* 
 
 ot « »'»'«»«/ *,^ . ^^ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BX 9225 .173 155 
 In memoriam 
 
 Shelf. 
 

 > 
 
Itc lEetncrriam* 
 
 Rev. DAVID fRVING, D. D. 
 
 Born August 31ST, 1821. 
 Died October i2th, 1885. 
 
David Irving was born August 3 ist, 1 82 1 , near Annan, 
 in the district of Annandale, Dumfrieshire, Scotland. He 
 was the third of seven children of John and Melville 
 Drummond Irving, four of whom still survive him. His 
 early life was spent in Annan, where he received the greater 
 portion of his classical education. He left Scotland for 
 America in his eighteenth year, and engaged in teaching 
 for several years in Mississippi and Tennessee. In his 
 nineteenth year he made confession of his faith in Christ, 
 under the ministration of Rev. S. M. Williamson of Ten- 
 nessee, and three years afterward, having decided to study 
 for the ministry, he entered the Theological Seminary of 
 Princeton, N. J. On his graduation he offered himself, 
 as a missionary, to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign 
 Missions, and having been accepted he was appointed to 
 Futtchgurh, Northern India. He was ordained as an 
 evangelist by the Presbytery of Western District at Mem- 
 phis, Tennessee, in June, 1846, the charge having been 
 
delivered by his former pastor, Rev. Mr. Williamson. The 
 services were said to have been unusually impressive and 
 solemn, as he was the first missionary that had ever gone 
 from that Presbytery to the heathen. On June 23d, of 
 that same year, he was married to Elizabeth Martin, eldest 
 daughter of the late Dr. Alfred and Eliza Freeman, of New 
 York. He embarked at Boston, August, 1846, in a sailing 
 vessel, bound direct to Calcutta, which he reached after a 
 long voyage of nearly six months. The climate of India 
 being unsuited to the constitution of his wife, he was 
 obliged to return home after having labored in the field for 
 over two years. Though he was thus compelled to leave 
 the foreign field, his interest in the missionary work never 
 ceased. His love for India was especially strong, for there 
 he had come in personal contact with the heathen ; there 
 he had made many friends among his fellow missionaries, 
 and there he had buried his first-born child. On his return 
 to this country he took charge of the Presbyterian Church 
 of North Salem, New York, for five years, when he was 
 called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Morristown, New Jersey. Here he labored for ten years, 
 when he resigned to accept the position of Corresponding 
 Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 
 and removed to Orange, New Jersey, one year later. In 
 1884 he was sent as a delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian 
 
Council, which met in Belfast, Ireland. During the intervals 
 of the sessions of the Council he went with a large body of 
 the delegates on an excursion to the Giant's Causeway, and 
 in returning from there to Portrush he was thrown from a 
 jaunting car into the road with such force as to break his 
 leg, and produce a nervous shock, from which he never 
 recovered. His injuries, after a year of partial recovery, 
 ended in a general paralysis of his whole system, which 
 carried him slowly to the grave. After having endured 
 intense sufferings for several weeks, death finally released 
 him from all his pains on the morning of October 12th, 
 and earth was exchanged for heaven. " Precious in the 
 sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints." 
 
The Funeral Services were held on Thursday after- 
 noon, October 15th, at half-past three o'clock, from the 
 Central Presbyterian Church of Orange, New Jersey. After 
 selections from the Scriptures had been read by Rev. Alfred 
 Yeomans, D. D., pastor of the deceased, and prayer offered 
 by Rev. William M. Paxton, D.D., of Princeton Theological 
 Seminary, at the house, the relatives and friends, together 
 with the members of the Board of Foreign Missions, pro- 
 ceeded to the church. The services there were opened 
 with singing the hymn : 
 
 " Nearer my God to Thee," 
 
 by a quartette choir. The Scriptures were then read by 
 Rev. Alfred Yeomans, D. D. Addresses were delivered by 
 Rev. J. D. Wells, D. D., President of the Board of Foreign 
 Missions ; Rev. John Hall, D. D., President of the Board 
 of Home Missions ; and Rev. Alfred Yeomans, D. D. 
 Prayer was then offered by Rev. Henry F. Hickok, D. D., 
 
pastor of the Second Presbyterian (Brick) Church of 
 Orange. After the choir had sung the hymn : 
 
 "Holy Spirit, faithful Guide," 
 
 the benediction was pronounced by Rev. Dr. Wells. The 
 interment took place at Greenwood Cemetery, on Friday, 
 October i6th. Prayer was offered at the grave by Rev. 
 Arthur Mitchell, D. D., Corresponding Secretary of the 
 Board of Foreign Missions. 
 
