USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Second Church, or Old North, in Boston : to which is added a History of the New Brick Church > Part 13
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It should here be remarked, that on the evening pre- vious to the day of installation, it being feared that some disturbance might arise, a letter was addressed to the party who felt themselves aggrieved, by the two Mathers, with the advice and concurrence of the other ministers, solemnly and earnestly beseeching them to conduct themselves on the morrow with moderation and decorum. " We ear- nestly inculcate upon you," says the epistle, "that ancient advice, 'Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourselves in anywise to do evil.' We particularly advise, exhort, and entreat you, that on the morrow you forbear and prevent every thing that may be of a riotous or too clamorous aspect; and let nothing be done but what shall
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become sober Christians and the well-advised. And, what- soever shall be spoke, let it be in the decent, modest, and peaceable manner which may adorn your profession of Christianity. Your cause will not be the worse for your observing a conduct entirely under the law of goodness." It is also worthy of notice, that, this letter being read to them, a great number of the dissentients agreed to comply with its advice. And, doubtless, they would have adhered to this good intention, if they had not been grievously exasperated by the organization and conduct of the coun- cil. How could they have been otherwise than sorely vexed, at finding so small a council-consisting of but two members, and only one of them present by the vote of his church - convened on so important an occasion, and evidently determined to thwart their wishes, and to carry on, at all risks, the solemn business of the day! In such a state of feeling as then existed, it was hardly to be ex- pected that their indignation should not have been roused to the highest pitch. The consequences that followed were chargeable to the council more than to themselves. Nor were the council without anticipation of the disorders which were likely to ensue ; for, being afraid of confusion and violence, if they passed through the public streets, they were led out through the back gate of Mr. Webb's garden (which covered the ground now occupied by the church at the corner of Salem and Bennet-streets), across Tileston-street, then called Love Lane, and through an alley which opens immediately in front of the New North Meeting-house; and thus were enabled, by stratagem, to obtain possession of the pulpit.
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The tumultuous scene which followed their appearance in the church, I will not attempt to describe. The accounts of it which have come down to us have the appearance of great exaggeration. But the doings of men in an hour of excited passion conform to no rule. At such times, all ordinary standards of propriety and decency are liable to be set at nought, and all feeling of veneration forgotten ; whilst even the consecrated altar, and the more solemn ser- vices of religion, may be profaned by those who, in their sober moments, would be the last to countenance an act of desecration. In the midst of the uproar, the Rev. Mr. Cheever, having gone through the usual ceremony of ask- ing the votes of the church in confirmation of their choice of the candidate, and having heard his public acceptance of their call, proceeded to proclaim “ the Rev. Peter Thacher to be the pastor of the New North Church, regularly in- ducted into the sacred office."
Such, my friends, is a brief sketch of the history of the difficulties which led to the building of this house. I have endeavored to relate it with perfect fairness. I have stated the case too favorably on the side of the founders of the New Brick Church, it is not because I have wished to defend them by warping the truth, but because such is my deliberate judgment, formed after long and careful investigation of all the documents which I have been able to procure. That they were not free from undue passion in their conduct of the controversy, I have not denied. We cannot but regret that their cause was not managed with a better temper. But their opposition was based on principle; and the first impulse of their
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movement was a conscientious scruple which commands respect.
