USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Narragansett > South county studies of some eighteenth century persons, places & conditions in that portion of Rhode Island called Narragansett > Part 8
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Peace and blessing to the house of dear and sacred
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memories! the olden home of learning, virtue, and re- ligion! Honor to these venerable walls, forever hal- lowed by the spirit of domestic tranquillity and hap- piness! the centre whence radiated the cheerful influ- ences of strong-hearted endeavor, warm sympathy, and soothing ministration. May the elements deal gently, reverently, with the cherished structure that in its silent eloquence recalls the earnest faith, the simple wor- ship of our ancestors. Long may its serene presence remain untouched by time, uniting us by the ties of strong association with all the holiest aspirations of our unforgotten past.
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THE WILL OF JAMES MACSPARRAN, CLERK
T HIS antique document, containing several chari- table and ecclesiastical bequests, possesses an especial meaning and value, in relation to the annals of Narragansett. It is not without a deeper and more enduring claim upon human interest, in its earnest- ness of benevolent motive, its profound simplicity and sincerity of tone. There is a thoughtful charm in tracing the changeful course of its unconscious self- revelations of mind and character. No mere legal sum- mary, but the genuine record of the wishes of the tes- tator, -expressed in his own language, written by his own hand,-it is deeply imbued with the definite tints derived from his peculiar habits of thought and feel- ing; bearing the original impress of his complex in- dividuality. Composed with not a little of that fatal fluency which so frequently animates the over facile clerical pen, the entire paper, however curious and valuable in the estimation of antiquarians, might be regarded as presenting too unlimited a demand upon the attention of the general reader; but a few extracts from its principal items will, it is believed, appeal to the common interest and sympathy.
There is something eminently characteristic of the writer of this instrument in the careful precision and particularity of statement comprised in the opening paragraph, although its sentences, sequent to the sol- emn invocation of the Trinity, usually found in ancient wills, are merely occupied with the inevitable formal- ities respecting the status of the testator, and his posi-
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tive possession of what our ancestors called "a sound disposing mind." It is followed by a reverent acknow- ledgment of dependence upon the Creator, and of de- vout and humble gratitude to Him for all the blessings of life; this simple statement being very fully ampli- fied, in accordance with the prevailing customs of a time when it was judged essential or at least fitting, that the preambles of wills and other formal papers should afford a complete "body of divinity."
"First, I think myself now and at all times obliged to return my thanks to Almighty God, through whose mercy I have been baptized into the Christian faith, and by a gracious turn of Providence have been ad- vanced to the honor of Priesthood in the Church of England, which I reverence as most agreeable in its doctrines and constitutions to the purest ages of the gospel; beseeching God to protect it, to heal its un- happy divisions, to repair the breaches of its discipline, and to defend it from those many enemies who labor for its subversion. And I passionately pray to God that that part of it under my care may be supplied with a successor to me, more successful than I have been, in edifying and enlarging that glorious Church in this place."
There are occasional unstudied effects of contrasted light and shade in the Doctor's quaint but not undig- nified style; a certain terse and startling vigor of ex- pression, such as vividly recalls the days of the old English divines of massive minds and winged words. Who can follow the frank and manly utterances of the succeeding act of confession without a ready recogni- tion of its impressively real and earnest humility?
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"I implore the pardon of God for all my open and secret sins, and everything in me that has been less agreeable to the purity of that religion I have pro- fessed, and the true dignity of the sacred office I have sustained; to accept my weak endeavors to serve Him and His church, which I have, in many instances, labored, with great pains and at an expense exceeding my ability and increase. As I freely forgive all men and wish them well, both here and hereafter, so I beg the like charity of them; especially I beg the Lord to forgive any imprudency that may have attended my prosecution in law, of what I then thought, and still do, the just right of the church whereof I have the care. Finally, I most humbly bequeath my soul to God, my Maker, beseeching His most gracious acceptance of it, through the merits of my most compassionate Re- deemer, Jesus Christ, who I trust will not reject me from His merciful presence. In this hope and confi- dence I render up my soul to God through Christ, and give my body to the earth, in full assurance of its res- urrection and reunion to my soul at the last day. But in the meantime my body to be buried with a decent Christian burial, at the discretion of my executrix here- after named."
