USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. I > Part 48
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THOMAS FOXCROFT, Pastor In the Name of the Chh
P. S. The Delegates are desired to meet at Mr. Foxcroft's House by nine Ô clock in the Morning of said Day.]
422
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
of it, and the charge ; and that they make a report to the church as soon as conveniently may be.
II. That the same Committee consider whether this House may be conveniently enlarged, and the charge; and make a report to the church at the same meeting.
III. That the Honble Jonathan Belcher, Major Savage, Capt. Wins- low, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Prout, be a committee to manage the affair above voted.
Voted - I. That fifty Pounds be given out of the last Collection for the further support of the poor of this church and congregation with wood and other necessaries of life.
II. That ten Pounds of the Collection be laid out in Bibles and other Books of piety, to be disposed of to proper objects of such a charity in this church and congregation.
III. That there be a publick collection on the Anniversary Thanks- giving next insuing, Novr. 9, 1727. And that the money collected shall be disposed of to pious and charitable uses, as the church shall from time to time determine. JOSEPH SEWALL
THOMAS PRINCE.
N. B. Novr. 9. 1727. Collected One Hundred and twenty two Pounds.
Between the ordering of this collection and the date of taking it, the town was startled by one of those earthquake shocks with which New England has been visited from time to time ever since its European settlement.
Oct. 29. 1727. Att better than half an hour after ten a clock att night, a very surprising Earthquake in Boston and the Towns round about. Dr. Mather had a full meeting at his church next morning ; and Mr. Sewall and Mr. Foxcroft att their churches next night by candle-light, for prayer and preaching.1 (J. Bumstead.).
October 30 I find the Town was in a general Consternation last night. There was a publick and very numerous Assembly at the Old- North [this morning.] Dr. Mather preach'd from Micah 6. 9 The Lord's Voice crieth to the City. Several Ministers pray'd. O enable thy people to hear and obey thy Voice. The Lieut. Governor desired that there might be a Meeting at the Old at 5. So many came that it was found needfull to Divide. Accordingly there were two crowded Assemblies - the one at the Old, the other at the South. With us Mr. Prince began with Prayr. I preach'd from Ps : 4. 4. Stand in aw and Sin not. Then Mr. Williams pray'd and I concluded. We sung part of the 46 Ps: I hope God hath been graciously present
1 [Paul Dudley, who was a member of of the earthquake of October 29, 1727, the Royal Society, published an account in its Transactions.]
423
THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1727.
with his Ministers this Day, and the people seem to be generally affected. (J. Sewall.)
" The Thursday of the same week," says Mr. Prince, " was kept as a Day of extraordinary Fasting and Prayer in all the churches in Boston ;" the earthquake was also the subject of discourse on Thanksgiving Day, a week later. Mr. Sewall's sermon of the 30th of October, the Duty of a People to stand in Awe of God, and Mr. Prince's two sermons, preached on Fast Day in the morning and on Thanksgiving Day in the after- noon, from Psalm xviii. 7, Earthquakes the Works of God, and Tokens of his Just Displeasure, were printed.1
. At a church Meeting Nov 21. 1727.
The Report of the Committee appointed last Meeting was read. Voted :
I. That there be two committees appointed; the one, to inquire what encouragement may be given by the church and congregation, towards the Repairing of this House ; the other, to inquire what en- couragement may be given towards the Building a New Meeting- House ; and that they make a Report to the church as soon as con- veniently may be.
II. That Major Savage, Capt. Armitage and Mr. Wentworth be of the one : Capt. Winslow, Deacon Henchman and Mr. Brandon be of the other committee.2
JOSEPH SEWALL.
The Rev. Peter Thacher, youngest son of the Rev. Thomas Thacher, died December 17, 1727.3 He joined the Third Church four years after its foundation, and he had been pastor of the church at Milton forty-six years. Dr. Cotton Mather
1 A second edition of these three ser- thought to do unto them. O spare thy mons was printed; and, in 1755, Mr. people ! Lord hear our Prayers." Prince brought out another edition of his sermons with addenda. The earth- quake of 17,27 will be referred to again in a succeeding chapter.
Mr. Sewall records privately that the Thanksgiving collection of 1727 amount- ed to {122.
