[247] and their Committee for the occasion were Messrs. Abner Bartlett, Jonathan Brooks, Thatcher Magoun, Turell Tufts, and Dudley Hall. The funeral services were on Saturday, Dec. 14. The prayer was offered by President Kirkland ; and the sermon preached by Dr. Abiel Holmes, from 2 Tim. IV. 6, 7. The pall-bearers were the Rev. Drs. Kirkland and Holmes, of Cambridge; Ripley, of Concord; Foster, of Brighton; Fiske, of West Cambridge ; and Homer, of Newton. The wife of Dr. Osgood died Jan. 7, 1818, aged seventy, and left behind the memorial of an amiable, intelligent, and pious woman. βThe memory of the just is blessed.β The incidents in the history of Dr. Osgood, not mentioned in the memoir, are few and unimportant. Among those of historic interest are the following:--
March 15, 1782: At a meeting of the brethren of the church this day, the pastor proposed an alteration in the form of the covenant used at the admission of members; to which they gave their unanimous consent. The form adopted is as follows:-- You do, in presence of the great God and this Christian assembly, profess your belief of the Holy Scriptures; that they were given by the inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient rule of faith and practice. You believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only Mediator between God and man, and Lord and Head of his church. Convinced that you are a guilty, condemned sinner, you desire to receive and submit to him in all those characters and offices with which he is invested for the benefit of the children of men. You believe the Holy Spirit of God to be the Author of every spiritual and gracious disposition in the minds of men; the Leader, Sanctifier, and Comforter of his people. Sensible of the depravity of the human heart, your own proneness to sin and inability to that which is good, you promise to seek his divine influence to form you to the temper of the gospel, and to make you meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. You desire to give yourself up to God in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten; to be for him, and none other; to love, serve, and obey him for ever. You acknowledge this to be a true church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and promise to walk with us in a due submission to and attendance upon all the ordinances of the gospel; and that, relying upon divine aid, you will, in your whole conversation, make it your serious endeavor to conduct agreeably to the rules of our holy religion and the profession you now make. Do you thus profess and promise?β April 2, 1792 : Voted to give ten pounds for the encouragement β
