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 9
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I wish I had time to bring to you some decisive quotations from such historians as George Bancroft, John Fiske, author of that fas- cinating book, The Beginnings of New England, and especially from the great English historian, James Anthony Froude. According to these and other eminent historical authorities, it was substantially the Calvinistic interpretation of the Bible that brought on that sublime and irresistible revolution, the most radical and far-reaching, the most purifying and inspiring ever known in Europe, called The Prot- estant Reformation. It was this same system of religious belief that brought into existence and into power the Presbyterians of Scotland, who in that land and other lands have been such sturdy defenders of the Bible, and of all the deathless truths and lofty right-
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eousness which the Bible inculcates. And it was this same interpreta- tion of the Bible that brought into existence the Puritans in England, who saved to the English nation civil and religions liberty, when that liberty had come to its last gasp under that despot, Charles I. More- over, it was men and women holding and inspired by this same in- vincible faith who, with incredible grit and courage, broke from home and country, and brought civil and religious freedom to the wild woods of New England, planted here a free state and free churches, established public schools and colleges, founded great missionary organizations, and, by countless sacrifices, struggles, and battles, made New England what she has been and is, a conspicuous example of the fruits of Puritanism. No other interpretation of the Bible has ever borne such fruitage.
We must not blink historic facts, but face them, if we would learn the exact truth and true wisdom. Now, it is an undeniable historic fact that, wherever Calvinistic Christianity has gone, its pathway has been blazoned with the light of popular education, with the glories of civil and religious freedom, with the heavenly splendor of innumerable examples of personal righteousness, bringing to whole communities and states the highest type of civilization which the world has yet seen, including, as might have been expected, brilliant industrial and commercial prosperity and the general thriftiness and independence of the people. We may, therefore, well rest assured that the form of reli- gious belief that can bring forth all these fruits, and such as these, will yet bring the whole world to its long promised millennial purity, peace, and glory.
I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to-day in praise of the religious beliefs and the Puritan character of the founders of our church. Those founders need no defence, certainly no apology from me, and I make none. Their own works glorify them, and so justify both their Scriptural beliefs and their sturdy Biblical Puritanism.
They organized their church in strict accordance with the pattern given them in the New Testament. Intelligently and religiously believing that, in this matter of the outward form of their church, they had followed the teaching of Christ and the Apostles, they revered, prized, and loved their church. They prayed and toiled for it, made sacrifices in its behalf, and watched over it, and when there was occasion for it guarded its sacred and God-given liberties with Puritan heroism. An opportunity for the display of such heroism came at once, and they met it with a magnificent defence of both their church and its first minister.
To give a full account of the brief, but anomalous, ministry in Malden of Rev. Marmaduke Matthews, the first pastor of this church, would require a whole discourse. Yet I must tell something of the
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strange story. Fortunately, a full narrative of it can be found in Mr. Corey's most admirable History of Malden.
Mr. Matthews was born in Swansea, Southern Wales, in 1606; received the degree of M.A. at All Souls College, in Oxford Univer- sity, in 1627, at the age of twenty-one; and later was appointed Vicar of St. John's Church at Swansea, his native town; which in- dicates the high esteem in which he was held by those who knew him best. He was a good scholar and fond of reading his Hebrew and Greek Testaments. He was also a Puritan; and when orders came to him to introduce certain papal ceremonies into the church ritual, his conscience rebelled, and for nonconformity, he was ejected from his parish and living. He then came to New England, reaching Boston September 21, 1638 ; and the very record of his arrival announced him as " a godly minister." Governor Winthrop, also, who was not likely to be mistaken in his judgment of men, described him as " a godly minister." Nathaniel Morton, the Plymouth historian, placed Mr. Matthews in an honored list of ministers whom he mentioned as the chief " burning and shining lights " at that time in New England.
