USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. II > Part 35
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To look back once more, in 1737 the West Church in Boston was formed, and a meeting-house was erected on Lynde Street. It was the only church in that part of the town. The first minister was Rev. William Hooper, who, after a service of nine years, turned away from the New England churches, and connected himself with the Church of England. He went to England and was again ordained, after which he returned and was made the minister of Trinity Church, the third Episcopal Church in the town. The house of worship of this church was opened in 1735. It stood on Summer Street, at the corner of Hawley, and was a plain wooden structure, ninety feet by sixty, without steeple or tower. The interior was considered the finest in the town. The first minister was the Rev. Addington Davenport, who was for three years the Assistant Rector at the King's Chapel, and assumed the charge of the new church in 1740.
President Wadsworth died in 1737. His health began to decline soon after he was placed over the college, but with all the disadvantages of his impaired strength he performed his duties to the general acceptance of the friends of the college. "His conduct in their discharge was marked by
He is chiefly remembered for his Tory pro- clivities, which will be touched upon in the next volume. His wit and jests still pass current in Boston, and Tyler has noted the instances of his repartee recorded in Tudor's Life of Fames Otis, 156; Belknap Papers in 5 Mass. Hist. Coll., ii. 285, 471 ; iii. 51, 234; and Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, i. 377, 378, 382. See also Sargent, Dealings with the Dead, ii. 364, etc. Duyckinck, Cyc. of Amer. Lit., i. 119.
Some contemporary stanzas are still remem- bered : -
" 'There 's punning Byles provokes our smiles, A man of stately parts ;
He visits folks to crack his jokes, Which never mend their hearts.
With strutting gait and wig so great, He walks along the streets : And throws out wit, or what 's like it, To every one he meets." .
- ED.
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firmness, prudence, and judgment. Faithful to every trust, kind to all, calm, cautious, moderate, self-possessed, and affectionate, he left a name precious to his own, and appreciated highly by after-times." In seeking another president the Corporation turned again to the ministers of Boston, and made choice of the Rev. William Cooper, of the Brattle-Street Church.
BENJAMIN WADSWORTH.1
This election appears to have been a compromise, and not to have secured the favorite candidate of either of the religious parties between which the community was divided. Mr. Cooper promptly declined the proffered honor and responsibility, and a few days later the Rev. Edward Holyoke, of Mar-
1 [This cut follows a portrait now hanging in Memorial Hall, Cambridge. - ED.]
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blehead, was unanimously chosen. He had graduated in 1705, and had been a tutor, librarian, and fellow in the college. He was considered eminently fitted for the duties of the office. His religious principles coincided with the mildness and catholicism which characterized the government of the seminary. To the inquiry of Governor Belcher, Mr. Holyoke's neighbor, the Rev. John Barnard answered: "I think Mr. Holyoke as Orthodox a Calvinist as any man; though I look upon him as too much of a gentle- man, and of too catholic a temper, to cram his principles down another man's throat." "Then I believe he must be the man," replied the Gov- ernor. He was inaugurated Sept. 28, 1737. The General Court agreed to pay to the Society which had thus given up its pastor one hundred and forty pounds, "to encourage and facilitate the settlement of a minister there."
In 1738 Rev. Elisha Callender, of the First Baptist Church, died. He had served this church for twenty years, and was "beloved by people of all persuasions for his charitable and catholic way of thinking. His life was unspotted, and his conversation always affable, religious, and truly manly." In 1739 the Rev. Jeremiah Condy was made the minister of this church. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1726.
