USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 17
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In a short time, the other tea ships, the Eleanor and the
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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA.
Beaver, arrived, and were moored near the Dartmouth, at Griffin's now Liverpool wharf, so that one guard might answer for all. There was much negotiation on the part of the committee of correspondence 1 with the owners of the ships, the consignees of the tea, and the revenue officers, but no satisfactory terms could be made.
"Thursday, December 16, came at last - dies ira, dies illa ! - and Boston calmly prepared to meet the issue. At ten o'clock the Old South was filled from an outside assemblage that in- cluded two thousand people from the surrounding country. Rotch appeared and reported that a clearance had been denied him. He was then directed, as a last resort, to protest at once against the decision of the custom house, and apply to the gov- ernor for a passport to go by the Castle. Hutchinson, evidently anticipating such an emergency, had found it convenient to be at his country-seat on Milton Hill, where it would require con- siderable time to reach him. Rotch was instructed to make all haste, and report to the meeting in the afternoon. At three o'clock the number of people in and around the Old South was estimated at seven thousand, - by far the largest gathering ever seen in Boston. Addresses were made by Samuel Adams, Young, Rowe, Quincy, and others. 'Who knows,' said Rowe, ' how tea will mingle with salt water?' a suggestion which was received with loud applause. When the question was finally put to the vast assembly it was unanimously resolved that the tea should not be landed. It was now getting darker and darker, and the meeting-house could only be dimly lighted with a few candles ; yet the people all remained, knowing that the great question must soon be decided. About six o'clock Rotch ap- peared and reported that he had waited on the governor, but could not obtain a pass, as his vessel was not duly qualified. No sooner had he concluded than Samuel Adams arose and said : 'This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.' Instantly a shout was heard at the porch ; the war-whoop re- sounded, and a band of forty or fifty men, disguised as Indians, rushed by the door and hurried down toward the harbor, followed by a throng of people ; guards were carefully posted, according
1 " That little body of stout-hearted men were making history that should endure for ages. Their secret deliber- ations, could they be exhumed from the dust of time, would present a curious page in the annals of Boston; but the
seal of silence was upon the pen of the secretary, as well as upon the lips of the members." - Wells's Life of Samuel Adams, vol. ii. p. 119. The Old South was represented on this committee by Robert Pierpont and John Sweetser.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
to previous arrangements, around Griffin's wharf to prevent the intrusion of spies. The 'Mohawks,' and some others accom- panying them, sprang aboard the three tea-ships and emptied the contents of three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the bay, 'without the least injury to the vessels or any other property.' No one interfered with them; no person was harmed ; no tea was allowed to be carried away. There was no confusion, no noisy riot, no infuriated mob. The multitude stood by and looked on in solemn silence while the weird-looking figures, made distinctly visible in the moonlight, removed the hatches, tore open the chests, and threw the entire cargo over- board. This strange spectacle lasted three hours, and then the people all went home and the town was as quiet as if nothing had happened. The next day fragments of the tea were seen strewn along the Dorchester shore, carried thither by the wind and tide. A formal declaration of the transaction was drawn up by the Boston Committee ; and Paul Revere was sent with despatches to New York and Philadelphia, where the news was received with the greatest demonstrations of joy. In Boston the feeling was that of intense satisfaction proceeding from the consciousness of having exhausted every possible measure of legal redress before undertaking this bold and novel mode of asserting the rights of the people. 'We do console ourselves,' said John Scollay, one of the selectmen, and an actor in the scene, 'that we have acted constitutionally.' 'This is the most magnificent movement of all,' said John Adams. 'There is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots that I greatly admire.'" 1
Without this repetition of the oft-told tale of the destruction of the "detested tea,"-which we have given in the condensed and graphic statement of a careful writer, - this history of the Old South Church would be incomplete. Not only did the church and congregation throw wide open the doors of their house of worship on this as on other occasions to their liberty- loving fellow-citizens, but some of the members took an active part in the negotiations which preceded the final act, and in the final act itself.2
1 Mem. History of Boston (the Rev. Edward G. Porter), vol. iii. pp. 47-51. See, also, the second volume of Wells's Life of Samuel Adams.
