USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 14
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Communion Sabbath May 6th 1770
The Bretheren of the Church were stayed at the end of the Com- munion Exercise, and a letter of the 2d inst from Deacon Sewall was read, wherein for Reasons therein mentioned, "he beg'd leave to re- sign the office and to retire that the church might have Opportunity to fill the place with one able to assist" his "bretheren, and to offi- ciate in the Church." He also desired the Church's prayers for him and Compassion " as the matter calls for." With respect to this last article, they unanimously Voted - That the Deacons afford him Re- lief according to their best discretion and as his need shall require.
DAVID JEFFRIES, moderator.2
At a meeting of the Brethren of the Society Usually meeting at the old South Church July 9th 1770, Thomas Cushing, Moderator.
The Committee appointed to Consult upon measures to expedite the settlement of a minister report that as itt had been suggested that Mr. McWhorter minister at Newwark in New jersey was about to leave his people, that they had made some inquiry relative to the
1 Mr. Marsh received the degree of (Quincy), died February 15, 1770. The D. D. from Harvard College in 1806. He died in 1821, in his seventy-ninth year.
2 [Deacon Sewall's wife, Elizabeth
Boston Gazette, recording her death, speaks of her as " the amiable, virtuous and desirable Consort of Samuel Sewall, Esqr." She was in her forty-first year.]
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Gentleman aforesaid and had heard that in case this church should see their way clear to give him a call to settle with them that there would be no Difficulty so far as Respected him; but whether the Church would be willing to part with him and what difficulty there would be with the presbytery about his removal could not be deter- min'd : and after some debate itt appearing improper to Invite him to preach upon probation while he remained connected with the Church at Newwark and that under these circumstances it was not provable the Church would see their way clear to give him a call, and if the pastoral relation was dissolved itt would be premature till they heard him further and were better acquainted with his carracter and princi- pals, it was there upon Voted that the Committee should continue to consult upon measures for the expediting the settlement of a min- ister.
The Rev. Alexander McWhorter was a graduate of the Col- lege of New Jersey, and was settled in Newark in 1759, as the successor of the Rev. Aaron Burr, who had been called to the presidency at Princeton. His wife was a sister of the Rev. Alexander Cumming. He had been out of health for some time, and coming northward, made a visit in Boston, where he seems to have preached and to have made a very favorable im- pression.1 Dr. Sprague thus speaks of the result of this visit : -
Shortly after his return from Boston, overtures were made to him from the congregation in that town which had some time before be- come vacant by the death of his brother in law, the Rev. Alexander Cumming, to become their pastor ; or rather, as they had scruples about calling a settled minister, - to resign his charge at Newark, with a view to accepting a call from them ; but he declined the pre- liminary step, and the matter went no further.
Dr. McWhorter was a distinguished minister in the Presbyte- rian Church, and, with some intervals of absence, continued to preach in Newark until his death in 1807.
At a meeting of the Brethren of the Society July 9th 1770.
Voted That Mr. Cushing, Deacon Phillips and Col. Jackson be a committee to Invite the Rev. Mr. John Bacon to preach to the So- ciety for the Space of three months upon probation and to desire him for that purpose to Return from Maryland where he is now bound as soon as possible.
Voted that Mr. John Winslow be and hereby is desired to Apply to Mr. Ward to Supply the pulpit for six Sabbaths.
1 During this visit, Mr. and Mrs. Mc- invitation of Mrs. Cumming, as we judge Whorter were painted by Copley, at the from the receipt which is extant.
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A CASE OF DISCIPLINE.
Voted that the persons who may from time to time supply the pulpit shall be allowed their board for the Time they Tarry in town and also the charge of keeping their horses.
Voted that the Deacons get the wall in the steeple new pointed and Repaired as soon as possible.
Voted that Mr. Secretary Oliver, Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Jno. Wins- low be a Committee to examine the Deacons accounts.
Mr. Ephraim Ward, mentioned above, was a native of New- ton, and a graduate at Cambridge in 1763. He was ordained pastor of the church in West Brookfield in 1771, and died there in 1818, aged seventy-seven.
Mr. Bacon was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, and gradu- ated at Princeton in 1765, in the same class with Ebenezer Pem- berton (the third of the name), Jonathan Edwards (the younger), and Jacob Rush. After being licensed he spent some time preaching in Somerset County, Maryland.
