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 6
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each others' joy. As the Apostle Paul has phrased it, " we are all members of the body of Christ" and our life is a common life. As your brethren in Christ, members one of another, we salute you on this happy occasion.
I have been wondering how it must feel to be two hund- red and seventy-five years old! The church which I have the honor to serve (the Washington Street Baptist) cele- brated its fiftieth anniversary two years ago. We felt very ancient then but when we stand beside you to-day we feel very youthful.
Two hundred and seventy-five years! What must it mean to this community that this one church has given to it two hundred and seventy-five years of consecutive, con- secrated service? Nothing but the book of the recording angel could convey any adequate conception of what that has meant. Nothing but eternity can reveal it. The church is the most important institution in the community ; more important than the school, the literary organizations or the government itself. The church is the foundation of the school, the inspiration of the libraries and it furnishes the moral fibre of the government. What this city is and what it has been for nearly three centuries is due in no small degree to this First Church of Christ in Lynn.
One of the most remarkable phases of our Christian civilization is the disproportionately strong influence which the Christian church exercises in the community. Not more than one-tenth of the people of Lynn to-day, probably, are members of any Christian church and yet the Christian churches can exercise more influence than all the other institutions if they so desire. The church can
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Address - Rev. Frank W. Padelford
accomplish almost anything it desires in the community to-day. This old First Church looks insignificant in a way. At no time in its history has it had more than five hundred members probably, and yet no one can conceive what this church has meant in the life and history of this city. Be- cause of what this church has meant to Lynn for two hund- red and seventy-five years we congratulate you.
Yet what of all this celebration anyway? If you had simply gathered to-day to celebrate the birth of an institution born two hundred and seventy-five years ago, if that were all, some of us would not care to spend our time here. But it is because it is a living institution, that is reviewing two hundred and seventy-five years of life, that there is some significance in this celebration. We are here because this old church is a living organism. We are here because we believe that the church has a future; be- cause we believe that it is destined to do more in the days that are to be than in the days that have been. Some pro- fess to believe that the church is an institution of the past, but we believe that it is an institution of the past and of the future. We have seen as yet only a promise of what the church is to be and do.
When the church comes better to understand its mes- sage, when it comes to see that it has a message to the com- munity as well as to the individual, it will do more than it has ever done in bringing in the kingdom. The mis- sion of the church is not only to convert and train the individual members of society but its mission is also to transform society itself, until the Kingdom in Heaven shall be the Kingdom on earth. When during the next few
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years of its life this church shall catch this larger vision of its mission, its influence will be vastly greater than in these years we celebrate.
The Pilgrims and the Puritans had the right conception of the relation of the church and the community. Their only trouble was in the application of their principle. The church will never apply its principle and do its work in their way again but it will apply the principle in a truer form and do the work in a larger way.
Not only, then, for what you have been and have done in these two hundred and seventy-five long years but for what you are to be and do, your sister churches bring you heartiest congratulations and best wishes to-day. It is our great hope that your next two hundred and seventy- five years may be marked by larger visions of truth, deep- er consecration to Christ and more glorious consummation of your work than in these two hundred and seventy-five splendid years of the past.
THE COLONIAL COMMUNION SERVICE.
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Remarks - Chairman
THE CHAIRMAN: In the Chapel is a large collection of curiosities connected with this church in days agone, but the only relic of the original meeting-house of 1632 is a violin made from its staunch timbers by Lysander O. Makepeace when eighty-four years of age. (Showing the violin to the congregation.)
The communion service on its table in front of the pul- pit is a rare collection of Colonial silver contributed by various donors of many years ago.
These pieces have been critically examined by Mr. John Albree and Miss Ellen Mudge Burrill, both of whom are well known to you as learned in Colonial lore, to which they have made many valuable contributions, and Mr. Albree has consented to favor us with a description of the pieces comprising this rare collection.
THE OLD COMMUNION SERVICE AND ITS DONORS.
JOHN ALBREE, Swampscott, and MISS ELLEN MUDGE BURRILL, Lynn. Members of The Lynn Historical Society.
IT IS more than appropriate, it is a duty we owe those men of nearly two hundred years ago who gave these memorials to the First Church of Christ in Lynn, that we should spend a few moments in acquainting ourselves with the givers and the gifts. If we let this occasion pass with only a general impression of an array of silver, we shall do a wrong to the memory of the men of the past of this church and of this community.
There are seventeen pieces in all in the service, repre- senting seven donors. Their value? May the day never come when such a question is raised. May this church con- tinue for centuries, still preserving unchanged these memo- rials of the men of old as tangible evidence of their love for the House of the Lord.
In nearly every instance we can learn who the donors were, but yet there are other facts we ought to recall be- yond the mere mention of names.
