USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > Origin and annals of "The Old south," First Presbyterian church and parish, in Newburyport, Mass., 1746-1896 > Part 2
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the Church of Scotland." we find a significant phrase, that was destined to play an important part in the history of New England, and of our own church in particular. It was this: "The Scripture doth hold out a presbytery in a church." And that was the very ground taken by Thomas Parker and James Noyes, the first pastor and first teacher of Newbury. For that principle they most earnestly contended. amid much controversy and opposition. Mr. Noves published, in London, a large quarto volume, entitled "The Temple Measured," in which he explained and advocated his views of a "presbytery in a church." Admitting that some of his ideas were crude, yet his ground was solid that "the church ought to be a pat- tern of punctual order." He had a glimpse of the true American theory, which favors neither anarchy nor aristocracy, hierachy nor theocracy. The word "pres- byter" literally means an elder; hence the "presby- tery within a church," would mean a body of elders within a church; and that would simply be a session, such as we now have. And if we go further, and hold, in the terms of the Scotch Form of Government. that "many particular congregations may be under one presbyterial government," we retain the dis- tinctly American idea by making each local church a fountain of power, and granting each member of
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
each local church his sacred rights as such. When the members of any local church choose a session, that act makes it a Presbyterian church; even though it stops there. It is in order for the sessions of neigh- boring churches to form themselves voluntarily into a Presbytery, and stop there if they choose. Or the Presbyteries may join to constitute a Synod or a Gen- eral Assembly. Only remember that, according to our theory, and which we hold to agree with the Word of God, the power should always work upward from the people to the higher courts, instead of down- ward from them to the people. Thus, as Dr. Duffield has admirably said, "American Presbyterianism differs as much from British Presbyterianism, as American liberty differs from British liberty."
The facts thus far given help us to comprehend the ORIGIN OF THIS FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
whose anniversary we celebrate. A handful of dis- senters, on April 7th, 1746, reverted, after the lapse of a century, to the plan sanctioned by the Scotch Form of Government, and favored by Messrs. Parker and Noyes, and formed "a presbytery within a church." And so strongly did the idea take hold of them that we may assert to-day that, if the Presby- tery of Boston, or the Synod of New York, or the
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General Assembly of the United States should try to force John Knox's plan upon this congregation, there would be an instant rebellion. We honor the Scotch and Scotch-Irish, but want it understood that our church has been from the very first the unique product of Yankee Presbyterianism. But how did it come about?
The founders explained it as a matter "of both choice and compulsion." To understand this we must remember that, while the Pilgrim Fathers rejected the theory that the Church is to be ruled by the State, they went to the opposite extreme of claim- ing that the State should be evolved from the Church. Accordingly they divided up the region into par- ishes, forbade any man building more than half a mile from the meeting house; allowed none but church members to vote; and made all property tax- able for the parish. Brave Roger Willams protested, in 1634, that "no one should be bound to worship, or to maintain worship, without his own consent." That seems to us just and sensible; but the Pilgrim Fathers deemed it treason and heresy, and banished the bold Baptist and his comrades. Those of his wayof thinking who remained were cowed into submission.
The inevitable result of such despotism in the name of liberty was formality, hypocrisy and torpid-
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George thisfield.
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ity of religious life. Even of the clergy only a decent morality together with respectable scholarship was required; and a public profession of faith, on the part of church members was dispensed with. It is significant that at about this time the office of ruling elder fell into disuse. It was an era fit for witch trials and scandals. The word went forth from Rev. Increase Mather, the President of Harvard College. that conscientious people would soon "have to gather churches out of churches." This lamentable declen- sion in piety continued till a reaction set in, of which the revival at Northampton was the sign.
THE COMING OF WHITEFIELD.
