USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > North Adams > Addresses and papers presented at the Diamond Jubilee, 1827-1902, May 11-14 (First Congregational Church of North Adams) > Part 2
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It is not necessary to rehearse even the points I made; I think I am safe in saying that the majority of our Con- gregational clergy today would assent to the positions taken. I simply asserted that all souls salvable will be saved; I rejected the opinion that the great masses of man-
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kind are subjected to endless pains in the future world ; I asserted my belief that if, at any time, in any world, a sinner repented, God would forgive him; I denied that the mercy of God was ever exhausted ; or that the grace of God would ever be withheld; I denied the force of the govern- mental theories that demand eternal punishment in order to uphold divine justice; and throughout I rested on eter- nal hope for all, but did not assert a positive belief. I had none then ; I have none now.
In the examination that followed, the point of ques- tion lay in the fact that I cherished a hope for which I had no belief. Here, I encountered the rock of New England polemics ; how can you have a hope without rational rea- sons for it which would be of the nature of belief? It was not as easy to say in 1877 as now that we hope for many things and believe but few things. We feel today the mystery of the universe as we did not then. We be- lieve in the love of God more positively, but many of the things we call beliefs we now refer to what Pasteur, the great scientist, called "a trustful acquiescence in the mys- tery of the universe." If one has what Pasteur had-"a constant aspiration towards the Ideal, and a deep convic- tion of the reality of the Infinite," such hope or trust far outweighs all belief. The belief wavers and changes; the hope never. I had gone over Niagara, but I was more alive than in any previous moment of my existence. The heavens sometimes open to a man when he feels that, in a great matter he has done right. I find upon the leaves of the paper read-now yellow with time-these old and familiar lines :
"If I am right, thy grace impart Still in the right to stay ; If I am wrong, O teach my heart To find that better way."
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The favorable result of the council was due in a meas- ure to the storm of protest against the Indian Orchard council-especially from the secular press. I do not mean that the council was frightened by it, but that it led them to ask if the Congregational churches count endless pun- ishment as a prime factor in orthodoxy. But the result was more due to the eminent ability of the council. It embraced President Hopkins, President Porter, Dr. Glad- den, Dr. Buckingham, Dr. Crawford-a former pastor- Rev. George A. Jackson-a former resident-Prof. Perry, Deacon W. A. Plunkett, Dr. Jenkins, Rev. R. I. Billings of Dalton, Rev. Evarts Scudder of Great Barrington-all men of high standing, and two of them easily the first men in the denomination. The result was mainly due to Pres- ident Porter, who contended that the office of a council was not to establish a dogma, but to examine into the fitness of a man to preach the gospel. President Porter and Dr. Bushnell were the first men in our Congregational body to open their eyes to the light of the modern world. The old dialectic, dogmatic age had gone and a new habit of thought had begun. I could not be justified in taking so much time in speaking of one incident of an installation -and that largely personal-were it not that the most im- portant factor in the whole matter was the conduct of the church. So far as I have known the history of this church, it has always supported with truest loyalty all its pastors. I think it has never sent away a minister nor parted with one save with regret. Of course individuals may have indulged in criticism and even opposition-how could it be other- wise in so large a church, and especially in a church that busied itself in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the town? But the great body of the church has stood by its pastors in all the seventy-five years of its history.
