USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > First Church of Christ in Pittsfield, Mass. : proceedings in commemoration of its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, Feb. 7th and 8th, 1914 > Part 4
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With John Burroughs he found "each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, all the friends I want to see." With him too he loved the feel of the grass under his feet and the sound of running streams by his side. "The hum of the wind in the tree tops " was always "good music " to him and "the face of the fields often comforted " him. He found with Tennyson in the "flower in the crannied wall " an expression of the will and love of the
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Creator. And when he was tired and lonely he sought Mother Nature and so found rest and inspiration and came more and more to feel the beauty and wonder of life.
It was his joy to live here and be thus in close and constant communion with all the beauty with which nature had endowed us, and it was while upon an expedition in the mountains to see and enjoy one of our especial places of beauty that he met with the accident which took him from us.
He was laid to rest in our peaceful cemetery in the midst of "The Beautiful Mountains " where he wished to sleep the long sleep from which there is no awakening.
To Dr. Davis Pittsfield meant home. And he was proud of this, his city. He could not bear to see any of its natural or acquired beauty destroyed. He it was who urged the City Beautiful. I give but one ex- ample of his interest. He could not look upon our filthy, unclean, unattractive Housatonic without a vis- ion of what it might be. In his travels in England he had seen many a similar stream embanked and puri- fied and thus made a joy and a delight. He could see our river thus cared for and urged it with voice and pen.
Dr. Davis came to Pittsfield when it had a great deal of the old town about it. There still lingered much of the old-time idealism of the Puritan. It was an orderly town, God-fearing and law-abiding. A few men controlled and that wisely and with unself- ish purpose. Moreover there was much civic pride born of inherited traditions of loyalty and devotion to the place of one's birth or long-time adoption. Then began our commercial development, expanding popu- lation and inevitable change in ideals and loss of con-
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trol by men of the type I have mentioned. Our newer citizenship was made up in a measure of a relatively unstable class, here in Pittsfield for a few years and then gone. They had no local family interests,-the old ideals and life were totally unknown,-in many cases the people came from communities totally unlike ours. They could not be expected to feel the same interest or preserve the old traditions. During Dr. Davis's service we changed from a steady, thrifty city of small population, with much of the old village life, to a bustling, modern, commercial community. With his sensitive, quick perception, he early felt these changes, some of which he feared meant a moral loss to the city. He was so responsive to all of our traditions of Puritan ancestry and teaching, so in- tensely spiritual in his thought, that he could not sit idly by. So he came to develop, to practice and to preach that community idealism which was so char- acteristic. Somehow even though the task were her- culean, he must gather under his influence all the strangers and newcomers. He must hold aloft the old standards of right living, thinking, being, and invite all men to join with him as soldiers of the Cross. Many people thought him impractical and said it is vastly more important to have our factories, our work- shops and our stores, to increase in population and be heralded as the growing city than to preserve old time worn Puritan notions. But are we quite sure that Dr. Davis did not have a keener, larger sense than most of us of the dangers of misguided, uncon- trolled growth of city life? That we have preserved so much of all that is good and true in our civic life and spirit is in no small measure due to his warning and guiding voice and pen.
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He entered into our civic life again in his interest for the public schools. His travels abroad had served to show him many mistakes, perhaps inevitable, in our public school system. In season and out he talked and wrote for the payment of more adequate salaries to our instructors and the raising of the standard. The German youth with his capacity for work, thorough- ness of preparation and insistence in application to his task was a model constantly held up to our view, nor did he fail to see the great points of advantage in the English schools. But time fails me to speak of all his interests in and labors for this city. I can but mention a few. Suffice it to say, his voice, his pen, his leadership was always for the upbuilding of a better community life.
And I may now speak properly of another of Dr. Davis's visions which is personal for us, that of a new organ and an arrangement of the pulpit similar to the one where I now stand. To him this church building was sacred. It is built on living rock and the land on which it stands has never known private ownership. To him that living rock was Christ. He felt as have all true worshipers here the solemn dig- nity, the spiritual atmosphere, the uplifting beauty, yea the very presence of God in this house of wor- ship. Thus he would have made worship more holy with music, and house more beautiful with skilled workmanship and loving care.
