USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 54
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2 Chapter 229 of the Statutes of 1845. The corporate name was afterward
1 See ante, vol. ii. p. 299. changed to "The Old South Society in Boston :" Chapter 88 of the Statutes of 1859.
505
OLD SOUTH BLOCK.
and Spring Streets in said Boston, and now known as the estate belonging to the Old South Church and Society, whereon the meeting-house and other buildings stand, for the support of public worship, for parochial and charitable purposes in this Commonwealth, and for paying the debts of said corporation."
The act of incorporation was accepted at a meeting held April 7, 1845, Francis Welch, moderator. Henry Davenport was chosen clerk, and a standing committee was constituted, with the following members : James Means,1 Bela Hunting, Peter Thatcher, Increase Sumner Withington, Charles Blake, Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Atkins, Jonathan French, Uriel Crocker.
The pew proprietors had already had under consideration the desirableness of taking down the parsonage houses in Milk Street, erected in 1807, and utilizing the site for business purposes. Families were deserting Milk and Pearl Streets, and solid blocks of warehouses were taking the place of the dignified and com- fortable mansion houses in which three generations of pros- perous citizens had lived and died. A fine building, known as Bowdoin Block, had been erected on the land directly opposite the parsonage houses, formerly owned by Governor Bowdoin ; and the society had received eligible offers for the use of its property from some of the most responsible firms in the city. A small minority, however, protested against the proposed changes, and prevented action for the time. A doubt was raised as to whether the society had a right to improve this land by building warehouses upon it, although it had been allowed to lie vacant for twenty-six or seven years after the death of Mrs. Norton. Nearly half a century before Theophilus Parsons had given an opinion, on the strength of which the society built its stores in Washington Street, in part on the site of the original parsonage, the home of John Winthrop and of John Norton. Another eminent lawyer was now consulted, Jeremiah Mason,2 who gave an opinion, January 14, 1845, in which, having stated the case and the questions raised by it, he said : -
1 James Howard Means, son of James Means, joined the Old South Church June 26, 1842. He graduated at Harvard College in 1843, and at Andover in 1847 ; and, July 13, 1848, he was ordained col- league pastor with Dr. Codman over the Second Church, Dorchester. He mar- ried Charlotte Abigail, daughter of Sam-
uel Johnson; she became a member of the Old South Church January 30, 1842. 2 On his removal from Portsmouth to Boston, Mr. Mason became a member of the Old South Church (September 25, 1831). He became afterward a com- municant at St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church.
506
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
A copy of an opinion of the late Chief-Justice Parsons has been shown me, given in 1800, in which he says, that the terms used in the aforesaid deed do not constitute a condition, on which a forfeiture may be incurred, but only a direction, a deviation from which will not defeat the title of the society. I fully concur with that opinion. None can carry with it greater authority. Indeed, were it doubtful whether the provisions of that deed might not be construed to amount to a condition, little danger to the title of the parish need be appre- hended from such construction. None but the heirs of the grantor can take advantage of the breach of condition. In her will she men- tions no descendants, which she would have been likely to do had she left any ; and it is in the highest degree improbable that any person now living can be able to establish his heirship to Mary Norton, by any line of collateral kindred, after the lapse of so long a period. I am of opinion, therefore, that there is no ground for any reasonable apprehen- sion of danger from forfeiture by breach of condition.
