Chapter I: Grantbury and the First Church

GRANTBURY is a manufacturing town. It has six churches, of the different denominations. The largest and most flourishing church was the one over which Mr. Angus was settled as pastor. A branch of this church had gone off some years before and had built a chapel near one of the factories, hoping to bring in many of the employés, who were neglectful of public worship. This had not been as successful as had been hoped; the clergyman was so poorly supported that he left, and of late the effort of the Christian workers had been concentrated on the Sunday school. The usual attendance here was about one hundred.

Two years before the commencement of our story, an unusual excitement prevailed in the town, caused by the proposition of a few speculators to build a new railroad direct to the principal cities east and west of them, thus connecting them with the great thoroughfares. The capitalists who owned most of the stock in the branch railroad which connected them three times in a day with the next town at first opposed the new project; but Mr. Asbury, with a wider and more far-reaching view of the results, advocated it both by public speeches and offers of money.

As he was a large land-owner, and the railroad would have to pass through one of his most valuable farms, it was argued by those wishing the new road, that he must be advocating it for the good of the public against his private interests. So, indeed, he was. The new road was chartered, and in time in working order. A compromise to purchase from the owners of the branch road twelve miles which came in their direct route satisfied all parties; so that, when, the new, tasteful depot with the long baggage-room replaced the forlorn little station with shed attached, there was a general burst of enthusiasm.

The two years following this made a marvelous change in the old, quiet village. Mr. Asbury had given a beautiful site for the new depot, on conditions which had been complied with. The grass land belonging to his largest farm had been laid out in squares, with a park in the centre, and sold for house lots. The buildings put up there according to the terms of sale, must not be less than a stipulated cost; and thus a pretty village was growing up in this part of the town.

Mr. Angus's church was half a mile from the station, and quite near Mr. Asbury's dwelling house. The stimulus in all branches of business had been so great since the new railroad had been built that the main street had been widened, and set out with shade trees at the border of the flagged sidewalks.

Nor was the prosperity confined to the vicinity of the depot. The increased demand for vegetables, milk, etc., from the new-comers made the land too valuable for the farmers to cultivate grass and corn for their own use. Large fields with southern exposures were planted with early and late vegetables and small fruits, which found a ready sale at their own new market.

This was the condition of the town when Mr. Angus became the pastor of the First Church. During the nine months following his ordination, the church building had become so crowded that a suggestion of enlarging by transepts had been made. It was an old-fashioned edifice, with unnecessarily roomy slips, white walls, high pulpit, and poor ventilation. Mr. Asbury was opposed to enlarging, but did not consider it time to give his reasons.

At a meeting of the trustees directly after Mr. Angus went abroad, it was proposed that the work of enlarging be entered upon immediately, and finished by the time of the pastor's return. Some money was subscribed; but when the paper was passed to Mr. Asbury, he refused to sign any thing. As a large subscription had been hoped for, this refusal threw a damper on the undertaking; but a committee was appointed to report in one week, and the meeting adjourned.

During this very week a fire broke out in carpenter's shop filled with combustible matter. The flames carried sparks and half-burned sticks to several houses in the vicinity, and among them to the building belonging to the First Church. The committee met, and all the male members with them, not to report on the cost of the proposed alterations, but to consult what was to be done in this sudden and terrible emergency.

The old sturdy farmers were near despair, but supposed they must do something to repair the temple of the Lord, and were thankful that the walls, being of brick, were still standing.

Others had a plan that a new town hall, just finished, should be hired, and public worship held there till such time as they were able to recover from the effects of the terrible calamity which had overtaken them.

Mr. Asbury and a few friends belonging to the wealthy portion of the church remained silent listeners to the views of the older brethren. At length, after an hour spent in lamentations over the calamity, and propositions which were considered impracticable, the moderator of the meeting remarked,—

"We have talked an hour to no purpose. Will some one make a proposition as to a place of worship for us next Sunday?"

After a momentary pause, Mr. Asbury quietly rose from his seat with an open paper in his hand. There was not the least trace of excitement in his manner, as he said, "I have here a letter, which I will read. It is from the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in our town, and is addressed to me.

