USA > New York > Orange County > Montgomery > The Goodwill memorial, or, The first one hundred and fifty years of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church : Montgomery, Orange Co., N.Y. > Part 11
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Dr. MACLISE, in reply, said :
My dear brother : I most truly and fully reciprocate the feelings which you have expressed. I never would have made a good Methodist, as I never could tell my experience. Whether that arises from a constitutional idiosyncrasy I do not know, but so it is, and never have I experienced its incon- venience more than I do at present among my old friends on this memorable occasion. What my feelings were this after- noon when I came into this church after an absence of over ten years, and saw the familiar faces and heard the familiar and well-remembered voices of my old co-presbyters and other friends, I will not undertake to tell. When the Moderator kind- ly and courteously presented to me the invitation of the Presby- tery to sit as a corresponding member, and said that they were exceedingly glad to see and receive me here, I felt that I would like to say, " I fully reciprocate the feeling of kindness you have uttered; and while I thank you for it, I can from the heart say
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I am exceedingly glad to be here, or I would not at consider- able inconvenience have left home and traveled almost a thou- sand miles in order to be present with you on this occasion." But, sir, the words would not come ; my heart was too full for utterance ; I simply rose and bowed my thanks. Perhaps some of the people present thought it strange that I did not return my thanks in words for the courtesy, as is usual : that was the reason why I did not. I remember many years ago, how many I shall not tell-it makes me begin to feel old when I think of them-I returned, for the first and only time after an absence of a few years, to the house where I was born. My father's family had moved away, and strangers occupied the dwelling in which I had spent my early boyhood's days ; and as I entered it and looked around, a strange, peculiar, dizzying, electric sen- sation went thrilling not only through my brain but my whole being, a sensation such as I had never felt before nor since till this afternoon : then it returned with all its original vividness, as I entered this building and looked upon the people and the place.
It is not because I think I have anything to tell you worthy of the long journey I have come, but simply and solely for the pleasure it would afford myself again to be among you, espe- cially on such an occasion, to take so many of you again by the hand, to look once more into your kindly faces, and be gladdened as of old by the tones of your voices, and feel friend- ship's thrill permeating my being ; and I have realized all this. I have been, as the ladies at the parsonage said I would be, amply repaid for the labor of the journey by the glad welcome I would receive.
It is not necessary, my dear brother, that I should here and now refer to the archæology of this ancient and honorable organization. That has been pretty thoroughly done already by both of us. And those archæological researches, bringing down the history of this time-honored and God-honored insti- tution to our own time, are in the sacred archives, and there they will no doubt remain when you and I and all of us shall have crumbled into dust. And although living men shall
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cease to remember us, when in years to come in the distant future our names may be mentioned and mayhap the inquiry be raised as to whom and what we were, those archives will at least tell that we have lived and labored here. And per- haps those who come after us will have something to say of us that shall not be derogatory, but be as kindly in its charac- ter as have been our utterances concerning those who have so worthily gone before us. Doubtless we have all made mis- takes in the past, doubtless our predecessors did; who do not? It is a wonderfully " good horse that never stumbles." But I am sure that with regard to my successor and myself neither of us ever did an intentional wrong to this congregation, or to any member of it, in thought, word or deed, and I am as sure that so it shall continue ; and I am equally confident that as we venerate our predecessors in the ministry of this church, so shall we be thought and spoken of by our successors. The time will soon come, my dear brother, when we also shall pass away. I am the solitary link connecting you with the long and now past period of one hundred and fifty years of this church's ecclesiastical existence. I have no doubt that you will, as you have been doing, worthily carry on .the work which, under the direction of the Church's Head, has now been continued for a century and a half, as long as the God of grace may be pleased to continue you in this field of labor.
