USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Little Compton > The Two-hundredth anniversary of the organization of the United Congregational Church, Little Compton, Rhode Island, September 7, 1904 > Part 4
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Because this church has kept men in this pulpit who preached and enforced these things, and because in these pews there have never been lacking men and women who lived and died in the belief and hope of them, this church has been found worthy to survive the changes of six gene- rations. God grant that in the generations to come it may still have no lack of the same kind of preaching and believ- ing: for thereby and thereby only will it demonstrate to the great Head of the Church and to all men its fitness to still survive.
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ADDRESS
BY REV. WILLIAM D. HART.
IN the ten minutes for reminiscences requested of me, I wish first of all to thank you for your cordial invitation to me and for your generous hospitality. I rejoice that the church is still bringing forth fruit in old age (Ps. 92:14) and is displaying the full vigor of youth.
First impressions are most vivid. I well remember some of my first experiences in Little Compton. I remember the first Compton man whom I met: the genial, well-informed Henry M. Tompkins, that delightful conversationalist. He met me with a carriage at Tiverton station, near the close of a Saturday in June, 1875. I remember the fog that en- veloped us as we came down Windmill Hill, and the pitch darkness before we reached Deacon Simmons' roadgate. I remember thinking what a great dooryard Deacon Simmons must have; it took so long to reach the house from the street. The cordial welcome from the Deacon's family and the refreshing repast are vivid memories; but especially the being awakened at dawn by the gabbling geese. I had come from a quiet home in New Hampshire where such ex- periences were not common. Then the Sabbath came on, and the ride to church in the family carriage. The audi- ence in this house were greatly pleased with the sermon that Sunday morning, and well they might be. for it was preached by the Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer. I considered that easy candidating. Dr. Palmer did the preaching and I got the call. There has always been a tender spot in my heart for Dr. Palmer. Indeed he was very kind to me, because, as I suppose, of his love for this church. Here he came every summer to visit his sister, and the people always ex- pected a sermon, and were not disappointed. Here he came at our 175th anniversary, and gave us that charming
REV. WILLIAM D. HART
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resumé of sixty-five years. The Rev. Dr. George Ware Briggs, another native of Little Compton, was also with us at that time, with helpful words right from his great warm heart.
The mention of that event calls up the fact that of those who participated in the exercises, or composed the commit- tee on publication, "I, even I only, am left." Some of you remember there were also present former pastors: Gold- smith, Beach, and Walker; also Rev. W. H. Sturtevant, of Tiverton; Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Taylor, of Providence, and Deacon James H. Bailey, of Danielsonville, Conn. We had letters too from Prof. Charles U. Shepard and his sister, Mrs. Boltwood, and from Rev. J. P. Lane, of Bristol. All of these have joined the great majority. Indeed, of the 133 members of the church in 1875, only about thirty can an- swer the earthly roll-call now. Precious memories throng our minds as we think on these names. It would be a pa- thetic pleasure to dwell on them, did time permit. They were all very kind to me and my family, and we all look back to the days spent here as among our happiest. This was my first pastorate, and you are the people of my first love.
My relation with the officers of the church was always very pleasant. The deacons formed an efficient triumvirate. They differed widely in their individual characteristics, but worked together harmoniously and together made an ideal composite deacon. Deacon Richmond, under a somewhat puritanical exterior, carried a warm heart. This was shown in his loving devotion to the partner of his life. And what a sweet, beautiful woman she was! Deacon Rich- mond attended faithfully to the business end of the church, while he did not neglect its spiritual interests. He was fervent in prayer, and the church was the object of his love. Deacon Simmons was a man whom everybody loved. This I always thought was because he lived so near the Master. He used to say that after a hard day's work nothing rested him like the prayer-meeting. If Deacon Church were not here, I would like to tell how I loved him, and how much
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he was always doing for the church and for his pastor. I am so thankful that he still lives to encourage and uphold the church by his presence and his prayers.
