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 0& 0F <'^ 
 
 TWO 
 
 3 
 
 JAN 22 1332 
 
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 fOt I '■'■ nil ( >>\y^ 
 
 SERMONS, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 SECOND CHURCH AND SOCIETY, 
 
 SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 1844, 
 
 ON THE OCCASION OF 
 
 TAKING DOWN THEIR ANCIENT PLACE OF WORSHIP. 
 
 NR&T^R, 
 
 BY THEIR MINI 
 
 CHANDLER RC 
 
 BOSTON : 
 PRINTED BY ISAAC R. BUTTS 
 
 M DCCC XLIV. 
 
\ 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 PSALMS, XLVIII, 12 — 13. 
 
 "walk about zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof, mahk 
 ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces j that ye may tell it to the 
 
 We meet to-day for the last time in this venerable 
 house. It has stood an hundred and twenty-three 
 years. It is the oldest temple in this city. Christ 
 Church, its ancient neighbor, is its junior by more 
 than two years, and the Old South by nearly nine.* 
 It has been an object of sacred interest to many gen- 
 erations. Its image has been connected with the 
 idea of God, in the minds of myriads who have been 
 born, and lived, and died, within sight of its spire. 
 Hallowed associations gather thickly around it. Its 
 walls are hung with the memorials of ancient days. 
 Shadowy processions of the sainted dead seem to 
 move along its aisles ; and a solemn chant, as of many 
 voices, known and unknown, mingling in psalms 
 and prayers, to swell beneath its roof. 
 
 * The corner stone of Christ Church was laid April 15, 1723. It was 
 first opened for worship on the 29th of December, of the same year. The 
 foundation of the Old South was commenced March 31, 1729. Religious 
 services were attended in it for the first time on the 27th of April, 1730. 
 
4 
 
 It is a serious thin" to demolish a honsc like tills. 
 It is a solemn act to destroy these time-hallowed 
 
 walls. It is more, far more, than merely to take 
 down the material pile, which, hands long since moul- 
 dered to dust, assisted to raise. These stones and 
 bricks are inwrought with holy sentiments ; they are 
 inscribed with honored names; they are written all 
 over with religious reminiscences ; they enshrine ven- 
 erated images ; they arc memorials of the piety and 
 faith of our fathers; they are largely and intimately 
 connected with the spiritual life of past and present 
 generations. We may replace them with a more splen- 
 did edifice. We may tax architectural art for all the 
 elements of grandeur and beauty it can furnish, to 
 decorate the structure which is to be reared upon 
 their ruins. But, the sentiments and affections which 
 consecrate this ancient house, no human skill can re- 
 store. A sacred, a spiritual fabric of hallowed mem- 
 ories and associations will be shattered together with 
 these crumbling walls — and fall never to rise again. 
 
 But everything must yield to the immediate wants 
 and will of the living. The command of present Use 
 is in our day incontrovertible and supreme. Its 
 sceptre sways everywhere. The marks of its empire 
 are all around us. It takes down, and builds up, and 
 knows no veneration. The sacred and the beautiful 
 are continually bowing before it. It has often point- 
 ed ominously at this old edifice. It has touched it 
 now, and to-morrow it falls. 
 
 But it shall not fall unhonored. This old pile shall 
 not be swept away forever from the sight of men, 
 
without a becoming commemoration of its long and 
 interesting history. The rude hammer shall not strike 
 its first blow against its walls, until our hearts have 
 paid to it their parting tribute of affection and re- 
 spect. We will not meet for the last time at this be- 
 loved and venerated altar, without such a valedictory 
 service as it deserves, from those who have gathered 
 around it on so many hallowed occasions, with grati- 
 tude and devotion, and found under its shade the 
 peace of heaven. 
 
 Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since two 
 discourses were preached by the Rev. Henry Ware, 
 Jr., commemorative of the one hundredth anniver- 
 sary of the dedication of this house. These dis- 
 courses were published, and, accurate, interesting 
 and impressive, are preserved with care by many, as 
 amongst the most valuable pamphlets relating to the 
 history of our New-England churches. The former 
 of them was devoted to historical notices of the Old 
 North Church, — the latter to records of the New 
 Brick, which was the original appellation of the house 
 in which we are now for the last time assembled. 
 For it is known to many of you that our church has 
 a two-fold history antecedent to the revolutionary 
 w r ar. Before that period our records divide, and ex- 
 tend back in two separate channels, the one connect- 
 ed with the history of the Second Church — whose 
 place of worship, called the Old North, stood in North 
 Square, — and the other w 7 ith that of the society 
 which occupied this edifice. During the occupancy 
 of Boston by the British, the Old North was de- 
 
stroyed " for tlic sake of the fuel, of which its massy 
 timber afforded abundance. And when the inhabit- 
 ants returned to their homes after the evacuation of 
 the town, this meeting-house being sufficiently large 
 to accommodate both congregations, they worshiped 
 together for three years, when a junction was formed, 
 which has proved perpetual.' 5 Mr. Ware, as I have 
 said, on the occasion alluded to, embraced in his dis- 
 courses the earlier history of both these churches. 
 What then is left for me but only to glean after so 
 careful and thorough a reaper. But as his survey 
 was extended over two broad fields, whilst mine will 
 be restricted to a single one, it would not be strange 
 if a minute and faithful research should enable me to 
 gather up a few particulars which had escaped his 
 notice. Besides, there now remain to us the twenty- 
 three years which have passed since his discourses 
 were written, as a field yet wholly unattempted and 
 replete with interesting materials of history. 
 
 It is a cause of unfeigned regret, that the otherwise 
 gratifying retrospect of the annals of the New Brick 
 Church is alloyed by a review of the circumstances 
 under which it originated. The only blot upon its 
 records stains their very first page. Its foundation 
 was laid in dissension and alienation, between breth- 
 ren of one faith, inhabitants of one neighborhood, 
 and members of one church. 
 
 It is an ungrateful task to search out and expose 
 the weaknesses of our fathers. Nor have I any heart 
 for uncovering the long buried animosities that once 
 subsisted between two churches, which for these 
 
many years have been united together in the closest 
 intercourse, and the most exemplary harmony. But 
 I should be unfaithful to the duty which devolves up- 
 on me to-day, if 1 were to suffer myself to be deterred 
 by the painfulness of the undertaking, from a candid 
 and faithful statement of the facts and merits of the 
 controversy, which resulted in the building of this 
 house. Besides, the history of this singular transac- 
 tion is of itself not devoid of interest, and is still often 
 alluded to, though with a very imperfect knowledge 
 of the facts of the case. An indefinite impression 
 prevails in the community that there was something 
 wrong in the origin of this edifice, though precisely 
 what the wrong was, is not understood. It becomes 
 therefore an act of justice to its founders, to free 
 their memory from all sweeping and vague imputa- 
 tions, and to lay open with discrimination and candor 
 the real nature and amount of their offending. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1719, there 
 were two congregational churches at the north part 
 of Boston, — which was then the most respectable 
 and fashionable section of the town. The one, at 
 the head of the North Square, was under the pastoral 
 charge of Drs. Increase and Cotton Mather, and the 
 other, at the corner of Clark and Hanover, then called 
 North Street, under the care of the Rev. John 
 Webb. Both societies were flourishing and fully at- 
 tended ; perfectly harmonious within themselves and 
 with each other, and amply adequate to the accom- 
 modation of all in the neighborhood who might desire 
 to meet in them for worship. But the latter society, 
 
8 
 
 in conformity to the custom of the times, began to 
 be desirous of settling an assistant pastor for the 
 more effectual furtherance of the work of the minis- 
 try. The attention of several members of the church 
 was attracted by the popularity and eminent gifts of 
 the Rev. Peter Thacher, then over the church in 
 A\ cvmouth. A determination seems to have existed 
 on the part of some of the New North Society, from 
 the very first of the movement towards settling a col- 
 league, to secure his services, if possible, at all haz- 
 ards. No sooner was this purpose apparent, than 
 many of the congregation began to manifest signs of 
 disapprobation, — disapprobation founded upon the 
 conviction that it was not right for a wealthier so- 
 ciety to entice away from a poorer their minister. 
 " Weymouth," said they, " in God's sight, is as pre- 
 cious as Boston, and the souls there of as great worth 
 as the souls here. And to the common objection, that 
 it is a pity that Mr. Thacher, being so bright a light, 
 should smoke out his days in so much obscurity, we 
 answer, first, bright lights shine brightest in the 
 darkest places ; and, secondly, bright lights are the ob- 
 scurer for burning in a room where there are more, 
 and as bright." * 
 
 No other adequate motive can be assigned for their 
 opposition or their subsequent doings. Mr. Thacher, 
 himself, was in all respects such a minister as would 
 be likely to please their taste, to gratify their pride, 
 and to build up the church. There was nothing ob- 
 jectionable in Mr. Webb, to excite their aversion. Nor 
 
 * Sec Appendix A 
 
9 
 
 do I find in any quarter so much as a hint, that there 
 were any latent causes of division previously existing 
 between the members of the society themselves. 
 Nor were the characters of those who composed the 
 opposition such as to warrant the supposition that they 
 were originally actuated by unworthy motives, or 
 lightly instigated to the course they took, or moved 
 by any cherished feelings of hostility towards their 
 own church. On the contrary, there are not want- 
 ing indications, on the part of some of their number, 
 of strong attachment to the interests of the New 
 North Church. Several of them had been amongst 
 the most influential of the original founders of that 
 society, of the first signers of the covenant, and of 
 the building committee of the church ; one had been 
 donor of part of the communion plate, and, more re- 
 cently, of a bell ; and one had been the first choice 
 of the church for the office of deacon. 
 
 No other cause can be found for the origin of their 
 disaffection save that which is assigned by themselves, 
 viz : an insuperable objection against calling a min- 
 ister away from his flock, and disapprobation of the 
 measures taken by Mr. Thacher's friends to unsettle 
 him at Weymouth. Unless, indeed, I were to give 
 weight to an insinuation — which has been more 
 than once publicly thrown out — that the division 
 was fomented by the intrigues of Cotton Mather, 
 who was jealous of the talents of Mr. Thacher, and 
 who hoped, moreover, that the malecontents, instead 
 of founding a new church, would come back into his 
 own. But, whatever color of probability this sus- 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 picion may derive from the character of that singular 
 man, of most unenviable fame, and however pleasing 
 it might be to some to have such a charge against 
 him substantiated, for my own part, I should ask for 
 clearer evidence than has yet been shown, before I 
 could believe him guilty. 
 
 It is some satisfaction, then, to be assured that 
 there was a foundation in conscience and principle 
 for the movement of the founders of this church, 
 however blameworthy may have been the heat ex- 
 hibited by them in the course of the controversy. 
 There is no reason to doubt that they were perfectly 
 sincere in what they said in their " memorial " to the 
 New North Church, written in the very height of the 
 difficulty. " We should think ourselves obliged to 
 love, honor, and respect you more than ever, if you 
 would wholly lay aside Mr. Thacher, who, you know, 
 is the sole cause of all our uneasiness.'' When we 
 take into view the fact that the two parties were 
 nearly equal in numbers, and that Mr. Thacher w T as 
 finally elected by a majority of only one, (and that, 
 as has been said, the casting vote of the minister,) 
 it seems strange that the feelings of the memorialists 
 should not have been more regarded. It seems 
 strange that the New North Church and its pastor 
 should have persisted in their purpose of settling Mr. 
 Thacher, against the wishes of so large a portion 
 of the congregation ; against the unanimous advice 
 of the clergy of the town ; against the general 
 sense of the religious community, and at the risk of 
 their own dismemberment. There can be no reason- 
 
11 
 
 able doubt that, by a more moderate and pacific 
 course on their part, the difficulty might have been 
 healed, and those subsequent disturbances prevented, 
 which are a perpetual disgrace to all who were con- 
 cerned in them. The counsel of such men as the 
 two Mathers, Benjamin Wadsworth, Benjamin Col- 
 man, Joseph Sewall, Thomas Prince,- and William 
 Cooper, — all of them names justly celebrated in the 
 churches of Boston, was precisely such as the spirit 
 of Christianity would have dictated. " We appre- 
 hend," say they, in a letter signed by them all, " that 
 it would be best that the New North should not push 
 on the settlement of Mr. Thacher, and that you should 
 not engage in the building of a new meeting-house. 
 A patient waiting may cool and calm spirits that are 
 discomposed and heated. Time, by the help of God, 
 may give more light, to us, to you, to Mr. Thacher, 
 Mr. Webb, and the New North, in the present affair, 
 than we have hitherto had. In a way of patient 
 waiting, and humble supplications to heaven, Provi- 
 dence may possibly clear up the matters that are 
 dark at present ; so that all concerned may at last 
 join in some issue that may be holy, peaceable and 
 comfortable. Patient and prayerful waiting is there- 
 fore what we think best at present, and what we 
 advise you to; and also that you and your brethren, 
 with whom you are dissatisfied, would take oppor- 
 tunities to confer together in a spirit of meekness, 
 for the quieting and reconciling your spirits, that you 
 may again be united in love as formerly. But if 
 contentions and divisions should prevail, how greatly 
 
12 
 
 would it dishonor God, gratify the devil, grieve the 
 godly, and hurt yourselves and others too." 
 
 But the passions and prejudices of both parties 
 had now become too warmly enlisted to suffer them 
 to give heed to the instructions of Christian wisdom 
 and love. The New North Church pushed matters 
 to extremity, and appointed a day for the installation 
 of Mr. Thacher. The Boston ministers signified 
 their unwillingness to sit on the installing council. 
 The day appointed for the installation arrived. 
 The church in Milton, under the care of a relative of 
 the candidate, and the church in Rumney Marsh, 
 or Chelsea, under that of the Rev. Mr. Cheever, 
 were the only churches represented on the council. 
 Indeed, the former was not fairly represented at 
 all, since it had voted not to give its assistance, 
 and its pastor attended the council in opposition to 
 its vote. 
 
 It should here be remarked, that on the evening 
 previous to the day of installation, it being feared 
 that some disturbance might arise, a letter was ad- 
 dressed to the party who felt themselves aggrieved, 
 by the two Mathers, with the advice and concurrence 
 of the other ministers, solemnly and earnestly be- 
 seeching them to conduct themselves on the morrow 
 with moderation and decorum. " We earnestly in- 
 culcate upon you," says the epistle, " that ancient 
 advice, 4 cease from anger and forsake wrath ; fret 
 not vourselves in anvwise to do evil.' We particu- 
 larlv advise, exhort and entreat vou that on the mor- 
 row you forbear and prevent everything that may be 
 
13 
 
 of a riotous or too clamorous aspect ; and let nothing 
 be done, but what shall become sober Christians and 
 the well advised. And whatsoever shall be spoke, 
 let it be in the decent, modest, and peaceable man- 
 ner which may adorn jour profession of Christianity. 
 Your cause will not be the worse for your observing a 
 conduct entirely under the law of goodness." It is also 
 worthy of notice, that, this letter being read to them, 
 a great number of the dissentients agreed to comply 
 W 7 ith its advice. And, doubtless, they would have 
 adhered to this good intention, if they had not been 
 grievously exasperated by the organization and con- 
 duct of the council. How could they have been 
 otherwise than sorely vexed, at finding so small a 
 council, — consisting of but two members, and only 
 one of them present by the vote of his church, — con- 
 vened on so important an occasion, and evidently 
 determined to thwart their wishes, and to carry on, 
 at all risks, the solemn business of the day. In such 
 a state of feeling as then existed, it was hardly to be 
 expected that their indignation should not have been 
 roused to the highest pitch. The consequences that 
 followed were chargeable to the council more than to 
 themselves. Nor were the council without anticipa- 
 tion of the disorders which were likely to ensue : for 
 being afraid of confusion and violence, if they passed 
 through the public streets, they were led out through 
 the back gate of Mr. Webb's garden, (which covered 
 the ground now occupied by the church at the corner 
 of Salem and Bennett-streets,) across Tileston-street, 
 then called Love-lane, and through an alley which 
 
14 
 
 opens immediately in front of the New North Meet- 
 ing-house ; and thus were enabled, by stratagem, to 
 obtain possession of the pulpit. 
 
 The tumultuous scene which followed their ap- 
 pearance in the church, I will not attempt to describe. 
 The accounts of it which have come down to us, 
 have the appearance of great exaggeration. But 
 the doings of men in an hour of excited passion con- 
 form to no rule. At such times all ordinary stand- 
 ards of propriety and decency are liable to be set at 
 nought, and all feeling of veneration forgotten, whilst 
 even the consecrated altar and the most solemn ser- 
 vices of religion may be profaned by those who, in 
 their sober moments would be the last to countenance 
 an act of desecration. In the midst of the uproar, 
 the Rev. Mr. Cheever, having gone through the usual 
 ceremony of asking the votes of the church in con- 
 formation of their choice of the candidate, and having 
 heard his public acceptance of their call, proceeded 
 to proclaim, " The Rev. Peter Thacher to be the 
 pastor of the New North Church, regular]]} inducted 
 into the sacred office." 
 
