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|hs f»t t\t ©llr |«iinlrattffn8. 
 A SERMON, 
 
 ©octrtnal ants fB.istorical, 
 DELIVERED AT THE RE-DEDICATION 
 
 PEESBYTEKIAN CHUECH 
 
 OF BLOOMFIELD, N. J., 
 
 On Sabbath Moroing and Afternoon, Dec. 18, 1853. 
 
 BT 
 
 REV. JAMES MANNING SHERWOOD, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 JMitfi an "apprntii of Plistorital iffitmorantia. 
 
 REV. STEPHEN DODD 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY M. \V. DODD, 
 
 Cor. Sfb0CE St. and City Hall Squake. 
 
 1854 /-gfSvOFPRife 
 
 fOyj^ 
 
 JUN 20 1997 
 
 ""Logical SE^'^"" 
 
 ^v^^. 
 
Bloomfield, Dec. 22, 1853. 
 Ret. J. M. Sherwood : 
 
 Respected and Beloved Pastor : — The under- 
 Bigned beg leave respectfully to request for publication a copy of 
 your discourse, delivered Sabbath, Dec. 18th, on the occasion of 
 the re-dedication of our Sanctuary. The very unusual interest 
 which it excited in our minds, the value of it as a matter ot 
 history, and the good which we believe it cannot fail to accom- 
 plish, if given to the public in a permanent form, seem to be rea- 
 sons conclusive to justify us in making this request. 
 
 "With assurances of our highest regard, 
 
 "We are yours, &c., 
 
 Z. B. DODD, 
 ELIPHALET HALL, 
 CALEB BALDWIN, 
 DANIEL DODD, 
 STEPHEN MORRIS, 
 IRA DODD, 
 SniEON BALDWIN, 
 BETHUEL WARD, 
 HERMAN CADMUS, 
 JOSEPH COLLINS, 
 C. D. BALDWIN, 
 E. D. WARD, 
 THOMAS SPEAR, 
 ISAAC DODD, 
 ISRAEL C. WARD, 
 
 WARREN S. BALDWIN, 
 JASON CRANE, 
 HORACE PIERSON, 
 SILUS W. STILES, 
 D. OAKES, 
 J. K. OAKES, 
 M. W. DODD, 
 WM. J.WILLIAJISON, 
 
 D. W. SMITH, 
 THOMAS TAYLOR, 
 MARK W. BALL, 
 NATHANIEL H. BALDWIN, 
 J. H. RUNDELL, 
 
 WM. JINKDSrS, 
 
 E. M. DODD, 
 
 (8) 
 
NOTE. 
 
 It is due to the Author to say, that the following Discourse was 
 one of his ordinary pulpit preparations, and is indebted for any 
 Special interest it may have or claim to publication, to the occa- 
 sion, and the history which it contains. Faulty as he knows it to 
 be as a composition, it could not be materially changed without 
 recasting it entire, and is therefore published just as it was 
 delivered, adding a few notes to supply in part its defects, and 
 amplifying one or two thoughts somewhat. As some exception 
 was taken to the language used on a point or two, in giving 
 it a more public and permanent form, such language has been 
 chosen as he thinks can justly offend no one, while it retains the 
 essential facts of impartial history. Greatly interested and in- 
 structed himself by the history of God's dealings with this people, 
 it is his hope and prayer that this imperfect sketch may be blessed 
 to the edification and encouragement of his people. 
 
 Bloomfield, January, 1854. 
 
nmm. 
 
 par:t I. -doctrinal. 
 
 *' If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do S" — 
 Psalm xi. 3. 
 
 A WISE Builder will look well to the foundations 
 of the edifice which he has undertaken to erect. 
 The vaster and weightier that edifice is to be, the 
 deeper and broader will he seek to lay the founda- 
 tions. If he means that building to stand and to 
 perpetuate his fame as a mechanic, he will regard 
 no amount of time and pains and money expended 
 to secure a solid and enduring basis, as wasted. 
 For, he knows that in vain is the massive super- 
 structure carried up ; in vain are costly and 
 durable materials employed ; in vain is the skill 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 of the architect and all the appliances of the most 
 finished art in adorning and beautifying it, if the 
 foundations be frail, or of decaying material. 
 
 A wise Statesman, anxious to achieve and per- 
 petuate the prosperity of a nation, will look well 
 to the " foundations" of the thing. He is too 
 sagacious to suppose for a moment that such a 
 condition can be secured by artificial causes — by 
 a happy hit — or by sleight of hand in turning the 
 wheel of Fortune — or by spreading his sails to the 
 popular breeze. He knows the fallacy of all such 
 hopes ; that all success gained in this way is at 
 best uncertain and short-lived. He is too shrewd 
 an observer of " men and things" to risk his repu- 
 tation and aims on a policy so blind and pre- 
 carious. He knows that to reach such an end, 
 his policy must be an enlightened, liberal, sub- 
 stantial, and comprehensive policy, based on 
 sound principles of political economy, and on a 
 thorough knowledge and appreciation of the times 
 in which he lives, and of the genius and institu- 
 tions of the people whom he seeks to guide and 
 serve. He knows that the foundations of all real 
 and permanent prosperity must be laid in truth 
 and. justice — in wise and wholesome laws — in the 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 7 
 
 eternal principles of morality and virtue — in the 
 intelligence, the patriotism, the thrift, the order 
 and contentment of the people. The foundations 
 once carefully and thoroughly laid, and the 
 achievement will be easy, and the work will 
 stand. 
 
 The Military Commander also, going to make 
 war with an enemy, is apt to be wise on this 
 point. He looks to his " foundations," He sits 
 first down and counts the cost. He augments and 
 makes available his resources. He thoroughly 
 disciplines and equips his soldiers. He seeks. to 
 make the war popular with the people. He 
 secures a broad and advantageous base for his 
 operations. He risks as little as possible to the 
 hazards of battle. He knows that his strength 
 lies not in the number of his soldiers, so much as 
 in their discipline, in the spirit which animates 
 them, in the plan and skill of his movements, in 
 the thoroughness of his knowledge of the science 
 of warfare, and in his ability to concentrate his 
 strength and employ it v/ith effect at the favorable 
 moment. 
 
 "We read, indeed, of "soldiers oi fortune ;'''' but 
 sure I am that the great and successful Generals 
 
8 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 immortalized in History, were any thing but apes, 
 or the children of a blind and stupid Fortune. They 
 were gifted with genius, with penetration, with 
 the power of commanding ; and they made their 
 way to victory and conquest and fame, by a saga- 
 cious and worldly-wise use of their gifts and op- 
 portunities. They took care of the " foundations," 
 and success followed, and History monuments 
 their exploits. 
 
 Napoleon has been thought by many to be a 
 splendid exception to this rule. He is called par 
 excellence "the soldier of fortune," "the man of 
 destiny." But such a view of him is superficial. 
 It was any thing but a " blind god" that led him 
 forth to victory. It was not the confluence of 
 favoring tides, nor fortuitous adventures, nor the 
 genius of the age, nor a contracted, superficial, or 
 indolent policy, which raised him to the highest 
 pitch of earthly greatness, and made him an over- 
 match for combined Europe, but it was the intensi- 
 fied action of commanding qualities. His genius 
 was of the very highest order. His mastery of know- 
 ledge, and his power of endurance and of application, 
 were almost superhuman. No man ever so thor- 
 oughly understood that strange people, the French ; 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 9 
 
 or SO wielded at will a nation's resources ; or 
 mastered such a facility in creating the bone and 
 sinew of war ; or succeeded so well in infusing 
 his own intensely ambitious and glory-loving 
 spirit into his soldiers, and attaching them to his 
 person. No man ever mastered the science of war 
 as he mastered it ; or has shown such consum- 
 mate skill and superiority in concentrating his 
 strength and hurling it upon a distant foe. He 
 swept like a whirlwind over Europe ; but it was 
 not "a freak of the winds" that armed and 
 guided that Power. A mighty genius had created 
 it; a mighty hand guided it; it had a living 
 soul ; a nation's vitality, and concentrated and 
 combined energies, were in it. No man ever made 
 success more dependent on talent, skill, sagacity, 
 penetration, vigorous action — on foundations deep- 
 laid, and broad and strong as a nation's enthu- 
 siasm and sentiments and sympathies. And but 
 for his Russian campaign, which was a palpable 
 violation of his own settled policy — a gigantic 
 enterprise with little or no foundations to sustain 
 it, and the unfortunate issue of which lost him, 
 for the time being, the sympathies and confidence 
 of France — he might have retained and perpetu- 
 
10 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ated his power. Recent events have shown what 
 deep and stable foundations he laid in the affec- 
 tions and sentiments of that people.* 
 
 Now, if if is wise for the men of this world to 
 look well to the "foundations," it certainly is wise 
 for " the children of the kingdom" to do it. If 
 this principle or policy is so effective, often for 
 evil, in the hands of earthly ambition and enter- 
 prise, it can be made mighty through God, in the 
 hands of the righteous, to pull down evil, and 
 build up the Messiah's throne. The "founda- 
 tions" once fairly and strongly laid, in the indivi- 
 dual soul, in the family, in a community, in the 
 nation, in the world's great movements, and there 
 is comparatively little danger ; an immense advan- 
 tage has been gained ; the work of reformation 
 and salvation will go on ; nothing can stop it. For 
 the truth now has free course. The Gospel finds 
 something to act upon. The way is prepared for 
 
 *In saying this much of the great Napoleon, I had no fears that 
 my own people would infer that I was among his admirers, inas' 
 much as I had but recently expressed in a sermon, the strongest 
 feeling of reprobation of the man and his career, morally viewed, 
 and of the conduct of those, not excepting the reverends, who are 
 wielding their pens so lustily in the vain and wicked attempt to 
 set aside the just verdict which the enlightened moral sentiment 
 of the world has passed upon him. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 11 
 
 the Holy Spirit. The foundations give vitality to 
 virtue and piety, maturity to character, and dura- 
 bility to all that is good. 
 
 But " if the foundations he destroyed^ v^^hat can 
 the righteous do ?" If the ground -work of nature, 
 of truth, of grace, of Providence, be swept away, 
 what is there left to build upon ? If, for instance, 
 a sinner's conscience and moral sensibilities are all 
 frittered away ; if all the constitutional elements 
 of virtue and restraint are uprooted and cast out 
 of his soul — what hope is there of his salvation? 
 If the family training do not subdue the wayv/ard 
 passions of youth, and lay the foundation of self- 
 government, thrift, and piety, what can Society 
 do to restrain man, or the Church to save him ? 
 If the State strike down the principles of righteous- 
 ness, by her legislative or executive mandate, 
 how is it possible to hold Society together ? If 
 the Church remove her "ancient land-marks" — - 
 corrupt the essential doctrines of the Gospel — or 
 lose the life and spirit of her faith, whence is to 
 come the salvation of the world ? Or, if there be 
 no planting and watering during seed-time, how 
 can there be a harvest ? If there be no toiling 
 and enduring and paias-taking to lay the foundg^- 
 
12 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 tions, what important results need to be looked 
 for ? If there be no outgoings of faith and en- 
 lightened views and liberality, how vain is it to 
 expect those ingatherings over which angels re- 
 joice ? 
 
 This is, manifestly, the teaching of the text. It 
 seeks to magnify the "foundations." It declares 
 that no permanent good can be accomplished in 
 this world by any agency which sets aside this 
 fundamental law of Divine Providence — by any 
 efforts, occasional and superficial merely in their 
 character — by any elements not living, vital, 
 radical, eternal. And the explanation of this, fact 
 is to be found in the nature of human depravity, 
 and in the strength of those laws by which it 
 perpetuates itself in the world. And here lies the 
 secret of the failure of so much individual effort 
 after salvation ; and the failure of so many confi- 
 dent schemes for reforming mankind. They have 
 no ground-work^ and therefore cannot succeed. 
 They have "no root in themselves,^' nor in any 
 living and regenerating principles, and therefore 
 must quickly wither and die. 
 
 This regard for the "foundations" is one of the 
 fixed and marked laws of Divine Providence. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 13 
 
 All the radical arrangements of Providence in this 
 world are made with reference to it. And all the 
 real and permanent good which has been accom- 
 plished in it, has been accomplished in obedience 
 to this law. The study of Providence with refer- 
 ence to this thought, is highly instructive. The 
 Mind that shapes and controls the affairs of this 
 world is most manifestly aiming at universal and 
 permanent dominion over it. If Prophecy were 
 silent on the subject, we should still say with con- 
 fidence, judging from the genius and history of 
 Providence, that Christianity was meant to be, 
 and must ultimately be, the religion of the entire 
 world. There is nothing temporary or superficial, 
 hasty or impulsive in the structure or operations 
 of this system of truth and agencies. On the con- 
 trary, the kingdom of Grod on earth is governed 
 by laws that are fixed and fundamental in charac- 
 ter ; its vitality and growth are the vitality and 
 growth of principles that are eternally wise and 
 right, — principles that have been embedded in the 
 sentiment and life of the world, by long ages of 
 toil and pains-taking, and from time to time made 
 efficient by the Providence and Spirit of G-od. 
 That vast Temple which we see in the process of 
 
14 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 erection on this earthly theatre of action, has its 
 foundations deep-laid in the counsels and purposes 
 of G-od, and in those elements which are most vital, 
 powerful and enduring in the human mind. 
 
 When sin had overthrown the kingdom of God 
 in this lower world, and had effaced his very image 
 from the soul of man, Grod began the work of re- 
 demption and restoration at " the foundations." 
 He began with that stupendous sacrifice, out of 
 and far above humanity itself, which will never 
 cease to be the wonder of his creatures. In the 
 death of Christ, at first typified, and four thou- 
 sand years after accomplished, he laid an eternal 
 basis of perfect reconciliation, and secured the 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, which agency is essen- 
 tial to the subjective work of the atonement. He 
 began with individual man — with the fallen pa- 
 rents of the race. In that blessed promise which 
 he gave to them before he expelled them from 
 Paradise, (Gren. iii. 15,) was contained " the leaven" 
 of His kingdom. For thousands of years G-od 
 wrought patiently ♦at " the foundations." The 
 whole Patriarchial and Mosaic dispensations are 
 to be viewed in this light. The former prepared 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 15 
 
 the way for the latter, and the latter for the intro- 
 duction and development of Christianity. 
 
 Immense preparatory labor was necessary in 
 order to bring Christianity before the world with 
 any rational prospect of success. The growth of 
 any religious system is necessarily slow. And 
 especially must this be true of such a sj^stem as 
 we have in the G-ospel, — a system so eminently 
 spiritual and holy. Jesus Christ (and the same 
 is true of his Apostles) could not have succeeded 
 as he did, had not the foundations of his doctrines 
 been long and laboriously laid. He taught no new 
 religion, not a single new doctrine. His teachings 
 were but the fulfilment, expansion and enforce- 
 ment of the Jewish Scriptures. The Jewish The- 
 ology was the groundwork of his entire teaching 
 and mission. And that Theology, imperfect* as it 
 was, it took four thousand years to establish in the 
 belief and laws of a single nation, and mature 
 sufficiently to engraft upon it the Christian dispen- 
 sation. All this time was necessary, and all that 
 
 * I use " imperfect " here ia the sense of incomplete. All the 
 principles of Christianity were embraced in it, but they could not 
 be fully apprehended or have their perfect development until Christ 
 came. 
 
16 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 peculiar and wonderful work of Providence, of 
 which the Old Testament is the outlined history, 
 in the judgment of Divine Wisdom, in order to get 
 fairly established in the human mind, and in the 
 moral sentimentsof mankind, those religious ideas, 
 truths and principles which Christ came fully to 
 declare and make universal. The foundations of 
 Christ's kingdom had been laid before his advent, 
 broad, deep and living, by Patriarchs and by Pro- 
 phets, — in the Jewish Theology and Ritual, — in 
 the Hebrew Theocracy, existing for many hundred 
 years ; in the diffusion of the Jewish Scriptures* and 
 learning among the surrounding nations ; in bring- 
 ing all the world together by a common Language, 
 and that by far the most cultivated language on 
 earth, and making it the medium of the G-ospel's 
 proclamation ; and in bringing all the world under 
 one Political Power, so that national antipathies 
 and wars should not hinder the rapid spread of 
 
 * It will be recollected that the entire Old Testament had ex- 
 isted in the Greek language, then the universal medium of culti- 
 vated thought, for 315 years before Christ began his teachings ; 
 first in Egypt, and then in Greece, — the sources and centres of 
 ancient civilization, — the light of Judaism had been struggling for 
 ages with the darkness and corruption of the human miad. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 17 
 
 Christianity when once its peaceful banner was 
 unfurled.* 
 
 And, if we study the history of the Christian 
 Church, we shall find that all real progress — that 
 every permanent conquest — has been the slow but 
 sure outgrowth of well-laid "foundations." When 
 these have been neglected, little has been gained. 
 Where this fixed law of Providence has been dis- 
 regarded, the results reached have been meagre 
 and temporary. All the great movements of the 
 religious world which have given a new and per- 
 manent impulse to the human mind, have drawn 
 their life and power from deep and patiently-laid 
 " foundations." 
 