The gift, which in point of time was the earliest, com- prised two beakers, but there is no inscription to indicate the donor except the initials "L C," engraved on the bot- tom of each. The maker, however, left his trade mark which was " I C" with a crown above, and an animal below, the letters. Dr. Francis H. Brown, of Boston, has proved
The Old Communion Service and Its Donors 103
that this was the mark of John Cony, of Boston, whose name is indicated in a punning way by the animal. There are a number of pieces by Cony in Boston churches which are dated 1715 and 1717, and, as he died in 1722, we can at least tell the age of this gift, though who "L C" was re- mains unsolved.
The next donor was John Henry Burchsted, a physician. That he was a native of Silesia, a province now divided be- tween Germany and Austria, is a fact frequently recorded by his cotemporaries. His first son, also a physician, was the father of twelve children through whom there is now an extensive posterity. John Henry Burchsted's friends saw fit to place upon his headstone in the Western burying- ground these lines which the severest critic will admit are at least in rhyme :
"Silesia to New England sent this man To do their all that any healer can ; But he who conquered all diseases must Find one which throws him down into the dust. A chymist near to an adeptist come Leaves here, thrown by, his caput mortuum. Reader, PHYSICIANS Dy as others do ; Prepare - for thou to this art hast'ning too."
But he himself chose a more dignified and pleasing me- morial, for in his will, dated April 17, 1721, he said :
" I give (as a toaken of my Love) unto the Church of Christ in Lyn the Sum of Forty Pounds Paffable money to be laid out for the furnishing the Table of the Lord there; and to be Paid by my Executrix within three months after my Decese."
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With this bequest there were bought four pieces of sil- ver, a large covered tankard, a smaller one without a cover, and two beakers, the smaller of which has a handle. All bear the same inscription: "The Gift of John Henry Burchsted, Physitian, to the first Church in Lynn, Sep' the 25th 1721." The date of his death as given on his head- stone was Sept. 20, 1721.
Again Dr. Brown's researches enable us to identify the maker whose trademark was "A T," with a crown above the letters. This was the mark of Andrew Tyler, a gold- smith of Boston. It will suffice now to say that he was a brother-in-law of the famous Sir William Pepperell, the victor at Louisburg.
A few months later the church received another bequest. This was from Hon. John Burrill. He was a grandson of George Burrill, one of the first settlers of Lynn. Hon. John Burrill, the Speaker as he is designated, from his early manhood served the public in many ways - in the Indian Wars, in the Andros troubles which in Lynn raged over the possession of Nahant, as town officer, clerk, se- lectman, treasurer, assessor, as judge, as member of the House of Representatives for twenty-one years, during ten of which he was Speaker, and at last as member of the Governor's Council under the Province Charter.
There is a pathetic feature about this gift which was made by will. John Burrill fell a victim in an epidemic of that terrible scourge of our ancestors, small-pox. The General Court had left Boston on account of the preva- lence of the disease and, after sitting in two or three places, was at Harvard College. Here Burrill was stricken and,
The Old Communion Service and Its Donors 105
in the midst of his agony, he made his will Dec. 6, 1721, four days before his death. His wish is thus expressed :
"I give to the Church of Chrift in Lynn fourti pounds towards the furnishing the table of the Lord thear and to Bee paid within two years after my Defeas."
Whether Dr. Burchsted's gift had been completed by this time we know not, but we do know that Andrew Tyler was again given the commission, for the Burchsted pieces are duplicated exactly and they bear Tyler's mark. The four pieces are inscribed :
"The Gift of the Honourable John Burrill, Esq' to the first Church in Lynn, December ye 10th 1721."
A two-handled beaker of graceful shape bears this in- scription :
"The Gift of Mr. Ralph Tompkin to the First Church of Christ in Lynn 1726."
Of Ralph Tompkin, or Tonkin as he signed his will, we know little. In that instrument he styled himself "Inn- holder" and directed as follows:
"I give & bequeath as a Token of my Love and Regards to the Church of Christ in Lyn Tenn pounds in money to be paid by my Executrix hereafter named within Six months after my Deceas and to be laid out by the offis- sers of s'd Church in plate for the use thereof."
He left no children. The record of his marriage to Mrs. Mary Jeffords in Lynn, July 17, 1710, is that he was "of Great Britain."
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This beaker has no mark to indicate the maker. There are, however, a few dots on the bottom that are suggestive to one who has ever tried to center a piece in a turning lathe. The workman, in preparing to polish the beaker, evidently had some difficulty and then neglected to erase these evidences of his trouble. It is such an illus- tration of personality that always makes the study of these old articles interesting.
The large Breed family of Lynn is represented by a tankard inscribed:
"The Gift of Capt" Iohn Breed, Deceaf'd, to the first Chur[c]h* in Lynn, Decemb' ye 14th 1728."
