USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Beverly > An address delivered in the First Parish, Beverly, October 2, 1867 : on the two-hundredth anniversary of its formation > Part 3
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" liberty granted certain females wanting seats to build three at their own charge;" of two male members having " leave to make a seat at the north end of the pulpit ; " and Mrs. Hale, the min- ister's wife, permitted " liberty to make a seat where she now. sitteth, it not being prejudicial to the rest ; " that Mrs. Lothrop, no doubt from the high esteem in which she, together with her husband, was held, " had liberty to make a seat convenient by the chief pillar ; " that, it having been concluded to put up a gal- lery, the three parishioners contracting to do the work were to " have each of them a seat in the foreseat." So late as 1672, sixteen years after its erection, " it was agreed that the meeting- house be ceiled up to the wall-plates, rabitted, and the windows glazed." Yet this structure, humble as it was, less interesting far than the hillsides of Scotland, where the Covenanters assem- bled and worshipped, repulsive even to our modern notions of convenience and taste, was, notwithstanding, the cherished reli- gious home of many a chosen and pious soul, - a temple conse- crated in the hearts of simple-minded, true-hearted, devout men, women, and children, to the worship of the Father in spirit and truth. Beside this chief and highest purpose to which it was devoted, in accord with their estimation of the school as an insti- tution second only to the church, our ancestors gathered there their youth, to be instructed in common, next to sacred, knowl- edge. There, also, they met from time to time, for the discreet, patriotic, and faithful ordering of their civil affairs; not doubting, but profoundly believing, that civil government was to be intelli- gently, diligently, reverentially sustained, as being nothing less than the ordinance of God. It had, moreover, the affecting association, which belongs to so many of the churches of Old and New England, of bordering on the place of graves, where the mortal remains of near kindred and friends of the first wor- shippers reposed, where " the forefathers of the hamlet sleep," - your forefathers and mine. I say mine; for I trust you will not think it amiss for me to recur with satisfaction to my descent from Andrew Elliot, an emigrant from the west of England, early a member of this parish and church, the first town-clerk of Beverly ; who discharged many offices of distinction and
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trust faithfully and through a long period, sharing extensively the approbation and confidence of his townsmen and the com- munity, and, besides his fair written records, leaving behind him the fairer record of his life.
Before and after the erection of the first meeting-house, tem- porary ministerial supplies were obtained, among them two of the name of Hubbard as recorded, more correctly Hobart ; from one of whom the celebrated missionary, David Brainard, de- scended. Next came John Hale, who served here for three years previous to his being the regularly established pastor. He was a native of Charlestown, and graduated at Harvard College, when what is now called the venerable alma mater, the beloved mother of American colleges, and of so numerous and worthy - not to speak of the unworthy - sons, was comparatively in her infancy. He was the first of the eight who have here, on an average of more than a quarter century each, ministered in sacred things ; first of the six of them that enjoyed her fostering care ; while of the other two, not being myself one of them, I may be permitted to say that they have done no discredit, but greatly the reverse, to the highly flourishing and valuable institutions of Dartmouth and Amherst, at which, respectively, they had their early training. That all were what the fact of a collegiate edu- cation implies, - without assuming any thing more, - liberally educated, shows conclusively that here, from first to last, there has been no desire, design, or countenance of the divorce of learning from religion. -
At length, the time seemed fully to have arrived for the ripened fruit to drop off, for the branch to be lopped from the parent tree and grafted on an independent stock. A score of years had passed since the separation had been agitated and been in progress, which, to us of this fast age, seems exceeding moderation. Moreover, it was felt by the residents on this side, not only that their convenience would be consulted, their attend- ance on the ordinances rendered more sure and uniform, and the edification therefrom better promoted, by a distinct parochial organization, but that in John Hale they had found " the able and approved teacher" whom the permission allowing them to
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set up separate worship authorized and required them to obtain, whose services as their pastor they desired to secure. Accord- ingly, this petition, headed by Roger Conant, was presented, signed by seventy-three persons, of whom two-thirds were church members : " We, whose names are underwritten, the brethren and sisters on Bass-River side, do present our desires to the rest of the church in Salem, that, with their consent, we and our children may be a church of ourselves; which we also present unto Mr. Hale, desiring him to join with us and to be our pas- tor, with the approbation of the rest of the church." On receipt of this petition, an appointed day, " by the consent of the breth- ren both on that side of the river and here at the town, was publicly observed as a day of solemn fasting and prayer, to seek unto God for his direction and presence in such a weighty mat- ter." After mature deliberation on the subject so seriously viewed and acted upon, at a meeting held in 1667, July 4th (a day, when regarded from our stand-point, not inauspicious, though not then, as now, associated with ideas of either ecclesi- astical or civil independence), " there was a unanimous consent of the brethren present unto their desire, only it was left to the sacrament day after, when in the fullest church assembly the con- sent of the rest of the church was signified by their vote, lifting up their hands ; and so they have their liberty to be a church of themselves, only they continue members until their being a church : " with the added benediction, which doubtless was con- curred in by all concerned, -" The Lord grant his gracious presence with them !"
