USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 29
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Voted, That the Treasurer be requested to pay the above named sum out of the Money in his hands.
Voted, That the Deacons be requested to take security of Mr. Wells for the Celler, and to warn him out if they think proper.2
JONA. MASON Moderator.
Sabbath Day 2 July 1797.
A letter was communicated from the Church in Concord, State of New Hampshire, requesting the presence and assistance of the Old South Church, by its Pastor and other Delegates, to take into con- sideration the proposition of the Rev : Israel Evans to obtain a Dis- mission from his pastoral relation with the said Church, and to act on the same.
The Brethren voted that in consideration of the short notice given of the time of the meeting of the Council (appointed to be on the 5th instant) as well as of the distance between Boston and Concord, the Pastor be desired to write a letter, requesting the Church at Concord to excuse the Old South Church from attending on the occasion.
JOSEPH ECKLEY.
N. B. A letter was immediately written.
Mr. Evans continued to reside in Concord until his death in 1807.
Sabbath Day 23 July 1797.
At a Meeting of the Brethren of the Church and Congregation after Service of the Afternoon, a letter and memorial were read from the Presbyterian Church and Society in the City of Savannah and State of Georgia, representing the melancholy situation of the people occa- sioned by awful Fire the preceeding Winter, by which their Church and great part of the dwelling houses in the City were destroyed, and requested pecuniary aid, for the purpose of rebuilding their Church, they being unable to do it themselves.
Voted, That there shall be a Collection next Sabbath, being 30 July, in the Afternoon, and that the pastor be requested to read the afore- mentioned letter and memorial, before the blessing be given at the close of the morning service, in presence of the whole Congregation and give public notice of the Collection intended. Jos : ECKLEY.
1 [Dr. Eckley's salary at this time was £4 a week, in gold or silver money, with firewood and the use of the parsonage. Twice in 1796 a grant of £100 in lawful money was voted to him.
At a meeting of the First Church, Boston, July 11, 1797, Dr. Clarke's salary
was raised to $14 a Sabbath for the year ensuing, with twenty cords of wood, and a grant of $300 was voted to him.]
2 [In the Directory of 1796 we find "Thomas Wells, wine cellar, Milk Street." He had been a tenant for sev- eral years.]
264
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
At a Meeting of the Brethren of the Society Jany. 22 1798, Monday A. M. -
Voted, That there be paid to the Rev. Doctor Eckley One Hundred pounds L. M. over and above his stated salary for the Year Past on Account of the advanced price of provisions ; and that the same be raised by an assessment on the pews.
Voted, That the Assessment on the Pews for the last year 1797 be 50 p Ct. The Pews that are assessed for their weekly contributions at 2/. p. Sabbath to pay £2. 12. 0, those at 1/8, £2. 3. 4, those at 1/6, £1. 19. 0, those at 1/4, £1. 14. 0, those at 1/2, f1. 10. 4. The Above assessment to be paid as soon as is convenient, being the one half of what is assessed on each pew for 1797 and is over and above the sum that has been paid, or is now due.
Voted, That a paper be put into each pew, in the forenoon of the next Lords Day, mentioning the No. of the Pew, and the amount of the Sum the said pew is so assessed. And if sufficient reasons can be given by the present occupier of the pew, why the said sum should not be assessed, owing to the non occupancy of the Pew the whole of the last year, by applying to the Deacons, there shall be a proper abatement. And, it is requested, that the occupier of the Pew do put his or her name and No. of the Pew on the sum that is put into the Box, so that it may be seperate from the stated Contribution, in order to prevent mistakes.
Voted, That the Deacons be a Committee to obtain an estimate of the expense of repairing the Steeple, and such other parts of the build- ing as may be found necessary : and to devise some plan for raising a sum sufficient for the said purpose, and report their doings at the adjournment of this meeting, which is to be on the third Monday of March next in this place at 11 O'Clock A. M. notice thereof to be given the preceeding Lords Day. THOMAS DAWES Moderator.
Dr. Clarke, who had been sole pastor of the First Church since the death of Dr. Chauncy, was attacked with apoplexy, while preaching in his pulpit, Sunday afternoon, April I, and died the next morning, at the age of forty-two, and in the twenty-first year of his ministry. " In his religious views " he " was understood to be an Arian ; but, like so many other liberal ministers of that period, he rather rested in the 'negative con- viction that the doctrine of the Trinity is not a Scripture doc- trine than in any positive view of the subject.' In the early part of his ministry he inclined to the doctrine of final restora- tion as laid down by Dr. Chauncy, but in the latter part pre- served strict silence on that subject." 1
1 Ellis's History of the First Church, pp. 211, 212.
265
DEATH OF JONATHAN MASON.
