The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III, Part 64

Author: Jewett, Clarence F; Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897
Publication date: 1880-1881
Publisher: Boston : J.R. Osgood
Number of Pages: 770

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1 "On his way to Newport on horseback, Mr. Murray held a characteristic conversation. Ile fell in with one Rev. Mr. Hopkins, of New- port, who, in reply to a remark of Mr. Murray, said : 'If such be your views, you know nothing at all of gospel.' -' You could not so absolutely determine this matter if you yourself were not ac- quainted with the meaning of the term " gospel." Tell me then, sir, if you please, what is gospel ?' -' Why, sir, this is gospel : " He that believeth shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned."'-' Indeed, sir, I had thought the literal, simple meaning of the term " gospel " was glad tidings. Which part of the passage you have cited is gospel, -that which announces sal- vation, or that which announces damnation ?' - ' Well, then, if you please, this is gospel : " He that believeth shall be saved."' - 'Believeth what, sir ?'-' That.' -' What, sir?'-'That, I tell you.'-' What, sir?'-'That, I tell you, " He that believeth shall be saved."' -'Believeth what, sir ? What is he to believe ?'-' Why, that, I tell you.' - ' I wished, sir, to treat this investi- gation seriously, but as you seem disposed to be

rather ludicrous, we will, if you please, dismiss the subject.' -' No, sir, I do not mean to be ludicrous ; I am very serious.'-' Well, sir, if so, then I beg leave to ask, What is it I am 10 believe, the believing of which will save me ?' - ' That Jesus Christ made it possible for sinners to be saved.' -' By what means ? ' - ' By believ- ing.' - ' Believing what ?' - 'Thal.' - 'What ?' -' That Jesus Christ made it possible for sinners to be saved.'-' By what means is it possible that sinners may be saved?''By believing, I tell you.'-' But the devils ! will their believing save them?'-' No, sir.' - 'Suppose I believe that Jesus Christ made it possible to save sin- ners, will that save me?' -' No, sir.' -'Then, sir, let me ask, What am I to believe, the be- lieving of which will save me?'-' Why, sir, you must believe the gospel, that Jesus made it possible for sinners to be saved.'-' But by what means ?'- ' By believing.' - 'Believing what ?' -' That, I tell you.'"- Life of John Murray, pp. 247-48.

2 Life of John Murray, p. 284. [See also Vol. II. of this History, pp. xxvi. and 511 .- ED.]

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

the School-Street block, on which the meeting-house of the Second Univer- salist Society recently stood.1 Subsequently he again journeyed south, and in the spring of 1774 turned his face northward, reaching Boston again in September of that year. During the autumn he preached at the Manufac- tory House, in the dwelling-house of his friend, Mr. Peck, and at Faneuil

John Murray

Hall. Such crowds attended upon his ministry as led many of the proprie- tors of Mr. Croswell's meeting-house to solicit him to minister therein. The house was opened to him against the wishes of Mr. Croswell, who violently opposed him, and on subsequent occasions endeavored to prevent him from entering the pulpit. Mr. Murray was even assailed with vituperation by Mr. Croswell and others, to whom he replied with such calmness and Chris-

1 Life of John Murray, p. 291.

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THE CENTURY OF UNIVERSALISM.

tian dignity as most favorably to affect the public mind. So riotous, how- ever, were his opponents that on a subsequent occasion, on entering the pulpit, -

" He found that the cushions had been sprinkled with a noxious drug, the strong effluvia from which almost prevented his speaking. In the midst of the service many stones were violently thrown through the windows, and much alarm was excited. . . . Lifting one of these, weighing about a pound and a half, and waving it in view of the people, he remarked, 'This argument is solid and weighty, but it is neither rational nor convincing.' Though earnestly besought to leave the pulpit, as his life was in (langer, he steadfastly refused, declaring himself immortal while any duty remained to him on earth. In this scene culminated the riotous opposition to Universalism in Boston." 1

Visiting Gloucester on November 3, he preached several times at the request of the deacons and elders of the principal parish; but opposition was at length raised against him from the pastor and others. So violent did this opposition become, partly on account of his Universalism, partly be- cause he was an Englishman, that attempts were made to drive him from the town. His friends, however, proved as devoted as his enemies were virulent.

