USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the church in Brattle street, Boston > Part 10
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" the most depressed and perilous period which religion has ever witnessed in New England, - the period of the French Revolution," and con- sider that during this period this church was peaceful and prosperous, spiritually alive and ear- nest, that the strong minds and warm hearts that gathered here were baptized into the spirit of the Gospel, kept within the fold of Christ by the faithful labors and quickening powers of the pas- tor, we shall readily come to the conclusion, that among the wise and good and devoted men who have stood in this desk, not least to be honored and cherished stands the name and the memory of Peter Thacher.
Brattle Street, March 24th, 1850.
SERMON V.
HE WAS A BURNING AND A SHINING LIGHT. - John v. 35.
IN our review of the history of this church, we have now reached a period distinctly within the personal recollections of many who hear me. Dr. Thacher died December 16th, 1802. Early in the following year, the society invited the Rev. William Ellery Channing " to preach with them on probation, with a view to settle with them as
their pastor." He declined the invitation, on the ground that his health would not permit him to take charge of so large a parish, or preach in so large a church. He subsequently accepted the invitation of the society in Federal Street, which at that time was a less numerous congregation, with a small church. The growth and prosperity of that society under the distinguished ministry of Dr. Channing are facts within the memory of many present. Early in the autumn of 1803, the society invited the Rev. Abiel Abbott, who had recently been dismissed from the pastoral charge
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of the First Church in Haverhill, to preach here four Sabbaths as a candidate for settlement. This invitation was declined, Dr. Abbott having previously accepted an invitation to settle in Bev- erly, where he had a long, harmonious, and emi- nently useful ministry.
The pulpit was supplied by various temporary arrangements, till November, 1804, when Joseph Stevens Buckminster was engaged to preach four Sabbaths as a candidate, at the expiration of which, on the 9th of December, he was invited to take charge of the parish as its pastor. This invitation was accepted in a letter dated Decem- ber 23d, which some of you may like to hear. In directness, simplicity, and comprehensiveness, it might serve as a model for letters of the kind.
"TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY IN BRATTLE STREET : -
" Gentlemen, - No rule of propriety or del- icacy requires me to forbear all expression of pleasure at testimonies of approbation and good- will which have marked the proceedings of your society ; neither am I sensible of any advantages which would result from a longer delay of an answer to an invitation adopted with such unanim- ity and recommended by such encouragements.
" But while I give you this early intimation that I have concluded to accept your proposals,
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I should be unfaithful to myself and to you if I did not express my apprehension that you will be called to overlook many deficiencies and excuse many mistakes in one whom youth and consequent inexperience, united with precarious health, will ask for all the indulgence which his past inter- course with you encourages him to expect.
" If, in the course of events, a favorable oppor- tunity should occur of associating with me another pastor, much of our mutual anxiety might be re- lieved, and the interests of a numerous society judiciously consulted. But if the cause of Christ here should not be found to suffer from the insuffi- ciency of my single efforts, I trust I shall be dis- posed to thank God, in whose strength alone the weak are strong, in whose wisdom the inexperi- enced are wise, and with whose blessing the most feeble labors will not prove unsuccessful. If God should spare my life, I hope some of its most cheering and permanent consolations will be found in the uninterrupted harmony, the increasing affec- tion, and the spiritual improvement of this large society. To instruct the ignorant, to reclaim the wandering, to impress the insensible, to console the afflicted, to reconcile the alienated, to declare the whole counsel of God, and at the same time to give no offence in any thing that the ministry be not blamed, are duties which no pastor can even partially perform, unless encouraged by your
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utmost charity, and aided by your public and pri- vate prayers. For these, then, I ask ; and may that God who has hitherto blessed the religious interests of your society in granting you a succes- sion of luminaries, whose light has not yet de- parted, though their orbs have set, continue to build you up in faith, charity, purity, and peace, and give you at last an inheritance among them that are sanctified.
" J. S. BUCKMINSTER."
