F 104 
 .ri7 B8 
 Copy 1 
 
 7 / 
 
 -^ 
 
 f 
 
 "'tjri). 
 
 THANKSai'^^f^ ■ SERMON,! 
 
 F[RST ( 
 
 ■^ONN., 
 
 Fovornber 23, lo58. 
 
 .) ON A Til AN iVit AC 1^:, D. >.. 
 
 N E \V H /v \^ !■: N : 
 I' 1! I \ T K 1} Y K . n A V •: s , .v) c !i \ r r. i. s r . 
 
 1 8 o s 
 
 
 
a Ccaf of Milfori Cjistorji. 
 
 THANKSGIVB'G SEEMON, 
 
 PKEACHED IN THE 
 
 FIRST CHURCH, MILFORD, CONN., 
 
 November 25, 1858. 
 
 'O 
 
 JONATHAN BRACE, D.D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 PRINTED BY E. HAYES, 50 CHAPEL ST. 
 
 1858. 
 
F 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Psalm cxliii : 5. — / remember the days of old. 
 
 The Poet — Young, tells us "'Tis greatly wise to talk 
 with our past hours ; " and David thought that it was well 
 to call to mind former days. "I remember," he says, 
 " the days of old." 
 
 The future is mostly concealed from us. We cannot 
 lift the curtain which hides it from our sight. Not so with 
 the past. To that we can go back, and find in the review 
 entertainment and profit. 
 
 The advantages of the study of history are many and 
 various. It invigorates and enriches the mind ; it improves 
 the memory ; it gratifies a natural and worthy desire to 
 be acquainted with remote transactions ; it enables us to 
 avail ourselves of the experience of our predecessors ; it 
 informs and regulates our judgment ; and it " is profitable 
 for reproof, for correction," and for strengthening the sen- 
 timents of virtue. Indeed, a knowledge of history is not 
 only indispensable to the man of letters, but should be 
 sought by every person who would not be often con- 
 founded, and mortified because of his ignorance. 
 
4 
 
 More than half of that Book of Books — the Holy 
 Bible, consists of history, and a familiarity with it is 
 necessary to enable us fully to understand another con- 
 siderable portion of this precious volume which is denom- 
 inated prophetic. 
 
 The earliest records of humanity are found in the 
 sacred Scriptures, and for this reason, if for no other, 
 they have the first claim on our diligent study. Next to 
 this inspired history, our own town, commonwealth, and 
 country should receive our notice : for important as is an 
 acquaintance with Persian, Grecian, Roman, and Euro- 
 pean history, a thorough knowledge of American history 
 is to us more valuable. 
 
 Six years ago, on an occasion like the present, I gave a 
 brief account — which was subsequently printed by your 
 request, of the First Church in Milford. It was appro- 
 priate to commence here, for this Church was coeval 
 with the New Haven colony, and may properly be re- 
 garded as the parent of the civil state. I now propose to 
 group together concerning it, and the Town we inhabit, 
 such other particulars not then mentioned, as can be 
 brought within the limits of a single discourse, and which 
 may be considered most deserving of our remembrance. 
 
 Standing, after the lapse of nearly two hundred and 
 twenty years, on the spot selected by the first setUers as 
 their abode, what a contrast between the condition of 
 things here then, and this condition now! The same 
 stream indeed is here, pursuing its shining way to Long 
 Island Sound, which rolled then ; and the Sound, now, as 
 
then, mirrors the heavens in its placid bosom, or breaks its 
 foam-capped waves upon the beach ; — but all else how 
 changed ! The dark tangled forests have gone ; the wild 
 beasts which prowled there for prey are gone likewise ; 
 the Indians with their canoes, wigwams, council-fires and 
 terrific war-whoop have also disappeared ; and in their 
 place we have fertile fields, smiling gardens, tasteful com- 
 modious dwellings, a civilized community, and temples of 
 the living God. Could the primitive inhabitants of our 
 village, " burst their cerements," come out of their sepul- 
 chres, and look upon us to day, they would think that v/e 
 lived on another planet from that on which they once resi- 
 ded ; and would be quite sure of the fact, when learning 
 that along the electric wire which stretches through the 
 village, messages are flashed with the rapidity of thought ; 
 or when they saw the iron horse advancing, breathing 
 from his nostrils, smoke and flame, and heard the long 
 panting trains of cars thundering on with their living 
 freight ! But the locality is the same. Time, culture, 
 and science, alone, have wrought the transformation. 
 