The War of the Revolution opened. Mr. Murray, in May, 1775, was appointed chaplain to the Rhode Island brigade. The other chaplains of the army united in petitioning General Washington for his removal, and were answered in the General Orders of the next day, Sept, 17, 1775, appointing the Rev. John Murray chaplain to the three Rhode Island regi- ments, and commanding that he be respected accordingly. Mr. Murray, very unwisely as General Washington thought, returned the commission forwarded to him, earnestly requesting permission to continue in the army as a volunteer.2

On leaving the army he returned to his friends in Gloucester, who organ- ized a society in January, 1779. Shortly after this a controversy arose of great importance in respect to the maintenance of Universalist societies in any part of the Commonwealth. It involved the right of the people to appropriate their contributions for public worship to such religious teachers as they might choose, being delivered at the same time from the payment of taxes to the old parishes. The subject was hotly contested. Goods and chattels were seized by an officer for parish taxes, and sold at public auction. Legal steps were then instituted to recover the moneys thus distrained. The result was long doubtful. The trial was begun in 1783, and continued with various fortune till 1786. The decision was favorable to Mr. Murray, in whose name the suit was brought, and to his friends, who were the real plaintiffs in the case. The judge, holding for some time an adverse view, became clearly in favor of the broadest religious liberty ; and the jury, after an all-night session, returned a verdict for the plaintiff. This decision opened

1 Life of John Murray, ch. vi. 2 Life of John Murray, P. 317.

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

the way for the establishment of Universalist parishes, free from all legal disabilities.1

Before speaking of the organization of churches in Boston, to which the foregoing was but so many preparatory steps, I must call attention to an incident connected with the First Church, of which the Rev. Rufus Ellis, D.D., is now pastor. Dr. Charles Chauncy, its pastor at the time of the above-mentioned struggles, then nearly eighty years of age, had thirty years before undertaken a critical study of the Scriptures, particularly of St. Paul's Epistles, with such helps as he could command from either side of the At- lantic. To his surprise he found Universalism to be the doctrine therein taught. The result of these studies was a manuscript work entitled The Salvation of All Men, about the publication of which he for a long time hesitated. In 1782, a pamphlet upon the subject, commonly attributed to him, appeared anonymously in Boston and aroused violent prejudice, call- ing forth pointed attacks from various quarters, among which those of Dr. Samuel Mather, of Boston, and Dr. Gordon, of Roxbury, were conspicuous. Thereupon Dr. Chauncy sent his principal work to London,2 where it ap- peared anonymously in 1784. To this work, tedious in many of its details, though on the whole able, the younger President Edwards, in 1790, pub- lished a vigorous but undiscriminating reply.3

Meantime the First Universalist Church in Boston had been organized. The public heart, so deeply stirred in various ways, was ready to embody in visible form its protest against long-standing barbarisms. On Dec. 25, , 1785, a meeting-house on the corner of Hanover and North Bennet streets was purchased by Shippie Townsend, James Prentiss, Jonathan Stoddard, John Page, and Josiah Snelling, for the small society of Universalists gathered under the labors of Mr. Murray, largely aided by the Rev. Adam Streeter. This was the church in which the Rev. Samuel Mather, already mentioned as an opponent of Mr. Murray, had ministered down to the time of his death. It was erected in 1741,-the year in which Mr. Murray was born, - and was enlarged by its new proprietors in 1792; repaired and · further enlarged in 1806, during which the society worshipped in Faneuil Hall; again repaired and to some extent remodelled in 1824 and 1828, and demolished in 1838, preparatory to the erection of the present brick edifice on the same spot, dedicated Jan. 1, 1839. The last service in it was held June 24, 1838, the Rev. Sebastian Streeter discoursing to an audience filling the house to repletion, from Ps. lxxvii. 11: "I will remember the works of the Lord ; surely I will remember thy wonders of old." 4

This little band of sturdy believers, happily sheltered in their new Sun- day home, was ministered to regularly by the Rev. George Richards, though

1 Life of John Murray, pp. 324-36.

2 [One reason was that no printing office in Boston had the Greek or other necessary type. See Belknap Papers, i. 172 .- ED.]

8 Modern History of Universalism, edition of 1830, pp. 347-51.

4 Most of these and kindred facts in the sketch of parishes are gathered directly or in- directly from parish records, - quite 100 meagre in incident, - and need not be specially referred to. Those here stated will be found in the Life of John Murray, p. 339-

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THE CENTURY OF UNIVERSALISM.

various other preachers, among whom Mr. Murray was conspicuous, were oc- casionally heard. Though settled at Gloucester Mr. Murray continued his travels far and near, cheering believers, confirming the doubting, comforting the sorrowing, and extending the blessings of the kingdom. Seven or eight years were thus spent, when the Boston society called Mr. Murray to be its pastor. He was installed Oct. 24, 1793, by Deacon Oliver W. Lane, as the record states, " in a very appropriate and affecting manner." This proved to be a most happy and useful pastorate, continuing uninterrupted during twenty-two years, till the death of Mr. Murray, Sept. 3, 1815. In the later

THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST MEETING-HOUSE.

period of his life, weighed down by almost insupportable infirmities, he was carried into the pulpit in the arms of his devoted friends, and, seated in his casy chair, delivered his messages of grace.

