USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Brief history of the First Church in Plymouth, from 1606 to 1901 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
* In Memoriam Frederick N. Knapp 1889.
[96]
Back to the Past
kindly disposition. His experience on the Sanitary Commission had brought him into close touch with suffering in all its forms, and gave to his work in a country parish, a wide range of personal sympathy and tender helpfulness. He was accessible to every- body needing friendly counsel or help, regardless of church or creed. Nature had endowed him with a bright, cheerful, happy disposition, which became contagious wherever he moved. He never ceased to think and act for others, and countless deeds of thoughtful kindness still serve to keep his memory fresh in the hearts of those who loved him. His Christianity was not confined to the pulpit, or to pastoral cares, but pervaded his social duties, and the obligations of citizenship. There was no institution in the town, educational, philanthropic, social, in which he did not feel a close personal interest. He was strongly identified with the education of the young, and during the five years of his ministry, and until his death in 1889, he conducted a success- ful school for boys. He was also Chairman of the School Committee for several years. The Grand Army departed from its usual custom in his case, and conferred upon him the unique distinction of being the only honorary member in the country.
His position as pastor of the First Church was relinquished in October 1874, but he retained a warm affection for the church, and attended its ministrations to the close of his life. His death came suddenly on January 12th 1889, in his sixty- eighth year. He died as he had lived, cheerfully,
[97 ]
The First Church in Plymouth
peacefully, hopefully, leaving behind him a wife, who shared his spirit, and supported him loyally, in all his varied labors, and a family of children, who cherish their father's memory as a rich inheritance. On the day of the funeral, factories shut down, the public schools were dismissed at an early hour, at eleven o'clock all places of business were closed, and the church bells tolled. There was a private ser- vice at the home, conducted by his friends the Revs C. P. Lombard, R. N. Bellows, of Walpole, and George W. Briggs D.D. of Cambridge. This was followed by a service in the Church, which was at- tended by a throng of personal friends, and repre- sentatives of the various military and benevolent associations, and conducted by the Revs C. P. Lom- bard, C. Y. De Normandie, George E. Ellis D.D., Thomas Hill D.D., and George W. Briggs D.D. Such tributes of popular esteem had not been given to any minister in the town, since the death of the venerable D' Kendall, who like M' Knapp, was everybody's friend.
On the 22nd of June 1878, M' E. Q. S. Osgood was invited to take charge of the parish. He was
then a student at the Divinity E. Q, S. Osgood School, Cambridge. On the I Ith 1878 of July, he accepted the call, and was ordained on the 10th of Octo- ber following. He brought to his work the fresh- ness and enthusiasm of early manhood, and de- voted himself assiduously to the Sunday School, and work among the young people. Himself, the son
[98 ]
Back to the Past
of a clergyman, the venerable D' Osgood, of Co- hasset, he was not unacquainted with the duties and responsibilities of a minister's life, and by his dili- gence and benevolent activity, he soon won for himself, the esteem and affection of his people. The women of the church, always loyal and faithful friends of the ministers, were among his willing and energetic supporters. At a Fair, held in the month of August 1879, they raised $1000 for the benefit of the parish. In 1880, M' Osgood's health de- clined, and that made rest and change essential to the further continuance of his labours, and in April 1881, leave of absence was given to him, and he went to Europe as tutor of a private pupil, and with the sincere good wishes of his parishioners.
During the minister's absence, the Rev : John H. Heywood, formerly of Louisville, Kentucky, occu- pied the pulpit and discharged pastoral duties, in such a way, as to make his services memorable to the church, and the community.
Mr Osgood returned to Plymouth in September 1882, and resumed his duties.
In the Spring of 1885, a branch of the Women's Auxiliary Conference was established in the church, for the purpose of elevating and strengthening the interest of women in parish work, and in mission- ary enterprise. Committees were formed for the study of the Liberal Faith, for the development of intellectual interest in its beliefs and history, and for the cultivation of social and philanthropic activities.
[99]
The First Church in Plymouth
The Rev M' Osgood closed his pastorate Octo- ber 22nd 1885, and from that time until April 1887, the pulpit was supplied by various ministers, with- out regular settlement.
