USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Derry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 4
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Londonderry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 4
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His funeral was attended on the following Wednesday, by a very large assembly. His own parishioners, people from all parts of the town, and from adjacent towns, and an unusually large number of clergymen, came together to pay their last tribute of respect to their deceased pastor and friend. It was a pleasant summer day, but all hearts were smitten with grief. After prayer at his late residence, by Rev. Mr. Eels of Newburyport, his remains were conveyed to the church, and in the entrance- hall, an opportunity was given to the assembly, as they successively entered the house, to take a last look of the deceased. It was a long time before this sad ceremony was concluded, each seeming reluctant to turn away from the countenance upon which they could never look again. The house was draped with mourning, and was filled in all parts. The services, which were of a very solemn and appropriate character, were performed by the Rev. Mr. Day, of Derry, Rev. Mr. Thayer, of Windham, Rev. Mr. Willey, of Goffstown, and Rev. Mr. Brainerd of Londonderry. The deepest feeling was manifested by the audience, and many were bathed in tears. After these exercises, the whole congregation followed the remains to the grave, where they now rest with those of all the pastors who had preceded him in that church.
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At the grave, was sung the burial hymn of Watts : " Un- veil thy bosom, faithful tomb," and then the mourning crowd withdrew to meet that respected and revered pastor no more till the morning of the resurrection. In the afternoon of the Sabbath following, a highly appro- priate sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Whiton, of An- trim, the early and intimate friend of Mr. Parker, from Psalm 116: 15, " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." On this occasion, also, as well as at his funeral, the assembly was very large ; every part of the house, including the aisles and entries, was filled. The services of the Rev. Mr. Day's society, a large part of whom had belonged to Mr. Parker's parish, were suspended, and pastor and people came to mingle their sympathies and to worship with that flock which was now left as sheep without a shepherd.
The following is an extract from Dr. Whiton's sermon on that occasion : " An intimacy of more than forty years with your departed pastor, drawn the closer by parity of age, by an almost contemporaneous entrance into the ministry, and by frequent association in presby- terial and ecclesiastical duties, has not only left on my mind a deep impression of his piety and worth, but enables me to speak with a degree of confidence on the leading traits of his character.
" That he, or any other mere man, was faultless, it were foolish and even wicked to pretend. He saw and felt in himself the evil and demerit of sin, and fled for refuge to the blood of Christ. He ever appeared to walk, in a happy degree humbly with God, looking for salvation as the free, unmerited gift of mercy to the ill- deserving, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Next to his
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piety comes his prudence ; not the timid prudence that shrinks from duty, but the prudence that scrupulously shuns just occasions of offence. In sound practical wisdom he excelled most others ; not making little things great, nor great things little, but estimating them according to their relative importance. This trait made him a safe, reliable counsellor, in cases the most perplexed. Even- ness and stability of feeling, consistency of conduct with principle, strongly marked his character. In point of industry and diligence, he was certainly preeminent, there being few men who had accomplished an equal amount of ministerial labor. This unremitting diligence made him familiar with his people, including the children of his parish, and was one of the means by which he preserved them in harmony and peace. Of his method and correctness, the records of the Londonderry presby- tery, kept by his hand for about thirty years, will remain a lasting memorial. Integrity marked all his trans- actions ; he was a man to be trusted. That crowning excellence, love of the religion of God, made him willing to spend and be spent in the service of Christ, in a con- tinuous course of effort for the salvation of souls. His investigations of Christian doctrines and duties were patient ; the subjects which passed through his hands were well weighed and lucidly presented to others.
" He is gone ! 'God took him ' at the time and in the manner unerring wisdom saw best. Looking at our loss, we may well exclaim, ' Alas, my brother !' 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof !' Of the circumstances of his death, so sudden, surprising, affecting, it were needless to speak to those who know the details better than myself. The summons
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found our brother where a Christian would wish to be found, at the post of duty, intent on his Master's work. To him, the close of his last earthly Sabbath was, we doubt not, the beginning of a Sabbath, heavenly and eternal. Probably not a minister could have fallen in New Hampshire, whose death would have called forth a larger tribute of regrets and tears !
