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AH SXP2 b
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OLD AM) A
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34^ Copy*.
LIBRARY
DIVINITY SCHOOL
GIFT OF
Prof . J . H . liopes,
2 October, 1899.
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NEW TABERNACLE, SALEM, MASS.
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M
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M
MEMORIAL
OLD AND NEW TABERNACLE,
SALEM, MASS.
1864-6.
BY SAMUEL M. WORCESTER, D. D.,
, Ptttor of the Tkbernade Church.
BOSTON:
CROCKER AND BREWSTER.
8ALEM : H. WHIPPLE AND SON.
1855.
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iin)
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Sdem, Dec. 8, 1854.
Rev. S. M. Worcester, D. D.,—
Dear Sir. — I have the pleasure of communicating to you
the following vote of the Proprietors of the Tabernacle,
passed at a meeting held on Monday evening last, viz :
^^ Voted unanimously, That the Proprietors ask of the Pastor
copies for publication, of the very appropriate and excellent
Discourse delivered by him at the dedication of the new
Tabernacle, on Friday the Ist instant; and of the last Ser-
mon delivered in the old house, on Sabbath afternoon,
March 5th. And if he complies with their request, that
they be published under the direction of the Standing Com-
mittee."
GEORGE D. PHIPPEN,
Clerk of the Proprietors.
Sdemy March 21, 1855.
George D. Phippen, Esq., —
Dear Sir, — After receiving your note of the 8th of De-
cember last, I hoped to be able, in a few weeks, to make a
copy of the Discourses, which the Proprietors of the Taber-
nacle have done me the honor to request for publication.
But unavoidable avocations, with very unexpected absences
from home, have prevented an earlier attention to the sub-
ject. With a grateful sense of the kind regards of the Pro-
prietors, I am now ready to place the manuscripts at their
service.
It affords me much pleasure to be assured of their entire
concurrence in the proposal, to add such historical state-
ments and illustrations, as will render it proper to entitle
the work a '^ Memorial of the Old and the New Taber-
nacle."
With most sincere respect and esteem,
SAMUEL M. WORCESTER.
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CONTENTS.
Page.
Preliminary Notices, 5
The Farewell to the Old Tabernacle, .... 13
Celebration of the Laying of the Corner- Stone of the
New Tabernacle, 41
Discourse at the Dedication of the New Tabernacle, 45
Supplementary Notices, 77
Appendix, 81
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PRELIMINARY NOTICES.
The Records of the Tabernacle Church begin in 1743, as
a continuation of those of the First Church, which was
formed, 6th of Aug. 1629. They are so written, until May,
1 762, when the long controversy, which had occasioned a
violent division or disruption of the Church, in 1735, was
honorably terminated. (See '^ Discourse at the First Centen-
nial Anniversary of the Tabernacle Church, April 26, 1835.")
From April 18, 1735, to Feb. 20, 1743-4, the Records were
kept by the pastor. Rev. John Fisk. They were withheld by
him, and are supposed to have been destroyed, or to be lost.
The Book of Records of the First Church, previous to 1660,
is also lost, or was destroyed. Some portions were copied
and are still preserved. It is not known when the Records
actually began. As in respect to the affairs of the city, it is
probable, that the early transactions of the First Church
were not properly recorded. In the circumstances, this is
not unaccountable, however much to be regretted.
We have, for instance, no accredited and no professed
copy of the original " confession of faith," which, with a
" covenant in Scripture language," was prepared by Rev.
Francis Higginson. (See Morton's "New England's Memo-
rial," Mather's " Magnalia," Hubbard's " History of New
England," etc.) According to Hubbard, there were copies
" retained by some " as late as 1680 or 1681. A printed copy
of the confession of faith and covenant, " the same for 9ub^
stancej^^ is in the Boston Atheneeum. (B. 76. Sermons.)
It is entitled "Direction for a Public Profession in the
Church Assembly, after giving examination by the elders,
which direction is taken out of the Scripture, and points
unto that faith and covenant in the Scripture ; being the
1*
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same for substance, which was proposed to and agreed upon
by the Church of Salem, at their beginning, the 6th of 6th
month, 1629." This was prepared by Rev. John Higginson,
of the First Church, and was ready for the members, in Oct.
1665. (See Records, First Church. A copy may be seen in
Morton's " Memorial," etc , by the Congregational Board of
Publication, 1855. pp. 459-64. Also, with the covenants of
1636 and 1680, in the Salem Gazette, March 31, etc. 1854.)
The original form of tJie covenant of 1629, very nearly, if
not exactly, is inserted in the preamble of the Covenant of
1636. It is this : '^ We covenant with the Lord and one with
another, and do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to
walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to
reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth." With
the same brevity and beauty of expression, the First Church
in Chariestown, which was the foundation of the First Church
in Boston, entered into " covenant with the Lord and one with
another." (See Morton's Mem.; Cong. Board Pub. p. 464.)
From the imperfect or incomplete mode of transcription
upon a/^a/, the oldest of the known manuscripts or papers,
of the First Church, it would seem most likely, that the.
Covenant of 1636 has been mistaken for that of 1629, and
thus has been undesignedly but unfortunately misrepresent-
ed, in most of the publications respecting the Church. That
il is not the Covenant of 162% appears from an explicit
statement in a copy of the Covenants of 1636 and 1680, a»
issued by the First Church, in 1680, and still preserved in a
little book, prefixed to the Records of the Tabernacle Church.
There is other proof also, abundant and unanswerable.
The present Covenant of the Tabernacle Church is very
nearly the same as, with the " Articles " of discipline and
government, was adopted in 1786. It is very similar to that
given by Cotton Mather, (<< Ratio Disciplinee/' etc. 1726,) as
an example of the form of Covenant in the N. E. Churches.
^'Apprehending ourselves called of God into a gospel
church state, yet deeply sensible how unworthy we are of
so high a privilege, we cannot but admire that rich and free
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grace which triumphs over so great un worthiness. But with
humble reliance on the aids of that grace, which is promised
to all, who, with a true sense of their guilt and ruin, return
to God for pardon and help, we thankfully lay hold on his
covenant. Avouching, this day, the Lord Jehovah, Fa-
ther, Son, and Holt Ghost, to be our God, our Father^
our Saviour, and our Leader, we humbly give up ourselves
to him, and receive him as our portion forever. We give up
ourselves and our all to the blessed Jesus, whom, in his un-
derived and original nature, we acknowledge as Almighty
God, and, in the covenant of Grace, engage to adhere to
him, as Head over all things to his church and people, rely-
ing upon him as our Prophet, Priest, and King, to biing us
to eternal blessedness. We acknowledge our everlasting
and indispensable obligations to glorify our God, in all the
duties of a holy, sober and religious life. Depending, there-
fore, on his powerful grace, we engage to walk together,
particularly in a church state, in the faith and order of the
gospel, as far as we shall have the same revealed to us by
the Word and Spirit of God ; conscientiously attending the
worship of God in all its parts, in secret, in the family, and
in public ; upon the sacraments of the New Testament —
baptism and the Lord's supper ; upon the discipline of his
kingdom ; and upon all his holy instittitions. Declaring our
firm belief of the Christian religion, as revealed in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and of such a
view of it, substantially, as the Westminster Catechism ex-
hibits, we heartily resolve to conform ourselves to it, as long
as we shall live in the world. Affectionately giving up our-
selves to one another in the Lord, we solemnly covenant
faithfully to watch over each other, to seek the promotion of
each other's spiritual good, to submit ourselves to the disci-
pline and government of Christ in his Church, and watch-
fully to avoid all sinful stumbling blocks and contentions,
as become a people, whom the Lord hath bound up together
in the same bundle of life. At the same time, we also dedi-
cate our offspring with us to the Lord, purposing with his
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help faithfully to perform our duty to them in the methods
of a religious education, that the Lord may be their God. —
All this we do, relying on the blood of the everlasting cove-
nant for the pardon of our many transgressions, and praying
that the glorious Lord, who is the great Shepherd, would
prepare and strengthen us in every good work to do his will,
working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight ; to
whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen."
After surrendering the name and style of the First Church,
in 1762, the Church took the name of ^^the Church of which
the Rev, Mr, Dudley Leavitt was late Pastor P In May, 1763,
it was " voted, that, this Church be called the Third Church
of Christ in Salem, from this time forward?^ When the name
of the house of worship, recently taken down, was recog-
nized as the name of the Church, is not known.
From Dr. Whitaker's settlement in 1769, to 1784, the gov-
ernment of the Church was Presbyterian; and hence the
Church itself was sometimes so called. By a singular coin-
cidence, the Branch Church, more recently called Howard
Street, — ^formed by a secession from the Tabernacle, in 1803,—
was Prebbyteriauj from 1815 to 1828. (See Appendix B.)
Pastors of the Tabernacle Church,
1. Rev. John Fisk, 1735. Relation dissolved 1744.
There appears to be no good authority to say, as has been
published, that he was ^^ installed in 1736." The statement,
like some others in the ecclesiastical documents and annals
of Salem, may have been first made, in the exercise of a
kind of license, which is hardly excusable in what assumes
to be true history. Mr. Fisk could not have needed any
"installation." (See Appendix A.)
^ 2. Rev. Dudley Leavitt, ordained Oct. 23, 1745. Died,
Lord's day evening, Feb. 7, 1762.
3. Rev. John Huntington, ordained Sept 28, 1763. Died,
May 30, 1766.
4. Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, D. D., installed, July 28,
1769. Relation dissolved, Feb. 26, 1784.
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5. Rev. Joshua Spaulding, ordained, Oct 26, 1T85. Dis-
missed, April 23, 1802.
6. Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D., installed, April 20,
1803. Died, June 7, 1821.
7. Rev. £lias Cornelius, installed, July 21, 1819. Dis-
missed, Sept. 29, 1826.
8. Rev. John P. Cleaveland, D. D., ordained, Feb. 14,
1827. Dismissed, April 23, 1834.
9. Rev« Samuel M. Worcester, D. D., installed, Dec. 3,
1834.
In 1846, when the old Tabernacle was approaching its
70th year, the inquiry began to be made, will it not be an
injury to the Church and Society, if their house of worship
shall much longer be left, without being re-modelled in the
interior, or essentially re-built ? Some were opposed to any
large outlay, except for a new house ; and for this the time
seemed not to have come. With slight repairs and a small
measure of garnishing, the old house remained until the an-
nual meeting of the Proprietors, April 30, 1853. May 2d,
" A Committee was appointed to consider and report on the
expediency of making substantial repairs on the old house^
or of re-modelling the same, or of erecting a new house;
and to ascertain as far as practicable the views and wishes
of the proprietors in the premises." June 6th, Hoil Mr.
Huntington, from the Committee, reported that it "was ex-
pedient to build a new house, provided there should be
found to exist a general concurrence in such a measure on
the part of the proprietors, and provided also means could
be obtained to such an extent, as to render it reasonably cer-
tain, that the enterprise would not involve the Society in
any burdensome debt."
No one of the Committee proposed a less sum, than
$15,000, as the cost of a new house. It was thought, that
$13,000 ought to be pledged, but as yet $7^000 only had
been subscribed. While the final action of the proprietors
was deferred, and further progress very doubtful, the pastor
preached a discourse, — Sabbath, A. M., June 12th,. — ^fromthe
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words spoken by the prophets Haggai, (i : 7, 8,) and Zecha-
riah, (iv : 6) : " Thus saitk the Lord of hosts ; consider your
ways. Go up to the mountain, and Mng wood, and buHd the
house ; aihd I wHl take pleasure in it, and I wUl be glorified,
saith the LordP — " Not by might, nor by power," etc.
In a few days, the subscription for a new house reached
the desired amount 3 and at meetings, July 5th, and 9th,
measures were adopted accordingly. Messrs. Huntington,
Kinsman, Russell, T. S. Jewett, and P. Hale were appointed
a Conmiittee, with full powers to act in the premises.
Contracts for the new house were made, to be fulfilled in
1854. The enterprise went forward with great harmony.
If the actual state of the old house could have been seen, as
it was revealed in the process of demolition, it is probable
that there woul<!l not have been a dissenting voice.
The square and high pews were so well adapted to Sab-
bath-schools, that they were much the more patiently en-
dured. And so many were the associations of the '^ venera-
ble" with the whole structure,— that not a few were at times
ready for expressions, as if it were a kind of sacrilege to
"break " it " down at once with axes and hammers." And
with sensations to be remembered, rather than described, the
advertisement was read, offering the Tabernacle for sale !
The site was wanted for the new house. And the specta-
cle of the old building, as a currier^s slhop, or a carpet factory ,
like what may be seen not far distant, could not possibly
have been tolerated. The tragic and the comic, however,
often strangely meet. A jeu d'esprit ended with,
Nota bene. I will add, we dont intend to sell
The sexton, nor the minister, the organ, nor the bell.
In the Salem Observer and the Register, were very cred-
itable effusions, like the following in the Gazette, from a
young la()y who has since united with the Church.
Ah ! hallowed memories entwine
Around this sacred fane.
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Which, though removed from outward gaze.
Will in the heart remain ;
For oft, in fancy's fairy clime
This temple loved we'll rear,
And view again these aged walls,
Sacred to praise and prayer.
Long years have pass'd since first it stood
A " temple of our God," —
And many who now sleep in dust,
These sacred aisles have trod ;
But some among them may, perchance,
From yon bright home above,
Watch o'er this dedicated spot
With fond and tender love.
For oft, the " shepherd of our flock,"
Hath led, with watchful care.