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One reason for this, however, is the fact that all the pas- tors (with one inevitable exception) have been men whon you could hardly treat otherwise. Dr. Crawford was a saint, an Israelite in whom there was no guile, a man whom one could only love and venerate. Dr. Gladden, bringing here his splendid powers in the full flush of his early manhood, a man whom it was impossible not to respect, with perhaps a slight touch of fear, for there was a com- bative element in him that came out when truth and right and humanity summoned it; but with all, a tender Christian faith that always prayed : "O Master, let me walk with Thee." In Dr. Gladden's ministry a certain sense of freedom and breadth and toleration took possession of this church that has never left it. He made my ministry not only possible but peaceful. In the intimacy of this hour, I may take the liberty of saying that there is no man in the country with whom, on all important subjects, I am in so full agreement, and in whose judgment I have so much confidence. His career has been increasingly strong and brilliant and directing. Few men carry more weight in questions of civics, or sociology or theology ; and as for Christian faith and service, is it not voiced in his matchless hymn sung the world over? In this connection I cannot fail to mention one fact, for it is a part of your history, namely, that when he was installed here in 1866, Dr. Horace Bushnell preached the sermon by the joint invitation of Dr. Gladden and the church. Dr. Bushnell was without question the first man in the Congregational pulpit in the last century, but for a few years he was under a theological ban, and most of the pulpits in New England were not open to him. Dr. Gladden, who said only three years ago, "Had I not
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found his books, I must have stopped preaching," wrote inviting him to preach the sermon. Dr. Bushnell hesi- tated lest he should compromise the young minister. Dr. Gladden was not a man to yield to such considerations. It should be kept in everlasting remembrance by this church that in 1866 Dr. Horace Bushnell preached the sermon at the installation of Dr. Gladden from Second Corinthians iv, 6, on "The gospel of the face." President Hopkins, who was present, was asked, "Is not that the gospel ?" "Nothing else is the gospel," was his quick reply.
Dr. Pratt's short ministry did not disturb the current of influence that flowed down from that of Dr. Gladden. Catholic in his views, irenic in his spirit, dominated by the law of kindness, radiating good cheer, a faithful pastor and everybody's friend, he left you untimely-over-tempted by the bright shining of the college towers down the valley.
My acquaintance with Mr. Coyle was slight, but long acquaintance is not necessary to knowledge. A chance wind lifts the curtain, and one glance reveals all the beau- tiful chamber within. Absolute in his virility, he was feminine in the delicacy of his spirituality. In reading his book "The Spirit in Literature and Life", you would think him a metaphysical recluse ; to watch him in daily life you would know you were looking on a man with whom it was "Christ to live " in the highest forms of that life. He once came to see me in New Haven-" so full of health," he said, " that he did not know what to do with it." Not long after he was tempted away from this para- dise to what he knew would be a field of relentless diffi- culty-and that, I can imagine, was his reason for going ; his nature and his faith demanded the hard and strenuous.
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One dash at his work and in a moment all was over. When I heard of it, Milton's great line came to me :
" For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime."
Mr. Coyle was a man of great ability-overweighted by a metaphysical habit, and living, if it were possible, alinost too close to his ideals, he carried these ideals into actual daily life-forcing himself and others into a real acceptance of them by the very impetuosity of his faith. He had a passion for the ideal and sometimes came near forgetting that the practical and the possible are as sacred as the ideal; and that it is quite as easy to be mis- taken in ideals as in what is practical and possible. Christ is no more one than the other. And yet what is wiser and plainer than these words : "There is no more of the Chris- tian spirit in the world than there is of the Christ." This is something which a man and a church will do well always to remember.
