South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 62

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54  MINISTRY  OF   REV.  MR.  NOYES.
The  case  is  Ibis :  On  the  12th  inst.  I  ventured  to  sug-
gest to  you,  that  as  Dr.  Stiles  was  about  to  leave  this  part
of  the  country,  and  to  be  absent  several  months,  many  of
his  former  people  would  be  gratified  to  hear  him  preach
"  at  least  once,"  before  his  departure.  You  reply  in  sub-
stance, that  you  "  have  no  personal  objections  to  such  an
arrangement,"  but  that  "  many  of  the  people  have  :"  That
some  have  impliedly  or  indirectly  found  fault  with  you  for
inviting  him  to  i)reach  so  often  already ;  and  have  said  that
if  it  continued,  they  should  have  to  go  elsewhere:  That
the  last  time  he  preached,  a  number  of  the  choir  left,  and  the
remainder  tarried  reluctantly,  as  a  matter  of  respect  and
duty  :  That  others,  on  coming  to  the  Church  and  learning
that  he  was  in  the  pulpit,  went  away  elsewhere.  In  this
condition  of  things  you  are  pleased  to  ask  my  opinion  as  to
the  course  most  expedient  for  you  to  pursue.  I  will  answer
with  all  frankness,  expecting  you,  after  all,  and  wishing  you,
to  exercise  your  undoubted  right  "  to  invite  whomsoever
you  clioose,  to  occupy  your  pulpit."  But  before  I  proceed,
allow  me  to  dispose  of  two  or  three  preliminaries.     And
1.  As  to  the  frequency  of  your  inviting  Dr.  Stiles  to
preach.  According  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  and  belief,
he  has  preached  in  our  Church  but — [Here  is  a  blank  in  the
rough  draft  from  which  we  copy,  but  on  referring  to  a  relia-
ble record,  we  find  that  within  the  previous  fifteen  months
Dr.  Stiles  had  preached  in  the  South  Church  five  sermons;
one  of  them  during  Mr.  Noyes'  absence  on  his  annual  vaca-
tion, when  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  Society's  Com-
mittee.]
2.  ^Notwithstanding  the  drawbacks  of  which  you  speak,
is  it  not  true  that  even  now  the  audiences  are  larger  w]ie7i
the  j^uhlic  are  auarc  that  he  is  to  preach,  than  at  other
times?
3.  Have  not  some  persons,  including  some  members  of
the  Church,  left  us,  and  gone  to  other  Churches,  under  an
impression  that  he  has  been  discourteously  treated.
And  what  is  the  demand  of  the  class  of  persons  of  whom
you  speak  ?  What  is  the  condition  on  which  they  will  con-
sent to  remain  with  us  and  be  quiet?  It  is  simply  this;
that  the  great  and  good  man  who  laid  the  foundation  of  our

Cite this page

Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0062. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 62. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n64/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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