■X-, 
 
 J 
 
 >' DR. LOWELL'S DISCOURSE, 
 
 AUGUST 3, 1845. 
 
 
FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOU.S FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE WEST CHURCH IN BOSTON, 
 
 AUGUST 3, 1845 
 
 BY 
 
 yy 
 
 CHARLES LOWELL, 
 
 ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE WEST CHURCH. 
 
 'Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years. 
 
 Deuteronomy viii. 2. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE PARISH. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 METCALF AN D COMPANY, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 1845. 
 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I say, Rejoice. " — 
 Philippians, iv. 4. 
 
 There are seasons in the life of every one of us, 
 when a retrospective view of life, of what we have 
 done for our own good or the good of others, as well 
 as what of duty we have left undone, comes home 
 upon the mind with peculiar force. These seasons 
 often occur in the life of a minister, and, though he 
 should avoid a too frequent recurrence to them in the 
 pulpit, yet an occasional reference may be neither un- 
 interesting nor useless. 
 
 Had it pleased God that I should have been with 
 you a sabbath or two since, I should have told you 
 that, in the week previous, forty years had been com- 
 pleted since I first preached in this parish. What I 
 then intended to say I purpose now to say, in the free- 
 dom of colloquial address, rather than in the language 
 of a labored discourse. To this the circumstances 
 and recollections of this occasion naturally impel me. 
 They lead me to consider myself as in the midst of my 
 family, speaking to familiar friends, with many of whom 
 
I have been long connected ; a large portion of whom 
 have grown up under my ministry, are as my children? 
 and, till lately, have known no other as their minister. 
 I may not dwell on the happiness I feel in the new 
 relation which they and myself sustain to an associate 
 pastor. 
 
 It was in a small wooden edifice, occupying indeed 
 the spot on which we are now assembled, but then 
 standing almost alone, in the outskirts of the town, with 
 few buildings between the church and the river, that I 
 preached my first sermon here. It had much the as- 
 pect, as far as I now remember, of a country church, 
 within and without, with a few houses in its neighbour- 
 hood, and others, scattered here and there in the fields, 
 in what was then called " New Boston." 
 
 It was to a parish consisting, I think, of about forty 
 proprietors, and less than a hundred families, that 
 that sermon was preached. Yet it was a parish to 
 whom, at my ordination, it* was said, — " Your history 
 has been illustrious, and we honor you, whilst we ven- 
 erate your pastors." 
 
 I well remember the day, and something, it may be, 
 of my emotions, as I ascended the green eminence on 
 which the church stood, by one of the many paths 
 which, in seventy years, had been marked out by the 
 footsteps of the worshippers who had gone up in com- 
 pany to the house of God. I had just returned from 
 pursuing my studies abroad,* after an absence of two 
 years. It was the place of my nativity to which I had 
 returned ; but in this parish I was an entire stranger. 
 
 * In Edinburgh 
 
I had probably had intercourse only with the officer of 
 the church who was employed to ask for my services, 
 who is long since numbered with the dead, — if they 
 can be said to die, who truly live ! — and whose mem- 
 ory (with that of how many others !) is very precious 
 to me. 
 
 My predecessor was one of the last persons I had 
 seen before I left my country. I have a vivid remem- 
 brance of the good old man, " simple, grave, sincere." 
 He said to me, " You will probably return to take the 
 place of one of us." It was appointed in the provi- 
 dence of God that I should take his place. Would 
 that a larger portion of the spirit of the ascended Eli- 
 jah had fallen, with his mantle, on his immediate suc- 
 cessor ! 
 
 Few, very few, are among the living on earth, who 
 heard my first sermon. Of those who were recorded 
 as proprietors, only two ; both with us in spirit, 
 though only one in person. May a life so honorable 
 and so dear be yet far extended ! Of the heads of 
 families, of both sexes, five or six remain. Of those 
 who were ministers in the town at that time, not one. 
 I am the oldest in standing of the ministers of all de- 
 nominations by more than six years. Of about a hun- 
 dred who had preceded me in the ministry in the town, 
 since its settlement, fourteen had as long a ministry as 
 mine has been. Of the thirteen ministers who were 
 on the council at my ordination, one only is living ; * 
 of those who officiated on that occasion, not one. One 
 of the earliest taken was the youngest, my classmate 
 
 * Dr. Pierce, of Brookline. 
 
6 
 
 and friend,* who had breathed the wish, " that our gra- 
 cious Master, who, when he was on earth, sent forth 
 his seventy evangelists, by two and two, to preach the 
 gospel in Judea, would send us forth together by his 
 authority, would permit us to travel in company through 
 a useful ministry, and would enable us to return to his 
 presence at last, rejoicing to find that our names had 
 been written, with the names of our people, in the 
 book of life." How short was our journey together! 
 How brief, yet how brilliant, was his ministry on earth ! 
 In the best portion of his devout aspiration, may it yet 
 be fulfilled ! 
 
