USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 27
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The connexion which existed between us some time ago, as it will not be forgotten on my part, neither will it, I trust, on yours' also. Often have we mingled our souls together at the same Church, in humble adoration of the God of heaven; often have we sat as brethren around the same table of our Saviour, when in his course of duty, your late worthy and pious Pastor, has carried our spirits to the Almighty's throne, and in able, solemn and pathetick prayer, presented us before the Lord. . . .
We shall not forget the time when the edifice, wherein you formerly worshipped on this spot, was wrapt in flames ; - when the houses in which you dwelled, were laid in ashes by the fire, and many a heart was swelled with terrour at the sight, and many an eye was bathed with tears. We behold already a great reverse of scenes ; - and whilst the elegant and goodly fabrick in which we are now assembled, affords a very pleasing specimen of the taste and genius of the gentleman
1 In 1742 Deacon Hubbard gave to the Hollis Street Church two silver
bread plates, or patens, which are in- scribed with his name.
245
THE REV. JEDIDIAH MORSE.
[Mr. Charles Bulfinch] who gave the plan, it is a monument to you, my friends, of the great goodness of almighty God, who in his provi- dence has assisted you to repair the waste places, and after your dis- persion, enabled you to worship him in the spot where his name was known before.1
Lords Day 19 April 1789.
A letter was communicated to the Brethren from the Church in Charles Town requesting the presence and assistance of this Church at the Installation of the Rev : Jedidiah Morse on the 30 instant. The Paster and Deacons with Mr. Deming and Mr. Whitwell were chosen to attend on the occasion.
JOSEPH ECKLEY.
Mr. Morse was born at Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1761, and graduated at Yale College in 1783. He was ordained in New York, November 9, 1786, and preached in Presbyterian churches at the South, and afterward in New York. He received the call to Charlestown through the influence of Mr. Belknap, with whom he had much in common in his taste for geographical and historical studies. Mr. Belknap preached the installation ser- mon from I Peter v. 3: "Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." Mr. Jackson, of Brookline, gave the charge, and Mr. Osgood, of Medford, the right hand of fellowship.
Mr. Belknap wrote to Mr. Hazard, May 2, 1789 :-
I have had a fatiguing week, and have been very sick part of the time ; nor am I well yet. Mr. Morse's instalment was well conducted, and every one seemed to be pleased. He has the character of an agreeable and a growing man, and I am glad he is settled where he can have so many literary advantages as at Charlestown.2
1 [" The Revd. Mr. Eckley, in his pa- ministerial brethren not so well off as thetic address to the brethren of the "himself ; he wrote, May 8, 1789: "Mr. Church, took occasion to pay an elegant compliment to Mr. [Charles] Bulfinch, the gentleman under whose direction and superintendence the Meeting House was built.
"On this occasion we congratulate the public that each of the parishes in the metropolis are supplied with able min- isters." - Independent Chronicle, March 19, 1789.]
2 [Mr. Morse was offered a salary of eleven dollars a week, but declined to receive more than ten. Mr. Belknap thought that in taking this course he endangered the interests of some of his
Morse, though he meant perfectly well, may be the occasion of doing an injury to his neighbour. A minister should consider, not only what he can or ought to receive, but what the people can or ought to give. If they are able and willing to give eleven dollars per week, he ought to receive it. If it is more than he wants, there are ways enough in which he may dispose of it to serve the interests of his people; but, if he declines accepting it, he may do an injury to his neighbours and to his successors. I had experience of this kind when I lived at Dover. I had only my salary to live
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246
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
" In the spring of 1789 the reconciliation between Adams and Hancock, which had taken place socially in 1787, became of political significance, and their names were now brought forward together for the two leading offices of the commonwealth. Their long alienation had been the fountain of wide-reaching enmities among their friends ; that is, among the influential men in Massachusetts. Taken in connection with other questions, it had helped to determine lo- cal politics in Boston, and only gave place to the more absorbing state issues raised by Shays's Rebellion, which, in turn, at the close of the insurrection, were soon merged in the grand ques- tion of a stronger federal gov- ernment. This union of the two chiefs was therefore a matter of much public interest, the more so as the relative importance of their respective Revolutionary services had lately been the subject of a noted newspaper discussion." John Hancock was JAdavis again elected to the governor- ship, which dignity he had held since 1780, with the exception of two years, during which James Bowdoin was governor, and which he continued to hold until his death in 1793. Samuel Adams was chosen lieutenant-governor, in place of Benjamin Lincoln, who had succeeded Thomas Cushing the year before. " The public pleasure at seeing the two proscribed patriots and signers of the Declaration of Independence reconciled was tes- tified in various ways, and the election tickets, some of which are still preserved, bear their names ingeniously printed in let- ters of gold. Perhaps, too, the omission of Adams from any participation in the national government, either by appointment or popular election, had some weight in the result." 1
upon. A rich neighbouring minister had a less salary than I, but was able to live independent of his people; and one year, in the course of paper money, he gave up his salary at a time when I was
struggling to have mine made good. It had an ill effect on my people." - Bel- knap Papers.\
1 Wells's Life, vol. iii. pp. 282, 283. The legislature attached a salary of
247
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.
