USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. II > Part 20
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From the long agitation of the singing ques- tion came the establishment of the New England "singing-school." Through Vermont and all New England the young people gathered once or twice a week at the meeting-house or school-house in
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the evening, during the winter season, to learn to sing by note under the direction of a singing mas- ter. Then followed the forming choirs from those who had learned to sing, who were permitted to sit in the front gallery, the women upon one side and the men upon the other. In Woodbury, Con- necticut, in 1750, a vote was taken that the singers "may sit up gallery all day, if they please, but to keep to their own seat and not to infringe on the women ones."
It was hard in some churches to adopt the new mode of singing. The deacons insisted upon lin- ing for the choir to sing, but this the choir re- sented, and broke up the old mode of lining, by not stopping singing at the end of the line, which cut the deacon out. On one occasion the deacon, after having been vanquished and set aside by the choir, arose at the end of the performance by the choir, and calmly said, "now let the people of the Lord sing." The custom of lining finally disap- peared, but it died hard. One bitter objection was made against the leader beating time so ostentatiously.
It was arranged between the deacon and the choir that the deacon was to lead and line and beat time in the forenoon while the choir was to have control in the afternoon; and whoever should lead the singing should be at liberty to use the motion of his hand while singing for the space of three months only. Often the reading and sing- ing one line at a time, gives a wrong idea of the meaning intended to be conveyed as in the following, viz :
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"The Lord will come and he will not"
and after singing that line through, read,
"Keep silence, but speak out."
When singing was introduced into the church in Salem, Massachusetts, one indignant and dis- gusted church attendant recorded on the panel of a pew :
"Could poor King David but for once To Salem Church repair ; And hear his Psalms thus warbled out, Good Lord, how he would swear.
"But could St. Paul but just pop in, From higher scenes abstracted, And hear his Gospel now explained, By heaven, he'd run distracted."
As improvement in modes of worship were adopted and musical instruments were introduced in aid of singing and true worship, the church at- tendants who clung to the old ways of worship and singing in church thought the very end of Godly worship had come. The ministers were as much opposed to them as the laymen. Cotton Mather declared that, "there was not a word in the New Testament that authorized the use of such aids to devotion." Ministers preached often on the text, "I will not hear the melody of thy viols," omitting the other half of the text that read, "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;" they hurled many a text at the "fiddle- players."
The pitch pipe, the fife, the tuning-fork, the clarinet, the violin and the bass-viol all came into common use before the organ was introduced and
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used. I doubt if there is any more suitable and in- spiring aid to the rendering of pieces of music in the worship of God in the church than the violin and bass viol. One old lady about the middle of the 19th century wrote that the violin did not suit the old people, and one old gentleman in the church where she attended, got up, took his hat off the peg and marched off, and said, "they had begun fiddling and there would be dancing soon." One church voted that the clarinet be used in the choir; one church member who was opposed to its use, brought into meeting a fish-horn, which he blew loud and long to the complete rout of the clarinet-player and the singers. When reproved for the act, said, "if one man could blow a horn in the Lord's house on the Sabbath he guessed he could too." He had to be bound over to keep the peace.
Many a minister said openly that he would like to walk out of his pulpit when the obnoxious and hated flutes, violins, bass-viols and bassoons were played upon in the singing gallery. One clergy- man announced contemptuously, "we will now sing and fiddle the 45th Psalm." And another sadly deplored that "now we have only catgut and resin religion." It is true that it is very sel- dom, in religious matters as in other things, that improvements and advancements come without active and often bitter opposition.
Notwithstanding the early New England and Vermont settlers clung to the old ways, and Puri- tanic beliefs and practices in worship, no one . doubted their sincerity. And many of them had
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the honest, Christian courage to ask forgiveness for the mistakes of life. A notable instance of this . is that of Judge Sewall who in a Boston meeting with a dignified face and demeanor and with a contrite heart, stood up and through his minister asked humble forgiveness of God and man for his sad share as a Judge in the unjust condemnation and cruel sentencing to death of the poor mur- dered victims of delusion, the Salem witchcraft.
