USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Presbyterian Church, Newark, N.J. : a discourse preached September 29, 1861 > Part 3
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Dr. Hay was a native of Newark, born July 25, 1793. At an early period he commenced the study of law in the office of the late Elias Van Arsdale, Esq. Converted by the grace of God during the religious interest of 1813, he connected himself with the First Church of this city; and
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giving himself wholly and earnestly to God, he consecrated all he was and all he had to His service in the ministry of the Gospel. Entering as a student at the College at Princeton, he graduated there in 1818, and then pursued theo- logical studies here under the care of the Rev. Dr. Richards, his pastor. During this period, or' shortly after his conversion, as he stated to the Sabbath School Convention a few weeks before his death, he taught, in connection with his fellow student, Mr. Mills (now the Rev. Henry Mills, D. D., of Auburn, N. Y.), the first Sabbath School for colored persons in this city : out of which the present church in Plane street has grown. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Jersey, October 5, 1820, and was ordained and installed in his first pastoral charge at Mendham, June 3, 1821; from which, a little more than a year later, he was called as we have seen to this church. I am informed that it was his desire and purpose to be engaged in the Foreign Missionary field : and that even some preparations were made to that effect previous to his ordination at Mendham. But domestic reasons prevented his going.
In all the positions that he occupied Dr. Hay secured the respect and esteem of those among whom he lived, and to whom he ministered. He was a man of undoubted, experimental, scriptural
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piety. In the early part of his christian life he passed through a period of darkness, and of bitter struggle. But he came out of it clear and strong, with his spirit purified, his faith elevated. As a pastor he was faithful and laborious, affectionate and judicious. His views of truth were clear and sound. His preaching was marked by earnest, intelligent, and intelligible exhibitions of the truth, and was highly scriptural. I have heard many speak with great interest of the Bible Class which' he conducted. He himself, alluding to it in a letter to Dr. Condit giving an interesting account of the revival of 1824-5, says that it was peculiarly blessed, and that more than half of the class became pious. His ministry was accepted of God, and blessed with much success. Many were brought to Christ by his instrumentality ; and this church was greatly prospered under his pastoral care. Dr. Hay was twice married: in 1821 to Miss Mary Coe, daughter of Mr. Halsted Coe, then an elder in the First Church, subse- quently an elder in this church : in 1826 to Miss Elizabeth Condit, daughter of the Hon. Silas Condit, of this city, who now survives him,
Nearly a year elapsed before another pastor commenced his labors among you. On the 23d of April, 1834, the REV. EBENEZER CHEEVER
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was installed as your pastor by the Presbytery of Newark .* On that occasion, Dr. Hillyer of Orange presided; the Rev. Absalom Peters, D. D., then Secretary of the American Education Society, preached the sermon from 2 Cor. v : 20, first clause : "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ ;" the Rev. Baxter Dickinson, D. D., pastor of the Third Church of this city, t delivered the charge to the minister, and Dr. Hay, your recent pastor, delivered the charge to the congregation.
Mr. Cheever was a native of Vermont. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1817, and pur- sued his theological studies with Dr. Tappan, of Augusta, Maine, and with Dr. Wines of Maine Theological School, and was settled at Waterford, N. Y. At the time of his being invited to this charge he was acting as Financial Secretary of the Presbyterian Education Society. His ministry
* The Presbytery of Jersey was divided, in 1824, into the two Presbyteries of Newark and Elizabethtown. The Pres- byteries of Rockaway and Passaic have since been formed on the territory covered by the old Presbytery.
When the resolution to establish a second church was adopted by the congregation of the First Church in 1809, they expressed the opinion that a third organization would soon be needed, and made provision for its assistance whenever it should be undertaken. The Third Church was organized in June, 1824, and received a proportion of the original fund similar to that granted to the Second Church.