Upon the adoption of the Federal Constitution, only one name was thought of in connection with the presidency, but it was not so easy to agree upon a candidate for the vice-presi- dency. Why Samuel Adams was not placed on the ticket with George Washington has been well explained recently by an his- torical writer : -
There would have been the most striking poetic justice in coupling with the name of Washington that of Samuel Adams, since these two men had been indisputably foremost in the work of achieving the inde- pendence of the United States. But for the hesitancy of Samuel Adams in indorsing the Federal Constitution, he would very likely have been our first vice-president and our second president. But the wave of federalism had now begun to sweep strongly over Massachusetts, car- rying everything before it, and none but the most ardent Federalists had a chance to meet in the electoral college. Voices were raised in behalf of Samuel Adams. While we honor the American Fabius, it was said, let us not forget the American Cato. It was urged by some, with much truth, that but for his wise and cautious action in the Mas- sachusetts convention the good ship Constitution would have been fatally wrecked upon the reefs of Shaysism. His course had not been that of an obstructionist, like that of his old friends, Henry and Lee and Gerry ; but at the critical moment -one of the most critical in all that wonderful crisis - he had thrown his vast influence, with de- cisive effect, upon the right side. All this is plain enough to the his- torian of to-day. But in the political fervour of the election of 1789, the fact most clearly visible to men was that Samuel Adams had hes- itated, and perhaps made things wait.1
On the 14th of June Samuel Adams became a member of the Old South. He brought the following letter of commen- dation : -
At a meeting of the church of Christ in Brattle-Street, Boston, June 7 1789.
Our brother Samuel Adams who, in the year 1742, was admitted to full communion with this church but who, for many years past, has
about five hundred dollars to the office; Pinckney, and Aaron Burr. Mr. Wells and this sum, with the insignificant fees arising from his membership in the coun- cil, constituted the entire public income of Mr. Adams for some years.
1 [Fiske's Critical Period of American History, p. 347. In the vote of the elec- toral college in 1797, Mr. Adams stood fifth on the list, having been preceded by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas
says : " The honor was unsolicited, and was probably due, if not to the direct influence of Jefferson, at least to that of some of the old Revolutionary friends of Adams in Virginia, who were of the Jef- ferson school of politics, then rapidly growing in power." The vote of Vir- ginia was for Jefferson for president and Samuel Adams for vice-president.]
248
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
congregated and communed with the church in Summer Street, being desirous to enter into a more immediate connexion with the church under the pastoral care of the Revd. Mr. Joseph Eckley ;
We do hereby recommend him to the charity and fellowship of the said church, as he hath always (so far as is known to us) conducted agreably to his covenant engagements.
Attest
PETER THACHER,
Pastor of the church in Brattle Street.