Mr. Buckminster was ordained on Wednesday, the 30th of January, 1805, his father, Rev. Dr. Buckminster of Portsmouth, preaching the ser- mon. But the hopes of that day were destined to a sudden temporary disappointment. The fatigue and agitation of the Ordination were more than his delicate health and easily excited sensi- bilities could bear. The following Sunday found him prostrate on a bed of sickness, and for sev- eral weeks he was too ill to preach. On com- mencing his labors in the pulpit, towards the end of March, instead of those appropriate discourses usually expected from a pastor newly inducted, he preached that sermon on the advantages of sickness, which subsequently appeared in the first volume of his printed sermons, and which has probably been read with as much profit, and given as much instruction and consolation, as any one of his discourses.
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The events and proceedings of the parish of any historical interest during Mr. Buckminster's ministry were few and simple, and may be brief- ly stated. About the time of his settlement, the practice of carrying round boxes in church to collect the taxes was discontinued, and the pres- ent mode of collecting them adopted. In con- formity with the principle of the original Mani- festo of 1699, which principle perhaps had fallen into disuse or been violated, it was voted, " That, in the settlement of a minister, all who statedly attend public worship and contribute to the support of a minister, in the parish in Brat- tle Street, have a right to vote." In 1805, the congregation of the Old South Church, upon invitation of this society, worshipped here during repairs made upon their church. In 1806, the church established the rule, "that, for any one wishing to come to the communion, it was suffi- cient if his name stood mentioned or propounded from one meeting of the church to another." In 1807, the question of a new hymn-book was agi- tated, and resulted in continuing Tate and Brady, with an addition prepared by Mr. Buckminster. This addition, exactly as prepared by him, consti- tutes the second part of the hymn-book now in use In 1809, a new bell, weighing three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine pounds, was imported from London for the society's use, at an expense of
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over two thousand dollars, which was defrayed by subscription. The clock on the west gallery was put up in 1811, and was the gift of the Hon. Mr. Bowdoin. In 1811, Mr. Buckminster, on his own authority, resumed the primitive practice of giving certificates of regular standing and recom- mendation to those who wished to connect them- selves with other churches, without calling the church together to vote such certificate. In
relation to this Mr. Buckminster makes the fol- lowing entry in the records : - " In giving Mr. Samuel Cooper Thacher his recommendation to the fellowship of the church with which he was to be connected, I did not think it necessary to call the church together, as this is directly con- trary to the practice vindicated by the founders of our church, and is entirely unnecessary. In the present case I was the more willing to establish this precedent, as there could be no doubt of the great affection and esteem borne to Mr. 'T'hacher, in whose settlement among us I most cordially rejoice." In the spring of 1806, Mr. Buckmin- ster, being worn down by his labors, the terrible malady to which he was subject sensibly increas- ing in the frequency and violence of its attacks, the society, never wanting in generous kindness to their ministers, sent him abroad for relaxation and travel. He was absent more than fifteen months, visiting all parts of Great Britain and the
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most interesting places on the continent of Eu- rope. He returned in September, 1807, with improved health, though still subject to attacks of his disease. Resuming his labors, he devoted himself with unwearied diligence and fidelity to the duties of his office, to the cause of sound learning, of pure piety, and all the best interests, not only of his society, but of the whole com- munity, till June, 1812, when, on the 9th of that month, after a brief illness, he died, to the deep sorrow of many hearts, who have not yet ceased to cherish his memory and regret his loss. It will be seen from this brief statement of facts, that no public changes or events of impor- tance occurred in our history during this period, and that its chief interest is connected with the personal fortunes, life, character, and ministry of Mr. Buckminster. Upon these I would now offer a few remarks for our instruction and im- provement.