They were not slow to adopt measures for fulfilling the only remaining condition on which the liberty of separation was made to rest, - which was the thing itself they desired and had sought, - namely, a separate church organization. Yet they did so in no spirit of alienation or opposition; rather that of those who, having passed the period of guardianship and pupil- age, go forth from the shelter of the parental roof with alac- rity and redoubled energies to the new spheres of duty and responsibility Providence has assigned them, yet without any diminution of filial and fraternal feeling, of tender, generous,
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and sacred sympathy, toward the loving and beloved circle left behind ; those sentiments and emotions, on the contrary, being quickened, heightened, intensified, when the time arrives for relinquishing the constant and endeared intercourse of the native home.
An invitation in due form was now extended to Mr. Hale to be the pastor of the parish and church then to be organized. Considering it was virtually a triennial candidateship and ex- perience of each other that had been gone through, - surpassing in duration a large proportion of the ministries of these degen- erate days, - the invitation cannot but be regarded as highly honorable to both parties. His answer breathes a spirit of so calm and devout deliberation, such self-distrust, yet moral cour- age and trust in God, such self-devotion to the gospel and to the people whose religious teacher, guide, and friend he had so long been, under circumstances, some of which were singular and trying, that I am induced to recite it as it stands, - a relic no way discreditable to his memory, and curious as indicative of the modes of thought and expression peculiar to his time. It was as follows : -
" When I look at the weight of the work you call me unto, of which Paul cried out, ' Who is sufficient unto these things ?' I then looking upon my manifold infirmities and indisposition of spirit, then unto so many discouragements ; but, when I duly consider the Lord's sovereignty over me and all-sufficiency for my support, I desire, when I see his work and call, to say with Isaiah, 'Here I am : send me.' And in particular when I observe the remarkable provi- dences of God in bringing me hither and paving out our way hither- to, and the room the Lord hath made for me in your hearts (which I acknowledge with thankfulness to God and yourselves), I also look at the call of God in the present call, as a call to me ; being the more confirmed herein by the concurrence of our apprehensions, which hath appeared in those things we had occasion to confer about, con- cerning our entering into and proceeding with church affairs, which I hope the Lord will enable me to practise accordingly. Wherefore, while you walk according to God's order of the gospel and in the steadfastness of the faith of Christ, and I see that with a good con- science and freedom of spirit I can carry on my work, and discharge
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my duty to God and man and these that are under my care, accord- ing to the respective relation I may bear unto them, so long as the Lord is calling me to labor in this part of his vineyard, I desire to give up myself to the Lord and his service in the work of the minis- try in this place ; requesting you to strive together with me in your prayers for me, that it may redound to his glory, the edifying of every soul that shall dwell amongst us, and for our joyful account in the day of Christ's appearance. By me, JOHN HALE."
