USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Orange > History of the Oranges, in Essex County, N.J., from 1666 to 1806 > Part 9
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TEXT : Mat. 26 : 44.
" In discoursing upon this text I would-
I : open the nature & kinds of watchfullness.
2 : the nature kinds & manner of prayer.
3 : Shew the nature & kinds of temptation & how persons may be Sayd to enter into, or be led into temptation by God, &
4 : Shew the necessity of watchfullness & prayer to prevent either
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our entring into temptation or our being overcome by it; & So proceed to Some improvemt : &
"I: I am to open the nature & kinds of watchfullness. Now watchfullness is nothing else but a cautious attention by wc any thing is diligently taken care of & it is occupyd-I : about our Selves & the temper of our hearts when we attempt the perform- ance of Duty ; & 2 : about the Duty wc we undertake ; & 3 : about future things either good or evil wc respect our Duty.
" hence it appears that watchfullness is three fold ; I : over our own hearts by we we as it were Set a watch upon them observing carefully what comes into you by the windows of senses examin- ing whence they come what they are & whither they tend-if good giving them entertainment if evil excluding them .- in like maner all that comes from our heart into our thots speech & practise Should be carefully examined .- we are commanded to watch the heart diligently, Seeing that from it are the ishues of death & life.
" 2 : another kind of watchfullness respects the Duty that we are to perform either to God or man. & here are Several things to be watched respecting our Duty, vizt: I: the Season of it .- every thing is beautifull in its Season Says Solomon .- a word Spoken in Season is like aples of gold in pictures of Silver .- carefully to ob- serve the Seasons of doing & receiving good is our great Duty & the contrary is our great misery .- 2 Cor. 6 : 1, 2 .- Eccles. 8 : 5, 6,- a wise man's heart discerneth both tyme & judgment-because to every purpose there is tyme & judgment .- therefore the misery of man is great upon him .- 2: ye matter of Duty .- 3 : ye maner that it be done spirtually .- 4 : the preparation of Duty wc consists either in removing hindrances, or in stirring up our Selves by prayer meditations to lay hold on God, & the con- sequences of Duty .- here we should watch against two things whereby Duty is corrupted and its design mared, vizt: Spiritual pride & inconsitancy .- but the
"3 : Kind of watchfullness respects future things good or evil, the first to be embraced the latter to be Declined .- here observe that as we should be watchfull against Seasons of Danger .- now there is a two fold danger to be guarded against, viz : corruption in Doctrine and practise both very prejudicial to our Soul's interest
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and the former introductory to the latter .- there are particular Seasons of temptation suited to both, we it is our wisdom our duty and our interest to labour to discern and watch against. Sometimes we are tempted to evils in practise, and sometimes to errors in principle, and it seem to be as difficult if not more so to withstand the Latter as the former because more plausible pretexts may be offered for it .- hence those that know themselves will be jealous of themselves in both cases .- Somtimes the righteous God in a way of just judgment lets loose a lying Spirit, a Spirit of error to deceive the world and many are bewitched hereby .- then it is a dangerous season and hard to stand when many fall round about us of whom we expected better things .- because some receive not the truth in the Love of-God gives them up .- its Easy to Stand til we are tryd and then o then its difficult when those we had a great opinion of are fallen.
"But I proceed to speak to the 2: proposed .- the nature of prayer is well describd by the venerable westminister assembly, thus vidt : that it is an offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his will in the name of Christ with confession of our Sins and thankfull acknowledgmt of his mercys.
"Here observe I: the parts of prayer vizt: first confess and thanksgiving-2 : the nature of prayer-3: the object of it God, he is the only proper object of religious worship. Mat. 4: 10. thou Shalt worship the Lord. he only knows all our wants & can only Suply them .- 4 : the maner of prayer. more generaly it must be in the name of Christ. by an intire dependence on his righteous- ness for being Sinfull creatures we cannot have access to God wt out a mediator, but particularly our prayers ought to be at- tended with knowledge faith fervor humility importunity and fol- lowed wh [ ] .- prayers either vocal or mental secret private publick.
