'4 < '-it-" , 1^ ^S!S^:;ls>* ^*-/^^y- '.*' r*?'! ^eiisT'** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LIBRARY F 74 P6P7 tl^*^ Z' (/•^^ ^y ^ I ■^^=^a?cd by ASi*it<3ii« REV THOMAS ALLEN. 1799. PROCEEDINGS IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ORGANIZATION IN PITTSFIELD, FEBRUARY 7, 1764, FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST. ^.«- - / February 7, i88g. PITTSFIELD, MASS. PRESS OF THE SUN PRINTING COMPANY. i88g. PRAYER FOR CHURCH AND TOWN. [On the 125 Anniversary of the Founders of the First Church in Pittsfield, February 7, 1764.] Lead on, great God ! lead on her shining way Our fathers' church ! Oh, keep her near to Thee As she grows old ! Inspire her sons to be First Thine, and then their country's gallant stay. Breathe through their hearts on this its founders' day The faith their fathers had in Calvary — Unfold to them the immortality Of dying aspiring. Lead on alway, Great God ! Lead on our much loved town, Freeborn twin sister of this ancient shrine, Clothed in the splendor of Heaven's best dress The pure majestic robe of righteousness Lead the'm along ! still glorying in the line Of manly dead, who won them their renown. Morris Schaff. ADDRESS. BY REV. J. L. JENKINS. T-lie First Churcli of Christ in Pittsfield was orgauized Feb- ruary Ttli, 1764, one hundred and twenty-live years ago to-day. Its organization ante-dates the Declaration of Independence by twelve years ; the adoption of the Federal Constitution by twenty-four years. It was three years after the incorporation of the town of Pittsfield and three years after the creation of the County of Berkshire ; thirty years after the organization of the church in Stockbridge, twenty -one years after that in Great Barrington, and six after that in Becket. The three named churches vv^ere present by pastors at least at the organization of this church. The settlement of Pittsfield began in 1752. After twelve years of struggle and of the ordinary frontier vicis- situdes, there were in the town in the year 1764, the year in which the church was organized, between three hun- red and five hundred inhaljitauts, most of whom lived in log houses. When Thomas Allen, the first minister came here in 1763, his son says " All the houses of the village were made of logs excepting half a dozen." The hundred or more log houses were far apart and most of them were at the western or eastern extremities of the town. To accommodate the widely separated inhabitants the first meeting house was ]3laced in the center, not far from the site of tliis building. Its story and that of its suc- cessors will be told by another this afternoon. The proprietors of the settling lots in the township of Pon- toosuck, held their first legally called meeting Sept. 12, 1753. According to the warrant, dated July 30, 1753, the meeting is to 1)0 held as soon as circumstances will adniit at the house of Mr. Elias Willard, and for the following purposes among others : " To see what money the proprietors of the settling lots will raise to procure some suitable person or persons to preach among ns." "To consider of the luetliod they will go into to erect a meeting house and raise snch sums of money as they shall think proper for defraying the charges thereof." From a manuscript sermon preached Aug 26, 1S83, on the eightieth anniversary of the church in Pittsfield, Vermont, be- tween which church and this were intimate relations at its Ijegin- ning, I make the following extract : '' It was a characteristic of the settlers in those days that they did not wait for pressure from without and the promise of funds before estal)li8hing churches. The settlers themselves were ready to go ahead with the work." Perhaps the Pittsfield people in Vermont learned this prac- tice from the Pittsfield people in Massachusetts, at least, it was the way here. The vote to secure a suitable person to preach was passed September 12, 1753, and the same year Rev. Cotton Mather Smith was invited to Pittsfield, or as it was then called Pon- toosuck, to preach as a probationer or candidate. A woi-d or two must in passing be given to the man who was the first choice of the people here for minister. Cotton Mather Smith was born in Suffield, Conn., Oct. 26, 1731. He was twenty-two years old when asked to come here and preach. He graduated at Yale in 1751, when twenty years old, went to Hartford to study Theology and while studying there was invited to take charge of a school for Indians in Stockbridge. It is prol)able that while in Stockbridge, he was called here. He was an unusual man, an athlete, a muscular Christian, He gained power over the Indians by equalling or excelling them in feats of strength. When a pastor in Sharon, Connecticut, he went in person to the haunts of vice, astounding and confounding his guilty parishioners. He was a Patriot, served as chaplain in the Revolutionary War, contracted in the service disabilities from which he never recovered. Pie is reported to liave been