USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > The first centenary of the North church and society, in Salem, Massachusetts > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
* Hood, in his " Music for the Million," describes an angry man as slamming a door to with a wooden Damn.
77
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
The air of holy reticence and pride : The Sabbath spell is off - with common men Lo Philip is a man *- yea boy, again. But soon as Sunday morn again comes round, The reverend Philip at his post is found, Where in the pauses of his holy toil, As if anointed with invisible oil, He looks from out his cell complacent round, Rapt with the memory of the solemn sound, With large, contented eyes that seem to say,- " Have we not done the music well to-day ?" * *
* *
But tender memories rise meanwhile and cast Their sacred shadows o'er the deathless past. The home where first we tasted heavenly love, The church that brought to view a world above, To these the heart comes back, where'er we roam, " True to the kindred points of heaven and home !" How sweet a memory his, on whom, as child, The gentle face of sainted Abbot smiled, Who feels to-day, though fifty years have fled, That hand of benediction on his head !
Ah, all too soon for us that gracious light The veil of death removed from mortal sight - Removed - not quenched ; - from heaven, with purer beams, Along our path through memory's air it gleams. And many a one, whose young eyes scarcely saw The look of that sweet face, for very awe, Feels that remembered presence, mild and calm, Breathe o'er his soul a summer morning balm.
Then came to us that gifted one, t whose mind, Graced with ripe culture and with taste refined, In fervid feeling's glow devoutly wrought The lucid links of energetic thought.
* The classic allusion here will of course be understood. t Dr. Brazer.
78
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
Well could he point with wit the shaft of truth, Stir the ambition of ingenuous youth, Rebuke the worldling's vain and shallow sneers, And show Heaven's rainbow-light on sorrow's tears.
One picture waits for this poor pencil yet - Who that beheld the sight can e'er forget ? - When, punctual as the Sunday morn appears, That form unbowed beneath its hundred years,* And at the pastor's side devoutly stands, As if to hear with him the Lord's commands. So a calm mountain rises white with snow, While at its feet streams gush and roses glow ; The evening beams that play around its head, On other worlds a morning-sunlight shed. Serene old man ! when sank thy honored head, A hundred years were numbered with the dead; As melts a snow-white foam-flake in the sea, A century melted in Eternity. Nay, from the sacred place where once with awe In the prayer-hour thy aged form we saw Stand with bowed head and reverential air, A century still looks down upon us there, f And with a voice of old experience cries : Fear God, love man, be temperate, just and wise !
With thee my song shall close :- O patient friends, 'Tis well that here my broken music ends. So its last moan the shattered sea-wave makes, When on the monumental rock it breaks. Haply may these poor words, my stammering tongue Upon its native air hath freely flung, To the rude clang of memory's wayward lyre, In some true heart awake a smouldering fire,
* Dr. Holyoke, who in his last days used to stand, often even through the sermon, with his ear close to the preacher.
t "Forty centuries are looking down upon us."-Napoleon at the Pyramids.
79
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL
And reënkindle there the faith sublime, That hears through all earth's din the Eternal City's chime.
Peace to my lingering song ! and peace to thee, City of Peace ! of Pilgrim memory, Sweet home and sacred shrine, old Salem town! Add new bright centuries to thy old renown ! Well may he be forgiven, a child of thine,
Whose hand presumptuous would to-day entwine Amid thy chaplet green one fresh-plucked flower, That may not long outlive the passing hour.
No words could ever give fit thanks to thee, For all that thou hast given and been to me ! A child's warm blessing on thy fields and skies, Thy rocky pastures dear to childhood's eyes, Thy fresh blue waters and fair islands green, Of many a youthful sport the favorite scene, North Fields and South Fields - Castle Hill - Dark Lane, And Paradise, where memory leads the train Of her transfigured dead, whose relics lie At rest where living waters murmur by .* A blessing on the memory of the line Of statesmen, saints and sages, sons of thine !
A blessing, last of all, on thee, old North !
From thee may Peace and Love and Light stream forth !