 "Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I say, Re- 
 joice." Such was the theme of my discourse on the 
 day to which I have referred ; such the text of the first 
 sermon which I preached in this parish. It w r as my 
 object, in that sermon, to portray the beneficial influence 
 of religion on the character and happiness of man ; and 
 the concluding exhortation was in the spirit of the text, 
 " Rejoice in the Lord alway" — in joy and in sorrow, 
 in prosperity and adversity, in riches and poverty, in 
 health and sickness, in life and death. As I then pre- 
 sented religion, — in the garb of cheerfulness, and not of 
 melancholy, as the inspirer of peace and hope, and not 
 of wretchedness and despair, — so, you will bear me 
 witness, I have always presented it. As I then exhort- 
 ed those who heard me to rejoice in the Lord alway, 
 so have I exhorted you to do in all the varied circum- 
 stances of your lives. I have directed you to God as 
 
 * Mr. Buckminster, who died June 9th, 1812. 
 
your Father and your best Friend, and — as our relig- 
 ion presents him to us — as God in Christ, reconciling 
 the world to himself. I have exhorted you to go to 
 him, through Christ, as your only secure refuge, and 
 have assured you that none who went by that way 
 should in any w T ise be cast out. 
 
 So did I begin, and so would I end, my preaching. 
 "Rejoice in the Lord alway" And what abundant 
 cause have we for rejoicing in the Lord ! What an 
 abundant source of rejoicing is opened to us in that 
 religion which teaches us to rejoice in God ! How 
 often, — little as it seems to me that I have been instru- 
 mental in effecting in this already long ministry, — how 
 often have I seen the influence of this religion in re- 
 fining, purifying, sanctifying, elevating the soul of the 
 believer; in soothing sorrow, sometimes indescribably 
 great, and which nothing else could soothe ; in reconcil- 
 ing, and more than reconciling, to death, where there 
 was every thing to inspire the wish to live ! But religion 
 — faith in God and in Christ — had given the hope of 
 a better world, and death was " swallowed up of life." 
 Blessed hope ! Hold it fast, my friends. Do not let it go. 
 If we deceive you, we are ourselves deceived. And — 
 were it so — blessed delusion ! But it is not so. We 
 do not deceive you, and we are not deceived. We have 
 a sure and firm foundation for our hope in Christ. 
 We have this hope. Without it, we should indeed be 
 miserable. 
 
 In my preaching, I have dwelt but little on points of 
 doubtful disputation. The opinion I gave many years 
 
s 
 
 ago,* in reference to a minister's duty in this respect, I 
 repeat as my opinion now. " He is bound to elucidate, 
 as far as he is able, and may deem useful, the doctrines 
 of the gospel ; but the gospel itself, as a comprehen- 
 sive whole, is a doctrine according to godliness, and no 
 elucidation need be attempted by which this is not pro- 
 moted." To me it seems that the essential doctrines 
 of religion are few and simple. I confess I consider re- 
 ligion itself as a very simple thing ; as consisting much 
 more in practice than in theory ; as having much more 
 to do with the affections than with the understanding ; 
 with the heart than with the head. The Christian re- 
 ligion treats, indeed, of truths the most sublime. It fur- 
 nishes scope for the exercise of the highest intellectual 
 powers. It has shed light on the most interesting sub- 
 jects of speculation, and thereby greatly enlarged the 
 limits of human knowledge. It has been the great in- 
 strument for raising the intellectual as well as the moral 
 condition of mankind ; for enlightening as well as re- 
 forming the world. Its service, too, is a reasonable ser- 
 vice. Its exercises and its exhibitions must be under the 
 control and guidance of reason ; but, in my opinion, it 
 does consist much, very much, in exercises and exhibi- 
 tions, — in the exercise of holy affections, and the exhi- 
 bition of a holy life. Of the truth and importance of 
 the distinction I have heretofore made between theol- 
 ogy and religion t I am more and more convinced. 
 However important may be theology as an instru- 
 ment, — as the means of promoting religion, — it is 
 
 * Sermon at an ordination in 1820. 
 
 f Sermon at an ordination in 1829, and sermon at an ordination in 1831. 
 
9 
 
 not oar theology, but our religion, that will save us, — 
 the religion of the heart. With the heart man believeth 
 unto righteousness, and then with the tongue maketh 
 confession to salvation* "If ye know that he is right- 
 eous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness 
 is born of him." 
 
 It was a moral kingdom which Jesus Christ came to 
 establish on earth, a kingdom in the hearts of men. 
 The kingdom of God is within you. He declares the 
 first commandment to be love to God, and the second 
 commandment to be love to man, and that on these two 
 commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Often 
 — how often ! — have I witnessed the efficacy of this 
 love, when all the labor I could exert could give little 
 or no distinct notion of what are commonly called the 
 doctrines of religion, and where what was learned to- 
 day was forgotten to-morrow. But there was love to 
 God and love to man, there was a hope full of immor- 
 tality, — a hope which entered within the veil, and was 
 therefore an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. 
 