a man of great refinement of mind and manner. The original settlers here were discerning men. They began the search for a min- ister by seeking the best. They spent thirteen years in the search. They survived thirteen years of candidating, — a remark- able testimony to their cohesion and endurance. The naiues of certain candidates luive deen preserved. In 1Y59 a Mr. Clark preached, but was not called. The next year, 1760, Rev. Ebenezer Garnsey preached fonr months. It was proposed that he should be examined by the upj^er Association of ministers in Hampshire Count}^ This he would not consent to. He did not come to Pittsfield. In 1761, Rev. Enoch Huntington, of Middletown, Conn., was invited, but declined. Rev. Amos Tompson was the next unsuccessful candidate, fol- lowed by Daniel Hopkins, brother of Samuel, the great divine, of Great Barrington. Mr. Daniel Collins, long the pastor at Lanesboro, was next in order, but failed of settlement. The difficulty of settling a minister, the Pittsfield historian says, was theological not pecuniary. In 1763, Thomas Allen, aged twenty, came to Pittsfield, (the name Pontoosuck was changed to Pittsfield in 1761.) The coming of this young man of twenty, one year out of college, is one of the great events in the town's history. Much of its history was determined by it. "• On the 9th of December, 1763," (I quote from the History of Pittsfield,) " The town decided to invite Mr. Thomas Allen, of Northampton, to preach as a probationer, and his ministry in that capacity was signalized by the formation of the church, — a duty which it seems had, up to this time, been singularly neglected." Their method of forminii: a church was on this wise : Eight men were found among the men of the town to serve as Foun- dation Men — a happy use of Lord Bacon's term. We recall and honor these men to-day. We write their names on shields and hang them in the House of the Lord. Stephen Crofoot came from Belehertown and had served as deacon in the church there. Aaron Baker, William Phelps, Lemuel Phelps, Elnathan Phelps came from Northampton ; Ephraim Stiles a,r\(\ Daniel Iluhhard came from Wesffield • and Jacob Ensign from Wethersfield, Conn. All from "the fat valley of the Connecti- cut" as it was called. What is known of these eight ^'- E'oundation Men^^ will be told by another this afternoon. Upon what principle the eight 6 were selected 1 do iKtt know. Possil)]j they were men who had made up their minds to locate and remain in Pittsfiekl, while others may have been nndecided. They may have been men interested in church affairs before coming here. They may liave been thonght l)y their fellow-townsmen especially qualified to act as "■ Foundation Men '" and so were chosen for the service. Whatever the reason of tlie selection, the eight men chosen as '' Foundation Men," were Stephen Ckofoot, Jacob Ensign, Ephrain Stiles, William Phelps, Daniel Hubbard, Lemuel Phelps, Aaron Bakrr, Elnathan Phelps. What is more important than the names of these men is their faith, belief. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. What truth had these men as that upon which they would found a Church of Jesus Christ? On this matter there is no ignorance. I read the paper signed by the eight "Foundation Men." It has two parts, a Creed and a Covenant. " February 7, 1764:. At a meeting of a number of members belonging to different churches, at the house of Deacon Cro- foot Feb. 7, A. D. 1764, being present the Rev. Samuel Hop- kins, of Great Barrington, Rev. Stephen West, of Stockbridge, and Rev. Ebenezer Martin, of ISTo. 4. After a confession of Faith and Covenant was drawn up, a number of said members did then and there unite, so as to form a Church of Christ in this place and subscribed to the Articles of Faith contained in that Confession and the obligations of said Covenant, which are as follows : — A CONFESSION OF FAITH. We do l)elievc' tlial there is one God, who is tlie only living and true God ; who exists of Himself, without ])eginning or end, infinitely perfeet and glori- ous, and unchangeable in His Being and perfections ; that He is independent and all sutficient, and all things else depend wholly on Him as their Creator, Preserver and the Sovereign Disposer of them. That this one God subsists in a mysterious and incomprehensible manner in Three Persons, distinguished in Holy Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; that these three Persons are one God, and equal in all divine perfections and glory. That God has made a particular revelation to mankind in the Book we call the Bible, which is a perfect, sufficient and imerring nde, given by in- scription from God — and is the only rule to be relied on in matters of religion. That God exercises a moral Government over His rational creatures in giv- ing laws to them and in finally judging them, and rewarding or punishing them, according to the Holy Law. That this law is an eternal and most per- fect and unalterable rule of