USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Annals of King's Chapel from the Puritan age of New England to the present day > Part 18
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In November of the same year it was debated whether to extend an invitation to Rev. George E. Ellis,1 but without result.
An interval of nearly two years now elapsed, during which no permanent arrangement was made, but the pulpit was supplied by various able ministers. As the First Church worshipped with this Parish during the repairs of their own building, from June I to Nov. 26, 1843, the pulpit was supplied during that time by
1 Dr. Ellis's only pastorate was at Charlestown, where he succeeded Dr. James Walker in March, 1840, remain- ing till June, 1869 A sketch of his life and a complete bibliography of his writ- ings to 1879 are in Mr. Henry H. Edes's History of the Harvard . Church in
Charlestown, pp. 208-247. [Dr. Ellis was President of the Massachusetts Histori. cal Society at the time of his death, Dec. 20, 1894. Tributes to his memory will be found in the Society's Proceedings for January, 1895 (Second Series), ix, 244- 267. See ante, p. 459, note. - EDITOR].
.
Elaine Peabody
491
THE MINISTRY OF EPHRAIM PEABODY.
Rev. Dr. Frothingham.1 For a considerable time the Rev. George G. Ingersoll, D. D., then occupied the position of ten- porary minister of the Parish, and did all that could be done in such a relation, by the dignity of his character and the accep- tableness of his preaching, to hold the Parish together.2 A sermon of Dr. Ingersoll's delivered just at the close of this con- nection, which was printed at the request of the Proprietors, is marked by the chastened religious feeling and beauty of thought and expression which distinguished all that he did.3 Still, the Church needed a minister of their own. Among the signs of this it is to be noted that a custom which has since become the usage of many city churches was first sanctioned here May 15, 1845, when it was " Voted, to close the Church from the first Sunday in July to the second Sunday in September." 4
At this time, however, the congregation was recalled to its earlier usage by a request from the Church of the Disciples to
1 It was during this interval that the sky-lighted ceiling, constructed in the Chauncy Street meeting-house to obvi- ate the dusky gloom cast on it by the high buildings around it, occasioned a saying of Rev. Caleb Stetson, that in the First Church in Boston " Christians were raised under glass."
2 Dr. Ingersoll, son of Major George Ingersoll, of Keene (1754-1805), one of the younger officers in the army of the Revolution, was born in 1796, graduated from Harvard College in 1815, and had been minister at Burlington, Vt., from I822 to 1844. After taking temporary charge of other churches besides King's Chapel for several years, he resided in Keene, N. II., where he died in 1863, be- loved and honored by all who had known him, - a man of invincible courage and unfailing humor.
3 " Home; A Thanksgiving Sermon, preached at King's Chapel, by George G. Ingersoll. Boston, 1845." "One of a thousand." It was a pleasant expression of regard which led the Proprietors, by a vote of Dec. 2, to appropriate $200 "to secure the copyright of Dr. Ingersoll's Sermon."
៛ The Vestry had voted to close the church during July and August in 1844, but the Wardens were requested to pre- pare a statement of their reasons in the form of a circular to the Parish. They were, first, for repairs on the organ, and, second, for the following reason :
" The cushions, carpets, and other woolen furniture of the church require examination, in consequence of the ex- istence of moths in some, and probably in many, of the pews ; and it was deemed expedient that this examination should be made at the general expense, as the damage would be general, if the multi- plication of these destructive insects were permitted to go on without inter- ruption. . . . It was deemed clearly ex- pedient to avail ourselves of the usual thinness of the congregation during the hot months of summer, to do all that was necessary in the most complete and satisfactory manner. Upon examination of the list of Proprietors, it was ascer- tained that a considerable majority would be out of town, the greater part, if not the whole of the summer; and it is well known that the attendance on the services of the Sabbath in this church is so thin during the hot weather as to excite remark from many who are un- acquainted with the reason of it." The examination disclosed fewer "destruc- tive insects " than was expected, - only five pews being affected thereby. On this occasion the members of the Parish remaining in town were invited to wor- ship with the First Church, the members of which expressed gratification "if we can return in some degree the sacred and endearing hospitality " received dur- ing the previous season.
