USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > Two centuries of church history : celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Congregational church & parish in Essex, Mass., August 19-22, 1883 > Part 12
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Oh grant that we may feel at this time our own nothingness, and our dependence on Jesus Christ. May we feel the infinite disparity there is between Thee and us. Thine is the sea, for Thou didst make it. The strength of the hills is Thine also, and of old didst Thou lay the founda- tions of the earth ; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou remainest ; they shall all wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. We are like the flower that in the morning flourisheth, and in the evening is cut down and with- ereth. Let us remember how frail we are. Our fathers, where are they? - and the prophets, do they live forever? We are strangers and sojouners before Thee, as were all our fathers. But we would walk as they walked, near unto God ; and as Thy servant, around whose grave we stand, looked unto Jesus as the author and finisher of his faith, so may we all be pre- pared to die as he died. with reliance on Him who shed His blood for us ; and grant, O Lord, at the great day when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised, that we may rise to immortal life ; that this corrupti- ble may put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality ; and that we may be forever with the Lord. And may it be declared of us, when we are laid to rest, as of the venerable father near whose remains we stand, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." And may each of us be able to say at the last. "I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course. I have kept the faith." And through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, shall be rendered unto Thee, Father and Son and Spirit, praise and glory and honor, world without end, Amen.
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GREETING
FROM THE MOTHER GHURGH
BY REV. E. B. PALMER, OF IPSWICH.
PREFATORY REMARKS.
Beloved Children, Fathers and Mothers :
If I speak to you with somewhat of deliberateness you will bear me witness that, after the story of this morning, it be- comes any representative of the First Parish Church of Ipswich to be a little careful in his utterance. I have my notes in my hand as you see, but I find myself in sympathy with a public speaker of whom I once heard who "wanted to make a few remarks, before he began to speak."
In answer to the question jocosely put to your pastor as to what he wanted me to say on this occasion, I received the kindly suggestion, that I might say "anything I pleased, if only it was appropriate." To speak is less difficult sometimes than to speak appropriately. Pope long ago said: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." And though the four- teenth in that succession of preachers and pastors whose brilliant beginning was so clearly brought to our view by the first speaker of the day, it may be that I am to show myself one of the "fools;" first, for consenting to address, ever so briefly, an audience already filled and delighted with the in- teresting and admirable historical and biographical addresses of the morning; and secondly, for attempting to hold the attention of those who have been exposed to the temptations
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of such sumptuous tables as we have just left; and again, in the esteem of some, for presuming to say any thing in this presence in behalf of Ipswich. In my own estimate the latter reason is without force. It is true that I had hardly left the platform this morning before such salutations as these met me. "I wonder what you can say now for Ipswich." "I am glad I have not got your job on my hands." "I would not be in your shoes" "&c." But, friends, I am here on an errand of good-will from the mother church. I am not set for the defense of "Brother Hubbard" or any other man. I can share fully in the joy of this hour, for every honorable word that can justly be spoken of this ancient church, reflects its glory back upon the older mother. The Child can receive no genuine honor or blessing in which the parent does not share.
The "prodigal son" was an occasion of pain to his father as he went out to a life of recklessness and shame, but when he "came to himself" and began to live worthily and to prom- ise better things, there was joy in the father's heart, and good cheer in the home, because the "son" was restored. So the honor of our offspring is ours as well, and we are not dis- posed to forego our claim.
Then further, you are having the Essex church anniver- sary to-day and the Chebacco phase of the history is promi- nent. Next year we hope to hold the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Ipswich church, and the mother side of the story may appear.
If not many are here from the old Church, it is not because of any desire to avoid the record of an earlier day, for our earlier records are lost, said to have been burned. Whether in anything said here there is suggested to any a reason for their destruction, or not, I will not venture one, but invite you to the assigned duty of the moment.
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Two Hundredth Anniversary.
ADDRESS.
As with dim-visioned Isaac of old in the hands of a schem- ing wife, so there is with me to-day a conflict of the senses. The witness of voice and hand is not one. Almost in the same breath I find myself sharing in the life of two strongly contrasted periods.
The force of the morning thought has been such as to take us back into the seventeenth century, but the order which has bidden us go from this spot and look upon fair fields and goodly dwellings on our way to the populous village of the dead, and has spread before us in such profusion the viands · and the cheer of what was modestly named in the programme a "collation," and which summons us now to words of con- gratulation rather than of reminiscence, recalls us to our advanced standing in the nineteenth century. And I am bound to recognize the higher authority of the modern fact. The mandate of your committee of arrangements permits me neither to philosophize nor dream.
