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 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOYLSTON CHURCH 
 
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A BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 First Congregational Church, 
 
 BOYLSTON, MASS. 
 
 BEING A SERMON PREACH KD MY THE I'ASToR, 
 
 REV. ISRAEL AINSWOHTH. 
 
 Sunday Evening, August 15, 1886, as a I'recursiir to the 
 
 Centennial of the Iown, observed on the 
 
 i-OLUiwiNc; Wednesday. 
 
 Printed in Tmr W(>RCF.^TKK IIaiiv Spv, Ai'<;os-i i6, 188*. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS.: 
 
 PRESS OF SANFORD vV DAVIS. 
 1887. 
 

 In Bxcaao^e 
 Amer. Ant. Boo. 
 25 Jl 1907 
 
History of the Boylston Church. 
 
 A SERMON BY REV ISRAEL AINSWORTH. 
 
 Call to Rrmembrance the former days. — Ileb. x, 32. 
 
 We ought not to forget the past, nor be unmindful of its 
 lessons. Ob.servation and experience beget wisdom. The his- 
 tory of nations, states and towns has always been interesting, 
 but '' we realize the true ideal of history only when we discover 
 God in it, shaping its ends for the evolution of His own designs, 
 educing order from its vast confusions, resolving its complica- 
 cations into one grand and marvelous unity, and making it a 
 body of com[)lctcness and symmetry, with Himself as the inform- 
 ing soul." 
 
 It will not be dilTicult to recognize God in the history of this 
 town and church. The early settlers of Boylston were believers 
 in God and worshipped and served him. If any one sliould at- 
 tempt to give the history of this town and leave the church out 
 such a history would be very uninteresting. It was the ilesire 
 for Christian and " sanctuary privileges " that made the North 
 precinct of .Shrewsbury and the town of Boylston possil)le. From 
 1705 to 1740 the inhal)itants of this place were connected with 
 the churches of Lancaster and Shrewsl)ury ; when we remember 
 that they had to go either upon the backs of horses, or on foot, 
 along cart roads or bridle paths througli the woods, we do not 
 wonder, even though they were willing to overcome any reasona- 
 
ble difficulties to meot with the people of God, that they should 
 desire, poor and kw as they were, to support the gospel in a 
 place nearer their homes. It was this desire which led them to 
 move in 1740 for incorporation as a separate precinct. They 
 succeeded in their object, after considerable opposition from the 
 people in Shrewsbury, and the General Court granted their re- 
 quest December 17, 1742 
 
 In seeking for an act of incorporation at the hands of the 
 representatives in the General Court, they did not forget the 
 chief reason which had prompted their petition. Part of that 
 petition read as follows : 
 
 " And they (the committee) are further of the opinion that 
 the ministry lands lying within the North Parish should always 
 be for the use and improvement of the minister for the time 
 being that may be settled in the North part aforesaid. And 
 inasmuch as the South part have freely offered to allow the 
 North part, on goinij: off, in consideration of their interest in the 
 meeting-house, a certain sum of money, we apprehend it will be 
 but reasonable that they make payment thereof, viz : £32 10s., 
 lawful money, when the North part shall have erected and 
 covered a suitable frame for a meeting-house for the worship of 
 God among them, and that they be vested with the powers and 
 privileges of a precinct accordingly." 
 
 January 19, 1743, about a month after the granting of the 
 charter, the first meeting of the new precinct was held, and 
 the first parish officers were chosen : Deacon John Keyes, Mode- 
 rator; John Bush, Clerk; John Bush, Joseph Biglo, Deacon 
 Cyprian Keyes, Joshua Houghton and Abner Sawyer, Parish 
 Committee. 
 
 The next meeting was on February 7, when the following, 
 among other items of business, was transacted : 
 
 " 1. Voted <£26 8s. old tenor for eight days' preaching past. 
 2. Voted X50 old tenor for preaching for the future. 3. Voted 
 that Daniel Hastings, Abner Sawyer and Joseph Biglo be a com- 
 mittee to provide a minister 4. Voted that the senter of the 
 North precinct in Shrewsbury, that is South of the Quinnepoxet 
 
I'ivei", or the nearest convenient spot to the senter, l)e the place 
 to set the meeting-house on. o. Voted that Captain Flagg be 
 the surveyor to find the senter oi tlie North precinct in Shrews- 
 bury." 
 
