. & 2- 
 
 ^ 
 
 2_- 
 
Hollinger 
 
 pH 85 
 
 MiU Run H)3.2193 
 
F 73 
 .62 
 
 .N5 P24 
 Copy 2 
 
 iUmiNG OF THE FATHERS, OR SEEKING "WISDOM FROM THE PAST. 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 NEW NORTH CHURCH, 
 
 ON LORD'S DAY, DECEMBER 9th, 
 
 ON THE COMPLETION OF THE 
 124th year from THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH 
 
 AND OF THE 
 
 25th year since the settlement of the present pastor. 
 
 BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, D. D. 
 
 PUBLISHED BTREQUEST OF THE HEARERS, 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL N. DICKINSON, 
 52 Washington Street. 
 
 1839. 
 
IFr 
 
 ■7^ 
 
 
SEEKING WISDOM FROM THE PAST. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Deuteronomy 32. 7. 
 
 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many 
 generations. ask thy father and he will show thee : thy 
 elders and they will tell thee. 
 
 The rapid succession of those periods, by which we 
 are accustomed to measure human life and the course of 
 human affairs, suggests very useful instruction, and may 
 produce the most salutary impressions. It is the part 
 of a sound philosophy to seek wisdom from the past, 
 that it may obtain guidance for the future. It belongs 
 to a filial piety to acknowledge and adore a fatherly 
 protection through the scenes and changes of our being, 
 and specially does it become a christian's gratitude, to 
 hold in reverence the institutions of his religion, which 
 are to the world a standing monument of his faith ; 
 which preserve for him, in its purity and beauty, that 
 pearl of great price, the gospel of his hopes ; by which 
 his knowledge is enlarged, and the life of God within 
 him is nourished. 
 
 For the same purpose were the chosen people com- 
 manded to keep in remembrance the providence and 
 grace of God. And when the voices of the elders had 
 ceased, and the lips that might have instructed were 
 closed in death, they were to consult the annals of their 
 liistory, and gather up the lessons there recorded of 
 
4 
 
 experience and wisdom. ' Enquire, I pray thee, of the 
 former age, and prepare thyself to a search of the fath- 
 ers. For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, 
 because our days upon earth are a shadow.' 
 
 To such enquiries, and to the reflections they suggest, 
 we are invited by the period at which we, my friends 
 of this religious society, are this day arrived. 
 
 With our last communion sabbath, were completed 
 one hundred and twenty-four years since the establish- 
 ment of this ancient church, or the first celebration 
 within it of the christian ordinances. And with the 
 past week, are closed just twenty-five years since the 
 ordination of its present pastor. The concurrence of 
 these two periods, embracing the past and the present 
 history of this religious society, invite our recollections 
 of the way, in which the Lord our God has led us and 
 our Fathers through this succession of years, and should 
 awaken our grateful acknowledgements for the protec- 
 tion with which we have been favored. Such acknow- 
 ledgements become every child of God, as he remembers 
 the goodness which has followed him all his days. 
 Especially do they become a religious community, when 
 with the return of stated periods, they survey the bles- 
 sings which have been transmitted to them, through 
 successive generations, and in the possession of which 
 they are still permitted to rejoice. Let me ask you, 
 then, my christian friends, with this day to consider the 
 days of old, and to unite with them our thankful ac- 
 knowledgements of present blessings. 
 
 This religious society was gathered in 1714. 
 Its origin was not in division and uncharitableness, 
 but in reverence for religious institutions, and a desire 
 
to meet the wants of an increasing population. Its 
 separation from the parent church — the Old North — 
 was, therefore, in a spirit of perfect harmony, in the 
 same co-operation and mutual kindness, which to so 
 large an extent, and through successive periods, 
 have distinguished the churches of this city. Into the 
 details of its history, however, during the first century, 
 it is not my design, as it is unnecessary for me to enter. 
 These are exhibited, with his characteristic fidelity and 
 discrimination, by my excellent predecessor, the late 
 Dr. Eliot, in his discourse preached at the dedication 
 of this church, in 1804.* And I may also refer 
 you for some biographical notices of my predecessors, 
 to another discourse, published at your request, in 1814; 
 and which, if it be still in the hands of any among you, 
 would render my repetition, at the present time, alike 
 needless and unbecoming. 
 
 I am not, however, unmindful, that with the lapse 
 even of fewer years than have gone by since the com- 
 pletion of a century in this church, events once familiar 
 and fresh in remembrance, may, with the things of old, 
 have gone quite out of mind ; or, that within that pe- 
 riod, a new generation has arisen, by whom they may 
 never have been known. Allow me, then, for the sake 
 of my younger hearers, to whom I trust such a recapit- 
 ulation may not be altogether uninteresting or unprofita- 
 ble, to exhibit with brevity the way in which the Lord 
 our God has led us. 
 
 The first pastor of this church, was the Rev. John 
 Webb, by whom, soon after its organization, the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's supper was for the first time admin- 
 
 * Note A. 
 
istered, in November, 1714; and with whom, in 1720, 
 agreeably to the usage of the churches at that period, 
 dividing the ministerial labors between pastor and 
 teacher, was associated the Rev. Peter Thacher, pre- 
 viously settled in Weymouth. This step, notwithstand- 
 ing the acknowledged worth and distinguished gifts of 
 the individual, was the occasion of a schism, which 
 issued in the foundation of another religious society, 
 now our sister church, and was a rare and melancholy, 
 I am sorry to add, disgraceful exception to the harmony, 
 by which, as has been said, the religious communities of 
 Boston have been generally distinguished. The causes 
 and effects of this dissension, I have no inclination to 
 discuss. It is enough to say, that it appears to have 
 originated with a minority of the society, in some con- 
 scientious scruples, which in these latter days have 
 ceased, as to the propriety or even lawfulness of invit- 
 ing a minister to one church, who was already the pastor 
 of another. It was unconnected with the personal 
 or professional character of Mr. Thacher, except, in- 
 deed, as it implies a high estimate of both ; and, after 
 his death, in 1738, amidst the general respect, the Rev. 
 Andrew Eliot was, in 1742, associated with Mr. Webb, 
 as his second colleague, and upon the decease of the 
 latter, in 1750, became the sole pastor of the church. 
 In this relation Dr. Eliot remained, amidst the conflicts 
 of the revolution, and the various fortunes of the flock, 
 till his death in 1778. With this event, was closed a 
 ministry of thirty-six years, which for its ability, fidel- 
 ity, and acceptance, is still remembered by many of the 
 aged, of various denominations, in this city with re- 
 spectful recollections, and the praise of which is in all 
 
the churches of New England.* Like his predecessor 
 and colleague, Mr. Webb, to whom I would gladly pay 
 my passing tribute as to one of the most conscientious 
 and faithful servants of Christ Jesus — he loved his pro- 
 fession, and consecrated to it the full energy of his vig- 
 orous understanding, and of his upright heart ; declining 
 a high academical distinction, that was once and again 
 presented to his choice, and preferring to spend and be 
 spent in the service of his people. Happy the people, 
 and happy too the city, that rejoiced in his light. His 
 devotion to his calling, and to his church, commanded 
 at once their respect and gratitude. It was the source 
 to him of much of his personal happiness ; he deliber- 
 ately regarded it as the security of his professional use- 
 fulness ; and let it not be counted presumption, if I 
 venture to commend his example and his opinions in 
 this regard, to his brethren and successors of the present 
 day, as the most effectual method of preserving, amidst 
 these changing times, the permanent influence of the 
 ministry. 
 
 With the death of Dr. Andrew Eliot, was occasioned 
 the first vacancy that had occurred in the ministry of 
 this church, during a period of sixty-four years, it being 
 one of the advantages of a collegiate charge, that the 
 survivor succeeded to the whole duty, and the people 
 were not left destitute. Nor was this interval of long 
 duration. With a degree of unanimity somewhat re- 
 markable in a community recognising no merit by de- 
 scent, and naturally jealous of any form of hereditary 
 succession, civil or ecclesiastical. Rev. John Eliot was, 
 within a few months, invited to supply his place. The 
 confidence cherished for the father, you thus early trans- 
 
 * Note B. 
 
