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to the body, but that the eye is in danger of saying to the hand, and the head to the feet, " I have no need of thee," that that plain and warm and steady and clear exhibition of the inter-relation instituted and sustained among mem- bers of the one local church at Corinth is made. Here let us learn our lesson of what each member of the only social organization which has Christ's own seal upon it is required to do, in order to exhibit his claim to Christ's discipleship.
The HISTORICAL TABLE is accurate as far as a careful examination of records, diligent search for traditions, and extended correspondence have enabled me to make them.
The DIRECTORY is the introduction by the Pastor, of each person in our society to every other, with the hope that Christian courtesy will see a child of the one Father in every one whose name occurs here, and that each per- son will be as thoroughly ashamed not to know each of the others as though we were all the children of one parental pair in the flesh. Who can tell but that the unintentional neglect of Christ, when they neglected "one of the least of these," would have been avoided if the expelled one had simply known that he or she had a name recorded in heaven, and that the angels were guard- ing him or her under that name, and that he or she was Christ's representative here upon earth ?
It occurs to the author that one serious criticism will be made upon the book -"that in this Introduction a grand and lofty ideal is presented, but that the contents of the volume are a mighty descending therefrom." The criticism may be very just. When we enter the studio, and, seeing the canvas on the easel, listen to the artist's description of the picture which he is going to paint, or,
14
INTRODUCTION.
looking upon the shapeless block of marble, listen to the sculptor's description of the statue which he is going to carve, we are enraptured by the idea. Before the painter's idea is realized, however, there will be the mixing of paints in larger and smaller quantities, there will be daubs, un- graceful and inelegant, and many a dash that seemed all out of keeping with the glory beaming in his mind at his recital. Before the sculptor has realized his idea, the heavy hammer and stout chisel will have made his studio echo with the clang of the smithery, and his hand will have exhibited the bruises, his clothes the dust, and even his protected eyes the irritation. All these are incident to the transformation, but all are far beneath the vision of the artist as he exhibited it to us. So has our Creator placed the process between the conception and the pro- duction of every worthy object. Therefore, knowing this criticism beforehand, I humbly hope that the plan and execution of this volume may prove at some stage and in some measure either the material, the stroke, or the blow by which the grand ideal is yet to become the glorious reality under the eye of Jesus. May the day soon dawn when, among the members of each local church, though there be diversities over which no other spirit can prevail, this love of the brethren shall be the one distinguishing characteristic !
In the preparation of the Discourse, I have received from many persons great assistance, while, from Dr. Paige's History of Cambridge, and from Dr. Lyman Beecher's Autobiography, many valuable statements have been selected. To each and all grateful acknowledgment is hereby made by
THE AUTHOR.
1
BOOK I.
THE ANNIVERSARY.
HOW IT WAS CONDUCTED.
I. - PRELIMINARY ACTION.
ON the 13th of June, 1877, by invitation from the pulpit on the preceding Sabbath, the congregation wor- shipping at Prospect Street Church were assembled to take into consideration the matter of appropriately ob- serving the approaching fiftieth anniversary of the organ- ization of the church. The response to the invitation was cordial. The meeting was large, and, after a due consider- ation of the subject, a hearty vote decided that it seemed desirable to observe the day, and to institute measures at once to prepare for it. At that meeting seventeen gentlemen were appointed as a Committee of Arrange- ments for the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of the Church. (The names of this general committee and of all the special committees ap- pear in tabular form in connection with their final report.) This Committee held one meeting in June, four in July, and three in September, previous to the Anniversary ..
At their first meeting an organization was effected by
16
PRELIMINARIES.
the choice of Hon. John Sargent, Chairman, and Dea. H. N. Tilton, Secretary. This, and every subsequent meeting of the Committee was opened with prayer. Some perplexity was felt in consequence of the utter ignorance of method of procedure in an anniversary of a kind in which none of the Committee had ever taken part, and, after an hour spent in the free expression of suggestions, the meeting adjourned.
At their second meeting it was decided: 1st, that all the exercises should occur on the 20th of September, and that no part of the Anniversary exercises should occur on either the Sabbath preceding or following the above- mentioned date ; 2d, that the pastor be requested to de- liver an Historical Discourse; 3d, that the following sub-committees be appointed, namely, a committee of four on Order of Exercises, of five on Finance, of three on Dec- oration, of three on Printing, of three on Invitations, of four on Music.
