f^ '-iS Class n^ BookJ=dli411 Fifth Meeting House. Corner South Common and Vine Streets. Dedicated August 29, 1872. Cost $52,919.13. Seating capacity, 1,000. Spire 160 feet high. The organ a memorial to Cliristopher and Joanna Bubier. The bell a gift from the Sunday School, cast by William Blake, 187! CELEBRATION OF THE 27t^th Anniversary OF The First Church of Christ Organized June 8, I632 LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS Sunday, June Ninth Nineteen Hundred Seven LYNN, MASS. Press of Thos. P. Nichols & Sons 1907 Preliminary THE manifest propriety of suitably observing such a unique event as the two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of this, which in the maintenance of faith and adherence to site is the oldest church organization in this country, was generally recognized, and preliminary meas- ures were taken well in advance for its celebration. On March 2, 1906, the Church voted to observe, by appropriate exercises, the Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary of its organization, and proceeded to the appointment of a committee to act jointly with one from the Parish. At a Parish Meeting held May i, 1906, the Society re- ceived the communication from the Church, giving infor- mation of its action, and voted to concur with the Church, and the joint committee on the Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary was organized as follows : Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary Committee Chairman, C. J. H. Woodbury Clerk, Henry R. French From the Church From the Parish Herbert P. Boynton Henry R. French Philip Emerson Freeman H. Newhall Miss Leila W. Holder J. L. Pendleton Guilford S. Newhall Louis M. Schmidt Rev. George W. Owen C. J. H. Woodbury Miss Clara M. Staton George A. Wilson 14 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary Deacon George H. Martin and Miss Sadie W. Martin were appointed on this committee and performed efficient work, but resigned before the anniversary meeting on ac- count of their departure for Europe. This committee held a number of meetings and decided upon the exercises, whose details were carried into effect by sub-committees on programme, finance, invitations, music, decorations, hospitality and publication. In this work the sub-committees were assisted by a number who were not members of the general committee. The close relation of the history of this Church with the affairs of the town, especially during the colonial period in which the events occurring in this county have war- ranted the declaration that "Essex County is the most historic county in America," rendered it proper that the Municipality and the Lynn Historical Society should par- ticipate in the exercises. The invitations were accepted on the part of the City by the Mayor, and the attendance of members of the City Government ; while the Lynn Historical Society, on Oct. 15, 1906, by action of its Council accepted the invitation and appointed a committee on the subject, and a repre- sentative to speak on behalf of that organization. Fur- thermore, the Historical Society took action relative to the erection of a memorial tablet to commemorate the site of the Old Tunnel Meeting House, but this had not been carried into effect at the time of the celebration. In addition to the above, official invitations were also sent to all the Churches in Lynn, to the Congregational Churches in Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, Nahant, Preliminary 15 Salem, Marblehead, Beverly and Peabody. To the ed- itors of the Congregaiionalist, to all past officers of the Church, and to absent members. A general invitation was cordially extended to the public through the daily press. The Meeting House was decorated for the occasion with the Colonial colors and also the National colors, in addition to which the committee on decoration made two silk ban- ners which bore the names of the Pastors of the Church, and floral decorations added to the occasion. The communion set of Colonial silver contributed by various donors was brought out and placed on the com- munion table for the first time for many years, as its use has been displaced by the modern individual cups. Members of the congregation cordially assisted in every detail where they could be of service. The infirm and the aged were brought to the meeting-house in automobiles and carriages of the members of the Parish. While the services of those connected with the Church or its ministrations may not require specific mention, yet it should be stated that the thanks of the Church and Parish are cordially tendered to the many whose services were given to this occasion. Mr. B. J. Lang, who was organist at the old church in 1 85 1 and 1852, renewed his acquaintances and presided at the organ during the afternoon and evening services, con- ducting the musical numbers for which the special chorus had been trained by Mrs. Gertrude Hinman Rice, the Organist of the Church. A number of the members of the Lynn Oratorio Society 1 6 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary contributed to the musical portion of the service by joining with the regular Church Choir. In addition to solos by Miss Grace Tufts and Mrs. Harriet Russell Hart of the choir, Miss Louise Woodbury sang solo parts in the oratorio numbers, and Mrs. Paul W. Brickett played the violin at the morning service. The services were reported in Boston and Lynn news- papers, especially the Lynn Daily Evening Item and the Lynn Evening News,oi June lo, 1907, whose accounts were extensive and accurate. Several light showers occurred during the day but the threatening, rather than stormy, weather did not prevent the Meeting House from being filled to repletion at each service. Extensive researches have been made to obtain ac- curate lists of former ministers and officers, and dates when given in full are those of authentic record, and a majority of them are here published for the first time. C. J. H. Woodbury, Freeman H. NewhaIvL, J. L. Pendleton, Guilford S. Newhall, Committee on Publication. Programme 17 Programme MEMORIAL SERVICE 10.30 A.M. Prelude — Flute Concerto ..... Rink Hymn 120 — "Lyons" Haydn Invocation — By the Pastor Gloria Violin Solo — "Adoration" .... . Borowski I Mrs. PAUL W. BRICKETT. Responsive Reading Pastor : How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! People : My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. Pastor : Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Thine altars, Jehovah of hosts, My King and my God. People : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: They will be still praising Thee. Pastor : Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; In whose heart are the highways to Zion. 1 8 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary People : Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain corereth it with blessings. All : They go from strength to strength ; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. Solo — " Fear Not Ye, Israel " .... Buck Mrs. HARRIET RUSSELL HART. Scripture Genesis xii, verses 1-5 ; Psalm cv, verses 1-15 ; Ephesians i, verses 3-14. Rbv. W.^SHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., LL.D. Prayer Rev. JAMES MORRIS WHITON. Ph.D. Anthem — "King All Glorious" .... Barnhy Offertory — Ricondate ..... Gottschalk Historical Sermon — "The Development of Theology in the First Church in Lynn." Rev. GEORGE W. OWEN, A.M., Pastor. Anniversary Hymn — To the tune of Duke Street . Hatton (Written for this occasion by the Pastor.) Hail! Ancient Church! by God's own hand Led on through generations long; Herald of truth in Freedom's Land; Thy hallowed age but makes thee strong. For fathers, founders, faithful, all, So loyal to thy destiny, Who here have raised the Gospel call, Our grateful song to God shall be. Majestic as the rolling sun. We see thy providential way; Thy hallowed history's but begun; Still grows the lustre of thy day. Programme 19 Thou, Guardian of this Church, O God, Keep us united, pure and true; The way of faith our fathers trod May we in loyalty pursue. God of our fathers, God of grace, make us loyal to their fame! When we shall see Thee face to face May future ages bless our name! Address, Retrospect and Prospect. Rev. JAMES MORRIS WHITON, Ph.D., New York City, Pastor 1865-1869. Anthem— "Unfold, Ye Portals" .... Gounod DoxoLOGY — "Old Hundred" J^^ane Benediction Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D. PostludeinF Guilmant Mrs. GERTRUDE HINMAN RICE, Organist. Programme CIVIC AND HISTORICAL SERVICE 2.30 P.M. Organ Prelude — Improvisation upon Luther's " Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott " Mr. B. J. LANG. Hymn 1336 — " America" 'Smii/i Scripture — Deuteronomy iv, verses 1-20 . Rev. GEORGE W. MANSFIELD, Lynn. Pastor Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. 20 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary Prayer Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., LL.D. Chorus — "The Heavens are Telling," from "The Creation" Haydn Welcome C. J. H. WOODBURY, A.M., Sc.D., Chairmaa of the Anniversary Committee. Address — The Parish and the Community. His Honor, CHARLES NEAL BARNEY, A.B., LL.B., Mayor of Lynn. Aria — "Hear ye, Israel," from "Elijah" . . Mendelssohn Miss LOUISE WOODBURY. Address — "The Parting of the Ways between Parish and Town" Hon. NATHAN MORTIMER HAWKES. Representing The Lynn Historical Society. Aria — "O, Rest in the Lord," from "Elijah" Mendelssohn Mrs. HARRIET RUSSELL HART. Address on behalf of Sister Churches Rev. frank W. PADELFORD, Lynn. Minister of Washington Street Baptist Church. The Communion Service and its Donors . JOHN ALBREE, Swampscott, and Miss ELLEN MUDGE BURRILL, Lynn. Chorus — "The Hallelujah Chorus," from "The Messiah" Handel (The Congregation will please rise.) Benediction Rev. frank W. PADELFORD. Mr. B. J. LANG at the Organ. Programme 2 1 Programme THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE 7. P.M. Organ Prelude Lang Hymn 1312 — "Duke Street" Hatton God, beneath Thy guiding hand Our exiled fathers crossed the sea. Scripture — Ephesians chapter i, verse 15, to chapter ii, verse 10 Rev. JOHN O. HAARVIG. Prayer Rev. ARTHUR J. COVELL, Lynn. Pastor of North Congregational Church. Aria — " Resurrection of Lazarus " . . . • Pugno Miss GRACE TUFTS. Address — Faith's Wider Vision. Rev. JOHN O. HAARVIG, Allston, Mass., Pastor 1893-1895. Hymn 1019 — "St. Ann's" Croft O, where are Kings and Empires now, Of old that went and came? Sermon — "The Church of the Future" .... Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., LL.D., Columbus, O. Trio — "Lift Thine Eyes" . . . Mendelssohn Misses TUFTS, WOODBURY and Mrs. HART. Chorus — "He, Watching Over Israel," from "Elijah" Mendelssohn Benediction Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., LL.D. Mr. B. J. LANG at the Organ. 