VENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 CON!) UNIVERSALIS! CHURCH 
 
 Boston 
 
 17-1892 
 

 FIRST UNIVERSALIS! 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL 
 
 LOWELL, MASS., 
 
 LIBRARY REGULATIONS. 
 No 
 
 Section 1. All books shall be kept in 
 good repair. 
 
 Sec. 2. All books shall be charged 
 
 JfQ - COLLEGIUM 
 BOSTON1ENSE 
 
 E.J. BREHAUT 
 
 red 
 nee 
 
 tted 
 
 be 
 ion. 
 eats 
 east 
 
 lUSt 
 
8n Account of tlje Celebration 
 
 SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 Second Society of universalists, Boston. 
 
V/. ■ I /'/> ^5 /^- 
 
 
CHAS. C. SWAN 
 
 k 8t., 
 
 $n Account of t^e Celebration 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ?n 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Second Society of uxiyersalists, Boston, 
 
 December 18, 1892. 
 
 The Proceedings of the Social Parish Banquet, 
 January 26, 1893. 
 
 
 " \ 
 eEttfj Illustrations. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 UNIVERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1893. 
 
 CBA& C. 9WA* 
 
mnitersttg Press : 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 
 
 12)^ 
 
 *5 
 
PRE FACE, 
 
 \ T a meeting of the Standing Committee of the 
 ^"^ Second Universalist Society, holden April, 
 1892, Rev. S. H. Roblin, the pastor, announced that 
 seventy-five years had nearly passed since the church 
 was organized, and that he found in looking over the 
 old records of the church that the anniversary would 
 occur in December. 
 
 After deliberate consideration the Standing Com- 
 mittee decided it would be well to recognize the 
 occasion in a public way, and voted to appoint a 
 special committee to consider the matter and arrange 
 for a proper celebration. 
 
 Messrs. Alden Viles and B. B. Whittemore were 
 appointed a committee, with the pastor, to perfect all 
 necessary arrangements. The plan adopted was as 
 follows : — 
 
 First : An Historical Discourse by Rev. A. A. Miner, 
 D. D., LL.D., to be given in the Church Sunday morning, 
 Dec. 18, 1892. 
 
 Second: A Public Mass Meeting in the Church on Sunday 
 evening, December 18, with the following speakers: — 
 
 Introductory address by Rev. S. H. ROBLIN. 
 
 Hosea Ballou : Rev. O. CONE, D. D. 
 
 Seventy-five Years of Work : Rev. I. M. Atwood, D. D. 
 
 Present Opportunity: Rev. Charles H. Leonard. 
 
 Third: A Social Parish Gathering, to which all present 
 and past members of the Society should be invited. 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 On account of the Christmas season and the many 
 engagements connected therewith, it was decided to 
 postpone the third part of the celebration to Jan- 
 uary 26. 
 
 The programme thus outlined was successfully car- 
 ried out, and the occasions were so interesting and 
 hold such important bearing on our church history 
 and church life that it has seemed best to put them 
 upon record in permanent form and to publish this 
 book for the use of the church. The sermon of 
 Dr. Miner, careful in its historic research, rich in per- 
 sonal reminiscence, sparkling everywhere with a spirit 
 of devotion to the church and its faith, will be gladly 
 welcomed. The scholarly and critical biographical 
 study of Dr. Cone is a rich and valuable addition 
 to our literature ; the thoughtful study of the Church 
 period by Dr. Atwood, so enjoyed in its delivery, 
 will be read anew with pleasure and profit ; and the 
 Christian and apostolic counsel of Dr. Leonard may 
 be read and studied over and over again with profit 
 by every member of the society. 
 
 It seems fitting also that there should be appended 
 a full report of the brilliant and successful social 
 occasion which followed in January. 
 
 Boston, February. 1893. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Historical Discourse. By Rev. A. A. Miner, D.D., LL.D. . 13 
 
 Introductory. By Rev. Stephen Herbert Roblin ... 57 
 Hosea Ballou : An Estimate. By President Orello 
 
 Cone, D. D 61 
 
 Position and Influence of the Church for Seventy- Five 
 
 Years. By President Isaac M. Atwood, D. D. . . 77 
 The Opportunity of the Church To- Day. By Prof. 
 
 Charles H. Leonard, D. D 88 
 
 Social parts*) aattjermg. 
 
 Address by Mr. H. D. Williams 101 
 
 Toasts: announced by Hon. A. A. Folsom 102, 106, 109, 112, 
 
 114, 120, 124 
 
 Address by B. B. Whittemore, Esq 103 
 
 " Hon. H. B. Metcalf 106 
 
 " Rev. Charles R. Tenney 109 
 
 " John D. W. Joy, Esq 112 
 
 " Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner 115 
 
 " Albert A. Gleason, Esq 120 
 
 " Rev. S. H. Roblin 124 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Rev. Hosea Ballou Frontispiece 
 
 Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner 13 
 
 Fac-simile of Plate taken from the Corner Stone of the 
 
 School-Street Church 15 
 
 The Old School- Street Church 53 
 
 Rev. S. H. Roblin 57 
 
 Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin 101 
 
 Church on Columbus Avenue 103 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
-m- 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 By Rev. A. A. MINER, D. D., LL.D. 
 
 The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times as 
 many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you. — 
 Deut. i. ii. 
 
 HTHIS society was incorporated Dec. 13, 18 16, 
 *~ under the style of the " Second Society of Uni- 
 versalists in the Town of Boston," John Brooks being 
 Governor of the Commonwealth. The following gen- 
 tlemen were named in the Act of Incorporation, to 
 wit. : Richard Faxon, John Brazer, Edmund Wright, 
 Benjamin Russell, Thomas Wiley, Daniel C. Robin- 
 son, Martin Hersey, Nathaniel Hammond, Addison 
 Bacon, William Barry, Levi Melcher, Elijah Lorihg, 
 Caleb Wright, Pelatiah Rea, Daniel E. Powars, Joseph 
 Badger, Samuel Hastings, Winslow Wright, Daniel 
 Johnson, John W. Trull, and John Blunt, Jr. 
 
 Of these twenty-one gentlemen, seven were living 
 in 1848, when I became connected with the parish, of 
 whom five were still members of the parish ; namely, 
 William Barry, Caleb Wright, Daniel E. Powars, 
 Joseph Badger, and Winslow Wright. 
 
14 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 On Jan. 17, 1817, Edmund Wright, one of the cor- 
 porators, was authorized by William Wetmore, a 
 justice of the peace for Suffolk County, to call a meet- 
 ing of the corporators and their associates at the 
 Green Dragon Tavern, in Boston, on the evening of 
 Jan. 25, 181 7, to organize the society and choose the 
 necessary officers. The call for the meeting was 
 issued on the same day, and was held accordingly. 
 John Brazer was chosen moderator; Edward Wright, 
 clerk and treasurer ; and John Brazer, Esq., Edmund 
 Wright, Lemuel Packard, Jr., Dr. David Townsend, 
 Esq., Daniel E. Powars, Levi Melcher, and John 
 W. Trull were chosen the Standing Committee. 
 
 It appears from the records that in February, 181 7, 
 forty-three persons, including one woman, Miss 
 Eunice Gridley, had subscribed one hundred and 
 thirty-nine shares, at one hundred dollars each, to- 
 wards a proposed meeting-house. Two gentlemen, 
 John Brazer and Edmund Wright, subscribed fifteen 
 shares each; Lemuel Packard, Jr., subscribed ten; 
 five others, five shares each ; one, four ; eight, three 
 each ; twenty, two each ; and six, one each. 
 
 It was expected that the site of the proposed edifice 
 would be the spot on which the old French church 
 formerly stood in School Street, in the pulpit of which 
 Mr. Murray was stoned in 1774. Such has been the 
 tradition respecting the site. This tradition had the 
 support of Dr. Thomas Whittemore, in his life of 
 Hosea Ballou, and was followed by me in preparing 
 the chapter on Universalism for the " Memorial His- 
 tory of Boston " in 1881. That site was indeed bar- 
 
The Second 
 
 Universal Church 
 
 ■d&tsVfa/^X^l/fiTxJllfl tf the 
 
 tmuje Gob, 
 "Jesus Christ 
 
 "Chief Corner St o^e? 
 
 ik 
 
 Mqyijtf 1817^. 
 
 FAC-SIMILE OF THE PLATE TAKEN FROM THE CORNER- 
 STONE OF THE SCHOOL-STREET CHURCH. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 15 
 
 gained for, but afterward abandoned because of some 
 obstacle to the gaining of a satisfactory title. The 
 site finally determined on was adjacent to the above 
 and next west of it, being the lot on which the busi- 
 ness edifice known as the " School Street Block " 
 now stands, the fee of which this parish still holds. 
 The estimated cost of the church was $22,000. When 
 completed, the hundred and thirty-eight pews, includ- 
 ing twenty in the galleries, were valued at from $75 to 
 $420 each, making an aggregate valuation of $33,930. 
 These pews were taxed from $6.76 to $17.16 per year, 
 making an aggregate income of $1839.26 per year. 
 
 The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid May 
 19, 181 7, in which was deposited a silver plate, the 
 gift of Dr. David Townsend, with the following in- 
 scription : " The Second Universal Church, devoted 
 to the worship of the True God : Jesus Christ being 
 the chief Corner-Stone. May 19, 1817." 
 
 As the completion of the edifice drew near, a day 
 was selected for the dedication. October 15 was 
 first named, but as it chanced that a cattle show at 
 Brighton was appointed for the 15th, the dedication 
 was deferred to the 16th. Rev. Thomas Jones of 
 Gloucester preached the sermon, from John iv. 23. 
 Rev. Messrs. Edward Turner, Hosea Ballou, and Paul 
 Dean had been invited to share the other parts of the 
 programme. But Mr. Ballou was in Vermont, and 
 Mr. Dean, though in the pulpit, took no part, it was 
 said on account of ill health. The remaining ser- 
 vices, therefore, were divided between Rev. Edward 
 Turner, of Charlestown, and Rev. David Pickering. 
 
l6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 The By-Laws adopted by the parish provided that 
 " no minister shall be settled over this society unless 
 three fourths of the proprietors present shall be in 
 favor of such settlement after due notice shall have 
 been given of a meeting for that purpose." Such 
 a by-law is still in force. 
 
 Then came the day for which all other days in this 
 history were made. October 21 was designated for 
 the meeting to select a pastor. 
 
 Members of the society came to this meeting pre- 
 occupied. The name of Hosea Ballou had long been 
 in their minds. At that time he was the most promi- 
 nent advocate of Universalism in New England or in 
 the United States. He had been twenty-six years in 
 the ministry and was forty-six years of age. He had 
 travelled widely, and occupied several of the most im- 
 portant places in our church. He was majestic in 
 person, dignified in bearing, and of a noble presence. 
 Wherever he went, crowds flocked to hear him. A 
 great impulse was given to Universalism wherever he 
 was heard. He was at once the most incisive and the 
 most aggressive warrior in the church militant. The 
 bulwarks of error were shaken whenever his ord- 
 nance was trained upon them. His work on the 
 " Atonement," published in 1805, had opened well- 
 springs of spiritual life that made the desert " blossom 
 as the rose." 
 
 Long before this he had been heard in Boston. 
 In Mr. Murray's pulpit he had given utterance to 
 some of the same views that characterized his work 
 on the Atonement. These views were Unitarian, 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. ij 
 
 and antedated the Unitarian denomination. Rev. 
 John Murray was a Trinitarian. Mrs. Murray caused 
 the audience to be warned, through one Mr. Balch, 
 that Mr. Ballou's sentiments were not in harmony 
 with the usual teachings of that church. Mr. Ballou 
 quietly replied : " The audience will please to take 
 notice of what our brother has said." Many of the 
 audience were much displeased at this interruption, 
 and the parish committee held a meeting the same 
 evening, with many members of the parish, who 
 together called on Mr. Ballou and expressed their 
 displeasure. 
 
 Mr. Ballou was at this time (1798) but twenty-seven 
 years of age. A desire sprang up soon after to make 
 a place for him in Boston. But Mr. Murray of the 
 First Church was aged. Should Mr. Ballou come to 
 Boston, it would grieve that good man's heart and 
 undoubtedly weaken his parish. Mr. Ballou would 
 not for a moment listen to it. 
 
 Now, however, the circumstances had changed. 
 Eighteen to twenty years had passed. Mr. Murray 
 had deceased two years before. His colleague, the 
 Rev. Paul Dean, an eloquent man, was not such a 
 preacher as it was felt the state of theological opin- 
 ion demanded. That he was opposed to Mr. Ballou's 
 coming to Boston, he distinctly informed him. Never- 
 theless, Mr. Ballou did not now feel the same objection 
 to listening to his Boston friends that he felt during 
 the life of Mr. Murray. 
 
 When the parish was assembled on the 21st of 
 October, there was but one thing it could do. It 
 
l8 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 had organized with Mr. Ballou in mind. It had built 
 a church for his occupancy. It was about to realize 
 its long cherished hopes. By a sort of divine neces- 
 sity, it gave Hosea Ballou a unanimous invitation to 
 its pulpit, which was accepted three days later by 
 the following letter : — 
 
 Boston, Oct. 24, 18 17. 
 
 SIR, — The call of the Second Universalist Society in 
 Boston inviting me to the labors of the Christian ministry 
 with them, together with the liberal terms which accompany 
 said invitation, have been duly considered. And after weigh- 
 ing all the circumstances relative to the subject, so far as my 
 limited mind could comprehend them, I have come to the 
 conclusion that it is my duty to accept their call on the con- 
 ditions therein stated. 
 
 I largely participate the " peculiar pleasure " afforded by 
 the consideration of the unanimity of the society, and enter- 
 tain the humble hope that with the continuance of this har- 
 mony we may long continue to enjoy all spiritual blessings 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 The society's most humble servant in Christ, 
 
 Hosea Ballou. 
 To John Brazer, Esq. 
 
 A committee was chosen, November 19, to propose 
 suitable measures to be adopted " to qualify the Rev. 
 Hosea Ballou as pastor of the Society." 
 
 November 22 this committee reported, " That the 
 subject subside for the present." 
 
 A month later, December 21, the society voted, 
 '* That the installation of the Rev. Hosea Ballou take 
 place on Thursday next, at 2 p. m., being Christmas 
 Day." 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 19 
 
 The services of installation took place accordingly : 
 Rev. Paul Dean preaching the sermon, from Acts xx. 
 24, and giving the fellowship of the churches; Rev. 
 Edward Turner, of Charlestown, offering the installing 
 prayer and giving the charge; and Rev. Joshua Flagg, 
 of Salem, offering the concluding prayer. Thus were 
 completed the steps deemed necessary " to qualify " 
 Mr. Ballou for the duties of pastor. 
 
 A brilliant career was now fully inaugurated. The 
 School Street Church became at once the centre of 
 the most important influences. The Divine love, in 
 the hands of Mr. Ballou, was the key to an harmonious 
 interpretation of the Scriptures, and the rending away 
 of those clouds of darkness that had so lone en- 
 shrouded the human mind. The rhetoric of fire and 
 of wrath and of the bottomless pit took its proper 
 place as rhetoric, and Divine love and compassion and 
 sympathy and mercy became sacred realities. Rough 
 men were softened, and innocent women and children 
 could sleep at night. The fall in Adam fell out, the 
 Trinity became a Unity, and the darkness of eternal 
 woe was illumined by the " Sun of Righteousness." 
 
 The church was often thronged. Lecture sermons 
 were numerous, and frequently circulated in print be- 
 fore the audience left the church. Mr. Henry Bowen, 
 a printer and a devoted friend of Mr. Ballou, well re- 
 membered by some of us, rendered this great service. 
 Amazement filled the people as they saw the sim- 
 plicity and harmony of the Divine Word. Charges of 
 heresy from all the strongholds of error were hurled 
 at the preacher, and were repelled with pungency and 
 
20 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 truth. Controversies arose. Pamphlets, newspaper 
 articles, and platform and pulpit discussions abounded 
 on every hand. Most unwonted interest in religious 
 subjects was created, and Mr. Ballou for a time was 
 deemed by the outside world the arch-heretic of the 
 age. Most upright in his walk, extremely abstemious 
 in his habits, and most reverent toward God and his 
 holy Word, he was nevertheless denounced as an im- 
 moral, intemperate, and profane man. All this, how- 
 ever, he both preached down and lived down. Sus- 
 tained by as noble a body of men as Boston ever 
 knew, he " went from strength to strength, every one 
 of them in Zion appearing before God." 
 
 Nor were the labors of Mr. Ballou confined to 
 Boston ; they could not be. He was in continual 
 requisition at conventions, associations, ordinations, 
 installations, and a multitude of more private but not 
 less influential occasions. Of a dignified and manly 
 presence, clear in his enunciation, cogent in his rea- 
 sonings, apt in his illustrations, and transparent in his 
 meaning, even to the comprehension of a child, he 
 was emphatically the man for the people. Few men 
 have ever lived who could lift the human heart into 
 closer communion with God, or inspire it with a 
 deeper sense of Divine love. 
 
 Desire for the services of such a man could not be 
 confined to Boston. Few, however, were the parishes 
 that could hope to win him from his existing relations. 
 In respect to one of these — an invitation to the Sec- 
 ond Universalist Society of Philadelphia in 1822, at a 
 material increase of salary — he consulted his parish. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 2 I 
 
 A movement was at once made which determined him 
 against a change. For many a year his position as 
 Christian teacher, counsellor, and friend was one of 
 growing confidence and influence. 
 
 In his numerous journeyings, as might be expected, 
 many incidents occurred both instructive and amus- 
 ing. On his way of a Saturday evening to a town in 
 Essex County, while waiting for a private conveyance 
 from the railway station, he stepped into a cottage, 
 where he found a good woman washing her floor. 
 She cordially welcomed him, and entered at once 
 into conversation. On learning that her guest was 
 Mr. Ballou, the Universalist preacher, she expressed 
 surprise, and inquired if he " really believed that all 
 men will be saved." 
 
 " Yes, I hope so." 
 
 " What," said she, " is it possible that sinners can 
 be saved just as they are ? " 
 
 " My good woman," said he; " are you going to wash 
 up your floor just as it is ? " 
 
 " Ah," said she, " I see ! I never thought that sav- 
 ing sinners was just making them morally clean." 
 
 On one occasion, being introduced to a venerable 
 lady, she asked : " Are you Mr. Ballou, the Univer- 
 salist preacher?" On being answered affirmatively, 
 she further inquired : " Do you preach the gospel of 
 the New Testament ? " 
 
 He replied : " I try to preach it." 
 
 " But," said she, " do you preach as the Saviour 
 preached ? " 
 
 " I try to." 
 
22 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 " Do you preach, ' Woe unto you, Scribes, Phari- 
 sees, hypocrites ' ? " 
 
 "Ah, no," said he, "those people do not attend my 
 meeting!" 
 
 He was equally apt in his responses to pious igno- 
 rance. An aged lady admonished him that the good 
 book says: " In Adam's fall we sinned all." To which 
 he replied : "And the same good book says : ' The 
 cat doth play and often slay.' " 
 
 Dr. Whittemore, in his " Life of Ballou," narrates a 
 stage-coach experience of Mr. Ballou, which carries its 
 own moral. He had spent some days in Nantucket. 
 Returning, at New Bedford he found himself seated 
 beside a stranger, who asked : " Are you from Nan- 
 tucket, sir ? " 
 
 " I am," replied Mr. Ballou. 
 
 " Is there any news at the island ? " 
 
 " I heard none," said Mr. Ballou. 
 
 " Ah, well, they say old Ballou was down there 
 preaching ! Did you hear anything about him ? " 
 
 " He has been preaching there, sir." 
 
 " Large congregations, I suppose ? Did you hear 
 him, sir? " 
 
 " I did, — several times." 
 
 " Well, I don't like him. He don't believe in future 
 punishment; he holds that all men will go to heaven 
 when they die, just as they leave this world. I don't 
 like him. There 's Mr. Dean ; I think he 's a very 
 fine man, — a gentleman. I should like to hear him 
 preach." * 
 
 1 Messrs. Ballou and Dean had been some time in controversy, and 
 had their respective partisans. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 23 
 
 " Did you ever hear Mr. Ballou preach ? " said Mr. 
 Ballou, very calmly. 
 
 " No, — no, sir, I never heard him preach, — I have 
 no desire to hear him ; but I should be gratified to 
 hear Mr. Dean." 
 
 11 Did you ever hear Mr. Dean, sir? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, — several times. He is a fine man, — a 
 gentleman ; but Ballou I do not like at all. He 
 preaches a horrid doctrine ! " 
 
 " And what does he preach, sir, that is horrid ? " 
 
 " Oh, he holds that all men will go to heaven at 
 once when they die ! " 
 
 " Well, sir, suppose that they do ; is that horrid ? 
 Is it not very desirable that all men shall become holy 
 and happy ? " 
 
 " Ah, sir, but he holds that men will go to heaven 
 in their sins ! " 
 
 " But, sir, you have confessed that you never heard 
 him preach ; how do you know that he preaches in 
 that manner ? " 
 
 " Oh, I have heard so a thousand times ! " 
 
 " But you may have been misinformed, my friend. 
 I am quite confident Mr. Ballou holds no such doc- 
 trine. If you were to put the question to him, I think 
 he himself would say he held no such doctrine." 
 
