A
CENTURY OF PURITANISM,
AND
A CENTURY OF ITS OPPOSITES;
WITH
RESULTS CONTRASTED TO ENFORCE PURITAN PRINCIPLES, AND
TO TRACE WHAT IS PECULIAR IN THE PEOPLE OF LYNN
TO WHAT IS PECULIAR IN ITS IIISTORY.
BY PARSONS COOKE,
PASTOR OF THE FIRIST CHURCH IN LYNN,
BOSTON:
S. WHIPPLE AND COMPANY
161 WASHINGTON STREET.
1855.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1855. by
PARSONS COOKE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.




PREFACE.
THE people of Lynn are no race of imitators.
They are in one sense, if not in the best sense, a peculiar people. And they have the advantage, or disadvantage, of being well known abroad.  But the
causes which have made them what they are, are not
so well known abroad. Yet they should be. For
such a knowledge is capable of being turned to a rich
account. The religious history of the town has been
very peculiar, and in that are found the sources of the
existing peculiarities of the people. And all the remarkable turns of the history give illustration of the
force of important principles of Christianity.
This work was first produced in the form of lectures
for the pulpit; and that form is now only partially
thrown off. So far as the interest of the book might
be enhanced by retaining it, it has been retained.
The work was first undertaken for the simple purpose
of writing the history of the First Church of Lynn,
(3)




4                  PIREFACE.
for mere local use. But we soon found that we were
opening springs that ought to flow abroad.  We
found that it abounded in materials of general interest.  It is local in the sense that it describes
events, which occurred in a single place. But those
events are full of instruction, as to the practical power
of principles in which all Christians have a deep interest. A history of the battle of lWaterloo has its
local characters; but its history is a book for the world,
because the world has a common interest in its events.
So here, struggles have existed, and principles have
produced their results, in which all Christians have a
common interest. Hence our history, so far as it gives
the narrative of the experience of the First Church
in Lynn, is a mere thread upon which to hang our
illustrations and arguments.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE relative Age of the Church. - The Time of its Origin.
- Its first Preacher, Mr. Bachellor.-The original Materials
of the Church. - Sketch of the Life of the first Pastor.. 29
CHAPTER       II.
Influence of the Commemoration of Ancestors.- Mr. Whiting
and the Courts on clashing Jurisdictions. -Life of Rev.
Thomas Cobbett............... 51
CHAPTER       III.
Evanescence of earthly Fame. - Life of Rev. Jeremiah Shepard.- Puritan Church Architecture.- The "Tunnel"
Meeting House. - Origin of the Quakers. - Origin of
Lynnfield Parish.- General Prosperity of Shepard's Ministry.............    75
l 48




6                      CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Persecutions. - All Sections of the Church involved.- The
Facts in the Case. - Persecutions of the Baptists. - Early
History of the Lynn Quakers. - The Creed of the Quakers.
- Exaggerations on both Sides.- Quakers also persecuted.
- The Quakers' Divine Call. - The Facts and Principles
that led to it............. 106
CHAPTER V.
Close of Mr. Shepard's Ministry.- Calling of a Colleague.
- Settlement of Mr. Henchman. - His opposing the Revival. - His Conflict with Whitefield. - Consequent Parish
Quarrels..................  170
CHAPTER        VI.
Further Sketch of Mr. Henchman's History. - His Lawsuit
with the Parish. -His Death.-Formation of the TWest
End Parish. - Settlement of Mr. Treadwell. - Change of
Terms of Admission to Communion. - Half Way Covenant.
- Ministers in the Revolutionary War. - Mr. Treadwell's
Dismission.- Settlement of Mr. Parsons. - Conflicts with
him. -Succession of Methodists.......192
CHAPTER VII.
How Life was preserved amid so much Death. -Church reduced to five Male Members. - Sketch of the first Introduction of Methodism to Lynn. —First Methodism in the
Country. - Lee's Itinerancy. - Carrying off the Church
Plate. - Call of Dr. Harris. - Methodist Appeals to ignorant Passions.............. 224




CONTENTS.                     7
CHAPTER       VIII.
Estimate of Methodism............. 252
CHAPTER       IX.
Estimate of Methodism............. 278
CHAPTER       X.
Modes of Defence against Methodist Aggression..... 310
CHAPTER XI.
Mr. Thacher's Ministry. — Mr. Hurd's Ministry.... 342
CIAPTER       XII.
Mr. Rockwood's Ministry......... 362
CHAPTER      XIII.
Rev. Mr. Peabody's Ministry. - Settlement of the present
Pastor. —Building of the Meeting House. —History of
the Debt and its Extinction. -The Temperance Conflict. 386




8                 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
Causes of Union. - Comeouters. - Spiritual Progress. -
Swampscot Church. -Central Church....... 410
APPENDIX................... 443




INTRODUCTION.
THE church in Egypt and in the wilderness hardly
sustained a more striking correspondence with its
divinely chosen emblem -that of the bush burning
but not consumed - than has the church that was first
planted by the Puritan fathers in Lynn.    Few
churches have lived so long among so many powerful
causes of death. The church in Egypt lived, in
spite of the policies and forces employed to extinguish
it, because it lived in the life of Christ and in the
purpose of God, and its life was supported with a view
to the wonderful events to be evolved in its future
history. It lived in the life of its Redeemer, which
no powers of earth or hell could quench. A like experience is often had in a branch of the church of
Christ reduced to the last remnants, and yet preserved. Of this experience the church planted by
the Puritans in Lynn has partaken largely. The
bush inflamed, but not consumed, is an epitome of her
(91)




10               INTRODUCTION.
history. Her history is that of a church that has
lived, by a supernatural vitality, in spite of powerful
causes of destruction; and for nearly a century of
her life she seemed to be approaching the grave.
The spiritual life of a church, in its outward demonstrations, is usually so frail and so feeble against opposing elements, that one would think that its enemies
had need only to let it alone and see it die, or that
a few vigorous onsets would destroy it. But in this
instance, its half-extinct vitality was preserved, amid
causes of destruction more than sufficient. As we
trace the thread of its life backward, through the
events which Providence appointed to it, it seems a
wonder of wonders that it is now alive, and having
the same unbroken current of life that was opened
here by the Puritan immigrants, more than two hundred and twenty years ago.
From my first acquaintance with the outlines of
this history, I felt that its materials should be gathered
and preserved. But want of time has prevented my
attempting it - till now the desire to see it done has
kindled as a fire in my bones, and compelled me to do
what I can towards it. The reasons why this history
should be set forth are of two kinds- those that concern the people of Lynn, and those that are of general interest. The history of this church has many
striking turns and contrasts, which illustrate princi



INTRODUCTION.                11
pies in which all Christians are interested. As to
these, all are naturally anxious to inquire what it was
that produced the peculiar characteristics of the people in Lynn, for which she is famed the world over.
This mystery has an easy solution, in the history before us. As a matter of mere philosophical inquiry,
it is worth our perusal.
But for reasons still more general, so remarkable a
history as this ought to be put on a legible record.
History shows the hand of God, and is God's chosen
method of instruction. Churches as well as individuals have their experience, and most effectually learn
wisdom by that experience. Inspiration teaches mainly
through historical facts, and church history is the burden of its labor, and in its pages church history is
made to transcend all other histories in the dignity
and elevating force of its themes. Moses, the first
born of historians, gives but two or three of his chapters to the history of the world, and all the rest to
that of the church. For the history of the church is
the history of the people whom God has redeemed as
his special treasure, on which his Spirit does its choicest
work - the people in whom flows the very life of his
Son: it is the history of that kingdom which consists
not in meats and drinks, but in righteousness and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. It shows wonderful wisdom and power, preserving the church amid hostile




12              INTRODUCTION.
forces, and calls us at every turn to see this great
sight, the bush inflamed but not consumed. As the
value of the world is in the church, so the value of
all history is in church history; and hence the two
short books of church history, written by Luke, contain materials of more interest to the world, —yea,
and what is destined to command more attention from
the world, than all the books of merely secular history.
The achievements of a single man, Saul of Tarsus,
sketched there in a few chapters, are to emit more
true and lasting glory than those of all the earth's
plunderers, misnamed conquerors. In planting and
sustaining, amid temptations and corruptions, branches
of the church of Christ, in describing the sources from
which came their assaults and salvations, in depicting
the sublime qualities and shining examples of those
whom God raises up, from time to time, to be her
Aarons, Joshuas, Davids, and Solomons, we have
themes which, for noble grandeur and thrilling interest,
as much surpass the battles of the warrior as the interests of eternity surpass the trifles of time.
And their history is all a record of God's processes
of teaching religion through experience - the most effective of all teaching. Because this is the most effective mode, the Author of the Bible has for the most
part taught through historical facts; and when these
were not at hand, has woven supposed facts into




INTRODUCTION.               13
fables, to serve in their stead. And a church may
profit by its own experience as really as an individual.
For each church has a life of its own, and one life
extending through successive generations. So that
the accumulated results of its experience, so far as
they are preserved, may come together as in some
sense the experience of its living members. The
present members are interested in what was done by
their predecessors, whose delinquencies have been occasions of present burdens, and whose prayers and
godly zeal have been the occasion of present blessings.
So the facts in the history of one branch of the
church belong especially to that branch. Besides
their general interest, they have a peculiar interest to
them. They are in some sense matters of their experience, and sources of their instruction. They come
home to them as they cannot to others.   Though
perhaps none of the blood of the founders of your
church runs in your veins, yet the fact that you have
brought your life into one current with theirs, makes
their ecclesiastical experience, in more than a figurative sense, your experience, and gives you an interest
in what was said and done, affecting the spiritual
prosperity of that confederation of believers with
which your own spiritual life is now blended. By
such processes, the experience of one generation
transmits itself to the succeeding; and the experience
9




14               INTRODUCTION.
of all generations, in one line of spiritual life, runs into
the experience of the living generation, and should
be made a source of ever-accumulating instruction.
Hence we are bound to complete, as far as may be,
the records of the past, and "tell it unto the generation following." For the history of the past and of the
present constitutes the books which God has written
out by the finger of his providence, and these books
are committed in charge to us, to be copied out and
preserved for the generations following.
But the materials of the history of this church
ought to be well known, because they are in themselves peculiarly valuable. There are crises and events
in this history that challenge special attention, for the
illustration which they give to important principles.
Few churches have had all the varieties of striking
changes and perilous crises which this has undergone.
The age of this church is another reason why its history should be preserved. It were a wrong done to all
our churches, if the history of one of the oldest existing
Puritan churches in Massachusetts, and the oldest that
occupies the place of its original planting in the whole
country, should be lost. The fact that her elder sisters, that led in the van, have ceased to exist as
churches of Christ, and sundered the thread of life
and history that connected them with the Puritan
origin, now gives special interest, and will in coming




INTRODUCTION.               15
generations give still more interest, to the few first
planted churches that endured in the day of trial.
A well-written history of this church, conducting the
reader by a luminous path back to the springs so connecting the future expansions of the Puritan life with
its origin, must be a valuable legacy to your successors
here, and to the whole sisterhood of Puritan churches.
While the Plymouth rock attracts the reverence of
countless pilgrims, because it was the first that was
pressed by the feet of the Pilgrim band, will not that
one first planted here of those that still rest on the
Rock of Ages be an object of interest, in coming times,
with all those who are also built on the foundations of
the prophets and apostles?
But there are local reasons of great force why this
history should be written. Justice to the present
members of the church requires it. A stranger to its
history must judge of it by present appearances.
And he cannot see why, after having had the ground
so long, it should have covered so little of it. He
naturally asks, Is that all that you have done by
the labor of two hundred and twenty-three years?
History comes in with a satisfactory answer to this
question, and for that reason, if there were no other,
it should be produced, and wrought into the common
material of public knowledge. It is fit that the world
should know how this church has been betrayed, per



16              INTRODUCTION.
verted, and crippled; and how her life blood has
been drawn from her, till she approached the very
verge of annihilation; and with what protracted and
desperate struggles, against what a host of obstacles,
with what sacrifices, she has been brought back thus
far. Let this be known, and she asks no other vindication from the suspicion of culpable feebleness.
Still more important is it that the purity and efficiency of our evangelical principles should be vindicated, by conveying to the public knowledge the facts
in our history. At the first glance, the appearance is,
that Puritanism has here had the ground for more than
two centuries, and yet has suffered it to be overrun with
briers and thorns. Few, even very few of the population
of Lynn have a knowledge of our history sufficient to
correct this impression. Most of the present generation of Lynn know that this is the original church,
and suppose that it has always been, as to the doctrines preached, and as to the purpose of its efforts,
what it now is. And from the fact that it has held its
ground so long, and spread itself so little, it is that its
principles must have little life and force. If the ground
of this inference were a reality, we ought indeed to
blush for being members of such a church; for we should
give serious occasion to question the vitality and soundness of our principles. We blame not the world for
judging a tree by its fruits. We have been forward to




INTRODUCTION.               17
court the application of this test to Puritanism. We
have regarded the wonderful and beneficent results of
Puritanism in forming the character and structure of
this nation, and in diffusing manifold blessings over
the world, as a triumphant proof of its identity with
the religion of Christ. Nor do we shrink from the
application of the same test to Puritanism so far as it
has lived and labored in the life of this church. We
only ask that the facts may be laid out to view, so
that Puritanism may be made responsible only for what
belongs to it; that that may not be taken as a fruit
of Puritanism which was the product of its opposites.
History embraces materials for setting out with the
clearness of a sunbeam the fact, that while this church
contained, in individual members, some remnants of
Puritan life, and always professed adherence to the
Puritan faith, her ministry was for nearly a century
heartily and industriously at work in opposition to
that faith and life. We claim that this hostile ministry of three generations shall not be charged to us
as a Puritan ministry, and that its fruits shall be carried to the tree that produced them; and then we are
quite willing that the rule of judging the tree by its
fruits shall have a full application.
For the present and future success of our principles, we depend much on the state of the public conscience respecting them - on what is the general esti2*




18               INTRODUCTION.
mate of their purity and intrinsic power. Who does
not see that the progress of our principles here is
impeded by a world of misconception of the nature
alluded to. The remembrance and traditions of past
scandals have so prejudiced the public mind, and so
small is the desire to know the truth respecting us,
that probably not one in ten of the whole population
has any thing approximating to the true idea of our
history, or of the Puritan life.  Our principles lie
under mountains of reproach, by reason of false representations made of them, during nearly a century,
by ministers falsely assuming their name, to undermine and destroy them.   With a vast multitude
really ignorant of us, we bear odium coming from the
malfeasance of some of our predecessors. Could we
stand simply upon our merits, that is, the merits of
our principles, while these principles are actually
held and preached, it were less to be regretted. But
it will take one century, at least, for this church to
live down the reproaches accumulated by the abuse
which she suffered in the century gone.  Neither
our preaching nor our lives, could they attain an
apostolic excellence, would extinguish the countless
traditions that convey the offensive odors of other
times down to the nostrils of the present. It was a
capital stroke of policy in Satan to put his own agents
into the pastorate of this church, and employ them so




INTRODUCTION.               19
effectually to destroy the life of Puritanism in it, and
then make the world believe that those agents of his
were true samples of Puritanism, and their work the
proper fruits of an orthodox faith. And lest Satan
should keep the advantage of this lie, we have need
to open before this generation the history of the past,
and remove the disguises.
The history should be known for still another reason. The religious character of the town of Lynn is
an enigma to those who are strangers to its history.
Here, in the very heart of New England, on the very
ground of the first planting of the principal colony, is
a people, most of whom, perhaps, are lineal descendants of the first founders of the colony, presenting a
religious character, in the general, very averse from
the principles of the founders, and very unlike the
general religious character of the other New England towns. This statement will not, of course, be
taken as an offence; for those who have departed
from the Puritan faith glory in that departure, and
must, of course, receive this statement as a complimentary concession. But whether it be so or not, the
fact is indisputable, that Lynn, in its religious character, is widely diverse from that which has been generally characteristic of New England; and it is important that the world should better know the source
of this diversity. We have here vastly more than




20              INTRODUCTION.
our proportion of infidelity, Universalism, and home
heathenism; and, with the materials which exist for
the history of the first church, it is not difficult to tell
whence they come; and the knowledge of their source
is the first step to a knowledge of their remedy. If
every man, woman, and child now knew, as they might
know, what has brought in these soul-destroying isms,
they could be resisted with double the effect with
which they now can be.
It is, then, no mere desire for literary exercise or
entertainment which has impelled me to this work,
but a purpose of public instruction on matters of vital
interest. What I propose is, an effort to take away
from the public mind a misconception which vastly
hinders the progress of the pure gospel of Christ.
The facts of this history will be presented, not as
gratifications to an antiquarian or literary curiosity,
but as proofs of the life and power of evangelical
truth, and the destructive power of its opposites. I
never undertook any work with a more earnest purpose to promote the ends of the gospel, and under a
more urgent sense of its necessity. If the general
current of men's apprehensions touching the fruits of
Puritanism here could be changed into correspondence
with the facts by any effort of mine, I should, in procuring that change, have lived to higher purpose than
ever before.




INTRODUCTION.               21
Suppose the devil, having made a Judas out of one
of Christ's disciples, should have succeeded, in a given
place, to make all men regard that Judas as a true
specimen of Christ's disciples, and his work the true
result of Christianity, and so to have wrought it into
men's common ideas of Christianity, that, on every
mention of the name Christian, the image of Judas
and his work would come before the mind,- would
you not preach Christianity with small success to such
a people till you had first disabused their minds? So
here, traditions of the past history of this church, and
some of its ministers, are so abundant, and so charged
with poison, that when Puritan orthodoxy is named,
the repulsive features of some odious betrayers of the
truth pass before the fancy as specimens of the thing.
Urgent reasons, therefore, demand that this people
should have the means of knowing that Judases are
not the true disciples of Christ.
But some may misgive, and feel that no demonstration can vindicate Puritanism on ground where it has
had such experience - for it once had the ground, and
failed to keep it. It will be said, that after all showing, the fact exists, that Puritanism failed to perpetuate its expansive force in this instance; and does not
such a failure betray an intrinsic weakness? Let this
point be especially considered; for what is pertinent
to it is applicable to all the instances which have




22              INTRODUCTION.
occurred in the whole of the Unitarian apostasy from
Puritanism throughout New England. The question
is, Does not a failure to hold the ground that it once
had betray an intrinsic weakness? Not at all. Puritanism, or any other agent, works only where it is,
and no longer than it is there. To prove that Puritanism made a failure, you must show that the failure
in the forth-putting of Puritan life, and strength,
and fruits took place while Puritan doctrines were
preached —which is contrary to the fact. Puritan
doctrine ceased to be preached in this church long
before the fruit and life of those doctrines disappeared.
Yea, by a sort of miracle of grace, a few buried embers of the original flame underlay the ashes and rubbish that were heaped upon them through the most
adverse times; and from these, in our own times, the
fire on our altars has been rekindled to a flame which
gives promise of spreading far and wide.
Besides, if a religious system has a failure in every
instance wherein the treachery of its ministers, by
bringing in its opposites, causes it to give place, then
is the gospel of Christ itself a grand failure; for over
all the ground where Christ preached it with his living voice, it long since wholly ceased; and in every
church, without an exception, that was gathered by
the apostles of Christ, it has failed to perpetuate itself.
The question as to the failure or performance of a




INTRODUCTION.                23
religious system is, What fruits does it produce where
and while it is in real action? If, when Puritan doctrines are preached, and Puritan institutions are maintained, the proper results of the gospel - such as the
conversion and sanctification of men- are experienced; and more especially, if time proves the conversions to be genuine in the permanent holy life and
beneficent character of the converts; if a consistent,
abiding, and vigorous Christian life is produced by
such preaching, then there has been no failure, however long or short may be the ministry that does this.
If, after the ministry of a church has done this for a
century, by some fatal mistake an anti-Puritan minister is put into a Puritan pulpit, whatever the failure
may be called, it is not Puritanism failing to produce
the proper results of gospel preaching.
Having undertaken this work for grave reasons,
those reasons will compel me to speak as one that
is serious in a serious cause. I shall have need, for
public reasons, to speak some things, which, in ordinary circumstances, perhaps, it would be wise not to
speak. I acknowledge the general correctness of the
heathen maxim, "Nil mortuis nisi bonum." But this
must have its limitations, or no true history could be
written. Pertinent is the reply of an English queen,
made to a courtier, touching this matter. The courtier, in order to flatter the queen, had cast reproach




24               INTRODUCTION.
on a writer of the history of the Scotch church for
having set forth, in true colors, the picture of " Bloody
Mary."   He said, "Is it not a shame, that, without
any consideration of your royal person, this man
should dare to throw such calumnies upon a queen
to whom your royal highness has succeeded?" "' Not
at all," she replied. " Is it not enough that by fulsome praises great persons must be lulled to sleep all
their lives, but must flattery follow them to their
graves? How should they fear the judgment of posterity, if historians were not allowed to speak the
truth of them after their death?"  The same principle applies to men bearing responsibilities in the
church. The conventionalities of society guard them
against too free a speech of their misdeeds while they
live-and shall they also shut the mouth of history
after they are dead? Truth is the polestar of the
historian, to which he must adhere in spite of any
loves or hates of the dead.  So, whenever, in the
course of this history, we have occasion to say what
we would prefer not to say, of the living or dead, we
shall simply ask, Does truth, or the true ends of our
work, require it to be said? We shall speak under
the urgency of the necessities of the case. Historical
facts that exist, and are material to the purpose, must
not be omitted from motives of delicacy. And, as an
interpreter of the facts, I must express without reserve




INTRODUCTION.                25
my own convictions. In speaking, as I shall have
need to speak, of the tendencies of this and that system, I must speak with at least my usual frankness;
and my readers must bear with me for what may
seem to them my imprudence. I have in this matter
taken upon myself much labor, with the hope of a
commensurate good; and I am unwilling to lose my
labor by any false delicacy restraining me from speaking the thing that needs to be spoken.
But under the pretext of charity and impartiality
towards all forms of religion, there lurks a very prevalent contempt of all religions, and of the issues of
all religious questions. This indifferentism, Galliolike, takes to itself airs of superior dignity, and
assumes to treat all questions of right or wrong in
religion as equally beneath its notice.  Such questions are, forsooth, well enough to occupy the attention
of women and children; but an enlarged and liberal
mind can look down upon their littleness. Persons
of this class are essentially atheistic, and would be
glad to see religion blotted from the memory of men.
Yet for such a horrible vice they claim the credit of
equal justice to all religions, yea, of a superior magnanimity, that looks with equal kindness on the weaknesses of all-yea, of especial peacemakers, who
are pained at any earnest discussions of religious
questions, and cannot endure to see neighbors set at
3




26              INTRODUCTION.
variance on questions so trivial as those of right and
wrong in religion. If it were a question of politics,
to determine whether A, B, or C should have the
offices, it might justify any amount of agitation. But
if the question affect only morals and religion, - only
man's life or death for eternity, - then it grieves them
to see neighbors divided on matters so trivial. Then
the thought is, All denominations are equally sincere, equally silly, equally right, and equally wrong,
and all discussions between them are to be ruled out
as unprofitable.
This view of things extensively obtains, and it is the
only consistent view with those who despise all religion.
And yet the facts to be disclosed in this history will
show it to be at war with common sense, even when
restricted to the interests of the present world. For
it does not provide for the plain fact that different religions produce different forms of civilization,
pure or corrupt, according to their respective natures.
This might be verified in all history. It will be
specially verified in the history of Lynn, when we
have shown what the peculiar form of religion that
predominates in Lynn has done in forming the peculiar character of the people of Lynn. Whether it
flatters our vanity or not, it cannot be denied that we
are a peculiar people, and that a peculiar form of
religion has entered largely into the causes of this




INTRODUCTION.               27
peculiarity. And every where, in spite of you, the
question of this or that religion will go far to determine the civil character of the people. And the
characteristics of the people of any community involve important secular interests, as well as religious,
affecting even the value of your houses and lands.
When the change of the character of the ministry
in Lynn, and in that the change of the character of
the people, began, probably many thought it of no consequence, because it was only a religious matter, and
would not change the latitude or climate of the place,
nor alter the qualities of the soil. But religious
causes went forward to their inevitable result on
social character, and made the people of Lynn what
they now are. Still the town of Lynn stands on the
map just where it ever stood; the sea breezes continue as of old; the fogs make their accustomed visits;
the waves continue their roll on the beach. But the
characteristics of the people have become what they
are, and widely different from what they were. In
short, the history of Lynn is in itself one of the striking illustrations of the effects of different religions
on civil character and secular interests; and in that
single view it is of great value.








HISTORY
OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.
CHAPTER        I.
THE RELATIVE AGE OF THE CHURCH. - THE TIME OF ITS
ORIGIN.- ITS FIRST PREACHER, MR. BACHELLOR.- THE
ORIGINAL MATERIALS OF THE CHURCH. - SKETCH OF
THE LIFE OF THE FIRST PASTOR.
THE order in which the first planting of the
churches in the Massachusetts colony was conducted was-the church in Salem first; next
that in Charlestown, which afterwards removed
to Boston; next that in Dorchester; next in
Roxbury; and next in Lynn. That in Lynn was
formed in May, 1632. In October of the same
year the Charlestown church removed to Boston,
leaving a minority to organize a new church,
which is now the first church in Charlestown;
so that the Lynn church is from May to October
3*                  (29)




30              HISTORY OF THE
older than that in   Charlestown.  All the
churches that were planted here before the
church in Lynn have now ceased to be numbered
among the churches of the Puritan faith; and
the same may be said of those that were planted
before it in the Plymouth colony. A claim has
been set up to the effect that the church that
was planted in Scituate in 1634, and afterwards
removed to Barnstable, is older, because it was
a transplant of the church first organized in
Southwark, London. It has also been claimed
that the church in Windsor, Connecticut, is the
same organization that commenced in Dorchester
and removed to Windsor. We have not yet
seen the evidence that fully clears the way to
the conviction of either of these positions. But
we prefer here to make no assertions touching
disputed points. We will state only what no
one disputes; and that is, that the first church in
Lynn has been longer on the ground where it was
first originally planted than any Congregational
church in America. And if what is claimed for the
Barnstable church be true, this in Lynn has been
longer on its ground than any other in the world.
A question has been raised, whether the church
in Lynn which commenced under the ministry of




FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.        31
Mr. Bachellor was the same with the present
church -that is, whether, in the interim between
Mr. Bachellor's leaving and Mr. Whiting's installation, the organization was not broken.
But that point was settled by a council at the
time. It appears, from Winthrop's Journal, a
council was called in Lynn, in 1634, to settle a
division. Some of the opponents of Mr. Bachellor questioned whether they were a true church,
and withdrew from the communion. " Both parties, after much debate, being heard, it was determined that they were a true church, though
not constituted in due order; yet after consent
and practice of church estate had supplied that
defect, and all were reconciled at that time."
The settlement of Lynn by the English began
in 1629. In that year, according to Lewis's History, five families, including twenty persons, located themselves at Wood End -so called after
the name of Wood, the head of one of the families. The next year brought an addition of fifty
persons, who settled themselves over all parts of
the town. It was three years after the first family
came before a church was formed. Then Rev. Stephen Bachellor came from England with his family
and seven other persons, who settled with him at




32            HISTORY OF THE
Lynn. There appear to have been no formal
proceedings in the organization of the church
beyond the adoption of a covenant by the members. He commenced preaching to his friends,
and the other people before in Lynn joining with
them. But very soon a contention grew up between him and the greatest part of the church,
and he desired a dismission for himself and
his first members. This was granted on condition of their leaving town. Then he and his
dismissed friends renewed their covenant between themselves, and set up for a distinct
church. At this the body of the people in town
were offended, as it would stand in their way of
settling another minister. They complained to
the magistrates, who forbade Mr. Bachellor to
proceed any further in that way till the cause
was considered by the other ministers. But he
refused to desist; whereupon they sent for him,
and, upon his refusal to come, a marshal was
sent to fetch him. Upon his appearance and
submission, and promise to remove out of town
within three months, he was discharged.
At the time of his coming hither Mr. Bachellor
was seventy-one years old, though he had not then
wholly outlived the sins of his youth. He lived




FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.        33
afterwards also an irregular life, subject to not a
little scandal, which we have no inclination here
to repeat, till he had seen near a hundred years.
He was a man of strong mind and strong passions, and must have gone to the grave with a
heavy account to settle.
So in the very commencement of the history,
I have had occasion to speak in terms not complimentary of one of its characters; and I shall have
much occasion to do the like hereafter -while,
perhaps, some of the descendants of the persons
not complimented may be among my readers.
But they must find my apology in the fact, that the
Bible histories never conceal such facts for any
reasons of delicacy of that kind, but that some
of the most honored names are set in the lineage
of great offenders. The prophet Samuel was a
descendant of Korah; and Heman, the master
of inspired song under David, was one of the
sons of Korah. And Lewis's History makes this
same Mr. Bachellor, of whom we have spoken,
an ancestor of Daniel Webster.
Having thus touched the first springs of the history of the church in Lynn, glance now at its first
materials, and see how it was planted - a noble
vine —wholly a right seed. What sort of men




31             HISTORY OF THE
were these first fathers of Lynn, whose blood now
runs in the veins of so many of its present inhabitants, whose confederated godliness and Christian
enterprise opened here the current of spiritual life,
with whose onward flow that of its present members has coalesced? They were no mean men
for that day, nor for any day. They were a part
of that company which God had picked out from
the choice material of English society, to be actors in one of the great events of this world,
and one of the great events of the church —the
founding of the last, freest, greatest of empires.
They were no speculating adventurers, roving
vagrants, tossed like bubbles and froth on the
waves of events, having a chance lighting upon
this shore. They were not the chips and shavings of English society, but its substantial material, separated from the rest by powerful causes,
in order to execute a great purpose of Jehovah.
They were men whose minds and hearts were
large enough to entertain some sense of the
grandeur of their mission. The impulse which
severed them from their country, to seek and prepare a new one, was one which only minds in the
best sense great could entertain. It was no sordid
expectation of riches that brought them hither.




FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.        35
It was their love of truth, and their hope of
founding a far-spreading empire for truth and
salvation, that impelled them to face poverty
and peril, and the rigors of a life in a wilderness. They had a higher end than that of securing freer civil institutions. Indeed, they found
no fault with what institutions they had at home,
only so far as religion was hindered by them.
They had little studied or cared for the maxims
of political philosophy; and the civil liberty
which they in fact wrought out was a mere incident-the product of the womb that conceived
and developed their empire of freedom-freedom "to feed upon immortal truth, to soar,
and to anticipate the skies."  The ends of
civil liberty so vast, which they accomplished,
were the result of their aspirations to a still
grander purpose. In short, they were men of
broad views, of lofty spirit, fit to be, as they
were, founders of a nation and master builders
in the church.
The ministers of these immigrants hither were
in scholarship among the brightest lights of their
age, and in piety and flaming devotion to their
Master's cause they were second to none of any
age. These were of the same material of which




36            HISTORY OF THE
the martyrs were made. Open now their printed
pages, covered with the dust of two centuries,
obscured by the antiquation of the costume of
their thoughts, and yet you will, as you read, begin to feel a glow inflaming your own heart, and
proceeding from inextinguishable fires of genius
and fervors of piety.
But the ministry had not a monopoly of talent
or worth. Who were the people, the laymen,
that first set themselves down upon this shore,
and extended their lines along from Salem to
Lynn, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester?  In them English society had its best
representatives - asking the pardon of noblemen, so called. These were doubly noble - noble
by nature and by grace, born from above, and instinct with lofty aspirations. Here were gentlemen of ancient and aristocratic families - merchants, artificers, and husbandmen; estimated
on the common scale, men above their assumed
employment; but estimated by a truer wisdom,
just the men for the work. In the labors of the
wilderness they proved themselves what afterwards their brethren in England and the like of
them were, as the citizen soldiers of Cromwell's
army - not disdaining the place of a common sol



FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.        37
dier, while fit perhaps themselves to command an
army. God had served a summons on the spirits
of just that class of men in England which he
wanted for a new and strange work that he
had to do; and, obedient to the call, men who
were strangers to each other came forth out of
diverse and distant places, guided by the plain
hand of Providence, and impelled, each by his
own particular occasions, to come together in
this work. They broke away from all the attractions of home and country, and undertook a
fearful voyage over almost trackless seas, into a
terrible desert. If these were not heroes, tell
us who were.
Such in general was the character of the men
of this colony. Nor have we reason to think
that those who chose Lynn for their seat were
in any respect behind their brethren. When our
thoughts glance back to their humble beginnings,
-their log cabins, their cleared patches in the
woods, their scanty means and pauper life,we must guard against measuring their qualities
by their conditions. Those conditions were the
cradle that contained an infant Hercules. Those
cabins sheltered heroes and saints of the first
water. At work upon that forest were minds
4




38             HISTORY OF THE
that made bishops sit uneasy in their seats, and
caused the frame of English society to tremble;
and the like of which, a few years later, made
the English monarchy a ruin. In that forest
were men of whom the halls and palaces of the
mother country were not worthy-men who
came hither because they had souls and designs
too great, beneficent, and free for bishops and
princes to comprehend.
We have few records of the every-day life and
general spirit of that little company whom we
call our founders, and who first on this ground
opened the forest to the daylight. But one or
two important facts may speak volumes as to
their character. Theirs was a day when ministers were in a way to be more plenty than people among the emigrants, because they first and
most severely felt the hand of persecution.
Hence, from the first, it was common for a single church to sustain two ministers; most of the
first churches here did it. Their doctrine requiring two ministers for each church was the
offspring of this plenty of ministers.  The
churches desired to gather into the colony as
many ministers as possible, to meet the growing
occasions and intensify the religious light and




FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN.        39
influence. So they made great sacrifices to sustain those which came over. These sacrifices
were made for the common good, and evinced
their public spirit. And in this good work the
first planters in Lynn, seeking the common good,
were not behind. In less than ten years after
the first tree was here felled by an English axe,
and in less than two years after the first pastor
of the church was settled, there was settled with
him a colleague, both of whom were sustained
out of the small means of the infant church,
each of whom had gifts and graces fit for the
pastorate of the most enlightened church in
the mother country, having been among the
choice products of English universities. This
double pastorage was sustained for twenty years
— not of course for any necessity of this church,
but for the public good; for one such pastor as
our Whiting might have sufficed to all the needful ministrations of two or three score of families. Yet for the common good, and to add to
the general religious force of the colony, their
deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their
liberality. They sustained two ministers, not as
drones or pensioners, but as active laborers.
And while these labored to rich results among




40        THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
their own people, one of them, through his pen
and the press, gave forth a light which guided
many, both here and in England, in the path of
life.
We have seen that this church existed several
years before it had a settled pastor. Its first
preacher, Mr. Bachellor, who was here at its commencement, never acquired that relation. Rev.
Samuel Whiting came hither in 1636, and, in a pastorate of forty-one years, probably did more than
any other to give character to the church. Samuel
Whiting was the son of a mayor of the city of
Boston, in England- born in 1597 -a graduate of the English University of Cambridge.
His conversion took place at the university, under the instrumentality of his tutor, Mr. Yates,
and his religious character was very much developed under the ministries of Drs. Sibbs and
Preston. After finishing his course at the university, he became a chaplain in a distinguished
family for three years, where with great zeal and
fidelity he served the cause of religion. He
spent the next three years in Lynn, England, as
a colleague in the ministry with Mr. Price, an
excellent minister. Here his work was interrupted by persecutions for his non-conformity. He




THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.      41
was cited before the high commission court, and
he expected severe treatment there. But the
death of King James happening just at that
time, found other employment for his persecutors,
and the process was dropped.
Leaving Lynn from necessity, he exercised his
ministry for some time with much fruit in the
vicinity of his native place, Boston.  Here he
came into intimate communion with Mr. Cotton,
afterwards so renowned a leader in the Boston of New England. Mr. Whiting married in
England, and had three children there. But his
wife and two of his children died before he entertained the purpose of coming hither. For his
second wife he married the daughter of Oliver St.
John, a gentleman of a distinguished family, and
chief justice of England in Cromwell's time. She
was a person of singular piety and gravity. She
bore the whole burden of her husband's secular
cares, and yet led a life of marked devotion and
communion with God. She was wont to write out
the sermons which she heard with much dexterity
and fulness. She not only wrote them, but lived
them, and lived on them through the week.
This after-writing of sermons was facilitated from the fact that the sermons of that
4*




42        THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
day were not usually read by the preacher
from manuscripts.  They were either spoken
extempore, as to language, or from memory.
None of the preachers who first came over
read sermons, except Mr. Wareham, of Dorchester. He produced quite a sensation by introducing the practice of reading sermons from the
pulpit.  It was an unheard-of practice among
preachers that were in earnest, and it was much
opposed by those who had never heard him.
But when the same persons came to hear him,
they admired his energy and eloquence. Baxter
was also one of the few readers of sermons in
his days, a little later, and his defence of the
practice is to the point. He said, "It is not
for want of our abilities that makes us use our
notes, but it is a regard for our work and the
good of our hearers. I use notes as much as
any man when I take pains, and as little as any
man when I am lazy, or have not leisure to prepare. It is easier to us to preach three sermons
without notes than one with them." There was
so much reason in these views that they soon
prevailed with the New England ministers. In
those days of unwritten sermons it was the custom  of the hearers i;t take notes, or write




THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.       43
out from memory what they could of the sermon, and rehearse it in the family at the evening prayers. In this, it seems, Mrs. Whiting
was especially expert; and this the author of
the History of Lynn mistakes for her having aided her husband in the composition of sermons.
But while true history gave her not this honor,
it attributes to her a service of more value to
her husband and her people —that which comes
from the sympathy of earnest piety and devotedness to the minister's success in his calling, and
her discreet cooperation in her proper sphere.
And happy was Lynn in having such a pastor's
wife employing her rare gifts to divide the cares
and strengthen the heart and influence of her
husband, while cradling the infancy of a church
in a forest. And sublime was the spectacle of
that daughter of wealth and rank enacting the
Christian heroine here, while her father was filling the highest seat of justice in England, great
among the great men of his times. She lived
with her husband forty-seven years, and died at
the age of seventy-three. She had four sons and
two daughters. Three of her sons were devoted
ministers of Christ. One of them was, in his
father's old age, an assistant of him here for a




44       THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
while. One son and one daughter died in Lynn.
His son Samuel was a minister in Billerica. His
son John went to England. His son Joseph
went to South Hampton, Long Island, and settled
in the ministry there. His daughter became the
wife of Rev. Jeremiah Hobart, of Topsfield.
But we return to the matter of Mr. Whiting's
emigration from England. After Mr. Cotton
had come over, the persecutions against Mr.
Whiting were renewed, and he found that he
must be gone. When the time of trial came, his
wife showed no unwillingness to quit the circles
of polished life in which she had been reared,
and devoting her rich endowments of mind and
heart to the toil of nursing an infant church in
this wilderness. Her friends opposed, but she
forwarded her husband's inclination. He had
lands in England, which, if he had retained them,
might have yielded him an income supplemental
to his scanty living here. But he said, "I am
going to sacrifice unto the Lord in the wilderness, and I will not leave a hoof behind me."
After a voyage of six weeks, he arrived in Boston, May 26, 1636; and most happy was he there
in meeting with many of his former friends who
had come over before him.




THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.      45
The amiableness and magnanimity of the man
appears in his intercourse with his colleague.
Impelled by a previous friendship for Mr. Cobbett,
before he had himself got well settled and engaged
in his work, on Mr. Cobbett's arrival he moved
his people to invite his friend to take part of
his ministry.  And the historian says, "They
continued a sweet pair of brothers till, on the
removal of Mr. Norton to Boston, and Mr. Rogers to heaven, Mr. Cobbett was translated to
Ipswich." " The rays with which they illumined
the house of God sweetly united. They were
almost every day together, and thought it a
long day if they were not so. The one rarely
travelled abroad without the other; and these
two angelic men seemed willing to give one
another as little of jostle as did the ascending
and descending angels on Jacob's ladder." If
any are curious to know what earthly maintenance these angelic men had, and how much they
must have lived on angels' food for want of human sustenance, they may get some idea from a
passage of Mather. He says, "The ungrateful inhabitants of Lynn one year passed a town
vote that they could not allow their ministers
above thirty pounds apiece that year for their




46       THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
salary, and behold the God who will not be
mocked immediately caused the town to lose more
than three hundred pounds, in the single article
of their cattle, by one disaster."  Iow much deduction from their salary had been made he does
not tell us; and they might have been relatively
an ungrateful people in that act. But the sixty
pounds which they then paid, considering the
value of money then, and the small means of
the people, were paid at a greater sacrifice than
is often now made for the support of the ministry.
Such a blessing of God attended the small
means of these ministers, that, in some respects,
they that gathered little had no lack.  Mr.
Whiting said that he questioned whether, if he
had remained in England, where his means were
much more considerable, he could have brought
up three sons at a university there. Owing to the
skilful stewardship of his wife, to a legacy from
a relative, and more to the blessing of God providing for his faithful servants, he did not die a
pauper. His estate at his death was as good as
one of six thousand dollars would now be.
At the age of sixty-two he began to endure
the sufferings incident to the disease called the
stone. This visitation lasted twenty years, till




THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.      47
his death, though, with all the suffering it brought
to him, it never kept him from his pulpit labors.
Mather says of him that he was an accomplished and accurate scholar - especially accurate
in the Hebrew, elegant in Latin, and much conversant with history. His sweetness of temper was
an essential stroke in his character. His meekness of wisdom outshone all his other attainments.
His face was the image of his mind, which, like
the upper regions, was marvellously free from
the storms of passion. He was eminently a
holy man, much devoted to prayer and reading
the Scriptures. He conducted the worship of his
family like a true child of Abram. His counsel
to his children was grave and memorable. He
cultivated heavenly dispositions by much meditation. He having a walk for that purpose in
his orchard, some of his flock, that saw him constantly taking his turns in that walk, with hand,
eye, and soul directed to heaven, would say,
"There does our dear pastor walk with God every
day." The ground which he hallowed by that
walk with God was not far distant from the
place of our sanctuary. His house was in Shepard Street, opposite the meeting house, which




48        TIIE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
stood near the corner, east of Shepard Street
and north of Summer Street.
A passage between him and Mr. Norton, of
Boston, illustrates his character. Mr. Norton
was deeply engaged in writing in Latin an account and description of the New England
churches, for the information of Christians on
the continent. Some of his hearers imagined that
his sermons, the mean while, had not the accuracy
of his former efforts. This, says Mather, was
reported to him whom I may call the angel of
the church in Lynn. Mr. Whiting, upon this,
said to Mr. Norton, "Sir, there are some of
your people who think that the services wherein
you are engaged for all the churches take off
something of the edge of the ministry with
which you should serve your own particular
church. I would entreat you, sir, to consider
this matter; for our greatest work is to preach
the gospel to that flock whereof we are overseers."  He took the hint with kindness, and
profited by it.
Mr. Whiting spent his time chiefly in his
study. He made no visits to his people but
those which had a strictly religious intent. He




THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.       49
had a rare faculty of speaking a word in season.
His end in preaching was to profit, rather than
please - to speak what was useful, rather than
what was profound or popular. In authorship
he did not abound as much as his colleague did.
He published two books —the one a volume of
sermons on Abram's intercession for Sodom, and
the other upon the last judgment.
Such, in brief, were the character and works
of the first pastor of this church; and happy
would it have been for her, and for the spiritual
condition of this large population, if the character of all his successors had been formed upon
the same basis and model with his.
It would be a gratification if we could recover
the form of the covenant of the church used under the pastorate of Mr. Whiting. That, however, seems to be beyond our reach. The copy
which Mr. Lewis gives, as transcribed by him
"from the leaf of a pocket Bible belonging to
one of the ministers," is not, what he calls it, the
original covenant, for two reasons - first, that its
being on the leaf of a Bible of an unnamed minister
is no sufficient evidence that it was used by the
first minister. But the more conclusive reason is,
5




50       THE LIFE OF MR. WHITING.
it has a form attached to it to be used on the
half-way covenant principle; whereas the halfway covenant was unknown in New England
till long after this church commenced; and
there is good reason for believing that it did not
come into use here earlier than Mr. Henchman's
time at the earliest.




CHAPTER II.
INFLUENCE OF THE COMMEMORATION OF ANCESTORS. —MR. WHITING AND THE COURTS ON CLASHING JURISDICTIONS.-LIFE OF REV. THOMAS COBBETT.
IN the first glances at the field of our history,
we have seen a church planted, a noble vine
wholly of the right seed. Never, in all the expansions of Christianity in the world, was a
church planted with a better original material.
And it ought to subserve an important purpose
to hold up to view the men whom God gave to
be the first founders here. It was said of the
ancient Scythians -a race of savages much like
the American Indians -that when in their battles they came to the graves of their dead fathers,
they would there stand immovable, and die on
the spot, rather than retreat. And ought not
the graves or the revered memory of such fathers
as these to inspire a resolution to stand fast in
the faith, the order and the power of godliness,
in which those fathers stood? In these days,
when there has been such a broad defection
(51)




52        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
from Puritan principles and character, it would
seem pertinent to show the graves of the dead
fathers to their degenerate children, to rebuke
their apostasies, and more especially when these
same apostates pride themselves so much on their
ancestry. Dwelling on the secular results which
have come from the great Puritan enterprise,
those farthest gone from those principles which
made the Puritans what they were, are now
ready to boast of a Puritan ancestry. They
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish
the sepulchres of the righteous, and reflect not
that they have gone over to the side of those
who killed the prophets; reflect not that their
whole belief and life are in conflict with that
which gave their fathers their renown. If for
nothing else, it is pertinent to show such men
the graves of their fathers, in order to show
them how unlike their fathers they have become,
and what dishonor they are doing to the memory of such fathers.
Suppose those men of sainted memory could
come back to the scenes of their prayers and
toils. While their hearts would swell with rapture in view of the astonishing results which in
two centuries God has brought from their enter



THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      53
prise, they would find in the wide and shocking
degeneracy of men in whose veins flows their
blood, and in whose names their own are repeated, enough to restore the balance of humility in
their minds.  Most humiliating would be the
fact that while wealth, and splendor, and a teeming population cover the ground from which
their toil removed the forest, a clear majority
of their children have become men of other
principles and another spirit from themselves.
And with what indignation would the shades of
these men repel the incense which is burned to
their names by a posterity that contemptuously
treads under foot the principles which they held
dearer than life, and for which they suffered the
loss of all things! It were worth the while to
open the graves of the dead, and show what
kind of men those fathers were, if for no other
purpose, to show to so many of the living, who
bless themselves in a Puritan ancestry, how little
they have in common with their ancestors.
We have given a sketch of Mr. Whiting; we
will here add one item. There was a passage
between him and the county court, which presents him to good advantage. The documents
are given at large in Lewis's History. The facts
5 




54        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
are these. John Hathorne complained to the
church that Andrew Mansfield and William
Langley had perjured themselves, by giving
false testimony before the court at Ipswich.
These persons were tried by the church, and
found guilty of perjury. They then procured
an indictment for slander against Hathorne, in
that he brought the charge of perjury before the
church, making an act of discipline an indictable offence; and the court found him guilty upon
that indictment.  But before giving sentence,
the court addressed a letter to the church, expressing their grief that the civil and ecclesiastical courts should give contrary judgments in
the same case, and desiring the church to review
their proceedings, and find cause to reverse
them. To this letter, on behalf of the church,
Mr. Whiting wrote a reply, which is admirable,
both in its mild and Christian spirit, and in its
clear and sound judgment of the merits of the
case. He tells the court that if their principle
be carried out, there can be no discipline in the
churches; for if delinquents, when censured in
churches, may get revenge by penalties from the
courts, on actions of slander, the ecclesiastical
authority is wholly subjected to the civil, and




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      55
church discipline is impossible. The court answered the letter, disclaiming all purpose to
interfere with church discipline, but declining
to show how discipline could consist with such
action; and they sentenced the accused to pay
a heavy fine.
It was not wonderful that such questions of
clashing jurisdictions should arise in a new community, where all things were new, and where
precedents and settled principles, guiding the
separate and neutral action of a free church
and a free commonwealth, were wanting. Now
that the true principle on this subject has long
since been settled, it is gratifying to see that our
present laws fully sustain the ground assumed
by Mr. Whiting -that legitimate church action
is not fettered by the authority of the civil
courts; but that when a charge of immorality is
brought into a church against an offending member for trial, and tried, neither the person bringing the charge, nor the church condemning the
accused upon it, is liable to action before the
civil courts. It now seems strange to us that
the court did not see that their infliction of penalties for acts of church discipline went to defeat the very purpose for which the church in




56       TH IE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
the wilderness had come hither —to wit, the
free exercise of their religious rights, and the
rearing of a church on the model of the New
Testament.
We now proceed to sketch the life of Rev.
Thomas Cobbett, for twenty years the colleague
of Mr. Whiting.
Mr. Cobbett was born at Newbury, England,
in 1608, of poor parents; but Providence, having a great work for him to do, opened for him
the way to attain the qualifications to do it, as
he has done in numberless instances of the kind.
In nothing does God more illustrate his independence of human resources than in the way in
which he calls and qualifies the instruments of
his most difficult and honorable works from the
humbler ranks in life, and appropriates to his
own use the sometimes superior energies of body
and mind that have been cultivated in early years
by conflicts with poverty. Yea, he claims it as
his prerogative, when he will, to lift the poor
from the dunghill, that he may set him among
princes. Mr. Cobbett found means to secure an
education at the University of Oxford. Being
driven from thence by the plague before he had
quite completed his course, he finished it under




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      57
the private tuition of Dr. Twisse, who was afterwards the moderator of the famous Westminster Assembly, and who was one of the greatest
scholars of his age. Mr. Cobbett commenced
preaching in England, but was soon compelled to
flee for safety from persecution to New England.
He came over in the same vessel with Mr. Davenport, of New Haven.
When he arrived, Mr. Whiting, impelled by a
previous friendship, secured his settlement with
himself, as co-pastor of the church in Lynn; and
with what cordiality the cooperation continued
for twenty years we have seen. During those
twenty years, great changes were made upon
the face of the forest here, and doubtless great
progress in fixing a settled character of truth
and godliness in the church, which in that time
must have sensibly grown by additions of their
own children. But greater changes had taken
place in the mother country.  The monarchy
had gone out, and the commonwealth had come
in. And these exiles sympathized in those wonderful events no less than their countrymen at
home.  Indeed, they had great occasion; for
they saw in them the triumph of their own principles, the achievement on English soil of the




58        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
liberty for which they had suffered the loss of
all things; and one of the many books which
our Cobbett published was one written with
reference to the principles then in contest -a
work on toleration, defining the duties of the
civil magistrate in relation to religious liberty.
This was dedicated to Cromwell. To it was
appended a defence of the New England government against the charge of persecution.
It is a noticeable fact, that Mr. Cobbett was
one of the most, if not the most voluminous
author of his day in New England, and also
the most that Lynn to this time can boast of.
Mather calls him one of the principal scribes of
New England, who wrote more books than most
of the divines which did their part to make a
Kirjath Sepher - a city of letters - of this wilderness; in every one of which he proved hiimself a scribe well instructed. And he brought
forth instruction from a rich treasure.  The
story of his life might be well made out by an
account of his books. A writer of books at
that day must have been impelled by strong motives, considering the obstructions in the way
of their publication. There was no printing
office in the colony. All books must be sent




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      59
over to London to be published; and then for a
part of the time there was a censorship upon the
press, which subjected authors to the caprices
of a bishop's chaplain, besides the ordinary difficulties of finding a publisher. To show the
delays attending such publications, one of Mr.
Cobbett's works was written and completed in
the year 1653, and its publication bears date of
1657. These four years between the completion
of the writing and the publication would cool
the ardor of most authors.
Yet, with these impediments, Mr. Cobbett
abounded in published works. One of these,
which has been as much praised as any, was a
work on infant baptism. Among the first planters of this colony there was here and there one
who had sympathies, more or less, with the Anabaptists in England, though it was much later
than this before the Baptist denomination made
any considerable progress in this colony. But
it seems as early as Mr. Cobbett's time some
efforts were made by individuals to spread that
doctrine among his people. The work which he
published to counteract the leaven we have not
been able to obtain; but of it the renowned
John Cotton speaks in these terms: -




60        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
" Cobbett, when he saw that some of Christ's
sheep committed to him were caught in the
snares and brambles of antipedobaptism, inflamed with zeal for God, and moved with
Christ's compassion towards erring disciples,
collected what books he could of the antipedobaptists, and weighed their arguments in the
balances of the sanctuary. lIe carefully examined cart loads of their productions, and seizing
on the arguments by which they had their success, with great acumen, sagacity, and labor, he
left nothing untouched that could contribute to
illustrate the truth, and disperse the clouds of
error."7
Of this testimony Mather says, "Such commendation from so reverend and renowned a
pen is to have one's life sufficiently written."
There is one thing that deserves to be noticed
here; that is, that the religious life which was
developed by these Puritan fathers attached
great importance to the covenant which, between God and man, pledged the godly training
and salvation of children.  And of our first
pastors in Lynn, historians testify of the one
that "he conducted the worship of his family
like a true child of Abram;" and of the other,




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      61
that he ably and successfully discussed the whole
subject, and delivered from the brambles those
of his people who had been entangled in them.
And we shall sooner or later learn that one of
the causes of the depressed tone of life in our
churches now is the less regard which prevails
in them for the Abrahamic covenant.  Their
treatment of this subject differed in one respect
essentially from ours. They made the fact that
there was a sprinkling among them of men
who scrupled the practice of infant baptism,
such as Williams, Chauncy, and Oakes, a reason
for its thorough discussion and more earnest
profession. The more it was called in question,
the more they adhered to it. They saw that
the life and force of their churches were identified with it, and would as soon have surrendered
their whole profession as that. But in modern
times, the opposition to it is made an occasion
of a less bold profession and practice of it - a
habit and inclination of the public mind which
is fraught with incalculable mischief.
But there is one book of Mr. Cobbett's, which,
if he had written no others, would have entitled
him to stand in the first rank of authors on practical and experimental religion. It is entitled
6




62       THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
"A Practical Discourse of Prayer, wherein is
handled the Duty, the Qualifications of Prayer
-the several Sorts of Prayer, as ejaculatory,
private, public, and secret Prayer," by Thomas
Cobbett, minister of the word, at Lynn, New
England. Printed at London, 1657. This book
is now in process of republication by the Congregational Board of Publication. It bears on
the face of it, as the reader will see when it
comes forth, the proof that it comes of the
opening of a treasury of a soul that has had
large and rich experience in prayer. There is
about it a remarkable unction, fervor, and force.
There is a lucid and logical arrangement of the
materials, a great compactness and condensation
of thought; the intricate and difficult points
are illumined by a mind deeply experienced in
prayer, and richly stored with divine truth.
The thoughts come out all warm and glowing,
from a heart deeply moved by the Spirit of God.
We have no book on the same subjects, now in
the course of general reading, which can compare with it. And it ought to be republished,
and placed in every Christian family.
Nor am I alone in this high estimation. I was
induced to take the pains to find a copy of it, by




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.       63
Cotton Mather's high encomiums of it. He says,
that " of all the books written by Cobbett, none
deserves more to be read by the world, and to
live till the general burning of the world, than
that on prayer. He was himself eminently a
man of prayer. His prayers were not more observable, throughout New England, for the argumentative, the importunate, and, I had almost
said, filially familiar strains of them, than for
the wonderful success that attended them. Our
Cobbett was ever pulling at that golden chain,
the one end of which is tied to the tongue of
man, and the other to the ear of God; and he
often pulled to marvellous purpose."
" A son of this man of prayer," says Mather,
" was taken by the Indians, with little expectation of his ever being recovered. Whereupon
Mr. Cobbett called about thirty of the Christians of the neighborhood to his house, and there
they prayed together for the young man's deliverance. The old man's heart was now no more
sad. He believed that the prayers would be
answered, and fully declared his conviction.
Within a few days the young man returned to
his father, under circumstances little short of
a miracle."  The facts are given more at




64        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
length, in a letter of Mr. Cobbett to Increase
Mather.
This son of Mr. Cobbett was Thomas Cobbett, Jr., then a seaman at Portsmouth. He was
taken by the Indians and carried to Penobscot,
and was kept by them nine weeks. Meanwhile
prayer was made for him in the church of God
without ceasing -in Mr. Moody's congregation
in Portsmouth, in Mr. Shepard's in Charlestown,
in the churches in Boston, and many others.
When Mr. Moody first sent the information to
Lynn of the capture of the young man, Mr.
Cobbett caused one of the deacons at once to
call into his house as many of the praying people
as could be easily collected. About thirty-six
met and prayed through several hours. Mr. Cobbett began and ended the service. I-e had, at
the same time, a son sick at home; and they
prayed that that son might recover, and that his
recovery might be to them a pledge of the deliverance of the other. Mr. Cobbett said, "I was
sweetly guided in the course of that service,
and was even persuaded that the Lord had heard
our prayers, and could not but express as much
to some of our godly friends."  His sick son began to amend at once.




