USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Dover > The first parish in Dover, New Hampshire : two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, October 28, 1883 > Part 13
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Rev. HENRY F. WOOD, pastor of the First Free Baptist Church,1 spoke as follows : --
It gives me very great pleasure to be with you and participate in the services of this most interesting occasion. The memories awakened by this joyful anniversary give occasion for devout thanks- giving to Almighty God.
As we look back to-night over the two hundred and fifty years of this church's history, we can but rejoice that God has spared it so long, enabled it to make such a wonderful record and to accomplish such an incalculable amount of good in the world.
But while we rejoice in the written history of the church, we are glad also to remember that it has an unwritten history, that can be read only
1 Meetings by Free Will Baptists were held at Upper Factory in or near the year 1824. This church was organized at Garrison Hill, 15 September 1826, with twenty-five members.
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in eternity, and only as we read that while the eternal ages go by can we form any adequate conception of what the church has done for the glory of God and the uplifting of the race.
As we stand here to-night and look back over the two and a half centuries, we can but lift our hearts to God in devout thanksgiving for the wonderful progress made and the numerous changes for the better that have taken place.
We thank God for the complete separation of Church and State, and for what that separation means, both to the church and the world. We rejoice in the spirit of Christian union and brotherly charity, which is ever broadening and deepening as the years go by, - bringing the par- tition walls between sects lower and lower, and hastening the day when that touching prayer of our Lord shall be answered, in which he asked that all his people should be one, even as he and his Father were one.
We rejoice that in the years over which we look to-night a spirit of missions has been springing up and increasing more and more, and is helping the church to fulfil the great commission of the Master, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation."
But while we can but thank God for these and many other changes for the better that have taken place, this is much more than an occasion for mere rejoicing. It is both a prophecy and an inspiration, - a prophecy and a sure evidence that the day is hastening when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands is to fill the whole earth, when " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea," and when the kingdoms of this world shall become "the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." Strange as it may seem, there are those who would have us believe the world is growing worse and worse. To learn that the contrary of this is true, we have only to look at the years covered by the history of this church. The progress made in science, art, literature, and religion is wonderful.
We are living in the brightest days the world has ever seen, and they are growing brighter and brighter as the light of Christianity and civil- ization advances. There never was a time when the Bible was read by so many people, and when its light and power were so universally seen and felt as now. Only a few years ago the doors of many heathen nations were closed and barred against the Gospel, and those who sought to carry it to them did it only at the risk of their lives; but now these doors are thrown wide open, and the people are stretching out their hands to us and begging for the Gospel.
The Bible was never translated into so many languages as to-day ; while the numerous Bible societies are scattering it everywhere, like the leaves of the forest, and its glorious light already belts the world.
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There is a spirit of deep benevolence in the church of Christ, and she is now using her wealth to spread the light of the Gospel and evan- gelize the world as never before. Where, a hundred years ago, one dollar was given for benevolent purposes, thousands are given to-day. More has been done in the last century to give the Bible to the world than was done in the first ten centuries of the Christian era.
Standing, then, where we do to-day, and looking back to the time of the organization of this church, and marking the contrast between the condition of the world then and now, with wonder, and with thanksgiving, too, we exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" And this wonderful progress, the evidences of which are everywhere to be seen, is a prophecy of the final victory the Gospel is destined to achieve. And this is to us also an inspiration to engage in the work of the Gospel with renewed zeal and fervor and courage. We have little courage to labor unless we have reason to believe a thing may be accomplished.
Nothing can be surer than the final triumph of Christianity in the world. We have the assurance of this both in Revelation and in the history of the past. May this be to us all not only an occasion for rejoicing, but a sure prophecy of yet more glorious things to come, and an inspiration to do still more and better work for the Master in the great harvest-field of the world !