22 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary The Church Choir augmented by members of the Lynn Oratorio Society. Chorus Sopranos *Miss A. Lillian Bishop *Mrs. Herbert P. Boynton Mrs. Effie Thomson Breed *Miss Lillian F. Finney *Mrs. Samuel L. Marden *Miss C. Belle Messinger Mrs. Charles S. Murray Miss Mary A. Newhall *Miss Elsie Ostrander *Miss Grace Tufts Miss Helen Watts Miss Louise Woodbury Contraltos Mrs. Annie M. Bramhall Miss S. Annie Davis Mrs. Philip Emerson *Mrs. Harriet Russell Hart *Miss Beulah M. Hinman George L. Bray Frederick L. Eno Raymond Q. Fox *Charles B. Hamilton W. Frederick Haskell Tenors Miss Allison P. Low *Miss Ella F. Marsh *Miss Cora B. H. Powers *Miss Katherine Stahl Miss Grace L. Trafton ♦Samuel L. Marden *Samuel H. Newhall Fred M. Phillips Ernest L. Proctor Edwin H. Russell James Edward Aborn ♦Herbert P. Boynton Dr. Nathaniel P. Breed *Paul W. Brickett Robert Bruce William W. Butman Basses ♦Arthur G. Kelley Clifton E. Knowlton Charles S. Murray ♦Ernest G. Ostrander ♦Herbert W. Rice Eugene D. Russell George W. Walsh * Members of the Church Choir. ivv h[k[^\,h\k[h[^i%^i *^ ■*rfi ^>3 ^ j^jyjiii:Mi^.iiMii:^^:4^^ EXERCISES OF THE FIRST OHTJRCH AND SOCIETY IN LYNN, OCTOBER, 1827 O prai . Gnd in hi. holiopst, iim in Ihe rtrn.acnr nt of hil power j 1. Anthem.- Prai<»e him npft Prsi.f hil t'raise bii ccordnig 1 1 liH excflleni grealnen; 1 tbe sound of (he tratnpel i (he lute and harp ; hitn nn -irii.g;? and pipes, .... cry Ihiog Ihal halh brealh, praise Ibe Lord, 2. Introductory Prayer and Reading Scripture. 3. lOOtk Psalm, L. M. \st Part ^ale* with fon^s of joy. 1. Ye nations of the earih rpjoice. Belurf (he Lord your ..-.v'rrijn Km?; Serve him wiih cheerful hejrl Hod »oi Wilh all your longurs his glory sing. 2. The Lord u God ;— 'li» he alone Doth life snd brealh and being ?ite ; We are hi< work, and not our o>to. The (beep Ibal oo his pailures live. F.ntei With r - . . And make it your divine employ. To pay your thanks and bono The Lord i« pood ; the Lord i Great is bis prace, hn mercy surf ; And the whole race of man shnll find, His truth from age to age endure. there. id; *r5 5. 1. WiMiin the.e wall., our fathers reared. And hallowed long by prayer and praisa To Thee, who h.nt so oft appeared For tbeir relief in ancient day* ; 2, We come a»ain our thanks to yield, O G..d I thou merciful and true ; And pray Ihat thou may'sl be our shield Since ivc have built tUy bouse aoeiv. 4. Dedicatory Prayer. Hymn. (fVritienfor the occasion.) 1. O make this temple all Ihy own, Here may thy troth and mercy shine; And let thy heavenly ^radf ho known, Till every will shall bow to thioe. H.re may the doctrine of onr Lord, He pure as once by Cedron's wave ; Here may nur cbij Iren learn thy word. And know thy ooigbty power lo save. Great Kin? of ?tory, come Aod with Ihy favour, ciowa This temple as thy dome— This people R« Ihy own; eneath this root. O deigo to sho*, ow G.'d can dwell with men be'.off. llere nuv thine ears attend Thv people's t.umhie iPlol praise a- end. litre m.iy '^y woiH melodious soood, And spread ;;le»twljoys around. 6. Sermon. 7. Select Hymn. 3. Here may the ntlenlire throng, Imbibe thy truth and love; And cuDverHJomthe song Of seraphim above; Ami will4ig crowds surround thy hoard, Wlh sacred joy, aod sweet accord. y Here may our imboro sons And daughters sound thy praise; And shine like polished ^lone^, Through long Bufcecding days; Here, Lord display thy saving power, While leoiplet alaod, and meQ adore. I 8. Prayer. 9. Doxology. PRICITLO LI THE L'iHK Exeifises lield October 27, 1827, at 10.30 a.m. Introductory Prayer Rev. Mr. Taft of Hamilton; ReadinK Scripture, Rev. Mr. Oliphant, of Beverly; Dedicatory Prayer, Rev. Mr. Dana, of Marhlehead ; Sermon, Rev. Otis Roclvwood, pastor, text Psalm 87, verse 2; concluding; Prayer, Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Salem. At a Parish Meeting, September 17, it was voted to invite .-Monzo Lewis to write an original hymn, but the Fifth number on the programme bears indications that the honor was declined. At the same meeting it was voted tliat ' none of the committee should Line the Musick at these exercises." Fellowship Meeting June 7, 1907 THE peculiar relation existing between the First Church and the neighboring Congregational churches, by reason of the fact that most of these churches had their origin from the First Church, found expression in a Fellowship Meeting on Friday evening, June 7, in the audi- torium. To this service the following churches were especially invited: the Congregational churches of Saugus, Clifton- dale, Lynnfield, Swampscott, and Nahant; the Central, North, Chestnut Street, and Scandinavian Congregational churches of Lynn. "The Unchangeable Christ" was the theme of a strong, scholarly, and timely sermon by the Rev. Arthur J. Covell, pastor of the North Church. The Communion of the Lord's Supper was observed with the Rev. Charles F. Weeden, pastor of the Central Church, and the Rev. W. B. Ronald, pastor of the Church of Saugus, in charge; being assisted by deacons chosen from the various churches. The other pastors present assisted in the various parts of the service. The prayer meetings of the invited churches having been merged into this one service, there was a good attendance, and those present felt that the united life had received an impetus that would be helpful in practical co-operation. I?ev. GEORGE WILLIAM OWEN. Add resses THE following addresses were given during the exercises on Sunday, June 9, 1907. RESPONSIVE READING Pastor : How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! People : My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah ; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. Pastor : Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Thine altars, Jehovah of hosts, My King and my God. People : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house : They will he still praising Thee. Pastor : Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee In whose heart are the highways to Zion. People : Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs ; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. All : They go from strength to strength ; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. Scripture — Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D. 25 READING OF SCRIPTURE Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D. Genesis XII. 1 . Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee : 2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing. 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee : and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gath- ered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan they came. Psalm CV. 1 . Oh give thanks unto the Lord ; call upon his name ; make known his deeds among the people. 2. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him : talk ye of all his wondrous works. 3. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 26 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary 4. Seek the Lord, and his strength; seek his face ever- more. 5. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. 7. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 8. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. 1 1 . Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance : 12. When they were but a few men in number; yea very few, and strangers in it. 13. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people. 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15. Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Ephesians I. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Scripture — Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D. 27 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and with- out blame before him in love : 5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 . In whom we have redemption through his blood , the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ; 8. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence ; 9. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven , and which are on earth ; even in him : 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, be- ing predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will; 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who iirst trusted in Christ. 13. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise. 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEOLOGY IN THE FIRST CHURCH IN LYNN. Rev. George W. Owen, A.M., Pastor. MOST heartily do we welcome the two hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of this church's natal day. Not as those who see glory only in the past and who look forward to nothing except oblivion, but as those who see in the momentum that has been gained, a start, and a promise of better things to come, do we rejoice. Fluently and easily do we speak the words, two hundred seventy-fifth anniversary, but only as we begin to give the period a content, do we realize the vastness and im- portance of the period. The trend of time has been pro- gressive yet not without many retroactions. There has been much of suffering and sacrifice and somewhat of failure, though more of joyful service and glorious achieve- ment. The time of George Washington and the Revolutionary War seems far distant, but this church had rounded out a full century of organized and beneficent activity before George Washington was born, in 1732. This church is one hundred and fifty-five years older than the Constitu- tion of the United States. Imagine that Samuel Whiting could return to earth to-day and, standing upon the summit of Old High Rock, view with wondering eyes the ocean and land upon which he gazed of old : the hundred churches, where in his day Fourth Meeting House. As Originally Built. Corner South Common and Vine Streets as originally built, being the largest in Essex County. Seating capacity 900. Tower 119 feet high. Dedicated February 1, 1837. Front steps removed in the summer of 1849 and accommodations for two shoe factories made on the ground floor, each side of the entrance. Address — Rev. George W. Owen, AM. 29 was one little meeting-house ; forests, farms and dwellings replaced with massive factories and office buildings; vehicles darting hither and thither with no visible power of locomotion; large school houses; a network of curious wires now and then emitting bright sparks; the sea ploughed by vast steamers unknown to his day. Suppose his vision could be on a Fourth of July or a Memorial Day, and his host should explain to him the tragic, yet grand events that were being celebrated. Suppose he should descend and walk through our streets beholding faces marked with the characteristics of nearly every nation under heaven. Suppose he could enter this building and gaze into the faces of this happy assembly, noting the changed garb, the different thought, the varied religious beUefs and practices. While his astonishment would be unbounded, and while many things might stir his right- eous indignation, yet I think he would feel that he had come into a world where there is as much of faith and hope and love as there was in the world that he left. For the particular scene of my present efforts, I have chosen a field that has not yet been occupied in our church history, and will attempt to give an outline of the Teaching of the First Church in Lynn, indicating what has been the theological basis of the different periods in our history and tracing the progress and retrogression in thought. It is often said that the interest in theology is dying, if not already dead, but this is not true. The interest in theology is perennial. The fact that a purely theolog- ical book published a few weeks ago, earned $5,000 in royalties before it was printed, had a sale of about ten 30 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary thousand copies the day it was off the press, and went through five editions in a week, does not indicate that in- terest in theology is waning.