M
f
~.... r




PROC EEDI NGS
AT THE
DEDICA TIOiA
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE.
Boston, February 12th, 1873.
TOGETHER WITH A
BRIEF HISTORY
OF TIIE
Slmcritwn  o!ngrc~gathorda! ~ssociatioT,
BY THE
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
B OS T ON:
AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
I873.








INTRODUCTION.
THE following pages are issued in accordance with a vote
of the Directors of the American Congregational Association,
at their meeting holden February 20, I873.
The services herein detailed were conducted in Pilgrim
Hall on the fourth floor of the Congregational House. In it
and in the adjoining committee room, seats were provided to
accommodate six hundred and eleven persons. These were
all occupied, and in the doorways and corridors were many
standing. The close and patient attention of such a crowded
audience for over three hours gave unequivocal testimony to
the pertinency and ability of the several performances.
The superadded sketch of the origin and progress of the
Association to the present, is intended to give the reader
some idea of.the work done, and the obstacles encountered
in gaining the results already assured.
The Charter, Constitution, and By-Laws, together with a
list of the Officers of the Association, will be a convenience
to those who may wish to know its basis and present working
force.








ORDER OF EXERCISES.
I. SINGING.
BY THE CONGREGATION.
"Coronation."
All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all.
Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
And crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball
To him all majesty ascribe,
And crown him Lord of all.
2. INVOCATION  AND  READING  SCRIPTURES.
BY PROF. HIRAM MEAD, OBERLIN, OHIO.
3. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
By liON, E. S. TOBEY, President American Congregational' Association.
4. ADDRESS.
BY REV. WM. IVES BUDINGTON, D. D., BROOKLYN, N. V.




6                   ORDER OF EXERCISES.
5. DEDICATORY PRAYER.
BY REV. E. N. KIRK, D. D., BOSTON.
6. SINGING.
Thy name we bless, Almighty God!
For all the kindness thou hast shown,
To this fair land the Pilgrims trod,This land we fondly call our own.
We praise thee, that the gospel's light,
Through all our land its radiance sheds;
Dispels the shades of error's night,
And heavenly blessings round us spreads.
7. BRIEF REMARKS.
BY REY. RUFUS ANDERSON, D. D.
DEA. EZRA FARNSWORTH, Chazrman of Building Coozmittee.
REV. ISAAC P. LANGWORTIIY, CorrespodiJngi Secretazry.
REV. H. M. DEXTER, I). D. (Presenting a stone from Scrooby.)
DR. TIMOTHY GORDON, (I resenting a piece of genuine Plymouth Rock.)
Gov. W. B. WASHBURN.
HON. ENMORY WASHBURN, Cambridge.
PROF. E. A. PARK, D. D., Andover.
DOXOLOGY.
BENEDICTION.
BY REV. E. B. WEBB, D. D., BOSTON.




INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.
BY THE HON. E. S. TOBEY, PRESIDENT.
IN behalf of the American Congregational Association, it becomes my agreeable duty to congratulate
the contributors to the Congregational House, and the
denomination which it represents, upon its completion,
and I wish it were possible to add, the completion
also of the adjoining library building. It gives me
pleasure now to welcome you to a participation in the
service of dedicating this building to the noble purposes for which it was designed. The idea of establishing this enterprise, when first placed before the
churches, appeared too indefinite and abstract to
command at once the ready approval and favorable
response which its earnest friends desired, and hence
the arduous efforts and almost importunate appeals
for means to execute the purpose of its original projectors. The long delay in procuring adequate pecuniary aid, and of securing a proper site, has found a
parallel in the fact that it required nearly ten years, in
the great and wealthy metropolis of England, to carry




8            INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.
into effect a similar object. As usual, persevering and
unremitting energy, based on a true and worthy idea,
has finally prevailed in both instances; and now that
this structure, in all its commodious and attractive
arrangements, is before us, we may hope that its practical value and usefulness will be no longer doubted.
Indeed, I cannot resist the conviction that from this
day of its dedication a steadily increasing interest will
be evinced.
With a fragment of the " Manor House" in Scrooby,
the gift of the Rev. Dr. Dexter, who brought it from
England, and with a portion of the veritable Plymouth
Rock, presented by Dr. Gordon, now before us, to be
deposited in the library of choice and ancient books,
this house may be regarded as a sort of " Pilgrim
shrine" towards which the descendants of the Pilgrims
will instinctively bend their steps whenever they shall
visit this city, and for which the voluntary contributors,.on the shores of the Pacific, in the Sandwich Islands,
or in distant India, who may never visit it, will ever
entertain a reverential regard, if not a fond attachment, as already expressed in the sentiments which
have accompanied their gifts.
A granite monument in Plymouth stands in silent
grandeur to commemorate one of the most sublime
events in human history.  This granite building is




INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.             g
also a monument to the principles and church polity
of the fathers, not teaching alone by its material form,
but instinct with a living influence through the moral
power of the societies gathered within its walls.
From the Congregational Home will radiate the
influences of the gospel to all nations, through the
agencies of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, and the Woman's Board of Missions.
From here also the American Missionary Association,
the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, the
American Congregational Union, the City Missionary
Society, the Congregational Publishing Society, the
Congregational Quarterly, and the Congregational
weekly newspaper, will each in their appropriate
sphere, with ever-increasing energy, send forth their
beneficent and Christian efforts to elevate the character of the masses of the people of our own country;
while the Am.erican Peace Society, in co-operation
with kindred associations in foreign countries, stimulated by the results of the Geneva arbitration, is even
now actively engaged in efforts to bring into existence a code'of international laws to provide henceforth for the peaceful solution of disputed questions
between nations, and avert the dread calamity of war.
Thus will these societies, from this source of moral
power, ever be contributing to the perpetuity of the
2




IO          I:NTRODUCTOR Y ADDRESS.
principles of the fathers of the Republic, and of the
institutions which they founded.
In the library of this Association, comprising now
about fifteen thousand volumes, are rare and valuable
works of the able writers and profound theologians of
by-gone centuries.  These, accessible and especially
useful to the student and the historian, will by the
perpetual force of truth continue to give direction to
opinion, and perhaps exert more or less controlling
influence on the minds of men for generations to
come.
To preserve these literary treasures it only remains
that the interior of the fire-proof library building
already erected, and forming a part of this house, shall
be speedily finished. While this structure combines
all the conveniences which an entirely new one could
have furnished, it is obvious that its style of architecture is not only unambitious, but severely plain. This,
however, with its massive and enduring material, may
perhaps render it the more appropriate symbol of Congregationalism. In this progressive age it may ultimately yield to the advancing wave of commerce, but
all that is vital in the institution itself will endure,
even when transferred to some more favored locality
and to a building commensurate with the new and
greater demands of the future. But for many years




INTRODUCTOR Y ADDRESS.           I I
hence, no location could combine greater advantages,
dependent in part, as it now is, on a commercial foundation and surroundings for revenue.
It has been alleged that the tendency of Congregationalism is to promote an undue sense of personal
independence and individualism at the expense of
mutual sympathy and even of social qualities. If this
is in any degree true, let us hope that this institution
may to some extent serve to promote more intimate
personal relations, and strengthen the bonds of sympathy and of friendship between brethren of the same
Christian faith, as they shall statedly gather in this
hall for social intercourse, as well as for the discussion
of religious topics of mutual interest. May we not
properly cultivate a deeper interest in, and a laudable
partiality for, the denomination with which we are
connected, while at the same time we are careful to
cherish a catholic spirit towards those of a different
faith, always esteeming a comprehensive spirit of genuine Christianity as superior to all denominational or
sectarian preferences.
Every intelligent Congregationalist should be able
to exercise a discriminating judgment as to the character of our peculiar church polity, and become so
familiar with its relations to the foundation of civil
government and republican institutions in our country




I 2          INTRODUCTOR Y ADDRESS.
as to know on how firm and true a basis his opinions
rest. Within the last few years a new impulse has
been given to the public mind on this subject, and
information has been more widely diffused through
the pulpit and the press.
If in connection with the frequent appeals and arguments put forth in advocacy of the usefulness of the
institution which we are now about to dedicate,
anything has been done to promote a more thorough
examination and better understanding of Congregationalism, one at least of its practical objects will
have been already attained.
But the' proprieties of the occasion forbid that I
should enlarge on these topics, and I therefore at once
give place to the distinguished gentlemen who are to
follow in these exercises.




ADDRESS.
BY REV. WM. IVES BUDINGTON, D.D.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:
I rise with pleasure to respond to the invitation
with which I am honored, to address you, and join my
felicitations with yours on the consummation of this
significant enterprise. While it would be more grateful to my feelings to sit at the feet of some whom I
see around me, I am willing to take the place your
courtesy has assigned me, because I feel that I am
representing before you the sons of New England, out
of New England; and venturing for a moment to
speak for them, I bring you the heart-felt congratulations of the children of the Pilgrims scattered over
this broad land, from the Hudson to the Pacific.
You have done well to build a house for God, - I
say for God, for the Temple at Jerusalem was not
more truly built for the offering of sacrifice to Jehovah
than is this. The difference is only the difference
between the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations.
From every part of the land, from altars of Christian




r14                ADDRESS.
households and Christian churches, all over the continent, are to come hither the sacrifices of our
people to send the gospel round the world, and make
all the families of the earth akin, by making them
believers in the common name of Christ. I thank
you for building such a house to receive such sacrifices; and I speak not now of contributions of money,
but contributions of our sons and daughters. What
memories throng in our minds, at an hour like this,
of the sacrifices that have been laid on the altar of
God, in yonder house on Pemberton Square! What
goodly companies have gone from the rooms of the
Home Missionary Society! And may God spare this
building for generations to come, till all its rooms
shall be consecrated by larger and better sacrifices to
Him, who gave himself, once for all, for us and for the
whole world! Such a house is worthy to be builded
by all our churches, and worthy to be called the house
of God, as glorious as that which stood on Mount
Moriah and more so, - as much more so as the living
sacrifices to be offered here exceed the typical ones
that bled there.
You have put the word " Congregational" upon this
house. Am I not right in saying, that this is the first
time in our history, that this, our distinctive name, has
been placed upon a structure erected by the general




ADDRESS.                  15
contributions of our churches? The earliest denomination of Christians to occupy this western world, has
thus been the last to assert itself denominationally.
In the winter of I620-I, the Pilgrims found for themselves a permanent home in Plymouth; in the winter
of I872-3, their principles of church-order first find
a lodgment in the city they founded and have made
illustrious.
What is the meaning of this? Does it signify a
change on the part of our churches and people? Are
we more sectarian than our fathers were? Are we
attaching to our polity an importance which its framers did not, but which for two centuries and a half has
been substantially ignored, and left to care for itself?
It is a question pertinent to the hour, and one to
which our people are peculiarly sensitive. Let me
answer it; but before doing so, let me say, what will
not be denied, and cannot be, that our people have
from the first been eminently catholic. The Pilgrims
were so in Holland. Edward Winslow testifies, from
personal knowledge as a parishioner, to the broad and
sweet charity of John Robinson, which in that age
was wonderful, and in this is still beautiful.  He
repudiates for his teacher the name and spirit of " Separatist," and recites the communion he practised with
the Dutch and French churches, as well as with the




I 6                 ADDRESS.
churches of England and Scotland.  And in this
country, when our churches were originally gathered,
the name " Congregational" was not used as a designation; it was, you remember, the "First Church,
Plymouth," "First Church, Boston," or Hartford, or
New Haven. It seems a tautology, as the words " congregation " and " church" had the same meaning, and
represented the same original word.  During the
greater part of our history since, not Christian polity,
but Christian doctrine, has been thought of, discussed,
and prized; and consequently our people have known
no difference, not even in name, between themselves
and our Presbyterian brethren, who have espoused the
same views of divine truth. Accordingly, when our
people moved west, they easily coalesced with other
bodies of Christians, especially the Presbyterians, and
were not conscious of making a change. Dr. Nott,
the late President of Union College, told me that he
considered himself largely responsible for this course
of things in the State of New York; thinking it a
pity, he said, that there should be two denominations
in place of one; and coming from Connecticut, as he
did, he proposed to his brother on the ground, representing Presbyterianism, that they should organize
churches after one pattern, and bearing a common
name.