Beside the waters, calm and still,
Through pastures green and fair ;
And many have, beneath this dome.
Approached the mercy-seat,
And fallen humble. supplicants,
At the Redeemer's feet
Yes ! sacred memories entwine
These aisles and pews, among, —
And scenes, at which, with gladsome joy,
Bright angel choirs have sung ;
A little band of << faithful ones "
Were consecrated here.
To heathen lands, o'er lonely seas,
A Saviour's love to bear.
And very dear to me thou art.
How can I say farewell ;»-
For while I gaze upon thee now.
As by some magic spell
Comes up the hour when first these aisles
In childbh awe I trod,
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And listened to the voice of prayer,
And to the word of God.
But go ! thy work is nobly done, —
Thy mission here is o'er,—
And registered in God's own book,
Thou 'It be forevermore*;
Yet, as thine altar and thy walls
Recede into the past,
Deep in our hearts thou 'It be, enshrined,
While memory shall last.
The 6th of Feb. 1854, was the 42d anniversary of the ordi-
nation of the first American missionaries to the heathen of
other continents. (See Life of Dr, Worcester j IL pp, 128-135,
and Amer, Miss, Memorial.) The occasion was commemo-
rated in the evening, and a discourse preached by the Pas-
tor, from 1 Tim. ii : 5, 6. This was the last evening meet-
ing in the old Tabernacle !
Sabbath, A. M., March 5th, the discourse was designed to
exhibit the historic foundation and the prospective security
of the Church of God, in the perfections, providence, and
promises of the Divine Redeemer. The text was Heb. iii : 4.
The conclusion was : the Church is upheld by the power,
that upholds the universe. God is in the midst of her. She
shall never be moved.— Xooik upon Zion^ the city of our
solemnities ; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitationj a
tabernacle that shaU not be taken down ; not one of the stakes
thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords
thereof be broken, (Isa. xxxiii : 20.)
The Scriptures read, A. M. were Gen. i : 1-5. John i : 1-5.
Heb. i : 1-8. Hymns sung, B. 1. 2. Sel. 29. Scriptures, P. M.,
Heb. viii : 1-5, 10-13. Rev. i : 4-6. xxii : 16, 17. Hymns,
Sel 26. B. XL 13.
The Communion was also celebrated, in the forenoon, and
the 406th Select Hymn was sung. Previous to this very af-
fecting service, three young persons were received to the
church, by a profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus.
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OLD TABERNACLE, SALEM, MASS.
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The Farewell to the Old Tabernacle; —
OR THE Discourse delivered, Sabbath after-
noon, March 5, 1854.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready
to vanish away. — Heb. viii : 13.
A few days only before our Divine Redeemer
accomplished his decease at Jerusalem, one of his
disciples called his particular attention to the
buildings of the temple. << Master, see what man-
ner of stones, and what buildings !" The magni-
tude of the stones in the foundation, and the gen-
eral aspect of strength and beauty, throughout the
"many mansions" of the grand and imposing
structure, celebrated so far away among the hea-
then, as the temple of Jehovah,-— evidently inspired
the Galilean fishermen with no common emotions
of admiration, if not of national pride and hope.
Not so with their Master, who knew both the past
and the future of all things. In full view before
him, he saw the destruction of the city and the
temple, which were then so hallowed and so dear
to the remnant of the chosen seed of Abraham.
" Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not
be left one stone upon another, that shall not he
thrown down !"
2
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This terrible overthrow was foretold to be by
hands of violence and blood, and not by the cor-
roding and dilapidating influences of the elements.
Yet the natural effects of time were doubtless al-
ready visible. Still more visible, it may be sup-
posed from the condition of the Hebrews, were
the signs of decay, -wh#n,- thirty years later, the
apostle was preparing for them in particular, his
mighty demonstration 6f the infinite preeminencie
of JesusChirist, above all angels as well as all
men ; and the immeasurable ^superiority of, his
personal revelation in the glorious Grospel, over all
which had before been spoken and witnessed by
patriarchs or prophets. \ ' : "[
About ten years, probably, after Paul wrote the
words of our text this morning,- — ^^ Every bouse is
builded by some man ; but he that built all things
is God," — the temple of the Hebrews was in ruins.
And if at the time of writing his Epistle, he could
not, with any marked significance, have said of
the temple itself, that it was " decaying and wax-
ing old," he certainly could have thus spoken of
the reverential and gorgeous ritual of the law
which came by Moses. Its purpose was well nigh
fulfilled, and, in the sovereign pleasure of the
Founder of both the Old and the New Covenant,
it was " ready to vanish away." And according
to the argument of Paul, the evidences of the ap-
proaching dissolution of the Hebrew polity, were
the same as could be seen in an old and venerable
edifice, which, however much it had been loved
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and honored, must reasonably give place to a new
structure, which would now be better adapted to
its own original design.
To the whole Mosaic economy, therefore, in its
existing form and substance, might be applied a
practical axiom^ or proverbial truth, which none
would be inclined to dispute. As God had spoken
of ** a new covenant," which he intended to make,
the apostile argued, that, as a matter of course, the
time would be, if it was not already, when, what-
ever " the new " was to supersede must relatively
be " old." And as every one would admit, " that
which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish
away."
We may take the words of the text, as a gen-
eral truth in respect to all perishable things. The
dwellings in which parents and their children's
children have lived, with the trees also which have
borne fruit, season after season, all decay, wax
old, and are ready to disappear ; — like the aged
and gray-headed men, and the garments which
they may have long cherished for their former, far
more than their present value. The simple fact of
growing old is a sign and a proof, that they will
i50on be gone. Such is the law of decay, univer^
saUy^
Why then should we not all, in our time and
pl^ce, yield obedience to tbJs law? Would you,
if you could, always wear the old garment, be-
cause it is older and older? Would you cherish
the old tree, if it be rotten at the trunk, and bears
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less and less fruit, or none ; and when you have
no room for another, unless the axe shall first do
its office ? And would you keep the old paternal
mansion itself, with all its inconveniences and
discomforts, because your sires dwelt there before
you? — If such had been the course of all who
have preceded us on the earth, what improvements
would ever have been made, like those which we
DOW so rejoice to see in the wonderful arts of
civilized and christianized society ? What depth
of the Dark Ages would have been deep enough
for a nineteenth century ? No century like ours
could ever have been known among men.
In the particular case to which Paul applied the
truth of our text, he would exhort his brethren not
to mourn but rejoice. The new covenant was far
better for them than the old. And as it was the
will of Him, who is never himself changed by the
changes of earth and time, they should be well
content to leave the old ; and with grateful hope
accommodate themselves to the opening scenes
and the illuminated promises of their Maker's
new dispensation of covenant love.
He thus distinctly reminds them of the law of
re-production, by which the law of decay becomes
so joyous, instead of being always and unmiti*
gably grievous. And who needs to be informed,
that, in the beneficent constitution of our terrestrial
state of things, the law of re-production is not
only co-extensive with the law of decay, but ad-
mits also of such manifold and marvellous devel-
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opment and improvement in its appropriate sub-
jects, that the new may be incomparably superior
to the old ?
Throughout all nature, you may see the union
and communion of these laws of decay and re-
production. And it will not> be doubted, that the
law of re-produetion has far more than supplied
IhiB losses which are incidtot to the law of decay.
Thus will it contitiue to be, it is our privilege to
-assure ourselves, so long as the spring shall follow
after winter, and harvest after seed-time ; and so
long also as the mournful hearse shall leave be-
hind it the groups of infancy and childhood, that
can smile and gambol at the very gates of the
cemetery, or even on the fresh graves of the dear
departed !
Yielding obedience, therefore, to the universal
law of decay, we, my beloved friends, have assem-
bled, to take our leave of this sanctuary of holy
convocation, — this house of our God, which here
has been standing so firmly, these last seventy-
seven years. It is too large for us to keep as a
precious relic, or we would part with it only with
our life.
We do as others have done, and well done be-
fore us. That beautiful tabernacle in the wilder-
ness of Sinai, — planned by Him who spread out
the heavens as a tent to dwell in, — ^waxed old,
and could no longer give "rest to the ark of the
Lord." Another took its place, long before the
son of David built the Lord an house, which all
2*
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the earth could not rival in the riches and renown
of its consummate perfection of architecture. By
the silent voice of the law of decay, the old had
been declared to have ended its mission ; and with
the salutations of " all hail," the law of reproduc-
tion heralded the new.
It is, then, let me now remind you, an occasion
of gratitude and gratulation, that we leave this
venerable old sanctuary, not only in obedience to
the law of decay, but also the law of re-produc-
tion.
We have not been obliged to provide a new
sanctuary, because "devouring fire" had burned
this to the ground. Such might have been our
necessity, as was theirs who laid the foundations
and raised these very walls and pillars. On the
night of Oct. 6, 1774, — ^an unsparing conflagration
left nothing of the former house, — save the pulpit-
cushion, and these two identical time-worn vol-
umes of the Holy Word. These, at the peril of
life, were rescued from the sacred desk.
That first house of this people had been erected,
less than forty years. It was dear to many. The
clarion voice of Whitefield had there been heard.
And there Leavitt and Huntington, to say nothing
of Fisk and Whitaker, had ably and undisguisedly
preached the Law and the Gospel, when the
trumpet elsewhere too often gave a feeble or an
" uncertain sound."
Neither have we been obliged to leave this our
hallowed sanctuary, because driven out by the
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constraint of strife and ecclesiastical divisions.
Our predecessors who built the former house, were
thus compelled by a power, equal to that of the
bayonet, to leave the place which they greatly
loved, and to which they deeply, if not justly, felt,
that they had all the rights of a majority to retain.
I waive the merits of their unsuccessful strife with
those, who, when church and state in Massachu-
setts were practically united, were enabled by law
to hold the house of worship, to the exclusion of
the pastor and the majority of the First Church in
the Bay Colony. In the " Discourse delivered on
the first Centennial Anniversary of the Tabernacle
Church," the subject received a careful attention.
And although some new light has since appeared,
we need not its shining, at this present hour.
(See Appendix A.)
Our dissatisfied and inconsolable predecessors
evinced a sincere persuasion of suffering wrong-
fully. And there were those among them, who
had both wealth and will enough, to take very de-
termined measures, as if neither disposed to crave
forbearance from their opponents, nor solicit as-
sistance firom their firiends. But however they
may have regarded their trial, it is undoubtedly
true, that, when they planted the foundations of
their new house, their condition was in no re-
spect enviable or desirable. And devoutly grate-
ful should we be, — ^that not in embittered strife
among ourselves, or with others, but in peace and
harmony so great, and with so much of the genial
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sympathy and approval of our fellow-citizens and
fellow-Christians, we have yielded, in good time,
as it became us, to the irresistible law of decay,
that we may the earlier enjoy the ripe and rich
fruit of obedience to the higher and the ascending
law of re-production.
It is, secondly, an occasion of gratitude and of
gratulation, that we can obey the law of re-pro^
duction, without any such burdens in experience
or in prospect, as for many years afflicted those,
who commenced the erection of this our Taber*^
nacle.
A part of the church, and that the wealthiest,
had separated from Dr. Whitakerand the majority
of their brethren and sisters, in a violent contro-
versy, as early as 1772. (See Appendix B.) Al-
though the congregation was still very large, not
less probably than 1,400 souls, — in 1771, by actual
census, over 1,900, — yet they were generally poor,
or in quite moderate pecuniary circumstances. It
was mainly because of the great number, who
were reckoned of the congregation, — more, proba-
bly, in the autumn of 1774, than in any other so-
ciety in Salem, — that the present house was made
so large.
Dr. Whitaker's personal reputation was not
now favorable to the growth of the society or the
church. By unanimous vote, the church had
agreed to adopt the presbyterian form of govern-
ment, at the time he was settled as the pastor, in
1769 ; but they had delayed to fulfil another part
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of their contract with him, and did not formally
express their willingness to become connected
with a presbytery, until November, 1773. The
connection was strenuously opposed, and was not
completed until the following June.
A meeting of the Boston Presbytery was held
in the former house, only a few weeks before it
was burned down. This could hardly have been
agreeable to the congregational churches in Sa-
lem and vicinity. And from various causes. Dr.
Whitaker had many difficulties to overcome, be-
fore he could expect to officiate in a new house of
God. With gigantic energy and determination,
however, he set about his plan for the Tabernacle.
The building was to be constructed, in the form
of a tent, a rectangular parallelogram, and pyra-
midal in the roof, like Whitefield's in London,
and in honor of that unrivalled modern evange-
list Less than five years previous, he had preach-
ed the last time in Salem ; and for Dr. Whitaker,
a few days only before he fell asleep at Newbury-
port.
Application was made for help to some presby-
terian churches, chiefly in New York and New
Jersey. Of £536, subscribed for the new house,
£238, or about two fifths appear to have been re-
ceived from donors abroad. But the whole sum
was not a quarter part of the amount which was
needed.
Dr. Whitaker was a general agent for the col-
lection of money, and the requisite materials for
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building. After some delay in securing a site,^
the work of construction was begun* So far as
appears from authentic evidence, the frame must
have been raised in the autumn of 1776 ; which,
you will perceive, was just after the Declaration
of Independence. The figures 1777, on the wall
behind me, unc^uestionably denote the year, when
the house was entered for public worship. Wheth-
er there was a dedication, in any other exercises,
tJian those of a Sabbath-day, has not been ascer-
tained. It is supposed, that there was no other ;
for the house was but a boarded frame.