 I'his meeting was adjourned to the 18th of February, 1748, 
 when it was : 
 
 " 1. Tryed whether they would adjourn the buihling of the 
 meetinghouse for the present, and it was i)assed in the negative. 
 2. Voted to build a meeting-house forthwith. 8. Voted to build 
 said house forty-five feet long, thirty-five wide and twenty feet 
 between joints. 4. Voted to choose a committee to Ijuild said 
 house, and that said committee shall have the frame of said 
 house up and covered -vith l)oards and shingles agreeable for 
 said house, and rough l)oarded around the sides, l)y the first of 
 June next." 
 
 Three months to build a meeting-house in those days will 
 compare very favoral)ly with these days, when we take into 
 consideration the disadvantages under which the fathers and 
 founders of this church and town labored. Deacon John Keyes 
 and twelve other disciples of Christ, residing in the the North 
 precinct, signed a petition September 7, 1743, which read as 
 follows : 
 
 '■'•To the Church in Shrewsbiirij : A number of the meml)ers 
 of the same, and dwelling in the North j)recinct, in said town, 
 wisheth grace, mercy and peace ; Reverend, Honored and Be- 
 loved. Wheieas, we, the suljscrilters, together with others of said 
 precinct, and covenanting with us, are, as we trust, in God's 
 providence, called to incorporate into particular church unity of 
 our Lord, these are therefore. huml)ly to request your leave there- 
 fore, and that you grant us a dismission from you, and an inter- 
 est in your prayers, that God would not only settle the gospel 
 ordinances and institutions among us, but ahso grant that pure 
 religion might in this |)lace flourish and al)ound. We subscril)6 
 ourselves your brethren in faith and fellowship." 
 
 This request was granted. Octol)er 6, 1743, the church in 
 Shrewsbury, l^y tiieir elder and messengers, assisted in organ- 
 
6 
 
 izing this church, which by the grace of God contiiuies to this 
 day, having liad an unbroken fellowship with the churches of the 
 Puritan faith. The church had but nineteen male members at 
 its inception, but sixteen females were added to the number m 
 August, making tlie membership thirty-five, all from the South 
 Church in Slirewsbury. The next thing in ordei' was to secure a 
 minister. So on February 28, 1743, in the sixteenth year of his 
 majesty's reign, etc., and five days after they voted to build the 
 meeting-house, a precinct meeting was lield, and Mr. Ebeneezer 
 Morse, a graduate of Harvard University in 1737, was called to 
 settle over them in the gospel ministry. They agreed to give 
 him £400, old tenor, for settlement, and £160, old tenor, a year 
 salary for the first two years, and then £5, old tenor, more 
 every year, gaining £5 a year till it comes to £180, old tenor ; 
 provided that the said Morse shall give a quit claim of the minis- 
 terial lands that are in the North precinct of Shrewsbury to said 
 precinct, if it be by them requested. These terms not being 
 accepted by Mr. Morse, another meeting of the precinct was held 
 March 23d, at whicli a committee was chosen to invite Mr. 
 Morse to meet with them, and it was voted to increase his salary 
 £10 per year, after the first two years till it became £200, old 
 tenor, a year, and so to be higher or lower as provisions shall 
 rise or fall from this time forward, allowing wheat to be at this 
 time twenty shillings per bushel, rye fifteen shillings, Indian ten 
 shillings, oats six shillings, in the North precinct of Shrewsbury, 
 and pork eighteen pence per pound, and beef at eleven pence per 
 pound in Boston." 
 
 Mr. Morse agreed to these terms and accepted the invitation 
 to settle over this parish. Six churclies were invited to meet in 
 council, and they ordained the first pastor of this church October 
 26, 1743, one hundred and forty-three years ago next October. 
 The services took place in the new meeting-house, which had 
 been erected on the common, in front of what is now the old 
 burying ground. 
 
 "Th'e house at the time of the ordination was in a rough, 
 unfinished state, having neither pulpit nor pew — even the floor 
 