The celebration of this 150th anniversary of the Goodwill church is an event that can never again occur in its history, still less in ours. One hundred and fifty years! What a mul- titude of changes, and how mighty in their influence have the changes been that have come to pass during the existence of this church ! What kings have reigned, what kingdoms have risen and fallen, what wonderful discoveries have been made during those one hundred and fifty years! The steam engine, the electric telegraph, the telephone, the microphone, the audiphone, and I don't know how many other curious, inter- esting, elevating and labor-saving inventions. We all know the advantages of steam and electricity: how with the one we
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can outstrip the wind as we rush along in our fiery train, and the other send our sentiments of business or affection across the continent, across or under the ocean, or round the world, anticipating the lapse of time, triumphing over time and space, and overcoming as by a magic wand all terrestrial difficulties and obstructions. I do not know, sir, whether you have yet entertained this audience by the wonderful powers of the microphone, by which the footsteps of the house-fly can be magnified to resemble the strokes of a trip-hammer, the buzz- ing of a bee to be like the roaring of Niagara, or the gentle sigh of a maiden' as she softly whispers " yes " to the all-impor- tant question, to be loud as the thunder that rends the spheres. And the telephone, what a comfort it will be in the coming time! By its aid people will be privileged to listen to the magnificent melodies of the orchestra a hundred or a thousand miles away, or to sit comfortably at home and drink in the eloquent words of their pastors instead of exposing themselves to the discomforts of stormy days, dark nights and bad roads. How books have multiplied, and the Bible spread broadcast by the million every year, while Foreign Missionary enter- prise has had its origin, its labors and its mighty triumphs during this period ! These and a thousand other wonderful discoveries and improvements in the arts and sciences have been achieved that had never entered the brain of the most learned and thoughtful men when this organization had its origin. During all this century and a half that has witnessed so many revolutions, the Goodwill church has held on the even tenor of its way, growing continually, sending off colony after colony to the number of six ; that is to say, every quarter of a century on the average, gave birth to a new and vigorous organization, while the old mother-church herself is appar- ently the youngest, the freshest, and most vigorous of them all.
Who can tell what will come to pass during the next one hundred and fifty years ? I have no fear of the world coming to an end before the completion of that period. I think few people nowadays do expect it ; at least we no longer hear of
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people acting as if the end were very near. No longer are we astounded by hearing of people giving away their pro- perty, or selling it for a song, and getting ready their ascension robes to go up to glory. It is a question, had the end come when expected, whether some of them would have gone in that direction, notwithstanding their white robes. People need better robes to fit them for glory than those prepared in the loom and the laundry. I hope we shall all obtain them, the robes of the Redeemer's righteousness. I shall not specu- late as to the probable duration of the earth whether it shall be a thousand, a million, or a thousand million of years, but I am sure when the 300th anniversary of this church comes round, those who shall then compose the congregation will celebrate it with far more eclat than that with which it is now observed.
As I look around me and into the faces of this great audience, and I am gladdened by all that I see and hear ; I am saddened, also, because I miss so many familiar and well-remembered faces and forms. I look on the right hand and on the left, and all over the house, and everywhere I miss old friends ; so many of them are gone that I am sad ; but they have gone to the land of the blest ; and therefore I am glad. Yes-
"Friend after friend departs ; Who hath not lost a friend ? There is no union here of hearts That finds not here an end ; Were this frail world our only rest, Living, or dying, none were blest.
There is a world above Where parting is unknown ; A whole eternity of love, Formed for the good alone : And faith beholds the dying here Transplanted to that happier sphere."
