.M'CLINTOCL. 
 
 Life S Letters. 
 
r PRINCETOlSr, N. J. 
 
 BX 8495 .M16 C7 
 Crooks, George Richard, 18^. 
 
 -1B97. ^ ^ 
 
 Life and letters of the Rev 
 John M'Clintock 
 
Life and Letters 
 
 OK TIIK 
 
 REV. JOHN M'CLINTOCK, D.D., LI.l)., 
 
 LATE PRESIDENT OF DREW THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 GEORGE R. CROOKS, D.D. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS. 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
 1876. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 
 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS, 
 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
THE MANY FRIENDS OF DR. M'CLINTOCK 
 
 WHO 
 
 LOVED HIM WHILE LIVING, AND WHO CHERISH HIS MEMORY, 
 
 THIS BOOK 
 
 75 RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
PHinOSTOII 
 
 A A X.A -J >ji u 'c£ A O -ix I* 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN the narrative here presented the author 
 may have been partial, but has certainly 
 been sincere. Care has been taken, however, 
 to let Dr. M'Clintock himself tell the story of 
 his life, and to this end his diaries and corre- 
 spondence have been freely used. His charm- 
 ing letters need nothing more to set them off 
 than to be placed in proper connexion with the 
 events of which they are the best interpreta- 
 tion. His diaries are the fullest record remaining 
 of his studies, and show with what eagerness 
 Dr. M'Clintock devoted himself to the accumula- 
 tion of knowledge. These sources of information 
 I have supplemented from my own recollections, 
 drawn from an intimacy which extended over 
 many years, as well as from the recollections of 
 other friends. 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 I return my thanks to the correspondents of 
 Dr. M'Clintock who have placed their letters in 
 my hands. I am also under special obligations to 
 his son, Mr. Emory M'Clintock, whose admirable 
 arrangement of his father's papers has greatly 
 aided me in the preparation of this volume. 
 
 For the young men of the Church, whether of 
 the ministry or the laity, the life which I have en- 
 deavored to portray has many and valuable les- 
 sons. The example of a simple. Christian faith, 
 firmly held by one who explored nearly every field 
 of human knowledge, will, it is hoped, not be with- 
 out its effect. With all his growing, Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock never outgrew the creed which he inherited 
 from his fathers. His highest aspiration was to 
 be a Bible Christian. For him the announcement 
 that " Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
 sinners" had a meaning which neither philoso- 
 phy nor improved theology could for a moment 
 obscure. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ■ • 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE, EDUCATION, AND CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Parentage and Birth — Home Life — The Old St. George's Church — Dr. 
 Holdich's Recollections — Placed in the University Grammar School — A 
 Favorite Pupil — Becomes Book-keeper in the Methodist Book Concern, 
 New York — Balancing the Books — Conversion — Joins the Allen-street 
 Church— Anxiety for a thorough Education — Enters the Wesleyan Univer- 
 sity, Middletown — Sickness — Enters the University of Pennsylvania — 
 Rapid Progress — Called into the Ministry vi'hile yet a Student — Preaches 
 at Flemington, Elizabethtown, and Jersey City — Enters the Philadelphia 
 Conference — Gi-aduates A.B. with Distinction — Letters Page 13 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 PASTORATE IN JERSEY CITY — ELECTED PROFESSOR IN DICKINSON COLLEGE. 
 
 Life as Pastor in Jersey City — Letters to his Mother — Compelled by 111 
 Health to Quit the Pulpit — Appointed Assistant and then full Professor of 
 Mathematics in Dickinson College — History of the College — The Members 
 of the First Faculty — Intimacy with Robert Emory — Dr. Durbin's Fame as 
 an Orator — Daily Life of Professor M'Clintock in his New Position — Great 
 Variety of his Studies — Educational Leaders of American Methodism — 
 Second Failure of Professor M'Clintock's Health — Passages from his Diary 
 — His Extensive Reading while an Invalid — Anxiety to be Able to Preach 
 Again — His Method as a Stiident — Letters 6i 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIFE IN CARLISLE. 
 
 An Ideal Life — Carlisle and the Cumberland' Valley — Rapid Progress in 
 Study — Social Habits — Improvement of Health — Centenary of Methodism, 
 October, 1839 — Reading on Christian Perfection and the Human Will — 
 Grief at Parting with Robert Emory — Transfer from the Chair of Mathe- 
 
8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 maticsto that of the Ancient Classic Languages — Ordained Elder by Bishop 
 Hedding — Illness and Death of his Mother — Recovery of his Voice and 
 Return to the Pulpit — Characteristics and Power as a Preacher — Estimates 
 of Carlisle and Goethe — Stability in his Opinions and Steadfast Adherence 
 to Evangelical Doctrine — Profound Interest in the Slaveiy Controversy — 
 Active Opposition to the Annexation of Texas — Letters in the " Christian 
 Advocate " on the Duty of the Church — Publication of Greek and Latin 
 Text-Books, and Neander's "Life of Christ" — Letters Page loi 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TRIAL ON THE CHARGE OF INSTIGATING A RIOT. 
 
 The Cumberland Valley a Highway of Migration — The Negroes of Car- 
 lisle — The Pursuit by Messrs. Kennedy and Hollingsworth of Three Slaves 
 — Symptoms of Riot at the Office of a Justice of the Peace — Collision of 
 Negroes with the Sheriff's Officers — All Partife-^.rought before Judge Hep- 
 burn on a Writ of Habeas Corpus — The Judge's decision- — Attempt Made 
 in the Court-room to Rescue the Slaves — The Blacks Baflft^d and Overawed 
 — The Attitude of Pennsylvania in Relation to Slavery — The Prigg Case 
 before the Supreme Court of the United States — The Pgjinsylvima'Law 
 of 1847 — Arrival of Professor M'Clintock at the Court^nouse — Co-operates 
 in Procuring a Second Writ of Habeas Corpus — Interposition ysx Behalf of a 
 Negro — Attempt to Carry the Slaves Away— Resistance by the Negroes of 
 the Town — A Melee in which Mr. Kennedy is Stmck Down — Great Ex- 
 citement in the Country — Professor M'Clintock Charged with Instigating a 
 Riot and Arrested — Trial of Professor M'Clintock and Twenty-eight Ne- 
 groes — The Testimony for the Prosecution — Scenes in the Court — Defense 
 and Acquittal — Protest of the Judge — Conviction of Thirteen Negroes and 
 Sentence of Ten to the Penitentiar}' — Their Release by the Supreme Court 
 — Letters 143 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RESIGNATION OF COLLEGE PROFESSORSHIP. 
 
 Calm after the Storm — Increase in the Number of College Students — 
 Generosity of Dr. M'Clintock's Friends — Illness of President Emory, and 
 his Departure for the West Indies — Illness of Professor Caldwell — Corre- 
 spondence of Dr. M'Clintock with his two Sick Associates — Letter from 
 one Dying Man to Another — Death of President Emory and of Professor 
 Caldwell — Professor M'Clintock's Resignation of his Professorship — His 
 Growth during the Twelve Years — His Life in Carlisle considered as a 
 Preparation for his Subsequent Career 183 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 9 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EDITOR OF " METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW " — REMOVAL TO NEW YORK. 
 
 Elected Editor of the " Methodist Quarterly Review " — Removes to Jer- 
 sey City — Despondent about his Health — Discusses with Dr. Olin the 
 Policy of the " Review" — Regrets the loss of the Society of old Friends — 
 Enlists the Co-operation of able Contributors — Discussion and Analysis of 
 Comte's System of Positivism — Effort to make the " Quarterly " both Schol- 
 arly and Practical — Demands Independence in the Treatment of Methodist 
 Questions — Death of his Wife — Trip to Europe in the Summer of 1850 — 
 Enjoyment of the Sea — Attention from German University Professors — 
 Inclination to Settle in Europe for several Years — Return Home in greatly 
 Improved Health — Death of Dr. Olin — Second Marriage of Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock — Elected President of Wesleyan University, but Declines the Position 
 — Preaching — Work upon Church Catechisms — Weariness of Editorial 
 Drudgery — Letters Page 197 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 LIFE AS EDITOR — SECOND RESIDENCE IN CARLISLE. 
 
 Strong Desire of Dr. M'Clintock for Quiet and Rest — Removal to New 
 Brunswick, and thence to Carlisle — Great Enjoyment of his Rural Home — 
 His Manner of Life — Estimate of Congregationalism — Trip to Europe in 
 the Summer of 1854 — Letters to his Children — Complaints of the Abstruse- 
 ness of the "Quarterly Review" — His Replies — Reply to Joseph R. 
 Chandler on the Temporal Power of the Pope — Offered the Presidency of 
 Troy University — The Methodist Deputation from Ireland — General Con- 
 ference of 1856 — Excitement in the Country in Relation to Slavery — Effect 
 upon the Church — Dr. M'Clintock and the Baltimore Conference — His In- 
 tended New "Chapter" on Slavery — Close of his Connection with the 
 "Quarterly Review" — Letters 240 
 
 CHAPTER VTII. 
 
 PASTOR OF ST. PAUL's CHURCH, NEW YORK. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock as an Orator— Appointed to the Pastorate of St. Paul's 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, New York — Great Success in this Position — • 
 Visits England in 1857, with Bishop Simpson, as Delegate to the Wesleyan 
 Conference and to the Evangelical Alliance — Public Reception at the 
 Wesleyan Mission-House — Reception at Belfast — Kindness of his Irish 
 Friends — Reception of the Members of the Evangelical Alliance by the 
 
10 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 King of Prussia — The King's Attendance upon the Sessions of the Alliance 
 — Entertainment of Americans in Berlin by Governor Wright— Work upon 
 the Cyclopaedia by Dr. M'Clintock — His many Plans for Literary Work — 
 Efifect of Ill-health in Hindering their Execution — Letters Page 263 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LIFE IN PARIS PASTORATE OF THE AMERICAN CHAPEL. 
 
 Appointed Pastor of the American Chapel, Paris — Cordial Reception by 
 the Congregation — Engages to Correspond with the "Methodist" — Break- 
 ing out of the Civil War in the United States — Patriotic Activity of Dr 
 M'Clintock — Speech in Exeter Hall at the Wesleyan Missionary Anniver- 
 sary — Great Effect of the Speech — Meeting of Americans at the Hotel du 
 Louvre, Paris — Subscription for a Battery of Rifled Cannon — Dr. M'Clintock 
 Translates and Circulates, in England, De Gasparin's " Uprising of a Great 
 People" — Speech at Meeting of Americans in London, July 4, 1861 — The 
 " Trent " Imbroglio — Active Efforts of Dr. M'Clintock to Remove English 
 Misunderstandings — Correspondence with the Rev. Wm. Arthur in Rela- 
 tion to Mason and Slidell — His Devotion to his Work as Pastor of the 
 Chapel — Fruit of his Preaching — Readiness to Serve Destitute and Suffer- 
 ing Americans — Lending a Hand — Letters 280 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LIFE IN PARIS — PATRIOTIC ACTIVITY. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock's Habitual Interest in Political Affairs — The Scholar in 
 Politics — Effect of his Activity upon his Countrymen in Europe — Pros- 
 perity of the Chapel — Respect of Europe for " Monitors" — Tribute to the 
 Memory of the Rev. Dr. Bangs — The United States is a Great Nation — 
 European Opinion of General M'Clellan — A Detachment of Lee's Army 
 Enters Carlisle — Anticipation Eight Years Before of such an Event by 
 Dr. M'Clintock — Notice to American and Foreign Christian Union of his 
 Purpose to Return Home — Review of his Pastorate in Paris — The Rev. 
 Andrew Longacre's Sketch of Dr. M'Clintock's Personal Life — Making 
 Sunshine for All — Charity for Men, and Faith in God — Letters 327 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 LAST YEARS OF LIFE. 
 
 The Afternoon of Life — Signs of Bodily Decay — Formation of the 
 European Branch of the Sanitary Commission — Invitation to Return to 
 St. Paul's Church, New York — Trip to Rome — Taking Leave of Paris — 
 Reception by Friends in New York — Offered a Public Dinner by Leading 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 Citizens — Failure of Health — Retirement to the "Brown" Farm, near 
 Philadelphia — Chainnan of Central Centenaiy Committee — Great Success 
 of Centenary Work — Mr. Drew's Offer to Found a Theological School — 
 Opening of Drew Seminary, under the Presidency of Dr. M'Clintock — Re- 
 moval of Dr. M'Clintock, first to New Bmnswick, and then to Madison, 
 New Jersey — Interview with President Johnson, at Washington — No Rest 
 for Us in this World — General Conference of 1868 and Lay Delegation — 
 Work on the Cyclopaedia — Trip to England in the Summer of 1869 — Con- 
 tinued Decline of Health — Letter to Fletcher Harper — Attack of Fever, 
 March, 1870 — Last Words, and the End Page 355 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF DR. M'CLINTOCK BY HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 Tributes to the Memory of Dr. M'Clintock— From Dr W. H. Allen- 
 Bishop Janes on the Elements of his Power — His Early Life, by Mr. T. A. 
 Howe — Mr. C. C. North on his Industry and Organizing Talent — The Rev. 
 William Arthur's Recollections — The Young Professor, by the Rev. Dr. 
 Deems — The Hon. John Bigelow on Dr. M'Clintock's Life in Paris — His 
 Social Qualities, by Mrs. Mary S. Robinson — His Helpfulness to Young 
 Americans in Europe, by the Rev. Dr. Hurst — His Leading Mental and 
 Moral Traits, by the Author of this Memoir 384 
 
LIFE OF DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Parentage and Birth— Home Life— The Old St. George's Church— Dr. Holdich's Eecol- 
 lections— Placed in the University Grammar Scliool— A Favorite Pupil— Becomes Book- 
 keeper in tho Methodist Book Concern, New York— Balancing the Books— Conversion- 
 Joins the Allen-street Church— Anxiety for a thorough Education— Enters the Wcsleyan 
 University, Middletown— Sickness— Enters the University of Pennsylvania— Kapid Prog- 
 ress—Called into the Ministry while yet a Student— Preaches at Flemington, Elizabethtown, 
 and Jersey City— Enters the Philadelphia Conference— Graduates A. B. with Distmction. 
 
 OHN M'CLINTOCK, Junior, the second son of 
 
 of Philadelphia, October 27, 18 14. The father, John 
 M'Clintock, Sen., came from County Tyrone, Ireland, to 
 America in the year 1806, and in the year 1807 married 
 Martha M'Mackin, who was also a native of Tyrone. 
 For many years he was a member of the St. George's 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, in which he 
 held the offices of class leader and trustee. Mr. M'Clin- 
 tock was a man of unusual intelligence, alert in move- 
 ment, irrepressible in temper, persistent, tenacious, and 
 altogether a man of mark in the religious community 
 in whose fellowship he lived. His wife, the mother of 
 the subject of this memoir, was a woman of very clear 
 intellect, placid spirit, and deep, though unobtrusive, 
 
 Martha M'Clintock, was born in the city 
 
14 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 piety. Five sons and three daughters were born to 
 John and Martha M'CHntock, all of whom lived to 
 mature age. 
 
 The family in Ireland was originally Presbyterian. The 
 earliest member of whom the home record makes men- 
 tion, WiUiam M'Clintock, (born in 1717,) is described as a 
 farmer, in County Tyrone, " a very quiet, pious man." 
 His son James (born in 1740) was both a farmer and a 
 county physician of some repute. He is the first Meth- 
 odist who appears in the family, and was a class leader 
 in the period of the beginnings of Methodism. From 
 James descended John, the father of the Rev. Dr. 
 M'Clintock. Thus through his father, grandfather, and 
 great grandfather. Dr. M'Clintock inherited the blessings 
 of religious thought and habit. His ancestors were, no 
 doubt, a substantial, godly people ; fit representatives 
 of the Protestant Irish stock, which has contributed so 
 much to the vigor and energy of the English-speaking 
 race in America. 
 
 The home life of the M'Clintocks in Philadelphia was 
 simple and unostentatious. The father carried on a re- 
 tail dry-goods trade for many years with various success. 
 Store and home, as was then the almost universal prac- 
 tice, were in the same building. Here was dispensed a 
 hearty hospitality, the itinerant preachers being among 
 Mr. M'Clintock's most frequent guests. The faces of 
 Solomon Sharp, Ezekiel Cooper, Beverly Waugh, Dr. 
 John Emory, and others of the itinerants known to fame 
 in that day, were familiar to the younger members of 
 the family from childhood. The household held to the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 15 
 
 Church by the closest tie ; their Church-Hfe was a very 
 large part of their entire life. 
 
 The Methodist society to which the father and mother 
 belonged, the St. George's, was the oldest in Philadelphia. 
 After many renovations of its interior the homely edifice 
 still stands, with its gable looking upon the street, and 
 bearing without much change the same appearance as 
 fifty years ago. Nearly opposite, on Fourth-street, is 
 the St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, which, like 
 its Methodist neighbor, has always been strong and 
 populous, and has had an eventful history of its own. 
 One cannot but feel that the two edifices, standing 
 over against each other, have been types of two antago- 
 nistic systems of faith, brought by a singular coincidence 
 face to face. St. George's was noted for the enthusi- 
 asm of its worshippers, and its crowded congregations. 
 It was the fruitful mother of a great progeny of Churches 
 scattered throughout the city and county of Philadel- 
 phia. The leading preachers of the connexion held it an 
 honor to be appointed to its pulpit. Its roll of pastors 
 includes such men as Henry White, Levi Scott, Joseph 
 Iloldich, George G. Cookman, Charles Pitman, and 
 others of later fame. It was naturally, therefore, for long 
 years, a centre of Methodist influence and power. 
 
 Into the life of this fine old Church, young M'Clin- 
 tock, we may say, was born. He knew its hard, un- 
 cushioned benches, its arched ceiling, its over-jutting 
 galleries, its crowded aisles, well. In the year 1825, be- 
 ing eleven years of age, he was placed by Dr. Holdich, 
 then pastor, in a catechetical class of the children of 
 
i6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the congregation, and on October 9, of that year, was 
 received as a probationer in the Church. Of this fact 
 of young M'Clintock's Hfe, Dr. Holdich gives us the 
 following interesting reminiscence : — 
 
 In the year 1825, being the fourth year of my ministry, I was sta- 
 tioned at St. George's Charge, in the city of Philadelphia. The 
 Charge then consisted of five Churches. My colleagues were the 
 Rev. Charles Pitman and William Barnes. During this year it was 
 that George G. Cookman arrived from England, and, having some 
 previous knowledge of each other through common friends, he natu- 
 rally sought me out, and finally took lodgings in the same house with 
 me. It was at the house of my senior colleague, the Rev. Charles 
 Pitman. He joined St. George's Church as a local preacher, and at 
 once began to preach with great acceptance and popularity. 
 
 During the course of our joint-pastorate that year, (1825,) we 
 formed the children belonging to St. George's Church into a cate- 
 chetical class, and met them once a week. Besides the catechism, 
 we had singing, prayer, and exhortation. I do not know which of 
 the ministers organized the class, but I know that we all, including 
 Mr. Cookman, took part in it, and with this class young John M'.Clin- 
 tock became connected. I remember the hope he enkindled in us as 
 to his future, and the gratification he afforded us by his punctuality, 
 and his earnestness and zeal to enlist others in the same cause. He 
 showed a good deal of talent, and was apt both in remembering and 
 in communicating what he knew. I cannot say that he professed to 
 enjoy experimental piety, but we had great hope of him, believing 
 that he would, if he lived, grow up to be a useful and distinguished 
 man. But he was only a boy, and liable to a boy's exposures and 
 temptations. If he was not always faithful to his early convictions, 
 I believe he never entirely lost them ; and the profession of religion 
 which he subsequently made while in New York was, I believe, only 
 the actualizing and carrying into practice the impressions he received 
 while attending the catechetical class. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. \^ 
 
 In the year 1822, the eighth of his age, he was 
 placed in the Grammar School of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, and began the study of Latin and Greek. 
 Dr. S. B. Wylie, a famous old Grecian, was the principal. 
 The school was formed upon the English model ; the 
 study of the ancient classic languages was the chief 
 occupation of teachers and scholars every day. For 
 this method of training Dr. Wylie was admirably quali- 
 fied. Profoundly versed in both languages, especially 
 the Greek, he appreciated the value of patient drill. 
 He was among the earliest of American classical teach- 
 ers to adopt the more philosophical method of deriv- 
 ing the parts of the Greek verb from a single root 
 form. His Greek Grammar, first published in 1838, 
 is a fine specimen of compact workmanship. I have 
 heard Dr. M'Clintock say, that when his old preceptor 
 became Professor in the University of Pennsylvania he 
 would hear his classes in Homer without any use of text- 
 book ; his memory had treasured up the text line by 
 line. 
 
 Young M'Clintock soon became a favorite with the 
 good Doctor. He must have been an apt scholar, for I 
 find the following note to his father under date of July 
 24, 1826: — 
 
 Mr. M'Clintock:— 
 
 Dear Sir: — John tells me you design to send him to the country 
 
 to-day with the family. I am truly sorr)- for the arrangement. I 
 
 beg, if at all consistent, that you will postpone the trip till next 
 
 week. Our examination will be on Friday. John will make a tirst- 
 
 rate figure. Why should you deprive either himself or us of the 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 honor — more pariicularly as the class at such a time (close before 
 holidays) is usually thin ? I will take it as a particular favor, should 
 you not take John away till after that event. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 S. B, Wylie. 
 
 Boy as he was, young M'Clintock did not, at this 
 early age, shrink from high questions of metaphysics. 
 The Rev. T. J. Wylie, a son of Dr. Wylie, tells this 
 incident : — 
 
 During the time he was at school he was noted for proficiency in 
 his studies and excellent behavior ; though I have heard that some- 
 times the great questions of 
 
 " Foreknowledg-c, will, and fate, 
 Fix'd fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute." 
 
 were very warmly discussed, during school-hours, between him and 
 another pupil, (Mr. Benjamin B. M'Kinley, at present a member of 
 the Faculty of the Deaf and Dumb Institute,) a staunch Calvinist, of 
 the old true-blue, Covenanter kind, and now, and for many years, a 
 respected member of the United Reformed Presbyterian Church of 
 this city. I cannot say w^hat effect these arguments may have had in 
 developing the intellectual power of our dear friend, or in producing 
 the respect which he has so eloquently expressed for the great Gene- 
 van Reformer ; but the immediate consequence was correction, more 
 or less severe, from the teacher, who probably supposed that his young 
 pupils were talking about tops or marbles, but had no idea what- 
 ever of the true nature of the subjects which formed the themes of 
 such earnest convei sations. 
 
 It must not be inferred from this record that our sub- 
 ject had no genuine boy-life. He was a boy to the end 
 of his days. Fun was perpetually bubbling up from his 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 19 
 
 inner nature, and revealing itself in pleasant effervescence. 
 Philadelphia was in that early day a boy's paradise. 
 It had not become overgrown, and boys had not yet 
 been put in strait-jackets by innumerable police regula- 
 tions. The Delaware on the one side and the Schuylkill 
 on the other invited to swimming, boatings and skating. 
 The broad expanse on the north-west, then known as 
 Bush Hill, made ample room for bands of ball-players. 
 To the south of the city the marshes of the Neck," 
 crowded with reed-birds in the early fall, gave the 
 youthful sportsman many an hour's exhilaration. Ad- 
 venturous spirits could find their way to the Wissahickon, 
 and spend the long sunny days on the slopes of its hills. 
 Few cities have such surroundings, and, being yet small, 
 the open fields were near at hand on every side. We 
 may readily imagine that the school-boy's Saturday was 
 improved by young M'Clintock. He was well up in all 
 boyish sports, and always spoke of them with zest in 
 his later life. Though his intellect was alert almost 
 to precocity, there was nothing in its vigor akin to 
 disease. 
 
 In after life he took more than usual care to preserve 
 the memorials of his school and college work. I have 
 a number of his exercise books before me, the earliest 
 dated 1826, when he was still a mere boy. They show 
 the thorough manner in which he was trained, and the 
 closeness of his application to study. The earlier exer- 
 cises were, as may be supposed from the character of the 
 school, in Latin and Greek. All is written out with 
 most minute attention to detail. In analysis, transla- 
 
20 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 tion, scanning, every point of etymology, syntax, prosody, 
 mythology, and history was examined, and the fact or 
 rule stated. This was the method of Dr. Wylie's school, 
 and in this exact discipline the foundation of Dr. 
 M'Clintock's culture was laid. He did not leap to ex- 
 cellence, but rose to it by honest exertion. Rapid and 
 brilliant at all times, he did not disdain what most young 
 men call drudgery. His college note books show evi- 
 dence of activity in every department of knowledge. 
 In the neatest of hands are preserved digests of lectures 
 on chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, and constitu- 
 tional law; sketches of problems in the calculus; draw- 
 ings of parts of the steam-engine, and of philosophical 
 instruments, with descriptiofts ; in fact, nothing seems 
 to have come amiss to him. As a school boy he had 
 drilled into him the habit of doing every thing well, and 
 the habit clung to him ever after. 
 
 In the year 1828, being fourteen years of age, he was 
 taken from school and placed in his father's dry-goods 
 store. Though standing and serving behind the counter, 
 his mind, according to his own account, was with his 
 books. Writing, when a young man, a little narrative of 
 his life for a friend, he says : " I left school for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining a knowledge of mercantile pursuits, 
 into which I entered immediately, and in which I have 
 been occupied ever since. Many a scolding have I suf- 
 fered for sales made below cost, while my mind was wan- 
 dering to the scenes I had so deeply studied in the 
 Songs of Anacreon or the ^ncid of Virgil." 
 
 If he did not relish this life, it at least prepared him 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 21 
 
 for another which was more congenial. In 1830, being 
 sixteen years of age, he obtained the position of book- 
 keeper in the Methodist Book Concern, New York, then 
 under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. John Emory and 
 the Rev. Beverly Waugh. This now extensive publish- 
 ing house had been founded in 1797 by the Rev. John 
 Dickens, with a capital of $600, furnished by himself, 
 and had grown, after not a few vicissitudes of fortune, to 
 a solid prosperity. Its business was at this period rapid- 
 ly increasing. Dr. Emory, a man of unusual sagacity, 
 had essentially changed its methods, and his associate, 
 Mr. Waugh, devoted himself with scrupulous care to its 
 details. They were both attached friends of. the M'Clin- 
 tock family, and the senior agent. Dr. Emory, was, to the 
 end of his life, Dr. M'Clintock's trusted counselor. What 
 the young clerk owed to the almost paternal interest 
 of his employers he could hardly estimate, but always 
 freely acknowledged. 
 
 The salary would be considered a pittance in these 
 days. It was six dollars per week ; ultimately it became 
 nine dollars ; yet out of it the thrifty book-keeper accu- 
 mulated, as we shall see, a little fund, which he appropri- 
 ated to his education. Mr. Waugh had charge of the 
 accounts, and M'Clintock came under his immediate 
 superintendence. I am told by old friends that he made 
 his first appearance in the counting-room in a " round- 
 about," a blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked lad, full of spirit and 
 activity, and settled down at once to his work. He 
 boarded with the Rev. Samuel Merwin, whose wife 
 watched over him with motherly care. Some of his 
 
22 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 letters written during this period are preserved. After 
 having been in New York a month he writes : — 
 
 New York, July 6, 1880. 
 
 My Dear Parents : — In answer to your inquiry whether I shall 
 have to go to Bennett, [a teacher of book-keeping,] I do not think 
 it will be necessary. Mr. Waugh continues sick, and during his 
 sickness I have kept the books almost altogether. I have very little 
 time to write this letter, so you must excuse it. I went yesterday 
 morning (5th July) to hear Mr. Merwin, (it cost me a shilling,) and in 
 the afternoon walked up Broadway. It is a very splendid street, in- 
 deed. I heard Mr. Luckey preach on Sunday, and like him very 
 well. 
 
 The meaning of ten dollars out of my wages is as follows : I get 
 paid monthly, (as I choose it,) and all I do not want for board I pass 
 to your credit and let you know it. . . . 
 
 Affectionately, John M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 A little later in July he writes : Having had a good 
 deal of business to do down town, I know the town 
 pretty well. The common writing to be done here is 
 not more than twice as much as our own at home ; but 
 about three times a month I have half as much to do as 
 the yearly balancing of the books at home." He does 
 not forget his boyish enjoyments, but notes that he has 
 " a beautiful place to swim, on the East River — no dan- 
 ger, no cost, and can see the bottom." In August he 
 writes to his father : I have got pretty well used to my 
 business, and go on without instructions," and signs him- 
 self with evident pride, " First clerk Methodist Book 
 Concern." 
 
 In the early winter Mr. Waugh had made a favorable 
 report of his success in the performance of his duties. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 23 
 
 He writes in relation to this to his mother : " I read the 
 letter which Mr. Waugh sent to you last week, and I 
 think it was very satisfactory. It would be the height 
 of meanness for me, if I cannot do the balancing, to re- 
 fuse to stay at six dollars per week, as Mr. Waugh has 
 been so kind to me. He does not treat any clerk in the 
 store as he does me." 
 
 This balancing of the books for the first time proved a 
 sore trouble to the young accountant. He was but six- 
 teen years of age, and the business of the house exceeded 
 $250,000 yearly ; and though bright, alert, and familiar 
 with the theory of book-keeping, he was new to its 
 practice. Toward the close of the year he says of one 
 of his brothers: "He will probably have more skating 
 than I will if I stay here, which depends altogether on 
 my balancing. I would give it up, were it not for the 
 disgrace inevitable upon such a step." He had already 
 begun to form the habit of thoroughness, which was 
 characteristic of him through life ; it is not, therefore, 
 surprising to find him writing early in January of the 
 new year: "Two balancings must be finished by 15th of 
 April, 1 83 1. I have begun to go through my books 
 again, to try and rectify them ; if I do not find out the 
 error, I shall not go through them again." 
 
 In March he mentioned again in his correspondence : 
 " My balance book is exactly right on the debtor side, 
 namely, $253,826 06, and on the Cr. side $9 91 cents too 
 much. I shall close it, I think. You can have no idea 
 of the labor and patience necessary to do it. If I had 
 known it, I should never have undertaken it ; but as I 
 
24 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 have, I intend to go through with it. I had rather make 
 up your daily accounts six times than do it." Years 
 after, when he had grown to fame, he turned, in my 
 presence, to the bulky folios over which he had spent so 
 many months, and referred, with a not unreasonable 
 pride, to his youthful work. His neat, even handwriting 
 was conspicuous on every page. 
 
 But though fully occupied with the duties of his clerk- 
 ship, and as happy as a bright, growing youth could be, 
 his heart was not in this work. To earn a support he 
 had reluctantly laid aside his books, and looked forward 
 to the time when he could return to them. His father, 
 who in all this early correspondence displays a most 
 affectionate solicitude for his son's welfare, writes to him 
 near the close of the year 1850: — 
 
 Philadilphia, Dec. 27, 1880. 
 
 My Dear John : — If you cannot balance for want of knowledge, 
 you had better go to Bennett ; this (if you please) you may nnention 
 to Mr. Waugh. The following keep to yourself. There are three 
 avocations, one of which I think you ought to follow for a living. 
 I. You might go to college, finish your education, and trust to it to 
 furnish you the means of support. 2. Stay where you are until it 
 might be thought proper time for you to begin a bookstore ; or, 
 3. Return home and bend all your energies to become a first-rate 
 dry-goods store-keeper. If your mind could be fully placed on the 
 last, it would be more agreeable to your mother and me than either 
 of the others: i. Because we think you might do as well at that as 
 any thing else ; and, 2. Because we would then have the satisfaction 
 of your being at home. I now leave it to yourself to determine, so 
 that you shall neither murmur nor complain hereafter. I trust, my 
 dear John, in whatever decision you may make, you will always re- 
 flect, How can I best ser\-e God and prepare for heaven ? This, you 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 25 
 
 know, is our primary- object respecting our dear children. You will 
 please answer soon. My dear John, did you think of us on Christ- 
 mas } You were much upon our minds and tongues. 
 
 I am, etc., John M'Clintock. 
 
 To this the son wrote the following reply : — • 
 
 New Yokk, Dec. 2S. 1S30. 
 
 My Dear Parents : — I received your letter of 27th inst. to-day. 
 In answer to your inquiries respecting the balancing, I would say, 
 that it is ?ioi for want of information or knowledge that I have not 
 done it ; but there is a mistake somewhere which I cannot discover. 
 I have considered the three propositions in your letter ; and, Jirst, 
 would say that I can give no decided answer at present, till Mr. 
 Waugh says something to me cn the subject ; as, if he is pleased 
 with my work, and will increase my salary as I should desire, I 
 think it decidedly preferable that I should remain here : but 7iot 
 otherwise ! As soon as there is the least whisper, on any hand, that 
 I do not perfectly suit, so soon shall I leave the Concern. On the 
 contrary, should Mr. Waugh or Dr. Emory incline to part with me, 
 or be displeased with me, and not increase my salary at the end of 
 'January, when the next balancing will take place, which I shall try 
 to do, I unqualifiedly accept of the first proposal, namely, to go to 
 college and finish my education. !My reasons for this course I shall 
 give you in full, as follows, namely : — 
 
 1. I think it would be a sin, to say no worse of it, to waste all the 
 education that I have had, and make nothing of it. 
 
 2. If I incline to study medicine, I shall have so good an opfK)r- 
 tunity with James, and at so little expense. 
 
 3. I have enough experience, and enough knowledge in the way of 
 business, to obtain me a situation as clerk, whenever I please, should 
 I not succeed in a profession. I can obtain five hundred dollars per 
 annum — in this way. 
 
 4. My natural taste and inclination have always been for learning, 
 and it always was a mortification of myself and my feelings to at- 
 
26 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 tend dr}'-goods store. I believe this (dry goods) has injured -my 
 health, and would not agree with me, as a business to follow for a 
 living. I am sorry that it appears to you preferable for me to be a 
 dry-goods man ; but I believe, if you consider all the circumstances of 
 the case as above, you will think it best for me to go to college. In- 
 deed, I always thought it your desire that I should do so. Middle- 
 town will be a very good opening. If I go in the course of a few 
 months, I shall be prepared to join the college, which opens in Octo- 
 ber next, with credit and fair prospects. The opportunities for instruc- 
 tion at Middletown will be very good ; very far superior to what can 
 be in Philadelphia, and at about half the price. Mr. Burch will be 
 able to give you all and any information on this subject. However, 
 all this planning is mere fudge if Mr. Waugh increases my salary, 
 as mentioned before. If he does, I have no doubt I shall be a book- 
 seller. All turns upon this hinge. Now for something about my- 
 self. I have always tried, to the best of my ability, during my life, 
 to conduct myself so as not to be a burden, a disgrace, or a grief to 
 my parents, and never more so than during the past year. 
 
 Though I cannot dissemble, or picture things that I do not feel, 
 and have a smooth tongue, and be disobedient at heart ; though I 
 say, I always show the worst side of my character outside, (which 
 probably was the case when I was in Philadelphia last,) I always 
 have, and always will, try to be a comfort to you in your old age. I 
 leave all the above with yourselves, knowing that you will do for me 
 whatever you think best. Give my love to all, etc. 
 
 Your dutiful son, John. 
 
 Early in 1831 the event occurred which determined 
 his subsequent career. He had always been a pure, 
 affectionate, dutiful youth, and had acted from conscien- 
 tious impulses ; but he now dedicated himself wholly to 
 the Christian life. His own account of this important 
 act is contained in the letters which he immediately after 
 wrote to his parents: — 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 27 
 
 Kew York, Feb. 11, 1S31. 
 
 My Dear Parents : — I cannot wait, I must tell you what great 
 things the Lord has done for me. I have informed you that there is 
 a great re valval going on here. It has been progressing for eleven 
 days. On the 3d inst. I resolved, in the strength of the Lord, that I 
 would seek and serve him. And, glory to his name ! in his infinite 
 mercy, I believe that he last evening pardoned all my sins. I can do 
 nothing but praise him. I went to the altar three times. . Last night 
 I stayed till I suppose about eleven o'clock, and Mr. Merwin came 
 and knelt by me. He prayed to the Lord to bless John. He men- 
 tioned my pious parents, my father, my mother; how they had 
 prayed, had agonized for me. Every word went to my heart, and 
 during his prayer, I firmly believe, the Lord turned me from darkness 
 to light, and from the power of Satan to the living God. Mrs. Mer- 
 win appeared as glad as if it were her own son, and Mr. Merwin too. 
 Give my love to all. 
 
 The work is very great here among the young men. Ten, I think, 
 were converted on Wednesday evening, and a number last night. 
 We have meetings morning, afternoon, and night ; prayer-meetings 
 during the intervals all day, without cessation. Mr. Merwin and 
 family send love to you. 
 
 Pray for your affectionate son, John M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 New York, Feb. 15, 1S31. 
 
 My Dear Parents :— I suppose you received my last letter, 
 wherein I gave you an account of what the Lord has done for me. 
 To his name be the glory forever ! I am resolved to press on to the 
 mark for the prize of my high calling which is of God in Christ 
 Jesus. You will read in the " Advocate " a short account of the great 
 and wonderful revival among us, and also at Lansingburgh and White 
 Plains. The north appears to be giving up : let the south keep no 
 longer back. We have meetings in Allen-street Church from half 
 past ten in the morning till, generally, eleven at night. I never saw 
 such crowded congregations as we have now, and every soul appears 
 to be as attentive as the preacher himself. The immense throng 
 
28 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 hangs over the gallery, breathless and silent, wondering at the work 
 of the Almighty. The altars are crowded every time an oppor- 
 tunity ofifers. Eighty-two joined the Church on probation yesterday, 
 and from appearances this is but the beginning of good days. 
 In haste, your affectionate son, John M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 The " Old Allen-street Church," as it is still affection- 
 ately called, was, in New York, very much such a one 
 as the St. George's in Philadelphia, that is, it was noted 
 for its vigor. After the lapse of more than forty years 
 the revival of 1831 and 1832 is still mentioned as one of 
 the notable events of its long history. It was strong in 
 possessing such office-bearers as Schureman and Samuel 
 Halsted, Henry Moore, Dr. Palmer, and others whose 
 names and memories are still fragrant in the Churches. 
 The accessions during this memorable year reached sev- 
 eral hundred. Among the youths who then united with 
 the Church was Robert Emory, the son of Dr. Emory, 
 and in after life M'Clintock's close personal friend. 
 
 The young convert's time, when not occupied with 
 business, was now wholly given to religious exercises. 
 Meetings were held during the winter without cessation. 
 He Avrites, " I attend regularly Saturday night prayer- 
 meeting, class Friday night, and there is preaching every 
 night." He remarks frequently on the great numbers 
 who join the Church, and is all aflame with zeal. The 
 powerful impulse of a new life was quickly felt in the re- 
 awakening of his hunger for a thorough education. How- 
 ever faithfully he might perform his clerkly duties, he yet 
 looked beyond them. The opening of the Wesleyan 
 University at Middletown offered him, he thought, the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK, 
 
 29 
 
 long-desired opportunity. His correspondence with his 
 parents in relation to this step was long and anxious. 
 Considerations of means to meet the necessary expense, 
 of fiUal obligation, were weighed carefully, and the de- 
 cision was reached only after a minute discussion of every 
 detail. With all his eagerness, however, he leaves the 
 final decision to his father. July 9, 1831, he writes: — 
 
 After mature deliberation and a great deal of solicitude, with the 
 advice — the considerate advice — of Father Merwin, I have concluded, 
 if it is agreeable to you, to go to Middletown College. The college 
 will commence on September i. It would be necessary for me to 
 leave the Book Room early in August, as there would be prepara- 
 tion necessary. Write immediately to Mr. Waugh ; request him, if 
 he can, to procure another clerk, etc. ; though, if he will not, I shall 
 have to remain here. If this attempt should fail I will give up going 
 to college at all. 
 
 Read in the last " Advocate " the communication respecting the 
 Wesleyan University. I could board for from fifty to seventy cents 
 per week. You know that I always preferred a life of study, and 
 that clerkship is not agreeable, though I have not said much about 
 it. I think it a providential opening, and the best course I could 
 pursue. After this, if I do not go ttow, it will be too late. I shall be 
 on nettles till you write to Mr. Waugh. 
 
 He writes again that this would be the " pivot " on 
 which his life would turn, and is confident that he can 
 crowd the work of four years into two. His impatient 
 eagerness brought a rebuke from home, and momentari- 
 ly the scheme was abandoned, and under this impression 
 he writes to his father : — 
 
 I see pretty clearly that the way is not, nor do I think it will ever 
 be, open for me to go ; and I shall give up all thoughts and inten- 
 
30 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 tions on that subject, I think, and turn myself, though it may be with 
 violence, to business pursuits. The prosecution of my studies at 
 Middletown would not cost at most over three hundred dollars. I 
 have two hundred and fifty dollars now — but enough on that subject. 
 It may be all for the best. 
 
 The tenacity in executing a cherished purpose, which 
 always distinguished him, was conspicuous here. He 
 sent home for his Caesar, Sallust, Grammar, and Greek 
 Testament, engaged a teacher to give him night lessons, 
 and busied himself in getting ready for an opportunity 
 which might never come. If the way does not open this 
 year it may the next. His strong nature is a sufficient 
 prompting, and so he writes to his sister : — 
 
 The subject that occupies all my spare time and fills all my leisure 
 thoughts is that of going to college at Middletown. I have entered 
 upon a course of study to enable me to prepare by next August to 
 enter the University. Still, if it be thought best I should not go. and 
 that I should turn my attention to being a merchant, I should like to 
 know immediately, so that I may not be under the necessity of spend- 
 ing my nights this winter in study and my days in toil. 
 
 Still, I cannot see any particular use for my going to college ; but 
 yet, on the other hand, there is something within that seems to tell 
 me I must go. Should Providence continue to bless me with health 
 and strength, I think that it will not be said that I have not improved 
 my opportunities. 
 
 I should like very much, if I be enabled to pursue the college course, 
 to obtain some foreign situation, as I am very desirous of visiting 
 European countries, particularly Ireland, England, and France. 
 
 But this is all building castles in the air, which is not very profit- 
 able business for a clerk in the Book Room at nine dollars per week. 
 However, I do not despair, if God be willing, that I shall yet be 
 something more than that. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 3I 
 
 Early in 1832 he was able to give his employers, 
 Messrs. Emory and Waugh, notice of his intention to 
 leave on May i. They were loth to part with their clerk, 
 and wished him to remain till June 15. He is fearful 
 of being detained still longer, and sends this message to 
 his father: "Should Messrs. Emory and Waugh make 
 any proposition to you relative to my remaining after 
 June 15, I ask that you will not listen to them." 
 
 On the first of May of this year the General Conference 
 assembled in the Union Church, Philadelphia, then com- 
 monly known as the " Academy." The Book Agents 
 were these to render an account of their stewardship, 
 and changes were expected. It was rumored that Dr. 
 Emory, who, with his colleague, had laid solid founda- 
 tions for the great house, and doubled its business, would 
 be elected a bishop. This expectation was verified. 
 Mr. Waugh was returned as senior Agent, and late in 
 June young M'Clintock found himself free of the count- 
 ing-room and at home. 
 
