USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > Sermon on the re-opening of Christ Church, Cambridge, Mass. : preached on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 22, 1857 : with a historical notice of the Church > Part 3
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In 1777 he published a Fast Day Sermon, on the un- happy differences between England and her American colonies; dedicated to his parishioners at Croydon, for whose use it was written, but it is believed not preached. Though from education and habits firmly attached to the British constitution and government, he ever retained a filial regard to his native country, and rejoiced in its progress and improvement. He received with the great- est cordiality the literary gentlemen of America who visited England, many of whom returned impressed with a high respect for him and a grateful sense of his hospit- able attentions.
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THE REV. DR. APTHORP.
Dr. Apthorp's writings show him to have been a man of deep thought and great learning, of sound judgment and pure and discriminating taste. His views were noble and animated, and he held up the highest standard of excellence in every department of human culture, always in subservience to religion. He would have the arts and every elegant pursuit imbued with its spirit, as the true secret of their advancement. "The Christian religion," he says, " having perfection for its end, and familiarizing the mind to the purest ideas of the fair and beautiful, tends to perfect the arts in subordination to its ruling principle, divine love. An artist in painting, sculpture, music, poetry, and even in the inferior departments, would excel those of his profession, other things being equal, in proportion as he was directed in his choice and execution by Christian principles. The spirit of irreli- gion has debased and corrupted all the arts. It is itself a spirit of turpitude and vice, and banishes every delicate scruple, and that true sublime which is inseparable from purity in the artist's breast."
By those who knew him personally Dr. Apthorp is represented as courteous and affable in manner, of warm and quick feelings, of a high spirit and ardent tempera- ment, and of great sincerity and openness of character. His piety was of a cheerful cast; - " God loves not," he said, " a dull and melancholy spirit ; " - but at the same time it was fervid and humble, and he dwelt much on the great truth that our only hope of salvation is in the merits and mercies of the Redeemer. After bearing patiently a long sickness of six years, he died at the advanced age of eighty-four, and was buried with great honor in the chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge, where,
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THE REV. DR. APTHORP.
.
by his own direction, the following inscription was cut upon the stone which covers his remains :
EAST APTHORP, S. T. P., hujus Collegii nuper Alumnus et Socius, Ædis Cathedralis S'ti Pauli Prebendarius, decessit in fide die XVI. Aprilis MDCCCXVI. ætatis LXXXIV. expectans misericordiam Domini nostri Jesu Christi in vitam æternam. 1
I Nichols' Literary Anecdotes of the 18th Century. Gentlemen's Magazine for 1816. Bridgman's Memorials of the Dead in Boston.
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
III.
THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
MR. APTHORP left for England in the latter part of the year 1764, and before April of the following year had resigned his mission. The Rev. Mr. Walter was invited to supply his place, but declined. After the removal of Mr. Apthorp, the Rev. Mr. Griffith officiated from De- cember 1764 till May 1765. The Rev. William Agar was employed from the first Sunday in October following until some time in the next year. There is a singular letter from him to the Society, dated May 1st 1766, in which he mixes up an account of the state of the parish with his own private affairs and grievances. "At the instance of his Excellency," he says, " and the people of Cambridge, I consented to officiate, as their church must be closed if I did not undertake it; though I feared, from the weight of my misfortunes, I should not be capable of doing myself and him credit, but would rather hide my head in woods and forests than appear in public." He then mentions the fact of the church being in treaty with Mr. Serjeant, and adds: "There are about forty communicants ; all the proprietors of the church are men of fortune. Some of the collegians come to church." He also gives a list of about twenty families belonging to the congregation, seven of whom he designates as " very rich." In the conclusion of the letter he remarks, " the temper which made Mr. Apthorp uneasy will ever disturb this mission."
Mr. Apthorp had written from England to Mr. Lech-
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
mere, February 24th 1766: "The Archbishop of Canter- bury has directed me to desire the gentlemen of your vestry to continue Mr. Agar in the service of the Cam- bridge mission till the church is supplied with a mission- ary, should no exception arise on your part to Mr. Agar's character, conduct, or connections." In the summer of 1766 the parish obtained the consent of the Rev. Mr. Serjeant to become their missionary, and requested Mr. Agar to officiate till Mr. Serjeant's arrival, or so long as it was agreeable to him.