ADDRESS.                 I 7
This tendency has been expressed, and still further
increased, by the formation of union societies for the
propagation of the gospel. - It was natural, under their
circumstances unavoidable, that our fathers, when
they came to organize missionary societies, should do
it irrespective of church polity; in their view, the
gospel was the light from heaven, and church polity
no more than the window that let the light through.
The less it was thought of, the less it detained of the
light to reveal its own existence, the better. Thus
foreign  missions  and  home missions were first
organized by Congregationalists, but irrespective of
name, and in concert with Christians of like faith.
But I need not tell you, that now, with no thought of
ours, and by no action on our part, this co-operative
union has been broken up. The providence of God
has evidently been concerned in the movement, and
we have nothing to do but to bow to it. Church
action has been substituted in place of union and
voluntary associations. The result is, that we find
ourselves substantially in possession of the great
organizations, which remain unchanged upon their
catholic basis, but which look for support mainly to
Congregational churches, - I mean the American
Home Missionary Society and the A. B. C. F. M.
What, now, are we to do? Forced back upon our3




Is 8)ADDRESS.
selves, we have been obliged to ask the question, What
are the principles of church order by which we are
distinguished, and have they claims upon our advocacy and support? We must either abandon our
polity, confess that Congregationalism has no permanent mission in the land, and so merge ourselves
in other denominations; or we must adhere to the
principles we have received from our fathers, honor
them, and sustain them. The Society of Friends
have been giving signs — at least, many of them —
that they have accomplished their distinctive mission:
having borne a long and honorable testimony to the
power and preciousness of the indwelling Spirit of
God, they find this truth heartily welcomed by other
Christians, and admitting for themselves the sanctity
of sacramental forms, they are seeking new homes in
other communions.  Is it to be so with us?  No
doubt our Congregational principles have found their
way, along with our people, into churches that were
formerly hostile to them, but which have been gradually leavened by them. The unit with us, according
to our polity, is the local church; as in Presbyterianism it is the presbytery, and in Episcopacy the diocese. Now, in point of fact, it will be found that the
autonomy of the local church has gone beyond the
recognition of the principle. In the supreme judica



ADDRESS.                  19
tories of national churches, authority is less and less
appealed to, and government more and more exercised
in a declarative and advisory way. Perhaps the most
thoroughly organized and manifoldly self-active church
in the city of New York is the " Holy Trinity," under
the pastoral care of the younger Dr. Tyng. It is
Episcopal in name, but Congregational in spirit. Its
distinctive history has been made by its development
of the local church or parish.  It reproduces, in
many features, the early Congregation, presided over
by a board of Presbyters, in which the bishop was
first among his equals. With Dr. Tyng as rector are
associated not less than seven ministers, who have in
charge as many chapels, surrounding the mother
church; to these are added mission schools, lay missionaries, a dispensary, infirmary, orphanage, a girls'
sewing school, Dorcas societies, and a House of
Evangelists, which is a training school for Christian
workers.
Now, is our mission ended? Shall we content ourselves with an influence unconsciously exerted and
unconsciously felt? I ask this question and answer
it, alone in the spirit of loyalty to the great Head of
the Church, and of zeal for the unity of his body on
earth. I speak for myself, and I am sure I speak for
the builders of this house, when I- say that we value




20                  A.DDRESS.
our polity only as it subserves the kingdom of Christ;
we are Congregationalists because we are Christians,
and because under the forms of our polity, we think
we can best compass the evangelization of the world,
and best bring together the churches of Christ in oneness of body and spirit. If our polity be a schism, or
tend to a schism, we will have nothing to do with it;
it is only in the interest of true religion and of catholicity that we espouse it, and will maintain it.
What is the Congregational polity? In substance,
the autonomy of the local church,- the complete
church estate of every body of associated believers,
as having Christ in the midst of them, and being by
him made the recipient of the faith, and the depository of church rule. To this is only to be added the
free and unconstrained fellowship of the churches, -
a fellowship springing from the churches themselves,
and not imposed by bodies outside of, and independent of, the local church.
Look at this theory of the church, as to its place in
history. We hold it to be the earliest organization.
"We," do I say?  Am I not warranted. in saying, it
is now conceded matter of fact, and admitted by many
who nevertheless regard later constitutions as legitimate and better? The Christian scholarship of this
nineteenth century has settled some things. It is im



ADDRESS.                  2I
possible to go over, in the manner of our fathers, some
of the great questions that have hitherto divided the
churches of the Reformation. The dissertation of Dr.
Lightfoot, of the University of Cambridge in England,
on "The Christian Ministry," by its candor and largeminded intelligence, must banish certain phases of the
Episcopal controversy. We freely own that the Congregational way of church government was too free
and spiritual for the first centuries of the Christian
era, that it demanded too much intelligence and selfcontrol for Christianity in its first stages. So Judaism
with its monotheism was too spiritual for the Israelites in the desert, and long after they were settled on
the hills of Palestine, overshadowed as they were by
the idolatries of the great kingdoms about them. But
it is God's way to give truth to educate peoples, and
He teaches that it is better to make it known, even
though it be corrupted and overlaid for long periods,
and that it will fight its way back, and suffer its way
back, and in the end be all the clearer and the
stronger for the discipline. So it has proved with the
Congregational polity. Within three or four hundred
years it has reappeared, and come as the most advanced thought, the ripest fruit of the Reformation
in England. There is something significant in the
method and time of this reappearance.  Like Wes



22                  ADDRESS.
leyanism, it had its origin in an English university;
but unlike it, not bearing its paternity in its name, it
grew up simultaneously in a multitude of minds, not
alone in sequestered study, but in busy pastorships, not
alone among the clergy, but the people as well. It
was the final outcome of the reformed Church of England, her martyrs, confessors, and heroes. If anything
in the history of the Christian church ever had its
roots in strong thinking and earnest living, it was that
historical movement which gave England her liberty
and America her constitution. What honor did God
put upon the Pilgrims of Holland and the Puritans
of England, and the polity they revived, to make them
and it the bond of union between the old world and
the new, —final fruits of the history consummated
there, and seed-principles of the history inaugurated
here!
We are not instituting extravagant and distasteful claims for Congregational churches, as the best
churches, much less as the only churches of Christ in
our time. We are only asserting that to them are
committed principles more sacred than they know, the
nature of which they only partly comprehend, in the
development of which they are feeble and hesitating,
but the value of which is becoming more and more
apparent as the needs and dangers of our time become




ADDRESS.                  23
more conspicuous. Viewed not as a sect-princzile, but
a law of development deduced from the Scriptures, and
illustrated by primitive practice, the church polity,
which makes the congregation the fountain of power
and the unit of aggregation, belongs not to the form
but to the life of Christianity,- it is a doctrine as well
as a government.
The great apostasy of Romanism is but an illustration of the importance attaching to the polity of the
church; and it is the development of the world-idea
of power and authority, which began so early to
supplant the simple and self-active fellowships of the
Apostles' days; and as in point of fact it has been the
occasion of reviving the primitive polity, so it is most
directly met and antagonized by this polity. The
grace of salvation, according to the Romish theory,
is a deposit intrusted to a few men, in effect to one
man, who infallibly declares the will of God, and infallibly imparts the grace of God, to such as recognize
his authority, and seek salvation as he directs. By
that theory the body of the church are made to receive
spiritual life from the officers of the church, and so
are absolutely dependent upon them. The Congregational theory is precisely the reverse of all this. The
body of the church receives directly from God, through
faith in Christ, a divine life, which is the inspiration




24                  ADDRESS.
of the Holy Spirit; and in that life is given ministry,
sacrament, self-government, and world-wide diffusion.
"Where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them."  Hence all
the sacredness and power of the church. The sublimest institution on earth is a church recognizing
the presence of Christ in the midst of them, and
obeying his Spirit. There can be no more valid ministry than that which such a church elects, and sets
apart by prayer and imposition of hands.  There
are no more valid sacraments than those which such
believers observe in the faith of their present Lord.
The validity of church organization, of ministry and
sacrament, the "power of the keys," so called, does
not come from the past, by succession of inheritance
and bequest; does not come from without, but from
within, from  the ever-present spirit of life in the
hearts of believers. God is its author and inspirer
to-day, as when the first church came together in
Jerusalem. The church springs, as government does,
from the hearts of the people; from within outwards,
from beneath upwards, is the course of spiritual life
and growth.
See how marked the contrast, how exact the contradiction between the Romish and the Congregational
theory. The Romanist says the life and life-impart



ADDRESS.                 25
ing grace of salvation resides in the Holy Father, and
only by communion with Him, is preserved to bishops,
priests, and people. The Congregationalist says that
the grace of salvation is given to the congregation of
Christ's faithful people, through whom from Christ, by
his express appointment, come pastors and teachers,
and without whom is neither church ordinance' nor
act. The Congregationalist, also, in his way is as
much a churchman as the Romanist in his. Churchm an is only another word for Congregationalist, inasmuch as congregation and church are the same thing.
Is the church to the Romanist a divine institution?
So and not less is it to us. Has the Roman Catholic
polity to do with the essence of Christianity itself?
So and not less has the Congregational, which is the
reaffirmation of our Lord's own teaching, that Christ,
in the midst, is the being and the life of the church,
his life permeating theirs, and thus making the church
to become the body of Christ. So we meet the
Romanist on his own ground. He can take no higher
position than we do. It is doctrine meeting doctrine.
This fits us pre-eminently to confront the power of
Rome. On this new continent, and beneath new conditions, the church of Rome is to contend with primitive Christianity clothed with her primitive polity.
The impending conflict we believe to be the last; but
4




26                  ADDRESS.
it will be thefirs/ in which Romanism and Congregationalism have met upon a fair field. For this reason,
therefore, because our polity gives us the vantageground in the great controversy with Rome, we are
bound to affirm it, by the highest consideration that
can take hold of us, either as Christians or as citizens.
But there is another reason that binds us to this.
We are upon the eve of.great doctrinal agitations.
We have Romanism on one side, and a godless infidelity on the other; and our Congregationalism will
be found to be as necessary in combating the one as
the other. The church of God has had heresies to
contend with before, but the most damnable of all is
approaching. The coming question is not, Whether
Christ be the supreme head of the church, and entitled to our absolute allegiance as King and Lord, but
it is a question deeper than this, Whether there be any
King or Lord in the universe?  A class of doubters
has sprung into notice, who tell us that if God is not
in creation, he does not exist at all so far as men are
concerned, for the Universe alone is knowable; and if
there be a God somewhere else, he is not a being who
has any rights we are bound to respect. In confronting this last and boldest assault upon the faith once
delivered to the saints, it is most important that Christians be united and firm in the testimony they bear




ADDRESS.                 27
to the truth of God. It is indispensable that petty
and divisive questions be driven froIn the church of
God, and that an unbroken front be presented to the
atheism and irreligion of our times. We must have
a polity that is comprehensive of all faithful men;
and that polity alone will meet the exigencies of the
present and the coming age, which allows for and
combines all the diversities of belief necessitated by
nature and tolerated by the Spirit of God.
The great problem has been, and still is, how to
make the church comprehensive, and at the same time
faithful to the deposit of the faith. The true catholic
church, it has been universally conceded, must be tolerant of differences having their origin in God's ordinations, in race and nationality, in temperament and
culture, in civilization and refinement.  But practically the problem has been found insoluble, where to
run the line between those essential doctrines which
cannot be denied without denying the faith, and those
other doctrines, which, though belonging to it, may be
separated from it, to the harm indeed, but not to the
destruction of the whole. What has seemed essential
to one has not seemed so to another; what is so
regarded in one age, is not so looked upon in another.
Two methods have been resorted to. Confessions, in
the first instance, have been drawn up, declaring what




28                  ADDRESS:
the framers thought to be true, and assent to them
has been required on pain of eternal damnation. The
enlightened, and I will add the Christian, sentiment
of the world is becoming more and more settled in
opposition to such tests of Christian character, and
such conditions of salvation.  Of this the present
agitation is witness, in the Church of England,
against the damnatory clauses of the so-called Athanasian creed; and the beginning discussions, as well,
respecting the Westminster Confession in the Church
of Scotland. The other way has been to select general statements, and adopt venerable, historic symbols
for substance of doctrine. But the more generic these
statements have been made, the weaker they have
become as bonds of union, and the more diverse the
parties they have included, till they have ceased to
perform the functions of a common confession. So
that it has come to pass, that these attempts to express the ancient faith in modern moulds of thoughts,
whether in strict or liberal articles of agreement, have
been patent failures, and are well-nigh acknowledged
to be such. The problem seems beyond human solution; and we have no reason to regret it, for it is not
in this way that the unity of Christ's church is to be
expressed and maintained.
The Congregational way has been to deny the right




ADDRESS.                   29
or utility of such confessions; to insist that they have
no binding force upon the local church; and to remand the confession of the faith once delivered to the
saints to each assemblage of believers, to whom it
originally belonged, and whence it has been mischievously taken.  It has been to refer the confession of
the truths of the gospel to men and women in the
midst of actual life, and remote from all metaphysical
speculations, and thus bring to the front the concrete
facts of the incarnation, the death, and resurrection of
our Lord, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the
Lord and giver of life. It is to rest the security and
perpetuation of the faith on the testimony of living
disciples, whose lives and experiences are facts that hold
in them the divine deposit. It is, in other words, to
repose confidence in the Spirit of God, present and
ruling in the hearts of God's people. It is to go back
to the sublime example of Christ and his Apostles; of
Christ, who wrote not a line, but contented himself
with pouring his life into the hearts of men; of the
Apostles, who made themselves witnesses to the facts
of a divine life, and their converts to be epistles,
" written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God."
The church has been slow to learn the possibility
and safety of doing this. But what has been the




30                  ADDRESS.
consequence of leaving the utterance and defence of
the gospel to the separate congregations of believers?
We appeal to actual results, to an unanimity of believing and fellowshipping, never attained under subscription to national or ecumenical creeds. Mere results
are sufficient, we hold, to establish the principle. It is
safe, safest of all, to entrust the keeping of the faith to
churches made up of plain people, believing in their
hearts, and confessing with their mouths, what they
have received and known and felt of the great salvation.  The  Independent and Baptist churches of
Great Britain, as well as of this country, have maintained the fundamental doctrines of the gospel more
harmoniously than any like number of believers, for a
like period of time, since the Christian era.
This action of our churches, however, has been
taken with no prejudice to the rightful province of
theology. It only remands it, where it belongs, to the
schools, and to the doctors of the church. In its
sphere theology is as useful, and as necessary, as
science is in its sphere. But as bread existed before
chemistry was born, and will be made and eaten as
before by multitudes ignorant of its chemical equivalents, so the faith of Christ, the manna of the soul,
antedated theology, and will continue to be preached
and received, in all its saving power, by many who




ADDRESS.                   31
are ignorant of the elements of theological science.
The gospel was originally delivered to men in the
concrete, and chiefly in the life of one incomparable
Being; and this gospel, in its original shape, is sufficient for pulpit, communion-table, prayer-meeting, and
closet. In this way, and for this reason, the unity of
our churches has been maintained, as it never could
have been, in the midst of contending theologies, had
any one of them had the right, or been permitted to
impose itself upon the churches. The communion of
Congregational churches cannot be permanently
interrupted, till the great facts of the gospel history
are denied, and the practical manifestations of the
Christian life are given up. You might as well draw
dividing lines through the fluent waters, as between
free and independent churches, living a common life,
and practically holding the same faith in Christ. We
hold it, therefore, as demonstrated by experience, that
the Congregational polity admits of the widest possible comprehension, and this without laxity of doctrine,
or the surrender of the faith.
So, too, Congregationalism is comprehensive in respect to modes of worship; for these, along with confessions of faith, are left with the local church. And
this is a blessed feature in our polity, especially as we
look into the future. In the first instance, no doubt,




32                  ADDRESS.
preaching is so important as to be the almost exclusive
concern of ministers and churches. The gospel must
be known before the God of the gospel can become
the object of worship. Preaching is the great work
of the missionary, carrying the gospel to the heathen;
and of the evangelist, as well, in great cities and neglected neighborhoods. But when men are converted,
and settled in well-ordered families and congregations,
worship becomes much more an object of interest and
concern to minister and people, till, in the advancement of intellectual and spiritual culture, it becomes
the great end, and preaching introductory and subservient to it. The prominence that of late has been
given to prayer-meetings, and the power they have
had in awakening and diffusing religious interest, is
remarkable, and suggestive of the tendency of the
public mind. There is a power in worship we have
only begun to realize; and in many of our congregations there is an unmistakable demand for more
commoni worship, - for modes which will enable all to
take part. It is a want coming from the deepest consciousness of the Christian life. Worship never tires,
always interests and feeds; that is, true worship does.
Worship is life itself, while instruction, however necessary, is only preparatory to life. The desire for it,
also, marks a higher stage of Christian character and




