COMMEMORATION 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 JOHN A. ALBRO, D.D., 
 
 AS PASTOR OF 
 
 THE TIKST CHUKCH AND SHEPAKD SOCIETY, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 
 
 CAMBEIDGE: 
 
 PRINTED BY ALLEN AND F A R N II A M . 
 
 18 6 0. 
 
 BX7I50 
 .C2F5 
 
 A3 
 
 ttid»OOOOOOOCBOOOBOOOOOOOOOOOOP OtMJMU*lMt*tJtl wwwwfiJWJWsi^*wMWM»^^ 
 


 COMMEMORATION 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 JOHN A. ALBEO, D.D 
 
 AS PASTOB OF 
 
 THE FIRST CHURCH AND SHEPARD SOCIETY, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 
 PRINTED BY ALLEN AND EARN II AM 
 
 1 8 G 0. 
 
PRELIMINARY NOTE. 
 
 An informal meeting of several gentlemen connected with the Shepard 
 Congregation and Society, was held in the vestry room of the church, to 
 consider what measures should be taken to commemorate the 25th anni- 
 versary of the settlement of Dr. Albro. After a full discussion it was decided 
 to call a meeting of the congregation and leave the matter to their decision. 
 A meeting was accordingly called and held in the chapel, Wednesdaj r 
 evening, March 28th, and duly organized by the choice of a chairman 
 and a secretary. The object of the meeting being stated, and unanimously 
 approved, the two following votes were passed : 
 
 Voted, That it is expedient and desirable that public services be held in 
 the church on the evening of the 18 th of April next, in reference to the 
 25th anniversarj' of the settlement of our pastor. 
 
 Voted, That a committee, with full powers, be appointed to make all 
 necessary arrangements for such services ; whereupon the following named 
 gentlemen were chosen, namely, Charles T. Russell, S. T. Farwell, Joel 
 Parker, Emory Washburn, Charles W. Homer, William Saunders, Zelotes 
 Hosmer, George L. Ward, James P. Melledge, John Merrill, William A. 
 Brewer, George S. Saunders, Arthur Merrill, and N. D. Sawin. 
 
 This committee met at an early day, and organized by the choice of Hon. 
 S. T. Farwell as chairman, and Geo. L. Ward as secretary. An outline of 
 the plan of exercises for the celebration was submitted, and agreed to, and 
 arrangements made for carrying out the same. 
 
 After the commemorative exercises, Monday evening, April 23d, a meet- 
 ing of the committee of arrangements was held in the vestry of the church, 
 when it was decided to print, in a convenient form, the proceedings of the 
 
celebration and S. T. Farwell, Geo. L. Ward, and W. A. Saunders were 
 appointed to take charge of the same, with instructions to solicit of Dr. 
 Albro a copy of his sermon preached Sabbath morning, the 15th inst., the 
 anniversary of his settlement, for publication with the proceedings. The 
 following note was accordingly addressed to Dr. Albro: — 
 
 Cambridge, April 25, 1860. 
 Dear Sir, — The undersigned, in behalf of the committee of arrange- 
 ments for commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of your settlement 
 and in accordance with the wishes of the Society, beg leave to recpiest of you 
 a copy of your sermon preached on the 15th inst., for publication. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 S. T. Farwell, 
 George L. Ward, 
 William A. Saunders. 
 To Rev. J. A. Albro, D. D. 
 
 Cambridge, May 1, 1860. 
 Gentlemen, — The sermon delivered on the 15th of April last, of 
 which you request a copy, is at your disposal. I am glad that it is accept- 
 able to those whom you represent. May the great truth which it was 
 designed to unfold be, in all future time, as it has been in the past, the 
 strength, the confidence, and the hope of the church and people to whom 
 it was addressed. 
 
 Very truly and affectionately yours, 
 
 J. A. Albro. 
 To Messrs. S. T. Farwell, Geore L. Ward, W. A. Saunders. 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 S E E M N 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 THE SHEPARD CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 APRIL 15, 1860. 
 
 By JOHN A. ALBRO, D.D. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 EPHESIANS 2: 20-22. 
 
 " And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
 being the chief corner stone ; in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth 
 unto an holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded together for a habi- 
 tation of God through the spirit." 
 
 It was a custom among the ancient people of God, 
 to consecrate and render forever memorable all places 
 where special mercies and deliverances had been 
 received, by erecting monuments and inscribing upon 
 them the name of that God by whom the blessings had 
 been granted. Thus Abraham, when a lamb had been 
 accepted for a sacrifice instead of his son, engraved 
 upon the altar, " Jehovah-jireh," — the Lord will pro- 
 vide. Thus Jacob took the stone which had been his 
 pillow during the sleep in which he had seen visions of 
 heaven, and set it up for a pillar, calling it " Bethel," — 
 the house of God. Thus Moses, when, in answer to his 
 importunate and persevering prayer, the Amalekites 
 had been defeated in battle, built an altar and called 
 the name of it " Jehovah-nissi," — the Lord our banner. 
 Thus Samuel, when the men of Israel smote the Philis- 
 
tines and pursued them to Beth-car, set up a monu- 
 ment between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name 
 of it "Ebenezer," — a stone of help. Thus Gideon, 
 upon the spot where he had seen an angel of God 
 face to face, and received a divine commission to save 
 Israel from the oppression of the Midianites, built an 
 altar and called it Jehovah-Shalom, — the Lord send 
 peace. So w y e have met to-day to commemorate, 
 with fitting service, the loving-kindness of our God to 
 us as a church and people during the years that are 
 past. We would rear a monument to divine Grace, 
 and inscribe upon it, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 
 
 Just twenty-five years ago to-day, a little later in the 
 day, I stood in this holy place for the first time as the 
 installed pastor of this church, and received from a 
 venerable council the solemn charge to feed this flock of 
 God over which the Holy Ghost, by his ministers, had 
 made me overseer. I have great reason publicly and 
 gratefully to thank God that he has continued my life, 
 health, and opportunities to serve him in the gospel of 
 his grace for so long a period, and through so many 
 vicissitudes and temptations. A quarter of a century ! 
 More than one third part of the whole allotted time 
 of man upon the earth, and a very large portion of our 
 active life. 
 
 I have often heard it said by the aged that time, 
 however long it may seem in the passing, appears but 
 as a point, when it has once fallen into the abyss of 
 eternity. But to me it does not seem so. The years 
 
9 
 
 that I have spent in this ministry are, in remembrance, 
 many and long ; and the space they have occupied in 
 my history, has an apparently interminable perspective. 
 We measure time, not by days, weeks, months, and 
 years, which, when gone by do indeed appear like mere 
 j)oints, but by thoughts and feelings, by fears and hopes, 
 by solicitudes and enjoyments, by labors and failures, 
 by desires and disappointments, which mark the flying 
 hours as they pass, with an ineffaceable impression, 
 and sometimes make days seem like months, and 
 months like years! 
 
 It is not often desirable or proper, — always embar- 
 rassing, and sometimes hazardous, — for a man, especial- 
 ly a minister of the gospel, to speak of himself, and of 
 his own works. In the sanctuary, the life, the labors, 
 and the honor of the Master, not of the servant, should 
 be the theme of discourse ; and every moment spent in 
 talking of ourselves, is, in general, so much precious 
 time misused, and lost. Yet there are occasions on 
 which it may be suitable for a pastor to make his own 
 ministry the subject of brief remark. The author of 
 my text did so more than once in his epistles to the 
 primitive churches; and from his exposition of per- 
 sonal feelings, trials, and efforts, we derive some of 
 the most useful lessons and encouragements of the 
 gospel. That which was necessary or proper for him, 
 may be justifiable in any of his successors in the sacred 
 office, if they speak with the same motive, and for the 
 
 same end. Let me, then, make a ministry longer than 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 that of the Apostle to the Gentiles, the subject of a 
 brief reference. First, however, let me refresh your 
 minds with some passages in the earlier history of the 
 church with which I have been so long, and so happily 
 connected, presenting as they do some facts, which, 
 most interesting in themselves, ought to be engraved 
 deeply upon the memory of all its members in all com- 
 ing generations. 
 
 This church was gathered on the first day of Febru- 
 ary, 1636, 0. S., almost two and a quarter centuries ago, 
 in a house which stood upon the adjacent street, a few 
 rods south-west from the place where we are now 
 assembled, amidst a great and deeply interested con- 
 gregation composed of the first settlers of the colony. 
 
 Its materials were a small company of pious persons 
 who had fled from their hardships and persecutions in 
 England to find a home, and to erect an altar to the 
 Lord, in this western world, then inhabited only by 
 wild beasts and savages. The whole number of male 
 members who publicly entered into covenant at that 
 time was but seven besides the pastor. The following 
 account of that transaction, given by Winthrop, a 
 spectator of the scene, though already familiar to 
 many who hear me to-day, is too graphic and inter- 
 esting to be passed over in silence. 
 
 u Divers good Christians, lately come out of Eng- 
 land, intending to raise a church-body, came and ac- 
 quainted the magistrates therewith, who gave their 
 consent. They also sent to the neighboring churches 
 
11 
 
 for their elders to give their assistance at a certain 
 clay at Newtown, when they should constitute their 
 body. Accordingly, on this day there met a great 
 assembly, where the proceeding was as followeth : 
 Mr. Shepard and two others, who were to be chosen 
 to office, sat together in the elder's seat. Then the 
 elder of them began with prayer. After this, Mr. 
 Shepard prayed with deep confession of sin, and ex- 
 pounded Eph. 5 : 27, and also opened the cause of 
 their meeting. Then the elder desired to know of 
 the churches assembled what number were needful to 
 make a church, and how they ought to proceed in the 
 action. Whereupon some of the ancient ministers, con- 
 ferring shortly together, gave answer, that the Scrip- 
 ture did not set down any certain rule for the number. 
 Three, they thought, were too few, because by Matt, 
 xviii., an appeal was allowed from three, but that seven 
 might be a fit number. And, for their proceeding, 
 they advised that such as were to join should make 
 confession of their faith, and declare what work of 
 grace the Lord had wrought in them ; which, accord- 
 ingly, they did, Mr. Shepard first, then four others, 
 then the elder, and one who was to be deacon, who 
 had also prayed, and another member. Then the 
 covenant was read, and they all gave a solemn assent 
 to it. Then the elder desired of the churches, that if 
 they did approve them to be a church, they would give 
 them the right hand of fellowship. Whereupon Mr. 
 Cotton, upon short speech with some others near him, 
 
12 
 
 in the name of their churches gave his hand to the 
 elder, with a short speech of their assent, and desired 
 the peace of the Lord Jesus to be with them. Then 
 Mr. Shepard made an exhortation to the rest of his 
 body about the nature of their covenant, and to stand 
 firm to it, and commended them to the Lord in a 
 most heavenly prayer. Then the elder told the 
 assembly that they intended to choose Mr. Shepard 
 for their pastor, and desired the churches that, if 
 they had any thing to except against him, they 
 would impart it before the clay of ordination. Then 
 he gave the churches thanks for their assistance, 
 and so left them to the Lord." * 
 
 On the same day another member was added, under 
 circumstances peculiarly interesting. The pious and 
 devoted wife of the pastor elect, wasting away with 
 incurable consumption, and worn out by the long and 
 tedious voyage from England, was lying upon her 
 death-bed. After the public services of the day w r ere 
 ended u we came," says Shepard, u to her chamber, she 
 being unable to come unto us. And because we feared 
 that her end was not far off, we did solemnly ask her 
 if she was desirous to be a member with us, which she 
 expressing, and so entering into covenant with us, we 
 thereupon all took her by the hand, and received her 
 as became one with us, having had full trial and ex- 
 perience of her faith and life before. At* this time, 
 and by this means, the Lord did not only show us the 
 
 * Winthrop's Journal, I. 179, ISO. 
 
worth of this ordinance, but gave us a seal of his 
 acceptance of us and of his presence with us that 
 day ; for the Lord hereby filled her heart with such 
 unspeakable joy and assurance of God's love, that she 
 said to us she had enough ; and we were afraid that 
 her feeble body would have at that time sunk under 
 the weight of her joy." Such were the precious and 
 lively stones with which this spiritual house was origi- 
 nally constructed ; or, to use the figure of the pious 
 Higginson, a handful of the wheat " which God sifted 
 three kingdoms to find," was then gathered into this 
 o;arner of God. 
 
 The church, thus gathered, and composed of such 
 materials, was built with prayer and thanksgiving, and 
 tears and hope, upon the foundation of the Apostles 
 and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief 
 corner-stone, where it has stood immovable and un- 
 changed until this day, amidst all the currents of man's 
 opinions which have been sweeping around it, and all 
 the changes of the world, which have essentially 
 altered all our institutions of a similar ag-e. 
 