Lords Day August 5. 1770
The Brethren of the Church were staid and appointed a Meeting on Monday the 6th at II O'clock. August 6th. The Brethren met and took into consideration the Case of our brother Mr. A. T., who has walked very disorderly for years past. ... Mr. Josiah Waters and Jeremiah Belknap were chosen to see him relative [to] his attendance ; he came and acknowledged the latter charge ; after some Conversa- tion the Church determined to defer coming to a Resolution as to the manner of their proceedure on this sorrowful Occasion untill their adjournment, which is to be this Day fortnight at 10 o'clock A. M., whereof they acquainted said T. and desired his attendance at the adjournment ; at the same time letting him know, that they should endeavour to conduct towards him with all Christian Tenderness, yet they looked upon themselves obliged to act agreable to the strictest Laws of Christ's Kingdom.
Voted - that Deacon Jeffries and Deacon Phillips, (Deacon Sewall being removed out of town for the Benefit of his health,) together with Coll. Jackson be a Committee to wait upon the Revd Mr. George Whitefield when he comes to Town, which event is very soon ex- pected, and make him the Offer of the pulpitt to preach in, whenever he shall think proper, Lord's days excepted.
Whereas there is a Considerable Number of Members of other Churches, some of whom have for a longer, others for a shorter time partook with us at the Lords Table, but have not been Dismissed from those Churches, or regularly admitted to this - Voted that Brother William Homes and Thomas Dawes be a Committee to wait upon such members and signify to them that it is the Desire of this Church, that they would obtain such Dismission from those Churches in order to their being regularly admitted into this.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Voted, that Deacon Jeffries, Deacon Phillips, Thomas Cushing, Will- iam Whitwell, Jonathan Mason, John Scollay, and Henderson Inches (a Committee chosen and appointed 26th September 1769, on a like occasion), be a Committee to prepare the Draft of a Letter to the Revd Mr. Samuel Blair, (lately our pastor,) in Consequence of a letter received from him dated, Philadelphia October 31 1769, and lay the same before this Church for their approbation.
Voted that the Deacons notify the Church the next Lords day, that there is to be a meeting of this Church on Monday the 20th inst., at IO o'Clock Forenoon, then to proceed to the Choice of some suitable person to serve in the Office of a Deacon ; the ill state of Deacon Sewalls Health, and his Removal into the Country on that account, making it necessary ; to which Time also this meeting stands ad- journed. DAVID JEFFRIES, Moderator.1
Mr. Whitefield came to New England in August, to preach, as the event proved, his last sermons, and to lay his weary body down to sleep the sleep that knows no earthly waking. On Tuesday the 14th, he arrived in Boston from Wrentham, where he had preached in the morning ; and for the next four or five weeks he preached almost every day in Boston and the neigh- boring towns. There being no pastor at the Old South to wel- come him to its pulpit as during his previous visits, the breth- ren, as we have seen, placed it at his disposal, and he occupied it frequently, perhaps more than any other, during his stay.2
We are indebted to a satirical letter addressed to the asso- ciated pastors of the town, written as we suspect by Shippie
1 [In a letter to the author, from the Rev. Charles Chauncy Sewall, dated Medfield, May 3, 1886, in reply to in- quiries, the writer says: "In regard to the circumstances respecting my grand- father, Deacon Samuel Sewall, I have had this information from my brother, Rev. Samuel Sewall, that in consequence of some unfortunate connection with others, in his business affairs, my grand- father lost his property, and became so much depressed and partially deranged, that it was thought necessary to remove him from his home, and he was taken to the town of Holliston, Mass., where he died."]
2 On Wednesday afternoon, August 15, he preached at the Old North, Mr. Lathrop's ; on Thursday afternoon, at the Old South; on Friday morning, at the New North, Dr. Eliot's; on Saturday
morning, at the New Brick, Mr. Pember- ton's ; on Sunday, in Malden ; on Mon- day morning, at the Old South; and on Tuesday morning, at the New North. This we learn from the newspapers ; also, that he preached at the Old South, on Friday, August 24, "to a larger and more crowded audience than any since his arrival here ; " again, on Wednesday, August 29; and, again, on Monday, Sep- tember 3, to "five thousand people."
Mr. Charles Brooks, in his History of Medford, says that Mr. Whitefield preached a dedicatory discourse in the new meeting-house in that town, August 26, 1770, from the text 2 Chron. v. 14. This was the third meeting-house of the First Church; it had been occupied by the congregation since March, but may not have been completed until August.
