USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > The pastor's jubilee : a discourse delivered in the South Church, Salem, Mass., April 24, 1855, by Brown Emerson, D.D. on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination : with an appendix > Part 4
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The sermon was not only prepared, but was actually read to Dr. Emmons himself, who felt constrained to interpose his objections to certain parts of the elaborate eulogy ; whereupon the eulogist said to him, - I can hardly venture to repeat just what I have heard that he said, but I will, - " Dr. Emmons, you must n't speak ; you are a dead man!"
I have thought, my venerated friend, that you must receive some things here to-night somewhat as if you were dead! although we trust that you will yet live for years among us, and enjoy the expressions of such affection and respect as you are now receiving.
When, fifty years ago this day, my reverend father, to whom you referred this afternoon, gave you the right hand of fellowship, he little expected, probably, that you would be alive, sir, a fiftieth anniversary of your ordination ; and as little, I apprehend, did you yourself have any such thought or expectation ; and. perhaps, least of all was it expected that the little boy, whom he left at home in County street, would, fifty years after- wards, be found in the position which I hold on this occasion. You spoke of the solemnities of your ordination day as if your heart was very tenderly affected, and as if you had often reverted to the scene with a melting interest. I now have in my hand that identical expression of fellowship which my father gave you, as I doubt not, with the warmest cordiality. You remember what he said ; and if now, after such a lapse of years, there was any need of a renewal of the right hand of fellowship, I think that I could give it to you again, adopting every sentiment which he then uttered. A better one I could not possibly give you.
Sometimes, you know, in our marriage ceremonies. we are requested to make the service "strong," that the parties may be more sure to hold fast in their connection. I am inclined to think that the connection between you and your people was made very strong; at least, I do not think that you need a renewal of the right hand of fellowship from me.
If the time allowed, however. I should be glad to read some passages from my father's manuscript. I would simply say, that after speaking of
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Christian fellowship, in its holy and exalting nature, he proceeded to a direct address to yourself, the pastor elect; and, as he drew towards the close, he said : " May God Almighty bless thee, my brother. May your ministry be long. successful, and happy." Did he ever offer a prayer in his life that was more exactly answered ?
In his address to the people of this church and society, he reminded them of their high obligations to God for the auspicious circumstances of the occasion. He referred particularly to the "new and magnificent" sanctuary which had just been completed; and truly did he thus speak of it, for in all the region there was then no House of God that would at all compare with this structure. You have been greatly favored, dear sir, and much above your brethren generally, in having occupied such a house as this from the beginning of your ministry ; but it has been a far greater privilege to occupy the hearts, and to dwell as you have in the hearts-the warm affections-of such a church and society.
My father also referred with great tenderness to the senior pastor, with whom you were associated; and exhorted your people to pray much for their pastors, and forget not their debt of gratitude to that God of all grace who had given them such distinguished prosperity.
And now, my venerated friend, I give to you this right hand, though you need it not, as a token of my fellowship. I do assure you, that, out of your own immediate charge, you have no better friends than the people and the pastor of the Tabernacle; and I give you, renewedly, this right hand now and forever !
SAMUEL GREELE, Esq .. of Boston. a Deacon of Rev. Dr. Gannett's Church, was next announced. He said :
Mr. President: How striking are the contrasts in the various aspects of life, which the providence of the All-wise Disposer of events calls us to witness within a few short months ! Six or eight weeks since. I attended a funeral service in a neighboring church. draped in black, suggestive of bereavement and grief. The shrouded coffin contained the remains of a classmate whom I loved as a friend, and whom I admired for his rich affections, his rare genius, his brilliant wit, his varied attainments, and his captivating colloquial powers. His family and his friends are consoled with the reflection, that these diversified gifts were consecrated to Humanity and to God. Had the life of DR. FLINT been spared till now, no one would have grasped the hand of his aged brother with a readier or warmer sympathy, for his heart was full of friendship and affection, and his
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eloquent lips would have charmed us, as they often have done, with utterances befitting the occasion. The garden and the sepulchre are in close proximity. JJoy and sorrow follow each other in endless and rapid succession in the varied scenes of life.