 He had developed rapidly in the two years ; body and 
 mind had grown ; he had entered fully into an earnest 
 Christian life, and had found his vocation. In the brief 
 snatches of his correspondence which we have cited it 
 has been impossible to reproduce its sweet affection- 
 ateness, and the deference this son paid to the wishes 
 of his father and mother. A single word or hint from 
 either restrained the eagerness of an impetuous tem- 
 perament. In his intercourse with them there was no 
 secrecy, no hidden purpose which he was ashamed to 
 reveal ; all was as open as day, and as loving as though 
 
32 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 he had been but a child. This combination of manli- 
 ness and gentleness, of ardor and ready submission to 
 recognized law, remained a life-long characteristic of Dr. 
 M'Clintock. 
 
 He began this year a Diary," which is the most valu- 
 able memorial now remaining of his busy life. Accord- 
 ing to the religious fashion of forty years ago, it is, in its 
 earlier entries, mainly introspective — a register of aspira- 
 tions, self-communion, and self-condemnation, such as is 
 invariably to be found in personal records of this type. 
 John Foster advises every man to write his own memoirs ; 
 a feat possible, perhaps, when life is closing, when one 
 can dimly see its full meaning. Still, even the poorest 
 diary is valuable as a history ; and this one, which Dr. 
 M'Clintock has left us, furnishes a very vivid picture of 
 his daily activities. We shall use it freely in the course 
 of our narrative. 
 
 Its first entry, dated July 29, 1832, is a devout dedica- 
 tion of himself to the service of God, a dedication never 
 retracted. From 1832 to 1870, thirty-eight years, it re- 
 mained the guiding principle of his conduct. It was the 
 fruitful germ out of which all his subsequent life was 
 developed : — 
 
 I, John M'Clintock, Jun., being seventeen years and eight months 
 past of age, seeing the folly of all earthly things, and being determined 
 to seek happiness in the religion of Jesus Christ, in which alone, I am 
 convinced, it may be found ; do fully and willingly, yet firmly and 
 steadfastly, "give myself up, through Jesus power, his name to 
 glorify." Resigning every earthly hope, every worldly enjoyment, 
 (except in subordination to the great end of saving my soul,) I do, 
 in the strength of the Lord God of Hosts, and trusting in the assist- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 33 
 
 ance of his grace, dedicate my soul and my body, my time, my tal- 
 ents, and my all, to his service. May God help me ! 
 
 Witness my hand, JOHN M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 With the help of the Lord, without which I can do nothing-, I will 
 live by the following rules, until I shall find it expedient or profita- 
 ble to alter or amend them : — 
 
 1. Rising as early as I awake. Prayer first. Reading the Scrip- 
 tures by Stone's Guide — four chapters in the morning. Occupy one 
 hour, if time will permit, before breakfast, in reading and prayer. 
 
 2. Uniformly pray at noon. 
 
 3. The hour before retiring to rest, (or at least part of it,) which I 
 have fixed at half-past ten o'clock, must be devoted to religious 
 reading and prayer, with the keeping of this diary. 
 
 4. Sabbath afternoons will be devoted to religious reading, prayer, 
 self-examination, etc. 
 
 5. I will attend diligently (according to the rules which I have laid 
 down) to the prosecution of my studies. 
 
 6. " Live, not to eat and drink, but eat and drink to five." May 
 God assist me, that I may not trust in my own merits, or in the 
 performance of duty, but in the blood of Jesus Christ his Son ! 
 Amen. 
 
 The attempt to make life purely mechanical, accord- 
 ing to the scheme of these resolutions, was followed 
 by the usual results. The ardent youth found himself 
 continually failing. The very next entry is one of hu- 
 miliation : — 
 
 " July 3, 1832. Truly I am fickle as the winds. This 
 day I have made no progress in the life of godliness, 
 but have sinned grievously against the Preserver of my 
 existence. May he take away the pride of my heart ! " 
 
 The next day he complains that he performs his re- 
 ligious duties in a dull and listless manner; soon after 
 3 
 
34 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 that his faith is weak, that his mind wanders when it 
 ought to be fixed on serious subjects, that his prayers 
 are cold. The rigid subjection of his youthful nature 
 to the iron rule which he has prescribed for it creates a 
 perpetual conflict, in which he often suffers defeat. That 
 these resolute efforts to acquire self-discipline were not 
 ineffective one cannot doubt. His entries soon, however, 
 cease to be of the regulation pattern, and before the 
 month is out he sums up his wants in a single sentence, 
 which is wholly like himself: These two things I desire 
 very much; i. A clean heart; 2. A clear head." One 
 more entry, and we will dismiss the introspective phase 
 of the diary. It belongs to the latter end of July, 
 1832:— 
 
 All mankind are under sentence of death, certain to be executed, 
 and at an hour of which we know not. The short and uncertain 
 time allowed us between the sentence and execution will deteimine 
 our condition for eternity. Then thoughtless, unremitting pleasure, 
 is the greatest indecency ; a fondness for the world, the greatest 
 folly ; and self-indulgence, downright madness. On the contrary, 
 constant seriousness of temper, a universal care and exactness of 
 life, an indifference for the world, self-denial, sobriety, and watchful- 
 ness, must be our greatest wisdom. 
 
 (These are the words of Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and 
 Man.) Truly, then, I must lack wisdom, I must be a consummate 
 fool, and a " downright madman." Nor is this too harsh judgment ; 
 for do I deny myself continually? On the contrary, are not my 
 thoughts too much taken up with supplying my wants and my appe- 
 tites Not, to be sure, the grosser appetites — eating, drinking, and 
 sensual indulgences. But when I fall upon an entertaining book, 
 how do I bur>^ myself in it, forgetting all things else ! and even, for 
 a time, forgetting God ! This is not as it should be. Lord, help me 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 35 
 
 to keep thee always before my eyes ! to have no other hope or trust 
 but in the merits of thy Son, Jesus Christ! 
 
 And so this young man, searching himself after John 
 Wesley's fashion, could find no greater charge to write 
 down than this, that he loved his book too well ! It was 
 a failing he had all through life, but he soon learned that, 
 if a failing, it leaned very much to virtue's side. The 
 clean heart and the clear head came into harmony by 
 and by. 
 
 Early in September of this year he left home for the 
 Wesleyan University, Middletown. His boyish dreams 
 were at last to have their fulfillment. But, as if to teach 
 him patience, his pretty fabric of hope came down very 
 quickly to the ground. In less than a week after his 
 arrival at the University he was taken seriously ill. 
 Days of pain and prostration followed, so that he was 
 compelled to return home. I intend, however," he re- 
 cords in his diary, if my health will allow, to prosecute 
 my studies privately this winter, and to go on again with 
 a collegiate course, should my way be clear." Toward 
 the end of October he entered the Freshman Class of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, in his native city. It was in 
 the middle of the term ; his preparation was, no doubt, 
 in some particulars defective. Hard work was requisite 
 to bring him up, and the hard work was not wanting. 
 
 With a mind constituted and cultured as we have 
 here seen, the predetermination of young M'Clintock to 
 a ministerial life was almost assured. His Church had 
 taught him the need of a divine call to this service, not 
 certainly in any preternatural sense, but as made apparent 
 
36 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in a clear conviction of duty. This remains, according 
 to the teaching of Methodism, with the Christian minis- 
 ter, as the answer which he may give to his own con- 
 science for assuming the sacred function. The call of 
 the Church has been deemed equally requisite as a direct 
 authorization, without which no one may assume to teach 
 the people. By this twofold vocation the Christian com- 
 munity is guarded, on the one side against the inroads 
 of fanaticism, and on the other against the degradation 
 of the ministry to the level of a merely secular pursuit. 
 
 I have had," writes the subject of our memoir, ''many 
 serious struggles as to whether I should determine to 
 prepare myself, if the Lord should call me, to the work 
 of the ministry. I have had much and very good ad- 
 vice, and after serious deliberation and prayer upon 
 the subject, have come to the conclusions: i. To en- 
 deavor to live to the honor of God. 2. To bend all my 
 studies toward the ministry. 3. To wait the openings 
 of his Providence, and may he guide and direct me 
 through it all ! " 
 
 He had not to wait long for " the openings of Provi- 
 dence." On the 24th of March, 1833, he makes the 
 entry : " I was informed yesterday that I am on trial as 
 an exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church. This 
 has been done without my knowledge, without my seek- 
 ing; if it be the will of God and he have opened the 
 way, I doubt not that all will be made clear." A month 
 after he received exhorter's license. He writes of himself : 
 ''Though I feel my utter un^vorthiness, yet Christ is 
 worthy, and in him I trust for support and safety." In 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 37 
 
 November of this year he made his first essay at speak- 
 ing in a church, was much embarrassed, but not discour- 
 aged by the result. His course of life is by this time 
 clear to him, and he sums up his future career in these 
 words : — 
 
 My mind is now pretty clearly made up that it is the will of God 
 that I should be a Methodist preacher. Many causes have induced 
 me to come to this conclusion, which I hope I have reached in the fear 
 of the Lord, and with a single eye to his glory. I humbly believe 
 that my heart is now firmly fixed to serve the Lord in any way that 
 he may appoint, and though I am often, very often, drawn aside by 
 temptation, I am still endeavoring to walk in the narrow way. I see, 
 however, much sin, great depravity, existing in my heart ; and my 
 desire and prayer to God is, that I may be made pure and holy. 
 
 This final decision cost him no little effort. He was 
 naturally, I may say instinctively, very ambitious, had a 
 keen sense of the value of wealth, and the enjoyable- 
 ness of a great fame. The Methodist ministry was to 
 his mind a complete surrender of both. Its emoluments 
 were then small, its opportunities of culture very slen- 
 der, its incessant change disheartening to him as a 
 student. He had learned by this time enough of his 
 capabilities to be aware that he might expect to attain 
 eminence in any profession ; what opportunities he might 
 have in an itinerant life for the gratification of his schol- 
 arly tastes he could not know. The prospect must 
 have appeared to him dark enough. His dedication to 
 this service was, therefore, a surrender of his preferences 
 to his convictions of duty. True, he found, according 
 to the divine order, that he who gives up all, finds all 
 
38 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 again ; but this was not so clear to him at the beginning. 
 Nor did he ever, in after years, look back with any lin- 
 gering regrets upon the choice which he had made. To 
 the end of his days the appellation which he most 
 prized was that of a " Methodist preacher ; " whatever 
 else he was, he was a minister of Christ's Gospel, first, 
 last, and always. His love went with his decision, and 
 he gloried in the vocation to which he had consecrated 
 his life. 
 
 The calls of the recognizing and approving Church 
 followed in quick succession. In December of this sam.e 
 year he was proposed as local preacher, on a month's 
 probation, as was then the cautious practice of Philadel- 
 phia Methodism. " This proposal," he writes in his 
 diary, " was made without my knowledge, by one of the 
 old preachers ; so that all my movements hitherto to- 
 ward preaching the everlasting Gospel have been under 
 the direction of the Church. I have not, therefore, to 
 all human appearance, ' run before I was sent ; ' and I 
 hope that so the case is in the eye of Heaven. Were I 
 not convinced that it is my duty to preach the Gospel, 
 the whole world would not induce me to assume the 
 awful responsibility of the ministerial office ; but, blessed 
 be God ! I believe that his grace will be sufficient for 
 me in every form of trial." 
 
 About this time — the close of the year 1833 — he wit- 
 nessed and records an event which left a lasting impres- 
 sion on Philadelphia Methodism, the dedication of the 
 new Union Church. The edifice which the new struc- 
 ture displaced was still known as the Academy." It 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 39 
 
 was begun in 1741, by Whitefield, whose design was 
 that it should furnish forever a preaching place for itin- 
 erant ministers. He left the property encumbered with 
 debt. In 1749 it was bought by Franklin, and con- 
 verted into the first Academy of Philadelphia. Here, 
 in 1753, the college of the city, which subsequently 
 expanded into the University of Pennsylvania, was 
 placed. When, after the removal of the national capi- 
 tal to Washington, the president's house, on Ninth- 
 street, was vacated, the University was removed thither, 
 and the Methodists obtained possession of the south 
 part of the edifice. It was, as fitted up for their 
 worship, the embodiment of the simplicity so much 
 affected by the people of the Quaker city. The outer 
 doors opened directly upon the assembly room ; the 
 sexes were separated in the arrangement of the seats by 
 a line distinctly marked. The solid benches, innocent 
 of all cushions, suggested massive strength. The white 
 pulpit, set well aloft, and reached by a winding stair, 
 looked to youthful eyes a place of awful sanctity. Here 
 assembled the elite of the Methodism of Philadelphia ; 
 for the "Academy" was easily at the head of the 
 Churches. Its leaders. Dr. Sargent, Inglis, Benson, 
 Chubb, Wilmer, Yard, and others well known in their 
 day, were men of solid worth. James B. Longacre pre- 
 sided over the Sunday-school with a devotion that never 
 wearied. The society represented a type of ^Methodism 
 in which enthusiasm was moderated, but not quenched. 
 It was noted for its charities, among which its numer- 
 ous mission-schools were not the least conspicuous. 
 
40 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 The new church, which is still standing, was thought 
 in that day a marvel of beauty. It is, however, no more 
 than a plain brick building, with its gable facing the 
 street, and wholly without architectural pretensions ; 
 but the luxuries of carpeted floors, and a pulpit of pol- 
 ished mahogany, and the harmonious blending of colors 
 in the decoration of the interior, were then considered 
 magnificent. " The collection," writes M'Clintock in his 
 diary, " amounted to nearly one thousand dollars," a 
 sum without precedent in those simple times. To some 
 of us young folk the greatest charm of the church was 
 the circulating library generously provided for its mem- 
 bers ; and v\-hat astonishment was created in the minds 
 of its staid trustees when Dr. Sargent recommended the 
 purchase of Walter Scott's romances, then greatly de- 
 lighting the world, for its shelves ! 
 
 Young M'Clintock's religious ardor was no drawback 
 to his progress as a student. He was soon in the front 
 rank of his class. The reports of Professor Reed, the 
 Secretary of the Faculty, place him " number one on the 
 merit roll." Heart and mind were both awakening to 
 the highest activity. We have recommenced," he says, 
 " the University prayer-meetings on Friday afternoons. 
 On last Friday I had some liberty in speaking and pray- 
 ing with a few fellow-students. O, that I were more 
 faithful in relation to them ! " 
 
 Having stood at the head of the Sophomore Class for 
 several months he made a leap to the Junior, abridging 
 his college term by one year. He thus speaks of this 
 event : — 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 41 
 
 By a strenuous effort I this day passed an examina- 
 tion for entrance into the Junior Class, University of 
 Pennsylvania, thus abridging the collegiate term by one 
 year. But though in literature my advancement has 
 been gratifying to myself yet I fear that it has been at 
 the expense of religion. O when shall I be entirely de- 
 voted to God ! swallowed up in his will ! " 
 
 This rapid ascent was the beginning of a series of 
 strenuous exertions of all his mental and physical en- 
 ergy, which ended in impairing a fine constitution, and 
 rendering Dr. M'Clintock a martyr to attacks of illness 
 during the rest of his life. In one respect he could not 
 help himself. His father's business was unprosperous, 
 and not long after this date ended in disaster. But 
 more than all else, it was then the practice of the Church 
 to hurry young men of promise into the active ministry. 
 There was a half-confessed fear that knowledge would 
 spoil the nascent preacher and unfit him for his duties. 
 Never was maxim more perverted than John Wesley's 
 " Getting knowledge is good, but saving souls is better." 
 It turned the scale against culture to the injury of many 
 an ardent youth. No doubt the necessities of the 
 Church were urgent. In the case of the subject of our 
 memoir the conflict of feeling must have been severe. 
 The pursuit of knowledge he could not give up, nor 
 could he disregard the calls of the Church. He decided 
 to do his full duty to both Church and University, and 
 what he decided he executed with all the force of an iron 
 will, but with such consequences to himself as this nar- 
 rative will be much occupied in describing. 
 
42 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 He entered the Junior Class of the Univ^ersity in 
 March, 1834, ranking as number fourteen; by the end 
 of July he is " number six, with distinction." This was 
 nearly the last of his University residence ; the rest of 
 his college work he accomplished single-handed, while 
 occupied with the active duties of the pastorate. His 
 first summons was from the Rev. J. J. Matthias, to Flem- 
 ington. New Jersey, where he spent the long college 
 vacation of 1834 in preaching. Despite all his plans to 
 the contrary, he found himself next autumn in charge of 
 the Church at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. How this 
 was brought about we will let him describe himself : — 
 
 Elizabethtown, N. J., October 17, 1834. 
 
 After much enjoyment of soul and body on the Fleming-ton Circuit, 
 I left it and returned to Philadelphia about September i. The 
 cause of my sudden departure was the failure of my father, who, by 
 the accidents of business and other causes, was compelled to stop 
 payment and close his concerns. The circumstances of his failure 
 have been very trying and mortifying- to himself and the family ; but 
 we have been kindly treated by all our true friends, though some 
 who called themselves friends may have forgotten their friendship. 
 I have enjoyed myself well in every respect since, and have enjoyed 
 much of the favor of God. Yet how unworthy have I been, how 
 vain, how trifling, how childish. 
 
 I entered anew, on September 15, upon my duties at the Univer- 
 sity, having formed the resolution tc spend this winter closely in their 
 performance. But call after call has been made upon me to fill va- 
 cancies in the ministerial ranks, and though convictions of my own 
 weakness and incapacity, and desires for self-improvement, operated 
 strongly, inducing- me to remain at home, I began to think that duty 
 called me to obey. Finally, my esteemed friend and brother William 
 H. Gilder was compelled to leave his appointment at this place on 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 43 
 
 account of ill health, and his powerful calls were added to the rest. 
 After advice, thought, and prayer, I formed the resolution to set for- 
 ward in the strength of giace ; and in pursuance of this resolution left 
 my home yesterday morning, and arrived in this place last night. 
 
 / have a fearful task before me. I must maintain the regular 
 course of college study, and attend, at the same time, to the duties 
 of the station. O God, my hope is in thee ! Fearfully and trem- 
 blingly, yet with "a glad heart and free," do I enter upon this high 
 and holy work. O Lord, be thou my strength and support, and I 
 shall succeed. 
 
 It was, indeed, a fearful task he had before him, but he 
 knew no such word as fail. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the affectionateness with which 
 he writes and speaks of his parents. Though practically 
 his own master and shaping his life for himself, he turns 
 to them for counsel, or sends them words of good cheer. 
 Every important step is freely discussed in his correspond- 
 ence with them. He writes from home to his mother, 
 who had left the city for a short time in poor health : — 
 
 Philadelphia, Tuesday, A ngust 26, 1S34. 
 I arrived at home this afternoon in perfect health and spirits, 
 and am glad to find that things are going on so well. I never 
 enjoyed myself more in my life than since I have been gone : the 
 kindest people, and some the most pious, that I have ever met with. 
 I was up in Brother Force's district, at Asbury camp-meeting, 
 among the mountains in Warren County, N. J., and was much per- 
 suaded to remain among them. I was also at Pennington camp- 
 meeting, (Brother Gilder's,) where many kind friends inquired after 
 you. Moreover, the presiding elder presses me hard to go to the 
 Plainfield Station, until Conference, in the room of Brother Janes, 
 who is ill ; but I believe that my duty lies at home for the present, 
 and, therefore, I shall stay there. 
 
44 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 And now I wish to tell you that I am happy despite all circum- 
 stances outwardly, and pray sincerely that you may be so. 
 
 Do not let the matter which is now brought to a close distress 
 you at all. Rest assured that our real friends will think none the 
 worse of us ; and we should not care for the opinions of others, I 
 think all will go better ; we shall have peace and quietness within, 
 whatever may be without. You have children who will always labor 
 to make you happy, blessed with health and strength ; and " with 
 the Lord on our side, we need not fear what man can do unto us." 
 
 P. S. Be assured that all is going on well at home. You need be 
 under no uneasiness. Enjoy yourself now — do enjoy yourself. 
 
 The next, to his father, is in the same strain : — 
 
 Elizabetutown, N. J., Monday^ Jan. 12, 1S35. 
 
 I arrived safely, with all my concerns, on the evening of the 
 stormy Friday on which I left you, after a pleasantly cold ride of 
 eight hours. My health has been very good since my return, so 
 that, of myself, I have no news to communicate. 
 
 I have preached regularly three times each Sabbath. Yesterday 
 we had the largest congregation, I think, that I have seen in the 
 place, and very attentive, and I sincerely hope that good was done. 
 Four joined at the love-feast : and we expect as many more to join at 
 the next general class-meeting. 
 
 Our next, and last. Quarterly Conference for this station will be 
 held on February 9. At the Quarterly Meeting, the presiding elder. 
 Brother Matthias, in his conversation with me, thought it best that I 
 should obtain recommendation from that conference to the Annual 
 Conference, and told me that, should I be admitted, my stay in 
 college from April until the time of graduation might be allowed 
 without difficulty ; and that, therefore, I could take a circuit at the 
 ensuing Conference, a substitute being provided until I could join 
 the station in June. 
 
 It has been my view of the subject to follow the plan laid down 
 by the presiding elder ; but, of course, I should not take so impor- 
 tant a step without m.ore particular advice than I have yet had from 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 45. 
 
 you in the case. I, therefore, lay the subject before you for considera- 
 tion, wishing an answer as soon as you may find time. I have had 
 no letter since my return, and am anxious to hear the state of 
 affairs. 
 
 I have not, as yet, attended Dr. Adrain, [his private instructor in 
 mathematics.] I shall study as much as possible before applying to 
 him, because the cost pulls pretty heavily on my slender purse, and 
 I wish to be as economical as I can. The books necessary for 
 this last collegiate term will be very costly. 
 
 I should like to know Dr. Wylie's opinion of my standing and 
 prospects in college, for I value his opinion at no small rate. My 
 
 friend , of Columbia College, lost the favor of his best friend 
 
 among the professors by crossing his will. However, I am not con- 
 scious of any such misdeeds on my part with regard to the profes- 
 sors in our University. I trust that I am on good terms with 
 them all. 
 
 It shall always be my endeavor to do all that I can, in any way, 
 for the happiness of my parents. And although I am unfortunately 
 deficient in the power of expressing outwardly, and at all times, my 
 good feelings, still I am unwilling to charge myself with wilful disre- 
 gard of parental advice, or wilful injury of parental feeling. 
 
 Very decided objection was made by the new provost 
 of the University, the Rev. Dr. Ludlow, to M'CHntock's 
 long absence from college duty, necessitated by the tak- 
 ing of the pastoral charge at Elizabethtown. A part 
 of the winter was, therefore, spent in Philadelphia. 
 At the session of the Philadelphia Conference, April, 
 1835, he was received on trial as a travelling preacher, 
 and appointed to Jersey City. He removed immediately 
 to his new field of labor, and still continuing his studies, 
 graduated A.B. at the University, July 26, with distin- 
 guished honor. 
 
46 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 He was now fairly entered upon his life-work, and saw 
 his career plainly before him. His preparation for it 
 had taxed all his energies, but his plan had been exe- 
 cuted with entire success. Four years of university 
 training had been crowded into three, and one of these 
 had been spent in preaching. He was now in his twen- 
 ty-first year. In person he was of medium height, florid 
 in complexion, alert in movement, and winning in man- 
 ner. His voice, though not of great compass, was 
 melodious, and his bearing graceful. A stranger, seeing 
 him for the first time, was struck at once with the large 
 size of the head, and the almost spherical roundness of 
 the forehead. His facility in the acquisition of knowl- 
 edge, which he had by this time tested, gave him the 
 assurance of rapid success. He had, however, paid too 
 large a price for his victory. He was destined to find, 
 very shortly, that the foundations of his strength had 
 been undermined, and that much of his life was to be a 
 long battle with disease. 
 
 LETTERS FROM JULY, 1832, TO JUNE, 1835. 
 L 
 
 Philadelphia, July 5, 1882. 
 
 My dear Samuel : — Though but a short time has elapsed since 
 my leaving you and your city, and though, during that time, I have 
 been almost constantly engaged in a round of visiting and receiving 
 visits, of outgoing and incoming, still I have found time often to think 
 with regret on the numerous friends and enjoyments I left behind on 
 quitting New York. 
 
 But, after all, home is still home. The heartfelt joy with which I 
 know I am received in my own father's house, as well as the cor- 
 dial and oft-repeated congratulations of my many friends, cannot 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 47 
 
 but be grateful to a human heart, especially one of my peculiar 
 temperament. 
 
 I entered upon my studies on Monday last with fixed resolutions, 
 ardent feelings, and confident expectations of continuing the pursuit 
 of them closely and successfully. I was in the full enjoyment of the 
 rich blessing which Sterne has so beautifully and forcibly addressed : — 
 " O blessed health ! thou art above ^11 gold and treasure : 'tis thou 
 who enlargest the soul, and openest all its powers to receive instruc- 
 tion, and to relish virtue ! He who hath thee, hath little more to 
 wish for ; and he who is so wretched as to want thee, wants every 
 thing with thee ! " I was soon taught, that in order to preserve this 
 state of health I must be more regular in all things. 
 
 I have been highly gratified, and I think profited, too, by reading, 
 during the past week, the " Life of Stoner." What humility, what 
 judgment, decision, and true godliness were evinced in that man's life 
 and conduct. And I think I have never read any religious experi- 
 ence that so fully coincides with my own as does his, laid down in his 
 diary. His constant fear of the risings of pride, in particular, strikes 
 me as exhibiting a peculiar feature of my own character. Does it 
 not of yours? Pride ! pride ! pride ! — "that secret bosom sin!" 
 God help us to expel it ! 
 
 I still find myself, notwithstanding my numerous resolutions, the 
 same weak, sinful, erring mortal that I ever was. But God knows 
 that my desire is to seek and to serve him ; to leave the world be- 
 hind, with its allurements and its vanities, and strive to lay up my 
 "treasure in heaven." Ah! I am but an earthen vessel! But, 
 blessed be his name ! " God has committed this treasure to earth- 
 en vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and 
 not of us ! " 
 
 Do you pray for me ? Will you fix on a day in the week, and an 
 hour, in which our prayers shall ascend before the throne for each 
 other — when each shall know that, at the self-same hour, the other 
 is supplicating the Father of both for him ? Fix upon a time that 
 will suit yourself, and notify me in your next — your first letter — which 
 I shall look for daily, eagerly, and earnestly. My feeble prayers have 
 
48 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 been offered, and shall be offered up for you, that the Lord may 
 guide you in the path of hfe by his unerring counsel— 
 
 " A friend is worth all hazards we can run: 
 Poor is the friendless master of a world ; 
 A world in purchase for a friend is gain." 
 
 Truly the communion of friends is sweet. But if an earthly friend- 
 ship is worth this sacrifice, of how much greater value is the friend- 
 ship of Him " that sticketh closer than a brother ? " Shall we, then, in 
 consideration of almost nothing in comparison to the world, forego 
 this friendship ? God forbid it ! O, my brother, hold fast whereunto 
 you have obtained ; and may your life indeed be with Christ in God. 
 
 Mr. Saml-el a. Puedy. 
 
 II. 
 
 Philadelphia, Not, 17, 1S32. 
 
 Dear Andrus : — My quandaries have all been settled at last : 
 law, physic, business, and every thing else have been given up, and I 
 am now bending all my energies to the acquirement of knowledge — 
 yes, college knowledge. I entered the University of Pennsylvania, as 
 a Freshman, on 30th ultimo, and I have since been advancing in my 
 studies with all desirable rapidity. My health is at present tolerable. 
 Had I not been engaged in the University, I should have paid you a 
 visit last week ; as some business in Massachusetts, together with my 
 desire to see you all, would have warranted my taking the trip. But 
 it is not so, and 1 shall now probably not see you until next year. 
 At that time, Deo volente, I expect to enjoy that pleasure. 
 
 I intend to return to the Wesleyan University at the beginning 
 of the Sophomore or Junior years, which will be either next year 
 or the year foUov/ing, With the institution to which I am now at- 
 tached I am highly pleased. Professors, instruction, buildings, and 
 all are first-rate, but then Dr. Fisk is not here, nor are the good 
 religious brethren whom I was so highly delighted with at Middle- 
 town. The difference between the character of the students is truly 
 surprising; and in no particular is this difference more strikingly per- 
 ceptible than in their conversation concerning their after life. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 49 
 
 But though our students generally think nothing of religion or its 
 Author, still they do not molest or interfere with those who follow 
 Jesus of Nazareth. And I hope, by the grace of God aiding me, to 
 be enabled to " hold on the even tenor of my way." I hope that the 
 many temptations that surround me may all work together for my 
 good, and that my soul and body, time and powers, may all be de- 
 voted to the service of Him who created and redeemed me. The 
 follies of my fellow-students have thus far only served to disgust me 
 with their trifling ; and their ideas of pleasure and enjoyment have 
 therefore only deepened the impressions made upon my mind, that 
 "the ways of religion" alone "are ways of pleasantness," and that 
 " her paths " alone " are the paths of peace," 
 
 Deeply sensible that I myself am not what I must be in religion, I 
 feel at this time, more than ever, the need of God's assisting grace. 
 And yet I am not near as earnest in prayer, as constant and uniform 
 in devotion, as careful and watchful over my words and actions as 1 
 must be, in order to be able to testify by my life, and walk, and con- 
 versation, that I have been with Christ and learned of him. This 
 testimony I must bear before my companions in the University, for I 
 shall be a poor witness for my Master, indeed, if they do not find 
 it out. 
 
 Dear Andrus, I wish you could take the wings of one of the steam- 
 boats and come to see me. It does delight me much to see any one 
 from New York ; how much would it, therefore, should you come 
 But I must close. 
 
 Mr. TiMOTHT A. HOWB. 
 
 HI. 
 
 Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 1833. 
 
 I am now in possession of all that I can desire for the enjoyment 
 
 of life : pursuing studies in which I delight without interruption, in 
 
 the bosom of my own father's household ; privileged with all means 
 
 of temporal and spiritual improvement — what an account will I have 
 
 to give for the use of all these blessings ! May God help me to 
 
 devote all to him and his service ! I did anticipate on my entrance 
 4 
 
50 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 into the University of Pennsylvania that my connexion with it would 
 prove rather a clog to my religious enjoyments than an assistance 
 on the road to heaven. But I now hope, through the blessing of 
 our heavenly Father, that the latter will be the case in an eminent 
 degree. There are among the students about fifteen professors of 
 religion, belonging to different denominations. Among these are 
 several of ardent, deep piety, and among them all there prevails a 
 spirit of fellowship and unanimity, with a desire to promote the inter- 
 ests of religion among the students generally, that cannot fail, with 
 the blessing of Heaven, of producing highly beneficial results both to 
 themselves and to the institution. We hold a prayer-meeting every 
 Wednesday afternoon after the college hours. I had attended but 
 one of these previously to my illness, which was highly interesting. 
 All appeared to be resolved to do their utmost as instruments in the 
 hands of God in the promotion of a revival, and O ! that God in his 
 infinite mercy would abundantly prosper our humble, feeble efforts, 
 warm our hearts, and strengthen our hands to labor in his cause. 
 
 I feel continually, my dear brother, the need of a closer walk with 
 God. It is a great mercy, in my opinion, that God does at times show 
 us our own depravity ; how far we are from coming up to the prop- 
 er standard of Christian excellence, how exceedingly weak is our 
 faith, and how unsteady our deportment. Then it is that the soul, 
 fully impressed with its own utter weakness and inability, is induced 
 to fly for refuge and strength to Him alone who can impart it, namely, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous. O that you and I may live to grow in 
 him continually, who is our living head ! May our life and walk and 
 conversation show to the followers of the world, with whom we are 
 surrounded, that the religion which we profess is not exhibited in 
 word only, but in deed and in truth. 
 
 Samuel A. Pcedt, Blackwell's Islakd 
 
 IV. 
 
 Philadelphia, Jan. 17, 1883. 
 About first of November I entered the University of Pennsylvania 
 under embarrassing circumstances, being far behind the class in point 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 51 
 
 of acquirements, and entering at a time when tliey were reviewing 
 what was all unbroken soil for me. I have, therefore, ever since my 
 connexion with the University, been under the necessity of laboring 
 closely and unremittingly at my studies in order to keep up with the 
 class. At our late examination I was placed third upon the roll, 
 which was far higher than I might have expected, but which, never- 
 theless, I may have deserved, as my application has been severe. 
 
 I am now just recovering from a severe attack of the disease which 
 had nearly laid me low at Middletown, namely, inflammation of the 
 bowels. From this, too, the providence of God has seen fit to deliver 
 me, and I am now able to walk my room, and have been once down 
 stairs. The disease has, doubtless, been owing to my imprudence in 
 study, bad hours, late going to bed and late rising, with the impro- 
 prieties in eating and feasting usually consequent upon the arrival of 
 Christmas and New Year's holidays. Well, wisdom is learned by 
 experience, and if I do not know how to eat, drink, and sleep here- 
 after my own be the blame. 
 
 I have made many valuable acquaintances in this city since my re- 
 turn, especially with a number of religious young men connected 
 with the University. But, though they are polite, accomplished, lit- 
 erary, and pious, they do not, cannot, fill the place of my circle of 
 friends in New York. There was an openness, a freedom, fellow- 
 ship, if I may so speak, among the young men of our acquaintance, 
 that put me immediately at my ease among them, and it is prob- 
 ably on this account that I place them, as it were, on a summit in 
 my estimation which none have yet reached, and, it seems to me, 
 never will. In some of my reveries (you know we are all inclined 
 to such) I throw myself back to the fall of 1831, when the " Irving " 
 was in its glory, {?) and when our weekly assemblages were held in 
 the upper room of the pedagogue's temple in Broadway. I fancy our 
 meeting, our mutual greeting, calling to order, and all the routine of 
 our multiform business, and, in fine — I wish it were all to be " acted 
 o'er again." 
 
 But this is all nonsense. You are in your goodly city of Gotham, 
 busied in your lawful avocations, whatever they are, and I at pres- 
 
52 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ent an invalid student. Whether it be worth our while to trouble 
 our brains calculating upon futurity, and endeavoring to find out 
 what we shall be in this world, I think is a question. But, as to the 
 necessity of our knowledge of our standing in reference to religious 
 matters, what we shall be after we leave this world, I think there is 
 no question at all. If we believe the Christian religion, and do not so 
 live as to secure the benefits promised in it to the followers of Jesus 
 Christ, what are we ? 
 
 From my knowledge of your principles, my dear James, I am en- 
 couraged to suppose that you have taken these things to heart, and 
 determined to devote the spring time of your days to the service of 
 your heavenly Father. I feel determined, let my worldly pursuits be 
 what they may, to follow God with full purpose of heart. And may 
 he aid me in the fulfillment of my resolutions ! 
 Believe me your affectionate friend. 
 
 Ml-. James Davis, N. Y. 
 
 V. 
 
 Philadelphia, April 5, 1838. 
 
 Dear Andrus : — I am pretty well, and trying to do well. The 
 more I see of the world and the things of it, the more am I convinced 
 of the necessity of attending to the concerns of eternity, the more am 
 I "delighted in the ways of the Lord." Yet still, though I perceive 
 the vanity of all earthly things, their fleeting and unsatisfactory na- 
 ture, the emptiness of the enjoyments which they can afford, still 
 these very "trifles, light as air," these gilded bubbles, often, too oft- 
 en, draw me aside from the straight path of duty, and occupy that 
 time and attention which should only be taken up in the pursuit of 
 less uncertain objects. That " as the sparks do fly upwards, so is the 
 heart of man to do evil," is a true saying, no man who has ever at- 
 tempted to walk humbly before God will deny. For myself, in ten 
 thousand instances I have exemplified it by my wandering from God 
 and trangressions of his law. My hope, however, is still in " God, 
 and my trust in the rock of my salvation." To him I can come with 
 humble confidence, inspired by the free atonement of Christ, and say, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 53 
 
 " Hide not thy face far from me, put not away thy servant in anger," 
 and he "whose faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds," has provided 
 that " if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." Are 
 not the promises of God exceeding great and precious ? How kind 
 of our kind Parent to grant us such an assistance, such a guide as 
 these abundantly furnish in our earthly pilgrimage ! O that God 
 would enable us both to serve him with full purpose of heart ! 
 
 I hear that James Floy preached in Forsyth-street not long since. 
 If so I am almost certain it was good. He is a young man of prom- 
 ise — talent. I have always thought he should be a preacher ; doubt- 
 less he will before a great while. The Conference office appears to 
 act something similarly to a mill, does it not ? Let me see ; Creagli, 
 Davis, Floy ; who else } More for aught I know. 
 
 Mr. T A. HowK. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Philadklphia, Dec. 5, 1S33, 
 
 I maxle a bold attempt on last Sabbath week, but my trust was not 
 in my own arm nor in my own ability.- It was an attempt to preach 
 on the Sabbath afternoon in one of our city churches. My reasons 
 were the following. The preacher whose appointment it was had 
 asked me to fill a small appointment on the preceding Sabbath, which 
 I had declined ; and on the Thursday following he came to me and 
 commanded me to fill the next afternoon appointment. I, of course, 
 refused, but having conversed for some time, I finally stated to him 
 that it was my desire to avo/d every thing which I ouo-/i^ not to do, 
 and to perform every thing which was my duty. I then left it with 
 him to decide whether or not this was my duty. He promptly de- 
 cided the question, and accordingly I made the attempt. I was not 
 at all embarrassed, as I expected to be, in a first attempt of the kind, 
 but still I found that what I had prepared to speak would not always 
 be ready when it was needed. I spoke, however, with very little dif- 
 ficulty, for about thirty-five minutes, and humbly pray that the bless- 
 ing of Heaven may have accompanied my first pulpit labors. 
 
 Mr. S. A. PuRDY. 
 
54 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 VIL 
 
 rniLADELPiiiA, March 28, 1834. 
 
 My dear Brother:— On Friday and Saturday, loth and nth 
 March, I was examined for six hours on the studies of the year in 
 advance, and most happily succeeded, so far, that I had not a single 
 " flunk ; " and I was congratulated at the close of the examination as 
 a member of the Junior Class. You know the feelings on such occa- 
 sions — the joy, the lightheartedness — a feeling as if we were never to 
 feel disappointment again. But ah ! how soon do we lose these 
 delightful feelings ! 
 
 Well, think you that I shall study during vacation after all this ? 
 All that remains is to fix the time for your visit. How will the fol- 
 lowing do Our Conference will hold from Wednesday, loth April 
 to i6th, perhaps, and my second examination will be held on Monday 
 and Tuesday previous. The pleasure of your visit will be greatly 
 heightened can you make it convenient to spend part of the time 
 of Conference with us ; which, you know, is a sort of Methodist 
 festival. You will then see and hear many of our preachers, mis- 
 sionary addresses, etc., etc., which, no doubt, will prove some at- 
 traction to you. 
 
 Come, then, if possible, between loth and 13th April, and thus part 
 of the time of your stay will be Conference time ; and my vacation 
 will last from loth April to 1st May. I hope that you and I will both 
 be in good health and spirits. By the way, I have suffered severely 
 from a pain in the back, which, at present, troubles me much ; but I 
 hope to be delivered from this shortly. 
 
 It appears, then, that I shall leave college in July, 1835, and, Deo 
 volente, in April, 1836, I shall join the Methodist traveling connex- 
 ion. You ask for my experience in relation to this all-important 
 concern. If I begin this, my letter will be filled with myself; but it 
 may interest you somewhat. 
 
 One thing I may mention, that from the earliest hour in which I 
 thought of eternal things, the impression has rested upon my mind 
 that I should one day be called to the work of the ministry. This 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 55 
 
 of course, was but an impression, and would never have weighed 
 with me unsupported by other considerations. The course of life 
 pointed out for me by my father was the practice of the law, and 
 with this end in view he commenced my classical education in the 
 year 1822. In 1826, from various circumstances, I determined to 
 leave school for a time, in order to acquire a knowledge of mercantile 
 affairs ; having in ultimate view, all the time, the study of the law. 
 In 1830 I left my father's store, and, by appointment of the Book 
 Agents, entered their office as book-keeper. At this time I was very 
 unsettled in religion, and my course of life was altogether unthought 
 of. You may remember the great revival of 1831, in Allen-street, 
 in which it pleased the Lord to bring me to myself, the circumstances 
 of which time will never, never be effaced from my mind. I bowed 
 at the altar several times, and but little light was afforded me, until 
 the call of the Lord sounded in my ears, the vineyard of the Lord 
 opened before me, and it was clearly impressed upon my mind that 
 until an entire devotion of my all to God was made, and that without 
 reservation, there was no blessing for me. I pledged my soul to the 
 work ; I obtained the light of his countenance ; my soul felt the joys 
 of his salvation. 
 
 Notwithstanding this I have often vacillated, and in October of 
 1832 I was on the point of commencing the study of law in this city. 
 The day was fixed on which I was to confer with one of our lawyers 
 on the subject, my father having already arranged the preliminaries ; 
 but again the call of the Lord was not forgotten, and on the very day 
 appointed as above, instead of waiting on the lawyer, I called on 
 Rev. Professor Wylie, of the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Yet I was undecided ; lofty prospects were unfolded in the world ; 
 my ambition, which has almost proved my ruin, prompted me ; and 
 I had no obstacles. But, to my surprise, I received notice from the 
 preacher in charge (1833) that I was called to the office of an exhorter 
 in the Church. Here, then, my way first opened in the Church. 
 
 In January, 1834, I was (unexpectedly again) called by the Quar- 
 terly Conference to the office of local preacher ; and the Lord blesses 
 me in my feeble efforts. Here, then, dear brother, you have the out- 
 
LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 lines. A volume would not contain a record of the struggles and 
 vicissitudes on this subject ; these you must imagine. 
 
 Mr. Jamts Davis. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 New Gebma>-tow>-, Hcnteedos Co., X. J., Aug. 4, 1884. 
 