 " I am surprised ! Well, what does he hold to, 
 then ? " 
 
 11 I think if he were here, he would say he did not 
 believe what you have attributed to him, — that men 
 are to go to heaven in their sins. He probably would 
 say he held that men are to be saved from their sins/' 
 
24 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 " Well, you seem to know. Will you let me ask 
 where you live ? " 
 
 " I live in Boston, sir." 
 
 " Do you attend a Universalist church ? " 
 
 " I do, sir." 
 
 " What church do you attend, sir ? " 
 
 " I attend Mr. Ballou's, sir." 
 
 " Are you intimately acquainted with Mr. Ballou, 
 sir ? " 
 
 " My name is Hosea Ballou, my friend." 
 
 The stranger's confusion may be better imagined 
 than described. 
 
 Near twenty-five years of faithful and laborious ser- 
 vice were accomplished, and the snows of seventy win- 
 ters had fallen upon the head of this venerable servant 
 of God. What could be done for his relief? He was 
 ready to co-operate in any measure that would pro- 
 mote the welfare of the society. But who could fill 
 such a position ? Is it strange that opinions were 
 divided in respect to a colleague? "In 1841 com- 
 menced those unfortunate difficulties in regard to a 
 colleague, which continued with little interruption 
 until the fall of 1845, when the proprietors were 
 called together to act upon a proposition to sell the 
 meeting-house, and wind up the affairs of the society. 
 It is understood that this movement originated with 
 one or two men who, having become owners of a con- 
 siderable number of pews, had a stronger regard for 
 the profits of such a sale than for the spiritual inter- 
 ests of the society. This proposition, however, was 
 rejected by a decisive vote of more than two to one 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 25 
 
 out of one hundred votes cast." During this period 
 the pulpit was supplied one half of the time by Mr. 
 Ballou, and the other half by Rev. T. C. Adam as a 
 candidate from May, 1842, to January, 1843; by R ev - 
 H. B. Soule as a candidate from May, 1844, to May, 
 1845 ; and the remainder of the time by the Standing 
 Committee. 
 
 The history of the society for the next three years 
 is well presented by the Hon. Newton Talbot, from 
 whom a portion of the preceding paragraph is quoted, 
 in an article published in 1851 in a little work entitled 
 " Our Gift," written exclusively by the teachers of the 
 Sunday-school of that period. We make the following 
 extracts : — 
 
 " That portion of the Society who voted against the propo- 
 sition to sell had, early that year, taken counsel together 
 in regard to the future prosperity of the Society. Father 
 Ballou [who had already voluntarily relinquished the greater 
 part of his salary] expressed a willingness to be relieved 
 from all active duties as pastor of the Society, other than 
 those he might choose to perform as senior pastor; and 
 also to relinquish his salary if the Society felt that with 
 their whole means they would be able to secure the ser- 
 vices of one who would again unite them together. Accord- 
 ingly, Sept. 28, 1845, tne proprietors were called together, 
 and his proposition was accepted. They also unanimously 
 invited the Rev. E. H. Chapin to become junior pastor at 
 a yearly salary of two thousand dollars, and on the 8th of 
 November the following acceptance of their call was re- 
 ceived by the committee, through whom the invitation was 
 tendered : — 
 
26 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Charlestown, Nov. 8, 1845. 
 Brethren, — The invitation to become associate pastor of your 
 Society, which you have extended to me, is hereby accepted. Pre- 
 liminaries relative to the time when I can assume my connection 
 with you must be the subject of future communications. And that 
 God may bless this decision to your good, to mine, and to His 
 glory, is the prayer of 
 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 E. H. Chapin. 
 To the Committee. 
 
 Brother Chapin was installed Jan. 28, 1846. The 
 sermon was delivered by Father Ballou, from 1 Peter 
 iv. 10, 11. Rev. Messrs. Cook, Hichborn, Streeter, 
 H. Ballou, 2d, Skinner, Fay, and Cleverly, took parts 
 in the services. 
 
 "At the annual meeting in May, 1846, a committee was 
 appointed to express to Rev. Hosea Ballou the feelings of 
 high regard unanimously cherished towards him by the 
 society, in consideration of his long and valuable services 
 as their pastor ; and to assure him that their prayers for his 
 welfare were still with him in his relations as senior pastor of 
 the society. To this the following reply was received by the 
 committee : — 
 
 Boston, May 25, 1846. 
 Messrs. Benajah Brigham, Joseph Lincoln, and Bela Beal: 
 
 Brethren, — After having enjoyed so many years of pastoral 
 connection with the Second Universalist Society in this city, and 
 having served the same for so long a time with constant solicitude 
 for their spiritual prosperity and with a consciousness of my imper- 
 fections, I find that words are insufficient to express the satisfaction 
 I feel on the reception of the unanimous vote of the society expres- 
 sive of their approbation of my services as pastor, and their prayers 
 for my happiness in my present position as senior. You will, 
 brethren, accept my thanks for the acceptable manner in which 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 27 
 
 you have communicated the vote of the society to me, and assure 
 the society of my fervent prayer for their spiritual prosperity under 
 their junior pastor. 
 
 In the bonds of the Gospel, 
 
 Hosea Ballou. 
 
 " At the annual meeting in 1847, the Standing Committee 
 were directed to invite Father Ballou to sit for his portrait, 
 and that the same when finished be placed in Murray Hall. 
 This work was successfully executed, and Father Ballou 
 expressed himself highly complimented by the action of the 
 society in regard to it. [This portrait now hangs in the 
 lecture-room of this church.] 
 
 " Early in 1848 the society were called together to act 
 upon the following letter from Brother Chapin : — 
 
 Boston, Feb. 5, 1848. 
 
 Brethren, — After, as I trust, deliberate and proper considera- 
 tion, I have concluded to take up my connection with your society 
 and accept of the invitation from New York. I might extend this 
 letter to great length and yet not express the feelings with which I 
 do this act. I can only say that I do so with the utmost kindness 
 and with deep gratitude, and shall always cherish, with unalloyed 
 satisfaction, the harmonious season we have passed together. I 
 invoke God's blessing upon the society you represent, and to you 
 personally tender the warmest sentiments of regard. 
 Fraternally yours, 
 
 E. H. Chapin. 
 
 To the Standing Committee. 
 
 "At the same meeting, Feb. 20, 1848, Rev. A. A. Miner 
 was invited to become the junior pastor of the society at the 
 same salary which had been paid Brother Chapin, and on the 
 15th of March the committee received the following letter, 
 accepting the invitation : — 
 
 Lowell, March 15, 1848. 
 
 Brethren, — The invitation which I received at your hands, to 
 become the associate pastor of the Second Society of Universalists 
 
28 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 in Boston, has been considered and is hereby accepted. Although 
 this decision seemed compatible with my duty, it has not been ar- 
 rived at without a severe trial, both on account of the existing ties 
 it will sever, and of my conscious unfitness for so responsible a sta- 
 tion. Trusting, however, in Him who is always able to help us, I 
 remain 
 
 Yours in the Gospel, 
 
 A. A. Miner. 
 To the Committee. 
 
 " On the last Sunday in April Brother Chapin preached 
 his farewell sermon from the text, ' And now, brethren, I 
 commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is 
 able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among 
 them which are sanctified.' (Acts xx. 32.) 
 
 "Brother Miner was installed May 31. Sermon by Mr. 
 Chapin, from John x. 10. The other services were per- 
 formed by Rev. Messrs. Dennis, Mott, Ballou, H. Ballou, 
 2d, Fay, Streeter, and Cook. 
 
 " Under the ministry of Brother Chapin, the Society was 
 united and prosperous; and under the present ministry of 
 Brother Miner that union and prosperity are unabated. 
 May the favor of God grant them a long continuance." 
 
 Thus far Mr. Talbot, writing three years after the 
 latter relationship was established. 
 
 Several events along this line of thirty-one years 
 should be noted. At the building of the original 
 church in School Street, Mr. John Brazer donated a 
 clock ; Mr. Lemuel Packard generously donated a 
 chandelier. In 1836 the society built the vestry in 
 the attic story of the church, long known as Murray 
 Hall; and in 1837 the interior of the church was 
 altered by a new pulpit, new ceiling, the introduction 
 of gas, painting anew, etc., at an expense of about 
 five thousand dollars. In 1840 an organ was placed in 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 2 9 
 
 the church, which later gave place to a larger one — Mr. 
 Charles Henderson, Jr., being organist from 1846 to 
 1872, when the church was demolished. At an earlier 
 period, 1833, and later, the celebrated Miss Charlotte 
 Cushman was the leading soprano. Afterward Mrs. J. 
 H. Long and Mrs. Minnie Little successively were the 
 sopranos, in connection with Mr. S. B. Ball as tenor. 
 The music during these years gave great satisfaction. 
 Mrs. Little and Mr. Ball served eighteen years. 
 
 In 185 1 the junior pastor [Mr. Miner] was waited 
 upon by a committee from Philadelphia, of which the 
 late Charles H. Rogers, Esq., was chairman, with 
 reference to removal to that city. On consultation 
 with the committee of his own society, he declined 
 their overtures. The society determined to enter 
 at once upon an extensive recast of its church, — 
 raising it up, moving it back, rearing a new front, 
 making new windows, building a Sunday-school and 
 lecture room below the church, etc., etc., all at an 
 expense of nearly nineteen thousand dollars. There- 
 upon the pastor was given leave of absence for five 
 months, which he spent in foreign travel. 
 
 Meanwhile the venerable senior pastor occasionally 
 ministered to the congregation, and was always heard 
 with interest and profit. When not thus employed 
 he commonly ministered to parishes more or less 
 distant, which always heard him with delight. His 
 last pulpit service was in the Universalist Church of 
 Woonsocket, R. I., of which the Rev. John Boyden, 
 once a theological student with Mr. Ballou, was at 
 that time pastor. 
 
3<D SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Whenever his leisure permitted, he was always in 
 the pulpit with his junior. His presence was ever 
 inspiring, and his comments most appreciative and 
 helpful. On one occasion, at close of services, he re- 
 marked, " The devil will never thank you for that 
 sermon." His comments were often couched in sim- 
 ilar quaintness of expression. The private inter- 
 change of calls and other courtesies between the two 
 pastors were always of the most cordial character. 
 Had they sustained to each other the relation of 
 father and son, their intercourse could not have 
 been more genial. 
 
 Preparing one morning for attendance upon a con- 
 vention at Plymouth, Mr. Ballou was seized with 
 faintness, and died on the following Monday, the 
 7th of June, 1852. The junior pastor, in company 
 with Rev. Thomas Whittemore and Rev. Hosea 
 Ballou, 2d, called upon the venerable man but an hour 
 or two before his death. His end was peace. 
 
 Thus concludes what may be called the ancient 
 history of this church. 
 
 Initial steps in the founding of a college were taken 
 in 1847. The result at length was the establishment 
 of Tufts on yonder beautiful hill. Its first president, 
 Rev. Dr. Ballou, known as Hosea Ballou, 2d, or 
 more familiarly as " Cousin," a grand-nephew of 
 Hosea Ballou, your pastor, deceased May 27, 1861, 
 — a great loss to the college and to our general 
 church. 
 
 From various untoward circumstances the condi- 
 tion of the college w r as unsatisfactory. Some students 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 31 
 
 had enlisted in the war. The number in attendance 
 did not exceed forty. 
 
 Moreover, its financial condition was well-nigh des- 
 perate. Aside from the meagre receipts from tuition, 
 the only income was a thousand dollars interest on 
 a bond of Mr. Silvanus Packard, a member of this 
 parish. The college was eighteen thousand dollars in 
 debt, and was increasing its indebtedness at the rate 
 of about five thousand dollars a year. 
 
 At an informal meeting of the parish, held June 1, 
 1862, the late Dr. T. K. Taylor being moderator, and 
 the Hon. Newton Talbot clerk, Thomas A. Goddard 
 offered the following preamble and vote, which were 
 adopted : — 
 
 " Whereas, it is understood that the Trustees of Tufts Col- 
 lege are desirous that our pastor, Rev. A. A. Miner, should 
 become the President of this Institution, devoting a portion 
 of his time to it, without salary, and without interrupting his 
 connection with this society, — 
 
 " Voted, That in view of the present condition of our coun- 
 try and the financial condition of the college, we hereby give 
 our cordial assent to this arrangement." 
 
 Thus the parish supported its pastor for three and 
 a half years, and allowed him to give the greater 
 part of his time gratuitously to the college. This 
 arrangement lasted, save as respects the salary, more 
 than a dozen years, — the pastor generally preach- 
 ing, during the early part of this period, one sermon 
 to the society and one to the college every Sunday, 
 giving instruction in the college on four days of the 
 week, and attending to parish work in spare hours. 
 
32 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 During the last five of these years he had material 
 assistance. 
 
 Of course, I soon set about raising money, and 
 my first urgent appeal was to my own parish, se- 
 curing a noble response. That appeal was made 
 Oct. 4, 1863, and the contribution amounted to 
 $15,510.56, of which Thomas A. Goddard gave ten 
 thousand. 
 
 This example made possible the raising of consider- 
 able sums elsewhere. The State appropriated fifty 
 thousand dollars; William J. Walker, M. D., who had 
 never been known as a sympathizer with our body, 
 called me to visit him at Newport, R. I., giving me 
 ten thousand dollars at one time, twenty thousand 
 dollars at another, and finally bequeathing to the col- 
 lege a large fraction of his great estate. Oliver Dean, 
 M. D., and Silvanus Packard, Esq., both members of 
 this parish, also left legacies to the college, — the 
 latter, of several hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Of course, this double duty was found very onerous. 
 March 14, 1864, the parish, after a conference with 
 the pastor, by a unanimous vote, assured him that 
 their " love and affection continued unabated," and 
 that they " desired him to remain as pastor of the 
 Society." To this end, it was proposed that he be 
 expected to preach but once each Sunday, the college 
 meeting the supply for the other service, to which the 
 college " cordially agreed." This arrangement was 
 adopted. 
 
 After two more years had elapsed, I sent to the 
 parish the following letter : — 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 33 
 
 Boston, March 16, 1866. 
 To the Second Society of Universalists : 
 
 Dear Brethren, — Of the eighteen years during which 
 I have had the happiness to be connected with you in the 
 pastoral relation, nearly four have, with your consent, been 
 devoted largely to other interests than those of the parish. 
 The sacrifices of the society during those years have been 
 great, but I hope not without profit to our infant college. 
 
 Understanding that the Trustees of the college are unwill- 
 ing that I shall abandon its charge, and that the parish deem 
 it inexpedient that I should wholly dissolve my existing rela- 
 tions with it, I shall cordially welcome an associate, should it 
 be your pleasure to elect one, and commit to him the direction 
 of parochial affairs. 
 
 That the whole matter may be in your hands, I hereby sub- 
 mit to you all questions of salary, as regards both amount 
 and date of change, for such readjustment as you shall deem 
 proper. 
 
 Trusting that the prosperity of the years which have 
 passed into history will prove but a prophecy of that yet 
 in store for you, 
 
 I remain, with grateful affection, 
 
 Your pastor, 
 
 A. A. Miner. 
 
 The suggestions of this letter were promptly and 
 favorably acted upon. Messrs. T. K. Taylor, James 
 O. Curtis, James M. Jacobs, J. R. Elliott, and S. P. 
 Ridler were made a committee to whom this letter 
 was referred, and who were instructed " to present the 
 name of a suitable candidate for the office of associate 
 pastor, and also to take into consideration the amount 
 of salary to be paid to him." 
 
 3 
 
34 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 On June 7, 1866, this committee reported the name 
 of Rev. Rowland Connor, of Concord, N. H., and rec- 
 ommended that his salary be twenty-five hundred dol- 
 lars, and that the senior's be one thousand dollars, — 
 the college, at this time having become self-sustaining, 
 paying him three thousand. Mr. Connor was elected, 
 and the several recommendations of the committee 
 were adopted. Mr. Connor accepted the invitation 
 Oct. 24, 1866, but did not enter upon his duties till 
 January, 1867. On January 2 he was duly installed, 
 — Rev. A. A. Miner preaching the sermon, from 
 John vi. 63, and the other parts being borne by 
 Rev. Messrs. C. J. White, C. A. Skinner, E. H. Chapin, 
 A. J. Patterson, T. B. Thayer, D. C. Delong, and 
 O. F. Safford. 
 
 It soon became apparent that the relations of the 
 junior pastor were not likely to prove amicable 
 relations. 
 
 At a legal meeting of the society, June 27, 1867, 
 the Standing Committee presented the following : 
 
 " The Standing Committee of this society have called this 
 meeting that they might present to the proprietors a few 
 important facts bearing upon the interests of the society. 
 
 " The utterances of this pulpit on most vital Christian 
 doctrines for a period of fifty years have been substantially 
 uniform. They have affirmed, among other things, the au- 
 thenticity of the Holy Scriptures, the divinely inspired 
 authority of Christ as a teacher, and the spotlessness of his 
 example. Upon the foundation thus laid has the parish 
 based its labors as a Christian parish; guided by these prin- 
 ciples, it has sought to make Christ its leader, and to emulate 
 his virtues. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 35 
 
 " The long season of rare prosperity which it has enjoyed 
 sufficiently attests the vitality and life-giving power of such 
 ministrations. 
 
 " It is well known that views the opposite of these have 
 been long received by some in this community. In the set- 
 tlement of a junior pastor, therefore, we were anxious not to 
 change the general character of our labors as a parish, and 
 especially not to introduce rationalistic teaching into our pul- 
 pit. We wrote Rev. Dr. Fisher on this subject, and some 
 of our members conversed freely with the candidate, with a 
 view to ascertain his position in these respects, and the evi- 
 dence appeared to be satisfactory. 
 
 " Our junior pastor had not been long with us, however, 
 before it began to be rumored that he had already shaken 
 the confidence of some of his ministering brethren regarding 
 his soundness, which rumor was not a little strengthened by 
 his placing in the pulpit a man well known to hold extreme 
 views in the denial of all distinctively Christian doctrines. 
 When asked if he sympathized with those doctrines, he an- 
 swered, ' sufficiently to make them no bar to fellowship.' 
 
 " At a later date our junior pastor joined hands with other 
 representatives of the foregoing errors in calling a meeting 
 at Horticultural Hall for anniversary week, 'to consider the 
 conditions, wants, and prospects of free religion in America.' 
 
 11 That meeting was characterized by a rejection of the 
 Bible as authority and Christ as a leader. Though Brother 
 Connor spoke at that meeting, it does not appear that he 
 repudiated the unchristian sentiments there uttered ; but he 
 did accept an official position in the association formed for 
 their furtherance. 
 
 " As such a course was pointedly opposed to the work for 
 which we had called him, your committee felt it a duty most 
 affectionately to remonstrate with him, sincerely hoping that 
 he would perceive the incongruities of his course, and 
 hereafter work directly to Christian ends; but their efforts 
 
36 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 were in vain. They adjourned the meeting, and asked 
 him to think of the matter further; but the result was the 
 same. 
 
 " After repeated interviews with him by the committee, 
 and by the senior pastor at the committee's request, in which 
 the impropriety of his course was kindly but vainly urged, 
 he still further showed his disregard of counsel by agreeing 
 to speak again on religious radicalism at Minot Hall a week 
 or two since. 
 
 11 Thus our kindest and most fraternal efforts have been 
 unavailing, and there remained but two alternatives, either 
 to surrender our work pursued for fifty years, or surrender 
 him on whom we had in part leaned for the continuance of 
 that work. Between the two we could not hesitate. 
 
 " Your committee, therefore, unconditionally recommend 
 the adoption of the following vote : That the Rev. Rowland 
 Connor be kindly requested to resign his position as our 
 junior pastor." 
 
 This vote was adopted. The resignation, however, 
 was not presented, and the committee was directed to 
 supply the pulpit while the question of resignation 
 remained unsettled. 
 
 On the 27th of July, still protesting against the 
 action of the society, Mr. Connor tendered his resig- 
 nation, to take effect Jan. 1, 1868. These conditions 
 being unsatisfactory, at a meeting of the proprietors, 
 July 30, he was dismissed. For less than half a years 
 service he was paid more than four fifths of a year's 
 salary. Some excellent members of the parish were 
 temporarily misled and aggrieved, but soon discover- 
 ing their mistake, in a most manly and Christian 
 manner they returned to their former relations, where 
 they were gladly welcomed. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 37 
 
 What might have become a great disaster was 
 averted by the pastor entering upon a discussion of 
 the vital elements of Christianity in a somewhat pro- 
 tracted series of discourses. 
 
 But there is an element of good in things evil. 
 The press of the city, which had had little occasion 
 for gratitude to the senior pastor for any high com- 
 mendation of its work, took occasion to denounce him, 
 as well as his parish, for what it was pleased to call 
 their " bigotry and narrowness." The whole public 
 was thus made aware that the Universalist Church 
 not only adhered indissolubly to temperance, on the 
 one hand, but also to Christ and the Bible on the 
 other. From that day on the classifying of Univer- 
 salists with infidels, atheists, deists, sceptics, and 
 drunkards entirely ceased. The work of a liquor 
 press accomplished in a month what our whole church 
 could not have done in twenty years. 
 