was not laid, nor the door nor windows pi-ovided. Tiic next sea- 
 son, 1744, the meetin<^-house was finished." Xovcmliei", 1745, 
 mnst have been a memorable month for the new churcli and 
 parish. Rev. Ebenezer Morse was married to Miss Persis I^u.sh, 
 the danghter of John Bush, the first elerk of the parish. He 
 married a member of his own congregation. What this had to 
 do with liis future relations to the church and parish the records 
 do not say. But so far as we know pastor and people worked 
 harmoniously together until the beginning of the Revolutionary 
 war. Excitement thi-oughout the colonies was intense. Mr. 
 Morse was a Tory, and that meant to many of the enthusiastic 
 revolulionists — a traitor. The majority of the people here were 
 in favor of separation from the mother country. So few were the 
 royalists that their names have been preserved : Rev. Eliene/.er 
 Morse, William Crawford, Jotham Bush, Benjamin Eisk, and 
 Timothy Ross. Mr. Morse and Mr. Crawford were forbidden to 
 keep arms in their possession, the minister was not allowed to go 
 outside his parish, and Mr. Crawford was confined to his farm. 
 The minister in those days was settled for life, and it was not an 
 easy matter to dissolve tlie pastoral relation, unless the pastor 
 resigned. But in time the numerous difficulties were overcome, 
 and an ecclesiastical council dismissed Mr. Morse November 10, 
 1775 — thirty-two years and fifteen days after his ordination. 
 
 lie remained here during the rest of his life, i)reaching for 
 a time to a small congregation, practising medicine, for he was 
 said to be " from the first, a skillful and eminent physician " tmd 
 fitting young men for the university. Mr. Mor.se was a m;in of 
 uncommon intellectual ability, and no doubt an earnest Christian 
 minister. It has been said of him that " he was so bright in the 
 classics as to command, in his retired location, a school of young 
 gentlemen preparing to enter college ; and it was under his 
 thorough tuition and inspiring influence that the foundation of 
 the literary eminence of many in our early history was laid " 
 Mr. Morse continued to live in this town until his death in 1M)2, 
 at the age of 83 years 'J months and 21 days. 
 
 October, 1776, the church gave a call to Mr. Eleazer Eair- 
 
banks, who was graduated at Brown University in 1775. He 
 accepted the call and was ordained March 27, 1777. He was 
 offered £133 Bs. 8d. settlement and a salary of £66 138. 4d., 
 which was afterwards increased to £70 and his settlement to 
 £180. He also married a daughter of one of the officers of his 
 church, Miss Sarah Biglo, whose father was Deacon Amariah 
 Biglo. At the time of the ordination of Mr. Fairbanks the 
 church numbered seventy-one members, twenty-nine males and 
 forty-two females. 
 
 About this time Watts psalms and hymns were introduced. 
 At a precinct meeting, held December 24, 1781, it was "voted to 
 continue congregational singing ; also voted to choose a com- 
 mittee to propose some way in which singing should be performed 
 in this congregation." The precinct " chose seven choristers to 
 tune the psalms." "Also, voted the two hind seats, below, both 
 men's and women's, for the use of the singers." Nothing re- 
 markable is on record concerning the ministry of Mr. Fairbanks, 
 but this town was incorporated while he was here — March 1, 
 1786. In December, 1792, Mr. Fairbanks asked the chuch to 
 dismiss him. The church objected at first, but afterwards con- 
 sented, and he was dismissed with the consent of council April 
 23, 1793, after a pastorate of more than sixteen years. 
 
 March 12, 1794, Mr. Hezekiah Hooper was ordained and 
 installed. At this time the question was raised before the coun- 
 cil in reference to the organization of a new church. "• This 
 moA'e grew out of a controversy between the inhabitants of 
 the Eastern and Western portions of the town in reference to 
 the location of a meeting-house which they had finished the year 
 before. The first move towards the erection of this house was 
 made in the year 1791. A warm controversy arose as to its 
 location, frequent committees were chosen both from this town 
 and neighboring towns. The town was surveyed and measured 
 to find the center, or in some way to fix upon a spot that would 
 be satisfactory to all parties, but without success. The location 
 where the center school-house now stands was finally selected, 
 and the majority, controlling the town, built the house upon that 
 
spot, which was finished in 1793, at an expense of al)out S-l.oOO. 
 Its location was the immediate cause of a division in the town, of 
 the organization of a new church, the incorporation of a second 
 precinct, and after much contention and litigation, resulted in 
 the incorporation of the town of West Boylston." 
 
 When Rev. Mr. ilooper began his labors with this people 
 there were one hundred and eighteen church nicnibers. His 
 salary was <£115. He admitted fifteen members into the church 
 on confession and and five by letter. He died of consumption 
 among his friends in Bridgcwuter, December 2, IT'J.k He was 
 minister here one year, nine months and twenty live days. He 
 was a graduate of Harvard in 1789, and is said to have l)een '• a 
 young man of good talents and attainments, a gentleman in his 
 manners, and a pattern of meekness and humility." After the 
 death of Mr. Hooper, "• the church set apart a day for fasting and 
 prayer, that the death of the late Rev. Hezekiah Hooper might be 
 sanctified to the church and town, and that the church and town 
 might be directed in the choice of an able minister to settle in 
 the work of the ministry, in and over said church and town." 
 