* There is a popular theological anarchy whose ad- herents say that they do not care upon what principles the moral government of the world is based, so long as they can subsist in comfort and prosperity by obeying a few practical rules. One has said that all that sad humanity needs is the "art of being kind," but we must not forget that every art has its science and that without a study of the science the art degenerates. It is the grossest superficiality that does not see that the work- ing principles of social life are based upon the deepest truths concerning God, man and destiny. It is evident that the nearer we get to the truth in these deeper matters, the better will be our working principles. We cannot be indifferent to theology any more than we can be indifferent to the principles upon which our government is estab- lished; for, as it makes a vast difference whether we be- lieve in the divine right of kings or in the divine right of the people ; so it makes a great difference whether we be- lieve that God is a tyrant, or that He is a kind Father willing the good of all His creatures. Hence, it may be interesting, as well as profitable, to trace the development of theological thought in the history of our church with a view to clearing our own vision and suggesting our working principles for the future. We are favored in having a complete list of ministers with • This refers to " The New Theology." The fignres are from statements in Tfif Conpirgationaliit. Address — Rev. George W . Owen, A.M. 31 the dates of the beginning and the end of each pastorate. The general course of our history is well known through several popular and unpopular works ; but the teaching of the church has never been treated in a comprehensive way. The material for this subject is found mostly in scattered sermons and treatises that are distributed among the vari- ous libraries in this county. The claim has formerly been made that this is the oldest church in America that has changed neither its location nor its faith. Upon the souvenir post card, published for this occasion, the second part of this claim has been al- tered to the effect that the church has not changed its de- nomination. A general survey of the history shows that belief of pastors and people has been constantly changing, surging forward and then backward like the waves of the sea. Yet we believe that as the tide steadily rises, in spite of the rush and recession of the waves, so the fluctuations have been only incidents in the progress of truth and righteousness. Our theological history may be divided into four periods. The first period begins with the organization of the church in 1632 and extends through the pastorate of Jeremiah Shepard, which terminated in 1720. Stephen Bachiler, the first pastor, was a man of independent spirit, not noted for his discretion. His later life was clouded and we know little of what he actually preached in Lynn. The other pastors of this period were Samuel Whiting,, Thomas Cobbet, and Jeremiah Shepard. The church was born about one hundred years after the Reformation. Popular thought had reacted from the 32 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary supremacy of the church, and had attached supreme au- thority to the Bible as the word of God and the infalUble rule of faith and practice. The doctrine of the justifica- tion of each individual through his own personal faith made every believer a priest. Since every believer had direct communication with God, the voice of God could be found most surely in the collective voice of believers; therefore pope and priest were unnecessary, the authority of believers as such being the foundation for the independ- ent or autonomous church. Calvinism was almost a synonym for Protestant the- ology. The logical foundation of Calvinism is the doc- trine of the sovereignty of God. He has created all things for His own glory and both by purpose and by action is working out that glory through the sin and damnation of some, and through the righteousness and salvation of others. Current theological thought then gives us these three great foundation truths: the authority of the Bible, the priesthood of believers and the sovereignty of God. It is natural that in the early period of our church history we should find these three Reformation doctrines strongly present. During the pastorate of Samuel Whiting, a Lynn lay- man, named Edward Holyoke, published a book called "The Doctrine of Life and of Man's Redemption," which probably gives a more thorough outline of early local theology than any other writing. By an elaborate exposition of Scripture he enforces the current theology of his time with certain variations. The following para- Address — Rev. George IV. Owen, A.M. 33 phrases and quotations will give an idea of his views. God is one in essence, three-fold in personality, a Being that cannot be conceived or comprehended by the human mind, but Who is revealed in Scripture. The fall of man was occasioned by the mediation of fallen angels, who, col- lectively constitute the devil. The Bible chronology then in vogue is inerrant. There were 2513 years of tradition before Moses, and 3960 years from the first promise in Genesis iii, 15, to the death of our Lord. Whoever doubts the exactness of these dates is accursed. Concerning the doctrine of election we read (Page 17): "God hath decreed what shall be the estate of the cor- rupted masse of mankind; that some shall be the seed of Satan, and the children of perdition, and that some shall be elected, predestinated, and adopted Sons of God, by Faith in Christ, and heirs of salvation." Again we find the following: " The Mighty Elohim the eternall Be- ing hath created and disposed all things in Christ for the good of his Elect." (Page 9, section 13.) Through racial connection with Adam all mankind de- serve eternal punishment. But Christ by His sacrifice has satisfied the demands of justice so that reconciliation is possible. (Page 189.) Therefore God has power to choose whom He will to be benefitted by this satisfaction and to be saved. Of the unregenerate it is said, "His prayer is turned into sin." The poor unelected outcasts have no alternative by this system but to con- tinue in infidelity and wickedness, waxing worse and worse, with no prospect but an eternity of woe; and they have no complaint to make because by racial connection 34 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary with Adam they are guilty and condemned. God is all- wise and all-powerful and disposes all things according to His wisdom, having mercy on some when all deserve damnation. In his book on the vindication of baptism for the children of church members, Thomas Cobbet clearly implies this same doctrine when he says that not all children of church members are elect, but they are externally, federally, and ecclesiastically members of the kingdom and have a right to receive its outward tokens. One regrettable element of this early period is its vindic- tiveness. Holyoke's tender regard for the unenlightened is expressed in the phrase, " Idolatrous heathen and such like, blind, ignorant sots." (Page 9.) He further says: "All other religions * * are abominable, and all com- munion with such is no better then the communion with devills." (Page 53.) He says that those who teach any other doctrine are to be accursed. (Pages 54-55.) Even the devout Whiting considered Quaker doctrines dangerous and seductive, although he believed that the others were too severe upon the Friends : and the saintly Shepard called the Indians " monsters of Cruelty." Re- ferring to the plague of small-pox, he said: " The Lord swept away thousands of those Salvage tawnies, those cursed Devil worshippers." But the teaching was not all gloomy and vindictive. Although the emphasis was largely upon the sterner as- pects of doctrine, yet the practical freedom of man's will was recognized, and in the practical work of these pastors there was a great deal of good sense and brotherliness. Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 35 On June 15, 1648, Margaret Jones was executed at Boston for being a witch. From this event to the melancholy spectacle on Gallows Hill, in Salem, in 1792, those unfortu- nate victims who were accused of complicity with the devil were often before the courts. In his Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, William Whiting, Esq., says (page 100) : " While this horrible madness ruled the minds of the mem- bers of the General Court, the magistrates, and most of the clergy, there was one minister of the gospel, Rev. Samuel Whiting, who, from disbelief in the existence of witchcraft, or from obedience to the dictates of an en- lightened conscience, gave no countenance to the persecu- tion of the so-called witches." The reason for this cannot be that there were no persons in Lynn who might have been suspected ; for if the Lynn of that time was a forerunner of later Lynn, it would not have been without such a thriving religious eccentricity. Such is the prominence of our city that anything strange or heretical that is believed or practiced anywhere is not worth notice if it has no adherents in Lynn! In the ab- sence of this persecution in Lynn, we have evidence of the good common sense of our early ministers and their staunch followers. In spite of his close theological distinctions, Thomas Cobbet, in his discourse on prayer advised all to avoid quibbling over matters of doctrine. Says he, " The heads and hearts both of Preachers and Professors shall bee so busily and continually taken up with endless disputes, that they shall have little leisure or list to attend the practicals of Religion, wherein the life and power of pure Religion 36 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary doth mainly consist. Disputing times about the Specu- latives of ReHgion, are wont to be declining times in the Practicals, and Vitals thereof. Witness former ages wherein the School-men and their notions flourished, but purity and power of Religion withered." In spite of the narrow vice in which the theology of the time held him, we see here a generous, practical spirit longing for the best things in church and in society. The first church covenant in Lynn is not known, but it was probably similar to that in Salem which we quote : " We covenant with our Lord and with one another, and we do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together, in all His ways, according as He is pleased to reveal Him- self to us." It is difficult to harmonize the theological dis- putings of contemporaneous writers with the generous and progressive spirit of this simple covenant. It may be that because the church was homogeneous there was little need of an elaborate statement of faith; but I think that the germs of religious freedom were working, and that we find the highest expression of the religious life in this simple dependence upon the guiding presence of God rather than in the dogmatism of the theological dis- courses. This first period, then, was strong in the faith, in- tolerant, vindictive, and yet characterized by a practical sense of brotherhood and a spirit of progress in practical affairs. The second period in the theological history of our church begins with the ordination of Nathaniel Henchman in 1720, and extends to the ordination of Otis Rockwood Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 37 in 18 18. Obadiah Parsons was accused of immorality. Isaac Hurd seems to have been a man of spotless charac- ter, but of Unitarian tendencies, and soon resigned.