As to the testator's "merciful share of worldly goods," the somewhat complicated provisions of the instrument may be thus briefly sketched; rejecting its legal for- mulæ, but retaining as nearly as possible its original phraseology:
To his dearly beloved wife, Mrs. Hannah MacSpar- ran, the testator bequeaths all his personal estate; she paying into the hands of the wardens of St. Paul's for
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the time being, £20: the annual interest thereof to be used for the relief of the poor of the parish. And the war- dens shall be obliged to give a discharge for the sum, and an engagement to convert the same to the afore- said use, and no other. Also he wills that she give £10 to each of his friends, Captains Philip Wilkinson and Joseph Harrison, of Newport, merchants, to buy each of them a mourning ring.
To his wife he devises all his books and manuscripts, desiring her to sell them to the best advantage, except two volumes in folio of Dr. Whitby on the New Tes- tament, one volume folio of Bishop Burnet on the Thirty-Nine Articles, one volume folio of Bishop Pear- son on the Creed, three volumes octavo of Bragon on the Parables, and the Book of Homilies; which eight books he wishes her to place in the custody of his suc- cessor, as being the only remains of the Narragansett Library, the greater portion of which was embezzled at Marblehead in Mr. Massom's time. In a word, he leaves to his wife his entire personal estate, with allsuch as he may die possessed of, particularly his service of plate, and all his negro servants, assuredly as if each one were designated by name.
Also to his dearly beloved wife he devises, in fee- simple, those lands bought by him of Samuel Gardiner and of Samuel Watson, Anno Domini 1743. And to his wife he gives all the remainder of his land (being such as were bought by him of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, of Boston, and of William Gardiner), with dwelling-house and appurtenances, during the term of her natural life, whether she contracts another marriage, or remains sole.
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After the demise of his wife these farms shall be converted into a manor for the use and residence of such Bishop of the Reformed Religion (as the same is now received and established in England), and to his successors forever in that high and holy office, as shall be regularly sent and set over that part of His Majes- ty's plantations where the seat or farm lies. But this donation he makes with these two provisos: I. That at least the first three bishops in direct succession shall have been born and educated in Great Britain or Ireland (which condition is not required by him out of any national spirit, but because he imagines that Episco- pacy cannot be so well preserved in its purity and true dignity in any other manner at the first).
II. That the Bishop be sent within seven years after the decease of Mrs. MacSparran. And lest the Town Council who (by an unadvised law of this Colony) are empowered to that purpose, in respect to estates given to pious uses, should intermeddle with the estate, he gives the rents and profits accruing from it, during this term of seven years, to Dr. Sylvester Gardiner and to Captain Philip Wilkinson-a moiety to each, for their trouble in keeping things in repair. Should no such Bishop be appointed to preside over these Ameri- can and non-American churches, then he wills that these rents and profits shall determine, and the estate shall pass unto Dr. Sylvester Gardiner and unto James MacSparran, eldest son of the testator's only brother, Archibald MacSparran, of New Castle in Delaware (lately deceased), to be equally divided between them, as an indefeasible inheritance, in fee-simple forever.
For as much as the testator and his wife are medi-
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tating a voyage to England, and should it please God in His sovereign will so to order it that they should die at sea, or never return, and no new disposition be made by either, then he directs his executors to make sale of all his goods and chattels, half the proceeds to belong to Dr. Sylvester Gardiner and half to Captain Philip Wilkinson.
Further, he gives a convenient spot of ground as a site for a church and burial yard, whenever claimed for that purpose, meaning that portion of the northwest corner of his farm, comprising a space fifteen rods east and west, and thirteen rods from north to south, and bounded northerly by land of Samuel Wilson, and west- erly by the great road of the country.
Should there be any defect or impropriety of ex- pression in this instrument, it is the testator's desire, because it is his true intent, that the same may be con- strued in favor of his dear wife, Hannah MacSparran, for he means and repeats that he hereby bequeaths to her all his personal estate, goods, and chattels, abso- lutely, except one silver tankard, which he requests her to give, when she can spare it, to William Gardi- ner, eldest son of her brother, Dr. Sylvester Gardiner.