Boston June 8 1789
Mr. Adams graduated at Harvard College in 1740, and, May 2, 1742, joined the church in Brattle Street, of which Dr. Col- man was then the minister. In 1749 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Checkley, pastor of the New South, whose ministry he attended for many years. There were considerations of convenience as well as family reasons for this, as his home prior to the Revolutionary War was in Pur- chase Street. We infer from Mr. Thacher's letter that he had been worshipping for some time at the Old South, when at length he was desirous to enter into a more immediate connec- tion with it.1 In doing this, he was but returning to the re- ligious home of his ancestors. His father was a member there from 1706 to 1715 ; his mother,2 Mary (Fifield), was baptized there in 1694, and became a member in 1711. Her mother,3 Mary (Thurston), was a member from 1690 until her death in 1713. Mary Thurston's father, Benjamin Thurston, and her grandfather, Robert Walker, were founders in 1669.4
In a sermon on the Religious Character of Samuel Adams, preached December 21, 1873, from the text, "Who through faith subdued kingdoms," Dr. Manning said : -
1 Mr. Wells's statement on this sub- ject is not strictly accurate. He says : "Owing, it is said, to some circumstance displeasing to him, which occurred at the New South, or Summer Street Church, where he had worshipped from child- hood, he removed about the year 1792, to the Old South, which he attended ever after." - Wells's Life, vol. iii. p. 335.
2 Of Mrs. Adams, Mr. Wells says : "The mother of Samuel Adams was a woman of severe religious principles, and she early embued her children with reverence for the Christian virtues which she practised. To the scrupulous atten- tion of his parents to devotional objects must have been greatly due the religious
turn of mind which was a prevailing trait throughout the life of the son."
3 Of Mrs. Fifield, Judge Sewall said at the time of her death (March 3, 1712- 13) : " She was a diligent, frugal, chaste woman."
4 " I dined yesterday in company with Lieutenant Governor A .; and he talked about ' personal and domestic rights,' as in his late public speech. The liberty of the press is so valuable in his view, that he had rather be abused in print than that liberty should be abridged. Se- curity of person and property, and trial by jury, were also mentioned as neces- sary to be considered."- Belknap to Hazard, June 14, 1789.
249
SAMUEL ADAMS JOINS THE OLD SOUTH.
If you turn to the list of members in our church, which has been kept from the beginning, you will there find, among the admissions for June 14, 1789, the name of Samuel Adams. It stands in small Roman letters, undistinguished by any mark from the names of two other persons admitted the same day.1 Oh, what a beautiful witness to the equality which we all enjoy in the Church of Christ is that simple name, standing without prefix or suffix, without note or comment, with no honorary title or hint of greatness, just as every other name should, and as most do, in the long succession ! "One is your Mas- ter, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren," says that record, - the record of a name which just now, more than any other in our national history, is spoken everywhere with reverence, and covered with glow- ing eulogy.2 Dear old church, ever true to the least as to the greatest of her children ! May God teach us to love her more ; and to seek membership in her, not for the sake of any personal advancement, but that she alone, together with Christ who is head over all things to her, may be exalted. . . . For some thirteen years, - till the Master called him to a higher worship, - he was a devout worshipper in this church. His whole daily life, and all his writings, show that he was full of the sturdy faith, and spirit of devotion, which animated the first settlers of New England. No easy-going doctrinal standards could lay the basis of such a character as his, or impart the moral strength and nerve which he brought to his mighty task in life. .
He lived before the day of Sabbath schools ; but his eminently so- cial spirit, and interest in the young, indicate that he would have been one of the foremost in that blessed work, had the opportunity been offered him. His own children, and all the members of his household, were gathered about him regularly, on the Lord's day, to recite the Assembly's Catechism, and to be instructed out of the Word of God. He observed family worship twice each day, as constantly as the morning and evening returned. No pressure of public business was permitted to interfere with this duty. Oftentimes there were guests in his house, not sympathizing with him in his religious views ; yet their presence made no difference. They were compelled to breathe the heavenly atmosphere of his house ; and to hear the blessing invoked, and the thanks returned, before and after each meal. In the sanc- tuary his seat was never vacant, no matter who the preacher might be, or what the state of the weather. He came to church to worship God. He always walked with his family, both to and from the plain
of the privateer Arctic, of John Manly's fleet.]
1 [John Sweetser and Nehemiah Somes. They were already active mem- bers of the society. Captain Somes mar- 2 [A statue of Samuel Adams had just been contributed by the Common- Gallery of Statuary in the Capitol in Washington.] ried Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. Thomas Dawes, deacon, but she had died . wealth of Massachusetts to the National prior to this, in 1787. He was a promi- nent merchant, and part owner, in 1779,
e
50.0
250
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
meeting-house, disdaining any distinctions, - such as were in that day common to men of his high standing before the world. He was a singer ; and sat with the choir, often selecting the tune, and leading in that part of public worship. I think it should give dignity to this service of song, in our eyes, and that those of us who conduct it should feel its importance and solemnity, when we remember that Samuel Adams, the greatest of American patriots, was at one time the devout leader of our choir.
