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 DE. SHEPARD'S 
 
 f isloricjil in\)i ^tVmitm 
 
 DISCOURSES. 
 
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 Book ." BtSS 
 
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 ( ATHOLir ^ON ,P.E n-ATrONAI ■■'HURGH. ERISTCL. Z. l. 
 
 S. H. rjJGUIS. ARCHITKCr 
 
TWO DISCOURSES, 
 
 THOMAS SHEPAED, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR or THE 
 
 CATHOLIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 
 
 BK.ISXOIL,, R. I. 
 
 PROVIDENCE: 
 
 SAYLES, MILLER & SIMONS, STEAM PEINTERS. 
 
 1857. 
 
3^ 5 s 
 
 To THE Eev. Thomas Shepard, D. 1). 
 
 Sir : — The undersigned respectfully veviuest copies of the very able and ina- 
 pressive Discourses pronounced by you at the closing services of their old House 
 of Worship, and at the Dedication of the new Church, that the memorials of 
 these interesting occasions may be published in suitable form. 
 
 BYRON DIMAN, 
 EGBERT ROGERS, 
 NATHAN BARDIN, 
 WM. B. SPOONER, 
 and fifteen others. 
 Bristol, Dec. 5, 1S5G. 
 
 Gentlemen : — Agreeing with you that "tlie memorials of those interesting 
 occasions," referred to in your note this day received, should be perpetuated in 
 a more suitable and durable form, I cheerfully place at your disposal the Dis- 
 courses which you kindly request for publication. 
 I am, gentlemen, your's most respectfully, in the service of the Gospel, 
 
 T. SHEPARD. 
 Messrs. B. DIMAN, 
 R. ROGERS, 
 N. BABDIN, 
 
 WM. B. SPOONER, Smsna uaJtmowii 
 
 and fifteen others. 
 Bristol, Dec. 15, 1856. 
 
■s>. 
 
 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 Psalm xlviii. 12 — 13. — Walk about Zion, and go eouxd about hek , 
 
 TBLL THE TOWERS TIIEKEOF. MaEK YE WELL HER BULWARKS, CONSIDER 
 HER PALACES, THAT YE BIAY' TELL IT TO THB GENERATION FOLLOWING. 
 
 The Psalmist felt a profound reverence for the ordinances 
 of public worship which crowned the summit of Mount 
 Zion, and he desired to perpetuate the recollection and the 
 savor of them to the generations that should follow. He 
 rejoiced greatly when he saw the tribes of Israel going up 
 in order to keep holy time in the courts of the Lord ; for 
 he saw a strong moral influence proceeding forth from them 
 to restrain unhallowed appetites, to regulate selfish im- 
 pulses, to preserve domestic quiet, to secure submission to 
 rightful authority, to perpetuate the peace of the common- 
 wealth, and above all, to prepare the soul for the retributions 
 of eternity. Therefore, he found greater delight in the place 
 of the sanctuary, than in all other places. He " would 
 rather be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than to 
 dwell in tents of wickedness." God was known there as a 
 refuge. The joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion. 
 
 This world is full of change. In whatever aspect we may 
 view it, there is nothing stable. Look at the earth's surface 
 and mark the changes which are constantly going on every- 
 
 *Delivered on taking leare of the old house of worship, Nov. 23, 1855. 
 
where. Oceans change their beds. Lakes dry up, or are 
 drained off, and leave their undulating, alluvial bottoms to 
 become fertile prairies. Rivers run in new channels. For- 
 ests give place to luxuriant fields of wheat. The wilderness 
 and the desert become a blooming paradise. The haunts 
 of wild beasts give place to the populated city. The wig- 
 wam is exchanged for the dwellings of civilization and re- 
 finement. Looking back six generations, we find the very 
 spot on which this town is situated, and from which the 
 spires and turrets of its sanctuaries point upward to heaven, 
 an unbroken forest ; the eternal stillness of which was in- 
 terrupted only by the yell of the Indian, and the growl of 
 the bear. Behold the changes of a little less than two cen- 
 turies ! 
 
 The face of society is continually assuming new forms. 
 Old things are passing away. Empires are falling, and giv- 
 ing place to new political combinations, which, in turn, flour- 
 ish for a season, and then give place to others of a different 
 character. States are changing. Laws and ordinances are 
 changing. Legislators are urging on the bold experiment 
 to discover the best system of human government, that shall 
 combine the greatest amount of human liberty consistent 
 with due subordination to lav.^, and the prompt execution 
 of justice. The possession of wealth, of power, of popvilar 
 influence, is as unstable as water. The men of three score 
 and less may look back upon great and surprising reversion 
 in the circumstances of families, involving disappointment 
 and distress. Changes, moreover, pertain to the externals 
 of Christianity. The form and fitting up of sanctuaries vary 
 
 the modes of conducting public worship — the position of 
 
 the worshippers — the style of sacred melody — the manner of 
 communicating divine truth, vary from age to age. 
 
 But in the principles of divine worship — in essential truth 
 as revealed in the Word, there is, there can be, no change. 
 
It is as unchangeable as the source from which it emanates. 
 " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the 
 flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof 
 falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And 
 this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 
 
 It is in Zion that the Lord hath his dwelling place. Here 
 he hath recorded his name. Hence his word is to be sounded 
 forth. This is the house of prayer for all nations. The 
 sanctuary is to us what the tabernacle and the temple were 
 to Israel. For the pillar of the cloud by day, and of fire by 
 night, which marked out their pathway through the wilder- 
 ness, we have the Bible as a lamp to our feet and light to 
 our path. Its repository is the sanctuary. From this source, 
 our fathers derived strength and guidance through all their 
 perils by land and by sea. The house of God was ever to 
 our pilgrim fathers like fountains of living water in the des- 
 ert, springs in a dry and thirsty land. Amid the strife of 
 arms, the oppression of the mighty, the sufferings of pov- 
 erty and exile, they always found comfort and support when 
 they entered into the courts of the Lord, and bowed down 
 in prayer before the God of Heaven. Here they found an 
 unfailing refuge. In the secret of the tabernacle they could 
 hide themselves, till the indignation should pass by. On 
 the Rock of Ages they could plant their feet, and feel secure 
 from all the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil. 
 
 We would call up the memory of the past, that we may 
 tell to the generation to come, the order, the beauty, the 
 strength and glory of Zion, as our fathers have seen it in the 
 sanctuary. 
 
 January 5th, 1785, nearly seventy-two years ago, this 
 house in which we have met this day for the last time, in 
 the regular worship of the Sabbath, was dedicated to God 
 for this sacred purpose. It took the place of one which had 
 
6 
 
 been occupied just one hundred years. Two and a half 
 generations have come up weekly and worshipped God 
 within these walls. And now having waxed old in its form 
 and materials, it must be laid aside as to the purposes for 
 which it has hitherto been used, and a more commodious, 
 beautiful and attractive one occupied in its place. 
 
 While we linger here for the last time in our regular Sab- 
 bath worship, it is befitting the sacred associations of the 
 hour, that w^e should retrace some of the prominent events 
 in the history of this Church and Society from their origin, 
 that we may tell them to the generations that shall follow 
 us. 
 
 The year 1675, one hundred years before the breaking 
 out of the revolutionary war with Great Britain, found the 
 few white people, scattered along upon the borders of the 
 Narragansett Bay, engaged in deadly warfare with the In- 
 dian tribes, at the head of whom was the famous King 
 Philip, claiming jurisdiction over the whole country. In 
 1676, under the well directed energy of Col. Benj. Church, 
 this savage and bloody contest was brought to a close, by 
 the death of the Grand Sachem, and the domain over which 
 he presided fell into the possession of Plymouth Colony by 
 right of conquest. 
 
 In 1680, the Governor and Company of said Colony 
 granted and sold to four proprietors, citizens of Boston, viz : 
 John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield and Ste- 
 phen Burton, for the consideration of <£1100, all that por" 
 tion of the territory called Mount Hope Neck. This town- 
 ship they afterwards called Bristol. These gentlemen, with 
 their associates, being of the Congregational order, and zeal- 
 ously devoted to the worship of God after the manner of 
 the apostolic simplicity of the dissenting churches in the 
 mother country, took early measures to establish christian 
 
ordinances in the new settlement. In 1680, the same year 
 in which their deed of possession bears date, they obtained 
 the services of Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge, a regularly or- 
 dained minister of the Congregational denomination from 
 Connecticut. Rev. Mr. W. was a son of Rev. John Wood- 
 bridge, of Andover and Newbury, Mass. He was a gradu- 
 ate of Harvard College, and had two brothers, John and 
 Timothy, graduates of the same College, both ministers in 
 Connecticut. Mr. Woodbridge continued to labor in the 
 new settlement for about six years. During this period the 
 first house of worship was erected, but no church was or- 
 ganized. Public worship was at first held in the lower 
 South room of the dwelling house of Mr. N. Byfield. Apart- 
 ments in the same were also provided for the accommoda- 
 tion of ]Mr. W. and family ; for the rent of which Mr. By- 
 field received c£10 a year from the town. The occasion of 
 Mr. Woodbridge's removal was " a difference with some of 
 the principal men in town about his support." Mr. Wood- 
 bridge was minister in Kittery, Me., in 1688. He died in 
 Medford, Mass., .Jan. 15, 1710. His wife was Mary, a daugh- 
 ter of Rev. John Ward. 
 
 It may be interesting to the congregation to learn more 
 concerning the biography of the worthy proprietors of this 
 town, and as it comes naturally in order in this place, I 
 will give you a sketch of the same as far as memorials of 
 them remain. 
 
 John Walley, whose name stands first among the four 
 original proprietors, was, for a season, a Judge of the Su- 
 perior Court of Massachusetts, and a member of the Gov- 
 ernor's Council. In the year 1690, he accompanied Sir 
 William Phipps in his unsuccessful expedition against Can- 
 ada, being entrusted with the command of the land forces. 
 Of this expedition he published a journal which is preserved 
 in Hutchinson's history. 
 
8 
 
 " The high trusts imposed by his comiti;y were discharged 
 with ability and fidelity. To his wisdom as a counsellor, 
 and his impartiality as a Judge, he added an uncommon 
 sweetness and candor of spirit, and the various virtues of 
 the christian. His faith was justified by his integrity, his 
 works of piety and charity. He died in calmness and hum- 
 ble reliance upon the Great Mediator for mercy." He de- 
 ceased at Boston, Jan. 11, 1712, in the 69th year of his age. 
 
 Of Nathaniel Oliver and Stephen Burton we have no 
 special record. 
 