 You will perceive by the date that I am in a new location. I am 
 here, as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the call of 
 Rev. J. J. Matthias, presiding elder of East New Jersey District ; and 
 really, I am as happy as the day is long, I arrived on Friday, made 
 myself welcome at the house of the Hon. Judge Kennedy — from 
 which hospitable mansion the present epistle issues, to bear to you 
 the stor)- of my hopes and fears, my joys and sorrows. The life of a 
 Methodist preacher has many of both — truly a checkered career of 
 hopes and disappointments. It startled my bashfulness, at first, to 
 know that I must go, uninvited and unexpected, to the houses of in- 
 dividuals of whom I had never heard before, and make myself wel- 
 come, whether in reality so or not. It frightened me to learn that 
 I must introduce myself to all, good or bad, religious or irrelig- 
 ious ; that I must go to their houses, talk with them, pray with 
 them, without knowing whether or not it were agreeable to them- 
 selves. And, to tell the truth, I felt rather queer in approaching the 
 first house which I entered in my new character. I had seen the 
 owner in Philadelphia once, but the good lady was altogether new to 
 me, and you know that she is the most important half in such a case. 
 But my queer feelings vanished when I found myself received as cor- 
 dially as if I had been the king himself, and ever)- effort exerted by 
 the whole family to make me happy and contented. And so it is 
 ever}'-where. I go in, tell them who I am ; that I am come to see 
 them, to talk with them, to lodge with them ; then all is kindness, 
 and friendship, and love. The whitest table-cloth is spread, the corn 
 is plucked for the first time this year, the pantry and the milk-house 
 are put in requisition to supply the wants of the preacher, who, poor 
 fellow, must take of every thing on the table a superabundant quan- 
 tity or they are not pleased. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 57 
 
 Many, many are my joys and comforts. It is a delightful thing to 
 feel that the affection of the poor and the rich alike are open to me ; 
 that the houses of the poor and the rich alike are my home ; that 
 they follow me with blessings, receive me with welcome, and bear 
 me up with prayers. It is delightful to be permitted to speak with 
 them of the- goodness of God, to direct their hearts to him, and to 
 offer up, on each family altar, the tribute of praise and the earnest 
 petition. It is delightful to behold them on the Sabbath tripping in 
 youthful buoyancy across the field, or walking in the solemnity of age 
 upon the beaten pathway, toward the house of God. And it is a de- 
 lightful thing to be permitted to lead their hearts in the worship of 
 the divine Being, to elevate their thoughts for a season, at least, from 
 earth to heaven, and to fix their minds upon the pure and holy prin- 
 ciples of our religion. Would to God that I were better prepared 
 for the high and holy office ; that I had more of the spirit of holiness ; 
 that I were more deeply devoted to the work unto which, I believe, 
 he has called me. I desire to have no other name on earth but the 
 name of a devoted and laborious preacher of the cross ; to have no 
 other glory but the glory of " saving souls from death and turning 
 sinners from the error of their way ; " to have no other honor but 
 that honor which descends from God. 
 Mr. James Davis. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Philadelphia, Feb. 10, 1834. 
 I am, and have been for several days, very unwell indeed, and am 
 now in rather a light-headed and heavy-limbed condition, though, I 
 trust, in a state of convalescence. I commenced my studies in the 
 University on the Tuesday after I left you with great glee and great 
 enthusiasm, went on in the course successfully until five days ago, 
 when that was all brought to nought by the hand of sickness. With 
 the details of a disease or its remedies I need not trouble you, inas- 
 much as you are especially conversant with such matters ; nor need I 
 describe pathetically the distressful feelings with which I reflect upon 
 college and its operations, inasmuch as all this has been done for you 
 by our friend, C. H. L., with whom I can now sympathize more fully 
 
58 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and abundantly than ever. I may say, however, that before many 
 days I hope to be delivered from all these sorrows, and to enter 
 again upon collegiate duty. 
 
 Have you read the two concluding pieces of President Olin in the 
 " Advocate " If you have not I pray you do so at once, and let them 
 have all their weight. It appears to me that they are true, and if so, 
 then certainly alarming. " Two thousand new ministers needed at 
 07tce in the Methodist Episcopal Church ! " — is not this enough to 
 cause every young man in that Church who has had any opportunities 
 of intellectual improvement to look in upon his heart, and to see 
 whether there are not some impressions there of the Holy Spirit's in- 
 fluence.^ The views of President Olin upon this point, namely, the 
 call of the Holy Spirit to the work of the ministry, coincide with what 
 my own have been upon the subject for some time past. I trust that 
 the Lord will manifest his Spirit fully unto you, that you may be called 
 into his vineyard, and that right speedily. 
 
 Our Illinois scheme advances but slowly. The calls, however, from 
 the West country are still loud and pressing, and I am by no means 
 satisfied but that many of our young men will be called for to go and 
 fight for the truth in those lands of beauty. I learn that one at least 
 of our most influential preachers will be transferred from the Phila- 
 delphia to the Illinois Conference in the course of the next year, and 
 I know not how many of the smaller fry have been spoken of for the 
 Western Conference, Well, if the cause of God demand it I have no 
 doubt they will be ready, and I trust I shall, if the duty be clearly laid 
 open before me. Of two things, however, I must be ascertained (to 
 use an antiquated term) before I shall take my determination : i. That 
 I can be more useful ; 2. That I will not be doomed (as the Catho- 
 lics) to perpetual celibacy, which is no part of my creed whatever. 
 Di*. Samuel A. Puedt. 
 
 X. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 13, 1835. 
 
 My Dear Friend : — Our examination commences on Wednesday, 
 24th instant, and will occupy four days, after which, Deovolente, I shall 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 59 
 
 take up the line of march for the region round about New York, when 
 I hope to meet you, and all my good friends, in peace and pleasure. 
 I have been thinking to-day of the "living" and its affairs — wondering 
 whether it is prosperous or defunct, whether the flame of genius is 
 there glowing, expanding, or dying — extinguished. O, I trust not ! 
 for I hope better things from all its members. Perseverance must be 
 your motto in this as in every thing else. By the way, writing the 
 word perseverance " mdA^ phrenology to rise up before me in all its 
 length and breadth and majesty. I have been studying the sublime 
 science somewhat, and have (by way of experiment, (i la Bacon) had 
 my own cranium examined. Well, phrenology must be true, for the 
 man gave 7ne a fine head — causality, comparison, ideality, etc., in 
 abundance. Are you not convinced } 
 
 I must say, in justice to the man of phrenology, that he pointed out 
 not a few of my foibles and weaknesses in investigating the detri- 
 mental part of my character, or, rather, my caput, and I am by no 
 means prepared to say that phrenology is a humbug, and its profes- 
 sors fools or impostors. Combe reasons very prettily, and somewhat 
 manfully, too, and I know not but that he may be in the right. Have 
 you read the little book in the Alexandrian } It is full of beauties. 
 
 Not the least of my perplexities and troubles at this present time is 
 my station in Jersey City. Sabbath after Sabbath rolls away and I 
 am not there, and my solicitude becomes very strong at times, I can 
 assure you. I have written to Brother T. A. Howe to have the ap- 
 pointments of June 21 and 28 filled for me. Will you do me the fa- 
 vor to see him, and enforce the matter if he has not received my let- 
 ter I feel very anxious that all should go right, as far as possible, 
 during my absence. 
 
 I am looking forward as usual to a year of enjoyment. Though 
 I must be in labors abundant, I hope to be in joys much more 
 abundant. Thrown once more into the midst of New York friends 
 and New York associations, I shall almost retread those delightful 
 years which did 
 
 " So wing their way with pleasure, 
 As bees fly home with loads of treasure." 
 
6o 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Is it not best always to look on the bright side ? Surely it is, in view 
 of enjoyment, at least, in this changeful scene of strange vicissitudes, 
 the better course to think all its changes improvements, all its vicis- 
 situdes varieties of plea'sure. But there is a better philosophy to be 
 brought to bear upon the question, which tells us that though " sorrow 
 endures for a night — ^joy cometh in the morning; " which tells us to 
 " rejoice alway and be glad in the Lord." Thanking the Lord for all 
 his benefits and all his blessings, let us trust him for all that is to 
 come and all will be well. 
 
 Have you ever read Coleridge's " Friend " It is a remarkable book, 
 indeed. If you have time get it and peruse for yourself. A mighty 
 mind, filled with all human knowledge, and offering itself and all its 
 cultivation upon the shrine of religion, is no common sight. 
 
 Remember me affectionately to all. 
 
 Dr. S. A. PuBDY. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 6l 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1835-1839. 
 
 Life as Pastor in Jersey City— Letters to his Mother— Compelled by 111 Health to Quit the 
 Pulpit — Appointed Assistant and then full Professor of Mathematics in Dickinson College — 
 History of the College — The Members of the First Faculty — Intimacy with Robert Emory 
 —Dr. Durbin's Fame as an Orator— Daily Life of Professor M'Clintock in his New Position 
 — Great Variety of his Studies — Educational Leaders of American Methodism — Second Fail- 
 ure of Professor M"CHntock"s Health — Passages from his Diary — His Extensive Eeading 
 while an Invalid— Anxiety to be Able to Preach Again— His Method as a Student— Letters. 
 
 THE young minister being now relieved of his bur- 
 den of double duty, applied himself with zeal to 
 pastoral work. Jersey City had then a population of 
 scarce five thousand ; the Methodist Society, now known 
 as the Trinity in York-street, worshipped in a frame 
 building set up on the meadow. Mr. M'Clintock made 
 his home with Jabez Wakeman, Esq., one of the leaders 
 of Methodism in the city. His compensation was one 
 hundred dollars a year, which sum Avas technically known 
 as " a single man's allowance," and board. He preached, 
 visited, studied with enthusiasm, and was, to use his 
 own language, as happy as the day was long. He gives 
 a very pretty picture of this life in two letters to his 
 mother : — 
 
 Jersey City, October 13, 1S35. 
 
 At half-past eleven, on this Tuesday evening, I sit down to write 
 you a letter. And if I tell you, first, how much I am engaged, how 
 much I am trying to do, and what efforts I make to accomplish all 
 my plans, I think, at least, that you will not suppose me idle. In the 
 first place, the basement of our church takes all my time, much of 
 
62 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 my anxiety, and a great deal of my labors ; as money 7nust be raised, 
 and there is no one to raise it but myself. I do not despair, however, 
 of getting it entirely finished and ready for our purposes by the first 
 of December. In the next place, there are sermons to be preached, 
 class-meetings to be attended, prayer-meetings to be kept up, sick 
 and poor to be visited, and books to be read and studied ; and all 
 this, without fee or reward, except the poor hundred dollars that is 
 obtained for me with difficulty from those who attend on my minis- 
 try I Well, well, no one can say aught against the motives (at least 
 in the money point of view) of him who enters upon the duties of a 
 Methodist traveling preacher. Sometimes, when I think that I might 
 be making money — much money — perhaps helping you all instead of 
 being burdensome, I think of giving up all and embarking in the 
 world of adventure to seek my fortune. But when I remember " the 
 kingdom that is not of this world " — when I remember, that in a very 
 few years we shall all be in the grave, and that it will matter little 
 then how our lives have been spent, if they have only been spent in 
 the service of God ; when I remember your own advice, instruction, 
 and counsel in religion, knowing that yourself and father would 
 rather see me a preacher of Christ, though poor and unable to help 
 you, than to see me rich in this world's goods and regardless of God, 
 I determine to continue in the path in which I have started, and, 
 by the help of God, to be a faithful minister of the Lord Jesus to my 
 life's end. 
 
 I find greater pleasure in the performance of my religious and 
 pastoral duties fiow than ever I did before, greater comfort in study- 
 ing the Scriptures, and greater light in understanding them ; and it is 
 my chief desire, as it is my principal effort, to be thoroughly furnished 
 from the Scriptures for my Christian and professional life. Give love 
 to all. Your affectionate son, JOHN M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 In 1836 he was re-appointed to the station, and thus 
 describes to his mother his entrance on the second year 
 of his pastorate : — 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 63 
 
 Jehsey City, Saturday Evening, April 23, 1S36. 
 
 I have now been with the people of my parish some ten days since 
 my return, and have met with the greatest kindness and affection in 
 every quarter. I am very comfortably and pleasantly situated here ; 
 much more so than I desen'e, seeing that I have as yet done so little 
 good in the world. Our prospects here for the coming year are quite 
 flattering, our church will be neatly and pleasantly finished, and the 
 congregations, I have reason to think, will be better than in the past. 
 My greatest desire is that some may be converted, so that our little 
 society in this place may be strengthened by an accession of mem- 
 bers, and the hands of our men of Israel sustained. 
 
 To-morrow I expect to preach in the morning in Jersey City, after- 
 noon at Bergen, and night again at Jersey City ; on Monday night 
 is class-meeting ; Tuesday, trustees' meeting ; Wednesday, Sunday- 
 school meeting ; Thursday, prayer-meeting ; Friday and Saturday, 
 vacant. So you see my evenings are pretty well taken up. Well, the 
 mornings I devote to study, the afternoons to visiting the flock ; thus 
 my time is all apportioned to respective duties, and, indeed, I find but 
 little of it to spare for other pleasures than those which result from 
 the duties of my office as a preacher of the Gospel. O, before I for- 
 get it, let me tell you that I practice your precepts : I eat no pie, no 
 cake, have given up the habit of smoking, chewing, and snuffing. 
 
 And now I must prepare my sermons for to-morrow, so good 
 night, mother mine ; and may the Lord bless thee, and preserve thee 
 long in life to bring up the remainder of your family (as you did faith- 
 fully those that have gone from you) in the " nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord," that they may be prepared to live and prepared to die. 
 And although I have as yet done little or nothing to repay you for all 
 your kindness and affection, I hope that, in the good providence of 
 God, I may yet be able to do something for your comfort. And my 
 parents, I trust, need never be ashamed to own as their son, 
 
 John M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 Soon after his re-appointment his health failed, and he 
 was compelled to resign. This is his account of it : — 
 
64 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Sunday, Sept. 26, 1S36. 
 For eighteen months I have been preaching the Gospel, in a weak 
 way indeed, but yet honestly, in the Methodist Episcopal Chiirch in 
 Jersey City, New Jersey. Since the Conference in April last I have 
 done but little, as my health was severely tried by the excessive 
 labors of the last winter. I preached generally three times 07i every 
 Sabbath, and had a meeting of some sort on almost every night in 
 the week. In April I comme7tced spitting blood, which contijiued 
 for some weeks, and was finally thrown off. But from that time to 
 this I have hardly been without pain in the breast, and uneasiness in 
 the throat. My physicians tell me to quit the post or die. It is hard 
 work, but after many weeks of effort, this day I resigned the pastoral 
 charge of my little flock in Jersey City. To-night the church was 
 filled to overflowing, and hardly a dry eye in the house ! God help 
 them and keep them ! Amen ! Amen ! 
 
 A visit to Saratoga brought no relief. He was com- 
 pelled, therefore, to look elsewhere than to the pulpit 
 for occupation, and especially such occupation as would, 
 at the same time, retain him in the service of the Church. 
 He did not need to look very far. He was, during the 
 summer of this year, unanimously elected to the Pro- 
 fessorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 
 La Grange College, North Alabama, of which institution 
 the Rev. Robert Paine (now bishop in the Southern 
 Methodist Episcopal Church) was president. While con- 
 sidering the question of accepting the offer he was nomi- 
 nated Assistant Professor of Mathematics in Dickinson 
 College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This venerable school 
 of learning had suffered greatly from the fluctuations of 
 fortune. Founded in 1783, through the active exertions 
 of Dr. Benjamin Rush and other eminent citizens of 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 65 
 
 Pennsylvania, it aspired for a time to be a rival of Prince- 
 ton. For a Presbyterian school it was fortunately placed. 
 The Cumberland Valley had been originally settled by 
 the Scotch-Irish, who were sturdy Calvinists, and alto- 
 gether a strong-willed, indomitable race. They had been 
 in the country districts supplanted by the pains-taking 
 Germans who followed after them, but retained their as- 
 cendency in the large towns. Carlisle was an important 
 centre of Presbyterianism. Here Duffield, one of the 
 leaders of the New School organization, was pastor for 
 many years. Dr. Nisbet, the first president of the col- 
 lege, was a splendid example of the Scotch Presbyterian 
 learning, shrewdness, and wit. Among his successors 
 was Dr. John M. Mason, who was, in his day, easily the 
 chief of the Presbyterian pulpit in the United States. 
 Among the Professors was M'Clelland, the marvellous 
 rhetorician, the tradition of whose power in speech lin- 
 gered in the Cumberland Valley long after his time. 
 Among its graduates were Bethune, Krebs, and Cham- 
 bers, who have adorned their profession in the city of 
 New York. It was a college in a border town, that is, 
 it was near the slave State line. It is not, therefore, 
 surprising that it gave to the country the honest, but 
 narrow, Roger B. Taney, and the equally honest, but 
 vacillating, James Buchanan. 
 
 Despite its advantages, Dickinson College, as a Presby- 
 terian school, never attained a stable prosperity. With 
 entire good-will on the part of its original proprietors, 
 it was conveyed to the Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
 
 members of the old board of trustees resigning, one 
 0 
 
66 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 by one, and assisting cordially in electing the required 
 number of successors. The transfer was honorable to 
 all parties. Either from the force of habit or from the 
 confidence in the liberality of the newly elected trustees, 
 Presbyterian as well as Methodist, students flocked to 
 the institution after its re-opening. Then, and ever after, 
 Church distinctions were obliterated in every part and 
 parcel of their college life — a rebuke of the folly which 
 separates the young men of the country, during the proc- 
 ess of their education, into petty groups, as though the 
 members of one Christian community would be certain 
 to contaminate the members of another. 
 
 The first Faculty of the re-organized Dickinson was 
 well chosen. At its head was the Rev. John P. Durbin, 
 then in the fullness of his power as an orator. He suf- 
 fers the rare disadvantage of having lived two lives, and 
 of having been so eminent in each, that the fame of the 
 one has obscured the fame of the other. To the present 
 generation of Methodists Dr. Durbin is known as a great 
 administrator ; thirty years ago he was known as one of 
 the most extraordinary, in the production of popular 
 effects, of public speakers. With him were associated in 
 the Faculty, Merritt Caldwell, Robert Emory, and Will- 
 iam H. Allen. They were men who proved their qual- 
 ity in subsequent life. Dr. Allen, who filled the chair of 
 the Natural Sciences, has long been President of Girard 
 College, Philadelphia, and has taken rank as one of the 
 leading educators of the country. Caldwell and Emory 
 both died in 1848, after having attained distinction, and 
 given promise of a future which was, alas ! too soon 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 67 
 
 clouded. Emory had shortly before his election carried 
 off the honors of Columbia College, in the city of New 
 York ; Caldwell and Allen were graduates of Bowdoin. 
 
 President Paine had offered to Mr. M'Clintock the 
 choice of the Professorship of Mathematics, or that of 
 Languages, in La Grange College. The latter was in 
 doubt which line to take, but the Faculty of the Univer- 
 sity of Pennsylvania urged him to devote his life to 
 mathematical studies. Of this judgment he gives some 
 account in his correspondence with President Paine : — 
 
 Jersey City, August 2, 1S36. 
 
 I have had several communications with the Faculty of my Alma 
 Mater, the University of Pennsylvania, since the receipt of your let- 
 ter, on the subject of my future course in literary life. The strong 
 recommendation of the Faculty (with the exception of the Professor 
 of Languages) was to devote my whole efforts to mathematical pur- 
 suits, it having been their opinion throughout the course of my stud - 
 ies that I should succeed best in that department. The Professor 
 of Mathematics, E. H. Courtenay, (whose name, of course, is known 
 to you,) was particularly urgent in this case, and seemed to think 
 that I should deeply regret any other course hereafter. In reviewing 
 my studies, and endeavoring to determine in regard to the burden 
 of my future efforts, I have hesitated here, and finally, feel satis- 
 fied that my course in the matter shall be regulated by circum- 
 stances. Should your institution, or any other, offer me the mathe- 
 matics, or the languages, or the department of English literature, I 
 should accept either, and make it the business of my life. You are 
 aware that I am yet but a youth, and that, although I have tasted of 
 the spring of science, I have many a deep and delicious draught be- 
 fore me yet — in prospect, at least. 
 
 The offer of the Assistant Professorship of Mathe- 
 matics in Dickinson College was finally accepted, with 
 
68 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the assurance of the nomination to the full professorship 
 in case satisfaction was given. It is needless to say that 
 satisfaction was given, and in July, 1837, he was elected 
 full professor. Shortly after removing to Carlisle he 
 was married to Caroline Augusta Wakeman, daughter of 
 Jabez Wakeman, Esq., of Jersey City. " She was born," 
 he records in his diary, the same day, in the same 
 year, with myself. God bless the bonds ! " The bonds 
 were blessed. The estimable lady whom he had chosen 
 was in full sympathy with him as a student and scholar, 
 and animated and cheered him in the prosecution of his 
 multifarious tasks. She made his home a rest to which 
 he ever turned with joy. 
 
 He was now in a position, of all others, most conge- 
 nial to his growing mind. His ambition was healthfully 
 aroused, if that were at all needed, for he was on trial 
 for a permanent appointment. His associations satis- 
 fied both his scholarly and Christian tastes. He lived 
 with his colaborers of the college Faculty on terms of 
 closest friendship. Dr. Durbin, being some years his 
 senior, and having had large experience of public life, 
 was a valuable counsellor. With Robert Emory, the 
 Professor of Ancient Languages, he formed a life-long 
 intimacy. Each was the other's a/ter ego. They were 
 alike and yet unlike. Both were affectionate, buoyant, 
 and full of the inspirations of hope. In Emory the 
 logical faculty predominated over all others, and gave to 
 his mind a judicial exactness; M'Clintock's equally great 
 logical force was swayed by a mercurial temperament 
 and a lively fancy. In the acquisition of knowledge the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 69 
 
 latter was ardent, and swift as the wind, but in the eager- 
 ness of the pursuit oblivious of a prudent self-care ; his 
 associate, though equally ardent, moved with a more de- 
 liberate step. Of the two, Robert Emory was, however, 
 the first to wear himself out ; he died, as we shall here- 
 after see, before the promise of his earlier years was 
 more than partly fulfilled. Professor Allen created per- 
 petual surprises by his great versatility. He passed 
 from department to department with a facility that 
 made one doubt which was the one he most preferred. 
 Professor Caldwell's high moral character impressed every 
 one who came near him. New England ruggedness was 
 in him tempered by a tender moral sensibility. He be- 
 came in time the trusted adviser of the thoughtful young 
 men of the institution. 
 
 Of these professors, who made up the first Faculty of 
 the College under its Methodist organization. Dr. Durbin 
 stood most conspicuously before the country. He had 
 already achieved a national reputation. The announce- 
 ment that he would address an audience would, anywhere 
 in the United States, crowd the most available place of 
 assembly. Critics were sometimes puzzled to define the 
 secret of his power, but when he had once been heard, 
 conceded his power without question. His opening of 
 a sermon was always disappointing ; indeed, it might be 
 said that he had in the pulpit a twofold manner, a two- 
 fold voice, and a double personality. Beginning with 
 composure, his first purpose, as far as he might admit 
 a personal purpose, seemed to be to subdue expecta- 
 tion. In distinct but quiet tones he would proceed 
 
70 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 with the exposition of his theme. His mode of treat- 
 ment was ingenious, sometimes subtile, always striking. 
 Before the hearer was aware new thoughts were sug- 
 gested, or old thoughts had been placed in fresh lights. 
 Apparently the orator was holding an animated con- 
 versation with his hearers, (for the tone was wholly col- 
 loquial,) but, in reality, he was weaving a spell which by 
 and by he would use with electric suddenness. All 
 the time the fact most obvious was his impassiveness. 
 There he stood, calm as a statue, using only explanatory 
 gesture ; but for the large, lustrous eye, one might doubt 
 if he were capable of strong emotion. Unexpectedly a 
 statement would kindle into an animated description, 
 and description passed into glowing declamation. The 
 long-repressed torrent of sensibility once let loose, the 
 orator was transformed. Voice became deep and full, 
 the gesture broad and sweeping, the eye flashed ; the 
 audience, startled by this assertion of power, yielded at 
 once. Strong men would lean forward and half rise 
 to their feet ; others would sit entranced, wholly oblivi- 
 ous of place and time. When caught up to the loftiest 
 height of feeling and thought, the voice would cease, 
 and the orator slowly resume his seat. 
 
 In all this there was genius guided by consummate art, 
 but the art was well applied. It was conditioned, more- 
 over, by the necessities of the speaker himself, whose 
 slender frame would bear only a certain degree of strain. 
 Yet in the very tempest of impassioned address, Presi- 
 dent Durbin was a marvel of grace. Not a movement 
 offended the eye, not a tone was overdone. The self- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 7 1 
 
 possession so conspicuous in the earlier passages of the 
 discourse never deserted him ; to the last sentence he was 
 master of his powers ; he had, it would appear, placed 
 limits for himself that he would never transcend. 
 
 Unfortunately for the tradition of Dr. Durbin's elo- 
 quence, the days of the fullest exercise of his oratorical 
 force were not the days of reporters. Passages from his 
 sermons which might serve as life-like descriptions have 
 wholly perished. It was a time, too, in the history of 
 our country, when oratory was rated higher than it is 
 now. Without doubt a reading people grows insensibly 
 more critical, less susceptible to the onsets of emotional 
 excitement, and more suspicious of those arts which 
 make oral address effective. If eloquence is a joint re- 
 sult to which speaker and hearer both contribute, we can 
 plainly see that the hearer of to-day does not contribute 
 as much as the hearer of thirty years ago. The change 
 is as perceptible in the British Parliament as in the 
 United States Congress. Plain, business-like statement 
 has superseded rhetoric, and close attention to statistics, 
 emotional appeal. Durbin, Bascom, and Maffitt formed, 
 in the period between 1826 and 1840, a trio of Chris- 
 tian orators who were the wonder and admiration of the 
 masses throughout the length and breadth of the country. 
 Maffitt's preaching was so extraordinary, that in some 
 towns of the South-west business would be almost wholly 
 suspended during the period of his stay. Of the three. 
 Dr. Durbin's method will alone, I think, bear the scrutiny 
 of exact criticism. Simple, lucid English, a voice pitched 
 in the conversational key, and emotion which, if strong, 
 
72 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 was always just, were the constituents of his eloquence, 
 and with these the sternest criticism can find no fault. 
 
 These persuasive orators had one advantage, which has 
 unfortunately been, in our time, almost wholly surren- 
 dered. They proclaimed the divine justice as well as the 
 divine compassion. No timidity, no sentimentalism, with- 
 held them from depicting the terrors of the final judg- 
 ment of the human race. They dealt with the future 
 accountability of men as a reality, and brought it home 
 to the consciousness of every hearer. The habit, com- 
 mon in our day, of avoiding whatever goes beyond the 
 faintest reference to these themes, was unknown to the 
 great preachers of that generation. They did not hesi- 
 tate to treat them dramatically, and in such treatment 
 to use all the resources of their art. Nor was this a 
 peculiarity of the Methodist pulpit only; in the explica- 
 tion of the judgment and the separation of the just from 
 the unjust, Lyman Beecher was as energetic as John P. 
 Durbin, and both could appeal, for authority, to the ex- 
 ample of the old English divines. 
 
 With such happy surroundings. Professor M'Clintock 
 entered on his new life most cheerfully, as will be seen 
 from his letters to his sister : — 
 
 DiCKESsos College, Carlisle, October 15, 1386. 
 
 I have enough to write about to fill this sheet and more, but there 
 is not time enough in the world to do every thing. Still, I am glad 
 to have the opportunity, on this Saturday evening, to spend a por- 
 tion of my time in writing to my dear sister. You know from my 
 letter to father that I arrived here safely, and was in good health ; I 
 am glad to add, that since I wrote my health has been much better 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 73 
 
 than usual ; that my duties, though sufficiently laborious, have not 
 been too much for me ; and that I get through them all with comfort 
 to myself, and satisfaction, I hope at least, to those around me. The 
 regularity of our college life will be very serviceable to my health ; 
 at least, I think so. The order is as follows :— First bell, half past 
 five A. M. ; prayers, six A. M. — breakfast immediately after prayers ; 
 recitations, nine, ten, eleven, or nine, ten A. M. and four P. M., or 
 ten, eleven A. M., and four P. M., never exceeding three recitations 
 a day. The students generally are moral, studious, and well-be- 
 haved, and many of them are pious. Evening prayers at five P. M.— 
 tea immediately after prayer. Last bell, nine P: M. Thus the bells 
 are : — First, half past five A. M. ; second, six A. M. ; third, eight 
 A. M. ; fourth, nine A. M. ; fifth, ten A. M. ; sixth, eleven A. M. ; 
 seventh, twelve M. (dinner) ; eighth, two P. M. ; ninth, three P. M. ; 
 tenth, four P. M. ; and five, seven, eight, and nine P. M. 
 
 On Sabbath, after breakfast, two classes meet at eight o'clock ; 
 preaching, eleven ; dinner, half past twelve ; Bible class, (which I 
 shall visit,) three ; preaching, half past six, as usual. On Tuesday 
 evening we have a social meeting for literary conversation, etc. On 
 Wednesday, Faculty meeting ; Thursday, preaching ; Friday, prayer- 
 meeting ; Saturday, debate ; so that days and evenings are pretty 
 well filled up. I had written as far as the last sentence last evening, 
 when I was called to the society for debate, so that I must either fin- 
 ish this on Sunday morning, or suffer it to go unfinished for a time. 
 Surely there can be no harm in my writing a letter to you, even 
 though it be on the Sabbath day. 
 
 Of his election to the permanent occupancy of the 
 chair which he was fiUing provisionally none who knew 
 him had any doubt. Quick in perception, clear in state- 
 ment, and broad in his generalizations, he was the ideal 
 of a brilliant professor. Being absent from college for a 
 year, I did not meet with Professor M'Clintock until the 
 
74 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fall of 1837. He had then established for himself a fine 
 reputation, and his manner had all the confidence of 
 success. The dullest student felt the contagion of his 
 enthusiasm. The apter young men were encouraged to 
 make explorations in mathematical science beyond the 
 limits of their text-books. Lectures on the history of 
 mathematics exhibited its growth and connexions. Every 
 day's contact with our fresh and radiant professor gave 
 us a new impulse. 
 
 If any of the young men who came before him were 
 indulging in dreams of what they could accomplish by 
 the force of genius, a few days of contact with him effect- 
 ually knocked the nonsense out of them. The gospel 
 which he incessantly proclaimed was the gospel of labor. 
 Nothing to be won without honest work was the one 
 maxim which he would not suffer to be forgotten for a 
 moment. As he taught he practiced. The one fact 
 most visible in his life was its strenuous devotion to 
 culture. The lamp in his study was, of the many lighted 
 in the evening, the last to be put out. Away into the 
 small hours it still burned. It burned too long for his 
 own good, but he came before us each morning fresh 
 and elastic, till the prostration, which before long over- 
 took him, suspended the performance of his duties. 
 
 This union of brilliance with laboriousness made Pro- 
 fessor M'Clintock the most wholesome of teachers. He 
 was not a plodder, yet no plodder could be more pains- 
 taking. It mattered little what was in hand, if done at 
 all it was to be done well. Whatever was to be known 
 must be known to the bottom. A sound discretion, how- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 75 
 
 ever, insured him against being lost in details. His logi- 
 cal habit of mind brought all particulars into close 
 subordination. His ambition was as large as his powers. 
 He could say without presumption that he had " taken 
 all knowledge for his portion," and he needed only nerves 
 of steel and a frame incapable of exhaustion to secure full 
 possession. While teaching college students mathemat- 
 ics his own studies spread out in all directions. Though 
 with a good appetite for all learning, he had a choice. 
 To physics he seemed somewhat indifferent ; but lan- 
 guages, logic, metaphysics, and theology, with history, 
 poetry, and belles-lettres, had for him charms which he 
 never wished to resist. The old problems of the validity 
 and the limitations of human knowledge were an endless 
 fascination to him. From the beginning he had had no 
 intention of being a mere mathematician. Indeed, he 
 expressed repeatedly to his friends his dread of the 
 narrowing effect of exclusive devotion to mathematical 
 study. He planned early a broad range of intellectual 
 pursuits, and adhered to his plan with fidelity. 
 
 The opportunity enjoyed by himself and his associ- 
 ates was very fortunate, but they proved equal to it. 
 Methodism originated in a university ; its leaders were 
 scholarly clergymen of the Church of England ; but the 
 necessities of his position compelled John Wesley to 
 commit it, after his death, to the care of imperfectly 
 educated successors. The scholars who should have 
 aided him held aloof. They were scandalized by lay 
 preachers and field preaching; they forgot that Wesley 
 set laymen to work because he could find few clerical 
 
76 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 helpers, and that he betook himself to the fields only 
 when he was driven from the churches. In the Ameri- 
 can colonies the clergymen of the Established Church 
 had little or no connexion with Methodism, and on the 
 breaking out of the War of Independence numbers of 
 them returned to England. Plain, self-educated men, 
 with a few exceptions, laid the foundations of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church. They were vigorous and force- 
 ful preachers, thoroughly understood the doctrines which 
 they handled, and led by one of the greatest of ecclesi- 
 astical generals. Bishop Asbury, had penetrated all ac- 
 cessible parts of the States and Canada. Thrown into 
 antagonism with the theological culture of their time, 
 they fought a hard, and, in the end, victorious battle. If 
 their opposers were better versed in books, they were 
 more skilled in human nature, and had, by a species of 
 intuition, grasped the art of preaching. From the habit 
 of opposing educated men, many came to oppose edu- 
 cation itself. The failure of the first attempts to found 
 institutions of learning, was, for a time, interpreted as 
 a providential interposition, forbidding further experi- 
 ments. The splendid examples of self-education in 
 English Methodism — Walsh, Clarke, and Watson — were 
 held up for imitation, and, no doubt, inspired the most 
 prodigious exertions. As a matter of course, this abne- 
 gation of the helps which the experience of ages has 
 provided for the training of the human mind could only 
 last for a time. The necessities of a growing Church 
 compelled the provision of a suitable educational appa- 
 ratus. It is curious to observe with what caution the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 77 
 
 first measures were taken; what care was used to speci- 
 fy that learning must be duly "sanctified," what misgiv- 
 ings were felt lest the educated men should disdain the 
 humble labors of the itinerant service. It was considered 
 an important point of administration that they should 
 be "well broken in," if needful, by sending them to hard 
 work on scant fare in wild regions. The schools had 
 fought the Methodist ministry so long, that these same 
 ministers had no little dread of the schools, even when 
 founded and fashioned by themselves. 
 
 Leaders were, however, not wanting at this critical 
 juncture, and among them Drs. Wilbur Fisk, John 
 Emory, and John P. Durbin, must always be conspicu- 
 ous. They, with a few others, may be said to have be- 
 gun the second, or educational, era of the development 
 of American Methodism. Dr. Fisk's name will be forever 
 identified with the founding of the Wesleyan University 
 at Middletown ; Bishop Emory was the first President of 
 the Board of Trustees of Dickinson, and negotiated its 
 transfer from the Presbyterians ; Dr. Durbin had been 
 a professor in Augusta College, Kentucky, and was one 
 of the earliest advocates of thorough theological culture. 
 Their authority gave weight, their eloquence persuaded, 
 and the Church, with such guides, entered courageously 
 on its new path. 
 
 The members of the first Faculty of Dickinson Col- 
 lege had, therefore, all the advantages of a fine position. 
 They did not need to build on other men's foundations, 
 but could lay their own. No great reputations over- 
 shadowed them. They could create according to their 
 
78 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 own ideal, and had room and verge enough to work 
 freely. Looking back, I can see more plainly than was 
 possible then, that the opportunity was to them all a 
 powerful inspiration. Young, eager, and in every sense 
 strong, they wrought in harmony, side by side, and with 
 a sense of ever-increasing power. They did not perceive 
 that the goal which they sought was farther off than 
 they believed. They were not conscious how much in ad- 
 vance they were of the great body of practical men from 
 whom, in the last resort, the nourishment of all impor- 
 tant American institutions must be derived. What they 
 built, however, stands and will stand ; and not the least, 
 they built themselves up to a power which American 
 society has felt beneficially in every direction. 
 
 The young men trained by this first Faculty of Dick- 
 inson and their immediate successors have given a 
 good account of themselves. In the State, Creswell and 
 Marshall ; in science, Baird ; in Church administration. 
 Bishop Bowman, of our own, and Bishop Cummins, of 
 the Reformed Episcopal Church ; in the pulpit, Thomas 
 Verner Moore, Deems, Ridgaway, and Tiffany; in liter- 
 ature, Conway (who has left his early faith, but retains 
 all his early love for the men under whom he was 
 trained) and Hurst; in foreign missions, Maclay; are 
 examples of the fruitfulness of their educational work. 
 
 The following letters reveal the joyousness of Pro- 
 fessor M'Clintock's life during this period. The first is 
 to his wife's father : — 
 
 I have no complaints to make. Our life goes on at present in a 
 smooth, contented round of healthful occupations and rational enjoy- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 79 
 
 ments. These are the bright days for us ; how long they may con- 
 tinue I cannot say. But we try to lay up our treasure " where moth 
 and rust cannot corrupt," Perhaps there is not much self-denial in 
 this, for we have very little chance of laying up treasures anywhere 
 else. But we are well off, as we calculate to come out clear of all 
 encumbrances at the end of this year, if Providence favors our little 
 enterprises. College is prosperous, at least as far as its internal 
 movements and management are concerned. Many matters without 
 look rather squally, but we hope for the best. 
 
 In a letter to his wife's brother, Mr. E. B. Wakeman, 
 he expresses an intention which he never carried out : — • 
 
 I am pretty well occupied, but think, sometimes, of commencing 
 law this fall. I could connect it advantageously with my other 
 studies, and be ready for the bar in two years — of course, not with 
 any view to practice, but merely to know a little of every thing that 
 goes on in this wicked world. 
 
 He had scarce completed his second year as professor 
 when his health gave way. This was the first of a series 
 of distressing bodily affections which troubled him, and 
 at times wholly disabled him. Uniform good health he 
 never enjoyed. Periods of prodigious activity would be 
 followed by periods of enforced abstinence from all seri- 
 ous work. This first attack was a constriction and in- 
 flammation of the oesophagus, which made it impossible 
 for him to swallow solid food. It was treated with 
 caustic, and the treatment subjected him almost to the 
 tortures of a long martyrdom. Ten years after this, 
 Dr. M'Clintock supposed himself to be subject to heart 
 disease, and lived under a constant apprehension of sud- 
 den death. Frequent attacks of swooning gave plausi- 
 
8o 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 bility to his fears. He was, to use a common phrase, 
 ''easily upset;" some part of the bodily machinery was 
 ready to give way, compelHng him to lie by for repairs. 
 I mention these facts because they help to explain his 
 life. The suspension of exertion which sometimes puz- 
 zled those who knew him but slightly, the unrest which 
 showed itself in a desire of frequent change, were but 
 symptoms of unsatisfactory health. That he held him- 
 self so firmly to his work as he did, is the best evidence 
 we have of the tenacity of his determination to do the ut- 
 most possible with himself as long as his strength lasted. 
 
 His diary furnishes the best picture extant of his life 
 at this period. It is a narrative of his reading, studies, 
 hopes, and fears, enlivened by acutest criticisms of books 
 and men. He was now but twenty-four years of age, 
 yet looked with clear eyes upon the world before him. 
 He would not suffer his understanding to be imposed 
 upon, but saw and judged for himself. Most noticeable, 
 too, is the ardor of his pursuit of knowledge while pros- 
 trated by disease. He would read in every direction, no 
 matter what the penalty. The unconscious self-revela- 
 tion which appears in the passages here appended will 
 be, I trust, a sufficient justification of the freedom with 
 which the diary is quoted : — 
 
 Oct, 13, 1838. For two months past I have labored under a dis- 
 tressing affection of the throat. My professorship at Carlisle is neg- 
 lected, and I am now in Philadelphia, under medical treatment. For 
 weeks I have been unable to swallow any thing thicker than milk, 
 and even that sometimes with difficulty. I know also what nervous 
 disorders are, for the first time in my life. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 8l 
 
 Tues., Dec. i8, 1838. My throat is somewhat better: can swallow 
 milk or soup thickened with a little flour. For four months now have 
 I been comparatively idle, and useless either to myself or others ; and 
 have found it hard to discipline my mind to submission to divine 
 Providence. But I begin to feel resigned, to acknowledge His hand, 
 and to hope that even this sore affliction will work out good for me 
 both in this life and in that which is to come. I have spent the time 
 in Philadelphia for the sake of medical advice, and have found every 
 comfort in my father's house — cheered also by the presence of my 
 dear v^fe and little one. My child, Sarah Augusta, was bom Mon- 
 day, September 10, and is now a sweet babe. God preserve her ! 
 
 Wed., Jan. 2, 1839. Have entered upon a new year. God has 
 lengthened my life, though I feel that I hold it by a very feeble ten- 
 ure. My mind is quite unsettled. I cannot meditate closely upon 
 religious themes ; but my confidence in God's love, through Jesus 
 Christ, is unshaken, nay, increasing. My nerves are in a wretched 
 condition — all unstrung, so that thought, to any great extent, is im- 
 possible. If it be thy will, O Lord, grant me relief! 
 
 Read part of the Life of Girard, the rich banker of Philadelphia. 
 A great mind — devoted to wealth — forgetful of eternity ! 
 
 Jan. 3, 1839. Read the Epistle to the Philippians — always a faith- 
 ful people. Paul had no censures for them. Read Byron's Journals 
 and part of Don Juan. A wicked man, yet with some good features. 
 His works cannot live — no elements of durability, of immortality, 
 about them. He and Moore have much to answer for, in the cor- 
 ruption of morals which they have poured like a flood upon young 
 minds. How diff"erent from Wordsworth and Coleridge, diff'using 
 streams of pure, beautiful morality and deep thought upon the world. 
 
 Szm., Jan. 6. Read First Epistle to Timothy, and perplexed my- 
 self for some time with chapter v, 24. The only meaning which I 
 can attach to the passage is this : Paul contrasts open, daring sin- 
 ners with hypocrites ; some men are so desperately wicked that the 
 odor, as it were, of their iniquities precedes them. How fertile of 
 precept and wisdom for the Christian preacher are these epistles to 
 Timothy — sound, practical wisdom too — such as will carry a man 
 6 
 
82 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 safely through all difficulties, in the Church and out of it, if faith- 
 fully followed. Paul was not imprudent , and he deprecates rash- 
 ness and imprudence in others. Would that some of our hasty 
 spirits, that embroil Church and State with their crude notions and 
 ill-digested theories, would imbibe somewhat more of his practical 
 good sense — his careful, religious prudence. Read a project in the 
 " Christian Advocate " for a celebration of the Centenary of Meth- 
 odism — which had its birth in 1739 — funds to be collected and applied 
 to building Mission Houses in New York. I don't like the plan — 
 there is not enough economy in the management of our religious 
 funds. Read Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon ; the same spirit 
 and n^eaning in all Paul's writings — authority mingled with love. 
 I have not heard a sermon since last September. 
 
 Mon., Jan. 14. Read in Coleridge's " Friend " his essay on Method, 
 the object of which is to prove the superiority of laiv to theory, as a 
 basis for method. A ver>^ profound yet luminous essay. Read part 
 of the Appendix to Cousin's " Psychology." Low-spirited and nerv- 
 ous to-day. I suppose I may be truly called a hypochondriac — a 
 name and condition that I have feared almost as much as that of 
 maniac. Read the last chapter in Taylor's "Physical Theory ' — a 
 ver>- attractive book. The germ of it may be found, I think, in Cole- 
 ridge's " Letters and Recollections." Poor nerves of mine, what 
 could have shattered them so ! 
 
 Tues., Jan. 15. Read in Walter Scott's Life the account of his 
 misfortunes and his fortitude under them all. Walter Scott was not 
 a rergi3us man — little thought of a future life, I should judge from 
 his writings and his biography. Read Second Epistle of Peter ; mind 
 not sufficiently concentrated to understand it completely. Went on 
 with Walter Scott ; he was weak enough in some points. What a 
 contrast — Scott and Wordsworth ! Scott would have fought with 
 Gourgaud ; he was superstitious, vain, mind full of world and world's 
 thoughts ; selfish, I think, to an extreme ; but, strangely enough, 
 generous withal. I would not do him injustice ; he has beguiled 
 many a weary hour. But why should there be a7iy wear}- hours } 
 Surely there are sources enough of enjoyment, without such floods 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 83 
 
 of paltry fiction as have' been thrown upon the world since Scott 
 began to write novels. Read in Grecian history the rise of Thebes ; 
 battles of Leuctra and Mantinea ; up to the deaths of Pelopidas and 
 Epaminondas. N. B. I don't believe the stories of Spartans rejoic- 
 ing that their friends were slain in battle, and mourning over those 
 that returned as disgraced. Spartans were men — their nature was 
 human nature. 
 