The congregation had so long been obliged to
crowd together within the walls of a school-house,
or to stand without, — that the earliest day appears
to have been taken for entrance into the new
structure, for public worship. On Saturday after-
noon, the floor would be cleared up, as well as
practicable, so as to give room for the planks or
boards, placed on blocks, and arranged for seats.
With no better accommodations, the first worship*
pers in the Tabernacle assembled together, for a
considerable time.
There were no pews, until the latter part of
1778. There was no plastering, for some years
later. The galleries, except that for the singers,
were yet to be,— save only in the connecting lira*
bers of these pillars of masts, rough indeed, but
not, I think, as has sometimes been said, from the
privateers of the Revolution. The roof was all
open, and not even a screen of furring and lathing
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concealed the forest of timber, which gave such
ample strength of support to a heavy dome, at the
summit of the pyramid above. There in the dome
was the appointed place for a bell, — ^which, if it
had even been raised and located, would probably
have been rung, from one of the middle aisles, or
jQrom a pew, near the centre of the house !
The land purchased for the new building, and
that to be obtained subsequently, was then a part
of a large field. There was no such street as
Mariboro, and in the whole distance west to the
"old Boston road," in what is now called Federal
Street, there were but very few houses. The loca-
tioi^it is supposed, was chosen in part for. econ-
omy, the old ground being more valuable, and the
new equally advantageous at less expense. It
has proved to be a wise choice, by which none
have been more profited than we ourselves. (See
Appendix C.)
From the time of the burning of the former
house, Dr. Whitaker had no fixed salary. He at
first held the new house as his own property, in
trust for his successors ; and was to rely upon the
income of the pews for his maintenance. Votes
were passed, from time to time, to aid him in his
need. At one period, he would have had a very
liberal allowance, if there had been as much sub-
stance as sound in the appropriation. In 1780,
he was to receive twelve thousand pounds, —
which, however, was equal to only about $540.
Collections were also taken every Sabbath ; and
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money ** unmarked" was the pastor's own per-
quisite.
After the war had fairly begun, the cry was in-
cessant for money to hire soldiers and arm priva-
teers. Every person that had a dollar to give,
found no want of solicitors or agents to receive.
And at some times, the scarcity of bread was
such, that the municipal authorities imposed re-
strictions upon the sale, limiting the quantity to
purchasers, so that a part of the people should not
be wholly unsupplied. What a contrast to our
present means of subsistence, in the inexhaustible
granaries of the West !
Dr. Whitaker entered into the war with all his
great talents and energies, but his course, however
honorable to his patriotism, neither edified his
church, nor promoted his own christian graces.
As he became more unpopular, his hearers were
less and less willing to provide for his support ;
and also were slower and slower to advance to-
wards the completion and finishing of their house
of worship.
After Rev. Mr. Spaulding's settlement, in 1785,
measures were successfully taken to put the house
in better condition, — himself generously leading
in the work. For eight years the congregation
had heard the walls echo in very natural, but un-
welcome chorus to every loud wind that blew.
Each returning winter, they had breathed each
other's frozen breaths, while the children were
scarce restrained from very clamorous sympathy
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with their freezing feet. On one tempestuous day,
the preacher, the late Dr. Spring, of Newburyport,
could only make himself heard, by coming down
into the " Deacons' Seat," and gathering his few
auditors into the nearest front pews.
The old pulpit, as we have called it, for these
more than twenty years, seems to have been con-
structed, in answer to Mr. Spaulding's desires and
efforts. It must have been completed, before the
middle of 1787; with the seat for the deacons,
after the old custom ; with the "sounding-board"
also over head, on the summit of which the dove
that became so dusty was so long an object for the
speculating gaze of the children, both older and
younger. Two years later, the galleries were par-
tially fitted up; leaving, however, much of the
space to be possessed. Not until 1794, or twenty
years after it was undertaken, could the Taberna-
cle be said to be decently or tolerably finished.
As the house was, when it had stood for one third
part of its whole seventy-seven years, it was yet
in a condition, which none could now bear, un-
less they had learned far better than is common,
to be content in any state whatsoever.
In 1804, an incident occurred, which greatly af-
fected the exterior, and gave occasion to a series
of important changes. During a gale, with the
wind from the north-east, the dome of the roof
started off in its entire body ; and without any
harm to life or neighboring property, was found
erect in yonder garden. It could not have de-
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scended with more felicity, for all concerned. It
is yet to be seen in our city, as a small dwelling.
The steeple was raised in 1805, and by this
operation, it became necessary to alter the roof in
its es^stern slope. The original symmetry of model
was thus sacrificed to the sufficient reason of con-
venience and comfort. And full many a gibe or
pleasantry was the consequence.
For the first time, the tones of a harmoniously
pounding bell of the Tabernacle were heard, the
following year* The first Sabbath day, I was
myself all eye to look, and ear to listen, — though
not perhaps as much as was our venerable friend,
[Deacon Punchard,] who still sits with us, — and
who then, as also at a later day in behalf of its
successor, had the chief agency in procuring it for
its high position and honorable calling. And it is
not unworthy of record, that it was the first bell
in Salem, that was rung for an evening lecture !
But no stoves were yet, save those which the
hand could bring. And cold enough it sometimes
was,— as many of us now alive can bear witness.
And here may I turn aside for indulgence of
reminiscences, which I could not easily repress, if
I would.
This Tabernacle of my maturest manhood, is
the Tabernacle of my childhood and youth. And
now how changed, — since those days, when I used'
to see the fathers and mothers,— so punctually
every Sabbath in their places,— with their reveren-
tial attitudes in prayer and sermon, — and the aged
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women who sat there^ and the aged men, who sat
there^ — ^not excepting the old sexton, Mr. Beckford,
nor the sightless eye-balls of George MuUett, who
had such unequalled powers of vision in his ears
and his feet!
And from yonder orchestra, ^th a full choir, as
" the more excellent way " then was, " young men
and maidens, old men and children," and surely
not least from the double-bass viol of one that
could "play well" upon the instrument, — how
many times have these ears of mine been regaled
with strains, not indeed of the artistic oratorio,
but of melody and soul, that touched my young
nerves and veins, with the power of the electric
mysteries. While memory lasts, never can I forget
" Trishagion," which, in its solemn and jubilant
grandeur, so often sounded forth, as the doxology
after sermon, on Communion Sabbaths ; after the
" Christian Psalmody," both in hymns and tunes,
had come to be in the ascendant with those, who
**^were set over the service of song" in this " house
of the Lord!" (See Appendix D.)
When the former " players on instruments " all
became silent before the organ, of which we were
at last so weary, I was not one among you ; nor
did I ever expect to hold the position which I oc-
cupied, when we so rejoiced at the coming of its
successor. This will go out with us. And gladly
shall we hear its thrilling welcome, when the
doors of the new Tabernacle shall be open for
us to enter in, — with our hearts all awake, and
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in tune for a chorus of Thanksgiving and Al-
leluia.
It may seem strange to some, but even I can
well remember, when, for the first time in this
house, a prayer of invocation preceded the sacred
song ; and a chapter of the Holy Scriptures was
also read, in the morning exercises of worship.
There was an expression in many countenances,
as if a marked innovation had been introduced. —
The present custom of allowing God to speak hint'
selfy for once at least in each public service, did
not begin, until the voice now addressing you was
recognized as your pastor's voice.
And what might I not say of the feelings, which
at this moment move within me, as I seem to hear
again from the old consecrated desk, that mild and
gentle, but distinct and earnest elocution, which
in my childhood and youth was to me, as no other
utterance ever was ; and to others also, — some
still lingering with us, but far more, I trust, are in
that city, the Jerusalem that is above, where pas-
tors and people that have lived and died in the
ever-living Jesus, worship together, without weari^
ness or worldliness, and
Where the assembly ne'er breaks up,
The Sabbath ne'er shall end.
Of other changes, whether in the house itself, or
in the mode of service, which has now been much
the same for twenty years, I need not speak for
information. Neither is any more of suggestion
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or proof needful, that, in our long Farewell to-day,
we can give praise, to the God of our fathers, and
can congratulate ourselves, for the absence of such-
burdens and privations, as for so protracted a pe-
riod embarrassed our predecessors, who were so
glad and grateful to be permitted to sit upon the
rudest benches, beneath the uncovered beams and
rafters !
How different the prospect, at this hour, when
before us is the fast coming reality of our new
Tabernacle; its beautiful and lofty spire, lifting
our eyes, if not our hearts so high towards heaven;
crowning so fitly all the goodly arrangements of
the commodious interior, — where the eye of taste
and the love of goodness may have mutual de-
light, in finding neither extravagance to censure,
nor deficiency to lament!
But whatever our hopes for the future, and
whatever the joys that gild and enliven our fond
anticipations, the new Tabernacle wiU never be
as the old to not a few, who to-day are parting
forever with the old. To them this is a sad hour,
indeed !
We naturally feel an attachment to things to
which we have long been accustomed, and in
which we have had much personal satisfaction
^nd delight, through successive years of very di-
verse experiences,
" It is with a painful reluctance, that an aged
man quits a decayed and tottering house, for one
in itself much more comfortable and elegant It
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is with deep-felt regret, that he leaves an apart-
ment, where for years he has sweetly slept, or a
;5eat by his fire-side, where he has been wont to sit
in social converse with his family and friends.
Those marks of decay in buildings and furniture,
which excite disgust in the young, are from fa-
miliarity become pleasing to him. The sight of
them assists his meditations, and recais to his
mind past agreeable scenes."
Such was the witness of the aged pastor. Dr.
Lathrop, of West Springfield, — when standing in
a similar position, to that of myself to-day. And
I too can add, as did he, — ^that " many here pre-
sent have similar feelings in the thought of aban-
doning this temple, sacred in its design, venerable
by its antiquity, familiar by long use, and pre-
cious by the benefits, which have resulted from it.
Their judgment favors the contemplated" change
" for another sanctuary ; but their feelings reluct.
While they rejoice in the preparation for assem-
bling in another place, it still seems good to be
here."
To all such especially, and to all others, who
cannot but have tender participation in such
natural and christian emotions, I would address
the inquiry, whether it would not be ungrateful
and unfitting, — if the grief of this parting hour
were suffered to swallow up the joys of the re-
membered mercies of our covenant God, in this
our dear old sanctuary ?
Is it in your hearts to exclaim, " We have
thought of thy loving-kindness, O God, in the
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midst of thy temple?" Then can you respond
to me, as once more, I call upon you^ as I call
upon the others, one and all, — to rejoice and be
grateful!
Yes, beloved friends and brethren, let us all con-
gratulate one another with devoutest thanks to
God, for what he has permitted this church and
people to enjoy, and enabled them to accomplish
for his glory, at home and abroad.
The past at least is now safe. Whatever may
be revealed in future days, the recording angel
can this day seal up a record of one uniform,
unbroken testimony of this house of God, — for
seventy-seven years of most important, most inter-
esting, most remarkable time, since the Saviour
ascended from the Mount of Olives.
From the first Sabbath that here witnessed a
congregation of worshippers, to this the last of the
series, four thousand in all, — yes^ four thousand
Sabbath-days^ — the Living God has here been
adored; and in some mode of "doctrine, reproof,
correction, or instruction in righteousness," the
Word of his grace has been preached. And on
how many other days also, in annual observances,
or on special occasions ?
That system of faith, which the earliest, the
godliest, and the ablest of the fathers of New
England accounted " the truth as it is in Jesus,"
and the richest inheritance which they could
transmit to their children's children, has been up-
held, may I not be allowed to say, by each of the
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six ministers of the Tabernacle, from 1777 to
1854 ! Has there been one who did not show
himself ready, to contend earnestly for " the faith
ONCE delivered to the saints," — once for all, de-
livered by the Lord and his apostles ; — and " con-
tend earnestly " not with friends only, but against
foes, whether within or without, seen or unseen ?
And besides, how many pastors of other churches,
or other ministers of the New Testament, have
also here preached Christ and him crucified ?
Blessed be the name of the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that my predecessors in the Taber-
nacle were all men of undisputed independence
and fearlessness in declaring the divine counsels,
for conviction and conversion, for sanctification,
consolation, and glorification ! Recreant indeed
to their example, would their present successor
have been, if, according to his humble ability and
manifold opportunity, he had not endeavored,
through "evil report," as well as " good report," to
preach the same word, which they also preached ;
and to vindicate as they also vindicated, both the
doctrine of Christ and the order of his house.
Blessed, also, be the name of God, ov/r Father
through the Son and by the Spirit, that the faith-
ful preaching of the Word has been so uniformly
and steadfastly supported and encouraged. Where
has there been a more harmonious congregation ?
In neither of the eleven sevens of years — the
children must remember the eleven sevens — ^most
of them golden periods, and all now to be sealed
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up forever; in neither one has the church or
congregation had any special disquiet or solici-
tude, from manifestations or signs of favor for
" another Gospel, which is not another." What
power of influence for the cause of truth and
righteousness has thus silently accumulated ?
And blessed, also, be the name of our God, the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit, that, from the
earliest indications of an awakened missionary
spirit in our American Zion, the Tabernacle has
been so signally honored. If the Tabernacle in
London is entitled to be called " the cradle of the
London Missionary Society," — the Tabernacle in
Salem is entitled to be called " the cradle " both
of the Massachusetts Missionary Society and the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions. Who can estimate or imagine what
God hath wrought, by the missionary sermons
here preached, the many appeals of charity and
philanthropy here made, the contributions here
collected, and the prayers here prompted and
offered, — that the Redeemer's dying love, and liv-
ing, everlasting power to save, may be published
in all the world, to every creature ! That single
ordination scene, Feb. 6, 1812, — -to say not a word
of others of kindred purpose,— is alone enough to
hallow the memory of this revered and endeared
old sanctuary, until time shall be no longer. In
all this western world there is no house, — there
never has been, — a house of God more honored in
all the earth !
