[103] After the death of the Rev. Mr. Cooke the sum of one hundred pounds was granted for supporting the pulpit in the Precinct; the unmarked money received in the weekly contributions for supplying the pulpit, was given to the family of ‘our late worthy minister,. Mr. Cooke, for their comfort and support;’ and it was voted that the sum of £ 17. 18. 11., being the expense of the funeral of ‘our late minister Mr. Cooke,’ be paid by the Precinct. The following notice which appeared in two Boston papers—the Independent Ledger, June 23, 1783, and the Continental Journal, June 26, 1783—shows the appreciation in which Mr. Cooke was held by his contemporaries:1
On the fourth instant, died at Cambridge, in the 75th year of his age, and 44th of his ministry, the Rev. Mr. Samuel Cooke, the first, and beloved pastor of the second church and parish in that town; and on the 7th his remains were respectfully entombed. Of this worthy man it may truly be said—he was a burning and shining light, of superior powers of mind, and distinguished literary accomplishments; diligent in study, catholic in principle; apt to teach; fervent and devout in prayer; judicious and instructive in preaching; wise in counsel; prudent and faithful in discipline; tender and skilful in comforting; grave in deportment; agreeable and edifying in conversation; meek towards all men; constant and candid in friendship; endearing in every relation; a pattern of patience and submission under multiplied trials and bereavements in his family; as well as in his own long wasting sickness; a bright example of behavior and doctrine; and as he ever opposed the introduction of errors, was peculiarly concerned to bear a faithful and even dying testimony against the doctrines of “Salvation for all Men, ” as “totally subversive of the Christian religion:” —Firmly attached to the constitution, and a warm advocate for the privileges of these churches; an invariable friend to his country, and the rights of mankind; universally esteemed, and died greatly lamented—“His flesh also resteth in hope.” “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from the children of men!” Sprague's American Annals, II. 73, note, gives a brief sketch of Mr. Cooke. Obligation is here expressed to our friend Mr. John Langdon Sibley, of Harvard University Library, for his list of references to Mr. Cooke from his interleaved catalogue of Harvard Graduates.