 Th§ earliest settlements in Connecticut were formed by 
 people from Massachusetts. These settlements vrere 
 Windsor,* Hartford and Wethersfield. After the lapse of 
 two or three years from the time these settlements were 
 made, the sea-coast from Saybrook to Fairfield became 
 
 * The most ancient Orthodox Congregational Church in New England, is in 
 Windsor of this State. It was formed in the beginning of 1630, in Plymouth, 
 England. The members came to Dorchester, Mass. ; and in 1036, a majority of 
 them began tlie settlement of Windsor. 
 
6 
 
 known, and a plantation as it was called, was commenced 
 at Milford. This was in 1639. For the value received 
 from the possession of " six coats, ten blankets, one kettle, 
 twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen knives, and a 
 dozen small glasses," a tract of land was obtained of the 
 Indians, who confirmed the bargain with much parade. 
 Subsequently, this original tract w^as enlarged by other 
 purchases, until the hmits reached north even as far as to 
 what is now Waterbury. The territory has since been 
 ceded, section after section, to aid in forming the towns of 
 Waterbury, Derby, Woodbridge, and Orange, until it is 
 reduced to its present dimensions, — the figure of which is 
 triangular. The name given to the place by the Indians, 
 was Wepavvaug ; and a majority of the planters were 
 from the English counties of York and Essex. We do 
 gross injustice to these worthies if we say that they 
 crossed the wild Atlantic, and came to these inhospitable 
 shores, tenanted only by the savage and his game, merely 
 to better their temporal fortunes. 
 
 A few months after the arrival of Winthrop's company 
 at Plymouth, Governor Dudley wrote home to the Countess 
 of Lincoln. In that letter he says: "If any godly men, 
 out of religious ends, will come over to help us in the 
 good work we are about, I think they cannot dispose 
 of themselves nor of their estates more to God's glory, 
 and the furtherance of their own reckoning. For others, 
 I conceive they are not yet fitted for this business." Our 
 Fathers were of this sterling Christian stamp. They 
 were "godly men." A higher motive than sordid gain 
 
moved them to emigrate ; a nobler object had their 
 ambition. They left the land of their birth for conscience 
 sake, and for the sake of Christ, — that they might have 
 " freedom to worship God," according to their ideas of 
 what was scriptural, and most edifying, and to extend the 
 boundaries of the redeemer's kingdom. They brought 
 with them the blessed Bible, a cordial attachment to 
 it, and to the Sabbath, and Christian ordinances, a firm 
 regard for law and order, and a love for virtue ; and their 
 first Pastor, — the Rev. Peter Prudden, was a native of 
 Edgerton, Yorkshire. He, and they, looked to God, for 
 wisdom to project, vigor to execute, and fortitude to en- 
 dure ; sought His favor as the only source of well-being 
 and well-doing, acknowledged their success or failure in 
 things ecclesiastical and civil to be suspended on His will 
 alone ; did what they did, according to the pattern re- 
 vealed to them by intimate communion with Him in 
 prayer, and through the medium of His word, and had 
 faith in His gracious powerful Providence ; for upon their 
 banner was inscribed that sentence indicative of Puritan 
 trust and piety, "He who transplants us, sustains us." 
 