 Having for nearly a year borne the chief burden of 
 parochial duties, greatly enhanced by the afflictions 
 we had endured, I was much pleased that another 
 movement for an associate was about to be made, — 
 a movement of far greater promise than the experi- 
 ence recently concluded. 
 
 On March 31, 1868, the Rev. Henry Irving Cush- 
 man was invited to the office of associate pastor at a 
 salary of three thousand dollars. 
 
 At the same meeting it was "Voted, That it is the 
 earnest desire of this society that the relation of Dr. 
 Miner to it, as senior pastor, may be a permanent 
 one." 
 
J 
 
 8 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Accompanying the formal vote, the Standing 
 Committee addressed to the Rev. H. I. Cushman 
 the following letter, suggested no doubt by their then 
 recent experience : — 
 
 Rev. Henry I. Cushman: 
 
 Dear Sir, — We have the pleasure to communicate to 
 you the following vote passed unanimously at a meeting 
 of the Second Society of Universalists in this city held 
 March 31 : — 
 
 " Voted, That we invite the Rev. Henry I. Cushman to 
 become associate pastor of the society at an annual salary 
 of three thousand dollars." 
 
 In extending to you this unanimous invitation to become 
 the associate of Rev. Dr. Miner, it is not improper that we 
 should tell you frankly that we do it in the belief that you 
 are a distinctive Universalist, — a denominational Universal- 
 ist ; and that while you will devote all your energies to the 
 spiritual good of your parishioners and the upbuilding of our 
 parish, you will at the same time neglect nothing which will 
 tend to the good of the whole denomination. 
 
 It is needless, perhaps, for us to say that we look upon 
 our beloved pastor, Dr. Miner, with sentiments of love and 
 respect which twenty years of devotion to his society and to 
 the interests of our denomination, as well as to the highest 
 good of humanity, could alone engender; and while we shall 
 greet you warmly as his associate, we trust we shall long 
 look up to him with grateful love as our senior pastor. 
 
 We may also frankly tell you that, believing fully in the 
 independence of the pulpit, we still think it the duty of the 
 pastor to consult at all times the true interests of the parish; 
 to this end we recommend a frequent and candid commu- 
 nication between pastor and the Standing Committee. By 
 this means our sainted Father Ballou and our £ood jjn Miner 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 39 
 
 have always maintained the most amicable understanding with 
 the society. 
 
 We are aware that in inviting you into this portion of the 
 Master's field we may be placing a heavy burden on your 
 shoulders, for all the parochial duty of visiting, and most of 
 the other parochial duties, will fall upon you ; still, we have 
 that confidence in your ability, your good judgment, and 
 your Christian character, that, with the blessing of God, 
 which we fervently invoke, you will succeed in making 
 yourself beloved of this people, and respected by all good 
 men. 
 
 Finally, while we propose to you to assume these respon- 
 sible duties, we hope not on our part to be wanting in our 
 own share of them ; we believe we can promise you all co- 
 operation and assistance it is in our power to give you, both 
 as a society and individually. 
 
 Trusting that we may receive a favorable response to this 
 invitation, we have the honor to be, on behalf of the society, 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 James M. Jacobs, 
 Thomas A. Goddard, 
 William Robinson, 
 Stephen Stoddard, 
 Henry T. Spear, 
 David Chamberlain, 
 James D. Perkins, 
 
 Standing Committee. 
 
 REV. MR. CUSHMAN'S REPLY. 
 
 Dear Brethren, — Your communication announcing the 
 vote passed at a meeting of your society held in the vestry 
 of School Street Church on the evening of March 31, 1868, 
 inviting me to the position of associate pastor, is received. 
 
40 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 In reply I can but express, in the first place, my hearty 
 appreciation of the high compliment which I feel such a vote 
 conveys to me. 
 
 It is not without a deep feeling of the great responsibility 
 which the position involves, nor is it without much thought 
 and prayer, that I accept your invitation upon the terms 
 mentioned in the vote. 
 
 I read with much satisfaction your expression of love and 
 respect for your tried and faithful pastor, Dr. Miner; and 
 in all these expressions, be assured, I find but my own 
 sentiments. 
 
 In your communication you say that you extend the invi- 
 tation in the belief that I am a distinctive, a denominational, 
 Universalist. If I understand your meaning, I have only to 
 say in reply to this, that I regard our beloved faith as the 
 most complete expression of Christianity ; and that I believe 
 our people as a denomination of Christians have a mission 
 in history. In this view I shall endeavor to do all in my 
 power, with Divine assistance, to advance the interests not 
 only of a particular parish, but of the denomination at large, 
 believing that thus I should be best advancing the cause of 
 Christ in the world. 
 
 I desire to thank you for your kind promise of co-opera- 
 tion in all matters pertaining to the parish, and I trust by 
 faithfulness to merit such co-operation. 
 
 In conclusion, now, it is not improper for me to refer to 
 one or two matters of detail, namely : I should be willing to 
 leave the supply of the pulpit to be arranged between the 
 pastors; I take the liberty to ask the month of August in 
 each year for needed rest from labor. 
 
 If, with these considerations, you shall desire to welcome 
 me as the associate pastor over your Society, I should feel 
 to enter into the relation the first of June of this year; and 
 I should do so with full confidence in my senior associate 
 and in the society. With a deep sense of my own responsi- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 41 
 
 bility, and with prayer that " grace, mercy, and peace from 
 God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ may be and 
 abide with us forever," 
 
 With much respect I am your brother in Christ, 
 
 Henry Irving Cushman. 
 
 East Cambridge, Mass., April 6, 1868. 
 
 Under date of April 2, 1868, the Standing Com- 
 mittee addressed a letter touching the foregoing 
 action, and presenting the votes of the proprietors 
 on March 31, 1868, to Dr. Miner, of which the fol- 
 lowing is a copy : — 
 
 Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D. : 
 
 Beloved Pastor, — At a meeting of the members of the 
 Second Society of Universalists held on the 31st ultimo, it 
 was unanimously voted to invite Rev. Henry I. Cushman to 
 become your associate in the pastorate of the School Street 
 Church. 
 
 At the same meeting (as you have already been verbally 
 informed) a vote was passed, also unanimously, expressive 
 of the desire of the society that your connection with it as 
 senior pastor should be a permanent one. That vote is in 
 these words : — 
 
 " Voted, That it is the earnest desire of this society that 
 the relation of Dr. Miner to it as senior pastor may prove 
 a permanent one ; and that the Standing Committee consult 
 with him and report at the adjourned meeting the amount of 
 salary to be paid him." 
 
 As remarked above, these words express the desire of the 
 society ; but they fall far short of expressing the feeling of 
 affection and esteem, as well as of high respect, towards you, 
 which found utterance at that meeting, and which were but 
 an echo of the general voice of your parishioners. 
 
42 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 This society has always been ready to do its share 
 towards any object where the good of the Univcrsalist de- 
 nomination was concerned. In a great measure you have 
 educated them up to this high standard; your words and 
 your deeds have alike inspired them. Thus, when it became 
 apparent that, all circumstances considered, it was best that 
 you should take the presidency of Tufts College, much as 
 they wanted you all the time at School Street, yet the gen- 
 eral good of our cause was felt to be paramount to their own 
 desires, and they assented to your becoming the head of the 
 college. 
 
 Be assured, dear sir, that nothing would have prevailed 
 upon them to consent to this but the belief that the general 
 good of the Universalist cause demanded your services at 
 the college. 
 
 Be assured, also, that the respect, esteem, and affection 
 which they bear you now will continue to be uppermost in 
 their hearts; and their hope is a sincere one that your con- 
 nection with them as senior pastor may be long continued. 
 
 They will hope to hear as often as possible your exhorta- 
 tions from the pulpit; and their earnest prayer will ascend 
 to our Almighty Father that health and happiness may be 
 the portion of yourself and of your estimable companion, 
 with both of whom they have passed so many pleasant years 
 in the past, and hope yet to pass many more in the future. 
 
 In behalf of the Standing Committee I am, dear sir, affec- 
 tionately yours, 
 
 James M. Jacobs, Chairman. 
 
 DR. MINER'S REPLY. 
 
 April 14, 1868. 
 To the Second Universalist Society, Boston : 
 
 DEAR BRETHREN, — Your communication of April 3, in- 
 forming me of the election of Rev. H. I. Cushman as asso- 
 ciate pastor, and expressing the desire that my own relations 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 43 
 
 to the parish as senior pastor may be permanent, has been 
 received and duly considered. 
 
 It will give me great pleasure to welcome to the field of 
 labor I have so long occupied one whose character, educa- 
 tion, and consecration through faith, as I believe, give so 
 great promise of usefulness. 
 
 Reciprocating in the fullest measure the sentiments of 
 kindness and confidence which your committee have ex- 
 pressed to me, I shall deem it a high satisfaction and honor 
 to continue in the senior pastorate as long as the general 
 interests of our Zion shall seem to require. 
 
 I am especially gratified, brethren, that in the communi- 
 cation referred to you do not forget the interests of our cause 
 in the great field of the world. In tendering you my con- 
 gratulations on your honorable record in endeavoring to 
 occupy this field in the past, I have the fullest confidence 
 that you will continue to be a noble example of a truly 
 Christian Church. 
 
 With sentiments of respect, I am yours in the faith of 
 
 Christ, 
 
 A. A. Miner. 
 
 This correspondence, be it remembered, was nearly 
 a year after the removal of Mr. Connor, and fully a 
 year after the newspaper predictions of ruin to the 
 parish from my six weeks' successful defence of the 
 prohibitory law at the State House against ex- 
 Governor Andrew and the merchants of Boston. 
 
 The installation of the Rev. Mr. Cushman took 
 place on Wednesday evening, June 3, Dr. Miner 
 preaching the sermon, from Matthew vi. 10, and the 
 other parts being distributed among Rev. Messrs. 
 Russ, Boyden, Chambre, Safford, Briggs, and Leonard. 
 
44 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 The confidence reposed in Mr. Cushman was in no 
 degree misplaced. His high Christian character, his 
 generous culture, his gentlemanly bearing and warmth 
 of affection won to him at once the love and esteem of 
 the entire parish. 
 
 The relations also between the two pastors were of 
 the most confidential and harmonious character. 
 
 At the annual meeting held March 15, 1869, a com- 
 mittee consisting of H. T. Spear, Moses Fairbanks, 
 T. Albert Taylor, James M. Jacobs, and Stephen 
 Stoddard, was chosen to consider the expediency of 
 changing location and disposing of the School Street 
 property. 
 
 April 12, 1869, that committee reported : — 
 
 " It is apparent to your committee that, while not pre- 
 pared to recommend a change in location at present, the great 
 value of our property, together with our limited accommo- 
 dations, particularly in the vestry, will render such a course 
 advisable sooner or later, and in view of these facts we re- 
 spectfully recommend that a lot of land suitable for our 
 purposes be secured." 
 
 This report was adopted, and another committee 
 selected to recommend a suitable site. 
 
 At a meeting held May 11, 1869, the site at the 
 corner of Columbus Avenue and Berkeley and Isa- 
 bella streets (on which the Presbyterian Church now 
 stands) was recommended ; but a motion to purchase 
 the same was rejected, 22 yeas, 23 nays. On the 18th 
 of May a motion to reconsider was lost by a vote of 
 23 yeas to 36 nays. This matter then rested. 
 
 The year 1870 was the centennial of Murray's land- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 45 
 
 ing on the New Jersey coast. It was made the occa- 
 sion for a vigorous financial effort. A fund, to be 
 known as the Murray Fund, was raised by our general 
 church that year amounting to fifty thousand dollars, 
 of which this parish donated nearly seven thousand 
 dollars. The fund has since been increased to one 
 hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Massachusetts alone that year paid church in- 
 debtedness to the amount of sixty-five thousand 
 dollars, and for buying, building, and repairing 
 churches and church property, two hundred and 
 forty thousand dollars more. 
 
 On Jan. 30, 1871, Newton Talbot, A. A. Miner, 
 Moses Fairbanks, J. D. Perkins, T. Albert Taylor, 
 and James M. Jacobs were made a committee to 
 select a site and report. 
 
 Feb. 27, 1 87 1, Mr. Talbot for the committee re- 
 ported that they had not found a lot at a price which 
 they could recommend the society to pay. This re- 
 port was accepted, but the same committee were au- 
 thorized, under certain limitations as to location and 
 terms of payment, to make a purchase. The result 
 was the purchase of the lot on which the Columbus 
 Avenue Church now stands, and the parish proceeded 
 with the necessary measures for building. The cor- 
 ner-stone of the new edifice was laid Sept. 13, 1871. 
 T. J. Sawyer, D. D., offered the introductory prayer, 
 Dr. Miner gave the address, and Mr. Cushman the 
 concluding prayer. The Rev. L. L. Briggs also par- 
 ticipated. 
 
 On Sunday, May 5, 1872, before abandoning the 
 
46 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 dear old church in School Street, memorial services 
 were held, an excellent historical sermon was given by 
 Mr. Cushman, a letter from the senior pastor, who was 
 travelling in the South, was read, and others partici- 
 pated in the service. 
 
 The society occupied the new lecture room Sept. 1, 
 1872, Dr. Miner preaching the sermon, from Ezra vii. 
 20. The dedication of the church took place Dec. 5, 
 1872 ; address by the senior pastor, and Rev. Messrs. 
 Cushman, Sawyer, Francis, and Vibbert participating. 
 
 The cost of the church was a little less than one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The acoustic 
 properties, however, proved so unsatisfactory that the 
 interior was recast in 1887, at an expense of nearly 
 fourteen thousand dollars. 
 
 The parish proceeded to erect a business block on 
 the site of the old church, the fee of which it still 
 holds. A fine financial outlook was suddenly dark- 
 ened by the sweeping conflagration of November, 
 1872. Some were entirely stripped of their posses- 
 sions, but were by no means ruined. 
 
 One stout-hearted and brave man, whose little all 
 had gone up in smoke, came with his wife into the 
 lecture-room on Sunday morning, while the flames 
 were still raging:- and took his seat with as much com- 
 posure and devotion as though he had just come into 
 a fortune. A loss of even a hundred thousand, aside 
 from individual losses, was among the consequences 
 to the society. It is, therefore, a matter of gratitude 
 that the society, in its current workings and as re- 
 spects its church edifice, is free of incumbrance ; and 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 47 
 
 that it has a handsome interest in the School Street 
 property, the unexpended income of which it is an- 
 nually funding to strengthen that interest. Meantime 
 it has never failed to contribute to outside interests 
 the full sum allotted to it by the conventions, and for 
 a series of years has bestowed elsewhere on an average 
 as much more in the same lines. 
 
 At the annual meeting, March 18, 1872, the society, 
 always generous, of its own motion, added an equal 
 sum to the salary of each of its pastors, and at the 
 same time voted to tender to their senior, and ear- 
 nestly desire him to accept, a release from all pulpit 
 and parochial duties from that date until the comple- 
 tion of the new church, and that his salary be con- 
 tinued during said time. The senior pastor availed 
 himself of this opportunity to spend several months in 
 travelling with his wife in Florida and other parts of 
 the South, and later, the College Commencement 
 passed, among the hills of New Hampshire. 
 
 Early in the year 1874 the trustees of our general 
 convention urgently requested your senior pastor to 
 go out to San Francisco to rescue our cause from 
 threatening mischiefs in that city of great possibilities. 
 He left Boston February 10, accompanied by his wife, 
 and his mission was attended with eminent success, 
 largely through the most efficient efforts of that noble 
 worker, Mr. Ira G. Hoyt, of San Francisco. Disas- 
 ters later befell the enterprise, which cannot be here 
 detailed. 
 
 There had been numerous appeals to the presi- 
 dent of the college to cut loose from the parish 
 
48 SECOND SOCIETY OF UN1VERSALISTS. 
 
 and remove to the college. Notwithstanding the 
 valuable aid of a colleague, the double relation was 
 still onerous. The president was at the college four 
 and sometimes five days in the week, making his visits 
 sometimes on horseback, sometimes by carriage, and 
 sometimes by rail. Both situations were desirable ; 
 both offered large inducements ; both commanded 
 my full sympathies. The trustees of the college of- 
 fered to erect for me a satisfactory residence. But I 
 had a home in Boston ; I had grown into Boston sur- 
 roundings ; my wife preferred to spend the remainder 
 of her days among long-tried friends ; I felt that her 
 preferences were as sacred as my own ; hence, after 
 twelve and a half years of service, I resigned my con- 
 nection with the college, and took up again full parish 
 work. 
 
 Meantime the junior pastor, Rev. Dr. Cushman, 
 accepted a call to Providence, where he has won for 
 himself general respect throughout that city. 
 
 Sixteen more busy years had passed. I desired to 
 lay aside some portion of my inevitable work. Having 
 been a member of the State Board of Education since 
 1869, and chairman of the board of visitors of the 
 State Normal Art School for most of that time ; hav- 
 ing been fifty years in the very heat of the temperance 
 conflict which does not even now promise a speedy 
 solution ; having through all my ministry occasionally 
 pointed out the antagonism of Romish policy to our 
 free schools and free institutions generally; having be- 
 come, through the force of circumstances, the chairman 
 of the " Committee of One Hundred," and feeling a 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 49 
 
 quick sympathy with the Peace movement and various 
 other social problems of our time, — I felt I should 
 not lack for topics of personal interest were I relieved 
 from the stress of parochial duties and of weekly pre- 
 paration for the pulpit. Though not forgetting the 
 desire of the parish, as expressed twenty-three years 
 before (1868), for my permanent connection with it, I 
 was not willing to presume at all upon action taken 
 almost a generation since, and therefore on the forty- 
 third anniversary of my settlement, May 3, 1S91, I 
 proffered outright my resignation. 
 
 The result you know. You were pleased to con- 
 tinue your long-time pastor as senior, and by a un- 
 animous vote in November of that Year called Rev. 
 Stephen H. Roblin to the office of pastor. He 
 promptly accepted your call, and was installed in 
 that office, Jan. 10, 1892, the senior pastor preaching 
 the sermon, from 2 Tim. iv. 5, the other parts being 
 rendered by Rev. Messrs. Dillingham, Biddle, Wood- 
 bridge, and Leonard. A year has now passed, and 
 our junior pastor has already, by his genial qualities, 
 his excellent pulpit abilities, and his gentlemanly 
 bearing, taken a high position both in the parish and 
 in the city at large. Moreover, the mutual love and 
 confidence between junior and senior are everything 
 that could be desired. 
 
 The officers of the societv have been men of weight, 
 and of high moral character and official responsibility. 
 In 1878 the Hon. Newton Talbot declined re-election 
 as clerk, stating that either as a member of the Stand- 
 ing Committee or as clerk, he had served the society 
 
 4 
 
50 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 ever since 1845, thirty-three years, for the last seven 
 years adding also the duties of treasurer. His wish 
 was respected, and a warm vote of thanks was ten- 
 dered him. Since that, he has added fourteen years 
 more of service as chairman of the Standing Commit- 
 tee and member of the board of trustees of the School 
 Street property, making forty-seven years of continu- 
 ous official service. This latter position he still holds. 
 Many others, in the earlier and in the later times, have 
 rendered like most honorable service. Among the 
 latter may be mentioned Dr. Guild, Jacobs, Ridler, 
 Spear, Simonds, Norris, Masury, Johnson, of the de- 
 parted ; and Folsom, Clinton Viles, A. E. Viles, Wil- 
 liams, Whittemore, Fairbanks, Forristall, Morrison, 
 Armstrong, Parker, Robinson, Bicknell, Gleason, of 
 those still living. 
 
 The church organization also, which adopted its 
 covenant on the third Sunday in December, 181 7, 
 and whose seventy-fifth anniversary, therefore, we are 
 more exactly celebrating, has had a most honorable 
 history, and infused a quickening influence into all 
 the movements of the parish. It has received to its 
 membership more than a thousand persons, very few 
 of whom have ever dishonored their profession. 
 
 The clerkship was filled with wonderful efficiency 
 many years by John M. Lincoln, whose excellent wife 
 still discharges its duties. In earlier times Charles 
 Henderson, Sr., and in later times, John M. Lincoln 
 and A. C. Masury, many years each, discharged the 
 duties of treasurer. The office is now filled by Lewis 
 H. Wood. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 51 
 
 Its list of deacons contains most honorable names : 
 Powars, Barry, Metcalf, Brigham, Wing (son-in-law 
 of Father Ballou), Joseph Lincoln* Si\, Edmund 
 Wright, and Thomas A. Goddard, all of whom de- 
 ceased before our entrance into this church, and to 
 whom was erected yonder memorial window; SafTord, 
 Curtis, Jacobs, Ridler, Norris, and Masury, deceased 
 since we entered this church ; and Crocker, Rogers, 
 Potter, A. L. Lincoln, Jack, Park, and Babbidge, who 
 are still living, — twenty-one in all. 
 