As to the question whether the deed creates a trust, I think it ap- parent from the language of the deed that the grantor intended that the granted premises should be forever applied to the use of a meet- ing-house thereon, to be erected by the parish then about to be estab- lished, and for a parsonage-house for the use of the ministers of such parish. This, in my opinion, created a valid trust, and I think the parish now hold the land subject to that trust. At the time when Chief-Justice Parsons gave his opinion on the case, no court in this State had power to enforce the execution of trusts. The Superior Court of Judicature now has jurisdiction competent for that purpose. A Court of Chancery, in dealing with trusts for charitable uses, will never vacate or set aside a trust because it has been abused or mis- used, and restore the property to the heirs of the donor ; but will, in a proper case, compel the specific execution of the trust, for the benefit of the cestui que trust. The only person interested in the specific exe- cution of this trust (that is, in having always a parsonage house on the land granted in trust,) is the minister of the parish for the time being. The great change of circumstances since the time of the conveyance has rendered that land an inconvenient and ineligible site for a dwell- ing-house. The present minister is desirous of a residence in a more retired situation. Under these circumstances, I am of opinion that the parish may, without any abuse of the trust, apply this land to the use of warehouses, and provide for their minister a suitable dwelling- house in a more convenient situation. So long as the income derived from the warehouses shall be faithfully applied to the support of the minister, and other necessary expenses of the parish, no Court of Chancery will, I think, ever hold this to be an abuse or mismanage- ment of the trust. More especially will this be deemed not an abuse or breach of the trust, when it is done with the consent of the cestui
507
A BRANCH CHAPEL.
que trust, the minister of the parish, - the only party in interest. Such consent the present incumbent, it is said, is ready to give in authentic form.
In the act of incorporation granted by the legislature a few weeks after Mr. Mason gave the opinion from which we have quoted, it was provided as follows :-
Said corporation is hereby authorised and empowered to demise and lease all or any of said real estate excepting the meeting-house and land under the same, in such manner and upon such terms and condi- tions as may seem needful or expedient.
The clause excepting the meeting-house and the land under it from the general provision of the section was inserted on the request of the members of the society, who, notwithstanding the great changes which had taken place to the north and east of their land, could not anticipate that their meeting-house would not be as available for the uses of public worship as it then was for two generations to come. The standing committee reported at the annual meeting in 1846: -
A block of three granite stores, with three smaller ones in the rear, have been erected and finished in modern style, which for beauty, durability, perfection of workmanship, and adaptation to the uses for which they were intended, has no superior in the city of Boston.1
As the income of the society was increasing, the members determined to occupy some field of usefulness outside the con- fines of the parish, and, in 1856, a Sunday-school was opened in Lowell Street, where a church had been sustained from 1849 to 1853. This was the beginning of the work which, in 1861,
1 [Gridley J. F. Bryant was the archi- tect, and J. E. & N. Brown were the builders.
In 1851 the steeple of the meeting- house was repaired at an expense of ten thousand dollars. It was said in the re- port of the committee: " Arrangements were made to paint the outside of the steeple, and the staging was erected for that purpose, when it was ascertained that the whole of the wood-work above the bell-deck was in a very decayed and dangerous condition, so much so, that it was matter of surprise that the whole fabric had not long since been prostrated. Thorough repair of this was found nec- essary, and stick after stick of the frame
of the steeple was condemned and re- moved, and new ones substituted, until hardly a stick of the old steeple remained. In the course of the repairs it was found practicable to restore the steeple to its perpendicular, and it was at last finished at an expense but little if any short of what it would have been, if the old steeple had been first removed and a new one regularly constructed. It is now much stronger than ever before, being double boarded laterally and sheathed with substantial copper and most of the timbers braced with iron ; the inside has been repaired, so that it is convenient of access, and is well ventilated to preserve the wood from decay."]
508
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
was transferred to Chambers Street, and was carried on there for many years. The plan contemplated the maintenance of regular services at the branch chapel, and, perhaps, the establish- ment of a church, and, in furtherance of these objects, it seemed necessary to settle a colleague pastor with Dr. Blagden. Some time before, in the winter of 1851-52, several of the brethren addressed a letter to the pastor, proposing the settlement of a colleague, in view of "the present necessities of our growing city," and of "the ability of our society to meet these wants," and "in conformity with the ancient usages of the society." In his reply Dr. Blagden said : "I am ready, therefore, after a ma- ture and I hope prayerful deliberation, and consultation with those whom I believe to be friends of Christ, to cooperate with the church and society if they shall desire it, in the settlement of a colleague pastor, with the expectation that there shall be included in such an arrangement an extension of plan and effort, which shall effectually meet the wants we desire to sup- ply, and wisely and faithfully use the means with which we are intrusted." "With no strong predilections for any particular form " which the arrangement should take, the pastor suggested the collegiate plan. This reply was read, and the whole subject was considered at a meeting February 4, 1852, and a committee was appointed for its further consideration, consisting of the dea- cons, Pliny Cutler, Charles Stoddard, and Loring Lothrop, with Uriel Crocker and George R. Sampson. This committee reported a vote, March 17, which was adopted, “ that it is expedient to set- tle a colleague pastor in Old South Church," and, April 5, a larger committee was appointed,1 charged with the duty, in conference with a committee of the society, " of inviting candidates for the office of colleague pastor." The plan included " the opening of a chapel for worship on the Sabbath, and the establishment of a Sabbath evening lecture at Old South." The society did not cooperate, and no further action was taken at this time. The committee of the church satisfied itself, however, by correspond- ence with those who were qualified to give an intelligent opin- ion, that it was inexpedient to introduce the collegiate system into the Old South organization. More than four years passed before final action was taken ; and, at length, the choice of the church was fixed upon the Rev. J. M. Manning, of Medford, and its call to settle as associate pastor was accepted by him.
