: ENS: AN ERI SS SAE SANIT AEA NNER RADIAT LTR TR ERAS NM TNE SN Na yh raed et Te NES RIOTS RY ee ee cae EE ES ae amr: LOD SR SLLS PIII LAR OO, SPE TE UR GR 'g FULL 8 «PIT e LLNS TOI 3 OE TENS. Phe PaO 3 hs, A eta MORIALS NS Ny MI OR OMAS DeWITT D.D. IL it So Sas eee: a es ee. . BE eS, A 2 CR Me ee x ee as 0 POE. 7+ Thy" CORE SST RISE: IMP ATE SEO IT HG IE ID: oi 0 $6 PITRE PO PW ee es Ce Oh se 1S "ei le ELS Lk ODI IUAR CD ISS Hf! le! MBG SF et. Sie Mfr les “agen «<1 Te Z; gh ws ; SLE Meer, Yh Coy MEMORIALS OF meee PHOMAS DE WITT, D.D. iN RaW oe Yo: PRS: ANSON -D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY. 1875. he Wok. CONTENTS. . FUNERAL ADDRESSES, . MEMORIAL SERVICES, . VARIOUS TRIBUTES, RESOLUTIONS, Erc., Pot RODUCTORY—BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, . PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, 147 meer ROWDUCTORY. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. . ¥ - INTRODUCTORY. Peeewoieror CAL. SKETCH. Noruinc can be more instructive and interesting to read than the records made by good and true men of one who, in the estimation of all, was a model of goodness and truth. Such are the addresses, sermons, and various personal reminis- cences brought together here as a tribute of honor and love to the late venerable Dr. De Witt. To the compiler of these memorials has been assigned the task—the privilege, rather—of preparing a biographical sketch by way of introduction. The request, coming from those who only had the right to make it, was so entirely unexpected and unsought, that it seemed as if it ought not to be denied; “what thou art commanded thee, think thereupon with rev- erence.” Therefore, though keenly alive to the fact that many more skillful hands could thus have been honored, the editor offers the following pages as preface to the more important documents. The noble and great in heart and mind need not the props of ancestry. But it is a natural feeling to take pleasure in tracing their lineage back like a narrow stream over the fe (1) 2 | INTRODUCTORY. misty plains of the past, and discovering here and there some spot fertilized—some landmark made eminent in connection ' with it. De Witt is a very ancient name in Holland, and many men of note for wisdom and statesmanship, for bold- ness in war and fortitude in disaster, bore the honorable name. Macaulay tells of John De Witt, the Grand Pension- ary of the Province of Holland, “ whose ability, firmness, and integrity raised him to unrivalled authority in its municipal councils.” Before his memorable death occurred, one branch of the De Witt family had emigrated to America: “Tjerck Claezen (thought to be son of Nicholas) De Witt, who was born in Westphalia, 1620, and came to New York in 1656.” An exact list of his descendants for nearly 250 years may be found in the American Genealogical Review for December, 1874, edited by Mr. Charles Moore. But we pass over them, though interesting, as details-too minute for a brief sketch, The grandfather of Dr. De Witt was Egbert, the seventh child of Andries; and his father, Thomas, was the seventh son of Egbert. He had nine sons, and but one daughter, Mary, his tenth and last child ; who married, in 1756, Colonel James Clinton, and was the mother of. the distinguished statesman, De Witt Clinton. Several of Egbert’s sons were soldiers and officers in the Revolutionary war; and we are told that “ Neponack, in the town of Rochester, Ulster Co., - where they were born, was remarkable for containing the lead’ mine of the Revolution.” Thomas, the father of Dr. De Witt, went in his early youth to join the American forces in Canada at the time of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 3 Wolf’s victory over the French, and the surrender of Canada to the British. When the struggle to throw off the domin- ion of the mother-country began, he at once entered the con- tinental service, soon obtained a commission as captain, and did not lay down his arms until the close of the war. In 1775 he went again into Canada, and was present, in December of that year, at the death of Montgomery in the attack at Que- bec. He was afterwards with Colonel Willett on the Mohawk, and at the siege of Fort Stanwick. In 1782, he married Miss Elsie Hasbrouck, a descendant of one of the old French Hu- guenot families, who, when persecuted for their Protestant- ism, had fled first to Germany, afterwards to Holland, and finally emigrated to America about the middle of the 17th century. | Dr. Thomas De Witt was the fifth and youngest child of his parents, and was born on the 13th of September, 1791, at Twaalfskill, just without the limits of Kingston. The house where he was born was a stone building of moderate size, sit- uated on a rural road, on one side of which the union of the Rondout creek with the merry waters of a mill-brook made pleasant music. The old Dutch Reformed Church, the only church in the Doctor’s youth in the village, was a mile and a half from the house, and the Kingston Academy was about as far. His childhood was marked by unusual conscientiousness . and quiet thoughtfulness. A story is told, as an example of his strict obedience to the very letter of his mother’s wishes, that once when he was a very little boy, his mother, on going out, placed him on a chair in the middle of the com- 4 INTRODUCTORY. mon sitting-room, and told him to remain there until she returned. She was out much longer than she had intended to be, and while she was gone the old colored servant found the child in the way of her Saturday’s work. She wanted — him to move, but he would not, and then she attempted to move him herself, but had to give it up. He said his mother had placed him there, and told him to stay there. until she came back, and he meant to mind his mother.. Vhe old-fash- ioned virtue of minding the mother, the dutiful obedience, which, as Augustus Hare says, “is the foundation of all social -happiness, and of every social virtue,” is so lost sight of in these modern days of law-giving children and obedient pa- rents, that such an anecdote is refreshing. In a brief autobiographical manuscript, which contains a few of the prominent facts of Dr. De Witt’s life, he modestly tells us, that in his boyhood, he “ evinced a sedate disposition, and a taste for reading and study, and therefore his parents placed him, when very young, in the Kingston Academy ; that this academy was one of the oldest in the State, and in previous years sustained a high reputation, and attracted from other parts students who afterwards became distinguished in the annals of the State, among whom were De Witt Clinton and Abraham Van Vechten.” It is recorded (not by himself), that as a boy at school, he was always deeply absorbed in his studies, and always went directly at what he had to do, with- out looking about and becoming, as other boys did, diverted in play. The Hon. A. B. Hasbrouck, in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Chambers (who kindly allows us to use its imteresting BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 5 information) writes: “The peculiarity of manner which was so marked in after life, was in De Witt’s boyhood equally no- ted and noticeable. He was seldom seen without a book in his hand, and the volumes of the little library belonging to the academy, bore evident marks of his use of them. Not- withstanding the distance of his residence from the school, he was ever ready to answer at the roll-call in spite of wind and weather. His exercises in declamation were much ad- mired by us, the pieces being generally of a tender and pathetic character, and spoken with much fervor. I cannot speak of his recitations, as we were not in the same class; but I re- member that he was the favorite pupil of the master, in a school of nearly a hundred pursuing classical studies. The academy was at that time in charge of the Rev. David B. Warden, an Irish Protestant, who had fled from his country during the troubles there in 1798. He was considered to be, and I believe was, a finished scholar, very severe, and very ex- acting. His partiality for De Witt, therefore, would seem to indicate his estimate of his pupil’s recitations. We boys gave him the name of Sir Isaac Newton; not for his knowledge of science, which was not taught even in its humblest form, but simply because he towered above us-all in our mental exercises. He never joined in our sports, partly because of his distant residence from the village, but more, I think, be- cause of his moods of abstraction and fondness for books. Could any one have surveyed the school to foretell the future of the pupils, he would have selected De Witt as the one to be most distinguished—and so he was.” 6 INTRODUCTORY. It is evident from this graphic account, which we have _ quoted verbatim, of his early school-days, that he had already chosen wisdom as his daily monitor, “the very true beginning of which is the desire of discipline.” The excellent Dr. Nott was President of Union College, Schenectady, when young De Witt entered the last quarter of the Sophomore class, in May, 1806, being only a little over fourteen years old.. He graduated in July, 1808, and at the college commencement that summer, had the Latin saluta- tory assigned to him. While in college, his attention dwelt frequently on the subject of religion, but it was not until his return home that he decided to give his heart to the Saviour, and the labors of his future life to the ministry. At the close of the year 1808, he joined the Dutch Church, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Gosman, whose preaching and conversa- tion had helped to form his religious decision. He passed the next year studying theology with the Rev. Dr. Broadhead, at Rhinebeck; and the year following with Dr. Froeligh, of Schraalenberg, New Jersey, who was appointed by Synod, Professor of Theology. | In the year 1810 the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Church was established in New Brunswick, at first called “ Queens,” now Rutgers College ; and the Rev. Dr. John Livingston was elected as President and Professor of Theol- ogy. For both these offices he was pre-eminently fitted ; for the first, by his wise circumspection. and engaging courteous- ness of manner; and for the second, by his ripe scholarship and ardent love for evangelical truth. Dr. Livingston re- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 7 moved to New Brunswick, and entered on these double duties in the autumn, when Thomas De Witt entered the seminary as a student. Dr. Livingston possessed a remark- ably tall, commanding, and dignified presence ; and: De Witt used to tell how, on the first evening of his arrival at col- lege when standing by the fire-place of the large students’ room, he felt half-afraid to speak as he saw Dr. L. approach- ing. But that fear soon vanished, when the Doctor, putting his hand on the young man’s shoulder, said, affectionately, “So you have come to learn divinity? Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ?” “I hope I do,’ was the reply. “Oh,” said Dr. Livingston, “you must have more than a oge about that; you must be very sure you do, before you can preach.” The mutual influence must have been strong between the minds of a lecturer so ably qualified, and a learner so rarely gifted with native genius and ingrafted erace. De Witt was two years at the seminary, graduated in June, 1812, and was licensed to preach by the Synod of New Bruns- wick. He passed the summer in supplying various vacant churches, to some of which he was unanimously invited ; and in the autumn he accepted a call from the united congrega- tions of Hopewell and New Hackensack, in-Duchess Co., and ° was ordained, November 24, in the Hopewell Church. The bounds of these parishes extended far; and as within their vicinity, particularly to the eastward, there was a great lack of religious privileges, the young divine was a missionary in the truest sense of the word, as well as a constant preacher in 8. INTRODUCTORY. his own two pulpits. He might be seen frequently by those who lived in the neighborhood, riding on horseback, the reins slack, with a book or paper in his hand, reading as he rode. And many stories are told of his absent moods, and the odd mistakes they produced, at which he would smile as pleasantly as any one. Doubtless he felt, with good Bishop Hall, “ Let me but have time for my thoughts, but leisure to think on Heaven, and grace to my leisure, and I can be happy in spite of the world.” He tells us, in the manuscript referred to, “the extent of territory covered by my parish led me to be much on the road in evening lectures, and induced the habit, which continued through life, of preaching from sketches or from mental preparation.” In this he resembled his tutor, Dr. Livingston, who preached from brief notes, and very often without writing at all. In 1817, when he had only been a few years in the ministry, he received an invita- tion from New Brunswick, to become Professor of Biblical Literature and Ecclesiastical History in Rutgers College, an honor which he declined. In 1818 it was a second time prof- fered, but again refused. The state of religion, which had been so lifeless in the congregation under his care, had begun to revive, and he could not be tempted to leave a field that gave promise of yielding fruit to the patient laborer. __ In 1825 the connection between these two churches. was broken; “a dissolution that should have taken place before, but it was in.a measure prevented by the common attachment to the existing minister.” He then became pastor of Hopewell alone. An only and widowed sister BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. on shared his home, and the attachment of his people in that vil- lage. She died in 1833, leaving “ many precious memories” to her devoted brother. A few years before this event, he mar- ried Miss Eliza Ann Waterman, of New York, who was a merh- ber of Dr. McMurray’s church, in Rutgers Street. This excel- lent lady doubled his joys, and divided his cares, during many years of wedded peace, and died but a few months before him. “ A gracious woman retaineth honour;” and we must be allowed the pleasure of quoting here the tributes of affectionate re- spect paid to her by the colleagues of her husband, for none knew better than they how worthy she was of the same. Dr. Vermilye said: “ Of a comely person, and dignified manners, genial and kind, with a ready and clear mind, and great activ- ity and energy, she was by her natural gifts well adapted to conduct the affairs of her household with skill, and also to move with marked propriety and acceptance in that important sphere in which her marriage had placed her. A minister’s wife may err in opposite directions, by excess of activity, which may be thought assuming and presumptuous; or, by a too retiring course, which may be construed into indiffer- ence to her husband’s avocation and usefulness, and to the advancement of the many benevolent movements which spring from and cluster around the church. ‘Through these dangers Mrs. De Witt held her course with signal discretion. Her husband’s success was ever in her thoughts; to advance that good end was her high ambition, and the heart of her husband could safely trust in her.” Dr. Chambers, alluding to the warm recollections cherished by a family Io INTRODUCTORY. (that of the late Gen. John Frelinghuysen), who had enter’ tained Dr. De Witt and his bride, soon after they were mar- ried, says: “I remember well ‘the frequent allusions to the great personal beauty of Mrs. De Witt, her sprightliness and winsome grace. Subsequently, I had ample opportunity to see and feel for myself, how just they were. Coming to New York as an associate pastor, | was first for days and weeks domiciled under her hospitable roof; and formed a pleasant intimacy, which continued to the end of her life. During all these years there never was a cloud between us, but innumer- able acts of kindness which I never shall forget.” The Rey. Dr. Plumer, one of the most valued friends of the family, gave the same testimony, saying, as he pointed to her coffin, “There lie the mortal remains of as much modest, social, and moral worth as one will be apt to find in a lifetime. The God of nature and grace had beautifully adorned her heart and mind.” Dr. De Witt received a call to the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, of New York, in the spring of 1826, which he declined ; but having it again pressed upon him the follow- ‘Ing spring, he accepted it, and was installed the 16th Septem- ber, 1827. His colleagues then were the Rev. Drs. Kuypers, Knox, and Brownlee. The first died in 1833, Dr. Knox in 1858, and Dr. Brownlee in 1860. Afterwards Drs. Vermilye, Chambers, and Duryea filled the collegiate pulpits with him ; and upon the resignation first of himself, and then of Dr. Ver- milye, and the removal of Dr. Duryea to Brooklyn, the care of these churches devolved upon Drs. Chambers, Ludlow, and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 3 II Ormiston, where it now rests. When Dr. De Witt, however, had resigned his stated duties as a preacher he continued to fill the position of senior pastor until his death, when Dr. Ver- milye assumed that office. _ A long term, upwards of forty-five years, Dr. De Witt lived in the city of New York, loved, honored, and revered by all classes of men and all denominations of Christians. He was always at the post of duty; ready, not only for the regularly- recurring ministrations of pulpit, | Bible-class, and_ lecture- room, but for any sudden summons to grief-stricken souls, to the beds of the sick and dying, to funerals, whether of friend or stranger, far or near. Yet he always seemed to be at leis- ure; he was never in a hurry; and no one who sought his advice, or asked a kindness, ever heard from his lips the reply, 1 have no time. Many were the societies of which he was either an efficient manager or a liberal and active member. Foreign missions and domestic missions were equally near to his heart. Asylums for orphans and half orphans, for the aged and infirm, and for all objects of mercy, met with his cordial sympathy and support. From the meeting of the Bible Society he was never absent, while he was one of the first to establish and to forward the interests of the American Tract Society. In almost all boards and committees on various charities he was to be found, blessing, encouraging, and sup- porting them by his prayers, his counsel, and his contributions. The dignity of his presence was often sought on literary occa- sions, and he was always ready to welcome, in his quaintly cour- teous style, visitors from other cities or other lands, renowned 12 INTRODUCTORY. for their writings or their deeds. His connection with the New York Historical Society was of long and honorable — standing. “He became a member of it in 1838. For ten years he was regularly elected second, and for twenty, first vice-president. In 1870 he was chosen president, and filled that office for two years, when he declined a re-election. He was a very active and useful member of this society. In 1844 he prepared and read a paper, entitled ‘Sketches of New Netherlands, and in 1848 another on the ‘ Sources of the Early Settlements in the State of New York.’ Both these papers have been printed in the Society’s ‘ Proceedings.’ His translations from the Dutch, of important materials for the History of New York, also appear in the Society’s collec- tions. In the public celebrations of the Society, Dr. De Witt was its recognized chaplain, and his occasional services in that capacity are fresh in the memory of its members. When the Hon. Charles Francis Adams delivered, in December 1870, his anniversary discourse, on the Struggle for Neutrality in America, Dr. De Witt was president, and introduced the orator.”* Dr. Vermilye’s interesting address before the His- torical Society, the first time it met after Dr. De Witt’s death, has been recently published and circulated by the Society. “The Chrestzan [ntellegencer, the organ of the Reformed Church, was at one time edited by an association of ministers,” writes Mr. Charles Van Wyck, “ Dr. De Witt acting as chair- man from 1831 to 1843, when the Rey. John Bevier became the editor. For twelve years or more Dr. De Witt made it * Quoted from the minutes of the Society. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 13 his business to visit the office, read the exchanges, and sup- ply the editorial department voluntarily. The character and importance of the paper was fully established under his kind encouragement and wise control.” In the summer of 1846 the even tenor of Dr. De Witt’s life was broken by a short visit to Holland and to England, accompanied by his eldest daughter and a few friends. The dislike he had to writing, not sermons only, but letters and diaries, is to be regretted; but for that we might possess much of interest and value. With his strong imagination and sound judgment, the impressions and opinions formed among new scenes and new people would have been vividly and wisely presented. | | One of the friends who were with him that summer says: “As a travelling companion he was uniformly cheerful and pleasant. With a temper the most equable and patient, always considerate, conciliating, and charitable, his daily life was an unostentatious example to his fellow-travellers. In review- ing that journey to the Old World, which seems now almost like a dream, Dr. De Witt stands out in my mind the most prominent object. His animating and social spirit were mani- fested then in the varied scenes and novelties which met us continually in our route, and his historical knowledge stood _ ready for us at every turn, giving additional interest to our rapid transit from place to place.” Among the personal remi- niscences in this volume, will be found most interesting letters from the Rev. Dr. Van Zandt, of the Theological Sem- inary, New Brunswick, and from Dr. Forsyth, chaplain of the 14. “INTRODUCTORY. U.S. Military Academy at West Point, relating to the visit of Dr. De Witt to Europe. Upon a full, warm heart (which, as Southey says, “is tan- tamount to a virtuous one,”) the events of life not observed by the world make the most lasting impression. Death from time to time visited Dr. De Witt’s happy home-circle; but never without a token-—“the arrow with a point sharpened by love ”"—that his errand was to carry away from earth to heaven. The first-born child was taken first, before she could turn her baby-syllables into words; and again a little boy, named after his father, scarcely two years old. Some years afterwards a gentle girl of eleven, naturally a timid child, was made willing by her simple faith in Christ to meet death with asmile. Then another little boy of the same name and age as the first. After these losses a long period of uninter- rupted loving intercourse between parents and children was granted. | The two elder daughters were married within a year of each other, and formed happy homes of their own. Two children only remained to the father and mother; but they were not destined to remain long. God loved His servants too well to permit them to go down into the vale of years without detaching them more loosely from earth, and refining them still further for heaven. So death was again sent into the diminished household, and the third daughter was called away. She was just in the early dawn of womanhood, prom- ising fair for a holy and beautiful life, but the sun of her bright morning soon ascended out of sight in a perfect and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 15 _ eternal day. This loss was a sore stroke to the parents, and it was followed six months after by one equally severe. The only son, Theodore Frelinghuysen, a youth of nineteen, amia- ble ard winning in temper and manner, died suddenly, one morning in May, 1862, without any apparent illness, of con- jestion of the brain. Ai friend of the family writes : “I called at Dr. De Witt’s house immediately after hearing of the sud- den death of his only son, expecting to find him bowed down and overcome by that heavy stroke. He met me at the door, and on my saying, “Oh, Doctor, can this be true ?” his lip quivered, but he merely replied, “We must remember the mercies.” When we were abroad his youngest child died. He heard of it in London, and as we were sitting at the dinner-table, he said to me in a low tone of voice, “ Little Tommy is dead; do not speak of it.” Thus, like the Old Testament saints who walked with God, and communed with Him as friend with friend, Dr. De Witt neither questioned nor murmured when severe afflictions befel him, or wished the will of heaven other than it was. Like Aaron, when the blow came, “he held his peace.” Like Eli, he said: “It is the Lord, let Him do as seemeth Him good.” Like Job,“ The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Like David, “I shall go to Him, but He shall not return to me. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth because Thou didst it.” There was something sublime in the silence of his submission, for Dr. De Witt was a tender-hearted man. Yes, “with the most universal sympathy for outward things,” his faith made him “inwardly calm, impregnable ; 16 INTRODUCTORY. through all afflictions he held on his way SO cae but inflexibly.” The greatest bereavement, however, was to come; but not yet for eleven years. In the meantime, he made a formal resignation of his position as pastor and preacher; although his resting from stated labor was not an idle rest. Seldom dida . Sabbath pass without one sermon; or a lecture night or prayer-meeting, without the consolations of his rich experience in exhortation or in prayer, The last great public act of his life was the dedication of the new Reformed Church on the corner of 48th Street and Fifth Avenue, in New York, in No- vember, 1872. A private letter thus speaks of this effort: “ Fle seemed feeble, and had some difficulty in mounting the pulpit stairs ; but when he came forward, the spirit was strong enough to overcome the weakness of the flesh, and what he uttered was more like inspiration than anything I had ever heard from mortal lips. When he closed, I involuntarily said, ‘Now let Thy servant depart in peace.’ He has been spared to see this work finished, and his whole soul was in the matter.” He was over eighty when this dedication service took place. It was truly observed by a competent judge of such matters: “It was a great mistake to suppose that Dr. De Witt declined in power with age. Some of the very grandest flights of eloquence he ever uttered were in the closing days of his ministry.” He had just passed his eighty-second birth-day when the final bereavement came. It was the first Sabbath of October; one of those soft, warm, balmy days, so holy in its sweet - BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 17 peacefulness, that, though it seemed a privilege to breathe the delicious air, it also seemed as if it would be a boon to a Christian to pass from such a transcript of heaven below to the reality above. Mrs. De Witt had been to church in the morning, and staid to the communion, at which her vener- able husband had assisted. She remained until almost every one had left the church, and spoke to some of her friends about her enjoyment of the service, alluding to her husband’s address, which she thought had been unusually touching. After she returned jhome she conversed at the dinner-table with more than common cheerfulness, and went up stairs, going into the Doctor’s study for something she wanted to read. As she passed through to her own room, she fell at the door-sill, and when lifted to her sofa, seemed faint and unable to speak. Her eldest daughter, who had come to New York for a few days’ visit,and was’ unexpectedly,,and, as it proved, providentially detained, sent for the physician, who soon saw that there was nothing to be done. Dr. De Witt came from his study, and, on seeing the deathly paleness of cheek and brow, stooped over, and said, “I need not ask you if you love Jesus; you testified to that this morning!” She smiled, but her ebbing breath could muster no reply, and in a little while that Saviour, whose “inward and spiritual grace” had strengthened her soul in the morning’s communion, received her to Himself. Before the golden sun of that Oc- tober Sabbath had set, she had entered through the gates of the city where the “ Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof.” 18 INTRODUCTORY. At her funeral, addresses were made which have been already quoted. But the words of her aged and sorely-stricken husband at the grave in Greenwood, which burst from him, uncontrolled, as the coffin was lowered to its hiding-place, startled and thrilled all who heard them: “ Farewell, my beloved, honored, and faithful wife. The tie that united us is severed. Thou art with Jesus, in glory, and He is with me by His grace. I shall soon be with you. Farewell!” So came the last sorrow on the winter of his age. But as upon the spotless surface of the wintry snow, we see that the © shadows cast of rock or tree are not black or dense, but plainly the beautiful azure of the sky is mingled in their dark- ness ; so upon the hoary head of four-score years, we saw that the shadows of these sorrows had in them more of heaven’s light than the darkness of earth. His daughters would fain have removed him to their homes, and by turns have taken care of him, enjoying the honor of his presence and the bene- diction of his prayers; but he clung to the old home where he had lived for so many years, and from which children and wife had been borne to the grave. So he contented himself by an occasional visit to his daughters, and remained in his own house. He had an early portrait of his wife, which had been put away to make room for a more modern one, brought down and carefully hung over the mantel-piece in his study. That study was the dearest spot on earth to him, hallowed by, many years of thought and prayer. And there, in his large easy chair, books everywhere around him, on the table and mantel-piece, as well as in the over-filled cases that lined the \ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. IQ room, he might be seen sitting alone, with his noble head up- lifted, and his eyes bright yet tremulous with tears of hope and faith, gazing on that beloved portrait. He was not with- out companionship, however; and many of those who called to visit him during that winter, can testify to his serene and peace-giving temper, and to the unselfish way in which he entered into their own concerns, and seemed as interested in the welfare of the world in general, as if he were taking an active part in it. Indeed, in recalling his happy beaming smile, and his sympathetic words and tones, a saying of one of the old divines is recalled als “True saints in youth do always prove angels in their age.” In the spring of 1874 he went to Philadelphia to pay his eldest daughter a visit. .He evidently seemed to know, although he said nothing about it, that this would be his last visit. He kept within doors almost all the time, and by his conversation and kindness and sympathy, made every member of the household feel a greater depth of tenderness toward him, and a stronger reluctance to let him go. He was always particularly fond of children; and now he testi- fied his love to his grand-children in many ways. He would sit by the youngest grandson of an evening when he was studying his lessons for the next day, and show the deep- est interest in all his books. The boy will never forget, how, when he found his Latin lines hard to construe, he was assisted by his aged grandfather. “ Why, grandpa, how can you remember so well when you have not read Virgil for so many years?” “That is an easy passage to read, my son.’ 20 INTRODUCTORY. “No, grandpa, I think it is very difficult; but you have got a wonderful memory, only you are so modest you will not say so.” Each one of the family remarked how bright all his mental faculties were, and how warm the affections of his great heart, and each one grieved when he went back to his own home. It was on Thursday, the 7th of May, that he began to show signs of indisposition and languor that were very unusual, His daughter, who resides in New York, and whose daily