 Various associations of ladies, especially the " Miner 
 Charitable Society," have done great service in many 
 ways. Presided over by Mrs. Joseph Lincoln, Sr., 
 Mrs. Warren Bolles, Mrs. Moses Mellen, of the ear- 
 lier time, and Mrs. Elliott, Mrs. Cushman, Mrs. 
 Leonard, Mrs. Chubbuck, Mrs. H. M. Lincoln, Mrs. 
 Huckins, of the later time, its labors have secured 
 large measures of usefulness. Efficient were they also 
 in raising the large amount for the Murray Fund. 
 
 It remains for me to speak of the Sunday-school 
 interest. In 1848, I found a school of eighty mem- 
 bers, with an average attendance for the two preced- 
 ing years of sixty. Holding its sessions in Murray 
 Hall, an exceedingly inconvenient location, it never- 
 theless grew under the superintendence of Thomas 
 A. Goddard to the crowding of its quarters. In the 
 new vestry below the church, it continued to increase 
 until it numbered between four and five hundred. 
 Our tribulations in 1867 somewhat diminished our 
 numbers, and removal to this part of the city ap- 
 peared to tend in the same direction. Our present 
 
52 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 number of about two hundred appears to promise an 
 increase. 
 
 The office of superintendent has always been 
 worthily filled. B. B. Mussey, William E. Stowe, 
 Col. Isaac H. Wright, (son-in-law of Father Ballou), 
 and Edwin Howland, in the earlier time ; and of the 
 later time, Thomas A. Goddard, James D. Perkins, 
 Dr. H. I. Cushman, and B. B. Whittemore (son of 
 Rev. Dr. Benjamin Whittemore, and grandson of 
 Father Ballou), who is the present superintendent, 
 have generally brought to their work marked ability, 
 and most of them have served for a protracted period. 
 
 In this respect, however, Mr. Goddard led the whole 
 list, having served thirty-one years, including two years 
 abroad, during which he held the office. His large 
 means, relative freedom from family cares, and his 
 warm sympathy and Christian prayers for the young, 
 gave him an influence to which few men can attain. 
 Yonder window on my right, the gift of Mrs. Goddard, 
 commemorates this service. He was in every way a 
 tower of strength to the parish. 
 
 Let it not for a moment be supposed, however, that 
 in mentioning some names we undervalue the great 
 service of many others. All along the line of parish, 
 church, and Sunday-school interests there have been 
 numerous workers, skilful, prudent, diligent, and effi- 
 cient, who would have been a high honor to any cause 
 to which they might have devoted themselves. 
 
 Thus will it be seen that the society has maintained 
 marked stability in all the great lines of Christian 
 effort, notwithstanding its large contribution of mem- 
 
THE OLD SCHOOL-STREET CHURCH. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 53 
 
 bers to many of the suburban parishes. It has always 
 been most generous and most considerate towards 
 its pastors, two of whom cover the whole period of its 
 history, and overlap each other four years. 
 
 The past is secure. The blessing of God has won- 
 derfully crowned our labors. We cannot doubt that 
 like blessings, and even greater measures of success, 
 may be ours in the years to come. Let the prayer of 
 Moses in the text for the chosen people, — "The Lord 
 God of your Fathers make you a thousand times as 
 many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath prom- 
 ised you," — let this be the earnest prayer of your 
 hearts, and there shall be no narrow limits to your 
 success. The same personal fidelity, steadfast resist- 
 ance to the encroachments of secularism, pure deep 
 devotion to things highest and best, and prompt and 
 united following of your Christian leaders, may give 
 you a future that will even far outshine the most bril- 
 liant chapters of the past. Then will you have no 
 occasion to rebuild fallen walls, but will enjoy the 
 honor of gilding and glorifying the walls already 
 builded. The peace of God be with you. 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
^^£^£<: 
 
 1 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 By Rev. STEPHEN HERBERT ROBLIN. 
 
 A/TY FRIENDS, — In looking over the reach of 
 years extending to the inauguration of this 
 church, one is profoundly impressed with the exceed- 
 ingly stirring times which are thus covered, with the 
 great achievements wrought within its limits. It is 
 not my intention to enumerate the striking features 
 of the nineteenth century, but I do desire to call atten- 
 tion to the facts that this church had its birth and has 
 had its continued life in the greatest country, in the 
 greatest age, and amid the greatest movements in the 
 history of the world. That this is so because God 
 directs and ordains, I have no doubt, and therefore 
 believe we are engaged in a service to-night which 
 shall have a fitting place among the events which 
 mark the annals of time. 
 
 This church has a sure position among the his- 
 torical factors of the century, because it has made 
 history. Its first pastor, with vigorous mind, un- 
 daunted courage and consecrated grace, cut out a 
 
58 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 distinct and wide path through the tangled wilder- 
 ness of theological dogma, and found it led into the 
 open highway of truth unto God. His successor, 
 with no less courage and fidelity, and with consum- 
 mate ability, has kept that pathway constantly open, 
 and by dealing with educational, political, ethical, and 
 humane affairs, has carried the name of this church 
 and the fame of this pastorate into ever widening 
 circles of thought and life. You may be sure that 
 in accepting the responsibility of this pastorate I had 
 many misgivings as to the possible continuance of the 
 work on so large a scale and high a plane as to com- 
 mand unbrokenly the attention of the commonwealth 
 and the nation ; and after a year of constant industry, 
 I have yet to discover a new field wherein to plant 
 the historic standard and wave the good old banners. 
 If any conviction is mine to-night, it is this : so only 
 can we do by a renewed emphasis of the " glorious 
 gospel " and a constant application of its grace and 
 power to the needs of mankind. 
 
 Though we are dealing largely with history to-night, 
 that which can be externally recognized and tabulated, 
 I am impressed with the belief that we are invited to 
 discern the deeper, mightier, and more abiding veri- 
 ties which lie beneath all records, which cannot be 
 described by words, which issue from the life, and 
 love, and consecrated godliness of the innumerable 
 hosts who have found here the significance of right- 
 eousness on earth, and have obtained confidence of an 
 abiding faith in the eternity of heaven. This church, 
 therefore, has found strength because the spirit of the 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 59 
 
 great Teacher abides here, and has abode from the 
 first so far as consistent, prayerful, faithful souls could 
 command its presence. The church represents an 
 unbroken life of consecration and fidelity. Though 
 its membership has lived devotedly, served faithfully, 
 and passed away, still the new life coming in has so 
 partaken of the old life which has gone up higher, 
 that it has been continually and pre-eminently Chris- 
 tian. It is not only, then, the historical record of an 
 institution seventy-five years old we commemorate, 
 but in a higher and truer sense the Church of the 
 abiding God, a living power of faith and righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 Where so much has been achieved and such fruits 
 of surpassing value now appear as a part of the life of 
 this sanctuary, we who labor in its service may well 
 concern ourselves about these and future days. How 
 shall we so serve as to make the to-days and to-mor- 
 rows as valuable as the yesterdays ? The world is 
 just as wide, its needs as great, God as powerful, 
 Christ as helpful, man as teachable as ever before. 
 To have the tide running high evermore, we must 
 keep the channels open toward heaven. There is to 
 be no going backward, I am sure each will affirm, and 
 there is a determination to reach forward and gather 
 as many of the golden sheaves as God will permit 
 an ardent, industrious, faithful band, which in all its 
 desires seeks but to glean for His joy and man's uplift. 
 Fellow-toilers, may we find a new consecration at this 
 altar to-night, and thus be able to go into the vineyard 
 on the morrow, and without shrinking or tiring labor 
 
60 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 for the greatest ends. Conspicuous is this place; 
 mighty are its influences; in humility but with valor- 
 ous hearts and untiring hands, and in unswerving 
 continuance of faithfulness may we prove our desires 
 by our works. 
 
 Thus briefly have I outlined the thought of the 
 hour, and these honored brethren who have come 
 at our bidding will conduct us into the fruitful 
 fields suggested, and from their own wealth make 
 us also rich. But before we call upon them for 
 their word of greeting, encouragement, instruction, 
 let us approach the Father of us all on the melo- 
 dious wings of the favorite of hymns, " Nearer, my 
 God, to Thee." 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 6l 
 
 'j 
 
 ol 
 3. 
 HOSEA BALLOU. 
 
 AN ESTIMATE. 
 By PRESIDENT ORELLO CONE, D. D. 
 
 It is generally conceded that a man who has exerted 
 a considerable influence upon his contemporaries finds 
 his fairest and most impartial judges in succeeding 
 generations. The mental vision of those who have 
 been under the spell of his personality is affected by 
 a glamour which distorts the judgment and induces a 
 one-sided verdict. This third generation since Hosea 
 Ballou was at the zenith of his power should, accord- 
 ingly, be able to furnish the justest and most unbiased 
 judgment of his character and work. To such a judg- 
 ment, however, it is manifest that other conditions are 
 necessary than that of remoteness in time from the 
 period of his activity. While a violent prejudice for 
 or against a popular leader must necessarily pervert the 
 judgment of a man even in the third generation, the ab- 
 sence of sympathy with his work and aims constitutes 
 a disqualification in a judge, whether near or remote. 
 It is equally true that every judgment of such a man 
 must be defective which does not proceed from the 
 historical sense, or the faculty by which one is enabled 
 to realize with a certain vividness and with keen ap- 
 preciation the conditions of life existing in a past time 
 more or less remote. For while there are certain 
 
62 SFXOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 criteria of greatness which are valid in all times, the 
 judgment of a man's work as to its success or failure 
 and of his attainments and mental equipment must be 
 determined, if it shall be fair, by due consideration of 
 his environment and opportunities. It is obvious that 
 his achievement should be judged with reference to 
 the difficulties that had to be overcome in compassing 
 it, and by the efforts and struggles through which as a 
 champion he won his crown. 
 
 Accordingly, a just estimate of Hosea Ballou and his 
 work must take its departure from the circumstances 
 of his birth and early education, and proceed with con- 
 stant reference to his environment. It is recorded in 
 his biography that he was born in 1771 in the town 
 of Richmond, N. H., of humble parentage and among 
 uncultured surroundings. The opportunities for edu- 
 cation which Richmond then furnished were of the 
 most meagre kind, and his parents were too poor to 
 afford him such privileges of the schools as might then 
 have been enjoyed in the centres of culture. It was with 
 the greatest difficulty that he acquired the merest rudi- 
 ments of an English education, studying by the light 
 of pine knots and attending school but a few months, 
 and only after he was nineteen years old. His father, 
 though a minister, was not a man of liberal education, 
 and served his people as pastor without stated com- 
 pensation, while he supported himself and his family 
 by the labor of his hands. The family was pitiably 
 destitute of books, and cut off from intellectual com- 
 munication with the world. Reared amid conditions 
 so unfavorable to mental development, a young man 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 63 
 
 must evidently possess unusual ability who rises out 
 of them to the leadership and eminence attained by 
 Mr. Ballou. Only rare powers are capable of such an 
 achievement. 
 
 Doubtless some credit should be given to the young 
 Hosea's religious education, if a bad religion is better 
 than no religion at all. If there is any salutary influ- 
 ence in the fear of God, he had the full benefit of it in 
 its most unmitigated terrors, and was surrounded with 
 the atmosphere of the sort of trembling, shrinking 
 worship which it inspires. It was his good fortune 
 that, though early deprived of a mother's care and 
 training, he was reared amid wholesome moral influ- 
 ences, despite the defective theory of morals in which 
 he was educated. The practice, as is often the case, 
 was here better than the theory. The doctrine of the 
 Divine wrath may have salutary moral effects before 
 the understanding apprehends the illogical religious 
 postulates which are connected with it, such as that 
 while it is most of all things to be feared, morality is 
 no security against it. Mr. Ballou himself has forcibly 
 characterized the moral theory taught him in early life 
 in these words : — 
 
 " One of the worst things ever taught to youth is that in this 
 world there is more enjoyment in the ways of vice, iniquity, 
 and unrighteousness than in obedience to the commandments 
 of God. But we were taught at the same time that the wicked 
 were running a fearful risk, for should they die without repent- 
 ance their everlasting condemnation was sure. All the risk 
 there was lay in the possibility that death might be sudden, 
 and give no place for repentance. But the fact that there is 
 
64 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 in the way of strict morality, in the path of true religion, in 
 the road of righteousness, all the rational enjoyment of which 
 our nature is capable, and that any departure from right is an 
 equal departure from true happiness, was not taught to my 
 knowledge at that time. Nor did I ever understand this 
 great truth until taught it by the Scriptures and by my own 
 experience." 
 
 Hosea Ballou's father was a minister of the Calvin- 
 istic Baptist Church, and it was in this grim and 
 relentless theology that he was reared. " We were all 
 taught," he says, "and in our youth believed, that we 
 were born into the world wholly depraved, and under 
 the curse of a law which doomed every son and 
 daughter of Adam to eternal woe. At the same time, 
 God had made provision for a select number of the 
 human family, whereby they would be saved by the 
 operations of the Divine Spirit, which would operate 
 in what was called conversion, some time during the 
 life of those elected. Those who were not elected 
 would remain without any effectual calling, die, and 
 be forever miserable. When I was a youth, it was the 
 sentiment of all Christian people, as far as I knew, 
 that not more than one in a thousand of the human 
 family would be saved from endless condemnation." 
 Horn into this theological atmosphere, rocked in his 
 cradle by Calvinism, and being naturally of a religious 
 turn of mind, it is not surprising that at an early age 
 he yielded to the influences about him, and became a 
 member of his father's church. An ordinary young 
 man would have remained in this communion. But 
 Hosea Ballou was not an ordinary young man. 
 
SL . IF'IH ANNIVERSAI 65 
 
 Thoughtful, sincere, conscientious, and fearless, he 
 not long in discovering and openly proclaiming 
 the moral monstrosities, the logical defects, and the 
 spiritual barrenness of the Calvinistic system, and was 
 very soon excommunicated from the church for hold- 
 ing Universalist opinions. It is a fine mark of his 
 sincerity that he says, " I shall ever remember the tears 
 which I shed on this solemn occasion." It is remark- 
 able that this separation from the church in which he 
 had been reared, costing him both pain and obloquy, 
 was apparently brought about largely by his own study 
 of the Bible, and the wrestling of his own reason with 
 the problems presented by Calvinism. As a sample 
 of the inquiries which he raised may be instanced the 
 following question put to his father in one of the 
 many discussions engaged in with him: "Suppose I 
 had the skill and power out of an inanimate substance 
 to make an animate, and should make one, at the 
 same time knowing that this creature of mine would 
 suffer everlasting misery, would my act of creating 
 this creature be an act of goodn< We are not 
 
 surprised to learn that this question "troubled" his 
 father, and that it received no answer. The only 
 answer that Calvinism has ever been able to make 
 to it is a warning against the use of reason upon 
 religious problems. 
 
 Had Hosea Ballou not been born to be a preacher, 
 he might have kept his new-found faith and hope to 
 himself. But to preach was his manifest destiny. 
 Under different circumstances, modesty might have 
 dictated silence until a thorough preparation by study 
 
 5 
 
66 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 and discipline should have fitted him for the respon- 
 sible office of a public teacher of religion. But he 
 had been reared amid associations in which little was 
 known of a high standard of intellectual and scholas- 
 tic preparation for the ministry. It is not surprising, 
 then, that when, according to his own statement, he 
 was " overpersuaded " by his friends, his natural incli- 
 nation should have prevailed over the dictates of mod- 
 esty and his own better judgment, and have sent him 
 into the pulpit. His is not the first case of the early 
 failure of men who have afterwards become oreat 
 orators. Chagrined and ashamed at his defeat in his 
 first attempts at preaching, the young man was not 
 disheartened. Like Richard Brinsley Sheridan, he 
 felt that the oratorical power " was in him, and must 
 come out." 
 
 In the autumn of 1794 there occurred at Oxford, 
 Mass., an event which was of great importance to the 
 young Ballou, then twenty-three years of age, and 
 to the cause which he had espoused. It was his 
 informal ordination, — a spontaneous, prophetic act, 
 performed by Rev. Elhanan Winchester on the occa- 
 sion of the meeting of the New England Convention 
 of Universalists. Following this expression of the 
 confidence of his brethren is a considerable period 
 of active work in the ministry after his marriage. 
 The future controversialist and orator trains himself 
 in the harness for the greater tasks which await him. 
 That this was a period of study, earnest thought, and 
 rapid development, we may well believe, though we 
 have no precise information regarding the intellectual 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 67 
 
 aids that may have been within his reach. It would 
 be of great interest if we knew what books he studied 
 along with the Bible during this period, and with what 
 currents of thought he was in contact. The impor- 
 tance of the thinking which he did during this time 
 to the future of Universalism is very great. It ap- 
 pears that he was meditating upon problems of cen- 
 tral importance in every system of Christian theology, 
 — those of the nature of Christ and his relation to 
 salvation. We know that in his thinking he had 
 reached conclusions regarding Christology and sote- 
 riology which were at variance with those held by 
 Murray and by his brethren generally. He stood, 
 perhaps, almost alone in holding opinions adverse to 
 the doctrines of the Trinity, the vicarious atonement, 
 and original reprobation. 
 
 The results of the young Ballou's earnest reflection 
 on these themes are embodied in his most important 
 theological work, the " Treatise on the Atonement." 
 This book can only be fairly judged when it is con- 
 sidered that the author was only thirty-four years old 
 when he wrote it; that he had not enjoyed the advan- 
 tages of the schools ; that he had had no theological 
 education in the ordinary sense of the term; and that 
 he was not a trained writer, expert in giving literary 
 form and expression to his thoughts. It is a more 
 important consideration, and one touching the matter 
 of the work, that the " Treatise " was independently 
 conceived and executed. The fundamental Unitarian 
 doctrines appear to have been elaborated by this soli- 
 tary young thinker from a study of the Bible alone, 
 
68 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 and to some of them he gave as definite and radical 
 an expression as Channing and his school afterward 
 attained. In the sense that he was unacquainted with 
 the writings of the German theologians, and had at 
 the time almost no knowledge of theological literature 
 in general, the work must be regarded as original ; 
 and he must be accorded the honor of being pre- 
 eminently the pioneer in this line of thought in 
 America. He himself says, with characteristic mod- 
 esty, in 1844: "When more than forty years ago I 
 wrote my ' Notes ' and ' Treatise ' I had never seen 
 any work in defence of the doctrine of the Divine 
 Unity, and the dependence of the Son upon the 
 Father. When this circumstance is duly considered, 
 the reader will be satisfied that the writer must have 
 exerted the limited powers of his mind to their utmost 
 capacity; this is all the credit he claims." 
 
 It does not comport with the scope of this paper to 
 enter upon an elaborate analysis and discussion of the 
 " Treatise." Suffice it to say that its fundamental 
 positions are that God was never unreconciled to man, 
 and that hence Christ did not suffer in order to ap- 
 pease the Divine wrath, or to satisfy the Divine law, 
 justice, or righteousness. On the contrary, it is main- 
 tained that God's love for sinners was the cause of 
 Christ's being sent to reconcile them to Him. The 
 absurdity of the doctrine that God himself paid the 
 penalty assumed to be due Him from man by bearing 
 it in the person of Christ, the second person of the 
 Trinity, is clearly pointed out. It is taught that Christ 
 was a dependent, created being, and of course not 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 69 
 
 God. While the reading of M some deistical writings " 
 had, according to his own acknowledgment, " no small 
 tendency to bring him over to the ground " on which 
 he for many years " felt established, 1 ' the working 
 out of the doctrines of the " Treatise " was essentially 
 his own, and was effected by an examination of the 
 Bible to determine whether it did really "teach that 
 Jesus Christ died to reconcile an unchangeable God 
 to His own children." It would be interesting to know 
 whether he was led by the reading of Hume to take 
 ground in the " Treatise " against the doctrine of the 
 freedom of the will, or whether this attitude is to be 
 charged to his Calvinistic education. It is probable, 
 however, that in the case of a man of his originality, 
 little influence should be accorded in the formation 
 of his opinions either to books or to his education. 
 In his solution of the problems of sin and of salvation 
 he reached and rested in the doctrine of the Divine 
 Sovereignty. He was a determinist, and believed that 
 the absolute rule of a good God must necessarily result 
 in the salvation of all men. It would manifestly be 
 inappropriate, in view of what has already been said, 
 to judge the " Treatise " solely or chiefly according to 
 a literary standard. Its merit lies not in its literary 
 excellence, but in its clearness, simplicity, force, and 
 adaptedness to convince the ordinary mind. It would 
 be very unjust to say that it is a great theological 
 classic, and to compare it with the nearly contempora- 
 neous " Discourses on Religion " by Schleiermacher. 
 Ballou did not address, and could not successfully 
 have addressed, such readers as this great scholar 
 
JO SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 and writer had before him. If, however, we judge 
 Ballou's book with reference to its writer's aim, and 
 in view of the success which it achieved, we must 
 pronounce it a great work. It assumes larger pro- 
 portions, and commands greater admiration, when we 
 take into account, the author's antecedents and the 
 circumstances under which he wrote. 
 