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.       65
Mather says, the instances of surprising effects following this man's prayers were so many,
that they cannot be given in detail. It was
generally supposed that the enemies of New
England owed their wondrous disasters as much
to his prayers, as to any other cause. As Knox's
prayers were sometimes more feared than an
army of ten thousand men, so Cobbett's prayers
were esteemed of no little significancy to the
welfare of the country. But Cobbett was not
alone among his compeers as a man of prayer.
The biographies given of a large proportion of
the first New England ministers describe their
remarkable gifts or power in prayer.
Of Mr. Norton, first a minister at Ipswich,
and afterwards minister in Boston, it was said,
that it even transported the souls of his hearers
to accompany him in his devotions. A godly
man of Ipswich, after his removal to Boston,
was in a habit of travelling on foot about
thirty miles, to attend the weekly lecture, and
would profess that it was worth a great journey
to be a partaker in one of Mr. Norton's prayers.
This incident, related by Mather, the History of
Lynn, by an unaccountable mistake, attributes to
6 




6    THE LIFE OlF AR. COBBETT.
Mr. Cobbett, as though he was in a habit of
making those pedestrian tours.
Of Mr. Wilson, of Boston, at whose instance
Mr. Norton's removal to Boston had been procured, it was said that his faith, in connection
with answers to prayer, had become proverbial.
While Mr. Norton's removal was in debate, some
one said to Mr. Rogers that he feared Mr. Wilson's arguments would prevail to secure his
removal. Mr. Rogers replied, that he was more
afraid of his faith than his arguments. Mr.
Wilson's whole experience was full of memorable providences, connected with his prayers. An
Indian had seized an English girl, and was carrying her off in a canoe, rowing very swiftly.
The soldiers feared to fire upon him, lest they
should kill the girl. They asked Mr. Wilson
what to do; he lifted his heart to God in prayer,
and told them to fear not to fire, for God will
direct the aim. It was done; the Indian was
killed, and the girl unharmed. This is but a
specimen of countless occurrences of his life.
Hooker, the first minister of Cambridge, and
afterwards of Hartford, had similar experiences.
When he fled from the officers sent to arrest
him, to take ship for hIolland, and had barely




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      67
time to reach the ship, a friend inquired, "What
if the wind should not be fair when you arrive?"
He replied, "Leave that with Him who keeps
the winds in the hollow of his hand." The
wind was opposite till he went on board, then
shifted at once, and aided his escape. Being
himself eminently a man of prayer, he taught
that prayer was the principal of a minister's
work, and that it was by this that he was to
carry on the rest, and that such extraordinary
favors as the life of religion and the power of
godliness must be preserved by extraordinary
efforts at prayer and fasting. But in prayer he
would have strength rather than length. There
was a battle to be fought between the MIohegan
Indians, the friends of the English, and the Narragansetts, who were plotting their destruction.
On this occasion, Mr. Hooker interceded for the
Mohegans, and used as an argument the promise,
"I will bless him that blesseth thee," and his
prayer prevailed.
Of Jonathan Burr, a minister in Dorchester,
accounts are given that show that prayer was
the leading business and purpose of his everyday life.
Thomas Shepard's journal, after his death,




68       THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
showed a life devoted to prayer, being full of
remarkable passages between himself and God.
It was he who said, " God will curse that man's
labors that lumbers up and down all the week
in the world, and then on Saturday afternoon
goes into his study, when, God knows, that
time were little enough to pray in, and weep
in, and get his heart in a fit frame for the Sabbath."
We have not room for other examples, such
as that of Cotton and Eliot, and many others
no less distinguished as wrestlers with God.
We give these as illustrations of the temper of
those men whom God chose to do for him that
great work upon our foundations. And we do
it also to reveal the secret of the power which
they exerted, and the wonderful success which
crowned their toils. Here was the secret spring
of that force which made Puritanism lay so
strong a hand upon the world.
It was a distinguished favor to this church
that its foundations were laid by such men as
Whiting and Cobbett. If their character may
indicate any thing of the character of the
church -and how could such men labor so long
without impressing their character on the church,




THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      69
if they had nothing of it before? - then was this
church planted a noble vine. Its foundations
were laid in such prayers as we have described
- prayers that may live and prevail for centuries after the hearts that swelled in their utterance have mouldered in the dust.
Would that our own hearts could come into
closer sympathy with those our first men and
first ministers. And it is well to investigate
their history, that we may know them better
and catch more of their spirit. When our admiration kindles upon them, there is a quickening
and assimilating power in that admiration.
And it is well to hold the mind in as near contact with them as we can. It is well to make
it real to our habitual thoughts, at how many
points we are identified with them - that what
was their work, in the rearing of this church,
is now our work; that our spiritual life flows
in channels which they opened; that our places
of abode were first occupied by them; that the
ground which we tread was pressed by their
feet, the air which we breathe bore the sound
of their supplications and their songs to heaven;
that the features of the natural scenery around
us were familiar to their eyes; that while in




70       THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
study, labor, or meditation, while in their
morning and evening walks, they looked out
upon those highlands, upon that "High Rock,"
upon that Nahant, upon that splendid beach,
and that vast expanse of waters. Thus from one
and the same book of nature they and we have
read of the beauty and majesty of the Creator's
works, just as we have read from the same gospel the same way of life and salvation, and
from the same fountain of life have been made
to drink into one spirit with them.
Yea, in our national characteristics, and modes
of civilization, we are essentially one with them;
and the improvements which we have made, setting us at a distance from them, are improvements made upon their models, and in the light
which they had kindled. In those things in
which we differ from other nations- our language, our idioms of thought and feeling, our
arts and habits of life, our social structure and
institutions - we are either one with them, or
drawing from them as our spring. As one life
pervades the root and the branches of a tree, so
our life, civil, social, and spiritual, is one with
theirs.
Those men were conscious that they were lay



THE LIFE UF MR. COBBETT.      71
ing the foundations of many generations. Read
their writings, listen to all their intercommunications of their plans and purposes, and you
will see that they lived mainly for their posterity, and for a glorious future. The toils
which they endured on this ground might have
been avoided, if they sought only their own salvation. Nay, the force of their labor and the
energy of their prayers were spent that there
might be a perpetuation of life and fruitfulness
in the vine which they were planting and nurturing; that many generations might sit under
its shadow, and partake of its fruits with great
delight. And who knows that the wonderful
preservation of this church from extinction, for
that whole century, when she had so many more
chances of death than life, was not owing to
the prayers of its founders? If those men did
not succeed to impress any thing of their character on children's children to remotest times,
they singularly failed of their purpose. We
have now a rich legacy in the prayers- the
yet unanswered prayers —which they uttered
while planting and watering here. Who can
say that that cause which kept this church




72       THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
from sinking wholly, when she was so nearly
under water, will not hereafter operate to a
large expansion of your prosperity? The church
sent forth by the immortal Robinson, and watched
over on the heath of Plymouth by the devoted
Brewster; the church that broke, ground in
Salem, under Higginson and Skelton; the
church which Wilson conducted to Boston, and
the church which the name of Cotton illustrated, - these and many others, around which
hallowed recollections cluster, have gone to the
ranks of those that deny the Lord that bought
them; while this, for a long time as much exposed, now stands united in the profession of
Puritan principles.
Those sainted men have labored, and we have
entered into their labors-deriving precious
advantages from their toils and tears. These
advantages bring with them important obligations-obligations resting on us to take up and
carry on their work. We have the same conflict which they had to sustain, though in a
different form. The same principles of the gospel, requiring evangelical and vital godliness,
are now beset with a host, though with differ



TIHE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.      73
ent arms and tactics. And by all that is sacred
and stirring in their names and mighty deeds,
we are impelled to imitate their holy zeal, valor,
and power of intercession with God.
And, as they had a future before them, looming in the prospect with thrilling grandeur, so
have we. We see how their prayers and labors touched the springs of immense and everexpanding influence. And if we copy their
godliness, and their power with God, those who
come after us may see and say the same of us.
The call for Christian heroes, though in another
manner, is now as loud as it was then. The
opportunity to spread our power for good over
the ages to come is now as great as then. And
the obligations coming directly from God press
as heavily upon us as upon them. And in some
sense their destiny is not complete except as it
completes itself in the worthy conduct of us
their children. "These all, having obtained a
good report through faith, received not the
promise; God having provided some better
thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of wit7




74        THE LIFE OF MR. COBBETT.
nesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our
faith."




CHAPTER III.
EVANESCENCE OF EARTHLY FAME. -LIFE OF REV. JEREMIAH SHEPARD. —PURITAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.
- THE " TUNNEL" MEETING HOUSE.- ORIGIN OF THE
QUAKERS. - ORIGIN OF LYNNFIELD PARISH. - GENERAL
PROSPERITY OF SHEPARD'S MINISTRY.
WE have given a sketch of the lives of that
"dule par fratrum " which held the first pastorate of this church, and labored and prayed so
long for its establishment and growth, with a
harmony more than earthly. The meagreness of
that sketch may teach us how vain it is, not only
to lay up treasures on earth, but also to seek to
build a monument, or to perpetuate for ourselves
a fame on earth. Those were great times, and
great men that lived and wrought in those times.
But how little of what was done on this soil
during the forty years of that pastorate can be
now recalled from oblivionl Those ministers,
and the Christians that sustained and cooperated
with them here, lived to a great purpose; and
not one thing which they did is forgotten before
God. Could all be rehearsed now, as it will be
(75)




76     THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
rehearsed in the great day, it would present
before you the image of those men shining as
the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And
yet the fact that it is the way of this world to
let such memorials of the great and good perish
from the earth, so that the few relics of their
memory which we have gathered are all that we
can gather, when we so much desire more, should
teach us the vanity of all efforts to make an
abiding impress of ourselves on this world. If
such an impress is made, it is made on a fluid
mass, on a generation hastening like a flowing
stream, to be lost in the ocean of eternity. It
is like letters in the sand, soon to be swept by
winds or waves.
In this case the loss is ours, and not that of
the worthies with whom we vainly seek a better
acquaintance. They are still to be had in everlasting remembrance. A. glorious commemoration of their labors and fruits of labor awaits
the day of the manifestation of the sons of God.
Then their history will be written and read in a
manner that is worthy of them.   Meanwhile,
our effort made in vain to get full materials of
their history may admonish us how little the
world will know of us, and what a narrow space




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.     77
our names and lives will fill in the recollections
of men on earth, in a few years after we shall
have left the scene. Our death, when it comes,
will make scarce a ripple on the surface of the
common mind. And soon earth will have forgotten that she bore us on her bosom. Let, then,
earth's remembrances be estimated only for what
they are worth, while we seek that honor which
comes from God only, having higher reasons for
all the good we attempt on earth -the reason
that it is so much done for Christ, to be remembered and rewarded by him.
The second in the series of pastorates of this
church was filled by Rev. Jeremiah Shepard,
commencing in the year 1679. Iis father, Rev.
Thomas Shepard, of Cambridge, was one of the
most effective preachers of the Puritan age; and
the motive for establishing the college at Cambridge was, that the students might be under his
ministry. Ie died in middle life, and while his
son Jeremiah was an infant. Jeremiah was the
son of his third wife, to whom he had been married but a short time, and who afterwards married Mr. Mitchel, the successor of Mr. Shepard
in the ministry at Cambridge -a man of like
spirit with him; so that our Shepard had his
7 




78      THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
training and education wholly under Mr. Mitchel.
As Mr. Shepard and Mr. Mitchel attached great
importance to the Abrahamic covenant, so their
family felt its influence.  He was remarkably
blessed in the character of his children. He
had three sons, all of whom were ministers. Of
the two elder Mather gives a particular account;
but he says nothing of the youngest, that is, of
Jeremiah; for he was living when Mather wrote.
His oldest son, Thomas, was settled in Charlestown, and died there in middle life. The small
pox was raging in the town. He felt it to be
his duty to visit one of his people who was dying
with it. Conscious of his danger, he took his
life in his hand, and made the visit, and took the
disease, and died. Such was the eminence of
his standing in the ministry, and such the manner of his death, that it created an almost unparalleled sensation throughout New England. His
second son, Samuel Shepard, was pastor of the
church in Rowley, where he died at the age of
twenty-six - eleven years before his brother
Jeremiah was settled in Lynn. He was an excellent preacher, and ardently beloved by his
people. For one of his age, he had made rare
attainments in communion with God.




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.     79
We have less information about Jeremiah
Shepard. We know that, like his brothers, he
sprang from a noble stock; and though his father
had not the charge of his training, his stepfather
was hardly less distinguished for all the qualities
that would insure a wise and godly education.
Young Shepard graduated at Cambridge, at the
age of twenty-one; but he did not enter the
ministry till he was thirty-one.  Then he was
ordained pastor in Lynn.
And here is the point where we have most occasion to regret the loss of the early records of
the church. Down to this time we have something of the history of the church in the brief
biographies of her ministers, which the published
histories had preserved. But when our Shepard
had finished his course, the ministers of New
England had become so numerous that it was
not customary to make public records of the
lives of all. I have gleaned from the town records all the allusions to him and his work which
there appear; and these, by reason of a loss of
records of the town, do not extend back to the
time of the commencement of his ministry. The
town records clearly show that his relations
with his people, from first to last, were harmoni



TIlE MINISTRY OF MB. SHEPARD.
ons; and that, by the way, is one reason why the
materials for writing his history are so scarce.
It is wars and strifes, whether in churches or
states, that most rapidly accumulate materials
for the historian.
We have the means of knowing what were
the doctrines which he preached, and something
of his talents and manner as a preacher, in some
printed sermons of his now extant in the library
of the Old South Church in Boston. His doctrines were Calvinistic, after the type of those
of his father and of the Puritan founders. These
sermons show him to be an earnest preacher,
and specially carefil to distinguish between true
and false conversions; and they give all the evidence that sermons can give that their author
was a true minister, possessed of a really regencrate character.
He was ordained and commenced his ministry
here in the first tabernacle, in the rude sanctuary
that was built by the first fathers of the town.
For three years he preached in the same house
that had been illumined by the ministry of those
precious men, Cobbett and Whiting; and though
the house, which, from  the peculiarity of its;tructure, - having its bell tower set on the cen



THE MINISTRY OF MR. SIIEPARD.    81
tre of its square roof, -was nicknamed the Tunnel, was in the matter of architecture probably a
decided advance upon it, yet it could not be
said that the glory of the latter house was
greater than that of the former. There must
have been, at the time of Mr. Shepard's settlement here, a large society compared with its
earlier years, though its numbers were small
compared with those of later times, and scattered over a large surface, embracing Saugus
and Lynnfield.  The erection of the Tunnel
meeting house, in 1682, must have been no trifling event for Lynn in those times. Though ia
its old age it was not admired for its architectural taste, or its magnificence, yet, considering
the penury of the times, it did honor to the people that reared it. It showed that in the early
days of Mr. Shepard's ministry there were energy
and public spirit in the society, resulting from
the sound doctrine which till that time had bcua
maintained. And it is worthy of a passing remark, that notwithstanding a false doctrine so
long occupied the pulpits of this church-that
is, within three years of a century- it never
built a pulpit or a meeting house. It did so




82     THE MINISTRY OF MR. SIEPARD.
much to impoverish and dilapidate its outward
condition, but little to improve it.
It is well known that the first planters here,
while under the privations of a life in the wilderness, did not emulate the splendor nor style
of English cathedrals. They had good reasons
for rejecting the style of church building that
Popery had bequeathed to England, and that
still contributed to keep alive in the popular
mind a taste for Popish things. The nature and
spirit of their religion differed enough from that
which had driven them out to beget a different
style of church building. The house should be
built so as best to fit the uses to which it was
to be put. If the house was to be used by a
teaching ministry, it should be built so as to be
most convenient for teaching and hearing the
gospel, and impressing the mind with the simplicity that is in Christ; but if it is built to accommodate a religion that appeals to the imagination through pompous rites and ceremonies,
then it needs as much and as specific architectural fitness to the scenes to be enacted in it as
the theatre does for the scenes to be enacted in
it. For this kind of religion, relying not on a




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.     83
preached gospel, but on the impressiveness of
its shows, its pomps, and ceremonies, the Gothic
structure, with stained glass, obstructing and
discoloring the light of heaven about in the
same proportion that its ministry discolors the
light of the gospel, is well adapted. WThat is
called the dim religious light in such a house
answers well to a religion that lives more in
the twilight than in the open day, and has its fit
appendages in the gorgeous vestments of its
priesthood. But for a church whose ministry is
one of truth and light, such architectural arrangements are most unfit, because all minds are more
or less susceptible of impressions from the scenery around them; and imaginative minds, especially those of the young, are liable, when worshipping in such houses, to take impressions in
favor of a pompous religion, and acquire tendencies towards Romanism.
Our fathers were aware of these weaknesses
of human nature — were well acquainted with
Romanism and its causes, and were not ignorant
of Satan's devices; and it was a point of great
interest with them to keep clear of every thing
that would foster tendencies to Romanism, or
its half-way house, that is, the house of bondage




84     THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
out of which they came. It is very true that
they made their protest against the Romish style
of architecture more graphic than was needful,
when they reared structures the like of which
did not exist in heaven or earth, or such as that
Tunnel. But it is no disparagement to say, that
with all their other gettings, they had not acquired a cultivated taste in architecture -that
they were more profound in the truths of salvation than they were conversant with models and
standards of taste in building. Something must
be pardoned to the vagaries of an untaught
fancy; and possibly there might have lurked
under the oddities of some of their architectural
plans something of sarcasm, or something of the
intent with which they sometimes surmounted
the steeple with a cock instead of a cross, to
indicate, not the profession of the primacy of St.
Peter, but the admonition to Peter that he had
denied his Master. But we may pardon what
was grotesque in those buildings, in view of the
important practical principle to which their
builders aimed.  They sought to exclude a
superstitious reverence from being attached to
boards and shingles, and brick and mortar;
and if they built houses that were not a likeness




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.    85
of any thing in heaven or earth, they kept at so
much greater distance from violating the second
commandment; for the church out of which they
had come approximated to a breach of that commandment, in attaching a superstitious reverence
to the brick and mortar, or boards and shingles,
of their consecrated houses. And when our
fathers built such houses, they made it plain that
they were not building houses to worship, but
only houses to worship in. They caused it to
be clearly understood that those structures were
not objects of reverence, but convenient places
for teaching religion and worshipping God, and
having no sacredness different in kind from the
chamber whither the good man resorts for his
daily closet worship. And most effectually did
they guard against their meeting houses serving
as lures to Popery, or stepping stones to a religion of pompous rites.
When the meeting house to which we refer
was built, the church had been in existence here
fifty years; and though the society must have
been numerous,-second on the scale of numbers in the whole colony, - its aggregate ability
could not have been large.  With the ideas
which we attach to the force of our towns, we
8




86     TIE MINISTRY OF Ml. SHEPARD.
can hardly realize how feeble were the hands
that laid the foundations here.  Eight years
after this church commenced, and two years
after its first pastor was settled, there were in
all the colonies of New England only four thousand people-a little more than a quarter as
many as the present inhabitants of Lynn; and
for the next twenty years, because the Puritan
cause was in the ascendency in England, the
Puritans had no cause to emigrate to this wilderness. For that time, more persons went from
here to England than came from England hither;
so that the population of Lynn, being confined
to its increase by births for that time, must have
been very small for the first thirty years. Over
the territory now embraced in Lynn, Lynnfield,
and Saugus, there were scattered here and there
a family, having their centre of attraction in
the rude meeting house which stood on the
north-east corner made by Shepard Street and
Summer Street. Small in resources, they were
strong in the faith of the gospel, and abundant
in religions privileges, having the whole labors
of two most learned and devoted ministers.
In 1660, that is, nineteen years before Mr.
Shepard's ministry commenced, the altered state




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.    87
of things in England effected an increase of immigration; and it would be natural to conclude
that this town, being near the main port of ingress, would receive strength from that source.
Be that as it may, soon after Mlr. Shepard's ministry commenced, the first meeting house had become too strait for its occupants; for its age
could not have disqualified it for use. In building the new house called the Tunnel, either from
motives of economy, or other cause, the house
was built without pews. Then, when an individual family preferred to have a pew of its
own, separate from the common seats, which
extended over the floor, it applied to the town
for liberty to build a pew. This liberty was
granted by vote of the town, to the effect that
such a family might have liberty to build and occupy a pew of such a size by the wall of the house,
on condition of keeping the window in repair.
The builder of the pew was restricted in nothing
but the space he was to occupy. The style of
building was left to his own fancy, and all varieties of taste had room for display in the matter.
Nor were even the sizes of the pews the same.
Some were large, and some small; and the
whole must have presented a rare spectacle. A




88     THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
considerable portion of town legislation, from
year to year, in early times, consisted in granting individual families permissions to build a
pew in such a part of the house, of such and
such dimensions, and under such and such conditions. After the tier of pews extended round
the house, by the wall, permissions were given
to build pews in the body of the house, beginning at the end opposite the pulpit, and gradually extending forward, the temporary seats
giving place to pews. The house was fifty feet
long and forty-four wide. The best idea may
be formed of its size from that of the Universalist Church on Commercial Street; for the
frame of that is the frame of the Tunnel, enlarged. The frame of the Tunnel was moved
from the common to that site without being
taken down. Some years after its removal, it
was enlarged by the addition of ten or fifteen
feet to its length. But as the Tunnel had galleries, it would probably seat many more people
than that house will now.
Ten years after the Tunnel was built, there
were indications that the house was filled, and
seats difficult to be had. The town voted that
such and such persons might sit in the deacons'




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.     89
seat; and afterwards, that such and such persons might sit in the pulpit, if they Awould keep
the pulpit window in repair. The Tunnel meeting house did service one hundred and forty-five
years, before it was removed and remodelled.
It is very clear, from the records, that Mr.
Shepard had a united congregation.  For the
forty-one years of his ministry, the records do
not indicate that there was a single jar. At his
settlement, his salary was fixed at eighty pounds,
with the use of the parsonage lands, and the
avails of a free contribution taken up once in a
year. This contribution seemed to fill the place
that is now filled in some congregations by donation parties. It was in vogue here for more
than a hundred years. But a salary of eighty
pounds was an indeterminate quantity, as the
value of the currency was constantly shifting.
So there was another occasion besides the free
contribution to indicate the varying temperature
of the people's regard towards their minister. It
was customary, at the annual meeting of the
town every year, to vote on the sum that they
were required to give their minister, to make his
salary as good as the eighty pounds when hle was
settled. In after years the sum was most fre8+*




90          ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
quently ninety. But in one year it was only
sixty. In one year there were indications of
hard times. Mr. Shepard was by his consent
elected the schoolmaster of the town, and allowed to serve the town in the double capacity
of minister and school teacher. That year his
salary was ninety pounds - no more than he had
in many other years. It was doubtless so arranged, as a matter of necessary economy for
both parties. In another year he agreed to do
the duties of a grammar school master, for as
many months as the law required a grammar
school to be kept, and to the extent of holding
himself in readiness to teach all grammar scholars that should come to him.
It was during the ministry of Mr. Shepard
that the Society of Friends, or Quakers, had its
main growth in Lynn, in which time most of the
friction between that denomination and ours occurred. And this is the place for a brief sketch
of the origin of the sect. A more particular
account of the persecutions inflicted on them,
furnished by a member of that society, will be
reserved for the next chapter.
In the year 1656, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin
arrived at Boston, being the first of the Eng




ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.        91
lish Quakers that visited this country; though
Cotton Mather tells us, that there were individual instances of persons embracing the Quaker
principles in Salem before that time. When
these women arrived the magistrates ordered
them to be detained on board the ship, and the
books which they had brought with them for
circulation to be seized. The captain of the
vessel, Simon Kempthorn of Charlestown, was
required speedily to transport them to Barbadoes, whence they had come. Their books were
burned, and themselves kept in close confinement,
so as not to be able to communicate their opinions to any one till they were carried back.
This Mary Fisher was a woman of mark. She
had been imprisoned in England for speaking in
a church. She had visited the University of
Cambridge, and publicly addressed the students
in the streets; for which she was arrested by the
mayor, and publicly whipped. Afterwards, for
what she called a declaring of the truth in the
"steeple house" of Pontefract, she was imprisoned six months, and then three months more of
imprisonment were added, because she expressed
no repentance, and refused to give sureties for
her good behavior. In the year 1655 she was




92         ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
again imprisoned some months for interrupting
public worship. In that year she sailed for the
West Indies, from whence she came hither. In
1660 she made a visit to the sultan, Mahomet
IV., then at Adrianople. She was courteously
received by his majesty, in his camp. But what
results followed her mission we are not informed. After these adventures, Mary Fisher
married and had children.
But Ann Austin was advanced in years when
she came hither on that mission; and she was
then the mother of five children. She returned
to England, and was there again imprisoned for
preaching. She died of the plague, at the time
of what was called the great plague in London.
Scarcely had the ship which bore away these
two witnesses of the Quaker principles left the
shore, when another vessel, having on board
eight Quakers, arrived in Boston — to wit,
Christopher Holden, John Copeland, Thomas
Thurston, William Brand, Mary Prince, Sarah
Gibbons, Mary Weatherhead, and    Dorothy
Waugh. Officers at once were sent on board
to seize their books, and take their persons before the court. In their examination a discussion took place between a minister of Boston




ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.        93
and the Quakers. After the examination the
court required the prisoners to be confined till
the ship in which they came should return, and
to return in it.'
While these proceedings were taking place,
Nicolas Upsal, a citizen of Boston, by his zeal in
defence of the Quakers, was assumed to be identified with them, and so was required to leave
the colony. In a few months after, in 1657,
Mary Dyer and Ann Burden arrived in Boston,
from London. They were at once confined.
Mary Dyer had a husband in Rhode Island, who
was not a Quaker, who came and took her away,
and the other was sent back to England.
As ship owners were unwilling now to give a
passage to Quakers from England, one of their
number had built a small vessel, which he devoted to their service, and eleven persons took
passage in it for the voyage to New England.
They arrived at New York, where a part of the
company remained, and whence the rest went to
Rhode Island.
Two of the company, Christopher Holden and
John Copeland, made their way through Plymouth colony to Massachusetts. They went to
Salem, held meetings, and made converts there.




94         ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
They entered the congregation and commenced a
speech, but were not allowed to proceed. They
were taken to Boston and examined, and severely punished by whipping. Another of the
company, Richard Doudney, afterwards came
into the colony, and suffered in like manner.
These were banished.
During these proceedings, the preachers of
the Quaker doctrines were increasing. Individuals were constantly appearing here and there,
in all the colonies; and the vigilance and severity of the magistrates seemed to produce no
results, but to increase the numbers of the invaders. But, unhappily, the magistrates did not
learn from this, as they should have learned,
that nothing was to be expected from another
increase of severity, and that they were acting
upon a false principle. Hence the General Court,
at Boston, proceeded to pass a law of banishment on the Quakers, and forbidding their return on pain of death. This law was passed by
a majority of one, in the House of Representatives, and that in the absence of one who was
opposed to it. This law was executed in the
form of death in three instances.
William Robinson, who had been some time in




ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.        95
Virginia, and Marmaduke Stevenson, recently
from Barbadocs, met in Rhode Island, and felt
themselves called upon to risk their lives to test
the Massachusetts law. They arrived in Boston
on Fast day, and entered the congregation, and
commenced an address. This was bearding the
lion in his den. The indignation of the magistrates was aroused. They were at once imprisoned. After examination by the magistrates,
they were punished with whipping, and ordered
not to appear in the colony again on pain of
death. In this sentence of banishment, Mary
Dyer, who had come hither from Rhode Island,
was included. Robinson and Stevenson determined to remain in the colony; and Mary Dyer,
for the present, returned to Rhode Island. The
former proceeded to Salem, where they held a
meeting in the woods; and the fact of their being under sentence of death brought great
crowds to hear them. They then went as far
east as Portsmouth. While they were on their
eastern journey, Mary Dyer returned to Boston,
where she was soon recognized and arrested.
In a few days, Stevenson and Robinson returned to Boston. They came, as their writers
testify, "to look the bloody laws in the face."




96         ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
They had spent about a month in preaching,
with the sentence of death suspended over them.
Having done this, they said they went under " a
divine call to lay down their lives." They were
at once arrested. The rulers had now in custody three persons who had forfeited their lives
under the statute, and who were virtually challenging them to take them if they dared. There
was now no escape from the alternative of an
execution or an abandonment of that law. The
prisoners were brought before the magistrates,
and questioned why they returned; and they
said, "In obedience to a divine call." Sentence
was first passed on Robinson, then on Stevenson,
and then on Mary Dyer. In a week after this
the sentence was executed on the two men, and
the woman was reprieved after the men were
executed. She was ordered to go with a guard
fifteen miles, in the direction of Rhode Island.
Declining the guard, she returned home of her
own accord. But she soon again conceived herself to have a divine call to return to Boston,
where she arrived in 1660. Yet, for ten days
after her arrival, no attempt was made to arrest
her. She was finally brought before the court.
Governor Endicott pronounced the sentence




ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.        97
upon her, and she replied, "This is no more than
thou saidst before." While she was now under
sentence, her husband (not a Quaker) wrote to
the governor, interceding for her life. He calls
her zeal, which had exposed her life, an " inconsiderate madness;" and that idea should have
prevailed for her release; but it did not. She
was led to the gallows the next day after her
condemnation. There she was told that if she
would go home, she might come down, and save
her life. But she refused, and was executed.
She had been previously distinguished in the
history of New England. Twenty years before
this she had been the companion of the famous
Mrs. Hutchinson, the leader of the Antinomians.
She and her husband had been expelled at that
time, and settled in Rhode Island. Her husband
was one of the eighteen that formed the body
politic of that colony, and he was secretary of
the colony.
The severity of these proceedings created a
revulsion of feeling with the people, by which a
mitigation of the rigors of the laws was secured.
Our own views of these persecutions will be
given in the next chapter: we have intended
here only a sketch of the facts, and in this, in
9




98      THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
order to be sure of doing justice to the Quakers,
we have followed their authorities, which leave
out some things which are very material to the
Puritan view of it.
It was not till after these conflicts of the government with the Quakers that the church in
Lynn came into conflict with them. The precise
dates of their beginnings here will be given by
the Quakers themselves, in the next chapter.
Suffice it here to say, that the friction between
theirs and ours had some small beginnings in
Mr. Whiting's pastorate. But it was most considerable in the time of Mr. Shepard. He came
into active conflict, as will be seen; and in
one instance he and his people observed a day
of special prayer and fasting, in view of the
alarming spread of Quaker principles among
them. This conflict extended through the whole
of Mr. Shepard's ministry. A year or two after
the close of it, a compromise appears to have
been effected, between the two interests, touching the subject of taxation to support the ministry, which was the main matter of irritation.
In that compromise, the whole conflict seems to
have terminated.
It is difficult for a minister, in times of such




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.     99
excitement, to be wise and successful in all his
measures. But we are happy to find evidence
that in his trials Mr. Shepard earnestly sought
wisdom from above. This is indicated in his
observance of a season of special fasting and
prayer. And we have evidence that he did not
seek in vain. His example, for its wisdom and
success, became a matter of history.  Mather
(p. 566) recommends it as an example to be
followed in other places, where similar troubles
existed. Speaking of other means of defence,
he says, -
" After all, yea, before all, make the experiment which the good people of Lynn made, a
little while ago, with a success truly observable
and memorable. The Quakers made a more
than ordinary descent upon the town of Lynn,
and Quakerism suddenly spread there at such a
rate as to alarm the neighborhood. The pastor
of the church there indicated a day of prayer,
with fasting, to implore the help of Heaven
against the unaccountable enchantment, and the
good people presented accordingly, July 19,
1694, their fervent supplications to the Lord,
that the spiritual plague might proceed no farther. The spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ gave




100    THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
a remarkable effect unto this holy method of
encountering the charms of Quakerism.   It
proved a better method than any coercion of
the civil magistrate. [The progress of] Quakerism in Lynn received, as I am informed, a death
wound from that very day; and the number of
Quakers in that place has been so far from increasing, that I am told it has rather decreased
notably."
It is clear, from the records of the parish,
that in a few years after this, at least, the
mutual friction between the two societies had
ceased.
Mr. Shepard's ministry was decidedly prosperous. Besides colonies that had gone from Lynn
to people other townships, the church, in the latter
part of his ministry, was able to colonize in the
erection of another parish, in 1712. The town
" voted, that all that part of the town which lies
northerly of the highway that leads from Salem
to Reading be set off as a precinct; and when
they shall have a meeting house, and minister
qualified according to law to preach the word
of God amongst them, then they shall be wholly
free from paying to the ministry of the town, and
not before; and if afterwards they shall cease




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.    101
to maintain a minister among them, they are to
pay to the minister of the town as heretofore."
These were the beginnings of Lynnfield. Several years later the' new parish petitioned to be
set off as a town, or to be taxed for the support
of both ministers, in a common tax of the town,
both of which requests were denied.
One indication of outward prosperity of the
church at the close of Mr. Shepard's ministry,
- and so far as that can go, an indication of
internal thrift, -appears in that at that time
was made to the church the gift, or rather several
gifts, of the valuable service of silver plate.
Making allowance for the much higher value of
money at that time, this appears to us a splendid
gift, and betokens the existence both of wealth
and generosity then in the church.
During Mr. Shepard's ministry of forty-one
years many events of deep interest to minister
and people occurred, and doubtless many which
would be read with interest in after times, if
their memory had been preserved. From a handful of people, the congregation had become two
bands. The usual results attending the gospel
dispensation were here experienced. There were
births into the church, and deaths from it; scenes
9 ^




102    THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.
of rejoicing and scenes of mourning. There was
a faithful ministry travailing in birth for the people, till Christ should be formed in them; and,
invisible to the eye, there were angels rejoicing
over sinners repenting. There is clear evidence
that Mr. Shepard lived in the affections of his
people, and served them faithfully in the gospel,
not shunning to declare all the counsel of God.
Nor was he thrown aside by them in his old age,
as we shall see in the sequel. Up to the time of
his death, during pastorates that had brought
the church's history down to the eighty-eighth
year of its age, the relations of minister and
people had been eminently happy. There had
been no disaffections or divisions of the people, and no. delinquencies or heresies of pastors. Except the comet-like luminary, or perhaps we should say the sundog, that attended
the first rising of the church, which passed away
with the vapors of its morning, and left no impress of its character upon the church, all the
ministers with whom this church had connection
were worthy of her and blessings to her.
And it is no small advantage to the church
that her first ministers were models of all that is
excellent in ministerial character, and that their




THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARD.    103
people had a proportionate elevation of intelligence and Christian character. If all their successors had been men of like spirit, and had
kept through the intermediate generations an
open channel for their influence to be transmitted
unimpaired to us, what advantages might we not
have reaped from their labors! As it is, it is
not in vain that we build on foundations that
such men have laid; that they have labored, and
we have entered into their labors; that we
guard the sacred fire on this altar, the flame of
spiritual life which was first kindled here, by
the fire descending from heaven upon their
hearts, and that this fire, long depressed, has
never been wholly extinct. And to those who
doubt of the pure and noble tendencies of the
doctrines which we profess, it is not in vain that
we challenge their inspection of those tendencies on the men who perilled all earthly hopes
for their preservation and propagation here.
Having proceeded thus far in our history, we
invite reflection on the ground which we have
gone over for another purpose, and that is, to
see what has been gained by all departures
from Puritan principles and character. Ages
distinguished for great improvements have passed




104    THE MINISTRY OF MR. SHEPARI).
away since those men went to heaven; an era
of improvement, which it was their mission to
open, has developed grand results. But all these
improvements have shown no way of making
better men, or better Christians, than those.
No principle, or set of principles, has been found
that would produce a piety in better correspondence with that of Christ and his apostles, or
bring the power of the gospel more effectually
to bear upon the minds of men. Impelled by
that aversion to truth which is a part of human
depravity, many sects have split off from the
Puritan stock, and each conceives a great improvement in its own principles, as compared
with that of our fathers. But in what does the
improvement consist? Grant that your principles better agree with the conceits of a proud
mind, that has never bowed before the cross of
Christ; grant that they give greater license to
the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and
the pride of life; grant that they frown less
upon the genteeler vices, and open a seeming way
to heaven for the whole race of worldlings and
despisers of godliness,- do they make better men
and better Christians, and do they produce better results on the world, more beneficially affect



TIE MINISTRY OF MR. SIIEPARD.  105
ing all the interests of time and eternity than
these? Would they furnish more sure ground
on which to stand in the hour of death? If the
tree is to be known by its fruits, if the character
of a religion is to be tested by the character
that it produces, we have only to ask, Where, in
all the history of the world, will you find, in higher
and more symmetrical development, all the elements of godliness and the moral sublime, than
in those Puritans whom we are allowed to call
our fathers?




CHAPTER IV.
PERSECUTIONS. - ALL SECTIONS OF THE CHURCH INVOLVED.- TIIE FACTS IN THE CASE. - PERSECUTIONS
OF THE BAPTISTS. - EARLY HISTORY OF THE LYNN
QUAIERS. - THE CREED OF TIIE QUAKERS. - EXAGGERATIONS ON BOTI SIDES.-QUAKERS ALSO PERSECUTED.
— THE QUAKERS' DIVINE CALL. —THE FACTS AND
PRINCIPLES THAT LED TO IT.
BUT the Puritan fathers persecuted the Baptists and the Quakers. And ought not this fact
to silence every thing that can be said of their
virtues? If so, then no virtue existed, which had
a title to commendation, from their time back
to the first ages of the church. From the first
dawn of the reformation till the planting of
New England, no branch of the church, and
none of the illustrious heroes of the church, had
a better theory or practice of religious freedom
than these Puritan fathers. And if they are to
be condemned for this imperfection of their
principles, the condemnation would take a fearful sweep, and involve most of the most honored
names in Christian history. But before we con(106)




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      107
sider this question, let us ascertain the facts in
the case.
In the first place, how far was this church engaged in persecuting the Baptists? Under this
head I have been able to find no instances except those reported in Lewis's History of Lynn.
The case of Lady Moody, there reported, belonged to Salem. The only member of the
Lynn congregation that came under persecutions was William Wittier. In 1643 he was
convicted by the court in Salem, " for having
called our ordinance of God a badge of the
Whore, and sentenced to acknowledge his fault,
and to ask Mr. Cobbett's forgiveness in saying
that he spoke against his conscience." Then, in
1646, he was presented to the court again, for
saying " that they who staid while the child is
baptized worshipped the devil, and did take the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in
vain." For this he was sentenced to make a
public confession to the congregation, or answer
it at the next General Court.
In 1651 three men, Clark, Crandall, and
Homes, came hither from Rhode Island, and went
to the house of Wittier at Swampscot, and rebaptized him.  These strangers coming from




108      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
Rhode Island to spread their tenets, roused the
vigilance of the magistrates, who had them arrested and presented to the court in Boston,
where they were sentenced to pay fines, one of
thirty, one of twenty, and one of five pounds.
One of these, Homes, refused to pay his fine, or
allow his friends to pay it for him. For this he
was imprisoned more than a month, and then
severely whipped. After this Wittier was again
presented to the court in Salem, for neglecting
public worship, and being rebaptized. But we
are not told that any proceedings were had in
the case. This, as far as I can learn, is the sum
of what the fathers of the Lynn church did in a
way of persecution of the Baptists. How far
they persecuted the Quakers will be seen in the
following sketch of the history of Quakerism in
Lynn, which has been prepared, at my request,
by Mr. Samuel Boice, one of the prominent members of the Lynn society.
MR. BOICE'S STATEMENT.
The Meeting of Friends in Lynn has always
been a component part of Salem Monthly Meeting, which includes Boston, Salem, and Lynn.
A few Friends came from England into this




TIlE OiT[.;IX (;- F QUAKERIISM.  109
vicinity in the early years of the existence of
the society.
Mary Fisher and Ann Austin arrived in the
territory then comprehended under the name of
the Massachusetts colony, and landed at Boston,
in 1656. This was about two years subsequent
to the period at which it is known that Friends
were residing within the precincts of Sandwich
Monthly Meeting, then the "colony of Plymouth."
They were immediately imprisoned, upon the
ground of a fear that they might introduce
heretical doctrines into the colony; and an order from the council held in Boston was issued
for their trunks to be searched for any printed
works they might have brought, and about one
hundred books were taken from them, which
were ordered to be burned and destroyed by the
common executioner.
The captain of the vessel in which they came
was required to give bonds of one hundred
pounds that he would transport them speedily
to Barbadoes; and after an imprisonment of
nearly five weeks in the jail, they were conveyed to Barbadoes in the vessel in which they
came, the jailer taking their beds and their
Bible for jail fees.
In two days after their departure, eight other
Friends, four men and four women, arrived in
Boston, who were also committed to prison and
banished.
In regard to this interesting period, James
Bowden, in his history of the rise of the society,
has made the following remarks: —
"The tyranny which marked the conduct of
I1)




110      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
the rulers of Massachusetts began to open the
eyes of many of the settlers to the incongruity
of the spirit which prompted such deeds with
that of the benign religion of Jesus Christ.
"Notwithstanding the earnest endeavors of the
priests and rulers, by the stringent clauses of their
act against the Quakers, to prevent the introduction of their tenets, a desire was excited in the
minds of not a few to acquaint themselves more
intimately with the doctrines and practices of a
sect whose presence it was deemed improper to
allow among them; and thus very soon a knowledge of Quaker doctrines was more or less
spread abroad in all the New England colonies."
-J. Bowden, p. 51.
In the year 1657 several ministers of the society arrived in divers parts of New England, and
Christopher Holden and John Copeland went
to Salem, where, according to Sewell's History,
the former " spoke a few words in their meeting
after the priest had done." And it is supposed
that a small meeting was set up about this time,
or soon afterwards, in Salem, composed of those
in Salem and Lynn, who had embraced the principles of Friends.
In confirmation of this opinion the following
extract from Bowden's History (p. 155) is inserted: -
"But it was at and near Salem, about sixteen
miles north of Boston, that the largest number
of convincements took place.
"In 1657 it is stated that there were'divers
Friends' in that locality. During the summer
of 1658 the sufferings of eight families are distinctly recorded, and in the ninth month fifteen




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      Ill
individuals were summoned at one time to the
court held at Salem, for not attending Puritan
meetings. Neal states that about this time as
many as twenty were taken at once from a meeting held at the house of Nicholas Phelps, about
five miles from Salem." - See JXeal's History,
vol. i. p. 304.
It has been understood among Friends (whether
by tradition or otherwise the writer cannot say)
that the first Friends' Meetings in this vicinity
were held in a house on what is called the old
road to Salem, and near the Lynn Mineral
Spring farm. This opinion is confirmed from
the fact that Nicholas Phelps's house was " about
five miles from Salem."
During the year 1657, Christopher Holden,
John Copeland, and Richard Doudney were
arrested, and after being whipped were imprisoned in Boston; and in order to correct the
public mind in regard to their principles, they
issued a declaration of their faith.
A copy of all that is preserved of this document here follows:A Declaration of Faith, and an Exhortation to Obedience thereto, issued by Christopher Holden, John
Copeland, and Richard Doudney, while in Prison
at Boston, in New England, 1657.
" Whereas it is reported, by them that have
not a bridle to their tongues, that we, who are
by the world called Quakers, are blasphemers,
heretics, and deceivers, and that we do deny the
Scriptures, and the truth therein contained,



112      T 1'lI OtRI(GI(N )U' QUAKERISM.
therefore we, who are here in prison, shall in a
few words, in truth and plainness, declare unto
all people that may see this the ground of our
religion, and the faith that we contend for, and
the cause wherefore we suffer.
"Therefore, when you have read our words,
let the meek spirit bear rule, and weigh them in
the equal balance, and stand out of prejudice, in
the light that judgeth all things, and measureth
and manifesteth all things.
" As [for us] we do believe in the only true
and living God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all things in them contained,
and doth uphold all things that he hath created
by the word of his power.
" Who, at sundry times, and in divers manners,
spake in time past to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days he hath spoken unto us by
his Son, whom he hath made heir of all thlings,
by whom lhe hath made the world. The which
Son is that Jesus Christ that was born of the
Virgin; who suffered for our offences, and is
risen again for our justification, and is ascended
into the higlhest heavens, and sitteth at the right
hand of God the Father. Even in him do we
believe; who is the only begotten Son of the
Father, full of grace and truth. And in him do
we trust alone for salvation; by whose blood
we are washed from sin; through whom we have
access to the Father with boldness, being justified by faith, in believing in his name. Who
hath sent forth the Holy Ghost, to wit, the Spirit
of Truth, that proceedeth from the Father and
the Son; by which we are scaled and adopted




TIE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     113
sons and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. From
the which Spirit, the Scriptures of truth were
given forth, as saith the apostle Peter,'Holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.'
" The which were written for our admonition,
on whom the ends of the world are come; and
are profitable for the man of God, to reprove,
and to exhort, and to admonish, as the spirit of
God bringeth them unto him, and openeth them
in him, and giveth him the understanding of
them.
"So that before all [men] we do declare that
we do believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, according as they are [declared of in the]
Scriptures; and the Scriptures we own to be a
true declaration of the Father, Son, and Spirit,
in [which] is declared what was in the beginning,
what was present, and was to come.
"' Therefore, all [ye] people in whom honesty is!
Stand still and consider. Believe not them that
say, Report, and we will report it -that say,
Come, let us smite them with the tongue; but
try all things, and hold fast that which is good.
Again we say, take heed of believing and giving
credit to reports; for know that the truth in all
ages was spoken against, and they that lived in
it were, in all ages of the world, hated, persecuted, and imprisoned, under the name of heretics, blasphemers, and"
[Here part of the paper is torn off; and it can
only be known by an unintelligible shred that
fourteen lines are lost. We read again as follows: -]
"That showeth you the secrets of your hearts,
10 *




114      THIE ORfl(1N OF QUAKERISM.
and the deeds that are not good. Therefore,
while you have the light, believe in the light,
that you may be the children of the light; for,
as you love it and obey it, it will lead you to repentance, bring you to know Him in whom is
remission of sins, in whom God is well pleased;
who will give you an entrance into the kingdom
of God, an inheritance among them that are
sanctified.
" For this is the desire of our souls for all that
have the least breathings after God, that they
may come to know him in deed and in truth, and
find his power in and with them, to keep them
from falling, and to present them faultless before
the throne of his glory; who is the strength
and life of all who put their trust in him;
who upholdeth all things by the word of his
power; who is God over all, blessed forever.
Amen.
" Thus we remain friends to all that fear the
Lord, who are sufferers, not for evil doing, but
for bearing testimony to the truth, in obedience
to the Lord God of life; unto whom we commit
our cause; who is risen to plead the cause of the
innocent, and to help him that hath no help on
the earth; who will be avenged on all his enemies, and will repay the proud doers.
" CHRISTOPHER IHOLDEN.
" JOHN COPELAND.
"RICHARD DOUDNEY.
"From the House of Correction, the 1st of the
eight month, 1657, in Boston."
See Bowden's History of Friends in./Amnerica,
vol. i. pp. 90 to 92.