" But I proceed to Speak of the 3 : proposd : wc was to discourse upon temptations & I : the word temptation Signifys a tryal or probation whereby the inward Knowledge of a thing is sought after either by our Selvs or others .- now temptation is of the fol- lowing kinds. I : of God whereby he tempts or trys men to this end that the good or evil yt is latent in them may be made man-
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ifest to themselvs or others as appears in the temptations of Abra- ham Hezekia & others. this kind of temptation is holy & tends to the good of mankind .- 2 : of man we is three fold whereby I : he tempts God by Seeking an experiment of some divine perfection after an unlawful maner, or by unlawfull means we chiefly Springs from unbelief. 2 : his neighbour whereby he entises him to error or impiety by fair appearances and plausible pretexts as Eve did Adam. & 3: whereby a man tempts himself by rashly casting himself into the way of temptation to know the Strength of his own Shoulders & see what they can bear, as peter did when he went into the high priest's hall. the most that take this method come of with Shame as he did .- 3 : another kind of temptation is of Satan whereby he allows men to error & Sin by Suiting his bait to their temper & disposition.
"Now persons may be Sayd to Enter into temptation or to be led thereinto by God. I : when by the course of his wise and Sov- ereign providence he brings before us tempting objects Suited to draw forth our corruptions. thus the wedge was presented before Achan .-- 2 : when he permits Satan & men influenced by him to tempt us to corruption in Doctrine or practice. thus an evil Spirit was sent to Seduce ahab. hence it is Sayd that heresys must come. the false apostls were Sent or permitted to go & corrupt the galations & God is Sayd to give persons up to delusion, when God in judgment Sends false teachers a dreadful bewitching power goes wt them. when God in the aforesaid circumstances withdraws the influences of his Spirit, thus it is sayd that God left Hezekia to try him. 2 Chron. 32: 31. & who then is able to stand, & sometimes God Suffers his own children to be tempted & to fall as a just judgment for their own confidence in themselvs or others too high opinion of them. that so no man should glory in men or make flesh their arm. that we may henceforth know no man after the flesh. & likewise the righteous God suffers these things to be for the judicial hardening of the wicked.
"I pass on to the 4 : propsed ; wc was to shew the necessity of watchfullness .- & I : we should watch because of the comand of our Saviour .- 2 : because of our weakness & the Strength of our enemys. we are ignorant & corrupt creatures inclined by nature
white for a Little fox of ane Sproting 9.0 the times grapes brunchen tagis the prophet for Torufalamos Jobs 0 et enough to make a war payiron Given to see the infobility of pour une -atury how toon alof clay do Lowf aboring the
for the foi in shows offfrom por los up then not only conten for the - It in one chowy in formes while they apply off them why -- but lotus wattly prias they'we our Polo Genof to? into temptation
Year Brethren are there notdamn ble herafils ont willian dominable rectify
-undation Lo & Jagny the one lay a jo
thenau phtingfood
this principle of rachile I'm ture this way my home work with
they were not of up therefore!
Tach and pray that they maynot be by inti temptation & gof run ents if contradict they proges for five -Le. " Brethren benifa children
Letthehonour of 400 his hingdom & I how the intersport
own only one youto watch grond Joff in v fait conclude wt. the word of of Lox!
FROM A SERMON BY REV. DANIEL TAYLER ; 1743-4.
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both to error and Sin apt to be easily imposed upon wt the appear- ance of truth and good. & our enemys are many subtle power- full & unwearied .- 3 : if we do not watch we are liek to be taken by surprise .- 4 : God will leave us under the power of temptation in just judgment, if we neglect the use of means appointed by him .-- 5 : when error is triumphant & glorys in the number of its conquests then it is a Harm and indeed it is a Shame to sleep then with Jonah. the tyme the enemy sows tears is when men Sleep. Mat. 13: 25. And we must cry to God to be delivered from temptation & the evil, if otherwise we cannot expect these mercys. for all these things will God be enquird of the house of israel. & has not our Lord instructed us in the patern of prayer he has given us, that we Suplicate him not to lead us into tempta- tion.
