send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.'"* Such was the preaching inculcated upon the fathers and predecessors of this congregation, five generations ago. Whatever else has changed since then, the gospel has not changed. You are witnesses that here Christ is now set forth as the great object of the repenting sinner's faith,-Christ, as the sinner's only hope,-" Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." *The title of the pamphlet from which these specimens are taken, is, "Sundry False Hopes of Heaven, discovered and decried. In a sermon preached at the North Assembly in Boston, 3. d. 4. m. 1711. By James Pierpont, M. A. Pastor of New Haven Church. With a Preface by the Rd. Dr. Mather."-" Boston in N. E. Printed sold by T. Green, at his shop in Middle street. 1712." : DISCOURSE X. FROM 1714 TO 1740.- JOSEPH NOYES.- "THE GREAT REVIVAL" OF PRESIDENT EDWARDS'S DAY. HABAKKUK, iii, 2. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. WE come now to a portion of our history in some respects more difficult to be treated than any which we have heretofore examined. The age which succeeded the ministry of Mr. Pierpont, was an age of more controversy in the Churches, of greater errors and extravagances, of fiercer contention, and of more alarming agitation, than can be found in any other period of the history of New England. In all the emergencies of that age, our predecessors here had their full share of agitation and of peril. And though the fires which then burned so fiercely, seem to have burned out, he who walks among the ashes needs to walk circumspectly, lest he tread upon embers which are covered indeed, but not extinguished. The grandchildren, and in some instances the children, of those who acted in the scenes we are now to review, are still upon the stage; and their feelings towards those whom they regard with a natural veneration, may not be rudely invaded. Another Church, now happily associated with this so intimately as hardly to be another, came into being here amid those convulsions; and to enter into that history, to trace the errors of one party and of the other, however impartial the design, and however beneficial the legitimate tendency, may be dangerous, if there is any lack of discretion on the part of the speaker, or of candor on the part of the hearers. The age of the ministry of Mr. Pierpont, has already been described, as an age of gradual declension throughout New England. Some of the causes of the declension have been pointed out-causes which, though continually counteracted by the ability and faithfulness of the great body of the min isters, were perpetually working to secularize the Churches, and to demoralize society. The same causes continued to work through the following age, and had much to do with the contentions and disasters that accompanied or followed what is so commonly spoken of as the great revival of 1742. The Church was not long vacant after the death of Mr. Pierpont, which took place in November, 1714. On the first of July, in the following year, "at a meeting of the First Society," which is the first meeting on record under that name,*" after some discourse, the votes were brought in, in writing, to nominate a man to carry on the work of the ministry on probation." In this proceeding, an omen appears of what was to follow. The people were divided in their preferences. "Mr. Joseph Noyes was chosen by the major vote, he having eighty six votes, and Mr. Cooke forty five votes." Mr. Cooke, the opposing candidate, was afterwards pastor of the Church in Stratfield, now Bridgeport, and became somewhat distinguished in the conflicts of the age, as a zealous opponent of the party with which Mr. Noyes was identified. It may be presumed, that when they were both young, and the preferences of the people of New Haven were divided between them, the difference in their characters was essentially the same as afterwards. Mr. Cooke, we may suppose, was, of the two candidates, the more fervent and pungent in the pulpit, and the more impetuous in his measures; Mr. Noyes, the more discreet in counsel, the more cautious in his statements, and the more scholarlike in his studied performances. The old habit of proceeding deliberately in so great a matter as the settlement of a minister, was not yet laid aside. In September, two months after the call to preach on probation, the society voted their approbation of Mr. Noyes's labors, "so far as they had experienced the same," and engaged to give * East Haven, North Haven, and perhaps West Haven, had been erected into distinct parishes or "ecclesiastical societies;" but the records of the First Society, as distinct from the town, commenced only at the date above mentioned. him, while he should labor in the ministry among them, "one hundred and twenty pounds per annum in money, or in grain and flesh" at certain prices, and two hundred pounds in the same pay, as a settlement.