A pastor having thus been procured, the next object in view was to organize a church. For it should be understood, that the church strictly speaking, - that is, as composed of church- members, - had then a potential voice and a predominance of numbers and influence rarely if ever to be met with in our congregational churches at the present day. All along, as.we trace the negotiations preceding the separation of ours from the parent society, we perceive it to be implied that the church was every thing, the parish little or nothing. This is shown by the mere name agreed on for the new body to be formed, - which was " the Church of Christ at Bass River in Salem," - no men- tion being made of the parish; though that may have been included in the designation, and may have been understood as resulting from the previous maintenance of separate worship. Fourteen months after their formation, the town was incorpo- rated, and thonceforth they were called and known as the First Parish and Church in Beverly ; the records and doings of the town and parish, as was generally the case where only one parish existed in a municipality, being extensively intermingled. Of late - indeed for a long time - the original order has been reversed, and the parish has been spoken of as including of course a church ; and under its corporate title all parochial business of the society, consisting of persons within and without the church in its stricter acceptation, has been transacted. These two bodies, however, have here from the first been in great har- mony. In one respect it may be confidently affirmed, that they have ever been in perfect agreement; which is this : Plant- ing themselves, as both at the outset did, on the grand principle of their absolute independence of all foreign ecclesiastical con-
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trol, they have been united by one spirit and the bond of peace in adhering to it without hesitation, wavering, or reservation ; in carrying it in practice fully out to its legitimate conclusions ; and, while loyally submitting to the civil law, acknowledging sub- jection to no other laws than those of conscience and of God. There is, too, a simplicity which to my apprehension is truly admirable, in the means employed by the founders of each, who were in fact mostly the same persons, to compass their chief aim, - the moral and religious improvement of their people. Unit- ing the offices common to both of pastor and teacher, which had elsewhere been kept distinct, they joined in the election of a single pastor or minister. Discarding the distinction that pre- vailed in other churches, between ruling elders and deacons, this church at the beginning elected simply the latter officers, from which course it has never since departed ; having been served by upwards of twenty in that capacity. Dispensing with all offices, lay or clerical, that were merely honorary or titular, both parish and church have hitherto created and sustained, whether for regular or special purposes, such only as had a practical and intimate relation to the furthering of its appro- priate objects, - as were deemed essential to the management of their prudential affairs, the raising, keeping, and expenditure of requisite pecuniary means, the distribution of charities, the sup- port and right administering of religious ordinances and institu- tions, the maintenance besides of friendly and mutually edifying relations with other Christian associations. And these offices have been filled from the first by persons (I speak as becomes me of the departed only) on whose characters no recorded stigma rests, and on whose reputation for high respectability, intelligence, and worth, any religious community might justly be congratulated.
An important part in the preparation for establishing the church, and regarded indispensable by its founders, was the fram- ing and adoption of a covenant. That which they agreed upon was simple, comprehensive, liberal, - from little of which we of our denomination should dissent. Coupled with it was a confession of faith, more stringent, Calvinistic, to a great deal
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of which Unitarians of all shades of belief could not subscribe. It is noticeable, that the earliest New-England church covenants were less restricted in doctrine and more liberal in spirit than many subsequently adopted, - some of them on the very spots where the former originally existed. Thus at Salem the first is ascertained to have been in these few expressive and preg- nant words : " We covenant with our Lord and one with an- other, and we do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth.". It is pleasant to know and realize, that some of the fathers here were fore- most among the signers of this covenant, - so charmingly simple and concise, compressing so much of meaning within so little space, breathing so large a spirit of charity toward man and love to God ; harmonizing, too, so admirably with the saying of John Robinson, that God has much light yet to break forth from his holy word. Additions, nevertheless, were in no long time made to it, which, while multiplying articles of faith, abridged its breadth and freedom, and tended to narrow essentially the range of spiritual vision and feeling with any who might come under its binding power. So it was in the Pilgrim Church of Plymouth. When the late venerable James Kendall was about being settled there, he found a covenant in use and operation, to parts of which he could not' conscientiously assent. He therefore prevailed on the members to restore the old first cove- nant on which that church was originally based, on which he had no difficulty in standing himself, or in admitting suitable candidates to membership. Various reasons may be assigned for this apparent declension in enlightened, liberal views and action. Among them, unquestionably, one not to be lightly considered or passed over is this, - the annoyance, dread, and hinderance occasioned in the ordering and carrying out of our ancestors' chosen mission, by the invading host of them whom they judged to be heretical and schismatic: such as the Brownes endeavoring to gain a foothold for Episcopacy, from which they had seceded and to which they were uncompromi- singly opposed ; Roger Williams impugning not only their