On the 18th of January 1888, the Hon. Arthur Lord, chairman of the Parish Committee, com- municated the desire of the congregation, to the Rev: Charles P. Lombard minister of the Second Congregational Society, at Athol, Mass: that he should become their minister, for three years. The call was accepted, and M' Lombard entered upon his duties on April Ist 1888. He commended him- self to the confidence and affection of the church, Charles P Lombard and on the 21st of November 1890, at the Annual Parish I888 Meeting, he was confirmed in his office as settled minister of the church. He laboured faithfully and earnestly for the good of the parish and community, and by his courtesy and good-will, did much towards develop- ing friendly relations between the various religious bodies in the town, encouraging closer intercourse where that was possible, and exchange of hospitality. Union Thanksgiving Services were established among the Protestant sects, and sometimes union services were held for the development of a stronger, and more enthusiastic religious life, in the whole community.
In the summer of 1892, the second session of the school of Applied Ethics was held in the town, and the following clergymen and laymen delivered ser-
[100]
Back to the Past
mons or addresses, in the church, on Sundays,- July 17th, Professor C. H. Toy, of Cambridge ; the 24th, M' Bernard Bosanquet, of London ; August 7th, Rev. W. H. Johnson, of Wilmington ; the 14th, Dr Emil G. Hirsch, Jewish Rabbi, of Chicago. The church which had stood for about sixty years, was very much in need of repairs, and the sum of $2,500 was raised for that purpose, and the work was begun in September. When it was nearly finished, and the church was almost ready for the re-opening services, the fine old building took fire, and was burned to the ground, on Tuesday evening, Nov- ember the 22nd 1892. There was universal sympathy with the parish, not merely in the town, and imme- diate neighbourhood, but throughout New England. Not only was a familiar landmark removed, but a church home had gone, around which many historic associations clustered, and in which, many per- sonal and family memories were centred. From its impressive tower, the old Paul Revere bell had daily recorded the flying hours. Within its walls the voices of statesmen, poets, preachers, men of letters had been heard, men, who on special occa- sions, such as forefathers day, had delivered speeches and orations, in commemoration of historic events, of more than local interest. It was, moreover, the shrine of Pilgrim history, to which the faithful of our own land, and sympathetic visitors from abroad, gathered to do reverence to the only existing symbol of a great historic past. The ground on which it stood, was hallowed by the prayers of many genera-
[IOI]
The First Church in Plymouth
tions, sanctified by the joys and sorrows of more than two centuries of worshippers. The old church was thus like a sentinel standing day and night at the foot of Burial Hill, to guard the honoured dust of the forefathers.
[102 ]
CHAPTER X. Liberty and Progress.
W HEN the first shock of surprise and sorrow had passed, the congregation quickly determined that the fifth edifice should soon be reared, to perpetuate Pilgrim history. A voice came to them from the past, speaking in language their hearts well understood,
" If, as some have done
Ye grope tear-blinded in a desert place,
And touch but tombs -look up! Those tears will run Soon in long rivers down the lifted face,
And leave the vision clear for stars and sun."
In the meantime, the churches of different denom- inations - Universalist, Baptist, Congregationalist, Methodist - kindly offered the temporary use of their edifices, to the homeless parish. The first service, after the fire, was held in the Universalist Church, on the afternoon of Sunday December the 4th. On the 19th, a parish meeting was held in Standish Hall, and the first five thousand dollars was subscribed, towards the building of a new church. The movement was taken up with en- thusiasm, by young and old, and every society in the parish applied all its resources, towards acquiring funds for the erection of a new house. The whole church was dominated by one purpose, that of rais- ing enough money to rear an edifice of stone, strong
[103]
The First Church in Plymouth
and durable, a fitting temple for the liberal faith, and an enduring monument to the ancient fathers, and the brave days of old.
