USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Memorial volume by the Essex street church and society, Boston, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the installation of their pastor, Nehemiah Adams, D.D > Part 2
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MEMORIAL VOLUME.
felt, as we came here from Sunday to Sunday and took our seats in our pews, that we should hear nothing in the world but Religion preached from that pulpit, and no manner of Politics, State or National, directly or indirectly. We came here, if we came as we professed we did, to hear of those things which pertain to religion, to the salvation of the soul, and to the rest everlasting. And I may be permitted to say for myself, that I have uniformly found it to be true, and I have uniformly reconciled, if I needed to reconcile, my own attendance upon this Church, by the consideration of that truth, - I have uniformly found it to be true that I heard nothing, was assailed by nothing, was secularized by nothing, was defended or attacked by nothing which I had done, nothing for which I had voted or acted in the political world without. All of us spent the week before, and all of us were obliged to spend the week afterwards, more or less in that same heated, heaving political world ; there we acted, there we had to debate, there we lost our temper; but I thank my Pastor that I am able to say, in the presence of so many and such respectable clerical friends as these, as those I see about me, that never in an introductory prayer, never in a hymn, occasionally or in the ordinary course of public worship selected, never by any illustration in any sermon, by any train of association, right or wrong, was I carried back into the world that I had left, and which I should have been willing, for that day at least, to have for- gotten forever. Of Religion, and a correct moral personal life, of these I came to hear, and of these alone have I ever heard at any time. I have no manner of doubt that there are a great many pulpits in Boston of which the same thing
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MR. CHOATE'S ADDRESS.
might be said. I do not personally know that it might not be said of every one. I know that it can be truly said of this, and I am thankful to be able to thus publicly state that I know it to be true.
And now, since I have mentioned this subject, my friends, may I be permitted, without presuming to complain of any- body, or to dictate to anybody, and still more, without assum- ing to myself to preach a concio ad clerum, or to preach at all, may I be permitted, on behalf of uninstructed and unprofes- sional laymen, to say one single word to serious clergymen on the duty of a rigorous abstinence from politics, and from any element which has been connected in any way with active party politics, on the Lord's Day. I need not say that I have a great deal too much personal respect and love for that profession in all its denominations, that I too per- fectly appreciate the past and present transcendent good they have done to their country and to man, to wish, even if I had it in my power, to abate a tittle of the just respect that is due to them, or to impair in the least degree the just influence which they have acquired, and which they possess in this community, still less to intrude into that secret and elevated circle of private judgment which is every man's right. But I will say, I repeat, in behalf of laymen, once more, that it is exactly because we love and honor them, - it is exactly because we would do everything we can, not merely to pay the allotted salary, but everywhere to pre- serve to them the influence which the selection of their field of duty has entitled them to exert, - that I take the liberty, in the presence of some of them, to say something.
Permit me, then, to suggest, in the first place, that he
3
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who preaches on Politics, or on any topic in the least degree connected with practical party Politics, in the pulpit, lays himself under the suspicion, at least from many, many lay- men, that his motives are not entirely unobjectionable, and that thus he does something, or does much, to unfit him for the full and perfect performance of the great duty to which he has been solemnly called. I do not say that such a man is not a very bold man ; I do not say that he is not a very sincere man ; I do not say that he is not as bold and sincere as an old prophet standing up before a king, and, in the elo- quenee of an expiring nation, denouncing his sins and the sins of his people. But I mean to say that he runs a great risk of being suspected not to be bold and not to be sincere at all. He runs the risk of being suspected, and he is sus- pected, of denouncing a slaveholder, not because he hates the slaveholder or feels that he has anything to do with the business, but because some rich man in his congregation hates slaveholders, and because he pleases him by denounc- ing them. He runs the risk of being suspected, not of being brave against a danger which is a thousand miles away, but of being a coward and bowing down before a supposed dan- ger that is very near him. He runs the risk of being sus- pected, not of being bold to challenge a man who cannot do him any harm, but of challenging that same man because he is afraid that another, who can do him harm, may be found within the reach of his voice. He runs the risk of being suspected, not of braving a danger that may arise from a distant region and a distant public sentiment, but of being afraid of a public sentiment at hand that may take the form of a danger, that may risk his salary, or, by possi-
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MR. CHOATE'S ADDRESS.
bility, induce the chance of calling a council of dismission. And thus it comes to pass, as I submit, and as I have heard it many times remarked, that this suspicion unfits him to do the duty which we expect of a minister of the Gospel ; and thus of doing something to violate that great trust which he took upon himself with so much solemnity at his ordination, to let no man despise the ministry so far as he was con- cerned, and to preserve it for its proper influence in the noble specialty which has been assigned to it.