May Learning and Religion, Grace and Truth,
Shed here the glory of perennial youth ! May Faith and Freedom here join hand in hand To lead thy children to the promised land ! Dear city of our fathers ! may their God Still guide and comfort with the staff and rod,
And in the cloud and fire lead onward still
Our faltering footsteps up the heavenly hill !
The President then called upon the Rev. S. C. BEANE, of the East Church, to read the first hymn in the programme. That
* In the beautiful cemetery of Harmony Grove, washed by the North River.
80
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
hymn, continued the President, was written by that most esti- mable of clergymen of whom Mr. Emerson once said that he was a man of genius, JAMES FLINT, D. D. I am fortunate in calling upon Dr. Flint's successor to read it.
The audience then united in singing the following hymn to the tune " Federal Street" :-
In pleasant lands have fallen the lines That bound our goodly heritage : And safe beneath our sheltering vines Our youth is blest, and soothed our age.
What thanks, O God, to Thee are due, That Thou didst plant our fathers here ; And watch and guard them as they grew, A vineyard to the planter dear.
Thy kindness to our fathers, shown In weal and woe through all the past, Their grateful sons, O God, shall own, While here their name and race shall last.
THE PRESIDENT.
My friends, I think Salem is getting on famously. The tune that has just been sung was also written in Salem, by a Salem man. Beginning, therefore, with the poem by Mr. Brooks, the hymn by Dr. Flint, and the music by Gen. Oliver, I don't think Salem ought to be ashamed of herself. You have heard allusions made to Mr. Abbot. We have here a contemporary of his, who preached in his pulpit between the time of his call and his ordi- nation, one of the most stanch and faithful ministers of the Uni- tarian Church -the Rev. JOSEPH ALLEN, D. D., of Northborough.
81
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
ADDRESS OF DR. ALLEN.
I have many pleasant memories connected with the good old town of Salem, and especially with the North Church, and one of its ministers. It is now almost threescore years, fifty seven years, I think, for I believe it was in 1815-that I was invited by my friend, John Emery Abbot, to supply his pulpit after he had received the call to this church, and before his ordination. It was in March and the following April that I sojourned among this people, at the house of Ichabod Tucker, well known in that day, whose hospitality I enjoyed and whose memory is dear to me, as is that of his accomplished lady and the other inmates of his family. I well knew John E. Abbot. He was my contemporary, somewhat younger than myself; but we pursued our theological studies at the same time and partially in the same place, he residing in Boston and pursuing his studies under the direction of Dr. Channing, but coming over to Cambridge frequently, and enjoying with us the wise sayings and instructions of the ven- erable Dr. Ware and President Kirkland. It was not long after his ordination that I was called to the town of Northborough, to be the minister of the town, not of the church. I invited my friend, John E. Abbot, to come and give me the Right Hand of Fellow- ship, which he accordingly did, and it is published with the other services of that occasion. Soon after his ordination his health became infirm, and at last he was obliged to relinquish his labors, which he loved so truly and which he performed so faithfully and so acceptably, and was laid upon a sick bed. I visited him in his sickness and conversed with him, when he supposed, and we all did, that there was but a step between him and the grave. I preached for him one Sabbath while he lay sick, at his request. I visited him after the services, and had a very beautiful conver- sation with him. I remember especially the discourse, which was not then printed, but which was given to me in manuscript, on the
82
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
recognition of friends in the future life, and I thought then, and have thought since, that he was one of those I should hope to meet in that better life, to renew the acquaintance and friendship, which was so soon broken by his early death. After his decease I formed the acquaintance of his successor, Dr. Brazer, and exchanged with him several times, during his ministry. I well remember, too, the old minister of the First Church, Dr. Prince ; with him also I exchanged pulpits. I do not remember his con- temporary, Dr. Barnard, though I presume I often saw him at Cambridge, where ministers formerly congregated on Commence- ment Days. I remember on one occasion, when I went into the pulpit, I saw before me an aged man, who had come into the place that he might the better listen to my discourse, the venerable Dr. Holyoke. I came here again when he had reached the age of a hundred years, hoping to see what I never had seen, a man who had completed his century ; but I learned then that he was on a sick bed. He died a few days after, and one of my sons, who was born about the time of his decease, was named for him. You will see, therefore, that I have been acquainted with Salem for more than half a century. At one time I had in my family six of the seven sons of Stephen C. Phillips, who were members of my household, and pupils under my care. I want to say in closing that I am happy to be here, that I received the invitation to be present with a great deal of pleasure, and that although I was not here at the commencement of the exercises, yet I felt a deep interest in the discourse of Mr. Willson, whom I have known for many years. It has been to ine a feast of good things, and I shall always bear in remembrance this pleasant occasion.