The Rev. Winwood Serjeant is supposed to have been a native of Bristol, England, and to have been born about the year 1730. He was ordained Priest by Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, December 19th 1756, and the same day was licensed by the Bishop of London for South Car- olina. Early in 1759 he was made assistant minister of St. Philip's Church, Charleston. Sickness and domestic afflictions caused him to resign this situation towards the close of the same year, and he removed to St. George's Parish, Dorchester, where he remained as missionary till his departure from that province in 1767.
Previous to his coming to America he had married ; his wife followed him to this country, but afterwards returned to England and died there. He was again mar- ried, October 31st 1765, to Mary, daughter of the Rev. Arthur Brown, of Portsmouth, N. H., and in the fol- lowing year accepted the invitation to the mission at Cambridge. On September 1st 1767, he wrote to the Society, informing them that he had entered upon his new cure. " I arrived here the beginning of June, which was as soon as I could obtain a convenient passage from South Carolina, or leave my former parish with propriety and decency." The same salary was voted to him that
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
was given to Mr. Apthorp, £50 per annum, and £18 in lieu of house and glebe; making, with the stipend from the Society, an income of £118 a year. On Octo- ber 17th 1768 he wrote: " My duty lies within a narrow circle, and affords nothing of importance. I content my- self with the hopes of meriting the silent approbation of the Society by a steady, unaffected discharge of what comes under my cure." May 14th 1770: "The Church of Cambridge affords nothing of consequence to com- municate, except the happiness of assuring you of its regularity and tranquillity." April 25th 1772: "The congregation increases notwithstanding the late loss of two principal families by death and removal. My com- municants make a superior figure to most in the coun- try." March 12th 1774: "There are between fifteen and twenty families, six of them possessed of ample for- tunes, the rest in very easy circumstances, who have retired from business. The income of the Church seldom exceeds £70 per annum. The populace are almost daily engaged in riots and tumults. On the 7th inst. they made a second destruction of thirty chests of tea. Poli- tical commotions run extremely high in Boston ; if not suppressed soon, the whole province is in danger of being thrown into anarchy and confusion."
On the 14th of September 1774 he preached at the King's Chapel, Boston, in presence of General Gage, before a Convention of the Episcopal Clergy, on the text : " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." St. John xiii. 17.
As Mr. Serjeant's congregation comprised many noted loyalists, and his Church was in the very focus of the excitement at the beginning of the war, it was scarcely to be expected that he would remain long without molesta-
6
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
· tion. Like many others of the clergy of our Church, he felt bound by the oath of allegiance to the Sovereign, and the vow of conformity to the Liturgy made at his ordination. However little he might meddle with the political con- troversies of the day, the mere offering prayers for the King and Royal Family would be enough to make him obnoxious to the excited multitude. It is not known precisely at what time he left Cambridge, nor when his house was attacked, nor whether he was actually turned out of it by violence, though such may have been the case. On the 13th of February 1775 he seems to have acted as chaplain of one of His Majesty's ships of war, commanded by Capt. Hartwell.
The Rev. Dr. Caner, writing from Boston to the So- ciety, June 2d 1775, says: " Mr. Serjeant of Cambridge has been obliged with his family to fly for the safety of their lives, nor can I learn where he is concealed. His fine church is turned into barracks by the rebels, and a beautiful organ that was in it broke to pieces." Mr. Ser- jeant himself says, August 3d 1775 : " I was obliged to retreat with my family fifty miles into the country to Kingston, in New Hampshire, where I was in hopes of meeting with a peaceful retirement among rural peasants, but my hopes were soon disappointed. The restless spirit of fanaticism renders unintelligent minds more licentious and ferocious. I found it necessary to remove to New- bury, where I hope to be protected from the insults of the common people." The Rev. Mr. Weeks, writing from Marblehead in 1778, said: " Mr. Serjeant's parish at Cambridge is wholly broken up. The elegant houses of those gentlemen who once belonged to it are now occu- pied by the rebels, and Mr. Inman, a man of fortune and figure, is now obliged to purchase things from his own
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
farm at Cambridge. The rebels have taken from him every thing except his wearing apparel, only because he had been one of the King's council in that province."