Permit me to give as a second reason, in the pursuit of this same course of thought, that intelligent persons, and very many intelligent persons, are too apt to think that the preacher of Politics in the pulpit really does not know his business, and that he is really above or below, or on one side of it, and does not understand his business. We listen to him, as we ought to listen, to the utmost extent of the Protestant theory of independent private judgment, when he interprets the Scriptures, when he teaches us morality ; when he testifies of Eternal Providence, and "vindicates the ways of God to man ;" when he teaches us that we are all sinners, that our natures are alike degraded, that the retri- butions of a common eternity are before us all. We listen to him with respect, and with nothing less than reverence ; there his studies and his profession have fitted him for it ; there he stands upon his own ground, and within his own charmed circle ; there he is master, and we are his implicit disciples ; for that exactly we prize, and for that exactly we pay him. But when he has left that ground, when he has taken up the occupation of Politics, is not his occupation wholly gone ? Is not his power of instruction substantially
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gone ? The great concrete of practical Politics, the work- ings of our special confederated system, the laws and condi- tions of our very artificial nationality, will le permit me to inquire whether or not his deep studies, aliunde et diverso intuitu, have enabled him to know anything at all of these ? As an educated man, as a religious man, as a student of morals, he will know all about the obligations, origin, and general direction of the conscience. He will have learned from his Bible that the race of man is of kindred blood, - all of it; and he will have learned from his Bible, or from Nature, that all men stand on an equality of right and re- sponsibility and duty before God. But how far these glo- rious generalities are modified and controlled by civil society of any description, which is also the work of God ; how far these rays of light, as Burke beautifully expresses it, come to be refracted when they go into such a medium as this ; how far history shapes all systems, and has shaped our system ; how far, for example, the acquisition of a territory, - a new fact, - by the common blood and common treas- ure, makes it proper to lay it open to all, or shut it up against some ; does he know aught of this? These things pertain to practical statesmanship, and he is no practical statesman, although he is better and holier and higher.
In saying this in the presence of clergymen, do I dispar- age the elergy ? No more, my friends, you will agree with me, than the honest schoolmaster, who was himself a clergy- man, disparaged Frederick the Great at the time when the whole world was ringing with his victories, by expressing a doubt whether, after all, His Majesty could conjugate a Greek verb in mi- exactly because it was not his specialty.
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MR. CHOATE'S ADDRESS.
Suum cuique sua in arte credendum est. You remember how finely Goldsmith recognizes that rule in his " Retalia- tion." Speaking of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who stood at the head of his profession, the most tolerant, the most modest, the most inquiring of men, - and Goldsmith describes him as exhibiting that same character at the club, in society, every- where ; but he says that whenever any one who was con- versing with him began to talk
" Of their Raphaels, Correggios and stuff, He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff."
Let me ask my clerical friends - again speaking for lay- men - whether they think it to be quite fair play between man and man, to catch a parishioner in his pew, silent and still, by custom, decorum, and the manners of New Eng- land, and turn upon him every eye in the congregation for the politics he practises and for the party to which he has attached himself. Is it quite right - as a clerical friend now in my eye expressed it in a sermon some time ago, in every word of which it gives me pleasure to agree - that he should find himself suddenly plunged, as a man finds himself in a snow-bank, into a Caucus ? I put it to you if it is fair, manly, moral, honest ? Is it not cruel and cow- ardly so to treat an individual man ? But while I hate and despise all manner of cant in Religion or in Politics, and while I do not think the ad hominem argument a very good method for the discovery of truth, in logic or out of it, let me, in the hearing of some of the clergy, venture to suggest that the preacher, of whatsoever faith, who thus overflows his banks upon any element connected, in the remotest degree,
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MEMORIAL VOLUME.