In 1739 the Rev. Peter Thacher, of the New North Church, died. He was a man of great powers and wide learning; of a manly and earnest spirit; devout and amiable. "To call him the evangelical reasoner is com- prehensive of his character as a preacher." 1
We are brought now to the consideration of the religious movement often called " The great Awakening." There had come to be in the churches a lack of spiritual vigor, a languor, a deadness of faith, and an unsoundness of belief, which were not in keeping with their position or their history, and which foreboded evil things for the years that were to come. Out of this sleep they were awakened in a marvellous manner. The new life began to appear in 1734, under the powerful preaching of Jonathan Edwards, at Northampton. It spread to the sur- rounding towns. It aroused the inter- June 11. 1740 Jonathan Edwards est of the Boston churches. Dr. Colman wrote to Dr. Edwards for an account of the work, which was given in a long letter afterward published in London. The Boston ministers kept their people interested, and circulated among them Dr. Edwards's letter and several sermons which had been influential in the movement. The remarkable interest in the valley of the Connecticut was not of long con- tinuance; partly, it would seem, because so many had quickly felt the new life, and had come under its control, or turned away from it. But Boston was yet to feel its power. At the hands of a stranger it was to receive
1 [His relationship to other members of this family of ministers' can be traced in N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg., 1859, p. 246, and 1866, p. 316, and in the New England Magazine, July, 1834. See also Heraldic Journal, iv. 75. - ED.]
2 [This is the subscription to a letter on file at the State House, addressed to Josiah Willard, relating to the labors of Whitefield. On his mother's side Edwards was descended from the Boston Stoddards. - ED.]
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the strange gift. The fame of George Whitefield, a young minister of the Church of England, then engaged in Christian work in Georgia, had reached so far, and was connected with so amazing results, that Dr. Colman sent him an invitation to visit New England. With his colleague, Mr. Cooper, he prepared the way for him by publishing a sermon by a clergy- man of South Carolina, highly extolling his gifts and powers, and they accompanied this with a memoir of the coming man. For Whitefield came. Reaching Newport by water, he preached there to great assemblies, and then hastened on to Boston. Fortunately for him and for his reception, Governor Belcher was in sympathy with him. The Governor's son and " a train of the clergy and principal inhabitants " went out to meet him and to escort him into town, where a warm welcome awaited him. This was on Sept. 18, 1740. We have his own record of the beginning of his work here: -
" Friday, September 19, I was visited by several gentlemen and ministers, and went to the Governor's with Mr. Willard, the secretary of the province, a man fearing God, and with whom I have corresponded, though before unknown in person. The Governor received me with the utmost respect, and desired to see me as often as I could. At eleven I went to worship at the Church of England, and afterwards went home with the commissary. He treated me very courteously ; and, it being the day whereon the clergy of the Established Church met, I had an opportunity of convers- ing with five of them. In the afternoon I preached to about four thousand in Dr. Colman's meeting-house, and afterwards exhorted and prayed with many who came to my lodgings."
On Saturday he preached in the morning at Mr. Sewall's, and afterward on the Common, and again at his lodgings. On Sunday he heard Dr. Col- man preach, and in the afternoon preached at Mr. Foxcroft's church, and afterward on the Common and at his lodgings. He preached at Mr. Webb's, and Mr. Gee's, and was to have preached at Mr. Checkley's, but for an accident which drove the people to the Common. He went to Cambridge, where he found the college with the president, four tutors, and about a hundred students. He concluded that the college was -
" Not far superior to our universities in piety. Discipline is at a low ebb. Bad books are become fashionable among the tutors and students. Tillotson and Clark are read, instead of Shepard, Stoddard, and such like evangelical writers ; and, there- fore, I chose to preach from these words, -'We are not as many, who corrupt the Word of God ;' and God gave me great freedom and boldness of speech. A great number of neighboring ministers attended, as indeed they do at all other times. The president of the college and minister of the parish treated me very civilly. In the afternoon I preached again, in the court. I believe there were about seven thousand hearers. The Holy Spirit melted many hearts."
He preached the weekly lecture at Mr. Foxcroft's, and preached in Charlestown and Roxbury; and " from a scaffold erected without the Rev. Mr. Byles's meeting-house," and in Mr. Welsteed's church, and on Satur-
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day afternoon on the Common to about fifteen thousand people, and on Sunday at Mr. Sewall's and Dr. Colman's, when, at both churches, offerings were made for an orphan house in Georgia.