 Take the Great Reformation of the sixteenth 
 century as an illustration. A superficial student 
 of history might pronounce that greatest revolu- 
 tion of modern times a hasty, impulsive, and 
 almost miraculous movement ; so sudden and 
 wonderful was the development. "A monk ap- 
 pears, and in the half of Europe," the power and 
 
 * We were obliged to condense an important and extensive 
 truth here into a few words. See it more fully stated in the 
 American Biblical Repository, Vol. VI., Third Series, pp. 456- 
 467. 
 
18 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 glory of that Kingdom which had for centuries lorded 
 it over Grud's heritage and over human liberty 
 "speedily crumbles into dust." But that great re- 
 ligious movement was, in its origin, far from being 
 the work. of Luther. The matters which it pressed 
 to an issue were not simply the supremacy of the 
 Pope, and the corruptions and abuses of the Ro- 
 mish Church, but the grand ideas and leading truths 
 of universal Christianity ; truths that were vital 
 to human freedom and progress, and to the eman- 
 cipation of the Church from that terrible System 
 which had so long enslaved it and sucked its life's 
 blood. Had it been a simple reform, or choice of 
 doctrines — a movement confined to the surface of 
 things, and drawing its life from causes local and 
 temporary — it could not have succeeded ; it would 
 have been strangled in its birth ; nay, in the lan- 
 guage of the eloquent Historian* of the Reforma- 
 tion, •' It would never have overpassed the thresh- 
 old of an academy, of a cloister, or even of a 
 monk's cell. But it was the pouring forth anew 
 of that life which Christianity had brought into 
 the world. It was the triumph of the noblest of 
 
 * D'Aubigne. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 19 
 
 doctrines — of that which animates those who re- 
 ceive it with the purest and most powerful enthu- 
 siasm — the doctrine oi faith, — the doctrine of 
 grace.^^ 
 
 The monk of Wittemberg, struggling in his cell 
 to shake ojEF the yoke of spiritual bondage and 
 come forth into the liberty of the Grospel, wrestling 
 in fear and agony, and feeling after the light 
 through a dark and terrible experience, was a fit- 
 ting representative of the Church of his day, groan- 
 ing under the enormous burdens which a corrupt 
 faith and a tyrannizing priesthood had imposed, and 
 sighing in secret places for the light and liberty 
 of a pure Christianity. "When he raised a cry in 
 central Grermany, it went straight to the hearts of 
 millions, and thrilled the soul of Europe, as if it 
 had been a resurrection trumpet. For it was the 
 cry of humanity, long enslaved by superstition and 
 priestly power, and now demanding liberty and 
 Grod's Word ; the cry of a burdened conscience, 
 weary of the Church and longing for Christ, fet- 
 tered by rites and traditions, and thirsting for a 
 better righteousness and a higher freedom ; the 
 cry of a human soul that had tasted of G-od's for- 
 giveness, had attained to justification by faith alone, 
 
20 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 had partaken of the pure Word of Grod, and now out 
 of the abundance of the heart testified of what he 
 knew and felt and believed. 
 
 There were, consequently, multitudes to sym- 
 pathize with the Reformer the moment he ap- 
 peared. The Reformation had already taken deep 
 root. God had long been at work laying the 
 " foundations." Causes and agencies had been 
 silently operating for centuries which, by the law 
 of progress, rendered the Reformation a moral 
 necessity. God had awaked the human mind 
 from the slumber of the Middle Ages. By won- 
 derful discoveries he had afforded to the Church 
 facilities for giving the Truth a new and more 
 permanent life in the world. He had introduced 
 the Bible into the living languages of Europe, and 
 scattered it extensively among the people. He 
 had, by the silent workings of His Spirit, infused 
 the elements of a new religious life into number- 
 less souls. He had raised up men, here and there, 
 boldly to testify to the truth and to die for it. A 
 century and a half before Luther'' s advent, Wick- 
 liff, in England, had sown broadcast the seed of 
 the kingdom ; and a half century later, John 
 Huss had preached in Bohemia the very essence 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 21 
 
 of the Christian doctrine; and the flames of his 
 martyrdom had kindled a light which had not 
 gone out ; and his prophetic words, heralding the 
 Reformation, were still remembered. 
 
 These "foundations," when Luther began the 
 battle with Rome, were too broadly, and deeply, 
 and permanently laid, to be overthrown or rooted 
 out by any kingly or priestly power. They had 
 grown strong and vital, until they were quite suf- 
 ficient to sustain an open and vigorous stand 
 against that vast Politico-Ecclesiastical Power 
 which ruled and cursed the earth — sufficient, also, 
 to nourish and sustain a free, and a pure and 
 spiritual Christianity. It was the development of 
 this religious Revival only that was sudden and 
 rapid ; the preparation had been slowly and noise- 
 lessly going on for ages deep down in the bosom 
 of the Church and of Society. The fusion into a 
 permanent Life and a mighty Power was quick and 
 wonderful as the action of electric forces ; but the 
 elements of that life and power had been forming 
 and gathering in individual minds and hearts for 
 a long period. And it only needed the bold and 
 earnest voice of Luther, appealing to men's silent 
 convictions and experiences — the attraction of the 
 
22 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 central doctrine of Christianity, preached with 
 apostolic simplicity and unction — to bring all 
 these quickened elements together, and make them 
 mighty for the overthrow of the rotten institutions 
 which had grown out of the Papal Apostasy, and 
 for the regeneration and advancement of mankind. 
 
 Hence, too, the permanency of the conquests 
 then made. The "foundations" which then up- 
 heaved the religious world, and brought forth a 
 new and better growth of Christian doctrine and 
 life, are still alive and active. The principles of 
 that movement are as vital to-day as when Luther 
 thundered them from the pulpits of G-ermany. 
 Three centuries have not sufficed to mature all 
 the fruit of that replanting of Christianity. The 
 real conflict of our day, and of coming ages, is to 
 be settled on the battle-field of the Reformation. 
 
 Were I to rehearse to you the history of more 
 recent, and of the present movements, looking to 
 the reformation or the progress of our race, it 
 would only go to prove the necessity of broad and 
 thoroughly- laid "foundations" — foundations reach- 
 ing down to the necessities of man's moral as well 
 as his social nature, and instinct with the light 
 and life of the Grospel. Could the history of every 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 23 
 
 individual conversio?i to God be furnished, it 
 would doubtless be made to appear, that the law 
 of Providence, recognized in the text, is a uniform 
 law ; the Spirit renewing only when and where 
 the ''foundations" are laid and kept alive. 
 
 Our hope for the world to-day, as we look for- 
 ward to the future, rests mainly on the " founda- 
 tions" which underlie the faith, the life, and the 
 enterprise of the Christian Church, rather than 
 on the existing out-growth or development of 
 Christianity. In numbers and outward strength 
 the Church of our day is relatively weak, and 
 seems wholly inadequate to the mission assigned 
 her — the, social and moral regeneration of this 
 world by means of the simple Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. But yet no other power on earth, we 
 boldly affirm, has such broad, thoroughly-laid, 
 living and enduring "foundations." Providence 
 has been busy for nearly six thousand years in 
 forming and bringing together and cementing the 
 materials for, and embedding the massive founda- 
 tions thus prepared, in the Theology, the Litera- 
 ture, the Civilization, the Social and Political Or- 
 ganizations, and in all the vital Influences and 
 Movements of the world. Christianity has had time 
 
24 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIDNS. 
 
 to prove itself, by actual experiment, t^ be the re- 
 ligion of universal mankind — adapted to the ne- 
 cessities and conditions of man in every existing 
 and conceivable state — having in it all the ele- 
 ments of true conservatism, and yet of reol progress 
 — able to grapple single-handed with error and ini- 
 quity and evil in their most appalling forms, and 
 work a peaceful and blessed change — capable of 
 subsidizing every element of pov^er and progress, 
 every invention and improvement, and of bending 
 the entire enlightened and quickened mind and 
 enterprise of the world to the furtherance of its 
 one simple and glorious mission. 
 
 What broad, and living, and lasting " founda- 
 tions'' has Grod prepared for the righteous of this 
 generation ! The Holy Scriptures have given a 
 Christian Theology and Literature to the world. 
 The principles of Christianity are living, vital, and 
 world-wide elements of power. The sentiaients 
 which underlie human society and affect it in its 
 most radical elements and relations, have been 
 slowly but really moulded into essential harmony 
 with the kingdom of Christ. In the establishment 
 of Constitutional Laws — in the settled principles 
 of Political Economy and of National Intercourse 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 25 
 
 — in the enlightened Conscience, the Legislation 
 and Jurisprudence of the world — in the social, 
 educational, and religious Institutions of Christen- 
 dom — in the character, position, strength, and en- 
 terprise of Protestant nations — in the infusion of 
 the vital Life of Christianity into the bosom of the 
 Reformed Church — in the Missionary Spirit which 
 the revivals of the last century have called into be- 
 ing, and in the Missionary Enterprise of the present 
 age, which is fast waking the Church into millen- 
 nial life, and is toiling earnestly and successfully 
 in a thousand inviting fields — and in those won- 
 derful movements of Providence which have so 
 signally prepared the way for the Grospel in almost 
 every land — in all these, and many other particu- 
 lars, " the righteous" have foundations prepared 
 for them to build upon, broad, solid, enduring, 
 and full of the wisdom and power of God. There 
 needs to be only a zeal on the part of " the right- 
 eous" adequate to the existing moral state of the 
 world, and a faith commensurate with the power 
 of the G-ospel to reform and save it — there needs 
 to be only an earnest application and a Divine 
 quickening of the principles of Christian doctrine 
 and life, already grounded in the sentiments, the 
 2 
 
26 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 social life and the religious institutions and agen- 
 cies of the world, in order to secure the speedy 
 regeneration of mankind, and the universal reign 
 of Christ on earth. 
 
 There are three fundamental Agencies, or Ar- 
 rangements, by means of which Divine Providence 
 seeks to build and preserve " the foundations" of 
 moral goodness in this world. These are the 
 Family, the State, and the Church. They sus- 
 tain most important relations to each other. They 
 underlie all that is worth preserving, and all that 
 can be turned to good account. To destroy, or 
 essentially to impair, one of these agencies or ar- 
 rangements, is to thwart the Divine purpose, fight 
 against Providence, shake society to its founda- 
 tions, and undermine the virtue, and piety, and 
 hope of the world. The design of Providence in 
 originating and perpetuating these peculiar ar- 
 rangements, evidently has reference to the pro- 
 gress, triumph, and permanency of His Kingdom 
 among men. They are indeed the "foundations" 
 which Eternal Wisdom early laid, and which 
 Eternal Providence has preserved to " the right- 
 eous," amidst all the revolutions and changes of 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 27 
 
 six thousand years; and we do well to watch 
 them with jealous vigilance, and not suffer the 
 hand of the destroyer to come nigh them. They 
 are essential to the world's salvation. 
 
 Let us examine them briefly in reference to this 
 subject. — And, 
 
 1. The Family Arrangement. — Human wis- 
 dom would never have hit on such an expedient ; 
 and human depravity has ever fought against it. 
 It is a wonderful arrangement, this division of the 
 whole human family into little separate communi- 
 ties — every community a little government, a little 
 world by itself — marriage the foundation, affection 
 the bond, and Divine authority the ruling power. 
 Such an arrangement, simple as it is, touches all 
 the elementary and radical principles of human 
 nature. The Family power is the fountain of all 
 moral influence in this world. "Without such an 
 agency religion had never gained a footing in 
 it. During all the patriarchal ages the Family 
 alone nursed and kept alive the knowledge and 
 worship of the one God. But for such an arrange- 
 ment the religion of the Bible could not have sur- 
 vived the Flood — never have been separated from 
 
28 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 the Polytheism which again quickly overspread the 
 earth, and secured to itself a righteous seed through 
 the line of the "Father of the faithful." It was 
 the Family compact that first gave true religion 
 root in depraved human nature — which secured 
 " the covenant of promise " on which rests the en- 
 tire fabric of the Kingdom of God among men — 
 which laid the foundations of the Jewish State and 
 Church and of the Christian dispensation, and gave 
 a Redeemer to the world ! "Without such an ar- 
 rangement and agency, not one of all these things, 
 so essential to man's Redemption, could have been 
 accomplished. And without this primitive Agency 
 at the fountain-head of moral influence. Society 
 cannot be maintained even in this advanced period 
 of human development ; universal degeneracy and 
 corruption would inevitably ensue were it de- 
 stroyed. In the sanctity of marriage as originally 
 ordained of G-od ; in the strength of the domestic 
 affections and virtues ; and in the restraints and 
 training of a well-ordered Family, are the radical, 
 the foundation-elements of all human happiness 
 and goodness. 
 
 We cannot over-estimate the value of this agency. 
 "We cannot begin to tell all its vital bearings on the 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 29 
 
 Kingdom of Christ. It takes man from his mother's 
 breast and educates him for life. It cradles him 
 amidst ties and inflaences the strongest, the most 
 subtle and powerful, which can move and mould 
 human character. It gives direction to the mind, 
 and the whole after-life. It lays scarcely-felt yet 
 all-powerful restraints upon depravity. It accus- 
 toms one to obedience. It forms virtuous habits. 
 It nurses and brings to maturity all the good quali- 
 ties there are in human nature. And, when its 
 proper place is given to religion in the Family, it 
 becomes a direct and most efficient agency for sal- 
 vation. God loves to honor this normal agency. 
 The converts to righteousness in the earth have 
 mostly been from the members of well-governed, 
 pious families. 
 
 Where these early " foundations " are neglected, 
 or wrongly laid, what can even " the righteous do?" 
 What power has Society to restrain or reform, or the 
 doctrines and institutions of Religion to teach and 
 to regenerate, the children of an ignorant, vicious 
 unrestrained, disobedient parentage ? If you would 
 build up the Kingdom of Christ, my brethren ; if 
 you would make Society pure, compact, and 
 stable; if you would have the State virtuous, 
 
30 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 thrifty and strong, begin with these " foundations," 
 Honor the Family arrangement. Sanctify your 
 household. Rear an altar to intelligence, to vir- 
 tue, and to G-od, on your hearth-stone. Sooner 
 than discard or neglect Family G-overnment and 
 Family Religion, discard every other agency, and 
 throw your children portionless upon the world. 
 If you fail or blunder here, after-anxieties and tears 
 and toils will most likely be useless. If these 
 "foundations" are not patiently and thoroughly 
 and prayerfully laid, in vain will you invoke the 
 agency of Society and of the Church to save your 
 children from ruin. There is no other agency 
 which can possibly supply such a deficiency. This 
 prodigious power for the right social and religious 
 training of your children — an agency beginning 
 with their existence and spread out over their \a hole 
 life — Eternal Providence has ordained and put into 
 your hands, and you only are responsible for its 
 exercise. No man can take that power from you, 
 lawfully ; no man can share that responsibility 
 with you. 
 
 There are self-styled reformers abroad in the 
 world who would knock away these old and tried 
 "foundations," and experiment upon human na- 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 31 
 
 ture. They are wiser than Providence. Their 
 infidelity attacks this great social Law of Virtue 
 and Christianity. They look upon the Family 
 arrangement as unwise, inconvenient, and expen- 
 sive, and propose new and more extensive and 
 economical associations and amalgamations. But 
 this movement is one of the devices of the Devil 
 for the overthrow of all virtue and all godliness in 
 the world. The Family Constitution is really re- 
 sponsible for none of the evils which afflict Society. 
 If Society is so corrupt, so oppressed with evil and 
 misery, notwithstanding this wise and merciful 
 arrangement, these deep-laid and living founda- 
 tions, what would it be without them ? 
 