Mr. Serjeant did not long survive his misfortunes and the dispersion of his congregation. For two or three years he seems to have lived at Newbury, or what is now Newburyport. In 1777 he was attacked with paralysis, and in 1778 returned with his family to England, and resided among his friends at Bristol. He lingered for a while in a very feeble and help- less condition of body, till another stroke terminated his sufferings. He died September 20th 1780 at Bath, England, whither his family had removed. In these last years of his life, in addition to his other misfortunes, he suffered from extreme poverty, and his situation was truly distressing. His son, Marmaduke Brown Serjeant, aged 14 years, died about the same time, and was buried with him in the same grave. Two daughters survived him ; Mary, born in Cambridge in 1769, and Elizabeth, born some years afterwards.
A few of his letters which have been preserved, ad- dressed to his sister-in-law at Portsmouth, show him to have been of a sprightly turn, with a touch of humor and pleasantry, but a man of tender feelings and affectionate disposition. He must have lived on terms of great famil- iarity with his congregation, as he mentions several of them with a playful epithet or description for each. Lieut. Gov. Oliver, distinguished for his amiable and courtly manners and universally beloved in Cambridge, he calls " the pretty little dapper man, Colonel Oliver." A colored servant, named Jess, belonging to the family at Portsmouth, on the breaking up of the estate, had been sold, or was sent to be sold, to the West Indies, and com-
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
·
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mitted suicide on the passage by jumping overboard. Mr. Serjeant thus expresses his abhorrence of the trans- action : "I was much concerned to hear that poor Jess was sent away to the West Indies ; what distress of mind must the poor creature have felt to throw himself over- board ! What would our tender-hearted father and mother have thought of us all ! A poor, old, faithful slave, that had lived so long in the family ! I cannot help thinking that it was hard, cruel, not to say criminal. Your sister was greatly affected at it indeed ; and must own, had I known anything of such an intention, would have done anything for the poor fellow rather than he should have been sent off the country : sure I am your compassionate disposition had no hand in it : God rest his soul !"
This was in June 1774. In the same letter, which was probably one of the last that he wrote from Cam- bridge, he says: " Boston is in a terrible situation, and will be much more so if they do not submit to govern- ment before fall; the poor will be most miserably dis- tressed, and the town must be absolutely ruined." How little did the ministerial party understand the spirit of the American colonists !
Mrs. Serjeant, after her husband's decease, obtained from the Crown, in consideration of their sufferings and losses in the rebellion, a pension of £100, and resided at Bath for the remainder of her days. " Her life," says a friend, who furnished several of these particulars, "was one of the most bitter trials. The seven bright years of her husband's happy ministry were followed by days of awful darkness. In one of her letters she says she has passed through great troubles in besieged towns, has been shipwrecked, and has often experienced cold and hunger."
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THE REV. MR. SERJEANT.
This sad tale is but one instance of the calamities which fell on the Episcopal clergy and their families in those days, for conscience' sake and their loyal adherence to the established government.
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DISPERSION OF THE CONGREGATION
IV.
DISPERSION OF THE CONGREGATION. - THE CHURCH DURING THE WAR.
THE congregation had almost entirely dispersed at the beginning of the war. Perhaps no Church in the country was more completely broken up. Of all the persons who took part in its concerns, including the sixty-eight origi- nal subscribers for the building (several of whom how- ever were of Boston) and twenty original purchasers of pews, not a name appears on the records after the Revo- lution but those of John Pigeon Esq. and Judge Joseph Lee. The former espoused the patriotic side ; the latter was a loyalist but, being a quiet man and moderate in his opinions, remained unmolested. He died in 1802, at the great age of ninety-three. Judge Lee occupied the house on the north side of Brattle Street, nearly opposite Lowell Street, now belonging to Mrs. D. Carpenter, his grand-niece.
The residences of some of the other founders of the Church may have a local interest. Major John Vassal lived in the house now occupied by Prof. Longfellow, known as Washington's head-quarters ; Colonel Henry Vassal, at the corner of Brattle and Ash Streets, in the mansion now the residence of Samuel Batchelder Esq. ; Jonathan Sewall Esq., afterwards a Judge of Admiralty in New Brunswick, in the house at the corner of Brattle and Sparks Streets (previously the residence of Richard Lechmere Esq., who built it) now occupied by John Brewster Esq .; Captain George Ruggles, at the corner of Brattle and Fayerweather Streets, now the resi-
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THE CHURCH DURING THE WAR.