"Now my Dear Brethren this Subject easily aplys itself. it is evident to every discerning eye that the present tymes are danger- ous on many accots & especialy in respect of the Spread of mora- vian errors we are dangerous and destructive to the souls of men. I have in former discourses made particular mention of them. the tyme will not now Suffer me to enlarge. I shall only now observe to you that with the papists they hold implicite faith & that ignor- ance is the mother of devotion, with ye antinomians justification from the tyme of Christ's death. they reject the holy law of God & Say yt faith consists in Assurance. wt the arminians they hold Redemption & free will. with the quackers & other enthusiasts they decry human learning & human reason, oppose the stated per- formance of religious duty & assert the doctrine of perfection, with the origenists they hold a redemption out of hell. & there is reason to suspect them of Sabelianism. they medle not wt the ungodly among professors, but only as wolvs tear the flesh of Christ in pieces & that with much Subtlety & artifice. & shouldnt we then mourn & lament while foxes little foxes are Spoling the tender grapes. let us then say wt the prophet for Jerusalems Sake I-O its enough to make a heart of iron bleed to see the instability of poor creatures. how soon alass alass do Some aban- done the Sweet truths of Christ for the fair Shews of Strangers. let us then not only contend for the-& in meekness instruct
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those that oppose themselvs-but let us watch & pray that we our Selves be not led into temptation.
"Dear Brethren are there not damnable heresies as well as damnable practises. & dosent the one lay a foundation for the other & do not men discover the naughtiness of their hearts by principle as well as practise. I'm sure this was the apostls judg- ment. Some went out from us because they were not of us there- fore heresys must come.
"Such as pray that they maynt be led into temptation & yet run into it contradict theyr prayer by yr practise. O Brethren be not as children .- let the honour of God the interest of his kingdom & of your own Souls direct you to watch. Stand fast in ye Faith. I conclude wt the words of ye text-
"is it not awfully evident that iniquity abounds, & that the Love of many waxes cold, is not the goodness of Some like the morning cloud & early Dew-do they not return like the dog to the vomit & like the Swine that was washd to the wallowing in the myre .- is not the word preached like a miscarying womb and drie brests comparatively .- is there not a great decay of living Christianity is not our case generally like that of the churches of Ephesus & Sardis-are there not various contentions & debates among pro- fessors, alienation of affection, too great appearances of pride & covetousness & prejudice,-are not truth, justice, candor & broth- erly kindness too much disregarded & neglected, & on the con- trary do not falsehood & slander preval, & is there no Spread of error in principle.
" well if the case be so is it not a dangerous tyme at present -- Does not Christ mistical suffer & yet it is to be feard many wise virgins Slumber & Sleep .- can you not watch with a Suffering Saviour one hour .- what meanst thou O Sleeper. watch & pray lest ye enter.
" it is a mercy that any are kept standing in these evil tymes. but shoudnt those that Stand take heed lest yy fall. is it not likely they will fall if they do not, for is their standing of themselvs, · Surely no,-& is it likely that God will give them Strength to Stand when they willfully neglect the means he has appointed ;- & are not the consequences of their fall very dishonourable to the
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name of God, prejudicial to their own Souls & the interests of religion among mankind .- are not the pious few hereby grivd, brot into contempt and their influence weakened; are not the natural prejudices of the wicked against Christianity hereby strengthened, to the eternal undoing of many! on wc accot : + pronounced a wo upon the world because of offences, & informs us that they must come-When offenses come then says Christ blessed is the man that is not offended in me, offended at my Doctrine, ways [ ,] it is the neglect of watchfullness that is the great cause of the blunders of professors, O let us therefore, Let us watch-Let us Let our light shine before men that they may See our good works."
CHAPTER VII.
REV. CALEB SMITH.
D URING the long pastorate of Rev. Daniel Taylor, covering more than a quarter of a century, the Mountain Society became a well established Christian church. Founded, as we have shown, with great unanimity upon a Congregational basis, and with set- tled convictions in favor of that form of church order, it was cherished as such throughout the lifetime of its first pastor. When he came to the pastorate, and dur- ing the first years of his ministry, the churches in the neighboring towns and throughout the province were Congregational, excepting that at Newark. He was thus in affiliation and sympathy with them ; and lived to see them all brought into union with Presbytery. The historian of 1729 records that all the churches of the Congregational order became Presbyterian, except " the one in the mountains back of Newark." There are reasons to believe that the events of the period, ecclesiastical and civil, had gradually wrought a change in the minds of both pastor and people at the Moun- tain upon the expediency of a transfer of their eccle- siastical relations. The Rev. Mr. Dickinson, of Eliz- abethtown, (of whom Erskine, of Edinburgh, said that the British Isles have produced no such writers on di- vinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Ed-
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Rev. Caleb Smith.