I am asked to present greetings from the Mother Church; and yet, cheerfully as I renew the pledges of interest in, and high desire for, the peace, and purity, and prosperity of this "revolted province" of our once wide First Parish "dominion" -pledges given many times between the old style Aug. 12, 1683, and the present hour, in cordial response to the sum- mons for counsel or sympathy or mutual labor and joy in the Lord-the truth is, and I may as well out with it at the start, that I find the maternal sense in myself exceedingly small. Even though a representative of the church in whose fellow- ship your fathers and ours knew the ministry of Ward and Morton and Rogers and Cobbett and Hubbard, I must hum- bly confess that my representative capacity does not intensify my maternal sensibility.
As a pastor of eight years standing only-though in that time I have known personally one numerical third of your stated ministry for the whole two centuries of your church
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life-you will not wonder that any excess of sentiment in me must be forced, when you remember what changes time has wrought in outward conditions as well as in men.
You will not fail to see this first, that the names our church records cherish in common are comparatively few. Of these it is a little remarkable that the name of one of your fore- most men, Mr. Cogswell, should have been associated with the last diaconate in the mother church, made vacant by deatlı, a name dear in the educational and religious life of Ipswich and still with the old prefix, "John," at the official head of our Sunday School. But this is one of the few exceptions.
In the second place, if there is frequent social intercourse between the First and Second Parishes, I do not know it. The old system of "Quarterly Fasts," which would not let the brethren and sisters of one stock forget their kinship if they were so inclined, are long ago things of the past. It was months after his coming here before I learned of the presence of the acting pastor of to-day, and it is only three days since I had first sight of his person. The more shame to me is it? Well, consider the third fact namely this, that the multiplication of churches about us in these years has called for such a change in the limits of our local conferences, that there are no annual opportunities for meeting one another. The same thing is true of our ministerial association.
Then, further, the two parishes have no business interests in common. Ipswich as a shire town is no more, so that there is little to draw Chebacco to Agawam; and what attracts Agawam to Chebacco, unless it be a Bi-centennial Anniver- sary, or a Bi-ennial Ecclesiastical Council, attracts through it, to busy Gloucester or Manchester-by-the-Sea.
So far then as any blood concern goes, this work of mine is a pleasant fiction. In their practical relation to the king- dom of Christ on earth, the churches of Haverhill and Ipswich know more of each other than do we.
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Two Hundredth Anniversary.
We are met here to-day because two hundred years ago, honest men, God-fearing men, could not altogether agree; because, (and I quote the words of a man of precious memory among you, the father of the historian of the morning,) be- cause "the children less sensible of the value of religious privileges than their fathers and mothers who thought but . little of the tediousness of the way to the house of God, were less inclined to make so great a sacrifice to enjoy them."
The sincere congratulations of this hour are not the nar- row ones of a household, but the broad ones of the great brotherhood in Christ, tinctured, colored, flavored, not with the recollection, but with the historical assurance, of this, that so many years ago our predecessors worshiped under one roof, paid a parish tax into the same treasury, brought their children to the same font for baptism, and around a common table received the consecrated elements from the same hands.
If now we could transfer ourselves to that early day and speak to those "children" impatient not of their old fellow- ship, but of the "tediousness of the way," we might banter them a little upon their faint-heartedness. We might report to them the great disturbance and the consuming grief of the mother church that having in the persons of their fathers walked with us in the ways of the Lord, for fifty years, they could not have continued to do so the little matter of two hundred years or so longer.
We might deplore the effect upon themselves of substitu- ting for the heroic buffeting of wind and storm, and the tread- ing of the uphills and the downhills, between this spot and the Center, the tame measuring of a few paces on foot or in carriage to a meeting house so "handy by"-and we might add to the sum of our reproach, the force of their example, by which those ( with us or you) who learned of their reluc- tance to go six miles to the Sanctuary, have strengthened themselves in the refusal to go as many rods, unless the con- ditions are as favorable, at least, for seeing and being seen, as for God's worship.
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And yet, however sorely we might have to reproach this faction for the folly of sundering the maternal leading strings, and setting up in life on their own account, we should have to confess, by all the tokens this morning afforded, that the first step taken after the separation, in the choice of a pastor, was an eminently wise one, followed, as the record shows, by many another. And all these not exhaustive of the stock of wisdom native to this region, as the self-conceit of the moment allows me to find suggested in the name of the present minister here, and as I hope the event may abundantly and happily prove.
But, beloved, we have no such word of reproof as a de- liberate departure from the companionship of the trying be- ginnings of religious life here might, under some conditions, justify. We have no greater desire or joy, than that you "our children walk in the truth."
