History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 28

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 28

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symptomatical fever," and on the 25th day of the month he passed away from earth. A writer of his own time mentions the death of Mr. Hooker, and Mr. Phillips, of Watertown, and that of " the holy, heavenly, soul-affecting, sonl-ravishing minister, Mr. Thomas Shepard, pastor of the church at Cambridge, whose departure was very heavily taken by all the people of Christ round about him ; and now New England, that had such heaps upon heaps of the riches of Christ's tender, compassionate mercies, being turned from his dandling knees, began to read their approaching rod, in the bend of his brow and frowns of his former favor- able countenance towards them."

On the day of his death, with perfect memory and clear understanding, Mr. Shepard made his will, with a brief statement of his faith, and gave small be- quests to his sons and a few friends, and left the rest of his estate to his wife. The inventory of his posses- sions amounted to £810. Some of his last words have been preserved. To several young ministers who visited him not long before the end, he said, " Your work is great, and calls for great seriousness. As to myself I can say three things : that the study of every sermon cost me tears; that before I preached a sermon I got good by it myself; and that I always went up into the pulpit as if I were to give up my account to my master." He was solicitons regarding the one who should take his place, and when he found that the man of his choice had commended himself to his people, he was content to depart. So he died, in the forty-fourth year of a large life. His mortal part was laid in the village grave-yard. But nothing now marks the spot. His work is his memorial.

" His name and office sweetly did agree ; Shepard by name, and in his ministry."

It is evident that Mr. Shepard was greatly esteemed and with good reason. He was a thoughtful, labor- ions man. He was a scholar. His words are good reading to-day. Some one has made the calculation that in Jonathan Edwards' famous "Treatise con- cerning the Religious Affections," of the two hundred and thirty-two quotations, more than one-half are from Shepard. He took time to prepare himself for his public work. It is said that he always finished his preparation for the pulpit by two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, accounting " that God would curse that man's labors who goes lumbering up and down in the world all the week, and then upon Satur- day goes into his study, when, as God knows, that time were little enough to pray in and weep in and get his heart into a frame fit for the approaching Sab- bath." Some of the terms in which he was named have been given. He was "that gracious, sweet, heavenly-minded, and soul-ravishing minister, in whose soul the Lord shed abroad his love so abund- antly that thousands of souls have cause to bless God for him." " A man of a thousand, and endowed with abundance of true, loving knowledge for ' imself and pe.

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others; yet his natural parts were weak, but spent to the full."

" Shepheard's sweet sermons from thy blessing came "-

"Oh Christ why dost thou Shepheard take away,

In erring times, when sheepe most oft do stray ?"

We are permitted to see the influence of Mr. Shep- ard upon certain individuals, and from them to infer his influence on others. This belongs in the annals of the early church as a part of the church life.

Edward Johnson came hither for the second time in 1636, a zealous Puritan. He arrived when the Antinomian conversation was at its height, and was nearly beside himself through the commotion. Leav- ing Charlestown, " turning his face to the sun, he steered his course toward the next town; and after some small travel, he came to a large plain. No sooner was he entered therein, but hearing the sound of a drum, he was directed toward it by a broad beaten way. Following this road, he demanded of the next man he met what the signal of the drum meant. The reply was made that they had as yet no bell to call men to meeting, and therefore made use of a drum. 'Who is it,' quoth he, 'lectures at this town?' The other replies, 'I see you are a stranger new come over, seeing you know not the man ; it is one Mr. Shepard.' 'Verily,' quoth the other, 'you have hit the right. I am new come over, indeed, and have been told since I came, that most of your min- isters are legal preachers ; and, if I mistake not, they told me this man preached a finer covenant of works than the others. But, however, I shall make what haste I can to hear him. Fare ye well.' Then has- tening thither, he crowdeth through the thickest, where having stayed while the glass was turned up twice, the man was metamorphosed ; and was fain to hang down the head often, lest his watery eyes should blab abroad the secret conjunction of his affections, his heart crying loud to his Lord's echoing answer, to his blessed spirit, that caused the speech of a poor, weak, pale-complexioned man to take such impres- sion in his soul at present, by applying the word so aptly, as if he had been his privy counselor ; clearing Christ's work of grace in the soul from all those false doctrines which the erroneous party had affrighted him withal; and he resolves, the Lord willing, to live and die with the ministers of New England whom he now saw the Lord had not only made zeal- ous to stand for the truth of his discipline, but also for the doctrine, and not to give ground one inch." Mr. Johnson was a man of learning and property? and had a leading part in the erecting of a church and town at Woburn and in the administration of public affairs.

