USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. III > Part 57
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1 On this Thursday there were two whose was the Lecture, preach'd in the services; Mr. Webb preached at the Old, So great were the Numbers. P. M. in the Common." usual place, and Mr. Whitefield at the South Church. Dr. Sewall says : Oct. 7. " Mr. Whitefield preached . . . in our meeting - house, while Mr. Webb,
2 He dined again this day with the governor, who told one of the ministers present, who had lately begun to preach
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
dressed another immense audience on the Common. On Fri- day he preached at Charlestown and at Reading, and on Satur- day at Cambridge, from the meeting-house steps, to a great body of people, who stood very attentively, though it rained, and at the latter part of the sermon were much affected. The subject was " Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteous- ness." 1
The morning of Sunday, October 12, was spent in conversing with those who came for spiritual advice. He then preached with great power and affection at the South Church, which was so exceedingly thronged that he was obliged to enter at one of the windows. His text was Jer. xxxiii. 6, " And this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." 2 " He dined with the governor, who came to him after din- ner, weeping, and desired his prayers. He heard Dr. Sewall in the afternoon [on Isai. xlviii. 17, 18]. He was sick during and after the exercises, but went with the governor in his coach, and preached his farewell sermon on the Common to near thirty thousand people. Great numbers melted into tears when he spoke of leaving them. The governor then went with him to his lodgings. He stood in the passage and spoke to a great company, both within and without the doors; but they were so deeply affected, and cried out so loud, that he was obliged to
extempore, that he was very glad he had found out a way to save his eyes.
1 Mr. Secretary Willard wrote to him soon after : "Mr. Webb tells me that divers young men in this town, who are candidates for the ministry, have been brought under deep convictions by your preaching, and (as he hopes) are carried off from the foundation of their false hopes (their own righteousness) to rest only on Christ for salvation." Dr. Col- man wrote: "At Cambridge the Col- lege is a new creature; the students full of God, and like to come out blessings in their generations, and to be so now to each other."
2 " Nor was it so much the theology of the sermons as the spirit of the preacher which won the people's ear and heart. Love is more than theology, both with God and man, and that was never absent from any sermon of Whitefield. Con- gregations had no time to settle down upon his theological mistakes, and find
fault with them. Before the questioner had well begun to consider what hope of acceptance with God any one durst cher- ish, if the atonement was only for the elect, his soul was called to repent and believe ; for Whitefield was too wise at winning souls to leave his ' application ' to the last : he would put an application to every paragraph rather than fail in getting practical results. In his sermon on 'The Lord our Righteousness' he rushes straight in among his hearers' doubts and troubles - doubts and trou- bles which his own rebukes and plead- ings have created, and exclaims, ' Who knows but the Lord may have mercy on, nay, abundantly pardon you? Beg of God to give you faith ; and, if the Lord gives you that, you will by it receive Christ with His righteousness and His all. You need not fear the greatness or the number of your sins.'" - Gledstone's Life and Travels of George Whitefield, PP. 346, 347.
5II
IMPRESSIONS OF BOSTON.