 Such, my friends, is a brief sketch of the historv 
 of the difficulties which led to the building of this 
 house. I have endeavored to execute it with perfect 
 fairness. If 1 have stated the case too favorablv on 
 the side of the founders of this church, it is not be- 
 cause I have wished to defend them by warping the 
 truth : but because such is my deliberate judgment, 
 formed after long and careful investigation of all the 
 documents which I have 1 been able to procure. That 
 
15 
 
 they were not free from undue passion, in their con- 
 duct of the controversy, 1 have not denied. We 
 cannot but regret that their cause was not managed 
 with a better temper. But their opposition was 
 based on principle, and the first impulse of their 
 movement was a conscientious scruple which com- 
 mands respect. 
 
 Immediately after the settlement of Mr. Thacher, 
 the dissentients withdrew, and adopted measures for 
 erecting the building we now occupy. The number 
 of the first associates was twenty-four. Their first 
 meeting was held on the 14th of November, 1720, 
 at which time it was " voted, that some of them 
 should treat with Mr. Thomas Roby, of Cambridge, 
 for the purchase of a certain tract or piece of land," 
 a suitable lot for a church. These associates " ad- 
 vanced and paid for said land in equal proportion, 
 which, with the charges arising on the same, amount- 
 ed to twenty-three pounds, ten shillings, from each, 
 or five hundred and sixty-four pounds." On the 12th 
 of December, a building committee of seven was 
 chosen, " to agree with workmen to erect, build, and 
 finish a brick house, suitable for the public worship 
 of God, with all convenient speed and despatch, ac- 
 cording to a plan offered to the society, by Edward 
 Pell," one of the committee. The same committee 
 was also clothed with authority to admit sixteen more 
 members into the society, upon payment of the same 
 sum contributed by the original proprietors. The 
 desired number of forty was soon complete. The 
 house being finished, the forty proprietors assembled 
 
16 
 
 on the 5th of May for the choice of pews. The 
 first choice was given to John Frisell and William 
 (lark, " for their great good will and benefactions to 
 said work," then to the rest of the building commit- 
 tee, and then to the other proprietors, determined by 
 lot. On the next day the remainder of the pews on 
 the lower floor were distributed by lot amongst such 
 buyers " as it had been thought for the interest of 
 the society to allow to become their purchasers ; ' 
 and on the 8th of May, the same order w T as taken 
 in regard to the distribution of the pews in the gal- 
 lery. 
 
 The 10th of May, 1721, had been agreed upon 
 for the dedication of the house, to be kept as a day 
 of fasting and prayer, " to beg the smiles of Divine 
 Providence on the proprietors and all others that 
 shall be concerned with them." Dr. Increase Math- 
 er was desired to preach the forenoon sermon on that 
 occasion, but he excused himself by reason of his 
 great age. He however consented to commence the 
 morning services with prayer. A sermon followed 
 from Cotton Mather, on the words of the tenth verse 
 of the twenty-fourth Psalm : " Who is this King of 
 Glory ? The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glor\ ." 
 Dr. \\ illiam Cooper, colleague pastor of Brattle-street, 
 offered the concluding prayer. The exercises of the 
 afternoon began with prayer bv Dr. Benjamin Col- 
 man, of Brattle-street. Mr. Wadsworth, of the first 
 church, afterwards president of Harvard College, 
 preached, from Revelations, second chapter and first 
 verse : "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, 
 
17 
 
 write : These thinjrs saith he that holdcth the seven 
 stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of 
 the golden candlesticks." 
 
 " The house," says Mr. Ware, " appears to have 
 been regarded at that time, and for many years after, 
 as a building of uncommon elegance and taste. The 
 preacher expressed only the common opinion, when 
 he said, " I suppose that there is not in all the land 
 a more beautiful house built for the worship of God, 
 than this, whereof you now appear to make a dedi- 
 cation unto the Lord. But what will it signify," he 
 added, " if the beauty of holiness be not here." 
 
 The house in its present condition, especially in 
 the interior, gives but a faint idea of its original ap- 
 pearance. The pulpit stood in the middle of the 
 north side. In front of it were two enclosures, one 
 a little more elevated than the other, for the elders' 
 and deacons' seats. On each side of the broad-aisle, 
 in front of the pews, were several long seats for the 
 aged. The pews were square. There were two 
 rows of galleries on the west side, one on the south 
 and one on the east. The last was called the 
 "women's gallery," and the others, the "men's." 
 The only access to these galleries was by flights of 
 stairs on the inside of the house. The upper gal- 
 lery appears to have been but little used, except by 
 boys, who sometimes resorted there to play during 
 service-time ; for which reason the entrance to it 
 was most of the time kept closed, till the year 1808, 
 when it was converted into a hall for social meetings 
 and the use of the singers. A time-piece, the gift 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 of Mr. Barret Dyre, in 1721, hung opposite to the 
 
 pulpit, and kept its place till 1820, when it was re- 
 placed by the present, through the liberality of the 
 late Samuel Parkman, Esq.* The exterior of the 
 house was not at first painted. The spire was with- 
 out bell or dial. There were porches of entrance on 
 the west, south and east. The whole space in the 
 rear of the church, to what was then called Fore- 
 street, now Ann-street, was vacant, and probably the 
 ground was open for some distance on both sides, 
 which, as the church occupies a small eminence, 
 gave it at that period a commanding aspect. 
 
 The mode of conducting the public services was 
 also very different from the present. The scriptures 
 were not read till the year 1729, when the proprie- 
 tors " voted that the Bible offered to the church by 
 Captain Henry Deering, in order for the minister's 
 reading or explaining, be accepted ; and also that a 
 committee be appointed to make choice of a conve- 
 nient place for laying the Bible when made use of ;' : 
 w 7 hich last vote clearly shows that the original pulpit 
 was constructed in a different manner from the pres- 
 ent. Another difference is indicated in the following 
 vote, viz : " that Mr. John Waldo read the Psalm " — 
 that is, line by line — " and Mr. Moses Pearce set the 
 tune, until further notice.' 1 It is probable that, at 
 this period, there was ordinarily but one psalm sung 
 in the course of each service ; and as there was no 
 instrumental music, and no reading of the Bible, 
 
 * See Appendix, B. 
 
19 
 
 what we have heard of the length of the sermons 
 and the prayers, and of the patience of the hearers 
 during the same, will appear the less surprising, as 
 the whole time occupied by the worship could not 
 have been much longer than in our own day. 
 
 A church was first gathered amongst the worship- 
 ers on the 22nd day of May, 1722. The only creed 
 which is attached to the covenant is of the very sim- 
 plest and most general form, being embodied in these 
 words ; " We declare our serious belief of the Chris- 
 tian religion, as contained in the sacred scriptures." 
 An acknowledgment of the doctrine of the Trinity 
 is however implied in the phraseology of several of 
 the obligations. The covenant is not lengthy, being 
 little more than an engagement to live a life of 
 obedience to Christ, to love and watch over one 
 another, and to keep all the ordinances of the Gospel ; 
 with the addition of " an offering and presentation of 
 their seed unto the Lord, and a promise to do their 
 part in the methods of a religious education, so that 
 their children also may be the Lord's." 
 
 The same day on which the church was gathered, 
 William Waidron, the first pastor, was ordained. He 
 had preached for some time, as a candidate, in con- 
 nection with Mr. Joshua Gee, afterwards pastor of 
 the Old North Church. He was chosen on the 26th 
 of September, 1721, having received fifty votes, and 
 Mr. Gee thirteen. He was the last who received 
 ordination at the hands of the venerable Increase 
 Mather. 
 
 Mr. Waidron was a member of one of the most 
 
20 
 
 respectable and influential families in New-Hampshire. 
 ile was son of Col. Richard Waldron of Portsmouth, 
 and grandson of Major Richard Waldron of Dover, 
 — the story of whose tragical end is one of the most 
 affecting in the annals of our early Indian wars. He 
 was born at Portsmouth on the 4th of November, 
 1G97, and graduated at Harvard College in 1717. 
 His ministry of only five years was too short to make 
 full proof of his plans and eapaeities of usefulness ; 
 but (c\v clergymen have been more affectionately 
 commemorated by their professional associates. The 
 library of our church contains a volume of sermons, 
 which were preached on the occasion of his death 
 by the most celebrated of his compeers. In reading 
 these it is doubtless necessary to make considerable 
 allowance for the naturally exaggerated encomiums 
 of warm personal friendship, and freshly excited sym- 
 pathy. But when this is done to the fullest extent, 
 there remains indubitable evidence that the character 
 of our first minister was of more than ordinarv worth. 
 To a finished education, was superadded the still more 
 excellent qualification for the ministry, the grace of 
 early piety. His most intimate friend, Dr. Cooper, 
 dwells particularly upon this characteristic, and illus- 
 trates it b)' a brief anecdote, which has so much of 
 the savour of that old time, that I am tempted to re- 
 peat it. "In his early childhood, says Dr. Cooper, 
 a particular providence set the wheel of prayer a-go- 
 ing, and I believe it never wholly stopped afterwards. 
 This he once gave me an account of in a retired con- 
 versation, and 1 suppose I was the only person to 
 
21 
 
 whom he mentioned it. His dear parents were gone 
 somewhere by water, when a storm arose, with sud- 
 den gusts of wind, when it was supposed they were 
 returning home. The little boy heard his family 
 speak of the danger they might be in. This so 
 alarmed his fear, ihat he went away alone to seek 
 God in their behalf, and pray that they might be pre- 
 served and returned in safety. And having begun 
 thus successfully to pray for his parents, he afterwards 
 continued to pray for himself. 1 also know,'' said 
 he, " that, while at college, he was one of those 
 young students who used to meet on the evening of 
 the Lord's day, for prayer and other exercises of so- 
 cial religion." 
 
 As a preacher he was remarkable for soundness of 
 argument, plainness and directness of speech, and 
 gravity of manner. His temper was naturally oblig- 
 ing and his affections warm, whilst at the same time 
 he was too independent to stoop to any little acts to 
 conciliate favor, and too stern in integrity ever to 
 prostitute his conscience. He was, like most of the 
 clergymen of New-England, a hearty patriot, and a 
 steady friend and advocate of all the civil privileges 
 which the people then enjoyed. He was also a strict 
 and very zealous congregationalist. If he had lived 
 longer, there is no doubt that he would have exerted 
 a powerful influence in the community, and have left 
 more conspicuous memorials upon the records of this 
 Church. But Providence had another destiny in store 
 for him. His death took place on the 11th of Sep- 
 tember, 1727. " He died," says Cotton Mather, 
 

 99 
 
 "nobly. So to die, is indeed no dying. 'lis but 
 flying away with the wings of the morning into the 
 paradise of God."* 
 
 Mr. William Welsteed was chosen successor of 
 Mr. Waldron, on the 16th January, 1727. He was 
 born in Boston in 1G95. He had been a tutor at 
 the college for several years, and appears to have at- 
 tracted some notice 1 as a preacher before his invitation 
 to settle over this church. 1 find it stated in a cen- 
 tury sermon, delivered at Weston bv Dr. Samuel 
 Kendall, in 1813, that Mr. Welsteed received a call 
 to be the minister of the church in that town in 
 August, 1722. He had also preached with much 
 approbation, as a candidate at Portsmouth. It is 
 somewhat singular in relation to his preaching at the 
 latter place, that several letters have been preserved 
 and are now T in my possession, from our first pastor, 
 Mr. Waldron, to his brother Richard in Portsmouth, 
 in which he speaks of Mr. Welsteed in the following 
 terms. " He is a good man and true ; a good scholar, 
 a good preacher, and a gentlemanly man, I am sooth 
 to say, but, all things considered, 1 don't think he 
 would suit Portsmouth so well as some others." — He 
 alludes here to Professer Wigglesworth, to whom he 
 was devotedly attached, and whom he used all his 
 efforts to have chosen by the society in Portsmouth 
 — of which his brother was one of the most influen- 
 tial members. f 
 
 Mr. Welsteed continued the sole minister of this 
 
 ' See Appendix, C. f See Appendix, D. 
 
23 
 
 church for about ten years, when Mr. Ellis Gray was 
 unanimously chosen to the office of colleague pastor. 
 He was sou of Mr. Edward Gray, who in early life 
 came over from England to this country, and by 
 industry and integrity amassed a considerable for- 
 tune. A man eminently charitable and universally 
 esteemed, to whose virtues and beneficence a high 
 tribute remains in a funeral sermon, preached by 
 Dr. Chauncy on the occasion of his death. 
 
 Mr. Welsteed and Mr. Gray were both of them 
 men of respectable talents, but in no respect remark- 
 ably distinguished, They lived harmoniously togeth- 
 er in the discharge of their professional duties, and 
 fulfilled a plain and useful ministry. I can add no- 
 thing to the record which Mr. Ware has given of the 
 history of the church whilst under their charge. "It 
 was at this period that our Friday evening lecture be- 
 fore the communion, was established, and that the old 
 custom was dropped of singing by the separate read- 
 ing of each line. In 1751, Watts' Psalms and 
 Hymns were introduced in the worship of the Sab- 
 bath, and continued in use until superseded by 
 Belknap's Collection in 1817, a period of sixty- 
 six years." 
 
 Mr. VVelsteed's true character, is doubtless depict- 
 ed by one of his contemporaries, who said of him, 
 that he was an excellent Christian, an accomplished 
 gentleman and exemplary minister ; amiable and en- 
 gaging in his conduct, and lovely in his temper ; liv- 
 ing a benevolent, gracious and useful life. Mr. Gray 
 is described as a man of candor, prudence, and sin- 
 
2 1 
 
 cerity, of solid judgment and warm heart; peculiarly 
 fitted for the whole of his sacred office; of clear and 
 pathetic elocution, and of uncommon command of 
 devotional sentiment in his prayers; honest and firm 
 in his principles, kind and obliging to all, and univer- 
 sally respected by the friends of piety and virtue. 
 
 " The circumstances attending the death of these 
 two ministers, were remarkable and melancholy. 
 Gray, the junior pastor, died suddenly of the palsy on 
 the Lord's day, January 7, 1753, in the thirty-seventh 
 year of his age, and the fifteenth of his ministry. His 
 senior colleague survived him not quite four months. 
 He died on the 29th of April, having been also struck 
 with the palsy in church on Sunday, just after the 
 commencement of his morning prayer, having lived 
 fifty-seven years, and been minister twenty-five. 
 Here was the melancholy spectacle of a church in 
 mourning for two pastors at once ; both cut off sud- 
 denly in the midst of life. And to render the visita- 
 tion yet more affecting, they both died of the same 
 disease, both died on the Sabbath, both on the com- 
 munion Sabbath, and both at the same time of the 
 day ; each having preached for the last time to his 
 own people, and the last sermon preached by both 
 being on the same text — "Redeeming the time be- 
 cause the days are evil." * 
 
 The record of this solemn incident, my friends, 
 forms no inappropriate conclusion to the present dis- 
 course. I shall continue these reminiscences this af- 
 
 * Mr. Ware's Century Sermon. 
 
25 
 
 ternoon. To some of you, perhaps, they may appear 
 unnecessarily minute and tedious. But I trust they 
 are not so regarded by those who sympathise with the 
 preacher in loving the very stones and dust of this 
 old Sanctuary, consecrated as it has been by the 
 worship of past generations, and who take a sacred 
 pleasure in perpetuating the remembrance of those 
 men of God, the fruits of whose labors and prayers, 
 we are enjoying to-day in our political freedom and 
 our religious peace. 
 
 4 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 In my discourse of this forenoon, the history of the 
 New Brick Church was brought down to the period 
 of the death of the colleague pastors, Welsteed and 
 Gray, in the year 1753. Before proceeding with the 
 record, it may be useful to take a brief survey of the 
 religious aspects of the community, during the thirty 
 years which had now elapsed since the building of 
 this house. 
 
 At the time when this church was gathered, Bos- 
 ton enjoyed the labors of an eminently pious and 
 learned ministry. Cotton Mather, in his peculiarly 
 rhapsodical stvle, in allusion to this fact, exclaims, 
 " O, city, highly favored of the Lord ; how canst 
 thou be too thankful for such inestimable blessings ! 
 The whole country will feel the sweet influences of 
 more than seven stars that irradiate its metropolis.' 1 
 Notwithstanding, however, the sweet influences of 
 these luminaries, it is sufficiently evident that there 
 w as but little religious life manifested in the churches. 
 