Rev. WILLIAM R. G. MELLEN, of the Unitarian Church, spoke as follows : -
To my thinking, there are three sentiments specially appropriate to this occasion. They are Retrospection, Congratulation, and Anticipa- tion. To devote to them the passing moments is to make "history teach by example," is to philosophize upon human life.
Retrospection - recalling again the persons and characters, the doings and sufferings of the men and women, who, two hundred and fifty years ago, landed on our sterile shores, not to depart the next day, but to stay, building for themselves homes, and helping to build the kingdom of God. They are well worthy to be often recalled; for how self-denying, brave, and strong they were ! How nobly, accord- ing to their light, they acquitted themselves under the burden of tre- mendous responsibilities, we can need no reminding save to deepen our respect and gratitude. True, they had some unamiable character- istics. They didn't love the Quakers over-much, and would not have listened very quietly to such a voice as that which just now fell so quaintly pleasant on your ears. Neither had they a very ardent affection for the Baptists, thinking that, of them, a " distance," at least
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as far as Rhode Island, "lent enchantment to the view." They would not, therefore, have greatly enjoyed the congratulations of the friend who preceded me. Nor did they waste much of their "sweetness and light " on any who ventured to depart from their standards. They were stern, gloomy, not to say somewhat morose, men and women, as those compelled to so arduous labor, to so frequent contests with the Indians, and to so constant a warfare with the Great Adversary, have some excuse for being. They made the Sunday a fast-day for them- selves, and a terrible burden for the little ones. It is said that some of them whipped their beer-barrels for working on the first day of the week. They missed the joyous element in religion, - the element sug- gested by external beauties and natural harmonies, and expressed by innocent hilarity and honest laughter. It was not with exceeding joy that they went to the house of their God. That is, they were not complete or ideal men.
What then ! Ideal men are not very numerous. Point me to any considerable class, or to any individual - with a single exception - that is not open to criticism. The sun has spots upon its surface. But than the Pilgrim Fathers, who have been more faithful to their light ? What they believed in they believed with all their might, and they stood by it with scarce less firmness than the rock-bound coast against the Atlantic waves. Their first care was to plant the church, building a house for worship almost before they provided themselves with a shelter from the storm. Close beside the church they reared the school, - the common school, - a fact of no little significance, and worthy of remembrance now when this bulwark of free institutions and help to a high civilization is so frequently and violently assailed. Free worship and sound learning, which, if not inevitably, are very naturally conjoined, were their fundamental ideas. Resulting from these - spiritual freedom and a generally diffused intelligence - came their Congregational church-polity, - the right and duty of each sep- arate church, with such friendly advice as it could command, to manage its own affairs, responsible only, as each soul, to its own sense of duty and to its God. How great an influence this ecclesiastical polity had in preparing the way for and educating the people to an appreciation of the free civil polity that was subsequently adopted, who can tell ? Certainly, when wise men were casting about for governmental forms adapted to the young and rising community, here, directly at hand, was found an example of a truly representative democracy. For these reasons -- only to be suggested now - may we on every such anni. versary as this gratefully remember the Pilgrim Fathers. For these reasons, well may we do what they never did for each other, - beau-
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tify the surroundings of, and cast a flower upon, their last resting- places.
Congratulation. - We are the children of these men. We are the heirs of all the truth they saw and vindicated, of all the nobleness they lived, of all the worthy influences they set in motion. Their blood is in our veins, their thought in our minds, their spirit in our hearts. Does blood tell? Is it a good thing to have had a strong, healthful, noble ancestry ? Then, of the inheritance derived from the Pilgrims may we be justly proud. We may congratulate ourselves on succeed- ing to the intellectual and moral estate they accumulated and have bequeathed, - not, of course, that this inheritance has remained un- mingled with other and finer elements. The modifications, not to say revolutions, of thought and life which have since occurred in New Eng- land are the commonplace themes of conversation. The theology of two hundred and fifty years ago would not fall gratefully on many cars now. The sternness and primness and lack of æsthetic taste which so strongly marked our great, great, great grandfathers and grandmothers are not very attractive to this generation. We have come to milder, cheerier conceptions of religion, life, duty, and destiny than they were able to reach. Do we regret these changes ? Would we go back to their standpoint, adopting their intellectual and spiritual garments and furniture ? Are the clothes of boyhood equally adapted to manhood ? Rather let us, while congratulating ourselves on what we have inherited, congratulate ourselves still more heartily on what, in a spirit akin to theirs, we have acquired. Let us congratulate ourselves that, mounted on their shoulders, we can see a little farther than was permitted them. It may be no credit to us that we can do so; it is certainly a very great privilege.