The Blue Laws of Connecticut were unduly se- vere on Sabbath breaking however slight the in- fraction of the law might be. Some of the in- stances were as follows, viz: In Plymouth a man was sharply whipped for shooting a fowl on Sun- day; another was fined for carrying a grist of. corn home on the Lord's day, and the miller who allowed him to take it was also fined. Elizabeth Eddy was fined for wringing and hanging out clothes. James Watt, in 1658, was publicly re- proved for writing a business note Sunday even- ing somewhat too soon.
In Newbury, in 1646, Aquila Chase and his wife were fined for gathering peas from their gar- den on the Sabbath, but the fine was afterwards remitted and the offenders admonished. A Dun- stable soldier was fined for "welting a piece of an old hat to put in his shoe to protect his foot." Capt. Kemble of Boston in 1656, was set for two hours in the public stocks for kissing his wife, pub- licly, on the Sabbath upon the steps of his own house, when he had just returned from a voyage at sea after an absence of three years.
The Vermont Sunday laws were about of the
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same character, some of which have been already quoted. As late as 1831, in Lebanon, Conn., a lady journeying to her father's home was arrested for unnecessarily traveling on the Sabbath. She brought suit and recovered damages for false im- prisonment. In Maine in 1776, a meeting was held to get the "town mind" on a plan to restrain visiting on the Sabbath; the town voted that if persons should make unnecessary visits on the Sabbath "they should be look't on with con- tempt." People were frequently fined for non- attendance at public worship.
Quakers were fined in great numbers for refus- ing to attend church which they hated and which abhorred them. The Quakers were set in the stocks and whipped if they came to church and ex- pressed any dissatisfaction, and suffered the same punishment if they stayed away. There were strict orders against the use of tobacco; its use in Connecticut, was absolutely forbidden under any circumstances on the Sabbath within two miles of the meeting-house. These instances are sufficient to show the character of the Vermont and Colon- ial laws and their enforcement.
The Puritans and the early settlers were not content with the strict observance of the Sabbath alone but included Saturday evening in their holy day. The clergymen were rigid in the prolonged observance of Sunday. From sunset on Saturday until Sunday night they would not shave, have rooms swept, nor beds made, have food prepared, nor cooking utensels and table-ware washed. The Puritans claimed they found Scripture sup-
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port for this observance of Saturday night in these words, "The evening and the morning were the first day." The following poem was written on the subject of the New England Christians set- ting apart a day and a half for the Sabbath, viz:
"And let it be enacted further still That all our people strict observe our will ; Five days and a half shall men and women, too, Attend their business and their mirth pursue, But after that no man without a fine Shall walk the streets or at a tavern dine. One day and a half 'tis requisite to rest From toilsome labor and a tempting feast. Henceforth let none on peril of their lives Attempt a journey or embrace their wives ; No barber, foreign or domestic bred, Shall e'er presume to dress a lady's head ; No shop shall spare ( half the preceding day ) A yard of ribbond or an ounce of tea."
The strict observance of Saturday evening and the Sabbath, appeared to the Puritans and their immediate descendants to be one of the most vital points of their religion-they made no compromise with levity or the busy world but rested abso- lutely on the Lord's day. As time went on both Saturday and Sunday evenings became a time of general cheerfulness and often merry-making.
In the early days of Vermont and throughout New England the authority in the church severely criticised and punished any expressions of dispar- agement of the minister, his teachings or any re- ligious exercises of the church. One man was pub- licly whipped for speaking deridingly of God's words and ordinances as taught by the minister. Mistress Oliver was forced to stand in public with
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a cleft stick on her tongue for reproaching the elder. A man in New Haven, Conn., was whipped and fined for declaring that he received no profit from the minister's sermons. It would seem that such treatment for uttering honest dissent from utterances and teachings of the minister savors of both superstition and tyranny. In this enlight- ened era no such treatment of like expressions would be tolerated.