 Thiirs., Jan, 17. Rose at eight; delightful sleep last night; feel 
 pretty bright this morning. Read Cooper's Review of " Lockhart's 
 Life of Scott." Poor enough, in all conscience ; though not quite so 
 unjust as some affect to think it. Read also a " Reply" to the same 
 in the " Knickerbocker," and if the article itself was vapor, the reply 
 is double distilled gas — it is just naetking at all. I said, a few days 
 ago, that Scott was destitute of religion. I recall it ; for first, 1 should 
 not say such a thing of any man ; and second, I have since read Lock- 
 hart's account of his decline and death, and it has changed my views 
 of the man considerably. At all events, it brought tears to my eyes, 
 opening a fresh well-spring of love in my heart. But, after all, how far 
 are such men, nay, how far are any men, from the scriptural stand- 
 ard of a religious life ! I know my own deficiencies, others know 
 some of them, but I know myself better than any man can, and I 
 know that I am very far from being the pure, devoted Christian of 
 the New Testament. 
 
 I am not bigot enough to suppose that there are no good men out 
 of the Methodist Church, but I think her the best of modern Churches, 
 both as to her ecclesiastical polity, her usefulness to the world, and the 
 general purity of her clergy and laity. I know, too, that the Meth- 
 odist ministry affords few inducements to worldly, ambitious spirits ; 
 but, with all this, I have found the same petty jealousies, the same 
 pursuit of individual aims, the same lust of power, the same envy of 
 superior talents, among Methodist preachers, that I should have ex- 
 pected to find among "the potsherds of the earth." Where then, 
 alas ! shall I look for purity ? Into my own heart ? Eheu ! what a 
 den of thieves has that heart been ! . . , There is too much prescrip- 
 tion in the Methodist Church, and there is too much proscription for 
 
84 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 individual opinions. A man can hardly be independent with any hope 
 of rising in the Church. This state of things causes a mean, truckling 
 spirit to grow up among the young men, which, in a great degree, 
 renders them intellectual slaves to a few not very intellectual masters. 
 This has always been the fault of the Church — I mean of the univer- 
 sal Church — it is not as it should be, it is not in accordance with the 
 laws of Christianity. "The spirit of power, and of love, and of a 
 sound mind," is incompatible with this sort of mental bondage; and, 
 sooner or later, the Methodist Episcopal Church will pay the penalty 
 of her encroachments upon the absolute freedom of the individual 
 mind, by storms and contentions, if not by her entire disorganiza- 
 tion and dissolution, unless a wiser policy shall be struck out by her 
 leaders and pursued in her government. 
 
 This criticism of the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
 very plain and pointed, but is descriptive of all human 
 organizations, secular or ecclesiastical. The problem of 
 the harmony of authority and liberty is as old as human 
 nature, and has never been perfectly solved. A system 
 so centralized as that of Episcopal Methodism tends to 
 a severe restriction of the play of individualism. By a 
 spontaneous instinct it seeks to form instruments, and is 
 fearful of deviations from its one method. The history 
 of the organization shows, however, that it came most 
 naturally by this spirit. Given an ecclesiastical scheme 
 created by scholars, and handed over to men not trained 
 scholars, though able and practical, the latter will find 
 their only safety in adhering rigidly to its prescriptions. 
 They know this one thing ; they have not the wide and 
 various reading which will place at their disposal the 
 rich fruits of universal experience. Their conservatism 
 is their best protection. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 85 
 
 Yet the disaster predicted by this young and thought- 
 ful critic as certain to follow from the overmastering 
 force of the connexional element in Methodism has been 
 happily averted. American Methodism proves every 
 year more tolerant of individualism, and is solving, we 
 may hope with entire success, the problem of a strong 
 yet free government. 
 
 Some additional extracts from Professor M'Clintock's 
 Diary will show how he improved his time during this 
 period of enforced absence from college duty : — 
 
 Sun., Jan. 20. Read part of the Apocalypse ; find it is as dark as 
 ever — a sealed book to me, with the exception of the introductory 
 chapters. Read in the " London and Westminster Review " an ar- 
 ticle on Protestant and Catholic popery, in which the writer attempts 
 to fix the boundar)' between reason and faith in regard to religious 
 truth, or rather, to settle the relative rights of reason and Scripture. 
 He charges Christianity, falsely, with requiring a belief of that which 
 contradicts reason ; which is not true in any proper sense of the word 
 contradictory. Read on this subject Coleridge's "Aids to Reflec- 
 tion," pp. 120, 209, etc., wherein is to be found a far more philosoph- 
 ical and satisfactory- view of the subject. I have regretted that 
 Richard Watson permitted himself ever to use the language, above 
 denied, as the language of Christians, though he very clearly ex- 
 plained himself in the same connexion. {Vide "Watson's Life," by 
 Jackson, ad fin.) 
 
 Tues., Jan. 22. Rose at half past eight; good sleep last night; 
 feel better this morning. Continued reading the Revelation. Who 
 can understand it ? To whom has it yet been a revelation ? Read 
 the History of Philip of Macedon, and an outline of the conquests of 
 Alexander the Great in Asia.. The accounts are, to say the least, 
 all exaggerated, while that of Quintus Curtius is, in many particulars, 
 absolute invention. 
 
 Wed., Jan. 23. Rose at nine. Read Revelation, chapter xviii, ad 
 
86 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fin. Read also part of the history of David's reign, from Second 
 Samuel. How honest is the record ! all crimes and follies narrated, 
 without attempt at palliation or excuse. Read part of the history of 
 Alexander's Successors. Only twenty-eight years from the death of 
 Alexander, and not one of his blood remained on earth ! Breathing 
 easier to-day. Great storm of snow and wind ; afterward very cold. 
 
 Thiir., Jan. 29. Rose at nine ; poor sleep till the small hours last 
 night ; pain in the breast this morning, with glandular swellings ; 
 hope they wont be troublesome. 
 
 Read First Kings — history of Solomon's reign — badly begun with 
 the murder of his brother Adonijah. Read in Hoffman's " Thoughts 
 of a Grumbler ; " rather a superficial affair. Obtained Life of Epis- 
 copius ; can't read it for a day or two, they growl at me {scil. wife, 
 doctor, etc.) about reading so much ; and lo ! I read next to nothing. 
 Read part of Pope's Life ; what a vain creature he was ! 
 
 Letter from C. Gill, editor of " Mathematical Miscellany," asking 
 me to contribute some articles for that valuable periodical ! Poor 
 me ! can't even bend my mind to read a book of mathematics, 
 without thinking of writing. 
 
 Thurs., Jan. 31. Continued reading Johnson's " Life of Pope " — fin- 
 ished it. It was not written with Johnson's usual care. The parallel 
 between Pope and Dryden I have had occasion to notice before. I 
 like not these constrained parallels, either in history or in criticism. 
 Plutarch's inaccuracies and exaggerations are mostly to be found in 
 his parallels, which might be omitted from the " Lives " without 
 great loss to any body. 
 
 Sun., Feb. 3. Rose at half past nine ; had good sleep last night ; 
 head a little better this morning. Read Solomon's beautiful and 
 comprehensive prayer at the dedication of his temple. How strange, 
 that with such a strong mind, such high privileges, and such great 
 religious attainments, he should have fallen ! Perseverance of the 
 saints, indeed ! 
 
 Tues., Feb. 5. O ! when shall I be able to keep this record without 
 giving it so much the aspect of a medical diary } When shall I be 
 free from an invalid's anxious cares, matutinal self-examination, even 
 
THE REV. DR. .M CLINTOCK. 
 
 87 
 
 ing potions, midnight blisters, and the countless nugcE that make up 
 my useless life at present ? Yet, perhaps, not altogether useless ! 
 Perhaps I may be again restored to health and strength, again able 
 to tread with a buoyant, joyous step, as once I was wont, the glad 
 earth which I now hardly dare to tread ; again able to snuff the sweet 
 summer breezes from our own hills in Cumberland ; to gaze upon 
 those splendid sunsettings, the farewells of the dying day, which we 
 know only in our own valley ; and O ! most blessed thought of all, 
 again able to stand up in the sacred place and preach the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ to men ! It seems to me that I could preach as I never 
 thought of preaching before ; that I knoiu that of the vanity of life 
 and the power of religion that I never dreamed of before ; and, per- 
 haps, God has intended this affliction for a severe but precious dis- 
 cipline to my unworthy mind and heart ! Could the blessed anticipa- 
 tion ever be realized, how joyfully would 1 exchange my professor's 
 chair for the humblest circuit in Methodism, so that I could only 
 preach, with all the energies of a sound mind in a sound body, the 
 glorious Gospel of Christ Jesus ! And my dear wife is of the same 
 mind ; ready for circuit or any thing else, to be in the line of duty. 
 
 TImrs., Feb. 7. Rose at half past eight. Read newspapers and 
 dawdled until ten, then read three chapters in First Kings — the his- 
 tory of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Drs. George and Samuel M'Clel- 
 lan called, examined throat, etc., prescribed caustic ! caustic ! caus- 
 tic ! Something was said about a seton in the chest, but I don't want 
 it ; I have tortures enough without artificial ones. 
 
 Sun., Feb. 17. Rose at eight; delightful night's rest, God be 
 thanked ! Dear little babe, how full of life and vigor she is this morn- 
 ing ; every muscle in vigorous exercise, kicking and romping and 
 screaming like a little witch. She is five months and one week old, 
 and measured this morning two feet three inches and a half. The 
 blessing of Heaven rest upon the child ! Continued the history of 
 kings of Israel and Judah ; what a record of follies and crimes it is ! 
 Read a little in Prideaux's Connexion. 
 
 Mott., Feb. 18. Made analysis of part of chapter xxii, part ii, of 
 Watson's Institutes : hard work trying to educe order from chaos. 
 
88 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Read part of Reuben Apsley, by Horace Smith ; a g-ood story, told 
 plainly and well, especially the middle portions, but bad at both ends, 
 or rather at both beginning and end. 
 
 Tues., Feb. 19. Spent an hour in conversation with W. H. Gilder. 
 Talked of attempting a weekly religious paper in this city in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, designed to advocate the real interests 
 of Methodism, " without partiality and without hypocrisy." Wish sin- 
 cerely that such a paper could be established, though I do not feel 
 much like taking the responsibility on my own shoulders, especially 
 in money matters ; but, perhaps, if my health be not sufficiently re- 
 stored to allow of my attending to my duties at Carlisle in April, it 
 might be well for me to attempt it. 
 
 Sun., Feb. 24. Rose at nine. Good sound sleep last night, and 
 feel pretty well this morning. All go to church ; but we must stay 
 at home. Well, the Lord is not confined to the mountain or to Jeru- 
 salem, and we may enjoy his presence and smiles in our little cham- 
 ber. Read in First Chronicles ; how beautiful and comprehensive is 
 ^\\^ prayer of Jabez, in chapter iv ! I thought of passing by the first 
 nine chapters entirely, as containing nothing but dry genealogies ; but, 
 then, I should have missed that sweet prayer, lying like a well in a 
 desert. 
 
 Had wife read to me in the evening from Wordsworth's " Excur- 
 sion," and sister Jane, an article on " Rituals," from the " New York 
 Review ; " which article, by the way, is a beautiful specimen both of 
 reasoning and eloquence. My own mind has been made up for some 
 time upon the question of forms of prayer. I believe that our fathers 
 erred, in this country', in yielding to the wishes of the people, and 
 abolishing the use of forms of prayer in the Methodist Church. Could 
 it be done safely, I would be glad to see them introduced. 
 
 Thurs., Feb. 28. Finished the " Life of Drew," He certainly accom- 
 plished great things with small means ; but, as he himself admits, it 
 is the contrast between his opportunities and his performances which 
 entitles him to eminence. His w^orks are great, not absolutely, but 
 relatively to his circumstances. 
 
 Read most of the " Life of Joshua Marsden." Rather a feeble 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 89 
 
 mind, I judge ; but a man of good feelings and virtuous principles. 
 After all, these are infinitely more valuable than those. 
 
 Thurs., March 7. Raked up from the dust of father's book-shelves 
 the old numbers of Stockton's " Wesleyan Repository," and was 
 much interested in running over them. I suppose, though I am not 
 sure of it, that the publication was ver)' unpopular with the Meth- 
 odist preachers at the time. It was too bold entirely ; attributed too 
 little infallibility to our system. The same spirit exists at this day to 
 a considerable extent. 
 
 Fri.y March 1 5, Baltimore. Rode up to the Conference Room, in 
 Sharp-street, (Wesley Chapel,) and found the Conference in session ; 
 Bishop Andrew in the chair. The case on hand was that of Brother 
 Asbury Roszel, who was to be continued on trial. J. A. Collins ob- 
 jected, on the ground of his having been retained at Carlisle during 
 the year, and that he would probably be retained hereafter. There 
 was a pretty full discussion of the principle on which Methodist 
 preachers are put into colleges. Dr. Bangs spoke very well on the 
 case, and the Bishop laid down the law very clearly ; though I differ, 
 ioto coelo, from his sentiments in regard to our college work, as ex- 
 pressed in his speech. His doctrine was, that the college situations 
 were subordinate to the general itinerant work, and that it is wrong 
 to keep men in them who might be useful in the ranks of the minis- 
 try ; on which account laymen are to be preferred for professors, etc., 
 when they can be had. Now, I do not believe that our educational 
 system ought to be regarded as subordinate to but co-ordinate with 
 the general religious system ; and I cannot see on what other ground 
 the Bishop is at all justifiable in appointing preachers to colleges and 
 schools. And, moreover, if I believed the sentiment of Bishop An- 
 drew just, I could not continue my connexion with College another 
 hour, consistently with my views of a Methodist preacher's duty. 
 Besides, it is my deliberate opinion, and one not formed from theory, 
 or d, priori, but from actual experience in colleges, that all the pro- 
 fessors should be ministers of the Gospel if possible. The inter- 
 dependence of sound learning and sound theology is too close, the 
 bearing of scientific doctrines upon religion is too intimate, to allow 
 
90 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 all these interests to lie in the hands of men who have never made 
 theology a peculiar study. And in our Methodist Colleges there are 
 additional reasons for filling all the professorships with ministers ; in 
 that case only are they directly responsible to the Conferences which 
 sustain the Colleges. 
 
 Thurs. morning, March 21. Dr. Buckler, the celebrated physician 
 of this city, called on me yesterday and examined my throat. He 
 assured me that this indolent inflammation must have been of long 
 standing, and originated in a morbid condition of the stomach. 
 Advised me not to use the simple bougie, nor any mercurials, but 
 simply to travel, use a mild aperient every morning, and keep cool. 
 He also ordered a revulsive of caustic potash upon the back of the 
 neck, and advised a trip to the Red Sulphur Springs of Virginia dur- 
 ing the summer if possible. I was considerably pleased with his 
 opinions. 
 
 Sun., March 24, Philadelphia. How kindly does Providence adapt 
 our desires to our circumstances ! One year ago, I was choice in my 
 food, and required a great deal of it to satisfy my appetite and sup- 
 port nature. Now I live upon my fluid diet, with hardly a thought 
 or wish with regard to any other food ; my appetite is good, but is 
 stayed by a few tumblers of milk, and I find it sufficiently nutritious. 
 Thank God for all his mercies ! 
 
 Fri., March 29. Thirty-four leeches applied to the back of my 
 neck this morning. They may, perhaps, prevent a recurrence of last 
 night's disagreeables. Day spent at home. Read Job ; read in Tay- 
 lor's "Home Education;" also Scott's "Count Robert of Paris." 
 
 Wed., April 3. Left Philadelphia at five P. M. yesterday in the 
 cars, and after a less fatiguing and troublesome ride than I had an- 
 ticipated, reached my father-in-law's house, in Jersey City, at about 
 half past eleven P. M. Found wife up with the dear little one in her 
 arms ; but O, how changed from the fair creature that I left but a 
 few weeks ago ! The rich glow of her sunny cheek was gone, the 
 sparkle of her eye had vanished, and she lay there, little more than a 
 lump of clay. Still she lives, and there is hope. The doctor gives 
 us some encouragement. God save the child ! 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 91 
 
 Sat., April 6. Nine A. M. Babe is dying ; the sweet spirit will 
 soon be a cherub I She is dead I O God, thou art tr) ing me in the 
 fire I 
 
 Sun., April 7. Buried our little love, at least her mortal part, in 
 the vault at Bergen Hill. So vanish earthly joys ! Another tie to 
 the skies ! Poor wife, it is indeed a blow to her. 
 
 Mon., April 22. Left Philadelphia at six A. M. in the railroad cars ; 
 reached CarHsle at five P. M., one hundred and twenty-eight miles in 
 eleven hours, including about two and a half hours' stoppages at dif- 
 ferent points on the road. The day was delightful, and I found the 
 journey not near so fatiguing and oppressive as I had anticipated. 
 
 Thurs., April 25, Carlisle. Have been reading, for a day or two, 
 Sampson Reid's " Growth of the Mind ; " a most beautiful produc- 
 tion, abounding in elevated truths, imbued with a pure and spiritual 
 philosophy, and written in a most chaste and elegant style. Strange 
 that so clear a mind should submit to the delusion and folly of 
 Swedenborgianism ! 
 
 Sun., May 19. The past week has been one of great blessings and 
 much enjo)Tnent. The exquisite sweetness and purity of the atmos- 
 phere, the opening of fresh flowers daily, the songs of innumerable 
 birds, all have contributed to keep me much in the open air, and my 
 health has improved accordingly. I have been under the homoeo- 
 pathic treatment all the time, but am really at a loss to know wheth- 
 er I derive any benefit from it, or whether all my improvement may 
 not be attributed to the delightful circumstances with which I am 
 surrounded. 
 
 Fri., May 24. Heard recitations on Tuesday and Wednesday in 
 Paley's "Evidences." Dined Wednesday on thickened milk, of bet- 
 ter consistency than any thing I had taken before since last Septem- 
 ber. Have great pleasure in the kindness of friends here ; truly they 
 abound in their love to us, and I know not wherefore. 
 
 Wed., May 29. Have read a good deal in Swedenborg, and really 
 am at a loss to imagine how any man in his wits can find any thing 
 here to attract him. There are, it is true, many pretty \-isions, many 
 strange fantasies, many brilliant pictures, and many profound truths ; 
 
92 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 but these are so buried up in masses of the veriest nonsense, so ob- 
 scured by absolute ravings, that the man must have Httle to do who 
 can afford to spend time in searching- for them. Gutted, to-day, T. 
 Jackson's "Centenary of Methodism." Commenced on Monday 
 Prescott's " Ferdinand and Isabella," and Philip's " Life of Bunyan." 
 
 Mon., June 17. Mrs. Allen died at half past nine A. M., on Satur- 
 day, after a week of almost unintermitting agony. She died in peace, 
 aged twenty years. God grant that I may be ready for his call if I 
 should be the next summoned away ! It is somewhat strange, that 
 within the last few years ever)' member of the Faculty of Dickinson 
 College has received some cup of bitterness from the hand of Provi- 
 dence : President D. lost his wife ; Professor E., his father ; Professor 
 R., his brother ; I lost my sweet babe, and the use of my throat ; and 
 Professor A. has this day buried his wife. Perhaps God has a con- 
 troversy with us. O that we were more devoted to his cause and to 
 his glory ! 
 
 Tues., June 25. Finished, to-day, reading Prescott's " Ferdinand 
 and Isabella ; " a clear, perspicuous history, in the very best style of 
 historical writing. It hardly pretends to be a philosophical history. 
 Am much pleased with Townsend's "Notes on New Testament," 
 except his notions on High Church. Derive great benefit and im- 
 provement from Campbell's "Dissertations and Notes." Watson's 
 "Exposition" is not what I hoped to find it. His style is destitute 
 of simplicity, which is the first requisite in the style of an expositor. 
 
 Sun., July 7. The worst feature of my present affliction is, and has 
 been, that I cannot preach the Gospel. I sometimes think that the 
 rod has thus been laid upon me in order to prevent my preaching ; 
 that one so worldly, so sensual, so trifling, so led away by frivolous 
 aims, so desirous of worldly honors, so careless in regard to divine 
 things, and so ignorant of them, should not occupy the sacred desk 
 as an ambassador for Christ ! If it be so, O Lord, purge me still 
 more thoroughly, that, in the end, if it be consistent with thy holy 
 will, I may be permitted again to lift up my voice in calling sinners 
 to repentance. But I have little zeal for God. If I had a proper 
 zeal, I could do much for his cause, even though I do not preach ; 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 93 
 
 on the contrary, however, I fear that I have made my feeble health a 
 plea for the neglect of many duties ! God forgive and cleanse me ! 
 
 Tues., July 9. Commencement week — hurry, hurry, bustle, flurry, 
 all the time — no opportunity for reading, writing, thought, or any 
 thing else. Examinations have closed ; went off very well. Emory 
 will leave ; sorry, indeed, I am. While I do full justice to the purity 
 of his motives, and the uprightness of his intentions, I am well con- 
 vinced that he has erred in his judgment in regard to this matter. 
 Perhaps, however, Providence will overrule it all for good. 
 
 I have been requested by a correspondent to describe 
 Professor M'Clintock's method as a student. I hesitate 
 somewhat to comply. It is not easy for the artist to dis- 
 close the secret of his power, much less easy is it for one 
 who has no more than the opportunities of an observer. 
 As this memoir, however, will be read by Methodist minis- 
 ters, such account as I can give of Dr. M'Clintock's student 
 life may be helpful in the way of suggestion. The meth- 
 ods of scholars are probably very much alike. Given an 
 insatiable hunger for knowledge, with opportunity for its 
 satisfaction, and knowledge will be gathered. I should 
 put this unappeasable hunger for truth as the first fact ; 
 Dr. M'Clintock zvoiild know whatever was to be known. 
 He would open ways for himself into every field of 
 knowledge, and would survey it, if he could do no more. 
 His mental independence was the next striking feature 
 of his method. He did his own thinking. He was not 
 content to be any man's echo. The passages from his 
 diary already quoted prove with what vigor he used his 
 critical faculty. It was not common, at that day, for 
 young men to speak so freely of the worthies of Meth- 
 
94 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 odism ; but he always insisted that the one lesson to be 
 learned from the life of John Wesley was the lesson of 
 intellectual self-reliance. In exploring a subject a cer- 
 tain tact made him quickly familiar with its literature. 
 What others had thought and said upon it came readily 
 to his hand. He thus gathered about him speedily the 
 materials for complete investigation, would instinctively 
 find the right clew, and would then push forward till he 
 saw what he wished to know with the utmost vividness. 
 His mind never leaped to conclusions; he might antici- 
 pate them, but would march up to them, keeping on solid 
 ground. His multifarious reading was carefully indexed, 
 so as to be always within reach. Important passages 
 were copied at length. On every leading topic he had 
 a large body of notes drawn from the best authorities. 
 
 In using this abundant material his first aim was to 
 attain a perfect insight, and then to exercise an indepen- 
 dent judgment. He was not overmastered by his ac- 
 quisitions, but kept them under due control. He ef- 
 fected this by his organizing power, which was the 
 dominant faculty of his mind. To reduce knowledge to 
 its all comprehending principles was no less a pleasure 
 than a necessity for him. His habits of composition were 
 most laborious. Nothing slovenly from his pen was 
 ever allowed to see the light. His critical judgment 
 held watch and ward over every paragraph. He was 
 most solicitous of criticism, and scarcely ever produced 
 an important review or essay that he did not ask his 
 most intimate friends to point out defects in either mat- 
 ter or form. Through this process of discipline his style 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 95 
 
 became clear, crisp, and faultless in form, though it was 
 perhaps lacking in warmth. In preparation for public 
 addresses there was a like carefulness observed, but with 
 it there was a large trust to his spontaneous power. His 
 sensibilities were quick, and kindled readily in the pres- 
 ence of an expectant audience. He was equal to extra- 
 ordinary occasions, could interpret the inarticulate emo- 
 tion of his hearers, and give it voice and expression with 
 a power of eloquence which left little to be desired. I 
 shall speak, however, of his oratorical gifts more at length 
 in subsequent chapters. 
 
 LETTERS FROM MAY, 1836, TO MARCH, 3839. 
 I. 
 
 Jersey City, Bergen Co., N. J., 3I(Hj 27, 1836. 
 For one whole year have I been preaching Christianity under the 
 direction of the Philadelphia Conference, and in that year I have 
 learned that to be a faithful preacher, something more is requisite than 
 sound moral feelings, or strong religious excitement. A man must 
 have some intellect, and some lungs, too, in order to perform all the 
 duties of a Methodist preacher successfully. During the year I have 
 had considerable opportunity for study, and have partially improved 
 it, both in following up my collegiate studies, and in penetrating the 
 mysteries of the theologians : though in these latter I have certainly 
 made r.s yet but little progress. In fact, unless my views of these 
 subjects change much in the lapse of years, I shall never be a theo- 
 logian, in the common sense of the term, though I should live and 
 preach for half a century. My chief studies at present are, " Longi- 
 nus on the Sublime," of which I am attempting a translation, (just 
 commenced, however,) and the writers on " Moral Philosophy ; " with 
 which matter I intend to make myself as well acquainted as the na- 
 ture of it will admit. In the mean time, I purpose to prepare myself 
 
96 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 for a future professorship in either Language or Ethics, so that 
 should I be called upon from any quarter, I may be ready to answer. 
 
 During the present spring my health has been very poor — the re- 
 sult of laborious preaching. I find that continued preaching will soon 
 destroy me — the excitement is too great for my very excitable tem- 
 perament. My health, comfort, happiness, and usefulness, I am well 
 convinced, would all be better were I in a situation more congenial 
 to my feelings, and more suitable to my weak capacities, than that 
 of a stated preacher. It requires qualities that I do not possess. 
 Thus far, however, I have gone, I think, under the direction of a kind 
 and gracious Providence, for whose guidance I still look, and whose 
 openings I shall implicitly follow. 
 Pbofessoe Emory. 
 
 II. 
 
 Jersey CrrY, Sept. 2, 1S36. 
 Dear Father: — I received a letter yesterday from Mr. Paine, 
 President of La Grange College, informing me of my election to the 
 professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy — salary, $900 
 per annum. A new session opened August first, and will terminate 
 in January-. The present incumbent will retain his office until my 
 arrival, should I accept and reach La Grange before first of October, 
 beyond which date he cannot remain, so that I am urged to hasten 
 my departure. The college is located in Franklin County, Alabama, 
 ten miles from Tuscumbia, on the summit of a mountain, with one 
 of the finest and most extensive landscapes in the United States. 
 The pecuniary condition of the establishment is good — and prospects 
 still brightening. There are two large three-story brick buildings — 
 one having one hundred feet, the other seventy-two feet front, with a 
 laboratory and chapel. The place is proverbial for health. The 
 number of students varies from one hundred to one hundred and 
 forty : their character for scholarship and morals inferior to none in 
 the western colleges. The Faculty are : President, Professor of 
 Mathematics, Adjunct Professor of Languages, Professor of Chemis- 
 try, Professor of Languages — with a tutor. Faculty harmonious — for 
 some years united. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 97 
 
 The reasons for my accepting this professorship are various ; some 
 are — tirst, the healthfulness of the situation, and its southern cli- 
 mate, which my constitution needs. Second, the excellence of the 
 offer, which indeed somewhat surprises me. Third, its being for the 
 Mathematics, to which our Professors so strongly urged me. Fourth, 
 the providential circumstances which seem to direct me strongly 
 to the acceptance of the offer. I shall not be able to tarry here long 
 — 1 cannot subsist without employment, nor can I live without study. 
 For this, the opportunity and the necessity will both arise from the 
 office in Alabama. 
 
 There are reasons against my acceptance, the chief of which is, the 
 distance from home. This, however, is not, and will not be insuper- 
 able. Could I obtain a suitable situation in Carlisle or Randolph — 
 Macon, I should prefer it, but there is no opening that I know of. 
 In reference to Carlisle I am yet in the dark, having heard nothing 
 from Mr. Durbin, and not knowing for what situation he would wish 
 my services. If you know, I should be glad to learn, in your answer 
 to this, whether I am wanted at Carlisle (if now wanted at all) as a 
 teacher in the Grammar School, or as an assistant in the College. 
 A knowledge of this would be a great kindness to me. You will 
 find inclosed a letter to Mr. Durbin ; after you read it, please seal it 
 up and send it to him if in Philadelphia, or if not, send it immediately 
 to Carlisle. 
 
 III. 
 
 Carlislk, March 20, 1S37. 
 
 Dear Father: — From Mr. Durbin's communication, I have very 
 little doubt in regard to the result of the election, and suppose, there- 
 fore, that my labors here have been satisfactory. At all events, I 
 am conscious of having well discharged every duty devolving upon 
 -me in the office. I have been somewhat perplexed in regard to the 
 propriety of my being ordained, and I have not pursued the Confer- 
 ence studies so as to pass an examination. I shall abide by the 
 decision of the bishop — or rather, his advice in reference to the ordi- 
 nation. I have always had a very salutary dread of taking strong 
 7 
 
98 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 vows of any kind : and especially religious vows in awkward circum- 
 stances. The ordination of local nnen and professors I can hardly 
 understand. Still I may be ignorant, and merely mention the thing 
 to let you know what my thoughts have been: 
 
 IV. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 15, 1S39. 
 The feelings evinced by your remarks upon the itinerancy, and es- 
 pecially upon the prospect of your own connexion with it, are such 
 as I cannot but approve : indeed, I sympathize in these from the bot- 
 tom of my heart, for they have been all my own, both before and 
 (but in a far greater degree) since I have been laid upon the shelf as an 
 invalid. As to one of your principles, I have been, and still remain, 
 somewhat doubtful. I refer to the doctrine that it is improper for an 
 annual Conference to admit into the ministry any individual whose 
 relations to society would not be changed by the said admission. 
 Certainly it seems to me, that if our educational system is to be viewed 
 as a co-ordinate — or even subordinate — branch of our religious sys- 
 tem, whose design is to prepare men for the reception of Gospel 
 truth, and to carry that truth home to their hearts — if, I say, our 
 educational plans are to be regarded, I can see no more difficulty in 
 admitting a man and permitting him to remain in college, than in 
 sending him to the roughest circuit in Methodism. The mere fact 
 of our connexion being called a travelling ministr\- does not impose 
 the necessity upon ever)' one who may be admitted into it of pulling 
 up stakes and setting off at once, in the letter of the system, to travel. 
 Nor can the mere formal difference between receiving a man as a 
 professor, and appointing him as a professor immediately after he is 
 received, be of any avail. It strikes me the whole difficulty lies in the 
 supposition, that if a man is received into the ministry hampered by 
 "any such connexion," there is a contract implied, if not expressed, 
 that he shall always remain in such situation, and that his relation to 
 the Conference must never subject him to the performance of any 
 other duties. But certainly there is no such implication ; or if it be 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 99 
 
 supposed that there is, it can easily be guarded against by a distinct 
 statement at the time of admission. 
 
 As for my own health, I sometimes indulge the hope that I may be 
 again able to perform my duties at Carlisle — nay, that I may again 
 be permitted to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to men. Should 
 this be the case, I feel persuaded (though I may deceive myself, as 
 many have done before) that the affliction which I have endured will 
 have been a precious discipline to me, and that I shall never again 
 be able to look with indifference upon the great work of human sal- 
 vation, never again be able to preach, without an earnest previous 
 preparation of prayer, as well as of thought. O how differently do 
 we estimate w'orldly things when they appear to be receding from us ; 
 when that reality to which we must all come at last, though so few 
 are able to appropriate it to themselves in health — the reality, name- 
 ly, that we must die — is pressed upon us with all the force of imme- 
 diate nearness ! Such thoughts have been my almost constant com- 
 panions — not, indeed, because I have been in any danger of imme- 
 diate death, but because (perhaps) I have been shut out from the 
 world and its employments, and have had leisure for that self- 
 reflection which can be so seldom enjoyed amid the bustling labors 
 of active life. I hope to be with you in April, Deo volente. 
 Professoe Emory. 
 
 V. 
 
 Baltimore, March 19, 1S89. 
 
 Dear Robert : — Let me say that your determination [to leave 
 the college and enter the travelling ministry] creates general regret 
 both among preachers and people, and your best friends are sorry 
 that you should have found such a course necessaiy to your peace, and 
 especially at this time. I have not heard a preacher speak upon the 
 subject who has not thus expressed himself, and many have fears for 
 the effect. Permit me to say, too, that your modesty alone (which I 
 must admire, while I regret its results) could lead you to suppose 
 your connexion with the college of small importance. I know that 
 the prosperity of the school has been considerably identified with 
 
100 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 your name, and that your disconnexion from it will be of serious, 
 though I hope only temporary, injury. I have now spoken my mind 
 freely. In all probability the close relation that we have sustained 
 to each other, by our connexion with the school, is now sundered 
 for ever. I had, indeed, expected its severance ere this, but by an- 
 other agency — the hand of death, whose presence I felt in my own 
 bedchamber. But that hand seems to be lifted, and I may yet live 
 to enter upon my duties again in September. If I shall be so per- 
 mitted, it will be the only bitterness in the cup of pleasure which I 
 shall take up when I enter upon my work, that I shall see you no 
 more in our college halls, and commune with you no more in our 
 college sociality. God bless you, my brother, wherever you are, and 
 however you may be employed ! If you go out, God grant you great 
 success in the work of the ministry — and under all circumstances, 
 though you may have many more valuable, you shall find no more 
 sincere friend than JOHN M'Clintock, Jun. 
 
 Peofessor Emoby. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 lOI 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1 839-1 847. 
 
 An Ideal Life — Carlisle and the Cumberland Valloy— Eapid Progress in Study— Social 
 Habits — Improvement of Health— Centenary of Methodism, October, 1S39— Reading on 
 Christian Perfection and the Human Will— Grief at Parting with Robert Emorj— Transfer 
 from the Chair of Mathematics to that of Ancient Classic Languages— Oitlained Elder by 
 Bishop Hedding — Illness and Death of his Mother— Recovery of his Voice and Return to the 
 Pulpit— Characteristics and Power as a Preacher—Estimates of Carlyle and Goethe— Stabil- 
 ity in his Opinions and Steadfast Adherence to Evangelical Doctrine — Profound Interest in 
 the Slavery Controversy — Active Opjiosition tn tlu Annexation of Texas— Lettt-rs in the 
 Chrvitiun Ailvocdte on the Duty of the Church — Publication of Greek and Latin Text- 
 Books, and Xeander's '-Life of Christ"— Letters. 
 
 IT was very much an ideal life that Dr. M'Clintock 
 led while a professor in Dickinson College. The 
 valley in the midst of which Carlisle stands has often 
 been compared by the imaginative to the happy vale of 
 Rasselas. Encircled lovingly on either side by the Blue 
 Mountain ridge, and enveloped in an atmosphere of crys- 
 tal clearness, on which the play of light and shade pro- 
 duced every hour some new and striking effect, it was, in 
 a measure, withdrawn from the tumult of the world. The 
 tumult might be heard in the distance, but did not come 
 near enough to disturb the calm of studious pursuits. 
 The town preserved the tradition of the learned culture 
 which has distinguished it from the beginning of the 
 present century. Its population was not enterprising; 
 manufacturing was but little, if at all, known to it. The 
 rich soil of the valley poured out every year abundant 
 harvests, and the borough was no more than the centre 
 
102 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of exchanges, or the market for supplies. The steady 
 pace and even pulse of agricultural life seemed here to 
 tone down the fevered excitement which is the usual con- 
 dition under which American society exists. 
 
 Helped by these favoring circumstances, the years 
 from 1839 to 1847 were most fruitful to Professor M'Clin- 
 tock as a student. The change in the former year from 
 the chair of mathematics to that of ancient languages led 
 him into new and congenial occupations. The pleasure 
 of acquiring knowledge was always perhaps greater to him 
 than the pleasure of imparting it. He used to say, jocu- 
 larly, that a college would be delightful if only there were 
 no students. He was, nevertheless, a most faithful and 
 laborious teacher ; in point of fact, his classes stimulated 
 him and gave zest to his exertions. He had the art of 
 connecting the work of the students with his own cul- 
 ture, and, if on a higher plane, was moving in the same 
 lines with them. What he was investigating he would 
 often give them to investigate, and so kept himself in the 
 class-room fresh and full of vitality. During the most of 
 this period he was free from anxious cares, and could 
 surrender himself without interruption to his cherished 
 studies. That was, indeed, an ideal life in which the long 
 hours could be devoted to the exploration of the philos- 
 ophy of Greek accents, the mysterious force of the particle 
 dv, and all the fascinating subtleties of linguistic pursuits. 
 
 He was greatly aided by his social advantages, and 
 made them helpful to his more serious occupations. 
 It was not often that he could be induced to spend a 
 whole evening in society. Time was too precious, he 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. I03 
 
 said, and he begrudged the surrender of so many hours. 
 Every day he would take pains to see some friend, would 
 beguile a half hour with pleasant chat, and then be off 
 again to work. In such pauses from labor he would be 
 as playful as if his life were a long holiday. Brief 
 snatches of social enjoyment suited him better than cere- 
 monious observances, though to these latter he gave, 
 when required, due attention. He had the magnetism 
 which made him a charming companion, and if he drew 
 much from society, he also gave much to it. From the 
 manv bitter thingrs against himself which he wrote down 
 in his diary, he always made one reservation — that he 
 had the capacity of loving. Wherever he might be, he 
 would gather friends about him. and gain through themi a 
 fresh relish of existence. His sympathies were catholic, 
 and enabled him, whenever he willed it, to touch the world 
 at many points. He could enter quickly into the life of 
 others, come to an understanding of it, and establish 
 agreeable relations with them, without an unnecessary 
 expenditure of time. His social power supplemented his 
 talents, and contributed largely to his success. 
 
 By the opening of the college year, in September, 1839, 
 his health was fully restored, and he entered upon his 
 work with enthusiasm. His diary here presents the 
 best picture of him and of his multifarious studies : — 
 
 Tues., Sept. 17. Carlisle. Busy day again — examining students for 
 admission into college — all is hurly-burly, tumult and labor — but to- 
 day will be the last of it, I hope, as recitations are assigned for 
 to-morrow. 
 
 Frt., Sept. 27. How delightfully time glides away ! My throat 
 
104 
 
 LIP^E AND LETTERS OF 
 
 improves : I have constantly the gay and buoyant feeling of conva- 
 lescence ; can attend to all my business ; study with greater ease 
 than ever. Thank the Lord for all his mercies ! Perhaps I shall 
 yet be able to preach again ; if so, Lord, prepare me for the work ! 
 
 Fri., Oct. 4. Commenced Hebrew with Dr. H., yesterday, don't 
 like him much ; do not suppose him, from what I have yet seen, to 
 understand the language philosophically. 
 
 Thurs., Oct. 24. Usual duties at college attended to. Have read 
 lately much in Mahan's " Christian Perfection," a most excellent 
 exposition of that Christian doctrine by a Presbyterian clergyman. 
 My religious experience is getting deeper and wider. I have a constant 
 sense of dependence, and gratitude such as I have seldom known. 
 And yet I have little or no religion. God help me ! 
 
 Fri., Oct. 25. The centenary of Methodism ! This day a million 
 of hearts will keep as the Sabbath ! This day a million of voices 
 will unite in singing the high praises of God in Methodist chapels ! 
 What a stupendous exhibition of moral power does the Methodism 
 of this day exhibit ! 
 
 Heard R. Emory in the morning, from " They that sow in tears 
 shall reap in joy. He that goeth . . . sheaves with him." It was a 
 neat, clear, and perspicuous exhibition of the rise, progress, and doc- 
 trines of Methodism. I closed the meeting after Mr. Emory with 
 singing and prayer, being my first public church exercise ! God be 
 praised for all his goodness ! J. P. Durbin preached a centenary 
 sermon in the evening which was highly spoken of, but I did not 
 hear him. 
 
 Sun., Oct. 27. Finished to-day reading Mahan on " Christian Per- 
 fection." Find in it much to approve, and but one or two points to 
 condemn. The man evidently feels what he writes ; there is life and 
 energy in it ; it comes warm from the heart. Certainly it has stirred 
 me up more than any practical treatise that I have ever read, and 
 my mind has, for some days past, been dwelling strongly on the 
 subject on which he writes. Read also part of Fletcher's last Check 
 which treats of this subject, and gleaned the views of Campbell 
 and Macknight from their commentaries. How strangely meagre 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 13$ 
 
 are Mr. Watson's remarks on this subject, both in his "Institutes'* 
 and " Dictionary " — nay, in his Exposition also. This is our twenty- 
 fifth birthday — mine and my wife's ! One quarter of a century of life 
 gone ! How little of it has been improved and fully devoted to the 
 glory of God ! 
 
 Sun., Nov. 3. A fine, beautiful Sabbath morning ! Read in " Town- 
 send " before church. At eleven heard a most clear and beautiful dis- 
 course on Psalm i from Alfred Griffith, our presiding elder, and 
 closed the meeting after him with prayer. What occasion of thank- 
 fulness have I for the almost miraculous recovery of my throat ! 
 Blessed be the name of the Lord ! In the afternoon we had a de- 
 lightful season at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in the admin- 
 istration of which I assisted. Of course I could not literally "eat" 
 the Bread ; but I trust that the ordinance was blessed to my advan- 
 tage notwithstanding. Would hear Mr. Durbin this evening if pos- 
 sible : perhaps the time will yet come when I shall not only be able 
 to attend all the services of the sanctuary, but assist in the perform- 
 ance of them. 
 
 Sat., Nov. 9. Heard Junior Class in analytical geometry this 
 morning. How beautiful is that great work, the offspring of the 
 teeming mind of Descartes ! I often think that injustice is done to 
 Descartes in common fame. I know that all men of real knowledge 
 and discernment allow him to have possessed mighty intellectual 
 powers and pure moral purposes ; but, mainly on account of his un- 
 fortunate speculations, distinguished although his vortices were as 
 a theory which none but a mind of the most wonderful acuteness 
 could have conceived, his name has come to be associated, in the 
 public or vulgar estimation, with Atheists and Alchemists ! 
 
 Mon., Nov. 18. Read in " Upham on the Will " and Tappan's re- 
 view of "Edwards on the Will;" also an excellent article in the 
 "American Biblical Repository" for October, on Cause and Effect, 
 considered in Connexion with Fatalism and Free Agency, in which 
 Edwards' doctrine of the Will is fairly and completely overthrown. 
 
 Fri., Nov. 22. Another clear, cold, windy day. Recitation in ge- 
 ometry unusually pleasant and interesting. I never have had morj 
 
io6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 success in teaching than during the present session, thank Provi- 
 dence for all his goodness I My health seems steadily improving ; and 
 I am, perhaps, approaching the time when I shall rejoice in the pos- 
 session of a mens sana in corpore sano : certainly my mind acts with 
 more rapidity, vigor, and certainty, than it has done for years. Read 
 the evangelist's account of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. 
 What a close fulfilment of Zechariah's prophecy ! Read in the even- 
 ing the introduction to Edwards and Park's " Selections from Ger- 
 man Literature," which is a fine production indeed ; its spirit and 
 tendency are just what they should be ; too latitudinarian for 
 a strict orthodoxy — such an orthodoxy as claims entire infaUibility 
 for human interpretations — but not too liberal for the spirit of the 
 Gospel. Studied a good deal in Greek syntax, ^schylus, and me- 
 chanics — the doctrine of parallel forces. 
 