 Nathaniel Byfield was the son of Rev. E-ichard Byfield, 
 Pastor of Long Ditton, in Sussex, Eng., one of the distin- 
 guished divines which composed the celebrated Westmin- 
 ster Assembly. His mother was sister of Bishop Juxton. 
 He was born in the year 1653, and was the youngest of 
 twenty-one children, sixteen of whom occasionally accom- 
 panied their venerable father, at the same time, to the house 
 of worship. He arrived in Boston during the year 1674, 
 being then 21 years old. Having accumulated considera- 
 ble property in mercantile pursuits, for which he was emi- 
 nently qualified, he invested a portion of it, at the close of 
 Philip's war, in the purchase of this township. Here he be- 
 came an early settler, casting in his lot with the pioneers of 
 the wilderness, sharing with them in the toils and hardships 
 of laying the foundations of a new and well regulated com- 
 munity. He continued a citizen of this town forty-four 
 years. His habitation and family were here, but his servi- 
 ces and influence were called into requisition in behalf of 
 the public interests of the Colony of Massachusetts, to 
 which Bristol then belonged. His eminent abilities, natu- 
 ral and acquired, fitted him for the various offices, both civil 
 and military, to which he was called by the suffrages of his 
 fellow citizens, as well as by royal appointment. He occu- 
 
pied the chair of Speaker in the House of Representatives, 
 at Boston. For thirty-eight years he was Chief Justice of 
 the Court of Common Pleas for Bristol County, embracing 
 the two counties now called by the same name in Massa- 
 chusetts and Rhode Island. For two years he held the 
 same office in the county of Suffolk ; for many years he 
 was a member of the Council, and Judge of the Vice Ad- 
 miralty. " He was well informed for the exercise of author- 
 ity — his very looks inspiring respect. He possessed a happy 
 elocution. He loved order, and in his family the nicest 
 economy was visible. He was conspicuous for piety, hav- 
 ing a liberal, catholic spirit, loving all good men however 
 they might differ from him in matters of small importance. 
 For forty years he constantly devoted a certain portion of his 
 estate to charitable purposes. In one year he was known to 
 give away several hundred pounds. He had a steady and 
 unshaken faith in the truths of the gospel, and he died in 
 the lively hope of the mercy of God through the glorious 
 Redeemer."* In 1724, on account of his advanced age, he 
 returned with his family to Boston, where he closed his long 
 and useful life, June 6th, 1733, in the 80th year of his age.f 
 
 We may well judge what must have been the influ- 
 ence of such a man in the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of 
 this town in its formative period. His name is conspicuous 
 on every page of its early records, especially in all transac- 
 tions pertaining to the ministry, the sanctuary, and the or- 
 dinances of the Gospel. 
 
 We cannot be surprised that under such hallowed influ- 
 ences, a vote should be found on the records of 1693, " that 
 every town meeting should begin and end with prayer," 
 and a fine imposed upon any citizen who should presume 
 
 *Allen's Biographical Diet. 
 tSee Appendix, Note A. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 to leave the house, before this service was performed, with- 
 out good and sufficient reasons. 
 
 Another memorial of this christian patriot we find in the 
 records of 1714, wherein N. Byfield acknowledges a deed 
 conveying to the town certain specified lots of land owned 
 by himself, the income of which was to be devoted to the 
 maintenance of Public Schools. 
 
 Oct. 24, 1683. At a meeting of the town, .£250 were or- 
 dered to be raised to defray the expense of building a Meet- 
 ing-house, and John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Benjamin 
 Church, John Gary and John Rogers, were appointed a com- 
 mittee to superintend its erection. During the year follow- 
 ing, 1684, a spacious and well constructed house, square in 
 its form, with double galleries, cap roof, surmounted in the 
 centre with a tower and bell, was finished externally, and 
 dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. Not feeling 
 able to finish the house internally, the citizens were permit- 
 ted, by leave of the town, to construct pews, from time to 
 time, at their own expense. The bell being suspended over 
 the centre, and the rope hanging down directly beneath, ren- 
 dered the sexton a very conspicuous personage in the as- 
 sembly, while performing the duties of his calling. This 
 house served the society as a place of worship just one cen- 
 tury. Nothing now remains of it except a few rafters trans- 
 ferred to the roof of the house which we leave, and the door 
 of the Pastor's pew, a precious relic of the sanctuary where 
 our fathers worshipped God for one hundred years. 
 
 After the departure of Rev. IVIr. Woodbridge, in 1686, a 
 committee was appointed by the town to wait upon Rev. 
 Samuel Lee, at Boston, and invite him to become the Pas- 
 tor of this vacant congregation. Mr. Lee responded favor- 
 ably to the call, came upon the ground, and after due sea- 
 son, set apart a day for fasting and prayer, organized a Con- 
 gregational Church, and on the same day. May 8th, 1687, 
 
11 
 
 was installed its Pastor. This is the memorable origin of 
 the first chm-ch gathered in Bristol, and probably, the first 
 of our order, regularly constituted within what is now the 
 State of Rhode Island. Its original male members were, John 
 Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Benjamin Church, the famous 
 warrior and conqueror of Philip, Nathaniel Reynolds, John 
 Gary, Hugh Woodbury, Goodman Wm. Throop, and Na- 
 thaniel Bosworth. Brothers Gary and Bosworth were elect- 
 ed its first deacons. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lee was a son of Mr. Samuel Lee, an eminent 
 and wealthy citizen of London, born in 1627, entered the 
 University of Oxford at the age of seventeen, and graduated 
 at Wadham Gollege in 1648, and was soon after settled in 
 a fellowship. He was regularly ordained in the establish- 
 ment, and settled in a Rectorship in London in 1662, but 
 was soon ejected from the same by the famous Bartholo- 
 mew act, whereby some two thousand of the best clergymen 
 of the realm were deprived of their livings for conscientiously 
 refusing to subscribe to the Popish ceremonies of the estab- 
 lished Church. At the instance of Cromwell, he was sub- 
 sequently settled over a congregation near Bishopgate, in 
 London. He was afterwards urged by Bishop Wilkins to 
 accept of a living in the establishment, but declined from 
 conscientious scruples. At length, despairing of finding se- 
 curity from ecclesiastical intolerance in his native land, he 
 embarked, with his family, for America, and landed in Bos- 
 ton in June, 1686, where he was most cordially received by 
 his brethren in the faith. 
 
 On his settlement in this town £60 were voted for his 
 salary, and £50 toward building him a house. The place 
 of his residence was on the East side of Thames street, which 
 was then the shore of the harbor, a short distance North of 
 what is known as the old Walley house.* Dr. Allen, in his 
 
 *See Appendix, Note B. 
 
12 
 
 American Biographical Dictionary, says of Mr. Lee, " he 
 was a very learned man, who spoke latin with elegance, 
 and was master of physic ] and chemistry, and well versed 
 in all the liberal arts and sciences." Cotton Mather denom- 
 inates him " the light of both Englands." President Stiles 
 says of him, " he was highly venerated by the church in 
 Bristol, of which he was the light and glory, and his praise 
 was among all the parties and churches of both Englands ; 
 for truly he was one of the most learned divines in Christen- 
 dom." His published works are contained in ten or twelve 
 volumes. 
 
 In 1688, a revolution occurred in the mother country, on 
 the accession of William, which promised greater freedom 
 to dissenters. Much to the regret of the people of Bristol, 
 and the ministers and churches generally in New England, 
 Mr. Lee decided to return to his native land. Accordingly, 
 in the winter of 1691, after a successful ministry of about 
 four years, he took affectionate leave of his flock in Bristol, 
 embarked with his family on board the Dolphin at Boston, 
 and sailed for England. The passage proved boisterous. 
 When nearing the coast of Ireland, they fell in with a 
 French Privateer, were captured and carried prisoners into 
 the port of St. Maloes, in France. After some detention, 
 his wife, daughter, and two serva nts, were permitted to pro- 
 ceed to London, while the husband and father was still 
 held as a prisoner of war. Disappointment, solitude, and 
 the rigors of winter, induced the prison fever, which soon 
 terminated his valuable life, in the 64th year of his age. 
 Being denounced as an heretic, his body was interred with- 
 out the walls of the city. 
 
 My hearers may be interested to know something more 
 of the original male members of the church. Such a lauda- 
 ble desire I am disposed to gratify to the extent of the data 
 within my reach. 
 
13 
 
 Among the names on the record we find that of Benja- 
 min Church. Col. Chm-ch was born at Duxbmy, Mass., in 
 1639. His youth was distinguished for remarkable physi- 
 cal vigor and activity. In 1674 we find him living at Se- 
 conet, since called Little Compton, where he had purchased 
 a plantation, and begun improving it. During 1675 and 6 
 he was a military commander, following upon the trail of 
 King Philip and the hostile Indians combined with him 
 against the English. Having successfully terminated this 
 bloody contest by the death of the hero of Mount Hope, he 
 settled in this town. He afterwards removed to Fall River. 
 In 1689 he was commissioned by Thomas Hinckley, Gov- 
 ernor of Plymouth Colony, as commander-in-chief of an ex- 
 pedition against the Eastern Indians. In 1690, he was 
 called out in another expedition in Maine. His last days 
 were spent on his farm in Little Compton. As years ad- 
 vanced he became uncomfortably corpulent in his person. 
 Being severely wounded by a fall from his horse, he sunk 
 under it, and departed this life, Jan. 17, 1718, in the 78th 
 year of his age. He was interred with military honors in 
 the cemetery on the common. Col. Church, in conse- 
 quence of his long and bloody conflict with hostile savages, 
 has been represented as of a hard hearted and cruel dispo- 
 sition. If tried by the laws of modern civilized warfare, he 
 might be liable to such an imputation. But he had a mer- 
 ciless and treacherous foe to contend with, and there re- 
 mained no alternative but to meet them on their own ground, 
 and by their own arts of warfare, or suffer them to carry 
 desolation and death in their most horrid forms, through the 
 scattered and feeble settlements of the white men. Before 
 the impartial historian, this veteran of Indian warfare stands 
 as a man of integrity and piety, a benefactor to his coun- 
 try, and a friend to his race,* 
 
 *See Note C., Appendix, 
 
14 
 
 John Gary, one of the two first deacons of the church, 
 was originally a merchant in London. He died July 14th, 
 1721. Nathaniel Bosworth the other deacon first chosen, 
 had resided in Hull, where he established a fishery. 
 
 Jabez Howland,* the first Town Clerk of Bristol, was 
 son of John Howland, of Plymouth, who came over in the 
 May Flower, and grandson of John Carver, the first Gov- 
 ernor of the Colony. He was Lieutenant under Colonel 
 Church. He died Oct. 17, 1732, aged 64. 
 
 Returning to the church left vacant of a pastor, after the 
 departure of Mr. Lee, we find it remaining destitute about 
 the space of four years. The records of the church remain- 
 ing in the hand-writing of Mr. Lee are contained in a small 
 compass, and very difficult to be deciphered. They contain 
 little else than the names of such as were baptized, and 
 the sums contributed at each communion season, which was 
 originally held monthly as it is now. Afterward the con- 
 tribution was taken up each Sabbath. f The last Sacra- 
 mental contribution recorded by his own hand was " Aug. 
 3, 1690, eleven shillings." The last Baptism entered by 
 the same hand, "July 20, Thomas Wardwell." How many 
 were considered as communicants in the church at the time 
 of Mr. Lee's dismission, I have not been able to ascertain. 
 
 The successor of Mr. Lee was Rev. John Sparhawk. 
 He was ordained as Pastor, June 12, 1695. Of his coming 
 to this place, \ find this record — " Mr. Sparhawk came to 
 Bristol Oct. 6, 1693. May God make him a blessing by 
 whom we may be settled." The contribution, the first Sab- 
 bath after his coming, the 8th of Oct. 1693, came to XI 2s. 
 
 Rev. Mr. S. was born in 1672, graduated at Harvard, 1689. 
 He died April 29, 1718, in the 23d year of his ministry, 
 
 *See Appendix, Note D. 
 
 tThe avails of these weekly collections ^lere devoted to the support of the 
 ministry. 
 
15 
 
 aged 46. The last entry on the records of his ministry is 
 the following : " Dec. 16, 1716, taken into full communion, 
 Isaac Gorham, Abigail Throop and Grace Giddings." The 
 name of Mr. S., as testified by Rev. Mr. Burt, more than 
 twenty years after his decease, " remained exceedingly dear 
 and precious to his people." His remains were interred in 
 the first cemetery contiguous to the first church. The stone 
 that covered them with an appropriate inscription has been 
 transferred to the East burying ground, and the letters upon 
 it have been recently re-cut. 
 