righteousness, requiring perfect, persevering obedience upon pain of eternal damnation. That God made man at first perfectly holy and happy and appointed Adam the first parent of mankind to be the head and representative of all his pos- terity ; so that they should be happy in his obedience, if he persevered in per- fect holiness, or fall with Him into a state of sin and guilt and utter ruin, if he should transgress God's law. That our first parents sinned and in conse- quence of this, by a holy and wise constitution, all man kind, their natural posterity are born in sin and guilt and are become justly deserving of God's wrath and curse forever. That God has of His mere sovereign grace found out and entered upon a method to save man from the state of guilt and ruin in which he naturally is, so as at the same time to maintain the honor of His law and government, by a Mediator. That this Mediator is the Second Person in the Trinity, the eter- nal Son of God, who by taking the human nature into a personal imion with Himself, is become truly man and has by dying suffered the curse of the law and yielded a perfect and glorious obedience to it, in our stead. That having made expiation for sin by His death and brought in everlast. ing righteousness by his obedience, he rose from the dead, and ascended into the heavens and is seated at the right hand of God to reign as King of Heaven and Earth till all things shall be put under His feet, and is able to save all that come to God by Him. That every one who believes and truly trusts in Him or accepts of Him as He is offered in- the Gospel, shall be pardoned and received to favor, how- ever guilty and unworthy in himself ; purely and only on the accoimt of His merit and worthiness. Yet their obligations to perfect conformity to its pre- cepts are not in the least removed ; they, therefore, will not be sinless until they are brought to perfect obedience to God's law which none attain to in this life ; but are sinfully defective in all their holy exercises and actions. That as the promises of the Gospel are made to truly holy exercises, and none but such can have any evidence of their interest in Christ but by a con- sciousness of their own holy exercises and by coming to a certain knowledge of this, as they may, they may obtain an assurance of their own salvation. That Jesus Clu'ist has a true Church in the world which He will maintain and build up until it shall be brought to its perfect and most glorious state. That at the last day Christ will raise the dead and judge the world and doom the wicked to everlasting destruction ; and receive the redeemed to tlie happiness and glory of His Eternal Kingdom. (Signed.) Stephen Crofoot, Ephraim Stiles, Daniel Hubbard, Aaron Baker, Jacob Ensign, William Phelps, Lemuel Phelps, Elnathan Phelps. A COVENANT. We wliose names are hereto subscribed, looking on ourselves as under obli- gations to enter into a religious society, so as to form a Church of Christ in this i:)lace, do now seriously and solemnly acknowledge our obligations to the Lord and do, so far as we know our hearts, cheerfully devote ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. We do renoimce all the ways of sin and give our- selves up to God, choosing Him as our Lawgiver and portion. Sensible of our own blindness, guilt and infinite imworthiuess, and corrup- tion, we choose Christ for our Teacher and rely on His merit and w^orthiness alone for pardon and acceptance with God, and receive the Holy Spirit as our Sauctifier, heartily embracing the way of Salvation revealed in the Gospel. We take God's Holy Word to be our only rule of faith and practice and solemnly engage by the help of His grace, to conform to it m all the ways of holj' living, and we promise and engage to maintain and constantly and faith- fully attend upon all the institutions and ordinances of the Gospel, particularly public worship and the strict observance of God's Holy Sabbath. And we en- gage to maintain family and secret religion and faithfully and painfully to in- struct, educate and govern our children and all that shall be under our care. We also covenant with one another to walk in a church state in all mu- tual helpfulness, watching over and admonishing one another and faithfully and impartially to exercise the discipline of Christ's House according to the rules of His Holy Word, so far as we shall understand it ; and meekly to sub- mit to the same, taking constant care to walk orderly in all things, so far as to give occasion of offence to none. And we now publicly espouse and engage in the Cause of Christ in this town promising to be faithful to the same and to endeavor to promote it in all proper ways, especially seeking to recommend our holy religion to all by our strict and constant practice of justice, goodness, temperance, sobriety and godliness. All this we do in luunble dei:)endence on Jesus Christ, praying that He would ena])le us to be faithful in His Covenant, strengthening us