Immediately after the settlement of Mr. Thacher, the dissentients withdrew, and adopted measures for erecting the building we now occupy. The number of the first associates was twenty-four. Their first meeting was held on the 14th of November, 1720; at which time it was " voted, that some of them should treat with Mr. Thomas Roby, of Cambridge, for the purchase of a certain tract or piece of land," a suitable lot for a church. These asso- ciates " advanced and paid for said land in equal pro- portion ; which, with the charges arising on the same, amounted to twenty-three pounds ten shillings from each, or five hundred and sixty-four pounds." On the 12th of December, a building-committee of seven was chosen, “to agree with workmen to erect, build, and finish a brick house, suitable for the public worship of God, with all con- venient speed and despatch, according to a plan offered to the society by Edward Pell," one of the committee. The same committee was also clothed with authority to admit sixteen more members into the society, upon pay- ment of the same sum contributed by the original pro- prietors. The desired number of forty was soon complete. The house being finished, the forty proprietors assembled on the 5th of May for the choice of pews. The first choice was given to John Frisell and William Clark, " for their great good-will and benefactions to said work," then to the rest of the building committee, and then to the other pro- prietors, determined by lot. On the next day, the remain- der of the pews on the lower floor were distributed by lot 23
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amongst such buyers " as it had been thought for the inter- est of the society to allow to become their purchasers ; " and, on the 8th of May, the same order was taken in regard to the distribution of the pews in the gallery.
The 10th of May, 1721, had been agreed upon for the dedication of the house, to be kept as a day of fasting and prayer, "to beg the smiles of Divine Providence on the proprietors, and all others that shall be concerned with them." Dr. Increase Mather was desired to preach the forenoon sermon on that occasion ; but he excused himself by reason of his great age. He, however, consented to commence the morning services with prayer. A sermon followed from Cotton Mather, on the words of the tenth verse of the twenty-fourth Psalm : " Who is this King of Glory ? The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory." Dr. William Cooper, colleague pastor of Brattle-street, offered the concluding prayer. The exercises of the after- noon began with prayer by Dr. Benjamin Colman, of Brattle-street. Mr. Wadsworth, of the First Church, after- wards President of Harvard College, preached from Reve- lation, second chapter and first verse : " Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, write : These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks."
" The house," says Mr. Ware, " appears to have been regarded at that time, and for many years after, as a build- ing of uncommon elegance and taste. The preacher ex- pressed only the common opinion when he said, ‘ I suppose that. there is not in all the land a more beautiful house built for the worship of God than this, whereof you
1
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now appear to make a dedication unto the Lord. But what will it signify,' he added, 'if the beauty of holiness be not here ? ' "
The house, as we remember it, especially in the interior, gives but a faint idea of its original appearance. The pulpit stood in the middle of the north side. In front of it were two enclosures, one a little more elevated than the other, for the elders' and deacons' seats. On each side of the broad aisle, in front of the pews, were several long seats for the aged. The pews were square. There were two rows of galleries on the west side, one on the south, and one on the east. The last was called the " women's gallery ;" and the others, the " men's." The only access to these galleries was by flights of stairs on the inside of the house. The upper gallery appears to have been but little used, except by boys, who sometimes resorted there to play during service ; for which reason the entrance to it was most of the time kept closed, till the year 1808, when it was converted into a hall for social meetings and the use of the singers. A timepiece, the gift of Mr. Barret Dyre, in 1721, hung opposite to the pulpit, and kept its place till 1820, when it was replaced by another, through the liberality of the late Samuel Parkman, Esq. * The exterior of the house was not at first painted. The spire was without bell or dial. There were porches of entrance on the west, south, and east. The whole space in the rear of the church to what was then called Fore-street, now Ann-street, was vacant, and probably the ground was open for some distance on both sides ; which, as the church
* See Appendix G.
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occupies a small eminence, gave it at that period a com- manding aspect.
The mode of conducting the public services was also very different from the present. The Scriptures were not read till the year 1729, when the proprietors " voted, that the Bible offered to the church by Captain Henry Deering, in order for the minister's reading or explaining, be ac- cepted; and also that a committee be appointed to make choice of a convenient place for laying the Bible when made use of;" which last vote clearly shows, that the original pulpit was constructed in a different manner from the present. Another difference is indicated in the follow- ing vote, viz. "that Mr. John Waldo read the Psalm," - that is, line by line, -" and Mr. Moses Pearce set the tune, until further notice." It is probable that, at this period, there was ordinarily but one psalm sung in the course of each service ; and, as there was no instrumental music and no reading of the Bible, what we have heard of the length of the sermons and the prayers, and of the patience of the hearers during the same, will appear the less surprising, as the whole time occupied by the worship could not have been much longer than in our own day.