In the last years of my pastorate, two more good men were chosen to the diaconate, and in Deacons Howard and Bailey are found the qualifications necessary to that office as stated by the Apostle Paul. The treasurer of the society was an important official as concerned myself, for through him I received my daily bread. Preston B. Richmond per- formed this work faithfully until his lamented death, after which his brother William assumed the duties of that office. The clerk of the church, during all my pastorate and for a much longer period, was Albert H. Simmons, one of the most spiritually minded men of my acquaintance. He was a great help to me. He was one of whom I think we may reverently say, "He was made perfect through suffering."
I would like, if I could, thus to go through the whole congregation and speak of individuals, but it would make my story too long.
Among the old ladies, whom it was my duty and pleasure to visit were Mrs. Angeline Grinnell. Mrs. Valentine Sim- mons. Mrs. Abigail Bailey, Mrs. Mercy Borden and Mrs. Prudence Wilbor. All these were widows. and they de- lighted in prayer. the last one named being. perhaps, the most vigorous of them all. It is related that once a new minister was in the pulpit, who was more gifted in sound than in sense, and after a long, wordy discourse, he closed with a flourish of trumpets ending in "Amen and Amen." whereupon "Aunt Prudy," sitting right down there near the front, involuntarily exclaimed. "And I say Amen, too."
Among the most influential persons in the church in my day was Mrs. Arethusa Briggs, whose devotion to Christ and self-denying service in His name have been a power for good to this day, and earned for her in a special degree the praise, "She hath done what she could."
There were two other women who. though very different in their experiences, are associated in my mind as workers together in every good cause. These were Mrs. Abel Tomp- kins, and Miss Maria Brownell. It is a beautiful picture
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that comes before me, as I see these two ladies, with a large basket of presents and a list of children's names, at our Christmas tree, to make sure that no child should be over- looked in the distribution of gifts.
The Ladies' Sociable was as important a factor in the well-being of the church a generation ago as it is now. The mention of that name brings to mind a most efficient circle of women, many of whom are still active in the good work. Inseparably connected with it are also the names of Miss Maria Brownell, Mrs. Arethusa Briggs, Mrs. Oliver Brown- ell, Mrs. Deacon Simmons and Mrs. Hannah Grinnell. Theirs is a crown of righteousness that fadeth not away.
In my mind are cherished memories of the Young Peo- ple's Society of Christian Endeavor, which was an invalu- able aid to the work of the church. In connection with its organization, we remember with gratitude the services of one who assisted us in getting the society under way, and who by his enthusiasm gave an impetus to the work which insured its success. It seemed a great loss to the cause of Christ and the church when, in his early manhood, there went out the life of Joseph R. Alden.
I am glad you celebrate this day. I congratulate you on your present action, living spiritual condition, and assure you that you are held in daily loving remembrance by me at the throne of grace.
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ADDRESS
BY REV. THOMAS F. NORRIS.
AFTER the eloquent words that have been spoken there is little that I can say. It is, however, with a feeling of pride that I find my name associated with the long list of illustri- ous men who have occupied this pulpit.
The chain which binds this church with the past is com- posed of two hundred links. Each link represents a year's history. I had an exceedingly modest part in welding two of those links.
I have always thought that iny identification with this church was very much more beneficial to myself than to the people. The circumstances which led me here and the ex- jeriences which I passed through while here are among the most pleasant of my life. I had been serving a church in one of the busy, bustling cities of the west. The rumbling of the immense trains of three transcontinental railways could be heard from the parsonage night and day. There was no cessation of activity. On all sides were evidences of the strenuous life.
The contrast between such a field of labor and this is as great as can be imagined. I was charmed with the little town. Everything I saw had an attraction : its ocean view, its quiet farms, the stately church, the attentive congrega- tion, the unstinted generosity of the people. At no place that I had been did I receive so warm a welcome, and in all there pervaded a spirit of peace and restfulness. My stay with this people was a period of rest and recuperation that I much needed.