dence of William Wells Esq .; Lieut. Gov. Thomas Oliver, in the mansion now belonging to the Rev. Dr. Lowell. This part of the town was called Church Row. Robert Temple Esq. lived at Ten Hills, near Charlestown, now in Somerville; Brig. Gen. Isaac Royall, founder of the Royall Professorship of Law in the University, at Medford. The mansion of Ralph Inman Esq. was the house opposite the head of Austin Street, Cambridgeport; that of Col. David Phips, High Sheriff of Middlesex, was on the site of the Winthrop House, between Arrow and Mount Auburn Streets. Richard Lechmere Esq., who inherited by his wife, sister of Col. Phips, that part of the Phips estate which is now East Cambridge, called Lechmere's Point, Benjamin Faneuil Esq., brother and heir of Peter Faneuil, the benefactor of Boston, and James and Thomas Apthorp Esqrs., brothers of the missionary, also had houses at Cambridge; the three last in what is now Brighton, then called Little Cambridge.
All these gentlemen (except Jonathan Sewall, who was Warden in 1773) were original subscribers and prominent supporters of the Church. They were all loyalists, and with the exception of Col. Henry Vassal, who died in 1769, and was buried in his tomb under the church, Benj. Faneuil Sr. and perhaps George Ruggles, all suffered for - their loyalty. They were proscribed and banished, their property confiscated, and their families broken up. Robert Temple was imprisoned and examined, but released and died in London before the close of the war. Ralph Inman recovered his property, and died in Cambridge. Jonathan Simpson Jr. Esq., the son of an original subscriber, was Senior Warden for a series of years after the Revolution, and was actively instrumental in the resuscitation of the
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DISPERSION OF THE CONGREGATION.
·
Church. He occupied the house which was built by Mr. Apthorp, and which had been the residence of his father- in-law, John Borland Esq., another original subscriber, who took refuge in Boston and died during the siege. Benj. Faneuil Jr. was included in the act of proscription and banishment. Many of these families were related by blood or marriage. Col. Henry Vassal was a younger brother of Col. John Vassal, father of the Major John Vassal, who was a subscriber for the church. Lechmere, Lee, and John Vassal Sr., married sisters of David Phips. Lieut. Gov. Oliver, John Borland and George Ruggles, married sisters of John Vassal Sr .; John Vassal Jr., the sister of Lieut. Gov. Oliver. Col. Henry Vassal married Penelope Royall. The houses of several of these gentle- men were surrounded and assaulted in the riots of Sept. 1774.
During a part of his ministry Mr. Serjeant occupied the house fronting the Common, which (much enlarged) is now the residence of Mrs. L. Waterhouse ; for which he paid a rent of £4. 6s. 8d. a year. Five acres of land belonged to it. The present Rectory adjoins a part of his lot. The house in which he lived at the beginning of the revolutionary troubles, and which was ransacked by the mob, stood on the Observatory grounds, nearly opposite the end of Linnaan Street, but has since been removed to the other side of Garden Street.
Thus the shepherd was driven away, and the flock scattered by the same catastrophe.
A large body of the tumultuous and unorganized pro- vincial forces, which crowded into the environs of Boston after the battle of Lexington, took possession of the church, the colleges and private houses in Cambridge. It is to be hoped that the destruction of the organ of Christ
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THE CHURCH DURING THE WAR.
Church was not an act of mere wanton violence ; though the marks of a bullet shot into the tower are still visible in the wood work. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill Capt. Chester's company from Wethersfield, Conn., seems to have been quartered in the building.1 No doubt the window weights and organ pipes were found very convenient to be moulded into bullets ; but the organ was not destroyed solely for that purpose, as pieces of it were about Cambridge for a long time afterwards. Some of them were even picked up in the roads. The injuries done to the building itself must have been con- siderable, as when it was repaired in 1790 the Church paid upwards of thirty dollars for carpenter's repairs upon the pulpit alone.
General Washington arrived in Cambridge on Sunday, July 2d 1775. On the 10th of July he wrote to the President of the Continental Congress that the army suf- fered great disadvantages for the want of tents, and that the Colleges and houses in this town were necessarily . occupied by the troops. Their barracks for the winter were not completed in the latter part of November, hav- ing been delayed by wet weather; so that it might have been December before the church was vacated. Mrs. Washington arrived in Cambridge on Monday, December 11th. The following extract from a letter of Col. Wm. Palfrey to his wife is given from his Memoir, by Dr. J. G. Palfrey, in Sparks' American Biography.2
" I yesterday, at the request of Mrs. Washington, per- formed Divine Service at the Church at Cambridge. There was present the General and lady, Mrs. Gates,
1 Letter of Capt. Chester. Frothingham's Siege of Boston, p. 132.
2 Vol. VII. New Series. P. 405.
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THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
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DISPERSION OF THE CONGREGATION.