There was a "Publick Fast upon ac- count of the Earthquake," December 21, and Mr. Sewall preached from Jer. xviii. 7, 8. " At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it : If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I
2 [ Nov. "On the 21, a Church meet- ing att the Old South Church, and then it was voted that two Committees should be chosen, one to see what incourage- ment they could gett towards repairing the meeting house now standing. The other to see what encouragement they could get towards building a new house." - Jeremiah Bumstead's Journal.]
3 "On the 22d I accompanied my honored Father, Mr. Prince, Mr. Cooper to the funeral of the Revd Mr. Thach- er - Was a bearer. . .. My Father bore the journey very well; but when going in at his Gate slip'd, and much hurt his shin." (J. Sewall.)
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
preached his funeral sermon, and this was the last occasion on which this eminent man officiated in public ; his own death took place Tuesday, February 13, 1727-8,1 and his funeral sermon was preached by his colleague, Mr. Gee. At the Thursday Lec- ture immediately following Dr. Mather's death, Mr. Colman, who had preached his father's funeral sermon five years before, took for his text Gen. v. 24: " And Enoch walked with God ; and he was not, for God took him." "We mourn," he said, " the decease from us of the first minister in the Town, the first in age, in gifts and in grace ; as all his brethren very read- ily own. I might add (it may be without offence to any) the first in the whole Province and Provinces of New England, for universal literature, and extensive services." This was gener- ous praise on the part of Mr. Colman, and we may believe that it was just, for no man knew Cotton Mather - his excellences and his defects - better than he. He said further : -
Love to Christ and his servant commands me to draw a veil over every failing : For who is without them ? Not ascending Elijah him- self ; who was a man of like passions with his brethren the prophets ; and we have his mantle left us wherewith to cover the defects and in- firmities of others after their translation in spirit. These God remem- bers no more, and why should we? and he blots out none of their good deeds, and no more should we.
A church meeting was notified on Sunday, February 25, to hear the reports of the committees appointed three months be- fore in reference to the meeting-house. We can well under- stand that there might be, as indeed there was, a difference of opinion as to the desirableness of erecting a new building, and that there would be on the part of the older members such an attachment to their accustomed Sabbath home that they would be unable to do full justice to the considerations presented on the other side. When the foundation of the second Jewish
1 "On the 13th between 8 and 9 a. m. Dr. Mather Expir'd. Thus hath the Sovereign God brought this very Active usefull life to an End. Lord Sanctify this awfull Rebuke, to his Family, Flock, Town and the whole Land." (J. Sewall.) There had been a public meeting at the Old North "with regard to Dr. Mather's broken state of health " on the 31st of January; Messrs. Colman, Thacher, Sewall, and Prince prayed, and Mr. Cooper preached.
" Feb. 19. The Rev'd Dr. Mather was buried. Bearers, the Revd Messrs. Col- man, Thacher, Prince, Webb, Cooper, Sewall. A vast concourse of people. Lord sanctify thine Iland, and help us duly to lay it to heart. The Brethren of the Bereaved Flock, with their Pastor [Mr. Gee] went before the Corpse. When we return'd to the House of mourning Mr. Walter pray'd." (J. Sew- all.) Mr. Sewall preached at the North Brick March 10.
425
"THE DAYS THAT ARE NO MORE."
temple was laid, we are told that many of the priests and Le- vites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice. Their emotions were touched in part, no doubt, by the remembrance of the architectural magnificence which could not be reproduced by their generation ; but also, we may think, by the recurrence to their minds of all the happy days and scenes in their national history and national worship, which were gone never to return. "Oh, death in life, the days that are no more." To many of the members of the South Church it probably seemed that to take down the old walls where they and their fathers had worshipped, and where so many learned and saintly men had preached the gospel of Christ, and to rear new ones in their stead, which should be as bare of associations within as of weather-stains and ivy without, was to open a gulf between them and the past which their fond and tender sensibilities would be unable to traverse. Judge Sewall was one of these. Every timber in the building was dear to him. His honored father-in-law, John Hull, and other noble men of the early days had made personal and pecuniary sacrifices to erect this house of worship, and to maintain in it the ordinances of the gospel. Mary Chilton, who came over in the Mayflower, and Simon Bradstreet, who came over in the Arbella, had there lifted up their hearts and voices in prayer and praise. The Thachers, the Mathers, Samuel Wil- lard, Solomon Stoddard, John Eliot (no doubt), and nearly all the prominent divines of the second generation had spoken from its pulpit. Here Sewall, half a century before, and, eleven years later, the wife of his youth, when she was en- abled to overcome her self-distrust and sense of unworthi- ness, had entered into solemn covenant with God and with his church ; and here their children, most of them now in heaven, had been given to Him in baptism. Here, also, Sewall had stood, with bowed head and crushed heart, to make humble confession for his share in the madness of the witchcraft delu- sion. With all his memories and sympathies, we can well understand why he should cling tenaciously to that which was old, and earnestly deprecate its destruction. And yet, as seems to have been his habit, he contented himself with a strong and free expression of his preferences and convictions, and then, finding himself in a decided minority, he said nothing more on the subject. Mr. Bromfield, he tells us, called and urged him to attend the meeting, and, when he declined, asked him to
426
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
write a letter, which he promised to do. This letter, for which Mr. Bromfield called again to take to the meeting, was read, but does not appear in the proceedings. It was as follows : -
To the Reverend Mr. Joseph Sewall, and to the Reverend Mr. Thomas
Prince, Pastors of the South Church in Boston, and to the Brethren of said Church, assembled in a Church Meeting, on Tuesday, the seven and twentieth day of February, 1727-8.