Another thing which stood out in marked contrast with iny western work was the home life which I observed. There, everybody seemed to be striving for a home, They were brave men and women who, lured on by the hope of bettering themselves, had left their old life in the east and were pressing toward the fertile plains of the west. It was a gallant struggle in which some succeeded and for which
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some were still struggling. Most of the homes were in the process of making. Here, there was an entire absence of such conditions. These homes were established, and as I entered them I was impressed with their completeness and order. The people were happy and contented. I had never seen such before, and my conclusion was that here was an ideal New England town, with ideal homes and ideal peo- ple, and that to live with such was a privilege and joy.
There was one thing, however, that occasioned perplex- ity. I noticed that the young people when they reached a certain age, as a general thing, left the town to settle in some other part of the state or country. In the building up of a church, the pastor invariably looks to the young. Without them the constituency of a church is very much narrowed. And I asked the question, If our young people leave us in this manner, how am I to build up this church ? As I studied the problem, certain facts were disclosed that proved that even in this exodus of the young men and young women of the church there were certain compensations.
A tourist in Maine on meeting a native of one of the sparsely settled sections asked him this question: "What do you do here?" "We make men," he replied. And this was true; for all over the land may be found men of force and genius who were born and brought up in the state of Maine. And the same is true of Little Compton and this church. It makes men, and sends them out through New England and other states. And among those who have gone may be found many who have reached success in law and literature and business. Wherever they have gone they have made their mark; and I contented myself with the thought that this church was doing a great and noble work if it could prepare the boys and the girls for the life that was before them, so that, when they went out from their homes, they would take the strength and beauty of their early training and impress them on the community in which they were to live.
I esteem it a privilege and pleasure to be with you to-day. I congratulate you on the happy auspices of this occasion. May the blessing of God attend your future efforts.
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ADDRESS
BY REV. JAMES H. LYON.
I HAVE been asked to bring the congratulations of the Congregational churches of Rhode Island to this people. The lot fell on me, not because I could do it any better than my brethren, but because I am a kind of cosmopolitan bishop of our apostolic Congregational order in the state- heading the list of active pastors with longest service in one church, a little over thirty-seven years.
Besides this, I think I hold precedence over all other min- isters now living, owing to the generally unknown fact that my mother-Lucy Little Davis, daughter of Major John Davis-was born and lived, I know not how long, in Lit- tle Compton. About the first place I heard of when I was a small boy was Little Compton. It was the whole of Rhode Island to me then. It has always been a sacred place to me because my mother was born here.
So, in a way, I am one of you to-day-one of your chil- dren come back on this happy occasion to bring you my own and others' sincere congratulations.
They say you are 200 years old! You do not show it in your looks. You appear as young and vigorous as a church that has only reached "sweet sixteen," or its majority. I congratulate you on being so old and at the same time so young. You must have grown old very gracefully-of course you have. Without the grace of God that is in you, that entered at the beginning, and has flowed on, sweet and strong, through all the years, you would have withered and died long ago. You have kept fat and flourishing for two centuries, proving the presence and power of the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ.
I congratulate you, in the name of all the churches, that
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you are not dying or going to die. You have disproved the saying that "the good die young." I expect to meet and greet you in the New Jerusalem; and that is yet a long way off-farther than another 200 years probably. Our sym- pathetic joy mingles with your gladness to-day, at the thought that after these festivities are over, even after all of us who are here to-day have vanished into the unseen, this church will remain. Other hands and hearts will con- tinue its life and work, as you are doing in your turn.
A church, like a man, needs to have a good supply of com- mon sense. It needs to be resourceful and able to manage its affairs with discretion. It should know how to make the best of any given situation. I think the last time I was here you showed this common sense ability. You had called a council to dismiss your minister-to let him go in good Congregational order and with proper endorsement. It proved to be a very stormy day. Only a minority of the churches invited came. There were only two ministers present-possibly three. But the two I remember, one a black man and the other white, divided the offices between them, and went on with the work just as though there were a full quorum. You said that was all right. So said we all of us. The retiring minister went away with a good recommendation. I think he is here to-day to prove that everything went on well. It is related of Dr. Alexander, who, a long time ago, taught theology at Princeton, that he said to his students one day, "Young gentlemen, if you are deficient in learning you can get more; if you lack piety, you can all grow in grace; but if you have no common sense, the Lord have mercy upon you !"