The Hon. Jonathan Mason, senior deacon and late treasurer, died May 5.1 In a newspaper notice,2 it is said of him :-
This amiable and good man was a native of Boston, and descended from a respectable and worthy family. By honest industry and hon- orable punctuality in his dealings, he acquired, from humble begin- nings, an affluent fortune, and attained that reputation which is of far greater value than property.
Many years since, he was called by his fellow citizens to fill several important offices in the town. As a Selectman and an Overseer of the poor, he did himself honor, and the town service. In our late revolution he took a decided part with his country, and aided its exertions by his influence and interest. He rejoiced in its independ- ence, and to his last moment was a warm, decided and intrepid friend to its constitutions and national honor.
Mr. Mason was not obtrusive, nor ever took pains to acquire places of popularity, but his merit was not disregarded. While he was a Representative in the General Court (to which place the free suffrages of his fellow citizens called him repeatedly) he did justice and honor to his constituents and the Commonwealth. The last year he was chosen a Senator for this County and a Counsellor to the Executive. In these stations he proved himself to be a man of judgment, coolness and fortitude. He did not sacrifice his opinions meanly to others, nor did he manifest an obstinacy which is too often called decision and firmness. The true interests of his country he discerned and pursued.
His charities were large and extensive. They were not public or ostentatious, but they were liberal. Some of them which he carefully concealed, will now be known. Many a poor man will know his bene- factor only by his loss.
Mr. Mason was a serious, devout Christian. He honored the in- stitutions, the ministers and the precepts of christianity. The Church, of which he was an Officer, has lost one of its warmest friends, and one of the most exemplary of its members. The doctrines, the pe- culiar doctrines of the gospel, he loved in life; and they gave him firm hope, patient resignation and sometimes sublime joy on the bed of death. "He glorified God upon earth, and finished the work which was given him to do." 3
1 In the record of April 3, the word " deceased " against Mr. Mason's name must have been added at a later date.
2 Col. Centinel, May 12, 1798. Dr. Eckley preached a funeral sermon from I Cor. iii. part of the 21st and 22d verses : " For all things are yours, whether life or death, all are yours."
3 [Mr. Mason's first wife, Miriam (Clark), died June 5, 1774, in her fiftieth
year. The Mass. Gazette, June 9, con- tains a warm tribute to the excellence of her character, and to her good works in the church and the community.
Mr. Mason's second wife and widow, Mary, daughter of Hugh Vans, and granddaughter of the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, third minister of the church, survived until 1820. She joined the church in 1755, while Mr. Prince was
266
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Tuesday 3d April 1798.
At a Meeting of the Brethren of the Church and Congregation ad- journed to this day, The Report of the aforesaid Committee [the deacons] was laid before them. It was the opinion of the Committee that the repairing of the Steeple would cost fifteen hundred Dollars, and that it would be proper to open a subscription in the Society for raising this money.
Voted, That a subscription be opened for this purpose.
At said meeting of which previous notice had been given William Phillips Junr. Esqr. was chosen Treasurer of the Society in the room of the Hon. Jonathan Mason Esqr. Deceased.
THOMAS DAWES Moderator.
A subscription paper was prepared, as follows : -
Whereas it is found necessary to make sundry repairs to the Steeple and other parts of the South meeting House in Marlborough Street and also to the Ministerial House, which upon calculation will prob- ably amount to fifteen hundred dollars- We the Subscribers do promise to pay unto the Deacons of the South Society or their order the sums affixed to our names when by them demanded : to be applied for the purpose of said repairs.1
BOSTON April 5th 1798.
still living, and she witnessed the termi- jamin Clarke, $60, Josiah Quincy, $50, nation of eight of its pastorates, six by death and two by resignation. Mrs. Huntington, a few months after the death of her own husband, the Rev. Joshua Huntington, wrote :-
December 30, 1819. "Mrs. Mason is probably within a few days of her long expected, long desired rest. The re- moval of her beloved shepherd, though she acquiesced, and, on his account, re- joiced in the dispensation, was like a blow at the root. The effects of the stroke evinced its heaviness. And the dear woman will not remain long behind him she loved so sincerely."
