USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > Lectures on the history of the First Church in Cambridge > Part 12
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MEETING-HOUSE ERECTED IN 1756.
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1824, upon his " triumphal visit," the address of wel- come was given to him within those consecrated walls. A large stone from the foundation, one which very likely had served the preceding houses, has been built into the wall of the church we are now completing, and is inscribed with the date " 1756."
In 1749-50, a committee was appointed by the parish " to treat with the governors of the College, in order to their being assisting of said Precinct in the support of Mr. Appleton." Here are appropriations for schools ; a law that if any dog is found in the meeting-house on the Lord's Day, in time of public worship, the owner shall be fined ; officers are appointed to preserve order ; provision is made for the care of the " French Neutrals"; the court-house is to be rebuilt, as far as possible from the materials of the meeting-house about to be taken down. In 1761 an Episcopal church was opened here, at the desire, says the historian, “ of five or six gentlemen, each of whose incomes was judged to be adequate to the maintenance of a domestic chaplain. A missionary
was appointed to the care of the church by the English ' Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts.'" In 1764 the College suffered a severe loss by the burn- ing of Harvard Hall, which contained the library, the philosophical apparatus, and various objects of interest. " In one stormy winter's night, the scanty but precious accumulations of a hundred and twenty-six years " were lost. But the friends of the cherished college, if cast down, were not destroyed, and immediate measures were taken to erect a new building, and replace what had been lost, as far as it could be done. In 1780 the church-members on the south side of the river made known their desire to be dismissed and formed into a
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distinct church, and a new church was organized there on the 23d of February, 1783. It was in Dr. Apple- ton's pastorate that Whitefield was exciting the country with his marvellous preaching. He came to Cambridge in 1740 to see and to preach, and made a sad report of the lack of discipline, the low state of religion, and the reading of bad books. "I chose to preach from those words : 'We are not as many who corrupt the word of God'; and in the conclusion of my sermon I made a close application to tutors and students." The Faculty of the College published a pamphlet bearing their tes- timony "against the . Reverend Mr. George Whitefield and his condact." Mr. Whitefield replied, modifying some things which he had said, expressing his good will to the College, asking forgiveness if he had done any wrong, and offering forgiveness to those who had wronged him. Among the donors of a late date we find his name, and the acknowledgment of his journal and a collection of books, and also of his influence by which he procured a large number of valuable books from several parts of Great Britain. The career of Whitefield in this country, and certainly in Cambridge, must have elicited the eager interest of the church ; and we may be certain that the liberal and prudent pastor stood for the defence of the College, and showed himself always the friend of moderation and order, of zeal with knowledge, and of that work which stands the tests of this world and the judgment of another. There were blessed results of the wide and deep movement of that time. Tutor Flynt wrote in his diary, " Many students appeared to be in a great concern as to their souls, first moved by Mr. Whitefield's preaching, and after by Mr. Tennent's and others, and by Mr. Appleton, who was
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more close and affecting in his preaching after Mr. Whitefield's being here."
But the great events of this period, so far as this land and the world were concerned, were the Dec- laration of Independence by these colonies and the realization of independence through the struggles and sufferings of a long contest. The spirit which dared and achieved the end ruled here. The brief records of the town ring with the cries of men bent on lib- erty, - men who knew their rights and meant to pos- sess them, and were willing to endure for the gen- erations to come. England changed her sovereigns ; three Georges ruled. In France Louis XV. finished his reign, and was succeeded by his well-meaning, but irresolute and ill-fated grandson. These changes did not mean so much for the world as the rise of this free Republic, whose destiny is more glorious than its his- tory, if the patriotic devotion of the fathers shall be the cherished heritage of the children.