:
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MR. WHITEFIELD'S LAST VISIT.
Townsend, and printed in the Evening Post, for certain infor- mation as to how Mr. Whitefield was received at this time. It had been announced that "a letter of thanks was preparing for the associated pastors of the churches in this town, for their steady, uniform and shining conduct respecting religious matters, in the present time of trial both of truth and honesty ; shewing the natural tendency hereof to discourage the growth of deism, and to promote pure and undefiled religion in their respective churches." The writer in the Post, referring to this letter, pro- ceeds to thank the pastors in rather a mocking way for the cordial manner in which they had received Mr. Whitefield. " I thank you," he says, that
You were pleased so early to wait on him, congratulating him on his safe arrival once more in dear Boston, and some of you, with the committees of your respective churches, freely and cheerfully offering him the use of your meeting houses and pulpits, when, and as often as, he thought proper. He accordingly preached in all of them, one only excepted, [the New South :] He was prevented preaching in this one (as we suppose) by the sad catastrophe which happened in that meeting house the first visit he made here, whereby several lost their lives, and as being advised by his friends to carry on the work of his preaching while here in the Old South meeting house, and that at the North in which Doctor Eliot statedly preaches, as being most conven- ient for the purpose ; and he has kept steadily preaching at these two places, for about three weeks, to large and crowded auditories, com- posed of all sorts of people . .. And we are the more obliged to you, Reverend Gentlemen, for your constant and unwearied attend- ance, particularly on his morning lectures, and hope your health will not be prejudiced hereby, as we are sensible it must occasion your rising much sooner than common. We have once, at least, observed eight or nine ministers in the pulpit, who seemed equally and variously affected with the people, by what this man of God delivered, and doubt not you will endeavour to follow the example herein set you, as to matter and manner.1
In a postscript, the writer adds that he does not include in the above address " the senior of the associated pastors," Dr.
1 [A letter, evidently from the same pen, appears in the Evening Post, Sep- tember 10, addressed to the venerable Mr. Appleton, of Cambridge, calling him to account for inviting Mr. Whitefield to his pulpit, and reminding him of his Convention Sermon of 1743. See ante, vol. i. p. 537. Another letter, which we
know to have been written by Mr. Town- send, appears in the Massachusetts Spy, August 28, addressed to Mr. Whitefield, containing a captious criticism on a ser- mon preached by him at the Old South, August 24, from Zech. ix. 12: "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope."]
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Chauncy, nor "the Rev. and worthy Mr. Mather." Whether or not the meeting-house's of these two pastors were opened to Mr. Whitefield we are left in doubt. The letter says expressly that he preached in all the meeting-houses, "one only excepted." In a letter written from Boston, September 17, Mr. Whitefield thus speaks of this visit : -
All opposition seems, as it were, for a while to cease. I find God's time is the best. The season is critical as to outward circumstances ; but when forts are given up, the Lord Jesus can appoint salvation for walls and for bulwarks ; he has promised to be a wall of fire round about his people.
On the 21st of September he went on a tour to the eastward, as far as York. Retracing his steps towards Boston, he preached in the open air at Exeter on the morning of Saturday, the 29th, and reached the house of his friend, the Rev. Mr. Parsons, in Newburyport, the same evening. He was literally worn out. One of his ejaculations that day had been: "O Lord, I am weary in thy work, but not of thy work." Early in the night his symptoms became alarming (his complaint was asthma), and after a few hours of suffering, on Sabbath morning, he rested from his earthly labors.1 He was in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and he had been preaching thirty-four years. He had made thirteen passages across the Atlantic, and had preached more than eighteen thousand times. The intelligence of his death called forth expressions of admiration and of grateful and affectionate regard along the entire Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia, and throughout England and Scotland. In Boston, on the following Sunday, his death was referred to in most of the pulpits, and at the Thursday Lecture, October II, Dr. Pem- berton (he had just received the Doctor's degree from the Col- lege of New Jersey) preached a funeral discourse from I Peter i. 4: "To an inheritance, ... reserved in heaven for you." He remarked that " perhaps no man since the apostolic age " had "preached oftener and with greater success " than Mr. Whitefield, and said of his last visit : -
1 " A respectable number of Gentle- men of the South Church set out for Newbury-Port with a view of bringing the Corps here for interment, knowing it to be Mr. Whitefield's desire, in case he should die at or near Boston, to be buried among his friends there, inso-
much as to request the favor of a par- ticular Tomb. But to the surprize of these Gentlemen upon application for the Body to the Rev'd Mr. Parsons, at whose House he died, they were totally defeated of their intended compliance with Mr. Whitefield's Desire ; Mr. Par-
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JONATHAN MASON.
