USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. III > Part 63
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2 William Pepperrell married (Febru- ary 21, 1722-3) Mary, eldest daughter of Grove Hirst, and granddaughter of Judge Sewall.
Dr. Colman, of Brattle Street, mar- ried as his third wife (August 12, 1745) Mary, sister of Colonel Pepperrell, and widow of the Hon. John Frost.
3 Mr. Whitefield did not come to New England again until the autumn of 1747. The opposition to him seems then to have abated. He wrote: "The flocking and power that attended the word, was like unto that seven years ago. Weak as I was, and have been, I was enabled to travel eleven hundred miles and preach daily." He sailed soon after for the Bermudas.
566
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
General Association of Connecticut had just declared that as he had been "the promoter or at least the faulty occasion" of the prevailing errors and disorders, it would not be advisable for the ministers to open their pulpits to him during " his prog- ress through this government," or for the people to attend "upon his preaching and administrations." 1
Intelligence of the capture of Louisburg reached Boston about break of day on the 3d of July. Dr. Chauncy,. writing on the 4th to his brother-in-law, the hero of the hour, said : "The people of Boston before sunrise were as thick about the streets as on election day ; and a pleasing joy visibly sat on the countenance of every one you met with. We had last night the finest illumination I ever beheld." A public thanksgiving was ordered ; and the meeting-houses, which had been filled with waiting suppliants, were now thronged with grateful worship- pers.
Lord's Day July 14. 1745.
The Brethren of the church and Congregation stay'd and Voted, -
That there be a collection on the general Thanksgiving next Thurs- day to relieve such necessitous Persons of this Church and Congrega- tion whose Husbands or other Relatives have lost or ventured their lives in the Expedition against Cape Breton : And if there shall be more than a sufficiency to supply These, that then others under like circumstances be consider'd, as the Brethren of the Church and Con- gregation shall determine. JOSEPH SEWALL.
General Thanksgiving for the Conquest of Cape Breton July 18, 1745.
Collected one hundred and thirty pounds for the use above said. JOSEPH SEWALL.
Mr. Prince preached from the text, "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." In the application of his subject he reviewed the remarkable steps, twelve in number, which led "to the adventurous enterprize," and "the more surprizing steps of Providence succeeding therein to the happy accom- plishment," also twelve in the enumeration. In closing his discourse, which was one subdued and devout utterance of joy- ful praise, he said : " May this happy conquest be the dawning earnest of our Divine Redeemer's carrying on his triumphs thro' the Northern Regions ; till he extends his Empire from
1 The General Association of Con- tor, and the Rev. Elnathan Whitman necticut met at Newington, June 18. scribe. See Walker's History of the The Rev. Benjamin Colton was modera- First Church in Hartford, p. 307.
567
THE CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG.
the Eastern to the Western Sea, and from the River of Canada to the Ends of America." 1
The news of the victory was received in England with much rejoicing. "The captured standards were borne in triumph from Kensington Palace to the City, and were suspended in St. Paul's Church, amidst the roar of guns and kettle-drums, and the shouts of an immense multitude." The home government assumed the whole cost of the expedition; General Pepperrell was created a baronet of the United Kingdom, and the valuable services of Richard Gridley were properly recognized, and his future promotion assured.2
At a Meeting of the Brethren of the Church and Congregation, Septr. 30. 1745.
Voted, as follows, That the Report of the Committee to whom was referred the Accounts of the Repairs of the Ministerial Houses &c exhibited by a committee appointed to have the oversight and direction thereof ; and also the Accounts of sundry charges exhibited by the Deacons ; be accepted.
That the Gentlemen present subscribe what they will farther give to defray the charges unpaid of repairing the Meeting House and the Ministerial Houses ; and that a Committee be appointed to goe to such absent Persons of the Church and Congregation, as it may be thought will give to defray such Charges.
That Messrs. Malachi Salter Junr and William Taylor, be the Com- mittee for that Service.
That John Hunt Esq. Treasurer be impower'd to pay to the several Persons not yet paid for the repairs &c. what remains due to them ; and also the charges that have been or may be about the Well at the Revd. Mr. Prince's House, after the several accounts have been exam- ined and allowed by the Deacons.
That the Hon. Ezekiel Lewis, Anthony Stoddard and Thomas Cushing Esqrs be a Committee to examine the Deacon's Accounts.