 On Dec. 15, 181 7, occurred the important event 
 the seventy-fifth anniversary of which this church 
 now fittingly celebrates. Hosea Ballou was installed 
 as pastor of the School-Street Church. The place 
 was prepared for the man, and the man was pre- 
 eminently fitted for the place. This was a great 
 opportunity for him, and a greater opportunity for 
 Universalism in New England and in the United 
 States. From this vantage-ground the eloquent ad- 
 vocate of the new doctrines of the Atonement, the 
 Unity of God, and Universal Salvation, swayed the 
 present and the future. When he entered upon this 
 work he was in the prime of life, and near to the 
 zenith of his influence. The next quarter of a cen- 
 tury constitutes a most important epoch in the history 
 of Universalism. It was a controversial epoch ; for the 
 leader who stood in the School-Street pulpit was pre- 
 eminently a controversialist. His eloquence, boldness, 
 and fervor, and the novelty of his message and method 
 gave him a wide reputation, and attracted multitudes 
 to hear him. One may judge of the power of his per- 
 sonality, and of the eagerness of the people to hear 
 his word, when one considers that he spoke three 
 times each Sunday to audiences filling the church 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. yi 
 
 even to the crowding of the aisles. Before he came 
 to Boston the doctrines which he represented had not 
 been widely heard, and had exerted little influence 
 upon contemporary thought ; so that from the year 
 1 8 1 7 dates the real rise of Universalism in New Eng- 
 land. It was not alone the personality of Mr. Ballou 
 that contributed to this result ; it was also his prodi- 
 gious energy and tireless activity. He was more than 
 a metropolitan preacher; he was a pamphleteer, editor, 
 and missionary. " The Magazine " spread his mes- 
 sage far and wide, and he responded personally to 
 calls into near and remote parts of the country ; so 
 that altogether he performed the ordinary work of 
 two men, — of two extraordinary men. 
 
 No estimate of Hosea Ballou's work can be com- 
 plete that does not take into account the fact that 
 one phase of his apprehension of Universalism has 
 not prevailed in the church of which he may be re- 
 garded as the veritable founder. Early in life he 
 appears to have held the doctrine known as that of 
 "future discipline." That he abandoned this at a 
 later period, there is no doubt. Although the strange 
 manner in which he entered upon a discussion of this 
 question with Mr. Turner — allowing him to choose 
 which side he would defend — may be construed as 
 implying an indifference on his part, the fact that he 
 wrote a volume of three hundred pages in defence of 
 it in 1834, evidently shows that he regarded the sub- 
 ject as one of great importance. His matured opinion 
 appears to have been that sin is punished when and 
 where it is committed ; and as he did not believe that 
 
72 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 men would sin in the life to come, he did not think 
 that they would suffer punishment in that state of 
 existence. There is no doubt that in the heat of 
 controversy his opinions were greatly misrepresented, 
 perhaps were grossly caricatured. It should be re- 
 marked that when Dr. Channing interpreted his doc- 
 trine as implying that " moral evil is to be buried in 
 the grave," he replied that this had the appearance of 
 " a canting throw " at what this divine was not dis- 
 posed " to treat with his usual candor ; " and that 
 when Channing charged that this teaching "ascribed 
 to death the power of changing and purifying the 
 mind," he answered that " he certainly never heard 
 any of us state such views, nor had he ever read any 
 such statement in any of our writings." Perhaps in 
 his interpretation of some words of Paul he gave to 
 " the flesh " a more exclusively physical sense than the 
 apostle intended to convey in its employment. It is 
 probable, too, that psychological considerations, which 
 Mr. Ballou did not sufficiently take into account, have 
 considerably contributed to the decadence of his doc- 
 trine, and to the prevalence of the opinion that men 
 enter upon the life to come in substantially the moral 
 and spiritual condition in which they leave this. The 
 greater prominence given in later times among us to 
 man's own agency in salvation, and to the doctrine of 
 human freedom, has also been largely instrumental in 
 effecting this result. The liberal and tolerant, the 
 genial and kindly, spirit manifested by Mr. Ballou in 
 the discussion of this question cannot be too highly 
 commended ; and the following words of his, in the pre- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 73 
 
 face to the book referred to, deserve to be no less com- 
 memorated and heeded now than half a century ago : 
 
 " It is a happy circumstance that in the denomination of 
 Universalists no one feels bound to defend and support the 
 particular opinions of another any further than he is himself 
 convinced of their truth and importance. Our platform of 
 faith is general, and allows individuals an extensive latitude 
 to think freely, to investigate minutely, and to adopt what 
 particular views best comport with the honest convictions of 
 the mind, and fearlessly to avow and defend the same." 
 
 The judgment of this generation will probably agree 
 with that of his own in finding Hosea Ballou's chief 
 eminence and distinction in his powers as a preacher. 
 If in argument he was strong, in intuition clear, in 
 wit quick, in repartee never at a loss, and with the 
 pen lucid and convincing, — in the pulpit he was mas- 
 terly, luminous, and great. He was born to oratory. 
 Here he was in his element ; and no one who heard 
 him could escape the spell of his genius, or resist the 
 torrent of his thought and passion. An intelligent 
 hearer of his has said : " Never have I seen a man 
 who could hold his hearers so perfectly under his 
 control ; they were entirely at his command. He 
 clothed them in smiles and melted them to tears ; 
 and these things he seemed to do at pleasure." Per- 
 haps the secret of this magnetic power lay in his 
 transparent sincerity, his childlike simplicity, his 
 quenchless fervor, his artless earnestness, and his pro- 
 found conviction of the truth and importance of his 
 message. These are the indispensable qualities of 
 true oratory. Without them learning, culture, and 
 art cannot furnish " the golden mouth." 
 
74 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 A theme must, however, be provided for the man, 
 and conspire with him to produce the orator. The 
 orator is not full born until his theme has touched 
 and quickened him. Demosthenes, Patrick Henry, 
 and Phillips could not have become what they were 
 without the inspiration of liberty. For Ballou there 
 was also provided a great theme, and it represented 
 an aspect of the old, eternal struggle for liberty. It 
 was the deliverance of the human mind from the 
 dominion of a harsh, gloomy, and terrible theology. 
 No greater and more inspiring themes were ever pro- 
 vided for an orator than those which came to the soul 
 of the young Ballou in his meditations among the 
 vales and hills of his early home, — the themes of the 
 Divine Fatherhood and Love, of the emancipation of 
 the human mind from the bondage of fear and de- 
 spair, and of the salvation of a world from sin. In 
 these lay the thought which inspired Jesus in Galilee 
 when he discoursed of the Father in heaven, who " is 
 kind to the unthankful and the evil," — the thought 
 which solves the awful problem of human pain and 
 anguish and sin, sends a light into the sombre depths 
 where fallen souls grope and writhe and sigh, and sets 
 the star of hope over every cradle and every grave. 
 When this thought came to this man, his susceptible 
 nature took fire and burned to a white heat of glow- 
 ing faith, quenchless zeal, and impassioned speech. 
 His soul on fire with it flamed up in a great light, 
 which flashed upon the surrounding theologic dark- 
 ness, and kindled, and has continued to kindle, other 
 souls, until the whole land is touched with the con- 
 tagious illumination. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 75 
 
 This specialty, in which his greatest eminence was 
 attained, indicates the limitation of Ballou's influence. 
 It is given to few men to be great in more than one 
 department of human activity. Our colleges confer, 
 indeed, the degree of Master of Arts, but he is a very 
 rare man who is master of one art. Hosea Ballou's 
 mission was to the common people ; and this mission 
 he accomplished with all the sureness, skill, and mas- 
 tery of an artist. To them he was teacher, leader, 
 inspirer, and prophet. His appeal to the common 
 understanding and sentiment met with such a re- 
 sponse as it is given to few men to receive. He was 
 a man of the people, a spiritual Agamemnon, " king 
 of men." Of attractive presence, of great sympathy 
 and geniality, of magnetic eloquence, the people heard 
 him gladly, hung on his words with rapture, and came 
 away from his ministry with shining faces. With a 
 master's hand he struck the chords of the common 
 human feeling, and awoke the harmonies of hope and 
 love. It was inevitable that the exigencies of con- 
 troversy hemmed his thought and energies within a 
 somewhat narrow channel. Had fortune placed him 
 in an age of peace and construction instead of in the 
 storm and stress of defence and a pioneer's mission, 
 and had he enjoyed the advantages of a comprehen- 
 sive culture and of the leisure for wide meditation, 
 he might have delivered a great message to a larger 
 circle of thinkers ; but it is doubtful whether he could 
 have served any better the cause which he espoused. 
 This cause needed the torrent that he was. Minds 
 of a different type compose its broader stream. If 
 
j6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 some of his interpretations of Scripture were not such 
 as a scientific exegesis can now approve, they were 
 effective in his time against opponents whom he must 
 meet, if he would contend successfully with them, 
 upon a common ground. It would be manifestly 
 unjust to him to compare him with Lessing, with 
 Schleiermacher, or with Channing, — to say that he 
 was a great literary artist, a learned and many-sided 
 theologian, or a spiritual philosopher who could com- 
 mand the attention of thinkers throughout Christen- 
 dom. We must judge him by the actual results which 
 he achieved. That these were great in themselves, 
 no fair man will deny; that they were admirable, in 
 view of the disadvantages and obstacles against which 
 he contended, must be conceded. As a prophet of 
 the Divine Sovereignty, Fatherhood, and Love, he was 
 an eloquent advocate against whom it was hazardous 
 to contend. A fearless combatant, he attacked Cal- 
 vinism in its stronghold, and smote it with blows from 
 which it has never recovered. A zealous champion, 
 he established and defended his cause by a masterly 
 advocacy, by unremitting toils, and by journeys long 
 and wearisome. Large-hearted, fair, and genial, he 
 won the love of friends, and commanded the respect 
 of foes. A great and spotless soul, he well deserves 
 the meed of reverence and of honor from us of this 
 generation, who have entered into his labors. Well 
 shall we do and deserve if we perform the work al- 
 lotted to us with the zeal and consecration, with the 
 courage and sincerity, and with the geniality and tol- 
 eration which distinguished Hosea Ballou. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 77 
 
 POSITION AND INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH 
 FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS. 
 
 By PRESIDENT ISAAC M. ATWOOD, D. D. 
 
 Estimating by human measures, seventy-five years 
 is a long time. It takes in the greater part of our 
 own century and of our own national life. A church 
 which has lived through that period can scarcely have 
 escaped a share in the continuous drama of three 
 generations. Beginning when James Munroe was in 
 the chair, it has seen twenty-four of our twenty-eight 
 chief-magistrates inaugurated. When this church was 
 founded, Boston was a town of forty thousand popula- 
 tion. The railroad and the telegraph were unknown. 
 The great antislavery agitation had not begun. Cal- 
 vinism of an unmodified and aggressive type was 
 preached throughout New England. The great Bap- 
 tist and Methodist and Presbyterian bodies were small 
 sects. Orthodoxy, as the Congregational denomina- 
 tion was then known, had just received what some 
 prophesied would prove its death blow in the Unita- 
 rian schism. The country was yet poor. Four hun- 
 dred dollars was a large salary outside the cities, and 
 only a few favored ministers were paid one thousand 
 dollars. Speaking relatively, it was the day of small 
 things. 
 
 In the interval we have had two wars, have abol- 
 ished African slavery, have grown from eight to sixty- 
 
j8 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 five millions of people, have witnessed the miracles of 
 steam and of electricity, have risen from a fifth-rate 
 to a first-rate power, have made for ourselves a respect- 
 able literature, and have wrought our full share in 
 the marvellous creation of modern science. We have 
 seen the earth, which seventy-five years ago was so 
 large, become small, while the universe has widened 
 by distances then inconceivable ; and we have watched 
 Calvinism bleach to a shade not everywhere distin- 
 guishable from Universalism. 
 
 In all these striking events and extraordinary 
 changes this church has had some worthy share. Its 
 two great pastors, Ballou and Miner, carried a light 
 that could not be hid. They have been men who 
 had a disturbing message to deliver ; they have led 
 an attack. Their official position and personal inten- 
 tion coincided in a revolutionary work ; they were a 
 menace to the established theological order. The 
 world could not continue to be the same world with 
 them in it. And the colleague pastors — Soule, 
 Chapin, Connor, Cushman, Roblin — have been will- 
 ing partners in the overturning work of this pulpit. 
 
 But besides and beyond any record made for the 
 church by its pastors, the men and women of this 
 church have wrought their own work and achieved 
 their own place. I have known many of them, to 
 honor and love. The faces of some, absent to sight, 
 are present and luminous to-night to faithful memory. 
 Among them have been the fairest types of Christian 
 manhood and womanhood I have ever known ; and 
 taken together through this long period, they have 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 79 
 
 constituted a vital body of believers, sturdy in their 
 steadfastness, invincible in their loyalty, sound and 
 strong in character, and of great public usefulness. 
 
 A modern Christian church has a double function. 
 
 i. It is an incorporate Christianity; its office is to 
 bring the thought and life of Jesus Christ into help- 
 ful relations with human society. What it does, 
 superficially viewed, is to provide a place of meeting, 
 an order of worship, a minister, a literature, instruc- 
 tion, avenues for social and charitable activity ; in 
 short, an equipment for realizing religion in the 
 world. If that is all a church does, we may under- 
 stand why so many of them are like the church in 
 Sardis, which had a name to live, but was dead. 
 What a true church does, to more penetrating view, 
 is to supply life to these parts, and so organize them 
 into a living force. Many figures have been chosen 
 as the symbol of the Church. None of them are per- 
 fectly apposite ; but that of Jesus himself is most 
 exact and suggestive. He is the vine, the life-foun- 
 tain ; the churches are branches, supporting their life 
 from that which would have no use without them, and 
 without which they would not be alive. So that the 
 organism is seen to be necessary to the expression of 
 the life ; but much more the life is essential to the 
 organism, for without the life the organism would be 
 both dead and meaningless. The kingdom of Christ 
 is made a reality in human society not by life and 
 thought alone, diffusive and unorganized ; still less 
 by temples, by orders of service, by a preacher, and 
 by a complement of semi-religious and semi-social 
 
80 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 guilds, but by an organism which the spirit of Christ 
 has created for its expression, and which it pervades 
 with its abundant vitality. This may be described as 
 the general function of a Christian church, in which 
 it is at one with all other Christian churches. 
 
 2. Another function which a church may fulfil, 
 and which most modern churches do fulfil, is to 
 embody and represent an idea ; this is what makes 
 denominations. A church takes up an idea, believed 
 by its members to be of first importance, but not so 
 esteemed by the members of other churches ; perhaps 
 it is rejected and reviled by them. It emblazons this 
 idea upon its standards, flings it in the face of the 
 world, and becomes henceforth its champion and ex- 
 ponent. It may be a little idea, like that of the Ana- 
 baptists, or a large idea, like that of the Waldenses. 
 But if the church which espouses it proves faithful 
 to the idea, either it will be tested and approved, or 
 tested and rejected. In the one case a contribution is 
 made to the Christian forces; in the other, a source of 
 illusion and weakness is at length eliminated. 
 
 This is the process of progress. Not by aimless 
 evolution, but by choice of ideas and a resolute fight 
 for them, is the world moved up and on. From much 
 that one hears he would infer that progress comes, 
 not from the choice of ideas and the use made of 
 them, but from an impersonal and airy conflict among 
 themselves. Truth is represented as clutching error; 
 reason rushes in and tears the mask from superstition ; 
 science turns the light on faith; and freedom leaves 
 the field with the scalps of all the tyrannies. It is 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 8 1 
 
 pretty and poetic, but it is not fact. Nor is it much 
 nearer the fact to suppose that light and knowledge 
 are somehow disseminated, schools result, more light 
 is shed abroad, men think, then they lay aside error, 
 and the millennium dawns. The diffusion of educa- 
 tion means the choice of certain ideas as against 
 certain other ideas. And the effect of this diffusion 
 is to lead some men to discern and proclaim other 
 ideas, — to make a stand for them, and so bring them 
 into comparison and competition. Whether that go 
 on peacefully in the forum, the laboratory, the library, 
 or by the use of arms on the field, it is a conflict. 
 And all progress in our world involves conflict. For 
 progress takes place when some man or organization 
 seizes on new and higher ground, and maintains its 
 position until other men and organizations come up 
 to the same level ; or it takes place when the ground 
 thus seized is proved to be not higher nor truer, but 
 possibly lower and more fallacious, and so at length 
 is abandoned, not alone by those who occupy it, but 
 by the onlooking world. 
 
 In 1833 began the Oxford movement in the Church 
 of England. A few men, among whom Newman and 
 Pusey and Keble were leaders, saw, or thought they 
 saw T , light. Their common impulse was to renew the 
 religious life of their church. Their thought was that 
 this would be effected, not by a reformation towards 
 Protestantism, but by a reformation towards Catholi- 
 cism. In their argument, they took up the position 
 that the Church of England had never ceased to be 
 
 an integral part of the one catholic and apostolic 
 
 6 
 
82 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Church, and was still in fellowship with Rome and 
 with Constantinople. Otherwise, they contended, it 
 was not a true church at all, having no apostolic min- 
 istry nor grace of sacraments. 
 
 Here was an idea, taken up by a group of learned, 
 able, and pious men, set forth with extraordinary inge- 
 nuity and eloquence, and when it was attacked, as it 
 soon was, defended with a skill and a calmness of 
 spirit of which there are too few parallels in the his- 
 tory of the Christian Church. So far as the historical 
 facts and the arguments based on them were con- 
 cerned, the movement was a failure. Newman early 
 saw this, as did Manning a little later; and both fol- 
 lowed their logic into Rome. Competent scholars 
 of all schools now pronounce against the contention 
 of the Tractarians ; and only the most incorrigible of 
 themselves hold fast to it. The point in illustration 
 is that, while the idea is not given up, but under the 
 broader ae^is of Hi^h Churchism is marching on in 
 England and in America, the historical and logical 
 grounds of it are exploded. Some time we shall know 
 the fate of the idea itself. At present it wins its way, 
 apparently either because it accords well with the 
 caprice of religious fashion, or because it meets a real 
 religious need of modern Anglo-American society, 
 and so vindicates a measure of truth at its heart. It 
 certainly does not make head by force of any intel- 
 lectual or moral appeal, but palpably against them. 
 But it makes headway. We must discriminate, how- 
 ever, between the edicts of fashion and the verdicts of 
 history. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 83 
 
 The idea with which the Universalist Church is 
 identified is that of the natural sovereignty of truth 
 and righteousness and love. The supremacy belongs 
 to them. We interpret the prophecy we discern in 
 the eternal nature of things, in the evolution of 
 human history, and particularly in the person and 
 mission of Jesus Christ, to mean Universalism, — 
 
 " that good shall fall 
 At last — far off — at last, to all. 
 And every winter change to spring." 
 
 If any church in our sisterhood of churches can 
 claim to have been from the first more intimately con- 
 cerned in the fortune of the Universalist idea than 
 any other, all would agree that this is the church. 
 The prominence of its first pastor in the Universalist 
 movement, the long period during which he was the 
 centre of denominational interest, and the ability and 
 loyalty with which the traditions of Father Ballou's 
 ministry have been sustained in the pulpit and in the 
 pews, easily confer on this church the historic pre- 
 eminence, and weight it with the responsibilities of 
 leadership. 
 
 That it has not fulfilled ideally its mission is to say 
 only that it is a human institution. To convict it of 
 blunders and shortcomings we need nothing more than 
 the spontaneous testimony of its pastors and member- 
 ship. To report that it has sometimes failed to meet 
 the expectations of critical brethren who looked on 
 from afar, is but to recite history. This is not an 
 hour for the caviller; and if it were, I am not the 
 
84 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 man. I am too full of thankfulness and of the senti- 
 ment of filial honor to stand here and dissect a record 
 which on the whole and for so long a period reflects 
 credit on the Universalist name, vindicates nobly the 
 Universalist experiment, and embodies effectively the 
 Universalist spirit. I remember with gratitude to- 
 night that this church has never lowered the flag, 
 never stained the white of its banner, nor changed the 
 color of its blue and its gold. It has been a Univer- 
 salist church throughout. The solidity of its princi- 
 ples, the sanity of its administration, the serenity of its 
 spirit, through all the tempests and the turnings of this 
 three-quarters of a century, challenge my admiration. 
 It has been a wise church. It has been content with 
 the best. So many churches would trade off Saint 
 Paul for Simon Magus it is a mighty comfort to have 
 the example of this church standing out through the 
 years as that of a people who, when the Lord gave them 
 a prince, knew enough to let him reign. If I had not 
 known you, my brethren, and had reasons for honor- 
 ing you on account of what you are in yourselves, I 
 should be able on sound principles of inductive rea- 
 soning to believe you to rank among the sanest and 
 safest people in the world, because you have kept on 
 the bridge-deck of this flag-ship through forty-four 
 stormy years our great admiral. 
 