He was always received by multitudes with pleasure, when he fa- voured these parts with his labours. But he never had a more obliging reception than in his last visit. Men of the first distinction in the Province not only attended his ministry, but gave him the high- est marks of their respect. With what faithfulness did he declare unto us the whole counsel of God. With what solemnity did he reprove us for our increasing degeneracy. With what zeal did he exhort us, to remember from whence we were fallen, and repent and do our first works, lest God should come and remove our candlestick from out of its place.1
We now return to the records, in course : -
August 20th 1770. The Church met according to adjournment, and at their Desire Doctr. Cooper opened the meeting with Prayer.
The case of our brother T. was taken into Consideration ; he was present, and acknowledged his sins, and particularly the sins with which he was charged, and professed his Resolution by the Grace of God to abstain from and wholly forsake those vile practices for the future and to bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance ; the Church chose to take this matter into their further serious Consideration against the Adjournment of this Meeting on Tuesday the 28th cur- rent at 10 o'Clock A. M.
Agreable to a Vote of this Church pass'd at their Meeting the 6th Instant, when a Meeting was appointed for the purpose they pro- ceeded to the choice of a suitable person to serve in the Office of a Deacon. There were Thirty one Votes, and upon counting the Votes it appeared that our Brother Mr. Jonathan Mason was chosen into that Office by a large Majority ; Twenty three of the Brethren having given their Votes for him.
Mr. Mason was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Scollay) Mason, who joined the South Church early in the century. He married Miriam, daughter of Benjamin and Miriam (Kilby) Clark, and his daughter Miriam married the younger William Phillips. He was a merchant, and very prominent in local and public affairs ; at this time he was one of the selectmen, and one of a committee of merchants to carry out the provisions of
sons absolutely refusing to permit the Corps being buried, but from his own House, and before his own Pulpit, and this tho' Mr. Smith, the Companion of Mr. Whitefield in his Life, and rightful Guardian of the Body, if there was any, intimated his Knowledge of Mr. White- field's Desire to be buried in Boston, and alledging that he could not answer
any other Disposal of it, to his own Con- science, or to Mr. Whitefield's friends at home." - Mass. Gazette.
1 [Mr. Richard Smith, Mr. Whitefield's travelling companion on his last jour- ney, preached in Mr. Croswell's meeting- house on the 5th and 6th of November, and sailed for England with Capt. Lyde on the 7th.]
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
the non-importation agreement. In 1784, with William Phil- lips, James Bowdoin, John Lowell and others, he founded the Massachusetts Bank, the first bank in New England. His son, Jonathan Mason, was a senator of the United States from Mas- sachusetts at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Lords Day P. M. August 26th 1770, the brethren of the Church and congregation were stay'd, and voted that the Deacons be desired to ask the Rev. Mr. Walley to supply the pulpit for four Sabbaths next insuing.
Tuesday August 28th.
The Brethren of the Church met again and sent and informed their Brother A. T. thereof ; that, if he tho't proper, he might attend and say before the Church any thing he might have further to Offer. He attended, and express'd his sorrow and shame on account of his wicked Conduct, much to the same purpose as when he was present 20th instant. He then withdrew, and the Church after some further Con- versation agreed to take the matter into their further serious Consider- ation.
Whereas Brother William Homes (who with brother Thomas Dawes were appointed a Committee to wait upon those Members of other Churches &c. as pr. vote August 5th), has desired to be excused from that service, his Affairs at this Time not permitting his attendance, Voted he be excused and that Brother Samuel Whitwell be and is appointed in his Room.
Voted that the Meeting be adjourned to Tuesday next, the 4th day of September 4 o'Clock p. m.
Tuesday Sept 4th 1770.
The Church met and voted that our Brother Mı. A. T. be solemnly and publicly admonished on account of his past wicked Conduct, and suspended from our holy Communion ; that Deacon Jeffries, Deacon Phillips, and Mr. Jonathan Mason (the lately elected Deacon) be a Committee to draw up the Admonition and Suspension ; that the same be read the next Sabbath, or the Sabbath after (as to the said com- mittee may seem most expedient) between the second Time of singing and pronouncing the Blessing at the afternoon service ; that Deacon Jeffries read the said Admonition, and that said Mr. T. be notified thereof, and desired to attend on that solemn occasion.