ADDRESS BY REV. J. D. WELLS, D. D. 
 
 It has long been known by the friends of Dr. Irving, 
 that he was decHning in health. Refusing to spare himself 
 while he could work, unwittingly perhaps, he went beyond 
 the line of safety, and hastened the time of his departure. 
 The injury, received by him in the north of Ireland, was 
 not the beginning of his decline. 
 
 On his return from abroad, whither he w^ent, not only 
 for rest, but also to represent the Board of Foreign Missions, 
 at the great council of Presbyterian Ministers and laymen 
 in Belfast, Ireland, he was so changed in appearance — had 
 aged so much — that coming suddenly into his presence, 
 as he leant heavily upon his staff, one might easily 
 have mistaken him for another person. Precisely this 
 happened to me, although I had known him well for many 
 years. 
 
lO 
 
 When I last saw him at the Mission Rooms, early in 
 the summer, he was making anxious inquiry as to his duty 
 in relation to the Board. Loving the service in which, for 
 twenty years, he had been earnestly engaged, and yet, 
 unwilling to hold a place that he could not fill, he asked, of 
 one and another in whose judgment he had confidence, 
 what he should do? — lay down his office as Secretary of 
 the Board ? or wait and see what the Lord would do for 
 him as the summer passed ? 
 
 I am thankful that he waited, and that he has now gone 
 to the Master's presence, bearing the office that he loved so 
 well, and filled with such honor to himself, and blessing to 
 a cause, than which there is no greater in all the world. 
 
 We are gathered now in the presence of his sacred 
 relics. We believe that "The souls of believers are at their 
 death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass 
 into glory, and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do 
 rest in the grave until the resurrection." For our dear 
 brother we have only congratulations. We share, and, if 
 possible, would mitigate the sorrows of those from whose 
 home-life he is taken, not to return. 
 
 But may we not enter somewhat into the joy of our 
 Lord, who receives unto Himself a "good and faithful 
 servant," purchased with His own blood; and also into the joy 
 of our brother, who has gone to be "forever with the Lord" ? 
 
II 
 
 Too littte, perhaps, on occasions like this, do we give 
 our thoughts to the heavenward side of dying; — the gain 
 to Christ and heaven, and to those who leave us for heaven, 
 of having the life here close, and the life there open. As 
 surely as "All things are ours, whether Paul, or Apollos, 
 or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, 
 or things to come," and, "all things work together for good 
 to them that love God: — to them that are the called 
 according to His purpose;" — so surely, I believe, that the 
 work our Lord is doing on the earth, for the saving of men, 
 by the ministry of His church and of holy angels, is not 
 hindered, but rather helped, when He receives His servants 
 to Himself It is He that goeth forth conquering and to 
 conquer. He is never defeated by His foes ; and He surely 
 does not pause or falter in His path of conquest, when the 
 faithful come at His call to the end of their course, and 
 enter into rest and glory. We may not say, that they are 
 called hence, and thither, to share, more powerfully than 
 ever, in the very work that fell from their weary hands 
 here, for this is not revealed. But it is revealed that, while 
 they rest from their labors, their works do follow them : 
 follow them to the presence of Christ, for recognition and 
 reward ; and follow them, in the sense of remaining on the 
 earth for study and imitation. 
 
12 
 
 Let me say in a word just here that, in these times of 
 sorrow, we find how true it is that " God is our refuge and 
 strength, a very present help in trouble." We seek relief 
 in more intimate fellowship with Him. We remember that 
 " Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 them that fear Him." We learn how good it is to embrace 
 His will, to commit our personal and family affairs, and the 
 interests of His kingdom to His strong hands and wise 
 decrees ; to say with our Saviour, not only " Father, save 
 me from this hour," — but also, " Father, glorify Thy name ;" 
 to welcome to our hearts as an abiding Guest the other 
 Comforter, and to consider that He gives comfort, as the 
 " Spirit of Truth',' by the doctrines and promises of the 
 Scriptures, into the real knowledge and love of which He 
 .alone can lead us. 
 