As we read the names of those who were in college during these years, we have another indication of the influence of the church. Out of this happy semi- nary, writes Cotton Mather, "there proceeded many notable preachers, who were made such very much by their sitting under Mr. Shepard's enlightening and

powerful ministry." Among these young men was William Hubbard, long the most eminent solicitor in Essex County ; and Samuel Mather, of that house whose name and deeds are intertwined with the early church history of the Colony; and Samuel Danforth, tutor and fellow of the college ; and Wil- liam Ames, and John Brock. There were John Rogers, president, and William Oakes, pastor and president ; and Leonard Hoar, president; and Samuel Phillips, "an incomparable man, had he not been the father of Samuel."

There was another student, of whom special men- tion must be made. This carries our narration for- ward. At the head of the names of the class of 1647 stands Jonathan Mitchel, Mr. Socius. He was born in 1624 in Yorkshire, "of pious and wealthy par- ents," who sought " to make him learned by a proper education." In his tenth year he had a "sore fever," which " settled in his arm with such troublesome effects, that his arm grew and kept a little hent, and he could never stretch it out right." When he was about eleven years of age his parents were driven out of England by the " unconscionable impo- sitions and persecutions of the English hierarchy."

They reached Boston in August, 1635. The family settled in Connecticut, and for several years the boy was employed in secular affairs. But he longed for a " learned education," and prevailed on his father to allow him to enter college, which he did in 1645. " He had a clear head, a copious fancy, a solid judg- ment, a tenacious memory, and a certain discretion, without any childish laschete or levity in his be- havior, which commanded respect ; 80 that . they that knew him from a child, never knew him other than a man." He has come down to us as the " Matchless Mitchel." His serious impres- sions began very early, and were deepened and guided in the village church. In his own words : "Unless it had been four years living in heaven, I know not how I could have more cause to bless God with wonder, than for these four years." After grad- uating he was made a fellow of the college, and was for a time a tutor.

His services as pastor were sought by several of the most considerable churches in the country. "The Church of Hartford in particular, being therein countenanced and encouraged by the Reverend Mr. Stone, sent a man and horse above one hundred miles to obtain a visit from him, in expectation to make him the successor of their ever-famous Hooker." There he preached his first sermon, and on the next day he was invited to become the minis- ter of the church. Large inducements were offered him. He did not accept the proposals, because before his journey Mr. Shepard, with the principal persons here, had prayed him to return to them, “ as he did upon divers accounts most belong to Cam- bridge, and Cambridge did hope that he would yet more belong unto them." He preached here on the

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

12th of Angnst, 1649. In the evening Mr. Shep- ard told him "This is the place where he should, by right, be all the rest of his days; and inquiring of some good people how Mr. Mitchel's first sermon was. , approved among them, they told him very well. Then said he, my work is done!" In less than a fortnight Shepard's work was indeed done. Mitchel received a unanimous invitation to become the pastor in his place, and he was ordained on the 21st of August, 1650. The neighboring pastor performed the service of ordination, and the Reverend John Cotton gave him the right hand of fellowship on be- half of the ministers and churches. His esteem for those who had made him their minister is manifest in his own words : "They were a gracious, savowry- spirited people, principled by Mr. Shepard, liking an humbling, mourning, heart-breaking ministry and spirit ; living in religion, praying men and women. Here I might have occasion of many sweet heart- breakings before God, which I have so much need of.'