* In December, the Church proceeded to declare their good acceptance of his labors, and to invite him to settle among them. He was ordained on the 4th of July, 1716.† Mr. Noyes was greatly recommended and aided at his introduction to the ministry, by the celebrity of his father and grandfather; for in those days a young man's parentage was of more consequence than it is now. He was the son of the Rev. James Noyes of Stonington, whose father, James Noyes, was one of the original settlers of Massachusetts, and the first teacher of the Church in Newbury. Mr. Noyes of Stonington was, in his day, one of the leading ministers of the colony, greatly respected for his wisdom and his piety. He was "a distinguished preacher, carrying uncommon fervor and heavenly zeal into all his public performances. His ordinary conversation breathed the spirit of that world to which he was endeavoring to guide his fellow men. In ecclesiastical controversies he was eminently useful." "He was also counsellor in civil affairs, at some critical periods." He was selected to be one of the first trustees and founders of the College; for though he was then an old man, and in a remote corner of the colony, his influence was deemed essential to the success of the undertaking. His son Joseph was a member of the class which graduated in 1709, while the College * The prices at which Mr. Pierpont's salary of £120 was to be made up, as fixed in 1697, were as follows: Winter wheat at 5s the bushel; rye 3s 6d; corn 2s 6d; peas 3s 6d; pork 3 1-4d the pound; and beef 3d. The stipulated prices at which Mr. Noyes was to receive the grain and flesh of his salary were "as followeth wheat at 4s 6d per bushel, rye at 2s 8d, Indian corn at 2s; pork at 21-2d per pound, beef at 1 1-2d,—the grain and flesh to be good and merchantable." If Mr. Noyes's salary was worth more than his predecessor's, his £200 settlement was probably worth much less than Mr. Pierpont's home-lot and house and his one hundred and fifty acres of land. + Church Records, and Records of Society. Allen, Biog. Dict. was under the presidency of the Rev. Mr. Andrew of Milford, the inferior classes being instructed at Saybrook by the tutors, and the senior class residing with the rector at Milford. The class of 1709, was by far the largest that had ever gone forth from the institution. It consisted of nine members, five of whom became ministers of the gospel. Within a year after receiving his first degree, Mr. Noyes, then about twenty two years of age, became a tutor in the College, where he continued till he came here as a candidate for the pastoral office.* A few months after his ordination, * President Stiles says, "After the death of Rector Pierson, and while the College was at Saybrook, and destitute of a resident Rector, the Rev. Phinehas Fisk, and the Rev. Joseph Noyes, were the pillar tutors and the glory of the College. Their tutorial renown was then great and excellent, although now almost lost."-Serm. on the death of Mr. Whittelsey, 25. In his Lit. Diary, for 1779, March 18th, Dr. S. speaks of examining Mr. Noyes's manuscripts, and says, "From Rector Pierson's death, till the removal of the College to New Haven, Mr. Fisk and Mr. Noyes were very eminent and cardinal tutors, far beyond any other. After Mr. Fisk left it, the headship devolved upon Mr. Noyes, who was in the tutorship five years. So that he was perfectly acquainted with College affairs." Dr. Stiles transfers to the pages of his diary the following letter, which may interest some lovers of antiquity. "Revnd. Sir,-I purposed to wait on you and to be our epistle to yourself; but many things prevent, especially Mr. Russel's absence. We content ourselves in sending one of the candidates to bear this epistle, which is to inform you, Revnd. Sir, that on Thursday of this week according to the custom of this school, the candidates were proved and approved,-present, Mr. Noyes of Lyme, the Rev. Mr. Ruggles, as also the Rev. Mr. Hart, Mr. Fisk, Mr. Mather, &c. Our request is that you would, Revnd. Sir, appoint them the commencement work. Moreover, it being granted at a meeting of the trustees, and recorded that candidates in this school may print theses and a catalogue as in other schools, we and they humbly request yourself would take the trouble to examine the theses and catalogue presented to you by the bearer;-please to insert or reject theses as you please. It is also our humble request that yourself would give the theses a dedication. Students are all in health. We always, Revnd. Sir, request your prayers, knowing our charge is great. Our duty waits on Madam Andrew. We shall not add, but the offering of our humble service to yourself, testifying that we are your Very humble and obedient servant, Saybrook, July 26, 1714. Jos. NOYES. To the Revnd. Mr. Samuel Andrew, Rector of the Collegiate School in Connecticut." |