There is no cloud or gloom of that kind overhanging you. Indeed, a Congregational church, organized, as all such churches are, on the principle of Christian and apos- tolic common sense, may reasonably expect to have cen- turies of prosperity and progress as you have enjoyed.
We congratulate you also on the worthy list of ministers you have had, including the modest and very excellent man who is now your pastor. They have been bargains, though you did not select them from the bargain-counter. A neigh-
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bor of ours used to say to one of our boys who was quite a worker: "Don't work too hard, Charley; good boys are scarce." We are sometimes told that good ministers are scarce. I do not think so. You have always had enough, and good ones, too. The church that has a spiritual and faithful ministry is to be congratulated.
And good deacons, too-they are a treasure-like a good wife. It is reported that the Little Compton church has been fortunate in its deacons-and in the wives of its mem- bers, too. Happy is the people that are in such a case. They can never be in the sad condition of that church of which a certain man was a member. Some one asked him whether there were any Christians in his church. He re- plied that he knew of only two-himself and his wife; but he was not quite sure about his wife. I suspect he was like that complaining person who, when asked, "How are you to-day?" replied, "I feel very well; but I always feel badly when I feel well because I know I am going to feel worse." .
You have kept the faith, too; and, of course, the faith has kept you. The faith that is sourced and centered in Christ, sunned and strengthened by his surpassing love, purified and sweetened by his Spirit, made obedient and serviceable for his sake-this faith you have kept these 200 years. We congratulate you on this account. By it you have lived and helped many to reign in life. It is a fine record for all everywhere who have made it-the example left by our Mas- ter and followed by Paul, and which he could look back upon so joyfully at the finish of his course. It is an achievement worthy of the God who inspires it, and of the people who are steadfastly responsive to the vision of life he causes to shine before us, and sensitive to the impulse from Him that makes it sure.
We congratulate you on your love for the church. That is Christ-like. And your love for its surroundings-these lovely fields, this large room in which God has set your feet and where you have "abundant space to live his life and grow his growth;" with the ocean, too, staying itself upon your shore, and sending in upon you the benediction which
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we inland court and come to you to share; and homes where love lightens labor, and peace abounds, and human nerves have rest from city noise and strain. I will warrant that you feel the honest satisfaction felt by an Irishman in his native Emerald Isle. Three men were in each other's com- pany one day-an Englishman, and a Scotchman, and an Irishman. Said the Englishman to the Scotchman, "If you were not a Scotchman, what would you be?" He replied, "If I were not a Scotchman, I would be an Englishman." Then the Scotchman returned the question to the English- man, "If you were not an Englishman, what would you be?" "If I were not an Englishman," he answered, "I would be a Scotchman." Then they both turned to the Irishman. "If you were not an Irishman, what would you be?" To which, with true fervor, he responded, "If I were not an Irishman, I would be ashamed!"
Quite likely your sentiments respecting Little Compton are illustrated by the Irish end of that story. If so, I come not here to chide you. I brought no complaints; neither have I discovered ground for any since I came. Congrat- ulations-sincere, earnest, hearty-from all the churches. We reverently salute you enthroned on your two centuries of church life. We look up to you with the respect due to your years. A few of our churches were already beyond their A B C's, or well on in life, when you were born. Bar- rington was forty years old. Bristol, seventeen. The New- man Church in East Providence was sixty-one years your senior. Kingston was ahead of you by nine years. But these ancient members of our Congregational household are no less warmhearted than the rest. A few summers, more or less, make. no difference-when we get up to the second or third century. Our youngest, not one year old yet, wants to be remembered to you just like the others. Its name is Hope-Hope Church, of East Providence. That is Provi- dence to the east, toward the rising sun. We are all on that side of the meridian-all churches of Divine Provi- dence, and facing the ever ascending Light of the world.
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We all share in the rich inheritance of hope, for which, with you, we render thanks to Him whose
"Glory is His children's good, Whose joy His tender Fatherhood."
