USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Annals of King's Chapel from the Puritan age of New England to the present day > Part 8
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but slightly impaired, and with his religious faith and trust clear and strong in the close and ever closer view of death. He died on the 14th of November, 1835, after a ministry extending over something more than fifty-two years.
Dr. Freeman, in 1812, published a volume of sermons, which passed through three editions. In 1829, he printed a volume containing eighteen sermons, and a charge delivered at Brooklyn, Connecticut, at the ordination of Samuel J. May. This volume was not published nor put into general circulation, but was issued at his own charge, and a copy of it was presented by him to every family in his parish, - a gift acknowledged by the Wardens and Vestry with expressions of the profoundest gratitude and affection.
Dr. Freeman had among his parishioners during his entire ministry a large proportion of the men of high standing and commanding influence in Boston, and none held him in dearer esteem than those whose esteem was best worth having. Among these, in addition to those already mentioned, we may name John Amory (1728-1805), who was among Dr. Freeman's most inti- mate friends ; John Gardiner (1731-1793), educated at the Inner Temple, successful as an advocate in the English courts, and with a short period of eminent success at the Suffolk bar ; Joseph Coolidge (1747-1820), as a merchant distinguished equally for enterprise and for integrity, in private life pure, true, kind, and charitable, a Christian alike in faith and in life, and bequeathing to his children and theirs his loyalty to the Chapel, its service, and its ministry 1 ; Ebenezer Oliver (1752-1826), a man univer- sally beloved, honored, and lamented, who held the office of Warden from 1796 till his death, and was Senior Warden for twenty-eight years; Christopher Gore (1758-1827), Governor of Massachusetts, and holding various offices of trust and honor
1 From the Records of the Vestry, Nov. 17, 1820 : -
"A legacy of One Thousand dollars from the late Joseph Coolidge, Esq' , ' for the use of this Society.'
" Voted, That the Wardens & Vestry of King's Chapel gratefully accept this dona tion 'for the use of the Society,' so truly characteristic of the munificent Donor whose warm attachment to this Society, its Doctrines, Officers, Members, & Inter ests, he manifested by a constant & en- lightened zeal & attention from its re- formation in 1782; having been an active & useful member of its Vestry thirty-four
successive years & until his decease. And while with mingled affection & re- gret the Wardens & Vestry men recollect the many public & private virtues which adorned & endeared M! Coolidge, they desire to thank GOD, who prospered him in his honorable pursuit of wealth, & continued to him the means & the dis- position to be eminently charitable & useful to the close of a long & happy life of 73 years, which he peacefully re- signed with the cheerful yet humble hopes of a Christian on the morning of the 6th day of Oct. last." See pp. 370, ante, and 475, post.
.
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under the national government, who was in the habit of express- ing unbounded respect and admiration for Dr. Freeman ; Thomas Minns (1773-1836), editor of the " New England Palladium " for more than thirty years, filling important posts of public service, upright, honorable, generous, public-spirited, held in the highest regard by the whole community ; and William Minot (1783- 1873), whose firm religious faith gave tone to his whole life, which was as rich in honor as full in years, and was largely de- voted to the charge of such trusts and interests as demand equal skill, professional ability, and integrity for their care and administration.1
King's Chapel (or the Stone Chapel,2 as it was generally called for thirty years or more) was, during the greater part of Dr. Freeman's ministry, largely used for purposes other than the services of the church. It was then central, its architectural beauty rendered it peculiarly attractive, and its congregation embraced a large number of the men who were prominent mem- bers of the societies that held anniversary or commemorative services, and were foremost among the leaders in the creation or expression of public opinion and sentiment on occasions of special interest and importance. It seems to have been preferred beyond all other places for oratorios and for concerts of sacred music. The earliest performance of this kind of which we have record was on the 10th of January, 1786. We copy the pro- gramme, as illustrative of the then existing condition of the community, of the kind and degree of musical culture, and of the strong sympathy already felt for a class of prisoners among whom there were always many persons of estimable character, as there continued to be till the imprisonment of unfortunate, yet honest, debtors was legally abolished.
The Mufical Society in this town agreed, on the 20th laft month, to perform a Concert of facred Mufick, vocal and inftrumental, at the Chapel-Church, on Tuefday, the 10th day of this prefent month of January, for the benefit and relief of the poor prifoners confined in the jail in this town, and that the Mufick and Morning Service of the Church are then to be performed as follows, viz. -
1 The list might be indefinitely pro- longed ; but the attempt to make it com. plete would convert this chapter into a large section of the biographical history of Boston.