Among those who heard of it gladly was a young English evangelist, who had already made his mark in the world, although but twenty-six years of age. He was a preacher who could, at any time and any where, collect in the open air, an audience of many thousands, without offering a single heretical novelty. He was comely, fair, slender, elastic and of medium height. His eyes were dark blue, slightly cast, and his countenance was remarkably expressive. Ilis voice was both melodious and penetrating, with great compass and power; so that, as testified by Ben. Franklin, it could reach twenty-five thousand people
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at once. His gestures were incessant, yet eminently graceful, and his hearers were wont to say of him that " he preached like a lion." This wonderful ora- tor, who stirred New England as it has never been stirred by any single voice before or since, was the Rev. George Whitefield. Let us try to picture the locality as it appeared at the time of his advent to this field. The town of Newbury then covered what is now Newburyport and West Newbury, besides the "Old Town" itself. The First Church of New- bury, formed in 1635, was under the pastoral care of the Rev. Christopher Toppan. He was by no means in sympathy with the revival, even carrying a whip with him, as it is alleged, to scourge enthusiasts from the house of prayer. The Second and Fourth churches were on lofty hills, two miles apart, in what is now West Newbury; and their pastors stood aloof from the "Great Awakening." Queen Anne's chapel on the plains, and St. Paul's Episcopal church were under the care of the Rev. Mr. Plant, who regarded what he termed "the new scheme of Methodism" with great surprise, although his successor, Bishop Bass, was one of the pall-bearers at Whitefield's fun- eral. None of these churches opened their doors to the greatest pulpit orator of any age, when he arrived here in a blinding snow-storm September 30th,
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1740 .* An open air meeting was impracticable, and the Third Church was friendly to him who was re- jected by all the others. Its pastor, Rev. John Lowell, had for his motto, "In necessariis, unitas; in non- necessariis, libertas; in omnibus, charitas." And in the spirit of that noble motto he welcomed Whitefield. Was it a mere coincidence that the pulpit where the latter preached his first sermon here stood directly over a perennial spring that still bubbles up from the eternal rock? The immediate result of the revival was that one hundred and forty-three souls were added to the Third Church during the next eighteen months; a more remote result was the formation of our First Presbyterian church; and the grand total for New England was that thirty thousand persons were converted under the ministry of Whitefield. Edwards, the Tennants and kindred spirits.
The Third Church, in 1741, had three hundred and fifty-five members and was prosperous. But causes of trouble arose, in 1742, due to itinerants, whose cx- traordinary measures, in Mr. Lowell's absence, led him to exclude them. Every man in Newbury stood for or against the "New schemers." "New-lights," or "Joppaites," the latter name given it is said because
*Not September 10th as stated by both Williams and Coffin; as Whitefield did not land in New England till the 14th of September.
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they met "at the house of one Simon by the sea- side;" though they also met in "Mr. John Brown's barn, in Mr. Toppan's parish."
Thirty men with their families withdrew from the First Church, and thirty-eight from the Third Church; and after a while they built a plain but ample chapel that was finished February 15th, 1743, and served as our sanctuary for thirteen years. It stood on Norfolk (now High) street, between Lime street (as since laid out,) and Chandler's lane, afterwards called Prison street, (because the jail was on it,) then King street, and finally Federal street. It was in the "Storey garden," though the exact locality is not known, nor is any picture of the edifice in existence.
From the day of Mr. Lowell till now, when what was the Third Church of Christ has become the "First Religious Society," or the Unitarian Church, it has been the custom to speak of "the Presbyterian schism." We protest. The term implies a division without a justifiable cause and is a term of reproach. There certainly was a separation, and there may have been blame; but not wholly, nor mainly, with the seceders. Their alleged "irregularity" found a pre- cedent in the mode of withdrawal by both the Second and Third churches, at the time of their formation; and their example has been imitated by other
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JONATHAN PARSONS, 1746-1776.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
churches formed since then. Our fathers may have erred: but they sought in vain for two years for a fair hearing by a mutual council. And even after resorting to an "ex parte council," which decided in their favor, they waited long for some recognition of what would now be universally regarded as their sacred rights. Meanwhile they were ably ministered to by a young man from Byfield, the Rev. Joseph Adams, a graduate from Harvard. He served them as a " stated preacher " for three years, and merits last- ing remembrance as having done pioneer work in troublous times, paving the way for the pastors whose names now shine in letters of gold on your mural tablet. Mr. Adams was, however, more zealous than discreet, and by Mr. Whitefield's advice the congregation sought, as their first pastor, the
REV. JONATHAN PARSONS.
