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 3
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with the highest effect of the denunciations themselves. Men become inured to threats and woes through their repe- tition. And he who is ever painting from the pulpit the sins and dangers of the people has no reason to wonder, if his hearers at length become so accustomed to his dark and terrific pictures that they fail to excite their apprehen- sions, as well as to stimulate their virtues.
I would not, however, have it to be inferred from these remarks, that Mr. Mather was so habituated to this style of preaching as to interfere greatly with his popularity or his success, or that strains of a more encouraging and hope- ful and affectionate tone never relieved his sermons. On the contrary, they come in from time to time, sweetly and powerfully, to vary and enliven his grave admonitions and solemn warnings. Though no man was bolder or sterner to rebuke what he believed to be wrong in individuals or the nation, yet he had essentially a kind heart, and his lips were not strangers to the gentle breathings of a pastor's affection, and the softer accents of a good man's sympathy.
His appearance in the pulpit is described as having been peculiarly apostolical. His voice was strong and commanding; and he sometimes used it with great effect, delivering sentences which he wished to make peculiarly impressive " with such a tonitruous cogency," says his son, " that the hearers were struck with awe like that produced by the fall of thunderbolts." He was universally regarded as one of the leading preachers of his day, and by many as . at the head of his profession. He spoke generally with a grave and wise deliberation. It was his endeavor to be always understood; and, though he made pulpit-oratory a
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study, yet he sought to conceal every other rhetorical art, that he might practise that one art of being intelligible. With Luther, he counted him the best preacher " who taught with the highest simplicity ;" and he often used the saying, " A simple diet is the most wholesome diet." It was his custom to " back every thing he said with some strong or agreeable sentence from the Scriptures; judging that, as the word of God is the food of souls, the more of it there is pertinently produced, the better fed is the flock ; and, moreover, that there is in the word of God that 'voice of the Lord that is powerful and full of majesty,' and in the language also of the Sacred Scriptures an unequalled beauty." *
Though every sermon was written with great care, as if it were to be printed, it was his invariable custom to preach without reference to his notes, in order that his manner might be more free and earnest. In committing his sermons to memory, however, he would write off, on a detached sheet, the texts he wished to quote, and place it in the beginning of his Bible, to be referred to in case he should be at a loss. He had never occasion, however, to have recourse to this paper, save once, in his old age; and then he was so impressed by the strange circumstance, that he immediately wrote a remark concerning it, as a symp- tom of decay, which told him that his departure was at hand.
His discourses were eminently practical and direct, abounding in historical illustrations, sometimes quaint,
* " Life of Increase Mather," by his Son.
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sometimes highly eloquent. They show much learning and thought; but, more than all, a sincere and ardent piety. One might be tempted occasionally to smile at marks of credulity, and instances of what to our modern taste seems grotesque in a sermon; but a feeling deeper than that smile expresses would be the total effect of a careful and candid perusal of any one of his discourses, - a feeling of respect for the profound sincerity that pervades it, and the godly fear under which it was evidently written. A recent perusal of several of his sermons, together with those of other eminent men of his era, has deeply impressed me with respect for the learning and intellectual ability, as well as the piety, of the early preachers of New England. I am persuaded, that, in these respects, justice is not done to them in our day. We are apt to suppose that modern preaching has greatly improved, especially so far as regards talent, thought, and learning. But it is not so. There is more refinement perhaps, but not more originality. There is more polish, but not more power of thought. There is a better display of materials, but not so much solid stuff. The periods may be better rounded; but they are not so full. There is a vast deal of work in the best of those old sermons. The thoughts in them have long roots, and the pictures a deep historical background. The ornaments are often the richest antiques. The best lore of ages has been made tributary to their pithy sentences. We have few divines, even in this age of intelligence, who study and labor for their sermons as they did, or who have such a serious idea of the duty of their preparation.
Increase Mather's method of employing time has come
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down to us; and it may well excite the wonder of those who throw off sermons in a night. Every day in the week, except Sunday, and three days both forenoon and after- noon, he spent in studying his sermons. On Friday, they were to be finished; and Saturday was devoted to commit- ting them to memory .*. Such was his fidelity to the pulpit. He would bring only beaten oil into the sanctuary. He would offer to the Lord only his choicest and best for sac- rifice.