27 
 
 There were, indeed, general complaints amongst 
 pious and elderly persons, of a great decay of godli- 
 ness, and expressions of discouragement at the reli- 
 gious and moral declension of the community, were 
 frequent on the lips of the clergy. In this state of 
 things, all the usual, and many unusual methods were 
 resorted to, to produce one of those " revivals of re- 
 ligion," which in those days, as well as in our own, 
 were held by many in the highest esteem. All these 
 efforts, however, appear to have met with very little 
 success, until the year 1727, when an event occurred 
 which, under the management of zealous religionists, 
 was well calculated to produce the desired effect. 
 On the night of Sunday, October 29th, in this year, 
 the whole country was visited with a violent shock 
 of an earthquake, the sound and shaking of which 
 are described as having been terrific at Boston, and 
 to have carried the greatest consternation to the in- 
 habitants, who were roused from their sleep by such 
 an unusual and startling phenomenon. On the next 
 day, and for several succeeding days, the churches 
 were crowded, and by the proclamation of the com- 
 mander-in-chief, a day of fasting and prayer was 
 appointed, to supplicate the mercy of God, and es- 
 pecially the " conversion of the people." As may 
 well be supposed, a great religious excitement was 
 the result of these measures, and many were 
 awakened and added to the churches. But with the 
 subsiding of the alarm, the interest, also, soon passed 
 away ; and the historian of the times, who was him- 
 self a friend to such excitements, is compelled in 
 
28 
 
 Fairness to confess, that the professions of many were 
 hut as the morning cloud and the early dew.* 
 
 Things continued in about the same condition, 
 until the year 1740, when many of the ministry 
 having heard from across the ocean the fame of the 
 success which followed the preaching of the renown- 
 ed George Whitefield, sent him an invitation to visit 
 this country. In compliance with their request, he 
 arrived in Boston, on his first visit, in the month of 
 September, 1740. The people flocked in crowds to 
 hear him. [Ministers as well as their congregations 
 were powerfully impressed by his preaching. Meet- 
 ings were multiplied. A universal awakening ensued, 
 and multitudes were added to many of the churches. 
 The pastors of this church were not unfriendly to 
 these proceedings, though they appear to have taken 
 no very active interest or conspicuous part in them. 
 The records of that period are very imperfect, and 
 it is impossible to determine with accuracy how far 
 this church was affected by the general increase. It 
 is, however, perfectly clear that this congregation 
 passed with steadiness and dignity, through the dis- 
 sensions and agitations which attended and followed 
 this period of unprecedented excitement. With pru- 
 dent and moderate men at the helm of its affairs, if 
 it did not enjoy to the same degree with some others, 
 the good and valuable fruits of this great awakening, 
 neither did it greatly suffer from its extravagancies 
 and ill effects. For a sober review of this inter- 
 
 * Prince's Christian History. 
 
29 
 
 esting period of our ecclesiastical history, will easily 
 lead us to the conclusion that, in this, as in all other 
 seasons of extraordinary excitement, the good was 
 not unmixed with evil, and that much of what was 
 gained to the interests of true Christianity by an in- 
 crease of fervor, was lost to the same by a diminu- 
 tion of charity, moderation and discretion. 
 
 In relation to the affairs of this church, during the 
 period of which we are speaking, a few particulars 
 only require our notice in addition to what has been 
 already related. 
 
 The interests of the society had been generally in 
 a prosperous condition. The congregation w 7 as rent 
 by no intestine divisions. The ancient feud with its 
 neighbor and mother, the New North, had been heal- 
 ed and well nigh forgotten. The greatest attach- 
 ment had been felt to its three pastors, and every 
 mark of attention and respect, that they could have 
 desired, had been shown to them. In their lives 
 they were repeatedly furnished with help in the sup- 
 ply of the pulpit, even for months at a time, and 
 were gratified with valuable presents of wood and 
 money, in addition to their regular stipend. In their 
 sickness the church had variouslv ministered to their 
 comfort, and kept days of fasting and prayer for their 
 recovery ; and when they died, their funeral obse- 
 quies were performed at the charge of the parish, 
 with demonstrations of unfeigned respect ; and their 
 names were cherished in grateful remembrance. In- 
 deed, it is particularly and emphatically said, in the 
 obituary notices of Waldron, that " the great and 
 
.;<> 
 
 exemplary respect ' shown by this society to their 
 minister, " deserved to be everywhere told as a me- 
 morial of them." 
 
 The house, moreover, had been several times re- 
 paired, and gradually beautified. A bell had been 
 hung in its tower, and its walls handsomely painted. 
 And everything within and without the building pre- 
 sented an appearance indicative of the good condi- 
 tion of the parish, and gratifying to all who loved the 
 place where God's honor dwelleth.* 
 
 Nearly a year elapsed after the death of Mr. Wei* 
 steed, before the appointment of a successor. The 
 unanimous choice of the church, and a very large 
 vote of the congregation, selected for this office the 
 Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, whose installation took 
 place on the 6th of March, 1754. 
 
 Mr. Pemberton was son of an eminent clergyman 
 of the same name, who was for many years pastor of 
 the Old South Church. In the earlier part of his 
 life he had been chaplain at Castle-AVilliam. In 
 April, 1727, he had received an invitation from the 
 first Presbyterian Church in New-\ork, to settle as 
 their minister, with the request that he should be 
 ordained in Boston. Accordingly, his ordination 
 took place on the 9th of August in that year ; from 
 which period he resided in New- York, in the charge 
 of the above-named church, for twenty-two years. 
 Of the manner in which he discharged his duties in 
 that city, 1 find the most honorable mention made in 
 
 * See Appendix, F. 
 
31 
 
 Smith's History of New- York. It is there said of 
 him that he was a man of polite breeding, pure 
 morals, and warm devotion ; under whose ineessant 
 labors the congregation greatly increased, and was 
 enabled to erect them a spacious church in 1748. 
 But on account of trifling contentions, kindled by 
 the bigotry and ignorance of the lower sort of peo- 
 ple, he at length requested his dismission. There is 
 preserved on our records a copy of a letter from the 
 Presbytery of New- York, signed by the father of the 
 late Aaron Burr, as moderator, conveying the most 
 honorable testimony of the Presbytery, to Mr. Pem- 
 berton's " ministerial dignity, abilities and success, 
 and their cheerful recommendation of him as an em- 
 inently endowed and highly esteemed preacher." 
 
 As soon as this society heard of his intention to 
 leave New- York, they became eager to engage his 
 services, as he was regarded at that time a gifted and 
 powerful preacher. At the period of his settlement 
 here, he enjoyed a degree of popularity such as had 
 fallen to the lot of few who had ever stood in a Bos- 
 ton pulpit, and attracted to this house a crowded 
 congregation. But he lived to experience, even be- 
 yond what is usual in such cases, the proverbial 
 fickleness of popular favor. In the latter part of his 
 life his congregation sadly dwindled. Instead of the 
 throngs which used to gather before him, his eye 
 looked down upon only a few familiar faces scattered 
 about amongst almost empty pews. But the de- 
 clension of his fame was not more attributable to 
 any deterioration of his ability, than to the influence 
 
32 
 
 of political odium. The inhabitants of the North 
 End, as is well known, were almost all of them 
 staunch and uncompromising whigs. Dr. Pemberton 
 was a warm friend of Gov. Hutchinson, who was a 
 worshipper at his church, and therefore fell under 
 the suspicion of sharing his attachment to the tory 
 interest. For this reason, doubtless, some of his con- 
 gregation left him. 
 
 As the war of the Revolution approached, Dr. Pem- 
 bertoirs health declined, and the condition of his 
 parish became feeble and discouraging. At no other 
 period in its history were its affairs at so low an ebb. 
 Efforts were made to settle a colleague who mi^ht 
 redeem the credit of the church — but in vain. Sev- 
 eral distinguished young men were selected as candi- 
 dates. Amongst others Mr. Buckminster. the father 
 of the lamented Buckminster of Boston, and Mr. 
 Isaac Storv. afterwards of Atarblehead.* The former 
 was most agreeable to Dr. Pemberton. the latter 
 to his parishioners. But the troubles of the year 
 1775 put an end to all the proceedings of the Society. 
 At the close of the month of April in that year, the 
 inhabitants generally left Boston, and this house was 
 closed. 
 
 The desecration of several of our churches by the 
 British during the blockade of Boston, is a matter of 
 history, with which all of vou are familiar. A\ hilst 
 the Old North was demolished, the Old South turned 
 into a circus, and the steeple of the West Church torn 
 
 * Sec Appendix. H. 
 
33 
 
 down, no violence was offered to this edifice, partly, 
 it may be, for the reason that its pastor had given no 
 cause of offence to his country's enemies, and that 
 its most distinguished worshiper was their ally and 
 friend. 
 
 Dr. Pemberton resided during the siege at Ando- 
 ver. His health had been for some time feeble, and 
 his pulpit had been supplied for several months be- 
 fore he left the town. Indeed, he had for a long time 
 previous, generously relinquished his salary, and from 
 the beginning of February, 1774, never received any- 
 thing from the parish. I cannot ascertain that, after 
 the evacuation of the town, he ever appeared in the 
 pulpit. It is probable that his increasing infirmities 
 prevented him even from attending worship. No 
 notice is made of him at this time on our records, nor 
 have I been able to ascertain any thing more concern- 
 ing the circumstances of his death, than is contained in 
 a single sentence in an old newspaper — " On Tues- 
 day morning, last, September 9, 1779, departed this 
 life, after a long confinement, the Rev. Dr. Pember- 
 ton, his funeral to be attended this P. M., at three 
 o'clock.' 5 His connection with this society was never 
 formally dissolved, but gradually loosened, till at length 
 it existed merely in name.* 
 
 But I cannot dismiss this brief notice of the min- 
 istry of Dr. Pemberton, without allusion to a single 
 circumstance, which is of too gratifying a nature not 
 to be commemorated on this occasion. The neigh- 
 
 * See Appendix, I. 
 
34 
 
 boring Baptist society then under the charge of Dr. 
 Still man, in the spring of 1771, being about to build a 
 new church, made application for the use of this house 
 till such time as their own should be fit for worship. 
 The request was unanimously and most cordially 
 granted. And from June till December of that year 
 the two congregations worshiped together, the pas- 
 tors of both officiating by turns. The texts both of 
 the first and the last of Dr. Stillman's sermons, have 
 been preserved on our records, with strong commend- 
 ation of the discourses. What volumes of Christian 
 sentiment do these texts convey ! would that their 
 spirit had never been departed from by the succeeding 
 members of either, or of any denomination. His 
 subject on coming into this pulpit was this, " Behold, 
 how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 
 together in unity ; ' and on taking leave of it, 
 " Finally, brethren, farewell. Be of one mind ; live 
 in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be 
 with you.' 3 1 mention this incident with the greater 
 pleasure, by reason of the recent and very friendly 
 offer of hospitality which has been extended to our- 
 selves from the descendants of those whom our 
 fathers so cordially entertained. How T beautiful are 
 even the smallest acts of brotherly kindness, in the 
 midst of the party divisions and sectarian prejudices, 
 which occupy so large a space in the religious history 
 of our age. Our early records have no fairer page 
 than that which is adorned with this wreath of love. 
 And never, I believe, has the great Head of the Church 
 looked down upon this temple with a more approving 
 
35 
 
 smile, than when those two venerable ministers, sat 
 side by side in its pulpit, and their congregations were 
 intermingled in its pews.* 
 
 We come now to a new era in the history of this 
 church. The evacuation of Boston bv the British 
 was the signal for the return of the inhabitants, who 
 came back with mingled emotions of rejoicing and 
 sadness, — glad once more to occupy unmolested their 
 beloved homes, and pay their vows in their venerated 
 temples, whilst with a melancholy curiosity and just 
 indignation, they surveyed the marks of violence 
 and ruin which hostile hands had left upon their fair 
 inheritance. But the hearts of none of them were 
 more oppressed with gloom than those of the former 
 members of the Second Church, when revisiting the 
 site of their ancient sanctuary, they found nothing in 
 its place but a heap of ruins. This house, however, 
 offered them ample accommodations, and as its pulpit 
 was without an occupant, they were invited, with 
 their pastor, Dr. John Lathrop, to occupy it in con- 
 junction with its few remaining proprietors. The 
 two societies commenced worshiping together on the 
 31st of March 1776, and on the 6th of May, 1779, 
 agreed upon and adopted a plan of perpetual union. f 
 The history of this transaction is replete with inter- 
 est, and I would gladly, if time permitted, lay before 
 you a detailed account of an arrangement so aus- 
 picious. But the necessary limits of this discourse 
 forbid anything more than the most general statement 
 of the result, — as they compel me, indeed, to omit 
 
 * See Appendix, J. f See Appendix, K. 
 
36 
 
 in the delivery a great variety of interesting particu- 
 lars of our history, which 1 have collected and would 
 save from oblivion. The bell of the Old North 
 Church, which was larger than ours, was hung in this 
 steeple in its place. The communion service of silver 
 belonging to the Second Church, as also their land 
 and other property, which had become useless, to- 
 gether with our old bell, were sold to purchase a par- 
 sonage house for Dr. Lathrop. The large Bible of 
 the Old North was presented to the Second Church 
 in Newton.* 
 
 The ministry of Dr. Lathrop continued from the 
 junction of the two societies to the 4th of January, 
 1816, when he "passed to his reward" at the age 
 of seventy -six years. There are some still with us, 
 who can distinctly recall his venerable features, and 
 a few who can remember every important event that 
 transpired during his occupancy of this pulpit. His 
 character has been so beautifully sketched by Mr. 
 Ware, in a few strong and warm touches, and so 
 thoroughly and faithfully described and analyzed in a 
 printed sermon delivered in this house at his inter- 
 ment, by the pastor of the New North Church, that I 
 feel it to be needless for me to attempt its delineation. 
 No clergyman of his day is better remembered, and 
 none more frequently spoken of, or recalled with great- 
 er veneration and love. His name in this section of the 
 city is still as a household word. And the descrip- 
 tions of his venerable form and appearance, that have 
 been so often heard from aged lips at your firesides, 
 
 * See Appendix, L. 
 
37 
 
 have given shape and distinctness to his image even 
 to the minds of your children. His aged body 
 moulders in the granary burying-ground ; his virtues 
 live in the history of this church, and his name is still 
 young in the hearts of rising generations. 
 
 The ordination of Henry Ware, Jr., took place on 
 the 1st day of January, 1817. His whole ministry 
 can be traced in the recollection of many of you 
 from its commencement to its close. Its history has 
 been too recently recounted in this place to require a 
 repetition now. Its results, moreover, are too conspic- 
 uous to all thoughtful observers, not only of this con- 
 gregation, but also of our whole religious community, to 
 need any memorial of mine. His record is all around 
 us. This house itself, with which his whole minis- 
 terial life was connected ; in which his persuasive 
 voice was so long heard ; whose walls he reverenced 
 and loved, and for his sake we love and reverence 
 the more, — this house is his monument. And this 
 pulpit, more especially, which he himself designed, 
 and which was at once his altar and his throne, is 
 his monument. What do I say ? No ! — not these 
 — for they are perishable and soon to fall. His 
 monument is in our hearts and shall endure forever. 
 
 I cannot but regard it as a coincidence worthy of 
 a passing notice, that his death and the ruin of this 
 temple occur so near together. If he had lived, this 
 would have been to him an occasion of painful inter- 
 est. But he is gone where the mutations of human 
 things affect him not. And yet, if the spirits of the 
 departed are ever permitted to take cognizance of 
 
) 
 
 8 
 
 mortal affairs, his spirit is near us to-day. And with 
 it, the spirits of Lathrop and Pemberton and Wel- 
 steed and Gray and Waldron, — a sainted brother- 
 hood, — revisit, for the last time, this scene of their 
 common earthly labors, this gate of their heavenly 
 glory. Nor these alone, but a great multitude hover 
 in their train, — of the forgotten and the honored, of 
 the earlier and the later dead, the seals of their min- 
 istry and the crowns of their rejoicing, — equally in- 
 terested in this consecrated spot, where they were 
 born for immortality, and learnt the songs of heaven. 
 It was in the third year of Mr. Ware's ministry 
 that the square pews, which had existed in this church 
 from the beginning, were removed, and also the stairs 
 that led to the galleries within the house. On the 
 14th of July, 1822, a vote was passed appropriating 
 five hundred dollars, to be added to what could be 
 obtained by subscription, for the purchase of an or- 
 gan. In June, 1823, it being found that the old 
 steeple was in a decayed and dangerous condition, it 
 was voted to take it down, and at the same time 
 to make a thorough repair and alteration of the in- 
 terior of the house ; to lower the ceiling ; take down 
 all the galleries but the west ; put in new pews, and 
 change the place of the pulpit. This plan was car- 
 ried into effect, with the single exception of putting 
 up the two existing galleries. So radical a change, 
 as might have been expected, did not take place 
 without producing some dissatisfaction, and many of 
 the elder people have never been quite reconciled to 
 the transformation, even up to the present day. 
 