 Sept. 18th, of the same year, (1718,) the church, being 
 convened at the house of Deacon John Gary, voted to " im- 
 prove their privilege" in first choosing their minister, and 
 then submitting their choice to the town for their concurrence. 
 They then proceeded to give a call to Rev. Samuel Cheekley 
 to become their Pastor. This call Mr. C. negatived. Dec. 
 16th following, the church voted to call Mr. James McSpar- 
 ran, a young man who had recently arrived in this country, 
 as a Licentiate from the Presbytery of Scotland. Sept. 18, 
 1719, the church voted to proceed to the ordination of Mr. 
 McSparran, and appointed the 22d of October following for 
 the Council to convene for that purpose — said Council con- 
 sisted of Rev. Messrs. Little, of Plymouth, Lewis, of Pem- 
 broke, Ruggles, Medralf, Osborne, and Avery, with their 
 delegates. In the meantime, according to the records of 
 Rev. Mr. Burt, reports prejudicial to the moral character of 
 the candidate; obtained a wide circulation. Dr. Mather, 
 and other eminent ministers, wrote to the church here, cau- 
 tioning it against proceeding to his settlement. Parties be- 
 came strong and zealous in town, both for and against his 
 ordination. The Council met and spent two days in ex- 
 amining into the facts in the case, so far as they could be 
 brought within their reach, and then dissolved without the 
 settlement of the candidate. 
 
16 
 
 Sept. 22, 1720, this church, by vote, set apart Oct. 1st as 
 a day of fasting and prayer. Being then without a pastor, 
 and in a divided state in consequence of the dispute about 
 Mr. IMcSparran, they invited the following ministers to as- 
 sist them in the solemnities of the occasion, viz.: Rev. 
 Messrs. Thatcher, of Milon, Danforth, of Freetown, Wads- 
 worth, of Boston, White, of Attleborough, Fisher, of Digh- 
 ton, Billings, of Little Compton, and Clapp, of Newport. 
 Dec. 22d following, the church made choice of Mr. Na- 
 thaniel Cotton for their third Pastor. The ordination of 
 Mr. Cotton took place Aug. 20, 1721. Mr. C. was born at 
 Sandwich, ]\lass., 1G9S, graduated at Harvard 1717. He 
 was grandson of Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, son of Rev. 
 Rowland Cotton, of Sandwich, and brother of Rev. Messrs. 
 John, Josiah, and Ward Cotton, all eminent ministers in 
 the Congregational Church. Rev. Mr. Burt says of him, 
 " he was a man of singular prudence, of admirable patience, 
 and undisembled piety." Mr. Cotton labored under the em- 
 barrassment of the controversy occasioned by the division 
 in relation to the settlement of Mr. McSparran, until his 
 strength failed, and, much lamented by his people, be de- 
 scended to an early grave. He deceased July 3d, 1729, in 
 the 31st year of his age, and the 8th of his ministry. He 
 made his grave with his beloved flock. The horizontal stone 
 that bears the inscription of his name and virtues, lies by 
 the side of Mr. Sparhawk's in the East cemetery. 
 
 The ministry of Mr. Cotton, though short, appears to 
 have been eminently successful. His record of membership 
 is more perfect than most of his predecessors. Sept. 16, 
 1722, a little over a year after his ordination, the names of 
 seventy-three members in full communion are found upon 
 the records of the church. From this date until Feb 17, 
 1727-8, thirty-seven more were added by profession. The 
 
17 
 
 last record entered under the ministry of Mr. Cotton, is the 
 following : " Samuel Clark, son of Nathaniel Paine, Esq., 
 was baptized Feb. 17, 1727-8." 
 
 Rev. Barnabas Taylor, the 4th Pastor of this church, was 
 ordained Dec. 24, 1729. He was graduated at ]Iarvard in 
 1721. He was dismissed by the advice of a Council called 
 by the church June 3d, 1740. I find no record of any kind 
 concerning the ministry of Mr. Taylor. Mr. Burt, his im- 
 mediate successor, says of him that " he was very much ad- 
 mired at first." For some cause, of which the record is 
 silent, he failed to give satisfaction. After his dismission 
 he devoted himself to the instruction of youth. 
 
 The 5th Pastor of this church v^as Rev. John Burt, or- 
 dained May 13, 1741. The sermon at his settlement was 
 preached by himself from 2d Cor. v. 20. The charge was 
 given by Rev. Mr. Webb, of Boston, with whom he studied 
 divinity. Mr. B. was a native of Boston ; born 1716, grad- 
 uated at Harvard 1736. He began to preach here as a can- 
 didate, July, 1740, and received a call to settle November 
 following. The Council selected to assist in his ordination 
 were : church in Boston, under the care of Dr. Sewall, and 
 Mr. Prince ; church in do. Rev. Messrs. McGee, and Mather ; 
 church in Newport, Rev. Messrs. Clapp, and Gardner ; 
 church in do, Rev. Mr. Fearing; church in Boston, Rev. 
 Mr. Webb ; church in Little Compton, Rev. Mr. Billings ; 
 church in Dighton, Rev. Mr. Fisher; church in Rehoboth, 
 Rev. Mr. Greenwood ; church in do. Rev. Mr. Turner ; church 
 in Attleborough, Rev. Mr. Wells ; church in Providence, 
 Rev. Josiah Cotton ; with their respective delegates. Rev. 
 Mr. Fisher was Moderator, who offered the opening prayer. 
 Rev. Mr. Turner gave the right hand of fellowship. On 
 taking charge of this church, Mr. B. found it to consist of 
 twenty-eight males and forty-nine females : total seventy- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 seven. During the thirty-four years of Mr. Burt's ministry, 
 sixty-five were admitted to full communion, sixteen males 
 and forty-nine females. One hundred and eighteen consent- 
 ed to the covenant, commonly called the half-way covenant, 
 by virtue of which they were permitted to present their chil- 
 dren in Baptism, but not to partake of the Lord's Supper. 
 This plan of admission to partial ordinances was abolished 
 by vote of the church at the settlement of Rev. Henry 
 Wight. Mr. Burt was esteemed as a worthy man and a 
 faithful preacher. No other publication is known to have 
 been left by him except a sermon preached in Bristol on the 
 Sabbath following the great earthquake, which occurred 
 Nov. 18, 1755. 
 
 Mr. Burt's death occurred in the fellowing tragical man- 
 ner. On the 7th of October, 1775, a fleet of British ships 
 of war came up the bay and anchored in the harbor abreast 
 of the town, under the command of Capt. James Wallace. 
 An officer was sent on shore with a requisition for a large 
 amount of oxen and sheep, for the supply of the troops then 
 lyino- at Newport. While the authorities of the town were 
 deliberating upon the subject, the enemy commenced firing 
 with their guns elevated so as to produce no other injury 
 than a general consternation among the inhabitants. A 
 distressing epidemic, the dysentery, was prevailing at the 
 time, of which two persons then lay dead. Such as had 
 strength, and were not needed to tend the sick, fled for their 
 lives. The venerable pastor, then sufiering from the pre- 
 vailing malady, joined the multitude in seeking safety by 
 flight. Not returning that night to his family, and no intel- 
 ligence of him coming in the morning from any quarter, a gen- 
 eral search was instituted, when he was found in a cornfield 
 East of the town, lying on his face, dead. A Jury of In- 
 quest was summoned, whose verdict was, that he died in a 
 fit. His decease occurred in the 59th year of his age, and 
 
19 
 
 the 35th of his ministry. He was interred in the East Cem- 
 etery. 
 
 After the death of Rev. Mr. Burt, such was the state of 
 things here, and in all the towns on the Narragansett Bay, 
 occasioned by the ravages of the revolutionary war, that 
 the stated ordinances of the gospel were greatly interrupted. 
 The few families who were not driven abroad, made great 
 efforts to keep the pulpit supplied during most of this 
 gloomy period. The following ministers officiated in sup- 
 plying the vacant pulpit, viz : Rev. Messrs. Amasa Leon- 
 ard, George Morey, Huntingdon Porter, Joseph DaVis, Al- 
 len Olcott, Eliphalit Porter, Thomas Roby, Samuel Shut- 
 tlesworth, Henry Channing, Asa Piper, and Jude Damon. 
 Rev. Henry Wight commenced preaching here, March 14, 
 1784. His ordination as the sixth Pastor took place Jan 5, 
 1785. 
 
 The return of peace in 1783, restored the captivity of Zi- 
 on. After the absence of a settled ministry for eight years, 
 the families belonging to this society, again rallied around 
 the institutins of religion. They began the building of a 
 new sanctuary. At the same time, with a view of obvia- 
 ting the difficulty they had hitherto experienced in support- 
 ing the ministry, they opened a subscription for a permanent 
 fund, the annual interest of which, together with the income 
 of the lands already in their possession, was to be appro- 
 priated for the support of an orthodox Congregational min- 
 ister. Their new house on Hope street was raised June 12, 
 1784, and was finished and dedicated on the day of the ordi- 
 nation of Rev. Mr. Wight. In October of the same year, 
 the Society, consisting of about seventy-seven families, ob- 
 tained from the General Assembly an act of Incorporation 
 under the name of the " Catholic Congregational Society 
 of Bristol."* 
 
 *See Appendix, Note E. 
 
20 
 
 Such were the prosperous cbeumstances of the congrega- 
 tion at the settlement of Mr. Wight at the commencement 
 of the year 1785. Mr. W. was born in Medfield, Mass., in 
 1752, graduated at Harvard in 1782. The Council that or- 
 dained him were as follows : Rev. Messrs. Solomon Town- 
 send, of Barrington ; Robert Rogerson, of Rehoboth, Mass. ; 
 Thomas Prentiss, of Medfield ; Enos Hitchcock, of Provi- 
 dence, and George Morey, of Walpole, with their delegates. 
 Rev. Mr. Townsend officiated as Moderator, offered the or- 
 daining prayer, and gave the charge to the Pastor. Rev. 
 Mr. Prentiss preached from 2d Cor. vi, 8 — 4. Rev. Mr. 
 Rogerson expressed the fellowship of the churches. 
 
 At the time of Mr. Wight's settlement, the church was 
 found to contain seven male members, and twenty-nine fe- 
 males, total thirty-six. 
 
 From 1793 to 1833, Mr. W. was a member of the Board 
 of Fellows of Brown University, and in 1811, received from 
 thence the honorary degree of Doctor in Divinity. In 1815 
 he received an assistant in the pastorate. Rev. Joel Mann 
 being ordained as his colleague. During the sole pastorate 
 of Dr. Wight two hundred and twenty-eight were added to 
 the church. In 1828, after an harmonious connection with 
 this people of nearly forty-four years, he resigned, but con- 
 tinued his residence here, occasionally officiating in public 
 services until his death, which occurred August, 1837, in the 
 86th year of his age. Dr. Wight was a man of amiable 
 disposition, catholic in his intercourse with other denomina- 
 tions, respected as a minister, and his memory is precious 
 to the aged few who yet survive to recall his labors in the 
 days of his strength. 
 