Mr. Buckminster was born, as is well known, probably, to all of you, in Portsmouth, in May, 1784. Had he been living, he would have been just completing at this time his sixty-sixth year, an age at which many men are in the full vigor of all their powers, and at the height of their usefulness and honor. It is necessary, I think, to consider this to form a just appreciation of the loss which the community sustained in his early death. On
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reading his life, and closing the history of his brief, but glorious career, I have often said to myself, " Had Mr. Buckminster lived the allot- ted age of man, and enjoyed the usual measure of health and strength, with his extraordinary intel- lectual powers, his enlarged and ever-increasing learning, his clear, practical wisdom, his deep- toned and earnest piety, as free from cant and morbid enthusiasm as from coldness and indiffer- ence, his persuasive and commanding eloquence, his peculiar talent at reaching the heart, the con- science, the judgment of others, and giving a direc- tion and guidance to their purposes and efforts, - had he lived with all these intellectual gifts and spiritual graces enlarging and increasing with his years, how much good he would have done, how great, how extensive and beneficial, would have been his influence ! How many erratic minds would have been checked in their wanderings by intercourse with his progressive, yet clear and sta- ble mind ! How many speculations, vain and idle, that have arisen to mislead the simple, the conceit- ed, and the half-educated, would have been crushed by the superior learning and the clear, calm, pene- trating criticism which he would have brought to bear upon them ! How different, probably, would have been the condition and character, the fea- tures and tendency, of the religious denomination with which he was connected ! What an impress
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of himself would he have left upon the morals and manners, the habits of thought and action, the religion, the learning, and the philanthropy of the last forty years !" But such speculations are vain, if not sinful. God taketh care of every genera- tion, and meets every emergency of human affairs in his own way. It may be that what we call a loss was in fact a gain, and that through what has been written about him, and what was written by him and has since been published and diffused, the declaration of Scripture concerning Abel, " He, being dead, yet speaketh," has had a fulfilment beyond the reality, beyond all the conceptions we can form of the influence he would have ex- erted and the good he would have done, had his life been prolonged.
In his case, Providence seems intentionally to have provided a compensation for his sudden, and to our judgment premature death, in the early development and quick maturity of his powers. Scarcely had the earliest years of infancy passed before he gave decided indications of extraordina- ry intellectual gifts, and of moral and religious ele- ments of character, such as to impress even stran- gers with the conviction that he was a remarkable child, and would be a marked and distinguished man. What Dr. Kirkland said of Fisher Ames is particularly true of him, - " He did not need the smart of guilt to make him virtuous, nor the
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regret of folly to make him wise." He was in- stinctively moral and religious ; in his earliest childhood, and all through his childhood, there was a deep current of faith and piety running through all his thoughts and feelings, a constant recognition and sympathy in his mind with the truths and objects of religion. Those evil pas- sions and impulses, those wavering propensities and dispositions, which in most children awaken so much parental anxiety, and demand such con- stant watchfulness and discipline, seem in him to have been at once subdued and controlled by the presence of the strong, decided, mature piety of a man in the heart of a little child. The record of Mr. Buckminster's childhood, always some- what known, has just been most fully laid before us, in the memoir by his sister, Mrs. Lee ; and I know of no record of childhood that authorizes us to apply with more strength and emphasis the declaration of Scripture concerning one of the prophets of old, - " He was sanctified from his youth up." The promise of his early childhood was fulfilled by his career at school and at col- lege. Here he was a striking "example of the possible connection of the most splendid genius with the most regular and persevering industry, of a generous independence of character with a per- fect respect for the governors of the College, and of a keen relish for innocent enjoyment with a
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fixed dread of every shadow of vice." * He took his degree at Cambridge in 1800, a few months after his sixteenth birth-day, and thus " left the University with an unspotted fame and its highest literary honors at an age when most are entering upon collegiate duties." After leaving college, he was for two years assistant teacher in Exeter Academy, { and subsequently private tutor
* Thacher's Memoir.