2 The name of King's Chapel was neither dropped nor resumed by vote;
but the original name, disused at the period when the country ceased to have a king, was resumed in current use among the worshippers at least as early as 1804, though the alternative name was not in- frequently heard at a much later date
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THE MINISTRY OF JAMES FREEMAN.
As foon as the Church doors are fhut, precifely at 11 o'clock in the forenoon of that day,
I. That the Overture in the facred Oratorio called the Occasional Oratorio, compofed by the late celebrated MR. HANDEL, be performed by all the mufical, inftrumental band.
II. That the firft, famous and juftly celebrated Recitative, in the Ora- torio of the MESSIAH, compofed by the INSPIRED HANDEL, be fung, accompanied by the first and Second violin, the tenor and bass inftru- ments. The words, " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, faith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem ; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make flraight in the defart an high-way for our God."
III. That the firft fong in the fame moft facred Oratorio be fung, ac- companied by the proper inftruments. The words, " Every valley fall be exalted, and every mountain and high hill Shall be brought low, and the crooked Shall be made fraight, and the rough places plain ; and the glory of the LORD Shall be revealed."
IV. The Morning Service of the Church is then to begin ; and after the Lord's Prayer, and the four verficles following, then the Doxology, or Glory to God, - "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible," ENc., as fet to Mufick by Mr. Selby, is to be performed by all the voices, accompanied by the Organ only.
V. That the Anthem from the 95th Pfalm, in the ufual Morning Service of the Church, " O come let us fing unto the Lord," ENc., be fung or faid.
VI. That the 41ft, 112th, and 146th be read as the proper Pfalms for the day ; after each of which, the fame Doxology, as fet to mufick by Mr. Selby, be performed by all the voices, accompanied by the Organ and all the inftruments.
VII. That the 4th Concerto of Amizou, Mufica de Capella, opa. 7 ma., be performed by the Organ and all the inftruments, as and for the Voluntary.
VIII. That the firft leffon for the day, taken from the 4th chapter of Tobit, from the 3d to the end of the 11th verfe, with the 16th verfe of the fame chapter, be read.
IX. Then that the Te Deum, or " We praife thee, O God, we acknow- ledge Thee to be the Lord," &c., be chanted.
X. Then that the fecond leffon for the day, taken from the 25th chap- ter of Matthew, from the gift verfe to the end of verfe the 40th, to be read.
XI. Then the Jubilate Deo, or "O be joyful in the Lord, all ye Lands," is to be fung, as and for an Anthem, by the voices, accompanied by all the inftruments.
XII. Then the Apoftles' Creed will be read.
XIII. Immediately after that Creed, the fong from the Oratorio of
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the MESSIAH, " The Trumpet fhall found, and the Dead Shall be raifed," &c., is to be fung, accompanied by the Trumpet, &c.
XIV. Then the Verficles after the Creed, with the firft Collect for the day, are to be read. And after the fame,
XV. The fong from the Oratorio of Sampfon is to be fung. - The words, -
" Let the bright Cherubims, in burning Row,
Their loud, uplifted, angel Trumpets blow."
XVI. Then the fecond and third Collects, the Prayer for Congrefs, and the Prayer for all forts and conditions of men, be read.
XVII. Then the fecond Organ Concerto of Mr. Handel is to be performed.
XVIII. Then the General Thankfgiving and the concluding Prayers are to be read.
XIX. Mr. Selby will then play a Solo, Piano, on the Organ, during which the fentences in the Offertory will be read, the Boxes at the fame time being carried about to receive the Contributions and Donations of the charitable and humane.
XX. Then " the Prayer for the whole State of Chrift's Church mili- tant here on earth " is to be read, and the Morning Service of the Church is to end with the ufual concluding Prayers and Bleffing.
XXI. Laftly, the mufical Band will perform a favourite Overture of Mr. Bach.
N. B. Tickets for this Charity, at three fhillings each, as we are in- formed, will be offered for fale in every part of the town.