In looking over the salient features of the history of the church during my pastorate, the one I oftenest remem- ber is the part taken by the churches of the town in pro- viding it with institutions. For some reason-perhaps be- cause it was divided into two very energetic villages each quite conscious of its rights and privileges-little had been done towards securing them. Neither village had institutions-as they are called-beyond schools, church- es, and fire, water and gas companies. The village was so large and-may I say it- so much in evidence in the public prints-that this lack had become rather unpleasantly notorious. We had reposed too long on our laurels of Chinese labor and the Hoosac tunnel. Let it not be thought that I even intimate that the town was pervaded by ignorance. As a proof of the contrary let me say that
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some time before 1879 forty copies of the Encyclopedia Brittannica were sold in North Adams, thus providing a large proportion of the people with the most valuable book in the language. But the encyclopedia was not a library, and what was needed, by every consideration, was a public library and reading-room. Taking my stand on the ground of the Puritan New England pastor, who always had led the way in all matters of education and general welfare, on Thanksgiving day, 1879, I preached on the subject and met with the heartiest sympathy from the leading men of the village; of course all the women were even more en- thusiastic. I think the men of the congregation were somewhat startled when reminded that North Adams had paid out $5,000 for forty copies of Encyclopedia Britannica -enough to purchase 3,000 volumes and support a public library for one year; also that the high school required a study of English literature and history and there were no books on either subject in town. It was not, however, until 1883 that any action was taken ; the subject, however, was much discussed and secured a victory for itself by its own inherent reasonableness, and let us say also by civic pride. On the evening of July 25, 1883, a company of about fifteen gentlemen met at the house of Mr. Witherell to, consult in regard to action. They represented all churches, and thus at once all ecclesiastical features were excluded from the undertaking; and so, I think, it has continued until today. Yet it must not be overlooked that it is due to the churches of North Adams that it has both a public library and a hospital. I shall never cease to re- member with delight and gratitude the rapid and energetic and harmonious action of this company of co-workers. It was a library and a reading-room that we ourselves pro-
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posed to secure without waiting for some rich citizen to die before getting it. We acted on a political catchword then much used, "The way to resume specie payment is to re- sume." This bit of solid common sense became our motto and we began at once to act on it. Twenty of our number pledged a guarantee fund of a hundred dollars each; hired a vacant store on the main street, and before the month was out had a library and reading-room in full operation. It consisted of about 1,500 volumes of a library association not in active operation, the papers and magazines of the day and a librarian. It was open all day and evening and was advertised by an illuminated cotton screen-much the largest feature of the whole business. It was immensely popular, and was insured for one year by the guarantee fund. A fair on a large scale was immediately projected under the auspices of all the churches and indeed the entire community. I do not know how it is today, but twenty years ago North Adams became as one man when any matter of real public interest was undertaken. The fair yielded enough to support the library until the town assumed it, since when it has been as the eye to the body- filling it with light. We do not presume to say that the existence of the library is due to this church. It would have come soon without the aid of the church. All we as- sert is that this church was so responsive to its Puritan traditions that it responded with alacrity when they were brought to mind.
The part of this church in securing a hospital is at least equally honorable. Somewhat early in my ministry, a society of very young people of the congregation-child- ren indeed- held a fair and came to me with the proceeds -a large fraction of a hundred dollars as I remember it-
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and asked what they should do with it. I said : Put it into the savings bank for a hospital ; sometime one will be built and yours will be the first money." Even so it was. For, I know not how long, the children's money-earned with their own hands-lay sleeping and growing in the bank, until the tragedy of the railroad yard threw upon the com- munity a score of wounded men to be cared for and no fit means. The hospital followed-born of pity and civic wis- dom, and already blessed by the unconscious prayers of little children. On the 29th of October, 1882, a collection in behalf of the hospital was taken up in all the churches -an annual custom. You gave at that time $218.38 after a sermon that was at least faithful and to the point. May I, at this late day, commend you for a rate of giving that was large in relation to your means.
Now that I am upon this subject of institutions, let me say that during the eight years I was here, the attention of the church was steadily held down to this feature of our common life and duty. The Puritan conception was cher- ished. We stood for good habits, good manners and good laws. The state and the church were not alien or aloof from each other. We kept well out of isms, and passed over raw and crude theories of society that were bub- bling up out of the depths as matters one side of a church but we insisted on law and virtue and liberty and toleration and established principles. Temperance came in for a large share of my attention, my constant claim being obedi- ence to the law whatever it was; but I did not prescribe what the law should be. I learned here that there is no subject more difficult for the pulpit to handle than that of temperance.
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In the main, I think I can say that we kept close to the simple facts and truths of the gospel and tried to get down to the central idea of it rather than stray afield for new themes and startling theories. I must confess, however that I left Calvinism and its distinctive theories, one side, and I contrived to work in so much of modern thought and discovery that when I left the church you were not be- hind the age and, perhaps, were on the advance line of it. I strove, at least, to teach you to think, and even more stren- uously to believe. It would cut me to the quick if I were forced to feel, as I stand here today, that I had unsettled the faith of a single soul; and it would be equally painful if I were forced to feel that the faith of any I had minister- ed to had not been quickened and enlightened and enlarged.