* In the other three men of this period, whose collective minis- tries covered about eighty years, Nathaniel Henchman, John Treadwell and Thomas Gushing Thacher, we find Christian gentlemen of a high order. The fact that the church declined in membership, and was rent with dissensions during a large part of this time, has been regarded by previous writers as a providential punishment for the unorthodox doctrines that these men preached ; but I am convinced that other reasons must be assigned. An examination of their extant sermons does not show that they were unorthodox except in the points of Calvinism that history has rejected. The most serious charge against them is that they were Arminian, which means that they believed in the freedom of the will and the universal call of God as ordinarily held to-day. There is no indication of any doctrine that would have caused difficulty in an ordination council among present-day Con- gregationalists. Their preaching resembled more that of our own time than did the preaching of Jeremiah Shep- ard, or Otis Rockwood, or Parsons Cooke. They believed in the Bible as the "standing revelation of God;" they believed in the final judgment; they believed in Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God and the Saviour of men. From the sermons of Thacher, I quote the following sen- tences : ' ' Immortality was the privilege conferred by God upon human nature in a state of innocency; but • He returned later to Calvinistic belief. 38 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary death was a part of the punishment inflicted upon fallen man." " ' God made man upright, but he sought out many inventions.' By his apostasy from God, how dreadful was his fall! The primitive rectitude of his nature was per- verted; the moral image of God upon his soul was quite obscured * *. But blessed be the Lord our Redeemer, who has made atonement for our sins, reconciled us to God, and 'given us the spirit of adoption.' Hence the right- eous are now the children of God, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, and by the renewing of their minds, through the influence of the Holy Spirit." In 1795, it was the sad duty of Thacher to preach the funeral sermon of eight seamen who were drowned in a wreck off from Lynn Beach. There was only one sur- vivor from the wreck, and he, being present at the service, in the presence of the eight corpses of his drowned ship- mates, was addressed in these words : " Perhaps I may never see you more ; certainly I do not expect again thus publicly to address you. Let me, then, most affectionate- ly exhort you, by the solemnities of a dying hour, as you value your own soul, and by a regard to that Providence which has preserved you, to repent of all your sins, to turn unto the Lord Jesus Christ, upon whose merits alone are founded our hopes of pardon, grace and glory. Never will a man be less excusable than you will be, if you now neglect this loud call of Providence, if you do not devote the remainder of your days to the service of that God who has, and can only sustain you." In July, 1803, Mr. and Mrs. Miles Shorey, who lived on Boston Street, were killed by lightning. In the funeral Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 39 sermon Mr. Thacher says that through confession and re- pentance we are saved "by the dying love of a crucified Redeemer." He insists that this love is available for all. " ' Come unto me,' is a universal call, and if we are obedient to the call, God assists us with the aid of the spirit." "Freely the fountain flows, unrestricted is the Divine be- nignity." It is very evident that according to our judgment of his- tory, the doctrines that I have just quoted would not ac- count for a serious decline in the history of the church. They are not more heterodox than the doctrines of the Methodist Church, which has had a numerical success far exceeding that of our own body. They are not more heter- odox than the teachings of Henry Ward Beecher, Lyman Abbott, George A. Gordon, the two eminent divines in whose presence I have the honor to be upon this platform,* and many other ministers whose preaching has attracted thousands. We cannot say then that these men did not build up the church simply because they were not ortho- dox. We must remind ourselves also that a small follow- ing is not an infallible sign of heterodoxy. Some prophets of truth have had a small hearing in their own day, and some heresies have attracted their thousands. We must judge of the truth on its own merits and not simply by its apparent success. Some reasons may be suggested for the falling off of church membership. I suggest first, the unsettled state of thought. Layman and minister alike had begun to chal- *Rev. James M. Whiton, Ph.D. Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D. 40 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary lenge not so much the basis of the Calvinistic theology, as some of the conclusions to which its adherents and also its opposers forced it. Since it was not longer practicable to kill or banish all who differed from the old views, there- fore the discordant elements were left to fight the matter out together. As they had not yet learned to do this peaceably, and as both sides were intolerant, it is no wonder that the church did not grow. Out of this conflict were born other churches. Had there been less intolerance among our membership there might have been fewer deflections. The ministry of this period inclined to liberal views, though it was not Unita- rian. Now if Jeremiah Shepard and Parsons Cooke are to be excused from narrowness and dogmatism because of the spirit of the time, certainly Henchman and Treadwell and Thacher are to be excused for liberalness on the same ground. The first serious trouble was over the refusal of Mr. Henchman to permit the evangelist, Whitefield, to preach in his pulpit. Our pastor was as fearless as Parsons Cooke in his attitude and writings concerning this matter, and I think his reasons were as good as those urged later by Parsons Cooke against Henry Ward Beecher. For a con- siderable time, Mr. Henchman seems to have been the only one bold enough to sign his name to his writings against Whitefield, and every one who hates the principle of anonymous writing, must admire him for his manliness. Nor was his attitude more bitter than that of the evan- gelist, Whitefield, who wrote of a criticising pamphlet : " The Design of the pamphlet itself is base and wicked, * * Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 41 intended to eclipse the great work in New England and in- validate the testimonies," etc. This is an assertion of mo- tive, as presumptuous as anything written by Henchman. It should be borne in mind that our pastor had as col- leagues many of the New England ministers, and also the faculty of Harvard College, who strenuously opposed White- field. Whitefield declared that his design was, "to hew Stones for the Temple of God, and leave him to lay them where He pleas'd." Upon the title page of his pamphlet. Henchman quoted Proverbs xxvii, 12 : " The prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." History has proven that it is not al- ways a wise thing to hew stones and leave them lying about unless careful provision is made for putting them into a building. We should bear in mind, also, that cautiousness is not only excusable but proper, especially when the means for investigating the record and actions of a travelling preach- er are as limited as they were in those days. Deprive yourself of the mail train, the ocean liner, the telegraph, the telephone ; let a travelling preacher stand before you, who is discountenanced by many worthy ministers, and whose methods seem far from dignified and sane; would you vote to admit him to this pulpit, or would you, like Henchman, demand proof of his ministry ? Experience has proven, even in Lynn, that the membership of a church can distrust the opinion of accredited ministers, and put their confidence in a stranger at the expense of the church and its life. I am not criticising Whitefield, I am excusing Henchman. 42 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary We must give the laymen their share of the bad reputa- tion of this period. When Saul wished the death of David he sent him out to fight with the Philistines, saying, " Let not my hand be upon him but let the hand of the Philis- tines be upon him." Parsons Cooke tells of one or more individuals who were instrumental in getting Obadiah Parsons here, believing that he was an unworthy man and secretly desiring that his coming would work havoc in the church. Whether Obadiah Parsons were guilty or not it would seem that some of the la3^men who helped to en- gage him were guilty. They would not kill the church, but would like to see Parsons do it. During this period occurred the Revolutionary War^ with its terrible distractions and its bad effect upon relig- ious life. It has been noted elsewhere, as well as in Lynn, that those who engaged in the conflict were likely to be- come demoralized, and even if they survived to return to their native places, often came back alienated from the church. John Tread well, pastor at this time took a whole- some and righteous interest in the conduct of the war. He is ever remembered as having carried his musket and powder into the pulpit with his Bible. Before the war we were distracted; after it, we were demoralized. Lynn is said to have had its own little tea party when several women besieged a Tower Hill baker and destroyed his tainted tea. The Half Way Covenant has frequently been referred to as a source of havoc and an indication of heterodoxy; but aside from its political features, the provisions of this Covenant are generally accepted to-day. Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 43 The period indicates the depression that comes from strife, rather than the truth or falsity of any system of doctrine. Let us no more think of this period as one in which Satan had a mortgage on our church, but as a time of storm and stress through which God was working out His purpose to "make Himself an everlasting name." The third period of our theological history extends from the year 18 18 to 1864, and includes the names of Otis Rock wood, David Peabody, and Parsons Cooke. They were not only strong in the faith but they were men of exceptional personalities. Rockwood and Cooke were men of great decision and force. They gave through the gospel trumpet no uncertain sound. Parsons Cooke was almost as dogmatic as R. J. Campbell, of London, is to- day, but on a different basis. Peabody excelled as a scholar and a Christian gentleman. Twelve living members of this church, some of whom are present this morning, have been in membership fifty years or more, and consequently will recall much of the preaching of this time. One of these. Miss Eunice Sher- lock, was a member of the church twenty-four years dur- ing the pastorate of Parsons Cooke, and as he died forty- three years ago, she has been in continuous membership for sixty-seven years. This period, which some present can recall, was a time of undiluted Calvinism, when the Westminster Confession sat on the right hand of the throne of power and the church prospered. Immediately after his ordination, Mr. Rock- wood began to preach the doctrines of total depravity and election which had fallen into disuse during the preceding 44 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary century. The efifect was two-fold. The doubters, being repelled, found refuge with the Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, or in the formation of the Unitarian Society. On the other hand, the conservative element, strengthened and united, formed a harmonious, though much reduced company, with a definite faith and an earnest purpose. Other churches had been established to which those of dif- ferent beliefs could go, and though appealing to a limited constituency, the growth of this church was more rapid than it could be under conditions of discord. The growth of the church is to be attributed probably more to this establishment of harmony, and to the de- cision and earnestness of the ministers, than to the quality of the doctrines preached. There is little doubt that in our day the teaching of Thacher or Henchman would at- tract a greater number of conscientious worshippers than would that of Parsons Cooke or Otis Rockwood. If this is true, it shows that it was not the possession of undiluted truth, but the fact of a harmonious and united constitu- ency that accounts for the rejuvenation and new growth in material things. In passing, I wish to remark concerning a statement that I have frequently heard. Several have told me that one of our former pastors used the expression that " hell is paved with the skulls of infants." I believe that this is absolute- ly without foundation and charge each one to produce his evidence before quoting this remark. We have enough to answer for, but I have found no proof that my worthy pre- decessors ever carried damnation to such an extent as this. Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 45 In the second volume of his Centuries, Dr. Cooke, with his usual force, denies the charge that he or any Calvinist teaches infant damnation. He says, "The show of such teaching is made out in the quotation by cutting from its connection a passage in which the doctrine is taught, not that infants are actually damned, but that they are justly liable to condemnation." (Page 27.) He is answering a series of editorials in Zion's Herald, in 1855, by the Rev. Daniel Wise, D.D., attacking Dr. Cooke's first volume. The point of the controversy is not whether infants are damned, which neither Dr. Cooke nor Dr. Wise believed, but whether Calvinistic theology sanctions such belief. The saying, "Hell is paved with infant skulls," in one form or another has been charged against Calvinistic the- ologians and preachers for an indefinite time, and may have originated before the time of Calvin. It probably had its origin with the enemies of the system and not with its preachers. The opponents were not slow to see that it is a logical outcome of the strict doctrine of election, and eagerly picked up anything which implied it. Some of the early theologians believed that unelected infants went to a place of mild condemnation, or to a Limbus Infantum, where there was no positive suffering, while there were not the full joys of heaven, (cf. Augus- tine, Dante.) On the other hand, Irenaeus says, "Christ came to save all men by Himself," and he seems to imply that little children are among those who are born again and saved through the merits of Christ. Probably most of the preachers, as well as the theolog- ians, since the time of Him who said, " Of such is the king- 46 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary . dom of heaven," have reserved a way for the positive sal- vation of infants even when they could not make it a logical part of their system. There have been two general ways of providing for their salvation consistently with the doctrine of total depravity. Some have said that the merits of Christ avail for them without any preparation of their own. Some have believed that they are saved through a certain " unconscious and unspoken" faith that they possess. Dr. Watson in his Institutes (Vol. II, p. 57), admits that infants share in the whole curse, physical death and eternal damnation; but claims that they are saved from the latter according to Romans v, 18. The present universal belief in the salvation of infants refers for confirmation to the words of Jesus in Matthew xix, 14. In view of these facts, it is an indication of ignorance and credulity to ascribe the teaching of the horrible doc- trine referred to, either to Dr. Cooke or to his theological associates. The fourth period of our theological history began with the coming of Dr. James M. Whiton, in 1865, and extends to the present day. It must be characterized as a time of variety and liberalness in teaching. If you will look through the catalogue of any ordinary theological library, you will find abundant evidence of the scholarship and eminent influence in the world of thought that character- izes the successor of Parsons Cooke, whom we are favored to have with us this morning. Although I have never seen Rev. Walter Barton, who was pastor twenty-five years ago, I have learned from his writings and from the reminiscences of some of our Address — Rev. George W . Owen, A.M. 47 members, to love him both as a Christian scholar, and as a faithful minister. I have not time to mention later names which are familiar to very many and do not need discussion. I would like, however, to bear witness to the many evidences I have found to the Christian spirit of my immediate predecessor, and to say that in many ways my work has been easier because of his unselfish and conscientious labor for the kingdom of Christ. These later pastors have been strong, earnest, faithful men and into this noble succession of pastors anyone might be justly proud to be counted worthy to enter. During this later period, the church has in general been prosperous, especially when allowance is made for the pe- culiar conditions under which its work has been done. The removal of the old families and the constant fluctu- ation in the newer population, have called for heroism and self-sacrifice. We can reverse the old adage and say, " Like people, like priest ; " for during the first three periods the average pastorate was of about sixteen years' duration. During this later period, the pastorates have been about five years in length. Twenty-five years ago, in his histori- cal address, Walter Barton said that in the year 1877, there were more admissions to membership in the church than there had been in any previous year so far as the rec- ords show. There have not been received a like number in any succeeding year, but the faithful workers of this church may be encouraged to know that during the latest three years of its history, more members have been received than during any other period of three successive years. "Showers of blessing are good, but a steady rain is bet- 48 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary. ter." We are not simply looking backward but for- ward. The development of thought in our own church which I have discussed, has been a part of a larger development of thought in the Christian world. Beginning with the as- cendency of the church of Rome there was a period in which supreme authority was lodged in the church. Be- ginning with the time of the Reformation and covering most of our own local history, was a period when the seat of authority was found in the Bible. In the later period, in which we are living, the basis of authority is shifting from the church and from the Bible to the realm of the individual conscience. There are certain historic facts recorded in the Bible which will never be outworn, but in the realm of truth the authority of the Bible is found only when it is recognized and approved by the individual con- science. We are depending more in these days upon the present Spirit of God working upon the heart and mind of man than upon any crystallized expression which that Spirit has made in the past and which is subject to differ- ent interpretations. We have lost the vindictiveness of the earlier teaching. With complacency and even with joy we can see other churches prospering and see the kingdom spreading even upon a doctrinal basis slightly different from our own. We have learned not only tolerance, but brotherliness. While we are only one church now instead of the only one. yet we are the mother of many and the sister of all others. The cause of this better relation is largely in our differ- ent attitude toward truth. We do not claim to have Address — Rev. George W. Owen, A.M. 49 reached the summit. We are still on the hillside, but we believe that we are farther up than were our ancestors. We recognize that others maybe still further up than we. We realize, also, that some may be lower down, but we are on the hillside struggling upward and our horizon is still enlarging. We do not mentally circumscribe all truth by the limits of our present horizon. We celebrate not simply a culmination but a promise, and while we devoutly say, "These all died in faith," we can also say, " God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." While we look backward and "see what God hath wrought," we also look forward and believe that He " is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." " Unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever and ever. Amen." 50 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary ANNIVERSARY HYMN. To the tune of Duke Street.