3!) 
 
 Of the ministry of the living I may not speak 
 without reserve. Ralph Waldo Emerson was or- 
 dained as colleague with Mr. Ware, March 11th, 
 
 1829. The latter resigned his office September 26th, 
 
 1830. and Mr. Emerson remained sole pastor for two 
 years, when he was dismissed at his own request, 
 by reason of differences of sentiment between him- 
 self and the church and society in relation to the 
 Lord's Supper, — differences, however, which were 
 entertained on both sides without alienation of per- 
 sonal affection and esteem, and expressed on both 
 sides with perfect moderation and candor, — differ- 
 ences which were the more regretted as necessarv 
 interruptions of a connection which w T as with many 
 of the parish a strong and pleasant tie.* 
 
 The vestry which adjoins the church, and which is 
 to many of us almost equally hallowed and dear, w r as 
 built, through the well directed zeal of a devoted 
 friend of this parish, — whose loss we have never 
 ceased to lament, f — at the request of Mr. Emerson, 
 " who was desirous of delivering, in some suitable 
 place, a course of expository lectures." It was paid 
 for by a fund belonging to the church, which had 
 been accumulating, in accordance with the advice of 
 Mr. Ware, given in 1824, " by increasing the con- 
 tribution at the Lord's table, and laying by a certain 
 proportion of it from month to month." Greenwood's 
 Collection of Hymns was introduced in October, 
 
 1831. The house was repaired in 1832, at an ex- 
 pense of about three thousand dollars, which was de- 
 
 * See Appendix, M. f George A. Sampson. 
 
40 
 
 frayed in part by the sale of the estate on the corner 
 of Richmond-street, In the same year the question 
 of building a new meeting-house was agitated, and 
 a proposal was made by the Catholics to purchase 
 this house and land, for which they offered the sum 
 of nineteen thousand dollars. 
 
 After the resignation of Mr. Emerson, the pastoral 
 office remained vacant till the ordination of the pres- 
 ent incumbent, on the 3d of December, 1833. 
 During the last ten years, with the exception of very 
 thorough repairs of the church, in 1837, no changes 
 of importance have taken place in this edifice. 
 
 The internal history of the society is of course 
 too intimately connected with the character and 
 feelings of its pastor, to allow him to speak of it with 
 freedom, and too well known by you all to require a 
 minute survey. The connection has been to me a 
 most happy one. I have felt, every day, that my 
 lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places. I have 
 received, at the hands of my people, more considera- 
 tion and forbearance than I had a right to expect, 
 and more generosity and tokens of kindness, than 
 have fallen to the lot of more deserving men. I 
 should be ungrateful not to love a flock which has 
 been so harmonious, and so flourishing, — more 
 through its own good feeling and good principle, than 
 through any influence of mine. The Good Shep- 
 herd, however, is my witness, that I have fed his 
 sheep and his lambs from love, and that I have sought, 
 in his own spirit, to lead them through green pastures 
 and by the side of still waters. We have passed 
 
41 
 
 together through changeful times ; through various 
 periods of great and wide-spread excitement ; through 
 powerful agitations of opinion ; whilst within the 
 borders of our own little community, we have been 
 blessed with uninterrupted peace, and hardly a single 
 momentary jar has invaded our sabbath-home. All 
 our concerns have been managed with commendable 
 fidelity and wisdom on the part of those who have 
 been entrusted with their charge. The number of 
 our proprietors and worshipers has increased. Ac- 
 cessions to the church have been recently greatly 
 multiplied. New manifestations of social feeling 
 and of spiritual life have strengthened our union, 
 and refreshed our hearts. And now, through all the 
 perplexities and differences with which the question 
 of demolishing this old house of worship, and build- 
 ing a new, has been necessarily involved, we find 
 ourselves sitting together for the last time around 
 this beloved altar, with no sentiments, I hope and 
 believe, which are uncharitable towards each other, or 
 uncongenial with the spirit of Peace and Love. 
 
 I cannot express the satisfaction and the gratitude 
 I feel at the condition of this parish, in these last hours 
 of our occupancy of this old temple. How sad, how 
 bitterly reproachful would be our reflections, if we 
 were leaving it in discord and confusion and weak- 
 ness. How deep and stinging would be our conscious- 
 ness of shame, if, after all the pious multitudes, whose 
 care has preserved it to our hands and whose prayers 
 have consecrated it to our hearts, we were now com- 
 pelled to feel that the years of our possession of it, 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 tin; last years of its existence, bad been stained with 
 unwortirj dissensions and disgraced with faithlessness 
 and neglect. Thanks, thanks be to God that we are 
 spared such misery as that ! Thanks, that we leave 
 it in no worse spiritual or temporal condition as a 
 society, than when it came into our hands ! thanks, 
 that its walls do not come down because we are a 
 dwindling congregation, without heart or ability to 
 repair the dilapidations of time ! Thanks, that it 
 does not crumble around us because we are indiffer- 
 ent or dead ! but rather because we are straitened by 
 its bounds, and feel the stirrings of a growing life 
 that, in the order of Providence, prompts us to throw- 
 off its walls, that a more spacious and beautiful 
 structure may rise up in their stead. 
 
 Yet let there be no boastful nor ambitious feeling 
 in our hearts. A more consistent emotion is that of 
 wonder at the long-suffering mercv of our God. 
 "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Xot 
 unto us. O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name 
 give glory ! " for thy great compassion and forbearance 
 towards us. For, how poor have been our best offer- 
 ings! how cold our warmest prayers! When we 
 consider how many hallowed hours we have spent in 
 these courts, what voices have here addressed us, 
 what vows we have made, we cannot certainly go out 
 for the last time over that threshold with any other 
 than a lowlv step, and a contrite heart. May God in 
 hi> mercy pardon all our offences and the offences ol 
 our fathers, that have ever defiled this sacred place; 
 — all formal worship; all unbrotherly sentiments; all 
 
43 
 
 comings before him with mind polluted and heart un- 
 sanctified ; all worldly thoughts that have mingled 
 with our devotions ; all evil hearts of unbelief ; all 
 grievings of his Spirit ; all liftings up of the soul un- 
 to vanity ; all high looks and proud hearts ; all mock- 
 ings at his mighty word ; all stubborn impenitence 
 and resistings of his grace ; — for verily we have not 
 always honored Him with our sacrifices, but have too 
 often wearied Him with our iniquities. 
 
 But I should do injustice, no less to my own feel- 
 ings than to those to whom this Society has stood 
 most deeply indebted, if I were to finish this sketch 
 of our history, without respectful and honorable 
 allusion to those excellent men who, from generation 
 to generation, have held up the hands of the ministers 
 and stood as the pillars of this church. Time would 
 fail me to enumerate them all, — though every one of 
 their names is worthy of being registered in our re- 
 membrance. At the head of these stands Deacon 
 John Tudor, — a man of no less sincere piety than 
 sterling honor, prudent in affairs and systematic in 
 all his arrangements. His labors for the good of the 
 society, during his own day, were various and indefat- 
 igable. Nor was he unmindful of the benefit of those 
 who should come after him. Nearly all the most val- 
 uable records of the church and society, during the 
 eighteenth century, were fully and carefully kept by 
 himself. If it were not for his careful and untiring 
 pen, nearly the whole of the ministry of Welsteed, 
 Gray and Pemberton, would have been to us but 
 little better than a blank. He was also a pecuniary 
 
'I. I 
 
 benefactor of the society, and treasurer for about 
 forty-two years. In the same connection should 
 here be recorded the long and valuable services of 
 Deacon Samuel Parkman, whose loss to this society 
 was deeply lamented, and whose many claims to its 
 respect and gratitude; received, at his withdrawal, 
 heartfelt and substantial testimonials.* 
 
 I would gladly prolong the catalogue, even to our 
 own day. I would gladly marshal before you the 
 whole procession of the staunch friends and support- 
 ers of this house, from its erection to its fall. There 
 is not one of them whose memory I do not bless. 
 There is not one who has done it good or prayed for 
 its peace, whom I do not thank and love. And, es- 
 pecially do I, on this day, recall with renewed affec- 
 tion and gratitude the images of every one who, since 
 the beginning of my own humble ministry, has lent 
 his aid to the furtherance of God's holy work, or con- 
 tributed to the honor and strength of this beloved 
 congregation. The dead live in my remembrance, 
 and the living shall never die from it. I feel their 
 value now. I feel it every day. May God multiply 
 to our society and our church the number of such 
 wise and faithful men, — men who will stand bv the 
 altar and lend their shoulders to the ark, — men who 
 will love the very gates and walls of our Zion, for the 
 sake of God and Christ, to whom our temples are 
 consecrated, and for the precious interests of man's 
 immortal nature and social well-being, of which they 
 
 See Appendix, X. 
 
45 
 
 are the watch-towers, the nurseries, and the garrisons 
 from age to age. 
 
 And now, my friends, before this ancient land- 
 mark is removed out of its place, let us contemplate 
 the lessons which it is calculated to impress upon the 
 thoughtful mind. What changes have taken place 
 around it, since it first occupied this spot ! what revo- 
 lutions in this country and in the world ! what muta- 
 tions of opinion, of government and of social life ! 
 what transformations on the face of the earth ! what 
 convulsions of empires ! But the institutions and 
 ordinances of the Gospel still abide unshaken, — often 
 attacked but ever unharmed ; in one period appar- 
 ently sinking into neglect ; at another, renewing 
 their hold upon the reverence and affections of men ; 
 always striking their roots deeper into the heart of 
 humanity, and spreading them wider beneath the 
 foundations of society, from the agitations which 
 heave, and the convulsions that overthrow the things 
 that can be shaken ; and always rising serene and 
 majestic from the mists which obscure, and the floods 
 which threaten to overwhelm them. Confidence, 
 calm, entire confidence in their perpetuity is a lesson 
 which 1 read as if it were inscribed in characters of 
 light upon this hoary pile. 
 
 Even within our own day, we have seen the 
 popular tendency apparently setting strongly away 
 from the institutions which our fathers' loved. But 
 we are also seeing the tide of opinion in our churches 
 flowing back again with a fuller swell. It is a cause 
 
46 
 
 of heartfelt satisfaction that no page in the records of 
 this church, affords such numerous evidences of de- 
 voted attachment to the ordinances of the Gospel as 
 the very last, and that similar indications are mani- 
 fested in nearly all our churches. I believe it admits 
 of demonstration, that at no period since the founda- 
 tion of this house was laid, has the Sabbath been 
 more generally and properly honored ; houses of wor- 
 ship more largely frequented ; the Lord's supper more 
 fully attended, and the interests of true religion in a 
 more promising condition in New-England, than at 
 the present hour. And why ? but in part for the at- 
 tacks which the institutions of Christianity have, in 
 recent times, sustained ? Why ? but because the very 
 progress of intellectual light, whilst it has dispersed 
 much of the superstition with which they have been 
 surrounded, has displayed more clearly to the illumi- 
 nated mind their intrinsic advantages and claims ? 
 Why ? but for the very reasons which, a few years ago 
 awakened our apprehensions, — the onset of Rational- 
 ism, and the mistaken opposition of partial reform- 
 ers ? We have made trial of what philosophy and 
 Rationalism can do for our spiritual edification, and 
 w r e have seen and felt the end of their perfection. 
 We have proved the word and the power of those 
 who would have persuaded us that the world has out- 
 grown the holy ordinances of the Gospel, and would 
 have given us in their stead a religion altogether 
 spiritual and imaginary, — disconnected from the pil- 
 lars and the corner-stone of the visible church, which 
 God, through his Son, has set up, for the landmarks 
 
47 
 
 and bulwarks, and centre of union of the faithful to 
 the end of time. But the voices of these charmers, 
 charm they never so wisely, though they have be- 
 guiled many for a season, have not had the authori- 
 tative and divine tone of him who spake as never 
 man spake, nor can speak. The porter of the heart 
 openeth not the door of its inner sanctuary save to 
 the true Shepherd. His sheep hear his voice, and 
 follow him ; but a stranger will they not follow, for 
 they know not the voice of strangers. And though 
 for a time, they may wander away from the fold of 
 safety, after one calling sweetly from the tops of some 
 cloud-covered mountain, or another piping musical- 
 ly in the enchanted fields of unrestraint, yet, having 
 wandered up and down, and near and far, seeking 
 rest and finding none, — by and by, they will hear the 
 voice of their forsaken Saviour, floating through the 
 shades of night that are gathering thickly around 
 them, as he calls his wanderers home, with that well- 
 known cry of resistless tenderness, " Come unto me 
 all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest," — and their tired feet will turn back to the 
 pale of peace, to go astray no more. And so it will 
 be through the ages that are to come. Ever hath 
 the seeking sparrow found a house, and ever will 
 the wandering swallow find a nest for herself, where 
 she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord 
 of Hosts, my King and my God ! 
 
 Another lesson is imprinted upon my soul with the 
 image of this venerable structure, a lesson of hope 
 for the generations that are to come, — glad hope for 
 
48 
 
 the unfolding destiny of mankind. For, what pro- 
 gress has society made; since the corner-stone of this 
 edifice was laid! That "more light," of which the 
 sainted Robinson prophesied, as he turned his calm 
 and pure eye towards the glorious visions of the spir- 
 itual morning, which God showed him to be about to 
 break across the dark waters of the Western ocean, 
 has already broken upon these latter days. If one of 
 those ancient men of God who watched the rising of 
 these walls, were to come back and mingle with our- 
 selves who arc about to take them down, what aston- 
 ishment would strike him dumb ; what gratitude, too 
 strong for utterance, would swell in his heart ! The 
 battle of political and religious freedom, which he 
 anticipated would by and by come on, and to which he 
 looked forward with such anxious expectations, has 
 already hopefully commenced. The seeds of reforms 
 which he planted, have sprung up. The prayers 
 which he breathed for the generations to come, the 
 things which he waited for, but never found, are has- 
 tening to their fulfilment in our day, and beginning 
 to be revealed to our babes. And we and our child- 
 ren, if we are but faithful to the mighty trust of the 
 most glorious present which the world has yet seen, 
 may turn our faces forward with a still more hopeful 
 gaze, and expect, that ere the new temple which we 
 are about to rear shall crumble with age, or be ex- 
 changed for a more spacious and beautiful house, its 
 turrets shall be gilded by a yet more glorious light, 
 and its worshipers rejoice in a yet more perfect man- 
 ifestation of the kingdom of Heaven on earth. 
 
 
49 
 
 And now, my friends, the time has come for us to 
 take our last farewell of this beloved house. It is 
 hard to realize that we shall never meet in it again, 
 — that the delightful and hallowed hours we have 
 spent under its roof are ended, and shall never be re- 
 newed. It is painful to think that when another 
 Sabbath dawns upon the earth, our eyes shall seek 
 in vain for its glittering spire, and our steps turn 
 slowly and sadly to some other temple. But we 
 have not parted from it without long consideration. 
 We do not leave it without a pious regret. 
 
 Farewell, then, a long, a fond, an eternal farewell 
 to its sacred walls. Farewell house of our fathers, 
 and of our fathers' God ! Lovely, and dear, and 
 venerable, has been thy hoary image to our eyes, nor 
 shall it ever be effaced from our memories. Thy 
 sacred uses are ended. Thy work of piety is done. 
 The last echoes of our prayers are lingering amidst 
 thy arches. The last incense of our worship is 
 ascending around thy'altar. Sink, then, to the dust ! 
 Fade forever from our sight! Fall, crumble and pass 
 away ! The temple of the Holy Ghost remaineth. 
 The spiritual house that we have builded to God in 
 our hearts abides unshaken. The sentiments that 
 have consecrated thy courts, shall flourish when the 
 earth and the Heavens are no more. 
 