 It is a shallow and miserable Philosophy which 
 thus seeks to tinker man's social state. It is a 
 mad and embittered infidelity, which would thus 
 destroy the "foundations " which were laid of God 
 in Fiden — and laid again after the Flood — and upon 
 which all the Prophets stood — and on the strength 
 of which Christ himself was born into the world 
 and taught, and along down which the covenant 
 mercy of G-od has flowed from Abraham until now. 
 It is the madness and malignity of infidelity and 
 depravity, which are dealing these blows at the 
 
32 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 social foundations, whatever disguise the Reform 
 may assume, or name inscribe on its banner. It 
 is not the actual evils arising from the Family 
 state which provoke this social movement, but the 
 restraints which it imposes. Its real aim and 
 drift are, as sound reasoning and careful observa- 
 tion will show, to break down the law of marriage, 
 and give unbridled liberty to licentiousness. 
 
 Not only should such a movement not be looked 
 upon with indifference or the slightest favor on the 
 part of " the righteous," but the deadliest hostility 
 should be shown to it, and the note of warning 
 raised against it. We are not beyond all danger 
 from this source, as we are too apt to assume. For 
 the movement originates in the radical and uni- 
 versal depravities of human nature, and not in the 
 shallow conceits of an unfledged Philosophy. There 
 is much also to give it favor with the ignorant, 
 vicious, and dissatisfied masses, especially with our 
 already immense and rapidly augmenting foreign 
 population. Soon too there will be knocking at the 
 door of our National Confederacy for the privilege 
 and power of State Sovereignty, a populous and 
 wide-spread Territory whose religious system is a 
 libel on reason, and legitimately subversive of all 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUN'DATIONS. 33 
 
 well-laid foundations, and whose social state is in 
 open contravention of the laws of the Bible and of 
 Providence on this subject. Let us forestall legis- 
 lative action by creating a right moral sentiment 
 on the subject. Let us rebuke and shame out of 
 all decent Society, the men, and the women too, 
 who, under various names of reform and associa- 
 tion, are striving to spring a mine under our do- 
 mestic institutions. Let us rally anew around our 
 Puritan, nay, our Christian hearth-stones — dear to 
 us from so many blessed memories, and hallowed 
 ties, and virtuous and godly influences — and swear 
 by all that is lovely in virtue and sacred in religion 
 and good in the past and bright in the future, to 
 preserve them, untouched and unpolluted, as the 
 God of nature laid them in the beginning, and the 
 God of providence has preserved them to us out of 
 the wreck of the Past. 
 
 2. We pass to consider the State as one of the 
 three great pillars of the Kingdom of Christ on 
 earth. I have not space to discuss any of the po- 
 litical aspects of this question; nor any of the 
 many conflicting theories of Civil Government 
 
 which have been proposed. Let us view it simply 
 2* 
 
34 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 in the light of Scripture, and in its moral and reli- 
 gious relations. 
 
 All Civil Government derives its authority from 
 God. The warrant for it, and the nature and de- 
 sign of it, are clearly given in Romans xiii. 1 — 7, 
 to specify no other passages : — " Let every soul be 
 3ubject unto the higher powers. For there is no 
 power but of God : the powers that be are ordained 
 of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, 
 resisteth the ordinance of God : and they that re- 
 sist shall receive to themselves damnation. For 
 rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the 
 evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? 
 do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise 
 of the same ; for he is the minister of God to thee 
 for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be 
 afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he 
 is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath 
 upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must 
 needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
 conscience' sake. For, for this cause pay ye tri- 
 bute also : for they are God's ministers, attending 
 continually upon this very thing. Render there- 
 fore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is 
 due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear, 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 85 
 
 honor to whom honor." — This language is decisive 
 and full. There is no getting away from the prin- 
 ciples here laid down ; and they cover the whole 
 ground I propose to discuss. 
 
 The Civil Constitution is as really the ordinance 
 of God as the Family or the Church. It sustains 
 the same relations to God and to his kingdom on 
 earth. It is ordained for the same wise and holy 
 end. It is upheld throughout the world by Divine 
 Providence for moral and religious purposes. It 
 is often abused and perverted ; so is the Family 
 power and the Church power : but the principle, 
 the institution, is of God, nevertheless. And bad 
 as most Civil Governments are-, and imperfect as 
 they all are, they are still infinitely better than 
 no governments. They are a protection ; they 
 keep alive in the world the principle of authority 
 and subordination ; they operate as restraints on 
 selfishness and depravity ; they are bonds of union ; 
 they are a terror to evil-doers ; and they help to lay 
 foundations for the righteous. The very worst 
 Government in the world is unquestionably a 
 blessing, in this sense ; and if it cannot be essen- 
 tially improved, by all means it had better be sus- 
 tained. The overthrow of the Civil Government 
 
36 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 in France, in the last century, was the overthrow 
 of all order, all virtue and religion, and the signal 
 for a terrible baptism of crime and blood. The 
 rule of the Turk, and the iron despotism of the 
 Czar, is better far than a state of anarchy. The 
 worst form of misrule which human depravity 
 ever invented is preferable to no rule. The climax 
 of hell's misery is the prevalence of universal an- 
 archy ; no law — no restraint — no bond ; depravity 
 raging eternally, unchecked ; and every fiend let 
 loose to torment and do evil at his pleasure. 
 
 We do not fully appreciate Civil G-overnment as 
 one of the great pillars of God's throne in this re- 
 bellious, disordered, and depraved world. We do 
 not always see the intimate and essential relations 
 which, by Divine appointment, it is made to sus- 
 tain to the Redeemer's Kingdom, nor feel the obli- 
 gations which Society and Religion are under to it. 
 If " the foundations" laid by this arrangement for 
 social union and government be •' destroyed, what 
 can the righteous do ?" Individual rights, and 
 family order, and religious institutions, could not 
 be maintained. The Grospel would find no basis in 
 the human soul — in public sentiment — in estab- 
 lished laws — in social influence, and would fall to 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 37 
 
 the ground. The existence of the Christian Church 
 could not be preserved, for any length of time, in 
 the purest community on earth, without the con- 
 current support of Civil Grovernment. 
 
 Without this foundation Religion had never been 
 established among the nations of the world. The 
 Hebrew State was the right arm of the Hebrew 
 Faith and Church, and performed a great and 
 necessary work in introducing Christianity into the 
 world as a matured and compact Power. The foun- 
 dations of the Messiah's throne were laid in the 
 Jewish Theocracy and Kingly office. It was ne- 
 cessary to the evolvement and firm establishment 
 of the Divine Plan of human redemption, that G-od 
 should take into his own hands the reins of Civil 
 Government — should single out one righteous fam- 
 ily and keep it distinct from the rest of mankind, 
 and increase it into a nation — and then should 
 raise an impassable wall of separation between the 
 Israelites and their idolatrous neighbors — become 
 himself the Head of that Commonwealth, give it 
 laws, and administer them for many hundred 
 years — and thus not only preserve the infant 
 Church from the corraptions of a world-wide Poly- 
 theism, and lay deep and broad and enduring foun- 
 
38 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 dations for the Jewish Theology, but at the same 
 time give being and power on earth to those eter- 
 nal principles of justice and wisdom which un- 
 derlie all rightful authority and government, and 
 identify those principles with the Christian faith 
 and life, and the world's hope of Redemption.* 
 
 * "We had not time to do justice to the important truth condensed 
 here into a single paragraph. It is worthy of study and expan- 
 sion. Prof. Wines has written ably and satisfactorily on this sub- 
 ject in Biblical Repository, vol. vi., Third Series, and also in his 
 recent work on the Laws of the Ancient Hebreios. Two or three 
 brief quotations must sufiSce. 
 
 '•' What was the proper province of the Hebrew Theocracy ? 
 What its leading objects? They are chiefly two. One was to 
 teach mankind the true science of civil government. And how 
 well does it correspond with the goodness of God in other respects, 
 that he should make a special revelation on this subject ! We hold 
 it to have been an important part of the legislation of the Most 
 High, as the lawgiver, judge and ruler of Israel, to show how civil 
 authority should be created, and how it should be administered so 
 as best to promote the welfare and happiness of a nation ; and also 
 how the relations between rulers and ruled should be adjusted 
 and regulated. But another, and, we are persuaded, the leading 
 object of the theocratic feature of the Hebrew government, was 
 the overthrow and extirpation of idolatry. The design was to 
 make idolatry a crime against the State, so that it might be pun- 
 ishable by the civil law without a violation of civil liberty. There 
 can be no doubt that a fundamental purpose of the Mosaic Polity 
 was the abolition of idolatrous worship, and the substitution in its 
 place and maintenance of true religion in the world. And the 
 only adequate agency to the production of this result, so far as 
 human wisdom can see, was this very institution of the Jewish 
 Theocracy. ***** idolatry had now reached its most 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 39 
 
 The Christian then, more than any other man, 
 has an interest at stake in the State. It touches 
 his religious faith and hope as vitally as it does 
 his person and property. He owes to it as sacred 
 a duty as he owes to the Church. He cannot fail 
 to be a true and earnest patriot, and not endanger 
 his soul and sin against Jesus Christ. He cannot 
 afford to have these "foundations" destroyed, or 
 '' daubed with untempered mortar." Religion 
 has nothing to gain, but every thing to lose, by the 
 overthrow or weakening of Civil G-overnment. A 
 blow aimed here, whatever the intention be, is a 
 
 gigantic height, and spread its broad and deadly shadow over the 
 earth. To preserve the doctrine of the Unity, in the midst of a 
 polytheistic world, was the fundamental design of the Mosaic 
 Polity. * * * * t One God only shalt thou serve,' was the 
 first great principle of the Hebrew Polity. To the end that this 
 fundamental truth of religion might become a vital element of 
 Hebrew thought, faith and mannei's, the one true God became also 
 ■the covenanted King and Civil Head of the Hebrew State. Viewed 
 as to a main design of it, then, the Theocracy was a Divine insti- 
 tution, employed the more efifectually to supplant idolatry, with- 
 out a violation of that precious principle of civil liberty, that 
 mere opinions, whether theological, ethical, or political, were not 
 to be cramped and restrained by the pains and jienalties of the 
 civil law. * * * * It is perfectly evident from the history Of 
 the Israelites, that their entire isolation from other nations was 
 the only means, save a miraculous control of their understanding 
 and will, of abolishing idolatry among them.'" — pp. 579, 580, 581, 
 585, 59L 
 
40 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 blow aimed at the very foundations of virtue and 
 godliness in the world, nay, at Grod himself and 
 his throne. 
 
 what a faithful citizen ought every Christian 
 to be ! How earnestly ought he to strive and pray 
 for the welfare of the State, which, in the place of 
 Grod, holds over him the gegis of Law, and plants 
 for him foundations of personal safety and rights, 
 and of social power and religious freedom! 
 
 3. The Christian Church is the third and final 
 grand agency for the regeneration and salvation of 
 mankind. This is a strictly moral and spiritual 
 power. "My Kingdom," says Christ, "is not of 
 this world." It is a ^''Kingdom'''' nevertheless — a 
 Kingdom distinct from the State and allied to no 
 earthly power — a Kingdom having a real and 
 living Head, and well-defined and established 
 laws — a Kingdom fitted to man's spiritual na- 
 ture, and guarding and promoting his spiritual 
 interests — and this it is that gives it vitality and 
 power. It is a matured and living and adminis- 
 tered System of moral agencies, instinct with the 
 wisdom and power of Grod, whose peculiar mis- 
 sion it is to produce and gather into one all the 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 41 
 
 sanctified elements there are in the world, and give 
 them effect for its salvation. 
 
 From the peculiar structure of the Christian 
 Church, it is an agency of prodigious power. It is 
 made, in the providence of God, to subordinate all 
 other agencies and arrangements. It wields all 
 the elements of a Supernatural and Divine spiritual 
 power'. It is the depositary and the expounder of 
 the Oracles of Gfod. Its Sabbath, its Sanctuaries, 
 its Ministry, its public Teachings, its various educa- 
 tional and religious Institutions, bring it into close 
 and living contact with mankind in every relation 
 and department of life, and make the pressure of its 
 agency steady, wide-spread and powerful. Build- 
 ing on " foundations" laid in man's moral nature, in 
 the family arrangement, and by the help of Civil 
 Government — on foundations which almost six 
 thousand - years have only served to widen, and 
 strengthen, and sink lower down in the intelligence, 
 and conscience, and manners of the world, and 
 make stable and vital for good — there is no limit 
 to the power of this agency, especially when itself 
 is subordinate to the purpose of God's redeeming 
 mercy, and made a quickening, and regenerating, 
 and reconstructing power by the direct agency of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
42 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 The unsanotified world little feels its obligations 
 to the Church as the chief reformatory and regen- 
 erative agency at work upon our degenerate and 
 fallen race. But for her existence and agency, the 
 light of knowledge would go out, the fountains of 
 virtue would cease to flow, human nature would 
 slide backward by a perpetual backsliding, all the 
 elements of life and prosperity would decay, so- 
 ciety would become a mass of moral putrefaction, 
 and the world would crumble into ruin. 
 
 Jesus Christ uttered a profound truth, but one, 
 alas, which men are slow to learn, when he affirmed 
 of his own disciples: "Ye are the light of the 
 world — Ye are the salt of the earth." Yes, the 
 G-ospel of the grace of G-od, and not the theories 
 of transcendental dreamers, or the experiments of 
 social philosophers, is the sovereign remedy for the 
 disorders of the human race ; the reforming agent 
 on which the hopes of the world rely. No power 
 but that of the G-ospel can pluck up the roots of 
 Satan's tyranny from the inmost soul of man, and 
 overthrow the despotism of sin in the world. All 
 reforms which do not "lay the axe to the root of 
 the tree," and assail depravity in the stronghold 
 of the human heart, are deceptive, superficial and 
 transitory reforms. " The power that is to change 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 43 
 
 the face of the earth and the history of the race, 
 is not an army, not a fleet, not a treasury," not a 
 new organization of society, not the avatar of polit- 
 ical liberty, "but a word of salvation — something 
 of the mind and for the mind — and it is a Spirit 
 renewing and sanctifying — the creative Spirit come 
 down to rear again and to restore our fallen spirits." 
 And the Christian Church is G-od's own appointed 
 and perpetuated Agency to give this " word of sal- 
 vation" effect — the channel through which the 
 new-creating Spirit flows down to man and flows 
 out over the world. 
 
 The thousand-and-one experiments which Phi- 
 losophy and Civil Grovernment have made from 
 time to time, to reform mankind and elevate the 
 world, on other foundations than those laid in the 
 Grospel, and by means of worldly devices instead 
 of the simple spiritual agency chosen of God, have 
 proved signal failures. Not a solitary exception 
 can be named in the entire history of the race. It 
 is Christianity through the agency of the Church, 
 and Christianity alone, that can point to a bright 
 past — to actual and permanent reformations 
 achieved — to moral wildernesses reclaimed and 
 made fruitful — to communities lifted from social 
 and moral degradation into respectability and vir- 
 
44 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 tue and thrift — to whole nations, as recently at the 
 Sandwich Islands, emancipated from ignorance and 
 superstition, idolatry and social ruin, and made 
 free and intelligent, and renewed and made virtu- 
 ous and happy — to peoples and States arrested in 
 the career of deterioration and decay, and quick- 
 ened into life, and made vigorous and prosperous, 
 — Christianity alone, I say, of all the reforming 
 agents which mankind have ever tried, can point 
 to such achieved results as the pledges of future 
 conquests. 
 
 The world is full of reformers in our day, made 
 not a whit wiser by the sad failures of all human 
 philosophies and theories to make men better — 
 nor convinced by the splendid career of G-od's own 
 reforming agency. "Reform," "Regeneration," 
 " Progress," are inscribed on a thousand banners, 
 and the masses are upheaved, and society is shaken 
 and agitated by the universal movement. But 0, 
 the blindness and stupidity of the human heart, 
 and the deceitful power of sin ! The world has not 
 learned one lesson from all the past. It has no 
 faith at this late day in the G-ospel as the grand 
 reforming and progressive agent of universal man- 
 kind. It sneers at the "foundations" laid of old 
 in Zion, and so often made mighty through God 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 45 
 
 both to overthrow and to rebuild. In the madness 
 of its folly it would even drive the ploughshare of 
 a perfect and perpetual ruin through these Ciod- 
 laid, time-hallowed, and thoroughly-proved " foun- 
 dations," and begin to build anew, on the dreams, 
 or crude and shallow speculations of a conceited 
 and already exploded Philosophy. I much fear, 
 for one, from many of the movements of the day, 
 that Providence sees occasion for one grand experi- 
 ment of this sort more, to be made on a broader 
 and more conspicuous theatre than any yet made, 
 and to draw after it a ruin so great and severe as 
 to appall the world, and force upon its stupidity 
 the lessons of wisdom. 
 