 Its first pastor, and, so far as human instrumentality 
 was concerned, its founder, was that same Shepard, a 
 man of whom I shall not be in danger of speaking too 
 highly. He was one of the most eminent of those 
 wise master-builders, who gathered the original churches 
 of this Commonwealth, and to whom we are in a great 
 measure indebted for the simplicity, the purity, the 
 strength, and influence of our religious, and I may say 
 
14 
 
 too, our civil polity, — a burning and shining light in 
 this candlestick, distinguished alike for his learning, his 
 piety, and his steady zeal, at a time when every church 
 in this new world was blessed with a minister of saintly 
 character, and of apostolic power, — a holy man, whose 
 example shed a sanctifying radiance around him, turn- 
 ing the wilderness into a fruitful field, and making the 
 desert to blossom like the garden of the Lord, — "a 
 gracious, sweet, heavenly-minded, and soul-ravishing 
 preacher," as the enthusiastic Johnson calls him, " in 
 whose heart the Lord shed abroad his love so abundant- 
 ly, that thousands had cause to bless God for his in- 
 fluence." Not inferior to the most eminent of the con- 
 gregational fathers in intellectual strength, in logical 
 acuteness, in all the learning and literature of his times, 
 he perhaps excelled them all in that fine, beautiful, 
 practical spirit, which is greater, and more necessary 
 in the church, than genius or learning, and in contem- 
 plating which, we become, in a measure, insensible to 
 the powers of his mind, and the extent of his acquisi- 
 tions. Although a prominent actor in scenes of con- 
 troversy and public disorder which opened up all the 
 fountains of bitterness and wrath in unsanctified hearts, 
 such was his candor, charity, tenderness, and humility, 
 that the odium of persecution never attached to his 
 conduct ; and, while a man of like passions, and ex- 
 posed to the same temptations as other men, his reputa- 
 tion has descended to our own time as pure as star- 
 light. 
 
15 
 
 When the fathers of the little commonwealth, in 
 their piety and poverty, had resolved that there 
 should be a college for the training of young men 
 for the learned professions, and especially for the 
 gospel ministry, " to be a nursery of knowledge in 
 these deserts, and a supply for posterity, that there 
 might not be an illiterate ministry left to the churches 
 when their first ministers should lie in the dust," Cam- 
 bridge was selected as the seat of it, because, through 
 the sound teaching and powerful influence of Mr. Shep- 
 arcl, under God, this church had been preserved from 
 the disastrous heresy of Antinomianism, which was 
 then threatening the utter ruin of the church in Boston, 
 and had begun to corrupt many other churches in the 
 colony, — and because, by choosing a place under the 
 ministry of a man so sound, so orthodox, so able, so 
 devoted to the cause of Christ, " they might give the 
 world to understand that spiritual learning was the thing 
 which they chiefly desired to promote, in order to 
 sanctify the other and make the whole lump holy, and 
 that learning, being set upon its right object, might not 
 contend for error instead of truth." * When we con- 
 sider the rich Christian experience which Mr. Shepard 
 attained; the sacrifices which he cheerfully made for 
 Christ and the gospel ; the great amount of ministe- 
 rial and other labor which he performed with feeble 
 health, and amidst manifold difficulties; his attain- 
 ments in holiness, and in knowledge of divine things ; 
 
 * Wonder Working Providence, p. 164. 
 
16 
 
 the able theological works which he produced at a time 
 when the cause of truth demanded the strongest argu- 
 ments and the profoundest expositions • the influence, 
 felt even to this day, which he exerted in edifying the 
 churches of New England ; and all this before he had 
 passed, or hardly reached, the meridian of life, we 
 must regard him as one of the brightest ornaments of 
 the church, and ever hold him in deep and grateful 
 remembrance. 
 
 Under the efficient ministry of this man of God, 
 and of his successors, Mitchel, Oakes, Gookin, Brattle, 
 Appleton, Hilliard, Holmes, Adams, — men of like faith 
 and spirit, — this church has not only remained upon 
 its original foundation, but, " fitly framed together, has 
 grown unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye 
 also to-clay are builded together, for an habitation of 
 God through the Spirit." Of those able and faithful 
 ministers who have been the instruments of edifying 
 this church, all of whom except the last-named, 
 have long since gone to their rest and reward, it will 
 not be necessary at this time to speak jDarticularly. 
 
 Of one, however, Dr. Holmes, I will take occasion 
 to say a word which I think his memory demands and 
 deserves. He was installed pastor of this church, on 
 the 25th day of January, 1792. In 1827, after thirty- 
 five years of faithful labor, and of uninterrupted 
 harmony between the church and the first parish, with 
 which it was then in connection, a difficulty for which 
 he was in no respect responsible, and of which I clo 
 
17 
 
 not mean to speak., arose between him and the society, 
 which, after a protracted and painful controversy, re- 
 sulted in the separation of the pastor and the church 
 from the parish, and the organization of the Shepard 
 Ecclesiastical Society, with which the church has ever 
 since been connected in the worship and ordinances 
 of the gospel, according to the established princi- 
 ples and usages of Congregational churches in this 
 Commonwealth. Up to that time the history of the 
 church and of the first parish had been identical. 
 From that day the stream divides into two branches, 
 to flow in different directions, and to fall into the 
 ocean of eternity at different points. The church, it 
 will be observed, was not disorganized by the change. 
 It came out from its ecclesiastical connection a whole 
 and complete church of Christ, with all its officers and 
 all its ordinances. It separated from the legal corpo- 
 ration, as the soul leaves the body, to take to itself a 
 new organization more in accordance with its nature, 
 and better adapted to promote its design. 
 
 On the 21st day of September, 1830, the Rev. Ne- 
 hemiah Adams, having been associated with Dr. Holmes 
 in the pastorate of the church, the corner-stone of this 
 house was laid with appropriate religious ceremonies. 
 Under that corner-stone, enclosed in a leaden box, is a 
 silver plate with this inscription : 
 
 To Jesus Christ 
 
 and 
 
 the church, 
 
 the pillar and the ground of the truth. 
 
18 
 
 And while laying it, the senior pastor pronounced, 
 with a clear voice and confident faith, these words : 
 " The church is built upon the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. 
 Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 
 which is Jesus Christ. May the stone which we 
 now lay be a true emblem of the great corner-stone 
 upon which the first church in Cambridge was origi- 
 nally built, and a pledge of its permanent continuance 
 upon the same everlasting foundation, Jesus Christ, the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and forever." On the 23d 
 of February, 1831, the house of worship erected upon 
 that stone, was solemnly dedicated to God the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 In the month of September of the same year, Dr. 
 Holmes, being very infirm, and unable to perform 
 statedly, or even occasionally the duties of his office, 
 was dismissed, at his own request, from a ministry 
 which he had exercised for about forty years. He 
 preached his farewell sermon on the second of Oc- 
 tober, 1831. He died with a strong faith in the great 
 doctrines he had preached, and in the comforts of a 
 hope full of immortality, on the twelfth day of June, 
 1837, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. 
 
 I cannot speak of the Christian and ministerial char- 
 acter of Dr. Holmes in language more appropriate or 
 expressive than that used by the dismissing council in 
 their result. They knew him personally and well, and 
 they say, " It is with mingled emotions of pain and sat- 
 
19 
 
 isfaction that this council have attended to the business 
 for which they have been convened. While they 
 deeply regret the occasion that has led to the result, 
 in the bodily infirmities attending the advancing age of 
 the venerated and beloved pastor of the First Church 
 in Cambridge, they are most happy in the reflection 
 that the ministerial character of Dr. Holmes is un- 
 spotted ; that he has been enabled by divine grace to 
 bear the peculiar trials to which he has been called in 
 the course of his ministry, with exemplary wisdom, 
 firmness, meekness, and patience ; and that, in the cir- 
 cumstances attending the dissolution of his pastoral 
 connection, a spirit of union and harmony has been 
 manifested by the respective parties so deeply inter- 
 ested. It is unnecessary, they say, for them to add 
 any thing by way of testimonial and recommendation 
 to a character so well known in this country and in 
 Europe, as that of the late pastor of the First Church 
 in Cambridge, the long tried, and highly esteemed 
 friend of learning and religion. His works are his 
 testimonial, and his praise is in all the churches." 
 
 Dr. Adams, having received an invitation from the 
 Essex Street Church and Society, in Boston, to become 
 their pastor, and believing it to be his duty to accept 
 it, was dismissed,, though with great reluctance on the 
 part of this church and society, on the fourteenth day 
 of March, 1834. And on the fifteenth clay of April, 
 1835, the present pastor was installed in his place. 
 
 I came to }^ou a stranger, having occupied the 
 
20 
 
 pulpit but one Sabbath previous to receiving your 
 call, and was received with a unanimity, affection, 
 and cordiality which, in the flight of years and the 
 changes of the world, have remained, I hope, as strong 
 as at the beginning. I came to you, as Paul went to the 
 Corinthians, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trem- 
 bling, and you encouraged me by your sympathy, and 
 bore up my heart by your affection and your prayers. 
 I came to you, not with excellency of speech or of 
 wisdom, and my preaching has not been with enticing 
 words of man's eloquence, for I determined not to 
 know any thing among you save Jesus Christ, and 
 him crucified, and you have received my preach- 
 ing with respect and confidence, many, I trust, with 
 a faith that " stands not in the wisdom of men, 
 but in the power of God." I came to you in your 
 poverty and feebleness, and, as the Apostle says of the 
 churches of Macedonia, a to your power I bear record, 
 yea, and beyond your power," you were willing of 
 yourselves to assume the burden and the responsibility 
 of supporting the gospel ministry. " And this you 
 did, not as we hoped, but first gave your own selves 
 to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." I 
 came to you, as the disciples were sent upon their 
 first mission, without purse or scrip, and, like them, 
 I can tell the Master to-day, that in all these years 
 you have permitted me to lack nothing. 
 
 My ministry has thus far been the longest, with the 
 exception of two, that has existed in this church since 
 
21 
 
 its organization in 1636. Dr. Appleton died at the 
 age of ninety-one, having preached the gospel to the 
 same people for the long period of sixty-seven years. 
 Dr. Holmes died at seventy-four, after a happy and 
 prosperous pastorate of almost half a century. All 
 the other pastors of this church were taken away 
 in the midst of their days, and their respective min- 
 istries were comparatively short. Shepard died at 
 the age of forty -four, after a ministry of but thirteen 
 years. Mitchel, his immediate successor, preached but 
 eighteen years, dying at forty-three ; Oakes but ten ; 
 Gookin, dying at thirty-four, but ten ; Brattle but a 
 little over twenty ; Hilliard but seven ; my immediate 
 predecessor but five. These all, except the last-named, 
 died in faith, in the midst of the people to whom they 
 had broken the bread of life, and are now, we trust, in 
 heaven, worshipping God and the Lamb with a mul- 
 titude saved and glorified through their instrumen- 
 tality. 
 
 During my own ministry, commenced this day 
 twenty-five years ago, many and great changes have 
 occurred among and around us; greater, I imagine, 
 than have taken place during the same length of 
 time, in any former period of our history as a 
 city, a State, or a nation. It would be difficult 
 for a person who had been absent from this place 
 during the last quarter of a century, to recognize 
 this house, this congregation, or this city even, 
 as the same. The population of Cambridge, at 
 
22 
 
 the time of my settlement about G,000, has been 
 nearly quadrupled. The church, then feeble and 
 sorely tried by the pressure of outward circum- 
 stances, has, by the blessing of God, without which 
 no ministry could have been successful, become strong, 
 self-sustaining, and influential. A small congregation, 
 with very limited means, has gradually taken its place 
 among the most respectable for numbers and ability; 
 and this house, three times enlarged, is far better filled 
 than at first. The doctrines here preached, once a 
 stumbling-block and foolishness to the wisdom of this 
 world, have gained a position and an influence, both in 
 the city and in the University, which inspire us with 
 gratitude and with hoj)e. Death, too, and fresh life, in 
 their continual interchange, while they have not de- 
 stroyed the identity, have greatly changed the material 
 and the form of this congregation. Fathers, mothers, 
 brothers, sisters, who would have rejoiced to see this 
 day, have gone to the church triumphant; and fathers, 
 mothers, brothers, and sisters, have taken their places, 
 to carry on their work, and to follow them to their 
 rest. But five or six male heads of families, who were 
 of us when I was settled, are with us now. Who can 
 estimate the change which all these removals and 
 accessions have made in the history of this peojDle; 
 not recorded, indeed, in any book, but recognized and 
 felt in the experience of us. all? 
 