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here lasted more than eleven years, and was attended with the evidences of faithfulness and usefulness on his part, and of the Divine approba- tion. During this time the church was favored with several special visits of the Holy Spirit : one in 1837, when twenty-four professed faith in Christ; one in 1840, with a similar result; and a third in 1843. The whole number added to the church while under his pastoral care, was two hundred and eighty-six : one hundred of these by profession. During his ministry (in 1838) occurred the division in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. This congregation was happily preserved from strife and disharmony among its members throughout that sad contest. It quietly took, or rather kept, its position with the surrounding churches on what it believed to be the side of Law and Righteousness, and there has quietly remained .*
Mr. Cheever was dismissed at his own request, August 26, 1845; and in 1846 he removed to
* The Presbytery of Newark unanimously adhered to that; branch of the Church which has been designated, though unjustly, as the New School; and has ever since formed one of the principal Presbyteries of that body. Only one of its churches has transferred its relation to the other branch of the Presbyte- rian Church. May fraternal feelings ever prevail between the two divisions ! For are we not still brethren ? and may we not hope for a re-union ?
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Michigan, where he was settled successively in Ypsilanti and Tecumseh. In 1855 he returned to this State, and established a Seminary for young ladies in West Bloomfield. After a brief residence there, he accepted an invitation to the Second Presbyterian Church, Paterson, where he now resides. Under his pastoral labors that church has been highly prospered, and it continues to receive his faithful and earnest ministrations with great interest.
The pastor next in succession was the REV. JONATHAN B. CONDIT. The meeting of the con- gregation at- which Mr. Condit was unanimously elected was held October 28, 1845. He was a native of New Jersey, a graduate of Princeton College, and of the Theological Seminary at that place, and had been for a time a tutor in the College. His first settlement in the ministry was at Long Meadow, Mass., from which he was called to the Professorship of Polite Literature and Eloquence in Amherst College. When your call was presented to him, he was pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Portland, Maine. The call was accepted, and on the 17th of February, 1846, he was duly installed. The Rev. William C. White, pastor of the First Church, Orange, presided as Moderator and proposed the usual
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constitutional questions, and delivered the charge to the people; the Rev. Dr. Brinsmade, pastor of the Third Church in this city, preached the sermon; and the Rev. Dr. Eddy, of the First Church, gave the charge to the pastor .*
The ministry of Dr. Conditt extended over a period of a little less than five years, and for many months towards its close was interrupted by serious illness. It was a ministry fraught with good to the congregation; marked with evident advance in all your interests, and securing for your pastor a deep place in the hearts of his people : while his excellence as a preacher, and his dignified christian bearing, gained him the respect and the high esteem of the whole commu- nity. At the beginning of his pastorate, your house of worship was greatly improved, at an expenditure of about five thousand dollars, being
* The Rev. Mr. White, on account of failing health, was dismissed from his charge with many tokens of kindness from his people, April 18, 1855, after twenty years' service; and died in his home among them, February 7, 1856. Dr. Brinsmade left the Third Church, in 1853, for Beloit, Wisconsin, where he now resides. Dr. Eddy resigned the charge of the First Church in 1843; the same year was installed pastor of the Park Church of this city, from which he was dismissed August 20, 1855, and removed to Chicago, Illinois.
f He received the degree of D. D. from Princeton, in 1847.
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rendered in every respect more comfortable and attractive.
In the Spring of 1850, the protracted ill health of your pastor led him to the conviction that it was his duty to seek a dissolution of the relation subsisting between you. This determination on his part was received with the deepest emotion by his people. They earnestly declined acceding to it; and kindly offered to relieve him from all ministerial labors for a year or more, and to do anything in their power to facilitate his restoration to health. The correspondence on the part of both pastor and people is characterized by a high sense of christian duty, and a delicacy of feeling, and a mutual strong attachment, which invest it with great interest. The result was a determina- tion in which both parties cordially united after a calm survey of the whole subject, to secure the services of a colleague to Dr. Condit. The REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, a native of Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin College in that State, at the time pastor of the "Trinitarian" (Congregational) Church, New Bedford, Mass., was unanimously chosen to that office; and having accepted the invitation, he was installed on the 6th of Novem- ber, 1850, as associate pastor. The sermon on the occasion was preached by the Rev. Dr. Stearns of the First Church; the charge to the pastor was
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given by the Rev. Dr. Condit, and that to the people by the Rev. Dr. Poor of the High street Church of this city. The sermon and charges, able and interesting productions, were published by request of the Trustees and Session of the Church.