It remains to say a few words more of our own history. The death of Dr. Appleton left Mr. Hilliard the sole pastor of the church. Mr. Hilliard was the son of a worthy farmer and deacon of Kensington, N. H., and was born in the year 1746. In his youth he showed an unusual facility in acquiring knowledge, and an amiable and cheerful disposition. He graduated here with high honor in 1764 .. While in college he made such advances in the various branches of useful learning as laid the foundation for that eminence in his profes- sion to which he afterward attained. In 1768 he was appointed chaplain of Castle William. After a few months' service there, he was elected a tutor in this College, and for two years and a half discharged the
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duties of that office with fidelity. He was invited to settle in the ministry at Barnstable, and was ordained there April 10, 1771. He remained there for twelve years, winning the affection of his people and the esteem of all who knew him. The strong sea-air proved injuri-
ous to his health, and he resigned his parish.
On recov-
ering his health, he resumed his professional labors, and, after preaching here for a short time, was invited to become the colleague of the venerable pastor, and soon became the sole pastor of this church, as we have already seen. He died on the Lord's Day morning, May 9, 1790, in the seventh year of his ministry here, and the forty-fourth year of his age. The records of his ministry contain nothing beyond the usual routine of parish work. There were one hundred and forty-five baptisms, and twenty-three persons were admitted to the church.
The " committee to inspect the manners of professing Christians " seems to have been discontinued after Dr. Appleton's death. Care was taken of the funds belong- ing to the church, provision was made for the poor, and the late pastor's legacy was applied according to his wish. The church received new members, children were baptized, men and women were joined in marriage, and the grave claimed its own. Thus the work went on. The word of God was preached as aforetime, and men were called to obey the gospel, which " unfolds the glorious plan of redemption which was laid in the counsels of infinite wisdom and goodness before the foundation of the world." The years of the Revolution and those which immediately followed it were a dreary time for the churches, and for the interests of piety in the land. Many had been drawn away from the restraints of the law and the sanctuary, and
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exposed to the excitement and temptation of a soldier's life, often among the irreligious and un- principled of other lands. With the war uppermost in the minds of the people, religion suffered a decline. Errors of belief and practice, corruptions of divers kinds, came in like a flood. The Sabbath lost its sacredness, the Bible its authority, the church its sanctity. The preacher had his task doubled. The pastor here felt the force of the conflict and the greatness of the issue. He put on the panoply of God for a warfare that was not carnal but spiritual, to win for men a liberty which was perfect and eternal. Amid the last echoes of the Revolution he preached the gospel of peace. And when a proclamation, nailed to the court-house door, offered pardon to the rebels, in the meeting-house he preached the forgiveness of sins.
Through all his ministry Mr. Hilliard was studious and earnest. Both the learned and unlearned were profited by his judicious, instructive, practical dis- courses. His sermons were of cost to him, and there- fore were of worth to his hearers. The government of the University regarded him as "an excellent model for the youth under their care who were designed for the desk, and considered his introduction into this parish a most happy event." He excelled in public prayer, and was "tenderly attentive to the sick and afflicted." His whole temper was amiable, candid, liberal. While not ranking among what are called popular preachers, he had excellent pulpit tal- ents, and his ministrations were highly acceptable to the churches. His reputation was increasing when he died. He had much influence in ecclesiastical councils and associations, and his brethren paid him a marked
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respect. He was watchful of the interests of the Uni- versity, of which he was a son and an overseer.
The publications of Mr. Hilliard were five sermons, including a Dudleian Lecture. I copy a few sentences, that we may see how well his doctrinal views agreed with those held by this church from the beginning.
" It is observed that the Saxon word 'gospel' signifies WELCOME NEWS: it brings us the news of an Almighty Friend and compassionate Saviour, who came from heaven to deliver us from the condemning sentence of the Divine Law, and to restore us to the image and favor of our Maker. .... Amidst all the variety of sects and parties into which Christians have been divided, they have been generally agreed with respect to the capital and most important truths of religion. All Christians believe the existence and perfection of the one supreme God, the author and supporter of the universe, and his providential government of the world; they believe the advent of his best-beloved Son to redeem and save a perishing world; they own that salvation is by grace through faith; that a Divine in- fluence on the mind is necessary to produce and cul- tivate a holy and heavenly temper ; that Christ, having been delivered for our offences, was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 'was vested with' supreme dominion, and constituted the Judge of quick and dead ; they believe the resurrection of the dead, and a future retribution according to the deeds done in the body."