 This aspect of the times certainly is not with- 
 out danger. Shame on the rjien bearing the name 
 of, Christian and belonging to the Christian Church, 
 who can fellowship in any way a movement so 
 radically infidel in all its affinities and tendencies ; 
 who are ready to forsake these old and living and 
 enduring "foundations," laid by patriarchs and 
 prophets, apostles and martyrs, and cemented by 
 the blood of the world's Redeemer, and honored in 
 achieving all of good there is in the world, for 
 new and untried, superficial and crazy foundations. 
 But so it is. The numerous Fraternities and 
 
46 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 Secret Societies'^ which are springing up all over 
 the country, innocent and good in their design as 
 they are made to appear to the many who are 
 drawn into them, are yet deadly hostile to the 
 Kingdom of G-od : they are meant by their design- 
 ers and guiding spirits, and their practical tend- 
 ency is, to uproot and supplant the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 I hazard nothing in the remark, that Christian- 
 ity — Christianity as bodied forth to man in the 
 doctrines and life of the Reformed Evangelical 
 Church — contains in itself all the living and active 
 elements of true reformation and real progress 
 there are in the world to-day. Look without the 
 circle of this Power, and show mc, if you can, one 
 sign of any regenerating or quickened movement. 
 Jt is a stubborn fact, which no careful student of 
 history will question, that human nature, wherever 
 left to itself, is in the process of a universal deteri- 
 oration ; it has been deteriorating steadily and 
 constantly for nearly two thousand years. The 
 
 * Many of these Associations embrace a far larger membership, 
 and greater resources, than the public are at all aware of. From 
 the Annual Report of the fraternity of Odd Fellows in the United 
 States, for 1852, it ai>pears that this Society alone numbers 193,298 
 members; and its receipts for that year were $1,164:, 331. la 
 1853 its contributing members numbered 193,040, and its revenue 
 amounted to $1,209,259. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 47 
 
 "golden age" of the human mind, unenlightened 
 by Revelation, and of human society, unblestwith 
 the Gospel, is far back in the Past. Where are 
 the learning and the civilization of Antiquity ? 
 The once splendid and powerful Literature of 
 Egypt, Greece, and Rome, has long been a dead 
 literature, accessible only to the curious and the 
 learned in libraries. The Old World shows every- 
 where the traces of a civilization, a prosperity, and 
 a greatness which have long since decayed and 
 past away. The entire unchristianized world, since 
 the advent of Jesus Christ, has gone backward and 
 not forward, and very decidedly. Not the advanced 
 and wide-spread Grecian civilization, united with 
 Roman pov/er and conquest, was able to arrest the 
 downward tendency of human nature, or implant 
 in it so much as one principle of enduring vitality. 
 And but for the light and life of Christianity, shed 
 on a portion of the race, one universal night of 
 degeneracy and hopeless ruin had rested on the 
 world to-day. Not a single system of thought, 
 faith, or life, which the master-minds of Heathen 
 Antiquity originated, has retained any of its origi- 
 nal vigor and life; and nearly all of them, with 
 their authors and trophies, lie entombed with the 
 dead of many gerierations. 
 
48 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 But Christianity, although older than any of 
 these systems, points to an ever-brightening Future 
 as the goal of hope and progress. Its "golden 
 age" — its millennial period — is yet to come. We 
 have had only the dawn ; -we are to have, in time, 
 the perfect day. Christianity stands up amid the 
 living lights of the nineteenth century, and eclipses 
 them all by the power and splendor of her doc- 
 trines and triumphs. It walks forth amid the 
 stirring realities of the world to-day, not a decrepit 
 and decayed Faith, but young as ever, and strong 
 and firm in its tread, still pressing forward in the 
 race over the ruins of all other systems — the Truth 
 evermore, "for its years are eternal — and in its 
 origin as old as G-od, it can no more become obso- 
 lete than can He, the Unchangeable and the Ever- 
 lasting." 
 
 Such " foundations," " tried and precious," has 
 God laid for "the righteous" in this evil world. 
 While they are preserved to us, there is hope for 
 mankind. Looking to them, and building upon 
 them, we shall not live or labor in vain. 
 
PART II. -HISTORICAL. 
 
 Having thus laid our "foundations" in the doc- 
 trine of " the everlasting G-ospel," let us pass to the 
 Historical part of the subject, as furnishing an apt 
 and instructive illustration of the sentiment taught 
 in the Scripture we have discussed. 
 
 The founders of this Church were wise and godly 
 men. They recognized the great law of Providence 
 which I have thus unfolded, and acted in obedience 
 to it. They were not men of mere impulses, or of 
 superficial views, or of contracted principles, or of 
 feeble faith. They took a broad and Christian 
 view of things, and of their duty. 
 
 They began with the "foundations." They 
 
 toiled away at these with great patience and zeal 
 
 and sacrifice, and consecrated them with much 
 
 fervent prayer. They laid them deep and strong, 
 
 and broad enough for half a century's growth. 
 
 They rested their hope for themselves and their 
 
 children, on the pure and perpetuated faith of the 
 
 Gospel — on a wise and liberal provision for the 
 
 public worship of God, and the maintenance and 
 3 
 
50 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 growth of the institutions of religion. These 
 massive walls, hewn out of the rock and shaped 
 by great labor — of dimensions so ample for that 
 period — laid with such breadth and strength as 
 almost to defy the hand of the destroyer — and 
 modelled and finished in a style of architectural 
 beauty, in advance of the rural taste and enter- 
 prise of that age — these ivalls, I say, speak to-day 
 with a living voice, of your fathers' wisdom and 
 piety, and symbolize the breadth and energy of 
 their faith. 
 
 The "foundations" thus early and thoroughly 
 laid in this community, have already brought forth 
 great and blessed results. The History of this 
 Church — the fruit of a little more than fifty years' 
 bearing — furnishes another signal proof of God's 
 "covenant faithfulness," and a most instructive 
 and joyful illustration of the law of Providence, 
 that good "foundations," vital with G-ospel prin- 
 ciples and life, are immensely productive of real 
 and permanent prosperity. Let this history and 
 these results, so far forth as I have time to spread 
 them before you, speak in the ears of this great 
 multitude here gathered to participate in these 
 services. I count it a great privilege to stand up 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 5L 
 
 before you to-day on these now venerable and 
 historical foundations — on such an occasion of 
 solemn interest, and which inaugurates I trust a 
 career of enlarged usefulness — amid such an as- 
 semblage of hallowed memories as this scene 
 awakens in your hearts — with so bright a Past 
 smiling upon and so hopeful a Future opening be- 
 fore us — and with the conscious presence of hun- 
 dreds of glorified saints, here born anew and 
 trained for heaven, hovering over this favored 
 Sanctuary, and fully sympathizing in your feelings 
 of gratitude and rejoicing, — I am most happy to 
 stand up here to-day and rehearse what God the 
 Lord hath wrought by means of these " foun- 
 dations." 
 
 I. The early History of this Church. 
 
 Bloomfield was early settled by a part of the 
 colony of New Englanders which founded Newark. 
 Newark's history goes back to May, 1666, forty-six 
 years after the landing of our Pilgrim Fathers on 
 Plymouth Rock, and two years after the settlement 
 of Elizabethtoivn^y^\\\Gh. was the first E nglish colony 
 planted this side of the Hudson. Its settlers emi- 
 grated from Guilford^ Branford, Milford and Neiv 
 
62 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 Haven, Connecticut. You come therefore from Pu- 
 ritan ancestors. This fair and flourishing region of 
 East Jerseywas mainly reclaimed from its wilder- 
 ness state by Puritan enterprise, and was early 
 planted with Puritan principles. The original 
 foundations of Christ's Kingdom here, and of the 
 intelligence and thrift of the people, were floated 
 over the ocean in the faith and principles of the 
 Pilgrim Fathers, and embodied the choicest 
 principles, and most vigorous life, of the glorious 
 Reformation of the century which preceded their 
 advent. 
 
 The materials out of which this Church and 
 Congregation were formed, originally belonged to 
 the first Presbyterian churches of Newark and 
 Orange. More than a century must have elapsed 
 after the settlement of Bloomfield before it had a 
 church of its own. During all this time the people 
 had to worship G-od in those distant sanctuaries, 
 if they worshipped Him at all ; and this fact may 
 account for the slow growth of Bloomfield for that 
 long period. 
 
 The incipient measures for the organization of 
 a separate Congregation and Church in Bloomfield 
 were taken early in the year 1794, by the members 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 53 
 
 of the above-named churches resident here. The 
 Presbytery of Neiv York then extended over all 
 Southern New York, and all this part of New 
 Jersey, and the matter was carried up before that 
 body, at their meeting in May of that year, for 
 advice and action. Presbytery favored the move- 
 ment, and appointed a committee to confer with a 
 committee from the churches of Newark and 
 Orange, in reference to the matter. The meeting 
 of these joint committees was held on the 16th of 
 June following, at the house of Mr. Joseph Davis, 
 in this village, and was opened with a sermon by 
 Dr. Rogers, then pastor of the First Presbyterian 
 Church in the city of New York. After prayer 
 for direction from God, and conference, a Petition 
 was presented to the Committee of Presbytery, 
 signed by no less than ninety-eight heads of fami- 
 lies, requesting to be formally organized into a dis" 
 tinct Congregation, and to take the name of the 
 Third Presbyterian Church in the township of 
 Newark.* Why the Congregation was not organ- 
 
 * What now forms the townships of Orange and Bloomfield was 
 then a part of Newark township. The First Church of Newark, and 
 the First Church of what is now Orange, are much older than this. 
 The Congregation, however, never seems to have adopted this 
 name. It bore for a short time the name of Wardsesson, a cor 
 
54 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ized on the spot does not appear. The Committee 
 reported to Presbytery the next month, by whom 
 the petitioners were advised to organize them- 
 selves into a separate Congregation for the worship 
 of God. This was done as soon as practicable there- 
 after. Too feeble still to support a minister of 
 their own, they were dependent on Presbytery for 
 supplies the greater part of the time, with the 
 exception of one year, during which the Rev. 
 Calvin White officiated as stated supply, until the 
 close of the year 1799. 
 
 There was no Church in existence here, however, 
 until four years after the Congregation was planted. 
 This Church was organized, after the Presbyterian 
 form of government, in the month of June, 1798, 
 by the Rev. Jedediah Chapman, then pastor of the 
 First Church in Orange, acting as a Committee of 
 the Presbytery of New York. Eighty-two mem- 
 bers constituted it, fifty-nine of whom were from 
 his own church, and twenty-three from the First 
 
 ruptlon of the old Indian original name, Watssessing, given to the 
 old School-house Hill and the plains adjacent, as appears from the 
 ancient Deeds of some of your ancestors. At a meeting of the 
 Cougregation, duly notified, held October 13th, 1796, the name of 
 Wardsesson was dropped, and Bloomfield adopted by " a large 
 majority of votes.'' — See Appendix. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 55 
 
 Church in Newark. Of this original number, two* 
 only I believe remain among its living membership. 
 The ruling Elders and Deacons chosen and ordain- 
 ed at the time of its organization, were Simeon 
 Baldwin^ Ephraim Morris, Isaac Dodd, and 
 Joseph Crane. 
 
 In the year 1800, under the ministry of Mr. 
 Jackson, the form of government of this Church 
 was changed, and the New England or congrega- 
 tional system, in a modified form, was adopted. 
 It appears from the Church Recordst that this 
 change, never sanctioned by the Society, was very 
 informally yet quietly voted by the Church, at 
 an ordinary Church meeting held on the I2th 
 of February, 1800. Mr. J. was evidently the 
 author of this transaction, as the manner of 
 introducing the change shows. During his pas- 
 torate the Church sent its delegates to the Mor- 
 
 * These are, Israel Crane, Esq., who was early chosen a ruling 
 Elder, and still retains the ofiSce, and who bore a prominent part 
 in the erection of the house, and to whose prudent and enlightened 
 counsels, and acknowledged ability and enterprise, the Church and 
 Parish will ever feel their indebtedness, and who in a green old 
 age is permitted to rejoice in your prosperity ; and Mrs. Betsey 
 King. 
 
 t Vol. i., pp. 60, 61 
 
56 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ris County Presbytery, of which he was a mem- 
 ber, which was essentially Congregational in every 
 thing but the name, and conformed to its rules of 
 discipline. The great body of the Church, how- 
 ever, although they acquiesced in the thing while 
 Mr. Jackson remained their Pastor, were greatly 
 dissatisfied with the change and with its practical 
 workings, and on the very day of his dismission 
 voted, on considering their ecclesiastical relations, 
 to apply to the Presbytery of Je7'sey* for supplies, 
 thus practically returning to their old "founda- 
 tions." Soon after, by a formal and public vote, 
 the Church readopted its original Presbyterian 
 Constitution and usage. And on this Platform 
 it has remained ever since, unshaken and at 
 peace. 
 
 The materials for this Church edifice were in 
 part collected in 1796. The work was begun in the 
 spring following, and the corner-stone laid by Dr. 
 McWhorter, Pastor of the First Church of Newark, 
 May 8, 1797, and the walls were carried up 
 during that season. The house was not finished 
 however, within, until 1800, although it began to 
 
 * The Presbytery of Jersey was the old Presbytery of New York 
 under a new name ; i. e. the Presbytery which organized the 
 Church, and to which it has always belonged except the time of 
 Mr. Jackson's pastorate. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 57 
 
 be occupied in the summer of 1799. Previous to 
 which time, the congregation worshipped for a 
 while in the Franklin School-house, but during 
 most of the time in the house of Joseph Davi . 
 The dimensions of the original edifice were 55 by 
 70 feet, exclusive of the tower. 
 
 The first plan was to build a much smaller frame 
 house as a temporary provision, and the work 
 was actually begun upon it. But the younger and 
 more enterprising men remonstrated. They want- 
 ed " no permanent temporary house," as they 
 wisely and nobly declared, " but one that would 
 do good to future generations." And hence they 
 resolved at length to erect this stone temple, of 
 ample dimensions. 
 
 - Considering their strength and means, it was a 
 great undertaking for them ; and its achievement 
 a signal proof of what a few resolute souls can do 
 when they have " a mind to work," and when 
 moved to do it by love to G-od, and faith in his 
 promises. It was a work that cost them a great 
 deal of real sacrifice and self-denial, as well as 
 vigorous effort. 
 
 It seemed almost wholly an enterprise of faith. 
 3* 
 
58 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 It was bailt without foreign aid ;* while the 
 church was yet in its cradle, and without a Pas- 
 tor ; and when money was scarce indeed : built 
 
 * Except a donation of $140 from Major- General Bloomfield at 
 the time of his visit here, while the walls were being carried up. 
 Mrs. Bloomfield at the same time presented the church "with a 
 very elegant gilt Bible." 
 