unto every good work to do His Will, working in us tliat which is well pleasing to Him. To whom be glory forever. Amen. Signed, Stephen Crofoot, Epiiraim Stiles, Daniel Hubbard, Aaron Baker, Jacob Ensign, William Phelps, Lemuel Phelps, Elnathan Phelps. After the said Confession of Faith and Covenant were snh- scribed by the persons before mentioned, a lecture was preached at the meeting house by the Rev. Mr. Hopkins from these words: ii Corinthians 3, 5, "And this they did not as we hoped, Init first gave themselves to the Lord, and unto us by the Will of God." ^ Afterwards the}' were declared to be a Ckurch of Christ. I am indebted to Kev. Dr. Rowland, of Lee, for information that makes certain the authorship of the foregoing document. It is the same Creed and Covenant, used at the organization of the churches in Lee and Lenox ; and there is the wholly trust- worthy authority of the late Dr. Hyde, of Lee, that they were the work of that eminent divine. Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of Great Barrington. The Creed, with some peculiarities of phraseology, with insis- tence upon some minor points, is for the time and circumstances, a fair embodiment of what has always been the Catholic Faith of the Christian Church. The fathers in the wilderness believed with all saints. The Covenant, though made less of than the Creed in theo- logical discussions, is the more important. A saying of Prof. Schaif is pertinent. " A Covenant is the ethical application of the dogmatic Creed." Of the original Covenant no man need be ashamed. Let me read its close: "We do now publicly espouse and engage in the Cause of Christ in this town, — prom- ising to be faithful in the same and to endeavor to promote it in all proper ways, especially seeking to recommend our holy relig- ion to all by our strict and constant practice of justice, good- ness^ temperance, sobriety and godlinesss." It was something in the ])eginning of a town's career to have even eight men solemnly confederated together for such an end. It was a wise procedure on the part of the founders of the church to sul)mit their work to men well reported of in neigh- boring churches, that, if approved, it might thereby have stronger commendation. Three ministers were in town one hundred and twenty-live years ago to-day, and two of them were great and famous men. If god-fatliers serve the child, this church was well served when its beginning was approved by Samuel Hopkins, Stephen West and their less famous associate, Ebenezer Martin. Iso bishops living then or since, or before or now could impart more apostolic grace to an infant church. The eight " Foundation Men," having signed Creed and Cove- 10 iiaiit, in the house of Deacon Stephen Crof oot, came wdth others to the meeting house and here Dr. Samuel Hopkins "preached a lecture " from ii Corinthians 8, 5. " And this tliey did not as we hoped, hut first gave themselves to the Lord and now to us by the will of God." And the record concludes, " Afterwards they were declared to be a Church of Christ." Such these eight men believed themselves to be, for the next entry in the record is the following : PiTTSFiELD, March 6, 1764. "The Church of Christ in Pittsfield tliis day met at the house of Deacon Crofoot and unanimously made choice of Mr. Thomas Allen to settle with them in the work of the Gospel Ministry. Attest : Stephen Crofoot, Moderator." On the 8th of March the same year, the church, without a pastor, received William Williams and Josiah Wright as meraljers. On the 18th day of April following, the church ordained and installed, after simple primitive usages, its first Pastor. There were j>resent at the ordination, Rev. Jonathan Ashley, of Deer- field, Rev. Timothy Woodl)ridge, of Hatfield, Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of Great Barrington, Rev. Thomas Strong, of New Marlborough, and Rev. Mr. Bidwell, of No. 1 (Tyringham,) besides several other neigld^oring ministers. Tlie first prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Hopkins, the second by Rev. Mr. Wood- bridge, the charge was given by Rev. Mr. Ashley, the right hand of fellowship by Rev. Mr. Bidwell, The sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Hooker, of Northampton, from the text, Acts XX, 26 : "I myself also am a man." The topic being " Christ's Ministers, Men." The last prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Strong. •' The whole was carried on with decency and in order." In this account there is a noticeable absence of Scrip- ture and of singing. There may have been both, and possibly neither. One would like to re-create that first oi'dination and installation here. The place we may put before us, but the men taking the parts, can we image them to ourselves ? The young, handsome, alert pastor elect, beginning a life of forty- seven years here, — can we not seen him ? We can hear the sober woi'ds spoken to him by his Pastor, John Hooker, and we can hear him congratulating his