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ANNALS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
be permitted to use the Chapel for worship during that sum- mer. The discontent within the Parish at the vote which had been passed may have been encouraged by this. If others could open King's Chapel for religious services, it was surely fitting that those who had it in trust should not abandon it. Accord- ingly, the Proprietors voted to keep the Chapel open them- selves, and to invite the Church of the Disciples to worship with them.1
But now the time had come when a hope arose again that Mr. Peabody might be persuaded to reconsider his adverse decision about leaving New Bedford. Before action was taken by the Parish he was privately consulted, to learn whether he would accept a call. His answer, dated Oct. 15, 1845, was marked by the delicate sense of honor which characterized his whole course in relation to the people whom he at last left, as well as to those whose minister he was to become.
" If there be any reports that I am willing to leave New Bedford," he wrote, " they are without warrant from me. As to your question, I will say that if I were invited to your Parish, the probability is that I should not accept the invitation. I think that this is all I can say or ought to say respecting an imaginary case in which the circumstances most im- portant in determining one's course would in part be created, or at least brought to light, by the invitation itself. Whatever other motives might sway my inclinations, I should endeavor to be governed in my decision by the probable effect which one course or the other would have on those great interests which a Christian minister ought to have at heart. I should not leave this place unless right-minded men, who knew my situation here and prospects there, were clearly of opinion that I should do more to promote those interests by leaving than by remaining where I am. What the judgment of such men would be, when I consider how often ministers mistake as to their true position, I feel that I am as little competent as any one to foretell."
Nevertheless, the Parish proceeded to hold a meeting, Oct. 26, 1845, at which a call was extended to Mr. Peabody to become their minister, by a vote of forty-four to three. It was a hard struggle for him to decide. The ties of friendship and of
1 An excellent plan was proposed, during this interval, to bring the Church into closer relations to a Ministry at Large, by supporting a minister in this work. In April, 1844, a private sub- scription was begun for this purpose, and was far enough advanced to insure obtaining the necessary amount : mean- time, it was expected to engage Mr. John
H. Heywood of the Cambridge Divinity School as the missionary. But, unfor- tunately for the object and for the best welfare of this Church, he concluded to enter another field of labor; and in the great difficulty of finding another person with exactly the qualifications required for this difficult task, the plan was laid aside.
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THE MINISTRY OF EPHRAIM PEABODY.
pastoral duty there were strong, and they would have held him, if considerations of health had not turned the scale. But Mr. Peabody proceeded with the most scrupulous care for the rights and privileges, first of all, of the New Bedford Parish, as is shown in the following correspondence : -
NEW BEDFORD, Nov. 18, 1845.
MY DEAR SIR, - I see that there is in the Boston papers an account of the proceedings here last Sunday. You probably have seen the same, and if so may find it difficult to understand why my answer to your communication is delayed.
The account in the newspaper paragraph is incorrect in the most important point. A letter from me requesting a dismission was read in the morning, with great and most considerate kindness to me, in order to relieve me from suspense ; a reply, acceding to my wishes, was com- municated to the Society in the evening, and, as far as could be, adopted. But before any formal dissolution of my connexion with my Society can take place, it is necessary that a legal meeting should be held. This cannot be for some days to come. In the mean time I am not free to act with reference to any other Society ; and even if I were, it would not comport with my feelings to do so. The separation from my Society here is quite enough for my mind to bear ; and besides, instead of seek- ing, I wish to avoid all thought of plans and purposes for the future, which might distract my mind from the full sense of what I am doing here. Were it possible, I should be glad if I could prevent my thoughts going outside of New Bedford ; for it is in this way alone that I can do justice to my friends here, who all of them are willing to do far more than justice to me. I wish as far as may be not only to wait their action outwardly in form, but in thought. Thus you will perceive that it is not, according to the proper form, decided even that I shall leave New Bedford.
When that decision is made, it will be the proper time for me to con- sider what I ought to do, as it regards the future ; and you may well suppose that for my own sake, if for nothing else, there will be no need- less hesitation.
For several reasons, I greatly regret that there should be any delay ; but the reasons for the course I have taken and am trying to take satisfy my judgment and conscience, and for any mistakes I must trust myself to the charity of my friends.