 But may we not also dwell with sacred joy and 
 gratitude, upon the graces and the work of those who go 
 from our homes and fellowship, to the presence of our 
 Lord? 
 
 Dr. Irving did not waste, and so lose the sixty-four 
 years of his life. His first twenty years were a preparation 
 for all that followed. Before entering the ministry he was 
 a teacher. From his ordination as an evangelist, after 
 three years in Princeton Seminary, — i. c, from 1846 to 
 1849, — he was a missionary of our Board in northern India. 
 
13 
 
 These were years in which he was getting ready, although 
 he knew it not, for what proved to be his great life 
 work. Eager for knowledge ; with a mind tenacious of 
 facts ; careful in his generalizations ; searching for guiding 
 principles in mission work, and finding them ; loving the 
 souls for whom he watched, and his brethren with whom 
 he was associated ; knowing well the difficulties of the work, 
 and the trials, as well as the joys, of missionary life and 
 service ; he left the field, not because he wished to, but 
 because necessity was laid upon him, and he never ceased 
 to look upon it with loving eye. 
 
 From 1850 to 1855, he was stated supply of a Presby- 
 terian Church in North Salem, New York, and from 1855 
 to 1865, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Morris- 
 town, New Jersey. Thus, for about fifteen consecutive 
 years, he was preaching the gospel in this land, and moving 
 the people, whom he served, to largest possible co-operation 
 in the great work of the world's evangelization. 
 
 It was Dr. Irving's known zeal, and his success in 
 developing, and, by God's blessing, sustaining a missionary 
 spirit in the churches served by him that led to his 
 appointment as a Corresponding Secretary of the Board of 
 Foreign Missions, in the year 1865. During all the years 
 since that date, as a member of the Board, I have been in 
 somewhat intimate relations to him. 
 
14 
 
 There is an impression, shared by many wlio have no 
 love for the cause of Christ, and by some. I am sorry to 
 say, who certainly do love it, that the office of Secretary 
 of the Board of Foreign Missions, indeed of any Board of 
 the Church, and especially that office held in common with 
 two or three others, if not a sinecure, can never overtax or 
 even severely tax, the mind and nerve of any one who holds it. 
 
 I believe that Dr. Irving shortened his life by over- 
 work, and by failing to take occasional and much needed 
 rest. He worked in the office, in the cars, and at his home. 
 He worked in the pulpits of many churches ; in Presby- 
 teries, Synods, and General Assemblies. He corresponded 
 with missionaries in the field, and shared in the responsible 
 oversight of their work, and of the entire work of the 
 Board. For years he did royal service as editor of the 
 Foreign Missionary. This required large reading, and 
 much use of the pen. Its results were seen in many 
 articles of great value and power. They attracted the 
 attention, and won the admiration of good men and women 
 on more than one continent, although they were sadly 
 overlooked by many pastors and churches in our own land. 
 
 And this leads me to add, that a large part of his 
 work, as of that done by his associates, was carried forward 
 without the loving appreciation of those whose representa- 
 tive he was, and his surviving brethren are. 
 
15 
 
 We, that are pastors, live among our people. We 
 stand face to face, and heart to heart, with them, week after 
 week, and year after year. We visit their homes, and they 
 ours. It is a perpetual joy and in.spiration to see them, to 
 hear their prayers in our behalf, and now and then to be 
 told that our ministry helps them onward and upward in 
 the Christian life. 
 
 The absence of all this from the life of a Secretary, and 
 especially of one who has been for many years in the 
 pastoral relation, makes the strain of mind and heart and 
 nerve very severe. Nothing but love to the Master and 
 souls, with the inspiration coming from the Holy Spirit 
 under the great commission, and the promise of large 
 success, and full reward, can keep one to his work. 
 
 The great bulk of a Secretary's work is utterly un- 
 noticed and unknown by the Church and the world. An 
 occasional sermon or address, an article of commanding 
 importance and interest, read by a- few of his brethren, but 
 neglected by more, may bring helpful recognition and 
 commendation : but by far the larger part of what he does 
 is so little known, and appreciated, that by many it is 
 hardly believed to have been done at all. 
 