The smallness of his salary and the largeness of his family caused him, for many years, to suffer from poverty and debt. His services also to the colony were sometimes expensive. Yet, with this grievous burden upon him, he
* The method of study alluded to was prefaced with prayer : - " Dear Lord Jesus ! thou that knowest my works! help! help ! help a poor crea- ture, I earnestly beseech thee, so to improve his time as shall be most for thy glory, the good of thy people, and the rejoicing of his own soul, in that day when I shall see thee, my Lord, and speak with thee face to face ! Amen ! Amen ! Amen !
" My purpose, by thy help, O Lord ! is to spend my time every day as followeth : -
" First day of the week. Besides my public labors, attend catechizing and personal instruction in my family.
" 2d. Forenoon, read comments ; study sermon. Afternoon, read authors ; study sermon.
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" 3d. Forenoon, read comments ; study sermon. Afternoon, endeavor to instruct personally some or other; read authors.
" 4th. Forenoon, read comments ; study sermon. Afternoon, read authors ; sermon.
" 5th. Forenoon, read comments; study sermon. After lecture,t en- deavor to promote among the ministers what shall be of public advantage.
" 6th. Forenoon, read comments; study sermon. Afternoon, read authors ; sermon.
"7th. Read comments. Prepare for Sabbath, committing sermons to memory."
t The Thursday Lecture, still in existence.
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never complained of his people, nor could make up his mind to leave them for more lucrative places that opened to him. He bore all in silence; and, though with a heavy heart, still devoted himself to his holy work with unabated resolution. In his study, and to the Great Provider alone, he poured out his distresses. Again and again we find in his diary such sentiments as these : " Grieved, and almost distracted, with thoughts of my debts. I could be content to be poor, I care not how poor, so as I may be in a capa- city to serve God without distraction. But to be in debt, to the dishonor of the gospel, is a wounding, killing thought to me; so grievous, that, if it be not remedied, in a little time it will bring me with sorrow to my grave. Lord, if thou wilt provide for me, I will love thee, and thank thee, and serve thee. And if thou wilt not provide for me, I will yet love thee, and bless thee, and serve thee. If thou wilt cast me off, I will not cast thee off. I deserve thou shouldst cast me off. But thou, Lord, never deservest ill at my hands. The will of the Lord be done!"
Yet these embarassments never made him selfish; nor did the scantiness of his own resources prevent him the pleasure of ministering to others' necessities. A tenth part of his income he always set apart to pious uses, esteeming this proportion to be the least that a grateful man would be satisfied thus to consecrate, and supposing that the divine will, as understood and complied with by holy men of old, required no less at the hands of believers. Indeed, in his prayers, to which I have referred, he seems to have identified the wants of the poor with his own, and for their sake, as much as for himself, to have asked for an increased
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supply. His parishioners, it appears, were at first either not so considerate of his poverty as they ought to have been, or not in a condition to relieve it as they might have wished. But afterwards, in answer, as this good man believed, to his prayers, “ several gentlemen of good estate and better spirit" came forward with great cheerfulness to lighten his burden and gladden his heart with timely and generous gifts, so delicately bestowed as not to disturb his manly feelings, but add to the value of their offerings .* From this time forth, they never suffered him to want. His son, in the funeral sermon preached a few days after his father's death, with great heartiness testifies to the genero- sity of the people. "In a very public manner," he says, " I now do, and in a more public manner, I hope, I again shall render you thanks. The expressions of your love to my honored father were notable, and were numberless, and were such as greatly comforted him. What you expressed in the last years of his life, and especially after he became an emerited soldier, and singularly at his departure, is what I know not that any church has ever equalled."
Amongst the numerous acts of benevolence which adorned the life of Increase Mather, one beautiful instance of his energetic charity and public spirit finds a striking connection with a recent noble enterprise of national muni- ficence. In the desolating and bloody Indian war, under
* " Among whom a remembrance is particularly due to Sir Thomas Temple, - as fine a gentleman as ever set foot on the American strand. Yea, they supported his family when he who once could scarce tolerably clothe himself made an handsome appearance in the court of kings for four years together, and was able to do much for the support of the needy, and even relieved parsons of the established church." - Cotton Mather.