 During the ministry of Dr. Wight a signal revival of 
 evangelical sentiments took place among the Congregation- 
 al clergy of New England. The opening of the present cen- 
 
21 
 
 tury witnessed a tendency to Armonianism among the min- 
 istry, particularly in Boston and vicinity, near which the 
 oldest and the best endowed University was located. This 
 laxity of doctrine — this partial concealment of those truths 
 which were offensive to unsanctified minds, but which were 
 dear to the fathers of New England, originated in the soil 
 from whence Unitarianism has since sprung up. This general 
 letting down of Evangelical doctrine in the pulpit led to gen- 
 eral spiritual languor, and lifeless formality among the peo- 
 ple. But in process of time, through the instrumentality of 
 causes which I have not time here to narrate, there was a 
 shaking among the dry bones of the valley. The breath of 
 the Spirit passed over them, and there arose up sinews, 
 and flesh, and life. Simultaneouslywith this waking up of 
 a large portion of the ministry to the claims of sound doc- 
 trine upon their preaching, revivals of religion began to 
 spread among the churches. So that in the course of a few 
 years — from 1810 to 20, the lines between the Orthodox and 
 the Unitarians became distinctly drawn. 
 
 These revivals introduced a new era among the churches 
 of New England. These influences upon the power of the 
 pulpit and the aggressive energy of the churches, became 
 mighty through God for the demolishing of the strong holds 
 of sin. 
 
 The first signal awakening of this description in this town, 
 still precious in the recollection of its few surviving subjects, 
 took place during the summer of 1812. Under date Aug. 
 16, of this year, this record was entered by Dr. Wight. 
 " God Almighty seemed to be present by his Holy Spirit, 
 and to work like himself. Rev. Isaac Lewis, of New York, 
 as he passed through Bristol with his wife for her health, 
 was persuaded to assist the pastor for a few days, who was 
 worn down by excessive labor. The preaching of Mr. Lew- 
 is was greatly blessed." Several of the neighboring minis- 
 
22 
 
 ters came to the assistance of the pastor. The venerable 
 Bishop Griswold, then pastor of the Episcopal Church, en- 
 tered cordially into the work, as did the other clergymen of 
 the place. The revival became general. For a season, the 
 ordinary business of the week was suspended, that the peo- 
 ple might flock to the place of prayer and exhortation. As 
 the fruits of this season of refreshing, sixty were added to 
 this branch of Christ's visible church ; at the head of tlie 
 list stands the name of Josiah Smith, then being upwards 
 af tliree score and ten. 
 
 This revival and its results prepared the way for the set- 
 tlement of Rev. Joel Mann, the seventh pastor, Nov. 1815, 
 as colleague with Mr. Wight. He was a native of Orford, 
 N. H., and graduated at Dartmouth in 1810. Mr. Mann 
 continued to labor successfully and harmoniously among 
 this people during eleven years, when, at his own request, 
 he was dismissed Sept. 14, 1826. During the winter and 
 spring of 1820, under his ministry, another season of extra- 
 ordinary refreshing from on high was enjoyed among this 
 flock. The ingathering of this revival, at five successive 
 communions, was fifty-six. The additions during the whole 
 time of ]Mr. Mann's ministry were one hundred and thirty. 
 Mr. Mann is yet vigorous and active in the ministry in 
 Kingston, R. I. 
 
 Rev. Isaac Lewis, D. D., whose transient labors were so 
 blessed to this people during the revival of 1812, was in- 
 stalled their eighth pastor, Nov. 1828. The sermon was 
 preached by Rev. Thomas M. Smith, of Fall River. Dr. 
 Lewis was a native of Greenwich, Conn., bornl77o; a grad- 
 uate of Yale, 1794 ; and was twice settled previous to his 
 coming to Bristol. At his own request, in consequence of the 
 failure of his voice, he was dismissed Sept. 28, 1831. During 
 his ministry of less than three years, seventy-eight were ad- 
 ded to the church. In the winter of 1830, the Spirit of God 
 
23 
 
 again descended in a copious shower. The result of this 
 revival brought the above number into the communion of 
 this church. Among this list, I find the names of Benjamin 
 S. and Hannah Bourn, and Elkanah French, who have re- 
 cently passed away from earth, as we trust, to join the gen- 
 eral assembly and church of the first born in Heaven. Dr. 
 Lewis, after leaving this place, removed to New York, and 
 resided in the family of his daughter. He deceased in 1854, 
 aged eighty-two. He v/as a good man, an able divine, and 
 a successful pastor. 
 
 The ninth pastor of this church was Rev. John Stark- 
 weather, — a native of Worthington, Mass. — a graduate of 
 Yale 1825, and of Andover Theological Seminary — installed 
 Dec. 14. 1831, dismissed Dec. 29, 1834. During the minis- 
 try of Mr. S. twenty-two were added to the church. 
 
 The present pastor, the tenth in the series, a native of 
 Norton, Mass., graduated at Brown University 1813, and 
 at Andover 1816, first settled in Ashfield, Mass., was in- 
 stalled here, April 30, 1835, During his ministry of twenty- 
 one and a half years, several seasons of unusual religious 
 interest have transpired. The first during the winter of 
 1837, added six to our church. Another refreshing season 
 in 1838, brought in nine by profession. The winter of 1842 
 witnessed a work yet more powerful. As the fruits of this 
 revival, sixty were gathered in ; at the head of the list is re- 
 corded the name of Ambrose Waldron, aged seventy, and 
 Jonathan Reynolds, in his eightieth year. Another gentle 
 refreshing of the Spirit in the spring of 1846, brought an ac- 
 cession of twelve. Another in 1852, resulted in the addition 
 of seventeen. 
 
 Thus are we favored with the testimony of the Spirit, 
 notwithstanding our great unfaithfulness and ill desert, that 
 the Lord hath not forsaken us. On this one hundred and 
 seventy-sLxth year of the gathering of this Ecclesiastical So- 
 
24 
 
 ciety, and the one hundred and sixty-ninth of this Congrega- 
 tional Church, we again raise our pillar of faith, and inscribe 
 upon it " EbenezerP " Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." 
 
 Thus in our walk about this our beloved Zion, and re- 
 calling the years of many generations past, 1 have led you 
 in a way through which she has passed during a period of 
 one hundred and seventy-six years. During this long sea- 
 son, the six generations have enjoyed the labors of eleven 
 Evangelical Ministers, ten of whom were pastors, averaging 
 about seventeen years to each pastorate. 
 
 Who can describe the changes that have passed over the 
 civil, literary, and moral aspects of this country since the 
 first white man trod this soil ! Even since the corner stone 
 of this house was laid seventy-two years ago, what advance 
 has there been in the arts of civilization, the facilities of 
 commerce, and the accumulation of wealth ! What im- 
 provement in public schools, colleges, and general intelli- 
 gence ! What increase of population, and the means of dif- 
 fusing the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through- 
 out the length and breadth of our land ! 
 
 When this house was erected, and the fund contributed, 
 and the Society incorporated, the country had just emerged 
 from a seven year's war w^ith Great Britain. The public 
 treasury was bankrupt — the people impoverished. And yet 
 they had been disciplined by the hand of God for mighty 
 achievements in laying the foundations of a prosperous com- 
 monwealth. We have no exact data by which to reach par- 
 ticulars, but we do not hesitate to make the assertion that 
 the building of this house, and the creation of the fund in 
 1784, cost the people a sacrifice fourfold greater than what 
 it has cost us to carry up, finish, and furnish yonder edifice 
 of stone. While I say this, I mean it for the honor of our 
 fathers. I do not design to detract aught from the sacrifice 
 and self denial involved in carrying up and completing the 
 
25 
 
 new house of worship. For us, it has been a noble en- 
 terprise, and a grand achievement. Individuals, living and 
 dead, have done generously. Next to the Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift, the thanks of this Society are due to 
 the Building Committee, who have devoted such a large 
 portion of their time and energies gratuitously to this ardu- 
 ous work. None but themselves knows the anxious and 
 sleepless hours it has cost them to adjust and settle the many 
 delicate and difficult questions which have come before them 
 in the progress of such a complicated enterprise. Most of 
 all, are our thanks due to that watchful Providence which 
 has guarded the builders from injury, and enabled the top 
 stone to be laid without the loss of life, or the fracture of a 
 limb. 
 
 And now, what remains but to bid affectionate adieu to 
 the old house, and take reverent possession of the new ! 
 In taking leave of these venerable walls, within which our 
 fathers have sat and listened to the messages of salvation 
 for seventy-two years — -where venerable men of God, some 
 of whom have ceased from earth, and gone to their final 
 reward, have been trained for the kingdom of glory, 
 where the praises of God have been sung by lips which are 
 now responding to angelic harps around the throne, many 
 affecting thoughts crowd themselves upon our minds. This 
 has been the birth place of souls. Here, blind eyes have 
 been opened to behold the light of truth as it shines in the 
 face of Jesus. Here, deaf ears have been unstopped to lis- 
 ten with rapture to the messages of mercy through atoning 
 blood. Here, multitudes have set out in the christian race 
 for the prize of an unfading crown. Oh ! how hallowed to 
 memory is such a place ! But it has done its work, and, in 
 the revolutions of time, it is meet tliat it should give place 
 to another, and a more commodious and more attractive 
 4 
 
26 
 
 house of worship. And while the very dust of this sanctu- 
 ary will ever remain precious in our eyes, may our united 
 prayers ascend to God, that the glory of the latter house 
 may exceed the glory of the former. The materials of its 
 walls are imperishable. Long, long will it resist the corrod- 
 ing tooth of time, centuries w411 not impair those granite 
 foundations, scores of generations will worship in its courts, 
 and thousands of the sanctified pass up to the purer devo- 
 tions of heaven. 
 
 Dear brethren, how rapid the flight of time I What 
 changes are bound up in the recollection of three quarters of 
 a century ! The habitations of our fathers are crumbling 
 away. Life is but a vapor. Your grave-yards are popula- 
 ting with incredible speed. What benefit have you received 
 from the house of God ? You have but a little while to 
 live. What preparation have you made for eternity ? Are 
 you prepared to meet your God ? Is Christ precious to 
 your soul ? Oh ! be in earnest to secure an interest in the 
 kingdom of God. " The Lord send thee help from the 
 Sanctuary." In the secret of his tabernacle may you hide 
 yourselves. " When the Lord counteth up the people," 
 may your names all be found enrolled in the book of life. 
 
 Brethren and friends, pilgrims on earth as all our fathers 
 have been, " arise, let us go hence." 
 
DEDICATION SERMON. 
 
DEDICATION SERMO:t^; 
 
 Psalm lxxvii. 13.— Thy way, God, is in the Sanctuary. 
 
 No one conversant with the writings of David can mis- 
 take the application of the term Sanctuary. Its derivation 
 and immemorial usage point to the place sacredly devoted 
 to the worship of God. That there should be places hal- 
 lowed for such a purpose is as obvious to reflection as that 
 Jehovah should be an object of religious homage. Long 
 before the birth of the Psalmist, yea, coeval with the exis- 
 tence of the race, sanctuaries of various material, architec- 
 ture, and capacity, were constructed and set apart, by spe- 
 cial religious service, as places hallowed to the worship of 
 God, and the promulgation of his character and ways. 
 Within and around these sacred precincts, the patriarchs 
 and prophets, and holy men gathered, from time to time, 
 especially on the Sabbath appointed for this purpose from 
 the beginning, with their families, to acknowledge God, to 
 learn his will, and to propitiate his favor. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the first day after the creation 
 of the first human pair, and the solemnization of their mar- 
 riage, was a day of sacred rest. Their first employment 
 was the worship of their Maker, in a Sanctuary erected by 
 his own hands. Their songs of grateful praise mingled with 
 
 ^Delivered Nov. 25, 1856. 
 