 This gift was providential. And there hangs a story upon it 
 too interesting to be lost. "A day or two previous to his visit, 
 [Gen. Bloomfield's, a graphic and detailed account of which may 
 be found in the " Sentinel" of July 12, 1797,] two of the Building 
 Committee [^Joseph Davis and Simeon Baldwin, to whose enlight- 
 ened views, and noble efforts, and unceasing prayers, this church 
 owes a great debt] had gone to New York to purchase a cargo of 
 lime. They found the lime, and got the terms on which it might 
 be had. In consulting what to do, they met with the diiBculty of 
 an empty treasury. When they left home, there was no money on 
 hand to pay for the lime. They walked the streets in distress, not 
 knowing what to do ; but finally concluded — This is the Lord's 
 House — He must and he will provide, and we ought to trust his word 
 and promise. Animated with these reflections, they boldly closed 
 the bargain for the cargo, and directed the Captain to sail up to 
 Bellville and deliver it. They returned. And the next morning 
 Mr. Baldwin went over to the builders with a heavy heart, think- 
 ing, We cannot pay for the lime, and must discharge the hands and 
 stop the work. But he found the workmen all engaged and in fine 
 spirits. ' Good-morning. Well, have you bought the lime V 'O 
 yes ! but we have no money to pay for it, and the work must stop.' 
 ' no ! that must not be : there is money enough in the treasury.' 
 'Where did you get it? ' 'Why, General Bloomfield was here 
 yesterday, and made a donation to the trustees of .$140 to help 
 forward the work.' 'Ay, the Lord will provide for his own work : 
 let us doubt no more.' And so the lime was delivered and paid 
 for, and there was enough to finish the house." See Appendix. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 50 
 
 mainly by the people theaiselves turning out in rota- 
 tion, and working with their own hands and teams, 
 alnaost to the entire neglect of their worldly affairs ; 
 and yet somehow, as tradition says, they were 
 never more prospered ; and built throughout too 
 in the most thorough and substantial manner. It 
 is truly affecting to hear the stories which are 
 told us of their self-denials, and straits, and shifts, 
 to raise the means to build this noble and commo- 
 dious Sanctuary, the men binding themselves to 
 wear no new coat, and the women not behind 
 them in spirit, until it was finished and paid for, 
 and the altar of their faith set up in it. 
 
 And who can doubt that the v/isdom and Spirit 
 of God guided them in this work ? They laid no 
 contracted, or superficial, or temporary foundations. 
 They were not satisfied to meet their own imme- 
 diate wants. They devised liberal things. With 
 a forethought and an enterprise worthy of the 
 men, they planted for the future — gave sufficient 
 breadth and capacity to these walls to enclose the 
 growth of fifty years. And there is no estimating 
 the good resulting from this wise and liberal fore- 
 thought and expenditure. There has been room 
 for expansion. Presbyterianisra has retained the 
 
60 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ground nearly entire. You have been one people. 
 You still cling to these old foundations ; and have 
 now extended them to meet your enlarged wants, 
 rather than divide. " In union there is strength." 
 The experiment here proves it. 
 
 IT. — Its Growth. 
 
 This Church fairly started on its active career 
 with the year 1800. Its previous work was pre- 
 paratory only. It now took the field armed for 
 action. It had a sanctuary to worship in, a con- 
 gregation gathered, an organized body of believers, 
 and a pastor chosen, who began his labors on the 
 first Sabbath in January of that year. Soon 
 after there were earnests of good — earnests of its 
 future history. Under its first pastor, and during 
 the first year of his ministry, a powerful revival 
 of religion blessed it, and nearly one hundred 
 were added to the church, forty-seven at one 
 communion. 
 
 The vitality and growth of this Church, thus 
 early and signally developed, have continued un- 
 abated down to the present moment. Its progress 
 has been steady, healthy, constant, until it has 
 reached its present strength and position — number- 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 61 
 
 ing now nearly 500 living members, and consider- 
 ably larger than any other church belonging to 
 Newark Presbytery. 
 
 The number of members at its organization was 
 82. There have been added to it since, on certifi- 
 cate, 283, and on profession of their faith, 895 ; 
 making in all, 1256 members received into the 
 communion of this church ; a yearly average of 
 23, dating from January, 1800, when it began its 
 career. 
 
 During the same period, 484 have been dis- 
 missed to join other churches, 245 have died, and 
 44 have been suspended ; leaving 487 as the 
 actual number in communion with it to-day. 
 
 During this time also there have been baptized, 
 179 adults, and 1340 infants : total number of 
 baptisms, 1519. 
 
 These are indeed precious and glorious direct 
 results. Few churches, planted in rural districts, 
 where the population is fixed and not large, 
 have been so signally favored and increased, or 
 have more abundant occasion to thank Grod and 
 take courage. The '"foundations" laid with so 
 much faith and sacrifice and toil, and breadth of 
 views, and enlightened forethought, have been 
 
62 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 wonderfully nourished and honored of the Great 
 Head of the Church to the saving of souls. 
 
 TIL — Its Pastors. 
 
 This Church has had six Pastors in all, four of 
 whom are still living. 
 
 The first Pastor was the Rev. Abel Jackson, a 
 member of the Morris County Presbytery, who 
 began his labors in January, 1800, and was duly 
 installed by the above-named Presbytery, in the 
 fall of the same year. He continued his labors 
 for eleven years, and was greatly blessed. Towards 
 the close of his ministry, however, very serious 
 difficulties arose in reference to him, which, for 
 two or three of the last years of his pastorate, 
 greatly distracted the church, and resulted in his 
 dismission on the 8th of November, 1810.* He 
 
 * There was a considerable difiBculty as to the form of his dis- 
 mission. To compromise the matter, the chnrch consented to call 
 a Council of Ministers to consider the question of the expediency 
 of his dismission, composed of representatives from both Presby- 
 teries, Morris County and Jersey. From the former, Rev. Messrs. 
 Grover and Constant, with Messrs. Carmicke, Mapes and Corwin, 
 delegates, (who were finally admitted ;) and from the latter, Drs. 
 Richards, McDowell and Hilyer, and Rev. Mr. Picton. The Coun- 
 cil advised his dismission, and the Parish voted Mr. Jackson $400 
 " as the terms of his dismission.'' Both parties then agreed that 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS, 63 
 
 continued to reside here for some years after this, 
 and nothing but the great firmness and prudence 
 of the majority of the people saved the Congrega- 
 tion from actual division. There are documents 
 of great interest and ability spread out upon your 
 Church Records, illustrative of this remark, and 
 proving that there were men of clear heads and 
 sound discretion, and who wielded a powerful pen, 
 in the councils of this Society at that period. 
 These difficulties prevented the settlement of 
 another pastor for a considerable time. 
 
 The Rev. Cyrus Gildersleeve was finally chosen 
 to succeed him . He was installed by the Presbytery 
 of Jerseij, March 21, 1812. On November 6th, fol- 
 lowing, the church again formally adopted the 
 Presbyterian form of church government,* which 
 
 the relation should be formally dissolved by the Morris County 
 Presbytery, which was done the next week. — Church Records, vol. 
 i.,pp. 148-152. 
 
 * There was some opposition to this, and a few members withdrew 
 and went to Caldivell,vi)i\ch still adhered to the Morris County Pres- 
 bytery. It seems, therefore, that this church was early called to 
 the ordeal to which many of our sister churches are, unfortunately 
 for their peace, subjected at the present time. The conflict 
 between the two great Ecclesiastical Systems of this country, 
 which the rashness and ambition of a few attached to each is fast 
 bringing on in various quarters, has already been once met and 
 settled on this field. 
 
64 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 it had observed from the day of Mr. Jackson's dis- 
 mission, and on the 8th of the same month, 
 elected ten ruling elders, viz. : Joseph Crane, 
 Joseph Davis, Ichahod Baldwin, and Israel Crane, 
 already Deacons, together with David Taylor, 
 Nathaniel Crane, Moses Dodd, John Dodd, Hiram 
 Dodd, and Josiah Ward, who, on the following 
 Sabbath, were set apart to this office. Mr. 
 Gildersleeve's pastoral relation continued until 
 May, 1818. Both these early pastors have de- 
 ceased. 
 
 The Church was again destitute of a Pastor two 
 years. And during this interval, a large outlay 
 was made in completing the Steeple, and in re- 
 seating and re-flooring the entire house. The Bell, 
 whose sweet tones have for more than thirty years 
 invited you here, was a present from Major 
 Nathaniel Crane, one of the original members of 
 this church, and who subsequently left $10,000 
 towards the support of the gospel in the West 
 Village, whenever a church should be organized 
 there. 
 
 Mr. Grildersleeve's successor was the Rev. 
 Gideon N. Judd, a member of the Presbytery of 
 Columbia, who still lives to labor in the common 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 65 
 
 vineyard. He began his labors in May, 1820, and 
 was installed on the 9th of August following, by 
 the Jersey Presbytery. On the 30th of August, 
 1822, there was another election of elders, and 
 Caleb Baldwin, Eleazar Baldwin and Zopliar B. 
 Dodd, were chosen to that office. 
 
 Mr. Judd's ministry ajjpears to have been sig- 
 nally honored of G-od in the conversion of souls, 
 and in consolidating and quickening all the ele- 
 ments of growth and prosperity existing among 
 you. Precious revivals were the fruit of it. Order, 
 system and activity were given to every thing. 
 The spirit of benevolence was awakened by him, 
 and that simple yet efficient system matured and 
 introduced, which has been productive of results 
 great and blessed. He wrought on the "founda- 
 tions" which God has laid in the Gospel, and by 
 his providence. His preaching was scriptural, prac- 
 tical and experimental, and his pastoral labors 
 faithful and abundant. This Church owes not a 
 little of its character and strength to the piety, 
 wisdom and fidelity of that beloved and now vene- 
 rated Father. 
 
 He remained your pastor until April 15, 1834. 
 His stated labors, however, ceased some months 
 
66 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 before. Appointed Associate Secretary of the Amer- 
 ican Home Missionary Society, and wishing to 
 make trial of its duties before accepting the office, 
 the Rev. Ebenezer Seymour was engaged to 
 supply the pulpit in the meanwhile. In Mr. 
 Judd's own language, '' the importance of the 
 work to which he was appointed, the prospect of 
 improved health, and of seeing his place immedi- 
 ately supplied by the settlement of Mr. Seymour," 
 made it to appear his duty to resign his charge. 
 
 The Rev. Ebenezer Seymour, a member of the 
 Presbytery of Troy, N. Y., was the fourth Pastor. 
 A unanimous call was put into his hands on the 
 same day that Presbytery dismissed Mr. Judd, and 
 he was duly installed on the 13th of May, 1834. 
 He had already been laboring for some months as 
 a stated supply. 
 
 On the 2d of November following, Matthias 
 Smith, Bethuel Ward, Elias J. Crane, and Efi- 
 phalet Hall were chosen Elders, and were set apart 
 to that office on the 7th of December ensuing. 
 
 Mr. Seymour remained your Pastor until April 
 26, 1847. He is still one of us, filling a highly 
 responsible and useful place, enjoying the good-will 
 and esteem of his former people, and by his kind 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 67 
 
 and considerate course reversing the saying, that 
 " Ministers make the worst of parishioners." 
 
 The records of this church for thirteen years fur- 
 nish the proof that Mr. Seymour, while he served 
 you in the ministry, was a highly successful ser- 
 vant of the Lord. The church continued to prosper 
 and increase under him. Extensive revivals tes- 
 tify that Grod wrought with him. He wisely fol- 
 lowed in the footsteps of his predecessor, and ma- 
 tured and developed the plans of usefulness which 
 he had introduced. Your Lecture-Room and Par- 
 sonage were both built while he was your pastor, 
 and his exertions greatly aided in their erection. 
 
 It was during his pastorate, viz., August, 1838, 
 that our West Bloomfield brethren, so many of 
 whom, with their Pastor, we are happy to greet 
 here to-day, withdrew and built a separate altar 
 in their own village. May they be provoked to lay 
 such foundations as their fathers helped to lay 
 here, and realize from them, in coming generations, 
 results as extensive and precious! This Church 
 dismissed for this purpose almost as many of her 
 members as at first constituted it. 
 
 After a brief vacancy you called for your next 
 Pastor, the Rev. George Dujffield, Jmi., a mem- 
 
68 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ber of the Presbytery of Brooklyn, N. Y. He 
 began his labors in August, 1847, and was in- 
 stalled November 4th, following, by the Presby- 
 tery of Newark. His brief ministry was also 
 very successful. Entering on his labors with a 
 great and somewhat divided charge, he fully "oc- 
 cupied" his talents, and was permitted to reap no 
 scanty harvest. The Holy Spirit, who had so 
 gloriously visited the people under former minis- 
 tries, honored his in a similar way. A large acces- 
 sion was made to the church during this period. 
 
 Called to exercise his ministry in the city of 
 Philadelphia, he resigned his charge, and was dis- 
 missed from this church December 23, 1851 . 
 
 In 1848, David Conger and Warren S. Bald- 
 win were chosen and ordained to the office of the 
 Eldership. 
 
 My own ministry among you began in April of 
 the ensuing year. I was installed by the Presby- 
 tery of Newark on the 10th of November follow- 
 ing. For several years I had been a member of 
 the Presbytery of Brooklyn, and engaged in edi- 
 torial labor as the conductor of the ^^ National 
 Preacher,'''' and of the ^^ Biblical Repository .^^ I 
 was called here, however, from the Second Con- 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIOKS. 69 
 
 gregational Church of Milford, Ct.,* which I felt 
 obliged to leave after only one year's service, for 
 reasons connected with my health. Coming to 
 you greatly prostrated, and having to struggle with 
 a depressing disease, the effect of over-labor during 
 a season of great religious interest there, and able 
 as yet to perform but a part of the pastoral labor 
 connected with this large parish, I am conscious 
 of having greatly taxed your forbearance, and 
 labored under serious disadvantages. Of my man- 
 ner of living and teaching among you, you are the 
 living witnesses. But God has not been unmindful 
 of his promise, I feel constrained to say. These 
 old "foundations" have not yet lost their virtue. It 
 has been yourPastor's privilege, standing here where 
 so many of his brethren before him have stood, and 
 
 * It is worthy of note that a considerable portion of your ancestors 
 came from Milford. The names of many of the old families in both 
 places are the same. The First Church there was organized as 
 early as 1639, nineteen years after the Pilgrim Fathers landed at 
 Plymouth. 
 
 Having taken away one of Milford's Pastors, it was but right 
 that you should give them one in return. And it is pleasing to 
 know that one of your own worthy sons, the Rev. Stephen G.Dodd, is 
 now happily and usefully settled in his place. It was my privi- 
 lege to preach his ordination sermon there a little more than a 
 year since. Milford and Bloomfield are bound together by many 
 ties. 
 
70 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 wept and taught and prayed and rejoiced, to see 
 God's Word take effect — to see the spirit of deep 
 solemnity and tearful interest settle down upon 
 thisSanctuary — to see yonder Lecture-Room nearly 
 filled with inquirers after salvation — to sit down 
 with many of you in his Study and point you to 
 the Saviour — to introduce not a few of you into 
 the membership of this Church — and to see these 
 enlarged and improved foundations laid and finished 
 in a spirit and with a liberality worthy of your 
 fathers' memory, and of your history. 
 
 We have now reached the limit of your pastoral 
 history ; all beyond this moment is conjecture and 
 uncertainty. But whatever becomes of the exist- 
 ing relation, or the present iacumbent, your 
 ^^foundations''' remain to you. Your Pastors die 
 or leave you, but not their principles, not the fruits 
 of their labors. They are vital, they abide with 
 you ; their voices are living voices, speaking out 
 from these walls to-day; their life is a perpetuated 
 life, to bless this people, because identified with 
 these "foundations." 
 
 Let us gather into a single view the results of 
 these several pastors' labors, so far as they appear 
 from accessions to the Church. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 71 
 
 There were received into communion with this 
 Church, during the ministry of Mr. Jackson, 
 eleven years, 196. 
 
 During Mr. Gilder sleeve^s, little over six years, 
 130. 
 
 During Dr. JudcPs, fourteen years, 361. 
 
 During Mr. Seymour'' s, thirteen years, 275. 
 
 During Mr. DuffiekVs, four years and four 
 months, 125. 
 
 And during my own, thus far,^ one year and 
 nine months, 77.* 
 
 These periods comprise just fifty years of pas- 
 toral service. 
 
 IV. REVIVALS. 
 
 This Church has been frequently and signally 
 favored with seasons of Revival. There have been 
 Revivals under every Pastor, and some of them 
 were revivals of very great power and interest. 
 All of them were evidently Revivals of " pure re- 
 ligion andundefiled" — healthy, and promotive only 
 of peace and strength — the result of God's bless- 
 
 * Besides these, a large number connected with our several 
 Schools, who have been hopefully converted from time to time, 
 have preferred to connect with their several churches at home. 
 
72 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 ing on sound and faithful pastoral teaching and 
 labor. 
 