" You, the people of his charge, are witnesses how holily and justly, and unblamably he walked among you ; yourselves are his letter of commendation, known and read of all men. Full well you know, that not often occurs a ministry attended with equal harmony and con- fidence, and honored with an equal number of seals of the divine approbation. Both yourselves and your children will cherish his name with long and affectionate remembrance."
The following notices of Mr. Parker, which appeared in the weekly journals, though involving some repetition, are here inserted, as evidences of the estimate which others formed of his character and ministry ; they will also show that the filial interest of the writer has not led him to draw this brief sketch with too partial a hand.
" Mr. Parker," says the Rev. Mr. Day, "is one of the brightest examples of ministerial fidelity which can be found in our State or New England. As a preacher, he was clear, close, and doctrinal. He well understood the wants and sympathies of the common mind, and never failed to furnish instruction. As a pastor he excelled. He was never weary in going from house to house, to inquire for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his people. He was peculiarly happy at the bedside of the sick, and with the mourner. He was deeply interested
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in the young, and gave to them no small part of his energies. He well knew what stations they were to occupy in society, and how very soon they would be the leading members of his parish. He kept his eye on the Sabbath and common schools, and was sure to let every child know that he was interested in him. He has gone down to his grave like a shock of corn fully ripe, deeply lamented by his people, and the churches at large. He died as perhaps he might have wished to die, had he designated his own time and circumstances. He was in the work, with the harness on. His life might be written in the emphatic words of the apostle, and would furnish a most appropriate epitaph for his tombstone : "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
" Mr. Parker," observes a correspondent of the Con- gregationalist, " was remarkable for his knowledge of human nature, and for his true Christian courtesy, - an example of purity and consistency in his life ; ever laborious and faithful as a preacher and a pastor, he retained not only his post of duty, but what was more, the confidence and affection of his people. He died in the midst of his labors, and though less known than the great Scotch divine, will, like him, wherever known, be remembered and loved."
The following is from the Congregational Journal of January, 1851 : " Soon after Mr. Parker graduated, he became the pastor of the Presbyterian church in Derry, then a part of Londonderry, which was in a condition far from promising and inviting ; but under his wise counsels, his unremitting labors, his self-possessed spirit, and admitted moral worth, attained to be one of the best- ordered, the most harmonious and flourishing in the
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State. With very respectable powers of mind, and sermons always full of the marrow of the gospel, instruc- tive and cheering, if not the most deeply studied or eloquently delivered, still, the grand secret of his success was in his system and wisdom. He lived and acted by a plan, from which he never deviated, and carried it out to the last hour of his life. Not that he was obstinate, self-opinionated, or incapable of seeing and appreciating improvements ; but he always made his changes by system and rule. He was always active, but never in a hurry ; never tired, but always working. He was always at home, and yet in every nook of his parish ; he seemed to make no effort to do it, yet, strictly and truly speak- ing, he could call every child in his large parish by name. Not that he did this from a certain passion or affectation ; all was subservient to the great end of the pastoral office, that he might " save himself, and those that heard him.' Then, too, he was always judicious and wise. He never, so far as we know, made a false step or took an unten- able position. Naturally passionate, he was always cool and self-possessed ; encountering, once or twice, organ- ized and formidable opposition on account of the doctrines he preached, he vanquished it by forbearance and kind- ness, without the sacrifice of principle, and converted his bitterest enemies into his firmest friends. Rarely has any man done so few injudicious and unwise things ; as rarely has any man uttered so few injudicious, idle, or injurious words. He was a model pastor, and his name will long be held in affectionate and respectful remembrance."
With much truth has it been said, by one of our most distinguished statesmen,* that " the noblest contribution
* Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.
