USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > The First Evangelical Congregational Church, Cambridgeport, Mass. > Part 10
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No inquiry-meetings were instituted. From time to time expressions were taken at the close of the meetings for prayer, and then the pastor earnestly invited such to call at his house at certain hours, and he called at their homes so far as he could. The work went on very quietly, and entirely free from excitement. We had no outside help whatever, except what was incidental to the general interest in salvation that pervaded all this region. The church was revived and increased. "So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed." In full sympathy with the . work at the Tabernacle, neither pastor nor people found time often to attend service there, although that work was habitually mentioned in our prayers.
The harvest was glorious. During the year seventy- two united by letter and ninety-five on profession of their faith, the largest accession being at the May communion, when twelve united by letter and sixty-four on profession of faith. Ten entire families came into the church. From one family, six ; from each of four families, four ; from
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each of nine families, three; and from each of ten families, two. The united head of thirteen families, four children from nine to twelve years of age, and twelve between twelve and fifteen years of age, have united during the season. In eighteen instances those uniting completed the family circle in the church : the only child of the pastor, one child of one deacon, two children of another, and three of the other deacon, so that these three entire families are in the church. Eight parents came each with a child, and seven husbands, whose wives have been praying for them. The church now numbers five hundred and sixty, of whom four hundred and forty are resident members. It has received, during the last year, nearly four times the number of the original church ; and is, to- day, nearly ten times as large as it was when it organized and entered upon its work.
CONCLUSION.
It remains now to cast our eyes back to the grain which was sown, the bare grain, fifty years ago at this autumnal equinox. We have traced only the visible growth. The other record has been kept in the " books which no man in heaven, nor on earth, neither under the earth, is able to open, neither to look thereon." We may weep to-day with John of Patmos that we cannot re- count the spiritual conquests and triumphs of the hun- dreds gone before, and still with us; but we must wait until the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, opening the seals, shall say, "Come and see." We are looking upon the field to-day, all glorious in its growing
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grain; a few heads that have ripened we have rubbed between the palms of Memory's hands, and we find them well filled within as well as golden without. But the grain is growing yet. " The harvest is not yet past ; the summer is not yet ended." Did they sow fifty years ago what we see to-day ? Whence came the increase ? We have traced the footsteps of Pauls as they have planted, and of Apollos, as he has watered, but who gave the in- crease ? Of what sort is the increase ? Amid the rejoi- cings of these centennial years, the nation, States, cities, towns, are communing with their careers, and rejoicing in the harvests of a hundred years. To the eye of sense this anniversary occasion may appear insignificant, but how glorious all appears in this kingdom of God, where, in the light of the Sun of Righteousness, are seen the countless trophies of his Almighty grace.
As to-day the sun crosses the invisible line only to keep on in his ceaseless course of illumination, as to-day we cross the invisible line which divides in two the century, to pass on into time untrodden, let us remember that here below all growth and all promise are to encourage for new sowing. Our measure of seed is larger, our fa- cilities for sowing are better, and our field is the world lying in darkness. Thankful to-day for the sowing of fifty years ago, let us, by sowing bare grain in the midst of our gratitude, mingle through hope in the thanksgiving of fifty years hence, when they who fill our places, then de- serted by us, shall observe the one-hundredth anniversary.
" The little one has become a thousand." Fifty years ago this church began to worship in an unpretending meeting-house, in a then despised village. Then not one had crossed the river. To-day more than two hundred
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are on the other shore. More than four hundred have removed from our communion to other fields. In one hundred and twenty-nine churches in the world have these our members found their immediate fellowship. In twenty-two States of the Union our brethren have found new church homes; while Scotland and England, as well as Canada and New Brunswick and Turkey and China, have received of ours. In this "station midway between Boston and Cambridge," now owned and honored by both, are three meeting-houses. In them statedly worship of Christ's professed followers nearly a thousand, while great multitudes are halting at the door, waiting for a cordial welcome from those within. Of our members five have entered the gospel ministry, - Bancroft, Bisco, Meriam, Cutter, Wilson. Of our funds, $ 153,824.27 have been paid for home expenses; $ 69,417.84 have been donated in Christian charities. Including Pilgrim and Stearns Chapels and this church, upwards of two thousand persons have here professed Christ, and many have been his witnesses at the hour of their departure. In the three Sunday schools, the lineal descendants of those who were thrust out, are now enrolled about thirteen hundred names. In every department of Christian work the mother-church and her two children are engaged, and these church members touch every point on the social sphere.