delight was a visit to her father, observed his failing strength with a presentiment of sorrow, and sent for her sister from Philadelphia. This lady with her children arrived the next day, and found her father sitting in his easy chair with a book in his hand. He gave her a warm greeting, saying: “I am glad you have come, for I feel as if this were my last sickness, and I want you with me.” He seemed very comfortable, however, and complained of nothing but weari- ness for the next few days. On Monday, the 11th, he received visits in his study from a number of friends. Dr. Adams and Dr. Hall called, and he enjoyed conversation with them. Mr. and Mrs. Robezt Carter, also, with whom he recalled pleasant memories of their journey to Europe in 1846; and talked of many valuable works Mr. Carter had published. On Tuesday morning he fell asleep on his study sofa, and when he awoke, he looked around and said: “ Are you all here ?” His two daugh- ters were sitting by him, and said: “ Yes, dear father.” He then asked them to read the 17th Chapter of St. John, and when it was finished, he, still in the same reclining posi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 2I tion, lifted up his hands, and began pouring out his heart in prayer with that feeling and warmth of devotion so pecu- liar to him at all times; but now it seemed as if he were at the very gate of heaven, full of thanksgiving. He thanked God for the mercies vouchsafed to him during his whole life, particularly for those of his ministry, in which he humbly acknowledged the Divine aid. “Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice; my soul followeth hard after Thee, Thy right hand has upheld me.” He thanked God for his dear wife’s cherished life and companionship, and for her peace- ful and painless death; and then, as if Jesus were Himself close by interceding in him and for him, he took up the words of our Saviour’s prayer, and with increasing fervor said: “And now, oh, Father, glorify Thyself, and as Thou hast promised to Thy Son, that they whom Thou hast given Him should be with Thee where Thou art, verify Thine own prom- ise, and be with me to the end.” That same morning the daughter of his former revered colleague, Dr. Knox, came to see him, and he gave her the “ Memoir of Dr. Guthrie,” which he had ordered the previous day, saying: “I thought yester- day I should read it, but I shall not.” As she left the room, he said, “The Lord be with you and yours. I bless you for your own sake, for your father’s sake, but most of all for your Saviour’s and my Saviour’s sake.” A number of other friends called during the day; he saw them all, and bade each an impressive farewell. At eight o’clock in the evening, he seemed very tired, and said, “ Let us have prayers.” He com- 22 INTRODUCTORY. menced reading the soth Psalm, but as his breathing seemed difficult, his elder daughter offered to read, but he said no, and struggled through the twenty-three verses. He then offered up one of his fervent prayers. As one of his daughters helped him from the study to his own room, he turned and said, “You all pity me; but oh, how much happier I am than any of you.” He slept tranquilly that night, but about five in the morning, was seized with a sharp pain in the side: pneu- monia had set in. He suffered somewhat all that day and night, and was too much oppressed to converse. But though very few words were uttered on his sick-bed, his ready, kindly smile, when any little attentions were paid him, spoke his perfect love and peace. On Thursday he again seemed easy ; and on awakening from a short sleep in the middle of the day, he asked his younger daughter to bring pencil and paper. Then, with a calm voice, he’ dictated his wishes with regard to his funeral, begging that clergymen of differ- ent denominations, with whom he had held pleasant inter- course, should be asked as pall-bearers; and that others, whom he also named, should be requested to share in the funeral services at the house and in the church. That evening he was suddenly seized with most acute and alarm- ing pains in his chest and side, which lasted without intermis- sion through the night. He was forced to cry out sometimes, while his strong-built frame was convulsed and shaken to and fro with agony. He prayed aloud for patience and submis- sion, and at one time said, “I never knew before the force of that text, ‘The pains of hell gat hold on me.” But He : 4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 23 who “was made perfect through suffering,” the great Refiner, was watching the fire, and only meant to make the gold more shining and pure, so that His own image could be plainly seen. For twelve hours this extreme pain lasted; on Friday morning relief came, and his grateful soul was “compassed about with songs of deliverance.” Many times during that day, and the next, when he thanked God for the quiet ease that had been restored to him, he said : “ I never should have known rest from pain but for that night.”. On Sunday morn- ing, on being told that many clergymen and friends had sent to inquire about him, he said, “Oh, how kind every one is to me ; say that I am comfortable, but very, very weak.” When his two sons-in-law came home from morning service, Mr. J asked if he should read to him. He said, “ Yes; call the servants and children all in.” So the daughters and their husbands, and the four grand-children, and all the servants, gathered together in the hushed room. The 17th Chapter of St. John again was read; for the sweet full appropriation by the dying minister, in the midst of his own family, of Jesus’ last prayer with His apostles, made that chapter so doubly impressive. “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. [ pray not that Thou should- est take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” And again he poured out his soul in prayer, commending each separate one to the tender care of the Saviour, and asking’ with humble | submissiveness, that, if 24. INTRODUCTORY. it were the will of God, he might be spared a return of the previous suffering. After prayer he called his grand-children to his bed-side, and blessed them each with patriarchal ten- derness ; and then, as if he did not want to cloud the young hearts with too much solemnity, he said with a bright smile, “Ts not dinner ready yet; I hope Anne has something nice for the boys?” In the afternoon his elder daughter repeated a number of hymns to him; some of which he designated, among them, “ Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love.” And when she came to that verse, “No more fatigue, no more distress,” he said, “ Those lines are doubly sweet since that night of agony. I should not have known their full meaning but for that suffering.” So it seemed that that taste of the river of death, he had on Thursday night, “though a little bitterish to the palate, was sweet when it was down,” for the memory of it was always serving to make the sense of ease so doubly grateful. About five that afternoon he called both his daugh- ters to his bedside, kissed them, and spoke to them tenderly of their mother. After afternoon service a friend from the country (between whose father and Dr. De Witt there had existed a warm friendship), who had not heard of his illness until the tidings had been received in church, hurried down to his house with irrepressible distress at the sudden news. The relief was great when she heard at the door that he was very comfortable, and afterwards on being taken to his room to find him looking so much better than fear had depicted him. He asked, with his natural kindness, after her health and wel- fare, and on bidding her good-bye, blessed her affectionately BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 25 As she reached the door he raised his voice to a higher tone, and said, “ The next time I see you will be in heaven.” That evening he was so much better than he had been since he first took to his bed, that hope seemed to pervade the whole household. When his younger daughter and her husband were leaving for the night, they asked, “ Shall we have prayers before we go?” He gave assent by beginning to repeat the 23d Psalm, in which they all joined in unison; and then his excellent son-in-law committed all, but especially the beloved and cherished father, to the keeping of the Lord, the Shep- herd. About ten, he said to the rest who were lingering about him, “ Now all must go to bed; De Witt” (his eldest grand- son) “will stay with me.” He passed a pleasant night, and the next morning seemed so decidedly improved that his dear grandson went back to college, and others of the family attended to what seemed important outside the sick-room, and apart from the one chief object of care. When Mr. J., his younger son-in-law, came in to see how his father was, on his way down town, Dr. De Witt smiled, and shaking his hand with an unusually warm grasp, said, “ Do you think you will be able to take care of me a little longer?” The answer can be well imagined. His faithful attendant, who had de- voted her services to him for many months, suggested that he would be refreshed if he could sit up while his bed was made. He acquiesced with difficulty, but cheerfully. Heeven called for the morning’s paper, that he might himself read about the overflow of the river in Massachusetts; and when the arrangements were finished for his greater comfort and refresh- 26 INTRODUCTORY. ment, he was assisted into bed, and soon fell into a sweet slumber. Perhaps his family had been reckoning upon some rare demonstrations of triumph over the last enemy; perhaps it seemed to them no more than natural that so holy and ripe a Christian should at the last utter some words to be forever treasured ; or, they expected that just now for a little while the parting had been put off, and that their precious one was to be spared to them a little longer. But God had ordered His messenger to come at a moment when they looked not for him. So this sleep, that looked like the sleep of convales- cence, was suddenly changed—with only a brief waking” be- tween—just time enough for a call that summoned his startled daughters to his side—into the motionless sleep of death. “As thy servants were busy here and there, he was gone.” His funeral took place at 2:30 p. mM. on Thursday, the 21st of May, from the Fourth Street Church, corner of Lafayette Place. Seldom, if ever, excepting at the funeral of Dr. Knox, has a more solemn and crowded. assembly been gathered within its walls. By one o'clock all the galleries were packed, and all the pews down stairs under the galleries. During this hour of waiting a thunder-storm, which had been threaten- ing all the morning, was raging without, and added a sombre mournfulness to the church within, which was