sacred sympathy and love. Here, and to-day, in the presence of those who fitly represent the earnest men and women of the South Parish in Bridgewater of nearly two genera- tions ago, I would review the way as it has been marked out and consecrated by the hand of God,
18
and revive the lessons of His administration, teach- ing with explicitness the laws of development, and presenting encouragements and hopes that look to the honor of humanity and to the glory of the Divine Kingdom. I am sure it is not needful for me, my hearers, to make any apology for the position which I this day assume, or to call up any other affections than those that already exist, to produce a hearty fellow-feeling in the service of this hour.
In looking back upon the past, it is natural to remark upon the speed of time. Surely, firmly, uninterruptedly, days and weeks, months and years, roll on with unvarying motion, and in orderly succession. The revolutions of the planets are governed by established and positive laws. Were it not for the activities of the mind energized by its own inherent powers, and by the operations of the external world, we could have no conception of the meaning of time. In proportion as the mind is diligently occupied in its legitimate sphere, and events in history take place in quick succession, there will be, apparently, an accelerated lapse of time. For this reason, the years that have past seem to have glided away with an almost imper- ceptible motion ; and the distance between any two eras, as measured from the carlier one, ap- pears to be shorter than its actual measurement
19
indicates. The opposite phenomenon, for corre- sponding reasons, takes place in looking forward to the future. The mind is not crowded with re- sults of its own creation, or with the unforeseen occurrences of the world. The laws of Providence and the laws of Nature, we know, in the years to come, will not annul or cease their action; but, while we can foresee with certainty that the former will fulfil their beneficent function, it is not given us to know beforehand how often, or when, or to what extent, consequences will ensue, resulting from the observance or violation of the latter. Hence the mind, because of the want of frequent and specific resting-places, as it were, in measuring the future, is inclined to give that future a tedious length. I suppose that this is the reason that the young look upon the years as tardy in their passage, and as delaying the period, so ardently anticipated, of unbounded freedom and of the fruition of cher- ished hopes. But let them wait till life's experi- ences, both of joy and of sorrow, in long succession, have made their impressions upon the mind; and then will it be seen that the years, however im- patiently their lapse has been watched, have faith- fully conformed to the established laws of motion, and that the advancing years, by reason of the accumulation of mental possessions, seem to move with increased velocity. The last sands of the
20
hour-glass fall not more rapidly than the first, but how swiftly, almost imperceptibly, do the grains follow one another, till, in a moment, the last grain falls, the measure is reached, their purpose is ac- complished! Fifty years; how short in the past! how long in the future! and yet, measured by scientific laws, of equal length.
The Church of this Parish was organized July ISth, 1716, one hundred and fifty-five years ago last July. It was the second in the order of time, the first church having been instituted in the West Parish in 1681, thirty-five years previously. The establishment of a ministry, however, was not effected in that Parish until thirteen or fourteen years afterward.
The first Minister in whom you, my hearers, as constituting now "The First Congregational Society " in Bridgewater, are interested, was Rev. BENJAMIN ALLEN, a native of Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, and a graduate of Yale College in 1708, of a class of three members, and the seventh that had received the honors of that Seminary, then in its infancy. His official relation embraced the period between August, 1717, and October, 1730, a little more than thirteen years. He died at Cape Elizabeth, in Cumberland County, Maine, while holding the pastoral office there, in 1754, at the age of sixty-five.
2I
The second Minister was Rev. JOHN SHAW. His life began and ended amidst the early scenes of these hill-sides and meadows, and the quiet labors of the tillers and reapers of these harvest- fields. His birth-place was within the east pre- cinct of the old town. He honored the home of his early days, and of his sacred office, by the purity of his mind and the warmth of his Christian affections. His memory is associated with the most precious annals of this Church. He was graduated at Harvard College, in 1729, at the age of twenty-one. His pastoral relation began on the 17th of November, 1731, and ended on the 29th of April, 1791, at the age of eighty-two, after a pro- tracted period of nearly sixty years. Before the death of this venerable man, his declining years were made hopeful and happy by the efficient and zealous services of a colleague in office.
The Rev. ZEDECHIAH SANGER, the third Minis- ter of the second Church founded in this ancient town, came hither with a mind richly endowed, and with high promise of great usefulness in his work. There are those now living to whom his memory is dear as that of a father; and others, not a few, who have been taught to think of him with honor as an advocate of peace, a patron of learning, a man of sanctity, and of unaffected modesty. It was not my happiness to know him
4
22
in the vigor of his intellect, and in the maturity of his usefulness; but his reputation, sealed by integrity and purity, will not soon be lost to my mind, or to any mind to which it is equally sacred. Dr. Sanger, having previously been set- tled in Duxbury, was installed the 17th of Decem- ber, 1788. He died 17th November, 1820, aged seventy-three years, having held the pastorate thirty- two years. He was a native of Sherborn, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1771. The aver- age length of the ministry of the first three minis- ters was just thirty-five years.
The fourth Minister of the Church here gathered and consecrated, - the present speaker, - was or- dained on the 12th of September, 1821. His connection with his people, though voluntarily on his part, yet not without the pang of severed affec- tions, was dissolved on the 27th of May, 1833, after a union of nearly twelve years.
In preparing for this occasion, my friends, my affections have overflowed in your behalf; and, in giving expression to them, I trustingly bespeak, in corresponding measure, the indulgence of your patience and attention.