leave off praying. The governor was highly pleased to see the power of God. The remainder of the evening was mostly spent in conversation with inquirers." It was at the close of the rec- ord of this memorable day that the great preacher summed up in his journal his general impressions of Boston : -
Boston is a large populous place, very wealthy ; has the form kept up very well, but has lost much of the power of religion. I have not heard of any remarkable stir in it for these many years. Ministers and people are obliged to confess, that the love of many is waxed cold. Both, for the generality, seem too much conformed to the world. There is much of the pride of life to be seen in their assem- blies. Jewels, patches and gay apparel are commonly worn by the female sex. Little boys and girls I observed commonly dressed up in the pride of life ; and the little infants that were brought to baptism, were wrapped up in such fine things, and so much pains taken to dress them, that one would think they were brought thither to be initiated into, rather than renounce, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. ... One thing Boston is remarkable for, - the external ob- servation of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices have a regard for reli- gion. The governor encourages them, and the ministers and magis- trates seem to be more united, than in any other place where I have been. Both were exceedingly civil to me during my stay. I never saw so little scoffing ; never had so little opposition. But one might easily foresee, much would hereafter arise, when I come to be more particular in my application to particular persons ; for, I fear, many rest in a head-knowledge, are close Pharisees, and having only a name to live. . . . Boston people are dear to my soul. They were greatly affected by the word, followed night and day, and were very liberal to my dear orphans. I promised, God willing, to visit them again, and intend to fulfil my promise when it shall please God to bring me again from my native country. In the mean while, dear Boston adieu. The Lord be with thy ministers and people, and grant that the rem- nant that is left according to the election of grace, may take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards, and fill the land.1
Dr. Sewall wrote in his diary : -
Oct. 13. He left the Town. It is wonderful to behold a young man (about 26) Preaching thus twice a Day, with great earnestness, the Gospel of Christ. Many, partly among the Youth, seem to be affected. O let good Impressions be fix'd, and issue in a sound
1 In preparing this account of Mr. field, M. A., by Robert Philip; The Whitefield's first visit to Boston we Great Awakening, by Joseph Tracy ; and have consulted his Journals, also The The Life and Travels of George White- Life and Times of the Rev. George White- field, M. A., by James P. Gledstone.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Conversion. Let not our Goodness be as the morning cloud ! O God, humble and quicken me! Enable me, thy Ministers, thy people, to Improve aright this extraordinary Dispensation! O revive thy work among us! Save thy people! I hope some of Mr. W.'s dis- courses were very affecting to me. O Lord, teach me, thy People, to profit !
Dr. Colman wrote to Mr. Parsons, then of Lyme, "We have had a week of Sabbaths."
Mr. Prince, two or three years later, thus spoke of Mr. White- field's going away : " As far as I could then see or learn, he parted in the general esteem and love both of ministers and people ; and this seemed to continue 'till the Journal of his travels in New England came abroad, wherein some passages offended many, and occasioned their reflections on him."
What these " reflections on him" were we shall see in connec- tion with his next visit to Boston. He himself was afterward brought to comprehend and frankly to acknowledge what a seri- ous mistake he had made in recording his opinions upon such slight personal acquaintance with the country and the people, and, of course, largely on hearsay testimony, and, still more, in publishing them. He was not the last visitor to these shores, however, to err in the same way. It should be remembered in his defence, that at the time of this visit he had not completed his twenty-sixth year, and that he had met with a reception in New England which was enough to turn the head of a man many years older.
When he left Boston on Monday morning, on his way to Northampton, to see Mr. Edwards, Governor Belcher took him in his carriage to the ferry, embraced him, and with tears bade him farewell. But this did not satisfy the governor ; he drove the next day to Marlborough, met the great preacher there, and accompanied him to Worcester. On finally parting with him he said privately, "Mr. Whitefield, go on in stirring up the ministers ; for reformation must begin at the house of God : and do not spare rulers, no, not the chief of them, any more than ministers." He asked him to pray for him, that he might hun- ger and thirst after righteousness, and again took leave of him with tears. " I have often thought," says one of his biographers, the Rev. Robert Philip, "whilst reviewing the sweeping and se- vere invectives which Whitefield so bitterly repented, that no small part of the blame lay at the governor's door. A charge like this, uttered with tears and entreaties, was enough to mis-
513
MR. WHITEFIELD'S DEPARTURE.