draped in black cloth wherever it could be hung. The pulpit, with its heavy columns, was lined and curtained, the galleries festooned, and the communion table and the tables in the elders’ and dea- cons’ pews were covered with it. At two the doors were BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. si opened, and the usher came down the middle aisle, carrying two large crowns of exquisite flowers, and placed them on the table in front of the pulpit, on either side a vase containing ears of wheat and lilies of all sorts. Just then—it will be re- membered by all who were present—a gleam of bright sun- light came through the opened gallery window and glanced down on the pure, white flowers, showing that the thunder- storm had broken away, and bringing out into such strong re- lef the crowns on the table, that it seemed emblematical of the glory received by him with whom all the storms of life were over forever. The funeral procession then advanced. Dr. Vermilye, Dr. Adams, Dr. Campbell, Dr. McElroy, Dr. Tyng, Dr. Forsyth, Dr. Duryea, and Dr. Ludlow, walked im- mediately in front of the coffin. The pall-bearers were Dr. Morgan Dix, of the Episcopal Church, Rector of Old Trinity ; Drs. Hutton and Rogers, of the Reformed Church; Dr. John Hall, of the Presbyterian; Dr. William A. Williams, of the Baptist; President Woolsey, LL.D., of the Congregational ; Dr. Reinke, of the Moravian, and Dr. Holdich, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Then followed the family of the de- ceased, and the consistories of the three Collegiate Churches. Then the members of the Historical Society, headed by the distinguished veteran poet, William Cullen Bryant. Other societies followed, and a vast concourse of clergymen, students, and citizens of all persuasions and professions, filing off into the pews, until the whole body of the spacious church was so crowded that there was no more standing-room, and multi- tudes were obliged to go away. Dr. Tyng, Dr. Vermilye, Dr. 28 INTRODUCTORY. Campbell, Dr. Adams, Dr. McElroy, and Dr. Duryea occu- pied the pulpit ; and between them divided the solemn, affec- tionate services. The hymns, “ Asleep in Jesus,’ and “ How blest the righteous when he dies,’ were sung, and the organ accompanied them, faultlessly; so softly, that it would not have been too loud for a room, yet so clearly, the four parts in such perfect harmony, that every word and letter were dis- tinctly heard. After the services, the lid of the coffin was lifted, and the whole congregation silently moved up the side ~ aisles, took a last reverential look at the holy repose of the beloved pastor, father, and friend, and then passed out of church. We remained until all had gone, and the coffin was again closed, solemnly meditating on the sublime beauty of death, the immortality beyond, and the happy unions that were soon to come. The remains were carried to the family vault in Greenwood Cemetery. , Dr. De Witt was truly a: great man. The elements of his moral greatness were humility and truth. From his humility sprang his unexampled serenity of temper and quietness of spirit. Those who knew him best never remember to have seen him impatient under contradiction, or irritated by oppo- sition. Opinions on important as well as unimportant sub- jects will differ among good men. But there are some who seem to think that all who do not agree with them are less wise, less clear-sighted than themselves, or else they translate the non-agreement into a cause for quarrel. Not so with Dr. De Witt. While he possessed himself the most sagacious BIOGRAPHICAL: SKETCH. 29 judgment, the most carefully-weighed decisions on subjects of serious thought, he was not only tolerant of differences, but tender of those who differed from him, quite willing that the view taken from the standpoint of another should be as fairly observed as his own. This made him so entirely free from bigotry, that “ offshoot of pride.” Though tolerant of the opinions of others, in his own he was firm and decided. While he gave the right hand of fellowship to all Christians who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, yet he was a conservative adherent to his own branch of the church. He loved every ~ganon of the Synod of Dort, every form of its liturgy, every question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. He loved the very name of the Reformed Dutch Church, and could not bear any change in its old, distinctive, time-honored title. His humility kept him utterly free from egotism and from boasting. Few could possess a stronger control over speech ; and though by no means deficient in the power of conversa- tion, he fully tested the golden value of silence. Whether among his own household, or in the circles of his ministerial friends, no observer could have failed to mark the simplicity and transparency of his talk, and to love it for its “meekness of wisdom.” They might with justice have quoted St. James— “Tf any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” He had sometimes a quaint, sententious way of uttering a poetical thought or giving a decided opinion. To an old lady of ninety whose dark hair was scarcely streaked with grey, he observed, “ Madam, you have none of the flowers of age upon your brow.” And 30 INTRODUCTORY. when paying a New Year's call on a friend, who urged him to take a glass of wine, he refused, saying, “ We must avoid the appearance of evil.” On being asked what he would do if a fugitive slave were to come to him for shelter, he said, “ I would take him in, and if need be, go to jail for it.” | Under his calm and dignified exterior was hidden the fire and fervor of a poet. This, occasionally kindled in familiar intercourse, was constantly flaming forth in his pulpit exer- cises, It by no means interfered with the plain, practical lessons which all earnest Christians love to hear constantly enforced ; the faith that justifies, the justification that gives peace, the peace that helps to work, the works that kindle. love, and the love that goes back again to faith, the whole fabric inwrought by the. Spirit of Christ. His wonderful im- agination only served to enhance the joy of “the glorious gos- pel of the blessed God,” which was the beginning and end of his preaching. The effect was to melt the heart, and stamp the Divine image upon it, and to elevate the mind, and show it things unseen and eternal. Some excellent critics on Dr. De Witt’s preaching have said it was like the inspiration of a Hebrew prophet. One of them writes: “It seems to me an error to call Dr. De Witt an extemporaneous preacher. He left nothing except the mere verbiage to the impulse of the moment. Exact, careful, systematic, severe thought was the foundation of his discourses, and then, after such thought, an earnest heart inspired the language he employed.” Dr. Bethune (and the eloquent know best how to appreciate elo- quence) once said on listening to one of Dr. De Witt’s lofty BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 31 flights, “ It was as if he were talking with the angels.” “ What- ever it might be likened to, it must have been obtained, to use Milton’s words, “ by devout prayer to that eternal Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out his seraphim with the hallowed fire of His altar to touch and purify the lips of whom He pleases.” Of Dr. De Witt’s patience under affliction we have already given proofs. His silent ‘submission was most sweet, even when the tenderest cords of his heart were strained to breaking. But “the greatest griefs are not the most verbal.” Dr. De Witt was a gentle and indulgent husband and father, and a kind andconstant friend. He-was faithful and steadfast in all his affections and duties, and had not the least love for change. He was simple in his habits: an early riser, and strictly temperate—-almost to abstemiousness, in eating and drinking. Though he did not forbid the use of wine, and would think it a transgression of charity to judge another man’s con- science by his own, yet he was a consistent exemplar of tem- perance and moderation in all things. Truly he acted out St. Paul's rule, “Let not then thy good be evil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy: Ghost.” And it was this consistency that produced the respect of which Dr. Adams spoke when, in his funeral address, he said during the sixty-three years of Dr. De Witt’s min- isterial life no one had ever breathed a word against him. But even had it been possible for some vain censor to have ei NERODON TOR shot an arrow rh reproach at him it wpulaga less; it could not have touched him, for he v his early youth to his venerable oe ee: by shield of holiness.” 3 PELHAM, February 18, 1875. } kate Se ay ane th FAs ’ i * i] > ‘ ‘ * ; pe ‘ A f S 4 H . - * ‘ * . : - lS ; “ s ri ‘ + 7 . . w ¥ s - * y 5 \ we 7 , ¢ . ~ y . ’ al : - , + «. A i = = bes Wiis » a on ~ mi e 4 A J ‘ m o ‘ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. THE present is not the time for anything like a full and dis- criminating account of the life and characteristics of our de- parted father and friend. This scene is one of sorrow, and the hour is sacred to tenderness and sympathy. A future occasion has been assigned for a funeral sermon, when those details will be appropriate which are necessary to a likeness that may in some measure set forth his goodness, which was his crowning _ greatness, and be recognized as a fair delineation of the Chris- tian, the preacher, and the man. Our communion now is with death and the grave. How mysterious a thing, Christian friends, is DEATH. Life, it is true, in all its various forms, is to us an inexplicable mys- tery. How and what it is that gives health and motion to the body: with which our thoughts and sensibilities and desires are connected ; which gives the consciouSness of being to our- selves and expression to the voice and countenance, so that others understand our meaning and emotions,.and know that they are holding converse with a conscious, living thing, with — a mind that conceives and reciprocates ideas; the principle within us that performs this wonderful part, how and what it is, who can tell! We see and recognize, we feel and know its existence; but its essence is a profound mystery, and must so remain until we come, in a higher and more intimate sense than now, to “see as we are seen, and know, even as also we are known.” And this same mystery pervades creation: in the vegetable world, from the blade of grass to the stately oak ; in the sentient world, from the mote that glitters, almost invis- (35) 36 | ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. ible, in the sunbeam, to Behemoth, to man, to the seraph that burns and praises before the throne. But wherein it lies, pre- cisely what it is, no human