In 1639, Mr. Matthews was settled as the first minister of the church at Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony, and remained there four years. He then came to Hull, in Massachusetts Colony, where he labored several years, and was highly esteemed by the people. He left them against their wish, and simply because in their fewness and poverty they could not support him. They at once petitioned the General Court for a little financial aid, in order that Mr. Matthews might be returned to them. But the Court, by vote passed May 9, 1649, not only bluntly refused to give them any pecuniary assistance, but declared that their chosen minister should not return to them, nor reside with them. And then that same Court, a civil body, answering to our state legislature, strange to say, proceeded to make written charges against Mr. Matthews' style of preaching, declaring " that they find severall erro- nious expressions, others weak, inconvenient and unsafe expressions ; for which they judge it meete to order that the said Mr. Matthews should be admonished by the Governor in the name of the Court."
This was the beginning of a long series of troubles brought upon this minister of Christ. Mr. Joseph Hills had recently served as Speaker of the House of Deputies and was now the representative of Malden ; and he must have known all that the General Court knew about those strange charges and their origin. Doubtless he imparted his knowledge of the case to members of his church. Yet nothing in their full acquaintance with the case prevented the Malden church from extending a call to Mr. Matthews early in the next year, 1650, to become their minister. He accepted the call; and the church ordained him in precisely the same manner in which
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the church at Salem, and the church at Charlestown, and the church at Woburn, and other churches had previously ordained their ministers. Yet for doing this the General Court called the Malden church to account and put it on trial. Also it called Mr. Matthews to account and put him on trial for having allowed the church to ordain him, and this in addition to the charges previously made against him of using "inconvenient and unsafe expressions " in his preaching. Trial after trial of both the church and its pastor was had at the bar of the General Court, and ecclesiastical council after council was called, not by this church, nor by any other church, but, strange to say, by the General Court, to try Mr. Matthews on the same charges on which he had been tried at the bar of the General Court.
The truth is, the Malden church in calling and ordaining Mr. Matthews proceeded in strict accordance with the Cambridge Platform, which fortunately had been drawn up and adopted two years before, or in 1648, by a large Congregational Synod, representing all the churches of that time in all the colonies of New England. Moreover, this Plat- form had been reported to and approved by the General Court of the Massachusetts Colony.
Now this same body of ecclesiastical laws, the Cambridge Plat- form, an accepted authority at that time in all the churches in New England, distinctly affirmed that it was one of the rights of every local church to choose and ordain its own ministers. It even declared that " lay ordination " was lawful and proper; that is, that a church may rightfully ordain its own minister elect by the laying on of the hands of two or three of its own members duly chosen for that service. There is little doubt that this church ordained Mr. Matthews in that way.
The First Church in Malden, at that time of its infancy, was a small church, but it had in it some able and virile men, and some intelligent and brave women, who knew their rights and understood perfectly well what they were doing. Joseph Hills, a prominent man in the colony, who had represented Charlestown as well as Malden in the General Court, and one year had been Speaker of the House of Depu- ties ; and John Wayte, who afterwards served as deputy for Malden nineteen years, and was one year Speaker of the House ; and Edward Carrington, who was considered by the General Court as a leading man in Malden, - these three Puritans were not men to be trifled with when they knew they were in the right. They understood their minister. They were convinced that he was a thoroughly good man, having, perhaps, some innocent eccentricities of manner, yet an able, learned, and godly minister. They had chosen him. They liked him, and in the time of his trouble, like true men, they stood by him to the end.
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The charges brought against him were of three kinds : first, " erronious expressions,". that is, religious error ; second, "weak, inconvenient and unsafe expressions," that is, as I understand it, the literary style of this Oxford scholar was not up to the standard of good taste held by the military captains and the sturdy farmers and wood-choppers who constituted the General Court; thirdly (and, in the view of his accusers, chiefly), he had allowed the Malden church to ordain him !
The only serious charge was that of religious error. Mr. Matthews was a Calvinist, and there is evidence that he understood what Cal- vinismis. May I be permitted to say that I have carefully examined every charge of this kind on record against him, and his replies to the same, and so far as I can see he did not, in a single instance men- tioned, depart in the least degree from the plain teaching of John Calvin?