 In speaking of the dead, I may be permitted to 
 refer to the two officers of the church, Deacon Hilliard 
 
and Deacon Munro, who took an active part in my 
 settlement, and, indeed, were always active in every 
 good word and work. They have long since passed 
 away from the scene of their labors and their trials. 
 Deacon Hilliard died April 27, 1836, and Deacon Munro 
 on the 29th of May, 1848. In many respects dissimi- 
 lar, they were alike in their love of the truth, in their 
 zeal for the glory of Christ, and in their efforts and 
 sacrifices for the welfare of the church. They were, 
 as the Apostle says that deacons should' be, honest, 
 faithful, and good men, " not double-tongued, not 
 greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the 
 faith in a pure conscience." They "used the office of 
 deacon well, and purchased for themselves a good 
 degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 But upon these, and similar changes that have taken 
 place among us, I will not, and I need not dwell. Nor 
 do I desire to speak much of my own labors and 
 experiences during this long period. To tell you of 
 the number of sermons I have preached, — of the pas- 
 toral visits I have made, — of the houses of mourning 
 in which I have endeavored to perform the office of a 
 comforter, — of the number of those who have been 
 hopefully converted, or added to the church, — of the 
 funeral rites that I have performed, — of the children 
 I have baptized and dedicated to God, — of the mar- 
 riages that I have solemnized, — of the manifold efforts 
 I have made to build you up in the faith and order 
 
24 
 
 of the gospel, — would exhibit neither the significance 
 nor the value of my ministry. External and historical 
 facts are soon and easily narrated ; but the true mean- 
 ing and influence of those facts, do not always appear 
 upon the surface. They may appear imposing while 
 they are worthless. They may seem very insignificant 
 to the eye, while they send their roots into eter- 
 nity, and bear fruit which can be gathered only in 
 another world. 
 
 I have no disposition to contemplate my labors, or 
 any results of my labors, with a spirit of self-gratulation. 
 When I think of the little that I have accomplished in 
 comparison with what might have been, — of the works 
 done often in sorrow and discouragement, which now 
 seem like sowing seed upon the house-top, "which 
 withereth before it groweth up, wherewith the mower 
 filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his 
 bosom," — of the infirmity and imperfection that have 
 characterized all my efforts. — of the secret trials and 
 disturbances by which I have been continually chastised, 
 — of the hopes that have been buried far back in the 
 wilderness, — and of the account which I must render 
 of my stewardship at the bar before which I am soon to 
 appear, — I feel more inclined to keep this day as a sea- 
 son of humiliation and of tears, than of joy. If good 
 in any measure has been done, — if any soul has been 
 translated out of darkness into marvellous light, — if 
 the cause of Christ has been in any degree promoted, — 
 if the church has been edified upon the foundation 
 
25 
 
 which God has laid in Zion, — if there has been any 
 comfort of love, or fellowship of the spirit, or growth in 
 grace, — if there have been changes among and around 
 you which have placed the great truths of the gospel in 
 a more commanding position, and given to the evan- 
 gelical system a greater influence in this city, — I can 
 say, with deepest self-abasement, Not unto me, but 
 to the grace of God in Jesus Christ, be all the praise. 
 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. If I 
 had performed a thousand-fold more labor, and had 
 seen a thousand-fold greater results from my efforts, 
 yet a thorn in the flesh, — the consciousness of imper- 
 fection and unworthiness in all my ministry, — would 
 effectually subdue any tendency to self-exaltation. 
 With Paul, but at an immeasurable distance, I will 
 glory only in Him who has said to every sincere 
 though feeble instrument of promoting his cause, " My 
 grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made 
 perfect in weakness." 
 
 Instead, therefore, of dwelling any longer upon my 
 own works, it will be more profitable, in what remains 
 of my present discourse, to turn your attention to the 
 grand object of all my labors, and to the means by 
 which I have hoped to realize the end of my ministry. 
 
 The Apostle tells us that the church of God is " built 
 upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in 
 whom the whole building, fitly framed together, groweth 
 unto an holy temple in the Lord." By this figurative 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 language he shows you what doctrines the church 
 believes, upon what Saviour it relies, and with what 
 materials it is built up. Those doctrines are the 
 great truths preached by inspired apostles and 
 jorophets whom God sent forth w T ith a divine com- 
 mission to show unto men the way of life. That 
 Saviour is Jesus Christ, — God manifest in the flesh, — 
 the great prophet, priest, and king of Zion, — the elect 
 and sure groundwork which God has laid for the 
 hopes and peace of his people ; and, though there are 
 foolish builders who set at nought this precious corner- 
 stone, yet other foundation can no man lay, than that 
 which is laid in the perfect obedience, — in the sacrificial 
 offering, — in the redemptive work, — in the justify- 
 ing righteousness, — in the supreme excellence, and 
 almighty power of the eternal Word made flesh, and 
 giving up himself as an atonement for the sins of the 
 world. Those materials are believers in the doctrines 
 of apostles and prophets, — disciples of Jesus Christ, 
 taken by grace from the mass of depraved humanity, 
 as stones from a quarry, and, by the transforming in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, fitted for their place in the 
 spiritual building, and made meet for the inheritance 
 of the saints in light. 
 
 Upon that foundation, as I have said, this church 
 was originally built, and with such materials it has 
 grown to an holy temple from age to age. And 
 whatever of infirmity, or mistake, or failure, I may be 
 obliged to confess, this I can say, not in the confidence 
 
27 
 
 of boasting, but with humble gratitude to God, that 
 I have preached no other gospel to you than that 
 which Paul preached to the Corinthians, and Shepard to 
 the fathers who are now singing the song of Moses and 
 the Lamb, in the temple above. Not altogether igno- 
 rant of the philosophical and religious speculations of 
 the present clay which many regard as improvements 
 upon the doctrine of the apostles, and which a restless, 
 and somewhat conceited age is disposed to run after 
 without much reflection upon their origin or their ten- 
 dency, I have endeavored to keep to the old paths in 
 which the saints of God, in all ages, have gone to 
 heaven, and to build upon that foundation which God 
 has laid in Zion, with the gold, silver, and precious 
 stones, of souls converted, and sanctified by the Spirit 
 of grace. The great subject of my preaching, to the 
 exclusion of all topics of a merely temporary, or 
 worldly interest, has been Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
 fied ; and with this alone as the ground, the reason, 
 and the power of my ministry, I have labored to per- 
 fect the superstructure which the fathers commenced 
 in this city two hundred years ago. And God forbid 
 that I should ever in the future know, or preach any 
 thing among you, but this. Christ, the wisdom and the 
 power of God unto salvation, — Christ, the only ground 
 of a sinner's justification and acceptance with God, — 
 Christ, the vital source of all spiritual blessings and 
 hopes, — Christ, the most powerful of all motives to 
 
28 
 
 holy obedience, — Christ, through whom we have 
 access by the Holy Spirit to the Father, — Christ, the 
 prophet, priest, king, and saviour of the church, is all 
 my salvation and my desire, as I pray he may be of 
 all to whom I preach the gospel. Upon this founda- 
 tion you are safe. Every thing else is a foundation of 
 sand. 
 
 In preaching Christ, however, as the foundation of 
 the church, I have not dwelt constantly and exclusively 
 upon the fact of his incarnation, of his death, of his 
 resurrection. I have endeavored to unfold all the 
 doctrines of the apostles and prophets respecting saints 
 and sinners, — the covenant of grace, — the way of 
 salvation, — the Christian life, — and the duty of the 
 people of God, — that you may be intelligent and 
 practical believers in Christ, and, a no more children, 
 tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind 
 of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning crafti- 
 ness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but holding 
 and speaking the truth in love, may grow up into 
 him in all things who is our head: from whom the 
 whole body, fitly joined together, and compacted by 
 that which every joint supplieth, according to the 
 effectual working in the measure of every part, mak- 
 eth increase of the body to the edifying of itself in 
 love." Or, to use the figure with which the Apostle 
 sets forth the glory of the church in the text, " that 
 all the building fitly framed together" upon the true 
 
29 
 
 foundation, " may grow unto an holy temple in the 
 Lord/' and that every believer may be " builded in it 
 for a habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 
 I have spoken of the great, fundamental truths 
 upon which this church is based, and of the ministry 
 by which I have, for a quarter of a century, labored 
 to build it up in this holy faith. Let me now appeal 
 to you, my hearers, — not for a witness to my faithful- 
 ness, — not for a testimony to the value of my labors, 
 
 — but for an answer respecting the effect and influ- 
 ence of this ministry upon you. Upon what are you 
 individually building ? what is the foundation of your 
 personal hopes ? 
 
 Taught from your earliest youth the doctrines of 
 the apostles and prophets, and furnished with all 
 needful helps for the understanding of the truth as 
 it is in Jesus, it should be your first and deepest 
 desire to receive this revelation of grace into your 
 hearts, and to transmit it, with the commentary of 
 your own experience, to your children from genera- 
 tion to generation. You believe in the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost, one only living and true God, Crea- 
 tor, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, into whose name you 
 are baptized, and to whose service you are dedicated. 
 You believe all the distinguishing doctrines respecting 
 the character, offices, and relations of Jesus Christ, — 
 the personality, divinity, and work of the Holy Spirit, 
 
 — the sinfulness of the human heart, — the terms of 
 salvation, — the future judgment, and an eternal state 
 
30 
 
 of rewards and punishments in another world, — pro- 
 fessed by our fathers at the organization of this 
 church, and taught as essential by all its pastors. 
 You believe that those doctrines, unfolded in the 
 Scriptures, and constituting the foundation of the 
 church, are of infinite importance to every soul. This 
 is your faith. So we preach, and so ye believe. May 
 these principles be taught and believed in this church 
 until the Son of Man shall come to take account of 
 his servants. " May the father to the children make 
 known his truth," and "your children tell their chil- 
 dren, and their children another generation." And 
 palsied be the tongue that in this pulpit shall ever 
 deny the Lord who has redeemed the church with 
 his precious blood, or teach for doctrines the com- 
 mandments of men. 
 
 But remember that religion is a personal experience 
 of the power and value of these doctrines. The truth 
 may be held in unrighteousness, and the grace of God 
 be made an argument for impenitence and sin. A 
 merely intellectual faith may coexist with unholy 
 affections, and a soul alienated from the life of God. 
 You must believe with the heart unto righteousness, 
 and confess with the mouth unto salvation. There 
 must be a spiritual harmony between the convictions 
 of the understanding, the assent of the will, and the 
 current of the life. Faith must purify the heart, and 
 overcome the world. Hope must rest upon Christ, 
 formed in the soul. Love must be sanctified by a coal 
 

 from the altar of God. Life must be filled with the 
 fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to 
 the glory and praise of God. You are called to be 
 saints, not merely believers. The inscription upon 
 the breastplate of the pastor, upon the church, upon 
 your family altars, upon your hearts, should be Holi- 
 ness to the Lord. Your assemblies for public worship 
 should be holy convocations. You should come to 
 ask the way to Zion, with your faces thitherward. 
 And in all your efforts to build up a religious congre- 
 gation, you should have supreme respect to the glory 
 of Christ, the chief corner-stone. 
 
 It is a solemn question, then, what practical influ- 
 ence the truth which you profess to believe has exerted 
 upon your hearts and lives? Let it come home to 
 every individual soul ; and let no one give sleep to 
 his eyes, or slumber to his eyelids, until he has evi- 
 dence that he is not only built by profession upon the 
 truth, but that he is builded in it, for an habitation 
 of God through the Spirit. 
 
 My hearers, we meet together to-day upon the foun- 
 dation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ 
 himself being the chief corner-stone, and under that 
 banner of truth and love which has waved over this 
 church from the days of the Pilgrims until now. We 
 meet as pastor and people in the name of Christ, 
 who is head over all things to the church which he 
 has redeemed by his precious blood. We meet to 
 raise a monument to the loving-kindness of the 
 
32 
 
 Lord, who, amidst many errors and delinquencies, has 
 never left himself without witness among us. We 
 meet to give testimony to the value of those religious 
 principles which the experience of all ages has proved 
 to be of divine origin and of saving power. 
 
 We shall not observe this anniversary again together. 
 Before another quarter of a century shall have meas- 
 ured out its years of trial, of sorrow, and of joy, a 
 large portion of this congregation, including the pas- 
 tor, will have heard from the lips of the Great Head 
 of the church, the sentence of life or of death eternal. 
 May we all, in a good conscience, and with faith 
 unfeigned, hold fast those precious truths which we 
 publicly profess. And when the present generation 
 of believers shall have joined the church of the first- 
 born, which are written in heaven, may those who 
 come after us, standing upon the same foundation, be 
 able to point to our times, as we do to those of the 
 apostles and prophets, as confirmatory and illustra- 
 tive of the great and precious doctrines which are 
 the ground of all Christian hope, and the life of all 
 piety and religious joy. 
 
THE 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF A MEETING 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE OF 
 
 THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 JOHN A. ALBRO, D.D. 
 
 AS PASTOR OF THE 
 
 FIRST CHURCH AND SHEPARD SOCIETY, 
 
 HELD APRIL 18, 1860. 
 
P R O C E E D I X G S . 
 
 Pursuant to a vote of the congregation, and under the direc- 
 tion of the committee of arrangements, public services were held in 
 the church at the corner of Holyoke and Mount Auburn streets, 
 Wednesday, April 18, 1860, at 7 o'clock, p. M. 
 