In 1631, Phillip Ratcliffe, for "speaking against the churches" had his ears cut off, was whipped and banished. Two women were punished in 1669, for saying, "the Divil a bit." As time rolled on church members escaped somewhat from ecclesias- tical power, and some openly disparaged their min- isters in a way that in earlier days would have been whipped, caged or fined. One minister was reproved for lack of dignity; another for having jumped over the fence instead of decorously walk- ing through the gate. Enough has been said to show the custom of the times, the character and rigid discipline of the church leaders, and the change of sentiment as light and knowledge began to spread.
The settling and the ordination of the minister was a great event and a time of much merriment. At such time the ordination ball was held and was always a great success. In Danvers. a young man danced so vigorously and long on the sanded floor that he wore out a new pair of shoes. Those balls were kept up to a comparative recent date; one was given in the town of Wolcott at an ordination in 1811. A plentiful feast or supper
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accompanied the ordination, and at such times, cider, wine, punch and grog were liberally sup- plied. One writer has said, "different times make different manners; the early Puritan ministers did not, as a rule, drink to excess, any more than do our modern clergymen; but it is not strange that though they were of Puritan blood and belief, they should have fallen into the universal custom of the day, and should have gone to their graves full of years, honor, simplicity and rum."
Some of the ministers were sharp at repartee. Two young men met Rev. Mr. Hanes of Vermont, and said with mock sad faces, "have you heard the news? The Devil is dead." Quick came the an- swer, "oh, poor, fatherless children! what will be- come of you?"
In the Colonial days ministers themselves were not quite so careful to guard against the appear- ance of evil as the most of them are at the close of the 19th century. John Fisk in his second volume of "Old Virginia and Her Neighbors" relates in- stances of this kind, viz: One parson was for years the president of a "jockey" club. Another fought a duel within sight of his church. A third, who was evidently a muscular Christian, got into a rough and tumble fight with his vestrymen, and floored them; and then justified himself to his con- gregation the next Sunday in a sermon from a text of Nehemiah, "And I contended with them. and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair."
In 1711, a bequest of 100 pounds was made to the vestry of Christ's Church parish, providing
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the interest was paid to the minister for preaching four sermons each year against the four reigning vices, viz: Atheism and irreligion, swearing and cursing, fornication and adultery, and drunkenness. The sermons were preached by a minister who was notoriously guilty of all the vices mentioned. Earle, in her work on the New England Sabbath. relates some of the incidents of the cheerful parties at the early ordination-times, when "the reverend assembly of elders enjoyed to the full degree of twelve gallons of sack and six gallons of white wine," and had for their motto, "in essentials, un- ity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity."
One reverend gentleman kept an account of his purchases, and on one page of his account book was found 39 entries, 21 of which were for New England rum. From such practices we cannot wonder at the coupling in Byron's sneering lines :
"There's naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms, As rum and true religion."
Rev. Mr. Whiting, in the early days of New England, had an apple orchard from which he inade delicious cider. One day an Indian called at his house and was given a drink of the cider, the Indian on setting down the mug and smacking his lips, said, "ye Adam and Eve were rightlie damned for eating ye appills in ye garden of Eden, they should have made them into cyder." In those days, God-fearing, pious ministers did not hesitate to own and operate distilleries. Rev. Na- than Strong, pastor of the First Church of Hart- ford and author of the hymn "Swell the anthem,
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raise the song," was engaged in the distilling busi- ness, and afterwards received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Princeton College. Enough has been said to show the reader the state of society in early Vermont and Colonial days.
The salaries of the clergymen were not large but varied trom 20 to 70 pounds for a year-this sum enabled them to live comfortably with the plain ways of living in the new country. The min- ister of the Andover Church was voted a salary of 60 pounds, and "when he shall have occasion to marry, 10 pounds more." In those days the sti- pend was paid in corn and labor and the amount for each was established by fixed rates upon the inhabitants, and the wealth of each member was taken into consideration in making the assess- ment. These assessments were called voluntary contributions, but if any citizen refused to con- tribute, he was taxed, and if he refused to pay his church tax, he was punished. One man who dared to write a book against the enforcement of voluntary subscriptions, was fined 10 pounds for his wickedness, and the printer of the book was also punished.