We are further informed that all the Minifters of all the feveral religious Societies and perfuafions in this town, with Joseph Henderfon, Efq., the High-Sheriff of the County, Samuel Breck, Efq., and Thomas Dawes, Efq., Members for the Town, Joseph Barrell, Efq., Doctor Charles Jarvis, and Samuel Henshaw, Efq., are chofen by the MUSICAL SOCIETY to be a Committee, for the purpofe of appropriating all Monies to be raifed by the fale of the Tickets, and which may accrue from the Donations and Contributions of the charitable and humane towards the fupport of this Charity.
The firft appropriation of the money, for the affording neceffary cloath- ing, firing, and provifions to the moft neceffitous prifoners for debt.
( We hope none will be backward in beftowing, according to their ability, for this truly benevolent purpofe.
On September 4, 1787, the use of the Chapel for a concert of sacred music was granted to a committee of the Hollis Street Church " to assist that congregation in rebuilding their meet- ing-house," which had been recently burned.
The next occasion of the kind was the " Oratorio, or concert of Sacred Musick," performed on the 27th of October, 1789, in
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THE MINISTRY OF JAMES FREEMAN.
the presence of George Washington, President of the United States.1 This occasion certainly has enough of historical inter- est to render its programme worth preserving.
FIRST PART.
I. A congratulatory ODE to the PRESIDENT.
2. The favourite Air in the Meffiah (compofed by the celebrated Handel), " Comfort ye my People," by Mr. Rea.
3. Organ Concerto - by Mr. Selby.
4. The favourite Air in the Oratorio of Samfon (compofed by the celebrated Handel), " Let the bright Seraphim," by Mr. Red.
5. Anthem from rooth Pfalm, compofed by Mr. Selby.
PART THE SECOND. THE ORATORIO OF JONAH.
Complete. - The folos by Meffrs. Rea, Fay, Brewer, and Dr. Rogerfon. The Choruffes by the Independent Mufical Society. The inftrumental parts by a Society of Gentlemen, with the band of his Moft Christian Majefty's Fleet.
The Mufic to begin precifely at XI o'clock in the forenoon. No perfon will be admitted without a ticket.
No more tickets will be fold than will admit of the auditory being con- veniently accommodated.
This programme, it seems, could not be fully carried out, " thro' the indisposition of several singers," and was advertised, on the Ist of December, to be performed in full " this evening if the weather permits; otherwise, to-morrow evening, the Musick to begin precisely at six o'clock P. M." We are inclined to think, from such memoranda as we have in hand, that this concert, with little variation in music or performers, may have been given on one, possibly two, other occasions beside. The proceeds were applied to the "finishing of the colonnade, or portico, of the Chapel agreeably to the original design."
The Handel and Haydn Society, formed in 1815, gave no less than seven concerts in King's Chapel, - the last on the 17th of March, 1817. These were performed with the then usual orches- tral accompaniments, and the choruses were sung sometimes by a hundred voices. Rev. Dr Pierce writes of one of them, "I heard for the first time [on such an occasion] a kettledrum. It added but little to the harmony, in my estimation."
On the 9th of June, 1813, the Humane Society held its anni-
1 While he was in the Chapel, Gal- Belknap's Diary, printed in Mass. Hist. Society's Proceedings for March, 1858,
lagher, the painter, stole a likeness of him from a pew behind the pulpit. - iii. 310.
VOL. II .- 26
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ANNALS OF KING'S CHAPEL.
versary in King's Chapel, listened to an Address by Rev. Henry Colman, and took up a collection in aid of its philanthropic work. Dr. Pierce writes : " A solemn gloom pervaded the audience, as the Rev. Joseph S. Buckminster had that afternoon expired."
On the 24th of October, 1813, the reputed anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, and at the same date in the three following years, the American Antiquarian Society held in the Chapel its first, second, third, and fourth annual celebration, the orators on those occasions, respectively, being Rev. Dr. Jenks, then of Bath; Rev. Dr. Holmes, of Cambridge ; William Paine, M. D., of Worcester ; and Rev. Dr. Bentley, of Salem. On December 22d, 1813, the Massachusetts Historical Society met at the Chapel for the public celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims, and an appropriate Address was delivered by Judge John Davis, a native of Plymouth, during his long lifetime the richest inheritor of Plymouth traditions, and recognized as of final authority as to the early history of the Old Colony.1
Beside these anniversary occasions, we have the record of two very remarkable services held in King's Chapel in connection with memorable crises in the world's history. The first of these was in celebration of the Russian victories which turned the tide of Napoleonic supremacy and heralded the release of west- ern Europe from military despotism. We cannot find that any address of the ordinary type was delivered ; but there were devo- tional services, with appropriate music, and a marvellous "read- ing of the Scriptures" by Dr. Freeman, whose manuscript of the same is indorsed, " Discourse delivered at King's Chapel be- fore Two Thousand of the Citizens of Boston assembled to celebrate the Russian Victories, March 25th, 1813."2 It consists of a series of selections of Scripture, so arranged, matched, we might almost say, dovetailed, as to give, from a religious point of view, a sketch of the history of Europe from the rise to the de- cline of Napoleon Bonaparte, with that of the United States under its first four Presidents, closing with prophecies of peace. The venture was a bold one. The alternative was entire success or utter failure. But as we read the " Discourse," we cannot dis- cover a sentence or clause that ought to have been omitted, and we doubt whether, were we to search the Bible through, we should alight on any text which we should want to insert or add.