 I came into the ministry unfettered and unpledged, 
 except to do what I might, by the blessing of God, to 
 promote the interests of religion, and the virtue and 
 happiness of this society.* I came into a church strict- 
 ly independent. I know not. that I have done any 
 thing, in word or deed, to bring the church or my- 
 self in bondage to any one. I came here at a period 
 when the churches were at peace. Parties have 
 been formed ; war has raged. I have joined none of 
 
 * Letter accepting the call of the parish. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the parties ; I have had no share in the contest; unless, 
 indeed, in essaying to throw oil on the waters of strife, 
 and in lifting, now and then, my feeble voice to say, 
 " Sirs, ye are brethren ; why do ye strive ? " 
 
 If I have joined no party, it was because I remem- 
 bered the words of an apostle, — " It hath been declared 
 unto me that there are contentions among you. Every 
 one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, 
 and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? 
 Was Paul crucified for you 1 or were ye baptized in 
 the name of Paul? Who is Paul, and who is Apol- 
 los, but ministers by whom ye believed ? Let no 
 man glory in men, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Ce- 
 phas. Ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." It was, 
 further, because in some things I agreed with all par- 
 ties, — in all things, with none ; and, adopting not 
 their creed, I took not their name.* As I have under- 
 stood the doctrines and precepts of the Bible I have 
 taught them, not concerning myself, in this matter, 
 about the opinions or practice of others, and holding 
 myself amenable only to my people, my conscience, 
 and my God. I have not sought for dominion over 
 other men's faith, and I have suffered no one to have 
 dominion over my own faith, — no, not for an hour. 
 
 Within less than a year after my first sermon here 
 was preached, the old church, consecrated by so many 
 prayers, and hallowed by so many sacred recollections, 
 was taken down, and the church in which we now 
 worship erected in its place. Dear to my remem- 
 
 * The reasons for this course are given at some length in a dedication 
 sermon, published in 1828. 
 
11 
 
 brance is that modest structure, associated with my 
 first consecration to the service of God in his church, 
 and with the memory of those who gave me so united 
 and earnest a welcome to that service. Fain, if it 
 might have been, would I have still retained it, and 
 preached my last sermon where I preached my first, here, 
 in the desk of which, in the eloquent service at my ordi- 
 nation, * it was said, " The desk in which Mayhew and 
 Howard have stood is privileged above the common 
 walks of public instruction." 
 
 There was a large accession of worshippers on the 
 erection of the new church, and the parish, during a 
 great part of my ministry, consisted of from three to 
 four hundred families. Circumstances also brought 
 under my care the largest part of that portion of the 
 population who were destitute of a stated ministry ; so 
 that, for several years, I was the minister at large (and 
 the first minister at large) in fact, though not in name, 
 having, at the same time, the care of a parish as nu- 
 merous, at least, as any in the town. The burden 
 was greater than I could bear, and the impaired state 
 of my health led, by the advice of the parish, to my 
 fixing my residence in the country. The number of 
 churches, in the mean time, had multiplied, and there 
 was less necessity for my extra services. 
 
 The Sunday school in this parish — and which I 
 deem a blessing to it — is the oldest in the city. Its 
 germ was our chanty school, which, though dead, yet 
 works for good, by the funds which had accumulated 
 
 * Mr. Buckminster's right hand of fellowship. 
 
12 
 
 through the judicious conduct of its managers, and 
 the benefaction of that excellent woman * to whom, as 
 a parish, we are indebted for our largest pecuniary 
 legacy. 
 
 Other societies have, doubtless, been as harmonious 
 as ours. None could be more so. What I said 
 twenty-five years since,! I can repeat to-day, — and 
 may it still be repeated to the end of time ! — "No 
 vote is on record, either in the church or society, that 
 indicates the smallest deviation from perfect good-will." 
 
 Whilst I remember, as I trust with devout gratitude, 
 all the way which the Lord hath led me these forty 
 years, I remember, too, — how can I forget it, or fail to 
 speak of it ? — your undeviating kindness and liber- 
 ality, the forbearance you have exercised towards my 
 infirmities and deficiencies, the confidence you have 
 reposed in me, the affection you have shown me, the 
 kind sentiments in regard to my ministry you have 
 entertained and expressed, the generosity you have 
 exhibited, far dearer and more grateful to me than any 
 pecuniary compensation by which that generosity has 
 been manifested. God, who knoweth all things, know- 
 eth how much I have you in my heart to live and to 
 die with you ; to do what I may, in the little time that 
 yet remains to me, for your best good. 
 
 I have ever felt, and have been anxious you should 
 feel, that there is a close and intimate connection be- 
 tween a minister and his people, and that, as he should 
 never be inattentive to the lowest whisper of distress, 
 
 * Mrs. Derby. f Note to Historical Sermon, 1820. 
 
13 
 
 or the feeblest demand for pastoral duty, so they 
 should never hesitate to ask for any service they may 
 desire at his hands. There is no apology to be made 
 to him for calling upon him for the discharge of his 
 duty, and no thanks to be given him for that which, if 
 he feels as he ought to feel, is his highest happi- 
 ness. Never take it for granted, in your sickness or 
 your sorrow, that your minister must needs have been 
 informed of it. If he had been, he w T ould have been 
 with you to express the sympathy he feels, and to do 
 you whatever service he might. 
 