Yes, friend after friend departs, and some of those were among my dearest friends. The first one that was taken was Cyrus Bowne .* He was a trustee but not an elder ; he would
* Gravesend, L. I., was settled by English emigrants from Massachusetts about the year 1645. Among the early settlers were William and John Bowne,
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have been one had he lived a little longer. He would have been one of the very first elected to that sacred and responsi- ble office. He was an earnest, warm-hearted, energetic, self- denying Christian man. He was suddenly summoned away while yet in his manhood's prime. It was a heavy blow, not only to his family, but to us all, and sorely did we all miss him. After him William Graham was taken-the father of our dear brother, the Rev. Dr. Graham, to whom we have been listening with so much delight, and of William Graham, the author of the Memorial Hymn which we are to sing to-night. Elder William Graham was one of nature's noblemen, a man of much ability, and ever ready at his post in the faithful and efficient discharge of all Christian duties. His loss was also sadly felt. And so one after another passed away, making our hearts sad, till about the time of my leaving this pastoral charge, when elder James Van Keuren, M.D .. was also called to go up higher. Dr. Van Keuren was a humble, tender. loving, benevolent man, perhaps still better skilled in dealing with the diseases of the soul than those of the body. After a very brief sickness he was taken from us, but the call found him prepared to go up higher to the land of the blest, where the inhabitants no more say I am sick, and the weary are at rest. And then came the one so fittingly referred to by my brother Graham, Nathaniel Brewster-I can sec him now. to-night, as I used to see him there, sitting in that pew.
probably father and son. William was granted a "planter's lott" on Nov. 12th 1646 ; and John, Sept. 20th, 1647. Early in 1665, a number of the inhabitants of Gravesend, and among them William, John and James Bowne, obtained a patent for a large tract of land in Monmouth county, N. J., whither they probably shortly after removed. Gershom Bowne, a descendant of this branch of the family, was born April Ist, 1745. Early in life he moved to Fishkill, Dutchess County. N. Y He was twice married : first to Elizabeth Gildersleeve, about 1773, and after- wards to Nancy Gosling. about 1786. To the first were born four children : 1. Obadiah, b. Nov. 28th, 1774; 2. Martha, b. Oct. 13th, 1776; 3. Benjamin. b Sept. 12th, 1778 ; and 4. Catherine, b. Feb. 18th, 1780. Obadiah married Susan
Rickey. To them were born eight children: 1. Harvey ; 2. Mary Ann, who married Nathaniel Brewster ; 3. Harriet, who married Isaac Platt ; 4. Alfred, who married Elsie Way ; 5. Cyrus H., who married Hester Wood ; 6. Elizabeth, who married J. Caston Platt ; 7. James W., who married Margaret Warrell ; .. Martha J., who married Thomas B. Scott. Obadiah died in Dutchess county some time previous to 1827, in April of which year his widow with her children moved to Orange county, and soon after they associated themselves with the Goodwill church.
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although I know that he is dead, as much as the good can die -dead and buried, and I called back to preach his funeral sermon after I had gone to another pastoral charge in the city of New York. No nobler Christian man than Nathaniel Brewster, the Israelite indeed, in whom their was no guile, have I ever known in this or any other county or country. A de- scendant of William Brewster of the Mayflower, in no respect inferior to his noted ancestor, in many respects, I doubt not, greatly his superior, he was a man among ten thousand to be loved and trusted. Even the men of the world knew and acknowledged his worth, and were wont to come to him instead of resorting to courts of law with their differences, to him as sole arbitrator, knowing that their cases would be rightly and righteously decided. Often since then in endea- voring to stir up the elders and others of my charge to a more earnest, active and consecrated life, have I set before them this man as an example of all good words and deeds. Nathaniel Brewster ! O how I have longed for such another elder during the more than ten years that have passed since last I heard his voice and saw his face, and often have I said, when shall I look upon his like again ! But he too has gone to glory.
And still another elder has gone the way of all flesh- Andrew N. Young, a gentle, kind, loving, true, humble, devoted Christian man, one of the most unpretentious and unostentatious of men. But he is taken, too, after being purified through exceeding great suffering; and we would not have detained him in his sufferings if we could, for he has gone to the
" Land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign ; Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain."
There are many others, also, that deserve worthy mention, did time permit ; but it does not, and I must content myself with these brief references to those official men. I have no time to tell you of my labors during the ten years that have elapsed since it was my pleasure to minister in this place, and
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I shall only say that thither my thoughts have turned more frequently, and with a warmer, tenderer glow, than to any other place in which my lot has been cast, and I doubt not that so it will continue to the end.