 And yet, thanks be to God, not all that belongs to 
 this house is destined to pass away. The sacred 
 vessels that have contained the emblems of our 
 Saviour's love, and which have so often been spread 
 before us here, will go with us, and attend us, and 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 welcome us again, by the grace of God, before an- 
 other altar, and under the shadows of other walls. 
 By this beautiful bond of union our two Sabbath 
 homes will be connected together, — the home of our 
 remembrance be linked to the home of our hope. 
 Let this, then, my beloved Flock, be emblematical 
 of the strength of our fellowship, and the spirit of 
 our union and intercourse, till by the blessing of 
 Heaven we meet at length, with new songs of grati- 
 tude, and new purposes of piety, to consecrate the 
 house that we are about to build to the God of Holi- 
 ness and of Love. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Note A. Pajje 8 
 
 B' 
 
 I have consulted, in relation to this controversy, the records of the 
 New North Church, several pamphlets in the library of the Boston 
 Athenaeum, Mr. Ware's " Century Sermon," and " Historical Notices 
 of the New North Religious Society." The aggrieved party first pub- 
 lished " An Account of the Reasons why they could not consent to Mr. 
 Peter Thacher's Ordination." A reply soon followed, entitled " Vindi- 
 cation of the New North Church from several Falsehoods, &c, by sev- 
 eral of the Members of that Church." Increase Mather published " A 
 Testimony to the good Order of the Churches," in which he censured 
 the proceedings of the New North Church, as contrary to congrega- 
 tional principles and precedents. To this Messrs. Webb and Thacher 
 replied, in a small pamphlet containing " A Brief Declaration in behalf 
 of Themselves and their Church," &c. 
 
 It appears that it was reported that " a minister of the town " was 
 concerned in getting up the first pamphlet mentioned above ; or, at least, 
 that he " overlooked and corrected the press-work whilst it was print- 
 ing." The minister alluded to was Cotton Mather. The authors of 
 the " Account," &c, have appended an advertisement to their pam- 
 phlet, declaring that " the report is utterly false," and affirming that 
 " no minister in this town, nor in the whole world, ever saw or corrected 
 one word of the whole." 
 
 I have quoted the answer of the dissentients to one of the reasons 
 brought forward by the friends of Mr. Thacher, in justification of his 
 removal from his parish at Weymouth. Their objections to other rea- 
 sons are worth reading : — 
 
 " It is said, that others have done so before him. To this we answer 
 thus : If they have, they have had better reasons to give, than have 
 
52 
 
 I.. • ii given in this case; and though they have, yet the hurt and evil 
 thai has been done thereby, has outweighed, or at least balanced the 
 good. 
 
 " It is said, he was unahle to perform the work of the ministry in 
 Weymouth ; particularly, visiting his parishioners. To this we answer 
 thus : he did not serve an Egyptian task-master, that required the full 
 tale of brick, without the least straw afforded. God does not desire, 
 nor require his ministers to do a work when they have no strength 
 afforded them to do it ; if Mr. Thacher did according to his ability, he 
 would never he faulted for not doing that which he had no strength, 
 power or ability to do. 
 
 " It is said, that Mr. Thacher complained of the little good he did by 
 his preaching there, that there were no seals of his ministry ; and hence 
 his discouragement arose. To this we answer thus: 1. If he was 
 faithful in his work, he need not doubt of a glorious reward hereafter, 
 though he was very unsuccessful in it. So the prophet comforted him- 
 self. Isaiah, xlix. 1 : ' Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have 
 spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is 
 with the Lord, and my work with my God.' And in verse 5 : ' Though 
 Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, 
 and my God shall be my strength.' 2. God must be waited on, and 
 not prescribed to ; the Spirit worketh as it pleaseth ; the wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and we hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence 
 it cometh, or whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 
 Though a minister toils all night, and taketh nothing, yet for aught he 
 knows, in a little time, he may have many for his joy and crown of re- 
 joicing in the day of the Lord. 
 
 " It is said, that Mr. Thacher came to Boston for the delight and ben- 
 efit of conversation. To this we answer thus : If he be so bright a 
 man, as he is said to be, then the need of conversation to brighten him 
 is so much the less, and more inconsiderable. Notwithstanding this 
 reason for his removal, yet he ought not to have left that church, over 
 which the Holy Ghost had made him overseer, for his own delight and 
 benefit ; he ought to remain unto the end in that town, which God in his 
 Providence had fixed him in." 
 
 Mr. Ware's opinion seems to me perfectly correct, viz : " that the 
 New North people wrote with most moderation, though they were 
 clearly in the wrong ; while the advocates of the New Brick, though 
 on the right side, lost all command of their temper." 
 
 The result of Mr. Thacher's connection with the New North was cer- 
 tainly in the end favorable to the interests of that church, and justified 
 the good opinion, formed by those who supported him, of his fitness for 
 that place. 
 
 Note B. Page 18. 
 
 The old clock, after various fortunes, fell into the hands of the auc- 
 tioneer, in January, 1839. The following appropriate speech was writ- 
 
53 
 
 ten for the occasion of the sale, by some lover of ancient relics. It was 
 said to have been read by the auctioneer, but for the truth of this state- 
 ment I cannot vouch. 
 
 " Here is the relic of the early days of our country's annals, a rem- 
 nant saved ; antique of its kind, and venerable for every association con- 
 nected with its history ; — the old church clock, bearing a mark of pa- 
 triarchal longevity in the date, that speaks it one hundred and eighteen 
 years of age. Yet, while it has ticked and struck oft* the thousand and 
 tens of thousands, who have looked on its calm face, into eternity, it is 
 still in good time, and going ! going ! ! going ! ! ! 
 
 " Though its existence was begun in the land of Kings, moved by 
 the spirit of our pious fathers it followed them to the land of pilgrims, 
 and was consecrated to serve in the house of God, whom they came 
 hither to worship as the children of his kingdom, and not as spiritual 
 slaves to earthly despotism. 
 
 " This sober, ever-going clock came over in the days of caution and 
 sanity. It came when a sea voyage was a serious thing, and religion a 
 serious thing, and a church clock a serious thing. It counted the rao- 
 .ments, while the minister of God was preaching, and his hearers listen- 
 ing, of Eternity. It echoed his text, ' Take heed how ye hear.' Then 
 was there real clock-work and order in men's minds and principles. 
 Vanity did not then stare this venerable monitor in the face, and study 
 the while how to display its plumage. Avarice did not dare, under its 
 measured ' click,' to be planning in the temple how to lay up goods for 
 many years. Nor was pride then puffed up by the breath of its own 
 nostrils, while this minute hand was showing its duration cut shorter at 
 the beat of every pulse. 
 
 " Now, who will let this venerable memento of those days be dese- 
 crated ? Who will not wish to possess himself of it, as a relic of the 
 age of simplicity and godly sincerity'? 
 
 " Look at its aged but unwrinkled face. It is calm ; for it has not to 
 answer for the sermons it has heard. Look at it, ye degenerate sons of 
 New-England ! Do ye not seem to see the shade go back on the dial 
 plate to the days of your fathers, and to hear the voices of those aged 
 servants of God, who went from their preaching to their reward? 
 
 " I would speak more, but the hour is come. To whom shall it be 
 sold?" 
 
 Note C. Page 22. 
 
 o 
 
 The names of the twenty-four persons who first associated for the 
 building of the New Brick, and purchased the land, were the follow- 
 ing : — Alexander Sears, Solomon Townsend, John Waldo, Owen 
 Harris, James Tileston, Nathaniel Jarvis, Thomas Lee, Jonathan 
 Mountfort, William Arnold, Benjamin Edwards, Peter Papillon, Thom- 
 as Dagget, Daniel Ballard, Robert Gutridge, Robert Oring, Edward 
 
54 
 
 Pell, Samuel Burnell, Francis Parnall, Thaddeus Macarty, James 
 Barnes, James Pecker, James Ilalsey, Ebenezer Bridge, Ephraim 
 More. 
 
 The building - committee consisted of John Frisel, Thomas Lee, Jona- 
 than Mountfort, Alexander Sears, James Tileston, James Pecker and 
 Edward Pell. 
 
 The following persons gathered into a church-state, viz : Alexander 
 Sears, Solomon Townsend, William Lee, Nathaniel Loring, Moses 
 Pierce, Daniel Pecker, Josiah Baker, Henry Wheeler, John Waldo, 
 James Tileston. 
 
 " July 19, 1722. It was agreed upon and voted, that the sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper should be administered in the revolution of every 
 fourth Sabbath from August 12, 1722." 
 
 The services at the ordination of Waldron were as follows, viz : Mr. 
 Sewall offered the introductory prayer ; Cotton Mather preached from 
 1 John, iv. 7 ; Increase Mather gave the charge ; Mr. Wadsworth the 
 right hand of fellowship ; and Mr. Waldron closed with prayer. 
 
 William Waldron was a descendant from the family of Cutts, from 
 which have sprung many distinguished persons, and the members of 
 which have intermarried with some of the best families in New-England. 
 His father, Col. Richard Waldron, was first married to a daughter of 
 John Cutts, President of New-Hampshire. His mother was Elinor 
 Vaughan, also a descendant from the family of Cutts. His brother 
 Richard was Secretary of New-Hampshire. His sister Abigail married 
 Col. Saltonstall of Haverhill, Mass. His only daughter became the 
 ■wife of Col. Josiah Quincy, of Braintree, Mass. The Lowells of Bos- 
 ton are also descendants of the family of Cutts. 
 
 The following is the story of the Indian massacre to which allusion 
 was made in the discourse : 
 
 " In that part of the town of Dover, which lies about the first falls in 
 the river Cocheco, were five garrisoned houses ; three on the north side, 
 viz : Waldron's, Otis's and Heard's ; and two on the south side, viz : 
 Peter Coffin's and his son's. These houses were surrounded with tim- 
 ber-walls, the gates of which, as well as the house doors, were secured 
 with bolts and bars. The neighboring families retired to these houses 
 by night ; but by an unaccountable negligence, no watch was kept. 
 The Indians, who were daily passing through the town, visiting and 
 trading with the inhabitants, as usual in time of peace, viewed their sit- 
 uation with an attentive eye. Some hints of a mischievous design had 
 been given ont by their squaws ; but in such dark and ambiguous terms, 
 thai no one could comprehend their meaning. Some of the people were 
 uneasy ; but Waldron, who, from a long course of experience, was in- 
 timately acquainted with the Indians, and on other occasions had been 
 ready enough to suspect them, was now so thoroughly secure, that when 
 
55 
 
 some of the people hinted their fears to him, he merrily bade them to go 
 and plant their pumpkins, saying that he would tell them when the In- 
 dians would break out. The very evening before the mischief was 
 done, being told by a young man that the town was full of Indians and 
 the people were much concerned ; he answered that he knew the In- 
 dians very well and there was no danger. 
 
 " The plan which the Indians had preconcerted was, that two squaws 
 should go to each of the garrisoned houses in the evening, and ask leave 
 to lodge by the fire ; that in the night when the people were asleep, they 
 should open the doors and gates, and give the signal by a whistle ; upon 
 which, the strange Indians, who were to be within hearing, should rush 
 in, and take their long-meditated revenge. This plan being ripe for 
 execution, on the evening of Thursday, June 27th, two squaws applied 
 to each of the garrisons for lodging, as they frequently did in time of 
 peace. They were admitted into all but the younger Coffin's, and the 
 people, at their request, showed them how to open the doors, in case 
 they should have occasion to go out in the night. Mesandowit, one of 
 their chiefs, went to Waldron's garrison, and was kindly entertained, 
 as he had often been before. The squaws told the major, that a number 
 of Indians were coming to trade with him the next day, and Mesandowit 
 while at supper, with his usual familiarity, said, ' Brother Waldron, 
 what would you do if the strange Indians should come?' The major 
 carelessly answered, that he could assemble an hundred men, by lifting 
 up his finger. In this unsuspecting confidence, the family retired to 
 rest. 
 
 " When all was quiet, the gates were opened, and the signal was 
 given. The Indians entered, set a guard at the door, and rushed into 
 the major's apartment, which was an inner room. Awakened by the 
 noise, he jumped out of bed, and though now advanced in life to the 
 age of eighty years, he retained so much vigor as to drive them with 
 his sword, through two or three doors ; but as he was returning for his 
 other arms, they came behind him, stunned him with a hatchet, drew 
 him into his hall, and seating him in an elbow chair, on a long table, in- 
 sultingly asked him, 'who shall judge Indians now?' They then 
 obliged the people in the house to get them some victuals ; and when 
 they had done eating, they cut the major across the breast and belly 
 with knives, each one with a stroke, saying, ' I cross out my account.' 
 They then cut off his nose and ears, forcing them into his mouth ; and 
 when spent with the loss of blood, he was falling down from the table, 
 one of them held his own sword under him, which put an end to his 
 misery. They also killed his son-in-law, Abraham Lee ; but took his 
 daughter Lee with several others, and having pillaged the house, left it 
 on fire. Otis's garrison, which was next to the major's, met with the 
 some fate ; he was killed, with several others, and his wife and child 
 were captivated. Heard's was saved by the barking of a dog just as 
 the Indians were entering ; Elder "VVentworth, who was awakened by 
 the noise, pushed them out, and falling on his back, set his feet against 
 the gate, and held it till he had alarmed the people ; two balls were 
 fired through it, but both missed him. Coffin's house was surprised, 
 but as the Indians had no particular enmity to him, they spared his life, 
 and the lives of his family, and contented themselves with pillaging the 
 house. Finding a bag of money, they made him throw it by handfuls 
 
56 
 
 on the floor, whilst they amused themselves in scrambling for ii. They 
 then went to the house of his son, who would not admit the squaws in 
 the evening, and summoned him to surrender, promising him quarter. 
 He declined their offer, and determined to defend his house, till they 
 brought out his father, and threatened 10 kill him before his eyes. Filial 
 
 fection then overcame his resolution, and he surrendered. They put 
 tx th families together into a deserted house, intending to reserve them 
 for prisoners ; hut whilst the Indians were busy in plundering, they all 
 ped. 
 
 •• Twenty-three people were killed in this surprisal, and twenty-nine 
 were captivated ; live or six houses, with the mills, were burned ; and 
 e expeditious were the Indians in the execution ol* their plot, that be- 
 fore the people could be collected from the other parts of the town to 
 oppose them, they tied with their prisoners and booty." 
 
 " August 23. 172."). Voted, that Mr. Waldron be supplied with con- 
 stant help for six months next ensuing from this day." 
 
 " February 28, 172G. Voted, that Mr. Waldron be supplied with 
 help until the annual meeting in July next." 
 
 " February 6, 1727. Voted, that Mr. Waldron be paid out of the 
 treasury thirty shillings per week besides his stated salary, until the 
 annual meeting in Julv next." 
 
 - 
 
 Such votes were often passed u whilst there was but one minister, 
 it being thought that the strength of one was inadequate to the whole 
 duty." 
 
 " September 4. 17-27. The afternoon was spent in prayer for our sick 
 pastor, that God would graciously please to recover him. or fit him for 
 his holy will. That he would also prepare this people for a resignation 
 to the will of our Almighty Saviour, and that we may be kept in the 
 bonds of unity and peace." 
 
 Mr. Waldron's salary was continued to his widow for four months 
 and a half after his decease. 
 
 Note D. Page 22. 
 
 Mr. Welstced's ordination took place on the 27th of March, 1728. 
 •• Mr. S, wall and Mr. Cooper prayed before and after the sermon. 
 Mr. Welsteed preached. Mr. Walter gave the right hand of fellow- 
 ship, and Dr. Colman the charge." 
 
 Mr. \\ elsteed married a sister of Governor Hutchinson. 
 
 " November 18, 1728. The Rev. Mr. Welsteed being about marry- 
 ing, and as there will arise the charge of house and lire-wood thereby. 
 
57 
 
 voted, that there be allowed him seventy pounds a year out of the 
 stock." 
 
 "February 11, 1733. Voted, to add four persons to the Standing 
 Committee, viz: the Rev. William Welsteed," &c. 
 
 " June 25, 1733. The church met at the pastor's house, and voted, 
 that on Tuesday, the 10th of July next, we would separate a few hours 
 for religious exercises, particularly to humble ourselves under the frowns 
 of heaven, in the lamentable and sensible withdrawal of the Spirit of 
 God from us, in that so few are inquiring their way to Zion with their 
 faces thitherward. ' ' 
 
 The letters of Waldron are some of them interesting. I have thought 
 it not out of place to insert here a few extracts from some of them, 
 relating to the circumstances and men of his times. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF PROFESSOR WIGGLESWORTH. 
 