1 Pliny Cutler, Charles Stoddard, Lor- H. Jones, Zachariah Jellison, George F. ing Lothrop, Joshua B. Kimball, Henry Bigelow.
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509
THE REV. J. M. MANNING.
Jacob Merrill Manning was born, December 31, 1824, at Greenwood, Steuben County, New York, " a district in which the Alleghany Mountains throw out their spurs into western New York, and where the people who had come in to occupy the little farms along the valleys retained the primitive habits of much earlier times. His father, Jacob Manning, was one of the five pioneers that settled in the township which at that time was a complete wilderness. Originally from New Hampshire, he is described as having been an intelligent man and an earnest Christian, always foremost in any good enterprise, and warmly identified with the cause of evangelical religion." The son worked hard for several years on his father's farm, and in his eighteenth year went to Franklin Academy, Prattsburgh. Here he became a decided Christian and a member of the church, and after much deliberation and prayer formed the purpose of studying for the gospel-ministry. In 1846 he entered Amherst College and graduated four years later. The present president, Dr. Seelye, who was a fellow-student with him, says : "He took high rank as a scholar, showing the same diligence in study, the same carefulness of judgment, the same penetration and breadth and accuracy, which afterwards distinguished him. In the classics and the mathematics, he showed equal aptitude. He was gifted in speech ; he was fond of debate and excellent as a writer; but he never seemed to suffer his likes or dislikes to control him in his studies, or indeed in any of his pursuits. A way of duty, wherever it might lead, always opened up to him a well of delight. Indeed, a sense of duty, an unqualified faithfulness to his trusts, was always, when in college, his ardent inspiration. He did his work with a genuine moral earnest- ness." Another fellow-student says of his Christian life in col- lege, that it was "hopeful and believing. He never had dark days, but always seemed to live in the sunshine, never doubt- ing his Lord and never wavering in his devotion. Free from all cant and bigotry, full of love and trust, his Christian experi- ence lent to his Christian endeavor a powerful and constant attraction. He will be remembered by all who knew him in col- lege as a man among the foremost in character and scholarship, and power of thought and speech, who took his high position among his fellows without jealousy on his part or envy on theirs, and who left a record of moral earnestness and Christian devo- tion not only without reproach, but radiant still with the light of his undoubting faith and his unquenchable hope and love."
1
510
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
From Amherst Mr. Manning passed with high honor in his class to Andover Theological Seminary, where "he attracted the attention of his instructors, not only by his marked individu- ality of character and originality of thought, but also by that touch of genius in him which made him quick in detecting analogies for himself, and responsive to the poetic utterances of others." Nor did his intellectual activity and development stop short at the time of graduation. This was simply his point of departure for more severe study and for more thorough investi- gation. "Very early he had taken his ground on evangelical. truth, and he kept it to the last ; but he kept it with a hospitable outlook to that which claimed to be new, though he was care- ful to receive nothing that could not stand the test of being weighed in the balance of the word of God. He read much, and what he read he carefully and independently judged. From his port of departure he was quite willing to circumnavigate the whole globe of truth, and he was not afraid of anything which he might discover, for his first meridian always passed through Calvary, and everything was rated by its relation to that." 1
Mr. Manning was ordained to the pastorate of the Mystic Congregational Church, Medford, Massachusetts, January 3, 1854. Here "he spent three years of quiet, unobtrusive useful- ness and great happiness, drawing to himself the confidence and affection of the people of his charge." Here, too, he was preparing for his life-work in the neighboring capital, which was to include active participation in the great struggle whose por- tentous shadow was already beginning to darken the political sky, and the leadership of this ancient church through one of the most momentous crises of its history.