Anticipation. - Two hundred and fifty years ago the Fathers, for the first time,
" Made the sounding aisles of these dim woods ring To the anthem of the free."
In the history of a people, and still more in the history of the race, how short a time is that! Yet, in the presence of the changes that have since occurred, we can scarcely forbear raising the prophetic question, " Watchman, what of the night ?" Surely change, innova- tion, whether improvement or not, has not ceased. Ignorance is lessening, the limits of knowledge almost daily retiring. Larger views, we think, are prevailing on almost all subjects. I read in high Con- gregational authorities that there is "movement" in Congregational theology. I am glad to read it. I hope that theology, my own theology, all theology is growing. There is a plenty of room for it.
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Grow as it may, it will be some time before it will comprehend the Infinite. And when there is no growth there is no life. The true begins to decay as soon as it ceases to enlarge. The human soul declines if it do not expand. I do not forget that many worthy per- sons, whose fears I compassionate if I do not share, are not a little alarmed at what they deem the tendencies of our time, and not unfre- quently, when a startling novelty or a seemingly preposterous heresy is broached, feel like exclaiming, Well, what next is to happen? What greater extravagance or absurdity is next to confront? And, in a very different spirit, I echo the question, What next? I do not know. No man knows. But there are two considerations on which I fall back with unbounded satisfaction. The first is, God reigns. He always has reigned, he always will reign, - on earth, in heaven. Even the wrath of man he makes break forth into grateful pæans ; and the little good of man he makes issue in somewhat vastly better than man ever dreamed of. And the second is, Man is God's child. He didn't make himself such : he was so made without purpose or thought of his. Nor can he wholly unmake himself as such. Neither can he utterly deny his nature or shut up the avenues of his soul to the Holy Spirit. Together these two- impossible to say how or when - will work out, are now working out, the problem of man's being on the earth. In that confidence I rest, not anxious - as said Mr. Lincoln - to get God on my side, but to get on his side, and to find out as much of his truth, and to do as faithfully his will, as I can. To the future, under God's providence, I look with unshaken, and, I think, unshakable hope.
And now, congratulating you, members of this Congregational Parish of Dover, on seeing this two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of your origin, and trusting that whoever shall celebrate your five hundredth birthday will have reasons for even pleasanter Retrospection, heartier Congratulation, and fonder Anticipation than we to-day, I bid you a cordial God-speed in every endeavor to build the kingdom of God in our midst, and take my seat.
Rev. ITHAMAR W. BEARD, rector of St. Thomas's Church,1 spoke as follows : -
You cannot tell, Mr. President, how your words of introduction have set me at ease. You do not know how much more freedom I feel
1 The first service according to the forms of the Protestant Episcopal Church known to have been held in Dover was held in this meeting-house of this First Parish, Friday evening, 15 February 1832, when Rev. Heury Blackaller, of Salmon Falls, read the service, and the Kicht Reverend Alexander V. Griswold, D. D., bishop of the eastern diocese, preached upon " the doctrines of the church be numerous and respectable audience."
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standing here, when I come to know that the first six ministers of the First Parish Church were episcopally ordained.