That the present Seaters are continued till the further Order of this Society.
That it is expedient and necessary that the Contributors on the Lord's days should mark the money they put into the Boxes, that it may be known what each Person doth contribute.
That the committee for the time being for ordering and regulating the Pews and Seats in the Meeting House be impower'd and directed,
1 This sermon was published in Bos- ton and in London. Dr. Chauncy preached a thanksgiving sermon on the same day, "Marvellous things done by the Right Hand and Holy Arm of God."
2 For an account of Richard Gridley and his public services, see Oration by D. T. V. Huntoon, at the unveiling of his monument at Canton, Mass., May 30, 1877.
568
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
that when any Pew or part of one be hereafter dispos'd of by them to any Person, to make it a condition in the Tenure thereof, that the Person to whom the same shall be assign'd, doe pay or contribute weekly for the support of the worship of God and other charges, such summe in lawful money as shall be agreed upon between them and the party ; and shall also be obliged to pay their proportionable part of such sums of money as may be necessary for this Society to raise in order to defray the contingent charges that may arise from time to time : Provided that no whole Pew be assign'd to any Person for the future, unless he be oblig'd to pay weekly, at least fifteen pence in lawful money, and so in proportion for any part of one ; and also for Gallery-Pews after said rate, or in proportion to their Cost and Value ; and this to continue, till the Church and Congregation shall alter or order otherwise. JOSEPH SEWALL.
Lord's Day Decr I. 1745.
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation were stay'd, And Voted
That there be a Collection for Charitable and pious uses on the Anniversary Thanksgiving, next Thursday, Decr 5 Instant : And that the rest of the Congregation be notified of this Vote, and desired to assist in said collection. JOSEPH SEWALL.
Anniversary Thanksgiving Decr 5. 1745. Collected. Unappropriated 163. 15. 6 To the Charit. and Pious Fund 5. o. o To two poor Widows 2. IO. O
171. 5. 6
Lord's Day Decr. 15. 1745
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation were stay'd, and
Voted, That the Deacons be empower'd to expend one hundred pounds of the collection for Charitable and pious uses, for the relief of the Poor of this Church and Congregation, to be laid out in Wood and other Necessaries of life.
2. That twenty pounds of said collection be laid out in Bibles Cate- chisms and other books of piety ; and given to proper Objects of such a Charity. JOSEPH SEWALL.
The Hon. Thomas Cushing, a merchant, and speaker of the House of Representatives, died April 11, 1746, aged fifty-two.1
1 He was born in Boston, January 30,
1694. His father, the Hon. Thomas Cushing, was a representative and coun- cillor. Samuel Adams, the patriot, was in his counting-room for a short time,
after completing his college course. Mr. Prince preached a funeral sermon from the words, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men."
569
DEATH OF THOMAS CUSHING.
He graduated at Harvard College in 1711, and was converted a year or two later. He " applied himself to merchandize, not neglecting the occasional study of the English history and polit- ical constitutions." He married Mary, youngest daughter of the first Edward Bromfield, and this, perhaps, brought him to the South Church, which he joined in 1730. " He was distin- guished by his wealth, his abilities, his zeal for his country's service, his integrity, and in a peculiar manner for his piety." The revival of religion in Boston, a few years before his death, gave him great delight, although he was grieved at the impru- dence and extremes of some and the indiscriminate opposition of others. Mr. Prince said of him in his funeral sermon: " I found that in a small, relaxed and feeble body, there dwelt a great, a lively, a strong and well composed soul." He remarked to a friend, when conversing on the responsibilities of public men in times of difficulty : "Men may be a long while great patriots from moral or political principles ; or party or worldly interests ; or the applause or esteem of others. But there is nothing like the special grace of God, a believing view of his present eye and future judgment, and an interest and conscience wholly subjected to him, to keep men steady to the public inter- est in times of trial." 1 His distinguished son of the same name, who graduated at Cambridge in 1744, with Samuel Welles, Jonathan Mayhew, Edward Bass, and others, joined the South Church with his wife, Deborah Fletcher, in 1755, and was an active member until his death in 1788.