The reader will be puzzled to know how gifts that were forced by dread of fines, pillory and cage, could be regarded as voluntary. In the early town grants in Vermont one lot was set apart for the first settled minister. It was a com- mon thing for the minister's house and the meet- ing-house to be built by contributions from all the citizens of the town or parish; some would give the use of team; some work; some material, such
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as logs, stone, lumber and nails. Some would re- bel against being forced to work, and fines were common against delinquents. The minister was allowed free pasturage for his horse in the burial ground. Sometimes the minister was poorly paid.
In the early days of Vermont and in New Eng- land generally after the War of Independence, the church members gave whatever they had, such as meal, maize, beans, cider, lumber, pork, apples, pumpkins and grain. Pieced patchwork, bed- quilts and other things for the parson's wife and family would be given by the women of the par- ish, and the women of the congregation would meet for a quilting for the benefit of the minister's family. Often a bee would be made to do the har- vesting on the minister's land and other necessary work. As time went on many rebelled against be- ing forced to support the minister and religious services, especially when it was against the dic- tates of their conscience. The law compelling such support was repealed, and the support of the min- ister and the dominant church, and in fact all churches and religious institutions, became a mat- ter of voluntary contribution in fact, as well as in form.
When the only way for the raising of the minis- ter's salary was by voluntary subscription or do- nation, the subscriptions were paid in various ways: in work, vegetables, sugar, potatoes, grain, hay, meat and wood and almost every- thing that the members of the congregation raised, manufactured or dealt in, as well as
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money. The writer well remembers of working with his father's team for the minister to apply upon his father's subscription.
At the time of the early settlements, quite a common article of contribution to the minister was wood; one minister in 1763, received 120 loads from the citizens of his parish; the minis- ter's load was three quarters of a cord and was expected to be good "hard wood." Earle in her book, relates one instance where a parson watched the farmer unload his yearly contribu- tion, and remarked to him, "isn't that pretty soft wood?" When the farmer replied, "and don't we sometimes have pretty soft preaching?"
Some ministers in those days did not hesitate to ask for what they wanted. It is said Rev. Mr. French of Andover, Mass., gave out in November the following notice: "I will write two discourses and deliver them in this meeting-house on Thanks- giving Day, provided I can manage to write them without a fire." Abundance of wood was fur- nished the next day at the parson's door. A par- son in a New England town rode from house to house one winter afternoon, saying in each that he wished he had a slice of their good cheese for his wife expected company. On his way home his sleigh was upset. The town's people who as- sisted him in righting his sleigh found that nine great cheeses had rolled out into the snow from the sleigh.
In low-salaried, rural districts, parsons had to practice the most rigid economy to live within their income, Some had to perform considerable
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manual labor to carry themselves and family through the year. One clergyman in Andover, Ver- mont, worked at shoe-mending all the week with his Bible on the bench before him preparing his ser- mon for the coming Sunday. Rev. John Cotton said that "ministers and milk were the only cheap things in New England," and he deemed various ills, such as attacks by fierce Indians, loss of cat- tle, earthquakes and failure of crops, to be divine judgements for the small ministerial pay. This of course savors of superstition.
The annual donation to the minister was, in some respects a unique affair. This gathering took place in the winter season. The adult peo- ple of the parish would meet at the minister's resi- dence in the afternoon. The women would bring their pies, cakes, doughnuts, bread, butter, cheese and other eatables in abundance not only for the minister and his family, but for an afternoon meal for the company. Quilts, comforters, pillows and other house furnishings, both useful and ornamen- tal, were generously supplied.