Preparatory, however, to this important step, they formed what was termed, "A New Society for the Settlement of the Gospel Ministry," and signed a subscription list for that purpose, November 25. 1745. The list contains one hundred and two names, many of which have come down to this day by family de- scent: among them. the familiar names of Titcomb. Noves, Little, Johnson, Moody, Greenleaf, Brown.
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Todd, Coffin, Cresey, Plumer, Poor, Knight, Knapp, Bayley, Safford, Pettingell, Lunt, Hale, Goodwin. and others. Prominence should be given here to Mr. John Brown, who was chosen as church clerk, and Mr. Ralph Cross, who has been styled "the founder of this church." These and other faithful helpers, male and female, gave of their time and money to promote this enterprise, and without them it would not have succeeded.
Nineteen separatists from the First Church signed a mutual covenant, January 3rd, 1746, agreeing to * walk together as a Church of Christ, according to the rules and order of the Gospel." Four days later they called Mr. Parsons, who had for some time been laboring at Lyme, Conn. They were publicly warned against this step, on the ground that he had been formerly lax in theology, and had renounced the Saybrook platform. But inquiry showed that. though once lax, he was now staunch in the faith; and that his reason for discarding the Saybrook platform was because it allowed civil interference with eccle- siastical matters. Hence they went ahead.
A council for installation was out of the question because the churches of the vicinity did not recog- nize them in fellowship. The so-called " Irish Pres- bytery," which had existed for several years, was in
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ruins; and they literally obeyed the instruction of the Scotch Form of Government, that while "no single congregation that can conveniently associate, do as- sume to itself all and sole power in ordination;" yet "in extraordinary cases, something extraordinary may be done, until a settled order may be had." That was good Presbyterianism by the only received standard. Hence, on March 19, 1746, Mr. Parsons stood before his flock, with uplifted hand and said: "In the presence of God and these witnesses, I take this people to be my people." And then they arose, and the clerk said on their behalf: "In the presence of God and these witnesses we take this man to be our minister." It was strictly "by the book;" yet was like a Quaker marriage for simplicity and solemnity; and the union thus formed lasted till it was ended by death.
Meanwhile, and in a manner almost as independent, three ministers and three ruling elders, being con- vened on their own motion at Londonderry, N. H., April 16th, 1745, had decided to constitute them- selves as a Presbytery, "to act so far as their circum- stances would permit them, etc." Two of these min- isters, namely, Rev. John Moorehead, of Boston, and Rev. David MacGregor, of Londonderry, had been suspended from the so-called "Irish Presbytery," on
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account of their zeal in espousing the cause of Mr. Whitefield. The third minister, Rev. Robert Abercrombie, of Pelham, Mass., was of the same way of thinking, having just been ordained by a council, consisting of Messrs. Moorehead, MacGregor, Jonathan Edwards and others. Our church was in sympathy with this movement, and voted. April 5th, 1746, to unite with it; and accordingly, two days later, namely, on April 7th, 1746, they completed their organization by electing six ruling elders to act as a Session. On the 9th of June the seceders from the Third Church asked for admission without creden- tials, and they were received on the 16th of October.
It is not strange that we hesitated a while before joining the new Presbytery of Boston, made up as it was of the fragments of its predecessor, and consti- tuted by its own order. But it was finally done, Oc- tober 4th, 1748, with certain "reserved rights." As a good deal has been said about these conditions, we may add that they were simply these : (I.) That the Presbytery should satisfy us as to its coming off from the former one ;* (2.) That they should really wish to receive this church; (3.) That "they make no difficulty about our choosing our elders annually,"
*The first Presbytery of Londonderry, though moribund, did not actually become extinct by depletion till a later date. Hence the propriety of this inquiry.
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(the custom elsewhere being to elect them for life;) (4.) That they do not bind us respecting the form of administering and receiving the sacraments; and (5.) That they " accept the great doctrines of Grace, as contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms." These conditions were made by a vote of this church, September 15. 1748; and were unanimously agreed to by the Presbytery.