 Is it amiss for me, in this connection, to say that I 
 am not conscious of having ever heard of sickness or 
 trouble in any of your families, that I have not gone to 
 do what it became me, as your minister, to do ; or, 
 that I have ever known of any considerable accession 
 to the sources of your happiness, that I have not re- 
 joiced with you in your joy, and endeavoured to lead 
 you to a grateful improvement of the goodness of God 
 to you ? One thing more I may claim to say, that my 
 pastoral visits have never been spent in idle gossip- 
 ing. I have aimed to make them useful, however 
 much I may have failed to do so. A minister of reli- 
 gion, I have felt that it became me to teach religion, 
 not only "publicly," but "from house to house," — to 
 " w T atch for souls," — God forgive me that I have not 
 been more faithful! — "as one who must give an ac- 
 count." 
 
 And now, my beloved friends, let me remind you 
 that God requireth that which is past. Of me, an ac- 
 count of how I have taught ; of you, of how you have 
 
14 
 
 heard. It is a solemn thought. Solemn ? — it is al- 
 most overwhelming. With deep repentance and hu- 
 miliation for our past neglect, let us carry this thought 
 into the future with us, to excite us to more fidelity for 
 the time to come. 
 
 There was a time when, both in the morning and 
 evening service, these seats were filled. There was a 
 time when scarcely a head of a family (if, indeed, 
 there was one) was habitually absent during either 
 part of the day. They came up in company to the 
 house of God, bringing their families, strengthening 
 the hands and encouraging the heart of their minister, 
 setting an example of the observance of an institution, 
 I will not say important, but essential, to the well-being 
 of society. Many of these are now spending a sab- 
 bath in heaven. As their hallowed images come up, 
 at this hour, in pleasant, yet mournful remembrance, 
 they seem, from their high abode, to be beckoning us 
 upward. Yes, blessed spirits ! by the grace of God, 
 we will join you. Such, in this sacred hour, is our 
 solemn purpose. Holy Spirit of God ! help us to ful- 
 fil it ! 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 In the newspapers of 1737 we find an account of the gathering 
 of the West Church more full than is contained in the records 
 of the Church. As it has not been inserted in the historical no- 
 tices of the Church already printed,* and may be interesting to 
 some readers, it is thought best to insert it here. 
 
 " Thursday, January 6th, 1737. 
 
 " Monday last, in the afternoon, a new Congregational Church 
 was gathered in the westerly part of the town ; and as the method 
 of gathering such churches here may not be known abroad, we 
 shall give the public a brief account of this particular transaction. 
 
 " A number of Christians, belonging to several congregations in 
 this town, judging it convenient to build a house in the westerly 
 part thereof, and having carried on the building to a considerable 
 state of forwardness, thirteen t of their number, being brethren in 
 full communion with five several churches here, and one in full 
 communion with the First Church in Cambridge, having applied to 
 their respective churches, obtained letters of dismission to incorpo- 
 rate a new church by themselves. Three others, who had not been 
 in full communion with any of our churches, offered to join them, 
 and there being no objection either on account of doctrine or con- 
 versation, but being known and agreeable to them, the others ac- 
 cepted their offer ; and, consulting with several ministers to whom 
 they belonged, prepared a covenant of incorporation, in which they 
 could all agree ; and then applied to some of those who had been 
 their pastors, to assist them in the solemnity of their confederation. 
 
 * 1821, 1831. 
 
 t The names have been given in a note to the Historical Sermon, 
 printed in 1821. 
 
16 
 
 Accordingly, on said Monday, at three in the afternoon, being 
 the time appointed, two of these pastors, namely, the Rev. Mr. 
 Prince * and Foxcroft,f met. with said seventeen persons, and 
 having received the evidences of their said dismissions, made some 
 inquiries of the three proposed members, and the others testifying 
 their acceptance of them, Mr. Prince, the moderator, beginning 
 with a premonition concerning the solemnity of this transaction, 
 they proceeded to pray. Mr. Foxcroft then discoursed from Mat- 
 thew xviii. 20. Then all the company standing up, the moderator 
 deliberately read their covenant, which they had written fairly in 
 their church record ; to which, at his proposal, all the seventeen lift 
 up their hands in token of their consent, and then subscribed their 
 names. The moderator then addressing them in such terms as 
 these : — ; We must now own you to be a true church of Christ, 
 and invested with all the privileges belonging to such a one : And 
 we pray you may have grace to keep this holy covenant, and that 
 you and your offspring may enjoy the blessings of it.' Mr. Fox- 
 croft then made the closing prayer, and the moderator pronounced 
 
 the blessing." 
 
 " May 19$, 1737. 
 
 " Yesterday the Rev. Mr. Wm. Hooper, a gentleman from Scot- 
 land, brought up at the University of Edinburgh, was ordained 
 pastor of the new and West Church in this town, lately gathered, 
 when the Rev. Mr. Foxcroft began with prayer. Mr. Hooper 
 preached from 2 Cor. iv. 7. The Rev. Dr. Sewall then prayed. The 
 Rev. Mr. Prince read the church-covenant, &c, and prayed, gave 
 the charge to Mr. Hooper, then prayed again, and gave another 
 charge to the church ; the Rev. Dr. Colman gave the right hand of 
 fellowship, and then the Rev. Mr. Hooper appointed the 23d Psalm, 
 and, after singing, dismissed the congregation with a blessing." 
 