t " At this time he had the honor and privilege of being the instructor of Daniel Webster. Mr. Webster, in a manu- script memoir of his early life, says, -' My first lessons in Latin were recited to Joseph Stevens Buckminster, at that time an assistant at the Academy. I made tolerable progress in all the branches I attended to under his instruction, but there was one thing I could not do, - I could not make a declamation, I could not speak before the school. The kind and excellent Buckminster especially sought to persuade me to perform the exercise of declamation like the other boys, but I could not do it. Many a piece did I commit to memory and rehearse in my own room, over and over again; but when the day came, when the school collected, when my name was called, and I saw all eyes turned upon my seat, I could not raise myself from it. Sometimes the masters frowned, sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster always pressed and entreated, with the most winning kindness, that I would only venture once ; but I could not command suf- ficient resolution, and when the occasion was over I went home and wept bitter tears of mortification.'
" What interesting thoughts does this description excite, with all the gathered associations of so many years ! The youthful teacher winning the future statesman to exert that unsuspected power which has since had such wide-spread and powerful influence. Did he discern that noble intellect,
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in the family of his uncle, the late Theodore Ly- man, senior, pursuing, at the same time, however, his studies in theology, and preparing himself for that profession which, from his earliest years, had been the profession of his choice. His course of theological study was elaborate and thorough, though pursued chiefly under his own direction. The principle he adopted - that of beginning with what was simple and clear, and gradually pro- ceeding to what was difficult, doubtful, or dark - was one that fostered independence and integrity of mind, and gave permanence and power to whatever opinions he adopted on deliberate con- viction and thorough research. After four years of preparatory theological study, during which he went through an uncommonly wide and extensive field of theological investigation, he accepted the invitation of this society to become its pastor, and
that exalted genius, then concealed in the bashful reserve of his pupil? The sensibility that made Webster shrink from display would have indicated to a penetrating eye the hidden power; and the persevering kindness with which the in- structor urged again and again that he would only venture once, proves that he was conscious there was much concealed that only needed encouragement to bring out and make him know his latent power. Mr. Webster was older than Buck- minster. Had the teacher been permitted to live to observe the splendid career of the pupil, with what pride would he have looked back to the moment when his youthful voice soothed and encouraged the diffidence of one afterwards so eminent ! " - Memoirs of Buckminster, by Mrs. Lee, pp. 114, 115.
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was inducted into office before the completion of his minority. Of the harmony, the prosperity, the spiritual growth and progress of the society during his ministry, it is unnecessary that I should speak. Much of the fruits of that ministry still abides among us. Continually have I witnessed them, often have I been reminded of them, in my parochial walks. But a few years ago, one who has now gone to his account, and the last years of whose life were checkered by various sore trials, said to me, in tones of mournful earnestness and sincerity, -" I received my strongest and deepest religious impressions from Mr. Buckmin- ster. He was the first person who woke up my soul to a sense of the grandeur and responsibility of its destiny, and made me feel that religion was important, - had a reality. I have had many trials to bear, some sad reverses, some bitter bereavements to meet, and if I have had faith to bear them with tolerable patience and fortitude, -if I have had strength and peace and an im- mortal hope to cheer me, - I owe it all, under God, to him ; and even to this day, Brattle Street Church is more associated with him in my mind than it is with you, or with any other preacher. Scarcely a Sunday passes, that my thoughts do not revert to him, that his image does not rise up before me at some time during the service." Others, doubtless, could make the same declara-
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tion, bear the same testimony. And the min- istry that left this strong and durable impress of itself upon so many hearts lasted but seven years and five months, -the name that is among the most illustrious in the American pulpit belonged to a young man who died before he reached the age at which most eminent men are just beginning to be known. Many years ago, when I was a student in theology myself, I remember asking a contemporary and friend of Mr. Buckminster, - a brother of the same profession, one who knew him well and loved him much, - what was the secret of his success, - of his power. To which he replied, " Have you ever read his sermons ?" I answered, " Yes, and I admit them to be ex- cellent, admirable, very striking, impressive ser- mons ; but they do not seem to me to explain and account for all the enthusiasm with which you and those who knew him speak of him, - the deep reverence and affection with which you all cherish his name and memory." At this distance of time, I cannot recall his precise words, but the substance of what he said at some length, in reply, was as follows : - " To judge of Mr. Buckmin- ster's sermons and properly appreciate them, one must review the preaching of the thirty or forty years previous, and make himself familiar with its general characteristics, both as to the topics selected and mode and style of treatment. He