THE PRESIDENT.
I know I speak the voice of you all, when I say to Dr. Allen that the obligation is entirely on our side. We who live in Salem, and who entertain the faith of the fathers here, as we believe it,
83
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
have confidence in the law as well as in the gospel. We have the pleasure of having present with us on this occasion the presi- dent of the National Unitarian Conference, Hon. E. R. HOAR, of Concord, who, while he has assured me, that he desired to pronounce a benediction, may assure himself that we only ask his benediction, for whom he addresses must profit.
ADDRESS OF JUDGE HOAR.
MR. CHAIRMAN AND MY FRIENDS : I have nothing to say to you except to join in the benediction to which your chairman has alluded. I am sorry to say I have not yet reached the christian maturity and venerable age when it can be said of me, as perhaps might have been said of our friend who last addressed you, Dr. Allen, " his presence itself is a benediction." I have nothing to say except to offer my warm sympathy with the object of your meeting to-day, and to express to you the delight with which I have attended the services and listened to the discourse of Mr. Willson, which was charming to my ears throughout, though it rivalled the most able of his predecessor's attempts in its length, and perhaps would have shocked some of them by its wanting a text .* Why, my friends, we have of late been getting so national in our views in this country, we have had so much cause for it in one way or another that when I walked into that quiet and dark- ened church this morning and heard that story of New England life of a hundred years ago, I seemed to be breathing a new atmos- phere. The full fragrance and flavor of New England life seemed to come back to me.
These church relations of our people, -the Established Church of Massachusetts- though as popular and absolutely democratic as any of our civil institutions, have given more to the character of New England than anything else we have had. I look some-
* In the delivery, the text and introductory remarks were omitted.
84
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
times with respect, sometimes with admiration, upon modern improvements. I am a friend of Sunday Schools, and I have no doubt but that they do good; but there is no Sunday School instruction that ever produces the effect upon the heart and mind of the child, that ever trains up such men and women, that ever gives such character and strength to the community, as does that attending church from early childhood, Sunday after Sunday, with father and mother, in those old square pews, better perhaps than the modern ones, under the eye of father and mother, and there acquiring the habit and feeling of reverence before the under- standing can catch the import of the long sermon; and the influence of these associations has been carried westward, and thus New England character and influence have been diffused across this continent.
Your church has attained undoubtedly a very respectable age, and one that it is becoming and well to celebrate, but I almost feel, as some thoughts come across my mind, as if I was a contem- porary with it. The minister under whom I grew up to manhood and who was my minister until after my marriage and I had got some way along in life, was settled over our parish only six years after your parish was founded ; and the only physician I ever had occasion to employ until I had got nearly old enough or wise enough to do without them altogether was a classmate of, and of about the same age as my minister. The parish of which I am an humble representative, is two hundred and thirty-seven years old ; we look upon you, therefore, nearly as a man in advanced age looks upon a hearty youth, just celebrating the attainment of his majority. You have got through the season of trial and of experiment, and may now be fairly expected to go forward and make your mark in society, and be admitted to the full respon- sibilities of adult years. In this conspicuous position, in this good city of Salem, which has been always so famous for the quality of its people, I have no doubt that your light will shine
-
85
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
like a city that is set on a hill, and that you will be as prosperous in the future as you have been in the past. I was gratified to hear of the condition of the society in one respect, and sympa- thized very strongly with you when I heard from your presiding officer that you had never got rid of a minister. I believe, too, that the strength and prosperity of a christian society is very much promoted by regarding the relation between minister and people as similar to that between husband and wife, as one not to be changed ; and I am happy to tell you, to encourage you in the good work on which you have entered, that the society to which I belong (during the two hundred and thirty-seven years of its history), never yet parted with a minister except to the service of his Master on high. But, my friends, this is a family gathering, and, except for the briefest expression of sympathy and gratifica- tion, certainly no one outside your own circle has any right to take up your time.