ADDRESS.                 33
growth. There comes a time when the intelligent,
well-furnished mind is settled arid fixed in the knowledge of fundamental doctrines, when a reconsideration of them, in the way of argument and defence, has
a weakening, rather than strengthening effect, and to
such an one worship becomes a hunger and a necessity. Now the polity which intrusts to the local
church the duty of self-government, is a means of
growth and development in this most important matter of ordering the worship of God. It says to the
people, do it in the way your own thoughtful and
prayerful study of the subject shall convince you will be
most for your spiritual good, and your children's. No
authority from without imposes one and the same mode
upon all congregations, irrespective of taste, training,
or culture; but they are called upon to apply their intelligence and experience to the question, and whatever
modes have approved themselves on trial, whether
among themselves or other Christians, whether in this
age or other ages, they are at perfect liberty to adopt
and practice. In this way, worship, like creed-making,
which has been a divisive subject, is no longer a
source of schism, but, belonging to the recognized
rights and duties of each separate congregation,
becomes a means of educating the people, and making
their worship a manifestation of the church's life.
5




34                   ADDRESS.
In this way, with no departure from principle, our
communion may be diversified by all the manifold
varieties which the hand and Spirit of God create,
and it thus becomes possible for all true and earnest
Christians to find a congenial home among us. We
have nothing to fear from the manifoldness of method,
which earnest thought and freedom will generate; on
the contrary, our greatest danger is, that the Congregational polity will not be put to the proof by being
used, that the rizght of the people will not also be
regarded as a duty. We have left things to drift,
rather than to be governed by the enlightened minds
and Spirit-led consciences of our people, applying
themselves, under a sense of responsibility, to the
study of their concerns, and acting in the exercise of
their best judgment. If Congregational churches do
not use their freedom, but allow themselves to be controlled by self-constituted judges, and kept stationary
by the dead-weight of tradition, they lose all the
advantages of their distinctive polity, while of course
they fail of those which are distinctive of centralized
and consolidated church governments.  Our fathers
said they came hither to practise the positive part of
church reformation. In England they were necessarily confined to the negative part: they were protesters,
deniers. The First Church, Boston, was full of this




ADDRESS.                 35
formative, originating life,-" the most glorious church
in the world," an early New-England historian said he
really believed it was; and for this very reason, that
they put into practice whatever commended itself to
them  as being wise and good. What John Cotton
propounded to them out of the Word of God, they
discussed; and if they could say, " It seems good to
the Holy Ghost and to us," they proceeded to put it
into legislation, or set it up as an institution. This
is the life of our polity; it is capable of indefinite
expansion, and the hope of our churches and of the
world is in it.
We must entertain a higher sense of the supernatural power and sacredness of the local church, as
dwelt in by the church's Lord. It is the most sacred
thing on earth, next to the human soul. The church
is of more importance than the ministry, for it is the
author of it. The minister is never more truly Christ's
servant, than when he develops the individual life of
the individual church. Genius and learning are, no
doubt, precious gifts, and so precious that the church
will be in no danger of undervaluing them.  But
when the minister overshadows the church, and the
people gather around him, as the informing genius of
the institution, so that when he is present they are,
and when he is not, they are not, the distinctive




36                  ADDRESS.
marks of a church are absent; it is an institution,
but a human one; the sermons are orations, and the
life of the church is that of the lecture-room, the
senate, or the academy.
I will detain you to speak of but one more reason
why we should avow and defend the polity of the Congregational churches. It is our best, I think I must
say, our only hope of the unity of Christ's universal
church. By eliminating legislative and judicial functions from the representative assemblies of our
churches, it takes away from us the great causes of
schism in all ages, and brings in themes of universal
concern and sympathy. It spends the force of our
united churches upon forms of power and manifestations of life, which are the highest and best. By the
fundamental law of our system, the deliverances made
in general council depend for their influence upon
the reason that is in them. Two benefits flow from
this. The first is to the council itself, that it be
moved to do nothing, which heart and mind alike are
not convinced of, and so convinced. of, as to be persuaded of the Holy Spirit's guidance. The other is
that such deliverances, when thus made, are more
powerful over Christian churches than any other can
be. Their effect is to be measured only by the intelligence and conscience of the people, which are




ADDRESS.                 37
aroused by them, and made to execute them. In
other words, this form of church government executes
itself, and perhaps never more completely than when
it rouses opposition; it is bounded only by the limits
of Christianity itself. Beyond this it cannot go, and
beyond this no church power can go, without injury
to Christian character and growth. No combinations
of Congregational churches can be made for sectarian
aggrandizement. They live only in consenting judgments, and act only through harmonious spirits.
But while they are powerless for evil, they are
efficient for good. They lay the foundation for cooperation  among  all Christians.  On the  basis
of the divinely ordered independence of the local
church, including, as a matter of course, the right of
each body of believers to form such affiliations as it
chooses, there is a platform of union broad enough for
all communions.
This has been beautifully illustrated of late in New
York. The council called to install Mr. Hepworth
over the " Church of the Disciples," gathered by himself, exhibited what the polity is capable of, which
conserves the autonomy of the local church, and asks
recognition from neighboring and differing communions. The examination, and solemn setting apart to
the Christian ministry, of a man asking it in the name




38                  ADDRESS.
of Christ, is one of the most distinctive acts of church
rule. Denominations that can unite in this, can unite
in all that is necessary to express and preserve the
unity of the church, -the unilty of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. But that council, summoned to do that
work and doing it, was made up of representatives
from churches differing from one another in many
and confessedly important subjects of doctrine and
polity. Besides Congregationalists, there were Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian delegates.
We have no disposition to claim it as a Congregational body, in any sectarian and divisive sense; we
repudiate the claim, and the spirit that makes it. We
only insist upon it, that there is a common and recognized polity among us, upon which all churches of
Christ can meet and act together, without dishonor to
their distinctive views, with no advantage of one
over the other, and yet in the manifestation of a
real and substantial unity, finding a real and substantial expression. In this respect the "Church o1
the Disciples" did what the older and honored
"Tabernacle Church " did not do, when calling, as
they recently did, a council to install a pastor, coming
to them from the Presbyterian communion, they
invited delegates from that and other Christian bodies,
as guests, and not as constituent members of the




ADDRESS.                 39
council without a distinction between them and delegates from Congregational churches. The " Church of
the Disciples," in doing as they have done, have demonstrated a practicable way of communion between
different Christian organizations, and one sufficient for
practical purposes, and capable of application to all
Evangelical bodies. Occasion has also been given for
the manifestation of a most catholic spirit, not less on
the part of those accepting, than on the part of the
church inviting. The " Church of the Holy Trinity"
was recognized, as we all recognize it, as a true church
of Christ, and that church recognized the " Church of
the Disciples" in the exercise of its right, as on theone hand to unite with the diocese and submit to
Episcopal supervision, so on thEe other to associate
itself with other bodies of Christian believers, not
united to the diocese, and not subject to Episcopal
oversight. The rector of that church, in an admirable
and most Evangelical charge, committed the care of
souls in the newly gathered congregation to Mr. Hepworth.  It was a proclamation to the Christians of
New York, that the Episcopal ordering and classification of churches might remain, and still permit of a
real and most solemn union with non-Episcopal
churches. It was the reinauguration of the fellowship which subsisted between the Reformed Church




40                  ADDRESS.
of England, and the Reformed Churches of the Continent, in the days of England's martyr bishops and
confessors.
We are'also about to witness in our country an
Ecumenical Protestant Council, representing all Evangelical churches throughout Christendom, and meeting
together on the basis of their mutual independence,
and no less of fellowship and co-operation, arising
from the actual union existing between true believers.
They meet to discuss principles and announce their
consenting judgments respecting the world-wide interests of the church of Christ, and these deliverances
of theirs will have as much power as they ought to
have, that is all that belongs to the reason that is in
them, and the mind of Christ they evince. Meeting
on such a basis as this, it were absurd for one class of
Christians to claim that another had surrendered any
distinctive principle; and yet it is made equally evident, that on the basis of mutual independence and
consent, there is an actually existing platform, upon
which the actually existing unity and coaction of
Christians can be expressed.
In the name, then, of our one Lord, and of the one
church he has founded, let us hold on to the primitive
polity, practised in the Apostles' days, and revived by
the fathers of New England. It affords, we believe, a




ADDRESS.                 41
hope of the reunion of Christendom; if it does not,
we wait for our brethren to find another and a better.
Romanism has one theory of the unity of the church;
Congregationalism  another: the world is divided
between them, and we calmly await the issue.
Let us rise now, and dedicate this building to God.
I see before me the venerable man who has been
designated to lead us in this act.  Let us rise
when he rises, and give the house to God, meaning
what this imports, that we give ourselves to God. As
Abraham Lincoln, standing on the ever-memorable
battle-field of Gettysburg, consecrated that spot forever in the hearts of his countrymen, by giving himself and those who stood with him to the country's
defence; so let us dedicate this building, by here
giving ourselves to the God whom our fathers served
in their day, and by consecrating our children in all
coming generations to serve Him in their time.
6




42                   PRA YEAR.
PRAYER,
BY REV. EDWARD N. KIRK, D. D.
GOD of Abraham, God of Israel, God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ; our pilgrim fathers, obedient to
thy call, to glorify thy name, and for Zion's sake, forsook houses and lands, home and country. Trusting
thy promises, they toiled and suffered; and we, their
descendants, are living this day to recognize in their
history and in the results of their sacrifices, toils, and
prayers, thy faithfulness. Oh God! thou art faithful;
thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. These men
relied upon thee. They hoped against hope, and we
live to witness their hopes not only realized, but far
exceeded. Thanks be to God for the history of the
Pilgrims. We thank thee, Oh God! that thou didst
vouchsafe to them the grace and light that placed
them in advance of sages and philosophers, statesmen
and churchmen. Thou, through thy commandments,
didst make them wiser than their enemies; they had
more understanding than all their teachers, for thy
testimonies were their meditation; they understood
more than the ancients, for they kept thy precepts.
We thank thee that the seed transported. in the Mayflower has been transformed into the glorious harvest




PRA YER.                 - 43
now brightening the hills and valleys of a continent.
These men we recognize as thine instrument to construct the Republic. We thank thee for the Republic,
and all the principles incorporated into its institutions.
To thy goodness we devoutly trace the fact that on
this soil no tyrant, civil or ecclesiastical, dictates to
our conscience; that here the Church and the State
show the world how to respect each other's rights, and
to live in perfect harmony. We thank thee that from
Christ our fathers learned that the individual was not
made for the institutions, but the institutions for the
individual man; that the end of government is to
secure the welfare of the governed, and not of the
governing class; that the local church has but one
master, the Saviour, who died for her; that her glory
is found not in her hierarchy, not in her rites, but in
the presence and power of thine indwelling Spirit.
We thank thee that the Republic stands, while the
thrones of despotism are tottering. We thank thee,
Oh God, that we are Congregational Republicans.
Father of mercies, God of providence, God of all
grace, bless the Republic. Make us worthy of such
an ancestry; such a history, and of such an inheritance.  Vouchsafe to  us to  avoid  all extremes,
to combine a truly catholic spirit with loyalty to our
own convictions, to contend earnestly for the faith




44                   PRA YER.
once delivered to the saints, and live in charity with
the enemies of thy word; to welcome every new
ray of light from thy word, and humbly to follow only
the teachings of thy Spirit.
We are assembled, our God and Saviour, to dedicate
this edifice, erected in the metropolis of Pilgrim-land,
to thy service, to the glory of the triune Jehovah,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to the incarnate Word,
the Lamb of God, now on the central throne of Heaven.
Under the solemn sense of our responsibility, and
in dependence on thy grace, we promise to employ
this structure for no selfish, no party purpose, but for
the advancement of thy kingdom and glory. Accept
the gift, and make this home of our hearts, this centre
of our interests, a fountain of light to the perishing
world.
Bless in thine infinite mercy the branch of thy
church we represent; the members of this body scattered through the world; the laborers at home and
abroad, and the institutions here concentrated.
Our want, Father, is spiritual life in greatly advanced degrees; more of the spirit of our blessed
Lord; the love, the self-sacrificing love, that brought
Him to clothe his Deity with our humanity.
Accept this expression of our thankfulness, and
grant these requests, for Jesus' sake. Amen.