A church was first gathered amongst the worshippers on the 22d day of May, 1722. The only creed which is attached to the covenant is of the very simplest and most general form, being embodied in these words : " We declare our serious belief of the Christian religion, as contained in the Sacred Scriptures." An acknowledgment of the doc- trine of the Trinity is, however, implied in the phraseology of several of the obligations. The covenant is not lengthy,
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being little more than an engagement to live a life of obedi- ence to Christ, to love and watch over one another, and to keep all the ordinances of the gospel; with the addition of " an offering and presentation of their seed unto the Lord, and a promise to do their part in the methods of a religious, education, so that their children also may be the Lord's."
The same day on which the church was gathered, William Waldron, the first pastor, was ordained. He had preached for some time as a candidate, in connection with Mr. Joshua Gee, afterwards pastor of the Old North Church. He was chosen on the 26th of September, 1721 ; having received fifty votes, and Mr. Gee thirteen. He was the last who received ordination at the hands of the vene- rable Increase Mather.
Mr. Waldron was a member of one of the most respec- table and influential families in New Hampshire. He was son of Col. Richard Waldron, of Portsmouth, and grandson of Major Richard Waldron, of Dover, -the story of whose tragical end is one of the most affecting in the annals of our early Indian wars. He was born at Portsmouth on the 4th of November, 1697, and graduated at Harvard College in 1717. His ministry of only five years was too short to make full proof of his plans and capacities of usefulness ; but few clergymen have been more affection- ately commemorated by their professional associates. The library of our church contains a volume of sermons which were preached on the occasion of his death by the most celebrated of his compeers. In reading these, it is doubt- less necessary to make considerable allowance for the naturally exaggerated encomiums of warm personal friend-
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ship, and freshly excited sympathy. But, when this is done to the fullest extent, there remains indubitable evi- dence that the character of the first minister of the New Brick Church was of more than ordinary worth. To a . finished education was superadded the still more excellent qualification for the ministry, the grace of early piety. His most intimate friend, Dr. Cooper, dwells particularly upon this characteristic, and illustrates it by a brief anecdote which has so much of the savor of that old time that I am tempted to repeat it. " In his early childhood," says Dr. Cooper, " a particular Providence set the wheel of prayer a-going, and I believe it never wholly stopped afterwards. This he once gave me an account of in a retired conversation, and I suppose I was the only person to whom he mentioned it. His dear parents were gone somewhere by water, when a storm arose with sudden gusts of wind, when it was supposed they were returning home. The little boy heard his family speak of the danger they might be in. This so alarmed his fear, that he went away alone to seek God in their behalf, and pray that they might be preserved and returned in safety. And, having begun thus successfully to pray for his parents, he afterwards continued to pray for himself. I also know," said he, "that, while at college, he was one of those young students who used to meet on the evening of the Lord's day, for prayer and other exercises of social religion."
As a preacher, he was remarkable for soundness of argument, plainness and directness of speech, and gravity of manner. His temper was naturally obliging, and his affections warm ; whilst, at the same time, he was too inde-
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pendent to stoop to any little acts to conciliate favor, and too stern in integrity ever to prostitute his conscience. He was, like most of the clergymen of New England, a hearty patriot, and a steady friend and advocate of all the civil privileges which the people then enjoyed. He was also a strict and very zealous Congregationalist. If he had lived longer, there is no doubt that he would have exerted a powerful influence in the community, and have left more conspicuous memorials upon the records of this church. But Providence had another destiny in store for him. His death took place on the 11th of September, 1727. " He died," says Cotton Mather, " nobly. So to die is indeed no dying. 'Tis but flying away, with the wings of the morn- ing, into the paradise of God." *
Mr. William Welsteed was chosen successor of Mr. Waldron, on the 16th of January, 1727. He was born in Boston in 1695. He had been a tutor at the college for several years, and appears to have attracted some notice as a preacher before his invitation to settle over this church. I find it stated in a century sermon, delivered at Weston, by Dr. Samuel Kendall, in 1813, that Mr. Welsteed re- ceived a call to be the minister of the church in that town, in August, 1722. He had also preached with much appro- bation, as a candidate, at Portsmouth. It is somewhat singular, in relation to his preaching at the latter place, that several letters have been preserved, and are now in my possession, from our first pastor, Mr. Waldron, to his bro- ther Richard, in Portsmouth, in which he speaks of Mr. Welsteed in the following terms : " He is a good man, and
* See Appendix H.
