USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > Celebration of the 275th anniversary of the First Church of Christ : Lynn, Massachusetts, Sunday, June ninth nineteen hundred seven > Part 4
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The Puritans were not of the peasantry but were among the most prosperous people of England, being possessed of material resources and imbued with that forceful intelli- gence which constitutes leadership in every community.
Many of them were entitled to heraldic crests, to wear court dress and swords of ceremony, and there was a
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Address -C. J. H. Woodbury, Sc.D.
greater proportion of "misters" among them than there is of the society of scholars in these days of fecund col- leges.
While precise figures as to the amount of property that the head of a family should possess to join the colony can- not be stated, yet it is evident that he must be in liberal circumstances for those times; records show that furs, silk apparel and plate abounded in the Colony.
At the time when this church was established, the wages of skilled mechanics in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay varied from fourteen pence to two shillings a day. Trans- portation across the sea was far more expensive than at present, and the entire outfit for the new homes must be brought by the colonists.
It is true that they suffered during the early winters, but this was due to their ignorance of a severer climate than that of Old England, for which they were unprepared, and not on account of poverty; there was indeed penury at a later date, but it occurred in the second generation.
Their intellectual force is shown by the successful man- ner in which they applied the principles of law developed under generations of monarchies, to the solution of prob- lems of local self-government, and beyond that they initiated new functions of government, especially the written ballot, trade schools, free public education, town government, the separation of church and state, citizen militia, paper money, and the record of deeds and mort- gages, all of which has contributed to the establishment of this Republic as the most potent nation in the world.
When anyone ignores the record of these pioneers whom
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Carlyle characterized as " the last of the heroisms," or belittles their acts, he betrays the insignificance of his own origin.
To these exercises commemorative of the deeds of our forbears, you are welcome, as you are always cordially wel- come here.
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Remarks - Chairman
THE CHAIRMAN: The duties which a man owes to the town he lives in, constitute responsibilities which have been met by one who has obeyed the calls of the people to the chief magistracy of this city, time and again.
I have pleasure in introducing to you His Honor, Charles Neal Barney, Mayor of Lynn.
ADDRESS THE PARISH AND THE COMMUNITY.
His Honor CHARLES NEAL BARNEY, A.B., LL.B., Mayor of Lynn.
I BRING to this venerable religious society, this after- noon, the greetings of the community that once, as a par- ish, maintained and supported this church. I do so in the full belief that every impartial member of this communi- ty, be he Orthodox or Liberal, Protestant or Catholic, Jew or Gentile, if he but be a student of American history, recognizes in this church of the Puritan fathers, the great custodian of the evolutionary processes of American lib- erties. Others will emphasize the religious history of this particular parish and perhaps of the great system of the Established Church in Massachusetts to which this society belonged. It is for me to speak of its connection with the civic life of Lynn. But it is impossible to do this without a brief glance at the origin of the church.
The early settlers of Massachusetts were for the most part English Puritans. They bitterly complained of the intolerance of the Established Church of the mother country and came here to escape it, or, as the historians like to put it, "in order that they might worship God ac- cording to the dictates of their own consciences." Our English forbears have frequently been charged with lack- ing any real sense of humor. Had they possessed it, how- ever, it is perhaps too much to expect that in the Seven-
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Address - Hon. Charles Neal Barney
teenth Century they would have appreciated how their inconsistencies would have appeared to their descendants! Less than ten years after the first settlement of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, there occurred in the synod of the churches held at Cambridge, an event which meant that in religion Massachusetts, the land of exile for the victims of English intolerance, was for two centuries to be equally as intolerant of any theology not approved by its founders and leaders.
The Synod of 1637 sat for twenty-four days and when it adjourned had succeeded in recording eighty-two different forms of heresy existing in the Colony, "some blasphe- mous, others erroneous, and all unsafe." Two months later, probably in the same Cambridge meeting-house, oc- curred the trial of Anne Hutchinson, the arch heretic, and as the result of a proceeding undoubtedly extra-judicial, she was banished from the Colony. In summing up the case, Governor Winthrop, who presided at the trial, defined her offence and the policy of the Colony when he said, " Your course is not to be suffered * * * we see not that any should have authority to set up any other exercises besides which authority has already set up." In other words there had become an Established Church in Massa- chusetts, which continued nearly two hundred years, until 1833. This parish was the official church of Lynn and continued to be so.
