Rev. Michael Burnham, D.D.

An Appreciation

It was a kind providence which brought Mr. Burnham to the Central Church as the successor of Dr. Thurston in the pastorate.

Although young and inexperienced in the ministry, his zeal for the work, and the entire consecration of his soul to the sacred calling, soon won to him the hearts of his people, and he has retained their warm affection and interest through all the years of his absence, as is witnessed by the fact that he has been recalled to preach for us almost every summer since he left Fall River, and our people have shown their delight each year in welcoming him back to his old pulpit.

The strong attachment so immediately felt for Mr. Burnham was largely due to his genuine and keen sympathy with his people, in their grief at the loss of their well-beloved pastor who had ministered to them for twenty years.

Mr. Burnham so truly entered into the experiences of his Church that he seemed to feel a personal share in their sorrow, and his intuitive understanding of Dr. Thurston's character was always so appreciative that it was difficult to realize the fact that the two men had never met. Indeed, the desire voiced by Mr. Burnham at his first service with us after his installation, that the mantle of Dr. Thurston might fall on him, seemed by his people to have been answered when the new pastor was permitted to see the fulfillment of the plan so near to the heart of the old pastor, that we should build a substantial and beautiful house of worship, which should fittingly express the zeal and devotion of the people.

He

Mr. Burnham was an eloquent and persuasive preacher. His natural gifts of expression were far beyond the ordinary, and his sermons were rich in allusion and illustration. was unusually gifted in prayer, and in the prayer-meeting, both as leader and speaker, he was inspiring and impressive. But his greatest power and influence lay chiefly in his winning

personality, -the man himself, his sincerity, his earnestness, his whole-souled devotion to Christ and his kingdom; and above all, his human interest, the unaffected and warm outgoing of his heart toward individuals, and his desire to help and to save. These were the qualities which so endeared him, not only to the people of his own church, but to hundreds outside his own parish, and which lent a peculiar charm and persuasiveness to all his public utterances. As one has lately written of him, "For those closest to him, that which overtops all in his character, is his wonderful capacity for sympathy, as pastor and friend; he is a modern 'Greatheart.'"

The Church continued to grow and flourish during Mr. Burnham's ministry. The congregations were large and interested, and the prayer-meetings were so well attended that it was difficult for a late-comer to find a seat. Mr. Burnham was very successful in inducing the people, young and old, to take active part in the meetings, and there were scores who were in the habit of speaking or praying, so that the meetings maintained a high degree of interest and profit. Mr. Burnham was so popular and attractive, both as preacher and pastor, that he united all classes, and drew into the Church many who, though poor in this world's goods, proved themselves by their active interest and service, to be rich towards God. The majority of such additions to the church membership were the fruit of Mr. Buck's loving labors, but their connection. with the Central Church was largely determined by their respect and admiration for its pastor.

Notwithstanding the success of Mr. Burnham's ministry, the years brought many burdens and trials which tested the endurance and faith of the pastor. The present church building was erected in the early years of his ministry, but the load of debt which later rested on the Church, mainly resulting from the depreciation and lack of sale of the old church property, was a source of depression and worry. When this load was lifted and the debt paid (1880), it was done at the cost

of great personal effort and sacrifice on the part of Mr. Burnham.

It was during his pastorate, also, that the Church lost two most generous and loyal supporters, in the deaths of Col. Richard Borden and Dr. Nathan Durfee. Death also invaded the pastor's own home, and claimed two interesting and lovely little children; there were, besides, other trials and disappointments, so that the pastor's health began to give way under their accumulated weight.

He could not throw off these troubles with the buoyancy of one whose sympathies were less keen and sensitive. He bore his people on his heart, and the burden of responsibility and trial told so heavily on his health, that when he received a call to Immanuel Church, Roxbury, in 1882, he felt it wise to accept this opportunity for change of scene and work, to the great regret of the Church and the whole city.

Mr. Burnham's subsequent history, as pastor of the churches in Roxbury, Springfield, and St. Louis, has but proved and ripened his talents, and added, year by year, to his reputation as one of the strong men of the denomination. All his charges have been in churches of prominence and of the first standing. In all of them he has sustained himself with marked ability and success. His wife, whom he married February 8, 1871, four months after his installation, was Miss Cassandra V. Washburn, of Abington, Mass. She has always been a helpmeet for him, cheerful, warm-hearted and cordial, full of energy, and extremely useful in all the work of the Church and parish. She has been beloved by all who have known her.