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And never has there been a house of God in
this land, it may be confidently affirmed, the an-
ticipated farewell solemnities of which have pro-
duced such a wide and deep sensation ! We did
not ourselves imagine the half that others feel
around ; and much less than this did we know of
what we should feel ourselves, in the parting
hour.-^At this moment, there is scarcely a State
in the Union, if one, in which there are not some,
who with deep emotion are meditating upon this
our last service in the Tabernacle.
It may be as new to most, as it was to me, that
on the memorable " dark day "of 1780, when the
whole town was filled, as never before or since,
with terrors, — a sound went out into the streets,
just as the darkness was beginning to abate, —
and the people flocked from every quarter to hear
in this house of prayer, what this pulpit should
counsel and supplicate from God's majesty or
mercy. A far different, and far greater assembly
it was in 1807, when the Rev. Gideon Blackburn,
from Tennessee, with a Whitefield's thunder and
a Whitefield's melody of persuasiveness, poured
out his soul for the children of the wilderness, —
the Aborigines of the South. Very similar in
numbers and in interest, was the assembly in
1830, when Boudinott and Ridge, from those same
Aborigines,' — ^with your loved and almost idolized
Cornelius, — others also assisting them, — ^aroused
every heart of all the thronged multitude to throb
with unwonted pulsations of responding sympathy
and ennobling magnanimity.
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But after all that is to be remembered on earth,
of signalized occasions or seasons, may it not be
that there has been more "joy among the angels
of God," when far, far less was here witnessed and
felt of the grand and the thrilling ? Yes,"on many
a quiet Sabbath-day, — ^when God's Spirit has
come down in the still small voice,^ — ^there has
been the beginning of a new creation to the glory
of " Love-divine — all love excelling,"
" While endless years
Their everlasting circles run !"
What a company it would be, could we se^
them all, who have here first confessed Christ be*
fore men, in solemn covenant with his people!
How many a precious season has here been en-
joyed, in the communion of the saints with their
common Lord and with one another, in bonds
that death sunders never! How many, — ^would
that there had been far more, — yet how many in
all have here received the consecrated water in
the baptismal seal of the Abrahamic and the
Christian covenant, — ^from one of the first of all,
who is still among ns, to the little one, that must
now be last ? (See Appendix E.)
And what volumes could contain the memorial,
which might be written, if we could but know the
individual history or the unpublished conscious-
ness of all the thousands, of quick and dead, who
here have heard the messages of life and peace !
While God's people have been edified, admonish-
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ed and comforted, — many, many times met by a
good word in season, like an angel's visit on mer-
cy's chosen errand, — how often has some other
word found a right way, when sent forth either
with purposed aim, or like the arrow from the
"bow drawn at a venture;" and has been effect-
ually lodged in a vital spot of the body of sin and
death, so that the spirit has become life unto the
Lord our Righteousness ! Whether in revivals or
at other times, of how many might it, and will it
be said, — although they were never numbered with
us as members of this church, — " This and that
man was born there !" And how many more have
gone out, some far off upon the sea, and to the
ends of the earth, — with an undying remembrance
of hours or days, when here God's holy truth and
Spirit bore witness to their heart and conscience,
for wisdom and for blessedness !
Ye mariners upon the seas, or in distant regions
of the earth, ye may on this very day have thought
tenderly of this holy place, and felt more safe, be-
cause of the supplications that have ascended for
you ! Were ye present with us, would not your
eyes be as if your head were waters! And all ye
absent ones, — all that have ever been of us, —
wherever now ye are in the land we all do love,
or in other lands, — ^would your tears be dry !
My aged friends, it may well be supposed, that
no one of you could come to this parting hour,
without feeling that it is -almost too much for me
and my co-evals to ask of you to bear the burden.
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that we lay upon you, as you leave your seats,
this afternoon, to return to them no more! But,
in your early days, were you hot greatly blessed
by the enterprising labors- and the generous sacri-
fices of those who went before? Will yoti not,
then, while you weep, rejoice also, no less than
those, who stand between the aged and the
young,— that the God of our fathers hath disposed
and erjaWed them to. show th^jr gratitude for his
loving favor to us all, by erecting a new holy, and
a more beautiful house for th!3 honor of his adora-
ble Name, and a rich blessing to thousands yet
unborn?
And can the youth and children ever forget this
dear old house, where first they heard God's min-
isters preach, and where first they met in Sabbath
School ? Will you not preserve, as more precious
than rubies and all diamonds, the memories of
the instruction that maketh wise for earth and
heaven ? Assuredly you will, if you would not
be like some, alas, who at this very hour may be
lamenting in the world of woe, that ^ they hated
instruction and despised reproof I'* Among all
that have ever been of us, none more than they
who were once scholars or teachers of the Sabbath
School, will find their hearts gushing forth in
melting tenderness, — ^when they shall come to
know, that the old pews where they so often sat,
and the old pillars, and the old walls of the Old
Tabernacle are no more !
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O ye seats, ye pews, ye aisles, ye doors, ye win-
dows, ye chandeliers, ye pillars, ye galleries, ye
walls; and thou, communion-table, — ^this bible
and that bible,— this pulpit, to my heart so dear, —
could. ye all speak out with tongues, what utter-
ances would ye mingle with our tears, in this our
last, last farewell ! Your work is done ! We must
go ; and ye all must go ! But whatever changes
may pass over you, ye all shall be engraven in
memory's choicest tablet, and while life and being
last, we shall never forget the sacred, sweet hours
of our presence here !
One more prayer, one more song, one more
doxology, one more benediction, — and then, fare-
well, venerable sanctuary ! Consecrated, endeared
Tabernacle of our fathers and their children, fare-
well! farewell! FAREWELL!
But O God of our fathers and our own God, it
is not farewell to the Word of thy boundless love,
to the ordinances of thine everlasting Gospel, and
to the priceless joys of communion and fellowship
in the bonds of Christ, — ^with exalting hope of
purer, nobler, and immortal service in the heaven
of heavens !
And O ye departed, ye spirits once with us, —
some of you so lately with us, — ^but now in glo-
rious rest, — are ye hovering over us, — unseen but
not unseeing? My sainted father, art thou too
with them, — thou that didst so linger here, when
last thy trembling feet did tread these hallowed
courts ? All hail to you — ^to all of you — ye glori-
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fied ! All hail to you, for all time and all eternity,
all hail ! — Strike, then, strike for us, even us, your
harps of redemption and rapture; strike^ and sing
—Salvation to him that sitteth upon the
THRONE AND UNTO THE Lamb ! — And we wiU say.
Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might,
BE UNTO OUR GoD, FOREVER AND EVER. AmEN !
After prayer, the following hjonn was sung. ( See " White's
Church Melodist," p. 271.)
" Here to the High and Holy One,
Our fathers early reared
A house of prayer, a lowly one,
Yet long to them endeared
By hours of sweet communion,
Held with their covenant God,
As oft, in sacred union,
His hallowed courts they trod.
Gone are the pious multitudes,
That here kept holy time,
In other courts assembled now,
For worship more sublime.
Their children, we are waiting
In meekness, Lord, thy call ;
Thy love still celebrating,
Our hope, our trust, our all.
These time-worn walls, the resting-place,
So oft from earthly cares,
To righteous souls now perfected,
We leave with thanks and prayers \
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With thanks, for every blessing
Vouchsafed through all the past ;
With prayers, thjr throne addreiasing
For guidance |o the last* :
Though from, this house, so long beloved,
We part with sadness now.
Yet here, we trust, in gladness ^ooQ
In fairer courts to bpw r
So when our souls forsaking
These bodies, fallen and pale,
In blighter forms awaking.
With joy the change shall hail."
The numerous congregation, intensely affected, then
joined in singing the Doxology, " Praise God from whom
all blessings flow," etc. And when the benediction, with
the last Amen was pronounced, the attitudes and the coun-
tenances of that last assembly in the old Tabernacle, pre-
sented a spectacle of emotion, such as is rarely witnessed
in any place, or in any circumstances.
For public worship on the next Sabbath and onward, the
Essex County Commissioners had kindly granted the use of
the pleasant and commodious Court- Room, in the granite
building, which, by its nearness and its elegance of model,
had perhaps contributed to hasten the end of the old Taber-
nacle. In the forenoon of March 12th, the pastor preached
from 2 Cor. v : 1 : " For we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved," etc. ; and in the afternoon,
from Acts xvii : 30, 31.
By sitting compactly, not far from six hundred persons
could be accommodated. The new circumstances of the
hearers were very social, and quite favorable to attentiveness j
while all greatly enjoyed the excellent singing by a volun-
teer choir of the Society. ^Andthe Jkssembly seemed often
ready to say : Nowj therefore, are we ail here present before
Godj to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. The
surest and most grateful signs of the presence, of the Spirit
were graciously afforded.
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Celebration of the Laying of the Comer- Stone of the New
Tabernacle, April 26, 1854.
The following account of this celebration first appeared in
the Daily Evening Traveller.
**The distinguishing Comer- Stone of the new edifice for
the Tabernacle Church and Society, having been previously
fixed in its place, with the other goodly stones of the foun-
dation, religious services were held yesterday afternoon, for
a devout and grateful recognition of the event. They were
conducted by the pastor, who introduced the selections of
Scripture and the other exercises of the occasion, by allud-
ing to the memorable scene, at Jerusalem, where some of
" the ancient men," who remembered the glory of the first
temple, could not refrain from " weeping with a loud voice,"
while " many shouted aloud for joy." These last were the
younger men, who rejoiced with hope and exultation in the
prospect before them. It was remarked, that if any of " the
ancient men " of the Tabernacle were now to weep, at the
sight of the foundations of this new house of the Grod of
the fathers, the very stones of the old house, which had
been taken away, would cry out "for shame to you," and
the goodly stones now here in their place would respond
Amen !
It was intimated by the speaker, that there was really
but little which he needed to say — since the occasion itself
might be left to make its own impression upon so many
interested hearts. This goodly foundation might speak, as
he said, and the comer-stone should be " the chief speaker."
But, added he, as we are about to sing, our hearts may
be attuned to a sweeter melody, and our supplications and
thanksgivings may be inspired with a purer fervency, if
we should receive instruction from the blessed Word of
Grod, both in the Old and New Testaments. And if there
was a single person of the numerous assembly, who had
any question of the propriety of recognizing, as we now
4*
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do, the gracious providence of God, let him listen to what
will be read — ^first, from the 38th chapter of the Book of
Job.
Dr. W. then read from this chapter, verses 4 — 7, and
ver8eg^ 34—361. He next read ffrom the dOth Psalm, verses
l-.3d, 10th, 12th, 16th, and J7th. Passing into Oie New
Testaaneiit^ he. read firom Matt xxi : 42, 43d y and from the
Epistle to. the EphesianSj U :^li-Tl3th,,andihe l^th to tl»
-22d veflie inohisiv^. V .
• These Scriptures formed a series^ in perfect unity, and
^ were listened to with marked [att^ie% a&, if the-, uttoianee
was indeed the Word of the Living :€tod, and the Redeemer
of the world* -
A choir composed of tn^mbeea of the ofm^^sgai^on^ then
sang in b. most anmmtedrmanaer,: an4 with thHUing eff^
the 118th Psalm of Watts^ 3d Part, C. M^ with the last three
stanzas of the 4th Part . It was truly affecting to ^ee a ven-
erable deacon^ who has just entered his ninety ^second yeiMr^
as he rose up from his place to join in the iuG^iring song,
which was so admirably suited to the occasion.
A prayer was then offered. A list was then read, of the
documents and other deposits which we e to be committed
in trust to the comer-stone, as a memorial of the celebration,
for those who may succeed the present members of the
Church and Society of the Tabernacle, with their fellow-
citizens of Salem.
Among these deposits were city documents of the most
recent date, newspapers of Salem, the Daily Evening Trav-
eller of March 6th, containing an account of the farewell
services in the old house, March 5th,— etc. A copy of the
Articles and Covenant of the Church, an engraved likeness
of the former Dr. Worcester, and several published dis-
courses of the present pastor, were also deposited in the
copper box, which is to be sealed, ^nd covered with cement
in the cavity of the comer-stone prepared for the trust
Among them was the discourse at the.ffist centennial anni-
versary, April 26th, 1835; "New England's Glory and
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Crown," a discourse at Plymouth, 1848 ; and " The Prospec-
tive Condition of our Country, with a Tribute to the memory
of President Taylor, Aug. 1850."
These and others have appropriate inscriptions, addressed
to difllerent classes in the generations to come. Not th^
least in interest, probably, at a future day, may be the An-
nual Report of the Americaii Board of Commissioners for
Fofe^ Missions, with its endorsement, accompanied by
the autograph signatures of the inemberB of the Prudential
Committer Secretaries of Correspondence^ Treasurer, Re-
cording Secretary^ etc.
A lithograph of the exterjipr and interior oi the former
Tabernacle, finely executed from a drawing of Mr. S. P.