The scenery that the hills and plains of Plymouth County, in its retired villages and isolated dwell- ings, presented half a century ago, has undergone a change such as always takes place under the
23
spirit of an enlightened industry and a refined and refining civilization. The people who travelled these highways, cultivated these farms, met in social intercourse, or assembled for the worship of God, when the oldest of my hearers were young, are not, for the most part, the same people that constitute society as it exists now, with its ex- citing interests, its aspirations, its hopes. "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh." "Instead of the fathers are the children." All the ministers who officiated at my ordination, except two, after long years of fidelity and labor in the cause and work of their Lord and Master, sleep in honored graves. The two who still live, by a remarkable coincidence which I am happy to notice, were my college class-mates ; Mr. Briggs, who gave me the right hand of fellowship, then of the First Church in Lexington, now of Roxbury, in the municipality of Boston; and Mr. Palfrey, then of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, now of Cambridge; men, who, when they depart hence, will leave no uncertain or insignifi- cant tokens of their interest in humanity or of their fidelity to God.
With the exception of one, whose long life at this moment is giving sign of its approaching end,*
Rev. Joseph Richardson, of Hingham, died Sept. 25, 1871, in the xcivth year of his age.
24
all the clergymen in Plymouth County, whose theo- logical theories and Christian faith rested on the only sure foundations, the Word and works of God, independently of all synods and reformers, and who, fifty years ago, were active in professional duty and in cordial co-operation in behalf of the Re- deemer's kingdom, live now only in grateful mem- ory, tenderly associated with the Pilgrim Fathers, whose graves hallow these consecrated shores. Nearly, or quite two hundred brethren who were allied to me by the ties of sacred studies and pro- fessional labors, and whose views were in accord- ance with my own in regard to the teachings, the affections, and the hopes of the Gospel, have, within the years in review, gone from the living and loving on earth to join the general assembly of immortal spirits in heaven.
The Christian community, or, rather let me say, the theological world, half a century ago, was agitated, as it has not been since, by a doctrinal controversy that called into being passions and actions derogatory to the teachings of the Divine Messenger, and subversive of the spirit of His message. The tenderness of Jesus, the brightest glory of his character, and the love with which His word would inspire the heart of humanity, were set aside and unheeded amidst the excite- ments engendered by sectarian interests. Let it
25
be conceded that the arguments on this side and on that were presented with a courtesy, an ability, and a candor, that did honor to the minds and hearts of the disputants, more especially of the prominent disputants : still it was not possible in the community at large, easily wrought upon, and less under the influence of generous motives, to prevent the spread and effect of an intolerant and irreligious spirit. The tumult of the controversy that had thus disturbed the heart of society had hardly subsided, when I was invited to take charge of the sacred interests of the Church and congre- gation connected with the South Parish of Bridge- water, at that time standing alone in the precinct as a Congregational body.
My earlier and recent education had taught me most of all to value the loving spirit of the Gospel. I had not been trained to, I had no desire to be engaged in, sectarian warfare. Strife I did not conceive to be an element of the life that springs from, and centres in, the only true Life, the true Life itself, the beloved Son of God. To my mind, the regenerated soul, in the kingdom that is ever- lasting, is a soul that lives and moves and has its being in a world of truth and purity, of peace and love ; and to the illustration and establishment of these primal virtues, all its energies, acted upon by influences from within and from without, having
26
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, will be directed.
I came hither not as the champion of any sect, other than that which acknowledges Christ as its head, and His spirit as the beginning and end of its life. I came hither to be the exponent of no doctrines but those which Jesus taught. If there was any thing that I desired above all else in my public relations, it was to be known and esteemed as a disciple and servant of Jesus Christ, and as the true shepherd of a Christian flock. I cannot conceive of a higher honor that can be bestowed upon man. How much, in evidence
of its true deserving, does it imply! What a spirit of humility, what a deep sense of responsibility, does it call forth ! How different is the honor that springs from allegiance to any master of a less authoritative origin ! How does the honor that comes from a source that reaches no higher than man's wisdom pale before that which is divinely bestowed! "For he whom God hath sent speak- eth the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." Accordingly, when I was invested with the office of a Christian Min- ister, I determined and desired to exercise simply and solely that office, and to make it appear that it was in my heart to serve my Lord and Master, by drawing, with the aid that cometh from God,
27
subjects into the true kingdom ; to persuade men that the highest interests of humanity are wrapped up in the immortal soul ; and that all that is needed is the development of that soul, under the kindly direction of its Creator, to bring all those interests into true and beautiful action. The ethics of the Gospel, and not the polemics of the schools, occu- pied my studies and engaged my affections. The means of religion sanctioned by Jesus Christ, op- portunities which Providence furnished, I sought to commend to my people as instruments under God of bringing them to a true knowledge of them- selves, and of securing their highest and purest happiness, in a word, the consummation of their being. I was aware that, at the period of my in- duction to office, I was recognized as belonging to a distinctive denomination of Christians. My consecration to the Christian ministry was not, how- ever, with a view to gaining proselytes to a par- ticular creed, nor for any partisan end; but solely, as it became my sacred trust, for the purpose of saving immortal souls, - so far as it is given to man to do so, - in the way that our Heavenly Father, in His wisdom and love, has ordained; the way that Jesus Christ has pointed out by His teachings, and hallowed by His Godlike life, thus making it plain and beautiful to those who choose to become His followers.
28
In acknowledging myself to be a Unitarian, I do not suppose that I make a declaration that is peculiar, least of all one that is objectionable. I take it for granted that all Protestants believe in the Unity of God. "The one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all," claims, with absolute authority, an undivided homage. The least remove from such homage is an approach to idolatry, and not only scants, but corrupts, the worship that is due only to the Creator of the universe, who is supreme in heaven and in carth. I am not about to disturb any one's preju- dices, least of all would I do aught to cool the ardor of devotion in any heart by entering upon a discussion that would seem to divest the doctrine of the Trinity of any of its imputed glory. I desire only in the spirit of charity, and yet without the least wavering of confidence, to speak of the posi- tive Unity of God as it exists in my own mind.
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.