Two years after the death of Mr. Cooper, the Brattle Street Church made choice of his son, Mr. Samuel Cooper, as asso- ciate pastor. Three other young men, John Walley,2 William
1 Mr. Cushing is believed to have been the author of a pamphlet of sixty-six pages, printed in 1744, entitled “ A Seasonable Plea for the Liberty of Con- science, and the Right of private Judg- ment in Matters of Religion, without any Controll from human Authority - being a Letter from a Gentleman in the Massa- chusetts Bay to his friend in Connecticut." It was a protest against an enactment passed in Connecticut in 1742, with a subsequent amendment, under which a settled minister was to be deprived of his ecclesiastical rights, if he went beyond his parish limits to preach in another parish, except by invitation of the minister of
that parish ; and any one so preaching, coming from another colony, "foreigner or stranger," whether a regularly ordained minister or only an exhorter, was to be sent out of the jurisdiction as a vagrant person, and if he returned was to be put under bonds for £100 to keep the peace.
2 John Walley was the third of the name and lineage, in the membership of the South Church. He graduated at Cambridge in 1734, and was settled at Ipswich, in the South Parish, in 1747. He was a nephew of Mrs. Sewall. Mr. Samuel Cooper was a nephew of Dr. Sewall.
570
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
.
Vinal, and Samuel Langdon, had preached each one month as candidates, "all of them," say the records of the church, " to the great acceptance and esteem both of the pastor and the con- gregation." It was natural that Dr. Colman should express, as he did publicly, a decided preference for the son of his old friend and colleague, and that a majority of the church should be in favor of him, also. Mr. Samuel Cooper, by request, preached a sermon on the 6th of April, in which he gave "a confession of his faith to the general satisfaction of the audience," and on the 2Ist of May he was ordained by a council representing the churches of Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge. In arranging for the ordination, the church voted, " That in case the reverend pastor, Dr. Colman, should find himself disabled by the infirm- ities of age or bodily weakness to preside in the proposed ordi- nation, pray, and give the charge with the imposition of the hands of the Presbytery, then he be desired to request the Rev. Dr. Sewall, in the name of the church, to preside and lead in that part of the solemnity." "This service," says Dr. Lothrop, "he subsequently performed," and, he adds, "this shows, at least, what our church at that time thought of its rights, and to what a limited extent it considered a discretionary power at- tached to the council." Dr. Colman preached the sermon, as he had done at the ordination of the father in 1716; his text was Jer. xxiii. 31, 32, and he improved the occasion to rebuke the separatists, who were working almost incalculable mischief in many of the churches. He expressed the wish " before God, and in his fear, that those among ourselves who have of late years taken upon themselves to go about exhorting and preach- ing, grossly unfurnished with ministerial gifts and knowledge, would suffer those words of the Lord to sink deep into their hearts, to check them in their bold career, and blind censures of many faithful pastors, into whose folds they are daily breaking, and because of the mildness of our spirits towards them, seem to grow the more bold and fierce. And it were greatly to be wished that people would beware of such straggling, illiterate teachers, and avoid them, in whatever appearance of sheeps clothing they may come." 1
1 We cannot agree with Dr. Palfrey and Dr. Lothrop that this passage was pointed at Whitefield, or that it indicates a change of feeling towards him. We find no evidence that Dr. Colman ever faltered in his admiration of the great
preacher, from the time when his fame first reached Boston. The letter to Mr. Williams, of Lebanon, upon which (to- gether with the above passage) Dr. Pal- frey relies to show that a change had taken place, was written before White-
57I
A THANKSGIVING SERMON.
The war spirit was again prevalent this summer. General Pepperrell and Admiral Warren arrived in June from the scenes of their joint triumph in Acadia, and were welcomed with much enthusiasm. Soon after, the news came to hand of the victory near Culloden, of Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, over the Young Pretender, and "a Day of General Thanksgiving for the Great Deliverance" was observed on the 14th of August. At the South Church, Mr. Prince preached an historical discourse from Ezra ix. 13, 14. He sketched the history of the Stuarts from the marriage of Charles I. to a French princess, - "the per- nicious fountain of almost all the miseries of the British nations ever since," - to the Revolution of 1688; he enumerated the various conspiracies and invasions undertaken subsequently, in the interest of the Pretender ; and after showing what the result would have been to the cause of religion and liberty, if any of these attempts at the Crown had been successful, he enlarged, as he had done the year before, upon some of "the signal ap- pearances of God " in behalf of his people.1
field's second visit to Boston, when he was heartily welcomed to the pulpit and the communion table at Brattle Street. See Lothrop's History of the Church in Brat- tle Street (1851), pp. 69, 70.