 One fact in proof of this is significant, viz., that 
 of the 1,256 members received into this church 
 since its organization — and a very large majority 
 of them were the fruit of Revivals — only forty- 
 four have been expelled ; and discipline has not 
 been neglected. This is in the ratio of one to 
 twenty-eight received. The miserable policy — a 
 policy as unwise in the end as it is unchristian in 
 principle, which is adopted by too many churches 
 to swell their numbers, or gain proselytes — of ad- 
 mitting members hastily, has never been coun- 
 tenanced by this Church. Unusual care and cau- 
 tion, as the records show, have, from the first, been 
 exercised on this point. The element of all these 
 revivals — of this rapid growth and expansion — has 
 been the simple Truth of the Grospel, disconnected 
 with all novel measures and undue excitements — 
 the Truth acting on thoroughly evangelical and 
 tried foundations, through systematic and estab- 
 lished agencies, and by the ordinary and Heaven- 
 appointed means for advancing the Redeemer's 
 Kingdom. 
 
 There have been no less than sixteen distinct 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 73 
 
 REVIVALS OF RELIGION siiice the pei'iod of Mr. Jack- 
 son's settlement. The first year of his labors was 
 signalized by the outpoured Spirit. The Church, 
 yet in its infancy, just started on its career, just 
 blessed with a pastor, was visited from on high. 
 It would appear as if nearly one hundred were 
 hopefully converted in this first visitation of God. 
 Many of the oldest living members of this Church 
 were among the fruits of it. For that early day 
 it was a "■ great Revival." An interesting account 
 of it was published at the time by Mr. Jackson, 
 in the New York Missionary Magazine, vol. iii. 
 In 1808, another precious season of refreshing was 
 enjoyed, and fifty or more, it would appear, were 
 quickened into life. 
 
 In 1814, under Mr. G-ildersleeve, there was a 
 very thorough and extensive work of the Spirit, 
 reviving the church and converting sinners ; and 
 again, in 1817, there was another Revival of a 
 similar character. At least fifty, it is supposed, 
 were born of the Spirit at each time. 
 
 The year 1820, the first of Mr. Judd's ministry, 
 was another of Grod's "set times" to favor your 
 Zion. This revival continued for nearly a year. 
 
V4 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 and extended to all parts of the congregation, and 
 shook the church into new life ; and more than 
 one hundred were, it is believed, renewed by- 
 Divine grace. It was a thorough work, embracing 
 all classes, and leaving permanent evidence that 
 it was of G-od. " The work," says Mr. Judd, 
 •*was characterized by order, silence, deep solem- 
 nity, and pungent conviction of sin." 
 
 Again, in 1823, a portion of the Church was 
 revived, and some souls were made alive to God. 
 
 Again, in 1825, the Spirit was poured out upon 
 a portion of the Church, and about fifty are believed 
 to have been born into the Kingdom. 
 
 The year 1830 was another remarkable season 
 of interest and ingathering. In the language of 
 Mr. Judd himself, describing it four years after- 
 ward, *' the Lord appeared in the midst of this 
 people, in the power of his glory and riches of his 
 grace. This visit of divine mercy lasted for many 
 months ; a portion of the Church, however, seemed 
 not to know that the Lord was among them; 
 others were humbled and excited to importunate 
 prayer, and great activity in the service of G-od. 
 The subjects of renewing grace during this work 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 75 
 
 are believed to have been more than one hun- 
 dred."* 
 
 As Mr. Judd's labors began with a revival, so 
 they were to closa with a revival. Tn November, 
 1838, another work of special grace began, which 
 continued all the following winter. "This gra- 
 cious visitation from on high," writes Mr. Judd, 
 "was more distinguished for its sanctifying, 
 quickening, and comforting influence upon God's 
 professing people, and on those who already in- 
 dulged hope, but had not publicly taken his vows 
 upon them, than by the number of conversions 
 from the world. Of these there were thirty or 
 thirty-five ; but rarely does the Church experience 
 a season of more delightful refreshing. The 
 silence of the sepulchre reigned in the frequent 
 and crowded assemblies convened for worship. 
 Daily prayer-meetings at sunrise, or before the 
 dawn of day, were held in different neighborhoods 
 during the winter. Many of the members of the 
 Church exhibited an unusual tenderness of con- 
 science, spirit of prayer, and devotion to the ser- 
 vice of G-od." This was the winter that Mr. Sey- 
 
 * See Church Manual for all the quotations from Dr. Judd. 
 
76 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 mour mainly supplied the pulpit in the absence of 
 Mr. Judd, although the accessions to the Church 
 which were the fruits of this revival, were mostly 
 made previous to Mr. J.'s dismission. 
 
 During the winter and spring of 1837, while 
 Mr. Seymour was your pastor, another revival of 
 remarkable interest and power was enjoyed. The 
 work reached and seemed to impress the entire 
 congregation. More than one hundred souls were 
 the hopeful subjects of that work. 
 
 During the next winter there was a pleasing 
 revival in the Montgomery Neighborhood, which 
 greatly changed the moral character of that por- 
 tion of the Society. Rev. Greorge W. "Wood, now 
 one of the Secretaries of the American Board, had 
 charge of the pulpit for some months during this 
 season of interest, and his labors here are held in 
 grateful remembrance by many. 
 
 Two years after, in the winter and spring of 
 1840, the Holy Spirit was again signally poured 
 out. The interest in the Church was so great 
 that, in the Central and North part of the congre- 
 gation, prayer-meetings, held before sunrise and 
 begun in the depth of winter, and continued with- 
 out interruption for five months, were held. Some- 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS, 77 
 
 where between seventy and one hundred is the es- 
 timated number of the converts. 
 
 In the spring of 1843 the Church was in a mea- 
 sure revived again, and about twenty it is thought 
 passed from death unto life. 
 
 One general and one partial revival occurred 
 under Mr. Duffield's ministry. The first, in 3848, 
 a few months after his settlement, was a precious 
 and extensive one, and fruitful in conversions. 
 He estimated the number of converts at from sev- 
 enty to seventy-five. The Church Records show 
 an accession of fifty-six during that year, on pro- 
 fession of their faith, the most of whom, it is pre- 
 sumed, were the fruits of it. 
 
 Again, in the winter of 1S50, there was special 
 religious interest. But this time it seems to have 
 commenced in the Schools and been chiefly con- 
 fined to them, except in the Montgomery district, 
 which was again specially favored. Mr. Craig- 
 head assisted Mr. Duffield in the work there. The 
 gathering of a Church in that neighborhood was 
 for awhile seriously entertained, and favored, I 
 believe, by the pastor. 
 
 In the winter and spring of 1853, under the 
 ministry of your present pastor, this Church was 
 
78 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 again greatly favored. This revival occurred un- 
 der the regular ministrations of the pastor. It 
 was a silent, deep, and pungent work. In some 
 of its features it was peculiar. It was preceded 
 by several months of great seriousness on the part 
 of many of the impenitent. The work of conver- 
 sion began before any part of the Church seemed 
 stirred up. More than two hundred different per- 
 sons attended upon the meeting for inquiry, the 
 most of whom (those who were not converted) re- 
 mained more or less anxious for months. And yet 
 the Church did not generally rally to the work, 
 and consequently only a part of the abundant har- 
 vest thus prepared to our hands by the Word and 
 Spirit of Grod, was gathered by us. Still we have 
 reason to think that nearly one hundred, including 
 those in the Schools, were savingly reached by 
 this Divine visitation. It was really more of an 
 " awakening" than a " revival," in its character. 
 This may with propriety, therefore, be called a 
 Revival Church. " Precious in the sight of the 
 Lord" have these " foundations" been. The Holy 
 Spirit has loved to visit and to water them. About 
 ONE THOUSAND SOULS, it is bclievcd, have been 
 gathered to Christ, during these harvest seasons. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 79 
 
 These revivals have been the streams that have so 
 oft made glad your hearts, refreshed yoar souls, 
 and caused this vineyard to flourish as the garden 
 of the Lord. They have given character and ac- 
 tivity to all your growth. — If there is one Church 
 on earth more than another that ought to love, and 
 pray, and labor for Revivals of religion, it would 
 seem that you are that Church. 
 
 Planted as this Zion is amidst these numerous 
 Educational Institutions, which are laying the 
 foundations of so many characters and lives, and 
 sending forth their streams of influence all over the 
 country — your spacious galleries almost filled from 
 Sabbath to Sabbath with dear youth from abroad 
 here being trained — there is a double interest at- 
 tached to these Revivals, and a double responsibility 
 devolved on those who seek to maintain these 
 "foundations." How disastrous on the cause of 
 Learning — on the spirit, prosperity, and efficiency 
 of these Schools — were a dead or corrupt Church ! a 
 community careless, immoral, and irreligious ! But 
 now they not only serve to strengthen our hands, 
 and furnish us with hopeful material to work upon, 
 but they themselves are made to breathe an atmo- 
 sphere vital with religious life and evangelical doc- 
 
80 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 trine ; and through their own ever-widening chan- 
 nels they help to spread and perpetuate these Gros- 
 pel " foundations." 
 
 One feature of the Eevivals among this people is 
 somewhat peculiar, and I must say has served to 
 modify somewhat my views of the theory of re- 
 vivals, at least in one respect, I had believed — it 
 is pretty generally believed — that sinners wrought 
 upon deeply under a revival pressure but not con- 
 verted, are thereafter less hopeful subjects than 
 others unconverted. This is unquestionably true 
 of all spurious excitements. But here, as a 
 general thing, it has been different. Those 
 awakened and interested but not gathered in, 
 during one revival, have been the first-fruits of 
 the next. The impressions made during one spe- 
 cial visitation, the Spirit has kept alive until an- 
 other. The seeds sown in these seasons of special 
 labor and prayer have sprung up first and ripened, 
 when the next harvest-time arrived. This fact 
 shows that man cannot philosophize upon the ope- 
 rations of God's Spirit with any certainty. It 
 shows also that there is Gospel truth and convic- 
 tion enough all the while in the souls of many sin- 
 ners, to bring them to Christ, and yet they will per- 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 81 
 
 ish, unless a revival courage, and revival sympa- 
 thy and spirit of prayer, come to their help. 
 
 V. — Expenditures an© Benevolence. 
 
 The original dimensions of this Edifice, as I have 
 said, were fifty-five feet by seventy, exclusive of 
 the Tower ; as now enlarged, fifty -five by eighty- 
 four. The Gralleries are unusually broad and 
 spacious. It will accommodate from 1,000 to 
 1,200 persons. 
 
 From the manner in which the house was built, 
 the first cost of it is not known. The opinions of 
 experienced men say about $14,000.* In 1819, 
 the Steeple to the Tower was completed, and the 
 interior refitted, at an expense of over $4,000. And 
 the cost of the present enlargement, refitting, im- 
 provements, and refurnishing, amounts to nearly 
 $9,000. Making the total cost of your sanctuary 
 as it now stands, exclusive of repairs, about 
 $27,000. In addition to this, in 1840, your com- 
 modious Brick Lecture-Room was built, at an ex- 
 pense of $2,500. And again, in 1842, an expense 
 of $3,500 was incurred in providing yourselves 
 
 * Such a building of course could not be put up now for any 
 Buch amount of money. 
 
 4* 
 
82 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 with a Parsofiag-e, quite in keeping with the other 
 foundations. Total cost of original outlay for 
 buildings, about $33,000. 
 
 While doing thus liberally for yourselves, you 
 have not been unmindful of the claims of Christian 
 Benevolence abroad, I cannot go into this branch 
 of the subject as fully as I could wish. The his- 
 tory is full of instruction, and settles three im- 
 portant principles. 1. The immense advantage 
 of systematic action, 2. Revivals quicken and 
 increase the benevolence of the Church. 3. A 
 wise and liberal expenditure in laying the founda- 
 tions at home, is the surest way to meet the de- 
 mands from abroad. 
 
 Previous to the adoption of your present efficient 
 system in 1832, little, comparatively, was done. 
 Some Societies were organized, and occasional ef- 
 forts made to sustain them. The first was the 
 Bible Society, in 1817, the year after the Ameri- 
 can Bible Society was formed. This lasted eight 
 years, and besides expending considerable sums 
 for Bibles and Testaments for distribution in the 
 township, made several donations to the Parent 
 Society, the largest of which was $50. In 1829 
 a new interest was awakened in behalf of the 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 83 
 
 Bible, and $75 were given, which was about the 
 average annual gift until 1832, 
 
 The first Missionary organization was the Fe- 
 male Mite Society^ which contributed from $50 
 to $80, annually, to the American Board, until 
 1825, when a Male and a Female Foreign Mission- 
 ary Association were formed, whose aggregate an- 
 nual gifts, until 1832, were not much over $100. 
 In 1829 the Bloomjield Juvenile Tract Society was 
 formed, which raised, the four years it existed, 
 $244. Beginning with 1826, the total sum 
 raised yearly for Benevolence abroad, down to 
 1832, so far as can be ascertained, averaged only 
 about $182. 
 
 At the close of the year 1832, the Plan of benev- 
 olent operations now in force, was adopted by the 
 congregation, and has been ever since rigidly ad- 
 hered to, with most happy results. The plan 
 was then new and untried. Bat experience had 
 taught the inefficiency of the former system. 
 Experience has also taught us, in the workings of 
 this plan, for more than twenty years, the value 
 and power of an established system, simple in 
 its machinery, and bringing the great subject of 
 Benevolence, in some of its relations, before all 
 
84 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 the people monthly on the Sabbath. The total 
 amount of the first year was $502, more than 
 twice that of the previous year. The average 
 amount reported by the Board of Benevolence 
 for the next fourteen years — although during 
 this period the West Bloomfield brethren with- 
 drew, and great commercial distress was every- 
 where experienced, and $6,000 paid for the 
 Lecture-Room and Parsonage — was $609. From 
 1847 on to the present, there has been a marked 
 advance. The sum, in 1848, was $712 ; in 1849, 
 $1,039; in 1850, $1,089; in 1851, $1,291; in 
 1852, $1,614 ; and the present year, $1,655. 
 
 These sums do not embrace the direct contri- 
 butions of individuals, nor of the several Schools 
 attached to the congregation. These, if added, 
 would greatly swell the aggregate.* The total 
 sum thus reported through the Board of Benevo- 
 lence since January, 1833, is $16,434. 
 
 "We must admit, from this condensed and im- 
 perfect review, that the system works well. These 
 figures, considering your comparative pecuniary 
 means, show that your reputation for liberality is 
 
 * Our contributions for the last year exceeded $2,000, adding 
 what the Schools gave. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 85 
 
 not wholly groundless. You could not have given 
 away so much and thrived under it, had you not 
 laid such generous foundations at home. And 
 now that you have expended so much more to en- 
 large and improve them, I shall confidently look 
 for a proportionate increase in your liberality ; 
 and it will be forthcoming, unless I have falsified 
 your history.* 
 
 VI. Ministers and Missionaries. 
 
 This church has borne a liberal part in furnish- 
 ing a pious and educated Ministry. At an early 
 period a deep interest was felt in the Education 
 Cause, especially in reference to the Christian 
 Ministry ; and great exertions and sacrifices have 
 been made, particularly by some of the prominent 
 men in this Church in its behalf, as the history 
 of the "Bloomfield Academy" for a long course of 
 years testifies.! Comparatively a large number 
 of the children and converts of this Church have 
 
 * Since this date we have made our annual collection for the 
 Home Missionary Society, amounting to $260, which is an advance 
 of more than 50 per cent, on any previous one ; and for the Edit- 
 cation Cause $164, an advance of nearly 100 per cent. 
 
 t This Academy has done good service to the cause of ministe- 
 rial education. It was built in 1809 — a large and stately brick 
 
86 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 gone forth into the world to preach the Grospel. 
 Most of these are still living, some of them at a 
 very advanced age ; and of none of them, so far 
 
 edifice — at a very heavy expense. It has helped to educate a 
 great number of young men for the ministry. In the palmy days 
 of the Education Society, it was under their control, and from 
 25 to 30 beneficiaries were constantly sustained in connection with 
 it. For several years while Rev. Amzi Armstrong, D. D., had the 
 charge of it, nearly or quite an equal number of candidates for 
 the ministry was enrolled among its students. Not a' few minis- 
 ters received the most of their education here, both collegiate 
 and theological. It was in its best days substantially a " School 
 of the Prophets." The late excellent William J. Armstrong, 
 D. D., with others scarcely less useful, studied divinity here, under 
 the direction of his father, assisting him meanwhile in the Acade- 
 my. Many of these pious students, too, were directly assisted 
 while studying here, in the way of board, and otherwise, by the 
 liberality of numerous Christian families. 
 