As to the common misunderstandings of other men's purposes and motives, they are of little consequence, and in the present case it is of more importance to me, I suppose, than to any one else ; but I have thought that I should like to have some one member of your Society understand the truth as to my situation, and for this reason I have taken the liberty to address you this note.
Most truly yours,
GEORGE B. EMERSON, Esq.
E. PEABODY.
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ANNALS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
Here follows the official correspondence before referred to :
NEW BEDFORD, Nov !. 26, 1845.
TO THE PROPRIETORS AND PEWHOLDERS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, - Your invitation to become the Minister at King's Chapel has been communicated to me by your Wardens, and I am most grateful to you for your kindness and for the confidence which you are willing to repose in me. It is with many hesitations and fears, and with something also of hope, that I would now signify to you my acceptance of your invitation.
In coming to a decision of so much importance to yourselves and to your families, I do it with a deep sense of the responsibility which it involves, and of my own imperfections. I should not dare to do it, did I not believe that the same kind judgment which has led you to commit such a trust to me will secure to me your aid in meeting it.
In taking such a step, I rely more on you than on myself ; and, above all, I desire to rely on that Merciful Being who out of our defects and weaknesses can make instruments to serve Himself. May His blessing, without which we cannot be blessed, rest on you and on me, and make this union a means of promoting His glory and man's good.
In the bonds of Christian Fellowship,
Most respectfully Yours,
EPHRAIM PEABODY.
REPLY OF THE PROPRIETORS AND PEWHOLDERS.
REVEREND EPHRAIM PEABODY :
DEAR SIR, - At a meeting of the Proprietors of King's Chapel, held in the Chapel on Sunday last, immediately after the evening service, your letters, accepting our invitation to become our Minister, were read, and the welcome intelligence which they contained was received with the warmest and most perfectly unmingled feeling of satisfaction.
It was then moved and seconded, that the said communications be referred to the Wardens and Vestry, with instructions to express to the Rev. Ephraim Peabody the gratification which the Proprietors of King's Chapel feel at his acceptance of their invitation to become their Min- ister, and to take order for his installation, according to the forms of this Society, at as early a day as his convenience will permit ; which vote being put, was unanimously adopted.
In obedience to the above vote, and moved ourselves by the same strong feeling which dictated it, we now address you.
And we hope you will pardon us, if we first attempt to express our own gratification at the conclusion to which, after the most mature deliberation, you have been led, and which you have thus kindly com- municated to us. We have comprehended the embarrassments of your situation, we have appreciated the strong ties by which you were held to the friends about you, and have admired the generous self-devotion which
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THE MINISTRY OF EPHRAIM PEABODY.
would have led you to a field of severer labors and more harassing cares than that to which we invite you ; and we have waited with great anxiety for your decision. We heartily thank you, and we desire humbly to thank the Merciful Giver of all good gifts, that your decision has been in our favor. We trust that He who has overruled and determined this decision will make it a means of the greatest good to you and to us, His people, and through us to all His Church.
We have long been without a Minister of our own ; and although we have never been without the stated instructions of able and excellent teachers, we have missed some of the best influences of religious instruc- tion. For we, like all our brethren of the human race, are so made, with mind and feelings so intertwined, that our heart and its affections must be touched, as well as our reason convinced, before our will is moved. We have had learned and eloquent sermons ; but they have been from men who, to most of us, were strangers, and they have there- fore wanted that which is more convincing than argument and more persuasive than eloquence, - the conviction that the words were uttered from a strong interest in us ; that they were suggested by our wants, our weaknesses, and our sins ; that they were the earnest expression of feel- ings which we knew to be real, and on which the life which we daily witnessed was a constant and irresistible commentary.
We have been still longer without a Pastor; for our revered and lamented Greenwood was so long, before his death, visited by disease which took away his strength and kept him almost a prisoner in his own house, that he was obliged to forego, for many years, some of the dearest duties of the pastoral office ; and many of our children have never felt, save from their own parents, the sweet and sacred influences of a reli- gious guide and teacher.
We feel and mourn our own deficiencies, especially in this part of our duties ; and we long to find for ourselves a counsellor and helper there- in, and for our children a religious friend, who in the soft and yielding season of their early years shall draw their warm affections towards the fountain of Good, and win their willing but uncertain steps to the paths of life.