March 17, 1820. "Mrs. Mason, also, precious saint, is gone ! She now under- stands perfectly the 'need be' of her pastor's removal; an event which she spoke of at first as 'a cloud without one ray of hope.'"]
1 [This paper, in the handwriting of William Phillips, Jr., has recently come into our possession. It bears the follow- ing subscriptions : William Phillips, Senr., $300, Jonathan Mason, $130, Ben-
Samuel Salisbury, $100, William Phillips, Jr., $100, Thomas Dawes, $60, Samuel Whitwell, $30, Joseph Peirce $30, Wil- liam Breed, $20, Elizabeth Gray (widow, as we suppose, of William Gray, and mother of the Rev. Thomas Gray), $20, Susan Kneeland, $30, John Winslow, $20, Samuel Coverly, $25, Samuel Brad- lee, $10, Jeremiah Bumstead, $15, George Paine, $20, Ephraim Copeland, $15, John Ballard, $20, Samuel Harris, $5, William Homes, $5, William Whitwell, $3.75, Thomas Barry, $4, Nicholas Pierce, $15.
Josiah Quincy (president of Harvard College from 1829 to 1845) was baptized by the Rev. John Hunt, February 16, 1772. He married in 1797, but con- tinued to live with his mother - Abigail, daughter of William Phillips, Senr., and widow of Josiah Quincy the patriot - in a house in Pearl Street given to her by her father, until her death, March 23, 1798. He attended upon Dr. Eckley's ministry until this time or later. On the 4th of July, 1798, he delivered the annual patriotic oration in the Old South Meet-
267
A THANKSGIVING SERMON.
Dr. Eckley preached a sermon on Thanksgiving Day, Novem- ber 29, from Gal. v. I : "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." The times were critical. The excesses and horrors of the French Revolution were in fresh remembrance. Bonaparte was in Egypt,1 and was soon to return to France and to become First Consul. All Europe was in arms, and it was no easy matter for the United States to maintain a strict neutrality. Said Dr. Eckley : "Whilst at the zenith we have discerned the aspect of our political sky to be enlivening and clear, we have heard the distant rumbling thun- der ; and in the horizon we may now see the forked lightnings shoot their fire. Never has there been a time more urgent than the present, in which the duty has been strengthened by the necessity of defending the privileges communicated by our gra- cious Lord." The young republic, he said, had seen " its treaties violated, its commerce plundered, its envoys insulted, its inhab- itants threatened ; " but what the preacher deplored even more was "the uncommon advancement of irreligion, both theoretical and practical," throughout the land.
Fast Day 4th April 1799.
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation stayed after service in the Afternoon.
Voted that the Deacons be a Committee to endeavour to obtain by subscription a sum sufficient for the purpose of opening a School for improvement in singing.
Voted, That seven persons from the Church and Congregation be chosen as a Committee for a Year to attend to the concerns of the Society. The following persons were chosen, Vizt. Mr. Homes, Cope- land, Coverly, Judge Dawes, Winslow, Thurston and Pierce.
Voted, That the said Committee take into consideration the pro- priety of building a number of Stores on the land belonging to the Society adjoining the meeting House, and make report of their pro- ceedings and opinion when they are prepared.
ing-House. His daughter, Mrs. Robert C. Waterston, thinks that about the year 1800 he removed from the Old South to the New South; he continued at the latter church until Dr. Kirkland was called to the presidency at Cambridge, and then joined Federal Street Church, of which Mr. Channing was the minister. " When my grandmother, Mrs. Morton," writes Mrs. Waterston, November 3, 1886, " came to live with us in 1820, she had a seat offered her by Mr. Phillips, in his
pew [the front pew in the right-hand aisle], and one of us, her granddaughters, always went with her on Sunday morn- ing. How well I recall the Old South as it looked then ! Like everything else, it is changed, and not for the better !"
Josiah Quincy, the patriot, also, was baptized at the South Church : " 1743-4, Feb. 26. Josiah, of Josiah and Hannah [Sturgis] Quincy."]
1 Nelson had won the battle of the Nile on the Ist and 2d of August, 1798.
268
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Voted, That the same assessment be laid on the Pews for the Year 1798 as for 1797, for the purpose of supporting the public Worship.
THOMAS DAWES Moderator.