 In .^eptemljer, 1796, the church voted to call Mr. Ward Cot- 
 ton '^ to settle with and over them in the Gospel ministry, ac- 
 cording to the Cambridge Platfoim." The call was accepted, 
 and the ordination took place June 7, 1797. Rev. Ward Cotton 
 was a graduate of Harvard College in 1793. Soon after he 
 began his work here he sought to have the rule in reference to 
 receiving members into the church upon the half-way covenant 
 altered, and he succeeded. This half-way covenant was arranged 
 by a council convened in Boston by order of the General Court 
 in 1662, and it was adopted so as to allow moral persons to 
 " own the covenant" receive the rite of baptism themselves and 
 present their children for the same rite. At that time none but 
 baptised persons could vote. This half way covenant was the 
 ground of much trouble in the churches of New Kngland, and 
 had been discussed on several occasions by this church. Long 
 before Mr. Cotton began his ministry there had l)ccn doctrinal 
 ditTercnces in the Congregational churches of New Kngland. 
 
10 
 
 The early church of the Puritans in America was strictly Calvin- 
 istic and Trinitarian. The church in Shrewsbury was in accord 
 with tlie Puritan faith. In their covenant, adopted in 1723, 
 they say: " We are of judgment that the whole of the well-known 
 Westminster Catechism, as explained by Calvinistic divines, con- 
 tains a just summary of Christian doctrines, as revealed in God's 
 holy word. 
 
 We liave no reason to think that this church had departed 
 from the faith of the church from whence it came, up to the time 
 when Mr. Cotton was settled over this people. Nor has this 
 church ever in its history, as a church, departed from the 
 evangelical faith. It has with all the churches of the same 
 order acted upon the thought of John Robinson in his famous 
 farewell to the Pilgrims of " The Mayflower," that " there was 
 more light to break out from God's word." Mr. Cotton did not 
 claim to be a strict Calvinist when he came here. He entertained 
 some of the views of the so-called '• liberal " divines The 
 majority of the members did not sympathize with his views. A. 
 party spirit grew up in tlie church, which finally resulted in the 
 dissolution of the pastoral relation, June 22, 1825. On the dis- 
 mission of Mr. Cotton lie received from the parish, in addition to 
 his salary, four hundred dollars. 
 
 During the ministry of Mr. Cotton the first Sunday-school 
 was organized in this town. This was in 1818, and it has con- 
 tinued to 1)0 an important auxiliary to the church down to the 
 present time. Mr. Cotton was pastor of this church over twenty- 
 eight yeai-s, and received into its fellowship ninety-eight persons 
 and baptised one hundred. He continued to reside here, preach- 
 ing for some time in a separate building, and died in November, 
 1843, in the seventy- fourth year of his age. 
 
 Mr. Sanford says of him : " As a man, he was amiable, with 
 strong sympathies for those who were in atTliction, obliging in his 
 disposition, took pleasure in conferring favors, and never sought 
 to give unnecessary pain and troul)le to those around him." 
 
 It was not an easy thing for the church to decide upon 
 another pastor. Sonic were for securing a " liberal," others 
 
11 . 
 
 were in favor of a Calviiiist. But after haviiit>; lioard a munbor 
 of candidates, the successful one says : " I came into this place an 
 entire stranger, and happened providentially to pass a Sabbath 
 with this peoi)le 1 was employed as a candidate. The commit- 
 tee to supi)ly the pulpit had already a letter written to a Unita- 
 rian candidate which was not sent. 1 su|)plicd the people, till 
 finally I was settled." This was Mr. Russell. He received a 
 unanimous call from the church ; the parish, by a very large ma- 
 jority, concurred with the church. It is said of the council which 
 was called to ordain Mr. Russell that it '' represented all the 
 isms by whicli the Congregational Church of New England was 
 at that time distracted." " The candidate was made the medium 
 of controversy between them ; the examination was conducted 
 with unusual warmth, and the foundation laid for serious future 
 trouble to the pastor, to the church, the society and the town." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Russell was ordained June 21, 182G, at a time 
 when a division in the Congregational church of New England 
 was taking place, and when both the liberal and orthodox in the 
 church were, many of them, very illiberal, very far from having 
 the spirit of Christ. It is, no doubt, true that Mr. Russell lacked 
 firmness and decision of character, but he was, nevertheless, a 
 man of God, and those who sought to traduce him and take ad- 
 vantage of his natural timidity, did not prove themselves to be 
 better Christians than he. God honored this his servant. His 
 Holy Spirit was poured out, and during this short ministry of 
 less than six years over one hundred persons professed conver- 
 sion. One hundred and four were added to this church. Mr. 
 Russell noticed that " this awakened prejudice," which was no 
 douljt ti'ue. When God works the adversary of God and man 
 workj also. Rev. Samuel Russell was graduated at Dartmouth 
 College in 1821. Dr. Todd says of him : 
 