30 
 
 that of the angelic hosts. God was made manifest to their 
 pure minds in his glorious perfections, by the mild radiance 
 of the sun, the rich bounties of ripening fruit on every 
 hand, the cattle grazing upon the hills, and the beasts of the 
 forest dwelling together in harmony. All above, beneath, 
 and around them, was good, very good. Everything spake 
 of God. To the devout listeners there were 
 
 " Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, good in everything." 
 
 But man apostatized, and sought to hide himself from 
 the presence of his Maker. Then was gradually developed 
 that wonderful plan of recovery though the mediation of 
 the seed of the woman, wherein sinners could be forgiven 
 and admitted again to the presence and favor of their of- 
 fended Sovereign. But he must be approached now through 
 the emblem of a bleeding victim. The altar, the bethel, the 
 Sanctuary became still more necessary, and still more pre- 
 cious to the penitent and the believing. The way of God 
 must be manifested in some place either by visions, audible 
 voices, or through the medium of prophets and inspired 
 men. 
 
 We have spoken of the first Sanctuary occupied for the 
 worship of the first Sabbath. We find the same spacious 
 amphitheatre used for the same purpose in subsequent time 
 previous to the erection of temples by human hands. It 
 was in such a Sanctuary that the patriarch Jacob enjoyed 
 the vision when, in his lonely journey, he slept for the night 
 in the open air, with a stone for his pillow. As he awoke 
 in the morning, and reflected upon the scenes of that night, 
 looking upon the expanse above, and the earth beneath him, 
 he exclaimed, " How dreadful is this place I This is none 
 other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." 
 The same scene was repeated upon a grander scale in the 
 promulgation of the Law of the ten commandments from 
 
31 
 
 Sinai. The speaker on this occasion was none other than 
 Jehovah himself. Dispensing with all subordinate mediums, 
 the great I AM, pavilioned in thick clouds^ amid fire and 
 smoke, and the voice of a trumpet, sounding long and waxing 
 louder, proclaimed all the words of the Law to the trem- 
 bling multitudes drawn up around the base of the mount. 
 The Sanctuary selected for the occasion, was this material 
 universe. Its arching was the expanded heavens ; its floor- 
 ing, the solid earth ; its throne, the everlasting mountain. 
 The music of the occasion was the harmony of the spheres, 
 prolonged by the chorus of deep thunders, and the moun- 
 tain quaking. 
 
 The Psalmist loved to linger beneath the dome of this 
 magnificent temple of God, and study the beauty and glory 
 of its architectural finish. " The heavens declare the glory 
 of the Lord, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. 
 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shew- 
 eth knowledge. There is no speech nor language — their 
 voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the 
 earth, and their words to the end of the world.'^ 
 
 Such is the way of God as proclaimed by himself, direct- 
 ly or indirectly, in the temple of nature reared by his own 
 hands. 
 
 But he hath ordained another revelation of his ways. He 
 speaks to us in his word, which he hath magnified above all 
 his name. And this is his word, which, by the Gospel, is 
 preached unto you. Here we discern the way of Jehovah, 
 not only in his wisdom, power, and justice, but also in his 
 loving kindness, his long suffering and tender compassion. 
 In the volume which is written of him in our own tongue in 
 which we were born, God speaks to us by his Son. in 
 temples made with human hands, through human lips 
 touched with a living coal from his altar, he makes known 
 his plan of human redemption. 
 
no 
 
 Here nature is silent, but the Gospel is full and emphatic. 
 Redemption in a world of alienated, perishing sinners, is 
 the grand, all absorbing theme of the Sanctuary. It was 
 faintly shadowed forth in the sacrificial firstlings of Abel's 
 flock, more clearly by the paschal lamb without blemish, 
 whose blood was sprinkled upon the door posts, on the 
 night of Israel's flight from Egypt — typified more striking- 
 ly by the sprinkling of the blood of atonement, once a year, 
 by the high priest, upon the mercy seat within the holy of 
 holies — foretold in plainer language by David, Isaiah and 
 Daniel, who were favored with clearer visions of the fulfill- 
 ment of these emblems, in the coming of the Messiah. In 
 the progress of the old dispensation, we behold a gradual 
 developement of this grand central truth — redemption through 
 atoning blood, opening clearer and clearer, like the burst- 
 ing forth of light, foretelling the rising of the fufl orbed day. 
 
 In the fullness of time. He of whom Moses and the proph- 
 ets wrote, who was the antitype of the bleeding victims of 
 sacrifices laid upon the altar for four thousand years, came 
 upon the earth to accomplish the work given him to do, be- 
 fore the foundation of the world. 
 
 How the Lord Jesus Christ lived in the flesh, how he 
 taught, what w^onderful works of charity and mercy he 
 wrought in attestation of his divinity, what sufferings he 
 endured, what a death he died, in the fulfillment of his mis- 
 sion, r need not describe to you at this time. Suffice it to 
 say, that having finished his work, having spoiled principal- 
 ities and powers, triumphing over them, blotting out the 
 hand writing of ordinances that was against us, and having 
 become the end of the law for righteousness unto every one 
 that believeth, upon the eve of his return to the bosom of his 
 Father and the throne of intercession, he gave in charge to 
 his disciples, that memorable commission, " Go ye into all 
 the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 
33 
 
 How did the disciples fulfill this high commission ? What 
 did they understand to be the grand energising principle to 
 be clearly laid before the minds of an alienated, ruined world, 
 and to be m*ged upon their full conviction and cordial ac- 
 ceptance, as an essential prerequisite to their salvation ? 
 Let the chiefest of the apostles answer this question. To 
 the church at Corinth, he saith, " For I determined not to 
 know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him cru- 
 cified." And was not this the prominent theme of all the 
 primitive Evangelists? — Christ the wisdom of God and the 
 power of God? — Christ the hope of Glory? — Christ the resur- 
 rection and the life ? — the only name given under heaven 
 among men whereby they can be saved ? When the sinner, 
 overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt and danger, fell 
 at their feet with the trembling, anxious inquiry, "what 
 must I do to be saved," they replied, " Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 Connected with this leading article in the christian faith, 
 there are others that stand in such immediate proximity as 
 to become equally essential to the saving power of the Gos- 
 pel system. The universal and entire alienation of the race 
 from God, wherein all men voluntarily and criminally set 
 their affections on self, and the gratification of their desire 
 for worldly good, forgetful of God, and neglecting the 
 things that belong to their eternal peace — how clearly is 
 this doctrine announced in the writings of the Apostles. 
 In immediate connection with human depravity, follows in 
 the system, the absolute necessity of the convicting and ren- 
 ovating power of the Holy Spirit, delivering men from the 
 dominion of sin, and bringing them into the liberty and 
 light of the children of God. " Not by works of righteous- 
 ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
 saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing 
 5 
 
34 
 
 of the Holy Ghost." " So then it is not of him that wil- 
 leth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mer- 
 cy." " Salvation is of God." While, at the same time, 
 the alienated mind is left with its moral responsibility to 
 choose the right, and reject the wrong — to love God, and 
 keep his commandments. Hence the necessity and encour- 
 agement to lay before the sinner, the strong reasons, the 
 weighty motives, that should constrain him to cease to do 
 evil, and submit himself to God, and give him his heart. 
 Our hope of success in preaching the Gospel to such as are 
 " dead in trespasses and sin," lies in bringing the light and 
 power of truth so to bear upon the understanding and con- 
 science, as to leave them without excuse in their controver- 
 sy with God ; and then look upward in fervent supplication 
 for that divine influence which alone can change the heart 
 of stone to an heart of flesh. " Thy people shall be willing 
 in the day of thy power." 
 
 Not less plain and obvious to every candid mind, are the 
 indispensable conditions on which forgiveness and justifica- 
 tion are bestowed. I call them conditions for want of a 
 better term. I mean those states of mind which are re- 
 quired in order that we should become partakers of the bles- 
 sings of the life divine. And these are, " repentance toward 
 God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." Repentance, 
 that it may be unto life, must originate in that sorrow for 
 sin which sees its chief criminality in its being a trans- 
 gression of the law of God. It must also be followed with 
 a radical reformation of the life and conversation. Faith in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, implies a renunciation of every other 
 source of help or hope, and a cordial acceptance of the Sa- 
 vior, and a hearty reliance on his meritorious mediation, as 
 the ground of our acceptance with God. 
 
 Nor should it be forgotten, that the test of our being the 
 actual subjects of these essential states of mind, consists in 
 
W' 
 
 35 
 
 a subsequent steady growth in christian grace — a pathway 
 that shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. 
 Our strength is not in ourselves, or in any arm of ilesh. If 
 not upheld, at every step of our pilgrimage on earth, by the 
 same unseen hand that first took our feet out of the horri- 
 ble pit and the miry clay, and set them upon a rock, such is 
 the power of remaining sin within, that we should certainly 
 stumble, and fall and perish eternally. Our hope is in him 
 who hath promised that none of his real flock shall finally 
 stray from his fold — that all whom the Father hath given 
 to him in the covenant of redemption, shall be kept, by the 
 power of God through faith unto salvation. So that the 
 song of the redeemed will be forever the same which John 
 heard in his vision of things to come. " Unto him that 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
 and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Fa- 
 ther ; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever." 
 
 The way of God, through the medium of the Sanctuary, 
 is signally manifested in the origin and progress of the 
 church. In its foundation, laid in the vicarious sufierings 
 of his beloved Son, you behold a rich display of his mercy 
 and compassion. The ransom of his people was the pur- 
 chase of a bleeding sacrifice of infinite value. And after 
 the foundation was laid in the agony and death of the im- 
 maculate Lamb of God, how glorious the grace, the com- 
 passion, the long suffering, and tender mercy of God, in the 
 mission of the Holy Spirit, to arrest the sinner in his proud 
 defiance of impending \\Tath, and bring him upon his knees 
 a suppliant for mercy — to change the bold blasphemer into 
 a man of prayer ! 
 
 The history of the church from the beginning through all 
 her conflicts with the power and cunning of her adversa- 
 ries — her seasons of alternate depression and elevation — of 
 discouragement and triumph, is a fair history of Divine 
 
36 
 
 Providence, happily illustrated by Israel's forty years' jour- 
 ney from Egypt to the rest of Canaan. God has gone be- 
 fore her to mark out her pathway by the symbol of a pillar 
 of a cloud by day, and of fire by night. From the Sheki- 
 nah over the mercy seat in her Sanctuary, he hath proclaim- 
 ed the lively oracles of truth and salvation. How mighty 
 that outstretched arm that could sustain, from age to ao-e, 
 the wandering patriarchs, the persecuted prophets and apos- 
 tles, and the bleeding martyrs, in their toils and sufferings ! 
 How glorious that grace, that could wake the song of vic- 
 tory at the stake, and so overrule the wrath of persecutors, 
 that the blood of the slain should prove the seed of the 
 church ! " Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath 
 shined." 
 
 It is our privilege to live under a dispensation more Spir- 
 itual than that of the Jewish church. He who came to 
 bring life and immortality to light, hath blotted out the 
 hand writing of ordinances, nailing it to the cross, and hath 
 introduced a new dispensation, in which the best sacrifice 
 we can bring, is that of a humble and contrite heart — the 
 only acceptable worship, that which is presented in spirit 
 and in truth. 
 