1 There are also on record, as granted, applications for the use of the Chapel, in 1798, by Joseph May, in behalf of the Charitable Fire Society, and in 1813, by Joseph Coolidge, Jun., for the celebra-
tion of the seventeenth anniversary of the Boston Medical Dispensary.
2 Printed in Mass. Hist. Society's Proceedings for March, 1881, xviii. 383 et seq.
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THE MINISTRY OF JAMES FREEMAN.
The service was followed by a splendid entertainment in Faneuil Hall, at which transparencies were exhibited, representing the portrait of the Czar and the burning of Moscow, and toasts were given which indicate the intense partisan feeling of the Boston Federalists, who alone can have borne part in the festival.1
A still more memorable occasion was the solemn thanksgiving observed on the downfall of Bonaparte, and the fulfilment of the hopes which had dawned upon Christendom in the previous summer. The service took place at the Chapel on the 15th of June, 1814. It was then that Dr. Channing delivered the dis- course which first gave him widely extended reputation, and which is still regarded, in breadth and depth of vision, in pro- found thought, in intense fervor of patriotic devotion, in philan- thropic sentiment, and in glowing eloquence, as second in merit to none of his subsequent discourses, as it was certainly second to none in the inspiration of the events that gave it birth.2
Among the pleasant records of Dr. Freeman's ministry is the occupancy of the Chapel at alternate hours by the members of the West Church while, after Dr. Lowell's settlement in 1806, they replaced their decayed wooden house of worship by the spacious brick edifice, once more than filled by a prosperous congregation, and now deserted because of its remoteness from any centre of Protestant population.
There is reason to believe that great care was taken from the time of the reopening of the Chapel that the musical service should be not only thoroughly devotional, but level with the taste and science of the time. There are not wanting indica- tions that William Selby, who was organist from 1782 to 1804, was at the head of his profession, we can hardly say as an organist, for there cannot have been organs enough in Boston to justify a comparison, but as a musical performer. His salary was £66 13s. 4d., - equivalent to two hundred dollars. It is evi- dent that his successors 3 were regarded as his inferiors, their
I The second toast was, " Our Na- tional Rulers: May the people see in them now what history must say of them hereafter," and the eleventh, " The memory of Washington, -- ren- dered more precious by the errors and follies of the present times."
2 The Peace between the United States and Great Britain was also cele- brated in the Chapel. See p. 623, post.
3 These were Mrs. Vanhagen, 1804- 1810; Miss Susannah Stephens, 1810- 1814; Samuel Stockwell, 1814; Cather-
ine Graupner, 1814-1817 ; Sophia Hewitt, IS17-1819; Thomas Spear, 1819-1822; Joseph Eckley, 1822-1826. There seems to have been a break in Miss Hewitt's term of service, due perhaps to illness or absence. A vote was passed on the 26th of May, 1818, thanking Joseph Eckley for six months of gratuitous " performances as organist, - services skilful, tasteful, and impressive in a high degree, and heightened in the estimation of the Ves- try by the polite manner in which they were tendered and perfornied."
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salary having been one hundred and seventy dollars till 1820, when the incumbent's compensation is raised by the sum of thirty dollars. In 1785 a subscription was opened for defraying the expense of instruction in music of " such persons of both sexes as incline to learn to sing psalm-tunes." The teacher employed was the then celebrated composer William Billings, whose tunes, within the memory of octogenarians, were heard constantly in public worship, though "Jordan " is the only one that retains its place in our music books. His compensation was twelve shillings - that is, two dollars -an evening, for fifty-nine evenings. The singing was conducted by a volunteer choir throughout Dr. Freeman's ministry, and for many years afterward leading portions of the musical service were directed and performed as labors of love by prominent members of the congregation. On special occasions it would appear that the · choir, probably reinforced from other churches, as was the pre- valent custom, had festive entertainments provided by the offi- cers of the church. We have before us an innkeeper's bill (with items), amounting to 53s. Id., or a little less than nine dollars, " for the entertainment of the singers of the Chapel Church 25 December, 1788."