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      115
The first assembly of Salem Monthly Meeting,
of which we have any record, was on the 4th of
the fifth month, 1677. But it is highly probable
that Monthly Meetings had been held there for a
considerable time previous, the records of which
were not preserved.
We find a record was made in 1675, stating
that a cow was taken by distraint from George
Oakes, of Lynn, valued at three pounds, for Samuel Whiting, priest.
At a Monthly Meeting held in Salem, the 28th
of the twelfth month, 1688, it was concluded to
have a meeting once a month settled at Lynn,
for the case of those Friends who are inhabitants there.
And in the fifth month, 1689, the Monthly
Meeting was held there, as appears by the following extract from the records:" At our men's Monthly Meeting at Lynn, held
at Samuel Collin's house, the 18th of the fifth
month, 1689. Friends there present, Thomas
Maule, Daniel Southwick, John Blothen, William
Williams, Samuel Gaskin, Jun., Samuel Collins,
Thomas Groves, Edward Gaskin, James Goodridge. The Monthly Meeting has been held,
from that time to the present, a portion of the
time in Lynn, and it is now held there eight
months of the year, and the other four months
in Salem. For many years it was held a part
of the time in Boston.*
By referring to the records of the meeting it
appears that Friends in Lynn suffered severely
for many years, by having their property taken
from them by distraint, for priests' wages, repairing meeting houses, and for military fines.
See Appendix.




116       TIIE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
Much of the property taken for priest's wages
was for Jeremiah Shepard.
A copy of the account of some of their sufferings will be found at the close of this brief history of the society. See A.ppendix.
As Friends, in those days, sometimes entered
the places of worship of other societies, the following remarks, taken from Bowden's History,
are deemed important to the reader:"The circumstance of our early Friends entering the public places of worship, in the times
of the commonwealth, is one which has been much
misunderstood and greatly misrepresented.
" For these acts of dedication they have been
calumniated as disturbers of religious congregations, and as outraging the peace and order of
the churches. This estimate, doubtless, has been
formed with reference to usages of more modern
date; but to decide upon the conduct of Friends,
in this particular, from a consideration of present
circumstances, would be exceedingly erroneous.
In preaching in the national places of worship,
they did but avail themselves of a common liberty, in a period of extraordinary excitement on
religious things. There were numerous other
religious meetings held in those times, but into
none of these did Friends obtrude themselves.
Some probably will agree that the fact of their
being so severely punished, for persisting in this
practice, may be adduced in support of its irregularity; but it may be answered, that the preaching of Friends almost every where at that time,
whether in steeple houses or private houses, or
in doors or out of doors, equally called down
the rigor of ecclesiastical vengeance. It was




THIIE ORITSN OF QUAKERITM.    117
not, in fact, because Friends preached in those
places, so much as for what they preached, that
they suffered. When George Fox was committed
to Derby prison in 1650, after preaching in the
steeple house, at'a great lecture,' the mittimus
states that his offence was for uttering and
broaching of divers blasphemous opinions.*
"In 1659 Gilbert Latey went to Dunstan's
steeple house in the west, where the noted Dr.
Manton preached.
" At the conclusion of the sermon, Gilbert Latey
addressed the assembly relative to some errors
in Manton's sermon, for which he was seized by
a constable, and taken before a magistrate, who,
however, gave G. Latey leave to speak for himself. The statement he made satisfied the justice,
and he replied that he had heard the people
called Quakers were a sort of mad, whimsical
folks;'but,' said he,'for this man, he talks
very rationally, and I think, for my part, you
should not have brought him to me.' t To which
the constable replied,'Sir, I think so too.'
This occurred eleven years after G. Fox first
visited a steeple house, and during that time
Friends had suffered very much for speaking in
steeple houses; yet now a magistrate declares
that speaking rationally after the speaker had
finished in a steeple house is not an offence for
which a man ought to be brought before him.
" But the ministry of Friends struck at the very
* These charges against George Fox were false, as an evidence
of which the reader is referred to his Journal; and particularly
to his letter to the governor, council, and government of Barbadoes.
t See Life of Gilbert Latey.




118      TUE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
foundation of all hierarchal systems, and the
discovery of this circumstance prompted the
priests to call in the aid of the civil power to
suppress the promulgation of views so opposed to
ecclesiastical domination."-See Bowden's History, pp. 80, 81.
Much that is untrue has been written of
Friends for venturing into the public places of
worship in Massachusetts.
They are said on these occasions to have
thrust themselves into worshipping assemblies,
and interrupted the worship or the sermon, with
outcries of contradiction and cursing. In New
England, as in Old England, some of our early
ministers believed it required of them to enter
the public places of worship; but in no one instance do we find, as has been alleged, that they
interrupted the minister in his sermon. The
few occasions on which they presented themselves before the congregations in New England, they did not attempt to address the assembly until the minister had concluded; and
then they were stopped, violently assailed, and
dragged to prison.
Excepting Marmaduke Stevenson, however,
the four Friends who were put to death at Boston do not appear to have apprehended that
this service was required of them. The plea,
therefore, of disturbing religious assemblies
does not apply in the most extreme cases of
Puritan cruelty. These suffered martyrdom for
the mere profession and promulgation of their
religious views.
It has been adduced as evidence of the grave
misconduct of the early Friends in New Eng



THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     119
land, and as palliating circumstances for the
severities to which they were subjected, that
natural decency was outraged by two women
Friends going unclothed, one into the public
place of worship in a small town, and the other
through the streets of Salem. On investigation,
however, it will be found that these extraordinary circumstances will not avail the apologists
of the fathers.  When Deborah Wilson and
Lydia Wardwell went partially unclothed, in
the manner described, a particular explanation
of which will appear in the following chapter,
it was not until nine years after the commencement of the New England cruelties of Friends,
and four years after the last case of martyrdom,
and when the persecution had very much subsided. This is a fact which the modern defenders of the Pilgrims have omitted to state, and
by the absence of which their readers are led to
believe that it was in consequence of these and
other acts of misconduct that the rulers of
Massachusetts adopted their extreme measures
towards Friends. —Bowden's History, pp. 247,
248.
The "explanation" for Lydia Wardwell and
Deborah Wilson's going partially unclothed is
as follows —
"Among the sufferings of Friends in New
England, the case of Eliakim and Lydia Wardwell, of Hampton, deserves particular notice.
On one occasion, Eliakim Wardwell had a horse
worth fourteen pounds taken from him,' for
merely receiving the banished Wenlock Christison into his house. He was also frequently
fined for absenting himself from the Puritan




120      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
worship; and to satisfy these unjust demands,
nearly the whole of his property was carried
off. The case of Lydia, his wife, was a very
peculiar one. Having become convinced of the
principles of Friends, and consequently ceasing
to attend the Puritan worship, she was several
times requested to attend the congregation, and
give a reason for the change of her opinion and
practice. She at last went, but under circumstances which were extraordinary and humiliating. She had been deeply impressed with the
want of true religion among many of the high
professors and rulers of New England, and with
their unblushing violation of the plainest doctrines of Christ in the persecution of Friends,
but more especially with the immodest and revolting manner in which females had been publicly stripped and scourged.
"Although stated to have been a'chaste and
tender woman,' and of'exemplary modesty,' she
believed it required of her to appear similarly
unclothed in the congregation at Newbury, as a
token of the miserable state of their spiritual
condition, and as a testimony against the frequent practice of publicly whipping females in
the manner referred to.  It was to be expected
that the appearance of Lydia Wardwell under
such circumstances would be resented by those
for whom the sign was intended. She was immediately arrested, and hurried before the authorities of the neighboring town of Ipswich, where
she was barbarously scourged; her husband was
also severely whipped for countenancing this
apprehended act of duty on the part of his wife.
The transaction appears to have taken place in
the year 1665.




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      121
"About the same time, Deborah Wilson, who
is described as'a young woman of a very modest and retired life, and sober conversation,'
under an impression of religious duty, went in a
similar state through the streets of Salem, as a
sign against the'cruelty and immodesty of the
authorities,' in stripping and whipping females.
The punishment to which Lydia Wardwell had
been exposed was soon inflicted on Deborah
Wilson."- Bowden's History, pp. 272, 273.
We are glad, however, to find that there is
ground for believing that the course pursued by
the priests and magistrates of that day towards
Friends did not meet with the general approbation of the public mind. In reference thereto,
J. Bowden has made the following remarks:"Notwithstanding the intolerant course pursued by the priests and magistrates on this occasion, [arresting and imprisoning Friends on their
arrival in Boston from England,] it must not be
supposed that the proceedings met with the sanction of the inhabitants generally; and it is only
proper to add that the language of their governor gave rise to very intelligible marks of dissatisfaction." - See Bowden, p. 44.
Friends in Lynn continued to increase in number, until they built a meeting house, which was
erected in the year 1678, on what is now called
Broad Street, in front of the lot occupied for a
burying ground. The place was originally called
Wolf Hill.
About the year 1700, George Keith, who had
once been a Friend, but who, several years previous to this, had departed from their principles,
and become their opposer, came to Lynn, and
11




122      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
called at the house of Samuel Collins, to see
John Richardson, a Friend from England, who
was there, and who was travelling in this country as a minister. This house stood on Essex
Street, where the one now stands which was
built by the late Ezra Collins. G. Keith had a
company of his friends with him, and wished to
have a dispute with John Richardson; and after
some discussion in front of the house, in which
G. Keith was very much vanquished, they separated. The next day, Friends assembled at
their meeting house, to hold their monthly meeting; and John Richardson being there, George
Keith and his company came to meeting; and
John Richardson, in giving an account of what
occurred, states as follows, viz.:" So the meeting being gathered, and immediately after, George stood up to tell us, as before,
that he was come in the queen's name to gather
Quakers from Quakerism to the good old mother
church, the church of England, as he called it,
and that he could prove out of our own books
that we held errors, heresies, damnable doctrines,
and blasphemies, with a threat to look to ourselves to answer, or else the auditory would conclude that what he exhibited against us was true.
I expected some of the elder Friends would say
something to him; but none did; and having a
deep concern upon my mind lest truth, or the
friends of truth, should suffer through our mismanagement, and such as waited for occasion
might have it administered by us against ourselves, under this concern I stood up and signified to the people what manner of man George
Keith was: notwithstanding he had walked




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     123
many years amongst us, yet towards the latter
end of his so walking with us he grew very
troublesome, by reason of a contentious spirit
which did possess him; and after much labor,
and exercising of patience, and extending of
love towards him, in order to recover and reclaim him, all that labor of love and much forbearance would not avail, but he still persisted
in the work of contention and disturbance; then
he was publicly disowned and testified against
by us, as a person with whom we had no unity
or fellowship.
"Then pausing a little, George being quiet, a
Friend stood up with a short but lively testimony,
and then my companion; all this in much weight,
and with good demonstration. After them it
pleased the Lord to open my mouth, I think in
as much strength, clearness, and demonstration
as ever, beginning with the following words:
In that way you call heresy do we worship the
God of our fathers, believing all things that are
written concerning Jesus Christ, both as to his
Godhead and manhood; giving a summary account of his birth, working of miracles, some of
his doctrine, sufferings and death, ascension and
glorification, the coming of the Spirit of truth,
or Comforter, to lead all those who receive, believe, and obey it into all truth; having great
openings concerning the law and the prophets,
and the beginning, service, and end of the ministration of John the Baptist. The people appeared very attentive, for the Lord's heavenly
baptizing power was amongst us that day. It
was thought many were there who had not been




124      THrE ORIGIN OF QUAKERTSM.
at any of our meetings of worship before; and
the presence of the priests there opened a door
for all the rest.
" Being clear, I left them to the grace of God,
and to their free teacher, Christ, whose heavenly
power in the appearance of his spirit, the last
and lasting dispensation, was exalted that day
above all the shadowy and typical things that
ever had been in the world. A good meeting
it was; and Friends were mutually comforted
and edified in the eternal presence of the Lord.
"The priest of this place, whose name was
Shepard, before my mouth was opened in testimony, made preparation to write; and when I
began to speak, he had his hat upon his knee,
and his paper upon its crown, and pen and ink
in his hands, and made many motions to write,
-but wrote nothing; as he began, so he ended,
without writing at all. As Friends entered the
meeting house, the Lord's power-even that
power which cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon, which had been at work-kept down in
a good degree the wrong spirit in George, for
he appeared much down; but this busy priest
called to him several times to make his reply to
what I had spoken. After some time, I said to
the priest, in behalf of the meeting, that he
might have liberty to make reply. He proposed
to have another day appointed for a dispute;
to which I said, if he did make a voluntary challenge, which he should not say we put him upon,
we, or some of us, meaning Friends, if a day
and place were agreed upon, should find it our
concern to answer him as well as we could. He
said he would have Mr. Keith to be with him.




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      125
I told him if he should, and meddled in the dispute, if I was there I should reject him, for reasons before assigned. When the priest had said
this, and somewhat more, an elder of the Presbyterian congregation clapped him on the shoulder, and bid him sit down; so he was quiet;
and then stood up George Keith, and owned he
had been refreshed amongst us that day, and had
heard a great many sound truths, with some
errors, but that it was not the common doctrine
which the Quakers preached.
" I then stood up and said I had something to
say to obviate what George Keith would insinuate; for his drift was, to infuse an opinion into
them that the Quakers did not commonly preach
up faith in the manhood of Christ, as I had done
that day. I appealed to the auditory, whether
any thought there was a necessity frequently to
press a matter so universally received among
Christians as faith in the manhood of Christ
was; yet we, as a people, had so often and
clearly demonstrated our faith in the manhood
of Christ, both in our testimonies and writings,
as might satisfy any unbiased person, or such who
were not prejudiced against us; and we know
not of any people who believe more scripturally
in the manhood of Christ than we do. But inasmuch as the grace, light, and Holy Spirit is
highly concerned in the work of man's salvation,
as well as what Christ did for us without us, and
this being yet much a mystery to many called
Christians, it pleases God to open in the course oi
our ministry into the meaning and mystery thereof, and to press the latter more than the former.
To which George made no reply, but began to cx11 ^




126     Tl'E ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
hibit his charges against us, and said he could
prove them out of our Friends' books, naming
George Fox, and Edward Burrough, &c. He
had in a paper a great many quotations out of
Friends' books, and a young man with him had
many books in a bag, out of which he said he
would prove the charges he was about to exhibit
against us.
"He was now crowded up into the gallery,
between me and the rail, with a paper in his
hand; and I, standing over him, and being taller,
could see his quotations, and his paraphrases
upon them; on which I told him loudly, that all
the meeting might hear, that he offered violence
to that sense and understanding which God had
given him, and he knew in his conscience we
were not that people, neither were our Friends'
writings either damnable or blasphemous, as he
through envy endeavored to make the world
believe; and that he would not have peace in so
doing, but trouble from the Lord in his conscience.
"I spoke in the Lord's dreadful power, and
George trembled, so much as I seldom saw any
man do. I pitied him in my heart; yet, as
Moses said once concerning Israel, I felt the
wrath of the Lord go forth against him.
"George said,'Do not judge me.' I replied,'The Lord judges, and all who are truly one in
spirit with the Lord cannot but judge thee.' So
he gave over; and it appearing a suitable time
to break up the meeting, Friends parted in great
love, tenderness, and brokenness of heart; for
the Lord's mighty power had been in and over
the meeting, from the beginning to the end




TIE ORIGNT OF QUAKERISM.     127
thereof.  Glorified and renowned be his most
excellent name, now and forever; for his mercies are many to those that love and fear Him
who is the fulness of all good."-See Life of
John Richardson, published in Friends' Library, pp.
91 to 93.
In the course of time, the meeting house built
by Friends not being sufficient for their accommodation, they erected another; and in the year
1816 the society had become so numerous that a
larger house was again needed, when the one
now occupied by them was built. It stood on
Broad Street, on the lot used by them as a burying ground, until the year 1852, when it was
moved a few rods back from the street, to the
place where it now stands, on Silsbee Street.
The old meeting house was moved on to
James Breed's wharf, where it now stands, and
is used for storing lumber, and for other purposes.
In the eighth month of the year 1816, Salem
Quarterly Meeting, which is composed of three
monthly meetings, was first held in Lynn, and it
is still held there annually, at the same period in
the year.
In 1835 there were about one hundred families belonging to the particular meeting at Lynn;
and there are not far from that number at the
present time.
In 1777, the attention of Friends was turned
to the setting up of a school; and after some
months' consideration, a school was established
by Lynn preparative meeting for the children
of Friends, and those who attended Friends'
meeting. It was taught a while by John Pope.;




128      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
Henry Oliver succeeded him as teacher, and
after Henry Oliver, Micajah Collins taught it for
many years, until within about one year previous
to its being closed.  It was taught the last year
by Paul W. Newhall.   This was the second
school set up in Lynn.
The school house first stood on Broad Street,
on the Union Store lot. It was then moved into
Market Street, and stood in front of the land
where Francis S. and Henry Newhall's house
now stands. After standing there a few years,
the house was sold, and another building obtained, and placed upon the lot on Broad Street,
in which the school was held. After some years,
this building was sold to Moses A. Tucker; it
was moved to Salem turnpike, where it now remains, and is converted into a dwelling house,
and occupied by him.
A new school house was then built upon the
same lot on Broad Street, in which the school
house was held for many years. This building
is now known as the Union Store. The school
was supported several years by Friends.
In 1784, application was made to the selectmen of Lynn for the proportion of the money
which Friends were annually paying for the support of the public schools to be refunded to
them, in order that it might be used towards defraying the expense of their own school.
Objections were at first made to this request;
but after some time had elapsed, Friends were
allowed to draw back annually a portion of this
money, for that purpose. The school was continued about forty years, and this privilege was
granted them most of the time.




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     129
A school has been kept up and supported by
Friends the greater part of the time since that
period.
The society in this country and in England
has from time to time published its declarations
of faith; and the following extracts are taken
from a brief account of the rise of the society,
and the principles of Friends, prepared by one
of their prominent members: -
"The religious society of Friends, commonly
called Quakers, is a body of Christian professors, which arose in England about the middle of
the seventeenth century.
"The ministry of George Fox was chiefly instrumental, under the divine blessing, in convincing those who joined him of those Christian
principles and testimonies which distinguish the
society; and his pious labors contributed in no
small degree to their establishment as an organized body, having a regular form of church government and discipline.
"To the light of Christ Jesus in the conscience he endeavored to turn the attention of
all, as that by which sin was manifested and reproved, duty unfolded, and ability given to run
with alacrity and joy in the way of God's conmmandments. The preaching of this doctrine was
glad tidings of great joy to many longing souls,
who eagerly embraced it, as that for which they
had been seeking; and as they walked in this
divine light, they experienced a growth in grace
and in Christian knowledge, and gradually came
to be established as pillars in the house of God.
" Many of these, before they joined with George
Fox, had been highly esteemed in the various




130      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
religious societies of the day for their distinguished piety and experience, being punctual in
the performance of all their religious duties, and
regular in partaking of what are termed'the
ordinances.'
"But notwithstanding they endeavored to be
faithful to the degree of knowledge they had received, their minds were not yet at rest.
"They did not witness that redemption from
sin, and that establishment in the truth, which
they read of in the Bible as the privilege and
duty of Christians; and hence they were induced
to believe that there was a purer and more spiritual way than they had yet found. They felt that
they needed to know more of the power of Christ
Jesus in their own hearts, making them new creatures, bruising Satan, and putting him under
their feet, and renewing their souls up into the
divine image which was lost in Adam's fall, and
sanctifying them wholly, in body, soul, and spirit,
through the inward operations of the Holy Ghost
and fire.
"The doctrines of the society may be briefly
stated as follows: they believe in one only wise,
omnipotent, and everlasting God, the creator
and upholder of all things, visible and invisible;
and in one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, the mediator between God and man; and
in the Holy Spirit, which proceedeth from the
Father and the Son -one God, blessed forever.
In expressing their views relative to the awful
and mysterious doctrine of'the three that bear
record in heaven,' they have carefully avoided
the use of unscriptural terms, invented to define
Him who is undefinable, and have scrupulously




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      131
adhered to the safe and simple language of Holy
Scripture, as contained in Matt. xxviii, 18, 19, &c.
"They own and believe in Jesus Christ, the
beloved and only begotten Son of God, who was
conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the
Virgin Mary. In him we have redemption,
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins,
who is the express image of the invisible God,
the first born of every creature, by whom all
things were created that are in heaven or in
earth, visible or invisible, whether they be thrones,
dominions, principalities, or powers. They also
believe that he was made a sacrifice for sin, who
knew no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth; that he was crucified for mankind in the
flesh, without the gates of Jerusalem; that he
was buried, and rose again the third day, by the
power of the Father, for our justification, and
that he ascended up into heaven, and now sitteth
at the right hand of God, our holy mediator,
advocate, and intercessor. They believe that he
alone is the redeemer and savior of man, the
captain of salvation, who saves from sin as well
as from hell and the wrath to come, and destroys
the works of the devil. He is the seed of the
woman that bruises the serpent's head, even
Christ Jesus, the alpha and omega, the first and
the last. He is, as the Scriptures of truth say
of him, our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption; neither is there salvation in
any other; for there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we may be
saved.
"The society of Friends have uniformly declared their belief in the divinity and manhood




132      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
of the Lord Jesus; that he was both true God
and perfect man, and that his sacrifice of himself upon the cross was a propitiation and atonement for the sins of the whole world, and that
the remission of sins, which any partake of, is
only in and by virtue of that most satisfactory
sacrifice, and no otherwise.
"Friends believe also in the Holy Spirit, or
Comforter, the promise of the Father, whom
Christ declared he would send in his nanme, to
lead and guide his followers into all truth, to
teach them all things, and to bring all things to
their remembrance.
" A manifestation of this spirit they believe is
given to every man, to profit withal; that it convicts for sin, and, as attended to, gives power to
the soul to overcome and forsake it; it opens to
the mind the mysteries of salvation, enables it
savingly to understand the truths recorded in
the Holy Scriptures, and gives it the living, practical, and heartfelt experience of those things
which pertain to its everlasting welfare. They
believe that the saving knowledge of God and
Christ cannot be attained in any other way than
by the revelation of this spirit; for the apostle
says,'What man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
spirit of God. Now, we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of
God, that we might know the things which are
freely given to us of God.' If, therefore, the
things which properly appertain to man cannot
be discerned by any lower principle than the
spirit of man, those things which properly relate




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      133
to God and Christ cannot be known by any
power inferior to that of the Holy Spirit.
"They believe that man was created in the
image of God, capable of understanding the
divine law, and of holding communion with
his Maker.
"Through transgression he fell from this blessed state, and lost the heavenly image. His posterity come into the world in the image of the
earthly man; and, until renewed by the quickening and regenerating power of the heavenly
man, Christ Jesus, manifested in the soul, they
are fallen, degenerated, and dead to the divine
life in which Adam originally stood, and are
subject to the power, nature, and seed of the
serpent; and not only their words and deeds,
but their imaginations, are evil perpetually in
the sight of God. Man, therefore, in this state,
can know nothing aright concerning God; his
thoughts and conceptions of spiritual things, until he is disjoined from his evil seed, and united
to the divine light, Christ Jesus, are unprofitable to himself and to others.
" But while it entertains these views of the lost
and undone condition of man in the fall, the
society does not believe that mankind are punishable for Adam's sin, or that we partake of his
guilt, until we make it our own by transgression
of the divine law.
"But God, who, out of his infinite love, sent
his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to
taste death for every man, hath granted to all
men, of whatever nation or country, a day or
time of visitation, during which it is possible for
12




134      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
them to partake of the benefits of Christ's death,
and be saved.
"For this end he hath communicated to every
man a measure of the light of his own Son, a
measure of grace or the Holy Spirit; by which
he invites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every
man, in order to save him; which light or grace,
as it is received and not resisted, works the salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant
of Adam's fall, and of the death and sufferings
of Christ; both by bringing them to a sense of
their own misery, and to be sharers in the sufferings of Christ, inwardly; and by making
them partakers of his resurrection, in becoming
holy, pure, and righteous, and recovered out of
their sins. By which also are saved they that
have the knowledge of Christ outwardly, in that
it opens their understandings rightly to use and
apply the things delivered in the Scriptures, and
to receive the saving use of them. But this
Holy Spirit, or light of Christ, may be resisted
and rejected; in which, then, God is said to be
resisted and pressed down, and Christ to be
again crucified and put to open shame; and to
those who thus resist and refuse him, he becomes
their condemnation.
" The society believes that it is not by our
works wrought in our will, nor yet by good works
considered as of themselves, that we are justified,
but by Christ, who is both the gift and the giver,
and the cause producing the effects in us. As
he hath reconciled us while we were enemies, so
doth he also, in his wisdom, save and justify us
after this manner; as saith the same apostle
elsewhere -'Not by works of righteousness




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     135
which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior,
that, being justified by his grace, we should be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.' We renounce all natural power and ability in ourselves, to bring us out of our lost and
fallen condition and first nature, and confess that
as of ourselves we are able to do nothing that
is good, so neither can we procure remission of
sins or justification by any act of our own, so as
to merit it, or to draw it as a debt from God
due to us; but we acknowledge all to be of and
from his love, which is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance. God manifested his love toward us, in the sending of his
beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the
world, who gave himself an offering for us and
a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor -
and having made peace through the blood of the
cross, that he might reconcile us unto himself,
and by the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot unto God, he suffered for our sins, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God.
" In a word, if justification be considered in its
full and just latitude, neither Christ's work
without us, in the prepared body, nor his work
within us, by his Holy Spirit, is to be excluded;
for both have their place and service in our complete justification. By the propitiatory sacrifice
of Christ without us, we, truly repenting and believing, are, through the mercy of God, justified
from the imputation of sins and transgressions
that are past, as though they had never been




136      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
committed; and by the mighty work of Christ
within us, the power, nature, and habits of sin
are destroyed; that as sin once reigned unto
death, even so now grace reigneth, through
righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. All this is effected, not by a bare or
naked act of faith, separate from obedience, but
in the obedience of faith; Christ being the author of eternal salvation to none but those that
obey him.
"The society of Friends believes that there
will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and
the wicked; the one to eternal life and blessedness, and the other to everlasting misery and torment; agreeably to Matt. xxv. 31-46. John v.
25-30. 1 Cor. xv. 12-58.
"That God will judge the world by that Man
whom he hath ordained, even Christ Jesus the
Lord, who will render unto every man according to his works; to them, who, by patient continuing in well doing, during this life, seek for
glory and honor, immortality and eternal life;
but unto the contentious and disobedient, who
obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish,
upon every soul of man that sinneth, for God is
no respecter of persons.
" The religious society of Friends has always
believed that the Holy Scriptures were written
by divine inspiration, and contain a declaration
of all the fundamental doctrines and principles
relating to eternal life and salvation, and that
whatsoever doctrine or practice is contrary to
them is to be rejected as false and erroneous;
that they are a declaration of the mind and will




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     137
of God, in and to the several ages in which they
were written, and are obligatory on us, and are
to be read, believed, and fulfilled, by the assistance of divine grace. Though it does not call
them'the Word of God,' believing that epithet peculiarly applicable to the Lord Jesus,
yet it believes them to be the words of God,
written by holy men as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost; that they were written for our
learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope; and
that they are able to make wise unto salvation,
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. It looks
upon them as the only fit outward judge and
test of controversies among Christians, and is
very willing that all its doctrines and practices
should be tried by them, freely admitting that
whatsoever any do, pretending to the Spirit,
which is contrary to the Scriptures, be condemned as a delusion of the devil.
" As there is one Lord and one faith, so there
is but one baptism, of which the water baptism of
John was a figure. The baptism which belongs
to the gospel, the society of Friends believes, is,'not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but
the answer of a good conscience toward God, by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.' This answer
of a good conscience can only be produced by the
purifying operation of the Holy Spirit, transforming and renewing the heart, and bringing the will
into conformity to the divine will. The distinction between Christ's baptism and that of water
is clearly pointed out by John:'I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that
cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes
12*




138      TIHE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and fire, whose fan is in
his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'
"In conformity with this declaration, the society holds that the baptism which now saves is
inward and spiritual; that true Christians are'baptized by one Spirit into one body;' that'as many as are baptized into Christ have put on
Christ;' and that,'if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature; old things are passed away,
behold all things are become new, and all things
of God.'
" Respecting the communion of the body and
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the society of
Friends believes that it is inward and spiritual
-a real participation of his divine nature
through faith in him, and obedience to the power
of the Holy Ghost, by which the soul is enabled
daily to feed upon the flesh and blood of our
crucified and risen Lord, and is thus nourished
and strengthened. Of this spiritual communion,
the breaking of bread and drinking of wine by
our Savior with his disciples was figurative;
the true Christian supper being that set forth in
the Revelation:'Behold, I stand at the door
and knock; if any man hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup
with him, and he with me.'
" As the Lord Jesus declared,'Without me ye
can do nothing,' the society of Friends holds
the doctrine that man can do nothing that tends
to the glory of God and his own salvation without the immediate assistance of the spirit of




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      139
Christ; and that this aid is especially necessary
in the performance of the highest act of which
he is capable, even the worship of the Almighty.
This worship must be in spirit and in truth -
an intercourse between the soul and its great
Creator, which is not dependent upon, or necessarily connected with, any thing which one man
can do for another. It is the practice, therefore, of the society to sit down in solemn silence
to worship God; that each one may be engaged
to gather inward to the gift of divine grace,
in order to experience ability reverently to
wait upon the Father of spirits, and to offer
unto him through Christ Jesus, our holy Mediator, a sacrifice well pleasing in his sight,
whether it be in silent mental adoration, the
secret breathing of the soul unto him, the public ministry of the gospel, or vocal prayer, or
thanksgiving. Those who are thus gathered are
the true worshippers,'who worship God in the
spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.'
"In relation to the ministry of the gospel, the
society holds that the authority and qualification for this important work are the special gift
of Christ Jesus, the great head of the church,
bestowed both upon men and women, without
distinction of rank, talent, or learning, and
must be received immediately from him, through
the revelation of his Spirit in the heart, agreeably to the declarations of the apostle:'He
gave some apostles, and some prophets, and
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of




140      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
Christ.''To one is given, by the Spirit, the
word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; to another faith; to
another the gifts of healing; to another the
working of miracles; to another prophecy; to
another discerning of spirits; to another divers
kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation
of tongues; but all these worketh that one and
the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.''If any man speak, let him
speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God
giveth; that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.'
" Viewing the command of our Savior,'Freely
ye have received, freely give,' as of lasting obligation upon all his ministers, the society has,
from the first, steadfastly maintained the doctrine, that the gospel is to be preached without
money and without price; and has borne a constant and faithful testimony, through much suffering, against a man-made, hireling ministry,
which derives its qualification and authority
from human learning and ordination; which
does not recognize a direct divine call to this
solemn work, or acknowledge its dependence, for
the performance of it, upon the renewed motions and assistance of the Holy Spirit. When
a minister believes himself called to religious
service abroad, -the expense of accomplishing
which is beyond his means, —if his brethren
unite with his engaging in it, and set him at liberty therefor, the meeting he belongs to is required to see that the service be not hindered
for the want of pecuniary means.




TIE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      141
"The society of Friends believes that war is
wholly at variance with the spirit of the gospel,
which continually breathes peace on earth and
good will to men.
"That, as the reign of the Prince of Peace
comes to be set up in the hearts of men,'nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more.'
" In conformity with the precepts and examples
of the apostles and primitive believers, the society enjoins upon its members a simple and unostentatious mode of living, free from needless
care and expense; moderation in the pursuit of
business; and that they discountenance music,
dancing, stage plays, horse races, and all other
vain and unprofitable amusements; as well as
the changeable fashions and manners of the
world, in dress, language, or the furniture of
their houses; that, daily living in the fear of
God, and under the power of the cross of
Christ, which crucifies to the world and all
its lusts, they may show forth a conduct and
conversation becoming their Christian profession, and adorn the doctrine of God our Savior
in all things."
Remarks on the foregoing.
In forming a just estimate of the acts of
alleged persecutions, allowance must be made
on both sides for the excitements under which
the writers of the times testified. That the
excitements of mind attending this conflict were




142      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
great, involving a serious disturbance and clouding of the judgment of both parties, so far as the
matter of the conflict was concerned, is manifest
to all who have read any thing of the history.
This is the reason why I have preferred to give
the reader a statement of the Quaker side, as
made by Quakers, that by a fair comparison of
both sides, and with a reasonable allowance for
exaggeration on both sides, he may form his own
judgment as to the truth.
It is also material that we should take into
account the evidence which exists that the
Quakers, if they could have changed places with
the magistrates, would in their circumstances
have done the like. Cotton Mather (Magnalia,
vol. ii. p. 456) gives an account of the George
Keith alluded to in Mr. Boice's statement. He
says that in 1694 he printed a treatise in confutation of thirty gross errors of the Quakers, and
by that means raised about him a storm of persecution from the Friends of Pennsylvania, who had
formerly made such tragical outcries against New
England persecutions, and who punished Keith
by imprisonment, and involved his adherents in his
persecutions. In 1694 an almanac was put forth
in Philadelphia by a Quaker; and touching this




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      143
matter, it had the following articles in its tables
of chronology:
" Since the English in New England t
hanged their own countrymen for reli-  36 years.
gion.                           J
"Since, at Philadelphia some did
little less by taking away goods, and
imprisoning some and condemning    3 years."
others, without trial, for religious dissent.
This fact, that Quakers, settled with civil
institutions of their own in Philadelphia, brought
a civil force to bear to restrain just that kind
of molestation which called forth the civil penalties in Massachusetts, is very material, in
showing that persecution was the error of the
times, from which even the sect that furnished
the martyrs were not exempt. And what is
more important is, that this persecution by
Quakers took place one generation later than
the persecution of the Quakers here; that is,
thirty years after its abandonment in Massachusetts, and after all the illustrations of its evils
had by experience.
Another thing to be taken into the account is,
that some of the offences for which Quakers




144      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
were punished were such as would now be punished by civil penalties. One instance of this
is had in the case referred to by Mr. Boice, in
which Quaker women stripped themselves to
complete nakedness, and went thus naked into a
public congregation while at worship, under
pretence of showing the people the nakedness
of their sins. For this they were arrested and
publicly whipped; and the civil law, as it now
exists, would punish such offences as severely.
But the most common form of aggression was
that of attempts to interrupt, with Quaker
speeches, the public worship of the Puritans.
That, I believe, all Quaker writers justify on
various grounds. One suggestion is, that it was
the custom, in Cromwell's time, for preachers to
allow speeches by others after their sermons.
But where that was the custom, it never contemplated the introduction of debates as matters
of strife, or doctrines opposed to what were
received by the congregation. Nor was there
liberty for any speaking, except when expressly
granted by the preacher. And it would be as
much an offence for strangers to bring in
strange doctrine, and force it upon the attention
of the congregation, at the close of the sermon,




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      145
as if no such habits of liberty existed. The
fact, if it be a fact, that the Quakers never interrupted the sermons, made no difference. It matters not at what stage of the proceedings in
public worship the interruption occurs. It is
equally offensive, and we have an equal right to
be protected against it. Such an interruption
as was then offered would by our present laws
be counted a breach of the peace; and if a
stranger were to attend a Quaker meeting,
where a general liberty of speaking is accorded
to the members, and insist on speaking against
the wishes of the worshippers, the penalty could
be made to reach him for the intrusion. That
matter stands on precisely the same ground
with the attempts made by the Comeouters, a
few years ago, to force themselves on our congregations in Lynn. The present laws did not
justify those attempts, though made on the same
ground, of an assumed divine call.
Then as to this divine call, which the Quakers
claimed as their warrant for disturbing their
neighbors, as it was a call not sustained by the
written word of God, nor by any miraculous warrant to speak in God's name, it could have no force
with those to whom the Quakers declared their
13




146      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
message. When prophets and apostles came to
the people, with a message from God, they
produced the proof (in the form of a miracle)
that God had sent them. But when the Quakers
came with such a pretended message, they
required men to believe it, without other proof
than their simple word; while it would require
very strong proof, not less than a miracle, to
convince a reasonable man that God had sent
them to do some of the things which they
did-such, for instance, as to expose their
nakedness before a worshipping assembly.
Pertinent to the case was that injunction of
Paul -" Believe not every spirit; but try the
spirits whether they be of God." And by what
rule must they be tried? By the written word
of God. The Spirit of God in the mind never
prompts us to do what the Spirit of God in the
Scriptures has forbidden. There is the true
limit to all credit, to all alleged calls from God.
If one feels himself moved, by the Spirit of God,
to do that, the right of which another questions,
the other, so far as he is interested, has a right
to deny that the motion has a divine source,
and to act on the denial, unless the other can
show a warrant in the Scriptures, or in a




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      147
miracle wrought to prove that God speaks
through him. So all that the Quakers said
about their divine call to do as they did, had
not the weight of a feather in justifying acts of
aggression upon the peace and rights of their
neighbors.
One thing more must be taken into the
account. Tempora mutantur, et mutamur in illis.
The Quakers have changed, and the Puritans
have changed, since those days.  Without a
loss of the essential principles of Puritanism,
the truest descendants of the first fathers here
have in several respects modified, by the lights
of experience, the principles, habits, and spirit
which attended the first development. Puritanism as a system of doctrines - it was old as the
Bible. But Puritanism as a civil and social
fabric was new. So far as it was a system of
doctrines drawn from the Bible, it remains unchanged to this day. And the Puritans of this
day adopt the very creeds which were framed in
the days of the original Puritans. But Puritanism, considered as a form of Christian civilization, was a new system in its time, and it put
its adherents into a new position, and into new
relations to the systems around them. And to




148      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
suppose that they could strike out a system that
should need no modifications by experience,
would be to suppose them omniscient. Their
habit of enforcing uniformity was one of the
errors in which they had been educated, and
which required time and experience to change.
And the Quakers, too, have changed no less
from the principles, habits, and spirit of their
founders. The very word Quaker had its origin
in a habit not now existing. If we may credit
contemporary writers, even under a discount of
fifty per cent. we shall find that the doctrines
announced by the first heralds and martyrs of
the system were very different from what now
appear in the creed of the sounder bodies of
Friends.
It must be borne in mind, that, when we condemn these Puritan fathers for their short-comings in religious freedom, we are condemning
those who were in their time "the foremost
men of all this world" in the very matter of
religious freedom, and the men to whom the
world is most indebted for breaking the iron
tyranny of ages, and leading the way to what
freedom we now enjoy. When they first commenced the exercise of civil power here, there




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     149
was no government in Christendom that did
not sustain the church by civil coercion. We
have, then, only to blame them for not having
attained what none of the wise and good in all
the earth had attained.
The friction engendered by the requirement
that all the colonists should be taxed to support
the ministry, was one of the greatest sources of
disaster to the Puritan cause. But the parish in
Lynn took early measures to mitigate the evils
of this law, and so far to relax its force as to
maintain good neighborhood with the Quakers.
In the year 1722 they voted -
" The parish considering that sundry of our
neighbors called Quakers, who have in times
past requested to be dismissed from paying
taxes to our minister, Rev. Nathaniel Henchman,
which in some respects hath been granted,but now our parish observing said Quakers frequently purchasing lands, that have usually paid
to the support of our minister in times past, and
under like obligation with our other lands to
pay to the maintenance of our minister, - wherefore, voted, that all the lands belonging to said
parish, purchased by said Quakers (not meaning
one of another) since the settlement of our
13 *




150      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
present minister, as also all other ratable lands,
in whose hands soever, shall for the future pay
to said parish, excepting only such lands and
estates of the several Quakers hereafter named,
now freed from paying to the parish the present
year, and the same to be at the discretion of the
parish, from year to year, whether to pay or
not."
Then follows a list of fifteen persons that were
exempt. Similar votes, exempting individuals in
about the same number, were passed from year
to year, for several years. From this it seems
that it had been the custom before this to
exempt individuals to some extent. The claim
here made, that all the lands belonging to the
parish were under obligation to pay to the maintenance of the minister, bears a tacit reference
to the original conditions on which lands were
granted from the corporation to the individual.
Each township was a branch of the original
Massachusetts corporation, and as such it was
the common proprietor of the land in the township granted to it, by the court or corporation
of the colony. Now, the town, in granting its
common property to individuals, did it under
the condition that it should contribute its share




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     151
to bear the common burdens of the town, one
of which was the support of the ministry. This
was " the obligation which lay upon the land,"
a reserve tacitly made in the original grant, and
which could not be nullified in passing from one
owner to another. It was a condition in the
deed which bound and attached it to the titles
of all future owners.
Touching this habit of taxing and coercion
in religious matters, while we confess that our
fathers committed great errors, we feel bound to
vindicate them from a mass of misconceptions
which has grown up around the subject. The main
misconception has come from overlooking the
peculiar nature of the first constitution of the
colony, which was primarily a corporation of
stockholders in a trading company, and only
incidentally a civil constitution. The civil functions exercised were the result which necessity
grafted upon the charter. Suppose a company
incorporated here for settling a colony and managing the needful property like that in Kanzas
Territory, where there is a civil government, and
where they have no occasion for civil functions,
should, under a like charter. attempt the settlement of a colony in some island of the Pacific




152      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
where no actual civil jurisdiction exists, and
suppose they were to constitute the officers acting under their charter, from the necessity of the
case, the source of civil authority. Then you
would have a parallel to the government of Massachusetts in its first origin. The president and
directors of this trading company, from necessity,
exercised civil powers. The civil powers came
in as an incident to the corporate functions.
Modifications of this form of government were
made from time to time, till this trading corporation had become what was called the Great
and General Court of Massachusetts.
For this reason there was not at the beginning any attempt to lay a platform of government on any deliberately framed bill of rights.
For civil rights were a mere incident in the
framing of the charter for the trading company.
Those were afterwards learned only under the
dictates of necessity. It was no object of the
first planters to attract to them persons of all
characters and creeds, and have a frame of
government suited to such a mixed society.
They sought the opposite of this. They sought,
first of all, an asylum from persecutions for
themselves, and they did at least all that was




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     153
prudent to keep away from them all persons not
of their mind.
While their civil government was having a
gradual formation by experiments and use,
under the guide of necessity, with its theory
very little elaborated in the minds of its administrators,- while, so to speak, they were
feeling their way along in untried and little
illumined paths, - the storm of Quakerism overtook them. But it was a development of which
the Quakerism of the present day can give us
little idea. Now, Quakers are the most quiet
of all citizens, and they are loyal supporters of
civil government. But those were the reverse.
They came hither for the purpose of detaching
the people both from the ministry and the magistracy, and denouncing both in the severest
terms. The government of the infant colony
was weak.   The people were few; probably
not over six thousand in all New England.
There was more apparent danger from the
frenzy and the constant influx of Quaker
declaimers than there was from any other experience which the colony had. The onset was
fierce and efficient among imaginative and susceptible minds, and spread a contagion of feeling




154      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
approaching to insanity wherever it went. The
wisest men of the colony trembled with expectation that all was to be thrown into confusion.
The declaimers went about disturbing public
worship, denouncing the laws, and vociferating,
"We deny thy Christ! We deny thy GodI
And the Bible is the word of the devil!" For
some of those violent proceedings men would
now be restrained by civil force.  But they
were immensely more injurious then, when the
civil government was weak, having no settled
principles on which rulers and people could
rely. Yet even the panic of the times —for
panic it was- did not justify the acts of severity used. Though the aim of the assailants
evidently was to displace civil government, and
throw all into confusion, it did not take the
form of treason; and did not justify the taking
of life, nor the cruel scourgings which in some
instances were inflicted. The husband of Mary
Dyer told the truth when he pleaded that she
might be let off on the ground of derangement.
Between a frenzy of that kind and a monomania, that throws the reason from one of its
seats, it were difficult to distinguish. Those
people, then, should have been restrained by




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     155
civil force only as deranged people are restrained. Their conviction of a divine call to
do absurd things was all real to them, because
the reason, in that particular, had been unseated.
And the error of our fathers consisted somewhat of a deficient philosophy of the human
mind; and they attributed to invisible spirits
and malignant agents what came of natural disorders of mind.
Yet it is but justice that we should hear the
contemporary defences which were made for
them.  And these bring us to the principle
which underlay all that was exclusive in their
policy. They said that the Quakers themselves
would say, that if they had got into a corner,
with immense toil and expense, and made a
wilderness habitable, for the purpose of being
undisturbed in the exercise of their worship,
they would never bear to have New Englanders
come among them, to interrupt their public worship, and seduce their children from it. They
would, at least after mild entreaties, oblige them
to depart.
This shows them standing upon their rights,
as having founded the colony for their own religious purposes, to the injury of the rights of




156     LEGAL SUPPORT OF MINISTERS.
no others. They claimed that they had come
into this wilderness, and made themselves proprietors of the lands, for their religious ends;
that the whole land covered by their charter
was simply their property - the property of the
corporation first, then of its branches in the
several townships to which the company had
granted it, and then of the individual freeholders to whom the towns had granted it.
They did not invite men of other creeds to come
in and share in the property and privileges
which at great toil and expense they had procured. Their regulation that none but church
members should vote for corporate officers has
been little understood. The truth is, that when
that law was made, there were next to none but
church members here. Probably ninety-nine out
of a hundred, having the other qualifications,
were church members. Those who were not
were mostly interlopers and strangers, having
interests and plans opposite to those of the
colonists. There was no oppression in this law
when it was made. For there were properly
no stockholders in the company, and none who
on any grounds could claim to be partners in
it, who were not church members. And it was




LEGAL SUPPORT OF MINISTERS.    157
made to exclude those from acting as stockholders who were not such, and whose acts
were feared as hostile to the interests in the
company. What of wrong existed in the case
lay not in the making of that law, when the
church and the state actually consisted of the
same persons, but in not repealing it when the
church ceased to be the state, and when it went
to disfranchise their own children as well as
strangers. It rested on an erroneous and impracticable assumption, to wit, that it was possible and right for men of one set of views in
religion to appropriate one portion of the earth
to themselves, and on it rear a nation, excluding, as the Shakers or the Mormons do, all other
men. Now, as long as the earth is the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof, this, as a permanent result, on a large scale, cannot be done. The will
of Providence and the nature of man are against
it. Ience this law, though right as a protective regulation at the commencement, was, in
its permanency, a violation of natural rights.
When the same persons were both the church
and state, the union of church and state was
no wrong. But when the state was composed
of different persons from the church, then the
14




158      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
forced union involved violence and injustice.
And this was the error of our fathers. Their
act was defensible in its origin, and indefensible
in its continuance. It was necessary to their
end of securing here a home for Puritanism
away from the clashings of opposite religions
till their foundations could be firmly laid.
The like may be said of the custom of warning out of town all unauthorized new comers,
as undisputed residence in a township would
secure a partnership in town property and privileges, bought by the common toil and funds of
the proprietors, and render the town liable to
their support as paupers; the new comers were
usually met with a protest, in the form of a
warning to depart. Now, the facts were, that
besides what property each one held as his own,
the town had a large amount of common or undivided lands, of which each lawful inhabitant
had a joint interest, which they might at any
time divide among themselves. And if strangers came in without a protest, and shared with
them in the property and privileges of the town,
there would have been a wrong. But in the
now existing state of things, when strangers
come in to share, not the property, but the debts




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     159
of the town, it would be a great absurdity to
warn them out, as it would be to confine the
elective franchise to church members.
But, according to the basis on which our
fathers stood, be it right or wrong, there was a
necessity for it; in that each town corporation
was a branch of the original Massachusetts corporation, existing for the holding and management of its property for its specific end.
So, when persons of other religions came in to
propagate their peculiar views among their children, it was at least natural that they should
turn the cold shoulder to them. They felt that
they had a right to come away to this desolate
corner of the world, and here be undisturbed;
that they here had just rights of proprietorship
which ought to shield them from the conflicts
from which they had fled. They felt as one
would feel when a furious zealot had intruded
into his house against his will, and made an
onset on his children, to detach them from his
faith and worship. Such a man would feel,
whether right or not, that his ownership of his
house entitled him to expel the intruder.
This principle will clearly explain where it
does not justify their treatment of Mary Fisher




160      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
and Ann Austin, and the other Quakers who made
disturbance in the colony in a violent crusade
against ministers and magistrates. It will also
explain, if not justify, the provisions which the
corporation made, that all its taxable lands
should contribute to support the ministry. And
we see why it is that the first parish in Lynn
claimed that all the lands that belonged to the
parish at the time of the settlement of a minister were pledged for his support.  This principle grew necessarily from the origin and
structure of the colony, and while all the people
were of one mind, it involved no injustice. The
error lay in sustaining and enforcing the principle after a considerable portion of other men
had acquired a civil status and the rights of
citizenship among them. It was not the intent
of Providence that they should be able, as they
doubtless desired, through all generations to
keep out of their community all men of other
principles. Taking in all the interests of the
world, it was not best that they should. Puritanism, being the completest embodiment of the
life principles of the New Testament, was of too
much value to the world to be thus isolated,
cooped, and cribbed. In the intent of Provi



THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     161
dence, it was the opening of a fountain of healing
power for the world. He would have the world
come in contact with it. As soon, therefore, as
it was made plain to them that their asylum from
persecution was to become something more than
a model plantation for a Christian community,
even the germ of a mighty nation, upon which
God was to gather outcasts from all nations, and
work wonders before the world, they should have
adjusted their polity to their destiny, and have
abandoned that exclusive principle, and have admitted an equality of religious rights to all.
But while our judgment, aided by the experience of two centuries, can detect these faults in
the course of the Puritan fathers, who of us is
sure that he, with only their means of knowing
the harmonies of civil and religious freedom,
would have judged better than they? A cruiser,
following the wake of other voyagers, or guided
by charts made and corrected by the experience
of centuries, may sneer, if he will, at the devious
course of a Columbus, pushing a voyage of discovery in untravelled seas. Yet, in the errors
of Columbus, being the steps to the discovery
of a continent, there is more to admire than in
the skilful navigation of a mere follower of
14 *




1G2      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
charts. So it was with our fathers. They were
laying their course in an unknown sea, towards
a new world of light and liberty, having no
lights of others' experience to guide them. And
their errors evince more of wisdom than any of
their critics have attained.
But, perhaps, it will be said, that the true
principles of religious liberty were announced
to them by their opponents. That is true.
But they were not brought to them tested by
experience. They came to them, not as what
any nation under heaven had practised, but as
what was desired for the furtherance of interests hostile to their own. They were first announced to them in the ravings of men who
said, " We deny thy God, we deny thy Christ,
and thy Bible is the word of the devil," and
by a class of men who afterwards persecuted in
their turn; and it was no easy matter to receive
a new truth from such dispensers.
As to their practice of supporting the ministry by a tax, we have need better to discriminate, and find where the error lay. The support of the ministry, by some means, was to
them an indispensable necessity. The ministry
was the cause of their coming hither; and the