I will not linger longer at the grave of my friend; for the environment of smiling faces reminds me that this is the season, not of sorrow, but of joy. As we were made to rejoice with the happy, as well as to weep with the sad, nature prompts us to commemorate the various epochs and events of life with appropriate rites. You do well, my friends, to celebrate this fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of your senior minister, (the Golden Wedding of pastor and people. ) with solemn service at the church which has been consecrated by his prayers, where he has often met you at the baptismal font, and at the table of our common Lord; and it is fit and pleasant also to meet in a less formal manner, as now, to congratulate the " Old Man Eloquent," and to address each other in the jubilant tones of good fellowship, gratitude, and joy.
I felicitate you, my dear sir, on the rare privilege accorded to you this day. Though the fathers who chose you for their spiritual guide. have passed away, it is delightful in these times of change, and in this genera- tion of itching ears, to learn that their children, and their children's chil- dren, cling to you with the affection that glowed in the hearts of parents whom, as we trust. your ministry fitted for the employments and enjoyments of regions beyond the skies. What sight is more gratifying than to see a confiding people listening with delight and eager attention to a beloved pastor, who has instructed them and their fathers for half a century in " things pertaining to the kingdom of Heaven"?
I rejoice, my dear sir, to find you bearing fruit in oll age. I am inclined to think, my friends, differing as we may. in some respects, that our sym- pathies are more in accordance than our creeds. It may be partly owing to my advanced period of life, ( for I, like your minister. am well stricken in years, ) but so it is, I confess, that to my taste, the golden fruit of old trees is more savory and nutritious, than the unripe gatherings of verdant saplings. May the tree that has weathered the sunshine and the storms of seventy-seven seasons- whose leaves are still green. and whose branches are still vigorous and strong. - be spared to bear mellow fruit for years to come !
It will surprise some of you, perhaps, to see me in company where I am so little known, but where I am most happy to be; yet I think you must allow that I have a claim to be here, when I inform you that my acquaint- ance with Dr. Emerson commenced nearly sixty years ago. In the year of
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THE NEWLLARY LIBRARY CHICAGO
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Grace 1796, we were schoolfellows at an academy in New Ipswich, (New Hampshire, ) of which the late Dr. Worcester (whose name is fragrant in the churches ) was the Preceptor.
If I mistake not. young Emerson had then arrived to man's estate, while I was only a lad of twelve or thirteen years. His age and weight of char- Reter made him the " Mentor" of the school. I am willing to acknow- ledge that, had I. with the docile disposition of Telemachus, heeded his advice, and followed his example, I should have been a better scholar, and a better boy than I wa -.
. I now take leave to acknowledge my indebtedness to my Mentor. for a shaking which he once gave me for my rude conduct in the ante-room, at an exhibition in which he had a part. and which he performed with dis- tinguished success. as he has the various parts since assigned him in the great drama of life. He did it. however, with a benignant countenance, which implied, as much as if he had spoken it, schoolmaster fashion, "My little fellow, sixty years from this time you may be ready to thank me for what I am now doing for your good." I do now thank you for it, with the understanding that I ask not for the continuance of such mercies as this, trusting that when you shake me in future (as I hope you often will) it may be by the hand. as now, rather than by the shoulder. as formerly.
Christian friends. I will avail myself of this occasion (it may be the only one I shall ever have ) to express the hope that. worshipping at different altars, and under various ministrations, we may all unite, heart and hand, in promoting the cause of righteousness. peace, and love. We shall thus become "one in Christ," though diverse in creed.
The President next announced the Rev. JAMES W. THOMPSON. D. D., Pastor of the Barton Square Church. Dr. Thompson said :
This is the first intimation I have had that I should be called on to take part in these proceedings. I will obey the Chairman. notwithstanding; and ask the indulgence of the assembly to a very few words expressive of my hearty interest in the occasion, and of my great respect for the venerated father whom it is designed to honor. Whilst I would congratulate him on the singular felicity of his position. and on the cheerful memories and blessed hopes with which the day is fraught. I would take the liberty also to remind his congregation that theirs is an unusual distinction, and one in which they may well rejoice before the Lord. If the fitting language of this Jubilee on the one side is, "Well done, good and faithful servant,"
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on the other it is, " We are bound to thank God for you, brethren, because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all to each other aboundeth." It is certainly to the credit of both pastor and people that the harmony of this relation has continued unbroken through all these years, and that the faithful and devoted service of the one is reciprocated so cordially by the respect and esteem of the other.
