USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > Lectures on the history of the First Church in Cambridge > Part 16
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In September, 1831, the increased feebleness of the senior pastor made it necessary that he should be re- leased from the duties of the pastoral office. The church acceded to his request for dismission, and this action was duly ratified by an ecclesiastical council. Thus ended the official labors of a ministry of forty years. This is his farewell sermon. The text is, " For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." A portion of this sermon I have repeated in a previous lecture.
For nearly three years after the resignation of Dr. Holmes, Mr. Adams remained the pastor of the church. But in February, 1834, he received an invitation to the pastoral care of the Essex Street Church and Society in Boston. He deemed it his duty to accept this call. With great reluctance the church complied with his request for dismission ; and a council on the 14th of March approved the action, and he entered into the pas- toral connection which, after thirty-eight years, he still retains. This is the only instance, in the long history of this church, in which a minister has left it to assume the care of another church. Mr. Adams's pas- torate was four years and three months in duration. But it was a critical time in the life of the church, when a year was in importance of more than its wonted length. In labors he was abundant and abundantly successful. It is too early to make a summing up of his ministerial work. May it be long before that can be done, very long before his name can be inscribed upon the monument and tablet whereon the church will hand down his name and his ministry here to the generations to come ! In the fulness of his years, the richness of his life, the mellowness of his character, the wisdom and piety and purity of his spirit, his presence
MEETING-HOUSE ERECTED IN 1830-31.
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is a blessing in the end as in the beginning, and a yet greater benediction.
For thirteen months the church had no pastor. Dr. Holmes was still living, and was a father to his people. His counsel was freely given to the young, his sym- pathy to the old, his comfort to the sorrowing. The church could not be desolate so long as his voice could be heard from the pulpit, and the familiar way to his door opened before the people. " My beloved brethren," he said in one of his sermons, "my dear children, for such you will allow me to call you." But it was need- ful that the church should have another minister. In August, 1834, a call was extended to Mr. Oliver E. Daggett, now of New London, but he felt compelled, for personal reasons, to decline the invitation. After a time there came a stranger into the pulpit. He preached but a single Sabbath, when he was unanimously invited to the pastorate. It was believed that he was " pecu- liarly qualified for the ministry in this place," and there was " a general and ardent desire of his ministrations." He accepted the invitation, and on the 15th of April, 1835, he was installed. Twenty-five years afterwards he said, "I was received with a unanimity, affection, and cordiality which in the flight of years and the changes of the world have remained, I hope, as strong as at the beginning. I came to you, as Paul went to the Corinthians, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, and you encouraged me by your sympathy, and bore up my heart by your affection and your prayers. . . I came to you, as the disciples were
sent upon their first mission, without purse or scrip, and, like them, I can tell the Master to-day that in all these years you have permitted me to lack nothing."
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The mention of the name of the Rev. John Adams Albro reminds us that we have come into the present time. So much has been publicly said by different persons regarding the tenth minister of this church, and his long service here, that I can do little more than repeat what is already in print. But a good man's life is a perennial source of benefaction, and it will be both pleasant and instructive to recall the character and work of one whose name and influence abide among us. It is by describing the man and his work that the his- tory of the church during this period is best made known. For the life of the parish centred in him.
Mr. Albro was born in Newport, R. I., August 13, 1799. By the death of his father he was early left to the care of a Christian mother. His mother married again, and the son afterwards found a home with his grandmother. It was necessary that he should main- tain himself, and, possessing the fine talent which proved of so great advantage to him in his future work, he prepared himself to be a teacher of music. But at about the age of eighteen he entered the Law School at Litchfield, Conn., to fit himself for the legal profes- sion. In 1821 he finished his legal studies, and with flattering prospects entered upon the practice of his profession in Mansfield, Conn. He had not enrolled himself as a disciple of Christ, but he felt the power of the truth, and gave serious thought to his immortal interests. At length, in deep humility and contrition, and apprehending the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, he believed in his heart on the divine Saviour, and made confession of him with his mouth. He united with the First Church in Mansfield on the 6th of July, 1823. This change in himself and in his relations to God and
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to the world created a desire to become a minister of the gospel in which he had found light and life. After spending some two years in the practice of the law, he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover. He had not received a collegiate training, but he had studied with fidelity, so that he took good rank with his as- sociates in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, while he had also mastered the French and German languages. He is described as at that time " a bright, genial man ; win- ning, not to say fascinating, in his manner and conver- sation, fond of poetry, reading Shakespeare finely and with much interest, perhaps more devoted then to gen- eral studies than to theology, and especially enjoying and excelling in music." His scholarship was held in so high esteem by his companions in study, that some of them obtained for him from Yale College the hon- orary degree of Master of Arts.