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     163
ministry was the main instrument of rearing
such institutions, and such a people, as they
came hither to rear. And who shall say that
they did not take the course, which, for the time
being, would best secure the end? and who
shall say that they had not then a right to take
it? Institutions must have some adjustment to
previous habits of the people. This people had
been in a habit of being taxed for the support
of the ministry. But in their outset here, they
made the experiment of supporting it by free
and unregulated contributions. And, because
not accustomed to it, they could not do it without a great inequality of burdens coming upon
the more generous. Just that method which
you say they should have adopted they did
adopt, and found it a failure. Then, simply for
the sake of equalizing the burdens upon the
people, all of whom were equally bound to bear
them, - and not for the oppression of aliens and
strangers, that did not at all come into account,
— they made this law. They made it on the
assumption that this people was to be a homogeneous people. And as long as they continued
so, there was no injustice in it. And though
they continued the law too long, they did this




16 (4    THE ORIGTN OF QUAKERISM.
on the assumption that what had made a residence
in New England desirable, and what attracted
strangers here, was the result of that institution
which this tax sustained. And hence they concluded it equitable and just, that those who came
to partake of the advantages of New England
institutions should contribute to that which produced them.
Though this principle is faulty, the fault was
not that it did injury to men of other views,
who found themselves here before strangers had
fairly a claim to come in and make themselves
at home. We think the question now in contest
respecting the rights of foreigners to come in
and stand on an equal platform with native citizens, and share equally in all the results of our
fathers' toil and blood, and equally in the control of our institutions, involves the same principle. If our fathers did wrong in not giving
full freedom and equality of privileges to all
comers, then we do wrong in withholding the
same.
If this view be correct, that principle of
taxing for the support of the ministry was
not unjust when it was adopted. For there is
no injustice in a homogeneous community tax



TIHE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.    165
ing themselves, as the best way of equalizing
a common burden. It was not wrong, in the
sense of being inexpedient for the time, and for
that people. For experience proved it better
than the opposite method. The wrong consisted
in the fact that it did not admit of exceptions,
and was not gradually relaxed and laid aside,
to meet the gradual change in the people.
This was a grievous wrong, and grievously
have we suffered for it. The Puritan churches
in Massachusetts have been immense losers by
holding on to this principle of taxing all comers.
After men of other sects had fairly acquired
independent rights of citizens here, such taxes
upon them became unjust, and so became fuel for
the flames of discontent with the existing order of things, and a constant stimulus to war
against it.
No religious denomination could stand in
such relations to a people not wholly united
without immense damage. And when the rigor
of this principle began to be relaxed, it was put
in a shape still worse for us. Then the law
compelled all to pay a tax to our parishes, unless they could show a certificate that they belonged to some other denomination. This law




166      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
operated as a premium  for getting up other
denominations. The cases were countless in
which disaffected individuals, having occasion
to drive a parish quarrel to a splitting point,
and hindered by this law from starting another
church of the same denomination, they were
compelled, in order to compass their ends, to
assume the principles of another denomination.
Probably a majority of the churches of opposing sects in this state had their origin in
just this cause; and the wonder is, that their
number is not greater. It also operated in
favor of Unitarianism. When orthodox members of a parish had, unfortunately, and at unawares, came under a Unitarian ministry, and
felt the necessity of seceding, for the truth's
sake, they could not be allowed to secede as
Congregationalists, for the laws then regarded
Unitarians as Congregationalists, and so they
were compelled to remain. In one instance, an
orthodox church seceded from a Unitarian congregation, and from necessity took the Presbyterian form. Unitarianism owes its existence
and present strength more to this law than to
any other external cause. It operated powerfully, in another direction, to this end. The




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.     167
compulsory provision for the support of the
ministry fostered that careless, worldly spirit
in the ministry which makes the Unitarian doctrine welcome. The minister was not dependent
for his worldly success on the spiritual energy
and vitality of his ministry, and was brought
under temptation to give way to flesh-pleasing
delusions.
While we mourn at the many defections from
the Puritan faith, and lament that we cannot see
on this ground that people which New England
would have presented, if this faith had been
sustained in its vigor, and with one mind,while we deplore the manifold moral mischiefs
that have come from the laxer faiths, and the
no-faiths, that have in such abundance succeeded,-we find our consolation in the thought,
that He who causes the wrath of man to praise
him is acting from a plan more broad than we
can compass, and that he has suffered these
evils to come in, that he might make them tributary to a good more vast than could have come
from any of the issues which we could have conceived to be preferable.
In the multiplication of sects we see one of
the mysteries of God's spiritual providence. In




168      THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.
not hindering it, God seems to have opened the
way for great hinderances to his own cause.
And so it is for the present, and in some respects.
And yet even now, in many forms, good is
coming out of the evil; and hereafter, in ways
not now conceived, it must contribute to give
breadth and quickening to the whole work of
evangelizing the world.
And one of the many ways in which it does good
is that of discipline, in the formation of Christian character. It is no small matter for the
Christian to meet all the requisites of Christian
society, constituted, as it now is, of persons of
all varieties of views. It is no easy matter to
carry out a generous obedience to the laws of
Christian charity, and at the same time with unflinching honesty to meet all the demands of
Christian truth, and contend earnestly for the
faith once delivered to the saints. In order to
this, we must discriminate, and know what principles do, and what do not, consist with Christian character, and be always ready to recognize
Christian character, under whatever names we
find it, and as ready to refuse to give God-speed
to any one who brings another gospel. It requires, under these circumstances, not a little of




THE ORIGIN OF QUAKERISM.      169
wisdom and grace to meet our responsibilities.
And in this school, perhaps unconsciously to
themselves, Christians come under a constant
discipline. Let us obediently and earnestly
meet the difficulties of our position, ever seeking that wisdom which is from above, which is
first pure and then peaceable. While we take
heed that we offend not one of these little ones,
under the penalties attached to that offence,
let us not forget those words of the apostle" Though we, or an angel from heaven bring
any other gospel, let him be accursed."
15




CHAPTER V.
CLOSE OF MR. SHEPARD'S MINISTRY. - CALLING OF A
COLLEAGUE.-SETTLEMENT OF MR. HENCHMAN. —HIS
OPPOSING THE REVIVAL.-HIS CONFLICT WITH WHITEFIELD.- CONSEQUENT PARISH QUARRELS.
MR. SHEPARD had filled out a ministry of more
than forty years, and had attained the age of
seventy-one years, when, in view of his bodily
infirmities, it was thought best that he should
have the aid of a colleague. So in January, 1719,
"at a meeting of the lower part of the body of
the town of Lynn, considering the age and bodily
infirmity of our reverend pastor, Mr. Shepard, and
his inability to carry on the whole work of the
ministry, it was voted that another minister be
called to settle in the work of the ministry."
The way was now opened for the hearing of candidates. But it is probable that Mr. Henchman
had preached here before. For it was not usual
at that time to give one a call after so short a
probation. For only twenty-three days after this
vote, the church voted a call to Mr. Henchman;
(170)




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     171
and in a week after that, the parish voted their
concurrence. Hence it is probable that, by reason of the infirmities of Mr. Shepard, MIr. Hench
man had supplied his pulpit before any resolution had been taken to settle a colleague.
But as the parish was now in a way to have
two ministers to support, they set about devising
ways and means. A proposition was made to Mr.
Shepard to relinquish the use of a part of the
parsonage lands, and the town was moved to
grant a part of the land on the Common for the
use of the ministers, in addition to the lands of
the town then in use by Mr. Shepard. This last
proposition was granted by the town; but five
persons, one of them a deacon, probably of the
new parish, recorded their protest against it.
Having thus secured parsonage lands for the use
of the new minister, the parish voted for Mr.
Henchman a salary of ninety pounds during Mr.
Shepard's life, and one hundred and fifteen
pounds after his death, and a gratuity of one
hundred and sixty pounds as a settlement. No
diminution appears to have been intended in
Mr. Shepard's salary on the settlement of his
colleague.  And from the society's ability to
support two ministers, and give the new one a




172      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
greater salary and a liberal bonus, it may be
inferred that they had a good degree of prosperity under Mr. Shepard's ministry. It was
but a few years before this that the hive had
swarmed in the establishment of the Lynnfield
parish; and now it had so far recovered its
strength that it was able, without apparent hesitation, to make such liberal outlays. Here was
evidence of a relative ability that it never afterwards had. Here, in the absence of historic
materials, is very decisive inferential proof that
in the general interests of the society, Mr. Shepard's ministry was very prosperous; and we doubt
not that it was in its spiritual interests.
In March of this year Mr. Henchman gave
his answer, accepting the call. This was dated
in March, but it was not read in parish meeting
till June 20. The reason of the delay may be
easily conjectured, for on the 2d of June Mr. Shepard died. It would seem that proceedings about
the ordination had been delayed by his sickness
and expected death. So Mr. Henchman received
and accepted the call as a colleague pastor, but
was ordained as the sole pastor of the church.
One expression in his answer in which he accepts
the " terms freely and voluntarily " voted by the




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     173
parish, would show that he thought them specially generous; and hence it would seem that
the people had high expectations of their young
pastor. Yet the settlement of this pastor gave
a new and disastrous turn to affairs. Up to
this time, from the settlement of the first pastor,
every thing, for aught that appears, was prosperous. The truth had been preached by men who
felt its power, and the ordinary outward indications of thrift appeared. But now, unconsciously
to themselves, the church had introduced a pastor to whose labors God would not attach his
blessing. Without intending it, they had come
under a ministry of another spirit, and under
another system of doctrines. Churches are not
in a habit of attaching much importance to
shades of difference in doctrine, and some cannot even patiently endure those that give to
them any importance, and thereby they incur
great hazard in settling ministers. In this case,
it was probably not evident to undiscriminating
minds that Mr. Henchman seriously differed in
views from Mr. Shepard; perhaps Mr. Shepard
himself did not know it, and perhaps he did;
for an aged minister receiving a colleague often
has strong reasons to keep to himself his con15 *




174      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
victions in such a case, while the best interests
of his people require that they should be known
and fully respected. Possibly, in this case, that
alone might have saved this church all the mischiefs that have come upon its successive generations through the unsound teaching of its pastors.
It is clear that the people did not apprehend
that they made any departure from the original
principles by settling that pastor; for subsequently evidence comes out that they were satisfied with his ministry in its earliest years, and
yet, that when his unsoundness was discovered,
the people were sound, and were displeased with
his defections. A few years before this, Cotton
Mather had said, that a minister in New England denying the proper deity of Christ was
not known; and probably up to this time even
Arminians were rare. As little danger was apprehended in the form of a change of doctrines,
the vigilance of the church was not awake.
Tares were sown while men slept. But about
this time such defections began to be frequent,
by reason of a decline of divine life in the
churches, which was manifest and mourned over
at a much earlier period; and through want of
vigilance not this church alone, but many others,




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     175
about this time came under the ministry which
finally led them away to another gospel.  A
church that comes to settle a new minister, after
having been long under the sound and faithful
ministry of another, has come to a critical pointa position of rare temptation. Observe it when
you will, such churches will be found usually to
make choice of a minister who has strong points
of contrast with their former minister; and that
however much they may have valued the former.
This results unavoidably from principles of human nature. After the general mind of a people
has become familiar with certain habits and qualities of a long-cherished pastor, when they come
to their next choice of a pastor, they are naturally better pleased with one whose engaging
qualities lie in another direction. This, resulting from common laws of the human mind, involves no blame, provided the qualities chosen
are good and involve no departure from truth.
But here lies the danger.  The same law of
mind which gives novelties of manner and gifts
an attraction, predisposes a people to adopt
novelties in doctrine. A new minister, it may
be, brings with him new theories, which he presents in a plausible form; of course careful not




176      MR. HENCHMAN S MINISTRY.
to exhibit them in direct antagonism to the
received doctrine, careful not to rouse suspicion
in any form. The congregation, not suspecting
error, are taken with what seems to them new
and striking ideas, and before they are aware
have slid away from the foundations. Something like this probably took place on the settlement of Mr. Henchman, though the congregation were more than usually reluctant to follow
him into his errors when they came to understand
them.
And here allow me to be a little personal, for
one object which I have had in giving this history is to make its facts a source of instruction
against future departures from the truth. In a
few years, more or less, this church will again
have the critical and important duty devolved
upon it of the choice of a pastor; and I wish that
then the burnt child may dread the fire. I expect
that you will choose one whose desirable qualities
are the opposite of my own. Nor, should I then
be in the land of the living, will I take it unkindly in you, provided the points of his contrast
do not involve a defection from the original
faith of this church -provided you will not repeat the experiment which was made in the




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     177
settlement of Mr. Henchman, and choose one
whose apparently slight departures from the
foundations shall lead on to new defections and
a repetition of the scenes of darkness through
which you have gone. As it is very possible
that Satan may then set for you the old snare,
I wish now to take the opportunity to record in
advance my protest against it. I wish to convey
to those who may be actors in that scene my
solemn charge before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in view of all the plagues written in
the book of the history of this church, that they
see to it that the minister whom they place in
this pulpit have the two indispensable requisites-that he be thoroughly grounded in the
truth, and earnest in the possession and promotion of vital godliness. Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.
It was, as I have intimated, near the colmmencement of the coming in of Arminian errors
upon the Puritan churches when Mr. Henchman
was settled. There had been an abatement of
the original zeal of the Puritans; the tone of
general religious life was depressed. And compared with the stricter morals that obtained in
the first generation, when most of the people




178       MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
were Christians, and eminently such, - thero
had been an alarming incursion of immorality.
Connected with this general depression of religious life, there were laxer views of doctrine
among some of the ministers. They professed a
general adherence to Puritan standards, claiming only to make some verbal and unimportant
modifications. As parishes now make little account of any differences of doctrine among
ministers professing orthodoxy, much less did
they then. So this church then settled a minister
of reputed orthodoxy, whose inclinations to
heresy were not discovered from his preaching.
Yet in that settlement they procured among
them the planting of the seeds of error, whose
harvest was most disastrous.
In the first years of Mr. Henchman's ministry,
his errors were little observed, and he gave
general satisfaction to his people. The doctrines which they heard were not so manifestly
different from what they had previously heard as
to awake any alarm. The change probably consisted mostly of omissions. But his lax doctrines
had produced their relaxing effects on his own
mind, and made him of another spirit from his
predecessor. And as he progressed in this dete



MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     179
rioration faster than he carried his people with
him, he at length became involved in a conflict
with them which ended only with his life. His
sun set in a gloomy cloud.
The first occasion of an earnest conflict was
the revival of religion which took place in the
time of Whitefield. But the awakened interest
commenced here, and there was a collision of
the parish with their minister before Whitefield
came. It seems that, by the labors of other
ministers, the revived religious feeling, which
attended what was called the " Great Awakening " in other places, was extended to this place.
The people, it seems, importuned their minister
to encourage these labors of other ministers.
To evade this importunity, he made a formal
proposal to the parish meeting, that he himself
would preach lectures on other days than the
Sabbath. From this it appears that it had not
been his custom to preach at all except on the
Sabbath, and the preparatory lecture. Now, the
proposal to preach extra lectures was so extraordinary as to be exhibited at a parish meeting,
and to call forth a vote of thanks. This shows
the set formality, deadness, and meagreness of
his ministrations. Now, he hoped, by a proposal




180      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
so extraordinary as that of extra sermons by
himself, to allay all desire for other preachers.
The parish responded to his offer, with a vote
of thanks, and a promise to attend his lectures,
whenever "he sees cause to commence" them;
intimating a doubt whether he would commence,
and whether much good was to be expected
from them if he did. And upon this, October
17, 1741, they voted, -
"The parish being sensible that by the blessing of God a goodly number of young people
and others are at this time under great concern
about their future state, and desirous to have the
word of God preached to them, not only on the
Lord's day, but at other proper times, —and
whereas a number of reverend and worthy
ministers have already come to us in the fulness
of the gospel of Christ, but, through mistake
and misunderstanding of things, some of them
have been obliged to preach in private houses,
where one half that would gladly have heard
the word could not be accommodated, —and
whereas the aforesaid ministers, as well as many
others of our neighboring ministers, have manifested their readiness to give what Christian aid
they can, by preaching among us, and the parish




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.      181
are still desirous of hearing any of the neighboring ministers in the meeting house, when the
Rev. Mr. Henchman is willing they should,therefore voted, that whenever any of the aforesaid ministers shall come into this part of the
parish in order to preach the gospel, the committee shall give orders to the sexton for the
timely ringing of the bell and opening the
doors, -Rev. Mr. Henchman being seasonably
informed of it."
This carries a semblance of preserving the
pastor's right of control, under the phrase, " Mr.
Henchman being willing." But it provides for
opening the house whether he is willing or not.
It was a disorderly procedure, which they probably justified to themselves on the ground of
the pastor's delinquency and abuse of power. It
was not the orderly course for redress. Having
intrusted the pastor's work to his hand, they
should have left it there till they saw cause to
take it out of his hands.
The orderly course would have been to have procured his dismission, on charges brought against
him. There was, evidently, sufficient ground for
his dismission, and enough of religious principle
in the parish at that time to have carried it.
16




182       MR. HENCHMAN S MINISTRY.
And if they had carried it, they would have
saved the church from what she afterwards
experienced. But by taking an irregular course,
acknowledging him as their pastor, and taking
a part of the pastor's work out of his hands,
they perhaps secured their immediate object, but
lost the main result. They secured liberty for
others to preach against the pastor's will, but
they left him on the ground to tread out and
destroy all the fruits of the preaching. They
left him, hater of the revivals as he was, to work
against them. He would not be at all likely to
gather in and promote the spiritual growth of
the converts. And a natural result was, that
that revival brought comparatively little strength
to the church; though, doubtless, it was one
means, under God, of saving it from entire
extinction.
But we see not how to reconcile this action
of the parish with some of the traditions preserved in Lewis's History. One of these is, that
in 1742, on the 11th of March, Mr. Whitefield
preached in Lynn, and some were seriously
impressed by his preaching; and that these
were the first instances of the kind occurring in
the town. But more than six months before




MR. HENCIMAN S MINISTRY.      183
this the parish had testified by vote that a
goodly number were in this condition. It is
possible that there is some mistake in dates.
Then, if in 1741 the parish voted to open the
house to such ministers as Mr. Whitefield was,
we see not how it consists with another record
in Lewis's History. This record purports that
in 1745 " Mr. Whitefield came to Lynn, on the
3d of July, and requested of Mr. Henchman permission to preach in his meeting house, which
was refused. Some of the people resolved that he
should have liberty to preach, and taking the great
doors from Theophilus Hallowell's barn, and
placing them on some barrels, they made a stage,
on the eastern part of the common, from which
he delivered his address." But our difficulty of
reconciling the apparent discrepancy does not
disprove the statement. For in the four years
that intervened, Mr. Henchman might have
regained his control of the house.
On the excitement which followed his first resistance of Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Henchman published a pamphlet, setting forth the reasons of his
opposition. This was replied to by Rev. William Hobby, of Reading. To this Mr. Henchman rejoined, in a pamphlet published March




184      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
28, 1745. In this it appeared that Mr. Henchman was the only clergyman in this neighborhood who had written and printed in opposition
to Mr. Whitefield's "principles and practices."
The pamphlet contains little of substantial
argument, but enough of bitter invective, personal spite, sarcasm, and poorly sustained burlesque.
It is sad for the reputation of Mr. Henchman
that he has left such memorials of himself. He
has, however, here preserved, in a small compass,
much of what was alleged against Whitefield's
opponents, and some severe hints against himself.
This instance of the parish voting to open
their house against the will of their pastor, when
they should have taken regular steps for his dismission, reveals, in a strong light, the necessity
of taking, in cases of difficulty, only the regular
course. This was one of the crises in the history
of this church. If, then, the people had taken
the proper steps to secure a faithful ministry, the
whole after history of this church might have
been changed. On a matter so small as an
irregular proceeding to right a wrong, disaster
was procured for successive generations.




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.      185
These events happened about the middle of
Mr. Henchman's ministry. Until a few years before, there was no indication of any coldness
between the minister and people. Indeed, the
records show not a little of the people's cordial
respect towards him. The necessity of voting
from year to year how much to give him, to
make up for the depreciation of the currency,
served as a thermometer of the general feeling.
In the early years connected with these votes,
there are often expressions about giving him a
" handsome support." In later years there are
no such flourishes of the pen. After the controversy about Whitefield, the relations of minister
and people were fatally marred. The contest,
it is true, was about money. But that it had its
origin in dissatisfaction on other grounds, is
fully shown by the records. In 1738 the parish
voted-" Whereas the parish apprehend that
our minister's conduct in the ministry has been
for some time past disagreeable to the parish,
wherefore voted, that when the parish can be
well assured that he will alter his conduct
wherein it has been amiss, and do for us as the
generality of ministers do for their people, and
as he himself did for us when he was first settled,
16*




186      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
then the parish will give him a handsome support."
This comes in as a preface to the whole conflict,
and reveals its cause. It is as clear as if it said,
in so many words, that all the differences which
we have about money, and which we are likely
to have, grow out of dissatisfaction with your
ministry. Fortunately for the interpretation involved, this vote comes soon after the commencement of the difficulties about salary. This vote
was passed three years before Mr. Whitefield
came here. So that neither the religious movement in Lynn nor the dissatisfaction with Mr.
Henchman was caused by Mr. Whitefield. The
revival which commenced in Northampton, under the preaching of Edwards, had pervaded
the country. Every where the minds of the
people were more or less moved. The people
of Lynn partook of the general movement, and
hence their dissatisfaction with their minister
opposing it. If Mr. Henchman's opposition had
been simply directed against Mr. Whitefield, he
might have had plausible grounds for it. For
many things in Whitefield's course were questioned by good men-by men no less than Edwards, who did not cooperate with Whitefield.




MR. HENCHMANIS MINISTRY.     187
But Henchman's opposition to the revival began
before any question was raised about Whitefield
and his itinerancy. And this opposition clearly
showed him opposed to vital religion, and the
doctrines which were preached in that revival.
He sympathized, as his pamphlet shows, with
Dr. Chauncey, whom he quoted with approbation, and who was the champion and exponent
of the liberal party, as it then was - and who, in
truth, was the patriarch of our Unitarianism.
Mr. Henchman was, doubtless, like a large class
of ministers in his time, who were called Arminians, - having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, -making a great account of a Puritan ancestry, and a determined
opposition to Puritan doctrines, spirit, and life -
sticklers for forms and institutions established
by Puritans, even to the teaching of the Assembly's Catechism, when they preached doctrines
contrary to it; careful to keep in the background those vital points of truth which sustain
the work of conversion. The writings of Edwards, by the prevalent views which he controverts, clearly show what were the views of this
class of ministers who were his opponents. The
course of decline from Puritan truth, which has




188      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
since found its ne plus ultra in Unitarianism,
was then in its first stages. Our ministers then
stood in two classes, -very distinct to a discriminating mind, but not to the common apprehension of the people, - till the test of the Great
Awakening was applied, and then it was found
that their difference touched the essentials and
life of religion.  Mr. Henchman's views and
party associations were such, that if he had
lived till Unitarianism was developed, he would
not have failed to be a Unitarian.
As to the barrenness of his ministry, we have
some evidence.  He had labored here forty
years —had a flourishing church and society
when he commenced, and at the close of his life
he left but eighteen male members in the church,
two of whom were slaves. And judging him by
the company which he kept, we have no reason
to think that he insisted on regenerate character
as a condition of membership in the church —
though that was not formally dispensed with till
the next pastorate. But if his church, after
forty years' labor, and those forty years embracing the period of the Great Awakening, was so
small, and some of these not even professing regeneration, the fruits of his ministry were few.




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     189
When his ministry commenced, none thought
him to have made any serious departure from
the Puritan faith. Unless he was unlike others
of his class, he claimed to be orthodox, in the
Puritan sense —varying from the standards
only in unimportant matters, but making very
important improvements in the mode of stating
the doctrines. If the people heard any thing
of the differences among ministers, they thought
it to be only a dispute about words. These
Arminian ministers had the address to stigmatize the adherents to the Puritan faith and the
friends of revivals as New Lights - a term which
involved both a falsehood and a reproach. Thus
they carried the representation that that form of
teaching which was consuming the piety of the
church, and bringing in still greater errors, was
the original teaching of the Puritans. The
people were, as they too often are, averse to discriminating; were too charitable to think that
any ministers professing orthodoxy could hold
serious errors; and thought that so little error
might be safely tolerated. Yet these slightly
erroneous ministers, these improvers of theology,
were the authors of a heresy that blotted out
for us a hundred churches.




190      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
Take your stand at any point in the history
of this church during its decline, and contemplate the disasters that came in, - see how her
gold had become dim, and her most fine gold
changed, - and you may make the first minister
who began the defection, in an important sense,
responsible for all. He made, it seemed, only a
small departure from the standards, -too small
for many to see it, - and yet it was great enough
to be the head spring of immense mischiefs. In
the corruption of public morals, in the generation of pernicious errors which have sprung up
here as in a hotbed, this whole community, in
one way and another, has felt the curse of that
first step in departing from the truth.
Mark the contrast between the beginning and
the end of that pastorate. At its beginning
there was a strong, united, and devoted church.
At the end of a forty years' ministry there was
but a miserable remnant of a church.   The
minister's heart and purpose were set against the
truth, and, by consequence, against vital religion
in the church. Consciously or unconsciously,
the main force of his endeavor was to undo the
the very work which Christ's ministers are sent
to do. By stealthy processes, this was done for




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.      191
the first half of his ministry. Then he and the
vital force of the church came into open conflict. And in that conflict he had a fearful triumph. He left the church, at his death, with as
little signs of life as he could wish. The daughter of Zion sat in the dust.




CHAPTER        Vi.
FURTHER SKETCH OF MR. HENCHMAN'S HISTORY.-HIS
LAWSUIT WITH THE PARISH.-HIS DEATH. — FORMATION OF THE WEST END PARISH. - SETTLEMENT OF MR.
TREADWELL. -CHANGE OF TERMS OF ADMISSION TO
COMMUNION.-HALF WAY COVENANT. — MINISTERS IN
THE REVOLUTIONARY WVAR.-MR. TREADWELL'S DISMISSION.- SETTLEMENT OF MR. PARSONS. - CONFLICTS
WITH HIM.-SECESSION OF METHODISTS.
MR. HENCHMAN is said to have been very
affable in his manners; and in his personal intercourse with Mr. Whitefield he is said to have
treated him with great kindness and respect.
He was very young when he settled in this
place - only twenty years of age. He graduated
at Cambridge when he was only seventeen. He
was the son of Nathaniel Henchman, a deacon
of one of the churches in Boston, who was by
trade a bookbinder. The house which Mr. Henchman occupied was on the site of that now in
building by Andrews Breed, Esq., the mayor of
Lynn. After filling out a ministry of forty-one
years, he died, December 23. The storm which
(192)




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     193
came up while his funeral was in attendance,
and which prevented his burial on the day appointed, even though the corpse had been carried
to the meeting house, was in keeping with the
tedious storm of the moral elements in which his
sun went down.
We have seen that his opposition to vital religion disaffected his people, and involved them
in a controversy of twenty-five years about his
salary. The controversy began in the spirit and
ended in the flesh. The great point on which it
was commenced was that of vital godliness —
whether that should be sustained or crushed.
In this he triumphed. In the history of that
controversy, we have the spectacle of a professed
minister of Christ employing the force of his
position and office to undo the work which his
predecessors had done, and lay waste the vineyard which he came to cultivate. That work
of twenty-five years was done with fearful efficiency in exterminating the remnants of spiritual
religion in the church. The first parish vote,
which informs us of the existence of a controversy, is one which tells him, that if he will be a
better minister he shall be better paid. Upon
that vote a committee was sent to notify him of
17




194      MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
the particular matters of complaint. Six months
after, an answer to this vote was made in parish
meeting, but no action was taken upon it. The
next year a committee was sent to him to inquire
what sum would satisfy his claims as to arrears.
And he answered, two hundred and sixty pounds;
and by a large majority it was voted not to give
it. It was voted that they would give him a free
contribution, to meet deficiencies of the last two
years, if he would discharge them all. This was
accepted, and the debt discharged. In 1745,
the year of Mr. Whitefield's second visit, a meeting was called to see if the parish would take
any measures to accommodate the unhappy differences between them and their minister. A
committee was appointed to discourse with him.
But what came of the discourse we are not informed. Six years later, he sent a memorial to
the parish. A committee was appointed to consider and report upon it. The committee reported an answer, which was adopted. The next
year a committee was appointed "to discourse
with him with respect to the uneasiness between
him and the parish, and devise measures to make
him and the parish easy." The next year he
read to the parish an address, and they voted




MR. HENCHMAN^S MINISTRY.     195
not to receive it. The next year a committee
was appointed to see if they could prevail with
him to take his salary and discharge the parish;
if otherwise, to know if he will agree to dissolve
his connection with them.  This measure produced no fruit. In 1755 a committee was sent
to him to propose to refer the matters in dispute
for the five years back to disinterested men,
mutually chosen, and also to desire him to explain some parts of his address. This proposal
came to nothing. The next year, in parish meeting, a vote was put " to see if the parish would
comply with any of his twelve proposals," and
decided in the negative. Then a vote was
passed to make no proposals to him. At the
parish meeting a committee was raised to consider two proposals made by him. In 1756 the
parish appointed agents " to defend them against
an action of trespass upon the case lately commenced by Rev. Nathaniel Henchman, to be
tried at the Superior Court in Salem." The
only remaining record of the quarrel bears date
four years later, in 1760. This record says, that
a committee was appointed to consider and report upon an address of Mr. Henchman's; that
they reported, and their report was accepted.




196       MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.
The next year after this address, that is, December 23, 1761, Mr. Henchman died. In June following, the parish adjusted accounts with his
heirs, paying them eighty-four pounds.
This is one of the most persevering of parish
quarrels on record, and it was carried nearer to
the grave than was desirable. What sadder
spectacle could be exhibited, than that of a
minister of Christ, set to watch for souls, as
they that must give account, spending a quarter
of a century in one ceaseless quarrel about his
salary; and a part of the time carrying on a
lawsuit with the people to whom he professed
every Sabbath to be preaching the gospel! No
clearer evidence is wanted to prove that he was
a stranger to the spirit of the gospel.
Several noteworthy events affecting the parish
took place during Mr. Henchman's ministry.
The next year after his settlement, that is, in
1721, the parish ceased to have its business done
in town meeting. The separation was effected
on this wise: At a town meeting there was an
adjournment of town business for half an hour,
to give the members of the parish time for preliminary action. Then, in a meeting ordered by
those of the selectmen belonging to the parish,




MR. HENCHMAN'S MINISTRY.     197
a vote of members of the parish was passed, ordering Richard Johnson and Theophilus Burrill
to call a parish meeting for organizing. The
meeting was called, and a hundred voters attended, and unanimously concurred in the proceedings.  In 1631 the first movement was
made towards setting off the West End, now
Saugus, into a separate parish. Thomas Cheever
and others first petitioned to be thus set off.
The parish refused; the petitioners carried their
request to the General Court. The parish appointed a committee to make answer to it before
the court. A committee of the General Court
had a meeting at the house of Richard Mower,
innholder, in Lynn, to hear the matter debated.
The court did not fully grant the request. But
they granted the West End people liberty to sustain separate worship, by being taxed in a common tax with the old parish, and receiving from
the proceeds of the tax thirty-five out of one hundred and eighty pounds. The West End parish
had separate worship eight years on this basis,
when again they petitioned the old parish to be
set off, and had their petition granted on condition that the united tax should cease. But
there was still a difficulty in the way. For, two
17 




198      MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.
years later, the old parish had another meeting,
and appointed a committee to make answer to
Thomas Cheever and others' petition to be set off
in a distinct parish; so that the separation was
not accomplished as late as 1743.
After the decease of Mr. Henchman, the church
was without a pastor about fourteen months.
Then Rev. John Treadwell was ordained,
March 2, 1763. A meeting of the church a
little more than a month after his ordination
was recorded, and that is the earliest record of
the church now extant. And the action of the
church there recorded is remarkable for being
a step downwards. On the settlement of a new
pastor, instead of taking measures to elevate
their course, and increase their spiritual efficiency, the church vote to abandon one of the
important usages established by the Puritans, on
the basis of the Bible, for sustaining the purity
and life of the church. The vote alluded to was
passed April 13, 1768, as follows:"Voted, 1. That in the case of admitting
members into full communion, although the
church is far from discouraging a relation of
Christian experience, but would gladly receive
one, whenever offered, yet they would not insist




MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.     199
upon it; but instead of this, that they who desire
admission into the church should be received
upon their consenting to a confession of faith
which the church have approved and fixed
upon.
"Voted, 2. That none be allowed the privilege
of baptism for their children, but such as are
members of the church, without their personal
owning of the covenant." Here were two important steps taken —first, a virtual sanction
of admitting members without their giving evidence of regenerate character. For such, in
the technical language of the times, was the
meaning of "relating experience."  And secondly, an adoption of what was called the half
way covenant, or the baptism of the church's
grandchildren. For the rule implies that persons not members of the church may have their
children baptized on their owning the covenant.
From the first the practice of the churches differed as to the degree of publicity attached to the
relation of experience. In some cases it was
required to be before the church; in others it
was to be written, and read to the church; in
others it was only given to officers of the
church. But this vote allows members to come




200      MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.
into the church without any thing of the kind,
or without any evidence or pretence of regeneration. The vote is an abandonment of a previously existing usage, and it involves a radical
change of the church constitution, yea, a removal of the main article of its constitution -that
article which is necessary to constitute the
church a body of professing Christians. As no
unregenerate man is, properly speaking, a Christian, the church that has ceased to make a
profession of regenerate character a condition
of membership has ceased to profess themselves
Christians.
This question, whether church members should
profess to be Christians, was that on which
Edwards came to a rupture with his church.
All that he insisted on was, that the candidate
should seriously and understandingly assert his
conviction and hope that he had undergone a
change of heart. That was called a relation of
experience; and the excluding of this, or ceasing to require any thing more than a decent outward morality, was a violent blow dealt upon
the constitution of the Puritan churches, and
immense mischiefs followed.  This departure
from first principles began early in our churches.




MR. TREADWELLIS MINISTRY.    201
It was introduced, as many evils are, by a very
great and good man, the distinguished Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton. Through his
great influence it was widely extended, though
against the vigorous opposition of Increase
Mather and others. When Stoddard first introduced it, the practice was universally against it.
But having depravity and the name of a great
and good man on its side, the leaven gradually
extended, while the churches were losing their
primitive vigor; so that, when Edwards took a
stand against it, it had acquired force enough to
sweep him from his place. The introduction of
this change of constitution in this church led
the way to laxity of both doctrine and practice.
The half way covenant here introduced was
continued till into Mr. Rockward's pastorate.
He in a sermon stated his views against it, and
expressed his unwillingness himself to baptize
any on that basis, or to receive any new members upon it; but said that he would not stand
in the way of those who had come in upon it,
procuring the baptisms to be done by other
ministers on an exchange with him. And in
two, and only two, instances that was done;
and there ended the practice of baptizing the




202      MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.
church's grandchildren, which had here existed
near seventy years.
In 1771, eight years later than the vote
referred to, the church made a more specific
provision for admitting members on the half
way covenant. It was then voted that those so
admitted should assent to the same confession
of faith that was used in admitting members to
full communion, and then they should adopt a
covenant in the following form: "You likewise acknowledge yourself under the bonds of
that covenant in which you have been dedicated
to God by baptism- the great requirements of
which are repentance towards God, and faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ, and a life of obedience to
the gospel. With these requirements, depending on the grace of God, and in a course of
diligent seeking him, you promise to endeavor
a hearty compliance. Particularly, you promise
to maintain the worship of God in your family,
and to bring up your children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord."
Now, whatever doctrine was contained in the
confession of faith, this covenant imbodied the
gist of Arminianism. The person taking the
covenant is supposed to be unregenerate, and is




MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.     203
made in a covenant with God to promise to
endeavor to repent and believe. That is, he is
taught that there is a virtue and an acceptableness
in his covenanting with God, while in unregeneracy, and promising with unregenerate dispositions, that he will hereafter repent. It is of
course assumed that there are duties to be done
before the first duty of repentance and faith,
which are stepping stones to it. And an unregenerate person is made to pledge himself that
he will do the duties that lead on to repentance
and faith. Here is imbodied, to be taught by
church authority, an error which has been the
ruin of thousands. And it is reasonable to conclude that the doctrine which was here taught
in the church covenant was also taught from
the pulpit. Hence the evidence is conclusive,
that Mr. Treadwell's teaching coincided with
the Arminian scheme; though we are happy to
have learned that he, after his dismission, embraced more scriptural views, and was, near the
close of his life, zealous in support of the doctrines of grace.
Mr. Treadwell was dismissed in 1782 having
been pastor of the church about nineteen years.
Except in the case of the release of Mr. Cob



204      MR. TREADWELL S MINISTRY.
bett, a colleague pastor, to accept a call to Ipswich, this was the first instance in which the
church had dismissed one of her pastors. Thus
for one hundred and fifty years she never, properly speaking, dismissed a pastor. Since that
time, however, for over seventy years, she has
not had a pastor that died while in office. The
aggregate time of the first three pastorates was
one hundred and twenty-five years; and that
of the next six was only fifty-four. The last six
have only averaged nine years each; the first
three averaged forty-one each.
Aside from the consequences of the mischiefs
done to the church in the ministry of Mr. Henchman, and the tendencies thereby set in the
downward direction, there were external causes,
serving to depress religion in the time of Mr.
Treadwell's ministry. That was the time of the
revolutionary war. This war brought in a state
of things which was most disastrous to all our
churches. The whole mind of ministers and
people was absorbed in the struggle, which
could hardly have been more exciting if the life
of every person depended on the issue. And
that war, like all others, brought in with it a
rush of demoralizing elements. And the evil




IMR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.    205
would naturally press heavier here, where the
work of moral ruin was previously in progress.
If the minister had been ever so sound, he would
have found it difficult to have stayed the course
of declension at that time. When members of
the congregation were pouring forth their blood
at Lexington and Bunker Hill, the proper work
of the ministry could have little place. For the
people of Lynn were not behind the rest in their
zeal in this cause. Intelligence of the commencement of the war came upon the people of
Lynn as a midnight cry. By night the report
came to Lynn that the British troops were
marching from Boston towards Concord, and
many rushed forth on the instant, without waiting to be organized-were on the ground in
season to have their share in the battle of Lexington, in which four of the Lynn delegation
sacrificed their lives. When the war had begun
in earnest, and the town chose a committee of
safety to conduct the war measures on behalf of
the town, the ministers of the two parishes,
Messrs. Treadwell and Roby, and Deacon Mansfield, constituted that committee. Mr. Lewis
tells us that Mr. Treadwell, always foremost in
patriotic proceedings, appeared on the Sabbath
18




206      MR. TREADWELL'S MINISTRY.
in the pulpit with a loaded musket, and with a
cartridge box under one arm and a sermon under
the other. This reveals what must have been
the occupation of the public mind, and how little
opportunity there was for the ministry to wield
its spiritual weapons when necessitated to bear
so close upon it those which were carnal. Yet
most of the time of his ministry was taken up
either with the war or with its preliminary agitations.
The negotiations preliminary to his settlement here were protracted and complex. In
July, 1761, the parish unanimously concurred
with the church in giving him a call, voting him
a salary of one hundred pounds, and a settlement of two hundred and the use of the parsonage lands. He did not like the form in
which the vote was put; so he proposed some
modifications and conditions that seemed important to him, but which are not easy now to be
understood. And before the matter was settled
to his mind there were eight successive meetings,
in a series extending over six months; and it
would require a keen inspection to see any important difference between the first vote and
the last.




MR. TREADWELL,' MINISTRY.    207
Nothing appears in the records to show any
want of harmony in his relations with the
people till he had been here about ten years,
and till the necessity of voting money to supply
deficiencies of salary, coming from the depreciation of paper money, occasioned differences. In
1781 a dispute had arisen on a claim of his for
arrearages for two previous years. The parish
invited him to attend their meeting and confer
with them about it. This he refused. He requested them to build a parsonage, and they
refused. The next year he read a memorial to
the parish, setting forth his claims upon them,
and also a paper to the church, called his grievances. About this time he seems to have discontinued his ministry, and in March, 1782,
the parish sent to him a committee to inquire
whether he considered his pastoral relation as
dissolved; and he replied that he did not
know. They inquired what measures he would
take to dissolve it, and he gave no answer.
Afterwards, in March, a committee was sent to
him to see on what terms he would be dismissed,
and he gave no definite answer. Upon this the
parish assumed that the pulpit was vacant, and
raised a committee to supply it. In January




208        MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
after, a committee was raised to confer with him
about the disputed arrears of salary in the previous years, and they reported that his claim
was groundless. The parish then voted to pay
his salary till he had ceased to preach. And in
that informal manner the relation was terminated.
After Mr. Treadwell's dismission, the church
was vacant about two years. Rev. Obadiah
Parsons was installed February 4, 1784. We
are prepared to see that at this time the church
was exceedingly reduced, both in numbers and
spiritual character. When Mr. Treadwell was
settled, the church had only eighteen male members. In the nineteen years of his ministry, a
considerable portion of these must have died
or have been dismissed, and only fourteen male
members were admitted during that time. Those
brought into the church under such influences
as we have seen prevailing in those times could
have little attachment to its principles and little
of a healthy zeal for religion. If they had regenerate character, it must have been for the
most part under a cloud. The deacons of the
church under Mr. Parsons's administration were
William Farrington and Theophilus Hallowell.




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     209
How reliable they were is known from the fact
of their desertion of the church in the hour of
its greatest peril, and carrying with them the
property of the church, and refusing to restore
it till compelled by process of law. They might
have been pious men, but their piety was not in
lively exercise at that time. Nor was their
piety formed on the basis of the doctrines of
grace. For if it had been, they would not have
abandoned them for opposite views. There is
one fact bearing on this subject that ought to be
named, and that is, that it was very difficult to
find men that would serve as deacons when these
deacons came into office. The church had two
vacancies to fill, and they chose Samuel Burrill
and Benjamin Johnson-these declined; then
William Farrington and Colonel Mansfield-these
declined; then John Burrill —and he declined.
Finally the office was accepted by Theophilus
Hallowell and William  Farrington, whose official career was somewhat distinguished. This
office would hardly have been found thus asking
charity had it not been for the low condition of
the church. Three of the men at this time elected to the office were afterwards leaders in the
secession. They concurred in introducing Mr.
18*




210       MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
Parsons. And, from their position, it especially
belonged to them to take the lead in his dismission, when they found him to be an injury. Mr.
Benjamin Johnson, who introduced Jesse Lee,
the first Methodist preacher here, was one of
two who constituted the committee for supplying the pulpit during the interval between Mr.
Treadwell's ministry and Mr. Parsons's. The
suspicions as to Mr. Parsons's habits were then
not unknown; for he had been dismissed from
Gloucester by a council, which had acted on
such suspicions. Though the council dismissed
him with clean papers, they failed to clear all
suspicions from the public mind. There is reason
to believe that, while the parish believed him to
be innocent of the matter of the accusations,
there were some individuals who were willing
to see the society broken up, by settling a minister whose future developments would be likely
to effect that result. Some years ago, an aged
member of this church, now dead, (David Walker,) informed me that, in his boyhood, he heard
between two neighbors living in Market Street
a conversation to this effect: "Are you going
to get that Parsons to preach here? " " Yes."
"Don't you know that he is an adulterer?"




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     211
"Yes; and that is one motive which I have in
getting him."
Now, taking this into view, with the fact
that some persons here had, according to Mr.
Stevens's History, formed a predilection for
Methodist preaching more than ten years before
this time, it might seem that there was on the
part of some a willingness to see this church go
to ruin, to make way for another. And this
derives probability from the fact that those who
had been foremost in the settlement of Mr. Parsons took no part in the work of relieving the
church of the scandal. But when that subject
came under agitation, they led off the secession.
The person who took the lead in bringing formal
charges against the pastor was John Carnes,
one whose name does not appear in the proceedings for his settlement.
In the early part of Mr. Parsons's ministry, an
effort was made by the parish to repair its external and secular interests. Up to this time
there was no parsonage house. Mr. Treadwell
had made proposals to encourage the building
of one, but the parish refused to do it. But now
it was undertaken, and carried through in 1787.
But there was great and long-continued difficulty




212       MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
in collecting the taxes occasioned by the building.
Mr. Parsons was called to settle here in 1783.
He had preached here as a candidate. But before the church had on their part voted to give
him a call, the parish, October 16, 1783, appointed a committee to apply to the clerk of the
council that had advised the dismission of Mr.
Parsons from his former charge in Gloucester,
for a copy of the result of council. It is clear
from this that suspicions were afloat, and though
the council had not condemned him, the public
mind was not satisfied. They procured a copy
of the result of council, and on this the parish
voted, that from what they had heard of Mr.
Parsons's character, they were satisfied, and approved of his preaching here. They also voted
to move the church to act in the matter of giving him a call. The church gave the call. The
parish was notified to meet to act on the same
subject. They met. But in the mean time a new
breeze had crossed their path, affecting the reputation of their candidate. So, instead of voting
the call, they appointed a committee " to inquire
further into the Rev. Mr. Parsons's character." After a week's inquiry, at an adjourned




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     213
meeting, the parish seem to have got satisfaction.
So they gave him a call. He was accordingly
installed.
But it came out afterwards, that the council,
whose result at his former dismission had satisfied the people, had slightly healed the wound
upon his character. For it broke out anew. We
know not how soon. Four years after his installation we find the parish engaged in building a parsonage, which we think they could not
have undertaken if they at that time had not a
general confidence in him.  But three years
later, that is, in 1790, we find the people in a
sad condition. John Carnes and others had
tabled charges before the church affecting the
moral character of their minister. A meeting
of the parish was called in that year to see what
measures the parish would take in vindication of
the Rev. Mr. Parsons's character against certain
charges exhibited by John Carnes and others.
This meeting voted to procure a copy of the
charges, and to choose a committee to act with
the church in making full inquiry into the articles of grievance. The committee reported, but
as to the nature of the report we have no information. The next step taken by the parish is




214        MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
quite remarkable.  They "voted that it is the
sense of this parish that the welfare of the
parish requires that all proceedings with regard
to the pastor should utterly cease." This was a
vote which, passed in such circumstances, after
such charges had been formally brought and not
cleared, would have ruined the reputation of an
innocent man, and which never would have been
passed but from a consciousness that their pastor's character was incapable of defence. This
vote of the parish was laid before the church as
a sort of injunction against any further proceedings by them. There were evidently two parties
in the parish; the one wishing for a full investigation as a means of throwing off the incubus,
and the other determined to sustain the minister
in spite of his delinquencies. One party seemed
to have prevailed when an investigation was
decided on, and the other when it was voted to
hush up the matter. The church made no answer
to the parish's injunction. At the next meeting
the parish chose a committee to apply to the
church for an answer. But no answer appears
on the records.
The next record is unintelligible. It is to the
effect that at an adjourned meeting the parish




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.      215
chose a committee of nine persons to wait on
the council. From this it might appear that the
church, instead of being hushed, had pressed the
matter to a hearing before a council, and that
this is a vote of the parish in concurrence. Here
the loss of the church records leaves us in the
dark. A council might have been resolved on,
and Mr. Parsons might have prevented it. The
next action of the parish on the subject would seem
to indicate that something of the kind had taken
place. For it was called as with an expectation
of closing accounts with the pastor. The notification calls the parish to see if they will give
Mr. Parsons one hundred and ten pounds to dissolve his relation; and if they will not do that,
to see whether they will divide the parish property between the friends and the opponents of
Mr. Parsons; or, if they will not do that, to see
if the parish will consent to Mr. Parsons's continuing in the ministry, provided his friends will
maintain him; and if they will do neither, to
take measures to bring about his dismission.
This meeting was evidently called at the instance
of Mr. Parsons's friends. But at the meeting his
opponents appear to have been in the majority.
John Carnes was chosen moderator, and all the




216       MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
propositions of the call were voted down. In a
week after this there came down upon the parish
an avalanche. A list of one hundred and eight
names was handed in, indicating that so many
had become members of a Methodist society,
and ceased to be taxable to the first parish.
This occurred in May, 1791, which was about
six months after Jesse Lee commenced his
operations here. So that while these proceedings for and against the dismission of Mr. Parsons were going on in the parish, the springs of
Methodism here were gushing forth, and some of
the former leading men of the parish were now
leading in another direction. They had introduced a consuming fire, and escaped in the light of
it. For the months then passing, the mind of this
community was deeply agitated. All that was
exciting in the first movements for the forming
of the Methodist society, and in connection with
the conflict in the old parish, was in process
together.
The next parish meeting was called " to adopt
such measures as the present unhappy state of
the parish called for;" and Mr. Parsons was
invited to attend the meeting, but refused. At
this meeting it was voted that the contract




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     217
between Mr. Parsons and the parish ought to be
dissolved.  A committee of nine persons was
sent to him to see on what terms he would consent to a dissolution. This negotiation ended
in a written document drawn up between the
parties, by which the dissolution was effected,
February 22, 1792.
Being dismissed from the parish, he took no
care to pass the forms of dismission from the
church. So he left them, taking with him his
church records, if he ever made any. And when
the church sought his concurrence in measures
for his dismission, he maintained a sullen silence.
At a church meeting, June 1, 1792, it was voted
that it was desirable that the pastoral relation
should be dissolved as soon as it conveniently
could be. A copy of the vote was sent to Mr.
Parsons by Colonel Mansfield. It was also
voted that, if he be dissatisfied with this proceeding, the church are ready to join with him in a
council. At the next meeting the messenger
reported that Mr. Parsons was out of town on a
journey, and could not be seen. The meeting
was adjourned for another opportunity. They
met again, and Mr. Parsons had contrived to
dodge the messenger again. So they ordered
19




218       MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.
still another attempt to notify him. The unavoidable hinderances of the messenger had
prevented the notification being effected. The
church adjourned once more, and Mr. Parsons
was again out of the way. Still the church
determined to do nothing rashly, and thought it
best to wait a little longer, though they supposed
that he was aware of their action. They adjourned once more, and then, at their adjourned
meeting, they passed a vote declaring the pastoral relation dissolved, at the same time declaring their readiness to refer the matter to a
council, if he desired it. When Colonel Mansfield communicated this vote to Mr. Parsons, he
merely replied, that he had nothing to say.
Mr. Parsons's actual ministry ended at the
time when he made terms of agreement with
the parish to that effect.  At that time he
preached a farewell sermon. And as he regarded the Methodists as the cause of his difficulties,
he directed the main force of his parting benedictions towards them. He is represented to
have been a man of strong natural talents, a
person of large frame and fine appearance,
eminently social in his habits, but more devoted
to his own pleasures than to the work of the




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     219
ministry. He scrupled not to take his place in
every scene of conviviality. But in those times
such habits might not have discredited him, had
there been no grounds of suspicion affecting his
chastity.
When he left Lynn, he returned to Gloucester, and engaged in teaching-where he remained till he died, at the age of fifty-five, in the
year 1801. He had graduated at Cambridge in
1768, and was ordained pastor of the third
church in Gloucester, November 11, 1772. He
was dismissed November 15, 1779, and installed
in Lynn in 1784.
The ministries of Mr. Treadwell and Mr.
Parsons, though both were depressing to the
vitality of the church, presented strong points
of contrast. Mr. Treadwell appears to have
been a gentleman of spotless character.  His
records show that he was, according to his
principles, solicitous for the welfare of the
church. But Mr. Parsons has not so much as
left us any records. The talents and respectability of Mr. Treadwell may be gathered from
the positions which he attained in civil life after
he left the ministry. From  Lynn he removed
to Ipswich, his native place, where he was chosen




220       MR. PARSONS S MINISTRY.
a representative to the legislature. He resided
in Ipswich five years, and then removed to
Salem. He also represented Salem in the legislature, and Essex county in the Senate, and also
became a judge of the Court of Common
Pleas. He had a son, born in Lynn, who became a physician in Salem. And a son of that
son is now a physician of high standing there.
In the later periods of his life, Judge Treadwell was an intimate friend of the senior Dr.
Worcester, of Salem, agreeing in sentiments with
him, and sympathizing in his conflicts for the
truth.
In the time when Mr. Treadwell entered the
ministry, very lax notions prevailed as to what
constitutes a call to that office. And probably
he was one of the many who entered it merely
as a respectable profession, without that adaptation of mind and inclination of heart to it
which constitutes a call from the Holy Ghost.
This may be inferred from his leaving the ministry in the manner which he did, to devote
himself to secular callings, without any apparent
necessity, and without taking the trouble to
preserve his nominal standing in the ministry
by an orderly dismission.