 The First Church in Milford was organized before the 
 settlement of the town, for it was organized in New 
 Haven; and "the seven pillars" upon which humanly 
 speaking it rested, they standing upon the only sure foun- 
 tion, " the Rock Christ Jesus," were the individuals who 
 specially delegated for that purpose, followed the devious 
 Indian foot-path through the wilderness, arrived hither, 
 established themselves in this locality, and fashioned in 
 
8 
 
 connection with kindred minds their civil polity. The 
 Church, therefore, underlay the government of the town 
 — the civil system, framed it by its counsels, sustained it 
 by its influence, and infused into it some portion of its 
 devotional spirit. 
 
 In those times it was deemed expedient for a religious 
 society to have a Teacher, as well as a Pastor. With the 
 Rev. Mr. Prudden therefore, was associated in this ca- 
 pacity, by election, Rev. John Sherman. As compara- 
 tively little notice has been taken of him in the " Church 
 Manual," it is fit, in passing, to bestow upon him a few 
 paragraphs. 
 
 The prescribed curriculum of study at Cambridge Uni- 
 versity, England, he regularly pursued, and would have 
 received the degree of A.B. in course, but for conscien- 
 tious scruples relative to acceding to the terms of gradua- 
 tion. He formed one of a band of emigrants who reached 
 America in 1634, and settled in Watertown, Mass. Com- 
 ing from thence with others to Milford, he was called to 
 be Teacher of the church here. This call he declined ; 
 and after remaining for a season in this vicinity, preaching 
 as opportunity offered, "going about doing good," and 
 serving the public as a member of the General Court for 
 the jurisdiction, he returned to Watertown, and declining 
 an invitation from a church in Boston, and two churches 
 in London, became pastor of the church in the place 
 where he had preached his first sermon. As a speaker 
 his elocution was remarkably fine, and he had m^ny of 
 the graces of oratory. He was also fond of mathematics, 
 
and astronomy, and was a rare proficient in these branches 
 of science. He supplied the astronomical calculations for 
 the first Christian Almanac published in this country. His 
 second wife was grand-daughter of the earl of Rivers: 
 Governor Hopkins was her appointed guardian ; and she 
 resided under the roof of Governor Eaton. 
 
 The Psalmist says, "As arrows are in the hand of a 
 mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the 
 man that hath his quiver full of them ; they shall not be 
 ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the 
 gate." If this is true, no ordinary measure of enjoyment 
 must have been the portion of Mr. Sherman. Of such 
 arrows his quiver was full ; so much so that if on a day 
 like the present, when the lovely spectacle is exhibited 
 of twenty-two entire States, at the call of their Chief 
 Magistrates assembhng in the house of God ; — a day 
 when far scattered birds wing again their way to the 
 cherished nests of childhood — when sons and daughters 
 return from their dispersions to the dear old homestead, 
 happy in the society of each other, and in that of their 
 venerated parents, Ms children were all living, and came 
 back to receive the greetings of a father's and mother's 
 love in Watertown, the number of "olive-plants round 
 about the table " there, would have been twenttj-six. 
 
 Of course his descendants are numerous. Not a few 
 of those persons in the land, who bear the name of Sher- 
 man, are of the same lineage with him. Such was the 
 case with the noted Roger Sherman, once apprenticed to 
 a shoemaker, who came to this town carrying his tools on 
 
10 
 
 his back ; and was a member of the first Congress in 
 1774; continued a member nineteen years; signed the 
 Declaration of Independence in 1776; — was designated 
 by Jefferson, as " a man who never said a foolish thing 
 in his life," and when John Randolph of Virginia in whose 
 veins was Indian blood, cried out, in his shrill piping voice 
 for the purpose of insulting him, that he " should like to 
 know what the gentleman from Connecticut, when he 
 left the cobbler's bench for that Hall, did with his leather 
 apron ; " — received for answer : — " Sir, I cut it up to make 
 moccasins for the descendants of Pocahontas !" 
 