He graduated in 1827, and on the 27th of November in that year he was ordained at Middlesex Village in Chelmsford, Mass. That was in the troublous times, the very year in which the first steps were taken which led to the separation of our own church from the old parish. The young pastor was expected to pursue the same general system of exchanges which was demanded here, and, like Dr. Holmes, he said that he could not do it. There came a division, but all the members of the church, except two, sustained the pastor, and with him and a few of the society withdrew from the parish, and began religious services in a hall. It seems like reading the story of our own church over again. About two years after this division Mr. Albro was invited to the pastoral office by the Calvinistic Congregational Church in Fitchburg. He was installed there on the
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9th of May, 1832. But the church was in a disturbed state on account of an old controversy which he had supposed to be ended, and the new relation was in many respects trying and difficult. Accordingly, after a min- istry there of two years and a half, he retired from the position. He had made many friends, had exerted a lasting influence, and his words and spirit were long treasured up. His services were sought by several churches. A hearty invitation was extended to him to enter the place made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Adams, and on the 15th of April, 1835, he became the pastor of this church and society. This was the real beginning of his work, for it was the entrance on a pastorate of thirty years. We are now to review his ministry, within a single day of the anniversary of its beginning. It was a good ministry, such as one might well choose for himself ; a time of regular, quiet, suc- cessful work, faithfully performed, and with large and permanent results. Yet they were not stirring years in our church history. Few large events come to the surface as we examine them. They were years of steady, honest work. If they are not the best for the historian, they were the best for the minister and the people.
The population of the town at the time of Mr. Albro's settlement was about six thousand. The church, although greatly enlarged, was still small in numbers, and of very limited pecuniary ability. The prevailing social spirit of the community was not friendly to the church or its teaching. Yet the place had its own attractions. Here was Harvard College, whose library was open to the minister whose scholarly habits fitted him to enjoy it. And there were many
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persons of culture with whom he could find companion- ship and sympathy. The long history of the church from the days of Shepard was enough to inspire the heart of a man who admired the Puritan character and rejoiced in its works. He proved himself of the true lineage when he made haste to spend his first Sabbath in England at Towcester, the birthplace of Thomas Shepard, where his feeling was far deeper than at Strat- ford-on-Avon.
Thus, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, this pastor began his work. It was the regular work of preaching the gospel and administering its holy offices. The chief event which broke the even tenor of the years was the visit of the pastor to Europe in 1852, when he was absent for six months, through the liberality of his people. The facilities for a foreign tour were not as great twenty years ago as they are now. But this traveller went with taste and learning which prepared him to appreciate all that he saw, and, as he passed from country to country, to store his mind with treas- ures which he could bring ,home. His whole life was enriched by the rest which comes with a sojourn among the scenes of a strange land, and his people found bread coming back upon the waters where they had cast the seed.
One other event of large significance was the cele- bration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his installa- tion. The origin of the commemoration was in the desire of the church and society to mark a point in their history which is seldom reached, but which had now been most happily attained. From the published account of the doings on that occasion we are able in some measure to reproduce it, and to gain from it some
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idea of the results of the long work. On Sunday, the true anniversary day, the pastor preached an appro- priate discourse, in which he brought together the past and the present, and sought to enforce the lessons which the day should teach. On the following Wednes- day evening a public commemorative service was held in this church. The present senior deacon of the church made the opening address of welcome, and in- troduced the services of the evening. After religious exercises, addresses were made by several representative gentlemen, and each said that which it became him to say. Mr. Zelotes Hosmer, who had long resided here, and who rendered inestimable service to the church, who has now rejoined in another world the pastor of whom he spoke, said, " Let us be thankful that for five- and-twenty years we have enjoyed the faithful preach- ing of God's word from a faithful teacher, and trust that here may be his place of rest ; and I am sure you will all join with me in the expression of the hope that his ministry may be long continued." The Royal Pro- fessor of Law spoke in behalf of the Shepard society, and claimed that the early legal training of this min- ister in some degree accounted for the truthfulness of his reasoning in the pulpit, and testified, after a hearing of more than twelve years, "I have never known him to confuse the minds of his auditors by the enunciation of an unsound legal principle, nor mislead them by a specious but erroneous legal argument." President Felton represented the University and him- self also, and with an earnestness and radiance which those who knew him can even now find in his words, said out of his imperial soul, "I join as heartily in all the honors you are paying your excellent pastor as if I
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were a member of the society. Your pastor and myself have been on the most cordial terms for the quarter of a century that he has been settled over you. I trust his days may be prolonged in the land."