I claim blood descent from the first minister of this so- ciety, and most of you here this afternoon claim the theo- logical heritage of this church as yours. Of the early the- ology it is not fitting that I should speak. But neither
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filial respect nor even patriotism has any place in the judg- ment of the history of our forbears. We are not respon- sible for the short-comings of our ancestors, nor is it to our credit they did well some of the things they had to do. The student of history seeks for cause and effect, and hav- ing found these he holds them as bits of the Eternal Truth, for the use of which in the future he is responsible.
Now it is perfectly apparent that in this community there was an almost anomalous condition, difficult of ex- planation and yet not to be disputed. I refer to the con- dition which resulted from the requirement of strictest conformity to the Established Church in religious matters, but permitted the utmost liberality in the ideals and prac- tices of government.
There was absolute domination by the clergy in early Massachusetts. The resulting over-insistence upon the importance of theological discussion served to make all literature and all thinking, for the first one hundred and fifty years of the life of the Colony, a useless and never- ending controversy about theology, with little insistence upon the fruits of religion. Cotton Mather's "Magnalia," the works of Jonathan Edwards, and Wigglesworth's poem, entitled, "The Day of Doom," in which the Al- mighty is pictured as explaining to unregenerate infants, confined in "the easiest room in Hell," why it is impudent of them to expect anything better - these represent the best literary efforts in an age that, in the mother coun- try, produced that group of brilliant writers and thinkers beginning with Milton and ending with Johnson.
But the clergy of early Massachusetts not only domi-
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nated the literature and general thought of the time, but the civic life as well. And here is the anomaly. In other lines of thought the clergy had stood for repression; in the growth of civil liberty, however, in the development of the principle of human equality before the law, the clergy and people of this Colony played a highly creditable part. And after all, human equality was a much more novel prop- osition in the history of civilization than was religious tol- eration, which had found frequent expression from age to age in different lands and among divers people.
The ministers, Samuel Whiting and Jeremiah Shepard, were by far the most influential and important men in Lynn in the Seventeenth Century, as Cotton and Increase Mather were in the Colony. The first body of laws was drawn by Rev. Nathaniel Ward of Agawam, in 1641, and by him annotated with frequent references to the Scrip- tures. No great public questions were settled, or even considered, without the counsel of the clergy.
The leaders of thought in Massachusetts had brought with them the seed of that social and political truth for which the English Commonwealth later stood and of which Milton and Cromwell were the great English exponents. The traditions of all civilization proved to be against the persistence of any theory of social equality in England. With the accession of Charles II to the throne, the Com- monwealth became a mere incident. But the seed that was transplanted to Massachusetts found lodgment in dif- ferent soil. It has been said by some that industrial con- ditions in the New World made an actual equality that hastened the acceptance of the theory of equality. To
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refute this suggestion we have but to contrast the develop- ment of ideals in Massachusetts and in Virginia, and to reflect that Massachusetts had practically settled in 1780 great principles that were only established in Virginia in 1865. The spirit of the laws drawn by the Agawam min- ister and the development of the town meeting in New England had paved the way for Democracy. And in the town meeting as in everything else the church was the pre- dominating factor.
It is true that as late as 1772 the catalogue of Harvard College gave special prominence to the names of the sons of certain families in the Colonies, and that after the organization of the Supreme Court in this State, that august body held that the description of a gentleman in a writ, as a "yeoman," was cause for the abatement of the writ. But despite these occasional reminders of an old system, by the outbreak of the Revolution, human equality before the law had reached in Massachusetts a full acceptance never before accorded it in the world. During the period of its evolution, New England had been absolutely dominated by the church of the Puritans.