lead a cooler man than George Whitefield. I must, therefore, say of it what he said of his own conduct, 'It was well meant, but it did hurt.'" To his credit for impartiality, it should be added that he did not spare the governor himself, but before leaving New England thus wrote to him : "I thought your ex- cellency wanted a more clear view of your own vileness, and of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. I mean a more experimental view : for what is all head-knowledge, without that of the heart ? It only settles people more upon their lees. May God give you to see and to follow the simplicity of the blessed Jesus! Hon- oured Sir, I make no apology for this freedom ; your excellency bade me not spare rulers - no not the chief of them."1 This plainness of speech did not displease Governor Belcher, who loved him almost as a son, and the two were afterward to meet on intimate terms in New Jersey.2
The religious interest in Boston did not abate on the depart- ure of Mr. Whitefield. "Great numbers in the town were so happily concerned about their souls " as had never been seen there before, except at the time of the earthquake in 1727. The people wanted to hear their ministers more than ever, and " the assemblies both on Sabbaths and Lectures were surprizingly increased." It was decided to set up a public Lecture " at Dr. Colman's Church, near the midst of the town, on every Tuesday evening. Lord's-Day afternoon, October 19, public notice was there given of the proposed Lecture to be on Tuesday Evening following : which the religious people in general received with so much joy, that when the evening came, the House seemed to be crowded as much as if Mr. Whitefield was there. It was the first stated Evening Lecture in these parts of the world : and the venerable Dr. Colman began it with a most suitable and
1 He was no more stern in dealing with the governor than with himself. Only a few days before, he had written in his journal: "Went in his [the gov- ernor's] coach to the end of the town, but had such a sense of my vileness upon my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me."
2 Of Mr. Whitefield's preaching at Northampton Mr. Edwards said : "The congregation was extraordinarily melted by every sermon ; almost the whole as- sembly being in tears for a great part of sermon time. Mr. Whitefield's ser- mons were suitable to the circumstances
of the town ; containing just reproofs of our backslidings, and in a most moving and affecting manner, making use of our great profession and great mercies as ar- guments with us to return to God, from whom we had departed. Immediately after this, the minds of the people in general appeared more engaged in reli- gion, showing a greater forwardness to make religion the subject of their con- versation, and to meet frequently to- gether for religious purposes, and to em- brace all opportunities to hear the word preached."- Christian History, vol. i. P. 367.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
moving sermon, forthwith printed." The text was, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ?" In opening, the excellent pastor, speaking for his brethren and himself, said : -
Our dear people, your ministers have with pleasure seen you in the weeks past, old and young, parents and children, masters and servants, high and low, rich and poor together, gathering and passing as clouds in our streets, and as doves on the wing in flocks flying to the doors and windows of our places of worship ; and hovering about the same, those that could not get in.
The fame of a singular fervent and holy youth, and extraordinary servant and minister of Jesus Christ, (who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire,) had prepared you for his visit ; and with raised expectations we received him, even as an angel of God for Jesus sake ; as the apostle St. Paul was received by the churches in Galatia.
God gave him a wonderful manner of entrance among us, just as in other places before us, among the brethren of our denomination ; and we were sometimes melted together in tears, ministers and people, parents and children, under the commanding addresses of love to his Saviour and our souls. We led you with a visible pleasure in our faces to the solemn and great assemblies, and looked on you there with great satisfaction, in your uncommon regards to the beloved ser- vant of Christ, for the truth's sake that dwelleth in him, and the love of the Spirit filling him, and reigning in his ministrations to us.
And now our beloved brethren and sisters, you and your children, we are going to prove, confirm and increase, by the will of God, the seeming good dispositions begun or revived in you, toward Christ and his word, in a just and reasonable pious care and solicitude for your salvation.
On Tuesday evening, October 28, Dr. Sewall preached in the same place, from Ezek. xi. 19, 20. " The House was then also greatly crowded with attentive hearers : and so it continued to be on these Lectures for many months after."
Novr. 2. 1740
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation stay'd and Voted as follows, viz ;
I. That forty six pounds be given out of the Collection for chari- table and pious uses, to the Poor of this Church and Congregation, to supply them with Wood and other Necessaries.
II. That there be given out of said collection, To the Revd Mr. Richard Pierce 10 pounds to encourage him to continue Preaching the Gospel at Dartmouth.
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A FAST-DAY SERMON.
III. To the Revd. Mr. Timothy White 10 pounds towards his Sup- port in Preaching the Gospel in Nantucket.
IV. To the Revd. Mr. Ezra Carpenter 5 pounds towards his Sup- port in Preaching the Gospel in Hull.
V. The Remainder 57. 9. 5. to be distributed in Books of Piety by our Pastors to proper objects of such a Charity.
JOSEPH SEWALL.