On the 19th of June 1893, a parish meeting was held, to consider plans of the proposed new church. After several meetings, and much discussion, it was decided to accept those of Messrs Hartwell, Rich- ardson, and Driver, of Boston. The architecture is of the English-Norman type, and bears some resemblance to the ancient church at Scrooby. At its front is a central tower, the entrance to which is through a series of receding arches, leading to a memorial vestibule, in which will be placed windows and tablets. The tower contains a belfry, in which the town bell cast by Paul Revere in 1801, is placed, and which hung in the old church, ringing the nine o'clock curfew for three generations, and on the night of the fire, sounding the alarm, just before it fell among the burning ruins. The main edifice is built of seam-faced granite, with Ohio sandstone trim- mings. In the lower part of the building, under the church, are a vestry and Sunday School. A memo- rial window was presented by the Society of May- flower descendants of New York, to be placed in the chancel of the church, representing the "Sign- ing of the Compact " in the cabin of the Mayflower ; and later on, another memorial window was placed in the north end, by a sister of M' Edward G. Walker, representing "John Robinson delivering his farewell address to the departing pilgrims,"- appropriate and handsome memorials. The New
[ 104 ]
Liberty and Progress
England Society, in the city of New York, gave its cordial support to the movement. The Hon: Elihu Root, the president, in his address Decem- ber 22nd 1894, said " We have set our hands to another and somewhat different work, somewhat graver in its responsibility and more lasting in its results, than words which vanish into air. As you all know, in the winter before the last, the First Church in Plymouth was destroyed by fire, the church of the first congregation in New England, of the Society which was organized in Holland, and gathered in the cabin of the "Mayflower," and with prayer and faith endured the hardships of that first cold long winter -the church of Brewster, and Bradford, and Winslow and Carver. A new building is to be erected. It will stand where the old one stood, on the slope of Burial Hill. Faith- ful sons of New England have resolved, that the new edifice shall be a fitting memorial, of the noble hearts, and great events, for which it will stand; that it shall be shaped by that perfect art, which best comports with grave simplicity, and that it shall express, in form more enduring than the words of countless banquets, the fidelity of the sons of the Pilgrims to the memory of their fathers. This Society in its annual meeting has authorized its President to appoint a Committee to take charge of our part of this labour of affection and venera- tion, and I now announce the members of that Committee : Cornelius N. Bliss, J. Pierpont Mor- gan, Joseph H. Choate, Horace Russell, and the President."
[105]
The First Church in Plymouth
The Building Committee held large views of the proposed structure, and resolved that the memorial, about to be reared, should be in keeping with the noble history and traditions of the Church, even if it had to be built by slow degrees. They ventured upon a great trust, and as it happened nobly. The Hon: Arthur Lord, Mr. William S. Kyle, and Mrs. F. B. Davis attended a meeting of the National Con- ference of Unitarian and other Christian Churches held in Saratoga September 1894, and presented the claims of the Plymouth Church. A resolution was adopted at the Conference commending the Church to the general public, and appointing a Committee to raise funds.
The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid on Monday June 29th 1896, with suitable ceremonies, and in the presence of a throng of glad and grateful friends, who rejoiced to see the opening fulfilment of their heart's desire. The Hon: Arthur Lord, President of the Pilgrim Society, and chairman of the Parish Committee, commenced the proceedings with an address, in which he said : -
" On this hill-side, rich in memories, associations and history, we meet today, to lay the corner stone of the First Church in Plymouth, and the first church in America. Behind us, rises the hill, where rest in peace the dead of by-gone generations ; be- fore us stretches, the first street of the Pilgrims, once bordered by their simple dwellings, once echo- ing to the tread of their weary feet; and beyond, lies the sea, now sparkling in the sunlight of June,
[106]
Liberty and Progress
but whose dark waters in that stormy December reflects the white sail of the Mayflower. All around us is historic ground. It witnessed the humble beginnings of a great people. It was the cradle of a mighty nation; the rude yet tender home of civil and religious liberty, which, elsewhere, seemed but a scholar's idle dream.
The inestimable privilege of such environment comes not alone. By its side, there ever stands the graver forms of duty and responsibility, and sometimes in their silent train, there comes in the lifetime of a generation, the great opportunity, not bidden perchance, but ever welcomed. Another generation, three quarters of a century ago, entered upon the work of commemorating the great events of Pilgrim History, of marking and adorning the localities peculiarly interesting to every American, of collecting and preserving each memento of the Pilgrims, which the hand of time had spared. Mon- ument and statue, hall and rock, attest their labours.
To this generation, came the duty and the oppor- tunity to erect upon the ruins of the old church, a memorial, simple yet enduring, to the religious life of its founders, the last and best of the great me- morials to the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Built of gran- ite from the rocky hillsides of Massachusetts, of stone from the quarries of that other Massachusetts on the banks of the Ohio, it is no less firm and enduring than they. In its stately tower shall hang the bell which Revere cast, whose tones, as in other days, again will mark the fleeting hour, will call to
[107]
The First Church in Plymouth
duty, and will sound the dread alarm. The carved tablets in its open vestibule shall tell the Pilgrim name and story to the thousands as they pass. The rays of the setting sun falling softly through its stained windows, shall gild with a new radiance the pictured forms and faces of the leaders of the Pilgrim band.