 The exercises of the evening were commenced by Hon. S. T. 
 Farwell, chairman of the committee, with the following intro- 
 ductory remarks : — 
 
 On the fifteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and thirty- 
 five, Rev. Dr. Albro was installed pastor of the church and 
 society worshipping in this house. That event was fitly com- 
 memorated by him in the interesting services of last Sabbath. 
 
 The congregation, including both church and society, desire, 
 on their part, in the exercises of this evening, to express their 
 gratitude in view of this long and happy connection ; and at the 
 same time leave a memorial to their successors of this twenty- 
 fifth anniversary of the settlement of their pastor. 
 
 The thoughts suggested at this hour naturally carry us back 
 to the time when this society was a feeble band — small in num- 
 bers and in resources — when the institutions of the gospel 
 were maintained with much labor and sacrifice. In recalling the 
 early history of this period, we would not forget those generous 
 and devoted friends in the neighboring city whose aid and assist- 
 
tance were freely given in the time of our need. But with 
 gratitude be it said, the blessing of God rested upon this peo- 
 ple in the days of their weakness ; and in a short time the 
 society had no longer need of aid from abroad, but were able 
 not only to sustain themselves, but to extend a helping hand to 
 others, and thus return to other fields of want the bounty so 
 liberally bestowed on this society, during the time of its early 
 struggles. As was said by our pastor last Sabbath, thrice 
 have we found our place of worship too strait for the congrega- 
 tion, and as many times has it been enlarged. Cut off one fourth 
 from its length ; bring in the side walls, to the line of columns 
 on either hand, and you have the dimensions of the interior of 
 this edifice as it was in the beginning of the period under 
 revieAY. These several enlargements may be taken as indica- 
 tions of the steady growth of the church and society to the 
 present time. For very much of this outward prosperity, as 
 well as for that higher success which has been manifested in 
 the spiritual welfare of the church, — in the turning of sinners 
 from the error of their ways, — in the consecration of parents 
 and children, of brothers and sisters to the Christian work 
 of holy living and believing, — we are indebted, under God, to 
 the labors of his servant who, coming among us in our day of 
 small things, has labored in season and out of season, preach- 
 ing the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour, with such 
 tokens as these, of the divine favor, manifested all along the 
 passing years that have gone to make up the quarter of a 
 century now closed. The changes which twenty-five years have 
 wrought among this people, are significantly illustrated in another 
 remark of our pastor, that, of the heads of families with us at 
 the beginning, only six or seven remain to-day. A large pro- 
 portion of the changes that are continually going on in the 
 membership of the church and society, are occasioned by the 
 
37 
 
 frequent removals to and from our city. To these must be 
 added the sadder removals, from the city of the living to the 
 city of the dead. Busy memory recalls at this hour the forms 
 of many of the venerated and loved, who are no longer in the 
 flesh: — Rev. Dr. Holmes, who for nearly forty years was the 
 able and faithful pastor of this flock, going in and out before 
 them, and breaking unto them the bread of life ; Dea. Hil- 
 liard and Dea. Munro, steadfast and efficient Avorkers and office- 
 bearers in the church at the time when their Master's cause 
 demanded a persistent zeal and self-sacrifice ; the brother of the 
 last named, Mr. Nathaniel Munroe, the sweet singer in our 
 Israel whose soul seemed as finely attuned to the harmonies of 
 heaven, as his voice was to those of earth ; our aged friend, 
 Mr. Samuel Sawyer, who dwelt almost literally under the drop- 
 pings of the sanctuary, always present at the hour of public 
 worship and in the social meetings of the church ; Mr. Allston, 
 a devout worshipper in this Christian temple, for the chaste and 
 simple beauty of which, as it was originally designed and built, 
 the society were indebted to him ; these, and many more, of whom 
 time would fail me to speak, have passed away and their record 
 is on high. 
 
 But we turn from the past to the pleasant duties of the present 
 hour. And it only remains for me to welcome back to these seats 
 those with whom in other days we have taken sweet counsel to- 
 gather, and walked to the house of God in company ; to welcome 
 the predecessor of our pastor to the place of his early labors. To 
 these, and to all the guests and friends gathered here upon this 
 interesting anniversary, in behalf of the church and society, I 
 bid a cordial welcome. 
 
 Prayer was offered by Rev. Lyman Whiting, of Providence, 
 R. I., formerly a member of this church. 
 
38 
 
 Selections from the Scriptures were read by Rev. James H. 
 Means, of Dorchester, Mass., at the close of which the children 
 of the Sabbath school sung the following hymn, written for the 
 occasion by Miss Elizabeth L. Willard. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 Tune, Oak. 
 
 Saviour, we come to Thee, 
 
 Hear, hear our prayer ; 
 Thou who by faith we see, 
 
 Come, come Thou near ; 
 Come by Thy Spirit's power, 
 Bless the worship of this hour, 
 Accept the songs of praise 
 
 We raise to Thee. 
 
 Lambs of the flock are we, 
 
 Seeking thy care ; 
 E'er with our Shepherd be, 
 
 Now is our prayer; 
 Long has he led the way, 
 To those pastures ever green ; 
 There oft we 've heard him say, 
 
 Peace dwells within. 
 
 Bless him, while life shall last, 
 
 Shepherd on high ; 
 And when death's stream is past. 
 
 Bring us all nigh, 
 Where, with the countless throng, 
 We will ever raise our song, 
 And there our notes prolong, 
 
 Praising Thy name. 
 
 The meeting was then addressed by Zelotes Hosmer, Esq., 
 in behalf of the church. Mr. Hosmer said : — 
 
39 
 
 It would have been much more congenial to my own feelings if 
 allowed my choice to have been a listener, rather than a speaker, 
 on this pleasant occasion ; and it can only be owing to the fact 
 that I have been so long a resident here, that I can have any 
 claim to the place assigned me. 
 
 The occasion which has called us together is, in these days of 
 change, one of rare occurrence. Such is the instability of the 
 pastoral' relation, that a minister at his installation almost needs, 
 like the knight of feudal times, to be " booted and spurred, with 
 his steed at the door," ready for the next parish. Such a red- 
 letter day as this in the calendar of the church, where the relation 
 of pastor and people has continued for five and twenty years, 
 with so much good accomplished, — so many pleasant recollections 
 of the past, and such prospects for the future, — may well demand 
 more than a passing notice. 
 
 It was in the winter of 1834 that he who now addresses you, 
 — then a member of the Essex Street Church, Boston, — in com- 
 pany with an honored member of that church, and who is with us 
 this evening, spent part of a day in the study of Rev. Dr. Adams, 
 then pastor of this church, to persuade him to accept a call just 
 given him in Boston. The transaction seems but as of yesterday ; 
 and when, some three years later, I came to Cambridge to sit 
 under your preaching, I was reminded by some of Dr. Adams' 
 warm personal friends, that it was but a righteous judgment upon 
 me for that act. Now, without discriminating between the two, 
 I hope the rod has been borne with as much meekness as usually 
 falls to the lot of those who are called to endure afflictions in this 
 world of trial. 
 
 On an occasion like the present, the thoughts instinctively 
 revert to the early history of the settlement of our pastor, — and 
 there are yet many living who will readily recall those days of 
 small things, — when the income from the pew tax and subscrip- 
 
40 
 
 tions was insufficient for the support of public worship in the most 
 economical manner, — when the church was small, and the attend- 
 ance limited, — when, after two or three years of labor, the health 
 of the pastor was seriously impaired, and it seemed as if we must 
 depend upon the charity of others or abandon the work. During 
 all these early years of weakness, no measures of doubtful expe- 
 diency were resorted to by either pastor or people ; but with sim- 
 ple reliance upon the ordinary work of the ministry, they labored, 
 and the result is known to all. If all pastors were to pursue the 
 same course, and all churches were satisfied with the preaching of 
 the gospel and the appropriate work of the ministry, there is rea- 
 son to believe the relation between pastor and people would be 
 more affectionate in character, and more permanent than is 
 now the case. 
 
 As our churches are formed on the voluntary plan, every person 
 is presumed to choose his pastor, and his place of worship, from a 
 general concurrence of belief in such doctrines as are appropriate 
 subjects for discussion in the pulpit. In all other matters, — in 
 temperance — in politics — in questions of moral reform — in the 
 usages and customs of social life — or sins, if you choose to call 
 them such, — in all these, members of the same church may 
 widely differ, not only in opinion, but in the remedial measures 
 adopted to cure them. Now it must be apparent that the pastor 
 who, from his own choice or from importunity from others, enters 
 upon the discussion of such topics from the pulpit, will very 
 likely offend those who differ from him. He has his political rights 
 as a citizen, to be exercised most freely at the proper time and 
 place, — but not from the pulpit. The fault, however, is not always 
 with the minister alone. Some good brother, full of zeal for the 
 honor of God, and fearful, as was Uzzah, would lay a rash hand 
 upon the Ark, and would enlist the pulpit to stay the evil, which 
 to his eye is above all other sins. Happy is that church, and 
 
41 
 
 happy that pastor who has the courage to act within his commis- 
 sion, and use the pulpit for its legitimate purpose, — the preach- 
 ing of the gospel. I have spoken thus freely in this matter 
 because it is in accordance with the practice of our pastor, and, 
 I believe, the wishes of his people. 
 
 A Christian poet has given us his idea of a preacher in the 
 following beautiful description : 
 
 " I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; 
 In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain, 
 And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, 
 And natural in gesture ; much impressed 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
 And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
 May feel it too ; affectionate in look, 
 And tender in address, as well becomes 
 A messenger of grace to guilty man. 
 
 His theme divine, 
 
 His office sacred, his credentials clear. 
 
 By him the violated law speaks out 
 
 Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet 
 
 As angels use, the gospel whispers peace. 
 
 He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak, 
 
 Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart, 
 
 And armed himself in panoply complete, 
 
 Of heavenly temper, furbishes with arms 
 
 Bright as his own, and trains, by every rule 
 
 Of holy discipline, to glorious war 
 
 The sacramental host of God's elect." 
 
 But it is not alone as a preacher, as the poet here contem- 
 plates him, but as a pastor, that he exercises a power over his 
 people. In the joyful family gatherings when a long absent child 
 returns, whom he baptized in infancy, whom he watched over in 
 early years, and for whom he has often prayed, — when the young 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 in obedience to the law of God, forsaking father and mother, go 
 out to establish a home of their own, — a time like an April day, in 
 which it is hard to say whether sunshine or tears are to prevail, — 
 or the sad time when the pastor comes to the sick chamber to min- 
 ister consolation to the departing, — or that most trying of all, when 
 the golden cord has been broken, and, like Abraham of old, we 
 must bury our dead out of our sight, — how welcome, then, the 
 presence of the beloved pastor to whom for years we have looked 
 for instruction and for consolation amid scenes like these. 
 
 With such a hold upon the affections as circumstances like 
 these will give a pastor over the hearts of his people, why should not 
 the relation be a permanent one ? And why should not the scene 
 of his active labors be at the last the place of his rest ? It was 
 regarded among the Jews as a great calamity not to be gathered 
 unto their fathers in burial. Joseph, when dying, would not be 
 buried in Egypt, but must rest with his brethren in the land of 
 promise ; and when David, in the fulness of his heart, proposed to 
 reward his benefactor Barzillai with a seat at his own table in 
 Jerusalem, " Let me die in mine own city, and be buried by the 
 grave of my father and of my mother," was his reply ; and such 
 are the instinctive feelings of humanity in all ages. Let us be 
 thankful that for five and twenty years we have enjoyed the faith- 
 ful preaching of God's Word from a faithful teacher, and trust that 
 here may be his place of rest, and I am sure you will all join with 
 me in the expression of the hope, that his ministry may be long 
 continued, and that when it is ended, it may appear that he has 
 not labored in vain, nor that we have heard in vain, the gospel 
 from his lips. 
 
 The congregation now joined in singing the following hymn by 
 William A. Brewer, Esq., to the tune of " Hamburg." 
 
43 
 
 GOD'S PROGRESSIVE CARE OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 God of our fathers, we recount 
 Thy favor to thy Church of old ; 
 
 When in the vale, or on the mount, 
 Thou didst protect thy chosen fold. 
 
 In wildernesses at the first, 
 
 Patriarch shepherds smote the rock, 
 And water flowed to slake the thirst, 
 
 And manna rained to feed the flock. 
 
 In later years the Prophet's tongue, 
 Touched with a living coal of love, 
 
 Proclaimed to sinners, old and young, 
 A Savior coming from above. 
 
 At length Apostles saw the sight 
 Which many kings desired to see : 
 
 The earth was filled. with heavenly light, 
 By him who died on Calvary. 
 
 Symbols and types and prophecies 
 Were all fulfilled in Christ, the Lord ; 
 
 Thenceforth the Gospel Church must rise, 
 And feed upon the preached word. 
 
 Shepherd of shepherds, from thy hand, 
 Ascension gifts to us have come ; 
 
 Pastors and Teachers foremost stand, 
 To draw man to his heavenly home. 
 