 Before the death of Rev. John Sherman which occurred 
 in 1685, — he being then in the seventy-second year of his 
 age, there was a man in the commonwealth prominent 
 for his victories over the savage tribes in Springfield, and 
 Hadley, Mass., distinguished for turning the tide of suc- 
 cess at a critical moment in that Battle of "Bloody 
 Brook," when the " Flower of Essex bit the dust," as also 
 for his intellectual gifts, weight of influence, and official 
 position. It was Governor Robert Treat. When 
 Sir Edmond Andross, knight, and captain-general, and 
 Governor-general over New England, came, supported by 
 his suite, and more than sixty of the King's troops, to 
 Hartford, during the session of the Assembly, and de- 
 manded the charter granted by Charles the Second to the 
 Connecticut colony; — the man who valiantly and ably 
 advocated the resolution not to give up the patent, and 
 privileges obtained at so much cost, and of such value ; 
 and the man who was privy to extinguishing the lights, 
 
11 
 
 the carrying off of that royal mstrument of liberty and 
 secreting it in the large hollow oak, was this Governor 
 Robert Treat ; — a member of the Milford Church, 
 and who married a daughter of one of the " seven pillars," 
 on which this church laid its foundation work, and was 
 one of the three appointed by the church to impose 
 hands on the second pastor of this church — Rev. Roger 
 Newton, on the occasion of his installation, August 22, 
 1660. 
 
 A word or two in this connection, additional to what 
 has been printed, in relation to the fifth pastor of the 
 church. Rev. Samuel Wales, D.D. 
 
 He graduated in 1667, in the class with Gov. John 
 Treadwell, and the not less celebrated Dr. Nathaniel 
 Emmons. He was elected to the Professorship of Divin- 
 ity in Yale College in 1781. The honorary degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity he received from two colleges ; — from 
 Yale College, his Alma Mater in 1782, after he was ap- 
 pointed Professor, and from the College of New Jersey in 
 1784. His figure was short and stout, his voice was 
 heavy, and flexible, was under good management, and his 
 sermons glowed with divine truth earnestly expressed. 
 After being engaged several years in the duties of his pro- 
 fessorship, this star of superior brightness and influence in 
 the orb of the Church, was mysteriously wrapped in 
 clouds. He was deprived of his reason, and the College 
 of his valuable services. He died at the age of forty-six, 
 leaving behind him the character of a man of superior 
 talents, an accomplished scholar, and an eminent divine. 
 
IS 
 
 The discourse at his funeral was by President Stiles. 
 The text was 1 Samuel 25 : 1. "And Samuel died: and 
 all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented 
 him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." This text 
 was announced in the original Hebrew, and the discourse 
 was in Latin. 
 
 Dr. Wales has a son living, who was a classmate of my 
 father ; and has been senator of the United States from 
 Delaware. 
 
 Among the things by which this church has been char- 
 acterized, are a disposition to be at peace among them- 
 selves, and to treat with due consideration and respect 
 their Pastors. This declaration is confirmed by the fact 
 that since the organization of the Church in 1639, it has 
 had but nine Pastors. This makes the average term of 
 service of each Pastor but a little less than a quarter of 
 century ; — which manifestly could not have been the case, 
 had they been a quarrelsome people. None of these 
 Pastors were driven away. Five were "not allowed to 
 continue by reason of death," and their ashes sleep by the 
 side of the flock they tended, in sure expectation with 
 them of a joyful resurrection. Of the remaining four, one 
 left on account of his health ; two were called away to 
 what they deemed more important fields of service, and 
 the other having occupied the pulpit during the lapse of 
 thirteen years, mingles his congratulations with his people 
 on this day of Thanksgiving and Praise. May they con- 
 tinue to heed the counsel sent to them from the dying lips 
 of one of these men of God : — " Brethren, live in peace, 
 
13 
 
 and the God of love and of peace shall be with you :" 
 for it is not only "good for Christians to dwell together in 
 unity," but likewise "pleasant." "Behold how good 
 and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
 in unity ! It is like the precious ointment upon the 
 head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard; 
 that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the 
 dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon 
 the mountains of Zion : for there the Lord commanded 
 the blessing, even life for evermore." 
 
 Leaving now the Church, for the Town, some further 
 items may be noted. 
 