hearers that at last the Ordi- 11 nances of the Gospel and the means of Salvation were set np in " These borders of the wilderness." Tlie chnrch needs only deacons to complete its apostolic equipment. It waits for these till Jannary 7, 1765. When, at a meeting lield that day, it was voted " That James Easton and Josiah Wright snstain the office of Deacons in this chnrch." It is added, " They accepted of the election," setting an excellent example and worthy to he followed. Thns on the 7th of Jannary, 1765, the Chnrch of Christ in Pittsfield was complete, having all that belongs to a chnrch of New Testament times, members and the two officers, pastor and deacons. I am to-day historian, not advocate. It belongs to me to tell the actions of the founders, not to applaud them ; but I cannot repress the spontaneous and fervid approval I feel. Simplicity has its own severe and impressive grandeur. It is no mean story of worthy exploit, that of the Jesuits in Canada, with pictures, crosses, processions, altars, vestments, chanting. I witness all and allow it exceeding virtue ; but more and truer grandeur has that scene we have been looking upon, wherein men, plain men, self moved, and self-sufficient, covenanted with one another to serve Christ and maintain His Cause here in the wilderness and sought and secured approval by truly apostolic men. The scene has no Ijrilhance of color, no movement of chant or processional, but has a simplicity, seriousness, that makes it sure of being immortal ; forever appealing to men with increasing force, as men rise into the life of ideas and of pure feeling. The first year of its existence the Church added to its orignal eight members, thirty-one members, among whom are some of whom a word or two should be said. The ninth member of this Church was William Williams, a clergyman's son, and a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1729. Mr. Taft, in a paper read before the Historical Society on the Ju- dicial History of Berkshire County says "William Williams, down to the period of the Revolution, was the most prominent and important personage in tlie county, north of Stockbridge." He says, also '' Colonel Williams was of sanguine temperament, able, enterprising, active, ready with his pen as with his sword, 12 hospitable, generous, profuse in expenditure and fond of display. He lacked economy and foresight, and was unfortunate in his business enterprises; but he seems never to have forfeited tlie respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens and to have fulfilled with ability and fidelity all his public trusts." Another man, notable in his day, a member of the church, was Israel Dickinson. He was a graduate of Yale in the class of 1Y58. He had a classmate, an early settler in Pittsfield, not a member of the church, Israel Stoddard, a man eminent for ability and standing. Among those joining the Church during its first year was another Yale graduate, Woodbridge Little, of the class of 1760. These men were strong, positive forces in the town and of equal influence in the Church. They did much to give character to the young Church. Among the "members during the first year were Solomon Dunning and wife, (the wife being the first woman coming into Pittsfield,) and Charles Goodrich, of whom it is recorded that "he drove the first team and cart which entered the town, cutting his way through the woods for a number of miles." In the second year of its exist- ence, l^athaniel Fairfield joined the Church. He claims the honor of first turning with a plough the virgin soil of Pittsfield. Time would fail me to tell of others. They weie a woi-thy company of men and women who settled here. They were educated, energetic, enterprising, the very kind of people to put in stable foundations and to infuse into the growing social fab- ric a living and advancing force. We may well be proud of them. The Church of Christ in Pittsfield was now well under way. It had gained foothold ; better, having been planted, it was striking roots deep into the ground and gave j^romise of whose generous fulfillment we are to-day rejoicing witnesses. The first minister served the Church forty-six years and died in office at the age of sixty-seven, Feb. 11, 1810. The eventful story of his long jjastorate has been faithfully and graphically told by the historian of Pittsfield and needs slight reference from me. The times were troublous, feelings were intense, differences unavoidable ; but the experiences were not in vain. The ardor, vehemence, l)rilliancy of the young minister, his strong, exultant faith in men wei'e contagious, overmastering. 