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will perceive that, with a few exceptions, the preaching of «that period was dry, technical, for- mal. It was the anatomy of the bones of religion, exhibited in a carefully prepared, but lifeless, skeleton. Mr. Buckminster introduced the living form into the pulpit in all its beauty, freshness, and strength, and showed its practical uses and power. Let any one read a dozen of the ordinary sermons of that period, and then read Mr. Buck- minster, and he will get some idea of the life and freshness and reality which he imparted to the services of the pulpit, and will not be surprised at the impression his preaching produced, - es- pecially when he takes into the account the felici- ty of his manner, the glory of his speaking eye, and the rich pathos of his voice. He will under- stand how it was, and why it was, that the most refined and least cultivated equally hung upon his lips, and that all classes, the young, the mature, the aged, listened with wonder and delight, - were at once charmed, instructed, and improved."
" Still," he continued, " I am not surprised at your question. It has often been asked me ; and I admit, that Mr. Buckminster's sermons alone do not explain to those who never knew him the impression he made upon the community, and the enthusiastic reverence and affection cher- ished for him by his friends. This is to be ex- plained by the singular beauty and harmony of his
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character, and the extraordinary combination of qualities which he possessed. We have had men of genius and men of industry in the pulpit before his day, -men who were eloquent and impressive as preachers, and men who were distinguished for large and extensive learning, - men of enthusiasm and fervor, and men of prudence, caution, and good practical judgment, - men bold and inde- pendent in their speculations, and men desirous not to give offence, wise and careful in the changes of thought and opinion they endeavored to introduce, - men of dignity and sternness, and men of gentleness and sweetness of disposition, - men distinguished for one or other of these qualities ; Mr. Buckminster was remarkable for them all. In him they were singularly combined and harmonized. He was a man of genius, that is, of extraordinary natural gifts and powers ; but he united with them the most patient and untiring industry. He was a man of marvellous eloquence as a speaker and writer, yet he was as remarkable, - he was more remarkable, considering his age, for his learning, his profound and accurate theo- logical and general scholarship, than for his elo- quence ; and the impetus and direction he gave to learning, especially to theological investigation, was not less than that which he gave to religion in its practical departments of piety and virtue. He was a man of enthusiasm, fervent and zealous ;
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yet none of his age and time surpassed him in pro- found, practical wisdom, good sense, and good judgment. He had a bold and independent mind, controlled supremely in its investigation only by a love and reverence for truth ; and yet with such a respect for the prejudices or errors of others, that he never wounded them unnecessarily or purpose- ly. In the dignity and firmness of his character, religion in its highest claims was never compro- mised by unworthy compliances with fashionable follies or popular sins ; while the sweetness of his manners, the instinctive gentleness and kindness of his disposition, won for himself and the religion he preached interest, affection, and respect from all. It was this harmonious combination of ex- traordinary gifts and qualities that caused Mr. Buckminster to be loved, honored, reverenced ; this explains his success, the influence he exert- ed, and the fond regret and enduring remem- brance with which his name is still cherished."
This, I suppose, is the true explanation to be given of Mr. Buckminster's character and influ- ence. It is confirmed by all that we know of his life and labors, while pastor of this church. While he failed in no duty here, and made this pulpit and the sphere of action immediately connected with it always the first and the most important object of his efforts, his heart took in all the great inter- ests of the community, and no man did more to
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promote them. In all the movements of his day for the advancement of science, literature, educa- tion, philanthropy, he took a prominent part, and of all the societies or institutions formed or exist- ing for the promotion of these objects, he was an active officer or an efficient member.
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