 The first settlers seem to have duly appreciated the 
 value of Education. In importance they placed it next to 
 the Christian religion. With growth in grace, they asso- 
 ciated growth in knowledge. Hence, near the "Meeting- 
 house "* was erected the school-house, and while liberal 
 provision was made for the preaching of the gospel, ample 
 provision was likewise made for the instruction of the 
 young. Not only were there primary schools, but as early 
 as 1655, sixteen years after the settlement of the town, 
 was there established in "the wilderness and solitary 
 place," a Latin school. Records show that the inhabitants 
 
 * The model of the worship of the Christian Church was obtained from the 
 Jewish Synagogue. The ancient Puritanical word "Meeting-house" is a nearly 
 literal translation of the word Synagogue into Saxon English. And Primitive Con- 
 gregationalists preferred the word " Meeting-House " to the word " Church," not, as 
 is said, because of their excessive antipathy to Episcopacy, but because by King 
 James' translators the word Church was used to denote the assembly of Cluistian 
 people, whether general or particular. 
 
14 
 
 spared no pains to discipline and furnish the minds of their 
 children, by engaging teachers of scientific acquirements, 
 and generously remunerating them for their labors. Yale 
 College is as much indebted to Rev. Samuel Andrew of 
 this town, as to any other person, excepting the individual 
 after whom it was named — Elihu Yale, Esq., of New 
 Haven. Mr. Andrew was one of the first projectors of the 
 College, — was the most influential of the ten who obtained 
 a charter for the same from the Legislature, — was one of 
 the original trustees of the Institution, — continued to hold 
 this trust thirty-eight years, — had for a number of years 
 the tuition of the senior class who resided in the town, 
 and was for a time the College Rector. If, as a commu- 
 nity, we are now behind some portions of the state in our 
 zeal for learning, if our views on this subject are not as 
 enlarged, and our efforts as well directed and earnest as 
 they ought to be, it is not because of the example of our 
 fathers, but because we have another spirit from that which 
 they manifested. 
 
 The first colonists of Milford, also, were not deficient as 
 friends of popular rights and as patriots. The Protectorate 
 of Oliver Cromwell in England was succeeded by the res- 
 toration of monarchy, and Charles II. was placed upon the 
 throne. Soon after he was seated there, several of the 
 Judges by whose sentence the head of his father, Charles 
 I, had been brought to the block, were condemned and 
 executed. Three others, Whalley, Goffe and Dixwell, 
 usually denominated the regicides, came to New England. 
 On their arrival at Boston they were welcomed, and at 
 
15 
 
 Cambridge, a neighboring town, they hved for several 
 moAths unmolested and respected. It however becoming 
 apparent, through intelligence from Parliament, that longer 
 continuance there would be unsafe, they came to New 
 Haven. Here they were sheltered in the house of Rev. 
 Mr. Davenport ; and when the agents of the king came to 
 apprehend them, the people were moved to stand by them 
 through the influence of a discourse publicly preached by 
 Mr. Davenport from Isaiah 16: 3, 4. "Take counsel, 
 execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night in the 
 midst of the noon-day ; hide the outcasts, bewray not him 
 that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab ; 
 be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." A 
 covert was found for them. It was a cave on the top of 
 West Rock, and food was furnished them by a Mr. Robert 
 Sperry who lived in the vicinity. From these rude quar- 
 ters they subsequently repaired to another refuge called 
 " The Lodge." As, however, the king's agents were on 
 the hunt for them, and as the penalty of the law for har- 
 boring traitors was fearful, the question arose where next 
 they could go, with the prospect of finding security. The 
 views and feelings of the people of Miiford were well 
 understood. It was well known that they had no sym- 
 pathy with the despotic policy of Charles I, or respect for 
 his bigoted, tyrannical adviser Laud, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury ; that they had a fellow feeling for those who, sufferers 
 from the cruel edicts of the Star Chamber and High Com- 
 mission Court, had risen upon and subdued their oppres- 
 sors ; and that for the men who had the integrity and the 
 