 We celebrate thy watchful care ; 
 
 We love thy under-shepherd, Lord ; 
 And may thy grace, through him, prepare 
 
 All hearts to live in sweet accord. 
 
44 
 
 The sheep and lambs, in thy own name, 
 
 These many years his hand has fed; 
 In many more may he proclaim 
 
 Thy word, till all to Christ are led. 
 
 So when life's weary day is o'er, 
 
 And God his jewels does recount, 
 May we arrive on Canaan's shore, 
 
 And ever dwell in Zion's mount. 
 
 Hon. Joel Parker, LL. D., in behalf of the society, de- 
 livered the following address : — 
 
 I have been requested to say a few words in behalf of 
 the Shepard Congregational Society. 
 
 The great fact which brings us together at this time, — one 
 which is present to all our minds, — is the fact that the relation 
 of pastor and people, of minister and church and society, has 
 now existed between the Rev. Dr. Albro on the one part, and 
 the First Church in Cambridge and the Shepard Congregational 
 Society, for the period of twenty-five years ; — a full quarter of 
 a century. 
 
 The existence of such a relation, for such a period, is, at 
 the present day, a fact of very marked significance ; although 
 the time when such a circumstance, in many parishes, would 
 have carried with it no very conclusive inferences, is within 
 the memory of many of us. 
 
 In the earlier history of New England, when parishes 
 were mostly territorial, in many instances embracing the whole 
 town, — when the pastor was the minister of the town, — when 
 his salary was raised, like other public charges, by an assessment 
 of taxes upon all the taxable persons and property within the town 
 (with a few exceptions, in which the exemption in order to be 
 allowed must be shown affirmatively to exist), a pastoral relation 
 of a quarter of a century was little more significant than the ex- 
 
45 
 
 istence of the marriage relation for a like period ; although it 
 was not perhaps quite as frequent, in proportion to the numbers 
 existing of the one and the other. The relation once formed 
 was understood to be (extraordinaries excepted) one for the life 
 of the minister. 
 
 Unlike the marriage relation there might be a dissolution of 
 the obligations of the contract if a greater field of usefulness 
 appeared to be offered to the minister ; and changes of his opin- 
 ions might be such as to furnish cause for divorce ; but like the 
 obligations of the marriage relation, considerations having regard 
 to the original inexpediency of the contract, infirmities of temper 
 on the one part or on the other, and even a lack of affection, 
 although they might furnish a reason for calling a council of 
 friends to give advice ; were rarely regarded, without something 
 superadded, as a good cause for a dissolution of the obligation 
 of the pastoral relation, and a termination of its duties. 
 
 Whether the change of the laws, by reason of which the 
 obligations of the contract which binds pastor and people together 
 can be more easily terminated, and the change of views in the 
 community, so that the existence of the pastoral office is very 
 much at the will of the incumbent, and the continuance of the 
 relation is very nearly at the will of the other party, operate 
 beneficially, is a question with which we have no concern upon 
 this occasion. 
 
 It is, however, to our present purpose that this greater 
 facility of dissolution gives a high significance to a long duration 
 of such a connection wherever and whenever it exists. It speaks 
 of a unity of sentiment and purpose on the part of pastor and 
 people, with a conclusive assurance not to be mistaken. It leads 
 to the irresistible belief that a harmony of thought and feeling, 
 a concordance of opinion, and a concert of action of large extent 
 and measure, must have existed among the parties. 
 
 
46 
 
 This unity and harmony is the first subject to which we turn 
 our attention to-night. We infer it from the mere connection of 
 minister and congregation for so long a period. We turn to our 
 own observation, and our reminiscences attest it ; we inquire and 
 are assured that it is not a matter respecting which a doubt can 
 be admitted. The testimony comes from those who witnessed the 
 installation twenty-five years ago, and who have borne the heat and 
 burden of the day since that time, following the footsteps of the 
 pastor from that period, as well as from those who have worked 
 in this vineyard but from the eleventh hour. It has been 
 proved and established by the esteem of the aged, by the respect 
 of manhood, and by the affection of youth. 
 
 " E'en children followed with endearing wile, 
 And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile." 
 
 You will not understand me to assert that this unity of 
 thought and opinion has pervaded the entire congregation at 
 all times, upon all occasions, and with reference to all subjects. 
 That were an assertion of complete union in error, or of a per- 
 fection to which no congregation ever attained. In the changes 
 of twenty-five years in any place, and especially in a city which 
 in that period has nearly quadrupled its population ; in the intro- 
 duction, which under such circumstances must take place, of 
 many new members into a church and congregation, bringing 
 with them their preconceived notions respecting modes of belief, 
 their peculiar ideas respecting reforms, and their diverse tastes, 
 perfect agreement long continued would be an utter impossibility, 
 even if it existed in the outset. And still further, such entire 
 concord, in this imperfect state of existence, is hardly to be de- 
 sired. If not objectionable because conceived in error, it would 
 soon degenerate into stagnation. 
 
 As a community, however, we are in no danger of that. 
 
47 
 
 " Ism " is a syllable of such extensive use in English orthography, 
 that it seems to deserve a separate and independent existence ; 
 and about the only defect which I have discovered in the very 
 excellent work of my good friend Dr. Worcester, is, that he has 
 not recognized this particle as a legitimate or illegitimate word, — 
 not as a synonym of "notion," — but a word well adapted to 
 express an idea of irregular dogmas of all sorts, conditions, 
 colors, and phases. " Isms " are as plenty as blackberries, and 
 people not only give them to us without compulsion, but they 
 press them upon our acceptance as patent medicines are urged 
 upon our credulity, and cram them down our throats by the dozen 
 so, in quick succession. Or the " ism " perhaps takes the shape 
 of disease itself, and then becomes contagious, infecting some- 
 times whole neighborhoods. 
 
 Now it would be singular indeed if some of us did not oc- 
 casionally indulge in the luxury of an ism, or become some- 
 times infected with one, as well as the rest of the world. And 
 the natural operation of an isin upon the party affected is that of 
 extreme wonder why others do not perceive the new light which 
 he thinks he has discovered, and with the precise flickering which 
 commends it to his vision ; or why others do not exhibit the same 
 cuticular manifestations which impel him to very remarkable 
 activity. 
 
 I beg then to be understood that there may have been some- 
 thing of human infirmity among us ; although I profess to have 
 no particular knowledge of any thing of the kind. But some of 
 us may, at some time, have had our favorite lights, and shadows, 
 and fancies. There may have been times in which one desired 
 less of doctrine, and more discussion of a practical character ; 
 another a finer point to an argument ; another a more complete 
 rhetorical flourish ; another a wider range of illustration ; and 
 still another a less literal interpretation. 
 
48 
 
 If it has been so, these have been the exceptions, and not 
 the rule ; and exceptions, as we know, are said to prove the rule. 
 But in this case the exceptions have hardly been sufficient, of 
 themselves, to furnish the evidence. 
 
 From this union of thought and action, and from this large 
 measure of satisfaction, we readily and clearly deduce inferences 
 respecting the talents and ability of the pastor ; his 
 
 LEARNING AND ELOQUENCE ; HIS FAITHFULNESS ; HIS KINDLY IN- 
 TERCOURSE ; and His sound logic ; which need only to be 
 named to be comprehended and appreciated. 
 
 The last inference which I have just stated leads me to 
 another remark. 
 
 Will you charge me with an undue estimate of the impor- 
 tance of the principles of a profession to which I have devoted 
 a life, if I infer, personally, that the soundness of his arguments 
 has been in some small degree due to the fact that the pastor, 
 prior to his theological education, was for some time a student of 
 the law ? 
 
 The great importance of a correct comprehension of legal 
 principles, by the clergy in general, presses itself upon my mind, 
 Avith increasing force, year by year. Lack of reverence for 
 authority is fast becoming, if it has not already become, a 
 marked characteristic of the age. Those who train under that 
 banner have invaded the precincts of the law, and carried its 
 fortress by open assault ; and it would seem that its principles 
 have been regarded as the spoils of the victors, and distributed 
 broadcast among their adherents, who exercise dominion over 
 them according to the law of conquest. It may well be sup- 
 posed that the character of those captured legal principles has 
 not been improved by their compulsory service under their new 
 masters. Every man has thus become, or may become, his own 
 lawyer, and not only so, but he may take upon himself to be the 
 
49 
 
 lawyer of everybody else, and to know more of the principles of 
 law (as modified by the conquest, and by their new servitude) 
 than the assembled wisdom of the bench itself. I need not say 
 that the law and its administration have not been improved, and 
 cannot be amended, by a disregard or perversion of its funda- 
 mental principles ; nor can the peace of the community, nor the 
 welfare of the State, nor the durability of our institutions, be 
 promoted by any decrease of the reverence heretofore entertained 
 for its authority. Law, in a popular government, needs the sup- 
 port, the practical support, of all the people ; and it should be 
 the polar star to which all look who assume to teach the people. 
 
 I beg you to believe that these remarks have no reference 
 to any criticisms which have been made upon any decisions of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. I give that court up 
 to all the buffetings that any one pleases to bestow upon it, — 
 provided alivays, that the blows are scientifically administered, 
 according to sound legal principles. 
 
 What I wish to say further, is, that in a reasonably diligent 
 attendance, for the period of more than twelve years, upon the 
 stated services of liim to whom we now desire to render due honor ; 
 I have never known him to confuse the minds of his auditors 
 by the enunciation of an unsound legal principle, nor mislead 
 them by a specious but erroneous legal argument. But I well 
 recollect that years since, on meeting him one morning, I re- 
 marked with great satisfaction : " Sir, if you had not studied the 
 law, you could not have preached yesterday's sermon." 
 
 Next to harmony among ourselves, the harmony of our rela- 
 tions with those around us stands prominent to our observation. 
 
 It seems to be a historical fact, that Harvard College was 
 located at this place, rather than any other, because of the exist- 
 ence of the church then under the pastoral care of the Rev. 
 Thomas Shepard. The present members of the corporation which 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 has the immediate supervision of the concerns of the College, are 
 not supposed to subscribe to the precise articles of belief, or to 
 assent to all the theological dogmas, to -which this church and 
 congregation are understood more or less closely to adhere. The 
 Institution certainly numbers among its officers of government 
 and instruction, in some of its departments, at the present 
 time, those, who in their public teachings inculcate tenets 
 more or less at variance with those taught by our pastor. 
 But the regular attendance, every Sabbath, of numbers of the 
 students upon the public services of this society ; the appoint- 
 ment of the pastor as one of the visiting committee of the 
 Theological school connected with the University ; the fact that 
 the Institution has conferred upon him its highest theological 
 degree ; and, above all, the personal presence of the learned Pres- 
 ident of the College, who honors us to-night for the purpose of 
 attesting his appreciation of the character of the pastor, and his 
 sympathy with the feelings of this assemblage, — with the pres- 
 ence of members of its different Faculties for the same purpose ; 
 seem fully to exemplify the amicable, respectful, and harmonious 
 relations which subsist, and have subsisted, between this society 
 and Harvard College for a quarter of a century ; and which it 
 is devoutly to be hoped that no lapse of time, and no cause of 
 difference, will ever destroy. 
 
 We live also in the midst of numerous congregations, of 
 many and various shades of religious belief ; and of course differ- 
 ing in a greater or less degree from the form which marks that 
 of orthodox Congregationalism. Equally well attested by the 
 history of the last twenty-five years, and by the presence of 
 distinguished pastors of those congregations, is the friendly rela- 
 tion sustained by this society and its pastor, with those societies 
 and their respective heads. Differing, as they do and must do, 
 — fundamentally, if you please to use that term, — these differ- 
 
51 
 
 ences have not been permitted to degenerate into personal hostil- 
 ities, or an embittered warfare. 
 
 From these facts certain other inferences seem to me logically 
 to follow ; which I crave your indulgence for suggesting, but 
 with all possible brevity. 
 
 First. Harvard College, under the immediate supervision of 
 a corporation such as I have described, and with its officers of 
 government, and instruction such as they will be found to be on 
 inquiry, is not a sectarian institution, in any offensive sense of 
 that term. If I am in an error on this subject, the learned 
 President will set me right. 
 
 Second. They illustrate the character of the pastor, who has 
 certainly done his part to promote this courtesy and amity. 
 Whatever may be the differences of opinion, we admit that 
 others may be as much attached to their modes of thinking, and 
 to their articles of belief, as we are to our own ; and estimable 
 as we know our friends to be, and great as is their kindness of 
 heart, we are full well assured that they would be prompt to 
 make defence of their principles, and of themselves, against any 
 direct or formal attack. But while maintaining his own views 
 with undoubted and uncompromising faithfulness, I am assured 
 that the instance has not occurred, within the whole quarter of 
 a century, of any hostile collision between the pastor of this 
 people, and any other pastor in this city, or elsewhere. 
 