 But I have said enough — too much, perhaps, in thus 
 making known some of the trials common to our brother 
 who has entered into rest, and his associates who live to 
 carry forward the great work, without his help. 
 
i6 
 
 Let us be thankful that nothing of service rendered to 
 Christ, and those for whom He died, escape His loving 
 notice, or will be without full reward. And let us rejoice 
 that another servant of our Lord, whom we knew and 
 loved, faithful unto death, has gone to receive a crown of 
 life. The forty or fifty years that measure the time of his 
 earthly service, cover the most wonderful period of the 
 world's history in relation to the progress of the Gospel. 
 It is a sacred privilege to tarry here, and toil, and suffer, 
 for the Master and His cause. But is it not a higher 
 privilege, to be called to His presence and throne, to see 
 the King in His beauty, and, at that centre of glory, learn 
 what the kingdom is, and how resistless are the con- 
 secrated forces in heaven and earth that are combined for 
 the conquest of the world ? 
 
 It is an honor to bear the name of one, who through 
 grace abounding, wrought for the Master and His cause as 
 Dr. Irving wrought, and who has attained to such exalta- 
 tion. Instead of being cast down and disheartened because 
 he has left us, we may well be comforted concerning our 
 brother, and moved to more earnest and hopeful service 
 because he has gone to be "forever with the Lord." 
 
 We cannot greet him and get an audible answer ; but 
 we can, and will, say, as in his hearing. 
 
17 
 
 " Brother, though from yonder sky, 
 Cometh neither voice nor cry. 
 Yet we know from thee, to-day, 
 Every pain hath passed away." 
 
 " Not for thee shall tears be given, 
 Child of God, and heir of heaven : 
 For He gave thee sweet release : 
 Thine the Christian's death of peace. 
 
 " While we weep, as Jesus wept, 
 Thou shalt sleep, as Jesus slept ; 
 With thy Saviour thou shalt rest. 
 Crowned, and glorified, and blest." 
 
ADDRESS BY REV. JOHN HALL, D. D. 
 
 In July, 1884, after Dr. Irving had suffered in the way, 
 to which allusion has already been made, having learned 
 the situation in which he was placed, I went down from 
 Belfast to Portrush, that I might see him and express 
 sympathy with him. He was among strangers : he was in 
 great physical suffering : his life was in some degree in 
 danger : he was away from the tender associate of his life, 
 and from his family, and from those things which are 
 commonly regarded as mitigations of pain. I was, as you 
 can well understand, deeply concerned about the condition 
 in which, in the Providence of God, he was placed. I had 
 opportunity of lengthened conversation with him, and we 
 had prayer together. There was not a word of discontent : 
 there was not a tone of despondency : there was not even 
 an allusion to anything of which he might complain. It 
 
20 • 
 
 had pleased God to do this, it was God's will, and the 
 spirit of the interview was, on his part, God's will be done. 
 
 At a later time, when he had come to this side of the 
 water, I had an opportunity of repeating the interview. 
 Conditions had changed in a good degree, but he had not 
 changed. There was the same strong, manly nature, bowed 
 down in meek and loving and most humble submission 
 before his Father in Heaven. Since that time, there has 
 been long endurance, and there has been most varied 
 suffering : there has been a fearful strain upon faith and 
 hope, but God helped him to endure the strain, and filled 
 his heart with peace : and when the struggle closed, none 
 could hesitate a moment to speak the words of the Bible 
 over the silent remains. " Blessed are the dead who die in 
 the Lord." 
 
 Brethren, when we do great public services under the 
 eye of our fellow men, we get more or less encouragement. 
 We cannot always be sure of how much we are doing for 
 Christ, how much in the view of our brethren ; but when 
 we suffer, and there is no complaint, when we are laid aside 
 and there is a gentle submission, we are bringing forth, 
 wdiat may be called, the passive fruits of righteousness ; 
 there is the clearest possible evidence that we are God's 
 children, that He is teaching us, that He is making us meet 
 for the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 
21 
 
 After what has been so fittingly said to you as to the 
 public services rendered by our brother, it is not needful 
 for me to refer to them. As connected with the depart- 
 ment of missionary labor that has its field in this land, I 
 give expression for my associates and myself to the deep 
 sympathy that we feel for his associates, who labor for the 
 foreign field. So I would fain give expression to the 
 tender sympathies that we feel for the immediate kindred 
 and family bereft, and for the many friends who have known 
 Dr. Irving for many years as the true man, the sweet and 
 reasonable friend, the considerate and wise associate, the 
 meek and gentle Christian. 
 