The Admonition is as follows, vizt :
A. T. ; Whereas you have been charged with repeated heinous Trans- gressions of the Laws of God, and of Consequence with a Breach of your Solemn Covenant Engagements to walk with this Church of Christ in a due submission to, and attendance upon all the orders and Ordinances of the gospel; which Charge you have confessed and
1
a
I3I
A SOLEMN ADMONITION.
acknowledged to this Church, whereby a more particular Enquiry into such your wicked Conduct, so long persisted in, is Superceeded ; And Whereas the Laws of Christ Jesus, his Honor, the Credit of our holy Religion and the Obligations lying upon us require, that for such Offences we should rebuke you. - We therefore, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, do solemnly admonish and rebuke you ; and we do Suspend you from our holy Communion, untill you shall give Satis- factory Signs of true Repentance, in which Case we shall with open Arms embrace you and restore you to our Christian Charity and Com- munion. In the mean Time we pray God to sanctify the Censure which is now pass'd upon you, in order to bring you to a true sight and sense of sin, and that thereupon you may be enabled in the Exer- cise of Gospel Repentance and by true and lively Faith to repair to the Superabounding mercy of God, thro the Blood and Intercession of our Glorious Redeemer for pardon, and to the blessed Spirit for cleansing and purification, that so you may bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance, and by your future humble and holy walk adorn the Gospel while you live, and be received to Glory when you Die. God grant it for his mercy's sake in Jesus Christ, Amen.
Lords day Sept 9. 1770.
The Church was stayed, and a Letter read from the first Church in Malden, desiring our Assistance at the Ordination of Mr. Peter Thatcher. Voted. Messengers vizt; the three Deacons, Thomas Cushing Esq. Coll. Jackson, Thomas Hubbard Esqr. and Mr. William Whitwell.
That part of the Vote pass'd the 4th inst. vizt : " that Deacon Jeffries read the said Admonition," was reconsidered, and Voted that in case a settled Minister can be obtained to supply the pulpit next Lords day afternoon, that Deacon Jeffries be excused and said settled minister be desired to read said Admonition.
Lords Day Evening Sept. 16. 1770
The Church and Congregation were stay'd, and Voted that the Deacons be desired to apply to Mr. John Hunt, who preached to the society A. M. to Supply the pulpitt for four Sabbaths to commence the Sabbath after next.
Voted that there be a Day of prayer with fasting Observed by this Church and Congregation on Tuesday the 25th Instant to Humble Ourselves before God under the present distressing aspects of divine providence, and to implore the Outpouring of the Blessed Spiritt upon this society and on the ministers and churches through the town and land, as a spirit of grace and supplication and of true repentance and of turning unto God by Jesus Christ, and that he would be pleas'd in his Own time to provide this Church with a pastor or pastors after his Own heart. The Deacons were desired to apply to the associated pastors in the town.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Voted the five following persons viz. the Hon. Andrew Oliver Esq. Deacon Phillips &c. who were Chosen a Committee the 25th March last, be and they are hereby desired to write an Answer to Mr. McWhorters letter lately Received.
Mr. John Hunt was a son of a prosperous farmer of the same name in Northampton. He graduated at Harvard College in 1764, in the same class with John Scollay, Caleb Strong, and Samuel Parker. He taught the grammar school in his native town, studied theology, and was licensed to preach in 1769. "His first efforts in the pulpit," says Dr. Sprague, " were re- garded as prognostic of a high standing in his profession. He preached in different places for more than a year and a half after his licensure, and always left a decidedly favourable impression."
Mr. Thacher's ordination at Malden took place on Wednesday, the 19th of September. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, of Milton (the minister of Mr. Thacher's family, when it moved out from Boston), from I John i. 3 .: " That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you." The charge was given by Mr. Appleton, of Cambridge. Dr. Sprague says of the young pastor :-
His first efforts in the pulpit awakened an uncommon interest. The multitude crowded after him, and hung upon his lips, almost as if he had been a representative from some brighter world. Whitefield, in reference particularly to the fervour of his prayers, called him "the Young Elijah ;" and the strictness of his orthodoxy, not less than the depth and warmth of his devotion, gave him great favour, especially with the more zealous portion of the religious community.
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