The closing quarter of the Third Century of this society finds its relation to the community far different from that in its earlier days. Men and women strong in the faith of the fathers still come here in goodly numbers to worship and to receive the message from their minister. But no longer does the parish number every member of the com- munity, nor is membership in the church a pre-requisite for voting for officers of the civil government; no longer does this church or any church, or all the churches, dom-
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inate the social, educational, philanthropic and civic life of the people of the Third Plantation; no longer do discus- sions of immaterial theological questions absorb the best energies and attentions of the people. Some good people profess to believe that these changes mean the loss of the usefulness of the church, and that the end of the Third Century will see this ancient organization with little of its former prowess.
To all such let me say, as I believe this community in its moments of deepest thought would have me say, that in the new adjustment of social affairs, in the broader spirit of co-operation between men, in the greater toleration of the beliefs of others, in the widening influence of organi- zations that now do what the church formerly did in the way of benevolence and education, there is opportunity for the evolution of the church to larger rather than to lesser responsibilities. As the horizons of men grow broader and their activities become greater, it is absolutely essential to the progress of the race and the maintenance of the social order, that the hold men have upon Eternal Truth shall be stronger and their visions of the Perfect Life clearer and more effective.
In the year 1907, in the City of Lynn, this church still bears a relation to the civic life that no man has a right to underestimate. In this day when human ingenuity has placed at our command forces of nature not dreamed of a century ago, we boast of our industries and our prosperity and, alas, too often count our success by accumulated wealth! The life of this church has covered a period of remarkable advance and has contributed much to the
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progress of our great city and to the ideals of Democracy in America. But, fellow citizens, is it any insignificant task to endeavor to hold the vantage ground in civilization that we have already attained? Are the temptations of men any less compelling than those of two centuries ago? Are the needs of men for spiritual consolation and uplift any the less urgent? The Christian Church may no longer speak to the community with the voice of organized au- thority as it spoke in the Seventeenth Century. But it does speak through the life of the individual and furnishes the incentive in every great struggle after truth. Its mes- sage is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; but it must always be interpreted in the light of the Eternal Pres- ent.
" 'T is as easy to be heroes as to sit the idle slaves Of a legendary virtue carved upon our fathers' graves, Worshippers of light ancestral make the present light a crime; Was the Mayflower launched by cowards, steered by men be- hind their time?
Turn those tracks towards Past or Future, that make Ply- mouth Rock sublime?
" They were men of present valor, stalwart old iconoclasts, Unconvinced by axe or gibbet that all virtue was the Past's; But we make their truth our falsehood, thinking that hath made us free,
Hoarding it in mouldy parchments, while our tender spirits flee
The rude grasp of that great Impulse which drove them across the sea.
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Address - Hon. Charles Neal Barney
" New occasions teach new duties; time makes ancient good un- couth;
They must upward still and onward that would keep abreast of Truth;
Lo, before us gleam her camp fires! We ourselves must Pil- grims be,
Launch our Mayflower and steer boldly thro' the desperate winter sea,
Nor try the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key."
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THE CHAIRMAN: A counselor learned in the law, who has graced the bench, an honored public servant of both City and Commonwealth, also a profound investigator into the deeds of the past, which he has recorded in English pure and undefiled, is worthy of the homage of his townspeople.
It is my privilege to introduce to you the Honorable Nathan Mortimer Hawkes, who represents the Lynn His- torical Society, which is believed to be the largest local organization of the kind in this country.
SECOND MEETING HOUSE.
Called the Old Tunnel on account of the roof of its cupola. It set on the Common on a line diagonally from the present meeting house towards Whiting Street. Built 1682 from timber cut in Meeting House Swamp in the Lynn Woods Altered in 1716. by porches, oak pulpit and sounding board imported from England. In 1737, new roof and other repairs cost £464-12-5. In 1771, four gables taken down and the "ornament " built over the bell, giving the building its time-honored nickname. Original bell unknown; second bell imported from England 1699, was cracked in cele- brating the peace of Ghent and the battle of New Orleans, the news of both reaching Lynn at 10 A.M., Feb. 13, 1815. Bell recast by Paul Revere & Son, November, 1816. Cracked by fire alarm and recast by William Blake, 1878.