— (//a/ion.) (Written for this occasion by the Pastor.) Hail! Ancient Church! by God's own hand Led on through generations long; Herald of truth in Freedom's Land; Thy hallowed age but makes thee strong. For fathers, founders, faithful, all, So loyal to thy destiny. Who here have raised the Gospel call, Our grateful song to God shall be. Majestic as the rolling sun, We see thy providential way; Thy hallowed history 's but begun; Still grows the lustre of thy day. Thou, Guardian of this Church, O God, Keep us united, pure and true; The way of faith our fathers trod May we in loyalty pursue. God of our fathers, God of grace, make us loyal to their fame! When we shall see Thee face to face May future ages bless our name! Fourth Meeting House. After Front Steps Were Removed. In tlip Slimmer of 1856, the gallery was extended, pew doors removed, Ras intro- duced, walls and lellings frescoed, and new vestry made under south-e.asterly portions of the buildinft. In 1865 mahogany pulpit lowered and its doors removed. In iSeptember, 1869, addition built at rear for new organ, m.ahogany pulpit removed ami small black walnut pulpit now used in vestry placed on a platform. Blinds and sashes removed and stained glass substituted. Destroyed by fire commencing at 5 p.m., December 25, 1870. ADDRESS — RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. Rev. James Morris Whiton, Ph.D., New York City, Pastor 1865-1869. ON ANNIVERSARY days we naturally recall the past. As I look into your faces, above them seems to hover a vision of that utterly different congregation before which I first stood on this ground. I recall their custom of standing through the prayers, and of facing toward the door while singing the last hymn, as if the minister had said, "Arise, let us go hence." The city I recall is scarcely a third as large as this of to- day; the country has more than doubled in population since then, and eight States have added their stars to our flag. The Nation, a world-power now, courted by all and fearing none, was then just emerging victorious from a struggle for its life — the President of its Confederate foes having been taken prisoner on the day I became your pastor. Immense the contrast between then and now! Im- mense even in the homeliest matters. Think of paying, as then, 50 cents a yard for cotton cloth, 50 cents a pound for butter by the firkin, $2.00 a pound for breakfast tea, and so on, out of a salary of $1800 with a United States income tax deducted. At such a time it is the good wife on whom the burden bears heaviest. She is the savior of the situation. Well, the Union is worth far more than all it cost us. 52 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary A great transition had then been just accomphshed. The design of the framers of our National Constitution in 1787, to make " a more perfect Union," was finally real- ized in 1865, when discordant States had been hammered into an indissoluble Nation on the anvil of civil war. An- other great transition, not political but theological, was then approaching, but we did not know it; we realize it now. The last three decades of the nineteenth century wit- nessed a greater intellectual change than any period since Luther's time. The new idea of the unvierse, which Copernicus introduced in 1 543 by showing that our earth is flying through the heavens, instead of the heavens re- volving round the earth, as all had supposed, was matched before this house rose from the ashes of its predecessor by the new idea that Darwin gave of man, as physically de- scended from ancient animal forms, instead of being cre- ated by a fiat of Almighty power 6000 years ago, according to traditional belief. Darwin's epoch-making book was published in New York so recently as 1 87 1 . This made havoc of an import- ant part of the current evangelical theology — the doc- trine held since the fifth century, that the sin of Adam had involved all mankind in ruin. The biological doctrine of evolution was consequently denounced by theologians as "infidel" and "atheistic." The result was what hap- pened to the bull that bore down against the locomotive. The good men who quoted Scripture against biology are now classed with the good men who quoted it against the new astronomy. When Henry Ward Beecher showed Address — Rev. James Morris Whiton, Ph.D. 53 Plymouth Church that the new science of biology required him to reject the orthodox doctrine of the poisoning of the human race, so to speak, in its cradle, certain ministers crowded him out of their fellowship in the New York and Brooklyn Association. That happened so recently as 1882; now it reads more like ancient history, so far have we gotten past that sort of thing. In fact, before 1895, the so-called New England Theology, a mitigated form of Calvinism, had "perished from off the face of the earth " — I quote the words of its sympathetic historian in a re- cent book. Why was this? Because Calvinism represented God's work of redemption from sin as a reconstruction of the humanity that was supposed to be spoiled by the sin of Adam. Accordingly it fell before the new science, which has taught us to regard divine redemption as a con- structive work, carrying forward from the origin of man- kind the evolution of the spiritual humanity, which in the ages to come shall exhibit in perfected man the image of his Father, God. The result to real Christianity has been as if painted stucco had been scraped off from white marble on which it had been overlaid. The real Christ in the glory of his divine humanity has been revealed to us as our Elder Brother, who saves us through our imitation of him. In that collapse of the theology which, forty years ago, was supposed to be as enduring as the sun, other factors, of course, helped, chiefly the critical study of the Bible, but of this there is no time to speak. I only observe that the great transition from mediaeval to modern ideas of man 54 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary as related to God has been practically accomplished, at least in the Congregational churches. Sharp the contrast in the theological situation and its burning questions then and now! Nowhere is it sharper than right here. It is hard to realize now that the great question raised by the Council that examined me as to my qualifications for a pas- torate here was the moral state of new-born infants. For in 1865 this church was still standing, with a few others like minded, for even an older type of Calvinism than that of the now defunct New England theology. There was unwillingness to have any pulpit exchanges with Methodist neighbors. There was unwillingness to have any profes- sors from Andover Seminary preach in the pastor's vaca- tion, because that institution was suspected of insufficient orthodoxy. To say that a man might not be soundly or- thodox as to the Trinity and yet be saved, was thought dangerous doctrine. A far cry it is to such an attitude, but that was only forty years ago. But let us honor those who were true to the light that was in them, however dim, and live up to our own convic- tions as they lived up to theirs. The church of that day used its intellectual and spirit- ual equipment well. During my pastorate, 1865- 1869, it received nearly a hundred new members — forty-eight of them on confession of faith. The church of to-day, with the same spiritual and a better intellectual equipment, is capable of even better results. From this backward look we turn to the forward. We have seen that the church was nearing a great transition, Address — Rev. James Morris Whiton, Ph.D. 55 and knew it not. To-day it is facing, nay, already enter- ing another great transition period, and is more or less con- scious of the fact. Only those can be unconscious of it who do not read and think. The past transition was theological, from mediaeval to modern conceptions of man as related to God. The pres- ent transition is sociological, to more fraternal conceptions of man as related to his fellow-man in society. The theo- logical transition accomplished an intellectual reform in the readjustment of dogma to science. The sociological transition has a moral reform to accomplish in readjusting the relation of the individual to society, and especially the relation of the strong to the weak. The former issue was mainly within the church itself; the present issue is between the church and the masses outside, who cry for social justice, and watch to see what sympathy their cry arouses. As soon as the Civil War ended, a period of marvelous material expansion began. For many years all social in- terests were profligately sacrificed to individual rapacity for wealth. This is now in a fair way to be curbed by long-needed laws. But quite apart from the enormous rascality which has necessitated the general house-cleaning now going on in Federal, State, and City governments, there are grave inequities, no less iniquitous, of which our social system must be purged, or Christianity must suffer disastrous defeat. When the laborer's wages cannot procure a sanitary home for the cradle of his babes; when his children have to be taken from school to earn their bread; when their 56 Two Hundred Seventy- fifth Anniversary mother has to give herself to the factory rather than to her family ; when industry destroys more lives than the battle- field, the contrast between such conditions and the splen- did opulence to which they minister evidences that many humble producers of wealth are denied their economic rights, and that social justice is set aside. On one side the scientific economist testifies that it is really so. On the other side, while conditions are, on the whole, better in Massachusetts than in other States, and in Lynn than in many cities, yet everywhere in Christendom are economic wrongs and little brothers disinherited. These look to the churches as the professed moral leaders of the world, and as bound to plead their cause. What should the church do but imitate her Founder? He dealt with the great problem of human need on this principle: first, the natural, then the spiritual, as Paul has phrased it. Through his ministry of help to natural needs he made way for his spiritual uplift. First he healed, then he instructed. But we have reversed this; have put the spiritual first, neglecting the natural; have been content with preaching righteousness to those that needed first to experience its practice. The church that shows herself concerned for " the square deal" of full human opportunity for the humblest private in the industrial army will not lack response to her gospel of the Eternal