The Cornerstone
a brief life of John Murray for young people, by Irene Carrow Rees
XII. "The Old Order Changeth"
"Most can raise the flowers now, For all have got the seed,"
TENNYSON.
The Gloucester friends of Mr. Murray, in 1779, had formed themselves into what they considered an organization, and built a plain little meeting house in which, on Christmas day, 1780, they held service. This was the first Universalist Church to be built in America.
A sea captain in the congregation presented them with a small crank organ, which he bad captured from an English ship during the Revolution. It had three barrels, each arranged for ten tunes, but, alas, they were found to be wholly inappropriate for religious services, so another barrel of ten tunes was added, and these ten tunes supplied the congregation with music for fifteen years!
The members of the little society expected annoyance from their former church brethren, but anticipated no serious trouble, since the Declaration of Rights drawn up for the Colonies provided that "no subject shall be hurt, molested or restrained in his person, liberty or estate, for worshiping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience." Also, "that all religious societies shall, at all times, have the exclusive right of electing their public leaders and contracting with them for their support and maintenance"; but the intolerant authorities in Gloucester were angered beyond measure at the presumption of the seventeen disgraced and excommunicated members in daring to form a new organization and had no notion of tamely allowing the new church to exist. They would teach these rebellious "Rellyites" that laws could be made to serve the ends desired by those who enforced them! The Elders were backed by the authority of the Church, almost equal in importance to that of the State.
The Baptist Church of Gloucester, from which Mr. Murray's little band had separated, was the "Territorial Orthodox Church," which meant, in Colonial times, that the people in that district were bound to contribute to its support, whatever their religious convictions. This made endless trouble whenever a new church was formed. The people might finance the new society, but the obligation to the old one continued. Therefore, notwithstanding their excommunication, the members of Mr. Murray's congregation were still assessed for the current expenses of the Baptists. When they refused to pay, the sheriffs seem to have been particularly malicious in seizing articles which it would most annoy their owners to lose. The captain of a brig, on the eve of leaving the harbor on a long voyage, bad his anchor taken from him. Mr. Winthrop Sargent, who entertained largely, lost all his table furnishings. This was in the autumn of 1783, and the members of the "Independent Church of Christ," as the Gloucester band called themselves, at once began legal proceedings to establish their right to support the church and pastor of their own choosing, and no other, relying on the already established laws in the Declaration of Rights, to enable them to assert their independence of the Baptist Church, if they could prove that Mr. Murray was a religious teacher; this was the joint in their armor at which their enemies aimed. The Orthodox elders insisted that a man who believed in Universal Redemption could not be so considered.
Mr. Murray was urged to allow the prosecution to proceed in his name, almost its only hope of success, in the opinion of the lawyers. His reluctance to appear as principal in a suit in which money was involved after his years of patient, faithful service, "free as the sunshine," was pathetic. His distress was so keen that many friends entreated him to dismiss all thought of the matter; but when a persistent lawyer finally made him realize how far-reaching would be the good if this right to freedom of choice could once be established, he immediately gave his consent., accepting the situation as one more sacrifice demanded for his Master's cause.
After repeated trials at Salem and Ipswich, beside many private hearings, all accompanied by discouraging reverses, the case was finally decided in June, 1786, in favor of the Gloucester Church. Then Mr. Murray had an abundant reward for his concession in the satisfaction that through his instrumentality religious liberty had made a great stride forward.
"I have been the happy instrument," he wrote, "to give a death wound to that hydra, parochial persecution."
The agitation with regard to Mr. Murray was no mere local disturbance, but spread throughout the Colonies. It is inconceivable that any religious teacher could now make such an upheaval in the established order of legislative affairs. In those days, when the Parish was the Town, and the affairs of Church government closely interlocked with those of the State, Mr. Murray's heresy became a matter of grave civil importance.
About this time the convention for drawing up the Constitution of the Commonwealth was in session at Boston. Mr. Sargent and other good friends of Mr. Murray were delegates, but there were others on the committee who were seriously alarmed at the rapid spread of his teachings. An attempt was made to insert clauses to effectually silence, if not to drive him from the State, and also to prevent the establishment of other Universalist churches in Massachusetts.
One article submitted announced that, as good morals were essential to the preservation of civil society, and the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments was essential to good morals, all people should be enjoined to attend and support those religious teachers who preached such doctrines. The debate was long and fiery, but the resolution was finally rejected.
Then followed an attempt to juggle the article, as finally presented to the people, by adding to the clause, "and every denomination of Christians shall be equally under the protection of the laws," the words, "except such whose principles are repugnant to the Constitution." Of course, Universalism would have been judged "repugnant to the Constitution," and it was well known that both these changes were aimed solely at the followers of Murray. The bitter antagonism of the authorities was a severe personal trial, but it furthered the cause of Universalism as nothing else could have done.