It was moved, in the Spring of 1827, to the Parsonage lot corner South Common and Commercial Streets, where it was rebuilt.
There is no authentic picture of the first meeting house which was east of Shepard Street at the rear of 244 Summer Street. Lewis states that it was moved to the Com- mon and formed a portion of the second church. Moulton claims that it was moved and formed a portion of the Alley house on Harbor Street, which was torn down in 1896.
THE PARTING OF THE WAYS BETWEEN PARISH AND TOWN.
Hon. NATHAN MORTIMER HAWKES. Representing The Lynn Historical Society.
O NE standing in the House of Worship of the First Parish and Church of Lynn, naturally seeks to prove kinship and connection with them. I submit the follow- ing evidence of my right to be here to-day.
Church and State, with our fathers, were so intimately blended that seats in the church were assigned in Town meeting. Those who, from worldly position or spiritual leadership, were deemed worthy of special positions were selected by the Town; the remainder of the people (for at- tendance at church was compulsory) were arranged by a committee, as will be seen by the following extracts from the Town records, 1692, January 8:
"The town did vote that Lieut. Fuller, Lieut. Lewis, Mr. John Hawkes, senior, Francis Burrill, Lieut. Burrill, John Burrill, Jr., Mr. Henry Rhodes, Quartermaster Bas- sett, Mr. Haberfield, Cornet Johnson, Mr. Bailey and Lieut. Blighe should sit at the table."
"It was voted that Matthew Farrington, senior, Henry Silsbee and Joseph Mansfield, senior, should sit in the deacons' seat."
"It was voted that Thomas Farrar, senior, Chrispus Brewer, Allen Breed, senior, Clement Coldam, Robert
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Rand, senior, Jonathan Hudson, Richard Hood, senior, and Sergeant Haven, should sit in the pulpit."
" The town voted that them that are surviving, that was chosen by the town a committee to erect the meeting- house, and Clark Potter to join along with them, should seat the inhabitants of the town in the meeting-house, both men and women, and appoint what seats they shall sit in, but it is to be understood that they are not to seat neither the table, nor the deacons' seat, nor the pulpit, but them to sit there as are voted by the town."
In the list of the elders authorized to sit at the table in the House of Worship and the Council House of the whole people appears the name of my ancestor, the son of the immigrant first-comer.
The date is the year when the Old Tunnel was only ten years from its building and the year of the arrival of the Provincial Charter of William and Mary and many years before the West End became the Third Parish.
I am here, however, not on account of ancestry, but be- cause I have made a study of the local conditions attend- ing evolution of the Town from the Parish.
The scope of our theme this afternoon does not touch the great struggles in New England churches in the early years of the Nineteenth Century from which this church and parish came out as a brand saved from the burning. It does not deal with the legal nor ecclesiastical phases of the same period, but is an un- varnished recital of some matter-of-fact happenings of the good people of Lynn of that time. The matter was drawn to my attention by reading in Alonzo Lewis' first
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Address - Hon. Nathan Mortimer Hawkes
edition of his "History of Lynn" under date of 1805, the following :
"For one hundred and seventy-three years, from the building of the first parish meeting-house, the people had annually assembled in it for the transaction of their municipal concerns. But this year, the members of that parish observing the damage which such meetings occa- sioned to the house, and believing that, since the incorpo- ration of other parishes, the town had no title in it, refused to have it occupied as a town-house. This refusal occa- sioned much controversy between the town and parish, and committees were appointed by both parties to accom- plish an adjustment. An engagement was partially made for the occupation of the house, on the payment of twen- ty-eight dollars annually; but the town refused to sanction the agreement, and the meetings were removed to the Methodist meeting-house, on the eastern part of the com- mon."