Few men have possessed such powers of persuasion as did he. To quick sensibilities, strong, pure, and enduring domestic affections, a breadthı and fulness of Christian love that nothing could either repress or limit, were joined great penetration, an intuitive knowledge of human nature, and the most exuberant cheerfulness. Such qualities command the confidence of men, awaken their affections, and purify their hearts. Such qualities enabled him, when but a young man, to throw himself into the midst of a London mob during the Wilkes troubles, hush the clamor, soothe the rioters, and save many valuable lives, besides much property. A noble- man seizing him by the hand impressively said, "Young man, I thank you. I am ignorant of your name; but I bear testimony to your wonderful VOL. 111 .- 62.

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

abilities. By your exertions much blood and treasure have this night been saved." 1

So great were the infirmities of Mr. Murray that for some years before his death an assistant was employed. The Rev. Edward Mitchell, of New Caw Mitchell York, became colleague, Sept. 12, 1810, and filled that office till Oct. 6, 1811. He was succeeded by the Rev. Paul Dean, - an elo- quent and ambitious man whom we shall again have occasion to mention, - October, 1813, who became sole pastor after the death of Mr. Murray, con- tinuing till April 6, 1823. May 13, 1824, the Rev. Sebastian Streeter, of saintly memory, entered upon his charge of the parish. This proved far the longest and most fruitful of all the pastorates which the church enjoyed. For nearly thirty years he went in and out before them as their Sebastian Streeter. sole pastor, - a truly apostolic presence. Often did his cloquent ministrations deeply touch the hearts of parents as they brought their babes to the altar for christening; of the mourning, as bending over their dead he unveiled to them the life immor- tal; and of the glad assemblages gathered to witness the solemn inter- change of marriage vows. Of these last alone more than thirty-five hundred couples received his patriarchal benediction. Among the means of usefulness in this church the Friday-evening prayer-meeting ever held a conspicuous place.

In Mr. Streeter's advancing age it became necessary to relieve him of some of the more active duties of the pastorate. The Rev. Sumner Ellis was installed as colleague, Nov. 11, 1851, and resigned the office, Dec. 25, 1853. He was succeeded by the Rev. Noah M. Gaylord, who was installed March 14, 1855, and continued, excepting a brief interval, to minister until his resignation, Oct. 28, 1860. Both these young men brought excellent talents to the service of the church. Mr. Ellis, then quite young, has since risen to a position of influence, whence with voice and pen he greatly pro- motes the kingdom of Christ. Mr. Gaylord, after a term of service in the army, died in the full vigor of manhood.

The lack of outward prosperity in the church during their connection with it is attributable to causes quite beyond their control. The old North End, once the principal part of the city and the seat of all its great inter- ests, had come to be occupied chiefly by a foreign-born population, from whose presence the former residents had in large numbers retired. This social revolution greatly affected the Protestant churches in general of that locality, and the First Universalist Church was no exception. For a year following Mr. Gaylord's resignation the church was closed. At length, however, services were resumed in the lecture-room, Nov. 3, 1861, which were so largely attended that on December 29 they were transferred to the

1 Life of John Murray, P. 381.

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THE CENTURY OF UNIVERSALISM.

auditorium. The ministry of the Rev. Thomas W. Silloway, under whom this success was achieved, closed May 29, 1864, when the parish yielded to the inevitable. Its entire history covered a period of about seventy-nine years, which was mainly prosperous. The only other exception was an epi- sode connected with the ministry of Mr. Dean, which we shall have occa- sion hereafter to notice. Mr. Murray's ministry continued about twenty- two years, Mr. Streeter's forty years, and the others a little over an average of four years cach. Mr. Streeter died, June 2, 1867, at the age of eighty- four years.