 Now his work is done : the last pain has been endured ; 
 the rest has been entered ; the perfect peace has begun ; 
 the reward is being enjoyed; the lesson is being given to 
 us. Christian workers, Christian sufferers, Christian min- 
 isters, God is speaking to us. He is bidding us lay up 
 treasure in heaven ; and we can do that if we will. The 
 habits of mind and heart that we form in life, will be 
 developed and completed there ; the Christian sympathies 
 that we cherish, the aspirations that have moved within us, 
 the high ideals that we set before us, the services we try to 
 render for Christ's sake to friends or strangers, the sufferings 
 that we endure with uncomplaining patience, the memories 
 that we shall carry with us into the presence of the King — 
 
22 
 
 all these are treasures which we as Christians can lay up 
 here on earth. Let us be busy, busy from day to day, busy 
 as God's children obeying our Father, busy in the work 
 while we have power to work and work to do, and when 
 God takes away the power or withdraws the work, let us 
 say in our hearts, "We had fathers of our flesh who 
 corrected us and we gave them reverence ; shall we not 
 rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live?" 
 So it was with our brother through all the weary months 
 that preceded dissolution. 
 
 The leaves of the trees were green and beautiful 
 through the summer. A change has come over many of 
 them now. They are no longer green, but they are still 
 beautiful, with a new and strange beauty, indicative, indeed, 
 of the fact that they will soon fall; but they are beautiful 
 still. It has been so with his life, but there is a wide 
 difference. The leaf fadeth and decayeth, and is gone 
 forever, but this body will be raised up and reconstructed, 
 and made like unto Christ's glorified body ; and he and 
 we shall be forever with the Lord. 
 
 These, fellow Christians, brother ministers, these are 
 the truths, which accepted and believed by us, and worked 
 out, effect the real unity between the life that is here, 
 and the greater life that is yonder. " Whether we live, 
 we live unto the Lord ; whether we die, we die unto 
 
23 
 
 the Lord ; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the 
 Lord's." 
 
 Is there any one listening, brought here by regard and 
 esteem for him whom God has taken, who has never 
 accepted Christ and received the atonement? Then let 
 there be a voice to that soul from these silent, motionless 
 remains. Dear friends, make his Saviour your Saviour, 
 and his Master your Master, that his portion may be your 
 portion in the great hereafter. 
 
ADDRESS BY REV. ALFRED YEOMANS, D.D. 
 
 It might reasonably be expected, that the passing 
 away of so strong and prominent a character from this 
 community, would leave a void which would be very 
 keenly felt. As the pastor of the church in which Dr. 
 Irving made his religious home, and with whose whole 
 history he was so closely identified, I might properly say a 
 few words respecting the place he filled as a parishioner 
 and a personal friend. 
 
 As was natural for one so highly endowed by force 
 of character, clear and decided convictions, large knowledge 
 of affairs, and eminent administrative ability. Dr. Irving 
 stood at the front in every enterprise to which he put his 
 hand. Within a year after he took up his residence in 
 Orange he became the leader of a little band of Presby- 
 terian families, who, recognizing the near demand for 
 
26 
 
 Church extension in this city, resolved to organize this 
 Church. There were others among the pioneers in this 
 enterprise who were able to contribute more largely than 
 he of pecuniary aid, though he was always generous in his 
 gifts ; but none certainly contributed more largely of moral 
 and spiritual force to the founding of this Church. I have 
 always been accustomed to regard his as virtually the 
 organizing hand, the force that gave the starting impulse, 
 and I rejoice that he lived long enough to see his judgment 
 justified in the goodly prosperity of this Church. 
 