 Sat., Nov. 23. Heard Junior Class in analytical geometry ; gave 
 them a lecture upon the advantage of such studies m forming habits 
 of attention, recollection, and quickness of apprehension. Took 
 occasion, also, to enforce upon them the necessity of acquinng the 
 power and fixing the habit of solitary thought — meditation, reflection ; 
 without which, I informed them that they could never be strong men. 
 Read the "Prometheus Vinctus " for an hour with R. E. A sweet 
 and noble spirit he is I I love him more and more, day after day. 
 Afternoon, read a couple of chapters in " Cicero de Amicitia." What 
 a spirit of beauty lives in the writings of that man ! 
 
 Wed., Nov. 27. Letter from Dr. L. The Book Committee at New 
 York decided against the expediency of publishing my " Analysis of 
 Watson's Institutes." The blockheads doubt whether it would be 
 useful for the young men I Wrote to Dr. L. to send it back in a 
 package of books which I have just ordered. 
 
 Sat., Nov. 30. Read and studied a good deal to-day. Evening, 
 Messrs. Durbin, Emor}', Caldwell, Allen, and myself, met for the pur- 
 pose of commencing a critical investigation of that great crux phi- 
 losophomm — the human will. We take Upham's book on the Will 
 for the basis — and a wretchedly written affair it is. Our meeting 
 was interesting and profitable. I shall observe the mental charac- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 107 
 
 teristics of my associates as closely as possible in the course of 
 these meetings, as I shall have an opportunity to do so. 
 
 Tues., Dec. 10. Usual duties performed. Very busy also in writing 
 Lectures on " Differential and Integral Calculus " for my Senior Class 
 in college. I am decidedly of the opinion that the method of infinites- 
 imals ought to be introduced to the minds of students earlier in the 
 mathematical course, and their minds habituated to it, so that when 
 they come to study the very abstruse principles on which any theory 
 of the calculus must rest, they will not have the additional disadvan- 
 tage — additional, I mean, to their entering upon a very difficult path 
 of being entirely in a new world. 
 
 Wed., Dec. II. Pretty good health — excellent spirits. Read a 
 good deal on the will ; and after Faculty meeting in the evening the 
 subject was discussed, in connexion with our text-book, (Upham's,) 
 by Durbin, Caldwell, Emory, and self. 
 
 Tkurs,, Dec. 26. A bitter day. Parted with Robert Emory, whose 
 connexion with Dickinson College is severed. I knew not how my 
 heart was bound up in him. It is full now, almost to breaking ; the 
 world seems desolate. I must endeavor to turn back the tide of my 
 love upon my own poor heart again. Rather, must I fix my affec- 
 tions more steadily upon "things above," not on things "on the 
 earth." The blessing of God go with thee, my brother ! my friend ! 
 
 This parting from his colleague he frequently mentions 
 as a very sore trial. They had known each other from 
 youth. The two young men were nearly of the same 
 age. Robert Emory had been so much associated with 
 his father in counsel that he had attained what might be 
 termed a precocious maturity. In the chair which he 
 occupied in Dickinson College he had won for himself 
 a reputation for broad and accurate scholarship, and skill 
 as an instructor, of which any one might be proud. 
 His mind inclined, howxv^er, to administration more than 
 
io8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to literature. He had inherited his father's sound judg- 
 ment, strong will, and great executive power, and was 
 considered by all who knew him to be predestined to 
 the episcopal office, which his father had adorned. A 
 conviction that it was his duty to enter upon the active 
 work of the ministry had decided him to relinquish his 
 professorship. He would begin, too, at the beginning, 
 and accepted, therefore, with all cheerfulness, though he 
 had been offered one of the highest offices in the church, 
 the position of a junior preacher on an old-fashioned cir- 
 cuit. To his chivalrous spirit the evasion of his full 
 share of the privations and exposures of a Methodist 
 preacher's life would have presented itself as a crime. 
 Polished, gifted, and finely cultured as he was, the hum- 
 blest details of ministerial duty had for him, through 
 their connexion with their higher ends, a dignity which 
 glorified them, and made their performance, in his esti- 
 mation, an unceasing pleasure. 
 
 The lives of these two men were so knit together in 
 the bonds of friendship that it is difficult to convey an 
 adequate impression of the character of the one without 
 some description of the character of the other. They 
 were, after this separation, unexpectedly associated again 
 in college life. In the year 1842, when President Durbin 
 went abroad, Professor Emory acted as pro-tempore pres- 
 ident ; and in 1845, upon Dr. Durbin's resignation, he was 
 unanimously chosen his successor. In person he was 
 tall, and of commanding presence. His manner was 
 instantly suggestive of large converse with the world, 
 and familiarity with every nicety of usage. Of scholarly 
 
THE REV. DR, M'CLINTOCK. IO9 
 
 shyness no trace was observable in him. Under this grace 
 and suavity of the man of the world there lay such a 
 spirit of self-abnegation as made him an example of the 
 highest form of Christian excellence. To lose himself con- 
 tinually in some object out of, and greater than, himself, 
 was the one law of his conduct. It was impossible to 
 spend an hour in his society without receiving a strong 
 impression of his disinterestedness. He would preach 
 with as much painstaking care to a handful of hearers in 
 a roadside school-house, as to a cultivated city congre- 
 gation ; would sit down by the side of a child to teach it 
 a lesson in the rudiments of Christianity, or, after holding 
 nightly service with his people, would ride away for miles 
 to watch by the bedside of a sick preacher. It was in 
 rendering this last-named attention that he laid the 
 foundation of the disease which carried him prematurely 
 to the grave. The readiness with which he threw aside 
 worldly advantage for the sake of higher objects would 
 have seemed stoical, had it not been obvious that his 
 nature was pervaded by Christian sensibility. 
 
 I know that this language will be called extravagant, but 
 it will not appear so to the living who remember Robert 
 Emory, and to whom I can appeal for attestation of the 
 accuracy of this description. Professor M'Clintock wrote 
 thus of him after his death : " Of all the men whom I 
 have yet known upon earth, he was the purest and best. 
 During nearly half of his earthly life I knew him, for the 
 last twelve years I have been in almost daily intercourse 
 with him ; and I never saw in him one act of guile, 
 never heard from him an unworthy sentence, never per- 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ceived in him an unchristian temper. To be with him 
 daily was to enjoy the most blessed of opportunities 'to 
 mark the perfect man and to behold the upright.' " 
 
 At the opening of the year 1840 Professor M'Clintock 
 completed the exchange, which he had for several months 
 contemplated, of the chair of mathematics for that of the 
 ancient classic languages. He had, as he said, some mis- 
 givings, but they did not extend beyond himself. This 
 was soon followed by his return to the pulpit, which, with 
 other events of this period, we will let him describe : — 
 
 Fri., Jan. 3, 1840. Heard first recitation in classics to-day ; Junior 
 in " Cicero de Officiisy Succeeded better than I had anticipated. 
 Throat suffers a little ; I have some misgivings ; but, on the whole, 
 hope predominates. 
 
 Sun., Jan. 5. Fine day ; weather a little warmer, though still se- 
 verely cold. Read " Watson," etc., preparing for recitation tliis after- 
 noon. Went to church, and participated in the holy sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, with some profit, I trust. Heard recitation of class 
 in theology, and discoursed with them a little on the grounds of the 
 argument for the Divine existence. 
 
 Stm., Jan. 19. Afternoon; the subject in the theology class was 
 the attributes of God — Unity and Spirituality. The immateriality 
 of mind was brought in, with various kindred subjects, on which I 
 enlarged with freedom, and, I hope, with profit, for about an hour 
 and a half ; but my throat suffers somewhat from the effort. 
 
 Sun., April 19, Burlington, N. J. This must be a memorable day ! 
 I was this morning ordained elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 at Burlington, New Jersey, by that reverend and holy man of God, 
 Bishop Hedding. The sermon was a fine specimen of a pure, excellent 
 style of preaching ; more like Mr. Wesley's preaching than any other 
 man's, that I can remember, in the Church. The text was, " For 
 thus it behooved Christ," etc. The sermon was, i. The sufferings and 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 resurrection of Christ: (i,) their causes; (2,) their effects. 2. The 
 duties and privileges resulting: (i,) duties, to preach repentance and 
 remission of sin ; and, (2,) privileges to hear these glorious doctrines. 
 It was a delightful, profitable sermon — plain, practical, poinied. 
 The solemn ser\'ices affected my heart. God make me faithful, and, 
 if it be thy will, restore me to health, that I may be enabled again to 
 preach the unsearchable riches of Christ ! 
 
 Man., April 27, Carlisle. Left Philadelphia at six in the morning in 
 the cars for home, with wife, sister Margaret, and my dear mother, 
 who is remarkably emaciated and feeble. I feared the effects of the 
 journey upon her wasted frame. We provided a mattress for her 
 to lie upon, and spread it for her in the cars, so that she was very- 
 comfortable until we reached Lancaster, where we changed cars. 
 However, she sat up very comfortably until the end of the journey, 
 and seemed very little fatigued when we reached home at five P. M. 
 . Fri., May 29. Since the last entry in this book I have seen, heard, 
 and learned a great deal. My enjoyment of four or five days has 
 never been so great before. On Friday, 22d, left home for Baltimore, 
 at one o'clock P. M., in company with Professor Caldwell and his 
 wife, in our carriage. On Sunday morning heard a very excellent 
 discourse from Rev. W. B. Christie, on "Enter ye in at the strait 
 gate." His voice is very poor, his enunciation indistinct, but the 
 sermon was good, and calculated to be useful. In the evening, at 
 Rev. Mr. Duncan's church, heard a discourse of the ver)- first order 
 of excellence, from Rev. Robert Newton, of England, on " Pray with- 
 out ceasing." I was pleased, nay, delighted, and abundantly edified. 
 It was, in my judgment, a perfect sermon : clear, perspicuous, sim- 
 ple, forcible — full of the spirit of religion — the love of Christ. His 
 voice has greater richness and compass than any that I ever listened 
 to ; it is, indeed, almost superhuman. Although he is no orator, in 
 the proper sense of the word, he is yet a most admirable preacher. 
 
 Sun., May 31. A day of great mercies and great enjoyment. 
 Heard President D., in the morning, on *' None of these things move 
 me," etc. A very fine sermon. I closed the meeting with much en- 
 largement. At night T. Bowman preached, and I ventured to exhort 
 
112 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 after sermon. Talked nearly fifteen minutes, and then read hymn, 
 and prayed with very little difficulty. God be praised ! Perhaps I 
 shall yet preach again. 
 
 Sun., June 2\, A great day! For the first time since August, 
 1838, I tried to preach to-day in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 Preached an hour and ten minutes on Prov. xx, 6, and found myself 
 little or no worse after the effort. Latis Deo I Afternoon I heard a 
 stirring sermon, and one very appropriate to the circumstances, from 
 H. Slicer, in the Market House. 
 
 Fri., June 26. Mother's health continuing to fail, it was thought 
 best, both by herself and father, for her to be removed to the family 
 home. It was sad, indeed, to make arrangements for my revered 
 and beloved mother to leave my home to die ! Cousin B. came 
 up from Philadelphia on Wednesday, as father could not leave his 
 office, and it was decided that we should leave on Thursday morn- 
 ing. Accordingly, at half past ten o'clock we conveyed mother, 
 then very weak, in the carriage to the hotel, where she remained 
 until the cars came at eleven, when we all started for Lancaster. 
 Mother endured the fatigue of travel much better than I expected. 
 We made her comfortable by spreading a bed for her in the cars, on 
 which she reposed until we reached Lancaster, at half past four 
 P, M. She seemed better in the evening than when we left home m 
 the morning. I remained at Lancaster with them all night, and then 
 left my dear mother, much affected at parting with me, at half past 
 four o'clock this morning, and reached home at noon. I am all 
 anxiety to hear how she fared during the rest of the journey to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Sat., July 4. Left home in the cars at half past four A. M., and 
 after a very tedious, uneasy, nervous kind of ride, reached Philadel- 
 phia at three P. M., and my mother's bedside at half past three. 
 Found her still alive and sensible. She attempted to kiss me and to 
 press my hand — said that she knew me, and, in answer to a question, 
 feebly pronounced my name, "John." It was the last word she ut- 
 tered. She lay in a quiet slumber; her respiration became more and 
 more feeble, until finally, at seven P. M., her gentle spirit took its flight. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 113 
 
 There was no pain, no struggle, no uneasiness ; but peacefully and 
 quietly she left the world. Her mind was as calm and tranquil dur- 
 ing her death-scene as it had been during her whole sickness. No 
 shadow of apprehension ever crossed her mind ; no uneasiness in re- 
 gard to the future ; the fear of death was entirely removed. My 
 noble mother ! my blessed mother ! I can hardly realize that thou 
 art gone — that I shall never again hear thy voice of love, or behold 
 thy face of beauty ! 
 
 Sun,, July 12. On Wednesday I left Philadelphia at six A. M., and 
 reached Carlisle at five P. M. Heard Professor Allen deliver his 
 most excellent Baccalaureate address in the evening. Thursday, 
 Commencement, the best we ever had. Yesterday, went with Bishop 
 Waugh and others to the mountain. To-day, heard the bishop 
 preach two excellent sermons — morning and evening — and Brother 
 J. A. Massey at the Court House in the afternoon. 
 
 Tues., Sept. 8. Have not written for a month in my Journal. Busi- 
 ly engaged in arranging garden, grounds, etc., in moving books to 
 College, and have spent many days in active exercise ; consequently 
 am rapidly gaining health and strength. 
 
 Tues., Oct. 27. Twenty-sixth birthday of wife and self. Health 
 good ; worldly affairs prosperous ; doing something, I trust, for pos- 
 terity. What vicissitudes ! Two years ago this day I thought my 
 work was done ! 
 
 Thiirs., Dec. 31. The last day of the year! I have been review- 
 ing its course— it has been a wonderful year indeed to me ! My 
 health has been restored beyond my hopes, and I am now able to 
 work for my Master. I have committed my blessed mother to the 
 grave — her image has been with me much of late. She was indeed 
 a noble woman ! And now she is in heaven ! 
 
 Sun., Jan. 3, 1841. Preached this morning on John xii, 25, for an 
 hour and twenty minutes, with great good feeling and manifest im- 
 pression on the congregation. I have preached now six times with- 
 in a month ; besides very frequent attendance at night meetings. 
 Hardly a sermon that I have preached of late but has been blessed 
 to the building up of the Church, or to the conviction and conversion 
 
114 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of souls. The Lord be praised ! The Lord prepare and fit me for 
 more abundant usefulness, and place me wherever, in his divine 
 providence, I can be most useful ! 
 
 Very noticeable is the joy which the recovery of the 
 use of his voice and his return to the pulpit gave to 
 Professor M'Clintock. His experience of suffering, and 
 his abundant reading during his illness, had added greatly 
 to his resources as a preacher. His sermons from this 
 period on were both richer in their substance, and more 
 highly charged with feeling. He had at all times been 
 perspicuous and scriptural, but his pulpit discourses were 
 now full of impassioned eloquence. In his preparation 
 he aimed, first, at a sound exposition of the passage in 
 hand. Nothing loose or uncertain here would satisfy 
 him. What in the Old or New Testament was not clear 
 to his mind he laid aside. It was his habit to present 
 the lesson he would enforce in the fewest and simplest 
 words. The results of his wide and various reading ap- 
 peared in statements of such lucidity that any one of 
 ordinary intelligence could comprehend them. The pa- 
 rade of erudition he heartily despised, and for stilted 
 rhetoric he had a supreme contempt. He had an equal 
 dislike of startling propositions which would prove, on 
 examination, to be but half true, and never indulged in 
 them. Yet, on the other hand, he did not commit the 
 error of throwing down before his hearers masses of 
 truth in an aA\'kward and helpless fashion. Grace con- 
 trolled his manner and shaped his matter. He had the 
 true artistic sense, and was studious of perfection in 
 form. As the discussion proceeded from point to point, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. II5 
 
 his voice developed its richness, his feehngs kindled, and 
 communicated their excitement to his audience. Pas- 
 sages of highly-wrought but chastened rhetoric would 
 awaken momentary attention, but would soon be lost in 
 the flow of his rapid utterance. His congregation fol- 
 lowed his discourse with the keen satisfaction which 
 comes of the gaining of a clearer knowledge of truth, and 
 a healthful quickening of their best impulses. Through- 
 out all, the one chief object of preaching — the winning 
 of men to Christ — was never for a moment left out of 
 sight. He considered no sermon worth attention of 
 which Christ was not the Alpha and the Omega — the 
 beginning and the end. 
 
 On the platform Professor M'Clintock was as effective 
 as in the pulpit ; and he was always in demand for im- 
 portant occasions, when the claims of the great charities 
 of the Church were to be advocated. His preparation 
 for these addresses was just as careful as for his sermons. 
 As a result, they were remarkable for their freshness and 
 power. I remember when, on one occasion, he had so 
 trite a theme as " Home Missions," he invested it with 
 a new interest by an elaborate description of the breadth 
 and magnificence of the land which we Americans call 
 our home. He saw facts and events in their large 
 relations, and interpreted their meaning with unusual 
 sagacity, so that when he stood upon the platform he 
 was able to lift his hearers up to broader views than 
 it was their habit to take, and to kindle in them an 
 enthusiasm for great Christian enterprises. 
 
 His growing popularity as a preacher brought him 
 
ii6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 numerous invitations for special services. During two 
 of his long vacations he made, in company with his 
 friends, S. S. and S. A. Roszell, extensive tours in the 
 valley of Virginia, where he addressed the people at 
 their camp-meetings, and made friends, of whose un- 
 bounded hospitality he speaks with the greatest admi- 
 ration. His appearances in the Methodist pulpits of 
 Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York were frequent, 
 and extended his reputation as an orator. He was in 
 demand, also, as a lecturer ; but the lecture system was 
 not then organized, and lecturing, therefore, received but 
 a small share of his attention. Through all these vari- 
 ous activities he was continually becoming better and 
 better known as a growing man, and was making him- 
 self a centre of interest and hope. 
 
 His Diary is here again the best record of his studies 
 and his inner life : — 
 
 Thurs., July 29. My mind has been calm, easy, and happy for 
 some days. Clouds that have surrounded it have broken away, and 
 1 look into the future with brighter anticipations than I have in- 
 dulged for a long time. My faith is strong, I am determined, by 
 God's help, that it shall never be weakened. To do nothing wrong 
 is my settled maxim. May I only fulfil it as earnestly as I resolve it, 
 and then I can look up to my heavenly Father without fear, trusting 
 in his mercy through Christ Jesus I — Letter from R. E. His mind is 
 yet unsettled about coming here. He does not see the line of duty 
 distinctly. God strengthen his vision ! I wish he had my eyes for a 
 httle while as spectacles. 
 
 />/., Dec. 3. Read Carlyle's " Review of Taylor's Historic Survey 
 of German Poetry," in the third volume of his " Miscellanies." Con- 
 tinued reading Carlyle's "Miscellanies." A few great thoughts are 
 continually struggling for expression in all his writings ; he sees them 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 117 
 
 through all mediums. Whatever he begins with, these always come 
 up — touj ours per drix — so it ought to be : at last they will come out 
 and make themselves heard among men. 
 
 Sun., Feb. 13, 1842. Read " Garrettson's Life" and Carlyle's 
 " Characteristics " — the latter through. A powerful but perplexing 
 essay — troubles me a good deal. 
 
 Wed., March 29. R. Emory will be with us next week, and will 
 remain a year as acting president of college. Laus Deo ! 
 
 Wed., Nov. 16. Pursuing study of German, Hebrew, etc., which, 
 with college duties, keep me occupied about thirteen hours out of 
 the twenty-four, so that I have little time to give to friends, etc. My 
 health is tolerably good, but yet I find that my close confinement 
 operates injuriously. Glanced hastily over Dickens's " Notes on 
 America." He is in the wrong box this time. Strange that a man 
 should risk so much for the sake of making a little money. To run 
 over a great continent in six months, and then write and publish a 
 book upon its people and institutions in three more — what greater 
 folly could he be guilty of 
 
 Dec. 25. Another Christmas day ! Each year is shorter than the 
 last ! Preached this morning from Matt, ii, 2, with brief and imper- 
 fect preparation ; of course it was not a very successful sermon. I 
 am more than ever convinced of the necessity of careful preparation 
 for the pulpit. Since the last entry I have been more or less unwell, 
 and for an entire week unable to do duty in college. Am now bet- 
 ter, and hope to improve greatly during the short vacation. Studied 
 hard and well during the session in Greek, Latin, German, and 
 Hebrew. Read most of Lord Bacon's Works ; Carlyle's " Sartor 
 Resartus ; " Wigger's " History of Pelagianism and Augustinism ; " 
 Goethe's " Wilhelm Meister ; " Whately's "Kingdom of Christ;" 
 many of Carlyle's " Essays " again ; Macaulay's " Miscellanies," do. ; 
 with all the reviews, etc. My moral being is in a strange way. Some 
 points of good are very strongly developed in my character, and 
 some weaknesses seem invincible. The best thing about me is, the 
 capacity of loving. I love, and I am happy in loving. No man has 
 more to be thankful for — friends and friendship — than L 
 
Ii8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Dec. 31. Last day of the week, month, year. Gone, gone — forever 
 gone ! What a host of sins of mine have gone with those hours ! 
 Am I wiser than I was a year ago ? More learned I certainly am — 
 but am I any wiser for the learning? I fear not. 
 
 Though his review of the year is so critical and self- 
 depreciating, his life at this time was really full of joy. 
 To the satisfaction of increasing his scholarly acquisitions 
 was added a boundless domestic contentment. His let- 
 ters to his intimate friends overflow with high spirits ; 
 this one, for example, written near the end of December 
 to his wife's parents, has nothing sombre in it : — 
 
 Carlisle, Bee. 21, 184J. 
 The few remarks that I have to offer on this occasion may be pre- 
 sented under four heads : — I. My head ; 2. Caroline's; 3. Emory's ; 
 4. Margaret's. (By the way, Emory's ought only to have been an in- 
 ference, and not a separate head.) As to the first head, my friends, 
 it is as large as ever and better filled — adding to its furniture every 
 day. Externally it has not as large a covering of hair as it once had, 
 but it still has a sufficiency. As to the second head, which is closely 
 connected with the first, and derives most of its importance there- 
 from — but if you should therefore suppose, my friends, that the sec- 
 ond head is in any wise unimportant, you would err most grievously, 
 from it emanate all orders for the refection of our inward man ; 
 it, and it alone, can declare whether the morrow's breakfast will, or 
 will not, be enlivened with coffee and buckwheat cakes. The head 
 is a good one, and works harmoniously and happily with the first. 
 It has a good share of energy and activity — fruitful in expedients, 
 firm in recollection, keen in judgment. But, my friends, I fear I am 
 becoming tedious. Let us pass now to the third and most interest- 
 ing head, perhaps, to be treated of this evening. Outwardly, at least, 
 it is much more seemly than either of the others : adorned with two 
 brilliant, sparkling eyes of jet, with two rows of shining teeth, 
 cheeks like the south side of a peach, and other ornaments to match. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 119 
 
 Inwardly, we can hardly say yet, my friends, what it is. But, judging 
 of it as an inference from the first and second heads, w^hich we are 
 fairly entitled to do, we can fearlessly predict that it will, hereafter, 
 be a wonder to country bumpkins why it don't burst — so full of 
 learning. On the great whole, this head gives some surpiising dem- 
 onstrations. Therefore, leaving this head upon its crib pillow, let us 
 pass to the fourth, which is also at this juncture lying in the " arms of 
 Murphy ! " On this head, my dear friends, it is not necessary to dilate 
 at length — it is getting to be quite domestic since Mr. Taylor, the 
 school lecturer, called heads domes of thought. This head had like to 
 have got broken by a tumble on the ice to-day, but fortunately 
 escaped, and is now presented for your edification. By way of ap- 
 plication, friends, and not as a distinct head, Maria may be men- 
 tioned. We say, not as a distinct head, for there is no distinctness 
 about her to-day, cojtsekens of having a big tooth pulled out, and 
 she is applying herself diligently to all curative measures. 
 
 And now, friends, take heed to your ways — ours here are very 
 slippery since last night's sleet, so we walk in the street, to keep us 
 from falling, upon the ice sprawling. And therefore we go, all gen- 
 tly and slow, from home to the college, to distribute knowledge ; and 
 backward with speed, to get our own feed. So we live daily, spright- 
 ly and gayly, merry and free. Fare ye well. J. M'C. 
 
 Professor M'Clintock began the year 1843 ^^ith the 
 same energy as marked the close of 1842. He entered 
 fully into the meaning of Goethe's aphorism, that the 
 day is long to him who knows how to use it." Some 
 illustrations which I place here will show the manner in 
 which every hour was utilized ; they are not by any 
 means exceptional, but represent his habit of working : — 
 
 Wed., Ja7t. 4, 1843. Rose at quarter before seven : seven to eight, 
 recited in Sallust ; eight to nine, breakfast, etc. ; nine to ten. Prom. 
 Vine. Read Mackenzie's account of the mutiny on board his ship. 
 
120 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the " Somers," which resulted in the hanging of Spencer, son of the 
 Secretary of War, and his two associates ; think he acted Hke a true 
 man : ten to eleven, " Medea ; " eleven to twelve, Cic, de Or at ore ; half 
 past twelve, studied Greek, etc. Dniner, etc., until quarter before two; 
 talked over Wordsworth until half past two : half past two to five, 
 read " Review of Watson's Institutes," in Christian Spectator, and 
 various articles in the "Foreign Quarterly Review." Am studying 
 the character of Goethe — a strange myster}'^ — but begin to have a clew 
 that may lead me out of the labyrinth. Night, read an article on 
 Merck's correspondence in " Foreign Quarterly" for July, 1836. Poor 
 Merck ! Goethe is there presented in some rather unlovely aspects. 
 But what a soul was Herder's ! and what a heart was Wieland's ! 
 
 Thurs., Jan. 5. Rose quarter before seven : seven to eight, Sallust ; 
 eight to nine, breakfast, etc.; nine to ten, read, studied Greek, etc.; ten 
 to eleven, recited " Medea ; " eleven to twelve, read articles on Greek 
 histoiy, etc., in Blackwood, volume forty-nine ; twelve to half past one, 
 
 dinner, etc.; half past one to half past tw^o, P. O. A 's Lat. Recit., 
 
 etc. Continued reading of " The Excursion." What power ! What 
 purity ! W^iat simplicity ! What elevation ! What a contrast to 
 Goethe — cold, selfish, immovable statue that he was. Each had 
 equanimity, but how different : the one, the equanimity of Apollo ; 
 the other, of Apollo Belvidere ! 
 
 Fri., Jan. 6. Finished Austin's " Recollections of Goethe." More 
 and more astonishment ; hardly less mystery than ever. Evidently 
 there was great susceptibility of all feelings about him, and he de- 
 termined to control it — succeeding by the force of an irresistible and 
 overpowering will. Finished Prophet Hosea — can make nothing 
 satisfactory out of him. Great vision before me, caused by filling 
 my mind up with Goethe ! Let me imitate him in steady persever- 
 ance, devotion to culture, and independence, and I shall do well — 
 nach meuten art. 
 
 The references in the Diary to Carlyle show how 
 deeply he was stirred by that eccentric, but most stimu- 
 lating thinker. The cool estimate of Goethe, Just cited, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 121 
 
 was made soon after he came under the spell of the 
 mighty magician. It will naturally be asked whether 
 there was, in the history of Professor M'Clintock's mind, 
 as the result of his contact with views of life, the 
 world and God so unlike his own, a period of unsettled 
 opinion. Did he pass through a crisis of doubt, of dis- 
 trust of all he had once viewed as spiritually true, and 
 end by framing for himself a new system of faith? If 
 he experienced such a crisis he never spoke of it; he 
 never surrendered his hearty trust in the evangelical 
 creed to which he had committed himself in early life. 
 He had no occasion to take down his theological opinions 
 once a month and label them with fresh valuations. His 
 brain was strong and steady ; if he read in all directions, 
 and gave hospitable reception to the thoughts of all think- 
 ing men, he stood firmly on his own ground. His ana- 
 lytical faculty was here of great service to him ; he was 
 quick to detect a fallacy, and w^as not easily misled by a 
 specious proposition. That he meditated much on the 
 problems which vex the human soul, his reading shows 
 plainly enough. He was one of the first of Americans 
 to furnish our country a full exposition of the Positive 
 Philosophy, was a correspondent of Auguste Comte, its 
 founder, but was never so dazzled by any philosophical 
 scheme as to lose the vision of the master light of all 
 our seeing," Jesus Christ. 
 
 He was fortunate in having come early under the in- 
 fluence of Coleridge, and had learned from him the recon- 
 ciliation of spiritual life and philosophy. He loved to 
 quote to the young men who were interested in theol- 
 
122 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ogy the sentence with which Coleridge completes his liter- 
 ary biography, " that the scheme of Christianity, though 
 not discernible by human reason, is yet in accordance 
 with it ; that link follows link by necessary consequence ; 
 that religion passes out of the ken of reason, only where 
 the eye of reason has reached its own horizon, and that 
 faith is then but its continuation." He always insist- 
 ed that a simple, childlike faith is compatible with the 
 largest knowledge, and that the Christian consciousness 
 is frequently the best solvent of doubt. I find neither 
 in his diary nor in his letters any such record of mental 
 anguish as gives a melancholy interest to the life of Fred- 
 erick W. Robertson. No great convulsion wrenched him 
 from his old foundations ; he remained securely in them, 
 and built upon them to the end of his days. 
 
 From the time of his contact with Neander, however, 
 there was noticeable a quickening of his confidence in 
 those spiritual truths to which he always firmly held. In 
 connexion with Professor Charles E. Blumenthal, he 
 presented Neander's Life of Chri*st " in English dress to 
 the American public. The translation led to a corre- 
 spondence, and finally to a personal intercourse with the 
 great Church historian in the city of Berlin, where Pro- 
 fessor M'Clintock was met with a cordiality and tender- 
 ness which touched him very sensibly. He found in Ne- 
 ander German learning, coming, after traveling a wide 
 circuit, to the position taken by Wesley, that Christianity 
 is more than all else a life — that it is " a power which, 
 as it is exalted above all that human nature can create 
 out of its own resources, must change it from its inmost 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 123 
 
 centre."'^" Neander was the pupil of Schleiermacher, 
 who had in early life been educated among the Moravi- 
 ans. What the Wesleys, and through them the English- 
 speaking races, owed to Moravianism, is well understood : 
 may we not trace to the same fountain the stream of 
 Christian teaching which has done so much to quicken 
 spiritual life on the continent of Europe ? 
 
 The subject of our memoir watched the antislavery 
 controversy with deep solicitude, and interpreted with 
 clearest insight all its meaning. The slave system ex- 
 cited in him intense abhorrence; yet he discriminated be- 
 tween the system itself and the many who were, without 
 fault of their own, helplessly involved in it. He saw the 
 full import of the annexation of Texas as a slave State, 
 and exerted himself to the utmost to resist its admission 
 to the Union. He dreaded the consequences which were 
 certain to follow the consummation of such an unright- 
 eous measure. For this reason he scanned with anxiety 
 the prospects of the presidential election of 1844, which 
 followed so soon after our stormy General Conference of 
 that year. To his brother-in-law, Mr. E. B. Wakeman, 
 of Jersey City, he writes: I shall strain every nerve to 
 rebuke this abominable Texas iniquity with pen and 
 tongue. The days of the Republic are numbered, and 
 of right ought to be, if by its means slavery is extended 
 one inch, or prolonged in its wretched existence one 
 hour." He is so full of this subject that he recurs to it 
 repeatedly: "I am no aspirant," he writes to the same 
 correspondent, " for the honors of the RepubHc, and may, 
 
 * Introduction to " Neander's General Church History.' 
 
124 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 therefore, do what my conscience bids, without any care 
 for the smiles or the frowns of the sovereign people. I 
 am resolved that, hereafter, as far as my influence ex- 
 tends, people shall not be left in the dark on this system 
 of slavery. No fear of running heads against the wall 
 either. There are walls in the way of those who abstain 
 from doing right, as well as of those who lead mankind 
 into good paths." He writes again: ''After all, I feel it 
 in my bones that I shall devote a good part of my life to 
 this great evil." 
 
 By arrangement with Dr. Bond, he prepared, early in 
 1847, ^ series of articles for the Christian Advocate," in 
 which he sought to animate the Church to a more posi- 
 tive exercise of its power for the extirpation of slavery. 
 In opening the discussion he modestly confesses that he 
 had before refrained from it because of a distrust of his 
 capacity to meddle with so grave and difficult a ques- 
 tion, and his lack of the advantages of experience and 
 age. " I am now inclined," he adds, '' to doubt the 
 validity of these reasons. I begin to feel, as a good 
 man in another hemisphere once expressed hijnself, that 
 ' it is certain I shall die, and I majy die to-day ; but it is 
 not certain that I shall ever be old.' My testimony may 
 be of little worth to others, but it is essential to my own 
 peace of mind that it should be delivered." He acknowl- 
 edges that the great increase of antislavery feeling in the 
 free States had been effected by the abolitionists, and 
 while passing criticism upon their work, as it then ap- 
 peared to him, pays a hearty tribute to " the energy, 
 the almost reckless daring, the unflagging perseverance," 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 12$ 
 
 they had shown. Yet he does not rank himself among 
 them, for he adds, ^' I never could be an abolitionist 
 proper, for I never could believe (and never shall, so 
 long as facts that now exist remain) that a// slaveholders 
 are sinners, and should be cut off from the fellowship of 
 Christianity." These were not extreme positions, but 
 they represented the convictions of a mind that honestly 
 sought the truth, and aimed to be just to all men. His 
 sincerity was, soon after the publication of these essays, 
 demonstrated by his incurring the risk of fine and im- 
 prisonment through his strenuous exertions to help the 
 slave. If on so grave a theme he formed his opinions 
 cautiously, he was ready when the time came to jeopard 
 all he held dear for their sake. 
 
 But this is anticipating the narrative somewhat. In 
 the year 1845 Professor M'Clintock and the writer united 
 in the preparation of a series of Latin and Greek element- 
 ary books on the method of Imitation and Repeti- 
 tion." These joint labors gave me the opportunity of a 
 close intercourse with my associate, for it was our habit 
 for months to spend the evenings together from an early 
 hour often till midnight. The old method of teaching a 
 language by filling the memory first with all its forms 
 had been discarded in the case of the modern tongues, 
 and a combination of analysis with synthesis substituted. 
 Under the new system, practice in the use of each form 
 went along with its presentation. It had at that time 
 been already applied in England to the Latin and Greek; 
 the series which was published under our joint names 
 was, if I mistake not, the first of the kind in the United 
 
126 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 States. The books found a ready acceptance ; their plan 
 has since become universal ; and, though thirty years 
 have elapsed since the appearance of the first volume, 
 they still retain an honorable position in the schools. 
 
 While this undertakingwas in progress, Professor M'Clin- 
 tock, in connexion with Professor Blumenthal, prepared 
 for the press, as already stated, during the years 1846 and 
 1847, 3. translation of Neander's "Life of Christ." The 
 well-executed English edition of Strauss's Life of Je- 
 sus " had already appeared in London and was finding 
 readers on this side of the Atlantic. Neander's work, 
 which, though not in form, was, in fact, a reply, had the 
 merit of breadth of view, and an extraordinary sagaci- 
 ty in the interpretation of the Gospel record. He dif- 
 fered from Strauss, as a great lawyer who rests his case 
 upon universal principles differs from a pettifogging at- 
 torney. The appearance of this Life " in English 
 dress took Neander by surprise, and he almost deprecated 
 the transfer to America of the strifes of German the- 
 ology. In an address to his Christian brethren of the 
 United States he expresses, with a simplicity and sweet- 
 ness which are very beautiful, the fear that his book may 
 lead some who read it into trials of their faith which they 
 are not able to bear, and may awaken questionings which 
 it will fail to answer. A condensed history of the ra- 
 tionalistic and mythical schools of Scripture interpreta- 
 tion was prefixed by Dr. M'Clintock, which placed the 
 reader in a position to understand the exact state of the 
 whole controversy. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 127 
 
 LETTERS FROM JUNE, 1840, TO MARCH, 1847. 
 I. 
 
 Carlisle, Jane 23, 1S40. 
 
 Dear Robert : — Your whole establishment is now broken ap 
 here, root and branch, and the name of Emory is no longer among 
 the names of CarUsle. The example is a bad one — at least the dis- 
 ease is catching, for Mrs. M'C. and myself are both getting full of the 
 notion of trying the itinerancy again, especially since my effort of 
 last Sunday, which went far beyond my own expectations. I preached 
 for an hour and ten minutes, with but little inconvenience at the 
 time, and no ill effect since, except a trifling dryness of the throat. 
 The mercy of God is indeed greater to me than I had hoped ; and I 
 begin now to cherish a pretty sanguine expectation that I shall yet 
 again be able to preach regularly, as of old. My sensations on com- 
 mencing to preach were not a little strange. I had laid aside my com- 
 mission, closed my accounts, and thought my work was done ; it 
 was like beginning a new life. God be praised for all his goodness ! 
 
 Professor Emoky. 
 
 II. 
 
 Monday. Janiuinj 24, 1S41. 
 
 Dear Robert : — I do not believe a word of Macaulay's doctrine 
 that the times make the man. Did they make Shakspeare, or Milton, 
 or Goethe ? His whole doctrine of poetry being only an imitative 
 art, and therefore finding its most congenial soil in an uncultivated 
 age, seems to me to be contradicted by all experience. The reason- 
 ing that is brought to sustain it is d priori, and one chapter of 
 facts destroys it. Man talks figuratively, it is true, in early periods, 
 but that is a very different thing from making poetr}'. To say that 
 striking, physical images make more impression upon a rude people 
 than upon a cultivated race is one thing ; to say that true poetr)^ is, 
 therefore, more likely to exist among the former is quite another. 
 There is no logical connexion in the argument, and, as I have said, it 
 seems to me that the facts are all the other way. I cannot believe 
 
1-28 
 
 LIFE AND .LETTERS OF 
 
 that a man must be half a savage or a maniac before he can be all a 
 poet. Macaulay talks of poetry in that essay and elsewhere as if its 
 very trade were deception — that it has no business with reality, and 
 that to enjoy its delights one must surrender his mind to the delusions 
 of fiction ; whereas its object — more decidedly, perhaps, than we can 
 say of any other branch of literature — is to preserve and teach the 
 highest truth. But I must not run on with this trash. I have got 
 into the strain of my recent lecture on " Love of Truth," and shall 
 expend a good deal of it on you if I do not haul off. 
 
 I see that I have run against a snag in the last part of your 
 Christmas letter : "Is it desirable to have the feelings of a child 
 with the body and the mind of a man ? " Do you recollect the opening 
 lines of Wordsworth's poem, which contain the germ of his whole 
 doctrine of human life — " My heart leaps up when I behold ? " etc. 
 Just look at them. Then read his magnificent ode on " Intimations 
 of Immortality from the Recollections of Childhood " — " Shades of the 
 prison-house close about " us all only too soon. Says Coleridge, 
 " To carry on the feelings of childhood into the power of manhood ; to 
 combine the child's sense of wonder and novelty with the appearances 
 which every day, for perhaps forty years, had rendered familiar — 
 
 " ' With sun and moon and stars throughout the year, 
 And man and woman 
 
 this is the character and privilege of genius." Is it not desirable, 
 then, if Coleridge be right.'* 
 
 The " Quarterly " — I am happy to find that my share in it meets 
 with considerable approbation. The article has had an unusual share 
 even of Methodist laudation. Was I just in criticising your style ? 
 Was .it too harsh to say that it is not elega7it ? Sometimes I think it 
 was not best for me to have said so ; but I think it true on the whole. 
 What think you ? It seems to me you do not write enough, and do 
 not labor sufficiently to polish what you do write. Is it true? If 
 not, correct me ; if it is, mend. Dear Robert, it seems to me that 
 the Church can do only one thing in regard to so heinous a crime 
 as slaverv, namely, to bear her testimony against it, and use all her 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 129 
 
 influence for its extirpation. Is it not so ? And will not God's curse 
 come upon us if, either directly or indirectly, we sanction slavery.? 
 A little more folly on the part of the South, such as the unlawful, 
 abominable treatment of Mr. Torrey at Annapolis, will make the 
 North abolitionist throughout. We have tampered with the evil too 
 long already. Our Church has been quoted in favor of slavery, I 
 fear with too much truth. The first thing' to be done is to be honest 
 and God will take care of us. The expediency will follow. Give me 
 your views of the doings of the convention and of Torrey's arrest. 
 
 My health is improving, but I am absolutely overpowered with 
 work. I trust you will be with us in April. My heart yearns for 
 your coming. I pray that Providence may open the way fully, and 
 that you may come. I long to be comforted by your presence and 
 strengthened by your faith. I long for the face of a friend into whose 
 eyes I can look and see no darkness. I think I have told you before 
 that your only fault is, in my mind, that you have not affection 
 enough ; but I trust, if you come here, to make you love me to my 
 heart's content, even on the principle of gratitude. God grant that 
 you may come ! 
 
 Professor Emoey. 
 
 III. 
 
 A CONFESSION OF FAITH. 
 
 Carlisle, Februarf/, 1S41. 
 
 I believe and therefore speak. So said St. Paul, and so say I. 
 Don't ask me what I know, for I know nothing that is not grounded 
 at bottom upon a simple act of belief. The man who talks about 
 understanding his nature or his destiny may be very wise, but 
 either he or I must be a madman. Your letter shows no feelings or 
 thoughts, I believe, that have not formed part of my own experience. 
 You need not think you are alone in such things. They form no part 
 of my present existence. Why ? Because I have reasoned myself out 
 of them ? Nay, I should have reasoned myself into Bedlam first, but 
 because I have rested myself in simple trust — so simple that any child 
 might exercise it, yet so profound that all philosophy cannot fathom 
 
I30 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 it — upon the Great Divine Man, the pattern of purity and sorrow, 
 Jesus Christ, the only perfect being of whom I have heard in the whole 
 histor)- of the world. I have no other secret to impart. I believe in 
 Jesus Christ. Am I tempted ? so was he ; I resist, and there is no sin. 
 Have I suffered ? so has he, who glorified sorrow in his life and death. 
 Pain is not evil, pleasure is not good ; faith alone is good, and sin, or 
 unbelief, alone is evil. Such is my simple creed ; all the universe 
 could not drive me from it. All bastard philosophy (and God knows 
 I have pestered my brains with it as much as most men) cannot 
 shake it. No temptation can overturn it, or overcome me so long as 
 I abide in it. Do you ask whether this belief has saved me ? It has. 
 How ? All I know about it is expressed in these words : it is the 
 power of God unto salvation for all them that believe. That is all I 
 know about it. How do I know that I am saved, then ? Why, 
 thus : If I relax this faith an hour, the universe becomes a shoreless, 
 crazy whirpool, and my brain runs giddy as I look into it. Look into 
 it I must, for I am in the midst of it. But with this faith that uni- 
 verse is for me a firm, rock-built city — d. dwelling for my soul. All 
 the discords, dissonances, the mad storm of human voices, the angry 
 curses of guilty men, the inarticulate wail of wide-spread anguish, 
 the noise of wars and murders ; think you that I have no ear to hear 
 these things ? I do hear them, and I feel that they would drive me 
 mad almost if I did not believe. The image of Christ rises up be- 
 fore me, pure, perfect, mild, serene, sorrowful, yet with power be- 
 yond all else that I can conceive. It is the image of God. My sal- 
 vation beams from those gentle eyes ; it is spoken from every linea- 
 ment of that placid countenance. Look upon him, my brother, and 
 see how mildly and kindly, with sweet tones, sad yet earnest, he asks 
 you to give over your vain strivings and rest in him. Look upon him 
 and you are saved. 
 