At their third meeting a report was made by the Com- mittee on Order of Exercises, which was adopted as it appears in the general features of the programme. Re- ports were made by the Committees on Decoration, Invita- tion, Printing, and Finance, giving proposals and estimates concerning matters referred to them. After a free ex- pression of various views, it was decided by unanimous vote : 1st, that the Committee on Finance be instructed to furnish a suitable collation, to which admission be by tickets at the uniform price of one dollar each, and that all who now worship with us or who have done so in former years be invited to participate ; 2d, that the General Committee (excepting the pastor) be instructed to raise the sum of three hundred dollars by subscription,
-
17
PRELIMINARIES.
said sum being the amount deemed necessary to defray the expenses of the Anniversary.
:
The fourth and fifth meetings were devoted to the con- sideration of reports of progress by the Committees on Finance and Subscription, and the appointment of a Treas- urer.
. The sixth meeting, occurring September 3, was devoted to the consideration of reports by the Committees on Finance and on Invitations, to the election of Hon. John Sargent to preside at the collation and afternoon exer- cises, and the appointment of the Committee on the Sale of Tickets for the collation.
At the seventh meeting the Committee on Invitations was instructed to give complimentary tickets to such ministers as had sustained intimate relations with the church; to all members of the organizing Council who might be present ; to such of the original members of the church as might come ; to the ex-pastors of this church, and their wives ; to the Congregational ministers of Cam- bridge, and their wives; and to the editors of the Cam- bridge "Chronicle" and "Press," the Boston "Advertiser," " Traveller," and " Congregationalist," and to the musi- cians who were to sing at the hall. The seating of in- vited guests was referred to the Committee on Finance. A committee was appointed to receive and attend to the comfort and enjoyment of the assembly in the evening.
At the eighth meeting preparations were completed, the programme was adopted, and final words were spoken in the line of suggestions, looking toward the well-ordering of all matters connected with the day whose light was so soon to dawn upon us.
18
THE ANNIVERSARY.
II .- THE DAY. THE CHURCH. THE EXERCISES.
The Day. - Among the stories with which unwise parents gratify and stupefy and stultify their children who cannot understand all the revelations of geography, is this one: "God veils the sun's face with clouds, so that men cannot see him when he crosses the line; and the heavens weep because they do see him." But there was no veil at hand and no tears to shed on this lovely, mellow, golden, autumnal day. It was a golden day in every re- spect. The Fiftieth Anniversary is par excellence the golden anniversary. The thanksgiving spirit is par ex- cellence the golden spirit. The resurrecting voice of men- ory, leading forth the past in its panoramic career, is the golden voice. The atmosphere, which itself fills the rip- ening fruit with sweetness, and paints it in the color of the sun, is the golden atmosphere. But above all these symbols the light and the glory of God are golden; and that light and that glory beamed upon this people on the 20th September, 1877.
The Meeting-House. - The ladies of the church had tastefully and elegantly decorated the audience-room with flowers. Fitted to the arch over the pulpit was a frame, over which was stretched white cloth, bordered with ever- greens, at the top of which was the inscription "1827, Prospect Street, 1877 "; on one side, " Pilgrim, 1865," and, on the other, "Stearns, 1872." The two latter names and dates indicated that these two churches were at these times formed as offshoots from the parent society. A dove, composed wholly of white flowers, was suspended from the centre of the arch, directly over the pulpit. The pulpit was beautiful with flowers of many colors, and
:-
19
THE ANNIVERSARY.
smilax. The cushion, on which the Bible rested, was a massive bed of flowers. The communion-table was adorned with a handsome design, in silver, of an angel holding aloft a bowl; on either side of this symbolic de- sign was a silver vase, filled with beautiful flowers of every kind. The platform in front of the pulpit was covered with elegant pot-plants in great variety. On each pillar at the sides of the pulpit was a white floral star, bordered with scarlet, set in a background of box. Around the front of the galleries, on either side the pulpit, placed in the panels, were the names of the seven original male members of the society and one of the first two deacons : Chaplin, Barrett, Fairbank, Bisco, on the right; William Fisk, Faulkner, Bancroft, Hubbard, on the left of the pul- pit. In front of the organ gallery was a large cross, com- posed entirely of tuberoses. The front of all the galleries was festooned with evergreens. Garlands of evergreens linked the pillars of the galleries together, and at every gaslight-bracket was suspended a hanging-basket filled with flowers. The church, in fact, was literally covered with decorations, and they were arranged with a skill and taste that reflected the highest credit on the ladies of the society, whose handiwork they were. The exercises at the church were in accordance with the order on the Programme.
