Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-04
A LOVING CUP.
Central Church and Congrega-
tion Present Gift to Pastor
and Wife.
The Matter Was Total Surprise to Or.
Merriman-c Commemorate goth
Anniversary of Pastorate.

The members of Central Church and
! congregation gave new evidence of their
esteem for their beloved pastor, Rev.
Dr.. Merrman, and his wife, Thursday
evening, by presenting them with an
elegant silver loving cup, suitably in-
scribed
few weeks ago DR.. Merriman round
ed out his twentieth year OF pastoral
work at Central Church, and, in COM
memoration of that event, preached an
anniversary sermon. The following day
he left for Asheville, North Carolina,
with Mrs. MeTiman and Immediately
| some OF the members began working
upon the scheme which eliminated \so
| successfully Thursday evening.
| Every member of the church or con-
J gregation contributing towards the
| purchase of the cup was Invited to be
IN the auditorium Of the church at s
CLOCK, Thursday evening, and fully 200
OF the parishioners assembled. Dr. Mer-
| flman, wholly unaware that any such
thlng was even being thought of, was
| addressing the young men Of the Lin
coin Guild in the parlor adjoining.
| AS soon as the guilds meeting was
! over, those who had gathered in the au-
|
| room adjoining, and there stood in con-
| Versation awaiting Dr. Merriman, who
! appeared shortly at the door with the
| associate pastor, Rev. E. M. Chapman.
! The pastor was completely surprised,
| and was Immediately conducted to the
| front of the room, While Mrs. Merriman
| was also led through the gathering and
| Joined her husband in front of the as
| semby. 1t was almost as much of
| surprise for Mrs. Merriman as for her
| husband. She had been told of the plan
! to present DR.. MerrinIan with a loving
! cup, and was at the church with the
| other parishioners. Nothing had been
| said to her, however, that she too was
| included in the presentation.
! The presentation of the elegant cup
was made by George L. Brownell, and
! he performed a task that was at best
| difficult, most gracefully. 1t was at
| first planned to have Dr. Thomas H.
| Gage make the presentation, but he was
! obliged to decline at the last moment,
and so Mr.. Brownell consented to be the
| spokesman for the congregation.
Said Mr.. Brownell:
| Dear Doctor and Mrs. Merriman: One
of the underlying principles of Congre-
PgationaliSm has been termed the right
of the pews to talk back But thanks
| to your constant, self-sacrificing, devot-
ed and eloquent ministrations the years
have slipped away so swiftly and hap
| PLY that we may, in consequence, have
seemed at times careless and lacking in
| appreciation of what you have done for
| us, until we are suddenly admonished
that unless exercised at once, one of our
| ancient rights and privileges (not to say
duties) may be, as it were, in danger of
forfeiture by operation of the statute of
| limitations. In consequence of this and
of other more moving considerations of
! love and gratitude, committee repre-
senting the church and society and con-
gregation has been appointed to con-
| slider the situation and to take such ac-
\ tion as might seem suitable and appro-
pirate at this time. We have, therefore,
prepared, and with your permission, will
| shortly deliver to you a brief sermon,
not in stones, but in two of the precious
metals.
You will observe that a sermon has
Il reference in general to the gospel of
love" 1t has firstly, a secondly and
| thirdly; it has a principal text, which
we have the best of reasons for feeling
4 sure is a good one; also, two supple
/ mentary texts which perfectly express
our own sentiments.
i The true doctrine of bimetallism and
the parity of the metals are here set
forth and illustrated. While the outward
appearance indicates a decided prefer
ence for silver, yet the true iHwardness
of our discourse is unquestionably in
favor of gold. Although any extended
reference to the subject of redemption
| would be out of place in this connec-
ton, yet, should the necessity ever
| arise, it could doubtless be redeemed
| in gold.
The first of the second are texts upon
the cup, ''Now God had brought Daniel
| into favor and tender love'-Daniel l.
9-seems to belong especially to us. The
other though well worn, still, like al
choice old violin, grows all the sweeter
| with age and use Standing here in
| this building, with its furnishing and
adornment still fresh in mind could any
expression be more appropriate for Mrs
| Merriman than this: Let her own
| works praise her in the gates
| Proverbs XXI, 81.
] And now, our beloved pastor, will you
/ please accept for yourself and Mrs.
| Merriam this token of our appreciation,
! together with our heartest congratula-
| tions and our best wishes that the Lord
/ will continue to bless you and keep you,
i and cause his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
Dr. Merriman was too overcome to
make any attempt at an extended for
NAL speech, simply saying: Il can find
no words to express my feeling and
| gratitude to you both for the symmetri-
! cal and very beautiful gift, but even
| more for this gathering of sympathetic
| friends, whose friendship is so well
known to me- On behalf of my wife, to
| whom far more credit is due than my
| self, as well as for myself, 1 express to
you our most heartfelt and sincere graf
| itude for what you have done"
| This completed the exercises connect
ed with the presentation of the cup. DR..
and Mrs. Merriman were then the recipi-
ents of the heartiest congratulations of
those present, and everybody was af-
forded an opportunity to inspect the
cup.
i The loving cup presented to DIR. and
n Mrs Merriman is undoubtedly one of
/ the most exquisite and expensive loving
cups ever given to anybody in the state
1t stands about IL inches high, has three
handles, and was made by Tiffany of
New York. 1t is a design that Tiffany
: showed at the worlds fair in Chicago a
few years ago as being in every way a
masterpiece of the silversmith's art.
1t is all hammered work, being made
from one piece of silver, with a lining
of solid gold, and, of course, was made
entirely by hand. The cost, amounting
to several hundred dollars, was met by
individual subscription among the mem
i bers of the congregation, each person
sending to the treasurer of the fund,
George w. Mackintire whatever amount
he so desired.
The inscriptions upon the cup are as
foI1OUs.