Having been as particular as possible to prevent all future cavils, it only remains to name the executors of this instrument. The testator therefore appoints his wife, Hannah MacSparran, his brother-in-law, Dr. Syl- vester Gardiner, of Boston, and his true friend, Captain Philip Wilkinson, of Newport, merchant, the execu- trix and executors of this his last will and testament, and the Honorable, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as trustees to his prop-
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erty, so far as shall concern the donation made to a bishop. That they may be duly apprized thereof, he directs an authentic copy of this will, as soon as it shall have passed its probate, to be transmitted to that ven- erable corporation by his executors. As for his debts, which he thanks God are small, they are to be justly and punctually paid. Revoking all other wills, he confirms this alone, according to its true intent and meaning.
Signed. Dated May the 23d, Anno Domini 1753, and in the twenty sixth year of the reign of our Sov- ereign Lord, George the Second, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
Subscribers: John Brown, John Gardiner, Peter Mumford.
Proved and recorded by the Town Council of South Kingstown, in the county of Kings, Dec. 13th, 1757.
The English birth of the writer of this paper is evi- dent in every unconscious turn of phrase, in the one familiar measure to which all his thoughts are moving through the deep, worn channels of early prejudices and prepossessions. It is as palpable a reality as his very looks and tones, which we know so well from his por- trait and from the finer and livelier limning of tradition. A true Briton, in his instinctive distrust of any scholar- ship or churchmanship other than such as was indige- nous to his native island, and in his hearty insular con- tempt and misliking for the ways of colonial courts and their magistrates; yet, with a generous inconsistency, always keenly interested in public affairs, seeking ad- mittance to the privileges of a free man at a very early period of his residence in Rhode Island. Adhering with
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sedulous care to the minutest customs of his own country, he does not forget to bequeath mourning rings to his pall-bearers and executors, while in his scrupu- lous fulfillment of the usual expectation prevalent at that time, that no clergyman, however small his estate, should neglect to make some provision, or leave some remembrance, for the poor of his parish. He illustrates the common course of the many good priests of his church and nation, who, dwelling contentedly in the peaceful quiet of their rural homes, were affluent in all the essential comforts of life, and were not denied the luxury of administering a judicious and kindly char- ity. His act cannot fail to recall a certain remarkable and perfectly literal realization of the poet's conception, familiar to every attentive reader of Wordsworth, and readily found by any one who will take the trouble to consult the detailed account of the Reverend Robert Walker (justly called wonderful Walker), given in the Third Appendix to the "Excursion."
The Doctor's generosity (or justice?) is evinced in his ample and unconditional bequest to his wife, which indicates a depth of unselfish feeling seldom manifested in the ordinary testamentary dispositions of his time. There is a singular delicacy in his request that she should give a particular piece of plate, whenever she could best spare it, to her own nephew, the son of her brother, Dr. Gardiner. Mrs. MacSparran, although many years younger than her husband, did not live to inherit under the provisions of this will, dying in Lon- don in the summer of 1755.
Among the manuscripts which were to have been placed in her care, the Doctor's early history of Narra-
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gansett was doubtless included. This valuable record, now unfortunately lost, would have afforded an ines- timable assistance in the special study of our colonial annals.