There were sixteen admissions to the church in 1789, which was a larger number than in any year since 1756, when there were forty-four, and larger than in any year afterward until 18II, when there were twenty. Dr. Wisner says that the con- gregation was not large during this period. The times were not favorable to church growth and activity.1 Most of the admis- sions were on confession of faith, and many of the new members were baptized children of the church.
Lords Day 21 June 1789
A letter was communicated to the brethren from the Church in Concord in the State of New Hampshire, requesting the presence and assistance of the Old South Church by its Pastor and other Delegates, at the Installation of the Rev : Israel Evans on the Ist day of July next.
The Pastor and Deacons, his Honor Lieut: Governor Samuel Adams, Mr. John Sweetser, Mr. Samuel Whitwell, and Capt. Nehemiah Somes, were chosen to attend on the occasion.
JOSEPH ECKLEY.
Mr. Evans was a native of Pennsylvania, and graduated at Princeton in 1772, in the same class with Mr. Eckley. His father and grandfather were settled ministers in this country, and his great-grandfather was a minister in Wales. He was ordained in Philadelphia in 1776 as chaplain in the American army. . From 1777 till the close of the war he was chaplain in the New Hampshire brigade, and by means of this connection he was introduced to the church in Concord.2 His classmate,
" Only fifteen 1 Congregational churches were planted in Massachusetts during the last decade of the eighteenth century, a smaller number than in any like period for the previous ninety years." - Clark's Hist. Sketch, p. 224.
2 Sprague's Annals, vol. ii. p. 138.
Mr. Hazard wrote to Dr. Belknap, March 10, 1780 : " I have lately received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Tennent of
Greenfield, in Conn. an extract from which will probably be pleasing to you, as it will in some measure gratify your curiosity respecting the Western Expe- dition. He writes: 'Our good friend, Mr. Evans, has been with us several days. He read us his Journal of the Expedition to the Westward, which is highly entertaining. The difficulties of their march were many and great. ...
25I
PRESBYTERIAN TENDENCIES.
Mr. Eckley, preached the installation sermon from 2 Cor. iv. 7, " We have this treasure in earthen vessels ;" and, in addressing the pastor-elect, said : -
Will you permit me to remind you that the great object of our preaching should be the salvation of men's souls. The more heart- searching our discourses - the more they contain in them of the dis- tinguishing articles of Christianity - the more earnestly we represent to our hearers, the evil, the delusion, and danger of sin, and endeavour to lead them to the blood of the Cross ; the more we shall be likely to fulfil our ministry with honour and success. It is a poor course of sermons which treats chiefly of the social duties, or the virtues which men might practise as philosophers, if they had heard nothing of the nature of redemption through a Mediator: And he is a poor Preacher, who does not give abundant evidence that his highest pleasure is to dwell on the theme of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Fast Day 7 April 1790.
The Brethren of the Society were desired to stay after public Ser- vice in the Afternoon. The accounts of the annual Committee were read and accepted. The Society voted to proceed to the choice of a Committee in the usual manner for the ensuing year. The following persons were chosen by written votes, Vizt. Messrs. Whitwell, Sweetser, Salisbury, Oliver, Deming, Col. Waters, Capt. Somes, Dr. Scollay and Mr. Thayer. JOSEPH ECKLEY.
We have referred to the fact that nearly all the Presbyterian churches in Massachusetts had become Congregational. While this tendency was in progress some of the Congregational ministers were gradually Presbyterianizing the denomination, by the introduction and adoption of methods designed to limit and embarrass the free action of the churches in their choice and settlement of pastors, thus undermining the very foun- dation principles of Congregationalism. We quote on this sub- ject as follows, from an unquestioned authority : -
In one respect, however, there had been a steady divergency from the old Congregational way, to what, about this time, became a fixed usage, namely, the examination and certified approval of candidates for the sacred office, by clerical associations. This was the only
They destroyed about a hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn, and four or five hundred huts, some of which were elegant for Indians. The expedi- tion has been important, and, perhaps, in its consequences equal to almost any which we have made since the com-
mencement of the war.' This Mr. Evans was one of the chaplains to that expedi- tion, and is a sensible, judicious man, and a good preacher. He formerly preached occasionally in the New South, at Boston, and has lately had an invita- tion to return to Boston again."