 But if his efficient help at the beginning was valuable, 
 so also was his constant counsel all along. No pastor 
 could ever have a kinder and more helpful and considerate 
 parishioner than I have had in Dr. Irving. Ministers 
 understand how much of grace is needed to sit quietly and 
 contentedly in the pew under the ministrations of those 
 younger than themselves, and with less of the wisdom 
 which comes from experience. And they will know how 
 to appreciate the grace and goodness of the man, when I 
 say that never in all the seventeen years of my relation to 
 Dr. Irving, as the pastor of his family, have I ever 
 experienced anything but the kindest, most brotherly and 
 helpful treatment at his hands. His counsel was invaluable 
 to me. And though he was not so far my superior in 
 years as to make it natural for me to call him a father, yet 
 
27 
 
 there was in him a certain ripeness of wisdom, and clear- 
 ness and decision of judgment, that constrained me to look 
 up to him as to a father and constantly resort to him for 
 advice. I relied implicitly upon that advice, and never did 
 I have occasion to regret such confidence. Now that he is 
 gone from us, and the lips that were wont to utter such 
 kindly counsel are sealed in death, I feel as though the 
 strong staff were broken. 
 
 Perhaps this readiness to take responsibility upon 
 himself, and lend the help of his strong hand to those that 
 sought it, has had much to do with what we cannot but 
 regard as an untimely death. We are all too willing to 
 lay burdens upon those whose broad and ready shoulders 
 seem to be made to bear them. Others have spoken of his 
 arduous toil as a Secretarj^ of Foreign Missions. The same 
 faithful and unsparing diligence characterized everything 
 that he did. His capacity for work was enormous. Con- 
 scious of powers of endurance beyond those of ordinary 
 men, he was too ready to tax them to the full, and no 
 doubt the limit of prudence was passed long before the first 
 break in his strength gave warning of danger. Ten years 
 more of solid work might reasonably have been expected 
 from one of his vigorous constitution. But the habit of 
 work had so grown upon him that he had virtually lost all 
 relish for rest and recreation, and could not realize the 
 
28 
 
 necessity of unbending the bow. After laboring hard at 
 his office desk for six days in the week, he would often 
 make the Sabbath also a working day by supplying the 
 pulpits of his brethren in the ministry, that they might 
 enjoy a breathing spell. Thus through winter's cold and 
 summer's heat he wrought on, refusing the rest which 
 others could see he greatly needed. 
 
 While his life was thus given to serious labors, and 
 his soul was absorbed by the service of His master, and[ the 
 progress of the kingdom of righteousness, there was no 
 cold abstraction in mood or manner which held him apart 
 from friends and neighbors as though he lived in a separate 
 world. A genial wit and kindly humor lighted up his 
 stern and earnest devotion to work, and made his presence 
 the life of the home and the social circle. The tenderest 
 sympathy with those in trouble drew around him devoted 
 friends. Always cheerful and bright, he was a welcome 
 guest at any fireside. And never did he seem impatient of 
 interruption in his work or disturbance of his rest when 
 any opportunity occurred pf helping a friend with counsel, 
 or cheering him with bright and hopeful sympathy. 
 
 But when the thought of incompleteness comes over 
 us, as we contemplate the strong man too early laid in his 
 grave, we must remember that with the humble believer in 
 Christ, nothing is incomplete. "Ye are complete in Him," 
 
29 
 
 Seemingly unfinished labors, when Christ calls his faithfijl 
 servant to his reward, are complete in Him. The work 
 which Christ has broken off, He will finish. Dr. Irving 
 seemed to covet the benediction, " Blessed is that servant 
 whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doingT His 
 ambition seemed to be to die in harness. 
 
 But let us turn now for comfort to those precious 
 words which God has written for the consolation of 
 mourners, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
 again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
 bring with Him." 
 
 " Weep not for death ! 
 
 'Tis but a fever stilled, 
 A pain suppressed, a fear at rest, 
 A solemn hope fulfilled." 
 
 He has fought a good fight, he has finished his course, 
 he has kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for him a 
 crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge 
 shall give him at that day, and not to him only but unto all 
 them also that love His appearing. 
 
Copy of Minute adopted by the Board of Foreign 
 Missions at a meeting held November 2d, 1885. 
 