During Mr. Mitchell's ministry with the First Church as colleague an act of incorporation, bearing date Feb. 27, 1811, was secured for a Univer- salist parish in Charlestown. The first meeting was held at the Town Hall, March 14, 1811. The officers chosen were Moses Hall, chairman ; Thomas J. Goodwin, clerk ; Samuel Thompson, treasurer ; Benjamin Adams, collec- tor; who with the following gentlemen constituted the standing commit- tee, - namely, John Kettell, John Tapley, Timothy Thompson, Otis Clapp, Henry Van Voorhis, Isaac Smith, Josiah Harris, Andrew Roulstone, and Barnabas Edmands. The contract for a church edifice previously made by the leading friends of the movement was assumed by the society; and the Rev. Abner Kneeland of Langdon, New Hampshire, was invited to the pas- torate, at ten dollars a week, with the rent of a dwelling-house and the expense of removing his family. The dedication took place Sept. 5, 1811, the sermon being given by the Rev. Edward Mitchell, of Boston. In the afternoon of the same day Mr. Kneeland was installed, - the Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, preaching the sermon, the Rev. Thomas Jones, of Gloucester, "delivering the Scriptures " and giving the charge, and the Rev. Edward Turner, of Salem, extending the fellowship of the churches. The day closed with a social entertainment to the Council and invited guests.

The church had a long line, with rare exceptions, of most worthy men.1

1 The list of pastors is the following : Abner Kneeland, from September, 1811, to January, 1814; Edward Turner, from March, 1814, to March, 1823 ; - Winchester, from September, 1824, to March, 1825; Calvin Gard-

Edward Turners

Aliner Mnulong

ner, from June, 1825, to December, 1826; John Samuel Thomp- son, from March, 1827, to April, 1828 ; Linus S. Everett, from November, 1828, 10 December, IS34; Thomas F. King, from December, 1835, to September, IS39; Edwin II. Chapin, from Decem- ber, IS40, to November, 1845; Thomas Starr King, from Au- gust, 1846, to October, 1848; Robert Townly,

L.L. Quete

Calvin Gardener .

S. Thom fisum -

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

Mr. Kneeland proved unstable in the faith, and soon fell away into Deism and at length into Atheism; Mr. Thompson proved too eccentric for wide usefulness; Messrs. Turner, Gardner, Everett, the elder King, the eloquent Chapin, the brilliant younger King, the quaint Scotchman Laurie, with his faithful successors, were all men of weight, ability, and great usefulness. The church to which they ministered early took high rank among the Universalist churches of the land, and has steadily held it to the present hour. Throughout the seventy years of its history it has numbered many men of high social standing, of large business abilities, of prominent political positions and influence, and of eminence in moral worth and Christian char- acter. With no diminution of religious interest, the church, under the lead of its present able pastor, gives promise of a future as rich in the fruits of the Spirit as has been its honorable past.

Mr. Murray's Universalism, it has already been remarked, was of the Rellyan or Calvinistic type. It differed from pure Calvinism chiefly in mak- ing the Atonement universal, and therefore, according to Calvinistic prin- ciples, universally effective. Christ was the head of every man, and redemp- tion, though not salvation, was an accomplished fact. Five or six years after his settlement in Boston, an incident occurred which was destined to have a most important influence upon the fortunes of Universalism in gen- eral. Mr. Murray made a journey to the South as far as Philadelphia. During his absence the Rev. Hosea Ballou was engaged to supply his pulpit ten Sundays. Mr. Ballou was then a young man under thirty years of age. Born in Richmond, New Hampshire, April 30, 1771, educated or brought up in the Baptist church with which he early united, and led through his great love of spiritual things to an earnest study of the holy Scriptures, he entered · into the joy of the Universalist's hope in 1789, when but eighteen years of age. But the philosophy of that hope, as then currently held, was far from being satisfactory to his penetrating mind.1 Both the doctrine of the Trinity and the then current doctrine of the Atonement soon came under examination, resulting in their rejection by him as early as 1795. He be- lieved that Christ was a special messenger from God, his only begotten Son, and hence subordinate to the Father. His death was not an infliction of penalty due to fallen man, but a voluntary sacrifice of himself in testimony of infinite love, intended to secure an at-one-ment between God and man, - a reconciliation of man to God. It is probable that the fanciful views of

from June, 1849, to June, 1852 ; Alexander G. William T. Stowe, from

29. King

Laurie, from November, 1853, to July, 1863;

Thomas & King

Oscar F. Safford, from May, 1865, to July, 1870;

May, 1871, to February, 1878; and Charles Fol- len Lee, the present pastor, was settled Jan. 7, 1879.

1 Mrs. Murray concedes that at the time of her husband's death his peculiar faith was held only by the Rev. John Tyler, Episcopal min- ister in Norwich, Conn., and the Rev. Edward Mitchell, of the city of New York. Life of John Murray, Introduction, p. xiii.

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THE CENTURY OF UNIVERSALISM.