And though
" We know not what the future hath Of marvel or surprise, Assured alone that life and death His mercy underlies,"
we can hope to the end for the grace that shall be brought to us in the increasing revelation and glory of Jesus Christ. His we all are, and Him we serve-our common Lord, in whose name we congratulate you to-day, and bid you God- speed. Go on in faith that never yields to fear, in hope that lightens toil with cheerful song, in love that never fails though tongues shall cease and knowledge be done away. Go on where the Master leads, his banner over you, his cause your constant aim. Receive his "good cheer," and ours in his name, for all the coming years. Remember his inspiring word, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Thank God and take courage, as well you may, with all who love our Lord-loyally partaking with every company of God's sacramental host even in the "tribulation." if need be, but surely in the "kingdom and patience which are in Jesus." For your "calling" to all this-to the things that are highest, richest, most endur- ing-for your spiritual apprehension of God and his glory on earth ; for your earnest aspiration to keep your light here well trimmed and bright; for your increasing and un- ceasing fruitfulness, made sure by faithful co-operation with God, accept the fervent congratulations of all the brethren in the Lord.
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ADDRESS
BY REV. THOMAS R. SLICER, D. D.
THE presence of a Christian church in any community shows that there is in that community a group of people who believe that the highest function of the human soul is worship, and that they are resolved to maintain a cen- ter in which this highest function shall be exercised-ac- centuated and raised in power by this association of a com- mon purpose with its exercise. So far from the church be- ing "A survival of the Ages of Faith," it is in the best sense a barrier set against an age of despair; it is not simply a monument of the past, but in the proportion in which it serves its divine purpose, it is a challenge to the future. For a free church in which the mind claims the liberty of prophesying is apt to be in the advance movement of the mental processes of any sane community. The church was never more necessary than to-day. In the midst of this hurry of modern life it is a center of quiet in the cyclone's heart; men fail of intellectual power and religious peace by over-activity, and the neglect of times of meditation- "Come in, and rest, and pray !" is the church's invitation to a world smitten with the superstition of being always busy at the expense of mental and spiritual power. Our fever- ish activities are calmed and divine energy enters our spent lives.
Moreover, no man properly estimates his support of the church who thinks his contribution is a gift which his gen- erosity has bestowed; it is, instead, a fee that he has paid for his own religious education and the education of his family. If this is not what he consciously receives for what he pays, it may be that he has not paid enough to get what costs him more in his school-bills and his manifold
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ways of entertainment and instruction. Many a man has grown weary of the church which he has insisted should be kept to a cheap level of reluctant support. You cannot do a wholesale business in a retail plant. The man who is nig- gardly with the church is being really mean to himself, for it exists for him and his household. These are the men who will fatigue serious people by talk about conducting the church on business principles and say, "I pay, whether I go or not!" Is this business? The first principle in business is to be at the place of business, and until the store or office can be turned over to the janitor and the clerks, it can never come to be "good business" to turn over the church to the sexton and the minister. And so far as the minister is concerned, his contract "to be on hand" is no more binding than that of the pew-holder or church supporters. Con- tracts imply mutual obligation. You cannot make a fire with one log!
It is my deliberate judgment after years of careful obser- vation in the ministry that the man who systematically neg- lects, without good cause preventing, the services of religion is apt to lose a part of that development of his whole nature for which these services supply a means supplied by noth- ing else. The church and its services have remained through centuries because they corresponded to the needs of human nature. These needs remain. The ripest natures are those who use the means which humanity has found efficient to enrich, mellow and strengthen. If they should ever grow so strong as "not to need the church." then the church will need them, for the sake of those who still need the church. If we are strong we have to prove it, not by idleness, but by service; if we are wise, there are many still to be taught; if we are good, the proof will be, as long ago given by him who went about doing good, and who yet went into the humble "Synagogue at Nazareth on the Sabbath day as his custom was." His religion has been well defined "As living the Eternal Life in the midst of time by the strength and under the eye of God."
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