16 
 
 courage to affix their signatures to the death-warrant of a 
 king found guilty of treason against his nation, they had a 
 high regard, — would make for their concealment "a shadow 
 as the night in the midst of the noonday," and would not 
 deliver them to their pursuers. Hence, on the 20th of 
 August, 1661, Whalley and Goffe fled to Milford. And 
 not in vain. They found friends here, and no informants 
 against them, and continued here in the centre of the 
 town for several years. The locality of their concealment 
 is still pointed out as a spot of interest, though the building 
 in which they were hidden, long since yielded to the rav- 
 ages of time. It was thirty or forty rods from the place 
 where we are now assembled, and the individual who 
 owned the building and hid the Judges was Michael Tom- 
 kins. President Stiles says: "I have frequently been in 
 this house of Tomkins. It was standing since 1750, and 
 perhaps to 1770. It was a building, say twenty feet square, 
 and two stories ; the lower room built with stone wall and 
 considered as a store ; the room over it with timber and 
 wood, and used by Tomkins' family as a work or spinning 
 room." He adds : " The family used to spin in the room 
 above, ignorant of the Judges being below. Judge Buck- 
 ingham tells me this story : ' While they sojourned at Mil- 
 ford, there came over from England a ludicrous cavalier 
 ballad, satirizing Charles' Judges, and Goffe and Whalley 
 among the rest. A spinstress at Milford had learned to 
 sing it, and used sometimes to sing it in the chamber over 
 the Judges ; and the Judges used to get Tomkins to set 
 the girls to singing the song for their diversion, being 
 
17 
 
 humored and pleased with it, though at their own expense, 
 as they were the subjects of the ridicule. The girls knew 
 nothing of the matter, being ignorant of the innocent 
 device, and little thought that they were serenading 
 angels.' " 
 
 Although girls, and boys, and gossips might not have 
 been aware that the Judges were here, the fact was known 
 to Gov. Treat and to Rev. Roger Newton, and to all to 
 whom, well acquainted with their men, they chose to re- 
 veal the secret. In a grove back of the house the Judges 
 would often walk when the shades of night prevailed, talk 
 with their guardians of Dunbar and Cromwell, learn the 
 drift of the latest dispatches from Parliament, and the latest 
 intelligence from the profligate court of Charles II ; and 
 this silence with reference to them, and support and pro- 
 tection of them, are creditable to all concerned, evincing as 
 it does their fidelity, and resolution, and warm attachment 
 to the sacred principles of liberty. 
 
 In the great revolutionary struggle for Independence, 
 this town furnished her " full quota of men and money." 
 Two companies were raised here, under the command of 
 Captains Pond and Peck who were in several engagements, 
 and whose officers were commended by Washington for 
 their promptness, and intrepidity ; tories were scarce, and 
 were obliged to keep concealed, or meet the humiliating 
 fate of McFingal, — a vote was passed Dec. 14, 1778, that 
 " no person or persons, whatever, who have heretofore vol- 
 untarily gone over to join with, and screened themselves 
 under the protection of the enemies of the United States 
 
18 
 
 of America, or who shall hereafter go over, join with, or 
 screen themselves under said enemy, shall be suffered or 
 allowed to reside or dwell in this town, on any pretense 
 whatever;" and when on the 1st of January, 1777, two 
 hundred American soldiers in a needy, diseased, and per- 
 ishing condition were cast here from a British cartel ship, 
 they were hospitably received, their wants supplied, and, 
 above forty-six of them, whom physicians and kind nursing 
 could not save, but who died, and were laid in one com- 
 mon tomb, " ashes to ashes, dust to dust," there now rises 
 a monument reared in part by the liberality of the people 
 of the town, bearing the names of the unfortunate soldiers, 
 and honorable mention of their heroic sacrifices for free- 
 dom and their country. 
 
 The first Mill erected in New Haven colony was in this 
 town ; and what is remarkable, it is still the property of 
 an individual of the same name with the original builder; 
 and never since its erection has it been owned by a person 
 of any other name. 
 
