USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Gloucester, Mass. August, 1892 > Part 6
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Were we not so strong on this famous battlefield ; had we less following abroad ; were our faith not the very hope of the world leaven- ing the loaf of religious belief, and echoing low and sweet in the deep confidence that feeds the hearts of all worshippers, yet this day would fill our souls with joy, as it repeats the denial and heroism of those who dared to champion the love of God and the rights of man. Had we no colleges ; no theological schools ; no academies ; no representative men, nor eloquent advocates in nearly every sect; no seers ; no poets in attractive lines telling of the eternal goodness ; if literature was not full of happy expectation when God and man shall be at one, a divine unity still that this single society had stood out for, a truly American and democratic faith, would be glory enough for one denomination.
A truly American faith the democracy of religion, for while I honor all the divisions of the church of Christ, and am glad at their every advance since it means victory to the cause of God and man ; while I hail in joyful comradeship every soldier of the cross, yet am I proud to belong to a section of the army of the Lord that was organized in the spirit of human brotherhood wide as the race of man, and in the love of God that shall at last sound the trumpet that declares harmony throughout the united universe.
I am proud to count myself one of this catholic body who have from the first asked that our religious liberties be as broad as our polit- ical freedom, and in almost presumptuous faith has lifted the democracy of earth into unity with the saints ever with God.
TRINITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, erected 1854.
Rufus P. Hibbard,
Pastor, 1892.
Christopher M. Nickels, D. D., Pastor, 1835.
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To do adequate honor to the remembrance of our fathers, and the obligation of this day, what earnest endeavor, what fidelity, what advance, we must put into our day and generation.
Inheritance is awful. To know one's ancestors is to feel the seriousness of living, the intensity of effort, the weight of responsible work left for our fulfilling.
Yes, if Emerson is just, and to be the equals of our fathers we must be their superiors, then you and I are under the tremendous obligation of putting grand conduct, helpful organization, Christlike association, into all we do.
Performance, not preservation, is our word. Not to keep, but to grow, our duty. In something done, something lived, some wider thought, some Christlike atmosphere, made so by our presence, lies true honor to the past.
It is no service of congratulation merely, no praising of our fathers' deeds, but a most prayerful and aspiring hour, when in consciousness of the living God we ask for His favor, and pledge ourselves, under Him, to successful advance.
THE TRINITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
At the Trinity Church, also, the same elaborate preparations had been made. Beautiful floral decorations, an elaborate musical program, and a powerful sermon by the pastor, Rev. Rufus P. Hibbard, served to make the exercises memorable to the large audience gathered within the spacious edifice. The following is a very brief summary of the discourse of Mr. Hibbard, the text being, I Samuel xv. 22 : "To obey is better than to sacrifice.". The first part of the sermon was devoted to explaining the meaning of "To obey."
" To obey," said he, " means, I think, to listen, to hearken. It is to subject our will to the will of another, not because we see the reason, but because we have faith. God gives commands, sometimes giving explanations, but often he does not. This church has several times had trials under circumstances reasons for which were not easily understood. Theirs was true obedience.
" Coming here, as I did," said he, "but a few years ago, my knowledge of the past history of the church, previous to the anniversary in 1879, as well as the local sentiments, has been obtained by reading and talking with others familiar with the subject. God in the past has come to this church and has tested it. In other words, there have been crises in the history of the church.
" There came a time when a few members of the old church
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decided to establish themselves separately. For years they endured the sneers and ridicule of others who asked what could this little band of two men and five women be doing, standing alone and apart, leaving the mother church and all its memories and surroundings. But they triumphed, and after years of struggle, after being tried by God, they prospered.
" Another crisis came on the question, What was a Christian and Christian conduct? There was danger of a division and many went out, but the church stood and triumphed, although sorely tried and troubled. Christ has been here and the prosperity this church has had is the result."
PROSPECT STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
At this church, also, a special service had been prepared, and a large audience had gathered to take part in the exercise. Flowers adorned the rostrum, and a choice musical program was rendered. Rev. William F. Cook, the pastor, preached an eloquent sermon, of which the following brief extract is given : -
His subject was " Lessons from the Past," and although it touched but little upon the history of Gloucester, it was made interesting by his able argument upon what the churches of the city should do and their conditions.