 The names of the pewholders in the West Church, 1737, were 
 Frazier, Vail, Rix, Dupee, Copeland, Parker, Adams, Blanchard, 
 Messinger, Henderson, Guttredge, Winslow, Watt, Gray, Dorrall, 
 Watson, Barton, Waldo, Allen, Tyler, Pemberton, Storer, Kilby, 
 Cheever, Jackson, More, Bradford, Daniels, Peirce, Vintenon, 
 
 * Of the Old South Church. f Of the First Church. 
 
17 
 
 Young, Sprague, Mason, Allen, Russell, Erving, Traill, Smibert, 
 Spooner, Jenner, Lee, Wells, Blackador, Gooch, Stoddard, Hall, 
 Greenleafe, Keyes, Blinn, Scollay, Bemis, Stratton, Barrett, Sig- 
 ourney, Kilcup, Fitch, Strangers, Welch, Billings, John Gooch, 
 H. Berry, Dan Berry, Dennie, Fairfield, Eb. Berry. At an early 
 period (previous to 1750), we find Winter, McNeil, Cragie, Bruce, 
 Turner, Mackay, Vassall, Scott, Gridley, Fletcher, Edwards, 
 Brown, Vincol, Gerrish, Fowle, Nichols, Deming, Jarvis, Whitworth, 
 Thwing, C. Tilden, Ernes, Avery, Freeman. From 1750 to 1790, 
 we have the additional names of Atkins, Sanders, Sewall, Rouse, 
 Coffin, Call, Francis, Prince, Fleet, Cranch, Cushing, Fitch, Gill, 
 Jones, Foster, Hunt, Carnes, Price, Patten, Inches, Bruce, Cazneau, 
 Salter, Palmer, Eliot, Barrett, Brigden, Buckman, Edwards, Bry- 
 ant, Edes, Brigman, Broaders, Shepherd, McKown, Viburt, Bourne, 
 Barrett, Quincy, Belcher, Moffatt, Blodgett, Chapman, Coney, Dra- 
 per, Homer, Langdon, Young, Clark, Swan, Phillips, Walley, Gore, 
 Revere, Green, Kneeland, Ridgway, Furness, Morrill, Winthrop, 
 Hudson, Boit, Todd, Ivers, Torry, Hurd, S. A. Otis, Skinner, Ty- 
 ler, Coolidge, Baldwin, Procter, Putnam, Parkman, Larkin, Free- 
 man, Lepear, Tisdale, Farrington, Carter, Baty, Henshaw, Gay. 
 From 1790 to 1805, inclusive, Simons, Harmer (now Hammond), 
 Powars, Kuhn, Davis, Redman, Simpson, T. Tilden, Humphries, 
 French, G. W. Otis. These, it is supposed, were pewholders, and 
 probably most of them proprietors. There are many others who 
 had their children baptized, but do not appear as pewholders. 
 
 Mr. Hooper left the society November 19th, 1746, and went to 
 England to receive Episcopal ordination, having accepted an invi- 
 tation from Trinity Church to become their minister, after the 
 death of Mr. Davenport. He was suspected by his Congregational 
 brethren of unsoundness on some points of theology, — a sermon 
 of his at the Thursday lecture gave especial offence, — and this 
 circumstance probably led to the change in his pastoral relations. 
 I infer this from a correspondence which I find in manuscript in 
 the cabinet of the Historical Society. The west parish at this time, 
 according to Douglass,* stood second in the town in respect to 
 ability and numbers. 
 
 * Douglass's Summary, Vol. I., p. 542. The society was dispersed 
 
18 
 
 Among the churches enumerated by Douglass is the " French 
 Church," now extinct. This church worshipped in a small brick 
 building in School Street, " erected by some French Protestants 
 who came hither in 1686, after Louis the Fourteenth had revoked 
 the edict of Nantes, and many thousand Huguenots were obliged 
 to leave France. The descendants of the founders of this house, 
 as they formed new connections, gradually dropped off. Those 
 w T ho remained were few in number, and the support of a minister 
 was an expense they could not well continue. The Rev. Andrew 
 Le Mercier, a worthy character, desisted from officiating as minister, 
 and the house was for some years unoccupied.'" * In 1748, the 
 building was purchased by some persons who separated from other 
 churches in the town, formed a Congregational church, and settled 
 Mr. Andrew Croswell, then minister of the church in Groton, Con- 
 necticut. His church in Boston was not acknowledged as a sister 
 church by the other churches in the town and neighbourhood. Its 
 minister claimed a seat in the Board of Overseers of the College, 
 but it was denied him, — I think unjustly. He died in 1785.t 
 
 It is a curious fact, in the history of God's providence, that, on 
 the dissolution of this Congregational church, the house came into 
 possession of the Roman Catholics, the persecutors of the original 
 builders, and was used by them as a place of worship till 1803, 
 when the "Church of the Holy Cross" was consecrated. Thus 
 the persecutors themselves, — many of them, at least, — perse- 
 cuted and exiled for their religion by those who had no religion, 
 were compelled to worship in the humble edifice which the victims 
 of their oppression, in their exile, had erected and abdicated. I 
 
 in 1775, and a number of the members did not return again. Dr. Howard 
 himself was for a time at Annapolis, in Nova Scotia. 
 