A council of twenty-three churches was convened, Wednes- day morning, March 1I, 1857, for the installation of Mr. Manning
1 See the memorial sermon preached by request of the Old South Church, Feb- ruary 18, 1883, by the Rev. W. M. Taylor, D. D., of New York. At Dr. Manning's funeral, Dr. Duryea said: " While he held the truths he thought to be essen- tial, nevertheless he well knew that no truth can be so revealed to the mind that it will not take new shape as it is wrought into thought, and fixed among the motive forces of character and life. He knew that spiritual penetration and discernment come from experience, and
that the true interpretation of every word of God comes from simple living with God; that this enables the soul, both in thought and feeling, to divine in God's revelations God's own meaning. He was willing, therefore, to hold the forms of truth flexible and yielding, so that the perfect expression might come forth by studious contemplation of the word, and most of all by communion with God and the following of Christ, under the in- fluence and in the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit."
5II
MR. MANNING'S INSTALLATION.
as associate pastor of the Old South. In conformity with the more recent custom of the Massachusetts churches, the qualifi- cations of the pastor-elect and the expediency of his settlement had been referred to the council by the letter-missive. There was no positive manifestation of partisanship in the examina- tion, but the proceedings occupied a much longer time than had been anticipated, and the congregation assembled for the public exercises was obliged to wait for an hour or longer, while the council was deliberating on some question of procedure. Pro- fessor Park preached the sermon ; his subject was, The Revela- tion of God in His Works, and his text, Psalm xix. 1-4: "The heavens declare the glory of God," etc. The installing prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Albro, of Cambridge ; the charge was given by President Stearns, of Amherst College ; the right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Dr. Blagden,1 and the address to the people by the Rev. Dr. Nehemiah Adams.
In the application of his subject Dr. Park said : -
The material heavens are but auxiliaries to the humble preacher who speaks in the name of this Psalmist's Lord and Son. The very stars are but asterisks, referring to some note on the atoning love which is the minister's great theme. The preacher's body, fearfully and wonderfully made ; his mind, which will declare the glory of God when the material heavens shall have been folded up as a vesture ; his manner of life, which, if he have an unction from the Holy One, is an epistle from Jehovah to men ; his discourses, which, so far as they are true, are but a paraphrase of the inspired word ; - all that he does and all that he is in fidelity to his Maker, make him a representative of the Law and of the Gospel, and an exponent both of nature and of grace.
And when he takes the oversight of a church like this, consecrated with rich and ancient memories, he gathers together all the voices of the past, and echoes them as the present voice of God to his people. Standing in this pulpit, he recalls the prayers which have been offered
1 Although Dr. Blagden gave the right hand of fellowship in behalf and by vote of the council, it had been arranged beforehand by the church that he should do so, precisely as it had been arranged that Mr. Lowell should perform this duty at the ordination of Mr. Wisner. Dr. Blagden had prepared himself and had put his address upon paper before the council came together. This illus- trates more clearly, what we have already intimated, that the objection to Mr.
Lowell's taking the part which had been assigned to him by the church on the ground that it was the prerogative of the council to designate the minister who should express in its behalf the fellow- ship of the churches, was only a pretext put forward as a cover for partisan pur- poses. There were no party reasons in 1857, as there had been in 1821, why the plainly expressed wishes of the church should be thwarted. See ante, vol. ii. pp. 467-475.