 Notwithstanding the loss of the original stock, in the day of 
 trial when the building had to be sold, there were individuals here, 
 animated by a noble Christian spirit, who secured it for the in- 
 terest for which it was at first reared, and then for a nominal sum, 
 $1500 of which were raised by subscription in Bloomfield, made 
 it over to the Education Society. And when the embarrassments 
 of that Society and other causes, after years of very successful 
 operation, rendered its sale again necessary, a few individuals 
 by their liberality saved it once more to the cause of sound Chris- 
 tian education, when liberal offers too were made from other 
 sources. So that, to say nothing of the enterprise and liberality 
 which have been put forth in connection with your other noble 
 Educational Establishments, Bloomfield has early and constantly 
 shown a high appreciation of the cause of Christian Education. 
 Few places, of its size and wealth, I apprehend, have done as 
 much in this way. 
 
 Many years ago a benevolent member of this Church also gave 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 87 
 
 as my knowledge extends, have you reason to be 
 ashamed.* 
 
 A Revival Church must also be a Missionary 
 Church. And I bless G-od that you are bound to 
 the great work of Missions by living ties of affec- 
 tion, and by tender memories of past sacrifices, 
 as well as by religious duty. As early as 1820 a 
 
 $1000 as a permanent fund to assist in educating pious young 
 men for the ministry, in connection with the Bloomfield Academy. 
 This fund is still good and available, although at present we have 
 no beneficiary to enjoy it. Several have already been helped 
 into the ministry by it. 
 
 * I had not the time for a thorough investigation on this point. 
 There are enrolled on the Records of the Bloomfield Church, the 
 names cf nearly fifty, who are known to have entered the ministry. 
 A portion of these were from abroad, who came to reside here, 
 having already made a profession, or to receive their education at 
 the Bloomfield Academy. The following persons, however, (and 
 doubtless the list is far from being complete,) may with strict pro- 
 priety be called the children of this Church, and with one or two 
 exceptions, made a profession of religion in connection with it, 
 viz. : 
 
 Stephen Dodd, Daniel Crane, 
 
 Enos A. Osborn, Noah Crane, 
 
 Michael Osborn, Stephen D. Ward, 
 
 George D. Armstrong, James Adams, 
 
 Samuel L. Tuttle, Oliver Crane, 
 
 Thomas S. Ward, Marcus Crane, 
 
 John Ward, Stephen G. Dodd, 
 
 Joseph Vance, Edward M. Dodd, 
 
 Frederick F. Judd, Caleb C. Baldwin, 
 
 William S. Leavitt, Phillip Karbach. 
 
88 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 female missionary went from you to the Osage 
 Indians. And since then, six more have gone 
 to the heathen, making in all seven — four male 
 and three female missionaries, all but two of 
 whom I believe are still living.* 
 
 Six or seven of our members are, at the present 
 time, pursuing their studies with the ministry in 
 view, and one of them at least the missionary 
 work. 
 
 YII. Indirect Fruits. 
 
 The influence of this Church on this entire com- 
 munity can never be fully told. The Past and 
 the Future, to the end of time, will owe it a debt 
 which can never be paid. For more than fifty 
 years it has stood here alone, cultivating, unaided 
 by any sister church,t this beautiful valley — first 
 
 * The following are the names, viz. : 
 
 Miss Mary Weller, to the Osage Indians, in 1820. 
 
 Rev. Nathaniel M. Crane, to India, 1836. 
 
 Mrs. Morrison, (Anna Maria Ward,) to India, 1837. 
 
 Rev. Caleb C. Baldwin, ) ^^ ^^^^^^ Ig^^^ 
 
 Mrs. Baldwin, (Harriet F. Fairchild,) ^ 
 
 Rev. Oliver Crane, to the Armenians, in 1849. 
 
 Rev. Edward M. Dodd, to the Jews of Thessalonica, in 1849. 
 
 t Recently a Baptist Church was organized, and the Methodist* 
 are now building a church edifice. 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 89 
 
 and chief among the means of your prosperity — 
 the ornament of your attractive village — and send- 
 ing out its intelligent and stable piety, and its 
 sanctified and systematized influences over all 
 this community. It early gave a decided reli- 
 gious character to the place, and it has main- 
 tained it until now. It has given a high tone to 
 public morals, xu has nursed and developed the 
 elements of a steady and permanent prosperity. 
 It has .given you a reputation abroad for order, 
 sobriety, intelligence, and social virtue, which 
 few rural towns so contiguous to the great Centre 
 of corruption, can boast of. It has made Bloom- 
 field really one of the most desirable places I know 
 of, without meaning to flatter you, for Christian 
 Parents to send their children to for their educa- 
 tion, away from temptation, and under strong 
 moral and religious influences. 
 
 Liberal as your expenditures have been, you 
 have already been repaid in this world a hundred- 
 fold. How many of your children it has kept from 
 ruin ; what an amount of ignorance, pauperism, 
 crime, and taxes it has prevented ; what enhanced 
 value it has given to property ; what peace, quiet 
 and thrift shed over your families, none but God 
 
90 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 can fully estimate. Such foundations as yours 
 are, are worth a great deal more than they cost^ to 
 any people. 
 
 Add to these fruits the direct results — the souls 
 converted — -the souls quickened and trained for 
 heaven — the souls comforted and helped on their 
 weary way towards a better land — the seed sown 
 in the minds of the thousands of youth from 
 abroad, and others, through the agency of this 
 Church — the ministers and missionaries it has 
 aided to furnish — and the money it has given to 
 spread the Gospel in the earth, and you may well 
 rejoice to-day with a holy rejoicing, and wet these 
 old and blessed foundations with tears of heart- 
 felt gratitude and renewed dedication. 
 
 YIII. Your Present Position. 
 
 A past kind Providence has conducted you to a 
 strong, elevated, and most responsible position. 
 If your fathers, in their infancy and feebleness, 
 could accomplish so much, with their spirit of 
 piety and consecration, and their activity and self- 
 sacrifice, what might you not do, now that you 
 have waxed strong, and reached the period of ma- 
 tured and virtuous manhood ? Save a few petty 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 91 
 
 jealousies and strifes, which are unworthy of such 
 a history and people, all these elements are at 
 peace. Unembarrassed by debt — with one of the 
 most beautiful, durable, and commodious temples 
 in the State, this day to be re-dedicated — with the 
 largest membership of any Church of our order in 
 this region — with augmented and augmenting 
 resources — with the prospect of an increased 
 population — with the example and memories of 
 the Past to stimulate — and above all with the 
 strong arm of Jehovah as your hope, and the 
 Holy Spirit for your salvation, degenerate and 
 unfaithful shall we prove ourselves, if we seize not 
 upon our advantage, and make the Future bright 
 and rich with the fruit of our labor. 
 
 Oh ! there comes down upon our minds and 
 consciences to-day the weight of a great and 
 anxious question. Shall we henceforth sustain 
 the vigor and life of these foundations ? Shall we 
 rally again strong in the place hallowed by such 
 memories, and the birth-place of so many saints 
 now in glory, and to which turn the thoughts of 
 many a weary son and daughter toiling on other 
 foundations, and in far-off heathen lands, and here 
 give to the God of the Abrahamic covenant the 
 
92 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 homage of true and undivided hearts, and a 
 service unstinted and untiring? 
 
 A 7ieiv chapter is begun in your public history 
 this day. What results shall it chronicle ? Shall 
 it be a book of " Lamentations," \h.Q materials of 
 which some future weeping Jeremiah shall dig up 
 out of the rains of all this prosperity and hope 
 which we have dwelt upon to-day ; or shall it be 
 a record embalmed in the grateful memories of 
 thousands of future converts, rising up to call you 
 blessed, and a record rejoiced over in heaven by 
 the united throng of redeemed ones here born for 
 heaven ? 
 
 IX. Closing Remj^iks. 
 
 I cannot close this Discourse, already greatly 
 extended, without touching upon two or three of 
 the many lessons which this review has unfolded 
 to us. We see that — 
 
 ] . Church relations are a matter of no small 
 importance to us and to our children. There is a 
 sentiment extensively prevalent among Christian 
 people, that in choosing a place of public worship 
 and church privileges, the main points to be 
 settled are: "'Is the minister the man of our 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS, 93 
 
 choice ? Is the Grospel preached and believed 
 there ? Are the church members pious and good 
 people ?" But there are other points quite as 
 essential. "What ' foundations' have been laid? 
 What system of doctrine and of government is re- 
 cognized ? What is the spirit, the manner of life, 
 the settled policy, maintained by it? Is it based 
 on the broad, vital, fundamental principles of 
 Christianity, or on some ecclesiastical dogma, or 
 rite, or denominational peculiarity? What has 
 been its history ? What rational hope is there of 
 its infusing the real life of Christianity into the 
 soul, and of wisely and intelligently indoctrina- 
 ting and guiding us, and our children, and chil- 
 dren's children, into the right way?" It is not, 
 after all, so much the minister, who may die or 
 leave to-morrow, as it is the stable and continued 
 "foundations," — the moulding power of the Sys- 
 tem of faith and ecclesiastical life which they put 
 themselves under, that forms the religious views 
 and character of our worshippers. 
 
 With the History of this Church before your 
 minds, I feel warranted in saying to any who 
 may be without a home in the Sanctuary, "Come 
 with us, and we will do thee good?" Our foun- 
 
94 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 dations, as we believe, are the essential doctrines 
 of the evangelical system. They are broad, solid, 
 Christian, and vital with the savor of godliness, 
 and the spirit of revivals, and sanctified intelli- 
 gence and influence. The workings and results, 
 and the smiles of Providence, for more than half a 
 century past, are this Church's pledges, with 
 (rod's promises, for the future. They are tried 
 and permanent foundations, which righteous men 
 have laid, and by which G-od has wrought such 
 wonders for this people. 
 
 Intimately connected with this, is the idea of a 
 home, a right, an interest, in the house of Grod. 
 There is moral power in such an investment. It 
 is a good thing to identify one's name and pro- 
 perty and example with such foundations. It 
 strengthens attachment to them. It seems to 
 give permanency to one's religious hopes and inter- 
 ests. It is a blessed thing, often, for our children to 
 know that their parents made such a provision for 
 their spiritual good. For one, I shall not be will- 
 ing to be put off with only " the minister's seat." 
 I want a home oirayown here, for my family, come 
 over me what changes there may. The Church 
 is the emblem of Heaven. And who would not 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 95 
 
 have a seat there for himself and his gathered 
 family ? All without is change, decay, disquiet, 
 storm; but this is the soul's earthly " res^," 
 where Hope drops her fasteuings, and waits in 
 peace for immortal day. 
 
 2. This review furnishes affecting evidence of 
 God's Covenant faithfulness. The Covenant which 
 underlies the Church of God on earth, was made 
 with Abraham as the head and representative of 
 his "household." This ^^ householcV feature is 
 one of the peculiar and marked features of that 
 "everlasting Covenant," (G-en. xvii. ;) and constant 
 reference is made to it, both in the Old Testament 
 and in the New. This Covenant was in accord- 
 ance with that Law of Providence which had made 
 the Family Constitution the sole agency in origin- 
 ally planting and in perpetuating the true reli- 
 gion in the world until that period. It was also in 
 harmony with that Divine purpose which now 
 chose one Family from among mankind as the 
 Covenant Head and Type of the universal family 
 of believers. Any construction of that Covenant, 
 therefore, which destroys this ^^ household ^^ feature 
 of it, and makes it strictly and only individual in 
 
96 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 its character, is false, and takes away one of the 
 corner-stones of the Christian fabric. 
 
 That Covenant embraces our children, " the 
 seed" of the righteous, in its special provisions and 
 graces. We are encouraged by its pronriises and 
 relations to expect and labor for their conversion. 
 And the Records of this Church testify, with a voice 
 which cannot deceive, that God has had " respect 
 unto his Covenant." Instead of the fathers he has 
 raised up the children. (Ps. xlv. 16.) Saving grace 
 has here operated mainly along the line of a right- 
 eous seed, and of sealing ordinances. 
 
 Take one fact : Of the 895 members received 
 into this Church on profession, 716 were baptized 
 in infancy or childhood, on the faith of their pa- 
 rents — exactly four-fifths of the whole number ! 
 This is a most significant and instructive item of 
 your history. In the face of such a fact, in what 
 light must we view the ridicule often cast on " in- 
 fant baptism," and the reasonings urged against it? 
 Would the G-od of truth have put such marked 
 honor upon parental faith and consecration during 
 all this period, if the arrangement was not a Scrip- 
 tural one, based on the Covenant made with our 
 father Abraham, and transmitted through the 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 97 
 
 Jewish Clmrcli into the Christian Church? " Let 
 God be true" — let his Providence be believed, 
 though it make "every man a liar," (Rom. iii. 4,) 
 and falsify our most confident reasonings, and 
 knock away our foundations. 
 
 Finally. This review shows us in a strong light 
 the value and power of associated influence. This is 
 another of the great laws of Providence. No mat- 
 ter what moral or religious elements exist in a 
 community, they are not made effective for exten- 
 sive and permanent good unless combined. Such is 
 the strength of sin in the world ; by such united 
 and compact agencies is it upheld and spread ; such 
 a vital organic life has it come to possess, that the 
 feeble blows of a single arm are not felt ; indivi- 
 dual influence alone cannot cope with it with any 
 rational hope of success. The righteous must 
 unite their strength. The separate stones of truth 
 and piety must be brought together and laid down 
 in broad and massive foundations, and laid one 
 upon another. 
 
 It is on the principle of associated influence that 
 God has founded the three radical Agencies for 
 good which he has established and perpetuated on 
 5 
 
98 PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 earth, the Family, the State and the Church. Had 
 your fathers wrought here singly, what could they 
 have done? Their efficiency, the power of their 
 influence, lay in union — in concert of action — in 
 building over against each other's " foundations." 
 Thus they built up here the Kingdom of God. 
 Thus one generation joins on to another, like the 
 links of an endless chain — the life of individuals^ 
 and families, and ages, blending into one continuous 
 line of power, and that power all the while increas- 
 ing, and perpetuating itself, by the laws of moral 
 development and growth. 
 
 Brethren ; I invite you to-day to plant your feet 
 anew on these blessed foundations. Grird your- 
 selves for another race. More than fifty years of 
 memorable scenes and triumphs are looking down 
 upon you from the heights of your favored Zion. 
 Fill your minds with the stirring facts of your 
 history. Baptize your souls with the spirit of it. 
 Prove yourselves equal to the duty which it lays 
 upon you. 
 
 There is the power of an ever-expanding and 
 augmenting life in these old " foundations." Every 
 one of these sixteen past revivals has helped to giva 
 
PLEA FOR THE OLD FOUNDATIONS. 99 
 
 vitality and breadth to them. The prayers and 
 tears of your sainted dead are their memorials be- 
 fore Grod. May the Spirit of the Highest, who has 
 so often deigned to honor these walls with his gra- 
 cious presence, renew and multiply his memor- 
 able triumphs, until the converts to righteousness 
 here shall outnumber the stones in your earthly 
 temple ! Here let the voice of Eternal Truth speak 
 to dying sinners in the name of Jesus Christ ; and, 
 responsive to its appeals, let streams of penitence 
 here flow while there are sins on earth to be for- 
 given ; and streams of life here go forth to make 
 glad the earth while there are moral wildernesses to 
 be reclaimed. And when the great day of Jubilee 
 has come, and Christ's redeemed ones have all been 
 gathered home to glory, let the builders of these 
 " foundations," gathering round them all wha have 
 wrought upon them, and all who have been won 
 to life by means of them, say with exulting joy : 
 '^Behold, we, and the children multitudinous, 
 ivhom God hath given us.'''' Amen, 
 
l^peiiMf. 
 
 [I HAVE taken the liberty to append, in order to pre- 
 serve it, a part of a MS. History of Bloomfield, prepared by 
 the Rev. Stephen Dodd, of East Haven, Conn., who has 
 shown a highly commendable zeal in seeking out and 
 recording matters of interest connected with your early 
 history. I give only that part of it which is directly 
 connected with your parish and church mattei's. — j. m. s.] 
 
 LiOCAIi NAMES. 
 