 If it were required to enumerate some objective 
 fruits of this long occupancy, I will not disguise that 
 the list is shorter than I could wish. It would be 
 especially gratifying in such an anniversary to count 
 up the children of the parent church, the missions fos- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 85 
 
 tered, the colonies sent forth, the ministers educated, 
 the organic offshoots that, while maintaining new and 
 independent life, feel in root and stock the influence 
 that centres here. If we may not indulge our pride of 
 progeny to any large extent, we can recall how for a 
 generation and more the energies of this church were 
 directed to the founding and endowing of colleges and 
 schools and the instituting of publication interests. 
 Here originated many of the most vigorous educa- 
 tional and literary plants we have, and here were the 
 fountains whence steady streams of irrigation flowed 
 to them through long seasons of desert weather. I 
 suspect no record has been kept, except in the books 
 of the sleepless angel who misses no good deed of 
 mortals, of the countless emissaries of schools and 
 churches and missions, and denominational projects 
 of various shades of merit, who have had a w r elcome in 
 this church and have borne away the offerings of this 
 long-suffering people. No one church can do every- 
 thing. Let us be just. And when we are we shall 
 mete out to the old School-Street and the new Colum- 
 bus-Avenue Church a large award of merit for the 
 steadiness and liberality with which it has opened its 
 hand and spoken its blessing to the manifold enter- 
 prises of a developing denomination. 
 
 It remains to say that the labor of this church has 
 not been in vain in the Lord. The contention which 
 it took up was not idle. The idea that God will have 
 all men to be saved is not a transient opinion, having 
 its run with other novelties and then becoming as 
 obsolete as witchcraft. It has proved itself to be vital 
 
86 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 and perennial. What this church enlisted for as a 
 forlorn hope is the pet heresy of the age. It has been 
 shut out of every conventicle and warned off the prem- 
 ises of every school of orthodoxy. But it comes in 
 everywhere like intrusive daylight and is as heedless 
 of anathema as a rising sun. Why, the idea for which 
 this church made a stand seventy-five years ago, amid 
 manifold reviling, has made more headway, in the 
 churches and outside them, than any other sentiment 
 or system which within the same period has appealed 
 to the human soul. First it conquered the Christian 
 reason; then it won the Christian heart; and now it 
 is carrying the citadel of the Christian conscience. 
 Do you say it is now a different doctrine from what it 
 was then ? Well, different as a bird is different from 
 a fledgling. It is with ideas as with eagles. When 
 first hatched you may notice that parts of the old shell 
 adhere to them, and they are awkward and weak. But 
 an eagle is always and only an eagle. It never de- 
 velops into a turtle or a giraffe. Our idea has worked 
 itself clear of the shell and has waxed strong and lithe. 
 But its nature remains unchanged. It is still the 
 thought that God is good, and his purpose good, and 
 his plan good, and the outcome good. To have stood 
 up for that idea when it was lonely and unpopular, 
 and to have kept steadfast to it through the long 
 storm of opposition and obloquy that poured on its 
 devoted head, and to have held up loyally the hands 
 of its great defenders until the storm passed and days 
 of peace and skies of calm were granted, and the awful 
 roar of hate had changed into a psalm of praise, is 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 87 
 
 glory enough for any church, as it is a fortune reserved 
 for few. 
 
 Time, that either vindicates or condemns us all, has 
 nobly vindicated the choice of this church. It might 
 have had more ease, a smoother sail, fanned by the 
 soothing zephyrs of fashion, and come earlier into 
 port, had it chosen the way of man rather than the 
 command of God. But it could not have the unspeak- 
 able satisfaction and triumph of this hour nor the full 
 glory which a later and juster era will surely award to 
 those who threw themselves into this great conflict at 
 every cost and held on till victory came, except by 
 choosing as it chose. I am here to say, Well done, 
 good and faithful servant ! Thou didst enter into 
 partnership with God, and Truth, and Right, in a day 
 when it cost a great price. Thou hast thy exceeding 
 great reward. In thy company are all they who have 
 chosen rather to suffer reproach for a precious cause 
 than to enjoy the pleasure of compliance for a season. 
 If thy children are as wise to choose as were their 
 fathers, and as faithful to execute, and as patient to 
 wait, thy star shall hasten up the sky, and the glory 
 of the present be but a spark to the glory that 
 awaits. 
 
88 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE CHURCH TO-DAY. 
 By Prof. CHARLES H. LEONARD, D. D. 
 
 The place and the work of this church are deter- 
 mined in part, in good degree, it may be, by its his- 
 tory. And yet in a very important sense they are 
 new, — as new as the place and work of the most 
 recently planted Christian society in the city; for a 
 living church adjusts itself to the changing demands 
 of the times, and does not yield to the imperative that 
 history must repeat itself, simply because it happens 
 sometimes so to do. 
 
 Of course, after three fourths of a century, it would 
 be strange if there were not here a certain reserve of 
 intellectual and moral force, a great momentum, too, 
 the growing bequest of the years, which is unmis- 
 takable in its emphasis on religious ideas and 
 methods, and, above all, perhaps, an atmosphere, 
 a climate in the life of the parish, which has grown 
 more and more productive as the years have gone 
 on. It is well to see, however, that these things do 
 not impose a rigid intelligence, nor an unchanging 
 method, nor hold the church to a predestined end. 
 Basis, vigor in compact life, the splendor of acquired 
 facilities, personal power, are here, but not inflexibility, 
 nor what is loosely dignified as a law of repetition, as 
 if the world in which we now live were the same world 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 89 
 
 which our fathers knew, and not a world the like of 
 which was never known before. 
 
 These are the facts of which we must make account, 
 and take counsel, if we would arrive at any safe con- 
 clusions concerning the work and opportunity of this 
 parish, namely, its endowment in ideas and character, 
 and the changed condition of things in modern social 
 and industrial life, by which we have brought together, 
 face to face, a more or less definite product, in the 
 equipped life of a Christian church, and the more 
 flexible problems, not to say perils, of this part of 
 the nineteenth century; and with these facts in view, 
 I shall try to answer the question as to the work and 
 the opportunity of this particular Christian society. 
 
 Looked at from some points, and in view of some 
 facts, it seems as if this church had nothing to do but 
 to keep on in the work with which it started, and by 
 which its career has been made illustrious ; and so 
 perhaps the immediate thought in this connection is 
 that this pulpit is pledged to distinctive ideas, certain 
 constructive principles, from which it cannot depart 
 without violence to the ethics of history and the logic 
 of character. 
 
 I will refer to a few of these principles, as the best 
 way which occurs to me of showing what is the actual 
 opportunity of this church as a part of the great teach- 
 ing force of the time and place. And first, this church 
 has made free and confident use of the idea of de- 
 velopment, as displayed in an orderly method in 
 creation and redemption. The great preacher who 
 stood in this pulpit in the early years saw nothing 
 
90 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 more clearly than that things in creation, and in the 
 moral life of the world, and in things spiritual and 
 religious are continuous, opening more and more 
 towards one consistent whole. This is part of our 
 inheritance and birthright ; and what we of to-day 
 have to do, it seems to me, is to invest the thought, 
 the idea, the principle, with sanction, new power, and 
 help men to see that they may bring to its test their 
 most sacred beliefs with respect to God, and man, and 
 destiny, and the reality and permanence of all divine 
 things. And I can conceive of no safer, no more 
 effective way of meeting the ignorance of violent at- 
 tack upon Christianity, or of showing the futility of 
 all attempts to reconcile things that can only be com- 
 pared and contrasted, than to call men to a calmer, a 
 more catholic, a more judicial discussion of this ques- 
 tion of theistic development, of theistic evolution. 
 Nor am I so sure but a part of a Christian scholar's 
 work in the pulpit of to-day may be the cultivation of 
 a more hospitable temper towards doubt ; for much 
 that goes by that name, and expresses itself in de- 
 structive criticism, may leave us richer than it found 
 us ; just as men are said to have enriched wide districts 
 of land and prepared it for finer and ampler growths, 
 by their very eager efforts after a hidden treasure 
 which they never found. 
 
 Another principle which forms a part of this soci- 
 ety's inheritance is that human life is a process of 
 education, and not a state of mere probation. Hosea 
 Ballou's sermons would be wonderfully instructive and 
 interesting reading if turned to in the light of to-day, 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 91 
 
 especially in their study and argument concerning 
 humanity and its relation to God. His favorite anal- 
 ogy, as we know, was that of the family; and it is no 
 wonder that men were moved to the delight of tears 
 when they heard that God educates his children as a 
 good father in the home on earth trains his child for 
 use and responsibility. Did ever preacher deal with 
 things vital and things incidental in a more discrim- 
 inating, convincing, because common-sense way than 
 this prophet of a New Evangel, who came teaching 
 that man's soul must turn to the reconciling Love as 
 some lesser orb of the same substance turns to some 
 central attraction ? The form which the thought took 
 on belonged to the prevalent philosophy, and would 
 not have been intelligible in any other phrase ; but 
 the thought itself has its ethical content, and points 
 to a product in moral and spiritual life which implies 
 an ethical process. And it seems but just to say that 
 this is precisely what this pulpit in these more recent 
 years has illustrated ; for, how far short soever it may 
 have come in other things, its stalwart advocacy of a 
 humane theology, or a theology in the form of ethics, 
 has been as pre-eminent as it has been constant and 
 effective. And this very procession in the history of 
 this educational idea, and this very progress in the 
 method of dealing with it, hints the inevitable oppor- 
 tunity in this regard for our day and for the awakened 
 mind of the present age. In larger meaning than the 
 phrase has been made to say, we want the old truth in 
 new lights. The thought of providential education — 
 with strong stress upon the word " providential " — is 
 
92 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 fundamental in the Christian scheme. God is in his- 
 tory. That is the premise and text of the modern 
 Christian preacher in the face of a materialistic phi- 
 losophy, whether of the physical or idealistic type ; 
 and so why may it not be a good part of his chief 
 business to show men that they have something to do 
 with this universe beyond its arithmetic and its statis- 
 tics, and that it is not the most comfortable result to 
 gain the whole world to our positive theories and lose 
 one's own soul ? To me it seems a great opportunity 
 to speak to thinking, feeling, dying men and women 
 of moral worth, spiritual power, religious life, as a 
 somewhat involved in a Divine purpose and a divinely 
 progressive method ; and it seems to me no mean 
 prerogative to help religion get rid of the multiplica- 
 tion-table and mechanics and a mere commandment, 
 and to invest it with moral significance, so that we 
 shall see that it is no abstraction, nor what Martineau 
 calls a charm against a bad lineage, nor a protection 
 against God, nor a means of escape from a threatened 
 calamity, but the greatest possible good to the human 
 soul ; and all this because man is taken into the great 
 purposes of history as that history is controlled by a 
 power which makes for righteousness, and informed 
 by a love which forever works toward completeness. 
 And so if I wanted to move this people to a work 
 which might radiate into the darkest and foulest 
 places of this city, I would urge it as a part of pres- 
 ent opportunity to put the emphasis upon the thought 
 that life is a process of education, a constant training 
 for nobler and ampler things. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 93 
 
 But a third principle, which all others suggest, and 
 to which in their action at any rate all others tend, is 
 the principle of unity in the spiritual life. Need I say 
 that the emphasis is on the word "spiritual," and that 
 I have in mind that which is basis and motive of 
 all other unity, and that my thought goes on to a 
 personal being in whom all things consist ? And 
 therefore it seems to me that that is a most 
 helpful philosophy of our day which takes in all 
 the facts of matter as well as mind, and gets rid of 
 dualism, not by exclusion of this or that, but by in- 
 troducing God as the living, creative centre of all 
 things. 
 
 Now, I think it will be conceded that this truth 
 is, in a very special sense, this society's inheritance. 
 What have they to do with it in the use of opportu- 
 nity here, in this year of grace, in this city, and as the 
 representatives of a great cause ? I suspect that the 
 answer which shapes itself in my own mind may 
 sound as if I were taking account of imagined infer- 
 ences and consequences, and so departing from the 
 nobler methods of criticism which always evenly keep 
 to the central fact or principle. I may venture to say, 
 however, that while we are not likely here to have 
 superficial, ignorant thrust at theology as a proper 
 subject of study as basis for discourse, and in its real 
 definition, as including the concrete facts of history 
 and the problems of our social organism, the ground 
 of our best service for the good of our fellows, — we 
 may have from pulpit and pew the traditional phrases, 
 if not the traditional ideas, about this spiritual unity 
 
94 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 as belonging to or to be realized in another world, — ■ 
 one that is as really set in time and place as this world 
 is. Why not conform to a better metaphysics of the 
 faith, and contemplate spiritual unity through a per- 
 fected humanity as a state quite independent of now 
 and then, of here and there, and transfer its scene, not 
 from this world to that, nor from that to this, but from 
 all worlds external to the soul itself, and fix attention 
 upon the truth that man's spirit does not get out of 
 its own centre ; that it is eternally allied to God, 
 and that all its processes in thought and feeling are 
 indissolubly connected with the infinite thought and 
 the perfect will ? So far, then, from having passed 
 beyond our opportunity, or from having allowed our 
 opportunity to pass beyond us, it fronts us to-day as 
 never before ; and as never before the call of the most 
 thoughtful life is, not only to take, but to make op- 
 portunity in an aggressive scholarship and piety, to 
 startle the eager hearing of the congregations into 
 new thinking on new lines and in new terms about 
 the old truth. It is not a new theology, nor a new 
 principle of life that we want, but a new and more 
 inspiring homiletics, — one that has such eagerness 
 for souls that it will transcend the formalities of the 
 books, and seize upon life and the things of life and 
 history, and by means of them bring subjects to date, 
 and give them the signature and the address of a 
 living message. 
 
 Is this, then, our opportunity, I hear you ask, just 
 to take our inheritance in a threefold principle of 
 providential order, of progressive education, of essen- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 95 
 
 tial unity, and do our best to make it alive and con- 
 structive ? I sincerely think so, even after trying to 
 force my thoughts for this occasion into other chan- 
 nels. If I have disappointed the intelligent longing 
 that is in the heart of the present pastor of this church, 
 or failed to respond to any quickened desire of man 
 or woman in the pews to see this religious society in 
 the forefront of benevolent activity in this city, I can 
 only plead that as often as the vision of such activity 
 rose up before me, I reverted to the grounds of it, and 
 became absorbed with the truth that fires souls for 
 Christian work, gives them motive for it and in it, 
 binds them to sacrifice, makes them ready to take the 
 vows of poverty, and of single obedience to Christ, 
 and hold on in the way he took for the sake of the 
 poor, the sinful, the sorrowing. 
 
 I think I see what might result here from the ser- 
 vice of a trained body of workers on secular lines 
 even. I think I see what might be done by the 
 establishment of neighborhood meetings. I appre- 
 ciate the methods of the great English missions and 
 guilds. I have made some study of the unique work 
 done by the brotherhood of Saint John the Evan- 
 gelist, by the Berkeley Street clergy and laity, by the 
 Oxford House abroad and the Andover House at 
 home, and I join you and others in sympathetic 
 interest in the new venture of the near Shawmut 
 Congregational Church ; but we must see that these 
 things, or most of them at any rate, would mean for 
 us reorganization. And after all, the first step in 
 social reform must be the conscious organization of 
 
96 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 the intelligent and moral life of the people. It is 
 easy enough to have schemes ; it is not so easy to 
 give them eyes and feet and hands. I do believe 
 that a great deal can be done here through friendly 
 bands, united to reach and work for young men ; 
 through the establishment of guilds, sodalities, clubs, 
 with the church as centre. One of the most useful 
 agencies here would be a Girls' Friendly Society, to 
 bind together in one ladies as associates and working- 
 girls as members, for mutual help, both religious and 
 secular, to encourage purity of life, dutifulness to pa- 
 rents, faithfulness to employers, and thrift; and if the 
 psychology of my address is correct, or at all sug- 
 gestive, some of these things will come in a natural 
 order ; for my thought is that particular efforts to 
 reform or build up life on these definite lines will 
 result from the wiser and more comprehensive hope 
 of men and women. 
 
 In one of the great galleries of Spanish Seville 
 hang three paintings which retell, each in its own 
 way, the story of Christ feeding the five thousand. 
 In one, the central idea is the charity of Jesus ; in 
 another, the central thought is the hunger of the 
 multitude ; in a third, the great master of art and 
 interpreter of religion and life has so brought together 
 the Lord of help and the need of men, that the action 
 of the one answers to the action of the other, as 
 power to result, and result to power. Here, to me, is 
 dim sign and representation of both sides of our great 
 opportunity, — the famishing life of the city at the 
 very door of the church, and the church's own plenary 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 97 
 
 power in a fortified intelligence and a reinforced faith ; 
 so that, in regard to the fewest means at our command, 
 the question is not, What are they among so many ? 
 but How marvellously are they multiplied for the sus- 
 tenance of the world ? 
 
SOCIAL PARISH GATHERING. 
 
Aged 46. 
 

 SOCIAL PARISH GATHERING. 
 
 : 
 
 A T about the hour of seven the not easy task of 
 ^~^ seating the company began, and twenty minutes 
 later Mr. H. D. Williams, master of ceremonies, 
 called the company to order in a brief address, as 
 follows : — 
 
 In behalf of the Second Universalist Society I bid you cor- 
 dial greeting. Welcome, one and all, to our festival. Old 
 friends who in years past gave of your wisdom, your strength, 
 and your resources; you who to-day fill the pews and hold 
 up the hands of the pastors ; and ye young, who to-morrow 
 may have responsible charge of affairs. A common love, a 
 common faith, fills all hearts to-night. May our gathering be 
 rich in pleasant and sacred memories, rich in vows of con- 
 tinued fidelity to this old historic parish, and the beautiful 
 faith it upholds. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Miner, at the request of the president, 
 offered prayer. 
 
 The company were then urged to attend to- the 
 practical duties before them. 
 
 During the banquet, music was furnished by an 
 orchestra from Baldwin's Cadet Band. 
 
 The scene in the lecture-room was a brilliant one. 
 Eight long tables filled the entire space, and there 
 
102 SECOND SOCIETY OF UXIVERSALISTS. 
 
 were seated about them a company numbering three 
 hundred and sixty ladies and gentlemen, present and 
 former members of the society. 
 
 It was a little after eight o'clock when the company 
 were called to order by the president. He said : — 
 
 Anniversaries like the present occur but seldom, and it is 
 fitting that we recognize them when they come. Seventy- 
 five years of organization, seventy-five years of church life, is 
 a large contribution to man's advancement and to the world's 
 history. It was a grand message the fathers of our church 
 brought, and it has worked a mighty change in religious 
 thought. In serious way our story was presented to the pub- 
 lic on the 1 8th of December last. To-night as a family we 
 gather around these tables in a social way, to recall the les- 
 sons of that day and to gather strength and courage for the 
 present. That our services may be conducted in proper form 
 we have appointed Hon. A. A. Folsom, one of our Standing 
 Committee, toast-master, and when he rises you will all give 
 close attention to the sentiments he will present. It will 
 be my privilege to call out the speakers to respond. 
 
 Mr. Folsom announced the 
 
 First Toast. Our First Pastor: the fearless advocate of 
 God's love in an age when men believed in God's hate. He 
 boldly challenged a narrow and cruel creed, and proclaimed a 
 common brotherhood and a common destiny. 
 
 In introducing the speaker, the president said : " Our 
 parish history and the services of our first pastor were 
 ably presented at our December meeting by Dr. Miner, 
 and on the evening of the same day Dr. Cone gave us 
 a scholarly analysis of his character and work. There 
 is, however, one estimate not yet presented. We have 
 with us in our church Hosea Ballou's grandson. He 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 m, ■ *m 
 
 
 CHURCH ON COLUMBUS AVENUE. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 103 
 
 is familiar with family records and private papers, and 
 from a loving mother gathered such knowledge of the 
 Grandfather's life and character as only a home can 
 know. I have the pleasure to call upon B. B. Whit- 
 temore, Esq." 
 
 MR. WHITTEMORE'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Friends : In responding to the toast, 
 "The First Pastor of this Church," the brief time allotted to 
 me will compel me to speak in graphic terms. I must there- 
 fore present to your consideration Hosea Ballou as the great- 
 est reformer that the Christian Church has known since the 
 earliest times. 
 
 The reformation of Martin Luther was a protest against 
 abuses of power in the Romish Church, but the reformation 
 inaugurated by Hosea Ballou was a complete emancipation 
 from the pagan doctrines that had been held in the Christian 
 Church down to his day. The doctrines of the fall of man 
 and of vicarious atonement had been accepted by the Church 
 from the earlier ages, and the Universalism of John Murray 
 and Elhanan Winchester was only based on the universality 
 of the atonement. It was generally conceded that the Scrip- 
 tures taught these doctrines, and no one was found to ques- 
 tion the fact until Hosea Ballou in his unbiased youth was 
 moved to look clearly down into the Bible and to discover 
 that the old doctrines, against which his heart and soul re- 
 belled, were not taught in the Scriptures ; and it was reserved 
 for him, in his famous " Treatise on Atonement," published 
 in 1805, with a masterly hand to sweep away the errors of 
 Scriptural interpretation and to present to the world that 
 magnificent statement of Christian theology which is the 
 foundation of the faith of the liberal church of to-day and 
 
104 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 the goal towards which the evangelical church is laboriously 
 and painfully struggling. 
 