8 
 
 ferred to the son. His personal graces and virtues left 
 you no reason afterwards to regret your choice. His 
 ministry of nearly thirty-four years, was one of exem- 
 plary faithfulness on his part, of warm attachment and 
 harmony on yours. 
 
 I should fail of discharging, on this occasion, what I 
 owe to the memory of my predecessor, if from mere 
 unwillingness to repeat what I may in some other form 
 have expressed, I should wholly omit a notice of some 
 of his distino-uishino; traits. 
 
 Dr. Eliot was of the few whom all men loved. 
 And this is the rather to be mentioned, because he 
 united the gentleness that attracted affection, with a re- 
 markable honesty and simplicity of utterance. To a 
 degree beyond most men, characterised as was he by 
 the amiable and kind, did he use plainness of speech. 
 His judgment of character, always considerate, was al- 
 so discriminating. He was not of those, who through 
 a false candor or fear of displeasure confound moral 
 distinctions. He was accustomed to call persons as 
 well as things, by their proper names. Yet such confi- 
 dence was there in the kindness and child-like simplicity 
 of his heart, that his was the rare felicity of making the 
 plainest seem also the kindest utterance. I have never 
 heard of an instance in which he gave offence : or if 
 for a moment it seemed to be given, it was as quickly 
 obliterated in the certainty that the design was friendly, 
 and, what was specially to the purpose, that the judg- 
 ment was true. 
 
 Of this sound discrimination of character, he has 
 given examples in that valuable work, the ' Biographical 
 Dictionary,' the most important of his publications, in 
 
which he has sketched with a masterly hand, the char- 
 acters of various individuals, particularly of some whose 
 public course, political or ecclesiastical, divided the 
 opinions of their cotemporaries. From the accuracy of 
 his delineations, and the impartiality of his judgments, 
 it were seldom safe to appeal.* 
 
 For Dr. Eliot has been claimed, by one who cher- 
 ished for him an enthusiastic fondness, distinguished 
 praise ' as a good scholar and a ripe one.' And by 
 another of his warm admirers, he has been designated 
 as the 'Jortin of America.' He was a reader of the 
 Roman classics to his death. In accurate and discrim- 
 inating acquaintance with the history and biography of 
 his own country, he had few his equals, and perhaps no 
 superior. 
 
 But he never permitted his love of letters, or devo- 
 tion to favorite pursuits of any kind, to divert him from 
 the faithful discharge of professional duty. He was a 
 diligent writer of sermons ; and though as a preacher, 
 not distinguished, as was his father, for popular or com- 
 manding gifts, and from the native delicacy and modesty 
 of his mind, shrinking instinctively from every art of 
 exhibition or display, which none were quicker to dis- 
 cern, and none could with a svt'eeter grace ridicule in 
 others — yet to the serious and judicious he could have 
 been no otherwise than acceptable. As a pastor, he 
 was excelled by none, eminently devoted to the flock, 
 being unto them always as a father and a brother. 
 Notwithstanding his habits of study, and the number 
 of his literary as well as professional avocations — for 
 which he usually redeemed his mornings — he was often 
 
 * Note C. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 found with the families and at the firesides of his people. 
 In truth, he gave more of his time to pastoral intercourse, 
 than was then customary with his brethren, or which 
 would be possible — I am not sure it would be expedient — 
 to a young clergyman, who had not attained to his 
 experience, or had not with equal fidelity improved his 
 years of preparation for the labors of his pulpit. I re- 
 member it as among those anxieties incident to every 
 thoughtful young man, entering upon an untried field of 
 duty, that I was to be successor of one who maintained 
 so constant and so welcome an intercourse within the 
 dwellings of his society. If I have followed him, my 
 christian friends, with unequal steps, I may yet venture 
 to say, that I have ' done what I could.' If 1 have fail- 
 ed in the performance, I have not been wanting in the 
 purpose : for, being present with you, or absent, I have 
 remembered the commandment, once given of old 
 to the tribe of Levi, that the names of the people should 
 be in their heart, and that they should bear them before 
 the Lord continually. 
 
 Dr. Eliot retained to his death, the manners and cos- 
 tume of the old school, which, but in a few cherished 
 exceptions, have now quite disappeared. They were 
 in unison with the natural politeness of his heart, and 
 with that sentiment of respect, which it was one of the 
 salutary influences of his early education to inspire, for 
 whatever was good and venerable, and which, in turn, 
 he conciliated for himself. In simplicity and sincerity, 
 he had his conversation in the world. He has long 
 since been joined with them who see God, the pure and 
 the just made perfect. But his image, my elder hear- 
 ers, is still familiar to your recollections, and his mem- 
 ory, I know, is embalmed in your hearts. 
 
11 
 
 Thus you perceive, from this brief survey, that 
 for the space of almost a century, viz. ninety-eight 
 years, this church was favored with the ministry of four 
 successive or collegiate, pastors, interrupted only by the 
 short interval of thirteen months, between the death of 
 the elder and the ordination of the younger Eliot. And 
 he having died in February, 1813, and the settlement 
 of the present pastor having taken place at the close of 
 the same year, leaves a period to this church of one 
 hundred and twenty-four years, with less than two years 
 of vacancy. When now we consider the inconveniencies 
 to which a religious society is subjected, by a frequent 
 interruption of the pastoral care, and by the changes, 
 which of late years, have become common in our 
 churches, this circumstance may not be deemed unwor- 
 thy of our grateful notice, in considering the way 
 through which the Lord our God hath led us. 
 
 II. Let us now turn to the period which has since 
 elapsed, and which, commencing with December 1813, 
 completes a quarter of a century, since my entrance on 
 this ministry. 
 
 Did the occasion permit — or rather did not a certain 
 decorum forbid — any mingling of what to the stranger 
 must seem, the private interests of a single church with 
 the wider interests of nations, I might remind you, that 
 the last twenty-five years constitute of themselves a 
 period of unusual interest in the political as well as 
 moral world ; in which, beyond most others of equal 
 duration, signal changes have been witnessed ; events 
 of no ordinary moment have occurred, affecting the con- 
 dition and the prospects of mankind. What revolutions 
 has it witnessed in the governments of the world !— 
 
12 
 
 Within it, nations have risen and fallen, and the powers 
 of the earth have been shaken. Crowned heads have 
 been brought low. Monarchs in long succession, the 
 young, and they of hoary age, have been lain together 
 in their graves — their sceptres and their kingdoms trans- 
 ferred to other hands. If we look only to the nation 
 from which we sprung — the eldest monarch of Europe, 
 and of the whole British line, extending through a term 
 of almost one thousand years — George III. — and with 
 him three of his sons, the heirs, or successive occupants 
 of his throne, have exchanged their palaces for the tomb, 
 while others of his royal house, in the bloom of youth, 
 as they were just attaining the summit of earthly glory, 
 ' permitted to see every thing, but to grasp nothing,' 
 have closed their eyes in death. Of those, too, who 
 by their genius, their wisdom, or their eloquence, or by 
 their preeminent rank, setting them on the very pinna- 
 cle of human society, then controlled the destinies of 
 England — scarcely an individual remains. They^arey 
 and their high places of honor and power know them^one, ' 
 no more. 
 
 In our own country also, the last twenty-five years 
 have been fruitful of change. Within them we have 
 known war and peace, and vicissitudes of other sorts, 
 which I need not in this place declare. We shall not 
 easily forget — though it must be counted only among the 
 incidents of such a calamity as war — how the silence and 
 solemnity of our sabbaths were once and again disturb- 
 ed, in the melancholy summer of 1814, by the passage 
 of troops through our generally peaceful city ; nor the 
 spectacle of the then venerable pastor of yonder sister 
 
13 
 
 church,* gomg with his spade among the multitude of 
 his fellow-eitizens, to aid in the erection of fortifications 
 on yonder island, to protect the city from the enemy. 
 Neither can we forget the grateful exultation with which 
 was welcomed the return of peace, for it was a day 
 made joyful by the thanksgivings of many unto God. 
 