Mr. Prentiss brought to his work talents and learning of a high order, and the new relation commenced with the most favorable auspices, promising large prosperity to the church, and large usefulness in the community. But the Providence of God appointed only a brief term for the existence of this relation. In March, 1851, Dr. Condit again tendered his resignation, with the fixed conviction that his final restoration to health, and continued ability to labor in the Church of Christ depended on his relinquishing all pastoral duties. The con- gregation, with great reluctance, yielded to his request. About the same time Mr. Prentiss was invited to the pastoral charge of the Mercer street Church. New York; and deeming it his duty to accept the invitation, he also, on the 5th of April, 1851, offered his resignation, and requested the congregation to unite with him in asking of the Presbytery a dissolution of the pastoral relation. And at a meeting of the Presbytery of Newark held April 15, 1851, both pastors were dismissed ; and the church deprived of their valuable services was again without a pastor.
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Dr. Condit, after recruiting for a season, on the first Sabbath in June, 1851, preached a final farewell sermon to the people to whom he appears to have been strongly attached and who earnestly clung to him. Shortly after, he entered upon the duties of the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in Lane Theological Semi- nary, near Cincinnati. But after a few years of labor there his health was again enfeebled, and he retired to Elizabethtown. For a time he supplied the pulpit of the Central Church in this city. Subsequently he accepted a similar Professorship in the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., which position he now fills with great ability ; while his acceptable qualifications as a preacher are almost constantly employed in supplying the pulpits of vacant churches. Our General Assembly at its last meeting chose him as its Moderator.
Dr. Prentiss* was for several years the highly respected and influential pastor of the Mercer street Church ; until he was compelled to seek the restoration of his failing health by entire rest. Bearing with him the strong attachment of his large congregation and circle of friends, and with substantial tokens of their regard, he went abroad, and found a home for two years among the hills
* The Doctorate of Divinity was conferred on him by his Alma Mater in 1854.
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of Switzerland. Returning last year with reno- vated health, he is now engaged in gathering a new congregation in the City of New-York, with promise of years of great usefulness.
The whole number added to the church during the pastorate of Dr. Condit, including the short period of his joint pastorate with Dr. Prentiss, is two hundred and eighteen: forty-eight on pro- fession, and one hundred and seventy on certificate. In the succeeding interval during which you were without a pastor, sixteen were received: eight on profession, eight on certificate. During the whole period there was no wide spread religious awaken- ing; but there were gentle revivings by the Holy Spirit, gathering in little companies into the Redeemer's fold. The Lord was as the dew unto Israel, and his people were glad.
Your next choice of a pastor fell on him who now occupies this place. I received your invitation to become the pastor of this church and congrega- tion in July, 1851, while occupying the Professor- ship of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y. Early in August I announced to you my accept- ance of it. My duties at the Seminary prevented my leaving immediately, and you kindly waited for my coming until the beginning of November.
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On Sunday, the 9th of November, I preached my first sermon as your minister. My installation was postponed several weeks in order to suit the engagements of the friend whom we desired to preach on that occasion. On Tuesday evening, December 23, 1851, I was installed by the Presby- tery of Newark. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Hickok, then Professor of Theology at Auburn, now Vice-President of Union College, from Exodus xvii : 8-13; the charge to the minis- ter was given by the venerable Dr. Fisher,* and
* The Rev. Samuel Fisher, D. D., died in December, 1856, in the eightieth year of his age. The following is part of a minute adopted by the Presbytery of Newark at its meeting in 1857 : "Dr. Fisher was a sound theologian, an instructive preacher, a faithful pastor, a safe counsellor in the church, and a sincere and earnest Christian. Upon the division of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, he was elected the first Moderator of the General Assembly of the constitutional branch of that body ; and in his death we feel that it has lost one of its firmest pillars and most reliable friends.