 With greater emphasis than that with which the apostle 
 uttered the words, may we now say, " The night is far 
 spent, the day is at hand." Amidst all the discouragements 
 that yet becloud the prospects of Zion, we see in them a 
 bow of promise, cheering us on in the belief that the night 
 of infidelity and formalism — ^of superstitious reliance on ex- 
 ternal rites and ceremonies — of sectarian bigotry, and phara- 
 saical exclusiveness, is passing away, and a closer union 
 among all who hold to the essentials of the gospel, in fel- 
 lowship and co-operation for the common good against the 
 common enemy, is coming up. Of one thing we are cer- 
 tain, the promise of God cannot fail. The strong holds of 
 satan, whether held by the man of sin, or by the worship- 
 
37 
 
 pers of idols, or by the skeptical and the superstitious, must 
 be demolished by the overturning of Him whose are the 
 uttermosts parts of the earth by the purchase of his agonies ; 
 and the church redeemed by his blood, shall enjoy its mil- 
 lenial rest. 
 
 Nor will Zion's conflicts and victories be completed, 
 nor her triumph fully gained, until all her ransomed ones 
 shall be safely and securely enclosed within those many 
 mansions which Christ has gone to prepare for them. In 
 earnest expectation and confident hope, the church militant 
 waiteth for the manifestions of the sons of God. When the 
 last act in the great drama of earth shall be completed, the 
 curtain shall drop, and time will be no longer. A new 
 heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, 
 will succeed those that now are, and become the final abode 
 of the redeemed of the Lord out of every nation and kin- 
 dred and tongue. The Sanctuaries of earth will be ex- 
 changed for one vast Sanctuary above, a building of God, 
 an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. 
 
 Such being the ways of God manifested in the Sanctuary, 
 it is not difficult to decide what order of devotion, and what 
 themes of instruction are most befitting such a place. 
 
 It should never be forgotten that the Sanctuary is the 
 house of God. It is solemnly dedicated to his worship. 
 Here he hath recorded his nam.e, and here he dwells by a 
 special power and influence, that cannot be ordinarily ex- 
 pected to be enjoyed any where else. How important then 
 that the associations connected with such a place be exclu' 
 sively of a sacred and devotional nature ! We advocate 
 such an exclusive use of the house of God, not from any 
 superstitious, idolatrous veneration of wood and stone 
 wrought into architectural elegance and beauty, but as a 
 matter of common propriety — an adaptation essential to the 
 
38 
 
 highest good sought in such use. Assemblies for literary 
 and civic purposes, musical concerts, anniversary festivals, 
 sales for benevolent objects, may be important and useful 
 in their proper place, but they are not in harmony with the 
 sacred dignity — the hallowed associations of the House of 
 God. Who but the most daringly impious would presvime 
 to grace a banquet with the flagons and chalices of the com- 
 munion table ! Entertaining the views I do on this subject, 
 I must plead, with my Master, " make not my Father's 
 house an house of merchandise"— -convert it not into a 
 theatre of such rhetorical or artistic exhibitions as are pro- 
 vocative of mirth or boisterous applause. 
 
 " God is a spirit ; and they that worship him, must wor- 
 ship him in spirit and in truth." After the doing away of 
 the ritual service with its priesthood, and the introduction 
 of that which was more simple and spiritual, by Christ, public 
 worship consisted chiefly in prayer, praise, and the reading of 
 the Scriptures with a concise exposition. The prayers of- 
 fered in the primitive assemblies, were such as came up 
 glowing from the heart, dictated by the wants created by 
 surrounding circumstances. And such, it seems to us, should 
 ever be the prayers most becoming a christian assembly. 
 They should be simple, childlike, fervent, welling up from 
 the warm, spontaneous, outgushing of the soul, inspired by 
 a deep sense of the necessities, or the fullness of the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 The melody of the Sanctuary should be simply expres- 
 sive of the sentiments uttered in a sacred Psalmody ; " the 
 human voice divine" always rising above all accompani- 
 ments, and distinctly articulating the words, and impressing 
 the sentiment upon the ear. As in the temple above, 
 
 " Where no tongue shall silent be, 
 All shall join sweet harmony ;" 
 
 so in his courts below, we should never consider this de- 
 lightful part of worship as performed in the most edifying 
 
39 
 
 manner, until the praises of God are sounded forth from the 
 lips of the whole congregation. 
 
 After the repairing of the temple by Nehemiah, and rein- 
 stating divine worship, it was appointed for the Levites 
 " to read in the book the law of the Lord distinctly, and 
 cause the people to understand the reading." In a syna- 
 gogue of the Jews, the Savior, on the Sabbath day, read a 
 portion of the Book of Isaiah, and then instructed the peo- 
 ple as to its meaning. It is evidently God's plan, out of 
 the Scriptures to make men wise unto salvation through 
 the living preacher. 
 
 The theme of his discourse should be the Word of God 
 as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. " Preach the Word." Truth, the two edged sword, 
 is the grand instrument which is to become " mighty through 
 God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down im- 
 aginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
 the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
 thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 
 Do you enquire with Pilate, " what is truth ?" I reply, that 
 is truth, which the most clearly sets before the mind the way 
 of God as manifested in his universal government, his holy 
 law, his wonderful plan of redemption. That is truth, which 
 delineates man as a sinner, ruined by voluntary transgres- 
 sion, helpless in himself, and lying at the mercy of his of- 
 fended Sovereign. That is truth, which presents a Savior 
 in his mysterious union of a divine and human nature in 
 one person, through whose meritorious sufferings, received 
 by faith, salvation is alone provided for the lost. That 
 is truth, which proclaims a day of judgment when every 
 one shall give account of himself to God, and receive a re- 
 ward according to the deeds done in the body — when the 
 righteous shall inherit the kingdom prepared for them from 
 the foundation of the world, and the wicked shall go away 
 
40 
 
 into everlasting punishment. These and their kindred doc- 
 trines are commonly known as the doctrines of the Refor- 
 mation. They are such as were preached by V/icklifT in 
 England, John Huss in Bohemia, Martin Luther in Ger- 
 many, John Calvin in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scot- 
 land ; and which, under God, raised these kingdoms from the 
 darkness of papal night, into the light and liberty of an open 
 Bible, and an intelligent faith. 
 
 These were the doctrines, summarily contained in the 
 Westminster Assemblies' Catechism, held so dear by the pil- 
 gi-im fathers, and which they instilled into the minds of 
 their children, and which have become the basis of the New 
 England character as it is generally known and respected 
 throughout this land. Of this system of truth, sometimes 
 called the evangelical system, we, as a denomination, can 
 claim no exclusive possession. We hold it in common with 
 many others. We only speak of its introduction, and early 
 growth, and first fruits in this western world. This system, 
 embraced as the creed of this ancient church, we expect to 
 be preached within these walls, while they shall stand on 
 their granite foundation, and become, as they have been in 
 generations past, the power of God, and the wisdom of God 
 unto salvation to a multitude of souls. 
 
 Surrounded with such sacred associations, can we be 
 surprised that the Sanctuary should be held in such high 
 estimation by good men in every age I With what solemn 
 interest did the patriarchs of Israel invest the spot where 
 they raised their lonely altar, and consecrated their bethel to 
 the true God with the baptism of oil and prayer ! Think 
 of the cheerful offerings of gold and silver, of tapestry and 
 fine needle-work, from the personal toil both of men and 
 women, in building and furnishing the tabernacle in the wil- 
 derness ! With what earnest zeal did the pious king of Is- 
 
41 
 
 rael bring forth the ark of God from the solitudes of Kirjath- 
 jearim, and set it up near his own dwelling on Mount Zion I 
 " Surely", saith he, " I will not come into the tabernacle of 
 my house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to 
 my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place 
 for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." 
 
 When that little band of exiled pilgrims on board the 
 Mayflower neared the bleak shores of Plymouth, they sent 
 forth a deputation to explore a safe place for landing. Fail- 
 ing to return on board previous to the Sabbath, they spent 
 the day in solemn worship in an open forest, upon deep 
 snow. Scarcely had they sheltered their families on shore 
 from the blasts of winter, before they erected their taberna- 
 cle, and consecrated it to the worship of the Triune Jeho- 
 vah. 
 
 Just sixty years from that memorable era, the flight of 
 two generations, the voice of the living preacher was first 
 heard amid the primeval forests that covered this beautiful 
 slope upon the Bay of the Narragansett. The original pro- 
 prietors of Bristol were men who feared the Lord, and rev- 
 erenced his Sanctuary as an institution essential to a well 
 ordered civil community, and the hope of immortality. The 
 year 1680, the very same which dates their deed of purchase, 
 they obtained an ordained minister of their own order, to 
 break to them the bread of life, and set apart certain por- 
 tions of the township, the income of which was to be applied 
 to the support of himself and his successors in office, forev- 
 er. In 1684 they erected their first Sanctuary, and conse- 
 crated it to the service of divine worship, which continued 
 to be so used for one hundred years. 
 
 How many tender and hallowed associations cluster 
 around the Sanctuaries of our fathers, as they pass in review 
 before the eye of memory. There they stood on their bleak 
 
42 
 
 and solitary eminence, in their unarchitectural, unfinished 
 state, devoid of tower, steeple or bell; in winter, unprotect- 
 ed within by warming apparatus, in summer, the swallow 
 might literally build her nest and lay her young upon their 
 unceiled arches. There was the family pew with its square 
 interior, so that a member could be located at each of the 
 cardinal points, and every one know his exact place. There 
 was the high pulpit surmounted with its pendent sounding 
 board. And there stood the venerable man of God discours- 
 ing from week to week, and from year to year, and not un- 
 frequently, from generation to generation, of righteousness, 
 of sin, and of judgment to come. Can you recall any spot 
 within the precincts of your recollection, so sacred ? so pow- 
 erful in its influences upon your mind and heart — upon your 
 character and destinies for time and eternity ? By what 
 process of computation can you reach the extent and the 
 value of the moral power, which leavens and modifies the 
 sentiments and sympathies, and lives of the present genera- 
 tion of New England, which has descended upon them from 
 these time honored habitations of God, whose very ruins 
 and dust are precious in our eyes. 
 
 Of all other places on earth, the Sanctuary will be the 
 choicest to the good man during the appropriate hours of 
 the Sabbath. " One thing have I desired of the Lord," 
 saith the Psalmist, " and that will I seek after, that I may 
 dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to be- 
 hold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." 
 " For a day in thy court is better than a thousand. I had 
 rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to 
 dwell in the tents of wickedness." Who can hope to dwell 
 with David in the upper Sanctuary during an eternal Sab- 
 bath, that feels no such attractions to the place where Jeho- 
 vah hath recorded his name ? 
 
43 
 
 Nor will good men grudge or withhold the pecuniary ap- 
 propriations necessary to sustain and render attractive, the 
 worship of the Sanctuary. It is a law of our being that the 
 things by which we are to be the most benefitted in this life, 
 are to come into our possession only through personal toil 
 and sacrifice. God has, in his wisdom, so ordained it, and 
 let no man, upon the peril of his soul, attempt to offer unto 
 the Lord burnt offerings of that which cost him nothing. 
 What would have been the social, civil, moral and religious 
 condition of this community, after the lapse of one hundred 
 and seventy six years, if the Gospel in its purity had not 
 been preached here from the beginning ? Sdtae religion we 
 would have possessed ; for this is essential to the cravings 
 of humanity. Whether it would have been Jiaganism or 
 popery, or rationalism, or the religion of Mormon, is of lit- 
 tle consequence, since the results would have been essen- 
 tially the same, as testified in the history of the older repub- 
 lics of Central and South America. Where there is no Sab- 
 bath, or Sanctuary restraints upon the habits of the people, 
 of what value is property, by what tenure can it be held ? 
 Where is the safe-guard of human life ? What can there 
 be that is worthy of the name of civil freedom ? What en- 
 during consolation can come to the abodes of sorrow, and 
 the bed of sickness, what inspiring hope to the departing 
 
 soul ! 
 