In a sermon from the text, " But not as the offence 80 also is the free gift," he says : " The advantage here mentioned may consist in this, that all who die do- not suffer this calamity merely for the sin of Adam, but oftentimes bring death upon themselves for their own
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sins ; but all that are justified, and so freed from death, are thus exempted from it only by virtue of the blood of Christ."
Yet, while Mr. Hilliard held his own views firmly, he- cherished a charitable spirit towards those who judged differently, and enjoined this upon others.
In person Mr. Hilliard was rather spare, of a medium height, with an intellectual and attractive countenance. His last illness was very short, and in it he was sus- tained by the truths he had preached, enjoying those consolations which he had given to others. He men- tioned his people with affection, and with great satis- faction testified " that he had not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God, having kept nothing back through fear or any sinister view." Thus passed away the seventh minister of this church. He was buried, with those who had preceded him, in our sacred ground, " in the Christian hope of rising again to eter- nal life." His " bereaved, affectionate flock " erected a monument to his memory, and inscribed upon it the virtues with which he had adorned his life.
Here we pause, after the survey of more than a hun- dred years. We turn from these pages of our history, witnessing to the truthfulness of the word of promise and of hope in which our fathers trusted, and strength- ening ourselves with the assurance which God grants to us, for our comfort and courage, " My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
LECTURE VII.
" REMEMBER ME, O LORD, WITH THE FAVOR THAT THOU BEAREST UNTO THY PEOPLE : O, VISIT ME WITH THY SALVATION ; THAT I MAY SEE THE GOOD OF THY CHOSEN, THAT I MAY REJOICE IN THE GLADNESS OF THY NATION, THAT I MAY GLORY WITH THINE INHERITANCE." - Psalm cvi. 4, 5.
T THE patriot Psalmist sought for himself the blessing with which God would visit his people. He iden- tified himself with his people, both for confession and desire. It was enough for him to see the good of the chosen of God, and to rejoice in their gladness. I have placed this passage at the head of this discourse, because it forms the text of two sermons preached by the venerated man of God whose ministry we are now
to review. They were first delivered in 1820, upon the twenty-eighth anniversary of his installation over this church, and were repeated in 1836, at the begin- ning of the third century since the formation of the church. The sermons set forth the peculiar privileges of the people of God, and the duties which attend those privileges. He accounted it a great honor to be numbered with those whom God had chosen, and a great advantage to share their experience. Yet the people of God to whom he ministered knew both the blessing of prosperity and the blessing of adversity. In the day of their prosperity he stood in his place, and prayed, " Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people "; and when the day of adver-
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sity had come, taking the same sermons to another sanctuary, he still prayed, " that I may see the good of thy chosen." It was glory enough for him to be as they were.