If, in the later past, the feet of our membership have not been turned in this direction, except on special occasions, remember that when the daughter makes for herself a home away from the parental roof, it is her province to seek the old home, it is hers to trust that there is always mother love there and to draw upon it, while the mother guiding the old house, limits her visits to seasons of a character unusual because of the great joy or sorrow in them. So we have visited you in your affliction, and extended our felicitations in your joy. If, when your councils were divided, we could not suit you all, you must consider the weakness for a grand- child which not even churches, as it appears, escape; and you must also bear witness that your afterwards united coun- sels awakened gladness in the heart of my honored predeces- sor, "Parson Kimball," and his beloved people. They were here with their prayers and benedictions, when the spirit of God persuaded your fathers "how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." It was said concerning the parish division here, "conclusive proof
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was afforded that there had been little, if any, personal alien- ation of feeling between the individual members of the two bodies." The same might with truth have been said of the earlier separation in whose anniversary we now share.
In the pursuit of my pastoral work from the edge of Ham- ilton on one side to the borders of Rowley on the other. I have not happened to fall in with any of the participants in those warm discussions which issued in sending delegations to the general Court. Nor, as Artemas Ward said of George Washington, do I know that I have found anybody "wearing their old clothes."
Certainly I have found no person commissioned to speak for them in reference to the occurrences of this day. But I have become familiar with the foundation work they did. I have heard somewhat of the "manner of Spirit they were of." I have seen enough to assure me that if they were to-day in the flesh, they would, with us, rejoice in all your joy, as it is pleasant to think that, in another sphere, they give each other cordial greeting as they look back upon the follies, and the forbearances of day before yesterday after- noon.
In cordial fellowship with them, we, their successors in the occupancy and conduct of the old estate, discerning clearly that there is work enough for us all to do without laying the constraint of so much as a protest upon each other, give you to-day and henceforth our "God-speed."
We congratulate you upon the large common sense resi- dent in the men and women of 1683, even with its admixture of a shrewdness, which enabled them to get their first meeting- house raised without subjecting themselves to the penalty of a disregarded injunction from the "great and general Court."
We congratulate you upon all the work God has, through your fathers and their children, wrought here.
We congratulate you upon your ministry to the broader world without, wrought through those who were cradled in
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your Essex church homes, consecrated at your altars, edu- cated in your schools, spiritually trained under your godly ministry, the lawyers, the doctors, the teachers, the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ, a goodly company, part on earth, part in glory.
We congratulate you upon your present numerical strength, upon your acceptable ministry, upon your opportunities for Christian work, and the promise you hold in common with us all of the Master's living and helpful presence, and we pray that you may worthily hold the prestige God's provi- dence has given you, and transmit it unimpaired to the gen- eration which a hundred years hence shall gather as we now do in grateful recognition of the redeeming and sanctifying grace of Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
GREETING
FROM THE SISTER CHURCHES
REV. F. G. CLARK, GLOUCESTER.
It seems like trespassing, Mr. President, for me to take any of the precious time that belongs to this pleasant family gath- ering. But I have noticed that when a florist gathers a boquet he goes outside of his green house for ferns or grasses for its background, and so sets off the beauty of his choice flowers by way of contrast. With the thought that your committee wanted something green or dry from the outside world to serve as a background for the better display of the rare and beautiful products of this goodly garden of Essex, I have been persuaded to say a few words.
It is not too much to say that I was delighted with the exercises of the morning. Such addresses are wonderfully stimulating and instructive, not only to those personally in- terested, but to all that are students of history. I have long known that this church was founded by a Wise master builder, . but how wise and illustrious he was I had no conception until his services and exploits were set before us by the Dexterous pen of our Nestor of Congregationalism.
As soon as I came into this neighborhood I discovered that this church was regarded by the others of the conference with wonder and admiration because of the number of edu- cated men and women it has sent out from its borders, but after listening to the remarkably clear and discriminating historical address this morning, I am compelled to believe
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that this elder sister has not been half appreciated. I had supposed that when "the flower of Essex," was massacred at Bloody Brook, that the whole county met with an irretrievable loss, but I think I have discovered to-day that the root of that "flower" was planted in this church and that its vigorous growth since that time has not only made that great loss good, but has provided many distinguished men for the whole Com- monwealth.
With such a history so rich and varied, so suggestive and helpful it is eminently appropriate that you should celebrate your two hundredth anniversary. I will not occupy the time · with my personal congratulations though they are most abun- dant and sincere. I will not detain you with the greetings which my church extend to you to-day. The number who have come over to these exercises indicates our interest in . this occasion and we are free to confess that we owe to you as a church a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. But I come before you as a representative of the churches of this conference and bring their warmest greetings to this elder sister elect, precious. We are glad of this privilege of ex- pressing our congratulations for such an honorable record. It falls to the lot of many good men and women never to know how highly they are appreciated by their associates. The words of commendation due, are not spoken until their bodies are robed for the grave. But such a church anniver- sary as this, gives an opportunity for expressions of interest and respect on the part of those who have long recognized the worth of a beloved sister in the Lord.