 Some people think religion is a kind of bargain-and-sale business, 
 a barter of so much happiness in this life for so much in the next ; a 
 mere working for wages, not deep, inward, heart-subduing reverence, 
 but a low, sordid hope of advantage or fear of pain. And yet they 
 recognise Christ as the m.odel of religion. Just think for a moment 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 how widely different all this is from his character, and you will see 
 how deeply they have sunk below the purity of his faith. What ad- 
 vantage did Christ look for ? What could he look for } What pain 
 had he not to fear } I tell you honestly that I see but little of the 
 faith of which I speak among men. Many substitute the vulgar mo- 
 tives to which I have just alluded in its stead. Many have their pal- 
 try souls crammed full of cant and hypocrisy. What of all this I 
 know that I believe ; I know that my religion is not cant. I am de- 
 termined to be honest for myself ; I believe and therefore speak. So 
 much I had written when I received yours of yesterday. I have not 
 time to add more without losing the mail. Read that beautiful parting 
 address of Christ contained in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth 
 chapters of John. Recollect his words recorded in Matt, xi, 28 : 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." Nowhere else can rest be obtained. Take those sweet 
 words to your heart in simple confidence and all will be well. I 
 shall write again to-night or in the morning. My mind is cleared, 
 my heart is freed, not because I am free from care — I am full of it — 
 but because I believe. God bless you ! and may your mind be set free 
 when you read these lines. Believe and it shall be done to you. 
 You will find in the end, as I have found, in the language of the 
 French philosopher, Cousin, that Christianity is the perfection of 
 reason. 
 
 Mr. Pv. B. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 IV. 
 
 "Faculty meeting, Wednesday night, March 2, 1842: Resolved, 
 that Rev. Robert Emory be requested to deliver the Baccalaureate 
 Address to the graduating class at the ensuing Commencement." 
 
 Carlisle, March 5, 1842. 
 
 Dear Robert : — The prime object of this letter is to request 
 your compliance with the above resolution. Professor Caldwell is 
 unable to perform the duty, and the faculty unanimously and ear- 
 nestly desire you to do it. Please signify your assent at your ear- 
 liest convenience. You have not yet answered my last letter. I 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 see that some of the obnoxious slaver)^ laws have passed your House 
 of Delegates, but have not learned yet whether they have gone through 
 the Senate. In the order of Providence all this will doubtless issue 
 in good. One good thing it will do ; bring out the real proslavery 
 men of Maryland so that the world can see their position. And the 
 world will drive them from it. It seems to me that the doom of 
 slavery is sealed. A great apostle of liberty ought to rise up, doubt- 
 less w^ill rise up, in the country, and immortalize himself as the leader 
 of this great work. Who shall he be ? Is there danger of much ex- 
 citement in your city or State on the subject ? If any proceedings of 
 interest occur, please send me the newspapers that may publish them, 
 as I get none from Baltimore. 
 
 I was preparing an article on Prometheus for the April number of 
 the "Quarterly," but have given it up, finding that I cannot make it 
 suitable for the journal without detracting from its literary character 
 to too great an extent. I purpose now preparing one on the " Meth- 
 odist Itinerancy," to show what it is, and what conservative, evil, and 
 destructive elements enter into its composition. Do not all machiner- 
 ies contain within themselves the seeds of dissolution ? Or, to make 
 the figure better, will not all machines wear out in time ? Have not 
 all such worn out in the histor)' of the race ? What one has been per- 
 manent ? Is our itinerancy mechanical, and therefore self-destructive ? 
 Or is it a providential institution — spiritual — and therefore endowed 
 with life ? I now incline rather to the former opinion, but know not 
 what issue my study of the subject may lead to. How does your life 
 of Asbury get on ? I suppose this slavery affair is occupying atten- 
 tion. If you can come at Carlyle's "Essays," read, in volume four, 
 the review of "Walter Scott's Life," and of Varnhagen von Ense's 
 "Memories," for some strange views on the subject of biography; 
 also volume three, the essays on "Biography" and on Boswell's 
 " Johnson." If you have not read them, do so before you write more 
 of your biography. The man is a wonderful thinker, honest withal, 
 as few review writers are ; indeed, any other writers in these times. 
 You will find more gold in him than in Macaulay. This last seems 
 to me always to write as a partisan — no matter what the subject may 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 be — his erudition is greater than his judgment or taste. But he is 
 unquestionably one of the strongest writers of the age — not, however, 
 a philosopher. 
 Professor Emory. 
 
 V. 
 
 Jersey City, A ugust 18, 1843. 
 
 Now for letter. They were much disappointed in not seeing you 
 at Middletown. Professor Lane and his wife entertained us during 
 our stay there. We had invitations to dinner and tea more than we 
 could dispose of during our stay. Indeed, the hospitality of the 
 friends at M. was unbounded. Our visit was as pleasant as we ever 
 had anywhere. Dr. Bond's speech came off on Tuesday night to a 
 fine audience. Emory's oration was the best thing I have ever 
 heard from him, and gave universal satisfaction. Everybody was 
 delighted. Olin came with us to New York, and he. Dr. Peck, and I, 
 went in company to Wilkesbarre. I do not think I was ever so 
 much taken with a man as with Dr. O. His mind is of a high order, 
 well cultivated, and furnished with various knowledge. His exten- 
 sive travels have freed him from local prejudices and narrow views. 
 He is deeply pious, but entirely destitute of cant. His manner is 
 free and his affections ardent, and he makes no kind of attempt to 
 conceal them. Playful to a remarkable extent, and fond of fun and 
 pleasantry as even I myself, he never violates propriety or loses real 
 dignity. Of what is commonly considered dignity he is utterly des- 
 titute. I was with him day and night for better than a week, and 
 found him all that I have stated above, and more too. We reached 
 Wilkesbarre on Thursday night, and found Conference in full tide. 
 The time was so taken up that I can hardly give you any account of 
 it. Our old friends there all treated me with the greatest kindness, 
 and asked a great deal about you. Dr. Olin preached on Sunday 
 morning to an immense audience, and with great effect. I never 
 knew any man combine such powerful feelings with clear judgment 
 and sound sense. He becomes intensely excited, and his physical 
 frame, from the top of his head to his toes, sympathizes with the ex- 
 citement. He is no orator, but remarkably eloquent. We left 
 
134 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Wilkesbarre on Tuesday, went through the most romantic regions I 
 ever saw to Mauch Chunk, Tamaqua, and Reading, and reached 
 Philadelphia on Wednesday at one o'clock. 
 
 When will you return ? We expect to leave here next Thursday 
 or Friday for Philadelphia, stay there a week, and then back to Car- 
 lisle again. Indeed, we are getting anxious to see the valley and our 
 old friends again once more. And then we shall have Dr. Durbin 
 along with us too, full of information, talk, and pleasant incident. I 
 hope you have enjoyed yourselves highly, and that your health is 
 very much improved by your trip. 
 
 Professor M. Caldwell. 
 
 VL 
 
 Carlisle, October 31, 1S44. 
 
 Dear Dr. : — Yours of the 28th was brought to me last night as I 
 lay in bed, and although I was in much pain of body, it really made 
 me forget my ailments, for awhile at least. I feel better to-day, and 
 have got out of bed mainly to write this letter. Your severe intro- 
 duction is meant as a facetious way of excusing yourself, I suppose, 
 for not answering my last epistle. Perhaps, however, you never re- 
 ceived it. Of one thing you may be assured, that I wrote you a long 
 letter in reply to your last, and have since heard nothing from you 
 until last night. I have been working pretty hard, but not at any 
 thing which will bring me either honor or reputation, at least for 
 awhile. My time is principally taken up with a species of literary 
 labor which I don't fancy much, but which brings me in money, a 
 thing that I am now very much in need of. Misfortunes of friends 
 have stripped me pretty bare, and I must, at least for a time, work 
 for money only. I trust the degrading necessity will soon be re- 
 moved. You see that we all have our embarrassments. You, it ap- 
 pears, must drudge for money to put the University on its legs ; and 
 I, to pay other people's debts. After all, if good is done, it is, perhaps, 
 as well. I trust your plans will all be successfully accomplished. 
 
 The University must be sustained ! But it is a great pity that it 
 was not originally placed on the North River, and our establishment 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 nevei started at all. At present, I believe, we are on a better footing 
 than you in money matters, and in all other respects at least equal ; 
 but then neither of us is any thing. As for Church matters, we don't 
 
 all think alike here. I deprecated the publication of 's article. 
 
 It smacks too much of policy for my taste : the same shallow expe- 
 diency which {pace your vote) displayed itself so painfully in the ac- 
 tion of the late General Conference. People can see through all this. 
 The South will accept no such compromise, and it is only treasuring 
 up for ourselves, as you say, trouble for the future to agitate such 
 projects. I have restrained myself from writing on the subject with 
 much difficulty ; but it is best. We do not believe here that any com- 
 promise will be effected. The South will go off. If I see any dan- 
 ger of a compromise, I must write and speak against it. I shall burst 
 if I don't, as Dr. Arnold used to say. It would be far better to let 
 Maryland and Virginia go, and to keep the whole North united on an 
 antislavery basis — the true basis for northern people. I am more 
 and more disposed to believe, that if the curse of slavery is ever re- 
 moved from us it must be by other people than slaveholders, and I 
 do not intend to be backward hereafter in enlightening the people of 
 these parts on the subject. That two hundred and fifty thousand 
 slaveholders should rule this great empire is a thing not to be en- 
 dured — and it can't be endured much longer. 
 
 The Kev. Dr. Olix. 
 
 VII. 
 
 PiiiLATiEi.rmA, July 27, 1S46. 
 
 My dear Friend : — Instead of meeting you in London, as I kept 
 hoping and expecting until the steamer of the 15th started, I am here 
 in Yankeedom still. I had made up my mind again to go, on the 
 very last night, and had the money in my pocket — my wife, too, was 
 packing up my trunk — but, after all, my sense of duty prevailed over 
 my selfish desires to gratify myself, and I determined to remain at 
 home. The reason that has prevailed upon me all along is such as 
 you would approve, and my own conscience is easier here than it 
 could have been if I had crossed the water. 
 
136 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 You cannot imagine how glad I was in reading, by chance, the 
 other day, a letter from Mr. Richardson, in Paris, to Professor Alle i, 
 to find mention of you and Mrs. Olin. It set me off to Versailles with 
 you at once, and I traveled round with you on all the trip which the 
 letter referred to quite joyously. Indeed, I had a very cheerful 
 dream of it for awhile, and think there must be something in animal 
 magnetism, especially if I could learn that you had thought of me at 
 all that day. You may rest assured of one thing, that nobody in 
 America has thought more, and more affectionately, about you since 
 you left our shores, I left home on Saturday, 25th inst., my wife not 
 xery well, and children all well. Preached here twice yesterday, and 
 feel very well and very happy this morning — quite as happy, at least, 
 as can be, seeing that I am ^ere and not f/icre. Don't suppose that 
 I am discontented about it, however, for I am not. You recollect 
 stopping with me here at my sister's on the day that we arrived in 
 the cars from Pottsville, after that momentous journey to the Oneida 
 Conference. Well, I am sitting again in the same long parlor, with 
 the same good sisters about me, who beg me to give their love to 
 Dr. Olin. 
 
 Professor Johnston is about to go West, and promises to call on us 
 at Carlisle on his way. I shall spend the vacation (after next week) 
 at home, pruning my trees and flowers, playing with my children, 
 listening to my wife talk, and working in my study. Don't you envy 
 me? All the pleasure wont be yours, after all. I pray God that 
 you may be very happy, however, and that your health may be great- 
 ly built up by your voyage. And now good-bye, and graciously per- 
 mit me to write a line to Mrs. Olin, who bore so kindly with my 
 stupidity in those sleepy days when I was with you in Middletown. 
 
 May God have you in his holy keeping, and return you to us with 
 renewed health and vigor ! 
 
 Eev. Dr. Olin. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ON THE FORMATION OF AN AMERICAN BRANCH OF THE EVAN- 
 GELICAL ALLIANCE. 
 
 Philadelphia, December 31. 1S46. 
 
 My Dear Friend :- -Your letter of 23d ult. has remained un- 
 answered much longer than my feelings or wishes themselves would 
 have dictated. But I have good reasons. I needed long and anxious 
 meditation upon the subject of your letter, and upon the views which 
 you entertain in regard to it, before I could answer you ; and besides, 
 I have been for the last six weeks or more in a state of mental torpor, 
 the like of which I have never felt before. In your varied experience 
 you may have known the same — an utter distaste for thought or labor, 
 constituting, indeed, an absolute incapacity for either ; a disposition 
 to sit listless and brooding through the livelong day, and to lie wake- 
 ful, yet useless, almost through the night. Within a day or two I 
 feel some return of the powers of life, and almost the first real thing 
 I do is to answer your letter. Not that it is any labor to write to 
 you. Indeed, had not the subject of your letter been so grand and 
 absorbing I should doubtless have found some comfort, or at 
 least got rid of some of my discomfort, in writing. But the question 
 of the Alliance, and the dark one that lies beyond it, is enough to give 
 pause to the strongest mind, in the exercise of its fullest powers ; and 
 you cannot wonder that I have staggered under it, with the pressure 
 of sorrowful and morbid feelings upon me. Before I say more, let me 
 assure you — though, indeed, I think the assurance can hardly be neces- 
 sary — that there is no man living whose friendship I value more, and 
 whose opinions I would more gladly take upon trust, than your own. 
 So cordial is my regard for you, and, at the same time, so thorough 
 my respect for your intellect and judgment, that I can, with reluct- 
 ance, bring myself to differ from you at all. I am not sure that in 
 the present instance I differ from you so very widely ; but you will 
 pardon me, I know, for freely expressing my real sentiments. 
 
 The object of the "Alliance" is to secure, as you state, a larger 
 
138 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Christian union than now exists. The Conference was held in London 
 (not in New York or Charleston) for this purpose, and delegates 
 were there from all Christendom. If we form an organization next 
 spring, it must be for the same purpose as that which was aimed at 
 in London, viz., not mere affiliations of Christians in separate countries 
 into separate connexions, but a general union of Christians in all 
 lands. Now, in one word, can that object be accomplished by form- 
 ing an Alliance for this country, freely admitting slaveholders ? Could 
 such an organization hold any connexion with the European branches 
 Nay, would it not cut off effectually, for many years, if not forever, 
 the possibility of the general Christian union to which we all look, 
 and for the promotion of which the Conference met in London.^ If 
 the object, then, as you say, be to promote general Christian union, 
 should not those who wish to retain slaveholders indiscriminately 
 hesitate a little All that you say goes to show, (and, perhaps, in that 
 you are correct,) that so far as the American branch goes, it would be 
 larger for the admission of slaveholders. But would not the General 
 Alliance be effectually killed ? If it would not, I am in error. 
 
 I must say, I go rather for the general alliance of Christendom 
 than for the special union of American Christians, And I am in- 
 clined to hope that even this last would follow, in the course of years, 
 a union founded on an antislavery basis rather than the opposite. All 
 this time I have not alluded to the moral aspect of the question — the 
 right or wrong of the admission of slaveholders — because your letter 
 puts the main stress upon the practicability of the alliance. May it not 
 all be summed up in the question. Is a general alliance of Christians 
 practicable if the American branch admits slaveholders indiscrimi- 
 nately ? I have totally misunderstood the English feeling if it is. All 
 the papers that I have received from England confirm me more and 
 more in the opinion that if we receive slaveholders on the same foot- 
 ing as others we shall stand alone, and that they expect antislavery 
 action from the American branch next spring. Were not induce- 
 ments to this expectation held out by some of the Americans in Lon- 
 don ? Was not a good deal said, and more implied, as to the possi- 
 I ility of meeting this question better in hjew York than in London, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 and of meeting it better, too, without the trammels of English dicta- 
 tion than with them ? 
 
 Perhaps in all this I am influenced by my feelings. To tell the 
 truth, my abhorrence of slavery grows apace. Year after year I feel 
 more and more that something should be done by every good man in 
 this land to deliver it. It may be that the dark subject dims my vis- 
 ion. I hope not. One needs all his eyesight to deal, with overgrown 
 evils. But I cannot stifle my convictions ; I cannot down with them, 
 even at my own bidding. Yet I am no abolitionist in one sense of 
 the word. I do not believe that all slaveholders are sinners ; I know 
 that some of them are pious men, so far as human judgment can go, 
 and I would not harm them, even in my thoughts, for the world. I 
 pity them. But their hapless condition must not entrap our judg- 
 ment by attracting our sympathies. If they must suffer I can pray 
 for them, but cannot stop the progress of the ark of God to still their 
 groans. But O ! what a sad subject it is. Even writing to you in 
 quietness, I find my heart beating violently with agitation. To-night, 
 at least, I can dwell on it no more. God have mercy upon us, and 
 upon our favored but guilty country ! I trust him still, but I could 
 not trust him if 1 did not follow my honest convictions. Wrong they 
 viay be ; but wrong I mi(s^ be if I do not act upon them, or, at least, 
 if I act against them. God have you in his holy keeping, my cherished 
 and valued friend ! Good-night. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Olin. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Carlisle, Mtrc?i 21, 1S47. 
 Dear Mrs. Olin : — An apology for not writing to you, on my 
 part, would be out of place, for more reasons than one. You cannot, 
 in the nature of the case, care enough about it to require one, and I 
 cannot presume enough upon my relation to you to conceive even 
 that it is necessary. But I am simply about to say that I have a sort 
 of nervous timidity about it — partly bashfulness, and partly vanity, 
 doubtless ; so that the less I say about it the better. I wrote some 
 time since to Dr. Olin, but have received no answer ; and I have had 
 .so many proofs of his kindness that I cannot attribute his silence to 
 
140 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 any other cause than illness, though I have heard nothing directly to 
 that effect. I now feel that I cannot rest quietly any longer, and I 
 must beg of you to let me know about him and yourself. 
 
 A few nights ago I sat, in a moment of rest from writing, thinking 
 of many things, but most, of my friends. One of those overmaster- 
 ing impulses that come upon us sometimes so irresistibly (at least it 
 is so with me — is it not so with you?) seized and carried me off to 
 Middletown. I turned around and told Mrs. M'C. that I thought 
 I imcst spend our week of vacation in a trip to visit you, and she 
 echoed the must very energetically. So you see that I secured at 
 once, not only the royal permission, but command, to do what 1 
 most longed to do. And why not } Alas ! that we are of the earth, 
 earthly ! Alas ! that our purest wishes and best affections should 
 be at the mercy of so paltry and so base a thing — but the truth must 
 be told ; the res angusta domi has nipped many a fine project in the 
 bud, and it cut off this one of mine even before the first sprout be- 
 gan to appear. I imtst go to New York, I suppose, in May, at the 
 time of the Alliance Convention, and my purse is not deep enough 
 to hold money for the two journeys— or, if it is, I have not got it to 
 put in. So I must put up with a disappointment — self-made, to be 
 sure, but none tl>e less poignant and painful on that account. 
 
 I have often wondered what temptation would be strong enough 
 to bring Dr. and Mrs. Olin out to the " crassa Bceotia of Pennsyl- 
 vania Dutchmen," as the gentle Professor , in one of his merry 
 
 moods, called this sweet old town of Carlisle. Why should it be an 
 impracticable thing ? Is not traveling good for Dr. Olin ? Has he 
 not done up all the traveling there is in that eastern region between 
 Passamaquoddy and Fort Moultrie ? Would not a new route be a 
 blessing and a comfort to his eyes, if not to his bones ? (Part of our 
 railway is a little rough !) And have we not a comfortable little 
 house — not grand nor gay, but one of those humble cubbies that 
 lightning never strikes, and the fell winds pass over, in pity for its 
 feebleness ? Now, *he fairly promised me once to come, and the 
 promise yet remains in full force and virtue. Why, I ask again, 
 should it be a thing impracticable ? Think it over, please, and call 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 141 
 
 to your aid one of those invisible but potent spirits that carried me 
 off bodily to your pretty city the other night — and then, when he 
 gives the impulse, don't let so vulgar a thing arrest it as, to my sor- 
 row and poverty I confess it, keeps me from going next week to 
 Middletown. 
 
 I have done two wrong things in this letter ; namely, quote Latin 
 and talk of money. But the little Latin can't do much harm, as it is 
 very poverty-stricken, and is going direct to the University besides. 
 And, after all, I have not talked so much about money as the want 
 of it, so that I may be acquitted of that indictment too. 
 
 How often I wish I was a professor at Middletown ! (Don't tell 
 any of the Faculty, lest they think I am plotting to eject them.) Not 
 that I think yours a better town, or a better college than our own, or 
 rather, putting both together, not that I think Middletown aiid the 
 University better than Carlisle and Dickinson. But I should love 
 exceedingly to spend part of my life with Dr. Olin — and I suppose he 
 will stay, for some years at least, in Middletown. Not, too, that I 
 don't love my friends here, for I do dearly, (you see this is the sober 
 second thought,) but I should like to go there for all, so long as 
 your husband is there. I am sorry that I cannot insinuate that your 
 presence would be the attraction, for I told him the same thing four 
 years ago, on board of a canal-boat in the Lehigh River, under 
 ground some fifty feet or less, and yet some eight hundred or a thou- 
 sand feet above the level of the sea. I don't know that he will re- 
 member what I said ; but I am sure he'll remember the canal, and 
 the strange experiments we made in the art of sinking, going down 
 the mountain by water. It was a strange, wild scene ; and I re- 
 member trying to make him say it was grand, or sublime, or rugged, 
 or any thing out of the traveler's vocabulary of adjectives ; but he 
 put me off very decidedly, for "he had seen the Drachenfels," or 
 some other v^ery stony place — no, it was a great rocky region some- 
 where near Pesth, I think, on the Danube. I felt inclined to brag 
 of the superiority of Pennsylvania ; but as he had seen both, he had 
 a decided advantage of me, and was cruel enough to make use of it. 
 However, if I live, and am miserly enough to avoid all expensive 
 
142 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 journeys merely to see my friends, I shall see Pesth and that black 
 mountain one of these days myself, and then we can argue the point 
 on equal terms. 
 
 I have written just as I felt, and hope my letter will find you in a 
 happy mood. That you will be so I am sure, if Dr. O. is well ; and 
 so, in wishing that, I have wished what most concerns both of us. 
 Tell him how much I love him ; and believe me to be your sincere 
 and obliged, but most unworthy friend. 
 
 \ 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1847. 
 
 The Cumberland Valley a Highway of Migration— The Nt^roes of Carlisle— The Pur- 
 siiit by .Messrs. Kennady and IloUingsworth of Three Slaves— Symptoms of Eiot at the Office 
 of a Jii'jtice of the Peace— Collision of Negroes with the Sheriff" s Oflicer — All Parties brought 
 before Judge Hepburn on a Writ of Jlatieas C<>rpuis — The Judge's Decision — Attemj)! 
 Made in the Court-room to Eescue the Slaves — The Blacks Baffled and Overawed — The 
 Attitude of Pennsylvania in Relation to Slavery — The Prig<f Case before the Supreme Court 
 of the United States— The Pennsylvania Law of 1&4T— Arrival of Professor M'Cliutock at the 
 Court-h use — Co-operates in Procuring a Second Writ of Jlabeaa Corpm — Interposition 
 in Behalf of a Negro— Attempt to Carry the Slaves Away— Resistance by Negroes of the 
 Town — A Melee in which Mr. Kennady is Struck Down— Great E.xcitement in the Country 
 —Professor M'Clintock Charged witii Instigating a liiot and Arrested— Trial of Professor 
 M'Clintock and Twenty-eiglit Negroes — The Testimony for the Prosecution — Scenes in the 
 Court— Def<!nse and Acquittal— Protest of the Judge— Conviction of Thirteen Negroes and 
 Sentence of Ten to the Penitentiai-y — Their Release by the Suprenae Court — Letters. 
 
 /"WHOEVER has studied the topography of Pennsyl- 
 ^ ' vania has observed the numerous ranges of hills 
 which, running parallel with the AUeghanies from north- 
 east to south-west, form the outlying walls of the inner 
 and loftier mountain system. Some of their intervening 
 valleys are so narrow that even in the longest and bright- 
 est days they lie much of the time in deep shadow ; oth- 
 ers again are of such capacious breadth that they sustain 
 an ever-growing population, distributed over ample farm- 
 ing spaces, or concentrated in villages and towns. Of 
 these, the valley known as the Cumberland, after reaching 
 the southern line of the State, sweeps on through Western 
 Maryland, Central Virginia, and East Tennessee, till it is 
 lost in the plains of the far South. It has always been a 
 
144 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 highway over which a migratory people have travelled. 
 The Scotch-Irish and Germans who settled Central Penn- 
 sylvania had, long before the late civil war, followed 
 the course of the valley into Maryland and Virginia. 
 Concurrently, however, with this flow from the North, 
 there had been a flow upwards from the South. The 
 comparatively mild form of slavery which prevailed in the 
 border Southern States offered many facilities for eman- 
 cipation. Educated under the teaching of Methodism, 
 some conscientious masters had manumitted their bond- 
 men ; other slaves had bought their freedom. Once free 
 according to the forms of law, a strong impulse led not 
 a few of these blacks to seek a fuller enjoyment of their 
 newly-acquired rights than was possible in their old 
 southern homes. Slaves who helped themselves to their 
 liberty knew perfectly well that it was not safe to linger 
 near the border line, and rested not till they had found 
 their way to New England or Canada, 
 
 The borough of Carlisle had received its full share of 
 these immigrants from the neighboring Southern States. 
 Taken together, they were a quiet and orderly element 
 of the population. Some of them were freeholders, and 
 had comfortable homes of their own ; others, if less thrifty, 
 were above want. A number of the men were employed 
 in the service of the college, and were liked as civil and 
 obliging persons. The blacks of Carlisle were neither 
 beggars nor vagabonds. Among them was to be found 
 the inevitable gray-haired patriarch, whose age was any- 
 where in the neighborhood of a hundred years that one 
 might choose to guess. He was an old rapscallion, who 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLLXTOCK. 145 
 
 had his own story to tell of the way he had bought him- 
 self out of slavery. A few of us built for him a house of 
 about twelve by fourteen feet, where he lived in the per- 
 fect enjoyment of his independence, and carried himself 
 with all the air and state of a lord of the manor. 
 
 Early in June, 1847, ^^""'^ slaveowners from ^Maryland, 
 James H. Kennady and Howard Hollingsworth, came to 
 Carlisle in pursuit of three runaway servants. One of 
 the runaways was a man of fifty years, and known as 
 Lloyd Brown ; another was a girl of ten, and a third a 
 woman of fifty, called Hester. The owners were from 
 Hagerstown, where they lived in good repute among 
 their neighbors. They had an unquestioning conviction 
 of their right to their human property, and expected 
 with entire confidence that the authorities in Pennsyl- 
 vania would make their title good. 
 
 A colored man in the borough claimed the woman, 
 Hester, as his wife ; and, whether from this cause or some 
 other not known, the blacks were excited to the point 
 of offering a determined resistance to the arrest of the 
 fugitives. Excited they had every reason to be ; but a 
 union to fight the battle out with the captors was for 
 them an unheard-of exhibition of courage. On the morn- 
 ing of the second of June the owners appeared with the 
 captured fugitives before a justice of the peace, made the 
 usual claim, with proofs that were considered sufficient, 
 and received a certificate delivering the negroes into 
 their custody. They then asked for a commitment to 
 jail, where the three slaves might remain in the keeping 
 
 of the sheriff until it was convenient to remove them to 
 10 
 
146 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Maryland. The request, though wholly illegal, was 
 granted, and the officers proceeded to make the removal. 
 At this point a negro named Norman, the reputed hus- 
 band of Hester, seized her by the waist and tried to 
 carry her off. The deputy sheriff, a strong, muscular 
 person, struck him a heavy blow which knocked him 
 against the wall of a house, at the same time declaring 
 that another attempt at a rescue would be met with a 
 pistol shot. The blacks were for the time intimidated, 
 and the fugitives were carried off to the jail, which stood, 
 and still stands, on the main street of the town. The 
 sheriff and his prisoners were followed by an agitated 
 crowd, largely made up of women, many of them armed 
 with sticks and such missiles as they could hastily 
 pick up. 
 
 Early in the afternoon a writ of habeas corpus was ob- 
 tained by Mr. Adair, one of the lawyers of the borough, 
 bringing all parties before the presiding judge, Hepburn, 
 at the court-house. By this time the symptoms of a vio- 
 lent outbreak were so threatening, that a posse of officers 
 was summoned to the aid of the sheriff The crowd of 
 blacks hung. about the jail till its doors were opened 
 again, and then they followed the sheriff and the slaves, 
 but by no means in silence, to the court. The illegality 
 of the imprisonment was decided very quickly, and the 
 slaves were taken out of the hands of the sheriff and 
 handed over to the keeping of their owners. Messrs. 
 Kennady and Hollingsworth had, however, been arrested 
 on a warrant from a justice of the peace for forcibly en- 
 tering the house in which the slaves were found. They 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 147 
 
 had gone from the court-room to give the necessary bail, 
 and had requested the sheriff and his deputy to take 
 charge of the fugitives until their return. The willing 
 officers undertook this service, illegal as it was, and sta- 
 tioned themselves close to the prisoners' box. The 
 blacks of the town, who by this time were maddened to 
 fury, rushed to the box, lifted the woman, Hester, out of 
 it, and made way with her towards the door ; the deputy, 
 who had beaten off the woman's husband earlier in the 
 day, drew his pistol and swore he would shoot any one 
 who attempted a rescue. The doors of the court-room 
 were hastily closed, and escape rendered impossible. 
 The judge, seeing a riot imminent before his eyes as he 
 sat on the bench, ordered the room to be cleared. The 
 crowd, white and black, were forced out, and the captors 
 and their prey remained within, sheltered by the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, as it then was, with the re- 
 luctant assent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The good old Commonwealth was most reluctant to 
 stain her hands by giving aid to such work. By the 
 act of March i, 1780, passed nine years before the 
 adoption of the National Constitution, slavery was abol- 
 ished in all her borders. All persons thereafter born in 
 the State were to be free. Her love of liberty had been 
 expressed m the act of 1788, which declared that every 
 slave brought within her domain " by persons inhabiting 
 or residing therein, or intending to inhabit or reside 
 therein," should be immediately deemed and taken to be 
 free to all intents and purposes. By the same act the 
 separation of husband and wife beyond a distance of ten 
 
148 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 miles was forbidden. Her law of 1826, framed for the 
 twofold purpose of preventing kidnapping and carrying 
 out the obligation to return fugitives from labor imposed 
 by the Federal Constitution, had been declared to be null 
 and void by the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 Edward Prigg had been indicted under this law in the 
 Court of the County of York — which adjoins Cumberland 
 — for illegally carrying off a slave woman to Maryland, 
 and had been convicted. By consent of the two States 
 the case had been appealed to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, in order to determine where the power of 
 legislation in regard to fugitive slaves resided. Justice 
 Story read the opinion of the Court, which was summed 
 up in this sentence : We hold the power of legislation 
 on this subject to be exclusive in Congress." Chief-Jus- 
 tice Taney read an opinion, which was still more em- 
 phatic: Every State law," it said, which requires the 
 master against his consent to go before any State tribu- 
 nal or officer before he can take possession of his prop- 
 erty, or which authorizes a State officer to interfere with 
 him, is unconstitutional and void. But, as I understand 
 the opinion of the Court, it goes further, and decides 
 that all laws upon the subject passed by a State, since 
 the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, 
 are null and void, even although they were intended in 
 good faith to protect the owner in the exercise of his 
 rights of property, and do not conflict in any degree 
 with the act of Congress." 
 
 This decision was a heavy blow to Pennsylvania, 
 which had always been distinguished for a scrupulous 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 149 
 
 observance of inter-State obligations, and as much for 
 tenderness towards all who sought the privilege of an asy- 
 lum upon her soil. It left her a helpless looker-on while 
 the slave-hunter tracked and pursued his prey. Time was 
 chosen for a deliberate answer, and in the winter of 1847 
 the answer was given. Taking the Supreme Court at its 
 w^ord, and following the principle laid down in the Prigg 
 case to its logical conclusion, the State, through its legis- 
 lature, enacted a law forbidding its judicial and executive 
 officers to bear any part whatever in the recapture of fu- 
 gitive slaves. By this act every judge, alderman, or jus- 
 tice of the peace in the Commonwealth was forbidden, 
 under penalty of a heavy fine, to take cognizance of 
 the case of any fugitives from labor, from any of the 
 United States or Territories, arising under the law of 
 Congress of 1793, or to grant any certificate or warrant 
 of removal of any such fugitive. Any person claiming a 
 negro as a fugitive from labor who should, under any pre- 
 tence or authority, seize, or attempt to seize, and carry 
 away in a violent and tumultuous manner such negro or 
 mulatto, was held to be guilty of misdemeanor and liable 
 to a heavy fine. It was declared also to be unlawful to 
 use any jail or prison of the Commonwealth for the deten- 
 tion of any person claimed as a fugitive from labor. This 
 law was passed, as we have stated, early in 1847, ^'"'d was 
 approved by that most democratic of governors, Francis 
 R. Shunk. It meant to say plainly, If the jurisdiction 
 over the recovery of fugitive slaves is exclusively in the 
 United States, then the government of the United States 
 must provide the means for such recovery. The Com- 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 monwealth of Pennsylvania washes her hands of all this 
 business. She submits to the humiliation of having her 
 soil made a slave captor's hunting ground, but warns 
 the hunters of what they may expect." It was grandly 
 spoken, and to no citizen did the passage of the law of 
 1847 g^^^ ^ more heartfelt satisfaction than to Professor 
 M'Clintock. 
 
 Of the earlier proceedings in the case of the fugitives 
 whom we left shut up in the court-room. Professor 
 M'Clintock knew nothing. It was his habit, towards five 
 o'clock in the afternoon, to go to the post-office, then on 
 the same street with the court-house, but not quite op- 
 posite, for his letters. Calling as usual this afternoon, he 
 was informed by the postmaster of the progress of the 
 investigation, and went over to see and hear for himself. 
 He arrived at the moment the judge had pronounced 
 that the slaves were improperly in the hands of the sheriff. 
 As he entered the room he met an Episcopal minister, 
 who expressed a doubt of the testimony which had been 
 offered to prove that the woman and the child were 
 slaves. He had a rude greeting from some of the ex- 
 cited w^hites who made up a large part of the crowd in 
 the court. " There," shouted some one, goes a d — d 
 abolitionist." Look at M'Clintock," shouted another 
 voice, ''the d — d abolitionist." Taking his seat inside 
 the bar with the counsel for the negroes, he asked them 
 if they had seen the new law of 1847 5 they had not even 
 heard of it. It was then mentioned by counsel to the 
 judge, but the judge was not advised of its existence. As 
 far as could be ascertained a certified copy was not to be 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 found ill the borough, and the only newspaper copy was 
 in the possession of Professor M'Clintock himself. The 
 capitol of the State in which the law was enacted was 
 within twenty miles of Carlisle. 
 
 Passing on to the door of the court-room, in obedience 
 to the judge's order to clear it, Professor M'Clintock saw 
 a white man raise a stick threateningly over the head of 
 a negro, saying at the same moment, You ought to have 
 your skull broke." The negro protested that he had 
 done nothing. Then," said the professor, " if any one 
 strikes you apply to me, and I will see that justice is 
 done to you." Filled with the idea that all the proceed- 
 ings were illegal, he discussed with two of the lawyers of 
 the borough the bearings of the new law upon the case as 
 they went together down stairs. It was determined by 
 Mr. Adair, the counsel for the negroes, to get out a second 
 writ of habeas corpus, and to try before the judge the 
 question of the ownership of the woman and the girl. 
 While the papers w^ere preparing, Professor M'Clintock 
 hastened to the college for his copy of the Act of 1847. 
 He returned as quickly as possible and rejoined Mr. 
 Adair, who by this time had his petition ready. As they 
 came from the rear of the court-house, and stood a m.o- 
 ment upon the front steps, the slave owners, with their 
 slaves, came down the stairs from the room above. A 
 carriage had been driven up to the edge of the sidewalk 
 for the reception of the whole party. Mr. Kennady fol- 
 lowed close after his servants, and with a billet of wood 
 beat off the negroes, who, in a high state of excitement, 
 crowded in upon him. The man Lloyd Brown was 
 
152 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 forced into the carriage, when a desperate rush was made 
 for the woman and the girl. Norman seized his wife, 
 Hester, and bore her off ; some one else, not known, 
 clutched the child. The crowd dashed across the street, 
 and down an alley-way adjacent to the market-house, 
 with Mr. Kennady in full pursuit. He was well able 
 to pursue, for he was six feet in height, stoutly built, 
 and in the prime of life. A storm of missiles followed 
 the negroes as they fled, and fell upon both pursuers and 
 pursued. Just as Mr. Kennady had crossed the street, 
 in his tussle with the rescuers, he was tripped by some 
 boards lying upon the sidewalk and fell heavily. Before 
 he could rise he was struck repeatedly by the negroes as 
 they rushed past him in their flight, severely hurt, and 
 rendered helpless. 
 
 It was all done, as one might say, in the twinkling of 
 an eye. The amazed lawyers stood upon the court- 
 house steps, Professor M'CIintock among them, but with- 
 out the slightest power to check or prevent the out- 
 break. A doctor who was opportunely near came to 
 Mr. Kennady's assistance, and procured a settee, on 
 which the wounded man was carried to his hotel. His 
 left arm, right hip, and abdomen were badly bruised, 
 one knee-cap was torn from its integuments, and blood 
 was flowing freely from a wound on the back of the 
 head. The physician, who had reached the ground in 
 time to see a part of the disturbance, testified that he 
 saw Mr. Kennady " endeavoring to hold on to his slaves 
 with one hand, while he was beating off the negroes with 
 the other, and at the same time receiving blows from 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 1 53 
 
 Sticks and stones." He had underrated the determina- 
 tion of the negroes to resist him, and had paid for his 
 mistake a fearful penalty. 
 
 As the news of the rescue, and the hurt done to the 
 slaveowner, spread through the borough, the popula- 
 tion — especially its less intelligent portion — was ablaze 
 with excitement. It was M'Clintock, was the outcry, 
 who had instigated and led the riot ; it was M'Clintock 
 who had cheered the negroes on to the commission of 
 violence, assuring them that he would take the risk of 
 all consequences. He had expressed, as every man of 
 right feeling would, sincere sorrow for the harm done to 
 the slaveowner : but no account was made of that ; he 
 was " a d — d abolitionist," and the unreasoning anger 
 of the moment fell heavily upon him. He was imme- 
 diately arrested, as also were the negroes, as far as they 
 could be identified. No distinction was made between 
 the Christian scholar and the poor creatures in whose be- 
 half he had vainly interfered ; the popular feeling linked 
 him and them together as alike guilty of a breach of the 
 peace. It was rumored that he was to be arrested at an 
 hour of the night too late to admit of his procuring bail, 
 but he was fortunately spared that indignity. 
 
 When the news spread through the country the ex- 
 citement became more intense. As usual, the distorted 
 story was the first to reach the press, and elicited the 
 severest comments. The " New York Herald" was furi- 
 ous against Professor M'Clintock. The Philadelphia 
 " Ledger " quickly corrected its error, while the " Bulle- 
 tin " and the Spirit of the Times" steadily held the 
 
154 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 attention of the community to the real facts of the case. 
 A meeting of the southern students of the college, who 
 numbered nearly one hundred, was called, in which res- 
 olutions of confidence in their professor were adopted, 
 and embodied in a card to the public. The excitement 
 was rapidly subsiding when the death of Mr. Kennady 
 cast a deep shadow upon the events of the second of 
 June. For three weeks he had progressed rapidly to- 
 ward recovery, was in good spirits, and looked forward 
 to a speedy release from his confinement, when suddenly, 
 and without warning, he passed away. Nothing ap- 
 peared to connect his death directly with the contusions 
 received during the struggle with the negroes, but the 
 fact of his decease gave to the riot a gravity which oth- 
 erwise it could not have assumed. 
 
 The friends of Professor M'Clintock did not desert 
 him in this important crisis of his life. They gathered 
 about him and gave him assurance of their support. 
 Joshua M. Giddings sent him words of good cheer. 
 Thaddeus Stevens was ready, even solicitous, to take 
 part in his defence. For years a leading member of 
 the bar in Adams County, which directly adjoins Mary- 
 land, Mr. Stevens was known throughout the State as 
 an aggressive abolitionist ; his courage and force of 
 character compelled men to respect him, no matter what 
 they might think of his opinions. On the 3d of June 
 Professor M'Clintock wrote an account of his part in the 
 events of the day preceding to his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 E. B. Wakeman, and on the loth a still fuller statement. 
 The two letters disclose the composure with which he 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 contemplated the contingencies before him, and as well 
 the anxiety which underlay it all the time: — 
 
 Carlisle, June 3, 1S47. 
 
 Dear Edgar : We had quite a case here yesterday. A gentleman 
 called me into the court-house as I was passing, about five P.M., to see 
 a habeas corpus tried for those fugitives who had been arrested and 
 committed to jail. The judge pronounced them illegally in custody, and 
 discharged them from the sheriff's hands ; but they were still kept in 
 the court-house. After awhile they were taken out to be put into a 
 carriage that was drawn up in front of the court-house, and a rush 
 was made, two slave women carried off, the other, a man, retained. 
 In the riot the owner was severely wounded, and a boy in the crowd 
 mortally. With all this I had nothing to do. But in the court-room, 
 before the parties came out, I told the judge of the law of last session 
 on the reclamation of fugitives, which made all the proceedings ille- 
 gal from the beginning. A negro of the town was threatened with 
 having his skull broke. He said he had done nothing, and I told 
 him if that was so I would see justice done him. And after all was 
 over an old negro woman called to me to save her from jail, as she 
 had done nothing but try to keep her old man from getting into the 
 riot. I told the officer that if he carried her off illegally I should 
 see her righted ; and he let her go. 
 
 All that I did was to try to do my duty to the laws of the land. 
 But the slavecatchers have spread abroad the report that I incited 
 the riot, and have sworn to it, and I am under bail to appear at Au- 
 gust court. They will find that the saddle is on the wrong horse. 
 
 I believe you now understand the whole case, and perhaps you will 
 think I have done no wrong. I am glad that my noble wife has 
 spunk enough neither to be afraid of mobs nor ashamed of her 
 husband. 
 
 Mr. E. B. Wakeman. 
 
 Cablisle, Jane 10, 184T. 
 Your letter and David's were duly received. I answer you both 
 in one, as my hands are pretty full of business. For all your ex- 
 
156 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 pressions of sympathy and kindness I heartily thank you ; in a time of 
 trial all such words are worth their weight in gold. And I know, too, 
 that the deeds will not be wanting to back the words, if there is any 
 need of them. You are perfectly right in supposing that I have 
 done nothing illegal or wrong. If to sympathize with the oppressed 
 be a sin, I plead guilty ; if to aid them, without violating the law, be a 
 sin, then I am a transgressor ; but not otherwise. I do not know 
 that I can add any thing to my own statement of facts made in the 
 last letter. But the charges, the rumors, and, I am told, the affi- 
 davits, go far beyond that. Luckily, so far as I can learn, there is no 
 man of the slightest character who can or will venture to swear 
 against me ; while there are scores who will testify on my side, that 
 I did nothing tending to incite to riot. The papers here are so mis- 
 erably cowardly and sycophantic that they have not even given any 
 statement of the palpable infractions of the law of Pennsylvania that 
 were perpetrated on the occasion. They have all abstained, however, 
 from connecting my name with the accounts of the riot. The court 
 does not sit until August 25, at which time I shall have to be here. 
 A most violent article has appeared in the " Hagerstown Torch- 
 light," full of abominable lies, with my name and supposed deeds 
 filling two columns. 
 