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doctrine of pedobaptism, but other deeply-rooted ideas of theirs on civil no less than on purely ecclesiastical matters ; Ann Hutchin- son, amid her divers eccentricities and assumptions, committing the unpardonable offence of declaring openly that the ministers in these parts preached " a covenant of works, and not of grace ; " the Quakers also - hardly, cruelly as they were treated, per- secuted and hanged, peace-loving, and not peace-disturbing, as their career on the whole has been - being then and here not literally Quietists, any more than they were of the sect of that name, that arose a thousand years before theirs, and was so called from esteeming quiet and inaction the acme of spiritual elevation and bliss. Neither should we leave out of the account the lust of domination, prevalent in all ages, over minds and consciences, which delights in lording it over God's heritage, which believes and suits its action to the belief that its own way is in that which all men. should walk.
We come now to the consummation toward which the ardent wishes of the fathers of this church and society had long tended. The 20th of September, 1667, - corresponding, when allow- ance is made for the difference between the old and new styles of reckoning, almost precisely to the date, two centuries later, of our present assembling, -was fixed upon as the day for organiz- ing the" church, and for the ordination of its pastor elect. On that occasion, ministers and delegates were present, by invitation, from the neighboring churches of Ipswich, Wenham, and Salem. Of the attendance from the latter, say its records, " In regard to our nearness, and that they are a church issuing out of ourselves, it was thought meet for as many to be present as could ; so, when the day came, divers of the brethren were present." First in order was the formation of the church, which is thus briefly described : " Mr. Hale propounded and read a confession of faith and covenant, which they had often considered amongst them- selves, and did then (all that had been in full communion in the church of Salem) express their consent unto that confession and covenant, and so were owned as a particular and distinct church of themselves, by the messengers of the churches present." The service of ordination consisted in laying on of hands by John
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Higginson, assisted by the two other ministers of churches then represented ; and thus was fellowship given and received, and the newly-appointed pastor consecrated and publicly recognized. Going back in fancy, through the long line of two centuries, to that simple and touching scene, may we not, without undue stress of faith or imagination, trust that the benediction implored by him who led in the service - who, the worthy son of a sainted sire, not for his name alone, but for his pure, benevolent, devout spirit, was the St. John of his time in our churches - was the much-availing prayer of the righteous, drawing down blessings untold and immeasurable on the fathers and their de- scendants in the past and all coming ages ?
The ministry so auspiciously commenced lasted for the third of a century, with no interruption of the mutually happy rela- tions of pastor and people. They were thoughtful and liberal, according to their means and the requirements of the times, in providing for the support and comfort of himself and family ; and he was considerate, sympathizing, generous, faithful in pub- lic and private, toward them. Unbroken harmony of feeling and action appears to have prevailed between him and them ; excepting in the single instance of his having been appointed chaplain in the military expedition against the French of Canada, in 1690, when, contrary to the expressed wishes of his parishion- ers, and their remonstrance before the General Court against the appointment, he decided on its acceptance. We cannot but admire, as they undoubtedly did, the courage and self-sacrifice which prompted him to confront and share the perils of that hazardous expedition through the wilderness, that he might guide and guard the citizen-soldiers composing it amid the scarcely less moral dangers to which they would be exposed, especially that he might comfort and strengthen the portion of it - form- ing a whole company, under command of Captain Rayment - which was enlisted from his own parish. After the lapse of nearly a century and three-quarters, his course and experience in that emergency come before us the more vividly, and senti- ments of admiring and patriotic pride and gratitude are awakened anew, by the parallel furnished by your present pastor, in the
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recent struggle for national life, for civil liberty, for humanity's dearest rights and interests.
