South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 194

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184  MISCELLANEOUS.
MR.  CARROLL'S  REPLY.— HONORS  TO  REV.  MR.
BARRETT.
From  a  Xew  Uaven  imper,  Jan.  30,  1864.
SOUTH    CHURCH.
As  the  late  Ex-parte  Council  have  brought  the  South
Cliurch  so  promineuth'  before  the  public,  permit  me  to  saj-
that  the  week  now  closing  has  been  a  most  interesting  one
to  that  Church  and  people.  Not  to  speak  of  the  very  im-
pressive services  in  the  Church  last  Sabbath  day,  and  in  the
Chapel  in  the  evening,  and  the  very  large  audiences  who
attended  them,  we  had  on  Tuesday  evening  a  noble  gather-
ing in  the  Chapel  parlor,  which  covers  nearly  the  entire
area  of  that  building,  to  listen  to  a  Scripture  exposition  by
Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  and  then  to  hear  his  response  to  the  letter
of  130  of  his  people,  accompanying  their  New  Year's  gift  to
him  of  S500.  That  large  hall  was  crowded  on  the  occasion,
so  that  it  was  necessary  to  bring  in  benches.  In  connec-
tion with  his  response,  they  expected  to  learn  his  decision
in  reference  to  a  call  which  had  been  extended  to  him  by  a
Church  in  New  York,  and  which,  it  had  been  reported  that
he  was  likely  to  accept.  Great  anxiety  was  felt  by  his
people  on  this  point ;  and  on  the  whole,  they  were  in  such
a  state  of  mingled  apprehension  and  hope,  that  when  in  his
earnest  eloquence  he  poured  forth  his  warm  heart  in  love
and  gratitude  for  the  confidence  and  kindness  they  had
manifested  towards  him,  a  large  part  of  the  audience  were
in  tears,  or  struggling  to  restrain  tlie  outburst  of  their  emo-
tions. When  he  came  to  the  subject  of  the  call,  and
announced  that  after  much  prayerful  deliberation,  and  not
Avithout  some  hesitation,  he  had  that  day  returned  a  nega-
tive ansiver  to  the  invitation,  nothing  but  the  sacredness  of
the  place  prevented  a  general  explosion  of  rejoicing.  At  the
close  of  the  meeting  half  an  hour  or  more  was  spent  in  mu-
tual congratulations,  before  the  audience  could  be  willing
to  separate.  It  was  an  occasion  long  to  be  remembered ;
and  was  the  more  impressive  because  of  the  warm  and  gen-
erous sentiments  expressed  by  our  pastors  towards  each
other,  as  well  as  towards  their  people.
Mr.  Carroll,  among  otiier  things,  remarked  that  from  the
dav  thev  first  met  each   other  until  now,  there   had  never

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0194. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 194. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n198/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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