 That in the removal by death ot our late Secretary, 
 Rev. David Irving, D. D., on 12th of October, 1885, we 
 bow with submission to God's sovereign will, while lament- 
 ing our own loss of a fellow laborer and brother beloved, 
 and the loss of the Church of Christ, which he served, 
 faithfully and well, as a Foreign Missionary, as a Pastor, 
 and, for the last twenty years, as Corresponding Secretary 
 of this Board. 
 
 We recognize the great loss sustained by our mission- 
 aries, especially those in fields lately under his immediate 
 charge, in the severance of a relation involving so much 
 mature judgment in the oversight of their work, and so 
 much tender sympathy in their personal welfare. 
 
 Arthur Mitchell, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
The following tribute to the memory of Dr. Irving 
 was published in The Presbyterian of November 21st, 1885, 
 from Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D. D., Corresponding Secre- 
 tary of the Board of Foreign Missions : 
 
 It was in a morning paper of San Francisco that I first 
 learned of the death of my esteemed colleague, Dr. Irving. 
 It was not altogether a surprise, for at our last interview I 
 had found that a paralysis in his extremities was slowly 
 creeping toward the seat of life, and that ere many days he 
 would doubtless be called to his rest. Though he had been 
 detained for months from the Mission House, it is still 
 difficult to realize that my yoke fellow for so many years 
 has been forever removed. It is sad to think how, in these 
 times of high pressure and intellectual absorption, even 
 those who have been most honored in their life-work are so 
 soon forgotten, save in the nearer circle of friends and 
 kindred, and I wish, as a matter of hearty esteem, to lay 
 
34 
 
 one little flower upon the tomb of my associate, assured 
 that, transient as the tribute may be, the savor of his 
 influence will survive in the Church and its Missions even 
 unto the Great Day. 
 
 I deem myself fortunate in having been associated with 
 one of so much solidity and genuineness of character. For 
 fourteen years we had labored together as one man, our 
 offices being situated directly opposite, across a narrow 
 hall, and our daily and almost hourly intercourse had 
 passed without a word of unkindness or discourtesy, even 
 in our widest differences of opinion. 
 
 Dr. Irving held, with a true Scotch tenacity, to his 
 convictions ; and they were convictions, and not mere con- 
 venient sentiments, chosen for a purpose. It is rare that 
 one meets with such downrightness and truthfulness of 
 mind — such entire coincidence between the thought and 
 the aim. It was in matters of judgment and counsel that 
 the strong points of Dr. Irving were to be found, and it is 
 no mean tribute to his memory to say that he was most 
 thoroughly appreciated in the inner circles of the Mission 
 House, where he was known best. He was fitted for his 
 place by that judicial fairness which was always observable 
 in his conclusions. No judgment was formed from preju- 
 dice, much less from the promptings of self-interest. He 
 was conservative, but never blindly so. 
 
35 
 
 His interest in the work of Missions showed itself in 
 his early consecration to the active service at the front, and 
 was to the end so deep and genuine that it seemed to 
 constitute a part of his veiy life. It is difficult to conceive 
 of a greater trial than that which he experienced, during 
 the weary months of languishing, in being debarred from 
 the privilege of laboring still for the great and beloved 
 cause. 
 
 His belief not only in the claims, but in the entire 
 feasibility and ultimate success of the Mission work seemed 
 as clear and deep as the consciousness of his own being. 
 His convictions on the subject, like those of the great first 
 missionary to the Gentiles, were based upon an uncom- 
 promising conviction of the great doctrines of moral ruin — 
 deep, helpless and hopeless on the one hand, and of a full 
 and availing salvation on the other. Rejoicing always in 
 visible success, he was not disturbed by discouragements, 
 as if engaged in a mere human venture, for he never 
 doubted that his omnipotent Master was able to achieve. 
 
 There was a sunny side in the character of Dr. Irving 
 which I love to think of With all his .moral earnestness 
 there was a breezy and jocular element which often proved 
 a refreshment amid the heavy cares and perplexities of the 
 missionary work. He performed his tasks with dispatch, 
 and thus found time frequently to cross the hall and stir us 
 
36 
 
 up with some pleasant sallies, or a new story which was 
 too good to keep, and thus many a time he broke the spell 
 of anxiety and helped us to approach a hard problem on a 
 new tack. Not only his associates, but all the clerks and 
 employees of the Mission House felt the cheer of his 
 influence, and learned to value this element in his character, 
 of which those who knew him less intimately were not 
 aware. 
 