 Other events there are, interesting and important, 
 which might not improperly be exhibited here, but 
 which would open far too wide a field for our present 
 reflection. We may glance only at those of an exclu- 
 sively moral or religious influence. And here it may 
 be safely asserted, that the last twenty-five years have 
 been fruitful beyond all former precedent, in enterprises 
 of piety and benevolence. A vast machinery, curiously 
 formed and wonderfully complicated, has been set in 
 motion for the physical, social, moral, and spiritual im- 
 provement of the world. If to these twenty-five years 
 we add the thirteen that preceded them, embracing thus 
 all that belong to the nineteenth century, they will 
 include the beginnings of almost all those associa- 
 tions, religious and philanthropic, which at the pres- 
 ent moment are in most active operation. I do not 
 mean that before this passing century, such associations 
 were not known. On the contrary, both within our own 
 country and Great Britain many admirable institutions 
 did exist, the fruit of christian charity, which for wis- 
 dom in the design, for fidelity and usefulness in their 
 administration, have not since been surpassed. Many 
 of these, however, have been merged in the wider and 
 all-embracing schemes, by which associations at the 
 present day are characterised. Countless are the insti- 
 
 * Rev. Dr. John Lathrop, then in his 75th year. 
 
14 
 
 tutions which, from the formation in 1804, of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, and of kindred 
 societies soon after in our own country, have been 
 established. Their name is Legion. Time would 
 fail me to utter what has been purposed and accom- 
 plished, in the name and for the sake of Freedom, 
 Temperance, Peace ; in the great cause of Education, 
 for the suppression of vice, for the abolition of Slavery, 
 for the conversion of the Heathen, for relief of the 
 maladies and supply of the wants both of body and soul. 
 On many of these institutions, the blessed fruit, I 
 repeat, of that gospel, which teaches that we are alike 
 the children of a common Father, and speaks peace in 
 Christ Jesus, God has been pleased to command the 
 manifest tokens of his favor. Let our souls praise Him 
 for the spirit of piety and philanthropy, which under 
 his guidance prompted them, for the good they have 
 already accomplished, and for all the good we may 
 hope they are still destined to accomplish. We may 
 count it an honor, my Christian friends, if by any efiforts 
 of our own, however small, we have enjoyed the oppor- 
 tunity of advancing these objects, and of thus becoming 
 fellow-workers with God, in blessing his children. Let 
 our prayers ascend ever with our alms, and let it be our 
 hearts' desire, that on the sacred cause of truth, and 
 freedom, and humanity ; on our schools and our church- 
 es, specially on our Sunday Schools, and our ministries 
 for the Poor, which are among the choicest fruits of the 
 prevailing charity of the day, the dew of God's blessing 
 may continually descend. 
 
 If of some other schemes of philanthropy, not to be 
 overlooked among the teeming inventions of the day, 
 we are constrained to admire somewhat more the zeal 
 
16 
 
 than the excellent judgment, and as the best expression 
 of our good will can only wish for them the guidance 
 of that wisdom, which dwelleth with discretion, still 
 will we not cease to trust, that they shall issue in good ; 
 that by attention excited to the objects they propose, 
 and by a just estimate of the means through which we 
 may hope their accomplishment, He from whom all 
 just counsels and good works proceed, will cause, 
 that the interests of humanity and virtue may be finally 
 advanced. 
 
 If, too, in the course of my ministrations I have 
 not been studious to urge upon your attention these 
 multiplying projects of the times, and may have seem- 
 ed to some even deficient in a zeal, which in others 
 glows with so bright a flame, I must ask with an apos- 
 tle to be forgiven this wrong, which has come, not, I 
 trust, from indifference, or worldly policy, or fear, but 
 from some honest convictions, that there were objects 
 of higher moment, beter to command our affections. 
 True it is, I have not sought to enlist your zeal in some 
 of the passing excitements of the day, because beyond 
 them all, and above them all, I have counted the minis- 
 try of the gospel of Christ Jesus. And while according 
 to my measure, amidst whatever of weakness or error, 
 I have sought to exhibit the great things of God's law, 
 and have reasoned of righteousness, of temperance, and 
 a judgment to come, I have been unwilling to neglect 
 the greater in any pursuit of the less. 
 
 It is recorded, as you know, of one of those ancient 
 worthies, whose examples are written for our instruc- 
 tion, that when engaged in an important work, and 
 invited of certain of his countrymen to attend a meeting 
 ' in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono,' he sent 
 
16 
 
 messengers unto them, saying, ' I am doing a great 
 work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the 
 work cease, whilst 1 leave it and come down to you ? ' 
 ' And though,' it is added, ' they sent unto me four 
 times after this sort, I answered them still after the 
 same manner.' Nehemiah vi. 2. I have counted that 
 this example of the Jewish Governor of faithful devo- 
 tion to his own work, might well be imitated by us of 
 these later days ; who though not called to the same 
 arduous duties as were his, might show the same fidel- 
 ity in our own. And ifwe, my christian brethren, 
 would maintain the institutions of our holy religion in 
 their simplicity and efficacy, let us keep them separate 
 from the passing excitements of the day. Let us not 
 presume to mingle the unchangeable truths of God, 
 with the doubtful theories or devices of men. The 
 gospel of Christ Jesus is destined to survive the changes 
 of time. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but 
 the word of our God abideth forever. 
 
 III. I should now invite you to consider those passa- 
 ges in our religious history, which within this commu- 
 nity, and particularly this society, are most interesting 
 to us. We should thus be led to survey the course of 
 God's providence towards us, in its blessings and chas- 
 tisements, in what He hath bestowed, and in what He 
 hath taken. But these topics, with the reflections sug- 
 gested by our whole subject, must be reserved for the 
 afternoon. 
 
 Now may the Lord God be with us, as He was with 
 our fathers. May He incline us to His way, and so 
 nourish us by His grace, that we may grow into an 
 holy temple unto the Lord, builded together for an 
 habitation of God through the spirit. 
 
INSTRUCTION FROM THE PAST. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 1 Samuel, 7. 12. 
 ' Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' 
 
 * When ye are come to the brink of the waters of 
 Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan,' was the command 
 of the leader of Israel to the chosen people, when they 
 were about to witness a signal deliverance. And it was 
 upon another manifestation of the same guardian care, 
 that Samuel, the venerable prophet of Israel, assembled 
 the people, and took a stone and set it up for a pillar, 
 and said, ' Hitherto the Lord hath helped us.' 
 
 In this spirit of grateful recollection, and devout ac- 
 knowledgment, not certainly of a miraculous, yet of a 
 most gracious and adorable Providence, would we re- 
 member the ways of God in our sanctuary. We have 
 glanced at the days of our fathers. Let us come nearer 
 to our own. Let us survey as proposed in the third 
 place, the history of our religious community, and par- 
 ticularly of this christian society, during the twenty-five 
 years which have now passed, since it was my happi- 
 ness to be connected with it. 
 
 At the time of my ordination, in 1813,* and for 
 a few years preceding, the condition of the churches 
 in this city, then town of Boston, differed in many 
 important particulars, from that of the present day. In 
 
 " Note D. 
 
 3 
 
1! 
 
 number, as might easily be anticipated from a regularly 
 advancing population, they are greatly increased. To 
 the twenty-three then existing, there have been added 
 twenty-eight, of all denominations, besides the chapels 
 sustained by churches of various names, for the ministry 
 of the poor, and two other churches, specially set apart 
 for the worship and religious instruction of seamen. 
 