 For the defence of his new-found faith he was admirably 
 equipped. A brilliant orator, a diligent student, a profound 
 Biblical scholar, a rare logician, and a master of incisive 
 rhetoric, he was a match for any foe who dared meet him, 
 either in oral or written debate. It has been the habit of 
 some of his critics in our day to lament the trifling slips in 
 language to be found in some of his earlier writings, as likely 
 to prevent his influence from reaching scholastic quarters. 
 But I am happy to believe that the fears of our critics are 
 quite groundless. Numerous university-bred gentlemen tried 
 their hand in controversy with Mr. Ballou while he was yet 
 a mere youth, and the celerity and surprise with which they 
 dropped him indicated their appreciation of his powers. 
 The manner in which he handled the best of them will be 
 found exceedingly interesting to those who will read his 
 life and writings. 
 
 Mr. Ballou was a student of a rare quality, at all times 
 deeply engrossed in the investigation of some important 
 subject. His reading was varied, careful, patient, and always 
 directed to a definite purpose, and it will be seen that he 
 developed rhetorical powers that rendered his later writings 
 models of beauty and conciseness. Thus prepared he spoke 
 at all times without notes, never wandering from his subject, 
 but, with happy illustration and winning demeanor, holding 
 his audiences, old and young, in rapt attention. 
 
 Such was the man who seventy-five years ago became the 
 first pastor of the Second Society of Universalists of the 
 town of Boston. Coming to this society at the age of forty- 
 six years in the full plenitude of his powers, he brought with 
 him a name and a fame that were known throughout New 
 England, and as far as the theological and secular papers 
 were distributed in this country. He was as deeply beloved 
 by the converts to Universalism as he was profoundly hated 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 105 
 
 by the clergy of the old churches, who were already alarmed 
 at the effects which his stalwart blows were producing on the 
 foundations of their creeds. From the time of his coming to 
 this society, until relieved of his pastoral cares by the aid of 
 a colleague, he devoted himself with untiring energy to the 
 prosecution of the great work to which he was called. His 
 matchless eloquence and keen logic drew multitudes of hear- 
 ers, who thrice on each recurring Sunday crowded the old 
 School Street Church to its utmost capacity. As years 
 passed, when enabled to leave his pulpit in Boston, he was 
 welcomed in different parts of New England, New York, 
 Pennsylvania, and the farther West, as the great apostle of 
 God's universal grace. Crowds gathered to hear him wher- 
 ever he spoke, and on more than one occasion in summer 
 time, standing in the window of a church, he spoke to a 
 larger audience on the outside, while addressing the people 
 who filled the auditorium within. 
 
 It may be interesting to hear my mother's (his daughter's) 
 description of him at the time of his coming to this society. 
 He was fully six feet in height and weighed about two hun- 
 dred and twenty pounds. His eye was a clear blue, and his 
 countenance beamed with health and good-humor. He was 
 a born orator, devoid of all violent ranting, and holding his 
 audience by the power of persuasive eloquence. His logic 
 was clear, clean, and fascinating. He had a keen sense of 
 humor, but his exercise of wit was characterized by courtesy 
 and refinement. He was courageous and self-possessed, be- 
 coming so by years of experience in defence of the cause 
 which he espoused. 
 
 It will not, then, be thought strange that this man should 
 have built up this society and constituted it, literally, the 
 standard-bearer of the Universalist Church. Nor will it be 
 thought strange that his clear vision should have discovered 
 the young man whom he believed, of all others, best fitted 
 to receive his mantle and to carry on the great work inau- 
 
106 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 gurated by him, and who, fulfilling the mission to which he 
 was called, has continued the great leader of the church 
 which his predecessor founded, the shepherd of a devoted 
 people, the man whom all delight to honor, — the beloved 
 senior pastor, whom we so gladly welcome here to-night. 
 
 Second Toast. The Organizations of the Utiiversalist Church, — 
 Local, State, National : they embody and express the genius of 
 our religion, and invite to united action and systematic Christian 
 work. 
 
 " We are honored to-night," said the president, 
 "with the presence ot the president of our general 
 convention, who all his life long has worked for the 
 improvement of methods of church work. I have 
 the pleasure to call upon Hon. H. B. Metcalf, of 
 Pawtucket, to respond." 
 
 The gentleman then spoke substantially as follows : 
 
 HON. H. B. METCALF'S ADDRESS. 
 
 The sentiment to which you have asked me to respond 
 is one for which I should like to have a different audience. 
 The audience that I should like would be that class of people 
 who are always wanting most from the organization and pour- 
 ing least into it. They are the hardest people to suit on the 
 face of the earth. 
 
 Now this parish here — the old "School-Street" parish 
 — is not the parish for me to talk to on that line. It does 
 not need my injunction to be faithful to the organizations of 
 the Universalist Church. If I should say that to some people 
 they would say, " Oh, Columbus-Avenue Church is rich ! " 
 But I knew something of the church when it was not rich, 
 and I am well informed in relation to all those things; but in 
 spite of the fact that Dr. Miner sits here, I do not mind say- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 107 
 
 ing to you — you need not tell him if you do not want to — 
 that his influence had more to do towards developing the 
 spirit of organization than any other of his associates. I 
 always remember hearing him, when some application was 
 made for aid, talking with his brother clergymen about it. 
 He said, " I think we ought to help that. I think my parish 
 will assist." " Yes," said one, " you can do it." " Yes, 
 that's exactly it; and I mean that they shall be in the habit 
 of doing.". And this habit they always had. 
 
 I know, as I said before, something about what has gone 
 out from the " Old School Street" Church and the Columbus 
 Avenue Church; and if I refer to anything which has been 
 done by members of this parish, I do not count myself in. 
 
 That excellent institution, the Universalist Sabbath School 
 Union, was conceived by one who has been one of the most 
 valued and active members of the church, — an organiza- 
 tion that in later days was very effective in strengthening 
 the denomination, in strengthening and leading to other 
 organizations. 
 
 I cannot tell you positively, because I do not know, who 
 made the first movement in behalf of Tufts College. I have 
 the impression that it was a member of the School Street 
 Society; but whether so or not, Tufts College did not move 
 but a very short distance until School Street Church took 
 hold and put in some of the largest contributions that ever 
 went in. So much for School Street Church and Tufts 
 College ! That is an admirable institution known as " The 
 Goddard Seminary." I know who has been the bountiful 
 benefactor of that interest, — one of the grandest men we 
 have ever known in Christian work, Thomas A. Goddard. 
 
 There is another institution, " Dean Academy," founded 
 and established by a member of the old School Street Uni- 
 versalist Society, Dr. Oliver Dean. It founded the Pub- 
 lishing House. I hope you know all about it; go there 
 often, and buy lots of books that they have for sale. If you 
 
IOS SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 do not, you make a great mistake. This society furnished 
 the men who started and raised and backed the money to 
 build up that Publishing House. I do not live here now, 
 and am not a member of the society now. If I was, perhaps 
 you might think I was boasting a little; but since I have left, 
 I can talk plainly about the things of the past. 
 
 Let us go on a little further. The first organization that 
 we had in the Universalist Church, outside of the churches 
 themselves, that could be called an ecclesiastical organization, 
 was the " Massachusetts Universalist Convention." It had its 
 beginning in the old School Street Church. Some of the 
 people are here from that body. You do not realize what 
 this advantage of organization is. You do not realize how 
 our fathers distrusted organization. They had seen organi- 
 zations interfere with the liberty of the people, and they had 
 got prejudiced very much against organization, and we had 
 quite a little fight in establishing the Massachusetts Univer- 
 salist Convention ; but the School Street Church favored the 
 project, though some of the people who opposed it thought 
 that they would be sorry for what they had done. The 
 States all about have copied after our convention, however. 
 It was the forerunner of the ecclesiastical organization of 
 the denomination. The General Convention of Universalists 
 came into existence about 1870. The same people were 
 there; the same people were taking the leading part; the 
 same people are largely entitled to the credit. I do not 
 want to claim all the credit of the convention; but you know 
 that the Massachusetts Convention was the stepping-stone to 
 that larger organization. 
 
 Now, have I not given you reasons enough why I should 
 not talk to you, why I should not talk to this parish, about 
 loyalty to church interests? I wish simply to congratulate 
 you that you have done so well. I wish to say to the young 
 people that I hope you will be true to what they have been 
 doing; and I hope you will make it as great a success as 
 your fathers have done. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 109 
 
 Third Toast. Our Sister Churches : moved by a common faith 
 and a common love, may all be united in one great fellowship of 
 service. 
 
 Rev. Charles R. Tenney, pastor of the Grove Hall 
 Church, Roxbury, was called upon to respond. He 
 spoke as follows : — 
 
 REV. MR. TENNEY'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: I am not 
 quite able to see why I should have been selected to respond 
 to this sentiment; for, as I look into the faces of the congre- 
 gation at Grove Hall, I see a great many who have come out 
 from School Street Church ; and it appears that the Grove 
 Hall Society and Church is not so much a " sister" as per- 
 haps a daughter of this society. I look again into the faces 
 of the congregation gathered there, and I see a great many 
 who are a generation removed from the School Street Soci- 
 ety, whose parents were here ; and then it occurs to me that 
 perhaps our relationship is that of a granddaughter to the 
 old School Street Society; and yet I am to-night to speak 
 to the sentiment, " The Sister Churches." I wonder what is 
 meant by that expression, by the way ! Is it meant to take 
 in merely the Universalist churches? If so, the prayer for 
 their unity is one in which I think we might all very well 
 join, and to which every one here would be ready to respond, 
 "Amen! " 
 
 However, it occurs to me to say to you, that if we were 
 moved by a common faith, there would be no question but 
 we should live in fellowship one with another. We have a 
 common faith. There are beliefs which we hold ; but are 
 we moved by those beliefs as we should be? Do they take 
 hold of us? On the other hand, are we not often shocked to 
 find how unmoved we are in contemplation of those great 
 
HO SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 beliefs? It is a belief in the Fatherhood of God; a belief 
 that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world ; a belief in the 
 immortality of the human soul ; a belief in the final victory 
 of God over evil. If we were really moved by these beliefs 
 as they are well fitted to move us, do you think there would 
 be any question but we should live together in closest fellow- 
 ship? any question but we should love one another sincerely, 
 and be ready for any sacrifices that we might help one an- 
 other? If we look in detail into these beliefs, I am sure we 
 shall find that this must be the outcome. It is a belief in 
 God the Father. It is that upon which we are centred. To 
 be moved by a belief in God the Father, or feel it so that it 
 moves us as it should, all bitterness would be driven out, and 
 our souls made sweet and loving like his in whom we trust. 
 I tell you if a man love God, he will love his brother also. 
 And it shall be an evidence that we are moved by our com- 
 mon belief in the universal love of God if we love one another 
 deeply, devotedly, and so that we are ready to make sacri- 
 fices in a common cause. This love of God, if it moves us 
 as it should, will extinguish all hate, put out the fire of 
 resentment, and draw us together in a sweet harmony. In- 
 deed, is it not doing this ; and as we are moved by it more 
 and more, will it not do this more and more for us? 
 
 We believe in humanity as represented in Jesus. This is 
 one of our common beliefs. As we contemplate this great 
 ideal, are we not bound to be humble? If a brother is over- 
 taken in a fault, this belief disposes us to forgive him, con- 
 sidering ourselves lest we also be tempted. The ideal is 
 very, very high. Let us be moved by the belief in that 
 ideal, and how surely shall we be swung close together as we 
 journey on toward that height. 
 
 We believe in the triumph of the right. How well calcu- 
 lated this is to make us patient with all. There is a man, 
 one of our brothers, who falls aside from the right path, but 
 God still loves him and cares for him. Shall I not be patient 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. m 
 
 with him and love him also? You remember the beautiful 
 story told of Abraham. He was sitting at the door of his 
 tent to welcome strangers. There came along an old man 
 to the door of his tent, — he was a hundred years old, — and 
 Abraham gave him welcome, bidding him sit at meat within 
 his tent. You remember that he commenced his meal with- 
 out saying grace, and Abraham then asked him if he did not 
 recognize the hand of God in those things which were pro- 
 vided? And the old man said that he did not believe in 
 a God ; he believed and worshipped only the fire. And 
 Abraham was angry, and thrust him out of his tent, and sent 
 him away into the dark night. And God came and said to 
 Abraham, "Where is this stranger?" And Abraham said, 
 " I thrust him out because he did not worship Thee." God 
 answered, " How is it? I have borne with him this hundred 
 years; could you not bear with him one night?" Let us 
 believe in the great victory which is to be over all evil, in 
 the victory of love, in the victory of God, and how patient 
 shall we become with our fellow-men ! We shall be patient 
 in the delay of the full realization of those ideals toward 
 which we have set our faces. How much might be said 
 upon this great theme. 
 
 But I return to that expression, " The Sister Churches." 
 Is that to be confined to the churches of the Universalist 
 faith? And should our fellowship be sweet and loving with 
 those who bear our name alone? No; I rejoice to say that 
 we recognize Christians everywhere. And may God speed 
 the day when, moved by the common faith in Christ, we shall 
 live together in one great fellowship. 
 
 I am grateful, Mr. Chairman, for the honor of standing 
 here to speak to this sentiment, " Our Sister Churches." I 
 am glad to bear my witness to the regard that all feel for 
 this home church. May God bless it and prosper it 
 abundantly. 
 
112 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Fourth Toast. Our Graduates : wherever found may they be 
 true to their alma mater and to the faith she taught them, — willing 
 workers for Universalism everywhere. 
 
 The president said : " When I first entered the 
 School Street Sunday-school I made the acquaint- 
 ance of a teacher of a large Bible class. I knew 
 him also as president of the Sabbath School Union ; 
 as president and treasurer of the State convention ; 
 as president of the United States convention ; as 
 treasurer of the Universalist Publishing House ; as 
 president of the trustees of Tufts College. Out of 
 this busy life for the church he can best respond to 
 our toast. I introduce to you Mr. John D. W. Joy." 
 
 After the prolonged and significant applause sub- 
 sided, Mr. Joy said: — 
 
 MR. JOY'S ADDRESS. 
 
 I wish I could express the gratitude I feel for the privilege 
 of this occasion. As I look over this large company I see 
 many strangers, and yet to-night we are friends. I will try 
 briefly as best I may to speak for so great a multitude as 
 " the graduates of the Second Universalist Church of Bos- 
 ton." I am reminded that there are graduates and gradu- 
 ates in a church, as there are in colleges and in business life ; 
 and I say to the young friends who are present that this 
 should be borne in mind. Out of my experience I can 
 easily recall many men who have graduated from college. 
 One, whose father told me that he went to college with 
 ample means, with every opportunity to make his mark in 
 the world, but for four months after he got his papers did 
 nothing, and then began on the lowest round in a woollen 
 mill, sorting wool at $1.25 per day, and worked up, until he 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 113 
 
 to-day stands, a man among men, a full-fledged graduate of 
 that profession with a large compensation. He did not grad- 
 uate from the college. 
 
 I know another man with large wealth who told me himself 
 that he went through college. By dint of what is known to 
 college men as coaching, by aid of tutors, he finally got his 
 papers and retired on his wealth, and for thirty years has 
 done nothing but spend his fortune. I know of yet another 
 who went into college with ample means. He worked hard 
 and graduated, and he is now one of the leading young lawyers 
 in one of the largest States in this country, and has been 
 honored recently by a very high position in the government 
 of the United States. There are many others. 
 
 I look back thirty-five years when we were obliged to sever 
 our relations with School Street Church, and in coming back 
 to-day it seems to be our church home. I look back to that 
 time and recall the men and women who were my companions 
 under the ministrations of Dr. Miner. How many are gone ! 
 I count it a great honor that I had the friendship of Father 
 Ballou, Dr. Chapin, and Dr. Miner. They were eloquent 
 men, and gave no uncertain sound on Christianity; and from 
 out of their ministrations and teachings the men and women 
 who graduated still continue onward, developing into willing 
 workers for the Christian Church. Many have not graduated 
 as Dr. Miner would have desired, but a large number have, 
 and many of them are at work in the churches of other denom- 
 inations. God bless them if in their connections they are 
 still working under some banner in the Christian fold, if not 
 under ours. 
 
 But those under our banner are scattered everywhere. I 
 have heard of them in California, Michigan, Colorado, in Wis- 
 consin, in Iowa, and have met them in Maine, in Minnesota, in 
 Ohio, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and all 
 of the New England States. But wherever I have known 
 them, in our church or in some other church, they were loyal 
 
114 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 to Christ and the work of his Church. Many of these men 
 and women have built up our institutions into their present 
 prosperity. Brother Metcalf has told you of them. We are 
 proud of that society that gave these men and women to 
 work, who gave us what we have, and have continued to 
 work to make the church greater with continued loyalty 
 to Christianity. 
 
 Some say to me, " Oh ! you want to make Universalists." 
 Certainly I do. I want to make Universalists because I be- 
 lieve a true Universalist is the highest type of a Christian. 
 But if I cannot do that I would like to have them Christians 
 any way. And so I have tried during my life to honor my 
 alma mater and to do my church work in the way that a busi- 
 ness man has to, leaving the result with that God whom I 
 learned in the Universalist Church to love, reverence, and 
 trust. 
 
 God bless you, one and all. I wish that I could speak 
 better than I have for the large company of graduates; 
 but you have my good wishes. 
 
 Fifth Toast. ■ The Present our Opportunity. Inheritors of a 
 great past, and believers in a great future, we realize that the 
 work of our parish lies in the present. By united effort may we 
 make our church a centre of light and of power. 
 
 Said President Williams : " The drift of our ser- 
 vices in December was largely to the past, and the first 
 address to-night, which we listened to with pleasure, 
 supplements and completes the record. For the bal- 
 ance of the evening we propose to examine the present 
 and take a look ahead, — ' a look forward and not 
 back, up and not down.' Honorable as has been our 
 record it is possible for us to win greater and better 
 success. If the antagonisms of the past had advan- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 115 
 
 tages for the development of a sturdy church, it is no 
 less true that in the favorable attitude of the world 
 about us to-day Universalists have a better opportu- 
 nity for useful work, — a more favorable position for 
 influencing religious thought. 
 
 " Our senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Miner, will respond." 
 The rising of Dr. Miner was the signal of a demon- 
 stration which here needs no interpretation. As soon 
 as returning quiet prevailed, he in substance said : — 
 
 DR. MINER'S ADDRESS. 
 
 I gratefully thank you, my friends, for this kind reception. 
 I cannot, in the few moments I am at liberty to occupy, do 
 justice to the subject to which I am called. I can hardly 
 express to you my feelings in this hour. In 1837, having 
 four months previously preached my first sermon, I met for 
 the first time Rev. Hosea Ballou in Walpole, N. H., and by 
 some strange circumstance, known to him and not to me, I 
 was invited to enter the desk with him and conduct the open- 
 ing services on the closing of a convention. That sermon 
 was a powerful one, and is daguerreotyped upon my memory, 
 and I wish I might repeat it to you. I think I never gave you 
 so good a sermon ; and I could repeat it, but I must not. 
 
 Fifty-six years, come June, have passed since that date, — 
 fifty-six years, forty-four of which I have spent with you in 
 this and in the School Street Church. Am I not speaking 
 to you as to my children and grandchildren? I could not tell 
 you how my heart has been tried again and again as I have 
 seen families leave, called away by business or otherwise to 
 some parish outside our limits. What the mobility of the 
 people of a great city is, only those who have observed it can 
 know. At the height of the greatest prosperity of our Sun- 
 day-school in School Street Church about one hundred went 
 
Il6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UX1VERSALISTS. 
 
 out every year and another hundred came in, and that was 
 but an indication of the changes going on in the parish itself. 
 One of our excellent brothers who spoke to us on the evening 
 of December 18 regretted that we had no more children to 
 show. Bless his soul ! He does not " know how it is himself." 
 He has not been here to watch the operation. What mat- 
 ters it whether we go out and plant a parish, or pour streams 
 of influence into other parishes, and, as Brother Joy has said, 
 into remote sections of the country? I have travelled some- 
 what in the United States and beyond, and at every point I 
 have come across those who stand up and say: " Dr. Miner, 
 I have attended your church ; " or, " You married me." 
 And when I tell you I have joined nearly three thousand 
 couples in the solemn bonds of matrimony, — not so solemn 
 as holy, I hope [laughter], — you may have some indication 
 of what our lines of action have been. And so, friends, I 
 have known many people. It delights my heart to meet so 
 many here who have formerly been connected with us. I am 
 glad to feel that there are sympathies in your hearts which 
 called you here to-night to testify your regard for this old 
 parish. 
 
 You ask me to speak of the present and future. Our 
 opportunities are everlasting. As man is always redeem- 
 able, so there are always opportunities for winning men 
 and women to Christ. You will not think me trespassing 
 on the proprieties of the occasion when I say that genera- 
 tion after generation of this parish, whether in School Street 
 Church or in this, — of those who have departed and of those 
 who remain, — during the forty-four years I have been with 
 you have remained faithful and active in Christian work. If 
 they have not touched high-water mark, that is the achieve- 
 ment which remains for us. It is the respect I bear for 
 the men and women of these forty-four years that leads me 
 to cherish unbounded confidence in the years which shall 
 come. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 117 
 
 New administrations fall into new hands. But they are 
 skilful hands. They are men who understand business, who 
 know how to manage affairs and hold the helm of the church 
 as they would hold the helm of a ship, with a steady hand, 
 knowing the course they are sailing. Hence, I have un- 
 bounded confidence in the administration of the church in 
 time to come. This being the character of the people, their 
 opportunity is ripe. They have full opportunity for good 
 Christian work. 
 