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true; a good scholar, a good preacher, and a gentlemanly man, I am sooth to say ; but, all things considered, I don't think he would suit Portsmouth so well as some others." He alludes here to Professor Wigglesworth, to whom he was devotedly attached, and whom he used all his efforts to have chosen by the society in Portsmouth, of which his brother was one of the most influential members. ¡
Mr. Welsteed continued the sole minister of this church for about ten years, when Mr. Ellis Gray was unanimously chosen to the office of colleague-pastor. He was son of Mr. Edward Gray, who, in early life, came over from England to this country ; and, by industry and integrity, amassed a considerable fortune, - a man eminently cha- ritable and universally esteemed, to whose virtues and beneficence a high tribute remains, in a funeral sermon, preached by Mr. Chauncy on the occasion of his death.
Mr. Welsteed and Mr. Gray were both of them men of respectable talents, but in no respect remarkably distin- guished. They lived harmoniously together in the dis- charge of their professional duties, and fulfilled a plain and useful ministry. I can add nothing to the record which Mr. Ware has given of the history of the church whilst under their charge. " It was at this period that our Friday evening lecture before the communion was established, and the old custom was dropped of singing by the separate reading of each line. In 1751, Watts's Psalms and Hymns were introduced in the worship of the sabbath, and con- tinued in use until superseded by Belknap's Collection in 1817, a period of sixty-six years."
t See Appendix I.
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Mr. Welsteed's true character is doubtless depicted by one of his contemporaries, who said of him, that he was an excellent Christian, an accomplished gentleman, and exemplary minister ; amiable and engaging in his conduct, and lovely in his temper; living a benevolent, gracious, and useful life. Mr. Gray is described as a man of candor, prudence, and sincerity; of solid judgment and warm heart; peculiarly fitted for the whole of his sacred office ; of clear and pathetic elocution, and of uncommon com- mand of devotional sentiment in his prayers ; honest and firm in his principles, kind and obliging to all, and uni- versally respected by the friends of piety and virtue.
" The circumstances attending the death of these two ministers were remarkable and melancholy. Gray, the junior pastor, died suddenly of the palsy, on the Lord's day, January 7, 1753, in the thirty-seventh year of his age, and the fifteenth of his ministry. His senior colleague survived him not quite four months. He died on the 29th of April, having been also struck with the palsy in church, on Sunday, just after the commencement of his morning prayer; having lived fifty-seven years, and been minister twenty-five. Here was the melancholy spectacle of a church in mourning for two pastors at once; both cut off suddenly in the midst of life. And, to render the visitation yet more affecting, they both died of the same disease, both died on the sabbath, both on the communion-sabbath, and both at the same time of the day; each having preached for the last time to his own people, and the last sermon preached by both being on the same text, 'Redeeming the time because the days are evil.'" *
* Mr. Ware's Century Sermon.
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Before proceeding with our record, it may be useful to take a brief survey of the religious aspects of the commu- nity, during the thirty years which had now elapsed since the gathering of the New Brick Church.