20
THE ANNIVERSARY.
1827.
rogramme. 1877.
-
THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE Organization of the First Evangelical Congregational Church, CAMBRIDGEPORT,
AND OF THE
DEDICATION OF ITS FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP,
Thursday, September 20, 1877.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
11 o'clock, A. M., at the Church.
VOLUNTARY.
ANTHEM " I will magnify thee, O God."
INVOCATION, and READING DEVOTIONAL PSALM. REV. D. L. FURBER, D.D.
ORIGINAL HYMN
REV. M. M. CUTTER.
As backward turn our thoughts to-day, O'er fifty years, so quickly flown, With reverent, grateful hearts we say, " The Lord is mindful of his own."
Then onward let us urge our way, Thus highly favored of our God, And underneath his guiding sway, Walk in the path our Saviour trod.
Our Heavenly Father's name we praise, For constant watch and teuder care, And blessings which have crowned our days, Since first this Church was formed with prayer.
And when at last our journey 's done, And we before the throne shall stand, Forever may we praise the Son, A ransomed and unbroken band.
READING SCRIPTURE REV. E. W. GILMAN, D. D.
PRAYER
REV. EDWARD BEECHER, D. D.
--
-
21
THE ANNIVERSARY.
ORIGINAL HYMN . REV. THOMAS C. BISCO.
Our fathers' God! to whom appears Less than a day these fifty years, Accept the thanks we bring to thee, And deign to bless our Jubilee.
We thank thee for thy constant care Over thy children everywhere ; We thank thee that this church of thine Still witnesses for Love Divine.
For all its strength and usefulness, Present or past, thy name we bless, While all we are, or hope to be, This day anew we give to thee.
When time for us shall be no more, May we, with those who went before, Sowing the seed perhaps with tears, Gather the fruit of our fifty years.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY THE PASTOR, REV. JAMES S. HOYT, D. D.
ANTHEM " Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous."
PRAYER REV. G. W. BLAGDEN, D. D.
ORIGINAL HYMN WITH THE DOXOLOGY REV. GEORGE R. LEAVITT.
The years, O God, have swiftly passed Since here the little seed was sown, Which, nourished by thy tender care, A tall and stately tree has grown.
For praying lips that now rejoice .Among the ransomed round thy throue.
We praise thee that our hearts are led To thoughts of gratitude this day ; That through thy mercy we were won To walk with Christ the heavenly way.
Beneath its shadow now we rest, And up to thee our eyes we raise, While hearts and voices all unite To render thee a song of praise.
We praise thee for the holy lives
O, in the days that are to come, May we thy grace and glory show, And thus, in thought, in word, in deed,
That here thy power and grace have shown ; " Praise God from whom all blessings flow." BENEDICTION REV. G. W. BLAGDEN, D. D. .
2 o'clock, P. M.
DINNER IN UNION HALL HON. JOHN SARGENT presiding.
FOLLOWED BY
SINGING, LETTERS, AND ADDRESSES.
7.30, P. M.
A SOCIAL GATHERING IN UNION HALL. Music on the Organ furnished during the evening.
22
THE ANNIVERSARY.
III. - SUBSEQUENT AND CONCLUDING ACTION.
Subsequent to the Anniversary four meetings were held. At the first meeting, September 26, it appeared that, owing to the cordial and generous donations of individuals connected with the church and society, the treasurer had been able to pay all bills, and that no indebtedness re- mained. A committee was appointed with instructions to report at the next meeting some plan for preserving an account of the recent celebration, together with the ad- dresses, speeches, etc.
The second meeting was held October 10. The com- mittee appointed on the 26th ult. reported a plan and estimates for publishing, in a book containing about 192 pages, the proceedings connected with the Anniversary. Their report was so far adopted as to secure the appoint- ment of a committee to ascertain, by thorough canvass, how many books, at the price named in the report, were wanted. That committee's report is in substance em- bodied in the Prospectus which they then ordered to be printed, and placed in the pews on the following Sabbath morning.
The third meeting, held October 20, instructed the Committee on Publication to publish the book as soon as it shall appear that three hundred copies have been subscribed for. A vote of thanks was then passed to the ladies who labored so kindly and efficiently in the work of decorating the church on the occasion of the Anniversary, and also to the ladies who officiated in the sale of tickets to the collation and in the procuring of subscriptions to the memorial volume.