" In 1824," he said, "George Pickering preached in Gloucester, and organized a society composed of eight Methodists. The selectmen of the town, who were also members of the First Parish, called upon him about this time and ordered him to leave the town, charging him with disturbing the religious peace. He was considered quite danger- ous, though not for any evil deed he had done. Pickering, who was a powerful man, simply replied that as long as he could see any benefits from his labors he would remain. After that he was never disturbed.
" The church was organized in 1826 with twenty-eight members, and in 1839 had grown to one hundred and ninety-two members, when the Riverdale Church was set off, and its present membership is three hundred and eleven. The church has had thirty-four pastors, all of whom were godly men."
He claimed that the churches of the city are behind the people and merely hold their own, while the people are steadily increasing and more wealth is coming to them. What does all this mean? It means that the churches are in ruts too narrow for the accomplishment of much, and are engaged in saving themselves instead of the people In fact, they are asleep while their children have wandered away. No,
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PROSPECT STREET METHODIST CHURCH, 1883.
William F. Cook, Pastor, 1892.
Aaron Waite, First Pastor, 1820.
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the churches have not kept pace with the city's growth. They must get out from those ruts, throw aside all prejudices and unite in the work. In closing, he urged his people to stand by him in this new movement of enlivening church work.
MCCLURE CHAPEL, FISHERMEN'S INSTITUTE.
For the Fishermen's Institute, the day was singularly memorable. The new building purchased only a few months before for their use on Duncan Street was occupied for the first time, and a large audience gathered in the afternoon at the dedicatory exercises in McClure Chapel. Many of the city pastors were present and took part in the exercises. Here, too, flowers made the place beautiful, and a special musical program was rendered. Rev. Emmanuel C. Charlton, the pastor, delivered the address and spoke feelingly of the Institute, its work among the fishermen, its hopes for the future. A gift of five thousand dollars was announced from Mrs. Maria T. McClure, a summer resident at Magnolia, a long-time friend of the Institute, and for whom the chapel was named.
ST. ANNE'S CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Of peculiar appropriateness were the exercises at this church. The floral decorations were simple, but very beautiful. The music was especially adapted to the day, and the sermon by the venerable pastor, Rev. Jeremiah J. Healey, was a strong plea in behalf of his beloved church. To the several services of the morning crowds came, limited only by the seating capacity of the spacious edifice.
THE PORTUGUESE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Rev. Francis U. De Bem, pastor of this church (the Church of the Lady of the Good Voyage), preached an appropriate sermon, and flowers decked the altars. The music, of a high order, was beautifully rendered, and crowds of devoted worshippers were present.
AT THE OTHER CHURCHES.
At the First Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. W. T. Chase, of Philadelphia, preached upon " The Possible God, the Ideal Force and Foundation of Character," and a special musical program was given. At St. John's Episcopal Church, Rev. Dr. Lobdell, of Buffalo, officiated, his sermon
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being from the text, "Be ye perfect even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect." Flowers were placed on the altar and the music was fitting to the day. At the Chapel Street Baptist Church, Rev. T. E. Busfield, of Bangor, Me., preached. At one of the Rockport churches, Rev. Mr. Small, the pastor, preached on "The celebration, or God pleased with the prosperity of the people." And at all the other churches on the Cape, special sermons had been prepared, the music was particularly appropriate, and crowded houses attested the interest of all the people in the opening religious observances of the celebra- tion. It has been impossible to gather the manuscript of all these sermons for publication, much as the committee wished. The lapse of years, the changes in pastorates, and the occupying of some of the pulpits by ministers from afar have made the completeness of this part of our record impossible. *
WEST GLOUCESTER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
At the West Gloucester Congregational Church, the exercises were appropriate to the day and the occasion. As the representative society of the Second Parish of the old town, it was fitting that a special program should be offered. Here, too, flowers decked the pulpit platform.
The Rev. George O. Jenness, a former pastor, preached an inter- esting sermon, of which the following brief abstract is given : -
DEUT. iv. 32, and JOB viii. 8. You ask now of the days that are past. Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age.
The charm of history, it is said, lies largely in its contrasts.