Notwithstanding the disturbing forces from without, particu- larly the wars with the French and Indians, in which a large proportion of the population was at different times engaged, and by which sad disaster and havoc were occasionally wrought, the parish steadily gained in numbers and strength, and so far grew and flourished, that it became necessary to erect the second meet- ing-house, which was completed in 1682, and stood on this spot. " This house, like the first, was used for the transaction of pub- lic business, and, beside the alterations and improvements made at various times, a powder-room was built in it for the safe- keeping of the ammunition belonging to the town. As fires at this time were never kindled in the meeting-house, it was con- sidered the safest place to deposit powder. The sacredness of the place did not, however, allay the fears of the congregation, who left the house whenever a thunder-shower occurred." This structure, though in advance of the preceding and first one in form and convenience, was far from being what would now-a- days be regarded as very elegant or commodious. The exterior was in rude contrast with our modern notions of symmetry, adornment, and impressiveness. From the interior, all the beams and rafters, and the whole framework, were discernible. Tradition says there was whitewashing; but, from the sincere and earnest character of the builders, we may conclude that there was little of that, were it but materially. No paint or plastering, outside or within, relieved the plain, uniform wood- color. The belfry was on the middle of the roof, the bell-rope coming down into the centre aisle ; on each side of which, and also in the gallery, were long benches for seating worshippers. What was the construction of the floor on which they rested, we do not precisely know, but may be sure it was not tessellated, or inlaid with precious stones or woods, - most probably was of or- dinary planks, since, between forty and fifty years after the house was built, a floor was laid " upon the beams with boards and joist." As for the carpeting, warming, and appliances for deco- ration or comfort, to which we are accustomed, the mere sugges-
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tion of them would have been deemed by the builders a clear token of irreverence, levity, and coldness of heart.
"Seating the meeting" was with them a matter of special concern. As early as 1671, a committee of the parish was appointed, to be " joined with the selectmen, to seat all the mar- ried persons in the meeting-house;" from which it might be inferred, unjustly it is to be hoped, that there was indifference as to what seats the unmarried had, or whether they had any. Some systematic arrangement was obviously desirable and neces- sary, to avoid confusion, as well as to conform to the peculiar notions and customs of the time. The rules adopted for the dis- tribution of seats underwent various modifications, till at length they were reduced to an exact and clearly-defined system. By this it was ordered, - and so curious a specimen is it of the aristocracy and gallantry, no less than the simplicity and quaint- ness, that reigned in the period of which I am speaking, that I am tempted. to quote its provisions ; which are -
" That every male be allowed one degree for every complete year of age he exceeds twenty-one ; that he be allowed for a captain's com- mission twelve degrees, for a lieutenant's eight, and for an ensign's four degrees ; that he be allowed three degrees for every shilling for real estate in the last parish tax, and one degree for every shilling for personal estate and faculty ; every six degrees for estate and faculty of a parent alive, to make one degree among his sons, or, where there are none, among the daughters that are seated ; every generation heretofore living in this town to make one degree for every male descendant that is seated ; parentage to be regarded no farther otherwise. than to turn the scale between competition for the same seat ; that taxes for polls of sons and servants shall give no ad- vancement for masters or fathers, because such sons or servants have seats ; that no degree be allowed on account of any one's predecessors having paid towards building the meeting-house, because it had fallen down before now, but for repairs since made ; that some suitable abatement in degrees be made, where it is well known the person is greatly in debt ; that the tenant of a freehold for term of years shall be allowed as many degrees as half the real estate entitles him to, and the landlord the other half; that the proprietor of lands in any other parish shall be (if under his own improvement) allowed as much as
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