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     221
Of the history of Mr. Parsons little has been
preserved, except what we have stated in a previous page, to wit, that he was settled in Gloucester in 1772, and dismissed there in 1779; and so
must have been in the ministry seven years when
he came to Lynn. After he left Lynn he went
to Gloucester, where he lived nine years, and
died. The maiden name of his wife, that is,
Wigglesworth, is a name distinguished in Puritan history.
The results of the two pastorates now under
review give us an opportunity to compare two
kinds of ministerial deficiency. Mr. Treadwell's
personal character was unimpeachable. Yet,
for want of an exhibition of the strong points
of evangelical truth, he failed in the production
of life, energy, and purity in the church. As to
Mr. Parsons's doctrines, we have no means of
knowledge, though we have no reason to think
them different from what had been preached
here for sixty years before. And if they had
been as orthodox as those of Paul, the truth
held in unrighteousness would have availed
little. In some respects a ministry deficient in
moral character is worse, and in all views it
strikes the common apprehension as more revolt19 




222        MR. PARSONS7S MINISTRY.
ing, than one that is deficient in the only cardinal
truths of Christianity. But the latter will work
as irresistibly towards the destruction of vital
religion in the church as the other. Its injury
to public morals is not so direct, immediate, and
sweeping. Yet even as to morals, it will work
destruction by undermining the foundations.
And if this be so, a people in the calling of a
minister have as much reason to see to it that
evangelical truth be in him, in all its length and
breadth, rooted and grounded, as they have to
find him blameless in morals. With good reason
does the apostle enumerate " heresies " among the
works of the flesh. And he gives heresies a
high position in the climax. He says, "Now
the works of the flesh are these- adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness."  This
seems to be a severe handling of a sin no worse
than teaching contrary to the truth of Christ.
But its malignant character lies in setting aside
of Christ and his salvation, and in its tendency
to dissolve all obligation to Christian obedience;
to sap the foundations of Christian faith and
hope, and overthrow Christian worship and




MR. PARSONS'S MINISTRY.     223
morals. It is thus a wholesale sin. Ience the
apostle tells us that "he that abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ hath not God." So, he says,
" If there come any unto you and bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speed."




CHAPTER        VII.
How LIFE WAS PRESERVED AMID SO MUCH DEATH.CHURCH REDUCED TO FIVE MALE MEMBERS. - SKETCH
OF THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM TO LYNN. 
FIRST METHODISM IN THE COUNTRY.-LEE'S ITINERANCY. - CARRYING OFF THE CHURCH PLATE. - CALL OF
DR. HARRIS. -METHODIST APPEALS TO IGNORANT PASSIONS.
WE have come now to a period in the history
of this church when its few remaining members
must have given up in despair, had it not been
for a special Providence guiding them otherwise,
and a purpose of God to preserve it for good in
after times. Had not God left to us a very small
remnant, we should have been as Sodom, blotted
from existence. And had not that remnant been
impelled by the providence of God to do what
their apparent prospects showed little encouragement for doing, they would have abandoned
the enterprise in despair. The discouragements
which met in their case were complicate and
appalling. A secession of more than a hundred
taxable persons had left them at once. The
(224)




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     225
parish was still divided, as the recent votes in
relation to Mr. Parsons showed. And as to the
church, its numbers were few, and its piety depressed. As men who live long in a pestilential
atmosphere, though they escape death, yet have
their life and energy greatly depressed, so
those of the few remaining members of the
church that at this time had any thing of spiritual life must have been under great disadvantages as to its development, and have had but
little vigor of Christian character, compared
with what they would have had in other circumstances. The preservation of spiritual life at all,
in such circumstances, was a wonder akin to
that of life preserved in a fiery furnace.
The methods which God took to preserve a
remnant of spiritual vitality, in spite of so many
causes working death, may be illustrated in the
experience of an individual now living, whose
conversion took place much later than this, at a
time when the pastor of the church was a professed Unitarian. She was abroad on a visit,
and under the preaching of Dr. Emmons she
became hopefully converted. When she returned,
she applied to the pastor for admission to the
church. He of course had no objections; but in




226     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
discovering the change of her views connected
with her conversion, he was not a little annoyed,
and especially that she had adopted the doctrine
of total depravity.  He scouted it as vulgar.
This shows the way in which some living members came into the church, and the life of the
church was perpetuated by the providence of
God in spite of the ministry employed to extinguish it. Essentially what was realized in this
case might have been in many others. In the
intercourse of the people with other ministers,
and from the reading of the word of God, and
Christian books, some few would probably come
under renewing power; and these, coming into
the church, were its preservation from extinction.
After the Methodist secession, there were only
five male members left in the church. These
were John Mansfild, John Carnes, John Burrill,
Nathaniel Sargent, and Theophilus Bacheller.
There were then twenty-one female members.
A church of twenty-six members, all told, and
members subject to all their disadvantages, was
a frail body to stand in the tempest and convulsions that were breaking around them. The
Methodists were gathering in a single month




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     227
members enough to double theirs. What prepared the way for the introduction of Methodism
here, and what were its results, and what were
the practical lessons which it teaches, may come
under more distinct notice hereafter. I must
here confine myself to a sketch of its introduction. It was introduced here by one of the
leading men of the town. Mr. Benjamin Johnson was a man of wealth and extensive business
connections. He had taken the lead in giving
importance to that branch of business which has
since so predominated in Lynn. And to have
come in under the auspices of such a person was
a great advantage to any new enterprise. Probably there were at that time few, if any, in Lynn
whose name could have given the cause more
strength. To be taken under the patronage of
one of the fathers of the town, and set in at once
at the head of influence, was a new experience
for Methodism. The transition which Mr. Lee
experienced in coming hither from Boston, when
he was on the borders of despair, was refreshing.
Jesse Lee was a man in whom energy, zeal, perseverance, and all the desirable characteristics
of the Methodist ministry predominated. He
had a large, commanding figure, a pleasing coun



228     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
tenance, and great affability and tact in making
an impression favorable to himself. He was a
native of Virginia, and commenced his ministry
there.  He came hither from the south. He
had labored the year before in Connecticut.
That state preceded this by one year in the reception of Methodism.  About that time, the
Arminian doctrine had become veryprevalent in
the Congregational churches there. And through
the prevalence of this, Methodism found a way
of access. It seems to have been effectually repelled where the ministers stood firm on the
Puritan platform, and their churches were well
indoctrinated, as we shall hereafter see. Take
the city of Hartford for a specimen. The two
Congregational churches there at that time held
thoroughly the Calvinistic system. Methodism
approached the place early, and made some
encouraging beginnings there, but never got a
permanent footing till Maffit introduced it, when
that comet was sweeping the horizon. In one
of the early instances in which Methodism proposed itself to Hartford, it was brought thither
by Asbury, the first Methodist bishop.  Dr.
Strong was then the pastor of the first church.
He was requested to grant permission for Asbury




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    229
to preach in his house. He did it without hesitation, and gave notice on the Sabbath that
the Right Reverend Asbury, bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal church in the United
States, would preach in that house that evening.
Moved by the sound of such imposing titles,
and wondering what the Methodist Episcopal
church of the United States might be, almost
the whole city came together to hear him.
Though Mr. Asbury might have been a very
good man, and good preacher, he could not redeem all the promises of such a prospectus, and
the people went away with their curiosity satisfied for that time. And Bishop Asbury went
away without having done all the good that he
would have done.
But Jesse Lee was the proper father of
Methodism in Connecticut. Ile commenced in
the vicinity of Bridgeport, and succeeded in
establishing some classes there, before he came
hither. Ile transplanted the stock into New
England, after it had had an extensive planting
in some of the other states. It was introduced
into New York in 1766. It had extended
south, along the line of the Atlantic states, till
it numbered forty-three thousand members and
20




230     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
two hundred preachers. That was the strength
of the body when it sent a mission to the home
of the Puritans, and laid out New England as
so much waste ground to be recovered to Christianity.
And it may be pertinent here to give the
origin of the first budding of the stock after it
was transplanted from the old country, and set
in American soil. I give it as related by Dr.
Bangs, a father of Methodism, and published in
Rupp's History of All Religions: " A few Methodist emigrants from Ireland landed in New
York in 1766. One of them, Philip Embury,
had been a local preacher. But finding there
no Methodists, they attended public worship
nowhere, and came near making shipwreck of
faith and a good conscience. The next year
there came over another Irish Methodist family,
in which was a woman whose zeal was alive.
She learned the facts of the declension of those
that had preceded her, and found that they
were freely mingling in the amusements of the
world. This excited her indignation. She suddenly entered the room where they were assembled, snatched from them the cards with which
they were playing, threw them into the fire, and




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    231
turned to Mr. Embury, and said,'You must
preach to us, or we shall all go to hell together.'
He said that he had no house nor congregation.
At length he yielded to the persuasion to
preach in his own house to these few emigrants;
and this little assembly was the first Methodist church in this country, and the mother
of all the rest. And the Methodist ministry
here began in one who could so easily pass
from the pulpit to the card table, and from the
card table back to the pulpit."
But to return to Mr. Lee. He had commenced his work in Connecticut, and was seeking to get a foothold in Boston. After a laborious attempt, he was well nigh giving it up in
despair, when he received a letter from Mr.
Johnson, inviting him to Lynn. Mr. Johnson
was at this time a member of the Congregational church. But twenty years before this, he
had at the south heard Methodist preachers, and
was pleased with them. And contemplating the
state of things here, with no reference to what
had gone before, it might be supposed that a
serious man might conclude, that the sad disease
of the public mind might demand some remedies out of the common course. From Mr.




232     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
Johnson being pleased with Methodist preaching enough to take the pains to call it in from
abroad, it is probable that its doctrines were
his doctrines; though this was not true of all
that seceded from the First Church on that occasion. Deacon Farrington, after some years'
trial, left the Methodists, and came back to the
old church where Calvinism was professed and
encouraged in the church, however it was treated
in the pulpit. And Deacon Hallowell never
gave up the doctrine of the saints' perseverance,
nor struck his surrender to the Methodist system of doctrines. Indeed, the earlier times of
Methodism in Lynn were better than these. In
the first generation of Methodists here, there
was more of conservative element. Many of
the leading men who then gave tone to the body
were men of another spirit. Some of that old
school of Methodists were on the ground when
I came here. Elijah Downing was second to no
one for character and influence in the Methodist
body. Yet Elijah Downing adhered to the
Calvinist system of doctrines till the day of his
death. Jonathan Tuttle was not as decidedly Calvinistic as he, but his sympathies for Calvinists
were strong, and he had more in common with




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    233
us than most of his sect, and would very frequently be found in attendance on our preaching in preference to his own. But this is a
digression.
Obedient to his call, on the 14th of December,
1790, Jesse Lee arrived at the house of Mr.
Johnson. He says, "I got there a little after
dark, and felt as though I was at home as soon
as I arrived." A desire was expressed by the
people to have a Methodist society established
in the town before they heard him preach. So
clear is the evidence that the way had been
fully prepared for Methodism before the coming
of its apostle. By three successive ministries
preaching Arminianism, the common mind had
imbibed those views of religion in which Methodism consists. The mass of the people, so far
as they had any religious inclinations, were
Methodists in all but the outward organization,
and so prepared to seek that with the forwardness which they manifested. And when Lee
came hither to make Methodists of the people,
he found that the work had been done for him.
In the evening next after his arrival he preached
the first Methodist sermon in Lynn. He said,
"I had a good many hearers, and great freedom
20 *




2 34    INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
in preaching. I bore public testimony against
unconditional election and reprobation." But it
so happened that he gave his testimony against
culprits that were not in court. For precious
little was there of a belief of those doctrines in
Lynn. His next sermon was at Mr. Lye's, at
Wood End. Here too was a large assembly,
including several Quakers. He had not met
with a company of people for a long time that
had so much of the appearance of Methodists.
This is effectual testimony as to the existing
views of the people. The house of Mr. Johnson, where he found his first home, was in
Market Street, on the present site of the Exchange Building. The people flocked to hear
his preaching by hundreds. In February he
formed his first class, consisting of eight persons. A week after twenty-one were added.
In May the number was fifty-one.   At that
time one hundred and eight persons "signed
off" from the first parish. The first meetings
of the society were held in the house of Mr.
Johnson. Soon his large dwelling house proved
insufficient for the worshippers. Then his barn
became their sanctuary. This stood near the
corner of Market and Essex Streets. Here the




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     235
gospel trumpet sounded so loud as to be heard
at the distance of a mile.
Among the persons engaged in putting forward the Methodist enterprise, next to Benjamin Johnson, was Enoch Mudge, the father of
the preacher of that name. And the house of
Mr. Mudge divided with    Mr. Johnson the
honor of the head quarters of the new phalanx.
And that house stood on the very ground on
which our meeting house is built. It was removed to give place to this house, and now
stands the last in Commercial Street, next to the
West Lynn depot. This, then, is one of the
localities where the prayers and counsels that
impelled the first springs of the movement were
held; and those Methodists whose memory went
back to the beginnings naturally looked on with
sadness, when they saw that house removed to
give place to another altar.
Mr. Lee was allowed in some instances to
preach in the evening in the meeting house of
the first parish. The denying him of this privilege was one impulse, which put forward the
building of the first Methodist meeting house.
That house was built so as to be used for worship in twelve days from the commencement of




236     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
cutting the timber in the forest. It was not
finished inside for a long time. It was the wish
and ruling of Mr. Lee that the meeting house
should be built with all possible plainness, without steeple or pews, or other ordinary features of
meeting houses. And there is a tradition that
when he came to Lynn on a visit, many years
after his mission here, and saw the present
meeting house of the first Methodist church, with
its steeple and bell, and all the common conveniences of meeting houses, he was indignant at
the mark of degeneracy in his church, and even
refused to preach in the new house. When that
new house was built, the first one was removed
from its site at the east end of the Common, and
purchased by a company, that intended to make it
a political reading room. It was allowed by
vote of this parish to be set on its parsonage
lands for a term of years. But as the war of
1812 soon after ceased, and the political excitement declined, it was little used for that purpose. It was next purchased by an individual
interested in promoting a Baptist society. Its
next service was to cradle the infancy of the
Baptist church, and our parish sold the land for
its site as a Baptist church. Afterwards it was




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     337
used many years as a school house. Then it came
into the possession of the Irish Romanists, who
are remodelling it for future centuries. It has
attained the age of sixty-four years, and is useful as a measure of the age of Lynn Methodism.
To the Methodist pioneers Lynn was a paradise, in which they found refreshment from the
toils and rigors of their work in less inviting
fields. Mr. Lee's journal flashes with delight
when he speaks of it. Bishop Asbury, when
here on a visit, called it "the perfection of
beauty." With a sort of prophetic impulse, in
a case which required no spirit of prophecy, he
said, "Here we shall make a firm stand, and
from this central point, from Lynn, shall the
light of Methodism and truth radiate through
the state."  Methodism  never would have acquired any thing like its present position, had it
not been for the early encouragement which
it found here, through the disastrous defections
of the ministers and people from the Puritan
faith. Even in Boston, with all the defections
there, it found it next to impossible to make
a beginning. And it could do nothing there
till it had acquired a vantage ground here.
The society formed here by Mr. Lee was, as




238     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISIM.
we have seen, composed in part of the members
of the first church. Mr. Johnson, and the two
deacons, Farrington and Hallowell, and we
know not how many more, especially of females,
were members of this church. Nor did they go out
empty. They, in one respect at least, imitated
the Israelites' flight from Egypt. They spoiled
the Egyptians. They took with them the communion vessels of the church, which, being
numerous and made of solid silver, were very
valuable. They had been mostly given to the
church, eighty years before, by individuals whose
names and act of gift had been engraved on the
vessels themselves; so that there could be no mistake as to the donors' intent, that they should be
for the perpetual use of this church alone, and not
the personal property of individuals becoming
members for a while, and then dividing the
spoil. They were given by orthodox men before Methodism had a being, and before the
defection from the original principles began.
Most of them bear the date of 1721, which was
the year when Mr. Shepard's ministry closed.
They came from men reared under his ministry,
and as the result of the full prosperity of the
church which his ministry produced. So that




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    239
there was no shadow of ground to claim that
they equitably belonged to Methodists, rearing
altar against altar; so that their claim to have
the half of those vessels if the church would
consent to divide with them, or the whole if
they would not, was preposterous. We see not
how they could have made it plausible to their
own minds, except on the ground that the old
church was dead, and they were heirs and
administrators upon its estate. Probably they had
something of this feeling. But in that case they
showed an indecent haste to administer on the
estate before the old lady had ceased to breathe.
After the church had waded through all the
difficulties of completing the dismission of Mr.
Parsons, and the difficulties of ascertaining
whether he were dismissed or not, they undertook another difficult work —the recovery of
their property. They began by appointing a
meeting of the church, and inviting the seceding
brethren to be present to confer with them.
The record says, that "those brethren entered
into a very long conversation upon various matters, and then introduced the matter of the
plate, and proposed a division of it, or the loan
of a part of it to their society; and they did




240     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
not incline that any other matter should be taken up. The church put the question to them
whether they were Congregationalists. To that
they made no answer, but left the impression
that they were Methodists, and determined to
continue so." Though they were leading members of the Methodist society, they threatened to
call a meeting of the Congregational church,
and carry a majority with them, and procure a
settlement of the question to their mind. When
they retired from the conference, the church
voted that "these brethren, having seceded to
another denomination, were no longer members
of this church."  And they also voted "that
they would proceed in a regular manner towards
the settlement of a minister, who shall be a man
of piety and learning," and also to prepare
the way for the administration of the Lord's
supper, which seems to have been intermitted
during the confusion attending the last days of
Mr. Parsons's ministry. A day was appointed
for the administration of the ordinance, and Mr.
Robey, of Saugus, was invited to administer it.
A committee was sent to the absconding deacons for the church plate to be used on the
occasion. But it was refused, except on condi



INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     241
tion that they would be content to receive half
of it. They were asked to give their answer in
writing, but they would not do it. They said
that they had pledged themselves to their associates that they would not do it. The whole
was demanded in the name of the church, and
was refused. The ordinance of the supper was
administered at the appointed time. The plate
of the Saugus church was borrowed, and
Messrs. Burrill and Sargent officiated as deacons.
At an adjourned meeting in 1792, it was voted
to commence a suit for the church plate, and
that the parish should be invited to join with
the church in it. It was also voted to request
the parish to unite with the church in observing
a day of fasting and prayer, " that they might be
directed in the choice of a minister, who is both
pious and learned," and also that the parish
unite with the church in the employment of persons to preach as candidates. The parish concurred in all these proposals.  The fast was
observed November 25, 1792. The public exercises were conducted by Rev. Messrs. Mottey,
Robey, Payson, and Barnard. In July follow21




242     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
ing, the church gave a call to Thaddeus Mason
Harris, afterwards Dr. Harris, of Dorchester,
who had preached here some time as a candidate. He declined, because he had "reason to
expect to be equally useful and more happy in
the undivided and undistracted town of Dorchester." He was highly respectable for character and talents, and a most zealous Unitarian,
though even the name of Unitarianism was not
known by the people when they called him.
If he had been settled here, the church from
that time forward would doubtless have been
a Unitarian church. Here, then, was another
point of its history, where it escaped extinction.
The fact that the church then called a minister
who afterwards assumed the type and name of
Unitarian, is no proof of any intention of theirs
to depart from the original foundations. For in
those days those who had Unitarian tendencies
carefully concealed them. And very few, if any,
of the ministers had proceeded further than the
half way house of Arminianism. Few, if any,
denied the proper deity of Christ. And it was
not to be expected that a church whose antecedents had such connections with Pelagian or




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    243
Arminian preaching should take alarm at any
thing in the cautious outgivings of Dr. Harris
while in his youth.
In about a year after the declinature of Dr.
Harris, the church gave a call to Mr. Thomas
C. Thacher. That was a cloudy day when
this church voted that call: already reduced,
as to all the elements of strength, numbers,
piety, discrimination of doctrine, and zeal for
the truth, she now came into a way to be still
more reduced. She might have conceived that
she had touched the bottom of her depressions
when the secession took place. But the worst
trials were yet to come.
There seems to be a special significancy in the
aspirations of the church, now put forth, for a
ministry that is both pious and learned. For
this a day of prayer was appointed. And repeatedly in the record of votes is a record made
of a purpose to secure a minister that is learned
and pious.
There is in this recorded determination a tacit
answer to the claim which came in with the
Methodist preaching-to the effect that preachers should be pious, and then it was no matter
whether they were learned or not. In some




244     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
instances this notion was carried so far as to
involve the idea that the more ignorance one
had, the better were his qualifications to preach.
This pretence has sometimes come forth in
forms so gross as to provoke the challenge to
tell how much ignorance is necessary to qualify
one to be a good minister. Justice requires us
here to say, that Methodists have now wholly
abandoned the appeals to ignorant passion and
prejudice against learning in the ministry, by
which they had so much of their first success.
Whatever errors they once had on that subject,
they have fully repented of, and are now zealous,
as far as their circumstances and means will
allow, to secure a learned ministry. Yet, while
tracing the lines of history, we are bound to
take notice of facts of an opposite kind, in their
early days, - especially of a fact which was so
material as that, —one which contributed so
much to their success, and which was such an
element in the agitation of the popular mind.
Doubtless, at that time this was a great theme
of popular disputation; some insisting, from the
contrasts drawn from Mr. Parsons, that it was
only needful that a minister should be pious,
and others granting that their last learned min



INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.     245
ister was not pious, yet insisting that such a
thing was possible as a minister that is both
learned and pious.
Be that as it may, the general history is clear.
Methodist preaching in those days was plentifully interlarded with phrases framed to cast
odium on a learned ministry, and on those who
held with Paul, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. The declamation
against a ministry that required a salary on
which to live, had so large a part in the first
Methodist preaching, and formed such an element in Methodist character, that now, when
salaries are found to be necessary to Methodist
ministers, its results are one of the greatest
hinderances to Methodist progress. The curses
sent forth against those who preached the gospel
and lived of the gospel have returned upon their
authors, in habits of those people formed after
their preaching.
In those times, and by those people, a preacher's learning was taken as a ground of presumption that he had not the true inspiration. This
was the argument by which thousands were
gained to the standard of Wesley; and yet with
great inconsistency, - since Wesley's learning
21 *




246     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
was no small element of his power, and the
very preachers who gloried in the inspirations
of ignorance, and denounced a learned ministry,
gave to Wesley especial homage. Yet, in that
day, the ministry of the old church only reaped
what they had sown. By covering up the light
which our Puritan fathers had kindled here,
they had been the occasion of such an amount
of popular ignorance, that hundreds were ready
to be caught with such chaff. If Samuel Whiting, or the like of him, had been the minister of
this church till the present time, Jesse Lee would
have declaimed against a learned ministry in
vain. If the Bible learning and the Bible spirit,
which dwelt in Whiting and in the church
nursed by him, had been cherished by all the
successive generations as he cherished it, it
would have been impossible to cast a sneer upon
it. So, in some sense, it was a retribution in
kind, when that little forlorn hope of a church
was so hard pressed by such opprobrious words.
"The fathers had eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth were set on edge." Those children were identified with a church that had sustained a ministry in putting out the true light,
and now a visitation comes upon them in the




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    247
form of an open warfare against Bible learning.
The popular mind around them is charged with
the belief that learning in the ministry is exclusive of piety in the ministry.
But we have digressed from the history of the
church plate. The Methodists persisted in retaining the plate, and the parish assumed the pecuniary responsibility of the lawsuit for its recovery from them, and retained Mr. Sullivan, who
was afterwards governor of the state, as counsel
to carry on the prosecution. But after proceedings had gone far enough to convince the Methodists that they could not retain the plate without a lawsuit, and probably to convince them
that there was no hope of success in such a suit,
they gave it up. At what time it was given up
the record does not show. Under date of January, 1797, there is a record made which gives a
description of each article. But this is near six
years after they were first taken by the Methodists, and five years after a demand was made
for them. And when they did come back, one
of the deacons who took them away came with
them. For at the same meeting in which a
record was made of the plate received, a record
was made that William Farrington, on his re



248     INTRODUCTION OF METhTODISM.
quest, was received into the church and restored
to its communion. After Mr. Thacher was settled, three years before this, and while the question of the plate was still pending, the church,
as it seems to us, not knowing all the circunstances of the case, very unwisely by vote requested them to come back. They had gone out
from them, and the church had very properly,
upon that, voted that they were not of them, and
no longer members with them. But now, after
Mr. Thacher came in, and, as it would seem,
under his suggestion, they had a meeting, in
which deploring the smallness of their number,
they appointed a committee to invite the seceding members to return, and assuring the deacons
that they would be allowed to resume their office
in case of their returning. The votes in this
case are in Mr. Thacher's style, and plainly
show his hand; and he thus gives the reason for
such a procedure: "The church is the rather
influenced to this procedure from the convictions
of duty, and that it might be a fact of public
notoriety, that no barrier has been erected by
them in hinderance of the return of the said
brethren and sisters." Now there was plainly
no such duty in the case, and there could be no




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    249
apparent ground on which the responsibility
of their not returning could be thrown upon the
church.
In the interim between Mr. Parsons's departure and Mr. Thacher's advent, the church had
Mr. Robey, of Saugus, for their adviser. And
during that trying period all their votes and
proceedings are characterized with sound discretion and full knowledge of ecclesiastical
principles and usages. Under the same auspices
such a vote as this would not have occurred.
Now we have two conflicting churches - the
one in the flush of youth, and with the prestige
of great success, and the other under great discouragement and disgrace. It appears a tempesttossed and barely floating wreck, with a few
hands desperately employed to keep her from
sinking. Her antecedents, and the remembrance
of what she had suffered, were enough to crush
her. While the other was known only as a new
and successful body. We contrast these two
alone, not that these occupied the whole town,
but because they occupied the whole field of
conflict. The Quakers have not, in these times
at least, been a church militant. Their zeal for
proselytes has not troubled their neighbors.




250     INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
And however extensive their influence has been
in their own sphere, that sphere has not been
one of aggression. Besides the Quaker society,
the Congregational church and the Methodist
church were the only churches in the place at
the commencement of the present century. And
it will be seen at a glance what vast advantages,
in this state of things, lay on the side of Methodism, to put its own impress on the rapidly growing population, and make them what it would
have them. And now we can look back and see
how it has done it. In one year after Lee commenced his labors here, he reported one hundred
and eighteen members received to his church.
The next year he had one hundred and sixtysix. But the next year-the year in which
Mr. Thacher was settled-the Methodist membership declined, and continued to decline for
six years, till, in 1801, only eighty-two members
were reported. The next year it rose to one
hundred and twenty-one. Twenty years later
the number was four hundred. Nine years
ago the number of Methodist professors in all
the town was about eight hundred. At that
date Lynn had furnished twenty-one Methodist
preachers.




INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.    251
It will be seen that great results, affecting
the character of the town and the interests of
innumerable minds, were brought in by the
change in Lynn's ecclesiastical history that we
have here had under notice. The nature of
those results remains yet to be spoken of.




CHAPTER       VIII.
ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
I AM now coming under the necessity of saying some things which will be unpleasant for me
to say, and for many to read. That I take no
pleasure in speaking of the faults of Methodism
may be learned from the testimony of my stated
hearers, who will bear me witness that the name
MJethodism has been strange to my pulpit. But
since Providence now opens the way for me to
speak of the results of near twenty years' observation, made here upon the throbbings of the
very heart of New England Methodism, I feel
called upon to record my deliberately formed
judgment.
In doing it, I shall first set before my mind's
eye some real Christians, whom I find in the
Methodist body, for my audience, and invite
them to come with me to a survey of some facts
which should enter into a true estimate of Methodism. But let me first detain you with a few
preliminary words.
(252)




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      253
When Methodism came into Lynn, it came to
claim its own. Whatever hindered its coming
hither, Puritanism did not. Calvinism was not
here in any living force. For a long time all
the preaching that was in Lynn had been a
preaching of just the same doctrines that are
now heard in our Methodist pulpits. So, when
Jesse Lee arrived to plant the Methodist standard, he declared that he had not for a long time
felt himself so much as if at home, and among
Methodists.  And why should he not be at
home? The people were like Methodists because they were Methodists. The whole current
of their preaching for fifty years had been the
preaching of Methodist doctrines, without Methodist forms and names. The difference between
Mr. Henchman's preaching and Mr. Lee's was,
that the one was dead and the other was alive.
And a living dog is better than a dead lion. So
the people would readily welcome an enginery
that could infuse life into a system which they
had already cherished. Indeed, so well had the
ground been prepared for such a one as Jesse
Lee, that if there had been no Jesse Lee, the soil
would have spontaneously produced one. Then
there was no Universalism or Unitarianism, and
22




254        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
little of professed infidelity. Most who were
not Calvinists were Arminians. All irreligion,
and much of the apparent religion, sympathized
with Arminianism. So Methodism had this advantage, that its doctrines were in favor even
with the irreligious. It had affinities of faith
with the opposers of vital godliness even while
it had so much appearance of vitality. The
change which it brought to Lynn was an artificial life infused into a preexisting body of doctrines. Arminianism used with no more outward
forces than are needful to the effect of the truth,
is sure eventually to become cold and dead.
Yet it is capable of great energy when set in the
Methodist system, employed as a galvanic apparatus to give it seeming life. So Romanism
is a most energetic system in its way. That,
too, has its basis in the Arminian doctrines. It,
like Methodism, denies the doctrines of election,
of efficacious grace, of perseverance.  And it
inculcates the existence of sinless perfection,
and even more, of works of supererogation; that
is, becoming more than perfect. And with these
Methodist doctrines Romanism has wrought with
fearful power. But the power lay especially in
a machinery so well fitted to the doctrines.




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       255
These doctrines are nowhere found to have a
vitality in themselves, or in the Holy Ghost,
which gives a power to the simple preaching of
them. They need the bellows to raise the flame,
which expires as soon as the bellows rests.
Where Arminianism is simply preached, and no
more enforced by machinery than gospel truth is
required to be enforced, it is powerless. Yet
when set in the system of Romanism, addressing
with superhuman dexterity so many principles
and passions of depraved nature, it has made
the world to tremble before it. But a power
that is imparted by machinery cannot be the
power of God unto salvation. The faith of
believers does not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God. So, invariably, Arminianism, wherever it has gone unsupported by the
Methodist economy, or the Romish economy, or
something like it, has put into the sleep of death
every considerable branch of the church that
has adopted it. The modern development of it,
under the auspices of Arminius himself, appropriated to itself what was at a time the preponderant power of the church in Holland; and
now the Dutch Remonstrants in all the Netherlands have dwindled to the compass of four




25G       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
thousand people. In France and Switzerland,
the stealthy infusion of this doctrine brought
the once Calvinistic churches to the brink of
the grave. In England, the Presbyterian church
came to its death by it. In Scotland, Moderatism,
another name for Arminianism, went far enough
to show that it was working only death. In
Massachusetts, it rocked the cradle of infant
Unitarianism in a hundred churches. For all
these churches abandoned Calvinism, and became Arminians before they became Unitarians.
In truth, there was here no apostasy from Calvinism to Unitarianism. But it was in all cases
the natural transition from Arminianism to Unitarianism.
These historical facts illustrate the incompetency of Arminianism, or of the Methodist doctrines, to supply the energy of a religious body
without artificial and unscriptural appliances,
such as Methodism has. This of itself shows
those doctrines to be fundamentally wrong, and
not, like the gospel truth, the proper channels of
divine life.  Doctrines that cannot preserve
church life by the preaching and ordinances
which God has appointed, without the aid of
a galvanic battery, are not the incorruptible




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      257
seed that liveth and abideth forever. But do
not Calvinistic churches die out? That is the
question. Do they? Do churches while Calvinistic die out? Single branches, from local causes,
here and there may die from a tree that has a
living root and stock; but where did the main
body of any community of Calvinistic churches
die out before they had lost their Calvinism?
And very rarely did any go away from Calvinism but through the Arminian road. There have,
as we have already seen, been many instances in
which churches have first migrated into different
regions of doctrines, and then have sickened and
died. And the adoption of simple Arminianism
by a church has, in the light of all history, been
shown to be the first stage of a consumption on
its vitals. This approach to death has come for
want of the quickening force of the doctrines of
the cross. The church is sanctified through the
truth. Cut off from the truth, no human art
can prolong its life.
"But great success has attended Methodism."
True; and still greater success has attended
Romanism, and for a like cause. But it is yet
to be proved whether it is not, in the preponderant result, success in turning men from the sim22*




A258      ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
plicity that is in Christ. But we shall have
more of this hereafter.  One great difficulty
which we have ever felt about it is, that Methodist
teaching seems to be framed to meet the tastes
of depraved minds; that Methodism has its success more in that it can preach what the enemies
of the cross wish to hear, than in any thing else.
It labors not to bring men up to religion, but to
bring religion down to the depraved inclinations
of men.
So, when Methodism came to Lynn, it produced great results, because it took hold of the
doctrines which lay in the minds of almost all
men here, and wrought them with the steam,
levers, and pulleys of a new engine.
But why did it come hither under the hand of
a detachment sent from the main body of Methodists holding the less evangelized fields of the
south? Why did it come to Lynn in the person
of a Virginian? Mr. Stevens, in his Memorials
of Methodism, tells us that it came as a protest
against some of the main doctrines of Puritanism.
If that were so, Lynn was the last place to which
it should have come, instead of the first, for
there was the least of those doctrines here. He
says, " It came with the voice of remonstrance




ESTIMATE OF METIODISM.       259
against some of the principal doctrines of the
Puritan church, which it deemed derogatory to
the gospel, and of dangerous practical consequence. Such were the tenets of preelection,
prereprobation, final perseverance, infant damnation, &c."-p. 41.
Now, let this be borne in mind by those who
say that there is no essential difference between
us and the Methodists. The Methodists tell us
here that there is a very important difference.
From their position in the south they saw the
land of the Puritans in such desolation as to
move their compassions, to leave the waste places
of the south and come over into this Macedonia,
this more waste place, and help us from under
the power of these dangerous doctrines. When
the Methodist historian tells us that so renowned a missionary of theirs brought Methodism hither for such a cause, he tells us that it
esteemed the religion of New England as worse
than none. And that concurs with the present
givings forth here in Methodist pulpits, just as
often as those pulpits get inflamed on the subject of these horrible doctrines of Calvinism.
What is here said of our teaching the doctrine
of infant damnation will be more remarked upon'I-noftor.




260       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
It is said that the purpose of Methodism coming hither was to put forth a voice of remonstrance against Puritan doctrines, which were
so dangerous and pernicious as to make this
properly a missionary field. But how surprised
will the reader be to find that this bearing testimony against Puritan doctrines was just the
thing that the pioneers avoided whenever conversation on these doctrines was desired. Mr.
Stevens tells us over and over again that their
policy was, when ministers and leading members of the Puritan churches desired to converse with them about "principles," to evade the
discussion if possible. He reports Mr. Lee as
saying of Mr. Bartlett, of Reading, Connecticut,
whom he calls the "pugnacious Congregationalist," that " the minister and a few other people
came in, and wanted to enter into a conversation about principles, and inquired what kind
of doctrines we held. But I said little." In
Farmington he was invited to dine; but he said,
" We had been there but a short time before the
old man began to talk about principles, and the
old lady to prepare dinner. * * * I thought it
best to be moving." The instances of this kind
abound, showing that when the ministers and




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       261
people demanded of them a frank statement of
the new principles which they were offering to
the people, they could not get it. Then they
thought it best " to be moving." Yet when
there were none to call them in question, as in
Lynn, there they were not averse to talking about
principles. Then he says, "I bore public testimony against unconditional election." So did
not the reformers of other days. Their mission
required no skulking.
Mr. Stevens represents adroitness in dodging
as well provided for in Methodism. He says it
is a system made up of marked contrasts. "No
church preaches more stanchly against Calvinism, Universalism, et cetsera; and yet the opposite doctrines are nowhere directly stated in our
articles of religion." So Calvinism and Universalism are classed together, as equally bad,
but neither of them marked in the creed as
opponents to be met to the face. The discretion of the pulpit must determine if a sprinkling of Universalism here, and of Calvinism
there, be not best. But this part of his statement is true, that none preach against Calvinism with more vehemence than Methodists.
Here, in Lynn, where Calvinism little prevails,




262        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
the Methodist pulpit revels in denunciations
of it.
We come now more directly to our estimate
of the nature and results of Methodism. It
will do my Methodist friends no harm to look
at their system through my spectacles; for I
have often looked at mine through theirs without injury.
"0, wad some power the giftie gie us,
To see oursels as others see us,
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
And foolish notion;
What airs in dress and gait would lea' us,
And e'en devotion! "
For two generations Methodism has had its
way in forming the character of the people of
Lynn. And that character, with limited exceptions, is very much what Methodism has made it.
With inconsiderable exceptions the Methodist
doctrine has been taught here a century and
a quarter; and it has had a chance to work
out its proper results on the common mind here
more unmixed with other systems than any
where else in New England. Here it has done
its best -has employed its best ministers -has
found its best field -and has had the fewest




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       263
obstacles. So it becomes a question of great
interest to all the friends of Christ, What are
the true results of Methodism here, in the place
which God has allotted it, for showing its proper
fruits? In this laboratory of peculiar elements
of human character an experimental process has
extended through a century, and now its result
has come out for the instruction of the world.
Now we have a rare opportunity to inspect the
proper work of Methodism, and compare it with
that of the gospel, pure and simple. And we
are bound to improve it to the best advantage.
And what has this system produced, so much in
advance of Puritanism? Has it evangelized the
people faster and in greater proportion? Has
it produced a piety so much more clear and unquestioned? - conversions more genuine and reliable? - a Christian character more intelligent,
staid, and free from backslidings?- more beneficent and ready to make sacrifices for Christianity? In short, has it shown results enough,
better than those of Puritanism, to justify its
having left the wastes of the south, and chosen
out New England as the most waste of all the
waste fields to be occupied? You see what a
reputation Lynn has abroad. Methodists may




264       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
be partial to the work of their own hands, and
rejoice in this reputation, and estimate the character of Lynn above that of all other people,
because it is more to their taste and judgment.
But surely they cannot place it so much above
all people as to make Puritan places wastes,
and this the garden of the Lord. We outsiders cannot see that it has any advantage
over the other places. We have the impression
that when laid in the balances it will be found
wanting.
We not only see that Methodism has wrought
serious injury to the religious and moral interests
of the people, but the process by which it has
done it is clear to our apprehension: that is the
process which has multiplied spurious conversions. Some years ago a company of Methodist
ministers had been assembled in Lynn, on a public occasion; and at a casual meeting of many
of them, where the presence of any one but a
Methodist was not known to them, this evil was
brought under discussion as an admitted fact;
and the question was, Why do so many more
Methodist converts backslide than those of Congregationalists? Various reasons were assigned,
including some of what we think to be the true




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       265
reasons. This shows that they are not ignorant
of the evil which they are doing.
This evil has large manifestations in Lynn —
the place of Methodism's longest abode and
greatest strength. During my residence here I
have made extensive observations on the results
of Methodist revivals. Were I disposed to be
severe, as I have been represented to be, I should
have drawn a life-like picture of what is said
and done at the Methodist altar, or camp meetings, in Methodist revivals, constituting what
may be called a religious comedy. But I spare
the description; for it is the efect of these comic
operations with which we are specially concerned. And this is a serious matter. In whatever way a mind may be wrought upon under
the excitements of such scenes, if the person can
be made to speak, and shout " Glory to God!"
he is treated as one converted. But after the
excitement is gone he finds his mistake. Then
he says to himself, " These ministers and Christians told us that that was conversion. Of
course it is all the vital religion that they have
experienced. So all vital religion is a sham.
Say no more to us of conversion, for we have
tried it, and found it a cheat."  Now, fearless
23




266       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
of contradiction, I may affirm that there are
thousands of people in Lynn that have taken up
this conclusion from these premises.
I will not take upon me to assert the definite
proportion of the Methodist conversions that
prove spurious. The impression which I have
gathered from laying a variety of facts together
is, that about nine tenths of the whole are found to
be spurious after a longer or shorter trial. This
may be an over statement. If the actual proportion could be made out by statistics, it would
be an important item of knowledge; and I hope
that some one who has the means of doing it
will give us the facts in a reliable form. Until
this is done, my impression will be, that the proportion is as I have stated it. I will give some
of the instances on which I have based my
conclusion. A case occurred, during Rev. Mr.
Rockwood's ministry here, in Saugus village, in
which he attended some of the meetings, and
took pains to inform himself both of the proceedings and then of the results. In that case
there were thirty converts received into the
class, and at the end of a year only two of
these remained in the church.  One of those
converts who characterized Mr. Rockwood's re



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       267
marks in the meeting as " milk and water " must
have been one of the two, for he became afterwards a Methodist minister, and still later a
Universalist minister. I am also informed of
another case, in the same village, which occurred
later, in which forty persons were said to be converted, every one of whom backslid; and of still
another, extending more through the town, in
which one hundred and five were counted as
converts, all but two of whom fell away.
Of the cases which have come under my own
observation, the proportion of those falling away
has not been as great; but it has been too great
to be believed by those not familiar with Methodist operations. Where numbers have been
given, it has appeared that about nine tenths
have fallen away. And this I have been led to
think is about the average proportion. But if
I mistake when I say that nine tenths of Methodist converts backslide, let those who have the
means correct the mistake. It is, in this community, a matter of common notoriety that a
vast majority do thus backslide. And if the
precise proportion can be given, it would be a
valuable though sad contribution to our knowledge.




268       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
It is clear as noonday that the gospel, as
preached by the apostles, was followed by no
such disastrous results. One of the sad results
of this state of things is the levity with which
church relations and a profession of religion
come to be treated, by reason of the fact that
people come in and go out so easy, and are so
often reconverted and backslidden, excommunicated and restored. As a specimen, there now
occurs to me the case of one who had had numerous conversions. In speaking casually of the
subject, without a thought of uttering any thing
peculiar, she said she " had been a member of the
church, off and on, seventeen years." Nor was
there any thing peculiar in it. There are hundreds who might say the same, and who would
probably be as indifferent whether they were
off or on. A man who had been often converted
in this way, and whose moral habits in the intervals while backslidden were not the most correct, but who had attained the position of a
class leader, was exhorting his mother to be
born again, and become a dear good Methodist,
and go to heaven. She replied to him, "You
have been born again now ten times, and I am




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       269
afraid if you should be born ten times more you
will not get to heaven."
In short, it is none of the smallest of the evils
of this system that it brings the matter of conversion to God, and covenanting with him in a
public profession, into contempt. It is really
sickening to see how this matter stands in the
common mind, that gets its views of religion in
familiarity with Methodist ideas and practices.
The common speech of men on the subject here
mingles more of the ludicrous than of the serious-just as the Methodist efforts in their revival scenes embrace of design so much that is
comical.
Here is a process that issues, we will say, in
deluding nine tenths of the professed converts,
offering to every one invited to conversion a
chance of ten to one that he will be cheated
into a disastrous delusion. And where Methodism abounds, as in Lynn, it multiplies the deluded by hundreds at a time. And we insist
that such a work should come under a solemn
scrutiny. We ask the true Christians connected
with Methodism, Are you willing to be responsible for this? Can you lay your hand upon your
heart before God, and say that it is a work fit
23*




270      CESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
for Christians to engage in?  Go out with me
while we count the fruits as they hang in clusters
around us. This process on a broad scale has
been going on in Lynn for sixty years. The
main religious force of the town has been employed upon it. At short intervals, ever and
anon, a hundred or more of the children and
youth have been thus deceived. They have come
under such influences and instruction, that they
have no idea of any other conversion than this.
They look back on what was seen and felt in
that scene, where their fancies and their passions
were wrought upon, and the idea which memory
holds of that stands in their minds for Christian
experience. Urge now upon them the duty of
repentance and faith in Christ, and their inward
thought is, this repentance and faith are a farce;
for I have proved it in my own experience.
Now, it is a very serious matter to have so
large a portion of the people, by such a systematic operation, divested of their faith in vital
Christianity, hardened in heart, and put beyond
the reach of gospel influences. It is this process
more than all other causes that has swelled the
amount of irreligion in Lynn. Soon after the
second Universalist society here was organized,




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       271
with the help of one who was extensively
acquainted with individuals, I went over, as far
as practicable, the list of the persons that made
up that society, and of nearly all it was found
that they were such as had had experience of
what is called conversion under Methodist operations. And in view of this tendency of things
which we have described, the conclusion was
inevitable, that the Methodist conversion was
the cause of the Universalism. Indeed, if one
has been made to believe that that evanescent
impression over which Methodists are wont to
raise the shout of glory is true conversion, he
can hardly fail, after that impression is gone,
to conclude that conversion is a dream. In
short, we found that the warp and woof of the
second Universalist society had been Methodist
professors, and some had been Methodist preachers. And we concluded that the same was true
essentially of the first Universalist society. We
extended our inquiry among that large class of
people who have no religious connections, and so
far as we could ascertain, most of them, in themselves or their parents, had been set without the
range of religious influence by a backsliding
after a religious profession. For it must be




272       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
remembered that the evil stops not with one
generation. When by a spurious conversion
one's conclusions are fixed against Christianity,
he too often carries his children with him. And
so, if our Universalist societies have fewer Methodist backsliders now than they had at their
first formation, it is in a great measure because
that instead of the fathers there have come
up the children. To me the conclusion seems
irresistible, that a great majority of the opposers
of evangelical religion in this place have been
made such, either directly or indirectly, by an
experience had in Methodist revivals.  That
these are natural results of such operations cannot be denied, and if my Methodist friends
should think it worth their while to attempt any
correction of my errors, I would invite their
special attention to the facts which I have now
stated. I ask them, and I ask all careful obserevers, Have I erred as to the number of spurious
conversions, or as to the after condition of the
deceived, or as to the proportion of such deceived
ones now in the ranks of irreligion? If it be
a fact that there is more of immorality, irreligion, rowdyism, and infidelity in Lynn, than in
other New England towns where the Puritan




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       273
doctrines have had the ascendency, Methodism has
undoubtedly been the main cause of it. From
what has been apparent in the history of Methodism in Lynn, it is plain that the Methodist
ministry promotes Universalism much faster
than a Universalist ministry can. For few are
the converts gained by Universalist preaching,
except of those who by a spurious conversion
had been before made Universalists.
These statements, we know, will grieve many
real Christians among the Methodists, who, from
mistaken views, lend their aid to a system that
produces these disastrous results. Yet many
of these Christians are at least half aware of
this state of things. The case of those ministers
which I have referred to as debating the matter
proves it. The serious and reflecting minds in
that body cannot but have seen and mourned
over the fact that a great part of those who
came into the front door of their church are
wont to go out at the back door. They cannot
fail to see how hardened and hopeless are most
of the cases of those who have gone through this
delusion. And yet why do they continue the
destructive process? Why will they put their
hand to work a machinery which they see to be




274       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
piling up around us so many wrecks of character
and hope? Here I must speak plainly, and say
that the reason is, because it promotes Methodism.
True, so many immortal men are made to die by
it. But yet Methodism lives by it. By converting a hundred and retaining ten of the converts, an addition of ten is gained to Methodism. And where there are people enough
to sustain this draught, Methodism may advance,
but the ranks of irreligion advance faster.
And so, because Methodism can be promoted
by it, all this wreck and ruin are risked. And
this motive presses with still more urgency,
when it is seen that Methodism cannot live
without these measures. If these were excluded,
its power of self-preservation would be gone. If
the Methodist ministry should cease to encourage
the belief that that experience is conversion,
and cease to preach the doctrines and use the
measures that promote such conversions, Methodism would cease to exist under their hands.
They might preach the gospel and gather men to
Christ, but not to Methodism. The Christian men
among the Methodists are to be blamed for continuing this hardening process upon the minds of
the community, when they themselves see and de



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       275
plore the evils, and still continue them. When I
heard some eight or ten years ago of that consultation of Methodist ministers, which proved that
their eyes were somewhat open to these evils, I
hoped that some measures would be taken to remove or mitigate them. But in all this time not
a finger has been lifted for a change, not the
slightest abatement has been made of those extravagant and comic measures which have done
the mischief. Nor will there be while Methodism
exists. For they are the heart and lungs to its
life and breath.
I have traced the irreligion prevalent in Lynn
very much to this cause. It may be also well to
remember that Lynn has some reputation abroad
for tendencies to fanaticism and strange fancies.
If Satan has any degrading and filthy delusion
to play off, to bring the human race into greater
contempt, Lynn is the place which he is wont to
choose for its birth.
If mesmerism, biology, phrenology, necromancy, spiritual rapping, and any of the thousand and one of that class of the tricks is to be
played off, it must go out from Lynn, the great
mart of humbugs. And what has prepared the
minds of so many people here to give entertain



276       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
ment to such things? Lynn has been for sixty
years the home and paradise of Methodism;
and in the spurious conversions multiplied, you
may see what has made it the cage of these unclean birds, and especially of that fanatical sect,
which, under the various names of Comeouters, Abolitionists, Reformers, Philanthropists,
Non-resistants, and what not, filled the place
with noise and fury for some ten or fifteen years.
Those Howling Dervishes had here their head
quarters, and here their main support, while
they made their discordant voices to be heard
abroad through the land. And how came they
to build their nest here? What had made the
people here so liable to be carried about by every
wind of doctrine? Methodism had been here
for half a century, educating the people into
unstable and excitable habits. Calvinism had
left the ground, for a century, to the full sway
of Arminian or Methodist doctrines. We do
not assert that Methodism was the sole cause
of the peculiar characteristics of Lynn. Other
collateral causes have contributed a share of
influence. And though a part of the present
population has come in from abroad, like has attracted like, and to a great extent the immi



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       277
grants have been similar to the original stock.
After making all allowance for the intervention
of other causes, it will be seen that Arminian or
Methodist doctrine and practice have formed
these characteristics; and when the gust of that
fanaticism swept over the place, it concentrated
its main fury upon the only Puritan church then
in the town-by the intensity of its hostility
working out the highest possible commendation
of our principles.
But am I mistaken as to the cause of these
idiosyncrasies of Lynn? They have a cause.
They have not come by chance. Something has
wrought the mind of Lynn into its present character. It was not the pure gospel of Christ; for
that does not produce such fruits. It was not
Calvinism; for Calvinism, for more than a hundred years, has, till of late, had no perceptible
presence with the general mass of mind. But
Methodism has had a broad influence, and most
of the people have, to a greater or less extent,
felt its power. And if this is not the cause,
let any one attempt to tell what is.
24