 Of our congregational churches united with the Bos- 
 ton Association, there were ten,* with all the ministers 
 of which, there existed a friendly ministerial intercourse, 
 the interchange, that is, of professional services in each 
 other's pulpits, by which their personal friendships, and 
 the fellowship of the churches, were happily maintain- 
 ed. This continued, with little exception or interrup- 
 tion, till the memorable Trinitarian controversy between 
 the Rev. Drs. Channing and Worcester, in 1815. 
 By the previous establishment, however, of the The- 
 ological Institution at Andover, in 1803, and the erec- 
 tion of the church in Park street, in 1809, for the 
 express purpose of upholding the orthodox faith ; to 
 which must be added, in this connexion, the results 
 of the election of the Hollis Professor of Divinity, 
 at a still earlier period — 1804 — an influence had been 
 set in operation, which, combined with that of a well 
 known religious journal ze;i!ously enlisted in the cause, 
 issued in the adoption ol w liat has bcensignihcantly term- 
 ed, the ' Exclusive system.' On w hlch side it wiis com- 
 menced, or at v\ hose [jK'nsuie |)ursiud, I detain jou ii(;t 
 to declare. Be this as it iv.uy, the offcial ex( hat gcs, 
 which to some considerable extent had been niaiiitained 
 
 * This includes the nine old congregational churches united in the Quarterly 
 Chaxity Lecture, and the King's Chapel. 
 
19 
 
 by all the ministers of the ancient congregational 
 churches, and had included the pastors of the two elder 
 Baptist churches, whose voices have been heard by some 
 of you, my hearers, in this assembly,* were then con- 
 fined to brethren of like faith. Thus, while the num- 
 ber of churches and of pastors was enlarged, the range 
 of ministerial intercourse was narrowed. Yet, even 
 after this period, councils for ordinations were occasion- 
 ally composed of representatives from churches of dif- 
 fering doctrinal views, though of the same congrega- 
 tional denomination. Nor was it till after the settlement 
 of the Rev. Mr. Wisner, as pastor of the Old South 
 Church, in 1820, that such unions, having a show of 
 christian harmony but wanting the spirit, utterly ceased. 
 In truth, it must be admitted, that attractive as may 
 be the theory of an universal fellowship, there are diffi- 
 culties and embarrassments in the practice, against 
 which no human wisdom or charity may effectually 
 guard. Whatever, therefore, of good might seem to 
 have been lost to a mere official intercourse, was gained 
 to decorum and good will, by the avoiding of occasions 
 of offence, and the effectual exclusion from the same 
 pulpits, of a discordant theology. On the other hand, 
 we believe, and we rejoice in the belief, that \A'ith ad- 
 vancing knowledge, and changes, not few or small, 
 that have gradually been introduced to soften and make 
 acceptable to the people, the sterner features of a once 
 repulsive and terrific faith ; and especially from associ- 
 
 * Rev. Drs. Stillman and Baldwin ; to the former of wliom. Dr. Andrew 
 Eliot gave the Right Hand of Fellowship, at his installation in 17G5, and with 
 whom both he and his son occasionally exchanged. All the services of this 
 installation, with the exception of the sermon, were by congregational clergy- 
 men. 
 
20 
 
 ations of christians of various names in common ob- 
 jects of philanthropy, in the cause of education, peace, 
 temperance, and kindred interests, many good influences 
 have followed, and a wider charity, the natural fruit of 
 hearty cooperation, has been diffused. 
 
 But, dismissing all topics of doubtful disputation, 
 which commend us not to God, neither are profitable to 
 men, I take great pleasure in remarking, that of the 
 churches and of the ministers with which we, christian 
 brethren, are united, it has been the distinguished felic- 
 ity to maintain uninterrupted harmony. We may not 
 presume to apply to our spiritual state the beauti- 
 ful description given by the evangelist of the prim- 
 itive disciples, after the first persecution by the Roman 
 emperors had ceased.* Bat it is the expression only 
 of our reasonable gratitude to say, that through a long 
 succession of years w^e have enjoyed peace, absolute 
 and without exception. The divisions so common in 
 the day of our fathers, among christians professing the 
 same faith, and the yet more shameful divisions between 
 members, and even colleague pastors, of the same 
 church, the history of which is a standing blot upon 
 their records — (let us wipe it off as we can from their 
 memories) — have not, thanks to the God of peace, de- 
 scended to us. We know them only as the things that 
 are passed away. But, while we rejoice in the peace 
 that has blest our churches, uniting the pastors and the 
 flocks, each to one another, and, may it be, all to God, 
 let us take heed, beloved, that it be not the peace that 
 
 " 'Then had the churches rest throughout all Judoa, and Galilee, and Sama- 
 ria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in tlie comfort 
 of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.' — [Acts 9. 31. 
 
21 
 
 cometh with indifference, or with that worldliness of 
 mind, which being engrossed with the things earthlj, has 
 no care for the things heavenly ; which, not less than 
 uncharitableness, ensnares the soul, and is distinctly de- 
 clared to be enmity with God. 
 
 Amidst, however, these needful cautions, suggested 
 by a Just sense of our dangers, and not to be forgotten 
 even amidst congratulations, 1 cannot but rejoice with 
 you, christian brethren and friends, in the harmony 
 which unites, and with the solitary exception to which 
 I alluded this morning, belonging to the earliest period 
 of its history, more than a century ago, has ever united 
 this society. I bless God, that the unanimity in which 
 tills fair temple was erected, in the day of my honored 
 predecessor, which happily distinguished this congrega- 
 tion through the whole of his ministry, and was among 
 the chosen satisfactions of his life, have not been inter- 
 rupted in mine. Let it be our hearty prayer and our 
 faithful endeavor, that it may be preserved ; that we 
 may always know, as did our fathers, and that our chil- 
 dren after us may know, as do we, how good and how 
 pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in 
 unity. But may it be our care, also, and our hearts' de- 
 sire, to add to our unity the ' beauty of holiness,' the 
 grace of an evangelic virtue. ' I suppose,' said one of 
 our venerable fathers, in his sermon at the dedication of 
 yonder sister church, nearly one hundred and twenty 
 years ago,* ' I suppose there is not a more beautiful 
 church in all the land, built for the worship of God, 
 
 * See Dr. Cotton Matlicr's sermon at the dedication of the new brick (now 
 second) church, 1720. 
 
22 
 
 than this. But what will it signify if it have not the 
 beauty of holiness.' 
 
 But I must come more immediately to our own days. 
 And here, I am persuaded, you will not count it a de- 
 parture from the decorum which should usually restrain 
 the indulgence of personal feeling, if on this occasion, 
 when adverting to our history for the last twenty-five 
 years, I should have somewhat to say of myself. The 
 history of any church is, or should be, identical with that 
 of its ministers, and a mention of either includes some 
 mention of both. That ministry must be poor indeed, 
 and its end, if not fully come, ought to be nigh at hand, 
 that admits of being separated from the annals of its 
 church. 
 
 I entered, my brethren, into this relation, when as 
 yet ill the freshness of youth, and in sincerity, as I trust, 
 of purpose, mingled with whatever of infirmity, to de- 
 vote myself to its service. It becomes me gratefully 
 to adore that divine goodness, that has preserved me to 
 this day, and permitted me, amidst the ravages of sick- 
 ness and death, which at one period threatened to des- 
 olate the churches,* to stand in my lot, and to fulfil 
 according to my measure, its various duties. It be- 
 comes me the more to acknowledge this care and pa- 
 tience of my heavenly father, when I consider that of 
 my brethren of all denominations, who were in the 
 ministry here in 1813, only four remain ;t that, with the 
 
 * From the time of the death of Rev. Dr. Ecldey, and of Mr. Emerson, in 
 1811, to that of Mr. Huntingdon, in 1819, there was an unusual measure of 
 sicliness and mortahty among the clergy in Boston. Besides those who were 
 removed by death, others were detained from their ministry by protracted 
 ■ickness. 
 
 t Rev. Drs. Channing, Lowell, Sharp, and Rev. Mr. Dean. 
 