Life. As in Jesus' experience so the church will find that saving deeds must open the heart to saving truths. Look at what the church is doing in China and India to-day. We see the medical missionary by his cure of bodies winning entrance for the evangelist in the cure Address — Rev. James Morris Whiton, Ph.D. 57 of souls. Do we not seem to hear the Master's words, "Go thou, and do hkewise' ? Some of our churches have rediscovered this primitive way, and are entering it successfully. For doing the same this church needs no better precedent than its own history. Here I recall the fact that, just before the old house burned, it was opened for the first of a series of meetings, which had to be continued elsewhere through the winter of 1870-71 ; the object of which, as planned by the pastor, Mr. Joseph Cook, was to offer a free platform for the discussion of economic and other problems of special interest to operatives in the factories of Lynn. Such a precedent seems a clear call to this ancient church, to couple with its primacy of age in the Congregational brotherhood a pri- macy of effort to revive throughout its sphere of influence this truest imitation of Christ in his way of winning men's hearts to his religious lessons by his ministry to their nat- ural needs. It is the plain rule of common sense, that if we would draw men to interest themselves in what inter- ests us, we must first show interest in what interests them. Twenty-five years ago it was my privilege to assist in the celebration of your quarter-millenial anniversary. I treasure the remembrance of it. I prize the opportunity, again mine after the lapse of a quarter-century, to honor the bond of personal interest which links me to the church that initiated me into the cares and comforts of the gospel ministry. Twenty-five years hence, when its three hund- redth anniversary shall be celebrated, though I shall not be here, some of you, surviving then, and looking upon 58 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary surrounding conditions much changed from the present, will recall the anticipations I utter to-day of the transition period we are entering. The prospect is not cloudless. Trustworthy readers of the signs of the times utter grave warnings. In the book advertisements for this month I find such titles as "Chris- tianity and the Social Crisis," " The Church and the Chang- ing Order" — books by eminent Christian teachers. The social suspicions and strifes that are rampant be- tween the " Haves" and the " Have-nots" are the inflam- matory symptoms of moral unsoundness in our social order. Lawlessness afflicts the land, and many are the prophets of evil. Whether such clouds are to burst into the tornado, or to melt away into the blue sky, depends now on the fidelity of the church of God to her supreme trust — to secure his righteousness between man and man, and in every man, both in social and in private life. Of this we see auspicious omens. In many a pulpit through- out the land the old prophetic fire is already kindled against wrongs that have grown rotten-ripe for judgment. A revival of the public conscience seems to have begun. Only let there be no half-way work for social righteous- ness. Then, twenty-five years hence, men shall look back on the monstrous evils that corrupt American life to-day, somewhat as we look back on the legalized barbarism that brought forth its fruit in " bleeding Kansas" and the battlefields of the Civil War. To-day is a day for us here to gird our spirits for the earnest but peaceful struggle that shall issue in a purified democracy, and in that ideal Commonwealth in which every altar of human need is served as an altar of God. READING OF SCRIPTURES. Rev. George W. Mansfield, Ivynn. Deuteronomy IV. 1. Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may Hve, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. 2. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 3. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. 5. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6. Keep therefore and do them : for this is your wis- dom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say. Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ? 8. And what nation is there so great, that hathstat- 6o Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary utes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul dili- gently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons : 10. Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me. Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 1 1 . And ye came near and stood under the mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire : ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no sim- ilitude; only ye heard a voice. 13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tablets of stone. 14. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire : 16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female. Scriptures — Rev. George W. Mansfield 6i 17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air. 18. The likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters be- neath the earth: 19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath di- vided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. ADDRESS OF WELCOME. C. J. H. WOODBtTRY, A.M., Sc.D. Chairman of the Anniversary Committee. IN COMMEMORATING two and three-quarters centuries of continued existence, this church, unchanged in de- nominational faith and site, celebrates an event which is not vouchsafed to any other church in this country. The change which denoted that indication of modern civilization in appreciating the advantages of specialized skill, appears to have been first shown by the separation of town and parish ; a momentous step in advance in Ameri- can history, which left the one to attend to the functions of civic government, and freed the church from the burden of secular authority, so that it could infuse its beneficent in- fluences over a wider scope, thereby acting with greater force in leading mankind towards better lives. History is frequently presented in such condensed narra- tive that merely names and dates are impressed on the mind, to the exclusion of far more important relations of movements to each other, and of their influences upon events which follow even at great distances. The Puritans were not of the peasantry but were among the most prosperous people of England, being possessed of material resources and imbued with that forceful intelli- gence which constitutes leadership in every community. Many of them were entitled to heraldic crests, to wear court dress and swords of ceremony, and there was a Address — C. J. H. Woodbury, Sc.D. 63 greater proportion of " misters " among them than there is of the society of scholars in these days of fecund col- leges. While precise figures as to the amount of property that the head of a family should possess to join the colony can- not be stated, yet it is evident that he must be in liberal circumstances for those times; records show that furs, silk apparel and plate abounded in the Colony. At the time when this church was established, the wages of skilled mechanics in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay varied from fourteen pence to two shillings a day. Trans- portation across the sea was far more expensive than at present, and the entire outfit for the new homes must be brought by the colonists. It is true that they suffered during the early winters, but this was due to their ignorance of a severer climate than that of Old England, for which they were unprepared, and not on account of poverty ; there was indeed penury at a later date, but it occurred in the second generation. Their intellectual force is shown by the successful man- ner in which they applied the principles of law developed under generations of monarchies, to the solution of prob- lems of local self-government, and beyond that they initiated new functions of government, especially the written ballot, trade schools, free public education, town government, the separation of church and state, citizen militia, paper money, and the record of deeds and mort- gages, all of which has contributed to the establishment of this Republic as the most potent nation in the world. When anyone ignores the record of these pioneers whom 64 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary Carlyle characterized as " the last of the heroisms," or beHttles their acts, he betrays the insignificance of his own origin. To these exercises commemorative of the deeds of our forbears, you are welcome, as you are always cordially wel- come here. Remarks — Chairman 65 The Chairman: The duties which a man owes to the town he lives in, constitute responsibilities which have been met by one who has obeyed the calls of the people to the chief magistracy of this city, time and again. I have pleasure in introducing to you His Honor, Charles Neal Barney, Mayor of Lynn. ADDRESS THE PARISH AND THE COMMUNITY. His Honor Chari.es Neal Barney, A.B., LL.B., Mayor of Lynn. T BRING to this venerable religious society, this after- * noon, the greetings of the community that once, as a par- ish, maintained and supported this church. I do so in the full belief that every impartial member of this communi- ty, be he Orthodox or Liberal, Protestant or Catholic, Jew or Gentile, if he but be a student of American history, recognizes in this church of the Puritan fathers, the great custodian of the evolutionary processes of American lib- erties. Others will emphasize the religious history of this particular parish and perhaps of the great system of the Established Church in Massachusetts to which this society belonged. It is for me to speak of its connection with the civic life of Lynn. But it is impossible to do this without a brief glance at the origin of the church. The early settlers of Massachusetts were for the most part English Puritans. They bitterly complained of the intolerance of the Established Church of the mother country and came here to escape it, or, as the historians like to put it, "in order that they might worship God ac- cording to the dictates of their own consciences." Our English forbears have frequently been charged with lack- ing any real sense of humor. Had they possessed it, how- ever, it is perhaps too much to expect that in the Seven- Address — Hon. Charles Neal Barney 67 teenth Century they would have appreciated how their inconsistencies would have appeared to their descendants ! Less than ten years after the first settlement of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, there occurred in the synod of the churches held at Cambridge, an event which meant that in religion Massachusetts, the land of exile for the victims of English intolerance, was for two centuries to be equally as intolerant of any theology not approved by its founders and leaders. The Synod of 1637 sat for twenty-four days and when it adjourned had succeeded in