 " And this leads me to Mr. Wigglesworth, whom your preposterous 
 managements have obliged me to mention after Mr. Welsteed. I must 
 needs say I can't in justice imagine that this good gentleman is second 
 to any. He is certainly a first rate, if not the first rate. His body is 
 the less acceptable part of him, and that is in no wise to be despised. 
 As for his intellectual powers, his being chosen into the professorship 
 by some of our wisest and best men, must speak him superlative. As 
 for his public preaching, you would guess him almost to be under an 
 inspiration in it. His delivery is with great deliberation and distinct- 
 ness. He has a small, still voice, not loud but audible. As for the 
 impediment you mention, it is only a graceful lisp that does not at all 
 affect his speech to make him unintelligible. When I have heard him 
 preach I never observed but that every syllable was clearly articulated. 
 And as for his never being a candidate for the gospel ministry, it is a 
 mistake. He always was so, ever since he preached, and is so now. 
 He has been in nomination (though I don't so w r ell approve the method) 
 more than once, and the reason why he has been neglected, is owing 
 only to the ignorance and unskilfulness of the rabble, which make the 
 majority. They disgust everything but noise and nonsense, and can't 
 be content to sit quiet unless their auditory nerves are drummed upon 
 with a voice like thunder. His meeting with no acceptance is a great 
 reproach upon the understandings of the multitude. I guess he would 
 hardly be prevailed to leave his business here only to make a fruitless 
 journey, for I don't think he has any thing in prospect — I mean a set- 
 tlement — any further. The learned this way would be loth to part 
 with him. He is treated with great respect this way, and should he 
 come to Portsmouth, your clergy, though his seniors, must stoop to him. 
 As for his deafness I look on it as a good ministerial qualification. Mr. 
 Prince is an excellent preacher, a fine scholar, has but an uncouth 
 delivery. He is raw r and uncultivated, not much of a gentleman. I 
 should, for my part, pretty much suspect his conduct among you. I 
 asked the professor whether, if he should be asked to preach anywhere 
 for a small term, he would leave his business, and mentioned Piscataqua 
 to him. He replied that he should consult the president in such an 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 aflair. Bui be added, ' 1 believe it will he best for them to hear only 
 (•lit/ He is a very prudent man, and 1 am confident that if he had 
 been sent to after the same manner that Mr. Welsteed has, he would 
 not have come ; and yet he is an humble, meek, modest man." 
 
 ####### 
 
 "The other day I was in at Mr. Colman's ; Mr. Cooper was there 
 too. After other talk, we fell upon Piscataqua; they asked how mat- 
 ters stood there. I told them I heard that there were some of you in- 
 clined to hear the professor; and, said they, then they'll have him if 
 they are a people of any taste and relish, which thcv determined that 
 \n\i were ; and I must needs say that it is now a critical juncture, and 
 the professor's office seems to be so clogged and cumbered, that a good 
 settlement would, I believe, draw him from his professorship. His 
 salary is but eighty pounds ; though Mr. Column, who is one of the 
 corporation, says, his endeavors shan't be wanting, to advance it to one 
 hundred and twenty pounds per annum. The professor is not one of 
 the corporation, which seems necessary not only to dignify his office, 
 but also to the faithful discharge of the duties of it. He has been 
 chosen into the corporation, but disaccepted by the overseers, for no 
 other reason, that 1 know of, but in contradiction to them that elected 
 him — for you know that there is no harmony between the overseers 
 and corporation. He is on all hands allowed to be a meek person, and 
 1 apprehend that in a short time that matter will be reconsidered, and 
 he allowed and confirmed ; when, if an advanced salary follows, I fancy 
 he will be seated and fixed. No such suitable person as he can be found 
 for that business." 
 
 MEETING OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 " Last Wednesday, (dated October 14, 1723,) the Overseers paid a 
 visit to that venerable lady, our Alma Mater. Their business was an 
 inquisition into the state of affairs, and we found things not to be so 
 well as we could have wished. Mr. President endeavored to beat oft* 
 the design's proceeding, but was conquered. When night approached, 
 the wind and rain were perpetuous, and it was proposed and agreed 
 upon to tarry the night over, and perfect the business — for entry only 
 had been made. While the matter of a tarry was agitating, Mr. Presi- 
 dent takes leave, and bids good night. One of the Overseers told him 
 that we intended to proceed in business, and expected that he would 
 not leave us. To these he gave some short, slight, contemptuous re- 
 ply — and went oil'. This then raised the resentment of many, and 
 they talked with heat and warmth of Mr. Levcrett's unworthy treatment 
 of them ; and of sending over to him to require his attendance, &c. 
 Mr. Appleton, your classmate, stood by all this while, and at length 
 took occasion to drop off. 'Twas qaiessed, and he could not deny it, 
 that he had been over to inform Mr. President how things stood. For 
 the President came over in a very little time in the utmost good humor, 
 and sat till the matter was entirely finished, and then invited several 
 over t<> take a Lodging with him, with whom your unworthy brother 
 was numbered, hut did not go. Thus I have given you a summary of 
 that visitation." 
 
59 
 
 MR. GEE'S ORDINATION. 
 
 " On Wednesday last the ordination of Mr. Gee was proceeded in. 
 The affair was carried on with so much seriousness and awi'ul reverence, 
 that it* I had been wavering- about the validity of our ordination before, 
 I should have been then fixed and established by the solemnity and re- 
 ligious devotion visible in all parties at the sacred action. Every man's 
 soul seemed to be in it." 
 
 CHRIST CHURCH. 
 
 " Yesterday, (December 30, 1723,) the new church at this end of 
 the town was met in, though very much unfinished. People flocked 
 to it in abundance. What made them so hasty to improve it, as I am 
 informed, was because Dr. Culters salary was not to begin, till he be- 
 gan to preach there. There seems to be a considerable strangeness 
 between Harris and Culter as well as a great dislike of one another, 
 and there seems to be a breach among their people." 
 
 REV. MR. ROGERS, OF PORTSMOUTH. 
 
 " I know not how to begin to condole the sad state of poor Ports- 
 mouth in the awful breach made upon them in the death of the renown- 
 ed Rogers — so every way valuable and worthy. You hardly yet begin 
 to feel his loss. I think no man would have been missed so much as 
 he in all your province. The ministry in his death have a breach made 
 upon them, wide like the sea. He was their head. But, alas ! their 
 crown is fallen. I seem to feel a heavy share in his loss. The news 
 of his death was as sadly affecting as any I have heard. What shall 
 I say of him ? My father, my father ! may heaven furnish a successor 
 for you that may inherit much of his spirit. Please to let me have an 
 account of his funeral. He deserved to be buried in the city of David, 
 among the kings. When he died, a great man fell in Israel." 
 
 MR. WIGGLESWORTH'S " SOBER REMARKS." 
 
 " Here are some sober remarks published upon a book, called ' A 
 modest proof of the order and government settled by Christ and his 
 Apostles in his Church.' The answerer is Master Wigglesworth — 
 though it is a secret and must be concealed. Notwithstanding, you must 
 not think them all made by the same hand. Where there is any bitterness 
 shown in them, where there are any ungentlemanly jeers, that excellent 
 man utterly disclaims them. But the most ingenious and argumenta- 
 tive part of the book is his. But I really intreat you not to mention 
 this on any account, for he is greatly solicitous of having the matter 
 remain a secret. He industriously conceals himself, and there are but 
 three or four at most who know anything about it." 
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 " There is a story started in town (February, 1723) of a certain 
 woman who is suspected of witchery. 'T is certain that here are two 
 men that have been unaccountably harassed and disturbed in their busi- 
 ness at sea, by cross winds and unsuccessful attempts. One man they 
 
GO 
 
 put ashore at Martha's Vineyard. lie was strangely taken with a 
 deadness on one side of him — they despairing of his life. But when 
 they had rid the vessel of him, they set sail with a pleasing gale. But 
 it was observable that all the time this man was on hoard, the wind was 
 right ahead ; so that they determined that he was the Achan that 
 troubled the sloop, lie is since come to town. The occasion of the 
 suspicion is some threatening speech which the old woman used when 
 this man's wife discharged her from their house — for she was a boarder 
 with them. The other man who sailed in another vessel had his ad- 
 versities. He lately had a lawsuit with her. Now you may believe, 
 if you please, or may let it alone." 
 
 SALUTE ON SUNDAY. 
 
 " The man-of-war fired her guns yesterday, (October 19, 1723.) 
 It was the Lord's day and the King's Coronation day. Methinks we 
 had better spare an empty compliment to an earthly prince, than to 
 affront the King of kings, and bellow out our profanations of his holy 
 day." 
 
 In 1730, the society were desirous of settling a colleague with Mr. 
 Welsteed. There had recently arrived in Boston, Mr. William Hooper, 
 a native of Scotland, " a man of more than ordinary powers of mind, 
 of a noble aspect, an eloquent, popular preacher." * The society were 
 much attracted by his gifts, and contrary to the advice of Mr. Wel- 
 steed, extended to him an invitation to settle with them. His reply is 
 preserved amongst our church papers. It is written in a very fine and 
 beautiful hand, and is as follows : — 
 
 " Medford, January 27, 1737. 
 
 " Reverend, honored and beloved : 
 
 " I have seriously considered the invitation you gave me to be a 
 settled minister of the Gospel among you, and I have consulted my 
 friends upon it. I adore the wonderful goodness of God, who brought 
 me safe to this land, and hath given me so much favor with strangers. 
 I pray that I may be enabled to direct all my behavior to the glory of 
 so kind a Being, the advancing of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and 
 the welfare of his church and people. I most heartily thank you, gen- 
 tlemen, for the singular honor you have done me, in thinking me wor- 
 thy to be called to the great and important office of a minister of the 
 everlasting Gospel. I hope, while I live, I shall maintain a constant 
 sense of your generous and undeserved respect ; and it is with the 
 greatest reluctance, I must at last acquaint you, that I cannot serve you 
 in what vou desire of me ; though at the same time I must confess, 
 iat my uneasiness is not so great as otherwise it would be, when I 
 consider that you are already under the pastoral care of so worthy a 
 gentleman as the Rev. Mr. Welsteed. May the merciful Redeemer of 
 
 * Dr. Lowell's Historical Discourse. 
 
61 
 
 Souls and the great Head of his Church, hless you and your pastor, 
 and after a life of holiness and righteousness in this world, carry you all 
 to the inconceivable and eternal happiness which he hath purchased, 
 and is preparing in heaven. 
 
 I am, Reverend, Honored, and Beloved, 
 With the greatest respect, 
 
 Your most obliged, and most humble servant, 
 
 Will. Hooper." 
 
 Mr. Hooper was afterwards ordained over the West Church, on the 
 I8th of May, 1737. That church was formed on his account. He 
 continued its pastor for nine years, when "he abdicated without a 
 formal resignation, and went to England, to receive Episcopal ordina- 
 tion." He afterwards returned to Boston, and became pastor of Trinity 
 Church. 
 
 " 1737. February 5. Voted, that a day of prayer be observed by 
 this church, and that the congregation be invited to join with us, to im- 
 plore the divine conduct and blessing in the important affair of settling 
 another minister." 
 
 " 1737. March 21. Voted, that a committee be chosen to wait on 
 Mr. Ellis Gray and discourse with him about his principles in religion." 
 
 " 1737. March 31. The committee reported that they had been 
 with Mr. Gray, and discoursed with him upon the head they were de- 
 sired to, and had received satisfaction from him. He modestly and 
 freely declared to them that in point of doctrine he received the West- 
 minster Confession, and in point of discipline, the New-England Plat- 
 form, as agreeable to the word of God." 
 
 Mr. Gray was ordained, September 27, 1738 The services com- 
 menced with prayer, by Mr. Welsteed, Dr. Cooper " being provi- 
 dentially hindered." Mr. Gray preached from Isaiah vi. 5 — 8; Mr. 
 Webb made the prayer after the sermon ; Dr. Colman gave the charge, 
 and Dr. Sewall the right hand of fellowship. The Rev. Nehemiah 
 Walter joined in the imposition of hands. 
 
 Edward Gray, the father of Ellis, came to this country from England 
 at the age of thirteen. He served his time with Mr. Barton, at Bar- 
 ton's Point, (so called after him,) as a ropemaker. Dr. Chauncy 
 preached a sermon on the occasion of his death, which took place July 
 2, 1757, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He speaks of him in the 
 highest terms of eulogy, which he says, " cannot, as is usual, disgust 
 any one, as being esteemed a compliment to the dead, rather than his 
 just character, since he was a person so unexceptionable, so unenvied 
 unless for his goodness, and so universally well spoken of, both while 
 living, and now he is dead." He married twice. His first wife was 
 named Harrison, by whom he had six children; one of whom, named 
 
i>2 
 
 Harrison, was Treasurer of the Province, and left Boston with the 
 British troops, March 17, 1770, as did also his son. His daughter 
 married Samuel A. Otis, fatheT of the present Harrison Gray Otis. 
 
 On the dtatli of his fust wife, he married a Miss Ellis — a neice of 
 Dr. Column's wife. Dr. Column sent for her from England, with a 
 view to this marriage. By her ho had five children, of whom the oldest 
 was our Ellis Gray. He married a lady by the name of Tyler. Their 
 daughter married Mr. Carey, late of Chelsea, one of whose daughters 
 was the second wife of the late Rev. Dr. Tuckerman. A grand-daugh- 
 ter married Judge Wilson, one of Washington's first District Judges of 
 the United States Court ; another, Joseph Hall, late Judge of Probate 
 for Suffolk County. Dr. Thomas Gray, of Jamaica Plain, is a nephew 
 of Ellis Gray. 
 
 " Voted, to raise a sum of money in such way as shall be thought 
 most proper, for a present to our reverend ministers." 
 
 Votes of this sort occur very frequently. 
 
 Mr. Gray died at the age of thirty-seven ; Mr. Welsteed at fifty- 
 seven. Their portraits hang in the rooms of the Historical Society. 
 The bills of their funeral expenses have been preserved. For Mr. 
 Gray's funeral were subscribed eight hundred and sixty-eight pounds. 
 The charges were six hundred and fifty-three, and two hundred and 
 fifteen were given to his widow. Some of the items are as follows : 
 " w r ine, rum, pipes, tobacco — ten pounds. Shoes and cloggs. Hose 
 and gloves," to a very large amount. " Necklace for the negro. A 
 large beaver hat for Mr. Welsteed. Three ditto for Mr. Gray's two 
 sons and negro. Fifteen candles. Black shoe-buckles." A great 
 many " gold rings. Handkerchiefs. A light gray bob wig for Mr. 
 Welsteed. Tolling six bells," &c. &c. 
 
 Note F. Page 30. 
 
 " The first bell was hung in 1743, and the same year the meeting- 
 house was for the first time painted. This bell was removed and sold 
 in 17*0, and the bell of the Old North, which was larger, was hung in 
 its place. Jt was injured in 1792, and forbidden to be rung, except in 
 case of lire, till it was re-cast, in the same year, and was the first bell 
 from the foundry of the late Paul Revere, Esq., which appears by the 
 following inscription upon it : 'The first bell cast in Boston, 1792, by 
 P. Revere. 1 " [Note to Mr. Ware's Century Sermon.] 
 
63 
 
 Note II. Page 32. 
 
 Dr. Pcmberton was chosen December 31, 1753, by a unanimous vote 
 of the church, and by fifty-four votes of the congregation, two per- 
 sons not voting. Tbe arrangement of services at his ordination has 
 not been recorded. The following is a copy of the doings of the Synod 
 and Presbytery, by which he was dismissed from his charge in New- 
 York : — 
 
 " An extract of the Minutes of the Synod convened at Phila- 
 delphia, October 4, A. D. 1753. 
 
 " A representation being made to the Synod by the Rev. Mr. Pem- 
 berton, and some members of the Presbyterian Congregation in New- 
 York, of unhappy divisions still subsisting among them, and requesting 
 their assistance in their present distressing circumstances — the Synod 
 do appoint the Rev. Messrs. William Tennant, A. Burr, Richard Treat, 
 Charles Beaty, Samuel Davis, David Bostwick, Elihu Spencer, Caleb 
 Smith, and John Rogers, a committee to meet at New-York, on the 
 fourth Wednesday of this instant, October, at ten o'clock, A. M., with 
 full power and authority to transact in the affairs of said Congregation, 
 as they shall judge necessary, in order to heal their divisions, and pro- 
 mote the interest of religion among them. 
 
 D. Bostwick, Clerk of the Synod. 
 
 " An extract of the Minutes of the Committee met at New- 
 York, according to the above appointment, October 24, A. JD. 1753. 
 
 " This Committee, considering the many special difficulties Mr. Pem- 
 berton labors under, do allow him a month's time of trial, and if, upon 
 a faithful endeavor to heal the divisions, and serve the interest of Christ's 
 Kingdom among them, he finds all his attempts vain, and still continues 
 his desire of removal, they judge it best that he should then be left at 
 liberty to go or stay as he shall think most consistent with his duty. 
 