But his interest was not confined to his own church, nor did it content itself even with those of all other denominations in our city. He early found another problem which attracted his attention and gave to him much concern, that of our country churches. His fellow-laborers in the distant villages and on the moun- tain tops of our New England towns were to him
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real heroes of the faith. Living and laboring for a miserable pittance in these lonely places where there is so much to discourage and so little to sustain and uplift the worker except his faith in God, these men excited his unbounded admiration. He was wont to refer to these co-workers as " our humble brethren," not in any sense of comparative greatness on his part but with profound respect for their devotion, self- sacrifice and faith. Many a word of kindly sympathy, many a gift of book or money went unheralded from him to these friends who so much needed encourage- ment and aid. His suggestion at some convention of a celibate clergy for the country church did not meet with ready favor but grew out of a profound knowl- edge of the harshness of conditions, the poverty of life, the sacrifice involved in the attempt to bring up a family upon the salary paid. It had a solid basis in good sense and justice and in any event served to sharply call attention to the intolerable conditions. He has gone, but the conditions which he so strongly felt and condemned remain. What better memorial to him, what finer tribute to his years of self-sacrificing labor, thought and prayer could this church build or pay than to establish a fund for the assistance of the struggling churches of this county ?
From our own standpoint and judged selfishly, we must not let religion die out and the name and worship of Christ be unknown in these our little settlements. Dr. Davis would rejoice to see this church become the great, wise, bountiful helper of these struggling churches. What individual grows except in selfishness who is self-centered and does nothing for his less for- tunate brothers? The church whose life runs clear and strong is that one which establishes and maintains missions where its workers and its money labor to-
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gether for the upbuilding of God's Kingdom. What finer memorial then, what could be more in answer to his oft-repeated prayer, his yearning love for this church and these his friends and people than that the First Church of Christ in Pittsfield should forever mark this day by establishing its good-will fund for the assistance of the weaker churches of this County, that it should become like the Old South Church of Boston, the encouraging force and power working through these lesser agencies for the making of the people of these towns fit citizens of this region which so reflects the loving kindness of our common Father ?
But I must give my final estimate and appreciation. Before I do so, it will be fitting to speak this word.
In his later years, there came into Dr. Davis's life a great sorrow, a sadness and a void which could not be filled. Shall we not pause for a moment to pay reverent tribute to her who in purest love, with true wifely devotion, sympathy and insight, for many years travelled the way of life in his company? In all the arts and graces of true womanhood, wifehood and motherhood, she was never lacking. Upon her he leaned, to her he came in his sorrows and dis- appointments ; after her going more and more did he dwell in those secret places of the Most High where he felt and believed he had spiritual communion with her, his well-beloved wife. His wounded heart found comfort in that phrase which he so often left to other stricken ones-"In His will is our peace." After this there entered into his life a true personal sym- pathy with all who mourned. He seemed so much more human, for he too had passed through the valley of the shadows; he had fought the fight and come out conqueror. For him thereafter death had no sting
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and the grave no victory and he could give this mes- sage to all with a knowledge which convinced.
And so he lived and labored among us, giving, enriching, leading. Shall I be misunderstood if I say that he gave far more than was given to him, that this people was not always as kind, as responsive, as friendly as it might have been?
He yearned for human sympathy and friendship with an almost unnatural yearning and the pathetic thing about it was that this very yearning repelled the sympathy and affection he craved. His heart and love went out in boundless measure to his people all through his service here and he never could under- stand just why he had their respect, their honor and their affection but not their intimate companionship; and it is hard to explain this unless we ascribe it to a personality which was too idealistic, too intellectual and too refined, too, shall I say it, intensely earnest and grave, for ordinary daily companionship.