with the party considerations or organizations of the day, runs a great chance of hindering the salvation of that very soul which he has been ordained to promote and secure. They tell us, every one of them, that the salvation of the soul is the highest concern of man ; they tell us, every one of them, that nothing on earth or in heaven can be com- pared with it, to the individual, in its consequences. There is sometimes upon their lips that tremendous expression, - whatever it means in the original, -"The redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever." And yet do they not endanger that soul forever ? The layman has no chance except on Sunday, and they rob him of that Sunday. Through the week, he has been anxious, busy, troubled ; and he comes here on Sunday, as a man goes into his house at night-time, for rest and instruction. The Sunday is all he has, and you take away that Sunday ; it is for you of that profession to say, it is for us to say on behalf of laymen, whether that is or is not consistent with the character of a preacher of Religion. Remember the very first word he hears in prayer, the very first word he hears in a hymn selected to be sung, however well it may be sung, and by whatever choir, the very first illustration in the sermon to which he may listen, sends him away gloomy and irritable, turns the whole service into a political mockery, and awak- ens a train of reflection that renders him, from first to last, inaccessible to the truth, closes his ear to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely on that day. I repeat, then, Sunday is all that such a layman has, and the preacher of Politics has robbed him of that Sunday.
I do not know very well why I have fallen on this train
EXTRACTS FROM A POEM BY REV. C. C. BEAMAN. 39
of thought, and it is high time to have done. Let us close as we began. Let us unite in the wish that our children and our children's children, when they come into this house on Sunday, may know as we have always known, and feel as we have always felt, that nothing but Religion will be heard from this pulpit ; that nothing shall enter here that cannot enter and abide in that higher and better Temple of God, to which Religion points us, and to which Religion should conduet. Let us find, and our children and children's children find here, or in other houses of worship, exactly and merely this. Let us, as far as we may, avail ourselves of all the privileges which this Bethel affords ; and if we fail to avail ourselves of those privileges and of the teach- ings of this pulpit, may that venerable and beloved Pastor be able to say, with his last words, as ever to us, "I am innocent of your blood."
A POEM was then recited by Reverend CHARLES C. BEAMAN, a former Member of this Church. The fol- lowing extracts have been kindly furnished by Mr. B., at our request :
HAIL, to this hour ! new strengthening from above The cherished flame of our fraternal love, And warm affection for a Pastor's care, Which all our hearts in pleasing union share.
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MEMORIAL VOLUME.
Lost Pleiads are restored to us to-night, And stars new risen burst upon our sight ; Welcome we give to all who note this day, Which marks one period in our Shepherd's way.
The Installation hour ! solemn and still, Like the first pulses of a new-born rill, Was birthplace of a stream, which, calm and deep, And beautiful with many a winding sweep, And flower-enamelled banks, with herbage green, Rolls seaward still, as we so long have seen.
And while these years have fled, how many things Have touched the heart on all its sacred strings ! The first impression of our childhood's hour, That linked our Pastor with a higher power ; Truths from his lips, persuasive to the soul, Which made us turn and yield to God's control ; Instruction building up the work within, And guarding us on every hand from sin ; With holy rites by him we have been bound ; He in our sorrow soothed the anguished wound. Friend of our childhood, friend of riper years, Companion in our Christian hopes and fears ! What tie more sacred binds the human heart ? What love less willing from the breast to part ?
HYMN.
-
THE following HYMN, by Miss LUCY E. SPEAR, a Member of the Church, was then sung : -
COME ! let us with a cheerful voice, With joy, and praise, and song, In this returning day rejoice, A happy, praising throng. Come ! let us bless that guardian Hand Which led us on our way, And brought us, a united band, To gather here to-day.
Still at our head our Pastor stands ; As Shepherd of the flock, He guides us on through earthly lands, Still leads to Christ, our Rock. In early youth, his lot was cast This pastoral charge to bear ; Now, five-and-twenty years are past, And we are still his care.
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With us his manhood's toils are spent, - Toils by the Spirit crowned ; The fruits our gracious God hath sent, Behold them, all around ; While some, beyond the gates of death, A fairer bloom afford, And perfume with their fragrant breath The garden of the Lord.