The three men whom I have mentioned understood this, and they were not men who would desert their minister when suffering under such unjust charges. Time after time he was summoned before the General Court, and before sub-committees of the Court, and put on trial ; and these three men went with him, and when they could speak defended him. Again and again the church of Malden was summoned to appear by its representatives before the same Court, to answer to the charge of having ordained their minister elect ; and these Puritan men bravely stood up before that august tribunal, and there stated and defended the rights and the action of the free church they had founded and now loved. Repeatedly Mr. Matthews was required to defend himself before ecclesiastical councils called to try him - called too, not by any church, but by the General Court; and I have no doubt that these same heroic men stood back of him in these trials. Indeed, the whole church, save one single member, stood for their minister through all these troubles. It is a splendid record; and it stands to-day on the pages of the great books containing the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and will stand there as long as those books exist, to the praise and glory of this First Church of Christ in Malden.
Mr. Joseph Hills made memorable pleadings before the General Court in defence of his minister and his church. Some of them have been preserved in meagre outline ; but even in that form they impress one as being masterly arguments, which ought to have carried the con- victions of every deputy and magistrate. Indeed, they did so carry conviction that in one decisive vote, that which condemned Mr. Matthews, there were fifteen for Mr. Matthews, and twenty-six op- posed to him.
At the very last, Mr. Hills' able arguments were reinforced by a re-
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markable petition drawn up in most pathetic and persuasive language, signed by thirty-six women of Malden, and addressed to the General Court, in which petition they entreat the Court to allow Mr. Matthews to remain with them as their pastor and teacher.
But all was in vain. The majority was inexorable ; and on May 15, 1651, the Court, by vote, imposed upon Mr. Matthews a fine of ten pounds, as punishment for the alleged sin of having allowed the church to ordain him as its minister. The marshal was ordered to levy that amount on the goods of Mr. Matthews ; but the poor min- ister had no earthly treasures save his wife, his children, and his library, and these he greatly loved.
It should be noticed as a very significant fact that Mr. Matthews was finally punished, not for holding any religious error, not for giving utterance to any " inconvenient and unsafe expressions," but solely for allowing the church that had chosen him for its pastor to ordain him.
At the session of the Court held in the following October, the marshal reported that he went out to Malden to levy the fine of ten pounds on the goods of Mr. Matthews, according to orders, but could find no goods save books. Upon this the Court voted that the execution of the judgment " shall be respitted till other goods appear besides books."
At this same autumnal session of the Court in 1651, a fine of fifty pounds was ordered to be levied on the estates of Joseph Hills, Edward Carrington, and John Wayte ; and they were empowered "to make proportion of the said sum " upon other members of the church. A year later, or in October, 1652, the General Court, in response to petitions, remitted Mr. Matthews' fine, and ten pounds of the fifty imposed upon the church.
In the severe conflict which this church, so early in its history, was called to wage in defence of its minister and of its own rights and liberties, it gave a splendid exhibition of the intense Puritanism that was living and burning in the hearts of its members. They were de- feated ; but their defeat was like that suffered later on yonder Bunker Hill. At the time it seemed sad ; but all can see now that it re- dounded to the immortal glory of the vanquished and the eternal shame of the victors.
Those thirty-six Puritan women, who so bravely yet modestly came into the conflict when its heat was at the highest, should never be forgotten by the members of this church. It does seem to me that their names ought to be properly engraved, set in a frame, and conspicuously hung up somewhere in this house of worship, that they may be held in honorable and perpetual remembrance. I do not be- lieve that any other church in our commonwealth, or even in New England, has such a ROLL OF HONOR.
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But of all those who bore so sadly yet fearlessly the burden of those troubles, the greatest sufferer undoubtedly was Rev. Marmaduke Matthews. He soon returned to his childhood home in Swansea, South Wales. The times had changed in England and Wales. Oliver Cromwell and his Ironsides had appeared upon the scene, fought their battles, and the tyrant, Charles I., had lost his throne and lost his head. The English Commonwealth had come into existence, and the Puritans were in power. The nonconforming ministers could now preach and pray with none to molest or make afraid.