Anticipating all the prejudices, dismay, and alarm, certain to be evoked in the New England mind by the mention of an established bishopric, the testator makes careful preparation for the safety of his gift of a house and farms for the future residence of a missionary bishop. How anxiously he strives against the possibil- ity of "all cavils"! How ingeniously he provides for all contingencies, - save the inevitable! The idea of an impending revolution that should completely sever all civil and ecclesiastical relations then subsisting between the colonies and the mother country had never in- truded upon the mental vision of the believer in divine right in State, and apostolic succession in Church; the acute and attentive witness, for nearly half a century, to the weakness and disunion, the mutual jealousies and prejudices of these struggling dependencies of the Crown. What a significant lesson on the vanity of that seemingly most real and solemn act, the last arrange- ment of all worldly affairs, the final announcement of personal wishes. How curious and lamentable a record would that be which dealt with the secret history of wills remaining unfulfilled, either from unforeseen changes in the movement of events, or from unfaith- fulness on the part of the executors. Monarch and subject are alike powerless in death, and the desires of the one scarce command more respect than those of the other. The reception accorded by George the Second, "our most religious and gracious King," under whose
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auspicious reign this humble instrument was executed, to the august will of his royal father, was secretly noted by the diarist of his time. From their guarded phrases later writers have elicited the ignominious story how, the paper having been duly read in council, the best of monarchs quietly took it from the unresisting hands of its servile executors then present, and coolly transferred it to the royal note-book-a grave from which it never arose. George the First, Elector and King; James MacSparran, Clerk; the sovereign, and one among the indiscriminated millions of his vassals are instantly and irrevocably equalized by the accident of death, and their helpless ghosts vainly strive to re- tain a feeble hold upon the mighty sphere of human influence and activities whence they have been so suddenly reft, and which sweeps on, uncaring. Verily, this also is vanity. Still, through all earthly vicissitudes rises that deep undertone of despairing mockery, echo- ing from the primal ages of humanity. The Eastern text is fitly chosen; its universal shadow encompasses all time, all space, within its gloomy dominion. But does the habit of simply moralizing upon the errors and littleness of the race tend to promote individual im- provement in the practice of moral precepts? Did the preacher himself gain in wisdom and in favor by the sombre course of thought? Is the wholesome bitter of truth flavored with a stolen sweetness when its appli- cation chiefly concerns others, not ourselves ?
The final disposition of the MacSparran estate was in full harmony with the owner's well-known prefer- ences and sympathies. Purchased from his heirs by the representatives of the parish, and, for a goodly num-
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ber of years, retained and occupied as the glebe of St. Paul's Church, it long remained the enduring centre of associations the most sacred, the most endearing, to many true and kindly hearts.
The "convenient spot of ground" on the summit of MacSparran Hill, intended as the site of a new church and burial enclosure, was never required for those pur- poses, and to this day continues as serene in its lonely loveliness as when the departed master of the ancient house that still sleeps beneath its shadow sought its wide terraces at sunset, for a student's quiet walk, and looked abroad over the far-receding expanse of ocean view with the sore longings of an exile from the dear familiar presence of home and friends."The great road of the country"1 is no longer a busy highway, the re- sort of commerce and travel. Silent and deserted, it winds above the brow of the hill and loses itself in the blue distanceamong the softly rounded outlines of wav- ing meadows and wooded slopes. Its faint, remote, thrill- ing echoes waken only at the infrequent approach of some more thoughtful observer, some gentler wayfarer, who comes to yield such rational homage as the mod- ern pilgrim may.
1 The old Pequot Trail of the Indians became the "great road of the country " and declined from the days of its activity when Washing- ton marched over it, and Franklin travelled from Boston to New York upon it, to the quiet Miss Carpenter describes in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It now echoes to the roar and rush of countless motor cars, bringing many people close to the places she describes.
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PARSON FAYERWEATHER
S YUCH was the half familiar, half affectionate sobri- quet by which the successor of Dr. MacSparran was universally known among his parishioners of the Nar- ragansett Church, during the fourteen years of his rec- torate.
Samuel Fayerweather was a son of Thomas Fayer- weather, a resident of Boston, and presumably one of the straitest sect of the Puritans, to judge from the lit- erature he read with admiration and religiously trans- mitted to his family. Of these books a copy of the Mag- nalia bears the marks of most frequent use. Doubt- less the severely good old man often turned its pages more in reverie than in reflection, while proudly an- ticipating the time when Samuel should fulfil the promise of his name, and become as eminent in the sacred vocation for which he was early destined as any of the ancient worthies commemorated by the quaint Herodotus of New England history. But the son's ul- timate course in life was far removed from the parental hopes and counsels. Graduating at Harvard College, he entered the Congregational ministry, and in 1754 was pastor of the Second Church at Newport, Rhode Island. Two years later he is in London, seeking Epis- copal ordination, while the charge of his vacant parish has just been accepted by Dr. Stiles. Receiving an ap- pointment to a missionary station in South Carolina, he continued to officiate there until the climate proved in- jurious to his health.