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which any man can make for the benefit of posterity, is that of a good character. The richest bequest which any man can leave to the youth of his native land, is that of a shining, spotless example." Such a legacy, emphati- cally, has the subject of this memoir left to his family and friends, to the people of his late charge, to the youth among whom he labored, to his brethren in the ministry, and to all who knew him.
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Mat. Clark
REV: MATTHEW CLARK.
LIPH. OF SARDNY & MAJON
HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER OF THE PURITANS - EMIGRATIONS FROM SCOTLAND TO IRELAND - HOSTILITY OF THE NATIVE IRISH - INVASION OF IRELAND BY JAMES THE FIRST - UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO TAKE POSSESSION OF LONDONDERRY - CRUELTY AND PERFIDY OF THE PAPISTS -SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.
To commemorate those scenes and events in which our ancestors participated, and in which we ourselves are inter- ested, is a duty, not only approved by reason, but enforced by divine authority. " Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations ; ask thy Father, and he will show thee ; thy elders, and they will tell thee." Many are the lessons of wisdom to be derived from a careful review of ages past.
To perpetuate the remembrance of important events, and impress a recollection of them upon the minds of succeeding generations, a variety of measures have been adopted. Pil- lars and monuments have been erected, and inscribed with appropriate records. Temples have been built, and festivals established, to commemorate noble achievements, and impor- tant revolutions. The annual feast of the Passover was a divine appointment, that the Israelites might not forget their deliverance from Egypt. The anniversary of the Declara- tion of our Independence is regularly observed by all Amer-
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ican patriots. Many of the sons of New England annually repair to the shores where their fathers first landed, and, by appropriate services, perpetuate the remembrance of the character and the deeds of those Pilgrims, who laid the foundation of our civil and religious institutions.
Few, then, will doubt the propriety of recalling events which in their results affect posterity. Scenes in which our fathers or more remote ancestors were concerned, although they may be unattended by important consequences, have for us a special and peculiar interest.
In reviewing the history of Londonderry, from its early settlement to the present time, it is not proposed to give a mere narrative of events, but to bring into view those princi- ples and institutions, connected with these events, to which the welfare of a community may be ascribed.
Before entering upon a detailed account of the emigration and settlement of the colony which planted themselves in Lon- donderry, in the year 1719, it may be useful to advert briefly to some of the circumstances and occurrences in the father- land, which constituted the great and leading cause of most of the New England settlements. And it will clearly appear, that it was religious principle which brought our fathers to this land ; that it was for conscience' sake they left their country and their homes, and " sought a faith's pure shrine" upon our bleak and inhospitable shores.
Although, upon the Reformation, Protestantism early became the established religion in England, still, conformity in sentiment and modes of worship, as prescribed by the Episcopal Church, was enforced with such extreme rigor, that a voluntary exile seemed to many the most eligible mode of escaping from the penalties of non-compliance. The accession of Elizabeth had, it is true, quenched the fires of Smithfield, which had raged so violently in the days of Mary, and her long reign had established the Reformation. " But toleration," it has been justly remarked, " was a virtue
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EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT.
beyond her conception, and beyond her age. She left no example of it to her successor, James the First, and it was not to be expected that a sentiment so wise or so liberal should originate with him."
During the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, various acts of Parliament were passed, regulating the religious affairs of the kingdom, and requiring, under certain penalties, that all should adopt the established religion, in its articles of faith and modes of worship. These acts excited the strong and deter- mined resistance of large numbers of all ranks, both in Scot- land and England, who fearlessly withstood this encroachment upon their rights, demanding greater simplicity and purity of worship than that allowed by the Church of England. Hence they were called, by way of reproach, Puritans. As their sufferings under these oppressive acts tended to deter all, except the conscientious and sincere friends of Christ and of the purer worship, from uniting with them, the term, though otherwise intended, was adopted by them as significant of the superior purity of their religion and of their lives.