Captain Breed provided for this in his will, which was dated Nov. 22, 1728. It seems well to quote from these original wills exactly and in full, in order that we may hear the wishes of the donors expressed in their own language. He said:
"I give to the first Church of Chrift in Lynn Thirty Pounds, in paffable Money of New England, for furnifh- ing the Lord's Table, to be paid within Two years after my difcease, to be laid out at the difcrefion of ye pastor of s'd Church."
In passing, attention might be called to the different ex- pressions adopted by the various testators to indicate how their bequests should be paid. These differences suggest a little of the terrible confusion of the monetary system of that day.
* The c is omitted in the inscription.
The Old Communion Service and Its Donors 107
The relations between Captain Breed and the Rev. Na- thaniel Henchman were especially cordial, Mrs. Henchman having been taken as a child into Captain Breed's family. He also left Mr. Henchman £50 and his "colash," a two- wheeled carriage, then a rare luxury. Of Captain Breed his widow is on record as having said that her husband "bought so much land that it kept us in debt and the fam- ily short and bare of clothing."
The maker of this tankard was Jacob Hurd, of Boston, then but twenty-five years of age, an interesting man just entering on a life of activity and usefulness in the commu- nity. Specimens of his work are prized by collectors, both public and private. The Henchman and Hurd fam- ilies were connected by marriage and this may account for the fact that the most beautiful pieces in the collection are his work, these being the bequest of Col. Theophilus Bur- rill. There are four pieces, a covered tankard, two beakers and a plate for bread, all of excellent workmanship. Of the seventeen pieces in the collection the plate, now serving as a baptismal bason, is the only one in use, as some three or four years ago the individual communion service was adopted by the church .*
The inscription on each of the four pieces is:
"The Gift of Theo. Burrill, Esq' to the first Church of Chrift in Lynn."
In addition the Burrill coat of arms is elegantly engraved
* It has not been practicable to learn how long the Theophilus Burrill platter has been used as a baptismal bason Inquiry among elderly people has shown that, prior to 1853. the bread was passed on pewter platters. In 1853 two pieces of plated silver were given to the church and these, together with two more, given respec- tively in 1866 and 1869, have since been used in the distribution of the bread.
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on each piece. Col. Theophilus Burrill was a brother of Hon. John Burrill, whose gift has already been described. Col. Burrill's life bore a striking resemblance to that of his brother for, like him, he served the public in military and civil positions and finally became also a member of the Governor's Council. He served this parish as Clerk and Treasurer for several years. Both brothers lived on Boston Street, John at Tower Hill and Theophilus at the corner of Federal Street. He, too, delayed making his will until death approached. On June 14, 1737, he at- tended to this duty and thus declared his wish:
"I give unto the First Church of Christ in Lynn One Hundred Pounds in paffable Bills of Credit to purchase such Plate for ye use of ye Communion Table as may be thought proper by my Executrix and ye Pastor of s'd Church within Six Months after my Decease."
Twenty days later, on July 4th, he died. His widow was sole executrix, and so before us we have the expres- sion of what Mrs. Burrill and the pastor, Mr. Henchman, "thought proper," and on seeing the four pieces we must approve their taste. Did the beautiful service given by his brother John, as he saw it on Communion Sundays, com- mend itself to him as a memorial such as he would like? It would seem so, for he also left money to the Second Church at Lynnfield, and to the Third Church at Saugus, and each church bought communion services.
By this time it may be well to say a word about the uses of these articles. The tankards, as you see, are clumsy and not so well adapted for use as the more shapely beaker. In
The Old Communion Service and Its Donors 109
practice it worked out that the tankard was used to hold the wine and from it the beakers were filled. The result was that later a lip was added, the shape became taller, and the flagon shape was evolved, such as we of later years have been accustomed to see. The shape of the beaker, or as we now call it the communion cup, has not been much changed.
Incidentally, by a process of evolution, an article which is typical of American life has grown from the tankard. This has been done by making the tankard larger, though retaining the same lines, and then adding a lip, and the re- sult is the silver ice pitcher.
An interesting fact developed yesterday afternoon as the silver was being brightened after its sojourn in the safety vaults. Remember, please, that we are speaking of silver one hundred and seventy-five and two hundred years old, and that thoughts and customs change with the revolving years. This is spoken of, because what fol- lows may be a little surprising. It was noted that there was a slot filed under the lower end of some of the handles and it was discovered that a whistle was thus formed. One practical man suggested this was a vent such as is now left in the manufacture of hollow ware. Further investi- gation has shown that one use suggested the other, for it has been established that what may have been made as a vent for gases arising from the solder, did actually become a whistle which was used to indicate that the tankard was empty. Hence the saying, "You may whistle till you get it." Do not misunderstand! This is spoken of to show that two hundred years ago the uses of silver for the com-
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Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary
munion service had not been differentiated and specialized as now. In other words, these articles are types of what was the best table ware in use two hundred and more years ago.