Of such a memorial, more appropriate, interest- ing, and suggestive than any other, we lay the corner stone. Long may it stand, sustaining, ele- vating, and inspiring the life and thought of this community, its portals ever open to the "new light yet to come." Long may it stand, to impress upon the minds and hearts of the generations yet unborn, the lesson of the lives and labours and faith, of its Pilgrim founders ; those lives heroic, those labours triumphant, that faith sublime, which lifted them above every doubt, sustained them in every peril, and under whose benign influence the sea lost its terrors, the wilderness its fears, and sickness and death could not their souls dismay." This address was followed by a speech from Mr. Edwin D. Mead, Editor of the New England Magazine, and after the singing of a hymn the Hon: Charles Francis Adams, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, was introduced. He said, among other things, bearing upon the occasion :-
" We are so accustomed to look upon all things American, as new, that it requires some forcible reminder, such as this, to make us realize what an antiquity has gathered upon Plymouth. Yet
[108]
Liberty and Progress
the fact is, as I have stated. When the church, the unbroken succession of which you are, first gathered at Scrooby, and again at Delfthaven on the deck of the Speedwell, of the two most widely read books in all English Literature, our King James' Bible, had been only nine years issued from the press, while the other, the precious first quarto of Shakespeare, did not see the light until three years later. Of this Society, therefore, Amer- ican though it be, it may truthfully be said, that it antedates not only the literature, theology, science, and law, of the modern world, but it has outlived most of the philosophies and dynasties, and not a few of the nationalities, which existed at its birth. It is among the world-venerable things. When John Robinson addressed his farewell discourse to the little band of Pilgrims, on that day of solemn humiliation in July 1620, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, Harvey, Milton, Descartes, were either still doing their work, or, as yet, unheard of in the world; the house of Stuart was freshly seated on the English throne; Oliver Cromwell, a youth of twenty-one, had not yet undergone his change of heart; Gus- tavus Adolphus had won no name in arms ; Riche- lieu was not a Cardinal, nor a very potter at his wheel, had he begun his momentous work on plastic France. Poland was still a power, and the barrier of civilization against the Turk. We re- gard that famous victory won by Sobieski under the walls of Vienna, which marked the culmination and decline of the Ottoman Empire, as so remote,
[ 109 ]
The First Church in Plymouth
that it seems of another world than ours; yet it happened more that sixty years after the unnoticed Speedwell weighed its anchor at Delfthaven; and John Robinson had already been four years in his grave, before Sobieski was born. Thus, as I have said, this church has seen dynasties, philosophies, theologies and nations, decay and disappear, and yet others rise to take their place.
" The drift of the maker is dark; an Isis hid by the veil, Who knows the ways of the world, how God will bring them about ? "
These names I have mentioned, are names great in the world's annals; the events, I have referred to, are indisputably memorable. It seems strange to compare this religious society - a simple church in a provincial Massachusetts town-it seems strange, I say, to weigh the formation of this so- ciety in the scale of human events, against such names and such events, as I have recalled. So doing is suggestive of exaggeration, of hyperbole, almost of bathos. And yet in truth, as a factor in human events, it outweighs that among them,
which is to be reckoned most and greatest. When the society which is met here today, first gathered on the Speedwell's narrow deck, its great mission was to bear to a new continent, and there implant, the germs of civil and religious liberty. In all seriousness I ask, was the passage of the Red Sea, by the children of Israel; was the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus : was the crossing
[IIO]
Liberty and Progress
of the Atlantic by Columbus, was any one of these, a human event more pregnant with great conse- quence ?