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King Philip, in 1675, in which so many towns and villages were reduced to ashes, and the fields could not be culti- vated; when the ghastly image of famine threatened to fol- low in the track of the horrid fiend of carnage, the pastor of this church procured from his friends in Ireland a whole shipload of provisions, together with money and clothing from London, to be distributed among the distressed inha- bitants of New England. Little did our prosperous citizens think, when they were storing the "Jamestown" with their bounty, that they were but repaying a debt to Ireland, so long ago contracted by their fathers. The bread cast upon the waters, and forgot,-even though centuries intervene, -how surely does it return again !
Educated in the best society, and having seen much of the world, the manners of Dr. Mather were those of a Christian gentleman, dignified and courtly; but with a shade of puritanical austerity. Uniformly serious, he could nevertheless, on proper occasions, indulge in a becoming pleasantry and freedom. The earnestness of his religious character, however, and his supreme devotion to his holy calling, gave, as life advanced, a stamp of sanctity and gravity to his deportment, which impressed all who had intercourse with him. It was a common remark of his cotemporaries, that "it was an edifying thing only to see him in the public assemblies ; for his very countenance was a sermon." It might well be so, if the countenance is an index of the heart; for his diary, in his earlier life, was constantly marked with the significant memento, " Heart Serious." It was evidently one of his most sincere and constant purposes to fulfil the precept, " Keep thy heart
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with all diligence," - to keep it in a frame habitually devotional, and in an abiding sense of the presence and inspection of God.
Few men have spent so much time in prayer, or had more entire faith in its efficacy. Whatever some may think of the " absurdity of his notions concerning the mani- fest answers to his petitions," and however they may turn into ridicule the " heavenly afflations which he enjoyed in his devotional flights," it is not capable of denial that he made proof, as faithfully and as earnestly, of the efficacy and joy of prayer, according to his understanding of the duty, as any other godly man of his generation. If he was sometimes under a delusion as to the result of his devo- tions, he cannot be reproached for having been negligent as to the duty. Those who doubt the reality of the re- sponses he supposed he had received from heaven have no room to doubt the ardor and importunity and perseverance with which he asked and sought and knocked at its holy gate. His diary is full of prayers; his days were full of prayers ; whole days were often set apart for his devotions : his study was the scene of frequent converse with God, in all the various conditions of a devout spirit, from the lowest humiliation with groanings that cannot be uttered, to the highest ecstasies of gratitude and joy and adoration.
How far he was visionary and superstitious in these devout acts ; how far he mistook the chimeras of a heated brain for gracious spiritual operations ; how far the light and peace, the joy and assurance, the direction and fore- cast, which he derived from his prayers, were really from above, or how far they were " the creatures of his own 5
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excited imagination," or " the delusive fabrics of his own vanity," - let those determine who feel disposed to subject his religious experiences to sharp criticism, or whose spiri- tuality qualifies them to judge.
One thing is certain. If he was deceived and deluded, it was not lightly ; it was not for want of self-examination, or of careful thought and sober reasoning as to the validity of his persuasion. He cannot be confounded with the ignorantly credulous or the weak-minded. He was a wise and thoughtful, as well as earnest man. No man's sneer is strong enough to make him pass for a credulous fool, in opposition to the clear testimony both of his writings and his acts. His private papers show how cautiously he scru- tinized both his own heart and the grounds of his hopes and impressions as to the success of his prayers. " I put the answer of my prayers," he says, "upon the sincerity of my soul before God. O my God! if I do not sincerely desire to glorify thy name, then let me have no answer of my prayers. But if I do in sincerity desire to serve and glorify thee, then have compassion on me, and deny me not, I pray thee." At another time, he writes thus : " My heart was moved to believe that God would accept and answer my poor prayers, - First, because I drew nigh to him; therefore he will draw nigh to me. Secondly, be- cause the things which I asked, and the ends why I asked them, were for the glory of God, not for my own sake. Thirdly, for the honor of his Son, Jesus Christ. Fourthly, because nothing but my sins, which I this day confess before the Lord, can hinder the answer of my prayers ; but these cannot hinder, because they are done away in the
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blood of Christ, who has loved me, and given himself for me (which I know, for that I feel my heart loveth him). Fifthly, because there never was any creature who did humbly seek unto the Lord for such blessings as this day I prayed for, that was denied by him ; and surely I shall not be the first whom God will deny. Oh, blessed for ever be my dear God, in Jesus Christ, who heareth prayer!"