"MR. EDWARD ASBURY:

"Dear Sir, At a meeting of our board of trustees the day following the burning of your church edifice, a resolve was unanimously voted that we deeply sympathize in your loss of your house of worship, and that we tender to you the free use of our church building till such time as you may repair your edifice or otherwise provide for yourselves.

"With fraternal love and good-will,

"Very respectfully "MOSES HUNT.

"By order of trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church, Grantbury."

A motion to accept this friendly offer was at once passed, and then Mr. Asbury rose again and said,—

"I have a proposition to make; but, first, I ask you to listen to a few facts. I have made a careful investigation into the state of our church building, the walls of which are still standing. It is fifty-eight years old; the beams are rotten. It ought to be a source of gratitude that we have escaped a greater calamity by reason of the falling in of the walls, from the cellar being unventilated. It cannot be repaired. This is the opinion of the best experts I have been able to obtain. I propose, then, that we sell it as it stands, to some gentlemen who offer five thousand dollars for the site. They intend, if they obtain it, to put up a large hotel."

"It's a good offer."

"Take it."

"I object."

"We must have the land to build again."

"We need a hotel for summer residents."

"We can worship in the town hall."

"Or disband altogether," grumbled a man who never contributed a penny.

Altogether the clamor following this proposition prevented any further remarks from Mr. Asbury, if he had wished to make any, and he sat down with a smile on his face.

Several groups were at once formed, and loud, excited voices were heard discussing this unexpected proposal; some were for accepting, others positively refused to quit the old spot dedicated by their fathers to the worship of God. At length the moderator, with a loud rap on the table, called the meeting to order, and inquired whether any gentleman had anything further to say before the proposal was put to vote.

Mr. Asbury rose again, this time with a little flush on his face, as he remarked, "I am not in the habit, as you, my friends, are aware, of speaking of myself; but I would like to say that I have the welfare of this parish greatly at heart. We are blessed with a good pastor,—a live, working man. I believe he will be more useful in the future than he has been in the past; that he is a growing man. I believe that he will return to us with greatly improved health and spirits, and enter on his work again with new hope and confidence of success. I want to show him that we appreciate him by building him a new church large enough to accommodate all the new families who wish to join us. When a proposition was made at our last meeting to enlarge our old building, I did not subscribe, because I knew the work would cost more in the end than to begin a new one. I have had some sad experience, as many of you know" (smiling), "as to the cost of repairing old buildings. Now that the fire has rendered that undertaking impracticable, I propose to your board of trustees to accept a lot of land on the rising ground, half-way between this and the new depot, which I freely tender to them."

Shouts of "Yes," "We will," etc., were checked by a wave of Mr. Asbury's hand, as he added,—

"Wait a little: I have not done yet; there are conditions. I wish to say that a subscription paper has already been started for a new edifice costing not less than twenty thousand dollars, and the sum of fourteen thousand eight hundred dollars, including five thousand for our old church building, already subscribed, on condition that the whole amount be raised, and no mortgage ever be allowed upon it."

Profound silence followed this speech, which was like a bombshell thrown into an unprotected house; then a few whispers were heard,—

"Five thousand and more to raise. Where will it come from?"

"'T would have cost ten to repair, and 't would have been an old building after all."

At last, Mr. Rand, an aged, white-haired farmer, stood up.

"I'm an old man," he said, "and not long for this world; but I hope to live to see the new church built on that 'ere spot yonder, which, in my opinion, is the pootiest place for a church in the hull town,— yes, and to worship God in it, too. I'm not rich, and I'm not poor. I've got nigh upon two thousand dollars in the savings bank, laid up for a wet day. My children are all married and settled on farms of their own; so I sha'n't do any of 'em wrong if I add my name to Mr. Asbury's paper," holding out his hand for it. "There," he said, deliberately taking off the glasses he had put on to write,— "there's fifteen thousand three hundred subscribed on the above-named conditions. If necessary, I'll add another five hundred; and I'm sure my old woman will say so, too."

"After this noble example," rejoined the moderator, more moved by the old man's words than he liked to show, "I'll put down my name for the same sum as he did."

Smaller sums were at once added, so that when the meeting adjourned, after the appointment of a building committee, only one thousand more was necessary to make up the entire amount. This was to be obtained by personal solicitation from the families of those not represented at the meeting, and a committee of ladies was requested to take this work in hand.