His honored and beloved predecessor spoke as only he can speak, and with a rare appreciation of the feelings of the " solitary man " upon whom kind words were lavished. He added his generous tribute to the rest, and said of his old friend, " He has both knowledge and wisdom. He is a full man. He reminds me of a place in Italy where, if you dig a few inches and apply a torch, a flame springs up. I feel toward him as one seems to have done toward a public building which he stood to view, leaning his head upon his hand, and soliloquizing every now and then, with much variety of intonation and emphasis, as he judges of its architecture, 'It is right! it is right !'. And now, my dear sir and brother, in the name of all the Congregational min- isters everywhere who either know of this occasion or shall be made acquainted with it, I feel empowered to say, The brethren which are with me greet you." His old neighbor, who had become the President of Am- herst College, wrote of the commemoration in a letter which was read, " If ministerial fidelity, unpretending piety, ability in preaching, wisdom in affairs, large- ness of heart, and persistent devotion to his people, entitle a man to such a notice, it is certainly deserved in the present case." The Rev. Dr. Newell of the First Parish, in a letter written after the celebration, expressed his "respect for your able and faithful pastor, with whom, during the whole period of his ministry, my per- sonal relations, notwithstanding our theological differ- ences, have always been pleasant and friendly." He was
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sorry not to have had the opportunity of manifesting by his presence " the kindly feeling which," he says, " I hope will always subsist, not only between your pastor and myself, but also between the societies with which we are connected, - branches as they are of the same old stock, descended from the same old congregational family, looking back, amidst their honest differences of opinion, with common pride to a common ancestry." And what said the pastor for himself ? "Certainly it has never been my desire or my object to be rewarded by a demonstration like this. And now that I see this gathering of my people and my friends to do me honor, I hardly know what to say. I sincerely thank the church and society for what they have done. I thank the brethren and gentlemen for the kindness with which they have spoken of me and of my labors. It is a comfort for me now to know that there has been such unanimity of opinion and feeling with regard to my work among those whom I so highly respect, that I have lived in so much harmony with my neighbors of different persuasions, that I can look over the past and see no deep root of bitterness in the field that I have endeavored to cultivate, and that there is no dark shadow lying between the beginning of my ministry here and this day." The occasion was im- proved by gifts bestowed upon the pastor, and when he had returned to his home he found substantial tokens of the grateful affection of his people, which he acknowledged in a pleasant note. He wrote : "So quietly and secretly were these gifts conveyed to my residence, that I should have been surprised if I had not long since learned not to feel surprise at any kind or generous act of my people."
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While all this was said and done, the pastor kept his anniversary with deep humility, with sincere gratitude, and with the conviction that the years of his ministry had not been spent in vain. He said truly, in his sermon, that the recapitulation of the number of services which he had performed would exhibit neither the significance nor the value of his ministry. He believed that causes which attract little notice may yet " send their roots into eternity, and bear fruit which can be gathered only in another world." Oppressed with a sense of his own infirmity, he knew that good had resulted from his efforts, and he gave the glory to Him unto whom all praise is due. It was something to remember that the meeting-house had been three times enlarged to keep pace with the necessities of the people, and that it was better filled after the lapse of twenty-five years than at the beginning. It was cause for thankfulness that nearly four hundred members, over one half of them by confession of faith, had been added to the church. These were the outward and happy signs of larger and eternal benefits.
The underlying principles of this pastor's character were well defined, and the structure of a life was built upon them with patience and decision. He knew what he meant to do, and how he meant to do it. Of the estimation in which he was held by his own people and by his neighbors we have already had a generous ex- pression. His life was a wide one. It might well be wide when the foundation was deep. During his long ministry his influence was manifold. There are many who can never forget the sacred hours spent with him in the study of the Greek Testament during their col- lege course. We went once a week to his study, and
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bowed with him in prayer, then sat about his round table, while, with his well-worn Testament before him, and his ivory paper-knife in his hand, he opened to us the Scriptures. He would have us read a verse, would ask some question upon it, and then would expound it in his own inimitable way, with learning and piety and rare facility of illustration. We questioned him more than he questioned us. The exercise was almost an expository lecture. One who belonged to his class has said : " His principles of interpretation were the sound- est ; and after studying the New Testament subse- quently with Professor Stuart, I could hardly ascribe, even to that master of Biblical interpretation, any superiority, as a teacher, to the Cambridge pastor." Another has written : "Many theologians refer to the principles of interpretation which he gave them as lay- ing the foundation of their interest and success in Biblical studies." It was a happy circumstance, that, when he lay a dying, one of the physicians who attended upon him should be recognized as formerly a member of his Bible Class. The results of such instruction as he gave to an ever-changing company of those who were themselves to be teachers cannot be measured. In this we have one other method of his usefulness.