2 George Robert Twelves (or Twelles) Hewes, the last survivor of the "Boston
tea-party," belonged to the Old South. He was the son of George and Abigail Hewes, and was baptized September 26, 1742. He died November 5, 1840, aged ninety-eight. His portrait is in the collection of the Bostonian Society.
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DEATH OF ANDREW OLIVER.
The lieutenant-governor, Andrew Oliver, died after a short illness, March 3, 1774, aged sixty-eight. He had never been a robust man, and unable to endure the disquiet and anxiety caused by the position which he felt impelled to take in public affairs in these troublous times, he at length sank beneath the burden. "In private life," says Mr. Sabine, " he was a most estimable man ; but his public career, though earnestly defended by his brother-in-law, Governor Hutchinson, is open to censure. No man in Massachusetts was more unpopular, and Hutchinson remarks, that the violence of party spirit was evinced even at his funeral ; that some members of the house of representatives were offended because the officers of the army and navy had precedence in the procession, and retired in a body ; and that 'marks of disrespect were also shown by the populace to the remains of a man, whose memory, if he had died before this violent spirit was raised, would have been revered by all orders and degrees of men in the Province.'" 1
We have seen that Andrew Oliver took an active interest in the affairs of the South Church. This church had been the religious home of his family for more than a hundred years. Of his two grandfathers, one, Peter Oliver, was a founder, the other, Andrew Belcher, was one of the early members. His father, Daniel Oliver, was a member for more than forty years, and the father of his first wife, Thomas Fitch, for nearly as long a period ; both were useful members in their care for its tem- poralities as well as for its spiritual concerns.
While the body of the lieutenant-governor was awaiting its burial, the anniversary of the massacre of the 5th of March was observed by the people of Boston in the Old South Meeting- House, and John Hancock delivered an oration on the dangers which attend the maintenance of standing armies in large towns and cities.
Mr. Hunt was invited to preach the annual sermon before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company this year, but he was obliged to decline, and Mr. Lathrop was chosen in his
1 Sabine's Biog. Sketches of the Loyal- ists, vol. ii. pp. 136, 137. Judge Lynde says that the funeral took place March 8. For the portrait, after Copley, which we present on page 80, we are indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Fitch Edward Oliver, the owner of the original.
Andrew Oliver, Jr., was "more of a scholar than a politician, and found time, in the midst of political distractions, to publish treatises on comets, storms, and other natural phenomena. He was a member of many learned societies." - Mem. Hist., vol. iii. p. 146.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
place.1 The next sermon preached before the company was in 1787.
The new governor, General Gage, who superseded Governor Hutchinson on the 25th of May, was requested by the General Court to appoint a day of fasting and prayer, in view of the calamities then threatening, but he refused to do so. The Court then appealed to the clergy, and it was announced in the papers that " the associated ministers of Boston have agreed to propose to their several congregations that Thursday, the 14th day of July next, may be set apart and religiously kept as a Day of Fasting and Prayer." Of the observance of this day, we read in the Boston Gazette : -
Last Thursday was a solemn day in this town ; the shops and streets empty, and the churches full. May the day be followed with true re- pentance and amendment of life, and all the ills we suffer now, like scattered clouds, shall pass away.
General Gage wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth : - -
The fast day appointed by the faction was kept in this town on the 14th instant as generally and punctually as if it had been appointed by authority. I might say the same of most other places, though it was not universal ; for, in a few places no regard was paid to it.2
Macaulay, speaking of the struggle between the Puritans and Charles I., says that they " brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of judgment and an immutability of purpose which some writers have thought inconsistent with their religious zeal, but which were in fact the necessary effects of it. The inten- sity of their feelings on one subject made them tranquil on every other." We have a striking illustration of this blending of earnest devotion to the cause of civil liberty, with an absorb- ing interest in what they regarded as the revealed truth of God, in the descendants, a century and a quarter later, of the men who successfully defied the House of Stuart. To humil- iate and punish the people of Boston for their part in the destruction of the tea, an act had been passed by the British government, which took away from the port the privilege of re- ceiving and discharging, as well as of loading and shipping, merchandise of every description. It constituted Marblehead a port of entry, and Salem the seat of government. This act
1 Mr. Hunt had been chaplain of the Council and of the House of Repre- sentatives two years before this, in 1772.
2 [Wells's Life of Samuel Adams, vol. ii. p. 201. The people had been espe- cially urged not to watch the manœuvres of the soldiery on this day.]