" His ministry, which was passed in the First Church in Morristown, and the First Church in Paterson, in this State, and the Presbyterian Church in Ramapo, and the Presbyterian Church in Greenbush, in the State of New York, was success- ful, resulting in numerous conversions, and in the enlarging and strengthening of the various churches under his care. In all of those churches his labors were attended with repeated revivals of religion ; and wherever he was known he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the people of God, and particularly of his brethren in the ministry.
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the charge to the people by your former pastor, the Rev. Dr. Hay. Rev. John Crowell of Orange, presided as Moderator, and proposed the constitu- tional questions.
A period of nearly ten years has elapsed since our relation commenced : years of pleasant inter- course and happy union ; years of vicissitudes, bringing to all of us their mingled cups of joy and grief; years of new friendships and enduring loves; years marked with rich tokens of the Divine goodness ; years of prayer and labor ; years that have ushered many into the heavenly rest; years that have sealed up the life's history, and solemn reckoning of many! During this period
" For the last five or six years of his life he was very infirm, and in consequence he retired from the active duties of the ministry ; doing at the same time all that his strength would admit, to aid his brethren in congregations contiguous to his residence. His protracted, and in some respects, very trying, last illness, was borne with Christian patience and resignation ; and at length he passed peacefully away, in the unwavering hope of a blessed immortality.
"To the members of this Presbytery he endeared himself by many acts of unaffected kindness ; and in his punctuality in attending the meetings of the Presbytery until he was entirely disabled, and in the interest which he evinced in all that apper- tained to the welfare of the Church within our bounds, as well as his interest in behalf of the Presbyterian Church, and of the Church of Christ at large, he has set us an example which justly claims our imitation."
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there have been added to the number of church members two hundred and eighty-nine-one hundred and forty-two on profession, and one hundred and forty-seven on certificate. The number of members at the commencement of my ministry among you was three hundred and ninety-nine. The number now is four hundred and forty-eight.
In the time that I have been with you eighty- two members of the church have died. I have attended three hundred and eight funerals. The number of baptisms is one hundred and ninety nine-infants, one hundred and fifty-eight, adults forty-one. The number of marriages is one hundred.
During the first half of this period, although we were not without pleasing evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit with us, and a general prosperity attended us, we were not favored with any special visits of Divine grace, and frequently mourned that so few were joined to the people of God. For nearly nine months of that time, it pleased God to lay your pastor aside from active duty among you. Your sympathy and generosity greatly soothed him in this time of trial. You kindly granted him leave of absence, continued his salary, and supplied the pulpit: and to this was added a gift in money of substantial aid in
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meeting the expenses of his journey. Be assured that this, with other acts of kindness, is most gratefully remembered. The pulpit meanwhile was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Wright, now of Fredonia, N. Y., who has secured a large place in the esteem of this people, and whose ministry here was highly valued. In the beginning of 1857 there were indications of the gracious working of the Holy Spirit among us. There was no remarkable awakening; but a quiet seriousness pervaded our meetings for worship, and led many to a deep interest in their salvation. As a result, in that year twenty-two united with us by profes- sion, and at the Spring communion of the next year ten more. But now the work became deeper and wider; and the year 1858 will ever be among the memorable years in the history of this church ; while in the history of the church at large it is written down as THE YEAR OF GRACE.