Indebted as we are to them for much that distinguishes us, and misrepresented or misunderstood as their true character has often been, a brief sketch of their more prom- inent traits and characteristics, as drawn by that accom- plished critic and historian, Macaulay, may not be out of place. As he is a native of the country from which our fathers came, and a member of the Established Church, his views may be relied upon as just and impartial. " We would speak," says he, " of the Puritans as the most remarkable body of men which the world has ever produced. The odious parts of their character lie on the surface. Nor have there been wanting malicious observers to point them out. For many years after the Restoration, they were the theme of unmeasured invective and derision. Most of their absurd- ities were external badges, like the signs of free masonry, or the dresses of friars. We regret that these badges were not
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
more attractive. But the Puritans were men, whose minds had derived a peculiar character from the daily contemplation of superior beings and external interests."
" Not content with acknowledging in general an overruling providence, they habitually ascribed every event to the will of that Great Being, for whose power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection nothing was too minute. To know him, to serve him, to enjoy him, was with them the great end of human existence. They rejected with contempt the cere- monious homage, which other sects substituted for the pure worship of the soul. Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the Deity through an obscuring veil, they aspired to gaze full on the intolerable brightness, and to commune with him face to face."
" Hence originated their contempt for terrestrial distinctions. They recognized no title to superiority but the divine favor ; and, confident of that favor, they despised all the accomplish- ments and all the dignities of the world. If they were unac- quainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God. On the rich and eloquent, on nobles and priests, they looked down with contempt; for they esteemed themselves rich in a more precious treasure, and eloquent in a more sublime language, - nobles by right of an earlier creation, and priests by the imposition of a mightier hand. Those had little reason to laugh at them, who encoun- tered them in the hall of debate or in the field of battle."
" These men brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of judgment, and an immutability of purpose, which were the necessary effect of their zeal. The intensity of their feelings on one subject made them tranquil on every other. One overpowering sentiment had subjected to itself pity and hatred, ambition and fear. Death had lost its terrors, and pleasure its charms. They had their smiles and their tears, their raptures and their sorrows, but not for the things of this world. They had their minds cleared of every vulgar passion and
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EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT.
prejudice, and raised above the influence of danger and cor- ruption."
Such were the Puritans, and such were they made by their religion. Although they had their faults, their false logic and their extravagances, the effect of the age in which they lived, yet in the excellence of their principles, and in the wisdom and result of their labors, they stand forth a noble race of men, superior to the ancestors of any other nation.
To this class belonged the settlers of Londonderry. Al- though the fathers of these men differed from the Plymouth Company, with whom they were contemporary, in forms of church government, yet in all their views of divine truth and religious duty, in zeal and firmness to resist civil and ecclesi- astical domination, they fully harmonized with them, and were their fellow-sufferers, for conscience' sake.
The emigrants who settled the town of Londonderry, were called the Scotch Irish, being the descendants of a colony which migrated from Argyleshire, in Scotland, and settled in Ireland, in the province of Ulster, about the year 1612. To this they were induced by the circumstance that, in the reign of James the First, on the suppression of a rebellion by his Catholic subjects, in the northern part of Ireland, two millions of acres of land, almost the whole of the six northern counties, including Londonderry, fell to the king. His Scotch and English subjects were encouraged, by liberal grants, to leave their own country and settle upon these lands; and it was expected that those turbulent spirits, who had so often defied the authority and arms of the British government might, by this means, be awed and controlled. This will account, in some measure, for the enmity which was manifested by the Catho- lics, the native Irish, towards these Protestant settlers, who occupied the soil from which their countrymen had been forci- bly expelled. The great Irish rebellion, which occurred thirty years after, in the reign of Charles the First, had its origin in the animosity with which the Irish Catholics regarded the
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
Protestants, and in the desire they felt to wrest from them their possessions in Ireland. The plot of this general massacre was fortunately discovered in Dublin, on the day before the time fixed for its execution; but in the other parts of the island, and particularly in Ulster, the most cruel and wanton destruction of lives and property ensued. According to some historians, no less than one hundred and fifty thousand per- sons perished.