On the 29th of November, the House of Representatives, " taking into consideration the many tokens of Divine dis- pleasure upon this Province, and more especially the pressing difficulties which have long attended and do still attend the publick affairs thereof, and which are likely to increase upon us, unless the Government be led into some measures for the speedy remedy thereof," asked the governor to appoint a day of fasting and prayer to be solemnized by the General Court, "as well for themselves as in behalf of the people of this Province." The council concurred, and the governor appointed Wednesday, December 3, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, for a service to be held in the council chamber.1 Dr. Sewall preached, taking his text from Jonah iii. 10, - Nineveh's Repentance and Deliver- ance. In the application of his subject, the doctor spoke very plainly to his distinguished audience : -
"Let the Lord's Day," he said, "be strictly observ'd ; for God hath set the Sabbath as a sign between him and his people, that he is the Lord who sanctifieth them. Let the most effectual means also be used that the great abuse of taverns may be reformed ; that these be not converted into tippling and gaming houses for town-dwellers, to the dishonour of God and hurt of the Common-Wealth. Let the foun- tains of justice be kept open and pure, that judgment may run down as waters ; and that such as thirst after righteousness may come freely and be refreshed. And whereas the present difficulties which embar- rass our affairs, do very much arise from the want of a suitable medium of trade, and different apprehensions in the Legislature about supply- ing the Treasury, whereby the publick debts are, in part at least, left unpaid, and the country naked and defenceless, in this day of calamity and war: I can't but humbly apprehend, that this awful frown of Providence calls aloud to you further to consider, whether there has not been great injustice and oppression with relation to the Bills of Publick Credit which have pass'd among us, from their sinking and uncertain value ; and to use your best endeavours that whatever Bills shall pass for time to come in lieu of money, may be a just medium
1 A similar service was held December 10, 1736.
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
of exchange ; for a false balance is abomination to the Lord ; but a just weight is his delight. Prov xi. I. Whatever methods may be propos'd to extricate us out of our present distress, justice and equity must be laid in the foundation ; or we may expect that the Lord who loves righteousness and hates wickedness, will confound our devices, and bring them to nought. But then, I presume not in the least measure to determine whether this or that way is right. May that God before whom all things are open and naked, direct your Excellency and the whole Court, into such paths of righteousness as shall lead to our deliverance and safety ; that we may neither oppress one another, nor become a prey to an insulting enemy ! May you be fill'd with the most tenderly and fatherly compassion for your people, under the present distress and danger, and do all you can to relieve them ! And if there should be a difference in your opinion about the way, may you be enabled to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, that the God of peace may be with you, who has promis'd to guide the meek in judgment ! " 1
A vote of thanks to the preacher was passed in the council, and was concurred in by the House, and a copy of his sermon was requested for publication. The committee on the part of the council, - John Osborne and Ezekiel Lewis, - as well as the secretary who attested the vote and the governor who ap- proved it, were members of his church.2
On the 13th of December, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, of New Jersey, whose preaching had aroused multitudes and been the means of bringing many into the church, arrived in Boston, and began his labors on the next day, being Sunday, at the New North, preaching morning and afternoon. Mr. Prince says : " He did not indeed at first come up to my expectation ; but afterwards exceeded it." "He seemed to have no regard to please the eyes of his hearers with agreeable gesture, nor their
1 [Dr. Sewall had preached on the currency question at the Thursday Lec- ture, in December of the year before. Judge Lynde says :-
1739. Dec. 6. " Fair. Dr. Sewall preached about acco. of Emission; dined at Mr. Lewis's." - Lynde Diaries, p. 160.
Palfrey says: "Throughout the ad- ministration of Governor Belcher, the finances of the Province were in an ex- tremely discouraging condition. The temptation to make a fictitious currency, and to defer the times for payment, was such as in like circumstances is always
felt in prodigious strength. However doubtful the legal right of the British government to interfere, there is no doubt of the disastrous tendency of the course which the Province was disposed to pursue." - History of N. Eng., vol. iv. pp. 548, 549. The paper currency had depreciated seventy-five per cent.]