 The southern students of the college have signed a document stat- 
 ing that they are satisfied, after the fullest examination, of the falsity 
 of the charges brought against me, and declaring that my separation 
 from the college would be an irreparable loss both to themselves and 
 the institution. On that point, however, my mind is made up ; just 
 as soon as things are cleared up a little I shall cut loose from this 
 concern ; not that they have not treated me well, but that I cannot 
 bear its multiform restraints. Dr. Emor^' has behaved nobly through 
 all this business ; neither of you could have done more or better. I 
 only fear that his health may be affected by the pain and anxiety it 
 has caused him. 
 
 That good will come out of it in the end I am sure. As for the per- 
 sonal ill repute that will be brought upon myself, it cannot last long, 
 and will probably do me good in the issue. I have had my mind in 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 peace and comfort through the whole affair, and do not wonder at 
 the tranquillity of other men in worse contingencies. I suppose the 
 nerves string up of their own accord in such emergencies. 
 
 They talk of bringing civil suits against me in the Circuit Court of 
 the United States for the value of the slaves, and the personal injury 
 sustained by the claimant ; if they do it will be rich and useful. 
 Philadelphia will be worth a visit then. It is now late and I am tired, 
 so good-bye. 
 
 Mr. E. B. Wakeman. 
 
 The entry in his diary on the evening of June 2, 
 written while his mind was all aglow, makes some rep- 
 etition of the story, but is of too much interest to be 
 omitted :— 
 
 June 2, 1847. This day at five P.M., as I was passing the court- 
 house, Mr. Sanderson (postmaster) called me and asked if I wasn't 
 going into the court-house. "Why?" "There is a case of fugi- 
 tive slaves," etc. I went in. Mr. Thorne told me at the door that 
 there was doubt about the woman and child being slaves, but not 
 about the man, (there were three in all.) The case was over in about 
 five minutes after I entered. The judge decided on the habeas corpus 
 that the sheriff had no right to imprison the blacks, and dismissed 
 them from his custody, saying at the same time that the masters had 
 certificates from the justice of the peace on which they could remove 
 them. This I knew to be contrary to the late law of Pennsylvania, 
 and I went up to Judge Hepburn (after the court had adjourned) and 
 asked him about it. Found that neither he nor the lawyers knew 
 any thing about the law. There was no proof that the woman and 
 child were slaves ; the man admitted it. Adair told me he would 
 get out another writ to try the question of property, which had not 
 been gone into. At his request I went home and got the law. After 
 my return I stood on the porch talking with several young lawyers, 
 who exhibited the most miserable ignorance of the Constitution of 
 the United States. During the conversation the slaves were brought 
 
IS8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 out, and before the writ of habeas co7'pns had been returned by the 
 judge. The free blacks, seeing their fellows about lo be carried away 
 into interminable bondage, made a rush and carried off the woman 
 and child. In the 7nelee one of the slaveowners, named Kennady, 
 was badly hurt. 
 
 As I was coming home the last time I heard, near the court- 
 house corner, several persons saying, " Let her go, she has done 
 nothing," and turning I found a man hauling off an aged colored 
 woman. She said she had only tried to get " her old man out," and 
 I told the officer that if " she had done nothing, and he arrested her 
 illegally, I would see justice done her," I then came home. 
 
 After tea I heard that I was charged with inciting the riot, and 
 that a writ was out against me. All sorts of stories were told, and 
 many of the students were very much excited. They held a 
 meeting on the chapel steps at seven P.M. Emor\- went there and 
 said a few words ; when I heard of it I went out, and gave them 
 the true account ; told them to go down and ask any decent person 
 they chose and they would find it confirmed. They behaved very 
 well. It was stated in the evening that our house would be mobbed. 
 The town was in great excitement, and it was thought best for my 
 family to sleep at Dr, Emor)-'s. 
 
 The truth of the case was, that my human and Christian sympa- 
 thies were openly exhibited on the side of the poor blacks, and this 
 gave mortal offence to the slaveholders and their confreres in the 
 town. 
 
 Thiers., June 3. At eight this morning I went down to Esquire 
 Holsapple's and gave Emory as bail for my appearance at court on 
 August 25. The students are all right. 
 
 By the time the day of the trial arrived (August 25th) 
 the case had expanded beyond its personal relations, 
 and had become a cause," on the opposite sides of 
 which eager contestants were enlisted. No moneys it 
 was said, would be spared to insure the conviction of 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 1 59 
 
 the professor. There was a full array of counsel. The 
 prosecuting attorney, J. Ellis Bonham, was assisted by 
 three of the leading lawyers of the county. For Pro- 
 fessor M'Clintock his friend, Wm. M. Biddle, appeared, 
 and also Mr. Adair, who had been so active in procuring 
 the habeas corpus^ Mr. Graham, and Wm. M. Meredith, one 
 of the famous leaders of the Philadelphia bar. The de- 
 fendants, twenty-nine men and women, were all indicted 
 in one batch together, the gentleman and scholar lead- 
 ing the list. A separate trial was asked for him, but 
 was refused. It Avas well. He had taken his place by 
 the side of God's poor, to give them the benefit of his 
 larger intelligence and to shield them from wrong ; it 
 was not unbecoming for him to share their lot. There 
 could be no better position for a follower of Christ and a 
 minister of his truth. 
 
 An excellent jury was impanneled. Among them 
 was a stanch Calvinist, one of that rugged race who had 
 originally settled the Cumberland Valley, and who were 
 as immovable as their own Blue Mountains in the main- 
 tenance of their convictions of right. Mr. Bonham, the 
 prosecuting attorney, was a gentleman of refined feel- 
 ing as well as an able lawyer. He wove together from 
 the testimony which he expected to produce a combina- 
 tion of charges against the subject of our memoir, which, 
 if the Commonwealth's witnesses had only been trust- 
 worthy, would have overwhelmed any man that ever 
 lived. In the mad excitement of the hour witnesses 
 imagined that they had heard him use vulgarisms of 
 language with which he was incapable of soiling his 
 
i6o 
 
 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 tongue. One was ready to swear, and did swear, that 
 he had cried out to the blacks, ''You ones, go ahead; 
 I'll see you through." Another, that, standing on the 
 court-house steps, he had shouted, " Now, boys, is your 
 time; go ahead ; I'll see you through, or be responsible 
 for damages." Another, that in the court-room, when 
 the rescue was attempted from the prisoners' box, he 
 had called out, Go ahead, boys, and stand your 
 ground." These, and others who testified for the State, 
 had transformed the scholar, who for gentleness was 
 known of all men, into a vulgar rough, busying himself 
 in rushing from group to group, and rallying them in 
 uncouth terms to their bloody work. The intrinsic im- 
 probability of these stories should have been their refu- 
 tation, but the atmosphere of passion in which so many 
 of the parties to the prosecution were involved distorted 
 their vision, and rendered them incapable of seeing or 
 describing with correctness. 
 
 Leaving for a time the immediate facts of the case, the 
 prosecution took a wider range, and demanded a convic- 
 tion as a means of appeasing the South and making slave 
 property secure. ''Your verdict," said the State's coun- 
 sel to the jury, " either one way or the other, so far as 
 these defendants are concerned, is but a drop in the 
 bucket, compared with the other momentous issues which 
 hang upon the result. The rescue of these slaves has 
 had a most pernicious tendency in the South, and ren- 
 dered the property of every slaveholder insecure. The 
 slaves now think that they can get protection and aid 
 from the whites, and their conduct has become marked by 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. l6l 
 
 insubordination and violence. . . . Whether these defend- 
 ants committed this outrage, or whether they did not, is 
 a matter of trivial importance to your southern brethren, 
 compared with the consequences which may flow from 
 your verdict to the social and political organization of 
 whole communities. If you decide that these outrages 
 can be committed with impunity, the foundations of the 
 Government will be broken, this union of States will be 
 rent in twain, the fagot will be the arbiter of right and 
 wrong, and the glare of a civil and, perhaps, of a servile war 
 will light up the land. Your southern brethren look to 
 you, gentlemen of the jury, for protection, and that by 
 your verdict you will stay the lawlessness which threat- 
 ens to overwhelm them." A most pathetic picture of the 
 wailing of the widow over the dead body of her husband 
 closed the able presentation of the Commonwealth's case. 
 
 The appeal to render such a verdict as would soothe 
 the exasperated sensibilities of the people of the South 
 was preposterous, but it illustrates the temper of the 
 times. When the witnesses for the prosecution were 
 brought on, it was found that they had seen and heard 
 entirely too much. One who was certain that, at the 
 moment of the outbreak, -the professor was in the act of 
 talking to three negroes, was confuted by proof that the 
 three were white men, two of them respectable lawyers 
 of Carlisle, The man who had heard him say, " You 
 ones, go ahead, I'll see you through," stuck to his story 
 under cross-examination. He was certain of it. An- 
 other witness swore that the professor's face was, during 
 
 the riot, swollen to an unnatural size." By what pro- 
 11 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 cess of nature the swelling was produced the witness did 
 not explain, but evidently considered it an effect of great 
 excitement. On the other hand, Mr. Adair, the lawyer 
 who had humanely interested himself in procuring the 
 habeas corpus, accounted for Professor M'Clintock during 
 all the time from his first appearance in the proceedings, 
 with the exception of four or five minutes. They were 
 both, he said, working together to procure relief for the 
 slaves according to the forms of law. A Presbyterian miin- 
 ister testified that he and the professor had walked down 
 stairs from the court-room to the front door arm in arm, 
 and that the latter was calm and perfectly master of him- 
 self. Another witness had heard him say to an excited 
 negro, "There must be no fighting; you must not strike 
 any body, but if any one strikes you, come to me and I'll 
 protect you." And these words were the key to all his 
 conduct on that memorable afternoon. He would, as a 
 good citizen, obey the law, but would, at the same time, 
 do all that was in his power to defend the weak. Finally, 
 the most cruel charge of all, that he had expressed pleas- 
 ure when told that Mr. Kennady was hurt, was disposed 
 of, the witness to that point failing to stand by his as- 
 sertion ; and another, a most respectable business man, 
 testifying that Professor M'Clintock had expressed pro- 
 found regret when informed of the catastrophe with 
 which the riot had closed. There remained the im- 
 pregnable fact that the blacks had shown a disposition 
 to unite for a rescue all through the day, and that they 
 were in no need of instigation from Professor M'Clin- 
 tock or any one else. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 163 
 
 The court-room presented during the trial a spectacle 
 such as has rarely been seen in Cumberland County. 
 The case, from its nature, touched the extreme points of 
 society, and the extremes were represented in the crowd 
 that filled seats and aisles, and watched, with breathless 
 interest, the fluctuations of the legal conflict. The pas- 
 sions certain to be awakened by an outbreak of the end- 
 less slavery controversy were there concentrated, and were 
 exerting their utmost force. No prisoners' box could 
 hold the many defendants ; they were massed on one 
 side of the room, under guard of officers of the court. 
 They were a motley group of black, brown, and yellow, 
 and as they gazed on the proceedings in which they were 
 interested parties, with the helpless air so peculiar to 
 their race, they excited in the spectator a deep feeling 
 of pity. They had not, however, been left to take care 
 of themselves ; competent counsel appeared in their be- 
 half. Their codefendant, who had tried ineffectually on 
 the second of June to aid them, sat beside his lawyers, 
 and took an active and intelligent interest in the conduct 
 of the case. Personal friends were there to give him 
 the support of their presence. The venerable Alfred 
 Griffith, whose homely face, halting gait, deafness, and 
 sterling sense withal, would have made him a much-no- 
 ticed man in any gathering, sat close to the witness stand, 
 and with strained attention drank in every word of the 
 testimony and pleadings. He had come to hear and 
 judge for himself, and, when the trial was over, published 
 a well-reasoned vindication of his old friend. Professor 
 M'Clintock. More than all, there rested upon the par- 
 
164 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ties to the case an indefinable sense of its meaning 
 which could not be expressed in words, an apprehension 
 that it pointed to woes to come, a dread that this col- 
 lision of two systems of life and civilization at a single 
 point was but a foretokening of what might be, should 
 the collision occur at ten thousand points, and involve 
 all the communities living on either side of the slave 
 line. Here were consequences sad enough attending the 
 effort to secure right and justice for three slaves ; what 
 would they be when it was attempted to secure right and 
 justice for three millions? 
 
 Small attention, as may well be supposed, was paid by 
 the prosecutors to the negroes. Their theory of the events 
 bound them to employ their utmost resources to procure 
 the conviction of Professor M'Clintock, and they spared 
 no effort to that end. The attack upon him in some pas- 
 sages of the trial was very bitter. The death of Mr. Ken- 
 nady had intensified feeling. The prejudices of a large 
 portion of the community were with the prosecution. 
 At the beginning the prospects of the defence were far 
 from assuring, but as it progressed the integrity, the hu- 
 manity, the courage of Professor M'Clintock became so 
 conspicuously clear as to sweep away all hesitation. Mr. 
 Meredith closed for the defense in a polished address ; 
 Mr. Watts (now United States Commissioner of Agricul- 
 ture) summed up for the prosecution, and struck heavy 
 blows; but, fortunately, their object was invulnerable. 
 The judge charged the jury fairly enough, and on Satur- 
 day evening gave them the case. By Sunday noon it 
 was rumored that Professor M'Clintock was acquitted, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLLXTOCK. 165 
 
 and on Monday morning the jury so declared in their 
 verdict. Over half the negroes were cleared, and thir- 
 teeruconvicted. 
 
 To the surprise of all persons who were present, Judge 
 Hepburn protested against the verdict, and especially 
 the acquittal of Professor ^M'Clintock. He informed the 
 jury that if the case had been one involving only dollars 
 and cents he would have set their decision aside. He 
 insisted that when he ordered the court-room to be 
 cleared, the line was drawn between the peaceable and 
 the disorderly, and that when Professor Al'dintock told 
 the negroes " to stand their ground " (which he never 
 did tell them) he became at that instant a rioter, and as 
 guilty of all the acts of violence as though he had taken 
 part in their commission. The bar and citizens were 
 astounded by this breach of judicial decorum. The 
 truth was, that the sheriff's officers had undertaken an 
 illegal service in assuming to guard the prisoners' box, 
 and to convert the court-room into a prison, after the 
 slaves had been taken out of their hands, and remitted 
 to the keeping of their owners. They had provoked a 
 breach of the peace by going outside of their duty. If, 
 however, the judge's opinion was against the verdict, 
 far different was that of the community. The trial had 
 revolutionized popular feeling; the decision of the jury 
 on the facts was received with acclamation. Congratu- 
 lations from all quarters poured in upon the much-tried 
 professor. His friend, Emory, who, prostrated by sick- 
 ness, had been unable to attend the proceedings, but 
 had in the preparations for them been a confidential 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 adviser, received him after his acquittal with the warmest 
 demonstrations of affection. The sharp agony over, Pro- 
 fessor M'Clintock went out of the court with a strojiger 
 hold upon the community in which he lived and the 
 country at large than he had ever had before. Some 
 ill-disposed newspapers persisting in using the protest 
 against the verdict to his prejudice, he issued a card to 
 the public in which he conclusively reviewed all the facts 
 of the case. Following his usual practice of taking the 
 straightforward way to an object, he had, in October, a 
 long interview with the judge, at the close of which the 
 latter professed that his opinions had undergone a mate- 
 rial change. After this the subject was dropped by 
 them both. It was not in Professor M'Clintock's nature 
 to cherish ill-will against any one. He was ready to be- 
 lieve that the judge had taken an honest, if prejudiced, 
 view of the facts, and in that belief he rested. 
 
 Of the thirteen negroes found guilty, ten were con- 
 demned to three years' imprisonment in the Eastern Peni- 
 tentiary of Pennsylvania, at labor, and to pay one dollar 
 fine to the Commonwealth, with the costs of the prose- 
 cution. This was a terrible and unprecedented penalty 
 for a breach of the peace. Believing it to be illegal. 
 Professor M'Clintock took steps to have the sentence re- 
 viewed by the Supreme Court of the State. He con- 
 sulted with Charles Gibbons, Esq., of the Philadelphia 
 bar, and the result was a writ of error which brought the 
 case before all the Supreme judges in May, 1848. The 
 errors assigned were (i) the imposition of imprisonment 
 in the penitentiary instead of the county jail, and (2) the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 167 
 
 imposition of imprisonment ''at labor." Judge Burn- 
 side, in delivering the unanimous opinion of the court, 
 used this emphatic language : " When I came to the 
 bar there were old and experienced judges on the bench 
 and aged lawyers in practice, but I never heard of (or 
 witnessed) any person convicted of a riot being sent to 
 the penitentiary. Our laws do not authorize the sen- 
 tence inflicted in the case before us, and the sentence is 
 reversed. As the prisoners have been confined in the 
 Eastern Penitentiary about three fourths of a year, we 
 deem this as severe a punishment as if they had been 
 confined in the county jail, where they legitimately should 
 have been sent, for two years. They are discharged."^* 
 
 The triumph of the good citizen could go no farther. 
 He had been taunted with knowing more law than was 
 for his good, and he had proved that his understanding 
 of his obligations to his native State was correct beyond 
 impeachment. He had been arrested for leading a riot, 
 and he had demonstrated that his only offence had been 
 a fearless discharge of the duties of humanity. Acquitted 
 himself, he had followed, with compassionate interest, 
 the poor creatures whom he had on the second of June 
 generously tried to help, and had set in motion the meas- 
 ures which secured their restoration to their homes. The 
 alacrity with which Mr. Gibbons performed his service as 
 counsel entitled him to all honor. It was a triumph for 
 him, too ; but it was especially a triumph of justice, the 
 more conspicuous, because it relieved those whose igno- 
 rance and lowliness unfitted them to protect themselves. 
 
 * See Penn. State Reports, vol, viii, p. 223. 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTERS FROM JANUARY, 1S47, TO JANUARV, 1848. 
 I. LETTEES TO DR. M-CLI^'TOCK. 
 I. 
 
 Hot Springs. Juhj 20, 1S47. 
 
 Dear Sir:— I had written to Mr. Adair that I could not be at 
 your court. He had written me on behalf of other parties. I then 
 thought that your court was on the 2d and 3d Mondays of August. 
 Learning from you that it is on the 25th, I will make every effort to 
 be there. As soon as I get home (first week in August) I shall be 
 able to give you a definite answer. I desire to aid in the defence, 
 if possible, although you have able counsel. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 Thaddeus Stevens. 
 
 Prof. JoHX M'Clintock. 
 
 II. 
 
 Lancaster, Any. 2, 1547. 
 
 Dear Sir : — On my return home I find so large a number of suits 
 in which I am concerned on the trial list for the fourth Monday of 
 August, that I fear it will be out of my power to be at your court that 
 week. I felt a great desire to aid in that trial because of certain 
 principles which I thought ought to be maintained before the juries 
 of this countr)- in all similar cases. But I confess I feel the wish to 
 be engaged in your defence somewhat abated since I have seen the 
 declaratiion of your principles and views as promulgated by the trus- 
 tees and president of your college, as I fear the stand which I should 
 take (on inalienable rights and the Declaration of Independence) 
 would conflict with those views, and the views of other counsel, and 
 might injure your institution. I fear I could not repress my feelings 
 within what your trustees would deem prudence, although I doubt 
 not with a fair jury such a bold and trtie course would insure your 
 acquittal. But your case is in able hands, and will not suffer by 
 my absence. With great respect, 
 
 Thaddeus Stevens. 
 
 Prof. M"Cli>-tock. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 169 
 
 III. 
 
 Lancaster, Aug. 9, 1347. 
 Dear Sir: — I do not find it in my power to mal<;e my arrange- 
 ments so as to attend your court. I have too many causes on the 
 list for that week to be able to arrange with all. I doubt not of your 
 acquittal, but I fear for the colored defendants. Their sh'n testi- 
 fies against them in this Christian community. 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 Thaddeus Stevens. 
 
 Eev. J. M'Clintock. 
 
 IV. 
 
 HortKSTOwv, Baltimore Co., Md., Jiuie 21, 1S47. 
 
 Reverend Sir and Brother : — I cannot refrain from express- 
 ing my indignation at the vile attempts that have been recently made 
 to impeach your character. How much easier it is to slander and 
 persecute an opponent who is in the right than to neutralize the 
 force of his arguments. You need not marvel, therefore, at the treat- 
 ment you have experienced. You recollect De Foe's " Hymn to the 
 Pillory." Your persecution reminds me of those famous lines which 
 have been so often quoted : — 
 
 "Tell ihem the men that placed him there 
 Are scandals to the times; 
 Are at a loss to find his g'uilt, 
 Atid canH commit hits crimes.'''' 
 
 O if you knew how many prayers have gone up to God since your 
 first article was published in the Advocate, that your strength might 
 not fail, you could not be disheartened ! There are thousands whose 
 hearts beat in unison with yours, and yet, alas ! how' few, like Luther, 
 are willing to brave a threatening world, and give utterance to the 
 truths in w^ords like these: "It is neither safe nor prudent to do 
 aught against conscience. Here stand I. I cannot otherwise. God 
 assist me. Amen." 
 
 That the Lord Jehovah may bless and comfort you is the prayer of 
 your unworthy brother in Christ. JOHN M. JONES. 
 
I JO 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 V. 
 
 AxTiSLAVEET OFFICE, Philadf.t.puia, June 10, 1S47. 
 
 Professor M'Clintock : — 
 
 My Dear Sir : — I take the liberty of inclosing you an authenticated 
 copy of the late Act of Assembly of this State in relation to fugitive 
 slaves. You may possibly have occasion to refer to it and may not 
 be in possession of one duly authenticated. 
 
 Allow me at the same time to avail myself of the opportunity of 
 expressing to you the interest and gratification with which I have 
 watched your progress for some time on the great question of slav- 
 try. 1 have rejoiced to see your eyes opened to so good a degree to 
 the enormities of this system, to the guilt of the Church in relation to 
 it, and the duty of energetic action for its overthrow. The late occur- 
 rence in Carlisle, in which I perceive you took a prominent, and, from 
 the malevolence with which you are assailed for it I should infer an 
 honorable part, has much increased my interest in your behalf. 
 Unless Carlisle has greatly changed for the better since I was one 
 of its residents, your liberal views of truth and duty find but little 
 sympathy from those around you. " Open thy mouth for the dumb ; 
 plead the cause of the poor and needy," does ver)' well to fill up the 
 rhetoric of a studied sermon ; but when reduced to every-day practice, 
 and especially when applied to the degraded slave and his despised 
 brethren here at the North, it is quite another thing. Woe to the 
 man that is guilty of such extravagance ! His name is cast out as 
 evil ; he is branded as a disorganizer in the Church and a disturber 
 of the peace of society. Possibly you may not have yet gone far 
 enough to incur all this odium. The regularity and conformity to 
 prevailing usage of your previous ways may have acquired for you a 
 stock of character sufficient to save your reputation from the hostility 
 which your late course was calculated to awaken. But if you per- 
 sist, my dear sir, be assured that all this odium, and more, will come 
 upon you. 
 
 Such views of Christian truth and duty as you have avowed the 
 Church will not tolerate, nor the world away with — at least not in 
 any other form than the abstract. I trust you have duly consid- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 171 
 
 ered this ; that you have counted the cost. Excuse me if I confess 
 that in this regard I feel much soHcitude for you. Not that I have 
 any fears of your deliberately going back from any clear convictions 
 of duty ; but lest, in the clamor your Christian-like course will raise, 
 you should allow the remonstrances and expostulations of those 
 whom you may regard as fathers and brethren, wiser and better than 
 yourself, to shake you in your conclusions, and persuade you to sub- 
 stitute their views of duty for your own. Many have been led away 
 from the truth, under circumstances like these, by an improper confi- 
 dence in others. I trust you will be enabled to resist all such influ- 
 ences. May God strengthen you, and enable you to set your face 
 like a flint ; confer not with flesh and blood ! You have a work to 
 do ; take counsel only of Him who sends you. Remember that " if 
 any man — ajiy man — will live godly in Christ Jesus, he shall suffer 
 persecution." But, then, " blessed are ye when men shall revile you and 
 persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
 sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward ; for 
 so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." But why 
 need I quote this ? It is all familiar to you, and perhaps more so 
 than to me. Such passages, however, come to one's mind on occa- 
 sions like the present. If not too much trouble, please drop me a line 
 saying how much, if any, truth there is in the statement copied into 
 the " Ledger " of Tuesday from the " Hagerstown News," that you 
 urged on the colored people to rescue those slaves in the riot case. 
 It is not a matter of much importance, but I feel some curiosity to 
 know. 
 
 Yours, in much sympathy, J. M. M'KiM. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Jefferson, Ouio, July IS, 1S4T. 
 
 My Dear Sir : We have seen notices in the newspapers of a riot 
 at Carlisle in consequence of attempts to retake fugitive slaves. We 
 now see it announced that a Mr. Kennady lately died of wounds re- 
 ceived in such riot. It is also stated that the friends of Mr. Kennady 
 charge you with his murder, and are about to institute proceedings 
 
i;2 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 at law to punish you for the aid you lent the fug-itives. Censute is 
 also thrown out against the court, which seems to have in some way 
 been called to decide some questions ; but we have as yet no distinct 
 statement of the facts connected with the transaction. Indeed, we 
 are entirely ig-norant of the circumstances attending it. For the pur- 
 pose of information I now respectfully ask a statement of the material 
 facts for my own satisfaction, and, if agreeable to you, for publication, 
 as all matters relating to our connexion with southern slaver}- are 
 interesting to our people. 
 
 That fugitive slaves have the clearest moral and legal right to de- 
 fend themselves against their masters, or their masters' agents, when 
 on the soil of Pennsylvania or Ohio, I think no reputable lawyer will 
 deny, even though in such defence they should slay their masters and 
 all who assist their masters to arrest them. It is equally clear that 
 ever)' man possesses the right to inform such slaves of their privi- 
 leges while in our territor)-. We may instruct them fully, we may 
 furnish them arms for the purpose of defending themselves, without 
 incurring any liability. Indeed, I should regard such an act as a 
 high moral duty. The slaveholder of Virginia is guilty of as great an 
 outrage upon the laws of God and the rights of man, when he comes 
 upon Ohio soil to arrest his fellow-man and force him into servitude, 
 as he is when he goes to Africa for the purpose of kidnapping the 
 unoffending people of that country to bring them into slaver)-. 
 
 But we permit slaveholders to come upon our own soil and seize 
 our fellow-men and drag them into interminable bondage, under our 
 constitutional compact. That compact must be observed. Accord- 
 ing to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, we are not 
 permitted to defend the slave against his master. Second, we may 
 not secrete the slave from his master : and, third, we must not rescue 
 the slave from his master's custody. Here our duties under the Con- 
 stitution cease. Beyond them we may act according to the dictates 
 of humanity and justice. The slave has made no stipulations, nor 
 has the Constitution nor the law of Congress prohibited him from 
 the exercise of his natural right of self-defence. That great first law 
 of nature remains in full force in Pennsylvania and Ohio, although 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 the slave States have declared it obsolete within their territory, and 
 have affixed the penalty of death to its exercise by any slave within 
 their bounds. They have given to the master or his agent the right 
 to shoot a slave who runs from him when ordered to stop ; they have 
 given to the white man the privilege of killing any slave who raises 
 his hand against such white man, even in self-defence ; but, thank 
 God ! those laws are confined to such States ; they have no existence 
 in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And when the slave crosses the State line 
 and enters either Ohio or Pennsylvania, he instantly regains the right 
 to defend himself, the same as every other American being within our 
 States possesses. Did I say he regained the right ? I will add, he 
 reassumes the duty of self-defence. To defend his right to the enjoy- 
 ment of life and liberty with which God has endowed him, becomes 
 in him a paramount duty. He does not possess the moral right 
 tamely to surrender up his own liberty, or that of his offspring in 
 coming time, to the will of a barbarous master. Cowardice in such 
 case becomes criminal ; and although we have stipulated that we 
 will not protect him, we leave him in the full enjoyment of his own 
 right of self-protection. I am myself no advocate of non-resistance 
 in such cases. On the contrary, for many years I have, when called 
 on for professional advice, directed such fugitive slaves to arm them- 
 selves, and in case their masters should press them and they should 
 have no other mode of escape, to kill such master or their agents, 
 whether few or many. 
 
 It occurs to me that possibly a new question may arise at Carlisle ; 
 one that has never been discussed to my knowledge. I under- 
 stand that some people of your place aided the fugitives in defending 
 themselves ; perhaps it was colored people, but that does not alter the 
 case. Such persons would undoubtedly be liable civilly for the pen- 
 alty provided by act of Congress of 1793, as it would be a violation 
 of our compact ; but would such persons be liable to a criminal 
 prosecution for such act, even if they killed the master or his as- 
 sistants while actually defending the fugitive slaves ? May they not 
 defend the fugitive as they may a citizen of Pennsylvania, so far as 
 the laws of Pennsylvania are concerned ? Is there any act of your 
 
174 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 legislature declaring such defence punishable ? There is no such law 
 of the United States, and if your citizens can be punished criminally 
 for such act, it must be under your own laws. 
 
 I trust that should legal prosecutions be instituted in regard to 
 those fugitives, or the death of Mr. Kennady, that the attention of 
 legal gentlemen will be turned to this subject, and that the people of 
 our free States will claim, that in assisting to arrest fugitive slaves, 
 they incur the danger of being slain with impunity by such slaves or 
 their friends. I commenced with the intention of soliciting facts, but 
 have been led into a legal essay. Please excuse my truant pen. 
 
 Very respectfully, J. M. GlDDlNGS. 
 
 Trofessor M'Clintock. 
 
 P.S. I would not say that Congress has not the power to declare 
 it criminal for a slave to defend himself, or for any other person to 
 defend him ; but I only say it has not done so as yet. 
 
 n. LETTEKS FROM DR. M'CLINTOCK, AND ms CARD TO THE 
 PUBLIC. 
 
 L 
 
 Carlisle, June 10, 1847. 
 
 Your letter was duly received, and thank you for it, too. There is 
 no ground for uneasiness at all on my account, as you will see from 
 the papers in which the students' statement is given. All is quiet 
 here. I have done nothing, you may be assured, in the slightest de- 
 gree wrong, and even Dr. Emory says that I was not imprudent ; so 
 you may rest assured that all will go well. I simply obeyed the dic- 
 tates of justice and humanity — that's all. 
 
 We are all very well ; all this disturbance has not lost us a night's 
 rest or the enjoyment of a meal's victuals. To be persecuted by the 
 vile and wicked is surely no ground for unhappiness, and I do not 
 intend to be unhappy or even uneasy. The judge is doubtless mor- 
 tified because it has leaked out all over the country that he did not 
 know the law, but I have no doubt he will do me justice when the 
 case comes up for decision in court. As for my leaving the college 
 I have been ready to do it at any time for years past, and am even 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 1/5 
 
 anxious to do it now, so nobody need be troubled on that score. 
 The southern students are unanimous in declaring that I shall not 
 leave the institution. 
 
 The children are fat and hearty. Caroline has not given way in 
 the least amid all this tumult. She has too much pluck for that. 
 
 I have written so much to-day that really I can write no more. 
 
 Miss Jane M'Clixtock. 
 
 II. 
 
 Carlisle, Jane 10, 1847. 
 
 Dear Father : You will have seen, before this reaches you, the 
 statements in the papers in regard to my sharing in the riot here and 
 their contradictions. It is only another instance of the persecuting 
 spirit of slaver)-' and its abettors that this base attempt to injure me 
 should thus foully be carried on. 
 
 I did nothing that was not perfectly legal — nothing that would not 
 have been done by any man of common humanity under like circum- 
 stances. My presence at the court-house was purely accidental. It 
 happened that I knew the law, which the judge and justice did not ; 
 but that is no crime. 
 
 It is needless for me to write you details of the riot, and besides, 
 I am too busy to write much at length. Be assured that all will 
 come right. The lawsuits may be expensive, but my friends will 
 doubtless help me. We are all very well. The students are perfectly 
 satisfied that all these charges are false. 
 
 Mr. John M'Clintock. 
 
 III. 
 
 Carlisle, June 16, IMl. 
 
 I don't know how you got the notion that Caroline took sick about 
 this riot business ; but you were never more mistaken. It did not 
 trouble her in that way at all. She has entirely too much substance 
 to give up in that fashion. 
 
 I think you are pretty well aware of the state of facts here. All 
 the faculty and all the students, northern and southern, are with me. 
 The substantial middle class of the town are with me. The upper 
 crust and the rabble are with the slaveholders. The former have 
 
i;6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 too much fellowship with the aristocracy of slavemasters not to be 
 on their side : the latter, as usual, try to keep up a depth lower than 
 their own, and the blacks serve that end. The indictment will run 
 against me along with twenty or twenty-live other negroes, and will 
 go so before the grand jury, who may ignore the bill in my case if 
 they choose. But that is not likely, as some of the fellows will swear 
 awfully — so that I shal' have to meet the matter in court, August 25. 
 Then I shall be tried with all the blacks — though it seems strange 
 law to me if I cannot have a separate trial. But of all that in its 
 time. 
 
 The slaveowners have gathered up all the evidence they could here 
 in the shape of depositions, and published it with variations and 
 ornaments in "The Hagerstown Torchlight." I have since received 
 Maryland and Virginia papers which refuse to copy from " The 
 Torchlight," stating their disbelief of the yarn. But if they swear 
 to all that is in that paper they will commit fearful perjury, and will 
 probably convict your humble servant, and give him some thousand 
 dollars fine and costs, with a year in the penitentiary. Moreover, the 
 slavemen are gathering their witnesses with a view to suit in the Cir- 
 cuit Court of the United States, and if I am cast here, they will push 
 it there. But I don't think they will attempt it if the grand jury ignore 
 the bill, or I am acquitted. So now, I reckon, you know as much as 
 I do. 
 
 Let the thing go as it may, I have nothing wherewith to accuse 
 myself. In any issue it cannot but do good ; and so I thank God 
 and take courage. It may embarrass my purse for some years, but, 
 if my health and strength continue, I have no fears on that score. 
 And my friends have stood by me like wax — all that I have deemed 
 to be my friends. 
 
 The southern trus iees will probably come up boiling with wrath, to 
 have me expelled. Bless their dear hearts I they need not tiouble 
 themselves. I am ready enough to go any minute of the year ; nay, 
 I shall clap my hands with joy to get rid of all these petty vexa- 
 tions and annoyances. In case I leave this fall, I shall ask you to 
 rent a small house for us in Jersey City, or to hire us half yours, or to 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 177 
 
 board us until spring, whichever you may find most agreeable— always 
 provided I am not in limbo. 
 
 Mr. E, B. Wakkman, 
 
 IV. 
 
 Carlisle, July 1, 1S47. 
 
 Emory thinks that I should institute a libel suit against " The 
 Herald " before the trial comes off here ; or, at least, take the pre- 
 liminary proceedings thereto. All this slander and abuse will work 
 good in the end, not only to the antislavery cause, but to myself 
 personally. Of that I am well assured. But the parties who have 
 got up the prosecution, backed by the gold of the slaveholders, will 
 strain every nerve to convict me. Perjury by wholesale will not be 
 spared. 
 
 Nothing could be more absurd than the attempt to connect Mr. 
 Kennady's death with his wounds. He was rapidly recovering from 
 the latter, was very well on Thursday night, ate freely of sponge 
 cake, against the prohibition of his physician, and died at four o'clock 
 in the morning. 
 
 There is little or no excitement here. The examinations are now 
 going on prosperously. The trustees meet on Wednesday next. Of 
 course they will sustain me — or the college will be broken up at once. 
 Mr. E. B. Wakeman. 
 
 V. 
 
 Carlisle, Aug. 15, 1847. 
 
 I thank you for your assurance of presence and countenance next 
 week. It is just what I expected of you. Why can't you make your 
 fixings so as to be here on Saturday night ? Then you can spend 
 Sunday with us quietly and comfortably. As for court week, you 
 know, I shall not have much time or opportunity to talk with you. 
 Pack up, then, and be here on Saturday night. One day cannot 
 make much difference, as we shall expect you on Monday night at 
 any rate. But I shall look for you in the cars on Saturday. 
 
 Meredith is coming from Philadelphia in my behalf. He stands at 
 
 the head of the bar, but what kind of criminal lawyer he is I don't 
 
 know. I don't apprehend any thing awful. It would have been a 
 12 
 
178 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 great comfort to have had Stevens here to score the southerners, but 
 he could not come. 
 
 Bonham tells me I can take the " Herald " to our grand jury, find a 
 bin, and have a requisition on the governor of New York for Ben- 
 nett's body, bring him and try him. What would you think of that ? 
 May be I shall do it with the Maryland fellows. 
 
 Good-bye, I have various epistles to write, and it is very hot. 
 
 Mr. E. B. Wakeman. 
 
 VL 
 
 Carlisle, Oct. 6, 1S47. 
 
 Dear Robert : — We all concur in opinion that you have done 
 wisely in not returning here, although it would be pleasanter to see 
 you again before you sail. The arrangements for your departure are 
 now finally made, I see, as father informs me in a letter to-day that 
 he has taken passage for you and Mrs. E. in the "Emily." I wish I 
 could go to Philadelphia to see you off. Nothing, you may be sure, 
 but college prevents me from going. I have lost so many days al- 
 ready that I must not absent myself further. But I can pray for you, 
 and do, that you may have a prosperous voyage, and a restoration to 
 health and strength as its consequence. 
 
 I wanted to have a long talk with you \yhile here, but it could not be. 
 It is not necessary for me to speak gratitude to you for all your kind 
 friendship to me, and especially for its manifestation in the recent 
 trial case. You know, as well as I can tell you, that I value you more 
 than any living man, next only to those of my own blood, and hardly 
 next even to them. It pains me deeply to think that anxiety in re- 
 gard to my case may have contributed to aggravate your disease 
 last month. I feel so deeply, too, my unworthiness of your regard 
 that I sometimes blame myself for allowing you to be here at all, 
 while at the same time your sympathy and approval were worth as 
 much to me as all the world's besides. 
 
 All these trials that you and I pass through must be designed for 
 some good end. In my own case I can see their necessity, in yours 
 I cannot. But He knows who inflicts them. What troubles me 
 most is, that I cannot see any improvement in my moral character 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 1/9 
 
 from them ; I cannot feel that I am more humble, more holy, than I 
 was years ago, before the hea\y course of afflictions began to which I 
 and my family have been subjected. It ought not to be so ; it must 
 not be so. Thoughts like these have occupied my mind a great deal 
 during the last week, confined as I have been ; I trust that good will 
 come of them. Sometimes I think that this listless, lifeless, loveless 
 life would be changed if I were preaching at an appointment ; and 
 then again I know that intercourse with God does not depend on 
 time or place, and think that I am trying to throw the blame upon 
 negotta that ought to lie at my own door. Again, I think of falling 
 back upon the old-fashioned Methodist life, even here at home, 
 prayers with preachers, and such like ; and then the fear of cant and 
 pretence comes over me like a shower bath. But I did not intend 
 to go on in this strain when I commenced. Still I feel better for 
 it, and if you don't, you have excused me so often that you are used 
 to it. 
 
 I wish you to send me the best directions you can about letters to 
 you before you leave, and to communicate promptly afterward where 
 and how we shall direct to you. If you wish newspapers sent, say 
 so, and what ; and any thing else that I can do, only let me know 
 and it shall be done, if I have health and strength. With the letter 
 to the " Public " I have thrown off that riot business forever, I trust, 
 and shall now devote myself entirely to college work and writing. 
 My health is unpromising, however ; this bronchial attack still hangs 
 on, and such a thing at the beginning of autumn portends badly. 
 But I hope it will soon be over. 
 
 The college is doing admirably well, classes very full, and of very 
 good material, too. I do not think any thing can break us down 
 except our own negligence or ill-health. During the present year I 
 hope to exert myself more successfully than ever, and then to wind 
 up my work here next spring. But of that I do not talk at present. 
 And now I stop ; will write to you again at Philadelphia. Do not 
 reply except to answer the business questions I have put to you ; I 
 know that writing is not good for you. 
 Eev. President Emoey. 
 
i8o 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 vn. 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 Although my name has been connected with the Carlisle riot of 
 the second of June by the public prints in nearly all parts of the 
 country, I have thus far made no statement of the case in my own 
 behalf. Notwithstanding the exaggerated, and even absurd, reports 
 which gained currency before the trial, I did not deem it proper to 
 make any such statement until the trial itself should have been held ; 
 nor had I supposed it would be necessary even then, as, from my 
 knowledge of the facts, I could not rationally look for any thing else 
 but an acquittal, which heretofore (at least, in other than political 
 trials) has been generally deemed among civilized men satisfactor)' 
 proof of innocence. But as I find that attempts are still made in 
 certain newspapers, especially in Mar)land and Virginia, to blacken 
 my character upon the ground that the presiding judge protested 
 against the verdict, leaving it to be inferred that the twelve gentle- 
 men of Cumberland County who formed the jury did not render a true 
 one according to the evidence, although bound by their oaths to do 
 so, I deem it due to myself to offer a few words for the consid- 
 eration of all honorable (not to say Christian) men, whether north or 
 south of Mason and Dixon's line. 
 
 Without entering into any minute details, I now simply state, upon 
 my own personal veracity, that my first know^ledge of the case was 
 obtained while accidentally passing the court-house at about 5 P. M., 
 although the slaves were arrested as early as nine or ten o'clock in 
 the morning ; that I entered the court-house under the impression, 
 derived from a clergyman at the door, that there was no sufficient 
 proof that the woman and child were slaves ; that I knew nothing of 
 the persons or character of the gentlemen claiming the slaves ; that 
 my efforts in the case were directed to legal proceedings and none 
 other ; that no word or act of mine was uttered or done with refer- 
 ence to forcible or riotous resistance ; that the riot was a source of 
 the profoundest pain to me ; and that no man regretted its unhappy 
 consequences more deeply than myself. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 I8l 
 
 This statement, I say, is made upon my own personal veracity, 
 which will, I know, be a sufficient guarantee for its truthfulness with 
 my friends in the Southern as well as in the Northern States. The 
 substance of it was amply proved upon the trial, and on that proof 
 the jur)- acquitted me, as no intelligent jur)- could have failed to do. 
 I think that any right-minded man who will examine the testimony 
 on both sides, even as given in the imperfect newspaper reports, (that 
 of the "Carlisle Democrat " being the most complete, though even 
 that is imperfect,) will be able to explain it in accordance with the 
 above statement. I have no disposition to complain of the witnesses 
 for the prosecution ; least of all to charge any of them with perjury. 
 My acts and words were misunderstood by them at the time ; and 
 under a wrong view of my objects, they involuntarily gave the color- 
 ing of their own feelings to what they saw and heard. All men are 
 liable to do this, especially in cases suggestive of prejudice or passion ; 
 and every one knows that questions involving the interests of the 
 colored race are of this sort. In the recent trial, acts, and even 
 words, testified to by witnesses for the prosecution, bore a \txy dif- 
 ferent aspect when stated by those for the defence ; thus verifying at 
 least one sense of the maxim, cuin duo diciint idem, non est idem. 
 Many of the witnesses for the Commonwealth are personally un- 
 known to me ; but I do not think that any of them would charge me 
 with intending to excite a riot. 
 