Mr. Murray in regard to the judgment, in which he followed Relly, were never accepted by Mr. Ballou. He had not as yet, however, come to recog- nize the continually recurring judgments of God as involved in the current retributions of life, of which at a later period he was fully convinced. He

Hosea Ballon.

regarded the whole work of man's salvation as fore-ordained through appro- priate means. Believing God to be impartial in his parental love, he was convinced that the decree of human salvation could not be other than universal.

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

No sooner did his mind become clear upon the subjects of the Trinity and the Atonement, than he hastened openly to avow his new convictions. If there were others sympathizing with these views he was unaware of it, since they made no appeal to the public. In this progress of his mind Mr. Ballou was entirely destitute of human helps, resolving these problems from the Scriptures alone. Meantime, he had been excommunicated from the Baptist church, and ordained to the Universalist ministry.1 Unsolicited, and without previous notice to Mr. Ballou, at the session of the General Convention in Oxford, 1794, the Rev. Elhanan Winchester, at the con- clusion of a sermon of great power and warmth, turned to Mr. Ballou, who was in the pulpit with him, and with a few appropriate remarks thrust the Bible against his breast, saying to the Rev. Joab Young, " Brother Young, charge him." The charge was given, and the ordination was complete.

Such was the young man who in 1798 or 1799 supplied Mr. Murray's desk for ten consecutive weeks. His remarkable familiarity with the Word of God, his wonderful powers of reasoning, his profound insight into the human heart, and his inexhaustible store of illustrations level to the com- mon mind gave him a power over an assembly rarely equalled. He had a large hearing in Boston. The public mind was greatly moved. On the last day of his ministration he gave a very frank and clear explanation of his new views touching Christ and the Atonement. By the suggestion of Mrs. Murray, who was present, one Mr. Balch announced from the gallery that what they had just heard was not the doctrine usually preached in that pulpit; whereupon Mr. Ballou, in great calmness, called upon the audience to take notice of what the brother had said.

The seed thus sown could not but bear fruit. To Mr. Murray, with his Rellyism, Mr. Ballou's doctrines gave great pain. He deemed him to be thinking and speaking with unwarrantable boldness. On the other hand, the people were eager to hear more from a speaker at onee so original, so persuasive, so convincing. Overtures were made to him to bring him to Boston ; but he could not be induced to take a step which might in any degree result in the injury of Mr. Murray. The wishes of the people, however, were by no means ephemeral. Many things conspired to keep those desires alive. The people were not satisfied with the philosophy of Christianity as commonly presented to them. Mr. Ballou was the most original thinker with whom they had become acquainted. Though far re- moved from them he was frequently heard from, and always in a way to intensify their desire to have him in their midst. He was a member of the General Convention in 1803 at Winchester, New Hampshire, when the Con- fession of Faith,2 drawn by Walter Ferris, was adopted with such marked

1 Whittemore's Life of Ballou, vol. i., in ex- tenso.

% It consisted of the three following articles : 1. " We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revela- tion of the character of God, and of the duty, interest, and final destination of mankind.

2. " We believe that there is one God, whose nature is love; revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.

3. " We believe that holiness and true hap- piness are inseparably connected ; and that be-

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THE CENTURY OF UNIVERSALISM.

unanimity. In 1804 his work entitled Notes on the Parables of the New Testament was published, and commanded such wide attention as to pass throughi five or more editions. The first edition was printed at Randolph, Vermont; subsequent ones in Boston.

The work, however, destined to enhance his reputation in a far higher degrec as a Christian reasoner and interpreter of Christianity was published the following year, 1805. Like the preceding work it was printed at Randolph, Vermont, - the author being pastor of the united societies of Barnard, Woodstock, Hartland, Bethel, and Bridgewater. It was entitled, A Treatise on Atonement, in which the Finite Nature of Sin is Argued, its Cause and Consequences as such ; the Necessity and Nature of Atonement, and its Glorious Consequences, in the Final Reconciliation of All Men to Holiness and Happiness. This work was extensively circulated and attentively read in almost every Universalist family in the land. For scores of years after its publication the author continued to receive letters of grateful acknowl- edgment for the hopes it had begotten of a world's salvation. The work has never been displaced. The views it presents are substantially the views of the Universalist Church to-day, to which also the thought of Christendom seems rapidly tending. Notwithstanding its direct antagonism to the doc- trine of Mr. Murray, it was received among Boston Universalists with great favor, and increased the impatience with which they awaited the author's settlement among them.

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The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III, Part 64

Author: Jewett, Clarence F; Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897 Publication date: 1880-1881 Publisher: Boston : J.R. Osgood Number of Pages: 770

Author: Jewett, Clarence F; Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897
Publication date: 1880-1881
Publisher: Boston : J.R. Osgood
Number of Pages: 770