DEA. EZRA FARNSWORTH.          45
DEA. EZRA FARNSWORTH
WAS introduced as Chairman of the Building Committee, and as one who had taken a deep interest in
this enterprise for years; and though at the head of a
firm doing a large business, had given freely of his
time and money for its accomplishment.
After alluding to the unfriendly criticisms that had
been made upon our adding wooden fronts to these
granite buildings, he said the committee were not
unaware of the incongruity: but necessity knows no
law; we must have the income.
When we began our alterations and repairs, we expected that with the funds and subscriptions we had
in hand, and what we expected to receive from the
Fair, and other sources, we should have completed
our plans, which included the exterior of the Library
Building, and taken possession of our house free from
debt above the mortgages. But circumstances beyond
our control reduced our receipts from the Fair, and the
fire reduced our receipts and added to our expenses in
various ways, so that we find ourselves somewhat in
debt. Our rentals will be $25,00ooo - upwards - which
will pay our annual interest, our current expenses, and




46                REMARKS OF
leave, probably, five to seven thousand dollars yearly
for a sinking fund, when once our floating debt is paid.
This is a day of rejoicing; we do not solicit to-day,
we only give information. Our work has been done
under the direction of Cummings & Sears, architects.
Whittlesey & Coffin have done the stone and brick
work, Mr. Wm. Hunt the carpentry, Messrs. Smith
the iron work, Mr. Perry the painting, and Mr. Walker
the steam heating; and, on the whole, it has been done
to the satisfaction of the committee, and, we trust, to
the satisfaction of our friends present.
One of the largest contracts, and some of the others,
have been already settled within the sums agreed
upon.
The Congregational House is no longer a myth, a
prophecy, but an actual, substantial reality.
Our benevolent societies will nearly all be gathered
within its walls, and most of them without increase of
expense. The American Board will pay less rent for
the thirteen rooms they will occupy here, than they
will receive for the house they leave, and these rents
will be reduced as our sinking fund increases.
The most powerful, puissant forces of nature are
silent. Who can tell how much yonder shaft on Bunker Hill has done to stimulate and perpetuate love of
country? Who can estimate what Congregationalism




DEA. EZRA FARN~SWORTH.          47
has done, and may do, yes, must do in the future of
our land.
This is an epoch in our history. We have now a
home. We will put upon these massive, granite walls,
in letters of bronze or iron, Congregational House, so
that our children, and our children's children, and every
passer-by, may see the name. As every addition of
strength and vital force at the heart reports itself at the
extremities, so what we do here to-day will be felt by
every Congregational church from Maine to Texas, and
from Boston to the Pacific coast. Yes, and by every
church gathered in heathen lands by the American
Board the world over, and by every missionary. There
is a vast amount of latent power in our Congregational
churches that has never been made available. The
social element has not been utilized; but now that we
have a home for the Congregational Club, we hope to
make it available. The first stone house ever built in
Boston was built on this very spot 2Io years ago, by
Rev. James Allen, and occupied by him and his family
for about I 50 years, when this house was begun. It is
fitting that our Congregational House should stand on
this historic spot. My experience and observation
have convinced me that to ensure success at the present time, the man of business, and the benevolent
society as well, must keep abreast of the times in loca



48                REMAARKS OF
tion and appointments. When our fire-proof library
building is completed our work will be done, and we
shall look upon. I873 as a year long to be remembered
with pleasure by our denomination.
REV. RUFUS ANDERSON, D..D.,
WAS to have made "brief remarks," but was kept
away by sickness. These, which he has been requested to write out, would have been substantially as
follows -
It was my privilege to be among the first to embark
in this enterprise, and my name appears among the
original corporators.  The Congregational Library
was at first the leading idea of Dr. Joseph S. Clark, the
Secretary, and hence the Association was popularly
known, for a time, as the Congregational Library Association; but with me, while I did not undervalue the
Library, the grand idea was a Congregational HousE,
as a central point and hive of the denomination.
Unity of feeling, purpose, and aim was what we
needed as a denomination, and I believed Boston to
be the place, and the only place, for the Congregational House.
As one of the directors, I went to the extent of my
ability, in co-operation with my brethren, for securing




REV. RUFUS AML)ERSON, D. D       49
this all-important result, until I was happy to see, at
a recent period, that the thing was secure.
But you will allow me to say, that, in all my public
life, I have never been so painfully conscious of discouragements; and it sometimes seemed as if there
was no body of Christians in our country, in which the
denominational feeling was so weak, as in our own
Congregational body. I mean something very unlike
the sectarian feeling; something higher, nobler, rejoicing in the prosperity of every section of Christ's kingdom, but intent on doing its own appropriate work.
What we specially needed was some acknowledged
sign of unity among us, some recognized central point,
which should become a common resort, where we
should feel at home, and could meet together without
ceremony and form, in our own home as Congrega
tional brethren.
That which I earnestly desired to see before I died,
we now behold, - all except the Library! The spacious building we now dedicate to the service of God
stands grandly in the centre of the city, in the religious
centre of our denomination, and, for aught I know, in
the centre of the universe; and our societies will shortly be at home here, working under one roof, in one
spirit, and to the same great end. Would that the Library building were also completed; and then we could
7




50                 REMARKS OF
lay the top-stone with shoutings of grace, grace! But
the walls of the fire-proof Library are already up, and
we have an invaluable collection of denominational
and missionary literature ready to go into it, and the
great enterprise will soon be completed. We have
begun to build as a denomination, in the name of the
King of Zion, and He will enable us to finish.
REV. ISAAC P. LANGWORTHY,
Corresponding Secretary and Financial Agent of the Association,
on being introduced, spoke substantially as follows: —
MR. PRESIDENT, AND FRIENDS:
I rejoice in being able to congratulate the directors
of the American Congregational Association, on so
far completing a work which has borne so heavily for
so long a time upon their shoulders. From the Chairman of the Building Committee you have just heard;
but of his patient and self-sacrificing labors in this
behalf, it is but just that I should on this occasion bear unequivocal testimony. The President of
the Association, from whom you have also heard,
and who is also a member of that committee, has
been from the beginning a ready and willing helper
in the same direction. Another of the five, J. P. Mel



REV. ISAAC P. LANG WOR TI.        51
ledge, Esq., and from whom you will not hear, was
for fifteen years the Treasurer of this Association,
and thus understood both its needs and resources.
He has freely given the timely aid his peculiar advantages have qualified him to impart. Another, H. D.
Hyde, Esq., from whose zeal and counsel much could
well be hoped for, was, early in our work, stricken
down by severe sickness, from which he has not entirely recovered. All along, this committee have had
the sympathy and co-operation of the entire board of
directors, who deserve and must receive the sincere
thanks of the membership of the Congregational
churches throughout the land, for their gratuitous
services and liberal gifts to secure this Congregational
House. They may justly felicitate themselves upon
the pleasing success already realized, and which you
to-day can both see and enjoy.
I rejoice that our good mother, Congregationalism,
who placed her foot upon this identical rock two hundred and fifty-two years ago, and has not had from
that time to this a spot on earth she could call her
own, at last has a home. She has deserved better of
those to whom she committed, and for whom she has
done, so much. Long has there been a great need of
such a structure, embracing her history, and illustrating her principles and polity, "forming a centre of




52                 REMARKS OF
patriotic and religious reminiscence for New England,
and for all the descendants of the Pilgrims, the shrine
to which those who revere the memory of the great and
the good and the learned of past ages might repair."
I rejoice that, as a branch of the great Christian
family, we have now a centre of correspondence here,
answering to the important position the Congregational churches have been called of God to occupy
in the Christian world. It may not be apparent to
you how this strong statement can be justified. But,
for a moment, see what an amount of original, spirited,
and valuable religious reading will issue from this
building weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually. " The
Congregationalist," among the best, if not the very
best religious paper in the country, - and will, doubtless, be improved, when in its new and enlarged quarters here,-will go forth twenty-seven thousand strong
every seven days. "The Well-Spring," our children's
overflowing fountain, will divide itself into forty thousand little streamlets every week, running every
whither. "The Missionary Herald," confessedly the
ablest missionary periodical in our language, will
greet its readers with its thirty thousand copies every
month. "Life and Light for Woman," ten thousand
copies, and "Echoes from Light and Life," eight
thousand copies, will go every month. "The Advo



REV. ISAAC P. LANG WORTHY.        53
cate of Peace," forty-five hundred, and "Angel of
Peace," ten thousand copies, twelve times told every
year. " The Congregational Quarterly," two thousand
copies every three months, a periodical too valuable
and important not to be more widely circulated and
better appreciated.  Of these various issues alone
there will be sent, in every direction, four millions
two hundred and thirty-six thousand copies annually.
And besides these, there will be the continuous issues
of the Congregational Publishing Society, in volumes,
tracts, leaflets, etc.,-the Home Missionary for New
England, the annual reports of all these societies;
also, appeals, circulars, and letters, beyond computation, from all these rooms, reaching every part of the
known world, so that you may be assured more that is
of value to the world will go from this building, and
more will be received in response that the friends of
evangelization will want to know, than from and to
any other thirteen thousand and three hundred square
feet of earth to be found upon its surface. This house
will be a centre of correspondence indeed, - a light, a
city set upon a hill.
I rejoice that our ministers have a place where they
can meet at their pleasure, and feel they have a right
to be. Long has such a place been very much needed
for this purpose. The pastors' meeting, as it is called,




54                REMARKS OF
has been "carted" from room to room, begging or
hiring its limited privileges, but having no permanent
abiding place. Captain Robert Keayne set apart, in
his will of I653, a small sum to provide "a room for
the elders to meet in and confer together when they
have occasion to come to town for any such ends, as I
perceive they have many." This was wise; and had
his benevolent intentions been executed, the Congregational ministry of Boston, and the region round about,
would have been greatly helped. At length the boon
is vouchsafed, and these pleasant rooms are now at
their disposal.
I rejoice that our churches have, at last, dared to
lift up their banner to public view; that they are
beginning to recognize the right and privilege oi
being known, and of calling themselves by their own
name, without apology; that they are now willing to
confess to a family relationship that will justify the
erection of this structure as a symbol of their polity
and principles; while, by priority of possession and
means, if for no other reasons, they might long ago
have taken advantage of such an essential help for
every good work; yet, as a matter of fact, they have
been the last.in the brotherhood of Evangelical
churches to build for themselves a family house. We
may well take heart and give thanks, to-day, that at




RE V. ISAA C P. LANG WOR THY.     55
length we shall be able to point to one spot where
Congregationalism can be found, -where its history
may be learned, and its moral and Christian forces can
be made more available and efficient. Upon this
plain, simple, substantial, and imposing structure, the
passer-by may look as a memorial of, and a living
monument to, the founders of our churches, - to the
men who laid the groundwork of our free civil institutions,-upon this building they may look as an
expression of our appreciation of the great work these
fathers performed, and of our estimate of the value
of the glorious inheritance they so freely bequeathed
to us.
I rejoice that our benevolent societies, having offices in this city, are now brought together under one
roof,  thus greatly subserving the convenience of
their constituency. Their work is one work; neither
of these great agencies can dispense with either. The
missionary societies must have missionaries; and to
educate these, we must have literary institutions; and
poor, pious students must be helped into the ministry
or never reach it; and the feeble, struggling church, to
become self-supporting, and hence a power for good,
must have its sanctuary; and thus each of these great
benevolences is inseparably interlocked with, and supplements, every other; and why should they not be




56                 REMARKS OF
brought into more intimate relationship as co-workers
in a common cause? The more closely we can unite
them, the more cordially will they affiliate, and so
become more and more mutual helpers. Hitherto I
have been in the habit of taking contributions for all
these organizations, to accommodate the treasurers or
pastors of out-of-town churches, to save them  the
necessity of losing their home-train or carrying back
their money,- and I have paid them  over, - not
always to my convenience. Hereafter, if any society
fails " to put in its appearance " here, where all belong,
its intended contribution, left with me, may fail to
reach its destination.
I rejoice that we have, at least, the shell of a fireproof Library; the beginning of the beginning is
secured. The gathering and preserving a Congregational Library for use was a primary object of this
organization, and it has never been lost sight of in the
somewhat more complex character of the work we
have inaugurated. Indeed, the further we have gone,
the more this primal object has risen in importance.
It is believed we now have the best collection of books,
pamphlets, and sermons, which state and illustrate our
principles and polity, to be found in any public library
in our country; and there waits the completion of
our fire-proof building, the best private library in




REV. ISAAC P. LANG WORTHY.         57
these same particulars known to me, the life-work of
a most capable, indefatigable, and successful searcher
after original papers, documents, and mementos of the
first settlers of New England, - an invaluable collection,- to be gratuitously added to ours if we finish
in season to secure it. These, together, would make
this, unquestionably, the best Congregational Library
in the world. May God, in infinite mercy, put it into
the heart or hearts of some noble giver or givers to
place the indispensable twenty-five thousand dollars in
our hands to finish, at once, what we have here so well
begun!  Besides this waiting gift, there is another
most carefully-selected theological library, the dying
bequest of one of our ablest divines, now in the hands
of his widow, also waiting the safe place here for its
ultimate deposit. Besides these, there are other similar valuables known to me, that will be ours only when
this so much needed Library building is ready for their
reception. A treasure so valuable and so nearly in
possession ought not, must not, be allowed to elude us.
I rejoice that now we are in a position, as never
before, to do more and more effective work for the
conversion of the world to Christ.  Our working
forces are brought together; our different channels of
Christian labor are found to be in parallels and not at
angles. We are in more favorable circumstances to
8




58                REJMARKS OF
know each other, and so increase brotherly love, and
strengthen the bonds of Christian fellowship. Thus
shall we be more and more mutual helpers in the
Christian life, and so honor Christ. This house is
Christ's house. It was begun in His name, and it
has thus far been completed by His favor, and for His
glory we hope soon to bring the top-stone with shoutings, crying, " Grace, grace unto it!"
REV. H. M. DEXTER, D. D.,
PRESENTED a part of a hewn stone window-cap taken
by himself from the ruins of the old Manor House at
Scrooby, in which - while it was occupied by William
Brewster — the Mayflower church was cradled. He
exhibited also one of the rudely-carved oaken beams
from the wooden ceiling of the little chapel of the
Manor House, which beam, in his opinion, was over
the heads of the little company when they covenanted
together " to walk in all His ways made known or to
be made known to them, at whatever cost, the Lord
assisting them."