 Third. Last but not least, — Orthodoxy is not necessarily a 
 belligerent form of religious belief, as respects persons, notwith- 
 standing its church is a church militant. It makes no war upon 
 persons. It necessarily wages an uncompromising warfare against 
 sin and iniquity, in all their forms. All churches having any 
 pretensions to a Christian character must do so. But orthodoxy 
 may do this without personal hostility, for we see and know that 
 it has so done for a quarter of a century. 
 
52 
 
 Orthodoxy, while it has none of that charity which is the 
 offspring of an indifference to principle, — while it stands stead- 
 fast by its faith, — has that charity which is kind, rejoiceth in 
 the truth, hopeth all things, and if need be endureth all things. 
 This is the charity which never faileth. 
 
 Genuine orthodoxy is like the wisdom from above, in this, 
 that it is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be 
 entreated ; and then, and then only, is it full of mercy and good 
 fruits. 
 
 Reverend and dear Sir, — It only remains for me', in behalf 
 of the members of this society, to tender to you their heartfelt 
 congratulations upon this interesting anniversary, and our fervent 
 wishes for the long continuance of our present connection as 
 pastor and people. 
 
 Understanding and appreciating the delicacy of feeling which 
 would lead you rather to shun than to court notoriety ; we have 
 nevertheless desired to make a public manifestation of our high 
 regard for your personal character, and of the great satisfaction 
 we have taken in your pastoral and public ministrations. We 
 have done this, not because we supposed it to be necessary thus 
 to assure you of the respectful and affectionate estimation in 
 which you are held by a people, to whom we doubt not that 
 you are attached by ties of strong regard and confidence ; nor 
 because we believe that it would give any additional assurance 
 of our respect and veneration to those around us, and who have 
 kindly cheered us with their presence ; but because we desire 
 to leave for after-times a memorial of this day, and of the feel- 
 ings and sentiments which attend it. We have desired to make 
 a record by which — 
 
 We may tell it to our sons, 
 And they again to theirs ; — 
 
53 
 
 That it may strengthen the faith, enlarge the good works, 
 uphold the hands, and encourage the hearts, of others who shall 
 occupy our places, not only at the end of the next quarter of a 
 century, but in all coming time so long as that memorial shall 
 exist. 
 
 President Felton, of Harvard University, followed, and refer- 
 ring to Judge Parker's allusion to the ever-friendly relations be- 
 tween the College and this society and its pastor, responded as 
 follows : — 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Friends: 
 
 I thank you for the honor and pleasure you have done me by 
 your kind and neighborly invitation to share in the services of this 
 evening. It is an occasion of no common interest, and I am 
 happy to respond to the feeling which gave rise to it. My friend 
 and colleague, Chief Justice Parker, remarked that Harvard Uni- 
 versity is not a sectarian institution, in any offensive sense of the 
 term. I think I have a right to say that such a tribute to the 
 character of the University is true ; and in claiming this praise 
 for my Alma Mater, I am claiming no part of it for myself. My 
 long connection with the University has been in a department of 
 literature, until a few weeks ago ; and the honor belongs to the 
 eminent men who have shaped its character and directed its affairs 
 before me. When the Chief Justice alluded to the " learned 
 President," he turned, and his eye fell, where no doubt the 
 thoughts of all in this assembly followed, upon the venerable 
 man, my predecessor who sits near me, to whose wise and able 
 administration during seven years, all who have been associated 
 with him or under his care have been so deeply indebted. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I cordially agree with all that has been said 
 tending to the promotion of Christian harmony. What we most 
 
54 
 
 need, in this age, is unity in diversity. The passage of Scripture 
 read by the reverend gentleman near rne, commands us to be " of 
 one mind," — not of one opinion. The difference between mind 
 and opinion is broad and deep. There are many opinions current 
 in the world which have no connection whatever with the mind. 
 We must not expect all men to agree in religious opinion ; but the 
 older I have grown, the more I have seen of the world, the more 
 I have watched the effects of Christian education upon the char- 
 acter and happiness of men, the less important seem to me the 
 differences which separate the different branches of the Christian 
 church, compared with the great points of agreement which unite 
 them, — until finally the differences have sunk, in my estima- 
 tion, to infinite insignificance. In my youth I was accustomed to 
 read a great deal of theological controversy ; but for many years 
 that reading has lost all its interest for me. It is a long, long 
 time since I have read a book, an article, or even a paragraph 
 of " polemical theology." I have even sometimes indulged the 
 dream, that in some happy age, by a blessed consummation of 
 Christian charity, all the varying voices of the church, from every 
 quarter under heaven, shall blend and unite in one grand har- 
 mony, — that the believers of every sect, while holding their par- 
 ticular views, may yet recognize the great brotherhood, into which 
 a truly Christian unity of spirit shall bind them ; as the chime of 
 yonder evening bells, to which we listened as we came up to this 
 sacred place, while each differs from the others in tone, move the 
 vocal air with their delightful harmonies. 
 
 " How sweetly did tbey float upon the wings 
 Of Silence, through the empty-vaulted night." 
 
 I confess, Mr. Chairman, that I am old enough and old-fashioned 
 enough to regard a clergyman who worthily performs the duties 
 of his great office, with different feelings from those with which I 
 
55 
 
 look upon other men. I cannot forget that his studies and med- 
 itations are upon subjects that belong to a higher sphere than the 
 interests of common life ; I cannot forget that his lips utter the 
 benediction, Avhich makes of marriage, not a civil contract, but a 
 holy sacrament ; that his hand sprinkles the baptismal water upon 
 the brow of infancy, consecrating it to God ; that when those near- 
 est and dearest to us are taken away, through his voice we lift up 
 our hearts to the Eternal Father for consolation under our sorrows, 
 and strength to bear our bereavement. 
 
 So regarding the clergyman, I cannot help feeling that his re- 
 lation to his people ought to be a permanent one. The services he 
 renders are not " professional," nor are his parishioners clients. 
 They are not bound together by business ties, but by the most 
 sacred bonds that can bring human beings into each other's socie- 
 ty. That kind of settlement, so graphically illustrated by Mr. 
 Hosmer, with the horse all saddled and bridled, standing at the 
 door to take the minister to his next parish, is an evil custom, and 
 ominous of evil to the highest interests of society. The unhappy 
 results we see in many a sad case around us. Some of the causes 
 of it have been intimated ; and I think they may be partly attrib- 
 uted to the clergymen themselves, in not maintaining with suffi- 
 cient firmness the dignity and impartiality of the pulpit. We live 
 in an age of violent agitations. Public opinion runs into excesses 
 on every imaginable subject : on reform and conservatism ; slavery 
 and anti-slavery ; total abstinence and temperance. Men are not 
 content to assail the evils which afflict' the world ; but they waste 
 their energies in quarrelling about the means and methods of re- 
 moving them. The state of public opinion is like a stormy sea, 
 over which the winds sweep from every quarter of the heavens : 
 
 " Una Eurusque, Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis 
 Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora fluctus," — 
 
56 
 
 they surge against the sanctuary, and undermine the foundations 
 of the pulpit : and what wonder if sometimes it topples over and 
 is swept away ? But there are some pleasant exceptions ; and 
 one of them it is the happiness of this ancient and historical society 
 to exemplify. I am here not only to represent the University on 
 this pleasant occasion, but to represent myself. I join as heartily 
 in all the honors you are paying your excellent pastor as if I were 
 a member of the society. I have known him in public and in 
 private ever since he came to this town. I think I have known 
 him longer than most of the — I was going to say venerable 
 men around me ; — but I have been so long a resident here 
 that I fear if I applied that epithet to them, they might turn 
 upon me and ask, "if we are venerable, what in the world are 
 you? " I have been so long here, that I sometimes fancy I am 
 that mythical personage, the " oldest inhabitant," who " has no 
 recollection " of so many things. At all events, your pastor and 
 myself have been on the most cordial terms for the quarter of 
 a century that he has been settled over you, the happy com- 
 pletion of which is the theme of your congratulations to-night. 
 At first sight, it seems strange to congratulate a man for hav- 
 ing finished so large a part of his life. The wise ancients have a 
 saying, that we must call no man happy until he has ended his 
 life without suffering calamity. This principle was founded upon 
 a deep and philosophical view of human life and character. No 
 doubt the happiest moment the good man is conscious of enjoy- 
 ing in this world, is the moment when — his earthly task accom- 
 plished, his labors over, his work faithfully done according to the 
 measure of his ability, — his conscience approving all the while 
 ■ — he receives the Master's summons, and knows that he shall 
 be greeted with the divine salutation, " Well done, good and faith- 
 ful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The moment 
 that closes a long period of life and stamps it with the Lord's 
 
57 
 
 " well done " — is a fitting moment of gratulation and solemn joy. 
 I join you, in tendering to your pastor and my friend, my hearty 
 congratulations on this happy occasion. I trust his days may be 
 prolonged in the land ; that he may see this church still further 
 enlarged by another line of columns on each side, and another 
 third added to its length ; that he may gather together the 
 children and grand-children of those who now come up hither to 
 worship. 
 
 And, Dr. Albro, I hope you may finish another quarter of 
 a century as happily as you have finished the last. If you 
 will hold your half century celebration, bringing with you your 
 friends and neighbors as now, I will not absolutely promise to 
 come, but I will do the best I can. 
 
 Rev. Nehemiah Adams, D. D., formerly the pastor of this 
 church and the immediate predecessor of Dr. Albro, was then 
 introduced to the audience and spoke as follows : 
 
 It was a very pleasant morning in June, 1831, when a com- 
 pany of us assembled on this spot, then covered with elms, to 
 prepare a place for a new temple of God. The venerated Rev. 
 Dr. Holmes removed the first spade full of turf and earth from 
 the unbroken soil. We had some discussion whether the birds 
 apprehended that they were enjoying their last opportunity in 
 the branches over us, or whether they were in sympathy with 
 us and with the occasion ; for they were full of music. We were 
 sorry to invade their orchestra, but all who have lived long in 
 this world know that when God is preparing for himself a 
 shrine in our hearts, one of the first tilings which sometimes takes 
 place is, the daughters of music are brought low. Yet when 
 our hymns of praise went up to heaven for the first time under 
 those trees, when that sweet singer in our Israel, Mr. Nathaniel 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 Munroe, and the Misses Sawyer and others, so well remembered 
 to this day, made melody in those first acts of worship, we felt 
 that it is no inverted climax for David, having called on every 
 thing in creation to bless God, to end with saying, " Bless the 
 Lord, my soul." The love and praise of the soul made in 
 God's likeness, is the crown of all this praise. 
 
 The house was built. Your friend and fellow parishioner, 
 Mr. Washington Allston, gave us the plan for the house. More 
 than once, after an evening lecture, would he stand with a group 
 about a hundred rods south-east of the building, when the moon 
 was in that quarter, and bid us view the house from that point, 
 discoursing the meanwhile on architecture, and playfully quoting 
 the lines, — 
 
 " If you would view fair Melrose right, 
 Go visit it by pale moonlight." 
 
 He Avas much pleased with his success in the plan of the house, 
 and it was afterwards first enlarged under his direction. And 
 now we have come to rejoice in twenty-five years of prosperity 
 and happiness under this pastorate, and to " bind the sacrifice " 
 of thanksgiving and praise " with cords, even to the horns of 
 the altar." 
 
 Some are disposed to think that words of commendation 
 and eulogium in the hearing of a pastor on such an occasion 
 as this, may prove injurious to him ; but a man in such circum- 
 stances needs something to keep him from deep despondency at 
 such a time. For does any one think that this good man is now 
 looking with exultant eyes at his finished quarter of a century 
 in this pastorate ? No, he is thinking of his sins and imperfec- 
 tions, and of his omissions in duty, and of lost opportunities. 
 Listen to the whisper of his soul ; it says, like the righteous at 
 the last day, ' Lord, when saw I thee an hungered and fed 
 thee, — or sick and in prison and came unto thee?' His soul 
 
59 
 
 is ebbing with its course of thought toward the great past, and no 
 power of attraction which we can create in the form of praise, 
 can arrest it. 
 
 He is the most solitary man in this audience ; perhaps the 
 only one. True, one and another of you have been here twenty- 
 five years ; but in this you have companionship. He alone of 
 us has been pastor here for twenty-five years ; no one inter- 
 meddles with him, or shares with him, in that solemn con- 
 sciousness. Say what you will of him in his hearing, — while you 
 speak, his soul is full of other things, and if he remembers your 
 words of commendation and love, they can do no more than 
 contribute toward the balancing of hope and proper confidence 
 against despondency. 
 
 As a personal friend and witness, I must be allowed to say 
 of him that he is a tower of strength in our ministerial associa- 
 tions and ecclesiastical affairs. We depend upon him for counsel; 
 we listen to his large and well-considered experience ; we feel 
 safe to be guided by him ; we always look that he will be on 
 the side of sound principles and well-established order ; and we 
 are not disappointed. 
 