Hodgdon, a promising young artist of Salem,^ was also ex-
hibited, as one of the deposits. Several coins of the latest
issue, with a few other axticleSy^ are to be added, before the
sealing up of the box in the cavity in the comer-stone. The
stone thus honored is at the north-east comer of the build-
ing^ and will undoubtedly be regarded henceforth with
emotions of deep interest by all the members of the Taber-
nacle congregation, and by numerous others of the crowded
and very attentive assembly, on this truly memorable oc-
casion.
The services closed with a benediction, previous to which
the whole assembly appeared to be moved, as the Doxology
was sung fiom the 117th Psalm, L. M., with the addition of
the words, beginning :
" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."
As the 26th of April, 1835, was observed as the Centen-
nial Anniversary of the Tabernacle Church, and as the
Sabbath School was commenced, in a separate organization,
on the 26th of April, 1830, — ^the undesigned coincidence of
the day of the Comer- Stone celebration is worthy of notice
in this Memorial. ( See Appendix F.)
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The Juvenile Sewing Circle, numbering from sixty to
geventy, prepared articles for a " Fair," which yielded more
than $300. This sum they appropriated for the furniture,
fixtures, etc. of the pulpit On Thursday afternoon. Thanks-
giving day, Nov. 30th, they had the. pleasure of meeting
together in the new Tabernacle, for a presentation of the
new bibles and hymn-books, of the pulpit, and the Minis-
ter's pew. They also delivered into the pastor's hands a
beautiful box, made of the oaken timber of the old house,
and fitted to contain the beautiful silver goblet, designed
for use in the pulpit. A short address was made to the in-
teresting group, as they filled the area before the pulpit ;
and the occasion will be vividly and very pleasantly re-
membered by all who were present
The Dedication of the new Tabernacle took place, in the
forenoon of the day following. The weather which had not
seemed likely to be propitious, proved to be favorable in the
highest degree. The expectations of a lively interest in the
occasion were entirely fulfilled, by the gathering of a very
large and attentive assembly.
The services were introduced by an Anthem : " Lord,
thou crownest the year with thy goodness and all thy paths
drop fatness," etc. Selections from the Scriptures were read
by Rev. James M. Hoppin, of the Crombie Street Church,
Salem; Rev. Brown Emerson, D. D , of the South Church,
Salem, offered an appropriate and fervent prayer. The au-
dience then united in singing the 48th Psalm, '' Great is the
Lord our God," etc. which was read by Prof. George B.
Jewett, of Amherst College. The Discourse and the Prayer
of Dedication were by the Pastor. The " Dedication An-
them," chiefly in the words of the 1st, 4th, and 5th verses
of the 141st Select Hymn, (Watts and Select,) was then
sung, with the Doxology, " Praise God," etc. Rev. B. F.
Allen, of Marblehead, pronounced the Benediction.
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Discourse delivered at the Dedication of the
New Tabernacle, Dec. 1, 1854.
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the
earth ? Behold^ heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain thee; how mtich less this house which
I have built ?—2 Chron. vi : 18.
The idea of God, as a pure Spirit, pervading
the universe of matter and mind, by visible and
invisible demonstrations of "eternal power and
godhead," can neither be innate nor intuitive.
Fallen man is so much a creature of sense, that,
left to himself, he worships the sun, moon, and
stars, and
" Bows down to wood and stone,"
with an utter blindness to the impiety and the ab-
surdity of such reverence. History, with her gen-
uine and authentic documents, witnesses against
the ability of the natural reason and conscience to
discover, or rightly to interpret, the existence and
the essential attributea of the one only living and
Irae God.
There are indeed, in all parts of the globe,
traces of the religion, which Noah must have
brought with hini over the waters of the deluge,
from "the sons of God " and the garden of Eden.
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But there is no evidence, that any of the wisest of
Pagan philosophers, who so anxiously " felt after
God, if haply " in their darkness, they could " find
him," ever reached the conception and the personal
adoration of God, as a " Spirit, infinite, eter-
nal, AND UNCHANGEABLE, IN HIS BEING, WISDOM,
POWER, HOLINESS, JUSTICE, GOODNESS, AND TRUTH."
Such also is human nature, that, where God is
known according to the word of his inspired reve-
lation, men do not like to retain him in their
knowledge. Instead of walking in the "beauty
of holiness," they have " changed the truth of God
into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator."
From the intrinsic difficulty of apprehending the
true spiritual nature of God, and from the aver-
sion of the heart to the requirements of his will,
we may easily explain the corruption and violence
of the antediluvians, and also the origination and
rapid extension of idol-worship among the de-
scendants of Noah. They who said unto God, —
"Depart from us," — ^were not willing to glorify and
enjoy any other supreme Divinity, than a tran-
script of their own moral likeness. And, perhaps,
all the false religions of the world, with all the
corruptions of the true, may be attributed to the
desire of man, ever since the fall, to make God in
his image, and to think of God as such an one as
himself.
By a sovereign interposition, the God of Abra-
ham*secured a race, among whom his Name was
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recorded, and his " holy oracles " preserved, until,
in the fulness of time, he was <^ manifest in the
flesh." If it had not been for this interposition,
so "wonderful in counsel and excellent in work-
ing," the "true God," in all probability, would
have been the " Unknown," or the " Anonpmom "
God, not only of Athens, but of every city and
every dwelling of the earth.
The altar, which by its inscription suggested to
the great apostle, the opening, if not the subject-
matter of his discourse on Mars Hill, was, perhaps,
the strongest of all proofs, that "the city was
wholly given to idolatry." And in the midst o.
those world-renowned structures of classic Mythol
ogy> how sublime the utterance, — " Whom ye
ignorantly worship, him declare 1 unto you ! God
that made the world, and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not
in temples made with hands ; neither is worship-
ped with men's hands, as though he needed any
thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and
all things."
The great cardinal doctrine of revealed religion,
which was made so prominent by this chief of the
apostles, was precisely that which, when " a young
man," he unquestionably heard from the lips of
the first of Christian martyrs, — ^whose "face," as
he refuted the charge of "blasphemous words
against Moses and against God," was "as it had
been the face of an angel."
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" Our fathers," said Stephen, — " had the taber-
nacle of witness in the wilderness, as God had
appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should
make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
Which also our fathers, that came after, brought
in with Jesus [Joshua] into the possession of the
Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of
<)ur fathers, unto the days of David ; wha found
favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle
for the God of Jacob.— But Solomon built him an
house. — Howbeitjthe Most High dwelleth not in
iemples made with hand$, as saith ihe prophet.
Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool ;
what house will ye build me ? saith the Lord ; or
what is the place of my rest ? Hath not my hand
made all these things ?
If now we add what, perhaps, was omitted, in
consequence of the tumult and fury of Stephen's
accusers, — viz. " but to this man will I look, even to
him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trem*
bleth at my word^^ — we may see that, in saying, —
" God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must
worship him in spirit and in truth," — the Lord
from heaven did but re-announce the doctrine of
the passage cited from Isaiah. (Ch. Ixvi : 1, 2.)
And as the prophet was preeminently one of those,
in whom was " the Spirit of Christ," the words
which he uttered, as God's anticipating expostu-
lation with carnally-minded worshippers in the
second temple, — ^that in which Christ had appeared,
and which he had called his " Father's house," —
we may regard the words spoken by the prophet
as the words of Christ, when in the glory which
he had with the Father before the world was.
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The doctrine of God's spirituality could not
have been a new revelation or a new conception
to those, wlio had been devoutly " waiting for the
consolation of Israel." It could not have been un-
known, or as a dead letter, to Isaiah, or to David,
or to Moses, or to Abraham, or to Noah, or to
Enoch, or to Abel.
Through the whole of the Old Testament, the
running title on every page might be, — ^" God is a
Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship
him in spirit and in truth," And where now can
be found on earth, any purer or sublimer spiritual-
ities of conception and adoration than, a thousand
years before the Messiah's appearing, were pub-
lished and sung in those unequalled songs of the
tabernacle on Mount Zion ! The gifted son of
David must have often joined in these. And it
may have been no unworthy or powerless element
of his emotions, that his own royal father had in-
dited such ennobling, such imperishable melodies
of the city of God.
The fondly cherished desire of that father, it
was the son's distinguished honor to fulfil, in the
completion of such a sanctuary, as had never be-
fore been seen among the chosen people. As a
work of man it might claim to be the very highest
achievement of the world's power of genius, taste
and wealth. But its glory was in its purpose, as
a house of God. And reason enough there was,
that from Carmel and the shores of the Great
Sea, — ^from Lebanon, and the mountains of Gil-
5
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ead, far beyond the Jordan, towards the Eu-
phrates, — ^the people should hasten to Jerusalem,
in their goodliest apparel ; — with all the imposing
splendors of their princea and the mighty men of
war, — ^with priests and Levites, without number ;
and with singers by many hundreds, — ^to be "ar-
rayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalte^
Ties and harps,"-— to participate with one heart
and voice in the jubilant solemnities of the ap*-
pointed dedication.
" And king Solomon and all the cbngregatiori
of Israel that were assembled unto him before the
ark, [which they had brought out from the taber-
nacle, now superseded,] sacrificed sheep and oxen,
which could not be told nor numbered for multi-
tude. And the priests brought in the ark of the
covenent of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle
of the house, into the holy place, even under the
wings of the cherubim. * * And it came to pass,
when the priests were come out of the holy place,
* * as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to
make one sound to be heard in praising and
thanking the Lord ; and when they lifted up their
voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instru-
ments of music, and praised the Lord, sayings
For he is good ; for his mercy endureth forever ;
that then the house was filled with a cloud, cveri
the house of the Lord ; so that the priests could
not stand to minister by reason of the cloud ; for
the glory of the Lord had filled the house of
God."
At the sight, so iinexpected and mysterious, the
priests and tbe people would seem to have been
profoundly moved; not knowing whether tainterr
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pret the darkness as a token of tlie Holy One's
displeasure, or of his approbation and his paternal
presence in covenant mercy. Not a few of the
best instructed and the firmest, both in natural
and spiritual fortitude, may have quaked, as did
Moses, when the darkness and the rolling thun-
ders of Sinai proclaimed both the majesty and
the law of the living God to the amazed multi-
tudes of Israel.
As if fully endowed for every emergency of the
solemnities, Solomon was able to compose and
re-assure those agitated hearts and trembling
frames, throughout that vast assemblage. And
may not the Searcher of hearts have seen, that
there was need of the terrors of his Holiness and
Almightiness, in just that place, and time, and
mode of manifestation? May there not have
been among them far too little of reverence and
godly fear, and far too much of the exhilarations
and ecstasies of exultation and enthusiasm ?
At Mount Sinai, their fathers, who "saw the
thunderingSy and the lightnings, and the noise of
the trumpetj and the mountain smoking, — remaved
and stood afar off." Moses, although himself
trembling, at once tranquillized their alarms.
"Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and
that his fear may be before, your faces, that ye sin
not."
" And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew
near unto the thick darkness where God was.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus shalt thou
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say unto the children of Israel ; Ye have seen that
I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall
not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye
make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth
thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice
thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offer-
ings, thy sheep and thy oxen ; in all places
WHERE I RECORD MY NAME, I WILL COME UNTO
THEE, AND I WILL BLESS THEE." (Ex. XX.)
The terror of the "darkness" was designed to
produce that solemn awe and reverence, which
the people of Israel and all others should feel, in
their approach to God. But within "the cloud"
in which "the glory of the Lord" miraculously
"appeared," in all the journeyings of the wilder-
ness, there was li^ht for the upright, and joy and
peace to the humble, the filial, and confiding.
When the tabernacle had been finished, Moses
could not enter, " because .the cloud abode thereon,
and the glory of the Lord," in the likeness of fire,
or as an overpowing effulgence, " filled the taber-
nacle." But wherever the tabernacle was, "the
cloud," and " the glory " which broke forth out of
'the cloud," were the infallible tokens of the pe-
culiar presence of Israel's covenant God. Of all
this and of much more in the subsequent history,
to which reference might be made, Solomon could
not have been unaware.
By his direction there had been placed in the
midst of the court of the temple, a " brazen scaf-
fold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and
three cubits high." Upon this, doubtless, he was
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standing, when the appalling manifestation of the
" cloud " filled the house of the Lord. His face
was towards the " cloud." The whole congrega-
tion may be imagined, lying prostrate with their
faces to the earth. And what utterance of mortal
iips couid have been, at that moment, more ex-
pressive of humble and confiding adoration, than
that which was now heard ! The Lord hath said
that he would dwell in the thick darkness. But I
have built a house of habUatian for thee, and a place
for thy dwelling forever.
The darkness was thus interpreted and hailed
as God's own chosen symbol of presence, in ra-
diant mercy no less than in terrible majesty; and
as if now the sure harbinger of his coming in very
deed to the dwelling-place, which had been built
at his command and for his service. After this,
Solomon turned his face, and "the congregation of
Israel all stood," — having risen up, as is intimated,
or having been re-assured and re-animated, — ^to
receive the address which he then delivered, intro-
ductory to the prayer of dedication.
When he had closed, he "kneeled down upon
his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and
spread forth his hands toward heaven. And said,
O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in
the heaven, nor in the earth ; which keepest cove-
nant and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that
walk before thee with all their hearts ; Thou
which hast kept with thy servant David my father
that which thou hast promised him ; and spakest
with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy
6*
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hand, as it is this day. Now, therefore, O Lord
God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
father that which thou hast promised him, saying,
There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit
upon the throne of Israel ; yet so that thy children
take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as
thou hast walked before me. Now then, O Lord
God of Israel: let thy word be verified, which thou
hast spoken unto thy servant David."