philosophy has yet defined. Truly, we and all about us, are “ fearfully and wonderfully made.” With humiliation we must confess in the midst of all man’s ac- quirements in the various fields of knowledge, that our philoso- phy is here of small account. Since our own life, our essence, the thing nearest ourselves, our real selves, the recipient of outward impressions, the possessor of this knowledge, the agent in all our acts, is the thing of all others perhaps we least com- prehend. And death is alike mysterious. So far as human beings are concerned, it appears to our observation to be the entire extinc- tion of life, so that inert, senseless, decaying matter alone remains. Some strange agency has been at work; and all signs of sensa- tion, thought, recognition of outward things, power to exert limb or muscle, to act or to feel, so far as we can discover, have vanished as in a moment, and nothing remains before our sight, nothing responds to our touch but a cold and marble body—-a mere material, inanimate substance. The bloom and beauty of youth fades away like the withering flower; the vigor of man- hood is all relaxed; and the aged form, that has endured the buffetings of many years, like some grand tower overthrown, lies broken and prostrate on the earth. What has happened ? Where is that intelligent mind, that life that just now animated them? What was that principle and what means this death ? We wonder; we speculate; we are bowed down in woe over our loss, and in humiliation and shame at the weakness of our powers, and confess that the wisdom of man at its best state is altogether vanity. But a voice comes from the eternal throne to arrest our attention, and light beams from the sacred Word ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. 7 to instruct and guide us. We read at the beginning, and as the crown and consummation of God’s creating work, that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lifeyand man became a living soul.” And again, that at death “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit ascends unto God who gave it.” Thus we learn the origin and destination of what we see, but cannot by reason explain. Two distinct things compose our being. We stand related both to earth and to heaven; both-to matter that decays, and spirit that is uncompounded and immortal. We are formed of a soul and, of a body, now joined in most intimate union, and so fitted for this present sphere and the duties it re- quires, but to be separated by death. The body was perfectly formed of the dust, and was a finished existence before the spirit was breathed into it ; and that spirit made man “a living soul.” Life is its essence; it was made a living being, and by its very constitution must live on and live forever, unless the fiat that brought it forth might remand it back again, of which we have no intimation nor fear. Death hath no dominion over it, except to set it free again from the body; when yet a distinct entity, it ascends to its original and source, to God who gave it. No eye can detect it,no hand can seize it when it quits its tenement, and that strange inanition succeeds. But its living existence has been proved by all its operations that have been subjected to our notice ; and that it is manifestly distinct from matter, separ- able, and now separated from the body, appears in that the body is still perfect in all its parts; and needs only the return of the animating principle to stand up again and walk forth, and per- form. all the functions of a living being as fully as before. Nat- ural death, then, so repugnant to our feelings, is, indeed, the pen- alty of man’s first disobedience, and so a terrible thing ; but in 38 ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. its action it is simply the separation of the original constituents of man’s being, that each may return to its primal source. -: But these dear companions of time are not to be forever parted. There is ineffable sweetness, no doubt, in the thought that the mind and heart, the soul which acts, with which we held our dear communings, was not mere matter that goes down to the earth and is lost; that it did not cease to be when we ceased to obtain recognition from it; that the dream of the materialist is not to be | realized either in-regard to ourselves or those we have loved. But the consolation is greatly enhanced when we know that even the bodily form shall not perish. There will be an “ Anastasis;” a standing up again, as the Scriptures assure us, a rehabilitating of the earthly into a spiritual body at the resurrection at the-last day. There is to be a grand movement among the tombs; a great breaking up of the grave-yards of all generations; a grand assem- blage of Adam’s race of all ages and climes; a blessed reunion of Christ’s chosen in the kingdom of our Father. The “ corruptible shall put on incorruption; the mortal shall be clothed with immor- Led tality.” Even the dust of saints is precious; and amidst all the ex- posure and vicissitudes of time and earth, it sleeps in the careful charge of Jesus, the resurrection and the life, who will bring it forth again made like unto His own glorified body. The heath- ens disposed of their dead in hopeless sorrow; the Christian lays away his loved ones as precious treasures, which not only ne, but Jesus loves; and in the all-supporting confidence that | they will not be lost. The earth shall give up the dead that is in it; and the sea shall give up the dead in it; and there will be a happy and unending union beyond the boundaries of time, in a world that knows no separation and no change but from glory to glory. And still farther to enforce our loving faith in these great reve- ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. 39 lations, we are told that, though the body is laid in the grave to await the resurrection morning, the soul, meanwhile, all of us that thinks and can enjoy, immediately ascends to God who gave it. “To depart,’ Paul knew was to “be with Christ.” ‘ To- day,” said the dying Saviour to the penitent at his side, “ to-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.’’ Where Jesus is, there His saints will be; and there they will be at the moment of their de- parture. It is a gloomy thought, and not at all countenanced as, | think, in Scripture, that the souls even of the righteous are to sleep away the ages in unconsciousness until Christ’s second coming ; or that they are, until that period, in some separate place enjoyinga limited degree of happiness, away from the blissful vision of God and the Lamb. Where Christ is, there saints will be instantly on their departure. And He declared, “T ascend to my Father and your Father; my God and your God.” Oh! what a thought is this. We look upon that form, _and think only of that as the result of the change it has under- gone. But its partner, the living soul, was far away among the blessed, ere yet the body was cold in death; and it has experi- enced a transition of feeling from darkness to light, from faith to vision, and boundless joy, as well as of condition, of which we can yet form no adequate conception. “ Oh, change ! oh, wondrous change! Burst are the prison doors ! This moment here; so low, So agonized¥ and now Beyond the stars.” Need I say to you, my bereaved friends, “Comfort one another with these words.” Your departed father has been spared toa good old age, and has been now taken without protracted sick- 40 ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. VERMILYE. ness, in the full possession of his faculties, in the exercise of a Christian hope, intelligent and strong, knowing whom he had believed, and resigning himself to his Saviour’s hands without misgiving or fear. He dies in the home made dear to him by the tender associations of many years, and amidst the benedic- tions of the wise and good, leaving a name that will remain to you as a most precious legacy; and leaving to the Church of Christ the record of a pure and unblameable conversation to guide believers in their walk of faith, and an example of holy living and good works for the imitation of future pastors. With. such sentiments shall we commit these mortal remains to their kindred earth—‘ Dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” in the assurance of a joyful resurrection. They will be Christ’s precious care, and He will bring them forth in new beauty at His coming. Farewell, beloved father, colleague, pastor, friend! for a short space, until we meet again. Oh! may we meet upon the shores of life. Sleep sweetly ; we know you will sleep safely. Take rest, frail body, from the toils of life in the “ house appointed for all liv- - ing,” until the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and all earth’s children who sleep in the dust, and they who shall then be alive and remain, shall hear the summons and join the mighty throng that shall move onward in solemn array to the judgment-seat. There, thou redeemed soul and risen body, perfect man again, the purchase of Jesus’ blood, shalt be justified forever, and arrayed in the white robe, the righteous- ness of saints shalt stand amidst the waving palms and the melo- dious harpings of the blessed, in the New Jerusalem above. Till then, beloved father, colleague, pastor, friend, farewell ! Pontos OF THE REV. DR.