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MR. PRESIDENT:-In responding in behalf of the North Church, to the cordial invitation and welcome which you have extended to us, I beg leave to say that we are exceedingly happy to be present, and to be made welcome to participate with you in the Christian associations of this most interesting occasion. The emotions of the hour rise altogether too high for utterance, and I am not able to speak with that calmness and considerateness that would seem to be most becoming.

It is proper, perhaps, that the confession should here be publicly made, that as jealousies and disagreements sometime arise among the members of the same family, who dwell upon the same old homestead, so there have been some discord and want of good fellowship between us; yet I am happy to say, that at no time has there been any total disruption of Christian confidence and fellowship, and that whatever may have existed, of an unpleasant nature, at any time, has passed away, and is among the buried debris of the Past, and that to-day our fellowship and concord are without any barriers or embarrassments. Let us praise God together to-day, that churches that might seem to have local rival interests, are able, through His grace, to maintain the peace and "fellowship of the saints."

I had supposed, sir, that it would be expected on this occasion, as the daughters return to their ancestral home, that they would relate their experiences, and tell their mother and their sisters what had been the dealings of a kind Providence with them since their separation.

We are here, Mr. President, to commemorate the Christian results of the planting of this church in the wilderness two hundred years ago, and we have come by your invitation, not only to join in your rejoicings, and to make our courtesy, but to tell you how we have prospered in our respective households. I hope I may be indulged, therefore, in a brief statement concerning the history of your youngest daughter.

The North Church in Woodbury was organized by a colony from this church, in the year of our Lord 1816, on the 25th of December. The colony consisted of eleven males and twenty females, only two of whom are now living. present here to-day.

These, I see, are

The church remained without a pastor until the following July, when, on the 27th of that month, Rev, Grove L. Brownell was ordained and installed the pastor. Judging from the results of

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his labors, it must be allowed that he was a very capable and faithful minister of the Gospel. During the first year of his ministry, fifteen were added to the church by profession; the next year, ten; during the next three years, thirty-six; during the next three years, thirty-nine were added; the next three years, sixtythree; and so on at this ratio for the whole period of his ministry, which continued for about twenty-three years. The whole number received by profession during his ministry is two hundred and thirty-eight a little more than an average of ten persons for each year. Forty were of the church when he entered on his ministry, and fifty-eight were added by letters from other churches, so that there were three hundred and seventy-five persons connected with the church during the first pastorate.

It is due to the men who constituted the church fifty-four years ago, nearly all of whom have passed away, to say that they were earnest, resolute, capable, Christian men, who shrank not from responsibility, who feared not hardship, and who made great personal sacrifices to build a church, and sustain the public institutions of religion. They present a noble example of Christian enterprise, which it would be equally noble and Christian, in their children and successors, to emulate. Possibly they constitute a portion of that "cloud of witnesses," holding in view the doings of those who succeed them.

Under the ministry of Mr. Brownell's successor, which began in April, 1840, in less than a year after his dismission, and which continued for a period of twenty-seven and a half years, there were gathered into the church by profession, one hundred and ninety-seven. Almost the entire congregation, at the close of that ministry, on the last Sabbath in September, 1867, were members of the church. Since then, for a period of two and a half years, the church has been without a pastor.

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Such, briefly, Mr. President, has been the success of your youngest daughter, the North Church in Woodbury. "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. Our course has been one of uniform prosperity, and we are grateful that we can bring to-day, such a record of His goodness and mercy, to the honor not only of the Great Head of the Church, but of our venerable mother, as well.

I beg leave now, Mr. President, to give way, and introduce to the audience the Rev. Mr. Shipman, of Jewett City, who, for a considerable number of years, was pastor of the Church in Southbury.

Rev. Thomas L. Shipman responded as follows:

The privilege is accorded me of recalling the name, and lingering a moment on the memory of one of your deceased pastors, Rev. Mr. Andrews. I made his acquaintance soon after I came into the vicinity. He impressed me, upon my first introduction, as a man of singular purity, an impression which all my futnre intercourse served only to confirm. He was a man of the nicest sensibilities; the cords of his heart vibrated to the slightest touch; his tender sensibilities often filled his eyes with tears. He had a look which none who knew him can forget, and which it would be vain for any one to imitate. There was that in his tone, when his soul was stirred to its depths, which strangely penetrated your heart. I remember at the meeting of the Consociation in Harwinton, in the summer of 1831-that year so remarkable for the outporings of the Spirit-he was called to officiate at the administration of the Lord's Supper. As he rose, and cast a look over the assembly, every heart seemed to be moved, and before he closed the first sentence, the house became a perfect Bochim. It was not so much what he said, as his manner of saying it. "We are about to approach the foot of the Eternal throne, and how can we come?" I was present at the ordination of his son-in-law, Rev. William Aitchison, who gave himself to Christ aud to China. 'My son," was uttered with a tone and a look which thrilled at least one heart. His prudence was memorable. At one time the regiment of which I was then chaplain met at Woodbury. Mr. Andrew was invited to dine with us. He sat at my side, and opposite to us sat a member of the society committee of a neighboring parish. "Mr. Andrew," said the gentleman, "do you know why Mr. ? " He waited a moment; I rather guess he shut his eyes. "I do not think I am sufficiently acquainted with the facts to state them correctly." Had he replied, "there was some disaffection toward him among his people," the report would have gone over the hills, gaining as it traveled: "Rev. Mr. Andrew, of Woodbury, says there was great disaffection at He was a man of much culture; be held a polished pen. He often wrote for the Quarterly Christian Spectator, and his articles are among the choicest contributions to that periodical. I would particularly direct attention to the article in the December No. for 1833, entitled, "What is the real difference between the New Haven Divines and those who oppose

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them ?" The paper was read at the minister's meeting in Southbury, and published at the request of the brethren. The controversy was at that time very earnest, not to say sometimes bitter. Whatever was then thought, or whatever may be still thought of the "New Haven Divines," all will agree that Mr. Andrew stated their position with great calmness and clearness. His article in the No. for September, 1830, entitled, "Review of Advice to a Young Christian," and the article in the March No. for 1832, entitled, "Assurance of their piety peculiarly the duty of Christians at the present day," are papers of great excellence. Mr. Andrew was one whom all who knew love to think of when alone. It makes us better at least for the moment only to think of him, and we love to talk of him when we meet, and one of our most cherished anticipations is, renewing our acquaintance with him in our Father's kingdom.

Rev. Austin Isham was next called up by the chairman, and gave some very interesting reminiscenses, a copy of which the editor has been unable to obtain.

The following letters were then read by the pastor:

Letter of Rev. CHARLES E. ROBINSON, of Troy, N. Y.

DEAR BROTHER LINSLEY:-I would greatly like to be with you at the celebration of the bi-centennial anniversary of your dear old church. I have an interest in, and love for that field which can never die. The fresh dewy morning of my ministry dawned there. There are souls there either brought to Jesus under my Ministry, or through the goodness of God quickened by it, whose Christian lives, characteristics and graces, stand out with crystaline distinctness. There are certain hours and days, which, amid the long procession of indistinguishable days, are radiant with sacred memories. There are some of those precious Tuesday evening Cottage prayer meetings, where the position of individuals at the meeting, the expression of their faces, the words spoken, and the songs we sang, are as clearly before me as if no time had elapsed.

Faces which we shall see no more. in the joys of Heaven.

Blessed ones anticipating us

There are fields over which I strayed, bridges, leaning from which, I quieted my disturbed soul in the sweet murmuring of the

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stream. There are certain points on the summit of those Orenaug rocks, from which I took in the unsurpassed loveliness of the Woodbury valley, all of which are now, by the power of memory, a part of my life, and which I would not willingly forget.

There was an impression made upon me in my pastorate there, growing out of the old associations which enfolded me, which, I cannot help feeling, must be valuable to any laborer in that fieldThose three graves of Walker, Stoddard and Benedict, with their flocks all folded about them, (for I think that I laid away to her last resting place, the last member of the church under Pastor Benedict), all seemed to tell me to be faithful. I could not help the feeling that those old fathers were looking down with interest. upon the thread of their work which they had let drop, at death, and which, in God's providence, after passing through various. faithful hands, I had taken up.

May God continue to bless that old First Church through all the years until the bridegroom comes!

Present to the friends gathered there my fraternal greetings, and my sincere regrets, that in this case, I cannot be in two places

at once.

Believe me, my dear Brother, to be your attached friend now, as. I was formerly your Pastor.

TROY, N. Y., April 20th, 1870.

CHARLES E. ROBINSON.

P. S.-Please send me, if convenient, some account of your gathering.

Letter of Rev. CHARLES LITTLE, of Nebraska.

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, April 13th, 1870.

P. M. TROWBRIDGE, Esq., Chairman of Committee.

DEAR BROTHER-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 4th inst., inviting me to participate in the proposed observance of the two hundredth anniversary of your church. It would give me very great pleasure to be present on that occasion, there to renew the friendships of the past. Of the places on earth, not few nor very many, to which memory delights to

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