13 His doctrine filled the county. Ilis example provoked inde- pendence in tlionglit and action. He met parishioners not intimidated by him, not afraid to differ from and dispute with him. There was a kind of warfare of intellectual giants raging here for years and in the stress and strain of the contest men grew in power and self-reliance. Would you trace to its springs much in the Berkshire cliaracter, you must go back to the times of Parson Allen. With all his genius for leadership, he found those here whom he could not lead. By the power he exerted upon them and by the power with which they resisted him, both j)astor and people went from strength to strength. Here patriots were made as they must needs have been by a minister intensely jDatriotic. I copy a single entry from the Church Records : — " May 4, 1777. In token of my fervent affection for the civil and religions rights and liberties of my Country and — God's Grace assisting me — of my firm attachment to its cause and of my grateful sense of the manj"^ and impor- tant services of the Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the United States, I name my fourth son George Washington, who was this day Baptized and was born April 22, Tuesday, seven o'clock A. M., 1777."' Such men in the pulpits of the country matched in power the soldiers in the field. The times and the circumstances have made Mr. Allen's patriotism prominent above his piety ; but there is no lack of evidence that he was as ardent and strong in faith as in devo- tion to his countr}'. Reviewing his life here, noting his influ- ence, observing effects,' there is no questioning the extent of his power or the beneficial results he achieved in developing a sturdy, intelligent, self-reliant people, — a people conscious of ability to manage for themselves town and church. In consid- ering the first fortj^-six years of this Church's history, certain facts merit distinct recognition. The settlement had had no time to consolidate itself be- fore the pre-revolutionary excitements began. Springfield is twice as old as Pittsfield. Pittsfield was a new border town, — the field for excitenients. All sorts of questions were astir. There was dissatisfaction as to ministerial supj^ort. Baptist and Methodist views were beginning to be promulgated. There was abundant opportunity for difference. Add decided men as those of Pittsfield and there could be only division. It came — 14 came in Parson Allen's day and its healing began in the wisdom and sacrifice of his son and successor Rev. William Allen and was perfected nnder his successor Rev. Dr. Humphrey. The steps and sacrifices hy which all was accomplished must be untold by me this morning. " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God." This some count the final beatitude, there being no service beyond that of making peace and no reward beyond that of Divine Sonship. Both the service and the reward belong to that rare man who, coming in here, of two made one new man, making peace. How wisely he did his work, all contemporary testimony gives concurrent witness. How true a reconciliation was effected, every root of bitterness being cast out, years of heartiest and most loving accord give proof. Many honors came to the man of whom I speak. His name is held in dear esteem in college halls, among philanthopists, among a great host of friends, and by descendants, proud of his blood in their veins, who do him honor. We take no leaf from all his wreaths ; but the First Church of Pittsfield remem- l)ers, reveres, loves Heman Humphj-ey as the man who made her peace, in virtue of whose benediction there can be no more variance or strife in the brotherhood he served. The man of peace was followed by men like himself. Each in his way compacting more firmly the reunited body of Christ- ian believers. Time alone forbids a distinct recognition of the services rendered the Church by Mr. Bailey, Mr. Tappan, Mr. Youmans, Mr. Brinsmade. Time alone forbids my noting the steady growth of the church from ministry to ministry. A new order of things was beginning in Pittsfield. The railroad con- nected it with the world outside. The intercourse stimulated in. dustries. The church felt the motion of new life. There was a new order to which the old was to be adjusted, and the provi- dential man appeared. His work is so recent, so conspicuous in the memory of most hearing me, all are so familiar with his achievements that no word is needed from me. Kone is neede<^^l but to withliold would 1)0 a self-violeuce. Coming a stranger and as such entering into his labors, I nnist bear my testimony to the excellence of wliat lie did for tlie church he so long served 15 and loved. This most peculiar and richly jcrifted man will be of- ten during tlie day brought l)efore our minds ; not too often and we shall not render him too generous homage. We are amid his works. This people is his workmanship and may I say the workmanship honors the workman. Not all the praise is his. In an historical sermon preached by Dr. Todd, Feb. 3, 18Y8, he said " If ever I have accomplished anything, ever avoided mistakes, ever in any degree honored the Master, I greatly attribute it to an influence which men are not always prompt to acknowledge. In my home has been a life, swallowed up in my success, will- ing to be unknown and out of