THE PRESIDENT.
New England has sent many influences West, many men of many minds, and many industries, but she has sent nothing, I think, of more value to the West than the Unitarian thought of New England. At any rate we know of nothing more valuable. We have here the pioneer of that service, one who, in the early days of Unitarianism, took up his abode in the western wilds, and has been a faithful servant there ever since. I am happy to introduce to you the Rev. WILLIAM G. ELIOT, D. D., of St. Louis.
ADDRESS OF DR. ELIOT.
You will pardon me, dear friends, if my response is very brief, for to tell you the truth, among these venerable antiquities I feel that I have no place, no standing at all. It is true that I am old enough for any purpose, and that I can remember more. than half the term of years which the North Church has lived ; but
86
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
in the ecclesiastical relation, as well as in the social, I have lived all my life, I may say, in the midst of youth. I have always been with a growing community, and the church with which I am con- nected-it grieves me to say that I am not called its pastor now,- has had thus far but one pastorate, and the thirty-seven years of my ministry is the church's life-time; so that, far from having attained anything like a respectable old age, we are in early infancy yet. Whenever I come here to these old communities I feel lost, almost oppressed, by the steadiness, the staidishness, so to speak, of everything around me. Why, almost thirty-eight years ago, when I went to St. Louis, it was not half so big as Salem was then ; now it has 350,000 inhabitants. It is all youth, it is all efferves- cence, it is all change, though there is a good deal of strength and manliness coming into it every day. But when I ask myself where does it come from, I feel compelled with pride to look back to these old centres of thought, to these old centres of education, these grand old centres of patriotism, and to say, it is from these that we get our life blood, it is this which is making us strong. And when you hear of the wonderful strength of that western country, never forget that it is for you still to be sending an inspi- ration there, so that our mind shall keep pace with our body, so that our growth shall not be only of this world, but that it shall belong more and more to the world of ideas, to the world of pro- gressive thought ; so that, in short, we shall reconstruct in the West a better New England than New England itself has ever known. Thirty-seven years ago I came to Salem, and have only been here once since, and that was twenty-five years ago, and only for two or three hours. I came, as some of you remember, to ask help to build a church in St. Louis, which you generously granted ; and now, returning here after this long interval, I am glad of an opportunity of thanking you for the help you gave us in our time of need. With this expression of gratitude for the favor of so long ago, added to my thanks for a day of great enjoy- ment, I heartily wish you, God speed !
87
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
THE PRESIDENT.
I have no doubt when Judge Hoar alluded to the antiquity of the society at Concord and the age of his pastor, Dr. Ripley, he thought he had got Salem in a spot where it would be difficult for her to get out. Now I wish to inform him that the First Church, the mother of the North Church, is two hundred and forty-three years old, and still lives, beating the church at Concord, I am happy to say, by six years. We have, moreover, had a centenarian in our church, which I do not believe the church at Concord ever had ; and I am sure that under the modern modes of life, if it never had one, it never will. Let me introduce to you one of the for- mer pastors of the First Church in Salem, in Essex County, the first church in the centre of civilization we believe, the Rev. THOMAS T. STONE, D. D.
ADDRESS OF DR. STONE.