The fourth and last meeting of the committee was held
1
23
THE ANNIVERSARY.
November 7. The report of the Committee on Pub- lication announcing that three hundred copies of the book were subscribed for, and that it was now in process of publication, was adopted. Then, after unanimously adopting the entire minutes of its sessions and acts, the committee, which had been in punctual and prompt and full attendance and interest during a period of six months, reported to the second meeting of the body who appointed it, called in the same manner as the first by public notice from the desk on the preceding Sabbath, at a later hour this same evening.
At this meeting the committee's report was in sub- stance what has been already given in this chapter under Preliminaries and Conclusion, with the following ad- - dition : --
"In now presenting our report to the body who appointed us as their committee, we desire to say that, while our duties on this committee were but feebly understood by us at the first, as we have come to know them better and to do them as has seemed to us best, we have found not a little pleasure. We have, in every instance, expressed our individual views, and have come to harmonious and unanimous conclusions, oftentimes to the forfeiture of what at the first seemed to us wise. Our meetings will constitute a source of pleasant associations, and in the language of our chairman, we feel that " we shall want to look each other in the face," perhaps at every recurring anniversary of the day we have celebrated ; and we would, in view of the very pleasant hours we have passed, venture to suggest the eminent propriety of holding a social gathering of this congregation at every recurrence of September 20, that we cross the line of each succeeding year in cordial Christian fellowship."
.. v.
24
THE ANNIVERSARY.
Upon the presentation of this report to the congrega- tion it was accepted, and the following resolutions were adopted : -
" Resolved, That this congregation fully appreciate the im- portance of the Anniversary which has just been celebrated, and they congratulate themselves on the highly successful manner in which the occasion has been observed. We believe it will long be remembered with pleasure by all who have par- ticipated in it, and that its influence for good will long be felt in the church and society, and in the community in which we live."
" Resolved, That the thanks of the congregation be presented to the committee appointed to arrange for the observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the church and society, for the judicious methods adopted by them, and for the efficient manner in which their plans were carried out."
The resolutions, with the report of the committee, were then adopted, the committee was discharged, and the meeting adjourned sine die.
GENERAL COMMITTEE.
HON. JOHN SARGENT, C. L. HARDING, GEO. T. GALE,
GEO. G. RYDER, CHAS. A. FISKE, DEA. SUMNER ALBEE,
DEA. H. N. TILTON, REV. ASA BULLARD, W. H. HIDDEN,
CALVIN DIMICK, DEA. L. B. GROVER, J. E. VANDERVOORT,
C. F. GOODRIDGE, JAS. S. BARRELL, E. P. BOGGS,
JOHN H. APPLETON, REV. J. S. HOYT, D. D.
Chairman. HON. JOHN SARGENT.
Secretary.
DEACON HENRY N. TILTON.
25
THE ANNIVERSARY.
SUB-COMMITTEES.
Decorations.
JOHN E. VANDERVOORT. CHAS. A. FISKE. C. F. GOODRIDGE.
Literary Exercises. REV. J. S. HOYT, D. D. DEACON SUMNER ALBEE. REV. ASA BULLARD. JOHN SARGENT.
On Collation.
C. L. HARDING. DEACON H. N. TILTON. GEO. G. RYDER. CALVIN DIMICK.
Invitations. REV. ASA BULLARD.
DEACON SUMNER ALBEE.
REV. J. S. HOYT, D. D.
Finance. G. L. HARDING.
DEACON H. N. TILTON.
GEO. G. RYDER. CALVIN DIMICK.
GEO. T. GALE.
Printing. W. H. HIDDEN. E. P. BOGGS. JAS. S. BARRELL.
Sale of Tickets to the Collation. E. P. BOGGS. JOHN H. APPLETON. . C. F. GOODRIDGE.
Music. DEACON L. B. GROVER. GEO. G. RYDER. E. P. BOGGS. . JOHN H. APPLETON.
Committee on Memorial Volume.
REV. ASA BULLARD. DEACON H. N. TILTON. JOHN H. APPLETON. REV. J. S. HOYT, D. D.
Committee on securing Orders for Book.
JOHN H. APPLETON. C. F. GOODRIDGE.
Committee to secure the Comfort and Convenience of the As- sembly in the Evening.
DEACON H. N. TILTON.
DEACON L. B. GROVER. C. A. FISKE. «
Treasurer."
E. P. BOGGS.
.