 He has both knowledge and wisdom. Some know much, but 
 they are not wise. Again, some are wise, are sagacious and pru- 
 dent, but they are not well informed. Our friend has large ac- 
 quaintance with men and things, with literature and science, with 
 the histories of the church and of individuals. He is a full man. 
 He reminds me of a place in Italy where, if you dig a few 
 inches and apply a torch, a flame springs up. I feel toward him 
 as one seems to have done toward a public building which he stood 
 to view, leaning his head upon his hand, and soliloquizing every 
 now and then, with much variety of intonation and emphasis, as 
 he judged of its architecture, " It is right! It is right! " 
 
 We are not to estimate the good which he has accomplished 
 
60 
 
 here merely by his public ministrations. Many who have been 
 students in the various departments of the university, and the 
 parents of many sons in college, owe him a debt of gratitude 
 for private instructions in Bible classes at his house in the inter- 
 pretation of the Greek Scriptures. Many theologians refer to 
 the principles of interpretation Avhich he gave them as laying 
 the foundation of their interest and success in biblical studies. 
 In this and other ways he has begun a good work in young 
 minds. He is a seedsman as well as florist. He can give you 
 largely of flowers, but he deals especially in the seeds of things, 
 and there are many fruitful things growing in many minds 
 dropped there originally by his hand. 
 
 One thing I will mention with the confidence derived from 
 personal experience of its truth. He is a good successor. When 
 a minister leaves a people, he cannot fail to leave some foot- 
 prints, especially if it is the place of his earliest ministrations, 
 which it will be pleasant and grateful to him if they may be 
 covered, and especially if one will sprinkle grass seed over them. 
 He will also be likely to leave behind him deep and strong 
 attachments and abiding friendships. It is in the power of a 
 generous, noble, whole-souled man who comes after him to make 
 all these things the sources of great pleasure, as this friend has 
 done, thereby illustrating certain qualities of mind and heart 
 which enshrine him in the love of not a few. In the course 
 of nature he too must have a successor. By that great law of 
 God's providence, ' with what measure ye mete, it shall be 
 measured to you again,' which is not for admonition only, but 
 for the praise of them who do well, may he experience a reward, 
 in kind, for all this. And may the latter end be with him 
 more than the beginning. And now, my dear sir and brother, 
 in the name of all the Congregational ministers everywhere 
 who either know of this occasion, or shall be made acquainted 
 
61 
 
 with it, I feel empowered to say, " The brethren which are with 
 me, greet you." 
 
 Hon. Charles T. Russell here read a letter from Rev. W. A. 
 Stearns, D. D., President of Amherst College. After reading this 
 letter Mr. Russell remarked that he held in his hand another letter 
 which he would be glad to read, but he much doubted if he had a 
 right to do so. It is, said he, a rule of law, in most cases, where 
 a deposition has been taken, and the witness is present in court, 
 that the deposition cannot be read. The witness must be called. 
 The letter I have is from the Rev. Lyman Whiting, and I assure 
 you, Mr. President, its contents are most pertinent and important 
 to the matter we have in hearing to-night. But the writer is un- 
 expectedly to himself present with us. I insist that, on the legal 
 principle I have stated, not one word of the letter can be read, — 
 that all parties in interest here have a right to confront the writer 
 face to face. I appeal to the honorable gentlemen near me, — 
 most learned in the law, — who have so ably administered it from 
 the bench, and so successfully teach it from the professor's chair 
 (Judges Parker and Washburn), if I am not right. I have the 
 ruling of the court for me, and I drop the letter and call the writer 
 to the stand. 
 
 A facetious friend of mine once said, when demonstrated upon 
 by the president of a meeting about as unexpectedly as I have 
 come down upon Brother Whiting, " Give me a moment or two, 
 Mr. President, to get my impudence up." Now it would be no 
 use to give our brother time for this. He could not do it if we 
 should give him the next quarter of a century. But to enable the 
 witness to recover his self-possession, and become a little familiar- 
 ized with the court-room, court, and jury, — or rather, to give our 
 friend a moment to get his " platform legs " on, — I will read a 
 letter from another friend of our pastor, and friend of us all, — 
 
62 
 
 whose piety and learning will ever secure to him that love and es- 
 teem which advancing years have only strengthened and increased. 
 Mr. Russell then read a letter from Rev. William Jenks, D. D., 
 and said, I now call the Rev. Lyman Whiting of Providence, and 
 request him, without further interrogatory from me, to state what 
 he knows relative to the matter now in hearing, and " as fully and 
 particularly as if specially interrogated thereto." 
 
 Mr. Whiting testified as follows : — 
 
 It has been said that there are three culminating points in every 
 completed career. That when young manhood is best prepared to 
 begin public life, where preparation ripens, the blossom drops off, 
 and the fruit sets ; next, the matured, perfected power of mid-life ; 
 and finally, where decline and decay of that power begin. 
 
 In the first of these, said he, I had a memorable and grateful 
 experience with him whom we honor this evening. I came here 
 for purposes of study, in my twentieth year ; and as a hearer, and 
 through very kind personal attentions from him, came under a 
 power, till then unfelt. It was the almost magic interpenetration 
 and minute process in presenting divine truth. In a seat yonder, 
 I remember sitting through many sermons, half entranced at the 
 exquisite delicacy of the evolution and insideness of the views. 
 My education had been in the usual apparent and outward views 
 common to the topics of the pulpit. Here, and in many walks 
 and conversations, interior, and hitherto hidden views, gave me a 
 new — and as I esteem it — a crisis impulse to my mind. Until 
 this day I gratefully own the priceless impulse and aid given to 
 me at that peculiar period of my preparatory career, and I am 
 glad of this opportunity publicly to thank you [turning to Dr. A.] 
 for a service I shall carry the impulse of through life. 
 
 Shall I be intrusive in recalling a personal reminiscence, con- 
 
63 
 
 necting the pastor and my life here : — On a sunny morning in 
 spring, when a few birds were venturing to try the first notes of 
 their wonted songs, you, sir — Deacon Farwell, — came to my 
 room, in the house of a mother in this Israel, and said the pastor 
 was quite ill, and could not attend the "morning meeting," 
 
 — then and for a season held before the public service, — and I 
 must take his place ! Of course I could do no such thing ; but 
 you — younger than now — resorted, fraternally, to the imperative 
 mood ; and I, seizing a scrap of paper, pencilled the outline of a 
 brief discourse, or course of remarks, and from them addressed 
 
 — for the first time in my life — an assembly, from a single text. 
 My search in a collection marked " curiosities," has just been re- 
 warded by finding the identical " notes " [which he held up]. I 
 beg nobody will ask to see them. I am pleasingly surprised to 
 find that morning was just nineteen years ago next Sabbath. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, — If any ask why such an occasion as this moves 
 our hearts with unusual interest, may we not mention the record 
 kept by the Spirit of Inspiration concerning our blessed Lord, — 
 " And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up." 
 
 The letters read by Mr. Russell from President Stearns, and 
 Rev. Dr. Jenks, and other letters, — some of them of a date sub- 
 sequent to the anniversary, — are as follows : — 
 
 Amherst College, 12th April, 1860. 
 My dear Sir, — I have yours of Feb. 25th, and am pleased 
 to learn from it that you are intending to commemorate the 
 twenty-fifth anniversary of our Rev. Bro. Albro's pastorate amon» 
 you. If ministerial fidelity, unpretending piety, ability in preach- 
 ing, wisdom in affairs, largeness of heart, and persistent devotion 
 to his people, entitle a man to such a notice, it is certainly de- 
 served in the present case. It was my privilege to labor, side by 
 
64 
 
 side, with him in the service of the gospel for many years. I 
 always found in him a ready helper ; a warm, faithful, and sym- 
 pathizing friend. In the public schools of Cambridge, in the 
 Sabbath Schools of our religious connection, in ministerial asso- 
 ciations, councils, etc., his influence has been efficient and salutary. 
 In the midst of a community of different theological views from 
 his own, I have often admired in him his unflinching faithfulness 
 in the statement of his opinions, in connection with his courteous- 
 ness of manner towards those who dissented from them. 
 
 The importance of such a commemoration as you propose seems 
 greatly increased when we consider the instability of the times, 
 especially in reference to pastoral relations. It speaks well both 
 for minister and people when, in a community where short settle- 
 ments are rather the rule than the exception, the pastor and his 
 flock continue happily together for so long a period as a quarter 
 of a century. I, certainly, for one, thank Dr. Albro and the 
 church and society over which he presides, for the example of 
 stability, steadfastness, and Christian love, which in their pro- 
 tracted connection, they have thus given to the world. . . . 
 
 Hoping that our beloved brother may live and be useful till 
 even another quarter of a century is ended, I am, my dear sir, 
 
 Yours most cordially, 
 
 W. A STEARNS. 
 
 Charles Theodore Russell, Esq. 
 
 Boston, April 17, 1860. 
 
 Rev. and dear Brother in Christ, — I was gratified to 
 receive, yesterday, an invitation from your committee to attend 
 the proposed meeting of to-morrow evening. Sincerely do I con- 
 gratulate your people and yourself that your ministry among 
 them has been prolonged to such a number of years — a rare 
 thing, now-a-days. 
 
 They are wise, I think, in keeping a "jubilee " at a quarter 
 
65 
 
 of a century, instead of waiting for the half of one to transpire, 
 — so have the Ecclesiastical Court of Rome done, I believe, 
 repeatedly, — and I should be glad to be present at the cele- 
 bration, but the state of my health will not allow of the expos- 
 ure. 
 
 God grant you, my dear brother, to fill up, with your people, 
 at least the twenty-five years that remain to a regular, old- 
 fashioned jubilee ! So prays 
 
 Yours, affectionately, for the gospel's sake, 
 
 WILLIAM JENKS. 
 
 Kev. Dr. Albro. 
 
 Boston, April 17, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I thank you for the polite invitation to join in 
 the services of to-morrow evening, in commemoration of the 
 twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of your pastor, Rev. 
 Dr. Albro. Be assured it would afford me great pleasure to join 
 my congratulations with yours on this interesting occasion, did 
 my circumstances allow it. Be assured of my deep sympathy 
 and thankfulness that God has given and continued to you for a 
 quarter of a century such an able and faithful pastor, to replace 
 one of equal worth. I hope my agency in plucking him from 
 you, has been forgiven. That you may long enjoy the ministra- 
 tions of your beloved and excellent pastor, is the prayer of 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 JOHN TAPPAN. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Fakwell, Chairman of Committee. 
 
 Wednesday, April 18, 1860. 
 My dear Br. — I did not know any thing of the interest- 
 ing occasion for this evening, commemorative of the twenty- 
 fifth anniversary of your pastorate, in Cambridge, until yester- 
 day, — through the Hon. Mr. Farwell. 
 I regret that my recent return after an absence of three 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 weeks from my duties, — with the incidental engagements it has 
 produced, must prevent me from being present ; unless it may 
 be possible for me to obtain a short time in the course of the 
 evening, for a somewhat hurried visit to you. 
 
 Praying for your present and future happiness and useful- 
 ness, I am, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 G. W. BLAGDEN. 
 
 Kev. Dr. Albro. 
 
 Cambridge, April 16, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Please accept my thanks for the honor of an 
 invitation to be present at the services on the interesting occa- 
 sion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of your 
 esteemed pastor. 
 
 Be assured it would afford me the highest gratification to 
 be present, but important business of the city, to come before 
 the Board on that evening, will, I regret to say, compel me to 
 forego the privilege and pleasure. 
 
 With great respect, yours truly, 
 
 JAMES D. GREEN. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell, Chairman of the Committee. 
 
 Cambridge, April 17, 1860. 
 Dear Sir, — It would give me much pleasure to accept 
 your invitation to be present at the commemoration of Dr. 
 Albro's settlement over your society, both for the interest of 
 the occasion itself, and out of respect to your valued pastor, if 
 a previous college engagement did not put it entirely out of my 
 power. 
 
 With thanks for your civil attention, 
 
 I am respectfully yours, 
 
 H. W. TORREY. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell. 
 
67 
 
 Boylston Centre, April 16, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your card of invitation to the twenty-fifth 
 anniversary of Dr. Albro's settlement in Cambridge, has just 
 come to hand. I regret exceedingly, that it will not be in my 
 power to be present, as the Worcester Central Conference of 
 churches, meet with us at the very time, meeting Wednesday 
 and Thursday of this week. Wednesday evening, we are to have 
 a discussion on Tract Distribution, when it is expected I shall 
 make a report on the subject, as now in progress, among our 
 people. I feel sadly disappointed that I cannot be with you on 
 such a pleasing occasion, and doubly so, as I was not able to be 
 with you, on a late Sabbath school anniversary. Give my best 
 regards and kindest wishes to your highly respected pastor, with 
 the hope he may live to see yet another quarter century in 
 his pastorate, and so be able to hold the still more important 
 anniversary of half century, but if so, I cannot now promise to 
 be there, but " Deo Volente" it may be so. 
 
 Thanking you, most sincerely, for your kind invitation to 
 your anniversary, and again most deeply regretting my inability 
 to be with you, I remain, 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 DANIEL WIGHT, Jr. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell. 
 