 It had been the practice for many years to use the 
 word Wardsesson, supposing that it was derived from 
 some person or family by the name of Ward. But this 
 was a palpable mistake. The real name was of Indian 
 origin. Watssessing , Watsesson, written in both forms 
 in the ancient records of Newark ; but the first is doubt- 
 less the correct spelling. It was first used with reference 
 to the School-hoxise Hill and the adjacent Plains, as 
 formerly named. Thus the ancient deeds of our ancestor, 
 Daniel Dodd, and his brother, Samuel Dodd, the grand- 
 father of the late Aaron Dodd, mention Watsessimj Hill., 
 Watssessing Plains, as also some other records. And, 
 were I a resident of Bloomfield, I would use my influence 
 to have the old Indian name revived — Watsessing Hill, 
 School- house, &,g. The neighborhood north of the Meet- 
 ing-house was once called Crab Orchard, from the crab- 
 apple trees which were standing there in the time of the 
 first settlers. The young men tried to introduce the name 
 Hopewell, but did not succeed. 
 
 Crane Town was a name early given to that tract 
 under the mountain, settled by the Crane families from 
 Newark. The two first were brothers, Azariah and Na- 
 thaniel, Azariah, the grandfather of Aaron and my 
 
 (100) 
 
APPENDIX. 101 
 
 mother, lived about where Elias B. Crane resided ; the 
 brother of Azariah, and father of WilUam and Noah, hved 
 ■where Major Crane died. 
 
 Under these circumstances, our fathers thought it ex- 
 pedient to attempt to introduce some general name to 
 apply to all the ground covered b}' the proposed Ecclesi- 
 astical Congregauon. For this purpose they held several 
 meetings for consultation, which resulted as follows. 
 
 In the Sentinel of Freedom, of Dec. 7, 1796, I find 
 the following notices : 
 
 "x\t a numerous meeting of the Congregation of Ward- 
 sesson, Oct. 13, 1790; Joseph Davis, Esq., in the Chair ; 
 
 "It appearing that, agreeably to a resolution of a 
 meeting held the 10th inst., advertisements have been 
 set up in three of the most public places within the 
 bounds of the Congregation, notifying the objects of tlie 
 present meeting ; the members proceeded to choose a 
 name by which the society should be distinguished, when 
 it appeared that the name of Bloomfield had a large 
 majority of votes. 
 
 " Extract from the minutes. 
 
 ISAAC W. CRANE, Secretary." 
 
 "At a meeting of the Trustees of the Wardsesson Con- 
 gregation, Oct. 20, 1796 ; 
 
 "Agreeably to a resolution of the Congregation, the 
 Trustees, having met this day, do assume to themselves 
 the name and title of The Trustets of the Prc^yterian 
 Society of Bloomfield . 
 
 " Extract from the minutes. 
 
 ISAAC DODD, President." 
 
 To the preceding I will add, from memory, in which I 
 may be incorrect, that Isaac Watts Crane being acquaint- 
 ed with Gen. Bloomfield of Burlington, a man of wealth, 
 and having no children, thought it might be policy to 
 take his name and engage his generosity towards this 
 child of adoption. And, as it will appear in the sequel, 
 the plan produced some good fruit. This plan was car- 
 
102 APPENDIX. 
 
 ried out by giving Gen. Bloomfield suitable notice of 
 ■what had been done respecting the adoption of his name, 
 accompanied with a present of a barrel of fine cider, the 
 produce of Bloomfield. This plan also drew from him 
 the promise of a visit, as will appear presently. 
 
 THE CORNEK-STONE. 
 
 I left home, to enter Union College, Sep. 12, 1796. 
 At that date nothing had been done at the Meeting-house. 
 The ground, even, liad not been broken. — I have often 
 regretted the mistake made in placing the date, 1796, on 
 the slab over the door; by what authority 1 know not. 
 The history of that transaction, so far as recollection 
 serves me, is, in substance, as follows : The quarry- 
 men who had supplied a certain stone-cutter's shop in New 
 York with a large quantity of principal stone, solicited 
 him (the name I have lost, unless it was Lindsey & 
 Knox) for a marble slab to place in the niche prepared 
 for that purpose, with a suitable engraving, which he 
 agreed to do. It was prepared at the shop in New York, 
 and two workmen came over with it and put it in its 
 place. It is my impression that the slab was a donation 
 from the New York shop. 
 
 Having done this, the workmen engaged in dressing 
 and laying the two platforms at the middle and west 
 doors. 1 baw them more than once at the work, and I 
 think it was done in the year 1800 or 1801. And the 
 history of those capital stones is this : They were quarried 
 in the Harrison quarry, the two being one stone, and 
 when got out measured 19, by 7 feet, or thereabouts. I 
 write from memory. It was designed to be laid whole in 
 front of the steeple. They slung it under a long wagon, 
 but the timbers bending under the weight after moving a 
 little way with it, the stone dragged on the ground. They 
 had to stop ; and, in letting down one end, in order to get 
 a new purchase and raise the stone higher, it broke with 
 its own weight. They then slung the parts under two 
 Avagons, and brought them safely to the place for dressing. 
 
APPENDIX. 103 
 
 Respecting the date, 1796, I remark: That it was in 
 contemplation to erect a plain wooden house, and which 
 was called a temporary buildincr, till they became able to 
 erect a more durable liouse. For this purpose the join- 
 ers went to Springfield and examined the Meeting-house 
 in that place, and returned with the conclusion to advise 
 the Society to build one somewhat similar to it. And 
 accordingly the trench was opened for the foundation, 
 about three or four rods from the south-west corner of the 
 present house. And my uncle, Jairus Dodd, went to 
 work in the "making of the sashes for the windows — a 
 pile of these I saw in my grandfather's old barn. He re- 
 moved west of Utica in Oct., 1790. But Simeon Bald- 
 win and a few others remonstrated against this plan, 
 saying this would be a permanent temporary bouse until 
 it rotted down. Mr. Baldwin, especially, said, I shall do 
 nothing for this house ; for, as I have no childi'en, I want 
 to place my property in a more durable house, which 
 may do good to future generations. And hence they 
 came to the harmonious and wise conclusion, to erect the 
 present stone temple. These matters occurred in the year 
 1796 ; and from these circumstances originated (I con- 
 jecture) the date on the slab, 1790. 
 
 In addition to the above, I remark, that the stone for 
 the house was got from the quarry of David Morris, and 
 from that now partly covered by the water of D. Brom- 
 ley's saw-mill pond. There was an old stone grist-mill 
 standing on the ground where Vandyke's chocolate-mill 
 was erected ; the proprietors of that gave it to the Society 
 for the use of their building. The stone was removed 
 accordingly, and the roof was made use of for a lime and 
 mortar house ; and when the masonry was done, it was 
 sold, with the other materials left, at auction, and now 
 constitutes the rafters and gable- ends of Aaron Pierson's 
 barn. 
 
 liATINC OF THE CORXER-STONE. 
 
 In the spring of 1797, the work was commenced in 
 earnest. Materials were collected, the trench was dug 
 
104 APPENDIX. 
 
 for the foundation, and the dimensions of the walls given 
 out. But when the work began, the masons were directed, 
 privately, to crowd the foundation to the outside of the 
 trench, which was large, and thus some addition was 
 gained to the size of the building, as first contemplated ; 
 for with some the cry was. The house will be too large— 
 we shall never be able to fill it — we can never finish it, 
 nor pay for it. Were these predictions verified ? 
 
 Well, according to modern fashion, (of Free Mason 
 origin,) a corner-stone must be laid with religious cere- 
 monies, by one of the pastors of that congregation. This, 
 ■was Dr. McWhorter, (a Free Mason, too; though, I sup- 
 pose, none of the people thought of that, for I believe 
 there was not a Free Mason in all the congregation.) 
 This transaction took place on Monday, May 8th, 1797. 
 I happen to have some old papers in my trunk that are 
 my guide. The first Commencement of Union College 
 took place the first Wednesday in May, being the 3d day 
 of the month, '97. On Thursday I paid money on account, 
 the receipt for which is dated May 4 ; I took ship at Al- 
 bany next day, and aniving on the Monday following at 
 home, about midday, found the family preparing to go 
 to the laying of the corner-stone. Being fatigued with my 
 journey, I did not go. I have also found in a memoran- 
 dum-book of a dear friend, now deceased, this entry for 
 the year 1797, viz : " May 8th : Monday, pleasant — wind 
 westerly. I went to Bloomfield, to the laying of the cor- 
 ner-stone of the neio Meeting-house.''' With whom and 
 family, that same evening, 1 had conversation on the 
 transactions of the day. 
 
 The work was regularly commenced a few days after 
 this ceremony, as appears from a notice in the Sentinel 
 of June 14, 1797, as follows: 
 
 "Communication from Bloomfield. — The head work- 
 men, mechanics and laborers, employed at Bloomfield 
 Meeting-house, take this public way of expressing their 
 acknowledgments to Deacon Morris and Mrs. Morris, 
 
APPE^TDIX. 105 
 
 for theii* polite and agreeable repast of cake and cider 
 which they gratuitously afforded to them (who were 40 
 in number) at the laying of the corner-stone of the said 
 building, and cannot refrain from expressing a hope that 
 this new method of laying corner stor.es may be adopted 
 on all similar occasions. The building goes on rapidly." 
 
 I do not know, or recollect, to what particular transac- 
 tion this refers. I suppose it refers to the laying of 
 the first course of ashlers. But I remember that when 
 they Avere ready to lay the %Oater- table, boss King got the 
 first stone ready on the sotith-west corner. In the mean- 
 time, they had despatched a messenger to Col. Cadmus, 
 requesting his presence and aid in laying this Jirst corner- 
 stone of the loater-table. He was animated — walked off 
 with speed, and was there presently. The stone was 
 placed in due order ; a hammer Avas placed in his hand, 
 and he performed the service, and laid down on it a silver 
 dollar. I saw the dollar, and lieard it ring — it was grog- 
 money. Returning to college a few days after, I saw no 
 more of the building till October of that year ; when the 
 main rafters having been raised, they were filling up the 
 spaces and preparing to put on the shingles ; and having 
 put on the roof, the work was suspended. 
 
 It may not be useless to remark that, in order to raise 
 the heavy timbers of the roof with safety, and have a 
 proper stage for the plastering of the arch, a complete 
 floor was laid all over the building, level with the top of 
 the side walls ; and when the raising was over, tables 
 were spread thereon, and men. women, and children 
 marched up the gangway and took dinner on the top of 
 the walls of the house. 
 
 The Trustees of this year, 1797, Avere Samuel Ward, 
 Ephraim Morris, Oliver Crane, and Joseph Davis. The 
 Managers of the building were Simeon BaldAvin, Na-' 
 thaniel Crane, and Joseph Davis — all dead ! The head 
 workmen were Aury King, of the masons ; Samuel 
 Ward, architect. But David James, of Newark, having 
 
106 APPENDIX. 
 
 already a draught of the house, was soon employed, 
 who continued in supeiintendence (ill the house was 
 finished. — Rev. Calvin White was employed about a year, 
 as a supply ; about which time it was discovered that he 
 was preparing to take orders in the Prelatical Church, 
 and was discharged. He sunk in the estimation of 
 Christians, and of the community generally ; for, at the 
 very time he was employed at B., his name was on the 
 New York Prelate's Register, as a candidate for his ordi- 
 nation. He spent several years in that connection, and 
 then, I think, about thirty years since, he avowed his con- 
 version to Popery. He now resides in Derby, a hoary- 
 headed papist. 
 
 1 now return a little back to notice another transaction 
 of considerable importance, taken from the Sentinel of 
 July 12, 1797. 
 
 " Communication from Bloomfield. — On Thursday, 
 the 6th inst., Maj. Gen. Bloomfield and his lady made a 
 visit to the Society of Bloomfield. They were escorted 
 from Orange by Lieut. Baldwin's (Jesse?) division of 
 cavalry, and other gentlemen, to the house of Joseph 
 Davis, Esq., where they were received by a numerous 
 concourse of people belonging to the Society. A pro- 
 cession was then formed in the following order : 
 
 " The farmers, headed by Col. Cadmus and Mr. Timo- 
 thy Ward ; the masons and laborers ; the trustees and 
 managers ; the venerable clergy ; Gen. Bloomfield and 
 suite ; the battalion officers ; Lieut. Baldwin's division of 
 horsemen ; forty young ladies uniformly dressed in white, 
 their heads neatly ornamented with turbans and corona 
 hedera, crowned with ivy, besides two hundred young 
 children belonging to the schools of Bloomfield ; and in the 
 rear of the whole, Capt. Crane's elegant company of in- 
 fantry, giving the procession a dignified appearance. The 
 procession being thus formed, proceeded to the new 
 stone church and from thence to a large bower, prepared 
 for the occasion, where a prayer was made by the Rev. 
 Mr. White, adapted to the occasion ; and anthems were 
 
APPENDIX. 107 
 
 sung by forty young ladies, uniformly dressed in white. 
 Gen. Bloomfield, from an eminence, addressed the assem- 
 bly, recommending the virtues of patriotism and of politi- 
 cal and Christian union. An answer was returned by Mr. 
 Watts Crane in behalf of the Society, reechoing the same 
 sentiments. Before Gen. Bloomfield left the place, he 
 presented the Society with the very liberal donation of 
 8140, for the purpose of assisting them in building their 
 new church ; and made provision for adding 100 vol- 
 umes to the Bloomfield Library. Mrs. Bloomfield pre- 
 sented them with a very elegant gilt Bible." 
 
 [For an interesting account of " the providential effi- 
 cacy of the $140 donation from General Bloomfield," 
 which Mr. Dodd has given here, see note on p. 58. 
 
 J. M. s.] 
 
 In the summer of 1799 we held our meetings in the 
 house, before the windows were in or the floors were laid. 
 Pride had not then forbidden our assembling in such a 
 humble style. And as we had supplies for preaching 
 only a part of the time, worship was conducted by the 
 officers of the church, and 1 read the sermons ; and we 
 had precious seasons, for we had the presence of the Lord. 
 The plastering was done that year, I think : the rubbish 
 was cleared out, and the windows being put in, we could 
 meet more comfortably, especially after the floors were 
 laid ; so that the house, in the course of the year 1800, 
 was furnished with slips, pews, &c. 
 
 Another incidental anecdote may be mentioned, for the 
 purpose of showing the youth and children how some 
 things were done in a small way, with a little personal 
 enterprise. In the fall of 1800 the pulpit was built; 
 and when nearly ready for use, David Pierson being at 
 my father's in the evening, we all entered into conversa- 
 tion about it. And the question came up, " How shall 
 the pulpit be dressed, and by what means ?" I took pen 
 in hand, and wrote three subscriptions to be circulated 
 next day. The next morning I sent one to Stephen 
 
108 APPENDIX. 
 
 Fordham, the second to Nathaniel Bruen, and with the 
 third I started myself — a snowy day — and went through 
 the north section of the Society, as far as Ephraim Cocke- 
 fair's, and then by Newtowni home. That evening, or the 
 following, Mr. Fordham called upon me to compare the 
 results, and to consult what further should be done. We 
 had collected over $30. I find, by a receipt he gave me 
 that evening, that I had collected $15.40. It was then 
 concluded that Mr, F. should go the next day to New 
 York, and purchase damask silk for the pulpit. He 
 accordingly went to New York, and searched the dry 
 goods shops, but could not find the article. Finally, he 
 was informed that a certain ancient lady had a gown of 
 that description, and she might probably be persuaded 
 to sell it for that object. He was introduced ; made a 
 bargain; and paid k'SO for the gown, done up in the 
 highest style of ancient days. Mr. Fordham mounted 
 his horse with his prize and returned. In a few days the 
 ladies suficiently skilled in such work convened ; the 
 gown was carefully demolished, and was found to contain 
 enough cloth for two dresses for the pulpit. My wife, 
 being skilled in such work, took charge of it, and all 
 assisting, the pulpit was handsomely dressed, and the 
 Bible and Psalm-book laid in order upon it. 
 
 The first school-house was erected on the hill nearly a 
 hundred years ago ; it was enlarged at the east end while 
 I went to school there. 
 
 The school by the Meeting-house was established 
 about the same time. A house built by Daniel Dodd, I 
 think, son of Thomas, which stood on the little hill east 
 of the grist-mill on Branch Brook, was drawn up whole 
 and fitted for a school- house, and was afterwards burnt. 
 There, a muUilude of children were educated, and there, 
 in 1*785 or 6, and in 1800, I saw and heard and remem- 
 ber God's mighty works of grace. Stephen Dodd. 
 
 East Haven, Ct., Feb. 9, 1846. 
 
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