 * Historical Collections, First Series, Vol. III. 
 
 | Mr. Croswell had been previously invited to take the charge of a 
 Congregational church in the town, formed July 18th, 1743, by persons 
 dissatisfied with the doctrine or discipline, or both, of the other churches; 
 but, after much correspondence, the connection did not take place, and 
 Mr. Ephraim Clark was settled September 30th, 17-48, and was their min- 
 ister in 1751. Prob'ably a portion of these separatists formed the germ of 
 the society over which Mr. Croswell was settled. It is singular that we 
 have no account of Mr. Clark's society in the histories of Boston, and 
 that it has never been reckoned among the Congregational churches. 
 
19 
 
 remember with profound respect the excellent ministers of this 
 church, Drs. Matignon and Cheverus, whose spirit was truly cath- 
 olic. With the latter I was well acquainted, and can never forget 
 his warm embrace as we parted, on his leaving America. The 
 Second Universalist Church now occupies the ground on which the 
 French Church stood, or is very near it. 
 
 Dr. Mayhew, the second minister of the West Church, one of the 
 ablest men our country has produced, was ordained June 17th, 
 1747, and died July 9th, 1766, aged forty-six years. Just before 
 his death, on his departure to attend an ecclesiastical council at 
 Rutland, he wrote a letter to James Otis, Esq., suggesting the plan 
 of a correspondence or " communion " among the colonies, which 
 was afterwards adopted, and conduced much to the happy result of 
 their struggle for freedom. His discourse on the 30th of January, 
 1750, was republished at the suggestion of the first President Adams, 
 to corroborate the claim of this State to the earliest expression of 
 opinions which led to the national assertion of independence. Dr. 
 Mayhew was a native of Martha's Vineyard. Dr. Howard, the 
 third minister, a truly wise and good man, was ordained May 6th, 
 1767, and died August 13th, 1804, aged seventy-one years. He 
 was a native of Bridgewater, West Parish. The fourth minister, a 
 native of Boston, was ordained January 1st, 1806.* The colleague 
 pastor, a native of Freeport, Maine, was ordained March 1st, 1837. 
 
 In the choice of the first minister of this church, the "church" 
 first voted by themselves, and then again with the " undertakers," 
 as the proprietors were termed. In the subsequent elections, the 
 church and proprietors (in the choice of Mr. Howard "the church 
 and congregation") voted together only; the records of the church 
 stating, — in the case of Drs. Mayhew and Howard, and the present 
 senior minister, — that the church " gave up the right to lead in the 
 choice, and consented to vote with the proprietors." In the case of 
 Mr. Howard, f* congregation." 
 
 It does not appear that a confession of faith was required by the 
 council, at the ordination of any of the ministers. At the ordination 
 
 * During his ministry, before the settlement of a colleague, the bap- 
 tisms recorded are 1351, including 99 adults; the marriages 724 ; and the 
 funerals 1146. Of the persons interred, 616 had reached the age of 21 
 years, 91 that of 70 years, and 6 of 90 years ; — the oldest 93. 
 
20 
 
 in 1806, there was much discussion on the subject, pro and con. It 
 was finally voted, that, if the pastor elect had prepared any thing, 
 and wished to present it, he was at liberty to do so. The parish re- 
 quested that he would not do it, and he was thus fortified in his own 
 determination not to obtrude it. He had prepared a general state- 
 ment of his views of theology, which had been seen by his friends, 
 Messrs. Channing and Buckminster, and, he believes, by his older 
 friend, Dr. Eckley (at his own request), a man of a truly Christian 
 spirit, an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile. 
 
 At that period, it was customary for the moderator of the council 
 (who on this occasion was Dr. Lathrop, one of the best men I have 
 ever known) to inquire of the church and proprietors in public, at 
 the commencement of the ordination services, if they still adhered 
 to their call of the candidate, and the candidate signified anew his 
 acceptance, usually in a short address. 
 
 It was also the practice of this church to send a special invitation 
 to the ministers of all denominations to attend the services. There 
 existed at that time a better feeling among the ministers of different 
 denominations than now exists. In the Congregational church (to 
 mention no others), so far as I know, the relative position of the 
 parties is about the same, though both have materially changed 
 from the faith of those who went before them. There are few, if 
 any, whom the "Puritans" would recognize as their legitimate 
 successors. 
 
 In Pemberton's "Description of Boston" [Historical Collections, 
 Vol. III., 1st series, 1794), we find this description of the church 
 edifice first erected at the west part of the town. 
 