In which Meeting Two Questions are to be Answered to wit : Whether the Old Meeting House shall be Repaired, or a New One builded.
That our Meeting House needs Repairing, is Apparent : and I ap- prehend that it ought to be done as soon as the Season of the year will admit.
But as for the building of a New Meeting house, it is now unsea- sonable. God in his holy Providence preserving this, seems plainly to advise us to the contrary. This is a very good Meeting house, and we have not convenient room to build a New one in, while this is standing. And considering the Terrible Earth-Quakes we have had, shaking all our Foundations, it behooves us to walk humbly with our God and to observe the divine Counsel given to Baruch by the Prophet Jeremiah in the forty-fifth Chapter : And to take care that we do not say in the Pride and greatness of [our] heart, We will cut down the Sycamores, and change them into Cedars, (Isaiah, 9. 10.) We ought to look not only on our own Things, but also on the things of others, (Philip. 2. 4.,) and beware that we do not unjustly and violently Oust them of what they are lawfully possessed of.
Besides I fear the Mischief is like to be distressing, for want of a place to worship God in, while the New Meeting House is setting up.
Upon these, and such like Considerations, I dissent from those Brethren, who promote the building a New Meeting House at this Time, and pray that what I have written may be entred in the Church Records. SAML. SEWALL.
After the lapse of one hundred and sixty years we comply with the request of the noble judge, and give his letter a per- manent place in the annals of the church.
At a church Meeting, Feb. 27. 1727-8.
After some considerable discourse -
This Question was put to the Brethren ;
Whether it was their mind that this House should be repaired and enlarged ; or a new Meeting House Built.
They voted by papers.
There were twenty of the Brethren for repairing and enlarging this House.
Fourty one for building a New Meeting House.
427
A NEW BUILDING PROPOSED.
Upon which they pass'd this Vote ; viz.
The church, having judged it advisable, with submission to Provi- dence, that a New Meeting House be built for the publick Worship of God ; Desire that the Brethren of the Congregation would give them a meeting upon that affair, next Tuesday, at half an hour past 2 a clock P. M.
Voted - That Twenty Pounds be given out of the Collection for the supply of the present necessities of the poor, according to the dis- cretion of the Committee. JOSEPH SEWALL.
N. B. The Church and Congregation met, and the affair above mentioned was communicated to them.
We must assume that many of the brethren of the majority who voted for a new meeting-house were as warmly attached to the old building as were the brethren of the minority. But, forecasting the future, they saw that the best prosperity of the church demanded larger and better accommodations; that to repair and enlarge the old house would only serve as a tempo- rary expedient ; and that the question of a new structure would be sure to present itself again at no distant day. The old walls, after all, were but as the casket to the jewel, the body to the spirit, the symbol to the thing signified. The church - vital, spiritual, permanent - was of inconceivable more importance than the enclosure of wood of which it had been making use, and which at any moment might be utterly consumed by fire. Moreover, all that was truly precious in the past history of the church - the traditions of its foundation, the teachings of its ministers, the lives of its sainted members - was its assured and imperishable possession, amid whatever surrounding con- ditions it might maintain the historic continuity of its Christian worship and service. The past should be always an incentive to us, never an incubus ; a lofty inspiration, not an unyielding despotism. It is entitled to our reverential regard, but our paramount duty, both in thought and action, concerns the pres- ent and the future. And the future will mature for others, soft- ening, subduing, sanctifying influences and impressions, like those with which the past has enriched us. It would have as- tonished the men of the minority in 1728 if they had been told that a minority in 1872 would be as unwilling to vacate the sec- ond meeting-house of the South Church as they were to give up the first. They could not foresee that the bright new build- ing of 1730 was destined to become the most venerated church- edifice in New England.
