USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Malden > Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Malden, Massachusetts, May, 1899 > Part 11
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But this is only an illustration of the higher advances. In the things that register the deeper life of the people, the Puritans did not reach the limit of progress. This appears in their institutions. Their conception of the church will make clear our meaning. That conception was hard rather than attractive, narrow rather than broad, Mosaic rather than Christian. It was not accidental that nearly all the early pastors of Malden got their given names from the Old Tes- tament. Hear the list: Michael Wigglesworth, Benjamin Bunker, Benjamin Blakeman, David Parsons, Joseph Emerson, Joseph Stimp-
1 Lowell's Poems, Household ed., 69.
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son, Aaron Cleveland, Eliakim Willis. The men who got the names of their children from the Old Testament went there also for their conception of the church. Fleeing from one country because the state had dominated the church, they tried to so arrange it in the new country that the church should dominate the state. It is not remarkable that trouble grew out of that conception. It left no place for liberty. Baptists and Methodists were taxed for its support, or else, as later, were required to show a legal ticket of excuse. Heresy trials, lawsuits with the town, and divisions over pastors marked the early history of the Malden church. Our modern ecclesi- astical quarrels, when compared with those of our city ancestors, are like the passing disagreements of children in their play compared with the persistent contests of angry men. In their conception of the church our forefathers left much to be desired.
At this point God had " provided some better thing for us." We need to take the excellent heart of their conception and carry it on to perfection. This much we can say to the credit of the fore- fathers : they knew that a community without a church would be a moral wilderness. So they made the church the first thing in their lives. All their narrowness and their invasion of liberty grew out of their conviction that the Church of Christ must keep the pre- eminence. The Puritan felt that he could not get on without the church ; some of his descendants feel that the church cannot get on without them. A crude and bitter anxiety for its welfare is vastly to be preferred to the attitude of many of our modern citizens, who would not live in a churchless city, but who leave the vital support of the gospel to other men. As between the churchly narrowness of the Puritans and the churchless indifference of some of their descendants, let us revive the ancient thought. The substantial big- otry that banished Roger Williams is not so blameworthy as the superficial latitude that banishes Jesus Christ.
Happily, we are not driven to either extreme of spirit. If any man really wishes to work for the religious life of Malden, he will find one in our goodly variety of churches that without interfering with his liberty will give him a field for earnest and effective work. The Puritan never patronized the church, never felt that he was con- ferring a special favor on a minister by listening to him, never said that he should go to the house of God only when it was perfectly con- venient. Oh, for the day when no man will think that he highly honors the church by attending its services ! Oh, for the time when men will feel that the church is a necessity to any complete life ! Oh, for a revival of the Puritan conception of the dignity of the church ! Uniting their idea with an attractiveness, a breadth, a tenderness, we will perfect our forefathers in the use of a divine in-
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stitution, and will clothe the modern Zion with a garment of strength and beauty.
As the Puritans did not give us the final thing in material and institutional life, so also they did not give us the final thing in theol- ogy. God had "provided some better thing for us." It is indeed difficult for us to imagine how sane and hearty men could have accepted the Puritan creed. That it was a huge blasphemy upon the Divine character, the intelligence of to-day freely grants. That it was bound in the end to lead to some severe and extreme reactions, seems now plain. But that the creed was held, and held in sincerity, history leaves no room for doubt. It made God a monster, Christ the victim of wrath, and man the choiceless puppet of Divine decrees. It was more anxious to save God's power than it was to save God's love. He was a Judge rather than a Father. All this appears in the great poem of Malden's pastor, Michael Wigglesworth. In the later years of the seventeenth century, this poem, called The Day of Doom, was the popular work of New England. In the early years of the nineteenth century aged persons could still repeat its terrible metres, that had been taught them together with their catechisms. It is to be questioned whether any other book in America ever met with such a sale, considering the number of the reading public. This success was not gained because the work was of matchless verse. The book only shows that Michael Wigglesworth might have been a poet under favoring circumstances and with a proper theme. What attracted the New England mind to the poem was its lurid creed. It paraded the harsher elements of truth, and made God a cold and resistless logician. Its treatment of the older and responsible per- sons who are brought before the great Judge is curdling enough. But its description of the infants appearing before God to be damned for the sin of Adam is the height of horror. The little ones plead for themselves, asking : -
"' How could we sin who had not bin ? or how is his sin our Without consent, which to prevent we never had a power ?'"