 Though a majority of the inhabitants of the town, since 
 the settlement thereof, have been farmers, and though at 
 present while we have factories of various kinds, there is 
 here no foreign trade, or ship-building, there was a period 
 when these industrial pursuits received a good share of 
 attention. From a wharf near to the mill above men- 
 tioned, cattle were shipped to the West Indies ; — an active 
 commerce was carried on with them, and other distant 
 points ; — a sloop regularly plied between here and Boston ; 
 New Haven people depended upon Milford for some of 
 
19 
 
 their groceries ; sloops, schooners, and even brigs of one 
 hundred and fifty tons burden, (the exact tonnage of the 
 Mayflower) were launched from our dock-yards ; and no 
 small portion of commercial enterprise and wealth here 
 flourished. 
 
 From Milford, moreover, have gone out many, who 
 have contributed to the settlement of other towns. It is 
 a prolific hive from whence sw^arm after swarm have de- 
 parted. Besides Newtown, Greenwich, New Milford, 
 and Durham of this State, who are largely indebted to us 
 in this particular; Williamstown, Mass., Newark,* and 
 Woodbridge, New Jersey ; and Talmadge, Ohio, can 
 trace their beginnings to our colonists, of whom they have 
 no occasion to be ashamed, and are not ashamed, and 
 who thus " laid the foundations of many generations" — 
 the foundations of their strength and glory. 
 
 But it is time that I close this Leaf of Milford History ; 
 particularly as I have read from it so much which before 
 may have been known to some of you. A few reflections 
 then, from a review of the same, and I have done. 
 
 The subject has carried us back to former generations. 
 In remembering as we have, "the days of old," "the 
 years of ancient times," we have remembered the de- 
 parted. Once they were here, walked these streets, 
 dwelt here, toiled here, had the interests of the church 
 and the town in their charge, had their afflictions and 
 their blessings, their joys, and their sorrows. They then 
 
 * Originally called Milford. 
 
20 
 
 knew nothing about us, — for we were not in existence, 
 and what we know of them, we learn from records less 
 perishable than they were. The same azure that now 
 bends over us, swelled over them. The same sun that 
 lights us to day, gladdened them with its beams. The 
 same moon that now rides in the sky, cast upon them her 
 silver rays. The same stars that sparkle over our houses, 
 sparkled over their log cabins. And the acres they sub- 
 dued, some of the trees they planted, and the springs 
 from which they slaked their thirst, still remain. Their 
 days of Thanksgiving too, and their days of Fasting have 
 descended to us. Bat they themselves have passed 
 away. Their bodies sleep in yonder ancient grave yard, 
 which is thick sown with the precious seed of the 
 resurrection, and the moss has gathered on their head 
 stones ! 
 
 We remember those who though they have disappeared 
 from human view, and "rest from their labors," are yet 
 resident elsewhere. Though they have gone from earth, 
 and " the places which once knew them, know them no 
 more," they are not annihilated, nor in a state of dreamy 
 unconsciousness, but are sentient and active in some part 
 of the universe of God. 
 
 We remember those who while they lived here, were 
 probationers for eternity, and now have assigned them a 
 place and state, and possess a character, the exact result- 
 ant of their views, feelings, and conduct then. The char- 
 acter imprinted in time, is stereotyped in eternity. If they 
 were righteous then, they are righteous now, — if then 
 
21 
 
 they embraced and served Christ, they are now "with 
 Him where He is, beholding His glory ; " and if any un- 
 justifiably and foolishly rejected Him, and otherwise 
 abused their probation, they now suffer the consequences 
 of such abuse. 
 
 One of the most memorable paintings by eminent 
 artists is — that of "The Head of Medusa held up by 
 Perseus." The head is represented as changing into 
 stone every individual who beholds it. A warrior stands 
 looking at it, and he with the javelin in his hand are petri- 
 fied. An assassin is there with a dagger half hidden 
 under his garment, and he too with his weapon are frozen 
 into stone. Another and another person are portrayed as 
 looking, and each one — ^just as he is when he catches 
 sight of the head, is stiffened into stone. 
 