This statement unabridged and unenlarged upon stands in each subsequent edition of Lewis and of Newhall. If the records of the Parish and Town had been written out fully, there would have been much of historical interest in the dramatic ending of the Puritan problem of a union of Church and State, Parish and Town, in Lynn. A peculiar circumstance connected with the printed annals of Lynn is the fact that two men, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Newhall, who did so much to elucidate our history, were not in touch with that amazing religious reformation which created the short-lived Commonwealth of England and the enduring Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While each was loyal
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to his native Town, each was proud of his connection with the church, the protesting against conformity with which was the moving cause of the settling of Massachusetts. If our historian had been a Congregationalist, either Unitarian or Trinitarian, he would have found a theme of interest in tracing the sequence of events which led to this controversy.
The theory of the Puritan planters was that the fee of all lands was in the Company,* and that grants for planta- tions were made for the settlement of a Parish, and inci- dentally for the civil concerns of such Parish. A prime concern of the Parish and its creature the Town was the support of the ministry. Hence the Town in granting to individuals made it a condition that all the land should bear its share in the common burdens of the Town, an im- portant item of which was the ministry.
Rev. Dr. Parsons Cooke in the most pungent and brilliant polemical work ever written in Lynn said:
"This was the obligation which lay upon the land, a re- serve tacitly made in the original grant, and which could not be nullified in passing from one owner to another. It was a condition in the deed which bound and attached it to the titles of all future owners."
The Puritan plan of carrying on all affairs ecclesiastic and civic in the Parish seems to have worked without fric- tion in Lynn until the Colonial Charter was abrogated and
* The Company in this connection means the organized body of Puritan leaders in England, to whom, on the 4th day of March, 1628-9, in the fourth year of the reign of Charles I, "The Charter of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in New England was granted."
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Address - Hon. Nathan Mortimer Hawkes
the usurpation of Sir Edmund Andros had been ended and the Provincial Charter was in full force. For nearly a hundred years the Puritan Theocracy had dominated New England. Great changes took place in the era of the Pro- vincial Charter and of the Royal Governors.
The meeting-house (not the first meeting-house but the first erected on the Common) had been built by assessment upon all the acres of the whole Town in 1682.
In spite of the locating of new parishes and the setting up of rival denominations, the meeting-house of the First Parish was the place of meeting for all purposes of the Town for one hundred and seventy-three years, as Mr. Lewis recorded.
The first break in the Parish was a legitimate one even from the Puritan standpoint. It was a long distance for the farmers of Lynn End, or Lynnfield, to travel to wor- ship on Lynn Common in the short winter days when they frequently had more severe snow storms than we have seen.
Recognizing this stumbling block in the way of proper observance of the Lord's day, the Town voted, November 17, 1712:
"In answer to the petition of our neighbors, the farmers, so-called, dated Feb. 13, 1711, desiring to be a precinct, that all the part of the Town that lies on the northerly side of that highway that leads from Salem to Reading be set off for a precinct, and when they shall have a meeting- house and a minister, qualified according to law, settled to preach the word of God amongst them, then they shall be wholly freed from paying to the ministry of the Town and not before. And if afterwards they shall cease to main-
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tain a minister amongst them then to pay to the minister of the Town as heretofore."
The conditions of the above vote were complied with and in 1720 Lynnfield became a Precinct and the Second Parish of Lynn, and exempt from paying to the minor- ity of the Town.
The first alien denomination to set up a meeting was in the troubled time of Andros. On the 18th of 5th month, 1689, the Friends held their first monthly meeting at Lynn. They had previously, in 1678, erected a meet- ing-house on Wolf Hill, on what is now Broad Street, upon the land still owned by the Society.
The incursion of the Quakers was the first serious men- ace of the Puritan domination and the most serious till the advent of Methodism a century later. Of the good sense of the Parish in this matter Dr. Cooke says:
"The friction engendered by the requirement that all the Colonists should be taxed to support the ministry was one of the greatest sources of disaster to the Puritan cause. But the Parish in Lynn took early measures to mitigate the evils of this law, and so far to relax its force as to maintain good neighborhood with the Quakers. In the year 1722 they voted :
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