The men would bring bags of potatoes, corn, oats and other grains, together with dried apple, dried pumpkin, beans, peas, wood, hay and veg- etables of all kinds and small amounts of money. Sometimes it was agreed between the deacons or parish committee at the commencement of the year that all donations should be applied to- wards the payment of the minister's salary. In such case all the articles donated were delivered to the deacons and their value ascertained, and the appraised value applied on the salary, and the do-
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nated articles then delivered to the minister. In the evening the young people of the parish, both boys and girls, would assemble to make their do- nations and for a social.
In closing the subject that has been under con- sideration in the last two chapters, I will insert an address that was delivered by the writer a few years ago which shows the harmony that existed in the early days of Vermont and that still exists between the Congregational Church government and the town governments in Vermont and throughout New England as well as the civil gov- ernment of the United States, and also showing the influence that the Congregational policy has had in creating and moulding our form of govern- ment. The Congregational church has been the leading church organization in Vermont from the time of its earliest settlements. The address is as follows, viz : -
The questions arise, should there be such har- mony between the two? Is there such harmony? In what does that harmony consist?
Government of some kind is necessary. Man is a being constituted with a great variety of facul- ties, passions and appetites ; and these are capable of almost endless variety of modifications and combinations. To a being thus constituted, to prevent the utmost capriciousness of conduct, and give him a command of choice in his actions, some balance, some constant regulator is necessary. Man, as a moral and accountable being, has cer- tain duties to perform and observe; he finds him- self bound to his duty by a three-fold cord of ac-
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countability-to God, to his own conscience, and to his fellow men.
Governments among men are established for the purpose of creating, regulating and guarding those rights and duties. When any people are capable of forming a constitution of government, on natural principles. and establishing a power of administration within the limits of those princi- ples, they will be able to secure themselves from the danger of exorbitant abuses. Care must al- ways be taken that the ruler shall feel, in a proper degree, his responsibility to the people for his pub- lic conduct, and to provide that he shall adminis- ter, not his own powers, but the powers of gov- ernment intrusted to him as a sacred deposit.
The fundamental principle of the government should be such that they may run through, and be applied to all the departments of that govern- ment. Let the same great principles be applied not only in the nation, but in the state, the county, the town, and in all the associations and organizations, politically, morally and relig- iously. Those governments and associations should be so established and adjusted that the in- dividual may have the largest security in his per- sonal and natural rights which consist in the right of personal liberty, personal security and of private property, and the right of free thought and free action, where it will not infringe upon, and abuse the rights of others.
In monarchial governments those rights are cramped and abridged to a considerable extent. There the word and will of the king is law. No
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matter how much it may interfere with your in- dividual rights, or how severe its mandates, ser- vile obedience is demanded and enforced without modification and without appeal; under such rule free and independent thought and action become the exception and the people become intellectually dwarfs.
This arbitrary and tyrannical principle, if car- ried out in the Church will have its baneful and dwarfing effect-like or worse in effect and charac- ter, than in the state government. This can be readily seen in the history of the Romish Church. Private opinion, while confined to the breast of an individual does not belong to the cognizance of human laws, societies as human tribunals. Such matters are between the individual and his con- science, and is cognizable only by the Great Searcher of the human heart. It has never been claimed by any human tribunal, except that of the Romish Church. The Pope, the head of that Church, who claims to be God's vice-gerent on earth, claims also the right and power to search the human heart. Accordingly, in former times, more than now, the Court of Inquisition, a tribu- nal erected by the authority of the Pope, have as- sumed as a right (which they exercised) an au- thority to compel by torture, any person sus- pected of secretly entertaining any opinion in- serted in their catalogue of heresies, to confess that opinion and recant the same, or suffer in per- son or perish in the flames.
Any civil government or church that do such things, and that do not tolerate private opinion
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and judgement have the inherent seeds of death. The right of private opinion and judgement is a sa- cred one with which state, church or society can- not interfere without a violation of the first princi- ples of the law of nature. Man should have the lib- erty of conscience-which is the liberty a man has of discussing and maintaining his religious opin- ions and of worshiping God in that way and man- ner which he believes in his conscience to be the most acceptable to his Maker without being liable on that account to any degradation, penalties or disqualifications, civil or political.
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