 There is a moral in this famous picture. That head 
 stands for Death. As we are when we meet death, so as 
 moral creatures shall we always be. Death, though it 
 lodges the body in the grave and makes it the food of 
 worms, works no essential change in the soul, any more 
 than the opening of the door of a cage where a bird is 
 confined, alters the nature or the color of the bird. The 
 bird is the same bird while upon the wing as while a pris- 
 oner, and the soul is the same soul dismissed from its 
 tabernacle, as when restrained in it. Death stamps upon 
 us an unchangeable, ineffaceable impress. As it finds us, 
 so will the judgment find us, and the ever-during cycles 
 of eternity. 
 
22 
 
 We remember those whose influence lives after them, 
 and by whose sayings and doings we are now affected. 
 The influence of brave and enterprising minds does not 
 expire with the physical forms in which they acted. In 
 some cases the agencies which they set in motion are more 
 potent after these forms have crumbled into dust, than when 
 they were animated with life. The spirit of Napoleon 
 the Great still rules France. The Order of Loyola is yet 
 vigorous from the energy which he infused into it. The 
 persistent sympath}^, and fervent eloquence of Wilberforce, 
 still prompt to manly battling with individual and national 
 wrong; and the name of many a controlling pioneer and 
 leader is an incentive and spur to gallant actions. Indeed, 
 "Thou canst not live for thyself alone," is written upon 
 every human being. All persons have an influence, and 
 this influence dies not with them. It moves on over the 
 grave, and reaches posterity. A very different community 
 should we have been from what we now are, if the first 
 colonists, and their successors, had been addicted to idle- 
 ness, vulgarity, and intemperance; or had not prized the 
 Bible, scrupulously observed the Sabbath, been devout 
 worshippers of God in His temple, maintained family 
 prayer, and furthered the interests of education. Our 
 churches, our schools, our civil and social condition, our 
 respect for law and order, our opposition to infidelity, 
 profaneness, sabbath breaking, and rowdyism, are the 
 fruit of their sound principles and virtues ; and shame to 
 the individual who amidst the memorials of his worthy 
 
23 
 
 sires, and blest with the results of their excellences, is 
 not a friend to industry, sobriety, purity, liberty, and 
 godliness. 
 
 Finally, we are reminded that ere the sun runs through 
 many circles of the heavenly signs, we shall be numbered 
 among the departed, and " though dead be yet speaking," 
 and immortal be living el&ewhere, and reaping the conse- 
 quences of our present right, or wrong doing. 
 
 Let us remember this, and think, feel and deport our- 
 selves accordingly. If that glow of patriotic ardor is in 
 our breasts which should be there, and which impelled 
 the poet to wish, 
 
 " That he for poor aukl Scotland' sj sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or book could make, 
 Or sing a song at least ; " 
 
 we shall be constrained while we enjoy, to guard also the 
 heritage of blessings which have come into our possession, 
 and to transmit them in their fullness and richness to those 
 who shall come after us. And if we cherish as we should, 
 the conviction that our everlasting future takes its unaltera- 
 ble complexion from the brief present, we shall endeavor 
 " so to pass through things temporal, that we may not fail 
 of things eternal." 
 
 What we honor in our Fathers, that let us imitate ; and 
 those laudable courses of action which they pursued, and 
 which have brought so much good to us, let us ourselves 
 adopt, for the benefit of succeeding generations. Copying 
 after the Old Puritans, we shall not make any very serious 
 
24 
 
 mistakes in sentiment, or go far astray in conduct, and 
 shall build up robust, magnanimous, heroic. Christian char- 
 acters. May their faith be followed, their principles, and 
 institutions be cherished, and their self-denying spirit and 
 virtues be manifested by us, our descendants, and the sons 
 of New England, 
 
 " Till the waves of the bay where the Mayflower lay, 
 Shall foam and freeze no more." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 113 208 8