512
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
here, one of them celebrated throughout the Christian world as an illustration of prevailing entreaty. He recounts the influences which have flowed from members of this church over men who have affected the destiny of empires. He reiterates the counsels of those godly pastors, whose natural voice is not heard now, and there is no speech nor language coming audibly from their tombs ; but their real words are still going out to the ends of the world. He recites the records of this church, as it began its alms-deeds more than a hundred years before our republic had a place among the independent nations of the earth. He describes the future progress of this church, if it remain true to its ancient promise ; for so it will continue its beneficence hundreds of years after the present dynasties of the world shall have died away ; for, in the history of a church like this, century uttereth speech to century, and generation showeth knowledge to generation ; and though it be a small republic, it may remain unharmed and intact, though all the civil institutions around it sink into oblivion. All these, and more than these hallowed remembrances, will the minister of this people utter forth until the stones of this ancient edifice " shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer" them ; the pews, as well as the pulpit, declaring the glory of Him who has promised to guide the children, as he guarded the fathers in Israel.1
The associate pastors entered immediately upon the enlarged work which had been planned in anticipation of Mr. Manning's settlement, amid many circumstances to encourage them in it. On the 25th of January, 1858, the church appointed a commit- tee consisting of the pastors, the Lowell Street committee of
[Professor Park has been so thor-
1 oughly identified with the reactionary party in the recent controversies, and with the Andover prosecutions, that we find it difficult to think of him as being, a third of a century ago, a representative of all that was progressive in Massachu- setts Congregationalism, and of his being distrusted and disliked by the conserva- tives of that day as the leader of "a semi - Arminian party." Dr. Parsons Cooke, in a Protest addressed to the Congregational Board of Publication in 1859, said of this party and its leader : " For its propagation his industry is un- sleeping, and his power in its sphere, and somewhat beyond its sphere is irresistible. His eye is on every vacant parish, to put his own instruments in the most com- manding positions, and exclude those not subscribing to his creed." It was alleged
that Dr. Park had prevented the settle- ment of a minister, because he was a decided Calvinist, over "a church not twenty miles from Boston ; " and, added Dr. Cooke, "still nearer home might we illustrate his policy of pressing a minister of his stripe upon a church against a strong opposition." This last sentence was supposed to have reference to Mr. Manning and the Old South. Without doubt, Dr. Park strongly favored Mr. Manning's settlement here, and the breth- ren of the church gave due weight to his opinion. They paid little attention to the heresy-hunters and panic-manufacturers of the period; and while the more con- servative pulpits were closed against the Andover professor, they had not hesitated to invite him to preach for them for a considerable length of time, during Dr. Blagden's absence in Europe.]
513
PATRIOTISM AT THE OLD SOUTH.
the society, and the Lowell Street city missionary, "to consider the expediency of taking immediate measures for the organiza- tion of a church in connection with the congregation now wor- shipping in the Lowell Street Chapel." Such a church was formed, but not until December 4, 1861, and, in the mean time, the mission had been removed to more eligible quarters in Chambers Street.
In the spring of 1858 there was a very general revival of re- ligion in New England and other parts of the country, in which the churches in Boston shared, and a large number was added to the membership of the Old South. Two or three years of quiet, faithful, and effective church work followed, and then came the war of the rebellion, under the stress of which all other efforts and aspirations were held subordinate to the strug- gle and the agony for the nation's life.
It was natural that at the uprising of the people in 1861, and in the years when the spirit of patriotism was actively domi- nant, a fresh interest should be awakened in the Old South meeting-house as an historical building, especially in the recol- lection of what it had witnessed and what it had suffered before and during the war of the Revolution, and that, in the new emergency, it should be recognized as a fitting centre, and be- come a favorite rallying point, both for prayer and supplication to Almighty God, in remembrance of his gracious and glorious interventions and deliverances in the past, and for mutual coun- sel, earnest appeal, and personal consecration, in emulation of the spirit of self-surrender which had found noble and signifi- cant expression within its walls in other times which tried men's souls. After the attack upon Fort Sumter, the proclama- tion of President Lincoln, and the departure of the first militia regiments for the defence of the national capital, the American flag was displayed on every hand in manifestation of the loyalty and determination of the people. On the Ist of May there was a flag-raising at the Old South, in the presence of a large assemblage, with prayer and speeches and martial music. In a printed report of the proceedings it is said : -
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