One of the pleasantest things to remember is our part in the observance of "Children's Sunday." When I came here in 1877 its observance by the churches of the country had not become common. Here and there a church kept it-but fitfully and independently. I cannot recall if you had observed the day before my coming. However it was, we lifted it into a sacred festival, and I strove to honor it by preaching a written sermon.
How beautiful is the memory of that June festival of flowers! How tender was the blue of the sky, and with what whiteness of glory the clouds floated overhead, carry- ing the blessing of Greylock to Hoosac! All the beauty of leaf and blossom that could be won from garden and mountain side, roses and larches, lilies of the field, and laurel from beyond the tunnel, palms from the south and violets from the meadow, woven emblems of love and hope for the long since dead, and tender memorials of chil- dren gathered into the Garden of God-all these were
1
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brought into the church and piled about the pulpit and chancel with a profusion that had no limit, save room to contain it. We have striven to imitate it in the city. What can hothouses yield to compare with the slopes of Greylock and the glens of Hoosac? The sermons I preached on those recurring days I brought together in a small volume which I still look at occasionally a's a mother looks over the toys and dresses of her dead child; for are not they to whom they were spoken dead to the childhood in which they listened and have passed on into the world of hard work where the flowers are fewer and the memories are wet with tears instead of the sacred dews of morning.
Having referred to a published collection of sermons growing out of "Children's Sunday" may I speak of another small volume of addresses that is the joint product of the church and the pastor; for so they may be regarded. It happened in this way. President Hopkins-always kind to me and to you-referred in a lecture given in our church one winter evening, to the value of courses of preaching. The same night I outlined a course of lectures to young men and preached nine on consecutive Sunday evenings. They happened to get into print and I do not cease to be astonished at the fact that they are still in demand, especi- ally at -Christmas, by anxious fathers who regard it as a literary panacea for incipient wildness and good-for-noth- ingness in boys. But whatever good it may have done is due to President Hopkins and this church ; for without both it could not have come into existence.
But Berkshire is a good breeding place for books-as the salmon seek the cool pools among the hills. The sky, the air, the brooks, the in-door winters, the out-door summers, the quiet and seclusion-all force one either to dream
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or idealize or speculate; imaginary voices beyond the mountains call for some answer, and one tosses them a book. So it worked with Dr. Gladden and he is even now keeping up the habit here formed. So it would have been with Dr. Pratt had not Williams called him to come over and teach others how to write books. So also it worked on Mr. Coyle to the extent of two weighty volumes.
All this would be irrelevant, were it not that whatever a pastor does or says or prints belongs to the history of the church.
I hope you will not think it fanciful if I say that there is a tinge of sentiment in the church life of Berk- shire. It is a good thing and should be cherished. It is seen in the New Year sunrise meeting-distinctly a Berkshire in- stitution, originating, I think, in Stockbridge, and first held here in 1874,-four years before my observance of it. The day, as I recall it, well symbolized human life-in the morning praise and thanksgiving and joy in life; in the afternoon a funeral ; in the evening a wedding; such is the round of our days and years. The memory of its observance here returns with the day ever since; the walk to church over the crisp snow in the faint light of dawn ; the unwont- edly crowded room ; the greetings that are prayers, the out- going of heart to heart, the re-consecration of life to life's duties, the renewed pledge of fidelity to the church; the hymns-tender and triumphant, the walk home as the sun steals up behind Hoosac and illumines Greylock ;- if I forget all this and those who joined me in it, and if I cease to feel its impulses and its sacred beauty, let my right hand forget its cunning. It is in such hours that we touch heaven.