wards, ) was a fellow-student with Mr. Taylor in college. They were nearly of the same age. They were in cor- dial sympathy in the revival labors of Tennent, White- field and Cross, in 1739-40. Both contested the claims of the East Jersey Proprietors, and were leaders and counsellors of their people in the defence of their home- steads and of popular rights. Harmony of thought engenders friendship, and concert of action fosters mutual confidence and esteem. Their parishes were contiguous. There was a common bond of sympathy, and a very strong one, too, in their worldly relations, , naturally prompting to more perfect unity in their Christian work. Each parish was called to bury its pastor within the space of three months-Dickinson in October, 1747-Taylor in January following.
That the progress of events had wrought a change of opinion in the Mountain Society is made apparent in its action upon the death of its pastor. It was only six days after Mr. Taylor's decease, January 14, 1747-8,
Eleazar Ramping
that "The West Society of Newark at the Mountains" had a public meeting, "in order to settle a minister," and the Society ordered Eleazer Lamson to have the care of the Book of Records. The above minute is on the second page of a book in the archives of the church. On the opposite page to this minute is found "The Book of Records for ye Presbyterians." Though the book is a large one, there is no further record of the progress of church affairs on its pages. It did not become a book of record. Portions of it were subse- quently used for miscellaneous memoranda.
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The record of its opening pages is significant, when we consider it as one of the first links in the chain of facts, which in eight months thereafter resulted in the ordination and installation of a new pastor by the Presbytery of New York. The quaint volume, nearly a century and a half old, with the more quaint, con- cise writings on its first page, furnishes testimony well nigh conclusive that the expediency of a change of ecclesiastical relations had received favorable consid- eration by both pastor and people before the death of Mr. Taylor. The historical value of the record has never arrested the attention of the historian ; nor has it ever been noticed as suggesting an answer to the in- quiry so often made in the long years which have fol- lowed, how it came about that the Mountain Society, organized as Congregational, became in after years Presbyterian. The change was resolved upon as its first act when the society was called to face the neces- sity of calling a new pastor. The history of the New- ark Church repeated itself twenty-nine years after- wards at the Mountain. The change to the Presby- terian order came by the logic of events, and as Dr. Stearns, of the Newark Church, says, "was natural, easy and excited little discussion." 1
The Rev. Caleb Smith was a grand-son of Col. Wil- liam Smith, a native of England. He was in great favor with Charles II., who appointed him in 1675 Governor of Tangiers, and, probably, made him com- mander of his Majesty's troops sent there for the pro- tection of an establishment on that barbarous coast, giving him at the same time the commission of Colonel. He came to New York in 1686, and made purchases of lands at Brookhaven, Long Island, acquiring a large
I. See Stearns' History of First Church, Newark, p. 128.
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tract of country, extending from the South Bay and Fire Place to the Mastic River on the north side. For this domain, which he named St. George's Manor, he obtained a patent from Gov. Fletcher in 1693.1 He held high official stations, being a member of the Council, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and com- mander of the militia of Suffolk County. He died in 1705, aged 50, leaving sons and daughters. His eldest son, Henry, was a man of distinction, and also hon- ored with high official station. His son, William, also distinguished by positions of honor, was the father of the subject of our notice.
Rev. Caleb Smith was born at St. George's Manor, Mastic, Township of Brookhaven, L. I., December 29, 1723. His mother's maiden name was Sears. 2
He was graduated from Yale College in 1743, being then twenty years of age. It would appear from his Caleb Smith diary that he was con- verted to Christ dur- ing his course of col- lege study. It was at this time that the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson had a classical school in opera- tion in Elizabethtown. He also received into his house young men seeking instruction in theology. 3 Soon after Mr. Smith had received his college honors, he was invited by Mr. Dickinson to become an assistant
I. See Thompson's History of Long Island, Vol. I., p. 417. Earl Bell- omont, in addressing the Lords of Trade, complains of Fletcher that he gave extravagant grants of land to those whom he favored-to Beekman, Living- ston, Schuyler, Rennselaer, on the Hudson River; to Bayard, Pinhorn and others on the Mohawk ; the King's farm at New York to the church ; the King's garden to Heathcote ; and to Col. William Smith, a grant fifty miles long, and the whole breadth of the Island of Nassau, "worth more than any of them all," valued, by Bellomont, at £25,000. (Broadhead's New York Col. Doc.)
