Ecclesiastical History. 27 



Bible on the table by which he stood, " There, my friends, are my arms, 

 and I trust to find them ever sufficient for me." 



The Committee retired with some precipitation, discomfited by the 

 dignified manner and implied rebuke of Dr. Gay, and the chairman was 

 heard to say to his associates, as they passed out of the yard, "The old 

 gentleman is always ready." 



Notwithstanding the political opinions entertained by Dr. Gay, he found 

 among the clergy who held opposite views his most ardent friends. The 

 intercourse between him and the Rev. Dr. Shute, of the Second Parish, 

 who was a zealous Whig, was of the most friendly character, and he was 

 on excellent terms with Mr. Smith, of Weymouth, the father of Mrs. John 

 Adams, and Mr. Brown of Cohasset, who, at one time was chaplain to the 

 troops in Nova Scotia, before the Revolution. 



Dr. Gay's son, Jotham Gay, was a captain in the same department. 

 The Doctor, in writing to Mr. Brown, says, " I wish you may visit Jotham 

 and minister good instruction to him and his company, and furnish him 

 with suitable sermons in print, or in your own very legible, if not very 

 intelligible manuscripts, to read to his men, who are without a preacher, — 

 in the room of one, constitute Jotham curate." 



I *Mnk I may safely say that New England could boast of few minis- 

 ters during the last century who exerted a wider influence than Dr. Gay. 



Many amusing and characteristic anecdotes are told of Dr. Gay. 

 The following will illustrate his ready wit and humor. 



During the Revolutionarv War, a little before the time of the 

 annual Thanksgiving, and when it was generally expected that 

 there would be a great deficiency of the foreign fruits, as raisins, 

 currants, etc., with which that festival had abounded, several Eng- 

 lish vessels laden with those productions were driven by a storm 

 upon our coast, captured, and brought into Boston. Dr. Gay, who 

 was considered a prudent loyalist, was accustomed on Thanksgiv- 

 ing Days to make mention in his prayer of the special blessings 

 of the year. Such a token of Divine favor did not escape without 

 due notice. Accordingly, in his Thanksgiving prayer, he grate- 

 fully acknowledged the unexpected bounty somewhat after this 

 sort : " Oh Lord, who art the infinite Disposer of all things, who 

 rulest the winds and the waves according to thy own good pleas- 

 ure, we devoutly thank thee for the gracious interposition of thy 

 Providence in wafting upon our shores so many of thy rich boun- 

 ties, to make glad the dwellings of thy people on this joyful oc- 

 casion." Shortly after its occurrence, some one repeated the 

 Doctor's ejaculation to Samuel Adams, who, with his usual 

 promptness and decision, exclaimed, " That is trimming with the 

 Almighty." 



Dr. Gay had, for some time, missed the hay from his barn, and 

 was satisfied that it was stolen. With a view to detect the thief, 

 Dr. Gay took a dark lantern and stationed himself near his barn. 

 In due time a person whom he knew passed along into the barn, 

 and quickly came out with as large a load of hay as he could 

 carry upon his back. The Doctor, without saying a word, fol- 