In the town of Woodstock; now in Connecticut, but at that time within the bounds of this State, on the 24th of December, 1763; was born the man who be- came the eighth pastor of this church, and who long filled the office with distinction and success. He preserved the renown of an illustrious line of minis- ters, and enhanced its praise by adding his own name. The father of Abiel Holmes was a practising phy- sician. He served as captain during the war in Can- ada, and as a surgeon during the first half of our Revolutionary War. He died when his son had reached his sixteenth year. It is inferred that the early years of the son were marked by studious habits and a serious regard for religion. He entered Yale College in 1779, and graduated in 1783. It was a stormy period in his country's history, and New Haven shared in the stirring scenes of the time. But the young student improved his opportunities, and was considered one of the most accomplished scholars in his class. In his Sophomore year he united with the College church. In the year following his graduation he was in South Carolina. While there, the church and society at Mid- way, Georgia, learning that it was his intention to enter the ministry, invited him to preach to them for a year, and in August, 1783, he began his labors among them. This church and society had removed from Dorchester, in this State, about the year 1700, and first settled in South Carolina, at a place which they named Dor- chester. Some fifty years later they removed to
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Georgia, where, after an exciting experience, in which their meeting-house and almost all their dwellings and crops were burned by the British troops, the society was broken up and dispersed. On the return of peace the people came back to their old home, and resumed their former ways. It was at this new beginning of their work that Mr. Holmes, then in the twenty-first year of his age, entered upon his labors with them. When he was about to return to the North, in the following year, he was earnestly solicited to obtain ordination, and then to return and resume his ministry. He consented to this, and was ordained in the College Chapel at New Haven on the 15th of September, 1785, being the day after Commencement. The services at his ordination were printed. The Rev. President Stiles was moder- ator of the council. The sermon was the regular Concio ad Clerum, and was delivered by the Rev. Levi Hart, of Preston, Conn., from St. Paul's words, " For do I now persuade men, or God ? Or do I seek to please men ? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." The sermon was entitled, " A Christian Minister described, and distinguished from a Pleaser of Men," and, as we read it to-day, has a pro- phetic tone. The act of consecration and the ordaining prayer were by President Stiles.
The work of the young minister was regarded as of great importance, inasmuch as he was not merely the pastor of a single flock, but was to labor in a region where it was hoped new churches would spring up around him, and the gospel make its way, through his influence, beyond the reach of his voice. He went to his people, but was obliged, by impaired health, to return the next year to the North, where he exchanged places for a
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year with Mr. Jedediah Morse, then a tutor in Yale College, after which he resumed his pastoral work. During his absence from his people he kept them on his heart, as a printed " Pastoral Letter," still pre- served, bears witness. He continued with his church for about four years longer, when it was found that his health was unfavorably affected by a southern climate, and he resigned his charge and came to New England.
This church had been without a pastor since Mr. Hilliard's death in May, 1790. Mr. Holmes was em -. ployed to preach, with a view to his settlement. In October, 1791, he was called to the pastorate by the church, and the parish concurred in the choice. In
his reply to the invitation, Mr. Holmes, writes : " In respect to the office of which you have asked my ac- ceptance, I can truly say that I consider it above my years and my improvements. But the singular candor with which you received me and my ministrations while I was with you, and the remarkable unanimity with which the transactions relative to my proposed settlement among you were conducted, silence my objection on this head." On the 25th of January, 1792, an Ecclesiastical Council met at the parsonage. Pres- ident Willard was chosen moderator. After the usual examination, the council adjourned for dinner at Mr. Owen Warland's. After dinner, the brethren of the church received the pastor-elect as a member. Then the council, with the pastor-elect, preceded by the church and as many of the inhabitants of the parish as were present, proceeded to the meeting-house, where the installation services were performed. Rev. Mr. Jack- son of Brookline offered prayer. Rev. Dr. James Dana of New Haven preached from our Lord's words, which
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contain the authority and limitation of his ministers, " My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." Rev. Mr. Clarke of Lexington offered the installing prayer, Rev. Mr. Cushing of Waltham gave the charge, Rev. Mr. Porter of Little Cambridge extended the right hand of fellowship, Rev. Dr. Howard of Boston offered the concluding prayer, and the pastor pronounced the benediction. The record closes in this way : " Through- out the whole process the greatest order, decency, and harmony were observable. Soli Deo Gloria." Mr. Holmes's first sermon after his installation was from the First Epistle of St. Peter, iv. 11. " If any man speak, let him speak as the oracle of God ; if any man min- ister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth : that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." That was the key-note of his long ministry. He was duly impressed with the greatness of his work, and with the honor of the position which he was called to hold. In closing this sermon he said, " In a word, aided by Divine grace, he will endeavor to speak to you the words of eternal life with that serious- ness and zeal which their singular importance requires. If, impressed with the weight of what he utters, he should at any time seem to forget the respect due to his auditory, still, if he keeps to the oracles of God, he hopes you will pardon him, duly considering that he is not mad, but speaks forth the words of truth and soberness. . . . . But I am again constrained to cry out, Who is sufficient for these things ? The place in which I stand reminds me of my venerable predecessors in the ministry. Your fathers, where are they ? And the prophets, do they live forever ? . Other men
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labored, and I am entered into their labors. Such an one as Paul the aged no longer addresses you from this pulpit, but a youth who would have esteemed it a singular honor, as a son with the father, to have served with him in the gospel. May the examples and coun- sels of your worthy pastors who have gone to rest be long kept in faithful remembrance among you; and may the recollection of their excellent characters ex- cite your present minister to fidelity in the very ardu- ous and important work to which he is renewedly devoted."