His entrance into his parish was complete. He was to have married Sarah, the daughter of Mr. Cot- ton. When he " addressed himself unto the vener- able old Mr. Cotton for leave to become his son-in- law," Mr. Cotton, "prognosticating the eminence which he would arrive unto, gave leave unto it." " But the immature death of that hopeful young gentlewoman " prevented " so desirable a match." "The young gentlewoman whom his predecessor had married a little before his decease, he now also mar- ried upon the general recommendations of that widow unto him; and the epithalamiums with which · the students of the college then celebrated their mar- riage withal were expressive of the satisfaction which it gave nnto all the good people in the vicin- ity." Thns, on the 19th of November, 1650, Marga- ret Shepard became Margaret Mitchel. In the fol- lowing May the General Court confirmed a deed " Wherein is conveyed to Mr. Jonathan Mitchell, now husband of Margaret, the reliet of the said Mr. Sheapheard, a dwelling-house, yards, orchards, and seven acres of land adjoining thereunto, in behalf of his said wife."

Thus hopefully, happily, the second pastorate of the church began. The man was prepared for the work, but there came with it enongh of adversity to make proof of his courage and constancy. It is sin- gnlar that his first public trial came from one from whom he could have expected only comfort and sup- port. Henry Dunster, president of the college, was, to use the language of Cotton Mather, "unac- countably fallen into the briars of antipædobaptism ; and being briar'd in the scruples of that persua- sion, he not only forbore to present an infant of his own unto the Baptism of our Lord, but also thought himself under some obligation to bear his testimony in some sermons against the administra- tion of baptism to any infants whatsoever." Mr.

Dunster had come from England in 1640, holding or- ders, it is supposed, in the English church, but in strong sympathy with the Puritan movement. He had a high reputation for piety and learning, and was almost immediately called to preside over the col- lege, with the title of president. Mr. Shepard de- scribes him as " a man pions, painful and fit to teach, and very fit to lay the foundations of the domesticall affairs of the College, whom God hath much honored and blessed." He was received to the church here as an accession of strength. He preached in the neigh- boring churches with great acceptance. After Mr. Shepard's death he was called " to supply " the va- cant pnlpit. He was in accord with the doctrines of the church, although he thonght that baptism by im- mersion was to be preferred. In his confession he said, concerning baptism : " I believe that only be- lievers and their seed ought to be received into the church by that sacrament. And as children, so those that come to mature age ought to be re- ceived into the church by baptism. And concerning the outward elements, something there is concerning sprinkling in the Scripture; hence not offended when it is used." It appears to have been in 1652 that he changed his views regarding the baptism of children. The change, which he publicly announced and defended, created a marked sensation. It must have made the staple of much of the social and eccle- siastical life of the community. We quote again from the "Magnolia:" "The brethren of the church were somewhat vehement and violent in their signifying of their dissatisfaction at the obstruction, which the renitencies of that gentleman threat- ened on the peaceable practice of infant baptism, wherein they had hitherto walked; and jndged it necessary for the vindication of the church's name abroad in the conntry, and for the safety of the congregation at home, to desire of him that he would cease preaching as formerly, until he had bet- ter satisfied himself in this point now doubted by him." "The overseers of the college became solici- tous that the students there might not be unawares ensnared in the errors of the President. Where- fore they labored with an extreme agony, either to rescue the good man from his own mistake, or to re- strain him from imposing them upon the hope of the flock." The points at issue cannot be discussed here. They were of the greatest importance in the minds of those who had the church and the college in their charge. The doctrine in question was a part of their life, and was hallowed by the most sacred associations. If Dunster conld claim consideration on account of his character and office, it was, on the other hand, specially important that such a man should be right. This they felt and they acted on their conviction. Their fear went further than this. For a hundred years the name Anabaptist had been connected with fanaticism and extravagance. In Germany this sect denied the authority of magistrates, opposed all laws,