23 
 
 exception only of this, every other congregational church 
 of the city has received a new minister, (though, hap- 
 pily, in two of them the senior pastors remain,) most 
 of them more than one ; two of them three, and two 
 others four successive pastors ; that within the same 
 period, there have been no less than thirty ordinations, 
 nineteen removals or resignations among those who yet 
 live ; and that eight have died. 
 
 It must be observed, that I here include only those 
 churches that were in existence in 1813. Twenty- 
 eight others, of various denominations, and embracing 
 a larger or smaller number of worshippers, have been 
 established since that period, to meet the wants of an 
 increasing population, and the corresponding diversities 
 of religious faith. Of these churches of recent origin, 
 ten are congregational, the pastors of four of which, are 
 united with the Boston association : and within six of 
 these ten churches, there have already been several re- 
 movals. 
 
 I am not willing to enter into professional statistics, 
 that have little value in themselves, or terminate in the 
 bare statement of insulated facts, leading to no useful 
 results. Yet there are some which, in a connexion like 
 this, may simply be stated, were it only to gratify a 
 momentary curiosity in those who love details, and pos- 
 sibly some natural fondness for what belongs to one's 
 favorite pursuits. Let me, therefore. Just say, that in 
 more than two thousand eight hundred stated services 
 of the sabbath, or of our established seasons of worship, 
 I have supplied my place, in person or by exchange, 
 present or absent, almost without exception ; and on no 
 
24 
 
 more than four or five sabbaths, have I been detained 
 by sickness from the house of God. 
 
 Within this quarter of a century, I find that there are 
 on the records of the church, 625 baptisms, of which 
 a few were of children and adults not belonging to this 
 society ;* that one hundred and tw^o have made a 
 profession in order to baptism ; and one hundred 
 and seventy-six have been added to the church in full 
 communion; making the total number of those who 
 have been baptized, during the whole period of this so- 
 ciety of one hundred and twenty-four years, seven thou- 
 sand six hundred and sixty-seven ; of those professing 
 the baptismal covenant, eight hundred and sixty-eight ; 
 and of those who have joined themselves to the church 
 in the partaking of the Lord's supper, one thousand 
 three hundred and eighty-nine. 
 
 I have spoken of the harmony which has happily 
 united our congregational body. As an evidence of this, 
 we have been invited by sister churches, near and re- 
 mote, to numerous ecclesiastical councils, (eighty-one 
 in number,) not, as was too often in the days of our 
 fathers, for the settlement of disputes, for the rebuke 
 of heresy, or the infliction of discipline upon the schism- 
 atic or refractory ; but for the peaceful induction of 
 ministers, called for the most part, by the unanimous 
 voice of an affectionate and waiting people. Such in- 
 vitations we have cordially accepted, and they have 
 been to us occasions not of strife and debate, but ot 
 
 " In this nuinher of Iiaptiams. are included between eighty and ninety of the 
 Boston Asyiuin for Indigent Boys, now united to the Farm School, on 
 Thompson's Island. P'or many years, the pupils, witii their governess, attend- 
 ed worship in the New North Church, and were consequently under the pasto- 
 ral care of the niiniiiter. 
 
26 
 
 christian fellowship, and, we will hope, spiritual bene- 
 diction. 
 
 Let me here advert for a moment, to our stated, or 
 occasional charities. It is the duty of every religious 
 society, as it is of the private christian, to unite its alms 
 with prayers. And it may be numbered among the 
 good influences of our social worship, and of the union 
 within the same temple of all classes and conditions of 
 men, the rich and the poor, the prosperous and the sor- 
 rowful, that the spirit of benevolence so naturally mingles 
 with the spirit of piety ; and that while we are seeking 
 blessings for ourselves, we are taught not to be unmind- 
 ful of our suffering brethren. In this church, as might 
 be inferred from its numbers, and its location, there have 
 never been wanting worthy objects for our charity ; 
 neither has there been wanting the ability or readiness 
 to relieve them. Agreeably to the returns furnished 
 me by the deacons of the church, there have been col- 
 lected, partly in the offerings of the communion table, 
 partly at our contributions previous to the annual 
 Thanksgiving, a sum exceeding six thousand dollars, 
 which at stated intervals, and with a due regard to the 
 diflerinor claims and conditions of families or individu- 
 als, has been distributed to our deserving poor ; of whom 
 are the widow and the fatherless, not a few, also, who 
 have seen brighter days, but who, ' waxen poor ' with 
 infirmities and declining age, come to need the bounty 
 which they were once glad to bestow. I can bear 
 grateful testimony to the worth and excellence of this 
 evangelic charity. The altar consecrates the gift. It 
 blesses him that gives, for it is sanctified by prayer ; and 
 it blesses him that receives, for it is administered with 
 4 
 
26 
 
 a considerate sympathy, and in supplying the wants of 
 the saints, is abundant also in thanksgivings unto God. 
 I know of few forms of charity more useful or unex- 
 ceptionable than this. 
 
 In addition to these monthly or annual collections for 
 our own poor, we have had, as is customary in other so- 
 cieties, many contributions, or private subscriptions, for 
 various purposes, for the support of our Sunday school ; 
 for the ministry at large within the city ; for the Amer- 
 ican Unitarian Association, and the Massachusetts 
 Evangelical Missionary Society, (an excellent institu- 
 tion, which I commend again to your liberality ;) for 
 the relief of towns or of districts, that had suffered by 
 fire ; and, lastly, in aid of destitute churches in less fa- 
 vored portions of the land. The amount thus collected 
 cannot with precision be ascertained, and undoubtedly 
 contributions have been made, which are quite forgotten. 
 But from minutes procured from the records of the so- 
 ciety, and from some notices of my own, I may state, 
 that more than five thousand dollars have thus been 
 gathered, making a total sum of at least eleven thousand 
 dollars, consecrated to charity. 
 
 I present these details, not certainly as any token of 
 extraordinary liberality ; nor as exceeding, perhaps, in 
 any given instance, what, in common with all other re- 
 ligious communities, it was very meet and right, yea, 
 our bounden duty to offer, but as exhibiting in the 
 amount a gratifying proof, among others that might be 
 given, of the solid results of a quiet, unostentatious, but 
 faithfully continued charity : of the indirect advantages, 
 moreover, which flow from these our christian institu- 
 tions, regarded as a medium of christian benevolence. 
 
27 
 
 For we see, brethren, how the offerings cast from month 
 to month, and from year to year, into the treasury of 
 the temple, though they may be in some as the wid- 
 ow's mite, and burdensome to none, shall in a short term 
 of years swell to a goodly offering, acceptable to God, 
 and fruitful of service to men. 
 
 Of the {ew events or incidents, which the books of 
 the church, or personal recollection supplies, I shall only 
 state, that in 1819, the public reading of the baptismal, 
 or, as it was strangely termed of old, the ' half way 
 covenant,' which had before been administered in the 
 presence of the whole congregation, was by an unani- 
 mous vote of the church dispensed with ; * it being 
 deemed sufficient that the parents acknowledge it in 
 private.' 
 
 I shall here take the freedom of transcribing a few 
 sentences from the records of the church. 
 
 December 11, 1827. ' The brethren jnet by request 
 of the pastor, and the meeting having been opened with 
 prayer, he proposed, for the acceptance of the church, 
 on the admission of members, a covenant, which was 
 adopted by the Old North Church, in the time of 
 Mr. Mayo, their first pastor, and afterwards in use 
 during the ministry of the Mathers : — a covenant, re- 
 commending itself by its brevity, simplicity, and entire 
 freedom from points of doubtful disputation, and which 
 may be regarded, also, as a monument of the wisdom 
 and moderation, no less than of the faith and piety of 
 that ancient church from which we were derived. It 
 was also stated, that upon these grounds it had recently 
 been adopted by our sister church.* Whereupon, it was 
 
 * The Second church ; for a full and interesting account of which, see the 
 century discourse of Rev. Professor H. Ware, jr., its then pastor. 
 