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History, as Carlyle tells us, grows out of and is chiefly made up of persons, not events. So this sermon could in no sense be deemed historic if I did not speak a word at least of a few of those whom we best knew in our day. The earlier history down to Dr. Crawford's time is-like the early chapters of the Bible-rather chaotic and legendary ; the pastors even are like Melchisedek-having neither be- ginning of days nor end of life so far as the records show. Of one only can I speak from personal knowledge-Rev. Ezekiel Russell, whom I knew in the fifties when he was rounding out his ministry in Randolph in this State. He was a man of sound learning, of intellectual ability far be- yond the average, of relentless orthodoxy, but a man of warm and generous feeling-a Puritan of the first order ; a man whose rock-like strength was yet full of kindness and good will. But who that are here think of him now ? During my pastorate he-by previous agreement with Dr. Elihu S. Hawks-preached his funeral sermon. In some things the two men were alike; each was loyal to his pro- fession, and served his day and generation under a high standard of duty.
I will now speak briefly of a few whom we best knew while I was with you who have gone hence.
One of the first to greet me was Edwin Rogers. What he was at first he was to the last. He had the musical temperament, the reformatory spirit, the Puritan conscience tempered by extreme geniality, a man of refined tastes, of infinite humor, of unceasing activity, and-if there had been nothing else to serve the same purpose here he would have kept North Adams from being a dull town. He was a good man ; he loved things that were true and high, and the city is not quite the same since he passed away.
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I pass to another type of man as I refer to Deacon Hunter. How true it is that sometimes a man pervades a community and fills it with his virtue. He becomes a standard of goodness. He regulates men's thoughts. No man questions his motives or his conduct. He is unassail- able and unimpeachable. There were no two opinions about Deacon Hunter. A Scot of the best type, his racial traits inexpungably fixed and yet with none that one could have wished absent; keyed to the note of kindness, gener- ous to a fault, his voice and manner testifying to inborn and inbred courtesy and bearing witness also to an inward faith too deep and too real to need words to declare it. If ever these walls or windows commemorate your own dead, who are worthy to be so remembered, let it be Deacon James Hunter, for one, who fills the place. Thus, being dead, he will yet speak to you, and remind you what it is to be a good man and a good citizen.
A very different man was Mr. Perry, who has just been taken away from you. I have no need to speak of him. Deacon Hunter was a true Scot ; Deacon Perry was a genuine American. Intensely active, absorbed in busi- ness to the last degree, he was never too busy to serve this church, and in how many forms! Certainly in every form did he serve it except in preaching, and that he could have done had occasion required, for he was a man of good edu- cation and high intelligence and a profoundly religious nature. How thoroughly did he build himself into this church! How deeply did he love it! What a debt of gratitude does it owe him! And how tenderly is he re- membered and respected by those who labored with him here year after year, as I did, with naught that I wish might be forgotten !
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I cannot forbear naming today Judge James T. Robin- son. He was not a member of the church, but he was too great a man not to be religious. He was cast in a large mould. He shared to the full the New England con- science. He not only believed in political righteousness, but he strove for it in that company of anti-slavery men, who won their ends and saved the Union, not by blindly following ideals, but by practical wisdom, which is the ideal of idealism. This group of statesmen, of whom Judge Robinson was the chief representative in Western Massachu- setts, and the most brilliant orator among them all, will stand as the purest and wisest set of men in the political history of the country. But the part he played in the first few years of its strenuous beginning had no commensurate fulfilment in later years. He might have gone high up in place, but stopped short in a newspaper office, fighting over his early battles after the issues were closed. But this was not all. As judge of probate in Berkshire for thirty-three years he became the friend of the widow and the orphan, securing for them justice and adding to it the quality of mercy. He was the best loved man in Berkshire and was counted a friend in almost every household, for he probated the wills of more than a generation. For myself, these hills over which I used to walk with him in all seasons and weather, are not the same now that he is not here; and the pathos of it is all the deeper because already he has be- come a fading memory, and many of you have no knowl- edge whatever of the man of the most brilliant gifts who ever lived in this city.
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