recording eighty-two different forms of heresy existing in the Colony, "some blasphe- mous, others erroneous, and all unsafe." Two months later, probably in the same Cambridge meeting-house, oc- curred the trial of Anne Hutchinson, the arch heretic, and as the result of a proceeding undoubtedly extra-judicial, she was banished from the Colony. In summing up the case, Governor Winthrop, who presided at the trial, defined her offence and the policy of the Colony when he said, " Your course is not to be suffered * * * * ^e see not that any should have authority to set up any other exercises besides which authority has already set up." In other words there had become an Established Church in Massa- chusetts, which continued nearly two hundred years, until 1833. This parish was the official church of Lynn and continued to be so. I claim blood descent from the first minister of this so- ciety, and most of you here this afternoon claim the theo- logical heritage of this church as yours. Of the early the- ology it is not fitting that I should speak. But neither 68 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary filial respect nor even patriotism has any place in the judg- ment of the history of our forbears. We are not respon- sible for the short-comings of our ancestors, nor is it to our credit they did well some of the things they had to do. The student of history seeks for cause and effect, and hav- ing found these he holds them as bits of the Eternal Truth, for the use of which in the future he is responsible. Now it is perfectly apparent that in this community there was an almost anomalous condition, difficult of ex- planation and yet not to be disputed. I refer to the con- dition which resulted from the requirement of strictest conformity to the Established Church in religious matters, but permitted the utmost liberality in the ideals and prac- tices of government. There was absolute domination by the clergy in early Massachusetts. The resulting over-insistence upon the importance of theological discussion served to make all literature and all thinking, for the first one hundred and fifty years of the life of the Colony, a useless and never- ending controversy about theology, with little insistence upon the fruits of religion. Cotton Mather's " Magnalia," the works of Jonathan Edwards, and Wigglesworth's poem, entitled, "The Day of Doom," in which the Al- mighty is pictured as explaining to unregenerate infants, confined in " the easiest room in Hell," why it is impudent of them to expect anything better — these represent the best literary efforts in an age that, in the mother coun- try, produced that group of brilliant writers and thinkers beginning with Milton and ending with Johnson. But the clergy of early Massachusetts not only domi- Address — Hon. Charles Neal Barney 69 nated the literature and general thought of the time, but the civic life as well. And here is the anomaly. In other lines of thought the clergy had stood for repression ; in the growth of civil liberty, however, in the development of the principle of human equality before the law, the clergy and people of this Colony played a highly creditable part. And after all, human equality was a much more novel prop- osition in the history of civilization than was religious tol- eration, which had found frequent expression from age to age in different lands and among divers people. The ministers, Samuel Whiting and Jeremiah Shepard, were by far the most influential and important men in Lynn in the Seventeenth Century, as Cotton and Increase Mather were in the Colony. The first body of laws was drawn by Rev. Nathaniel Ward of Agawam, in 1641, and by him annotated with frequent references to the Scrip- tures. No great public questions were settled, or even considered, without the counsel of the clergy. The leaders of thought in Massachusetts had brought with them the seed of that social and political truth for which the English Commonwealth later stood and of which Milton and Cromwell were the great English exponents. The traditions of all civilization proved to be against the persistence of any theory of social equality in England. With the accession of Charles II to the throne, the Com- monwealth became a mere incident. But the seed that was transplanted to Massachusetts found lodgment in dif- ferent soil. It has been said by some that industrial con- ditions in the New World made an actual equality that hastened the acceptance of the theory of equality. To 70 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary refute this suggestion we have but to contrast the develop- ment of ideals in Massachusetts and in Virginia, and to reflect that Massachusetts had practically settled in 1780 great principles that were only established in Virginia in 1865. The spirit of the laws drawn by the Agawam min- ister and the development of the town meeting in New England had paved the way for Democracy. And in the town meeting as in everything else the church was the pre- dominating factor. It is true that as late as 1772 the catalogue of Harvard College gave special prominence to the names of the sons of certain families in the Colonies, and that after the organization of the Supreme Court in this State, that august body held that the description of a gentleman in a writ, as a "yeoman," was cause for the abatement of the writ. But despite these occasional reminders of an old system, by the outbreak of the Revolution, human equality before the law had reached in Massachusetts a full acceptance never before accorded it in the world. During the period of its evolution. New England had been absolutely dominated by the church of the Puritans. The closing quarter of the Third Century of this society finds its relation to the community far different from that in its earlier days. Men and women strong in the faith of the fathers still come here in goodly numbers to worship and to receive the message from their minister. But no longer does the parish number every member of the com- munity, nor is membership in the church a pre-requisite for voting for officers of the civil government; no longer does this church or any church, or all the churches, dom- Address — Hon. Charles Neal Barney 71 inate the social, educational, philanthropic and civic life of the people of the Third Plantation ; no longer do discus- sions of immaterial theological questions absorb the best energies and attentions of the people. Some good people profess to believe that these changes mean the loss of the usefulness of the church, and that the end of the Third Century will see this ancient organization with little of its former prowess. To all such let me say, as I believe this community in its moments of deepest thought would have me say, that in the new adjustment of social affairs, in the broader spirit of co-operation between men, in the greater toleration of the beliefs of others, in the widening influence of organi- zations that now do what the church formerly did in the way of benevolence and education, there is opportunity for the evolution of the church to larger rather than to lesser responsibilities. As the horizons of men grow broader and their activities become greater, it is absolutely essential to the progress of the race and the maintenance of the social order, that the hold men have upon Eternal Truth shall be stronger and their visions of the Perfect Life clearer and more effective. In the year 1907, in the City of Lynn, this church still bears a relation to the civic life that no man has a right to underestimate. In this day when human ingenuity has placed at our command forces of nature not dreamed of a century ago, we boast of our industries and our prosperity and, alas, too often count our success by accumulated wealth! The life of this church has covered a period of remarkable advance and has contributed much to the 72 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary progress of our great city and to the ideals of Democracy in America. But, fellow citizens, is it any insignificant task to endeavor to hold the vantage ground in civilization that we have already attained? Are the temptations of men any less compelling than those of two centuries ago? Are the needs of men for spiritual consolation and uplift any the less urgent? The Christian Church may no longer speak to the community with the voice of organized au- thority as it spoke in the Seventeenth Century. But it does speak through the life of the individual and furnishes the incentive in every great struggle after truth. Its mes- sage is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; but it must always be interpreted in the light of the Eternal Pres- ent. 'T is as easy to be heroes as to sit the idle slaves Of a legendary virtue carved upon our fathers' graves, Worshippers of light ancestral make the present light a crime; Was the Mayflower launched by cowards, steered by men be- hind their time? Turn those tracks towards Past or Future, that make Ply- mouth Rock sublime? They were men of present valor, stalwart old iconoclasts, Unconvinced by axe or gibbet that all virtue was the Past's; But we make their truth our falsehood, thinking that hath made us free. Hoarding it in mouldy parchments, while our tender spirits flee The rude grasp of that great Impulse which drove them across the sea. Address — Hon. Charles Neal Barney 73 *' New occasions teach new duties; time makes ancient good un- couth; i^j> They must upward still and onward that^ould keep abreast of Truth; Lo, before us gleam her camp fires! We ourselves must Pil- grims be, Launch our Mayflower and steer boldly thro' the desperate winter sea, Nor^y the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key." <^ '•^' 74 Two Hundred Seventy-fifth Anniversary The Chairman: A counselor learned in the law, who has graced the bench, an honored public servant of both City and Commonwealth, also a profound investigator into the deeds of the past, which he has recorded in English pure and undefiled, is worthy of the homage of his townspeople. It is my privilege to introduce to you the Honorable Nathan Mortimer Hawkes, who represents the Lynn His- torical Society, which is believed to be the largest local organization of the kind in this country. Second Meeting House. Called the Old Tunnel on aecount of the roof of its cupola. It set on the Common on a line diajionally from the present meeting house towards Whiting Street. Built 1682 from timber cut in Meeting House Swamp in the Lynn Woods Altered in 1716. by porches, oak pulpit and sounding board imported from England. In 1737, new roof and other repairs cost £464-12-5. In 1771, four gables taken down and the ■' ornament " built over the bell, giving the building its time-honored nickname. Original bell unknown; second bell imported from England 1699, was cracked in cele- brating the peace of Ghent and the battle of New Orleans, the news of both reaching Lynn at 10 a.m., Feb. 13. 1815. Bell recast by Paul Revere