But the Lord is represented as replying thus : -
" Then answered the Judge most dread ; ' God doth such doom forbid, That men should dy eternally for what they never did. But what you call old Adam's fall, and onely his Trespas,
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You call amiss to call it his : both his and yours it was.
Had you been made in Adam's stead, you would like things have wrought ; And so into the self-same wo yourselves and yours have brought.'"
When the children plead for pardon the divine reply is : -
"' You sinners are, and such a share as sinners may expect, Such you shall have, for I do save none but my own Elect. Yet to compare your sin with their who lived a longer time, I do confess, yours is much less, though every sin 's a crime.
"' A Crime it is ; therefore in blis you may not hope to dwell; But unto you I shall allow the easiest room in Hell.' The glorious King thus answering, they cease, and plead no longer : Their Consciences must needs confes his Reasons are the stronger." 1
Perhaps it is not to be wondered at that some of you smile. But the smile will fade from your faces if you remember that the New Eng- land mother of the old time, clasping her child to her heart, held that theology in her mind and feared to have her wee one pass from her own kingdom into the kingdom of God. Ah, sometimes she must have left the torturing verse of Wigglesworth and crept away to the good Book to fondle lovingly the words of the blessed Master : "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." To put that awful phase of theology in reference to the damnation of infants into metre was much like framing a toad in silver or building a palace for a tiger.
All this will show that our forefathers did not reach the final thing in their theology. They had much that was excellent. Their reverence for the Bible, their sense of Divine authority, their infinite tributes to Christ, and the deep significance that they ascribed to the doctrines of rewards and punishments were all worthy of imitation.
1 Corey, History of Malden, 224-229 ; Van Dyke, God and Little Children, 24.
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The " free thoughtlessness " of our own era could well return to these features of early theology. But viewing the theology at its best, it was sadly defective. God had " provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Over the awful cliffs of Divine power and justice, we need to grow the vines and flowers of Divine mercy and love, in order that men, while seeing the beauty of the Lord our God, may yet fear to cast themselves against the immovable rocks and make shipwreck of their souls.
Finally, it must be said that our Puritan forefathers were not per- fect in their type of character. The hardness of their material sur- roundings, their conception of the church, their doctrine of theology, all worked out into a hardness of character. The gracious side of life did not appeal to them strongly. The biographer of Calvin makes the statement that the great theologian never once in his works mentions the beauties of God's world. Yet he lived a large part of his life in the region of Geneva, where Switzerland's skies are blue and her lakes mirror the stars and her bright streams dash from the mountains. But Calvin saw not these charms. His followers in New England were much like him in this respect. They learned with Christ to weep over cities and to scourge men from the temple, but they did not learn with Him to go to the glad feast or to dwell upon the beauties of the lily. Their ideals of life were grim and joyless. They were fearful of vanity and excess. They prohibited slashed clothes, laces of gold or silver or thread, embroideries and large sleeves. Ten years before Malden was founded, the Puritans had a day of fast- ing and prayer. One of the things against which they prayed was " Idleness." Yet it is said of them that " they worked sixteen hours a day, and for recreation laid stone walls."1 Surely He who gave us " all things richly to enjoy " never intended that we should make our lives bare and cheerless. The sober and serious aspect of life we all realize. We may thank God that we can enter also into its genial and gay moods, and smile and laugh ourselves into rest from our toil.