sight, unwearied in giving en- couragement and rousing to effort ; prompt and cheerful in concealing my defects and in covering my deficiencies ; kind to apologize for what could not be approved ; uncomplaining when worn down b}^ heavy burdens such as few are called to bear ; more than ready to be unselfish and to wear out that others might jirofit by my labors. I say it is there, in that life I have found the source and the cause of all I have done. Oh ! wife of my youth ! many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." It is a special distinction of this day that the woman, of whom such true words were spoken by one who could best speak them, has been spared to this hour and lives to receive the generous, affectionate tributes of those whom she served as the people of her huslmnd. May the day be slow in coming when she shall go from us ! May the days be many which shall be gladdened by her gracious, kindly presence. The Lord bless her, keep her, lift upon her the light of His countenance and give her peace. This prayer we all make for her, here and now. What one hundred and twenty-five years ago was small in its beginning, has endured, increased, not by the ability of minis- ters, not by the intelligence, large heartedness of members ; the Church has survived and grown in virtue of the Life incarnated in it. When the eight men here covenanted together, they associated in Christ's name. To them belonged the promise that He would be in the midst of them, with them to the end of the world. Once gathered in Christ's name, the Church has abode in His name. There have been changes in terms, in 16 usages; there has l)eoii no swerving from Christ. Wonld that we might say the church is growing more and more into Christ its Head ; was more and more receiving all from Him, less and less from intermediary agencies. Because we hold this hope faintly yet really, hecanse we know the fidelity of the Church to Christ, in its more than one hundred years of life, do we anticipate a future better than the past, and have firm confidence that the fathers' God will be the God of the children; that He who was our fathers' Guide will l)e our Guide even unto death. - -■^f^yBiSail iSars JSBanhj Sl^'^ -Cc c14, and should the sense of sii2,'ht or of sound still be left to him, he would see or hear many things that would seem to him strano;e and not easily understood. But it is much to be doubted if the changes in his surroundings would appear one-tenth part as great as those which one of the eight men who founded this church, one hundred and twenty- five years ago this winter's day, would find in the little settle- ment that he knew, were he now to step among us and look about him. The plain, wooden meeting house of 1704, then still in an unfinished state, and the first of the three buildings in which this church has worshipped, stood directly in front of the site of this, its stone grand-child. Its north side, or rear, for its length stretched east and west, ])robablj rested u])on some part of the ground now covered by the sidewalk in front of this structure. As it was but thirty-five feet in depth, its frt)nt must have been over part of the roadway now between us and the park. Still further to the south stood the magnificent elm, so long the pride and glory of this favored town ; a tree then unshorn of any of its beauty, a kindly and beneficent sentinel watching over its little neighbor, nestling so far below its lofty top. But to get even this unfinished house in which to worship had l)een no easy task. As far back as the twelfth of 8e])tem- A.'W.E.ls nn a: tra Baatnn. INTERIOR OF FIRST CHURCH. FEBY 6, 1889. 25 l)er, 1753, at the lirst meeting of "The Proprietors of the Sixty Setthng Lots in the Phuitation of Poontoosuck," and as soon as a moderator and a clerk had Ijeen chosen, it was voted to lay a tax of three shillings upon each settling lot "for the support of preaching among us," while the next vote appropriated £40 lawful money, with which to build a meeting house. The name of Deacon Crofoot appears upon each of the committees then appointed to carry out the wishes of the meeting, and as- sociated with him upon each was Charles Goodrich, the hearer of a name destined to he so long and honorably kn(jwn in the church and town, and the representatives of which are still numerous among us. Many and vexatious delays, however, served to put off the day when the little community should have a house in which to hold its meetings, alike for Sal)batli services and for the transaction of its secular business, and it was not till June, 1761, that the varicjus uKjtions produced any effect, when it was voted, '■'■ That four shillings be raised on each lot, to pay for raising the meeting house ; and every man who comes early to have three shillings credit per diem, till the house be raised, and the connnittee to take account of each man's lal)or — the other shilling t(j be paid for rum and sugar." Pittsfield has often l)een