To-day, on the eve of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the city of Gloucester, it seems appropriate that the pulpits of the city should be leaders in the search for such contrasts in connection with the history of the city, as will lend additional interest to this important approaching event.
Within the limits of a single half-hour's discourse, it will be impos- sible to enter largely into interesting details of our history. It is not necessary, and we will not, therefore, attempt it.
If any of my hearers wish to pursue further the history of the city in detail, and thus glean many other charms than those possible for me to mention within the limits of this discourse, I refer you to the printed history of the city, just issued by Mr. Pringle.
The first interesting contrast I would submit for your contempla-
Second Parish Church, West Gloucester, erected 1717. Second Parish Burying Ground, 1717.
Congregational Church, West Gloucester, erected 1834.
George O. Jenness, preacher anniversary sermon, 1892.
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tion is discovered only by a glance backward two hundred and seventy- eight years over the history of this region, away back to 1614.
I. I refer to the existing state of things at that period when that intrepid explorer, Capt. John Smith, secured from Prince Charles the re-naming of all this locality in honor of his mother, Anne of Denmark, which subsequently came to be the Cape Ann of to-day.
Most of you may not suspect it, but it seems to be a fact, neverthe- less, that in that far-off period, piracy was regarded by the inhabitants of this coast generally as a more honorable and dignified occupation than the industry of fishing. And according to a very recent writer, " it required a very fierce and valorous fight, by such a no less impor- tant historic person than Capt. John Smith himself, to win the sturdy inhabitants of this coast over to an acceptance of the fishing business as equal even in dignity to piracy."
Now contemplate with me, just a moment, if you please, the amazing contrast which two hundred and fifty years have wrought.
Piracy, once almost universal, has ceased, because the armed vessels of nominally Christian nations are floating their heavy batteries in almost every nook and corner of the navigable world. And what of the once despised fishing vessel? No longer in the background, cower- ing in fear and shame behind the black standard of piracy, she boldly and beautifully stretches her white wings toward every breeze, and glides with conscious superior dignity and honor into every important part of the world.
In the torrid, temperate, and arctic seas she sails, carrying the products of these vast waters to millions who cannot themselves go down to the sea in great ships, and yet who relish her bountiful prod- ucts as good food for body and brain.
II. The second interesting contrast worthy of note is in relation to the many rugged rocks and caverns within the limits of the city.
According to an article in one of the August magazines there was much vexation of spirit among our superstitious Puritan ancestry, - and " marvellous tales " of diabolism and infernal revellings among these dark and deep recesses and caverns of the Cape were supposed to be constantly transpiring. These tales have been preserved by Cotton Mather in the " Magnalia Christi," and which Whittier has told in the poem beginning with this fine description of the Cape : -
" From the hills of home forth looking, far beneath the tent-like span Of the sky, I see the white gleam of the headland of Cape Ann, Well I know its coves and beaches to the ebb-tide glimmering down, And the white walled hamlet children of its ancient fishing town."
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The story of the mysterious beings called the " Warlocks," "who," it is said, " were finally driven away by the prayers of the godly garrison of the block-house," you may not all have read ; but can readily con- " ceive how easily a superstitious fancy might conjure up a very formida- ble and even fearful body of evil spirits among such places as Ralf's Chasm and other less conspicuous caverns.
But, lo ! how changed the present condition of things ! These rocky caverns and indentures are now studded with clusters of living and curious searchers, not after spirits, for they are already filled with another kind of spirit - the spirit of adventure; and yearly, in the balmy summer-time, while old ocean breathes inspiriting zephyrs upon them, thousands from East, West, North, and South, with cheerful voice and elastic step, go skipping from rock to rock, from cave to cave, seeking only for some new and charming impression of the mar- vellous display of skill in the handiwork of the Christian's God. And, verily, could some of those superstitious inhabitants of these parts two hundred and fifty years ago visit our world now and enjoy a trip along the North Shore, how keenly would they relish the transformation from imaginary imps to modern belles hovering around the entrances to these quaint caverns.
III. The third and last, but by no means the least, contrast worthy of mention in connection with my subject is in relation to the bitterness of the religious denominational spirit.
