He was a forcible preacher, and many of the present membership were received into the church during his fruitful ministry. He was pastor during the exciting days of the Civil War, and his stirring, patriotic addresses never left any doubt of the position of this church in the days which tried men’s souls. The last three ministers, the Revs. James B. Bonar, George S. Thrall, and Timothy J. Lee, were the friends and pastors of a large part of the present congregation. Many of the older members were welcomed into the fellowship of the church during their ministries. Not only here, but in other fields of labor, they gave good proof of their ministry. Of all this list of former ministers, only one is living to-day, the Rev. Timothy J. Lee, the immediate predecessor of the present pastor. “These ministers were advised and assisted by a consecrated band of deacons; men chosen for their piety and interest in the affairs of the church. The New England Congregational deacon has always filled a large place in the moral development of a community; and so these men have done their part in promoting the better life of this town. It would be impossible to write a true history of the town without giving their names a prominent place. The name of one of their number, also sometime clerk of our Society, is written high in the annals of his country, the distinguished patriot and statesman, Roger Sherman, associate of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert R. Livingston, on the committee of five which prepared the immortal Declaration of Independence. His colleague, Thomas Jefferson, said of him, he was ‘a man who never said a foolish thing’; and the noted Senator Macon declared, ‘He had more common sense than any man I have ever known.’ At this anniversary time, we are happy to recall the name of such a man as a citizen of our town, and a member and officer in our church.... The following hymn, written for the occasion by Charlotte B. Bennett, was sung in the Congregational Church in the course of the service at which the above sermon was preached. BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN “God of our fathers, in whose sight The centuries are but as days, We ask, as those of old, Thy light; We bring, like them, our gift of praise. “We bless Thee for the fathers’ love; They made the rough way smooth, that we Might safer walk. O, may it prove The path of peace that leads to Thee. “We reach across the vanished years And touch their holy lives to-day, They kept the faith through toils and fears; Grant healing in the touch, we pray. “If mists of time have dimmed our sight, And faith has faltered on the way, May clearer vision in the light Of holy memories, crown this day. “Alike to Thee are new and old; Thy care through ages is the same; Thy love links with a chain of gold The centuries, in one dear Name.