 '• In his manner and appearance he was simple, unatfcctcd 
 and kind. I have seen him in situations j)eculiarly trying, and 
 yet I never heard him make a severe or unkind remark about 
 any man. His judgment was clear, sound and discriminating. 
 His humility was such that he never performed thos(i duties, to 
 
12 
 
 which most ministers become professionally hardened, without 
 trembling. As a preacher he was plain in manner and plain in 
 matter, but he was uniformly judicious and practical. His tal- 
 ents in the pulpit were not those which astonish and dazzle, but 
 his messages of life were never from an indifferent heart." He 
 was dismissed April 17, 1832. 
 
 Rev. William H. Sanford was the next minister. He was 
 ordained October 17, 1832, and was a graduate of Harvard in 
 the class of 1827. He resolved in the beginning to take no part 
 in the controversy which was going on in the town. His relig- 
 ious sympathies were with the church. His religious principles 
 he could never sacrifice nor compromise. It was his earnest 
 desire that peace and harmony might be restored to the town. 
 He knew that all the blame was not on one side. He had no 
 party triumphs to achieve, no wrongs, either real or imaginary, 
 to redress. He approached every man in town as one who had 
 had no part nor lot in the matter. 
 
 While it may be said that this church owes much to Mr. 
 Russell for saving it to Evangelical Christianity for the future, 
 it also owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Sanford for making the 
 existence of any other church iu this town impossible Mr. San- 
 ford was not only an educated man, but a man of sanctified com- 
 mon sense. Those wlio differed from him felt that he was their 
 friend. So that while in the beginning and daring the continu- 
 ance of his ministry, there were other religious organizations in 
 the town, there was but one wlien lie left, and there has been but 
 one since. He taught tliis church a lesson, which it has not yet 
 forgotten, in its treatment of Christians of other denominations, 
 so that now all who really love Christ and His worship may 
 realize that they are welcome in this church. We are neither 
 Calvinists nor Arminians, but are aiming to be Christians. 
 
 In the spring of 1835 the church and parish determined to 
 build a new meeting-house on a new spot, in place of the old 
 house, whicli had been a cause of division in the town and 
 church. So the building we now worship in was built and 
 solemnly dedicated to Almighty God, December 10, 1835. ''The 
 
13 
 
 Ladies' Benevolent Society," which has existed since 1815, did 
 good service (as they have since j in aiding the j)arish in the 
 buikling of this church. We are pleased to notice that previous 
 to building the new meeeting-house, the church had " voted 
 unanimously that hereafter candidates shall he admitted to this 
 church only upon their subscribing to the principle of total absti- 
 nence from the use of ardent spirits ; and that every violation of 
 this princij)le by persons hereafter admitted shall l)e suy)iect to 
 church discipline. 
 
 While Mr. Sanford continued to labor for the religious and 
 educational improvement of this town, " It was not an uncom- 
 mon thing to hear the inquirer ask what he should do to be 
 saved, nor to hear young converts rejoicing in believing in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." During the first twenty years of his minis- 
 try, one hundred and ten were added to the church on confession 
 of faith. Rev. Mr. Sanford was dismissed September 15, 1857, 
 having been pastor of this church a little less than twenty-five 
 years. He resigned his pastorate because of ill-hcalrh. He was 
 greatly beloved by his people. He died in Worcester, where he 
 resided after his dismission, November 2Tth, 1879, aged seventy- 
 nine years, nine months and thirteen days. 
 