There remains to be mentioned one beaker with a handle. There is no mark of any description which might give a clue to either the donor or the maker. The workmanship is of the same character as the others, so it may be inferred that it is of the same age. Imagination may conceive it to have been the gift of some thoughtful soul to the House of the Lord, but because his name was not engraved it was lost with the passing of his generation.
May those who shall succeed us two hundred years hence find as good and as pleasing reasons for bringing us to mind as we have to-day in recalling those men of two centuries ago.
NOTE: -- Many of the older New England churches possess pieces of silver that were donated by loyal members in years gone by and an examination of these gifts frequently yields interesting results. In such investigation it will be found helpful to consult some of the books mentioned below.
American Silver, the work of the seventeenth and eighteenth century silversmiths, exhibited at the (Boston) Museum of Fine Arts June to November, 1906, Boston, MCMVI. This catalogue of an exhibition of over three hundred specimens, gives the makers' names and marks, the inscriptions and a general description, fully illustrated.
Old Plate, its Makers and Marks, by J. H. Buck, New York, Gorham Manufac- turing Company, MCMIII. This, while treating of the general subject, is the most complete work on American silver. The author is the curator of that department in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Old Scottish Communion Plate. by Thomas Barnes, with a preface by James MacGregor, Moderator of the General Assembly, Edinburgh, R. & R. Clark, MDCCCXCII. This throws much light on the purposes and uses of the silver which was owned by the old Puritan churches in America in which the Scotch influence was strong.
Hall Marks on Gold and Silver Plate, llustrated, with revised tables of annual date letters employed in the Assay Offices of England, Scotland and Ireland, to which is added a History of L'Orfevrerie Francaise, by William Chaffers, ninth edition. London, Reeves & Turner, 1905. This comprehensive work is generally recognized as a standard.
READING OF SCRIPTURES.
Rev. JOHN O. HAARVIG.
Ephesians I.
15. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers :
17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and rev- elation in the knowledge of him:
18. The eyes of your undertsanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20. Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21. For above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.
23. Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
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Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary
Ephesians II.
I. And you hath he quickened who were dead in tres- passes and sins;
2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience :
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4. But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us
5. together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,)
6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7. That in the ages to come he might show the ex- ceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus.
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
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Remarks - Pastor
THE PASTOR: Most of the former pastors of this church have either passed on to the better land or are living at such distances, that it is impossible to have them with us on this occasion. We are favored, however, by the presence of two of them, Dr. James M. Whiton, of New York City, to whose pungent and scholarly address we listened this morning with great interest. The other is the Rev. John O. Haarvig, of Allston.
Some men we respect because of their scholarship, cour- age, or efficient qualities; some men elicit our affection by the warmth of their sympathies and the sincerity of their unselfish devotion. Some men we both respect and love; such is the one who is about to speak to us, especially a brother beloved.
ADDRESS - FAITH'S WIDER VISION.
Rev. JOHN O. HAARVIG, Allston, Mass. - Pastor 1893-1895.
I DEEM it a very great privilege to be with you on this sig- nificant and joy-inspiring occasion. I rejoice with you in your prosperity as a church, and in the possession of the glorious inheritance which has given to you an exceptional position of honor and influence among our churches. It is my earnest prayer that the blessing of God may continue to fructify all your labors, and cause this plant of the centuries to flourish even more abundantly in the future than in the past.
To-night our thought sweeps a wide circle. We are on the heights, where the horizon of our vision is wonder- fully extended. We are under the spell of time's immen- sities. We are stirred with the feelings of gratitude, rev- erence and awe. Our hearts and heads are bowed before the Infinite One,
"From out whose hand The centuries fall like grains of sand."
Anniversaries like this serve to give us a vivid realiza- tion of the divineness that lies hidden in the great move- ments of time. It is good for us, now and then, to move away from the little whirls and eddies of things present and local to where we can observe the forward trend of the majestic river which issues from the eternal throne. It is a suggestive fact that the great astronomers have been
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Address - Rev. John O. Haarvig
men of faith. The reason is near at hand: their thoughts move in the orbits of greatness, where laws and forces are seen in their mightiest combinations, where the mathe- matics of the universe is given its most impressive illus- tration, and where the marshalings of power are observed in overwhelming displays of shining strength, so that the mind of man instinctively voices Kepler's prayerful obedi- ence, "O God, I think Thy thoughts after Thee." And so, when we turn from the seconds and minutes of our little individual lives to the processes and movements in his- tory when the hours in the clock of time are heard to strike, we begin to feel sure that the ruling and overruling hand of Providence is active in the affairs of humanity; we seem to feel with new appreciation that
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