Greater than the blessing of Jacob is the blessing upon the church of 1827. " He crossed over with his staff and became two bands." But from that feeble beginning, beneath the frownings of foes and desertion of friends, in an offensive and socially ostracized locality, from that weakly babe, literally cradled amidst inns and stables,
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> has come these three churches. This beautiful city, can- opied beneath the graceful boughs and abundant foliage of the forest-trees which line its avenues, garnished with its manifold flower-gardens, rich in its fruit-yards, well watered, well lighted, with streets always in good con- dition, and paved sidewalks, supplied with excellent schools in every grade, and abounding in the homes of an industrious, enterprising, and contented population, - this beautiful city of to-day furnishes no stronger contrast with the Cambridgeport of 1827 than does our Zion in it to-day with our Zion in it when our fathers and mothers in the faith began to build. How much the city owes to that effort and what has succeeded to it, we leave a ques- tion for each to answer for himself. What greater loss could the city sustain than to have these three churches, with their membership, their property, and their position in the social, educational, commercial, and political world, transported beyond its limits. The little stone cut out of the mountain without hands grows still. Hitherto it has come by a path of which it knew nothing, and it has come to an honor of which it had not conceived ; but it has come to this Gilgal through a long wandering.
For ten years longer than the Arabian pilgrimage it has been marching. It has grown while on the march. We have been looking on the burdens and the labors and the warfares and the difficulties through which they who have borne the tabernacle and its enclosed ark have come. To-day the reproach is rolled off, and we are here for conquest in the name of Jesus, our great Leader. "But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds ; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it-
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self against the knowledge of God, and bringing into cap- tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Fifty years ago not many of us were here; fifty years hence not many of us will be here. Midway between the beginning and the close of the first century of this church's existence, we stand, while MEMORY and HOPE combine to inspire us with renewed devotion and full consecration to the labor of love in proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men from the terrible undoing of their own sins. We stand here to call those who were here fifty years ago out of the halls of the unseen, that we may garland their names with the fingers of our gratitude and esteem. In another temple their names are all written, and set in the light of the Redeemer's coun- tenance. And while we thus stand saluted on the one cheek with the kiss of Memory and on the other cheek with the kiss of Hope, amid these stars whose light grows brighter with the light of that life that never dies, our souls drink in the glory of our faith. Our joyful an- " niversaries not merely chronicle the past, but herald the future. At the Lord's Supper we remember his death and behold his glorious return. The loves by which we clasp to our glad hearts these brothers gone before us, as we recount their deeds in Christ, are the same loves whose silken threads shall bind us to all the ransomed when they themselves, and not merely their names, shall be brought into our real presence, in the house not made with hands, nor adorned by fingers that grow weary, but made of God, and illumined with his glory, in which, all-resplendent, the beauty of every hue and the elegance of every form and the sweetness of every sound shall abide forever and forever.
EXERCISES AT THE HALL.