Occasions of this kind are of very infrequent occurrence. In the nature of things it must be so. Few ministers attain to the length of days requi- site for the honors of a JJubilee, to say nothing of the uncertain tenure of the clerical office in "these days of novelty and change." as they were characterized by the reverend preacher this afternoon. I think we should make the most of them when they do occur. I am sure there will not soon be another in this city; and when I look round on my brethren in the min- istry -without wishing to say a word to damp the ardor of the most sangnine - I cannot but think it would require a pretty large premium to insure to either of us the gratifications of such a celebration. But for this very reason we can the more earnestly rejoice with our revered father that, " having obtained help of God. he continues unto the present time," when it is permitted him to hear the testimony of fifty years. in one concurrent expression, to the ability and faithfulness with which he has met the requisitions of his sacred office.
Sir, perhaps there is no one in this assembly whom the Providence of God has qualified to enter more heartily into the feelings and sympathies of the hour than myself. It is only a little more than a year since I had the rare pleasure of uniting with the parishioners and other friends of my own lamented father in a similar celebration. I know full well the trembling, and yet I may say pleasing anxiety with which. for a long time, he antici_ pated the coming of the day. I know the strange mixture of joy and sorrow, of pleasure and pain-entirely new in his experience-which the day brought to his bosom ; and I know too the unalloyed satisfaction and joy it gave him as long as he continued to live - what a sanny spot it was to him - how it gilded by its brightness every dark passage between it and his grave - what a perennial fountain of comfort it was to him. flowing steadily into his heart from the midnight hour when he ceased to receive the congratulations of his friends, to that calin Sunday morning when, as the bell, which summoned the worshippers to the altar where he had so long led their devotions, stopped tolling. he peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. yielding up his spirit to the Father who gave it. I shall be pardoned this personal allusion, inasmuch as it gives me the opportunity to express the wish- which I do in all sincerity -that our revered father here may live much
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longer to enjoy, and may enjoy to a higher degree, if that be possible, the recollections and grateful associations of this day.
Mr. Chairman, it is well known to you, and to most others here, that I have not agreed with our venerable friend in all points of theological opinion. For this reason I have not had that intercourse and fellowship with him as a minister which would have been most gratifying, and, I doubt not, profit- able to me. Nevertheless, having lived as a neighbor by his side for more than twenty years. I have had abundant opportunity to observe his manner of life amongst us, and it gives me great pleasure to bear my humble testi- mony to the simplicity and dignity, the godly sincerity and Christian charity, with which he has ever borne himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God, I am not insensible to eminent worth wherever I see it. I should be ashamed of myself if my heart were not stirred within me and attracted by true manifestations of the Christian faith and spirit, with whatsoever theological opinions associated, and in whatsoever ecclesiastical communions found. I therefore take great satisfaction-and all the more because our venerable friend is not of the same Christian denomination to which I belong-in bringing the homage of my profound respect and veneration. and laying it down at his feet, along with those tributes of affection which others, holding nearer and more endeared rela- tions to him, have this evening presented. With these remarks, sir, - wishing for our aged father many days of usefulness here, and for his people and the people of this city the prolonged benefit of his Christian example and his prayers, and for us all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by the Spirit of Truth, - I now yield the stand to others who may follow me.
Rev. LYMAN WHITING, of Reading, Chaplain of the Senate of Massa- chusetts, having been introduced, remarked :
Mr. President: The stranger in London, committing himself to the maze of the streets and lanes of that vast city, soon finds it needful to choose some central object which his eye can reach from all points, in order that he may rectify his courses, and find his way from given posi- tions. Coming to some eminence or open space, he searches for such an object, and, amid all the elevations presenting themselves, he soon selects the noble, beautiful, and towering dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. That, he can discern from all parts of the wilderness of habitations and other edifices, and by it, he can determine his position and guide his wanderings.