 D. Bostwick, Clerk of said Com. 
 
 " The Presbytery of New-York, pro re nata, met at Newark, 
 
 January 30, A. D. 1754. 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton having been for many years a 
 worthy member of this Presbytery, and lately dismissed by commission 
 of the Synod, from his pastoral charge of the Presbyterian Congrega- 
 tion in New- York, and being now, as we understand, removed to Bos- 
 ton : — These may certify that said Mr. Pemberton is a regular minis- 
 ter of the Gospel, of an exemplary, pious conversation, who has to an 
 uncommon degree maintained the dignity of the ministerial character ; 
 the Presbytery heartily grieve at the departure of so truly valuable a 
 member from among them, and would cheerfully recommend him as 
 one whom God hath eminently endowed with ministerial abilities, whose 
 labors have been acceptable and highly esteemed throughout these 
 churches. 
 
 Signed by order. A. Burr, Moderator. 
 
 a 
 
 " Caleb Smith, Clerk.''' 
 
6-1 
 
 " July 10, 1T50. Voted, that the Standing Committee be desired to 
 wail on hia Honor, the Lieutenanl Governor Hutchinson, to invite him 
 to sit in the fore scat, and that a cushion he made i'or his use." 
 
 " May 26, L766. On a motion made and seconded respecting making 
 our elder's scat and the deacon's seat into one, as it has lately been 
 done at .Mr. Cooper's and the Old North churches ; it was voted, unan- 
 imously, that it be done as soon as may be, and that some persons go 
 with a carpenter and see how the alteration is at the Old North and Mr. 
 ( looper's, that so ours may be done in the most convenient manner." 
 
 " July 11, 17G7. Voted, to have electrical points or wires put up on 
 the steeple." 
 
 " March 16, 1700. Last night died Deacon Lee, aged ninety. He 
 was one of the first deacons of this church, from the year 1721, and 
 one of the forty proprietors that built the meeting-house. He outlived 
 all his brethren that were the original founders of this church." 
 
 " 1703. August 31. On hearing that the llev. Mr. Whitefield is 
 soon expected, the committee voted, unanimously, that our pastor be de- 
 sired to invite him to preach in our meeting-house as often as may be 
 convenient, as the committee apprehend it will be agreeable to the 
 greater part of the people." 
 
 An attempt was several times made to settle a colleague with Dr. 
 Pemberton. In 1703, Mr. Tennant was selected for this office, and 
 some action of the church was taken in regard to him, but " he went 
 off, and so the matter dropped." 
 
 At the close of the year 1770, Mr. Isaac Story was desired by the 
 church to preach as a candidate, and to settle. Dr. Pemberton did not 
 approve of this choice. The following correspondence and doings took 
 place in relation to Mr. Story's settlement : — 
 
 " MEMORANDUM. 
 
 " January, 1771. 
 
 " Several of our brethren desired Deacons Tudor and Greenough to 
 go and discourse once more with Dr. Pemberton on our church's affairs, 
 respecting Mr. Story's preaching with us, &c. Agreeably to said re- 
 quest they went, and after a full hour's conversation, Dr. Pemberton 
 made a proposal, and said it was best to commit it to writing to prevent 
 any mistake ; accordingly Mr. Tudor took the words down as Mr. Pem- 
 berton spake them, which is as follows, viz : — 
 
 " January 18, 1771. In conversation this evening, Dr. Pemberton 
 said, that he was freely willing the congregation should hear Mr. Story 
 three or four months, more or less, as they please ; nay, that he is de- 
 sirous they should enjoy their liberty in hearing him; and if, at the ex- 
 piration of that term, they shall think fit to give him a call, and in 
 consequence of that call he shall be regularly settled amongst them, 
 Mr. Pemberton will fjive them no obstruction in their proceedings, only 
 reserves to himself the ii <_rht of private judgment, and cannot act con- 
 trary to it, winch he thinks they ought to indulge him in, seeing he 
 
65 
 
 allowed them the same liberty : and when he is thus settled, Mr. Pem- 
 berton will act with him as his colleague, whatever his private judg- 
 ment may be. 
 
 " This is agreeable to my sentiments. E. Pemberton. 
 
 " Dr. Pemberton, in private conversation, used to say, that Mr. Story 
 was in principle a Fatalist, and that his nephew was pretty much in 
 the same way." 
 
 "Dear Sir: — With concern we wrote you our last letter ; our 
 reverend pastor not seeing his way clear to unite with us in the invita- 
 tion we had before sent you ; but it is with great satisfaction we now 
 assure you, and we have it under Dr. Pemberton's hand, 'that he is 
 freely willing the congregation should hear you three or four months, 
 more or less, as they please ; nay, that he is desirous they shall hear 
 you, and if they should give you a call, and you should be settled, he 
 will act with you as a colleague.' Dr. Pemberton writes you by this 
 opportunity, so that you will be fully acquainted with his present sen- 
 timents immediately from himself. Our people are as desirous as ever 
 to hear you, and more so. Therefore, sir, we shall take it as a favor 
 if you would, as soon as may be, let us have another specimen of your 
 ability. We wish you all happiness, and are 
 
 Your humble servants, 
 " Boston, January 22, 1771. John Tudor, 
 
 John Ruddock, 
 John Marston, 
 William Paine, 
 Thomas Hitchborn, 
 "To Mr. Isaac Story.. N. Greenough. 
 
 " Please to favor us with a few lines." 
 
 " Boston, January 23, 1771. 
 
 " Sir : — A considerable number of my congregation desire to hear 
 
 you preach for some time, and I am desirous they should enjoy their 
 
 liberty. If you comply with their invitation, you may expect on this 
 
 and every other occasion the most kind and complaisant treatment from 
 
 Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 E. Pemberton. 
 "To Mr. Isaac Story." 
 
 " Gentlemen : — I received yours of the third instant. The great 
 unanimity which the church and congregation have manifested in this 
 their invitation, calls for the most serious attention on the one hand, and 
 the most grateful returns on the other. The difficulties that attend 
 my accepting this invitation, you must be sensible are very great, and 
 in a manner insurmountable. Last Monday the proprietors of the new 
 parish in Marblehead had a meeting, after the opening of which, they 
 sent me a unanimous invitation to preach with them two months. This 
 I felt myself obliged to comply with, immediately, as the people were 
 importunate and waiting for an answer. What farther influenced me, 
 arose partly from my not hearing from you, but more from the conver- 
 sation I had with your venerable pastor, the substance of which was, 
 that I must expect no encouragement from him, &c. It could scarcely 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 be expected that I should be willing- to preach with so respectable a 
 gentleman, when he discovers, even according to your own letter, so 
 great an aversion. My being- engaged at Marblchcad will, I hope, tend 
 to the peace and establishment of your church, as my accepting your 
 offer would, in his opinion, be the ruin of the same. 
 
 " Thus, gentlemen, I have laid before you the whole state of affairs. 
 May the God of all wisdom and of all goodness direct you and me into 
 such measures as shall be for his glory, and the advancement of his 
 Son's kingdom. 
 
 " 1 subscribe myself, with due respects, your, and the church and 
 congregation's humble servant, in our common Lord, 
 
 Isaac Story. 
 
 " Ipswich, January 4, 1771. 
 
 " To John Tudor and John Ruddock, Esquires, and Messrs. Thomas 
 Greenough, John Marslon, William Paine, Thomas Hitchborn, and 
 N. Greenough, Committee of the New Brick Church, in Boston. 
 
 P. S. Please to give my regards to Dr. Pemberton." 
 
 a 
 
 Mr. Story was afterwards settled at Marblehead, and Dr. Pemberton 
 preached his ordination sermon. 
 
 Note I. Page 33. 
 
 Dr. Pemberton had three wives, one named Penhallow, of Portsmouth ; 
 another, Powell. It is said there is a portrait of him at E. P. Cady's, 
 at Plainiield, Conn. He died at the age of seventy-two. 
 
 Note J. Page 35. 
 
 Very friendly invitations have been extended to our congregation by 
 the Baptist Society, worshiping in Baldwin Place, the Universalist, 
 in Hanover-street, the New North, and the Bulfinch-street, to use their 
 houses of worship at such times as we may desire, when they are not 
 occupied, until our own is completed. It has been thought best to have, 
 for the present, only one service on Sunday. It is held in the Bulfinch- 
 street meeting-house, at half-past four, P. M. 
 
 At the time when Dr. Stillman and Dr. Pemberton preached alter- 
 nately in the pulpit of the latter, the custom was to take up a contribu- 
 tion for the payment of the minister's salary. Both the ministers re- 
 ceived their pay from the same box. The money intended for each was 
 so marked ; and all the unmarked money was divided equally between 
 them. 
 
 Dr. Pemberton's salary often fell short of the amount agreed upon. 
 He relinquished most of his demands against the parish, and was very 
 liberal to it. 
 
67 
 
 Note K. Page 35. 
 
 " Form of Union, between the Church of Christ, late under the pas- 
 toral care of the Rev. Dr. Pemeerton, and the Second Church of 
 Christ in Boston, under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Latiirop. 
 
 "First, the Moderator of the New Brick Church, late under the 
 pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, addresses himself as follows, 
 to the members of the church : — 
 
 " Brethren : — It having pleased Almighty God to remove from us by 
 death our late evangelical pastor, the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, under whose 
 ministry some of us have sat with pleasure for many years, and the 
 great Head of the Church having so ordered events in the Kingdom of 
 Providence, that we have enjoyed the ministerial labors of the Rev. John 
 Lathrop, who has statedly ministered to us, and to the church under his 
 particular care, which has assembled with us since the evacuation of the 
 town by the British forces in March, 1776 : — finding ourselves reduced 
 to a small number, it has been thought that it might tend to the glory of 
 the Redeemer's Kingdom, and to our own edification, for us to unite and 
 incorporate with the Second Church of Christ, under the pastoral care 
 of the Rev. John Lathrop, with whose ministerial labors we have ex- 
 pressed our full satisfaction ; that from henceforth we be one Church or 
 Corporate Body, equally entitled to all the rights and privileges, all the 
 stock, whether in plate, money, books, houses, lands, and hereditaments 
 which have hitherto been the separate property of each church. 
 
 " As this important affair has been for some time under consideration, 
 and every member of the church has had time to think and determine, 
 if you please, I will put the question. If it be your minds, then, my 
 brethren, that the Church of Christ, late under the care of the Rev. Dr. 
 Pemberton, should unite and incorporate with the Second Church of 
 Christ in Boston, please to signify it by the usual sign of holding up the 
 hand. 
 
 " The Moderator will then address himself to the brethren of the 
 congregation usually known by the name of the New Brick : — 
 
 " Brethren : — As the Church of Christ, late under the pastoral care 
 of the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, have now voted to unite and incorporate 
 with the Second Church of Christ in this town, under the pastoral care 
 of the Rev. Mr. Lathrop, it is proper that the congregation who usually 
 attended on the ministry of the late Dr. Pemberton, should signify their 
 concurrence with what the church has done. If it be your minds, then, 
 brethren, to concur with the church in their act of union and incorpora- 
 tion with the Second Church of Christ in this town, under the pastoral 
 care of the Rev. John Lathrop, please to signify it. 
 
 u The Moderator of the Second Church of Christ in this town, will 
 address himself to that church in the following manner : — 
 
 " Brethren of the Second Church in this town : — You have now at- 
 tended to the vote of the Church of Christ, late under the pastoral care 
 of the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, for uniting and incorporating with us. It 
 is now for us to declare our concurrence with what is expressed in the 
 vote of union just now passed by this our sister church. If you please, 
 
G8 
 
 I will put the question. If it be your minds, then, my brethren, that 
 the Church of Christ, late under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Pern- 
 berton, should be united with us, so that from this time we be one 
 Church, or Corporate Body, known by the Second Church of Christ in 
 Boston ; and that all those rights and privileges, all the stock, in plate, 
 money, books, houses, lands, and hereditaments, which have hitherto 
 been the separate property of each church, shall from this time become 
 one common stock, to which all the members of this united church shall 
 be equally entitled ; and from this time we consider the members of the 
 church, late under the care of the Rev. Dr. Pemberton, and the mem- 
 bers of our own church as one body, equally bound to watch over one 
 another in love, and promote the edification and happiness of the whole : 
 — If this be your minds, please to signify it. 
 
 " The Moderator will then address himself to the brethren of the 
 congregation usually known by the name of the Old North : — 
 
 " Brethren : — You have attended to the union which has now taken 
 place. The church, late under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Pem- 
 berton, and the Second Church of Christ in this town, are no more 
 twain, but one body in the Lord. You have also attended to the vote 
 of the New Brick congregation, declaring their concurrence with the 
 church in the act of union which has been passed. Nothing now re- 
 mains but your concurrence with the whole : — If it be your minds, then, 
 that inasmuch as a union has been complicated between the churches, 
 the congregations should be united likewise, please to manifest it. 
 
 " Conclusion. Brethren : —As we are now one church and one con- 
 gregation,, God grant we maybe one in Christ ; equally interested in the 
 merits of his obedience and death : — God grant we may be edified more 
 and more in love, and that by his grace we may be all prepared to join 
 with the general assembly and church of the first-born on high, to 
 ascribe blessing, and honor, and glory, and power unto Him that sitteth 
 upon the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen and Amen, 
 
 "Boston, June 30, 1779." 
 
 The above was drawn up by Deacon Tudor, 
 
 Note L. Page 36. 
 
 11 1779. August 2. Received from Mr. Thomas Hitchborn, who 
 had the care of it, a red velvet pulpit cushion and case. Note. This 
 cushion was delivered to brother S. Austin, and sold to the first church 
 in Hingham, for six cords of wood, which, on November 13th, was 
 brought up and carted to Mr, Lathrop's house." 
 
 " 1779. July 29. The Committee met, but by reason of a most ex- 
 traordinary affair that came before the body of the people at their meet- 
 ing at Faneuil Hall — viz : a great number of prisoners being in town, 
 in prison, and on board three or four guard ships, had laid a plot to break 
 jail, &c, set the town in flames, and run off with some vessels — there- 
 lore the Committee adjourned." 
 
69 
 
 The subjoined notes show the very high price of wood in 1780, and 
 
 also the great depreciation of the currency : — 
 
 " 1780. January. Note. The Committee desired me (J. Tudor) 
 to get, if I had any opportunity, a small parcel of wood, for Mr. Lath- 
 rop, on my wharf, for the present, hoping it would soon be cheaper. 
 They ask three hundred dollars a cord, out of a small sloop that lays 
 at my wharf. But the people will not give it, only a few from necessity. 
 But I got half a cord of south-shore wood, as Mr. Lathrop was out." 
 
 " 1780. March 28. Agreed to let Mr. Cunningham have the two 
 old Connecticut stones that lay on the Old North land, for half a cord of 
 wood, to be sent to Mr. Lathrop." 
 
 In December, 1780, two thousand pounds were raised to purchase 
 Dr. Lathrop's winter wood. 
 
 a 
 
 The meeting-house was on fire at the south-east end, and burnt 
 through the roof, from the fire from Hitchborn's, &c. The south part 
 caught when Dr. Clark's great barn was burnt. The steeple caught 
 when the joiner's shop was burnt opposite to it, and the top in danger 
 several times ; after which we put on a turret, and through the favor of 
 the great Head of the Church, it has been preserved to this ; July, 
 1779." 
 
 a 
 
 1781. The tub of the Old North Engine, then the largest in Bos- 
 ton, was brought into the meeting, in order that a child, about ten years 
 old, might, at the particular request of the mother, be baptized by im- 
 
 mersion." 
 
 The Parsonage house for Dr. Lathrop was built on the land formerly 
 occupied by the Old North meeting-house. Subscriptions were obtained 
 to assist in the purchase of it. 
 
 " 1789. September 7. Voted, that the committee who let the meet- 
 ing-house yard to Mr. Godfrey, inform him that it is expected that the 
 fens for keeping pigs in said yard, are considered a great nuisance, and 
 that a removal of them immediately is required. Also, that he is to 
 keep the gates of said yard in repair, and the passage-way leading 
 through his land into Fore-street, in decent order for the passing and re- 
 passing to the meeting-house." 
 
 " 1791. October 24. Voted, that the society be desired to tarry on 
 the next Sabbath, in order to determine whether, if the New North 
 have but one service on the approaching Thanksgiving day, we shall 
 have but one." 
 
 Note M. Page 39. 
 
 Mr. Emerson was chosen by a vote of seventy- four out of eighty- 
 three — the worshipers voting with the proprietors. The order of 
 
70 
 
 services at his ordination was as follows, viz : Dr. Pierce, of Brookline, 
 offered the introductory prayer and read the scriptures. Mr. Ripley, of 
 Walt ham, preached, from the text,* 1 Preaching- peace by Jesus Christ." 
 Mr. Parkman, of the New North, made the Ordaining prayer. Dr. 
 Ripley, of Concord, gave the charge. Mr. Frothingham, of the first 
 Church, the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Gannett, of the Federal- 
 street Church, the address to the people. Mr. Upham, of Salem, the 
 concluding prayer. 
 