252
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
thing in the celebrated "Proposals " of 1705 which survived the scathing satire of Mr. Wise in the "Churches' Quarrel Espoused." Letters of commendation from experienced pastors, which a young minister would naturally take when going among the churches as a candidate, gradually assumed the form and authority of credentials, till, in 1790, the convention of Congregational ministers virtually made them necessary, by recommending that only those bearing such papers from clerical bodies be admitted to the pulpits. Thus the business of testing the qualifications of a young man for the ministry silently and gradually passed from the churches to the clergy, where the sole responsibility now rests, - whether wisely or not no one ever asks.1 It is understood, however (or should be), that such creden- tials are intended to express merely the approbation of those who give them ; and that no Congregational association claims, or ever can rightfully claim, the authority implied in the word license, which, in later years, has inadvertently crept into our associational nomencla- ture. 2
Mr. John Scollay died on the 15th of December, aged seventy- nine. He and his wife became members of the church in 1736.3 He had been one of the selectmen of the town for thirty-six years. In a newspaper notice it is said : -
As a professor of Religion, he always discovered his attachment to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in the many Ecclesiastical Councils, to which he was called, it appeared on all proper occasions, how much he esteemed the institutions and mode of Worship, adopted and recommended by the venerable Fathers of New England. The departure of such a Relative -such a Member of Society and the
1 [After the lapse of many years, the brethren are beginning to ask this ques- tion.]
2 [Clark's Hist. Sketch of the Cong. Chhs. in Mass., p. 228. This concentra- tion of power in clerical hands had been strengthening itself gradually for many years. Dr. Colman said to his people in an address prepared for their guidance in 1715, when they were about to choose a colleague pastor : -
" We find, I say, the Judgment of the Bishops join'd with the Suffragium uni- versæ Fraternitatis : with the Vote and Election of the Brotherhood; which is agreeable to our own Practice, for we chuse none but whom the neighbouring Pastors consent and agree in ; to whom we present them for Ordination." - Tu- rell's Life of Colman, p. 112. But Dr.
Colman should never be quoted as an authority on the Congregational polity. He said late in life: "I have always openly owned myself something of a Presbyterian under our Congregational form." And again : "The Consociation of Churches is the very Soul and Life of the Congregational Scheme, necessary to the very Esse as well as Bene of it ; without which we must be Independent, and with which all the good of Presby- terianism is attainable." - Ibid., pp. 96, 107.]
3 Mrs. Mercy Scollay died in October, 1793, aged seventy-five. Priscilla, daugh- ter of John Scollay, married, August 30, 1774, Major Thomas Melvill, who was a prominent and patriotic business man. Another daughter, Mary, married, as we have seen, the Rev. Thomas Prentiss.
253
HOPEFUL PREDICTIONS.
church of Christ, must be regretted : But his Friends have this conso- lation, that he met his death not only with the calmness and fortitude of a man ; but with the humble submission and animated hopes of a Christian.
Fast Day 31 Mar. 1791.
The Brethren of the Society stayed after the religious service of the Afternoon. The Accounts of the last Annual Committee were exhibited and accepted, votes were then called for a Committee of nine for the ensuing year, and the same persons were elected as on the year preceeding. JOSEPH ECKLEY.
Authorities differ as to the precise date when, and under what circumstances, slavery ceased to exist in Massachusetts. Whether it was abolished by the declaration in the Bill of Rights in 1780, or by a judicial construction of this declaration, a few years later, by which it was made the instrument of vir- tual abolition, we need not inquire here. The slave trade was prohibited in 1788. We infer that Mr. Eckley stood with Dr. Gordon and Dr. Belknap as a friend of the African race. He preached a sermon on Thanksgiving Day, 1791, from Psalm cxlvii. 14, "He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat," in which he predicted the free- dom of the blacks throughout America. "In a few succeeding ages," said the preacher, "it will scarcely be credited that hu- man beings, because of the complexion of their skin, were used as slaves like beasts of burden." In the same sermon he pre- dicted the future growth and greatness of his adopted country : -
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