"I then went and preached to a great number of negroes, on the conversion of the Ethiopian, and at my return gave a word of exhortation to a crowd of people who were waiting at my lodgings. I went to bed greatly refreshed with divine con- solations."
Whitefield then visited other places, where he preached with great effect, and came again to Boston. He continued to preach to throngs, who were wonderfully affected by his appeals.1 On Sunday, October 12, he preached in the South Church, which was so crowded with people that he was obliged to get into the house by a window. The Governor took him in his coach to the Common, where he preached his farewell sermon to an immense crowd, -" near twenty thousand people." On the next day the Governor took him to the Charlestown Ferry, handed him into the boat, kissed him, and bade him farewell with tears. Whitefield was evidently greatly pleased with his visit. "Boston people are dear to my soul, and were very liberal to my dear orphans." We have his reflections as he turned toward his South- ern home. In his view Boston had kept up the form of religion well, but had lost much of its power. There was too much vanity to be seen in the assemblies.
" Jewels, patches, and gay apparel are commonly worn by the female sex. I ob- served little boys and girls commonly dressed up in the pride of life ; and the infants that were brought to baptism were wrapped in such finery, that one would think they were brought thither to be initiated into, rather than to renounce, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. Boston, however, is remarkable for the external obser- vance of the Sabbath. Men in civil offices have a regard for religion. The Governor encourages them ; and the ministers and magistrates seem to be more united than those in any other place where I have been. I never saw so little scoffing ; never had so little opposition."
What did others say of him? We have the testimony of the Rev. Thomas Prince of the Old South Church : -
" Upon Mr. Whitefield's leaving us, great numbers in this town were so happily concerned about their souls, as we had never seen anything like it before, except at the time of the general earthquake. And their desires were excited to hear minis- ters more than ever ; so that our assemblies, both on lectures and Sabbaths, were sur- prisingly increased. And now the people wanted to hear us oftener, in consideration of
1 [Paul Dudley thus recorded his impressions : " Mr. Whitefield is without doubt a very extraor- dinary man, full of zeal. ... His preaching seems to be much like that of the old English Puritans. It was not so much the matter of his sermons, as the very serious, earnest, and affec- tionate delivery of them without notes, that VOL. II. - 30.
gained him such a multitude of hearers. The main subjects of his preaching while here were the nature and necessity of regeneration, or con- version, and justification by the righteousness of Christ by faith alone."-N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg., 1861, p. 58. Compare Mr. Drake's chap- ter on Roxbury in the present volume. - ED.]
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which a public lecture was proposed to be set up at Dr. Colman's Church, near the midst of the town, on every Tuesday evening. ... When the evening came, the house seemed to be crowded as much as if Mr. Whitefield was there. It was the first stated evening lecture in these parts of the world."
That great results followed the efforts of Whitefield is evident. That his methods were not approved by some of the ministers and people is also certain. His position was peculiar. He was an ordained minister of the English Church. Yet his work in Boston was done in the New England churches.
" His own received him not," remarks one of the writers of that time ; "but we [ministers, rulers, and people ] generally received him as an angel of God, or as Elias, or John the Baptist risen from the dead. . . . Such a power and presence of God with a preacher, and in religious assemblies, I never saw before, and am ready to fear I shall never see again."