I suppose no one of ordinary intelligence, who has read carefully, will attempt to deny that from the advent of John Murray, the first Universalist preacher, into the city of Gloucester, for quite a number of years there was a very bitter, and perhaps unchristian, spirit shown between Universalism and Orthodoxy. The practical duties and bless- ings of the Christian life were remanded largely to the background, and the supreme effort of those mighty intellectual giant preachers of the times was directed too frequently toward the mere discussion of purely theological or doctrinal dogmas. The struggle in this particular, we have reason to believe, was a long, animated, yea, even fierce one at times. No one was made any better for it, but much bitterness of feeling and sentiment engendered, and multitudes of grand opportuni- ties for combined religious, benevolent, and philanthropic work were forever lost.
Many a poor fisherman's family no doubt suffered the pangs of hunger and distress, while these giants of the pulpit were occupying their fertile minds about the limitations of God's plans for punishing sin. Doubtless, in many instances, the thought of the misery of living
ST. JOHN'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, erected 1864. Albert Watkins, Rector, 1892.
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OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
human bodies was completely buried beneath the overwhelming ava- lanche of belligerent thought concerning the departed spirits of a billion years to come.
Now, if you please, mark the agreeable contrast in Gloucester at the present time. So far as I know, there have been no acrimonious dogmatic discussions between Universalism and Orthodoxy for quite a number of years.
The theological barriers between the two may be just the same as ever, but they do not prevent the frequent coming together of their leaders to work heartily and vigorously with each other for the pushing of many much-needed practical reforms.
And now, I know you will pardon me and overlook my seeming egotism when I, at the close of this part of my subject, place before you an incident from real life, illustrative in some measure of my last thought.
I will, however, by way of a preface, invite you to submit to a considerable stretch of your imagination. We will draw upon the imagination to suppose the existence, as far back as the historic period of about the year 1780 of a veritable steamer, the " City of Gloucester," plying daily, as now, between Boston and Gloucester. Seated within the cabin of that vessel is the great exponent of Universalism, Rev. John Murray, conversing familiarly with an acquaintance. Scarcely is the vessel out of sight of the harbor, before I see entering that narrow cabin door the form of the Rev. Dr. Eli Forbes, called to the First Parish in '76, the great and earnest defender of pure and unadulterated orthodoxy.
Do these two great champions greet each other cordially, with the love of Christ filling their hearts and controlling their lips?
Far be it from my purpose to dare to breathe aught of disrespect to the blessed memory of these good men in the picture I am sketch- ing, but I venture to conclude them both to be altogether too full of the denominational spirit. And so the result of our imagination tends to picture them as greeting each other rather stiffly, if not defiantly, and then spending the rest of the voyage in a heated controversy over the Bible teaching as to the duration of punishment for transgression.
Now, in contrast to this picture, let me tell you that on Friday last as I really entered the cabin of the real "City of Gloucester," on my way here to fill my weekly appointment, the very first man I met was the Rev. W. H. Rider, pastor of the First Universalist parish, where the Rev. John Murray used to expound the doctrines of Universalism. I had met him before. We had talked together at a temperance meeting
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on the same platform. We had both stood together on another occa- sion and raised our voices in eulogy of the same starry flag at a modern school-house flag raising. Did we greet each other icily or in any measure under restraint, because of our denominational differences ? There was not the least occasion for that. Did we discuss theology at all? We both knew that would be a simple waste of time, for both of us, thank God, are honestly established, and have not the least desire to disturb each other's moorings.
What did we do? Why, Mr. Rider sat down by my side and, in his genial way, called me brother, - and assuredly, not living in 1780, but in 1892, and sincerely believing that Christian brotherhood must not of necessity imply theological harmony, though it must invariably mean Christian affection, I took no exception to the greeting, and we 'had a real pleasant chat, in which many of the practical phases of the workings of the Christianity of the present day were discussed to our advantage and mutual satisfaction.
Now, then, closing my words upon this part of my subject, which this great and interesting event just before us suggests, let me do it with the single remark that, in inquiry of the past and of the former age, as our text suggests, the results, in many other ways(than these few I have mentioned, lead me to rejoice with inexpressible delight that I live in the present rather than in the past conditions of our great and important city.
THE ANNISQUAM UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
At this historic church, the third parish in the town's history, a large audience gathered to participate in the special services prepared for the day. Rev. George W. Penniman, the pastor, spoke eloquently of the anniversary and the lessons of the past in the following sermon :
THE PURITAN INFLUENCE.