Then too he was often misunderstood but that surely is not an offense or a characteristic to be criti- cised. Somewhere Emerson says: " Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misundersood. and Socrates and Jesus and Luther and Copernicus and Galileo and Newton and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be mis- understood."
Carlyle voiced the same opinion when he said, "But great men are too often unknown, or what is worse, misknown."
If he was misunderstood, it was because he dwelt on too lofty a plane, his thought in the higher realms and his spirit untouched by the common, coarse things of daily living.
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But what an influence to have had in this church and community those long years! What was it for the youth of this church now its strength, its great strength in their young manhood and young woman- hood and their middle age, to have seen and heard and known this man!
Can you not see him now in this place? See that tall, angular form, ungraceful but suggestive of power and strength. See that grave face, that finely shaped head " where dwelt a most busy mind," that countenance seamed with its furrows of care and deep thinking and yearning; and when he rises to speak, can you not hear those vigorous, rounded sentences clothing no mean repetitions of undeveloped ideas, feel the "thrill of new thoughts or old ones in the new form of individual inspiration "? A power of highest order brought to us those strong messages of warning, of love, of encouragement, of hope. He saw with a clear eye the Christ Vision,-he knew what it was to have enthroned in men the Christ Master,-he knew the power of prayer,-he saw the dangers of this materialistic age,-he had studied history,-he could foresee the future,-he was filled with the spirit of service,-and he could not, would not rest until he had made his beloved people see and feel as did he. What influence that steady leadership exerted here, no man can tell or measure. Perhaps much of it was unknown to him and those whom he influenced, but to have the visions he had, to make his people see as he saw, and to always lead us bearing aloft that Christian ideal for seventeen years was an achievement the power and force of which no man can measure.
He married many of us, he baptized our children, he received us and our children into this church and
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he buried our dead. We would be scarcely human did we not hold him in most kindly, loving, reverent memory.
This church has had great men at its head. He was worthy to be of that circle of leaders. We do not know what the future has in store for this people or this church. We do not know what this city of ours may become in the years to follow, we do not know whether the traditions of the fathers will be the tradi- tions of the children, but this we do know: that the power and influence of Dr. Davis did not pass with his going but live on and that the people of this church and the children's children of this people shall rise up and call him blessed. "And when this cometh to pass (lo, it will come) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them."
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Interior of First Church of Christ
1915
THE POEM
By FANNIE STEARNS DAVIS GIFFORD
Shadow and sun on the high weather-vane; Whisper of snow, rustle of April rain; Clock hands that creep, inevitable, slow ; Long ivy-leaves that sweep and shine and blow; Dark doors swung wide,-a golden dusk,-a sound Of serious organ-voices ;- silence crowned With song and prayer and wonder. Year on year Slow Sabbaths find us still returning here.
Up in the darkening rafters old dreams cling. Up in the skyward tower old bells sing. For all the swift new feet along the aisles, Old faces greet us with unshadowed smiles; Quaint shapes surprise us at the pew-heads. We Remember, and look forward, soberly.
O House where God has showed His face of old! House that our Fathers founded, with the bold Sure homely faith we covet even now,- Gather us close! Unmurmuring we bow Beneath thy light and shadow. What are we Save little children, in thy mystery? Save little children, turning home to prove Once more the ancient miracle of Love?
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For, though God walks among the hills to-night, Though the faint stars are His, and all the white Wild glory of the moon; though He may stir Deep in the heart of many a wanderer, Or throb in city streets, or flash His face From the mad turmoil of the market-place. Yet, in this House, whereon His seal was set, Shall He not draw us closer, closer yet ? Shall He not touch our darkened eyes, that we For one true hour, may drop the scales, and see ?
See the strong Past, the stronger Future, when The ways of God shall grow more wide for men,- When mortal hands shall fold immortal fast, And Faith step free, as never in that Past?