Still be our onward path pursued, And still new trophies won ! Still be the loving bonds renewed Which bind our hearts in one ! And long may he, whose works of love Our gratitude employ, His faith and patience here approve ; Then see his Master's joy.
rmarks ly
aliurr.
REMARKS BY GENERAL OLIVER.
G YENERAL HENRY K. OLIVER, of Lawrence, was next introduced as the Schoolmaster of Doctor ADAMS at the Latin School in Salem. He ob- served : -
That though, from the apparent coincidence of their re- spective ages, if judged by their respective personal appear- ances, doubts might be expressed about his being old enough to have been the instructor of the Reverend Gentleman, yet it was nevertheless true that he was so ; for somewhere about the remote year of 1819, soon after graduating. he received an appointment in the School just named. And well do I remember (continued General Oliver) that when, stripling as I was, - not having then reached my nineteenth year, - I entered the school-room, well do I remember with what fear and trembling, and with what doubts, many and weighty, I cast my eyes upon and about the little " sea of upturned faces " and peeping eyes that greeted my entrance, and seemed to be weighing me in their balance. Well do I
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MEMORIAL VOLUME.
remember that my interpretation of the physiognomy of some of the one hundred lads before me presaged precious little comfort to my timid self. Had they known what bod- ing anxiety and positive misgivings then possessed my soul, and worried out some "drops of dew" upon my youthful brow, - had the spirit of rebellious fun and naughty mis- rule lured them to the deed, as has sometimes happened when younglings from College are put in charge over younglings at School, - what an unequal contest might then and there have been waged. But my fears soon subsided, and left a welcome confidence in their place ; for I per- ceived, to my great consolation, as I studied my new ac- quaintances, many a pleasant, many an honest, many an alluring face ; and, among them all, (and how vividly does the scene return to my memory !) none more comforting and encouraging than the face of one quiet, sedate, unas- suming, faithful, and confiding boy, now developed and matured into a noble manhood, in the justly beloved and venerated Pastor of this Church.
" Quantum mutatus ab illo! "
" How changed by passing years," yet only in the figure and the stature ; for the boy of that early day was "the father of the man," and shadowed forth what manner of man he would be, should life and health be spared, and the promise of the days of his boyhood be thoroughly fulfilled, in the good Providence of God, in ripened years. And has not the ample accomplishment justified all the early hopes ? Have I not a right to be proud that I had something to do in the developing and in the maturing of so goodly a fruit
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REMARKS BY GENERAL OLIVER.
as this? May not a body be pardoned for believing, with so good a result as this before him, that his labors and his example were not of the poorest after all ?
In those days of his school-boy life, with a persistent habit of patient study, with more than an ordinary memory, with an earnest and resolute spirit of research, he became a successful scholar, and ranked with the best of his asso- ciates. I well remember that, perceiving readily the spirit and meaning of the classic authors in the text-books then used, he seemed, at times, rather surprised that the other boys, as sometimes happened, shot rather wide of the mark. This was specially the case on a certain occasion, when one of his classmates, not quite grasping the intent and meaning of the great Roman orator in one of his imperishable ora- tions, where he speaks of " Statuas imaginesque avorum," (ancestral statues and images.) translated the words, " You place and you imagine your grandfathers," - (a rendering most certainly as far removed from the true one as you could reasonably ever expect to hear,) - his eyes dilated with amazement, as did mine ; a quiet smile stole over his face, while the rest of us broke into a rather vociferous cachinna- tion, - the unlucky, blundering lad looking round with wonder, to see what had caused all this wild merriment.
Continuing his preparatory studies with constant success to their completion, in the fulness of his time he left School for the more trying scenes of a collegiate life. And here his efforts were sedulously continued, and crowned with the best results. So, too, in his further studies, directed more especially towards his preparation for the holy office which he has so faithfully and so happily filled, he was equally
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devoted ; and now I see in the gentle lad, whom I used to call by the familiar household title of Nehemiah, the rev- erend, the learned Doctor of Divinity, beloved and respected wherever known, carrying a weight of character and a power of influence but seldom attained, and the earnest and suc- cessful Minister of Christ, winning souls into the kingdom of his Master, and faithfully discharging all the high obliga- tions of the noblest profession that man can assume. I think all the better of myself and of my poor teachings, when I look on the two pictures they presented.