 These considerations were duly weighed by the original 
 proprietors of this town, and while few in number, and fee- 
 ble in resources, at a sacrifice of toil and money of which 
 we, in our comparative abundance, can form no adequate 
 conception, they laid the foundations of a Sabbath-keeping, 
 church-going, christian enlightened, community. 
 
 During about forty years from the settlement of the town, 
 this Society continued alone to supply the religious wants 
 
44 
 
 of the people. After the close of the revolutionary war 
 which bore heavily upon the prosperity of this exposed po- 
 sition upon the Bay, the friends of this Society renewed 
 their efforts to secure its permanent welfare. In 1784, 
 numbering but seventy families, they erected their second 
 house of worship, and, by voluntary subscription, raised a 
 valuable permanent fund, the interest of which was to be ap- 
 propriated annually for the support of an Orthodox Con- 
 gregational Minister. The same year they obtained an act 
 of Incorporation, and became a body politic, under the name 
 of " the Catholic Congregational Society of Bristol."* 
 
 Such have been the efforts and pecuniary contributions 
 of the founders and the fathers of this town to establish and 
 perpetuate the institutions of the Gospel in accordance, as 
 they believed, with the simplicity and purity of primitive 
 Christianity. In these efforts and sacrifices, they have left 
 an example to us worthy of our zealous imitation. 
 
 It becomes us here to recognize the providence of God^ 
 in the introduction of other christian churches from time to 
 time, and their present prosperous existence among us as 
 co-operators in the common cause. Although here as else- 
 where, there may have existed strife and collision in the 
 starting of new enterprises, yet we are happy to say that 
 while we have our denominational preferences, we find no 
 embarrassment from the principles of our distinct organiza- 
 tion, in extending the hand of christian fellowship to all of 
 whatever name, whose foundation is on the Rock of Ages. 
 Holding to the Head, brethren of every name, we give you 
 the right hand, both in your ministry and membership. 
 
 On this day, after the lapse of one hundred and seventy- 
 six years from the introduction of the Gospel into this set- 
 tlement, we are assembled for the purpose of dedicating our 
 
 *See Appendix, Note E. 
 
45 
 
 third house to the worship and service of the God of our 
 fathers.* Above, around, and beneath us, we behold an en- 
 during monument of the zeal and liberality of the existing 
 members of the Catholic Congregational Society, for the 
 perpetuity and prosperity of the Gospel, in that simplicity 
 and purity v/hich has ever been held dear to the fathers of 
 New England. That which Walley and Byfield and Oli- 
 ver and Burton, with their associates, did for us, in the be- 
 ginning, out of their comparative feebleness, we, in our ma- 
 turer strength, desire to impart, in an house of more imper- 
 ishable materials, to the generations that are Jo succeed. 
 
 In this enterprise, the accomplishment of which we this day 
 witness with lively emotions of gratitude, the people have 
 had a mind to work. They have offered willingly. God has 
 smiled upon the undertaking. He has imparted skill to the 
 architect, patient endurance to the building committee ; — • 
 he has shielded the workmen from accident and injury, and 
 the house is finished. And now what words can better ex- 
 press the sentiment of our hearts than those used by David 
 on a similar occasion ? " O Lord God, all this store that 
 we have provided to build thee an house for thy holy name, 
 cometh of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 
 
 In erecting such an house for ourselves and our posterity^ 
 for the worship of God, will it be thought that we have 
 made too great an investment ? In setting up such a mon- 
 ument for the honor of the Lord of hosts, will any one en- 
 quire " for what purpose is this waste ?" Has it not been in 
 all ages a special object with the people of God to render 
 the place of his earthly abode, stately, beautiful, and atttac- 
 tive ? Was it not so with the Church in the palmiest days 
 of the Jewish commonwealth ? Was it not so in the days 
 of our fathers, according to their ability ? Is it meet for us 
 in these times of abounding wealth, to dwell in our ceiled 
 
 *See Appendex, Note F. 
 
46 
 
 houses, while the house of God lieth waste ? In embarking 
 in this enterprise, do we not feel an interest drawing us to- 
 ward the Sanctuary, which we should not have otherwise 
 felt ? Where your treasure is, will not your hearts be also ? 
 Have you not committed yourselves by one addition- 
 al bond to the sacred cause for which this house has been 
 built ? Who is there among us that does not feel it a priv- 
 ilege to transmit to generations yet unborn, such a memo- 
 rial of the estimation in which we hold the ordinances of 
 Christ, both as it respects the life that now is, and that 
 which is to came ? In vision not miraculously prophetic, I 
 seem to see in the distant future, generation after generation 
 coming up hither and passing away, under the hallowed in- 
 fluence of the truth proclaimed within these walls, enshroud- 
 ed in their drapery of ivy, and embowered beneath the in- 
 terlocking branches of the surrounding elms now bending in 
 the breeze. Yes, while centuries roll on, I see this house of 
 God becoming the gate of heaven to multitudes in their 
 passage upward to join the purer, nobler worship of heaven. 
 Surely, my brethren, you have done a good work. God will 
 record his name here, and will make it, as he hath the former 
 house, the birth place of souls — the goal from which many 
 a pilgrim will set out on his journey to the celestial city. 
 When the Lord writeth up the people, it shall be said, " this 
 and that man was born there." 
 
 But how often are we admonished that " all flesh is grass, 
 and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." Some who 
 were with us when the corner stone of this house was laid, 
 are not here to-day. They felt a deep interest in this chris- 
 tian enterprise ; they watched these walls, and their interior, 
 in their progress, and anticipated the joy of mingling in the 
 solemnities of this occasion. But they have passed up to 
 mingle in the praises of the great assembly above. Nor 
 would we recall them to the conflicts of earth, if we 
 
47 
 
 had the power. One of these had sustained the office of 
 Deacon in this church for more than forty years, and had 
 been a member of it rising of fifty years. He was also the 
 President of this Society at the time of his death. He was 
 a sincere friend of this Parish, and, according to his means, 
 a liberal supporter of the institutions of religion.* " Our 
 fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live for- 
 ever ?" ^' We all do fade as a leaf." What is this new and 
 stately edifice, this pulpit, these pews, yonder orchestra, these 
 frescoed arches ? what but one common passage way to the 
 grave, the judgment seat, the retributions of eternity ! If 
 they all could speak to us, would not their united voice be, 
 " prepare to meet thy God ?" Oh, if these buttresses and 
 turrets and pillars and arches and gildings had a tongue 
 to speak for him to whose service they are this day dedica- 
 ted, they would say to you in tones unearthly, " let not the 
 novelty of these imposing scenes divert your minds one mo- 
 ment from the great question, " What must I do to be 
 saved?" Consecrated stone or wood or mortar, wrought 
 into the highest state of architectural symmetry and beauty, 
 cannot save you. Yonder organ, with its deep and silvery 
 tones, this pulpit with the highest eloquence that shall ever 
 grace it, cannot of themselves work out your salvation. Ex- 
 cept ye repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ— except 
 ye give your heart to God, and live to His glory, ye must 
 live and die without hope. No external privileges can su- 
 percede the necessity of the washing of regeneration and 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh to you to-day 
 through these scenes and services. Bring no strange fire 
 to off"er on this altar. Come up hither with the sacrifice of 
 an humble and contrite heart. Listen to the word as those 
 
 *Deacon Benjamin Wyatt. 
 
48 
 
 who must give account. Pray with a fervent spirit. Make 
 
 melody in your hearts unto the Lord. In a word, worship 
 
 God in spirit and in truth. And after a few more Sabbath 
 
 suns shall have arisen and set, you will have offered your 
 
 last prayer, have sung your last hymn of praise, joined in 
 
 your last communion service, your seat be occupied by 
 
 another, and your spirit, if purified in the blood of the 
 
 Lamb, will pass away to the Sanctuary above, 
 
 " Where the Assembly ne'er breaks up, 
 Where the Sabbath ne'er shall end." 
 
 Arise, O Lord, enter into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy 
 strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, 
 and let thy saints shout aloud for joy. Descend, O Holy 
 Spirit, upon thy people assembled here, and that shall as- 
 semble here " as tlie dew of Hermon, and as the dew that 
 descended upon the mountains of Zion, where the Lord 
 commanded his blessing, even life forever more." 
 
APPE}{DIX. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 Mr. Byfleld's original farm is supposed to have comprised nearly all of 
 what is now called Pappasqua Point. His dwelling stood near the resi- 
 dence of jMr. Stephen Church. His family tomb, prepared by himself, 
 was located on the estate of the late William D'Wolf, Esq., and now be- 
 longing to his heirs. Its remains may now be traced on the land lying 
 West of the dwelling house. Here, it is supposed, were interred several 
 members of his family who deceased during his residence in Bristol. 
 Within the recollection of persons now living, the name of "Priscilla," and 
 a part of "Byfield," were distinctly traced upon the headstone. The house 
 owned by Mr. Byfield, and rented to the Society for the accommodation of 
 the family of Mr. Woodbridge, and also for public worship, must have been 
 situated in or near the village. 
 
 A parish taken from portions of Kowley and Newbury, Mass., was call- 
 ed Byfield, in honor of the subject of this historical sketch. In a letter of 
 Judge Sewall, dated April 1st, 1704, Col. Byfield is repi-esented as saying, 
 " I am surprised at the account you give me of the name of a new town 
 upon the Elver Parker, near Newbury. How they hit upon my name I 
 can't imagine. I heartily wish them prosperity ; and if any respect to me 
 was the cause, it is an obligation upon me, (when God shall enable me,) to 
 study how I may be serviceable to them." Whether he ever gave them 
 any thing in return for such honor conferred, I have not been able to as- 
 certain. 
 
 The sermon preached at the funeral of Col. Byfield, was printed. The 
 text was from John i, 42. " Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and salth 
 of him, behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." It was a text ap- 
 plicable, no doubt, to the character, as well as the name of this worthy 
 man. 
 
50 
 
 KOTE B. 
 
 This lionso, built for Mr. Lee, was afterwards owned by Jeremiali Fin- 
 ney, and descended by inberitance to his son Josiah, and became the birth 
 place of all the children of the latter. In it was born the wife of the late 
 "VYm. D'Wolf, Esq., who, with her sister Martha, occujiied, in their early- 
 days, the chamber which had been the study of the venerable minister. 
 There were the alcoves and niches which had been the repositories of so 
 much ancient lore, and there the sanctuary where the man of God had 
 written, studied and prayed. The two eldest of Mv. D'Wolf 's children 
 were born in this house. It was a spacious old structure, and the only 
 relic of it now remaining, is a pane of glass inscribed with the name of 
 " Martha Finney." 
 
 Note C. 
 