 But, ladies and gentlemen, we have but a moderate idea of 
 what is possible to us through individual work. Do not think 
 of the pulpit alone; think of individual efforts. If: is a great 
 field which lies before us; and although I see the difficulties, 
 there are vast possibilities for us through individual work. 
 We have not had so much of this as we might have had. 
 Great as our work has been, I shall be glad to see the day 
 when every man and woman in the congregation shall make 
 all not engaged in Christian work feel that they are robbing 
 this community, robbing society at large, and robbing them- 
 selves of the greatest influence for good. 
 
 Let me say further: We talk about strengthening and en- 
 larging the church and making it more and more useful. An 
 organization is worth just what it will do. A church exists, 
 not for its own sake, — it is the means whereby the worship- 
 pers combine their strength for work. Something of this work 
 has been done during the seventy-five years of our history. I 
 trust more will be done in the years that shall come. 
 
 We are celebrating our seventy-fifth anniversary. We are 
 also celebrating the first anniversary of the junior pastor. 
 [Great applause.] I had but slight opportunities for per- 
 sonal acquaintance with him before he was invited by you to 
 become your pastor. Those few opportunities had endeared 
 him as strongly to my heart as I could expect. The year, 
 however, he has been with us has greatly strengthened my 
 affection for him, and I feel at liberty to say that the junior 
 
Il8 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 and senior pastors are indissolubly bound together. I am 
 glad to behold evidence that he has made a warm place in 
 all your hearts. [Applause.] He has a right to look to you 
 for help. Let no one say: "I am too wearied from my 
 week's work," or, " I was out late Saturday night," or any 
 other frivolous saying, as an excuse for absenting himself 
 from church, and then think to balance the account by say- 
 ing, " I send my children to the Sunday-school! " Let me 
 tell you that this example of neglect nullifies absolutely what- 
 ever effect ,for good the Sunday-school can have for those 
 children. The parental example is worth more than the 
 teaching of the Sunday-school. Oh! the degeneracy of 
 these times in that respect ! Even the venerable Hosea 
 Ballou gave the people warning that the Sunday-school 
 should not be permitted to supplant public worship. Let 
 every parent and every guardian resolve that his children 
 shall not only be in the Sunday-school but in the church as 
 well. It will not hurt them. If they are feeble, cushion the 
 seats. If they cannot sit up, coddle them. Bring them up 
 in the dignity and solemnity of public worship. 
 
 But I must call your attention to the opportunities before 
 us. When I came to Boston forty-four years ago, it was not 
 understood that any pulpit in Boston outside the circle of 
 Universalist churches preached the doctrine of universal sal- 
 vation. Dr. George E. Ellis wrote a " History of a Half- 
 Century of Unitarianism," in which he did not even know 
 that there was such a body as the Universalist Church ! But 
 where are we now? Now the Unitarians claim to be the 
 original preachers of all liberal doctrine. Now a broad 
 suggestion of Universalism runs through the ranks of our 
 popular religious bodies, and has the familiar names of Dr. 
 Briggs, Dr. Smith, Dr. Clark, Dr. Egbert Smyth, our late 
 noble bishop, and many another known as of the " New 
 Orthodoxy," known and felt of all men to be Universalists 
 in sentiment and in heart. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. ng 
 
 Only a little time since I attended the dedication of Dr. 
 Herrick's new church — a beautiful structure near Harvard 
 Bridge. I listened to a sermon from Rev. George A. Gordon, 
 — as open a Universalist sermon as I ever preached myself. 
 At the close of the service, — I was there by invitation, so 
 that I felt at liberty to make myself at home, — I came to 
 Mrs. Gordon, daughter of the late Dr. Manning, and her 
 mother, Mrs. Manning, and shaking hands with them I said, 
 " Is this preacher from whom we have heard this sermon to- 
 night deemed to be a fitting successor to Dr. Manning ? " 
 " Exactly," said Mrs. Manning. These pulpits are evidently 
 with us. I am sorry that they still march under other ban- 
 ners, but harmony will be reached, though very slowly. 
 These people are coming to a very wonderful extent into 
 sympathy with Universalism, and the names will at length 
 fall away. They will enter into broader relationships with us. 
 Even now they show in many ways their sympathy. I grant 
 you that the liberality of these sects is a barrier to our organic 
 growth as a church ; but looking in another direction it is a 
 help. We can address any audience wherever gathered, and 
 are listened to without reserve. If we chance to indicate our 
 grasp of thought and breadth of hope, it is not deemed an 
 offence, but very likely the applause will come in at that 
 point. This is favorable. 
 
 We have an active, faithful, vigorous, clear-headed pastor, 
 who loves to work, and whose work will tell in all this com- 
 munity. Allow me to thank you for my own and his sake 
 and for the sake of the responsible members of the parish 
 to-day. I thank you for this joyful occasion. I cannot tell 
 you how heartily I have enjoyed it. I shall lay down my 
 work with joy whenever the end shall come. I think, if I 
 know myself, I hold myself fairly prepared for the summons 
 whenever it may come. I do not think that I have been 
 wanting in an endeavor to know the truth or to present the 
 application of it to the needs of society, and I shrink not from 
 the application of that truth to myself. [Great applause.] 
 
120 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Sixth Toast. Our Young Men and Young Wo?nen : they are 
 the hope of the Church. To their wisdom, fidelity, and enthu- 
 siasm we must confide its future. 
 
 The president said : " The Sunday-school has always 
 been a cherished part of the parish, and it has ever 
 been the wish of pastor and people to receive the 
 graduates of the Sunday-school into the associations of 
 the church and into all active parish work. Our young 
 pastor has naturally a sympathy with young people, 
 and if I judge the signs of the times correctly our 
 young people are in sympathy with him. Increase of 
 the Sunday-school, gains in young people's meetings, 
 and the success of the Fortnightly Club, are hopeful 
 signs. 
 
 " I ask Mr. Albert A. Gleason, a member of the 
 Sunday-school and president of the Fortnightly Club, 
 to respond to the toast." 
 
 MR. GLEASON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 The toast which Mr. Williams has given me is a most 
 beautiful one; and as I came up here to-night I wished I 
 had the brillancy of a Choate or the grandeur of a Webster 
 in order that I might do justice to it. The word " fidelity," — 
 think of it. It means adherence to principle, to country, to 
 this church, and upholding it in its work. 
 
 I am going to take for my text this evening the third stanza 
 and fourth verse of the following lines : — 
 
 " If older boys can make a speech, 
 The little boys can, too ; 
 And though we may not say so much, 
 Yet we 've a word for you. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 121 
 
 " This world is large and full of room ; 
 There is a place for all, — 
 The rich, the poor, the wise, the good, 
 The large, as well as small. 
 
 " So give the little ones a chance 
 To show off what they know ; 
 And shun us not because we 're small, 
 For little boys will grow." 
 
 My text, then, is, " Little boys will grow." As we look 
 forward into the future, it becomes us to take some notice of 
 the young men and their development. To-day they are 
 free; to-morrow their responsibilities may come. The old 
 saying is that " Children should be seen and not heard." 
 To this, exception may well be taken ; for in all good fields 
 and all good works they may be both seen and heard with 
 advantage to themselves and the cause they love. Surely, in 
 the Sunday-school and the church they should be at home. 
 There they should early become interested and active ; so 
 that when the proper time comes they may take up the 
 work and add strength to this church and to all its various 
 organizations. [Applause.] 
 
 But as I have but ten minutes to talk, the first organization 
 to which I would call your attention is the Young People's 
 Christian Union. Charles Sumner said: "Young men, you 
 should adopt a trade, or a profession, or a business-calling, 
 thereby making yourselves independent by earning a com- 
 petency; but you should go further, and ally yourselves 
 to some righteous or unpopular cause, and work for its 
 successful solution." I suggest, for your consideration, 
 that the cause which this Young People's Christian Union 
 has served is of that sort. Calls have come to them from 
 outside. They have responded bravely; they are helpers 
 in this church. Many a time when a feeble society of 
 Universalist faith has needed help, gladly, strongly, and 
 speedily have they come to its aid; they possess fidelity. 
 
122 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 This church is bound to succeed when the young people 
 show such a spirit. 
 
 The next organization to which I would call your attention 
 is the Altar Club. I never think of the Altar Club but I am 
 reminded of these few lines of Lowell : — 
 
 " Whether we look, or whether we listen, 
 We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; 
 
 Every clod feels a stir of might, 
 An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 
 
 And groping blindly above it for light, 
 Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers." 
 
 The Altar Club have done a wonderful good. You remem- 
 ber that poem of Gray's : — 
 
 " Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
 
 The deep, unfathomed caves of ocean bear. 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 
 
 The young ladies of the Altar have prevented flowers from 
 dying unseen. They have brought them to you. They have 
 decorated the pulpit, and, instead of leaving them outside, 
 have brought them face to face with you, and made the 
 pulpit a pleasure for you and a great attraction to strangers. 
 Recently this little society held a fair, and we all know how 
 pleasant and how successful it was. 
 
 Another organization is the Fortnightly Club. I will not 
 praise, but leave you to judge of the club's success. The 
 club was born just one year ago lacking a week. Let me 
 here tell you the circumstances. About one year ago I was 
 invited to one of the church sociables in this lecture-room, 
 and was seated over there by that standing-lamp, when Mr. 
 Roblin leaned forward and beckoned. I went over, and he 
 said, " Mr. Gleason, I find we have no literary club here." I 
 was almost as much of a stranger as he, but he said, " Will 
 you help us? " I said, " I will do all I can." Since then we 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 123 
 
 have all worked together, and you know of the success of the 
 Fortnightly. Do you know what our aim is in that club? 
 As I look over this country, I think I see a lack of patriot- 
 ism. Is it not a good idea for the young people to gather 
 themselves into clubs whereby their loyalty, their fidelity, 
 may be increased to church, State, home, country ? Just 
 think of Mr. Whittier as an example of fidelity. Where can 
 you find in the history, not only of this country, but of this 
 world, a better man as an example to follow. There is 
 fidelity in a concrete form, from one end of his life to the 
 other, — nothing impure. And let me tell you that it seems 
 to me that a church without a literary club is like a ship 
 without a sail. A literary club adds so much to the intel- 
 lectual development. 
 
 As a young man interested in this society, I feel that this 
 society and church are growing, and will continue to grow. 
 We have an able, a vigorous, a courageous leader. He came 
 here from the West; he is going to enthuse us with his 
 enthusiasm. We must carry this work on. This society 
 should be the leader of churches in the city of Boston, the 
 leader of the Universalist churches throughout this State; it 
 must be the leading Universalist church in the United States. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Lowell uttered these words: — 
 
 " New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good jncouth. 
 They must upward still and onward who would keep abreast of truth. 
 Lo ! before us gleam her camp-fires, we ourselves must pilgrims be, — 
 Launch our Mayflower and steer boldly through the desperate winter 
 
 sea, 
 Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key." 
 
 My young friends, now is the time for us to " launch our 
 Mayflower and sail through the winter sea;" if we would 
 keep onward and upward, we must keep abreast of truth. 
 And we have a leader who will conduct us. We have a 
 leader in Mr. Roblin. [Applause.] 
 
124 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 Seventh Toast. Pastor and People : a relation which involves 
 mutual obligations. If the one is to teach and to lead, the other 
 ought surely to be sympathetic and receptive. Only when both 
 work together can growth and success be secured. 
 
 The president said : " To-night's celebration may 
 well be considered the first anniversary of the settle- 
 ment of our pastor; for it was in January, 1892, that 
 he was installed. He came not as assistant, not as 
 colleague, but as full pastor, with all the care and 
 responsibility that this relation implies ; and this with 
 the full endorsement and cordial sanction of his pre- 
 decessor and senior. He came from his Western 
 home to a strange people and a strange city. He 
 found us, I fear, reserved, undemonstrative, accus- 
 tomed to old ruts. He found our crooked streets a 
 perplexing labyrinth ; but somehow, with his cheerful 
 ways, his earnest words, his hopeful bearing, his 
 courageous travels, he has found his way to our 
 hearts and our homes. I hope he has come to feel 
 at home in old Boston, and that he finds encourage- 
 ment in his work. I call upon the Rev. S. H. Roblin, 
 our pastor, to respond." [Great applause.] 
 
 REV. MR. ROBLIN'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. President and Friends: I cannot but feel proud 
 over the achievements of this occasion. It has been so bright 
 and conspicuously successful that one has to pause in very 
 thankfulness and gratitude for what each and all have done 
 to make this night so full of satisfaction and delight. The 
 greetings have been so cordial, the music so pleasing, and 
 the material viands so satisfying, that good cheer has reached 
 the most impervious. Our speakers, most graciously intro- 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 125 
 
 duced by chairman and toast-master, have risen to their best, 
 and delighted our minds and warmed our hearts. 
 
 I am not unaware of the difficulty before me as I attempt 
 to interest you a moment. I am conscious of the truth of 
 the adage, " Enough is as good as a feast." We have had 
 just enough, and to add a word more is risky business. But 
 I have been called to the floor, and in obedience to the com- 
 mand I cannot but attempt a word or two; but in doing so I 
 may also illustrate the "power of habit." This "power" is 
 very constant in its working. A short time since a Boston 
 reporter was standing before a minister with his bride. In 
 the midst of the ceremony he whipped out his note-book to 
 get the address of the officiating clergyman. This " power" 
 is apt to get hold of a minister when he stands up to talk; 
 and now that I am well under way, it is probable I shall for- 
 get my promise of a ten-minute speech, and preach you a bit 
 of a sermon an hour long. [Laughter.] 
 
 But just here I am reminded that the hour is so late, and 
 my time so limited, that I cannot trespass to say what I 
 intended, and therefore am at a loss what to say, — some- 
 thing like the man who went to a drug-store and forgot his 
 errand. When the clerk inquired his wishes, the man re- 
 plied, " I 've forgotten just what I came for, but give me 
 something like it." My limitations will not permit me to 
 say what I wished, but I shall try to say something like it. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 In my introduction to you I find so many flattering things 
 that I am bewildered, not knowing just how to respond. I 
 think it best to cut loose entirely, and look upon the future. 
 The pilot must look ahead if he would avoid reefs, collisions, 
 breakers. The shepherd must look ahead if he would keep 
 his lambs from harm, and secure for them a fold safe and 
 warm, a shield from danger, cold, and storm. So a pastor 
 must look ahead if he would lead his people into the ways of 
 the everlasting life ; he must look ahead if he would guide 
 
126 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 them to the succulent grasses of the meadows of God. I 
 recall the answer which Jimmy gave his teacher, who in- 
 quired the natural product of the Malay Peninsula. " Mala- 
 ria," said Jimmy. Such might easier be the natural product 
 of the Malay Peninsula than that Christianity should be the 
 natural outcome of a Christian church whose pastor did not 
 look ahead. [Applause and laughter.] 
 
 I am sure, dear friends, that we shall only compass the 
 best work in the valley below by often looking to the heights 
 beyond. It is true, as our chairman has said, "The minister 
 cannot do this for all." There must be a mutual looking and 
 a mutual doing. Of course, I am ready to say that very 
 much depends on the minister. There is so much respon- 
 siveness to whatever I say or do here, that I feel if much is 
 not accomplished the fault will be largely mine. The past is 
 secure; it is rich with good works and good fruits. Our late 
 and early hours ought now to be filled with a mighty con- 
 cern that we who stand upon the summits of the past shall 
 do better and better still. So can we do by pledging our 
 mutual effort to the doing of our best. I shall try to do my 
 part by wisely learning the lessons of every day. One lesson 
 I learned early in my ministry, — and trust I shall never for- 
 get it, — that is to say the word and have done ; preach the 
 message and stop. That was a good criticism a Scotch 
 peasant made on the sermon of a great preacher. " Yes, 
 yes," said he, " a goodish sermon; but it would hae done us 
 mair good had it been clipped short at both ends and set 
 afire in the middle." I am trying to profit by this to-night; 
 I have clipped both ends of my speech, and am now trying 
 to burn the middle. [Laughter.] Certainly, the preacher 
 who wisely looks ahead will not preach wearisome sermons, 
 but will strive by mighty unction and pungent thought to 
 deliver his word and fill his church. 
 
 I feel that I ought to say, too, that a people looking ahead 
 a little will certainly be less likely to criticise in a bad sense. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 127 
 
 They shall be able then to see that a tremendous work is to 
 be accomplished in this world ; that time, patience, energy, 
 life, are to be given in the great service. They shall thus 
 see the necessity of magnifying the good in each effort; for 
 there is need of each and of his contribution of service, that 
 the great work be done. All will be thus more true to them- 
 selves as well as more just to others. A man much given to 
 repetitious prayer was always wont to say about the middle 
 of the lengthening process, " Lord, help me to pray." One 
 night, as this familiar portion of the oft-repeated petition fell 
 upon the ears of a long-suffering neighbor, he shouted back 
 in stentorian tones, " The Lord help you to give over ! " 
 whereupon the petitioner meekly exclaimed, " I was about 
 to ask for richest blessings for you." If brother number two 
 could have foreseen a little, he would have been tolerant 
 toward the prayer. [Applause.] 
 
 One more word, and I am done. I wish to make a plea 
 for the gospel of noise. Do not be discouraged at a little 
 commotion. All the great factors of the universe let them- 
 selves be heard when they are aroused. The wind roars, the 
 ocean thunders, the great city hums, — they are all disciples 
 of sound. Even the shell placed at the ear duplicates the 
 surging of the tides on the extended beach, and reveals that 
 the life-blood which seems to circulate so silently through 
 our bodies has also its voice to be heard. We are making 
 sound here to-night, joyful and constant. In the right sense, 
 I desire this to be the noisiest church in this city, State, and 
 nation, or even in the large world. " The Lord is not deaf," 
 said a preacher to a brother laboring in prayer; "can you 
 not pray a little more quietly? Remember that the great 
 temple at Jerusalem was built without the sound of a tool 
 being heard." " Yes," was the reply, " but we are not build- 
 ing temples; we are blasting bowlders." There are bowlders 
 ahead of us still. It is our business, even in these days, to 
 charge them with the dynamite of God's righteousness, and 
 
128 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 scatter them to the four parts of the earth, that we may not 
 so much build a temple as to open a way for all the children 
 of the Father to pass along to the hills of righteousness unto 
 the heights of God. [Prolonged applause.] 
 
 Before the reading of the last toast, announcement 
 was made that Rev. Henry I. Cushman, D.D., of 
 Providence, once associate pastor, had been unable 
 to accept an invitation to be present and speak, and 
 that letters of regret had been received from Rev. T. 
 J. Sawyer, D.D., and from Rev. Charles Leonard, 
 D.D., Dean of Tufts College. 
 
 The President had also a sympathetic note from a 
 loved and valued member of the church, Mrs. Mary T. 
 Goddard. Mrs. Goddard's letter is as follows : — 
 
 Dear Sir, — Here in the quiet of my home I have been 
 much interested in all that has been done so far to cele- 
 brate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Second Universalist 
 Society, — the old School Street Church, as I still love to 
 think of it, because so many delightful associations and pre- 
 cious memories cluster around that name for me. Times of 
 depression come before me, when it seemed as if the wishes 
 and prayers of opponents were to be answered in our down- 
 fall ; times of regeneration, when the ringing tones and elo- 
 quent words of Dr. E. H. Chapin, of blessed memory, seemed 
 to call in hearers from the very street. Then the steady climb- 
 ing upward under the long ministration of the beloved pastor, 
 Dr. Miner, unto the present, when the Second Society stands 
 as a tower of strength amid all the other societies which have 
 grown up around it, and as a beacon-light for our church, 
 which has enlarged its borders on every hand, and is spread- 
 ing far and wide the joyful doctrines of the eternal triumph 
 of good over evil. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 129 
 
 Now, I cannot be with you on the 25th; I can only tell 
 you how my heart rejoices at all the work done, and all the 
 words said, in this church whose anniversary you celebrate. 
 I pray, and will pray, for its continued prosperity. May the 
 light it is shedding far and wide gain even greater brilliancy. 
 Peace be upon all within its gates, and the very spirit of 
 Christ enter every heart and soul belonging to it. 
 With esteem and affection, 
 
 Mary T. Goddard. 
 
 Newton, January 4. 
 
 The exercises of the evening had added interest 
 and enjoyment in the presence of the choir, who 
 most kindly lent their aid, — Miss Elizabeth Hamlin, 
 soprano, Miss Emma Rice, contralto, and Mr. Endi- 
 cott, tenor, singing finely in solo and duet. The 
 length of the speeches made it necessary to cut off a 
 part of the musical programme, much to the regret of 
 the company. 
 
 At a quarter past ten the meeting was dissolved ; 
 and it was with a general feeling of satisfaction that 
 the occasion had been so successful that it must have 
 lasting influence for the good of the parish. 
 
 I-C 9 
 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GAYLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTEOIN U.S.A. 
 
BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 3 9031 01572609 4 
 
 F 
 
 73.62 
 .Sk 
 A3 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 Bapst Library 
 
 Boston College 
 Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167