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
Ar the conclusion of the religious exercises in the church three hundred and twenty persons repaired to Union Hall, where an excellent dinner, set by Mr. J. B. Smith, and embracing the usual delicacies of the season, awaited them. Seven tables were spread down the length of the hall, with one at the head running crosswise, which was occupied by the president, pastor, and invited guests. The front of the galleries was draped with light blue cloth, covered with white lace, and at regular spaces shields were placed bearing the names of former pastors, namely, Stearns, Perry, Karr, Twining, Murray, and Gil- man, the first two in black color ; also handsomely painted shields bearing emblems such as the cross and anchor, the dove of peace, autumn fruits, flowers ; and directly in front of the President's chair a group consisting of the seal of Cambridge, surrounded by a " glory " of flags, and underneath it the inscription "Semi-Centennial First Evangelical Church," Cambridgeport, with the dates 1827-1877, and a portrait of Dr. Hoyt. Baskets of flowers hung from the gallery gas-jets, while around the
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front of the platform flowering shrubs of many hues dis- pensed their grateful fragrance, and the front of the organ was handsomely decorated with flowers, and with the mot- toes Faith, Hope, Charity. Hon. John Sargent presided .* Rev. Dr. Blagden invoked the blessing. In a few happy words the president invited all present to give attention to the weighty matters now to be brought under discus- sion ; and, if industry indicates attention, his invitation was most cordially accepted. After dinner, while seated round the tables, about two hours were devoted to "the feast of reason and flow of soul." A fine double quartette of male voices opened these exercises by singing, to the delight of all, " Absence." Mr. Sargent then spoke : -
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, - In opening the intellectual branch of our celebration I am admonished by the state of my health, as well as by the array of eloquent gentlemen both upon my right hand and upon my left, each one of whom is desirous of addressing you, and each one of whom you are anxious to hear, that whatever remarks I may feel called upon to make should be very brief.
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Those of you who enjoyed the pleasure of listening to Dr. Hoyt in his very exhaustive review of the formation and sub- sequent history of this church must be aware that there are but few events, either interesting or important, left to be gathered up by the gleaner who shall dare presume to follow in the footsteps of such a reaper. There may, however, be some less important incidents which it will not be improper for me to gather up and present to you upon the present occasion.
* Mr. Sargent, aged seventy-nine, was seated between Dr. Beecher, aged seventy-four years, on his right, and Dr. Blagden, also aged seventy-four, on his left hand.
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As I was not a citizen of Cambridge at the time of the for- mation of this church, whatever I may have to say touching its earlier history will not be based upon personal knowledge of the events referred to, but will be gathered from the un- written history of the times.
Prior to the establishment of this church and society, there were but three houses of public worship in that part of Cam- bridge known as Cambridgeport, - the one occupied by the Baptist church and society ; the second, the house at the junction of Front and Main Street, occupied by the Univer- salists, and intended more particularly for the accommodation of those of that religious faith ; and the Old Brick Meeting- house (so called), situated on Columbia Street between Har- vard Street and Broadway, which, though occupied by a Unitarian church, seemed in its liberality to be devoted to the accommodation of "the rest of mankind."
It was from persons who were then, or had previously been, connected with this last society, that many of the original members of this church and society were drawn. At the time of the formation of this church great prejudice existed with a portion of the community in this vicinity against every- thing orthodox. This prejudice exhibited itself in various ways. At that time Park Street Church corner was called, in derision of orthodoxy, " brimstone corner," and it is related that the boys used to go up to the front door with small bits of wood in their hands and insert them in the keyhole for the purpose, as they alleged, of having the brimstone applied so that they could use them for matches.
The circumstance of sprinkling the floor with brimstone at the raising of the church on Norfolk Street, as related to you by Dr. Hoyt this morning, shows us that the same prejudice existed here ; and tradition tells us that its exhibition did not end with that morning's transaction, but was repeated again on the morning of the dedication of the house, and it was no
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unusual thing to find the same spirit exhibited by sprinkling the walk and front steps with the same material on a Sab- bath morning.
Why the practice was ever abandoned, whether it was for want of stock, or because it had ceased to amuse, or whether it was because those engaged in it had ascertained that there was no law, either human or divine, that required them thus to send forward their fuel in advance, I am unable to say.
When I came to Cambridge in 1836, I found this society, though small, a very harmonious, active society, and I do not recollect but one single occurrence which tended in the least to mar the harmony which at that time existed. About this time an Antislavery society was formed in this vicinity, and connected with that organization were several very in- fluential members who were also members of this church or society.