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THE BOSTON PORT BILL.
went into effect on the Ist of June, on which day the custom house was closed at noon ; the harbor was shut up against all inward bound vessels, and after the 14th no vessels were to be allowed to depart. The bells of the town were tolled, and every proper token of mourning was shown by the people. "The warehouses of the thrifty merchants," says Bancroft, "were at once made valueless ; the costly wharves, which ex- tended far into the channel, and were so lately covered with the produce of the tropics and with English fabrics, were become solitary places ; the harbor, which had resounded incessantly with the cheering voices of prosperous commerce, was now dis- turbed by no sounds but from British vessels of war." 1
It was at such a time as this that the members of the Old South Church, dissatisfied with the doctrinal teachings of one of their ministers, entered upon a protracted discussion with him upon the questions at issue, which lasted almost to the day when the first blood of the Revolution was shed at Lexington and Concord. It is most suggestive to think of Thomas Cush- ing,2 William Phillips, John Scollay, Henderson Inches, Robert Pierpont, John Sweetser, and others - members of the Conti- nental and Provincial Congresses, of the General Court, of the Board of Selectmen, and of the Committees of Correspondence, Safety, and Donations 3 - just entering with their fellow-citizens upon a life and death struggle with the House of Hanover, and
1 The Old South Meeting-House was opened for a town meeting, which over- flowed from Faneuil Hall, on the 27th and 28th of June, when the last trial of strength in argument took place between the loyalists and the patriots. The former had failed in their efforts to ob- tain a popular vote in favor of paying for the tea which had been destroyed, notwithstanding the distress which at- tended the enforcement of the port bill. They now endeavored to obtain a vote of censure upon the conduct of the Committee on Correspondence, and for the annihilation of the committee. Sam- uel Adams had been chosen moderator, but resigned the chair to Thomas Cush- ing, and descending to the floor made one of his most memorable speeches in defence of the committee, in which "he drew a picture of the future greatness of America as she must one day become under the influx of population from Eu-
rope, and by her vast natural resources." See Wells's Life of Samuel Adams, vol. ii. pp. 182-190.
2 " As Speaker of the House, the name of Cushing was oftener before the British public than that of more in- fluential men among the patriots ; and it was his prominent position, as the pre- siding officer of that body, which led Dr. Johnson, when writing of colonial af- fairs, to assert that one of the objects of the Revolution was to place a diadem on the head of, Cushing! This, how- ever, was of a piece with the prevailing errors in England as to the political con- dition of America."- Ibid., vol. i. p. 490.
3 Of one of these committees, Gov- ernor Hutchinson wrote to England that it was composed of deacons, atheists, and "black-hearted fellows, whom one would not choose to meet in the dark." - Ibid., vol. i. p. 497.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
yet turning aside, evening after evening, to reason with their pastor concerning the relations of baptized children to the church, the nature of the atonement, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to his believing people.
Whether there was anything in the personal relations of Mr. Bacon with the members of his church which made his position uncomfortable to himself and unsatisfactory to them, we cannot positively say. Probably there was. Mr. Ezekiel Goldthwaite, into whose family he had married, had been favorably disposed towards Governor Hutchinson, and his social affiliations, if not his political preferences, may have been with the loyalist party. Then, his manner of meeting opposition may not have been altogether judicious ; we read of him that " he had a strong mind, was fond of debate, and tenacious of his opinions, but decided in prosecuting what he deemed his duty." 1
Lord's Day August 2Ist 1774.