I am much afraid I shall be obliged to content myself with an apology, if for no other reason, that I am fearful the few words I would like to say will not be heard by the audience. I will, how- ever, say a word which may possibly reach a few ears. I was thinking, as the possibility of being called upon occurred to me, that I should be obliged to confess that my chief affection must naturally be for the mother rather than the daughter. I have never ceased to feel a strong attachment to the First Church from the remembrance of its earlier history, from the experience which I had during my ministry there, and the friendships which were then formed, and from all the associations which have grown up with it. And this attachment to the First Church, notwithstand- ing it originated there, has extended through the whole city; it will remain forever in my memory. At the same time I have some recollections of the North Church. Fifty-three years ago, in the fall of the year 1819, I entered upon my senior year at
88
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
Bowdoin College, and had a friend who was brother to Mr. Soule, the present principal of Exeter Academy and at that time an assistant. I well remember one day when we were walking together, that he read to me a letter he had received from his brother at Exeter, giving an account of the death of John Emery Abbot. I may say also as a pleasant recollection of him, that some years before I entered college he had graduated there, and traditions of his pure and beautiful character were handed down to the time my college course commenced ; so that really I have known him longer than most present. I remember particularly the impression left upon my mind in regard to what Mr. Soule reported as the last words he uttered,- words sanctified by the lips of him whose name it is our joy to bear -"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
There is no other one, of whom I have any special knowledge. who has been in the ministry of that church before the time that I became myself connected with the First Church in this place, Since then, one of my earliest remembrances is of one who has been referred to here to-day, a friend with whom I have been in sympathy and affection during the whole period of my ministry, and whom I have retained in memory to this hour, Octavius B. Frothingham.
Like those who have spoken before, I feel I have nothing to say beyond these imperfect reminiscences, for my boyhood was spent among the hills and valleys of Oxford County, Maine, and it is not for me to say anything at all about my later years. But these very reminiscences must of course assure you, as they must remind myself, of the age to which I have reached, and of how short a time I have to pass here on earth. Not only was I born and educated in a place so remote from you, but I was born and trained in the midst of ecclesiastical associations and sympathies far from these with which I am now surrounded, so that you may consider me as one who has been imported into the ecclesiastical
89
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
circle in which I now stand ; and whilst I rejoice in whatever relates to truth, yet there is to me nothing so sacred as the grand asser- tion of spiritual freedom, of perfect, unqualified, unlimited liberty of thought ; and I trust you will pardon the words of an old man just closing his course, if he urges upon all who are united in the sympathies and the remembrances which gather around this day, the importance of cleaving with unyielding tenacity, to the very last, to the great idea of freedom ; never suffering it to be in the slightest degree impaired, weakened, diminished, even limited.
THE PRESIDENT.
The American Unitarian Association has done a great work in this country in the planting of churches in the new and remote sections, and in endeavoring to liberalize the thought of those young and vigorous communities. One of the most efficient agents of that association, the Rev. CHARLES H. BRIGHAM, is present with us to-day, a scholar and a teacher from whom we shall all be glad to hear.
ADDRESS OF THE REV. C. H. BRIGHAM.
Well, ladies and gentleman, or brethren and sisters rather, I suppose that would be your best title, considering that this is a religious gathering, I shall have to say, as Judge Hoar has said, that I have nothing to say, because this seems to me a time of reminiscences only, where we should tell stories about the old church. Now I would like to tell you some old stories about Mr. Barnard's ordination, but unfortunately for you I was not there, or about the little matter at the North Bridge, but unfortunately again, I was not there to see it. My recollections of Mr. Barnard are mainly in the name of a young man from Salem who was in college and whose name was Thomas Barnard West, who was a very good youth, and who was in a class which had some diffi- culties and troubles. But I suppose his goodness came from the
6
90
EXERCISES AT NORMAL HALL.
name he bore. I can recollect Dr. Brazer a good many years ago. He used to exchange with Dr. Lowell, and old Dr. Lowell's people rather liked the change, for though he had a very different voice, and one to which they were not accustomed, yet he always preached good strong sermons, and made the children understand what he was talking about, and got a very strong hold upon the men and women of the church. That is the only reminiscence of the old ministers that I can give you. I can give you some valuable ones of those who have been connected with the church for twenty-five years past. Here is your pastor, with whom I am very well acquainted, and then when I was in Europe I travelled with Mr. Frothingham and with Mr. Lowe, two others of your ministers, and if there ever was a man who could calm down the quarrelling Arabs and make them behave themselves, that man was Mr. Lowe ; and if there ever was an agreeable companion in Switzerland, it was Mr. Frothingham, who used to let me ride up hill while he walked, and let me walk down while he rode, which suited me very much.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.