In December, 1782, and in September, 1788, repairs were made on the organ, and probably at other times prior to May 6, 1824, when the Wardens agreed with William Goodrich, then the principal organ builder in Boston, to repair the organ, insert an adequate number of sub-bass pipes, and put the instrument " into the most perfect condition " for three hundred dollars, which sum was to be paid in part by a deed of pew No. 56, valued at one hundred and seventy-five dollars.
The original design of the Chapel had a tall spire, resembling those of some of Wren's churches in London, of which the pre- sent tower, or lantern, was to be the base. The colonnade was also in the plan, but was omitted in the building. In 1784 the Wardens and Vestry recommended to the proprietors " to begin on the colonnade and spire as soon as the season will permit." The work on the spire was never commenced; but in 1785 the other portion of the work was begun. It was not completed till the summer of 1787. The entire cost of the "stone steps, colonnade, capitals, etc.," was £356 1Id., or a little less than twelve hundred dollars. The roof of the tower was blown off on the 9th of October, 1804, and fell on a shed two hundred feet distant from the Chapel. The gale which occasioned this dis-
1
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THE MINISTRY OF JAMES FREEMAN.
aster was memorable as having blown down and demolished the spire of Christ Church.1
The bell of King's Chapel, made in London, and weighing two thousand four hundred and seventy-five pounds without the clapper, was hung in 1772. It was unequalled in New England both for power and for sweetness of tone. On the 8th of May, 1814, it was cracked while tolling for evening service. It was new cast by Paul Revere & Co., and re-hung on February 23, 1816.2 It was again re-hung in 1853.
It seems hardly possible that there should not have been in the early time some means of warming the Chapel other than the foot-stoves which were in universal use. To be sure, con- gregations were accustomed to attend Sunday services in the cold; but that a concert lasting through the greater part of a January day in an unheated church should have drawn a suffi- cient audience to furnish funds for " firing " in prison-cells, is hardly conceivable. Yet the earliest vote that we find on this subject is on January 27, 1810, " that the Wardens be requested to take further and effectual measures to secure the vestry-room from conflagration by the large quantities of coal necessarily kindled therein for the supply of foot-stoves." The tradition is that it was a part of the sexton's duty to fill these stoves and carry them to the several pews. On the 10th of October, 1816, a committee was appointed " to provide and erect such stoves, etc., as shall warm the church comfortably and securely when the weather shall be cold." The committee, however, appear to have ignored the plural number in the above vote; for on the 30th of November, 1819, " the Wardens were requested to have the second stove erected." In the following November a committee was appointed " to consider and report upon the expediency and expense of a furnace or Wakefield stove to warm the Church by heated air."
A portion of the material which would strictly come within the limits of Dr. Freeman's pastorate is reserved for the chapter on Dr. Greenwood, who was for eleven years associate pastor with him, and has preserved all the finest traditions of his ministry. A copy of Dr. Freeman's bust by Shobal Vail Clevenger, and the inscription beneath it, is given on the succeeding page.
1 The present spire of Christ Church was built by Charles Bulfinch, in the same general style with its predecessor, but with some changes in proportions and details.
2 The contract and other papers per- taining to this work are printed on pp. 622, 623, post.
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THE MINISTRY OF JAMES FREEMAN.
REV. JAMES FREEMAN, D.D.
Pastor of this Church, chosen April 21, 1783. Ordained Nov. 18, 1787. Died Nov. 14, 1835, Aged 76 years. D. Freeman was the first Unitarian preacher in this city ; and he adorned the doctrine he professed, by his Christian simplicity, purity and faithfulness, by the benevolence of his heart, and the benignity of his manners. Respect for his talents, and for the courageous honesty and firmness with which he maintained his opinions, was mingled with love for his mildness and affectionate sympathy. In theological attainments there were few, and in the qualities which endear a minister to his people, there were none, to surpass him.
The bust was placed here, December 16, 1843, by a grateful congregation
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