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What that noble dome is in that city. permit me, Mr. President, to say to him we to-night gather to honor - the Senior Pastor, - you are to those whose homes surround you. Out of the maze of life's various walks - over all the wilderness of memories encompassing the dwellers in this ancient town ; your half-century pastorate expands as a central dome, in pleasing, graceful. and abiding elevation.
Methinks, sir, scarce a family abiding here for many years, but is accus- tomed to arrange and certify the dates of their domestic history by refer- ence to the periods of this fifty years' career in one eminent publie position. How many husbands and wives, neighbors and friends, determine their mutual remembrances by recurring to April 24, 1805. Yon, sir, are the cathedral dome, the noble landmark to the religious, domestic, and social life of these inhabitants.
In the course of years, an active pastor renders services more or less directly to nearly all the families of a city, however diverse their commu- nions. When the funeral pall drops its shadow upon some family, many hearts in the circle of kindred are consoled by the sacred ministries to the particular mourners, though rendered by one to whom they otherwise are strangers. Few, of all these families, but in some scene of mourning or of joy, have partaken, sir. in your pious labors.
The Speaker then adduced the instance of honor given to Old Men depicted in the sixth Hliad -the noble Hector laying off the trappings of war, and gracefully leading the "Aged Councillors of Troy " into the tumultuous assembly. The .. Old Men past fighting " were brought in to temper the impetuous young warriors ; " and so," said he, "this Hector, [Rev. Mr. Dwinell, the Junior Pastor. ] has, with an exquisite skill, led before us this Aged Counsellor of our Troy, by a graphic recital of the main features of his public life."
Reference was also made to congratulations presented by Hon. Mr. Upham - that he. the Pastor. had never been waited on by a Committee to inform him that he must go to Congress.
The Speaker suggested that one meaning of the phrase, " the times that tried men's souls," was. that unsuspecting ministers were then set upon by urgent demands to go to Congress ! That trial he happily had escaped.
These remarks were closed by addressing to the Pastor the words first used to describe an ancient leader of Israel :
" Himself a mount of mind, whose shadow creeps Serenely down through Time's remotest deeps."
So, when this revered Pastor has passed from among the living, the Shadow of his Character will descend to admiring generations.
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Rev. Dr. DAVID O. ALLEN, lately from India, being present, was called upon to speak. Dr. Allen has been connected with the Bombay Mission more than a quarter of a century. He went out as early as 1827, has resided twenty years in Bombay, and several years more in the interior. On his first return from India he landed in Salem, from the ship Black Warrior, commanded by Capt. John Endicott, Jr., on the 20th of April. 1833, and, after remaining a few weeks in the United States, returned to his post in India. From that time until June, 1553, he did not again visit this country. Dr. Allen, upon being introduced by the President, said :
The proceedings of this evening, in their nature and object, belong so much to the Church and Society, and their venerable Pastor, who are here celebrating their long and happy connection. and also to the inhabitants of this city who have assembled here to express their sympathy with him. that I fear it may appear like intruding and presuming for a stranger, as I am, to take any part. But in these latter days the circle of Christian benevolence has become much enlarged, and includes many objects for the efforts, the prayers, and the charity of ministers, which were unknown to our good forefathers. Prominent among these objects is the cause of foreign missions, with which I have been for many years associated, and in connection with which my acquaintance with Dr. Emerson commenced.
Twenty-two years ago this week I arrived in this city, with my family. from the Best Indies, where I had been for many years a missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. We arrived on Saturday evening ; and as I had never before been here. and was not acquainted with any one in the city, I went with my family to the stranger's home-a public house. Early on Sabbath morning, a gentle- man came and introduced himself as Mr. Emerson, and invited me to go at once with my family to his house. I was aware that a Mr. Emerson was one of the ministers of the city, but I had never seen him, and was equally unknown to him. His manner was so kind. his invitation so cor- dial, and my own ciremuinstances were such. ( for we had been one hundred and thirty-five days at sea. ) that I accepted his invitation, and accom- panied him to his house. And I need not inform the assembly with what kindness we were received and entertained in his family. till I was able to proceed to my friends. Thus, I came here a stranger, and the venerable pastor of this church having heard that a foreign missionary and his family had arrived. (how he heard it I know not, ) at onee sought us out diligently, and, when he found us, he took us in. And I happen to know that the kindness and hospitality which we experienced were only what
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have been extended. I doubt not, as often as there has been opportunity. to other missionaries, among whom are some of my intimate friends. on their arriving and departing from this city. And I am happy to embrace this opportunity to express, for myself and other missionaries, our great obligation to the venerable pastor of this church, and his respected family, for these repeated instances of kindness and hospitality.