Mr. Matthews was at once appointed vicar of the church in Swansea, in which he had so successfully ministered before he was ejected for nonconformity. He now had no fear of being hounded by either murderous bishops or frightened but mistaken and blunder- ing Puritans. He labored with St. John's Church happily for about ten years. But in 1658 Cromwell sickened and died. Soon after that, Charles II. came to the throne, and in 1662, the monstrous Act of Uniformity was again rigorously enforced. In one day, August 24, 1662, "about two thousand ministers of religion" were driven from their churches and livings ; and one of these was Rev. Marma- duke Matthews. But preach the gospel of Christ he would, if not with salary, then without salary.
Dr. Edmund Calamy, in his History of the Nonconformists, gives a brief account of the remainder of Mr. Matthews' life, which account is as pathetic as it is beautiful. Among other things he says of him : " He left a good living when he had nothing else to subsist upon. He afterwards preached, by the connivance of the magistrates, in a little chapel at the end of the town. He was a very pious and zealous man, who went about to instruct people from house to house. All his discourse, in a manner, was about spiritual matters. . . . He lived to a good old age, and continued useful to the last. He died about 1683."
In addition to Dr. Calamy's testimony, it should be noted that Mr. Matthews resided in Swansea through his entire long life, save the few years he was in college and the few years he was in New England. Now, it is reasonable to believe that a man who could live so long in one place, and be respected and loved by all who knew him, not excepting the very magistrates who were under orders to stop his preaching and would not do it, - it is reasonable to believe that such a minister could not have been a bad or dangerous man.
This adds to the evidence we have that the founders of our church were fully justified in cherishing such high esteem and warm affection for Mr. Matthews as they did cherish to the last. Their record in this whole matter redounds now, and will forever redound,
.
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to their honor. It shows that in some respects they were decidedly in advance of most of the Puritans in the Massachusetts colony. They certainly exhibited superior intelligence and character in their clear apprehension and brave defence of religious liberty.
It should be known, however, that this church during that grave conflict was not without friends. To the honor of the church in Salem, and of the church and town of Woburn, it should be said that they made earnest and public protest against the arbitrary and op- pressive action of the General Court in its treatment of the church at Malden. Nor was the valiant resistance which this church made against that oppression useless. It suffered vicariously for other churches. I have not been able to find that the General Court ever again attempted to punish, by the infliction of a fine, a church of Christ for ordaining its minister elect, or that it ever again attempted to punish a minister, by the infliction of a fine, for allowing himself to be ordained by a church that had called him to be its pastor.
Since the founders of our church passed on to glory, about seven generations of Christian believers have entered into covenant with this church. A goodly host, how many thousands along the centuries we cannot tell, have taken upon themselves the same vows of watch and care in this Christian brotherhood that we have taken. They and we and the founders have had one Lord, one faith, one baptism. A meeting of all the members past and present, in this world, is of course impossible. We know not how it will be in heaven ; but it seems to me that when, one after another, we reach Jerusalem the Golden, next to meeting our Lord Himself, and our dear kindred, we shall take special interest in finding and holding converse with, one by one, those redeemed ones who, along the past two hundred and fifty years, have taken on themselves covenant vows in this their church as well as ours, and have so often gathered, as we have, at the communion table of our common Lord. In the mean time the comparatively few members who gather at the old church-home to-day may well sing, in memory of the much larger number who are now gathered with their glorified Lord in the church-home above : --
" One family we dwell in Him - One church above, beneath, Though now divided by the stream, The narrow stream, of death.
" One army of the living God, To His command we bow ; Part of the host have crossed the flood, And part are crossing now.
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" E'en now, by faith, we join our hands With those that went before,
And greet the ransomed blessed bands Upon the eternal shore."
HYMN.
Tune, St. Martin's.
Let children hear the mighty deeds Which God performed of old ;
Which in our younger years we saw, And which our fathers told.