It may be added that, in 1802, during Dr. Dana's ministry, this church unanimously voted to adopt the constitution and form of government of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. "reserving only its established practice of electing its elders annually."
The record reads that we joined the Presbytery "both by choice and by compulsion." The latter phrase refers to the fact that there was no other way of escaping the double taxation then sanctioned by colonial law. The First and Third parishes insisted that we were a "misguided band;" that what we called " conscience." was but " avarice;" that we had no right to exist. A parchment yellow with age is extant, being an authentic copy of our petition to "The King's Most Excellent Majesty " relating that Presbyterians were unjustly forced, in addition to supporting their own minister, to pay "for the
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support of ministers on whose ministry they cannot in conscience attend;" and that, upon refusal to pay such unjust taxes, " honest and peaceable men have been hauled away to prison, to their great hurt and damage;" and praying for "equal liberty of con- science in worshipping God" that had already been granted to others.
As it has been doubted if this petition signed by Jonathan Greenleaf, Ralph Cross and others, was ever sent to the King, let me say that I find in a letter by Rev. Mr. Parsons himself the statement that Mr. Partridge was their "agent before the King in Council," in the matter of showing this petition. In this same letter, which was written in 1749 to Col. Elisha Williams, then in London, Mr. Parsons says of his flock, that they are not "a wild, friekish people," but avoid "an apish sort of religion;" that they are honest and industrious, with some wealthy members, but " with more poor widows than all the other con- gregations in town put together," "left so by the death of their husbands in the Cape Breton expe- dition." Yet he complains that, for refusing to pay taxes to ministers on whose ministry they never at- tended, they were "dragged about upon the ground," " dressed up in bear-skins and worried," were thrown upon carts, hauled through the streets, and imprisoned
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with a "Lie there till you have paid the utmost farthing." He urges Col. Williams to use his in- fluence with His Majesty and to assure him that he has no more dutiful and loyal subjects than "those who are trampled on in the manner related."
These efforts brought only slight relief; and it was not till 1773, or thirty years after beginning to worship on High street, that, by an act of the General Court. they were put on a footing with other denominations. Thus a century from the landing of the " Hector" at the mouth of the Merrimac, with a colony led by those pioneer Presbyterians, Parker and Noyes, ex- pressly "to enjoy the free exercise of their religion," was that priceless liberty secured for their descend- ants. And even then it took some time to enforce the right granted by law, as appears from the record in our Parish book, in 1786: "Voted, to defend those in Newbury who are taxed there that belong to this church." And Newbury did not formally concede our rights till 1795. That was more than fifty years after our withdrawal! Such persistent and oppres- sive coercion can only be explained on the ground that. while Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Baptists and Quakers had rights, Presbyterians had none; and indeed had no right to be Presbyterians at all!
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What wonder that "the low and vulgar" dared to revile Whitefield and Parsons, and pelt them with stones, clods and other missles, as they walked these streets, and even as they entered the doors of this sanctuary. It is hard to realize these facts; and they can be accounted for only on the theory that the Con- gregational fathers, while claiming the right to worship God in their own way, were by no means willing to accord that right to others who were not of their way of thinking .*
After all, the infant church moulded by Jonathan Parsons and George Whitefield, thrived on persecu- tion and unmixed orthodoxy. The pastorate of Mr. Parsons spanned thirty years. He was peculiarly fitted for his place and work. Eminently scholarly
*Certain dates may here be given. Newburyport was incorporated in 1764. The First Presbyterian society, though formed in 1745, and gaining recognition by legislative acts in 1752 and 1770, was not made a distinct corporation with legal power to tax pews and estates, till the act passed by the Legislature, Feb. 22, 1794. According to Rev. Mr. Williams (Hist. Account, page 23,) the First Presbyterian Church was incorporated in 1815; adding in a note, "A copy of the act of incorporation of this Church may be found upon the record." The first Baptist church in the Bay colony was formed in 1664; the tirst Episcopal church in 1686; a Society of Friends gained recognition in 1710; the first Roman Catholic church in the colony was formed in 1759; the first Methodist Episcopal in 1795. King's Chapel, Boston, became Unitarian in 1785, previous to which the law re- garded it as blasphemy to deny the doctrine of the Trinity. The very first Presbyterian meeting house built in New England was in Boston in 1716, by French Huguenots, who had for some years been allowed to worship in the school house on School street. They disbanded in 174S, and contrary to agreement their house was sold to the Roman Catholics in 1785. l'eter Fanucil, Esq., who built the famous hall that bears his name, and gave it to the town, is said to have belonged to that Huguenot congregation.