Your history as a church is a noble one and though you can not boast of a written record of a thousand years, yet it requires no spirit of prophecy to say such a record is before you.
It is especially fitting at this time to extend to this elder . sister the right hand of fellowship which has been given so many times by you to the younger members of this family of
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churches as they sprung into existence. We esteem it a great favor that we can to-day express our gratitude for your loving kindness and faithful efforts in our behalf. The fellowship of the churches is the crowning glory of our denomination. It is not a mere sentiment about which words abundant and meaningless may be spoken ; it is not a vague theory beauti- ful in outline but of no value in practical experience; it is not simply coming together in council when we meet to install or dismiss a pastor; it is not restricted to the pleasant rela- tion which exists in the association of churches in conference or that opens the way for the exchange of neighboring pas- tors, but it is the spirit of mutual sympathy and cooperation that permeates our relation to each other and holds us with a power like that which keeps the planets in their course about the sun. While we are independent of each other in the matter of our creed and are free to act our own pleasure con- cerning the work of the individual church, yet this invisible bond of common interests and affection gives a feeling of re- sponsibility for the material and spiritual welfare of the whole sisterhood of churches, which is of most vital importance to our growth and prosperity.
The word sister, has a most significant meaning as applied to our relation to each other as churches. It suggests the charming picture which greets the eye in many well regulated homes, where the elder sister takes a motherly interest in the younger members of the household, and anticipates their wishes and happiness at the cost of great self denial. Such has been the interest which the older churches have taken in their younger sisters. Churches that were formed fifty years ago and more, came into existence under peculiarly distress- ing circumstances. When the Evangelical Church at Glouc- ester was born, the Mother Church looked upon its offspring as one born out of due time and possessed neither ability or willingness to nurse it as its own. This weak and helpless infant, an orphan from birth, would have been left to the ten-
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der mercies of a cold unfeeling world had not the sisterly im- pulses of the churches at Essex and Sandy Bay led them to take the child and nourish it for the Lord.
Had it not been for Dr. Crowell and Rev. David Jewett aided by the churches they represented, that little church at Gloucester Harbor could never have survived the trials of its earliest years. These two men were not only interested in the formation of the church but in securing for it the stated means of grace. They arranged to have the pulpit supplied by neighboring ministers until they could obtain a pastor to take up the work. They both labored faithfully to secure a shelter for the homeless orphan and were on the building committee which erected the first church edifice. The build- ing cost two thousand dollars of which only four hundred were contributed by the little band of believers, for the balance of the debt these two men became personally responsible until they secured it by repeated solicitation from the stronger churches of the state.
The interest of these neighboring pastors extended to the spiritual growth and prosperity of the church. As soon as a minister was installed they united with him in holding a protracted meeting which brought a large addition to the church. When difficulties and dissensions arose they were ready with their wise and faithful counsel to promote har- mony and unity of feeling. One instance is on record where they were called to advise concerning some difficulty with the pastor and the whole church voted by rising, " that the difficulties be here dropped, and that the person hereafter making them matter of conversation shall be con- sidered as violating the peace of the church."
But Dr. Crowell and his associates were not only interested in the church at Gloucester Harbor, but they did a similar work at Lanesville, at West Gloucester, at North Beverly, at Saugus and I know not how many other places. It is simply amazing to find how much these men did outside of their own
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special field of labor. They were large hearted, far seeing men, the circle of their endeavor was not bounded by the narrow horizon of their own parish, they took into their sym- pathetic hearts the spiritual wants of every needy village in the community about them. They were illustrious examples of the Christian activity to which reference was made in the historical address.
It is one of the great advantages of such a celebration as this, that a church finds out as in no other way what has been done in the past worthy of imitation. It is quickened by the review of such devotion and moved to thank God and take courage. This church will be all the stronger for the next one hundred years for the story that has been told to-day. The spirit that animated the ministry fifty years ago, is needed in these times ; we should cultivate a wider vision and a deeper love for the cause of Christ. We ought to see the waste places about us that may be made with God's blessing to bud and blossom as the rose. We ought to be willing as churches to deny ourselves of our rights and privileges that the Gospel may be preached to the benighted beyond our borders. As our minds thrill to-day with the story of the results of the lives of those who have made the history of this church and town, let us all profit by these lessons and return to our work with a renewed purpose to do more and better work for Christ.
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