2 The winter of 1740-41 was a severe one, and to mitigate the sufferings of the poor of the town, collections were taken in February, in all the congregations. The amount collected at the South Church was £105.
517
THE REV. GILBERT TENNENT.
ears with delivery, nor their fancy with language ; but to aim directly at their hearts and consciences, to lay open their ruin- ous delusions, shew them their numerous, secret, hypocritical shifts in religion, and drive them out of every deceitful refuge wherein they made themselves easy, with the form of godliness without the power. And many who were pleased in a good conceit of themselves before, now found, to their great distress, they were only self-deceived hypocrites. And though while the discovery was making, some at first raged, as they have owned to me and others ; yet in the progress of the discovery many were forced to submit ; and then the power of God so broke and humbled them, that they wanted a further and even a thorough discovery ; they went to hear him, that the secret corruptions and delusions of their hearts might be more discovered ; and the more searching the sermon, the more acceptable it was to their anxious minds." 1
Mr. Tennent spent more than two months in Boston and the neighborhood. He preached his farewell sermon in the Brattle Street meeting-house, on Monday, March 2, 1741, " to an audi- tory extremely crowded, very attentive and much affected." His text was Acts xi. 23, " And exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." "It was an affectionate parting, and as great numbers of all conditions and ages appeared awakened by him, there seemed to be a gen- eral sadness at his going away."
" And now," continues Mr. Prince, "was such a time as we never knew. The Rev. Mr. Cooper was wont to say, that more came to him in one week in deep concern about their souls, than in the whole twenty-four years of his preceding ministry. I can also say the same as to the numbers who repaired to me. By Mr. Cooper's Letter to his friend in Scotland, it appears, he has had about six hundred persons in three months time: and Mr. Webb informs me, he has had in the same space above a thousand."
"The people seemed to love to hear us more than ever." The Tuesday evening Lecture at Brattle Street was not suf- ficient, and it was decided to open another Lecture on Friday evenings at the South Church. . We quote now from the records :-
1 Dr. Sewall says: Tuesday, " Jan. 20. I preach'd the Evening Lecture from John 16. 8. Reprove the world of Sin.
There were Notes for about 54 under Conviction. . .. Besides several young Children concerned for their Souls."
1 :
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HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
April 12. 1741.
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation stay'd and Voted -
That there be a weekly Evening Lecture opened by our Pastors, on Friday next, while it shall please God to continue the Desire, which at present is manifested by great numbers to hear the Word of God.
Voted, That there be another public Collection for charitable and pious uses on the Anniversary Fast, April 23. Current ; And that the Congregation be notified of this Vote the next Lords-Day, and be desired to assist in the said Collection.
April 23 Collected 947. 10. o, of which was appropriated, To the fund for charitable and pious uses, . 5. o. o.
To the Rev. Mr. Pierce of Dartmouth, I. IO. O. JOSEPH SEWALL.
Dr. Sewall preached on Friday evening, April 17, from Job xvi. 8: " And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a wit- ness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face." He preached three other discourses from the same text, and the four were printed, with a preface, in which he said : -
It hath pleased the sovereign and gracious God, in whose hand our times are, to ordain that we should live under some peculiar advan- tages for our precious souls. For to the ordinary means, we have super-added the manifestation of the Spirit, in extraordinary works of grace. We have lately heard glad tidings from one place and another, that many are enquiring the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward; and some are declaring what God hath done for their souls. Yea, God hath brought this work home to our own doors, and we hear many crying out, What must we do to be saved ! And there are a number hopefully rejoicing in God's salvation. Of such a season as this it may well be said, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee : Behold, now is the accepted time ; Behold now is the day of salvation. I hope God's people are reaping the fruit of their prayers, particularly on extraordinary days of fasting observed with an especial view to this great blessing, the plentiful effusion of the holy Spirit. O there's great reason to fear that another like season will never, never return upon you.
Soon after, another lecture, every Tuesday and Friday even- ing, was opened at the New North, so that "three of the most capacious Houses of public Worship in town " were in use for this purpose; 1 " besides the ancient Lecture every Thursday
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