CHAPTER IX.
ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
THE next feature of Methodism which we are
to bring under examination is, its missionary
character-or its assuming the ground of all
other churches as its missionary field, or its concentrating its main force in aggressions, not
on heathenism or infidelity, but upon Christian
churches. Mr. Stevens says truly of his system, that it "is an economy thoroughly missionary, and yet almost entirely confined to home
operations." This statement is verified in the
fact that the Methodist denomination in the
United States, which boasts of being the largest
denomination, does next to nothing in foreign
missions to the heathen. It has a system which
it calls foreign missions. But that system embraces missions to New Mexico, California, and
Oregon; missions to France, Germany, and
South America, laboring among Protestants and
Catholics in those countries; and missions to
Liberia. Only one of all the missions sustained
(278)




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       279
by this system is, properly speaking, a foreign
mission to the heathen. That is the mission to
China. Among the Romanists and Protestants
in foreign countries, it works on the same principles that it does upon our churches - assuming that all have equal need to be converted to
Methodism. Methodism is a system   of home
missions, in a more complete sense than any
other, in that it makes all other churches immediately around it its missionary field; and in
that sense it finds at home the field of its main
operations.
This feature is not so prominent in English
Methodists. They are more evangelical, and
have an ecclesiastical system somewhat different from this. They have no bishops. They
have done more in foreign missions to the'
heathen.
With American Methodism the first assumption is, that Christianity consists in making all
men Methodists. It matters not whether they
be Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, or heathen.
They have all alike need to be made Methodists.
And as Christian churches are more hopeful
fields, where Methodists can be made faster, it is
counted good economy to spend the main force




280        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
of Methodism among those Christian churches.
Hence, as Mr. Stevens says, " Methodism is an
economy thoroughly missionary, and yet almost
entirely limited to home operations." It is not
for preaching Christ where Christ is not named,
but chiefly for building on other men's foundations. So it cannot work kindly and concurrently with other churches for the progress of a
common Christianity, because it has a mission
to work upon them. It virtually says to them,
" We will bear our part in the Christian work,
for our system is thoroughly missionary. But
our part consists in making men Methodists,
after you have made them Christians. Our system, being thoroughly missionary, is just the
thing for felling forests and fertilizing the
wastes. But our machinery is'limited to home
operations.' So your gardens are the forests and
the wastes for us to subdue. So you may go
forth and fell the trees, and clear the stumps;
and when this is done we will show you the
power of our machinery."
There is a capital fallacy in the missionary
pretences of Methodism. Its organs are framed,
like those of the leech, for drawing its life
blood, not from the dead, but the living. No




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       281
city police has all the finger ends of its system
so under command of the governing mind, as
has the Methodist system.  Each Methodist
society is divided into smaller companies or
classes of twelve, more or less. Each class
leader is bound to see each member of his class,
and also to report to his minister, or steward,
once a week; so as to bring each mind so often
into contact with the central mind; so as to
give him the most effectual direction of all activities in the society. This makes each class a
platoon under the charge of a sergeant, obeying
the word of the captain. And the aggregate
force of the company is usually employed for
making Methodists out of an already Christian
population; in other words, for multiplying
proselytes from other bodies. The fault is not
in the casual and indiscreet zeal of an individual here and there. But proselyting is the main
intent of the system. Christian communities
are the chosen fields for missionary efforts; and
the more Christian they are, the more need, in a
Methodist view, they have of being converted
to Methodism- especially if they have become
Christians after the type of Paul's religion.
Then those horrible doctrines of Calvinism
24 *




282       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
require "a voice of remonstrance;" and generally the assumption which animates the whole
working force of the machine is, that whatever
is gathered out of the churches of Christ is so
much gain. Methodism welcomes the son returning from Calvinism as heartily as one coming from heathenism, and bestows a hundred
fold more labor to secure such converts.
Yet this ignoring of all Christians but Methodists is the worse for not being consistently
carried out, so that others may know what to
expect. In tho general, the system acts as if
there were no salvation out of the Methodist
church, and as if a convert secured from Calvinism were a brand plucked from the burning.
Yet when it has an advantage to gain, it can
make good Christians out of Universalists, and
even Calvinists. For the sake of advantage, it
can allow one of its preachers to operate as seaman's preacher for the Unitarians, in a way that
gives them full satisfaction for a score of years.
When it has a meeting house to build, for drawing people from other churches, it can go round
for the funds, hat in hand, sowing brotherly appellations broadcast on every field. Yet when
it comes into action among its benefactors, it




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       283
counts all proselytes gained from their connections as so many saved from destruction. With
Christians there is a sense of meanness attached
to the zeal of gathering proselytes from Christian churches.  It is regarded as an offence
against the body of Christ. But Methodism
glories in it as its main accomplishment.  It
never takes a place among the sisterhood of
churches as having equal rights and common
interests. It never applies the golden rule, limiting itself to that treatment of other sects
which it would be willing to receive from them.
It never supposes that it would be right for us
to retaliate in kind, and labor as hard to proselyte its children and youth as it does ours; much
less that it would be right for Calvinistic pulpits
to utter themselves as freely against Methodism
as Methodist pulpits speak against Calvinism.
When any approaches are made by us to such
freedom, Methodists are thrown into convulsions.
Their pulpits are ever ringing changes upon the
horrible doctrines of Calvinism, and uttering
false imputations as to our preaching infant damnation, and it is considered all right, and nothing
remarkable. Yet, after listening to this in silence for twenty years, when this pulpit for the




284       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
first time spoke out on the faults of Methodism,
a holy indignation inflamed the breasts of thousands. It was regarded as an outrage not to be
allowed in a Christian land. Two newspaper
presses were employed to denounce and annihilate.  Anonymous and threatening letters
have been sent, addressing me as " THOU FIEND
OF HELL," and bidding me "I        Beware!"
If the writer had uttered blasphemies by the
yard, he could not so much have raised the holy
horror of the Methodist body, and its pious
champion of that body connected with the Lynn
Daily, (which, by the way, died in the cause,) as
has the utterance of what appears on these pages.
But why can freedom of speech exist only on one
side? Why, forsooth, Methodism is true Christianity, and all else is false and ruinous.
But as a zeal for proselytes, making aggressions on other churches, is a main vice of the
system, we may further illustrate it. There have
been frequent instances since my residence in
Lynn, generally in connection with Methodist
revivals, in which the proselyting apparatus has
been at work with special energy; and the resources which the system so liberally provides
for this end have come into action upon the




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      285
young.  Of late, one of these breezes has
passed over us, but with no very formidable
result.
When there went out from this church a colony to found the Central Church, they had
hardly begun before the Methodists established
a new station for preaching in the same locality,
within a stone's throw of them, with a view to
thwart them; and as soon as they found that
impracticable, they discontinued it. But we
have a better illustration in events now transpiring in Swampscot. That place was for many
years regarded by all as a place needing gospel
institutions. The Methodists were nearer, and,
in Lynn, stronger than any other body, and the
place naturally waited for them to occupy it.
Year after year went by, and nothing was done.
Methodism was " thoroughly a missionary economy, but chiefly limited to home operations;"
and Swampscot, having no church in it, was too
far from home.  The difficulty probably was
what a Methodist minister formerly here ascribed to the church in Saugus Village, at a time
when it seemed to be under special disasters.
He said that that church could not prosper, because it was too distant from any Calvinistic




286       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
church. So, of course, it was too far from home.
Finding that nothing was to be attempted there
by the Methodists, our denomination encouraged
a preacher to labor there, putting a trembling
hand to the work, doubtful whether we should
succeed, especially because we expected the
thwartings of the Methodists as soon as we
should have gathered enough of a congregation
to be a temptation to their missionary zeal.
After nine years' patient labor, the small band
there acquired strength enough to sustain its
ministry, unaided from abroad. During this,
Swampscot was a foreign field, not suitable for
Methodist missions, which were intended for
home operations; but after the Congregational
society had attained a living position, and more
especially after some symptoms of revival appeared, the time had come for a Methodist mission to be sent thither, and even forced upon the
place, against the advice and wishes of some
of the judicious Methodist people there, whose
sense of propriety revolted at such proceedings.
A minister was stationed there, and the whole
Methodist ministry of Lynn, with its presiding
elder, has been striving together with him to put
forward the mission.




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       287
The time for the onset was chosen, when there
was some special religious interest in connection
with Mr. Clarke's labors. After he had toiled
on for nine years in one of the hardest of fields,
and when he saw some of the first symptoms of
the hardness giving way, the Methodists, who till
then had forborne to act, now rushed in. There
was a particular neighborhood in which more
religious interest was manifest, and where Mr.
Clarke had weekly meetings in the evening.
Iere they established also a meeting, the same
evening in the week. In one instance, when
Mr. Clarke could not himself be present at the
meeting of his appointment, the Methodist minister went in unasked, and took the control of
it himself, and conducted it to suit himself; and
at that time the females of Mr. Clarke's church
were exhorted to violate its rules by speaking
and exhorting in promiscuous assemblies. Mr.
Clarke also had evening meetings in the village;
and here too the Methodists came and established
one on the same evening. Mr. Clarke changed
the time of his meeting, to avoid the clashing.
Then they changed the time of theirs. In another
case, where Mr. Clarke's people had a district
prayer meeting, they established a sewing circle




288       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
the same evening. Mr. Clarke changed his time,
and then they changed theirs to correspond, and
took special pains to drum up an attendance.
All delicacy as to the form of teasing Mr.
Clarke's people to leave him has been laid aside.
The minister has gone round from house to house,
inviting the families of Mr. Clarke's congregation to secede. To his invitation, " Come and
join us," the families replied, " We attend Mr.
Clarke's meeting, and have pews in his house."
IIe replied, " No matter; it is your duty to come
and join the Methodists."  With such unblushing impudence the work has been carried on.
But so far as we are informed, this part of the
work has excited only disgust in the persons
assailed.
These thwartings were the only way in which
the Methodists recognized the existence of any
gospel or any church in Swampscot. From first
to last, none of their ministers conferred with
Mr. Clarke, or any of his church, to secure good
feeling in conducting the operations.  In no
way have they acknowledged that the people
have access to the preaching of the gospel in
any form. Yet some of the people whom they
have gathered have sent their children to Mr.




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      289
Clarke's Sabbath school, using its books, papers,
and privileges, and paying nothing for them.
But though the Methodists have asked no advice, they have been free to give it —have,
where opportunity offered, urged female members of Mr. Clarke's church to violate its rules
by exhorting in its meetings; they wishing not
only to regulate their own affairs in their own
way, but to force those of others into their own
way, and get up division. They have, as usual,
dealt in plentiful appeals, made to vulgar prejudices, as to the want of liberty in Congregational
churches, to wit, the liberty of female speaking.
They have sought to take advantage of the ignorance of foolish men, by saying, " Your minister will not change with Unitarian Baptists, but
we will; and magnifying such like advantages
of Methodism; and also the work has been carried on by a plentiful use of those caricatures
of Calvinism which are so common with Methodists, and of which I shall have further occasion to speak.
Here, as in many other instances of Methodist
beginnings, the work was first put forward by
what are technically called backsliders; that is,
persons who, for a long time before, were not only
25




290       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
neglecters of public worship, but delinquents in
outward morality, and who, on the forthcoming
of their new-born zeal, excused the past by saying that they " could not serve God except in
their own way," and that while living within
two miles of a Methodist church. It was on the
basis of the action of such like men that the
Methodist conference sent a preacher there; and
this was similar to the first upspringing of the
sect in this country.
I have already given, on the authority of Dr.
Bangs, the first origin of American Methodism,
in the preaching of Mr. Embury, whose transition from the pulpit to the card table, and
back again, was so easy, and have shown how
the church collected by him became the mother
of American Methodist churches; and you have
observed that this great church did not bring
hither its first germ in an enterprise for the
spread of the kingdom of Christ. It did not
make its first appearance here in the person of
devoted and holy men, taught by the grace of
God to live soberly, righteously, and godly in
the world.
How strongly this contrasts with the origin
of New England Puritanism, brought hither in




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       291
the hearts of martyrs and confessors who give
the light of a holy example to succeeding generations! Yet this Methodism is the thing that
boasts of being raised up to spread holiness over
the world, and that comes hither with a solemn
" remonstrance against the principal doctrines of
the Puritan church." This expansion of a germ
conceived over a card table feels itself qualified
to ignore all the Christianity that exists out of
itself, and to ride roughshod over all our institutions, and churches, and preachers, as having not
the gospel. As all American Methodism came
of this transplant of backsliders, so it is no
wonder if Methodist ministers foster with peculiar care all efforts having a like origin. That
in Swampscot is one of the last examples.
But Christian churches are not wont to have
such beginnings. The first Christian churches
came up under the men who, whatever they had
been before, were not employed as builders of
the church till they had been turned from the
power of Satan unto God, and till their conversion had undergone the clearest of all tests.
There is too much conscience with people that
gather around the standard of the cross, and
under the preaching of the truth as it is in Jesus,




292       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
to work under leaders whose zeal and fluency in
prayers and exhortations are made to compensate
for want of blameless morals. A church that
can spring to life under the hand of such men
has not the Christian life. It is the fungus, the
mushroom, and not the fruit-bearing tree, that
sucks its life from decayed stumps. The mushroom may have a rapid growth and a wide circumference, but it bears no fruit.
What is in progress in Swampscot is no movement of inexperienced subalterns. The presiding
elder of the district and all his subordinates
have been upon the ground and put forward the
work. And the complete interlocking of agencies in the Methodist system causes the guiding
hand to be felt in the action of all bands, and
makes the whole work the work of the ministry; and doubtless the movement recently conceived there, but defeated, to secure the building
of a Town Hall at the town's expense, to serve
as a Methodist meeting house, originated in the
same source with other Methodist plans. But
the working of the thing was perhaps best illustrated in what was called the " Social Levee"
recently held there, to raise funds by the sale of
tickets, and to give encouragement and a com



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       293
mencing impulse to the work, at one of the public
boarding houses there. There was a large crowd
gathered from Lynn, led by the Lynn ministers
and the presiding elder. In an address he said
that the object of the meeting was to establish
Methodism in Swampscot, and that they had
reason to believe that the great crowd of persons present "represented the sympathy of the
people in that cause "! Mr. Butler expressed
in his prayer " the hope that at length the gospel would now be given to this people, so long
neglected." There was in neither the prayers
nor speeches the least recognition of the fact
that the gospel ever had been preached there
before. In such an offensive manner was that
crowd, embracing the elite of Lynn Methodism,
taught to reject as no gospel that promulgated
by the Puritan churches, that which first planted
New England, and made it the glory of all
lands. So much for the proselyting feature of
Methodism.  I now ask the real Christians
among the Methodists if this feature of their
system, which places them in an attitude of hostility to all other Christians, which carries a
warfare against churches that Christ owns by
most indubitable signs, has their approbation,
25 *




294       ESTl,..TE OF METHODISM.
And I appeal to the common sense of the Christian world, if such thwartings of an infant church,
such efforts to pull down what other Christians
have built, such a dog-in-the-manger process, is
a Christian work. Ye know to whom Christ
said, "Ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them
that were entering in ye hindered." Is that
system which counts among its good works that
work in Swampscot to be sustained by Christian
men?
Next, we invite the attention of such Christians to another habit of the system; that is,
that of gross caricatures and abuse of Calvinism.
This is busy with all the peculiar doctrines of
the system of grace. But as a sample of the
rest, I shall, for brevity's sake, select only one instance; that is, the representation that we teach
the damnation of infants.  It usually comes
forth in the representation that our preachers
declare that hell is paved with infants' skulls.
And one remarkable thing about it is, that the
regular hearers of Calvinist preachers have
never heard the doctrine from any preacher,
while a plentiful sprinkling of Methodists are
ready to testify that they have heard this, and




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       295
that Calvinists preach it.  But the scandal is
not only sustained in the gossip of the people,
but in the written and printed declarations of
the Methodist ministry, in standard works. Mr.
Stevens (p. 41) tells us that Methodism " had a
momentous message to New England," to give
its remonstrance against such Puritan doctrines
as that of " infant damnation, et cetera."  And
he here says that infant damnation was considered a fundamental truth at the time of Lee's
visit to New England. He promises in the
sequel to prove this; but I have not been so fortunate as to find the proof. So, then, it is not
the mere gossip of the idle ones among the Methodists that keeps this slander alive: it is written
and preserved in the standard works of Methodism, and its ministry is responsible for the gossip. And what are the form and state of that
gossip?  Wherever Methodism exists in any
considerable numbers, you are sure to find individuals in abundance ready to testify on oath
that with their own ears they heard this or that
Calvinist minister declare in a sermon that
hell is paved with infants' skulls.  Such witnesses are always in sufficient number to command the general belief of Methodists. Yea,




296       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
the notion that Calvinists believe such a shocking absurdity is practically a part of the Methodist creed. It is what Methodism teaches to its
children, in the house and by the way. As to
the morality of such a use of such a fabrication
I shall not speak. It originates not in ignorant
malice, and cannot plead ignorance in excuse.
For it is put forth by standard writers, of whom
it would be an offence to say that they did not
know the truth in the case. Such writers give
the key note to the scandalous gabble, and then
the volunteer witnesses chime in and declare on
oath that they actually heard the Calvinist ministers preach it. In this way the falsehood has
been kept alive from the days of Jesse Lee till
now. It seems from Mr. Stevens's remark, that
to make war upon us, with this fiction as the
weapon of assault, was an important part of the
mission of Methodism; and it has profited too
much by it to be willing to let it die. And
now, the great mass of Methodist minds in this
vicinity really believe such arrant nonsense, for
they have drank it in with their mothers' milk,
and it probably would not be easy to convince
them that our preaching does not describe such
paving stones.  This falsehood is one of the




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      297
leading instruments by which the work of Methodist proselytism is carried on. Now, I wish
right here to appeal to my Methodist Christian
friends, and ask them if this form of the wrath
of man works the righteousness of God; if that
can be a good cause which goes forward by such
means; and is that body that lives by such
means actuated by a Christian spirit, and in its
successes do we see the smiles of God's approbation? For the fabricating and keeping alive of
such a monstrous defamation, not only are the
individuals, but the body is, responsible. For it
is done in its approved standard works, without
a note of dissent, and with a general concurrence
of the people.  The system, therefore, stands
indicted for a monstrous libel on a large body
of God's people, for bearing false witness against
its neighbor, for a grievous offence against individual character, and against the common Christianity. And the like may be said of the whole
work of distorting and misrepresenting Calvinist
doctrines, of which this is a specimen.
There is another matter -the tendency of the
system to promote insincerity and a habit of
hollow pretences. I have occasionally, in former times, been a spectator of Methodist revival




298        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
meetings.  Among other things I have been
struck with the sameness of the recitals of experience. There were some dozen or fifteen
professed converts giving their experience, one
after another. After I had heard the first two
I had heard every fact and thought uttered by
the whole fifteen, who repeated always the ideas,
and most often the words, uttered by the first.
It was nothing more than the recital of an old
lesson from memory. That all these persons
had had an experience, in all its forms and
minuteness, to match a description that had been
stereotyped before they were born, is incredible.
I could not resist the impression that the whole
was a mere matter of recitation from memory.
Now, where young people are encouraged in
such recitations, they are schooled to the utterance of untruths respecting their religious experience and their relations to God; and that is
enough to harden the heart, and sear the conscience, and vitiate all experience.
The like may be said of the exercises of the
class meeting, which is a mitigated form of the
Romish confessional. Every member of the class,.
being called on once a week to give to others
his internal history, is placed under constant




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       299
temptations, either to tread a beaten track of
recital in which actual experience does not run,
or to rely somewhat upon invention for the materials of a story that will make a good appearance before the class. In either way, the exercises operate as a school for training the mind to
the use of false pretences. How far this machinery has produced its natural fruits, in actual
character, it might be uncharitable to give an
opinion.
In intimate connection with this is a spirit of
self-glorification, in putting forth exaggerated
representations of the operations and results of
the system. I need not say in how many forms,
and in what frequency, boasts are put forth that
Methodism is the greatest ism of the country;
and how often the representation is made, that
nearly all missionary spirit in Christendom is
absorbed in Methodism-while in truth the
whole body in this country has but one inconsiderable foreign mission to the heathen, and
its home missions are missions in no other sense
than all its preaching stations, supported in part
from common funds, are missions. Indeed, this
exaggeration appears in its most expanded form,
in what we have spoken of as the first postulate




300       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
of the Methodist theory; to wit, that there are
no Christians but Methodist. And then, in the
reports of gains by reception of members, there
is a necessary exaggeration which arithmetic
cannot remedy.   The reception of members
from Methodist revivals is like an attempt to
fill a sieve with water. The amount that you
put in does not tell what is in at any given time,
because the outgoes are a great part of what
you put in. Hence Methodist statistics, in the
column of additions of numbers, must show a
result far above the actual membership. And
nothing can be more deceptive than accounts of
revivals, which are published in Methodist papers, wherein hundreds or fifties are reported as
converted in a few days, here and there. If all
those reported conversions had been genuine,
the millennium would have been in upon us in
full blaze before this. But to those who understand what Methodist revivals usually are, these
reports convey no deception; though they must
be very demoralizing to those who pass them as
current coin.
I am here reminded of an instance which
occurred not far off, some years ago, which illustrates several points of this discourse. An excel



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      301
lent Congregational minister, whose charity was
greater than his caution, went into a partnership with the Methodists in his place in conducting meetings in a revival; not doubting
that such good and pious men would refrain
from all unfair and sectarian advantage. He
brought his young people freely under the
action of the Methodist ministers. He joined
them in their preaching and exhortations, and
all their manceuvres around the altar. They
glorified him in their prayers, laid their hands
on him and blessed him, and shouted " Glory "
over the blessed union. Many converts were
numbered off, from his own people as well as
the others; and even before he began to suspect,
he found all the converts actually connected
with the Methodist classes. And while, in all
simplicity, he was playing into their hands, according to the terms of the blessed union, one of
the ministers had sent off a letter to the Methodist paper, heralding a glorious revival in that
place, and declaring, as one of the sources of
triumph, that the old church on the hill was
broken up. This was an exaggeration, of course,
for the old church yet stands; and yet it showed
what was the sincerity of the partners, and
26




302        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
what end Methodists have in view in such
unions.
My Methodist friends must bear with me
while I conduct them one step farther, to show
them a time-serving feature of their system.
Mr. Stevens informs us that the written creed
of Methodism is so framed as to allow its
preachers to preach any thing between Universalism and Calvinism; yea, to preach either of
these doctrines-for the creed denies neither
of them. So it warrants all varieties of doctrine that can be required in any latitude, and
allows the preacher to meet the demands of the
hearer. Where the popular currents require a
close proximity to the Universalists, the creed
does not stand in the way. When a close imitation of Calvinism is expedient, the creed has
nothing to say. Father Taylor, in Boston, has a
warrant in his creed for all his acts of communion with the Unitarians, from whom he gets
his bread.
Indeed, time serving is a natural instinct and
law of the system. Mr. Stevens tells us that
the system sprang from no theory or principles,
but was a mere creature of Providence. That
is, it was created by force of circumstances, and




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       303
its modes of action were adjusted to the present
expediency. These are his words: "It pretends
to no theoretical foundations, and no divine
right, but is the result of providential circumstances." And he quotes Mr. Van Buren as
having said the best thing in its defence; to
wit, " It is a noble machine; it works well; let it
alone." That is, principle is nothing; divine
right has nothing to do in the structure of a
church; right or wrong has no place here. If,
through the flexibility of its arms, and the elasticity of its conscience, the machine can bend
and stretch, so as to combine the advantage of
opposites, - of both right and wrong doing, - it
is a noble machine; it works well; let it alone.
This, as far as I have been able to get it, is the
all-pervading feeling with Methodism; though
of late some misgivings have been put forth in
Methodist papers whether it does work well,
and whether it does not require overhauling
and a readjustment. But that is nothing to our
present purpose, the system is sustained because
it is supposed to work well, irrespective of any
warrant for it in the Bible. And so it becomes
a most practised time server. Wherever there
is Methodist preaching the doctrines are Meth



301       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
odist doctrines, in general, but contracted or
expanded to meet the popular demand of that
place; not what every hearer demands,- for
among contrary demands that is impossible,but what, in the judgment of a skilful tactician,
will carry with it the most of popular favor.
This doctrinal elasticity of the system was
turned to account in Swampscot, when an advantage might come from fraternizing with
Unitarian Baptists. In communities where it
would damage the credit of the system to exchange with Unitarians, it is not done. In
large communities, like Boston, there are some
Methodist ministers that thus exchange, and some
that do not; so that advantages may come from
contrary sources.
The time serving of the system also appears
in that policy before alluded to, which knows no
Christians out of the pale of Methodism, except
when some advantage is to be gained by union
or a special letting forth of charity. When
Methodism has funds to beg, or lines of intercourse with others to form for proselyting ends,
or credit to gain in a community through the
indorsement of others, then union prayer meetings are delightful, Christians of other denom



ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.      305
inations are special brothers and sisters, and
exchanges of pulpits with those Calvinists that
preach a horrible predestination and a paving
of hell with infant skulls are one of the necessaries of Christian life.
I will add but one more thought under this
head -that of time serving in the use of female
preaching. There stands the divine prohibition,
written in letters of light, so that he who runs
may read: "LET THE WOMAN LEARN IN SILENCE
WITH ALL SUBJECTION. BUT I SUFFER NOT A
WOMAN TO TEACH, NOR TO USURP AUTHORITY OVER
THE MAN."1 " LET YOUR WOMEN KEEP SILENCE IN
THE CHURCHES, FOR IT IS NOT PERMITTED FOR
THEM TO SPEAK, FOR THEY ARE COMMANDED TO BE
UNDER OBEDIENCE, AS ALSO SAITH THE LAW; 7
that is, the Old Testament. Now, we all know
what obedience in the church the Old Testament required of women; excluding them from
all the forms of public teaching of religion,
except when speaking by miraculous inspiration.
And this is just the exception which Paul makes;
and he tells us that just that obedience which
the law, or the Old Testament, required, Christianity requires. Now, what can be unmistakable if this is not? Yet, touching this matter
26 ~




306       ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
in the words of Mr. Stevens, Methodism knows
no divine right, no right of God, to command
what Methodist use and circumstances have
found to be inexpedient. Methodism, being the
creature of providential circumstances, has an
inherent right to use whatever has been found
to work well, though every page of inspired
truth were to cry out against it. In its work
of corrupting the minds of the young, it has
found a vast advantage in mingling in its
scenes of excitement some touches of comedy,
and some varieties gained by female eloquence.
The music is more complete when female voices
sustain their parts. This female eloquence is an
indispensable element to give to the scenes of the
Methodist revival attractions which will make it
compete, on its own ground, with the exhibitions
at the Lyceum Hall, or other place of shows.
And another glorious advantage of it is, that it
is an attraction of which those Christians that
follow the Bible cannot avail themselves. Here
the liberty of Methodism, its liberty to trample
on the word of God, is turned to a good account; and boasts of this liberty and freedom
from divine obligation are very taking with the
throng, that care nothing for the word of God.




ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.       307
So they say, " It is a noble machine; it works
well; let it alone." What care they for the words
of Paul, or of the Holy Ghost?   They have
tried their machine, and found that it works
well, and what need they more? Most certainly it does work well for their ends. But an
end that is served by a point blank resistance
of the word of God is a godless end. God
does not work against God. God in Methodism does not work against God in the Bible.
Perhaps it will be said that these good people really believe that the Bible allows this
practice. If they do, it only shows the power
of the system to warp even the understanding,
and make its convictions subserve its occasions.
The system has a fearful power, if it can blind
the mind against the plainest truths of the
Bible.
But it will be said that Methodism is sincere
and conscientious in all its modes and movements; and in that it has a right to public consideration. But there is no greater mischief in
this world than a perverted conscience, and sincerity in the wrong. Why, the late Emperor of
Russia was not, in common life and in social
relations, what would be called a wicked man.




308        ESTIMATE OF METHODISM.
He was conscientious and sincere in his fanatical view of destiny.  He verily thought
he did God service in provoking that war
whose mere beginnings have caused rivers of
blood to flow. He was conscientious, but his
conscience has been the cause of more human
woe than half a million of the most wicked
wretches now on earth. A warped conscience
is a more fearful instrument of mischief than
a want of conscience. It is told of a New
Zealand chief, that in his last illness his conscience awoke, and he was stung with remorse
in view of one special act of his life; and that
act was his failure to do a work of vengeance.
His father, after seizing a European vessel and
murdering the crew, had, by his ignorance, set
fire to the powder magazine and destroyed himself. Many years after a few Christian missionaries reached the island. And what especially
awoke the remorse of the dying man was, that
he had kindly entertained those missionaries,
instead of killing and eating them, to avenge
the death of his father —killed by European
powder, though by his own hand. This was the
result of a perverted conscience. The famous
Emperor Charles V. had a like perverted con



E'TIMAXTE OF METIIODISM.    309
science; and when he was conscious of drawing
near to the grave, he too suffered remorse; and
for what? For not having violated his plighted
faith and honor, and killed Luther when he had
him in his hands. He uttered his conscientious
convictions when he said to the monks of Yuste,
"The heretics must be burned. Not to burn
them would be to incur the sin which I incurred
when I let Luther escape. I did not put him to
death because I would not violate the promise
and the safe conduct which I had given to him.
But I was wrong. I had no right to forgive a
crime against God. It was my duty, without
having any regard to my promise, to avenge the
injury which his heresy had inflicted on God. I
should have cut short his progress." Such was
the conscience of one of the shrewdest of men
and the greatest of monarchs. And it may show
what a great evil is the human conscience under
a wrong direction. And an immense responsibility rests on all to bring their conscience under the light and direction of eternal truth.
The weakest of all excuses for an erroneous
practice is, that it has come from a misdirected
conscience.




CHAPTER X.
MODES OF DEFENCE AGAINST METHODIST AGGRESSION.
IN previous chapters I have spoken to my
Methodist Christian friends to help them to
a true estimate of the merits of their own
system.  I have now to speak to my other
Christian friends of the course to be taken
to stand unharmed against the busy proselyting
agencies of Methodism.
The first step is to get a right estimate
of Methodism, and its claims to consideration,
as an evangelizing agent. The present apprehensions of most Christians are founded on too
superficial a view, and will not be justified by an
intimate inspection of operations and results.
They wofully deceive themselves, who think that
a great part of the work of bringing the world to
the possession of the character required in the
New Testament is to be done by Methodism. And
the sooner we are undeceived in this thing the
better. A system that works by compromises
with the world -that seeks not so much to
(310)




MODES OF DEFENCE.          311
bring the hearts of men up to the level of
Christianity, as to bring religion down to the
level of the tastes and passions of man - never
will bring the world to Christ. And such we
have shown this system to be in all its timeserving expedients. Its woman preaching, its
comic operations at the altar and in the camp
meeting, its boasts of liberty to do unlawful
things, its liberality towards grosser errorists, its rejection of the doctrines of Scripture
that are most offensive to the enemies of God, and
its nameless forms of appeal to vulgar passions
have this tendency. Now, the spirit which has
dictated these things is not from above, and will
not elevate, but depress, those into whom it is
breathed; and not until the mind has come into
the true idea of the tendencies of the thing is
it prepared to use its full strength in standing
against it.
Allow me, then, a few words here upon this
matter. Much is thought of the energy of the
Methodist system, by many who themselves
would not be willing to come under its monarchical government. They think there is a
class of minds whom it reaches favorably. One
has said that "some are foreordained to be




312          MODES OF DEFENCE.
Methodists," meaning, we suppose, just this.
But there is a fallacy in the assumption that
true religion, on the whole, is promoted by such a
compound of truth and error, mixed to the taste
of persons of a peculiar temperament, and leading to results so diverse from those of uncorrupted truth.
Whatever the system may be here, it is charitably supposed by many that it is doing greater
good at the west. But Methodism is not one
thing in the west and another thing in the east.
The same rules of action prevail, and the same
minds direct the action, both east and west.
True," distance lends enchantment to the view."
The thorn and thistle are not seen in the far-off
landscape. To a considerable extent, Methodism
at the west, being a lighter troop, has preceded
other denominations, and so, for better or worse,
has gathered in many that had emigrated thither
from other churches. But careful inspection of
the western field will beget serious doubts of the
general result. One of the greatest obstacles
which our home missionaries find to the spread
of true religion there, comes from the thwartings and the corrupting influence of Methodist
ministers. This is a fair inference from the




MODES OF DEFENCE.         313
many cautious statements in the published reports of the missionaries. If the united conviction of the whole body of them could have
expression, it would doubtless be, that it had been
better for the west if a Methodist minister had not
set foot upon it. We grant that in many instances, in the absence of a purer gospel, it has
done good - a thing which may be granted even
of Romanism. But that its good overbalances
its evils is not so clear. While in these instances it does comparative good, it does many
evils by the spread of errors, by corrupting the
public views of religion, by dividing and crippling infant societies, by bringing religion into
contempt through the loose principles and scandalous practices there more than here allowed
in many of its ministers, by burning over the
ground and preparing it for a growth of Universalism and infidelity. Yet it is customary to
look to the west as the field of its most kindly
operations. And if there is not on that field a
preponderance of good, where shall we find it?
The question is not, let me say again, whether
there are not good men and good results connected with the system, but whether, on the
whole, the system does more harm than good.
27




314          MODES OF DEFENCE.
The fact that it has great success decides nothing. The question is, whether the success enures
to religion or irreligion. When in Lynn I
count the multitudes which in Methodist revivals
have been born into Universalism and irreligion,
probably exceeding the present members of the
Methodist churches, I cannot but feel that the
preponderance is against the system. If the
fruits be gathered, and the good be thrown into
one scale, and the bad into the opposite, I greatly fear that the bad will preponderate. The
Christian mind comes with reluctance to such a
conclusion. That the largest religious denomination in the United States is working more evil
than good is a discouraging idea. Yet, if it be
true, it may go far to account for the fact, that
the advance of pure religion is so disproportionate to the agencies seemingly at work for it.
If added to the native wickedness of man, and
all the other causes impeding the progress, we
have the immense power of this organization to
thwart and corrupt, it is no wonder if our progress is so slow.
It is no new thing for the cause of Christ to
be hindered by many of his seeming and real
friends. Baxter, in his directions to the con



MODES OF DEFENCE.          315
verted, says, "I tell you with shame and grief
of heart, that abundance of weak, unsettled
professors, that we hope have upright meanings
in the main, have been more powerful instruments of Satan, to do his work in hindering the
gospel, in vilifying the ministry, in dividing the
church, and hindering the reformation, than most
of the notoriously profane have been. * * *
Would he have the truth opposed, and error
and darkness promoted, who must do it but
professors of the truth? Persuade some of them
that truth is error and error is truth, and the work
will be done. They will furiously march out
against their Master, and think they do him service while fighting against him."
The common reputation which the Methodist
system has for having done great things for
religion is no bar to a scrutiny of its results.
The actual evils flowing from it, of which we
have spoken, give at least primafacie ground for
an inquest. After allowing all the good which
any discriminating orthodox mind ascribes to it,
we are compelled to throw into the opposite
scale a greater amount of evil done by it.
Most of the forms of corrupted Christianity,
with Romanism in the van, at some of their




316         MODES OF DEFENCE.
stages stood before the Christian world in the
equivocal position which this now holds - many
doubting of them, and most hoping favorably, till
finally an adverse judgment was passed upon
their preponderant results. Now, the great question is forcing itself on the attention of the
churches, whether this broad and efficient agency
on the whole affects the interests of Christianity
favorably or unfavorably - whether it produces
a healthy or a morbid action? If the conclusion to which I have come be well founded, the
church will sooner or later awake to the conviction that it is among the wholesale causes of
corrupting the minds of men, and turning them
away from the faith in Christ. If the religion
of the New Testament is to prevail, the time
must come when its friends shall take the
attitude of defence against it.
Providence has cast my lot on the ground of
its boasted achievements. I am now in the
twentieth year of my residence in the garden of
its luxuriance, and I feel bound to give to the
world my testimony as to its results. There is no
better Methodism in this country than in Lynn.
Hither its best ministers are sent, and its
choicest agencies are employed. Find it want



MODES OF DEFENCE.          317
ing here, and you find it wanting every where.
Having summered and wintered it, I feel bound
to give my mature judgment, that it has done
more harm than good. If its doctrines and corrupting revival measures never had obtained
here, and the field had been left open to missionary action connected with scriptural doctrines,
such as must then have come in, it is not credible that irreligion would have here secured so
broad a field.
But if this sad conclusion is well grounded,
the first thing needful to stand firmly against the
aggression is, to know it —to know that the
aggression is one not of true religion, but of a
false.
Another question respects what forms of action are expedient, touching the immediate
efforts of proselyting. As to this I would
remark that patience is one of the first requisites. I have been wont to say to myself
when thus attacked, This onset has been suffered to take place by a wise Providence, perhaps, for purposes of chastisement and stimulating to duty. I regret the injury that it must do, but
am not responsible for that. I will take it as an
admonition that I am not sufficiently awake and
27 *




318         MODES OF DEFENCE.
diligent. So, when thus assailed, I have usually
begun with my own mind, committing the cause
to God, and seeking his direction and aid in the
regulation of my own spirit and action. As to
action more specific and direct than this, I have
rarely been inclined to it. I never undertook to
run a race with zealous proselyters. For many
years I have stood in perfect silence, and seen
them work, only endeavoring to apply myself to
my own proper work with greater diligence and
prayerfulness, thinking it lawful thus to bring
good out of evil.
But this " masterly inactivity," though generally best, does not exclude the striking of an
effectual blow for the truth, when a specially
favorable opportunity offers. There is a time to
speak, and a time to be silent. Generally, when
the heart of the church is alive, and its hands
are active in promoting vital religion, it has its
best defence from the hostile bands. But when
it does this, it is best prepared to improve the
opportunities that occur, now and then, to strike
a blow that will tell. And the great fault of our
ministry in this particular is, that they have, to
too great extent, assumed that no defences are
to be made. They have been delinquent in the




MODES OF DEFENCE.          319
duty of contending earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints. Fas est ab hoste doceri.
We find that Lee and the other Methodist pioneers forbore their assaults when they were
firmly met. But now almost universally our
ministers are passive under Methodist assaults,
and dispute no ground with them, in fear of being found contending against Christian men. It
is this cautious policy of our ministers that has
given Methodism its main success. What could
it ask more of us than that we should make no
resistance?  While we should avoid needless
contests, we should be able to discern and improve the proper times to repel an assault.
Christianity does not require us to "bear all
things " in the form of allowing all truths to be
trodden down without an effort at protection.
But what shall be done, especially when the
snares are laid for our youth to be taken by appeals to their curiosity in the comic actings had
in the so called revival operations? It is a plain
duty, in the light of Scripture and of facts, to
show our children the true tendency of these
things. While we speak of such operations as
revivals produced by the Spirit of God, we give
our sanction to their being thus treated by our




320          MODES OF DEFENCE.
children; and so we open the way to their being
drawn in. But if we take up the conclusion that
they are simply corruptions of revivals, it will
become our duty to treat them as such before
our children. We may not say that the Spirit
of God never works, in spite of the repellent
influences connected with them. It is not ours
to limit the Holy One; for he often works good
in strange connections with evil. But, in view
of the aggregate results of such measures, we
are bound to deprecate them, and in all ways to
discountenance them; to make no secret of our
regrets that some good men will do such things;
yea, to let it be known that we regard such
things as no part of Christianity, but scandals in
its way. Especially is it the duty of parents to
restrain the curiosity of their children in the
matter, by explaining and giving them to see
why they dread such operations, by making clear
to their minds the irreligious tendencies.  In
places where these snares are frequently laid,
this should be a substantial part of family instruction. These things should be in thine heart,
and thou shouldst teach them diligently to thy
children. It is time to have done with that kind
of charity which, out of tenderness to plausible




MODES OF DEFENCE.          321
errorists, forbears to tell the truth. Those comedies have no claim to the name of revivals; and
your children should be taught this with their
first lessons.
Grant all that is claimed on the score of the
sincerity of the actors-grant that this or that
preacher sometimes preaches excellent sermons,
and that a deep solemnity is sometimes produced
in their meetings; but these mingle with so much
that is of a contrary character as to spoil the
result. But our judgment is determined not so
much by present appearances as results afterwards developed. Our denomination once had
some bitter experience in this line. Some twenty-five years ago there came in upon us, to a limited extent, a like visitation in connection with
protracted meetings. Both the doctrines and
the measures bordered closely upon those of the
Methodists. Those spurious revivals spread like
wildfire in Western New York, and the results
were most disastrous. Heresies abounded, and
churches were filled with spurious converts, by
whom scandals were multiplied and the ministry
was crippled.
It matters not under what auspices the thing
is done. If, in a so called revival, where one is




322         MODES OF DEFENCE.
converted nine are deceived, the work is essentially one of ruin; and the ruin goes on by the
credit which is given to it through the false
charity exercised towards it by other Christians.
In current phrase, we speak of such things as revivals, and we publish them in our papers as
revivals, while, in fact, no dependence is to be
placed upon them. If those whose sentiments
give tone to Christian society would speak what
they think, the evil would be checked. But they
have been loath to do this, lest it should grieve
some good men. Their kindly feelings have hindered the utterance of important truth. So our
young people have been drawn in under the apprehension that what they were doing had the
common sanction of Christians. Every Christian owes it to his generation to be outspoken
in this matter, and let his real convictions be
known.
Another question of duty touches exchanges
of pulpits. When I came to this place I followed the course of my predecessors, whom I
supposed to know more of the right in the case
than I did; but I soon saw what made me exceedingly reluctant to exchange. Though there
is here so much interconnection of the families




MODES OF DEFENCE.          323
of different denominations that we must needs
disoblige our own friends not to exchange with
Methodists, I found I must suppress my own convictions of right in order to do it. Methodist
pulpits here, as every where else, abound in
abusive misrepresentations and gross caricatures of our doctrines, including the famous
imputation of preaching infant damnation. In
Methodist prayer meetings public prayers were
offered for me as an unconverted man. I saw
that around me the great body of Universalists
and infidels had been at least once converts, and
that Methodism, by a wholesale operation, was
working ruin. So I felt that I could not sanction, by such an act of fellowship, such a work
of ruin. I could not indorse for a system that
is so abusive to my own, and that, in the place
of its most effectual operations, produces such a
preponderance of tares instead of wheat. I distinguished between the men and the system. Of
the Christian character of some of the Methodists I have no doubt; and some of the ministers
that have been here are worthy of all Christian
regard; but for the system, and its preponderant
results, I cannot indorse.
Next, what should be our course of preaching




324         MODES OF DEFENCE.
when we are surrounded by Methodists? As to
my own course here, I may say, that in my pulpit
exercises for these twenty years I have not known
Methodism. I have aimed to preach the whole
truth, just as if that form of error did not exist,
not dwelling on particular doctrines, more or less,
because they were so much controverted here,
lest, if I did it, either more or less, I should mar
the proportion and force of the doctrines. I felt
that by turning aside neither to the right hand
nor to the left -neither to repel Methodism nor
to conciliate it —I should best do my work; and
it is now my clear conviction that the influence
of this church, and of its ministrations of truth,
is stronger than if I had, by exchanges, indorsed
for Methodism. Now, after all efforts at proselyting on the one hand, and the want of effort on
the other, we are willing to compare balances of
gain and loss.
Still, I think there have been times when
this silence was an error -when manifest good
might have come from a direct effort; and I
think our ministers have generally erred on the
side of silence. Strife, even for truth and right,
is uncomfortable, and, in the view of many,
odious. For many reasons, personal and social,




MODES OF DEFENCE.         325
we prefer to suffer rather than contend; and if
it were we, and not the truth, that suffered, we
might. But the more I have reflected, the more
I think that we have erred in this matter. This
policy of inaction binds us hand and foot against
doing any thing for the truth, when so much is
done against it. Lee was right in policy when
he chose for the fields of his operations those
places where the Congregational ministers were
good easy souls, making no opposition, and
where the deacons let the good lady provide
him a dinner without their filling up the time
with vexatious discourse about doctrines.
One essential way of resisting Methodism is,
to keep the people rooted and grounded in the
truth-in those doctrines of grace which are a
terror to Methodism, by teaching them fully in
the pulpit, Sabbath school, and family. This
gives the people a power of discrimination, and
an ability to detect the arts of deceivers. But
there are times which specially call us to speak
with reference to existing errors; and wisdom is
profitable to direct as to these times. Then the
doctrines of grace give us a clear advantage
against Methodism; for they prepare the minds
of the people to take up and carry out the dis28




326         MODES OF DEFENCE.
cussions; while the people reared under Methodism are, for the most part, specially deficient
in doctrinal knowledge and discrimination. He
that is girt about with truth is strong in his
positions.
Perhaps God has suffered such a heresy to
come in in order to compel the churches to live
by the doctrines of grace, and give them an earnest inculcation. The force of Christianity very
much inheres in them; and if the churches fail
to bring them forth in their strength, they become weak and decay. These onsets are the
goads to stimulate us to the duty of a thorough
indoctrination of the people.
Some feel that because we must needs have
so much intercourse with our Methodist neighbors we must not come in conflict with their
views; but this is to betray God's truth for
man's favor, and to prepare the ground for sowing the seeds of destructive error. No; let the
people be made to know that the difference between us and Methodism is important, and that
great responsibilities attach to traversing the
boundary.
As to union meetings with Methodists, - another point of inquiry, —I have observed that




MODES OF DEFENCE.         327
Methodists never encourage such unions, except
when they feel sure of turning them to a sectarian advantage. A missionary, who has been
largely employed by the American Sunday
School Union, in forming union schools in the
destitute places in the west, gave it as the result of his experience, that, while all other evangelical denominations in such places are free to
unite for such a purpose, the Methodist ministry
invariably set their faces as a flint against such
unions. The Methodist people frequently unite
in forming such schools in the absence of their
ministers; but as soon as the ministers return,
the schools are broken up. He gave me several
striking instances, showing the application of
this invariable rule of Methodism at the west.
And if this rule of having no unions, except a
union to promote Methodism, is limited to the
west or east, I have been deceived. The position of Methodism, as to the great union societies, is in essential harmony with this rule.
With the Tract Society, in which most denominations unite for publishing the gospel to the
destitute, by colporteurs and the press, it has
nothing to do. With the Sunday School Union,
and all its ministrations to the destitute, on fields




328         MODES OF DEFENCE.
where no one sect is strong enough to stand
alone, it has nothing to do, except to thwart its
agents whenever it can. And till within a few
years it stood as entirely aloof from the American Bible Society, till it found that to be a bad
policy. Now, it would seem to be plain that it
is not our duty to hold union prayer meetings,
or any other unions with those who will have
no unions but unions to promote Methodism.
But why do I speak of this? If Methodists
want no unions they will ask for none. True.
But when they want them to promote Methodism, they do seek them. When that " old church
on the hill" was to be broken up, the union that
was needful, as the means to the end, was a very
desirable and blessed thing. And on some occasions even we have been pressed with troublesome solicitations to go into such unions.
One thing to be guarded against in other
places is not so needful here. In most places
where Methodism comes in for an assault on
existing churches, its strength consists in its
weakness. It commences onsets and puts in
circulation abusive caricatures of received doctrines, accuses others of teaching infant damnation, and then, if the accused even repel these




MODES OF DEFENCE.          329
aspersions the cry of persecution is raised —
"See, here we are a poor, feeble, inoffensive
band, persecuted and crushed by the hand of the
strong." And with unreflecting minds such a
wicked appeal to sympathy has its effect. Hence
most have forborne to treat the mischief according to its merits, till it has gained a foothold.
This has been its unvarying policy in all its
propagation. But fortunately it cannot have
application here, where it boasts of its numbers
and strength. Here we may speak the truth
without charge of persecution. For we are the
weak and the down-trodden. And a poor thing
indeed must Methodism be, if it cannot protect
itself from persecution under the eaves of its
cathedral church, where it has five churches,
and five pastors, and one pastor of pastors, or
bishop's suffragan.
But I must not dismiss this subject without
one remark to those who have taken up conclusions against vital Christianity from their
delusion, adopted in spurious revivals. Your
conclusion is legitimate from your premises, but
your premises are bad.  You have come to
them not by the light of the word of God, but
by pinning your faith on the sleeves of most
28 -




330         MODES OF DEFENCE.
incompetent guides. "These be blind leaders
of the blind; and if the blind lead the blind,
shall not they both fall into the ditch? "
The grand fallacy of your conclusion is, that
vital godliness, regeneration by the power of
God, is nothing more than is usually experienced
in the hocus pocus comedies of Methodist camp
meetings. To such a conclusion you never come
by comparing those operations and results with
the word of God. And yet that written word
of God is your only standard of duty here, and
your only rule of judgment at the last day. To
the law and the testimony; if they speak not
according to these, it is because there is no light
in them.
You are now resting in your conclusion that
it is safe to live without God in the world, and
safe to die as godless men die, because you have
proved the spuriousness of a Methodist conversion-because you have detected one of the
most shallow delusions, a delusion which the
Bible repudiates, and for which the Bible is no
more responsible than for the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Was that freak of fancy, that
heat of passion, or that impulse to speak in a
meeting, all that the Son of God inculcated,




MODES OF DEFENCE.         331
when he said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God"? Is no more than this intended
in putting off the old man and in putting on the
new man; in being renewed in the temper of
the mind; in passing from death unto life, and
from the power of Satan unto God? " If any
man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things
are passed away, and all things are become new.
Ye are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them." Now,
after you shall have experienced all that the
mind of the Spirit expresses in such language as
this-if then you fall from it, because you find
it a delusion, you may consider yourselves safe
in irreligion, if safety be possible in a godless
universe. But as it is, you are shutting out the
light let down from heaven, and making a fearful plunge in the dark.
But these requisitions of the holy word must
one day be met. You must then come to test
the question, whether there is not something in
the soul's new creation in Christ of which you
have had no conception. And it is better to




332         MODES OF DEFENCE.
test it now, before an open Bible, than hereafter
in an open eternity.
But if your understandings are darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, because
of the blindness that is in your hearts, so that
you can form no true conception of godliness,
yet one would think that your view of the results of this delusion on the present character of
men might create some misgivings. It requires
no spiritual discernment to see that that course
which you have travelled, beginning at the Methodist camp meeting, or altar, and leading downward, -that course which is here trod by thousands,- is a manifest course of injury to mind and
morals. It is among us now very generally seen
that the main cause of the deficiencies of morals,
of sound intellect, of staidness of habits, as compared with other towns, which has given Lynn
the name it has abroad, comes from the source
which I have described -that the influence beginning at the Methodist altar, and proceeding
down through Universalist and infidel channels,
issues in just those things which are a disgrace
to our body politic. And one would naturally
think that any one seeing this, and finding himself in possession of that experience, would take