 In June, 1830. Mr. Emerson invited the brethren of the church to 
 meet at his house, " to receive a communication from him in relation to 
 the views at which he had arrived, respecting the ordinance of the 
 Lord's Supper." After a statement of them, he proposed " so far to 
 change the manner of administering the rite, as to disuse the elements, 
 and relinquish the claim of authority ; and suggested a mode of com- 
 memoration winch might secure the undoubted advantages of the Lord's 
 Supper, without its objectionable features." After hearing this communi- 
 cation, the church appointed a committee to consider and report on the 
 subject. This committee consisted of Deacons Mackintosh and Patter- 
 son. Dr. John Ware, George B. Emerson, George A. Sampson, Gedney 
 King, and Samuel Beal. They reported the following resolutions: 1. 
 " That in the opinion of this church, after a careful consideration of the 
 subject, it is expedient to maintain the celebration of the Lord's Supper 
 in the present form." 2. " That the brethren of this church retain an 
 undiminished regard for the pastor, and entertain the hope that he will 
 find it consistent with his sense of duty, to continue the customary ad- 
 ministration of the Supper." These resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 The pastor afterwards, in a public discourse, explained to the society 
 his views of the Lord's Supper, and informed them of the decision of 
 the church. In conclusion, he stated his conviction, that as it was no 
 longer in his power, with a single mind, to administer the Lord's Sup- 
 per, it became his duty to resign his charge. He therefore requested a 
 dismission of the proprietors, which was granted. 
 
 Note N. Page 44. 
 
 Deacon John Tudor was a very valuable and efficient officer of the 
 church and proprietors. Amongst other donations he gave the sum of 
 five hundred dollars for the support of singing. Every matter of in- 
 terest, relating to the affairs of the church and congregation, was care- 
 
71 
 
 fully recorded by him. The greater part of the votes and other records 
 which I have copied from the society's books, in this Appendix, up to 
 the year 1781, are in his hand- writing. As an instance of his accuracy 
 and fidelity in relation to the records, I will refer to a single additional 
 entry of his in the church book, in the year 1772. It seems that Dea- 
 con Lee, his predecessor in the office of Treasurer, had omitted to give 
 an account, of the manner in which he had disposed of a certain sum of 
 money, collected and put into his hands. Deacon Tudor explains the 
 transaction, and justifies Deacon Lee by the following records. He 
 writes — 
 
 " There was a collection, I remember, in many of the congregational 
 churches, in 1739, to defend a lawsuit unjustly brought against Mr. 
 Torrey, the minister of South Kingston, in order to recover the par- 
 sonage estate possessed by Mr. Torrey. The estate was left, by a gen- 
 tleman, for the support of an orthodox minister of said Kingston, and, 
 as I remember, one Doctor McSparrow, a church minister, took it into 
 his head that no minister was Orthodox unless he was ordained by a Bish- 
 op, &c. &c. ; so, by the help of some, no better than himself, he brought 
 an action to recover the estate for himself and successors, but he failed 
 in his unjust prosecution. 
 
 ■>■> 
 
 Deacon Tudor also pasted into the church records a receipt for thirty- 
 five pounds, ten shillings, from the New Brick congregation for the use 
 of Mr. Torrey in this suit, from Deacon Lee, signed by Dr. Benjamin 
 Colman. 
 
 When Deacon Samuel Parkman left the church, to unite himself 
 with the New North, under the pastorai care of his son, votes were 
 passed expressive of the high regard entertained for his services, and 
 a beautiful and costly silver pitcher was presented to him, with the fol- 
 lowing inscription : — 
 
 PRESENTED, MAY 25, 1824, 
 
 To SAMUEL PARKMAN, Esq., 
 
 IN MEMORY OP 
 
 HIS FAITHFUL SERVICES, AND DEVOTED FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 FOR A LONG SERIES OF YEARS, 
 
 AND IN VARIOUS OFFICES. 
 
 The following are — as far as I have been able to ascertain them — 
 the names of those who have officiated as deacons of the New Brick 
 
72 
 
 Church, and, since its union with the Second Church, of the latter : — 
 Solomon Townsend, William Lee, James Halsey, (who was also chosen 
 Ruling Elder ; he was the only one who would accept the office, which 
 he held for many years.) Eben. Bridge, John Tudor, Thomas Green- 
 ough, Thomas Hitchborn, Benjamin Henderson, Samuel Ridgway, 
 Jonathan Brown, William Boardman, William Bell, Samuel Park- 
 man, Thomas Lewis, James Foster, Peter Mackintosh, Jr., Enoch Pat- 
 terson, Richard W. Baylev, J. N. Daniell. 
 
 The present pastor of the Second Church and Society was chosen 
 by a unanimous vote of the proprietors, October 20, 1833. At his or- 
 dination, which took place December 4, 1833, the order of services 
 was as follows, viz : — introductory prayer, and selections from scrip- 
 ture, by Rev. John Pierpont ; sermon, by Professor Henry Ware, Jr. ; 
 ordaining prayer, by Rev. Hezekiah Packard, D. D. ; charge, by Rev. 
 James Kendall, D. D. ; fellowship of the churches, by Rev. Francis 
 Parkman ; concluding prayer, by Rev. George Putnam. 
 
 COVENANT OF THE SECOND CHURCH. 
 
 On the 10th of September, 1821, the church voted to restore and 
 adopt for their use, on the admission of members, the ancient covenant 
 used by Dr. Increase Mather. It is in these words, viz : — 
 
 " You do in this solemn presence, give up yourself to the true God 
 in Jesus Christ, and to his people also according to the will of God, 
 promising to walk with God, and with this church of his, in all his holy 
 ordinances, and to yield obedience to every truth of his, which has been 
 or shall be made known to you as your duty, the Lord assisting you by 
 his spirit and grace. 
 
 " We then, the church of Christ in this place, do receive you into 
 the fellowship, and promise to walk towards you, and to watch over 
 you as a member of this church, endeavoring )'our spiritual edification 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 A valuable library belonged to the Second Church, which was found- 
 ed at the suggestion of Joshua Gee, and received donations from several 
 clergymen and others. In 1827, at the request of Mr. Ware, who 
 stated that efforts were making to build up a library for the Theological 
 School, at Cambridge, the church " voted, that the pastor be authorized 
 
73 
 
 to select such volumes as he may think proper, from its library, and 
 make a donation of them to the library of the Theological School, with 
 the proviso, that the minister of the Second Church shall always have 
 free use of the library of the Theological School." 
 
 COMMUNION PLATE. 
 
 At the time of the union of the Second and New Brick Churches, 
 several valuable articles of silver plate, being unnecessary, were sold. 
 The following is a description of the silver Communion Plate, the prop- 
 erty of the Second Church : — 
 
 One large Flagon, with this inscription thereon : " Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Wensley, to the Second Church of Christ in Boston, 1711." Also, 
 stamped on the bottom " po." 
 
 One large Flagon, inscribed : " The Legacy of Mr. John Frisell, 
 who died April 10, 1723, to the Second Church of Christ in Boston." 
 Also, a coat of arms is engraved thereon, with this motto : " Jesu est 
 Prest." Also, stamped with the letters " ib " twice on the body of 
 the flagon, near the handle. 
 
 One large Flagon, inscribed : " This Flagon is the gift of Mrs. Do- 
 rothy Frisell to the Second Church of Christ in Boston, December, 
 1733." 
 
 One smaller Flagon, inscribed : " The gift of Mrs. Dorothy Frisell 
 to the Church of Christ in Boston, of which the Rev. Mr. William 
 Waldron is the pastor, 1724." Also stamped " ib." 
 
 One large Flagon, inscribed: " The Rev. Mr. Welsteed, Pastor of 
 this Church, ordered, on his death bed, this Flagon to be given as a 
 token of the tender affection he bears towards us, 1753." A coat of 
 arms is engraved on it, but no motto. Stamped near the handle with 
 the word " bridge." 
 
 One smaller Flagon, no inscription. Stamped twice near the handle 
 with the letters " t.t." 
 
 One large Cup, inscribed : " A Friend's gift to the North Brick 
 Church, 1730." A coat of arms on the reverse side, and also stamped 
 
 "ig." 
 
 One large Cup, stamped " hurd." 
 
 One large Cup, stamped " ig." and engraved on the bottom, " 1731." 
 
 One large Cup, stamped " gh." 
 
 One large Cup, engraved, " Given by Nathaniel Loring to the New 
 Brick Church, 1723-4." Stamped on the bottom, " ir." 
 
 One smaller Cup, inscribed, " Given by W. L. to the New Brick 
 Church, 1723-4." Stamped on the bottom, " ir." 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 One smaller Cup, stamped on the bottom, " gh." 
 
 Two small Spoons, with holes in the bowls for strainers ; stamped 
 
 " P.R." 
 
 One large Dish, inscribed, " The gift of Edward Hutchinson to the 
 Second Church in Boston, May, 1711." 
 
 One Dish to match, inscribed " The gift of Thomas Hutchinson to 
 the Second Church in Boston, .May, 1711. A coat of arms on each 
 dish, and both stamped " ew." 
 
 One Dish, same size, no inscription. Stamped " ew." A coat of 
 arms ennraved thereon, but different from those on the above dishes. 
 
 One Baptismal Basin, inscribed on the under side of the rim as fol- 
 lows, viz : " Hoc Lavacrum Septennonah in Bostonio Ecclesice, adusum 
 SS. Baptismi dedicotum est per Ada i mini W uithrop adurtum prism sui 
 Filii qui baptizatus est 18 August, 1706." 
 
 One Silver Bread Knife. 
 
 The following gentlemen have officiated as Treasurers of the society : 
 Elder Halsey, John Tudor, Thomas Greenough, Samuel Ridgway, 
 Edward Proctor, Francis Green, Jonathan Wild, Samuel Parkman, 
 James W. Burditt, Samuel P. Heywood, Abel Adams, Simon \V. 
 Robinson. 
 
 The following is a list of all that have come to my knowledge of the 
 publications of the ministers of the New Brick : — 
 
 WILLIAM W r ALDRON. 
 
 1727. Artillery Election Sermon. 
 
 WILLIAM WELSTEED. 
 
 1729. Artillerv Election Sermon. 
 
 1750. Convention Sermon. 
 
 1751. Election Sermon, (Councillors.) 
 
 ELLIS GRAV. 
 
 1741. Sermon on the Design of the Gospel Ministry. 
 
 1712. Sermon at Ordination of Thaddeus Maccarty, Kingston. 
 
 1719. Artillery Election Sermon. 
 
 EBENEZER PEMBERTON. 
 
 1756. Artillery Election Sermon. 
 IT.')7. Election of Councillors. 
 1759. Convention Sermon. 
 
75 
 
 1766. Dudleian Lecture. 
 
 1770. On the Death of Whitefield. 
 
 1771. Sermon at the Ordination of Isaac Story. 
 
 For a list of Dr. Lathrop's numerous publications, I would refer to 
 the Appendix to Dr. Parkman's sermon at his interment. I have in my 
 possession two sermons which are not enumerated in that catalogue . A 
 sermon at the Dedication of the New South Meeting-house in Dorches- 
 ter, October 6, 1813 ; and a sermon preached at the first Church in 
 Weymouth, Oct. 29, 1814, at the interment of Miss Mary P. Bicknell. 
 
 A catalogue of Mr. Ware's publications may be found in the Appen- 
 dix to my sermon, preached to the Second Church on the occasion of 
 his death. 
 
 EARTHQUAKE OF 1755. 
 
 I have alluded to the religious use made of the earthquake of 1727. 
 The records of the " Associated Pastors of the Churches of Boston,'' 
 contain an account of the proceedings of the clergy in relation to that 
 of 1755, which, as it may be interesting to some readers, I here tran- 
 scribe : — 
 
 " November 18, 1755. About twenty minutes after four, A. M., 
 there was a very severe shock of an earthquake, which lasted about 
 two minutes ; at first it came on moderately, preceded by a noise ; the 
 shaking a little after abated something, and then came on a violent con- 
 cussion. Great damage done to many buildings, but no life lost. 
 
 " At ten o'clock in the forenoon there was a religious exercise at the Old 
 South. Mr. Prince prayed ; Dr. Sewall preached ; a full and serious 
 assembly. A religious exercise at the same time at the New North ; 
 Mr. Mather began with prayer ; then sung a psalm ; after this Mr. 
 Pemberton preached ; after sermon Mr. Eliot prayed ; then sung ; after 
 which Mr. Checkley, Jr. prayed ; a full and serious assembly. 
 
 " Minister's meeting at Dr. Sewall's, P. M. ; unanimously agreed, 
 in order to cultivate the religious impressions made on the minds of the 
 people, to have two religious exercises the next Thursday. At the 
 lecture, Dr. Chauncy began with prayer ; Mr. Mather preached. The 
 Old South opened at half past two ; Dr. Sewall prayed ; Mr. Prince 
 preached. New North opened at the same time. Mr. Pembertc n 
 prayed ; Mr. Eliot preached. Met at Dr. Sewall's the next Monday, 
 Agreed to have two religious exercises the next Friday afternoon, at 
 the New North and New South. At New North Dr. Sewall prayed ; 
 Mr. Foxcroft preached. At New South Mr. Prince prayed ; Mr. 
 Checkley preached. Met at Mr. Cooper's, December 1st. Agreed to 
 have a religious exercise at Mr. Cooper's the next Friday afternoon. 
 Mr. Cooper prayed ; Dr. Chauncy preached. Met at Mr. Cooper's 
 afterwards. Agreed upon a religious exercise at Old Brick the next 
 Tuesday afternoon ; Mr. Checkley prayed ; Mr. Checkley, Jr. preach- 
 ed. A religious exercise at the Old North the Friday afternoon follow- 
 ing. Mr. Foxcroft prayed ; Dr. Sewall preached. Went to Mr. 
 
76 
 
 Checkley, Jr.'s, after meeting. Agreed upon a religious exercise at 
 New Brick next Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Mather prayed ; Mr. Check- 
 ley preached. Went to Mr. Pemberton'a and agreed upon a religious 
 < sercise al Mr. Mather's the next Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Eliot pray- 
 ed ; Mr. Pemberton preached. Met at Mr. Mather's after this; and 
 considering the readiness of the people to give their attendance, agreed 
 upon another course. Accordingly agreed that there should he a re- 
 ligious exercise at the Old South the next Tuesday afternoon ; Mr. 
 Pemberton prayed ; Mr. Foxcroft preached. Then met at Dr. Se wall's, 
 and agreed, in consideration of the day of humiliation and thanksgiving 
 appointed by authority the next week, to omit a religious exercise for 
 that week. Minister's meeting at Mr. Prince's ; agreed upon a religious 
 exercise at Mr. Eliot's, January 13th, afternoon ; Mr. Checkley, Jr. 
 prayed ; Mr. Prince preached. Then met at Mr. Eliot's ; agreed upon 
 a religious exercise at Mr. Checkley's, January 23d, afternoon; Dr. 
 Sewall prayed ; Mr. Mather preached. Met at Mr. Checkley's after 
 this ; determined nothing as to any further religious exercise." 
 
 Amongst the number of those who have contributed to the prosperity 
 of the Church and the interest of the public services, I would mention 
 with gratitude the Voluntary Choir, for whose valuable assistance, and 
 uninterrupted harmony, for the last six years, the society and their min- 
 ister are under great obligations. 
 
 VALEDICTORY SERVICES IN THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE. 
 
 The last services in the old house, on Sunday, March 10, were at- 
 tended by a large concourse, drawn together by the interest felt in the 
 occasion, and by attachment to the ancient edifice. 
 
 On the evening of that day, the Hancock Sunday School, connected 
 with the Second Church and Society, had a public celebration of their 
 anniversary. The house was filled to its utmost capacity, and hun- 
 dreds went away, unable to procure an entrance. Addresses were 
 made by the pastor, R. W. Emerson, Dr. John Pierce, and Dr. Park- 
 man. Several original hymns were sung by the children, and the ex- 
 ercises were concluded by the singing of the doxology, commencing 
 with the words — 
 
 " From all that dwell below tlie skies," 
 
 To the tune of Old Hundred, in which all present joined. 
 
 The pulpit of the old church, and many of the pews, were sold to 
 the religious society in Billerica,Mass., and now stand in their meeting- 
 house. 
 
 N. B. It should have been stated on the title page that these Ser- 
 mons were printed by vote of the parish. 
 
*P -== 
 
 VIEW OF THE OLD CHURCH. 
 

I