Five children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Burnham, — four of them during the Fall River pastorate. Of these, the two oldest only are now living, a son, Edmund Alden, like his father a Congregational minister, and a daughter, Mary Wesley, now Mrs. Nathaniel S. Kaime, of Denver, Colo.

It was at his daughter's home in Denver, that Dr. Burnham's death occurred, April 15, 1905. The news of this event brought deep sadness to this Church and congregation, as the telegram announcing the fact was read from the pulpit at the morning service, Sunday, April 16. Dr. Burnham had been in failing health for some months, and the determination of the Pilgrim Church to build a new house of worship in a different location had led to the resignation of Dr. Burnham from his charge at St. Louis, since he felt that he had not the strength to carry the church through this new experience. He and Mrs. Burnham had been but a few weeks with their daughter, in Denver, where they had hoped much from rest and change of air, when the fatal illness seized him.

At the annual meeting of the Central Church, on Monday evening, April 17, a committee was appointed to attend the funeral at Essex, on Thursday, and the following resolutions presented through Deacon Charles J. Holmes, were adopted:

We learn, with sincere and heartfelt sorrow, of the death of our beloved former pastor, Rev. Michael Burnham, D.D., and desire to place on record this expression of our affection and esteem for him, and our tender sympathy for the bereaved family. Dr. Burnham's life became intertwined with the life of the Central Church to a remarkable degree. He came to the Church fresh from his seminary studies, and at once won the hearts of the whole parish. The twelve years of his pastorate, from 1870 to 1882, were eventful ones in the life of the Church, including, as they did, the building, dedication, and freeing from debt of our present edifice. Dr. Burnham was possessed of a peculiarly sympathetic nature, and all the burdens of the members of his parish became his own personal burdens. He lavished his strength upon the people he loved, and he gained from them, in return, a love and esteem which the passing years have not at all dimmed. In his various relations with outside interests, - missionary, educational, and civic, he was a wise and faithful counselor and helper.

Our earnest prayer is, that the comfort which he brought to so many hearts in our congregation may be granted in full measure by the "God of all comfort," to the sorrowing widow and children.

In moving the adoption of the resolutions, Deacon Henry H. Earl spoke as follows:

In the death of Dr. Burnham, the Central Church loses one of the most dearly beloved of its former pastors. Though compelled by illhealth to retire from his official relation with this Church, he never lost his love and affection for this, his first pastorate, a love and affection maintained through all the succeeding years of his ministry, and cordially reciprocated by his people then and now. Intensely sympathetic in his nature, a man broad minded, considerate, conservative, he lavished his strength and affection on the objects of his love, which included not only his immediate parishioners, but humanity at large.

Hence he was most faithful in all the work of his several pastorates, however large and exacting, in his trusts as an official of institutions of learning, in his membership on domestic and foreign missionary boards, with his ministerial brethren, in his civic relations. sturdy New England stock, he was always loyal to the most cherished convictions and the highest ideals of New England life. We are sad to think that we shall have him with us no more.

The committee appointed to attend the funeral comprised Deacon and Mrs. Charles J. Holmes, Deacon and Mrs. Charles A. Baker, Deacon and Mrs. Newton R. Earl, Mr. C. V. S. Remington, Mr. Albert F. Dow, Mrs. Eli Thurston, Mrs. R. K. Remington, and Mrs. William Carr.

The funeral services took place at the little church in Essex, and consisted of prayer by the pastor of the church, Rev. Mr. Lathrop; reading of Scripture by Rev. Mr. Capen, a classmate of Rev. Edmund A. Burnham; an address by President Harris of Amherst, who was a room-mate of Dr. Burnham at Andover and a close friend; prayer by Rev. Dr. Barton of the American Board; two vocal selections sung by Mrs. Edmund Burnham; and benediction by Rev. Dr. Patton, recently of St. Louis, but now a secretary of the American Board. After the benediction, Deacon Charles J. Holmes arose, and asked the privilege of saying a few words; then, in trembling accents, he gave a brief but most touching and tender tribute to his dead friend, alluding to his connection