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The Gift of
The Boyledi. Futhor
Francis Parkman
of Boston
blass of 1800,
CURSTNIM
UMUM








/
.ا / بهره ور
به تنت
The Rev. Guther,
Franci's Parkmaru,9.9.
737 مه
.را
. . /857)


SEEKING WISDOM FROM THE PAST.
SERMON I.
DEUTERONOMY 32. 7.
REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD, CONSIDER THE YEARS OF MANY
GENERATIONS. ASK THY FATHER AND HE WILL SHOW THEE : THY
ELDERS AND THEY WILL TELL THEE.
The rapid succession of those periods, by which we
are accustomed to measure human life and the course of
human affairs, suggests very useful instruction, and may
produce the most salutary impressions. It is the part
of a sound philosophy to seek wisdom from the past,
that it may obtain guidance for the future. It belongs
to a filial piety to acknowledge and adore a fatherly
protection through the scenes and changes of our being,
and specially does it become a christian's gratitude, to
hold in reverence the institutions of his religion, which
are to the world a standing monument of his faith;
which preserve for him, in its purity and beauty, that
pearl of great price, the gospel of his hopes; by which
his knowledge is enlarged, and the life of God within
him is nourished.
For the same purpose were the chosen people com-
manded to keep in remembrance the providence and
grace of God. And when the voices of the elders had
ceased, and the lips that might have instructed were
closed in death, they were to consult the annals of their
history, and gather up the lessons there recorded of


10
found with the families and at the firesides of his people.
In truth, he gave more of his time to pastoral intercourse,
than was then customary with his brethren, or which
would be possible~ I am not sure it would be expedient-
to a young clergyman, who had not attained to his
experience, or had not with equal fidelity improved his
years of preparation for the labors of his pulpit. I re-
member it as among those anxieties incident to every
thoughtful young man, entering upon an untried field of
duty, that I was to be successor of one who maintained
so constant and so welcome an intercourse within the
dwellings of his society. If I have followed him, my
christian friends, with unequal steps, I may yet venture
to say, that I have done what I could. If I have fail-
ed in the performance, I have not been wanting in the
purpose : for, being present with you, or absent, I have
remembered the commandment, once given of old
to the tribe of Levi, that the names of the people should
be in their heart, and that they should bear them before
the Lord continually.
Dr. Eliot retained to his death, the manners and cos-
tume of the old school, which, but in a few cherished
exceptions, have now quite disappeared. They were
in unison with the natural politeness of his heart, and
with that sentiment of respect, which it was one of the
salutary influences of his early education to inspire, for
whatever was good and venerable, and which, in turn,
he conciliated for himself. In simplicity and sincerity,
he had his conversation in the world. He has long
since been joined with them who see God, the pure and
the just made perfect. But his image, my elder hear-
ers, is still familiar to your recollections, and his mem-
ory, I know, is embalmed in your hearts.


11
wor.
Thus you perceive, from this brief survey, that
for the space of almost a century, viz. ninety-eight
years, this church was favored with the ministry of four
successive or collegiate, pastors, interrupted only by the
short interval of thirteen months, between the death of
the elder and the ordination of the younger Eliot. And
he having died in February, 1813, and the settlement
of the present pastor having taken place at the close of
the same year, leaves a period to this church of one
hundred and twenty-four years, with less than two years
of vacancy. When now we consider the inconveniencies
to which a religious society is subjected, by a frequent
interruption of the pastoral care, and by the changes,
which of late years, have become common in our
churches, this circumstance may not be deemed unwor-
thy of our grateful notice, in considering the way
through which the Lord our God hath led us.
II. Let us now turn to the period which has since
elapsed, and which, commencing with December 1813,
completes a quarter of a century, since my entrance on
this ministry.
Did the occasion permit-or rather did not a certain
decorum forbid—any mingling of what to the stranger
must seem, the private interests of a single church with
the wider interests of nations, I might remind you, that
the last twenty-five years constitute of themselves a
period of unusual interest in the political as well as
moral world ; in which, beyond most others of equal
duration, signal changes have been witnessed ; events
of no ordinary moment have occurred, affecting the con-
dition and the prospects of mankind. What revolutions
has it witnessed in the governments of the world !