At this time the wardens of St. Paul's, Narragan- sett, were anxiously striving to secure some worthy
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successor to Dr. MacSparran, "in whose light we re- joiced many years."
" And the Venerable Society took compassion on us, sending us a missionary to break the bread of life to our souls, ... one whom we had once and again heard preach in our parish church. ... Mr. Samuel Fayer- weather, a native of the land in which we live, ... to whom, after we heard of his appointment to our mis- sion, we wrote a respectful letter, inviting him amongst us, which miscarried. And to whom the society also wrote, which packet was for a long time intercepted, and we not hearing from him, kept us destitute of the stated exercises of public worship-from the death of Dr. MacSparran, [December 1, 1757,] to [August 24, 1760,] when the Reverend Mr. Fayerweather laid before his congregation two letters from the society, one to himself, the other to the parish to which he came- in the HOLY ORDERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND."
To this letter the wardens return an appropriate reply, speaking in high terms of their new incum- bent, "the amiableness of whose views is visible and clear, ... whom ... we have comfort in, ... whose valuable gifts and accomplishments will be greatly acceptable to us."
The MacSparran estate was immediately purchased of the Doctor's devisees, to be held as a Glebe for the perpetual benefit of the rectors of St. Paul's.
Parson Fayerweather, now comfortably established in Narragansett, became at once very popular with all classes, and probably soon obtained the friendly appel- lation by which he is still known to us. His people could not have been long in finding their new rector to
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be as remarkable for innocent eccentricity and genial simplicity of character as was Parson Adams, whose entertaining history must by that time have found its way even to "the Narragansett country in New Eng- land," as native Britons were then accustomed to say, with a generous breadth of expression and that noble disregard for the intricacies of American geography of which they have not yet entirely divested themselves. But whatever his occasional familiarities, even pecul- iarities, of manner may have been, they would certainly appear much more striking to us than to his contempo- raries, who perhaps found it quite natural for him to tell them, when blaming their frivolous excuses for staying away from church, "None of your reasons is more common than the plea of foul weather, but come here whenever you will, and you'll always find Fayer- weather." While not unlike Dr. MacSparran in keen relish for the harmless pleasures of this life, and in gen- eral scarcely inferior to him as a preacher, in choice of matter, and impressiveness of manner, he was also his true successor in the spirit of earnest Christianity, and was known as the faithful and affectionate guardian and friend of all his people. Of eminently social and companionable disposition, he is remembered as having been, in his latter years, a frequent visitor at the house of "King Richard" Greene, then one of the magnates of Old Warwick. He must have been an ever welcome guest at the colonial tea-tables, for he was as eager an enthusiast for the merits of that pleasing beverage as the saintly Cowper, or the revered Dr. Johnson. Indeed, tradition has been so invidious as to record that on one of these occasions the tiny teacup of the period was
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thirteen times re-filled for him! So trifling a circum- stance should have passed unnoticed in an age when the great moralist habitually partook of unlimited quanti- ties of his favorite drink until four o'clock in the morn- ing. In his person he was tall and handsome, with bril- liant complexion, full black eyes, and clear-cut features. Such were the smiling lineaments preserved by the immortal art of Copley, in the portrait painted in Lon- don, when the youthful scholar had just received his degree of A.M. from the University of Oxford, and which represents him in all the grace of his flowing academic robes.
The even course of his secluded life is best told by the self-revealing of the curiously unconscious phra- seology which merges the formality of a church record in the lively interest of a personal narrative.
"Feb. 27, 1763 (an exceeding cold day), Mr. F. jour- neyed to Newport," to meet his betrothed, whom he somewhat resignedly and funereally described as "Sur- viving Relict of the Reverend Peter Bours, of Marble- head." They were married in Trinity Church by "the Rev. Marmaduke Browne, and Mr. F. preached on the occasion, to a large auditory, from these words: 'Do all to the glory of God.'" This lady was a daughter of Colonel Thomas Hazard, of Boston Neck, in South Kingstown.
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