The Brethren of the Church were stayed after the Blessing was given : And Mr. Bacon, one of the Pastors of the Church, declaring to them that there were insuperable Difficulties in the Way of his con- tinuing any longer to administer the Ordinance of Baptism to the Children of such Parents as own the Covenant, but do not come up to full communion, and there appearing to be Uneasiness in the Church, not only with Respect to this Matter, but also, with Respect to certain Points of Doctrine which the said Mr. Bacon hath deliv-
1 History of the County of Berkshire, quoted by Dr. Wisner. Dr. Wisner's judgment upon this controversy is as follows : "Forty-two small folio pages of volume two of the records, are occu- pied with the proceedings of the church in relation to the difficulties between. them and Mr. Bacon. In the testimonial given to him after his dismission it is stated ' that the only difference which took place between Mr. Bacon and this church, was that which related to the great doctrine of the atonement and im- putation, and the practice of administer- ing baptism to the children of parents who own the covenant, but do not join in full communion.' He found conscien- tious difficulties in practising on the half- way covenant. On the other topic he held the views for a long time past prev- alent among the orthodox ministers and churches of New England : the commit- tees of the church, with whom a large
majority concurred, in their reports and statements on the subject, advocated limited atonement, and used language in relation to imputation which would seem to imply that they considered the sins of the elect as having been literally trans- ferred to Christ, and his sufferings and obedience literally transferred to be- lievers. That they could have really meant this seems impossible, yet if they did not, there was, in regard to imputa- tion, no real difference between them and Mr. Bacon. A careful perusal of the whole proceedings has strongly im- pressed my mind with the belief that the facts of the case were, that Mr. Bacon had become unpopular with his people, and that some sermons he preached on atonement and imputation, (from which extracts are given,) were made the occa- sion of proceedings which led to his dis- mission." - History of the Old South Church, p. 106.
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CONVERSATIONS WITH MR. BACON.
ered, Voted, that there be a Meeting of the Church on Tuesday the 6th of September next, at 10 o'Clock in the Forenoon to take these Matters under Consideration.
Tuesday Sept. 6th. 1774
The Church met according to Appointment. Mr. Bacon opened the Meeting with Prayer, after which a number of the Brethren ex- prest their Minds freely on our present Practice of admitting Persons to own the Covenant and receive Baptism for their Children without coming up to full Communion. It was then Voted to adjourn to Tues- day the 20th. inst.
Septr. 20th 1774
Both the Pastors of the Church being out of Town, a small num- ber of the Brethren met and adjourn'd the Meeting to Tuesday the 4th of October next. But the Pastors being at that time absent, and none of the Brethren attending, the Meeting died of course.
Lord's Day Octor 16th 1774.
The Brethren of the Church being stayed after the Blessing was given, It was Voted that there be a Meeting of the Church on Tues- day the 18th inst in order to take certain Matters which have hereto- fore been laid before the Church under further consideration.
Tuesday October 18th. 1774.
Mr. Hunt open'd the Meeting with Prayer with the church, who had met according to Adjournment, and after attending to several Matters adjourn'd to Wednesday Evening November 16th. in order to consider of, and act upon, those particular Matters which lie before the Church respecting Mr. Bacon.1
Novem. 16th 1774.
The Church having met according to Adjournment Mr. Hunt open'd the Meeting with Prayer, and the Evening was spent in con- versing with Mr. Bacon on his Sentiments respecting the Atonement. The Meeting was then adjourn'd to November 23d at 5 o'Clock in the afternoon.
November 23. 1774
The Church met according to Adjournment. Mr. Hunt opened the Meeting with Prayer, and the Evening was again spent in convers -. ing with Mr. Bacon on his Sentiments respecting the Atonement, after which the Meeting was Adjourn'd to Wednesday Evening 5 o'Clock P. M.
1 [On the 9th of November, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and John Adams arrived in Boston from Philadel- phia, where the first sessions of the Con- tinental Congress had been held. They " were ushered into the town by the ring-
ing of bells and other demonstrations of joy. The approach of the delegates had been previously announced, and their friends had been all day expecting them." The first two took their seats immediately in the Provincial Congress.]
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Wednesday Evening, Nov : 30th.
The Church met according to Adjournment. Mr. Hunt opened the Meeting with Prayer. The Evening was spent in hearing some part of Mr. Bacon's Sermons on the Imputation of Christ's Right- eousness to Believers, and conversing with him on his Sentiments, and then adjourn'd to Wednesday Evening 2Ist of December at 5 o'Clock P. M.
December 21. 1774.
The Church met according to Adjournment. Mr. Hunt having opened the Meeting with Prayer, after some previous Conversation, the question was put, Whether this Church is satisfied with Mr. Ba- con's Sentiments concerning the Atonement, and the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to Believers, as expres'd in two sets of Ser- mons preached in publick on those Doctrines from Romans 4. 6, and Gal. 3. 13. Satisfied 2 - Neuters 5 - Dissatisfied 27.
The Meeting was then adjourn'd to Wednesday Evening January 4th at 5 o'Clock P. M.1
Janu. 4th 1775.