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Mrs. Custis and a number of others, and they were pleased to compliment me on my performance. I made a form of prayer instead of the prayer for the King, which was much approved. I gave it to Mrs. Washington at her desire, and did not keep a copy, but will get one and send it to you."
Dr. Palfrey has kindly allowed the original manu- scripts to be examined. The letter is dated Tuesday evening, 11 o'clock, 2d January, which would make the service to have been held the day before, i. e. Mon- day, New Year's Day; but it bears some marks of having been written or sketched on Monday, and copied on Tuesday. The word "Last" stands erased before the portion quoted above: so that the service was probably on Sunday, the last day of the year 1775. The prayer' alluded to was as follows.
PRAYER.
O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings and Lord of lords, who hast made of one blood all the nations upon earth, and whose common bounty is liberally bestowed upon thy unworthy creatures ; most heartily we beseech Thee to look down with mercy upon his Majesty George the Third. Open his eyes and en- lighten his understanding, that he may pursue the true interest of the people over whom Thou in thy Providence hast placed him. Remove far from him all wicked, cor- rupt men, and evil counsellors, that his throne may be established in justice and righteousness ; and so replenish him with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that he may incline to thy will and walk in thy way.
Have pity, O most merciful Father, upon the dis- . tresses of the inhabitants of this western world. To that
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THE CHURCH DURING THE WAR.
end we humbly pray Thee to bless the Continental Con- gress. Preside over their councils, and may they be led to such measures as may tend to thy glory, to the advancement of true religion, and to the happiness and prosperity of thy people. We also pray Thee to bless our provincial assemblies, magistrates, and all in subor- dinate places of power and trust. Be with thy servant the Commander-in-chief of the American forces. Afford him thy presence in all his undertakings; strengthen him that he may vanquish and overcome all his enemies ; and grant that we may in due time be restored to the enjoyment of those inestimable blessings we have been deprived of by the devices of cruel and bloodthirsty men, for the sake of thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It is more than probable that service was performed in the church on other occasions while the head-quarters of the army were at Cambridge. It is known that after order was established particular attention was paid to divine worship, and that chaplains constantly attended at the camps morning and night to offer prayers. With so large a force in the town, and but one other place of wor- ship, it is scarcely probable that the church, when no longer needed for barracks, would be unemployed for ser- vices of some kind on Sunday. There has always been a tradition in Cambridge that General Washington was in the habit of worshipping there; and when the church was repaired in 1825, a pew which he occupied was pointed out by a person who had been present. No writ- ten evidence however, other than that already given has been found.
The copy of the prayer requested by Mrs. Washington was probably intended for use on similar occasions, and, as .
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THE CHURCH DURING THE WAR.
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both armies remained mostly inactive for the remainder of the winter till the evacuation of Boston, there would be more convenient opportunities of holding Divine Ser- vice. It is worthy of note that on the day of the service before mentioned, General Washington wrote to the Pres- ident of the Continental Congress respecting a better pro- vision for chaplains in the army. "I need not point out to you the great utility of gentlemen whose lives and con- versation are unexceptionable being employed upon that service." On Sunday, December 3d 1775, he attended public worship in the Parish Church, (Dr. Appleton's,) when the Rev. Abiel Leonard preached to the troops. Sunday, March 17th 1776, a few hours after the enemy retreated from Boston, at the same church, " the Rev. Mr. Leonard preached a sermon in the audience of his Excel- lency the General and others of distinction, well adapted to the interesting event of the day." 1
1 N. E. Chron. for March 21st, 1776.
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THE CHURCH AFTER THE WAR.
V.
THE CHURCH AFTER THE WAR. - READERS, RECTORS AND WARDENS.
CHRIST CHURCH was left for many years in a melan- choly and desecrated condition, the doors shattered and all the windows broken out, exposed to rain and storms and every sort of depredation, its beauty gone, its sanc- tuary defiled, the wind howling through its deserted aisles and about its stained and decaying walls; the whole building being a disgrace instead of an ornament to the town. No effort appears to have been made for the renewal of divine worship till the beginning of the year 1790. At that time a subscription, with the follow- ing preamble, was commenced for repairing the injuries to the building :
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