N. B. 250 Dollars was presented to the Minister as an addition to his Sallary for the year 1798.
On the 28th of May, 1799, the Massachusetts Missionary Society was organized with the Rev. Nathanael Emmons, of Franklin, for its first president. Its original object, as set forth in the second article of the first constitution, was " to diffuse the knowledge of the Gospel among the heathens, as well as other people in the remote parts of our country, where Christ is seldom or never preached,"- an object, says Dr. Clark, comprehending the whole range of foreign and domestic missions, as the work was then understood. The same breadth of design was retained, when, in 1804, that article was so amended as to read : "The object of the Society is to diffuse the Gospel among the people of the newly settled and remote parts of our country, among the Indians of the country, and through the distant regions of the earth, as circumstances shall invite, and the ability of the society shall admit." "Its membership and patronage were derived wholly from ministers and churches familiarly called ' evangeli- cal,' as distinguished from others named 'liberal,' - terms at that time interchangeable with Calvinist and Arminian, though each embraced persons of considerable theological difference." 1
Sabbath Day 7 July 1799.
A letter was communicated from the Church in Federal Street (for- merly called Long Lane 2) requesting the presence and assistance of this Church on the roth instant at the Ordination of Mr. John S. Pop- kin as successor of the Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap, deceased.
The Pastor and Deacons were chosen to attend on the occasion.3
JOSEPH ECKLEY.
.
1 Clark's Hist. Sketch, pp. 229, 230.
2 [The State Convention, called for the purpose of passing upon the Federal Constitution which had just been sub- mitted to the States for their approval, met in 1788 in Dr. Belknap's meeting- house in Long Lane, the name of which was then changed to Federal Street. The meeting-house, which was of wood, was built in 1744, and taken down in 1809, when a new one of brick, and Gothic in style, was erected in its place.] 3 [The letter missive, signed by Francis Wright, Henry Homer, Thomas Davis,
John Davis, Thomas Lamb, Thomas Thompson, and Russell Sturgis, was in the following terms :-
" Honoured and Beloved
" As it has Pleased the Great Head of the Church to preserve our Peace and Happiness (as a Society) in our destitute state since the Death of our late worthy Pastor, and to lead us to the Choice of Mr. John Snelling Popkin to take the Charge and oversight of us in the Lord, and him to accept our united invitation -- " These are therefore to desire your Presence and Assistance, by your Pastor
269
DEATH OF DR. BELKNAP.
Dr. Belknap was attacked with apoplexy, June 20, 1798, and died in a few hours. He had had premonitions of a sudden death, and had made preparation for it in the arrangement of his papers and the settlement of his domestic affairs. His min- istry in Boston was a successful one, and he left a permanent impression upon the best thought and culture of the town.
He was an evangelical preacher, but his sermons were filled with a rich variety of observations on human life and manners. He never aimed at a splendid diction, but a vein of piety ran through his dis- courses, and his style was uncommonly elegant and perspicuous ; his arrangement clear and luminous, and his language adapted to the subject. He was sure to gratify equally the taste of the best judges of composition, and the humble inquirers after truth. He had a great readiness in quoting and applying texts of Scripture, and had read much of casuistic, systematic and polemical divinity ; but he chose to give every sentiment a practical turn, and to diffuse that wisdom which is profitable to direct.1
The enduring monument of this distinguished man of Old South lineage and training is the Massachusetts Historical Society, of which he was the founder. The mantle of Thomas Prince would seem to have fallen on him.
The Historical Society have lost their most laborious and diligent member, and the founder of their institution. No man had ever col- lected a greater number of facts, circumstances and anecdotes, or a more valuable compilation of manuscripts, which might give informa- tion and entertainment to all those who wish to know the history of their own country.2
Sabbath Day 6 October 1799.
A letter was communicated from the first Church, requesting the
and Delegates on Wednesday the Tenth day of July next to join with other Churches in Solemnly Separating him to the Work of the Gospel Ministry. Wish- ing Grace, Mercy, and Peace may be Multiplied to you and all the Churches, we Subscribe your Brethren in the Gospel " -
Dr. Eliot " delivered a liberal, judi- cious and appropriate sermon " from I Cor. xiii. I. Dr. Howard gave the charge, and Mr. Kirkland the right hand of fellowship. On the day following, Mr. William Collier was ordained as a Baptist minister in Mr. Baldwin's meet- ing-house. " Select choirs of vocal per-
formers at both places of worship grat- ified polished and attentive audiences with several pieces of exquisite music. The decorum of the spectators of the solemnities marked the liberality of the times, and the urbanity of the people ; while it demonstrated that the seeds of French Philosophy, though plentifully sown will not vegetate in the true Amer- ican soil." - Col. Centinel, July 13, 1799.] 1 [Ibid., June 25, 1798.]