28 
 
 unanimously voted, ' that the same covenant be adopted, 
 and henceforth used at the reception of members of this 
 church.' ' 
 
 The following is the form of this unexceptionable 
 document. As its brevity permits, I am sure its sim- 
 plicity will easily excuse its insertion. 
 
 ' You do in this solemn presence, give up yourself to 
 the true God in Christ Jesus, and you promise to walk 
 before God and this church of His, in his holy ordinan- 
 ces, and to yield your obedience to every truth of His 
 which has been, or shall be made known to you, as your 
 duty ; the Lord assisting you by his spirit and grace. 
 
 'We, then, the Church of Christ in this place, do wel- 
 come you to our fellowship, and we promise to walk to- 
 wards you as a member of the same body with ourselves, 
 endeavoring your spiritual edification in Christ Jesus.' ' 
 
 Such, brethren, is a specimen of the covenants adopt- 
 ed by our earliest predecessors, the Pilgrim Fathers of 
 New England. They did not seek, as have some that 
 came after them, to hold dominion over faith, by pre- 
 scribing articles of human device. They did not pre- 
 sume to debar from the blessed ordinances of the gospel, 
 any for whom Christ died. The covenants of the first 
 churches were characterised, as has been well remark- 
 ed,* ' by the spirit of christian benignity and toleration ;' 
 and it may be added, also, by the soundest wisdom and 
 the highest philosophy. 
 
 Into further details, though to some they might 
 be not without a certain interest, I shall not enter. 
 
 * See a discourse on the Principles of the Reformation, preached at the dedi- 
 cation of tlie First Congregational Church in Salem, by its pastor, Rev. Charles 
 W. Upham : in the appendix to which, the reader may find, also, tlie first cov- 
 enant of that ancient church, drawn up by Francis Higginson. 
 
29 
 
 In truth, the history of a peaceful religious society 
 furnishes scanty materials for narration. Like the 
 course of a well-ordered family, it is to be traced chiefly 
 in the quiet enjoyment of its privileges, in the returns 
 of its consecrated seasons, and in a regular, though un- 
 obtrusive progress in knowledge and godliness. It is 
 in times of division, and of excited zeal, amidst anger 
 and uncharitableness, that the historian, sacred or pro- 
 fane, gathers his amplest harvest. Accordingly, we 
 find that the early records of some of our churches, 
 abound with materials of this sort. Whether it was 
 that religion occupied more the hearts of the people 
 than it now does, or, which is nearer the truth, was 
 more identified with their civil and political relations, 
 whether that a stricter cognizance was taken of individ- 
 ual character, and of every thing supposed to affect the 
 cause of Christ, certain it is, that lamentably frequent 
 were the inflictions of discipline, and bitter the contro- 
 versies in which they were sometimes engaged.* — 
 He that shall survey their ecclesiastical annals, and 
 observe how often the weak or the fallen were called to 
 Judgment ; how often the brethren aggrieved appealed 
 to sister churches for redress from the brethren offend- 
 ing ; how one council was opposed to another council, 
 and censures and monitions, suspensions and excommu- 
 nications, were reciprocally interchanged, will be com- 
 
 * The divisions in the First Church in Salem, during the ministry of Rov. 
 Mr. Fisk, which continued for many years, and in ]735, drew upon her the 
 censures, and finally, the withdrawing from her communion of this and other 
 churches, may be cited as an instance. 
 
 But for further examples of these melancholy divisions, see the highly in- 
 teresting and instructive discourse, deUvered by the venerable Dr Bancroft, of 
 Worcester, January 31st, 1836, on the completion of fifty years of his ministry. 
 
30 
 
 pelled to acknowledge, that our fathers realized but 
 imperfectly, the communion of the saints ; that what- 
 ever may have been their reverence for God, they had 
 not learnt from their Master, compassion for the igno- 
 rant, and them out of the way. If we, their children, 
 have lost somewhat of that zeal for God, which was 
 thus jealous for his ordinances, we have learnt, perhaps, 
 something of the charity, which endureth, because it 
 hopeth all things. And amidst a due sense of unwor- 
 thiness and the humility becoming us, we shall not be 
 solicitous to enquire why the former days v^'ere better 
 than these, for the experience of Solomon conspires 
 with our own, to teach us, that we may not enquire 
 wisely concerning this. 
 
 Of the subjects pertaining to my own ministry, I 
 have, thus far, spoken chiefly of the living. But to 
 God belong the issues of death as well as life, and there 
 is another record, my friends, which I must present, and 
 which I never survey without emotion. It exhibits the 
 names of 659, who, within the last twenty-five years, 
 have been gathered to the congregation of the dead.* 
 Of this whole number, whose funeral rites I have at- 
 tended, 481 belonged to this society, making an annual 
 average among us, of between nineteen and twenty 
 deaths. The proportion of infants, or children under 
 ten years of age, is nearly one third, and of those ex- 
 ceeding sixty, nearly one quarter part. 
 
 * Of these G59, 216 were under ten years of age. 
 
 154 had attained to or exceeded sixty. 
 And of these latter, 55 were between GO and 70 
 
 42 70 and 80 
 
 46 SO and 90 
 
 11 90 and 100 
 
31 
 
 Now, my brethren, what a record is here ! What a 
 multitude does it show to us, who have gone the way 
 whence they shall not return. We have not been visit- 
 ed during this period, if we except only a few short 
 weeks, by contagious disease. The pestilence has not 
 walked among us. Death has made no unusual de- 
 mands upon our numbers. We have even enjoyed in 
 some years, as in the present,* a signal exemption from 
 the grave. We find, moreover, a very large proportion 
 among us of those who have attained to old age, even 
 beyond the measure of the general estimates of human 
 life, or which the registers of mortality in some of 
 our most favorably situated and healthful villages 
 might justify us to expect. And still, I repeat, how 
 many from among us have passed away ! Truly, the 
 grave is a land without order. The small and the great 
 are there ; the hoary head and the infant of a day ; and 
 they both lie down together. Our fathers, where are 
 they ? I miss from their places the venerable forms — 
 such, at least, they seemed to me — that at my settle- 
 ment graced this temple ; of whom some were the 
 strength and ornament of our ancient society, who 
 brought forth fruit in old age, and are now, we doubt 
 not, before the throne of God, serving Him in His tem- 
 ple. Others I recal, whose honorable age did not stand 
 in length of days; but being perfected in a short time, 
 they fulfilled a long time, and their souls pleasing God, 
 he hastened to take them away. Younger heads of 
 
 * To the time of the delivery of this discourse, of the sixteen deaths re- 
 corded of those whose funerals I had attended since the besrinning of the year, 
 four only belonged to the society. In the following week, however, two others 
 were added to our dead. 
 
32 
 
 families, fathers and mothers, children dearer than life, 
 the trusted brother and the confiding sister, promising 
 young men and active citizens, have alike passed away. 
 
 There is something inexpressibly affecting — were it 
 not for the blessed hope and the glorious prospects of 
 the gospel of Christ Jesus, we should be ready to say 
 awfully mysterious — in these promiscuous ravages of 
 death. It has borne from us not the useless only, and 
 the worthless, but ' the excellent of the earth,' on whom 
 families and friends and even a community reposed ; the 
 upright and the honorable, the stay and the staff, with 
 lovely infancy and blooming childhood. The simple 
 mention of annals like these — what remembrances does 
 it not awaken, of ties dissolved, of friends departed, of 
 treasures hidden in the grave. Let us rather say, as 
 was said by the angel, of the body of the Lord Jesus ; 
 they are not here. Let us hope, that we may find 
 them hereafter, with the treasure lain up for us in 
 heaven. 
 