 It was a noticeable fact that his friendships were 
 peculiarly deep and lasting. Those who had once come 
 into his closer confidences were strongly attached to him 
 through life. And I do not remember to have known any 
 one who was more faithful and devoted to his friends than 
 he, or upon whom they could call for help, in season and 
 out of season, with greater assurance of success. 
 
 An erroneous impression seems to have prevailed that 
 Dr. Irving's death was a result of the accident which befel 
 him in June, 1884, in Ireland, The shock produced by 
 that casualty doubtless hastened his death, but the real 
 cause was pre-existent and much deeper. Six years ago 
 there was developed an obscure nervous disease which 
 greatly prostrated him, and from which a year's absence in 
 Europe did not fully restore him ; and it was felt by those 
 who knew him best that sooner or later that affection 
 would end in his death. 
 
37 
 
 In the days of his strength Dr. Irving had seemed 
 altogether the most vigorous man in the Mission House, 
 but the old maxim that "the race is not to the swift, nor 
 the battle to the strong," has again been illustrated, and he 
 whose work for his Master was his chief joy found grace to 
 say, " Nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done," and 
 his end was peace. 
 
 F. F. Ellinvvood, 
 
 New York, November lo, 1885. 
 
Minute adopted by the Session of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church of Morristown, New Jersey, held 
 October i8th, 1885. 
 
 In view of the death on Monday, the 12th of October 
 instant, of Rev. David Irving, D. D., for twenty years one 
 of the Secretaries of the Board of Foreign Missions, and 
 previously for ten years Pastor of this Church, Session 
 discharge a sad but grateful duty, in entering on their 
 minutes their appreciation of his personal worth and his uni- 
 formly dignified ministerial bearing and Christian courtesy. 
 
 No page of the history of this venerable Church, 
 which has been blessed with so many faithful and earnest 
 ministers, records a more successful pastorate, so far as 
 success is to be measured by additions to the Church, and 
 especially by the development and cultivation of a spirit of 
 beneficence. The record of his pastorate here will ever 
 constitute a living testimony to his zeal and faithfulness in 
 the Master's service. 
 
40 
 
 Of him it may be truly said that he obeyed the 
 exhortation of the Apostle, " in feeding the flock of God, 
 taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly, 
 not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being 
 lord over God's heritage, but being an ensample to the 
 flock," and we rejoice in the assurance that when the Chief 
 Shepherd shall appear, " he shall receive a crown of glory 
 that fadeth not away." 
 
 James R. Vookhees, 
 
 Clerk. 
 
The Session of the Central Church desire to put 
 on record their sense of previous loss in the death of Dr. 
 David Irving. He was a brother not only beloved among 
 us for his high Christian character and genial spirit, but 
 esteemed and honored as a leader in this Church, to whom 
 its organization and prosperous establishment were largely- 
 due. 
 
 We desire with thankfulness to our Heavenly Father 
 to acknowledge our indebtedness for the many natural and 
 gracious gifts which made him an invaluable helper in our 
 councils and labors, and for the goodness of the Lord 
 through which he was enabled for so many years to work 
 and pray for the welfare of the Church he loved, as well as 
 for the interests of the Master's cause at large. 
 
 We sorrow with the bereaved family, and tender to 
 them in their great affliction our sincerest sympathies, 
 while we look forward with them to the time when those 
 that sleep in Jesus shall be changed into the likeness of his 
 
42 
 
 own glorious body, and these broken fellowships shall be 
 restored. 
 
 It was ordered that this paper be placed on record in 
 the minutes of Session, and that a copy be tendered to the 
 family of Dr. Irving. 
 
 Signed, 
 
 Alfred Yeomans, 
 
 Pastor. 
 
 J. H. Hazard, 
 David L. Wallace, 
 A. R. McCoy, 
 Charles H. Jones, ^ 
 
 Elders. 
 
 Orange, November 8th, 1885. 
 
 C. H. Jones & Co., Printers, 114 Fulton Street, N. Y. 
 

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