I said that when I was so diligently sought out, and so kindly enter- tained, I had my family with me. This family consisted of a son, then two years old, whose mother died at his birth, and who is all the family [ now have. As some of the good people of this church then manifested much interest for him, and as they have not since seen him, and probably have not heard of him, they would perhaps like now to hear something concerning him. Well, soon after leaving the city, twenty-two years ago, I entrusted him to the care of my friends, and. returning to India, I did not see him till my recent return to this country - a period of more than twenty years. In the meantime he has grown up to manhood. has become a member of a Christian church, a graduate of Yale College, and subse- (mently of the Pennsylvania Medical College, in Philadelphia, and he is now present in this assembly.
In the discourse delivered to-day by the venerable pastor of this church, he alluded to great changes which have taken place during his ministry. Among them must be reckoned the cause of foreign missions. This cause was not commenced in this country until some years after the venerable pastor of this church commenced his ministry in this house. He saw the first foreign missionaries from America ordained in this city, and embark from this port for the heathen world. And he has lived to see the number of such missionaries amount to several hundreds. the converts numbered by tens of thousands. and the income of the cause amount to several hun- dred thousand dollars. And I trust that this cause. in which this church and its pastor have always felt so deep an interest. and taken so active a part, will continue to share, in a yet increasing degree, in the affections. the contributions, and the prayers of those who may worship in this house. and of their descendants. till the voice shall be heard from heaven, saying. " Allelulia, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
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Gen. HENRY KEMBLE OLIVER, of Lawrence, for many years a resident of Salem, formerly a teacher in the Latin Grammar School, and the first Principal of the Salem English High (now Bowditch) School, was the next speaker. His remarks were substantially as follows :
I should have done, Mr. President. unnecessary and unpardonable vio- lence to my feelings, had I permitted any cause whatever to have detained me from being present at this occasion of doing a most merited honor to your faithful minister, -once my own, -and from that time till now, my most valued friend. Indeed. when. a few days since, my friend here at my side, (Mr. Chapman, ) for many years a member of your Society, named the coming occasion to me. and invited me to be with you. I felt that I could no more be absent than I could refuse to inhale my daily breath. And more than that, I have a right to be here, and "it is good for me to be here; " for there come rushing to my memory "the days of former years," and cherished associations of delightful intercourse with your and my venerated friend, and with very many of his parishioners of a remote day, some of whom yet survive and are here, though many " have fallen asleep."
And as my memory runs back to gather some few gleanings from among the reminiscenees of my earlier residence in Salem, there appears vividly in the foreground, a day of early June, the 10th, in the year of Grace 1819, when, taking leave of my father and mother, and all at home, I left Boston, a beardless boy of eighteen years. some few months from college, and with my little all in a very little trunk, hardly so large as a bandbox that would hold my hat, I took stage for Salem. to begin the most laborious work of cramming little boys with as much Greek and Latin, as would stand them in hand when under the screws of the learned Popkin and Beck, of the University. Leaving my home and my mother, -and every honest lad that ever went through that trying and sorrowful season, feeling all about the spot known as " Adam's Apple." that choking and suffocating sensation. commonly called home-sickness. must sympathize with me, - leaving my mother, the earliest memory of whom is associated with the very music which we have just sung in yonder choir, in the strains of Billings's glorious Jordan. I came among you a total stranger. But, received and welcomed, as I was, as a member of your household. [addressing Dr. EMERSON. ] by both yourself and by her, who, through so long and peaceful a life, has walked with you the quiet
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