We know that our want of a Minister has been considered less press- ing than that of some other bereaved churches, -- partly because we have been happily kept together with great unanimity ; and partly, perhaps, because many of us are among those whom the world calls prosperous. But we believe, we know, that there are dangers in prosperity not less to be apprehended than the dangers of adversity ; we partly ourselves see, and we trust that you will still better see, and in your faithfulness to us and to your Master will not fail to declare to us, our peculiar dangers.
Deeply moved with a sense of what we have lost and are still losing by being thus left alone, we want words to express the feelings of grateful joy with which we look forward to the time when you shall become our Minister and our Pastor ; when we shall listen to the instructions of one
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ANNALS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
in whom we are all strongly and warmly united ; when we shall again be able to witness ourselves, and point out to our children, the example of a faithful follower of the Saviour, who shall be their friend and their fathers' friend, and the influence of whose teachings and whose life we and they shall daily feel. To that end we pray that God may strengthen, enlighten, and guide you ; that you may be able to give us wise and faithful instruction, and set us the example of a holy life.
You are aware that our Society has no connexion, except that of a common faith and the bonds of charity and Christian fellowship, with any other Society of Christians. We hold ourselves accountable to God only for our faith in Him, and for the mode in which we shall worship Him. We call no man master, for we believe that one is our Master, even Christ, and that all men are brethren. We therefore purpose to ask no human aid in installing you in the office of our Minister and Pastor. We have chosen you of our own free will, and we propose our- selves and of our own authority to invest you with the rights of our religious teacher.
You will doubtless understand that the position we take in reference to installation is not the consequence of any recent determination. It was taken, from the necessity of circumstances, as long ago as 1784, at the ordination of Dr. Freeman; it has been maintained since in the ordination of his first colleague, Mr. Cary, and the installation of his second colleague and successor, Mr. Greenwood ; and we, examining it calmly and maturely, do now firmly maintain it as entirely consistent with the simplicity of the Gospel and the usages of the earliest Christian Church.
GEORGE B. EMERSON, JOHN L. GARDNER, Wardens.
The installation of Mr. Peabody took place in conformity with the usages of the Church, Jan. 11, 1846, the Proprietors sitting in the pews nearest to the Desk.
During the voluntary which precedes the Morning Service, the Rev. Mr. Peabody, accompanied by the Wardens, ascended the Desk. After the conclusion of the voluntary, the Senior Warden said : ---
" Brethren, at a meeting held in this place, on the 26th day of October last, you, Proprietors of pews in this Chapel, instructed your Wardens to invite the Revª Ephraim Peabody to become your Minister.
"That invitation was given and accepted ; and the Rev! Mr. Peabody is here, and we are assembled to ratify, before God and in this presence, the compact then entered into. And to the end that we, a portion of Christ's flock, and this our elected Minister and Pastor, may duly feel and acknowledge the importance of the relation which is to be formed between us, and that it may be ordered for his and our good, let us humbly implore the blessing of Almighty God."
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THE MINISTRY OF EPHRAIM PEABODY.
The Rev! Mr. Peabody then offered a fervent prayer.
The Senior Warden then said : -
" Brethren, the Wardens and Vestry of this Church, acting as your Committee, and agreeably to your instructions to take order for the installation of your elected Minister according to the forms and usages of this Society, have prepared a vote which they now submit to you, and ask your most serious consideration thereof. By this vote we do not mean to abridge the liberty of our Minister, for we do not hold him responsible to us alone for the instructions he shall give, but to his own Conscience, to his Master Christ, and to Gop, who, we trust, has called him to this work. We only seek to settle and define the meaning and extent of the compact about to be formed between us."
He then read the following Vote : -
" We, the Wardens, Vestrymen, and Proprietors of King's Chapel Church, in Boston, by virtue of the Constitution and Laws of this Com- monwealth, do hereby elect, ordain, constitute, and appoint the Revd Ephraim Peabody, Clerk, to be our Minister, Public Teacher, and Pastor," etc. [As in Mr. Freeman's ordination, except that the only titles given are as above, and that the word "ordinances " is substituted for " sacraments."]