 Through what varied scenes does it please God to 
 call his children to pass ! Here, congratulation for gifts 
 bestowed ; there, bereavement and offered solace. 
 ' Here, a course commenced with the fairest auspices ; 
 there, eclipse and disastrous twilight ; here, prayers, 
 and hopes for long life, health, and happiness; there, 
 condolence, lamentation, and tears over a lifeless body.'* 
 
 * See Mr. Buckminster's discourse at the interment of the Rev. Wilham 
 Emerson, May l^th, 1811, on the day immediately succeedingthe ordination of 
 the late Rev. Samuel C. Thacher, over the New South Church, in Boston. 
 ' The services of this joyful occasion,' says Mr. Buckminster, in a note to this 
 sermon, ' were so tempered by the idea of the unburied remains of our depart- 
 ed brother Emerson, as to render this interesting solemnity unusually serious 
 and afttcling.' Nor can we here omit the reflection, equally serious and touch- 
 ing, that nearly within the space of a year, Mr. Buckminster himself was joined 
 
33 
 
 How often have the waters of baptism on the brow 
 of infancy been mingled with the chill dews of death ; 
 and within a few short weeks the voices of the bride- 
 groom, and of them that make melody, have been hush- 
 ed in the silence of the tomb. God grant that time, 
 which dries up but too quickly the fountains of grief, 
 may not leave it unsanctified ; that so many tears, 
 though wiped away, may not have been wept in vain. 
 God of his mercy save us from perverting his judgments ; 
 and from that sorrow of the world, that worketh death. 
 
 And now, my christian brethren and friends, as we 
 have considered together the Providence of God, let us 
 enquire what are the instructions it presents. Let us 
 open our hearts to the lessons of wisdom ; to the 
 monitions and encouragements which such a survey 
 affords us. 
 
 I. In the first place, let us adore together the faith- 
 fulness of God, as it has been manifested in the past, 
 and as it establishes our assurance of hope for the fu- 
 ture. We have seen one generation passing and another 
 generation coming ; but thou, O God, art the same, and 
 thy years cannot fail. How sustaining is the thought, 
 
 to the friend he was thus honoring, in a yet earlier grave ; and that the minis- 
 try of Mr.Thacher, also, commenced amidst circumstances so affecting, having 
 once and again been interrupted by long absence and protracted sickness, was 
 closed by his death in a foreign land, before he was permitted to complete its 
 seventh year. It was within this period, that tlie unusual mortality among 
 the clergy of Boston and its vicinity, to which reference has been made in 
 another part of this discourse, took place. Rev. J. L. Abbot, successor to Mr. 
 Emerson in the First Church, died in 1814, after a ministry of only a few 
 months; Rev. Mr. Gary, of the King's Chapel, in 1815; Dr. Lathrop, of the 
 Second Church, in ]81G; Mr. Prentiss, of Charlestown, in 1817; Mr.Thacher, 
 in France, in 1818; Professor McKean, of Harvard University, who, by his 
 frequent occasional services, was intimately connected with the Boston church- 
 es, died also abroad the same year; and Mr. Huntingdon, of the Old South 
 Church, in 181!). 
 
34 
 
 that amidst all change, there sitteth on the throne 
 the immutable and everlasting One, beholding all. dis- 
 posing all, and by means ever at his control, making 
 all things work for good. 
 
 Let the conviction of this great truth be our strength 
 and our joj, in the relation which unites us as a relig- 
 ious society. We remember with affection the friends 
 that are gone. Let us be grateful that so many remain ; 
 and that in the laithfulness of God is our sure hope for 
 the time to come. It is by his law, that one generation 
 passeth away. It is equally his law, that another gen- 
 eration comelh. Yes ! brethren, we will bless God, 
 that the ravages of death do not prevail to desolate our 
 churches ; that the gospel lives, though its believers die. 
 The generations of God's servants continue, and their 
 seed shall be established forever. 
 
 II. It is a fit subject for our congratulation, that 
 amidst the many that have gone, and changes which not 
 death alone and the vicissitudes of life, but multiplying 
 churches and multiplying sects have made, this an- 
 cient society still remains in so good measures of pros- 
 perity and peace. Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. 
 But it becomes us to remember both how we have 
 ministered and how we have received. 
 
 For myself, while I repeat my hearty thanks to Al- 
 mighty God for preserving care and continued opportu- 
 nities of service, I would inwardly feel, rather than pub- 
 licly lament, the infirmities and defects to which I cannot 
 be insensible, and for which His mercy is my only hope. 
 But I surely may express the sense I cherish of the 
 
35 
 
 kindnesses you have bestowed, and especially of the 
 candor with which you have always interpreted my ef- 
 forts to serve you. Would to God that they had been 
 more effectual. For amidst the harmony that unites 
 us, and which I joyfully accept as a token for good, 
 much remains for monition and improvement. 1 regret — 
 in all pastoral fidelity I must regret — that so many 
 among us, exemplary as I believe in other relations, 
 and whose friendship I number with my privileges, still 
 fail to observe the ordinances of God ; forsaking for no 
 urgent occasion, (as the manner of multitudes in this 
 city is) the afternoon worship, and leaving us sadly 
 alone in the celebration of a Saviour's love. I lament, 
 that of so many parents among us, the offspring are left 
 unbaptized. It is with me a subject for humiliation and 
 distrust, that few are persuaded to these duties, when 
 I would gladly persuade all. Let me entreat you, be- 
 loved, that the poorness of my ability be not taken as 
 your apology for the neglect of the duty. Let me be- 
 seech you, fathers and mothers, to bring your children 
 hither to the waters of baptism, and yourselves to the 
 table of the Lord. Let me exhort you that are young, 
 to know the God of your Fathers, and Christ Jesus 
 whom he has sent ; to remember him as he commands, 
 and to consecrate to him the fust fruits of your lives. 
 
 Is it asked how we shall best maintain, in their purity 
 and efficacy, the institutions of religion, and be faithful 
 to the inheritance we have received from our fathers ? 
 The answer is, simply by observing them. By separa- 
 ting them, absolutely and forever, from all the vain the- 
 ories, refinements, and excitements of the hour, and 
 
36 
 
 by cherishing them in the spirit of a filial reverence, of 
 a faith that works by love. 
 
 And now, brethren, we may say with an apostle, hav- 
 ing obtained help of God, we are here together this day. 
 How long we may thus continue, is known only to 
 Him with whom is the residue of our years. What 
 events await us, of joy or grief, of life or death, we 
 may not even conjecture. Of this only are we certain, 
 that when a (ew years have come, we shall every one 
 of us be called ' to give an account of himself to God.' 
 But our hearts' desire is, that when these places that 
 know us shall know us no more, there may still be found 
 here a generation to serve Him. May venerable piety 
 still grace this temple, and the freshness of youth be 
 here consecrated to God. May the hearts of the pa- 
 rents here be turned to the children, and the hearts of 
 the children to the parents, and thus in the faith and 
 virtue of generations yet to come, may that gracious 
 word, according to which we hope, be fulfilled, ' As 
 for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord : — 
 my spirit that is upon thee, and the words that I have 
 put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, 
 nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth 
 of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and 
 for ever.' 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NOTE A. (p. 5.) 
 
 The New North Church was dedicated in May, 1804. An 
 occasion of this kind, though now of frequent occurrence, was 
 then an unusual event in Boston and its A'icinity. Indeed, the 
 erection of a new church was numbered among the weighty, if not 
 hazardous enterprises of the day. With the exception of the 
 wooden church in HoUis street, afterwards removed to make way 
 for the present more durable edifice, no new congregational church 
 had been undertaken since the Brattle street, in 1773. So that at 
 the consecration of the New North, Dr. Lathrop, then among the 
 oldest ministers of the town, and familiar, it may well be believed, 
 with the various duties of his calling, being invited to assist his 
 friend. Dr. Eliot, in the dedication, remarked to one of his own 
 parishioners, that it was a service so new to him, that he hardly 
 knew how to set about it, 'though,' added he, 'having Solomon's 
 Prayer for the Temple, we are not left without a model.' 
 