From an early period of his life, Mr. Mather acted a conspicuous part in the ecclesiastical and religious affairs of New England, and wielded an influence unsurpassed by any individual of his times.
On his return from Europe, at the very commencement of his ministry, he found the churches deeply engaged in a controversy respecting the church-state of their posterity ; a controversy which, by reason of the religious basis of the country, had its political as well as ecclesiastical bear- ings. New England had now been settled some thirty years ; and a numerous posterity had arisen, many of whom, though baptized in their infancy, and though per- sons of good character, did not regard themselves, and were not regarded by the churches, as suitable for admis- sion to the church, because they could not " come up to that experimental account of their regeneration" which the churches required for access to the Lord's table. Now, these persons could not, according to the rule of the churches, have their children baptized; and yet it seemed to our fathers that some distinction ought to be made in their favor, over those who had manifested no signs of a religious disposition or promise of a religious character, and those who were positively worldly and immoral. If the
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children of the former should be refused baptism, they might grow up without any connection with the church, and be in danger of being lost to the kingdom of heaven. And yet, if the church should receive into membership per- sons who were not really regenerated, it was feared that the door would be opened for worldliness, and a laxity of religious life, full of peril to the interests of Christ. This difficulty, which was first brought into public notice in Connecticut, excited a degree of interest among the New England churches, which can hardly be conceived of at the present day, and resulted in a controversy which was agi- tated with no little warmth. The ministers discussed the subject in Boston in 1657, and came to a decision of the questions involved in it; and, in 1662, a synod of the churches, called by direction of the General Court, was held in the same place, more fully to consider and deter- mine the matter. The result was a series of propositions, embodying the principle of what was afterwards called " the half-way covenant." According to this, persons of sober life not experimentally regenerated, though not allowed to join the church, were permitted to have their children baptized, if they would own the covenant made by their parents on their behalf in their infancy .* ,
This result of the synod was regarded with jealousy by several eminent divines, who feared that " the sacred
* The first instance of any one being received into the Second Church by the half-way covenant appears to have been Jan. 15, 1693. The follow- ing is the record : " Received into covenant, Mary Sunderland ; and her son John baptized, - they being the first so admitted in pursuance of the church's addresses unto me for that purpose and practice." The half-way covenant has not been used in this church since April, 1786.
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ordinance of baptism should come to be applied to such unmeet subjects as would in a while put an end to New England's primitive and peculiar glory of undefiled admi- nistration." One of these was the President of the College, Charles Chauncy, who published a treatise, entitled " Anti- synodalia Americana." Increase Mather took the same ground, and also published his dissent and the reasons of it. But afterwards, having been convinced that he was in the wrong, partly by his father, who wrote on the opposite side, partly by the sound arguments of the " matchless Mr. Mitchell," and partly by his own longer experience and reflections, he not only changed his opinion, but published two able treatises in defence of the synodical propositions.
This change and recantation have been regarded by some as indicative of weakness and inconsistency, and even as having originated in a desire to court popularity, by falling in with the general current, which he found to be setting against his earlier views. But I see no reason for attributing to him either inconsistency or policy. It is a mark of manliness and love of truth to give up opinions, however once firmly and conscientiously held, when one has become convinced of their unsoundness; and an open avowal of such a change, with the reasons that have led to it, seems to be, on the part of a public man and a minister whose previous views have gone abroad through the press, hardly less an obligation than an honor. He may lay him- self open thereby to the cavils of the censorious and the inimical; but the purer feeling of candid men will appre- ciate his painful sacrifice of pride to truth, and shrink from attributing to selfish and sinister motives what the avowed
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reasons are adequate to justify, and a more enlightened understanding would be sufficient to account for. The saying of Dr. Owen, as quoted by Cotton Mather, is not inapplicable to the case in hand : " He that can glory that in fourteen years he hath not altered nor improved his conceptions of some important things, shall not have me for his rival."