That there were features of his preaching which cannot be commended is not more than should be expected. Let it be remembered that he was not twenty-six years old; that he had drawn public attention to himself wher- ever he had gone, and had found throngs waiting patiently and with longing upon his words. The unparalleled admiration which he received was enough to turn the head of a weak man, and transform him into a body of self- conceit. It did not have that effect upon this man. He never lost sight of his office, or its design. If he judged harshly, if he rebuked sharply, if he censured unjustly, we are not called upon either to be surprised at his haste, or to conceal his mistakes. Better than the judgment we could form is the opinion of the ministers of Boston, who in 1740 welcomed him to their pulpits and rejoiced in his labors. "Our Governor can call him nothing less than the Apostle Paul," says one writer. Old Mr. Walter, of Roxbury, Eliot's successor, said of his preaching, that "it was Puritanism revived." The feeling against him would be as strong at the college as anywhere. It is intimated by President Quincy that he had been misinformed regarding the college by some who were disaffected towards it. His preaching is said to have been effective there. The visiting committee of the overseers reported in June, 1741, that "they find. of late extraordinary and happy impressions of a religious nature have been made on the minds of a great number of students, by which means the college is in a better order than usual, and the exercises of the professors and tutors better attended." The overseers recommended that the Faculty should encourage and promote the good work, and appointed a day of thanksgiving and prayer. Tutor Flynt seems to have been an impartial though interested witness of these events. He writes of Whitefield, -
" He appears to be a good man, and sincerely desirous to do good to the souls of ยท sinners ; is very apt to judge harshly, and censure, in the severest terms, those that
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differ from his scheme. . . . I think he is a composition of a great deal of good and some bad; and I pray God to grant success to what is well designed and acted by him."
Soon after Whitefield left Boston his work was taken up by the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, a Presbyterian minister from New Jersey. He labored in and near Boston for two or three months, and produced a deep impression. We have Mr. Prince's account of him and his work. He was esteemed a man of deep religious character. "His preaching was as searching and rousing as ever I heard," while Whitefield's is described as " in the manner moving, earnest, winning, melting." Tennent showed no desire to please his hearers, but directed his reasoning and appeals to their hearts and consciences.
" I do not remember any crying out, or falling down, or fainting, either under Mr. Whitefield's or Mr. Tennent's ministry all the while they were here ; though many, both women and men, both those who had been vicious and those who had been moral, - yea, some religious and learned, as well as unlearned, - were in great con- cern of soul."
It is a good commentary on the influence of these two men that after they had gone persons continued to repair to their own ministers, and were instructed by them. "And now was such a time as we never knew. The Rev. Mr. Cooper was wont to say, that more came to him in one week in deep concern about their souls, than in the whole twenty-four years of his preceding ministry. I can also say the same as to the numbers who repaired to me." Mr. Webb said that he had in three months' time above a thousand come to him. "The people seemed to love to hear us more than ever." Numerous lectures were opened in the different churches and were largely attended, while there were frequent services in private houses. There were large additions to the churches from all classes. The very face of the town seemed changed. Negroes and boys left their rudeness. There was an altered " look and carriage of people." The taverns were deserted by those who had resorted to them with idle or evil intent. For a year and a half after Mr. Whitefield's departure the good work went on. But a change was to come. There was in the town of Southold, on Long Island, a minister named James Davenport. He was esteemed by Whitefield and Tennent as a godly and heavenly man. He was of an excitable temperament, extrav- agant, and unbalanced. The successes of Whitefield stirred him up to engage in similar labors. He began his work by examining the minis- ters, if he was allowed to do so, and pronouncing on their religious state, and by warning the people of the danger of sitting under unconverted pastors. At length he reached Charlestown, where he declared the minister an unconverted man. He crossed over to Boston, where the ministers in- vited him to a conference. They asked him why he left his flock so often and for so long periods, and why he assumed to judge of the estate of other
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ministers and their people, and thus to make division. They decided, after hearing him, that they ought not to invite Mr. Davenport into their places of public worship, lest they might appear to countenance his errors. They were not satisfied that he had a call to preach in the fields from day to day, as he had been doing. While thus protesting against this man and his measures, they repeated their testimony " to the great and glorious work of God, which of his free grace he has begun and is carrying on in many parts of this and the neighboring provinces." Thus shut out from the churches, Davenport went to the Common, and there and on Copp's Hill preached to large gatherings and uttered his mind concerning the ministers. For utter- ing "many slanderous and reviling speeches against the godly and faithful ministers of this province" he was indicted and tried. Several of the
ministers sent a note to the Court, asking that he might be treated with as much gentleness as was consistent with justice and good order. The fact was proved, but the verdict was " not guilty," on the ground that he was non compos mentis. That was in August, 1742. Little is known of the effect of his work in Boston. A few persons withdrew from the churches. In February, 1748, the eleventh Congregational Church in Boston was formed, and the Rev. Andrew Croswell, of Groton, Connecticut, who had defended Davenport, was installed as pastor. The meeting-house of the French Protestant Church, which about this time was disbanded, was secured by the new society. Mr. Croswell continued to be the pastor till his death, in 1785, when the house passed into other hands.