The records of the church during Mr. Holmes's min- istry are in his own handwriting, which is only less plain than printing, and they exhibit the method and accuracy which marked all his life. From these and collateral sources we are able to write the story of his life. I shall follow in the main the chronological order, but there are some events which should be grouped.
Let us look for a moment at the surroundings. Cam- bridge in 1792 did not differ much from the town of 1800, when Mr. Holmes compiled its history. The bridge which we usually cross on our way to Boston was begun in the year of his settlement, and finished in the next year. He describes it as " a magnificent structure." " It is very handsomely constructed ; and, when lighted by its two rows of lamps, extending a mile and a quarter, presents a vista which has a fine effect." This bridge had a perceptible influence on the business of the town. Houses and stores were built near the bridge, where a rapid progress of trade and commerce was expected. In 1790 the number of in- habitants in the town was 2,115. In ten years from
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that time there had been an increase of 330. The number of dwelling-houses in the town in 1798 was 301, of which one half were in the first parish. At the beginning of this century there were five houses of worship, - one used by the Congregational church in each of the three parishes, in the first parish also one for the Episcopalians, and, in the second, one for the Baptists. The University had five buildings. These were the second Harvard Hall, Massachusetts, Hollis, Holden Chapel, and College House, a wooden build- ing of three stories, containing twelve rooms with studies, and standing outside the yard. The historian says, " There are now one hundred and ninety-one students in this ancient and very respectable seminary ; and, for several preceding years, there have been up- wards of two hundred. .... An extensive and beautiful common spreads to the northwest of the Colleges, and adds much to the pleasantness of this central part of the town." The county court-house, used also for a town-house, stood in Harvard Square. On the corner of Market Square stood the wooden jail. The grammar school-house was a little westward of the Episcopal Church. There were, besides this, six school-houses in town, two in each parish. The grounds of Thomas Brattle, Esq., once the property of the Rev. William Brattle, were greatly admired. " In no part of New England, probably, is horticulture carried to higher perfection than within his enclosure." On the road to Watertown were "several elegant seats" which at- tracted the attention of travellers. And the Washing- ton elm, which guards our new church, stretched out its broad branches, hanging with historic memories. The meeting-house of this church and the first parish
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was the fourth house which they had occupied, and stood near the present site of Dane Hall. The par- sonage was on a glebe of four acres now included in the College yard.
From this external survey we pass to the history of the church. The first matter in the regular records of this period is the report, made in 1792, of a " committee appointed to inquire into the state of the church stock, and of the fund appropriated to the poor of the church." It appears that the deacons had in their charge £ 356 19 s. 82 d., which was nearly all invested, and drawing interest. One third part of the interest was to be paid to the parish treasurer, by vote of the church. In the account of the fund for the poor of the church, the deacons were charged with £ 82 7s. 62d., which had been properly distributed among the poor, or remained on investment, except a very small balance. The deacons declared their agreement to the report of the committee. The church passed a vote thanking " Deacon Hill for his generous services in providing for the Communion and negotiating the funds of the church." This examination was repeated, year by year, and the vote of acknowledgment was regularly passed for several years, enlarged, however, by thanks "to the deacons in general for their services in behalf of the church." The last of these statements of the monetary affairs of the church was made in 1830, when the funds of the church had increased to $3,236.99, and the fund for the poor to $ 667.18.
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