Centuries have rolled by since your society was organized. Your pastors and teachers exhorted you in mid-Atlantic, in Provincetown, and in yonder bay, from the deck of the Mayflower; again they preached the word in " the first house for common use " the erection of which was begun on the 4th of January 1621; again, in the old Fort, with the cannon on its roof, on Burial Hill; again in the Meeting-House of 1648, from which a bell first here knoll'd to church; again, in the second house of 1683 ; and, yet again, in the third, of 1744. It is an honourable succession - Brewster, Reyner, Cotton, Little, Leonard, Robbins, Kendall, Hall, Knapp, Osgood, and Lombard -and that the line will long stretch out admits not of question in the mind of any descendant of the Pilgrims. Here shall the church edifice stand, and here let it con- tinue to stand, looking out at that distant sea-line from which nearly three centuries ago, the May- flower slowly loomed up in December, and under which its white sails as slowly disappeared in the following April ; but whether this, the fifth and most elaborate of its edifices, continues to shelter the church, or in turn gives way to another, the church itself will, like the poet's brook, go on forever ; and so long as it goes on, it will stand in far greater degree than any other association in the land, for those principles of civil and religious freedom, which
The First Church in Plymouth
it was its mission to bring to America. And truly the seed it has sown did not fall by the way- side, nor among the thorns, nor upon stony ground where it was scorched, nor did the fowls of the air come and devour it; but it fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased, not thirty-fold, nor sixty, nor yet a hundred, but by the thousand and myriad, until it has multiplied and covered the land as with a mantle of snow."
After Prayer by the Rev : Charles P. Lombard, pastor of the church, a hymn was sung, and the proceedings came to an end.
The first service in the New Kendall Hall was held on April 25th 1897, and Sunday services con- tinued to be held there until the dedication of the Church on Thursday December 21st 1899. After several years of patient wait- The Fifth Meeting- ing, labour, anxiety, incessant House 1899
and unremitting activity, in which the officers of the Church, Messrs Arthur Lord, William S. Kyle, W. W. Brewster and James D. Thurber, and all the Committees of men and women took part, the completed church building was in im- mediate prospect. D' Hale, the Hon : John D. Long, and the Hon : Winslow Warren had issued a circular letter to friends of the cause, that the money to pay for the completion of the building might be obtained before the work was done, and when at a social gathering in Kendall Hall, Febru- ary 24th 1899, it was announced that a friend who
[112 ]
Liberty and Progress
did not wish to have his name disclosed, had given $15000 to the building fund, the audience rejoiced, and sang the doxology. The work went on, and was finished, and glad eyes and grateful hearts were delighted, when the doors were flung wide open for the service of dedication. The order of exercises was as follows : -
ORGAN VOLUNTARY
Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah . Handel
CHORUS
The breaking waves dashed high .
Mrs Hemans
INVOCATION
REV: CHARLES P. LOMBARD, PASTOR
SCRIPTURE READING
REV: EUGENE R. SHIPPEN, FIRST PARISH DORCHESTER (1630)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION REV: EDWARD EVERETT HALE D.D.
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN
Written for the dedication of the Fourth Meeting-House December 14th 1831 by Rev : John Pierpont.
I. The winds and waves were roaring : The Pilgrims met for prayer ; And here their God adoring, They stood, in open air. When breaking day they greeted, And when its close was calm, The leafless woods repeated The music of their psalm.
[113]
The First Church in Plymouth
2. Not thus, O God, to praise Thee, Do we, their children, throng : The temple's arch we raise thee Gives back our choral song. Yet, on the winds that bore Thee Their worship and their prayers, May ours come up before Thee From hearts as true as theirs!
3. What have we, Lord, to bind us To this, the Pilgrims' shore ! - Their hill of graves behind us, Their watery way before, The wintry surge, that dashes Against the rocks they trod, Their memory, and their ashes - Be Thou their guard, O God !
4. We would not, Holy Father, Forsake this hallowed spot, Till on that shore we gather Where graves and griefs are not : The shore where true devotion Shall rear no pillared shrine,
And see no other ocean Than that of love divine .-
Read by Rev. E. J. Prescott, First Church, Salem (1629)
SERVICE OF DEDICATION MINISTER AND PEOPLE
ANTHEM
" I have surely built thee an house " . W. O. Wilkinson
ADDRESS His EXCELLENCY. ROGER WOLCOTT, LL. D. GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH
[114]
Liberty and Progress
ADDRESS REV : FRANCIS G. PEABODY, D. D., HARVARD UNIVERSITY SOLO BY Mr. I. F. BOTUME The Lord is my Light Alitson
ADDRESS REV : JAMES EELLS, FIRST CHURCH BOSTON (1630) ADDRESS REV : JAMES DE NORMANDIE, D.D., FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY IN ROXBURY (1631) ADDRESS REV : S. A. ELIOT, SECRETARY AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION.
HYMN Written for this service.