But we shall be unwise if we reject the Puritan conception of con- duct. We should merely perfect it. God has " provided a better thing for us," but we should have a care lest we make the better into a worse. We should call no man narrow who believes in simplicity of life. An Englishman said a few years ago that in respect of con- duct the Methodists were the proper successors of the Puritans in America. Our people should feel complimented by the observation, and should try to make it more grandly true. Having rejected Puritan theology, we do well to keep certain Puritan characteristics. Was it not Macaulay who said that the Puritans objected to bear-
1 Eliot, American Contributions to Civilization, 360.
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baiting not so much because it hurt the bear as because it pleased the spectators? Macaulay's sarcasm had in it a serious truth. The sad- dest thing about bear-baiting was that it pleased the spectators, and the saddest thing about many modern forms of recreation is that they please the beholders. If we can take the Puritan's dutiful conception of living, purge it of its harshness and add to it the wholesome relish of delight, we shall have come near to " the better thing" that God has provided for us. God give us more men of this spirit! Men who do not pride themselves on vulgar show! Men who believe in plain living and high thinking! Men who live under a sense of duty and will bitterly fight all wrong! Men with whom conscience is supreme, and the fear of God the beginning and test of wisdom ! Then shall we have taken the Puritan type of character and brought it on its way to perfection.
This, then, is the message of our anniversary. One of our local poets, whom the celebration has inspired, has represented the fore- fathers as mingling invisibly in our festivities. May they see nothing offensive to the old Puritanism as modified by life in the nearer pres- ence of God ! This same poet has offered the prayer that we might be as loyal as they. God grant that it may be so ! The lines state our joy, our heritage, and our duty : -
"Fair City, rejoice, mid these jubilant throngs, As thy children assemble to-day, With pageants, and banners, and garlands, and songs, Their tribute of honor to pay. And among us yet others are standing unseen, Sober-clad and of visage austere : They have noiselessly come from their low tents of green To partake of our festival cheer.
"O rugged forefathers and mothers, the years Bring rich triumphs to crown your repose: The vine in the wilderness planted with tears Hath blossomed like Sharon's sweet rose. God Unchanging, with us, as with them, be Thy grace; Be our purpose as lofty and pure.
When beside them we lie, in our last resting-place, May our mem'ry as nobly endure ! "
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THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. REV. HENRY O. HISCOX, Pastor.
CHURCH HISTORY.
An Abstract of a Sermon Preached by the Pastor at the Morning Service.
1 SAMUEL vii. 12. - Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.
THIS was the text of the dedication sermon of the first meeting-house of this church in September, 1804.
It was the text that as a boy I used to read, graven in a mural tablet set in the exterior front wall of the Stanton Street Baptist meeting-house in New York City ; preserved and reset in the Sunday- school wall of the new meeting-house, many years later, built on the corner of Twenty-Third Street and Lexington Avenue.
It is the cursory glance of faith in God over the things that have been, to strengthen the things that are. Such aids to faith are allow- able and right, for they are the result of Christian experience produced through faith ; and vitally, essentially, they become in themselves faith and the strength of faith.
The pathway of history impresses the thoughtful with its length and marvellous diversities. Viewed as the work of man, it is an in- coherent speech, without consecutive meaning or clear expression ; little calculated to win praise for humanity or inspire one with con- fidence in living. But viewed as the work of God, it is a constant testimony to His presence, His brooding care, His overruling strength ; proving it always true that " the Lord hath helped us."
Confidence in God is not born of an individual consciousness alone ; but it is attested by the consciousness of a generation, and supported by the facts of the generation, viewed in detail and interpreted by the generational spirit and tendency.
It is well, in the overlooking of two hundred and fifty years of com- munital life, that the church -that this church,- should look over some things civic and religious.
Two hundred and fifty years ago !