Having acknowledged the faithfulness of God
to all his promises, and implored a continuance of
his rich mercies, the grateful monarch, whose glory
was never greater than in that hour when thus on
the bended knee, — was apparently arrested in his
thoughts, and rendered well nigh speechless. Con-
ceive of a pause, accompanied by the breathless
silence and suspense of the whole immense con-
gregation. Then listen ! But will God in very
DEED dwell with MAN UPON THE EATTH ? Be-
HOLD, HEAVEN AND THE HEAVEN OP HEAVENS CAN-
NOT CONTAIN THEE ; HOW MUCH LESS THIS HOUSE
WHICH I HAVE BUILT?
If there were any worshippers of idols within
sight and hearing, they were thus admonished,
that the sanctuary before them was not for a
graven image, or the embodiment of any device of
a superstitious imagination. There was no thought
of the infinite Jehovah, as if he could be there in
such a local and limited presence or inhabitation,
as the heathen conceived of their " vanities." It
was not for human hands to build for the King
eternal and invisible a house or mansion capa-
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cious or magnificent enough ; since even the very
earth itself, in all its grandeur and goodliness, is
but as the footstool of his feet.
In another view, we may here see the over-
whelming effect of the conscious immensity, and
excellency, and glory of the Divine Being. — Is it
possible, that the High and Holy One, who inhab-
iteth eternity, can stoop so low, as in any con-
ceivable manner to commune, and to dwell with
men ? — How can God dwell with such creatures ? —
O amazing condescension !
In yet another, and perhaps, the largest view,
we perceive the deepest humility blended with un-
utterable rapture of gratitude. The God of David
had not only performed his promise, in respect to
the building of the temple, but had actually come
to take possession by his glorious presence, and
to record his name, as he had dwelt, and had re-
corded his name, in the venerated tabernacle of
the days of old. The cloud was already filling the
whole house within ; and out of it was to break
the Shekinah, the abiding resplendence above the
cherubim over the mercy-seat. And in token of
God's acceptance of the work, and his real pre-
sence, in his holiness and his love, there was no
need in that hour of intense and sublime devotion,
that a voice should be heard from "the excellent
glory," saying, "I have chosen this place to my-
self, for a house of sacrifice." — The heart of the
royal suppliant must have felt beyond all power of
expression, what would have been indicated, if he
had said, Our God has come ! Jehovah is here !
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I thus interpret the words, — ^^ Will God in very
deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold,
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain
thee; how much less this house which I have
built?" — This interpretation is in evident harmony
with the whole of the prayer, as it was continued.
What is first in order may be taken as an example
for the whole.
" Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy
servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God,
to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy
servant prayeth before thee : That thine eyes may
,be open upon this house day and night, upon the
place whereof thou hast said, that thou wouldest
put thy name there ; to hearken unto the prayer
which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
Hearken, therefore, unto the supplications of thy
servant and of thy people Israel, which they shall
make toward this place: hear thou from thy
dwelling-place, even from heaven ; and when thou
hearest, forgive." (2 Chr. vi : 19—21.)
" When he had made an end of his supplica-
tion, he arose from before the altar, and from
kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread up
to heaven, and stood and blessed all the congre-
gation with a loud voice." He recognized the
truth and mercy of that covenant God, of all
whose good promises not one word had failed ;
and invoking anew his blessing upon all the peo-
ple, he exhorted them to be "perfect with the
Lord their God, — ^to walk in his statutes, and to
keep his commandments."
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" Fire catn€ down from heaven, and consumed
the burnt-offering and the sacrifices, and the glory
of the Lord filled the house. * * And the Lord
appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto
him, I have chosen this place to myself for a
house of sacrifice. * * Mine eyes shall be open,
and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made
in this place. For now have 1 chosen and sancti-
fied this house, that my name may be there for-
ever ; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there
continually."
Important conditions were annexed to these
promises. If these should not be fulfilled by the
kings, the priests, the prophets, and the people,
then no power on earth, and no compassion in
heaven above, would preserve that house from
utter demolition and desolation.
" If ye turn away and forsake my statutes and
my commandments, which I have set before you,
and shall go and serve other gods, and worship
them; Then will I pluck them up by theYoots
out of my land, which 1 have given them ; and
this house, which I have sanctified for my name,
will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be
a proverb and a by-word among nations. And
this house which is high, shall be an astonishment
to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall
say. Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land,
and unto this house ? And it shall be answered,
Because they forsook the Lord God of their
fathers, which brought them forth out of the land
of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and wor-
shipped them, and served them ; therefore hath he
brought all this evil upon them." (2 Chr. vii.)
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To the temple of Solomon, where the visible
glory, the Shekinah, appeared above the mercy-
seat, the tribes went up ; and as they went, "old
men and children, young men and maidens," —
singing the songs of Zion. Mount Moriah, like
Mount Zion, was " beautiful for situation," and
unspeakably dear to the hearts of the thousands,
who from generation to generation worshipped
their fathers' God in spirit and in truth.
Long did Jehovah of hosts dwell between the
cherubim, and commune with his people Israel,
and with strangers that came from a far land.
But in the lapse of ages of eventful and most in-
structive history for all coming time, the measure
of iniquity was filled ; the destroyer came from
beyond " the great river, the river Euphrates ;" and
" the holy and beautiful house," where the children's
children of the ancient " fathers worshipped, was
burned up with fire, and all their pleasant things
laid waste." And there was fulfilled the saying of
the Lord, so solemnly uttered four hundred years
before ; — for that house did become an " astonish-
ment " to the " passing " traveller.
Upon the return from the captivity in Babylon,
where their harps hung for seventy years upon the
willows by the river, — the first object of attention
with Ezra, Zerubbabel, and their associates, was
the rebuilding of the house of God. Its dedica-
tion was a festival of joy and thanksgiving. While
in exile, as is supposed, the devout captives had
of necessity provided for themselves those places
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of prayer, known to ns by the name of synagogues.
It is certain, that not long after the return, such
buildings were erected even in different parts of
the holy land;— a natural consequence of the
habit and the pleasure of worshipping socially
and regularly every Sabbath-day.
^ God had fulfilled his word of prophecy and of
promise: "Although I have cast them far off
among the heathen, and although I have scattered
them among the countries, yet will I be to theni
as a little sanctuary in the countries where they
shall come. * * I will even gather you from the
people, and assemble you out of the countries
where ye have been scattered, and I will give you
the land of Israel." (Bze. xi : 16, 17.)
It is probable, that their houses of worship in
difl'erent places of their exile, greatly promoted
personal piety among the captive Hebrews; and
were of invaluable service in aiding them to main?
tain the institutions of true religion against the
seductive encroachments arid abominations of idol-
atry. After the return from Babylon, the Hebrews
of the land of promise, no more worshipped, as a
community or a nation, any of the gods of the
heathen.
In the synagogues, our adorable Lord and Sa-
vior preached, in his own person, " the grace and
truth," which he was preparuig to seal with " the
blood of the everlasting covenant." It was his
custom to go into them, every Sabbath. Wherever
his apostles found Jews, they found also these
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houses of worship, of which it could then be said,
" Moses of old time hath in every city them that
preach him, being read in the synagogues every
Sabbath-day." And it cannot be doubted, that
they were always set apart for religious purposes,
by some form of solemn consecration.
Those who were first called Christians at An-
tioch, amidst the countless temples and altars of
that splendid Syrian capital, probably had not a
synagogue, or any kind of public building for
prayer and praise, hearing of the word, and the
celebration of the ordinances of " the glorious
Grospel of the blessed God." Every where spoken
against and persecuted, they and their kindred in
the bonds of Christ Jesus worshipped as they
could in private houses, or in the open air, per-
haps at midnight; and often "in dens and caves
of the earth," to which they would resort, both in
summer's heat, and winter's cold.
At the beginning of the third century, there
were some houses of Christian worship, in certain
parts of the Roman empire. There could not
have been many. Such as there were would have
poorly compared with the temple of Solomon, or
even this new Tabernacle, in which we are now
assembled. In brief periods of toleration, or rather
of sufferance, Christians were allowed to have
public services, until the fourth century. The
emperor Dioclesian, A. D. 303, ordered all their
sacred buildings to be razed to the earth.
Under Constantine, who soon after ascended
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the throne of the Caesars, ihe demolished churches
were rebuilt, and such as had been closed, were
again opened. In some instances, it appears, but
not many. Pagan temples were purified and dedi-
cated to the true and the triune God.
Justinian, in the sixth century, far exceeded all
his predecessors in his zeal for the erection of
magnificent and colossal churches. Of these, the
Church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, was the
most remarkable and renowned. It was erected
at an expenditure of $5,000,000. The perpendic-
ular height, from the summit of the grand arch to
the pavement was one hundred and eighty feet,^-
just the height of the spire which stands in front
of this building. " Such was the splendor of this
work that, at the consecration of it^ Justinian ex-
claimed, * I have exceeded thee, O Solomon V '*
In Christian countries, both Papal and Protes-
tant^ there are, at this day, some edifices of great
magnitude and splendor ; — capable of contaiifiing
from 5,000 to 10,000 worshippers. Formerly, there
was no provision of seats for the congregation ;
and in some cases, the preacher »at, while the as-»
s^mbly stood to hear. Thus did CHrysostom,
" the golden-mouthed," sometimes preach.
In general, however, the buildings for Christian
worship, have been constructed at very moderate
cost, and have been designed for hearers of the
word, who might without disrespect or irreverence
keep their seats, during the sermon ;*— ^ea^5, which
I am inclined to think, would not have been pro-
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vided, in any age before ours, if it had been imag-
ined, that ever such a custom would arise, as that
of an assembly of professed worshippers of God
sitting in prayer!
Our present usage in the dedication of churches,
or as we often rightly say, meeting-houses^ has been
ascribed to Constantine. But if the buildings for
worship, among the Redeemer's disciples, had
previously been occupied without any public so-
lemnities of dedication, it is to be accounted for,
chiefly if not solely, by the circumstances of the
periods of martyrdom.
In conformity, then, with ancient and sacred,—
and at present, almost universal usage, in such
cases, — ^we, of the Tabernacle Church and Society
in Salem, have met together, with our friends and
neighbors — whom we rejoice to see with us— that
we may dedicate, most cordially and truly, this
new and beautifal house. It has been erected for
the honor, and in hope of the gracious, add the
glorious presence of the same God, who, during so
many generations, dwelt in the sanctuary, which
Solomon built, and so memorably dedicated. The
service is fitting in itself, irrespective of time-hou-
ored usage.
A dedication imports a solemn appropriation of
an edifice to the purposes for which it is erected,
or to which it is to be devoted. And this house
we have built, that it may be to us " none other
but the house of God and the gate of heaven?'
As, tb^efore^ we have built this house, and are to
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dedicate it to the service of the same (}od, have
we any less reason to expect that he will dwell in
it, with a real presence, than Solomon had to ex-
pect that presence, which was vouchsafed to th^
temple, as it had before been to the tabernacle?
In the sense of the Scriptures, God is present,
when by his agency or influence he makes any
peculiar maaifestations of himself, to the eyes of
the body or of the soul ; or when such objects of
sight or contemplation are brought into view, as
impart to us vivid and impressive conceptions of
his being and of his perfections.
God's essence is every-where. Absolutely con-
sidered, he is in all space and in all existence.
He is in the cottage as in the palace, — in the
open field as in the temple. But in places set
apart for his service, and consecrated to his praise,^,
we are accustomed, and we believe, with the high-
est reason, to say, that he is both really and pecu-
liariy present
The Shekinah, sometimes called ^ the cloud,'*
^ the pillar of fire," " the glory of the Lord," and
^ the excellent glory," was not God's presence ; but
merely the visible sign of that presence, by the
Holy Spirit's agency and influence. Some have
thought it a prefiguration of the personal appear-
ance of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Brightness of
the Father's glory, in the second temple. Others,
and I judge more correctly, have interpreted it as
a symbol of the Holy Spirit, through whom the
godly become living temples of God, in their own
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persons, and the church universal is a habitation
of God.
The purpose of Solomon in building thre temple
was no better expressed, than in his message to
the king of Tyre : " Behold I build an house to
the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to
him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and
for the continual sbew-bread, and for the burnt-
offerings, morning and evening, on the Sabbaths,
and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts
of the Lord our God." As Christians, we, in our
advanced condition of spiritual knowledge, have
built this house for purposes, to ail intents corres-
ponding with those of Solomon, as described by
himself.
In Christ, we are Abraham's seed, and heirs ac-
cording to promise^ heirs of salvation through the
blood of '^ the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." And on the gates of the New Jenisa^
lem, the emblematic city of the visions of Fatmos,
were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel ; and
on the foundations the names of the twelve apes*
ties of the Lamb ; — ^thus signifying, that the t^ue
members of the Jewish and the Christian churches
are one,— ^nd are built together ^on the founda-
tion of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner-stone."
In place of the seventh day for a Sabbath, w^e
have the Lord's day,i — ^the first day of the week.
For circumcision, which was before Moses, and
was to Abraham a seal of the righteousness that is
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l>y faith, we have the ordinance of baptism. For
the Passover, commemorative of the triumphant
deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, we have
the Sacrament of the Sapper, in which his foliowr
ers are enjoined to show ocir Lord's atoning death,
and his victory over death and hell, until he shall
come '^ to be glori&ed in his saints and admired
in all them that believe."