The Rev! Mr. Peabody then read to the Congregation, and delivered to the Wardens in writing, the following declaration of acceptance : -
" My Brethren, I have already made known to you in another form my acceptance of your affectionate invitation ; and I here in a more public manner solemnly repeat it. May God sanction this my engage- ment," etc. [As in Dr. Greenwood's letter of declaration. ]
The Senior Warden then took the hand of Mr. Peabody and said :
"We, the Wardens, Vestrymen, and Proprietors of this Church, by virtue of our lawful authority, do, before Gon, and in presence of these witnesses, solemnly ordain and declare you, Ephraim Peabody, to be our Minister, Public Teacher, and Pastor. In testimony whereof, we deliver to you this Book, containing the Holy Oracles of Almighty GOD, en- joining the due observance of all the divine precepts contained therein, especially those which relate to the duty and office of a Minister of Jesus Christ, and whatever else, of truth or duty, consistent therewith, shall be made known unto you.
" And may the LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace, now and ever- more. And let all the people say, AMEN."
And the people, with one voice, said AMEN.
A prayer was then offered by the Rev! Mr. Peabody ; after which the Morning Service began and proceeded as usual.
When the Warden said the words, " we deliver to you this Book, " he placed in the hands of the Minister a copy of the Holy Bible.
VOL. II .- 32
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ANNALS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
Mr. Peabody's acceptance had an immediate effect on the material interests of the Society. It was necessary, Dec. 2, 1845, "to sell two of the four strangers' pews," 1 and the follow- ing June, to construct "two additional pews on the east side of the organ." The effect on the spiritual interests of the Church is testified, as we have seen, by the letter which the Wardens wrote to Mr. Peabody after receiving his reply.
The ministry thus auspiciously begun continued without inter- ruption, and with deepening attachment on both sides, till Dr. l'eabody's death in 1856.
EPHRAIM PEABODY was born in Wilton, N.H., March 22, 1807. Explain Peabody At the age of five he lost his father, a man of integrity, honored by the confidence of his townsmen ; but his mother, whose sensitive nature, full of reserve yet full of strength, was in closest kindred with his own, lived till her son was forty-five years old.
" His first impressions were formed in that mountainous region. High hills were in the distance, - the trees were large, - everything was on a great scale. He walked four miles to school, and as far to church, where he sat the winter through in a stone-cold one. He never appre- ciated small flowers or a small landscape, saying he grew up among the hills and grander things."
Amid the secluded beauty of a wild and picturesque region the child grew, taught in the wholesome school of wise and simple living and in communion with natural things. Long after, he said to a friend, as they looked at a summer cloud : " How often, when I was a boy, I have taken my book, and sat by the road-side under an old tree, . . . and when I was tired of reading, thrown myself back on the grass, and watched just such a cloud as that, expecting, if I looked steadily enough, that I should see the faces of angels leaning over its pure edges." The strength of his abstemious training in the simplicity of his early home blended with this extreme susceptibility to natural loveliness to make some of the most marked traits of his char- acter. He was most fortunate, too, in another influence under which he came later, in going from Dummer Academy at Byfield to Exeter, where for fifty years presided his maternal uncle, Dr.
1 At the same time it was voted that
reserved for Mrs. Greenwood so long as a pew in the North Gallery should " be she chooses to occupy it."
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THE MINISTRY OF EPHRAIM PEABODY.
Abbot, one of the most revered names among American teach- ers.1 From Exeter he went to Bowdoin College, where his classmates knew him as their poet, graduating there in 1827, and thence to the Cambridge Divinity School, graduating in 1830. From those happy years of boyish and youthful student life, sunny pictures have been preserved, which testify to the impressions made by the daily beauty of his life.
His earliest ministry was exercised in Meadville, Pa., where he taught in Mr. Huidekoper's family. Here he is described as preaching -
" sometimes in the country to the neighboring farmers. I recall a Sunday afternoon in autumn when he stood under a group of trees in their autumn foliage, around him the farmers of the vicinity, who had been hard at work getting in an abundant harvest, and now sat with hearts at rest to listen to the preacher of God. Some of the village con- gregation had come out too, and we listened awe-struck to a sermon from the text : 'The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.' "
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