And now, my dear pupil of the days we never more shall see, let me thank you most heartily that in this the day of your well-deserved joy and reward, that in this the day of your gladness and festivity, you did not forget the teacher and guide of your earlier years, and that you desired his presence on so genial and interesting an occasion. God bless you and yours ever ; and, when the jewels are made up, may you be among the brightest.
ODE.
THE following ODE, by Mr. JONATHAN D. STEELE, (a former Member of the Church and Superintend- ent of the Sabbath School,) was then sung : -
THE CHURCH SILVER WEDDING.
AIR, " Home, sweet home."
THOUGH the world with its pleasures invites us to roam, Why meet we to-night in this happy old Home ? For the Church and our Pastor each heart beats elate ; The Church Silver Wedding we now celebrate. Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; 'Tis sweet here to greet one another at home.
Age, manhood, fair maidens, sweet children are here ; Our absent ones send us their word of good cheer ; And wanderers returning rejoice to take part, As Pilgrims they flock to this Mecca of heart. Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; There's no place like home -the Church, our soul's home.
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ODE.
While we meet here together, remembrance imparts Much sorrow and sadness, more joy, to our hearts ; The griefs we have suffered, the joys we have known, These, Pastor and People have made all their own. Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; All hearts throb in unison here at our home.
O Saviour ! thy pastures have been to us sweet ; Still waters are these which have lain at our feet. Feed, Saviour ! thy people, still here, as of old. - Be this Silver Wedding exchanged for the Gold. Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; May Pastor and People long dwell here, at home.
Time ! lay thy hand gently upon his loved brow ! Church, be thy name "Union," forever, as now ; When beckon'd above from this Union to come, May Pastor and People be found still at home ! Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; Singing, Glory ! Hosannah ! in Heaven, our Home !
emarks hy the
n.
natur.
REMARKS BY THE PASTOR.
THE Pastor, being called upon, spoke as fol- lows : -
MR. CHAIRMAN, RESPECTED AND DEAR FRIENDS :
I had no expectation of what would befall me here when I agreed to be present. When it was first proposed by Deacon Scudder, a few months ago, that some notice should be taken of this Anniversary, I thought that it might be very useful for the Members of the Church to come together, and review the way in which God had led them, and me with them. Our friend said that he wished to have it more per- sonal as regards myself; but I proposed to him, as the senior Deacon and the representative of the Church, that which Ahab proposed to Jehosaphat, - " I will disguise myself and enter into the battle ; but put thou on thy robes." My desire was, that everything that should be said should have reference to the God of all grace, who has given me this happy ministry among this endeared people ; but I did not think of being brought into such toils as I have found myself in to-night. The "toils" of the last twenty-five years are not to be compared with them.
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MEMORIAL VOLUME.
As I witness these scenes, as I read the letters of con- gratulation which I have received, as I stand here to-night and look over these twenty-five years, I have had, and I have now, an idea of what I have supposed reminiscence might be in heaven ; for I have often been visited with the thought, - how can we prevent the sad recollections of earth from interfering with the happiness of heaven ? When I first thought of this occasion, to look back upon the past seemed sad ; but, as I have approached it, I saw noth- ing but joy, and it has been to me a scene of unmingled joy. As I look back on the past, I feel as though I could now, and I wish that I could always, inscribe upon my breast that which is inscribed on a sun-dial in Spain : - " Horas non numero nisi serenas." I count only the bright hours.
Why have I been here twenty-five years, and how has it so fallen out ? Under the good Providence of God, one thing in particular has contributed to it in a measure. My brethren and friends in the ministry, I pray that it may be your lot always to have such Deacons as I have enjoyed here. Can I ask for you a greater blessing, as an aid to the Ministry of Reconciliation ? This Church owes a debt of gratitude to those men, who have stood around me, and have been my counsellors and friends ; discreet, kind, judi- cious men, - men who are not whimsical, and who are not continually troubling their Ministers with thoughts and fan- cies which are not of practical value. I owe them a debt of gratitude which I here wish to pay, " in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem." These men have been to me Aarons and Hurs, holding up my arms. I think, too, we owe a
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