TIMOTHY GORDON, M. D.          59
TIMOTHY GORDON, M. D.
IF my name had not been announced among those
who were expected to make "brief remarks," I certainly should not attempt to address you. And had I
known before I left home that it was thus inserted, I
should not have been here at all.
But as my friend, Mr. Langworthy, whom I never
saw until I came into the building to-day, took me
so cordially by the hand, with the pleasant expression,
" I am glad to see you," which reminded me of my
old friend, Dr. James Jackson, of this city, who, at
a meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society, took
me by the hand, in the same felicitous manner, saying, "We must all be friends to-day, whether we have
had a formal introduction or not," -so I feel we are
all friends here to-day.
I think I stand in rather an unenviable position,
without any opportunity to make preparation.
"Brief remarks." I think that is wise so far as it
refers to me, because it must be a relief to the audience.
But I am here only to identify the genuineness of
this piece of rock. Allow me here to correct one or
two misstatements. I am not the Treasurer of the




60                 REMAARKS OF
Pilgrim Society, and never have been,- Isaac N. Stoddard, Esq., is the Treasurer, - and that this piece of
rock is not the gift of myself alone. I stated to the
Vice-President and to several of the Trustees, that it
was desirable that a piece of the rock on which the
Pilgrims landed should occupy some suitable place in
the Congregational House in prospect of being erected.
They all very generously told me to select such a piece
as I thought proper, and present it; and this is the
result. I supposed the piece of rock would occupy
*some conspicuous place on the front, or in some suit
able " niche," and hope it will eventually be so. If I
had known that it was to be placed in the library, I
should have selected a differently-shaped piece much
less in size.
I can assure you that it is a part of the rock upon
which the Pilgrim fathers and mothers first landed
in Plymouth in I620. I saw it broken from that
rock, and have been its custodian more than twelve
years, with all that was taken from it at the time of
laying the foundation of the present canopy which
now covers its entire surface. At that time it was
raised from its bed, and portions split off, to admit the
corner-stones of the canopy to occupy their proper
positions. The largest part then taken off has been
disposed of, the avails of which have been paid towards




GO VERNOR WA SHB UR.          6
finishing the canopy and the grounds surrounding it.
And this piece,which is now presented to the Congregational House, is fully one tenth of all that is left,
which was taken off at the time it was raised. As it
is now placed no more can be taken from it. It is
now very valuable; is sought after for jewelry, being
susceptible of a beautiful finish.
The Pilgrim Society would be glad to have one
hundred persons give in their names to become members, which would furnish five hundred dollars to
help build a flight of stone steps, in ascending " Coles'
Hill " from the canopy. I think it is very proper that
these two relics of antiquity should be placed side by
side, —the stone from Scrooby, the starting-point of
the Pilgrims, who went out, not knowing whither they
went, guided by an unseen hand, across the ocean to
this very Plymouth Rock, leaving an imaginary bright
and luminous pathway which will never be obliterated.
GOV. WASHBURN'S REMARKS.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: —I am
happy to be present on this most interesting occasion.
For the first time we are gathered in a building that
we may call our own, a building belonging to the




62                REMARKS OF
Congregationalists of the country, set apart for their
special uses and as their home. I hope no mere sectarian idea will ever cause us to forget that Christianity is above all sects; and yet I do not deny that I have
a strong feeling of satisfaction that we are permitted,
as a denomination, to occupy this house.
Coming to this city mostly unacquainted with you,
the Congregational Club opened its doors and welcorned ma to its gatherings. I have enjoyed the fellowship of its members and the benefit of their counsels,
and I wish here and now to return my thanks to them
for their kindness. But notwithstanding their courtesy
and generosity, I confess that I have felt myself in some
sense an interloper. I have been as one treading on
foreign ground. But I shall not be troubled in that
way any longer. For I feel now very much like the
boy of whom you have read, who was examining that
beautiful little ship, the Morning Star, which has been
an instrument of so much good to millions in foreign
lands, when one of the hands on the vessel treated
him roughly and ordered him to leave the deck. He
replied, " I shall not do it; I am a stockholder in this
ship; I have my certificate of stock; you cannot
deprive me of my rights." I recollect that soon after
the enterprise to secure this building was entered upon,
I was visited in the western part of the State by your




GOVERNOR WASHBURN.            63
agent, and contributed my mite towards the fund required, and hence became a stockholder, and thus have
my rights here to-day. And I am specially gratified
that I have an opportunity now to welcome the members of the Congregational Club to our rooms.
We have rallying points for clubs and associations
on every hand, - one or more on nearly every important street in the city. There is power in combination.
The good men and women whom I see before me today believe in unity of action. But under whatever
banner we enlist, and whatever the name thereon
inscribed, we should not forget that the value of our
efforts will be measured by the good we accomplish.
This noble building, to-day dedicated to the uses of
Congregationalism, is valuable just in proportion as it
enables those who gather here to devise and carry out
plans for the benefit of mankind. May it prove a
source from which will flow influences calculated to
elevate and ennoble all ranks and classes of society!
May light and warmth radiate from this centre to
every quarter of the globe, till the principles of Christianity are everywhere triumphant!




64                 REMARiK'S OF
HON. EMORY WASHBURN.
MR. WASHBURN said that he inferred, from being
called upon to speak on this occasion, while surrounded by such a brilliant constellation of clerical
talent, that he was expected to say a word of our Puritan ancestors in their character as legislators. The
subject was especially suited to the occasion, since
nothing was a surer test of the character, intelligence,
and habits of thought of a people than their laws. We
had only to trace these to read the history of a nation,
and of the moral and social changes through which it
has passed, which have found expression in the legislation in which they have been recorded. It is through
her laws that a nation gives us an insight into her
inner life, of which we gain little by the ordinary
events which are recorded in history. This is especially true of the Puritans of Massachusetts, who have
left a faithful record of their entire legislation under
the colony charter, without concealing or coloring a
thought or an action. And though this has supplied
a text for many a third-rate politician, whose claim
to smartness seems to have rested mainly upon the
degree of severity with which he has flippantly de



HoN. EMORY WASHBURN.           65
nounced the bigotry and intolerance of the Puritans,
Mr. Washburn would venture to affirm that a wiser or
more liberal policy never characterized the legislation
of any people than marked the laws which those same
Puritans adopted for the growth and development oi
what they came here to found,- a Christian Commonwealth.
In the few moments allotted to him, it would be
impossible to illustrate this remark by reciting any
number of the more remarkable of those laws; but he
would venture to allude to one, which has been so
often referred to as evidence of the narrow and sectarian zeal of the early founders of the colony. The
one he had in mind related to requiring all frdemen
to be members of some church, thus making churchmembership a qualification as a voter. How often had
they heard this "union of church and state," this
"bigoted exclusiveness" in the election of their officers, made the ground of obloquy and reproach upon
these men, by orators and critics who, probably, never
stopped to ask why such a law was adopted. A law
is wise and liberal, or otherwise, according as it is
suited to the condition of the people for whom it is
made. What, then, was the condition of the Massachusetts colony when that law was passed? It bears
date May, i63I, less than one year after the govern9




66                 REMARKS OF
ment had been organized under Winthrop, and before
it had become settled and established. The system
under the charter was wellnigh a pure democracy.
Every freeman of the colony had a right, and for some
years after its founding exercised it, to take a part in
its administration, by choosing officers, admitting freemen, and administering justice in popular assemblies,
where all came together and acted by majorities.
The colony had left many active and determined enemies at home, ready to seize upon any pretence for
depriving it of its free charter. In the planting of all
new colonies there is a class of restless and uneasy
spirits who, having nothihg to lose, are ready to find
their way into the new settlements as they are formed,
with a view to promote their own ends, or to escape
the restraints of salutary laws. There were such in
and around the Massachusetts colony from the first.
In the hands of their enemies, or unprincipled men,
the government was not safe a moment. The purposes for which they had come here would be defeated,
and the sacrifices to which they had been subjected
would be wholly lost to their posterity as well as to
themselves. They sought, therefore, to check such
intruders, by prescribing some safeguard in the form
of a qualification to the becoming a freeman. And
why did they do it?  They have told us in the lan



HOA. EMORY WASHBURV.            67
guage of the act itself: " To the end, the Body of the
Commons may be preserved honest and good men."
Here was the reason. The peace and good order ot
the state, - not a word said of giving power to the
church. Indeed, there was no one church known.
The churches were organizations, independent of each
other, and independent of the state.  So far from
aiming to confer power upon the church as a body, we
find a statute in I64I expressly declaring that church
censures should not affect the, civil rights of any one.
But to test the character and spirit of these legislators, and the working of this restrictive law, what evidence do we find in the legislation which followed?
In I64I, the members of the General Court, chosen
by such electors as these, adopted and published to
the world, forty-one years before the English Bill of
Rights had been declared, a "Body of Liberties,"
which was drawn up by a Congregational minister, for,
as they say, " the free fruition of such liberties, immunities, and privileges as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for, as dear to every man in his place and
proportion, without impeachment and infringement."
And, in that Body of Liberties, we find the memorable declaration, that " there shall never be any bond
slavery" amongst them, except in the cases, in effect,
which were forced upon them by the mother country.




68                 REMARKS OF
So that in fact there never was, from that day, a nativeborn slave, lawfully held as such in Massachusetts.
And in this they did all they were permitted to do as
colonists, in abolishing slavery, and they made a further public declaration of their condemnation of the
institution, by securing to such as they could not set
free, " all the liberties and Christian usages which the
law of God, established in Israel, doth morally require."
Mr. W. said his time would allow him to refer to
only one more subject, that of free schools. In i642,
the representatives of this body of freemen enjoined
upon the towns to provide education for every child
within their jurisdiction. And, in I647, a law was
passed making the support of schools compulsory, and
education therein free to all. These bigoted, narrowminded, intolerant men, of their own motion, inaugurated a system of free schools, in which they anticipated England by more than two hundred years,
which struck a fatal blow to everything like class or
denominational distinction under a free government.
It not only assumed that all were free and equal, but it
provided, at the public charge, the means by which all
might become so, if they would. Neither rank, nor
sex, nor color was any longer to be a barrier to the
refining and elevating influence of education, or to the




HON. EMOR Y WASHB URNX.         69
sharing of power, which comes from the possession of
intelligence and culture.
With such laws as these, it is idle to charge upon'the
men of that day, that they had a thought of building up
in the community a system which was to favor church
members beyond any other class of citizens. They
give in their own language the reason why they enacted the law of I647, while they repeat their ever-.
conscious reliance upon that Providence which had
thus far guided and watched over theln: " That learning be not buried in the graves of our forefathers, in
church and commonwealth, -the Lord assisting our
endeavors."
If any one'would follow the course of legislation of
the Puritans under the colony charter, he would find,
with all there was to criticise, a noble consistency in
the same high aims and purposes of founding and
building up a Christian commonwealth, in which they
had little to guide them but their Bibles, and their
own sense of what were the rights and duties of a free
people. And proud as we might be of Massachusetts
in her history, there was no period of her annals which
reflects higher honor upon the men who took the lead
in her affairs, than that during which the Puritans
directed her legislation. If they were bigoted, it was
the fault of the age in which they lived. Their own




,0o                 LETTER OF
spontaneous action was all in favor of elevating and
improving the condition of their fellow-men. Their
bigotry expended itself in trying to preserve their
fellow-citizens " honest and good men." And if that
is bigotry, the more a people have of it the better.
If bigotry is a disease in the body politic, and it
takes that turn, people might almost pray that it
might become epidemic, and "break out" with new
and fresh vigor, outside of Massachusetts as well as
within it, and spread till it reached the capital itself,
and the men who are gathered there.
PROF. EDWARDS A. PARK
Was to have delivered the last of the brief addresses. Being
obliged to leave before he could secure his opportunity, under
urgent importunity he has sent the following letter:REV. ISAAC P. LANGWORTHY:
DEAR SIR: If I had made the speech I was designing to make at the dedication of the Congregational
House, I should have named several particulars in
which the House is fitted to preserve the spirit of
ancient Congregationalism, and should have narrated
a few of the proceedings which resulted in the formation of the Society which you have served so long and
so well. In this letter I will omit the remarks which




PROF. EDW[ARDS A. PARKI.        7 I
I had -intended to make on the fitnesses of the Congregational House, and will narrate, more minutely
than I had intended in my speech to detail, some
incidents connected with the inception of the Society
whose treasure of books is to enrich the House.
On the fifth of October, 1843, I made my first visit
to the Red Cross Library, the great library of the
dissenters, in the city of London. I was deeply impressed by the portraits which adorned the walls of the
edifice, and by the old and rare books which filled its
shelves. Here were the portrait of John Milton, and
the first edition of his Paradise Lost; and not farfrom
the edifice was the home of the blind poet. This
library, of thirty thousand volumes; these portraits,
more than eighty in number, of such men as Bates,
Baxter, Cartwright, Caryl, Charnock, Flavel, Matthew
Henry, John Howe, Manton, Perkins, Ridgeley, Watts,
and men of kindred spirit, -had long engaged the
interest of Prof. B. B. Edwards; and in the winter of
i843-4, we both became fully convinced that a library
and a portrait gallery similar to those in Red Cross
Street, London, might be established in New England.
After frequent conversations with each other, the plan
appeared so feasible that we agreed to propose it to
several clergymen in and near Boston. I remember
that on the twenty-fourth of May, I844, I had a lengthened interview with Rev. William M.. Rogers, and called




72                 LETTER OF
his attention to a remark which I had intended to make
in a sermon before the Pastoral Association of Massachusetts. The sermon was delivered on the twentyeighth of May, and printed in the following month.
The remark was: " Let us establish in this city of the
Pilgrims, a Pilgrim Hall, that shall contain the writings
of our fathers, and of our brethren, and of our successors, and let its walls preserve the portraits of our
Cottons, and our Mathers, and our Hookers, and our
Emmonses, and our Paysons, and our Hallocks, and
our Beechers."
Prof. Edwards desired several persons travelling in
Europe to make a thorough examination of the Red
Cross Library, and to publish a description of it.
When he embarked for Europe in I846, he determined
to perform this work himself. He printed his essay
on the library in August, I847. The essay is found
in the Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. IV, pp. 582-598, and
also in his Memoir, pp. 256-276. In this suggestive
article, he proposes the establishment of a Puritan
Library and Museum " in some one of the large cities
of New England, the capital, for example." To the
question: "What departments and branches should
such a library and museum include," he answers, First:
It should include books, pamphlets, and periodicals
published by the Puritans in England and in this country; the old and small newspapers,the "Apologies," "De




PROF. ED WARDS A. PARK           73
fences," "Rejoinders," "Appeals," " Statements," which
illustrate the minute history of the Puritans and the
Pilgrims. Secondly: The library should gather together the manuscripts of our old divines, the " many
precious papers not now known to exist, utterly neglected, mouldering in chests or in garrets, constantly
exposed to destruction," etc. Thirdly: There should
be collected in the library and museum original por
traits, prints, engravings, busts of the eminent men
who have adorned our churches.  Fourthly:  The
museum should contain "miscellaneous memorials,
cherished articles employed in the studies and in the
labors of distinguished men, characteristic remembrancers, even should they be small and in themselves
of little value."  The reasons he assigns for establishing such a library and museum are the following: -
First:  The establishment "would form a centre
for patriotic and religious reminiscence for New England and for all the descendants of the Pilgrims."
Secondly: It " would constitute an interesting memorial of the theological and literary labors" of our NewEngland fathers. Thirdly: It would be one means
of perpetuating their religious principles and usages.
Fourthly: It " would be of inestimable service to our
future civil and ecclesiastical historians." Fifthly: It
"would tend to promote brotherly feelings among the
IO