2. See Dexter's Annals of Yale, p. 747.
3. Hatfield's History of Elizabethtown, p. 349.
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teacher in his school. While there he studied divinity, and was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presby- tery of New York, in April, 1747. The school of Mr. Dickinson was the germ of the College of New Jersey. Through the active agency of Mr. Dickinson a charter was obtained October 22, 1746, " to incorporate sundry persons to found a college ;" and in the following May, the first term was opened in Elizabethtown, with Mr. Dickinson as its first president. Mr. Caleb Smith, then in his 24th year, and within a month after his licensure, was employed as its first tutor. 1
Mr. Dickinson departed this life five months after the college was opened, an event which arrested the progress of the new enterprise in Elizabethtown. The pupils, eight in number, were transferred to Newark and placed under the instruction of the Rev. Aaron Burr, who, as early as 1746, had there a Latin school. After receiving the students from Elizabethtown he continued the charge of his own school, employing one or two assistants. Whether Mr. Smith's tutorship ceased or not, upon the removal of his pupils to the school of Mr. Burr, does not appear. No mention is made of him in that connection. He was at this time a licensed preacher, and was popular in the churches as a young minister. On September 7, 1748, eight months after the death of her honored father, he married Mar- tha, the youngest daughter of Mr. Dickinson, and on November 30th, of the same year, was ordained and installed by his Presbytery as pastor of the Mountain Society. He accepted the pastor's office here after much consideration, having, as his memoir says, "at one and the same time several unanimous calls to settle in the Gospel ministry." Being unwilling to decide
I. Dexter's Annals of Yale, etc., p. 747.
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for himself, he asked the Presbytery to assign his work for him, which they declined to do. The Mountain Society was, probably, organized by Presbytery as a Presbyterian Church when the installation, as pastor, of one of the licensed members took place. Three persons were constituted elders, viz: Joseph Peck, Joseph Riggs and John Smith.
The new pastor had lived in the Province long enough to know something of the religious and civil condition of the people. A low state of religion char- acterized the time. The controversies between the planters and the Proprietors absorbed their thoughts, fostering disorder and evil passions. If we have rightly estimated the popular mind, the intensity of feeling was somewhat diminished at the time of Mr. Taylor's death. The apparent unwillingness of the Proprietors Joseph Rig! to bring their case to an issue in court, and the delays in bringing actions of trespass and ejectment to trial, strengthened the people in the assurance of the righteousness of their cause, and of their own acts, as well as of their final success in maintaining what they believed to be their rights. It is true that many of the best men in our new minister's parish were arrested and convicted as rioters, but their reputation, as good and worthy men, was not discredited thereby. The times were troublous and were ominous of a more troublous future. The questions of right between the planters and the Proprietors were giving place to broader questions of right between the colonies and the King and his parliament. The young pastor was not trained, nor was he constituted by his nature to take a leading part in public concerns. Through all
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the years of his pastorate there was a general disregard of religious things. It was a period of backsliding and defection throughout the Provinces. The Moun- tain Society partook of the general degeneracy. Mr. Smith was recognized as a man of great prudence, of careful judgment and of great method in the manage- ment of matters which came within his sphere of duty. He was not a stranger to the homes and families of his parish, teaching from house to house, knowing the Joseph Beck children by name, and, as they grew in years, imparting to them religious instruction. Having a quick per- ception and a tenacious memory, he brought himself into fellowship with all classes, assured, as they came to be, of a cordial and sympathizing greeting when- ever they met him. With such characteristics, we can readily accept the encomium of his biographer, that "there was a remarkable harmony, concord and satis- faction in his congregation during the whole course of his ministry."
He was a severe student, and was distinguished as a scholar-careful to write out his sermons in full, though an easy extempore speaker. He had a clear, audible voice, somewhat monotonous, but pleasant withal and agreeable to the listener. His want of ac- tion in speaking diminished, however, his power over an audience. In the later years of his ministry he became subject to attacks of vertigo, being compelled at times to support himself by the desk. Some of his sermons and briefs are preserved among the archives of the church. Two only were printed ; one, “An Exhortation to the People," at Connecticut Farms, 1750, at the ordination and settlement of Rev. Daniel
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