The indirect results of the commotion made by Davenport were long felt. The minds of the ministers and the people had been agitated on the vital matter of conversion, and controversy was the natural, as it is the usual, re- sult. The ministers of Boston published two treatises, - one by Tennent, and the other by Dickinson, a Presbyterian clergyman of New Jersey; and at the annual meeting of the ministers of the province in May, 1743, they published their testimony " against several errors in doctrine and disorders in practice, which have of late obtained in various parts of the land." As this was the action of only a small portion of the clergy of the province, another meeting was held on the day after Commencement, when another declara- tion of "testimony and advice " was read and signed by sixty-eight of the ninety ministers present. They declared "their full persuasion that there has been a happy and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this land through an uncommon divine influence." They were grieved that this should have been represented abroad as " all enthusiasm, delusion, and dis- order," while they lamented that in some places there had been irregularities and extravagances. They declared that laymen should not invade the office of the minister, or ministers the province of others ; that the people should beware of prejudices against their own pastors, and of separations and un- charitableness; and, above all, that the people should not despise the out- pourings of the Spirit. The wisdom of the Massachusetts clergy was largely represented in this declaration ; yet there were some ministers, justly
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held in respect, who did not look so favorably on the movement. In 1742 Dr. Edwards published his Thoughts on the Revival, recognizing " the proofs of a mighty and infinite blessing." The next year Dr. Chauncy put forth his Seasonable Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England, in which he took strong ground on the other side, which seems to have been in accord both with his natural temperament and with the position he had before taken with regard to the work. After a time the special interest passed away, leaving its permanent results. In 1744 we find Thomas Prince mourning the withdrawal of the awakening influence of the sover- eign Spirit. "But few are now added to our churches, and the heavenly shower in Boston seems to be over."
Mr. Whitefield made another visit to Boston in 1744. The common people received him, he writes, with joy which cannot be described. " But many of the ministers, - how shy! how different from what they once were!" He suffered from the dissension which was caused by Davenport and the controversy which he created. Besides this, Governor Belcher was gone. Mr. Whitefield is very frank in his statement : -
" He honoured me with great honour, and the clergy paid the nod, and obeyed. In many, I then perceived, it was quite forced ; and, I think, when at his table, I whispered to some one and said, ' If ever I come again, many of those who now seem extremely civil will turn out my open enemies.' The event has proved that in this respect, I have been no false prophet. You know where it is written, "There arose a king who knew not Joseph.' But, many or all, my poor labours are yet attended with the usual blessings."
He preached in several of the largest houses of worship, - Dr. Col- man's, Dr. Sewall's, Mr. Webb's, Mr. Gee's, -and at the Brattle-Street Church he administered the communion. " He comes," says the historian, " with the same extraordinary spirit of meekness, sweetness, and universal benevolence as before." But the newspapers assailed him. Two associa- tions of ministers in Essex County rebuked their brethren in Boston for receiving him to their pulpits. The College Faculty retaliated the charges brought against the college in the hot discussions of the time, by publish- ing their testimony against Whitefield, calling him very hard names. White- field replied, and others continued the controversy. "Whitefield was sore beset. In letters to various friends he expressed more diffidence than might have been expected from a young man who had drunk so deeply into the intoxication of popular applause; " thus writes the calm historian in our day. "I certainly did drop some unguarded expressions in the heat of less experienced youth, and was too precipitate in hearkening to and publishing private information." He assured the Faculty of the College of his " sorrow that he had published his private informations . . . to the world." Twenty years later, when the Library had been burned, he gave to the college his " Journal and'a collection of books; and also by his influence he procured a large number of valuable books from several parts of Great Britain."
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