There had been more or less con- fusion at Mr. Webb's under one or two of Mr. Whitefield's sermons, in con- sequence of outcries and other manifes- tations of excitement; and Dr. Colman wrote to the latter, urging him to dis- courage everything of the kind, and in- timating that such scenes would be more in place within other walls, meaning, as we suppose, the assemblies of the separatists.
1 To show how evenly balanced the Protestant and Jacobite parties in Eng- land were in 1701, Mr. Prince reminded his hearers that the vote in the House of Commons to settle the descent of the Crown was determined in favor of the Protestant succession by the casting vote of the Speaker; and he added: "I am an eye-witness to the following instances - That when the Whiggish ministry in Queen Ann's Reign in 1710, were turned out and the Tory came into their places, the stream of the nation appeared plainly with the Jacobite party : Hereditary Right and Passive Obedience and Non-
Resistance was the general cry: Dr. Sacheverel, for promoting these slavish doctrines, and arraigning the Revolution, was almost everywhere extoll'd to the skies ; and wherever he went, applauded, crowded and almost adored by the mul- titude : The freeholders in the counties and corporations mostly chose those into the Parliament who were known to be Tories, attach'd to the Tory ministry ; and the greater part of the then clergy of the Church of England joined with them, and were continually crying up Hereditary Right, Passive Obedience, Non-Resistance and Down with the Whiggs who zealously stood up for the Revolution and Protestant Succession."
Macaulay says of this period: "A foolish parson had preached a foolish sermon against the principles of the Revolution. The wisest members of the government were for letting the man alone. . . The impeachment was brought; the doctor was convicted ; and the accusers were ruined. The clergy came to the rescue of the persecuted clergyman. The country gentlemen came to the rescue of the clergy. A display of Tory feelings, such as England had not witnessed since the closing years of Charles the Second's reign, appalled the
572
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
But the exultation of this Thanksgiving Day was speedily changed into anxious fears and forebodings. The loss of Louis- burg had been a most mortifying blow to France, and it was determined, at all events, to recover the famous fortress and to invade New England. A large fleet under the Duke D'Anville, as admiral and general, was despatched from Brest ; this was " the greatest and most powerful armament against these North- ern Colonies, that was ever sent into North America : Having twenty men of war, a hundred transports, about eight thousand disciplined troops with veteran officers, and vast quantities, of provision, powder, shot, arms, cannon, bombs and mortars, suf- ficient to take the strongest places." 1 The fate of this proud armada was most tragic. The stars in their courses seem to have fought against it. Coming by a southern route, the voy- age across the Atlantic was protracted and tedious ; sickness attacked the troops, and as the vessels approached the coast of Nova Scotia, they were scattered, and some of them broken, by heavy gales. Fogs were then encountered; and it was not until the 12th of September that the Duke entered the port of rendezvous, Chebucto, to be met there by a fraction only of his command. " Finding his few ships so shattered, so many men dead, so many sickly, and no more of his fleet come in, he sunk into discouragement, and September 15 died," having taken poison, as is supposed. On the following day, the rear-admiral arrived, with five ships of the line and twenty-seven of the fleet, but in such a condition that the troops had to be landed and the vessels repaired. The vice-admiral, Estournell, "in con- sideration of the deplorable case they were in, proposed to return to France to save the rest of the men;" but he was overruled by a council of war, and on the morning of the 19th, he was " found in his apartment, fallen upon his sword." The chief command now devolved on the rear-admiral, Jonquire, who, with his officers, determined to make an attack on Annapolis, and then perhaps on some place on this coast, before returning
ministers and gave boldness to the Queen. She turned out the Whigs, called Harley and St. John to power, and dissolved the Parliament. The elections went strongly against the late government." - Essays, vol. iii. p. 130.
1 See Mr. Prince's Thanksgiving Ser- mon preached November 27, 1746. This sermon was recalled by the next genera- tion for the encouragement of the people
of Boston, when passing through a still more terrible trial. John Kneeland ad- vertised, July 7, 1774, an extract from it, "reprinted at this Time with a View to encourage the People of God to put their Trust in Him, and to call upon his Name, under the severe and Keen Distresses now taking place in Boston and Charles- town, by the rigorous Execution of the Boston Port Bill."