Two things make me glad to be here. One is, that, by standing here on the same platform with my brother ministers, I can by so doing help to emphasize the Unity of the Spirit which exists in the church of Christ, and I am happy that there is nothing in my own creed or in the creed of the church which I represent which denies me this privilege.
I am glad, also, to be able to express my sincere and heartfelt pleas- ure in having this opportunity of congratulating my friends in the First Parish on this interesting occasion. I have, in the seven years that I have lived in Dover, made so many friends among the members of this parish, and received so many tokens of their personal friendship, that my tongue ought to cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I had not some word of congratulation to speak.
Before I came upon this platform I was warned by a kind friend to be brief, so that I shall content myself with the expression of one thought.
It is said that the boy is the father of the man ; and it is certain that we can judge by the boy's character about what the man's character will be. Men are but grown-up boys. We may say, looking at the boy, " He will be such a kind of man"; or we may say, looking at the man, " He was such a kind of boy." I have thought that the life of a parish is something like this. We ministers that are now at work in our various parishes are impressing ourselves for good or for ill upon the character of our parishes. The work which we now are doing is taking its place in the bone and muscle of the parish; it is becoming a part of the texture of the parish itself, so that ten, fifteen, twenty, aye two hundred and fifty years from now, if our churches should so long sur- vive, then shall be discovered the impress of the work which was done by the various ministers who have been over these churches. We need not wonder, then, in looking at the history of this First Parish as we know it to-day, in observing her beneficent influence in our commu- nity, in knowing the present character and earnestness of her various members, - we need not wonder, I say, to learn that this first minis- ter who preached this first sermon was a good man. We must not look upon the present prosperous condition of earnest activity and interest in all good things of this parish as the result of any pres- eut or any spasmodic effort : it is the gradual development from the good lives and efforts of its past ministers and members bearing their natural fruit in the present. The brief but faithful ministry of the first minister, William Leverich, finds its natural outcome and fruit
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in the earnest life and abundantly successful ministry of him who has served you for the last fourteen years.
I am glad to join in congratulations for the present, and in most sanguine anticipations for your future success.
Rev. FRANK K. CHASE, pastor of the Washington street Free Bap- tist Church, spoke as follows : -
When the chairman of your committee invited me to be present this evening, he spoke of this church as the mother, and of the other churches in the city as in some sense her children. It is well known that my own church is the offspring of one which was in some respects a child of this. I am, therefore, present to-night as the representa- tive of a grandchild, and as grandchildren are properly a part of all well-regulated family gatherings, I trust that we may be received as such. I am very glad to be here, and to take some part in these exceedingly interesting services.
In the last two years, my own church has been called to pass through some very painful experiences, and I have not forgotten that on that sad morning when our church building was in flames, almost before the steeple fell, he who was then your pastor wrote me a letter of Christian condolence, expressing his own and his people's sympathy for us, and offering us this beautiful church-home of yours in which to hold our Sabbath services.
I have not forgotten that it was in your chapel where we gathered for the first time, with sadness and tears, to implore the guidance of God and to make plans for the future.
I do not forget that when we began to rebuild, you emphasized your kind words by the contribution of generous amounts of money. I shall never forget the interest which you have manifested in our work in the months that have passed since. It is therefore with pleasure that I bring to you, in this hour of your rejoicing, the grateful con- gratulations of my own church.
Were I to emphasize a single thought upon this occasion, it would be this : the one thing that makes such a gathering as this possible is that men are becoming more child-like in their search for the truth. There was a time when men held their opinions in a dogmatic way ; but dogmatism is fast becoming a thing of the past.
The progress of science has opened to us a thought of the universe which is overwhelming in its immensity. Men have been humiliated by finding themselves surrounded by mysteries which they cannot solve ; they have learned to think more deeply and truly about the relations of this life to the life beyond, and to eternity, and so they have become
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humbler, more child-like. We have still our own views of truth, but we hold them with greater kindliness to others. We are all ready to see what new light this blessed Bible can throw upon our pathway. Like the little Samuel of whom we recently studied, we lift our eyes to heaven and say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."