The Church met according to Adjournment. Mr. Hunt having opened the Meeting with Prayer, It was Voted, That a Committee of this Church consisting of Mr. Cushing, Deacon Mason, Deacon Phil- lips, Mr. Inches and Mr. William Whitwell take into Consideration the Subject Matter of this Evening's Conversation relative to the points of Difference subsisting between them and the Revd. Mr. Bacon, also to consider what further Steps ought to be taken in this Matter, and make Report at our next Adjournment, which was voted to be on Wednesday Evening, 5 o'Clock P. M. 18th January.
January 18th 1775.
The Church then met according to Adjournment. Mr. Hunt opened the Meeting with Prayer. The Evening was spent in attending to the Report of the Committee, which Report was as follows -
" Whereas the Rev'd Mr. Bacon has signified to this Church that he has insuperable difficulties with respect to Administring the Ordinance of Baptism to the Children of such Parents as, altho' by their Lives and Conversation, in a Judgment of Charity, we think are intitled to special Ordinances, but by reason of doubts and Fears are kept back from coming up to the Lord's Table, yet are desirous of renewing their Baptismal covenant, and publickly devoting their offspring to
1 [" The new year opened with gloomy prospects. The poor of Boston, brought to the verge of starvation by the cruel blocking up of their port, were yet pre- served from perishing by the continued donations from the neighboring towns and the other Colonies, though these
gifts had generally to be brought in by tedious, circuitous routes over land, as no loaded boat was allowed to move in any part of the harbor." - Wells's Life of Samuel Adams, vol. ii. p. 254. Dea- cons Jeffries and Phillips were members of the Committee on Donations.]
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REPORT ON MR. BACON'S PREACHING.
God in Baptism, which has been the practice in this Church from its first settlement, and Mr. Bacon was particularly and expressly In- formed of it previous to his Installment : and whereas the Rev'd Mr. Bacon was particularly questioned by a Committee of this Church previous to his settlement as our pastor, with respect to his Belief as to the great and fundamental Doctrines of the Gospel, and the Con- fession of Faith owned and consented to by the Elders and Messengers of the Churches, assembled at Boston in N. E. May 12th 1680, was tendered to him, as the faith of this Church, being as they appre- hended, agreeable to the Word of God, and he was enquired of, whether the principles and Doctrines exhibited in the Confession be- fore mention'd, were agreeable to his sentiments, to which he replyed that they were, and that he acceeded to the same, and whereas the great doctrine of Imputation, The Imputation of our Sins to Christ, and the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness itself unto us, are clearly held forth in said Confession of Faith, particularly in Chap. 8, . . . and in Chap. II, ... And whereas the Rev'd Mr. Bacon has preached and held forth Doctrines and Sentiments which we esteem Erroneous, and which are diverse from, and contradictory to, the Doc- trines and Sentiments we have before recited from the Confession of Faith aforesaid, particularly in a Course of Sermons on Romans 4. 6, where speaking of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to Be- lievers, he asserts: that the Righteousness of Christ in the propriety of it, is not so imputed to Believers, that what he has done is looked. upon by God as if done by them, but that it is only in this sense Im- puted that the Fruits, Benefit or reward of his Righteousness, which summarily consists in the remission of sin, is freely bestow'd on every one that believeth. And in a Course of Sermons on Gal. 3, 13. instead of holding up, asserting and maintaining (as might naturally and justly be expected upon preaching from such a Text,) that the Lord Jesus by his Death and Sufferings, underwent that Penalty which the Law denounceth, as the punishment due to our Sins, he expressly denies it, by asserting that the Curse that Christ endured, and that which the Law threatens against Transgressors, are not the same, but are in their Nature essentially and widely different, and in attempting to shew how Christ was made a Curse for Us, he supposes the Text it- self plainly points it out, and goes on to observe in the fourth Sermon on Gal. 3. 13, that in the former Clause of the Text it is asserted that Christ was made a Curse for us, and that in the latter Clause, it is declared how and in what sense he was so, vizt. by being hanged on a Tree, for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a Tree. The Argument, he goes on to say, is simply this, Every one that is hanged on a Tree is thereby made Accursed, Christ was hanged on a Tree, Ergo - and if this be the Argument, then the Curse which Christ was made, must be the same, which every one is made that is
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