O House that God has loved, once more we prove The ancient joyful miracle of love. Almost from out that cloudy golden space Brightens the secret wonder of a Face : Echo on echo, heavenly-clear and proud, From outmost star, from earth-drawn cloud to cloud, Through waiting arch and rafter sweeps the Voice, "Lift up your hearts! O lift them high! Rejoice!"
ADDRESSES AT THE PUBLIC MEETING SATURDAY EVENING
In opening the meeting, the Pastor said: The first speaker whom we are to hear this evening is one to whom we are glad to listen for many reasons. The name of Williams is connected with the early history of Pittsfield in several respects. You may remember that among the very first settlers in this neighborhood was a certain Colonel William Williams, not related so far as I know to Colonel Ephraim Williams who, I believe, founded by his bequest the free school which grew into Williams College; but Colonel William Williams did have the distinction of being the ninth person to unite with this church. He came next after the eight foundation men, and he was from the time of his settlement in Berkshire County one of the most important personages in the County north of Stockbridge, holding many civil offices and being a leader in the church as well as a leader in the state. He was an own cousin of Jonathan Edwards, and a nephew of Colonel John Stoddard, one of the three original grantees of this township. So that the name of Williams is one which has been familiar always in this town, and it is perpetuated by the name of one of our streets, as you know.
There was another Williams, Mr. John Chandler Williams, who not only himself was well known as a citizen of Pittsfield, but whose wife became famous by saving the old elm in the year 1789, when they
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were planning to build a new meeting house for the First Church and seemed to think for some reason that they must cut down the old elm. You will remember how Mrs. Williams is said to have placed herself and her apron between the wood choppers and the tree, and absolutely forced them to cease op- erations; as a result of which her husband gave to the town land on the south side of the street in con- sideration of the church's giving an equal amount of land to the town on the north side.
So there are these two Williams families with which we are associated in the early history of Pitts- field. But I fancy that we should all say that we are far prouder and think far oftener of our nearness to the College at Williamstown; and there are many ways in which the close friendship between the church and the college has been renewed and kept up from generation to generation. A number of ministers of this town have been trustees of the College. Dr. Hum- phrey was a trustee, Dr. Bailey was a trustee, and Mr. Brinsmade also. Dr. Todd, in whose memory this pulpit stands here, and to whom this church owes so much, is remembered gratefully in Williams College, having been a trustee for twenty-seven years; and as you may have noticed this afternoon, we acknowledged our obligation again to Williams 'College in the fact that the two gentlemen who spoke to us are both of them graduates of Williams College, and I presume that the two ladies who furnished the other contribu- tions to the afternoon's program would be graduates of Williams College if they had been able to be such.
We are glad for these reasons and many more to welcome as our first speaker this evening the Presi- dent of Williams College, whom, though he has been in that high office not yet six years, we have already
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come to look up to and to admire as a sagacious admin- istrator, a leader of scholars, and a true maker of men : President Garfield.
PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S ADDRESS
When your pastor invited me to attend on this occasion and speak a few words of greeting from Williams College, I accepted with pleasure, the more so because Mr. Gregg informed me that I might, as I have done, drop off a train on the way from New York to Williamstown and deliver my message in- formally.
Not only am I pleased to bring you a greeting from the College among the hills because of its re- lation to Pittsfield and to many connected with this church, but also because it gives me an opportunity to speak a word for myself. Because your minister has been good enough to say that I might speak quite informally, I venture to let memory lead the way. Thirty-two years ago, when I was a student in Wil- liams College, it was my privilege to attend this church while on a visit to Pittsfield of a Sunday. This place of worship, which has built itself so naturally and inevitably into your affections, is therefore associated with my first impressions of your delightful city and of the family who since that time have been my friends. When, after my college days, I had settled in Cleveland, I came to know and love the pastor of our church, Dr. Davis. He left us and came to this church and for many years served you as your pastor.