19
by all the ministers of the ancient congregational
churches, and had included the pastors of the two elder
Baptist churches, whose voices have been heard by some
of you, my hearers, in this assembly,* were then con-
fined to brethren of like faith. Thus, while the num-
ber of churches and of pastors was enlarged, the range
of ministerial intercourse was narrowed. Yet, even
after this period, councils for ordinations were occasion-
ally composed of representatives from churches of dif-
fering doctrinal views, though of the same congrega-
tional denomination. Nor was it till after the settlement
of the Rev. Mr. Wisner, as pastor of the Old South
Church, in 1820, that such unions, having a show of
christian harmony but wanting the spirit, utterly ceased.
In truth, it must be admitted, that attractive as may
be the theory of an universal fellowship, there are diffi-
culties and embarrassments in the practice, against
which no human wisdom or charity may effectually
guard. Whatever, therefore, of good might seem to
have been lost to a mere official intercourse, was gained
to decorum and good will, by the avoiding of occasions
of offence, and the effectual exclusion from the same
pulpits, of a discordant theology. On the other hand,
we believe, and we rejoice in the belief, that with ad-
vancing knowledge, and changes, not few or small,
that have gradually been introduced to soften and make
acceptable to the people, the sterner features of a once
repulsive and terrific faith ; and especially from associ-
* Rev. Drs. Stillman and Baldwin ; to the former of whom, Dr. Andrew
Eliot gave the Right Hand of Fellowship, at his installation in 1765, and with
whom both he and his son occasionally exchanged. All the services of this
installation, with the exception of the sermon, were by congregational clergy-
men.


22
than this. But what will it signify if it have not the
beauty of holiness.
But I must come more immediately to our own days.
And here, I am persuaded, you will not count it a de-
parture from the decorum which should usually restrain
the indulgence of personal feeling, if on this occasion,
when adverting to our history for the last twenty-five
years, I should have somewhat to say of myself. The
history of any church is, or should be, identical with that
of its ministers, and a mention of either includes some
mention of both. That ministry must be poor indeed,
and its end, if not fully come, ought to be nigh at hand,
that admits of being separated from the annals of its
church.
I entered, my brethren, into this relation, when as
yet in the freshness of youth, and in sincerity, as I trust,
of purpose, mingled with whatever of infirmity, to de-
vote myself to its service. It becomes me gratefully
to adore that divine goodness, that has preserved me to
this day, and permitted me, amidst the ravages of sick-
ness and death, which at one period threatened to des-
olate the churches,* to stand in my lot, and to fulfil,
according to my measure, its various duties. It be-
comes me the more to acknowledge this care and pa-
tience of my heavenly father, when I consider that of
my brethren of all denominations, who were in the
ministry here in 1813, only four remain ;t that, with the
* From the time of the death of Rev. Dr. Eckley, and of Mr. Emerson, in
1811, to that of Mr. Huntingdon, in 1819, there was an unusual measure of
sickness and mortality among the clergy in Boston. Besides those who were
removed by death, others were detained from their ministry by protracted
sickness.
† Rev. Drs. Channing, Lowell, Sharp, and Rev. Mr. Dean.


25
SO
To
christian fellowship, and, we will hope, spiritual bene-
diction.
• Let me here advert for a moment, to our stated, or
occasional charities. It is the duty of every religious
society, as it is of the private christian, to unite its alms
with prayers. And it may be numbered among the
good influences of our social worship, and of the union
within the same temple of all classes and conditions of
men, the rich and the poor, the prosperous and the sor-
rowful, that the spirit of benevolence so naturally mingles
with the spirit of piety; and that while we are seeking
blessings for ourselves, we are taught not to be unmind-
ful of our suffering brethren. In this church, as might
be inferred from its numbers, and its location, there have
never been wanting worthy objects for our charity;
neither has there been wanting the ability or readiness
to relieve them. Agreeably to the returns furnished
me by the deacons of the church, there have been col-
lected, partly in the offerings of the communion table,
partly at our contributions previous to the annual
Thanksgiving, a sum exceeding six thousand dollars,
which at stated intervals, and with a due regard to the
differing claims and conditions of families or individu-
als, has been distributed to our deserving poor; of whom
are the widow and the fatherless, not a few, also, who
have seen brighter days, but who, waxen poor' with
infirmities and declining age, come to need the bounty
which they were once glad to bestow. I can bear
grateful testimony to the worth and excellence of this
evangelic charity. The altar consecrates the gift. It
blesses him that gives, for it is sanctified by prayer; and
it blesses him that receives, for it is administered with