twitted since that time with having rather lax morals. But her most carping critic must admit that one hun- dred and twenty-eight years have wr(jught a cliange for the better, and that the day when the foundations of a house of this sort could be laid with mortar mixed with such a fluid has gone from among us, and forever. The summer of this year, 1761, saw the little building at last fairly under way, and advanced so far that in March of the next year a town meeting was held within its walls for the first time. The ownership of this Ikjusc was vested in the town, for the town had taxed itself for the building, and continued to use the meeting house for public purposes till its successor was erected, thirty years later. After that no more town meetings were held in the church, though the town's ownership did not cease till the title passed to the 2)resent parish, now somewhat more than fifty years ago. 26 At tlii.s time I pay no liucd t(t the pari.sli as such, .simply treating it and its belongings, fur the purposes of this anniver- sary, and as they should always he regarded, as so many mem- bers of that body of which the visiV)le church is the head. It is interesting to note here that the first town meeting of Pitts- iield was held in the house of Deacon Stephen Crofoot, on the eleventh of May, 1761, the same house in which this church wa;s organized three years afterward. So far as I know, no trace of this first meeting-house now re- mains, and nothing connected w^th it is left to ns save some of Mr. Allen's manuscripts, including his letter of acceptance, which may have l)een read from the desk, before his occupancy of it, by some temporary supply, a liynni-book or two and the records of the church and the town, which often lay upon the little deal tal)le before the pulpit, a ta])le tliat in turn served both church and state with judicial impartiality. Mrs. Mary L. O'Sullivan, of this town, a grand-daughter of the liev. Mr. Allen, has a foot stove l)elonging in the tirst ])arsonage, which she says " was perhaps as warm and constant an attendant upon the services of the first church as any that could be found." As the l)uilding was guiltless of any heat, and as it was, and even is, sometimes cold in Pittsfield, possil)ly the surmise is not far from the truth. Could we have come up to this primitive structure with the gathering congregation, on a fair Sabbath morning of some summer long gone by, we should have seen a very different Pittsfield from the one that we know. East street then entered !N"ortli and South streets, as East llousatonic street now enters the latter, and from one to two hundred feet east of the corner thus made, on the north side of East street, stood the meeting- house, its front al>out on the line of the road. No bell would have sounded its call, and if we had ridden, we should have had to fasten our horses wdierever chance offered, for, unlike most country parishes, this one has never been willing to surround its churches with unsightly, if useful, row^s of horse-sheds. We should liave paused a moment to enjoy the shade of the stately elm that stood before the door, and to exchange greetings with friends and neighbors, whom, possibly, we had not seen since the previous Sabbath. 27 If this first meeting-lioiise was a bare and plain affair, M'itli- out paint , with tlie simplest of gable roofs, unbroken even by a belfry, with no blinds to screen its windows, which it mnst be feared, often showed many broken panes in both its stories, it certainly lacked nothing of good will, with its doors opening east and south and w^est, throngh which it nrged all who wonld to come. Passing in by the south door, we should have found an inte- rior without ornament or decoration of any sort, with seventeen stpiare pews and six long seats upon the lower floor, taking up most of the space, and galleries on the three sides over the doors. Directly in front of us, facing the l)road aisle, would have been the pulpit, from which the sturdy Parson Allen wielded so strong an influence over the rising community. Two high- l)acked chairs would have stood behind the pulpit, while before it would have been the table whose accpiaintance we have al- ready made, all of Spartan simplicity. The owmers of the square pews would have taken their places in them, sitting with their famihes, while the calm exte- riors of some of the occupants of the long seats would scarcely have concealed the deadly heart burnings beneath them, caused by the system of "dignifying the house," or seating the con- gregation according to supposed social rank, then in vogue in New England. In these seats, as in the galleries, a Shaker-like division of the sexes would have attracted our notice, while l)ehind the row of singers in the south gallery wijuld have ap- peared the sable faces and gleaming teeth of another part of the congregation. All in all it was a typical New Englaiul country audience of the last century, gathered in a meeting- house