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made war against governments, rejected nearly all the Christian doctrines, and was guilty of the most seditious and vicious practices. There is no ne- cessary connection between the belief out of which the name sprang and the enormities into which many rushed who held it. Nothing could be further from such conduct than the behavior of Dunster. It is not the only time that men have been frightened by a word. The name increased the dread with which the opinions of the president were regarded. In view of the horror which belonged with the name of Anabaptist, it is not very surprising that in 1644 there was a decree of the Court that any person who should openly condemn or oppose the baptizing of infants, or should go about secretly to draw others from the approbation or use of the ordinance, or should purposely depart from the congregation where it was administered, or deny the lawful authority of the magistracy, and should obstinately continue in this opposition after due time and means of conviction, should be sentenced to banishment. Two years after this decree the Court declared, "For such as differ from us only in judgment, . . . and live peaceably amongst us, without occasioning disturbance, etc., such have no cause to complain ; for it hath never been as yet put in execution against any of them, although such are known to live amongst us." It was bard for the church to rebuke a man like President Dunster, who had been to them as a pas- tor. It was a hard position in which Mitchel was placed. He felt himself “ embarrassed in a contro- versy with so considerable a person, and with one who had been his tutor, and a worthy and a godly man." He was slow to proceed to the action which seemed to be demanded. He thought the church too much excited, and said "that some light and less heat would do better." But he was greatly oppressed. " This business did lie down and rise up, sleep and wake with me." He labored in private with Dunster, but it was of no avail. He fasted and prayed ; he sought help from neighboring ministers; then pub- licly and formally opposed the new teaching of his venerated president. " It was a dismal thing to me, that I should live to see truth or peace dying and decaying in poor Cambridge." He is said to have " preached more than half a score of ungainsayable sermons" upon the subject which occupied the mind of the church, and to have rendered service to other churches in the same cause.

The magistrates asked the ministers to examine into the matter and to inform them "how the matter stands with him in respect of his opinions." Accord- ingly a conference of ministers and elders was held for two days in Boston, in February, 1653-54. The president could not be drawn from his opinions by persuasion or argument, and on the 3d of May, 1654, the General Court commended it to the over- seers of the college and the selectmen of the several towns, not to permit any person to be continued in

the office of instructing the youth in the college or schools who "have manifested themselves unsound in the faith, or scandalous in their lives, and not giving . due satisfaction according to the rules of Christ." The president probably thought that this vote was directed against himself, and he thereupon addressed a letter to the General Court tendering the resignation of his office. The Court referred the matter to the overseers, instructing them "to make provision, in case he persist in his resolution more than one month (and inform the overseers), for some meet person to carry on and end that work for the present." He could have retained both his office and his opinions, if he could have consented to be silent in regard to his dissenting views. This was out of the question.

On the 30th of July, 1654, " Mr. Dunster spoke to the congregation in the time of the public ordinance, to the interruption thereof, without leave, which was also aggravated in that he, being desired by the Elder to forbear and not to interrupt an ordinance of Christ, yet notwithstanding he proceeded in way of com- plaint to the congregation, saying I am prohibited to speak that in Christ's name which I would have testi- fied. But "in his following speech" he declared his views regarding the baptism of children, in which he was at variance with the church. In the following April he was indicted by the grand jury " for disturb- ance of the ordinances of Christ upon the Lord's day at Cambridge . . to the dishonor of the name of Christ, his truth and minister." The Court, after hearing the evidence, ordered that "at the next Lec- ture at Cambridge," Mr. Henry Dunster "should (by such magistrates as should theu be present) be publicly admonished, and give bond for his good be- havior." He acknowledged that he had said, in sub- stance, the things which were alleged, but he denied that he was conscious of doing or saying anything contemptuously or in open contempt of God's word or messengers. In July, 1655, the overseers informed Mr. Dunster that the welfare of the college and of the colony made his removal necessary. In October he gave in his final resignation. Thus his fourteen years of zealous and helpful service came to an end.

Mr. Dunster was left in a peculiarly difficult posi- tion. With no office and a blemished repute, though with a blameless life, in which way could he turn ? He petitioned the General Court that he might re- main in his house until his accounts were settled, and that he might be allowed to "prosecute the spiritual and temporal weal of the inhabitants" of the colony,. "in preaching the Gospel of Christ, teaching or train- ing up of youth, or in any other laudable or liberal calling, as God shall chalk out his way, and when, and where, and in what manner he shall find acceptance." His petition was denied. The reply was signed R. Bellingham, Governor. Mr. Dunster sent in another petition begging for himself and his family the privi- lege of remaining in the president's house till a re- moval could be more easily accomplished. The first

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

reason he gave for his request shows the propriety of it. "The time of the year is unseasonable, being now very near the shortest day, and the depth of winter."