In place of burnt-offerings and sin-offerings, we
have the Lamb of God, who offered himself, with-
out spot or blemish, once for all. We need not a
succession of priests to burn incense ; for we have
access to the Holy of holies, through the Mediator
of a new and better covenant. And if we have
the New and the Old Testament, — the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the
Holy Comforter, with the love of God, even the
everlasting Father,— what need have we of any of
those appliances of worship, those typical or ritual
ordinances and ceremonies, which were all super-
seded or abolished, when Christ — ^thb bnd of the
liAW FOR RiQHTEOUsNESs-^accomplished his de-
cease at Jerusalem ?
Of the distinguishing articles of our doctrinal
belief, who here is ignorant ? Who does not know,
if he knows anything of this city, and of history,
that, as the doctrine of Christ, we hold the faith
of the founders of the First Church in Salem,
and of all the venerated churches of New Eng-
land ; the faith of the martyrs in our father-land, —
of the Reformers of the sixteenth century, and pre*
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eminently of John Calvin, — of the Waldenses and
Albigenses,-— of Athanasias and Aagnstine^ and
the hundreds of thousands, who in the first three
centuries ^ loved not their lives unto the death T^
(See Appendix G.) And this faith, or the doc-
trines so admirably defined in the Westminster
Confession, we hold, not because we have received
them by tradition, or in virtue of any human au-
thority ; — ^bat because in our sincere and honest
judgment and persuasion, the Bible teaches them
unequivocally and infallibly. With us, there lies
no appeal from God's testimony.
We believe, that whatever the Gospel once was,
it is now and ever will be. We believe, that what-
ever discoveries may be made among the stars, or
in the depths of the earth, and whatever may come
forth from the speculations or the researches of the
wisest of the wise of this world, — ^there will never
be any other way to be saved, than that which by
the Gospel is here to be preached. The faith
ONCB delivered to the saints, can no more be
changed, or be modified by any human power or
device, than the sun can become the moon, and
the earth become both the moon and the sun.
Truthfully and eloquently has it been said,—
.'' Remember that as the stars, shining over us, are
the same that let down their light upon Adam ;
so the great star-like truths in the firmament of
Revelation, must remain the same; and Jesus
Christ, the great Truth of all revelation, the one
Decree of heaven, and the one Hope of earth,
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mast remain in our theology, as in that of bur
fathers, unchanged and unchangeable, the same
yesterday, to-day, and forever. Far in this matter
of the soul's salvation, be from us and our church-
es, the spirit of restlessness and 'self-sufficient in-
novation, that seeks something vaster than heaven,
newer than Truth, and better than God !"
We desire not to be as those, who set up a
golden calf, even at Bethel, where Jacob saw the
gate of heaven ; — and of whom it was said, —
" Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth
temples." Whether it may be thought to be our
honor or our reproach, we seek to walk in "the
old paths," and "the good way," — ^in which a
countless multitude have walked and " found rest
to tJieir souls." Whoever in our Massachusetts
or New England, may be accounted innovators^
and whoever may glory in a progress beyond " the
simplicity that is in Christ," — be it our humble
and holy joy, that we have no aspirations for such
progress, and no ambition for such glory. If any
assert the liberty of following in the line of their
present convictions, — ^we accord it to them most
fully. But we ask that in their turn, they will ac-
cord to us the liberty of following in the line of
both our present and our past convictions ; and by
the grace of God, we trust, our future convictions,
even to the hour when we hope to depart and to
be with Christ, and to dwell with him, forever-
more.
With the truth as it is in our Lord Jesus Christ
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and him crucified, and the faith which through
his blood is imputed to us for righteousness unto
life eternal, we may well be content It is written
that " the Angel of the Lord," — ^in whom we rer
cognize the Angel-Jehovah,— -the Angel of the
covenant, Christ Jesus,—" appeared unto Moses in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ; and he
^ looked and behold the bush burned with fire, and
the bush was not consumed/' In that emblem of
the bush and the flame of fire, we read the inde-
etructibleness of " the Church of God, which he
purchased with his own blood." And ^the ashes
vf that Jire^^ we never expeet and never desire to
We have built this house, neither from divisions
among ourselves, nor in envy or in jealousy of our
neighbors. As we have done nothing in ^'sWfe,"
so we trust, we have done nothing "in vain glory,"
Should a people dwell in better houses, than theiy
build for their God ? We'hi^ve built this house^
with " strength and beauty,"— because the God of
heaven and earth is worthy of all that we can do
to impart dignity to our worship ; and because we
would have the impressions of taste rendered sub-
sidiary to the promotion of the highest of all
beauty, the beauty of holiness. Why are the
heavens so garnished? Why the inimitable col-
oring of the flowers of the field ? Why the rich
and gorgeous plumage of the birds of the air?
Why such plans and models of surpassing beauty
and grandeur in the tabernacle and the temple?
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Why did God furnish these, — but for his owii
praise, in the true moral effect upon the heart of
the beholder? There is no waste, no extravagance
in what is honorable and acceptable to God.
We had no pattern for this structure, revealed
from heaven to the architect, as Moses had for
the first tabernacle, and Solomon for the first tem-
ple. But we believe that He, who furnished those
patterns, and so endowed with extraordinary and
wonderful skill and taste such as were needful for
the work, will not be displeased with «*,— if by
his favor upon us, and out of that which he hath
given us, we have built for him a house, which in
the eyes of all is beautiful ; and which we would
dedicate to him, with one heart and voice, that it
may be Holiness to his Name !
Our God did not rebuke his ancient people,
when they poured in their treasures for the taber-
nacle and the temple, far beyond the necessity,
great as was the expenditure from the richness of
the material and the workmanship. We shall
worship here with none the less of heavenly
thought and aspiration, because we make no con-
cealment of our pleasure and satisfaction in a
house so much more comely, than might easily
have been erected and furnished. And if any shall
think, that the small pecuniary valuation of the
seats here, below or above, is too great, — let me
inquire of them, whether it be not a noble charity
for others, as well as for themselves, to have a
liberal part in providing such a house of God?— *
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If you were soon to die, could you, ye heads of
families, bequeath a better legacy, than a family
pew in sach a delightful sanctuary ?
If we had not enjoyed so much in the former
bouse, and so many priceless blessings had not been
there received by the living and by our departed
ones,— whose spirits may be now hovering over
us, — we should never have adventured to take
down the old sanctuary, or to have laid the first
stone of this building. With those hallowed
memories of the old Tabernacle, we have garnered
up many precious hopes for this our new Taber-
nacle. Ye blessed spirits, that have gone from us,
to be where Christ is,— are ye not now here to re-
joice with us, as we are giving to our God these
walls, these seats, this pulpit, and all that apper-
tains to this goodly structure ? — Is there one
among you, who would have said " forbear !"
And let me say to the children and the youth
who are with us, on this occasion, that if it had
not been for you^ for you far more than for them-
selves, parents and grand-parents would not have
built this house. The venerable old sanctuary
might have answered every personal need of your
fathers ; and much more the need of the aged
men and women, who parted from the old house
with many tears.
The days will come, when they who have given
of their substance, and those who will al^o give of
theirs, will all be in the grave and in eternityr
If you shall live to take their places, — ^remember,
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I charge you, all the solemnities of this solemn
Qnd joyful hour. Remember that this house was
dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost Remember, when
I am dead, that it was for the everlasting Gospel,
and in hope of God's covenant mercies to children
and to children's children, that so much of expense
has been incurred by many of this church and
congregation. Remember that you all have souls
to be saved or lost forever! Give your hearts and
your all to the Saviour. Here let your " young
bosannas sound his praise !" And when it shall
be said, '' instead of the fathers are the children,'*
may it be to your honor, — ^as being all of you the
true children of God, and humble followers of
God's dear Son !
It is recorded of Solomon, that all which came
into his '^ heart to make in the house of the Lordj
he prosperously effected." My respected and be-
loved friends of the old Tabernacle, which we so
loved, and of this new Tabernacle, which we
have already begun to love, — have you not all
occasion this day, to record with your liveliest
gratitude, Hitherto tbte Lord hath helped us !
These walls are the witness, that it is even so.
And from the foundations to the summit of the
lofty and graceful spire, let the whole be a
memorial of the good hand of our God upon
tis, and a monument of our gratitude and thanks-
giving, for the year eighteen hundred and fifty*
ftmr!
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When we celebrated the laying of the corner-
stone, we prayed to God, that they who laid the
foundations might live to see the work completed
and finished. They are all alive this day. We
prayed for all that might be engaged in the work,
so perilous in many places, and for many days
together, that God would keep all their bones, that
none of them might be broken. It has been our
great joy, not boastfully have we spoken of it,
that the perilous labor was all done ; — ^the house
built in every part; and there had been not the
slightest harm to life or limb in any exposure.
On Tuesday morning, a leading paper of our
city, characteristically candid and magnanimous^—
in an article, as sincere, and as honorable to the
writer, as it was commendatory of ourselves and
those who have preceded us, — published to the
. country and the world, as a striking and extraor-
dinary circumstance, that " no accident, or misad-*
venture^ or miscalculation of the slightest sort,
had occurred to interrupt the process of construc-
tion, or mar the satisfaction with which it has
been watched by the parties immediately concern-
ed, and by the public generally." — [Salem Gazette,
Nov. 28, 1854.]
Scarcely had this gratifying statement been read
in our dwellings, before we were startled by the
tidings, that a workman had fallen from the roof,
and had probably received a fatal injury ! Why
was it, that our sympathizing emotions were so
prompt, and that we all were so keenly affected ?— •
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We might have felt deeply, if the same casualty
had befallen one, who had ascended any other
building. But should we have felt, as on Tues*
day? And would our joy be as now, that the in-
jury is but as nothing, in comparison with what
from the first rumor we had feared ?
Some of us had known of casualties, like one
in an interior town of our New England, where in
raising the roof of a house for God, the frame fell,
and left beneath the ruins eight men dead^ and
many more sorely wounded! And when this roof
above our heads was all safe ; when those heavy
timbers of the tower were all right, — -when the
lofty spire that so trembled, had settled fast into
its own place, and the last ladder had come down,
which was expected to be lifted up, — ^who of us
was not able to breath more freely, and did not
feel that the good hand of our God had indeed
been with us ?
The good hand of our God has been with u^,
my brethren. In our regret for the occurrence of
Tuesday morning, we have in our gratitude a
new element. We have "joy of griefs for bimi
who has received the harm, joy inexpressible, that
his life was spared. And now if we lose anything
from the height to which our joy would have risen^
we may gain more in the greater depth of our grati-
tude, — that in removing the former and in erect-
ing the present house, we have bad such a marked
and signal succession of experiences of the pro-
tecting and preserving providence of God. Aiid
7
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it will do no one of us any injury, — ^to be admon-
ished to "rejoice with trembling" in all cases, un-
less we are sure that we rejoice in God. The ad-
monition may have been just what we all needed,
that we should this day the more humbly acknowl-
edge God, and think much the less complaeenfly of
ourselves, as if the work which we dedicate, were
the work of our own hands, and for our own glory.
(See Appendix H.)
We take, we accept the admonition. "With a
deeper humility as we trust, and a more fervent
and chastened gratitude for those mercies, which
have so abounded towards us, we can pray, —
** Now, therefore, arise, O Lord God, into thy rest-
ing-place, thou, and the ark of the strength ; let
thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salva-
tion, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness !"
Here may the Father of lights ever afford his
presence which is life, and his loving-kindness
which is better than life. Here may the Redeemer
of perishing sinners ever be honored, as we honor
the Father! Here may the blood of his atoning
sacrifice cleanse many souls from all sin ! Here
may the Holy Ghost, the Enlightener, Sanctifier,
and Comforter, impart plenteously his awakening,
converting, and quickening influences to accom-
pany our prayers and praises, our meditations
upon the word of truth, and the administration of
the ordinances. Here may the poor be remem-
bered, and the widow and the fatherless never be
forgotten, in our charities. May the Macedonian
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cry of perishing millions never be unheeded!
O that there may be many, that shall be minis-
ters of Christ at home, and heralds of his salva-
tion in other regions of the earth! And when
the Lord writeth up the people of his ehoice and
his praise, may it be said of a great multitude,
that they were born here !
We know not the destiny of our new Taber-
nacle. It may stand, when we are all dead, and
when the youngest child here, that shall live to
be the oldest of all, shall long have been buried.
To those now unborn, it may become even more
venerable and dear, than was the old Tabernacle
to ourselves. — But its period may be very short.
Our elevated and rejoicing hopes may soon be
turned into mourning and lamentation. Thy will
be done^ O God ! Spare us, we pray thee ! " Let
thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory
unto their children. And let the beauty of the
Lord our God be upon us ; and establish thou the
work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our
hands, establish thou it !"
Are there not many, who will unite with us,
in these oar supplications ? Are there not many
in other cities and towns, and some in distant
lands, who, as our work has been advancing to
this happy completion, have had in their hearts to
pray, that the glory of this house maybe greater
thoM the former^ — as the venerable servant of Christ
prayed, while fervently imploring the Divine bles-
sing upon our solemnities.
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May it please our God that the glory shall be
as great, — aud we will call upon our souls and
all that is within us, to bless his holy Name.
And if it be far greater, we will say, — ^^ Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give
the glory for thy mercy and thy truth's sake!"
Amen !
Note. — Since the first part of this Discourse was in type,
it has occurred to the author, that a statement in the intro-
duction respecting the ^' ability of the natural reason and
conscience,'^ may seem to be inconsistent with Rom. i : 19, 20.