One wonders concerning the earliest periods of human history, and longs for a clear understanding of the long gone generation, - when there were giants, and, of old, men of renown, sons of God and daughters of men; when Enoch walked with God, and Methuselah lived his nine hundred and sixty-nine years ; when there were great communities and mighty deeds, - evil and good striving together, and evil dominating. What were the manners and dress, houses and businesses, learning and, alas ! religion, when Noah preached repent-
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ance and righteousness for one hundred and twenty years, and built his remarkable three-storied cruiser? What about that sudden and terrible contraction of the stream of humanity into " eight souls," and the promise of God that " while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease "?
One wonders about Abram and the great city and people he left, and the peoples into whose midst he went; of the civilization in Babylon, Assyria, Tyre and Sidon, and Egypt. And what of the Western world, with which David trafficked, and the Eastern land, that marvelled at his glory and power? Literary peoples they were, all of them, as evidenced by modern discoveries, - crude, no doubt, in some ways ; but not all things worth doing waited for the nineteenth cen- tury, nor did all evil wait its fulfilment till then.
We are more familiar with the glory of the Grecian Empire and her art and philosophy, and with the Roman Empire and her bound- less ambition and masterful power ; and we are somewhat familiar with the new religion that came almost with observation, the fulfil- ment of the Jewish religion and the ruin of the Roman power.
Two hundred and fifty years ago! In England, Oliver Cromwell (Old Ironsides), through political and social perplexities, was work- ing out the stern and necessitous problems of pure religion. "Pride's Purge " in the House of Commons and the beheading of Charles I. were symptoms of the case, and means for reaching the end. In France, the ebullient " Fronde War," or "Child-Play," was in guise of severity giving respite to the realm between the two stern, severe teachers, Richelieu and Louis XIV. The power of Spain broken, her loss in the North a recognized fact, the " United Provinces " a living witness to the triumph of truth and religion, she was making terms with despised Holland. The Holy Inquisition was practically ended, of which Queen Isabella said : "In the love of Christ and His maid- mother, I have caused great misery and have depopulated towns, and districts, and provinces, and kingdoms." All over Europe there was a great renaissance ; and the distinguishing feature, the inspir- ing cause, was religion.
In that day, the lands of the heathen were many ; the islands of the seas were in savagery ; and in civilized ( !) countries slaves were everywhere held. Modern inventions have been born since then. The use of steam-engines was just beginning. More than one hun- dred and fifty years later, steam-vessels were but a realized fact ; and at that day one would need to look forward one hundred and seventy- five years to see the first steam-railway train, a man on horseback riding in front of the train to keep the track free from obstructions.
And what of the Baptists ?
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Malden was one of the spots on the shores of this land where men and women came seeking the blessings of civil and religious freedom. This impulse of the early immigrants should not be lost sight of ; for it was that which gave flavor and tone to all they did, to their style of life, to the character of business, and to their relations with each other and the world.
Strange to say, persecuted and seeking liberty of conscience, with security, homes, and power, they themselves become persecutors, as Baptists and Quakers could attest.
Congregationalism being the established form of religion in Massachusetts, dissenters became victims of intolerant religious fixity.
Roger Williams, a man of conscience and of brilliant parts, was the first to introduce believers' baptism and organize a church on Baptist principles in this country. A graduate of the University of Cam- bridge and a pronounced Separatist, he left England in 1630, hoping for religious freedom of life and speech. He says : "God knows what gains and preferments I have refused in university, city, country, and court in Old England, and some in New England, to keep my soul undefiled in this point, and not act with doubtful conscience."
In Massachusetts Bay, citizenship depended upon membership in one of the established churches. Williams advocated separation of church and state; separation from an apostate church ; absolute liberty of conscience in religion; and an annulment of the colony's charter, whereby King Charles presumed to give away the land of other people.
In this last there is food for reflection !
He was banished in January, 1636; through many hardships he reached Narragansett Bay, where he established the first colony or state established on Baptist principles, and called it Providence.
It would be impossible to estimate the debt of this country and the world to the impregnable position of Baptists and to this "fore- runner," in these later times. Since that time the growth of the Bap- tists has been very considerable, under the blessing of God ; and most of the gain has been made in the last seventy-five or one hundred years.