When I look on all these still well-loved friends, the changes time has wrought are very notable. The next ten years will be still more marked in their results in this respect. Yes, the strongest of us all will yet bow ourselves, " the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail, because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the street, for the dust must return to the earth as it was, and the spirit unto God who gave it." But to the genuine believer in Jesus it is not wholly sad to think of growing old and dying, for " to depart and be with Christ" is far better than to linger on in feebleness and decrepitude on the shores of time.
Yes, it is far better to go up and be forever with the Lord, than to enjoy the highest honors and pleasures earth has within her gift. There we shall see Adam and Eve and Abel and Enoch, and all the elders who "through faith obtained a good report ;" we shall see the holy patriarchs, prophets and apostles, the martyrs and confessors who lived and died in the times that tried men's souls. There we shall see Father King. I never saw his face in the flesh, as he died long years before I was born, but he is said to have been a kingly man, and from the likeness which I now look on for the first time, I have no doubt that he was in form and feature all that is claimed. We shall see and converse with the learned and eloquent John Blair, and the gentle, urbane and amiable Condit, and good, plain, honest, faithful Father Blain, with whom for a brief period I was co-pastor of this church. All these and count- less multitudes more, men and women of whom the world was not worthy, whom we have seen and whom we have not seen, we shall there see and know ; yea, all who know and love the Lord.
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I rejoice to be able to say that I have reason to believe that only the pure gospel of the grace of God, radiating from the cross of Christ, has ever been proclaimed by any pastor of this church, and God has blessed his truth here, and made it mighty, and He will, I doubt not, continue to bless it. Go on, therefore, my dear brother, telling the old, old story of grace, preaching the glorious gospel of the grace of God, and God will bless you and make you a blessing to a multitude of souls.
In conclusion, I offer you my sincere and hearty con- gratulations on the past history of this church, so honestly and wisely conducted for one hundred and fifty years, on the success of this anniversary, on the success of the present min- istry, and invoke the blessing of the Head of the Church, the goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush, the eternal God, to rest richly upon you and yours, upon this church and con- gregation, and on all those who shall in this place worship God, down the coming cycles to the end of time.
Anthem: "The Lord will comfort Zion ; He will comfort. all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. The Lord will comfort Zion."
The remaining speakers were members of the Presbytery ; Rev. Amasa S. Freeman, D. D., of Haverstraw ; Rev. Daniel N. Freeland, of Monroe, and Rev. Charles Beattie, of Middle- town, the Moderator.
Dr. FREEMAN spoke as follows :
The theme assigned to me on this interesting occasion is : The duty of children to perpetuate the institutions established by the piety and seal of their fathers.
The Duty. We owe it to their memory.
It is thus that, being dead, they yet speak, and the work suspended when their hand forgot its cunning, and their tongue was silent in the grave, is carried forward. In perpetuating the institutions which they established we erect the most en-
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during monument to their wisdom, and to their fidelity to God and His cause. But if we owe a debt of gratitude to the past, we owe one of duty to the future. "Other men labored and ye are entered into their labors." Shame on the selfishness of those who are ready enough to reap the benefits of the toils off those who have preceded them, but feel no obligations to those who shall follow them. Care we not what we bequeath to those who come after us? What if those who, at sacrifice of treasure and of blood, secured to us the civil and religions liberties we enjoy had thus reasoned ? How different would have been our heritage to-day. As none so realize the value of the gospel and the hopes it inspires as those who deny themselves to impart these blessed hopes to others, so none appreciate the sanctuary and its privileges as do those who make efforts to transmit them to others. Could the spirits of pastors and people who once worshipped here revisit the scenes of their earthly toil, would it not be a joy to them that, though the workmen die, the work goes on, and the flame of devotion still burns on altars they erected, and sacred songs ascend to God where they met to praise and pray ? Indeed, as I gaze upon the portrait of one of those pastors (Rev. Andrew King) now hanging before you. I can almost imagine that those lips move, and that he who long ago ministered at this altar takes part in the hymns of praise we sing to-night.