 " 1736, West Church in Lynde Street,* New Boston, the only 
 church in that division of the town, is a well proportioned wooden 
 
 * This street, as I learn from S. F. McCleary, Esq., a connection of 
 the family, has its name from Chief-Justice Lynde, who owned the land 
 through which it runs, and which, before the laying out of the street, 
 was called Lynde's pasture. The street has had the fortune to retain its 
 name. Middlecott Street, in this neighbourhood, has been changed to 
 Bowdoin Street, though there was a peculiar propriety in the former 
 name, as Dr. Middlecott gave the land to the town for the purpose of a 
 street. Chambers Street, so named for the maternal ancestors of Thomas 
 Russell, who once owned the land, is in danger of being metamorphosed 
 
21 
 
 building, with a handsome steeple, in which was a good bell. It 
 was situated commodiously to give signals to the continental troops 
 at Cambridge on the opposite shore. The British troops suspected 
 it had been used for this purpose, and the steeple was taken down 
 by them in 1775." The church itself they used as a barrack. It 
 stood in a reverse position to the present house, and the principal 
 entrance was from Staniford Street. There was a wide opening 
 on the street, and the ascent to the church was over the green- 
 sward.* The pulpit was on the west side of the church. The 
 pews were the large square pews which were the fashion of 
 that day. 
 
 In 1805, at the east corner of Lynde Street and Cambridge 
 Street stood the double wooden house which now stands there, and 
 has been recently purchased by the parish. The east tenement had 
 been the residence of Dr. Mayhew, — the west, of Dr. Howard, who 
 afterwards lived in a house on the north side of the church. On the 
 other side of the street, opposite to Dr. Howard's residence, was the 
 house of Seth Wells, Esq., then recently built. On the west corner 
 of Lynde Street, fronting on Cambridge Street, was a new brick 
 house, erected by Harrison G. Otis, Esq., who is now probably the 
 only survivor of those who were baptized by Dr. Mayhew. On the 
 west side of Staniford Street, where the house of her son-in-law, 
 Dr. Shattuck, now stands, were the house and garden of Mrs. Davis, 
 whose family was among the earliest in the parish ; and on the 
 opposite corner of the street, the house and extensive garden of 
 Mungo Mackay, Esq., whose son is the present treasurer, and his 
 grandson (son of S. W. Hunt, Esq.) the clerk of the parish. This 
 house had been previously occupied by Richard Lechmere, Esq., a 
 gentleman of fortune, highly respectable and estimable, who left 
 the country in the Revolution, and died in Bristol, England. It is 
 
 into Chamber Street. Gooch Street, named for Deacon Gooch, who 
 lived in the street, has been corrupted into Gouch Street. One person, 
 now living (perhaps more than one), has lived in seven streets without 
 changing his place of residence. The name of a street should not be 
 lightly changed. It may be connected with some circumstance, the mem- 
 ory of which it may be interesting, not to say extremely important, to 
 retain. 
 
 * Page 4th of the Discourse. 
 
22 
 
 from him that " Lechmere's Point " derives its name. On the op- 
 posite side of Cambridge Street was the brick house now standing, 
 then the residence of Thomas Dennie, Esq. ; and next to this, the 
 house of Mr. Ridgway. Mr. Wells, Mrs. Davis, Mr. Mackay, Mr. 
 Hunt, Mr. Dennie, and Mr. Ridgway were all members of the 
 parish, and their memories are honored. Between Hancock and 
 Belknap Streets stood a large distillery, happily soon afterwards de- 
 molished, and its place supplied by a range of brick dwelling- 
 houses. The aspect of this part of the city, as it may be supposed, 
 is wholly changed. Whatever streets were laid out, they had but 
 few houses in them, and the general appearance was that of a 
 thinly settled place, with large unoccupied spaces, pastures, and 
 marsh-land. Between "West Boston" and the "North End" 
 was the mill-pond, into which the spirit of speculation soon after 
 transferred Beacon Hill, a beautiful conical eminence, at the base 
 of which the State House was erected, and which was alike con- 
 ducive to the health and ornament of the town. A causeway ex- 
 tended from Leverett Street to Prince Street. The " New Alms- 
 house " stood on the banks of Charles River, on or near " Barton's 
 Point." It was taken down in 1825. Near this point Mr. Black- 
 stone, the first English inhabitant of Boston, resided in 1630. 
 
 The old church was taken down ifi March, 1806, and the new 
 church* was opened for public worship November 27th of the 
 same year. The services were performed by the pastor. The 
 text of the sermon was Psalm c. 4, 5. It was the day of annual 
 thanksgiving. The following hymn, written for the occasion by 
 Mrs. Morton, was sung. 
 
 " In vain would mortal hands prepare 
 The Temple's bless'd abode, 
 Unless, supreme in mercy there, 
 Descend the accepting God. 
 
 " In vain the warbled prayer we raise, 
 Though human, seems divine, 
 Unless the heart's responsive praise, 
 Inspiring God, be thine. 
 
 * The expense of building the new church was $39,984-99. The 
 sum realized at the sale of the pews on the lower floor, which were first 
 offered, was $49,555. 
 