 The church did not succeed in settling another minister, 
 though they had attempted to do so, until October 17, 1801, when 
 Mr. A. Hastings Ross a graduate of Amherst College was or- 
 dained. Before Mr. Ross received and accepted a call to become 
 the pastor of this church, the pulpit had been sui)plied by several 
 ministers and candidates. But the parish did not concur with 
 the church in calling any one until Mr. Ross came hero in the 
 providence of God. He was a minister of growing ability, and 
 attended to matters of discipline which had been, in the ali.^ence 
 of a pastor, neglected. He was also very careful to Impart neces- 
 sary religious instruction to condidates for admission into cburch 
 fellow.ship. During his pastorate the country passed through 
 the great civil war. Mr. Ross olTered himself to the Cliristian 
 Commission, and was away from the parish for some time in their 
 service, and in the service of his country. He was equally patri- 
 
14 
 
 otic with the forty one brave men who went from this town into 
 tlie war of the rebellion 
 
 Mr. Ross resigned to accept a call from the Congregational 
 Churcli at Springfield, Ohio, and was dismissed from this church 
 and parish January 16, 1866. He has become quite prominent 
 in his denomination, having written a manual for Congregational 
 churches, and lie lias also been for several years the Southworth 
 Lecturer on Congregationalism in Andovcr Theological Semin- 
 ary, and Special Lecturer on Church Polity in Oberlin College. 
 He is now Rev. A. Hastings Ross, D. D., of Port Huron, Mich. 
 
 The longest period of pastoral vacancy in the history of this 
 church elapsed between the dismission of Mr. Ross and the settle- 
 ment of his successor. So little is to be found in tlie church and 
 parish records concerning those who supplied during this time, 
 that but little can be said in reference to them. Rev. Andrew 
 Biglow, D. D., a native of this town, and a descendant of one of 
 the early settlers, supplied the pulpit longer than any acting pas- 
 tor of this churcli— from August, 1866, to April, 1873. He died 
 in Southboro September 23, 1882, and left 11,000 to the church 
 here, the income of which is to go toward the support of the 
 gospel. The parsonage was built in 1873. Next to Dr. Bigelow 
 Rev. H. S. Kimball supplied the pulpit for tlie longest period, 
 being here from October 1, 1877, to 1882. While Mr. Kimball 
 was here special meetings were held, in which brethren from 
 Worcester assisted, and considerable religious interest was the 
 result. 
 
 The present pastor was installed April 29, 1884. No coun- 
 cil had met in this church up to that date for nearly a quarter of 
 a century. The church had had no stated supply for over a year 
 when the present pastor began his work. The means of grace 
 were not largely attended, and the faithful few had become some- 
 what discouraged. But the work of the Lord has prospered in 
 our hands, and pastor and people have reason to rejoice together. 
 The attendance upon the Sabbath service is much larger. The 
 Sunday school has grown, and the weekly meetings are unusually 
 large. The church building was repaired and thoroughly 
 
15 
 
 painted and l)caiitilicd in duly, 18H4, and tiic yonng people of 
 the parish bnilt a neat and convenient barn for the parsonage 
 last neccnd)er. The Boyiston Yonn<>; People's Society of Christ- 
 ian endeavor was oganized December 7th, which numbers already 
 fifty-five, forty-four active and eleven associate members, and 
 others arc waiting for admittance. 
 
 The woi'k of grace among the young people here is remark- 
 able, so many young men have given themselves to Christ. 
 
 An event which occurred the 18th oi February last, brought 
 sorrow to our hearts. One whose warm, loving heart had ever 
 beaten in sympathy with all that was highest and best in this 
 community, who was a real friend to the church and ministry, 
 was called by the Master he so ardently loved and so gladly 
 served, to his reward. Jolin B. Goiigh, the great temperance 
 orator and philanthropist, is no longer a nieml)er of this con- 
 gregation, no longer a resident of this town, wliich he had made 
 his home for nearly forty years ; he is now a resident of the .ew 
 J.erusalem. He bids us, by his life and death, press forward 
 in the work for Christ and the souls of our fellow men. And 
 shall we not be faithful in the performance of Christian duty ? 
 Let us do what we can to make this town a Cliristian town in 
 every sense of the word. We shall not live to see its bi-cen- 
 tennial. But our acts of love, our self-denying opposition to sin, 
 may tell upon the next hundred years in this town's history. If 
 the one hundred and fifty-four members of our Sunday-school, 
 the one hundred and thirty-six members of our church (thirty of 
 whom have united with us during the present pastorate), will 
 only give themselves fidly to the Lord Jesus Christ, this whole 
 townshij) shall come under the reign of the King of Kings and 
 the Lord of Lords long Ijefore the close of another century I 
 
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