He bids us make His glories known - His works of power and grace ; And we'll convey His wonders down Through every rising race.
Our lips shall tell them to our sons, And they again to theirs ; That generations yet unborn May teach them to their heirs.
Thus shall they learn, in God alone Their hope securely stands ; That they may ne'er forget His works, But practise His commands.
After the benediction by the pastor the
SERVICE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
was observed. This service, impressive and beautiful at all times, was marked with an unusual dignity and grace. To those who wit- nessed it, as well as to those who participated in its celebration, the occasion was one long to be remembered. Many heads were bowed and many eyes were wet in the tender remembrance of loved ones who had left the earthly for a heavenly congregation. The trials and the blessings of the long line of years were recalled with reverence and thankfulness, with the earnest faithfulness of the fathers, and their simple trust. The spirit of the past rested upon the present, and hallowed with a heavenly power the latest service in an unbroken series of two hundred and fifty years.
The following beautiful hymn by a former pastor, whose early death, as the field of life with enlarged duties and a promise of great usefulness was opening before him, is still lamented, was sung "in
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tender memory of one who went in and out among the people blame- lessly, and the fragrance of whose memory abides to this day."
HYMN. BY THE REV. THEODORE CLAUDIUS PEASE. PASTOR, 1884-1893.
Tune, Retreat.
How blest Thy first disciples, Lord, Whom Thou didst choose to walk with Thee ;
Who daily met around Thy board, And made Thy home and family !
How blest when throng and press were gone, And weary day herself had fled,
From all the noisy world withdrawn, Alone with Thee to break the bread !
Has the long day its burden brought? Are heavy hearts in sorrow bound ?
What sweet relief in kindly thought, What sympathy with Thee is found !
For every care Thou hast an ear ; Thou knowest all their changing moods :
What stirs the timid Philip's fear, - Why thoughtful Thomas sadly broods.
And is the vision vain as sweet? Nay, Lord ! Thy table here is spread !
And ever, where disciples meet, Thy blessed hands still break the bread !
The service was closed by the singing of -
THE LAST HYMN.
BY THE PASTOR. Tune, Dorrnance.
And when they had sung a hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives. - MARK Xiv. 26.
Sweet the melody that trembled Through the upper chamber dim, Where our Lord, with His disciples, Sang the Sacramental hymn.
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Stronger, ever stronger growing, High uprose the holy song ; Floating out-through vine-kissed casement, Swept its harmony along.
Not yet hushed that sacred music, Join we in th' immortal strain ; All the conquered ages blending, Raise we here the high refrain.
Stand we in the temple rhythmic, Vibrant aisles and arches vast, With the deathless note that holdeth All the voices of the past.
Where the rivers touch the ocean, Where the tides beat on the shore, There the symphony eternal Sweepeth onward evermore.
So, dear Lord, Thy glory shining On the faces lifted here, Lead us forth, serene, triumphant, Past and future always near.
The afternoon was devoted to a
UNION SUNDAY-SCHOOL SERVICE
by the Church School and its branches, the Edgeworth School and the Forestdale School, in which the children participated by interest- ing musical exercises and responsive readings adapted to the occasion. Addresses were made by former and present superintendents.
The church and congregation united with the other churches of the city in the union service at the Anniversary Building in the evening, although the auditorium of the church was thrown open for an over- flow meeting, as is stated elsewhere.
A list of the pastors of the First Church is of general interest, and . is worthy of preservation in this story of the celebration : -
Pastors and Teachers.
With the Dates of Installation and Removal.
Marmaduke Matthews 1650-1653 ?
* Nathanael Upham 1654 ?
Michael Wigglesworth [ Teacher] 1657-1705
* Not pastor, but supplied the pulpit.
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Benjamin Bunker
1663-1669
* Benjamin Blakeman
1675-1679
Thomas Cheever
1680-1686
David Parsons
1708-1721
Joseph Emerson
1721-1767
Peter Thacher
1770-1784
Adoniram Judson
1787-1791
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