Fiom the context, however, the reader may perceive the
meaning to be, that, according to the witness of history,
mankind have never come to a right knowledge of the being
and perfections of God, unless they have been taught by the
Spirit of God, through the Word of his revealed will. But
they may learn enough of God, by the light of nature, to
make them inexcusable for the deeds, which they do against
their own consciences. And it may be true of all the hea-
then, who have the use of the ''natural reason and con-
science," that while " holding the truth in unrighteousness,"
80 far as it is known by them from whatever source, — they
literally "resist the Holy Ghost," as do many thousands
who have been taught ^'the knowliedge <tf God" from the
Holy Scriptures.
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SUPPLEMENTARY NOTICES,
In the Salem Observer and Daily Evening Traveller,
Dec. 2, and in other papers, extended notices of the dedica-
tion were published The Salem Gazette of Nov. 28th, and
the Observer of Dec. 2, contain an elaborate description of
the house, by the architect, Richard Bond, of Boston.
A small part only can here be inserted.
" The size of the body of the house is 68 by 90 feet, with
an apsis 25 feet wide, and projected 6 feet from the reiar
wall of the house. The tower is projected from the front
wall 19 feet, and is twenty-three feet wide on the front, and
is finished with buttresses projecting 18 inches at the an-
gles, with offsets at several different heights, thus reducing
the size to 18 feet, at the height of about 66 feet from the
ground, where the buttresses are merged into the square
form of the tower, and the space between them filled with
little arches resting on corbel Is. The tower to the height of
70 feet assumes an octagonal form, at the base of the bell-
tower which is finished with pilasters at the angles, with a
plain but full entablature. The openings of the bell tower
are 4 by 10 feet, with a ballustrade at the bottom of each,
and an arched bracket at the top resting on corbel Is. Above
the bell tower is a story, 10 feet high, a continuation of the
form of the story below, but with plain piers on 4 sides, pro-
jected 8 inches. In each pier is a small circular window
finished with heavy, beaded mouldings resting on brackets.
This last story forms the pedestal of the spire which is oc-
tagon in plan, 8 feet three inches diameter above its base,
and rises to the height of 77 feet, including the spindle,
thus making the whole height of the tower and spire,
180 feet."
T
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After detailing the different parts of the structure, exterior
and interior, Mr. Bond says : — " The style of the exterior
maybe characterized Romanesque. The interior is finished
in a style corresponding to the exterior. The architecture
may be considered, in general, a mixture of Romanesque,
and Italian of the French type."
Mr. Bond makes no allusion to the ''Minister's room,"
which the Building Committee added to the house, and
connected with the pulpit. While out of sight, in the com-
mon views of the edifice, it is so prepared and furnished,
as to be much admired for its obvious convenience and
comfort
The whole house, exclusive of the large orchestra, will
seat nearly or quite 1,050 persons. The pews below are
lined, stuffed, and cushioned ; and with the aisles and pul-
pit, are uniformly carpeted.
The work of upholstery and the iron-fence occasioned an
expenditure of more than $2,700. And the entire cost of the
building, as furnished, is $21,400.
The 136 pews below were appraised, from $40, to $250 ;
and the 44 in the galleries, from $25, to $60. At the sale
in the afternoon of the day of dedication, and subsequently,
" the choice money " amounted to $2,254 58. The aggre-
gate for 75 pews on the floor and a few in the galleries, was
$16,119 48.
By receiving in addition $1,000, from the late Mrs. Eliza-
beth Kinj(, for the " Minister's pew," and $500, for the pul-
pit, from a former member of the church, not now resident
in Salem, — ^with some other contributions in the same lib-
eral spirit, together' with the avails of the old house and a
small piece of land, — the Building Committee have been
able to pay all the bills of the new Tabernacle, without ren-
dering the Proprietors liable for loans, beyond one tenth part
of the expense. The loans should be regarded as little else
than a nominal indebtedness ; the income of the house be-
ing ample to meet current expenses, and also to diminish
the principal of the indebtedness, even if this should not all
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be cancelled, by future sales of pews now rented. Quite a
number of pews are thus occupied, as was the fact in the
old house ; while the number of proprietors is consideiably
larger. And the pews which may yet be sold, in more fa-
vorable times, would much more than liquidate all claims
against the Society, although sold at much less than half
the valuation.
December 3d, was the first Sabbath of worship in the
new Tabernacle. The first hymn sung w^ls the 142d
Select :—
" Tn sweet exalted strains,
The King of glory praise ;
O'er heaven and earth he reigns,
Through everlasting days :
He, with a nod, the world controls.
Sustains, or sinks, the distant poles.
To earth he bends his throne^-
His throne of grace divine ;
Wide is his bounty known,
And wide his glories shine :
Fair Salem, still his chosen rest,
Is with his smiles and presence blest.
Great King of glory, come,
And with thy favor crown
This temple as thy dome —
This people as thy own :
Beneath this roof, oh deign to show.
How God can dwell with men below, etc.
The discourse in the morning was from John iv : 24. "God
IS A Spirit," etc. The Lord's Supper was administered, at
which, without purposed coincidence, the 40ittiSelect Hymn
was sung, — the same as at the last communion in the old
house. It was a grateful season. And while the anticipa-
tions were so animating, it was not forgotten that seven
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times the service bad been enjoyed in the vestry ; and with
no ordinary consciousness of fellowship one with another,
and, as is believed, with the atoning and all-sufiicient Re-
deemer.
This day was also the 20th Anniversary of the Installation
of the present pastor, whose ministerial connection has been
longer than that of either of his predecessors, from 1739.
The discourse in the afternoon was from the words, — Thus
have I been twenty years in thy house. Gen. xxxi : 41.
Sabbath evening, Dec. 31, the Unked Concert of Prayer
for Foreign Missions was held in the new Tabernacle. Thus
as the last evening meeting in the old house was a mis-
sionary meeting, so was the first in the new.
But the first Sabbath of the new year was the "great day
of the feast." Twenty-one persons were received to the
church, on a profession of their faith ; a majority of whom,
in the year just closed, had come to cherish a hope in
Christ, as those receiving him from the heart. Others from
a similar expeiience, it is believed, will ere long join them
by a similar profession. — Ps. cxv : 1.
The number of church members, January, 1855, was 411.
Three-fourths of the whole have united with the church,
during the last twenty years, — two-thirds of them by pro-
fession. But so many have been the changes by death and
removal, that the present total of the Church is but about
the same, as in Jan. 1835. Very large additions had been
made in 1831-2, from the results of the " Great Awakening "
of that period.
The Deacons of the Church, with the date of their ap-
pointment, are
1818. John Punchard.
^ lg37. Jonathan Perley.
1839. Nathaniel Appleton.
1846. Ira A. Brewster.
1849. George H. Smith.
Clerk. George C. Hodgdon.
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APPENDIX.
A. p. 19. In some brief " Historical Notices" prefixed, in
1851, to a new edition of the "Articles and Covenant of the
Tabernacle Church," it is said, that " for twenty-seven years
there were nominally two First Churches in Salem." By
a recent examination of the First Church Records, it is found
that this statement is erroneous. For twenty yearSj the present
Tabernacle Church alone was called the First Church, The
minority of the First Church, by the aid of a Council and
the Legislature, ^^ dismissed ^^ Mr. Fisk, the pastor, on the
18th of April, (O. S.) 1735. Having held together and hired
preaching, for about a year, they were duly organized as a
church in 1736, under the style of ^^the Church and Parish of
the Confederate Society in Salem,^^ More briefly, they were
called the " Confederate Church ;" while their brethren who
had been separated from them, by an ecclesiastical pro-
cedure which would not have been possible, since the Revo-
lution, called themselves and were called by others, " the
First Church of Christ in Salem." Their organization was
the same as had been transmitted from 6th of Aug. 1629.
In course of twenty years, some of the former friends of
Mr. Fisk returned to the Church and Society of those who
had procured his forced and violent dismissal from his origi-
nal pastorate. Perhaps, the thorough evangelical spirit of
Rev. Mr. Leavitt's preaching disaffected them. However
this was, their return gave the Confederate Church a " ma-
jority of those who were members of the First Church, at
the time of Mr. Fisk's dismission ;" and it was therefore
voted, that, fiom July 28, 1755, the Chmch. '^ take on them
in all public trar^actions the title of the First Church in
Salem P'
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There were now " two First Churches m Salem," in name ;
but with what propriety? Seven years afterwards, the
Church that would now seem to be justly and really the
First Church surrendered the title, and put an end to a long
and embittered controversy. — See First Church and Tahema*
cle Church Records ; also FeWs Annals of Salens vol. 2. pp.
593—96.
B. p. 20. Previous to the installation of Dr. Whitaker, in
1769, the Church voted unanimously to adopt '^his plan of
Church government," which was Presbyterian, and which he
had made a condition of his settlement. It was provided,
however, that " if any member of the Church should appear
to have scruples of conscience respecting being judged by
the Eldership,— on their manifesting the same to the Ses-
sion, he or she may for the present have the liberty of a trial
by the Brotherhood." (Church Records, p. 51.) It was also
provided, that, until ** a stated Judicature," (as that of a Pres-
bytery) should " be fixed on by the Church," an appeal from
" the j udgment of the Session " might be made to a Council,
convened according to the usual practice of Congregational
Churches.
Soon after Dr. Whitaker's installation, (or Sept. 11, 1769,)
five elders were chosen, and until 1784, the government of
the Church was administered by the Eldership, or Session,
of which the Pastor was Moderator, and ex officio, a member.
"1772, April 27. A letter gives information that 'an of-
fended party, have determined to withdraw from Dr. Whita-
ker, and gather another Church,' etc. It says that forty or
fifty families make up such intended seceders." — FeWs An*
nalsj 11. p, 602.
Nov. 27, 1773, a majority of the Church requested the
pastor to join with them in applying to the Boston Presby-
tery "to take the Church under their watch and care." This
action was in accordance with the conditions of Dr. W.'s
settlement. Application was made in May following, ( 1 774) ;
and the Church was accordingly received. The Church was
afterwards connected with the " Salem Presbytery," so called.
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Feb. 11, 1784, the Church voted to '^ re-assume the Con-
gregational mode of Church Government, having renounced
the Presbyterian Judicature and all subjection thereto."
During all the period of Dr. Whitaker's ministry, from
July 28, 1769, to Feb. 26, 1784, the original Covenant of the
Church was continued; and the Church, as before, was
styled the Third Church of Christ in Salem.
From the name given to the house of worship, the Church
soon became generally known, as the Tabernacle Church.
This designation formally appears in the Church Records,
in 1786. It had been gradually adopted, without any act or
vote of the Church.
C. p. 23. Since this Discourse was preached, the name
'^ Marlboro" has been dropped, with the name also of
" County *' Street, and both have given place to " Federal."
D. p. 27. The full title of this work was " Christian
Psalmody in Four Parts; Dr. Watts's Psalms Abridged;
Dr. Watts^s Hymns Abridged ; Select Hymns from other
Authors ; and Select* Harmony ; together with Directions
for Musical Expression. By Samuel Worcester, D. D., Pas-
tor of the Tabernacle Church, Salem." In a few years,
"Watts Entire and Select Hymns" came into use. An
edition, enlarged and improved, was adopted in 1835.
E. p. 35. Capt. Hardy Phippen was one of the very first,
who were baptized in the old house. At the opening of the
services, P. M. March 5, 1854, was baptized "the little one,"
James Augustus, son of James F. and Rachel H. Smith.
F. p. 43. For " inscriptions " and other particulars, see
Salem Observer, April 29, 1854. The "box" was not ac-
tually deposited and sealed up, until June 3d. Meanwhile,
beside City and State Documents, Salem Directory, etc.
from Messrs. A. Huntington, T. S. Jewett, H. Whipple, and
others, the likenesses of Rev. E. Cornelius, Rev. J. P. Cleave-
land, D D., and a Memoir of Rev. John' Prince, D. D. LL. D.,
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with a likeness, etc., were added. George D. Phippen, Esq.
also deposited a " List of the Pastors and Church Officers
from the beginning ;" — of the " Subscribers to the new
House of worship j" of the " Proprietors of the Tabernacle
as they were, Sept. 1, 1780 ;" of the " Architect, Contractors,
and Building Committee, of the new Tabernacle, the Stand-
ing Committee, and other Officers of the Society ;" and of
" the pew-holders, before the taking down of the old house,—
with a plan also of the same."
G. p. 66. The note is omitted.
H. p. 74. On the 9th of March, the work of demolishing
the old house began at the top of the tower. There was
much fear of some disaster. The attempt being made to re-
move the tower, below the bell-deck, in one body, the whole
fell in an oblique direction ; but did no injury except that of
crushing a large elm tree. — The raising of the new building
commenced on the 9th of May. The frame was of great
magnitude and admirably prepared. The operation of ele-
vating the different sections, and especially the tower and
spire, was, for successive days, an object of mingled admira«
tion and anxiety. By a slight mistake in adjusting the ropes,
the spire, when suspended at the highest point, appeared,
for a few seconds, as if it might be precipitated, either upon
the roof of the building, or that of a neighboring house.
The effect, at the instant, surpasses all description.
Three days before the Dedication, Mr. John Copant, a ma-
son, went upon the roof of the " apsis " or recess, to remove
the cap of the south chimney. When about to leturn to the
window of the " attic," his ladder slipped. Providentially,
he so gave a direction to his fall, as first to strike the roof of
the vestry, which is but a few feet west of the recess, and
was taken up from the steps, leading to the Minister's Room,
having broken a leg, but otherwise receiving no material
harm Great was the joy and gratitude for his signal deliv-
erance from an untimely death !
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