 P. S. — I was present at Dr. Albro's installation, and was 
 between two and three years under his ministry, mingling in 
 his social, as well as public services, and being thus with him and 
 you also, in those early days of your weakness and trial, I 
 should be most happy to be with you again, at the end of so 
 important a period, and hear the venerable Dr. rehearse the 
 whole story of his sojourn, in a position so important and honor- 
 able, beside our noble University, my "Alma Mater," and see 
 what lessons of wisdom may be developed from such rich expe- 
 
68 
 
 rience. Should the sermon be published, with other documents, 
 pertaining to the occasion, I shall be most happy to receive a 
 copy, at almost any price. 
 
 D. W., Jr. 
 
 Cambridge, April 18, 1860. 
 Dear Sir, — I thank you for your polite attention in 
 extending to me, in behalf of the committee of the Shepard 
 Congregational Church and Society, an invitation to attend the 
 commemorative services on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
 settlement of their esteemed pastor. Though unable to avail 
 myself of your friendly invitation, I beg you will accept the 
 assurances of my great respect ; and with my fervent prayers 
 for the best blessings upon both pastor and people, 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 NICHOLAS HOPPIN. 
 Hon. S. T. Fakwell, Chairman. 
 
 Tuesday, April 17, 18G0. 
 My dear Sir, — I have to thank you for your kind invi- 
 tation to be present at the celebration of Dr. Albro's twenty- 
 fifth anniversary to-morrow night, which I should accept with much 
 pleasure, were I not going into the country to spend a few days. 
 I am very sorry to miss the opportunity of paying my respects 
 to Dr. Albro, and of joining in the congratulations of his many 
 friends. 
 
 Ever yours faithfully, 
 
 F. J. CHILD. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Far-well. 
 
 Eastport, April 19, 1860. 
 Dear Sir, — I received your note on Tuesday, too late to get 
 to Cambridge in season, but even had I received it earlier I could 
 
69 
 
 not have come. To have been present at our beloved pastor's 
 twenty-fifth anniversary would have been a great pleasure, and 
 I shall be interested to read what was said and done. In these 
 changing days such celebrations are quite rare. May his health 
 and usefulness be continued many a year to come. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 S. D. HOSMER. 
 Hon. Stephen T. Farwell. 
 
 Lunenburgh, Vt., April 19, 1860. 
 Gentlemen, — Your polite note of the 9th inst. has just come 
 to hand, informing me of the approaching quarter-century anni- 
 versary of our dear pastor's settlement at Cambridge, and in- 
 viting me to be present on that occasion. 
 
 Be assured that, were it consistent, nothing could give me 
 greater pleasure than to accept your invitation. But my duties 
 as a minister of the gospel, which my pastor so clearly and forci- 
 bly impressed upon me five years ago in his solemn charge, given 
 from the same sacred spot where, ten years before, he stood and 
 received me as a member of Christ's visible church ; these duties 
 to my own people must serve as my apology for declining. 
 
 May the divine favor always rest upon God's faithful servant, 
 and may it please the Great Husbandman long to continue this 
 church under his watch and care, and to make it ever, as hereto- 
 fore, a thriving and fruitful vine in the Lord's vineyard, — sending 
 forth vigorous and fruitful branches which shall bless the world. 
 With sincere thanks for your kind invitation, I remain, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Truly your Friend and Brother, 
 
 WILLIAM SEWALL. 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell, 
 
70 
 
 A letter was also received from Rev. William Newell, D. D., 
 after the celebration, in answer to the following from the Chair- 
 man of the Committee : 
 
 Cambridge, April 21, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have just heard, very much to my surprise 
 and regret, that you did not receive an invitation to the ser- 
 vices on Wednesday evening, the 18th inst., in commemoration 
 of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Albro's settlement. 
 I feel sure that one was prepared and sent through the post- 
 office. How it should have failed to reach you, I cannot imag- 
 ine. One of the earliest votes of the committee of arrangements 
 was to invite all the settled clergymen of Cambridge, and cards 
 of invitation were accordingly sent to all. If there was a failure 
 in any instance, as it seems there was in respect to yourself, I 
 beg you to believe it was an oversight and not intentional. It 
 is too late, I know, to repair the omission so far as the celebra- 
 tion, — which is in the past, — is concerned ; but may I not hope 
 that, with these explanations you will consider yourself as having 
 been invited, — in spirit at least, — as the committee by their vote 
 intended, and by their subsequent acts supposed you were ac- 
 tually invited. 
 
 Again expressing my regrets that this omission should have 
 occurred, — the more because this part of the arrangement was 
 largely under my care and supervision, and with assurances of 
 
 my high regard, 
 
 I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, 
 
 S. T. FARWELL. 
 
 P. S. — I enclose a card of invitation like the one you 
 would have received, but for the unfortunate oversight happen- 
 ing at some point, I know not where. 
 
 S. T. F. 
 
 Rev. William Newell, D. D. 
 
71 
 
 Cambridge, April 21, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I thank you for your courteous and satisfac- 
 tory note. I accept with much pleasure the kind invitation, 
 received with it this evening, to attend the celebration on 
 Wednesday evening last, of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
 Rev. Dr. Albro's settlement in Cambridge. Please present to 
 the committee of arrangements, of which you are chairman, my 
 acknowledgments of their courtesy. 
 
 I will do all I can, under the circumstances, to enjoy the boun- 
 tiful hospitalities of the occasion, and to express my respect for 
 your faithful and able pastor, with whom, during the whole period 
 of his ministry, my personal relations, notwithstanding our theo- 
 logical differences, have always been pleasant and friendly. I 
 hope you will accept the will for the deed. 
 
 I confess it is a little tantalizing to think of all the good 
 things, the spiritual dainties, as well as creature comforts, which I 
 have so unfortunately missed. I am very sorry, too, to have lost 
 the opportunity of manifesting, as far as could be done by my 
 presence on an occasion of so much interest to your people, 
 the kindly feeling which I hope will always subsist, not only 
 between your pastor and myself, but also between the societies 
 with Avhich we are connected ; branches as they are of the same 
 old stock, descended from the same old congregational family, 
 looking back, amidst their honest differences of opinion, with com- 
 mon pride to a common ancestry. I trust we shall ever dwell 
 together in that " unity of the spirit " which is better than 
 unity of creed, as charity is greater than faith and hope. I 
 remain, dear Sir, 
 
 With great regard, 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WILLIAM NEWELL. 
 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell. 
 
72 
 
 The following hymn, written by the late Rev. Abiel Holmes, 
 D. D., on the occasion of the installation of Rev. J. A. Albro, 
 April 15, 1835, was then sung by the congregation : 
 
 [Tune, Evan.] 
 Great God ! thou heard'st our fathers' prayer, 
 
 When, o'er the ocean brought, 
 They, with a patriarchal care, 
 
 A sanctuary sought. 
 
 Hither thy guidance led their feet, — 
 
 Here was their first abode ; 
 And here, where now their children meet, 
 
 They found a place for God. 
 
 Thy flock, Immanuel, here was fed, 
 
 In pastures green and fair, 
 Beside still waters gently led, 
 
 And thine the shepherd's care. 
 
 That care two hundred years attest ; 
 
 Thy seal is still the same : 
 To every bosom be it pressed, 
 
 'Graved with thy precious name. 
 
 Here may the Church thy cause maintain, 
 
 Thy truth with peace and love, 
 Till her last earth-born live again 
 
 With the first-born above. 
 
 O glorious change ! From conflict free, 
 
 The Church, — no danger nigh, 
 From militant on earth, shall be 
 
 Triumphant in the sky ! 
 
 The pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. Albro, then made the con- 
 cluding address as follows : — 
 
A few years ago I did not expect to witness an occasion like 
 this, and but a few days since I did not dream that, if I should live 
 to complete my twenty-fifth anniversary, such public notice would 
 have been taken of it. It has been the great object of my ministry 
 and of my life, to feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost has 
 made me overseer, satisfied, if the Master who searches the heart 
 and knows all my works, the last as well as the first, was satisfied 
 with me. Certainly it has never been my desire or my object to 
 be rewarded by a demonstration like this. And now that I see this 
 gathering of my people and my friends to do me honor, I hardly 
 know what to say. I sincerely thank the church and society for 
 what they have done. I thank the brethren and gentlemen for 
 the kindness with which they have spoken of me and of my labors. 
 It is a comfort to me now to know that there has been such una- 
 nimity of opinion and feeling with regard to my work among those 
 whom I so highly respect, — that I have lived in so much harmony 
 with my neighbors of different persuasions, — that I can look over 
 the past and see no deep roots of bitterness in the field that I have 
 endeavored to cultivate, — and that there is no dark shadow lying 
 between the beginning of my ministry here and this day. 
 
 My relations with the University have been not only peaceful, 
 but very pleasant. I can truly say, with Judge Parker, that I 
 have never witnessed in its government any sectarianism, — in the 
 offensive sense of that word. The conduct of the several Presi- 
 dents who have been at its head during my residence here, and of 
 of its professors, has been eminently courteous and kind. No 
 student belonging to the Orthodox denomination has ever, to my 
 knowledge, been denied the privilege of choosing his own place of 
 worship, or of attending upon my ministry ; nor do I believe that 
 any attempt has ever been made by the government of the college 
 to interfere with the religious belief of a single young man 
 under their care. An incident in my memory which, under the 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 present circumstances, it may be proper for me to repeat here, 
 will show the truth of this statement. More than twenty years 
 ago, feeling a deep interest in those students belonging to our 
 own denomination, and desirous of doing what I could for the 
 promotion of their religious welfare, I proposed to form a Bible 
 class, that we might together study the New Testament in its orig- 
 inal language. Not wishing to adopt any measure which might 
 in any way interfere with college rules or discipline, I waited upon 
 President Quincy, and frankly told him what I wished to do, ask- 
 ing him if he had any objection to the proposed meeting. " My 
 dear sir," he replied, "no ! I wish you would convert the whole 
 of them." And if I heartily responded to his answer, — and I 
 did, as I do now, respond to it, — it was, I trust, in no narrow 
 spirit of sect or of proselytism. The same kindly feelings and 
 generous confidence have been often manifested towards me and 
 my efforts in behalf of young men here pursuing their education, 
 by Presidents Everett, Sparks, "Walker, and Felton, and generally 
 by the officers of the University. 
 
 I renew my thanks to those who have spoken this evening, for 
 the manner in which they have distinguished me, and to my people 
 for the very kind feelings which they have so often and so practi- 
 cally expressed. I do not know whether the things that have 
 been said to-night will hurt me. I hope they will not. I will 
 endeavor to be more worthy of them. I am grateful to my con- 
 gregation for their frequent and liberal contributions of temporal 
 things, as well as for the far higher gift of a long and unbroken 
 friendship. " Not," as the Apostle said to the Philippian church, 
 "that I speak in respect of want; nor because I desire a gift; 
 but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have 
 all, and abound ; I am full, having received the things which were 
 sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, 
 well pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need, 
 
75 
 
 according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." We shall not 
 all meet at another anniversary like this ; but it is my heart's 
 desire and prayer to God that through the blood of the everlast- 
 ing covenant, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, we may all be 
 prepared to meet around the throne of God, to sing forever the 
 sons of Moses and the Lamb. 
 
 After singing the hymn, " Lord dismiss us with thy blessing," 
 etc., to the tune of " Greenville," the benediction was pronounced 
 by Rev. Dr. Adams, and the audience retired from the church to 
 re-assemble again in the rooms below, where an hour was spent in 
 a social interview and friendly greetings. 
 
 It is one of the pleasing incidents of the anniversary, that it 
 was made the occasion of numerous gifts from the 'people to their 
 pastor. Some of these were presented personally, and all weje 
 conveyed to him in a quiet way, without public observation, — the 
 larger part in value being found by him on his return from the 
 public services. These gifts from affectionate friends, were ac- 
 knowledged by Dr. Albro in the following letter addressed to the 
 committee : — 
 
 Cambridge, April 19, 1860. 
 Dear Sir, — Upon my return to my house from the public 
 meeting yesterday evening, I found a purse containing five hun- 
 dred dollars, — many articles of silver for the use of my family, 
 — and a number of valuable books for my library, — all contrib- 
 uted by ladies and gentlemen of the church and congregation. 
 So quietly and secretly were these gifts conveyed to my resi- 
 dence, that I should have been surprised if I had not long since 
 
7G 
 
 learned not to feel surprise at any kind or generous act of my 
 people. Please to assure my friends of my gratitude for their 
 affectionate remembrance, and of my prayers that they may be 
 abundantly recompensed in the resurrection of the just. 
 Very respectfully and affectionately yours, 
 
 J. A. ALBRO. 
 Hon. S. T. Farwell, Chairman of Committee. 
 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 v www 
 
 ^mf®** 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6AYLORO 
 
 
 
 PNINTCD IN U.S.A. 
 
BX7150 .C2F5 A3 rt . 
 
 Commemoration of the twenty-fifth 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00036 6379