At that period, Boston enjoyed the labors of an emi- nently pious and learned ministry. Cotton Mather, in his peculiar style, in allusion to this fact, exclaims, " O city, highly favored of the Lord! how canst thou be too thank- ful for such inestimable blessings! The whole country will feel the sweet influences of more than seven stars that irradiate its metropolis." Notwithstanding, however, the sweet influences of these luminaries, it is sufficiently evi- dent that there was but little religious life manifested in the churches. There were, indeed, general complaints amongst pious and elderly persons, of a great decay of godliness ; and expressions of discouragement at the reli- gious and moral declension of the community were fre- quent on the lips of the clergy. In this state of things, all the usual, and many unusual, methods were resorted to, to produce one of those "revivals of religion," which, in those days, as well as in our own, were held by many in the highest esteem. All these efforts, however, appear to have met with very little success, until the year 1727, when an event occurred, which, under the management of zealous religionists, was well calculated to produce the desired effect. On the night of Sunday, Oct. 29th, in this year, the whole country was visited with a violent shock of an earthquake, the sound and shaking of which are described as having been terrific at Boston, and to have carried the greatest consternation to the inhabitants, who were roused
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from their sleep by such an unusual and startling pheno- menon. On the next day, and for several succeeding days, the churches were crowded; and, by the proclamation of the commander-in-chief, a day of fasting and prayer was appointed, to supplicate the mercy of God, and especially the "conversion of the people." As may well be supposed, a great religious excitement was the result of these mea- sures, and many were awakened and added to the churches. But, with the subsiding of the alarm, the interest also soon passed away; and the historian of the times, who was himself a friend to such excitements, is compelled in fair- ness to confess, that the professions of many were but as the morning cloud and the early dew .*
Things continued in about the same condition until the year 1740, when many of the ministry, having heard from across the ocean the fame of the success which followed the preaching of the renowned George White- field, sent him an invitation to visit this country. In compliance with their request, he arrived in Boston, on his first visit, in the month of September, 1740. The people flocked in crowds to hear him. Ministers, as well as their congregations, were powerfully impressed by his preaching. Meetings were multiplied. A universal awakening ensued, and multitudes were added to many of the churches. The pastors of this church were not unfriendly to these proceed- ings, though they appear to have taken no very active interest or conspicuous part in them. The records of that period are very imperfect, and it is impossible to determine with accuracy how far this church was affected by the
* Prince's Christian History.
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general increase. It is, however, perfectly clear that the congregation passed with steadiness and dignity through the dissensions and agitations which attended and followed that period of unprecedented excitement. With prudent and moderate men at the helm of its affairs, if it did not enjoy, to the same degree with some others, the good and valuable fruits of the great awakening, neither did it greatly suffer from its extravagancies and ill effects. For a sober review of that interesting period of our ecclesiastical history will easily lead us to the conclusion, that in this, as in all other seasons of extraordinary excitement, the good was not unmixed with evil, and that much of what was gained to the interests of true Christianity by an increase of fervor was lost to the same by a diminution of charity, moderation, and discretion.
In relation to the affairs of the church during the period of which we are speaking, a few particulars only require our notice, in addition to what has been already related.
The interests of the society had been generally in a prosperous condition. The congregation was rent by no intestine divisions. The ancient feud with its neighbor and mother, the New North, had been healed, and well- nigh forgotten. The greatest attachment had been felt to its three pastors, and every mark of attention and respect that they could have desired had been shown to them. In their lives, they were repeatedly furnished with help in the supply of the pulpit, even for months at a time, and were gratified with valuable presents of wood and money, in addition to their regular stipend. In their sickness, the
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church had variously ministered to their comfort, and kept days of fasting and prayer for their recovery ; and, when they died, their funeral obsequies were performed at the charge of the parish, with demonstrations of unfeigned respect; and their names were cherished in grateful remem- brance. Indeed, it is particularly and emphatically said in the obituary notices of Waldron, that "the great and exemplary respect " shown by this society to their minister " deserved to be everywhere told as a memorial of them."
The house, moreover, had been several times repaired, and gradually beautified. A bell had been hung in its tower, and its walls handsomely painted. And every thing within and without the building presented an appearance indicative of the good condition of the parish, and grati- fying to all who loved the place where God's honor dwelleth .*
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