2 [Ibid. He was the first of the origi- nal members of the society to die. His friend Ebenezer Hazard stands first on the list of corresponding members; he was elected May 29, 1792.]
270
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
presence and assistance of this Church by the Pastor and such other Delegates as might be chosen, at the Installation of the Revd. William Emerson on the 16 instant, as successor in said Church of the Rev : Dr. John Clarke, deceased.
The Deacons, Mr. Samuel Whitwell, Mr. Samuel Bass, Mr. William Holmes, were appointed to attend, with the Pastor, on the occasion.
JOSEPH ECKLEY.
Mr. Emerson was a son of the Rev. William Emerson, of Concord.1 He was ordained pastor of the church in Harvard in 1792, but seems never to have been "quite at home " there. His removal to Boston, however, was strongly opposed, very much as Dr. Thacher's removal from Malden had been in 1785. The Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, of Lancaster, preached the instal- lation sermon; the Rev. Ezra Ripley, of Concord, gave the charge, and Dr. Thacher the right hand of fellowship.
1 See ante, vol. ii. p. 77.
CHAPTER VI.
1800-1808.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE OLD
SOUTH PROPERTY. . THE RIGHTS OF THE CHURCH THEREIN.
E ARLY in the year 1771, the church and ·congre- gation had appointed a com- mittee to make estimates for the erection of a block of stores on the vacant land be- tween the old parsonage and the meeting-house. The times, however, were then unfavorable for carrying the plan into execution. The merchants of the town had entered into the non- importation agreement; the troops had fired with fatal effect upon the crowd in King Street ; and the conflict between the representatives of the people and the representatives of the Crown was constantly growing in intensity and bitterness. Not until the close of the century were the brethren in a position to build upon their vacant land, which was now in the business centre of the town. As the old parsonage had been demolished, there was ample room for five stores instead of the block of three originally proposed by Mr. Dawes.
Fast Day 3 April 1800.
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation stay'd after the ser- vice in the Afternoon. It was agreed in consideration of the inter- esting business which was before the Society that a Clerk should be chosen to write the Votes which might be passed.
Gen. John Winslow was chosen for this business.
272
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
The report of the Committee chosen in the preceeding year and ap- pointed to take into consideration the right and propriety of building a number of Stores on the land belonging to the Society adjoining the meeting House, was read twice by the Moderator. It is as follows : -
" BOSTON March 20. 1800
" Your Committee having met together at different times, to exam- ine and consider the business referred to them by the South Society, are of opinion it would be for the interest of said Society to erect on the Land belonging to them, fronting the main Street, Five handsome brick stores, agreeable to a plan, exhibited some time since by the Hon. Thomas Dawes Esq.
" Your Committee wishing to be possessed of the opinion of able Lawyers, respecting the Society's right of building on said Land, given by Mrs. Norton, have called on Theophilus Parsons Esq. At- torney at Law, whose opinion they have in writing, which is, that said Society have a clear right to make use of said land in any way they please as said land in the opinion of your Committee, cannot be im- proved, to the benefit of said Society in any way better than by erect- ing said Stores, it appearing by estimate that the expense will not ex- ceed Ten thousand Dollars to complete them, and they may be rented without any difficulty to good tenants for the sum of two thousand, or two thousand five hundred Dollars p annum, which will give an inter- est of from twenty to twenty five p ct. for their money. If this state- ment is a true one and the society's money can be borrowed for erect- ing said buildings, and if the society pays the Interest for the same at the rate it is now said to produce, which is nine p ct. there must then remain an overplus of from eleven to sixteen pct. which would enable the society amply to pay, with the present Tax on the Pewes, not only the present minister, but an additional one, provided the Society should chuse to expend it in that way, in doing which it is the opinion of your Committee the views of the donor not only of the Land, but those also who have left Legacies from time to time will be fully answered, as the poor of said society will have as much as they now receive, and the other will be laid out in pious uses for the support of public Worship, All which is submitted,
p. Order WM. HOMES Chairman."
After the foregoing Report had been duly considered on at a numer- ous meeting of the Society, the question was moved for and put, whether the same shall be accepted.
Voted, To accept the same, nemine contradicente.
Voted, To come to the choice of a Committee for the ensuing Year. Mess. Joseph Peirce, Joseph Eaton and William Phillips Jun. were appointed to collect and sort the votes.
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