How appropriate, too, that on the other side of the pulpit is the portrait of her who for so many years shared in the joys and duties of his pastorate. Little do our congrega- tions realize how much of their pastor's success is due to the quiet yet efficient influence of his wife. Of this (if I may be permitted to refer to it) we have an illustration here to-night. While he who is now your pastor proclaims the messages of salvation at this end of the church, his wife, at the other end, with skilled fingers and voice, contributes her part in conduct- ing the service of song in the sanctuary.
But I pass to consider briefly the question, How' shall the institutions established by the piety and zeal of the fathers be perpetuated?
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I. By cherishing their faith.
They loved the Word of God. Precious to them were its doctrines, its precepts, its invitations, its promises, its warn- ings. This blessed Book was the basis of all their hopes; their guide in darkness, their comforter in sorrow, their support in death. Uninfluenced by the speculations of skepticism, or by the " oppositions of science, falsely so-called," they believe that " the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Let it be ours to " hold fast," as did they, " the form of sound words, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus," and " earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
2. We are to perpetuate the institutions established by the fathers by faithfully maintaining the ordinances of God's house.
They honored the sanctuary by punctual attendance upon its services. The sacrifices they made have been placed upon record, and it is well that they have. Let the men and women of the present generation read carefully the story and profit thereby. "Many of them came on horseback and on foot, a distance of twelve or fifteen miles, and this during all kinds of weather, and by all kinds of roads, or, rather, no roads at all, but paths and by-paths through the woods, and swamps, and streams." To which is added the suggestive remark : " What a change has taken place in the habits of the people since then !"
3. To perpetuate the institutions of religion we must not only attend upon the worship of God in His courts, but con- tribute of our means for the support of the gospel. Each must give, and give cheerfully, as the Lord has prospered him. The language of David should be a rule to every Christ- ian: "Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." And, further, the institutions of religion can only be perpetuated by earnest, active co-operation on the part of all the members of the church in every effort to do good, and to extend the blessings of the gospel. By prayer, by sympathy, and by example, each must
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sustain the hands of his pastor, and walk in the steps of the fathers, so far as they followed Christ. This is the true apos- tolic succession-the succession of their faith, their prayers, their zeal ; the succession of a godly seed.
It is an interesting thought that many who once worshipped here, the pastors who preached the unscarchable riches of Christ, and the people to whom they ministered, sleep to-night beneath the shadow of the wall of this sacred edifice. What an incentive to duty to my dear brother who is called to occupy this pulpit, and to those who receive the truth from his lips, these graves of the honored dead ! With what silent but impressive eloquence they enforce the words: "What- soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest."
May the theme of my remarks have its fulfillment herc ; and may the institutions established by the piety and zeal of the fathers be perpetuated to the latest generations.
Anthem : " We have thought of thy loving kindness, O) Lord, in the midst of thy holy temple. According to thy name so is thy praise to the ends of the earth."
Rev. Mr. FREELAND spoke as follows :
Laus Deo. Praise to God that we are privileged to be here on this grand anniversary occasion-your sesqui-centennial, if " sesqui" means one and a half. When Napoleon would cn- courage his soldiers on their campaign in Egypt he exclaimed : " Soldiers, fifty centuries are looking down upon you." We stir your hearts to equal enthusiasm when we remind you that one hundred and fifty years are looking down upon you. For that period of time in the history of an American evangelical church is better than centuries of the history of the great pyramid. That was erected for the tomb of a king who was denied burial in it, so that after ages of existence in its monu- mental grandeur it was but an empty sepulchre. But this church, organized as a sanctuary of the living, is instinct, at
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