Through the influence of Increase Mather more than of any others, the General Court were induced, in 1679, to convoke a general synod of all the churches, called after- wards the " Reforming Synod," to consider and report upon the following questions : "1. What are the evils that have provoked the Lord to bring his judgments upon New Eng- land? 2. What is to be done that so these evils may be reformed ?" The "judgments " particularly referred to were King Philip's war; the smallpox, which had recently made fearful ravages, and filled the people with consternation; the great fire of. 1676, and the still greater of Aug. 8, 1679, - calamities which had almost simultaneously afflicted the colony. These sore distresses were looked upon by our fathers as awful visitations of Divine Providence, on account of the transgressions of the people. The godly spirits of the pastors were grieved at the decay of that piety which had been so illustrious in the pilgrims. They saw with alarm the general falling away from the strict notions and habits of the first settlers; " they bewailed, in most pathetic strains," the degeneracy of the age. And, as they felt that the punishment of Heaven was justly merited, so they supposed that at length, in these grievous afflictions, the recompense had begun.
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Having first kept a general fast, the synod met at Bos- ton, Sept. 10, 1679. Mr. Mather preached during its ses- sion, was the principal mover in all its deliberations and doings, and drew up the result, which was unanimously adopted. On its presentation by a committee of ministers to the General Court, Mr. Mather preached again ; after which, that body accepted the result, and commended it to " the serious consideration of all the churches and people in the jurisdiction."
The catalogue of sins specified in this document would strike with surprise many modern readers, who are accus- tomed to believe that the men of that age were generally remarkable for sober habits and piety. It is not improba- ble that the picture was too darkly colored by the stern and somewhat gloomy prophets who drew it. Yet, evident- ly, there was substantial reason in the moral condition of the people for the concern and reproof of a faithful mini- stry, and for earnest endeavors after reform. The principal measures proposed by the synod to this end were, - that the work of reformation should begin with the magistrates ; that the churches should be more strict and faithful in their discipline ; that earnest efforts should be made to provide a devoted ministry; that wholesome laws should be esta- blished and executed, and schools of learning encouraged.
This celebrated Reforming Synod held a second session the next year, when Increase Mather was appointed Mode- rator ; and the " New England Confession of Faith" was adopted, which, in the doctrinal parts, mainly agrees with the " Westminster Confession." The sickness of the Mode- rator - the beginning, as it proved, of a dangerous fever -
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did not prevent the discharge of his duties, but was forgot- ten for a time in the intensity of his interest in the business to be done, which was despatched with unexampled rapid- ity through his promptness and close application.
In the controversy concerning the " qualifications for admission to the church," Dr. Mather felt a deep inter- est, and took an active part. The attempt to alter the old order of the New England churches, towards the close of the seventeenth century, by dispensing with "a rela- tion of religious experience," on the part of candidates for church-membership, was contrary to his fixed opinions and earnest convictions. He wrote against it, and opposed it with all his might, as a dangerous innovation. He insisted that " doctrinal knowledge and outward blamelessness are not sufficient qualifications for admission to the church ; but that practical confessions, or some relation of the work of conversion, are necessary. Churches are bound to inquire into the spiritual estate of those whom they receive to full communion." One of those with whom he en- gaged in controversy on this subject was Rev. Mr. Stod- dard, of Northampton. It is somewhat singular, that the great champion of orthodoxy, President Edwards, - who, many years after, resisted the views of Stoddard, taking the same ground with Increase Mather, and sup- porting it as earnestly ; and through whose influence mainly the orthodox congregational churches of New Eng- land retained the ancient practice alluded to above, - was both the successor and grandson of Stoddard. And it is a fact worthy of notice, that "those churches which adopted the views of Edwards, together with those which have
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