During five delightful years in Princeton Univer- sity I was associated with and became affectionately fond of a descendant of your first pastor. Professor
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Allan Marquand and I frequently spoke of Pittsfield and of this church. It has given me great pleasure to meet one of his family here this evening, and to have brought back to my mind what I possibly should not have remembered, that the pastor and ancestor of whom Professor Marquand used to speak was your first minister. In a certain sense, therefore, I have a personal interest in this occasion as well as an official one.
I assure you that Williams College does not forget that it is related in many vital ways to Pittsfield and Pittsfield's institutions. We are proud of the city to the south of us. It is a place of distinction and of peculiar charm. When we think of Berkshire County, Pittsfield inevitably comes to mind. Like the County, it possesses a quality better felt than described. Her church-going people are still thoroughly and typically New England. Religion and education are never far apart in their minds. Williams College serves the need on the side of higher education, supplementing the work of the churches. The College and the churches are the two great dynamic forces of the County ; they are more than dynamic, they are living forces, inheritors of the best traditions of New Eng- land, and should never cease to stand side by side in the regard of her people. Secular and religious edu- cation must continue in the future as in the past to be fellow-workers, if citizenship is to be characterized by purity and high-mindedness. Western Massachu- setts still cherishes some of the old ideals of New England. We have departed from the standard of New England theocracy, and yet its influence is still felt, for here more than elsewhere we keep church and college always in view as closely related institu- tions. Our ideal is the trained mind actuated by the
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dynamic of the spirit. We believe that the trained mind becomes a danger and a menace unless it is guided, inspired and held to a high character of work by that which the church seeks to contribute to us all.
In conclusion, I beg to express the hope, as I en- tertain the belief, that throughout the years to come the relation between Williams College and this church and all the churches of Pittsfield, and of Berkshire County, will continue to be the relation of sister in- stitutions holding to the same high ideals, intent on the same great tasks, dedicated to the service that makes all institutions so dedicated great and noble.
ADDRESS BY REV. HENRY GOODWIN SMITH ON REV. THOMAS ALLEN.
Introducing the Rev. Henry G. Smith of Northamp- ton, the Pastor said:
The next speaker this evening comes to us from the city of Northampton. The relations between Northampton and Pittsfield in the early days of this town were close and many. As I was saying a few moments ago, the first one of the three original grantees, in fact, the very first person to whom was granted by the General Court a part of this territory which is now Pittsfield was Colonel John Stoddard of Northampton; and as many of you know, Parson Allen came from Northampton. Four out of the eight of his foundation men came from Northampton : Aaron Baker and the three Phelpses, whose names you see on the shields.
The first call which Thomas Allen received to the First Church in Pittsfield may not be remembered by you all, though it is given in Mr. Robert Adam's paper on "The Eight Foundation Men," read at the One
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Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary. He tells the story, which had come down in the Baker family, that when Mrs. Baker, Aaron Baker's wife, happened to be back in Northampton for a visit, she called upon Mrs. Allen, Thomas Allen's mother, and young Thomas not being very well she said to him, " Thomas, why don't you come up to Pittsfield and be our min- ister?" The church was then in the midst of its thirteen years of candidating for its first minister ; and in answer to that question, Mrs. Allen spoke for her son and said to Mrs. Baker, "Pittsfield! why that's the end of the earth. If Thomas goes up there he'll fall off." Thomas came, however, as we know ; and not only did he avoid falling off, but he remained here for forty-six years; and no doubt this is perhaps the greatest debt that Pittsfield owes to Northampton,- that Northampton gave to this parish and this town its first minister. Hence there is a peculiar appropriateness to-night in the privilege that we have of listening to one who is not only a native and a resident of Northampton, but is a direct descendant both of Thomas and of William Allen: Rev. Henry Goodwin Smith of the Second Church in Northampton, who now will address us.
Mr. Smith said:
I never was in this pulpit before; that is, in this incarnation. But this pulpit and this town seem strangely familiar. Is it because I have-pardon my speaking thus, I cannot otherwise-is it because I have within my veins eighty years of Pittsfield life, of the Colonial, the Continental, and the Constitutional eras? Is it because I claim fifty-three years of your first history ?
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