“ADAMS. * DEAR Doctor DE Witt!” I venture to say that these were the first words which fell from the lips of many in this city when they heard of the death of this venerated servant of God. “Dear Doctor De Witt!” Such words of themselves indicate the place which he held in all our hearts, and the qualities of his character which elicited a true, trustful, and unqualified affection. How good, and kind, and catholic he was! Good men there are, as we all know, whose goodness is asso- ciated with mixed and ambiguous qualities. From your general estimate you are forced to make many subtractions and abate- ments. You work over them as at an algebraic equation, a plus quantity here and a minus quantity there; and a final result is — a most cautious judgment. “A faithful brother, as I suppose.” (1 Peter 5:12.). Not thus was it with him whose loss we all deplore. His character and life were distinguished by wonder- ful simplicity ; like a granite shaft, which your eye takes in at a glance. Did you ever hear one utter a word of suspicion or distrust concerning him? There was no reserve or qualification as to the regard in which he was held in the community, be- cause there was nothing complex or dubious in the man himself. Very tender was the feeling cherished toward him as a father in this city. Disabled by age and infirmities for years past, from active service in his profession; bereaved of child and wife; thrown, as it were, into an eddy, retired and lonely, waiting for his great change to come, what a hold he had on the love and respect of thousands! His form and gait and manners were very familiar to all in our streets. While many remembered the (41) 42 ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. ADAMS. fervor of his eloquence as a preacher, and the tenderness of his ministrations as a pastor, perhaps he was never more useful than at that very period when, in common with others spared to old age, he may have thought that his usefulness was ended. The aged are useful simply by being good and aged. They are the objects of respect and gratitude and veneration. Nota citizen passes them in the street, or pays them the slightest tribute of civility, who is not made better himself by the act. In this way Dr. De Witt was a blessing to the community long after he had ceased from the persuasions of the pulpit. That dreamy abstract- edness in which he walked along through crowded thorough- fares, slow and sedate, as if his heart were away with the angels; that calm, smiling waiting in which he sat looking for the end, what a sermon it was, to all who saw him, on the reality of Chris- | tian faith and hope! “ Almost home!” were the first words with which he greeted me, as I entered his room a few days before he died. Whata glorious sunset it was, after a long and useful and honored life. I was reminded by the scene of Mr. Standfast as he went down to the river. ‘“ Now there was a great calm at that time in the river; wherefore, Mr. Standfast, when he was about half way in, stood a while, and talked with his companions that had waited upon him thither. And he said, This river has been a terror to many ; yea, the thoughts of it also have often frightened me; but now, methinks, I stand easy; my foot is fixed upon_that on which the feet of the priests that bare the ark of me stood while Israel went over Jordan. I see myself now at the end of my journey; my toilsome days are ended. I have for- merly lived by faith ; but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose company I delight myself. His name has been to me sweeter than all perfumes. His voice has * ADDRESS. OF THE :REV. DR. TYNG. 43 been to me most sweet; and His countenance I have more de- sired than they that have most desired the light of the sun.” * My words are few; but always shall I be grateful that I was permitted to see and know that “good, great man.” His friend- ship and example and manner of life, in its meridian and at the going down of the sun, I shall ever prize as amongst the great- est of blessings. . In particular excellences he may have had his equals and supe- riors; but in that rare combination of qualities which made him what he was, he stood unrivalled. “ Whose faith follow consid- ering the end of his conversation.” ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. TYNG. THE historical, social, and personal character of our vener- ated friend, have been presented with great clearness and pro- priety. There would seem to be but little remaining to be said. And yet there is a very important aspect of the personal history of Dr. De Witt, as it has been displayed before the surrounding churches of the Lord, which ought by no means to be neglected or forgotten. It was his thoroughly Evangelical character. Whether he were met in the private associations of kindred friend gtr in the various public exercises of his ministry, per- haps the most prominent and habitual trait displayed in him was, that he was eminently a disciple and a preacher of the glo- rious Saviour of men. In his public ministry, his peculiar trait was the simplicity of * Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II., p. 417. 44 -“ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. TYNG. his evangelical teaching. From every quarter of illustration, whether in the Old Testament or the New, in the history of the Gospels or the social and didactic teaching of the Epistles, he never failed to find the one great centre of all, or to lead his hear-_ ers to the One Gracious Saviour, in whom the life and thought of all must be found. He fully believed that there was salvation in none other. And he was so truly and sincerely, at home, and living in Him, that every train of thought seemed naturally to flow to Him and around Him. It was this great element of his ministry which maintained the attractiveness of his public teach- ing so completely to the close of his life, and kept his work still alive, when in the passage of years many others fade and die- He loved the great distinguishing facts of a Saviour’s history and work, in which all true servants of the Lord are always united and at home. He felt that there was a divine cover- ing of redeeming love, which was the abiding canopy over all churches and families of the disciples of Jesus, far more impor- tant than any of the separate distinctions which it covered, or the forms of faith which had grown up under its shadow. And while not indifferent to these, he especially loved and delighted to consider and to present that to the view of all. This one distinguishing peculiarity marked his whole ministry. | have had the pleasure of knowing him well and of seeing him often in many years past. And I was habitually attracted by this growing evangelical character of his conversation and his tastes. This constituted in him, as it must always in a true lover of Jesus, as he grows old in his Master’s work, an adyanc- ing separation from other thoughts and motives, and a growing gentleness of spirit and tenderness of manner towards all. Thus have we seen this venerable father in the church, rising as a living temple, more prepared for the indwelling of his Lord, ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. TYNG. AS and more manifest and instructive to those who have gratefully watched his gradual but sure advance. His Christianity out- grew his church. His love for Christ reached far beyond any local or individual limits among men. And we are here with a common affection and respect to commemorate his goodness and his influence, “‘as such an one as Paul the Aged,” in whom were abiding these three, “ Faith, Hope, and Love,’ and in whose whole character “the greater of all was love,” now failing not forevermore. eee a Ea ie VEO) IN DELIVERED IN THE MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH, OCTOBER 25, 1874, AND AFTERWARDS REPEATED IN THE SOUTH REFORMED CHURCH, NOV. 8rx, AND ALSO IN THE PRESBYTE- RIAN CHURCH, FIFTH AVENUE AND 197rm STREET, NOV. 297Tx. BY REv. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D.D. SERMON BY THE REV. DR. CHAMBERS. THE GUILELESS ISRAELITE. “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”—JNo. i. 47. “THE memory of the just is blessed,” or as a recent critic more exactly renders the last word, “is a blessing.” The life of . a just man is a fountain of good to all within his reach. His words and deeds, his example, his spirit, his whole influence, conscious and unconscious, are like dew upon the mown grass. But this does not cease’ when he dies. Often, on the contrary, it is increased. ‘The course is completed, and there is no room for any unseemly development. Then the good man’s life is seen as a rounded whole, and as such is embalmed in the grateful recol- lections of all who knew him. It operates as a perpetual stimu- lus to a similar career. How many children and children’s children have been restrained from evil courses, or cheered in the performance of trying duties, by the memory of an eminent- ly upright ancestor! How many public men in all parts of our land during three generations have been elevated and guided by the memory of the father of his country? How wide-spread and happy, alike in the Jewish Church and in the Christian, has been the influence of such names as those of Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and David, and Daniel? Few men, or none now, are or can be so extensively known as these, but even in circles comparatively narrow or obscure, there are names which tower above the ordinary level, and by their stainless integrity rebuke all wrong doing and stimulate to a holy life. In all such cases, it is at once a privilege and a duty to pre- serve and cherish the memory of departed worth. This duty is (51) 52 SERMON BY THE REV. DR. CHAMBERS. due not to these heroes of faith, but to ourselves. To the spirits of just men made perfect, discourses and eulogies, or even mon- uments and statues of the highest art, are of no account. To them in the abodes of bliss, «Earth looks so little and so low,”’ that its most emphatic expressions of admiration are scarce worthy of a single thought. But for our own sake, to encourage us in the Christian conflict, to awaken our ardor for higher at- . tainments, to counteract the depressing influence of so many less worthy examples, we need to bring up distinctly and fully to mind the memory of every man of distinguished position of © whom it may be said, as Luke says of Joseph of Arimathea, “he was a good man and a just.”’ From such a flaming torch, many a lesser light will be kindled. From such a record of intellectual and moral worth, many a youth will derive a new impulse to no- bler aims and a higher life. It is with a firm conviction of this truth that I now essay to speak of the good man who finished his course during the Spring of the present year, and who in the judgment of all who knew him, wonderfully resembled the early disciple of whom our Lord said, “‘ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” The incidents of his life are easily recounted. He was born September 13, 1791, in Kingston, Ulster Co., . N. Y., where his ancestors had been settled for several genera- tions, the founder of the family having come from Holland in the year 1655. After completing his preparatory studies at the Kingston Academy, he was entered at Union College, where he was graduated in 1808, having then not quite completed his sev- -enteenth year. He studied theology under Drs. Brodhead, Freligh, and Livingston, and was one of the first two graduates from the seminary at New Brunswick, in 1812. The same year SERMON BY THE REV. DR. CHAMBERS. 