428
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
At a meeting of the Church March 15. 1727-8
Voted - (out of the money collected -)
I. That Twenty Pounds be delivered to Deacon Henchman for the purchasing of Bibles with the New England Psalms, at eight and three- pence pr. Bible, to be distributed to proper objects as there shall be occasion.
2. That ten Pounds be distributed in other Books of piety, at the discretion of the Trustees.
3. That twenty Pounds be given to Mr. Josiah Cotton, to encour- age his settlement at Providence ; provided, he accept of the call which we are informed, is given him to the work of the Ministry there.1
4. That fifteen Pounds be given to the Revd Mr. Mathew Short of Easton for his encouragement in the work of the Ministry, part in money, and part in books, as the Trustees shall judge proper upon discoursing with him.
5. That fifteen Pounds be given to the Rev. Mr. James Hale of Ashford, for his encouragement in the work of the Ministry.
6. That fifteen Pounds be given to the Rev. Mr. Nathanael Prentice of Dunstable, for his encouragement in the work of the Ministry, to be laid out in Books, as the Trustees shall judge proper upon dis- coursing with him.
7. That ten Pounds be given for the further supply of the present Necessities of the poor of this church and congregation, in wood &c. at the Discretion of the Trustees.
8. That there be a publick collection for pious and charitable uses, on the Anniversary Fast next insuing March 21. 1727-8.
9. That the Trustees have their accounts fairly stated, and lay them before the church at least twice in a year, before the Anniversary Fasts and Thanksgivings.
Voted, I. That Capt. Winslow, Deacon Henchman and Mr. Bran- don, of the church, and Mr. William Foye, Mr. Daniel Goffe and Mr. Samuel Holyoke of the congregation, be a committee to take subscrip- tions towards the building of a New Meeting-House ; and make a Re- port to the church on the third Tuesday in April next.
Voted, II. That the Honble Jonathan Belcher, Daniel Oliver, Jo- siah Willard esqrs. Mr. Ezekiel Lewis, Mr. Samuel Wells, Capt. Gerrish and Mr. Francis Borland, be a committee to survey the land belonging to this church, to consider of the most convenient place to
1 [Mr. Cotton graduated at Cam- bridge in 1722, and was settled over the First Congregational Church in Provi- dence in 1728. He was dismissed at his own request in 1747. The South Church made appropriations to encour- age him in his work for several years.
Oct. 1728. " On the 23d Inst. a congre- gational Church was publickly gather'd at Providence, and Mr. Josiah Cotton ordain'd their Pastor, the Elders and Messengers of 18 churches being pres- ent." (J. Sewall.) Mr. Prince took part in this service.]
429
PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS.
set the House upon, to draw a Projection of the Building, and com- pute the Cost; And that they make a Report to the church on the third Tuesday in April next. JOSEPH SEWALL.
N. B. March 21. 1727-S. Collected One hundred and seventeen pounds.
March 26. Mrs. Mary [widow of John] Dafforne laid in her grave in the old Burying Place, AEts. 78. Bearers, Sewall, Byfield ; Oliver, Capt. Ephraim Savage ; Capt Ballentine, Deacon Marshall. It seems Mr. Moffat, who married the only daughter, belongs to the old Church ; and the Bearers were equally divided [between the First and Third churches]. She was of my Father Hull's privat Meeting, I hope a good Woman ; much Confin'd. I am griev'd I visited her no more, though hindered by my own Sickness and indisposition. (Sew- all.)
At a Meeting of the Church April 16. 1728.
The Reports of the Committees were read.
There was a motion made, whether the Vote pass'd by the church, at their meeting, Febr. 27. 1727-S, For the Building a New Meeting- House, should be re-considered.
Neg.
Voted ; - I. That a reasonable consideration be made in the New Meeting-House to such as have a right to pews in this House, as the Church shall determine
II. That the committee for taking subscriptions towards the build- ing a New Meeting-House be continued ; And that they give to the members of this church and congregation opportunity of subscribing till the end of May next ; After which, they may receive the subscrip- tions of others as they shall judge proper.