MODES OF DEFENCE.          333
the alarm. Were I in that position,-looking
back to the time when I underwent the common
delusion, and then seeing myself on the lower
steps of the descending scale, and looking
around me, and seeing the marks of the moral
scathing upon the mass of those who had travelled the same road,-that of itself would be
enough to give me the alarm. As ever the
movements of the popular mind peculiar to
Lynn reminded me of their source, the question
would return upon me, Can this be truth?  Can
this be a good tree, which produces such fruits?
As ever I saw what special patronage all the
shows and attractions for idle ones find in Lynn;
how the mind of thousands here is tinder to
every flying spark of temptation; what a small
breath will raise a breeze of excitement; how
often the town is disgraced by indignation meetings, on the most frivolous occasions, and by
rowdy assemblages; what entertainments are
here given to every impostor,-I should be
alarmed to find myself under the action of the
causes which have produced these results. We
have, within a few days, had a shocking specimen of Lynn rowdyism, showing to what a
depth of degradation and brutality the taste and




334         MODES OF DEFENCE.
moral sense of a certain class of our people have
attained. A vast crowd assembled as an escort
of two lunatics, farcically nominated for the
presidency of the United States, and paraded
through the streets with an indescribable display of fantasticals, and then gathered into the
Lyceum Hall for proceedings that would disgrace the heathen,- riding the lunatics across
the stage on the stuffed skin of a swine —an
appropriate idol for such worshippers. And so
extensive is the taste for such inhuman sports in
Lynn that a daily paper, patronizing, reporting,
and applauding them, finds employment. Nor
are our papers enough. Reports of the same are
sent to Boston to be published, as if we needed
more presses than we have to blazon abroad our
own infamy. This recent instance is chosen for
illustration, not because it is worse than others
constantly occurring, but because it is recent.
Something of the kind, showing in some form a
heathenized and brutal taste of a multitude of
people here, is an every-day affair. And those
who do such things, and have pleasure in them
that do them, also take pleasure in publishing
them to the world. They glory in their shame,
and involve the whole town in it. It is these




MODES OF DEFENCE.         335
things, more than any thing else, that have made
the name of Lynn a hissing and a byword
abroad. And these things we think we have
traced to their true source. Now, it seems to
me that if I had cast off all sense of religious
obligation, by having passed the process described, I should still be alarmed to find myself
under the action of causes which have produced
these results. Such demonstrations of heathenism here made are imperative as a voice from
heaven, requiring me to give them a faithful utterance. Many good men, doubtless, think me
imprudent, and having a zeal that is not according to knowledge; but that alters not the course
of duty for me. I have tried to see things in
that light; I have labored and prayed to know
the path of duty; and I have even deferred
taking up this history for years after I was convinced that it ought to be done, for this reason,
among others, that I saw that I could not discharge my duty in it without traversing this very
ground. And if I ever did a painful work from
an urgent sense of duty, it was this. I have
forecast the scenes of my dying bed, and asked
myself whether I have put down any thing here
which I would then wish to blot, with a pur



336         MODES OF DEFENCE.
pose to blot it now, if there be occasion. Still
my sense of duty in the case falters not. As I
expected, I have been assailed by all manner of
missiles, and with imputations of the worst of
motives; but even from these I have derived no
aid to reach another conclusion. lany wonder
at my imprudence, and some pretend to think
me a maniac. "But whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is
for your cause; for the love of Christ constraineth us." Whether willingly or unwillingly, a dispensation is committed to me; and woe be to me
if I forbear to sustain this burden of the word
of the Lord.
But it has been often said that though these
things are all true, they ought not to be publicly
exhibited. To meet this suggestion, I have only
to ask the reader to turn back, and see what
things have been here told, and what a ruinous
process has here been exposed, and then say, If
these things are so, is it not a plain duty to call
public attention to them, that the way may be
open for a reformation? If there is a severity
in the statements that does not inhere in the
facts, I am an offender. If the facts are severe,
the fault is with those who do and encourage




MODES OF DEFENCE.         337
them. If it is wrong for me even to speak of
such things, how wrong must it be for those who
do them! If this system is working such injury,
shall the injury be concealed that it may be continued, or shall it be brought to light and corrected? Is it a Christian spirit that dictates
the concealment of a wrong, lest the exposure
for correction shall hurt the feelings of the
wrong doers? I would have gladly convinced
myself that silence was my duty; but I reasoned
thus with myself: Here is a manifest and growing evil, largely patronized by the popular mind;
the current is setting strong towards destruction,
and involving thousands in its sweep; there is
no probability that it will correct itself, if some
one does not point out the evil involved with the
seeming good; individuals will see and deplore
the error, but no corrective force will be im.
bodied against it; however great the evil may
be, it is sure to continue to spread while no public and earnest voice of reproof is uttered; but
there is a peradventure that a faithful remonstrance put forth against it may so far arrest
attention, secure public conviction, and elicit
the suppressed thoughts of others, as to imbody
a moral force which will check the flowing tide,
29




338          MODES OF DEFENCE.
and perhaps turn the current. But for this purpose no timid or half-suppressed utterance will
do. Mere hints and insinuations that there possibly may be something wrong in the case will
not suffice: the remonstrance must be outspoken
and full. But that will awake angry feeling, and
put in motion that unruly member, that imbodies
" a world of iniquity," for the destruction of my
peace. This evil I must incur, or sit down and
do nothing for the correction of the other and
greater evil. But why should I incur it? It
does not exist among the people of my charge.
I am not responsible for what is done by others.
But is it so? Am I a minister of Christ? and
am I placed, in the providence of God, in circumstances where words of mine can have effect
for the correction of any evils patronized by any
class of men? I am responsible for those words.
Wherever the authority of Christ extends, the
duties of the ministers of Christ are commensurate with their influence.
The case presented to me, then, was this:
These evils will continue, if I hold my peace,
for they are not such as will correct themselves;
but if I do what I can to give an effective testimony against them, I may strike a first blow




MODES OF DEFENCE.         339
towards their destruction; and if I fail, I shall
have discharged a plain duty, and secured a
good conscience.
Now, in executing this purpose, I have performed one of the most painful duties of my
whole life. I have felt that a minister is not
left wholly to his own pleasure in the choice of
his themes, but must sometimes take up those
which peril his own peace and comfort. If he
sees principles and habits prevailing that are
ruinous to men and dishonorable to God, he is
bound to reprove them. If he has a heart loyal
to Him who sent him, ever and anon these words
will ring in his ears: " Son of man, I have made
thee a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them
warning from me. When I say unto the wicked,'Thou shalt surely die,' and thou givest him not
warning, the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine
hand."
I have not done what I have for my own gratification. I too well anticipated what a strife of
tongues it would kindle around me. The loss
of the good will of my neighbors is as important
to me as to others; and I trust I have not the




340         AMODES OF DEFENCE.
folly wantonly to incur it; but if fidelity in the
discharge of duty requires the sacrifice, it is my
daily prayer that I may not shrink from it. I
am happy to say that I have now finished that
part of my work which consists of strictures on
any other denomination than our own. From
the commanding position which Methodism occupies in the religious history of Lynn, I could
not fail of giving prominence to that, and of
showing its relations to other developments.
Now that that is done, the disagreeable part of
my duty will be confined chiefly to our own
body, of whose errors I have been no more
sparing than I have of those of others. I have
intended that this exhibition of truth should be
"without partiality and without hypocrisy."
And what I have done I purpose to have put
on record, and brought under the inspection of
friends and foes. The work, of course, has its
errors, and I wish them to be pointed out, and
prevented from doing injury; but, in the conviction that it contains substantial truth, and
truth important to be told, I desire that the
work may remain to be read after I am gone to
my last account. In a little while, the tongue
that now speaks will pass to the silence of the




MODES OF DEFENCE.         341
grave; the heartburnings which its utterances
have kindled will be quenched; but the principles involved will be as enduring as eternity.
So it is a small thing to be judged of you, or
of man's judgment. He that judgeth me is the
Lord. Because we must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ —because I must meet
my neighbors there, to be judged with them, and
undergo a scrutiny of my faithfulness to them, I
prefer, if need be, to become, for the present,
their enemy, by telling them the truth, rather
than to stand there guilty of their blood. This
part of my work is now done; and I commend
it to God, with whom are the issues of every
work, and pray that whatever has been said
amiss may be forgiven and prevented from doing injury; and that what of it is true may
exert the force of truth on the public heart and
conscience, and bring forth fruit unto eternal
life.
29*




CHAPTER XI.
MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY. MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.
THOMAS CUSHING THACHER had the advantage
of a true nobility in his ancestry. They, with
their kindred, embraced some of the most precious
names in New England's history. His father
graduated at Cambridge at the age of seventeen;
was ordained the pastor of the church in Malden
at the age of eighteen. He was a delightful yet
pungent preacher.  No young man preached
to such crowded assemblies as he. Whitefield
called him the young Elijah. He was a thorough Calvinist, and earnest for the Puritan
faith. After a ministry of fifteen years in Malden, he became pastor of the Brattle Street
Church, in Boston, where he labored seventeen
years, and died in 1802, six years after the ordination of his son at Lynn, whose ordination sermon he preached and published. Among the
numerous discourses which he published, there
were three on the eternity of future punishment,
prepared probably with a design to counterwork
(342)




MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.      343
the leaven of Dr. Chauncy's doctrine, then
spreading in Boston.  In prayer he was uncommonly gifted, uttering in pathetic language the
devout feelings of his own heart, and exciting
deep emotions in his hearers. He was, in short,
one of the greater lights of the Boston pulpit.
That a son of so excellent and celebrated a
minister should be willing to become the pastor
of such a forlorn hope of a church must have
been thought quite remarkable. It would be a
pleasing duty, if the facts would warrant it, to
show that the son equalled his father's excellence
of gifts and graces. So, if we follow the traditions and lights which we have, and show that
he fell far short of that, it will be not because
we take any pleasure in relating such facts, but
because the truth of history requires it, and because we have no other means of showing what
was the low condition of the church, and by
what means it was depressed. Mr. Thacher did
not excel in native force, nor in discipline of
mind; but the people heard some excellent sermons from him-even some of the same that
had been preached by his father before him.
He did not excel in evangelical doctrine. He
once remarked, in answer to the question




344       MR. THACHER S MINISTRY.
whether he believed in the necessity of a change
of heart, that if there were such a thing, he
knew nothing of it. He did not excel in consistency in maintaining his sentiments; for after
his dismission, he was asked by a Calvinist what
his sentiments were, and he said that he was a
Calvinist, and always had been. He did not
excel in gifts in prayer, nor in a reverential
regard for the work of prayer; for he once
remarked to an intimate friend that he "had no
knack in praying."  He was not intemperate,
though he lived in times when the free use of
ardent spirits was common with ministers and
people, without forming an exception to the
common practice. His influence on young men
had less of moral restraint than could be desired.
What he lacked in earnestness and zeal for the
upbuilding of the church, he supplied in zeal for
increasing the lodge of Freemasons. In short,
his habits, tastes, tendencies, and sense of the
proprieties of life were not all that might have
been expected of one having his parentage and
education in the most religious and refined circles.
His ministry continued eighteen years; and,
considering what the church was when he began,
and what its experience was from that time on



MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.      345
ward, it is a wonder that it could have lived
half that time.  The case to which I have
referred, of persons converted abroad, and connecting themselves with this church, may indicate the way of explaining a part of the wonder.
Where the Bible is read, and where religious
books abound, and where families have religious
connections abroad, and are in a way to hear
evangelical preaching occasionally, the church
in some instances may sustain a remnant of life,
even in spite of its own ministry. Here there
was some traditional truth, transmitted from
earlier times, and some reverence for the memory of the Puritan fathers, which caused their
books, lingering here and there in the families,
to be read to effect; so that scattered seeds of
truth would germinate, now and then, under the
breath of the Spirit of God, without the aid of
a skilful cultivator.
Mr. Thacher's records show a remarkable
result. The most that he admitted to the church
came in in the early periods of his ministry,
before the true character of his ministry had
time to make its full impression. Possibly at
that time, having come recently from under the
good influences of an education in the bosom of




346        MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.
piety and prayer, his ministry then exhibited
more of the force of truth than in its later
years. In his first year, Mr. Thacher admitted
to the church sixteen persons, either by letter or
profession. During the next six years he admitted twenty-two; and in all the last eleven
years he admitted but one. Here is a remarkable fact -that for the whole term of eleven years,
only one person came into the church, either by
letter or profession. Things had probably come
to such a condition, that a proper regard for
one's reputation would prevent his connecting
himself with the church.
The natural result was, a constant drain from
the congregation, by secessions to the Methodists, on the part of those who had any serious
impressions, and those on whom the maintenance
of religious life in the society depended. And
this was not all. The Baptist church here originated in dissatisfaction with Mr. Thacher's ministry, existing previous to any predilection for
Baptist principles. The history, as I have received it, is this: Mr. Bacheller, the father of a
present officer in that church, being dissatisfied
with the state of things in Mr. Thacher's society, especially with the want of vital religion in




MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.     347
it, seceded to the Methodists, which then seemed
to be the only alternative; but after two years,
more or less, his trial of the Methodists resulted
in his utter dissatisfaction with their views. He
then joined the Baptist church in Salem. He
was in a habit of walking to Salem every Sabbath, to attend church. By this means he came
gradually to a thorough adoption of Baptist
principles.  Then he commenced inviting his
own ministers to preach in Lynn, in private
houses. His son very early sympathized with
his views, and used to attend meeting at Salem
with him; and when he came upon the stage, he
and his wife, who was a very efficient helper in
this work, were the most prominent builders in
the Baptist society. And this was an event of
no inconsiderable importance, among the first
checks to the universal sway of Arminianism
here. The Baptists faithfully preached the main
doctrines of the cross; and though the organizing of their church did not take place till after
the end of Mr. Thacher's ministry, the causes
of it were at work before; and its commencing
to exert an influence about the same time when
evangelical doctrines were restored to this
church aided in checking somewhat the tide




348       MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.
that set so strongly against the doctrines of the
cross. And what good has come of the organizing of the Baptist church, came of Providence
overruling the evils then existing in the old
church. It appears that Mr. Bacheller was not
a Baptist when he seceded to the Methodists,
as is proved in the fact that he went to the
Methodists. And the probability is, that had
there been a faithful ministry in the old church,
he never would have left it, and never would
have led the way to the forming of another
church. This is only one of many instances of
the Baptist denomination profiting by defections
from the Puritan faith in our own. At the commencement of the present century, only one
Congregational church in Boston remained true
to Puritan principles. All the rest had become
Unitarian. But connected with them there were
individuals whose hearts revolted from such
heresies, and desired the sincere milk of the
word. Many of these sought what it was difficult to find any where else in the two Baptist
churches in Boston, these having excellent pastors-Messrs. Baldwin and Stillman. They
went thither, not because they were Baptists,
but because they loved the doctrines of the




MR. THACHER S MINISTRY.      349
cross. And their going thither was the occasion of their becoming Baptists; and that state
of things was a harvest to the Baptist denomination in Boston.
In Lynn, Mr. Thacher's ministry had the misfortune of repelling the more sober-minded people in every direction. A more complete moral
desert was rarely seen in a Christian land than
that which lay around this church. The time
just before the close of Mr. Thacher's ministry
was probably the darkest day that this church
ever saw. The professedly Unitarian ministry
that followed his was an evident improvement.
As to doctrines taught, it was no worse. It had
no power to lift up and revive the church. But
it did not in so many ways depress it, nor in so
many ways counteract the influences coming in
from other sources for good.
There were some pious individuals in the
church; and the wonder is, that they so patiently endured so undesirable a ministry so long.
How the facts were in this case we know very
little; but observations taken in church difficulties, as presented in many ecclesiastical councils,
have shown that some of the best men often adhere to the worst ministers, in cases of church
30




350       MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.
divisions about a minister.  And this comes
about as a misdirection of their own excellent
tendencies. So we have this seeming contradiction-the best adhering to the worst, as the
result of their own goodness.  Some of the
purest and most earnest minds, out of their love
and veneration for the ministry itself, form an
attachment to the person of a particular minister, which is so strong and confiding as to prevent their seeing his deficiencies, and to enlist
them in his defence when he ought not to be
defended. On this principle there is need of
caution in applying the rule of " Like people, like
priest." While bad men, from sympathy with
wickedness, espouse the cause of an unworthy
minister, good men, from love to the ministry,
are sometimes blinded to the faults of the minister. And it is on this principle that we not
unfrequently find some of the best people in a
parish sustaining a minister that ought not to be
sustained. Their love is of a kind that many
waters will not quench, nor floods drown.
There is another way in which an unfruitful
ministry sometimes holds its ground where it
should not. It is the opposite of that which
tends to parish quarrels. It is a chronic disease




MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.      351
of the public mind, by reason of which the people have come to such a contempt for the ministry that they care too little about the demerits
of their minister to take the trouble to dismiss
him.  There are few scenes in the religious
world more revolting and more illustrative of
the depths of human depravity than are often
exhibited in a people's contests about their minister. But such contests, however unchristian
in the spirit in which they are conducted, do not
reveal such hopeless wickedness as does the
quietness of a people who sustain a minister
without caring what his character may be.
Where there is a mere contempt for the ministry,
yet a desire, for secular reasons, to sustain it,
there is no great carefulness as to what its character may be; and when a people have so far
gone in that contempt as not to take the trouble
to remove a minister, after he has become a nuisance, their moral sense is in a deep slumber.
Without affirming how far these general remarks have application to the period of the history that is now before us, it is clear that the
apathy of the people as to the unfruitfulness of
the ministry was culpable. And it should here
be stated that the first suggestion for the dismis



352       MR. THACHER'S MINISTRY.
sion of Mr. Thacher came from abroad. The
person who first moved the people in the matter
was Mr. Newhall, the missionary, and the husband of the celebrated Harriet Newhall. He
was temporarily residing with his relatives in
Lynn. He became deeply affected with the deficiencies of the ministry, and labored to open
the eyes of the people to their duty in the case.
A parish meeting was called for, January 18,
1813, when a vote was passed -'"That in the
existing circumstances, the best interests of both
pastor and people require that a separation
should take place." It was voted to give him
eight hundred dollars, and the use of the parsonage for one year. With these terms he complied, proposing that the society should assume
his debts, -which they did,- and which, as I
am informed, amounted to nineteen hundred dollars. This debt became a burden on the society,
which, in its extreme feebleness, came near to
crushing it, and which was not removed till, in
the pastorate of Mr. Rockwood, help was received from abroad.
Mr. Thacher, in his letter to the parish communicating his resignation, tells them that he
has been a faithful minister, and has always




MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.       353
sought their good, and laments that he has had
so little fruit of his labor, but that his failure
was partly owing to his insufficient support.
He dwelt pathetically on the hardness of his
case, in being set aside after he had passed the
meridian of life. And indeed it was peculiarly
hard- and the more so in that the unfruitfulness of his ministry here had made it impossible
for him to find employment in other places.
But for the church it was still more hard. It
was well nigh a case of death to them. The
personal evils to him, great as they were, were
not to be thought of, compared with the evils affecting the immortal interests of hundreds.
In April following the dismission of Mr.
Thacher, a call was given to Mr. Isaac Iurd, of
Charlestown. This took place at the time of
the last war with Great Britain, when the public mind was deeply excited in politics, in
which excitement some of the leading ministers
in this vicinity took a prominent part. Little
was then thought of the doctrines which preachers held; and the political excitement made it
a matter of still less interest. Mr. Hurd was a
Unitarian in theory, though probably little was
known of it. The council who installed him
30 *




354         MR. HURD7S MINISTRY.
was composed of both Unitarian and Orthodox
ministers. For there had been no separation
of the two interests then. Iis ordination sermon was preached by Dr. Osgood, of Medford,
an. Orthodox minister, but furiously devoted to
politics. He took for his text this —"When
Paul preached of righteousness, temperance, and
judgment to come, Felix trembled;" and he set
forth the minister's duty to preach so as to
make wicked rulers tremble. He spoke eloquently of the evils and distresses which our
rulers had brought upon the country by an unjust war, and then complained that some of the
ministers were dumb dogs, that will not bark.
That feature of the times indicated by such a
sermon, on such an occasion, may show why so
little was then thought of the question, whether
a minister's doctrines were true or false. As it
was, Mr. Hurd seems to have been settled by a
church that supposed themselves to be in the
Puritan faith, without any divisions or questions
being raised.  It does not appear that Mr.
Hurd made any concealment of his views.
There was no examination of him by the council, according to the custom of these days. He
read a profession of his faith to the council, and




MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.       355
they voted unanimously that it was satisfactory.
And yet on that council were Drs. Osgood and
Morse, and Mr. Wadsworth, of Danvers. Probably the terms of his profession were not very
explicit, as none at that time took the ground
of refusing to ordain a minister for want of
Orthodoxy.
Though, as it respects the doctrines held by
the minister, there had been little improvement
by the change, in other respects there was a
gain. Mr. IHurd was a gentleman, a scholar,
and a man of sense, and serious and conscientious in the work which he had undertaken.
And in these respects there was a vast gain.
Yet his preaching was not that of Christ and
him crucified, and so was not the power of God
unto salvation, and so failed of imparting life
to the church. A few members were admitted
to the church urring his ministry. But some of
them had their conversion by means coming
from abroad, and others of them afterwards seceded to the Unitarian society, when that was
established. In all there were sixteen added by
profession during his ministry. Of these five
are now living members of the church.
The great thing wanted was an element of




356         MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.
life. The minister, not having received the doctrines of the cross, knew not for himself the way
of life, nor how to guide others into it. Yet
life, and interest felt in religion by the church
and congregation, was the one thing which they
lacked. The congregation were not so reduced
that they could not well sustain the ministry, if
they felt its power, and felt it to be worth sustaining. But moral lectures, theoretical essays,
and preaching against the doctrines of grace,
such as then constituted the main labor of ministers of that class, can awake no spiritual life
in a people —as all experience from that time
to this has demonstrated. There may be the
wealth and willingness, for secular reasons, to
sustain a ministry, -there may be in the ministry sustained all gentlemanly and scholarly attainments,-and yet, if the grand elements of
the gospel as a way of salvation for sinners are
kept out of the pulpit, that ministry, as to the
life-sustaining purpose of the ministry, is " powerless as the moonlight cold on the cold snow."
And the result here was, that in three years
the interest and ability of the congregation to
sustain a minister failed. And though no one
was displeased with the minister, it was neces



MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.       357
sary for him to seek a dissolution of his pastoral
connection. In May, 1816, the pastor called a
meeting of the church, and stated that the parish
had not fulfilled its obligations to him, in consequence of embarrassments in their pecuniary
condition, and there was no prospect that they
would be able to do it for the future. What of
the salary had been paid had come from borrowed money, and no payment had been made
for the last two years; that is, he had labored
with them three years, while the members of the
congregation had paid him nothing. Of course
his remaining with them would only increase
their embarrassments. He was willing to remain longer, if any good could be accomplished
by it. But he was clear that none could be, and
was impelled to ask a dismission, which he accordingly did. In accepting his resignation,
the parish expressed their deep regrets, and
their full satisfaction with the manner in which
he had discharged his ministry. The council
who sanctioned his dismission spoke in their result as if the question of life or death to the
church had come to an issue. They exhorted
them to make an effort to live, as follows:
"Shall an ancient church be extinguished, the




358         MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.
place of whose solemnities has been venerable
for a century? Shall a church numbered among
the first monuments of our forefathers' zeal and
piety go to decay, and its lively stones be built
on foundations unknown to them, or disapproved
by them? We hope better things of you, brethren, and things which accompany salvation, as a
church, though we thus speak."
While Mr. Hurd's mind was occupied with
the subject of his dismission, it was coming to a
decision of a still more important question. He
had read the controversy between Worcester
and Channing, and taken new impressions as to
the divinity of Christ. And though the public
knew nothing of his change of sentiments till
after he left Lynn, he informed one of his friends
before he left, that he had undergone such a
change. Perhaps the fruitlessness of his ministry, as in the case of Dr. Chalmers, had been
one means of his seeing his errors. Not long
after he left Lynn, he preached to a Unitarian
church in Exeter, New Hampshire. They gave
him a call, not knowing the change in his views.
For that reason he felt himself in honor bound
to decline the call, and inform the society of the
reason. They then renewed the call, and he




MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.       359
settled over them, and reclaimed them from
their errors; and he has since fulfilled a long
and highly useful ministry among them.
And here I feel a sensible relief in having
finished the mournful recitals of a series of such
ministries of errors. At this point our history
emerges from shades to receive some of the first
rays of the dawn of a better day. Only three
years less than a century was this church under
a cloud, and, properly speaking, without an
evangelical ministry. And what a wonder is it
that, for that length of time, it sustained a spark
of evangelical life! Yet the power that was
symbolized in the bush burning but not consumed- the hand that sustained the chosen
tribes in the iron furnace of Egypt —that led
them through the Red Sea - that upbore them
through a forty years' experience of a life in the
wilderness, -that hand sustained a remnant of
life here. And all the wonder-working of Providence, by which this was done, is a token of an
important mission which this church has yet to
fulfil. A few years later than the time of which
we now speak, it was seriously questioned by
those who wished to sustain the cause of truth
here, whether it would not be better to let the




360        MR. HURID S MINISTRY.
old church expire, and bury with it all its embarrassments, and all the odium that attached to
it, and all the contempts that had been heaped
upon it. If that had been done; and if then a
new organization had been attempted, - for
which there would then have been no encouragement, - there would have been, even in case of
the success of a new organization, a throwing
away of all the advantages for which Providence had, in the labor of a century, kept the
breath of life in the church; and in that, we
think, there would have been the frustration of
a great purpose. If, in the view of God, the
life of this church was worth preserving, it must,
after it had been preserved, have had in it a
value that would more than overbalance all the
disadvantage which its many years of sad experience had accumulated upon it. And if it had
such a value at the time when its resurrection
commenced, it has, under Providence, an important mission to fulfil. God has designs to accomplish through the future experience and
agency of this church, which are fit to be the
end of such an expensive train of means. He
is to glorify himself enough in the future history
of this church to exhibit him in triumph over




MR. HURD'S MINISTRY.       361
all the devices of the enemy, through which his
name and truth have suffered contempt. He is
yet here to show results that will vindicate his
glory, and put a surpassing lustre on his truth.
Such is the inference which I draw from what
God has done to this church, as to what he intends to do with it, that I value a connection
with it the more for the wonders of his hand in
its preservation. I infer that it has an important mission to perform. And with faith can I
give breath to its prayer - " Make us glad according to the days wherein we have seen evil,
and the years wherein thou hast afflicted us.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and
thy glory unto their children. Let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us, and the work
of our hands, establish thou it."
31




CHAPTER      XII.
MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
THE church that had for a century shown
great tenacity of life under the seeming death
strokes repeated so long, now, under the appointment of Providence, comes into the way
to receive a ministry of life. At this time the
Unitarian controversy had awaked. The people
were discovering the difference between the
views which had now extensively obtained and
the original Puritan doctrines. Concealments
had been thrown off. The controversy between
Worcester and Channing had opened the grand
debate. Differences that had been very much
confined to ministers now came forth upon the
people. The Congregational denomination in
Massachusetts was soon ranged in two conflicting parties. The society in Lynn, little as it
had of Puritan force, or indeed of any force,
showed the germs of two interests that were
totally irreconcilable, and these about equally
divided.
(362)




MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.     363
In employing candidates to fill its vacant pulpit, a sort of compromise was observed between
Cambridge and Andover, as a source of supply.
For near two years an alternation between the
two was sustained. In the mean time, those in
the society who had been Unitarians without
knowing it began to make the discovery, when
they had such opportunities to contrast the two
systems. The Andover students brought certain strange things to their ears - things which
had long ceased to awake the echoes of the " Old
Tunnel." To show how this class of people were
affected, I will give two or three extracts from
a journal kept by one who afterwards became
a member of the Unitarian society.  "Dec.
28, 1817. Attended the old meeting; heard
an uncharitable Hopkinsian Calvinistic sermon. Feb. 22, 1818. Attended public worship
at the old meeting —sermon by Mr. Morse,
son of Dr. Morse, of Charlestown: it was the
true essence of Calvinism -very uncharitable -
not profitable to any- cruel as the grave.
In the afternoon staid at home."  Yet, as
there were life and force in Orthodox preaching,
though it irritated some, it secured better attendance and fuller congregations than the opposites.




364      MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
Now the life of the church trembled in the balances. A small weight would have struck the
balance forever against her. If, in the then existing circumstances, she had settled a Unitarian minister, she was gone past recovery. The
Unitarians believed they had a majority in the
parish, and the Orthodox faintly hoped that
they should have. This was in their favor, that
their preaching drew the fullest houses. Among
the candidates which the Orthodox employed
was Mr. Otis Rockwood. He did not come here
directly from Andover, but had previously been
preaching some time in Charlestown for Dr.
Morse; and it was not known to the people generally that he was an Andover student; and so
he was heard with less prejudice; and many
of the Unitarian portion of the people had expressed opinions so decidedly in his favor, before they knew of his connection with Andover,
that they could not retract. The call to Mr.
Rockwood from the church was unanimous. In
the parish there was, as it was to have been expected, some division. The call from the church
was given March 1, 1818. The meeting of the
parish, to act in concurrence, was called for
March 30. Of this meeting the private journal




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     365
from which we have quoted says, "The parish
and church were very much divided, a part being in favor of Mr. Rockwood, while a decided
majority was opposed to him, on the Calvinistic
doctrine.  It was finally voted, by a majority
of three, to request him to preach one or two
Sabbaths, before they decided upon giving him
a call." This vote stands on the record of the
parish. The same journal, under date of April
20, says of an adjourned meeting of the parish,
" When the question concerning Mr. Rockwood
was taken, there were about fifty present: twenty-six voted to give him a call, and eleven voted
against it."  So the call was made out; and
from that 20th of April, 1818, the recovery of
that church dates its commencement; though,
like the return of life to a person apparently
drowned, it was attended with not a few of agonies, convulsions, and dangers.
Mr. Rockwood at this time was under a call
to settle as a colleague with Dr. Morse, of
Charlestown, where all things in his work and
prospects would have been pleasant; but he
yielded to the earnest solicitations of friends,
and to his own convictions of duty, to sacrifice
his own interests in order to make the experi31 *




36 i6    MIR. ROCKWOOD) S MINISTRY.
ment of life for this church. Neighboring ministers regarded it as but a doubtful experiment,
but desired him to undertake it. He was ordained on the 1st of July. The church at that
time consisted of eight males and thirty-two females -forty in all. The congregation varied
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred.
The council that ordained Mr. Rockwood was
composed mostly of the neighboring ministers,
without regard to the distinction of Unitarian
and Orthodox; but a majority were Orthodox.
Here there was an examination of the candidate
by the council, and some of the questions and
answers were imbodied in the result of the
council.  At the ordination, the sermon was
preached by Professor Stuart, of Andover. A
part of the Unitarian ministers on the council
refused to vote for the ordination. A part of
the Unitarians among the people at first acquiesced in his settlement, in the expectation that,
because he was a young man, they should be
able to mould him. One of the means by which
they attempted to do this was to induce him to
exchange with Unitarian ministers.  He exchanged once with Mr. Bartlett, of Marblehead,
who had not then avowed himself a Unitarian,




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     367
though he had shown evident leanings that
way. After Mr. Bartlett had avowed himself he
invited Mr. Rockwood again to exchange; but
he refused. Mr. Bartlett then threatened him,
and told him that there were people in Lynn
that wished to hear him preach, and that they
would make him trouble if he did not exchange.
He replied that he must then bear the consequences.
Soon after his ordination, Mr. Rockwood,
feeling himself bound to instruct his people in
the doctrines of the cross, of which they had
heard so little, preached them frequently and
plainly. This very soon awoke an opposition.
Means were taken to put him down by terms of
disparagement, arguing that he must be a small
affair or he would not have become the pastor
of so small a church. All possible measures
were taken to thwart and impede him in his
work. In those days it was a matter of course,
almost, that ministers should be on the school
committee; but in some of the first years, efforts
were made, and successfully made, to exclude
him from this committee. And here we will anticipate a little, for the sake of speaking of Mr.
Rockwood's experience on this committee, in




368       MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.
which he did the town essential service. While
the Unitarian minister, Mr. Green, was on the
committee, the reading of the Bible was ruled
out of the schools, not formally, but effectually,
by representing that it was unsuitable to be read
in the schools. When Mr. Rockwood was put
on the committee, it was, after some opposition
by a part of the committee, restored. At that
time Dr. Coffin was a frequent, if not a constant,
member of this committee; and the schools of
this town owe much to his zeal in the cause of
education. He was then a member of the Unitarian society; but he cordially cooperated with
Mr. Rockwood in all measures for the moral
as well as intellectual interests of the schools.
When Mr. Rockwood was about to leave the
town, he said that the town had better give him
a handsome salary to supervise the schools than
to allow him to leave. Dr. Coffin's intercourse
with Mr. Rockwood in these duties had a most
happy influence on his own mind. It was doubtless among the means of preparing his mind for
that change of views which issued in his dying
full in the hopes of the gospel, and in full reliance on that almighty Savior whom the theories
of his earlier days had set aside.




MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.     369
In some years Mr. Rockwood devoted one
quarter of his available time to the schools.
That is much more than any pastor can properly
spare. Though he accomplished great good,
affecting the general interests of the town, it
was the diversion of so much of needed labor in
the ministry, and so far at his own expense and
that of the church. His health and ability to
perform the needed pastoral labor were diminished by the means; and so it became one of the
leading causes of his asking a dismission when
he did it.
When he commenced his labors here, there
were but two families in the church that sustained family prayer. This shows, at a glance,
how little he was sustained by the prayers of the
church. There were doubtless praying hearts
out of these families; but as far as the invisible
prayer demonstrated itself by the visible, these
two witnesses, prophesying in sackcloth, showed
the church to have a remnant of life, and but a
remnant. These were the signs put forth to
show it to be just on the line between life and
death.
Think of a young pastor opening his ministry
in, such a valley of death, as one sent to call




370       MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
upon dry bones to hear the word of the Lord.
On whom was he to rely for sympathy in his
hours of anxiety or depression- for aid in the
work of supplication, and in sustaining the social
meetings? HEow discouraged must he have been
when going forth to preach to those small assemblies, containing so few hearts in unison with his
own, and so many that repelled his doctrines!
Let it be remembered that he had not come into
this trying position at unawares, nor by necessity, but by a deliberate self-sacrifice. He knew,
and was told by neighboring ministers, that it
was a doubtful experiment whether this church
was to live or die. He made a voluntary offering of his ministerial prospects upon this altar,
upon what chance there was for securing its life.
For this he had foregone the opportunity of becoming the pastor of one of the most desirable
churches in the state, after having fully counted
the cost.
Now, among all the self-seeking with which
we are familiar, it is refreshing to find such an
example, so clearly after the Christian model.
We are compelled to grant that even in the ministry many seek their own more than the things
which are Jesus Christ's.  And yet there are




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     371
some instances in which it can be proved that
Christ has still a true ministry on earth. And
those who by self-sacrifice make demonstration of that fact will not have lived in vain.
They furnish the power and work out the material which is available to the whole ministry,
when it goes forth upon the conscience of the
world, and they thus produce results far from
the narrow scene of their own labors.
Up to this time a very effectual obstacle had
impeded the growth of the church. The ministry had been of such a kind that persons having
serious impressions felt on that account a necessity of withdrawing to the Methodists for a
sympathy and instruction which they could not
find here. And thus the life blood of the church
was so drawn away, that its pulse could hardly
be discerned.  This obstacle to increase was
now removed, but a restoration to life was still
a difficult process. What was ordained to life
seemed to be unto death.  The warm applications to the man nearly frozen to death threatened to kill him by the reaction. The doctrines
of the cross, the source of life, were brought to
bear. These awoke hostility, and induced another crisis, which threatened destruction to the




372       MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.
society. Now, to appreciate the difficulties of
the minister's work, take your stand just here,
and see how little he had to work with-how
reduced was his church in numbers and piety -
how small his congregation, and how divided.
How hostile were the great mass of people
around him to him and his doctrines -how disposed to unite in loading his church with contempt- what arguments for that contempt its
history for a hundred years had piled up. See
him in that position, bearing that burden, and
tell how much ought to have been expected of
him -how much more than to drag along the
mere existence of the church. See how discouraging were his first efforts. The preaching
of Christ crucified awoke a determined resistance.
This manifested itself for a few months in the
common forms of complaint and irritation. Some
members of the congregation went to Chelsea,
and perhaps to other places out of town, to worship for a while. Mr. Rockwood was ordained
in July. In October following, measures were
taken towards a secession of those who were
not satisfied.  They were all evidently Unitarians, but from reasons of policy they chose




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.      373
not to hoist Unitarian colors at first.  They
proclaimed themselves Episcopalians. The first
developments of the buds of the Episcopal stock
took place in a sermon preached in the old meeting house, on Sunday evening, October 18, 1818,
a few months after Mr. Rockwood's settlement,
by Rev. Thomas Carlisle, of Salem. Some weeks
afterwards the same minister preached on the
Sabbath in the Academy. On the 3d of the
next January, Bishop Griswold sent a Mr. Chase,
a minister in deacon's orders, resident in Salem,
to preach. On the 27th of that month, Mr. Carlisle and Mr. Chase came hither, and organized
an Episcopal society, consisting of Amos Rhodes,
Samuel Brimblecom, J. F. Gardner, R. P. Hovey,
William Chadwell, J. C. Jayne, James Lakeman,
Ellis Newhall, and Joseph Lye. The usual congregation assembled for Episcopal services at
the Academy was about thirty. For a part of
the time they had preaching by Episcopal ministers, but for most of the time prayers and sermons were read by some of their own number.
Colonel Brimblecom, Dr. Coffin, and Mr. Hovey,
a young lawyer, contributed to sustain this service. But at length the society got weary of
these proceedings. They found the same doc32




374      MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
trines from which they had fled in the Liturgy,
which they were required to read. At length
they commenced omitting the parts of the prayers which contained the objectionable doctrines.
This gave offence to the Episcopal clergy. And
Mr. Carlisle, who stood to them in the nominal
relation of rector, wrote to them a letter, advising them, that if the whole of the church service
could not be read, it were best to close the
church for the present. The journal from which
we quote says, that " Mr. Carlisle's advice was
received with joy rather than with grief; and
we fondly hope a society will soon be established in this town on the immutable principles
of Christian charity and benevolence." This
experiment had been continued a little more
than three years.
In less than a month after this, arrangements
were made to commence Unitarian preaching in
the Academy, preparatory to the formation of
a Unitarian society. The first steps for a formal
organization were taken April 4, 1822, by the
choice of Colonel Brimblecom, Henry A. Breed,
and William  Chadwell, a committee.  Three
days after, a Unitarian society was formed, by
the name of the " Second Congregational Soci



MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     375
ety." The society was organized under an act
of incorporation, July 18. The house of worship, built at an expense of three thousand five
hundred and fifteen dollars, exclusive of the
foundation and pulpit, was dedicated April 30,
1823. December 23 of the same year, the formalities of organizing a church were passed. It
was on this wise: George Bracket, Henry A.
Breed, and Dr. Coffin acknowledged the church
covenant, "which was their belief in the Holy
Scriptures, in one God, in the divine mission of
Christ, his death and resurrection, and a final
retribution beyond the grave, and in all that
Christ required his followers to believe." Over
this society Rev. Samuel D. Green was settled
as the first pastor, November 3, 1824.
This secession of course weakened the first
parish. But this was not the most formidable
difficulty. The parish was burdened with a debt
of sixteen hundred dollars. Then, their meeting house, being one hundred and forty-five years
old, was undesirable in form, inconvenient, uncomfortable, and much out of repair. It had
become a reproach and a byword, being called
the Old Tunnel. In every view the prospects of
the society were disheartening. There had been




376      MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.
a few additions to the church of persons who
gave promise of future activity; but they were
not favored with large pecuniary resources. At
a society meeting it was suggested that it was
not practicable to raise the necessary funds for
the support of the pastor and other expenses,
and it was proposed to sell the parsonage and
other property, and pay all debts, and disband,
and leave the members to unite with other societies according to their individual preferences.
Here was another crisis in which life and death
trembled in the balance.
A parish meeting to act upon this question took
place at the house of Mr. Ephraim Sweetzer, in
Federal Street. There were present among others
Drs. Gardner and IIazletine, Messrs. Amariah
Child, Amos Blanchard, Thomas Rhodes, Jesse
Rhodes, John Alley, 3d, and Christopher Bubier.
Mr. Alley moved that the property of the society
be sold to pay the debts, preparatory to disbanding. The motion seemed to be in.accordance with
the general conviction of the meeting, as a necessity not to be avoided. When the question was
about to be taken on it, Mr. Bubier, one of the
younger members present, pleaded for a delay of
action upon it, and made an earnest appeal on




MR. ROCKWOOD' MINISTRY.     377
the ground that it was to be the extinction of
an ancient church, that ought for most sacred
reasons to be preserved. After he had concluded, Dr. Hazletine took him aside, and labored to convince him that it was best to give
up. He said he could hear the gospel cheaper
and nearer home. And in answer to the question whether that which he would hear is the
gospel, he said, " I have books at home that will
convince you that there is not so much difference, and that Unitarians can be Christians." In
justice to Dr. H., it should here be said that
Unitarianism at that time had not displayed the
features that it now has, and that nobody then
saw the difference as it is now seen. His own
views had a mixture of Arminianism; and, then,
having property, and being liable to bear large
burdens in the society, he was under a strong
temptation to such a view. All of the meeting,
as far as was known, were in favor of the motion,
except Mr. Bubier and Mr. Jesse Rhodes. But
the meeting was willing to postpone action, and
give any an opportunity to show a better way.
So they adjourned without taking the question.
In the time of the adjournment the facts were
communicated to the pastor, and he took up the
32*




378      MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
question to see what could be done to save the
church from ruin. He said that it did not become him as the pastor of this ancient church, nor
did it become them as descendants and successors of the Puritans, to abandon the cause of
evangelical truth in this place without further
efforts and sacrifices to sustain it. He offered
to put his shoulder with theirs under the burdens,
and proposed to meet the society at their adjourned meeting and confer with them. At that
meeting he proposed to relinquish two hundred
dollars of his salary for that year, provided the
society would pay him four hundred, and he
would make it up to himself by teaching, if necessary. This proposal was accepted, and it imparted new encouragement to the desponding.
The four hundred dollars were soon pledged.
The pastor then applied to the "Society for
promoting Christian Knowledge." They appropriated one hundred and fifty dollars a year
for five years, on condition that the parish pay
off the debt in that time. This relieved the pastor in part of what he had pledged. The other
fifty dollars he relinquished for six years. A
subscription was soon commenced to pay off the
debt. By what was done here, and by friends




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     379
and societies abroad, the amount was raised and
the debt paid.
Now, it was made clear that the society intended to live, that it had friends abroad and
some recuperative energies at home. The bonds
of union among its members became stronger, and
many taunting reproaches from without were silenced. Taking advantage of the turning tide,
the pastor suggested that now was the time for
building a new meeting house. All felt the need
of it, and it was not difficult to convince them
that it was indispensable to any future prosperity,
though it seemed hardly practicable to raise the
requisite funds. The ministers of the association
gave encouragement that the churches in the
neighborhood would cooperate to the extent of
a thousand dollars. With this encouragement
the work was undertaken. The Old Tunnel
frame was removed from its position on the
Common to the corner of Commercial Street
and the Common, and newly covered and roofed,
and furnished with a new front and tower, and
new interior and pews, so as to have the appearance of an entirely new building, neat and attractive. The congregation was small when it first
removed to the new house; but it was not long




380       MR. ROCKWOOD S MINISTRY.
before the pews were nearly all sold or rented.
Then it was demonstrated that the society would
live. Prophecies of its fall had been falsified,
and a gratifying triumph obtained. Occasional
additions were made to the church, and the society had increasing prosperity in its general
interests. In the year 1831 there was a revival
of great interest and power, and, considering
the size of the congregation, the number of additions made by it to the church was very large;
and to quite the usual extent the fruits of it
proved their genuineness by their permanency.
The next year after this revival Mr. Rockwood
asked and received a dismission. The number
of members in the church then was one hundred
and twenty-eight - thirty-two males and ninety.
six females; so that there had been a net gain
of church members, in the thirteen years of his
pastorate, of eighty-eight; and fifty-seven of
these were added in the single year of 1831, the
year before his resignation.
Now, it is natural to ask, Why, after such results, should a separation of pastor and people
be allowed to take place? The very prosperity
of the preceding year had contributed something towards it. The great exertions which




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     381
the pastor made in that revival had exhausted
his energies and health, so that it was indispensable to him to relieve himself from his labors
here entirely by a dismission, or temporarily by
absence from the people for a while; and the
circumstances did not admit of the latter course.
The society was still in debt, occasioned by
building the meeting house; and he was in debt,
occasioned by what he had done to aid the society; and when he asked a dismission, he put his
request to the society in the form of an alternative - the alternative of refunding to him what
he had in former years relinquished of his salary, and restoring his salary to its original sum,
or of accepting his resignation. They, in the
circumstances, did not feel able to do the former,
and so he was dismissed.
Judging of that action on general principle,
and with such a limited knowledge of details as
a stranger to the transactions must have, the wisdom of the conclusion attained seems questionable. Considering the obstacles in the way, Mr.
Rockwood's ministry had been fruitful in a very
high degree; and the year immediately preceding
had gathered in more fruits than all the rest.
Now, if breathing time could have been given




382      MB. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
him, so that he could have returned to his work
with recruited energies, the probabilities are,
that the influence which he had here acquired
with men's consciences, by his self-denying labors
and his godly life, would have enabled him to
work here with more effect than any other could;
for there is a great loss of power when a good
minister is removed from a field where his name
and the remembrance of what he has done is doing more, by a silent operation, than the most
eloquent preaching of one minister can do. One
who has upon the ground acquired the character
of a faithful and successful minister, has secured
a vantage ground not for slight reasons to be
relinquished. But, wisely or unwisely, the dismission took place June 6, 1832.
To illustrate the discouragements of Mr. Rockwood's position, one person remembers having
spent a Sabbath here at that time, and attending
at Mr. Rockwood's place of worship, and hearing Dr. Cornelius, one of the best preachers in
the country, preach to a mere handful-some
forty or fifty people - while Maffit was holding
forth to immense crowds at the Methodist church.
Such a mountebank and frothy declaimer, to say
no worse, was then more to the taste of the




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     383
people than the burning eloquence of Cornelius.
Two men were never more unlike. And the
taste of the multitude, as shown in that instance
plainly told on what the public mind had been
fed, and how hopeless it was to call it back from
the husks to the bread in our Father's house.
That single fact shows at once that nothing
could be done here till after years of patient
toil, gaining little by little.
My first impression as to the results of Mr.
Rockwood's labors here was received from his
church records. I then knew little of the history of the case; and even then I regarded it as
a very successful ministry. But now that I can
look somewhat into the depths of his position,
and into the hole of the pit from which this
church was digged, I am free to say that I regard his ministry as remarkably successful. In
spite of all the obstacles, the proportion of additions to the church exceeded the average of
what are called prosperous churches. But the
true importance of the work which he did here
consisted in breaking the force of the tide which
was bearing all to destruction, and beginning to
set it in an opposite direction. He found here
a church having but two praying families, and




384      MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.
left it with many. He found few minds evincing
an attachment to the doctrines of the cross, and
left a church prepared to unite in a successor
who gave fearless utterance to those doctrines.
He found the church declining in life and
strength, and left it in a state of thrift and
rapid increase. And he has been honored of
God to break the succession of an erroneous
and life-depressing ministry, and head a new
series of the preachers of the truth, to whose
labors God will attach his blessing; and whoever comes in after generations to write the history of this church, and trace events as time
will then have developed them, will trace great
results to causes which had their spring under
his labors.
The honor which the providence of God put
upon his ministry was this, that it was the turning point of life to an apparently expiring
church. He sacrificed his own interests and
perilled his prospects of a happy settlement in
the ministry to make here what was thought to
be the doubtful experiment whether this church
could live. Such instances of self-sacrifice on
the part of ministers are little thought of. With
most it is taken as a first principle that ministers




MR. ROCKWOOD'S MINISTRY.     385
have a selfish motive for every act. And when
he declined a call to one of the best churches in
the state, that he might unite his fortunes here
with an apparently sinking cause, he had no
credit for his self-denial: it was even turned to
his disadvantage; and many inferred that he
must be a small affair if he would consent to labor here with such a forlorn hope of a church.
So little do the world, judging others by themselves, appreciate the moral sublime in self-denial. But it matters not. He has not lost his
reward. Events in after years will show-they
have already begun to show-more good accomplished, that is, more honor achieved, by that
self-sacrificing ministry than is ordinarily secured by a ministry in our largest churches. It
was the rescue from death of a church to whose
preservation God had attached a great value.
God has honored him by setting him at the head
of a many-branching stream of life-giving influence here, where children and children's children
will see cause to call him blessed.
33




CHAPTER        XIII.
REV. MR. PEABODY'S MINISTRY. -SETTLEMENT OF THE
PRESENT PASTOR. -BUILDING OF THE MEETING HOUSE.
- HISTORY OF THE DEBT AND ITS EXTINCTION. -THE
TEMPERANCE CONFLICT.
THE church was not long vacant. Mr. Rockwood was dismissed in June, and August 13 the
church voted a call to Mr. David Peabody,
of Topsfield. This call was accepted, and the
preliminaries arranged, so that the ordination
took place November 15, 1832. In point of
ministerial gifts and character, Mr. Peabody
was all that could be desired. His pulpit
talents were of a high order.   Few   young
men on entering the ministry exceeded him.
But what was more, he was earnestly devoted
to his work, and, to the extent of his physical
ability, laborious and faithful; and under his
labors the society had the promise of an increase as rapid as possible, considering the
many impediments in its way; and for a short
time it had such an increase. But the prospects
(386)




MR. PEABODY^S MINISTRY.      387
were soon overcast. Mr. Peabody's health was
feeble, tending to pulmonary consumption. It
was feeble when he accepted the call, and in his
acceptance he asked to be favored in that respect. Under the labor of the first years of his
ministry, always specially trying to the health
of a young minister, and subject to the influence of the sea breezes, so injurious to pulmonary complaints, he faltered. After a ministry
of about two years and a half, March 29, 1835,
he asked for a dismission, on two grounds -the
failure of his health, under the influence of the
climate, making it probable that if he remained
he should be wholly prostrate; and the great
amount of labor necessary to be performed, by
reason of the increase of numbers, and the circumstances of the town calling for much labor.
It was with reluctance that the church yielded
to this request. They voted that they were
fully satisfied with the labors, doctrines, gifts,
and graces of their pastor, and were willing to
make any sacrifices to secure his continuance
with them; but after a full and anxious hearing
of the case the council judged that there was a
necessity for the dismission; and the event justified their conclusion. Mr. Peabody afterwards




388        THE PRESENT MINISTRY.
assumed a pastoral charge, which he held for a
short time, in Worcester; and then for a short
time held the office of a professor in Dartmouth
College, where he died of the consumption that
was upon him while in Lynn.
After Mr. Peabody's dismission, the church
was without a pastor nearly a year. The present pastor preached his first sermon here the
first Sabbath in March, 1836, and was installed
May 4. And here, perhaps, I should end my
history, since, if I go further, I shall be compelled to speak in the first person more than is
pleasant to do. Yet, since that time, important
events in your history have occurred, of which
I must have a better knowledge than my successors can have; so I think it best to continue
the narrative.  The congregation at the time
of my installation were worshipping in the house
on the corner of Commercial Street, which was
too small to accommodate all that wanted seats
in it, and the seats were so few that the pew
rents, unless put so high as to deter worshippers
from occupying them, would not sustain the expenses; and an extra effort by way of a subscription was needed. It was understood that
more than twenty families were desirous of