53 he was licensed to preach by the Classis of New Brunswick, and was settled over the united congregations of Hackensack and Hopewell, Dutchess Co., N. Y. Here he labored with growing acceptance until September, 1827, when he became one of the collegiate pastors, and so continued until his death, on the 18th of May last. , I propose to speak of our revered friend in three points of view—as aman, a Christian, and a minister of the Gospel. Pee fal At Nature endowed ,;him with a large and well- proportioned frame, a robust constitution, and a face at once dignified and ex- pressive, the upper part of which bore a striking resemblance to that of the first Emperor Napoleon—a resemblance remarked not only in this country, but also in Holland during his visit to the Continent in the year 1846. His expansive forehead, bright eyes, well-shaped nose, full mouth, and rounded chin, were no faint index of what dwelt within, and attracted respect and confidence in advance. The prevailing feature of his charac- ter was the one indicated in the text, a guileless simplicity which never varied, from his extreme youth even to old age. It ap- - peared in everything; in the quiet and regular habits in regard to food and sleep, which doubtless had much to do with the al- most unbroken health he enjoyed through life; in the manage- ment of his household; in conversation; in preaching ; in inter- course with men of every class. The idea of doing anything by indirection, seems never to have occurred to him—-much less of pretending to be or to do anything different from the actual fact. Sometimes this trait was carried to an extreme, and showed itself in entire absence of mind, some amusing instances of which 54 SERMON BY THE REV. DR. CHAMBERS. he was accustomed at times to relate. It is said among the people of his first pastoral charge, that when going to visit them, he would take a book in hand, and not unfrequently the horse would stop at some familiar place, while his rider, all unconscious of the fact, would remain absorbed in his volume, until aroused by some third party. This, and similar eccentricities, some of — which attended him through life, were in no degree the result of affectation (not a trace of which was ever seen in him), but sprang from the entire artlessness of his nature. This artless- ness, however, was at the farthest possible remove from silliness or absurdity. Good sense marked all his deportment in common life. This was greatly aided by the influence of his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, and whom he always consider- ed by far the best of the earthly gifts of his Heavenly Father. She was a helpmeet to him in the truest sense of that term, studying his comfort, guarding his time, and furnishing the needful social link between the severe contemplative student and the outside world. Her pleasant vivacity sent a perpetual ripple of sunshine through his home, and her assiduous attention re- lieved him of many a household care. this day in Israel ;” or, we join in the lamentation of the Psalm- ist: “ Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth.” We mourn his removal, for he was our friend. It were to manifest ingratitude to Him who gave him to us and spared him so long, not to mourn; but we mingle gladness with our grief, and thanksgiv- ing with our mourning, for he was the friend of Jesus. Jesus loved him as a friend; and as our friend, he has gone to be with Him whom he loved. All who truly loved him must rejoice, that in a good old age, an old man, full of years and full of hon- ors, in the exercise of all his faculties, surrounded by his family and friends, in the sure hope of a glorious immortality and eter- nal blessedness, he fell asleep in Jesus, came to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season. - To his colleagues in the ministry, and office-bearers in this church, his removal is an earnest admonition to renewed dili- gence and increased fidelity in the discharge of their sacred duties, and a solemn warning that we, too, must soon give an account of our stewardship. May a double portion of his spirit rest upon us all, a spirit of humility and meekness, of patience and devotedness, of charity and love. SERMON BY. THE .REV. DR. ORMISTON. SI To the members of the church, many of whom are his spiritual children, whom he baptized, instructed, exhorted, admitted, vis- ited, counselled, and cheered, need I say, cherish his memory, recall and treasure up his many faithful ministrations, walk in his footsteps, imitate his graces, and so add to his blessedness. Follow him as a friend in Christ, fellow-worshipers, brethren be- loved, as seals of his ministry, proofs of his apostleship, stars in his crown. 7 Two weeks ago to-day he sat with us at the table, where Jesus meets His friends. Our fellowship with him was sweet; and he poured forth his own heart and ours in fervent supplications and joyous thanksgiving, That was his last appearaice in the sanc- tuary, his last public service. Henceforth we shall see his vener- able form no more: never more listen to the tremulous tones of his well-known voice, or join with him in lifting up our hearts in earnest pleading or in grateful praise. He has joined the spirits of just men made perfect, and unites in the song of Moses and the Lamb. They above and we below form one family. All one in Christ, his friends and friends to each other. The bit- ter separation is brief, a joyous meeting and an eternal reunion is near. If there are any who have often heard the offers of salvation from his lips, but who have not yet accepted it, let the symbol of sorrow which drapes this pulpit to-day, give special solemnity and impressiveness to the oft-repeated message, “ Be ye also ready.” What! must he who so often plead pathetically with you to be reconciled to God, be constrained to bear witness against you, and testify, Lord, I often with tears entreated them to come in; but they would not. To have enjoyed the ministry of such a man was a great privi- lege and a grave responsibility. Our sincere and reverent re- 82 SERMON BY THE REV. DR. ORMISTON. spect for the Messenger will avail us nothing, if we be found to have rejected his message and his master. ‘‘ Mark thou the per- fect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.” ‘Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.” : aoe RM ON PREACHED IN THE COLLEGIATE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH, Cor. 5TH AVENUE AND 48TH STREET, Seo we bee lH MORNING, MAY 24TH, 1874, BY Phroees VU Db LOW, D.D. SERMON DNs av oe Le EU DLO Wi D.D. “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this aay in Israel.” —II. SAMUEL, iii. 38. I DETACH the text, for our use to-day, from its original reference to Abner, the son of Ner. It has acquired an independent his- torical significance; for since the days of David, it has been the favorite text for sermons in eulogy of the distinguished dead. How often Cathedrals and Abbeys have rung with the funeral eloquence starting with this same sentence, as kings and states- men, warriors and writers have been lowered to the crypt! And how often the text has been misused on such occasions, through either intentional flattery of the pageanted dead, or gross misap- prehension of the elements which constitute true greatness! Who are the great? Not necessarily the occupants of great positions. We commend not the amount of the stone-mason’s toil on the pedestal, but the exquisiteness of the sculptor’s touch, making the marble face gleam with intelligence, and the muscle to almost move, as if it felt beneath it the play of nerves. So it is not the throne, nor any circumstance, but the man alone whom we must estimate. But not the man as a mere force. We must not estimate him solely as he makes himself felt. The men most noted for what they have seemingly accomplished, are often but the face of the hammer which smites, not the arm which swings it. They occupy points where great movements have culminated, the real force of which has been gathered from the masses of the people, (85) 86 SERMON BY REV. J. M. LUDLOW, D.D. or accumulated in the growing sentiment of generations. Some of the smallest men have thus been enabled to make the deepest cut upon the brazen tablet of history. Nor does the possession of personal ability assure us of real greatness. When all the vigor of the body is drained away to one organ, we call the creature a monster, a deformity. But how often all the vigor of the mind is drained into some one faculty, giving the aspect of unwonted strength in that direction! We are, then, apt to notice only the extraordinary development, and not the withered totality of the man. The great warrior is too often but an intellectualized brute; the suc-— cessful politician, one who has a morbid propensity for seeing the weaknesses of his fellows, and using them; our money kings, the incarnation of greed, or men who have lashed themselves to almost superhuman toil by the most contemptible passion for show; our most applauded literary characters, men who are so carried away with the play of their own fancies, that they have not strength enough left to act with common-sense and fidelity in‘the ordinary spheres of life. The truly great man is he who has the most of the best quali- | ties, and has them in the best combination or mutual adjustment. But such a person is not the most apt to attract the attention of the multitude. One is not greatly impressed with the interior height of the cathedral at Cologne, though there are few steeples in New York which would not stand clear under its roof. This illusion is due to the long vistas and grand sweep of the arches, all lying in such exquisite harmony. .A rough scaffold of the same al- titude, erected in the open field, would impress you more in that one respect. A jagged point of rock astounds you with its mag- nitude. You did not notice the hill, thrice as large, which mod- estly hid its vastness beneath its graceful contour. Thus many eg . a SERMON BY REV. J. M. LUDLOW, D.D. 87 of the greatest men have been unpraised, save in the deep admi- ration of the discerning. I take this text to-day over this draped pulpit, not in mere con- ventional propriety, since it is expected that I should make some _ allusion to that patriarchal man, who has been for so many years the senior, not only in our pastorate, but in many of your hearts ; but because, both in the conviction of community, and in my own appreciation, there is a rare pertinency in the text, “ Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel!” Dr. De Witt was a man of great soul, as displayed in the strength of the moral |principle which always actuated him. Few men’s lives have so manifestly rooted themselves in a: sense of duty, as did his life. In the testimony of those who best knew him, there was no room.in him for the play of expediency be- tween “I ought” and “I will.” His conduct was easily under- stood and anticipated, because it moved in a straight’ line, and that line was projected by a clear conscience, which had not been bleared by the passions of youth, nor by the too common sinister ambitions of middle life. He had thus acquired more than strength of moral principle: he had a depth of moral feeling, which was a state of sublime scorn of everything beneath the highest conception of duty. Thus he did not seem to be personally aware of temptations to which the most of men are subjected.