Large companies of emigrants from Scotland and England settled in Ireland as early as 1612; some years after, in the reign of Charles the First, they received accessions to their numbers ; but it was not until the latter part of the century, that the McKeens, (being four brothers,) the Cargills, the MacGregors, and probably many other of the settlers of the town of Londonderry emigrated. This they did to escape the military and barbarous executions of Claverhouse, in the reign of James the Second.
This bigoted and infatuated monarch exhibited a hatred to Protestantism, and a devotion to Papacy, and, during his whole reign, strove most zealously to eradicate the one and establish the other. No one of the Puritan sects was so par- ticularly the object of his aversion as the Presbyterians of Scotland. While he was viceroy of that kingdom, during the reign of his brother, he had persecuted them with an unre- lenting severity, which he was in nowise disposed to mitigate, after he had ascended the throne. Those districts in which the Covenanters were most numerous were overrun by bands of soldiers, who practised the most wanton cruelties upon all who fell into their hands. Among the leaders of these bands, the most distinguished was James Graham, of Claverhouse,- " a soldier," says Macaulay, " of distinguished courage and professional skill, but rapacious and profane, of violent temper, and of obdurate heart, who has left a name which, wherever the Scottish race is settled on the face of the globe, is men- tioned with a peculiar energy of hatred. To recapitulate all
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EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT.
the crimes by which this man, and men like him, goaded the peasantry of the Western Lowlands into madness, would be an endless task."
By such brutal persecution, in a land most dear to them, were the immediate ancestors of many of the men who settled the town of Londonderry induced to flee to Ireland, and join their countrymen who had preceded them. But, even there, their repose was short.
Although during the time of Cromwell, and for a few years after his decease, the Protestants were protected from the bitter enmity of the Irish Catholics, they were at length called to undergo privations and sufferings almost unparal- leled. The pages of history can furnish but few instances of such undaunted bravery, unwavering firmness, and heroic fortitude, as were displayed by the defenders of the city of Londonderry, during its memorable siege in the years 1688 and 1689.
James the Second had during his reign greatly disaffected his English subjects, who were generally Protestants, by various injudicious attempts to reestablish the supremacy of the Church of Rome. William, Prince of Orange, a Protes- tant, who had married Mary, the daughter of James, was encouraged by many in England to attempt a revolution, and ascend the throne. He accordingly collected a fleet and army, and landed in England on the fifth day of November, 1688. He met with no opposition, and was soon joined by the principal lords, with their forces.
James, alarmed at his approach, and at the desertion of his subjects, escaped with his queen to France, where he was kindly received by Louis the Fourteenth, and encouraged to attempt the regaining of his throne. Though William was, with great unanimity, elected to the British throne, Ireland, whose inhabitants were principally of the Papal church, still maintained its allegiance to James. His army there re- mained stedfast ; and Tyrconnel, the Lord-Lieutenant, who
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
was devoted to his interests, was actively engaged in raising and disciplining new levies of troops.
Encouraged by these circumstances, and relying upon the promised aid of the king of France, James resolved to cross over to Ireland, and make a vigorous effort to recover his crown. His plan of operations was, to march with his combined army directly to the north of Ireland, and, having subdued those places which offered any resistance, from thence to pass over to Scotland, where a considerable force of Highlanders, raised by Graham of Claverhouse, were waiting with impa- tience his arrival. Had not his course been intercepted by the bold and unexpected defence of Londonderry, he would have been able, strengthened by his many adherents in Scotland, and by a large number in England, who still favored his cause, to contend perhaps successfully with William, regain his throne, reestablish Papacy, kindle anew the fires of mar- tyrdom, and crush the spirit of civil and religious freedom, which from that renowned revolution has been strengthening and extending its influence over the nations. So that this small city, fortified, not by military and naval armaments, but by Protestant Christian hearts devoted to the cause of religious freedom, became the arena upon which the fate of the liberties, not only of the west of Europe, but ultimately of this and other lands was to be decided.
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