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and maintaining a correspondence with leading men of this and other lands, he was also a fervid revival- ist and a man of affairs; choleric and passionate, he was ever swift to make amends; fond of fine clothes, ruffled shirt fronts and gold lace galore, he was also devotedly pious and wonderfully prevalent in prayer; with a beauty of face almost feminine in loveliness, as we may judge by his portrait, his blue eyes were piercing and his expression commanding, while his voice was under admirable control for majestic, per- suasive or pathetic effects as occasion might require : as a whole a remarkable combination of contrasted characteristics.
1212327
No wonder that Whitefield loved him! You all know the story of the great evangelist's departure. After a month of unexampled labors he sought the house of his friend, the next but one to our meeting- house, and after evening prayers he found the street crowded with people who wanted to hear him preach. Ile halted on the stairway, candle in hand, on the way to what proved to be his dying-chamber and ceased not to exhort them with tearful eyes till his candle burned away and went out in its socket. At six o'clock the next morning, Sunday, Sept. 30, 1770, he entered Heaven. He was at his own request, buried beneath the pulpit of this church, where it had
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been his intention to preach the very day of his death.
An immense concourse attended his funeral ; harbor guns were fired, flags hung at half-mast, and thrice all the bells were tolled for half-an-hour. Whitefield was buried "in gown, cassock, bands and wig," though these relics vanished long ago. Near him in the crypt rests Mr. Parsons, who died in 1776, the very day the Declaration of Independence arrived here. There too lies Rev. Joseph Prince, the inti- mate friend of Whitefield and Parsons. He often preached in this house, and was admired for his wonderful gifts, as well as pitied for his blindness. For a number of years his sermons averaged ten a week, and he visited all parts of New England, New York and New Jersey, but finally held several suc- cessive pastorates, in which he was greatly blessed. I have heard it said that he was childless, but it is a mistake; he was married and had twelve sons and one daughter. Mr. Murray preached his funeral sermon, after which the body was laid in the crypt. But when Murray himself died he refused to be buried there. Hence it has been left altogether to the three friends, Whitefield, Parsons and Prince.
The cenotaph near by was erected by Hon. William Bartlett, after a design by Strickland, executed by Struthers; and the inscription, that has since been
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reverently read by so many thousands, was by Pro- fessor Ebenezer Porter, D. D., of Andover Seminary. (So stated in Belcher's Biography of Whitefield. P. 443.)
REV. JOHN MURRAY.
There could hardly be a stronger contrast than that between the Rev. Jonathan Parsons and his successor. Mr. Murray was born at Antrim, Ireland, May 22, 1742, and was graduated with honor from the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, at a very early age. He entered the gospel ministry when only eighteen years of age; but an irregularity about his certificate of licensure embittered and limited an otherwise noble life. He came to America in 1763, and after visiting New York and other places, he was ordained as Rev. Gilbert Tennant's successor over the Second Presby- terian church in Philadelphia. The people of Booth- bay, Maine, urged a call upon him so strongly that, notwithstanding his brilliant success at Philadelphia and the unattractive nature of Boothbay, where there had never been either church or minister, he accepted their offer, and gathered a church said to have been the largest in the State. Ilis popularity was very great. Wherever he went he drew such crowds that. at times the meeting-house had to be "shored up" to prevent its being rent asunder.
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Mr. Murray ardently espoused the patriotic side of the Revolutionary War, was a member, and for a time president of the provincial Congress. and several anecdotes are recorded of his courage. The British fleet pilfered from his parishioners, and remonstrances were in vain. Then Murray donned his big wig, bands and gown, went aboard the flag-ship and read the Commodore such a philippic as ended the contro- versy. But later a price of five hundred guineas was
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