His labors were not restricted to his own parish. He rendered valuable service to the city as a mem- ber of the School Committee. When the Cambridge Cemetery was to be consecrated, he was selected to make the address. His address was marked by great appropriateness, by rare beauty of language, and by ยท richness and fidelity of thought. In his more strictly professional work he was greatly esteemed. At all gatherings of the clergy his judgment carried great
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weight, and when upon Councils his advice was much relied upon. The words of Dr. Adams express the general feeling : " As a personal friend and witness, I must be allowed to say of him that he is a tower of strength in our ministerial associations and eccle- siastical affairs. We depend upon him for counsel ; we listen to his large and well-considered experience; we feel safe to be guided by him ; we always look that he will be on the side of sound principles and well- established order ; and we are not disappointed."
His published works are not numerous, but they are of value. They consist chiefly of sermons preached on various special occasions. He prepared question-books upon different parts of the Holy Scriptures, and these have not been improved upon. He published other minor religious treatises. His largest work is the " Life of Thomas Shepard." This is far more than the biog- raphy of one man ; it is a concise history of the move- ment which brought our fathers to these shores, and a plain exhibition of their principles, and a fine tribute to their memory. It is a work which should be in every house in the parish, and which, with Mr. Shepard's autobiography, should form a part of the household instruction.
" Let children hear the mighty deeds Which God performed of old."
He was a faithful member of the board of mana- gers of the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, and long served on the Committee of Publication. He usually presided at the meetings of the committee, and " always enlivened them by his genial and keen criti- cisms, and made them instructive by his learning." It is a witness to the honor in which he was held that the
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degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College in 1848, and in 1851 by Harvard College.
He was a decided and intelligent friend and advo- cate of the faith and order of the New England Fathers. He believed in the Bible, and in the system of truth which our churches from the first had found in it. He believed in the ways by which that truth had been established here. In a discourse commemorative of the character of the Fathers of New England, he said, "Congregationalism, the congregationalism of our fathers, I mean, rests professedly, not partly upon the Bible and partly upon the devices of men, like the angel of the Apocalypse, who stood with one foot upon the land and the other upon the sea, but directly and solely upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."
In his temper and habit Dr. Albro was conservative. He had no fondness for innovation. This was not merely because he did not like new things, but because he had confidence in the old. He saw that the grass withereth, and that the flower thereof falleth away, and he knew that the word of the Lord endureth forever. Therefore he kept to the word. The ways which had been tried, and had survived, he prudently believed to be the best. Hence he was found firm. He believed in the truth. He believed in the church, and its min- istry, and its divine ordinances. He had confidence in the covenant, and taught parents to bring their chil- dren to God, as Shepard had written aforetime, account- ing, with him, that " because God loveth us, he chooseth our seed to be of his church also." He believed that
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the truth plainly preached, enforced by the Holy Spirit, illustrated by the lives of men, was mighty for the overthrow of evil and the establishment of good. He labored for eternal results.
His preaching was Scriptural, logical, convincing. There was no display, no effort at mere excitement, no courting of applause. He taught the people. His manner in the pulpit was quiet and reverential. He spoke in a voice low, but clear and musical, and capable of varied expression. His sermons were upon small, detached sheets, which he laid aside one by one. He carefully excluded from his sermons an affluent imagi- nation and skill in illustration which made his conversa- tion rich and delightful. He was a rare talker, and those who knew him best in private had the largest enjoyment in his public services. He never exhibited himself, but when one sat by his side his life would shine out through his words, and irradiate them. There was less of this in his public discourse. He would know nothing then, and let people see nothing, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. There were "the ground, the reason, and the power of his ministry." It was given to him to sing and make melody with the lips as well as with the heart. He could lead the songs of the sanctuary by his own voice, and give to this choice part of the service the guidance of a refined taste and a sanctified spirit. It was with his approval that congregational singing was introduced here, and he entered into the new ways with great zeal.
He was a choice friend. With his large experience and wide observation, with his ready wit and cheerful heart, he was able to instruct the young and the old who gathered about him and listened to bis words as the
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" very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument." Yet he had but a modest opinion of himself and his attainments. In his sermon upon Washington Allston he applies to him the saying of Jeremy Taylor concerning the Countess of Carberry, a saying of which his own life afforded an illustration : " As if she knew nothing of it, she had a low opinion of herself; and, like a fair taper, she shined to all the room ; yet round about her own station she cast a shadow and a cloud, and so shined to everybody but herself." But the brightness which this burning and shining light cast upon others has left his own heart and deed illumined. We think of him, and at every thought give thanks.
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