 " In raising up such a man as Benjamin Church, for the defense of the 
 Colonists, and in preserving his life amid the imminent perils to which he 
 was subjected, the finger of Divine Providence was most signally manifest- 
 ed. Church was certainly a wonderful man ; raised up for a most difficult 
 service. He says of himself — ' through the gi-ace of God I was spirited for 
 that work, and direction in it was renewed to me day by day. Althouofh 
 many of the actions I was concerned in, were difficult and dangerous, yet 
 myself, and those who went with me voluntarily in the service, had our 
 lives, for the most part, wonderfully preserved by the overruling hand of 
 the Almighty from first to last, — and to declare his wonderful work is our 
 indispensible duty. I was ever very sensible of my unfitness to be em- 
 ployed in such great services. But calling to mind that God is strong, I 
 endeavored to put all my confidence in him, and by his Almighty power 
 was carried through very dlfiicult actions ; and my desire is that his name 
 may have all the praise.' " " He is represented by his son as constant and 
 devout in family worship ; wherein he read, and often expounded the 
 scriptures to his household. In the observance of the Sabbath, and in at- 
 tending the worship:) and ordinances of God in the sanctuary, he was exem- 
 plary. As a warrior, he seems to have understood perfectly the best man- 
 ner of coping with the Indians ; and it was in battling with them that his 
 success was wonderful. His surprisal and capture of Annawon and his 
 warriors, was an act of heroic boldness which has no parallel in modern 
 times." " He married Alice Southworth, grand-daughter of the distin- 
 guished wife of Gov. Bradford, by whom he had five sons and two daugh- 
 
51 
 
 ters. The wife of tlie late Deacon Sylvestei- Brownell, of Little Compton 
 ■was his great-gran d-daughter." — Historical Sketches of Fall Paver, by Rev. 
 0. Folder. 
 
 A broad horizontal slab of Free Stone, covering his remains in the Cem- 
 etery at Little Compton Commons, contains the following inscription : 
 
 " Here lieth interred the body of the Honorable Col. Benjamin Church, 
 Esq,, who departed this life Jan. 17, 1717-18, in the 78th year of his a"-e." 
 
 " High in esteem among the great he stood, 
 His wisdom made him lovely, great and good; 
 Though he be said to die, he still survives ; 
 Thro' future time his memory shall live." 
 
 Col. Church was the first Englishman who commenced the settlement of 
 Scconnet. It was the burning of Deertield, Mass., that first aroused the 
 spirit of the veteran warrior. On receiving the intelligence, he immedi- 
 ately mounted his horse, and rode seventy miles to wait on Gov. Dudley. 
 
 Tradition says that the old Talbee house, in this town, standing near 
 the corner of Thames and Constitution streets, the stone chimney of which 
 only remains, was built by Col. Church. 
 
 We have seen that Benjamin Church and Alice Southworth, had five 
 sons and two daughters. His youngest son, Charles Church, v/as born in 
 this town. May 1st, 1682. He married Hannah, daughter of Col. Nathaniel 
 Paine. He had two sons and five daughters. He died Dec. 31, 1746. 
 Constant, the 2d son of Col. Charles Church, married Mary, daughter of 
 Peter, and Mary Reynolds. They had two sons and one daughter. Peter 
 his eldest son, born Dec. 12th, 1737, was the 2d President of this Society. 
 He was of the 4th generation from the distinguished Avarrior. He died 
 Oct. 24, 1821, having nearly completed his 84th year. 
 
 Note D. 
 
 Jabcz Howland, the first Town Clerk of Bristol, was the second son of 
 John and Elizabeth Howland, who were a part of the crew of the May- 
 flower. He was married to Bethiah Thatcher, and removed to Bristol 
 about the year 1681. He had nine children, seven sons and two daugh- 
 ters. Samuel, his sixth son, born May 24, 1686, was married by Rev. Mr. 
 Sparhawk, May 6, 1708, to Abigail Cary, daughter of John Cary, one of 
 the first deacons of this church. They had seven children, two sons and 
 five daughters. His youngest daughter, Mehitabel, born Feb. 1,1724 
 married Stephen Wardwell. They had six children, three sons and three 
 daughters. Hannah, the youngest child of Stephen Wardwell, born Nov. 
 ■'3, 17G3, married Elisha May, and is now living iu the 94th year of her a'>'e 
 
62 
 
 being in tlic Stli generation from Jolin Howland of the iMaj'flower. Only 
 three generations seperate this venerable lady from those who first stepped 
 upon Plymouth Rock. 
 
 Abigail, the second child of the above Stephen Wardwell, and Mehita- 
 bel Howland, and sister of Mrs. May, born Dec. 25, 1751, was the mother 
 of Capt. William Pearse, now living in the 85th year of his age, as a repre- 
 sentative of the sixth generation from the Mayllower, in the same line of 
 descent. 
 
 Note E. 
 
 Resigned. 
 
 Died. 
 
 Age. 
 
 
 1808 
 
 80 
 
 
 1821 
 
 83 
 
 1826 
 
 1831 
 
 69 
 
 1830 
 
 1855 
 
 84 
 
 1846 
 
 
 
 The Catholic Congregational Society was incorporated by an act of the 
 General Assembly, Oct. 1784. The first meeting was held Dec. 6, same 
 vear. The legal members at this time, were 77, all of whom have deceas- 
 ed. The last survivor, Stephen Talbee, died June, 184G, aged 93. 
 
 The officers of the Society from its iucoi-poration to the present date are 
 as follows : 
 
 PRESIDENTS. 
 Elected. 
 William Bradford, 1784 
 
 Peter Church, 1809 
 
 John Howland, 1822 
 
 Benjamin Norris, 1826 
 
 Benjamin Wyatt, 1830 
 
 " '< reelected, 1852 1856 79 
 
 Byron Diman, 1846 1852 
 
 VICE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Nathaniel Fales, 1784 1792 1801 81 
 
 Peter Church, 1792 . 1809 
 
 William Monro, 1809 1815 1827 90 
 
 John Howland, 1815 1822 
 
 William D' Wolf, 1822 1826 1829 67 
 
 Benjamin Wyatt, 1826 1830 
 
 Jeremiah Diman, 1830 1833 1847 80 
 
 OtisStorrs, 1833 1835 
 
 William B. Spooner,. 1835 1852 
 
 Benjamin Pitman, 1852 1854 
 
 Thomas Holmes, 185-4 
 
53 
 
 TREASUEEKS. 
 
 Elected. Kosisned. Died. Age. 
 
 1784 
 
 1788 
 
 1811 
 
 1788 
 
 1792 
 
 1812 
 
 1793 
 
 
 1832 
 
 1832 
 
 1843 
 
 
 1842 
 
 1844 
 
 1850 
 
 1844 
 
 1851 
 
 
 1851 
 
 
 
 SECRETARIES. 
 
 
 
 1784 
 
 
 1798 
 
 1793 
 
 
 1826 
 
 1826 
 
 1843 
 
 
 1843 
 
 1844 
 
 
 1844 
 
 1849 
 
 
 1849 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Bosworth, 
 Arcliibald jMonro, 
 Richard Smith, Jr., 
 Jeremiah Diman, 
 WiUiam Throop, 
 Martin Bennett, 
 Nathan Bardin, 
 
 JohnWaklron, 1784 1798 70 
 
 Samuel Bosworth, 
 
 William Throop, 
 
 Martin Bennett, 
 
 Henry "Wardwell, 
 
 Bennett J. Monro, 
 
 lion. William Bradford, the fii'st President of this Society, was born 
 Nov. 4, 1728. He was of the 5th generation from Gov. William Bradford, 
 one of the company of the Pilgrims, and the 2d Governor of Plymouth 
 Colony. 
 
 I. Gov. Bradford, of the Mayflower, was baptized March, 1589, at Aus- 
 terfield, Eng. His father, William Bradford, died in 1591, when William, 
 Jr., was about two years old. He married, 1st, Dorathy May — 2d, Alice, 
 v»'idow of Constant Southworth. 
 
 II. William Bradford, eldest son of Gov. B., by his 2d wife, was born 
 June 17, 1624. He was thrice married. He was a distinguished ofHcer 
 in King Philip's war, — was Deputy Governor of the Colony, and one of the 
 Council of Massachusetts. He died at Kingston, Mass., Feb. 20, 1703-4, 
 aged 79. 
 
 III. John Bradford, the eldest child of William B. and Alice Richards, 
 his first wife, was born Feb. 1653. He married Mercy Warren. He re- 
 sided in Kingston, Mass. 
 
 TV. Samuel Bradford, the 5th child of John and Mercy B., was born 
 Dec. 23, 1683. He mai-ried Sarah Gray, of Tiverton, Oct. 24, 1714. He 
 died 26th March, 1740. 
 
 V. William Bradford, the first President of the Catholic Congregation- 
 al Society, in Bristol, the 6th child of Samuel and Sarah B., was born Nov. 
 4, 1728. He married Mary LeBaron, of Bristol. In 1751 he commenced 
 the practice of Medicine in "W^arren, R. I. But soon after removed to Bris- 
 tol and took up the practice of law. In this he was highly successful. He 
 
54 
 
 was Deputy Governor of Rhode Island, and a Senator in Congress from 
 1793 to 1797* 
 
 Note F. 
 
 This liovise of "Worship is located on the corner of Bradford and High 
 streets, fronting on the latter. It has three entrances in front, and a rear 
 entrance at the Southeast corner, leading into the Pastor's Dressing dRoom 
 and Pulpit. It has a tower on the Northwest corner, 18 feet square, with 
 buttresses, extending upward about 80 feet, surmounted with belfry and 
 turrets. The full dimensions of the house are as follows: Length, 101 feet, 
 ■width, 67 feet, walls, 28 feet high in the clear, and 39 feet from the floor to 
 the apex of the nave of the main arch. The style of the architecture is 
 gothic. The trimmings and buttresses are pure granite, the filliug up is of 
 a stone somewhat difierent in quality, presenting a natural face, and a 
 pleasing variety in figure and color. The roof is covered with slate and 
 tin. The interior is finished with groin arched ceiling, with eight pen- 
 dants, or corbels, for springing the arclies, and from which depend the 
 chandeliers. The pews are circular and trimmed with black walnut. The 
 upholstering is of crimson damask, and covers the whole surface, both back 
 and front. They are 114 in number on the ground floor, and 30 in the 
 galleries. The floor is thoroughly carpeted in both pews and aisles, in corre- 
 sponding colors. The pulpit is furnished with a settee of black walnut. 
 The communion table and chairs of the same material. The recess back 
 of the pulpit is richly frescoed, as are also the arches in the ceiling of the 
 roof. The organ, made by the Messrs. Hook, of Boston, at an expense of 
 S2000, is finished to correspond with the interior of the church — the case 
 is gothic, 34 feet high and 14 wide. It has 32 registers or stops. The oi'- 
 chestra is dropped within a few feet of the main floor. The whole interior 
 is lighted with gas. The architect was Seth Ingalls, Esq., and the master 
 builder of the stone work, AVilliam Ingalls, both of New Bedford. The 
 wood work was executed by Messrs. Bunn & Lindsey, of Bristol. The 
 frescoing by J. S. D'Orsey, of New York. The building committee were 
 Messrs. William B. Spooner, JMessadore T. Bennett, Josiah Gladding, 
 William U. Church, Stephen T. Church and Nathan Bardin. 
 
 *See Genealogy of the Bradford family, prepared by Gen. G. Fesseaden, for Hist, and 
 Geneal. ilegister, Jan. 1850. 
 
55 
 
 The Coinmunion Service consists of tv:o Cups, inscribed as " tlie gift of 
 Nathaniel Byfield, 1693." One Cup, "the gift of the Kev. John Spar- 
 hawk, 1718. 
 
 Three Ciqis," to the Bristol Nonconformist Church, March 29, 1723." 
 The donor is not known. 
 
 Two Cups. " The gift of Hon. Nath. Blagrore, 1745." 
 Two Flagons — The gift of two sisters, members of the Catholic Con- 
 gregational Church in Bristol, August, 1855. 
 
 This entire service, both Cups and Flagons, are of pure silver. 
 
 A massive Baptismal Font of White Sand Stone, beautifully wrought, 
 was presented to the Church by Kcv. J. Lewis Diman, of Fall River, Mass. 
 
L3 S '12