 NOTE B. (p. 7.) 
 
 Dr. Andrew Eliot has justly been numbered with the most emi- 
 nent divines of New England. Through the whole of his minis- 
 try, his congregation was one of the most numerous and respecta- 
 ble in Massachusetts, to whom, as has been observed, he was most 
 faithfully and affectionately devoted. At the same time, he took 
 a deep interest in the literary, philanthropic, and civil concerns of 
 the times. To Harvard College his services were of great impor- 
 tance. He was a member of its corporation for nearly fourteen 
 years, ' and after the death of President Holyoke, in 1769, he was 
 urged to take his place. The attachment he bore to his people, 
 
38 
 
 caused him to decline the election. After the resignation of Pres- 
 ident Locke, who succeeded Holyoke, he was actually chosen into 
 the office, though contrary to his urgent request.' From that pe- 
 riod, however, to his death, including most of the presidency of 
 Dr. Langdon, his influence on the affairs of the college was sought 
 and highly valued. [See ' Historical Notices of the New North 
 Religious Society.'] 
 
 His volume of sermons, twenty in number, which he dedicated 
 with a pastoral affection to the people of his charge, and which is 
 highly valued to this day by the aged among us who knew him, 
 is very creditable to his talents, and well sustains the reputa- 
 tion he has ever enjoyed, as an able, faithful, and in the highest 
 sense of the term, a catholic divine. Like many of the clergy 
 of his day, he was called a ' moderate Calvinist' ; but it will be 
 difficult for the impartial reader to detect the doctrines of the 
 Genevan School in any of his publications. All his discourses 
 were eminently practical ; his illustrations of doctrine were ra- 
 tional and judicious ; and his warm heart and hand of fellowship 
 were open to all that loved the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth. 
 
 In common with his brethren of that day, he evinced a 
 deep concern in the progress of the American revolution ; never 
 introducing politics, except the broad politics of Christianity, into 
 his pulpit, but always mindful of his rights and responsibilities as 
 a citizen. 
 
 After the death of Dr. Mayhew, in 1766, he maintained a reg- 
 ular correspondence with Thomas Hollis, Esq. of London, that 
 ardent friend of America, as he was of civil and religious 
 liberty ; from whom he received many valuable presents in books, 
 and was the medium, also, of some of his liberal benefactions to 
 Harvard College. 
 
 With Arch-deacon Blackburne, the author of the Confessional, 
 and well known for his attachment to this country ; with 
 Dr. Samuel Chandler, one of the most eminent o[ the dis- 
 senting ministers of his time, with Dr. Harris, and others, he ex- 
 changed several letters. To Dr. Chandler, particularly, he wrote, 
 soliciting his influence to prevent the establishment of another 
 college in Massachusetts, as proposed by Governor Bernard, and 
 other zealous Episcopalians. 
 
39 
 
 Through the favor of his grandson, Mr, John F. Eliot, I have in 
 my possession a manuscript volume, in which, with a few letters 
 of a personal and domestic nature, the whole of the English cor- 
 respondence is fairly copied out. Some of the letters of Mr. Hol- 
 lis and Arch-deacon Blackburne are highly curious and charac- 
 teristic. They show the sense these gentlemen entertained of the 
 character of Dr. Eliot, and might furnish, did the limits of this 
 appendix permit, copious matter for quotation or remark. Should 
 a suitable opportunity occur, selections from this manuscript might 
 easily be made, and, I may venture to say, would be found no un- 
 interesting addition to the documents, official and private, ilustra- 
 ting the history of the revolution, which, by the indefatigable 
 labors of Mr. Sparks, have within a few years been made public. 
 
 Of the same nature with this English correspondence of Dr. 
 Eliot, combining the most familiar domestic or personal affairs, 
 with subjects of great political moment, are the letters between 
 the elder President and Mrs. Adams, with some taste of which 
 the public were favored in a highly interesting lecture, delivered 
 last winter, before the Historical Society, by one of his immediate 
 descendants, Charles F. Adams, Esq. 
 
 A curious passage in one of these letters of Mr. Hollis, leaves 
 us to infer, that being a man of retired habits, and preferring his 
 own quiet ways to general society, he had been annoyed by the 
 visits of Americans in London, who naturally, but perhaps obtru- 
 sively, sought the acquaintance of so ardent a friend of their 
 country. New England clergymen, also, were accustomed to send 
 to him their printed sermons ; from which, not being always to 
 the taste of Mr. Hollis, he begs, as was reasonable, to be excused. 
 
 Here follows his earnest request. 
 
 To Rev. Andrew Eliot, D. D. 
 
 Pali-Mall, Feb. 23d, 17r;7. 
 
 If you would be pleased to give out, in your own handsome way, in Boston 
 and about, tliat I wish to avoid all private correspondence, and all private per- 
 sonal visitors from thence, however in certain respects lionorable, you will 
 do me a great favor. My wisli has; long- been to serve mankind, every where, 
 each under each, like Shakspeare's hounds, einbodyed, rather than individu- 
 ally : for to both ways, I am of opinion, the lot of humanity is not equal. 
 
 Pray, sir, assist me friendlily in this matter. Scarce a ship now arrives from 
 Boston, but brings some good man to take oftence at my not seeing him. * * 
 Keep me clear, also, of JVorth .American sermons, unless by special men on 
 very special occasions.' 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 40 ei4 014 358 3 
 
 Of Dr. Eliot's sentiments in relation to creeds and subscriptions 
 imposed by human authority, we may easily judge from the fol- 
 lowing passage in a letter to Arch-deacon Blacltburne, dated 1767. 
 
 ' The fathers of New England were a set of worthy men, but they did not 
 understand religious liberty. There was too much of an intolerant spirit among 
 them. It was not a fault peculiar to them ; it was the error of the day. But 
 however contracted they were in their religious sentiments, they .".ever imposed 
 subscriptions to any human forms. Possibly this was because there vas no sus- 
 picion of erroneous principles. But I would rather think, that their c>ood sense 
 taught them that it could answer no valuable end, and could lead onlj to pre- 
 varication and falsehood.' 
 
 NOTE C. (p. 9.) \ 
 
 The serious typographical errors which abound in his ' New 
 England Biographical Dictionary,' and diminish its value, were a 
 source of deep mortification to Dr. Eliot. They are the more to 
 be regretted, as they were in consequence of his mistaken kind- 
 ness in entrusting the printing of the work to the inexperienced 
 and unfaithful hands of a young parishioner, whom, as just enter- 
 ing upon business, with his usual pastoral benevolence, he was 
 willing to assist. Dr. E. had devoted to this work the leisure of 
 his life. ' But,' says his brother, in the historical notices before 
 quoted, ' he could never hear it spoken of without disgust.' Had 
 his pecuniary circumstances permitted, he would have suppressed 
 the edition. Yet, notwithstanding these blunders of the press, 
 the work is of the highest authority. 
 
 NoteD. (p. 17.) 
 
 The ordination of the present pastor took place on December 
 8th, 1813. The services of the occasion were introduced with 
 prayer by Rev. Charles Lowell. The sermon was preached by 
 the Rev. "W. E. Channing, with whom for three years, and after- 
 wards at the Divinity School in Edinburgh, the writer pursued his 
 theological studies. The consecrating prayer was offered by Rev. 
 President Kirkland, of Harvard University : the Charge by Rev, 
 Dr. Lathrop : the Right Hand of Fellowship by Rev. Mr. Tucker- 
 man, of Chelsea ; and the concluding prayer by Rev. Mr. Hurd, 
 of Lynn. 
 
HBHAKY Oh UUNGHhSS 
 
 014 014 358 3