Those persons, honest, conscientious, and zealous in what. ever they undertook, claimed that opposition to human slavery was not only a political duty, but that it was one of the high- est Christian duties, and therefore they claimed the right to have the notices of their meetings given from the pulpit. This Dr. Stearns declined to do, in which he was sustained by a large majority of the society. Failing in this respect, at the close of the benediction on a subsequent Sabbath a mem- ber of that society rose in his place and gave the notice from his pew. This act gave great dissatisfaction, and was the subject of much comment through the week following. On the following Sabbath, at the close of the service, a similar attempt was made, but before a word could be uttered there was poured down from the organ such an avalanche of un- earthly, deafening, discordant sounds as had seldom assailed human ears. It seemed as if the organist had mounted the keyboard booted and spurred, and was attempting to tread out some wild plantation breakdown with his double-soled
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boots. The congregation stood spellbound with amazement, and the gentleman who had risen to give the notice, and who had never been known to quail. before, being perfectly con- founded, "stood like patience on a monument smiling at grief," " and as the lamb led to the slaughter, or as the sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." The organist continued to pour forth his deafening and dis- cordant sounds, until the door closed behind the last retiring member of the congregation, leaving him "alone in his glory." The attempt to give the notice was never renewed, and thus ended harmlessly an event which, at the outset, threatened to mar the harmony if not to check the progress and usefulness of the society.
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From this period forward the society continued steadily to increase until about 1851, when it was found that their house was wholly inadequate to furnish the accommodation required, and the question of the future growth and usefulness of the society became one of serious importance.
" To be or not to be " was not the question, but to grow or not to grow, to expand or not to expand, these were the ques- tions ; whether it was better to rise up like full-grown living men, men worthy of the blessings they enjoyed, and meet the necessity of the case, or to sit down content with their ineffi- cient, overflowing house, which operated like a modern tie- back to prevent the expansion and growth of the society. Promptly and wisely, I think, they decided to make the effort to furnish the required accommodation, and, what is most singular, and which, if it should be repeated to-day, would be deemed almost, if not altogether, a miracle, they bought their land, they erected their house, finished it, furnished it, and paid for it, before they proceeded to occupy it.
I have thus passed hastily over some twenty-five years of the history of this church and society, tracing it from the cradle up to full-grown vigorous manhood, and I now take
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leave of the subject, that you may have the pleasure of listen ing to the many eloquent gentlemen present, who are expected to take part in these exercises.
MUSIC, "What beams so bright."
Dr. Beecher was the next speaker. His face flushed the wrinkles of age into the smoothness of youth, and his white locks appeared in their old-time color, and the vigor of former days shook his whole frame, as, sometimes on his tiptoes and sometimes on his heels, he rocked back- ward and forward, leaving the lateral motion to his arms, pliant as osier twigs, while, waxing eloquent, he recounted the conflicts which appeared to-day in such unprophesied achievements. His opening sentences symbolized his line of thought, "I am the only clergyman living who was present at the organization of this church. I was then the youngest clergyman present." He testified to the accuracy of Dr. Hoyt's statements, and proceeded to say : -
CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, - This occasion is not one of merely local interest. It commemorates one battle out of many in a great campaign in which the common interests of Christianity were involved. In our late war for liberty and national union, since common principles were involved, every battle had a gen- eral and common interest, whether fought in Missouri or at New Orleans or on the Potomac. So this battle has a com- mon and profound interest to all who desire the universal triumph of Christianity.
A system was in great power, assailing the faith of our fathers, denying the divinity of Christ, the radical and pro- found depravity of man, and the need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. This had been refuted by argument, and the
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great work of the hour was to give ascendency to the true system by widespread and thorough revivals. In this work Dr. Lyman Beecher was a prominent agent, and this church was the result of a revival in Boston and in this place under his ministry. In intimate connection with this great and wide-spread revival was a divine inspiration and fervor in the cause of foreign missions and the conversion of the world. Christians had a new and lofty conception of the great work of evangelizing all nations to which they were called by the Spirit of God.