23 
 
 " Such was a Mayhew's soul of zeal, 
 Adoring Thee with fear ; 
 He taught the sinner's heart to feel 
 Th' all-seeing God was near. 
 
 " With milder light a Howard shone ; 
 To him persuasion given, 
 He charm'd the hope to Thee alone, 
 Parent of earth and heaven. 
 
 " Such may our youthful pastor prove, 
 The words of life to feel ; 
 Be his a Howard's pitying love, 
 A Mayhew's heavenly zeal. 
 
 "0 Thou ! to whom the solar blaze 
 Seems but a shadowy zone, 
 To thee our sacred dome we raise, 
 Jehovah ! — God alone ! " 
 
 The proprietors of the church, at the time of the call of the 
 present senior minister, as far as ascertained, were Messrs. *John 
 Avery, *Joseph Blake, *John Carnes, * Andrew Calhoun, Jonas 
 Coolidge, *Charles Cushing, *Thomas Dennie, *John Derby, *Eb 
 enezer Eaton, *Samuel Eliot, *William Foster, * Jeremiah Gard 
 ner, *Martin Gay, *Samuel Gore, * Joseph Heard, *Ebenezer Her 
 ring, Jr., *John C. Howard, *Samuel W. Hunt, *John Hurd 
 *Thomas K. Jones, *John Kuhn, Caleb Loring, *Braddock Loring 
 
 * Jonathan Loring, *Mungo Mackay, *Asa Page, * James Prince 
 
 * Joseph Ridgway, * William Todd, *Samuel Todd, *John Tucker 
 •Bill Vose, •Thomas Walley, *Seth Wells, *Mrs. Carter, *Mrs 
 Davis, and *Mrs. Job Prince. 
 
 There is reference on the 5th page of the Discourse to an officer 
 of the church. It was Charles Cushing, Esq., one of the purest 
 and best of men. The other deacon at that time, John Avery, Esq., 
 was for many years Secretary of the Commonwealth, having the 
 confidence of all parties. 
 
 In 1805, there were nine Congregational churches in Boston,f 
 
 * Deceased. 
 
 f There are now twenty-nine. There were then ten churches of all 
 the other denominations ; there are now forty-four. This statement does 
 not include the chapels of the ministry at large. 
 
24 
 
 the West Church being ranked the ninth, though it was in fact the 
 eighth, as the church in Federal Street did not join the Congrega- 
 tional communion till 1787. These churches were in fellowship, 
 and their ministers exchanged with one another, and assisted each 
 other in ministerial labors as occasion required. This fellowship 
 was maintained between this church and the eight other churches till 
 1821. In that year an interruption of the fellowship between this 
 church and the Old South Church took place, — not through the in- 
 strumentality either of the Old South Church or society, or the 
 minister of this church, but of those ministers who had determined to 
 separate the Old South Church from the " Unitarian communion," 
 and who thought, as was declared to him, that, from the relative 
 position of the minister of this church to both parties, he would serve 
 as a connecting link between them. In regard to the Old South 
 society, he had been in habits of ministerial intercourse with them 
 to that time, had paid a tribute in their church to the memory of 
 their excellent pastor, then recently deceased, had ministered to the 
 parish in their sickness and trouble during the absences and after 
 the death of their ministers, and had been invited by a unanimous 
 vote of the church to give the right hand of fellowship to their 
 newly elected pastor, Mr. Wisner. The other churches in the 
 town invited to this council were Park Street and the church in 
 Green Street. 
 
 It may not be amiss to add, that, whilst they were engaged in the 
 erection of a new church, the committee of the West Parish re- 
 ceived a communication from the minister of the Old South Church 
 and congregation, inclosing the following vote : — 
 
 " Voted, unanimously, that it would be highly gratifying to this 
 society, if their brethren of the West Boston society would meet 
 with them for worship, in their house, — the two pastors jointly 
 leading in the public devotions." 
 
 The minister of the West Church (now the senior minister) is 
 a Congregationalist, as it respects the outworks of the house of 
 God, but belongs to no sect as it regards the doctrines of theology, 
 nor has any exclusiveness as it regards his Congregationalism. 
 The Quaker, the Presbyterian, the Protestant Episcopalian, the 
 Baptist, and the Methodist Episcopalian have all preached in his 
 pulpit, and all, except the first, in the usual Sabbath exercise. It is 
 
25 
 
 among the pleasant recollections of his ministry that it has been so. 
 He certainly differs from his Unitarian brethren, as well as from 
 others, on some important points, — to him, at least, important, — 
 but he admits in them the right of private judgment which he claims 
 for himself, and he has esteemed himself favored in having had an 
 affectionate intercourse of so many years with such good men, and 
 faithful, devoted ministers. He belongs neither to the " Pastoral 
 Association " (Calvinistic), nor to the " Unitarian Association " ; but 
 he wishes well to both, in as far as they are adapted to promote 
 the glory of God, and the interests of pure and undefiled religion, 
 — and no farther. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Gaylord Bros. 
 
 Makers 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 PUT. M. 21. 1908