THE PRESENT MINISTRY.      389
taking pews in the house, when no pews were
to be had. The population of the town was increasing at a rate unparalleled; and it was felt
that we ought to take the advantage open to us
for increase, as we could not take it while confined to so small a house. Another thing which
encouraged the undertaking of building anew, at
that time, was the very thing that brought disaster upon it. It was at a time when the public
mind every where was delirious with a commercial expansion. Speculation in every thing was
rife. On paper fortunes were made in a day.
And in such times the building of a house so
large was regarded as a small affair, though all
materials and expenses of building were at the
highest price. Under these circumstances, a
resolution was taken to build a house covering
a larger area than any other in Essex county.
It was taken at a parish meeting, where seventy
voters were present, that is, well nigh all the
members of the parish. An opposing vote was
not given. One, and one only, advised against
it; and if circumstances could have continued as
they were, it would have been a successful undertaking; but when the work of building was
about half way to its completion, and when it
33 *




390       THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
was too late to retreat from it, the commercial
crisis of 1837 came upon it, like a sudden tempest upon a ship with every sail spread, and it
drove us well nigh to a wreck. Many of the
members of the parish, on whom reliance was
made to carry the burden, failed. The population of the town underwent a diminution of
some thousands, by reason of its business being
paralyzed. The congregation was diminished
by removals. The aggregate property of the
whole parish, leaving out that of a very few
individuals, was not enough to pay the debt.
So when the house was finished, and came to
the sale of pews, comparatively few had the
means for buying. The expense of the house
had been, as is usual in such cases, vastly above
the calculation. The house and land cost seventeen thousand dollars; and after the sale of the
pews the debt upon the house stood at near
twelve thousand dollars. The annual interest
on this, being more than seven hundred dollars,
was more than the society felt able to pay, if it
had no other expenses.
In these circumstances, what was to be done?
To pay the debt then was utterly impossible. A
majority of the families severely felt the pressure




THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      391
of the times; and none had money to invest in
meeting house property. These were dark days,
when some of our wisest counsellors advised to
abandon all in despair, and let it go for a failure. The time when the difficulties of the case
came to be fully known and realized was in
1840. We had been two years under the burden, without realizing its full extent. Then, if
those who advised to a failure had pushed their
advice with earnestness, they would have carried it. To my view, a failure to pay that debt
seemed equivalent to an extinction of the church.
I knew that I could not labor here, as its pastor,
if, added to all the other impediments, it was
under the disgrace of a failure. When that
question was mooted, I felt compelled to plead
against a failure. I did it in a sermon of which
the following were the closing words:"These are some of the grounds on which I
stand, when I say that the thought of scattering
to the four winds this heritage of the Lord must
not, cannot, will not prevail.  Shades of the
sainted fathers, Puritans of hallowed memory,
forbid it! Let the deliverances wrought for
this church in her former trials forbid it I Let
your love of truth, and determination to live




392       THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
and die in its defence, forbid it! The report
which has gone abroad that we are on the point
of resolving to die, because we have not strength
or courage to breathe any longer, I repel as a
foul calumny. I am no prophet, or prophet's
son; but my word is given for what it is worth,
that we shall not die, but live, a rebuke to those
enemies of God and truth who have prematurely
put their mouth to the'Trumpet,' to utter triumphs over our overthrow. God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in time of
trouble; therefore we will not fear. The Lord
of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
refuge. The work which he has begun and conducted with so much care thus far will not be
abandoned. This sanctuary, which has cost so
many painful anxieties, we trust will stand, a
monument of your zeal and self-denial, and echo
to the songs of your children and your children's
children, till it shall lift its tower amid the
splendors of millennial glory."
This quotation is given to show, not the facts,
but the feelings of the times. It was felt that
the public mind, charged as it here was with
hostility to our principles, would take no excuse
for the failure of an Orthodox society. Socie



THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      393
ties of other principles might fail, and occasion
loss to creditors, but not we. That had this
society been the occasion-though innocent of
occasion-of a loss of so many thousands to
its creditors, its failure would have intombed
the last hope of preserving this ancient church.
Yet the payment of the debt then was impossible. The only ray of hope was by making a
strenuous effort to pay the annual interest on
the debt, in addition to the current expenses,
till Providence might open some way —we
knew not what way -to get relief. This effort
was made; and, considering the small means
then existing, it was nobly sustained. The house
was mortgaged to the full extent to which
mortgages would be taken; and yet a large
debt stood without security,, except that a single
individual of the parish (Andrews Breed, Esq.)
consented virtually to sustain the credit of it
through those years when credit was no easy
attainment, and when our credit especially was
questionable. But for him we must have failed.
He stood long in the gap, alone, till Providence
brought in another friend, (Hon. Isaiah Breed,)
equally able and generous, to divide with him
and us the burdens. In this aid, furnished at




394       THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
the time when it was indispensable to life, we
are specially bound to notice the hand of God;
and it is fitting that we should leave on record
our acknowledgments to men. It is not usual
for men of larger means to seek religious connections where large debts are to be lifted. But
the burden of this debt was not carried by
wealthy men alone, nor chiefly. After the two
individuals alluded to had done most generously,
it required the straining of every nerve of those
who had little or nothing, to carry the load. In
the early stage of the difficulty, besides their
pew rents, a large number of the congregation
contributed the avails of one day's labor in a
month to pay the interest of the debt.  After
that, Sabbath contributions were adopted. By
the utmost efforts of this kind the debt was kept
from accumulating. Patience had a severe test.
We lived in hope that the next year would bring
better times. The next year came, and brought
no relief. The burden which many felt it impossible to bear one year pressed with little
mitigation for five years. In 1842 the debt had
been by some special efforts brought down to
ten thousand five hundred dollars.  At that
time, more than three thousand had been paid




THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      395
in interest money. This was done with the greatest difficulty, when business was depressed, and labor found little remuneration. In the next year
and a half, one thousand more of interest was
paid, and three thousand to diminish the debt,
leaving the debt at seven thousand five hundred.
Then we went on paying the interest till 1847,
when an effort was made to extinguish the whole
at once.
And this, in the circumstances, is one of the
most incredible events in the history, and ought
to be told; and if I knew any way in which I
could tell it, and lay myself wholly out of view,
I would choose that way. But it is due to the
grace of God that I should not cover it up for
fear of personal appearances.
This, then, was the position in which we stood
in 1847. We had paid on the house in those
ten years, besides what was paid at the sale of
the pews, and from the price of the old house -
say five thousand dollars, more or less - we had
paid in those ten years, principal and interest,
about ten thousand dollars. There now remained
seven thousand five hundred to pay. After so
long a bearing of the burden, many were getting
discouraged, and feeling that the debt never




396       THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
could be paid. The debt- the debt- the debt
- met us at every turn. The ability of the congregation had considerably increased. But the
burden had pressed so long in one spot, that
that spot was sore. In looking at the subject
seriously, I began to think it possible that the
debt, after all that we had done, might ruin us.
I asked myself whether it might not be possible
to rouse all to one determined effort to sweep it
away. After a severe struggle, and much earnest prayer, I gained one important object. I
convinced myself that there was a bare possibility of doing it. But as I knew not that an
individual member of the parish thought it
could be done, I had two difficult things to do
-to convince others that it could be done, and
show them a plan by which it might be done.
Being very deficient in the talents of a financier,
I undertook the latter part of the task with
special distrust. But, in my own mind, I formed
a plan which looked feasible, by which, through
a generous, determined, and united effort, it
seemed that it might be done.
Having triumphed in the struggle in my own
mind, and brought forth a plan on which I conceived the work possible, my next, and, as it




THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      397
seemed to me, the more difficult task was, to convince others that it might be done. For this
end I prepared a discourse for the Friday evening lecture, and in it set forth my plans and exhortations, - not asking others to go and do
this thing, but rather to come and do it. I
promised to give towards the object more, in
proportion to my means, than would be required
of others. Before I opened my mouth to speak
in the lecture of that evening, I was pressed
with the consciousness that not an individual
would have the least confidence in my plan.
Yet my argument was favored somewhat by the
felt necessities of the case. Providence had,
seemingly, shut us up to do just that thing.
Just before, from discouragement as to ever seeing the debt paid, there had been a sad falling
off in the usual effort to pay the interest. Many
had become weary of a constant giving, without
diminishing the debt. And all efforts to renew
their interest in it had failed.
And as we could not pay the interest, it was
time to pay the principal. To make an effort to
pay a part of it was impossible. Nothing would
rouse to effort but the hope of being wholly free
from debt. Nothing else could draw with suf34




398      THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
ficient force on the common mind. Yet one
risked the danger of being called delirious, if he
asserted that the thing could be done -that by
one voluntary effort such a people, most of them
poor, could raise seven thousand dollars.
Standing on this vantage ground, my argument prevailed. Those who doubted at first,
when they saw the general zeal that was kindled, became convinced. With wonderful unanimity and determination all the people, without exception, took hold and did with their
might. Take it all in all, it was one of the
most remarkable events which I have been permitted to witness. When I look back upon it
now, I cannot conceive how I could have convinced myself that the thing was possible. I
seem to have been under a strange delusiondelusion I should call it, if the event had not
verified it. I cannot doubt that there was a
special operation of the Holy Spirit, both upon
my own mind and upon that of the people. I
looked around on the facts, as they were, and I
inquired for the persons able and willing to do
so much. By no arithmetic could I make out
the amount in that way. And yet, somehow, I
wrought myself into a strong persuasion that it




THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      399
would be done. I seemed to be renewing the
experience of him who against hope believed in
hope. And similar experience pervaded other
minds.
There was a special hand of Providence in
moving us to do this work just then. We could
not go on longer as we were going. I had become discouraged with the position of things,
and that very week I had had an invitation to
listen to a call to another field, and was
prompted to desire to have the matter decided,
whether this church was to live or die. In
every view a necessity came upon us to do that
work just at that time. There had not been a
single month in the whole ten years before
when it would have been safe to have made the
experiment. And if it had been delayed another
month, it would have been impossible by reason
of a commercial panic which then occurred. So
our steps were ordered by One who was wiser
than we, and who brought on the crisis when we
were able to meet it. Another indispensable
condition of our success was a complete union
of minds and hearts, and a universal coiperation. If even a few of the least able had refused their aid, we should have failed. There




400       THE MEETING IOUSE DEBT.
were none to stand aloof and criticize and discourage the plans of the rest. And it ought to
be recorded in grateful acknowledgment of
God's providence, that during all these struggles from the first incurring to the paying of
the debt, the union of the society was perfect.
That time filled out twelve years of my pastorate. And in all that time there had been
scarce a ripple of discordant feeling in the society.  Our very troubles served to exclude
strifes. When, with hearts appalled and distressed, we consulted and prayed together for
deliverance, we were well sustained in the consciousness of such a union as made available
what strength we had.
Suffice it to say, that a debt of seven thousand
five hundred dollars was cancelled by the earnest
cooperation and self-sacrifice of a society, nine
tenths of whom were persons of very limited
means. In several instances individuals that
had a single hundred dollars laid aside for a
wet day gave it freely for the object. The
result was astonishing both to us and to our
neighbors. It had been confidently predicted,
by persons of other societies, that we must fail.
For ten years this had been the common belief.




THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.      401
We supposed others judged us by themselves;
knowing that if such a debt were upon them, as
a society, and not affecting individual responsibility, they would not attempt to pay it. Be
that as it may, the fact that our killing debt
was cancelled, and that without aid from abroad,
produced a perfect surprise on the public mind.
From that time forth this congregation ceased
to be despised. There was then existing towards it a great amount of hostility, and great
effort had been made to overwhelm it with contempt. But whatever feelings other societies
now entertained towards it, it was impossible to
despise it. This event met and turned back a
vast tide of reproach. Iere was an example
of self-sacrifice to sustain the integrity of the
society, -an attachment to principle and to religious interests, - an example of union such as
is rarely seen. And it manifestly had its effect
on the public mind, and has ever since been one
element of prosperity.
There are some minds that can contemplate
no act of a religious man, or of a religious body,
without referring it to some mean and selfish
motive. They judge others as Satan judged of
Job. Because Satan knew that if he had done
34 *




40'2      THE MEETING HOUSE DEBT.
as Job had, it must have been for a selfish end,
so he concluded that Job could have had no
other. So he said, "Does Job serve God for
nought?"  So many judge of all Christians.
Here was an event to tax the ingenuity of this
class of people. In an act of self-sacrifice, hundreds had concurred to discharge a debt which
no one individual was legally bound to discharge, and where no one could be charged with
violating his moral obligations if he failed to do
it. It was done at a great sacrifice of the individuals, - not of a few, but of all. It was done
under such circumstances, that a refusal to
make the sacrifice by a few out of the whole,
would have defeated the plan. So here was at
once a test and an illustration of the value of
union. To what mean motive the opposers of
religion ascribed it we never heard. We ourselves always felt that the hated Calvinism had
much to do in it. We saw, or thought we saw,
in the nature of our principles, taking hold as
they do of God and eternity, that which furnished the sufficient motive for such a sacrifice.
Much as the multitude here are wont to dress
the Calvinistic system in bear skins, and let
loose the dogs of defamation upon it, no congre



THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.     403
gation opposing, Calvinism on this ground has
exhibited an example of the force of moral principle, and of the power of religion upon themselves, equal to this. It were well to say less
about those horrible doctrines till they were
more carefully traced out in their results, to see
if their fruits are so horrible. Either make the
tree good and the fruit good, or the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt.
But how happened it that the society should
have been able all to think and act alike, at a
crisis when the least schism would have caused a
failure? It is due to the grace of God to refer
this primarily to a purpose, on the part of God,
to carry us safely through the crisis. He has
all hearts in his hands, and he caused all hearts
to be united, when it was with us a question of
union or death. We purpose in the next chapter to speak more particularly of the causes of
the general union that has prevailed in the
society.
One item of noteworthy experience of this
society, since my connection with it, has relation
to the temperance enterprise. The temperance
reform had been in progress in New England
some eight years before I came hither; but up




404     THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.
to that time it had been chiefly under the auspices of evangelical ministers. In concurrence
with others, I had, before I came hither, and
from the start, lectured and preached extensively
in favor of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks. I did the same after I came. But
soon after, there came up what was called the
Washingtonian movement, - begun by Hawkins
of Baltimore, a reformed drunkard, who lectured extensively, and touched a chord of sympathy with drunkards, which drew them in
crowds to hear him and be healed of their
plagues.  This movement at first promised
great things. My own anticipations of it were
great. At first I did my utmost to put it forward. But it soon became to be a feature of
the movement, that as you are to set a thief to
catch a thief, so you must employ drunkards to
reform drunkards. By the notoriety which the
reformed drunkards acquired as speakers, the
temptation became strong for drunkards to enter
the reform on a short enlistment, to improve
their gifts at public speaking. And many of
this class of speakers sought notoriety by exaggerating the story of their own shame. There
was a sort of competition among them to tell




THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.    405
the largest story of their own degradation.
Many of them were men in all their habits
thoroughly irreligious, and took occasion of
their temperance speeches to pour abuse on the
ministry and churches with whom the temperance enterprise began. These repulsive features
of the thing soon arrayed against it most of the
original friends of the temperance cause. I felt
compelled at length to stand aloof from it; but
not till I had stood in my own pulpit with one
of that class of lecturers, whose breath while he
lectured was loaded with the fumes of brandy,
and whose lecture was an enumeration of the
men of genius who had been inebriates, so as to
leave the impression that the use of brandy was
one of the indications of superior intellect, and
with one (as might be supposed) whose goodness
was as the morning cloud and the early dew.
My standing aloof from this movement was
seized upon as proof that I was opposed to the
temperance cause.  And a strong effort was
made, by persons who afterwards figured more
largely in other forms of opposition to us, to
draw off and divide us on that ground. While
these matters were in agitation, I was giving a
course of lectures to young men on other sub



406     THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.
jects, at five o'clock, P. M., on the Sabbath. And
evidently with a design to thwart me in that, a
gathering of the so called Washingtonians was
appointed to take place on the Common, in front
of our house, at the same time, and a notice was
sent in for me to read. I stated to the congregation that I had received such a notice, but
that in the circumstances it was not possible not
to see in it a personal offence, and a clear intent
to thwart my efforts. But I remarked that I
should not postpone my own appointment; yet,
instead of giving the lecture to young men, I
should give a lecture to set forth my view of the
so called Washingtonianism; not doubting that
I should by that means draw as strongly upon
the curiosity of their assembly as they would
upon that of mine. When the hour for the lecture arrived, and when but a small part of what
would otherwise have collected had arrived, a
sudden shower came up, and those who had assembled for the open air speeches were compelled to flee into our house for shelter. So that
Providence secured to me what had assembled
for both congregations, and I went on quietly
with my lecture before just the people that I
would desire to have to hear it. In that lecture,




THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.     407
in describing the evils which had come in through
the bad spirit of the lecturers and the habit of
valuing lecturers in proportion to the depth of
their boasted degradation, I used in my extempore speech the phrase "GRADUATES OF THE
GUTTER." That shocked the keener sensibilities
of some of the fraternity. It was taken up and
put forth in the newspapers and platform speeches
as if it contained what was more offensive than
blasphemy. And it lived on ribald tongues and
pens till the time came when the whole community had come much to my estimate of the preaching of graduates of the gutter, and so that the
authorship of the phrase had become rather a
compliment than a reproach.
This is one of the episodes to the history of
our struggle with the parish debt.  We had
several of the kind, though essentially from the
same source. I know not that they at all increased the burden. They certainly contributed
to sustain the energy of the society and its determination to live.
The fact that that debt did not crush us came
in a great measure from causes which could not
operate in a society holding doctrines opposite
to ours.




408     THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.
A religion that excludes that faith and trust
in God which was the prime source of this movement, which excludes that conviction of eternal
retributions that causes the true value of the
gospel and its ordinances to be felt, could not
have produced such a result. This case strongly
illustrates the force of the doctrines of the cross
as connected with the life and strength of a religious body. Indeed, the whole history of the
elevations and depressions of this church concurs with all church history to show that what
strength a congregation gains by encouraging a
lax theology to secure the aid of those who cannot endure sound doctrine, is weakness in the
end. That preaching which excludes the offence
of the cross sooner or later exhausts the strength
of the church. This chapter of the history of
this church showing, in such a strong light the
connection of the strong doctrines with the recuperative energy of the church, deserves to be
written as with a pen of iron and the point of a
diamond in the rock forever, that your children
may avoid the rock on which the vessel has so
often come near to being wrecked. Through
this channel I would gladly address your children's children to latest times, and bid them




THE TEMPERANCE ENTERPRISE.    409
beware of checking the full utterance of those
gospel truths which are offensive to the carnal
mind, and which are yet the life and strength
of God in his church, and the power of God unto
salvation.
But, well as we knew the causes that conducted us to success in that perilous hour, that
success was surprising to ourselves. The general
mind of the society for the time when the effort
was in progress seemed to be under a special
excitement, and when the act was completed we
could hardly believe our own ears. When the
Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we
were like them that dream; then was our mouth
filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, The
Lord hath done great things for them. The
Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we
are glad. They that sow in tears shall reap in
joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
35




CHAPTER        XIV.
CAUSES OP UNION. - COMEOUTERS. - SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
-SWAMPSCOT CHURCH. CENTRAL CHURCH.
A CALVINISTIC church in Lynn has a peculiar
position. The position of this church is well
described in the language of the prophet. " Mine
heritage is unto me as a speckled bird; the birds
round about are against her. Come, assemble
all ye beasts of the field, come to devour. Many
pastors have destroyed my vineyard; they have
trodden my portion under foot; they have made
my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness." The
anti-evangelical element which has come in
through Arminianism  and Methodism, and issued in manifold radicalisms, has, in all its
modes of development, borne a special hostility
to this church. When the zeal of the radical
reformers was at its height, it was concentred
upon us as the main barrier to that kind of reform. In ordinary preaching I made no allusions to it. But now and then a crisis came
which gave an opportunity to speak for good.
(410)




CAUSES OF UNION.         411
In such cases I hesitated not to say what more
prudent men might think imprudent. Then the
hopes of opponents were, that a division would
come in through a revulsion of a part against
the rash utterance of the pulpit. After such
hopes had been many times disappointed, then
came up a mystery to be solved -Why the people did not embrace some of the convenient
opportunities given them for division. This
mystery was greater from the fact that in the
agitating times referred to, most of the other
societies in the place were divided on questions
touching these reforms, and it seemed impossible
to live in Lynn without a share in the tempest.
During that time this society was one of the
most united and conservative. This, to those
who felt bound to convert the whole town to a
comeouter rabble, was an offence and an enigma.
They could refer it to nothing but priestcraft.
Nor could they tell how priestcraft could work
such a wonder.
The prime cause of it lay in the purpose and
providence of God, who, in those days of rebuke and blasphemy, would have a witness for
himself and a place of rest for his truth, and
erect a barrier over which the fury of the mad



412           CAUSES OF UNION.
dened elements might not go. Doctrines opposed to the truth of Christ had come in, and
produced their proper fruits. The true results
of those doctrines were displayed in the insane
fury of the ranters. So it was important that
in one part of the same field God's truth should
be sustained, and its proper fruits be set forth to
the view. So it was important that the remnant
adhering to Puritan truth, which had been preserved in so many hairbreadth escapes, should
then have the union and firmness to withstand
the storm.
Here was the prime cause of our union. Not
the least of the subordinate causes was, the sacrifices which the individuals of the society had
made for the sake of the truth. Ever since the
present generation came upon the stage, the life
of the church had hung in suspense. Ever and
anon a crisis had come, which required great
effort and sacrifice to preserve its life. These
sacrifices caused its life to be cherished with
deep affection, and the thought of its division to
be repelled as horrible.
Another cause of the union was found in the
reaction of the instruments employed for division. One newspaper, sustained by its owner at




CAUSES OF UNION.          413
a great loss, made our destruction its main and
declared purpose; and the whole labor of the
party of which that was the organ assumed that
nothing could be done for its ends in Lynn as
long as this church existed. The pressure of
that hostility bore on every accessible point of
this society.  Every individual of us felt its
force; and against such a storm few would
stand with us for other causes than an attachment to principle. By this means, the fearful
and the self-seekers were sifted out, and only
picked men were left, such as would be made to
stand together the more firmly by all the cursing and bitterness that came in upon them.
The doctrines held by us were another cause
of the union. These, if true, are tremendously
true, and fit to command the whole heart and
soul. And these, we trust, are to some practical
effect believed; and the belief of them impels
us to make sacrifices to sustain them, and will
not allow us to fall out to their injury on every
trivial occasion. We felt that this single church,
standing alone for its principles amid so much
opposition, bore immense responsibilities touching the future weal of this growing community.
It was felt that we had come to a crisis, when
35 *




414          CAUSES OF UNION.
success would open issues of gladness on unborn
generations, and defeat would intomb their last
hope. So we dared not do otherwise than to
stand firmly, shoulder to shoulder.
Another occasion of this harmony has been in
keeping clear a distinction between the respective duties of the minister and people.  The
society never has been embarrassed by attempts
at control on the part of the minister, nor has
the minister been made the man of a party by
the advice of parties respecting his duties. Except in the matter of lifting the debt, when
there was a special occasion, I do not remember
to have offered any influence to shape the organic
action of the society. Generally, its action has
been taken without my even knowing any thing
of its intended measures till after their execution. Even when the meeting house was built,
I gave no advice. The society has ever had
men competent to manage its affairs wisely, and
I have been happy to acknowledge their competence by avoiding all interference with their department of duty.  And the same courtesy I
have in a very special manner received from
them. I have never in a single instance received
advice or remonstrance as to the character of




CAUSES OF UNION.          415
my preaching. A few weeks after the commencement of my ministry here, a friend now in heaven
called on me, and asked me if I would not make
it a point always, in my public prayers, to pray
for the abolition of slavery. I replied by asking
him if he would not analyze his own feelings,
and tell me if his desire to have me do it was
not that he might be able to quote me as in sympathy with the abolition party. He confessed
that it was. I told him that that was a proper
subject for prayer, but prayer was not the proper
way of promoting party interests in a congregation.  I had often introduced this subject in
public prayers, and was ever willing to do it,
where and when it would not be construed as
the evidence of my adhesion to this or that
party. He confessed the reasonableness of my
ground, and lived and died one of my warmest
friends. Excepting this, I do not now remember a single attempt that has been made by any
one to influence my action in the pulpit.
Sometimes I have felt it to be my duty to lift
up my voice with strength against some prevailing errors or vices. At such times it would
have been easy for a few to do us and the cause
a great injury. Such are times when timid ones,




416          CAUSES OF UNION.
if there are any, are apt to throw their influence
against the preacher, and help the errors or vices
assailed by causing divisions to weaken the arm
of the assailant. The first hope of the adversary, in such a case, always is, that the boldness
of the stroke will create divisions among ourselves. But such has been the manner of my
people in such cases, that they never have made
me afraid to do what I have thought wise to
attempt. When a bold stroke has been struck,
there have been multitudes out of the society who
have apparently gone into a panic, and have
said, "He will ruin his society! Indeed, it is
already broken up and scattering." But in such
cases the society has not been made imprudent
by my imprudence. They have not been wont
to commit the imprudence of joining the alarmcries coming from without, but have preferred
quietly to await the issue, and see whether truth
will not bear its own weight. This has been the
greatest of all discouragements to opponents.
After putting forth their worst emissions of bile,
they have been wont to conclude with some expression of despair, "It is of no use; they are
so under priestly tyranny that they will sustain
him, let him say what he will." This sustaining




CAUSES OF UNION.         417
of the freedom of the pulpit, and backing its
issues with one mind, has contributed vastly to
our efficiency. However much the truths which
I have uttered in the present series needed to be
uttered in a way to command a public hearing
and a public consideration, the utterance could
not have been made with any hope of good but
in the midst of a people of tried firmness, who
were willing, for the truth's sake, to bear their
share of the reproach.
I conceive that in this most trying duty of my
whole ministry I have been called to do a work
that will make a broader impression for good
than any which I have done in this pulpit. After
the surf and foam shall have passed away, and
serious reflection shall come in, the effect will be
seen. Yet I could not have been justified in
undertaking such a work, had not former expcrience given me the assurance that no faltering
on the part of my hearers would have neutralized the effort. I am well aware that it was no
light burden laid upon my people. They have
kindred social and business connections with
men of opposite views, which are liable to be
marred. Then it is some trial to the nerves to
sit and hear the utterance of truths known to be




418          CAUSES OF UNION.
offensive to many that are present.  And it
requires some force of conscience to take and
bear one's share of testimony in favor of rejected
truths. This, indeed, is no more than is the
duty of every one.
It were a base and mercenary view of gospel
administrations that the truth must not be
spoken till we have looked round and assured
ourselves that no one's friends will be offended,
no one's business be marred, and no one's prospects for office will be hurt. You have never
required me to act on such a principle. And
yet how often is the utterance of truth checked
by such a principle! It is a mistake to think
that all the reproach for the truth's sake is to be
borne by ministers, who peril their salvation if
they shun to declare all the counsel of God. As
hearers have a common interest in the truth
preached, they have a common responsibility
with preachers in holding forth the word of life,
and in backing its testimony and bearing its
burdens. And to the fact that this society has
not been behind in this duty they owe it that
they have risen above the flood of contempt
that had been poured upon them for the truth's
sake.




CAUSES OF UNION.          419
Still another cause of our union may be
found in one of the very things to which many
would look for division. Now and then a crisis
has come, when it has been a matter of plain
duty to meet the errors by which we have been
assailed, or some forms of public wickedness, in
terms proportioned to the boldness of the aggression. Sometimes, when that has been done, some
individuals, who had never entered into the
true spirit of our mission, have been shaken off.
Their own sense of expediency has been offended. They have felt bound to express their dissent by retiring; and in their retiring, they have
taken away just those persons that would have
caused divisions. So that in meeting this and
that crisis with the boldness which the occasion
required, instead of causing dangerous divisions
we have secured ourselves against the hatching
of future divisions. This operation is now so
well understood, from past experience, that no
panics exist if an individual at any time finds his
sense of expediency violated, and goes where he
can have it better satisfied. It is seen that such
changes have contributed to make the society
homogeneous and strong; for the strength of a




420          CAUSES OF UNION.
society is sometimes promoted by sifting out, as
well as by attracting in.
Such is our apology for that union, that has
been so great a scandal to our neighbors.
To appreciate the difficulties experienced in
lifting the debt, it must be borne in mind that
though we were at peace within, there was a
storm without. The abolition excitement had
then been in progress several years. And now,
the antichristian tendencies of the Garrison and
Parker school had just begun to reveal themselves. At the time of my settlement in Lynn,
about half of the church were strongly in sympathy with the abolitionists. And because it
then had not been clearly revealed whither Garrison was tending, they sympathized with him.
And Garrison and his party had their prime
seat of operations in Lynn. They claimed a
special right to rule here, and took it as an indignity that a Calvinistic church should presume
to exist on their ground. And as a part of this
church were abolitionists, they expected of
course to divide and make short work with it.
Knowing that the abolitionists in the church
were, for the most part, sound and reliable as
Christians, and ready to revolt against the real




CAUSES OF UNION.          421
designs of Garrison and company, I applied myself to make evident those designs, by distinguishing between the Christian and antichristian
modes of reform. In this, however, as in other
instances where party feeling intervened, I
rarely mentioned the subject in the pulpit - reserving myself for some providential opportunity to do the work by a single effort. That
opportunity came. I was invited to make a discourse at Andover on a public occasion, on just
that subject. That discourse was by request
published, under the title of " Moral Machinery
Simplified." Its effect on the public mind
abroad exceeded all my anticipations. Many,
and some for years afterwards, have thanked
me for it, as the means of settling their own
minds, then in perplexity. Here the truth and
justice of that discourse were more readily admitted. For the living illustrations in the actual
operations of Garrisonism were more abundant,
and my having these illustrations before my eyes
was probably a cause of the success which I had
in the presentation of the subject. But, however much or little that effort did to settle the
minds of people here, the actual revelations of
an antichristian spirit and design in the reform36




422          CAUSES OF UNION.
ers soon brought this church to a fixed and
united conclusion; so that, while other churches
were rent by abolition strifes, this has never
been divided at all on the subject. And because
it was not, it awoke the special hostility of the
malignants. It is well known that the abolitionism of that party soon took the form of a
war waged against the Sabbath, the ministry,
the Bible, and civil government; and, among all
the religious societies of this town, ours was
singled out for the special object of hostility.
It was constantly declared that nothing could
be done here for reform while that Calvinistic
church existed. Hence it was to be inferred
that our principles were in more direct antagonism with theirs than any other, and could offer
a more compact resistance. Be that as it may,
the main force of that hostility was concentrated upon us. A weekly newspaper was published for many years to sustain that warfare.
We were constantly beset with teasings to give
Comeouter notices from the pulpit, or to open
our house to lectures of the fraternity. At one
time there was a great passion for converting or
conquering meeting houses. And while that
fever raged I was honored with a special visit.




CAUSES OF UNION.         423
One Saturday evening I was called from my
study, and as I entered the parlor I was met by
Christopher Robinson, who introduced me to his
friend S. S. Foster. Mr. Foster lost no time in
making known his business — which was, to
make arrangements to occupy my pulpit, for a
speech on abolition, on the morrow. Then, in
substance, the following dialogue ensued -
Foster. I have special claims on the Congregationalists to aid me in my work; for I belong
to a Congregational church.
Myself. What church?
Foster. That in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Myself. I have seen it stated in the papers that
you were excommunicated from that church.
Foster. That is true; but that does not prevent my belonging to it.
Myself. No; if we understand that you belong to it as a minus quantity.
Foster. Be that as it may, I belong to the
general humanity, and I wish to know if I can
have your permission to address the people in
your meeting house, on the subject of humanity,
the next Sabbath.
Myself. To that I can give you a categorical
answer- No.




424          CAUSES OF UNION.
Foster. Can I have it a part of the day?
Myself. No, sir.
Foster. Can I have the vestry?
Myself. No, sir.
Foster. Can I have it in the evening?
Myself. No, sir.
Foster. Who are your parish committee?
Since you claim to control the house on the
Sabbath, I will try to get it some other day.
Myself. I will save you that trouble. For
this purpose you may consider me the parish
committee. You cannot have it on any day.
Foster. Then if I cannot have my rights conceded to me, I must come and take them.
Myself. Pray, sir, what are your rights in the
case?
Foster. It is my right to address human beings
on the subject of slavery and humanity wherever
I can find them, and when your congregation
shall assemble to-morrow it will be my right and
duty to address them.
Myself. Very well; then your duties and
mine will clash. While it will be your duty to
address the congregation, it will be mine to see
that you are as quietly as possible removed from
the house.




CAUSES OF UNION.          425
Foster. If this is the way you do business, I
will go out into the streets and collect around
me the mechanics of Lynn, and the working
men, and tell them what a tyrant you are.
Myself. I believe that is now very well understood, for it is a threadbare story.
He left, saying that he was somewhat unwell;
but if he should be well enough on the morrow,
he should be in his place to claim his rights. As
I entered the meeting house on Sabbath morning, I communicated to a few individuals the
facts in the case, that they might be ready. He
came in and took his seat in a pew at the right
hand of the pulpit; and when I commenced
the reading of the hymn for the second singing,
he arose and commenced a speech. I requested
him to be silent; he continued. I spoke to him
a second time, to require his silence; but he
persisted. Then he was taken in hand by several persons sitting near, who attempted to lead
him out of the house. True to his non-resistant
principles, he sank down in a passive state, and
four bearers divided his four limbs between
them for handles, and carried him out. Being
resisted in his attempt to return, he made his
way across the Common to the Baptist meeting
36 *




426          CAUSES OF UNION.
house, and was there carried out and shut up in
a closet till the exercise was finished. While
this work was in progress, simultaneous assaults
were made by other men of the same party on
several other meeting houses in the town; for
this was only a part of a concerted plan to take
by storm the meeting houses, the fortresses of
slavery.
This incident is given as an illustration of the
spirit of the times. Lynn was then the home
and centre of the sect that styled themselves
Comeouters; and they claimed this ground as
especially their own. They represented this society and its minister as the greatest hinderance
to their peculiar work; and no effort was omitted that could tend to remove the hinderance.
Arguments and reproaches were used to the
exhaustion of their vocabulary. The grossest
libels were published by tongue, pen, and press.
My name was in constant requisition to point
and inspire the wit of their speakers in all sorts
of assemblies; and to their newspaper, in its
weekly issues, it had become as indispensable as
the types. If I had any vanity in seeing my
name in the papers, it was abundantly gratified;
and not only in Lynn, but all abroad, in the




CAUSES OF UNION.          427
speeches and newspaper articles put forth by
these declaimers, it was used with great freedom and malignity.  The result was a great
addition to my influence abroad.  Thousands
who, but for these left-handed friends, would
never have heard of me, were led to infer, from
the manner in which my name was employed,
that I had done a service, in opposition to such
men, much more important than I had done; so
that, in fact, these revilers manufactured for me
a reputation above my merits.
It is not pleasant to be the song of the drunkard, nor the cant of the Comeouter; yet I have
never suffered an hour's loss of sleep from all
that sort of abuse, and have taken no pains for
defence of personal reputation when the grossest
calumnies were abroad. And after so much experience of the care of Providence in this matter, I shall, if possible, be less moved by the
present renewal of the dimications of scurrilous
newspapers, only construing the fact that these
are so persevered in as a sure proof that the
impression made is deep, and will be lasting,
and that it has been made by truth; for otherwise it would have been repelled by more worthy means.




428          CAUSES OF UNION.
But to return from this digression. While
the pseudo-reformers were alert against us, and
watching to take advantage of every word or
act, I had occasion to give public notice of two
intended sermons on the subject of temperance,
setting forth views in opposition to those of our
assailants; but they, assuming that I should say
something that I should be unwilling to have
published, incurred the expense of bringing in a
professional reporter, to secure a verbatim report of my double sermon. The person employed was no doubt a skilful stenographer, and
I would have been glad to have had him succeed. Nor was it a fault of his that he did not;
but my infirmity of rapid utterance, which has
baffled all my efforts at control, baffled him also.
The report which he made was a miserable
jumble. The editor of the reform newspaper
gave, in his next paper, a paragraph of it as a
specimen, with the announcement that the whole
was to be published in a pamphlet. I informed
him, through a note in another paper, that his
report was worthless, and that if he wished to
publish the sermon as it was, he was welcome to
the use of my manuscript. His printer came to
me in trouble, and inquired what he should do.




CAUSES OF UNION.          429
He said the sermons were all in type, and he
could not print from the manuscript without a
loss of the whole labor of composition. I told
him it was a matter of indifference to me. If he
chose to save expense, and publish the false report, I was willing, now that the falsity of it
was known; or if he chose to publish from the
manuscript, it was at his service. He finally
concluded to reset the whole, and print it correctly. So I secured an object which I much
desired -the publication of the sermon without
expense; and he incurred, in the reporting and
false printing, an extra expense of about forty
dollars, which was an entire waste.
This incident is of value only as it illustrates
the spirit with which a scandalous press was employed, then as now, as one of the many instruments of assault upon us. Every thing that was
said in this pulpit, that could in any way be tortured into a shape convenient for use in that paper, was sure to come back with its tortures the
next week; and that organized hostility was
carried on till Providence, by a special hand,
interfered, and suffered the true fruits of that
reform to be produced in the person of one of
its leading agents, in a way that shocked the




430          CAUSES OF UNION.
public conscience, and exploded the conspiracy
of the reformers.
Were it proper here to give the details of
those events which constituted the finale of that
conspiracy, it would remarkably illustrate the
providence of God, causing the wicked to be
snared in the work of their own hands. It was
the carrying out of the very licentious principles
for which they had been contending that generated the explosion that blew them to fragments.
Could the story be told, it would seem like
romance. Could we give the history of one
individual, - the leading figure in the group -
describe him as he was while occupying a commanding position- a professor of religionhis transit thence to the leadership of the Comeouters- all the characteristic things said and
done while he supplied the material of the war,
and prompted its measures; and then could we
tell to after ages what the living now know of
the events which put an end to his reforming
career, and what evils have come upon his house
and himself, by plain consequence of his principles and conduct, —it would be a source of important instruction. He must be blind who cannot see the hand of God in such an experience




CAUSES OF UNION.         431
of one who had borne such a part in a noisy and
filthy warfare against all that is sacred in Christianity. And while we remember how often that
man has uttered, and caused to be uttered and
printed, at his expense, the declaration that
nothing could be done for humanity in Lynn till
this church could be destroyed, it becomes us
especially to recognize a divine hand in that
disastrous fall, deploring the ruin of a fellowman, and standing in awe of the judgments of
God, fulfilling those words of Christ respecting
his kingdom —" Whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken; and on whomsoever it
shall fall, it will grind him to powder." These
things have happened for examples, and should
be written for admonition. God brings good
out of evil; and the fall and ruin of some he
makes to contribute to the standing and salvation of others. " I have seen the wicked in great
power, and spreading himself like a green bay
tree; but he passed away, and lo, he was not!
yea, I sought him, but he could not be found."
We have thus far spoken chiefly of our experience in outward condition. For spiritual
progress our field has been a peculiarly hard
one. What progress we have made has been




432          CAUSES OF UNION.
against mountains of impediments. By reason
of the untoward events in former generations
which we have described, the public mind had
become broadly and deeply hostile to evangelical truth and godliness. The whole field on
which we have stood to cast the good seed has
been thick set with tares and cockles. And then
an untold amount of prejudice existed against
this church, sustained by the memory and traditions of the malign events that have happened
to it. Against these impediments we have labored on from year to year, making some progress, and grateful for some progress when we
knew that the progress must be slow, and encouraged by evident signs that the prejudice is
wearing away. That effort made to pay that
hopeless debt did much to command a public
respect for this church, and give it an influence
with men's consciences which it had not before.
It showed a force of moral principle and an attachment to religious truth which the public
conscience could not but approve. It has been
worth all it cost in the effect it has had on the
public mind. Men of other persuasions have
been compelled to ask themselves whether, if
the case were theirs, they should have paid the




CAUSES OF UNION.          433
debt, when no individuals were legally bound
for it.
But whether the cause be this or that, the
effect is manifest. There has been a great and
favorable change in the relative position and influence of this society.  One person of sound
judgment, who has been long conversant with
our history, but who is not a member of our society, once remarked to me that the influence and
force of Orthodox Congregationalism over the
general mind in this place had advanced tenfold within the last fifteen years. Whether this
be an overstatement of the matter or not, it is
clear to every observer of both the past and
present that the advance has been great. Where
is now the congregation in Lynn whose moral
force over adjacent minds, hostile as those minds
may be to its principles, is greater than that of
this?
That the impediments, great as they now are,
are decidedly less than they were, is evident to
my own consciousness. I can study and preach
with vastly more of hope than I could ten or
fifteen years ago, for the same labor appears to
produce more results. The seed sown does not
so much rebound as if falling on a rock.
37




434          CAUSES OF UNION.
We have had no very extensive revivals of
religion. There have been two seasons that
might be called revivals. But most of the conversions and additions to the church have been
in individual cases, occurring when there was
no general revival. Since my connection with
the church, two hundred and forty-six members
have been admitted, that is, an average of thirteen a year; and these are nineteen more members than are now in the church. Of these, one'hundred and twenty-two - about half- were admitted by profession.' This is a small number considering the time and size of the congregation,
but not small considering the tide which has set
against us. During this time there have been
two offshoots, or colonies, from us; for that in
Swampscot took a sufficient proportion of its
members from us to entitle it to that name,
though, by reason of its distance from us, it
diminished our numbers but very little. And
now, reckoning in the worshippers of the three
congregations, the number of Congregational
worshippers on the ground is four times what
it was when we first entered our present meeting house. That probably cannot be said of
any other denomination in town.




CAUSES OF UNION.         435
The most considerable diminution of our numbers was made in the commencement of the
Central Church. The individual (Hon. Isaiah
Breed) who bore the greatest burden of that
enterprise had sustained the heaviest burden in
the event of finally extinguishing our debt. He
had come to us from another denomination,
while we were under our greatest embarrassments, and put his shoulder generously under
our burdens. And he could not have manifested
a deeper interest, nor acted with a higher generosity, if he had been with us from the first.
And while he helped to carry our burdens, it
was distinctly understood that one of his motives
was, that the way might sooner be opened for
the commencement of a new church in his own
neighborhood, where all felt that one was so
much needed. Accordingly, as soon as we had
had breathing time, after our debt was paid, that
is, in the fall of 1849, separate worship on the
Sabbath was commenced in the locality of the
Central Church. On many accounts the fact
was regretted by us. We were sorry to lose
friends who had wrought with us so effectually.
But the expediency of the undertaking was clear
to all, and nothing could be said against it.




436          CAUSES OF UNION.
That society has now had separate worship
five years and a half; and during that time the
relations between the two societies have been
eminently happy-a fact which deserves our
grateful acknowledgments.
For the last thirty years, in spite of all the
adverse experiences, and the hardness of the
field, beset with briers and thorns, the Congregational interest has here made a very encouraging advance. Go back in thought to that
meeting of the society held in the time of Mr.
Rockwood's ministry, when the motion was made
to disband. See what wa's then the extent of
the Congregational interest in all the town, including Swampscot; and then survey the three
congregations that have now acquired an independent position here; and you will see that
there has been a progress fully rewarding all
the faith and patience that have been spent in it,
and fully justifying our erecting here our " stone
of help," and engraving on it, "Hitherto hath
the Lord helped us."
It is instructive to retrace the instances in the
history of this church wherein it had a hair'sbreadth escape from extinction.  There were
two instances within the last twenty years: that




CAUSES OF UNION.         437
when the extent of the debt was first realized,
and the question of a failure was seriously debated, and that when life depended on what was
seemingly impossible - our paying the whole
debt at once. We have also found one such crisis
in Mr. Rockwood's ministry. There was another
at the time of the dismission of Mr. Hurd; and
at the dismission of Mr. Thacher, the council
found occasion to exhort the church not to die,
in terms which indicated that it was near death.
There was another when the question of life
turned on Dr. Harris declining a call. But the
most discouraging of all was when, under the
ministry of Mr. Parsons, one hundred and eight
persons at once certificated from the society,
and when the church was reduced to five male
members. In all those cases, the hand of God
preserving the church was clear to be seen.
Most pertinent to our case are those words of
the Psalmist, " If it had not been the Lord who
was on our side when men rose up against us,
then had they swallowed us up quick."
It is natural, before we close these remarks,
to compare the type of religion now in vogue
here with what prevailed in the first generations
of Lynn. With the present prevailing sect in
37 




438          CAUSES OF UNION.
Lynn, the pulpits are constantly ringing with
denunciations of the horrible Calvinistic doctrines - such as the doctrine of election, and of
the saints' perseverance, and the like. These
plain truths of the Bible are held up to popular
odium, as demoralizing and soul-destroying; and
the current representation here is, that any thing
but Arminianism, if it do not entirely exclude
Christian character, must allow of only a stinted growth of it. Now, let us compare the type
of Christian character which here abounds under
Arminian auspices with what Calvinism produced
in Whiting and Cobbett, and the like of them,
under their ministry. Those so called horrible
doctrines, election and perseverance, which are
now declared to have such a licentious tendency,
were among the prime elements of their spiritual life; and with such food and drink, such
strong meat, they attained vigor and stature.
If their doctrines were so much the worse, and
yours so much the better, it were well to show
it in the superior holiness of life attained.
Now recall the description given by contemporary historians of the first pastors of this church.
What is said of Whiting, whom they called, by
way of eminence, "the man of God"?-who,




CAUSES OF UNION.         439
though skilful in doctrine, was said to have done
the things that are to be taught better than he
taught the things which are to be done; whose
meekness of wisdom so outshone his rich attainments in sacred learning that his face, the image
of his mind, was ever unclouded with storms of
passion; whose daily walk with God was manifest to his people, and a subject of common
remark and admiration; who had rare skill and
success in speaking a word in season to the
wicked. Recall also what is said of his colleague, Cobbett; how, as a prince, he had power
with God in prayer; what remarkable answers
to prayer he obtained; how he is said to have
been always pulling at that golden chain which
ties the tongue of man to the ear of God. Yea,
read his remarkable treatise on prayer, which
on every page reveals a mind richly freighted
with the treasures of experience in prayer, and
in the applications of Scripture to it, and the
equal of which treatise on that subject has not
been produced from that day to this. Read the
testimony of historians, who say that the country so owed its preservation to his prayers that
in his death it lost its chariots and horsemen.
Yea, behold those two men in their associate




440          CAUSES OF UNION.
labors and communings, as exemplifying the love
of the Spirit. The historian says, " Great was
the love that sweetened the labors and whole
conversation and vicinity of these fellow-laborers -the rays with which they illumined the
house of God sweetly united. They were almost
every day together, and thought it a long day if
they were not. And these two angelic men
seemed willing to give one another as little
jostle as the angels upon Jacob's ladder, while
one was ascending and the other descending."
Such was the piety of those ministers. And
without resorting to the rule, " Like people like
priest," we learn enough respecting their people
to know that they were congenial spirits with
them, and held them in high esteem for their
eminent godliness.
Now, such was the type of the piety that ruled
in the persons of these lovers and preachers of
these horrible doctrines of Calvinism. The tree
is known by its fruits. And if you can show no
better fruits than these, the conclusion is, that
your trees are no better. After your most glowing declamation against the doctrines of grace,
we ask the liberty of only one question-and
that is, Where are your facts? Where are your




CAUSES OF UNION.          441
results corresponding to the claimed superiority
of your principles? We grant that those men
were eminent, and above the average products
of our system, now put forth with too little
energy. And so is the present piety of Lynn
Methodism above the average products of its
system. This is the paradise of that system,
and until it can show that it has made an advance on the piety existing on the same ground
two centuries before, it may as well be silent as
to the horrible doctrines held by those men of
God. For if, after all the boasts made of having more reasonable and scriptural doctrines,
and all that is said of the ruinous tendency of
the doctrines of the cross, you have brought in,
instead of the full-souled and manly piety and
martyr spirit of the Puritans, a weak and sickly
product, the improvement is not to be spoken of.
Our civil and social interests have incurred
great danger, through the departure of so many
from the original and Puritan faith. All history, Mr. Bancroft being judge, shows Calvinism
to be the great generator and preserver of free
institutions. And in the experience of our
country, the increase of radicalism, vice, and
crime, which is now a source of alarm, has




442          CAUSES OF UNION.
kept pace with the people's departures from Calvinism. Our only safety lies in a return to the
patriotism, the love of order and freedom, which
conducted us through the war for independence.
But we cannot rear the fruit without the tree,
nor secure the patriotism without recalling the
Calvinism that produced it, nor save the coming generations from impending ruin, without a
broad and earnest inculcation of the doctrines
of the cross. If there be such a difference in
the civil and social products of the different
faiths, we have - to say nothing of the immortal interests imperilled -great reason to dread
the civil consequences of the prevalent latitudinarian and licentious views of religion. And
one ground of hope for Lynn is, that for the last
quarter of a century, Calvinism in it has several
times doubled its amount of life and influence.




APPENDIX.
WE requested Mr. Boice, consulting the records of the society
of Friends, to furnish us in detail all the instances in which that
society suffered any thing like persecution from ours. And he
has done it. But we give in a condensed form the results of the
list which he has furnished. We intended to spread out all the
details; but the work has filled so much more space than we had
expected, that we have crowded out not a little of our own material that we intended to insert. All the ends of the publication
of this list will be answered by this condensation of the facts.
It does not appear that any acts of persecution took place, except that of distraint of goods, and fines for refusing military
service. Most of the cases of distraint of goods are dated in the
latter part of Mr. Shepard's ministry. None of them bear date
earlier than 1697, and none later than 1717. So they all come
within the space of twenty years. A small portion of them were
for military fines; the rest to support the ministry, and pay expenses on the meeting house. The aggregate sum of the value
of all goods distrained for those purposes through those twenty
years is one hundred and twelve pounds eighteen shillings. The
instances specified of persons having goods distrained are fiftythree; but the number must somewhat exceed this, as in some
cases et ceteeras are put down. Such is the substance of the pa
per referred to.
The explanation of the causes of that action, so far as it con
(443)




444                   APPENDIX.
cerns the support of the ministry, we have given in full. So far
as it relates to military fines, we think that, if this were all that
the Friends paid for their defence from Indian wars, so rife in
those days, they were let off easy; for then the military work
was no children's play. To this their reply would be, that the
non-resistant principles of the Quakers were their defence. This
is a matter of mere assumption and much question, to say the
least. But if it were so touching Quakers living in separate communities, where their non-resistant principles could be known to
the Indians, and the Romish priests who guided their operations,
and who would be sure to hate them none the less for their Quakerism, it could not be so with Quakers living in communities
with the Puritans undistinguished. If the settlement in Lynn, as
it then stood, had come under a sudden assault and massacre by the
Indians, by what process could the tomahawk have distinguished
and passed by the Quaker families? And this community of exposure to the tomahawk by a promiscuous residence with the
Puritans, chosen by the Quakers against the desire of the others,
was a fact for which only themselves were responsible. They had
chosen a residence where all were exposed to a common danger,
but were not forced to go forth in person for wars of defence;
and it was no hardship that, to so small an extent, their money
was taken for the common purposes, any more than it now is
that they pay taxes to the common purposes of government, one
of which purposes is that of national military defence. In other
words, the principle on which military fines were collected from
Quakers then was the same as that on which Quakers now pay
taxes to the government; and this is not regarded as a matter
of persecution.