74                 LETTER OF
descendants of the Puritans." Sixthly: It "would
exert a favorable influence on the character of the
sermons and other works which may hereafter be published by our clergymen."  Seventhly: It "would
ensure the preservation of valuable documents and
curiosities which will otherwise be lost," and would
thus be of great historical worth.
This essay of Prof. Edwards attracted the notice of
some opulent laymen. Hon. Samuel T. Armstrong
exerted himself in favor of the plan, and in his last
conversation with Mr. Edwards, expressed his hope
and belief that the Old South Church of Boston would
aid the enterprise liberally. (Memoir of Prof. Edwards, p. 271.) He also thought that the valuable
library of Dr. Prince might be connected in some
way with the general library proposed in the essay.
After numerous consultations with clergymen and
laymen, a plan was formed for the establishment of a
Society which would collect the books and the portraits of the fathers, and also devote itself to the advancement of theological science. It was proposed
that the Society should consist of three sections, —
one devoted to biblical philology, another to ecclesiastical history, and another to theological doctrine.
Essays were to be read before each of these sections,
and afterwards published. Branches of the Society
were to be formed in various parts of the country, and




PROF. ED WADS A. PARK.          75
the results of their studies communicated to the general Society.  This plan was an organized form of
conducting such literary exercises, as in a less methodical way are now conducted by some theological clubs.
The society was to be, and was familiarly called, an
Academy of Theological Science.
Some advocates of the plan desired that this Theological Association or Academy should have its library,
or at least its centre of operations, in Andover rather
than in Boston, and that the more prominent essays
written for it should be read at the Andover anniversary, and should take the place of the annual sermon
before the alumni. Several of these friends did not
believe that the plan could be executed without reviving an old "odium theologicum," and they consequently
recommended a further delay. Two parties had been
for a long time contending in New England under the
leadership of two divines, of whom it has been said
that their names differed from each other in only a
single letter, and their theological systems differed in
such minute particulars that not a single partisan of
either system could state the particulars in such a
form as would meet the approval of the two divines
themselves. At length, however, it was determined
to try the experiment. Prof. Edwards and myself invited two clergymen to meet us on the twenty-second
of November, i850. Of the clergymen invited, one




76      LETTER OF PROF. EDW'ARDS A. PARK.
was Rev. (now Dr.) William I. Budington, a supposed
representative of the theological party led by the
divine who had an "a" in his name, and the other
clergyman was Rev. (afterwards Dr.) Alexander McClure, a supposed representative of the party led by
the divine who had no " a" in his name.
The meeting was held in my house at two o'clock
in the afternoon. It was enlivened by the wit of Dr.
McClure, cheered by the genial manners of Dr. Budington, and rendered memorable by the modest and
earnest words of Prof. Edwards. We formed ourselves
into a committee of four, and discussed the principles
to be incorporated into the constitution of the society.
The constitution was afterwards somewhat modified
by Drs. McClure and Budington, and on the eighteenth
of December they reported that their draft was finished,
and sent to Prof. Edwards and myself a copy of it.
On the fifth of February, I85I, they read their constitution to a company consisting of "Rev. Messrs. Albro,
Pomeroy, Thompson, Tappan, Treat, Richards, Alvord,
Higgins, Foster, Jenks, Anderson, J. S. Clark, Riddel,
Cushing, Waterbury, and Peck." The constitution was
formally adopted, and the first officers of the Society
were elected at an adjourned meeting, Feb. I2, I85.'Yours truly,
EDWARDS A. PARK.
ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, May 3, I873.




MAP.                            77
MAP.
THE little map below - for which we are indebted to the
proprietors of the " Congregationalist " - will give our friends
a correct idea of the relative location of the Congregational
House and of its excellent surroundings.
WAI;14 IN?~.~
DESCRIPTION OF MAP.
I. CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE.        IO. AMERICAN HOUSE.
2. MOUNT VERNON CHURCH.         I I. DOCK SQUARE.
3' STATE HOUSE.                 I2. OLD STATE HOUSE.
4. ATHENEUM.                    13. PARKER HOUSE.
5. PARK STREET CHURCH.          14. WESLEYAN HtALL.
6.            J      TREMONT HOUSE.  15. 40  INTER STREET.
7. PEMBERTON SQUARE.. 6. OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
9. REVERE HOUSE.                18. CITY HALL.
9. REVERE HOUSE.                I S. CITY HALL.




DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
THE engraving opposite the title-page gives a fair view of
the Congregational House as seen by one coming down
Beacon Street. It has a frontage of one hundred and three
feet on Beacon Street, and a side view of ninety-three feet on
Somerset Street. The entrances from each street are directly
under the bay-windows as seen on this elevation. The monitor roof peering above its surroundings, covers the Library
building, whose exact relations to the other parts of the house
can be readily perceived by a glance at the second-floor plan
inserted here.
On entering the house from Beacon Street, the first door on
the right, at the head of the stairs, opens into the beautiful
rooms of the Woman's Board; the second door leads to the
Librarian's room, and directly in front is the entrance to the
Library; turning to the left, passing three large parlors, you
reach the room of the Treasurer of the A. B. C. F. M.; turning to the right, you come to the large room occupied by his
clerks; thence to the business office of the " Congregationalist"
on the left, and its mailing department on the right. The
third floor furnishes rooms for the Secretaries of the Board,
editor of " Herald," Prudential committee, museum, clerk and
copyists of the Board, City Missionary Society, American
Congregational Union, American Missionary Association, and
Massachusetts Home Missionary Society. The fourth floor
has Pilgrim Hall, general committee and ministerial conference room, - which, together, have the capacity of seating six
hundred persons, - the American Peace Society, editors of the
" Congregationalist," and two large rooms which are temporarily
occupied with a part of the Congregational Library. The fifth
floor, fronting on Somerset Street, is occupied by Thomas
Todd, Esq., for composition and printing. The janitor lives
in well-finished rooms in the attic of what was the Gardner
House. The Congregational Publishing Society occupies the
store on the corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets, and the
two rooms upon the first floor fronting on Somerset Street are
the office of the " Missionary Herald," and the packing-room
of the American Board.




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THE AMERICAN
CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH.
THE organization, which is here but merely outlined, came
into existence from the convictions and efforts of a number of
interested men. They seem to have been simultaneously
impressed with the importance of saving whatever was still
within the possible reach of the writings and memorials of the
early settlers of this country. The first public discussion of
the subject, of recent date, was by Prof. Bela B. Edwards,
of Andover, Mass., in an able article in the August number of
the "Bibliotheca Sacra," I847, in which - making the Dr.
Williams' Library of London the basis - he forcibly urged the
importance and practicability of a public library of books,
pamphlets, manuscripts, and whatever else would serve to
illustrate the Pilgrim and Puritan history and New-England
theology.
Previously to this, however, there had been not a little
conversation and planning with reference to this same end.
Some persons now living will recall earnest suggestions and
expressions of deep interest, in this behalf, from the late Rev.
William M. Rogers, also'fromn the Rev. Joseph S.'Clark, Rev.
Drs. Anderson and Felt, and some others. The donor of
the imperfect copy of Eliot's Bible remembers perfectly an




80           HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
appeal from Mr. Rogers for that book, saying, " You must let
me have it, or give it to the Congregational Library which we
must have." This was in I843 or I844. But this sporadic
interest took no especial form until the winter of 185I, when
Prof. Edwards, in consultation with Prof. E. A. Park, D. D.,
invited the Rev. Wm. Ives Budington, then of Charlestown,
now of Brooklyn, N. Y., and the late Rev. A. W. McClure,
then of Malden, to an interview with them on this subject at
Andover. As one of the immediate results of that conference,
a meeting was called at the rooms of the American Education
Society, 15 Cornhill, in Boston, and was held February 5,
185I, at Io o'clock, A. M., at which the following named
clergymen were present: the Rev. Messrs. John A. Albro,
D. D., Jared B. Waterbury, D. D., Rufus Anderson, D. D.,
Nehemiah Adams, D. D., Edward Beecher, D. D., Frederick T.
Perkins, Samuel H. Riddel, Alexander W. McClure, George
Richards, Joseph S. Clark, William A. Stearns, S. Hale
Higgins, Christopher Cushing, William C. Foster, John W.
Alvord, and Wm. Ives Budington. The Rev. Dr. Anderson
was invited to preside, and the Rev. Mr. Budington, to
officiate as scribe. The minutes continue: " After prayer for
divine guidance, and a free interchange of views, it was
unanimously voted that, in the judgment of this meeting, it is
expedient to form a society for the establishment of a Congregational Library, and the cultivation of theological science."
A committee was appointed, consisting of the Rev.
Messrs. McClure, Anderson, Albro, Beecher, and Budington,
to take the subject into consideration, and report a constitution at the next meeting, to be holden at the same place on
the following Tuesday, at ten o'clock, A. M.. At that meeting
there were present the Rev. Messrs. Albro, Pomeroy, Thompson, Tappan, Treat, Richards, Alvord, Foster, Higgins, Jenks,
McClure, Anderson, Clark, Riddel, Cushing, Waterbury, and
Budington. The constitution was presented, discussed, and
finally, after numerous amendments, was adopted, and the
following officers were chosen by ballot: Rev. J. A. Albro,




CONGREGA TIONAL ASSOCIA TIO.           8 I
President; Rev. Geo. W. Blagden, Vice-President; Rev.
Wm. Ives Budington, Secretary.; Rev. A. W. McClure, Treasurer; and Rev. Wm. Jenks, D. D., Librarian.  Encouraged
by the interest taken in these incipient movements by the
pastor, Rev. Mr Blagden, and the Hon. Samuel T. Armstrong,
both of the Old South Church, measures were immediately
adopted to direct, as far as possible, the efforts of this Association, so as to secure the benefits of the Prince Library, under
the care of the deacons of that church. Arrangements were
made for future meetings at the rooms of that library, in
Spring Lane Chapel, and permission was given to add a suitable
book-case for the preservation and use of the first fruits of the
Association.
The Association met in the Old South Chapel, Spring Lane,
November I9, 185I, and continued to hold its regular and
special meetings there until May 25, I853, when it was reorganized and became a new body. No very decided efforts
seem to have been made to create a library during this period.
From the written catalogue of Dr. Jenks, handed over to his
successor, there were but fifty-six books and pamphlets, all
told, and forty-three of these were the gifts of two men, viz.:
twenty-three by J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, and
twenty by the Rev. A. W. McClure, of Malden. The meetings of the Association had been held monthly, except in July,
August, and September, and were devoted mostly to essays
and discussions upon historical, ecclesiastical, and theological
subjects.
The records of the Association, which now came into the
careful and accurate hands of the Rev. Joseph S. Clark, D. D.,
have the following minutes touching this change in its form:
"After various modifications in the working of the system
for the space of two years, it became evident, that, with some
other modifications, the essential idea of the Association was
capable of indefinite expansion, and was quite too important
to be restrained within the present sphere of its development.
II




82           HISTORICAL SEE TCH OF THE
Accordingly, the subject of an extended organization was
given in charge to a committee consisting of the Rev. Messrs.
Parsons Cooke, D. D., Rufus Anderson, D. D., Edward Beecher, D. D., Samuel M. Worcester, D. D., A. C. Thompson, Nehemiah Adams, D. D., and Sewall Harding. Their report was
made to a full meeting of the body on the I9th of May, I853;
and after a thorough discussion and revision, it was unanimously adopted, and became the basis of a new and enlarged
organization (retaining the same name), which, with great
unanimity, was formed in the Old South Chapel on the 25th
day of May, I853, in the midst of a large assembly of Congregational ministers and laymen, drawn together from all the
New-England States and from other parts of the land.
"Immediately after the organization was completed, and before the assembly had dispersed, a committee from the Pastoral Association of Massachusetts, who had been charged
with that business, called a meeting of that body, and reported
a resolution, which was unanimously adopted, to the effect
that the Pastoral Association do now merge itself in the Congregational Library Association, and declare its own organization dissolved, - thus nationalizing (not surrendering) the
essential objects of its existence, and pursuing them henceforth in company with the great family of Congregational
pastors and church members throughout the land.
" Subsequently the members of the original organization
(about twenty-five in all) met, and, after a formal transfer of
their records and property, unanimously voted to merge their
Congregational Library Association into the newly-formed
body of the same name, and then declared the organization
dissolved."
The second article of the new constitution was as follows:
"The object of this Association shall be to found and perpetuate a Library of Books, Pamphlets, and Manuscripts, and
a collection of Portraits, and whatever else shall serve to
illustrate Puritan History, and promote the general interests




COAiGREGA TIONAL ASSOCIA TION          83
of Congregationalism." The officers then chosen by ballot
were: Rev. William T. Dwight, D. D., of Portland, Me., President, with a long list of Vice-Presidents; for Directors, Rev.
Parsons Cooke, D. D., Rev. Samuel M. Worcester, D. D., Rev.
Sewall Harding, Rev. Augustus C. Thompson, Rev. Rufus
Anderson, D. D., Julius A. Palmer, Esq.; for Corresponding
Secretary, Rev. Joseph S. Clark; Recording Secretary, Rev.
Samuel H. Riddel; Librarian, Rev. Joseph B. Felt, D. D.;
for Treasurer, Alpheus Hardy, Esq.
An application was now made to the legislature for a charter, which was granted April 12, I854, and has, several times
since, been amended, — changing the name, and giving the
privilege of holding real and personal estate to the amount of
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
The Association was now prepared to make itself an influence for good, and began at once to discuss the subject of
erecting "a large and costly edifice," and that on the ground
"that it will be better economy than a small and cheap one."
A suitable room for temporary use was rented in Tremont
Temple, where the directors met for the first time, July II,
I853.
The first definite action taken by the directors for the
purchase of, or otherwise securing a suitable building for the
purposes of the Association, was at their meeting, October 3I,
1854, when Messrs. Hardy, Palmer, and Clark were appointed
a committee "to find a suitable site."
At a special meeting held April I7, I855, it was voted:
"That it is expedient that immediate measures be taken by
this Board to raise funds for the erection of such a building,"
- the Congregational House, - and the committee on " site"
were instructed to make "all necessary arrangements " therefor. At the annual meeting, held May 29, I855, the subject
above named was fully presented, discussed, and unanimously
indorsed; and the sum of 50o,ooo was recommended as the
amount to be raised. The Rev. Dr. Clark decided to make a