EXTRACT FROM A SERMON PREACHED BY REV. G. W. PENNIMAN IN THE THIRD PARISH CHURCH (ANNISQUAM UNIVERSALIST), SUNDAY, AUG. 21, 1892.
JOHN x. 10. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
WITH the possible exception of the early apostolic church, there has never been a band of Christian disciples who have more faithfully and efficiently worked out this purpose of the Master than the Puritans of New England.
ANNISQUAM UNIVERSALIST CHURCH (Third Parish), erected 1830. George W. Penniman, Pastor, 1892.
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OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
It is harder for us to appreciate the Puritan's best than his worst side ; harder to appreciate his strong, edifying nation-building and democracy-founding faith, than it is to see the narrow and petty faults and foibles which attached to his character, which the last generation or two have bitterly struggled against, and which the present generation laughs at. Nevertheless, hard to appreciate as it is the force and vital influence of New England, Puritanism was the most potent influence in the making of America. We all feel this somewhat vaguely.
Though in the apparently revolutionized nature of our institutions and life, the distinct Puritan element may be hard to see, I am sure we shall not go far astray in claiming that no more marked and true characteristic of the Puritan can be made out than his thorough venera- tion for truth, and his abhorrence of shams. Veritas, truth, was the motto of the college which he planted at Cambridge, when it would seem that he might easily have excused his conscience from undertak- ing such a burden, when the eminently practical question of bread and butter and home building upon these rugged shores made such a stern demand upon his energies and resources. For truth and sincerity had been his contest in England, against what he had felt to be the empty forms and barren life of the church, and when nicknamed Puritan by the scorn of his enemies, he had come to glory in the name, as, after all, but a true expression of his aims.
This intense zeal for truth and abhorrence of shams finds expres- sion in two qualities which the true Puritan always exhibited, and which his true children have always manifested - stability and earnest- ness. A stability of character which could not satisfy itself with any- thing but what seemed the most solid foundations, the only real basis for a true and sincere life. This he, of course, thought was the relig- ious foundation. All else was as the house built upon the sands. Therefore, his first care in the establishment of any community, in the settling of any plantation, was the school and the church. If the little hamlet was too small to support two men, a schoolmaster and a min- ister, then the two functions must be combined in one; it must be a layman who could preach as well as teach, or a minister who would teach as well as preach. Such was the first arrangement on this Cape, before the incorporation of the First Parish, in 1642. Religion and education, a thoughtful ministry and a thoughtful people, - such was the basis of the Puritan's society. So radically did he push this prin- ciple that none but church-members were permitted a share in the government, though everyone must be taxed for support of the church as well as all other public institutions.
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The earnestness of the Puritan made him a radical of radicals, a democrat of democrats, a protestant of protestants, in spite of himself. He did not dream of the result to which his religious philosophy was carrying him. He could not predict the outcome of it which we see to-day. He would have shuddered at the thought of it; but the result was inevitable and could not help working itself out. Worldly distinc- tions faded away and disappeared in his sight, holding as he did to direct relations between every man and his Maker, that every man might hold communion with God, that every man was directly respon- sible to his God. He found man's highest glory, not in the distinctions of the world, not in rank and insignia, but in his manhood and in his accountability. He therefore became a philosophical democrat, and their Puritan training was the best conceivable preparation for the Adamses and the Quincys, for Otis and Gerry, to produce their clear and cogent arguments for insisting, at whatever cost, for representation and rights, and for spurning the dictation of any power beyond the sea which did not fully recognize the privileges of colonial citizenship. The Puritan was the protestant of protestants. His protest was no mere outcry against forms and ceremonies. Much as these troubled him and bitterly as he condemned them, his protest went deeper and assailed the principle that in any way hampered or seemed to interfere with man's direct relations to God and his individual accountability and individual judgment. His zeal for truth and his earnest search for its guidance brought him logically to be his own religious interpreter, to insist on the use of his reason in spiritual matters, and, finally, to be content with no faith and interpretation which does not give ample recognition to the reason, and find ample scope for the use of man's thought and his conscience, his sense of moral fitness as well as his awe and reverence.
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