The mercantile embarrassments, the heavy losses, the interruption of trade and industry, the monetary panic, and the actual and great sufferings, which make the year 1857 one of the dark years of history, seem to have had the effect of deeply humbling the mind of the whole nation, and leading them, in view of the vanity of earthly things, to realize the importance of seeking an enduring substance. They were humbled before
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God, and confessed their sins, and cried unto Him for mercy. And He who sends affliction in infinite love was pleased to hear, and out of the sorrow to bring great good; and in this evening time of earthly hopes, lo! the light of life shone upon the people. A revival of religion more universal and extensive than ever before blessed our land was the result. It began in the Fall of 1857, but culminated to its height and the ingathering of its fruits in the Spring and Summer
of 1858. It began quietly. It moved with deep solemnity, though with wonderful progress. It
reached all denominations of Christians, all classes of persons, and all ages. It gradually extended beyond our own country into other lands. The numbers added to the membership of the church are reckoned by tens, even by hundreds, of thou- sands. This awakening was attended by wonderful exhibitions of the power of prayer. God's promises to his praying people were gloriously illustrated, and more than ever practically appre- ciated and enjoyed as the heritage of faith. There were numerous beautiful examples of the oneness of spirit and of faith that characterizes Christ's disciples : members of all denominations uniting in meetings for prayer and exhortation, and rejoicing together in the goodness of the Lord. The power and activity of the members of the
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church were developed in an unusual degree, and with remarkably happy results. And the value and power of God's appointed instrumentalities for the conversion of sinners, were exhibited in the success which attended the faithful preaching of the Gospel. There was no resort to any machinery for the production of an unnatural excitement. Religious meetings of various kinds were multiplied, of course; but these were con- ducted by the pastors, and elders, and members of the several churches, and there seemed to be scarcely any call for ministers heretofore known as Evangelists, or Revival-preachers. In our own congregation all these characteristics were found. We joined other churches in sustaining a daily union prayer meeting, which was attended with most blessed results. Gradually our ordinary meetings for worship became fuller, and increas- ingly solemn. Then additional meetings were held. With only an occasional discourse from a ministerial brother, we sustained these services ourselves. Meetings for inquirers were appointed at suitable intervals, and were numerously attended. A deep earnestness seemed to characterize them. While there was variety in the degrees of sorrow and pain in view of sinfulness expressed by the awakened, and while there was much pungency of conviction on account of sin, it is believed that
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this revival was not so marked by signs of mental anguish, as were some revivals of past years. There was perhaps less feeling of the terrors of the Law, and more ready yielding to the attractions of the Cross; less continuance under protracted and painful remorse of conscience, more prompt resting on the Saviour. At the same time there was abundant evidence of genuine conviction, and of conversion ; and it was observed by experienced Christians that the converts as a body gave a remarkably clear and intelligent reason for the hope that was in them.
At the June communion of that year, sixty-seven persons here took upon themselves publicly the vows of the Lord: a larger number than ever before stood up together for that purpose in the broad aisle of this church; though once, in June, 1817, in the great revival which occurred during the ministry of Dr. Griffin, sixty-six here made a public profession of their faith in Jesus. At subsequent communion seasons eighteen others joined who may be considered as the fruits of this revival.
In the early part of my ministry here, the subject of City Missions was much discussed among us; and you have readily for successive years joined with the other Presbyterian churches of the city, in sustaining the operations of our
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City Mission Society. The propriety of extending your operations and taking measures for the formation of another congregation in the upper part of the city had before been considered by you ; and some steps had been taken towards it by the securing of some lots for building. In 1853 you erected, at an expense of about $2,300, the chapel on State street, designed to be used for missionary purposes, and for gathering the nucleus of a new congregation; and for eight years you have sustained a Mission Sabbath School there. A variety of circumstances, among them the increased church accommodations furnished by other denominations, has caused an abandonment of the enterprise then undertaken, and the recent relinquishing of the Sabbath School. But the chapel stands as an evidence of your appreciation of the true principle of church extension; and the time, we trust, is not far distant when another Mission School will claim your support; and when another effort may be made to lay the foundations of an additional Presbyterian church in the northern part of the city.
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