ம ரக தலம்சர்ட் கடத்தி விடபடைப்பைன்ஸ்
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
" And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. ... . And God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him." - 1 Cor. xv. 37, 38.
ON the 20th of September, 1827, this First Evan- gelical Congregational Church in Cambridgeport was organized, and on the same day its first house of worship was dedicated, in accordance with the usages and in con- formity to the spirit and historical creed of churches of this order. A half-century has elapsed since that date, and we have set apart this day to commemorate that event in which the tabernacle was set up and the ark of the testimony was placed in it. Most of us will be compelled to look into printed annals or written records, or listen to recitals of traditions never written, in order to get back near enough to the events even to discover the scene or to see the men as aught but "trees walking." It is a common saying that "a year passed is short com- pared with a year in the future." But fifty years of the past embrace changes which we shrink from anticipating for the fifty years to come. That we may the better comprehend the bearing of this event, which was so
28
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
obscure as to secure no record save the few lines on the society's book, let us glance, for a moment, over the dis- tance which we have come. Then John Quincy Adams was President of the twenty-five United States, with a total population of about ten million souls ; Massachusetts had little over half a million, and the township of Cambridge about five thousand inhabitants. The latter, though one hundred and ninety-six years old, did not become a city until nineteen years after our date. Cam- bridgeport, in 1827, had succeeded to the "Great Expec- tations " of Cambridge of 1631. However, now "The Commercial Centre" was substituted for "The Seat of Government," and " The Port with its Wharves " for "The Estates with their Palisades," while " the Canal," was the common enterprise of the two efforts. Growing out of this later effort were two turnpike roads, becoming public highways, and taking, one of them the name of Broadway, two years, and the other, the name of Hamp- shire Street, seventeen years after the event which we commemorate to-day. The Almshouse block embraced the eleven acres of land bounded by Harrard, Norfolk, Austin, and Prospect Streets, and on it stood the Almns- house until 1836. The burial-ground, bounded north by Broadway and east by Norfolk Street, with right of way to Harvard Street, was still in use, to be abandoned at the consecration of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, and of Cambridge Cemetery in 1854, and in 1865 to become, to the end of time, a public park. Not a railroad was then opened into Boston, nor until six years later. The prod- uce of the country was brought to the metropolis, and goods from the metropolis were carried back to the villages and hamlets of New England, in heavy wagons.
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£
29
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
., Hotels and trading-houses, with all their appurtenances, were located with reference to this mode of transpor- tation. This settlement was emphatically a child of this style of commerce.
Five years after our date, the town of Cambridge erected a new Town House on Harvard Street, the present site of the Catholic Church, at a total cost of about four thousand dollars. This building answered as a City Hall until 1853. Cambridgeport was a mere settlement, separated from Old Cambridge by a belt of land half a mile wide, almost wholly unoccupied by buildings. East Cambridge was even more completely separated from the other villages by the great marsh. Two school-houses, - one on the northwest corner of Winsor and School Streets, and the other on the southerly side of Franklin Street, - built at a cost of six hundred and eight hundred dollars respectively, afforded educational facilities for the children of the Port.
On the westerly side of the square bounded by Broad- way, Boardman, Harvard, and Columbia Streets, a spacious brick meeting-house had been dedicated to Godtin 1808, and the following year, in connection with the parish, a church organized on the principles of the Congregational churches of New England. Dr. Abiel Holmes (father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, the physician-poet) preached on the occasion from Matthew xviii. 20. Rev. Thomas Brat- tle Gannett, a native of Cambridge and a graduate of Harvard College, had been its pastor since 1814, or for thirteen years. The First Baptist Church had been or- ganized ten years, and enlarged its first edifice for the first time during this year, 1827. Rev. Bela Jacobs, its first pastor, was still at its head. The First Universalist Church
30
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
was organized the June previous, although the house of worship had been dedicated five years before. Its first pastor, Rev. Thomas Whittemore, who commenced his labors in April, 1822, still held that office. Not until eight years had elapsed was the first Methodist class, con- sisting of but seven persons, formed. Fifteen years after our date St. Peter's Episcopal Church Parish was organ- ized, and in 1844 it completed its first meeting-house, which stood almost directly opposite where we are gath- ered to-day, and is now occupied as a double-tenement dwelling-house. Thirty years after this church was organ- ized, that is in 1857, St. Mary's Catholic Church was estab- lished, which occupied its first house of worship in 1868.
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