The Court granted him leave to remain till the following March. In due time Mr. Dunster moved to Scituate, where for a few years he was employed in the ministry, serving, though probably not as pastor, the church which had for about twelve years enjoyed the teaching of the Rev. Charles Chauncy, who was made Dunster's successor in the presidency. He died in 1659. In his will he mentions his "reverend and trusty friends and brethren, the president of the col- ledge and the pastor of the church of Cambridge." He gave gifts to both and made them appraisers of his library. He directed that his body should be taken to Cambridge, there to be interred by his lov- ing wife and other relatives. He was brought back as he desired and laid in the old church-yard. The stone which marked the grave has disappeared. A new slab, with an elaborate Latin inscription in Dunster's memory, lies over the grave in which probably Mr. Mitchel was laid. The monument should be removed, but the fame of Dunster will survive though the place of burial is not known. The esteem in which he was held by Mr. Mitchel is evinced by an elegy which he wrote in his memory, a portion of which may well be copied to show the spirit of the writer :

"|Where faith in Jesus is sincere, That soul, he saving, pardoneth ; What wants or errors else be there, That may and do consist therewith.

"And though we he imperfect here, And in one mind can't often meet, Who know in part, in part may err, Though faith be one all do not see't.

"Yet may we well the rest obtain In everlasting bliss above, Where Christ with perfect saints doth reign, In perfect light and perfect love ;

"Then shall we all like-minded be, Faith's unity is there full grown ; There one truth all both love and see, And thence are perfect made in one."

President Chauncey was inaugurated November 27, 1654. He was a notable addition to the church. He was of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a successful and eminent minister in the English Church. But he was of those who could not consent and conform to all which was required, and he was suspended and silenced hy America's benefactor-Archbishop Laud. " Few suffered more for non-comformity than he, by fines, by gaols, by necessities to abscond, and at last by an exile from his native country." He came to New England and found a home in Scituate. But things improved in England, and he was invited to return to his former charge at Ware, in Hert- fordshire. He came to Boston, intending to em- bark, when the invitation to the college changed his plans. He was then sixty-two years old. His salary was a hundred pounds per annum. For seventeen

years he held his important office, "and by the man- ner in which he filled his station fully sustained his high character for talents, learning and piety, and satisfied the expectation of the public." " It is a re- markable fact that the church in Cambridge, with which he connected himself, considered his residence at that place so great a blessing that in a year or two after he came there they kept a whole day of thanks- giving to God for the privilege by which they were thus distinguished."

There was another important discussion upon the subject and subjects of baptism in which Mr. Mitchel had a prominent part. The first settlers here were for the most part members of the church, and their children were duly baptized. But in the course of time there came on another generation of children, many of whose parents had not renewed their baptismal ob- ligations and had not connected themselves with the church. By the rules then in force these persons could not have their children baptized. Yet it was felt that the children of persons who had been bap- tized should be regarded differently from Indians or others who were living in paganism. It was held by many that if baptized persons, even if not considered regenerate, were willing to renew the baptismal cove- nant and become subject to church discipline, their children could properly be baptized. This feeling and practice were growing in the churches, when a synod of the elders and messengers of the churches was called. This was held in Boston in the spring of 1662. Mr. Mitchel was a member of the synod. The result of its deliberations was the declaration of the independence of each church and the duty of the communion of churches-that is, Congregationalism. In regard to baptism, the synod framed what is his- torically known as the Half-way Covenant, which granted baptism to the children of certain persons who were not considered qualified for admission to the Lord's table. The result was chiefly composed by Mitchel, and its defense fell largely upon him. It was an important element in the ecclesiastical life of the town. In connection with this there arose the practice of administering baptism to adults who were not esteemed regenerate, but who owned the covenant and submitted themselves to the care of the church and were of proper moral character. This gave such persons a better standing in the community, and was of especial value so long as suffrage was confined to church members, and there were many persons who otherwise would be denied the full privileges of citi- zens, though fitted for it by age and character. The Cambridge records have three lists of persons in some kind of connection with the church. These have already been mentioned.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 28

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034