Thus we come to-night representing our different churches and bring our hearty congratulations to this venerable but vigorous church, and we wish her "God-speed " for the future.
Mr. Chairman, I had the pleasure on last Friday of passing a short time in the society of one who has for very many years been a member of this church, - a venerable woman, - whose very name, were I to speak it in your presence, would be received by you with bowed heads and reverent hearts. She spoke of the past history of this church and of God's great goodness, and she said, " It does not seem possible that a church which has been preserved so long and blessed so wonderfully can ever cease to exist. Do you not believe that God will bless us still ? "
Take these words, I pray you, as a prophecy of your future.
Grounded upon the rock, Jesus Christ, being bold in the defence of the truth, lifting high the banner of the cross, you shall prosper in the future even more than in the past. May God bless you, brethren !
The closing address at the services, by Rev. GEORGE B. SPALDING, D. D., recent pastor, was as follows : --
" For the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
No stronger verification of this mighty truth need be found than that which the circumstances which have brought us here afford. We are met here, a great multitude, with an absorbing interest which engages our minds, memories, and imaginations in an event which took place a quarter of a thousand years ago. And yet we search in vain for one of those many outward objects which at that time entered into a scene which we count of surpassing moment, and which, with such high and solemn service, we have sought to-day to celebrate. The homes of that early time,- no vestige of them remains. Their very foundations have been lost in the common dust. The church which strong hands hewed from the primeval forest, - no beam nor stone of it can anywhere be found ; even its site cannot with any confidence be pointed out. The Bible and the hymn-book which directed the worship of that first service, - no leaf of either remains. And of him, that saintly scholar, fresh from the classic shades of the great English university, who here
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broke for these hungry souls the bread of life, - no lineament of his form or feature has been preserved for our grateful contemplation. In a recent visit to Cambridge, I sought out in its illustrious cluster of colleges the group of stately buildings where this first minister received his education. I went in under the imposing gateway of Emmanuel College, which enjoyed, with the Sidney Sussex College, the con- temptuous title affixed to them by Charles the First of being "nurser- ies of Puritanism." I walked through the spacious court where young Leverich used to hasten in flowing gown to his lectures. I sat down under the groined roof where he once . kneeled in prayer. I trav- ersed the embowered walks of the flowering garden where he must often have sauntered, communing with his own thoughts. I entered the hall where he once " at commons " sat and ate. I walked through the alcoves of the splendid library, and took down from the shelves books which once must have filled his hands. But I looked in vain for any outward object that might tell me clearly of him, - that might bring his own personality within the grasp of some one sense. I turned to the ancient, worm-eaten college register. I bent above his name, traced with clear hand, " WILLIAM LEVERICH "; but even this was not written by himself ! And so I went out with the words of the poet on my lips, -
" But oh ! for the touch of a vanished hand And the sound of a voice that is still."
The best thing I could do was to pull an ivy-leaf from the ancient wall as the only " thing seen," to help me commemorate him so wholly "unseen." But, though the houses of these men, and those who occu- pied them, their very graves, and church and hymn, and all that is outwardly associated with these persons and events of the past are forever gone, the unseen and the spiritual parts of them remain in all their undimmed freshness, and assert their power over all that is noblest and best in us. Through the vista of these centuries we behold these men and women under the same irresistible instinct that has impelled those of every age and every religion to bring their best things to God,-we behold these men and women bringing their "glory and honor " into their log temple. We behold the minister in the full vigor of his manly prime, with gown and band, and Bible in hand, mov- ing past the armed sentinels by the church door, and, in the presence of the risen congregation, taking his place in the rude pulpit, and with extended arms invoking upon them and their sacred enterprise the blessings of heaven. The hymns are doubtless those of the Bay Psalm-Book, with their roughness of language and versification. They are given out line by line by some leader, and are chanted in loud
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