While this was in progress, a prosecution against Mr. Murray for performing a marriage ceremony was commenced, on the ground that he was not an ordained minister. The verdict went against him and he was fined fifty dollars. Realizing that this meant a succession of suits of like nature, and undoubtedly with like results, his friends advised him to leave the country till an appeal for a reversal could be made to the legislature. Mr. Murray felt the wisdom of the advice, and on the sixth of January, 1788, he embarked for England, his passage being paid and ample provision made for his stay abroad by the Boston Universalists. Also he was provided with many letters of introduction which gained him cordial recognition throughout England. In London, where he arrived in March, he was hailed as the famous American preacher, and received calls from various parishes to remain as permanent pastor. These signs of approval more than balanced the opposition which his doctrines often aroused. He had no desire to remain abroad longer than necessity demanded. His thoughts and love were with the adopted country, which had given him new life and interests, and he was in all respects a loyal American. The only tie to the Old World was his aged mother, whose joy at his return and pride in his developed powers was one of the chief delights of the visit.
The petition sent by the Gloucester church to the legislature was successful, and Mr. Murray returned to America in the early summer, on the same ship with John Adams and his wife. It was a long and stormy voyage; even after reaching Portland harbor, they were detained some time waiting for a favorable wind, but, with the congenial company on board, the time passed pleasantly. At Mr. Adams' special request, Mr. Murray preached every Sunday and sometimes during the week. He reached Boston in July, and the day of his arrival the Governor gave a reception in his honor, and there was great rejoicing among the liberals.
Almost his first act on landing was to publish his marriage intention, and in October, 1788, he married, at Salem, the widowed daughter of Mr. Sargent, Mrs. Judith Stevens. She was a beautiful woman, of remarkable learning for those times, and a writer of some reputation.
Her energy and strength of will were lavished without stint in behalf of Mr. Murray, whom she regarded as a saint exiled from heaven for the good of New England. There were times when her zeal was greater than her tact, but much should be forgiven such affection.* [* There were two children by this marriage, a son dying in infancy, and a daughter, Julia, who grew up and married but none of whose descendants are now living.]
Determined to take no more risks, the Gloucester society appointed Christmas, 1788, as the day to renew the ordination of their pastor. Purposely, the event was observed with great ceremony, and given all possible publicity. An elaborate account of the proceedings was published in the Centinel of January 3, 1789. During the service the committee presented Mr. Murray with a Bible as a solemn seal to his ordination. He preached from the text, The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few."
The sermon was peculiarly appropriate to conditions among Universalists. Until the close of the Revolution the only churches with any kind of organization were at Gloucester, Boston, Newport and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The scarcity of ministers seems to have been a serious drawback to the work. In 1785, there were but thirteen, not nearly enough to provide settled workers in the places eager for them. Many of the New England towns could have preaching of in three months. Another source of embarrassment was the difficulty in the money for salaries, and most o ular ministers were obliged to work trade during the week. Many were teachers, but all occupations resented. Mr. Parker of Portsmouth, of the most eloquent preachers friend of Mr. Murray, labored hard at his trade of blacksmith. Nearly all had families and were unable to follow Murray's example of free service.
In 1776, while in New Jersey, Mr. Murray published from the London hymnal entitled "Christian Hymns, Poems and Spiritual Songs," by James and John Relly. At the close of the book a list of subscribers which gives of the strength of the active Universalist sympathizers in New England. There are two hundred and twenty-three names, subscribing for four hundred and sixty-eight books. Providence, Rhode Island, leads in the number of subscribers and Gloucester in the number of copies taken.
It was so continually urged against the Universalists that they had no organization and so were not a religious body, that they soon felt the need of drawing together in some association to rid themselves of this source of annoyance, as well as for their mutual help and encouragement. As a result of Mr. Murray's urgent efforts the New England societies held their first convention at Oxford, Massachusetts, in September, 1785, and decided on the name "Universalist." Previous to this time they had been given no permanent, distinguishing title, but had been called "Rellyites, "Restorationists," "Redemptionists and less frequently, "Universalites." We think of a convention as a large body of people. There were present at this one nine laymen and four ministers. Of course this ought not to be taken as an indication of numerical strength. The country was unsettled, traveling difficult and the people, impoverished from a long war, had neither time nor money to leave home. There were seventeen present at Philadelphia in May, 1790, when a general convention was held and articles of faith drawn up. This was a peculiarly difficult task. The Universalists had come from all denominations, and had but one common ground of belief, the final redemption of all mankind. They even differed as to punishment after death or the duration of that punishment, if there were any. One of their most recent and prominent converts, Dr. Winchester, then believed that the wicked would be tormented only a few ages or millions of years, for which astonishing liberalism he had been expelled from the Methodist Church; yet these early fathers exercised toward each other such tolerance and wisdom that they were able to formulate a creed which was an off ense to none. The knotty problems were either ignored for the time, or couched wholly in Scriptural language, upon which the believer could put his own interpretation. This was the official creed of the Universalists till the Winchester confession [sic] adopted in 1803.