84           HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
temporary effort to secure the required funds, having obtained
consent of the executive committee of the Massachusetts
Home Missionary Society, whose corresponding secretary he
long had beeh, and immediately entered upon this work, securing subscriptions to the amount of nineteen hundred and
seventy dollars from the directors present.  November 24,
I856, the committee on site presented a recommendation of
an estate on Tremont Street, fronting the Common, which was
adopted; and it was voted, "That immediate efforts be made
to raise the funds for purchasing the said estate." The " appointment and selecting of an agent" was given to a special
committee, with instructions "to confer with the Rev. I. P.
Langworthy and his people, respecting his appointment to the
agency." This failing, the committee secured the consent of
the Rev. Dr. Clark to continue in this service, according to
their previous arrangements with him.
At a meeting held May 6, I857, it being found impossible
to secure the requisite funds for the purchase of the estate on
Tremont Street, and "the late Judge Jackson estate on Chauncy
Street being offered on more favorable terms," it was purchased
for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, the next day.
June 28, 1857, a committee reported that arrangements had
been made with the Rev. Dr. Clark to become the financial
agent of the Association.
From the beginning, of his peculiarly skillful and patientlyenduring efforts to raise funds for this object, he met with opposition where he might the least have expected it, and ilzdifferenlce all but everywhere. Thoroughly informed upon its chief
bearings, and deeply convinced of its importance, he went forward amid repulses and cold shoulders, such as would have
driven any but a man wholly in earnest from the field. It was
so entirely a new thing, in modern times, for Congregationalists to do anything which could be called denominational,
that not a few esteemed this movement a great mistake, if not
a crime. By dint of unflinching perseverance, however, he




CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIA TION             85
succeeded in raising between eight and nine thousand dollars,
a part of which was paid upon the Jackson estate, and the
remainder upon necessary changes in fitting the building for
occupancy. The library was moved to this building in the
early summer of I857. He continued to visit the churches
and associations, soliciting funds and securing more or less
books and pamphlets, until his lamented death, August J7th,
i86i. For five months the late rebellious war had raged, and
very little could be done in raising subscriptions or contributions. The want of that co-operation and sympathy which he
had a right to expect, bore heavily upon his sensitive mind,
and, by many it is believed, hastened his death. But those
who survive him understand that he'accomplished much more
than he lived to see, opening the way, enlightening some of
the ignorance and removing some of the prejudice which was
so universal upon this simple question of proper denominational action. Thus, he was enabled to herald, if he did not
assure, the success that has attended subsequent efforts.
The subject of issuing from the library rooms a monthly
or quarterly periodical, answering, somewhat, to the character
of the " American Quairterly Register," had been a long cherished idea with Dr. Clark, and was brought before his directors for discussion at their meeting of Jan. 28, 1858; and
after due consideration, was referred to a committee to make
further investigation and report. In the meantime, Drs. Dexter and Quint were maturing plans for starting a similar work,
and on conferring with Dr. Clark, an arrangement was entered into for issuing the "Congregational Quarterly," the
first number of which greeted its friends early in January,
1859. The Association, represented by Dr. C. and Rev. Drs.
Dexter and Quint, were joint proprietors; and before the
issue of the April number, the "American Congregational
Union" merged its "Year Book" in the "Quarterly," and
became, through its secretary, a fourth partner, and joint proprietor, of this now standard and much-needed periodical.




86            HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
Dr. Clark contributed largely to its pages, labored faithfully to
secure subscribers and send them their numbers until the
close of his life. It continued to be issued from the rooms of
the Association until the close of the fourteenth volume —
I872-when the Association disposed of its interest to the
other proprietors.
Immediately after the decease of Dr. Clark, the Rev. Isaac
P. Langworthy, then corresponding secretary of the American Congregational Union, having his desk in the library,
was requested to take the oversight of the building, and
direction of the boy in charge; and at the next annual meeting, May 27, I862, was appointed corresponding secretary
and librarian; and by an amicable arrangement between the
trustees of the Union and the directors of the Association,
he was to receive two hundred dollars of his salary from the
latter, for the care of the "boy" and the "building"; and no
further service was expected, except the calling of the occasional meetings, and conducting the limited correspondence of
the Association.
The library then contained three thousand six hundred and
thirty-eight bound volumes, and about twenty thousand pamphlets. The books were arranged according to size and binding, the pamphlets in closets mostly unsorted. Dr. Clark was
so familiar with all the books that he had little difficulty in
finding any book desired, but to others the arrangement was
not convenient. Being compelled, from need of funds, to
rent the second story of the building, and hence to remove
the library shelves one more flight up, advantage was taken
of this occasion to separate all the duplicates, and so far as the
limited room would allow, to arrange the books according
to their subjects; and at the same time the three private
libraries in charge were returned to their owners. This plan
revealed more clearly the especial needs of the library, and
the empty shelving made its own appeal to all visitors; and
from that time to the present, the increase of the library has




CONGREGA TIONAL ASSOCJA TZON.           87
been quite rapid and valuable, when it is considered that the
Association has never appropriated one cent of its funds to
buy a book.
It is, however, but just to say that this great increase did
not "happen," nor have books come in, one or two thousand
volumes a year, of their own accord. There has been some
forecasting and planning, but more begging and hard work.
In the several issues of the " Quarterly," the librarian stated
more or less of the immediate wants of the library of periodicals, minutes, and such like, to complete sets, and thus attention was called to the library, and valuable gifts were received.
On the Sabbath he was presenting his church-building work,
stopping with the pastors, to whose libraries he always had
access, and from whose houses he seldom returned without a
full satchel, or a clever package of books or pamphlets, or
both, or had a larger package, or box, or barrel, speedily to
follow him by express. And in these trips h,e often found his
way to the closets or attics of retired ministers, or of the descendants of ministers, from which valuable treasures for these
shelves have been received. The heirs of deceased ministers,
and of a number of distinguished laymen, have, on request,
given a good, if not the larger part, of very valuable libraries.
In these ways no inconsiderable number of duplicates were
found to accumulate. These have' served as a basis for very
extensive exchanges with all the principal libraries for hundreds of miles around. By the sale of some duplicates and ol
waste paper carefully preserved for that purpose, and from
some small gifts of friends, a thousand volumes, more or less,
of the more rare and valuable books of the library have been
purchased. Two hundred and nineteen dollars for binding
have been appropriated from the treasury, and nothing more
has come from the contributions of the churches to secure the
more than FIFTEEN THOUSAND BOJUND VOLUMES AND QUITE
FIFTY THOUSAND PAMPHLETS now in the library. While many
of these are of a somewhat miscellaneous character, and may




88            HISTORICAL SKETCH- OF THE
at some future day be exchanged for others more nearly in
the line of its specialties, yet it is believed to be entirely true
that the mass of both volumes and pamphlets is just what is
essential, and very many of them could not be easily reproduced. In securing the early and contemporaneous history
of the Congregational churches of New England, and of the
country, indeed, importunity and perseverance have been quite
reasonably rewarded.
It should be said, further, that the efforts of the librarian
have been stimulated in this particular direction, partly from
the fact that the financial condition of the country did not
justify especial appeals to the churches for building funds during a part of the period now referred to, and in part from the
feeling so common, that the plan for a Congregational House
was more ideal' and fanciful than real and substantial; that it
did not arise from any especial need, nor did it promise any
especial, solid good. It came at length to be seen that there
was gathered in this incipient library a substantial and valuable treasure, that absolutely needed just the structure proposed. And it is no baseless prediction to say, that when its
now well-begun fire-proof building is complete, there will be
here very soon thereafter. the best Congregational, ecclesiastical, historical, exegetical, and Biblical library in the country,
and, in some of its features, the best in the world.
Earnest efforts were made in the spring of I862, by the
directors of this Association, to unite it with the American
Congregational Union, - having the peculiar church-building
work of the latter transferred to the former. The proposition
was favorably and courteously entertained by a large majority
of the trustees of the Union, but failed of a sanction by the
members at their next annual meeting.
Early in I864, the question of raising funds for the Congregational House was discussed at various meetings of the directors; and December 28th of that year, Henry Edwards, Esq.,
of this city, was appointed financial agent for Boston and
vicinity. He entered upon this service without fee or reward,




CONGREGA TONAL ASSOCIA TION.           89
and accomplished much, both in removing prejudice and in
securing reliable subscriptions. His extensive business acquaintance, as well as his gentlemanly bearing and admirable
tact, gave him, in the circumstances, gratifying success. The
amount required to make these subscriptions binding, however, was not secured. There seemed to be, nevertheless, an
imperious necessity for pressing the matter of subscriptions
at once, and the Rev. A. P. Marvin, of Winchendon, was engaged to give his whole time to this work for one year. He
carefully and faithfully canvassed Boston and vicinity, and
other cities of this State, and, to some extent, of other NewEngland States, presenting the subject on the Sabbath wherever he could, encountering, very generally, the same all but
insurmountable indifferences and difficulties that had confronted his predecessors in the same line of effort. With
wonderful patience and characteristic persistence, he went
through his term of service, and continued it for five months
afterwards, - securing the renewal of the most of the subscriptions that had been previously given to Mr. Edwards,
bringing the whole sum up to the required fifty thousand
dollars, -,making the pledges binding, - the most of which
were subsequently redeemed.
The directors were among the first to take active measures
in relation to the calling of the National Council of I865,
and were represented at the preliminary meeting held in New
York, November I6, I864; and on the invitation of one of its
directors, providentially present, that council was held at
Boston. The objects of the Association were cordially commended by this council to the confidence and contributions of
the churches.
During this year there was a careful revision of the Constitution and By-Laws, and some important changes were made;
all of which were unanimously adopted at the next annual
meeting of the Association, and in their essential features have
remained as they are now published herewith.
I2




90            HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
The property on Chauncy Street was found to be appreciating in value, and yet was quite too limited to accommodate the
increasing needs of the library, and the different benevolent
societies that desired rooms in the Congregational House. It
was voted, November 28, I866, to sell the estate, and for this
purpose an especial committee was appointed. The sale was
soon after effected to Messrs. Jordan & Marsh, for fifty-seven
thousand six hundred and eighty-four dollars. This relieved
the embarrassments of the Association, so that on removing
to 40 Winter Street, March ISt, I867, there was on hand about
sixty thousand dollars well invested, a library of six thousand
and sixty bound volumes, and nearly thirty-thousand pamphlets.
Towards the close of the preceding year, arrangements
were made with the Corresponding Secretary to give his whole
time to the work of the Association, on and after January I,
I867. The embarrassed state of the country, however, supervening upon the close of the war, still continuing, it was not
deemed wise to urge the claims of the Association for immediate contributions or subscriptions.  The secretary visited
local and state conferences and associations, wherever and whenever circumstances would allow, usually receiving an attentive,
though very brief hearing, and always cordial indorsements.
Through the "Congregational Quarterly," in every issue;
through the denominational papers generally, and especially
through the " Congregationalist" of this city; through printed
circulars, as well as by direct appeals from every pulpit to
which he could gain access, and a very large correspondence,
-he labored to bring and keep this subject before not an
altogether susceptible, nor an altogether willing people. The
obstacles which had limited the success of his worthy predeceSsors, were still multitudinous, but unreasonable; and so,
of course, the harder to remove. He gave much time still
to the increase of the library, and added, in two years, four
thousand six hundred and seventy-nir.e bound volumes, and




C('ONGREGA TIONAL ASSOCIATION.           91
over fifteen thousand pamphlets, embracing many of the most
rare and valuable works now in the library.
During this time he - with others of this Board - was in
earnest pursuit of a suitable' site for the proposed House. No
person, unfamiliar with this, for so long a time, fruitless search,
could conceive the difficulties attending it. The limits within
which it must be found, were restricted to Tremont Street on
the west, Boylston Street on the south, Washington Street on
the east, and School Street on the north, or in the immediate
vicinities thereof; and then said site must be large, light, have
fair business facilities, yet be reasonably retired. A number ot
places were found where a part of these necessary conditions
were fulfilled, but not all.
The Gardner House, No. 7 Beacon Street, was early looked
at, and given up as too snmall; and at the same time efforts
were made to secure estates in its rear, opening into Pemberton Square, but without success.  Failing everywhere else,
attention was again called to the Gardner House, and a
refusal of it taken early in I87t. While casting about to see
how necessary accommodations could be crowded into so
small a compass, or from what direction any enlargement
could be made available, most unexpectedly it was found that
the adjoining Club House could be purchased at a fair price,
affording ample room, light, air, business facilities, quiet,indeed, fulfilling all the necessary conditions of the required
site; so the purchase of both estates was made at once, for
the sum of two hundred and ninety-three thousand four hundred and eighty-four dollars and twelve cents.
But the subject of raising funds to pay for a site and erect
a suitable building, was a very frequently recurring subject.
At a regular meeting of the directors, Oct. 3, I869, the question of "What shall be done in the immediate future?" was
considered with this one special object in view, but specific
action was deferred to secure a full meeting of the Board, which,
was held Nov. 3, I869, and a committee was then appointed




92            HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
to devise and put in requisition the best means to secure subscriptions for this purpose.
At a regular meeting held Jan. 5, 1870, the question of the
expediency of observing the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, was presented by the corresponding secretary, and fully discussed. It was answered
unanimously in the affirmative, and a committee was appointed to correspond "with other Congregational bodies in
regard to the necessary preliminary measures."  Cordial responses were generally received, and a convention of delegates from the different parts of the country was held in the
chapel of the Broadway Tabernacle Church, of New York
city, March 2, 1870, to devise and suggest fitting methods for
observing the year, and the subject of erecting the Congregational House, at Boston, was recommended as one of the three
adopted and indorsed for general memorial gifts. A national
convention, held in Chicago the following April, cordially approved of this object, and similar commendations were given
at different and nearly all the state associations and conferences during that year. During the last half of this, and all
of the following year, the corresponding secretary presented
the claims of this 6bject from one to three times on nearly
every Sabbath, and in not a few instances received very
liberal responses. He spent much time in attendance upon
local memorial conventions held in different parts of the State.
Deacon Ezra Farnsworth, chairman of the committee on
subscriptions, and Hon. E. S. Tobey, president of the Association, and chairman of the board of directors, made especial efforts to secure generous gifts from Boston and its
immediate vicinity; giving liberally themselves, they were
successful in persuading a number of others to follow their
good example. By these united and persistent efforts, and
including the amount already raised, as the available funds of
the Association, the full sum of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars was realized.




CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIA TIOX.           93
It is proper to state in this connection that it has always
been the desire of the directors to obtain one fairly liberal
contribution from  every Congregational church in the United
States, and to ask for only one. Life-membership was fixed
at the very low price of not less than one dollar, in the hope
that the members of the Congregational churches would very
generally give that small sum, at least, and so become partners in this family structure. But there has been a strange
reluctance to give for this object, scarcely reconcilable with
fealty to the great principles they profess to hold dear. At
this writing, only just two thirds of the Congregational
churches of even Massachusetts, a fraction over one third in
Connecticut, just three fifths in Rhode Island, and less than
one in eight of the remainder of the Congregational churches
in the country, have given anything, either by contributions
or personal gifts.  Of the two hundred thousand dollars
already received and pledged, less than fifty-five thousand has
come from outside of Boston and immediate vicinity.
A plan for changing the two buildings, known as the Club
and Gardner Houses, so as to make them available for the
general purposes of the Association, was presented by Messrs.
Cummings and Sears,- well-known architects of this city,involving an estimated cost of over one hundred and thirtyfive thousand dollars. But, at the very best, the probable resources of the directors would not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, and the two mortgages of one hundred thousand
dollars each, already on the estates, were an effective protest
against further incumbrances; and yet the two buildings were
soon to be without occupants, and so without income; and
something must be done. A plan was finally developed in the
building committee, and outlined as a guide to the architects
for details, for the general arrangements of which they are
not to be held responsible, but which was adopted with entire
unanimity by the directors, and in nearly every essential
feature has been executed by the builders. This plan con



94            HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
templated in the outset no changes in either of the buildings
except where necessity compelled them, and then the least
possible; and no changes anywhere that would be likely to
be otherwise than permanent, thus preserving floors, partitions, ceilings, cornices, centre-pieces, pilasters, arches, plastering, doors, closets, and the like, greatly economizing the cost
of reconstruction, while securing the general convenience of
those who were to occupy the different rooms of the building.
Upon this plan contracts were made for the chief work needed
to be done within the one hundred thousand dollars, hopefully,
at the command of the building committee.
As a means chiefly to make sure the needed one hundred
thousand dollars, the kind offer, from a number of influential
and competent ladies, to get up and conduct a fair in the interests of the building fund, was cordially accepted; and at a
meeting of the directors, April 8, I872, a committee was appointed to arrange for and take the general management of
the same. It was held for two weeks in Horticultural Hall,
the last of October. It opened with the most encouraging
prospects of success; but on the third day the threatened epizootic was fully developed, cutting off all communication from
without, and intercommunications from within the city, so far
and that was very far - as these depended on conveyance
by horse-cars or carriages. This embargo continued until near
the close of the two weeks, greatly circumscribing our receipts,
and disappointing our apparently well-founded hopes.  A
trifle over fifteen thousand dollars clear gain was realized.
The directors wish here to make grateful mention of the earnest and skillful labors and plans of the executive committee,
as well as of the officers and attendants at the various tables,
and of the churches and individuals who contributed money,
time, influence, and variously, to ensure the success that was
realized. While all did so much and so well, it may seem invidious to name any one; and yet it is but just to record the
fact that Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Clapp took especial interest and
rendered especial service from the incipiency to the finale of




CONGREGA TIONAL ASSOCIA TION.           95
this toilsome undertaking. To the suggestion that we might
be obliged to resort to the expedient of a fair to raise funds,
Mrs. Clapp responded heartily more than a year before any
decided steps were taken to have one. She conversed with and
so interested other ladies that they joined her in the proffer
which was so cordially made. She visited cities and towns in
its behalf, secured pledges for the refreshment room, and
contributed in many ways to the exceedingly pleasant social
intercourse of its attendants and visitors, from the beginning
to the end.
Owing to the occupancy of the Gardner House, under a
lease, the directors were delayed in commencing the work of
reconstruction quite beyond their hopes. Plans were accepted at their meeting, held May 4, I872, and contracts for the
heavier part of the work were very soon thereafter made.
Verbal assurances were given that all would be complete by
the first of November following. Some unlooked-for hinderances intervened, and it was not until the first of February,
I873, that possession was given to any of the occupants. One
after another followed, so that before March Ist all the benevolent societies, save one, intending to be here, were in their
places. For the names of builders, and the finances of the
Association, see pages 46 and 47.
Thus far is history. Without venturing to prophesy, but
judging from the unanimous testimony of the constituency of
the various Christian organizations now brought together in
these exceedingly pleasant rooms, the very confident opinion
may be expressed that "the Congregational House" will much
more than meet the expectations of its most ardent friends, and
will be quite satisfactory to the churches generally, in whose
interests it has been erected. When the library building shall
be completed, - and may that happy day be near  - the representatives of the principles and polity of the Apostles and
Pilgrims will have a home, a centre of influence for good, and
a name and a place in Christ's family of churches, as never
before.




ACT OF INCORPORATION
OF THE
maerica c        ollgtonrcgatlonaI  ssaoriation.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year One Thousand Ezght Hundred and Fifty-Four.
AN ACT to incorporate the Congregational Library Association, at Boston.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives it General Court
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: -
SECTION I. Rufus Anderson, Joseph S. Clark. Julius A. Palmer, their
associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation by the name of
the Congregational Library Association at Boston, for the purpose of
establishing and perpetuating a library of the religious history and literature of New England, and for the erection of a suitable building for the
accommodation of the same, and for the use of charitable societies; with
all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties, restrictions,
and liabilities set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes.
SECTION 2. Said corporation may hold real or personal estate, necessary and convenient for the purposes aforesaid, to an amount not exceedingr, in the whole, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the income
whereof shall be devoted to the aforesaid purposes.
[Approved by the Governor, April I2, I854.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year One Thousand Eigh t Hundred and Fzfty-Six.
AN ACT to authorize the Congregational Library Association of Boston
to hold additional real and personal estate.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows  -
SECTION I. The Congregational Library Association, at Boston, is
hereby authorized to hold real and personal estate to the amount of one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in addition to the amount that said
corporation is now authorized by law to hold; provided, that no part of
said amount shall be invested in real estate, except in the purchase of a
suitable site, and the erection or preparation of a suitable building, to be
used for the purposes of said corporation, as set forth in the act of incorporation passed April twelfth, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
[Approved by the Governor, April 24, I856.




ACT OF INCORPORA TION.                    97
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Four.
AN ACT concerning the Congregational Library Association.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows: -
SECTION I. The Congregational Library Association is hereby authorized to change its name, and to take the name of the American Congregational Association.
SECTION 2. In addition to the powers heretofore granted said corporation, it is hereby authorized to do such acts as may promote the interest of Congregational churches; by publishing works; by furnishing
libraries and pecuniary aid to parishes, churches, and Sabbath Schools;
by promoting friendly intercourse and co-operation among Congregational
ministers and churches, and with other denominations; and by collecting
and disbursing funds for the above objects.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on its passage.
[Approved by the Governor, May Io, I864.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-One.
AN ACT to authorize the American Congregational Association to hold
additional real and personal estate.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows  -
SECTION I. The American Congregational Association, at Boston, is
hereby authorized to hold real and personal estate to the amount of four
hundred and fitty thousand dollars, in addition to the amount that said
corporation is now authorized by law to hold.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
[Approved by the Governor, February 24, I87E.
I3




CONSTITUTION.
ART. I. The name of this body shall be the AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
ART. II. The object of this Association shall be to secure the erection,
in the city of Boston, of a CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE for the meetings of
the body, the accommodation of its library, and for the furtherance of its
general purposes; to found and perpetuate a library of books, pamphlets,
and manuscripts, and a collection of portraits and relics of the past; and
to do whatever else -within the limits of its charter- shall serve to
illustrate Congregational history and promote the general interests of the
Congregational churches.
ART. III. This Association shall be composed of members of Orthodox Congregational churches, paying each one dollar, or more, into its
Treasury.
ART. IV. The officers of this Association shall be a President, such
a number of Vice-Presidents as the Association may from year to year
elect, a Corresponding and Recording Secretary, a Librarian, Treasurer,
Assistant Treasurer, and an Auditor. These Secretaries, Librarian, and
Treasurer, with fourteen others, shall be a Board of Directors, charged
with the general interests of the Association, five of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. These officers shall be
chosen by ballot, at the Annual Meetings.
ART. V. The Annual Meetings for the choice of officers, and for
other business appropriate to such meetings, shall be held in Boston, on
the Tuesday preceding the last Wednesday in May, in each year, at
twelve o'clock, M. Special meetings may be called at any time by the
Board of Directors. The Annual and all special meetings must be called
by published notice in the Orthodox Congregational weekly newspapers
of Boston, at least one week previous.
ART. VI. This Constitution may be altered at any Annual Meeting by
a vote of two thirds of the members present, public notice having been
given of the nature of the proposed alteration in the call for the meeting:
but the third article shall be unalterable.
BY-LAWS.
ART. I. The exercises of the Annual Meeting shall be prayer, hearing
the report of the Directors, and other officers having reports to make;
action upon the same; the election of officers, and the performance of
such other business as shall properly come before the meeting.
ART. II. The Directors shall prescribe their own times of meeting, as
their-judgment of the best interests of the Association may suggest, and




BY-LA WS.                         99
the method of calling the same. All their meetings shall be opened with
prayer. They shall also have power to appoint and order any public
meeting of the Association for anniversary purposes, which they may
think fit.
ART. III. At the first Directors' meeting after their appointment, a
chairman shall be chosen by ballot. and a Finance Committee and Library Committee by nomination (each of three members), to serve respectively for the year. Immediately after the opening of each meeting the
minutes of the previous meeting shall be read, and a docket of business,
prepared by the Corresponding Secretary and Librarian, shall be presented to the Board for action, to which any member may add other items.
~ART. IV. The Directors shall make a report of their doings for the
year at each Annual Meeting of the Association, and suggest such measures for the action of the body as in their judgment its welfare requires.
ART. V. The Corresponding Secretary shall discharge the duties ordinarily belonging to that office.
ART. VI. The Recording Secretary shall make a full record of whatever business is transacted in the meetings, both of the Association and
of the Board of Directors, in a book provided for that purpose, and kept
at the rooms of the Association.
ART. VII. The Treasurer shall have charge of all moneys belonging
to the Association, and hold the same at the disposal of the Directors,
who shall also define the duties and responsibilities of the Assistant
Treasurer, - paying only such bills as have the certified approval of at
least two members of the Finance Committee. He shall report the state
of the Treasury to the Association at their Annual Meetings, and to the
Directors whenever desired by them to do so.
ART. VIII.  The Librarian shall keep a complete catalogue of all
books, pamphlets, manuscripts, periodicals, portraits, and other articles of
interest belonging to the Association, with the names of their donors annexed, and shall have the general charge of the same under the Library
Committee.
ART. IX. Previously to each Annual Meeting, the Library Committee
shall examine the Library and all the property of the Association, and
report its condition to the Board, who shall embody that statement in
their Annual Report.
ART. X. No book, pamphlet, manuscript, or periodical, shall be taken
from the Library except on such terms, and for such time, as the Library
Committee shall prescribe; nor shall visitors be permitted to make extracts from manuscripts without the knowledge and consent of the Librarian.
ART. XI. These By-Laws may be amended at any regularly-called
meeting of the Association, by a vote of two thirds of the members
present.




OFFICERS
OF THE
metrhan  ongrgaitional,ssoriatizn,
FOR 1872-3.
HON. EDWARD S. TOBEY, Boston.
Hon. WILLIAM W. THOMAS, Portland, Me.
Rev. NATHANIEL BOUTON, D. D., Concord, N. H.
Rev. HARVEY D. KITCHEL, D. D., Middlebury, Vt.
Rev. JACOB IDE, D. D., Medway, Mass.
Rev. SETH SWEETSER, D. D., Worcester, Mass.
Hon. SAMUEL WILLISTON, Easthampton, Mass.
Rev. THOMAS SHEPARD, D. n., Bristol, R. I.
Hon. AMOS C. BARSTOW, Providence, R. I.
Rev. LEONARD BACON, D. D., New Haven, Conn.
Hon. WILI.IAM A. BUCKINGHAM, Norwich, Conn.
HIon. CALVIN DIAY, Hartford, Conn.
Rev. WILILIAM M. TAYLOR, D. D., New York City.
Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., New York City.
Rev. WM. IVES BUDINGTON, D. D., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Rev. ISRAEL W. ANDREWS, D. D., Marietta, O.
Rev. SAMUEL WOLCOTT, D. D., Cleveland, O.
Rev. NATHANIEL A. HYDE, Indianapolis, Ind.
Rev. JULIAN M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Jacksonville, Ill.
Rev. SAMUEL C. BARTLETTr, D. D., Chicago, Ill.
Hon. CHARLES G. HAMMOND, Chicago, Ill.
A. FINCH, Esq., Milwaukee, Wis.
Rev. WM. E. MERRIMAN, D. D., Ripon, Wis.
Rev. TRUMAN M. POST, D. D., St. Louis, Mo.
Rev. WILLIAM SALTER, D. D., Burlington, Iowa.
Rev. GEORGE MOOAR, D. D., Oakland, Cal.
Rev. HENRY WILKES, D. D., Montreal, Canada.
Birxttorm.
Hon. EDWARD S. TOBEY, Boston.      JAMES P. MELI.EDGF, Esq., Cambridge.
JOHN FIELD, Esq., Arlington.        Hon. RUFUS S. FRos', Chelsea.
Rev. ALONZO H. QUINT, D. D., New  J. RUSSELL BRADFORD. Esq., Boston.
Bedford.                          WM. C. STRONG, Esq., Brighton.
EZRA FARNSWORTH, Esq., Boston.     DAVID N. SKILLINGS, Esq., WinchesRev. H. M. DEXTER, D D., Boston.     ter.
HENRY D. HYDE, Esq., Boston.        Rev. N. G. CLARK, D. D., Boston.
Rev. JOHN 0. MEANS, D. D., Boston.  RICHARD H. STEARNS, Esq., Boston.
rreaurarx.
SAMUEL T. SNOW, ESQ., Boston
Cloruxponbing crrettarn, Xibrarian, aub Assistant ircasurcr.
REV. ISAAC P. LANGWORTHY, Chelsea.
Retecrbing  3terrtar.
REV. DANIEL P. NOYES, Longwood.
Aubitor.
JOSEPH N. BACON, Esq., Newton.