573
"MR. THOMAS PRINCE LOQUITUR."
home. They had given up the idea of attempting Louisburg, and on the 13th of October, with about forty sail, they took their departure from Chebucto. Their appearance before Boston was expected daily. Richard Gridley, under the direction of Gov- ernor Shirley, had been engaged on the harbor defences; and several thousand men with arms, from the surrounding country, some of them coming from as far as Brookfield, were assembled for the defence of the town. At this supreme moment the people crowded their meeting-houses, as was their habit at such times ; and what took place at the Old South, on a solemn day of prayer, has found a permanent record in the sermons of the theologian and among the ballads of the poet. "While Mr. Prince was officiating on this fast day, and praying most fer- vently to God to avert the dreaded calamity, a sudden gust of wind arose (the day had till now been perfectly clear and calm) so violent as to cause a clattering of the windows. The rev- erend pastor paused in his prayer, and, looking round upon the congregation with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and with great devotional ardor supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to frustrate the object of our enemies, and save the country from conquest and popery. A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was wrecked on the coast of Nova Scotia." 1
President Dwight, of Yale College, when preaching on prayer, thus referred to this event : "I am bound, as an inhabitant of New England, to declare that were there no other instances to be found in any other country, the blessings communicated to this would furnish ample satisfaction concerning this subject to every sober, much more to every pious man. Among these, the destruction of the French armament under the Duke D'Anville, in the year 1746, ought to be remembered with grati- tude and admiration by every inhabitant of this country." Long- fellow has put these words into the mouth of Mr. Prince : -
A fleet with flags arrayed Sailed from the port of Brest, And the Admiral's ship displayed The signal : " Steer southwest." For this Admiral D'Anville Had sworn by cross and crown
from the Columbian Centinel, 1821 ; and he says that he was told by Mrs. Hunt- ington that she had heard Mrs. Waters
1 Dr. Wisner quotes this statement and Mrs. Mason, well-known aged mem- bers of the South Church, give substan- tially the same account of Mr. Prince's praying on this fast day.
574
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
To ravage with fire and steel Our helpless Boston Town.
There were rumors in the street, In the houses there was fear Of the coming of the fleet, And the danger hovering near.
And while from mouth to mouth Spread the tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South, Saying humbly : "Let us pray !
" O Lord ! we would not advise ; But if in thy Providence A tempest should arise To drive the French Fleet hence,
And scatter it far and wide, Or sink it in the sea, We should be satisfied, And thine the glory be."
This was the prayer I made, For my soul was all on flame, And even as I prayed The answering tempest came ;
It came with a mighty power, Shaking the windows and walls,
And tolling the bell in the tower, As it tolls at funerals.
The lightning suddenly Unsheathed its flaming sword, And I cried : " Stand still, and see The salvation of the Lord !" The heavens were black with cloud, The sea was white with hail, And ever more fierce and loud Blew the October gale.
The fleet it overtook, And the broad sails in the van Like the tents of Cushan shook, Or the curtains of Midian. Down on the reeling decks Crash'd the o'erwhelming seas ;
Ah, never were there wrecks So pitiful as these !
Like a potter's vessel broke The great ships of the line ; They were carried away as a smoke, Or sank like lead in the brine. O Lord ! before thy path They vanished and ceased to be, When thou didst walk in wrath With thine horses through the sea !
575
MR. PRINCE'S ACCOUNT.
Mr. Prince, in his Thanksgiving Sermon six weeks later, thus speaks of the day of fasting and what followed :-
The same day, viz. Thursday October 16, is kept the day of general fasting and prayer throughout the churches in this Province, on this great emergency, And that very night ensuing, the glorious God entirely baffled all their purposes, and put a total end to their mis- chievous enterprize. He mightily arose, and wrought a full salvation for us. He sent a more furious storm of wind and rain and hail, than ever, [the fleet had encountered a heavy storm near Sable Island the day before] - which held to the next day noon, - which they could not stand before, - which so dispersed and broke them, they could never get together again : And several ships were so crazy, and weakly handled, that 'tis apprehended by our dismissed captives, who were in the same storm, that some were overset, some others foundered and sunk in the mighty waters : And the remaining men of war in view, so shattered and discouraged, that they determined for the West India Islands, and sent their Nova Scotia pilots home, with orders to their French and Indian army who had marched to Annapolis to leave their enterprize and get away. The scattered remnants, it seems most likely, are gone back to France, abased and confounded.
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