There are now in this country twenty-six thousand ministers, forty-three thousand churches, and thirty-eight thousand meeting- houses, with a seating capacity of twelve millions. The value of church property, eighty-four million dollars ; and there are four mil- lions of communicants.
But what of our own local church in these years ?
8
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In 1797, a few Baptists living in Malden, members of churches in Boston and Charlestown, had the first sermon preached to them by a Baptist minister. In 1800, five persons "joined together to main- tain regular preaching." One Lois Tufts was the first person baptized ; and two more soon followed, both from the Congregational church.
In 1803, Rev. Henry Pottle came to preach to the little company. Under his ministry some fifty converts were made; and in December of the same year " the First Baptist Church of Christ in Malden " was organized. In the following month they " partook of their first Lord's Supper, sixty-four being present." In September, 1804, the first Baptist meeting-house was dedicated. Since that time four more houses have been erected, two having been destroyed by fire, and one removed to make place for the present beautiful and commo- dious structure.
With house and people consecrated to the Master's cause, the present condition of the church is marked by latent strength, by ample privileges, and a large promise of usefulness. Over five hun- dred members have been received during the past six years ; and the present enrolment is one thousand and seventy.
Devotion, self-sacrifice, and generosity have marked the years of the history of this church; and while many of the saints have passed on, we are still glad in the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Elisha S. Converse, by whose fidelity and service the present has largely been realized.
The Church of Jesus Christ is the salt of the earth, and shall sea- son the whole for His acceptance. Forms and ceremonies pass away ; and new statements come to fit new lives and conditions. Decadences and disappearances that are local mark the sure progress of the king- dom and give place for sturdier shoots from the same unfailing stock. Take your place ; do your work ; have part in the glorious achieve- ment; and the same God who hath helped hitherto will both help and perfect and glorify.
Despite the heavy showers, which occurred at times during the latter part of the afternoon and in the evening, the auditorium of the church was crowded at the evening service. Special musical selec- tions were given by the Temple Quartet of Boston and by the quartet and chorus of the church.
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ADONIRAM JUDSON.
An Abstract of a Sermon Preached by the Pastor at the Evening Service.
IN the vestibule of our meeting-house is a beautiful marble tablet with this inscription : -
IN MEMORIAM.
REV. ADONIRAM JUDSON. BORN AUG. 9, 1788. DIED APRIL 12, 1850. MALDEN, HIS BIRTHPLACE. THE OCEAN, HIS SEPULCHRE.
CONVERTED BURMANS, AND THE BURMAN BIBLE, HIS MONUMENT. HIS RECORD IS ON HIGH.
At the time the four young men in college at Williamstown were behind the haystack in a neighboring field, offering their prayers to Almighty God and consecrating themselves to the gospel work in foreign lands, Adoniram Judson was completing his college course at Brown. About two years later, these five met and became acquainted in Andover Seminary, where the four had entered as candidates for the ministry, and where Judson, not yet a professing Christian, had been received by special arrangement. His religious impressions, received at home, fostered by the life and care of his father, the pastor of the Congregational church in Malden, where Adoniram was born, deepened by recent experiences in the world and the sad death of a comrade, - culminated in conversion and " a call" to be a missionary to the heathen.
The seminarial course completed, Judson applied to the Associa- tion of Congregational Churches, then meeting in Bradford, to be sent as their missionary. This resulted in the formation by the asso- ciation of " The Board of Commissioners [of the Congregational Churches] for Foreign Missions," the first association for such a pur- pose in America. February 5, 1812, he was married to Miss Ann Hasseltine, and on the next day he was ordained. On February 19, with his wife, he embarked from Salem, Massachusetts, for Calcutta.
During the prolonged voyage he gave himself to a special study of the Bible, expecting to meet and labor near certain English Bap- tist missionaries, and hoping to be able to refute their Baptistic hold- ings and beliefs. Instead of being able to strengthen his views, he was convinced that they were wrong; and conscience and the Bible
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