Let the organ roll its music, and the song of praise arise, Unto God who crowns endeavor, and rewardeth sacrifice, Who has poured His holy spirit into mighty men and wise, Whose souls are marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah, Glory, glory, hallelujah, Glory, glory, hallelujah, Their souls are marching on.
Let us sing the Faith triumphant that has ruled the raging sea, That has swept upon the storm-wind to a land of liberty, That has bowed the gloomy forests and has reared a nation free, Whose soul is marching on.
CHORUS :
With the Mighty Dead behind us, and a waiting world before, Let us lift the torch they carried to the God whom we adore, To His holy name be praises and the glory evermore, Whose power is marching on.
[ 115 ]
The First Church in Plymouth
Glory, glory, hallelujah, Glory, glory, hallelujah, Glory, glory, hallelujah, His power is marching on.
BENEDICTION
On July Ist 1900, the Rev : Charles P. Lombard resigned his position as minister of the Parish, to take effect in September. He had served the church diligently and faithfully for more than twelve years, and was respected and beloved throughout the community ; but the state of his health compelled him to seek rest and change. A farewell reception was given to him, and to his wife, on September 27th, when their parishioners and friends expressed appreciation of their past services and good wishes for the future, accompanied with a gift of $700. Mr and Mrs Lombard sailed for Italy on the 6th of October, to remain abroad a year.
To the great regret of the congregation M' James D. Thurber, who for more than twenty-five years had acted as clerk of the Parish declined to be re- nominated, feeling that the time had come when someone else should have an opportunity of render- ing special service to the church, and carrying on with energy and enthusiasm the work which had been so freely given in the past.
Although the building itself was complete, its equipment was not quite perfect. A beautiful organ had been provided, but the chancel was unfurnished. A communion table and chairs and a baptismal font,
[116 ]
Liberty and Progress
were greatly needed. Two handsome carved oak chairs were presented by a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster. A massive oak table to match the chairs, and a piece of the step of the ancient church at Delfthaven were also given. Mr Chandler Robbins of New York gave two bronze tablets in memory of D' Robbins and D' Kendall, which were placed near the gallery at the north end of the church. A legacy of $250 was bequeathed which was applied to the purchase of suitable stair-railings. Two bronze tablets were attached to the buttress of the tower near the front entrance to the church, one of which bears the following incription. " The Church of Scrooby, Leyden and the Mayflower gathered on this hill-side in 1620, has ever since preserved unbroken records and maintained a con- tinuous ministry, its first covenant being still the basis of its fellowship. In reverent memory of its Pilgrim Founders this Fifth Meeting-House was erected AD, MDCCCXCVII."
Provision was made in the vestibule for placing on the marble wall, the First Covenant of the Church, and other historic records deserving special remembrance, and in due time the generosity of friends will no doubt permit the carrying out of these and other plans, which will serve as mile stones to mark the way along which the Pilgrims and their descendants have travelled.
My work is now done. Without entering too fully into the religious history of the Pilgrim Fathers, I have endeavored to trace their steps, and
[ 117]
The First Church in Plymouth
to bring into convenient compass, the record of a church, which is without parallel in its loyalty to truth and liberality of view, and to show that the after history of the church was the logical sequence of the principle which forbade persecution, and incul- cated the Protestant doctrines of liberty of thought and the rights of conscience. That, for which the Pilgrims stood, the church still stands, viz. (1) loy- alty to truth, hostility to every kind of mental tort- ure and oppression ; (2) fealty to conscience, be the consequences what they may ; (3) aversion to creeds and articles as tests of Christian fellowship, and the enjoyment of Christian ordinances, on the ground that an honest man cannot make himself believe anything he pleases; that it is therefore wicked to drive him by threats and penalties, actual or implied, to dissemble his thoughts and disguise his opinions ; (4) the identity of righteousness with salvation, intellectual righteousness which cares su- premely for the simple truth, and moral righteous- ness which will not parley with sin. The world never reared a set of men more conscientious and fearless in their doings, more hardy, simple, unos- tentatious in their manners. May their fortitude continue to rebuke our cowardice; their thrift re- proach our effeminate luxury ; their hardihood con- demn our supineness and lassitude; their breadth and catholicity of religious sentiment put to scorn the petty narrowness and littleness of our day. It is a proud thing to be their spiritual heirs, to possess their principles, and to cherish their heroic deeds as our best inheritance.
[118]
01/17/02
美国
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.