They saw clearly, moreover, and felt deeply that the whole of this great work was based on the radical regeneration of the human heart by the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. The issue of the great conflict, therefore, was whether Christianity should die out as a regenerating power, or be invested with new and victorious energy ; whether the church should obey the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; whether the great Foreign Missionary enterprise, and others of a like kind, should be triumphantly prosecuted, and the whole world converted to God.
The aristocracy of that time in wealth, influence, and educa- tional control, principally Unitarian in sentiment, were in diametrical opposition to the spirit of the revival. They re- pudiated the true doctrine of regeneration, and held low views of the inspiration of the Scriptures. Thus the great battle was organized and fought. The invisible leader of the oppos- ing host aimed at an end well known to himself, the complete paralysis of Christianity, but those who were led by him were lured on by delusive ideas of liberty and progress.
There was great and intense feeling as to the religious position and influence of Harvard College, and this gave peculiar interest to the revival in Cambridge and Cambridge- port. In the labors there all the pastors of Boston sympa-
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thized. Dr. Wisner was at the Old South, Dr Jenks at Green Street Church, Dr. S. Green at Essex Church, Dr. J. Edwards at Salem Church, Dr. Skinner at Pine Street, my father at Hanover Street, and I at Park Street. We or- ganized a system of lectures, my father taking Cambridge- port as his field, and I delivering weekly lectures at Old Cambridge. Soon this church was organized as the result of my father's labors. Well do I remember its organization in Dr. Chaplin's house. But I look in vain for any of the brethren in the ministry who were present on that day. They have all gone to their reward.
My labors at Cambridge were continued for about a year. Excluded from the church, which the parish claimed, we found refuge in the Town Hall. No period of my life has been so full of intense interest as my labors with my father in this common field. We took daily counsel together, and when this church was organized, I fully shared his joy, and have rejoiced in its progress to this day, so auspicious and so full of hope for the future.
While listening to the profoundly interesting and accurate discourse of the pastor of this church, I had a new sense of the greatness of the work which God has here wrought and new gratitude to him for it. Whilst hearing the utterances of my father which were quoted, it seemed to me as if he were once more present, and in spirit I do not doubt that he was a sharer of our joy.
But the conflict is not over. God has prepared this church for new conflicts, and calls it to new victories. Put on therefore the whole armor of God. The times are full of great destinies. May God grant that your next semi-centen- nial may eclipse in religious progress that which is now closed.
MUSIC, " Miller's Song."
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Rev. Mr. Bisco next spoke. He was the only one of the original male members present, although his two sis- ters, Mrs. Ball and Mrs. Severance, who united with the church fifty years ago, were at the table next him. A stranger to most of those present, his remarks seemed to thrill all as he said : -
I was the youngest of the original male members of this church, and supposed myself the only surviving one, until I learned, after I came here this morning, that Mr. Fairbank is still living. Rev. Mr. Bancroft and myself were then boys, and experienced religion at about the same time. We used to walk into Boston together, to attend on Dr. Lyman Beecher's preaching. Our public means of communication with the city in those days was by Morse's old coach, which used to make a trip to Boston in the morning, coming out at noon ; going in again after dinner, and returning at night, - only two trips each way daily ; and not running on the Sabbath. And now, how different ! Here, by the way, let me give you a little in- cident of Dr. Beecher and this semi-daily coach. One evening, as the doctor was coming out in it to preach, there chanced to be two young ladies (sisters) also in the coach. One of them had been away visiting in Canada, and was just returning home. She asked of the other, "What's the news ?" "O," said the sister, " Old Lyman Beecher of Boston is preaching out here every week." Among other inquiries about the preacher, was one as to how he looked, to which the reply was, " His hair stands up on his head so that he looks just like a porcupine." Soon after, as the driver was helping them out of the coach at their own door, he said to the doctor, "Shall I leave you at Dr. Chaplin's as usual, Dr. Beecher ?" " Yes," said the doctor. As the young ladies found who they had for a fellow-passenger, you may imagine their feelings; I will not attempt to describe them.
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