33
How often have the waters of baptism on the brow
of infancy been mingled with the chill dews of death;
and within a few short weeks the voices of the bride-
groom, and of them that make melody, have been hush-
ed in the silence of the tomb. God grant that time,
which dries up but too quickly the fountains of grief,
may not leave it unsanctified ; that so many tears,
though wiped away, may not have been wept in vain.
God of his mercy save us from perverting his judgments;
and from that sorrow of the world, that worketh death.
And now, my christian brethren and friends, as we
have considered together the Providence of God, let us
enquire what are the instructions it presents. Let us
open our hearts to the lessons of wisdom ; to the
monitions and encouragements which such a survey
affords us.
I. In the first place, let us adore together the faith-
fulness of God, as it has been manifested in the past,
and as it establishes our assurance of hope for the fu-
ture. We have seen one generation passing and another
generation coming; but thou, O God, art the same, and
thy years cannot fail. How sustaining is the thought,
.
Рас,
to the friend he was thus honoring, in a yet earlier grave; and that the minis-
try of Mr. Thacher, also, commenced amidst circumstances so affecting, having
once and again been interrupted by long absence and protracted sickness, was
closed by his death in a foreign land, before he was permitted to complete its
seventh year. It was within this period, that the unusual mortality among
the clergy of Boston and its vicinity, to which reference has been made in
another part of this discourse, took place. Rev. J. L. Abbot, successor to Mr.
Emerson in the First Church, died in 1814, after a ministry of only a few
months; Rev. Mr. Cary, of the King's Chapel, in 1815; Dr. Lathrop, of the
Second Church, in 1816; Mr. Prentiss, of Charlestown, in 1817 ; Mr. Thacher,
in France, in 1818; Professor McKean, of Harvard University, who, by his
frequent occasional services, was intimately connected with the Boston church-
es, died also abroad the same year; and Mr. Huntingdon, of the Old South
Church, in 1819.


APPENDIX.
NOTE A. (p. 5.)
The New North Church was dedicated in May, 1804. An
occasion of this kind, though now of frequent occurrence, was
then an unusual event in Boston and its vicinity. Indeed, the
erection of a new church was numbered among the weighty, if not
hazardous enterprises of the day. With the exception of the
wooden church in Hollis street, afterwards removed to make way
for the present more durable edifice, no new congregational church
had been undertaken since the Brattle street, in 1773. So that at
the consecration of the New North, Dr. Lathrop, then among the
oldest ministers of the town, and familiar, it may well be believed,
with the various duties of his calling, being invited to assist his
friend, Dr. Eliot, in the dedication, remarked to one of his own
parishioners, that it was a service so new to him, that he hardly
knew how to set about it, though,' added he, 'having Solomon's
Prayer for the Temple, we are not left without a model.'
NOTE B. (p. 7.)
Dr. Andrew Eliot has justly been numbered with the most emi-
nent divines of New England. Through the whole of his minis-
try, his congregation was one of the most numerous and respecta-
ble in Massachusetts, to whom, as has been observed, he was most
faithfully and affectionately devoted. At the same time, he took
a deep interest in the literary, philanthropic, and civil concerns of
the times. To Harvard College his services were of great impor-
tance. He was a member of its corporation for nearly fourteen
years, ' and after the death of President Holyoke, in 1769, he was
urged to take his place. The attachment he bore to his people,









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