Voted - That Five Pounds be given out of the Collection towards the discharging Mr. Abbot's accompt relating to Providence Meeting- House. JOSEPH SEWALL.
At a Meeting of the Church April 23. 1728.
Voted - I. That the New Meeting House be set upon that place on which the old House now standeth.
II. That the draught of the Building drawn and offered by the committee be accepted so far as concerns the Dimensions and out- ward form of the House; Reserving to the committee that shall be employed for the Building, a Liberty to propose to the Church, such alterations as they shall judge convenient.
It was then proposed to the church whether the New House should be built with Wood ; but a vote was not obtained for it.
III. That there be a committee chosen to make provision for the Building, and to take the Oversight of it : The said committees to con-
430
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
sider whether it be advisable to Build with Brick or Stone, and make a Report to the church as soon as conveniently may be.
IV. That the Honble. Jonathan Belcher, Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Ezekiel Lewis, Mr. Samuel Wells and Mr. William Foye be of this committee.
V. That the Honble. Daniel Oliver be the Treasurer to receive the money to be collected by the committee for subscriptions towards the Building of the New Meeting-House ; and to pay out the same accord- ing to the orders of the committee for Building.
VI. That Mr. James Pemberton be added to the committee for sub- scriptions in the place of Capt. Winslow.
VII. That Mr. Francis Borland be added to the committee for sub- scriptions, in the room of Mr. William Foye.
VIII. That the Money which the Hon. Daniel Oliver hath received for the use of the church be paid by him according to the orders of the committee for Building. JOSEPH SEWALL.
Captain Winslow and Mr. Foye were excused from serving on the committee to obtain subscriptions, because they had been placed on the building committee. A few words about the members of the building committee will be appropriate. Of the chairman, the Hon. Jonathan Belcher, we have already spoken. After spending some time abroad, he became a mer- chant, and soon entered upon political life. He was a member of the council, and in the spring of 1729 was sent to England as an agent of the province.1 This must have interfered with the discharge of his duties on the building committee. Ed- ward Winslow was son of Edward, and grandson of John and Mary (Chilton) Winslow, who came to Boston in their old age, and united with the church by letter from the Plymouth Church.2 He was a goldsmith, colonel of a regiment, captain of the artillery company in 1714 and 1729, sheriff of the county of Suffolk, and shortly before his death judge of the court of common pleas. His wife, Hannah, was a daughter of the Rev. Joshua Moodey. Ezekiel Lewis was a son of William Lewis, of Farmington, Connecticut, and a grandson of Ezekiel Cheever, of Boston. He graduated at Harvard College in 1695, and taught for a time, first in Westfield, and then in Boston as an
1 Mch 4, 1728-9. " We were at Mr. Belcher's where the afternoon was spent in Prayr, He being with his eldest Son bound for London. Lord hear! Let thy presence goe with thy Servants." (J. Sewall.)
2 See ante, pp. 181, 182. Mr. J. Sewall
mentions the death, September 16, 1728, of Mrs. Winslow, in her eighty-ninth year, " the Eldest person of our commun- ion and congregation, and I trust died in the Lord." We suppose her to have been the mother of Edward Winslow, the goldsmith.
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THE BUILDING COMMITTEE.
assistant to his grandfather. He became a successful merchant, and was selectman and representative. His first wife was Mary Brading or Breadon, and his second, Abigail, widow of Roger Kilcup, whom he married in 1704. Samuel Welles was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and was a great-grandson of Governor Thomas Welles, of that colony. He graduated at Yale College in 1707, and was ordained pastor of the church in Lebanon. He became engaged to Abigail (who changed her name to Hannah) Arnold, daughter of Captain Berechiah and Abigail Arnold, and granddaughter of Theophilus Frary. As she was an only child and heiress to a large landed property, her parents were desirous that Mr. Welles should move to Boston, and he did so, much to the regret of his people in Lebanon. He became a member of the South Church in 1728, and was imme- diately called to serve upon important committees. He also took a prominent position in the town and province, and, in 1753, succeeded Edward Winslow on the bench.1 William Foye was a son of Captain John Foye, who commanded vessels in the London trade, and a nephew of Jonathan Belcher ; he was for many years the treasurer of the province.
April 25. I was at a Council at Linn - End. (12 churches there.) Mr. Sparrowhawk not joining in calling this Council was not free to submit the matter in Controversy to their Determination. They agreed to joyn in calling another Council of 9 Churches. (J. Sewall.)
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