 It is very true, that so far as the judge's opinion, publicly announced 
 after the verdict and since widely circulated in the newspapers can 
 go, I stand before the American public branded as a rioter. But I 
 have the satisfaction to know that men learned in the law, older 
 and wiser than he, and more experienced in sifting testimony, 
 who carefully attended to the trial throughout, with no interest in 
 my conviction or acquittal beyond the interest of truth and justice, 
 were satisfied that my conduct was vindicated by the evidence, and 
 that the verdict of the jury was a most true and righteous one. 
 That some mistakes were committed by the jur)" in regard to the 
 colored defendants is not to be wondered at. There were, I think. 
 
l82 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 thirty-six persons embraced in the indictment, of whom twenty-nine 
 were put upon their trial ; and although the counsel for the defence 
 asked that my trial should be separated from that of the colored de- 
 fendants, on the ground that the minds' of the jury must necessarily 
 be confused by the amount of testimony that would be offered, the 
 Court refused to separate. A Mansfield could not have kept the 
 multitudinous evidence in regard to all the defendants clearly before 
 his mind without careful notes ; and even then he might have been 
 puzzled, as the bar certainly were in one or two instances on the re- 
 cent trial. Moreover, the grand jury returned a wrong name in 
 finding a bill against Rachel Johnson, instead of Richard. The 
 traverse jury were sworn upon the indictment thus found ; and when 
 (after the trial had gone on for some time) the mistake was de- 
 tected, the bill, without the consent of the traverse jury or the coun- 
 sel for the defendants, was sent back to the grand jury, kept by 
 them during the adjournment of the court, and returned with the 
 name corrected. The prosecuting attorney, with the consent of the 
 court, but without that of the defendants, then entered a nolle pro- 
 sequi against Richard Johnson, and the trial proceeded without 
 the traverse jury being again sworn. With what reason the jury 
 can be blamed, therefore, for accidental error in their verdict, I 
 leave for all impartial men to decide ; especially, when it is added 
 that their attention was withdrawn from the colored defendants to a 
 great extent, and concentrated upon myself, throughout the trial, by 
 the course of the pleadings. The result of this concentrated atten- 
 tion was a verdict of acquittal in my behalf. 
 
 My cordial thanks are due to the citizens of Carlisle, who have 
 shown me so much kindness during the progress of this trial, and 
 also to the editors of various newspapers in Maryland and Virginia, 
 as well as in Pennsylvania, who have taken the pains to give both sides 
 of the story. I trust that not only they, but all who have published 
 accounts of the trial, will copy this statement. 
 
 John M'Clintock. 
 
 Caelisle, Septemler 25, 1847. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 183 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 :847, 1848. 
 
 Calm after the Storm— Increase in the Number of College Students — Generosity of Dr. 
 M'Clintock's Friends— Illness of President Emory, and his Departure for the West Indies 
 — Illness of Professor Caldwell — Correspondence of Dr. M'Cliiitock with his two Sick 
 Associates— Letter from one Diving Man to Another— Death of President Emorj' and of 
 Professor Caldwell — Professor M'Clintock's Eesignation of his Professorship — His Growth 
 during the Twelve Tears — His Life in Carlisle considered as a Preparation for his Subse- 
 quent Career. 
 
 HE alternations of trial in this period of Professor 
 
 M'Clintock's life followed each other in quick suc- 
 cession, and from the character of his temperament affect- 
 ed him very deeply. His sensibility to all impressions 
 gave keenness both to his sorrow and his joy. His elas- 
 tic spirit, however, carried him onward victoriously, and 
 enabled him (the causes of disturbance once past) to 
 resume with vigor the many undertakings with which 
 his hands were filled. The college opened for the fall 
 term of 1847 the next month after the riot trial, and to 
 his great delight students flocked to it in larger num- 
 bers than ever before. Some of its friends had expressed 
 gloomy forebodings of the future ; but the event proved 
 that there was no occasion for fear. In November he 
 writes to his associate, President Emory, who had gone 
 to the West Indies for the restoration of his shattered 
 health :— 
 
 I am able to attend to all my college duties, and to get on a little 
 with the " First Book in Greek." If the college did not require one 
 to spend time in hearing recitations, or attending to students, I 
 should think a professor's place one of the pleasantest in the world ; 
 
1 84 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 as it is, I feel myself happy at my work, but more happy in the pros- 
 pect of being in freer circumstances next year. *' Neander " is 
 printed, preface and all, but the Messrs. Harper do not think it best 
 to publish until February, so as to have the book fresh for the spring- 
 trade, and I suppose they are right. And as you take almost as 
 much interest in my affairs as in your own, it may gratify you to 
 learn that several friends, as large-handed as yourself, have sent me 
 aid toward the expense of the riot case — the whole amounting to 
 about five hundred dollars. Did ever any body have such friends ? 
 But do you know (I shall feel better to let it out) that I have had 
 more strange and bad feelings about the kindness of my friends, than 
 about all the malice of foes. The weight of obligation crushes me, 
 and I feel as if I must rid myself of it somehow. This is pride, 
 doubtless, but I hope something better is mixed up with it. 
 
 If I have traced successfully the outh'nes of this life, so 
 as to make of it a well-defined picture, I have shown in 
 what close bonds of friendship the members of the Fac- 
 ulty of Dickinson College lived together. They were 
 large-minded men, who fully trusted one another, and 
 never found their trust betrayed. Dr. Durbin, the first 
 president, who left in 1845 enter upon the pastorate, 
 and then upon his great work as missionary secretary, 
 wrote, in 1850, to one of his old associates: My visit to 
 Carlisle awoke in me the beautiful and anxious memories 
 of the days that may never return. I remember them 
 with pleasure and pain. They were the days of my manly 
 friendships — peace — peace ! Ah well, they may be re- 
 newed hereafter." The little circle was now about to be 
 broken, and its members scattered. President Emory 
 had, Avhile travelling, in 1847, been taken with bleeding 
 of the lungs, and had been ordered to a warnier climate. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 185 
 
 Professor Caldwell, the senior of the Faculty, whose 
 health had been precarious for several years, had gone to 
 his home in Portland, Maine, to end his days. The pros- 
 pect of losing these friends made the continuance in his 
 post painful for Professor M'Clintock to contemplate. 
 He believed, too, that his office imposed restraints upon 
 the full expression of his opinions which he was not 
 willing to bear. He had been admirably sustained by 
 the college authorities and the southern students, but 
 he knew perfectly well how incurable were the prejudices 
 created by the angry debate between the North and the 
 South. Invitations came to him to take the presidency 
 of Genesee Seminary, of Alleghany College, a professor- 
 ship in the Wesleyan University, and from some of his 
 friends, the editorship of the Methodist Quarterly Re- 
 view. The college proposals he declined, and with re- 
 gard to the last he determined to wait the course of 
 events. 
 
 The entries in his diary from this date are few and 
 very brief. As his cares multiplied, and his correspond- 
 ence grew in volume, there was little time or strength 
 left for an exact summary of each day's proceedings. 
 Such passages as the following tell their own story : — 
 
 Sunday, Nov. 2 1 . Cldss-meeting at half-past eight. Took bad cold 
 at 's funeral on Friday, and suffer much from it to-day. Got let- 
 ter from last night, which afflicted me deeply. The iron is be- 
 ginning to enter my heart. One wave of sorrow after another has 
 rolled over me for the last ten years. My head is becoming gray. 
 Yet I have many blessings, Latts Deo ! Did not go to church to- 
 day, feeling too unwell. 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Tuesday, Nov. 29. Sat up last night till two o'clock studying and 
 comparing Greek and Latin accents. Read " Bion., Sext. Empir,," 
 " Herodotus," etc. Got clearer views than usual. Letter to Nadal 
 from J. P. D. with one hundred and twenty-six dollars, on account 
 of riot ! Really my friends overpower me. 
 
 If, however, his diary is meagre, his correspondence 
 with his two sick associates and other friends contains a 
 full history of this last and eventful year of his college 
 life :— 
 
 To President Emory. 
 
 Kovemhcr 26, 1847. 
 
 I have to-day received a letter, asking me if I were willing to take 
 the presidency of Alleghany College. Aint I rising? Lima, New- 
 ark, Alleghany, all in a row ! I think you will agree with me in 
 saying that no man who wants to study hard should undertake the 
 presidency of a college. I continue to receive kind offers from Mid- 
 dletown, on condition that I leave here next year ; but, of course, I 
 have no views in that quarter. 
 
 The signs of the times indicate that the Church property will not 
 be divided. The plan most in favor now is to give the Church 
 South, zn perpetuo, the right to purchase books at cost — not cost of 
 stereotype plates, buildings, etc., included, for these were laid in 
 part with their own money — but simple cost of work, wages, etc. 
 On the whole, I don't know but this plan would give them their own 
 pretty effectually ; and if it would, it would save great difficulty in 
 division, and great waste, too. I am glad to say that Griffith is com- 
 ing round to our view of giving the South its share — indeed, he ex- 
 pressed himself the other day pretty effectually about it. If he had 
 done this sooner, and had pledged Bond to it, the whole Church 
 would have been ready for it by this time. 
 
 Jnnunrxj 1, 1S48. 
 
 Abel Stevens's plan to give the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, books at cost price, (not including the cost of stereotype 
 plates, etc.,) seems to be becoming more popular than any other at 
 the North. But at the South it is utterly distasteful. I can hardly 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 187 
 
 see how a lawsuit can be avoided about this wretched property, 
 and am often tempted to wish it all burned up. The Church conr 
 troversy makes less stir than it did ; but that is because men's minds 
 are made up to break the plan of separation to pieces next May, and 
 begin our missionary work South as well as North. No other prop- 
 osition to pay the money but Stevens's will be likely to carry at the 
 next General Conference. 
 
 January 23, 1S4S. 
 
 Your letters are provokingly abstemious of all statements in regard 
 to your health. We gather partly that you are improving, and partly 
 that you are not. Do be more explicit — especially if you have good 
 news to communicate. I told you in my last — and will now repeat 
 again for fear you should not get it — that Mr. Griffith and others of 
 the Board think that the way will be clear for me to take the presi- 
 dency of the college next July. But I feel an almost invincible re- 
 pugnance to undertaking the responsibility — especially under the 
 unfavorable auspices under which I must necessarily do it. It has 
 been suggested that Dr. Olin should take the missionary' secretary- 
 ship, and I take his place at Middletown ; that would be (for ;//<?) out 
 of the frying-pan into the fire. 
 
 Januarij 31, 1S4S. 
 
 I have no idea that my friends in New Jersey will send me to 
 Pittsburgh. All that I can do will doubtless have to be done by 
 lobbying and by stuffing some of the real live delegates. There are 
 a few points on which I feel great interest, and on those I have al- 
 ready succeeded in indoctrinating certain strong men. Old friend 
 Griffith will go to the death, I think, for an equitable division of the 
 Church property. He says it's a great piece of business for the 
 blubbering brethren who voted the plan of division with tears in 
 their eyes to come out now to undo their own act by repudiation. 
 So far as he can, he will hold them to their bargain — a bargain 
 which he had no hand in making, and always thought wrong and 
 foolish, but which cannot be broken salva fide. I trust the northern 
 brethren will yet see this question in the same light as we do here. 
 
i88 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and let us rid ourselves of this miserable money fight in a way 
 worthy of honorable and Christian men. 
 
 April 21, 1548 
 
 I received eighteen votes in Jersey for General Conference. Don't 
 you think I ought to go and take a seat on the strength of it ? My 
 future movements are quite uncertain. There is little probability of 
 the General Conference electing me to the Quarterly Reinew — in- 
 deed, I don't see the slightest chance of it. They still propose the 
 presidency of the college to me, but I have little idea of being Jack- 
 at-a-pinch in that way. 
 
 To Professor Caldwell. 
 
 May S, 1543. 
 
 It may be that you take too strong a view of your case ; but if you 
 do not, and the end of your labors is really at hand, I do not know 
 that any consolation to us could be so great as the calm and steady 
 confidence which your letter evinces. You may leave a little sooner 
 than the rest of us ; it wont be long. Life is precious for its uses — 
 when these are gained, the change of one mode of existence for an- 
 other, and a better, is not a thing to be deplored. Such, I think, 
 were my own feelings during my severe illness, when, doubtless, I 
 was much better prepared for such a change than I now am. 
 With calm reliance upon the great Author of life through our Re- 
 deemer, such as you enjoy, death will have no sharp sting ; the 
 grave will have no victory to boast of. So, my brother, if you 
 must go before us, we shall not grieve for yon, but for ourselves — ■ 
 and that, too, but briefly, for our little history here will also soon be 
 wound up. May we all meet in a better land ! 
 
 We have letters from Emor}-, from Charleston. There is no im- 
 provement in his health, and he does not look for any improvement 
 hereafter. His health is failing regularly, and he will probably come 
 up to Baltimore in a few weeks, though his movements in that re- 
 spect are not fully decided upon. He writes in great peace of mind 
 and religious confidence, with no idea of prolonged life in this world. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 May 18, 1848. 
 
 I returned on Tuesday from Baltimore, where I had been to see 
 Emory. I conversed with him in regard to his religious prospects as 
 fully as his feeble condition would allow, and found his mind calmly 
 and firmly stayed on Christ his Redeemer. His peace of soul, he 
 told me, surprised even hirhself. No fear, no uncertainty, no hesita- 
 tion even ; but a fixed and steadfast confidence of acceptance in 
 Christ Jesus. Of course I expected nothing else, but yet it was grat- 
 ifying to receive such comforting testimonies from his own lips. 
 
 In spite of the contents of your letter, 1 cannot but cherish a hope 
 that your disease may not have gone so far as you suspect. And 
 yet I am not sure that it is right to cherish such hopes. For oui 
 friends, as well as for ourselves, it is doubtless better for us to say, 
 "Thy will, O Lord, be done." He knows what is best for us, far 
 better than we can. With Christ, "who is our life," within our 
 hearts, it cannot be hard to die. Death is not death for such. I 
 preached on Sunday week from the words, " Because I live, ye shall 
 live also " — the Redeemer's life the pledge and surety of his chil- 
 dren's. In the spirit of that text there is no death. All is life in 
 Christ. "The first Adam," says Paul, "was made a viial being, 
 the second Adam is a life-creating spirit." As sons of the life- 
 giver, our lives cannot fail. A change, to be sure, there is in our 
 mode of existence ; and what we call death is the transition-point of 
 that change ; but it is no dissolution, thank God ! 
 
 It is blessed, indeed, for us to learn from your letters how perfect 
 your confidence is. May your peace abound yet more and more, 
 and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly in soul, body, and 
 spirit ! 
 
 May 27, 1848. 
 
 I have been occupied day and night in preparing Emory's funeral 
 sermon, which I preached this morning in the church. I trust that 
 the Holy Spirit was with us, and that the contemplation of our dear 
 departed friend's lofty character may have stimulated many to strive 
 to follow him as he followed Christ. The text was 2 Tim. i, 7 : sub- 
 ject, the Spirit of Christianity a spirit of — I. Energy, not " fear," 
 
IQO LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 hut/>07ver; IL Softened and animated by /^^d/ ; II L Guided by ^^-/z- 
 lightencd intellect — " a sound mind." These heads afforded tolera- 
 ble means of unfolding the life and character of our beloved presi- 
 dent, who, I think, lived a breathing commentary upon the passage, 
 and a constant illustration of the spirit of Christianity. 
 
 That our hearts are subdued within us under the dealings of God 
 you may well imagine. Emory's death, and your illness, no favora- 
 ble termination of which can be hoped for, according to your state- 
 ments, must, indeed, w^eigh heavily upon us. It is hard for us even 
 to conceive why our feather should take away those who seem fitted 
 to be his best and most available instruments in the very bloom of 
 their usefulness, and when their labors seem to be most of all needed. 
 Yet he is our Father still. What better can we do than to say, " It is 
 the Lord ; let him do as seemeth him good." As he told his weep- 
 ing disciples shortly before his own death, " What I do ye know 
 not now, but ye shall know hereafter," so let us hope that in that 
 better world we shall see light in his light, even upon these, the very 
 darkest of his dealings with us. 
 
 The feeling of the students is most profound, and the results of 
 Emor)''s death to them, as of his life, cannot but be salutary. The 
 town, too, has shown much more sympathy and feeling than I had 
 deemed it capable of. 
 
 It may be thought that it was a melancholy task to 
 carry on a correspondence with two dying men — one of 
 them in the extreme north of the United States, and the 
 other in the West Indies. But to these three friends the 
 Christian religion was the most real of all realities. They 
 had staked their lives upon its promises, had shaped 
 their conduct by its precepts, and had drawn largely 
 from its consolations. Wholly free from cant, or pre- 
 tence of any kind, they contemplated the separation 
 which was clearly inevitable with an affectionate interest 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. I9I 
 
 in each other, but with, at the same time, a perfect trust 
 in God. Professor Caldwell, in whom quiet heroism was 
 a conspicuous trait of character, a few days before his 
 own decease dictated the following letter to President 
 Emory : — 
 
 PoETLAND, May — , 1848. 
 From the last I heard from you I suppose we may be about equally 
 near the boundary that separates the two worlds ; and being able 
 (though barely able) to wTite a line, I avail myself of the Providence 
 which it thus grants of giving you one more expression of my affec- 
 tion, and of testifying the unspeakable goodness of God in sustaining 
 me thus far through a sickness of great suffering and physical de- 
 pression. So marked has been God's favor to me through Jesus 
 Christ, that I have been enabled from the first to feel that all is for 
 the best ; and now, that I draw near to the final issue, that even 
 death is gain. 
 
 I doubt not God is equally present with you. May he sustain us 
 to the end ! Give my love to your family friends, who I am happy to 
 learn are with you. So soon to meet, I will not say farewell. God 
 be with us both till we reach our better home in heaven. 
 
 A letter from one dying man to another is something 
 unusual, but one such as this is rare indeed in litera- 
 ture. The tolling bell which summoned the students 
 and people of the borough to pay their last tribute of 
 respect to the memory of the deceased president, sound- 
 ed soon again to announce the death of the senior pro- 
 fessor. Professor M'Clintock felt from this time that his 
 life in Carlisle, which had been so congenial in its com- 
 panionships, so rich in the fruits of his own growth, and 
 so abounding in happiness, was torn up by the roots. It 
 was impossible for him to remain where the painful 
 memory of so many broken ties pressed upon him. He 
 
192 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 needed relief, and sought it in a new sphere, new activi- 
 ties, and new relations with his fellow-men. 
 
 To Dr. Olin, 
 
 May 2T, 1S4S. 
 
 Let me say how deeply penetrated we all are with the spontane- 
 ous offering of your Faculty in the resolutions sent to us, and read 
 in faculty-meeting on Friday. As no usage demanded such an ut- 
 terance, it is the more grateful to us all. The resolutions have been 
 communicated to the family, to whom also I took the liberty of read- 
 ing your letter. It soothed and softened their hearts. 
 
 Your estimate of my dear friend is a very just one indeed. On one 
 point you need correction: he not only found you "congenial," but 
 admired and loved you fervently ; indeed, I am sure that I have 
 never known him speak in terms of higher esteem or warmer affec- 
 tion for any man than for yourself. Count him, then, among the 
 loving friends that you are to meet in heaven. O praclaruui diem, 
 quum ad illiid divi7ium animorum concilium ccetumque projicis- 
 camur ! 
 
 You will hardly think that I exaggerate when I assure you that 
 Robert was the best and purest man that I have ever known. His 
 aim was so entirely single that his whole life was clarified by it. His 
 religious experience, since the memorable manifestation of the Spirit 
 which he received, in 1835, after days of solitary wrestling with God, 
 has been always of the most satisfactory tenor. On the question of 
 his acceptance with Christ, there has never been any doubt or dark- 
 ness, and so it continued to the very last. I reached Baltimore on 
 the day of his arrival there, (Thursday, May 11,) but he was so weak 
 that I could not see him until Friday morning. On that day and the 
 two following I had various conversations with him, but all very 
 brief, as he was utterly prostrated. " My peace is abounding," said 
 he ; " it has been great during all my sickness, and is still so great 
 and so unbroken that I wonder at it myself" There was no false 
 confidence, no want of self-scrutiny, but he had Christ in his heart ; 
 his life had been hid with Christ in God, and Christ was with him in 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 his dying hours. On Wednesday he made his will, and afterward, as 
 if loth that his last strength should be devoted to worldly matters, 
 he bore testimony to all that were present of the love of God, and of 
 his sure hope in Christ. On Thursday he was still more feeble, and 
 on Thursday night, at half-past eight, he quietly went to sleep in 
 Jesus. So may we rest in Christ ! 
 
 My feelings have been, I fear, almost morbid ; but I am more than 
 ever determined to try to do the duties which God may lay upon me 
 faithfully. If I can be convinced, or can convince myself, that it is 
 my duty to remain here, I shall most assuredly do so. Whatever oth- 
 ers may think, I am sure that I am not the right man for the office 
 of president. I write to you, as I believe you will know and admit, 
 without any cant. I assure you that I am not disposed to think too 
 humbly of myself. I do not doubt my intellectual capacity to fill the 
 post creditably, as such posts are commonly filled in this country, 
 but I have not the moral fitness. I am too impulsive, too unsteady, 
 to be taken as a model for young men ; and the young men of a col- 
 lege will make its president their model, if he is a man of any mark 
 at all. For mere position of any sort I have no kind of ambition ; 
 and my happiness will be secured by the humble relations of a station 
 in New York more effectually than by any office in the Church- 
 Again, my convictions on the slavery question unfit me especially 
 for this place. I could not take it under any gag, and I might be- 
 come an incendiary before any body would know it. You see I can 
 make out a pretty strong case. 
 
 One of Emory's last anxieties was in regard to the division of the 
 Church property. I told him that I thought some equitable plan 
 would certainly be adopted, and he thanked God most fervently for 
 the prospect. It looks ill now for the realization of his hopes and 
 mine ; but I hope still for the best. 
 
 In the warm midsummer, when the reapers were gath- 
 ering in the rich harvests of the valley, Commencement 
 
 came, with its pleasurable excitements and troops of 
 13 
 
194 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 friends. There were long and anxious consultations, for 
 the old was to pass away and the new to begin. The 
 gaps left in the Faculty of instruction by death and con- 
 templated removal were to be filled, and these were so 
 many as to mark the close of one period of college his- 
 tory and the opening of another. Universal regret was 
 created by Professor M'Clintock's resignation, and every 
 honor that his friends could think of, as appropriate, was 
 paid him. It was for him, too, the closing of a distinct 
 period of his life. He could look back over the twelve 
 years spent in Carlisle with unalloyed satisfaction. He 
 had come thither a young man, but little known, and 
 with powers but little tried. He had grown as few men 
 can or do grow in the same length of time, and had pre- 
 pared himself for the larger activities of succeeding years. 
 He had secured from the Church and the world the recog- 
 nition, which is the strongest incentive to continuous ex- 
 ertion. Hitherto he had been wholly a student ; hence- 
 forth he is to be both a student and a man of affairs, and 
 to attempt the difficult problem of harmonizing two 
 opposite modes of life. Here, in the quiet of this old 
 borough, he had set up his first home, had tasted the 
 first sweetness of domestic joy, and had felt the first 
 sharp strokes of sorrow in the death of children, kin- 
 dred, and friends. His various experience had enriched 
 him both in what it brought and in what it took away. 
 
 His subsequent career was prosperous, but no such 
 light rested upon it as glorified these twelve eventful 
 years. Perhaps it must be so. In the long day which 
 we call human life the sun can rise but once ; the fresh- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. I95 
 
 ness of the early morning can be but once ; the exhilarat- 
 ing sense of power, not yet wearied, can be ours but 
 for a brief space ; the splendor with which we ourselves 
 clothe all things visible, 
 
 " The light that never was on sea or land," 
 
 we pour forth over the world, and it soon fades, to remain 
 with us after only as a precious memory. The transi- 
 tion in Professor M'Clintock from the exuberance of his 
 earlier manhood to the sedateness of middle age was 
 very clear to his own mind, and very distinctly noticed 
 by his friends. 
 
 But the death of Robert Emory was for him a loss 
 never repaired. He had counselled with him, had leaned 
 on him for support, and had found in him one to 
 whom he could impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes, sus- 
 picions, and whatsoever lay upon the heart to oppress it." 
 Their correspondence, of which I have given, in propor- 
 tion to its bulk, only few illustrations, is beautiful in its 
 unreserve. ^' I have thought," writes Professor M'Clin- 
 tock, when they were separated in 1840, since your de- 
 parture, that I was almost too hasty in undertaking to 
 teach the classics. I fear my knowledge will fail me 
 when I come to sit in the chair which you have filled ; 
 I fear that the contrast will be too great, and that I shall 
 lose the respect of the students. Deeply do I lament 
 the irregularity of my mental action, the want of sted- 
 fastness in my moral progress, the lack of fervor and 
 zeal in my moral character. I would follow after 
 you, my brother, my friend, though I shall do it /taud 
 
196 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 passibus ceqiiis!' And in the same year again : My 
 reproof (of neglect of correspondence) was a very gentle 
 one ; at all events, I meant it to be such, for I felt gentle 
 enough, as I always do when writing to you or thinking 
 of you. You are right in saying that no experience 
 will ever make me prudent. I am satisfied that my na- 
 ture, almost, must be altered before I can be, either in 
 word or deed. I say and do things, every day of my life, 
 for which I am sorry when I lie down at night and think 
 over the events of the day ; not that I do bad things, 
 but simply because I do imprudent things. Is there 
 any remedy for this evil ? I wish I could travel a circuit 
 with you for a year or two. You did me great good 
 when you were here, but, now that you are gone, I fear 
 I shall relapse again." 
 
 The travelling together longer was not to be. They 
 had come to the parting of the ways, and while one 
 faded into the infinite distance, the other remained 
 to cherish the recollection of a sweetness and purity 
 which had blessed so many years of his life. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1848-1852. 
 
 Elected Editor of the "Methodist Quarterly Eeview "— Eemoves to Jersey City— Despon- 
 dent about his Health — Discusses with Dr. Olin the Policy of the " Eeview " — Eeg-rets the 
 loss of the Society of old Friends — Enlists the Co-operation of able Contributors— Discussion 
 and Analysis of Comte's System of Positivism — Effort to make the " Quarterly" both Schol- 
 arly and Practical — Demands Independence in the Treatment of Methodist Questions — Death 
 of his Wife — Trip to Europe in the Summer of 1850 — Enjo5'ment of the Sea — Attentions from 
 German University Professors— Inclination to Settle in Europe for several Years— Eeturn 
 Home in greatly improved Health— Death of Dr. Olin— Second Marriage of Dr. M'Clintock 
 — Elected President of Wesleyan University, but Declines the Position — Preaching — Work 
 npon Church Catechisms— Weariness of Editorial Drudgery— Letters. 
 
 HE General Conference, which met in 1848 in the 
 
 city of Pittsburgh, elected Professor M'Clintock to 
 the editorship of the " Methodist Quarterly Review." 
 His predecessor, Rev. Dr. George Peck, was made editor 
 of the " Christian Advocate." The new position was in 
 every way agreeable to the subject of our memoir : its 
 duties accorded well with his scholarly tastes. No 
 time was lost in completing the necessary arrangements 
 for settling his household, and by midsummer his home 
 was re-established among his wife's kindred in Jersey 
 City. He found, however, that in this change he had 
 left blessings as well as ills behind him. He missed the 
 associations which had made his Carlisle life so delight- 
 ful. The dropping in for a half-hour's chat, the ^' linger- 
 ing over the dying embers of the fire " before saying 
 good-night to some wholly trusted friend, were impossi- 
 
198 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ble in the great and bustling city. Living, as he did, so 
 entirely in his affections, he felt that something was lost 
 which could not be at once replaced. In his correspond- 
 ence he dwells much on the old times " which were 
 never to return. Nothing pleased him better than to 
 gather at his house, in Jersey City, as many as he could 
 of his former associates and their families. Then there 
 would be days of merriment and fun, of joke and glee- 
 ful reminiscence, which carried him back to the years 
 when they were all young together. 
 
 The precarious condition of his health helped, perhaps, 
 to make his return to New York less enjoyable than he 
 had hoped. Shortly before leaving Carlisle he was seized 
 with a spasm of pain which disturbed the action of the 
 heart, deprived him for a time of consciousness, and left 
 him greatly prostrated. It was, no doubt, brought on by 
 overwork. He was for two years after subject to like at- 
 tacks, which came upon him without warning, and kept 
 him in constant apprehension of sudden death. The 
 trouble proved to be only functional, and was removed by 
 judicious treatment, rest, and travel. While it lasted, he 
 was incapable of laborious exertion. Long sitting at his 
 desk brought on a recurrence of the distressing symptoms, 
 and compelled him to lay aside book and pen. Vigorous 
 preaching was, under these circumstances, out of the ques- 
 tion. Uncertain whether he might not suddenly lose 
 his consciousness while in the street, he frequently used 
 the precaution of taking a companion with him when 
 going to his office in New York and returning home 
 again. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 199 
 
 But somehow, whether sick or well, he was certain to 
 have a good time. If he could not do all the work he 
 wished, he did what he could, and trusted to the favor 
 of Providence for the rest. He accepted sickness as a 
 discipline, and always said that he needed it for his 
 good. It depressed him, as it depresses every vigorous 
 man, but he had been so long schooled to pain that he 
 yielded to its visitations with something of a child's sub- 
 missiveness. It was his portion, and what sweetness 
 could be extracted from it he would find. His letters, 
 however, will tell all this better than T can : — 
 
 New York, July 2G, 184S. 
 
 If you could look in upon us to-day, either at 200 Mulberry-street 
 or at Jersey City, you would find busy folks. At No. 200 I am striv- 
 ing to get my drawers, shelves, tables, papers, etc., arranged to suit me, 
 so that my work may go on smoothly hereafter ; and in Jersey City, 
 Mrs. M'C, Mrs. Wakeman, and the children are up to their eyes and 
 ears in straw and dirt, unpacking beds, kettles, pots, and pans, from the 
 various boxes in which we stowed them away in Carlisle. Think of 
 such feeble folks as we are, with broken hearts and weak chests, doing 
 so much packing and unpacking. If my circulation was impeded at 
 Carlisle, it has had a pretty good flow since I left, as not a single 
 dollar was in my purse when I reached New York, 
 
 Of course we are among the best of friends here — and at home — 
 but it does not seem like home. It will be a long, long time before 
 our Carlisle friends and Carlisle life will lose their hold upon our 
 affections or our memory. The associations formed there, so close 
 and intimate, we cannot have the like of again — the circumstances 
 that allowed us to form them cannot come again. So much of our 
 life has gone — may we renew those happy affections in a better 
 world ! 
 
 We are glad to hear that you have gone into your house — you will 
 
200 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 surely be more comfortable in every respect. How pleasantly we 
 could spend our vacation with you, if we were there. But I talk of 
 vacations as if I had any part in them — but that is all gone. You 
 must not think us dissatisfied in any sense with our new position ; 
 but we cannot easily forget the old one, and the old friends that ever 
 clustered around us there. And we are glad that it is so. Long as 
 we live, will we love our Carlisle home and friends, and you especial- 
 ly, whom for so many years we have had in such close intimacy. If 
 it were possible, how glad we should be to have you near us, and 
 enjoy your fellowship again. 
 
 August 10, 184S. 
 
 I go over to the Book Room every day, and do up all the business 
 that is to be done. I have not attempted to write much — that is, 
 any thing that requires labor and thought ; nor shall I for several 
 weeks to come. The business of the office, with the arrangement of 
 the library, directing carpenters, workmen, etc., is about all I do, 
 and it is just the kind of work for me now. The children are hearty, 
 but, hke their parents, they miss Carlisle, and would like to go back. 
 
 To Doctor Olin. 
 
 New York, October^ 1848. 
 
 Whether I have actual organic disease of the heart I know not. 
 The first attack was on Commencement Day, July 13, and if it were 
 purely nervous I should think it ought to have vanished by this time : 
 but instead of that, I have more or less of it every day. When I re- 
 frain absolutely from study and writing, I get on quite well ; but after 
 hard reading, thinking, talking, or writing a few pages, all is undone 
 again. I aim to do as little as I possibly can, but even that effort 
 tries me, where so much work is staring me in the face. I don't 
 know that I can give any more information about my ailments, and 
 will therefore drop 'em — at least from my letter. 
 
 I take to the full all your exhortation : and have my head and heart 
 full of things to say to the preachers and the Church on the subject 
 of culture. But in my present health (there it is again ! ) I dare not 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 20I 
 
 write. Cannot you give me something on the subject ? Even a few 
 pages at a time You can rouse thousands with your trumpet tones. 
 Will you do it ? My " abjClration of conser\'atism " is precisely ex- 
 pressed in one sentence of your own letter — " /^e error of such con- 
 servatives consists in their attempts to stay and reverse, instead of 
 accelerating, progress." I mean, and hope, to be a conservative of 
 the forward kind ; not falling into any extravagance, or ism, if I can 
 keep out, by the grace of God, but striving to get the Church at its 
 work of growth within and without. The "naughtiness of slave- 
 holders " I shall not meddle with until I see good reason to ; much 
 rather the naughtiness of impoverishing our itinerancy by admitting 
 boys who can hardly read and making preachers of them ; the 
 naughtiness of baptizing infants and then treating them as if they 
 were heathen, until the breath of a revival comes over to convert 
 them, instead of holding them as initiated into the Church, as our 
 standards do, and training them up for her service and God's. Only 
 help me in all this and I will mend your quotation : " Olin inemi- 
 nisse juvabit." 
 
 On the matter of the relation of baptized infants to the Church, my 
 mind and heart are constantly at work. I think I have written or 
 spoken to you before about it, and that you agree with me in whole 
 or in part ; but I should like to hear from you more definitely. I 
 have just received Bushnell's " Christian Nurture," and really I must 
 go great part of the way with him. Have you read the book ? 
 
 To his Carlisle Friends. 
 
 October, 1848. 
 
 I have just read a new book, with a taking title, " The Conquerors 
 of the New World and their Bondsmen," which would interest you I 
 think. It treats of the discovery and first settlement of the West 
 Indies, and tells how the white people abused the brown people, who 
 faded away before them like a mist, and how the black people were 
 brought in to fill the gap and toil in chains and bondage. The ro- 
 mance of that strange histor)' is ever new, told by whom it may be — 
 Irving, Prescott, or a nameless nobody, it is still the most attractive 
 
202 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of all histories, unless, indeed, perhaps the more wondrous romance 
 of Napoleon and his bondsmen, which Mrs. M'Clintock finds ever 
 new and ever delightful. She is even now reading a most charming 
 little book, the " Autobiography of Heinrich Steffens," a professor in 
 the University of Halle, a most genial man of letters and philosophy, 
 who was driven from his books by the thunder of Bonaparte's cannon 
 after the battles of Jena and Auerstadt ; and who afterward followed 
 the Prussian army in its pursuit of the retreating French in 1814 even 
 up to the walls of Paris. It is a most graphic set of pictures — and I 
 wish you could see them ; but the book is not published in this coun- 
 try and I only stole this copy from Harpers'. It has to be returned. 
 My, but isn't my letter getting bookish! If I were to tell you all the 
 books I have gutted (excuse the word, but there is no other in the 
 language for it) this week, I should have to take two or three sheets 
 instead of one. I wish, most heartily, that I could run in and have a 
 talk, but those pleasant days are over. Let us strive to do the duties 
 of life as well as to enjoy its fleet pleasures ; that so, through Christ, 
 our merciful Redeemer, we may enter the world of perpetual pleasure 
 hereafter. 
 
 Decemher 8, 1S48. 
 
 My health is better this week than for several weeks past. The 
 pain in my heart returns more seldom, and is less violent when it 
 does come, and altogether I feel more confidence in my chest than I 
 have lately done. But the buoyant, youthful — even extravagant — 
 spirit of lite which I used to enjoy, seems gone forever. Life ap- 
 pears sombre to me, even in my most cheerful hours. Not that I am 
 gloomy or lowspirited at all— I don't think that feeling has had pos- 
 session of me for many hours in years past — but the bright light that 
 used to stream over every object seems fading more and more. My 
 heart clings to my friends (those who are left) more closely than ever, 
 and it seems almost a sin not to be seeing them, or thinking about 
 them, or writing to them, all the time. Did you ever have such a 
 feeling as that ? Sometimes I think I am unlike every body else— 
 and a great " fool for my pains." But after all it is best so. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 203 
 
 To Doctor Olin. 
 
 December 3, 1848. 
 
 Your coming here will be a wonderful blessing to me — unless you 
 make a very short visit, or I am hindered from enjoying your society. 
 At such times, and at such only, do I regret that I live in New Jersey, 
 and not in the city. But it must be managed somehow — for I have 
 not seen the face of a friend since I left Carlisle — except Floy's for a 
 few minutes. It's a very barren soil about here. There is no one at 
 all that I can take to, male or female — and it is not a happy way to 
 live. My health, too, is so uncertain, that it seems folly to keep away 
 from one's friends. Whether I am to be a grumbling, nervous inva- 
 lid for the rest of my days or not, is a very grave question, and from 
 present appearances I fear it must be answered in the affirmative. I 
 tried to preach a Sunday or two ago and had to sit down before I had 
 much more than begun, leaving Bishop Janes to take up the dropped 
 thread, which he did, I am told, very successfully — better, doubtless, 
 than if it had not been dropped. But I won't inflict my heart-beat- 
 ings on you, as they are all physical, and, therefore, should be borne 
 as silently and patiently as possible. 
 
 Who can write me such an article as ought to be made on the 
 duty of the Church toward her baptized children } Do help me out 
 with this — it makes the blood run quick in my veins to write the 
 sentence, I feel so strongly on the subject. And so I have felt for 
 long — a sense of almost personal guilt about the children, as about 
 missions — the two great elements of the kingdom of Christ on earth, 
 both of which we Methodists are leaving almost untouched. But I 
 must not dwell on these matters, or I shall be excited and hurt. 
 
 Your sermon is selling widely and will do great good. I shall help 
 to spread it, and thus try to do something indirectly. I fear that my 
 preaching days are over — indeed, they never were to any great ex- 
 tent. 
 
 To his Carlisle Friends. 
 
 July 3, 1849. 
 
 How uncertam every thing in this life appears to me of late. Even 
 the very houses and trees appear unsubstantial and treacherous to 
 
204 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 me — stars, sun, moon, sky — all appear so transitor)^ What a con- 
 trast between these feelings and those of earlier life, when I had con- 
 fidence in every thing — a buoyant spirit within, and all things bright 
 without ! The " buoyant spirit within," I suppose, makes the chief 
 difference — and that, I fear, is gone from me forever — at least for 
 this life. But if we ever reach heaven, I judge there will be nothing 
 to repress or chill the heart — nothing to give this dreary sense of un- 
 certainty — to overspread the fairest scenery with darkness as here. 
 But I did not dream of writing in this strain when I began. 
 
 Feht-uary, 1849. 
 
 Well, there's a wonderful difference between visiting at Carlisle, 
 and working in New York. There it was nothing but pleasure from 
 morning till night — seeing friends whose faces brightened at one's ap- 
 proach and whose hearts were rejoiced by one's presence — while here, 
 no one cares who you are, morning, noon, or night. But how foolish 
 it is to be drawing these contrasts ; I'll just stop it and tell you son>e 
 new^s. We are just about to purchase a house here that will cost us 
 $4,500. I keep up as happy and cheerful a spirit as possible, and at 
 home, with my family and books, I am happy indeed. But so far as 
 the happiness of enjoying the society of congenial friends goes, I have 
 none of it, and that far, suffer a sad drawback upon life. 
 
 Mar-ch, 1849. 
 
 It is Sunday night. You are sitting in the parlor, I suppose, (un- 
 less attending to hospital duties up stairs— I hope not,) reading, your 
 
 mother on one side and on the other ; the children near by, if 
 
 they have not gone to bed. I am sitting at the table, the grate burn- 
 ing brightly at my left hand, and sperm candle before me, in that 
 very candlestick which you, doubtless, remember, and Mrs. M'C. in 
 the arm-chair, near the fire, reading the " Wesleyan Missionary 
 Notices," wdth strange accounts of the cannibals of the foreign 
 islands eating people up, fighting with sharks, and such like enter- 
 taining amusements. The children are in the front room (my study 
 is the back room, up stairs) fast asleep. Now there is a description 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 205 
 
 from which you can readily figure out a picture, if you love us enough 
 to take the trouble, and I am sure you do. Give me as close a de- 
 tail when you write, and I will work up the painting exactly before 
 my mind's eye. I have thought a great deal about you to-day, and 
 about old times, and I cannot go to bed without writing you a letter. 
 O how I wish I could " drop in " and have a talk about the " old 
 times," instead of merely mentioning them on paper. But it cannot 
 be, and this is the nearest approach to it that can be. If you think 
 as much of getting one of my letters as I do of yours, this poor sub- 
 stitute for talk will please you. I preached last Sunday in this town 
 for thirty-five minutes, without injury, and have passed the week in 
 such comparative comfort and health that I tried the experiment 
 again to-day in Thirtieth-street, New York. Mrs. M'C. says I am 
 getting so well as to forget all my prudence, sit up till midnight, etc. ; 
 but I don't do it often, and don't work very hard. 
 
 March 15, 1849. 
 
 That visit to Carlisle was of inestimable service to me ; won't you 
 prescribe a dose of the same remedy again I would consent al- 
 most to be sick once a quarter for the pleasure of taking the med- 
 icine. And you, \.OQ>—you have a long letter promised, of which I 
 have as yet seen nothing. Hard work has not kept you from it — I 
 hope sickness has not. You will be bound, as soon as you receive 
 this, to dispatch the epistle at once, and I shall watch the mails for 
 a proof of your punctuality and promptitude. 
 
 Poor Mrs. M'C. has a headache to-night, and sits by my table trying 
 to read it off in Chateaubriand's life. An eventful life, indeed, it 
 was, from his boyhood in the forests of Brittany, his youth in the 
 salons of Paris and amid the terrors of the Revolution, his manhood 
 in America — Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Niagara, Missis- 
 sippi — his prime again amid the wars of Europe, as author, diplo- 
 matist, poet, novelist, expounder of Christianity ; take it altogether, 
 his was a rare life. Begun before the death of Louis XV., he lived 
 through the reign of Louis XVL, the Revolution, the Republic, the 
 Consulate, the Empire ; again Louis XVHL, Charles X., the Rev- 
 
2o6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 olution again, Louis Philippe, and then died in the opening of the 
 Republic of 1848. You may imagine what a flood of memories the 
 old man must have had to pour forth in writing his autobiography 
 at seventy ! 
 
 I wish I could be with you (now nine P. i\L) and chat over all these 
 matters, instead of scribbling them with bad ink, (as you will per- 
 ceive ;) but this is infinitely better than ?iot/ung, is it not ? I will 
 think so when your answer comes. 
 
 To Doctor Olm. 
 
 March, 1S49. 
 
 Professor Holdich called on Saturday, but, much to my regret, I 
 was absent at the time. In regard to his successor I really feel unpre- 
 pared to advise. is impulsive, I know, but I really believe that 
 
 such men, if under the control of the grace of God, make the best 
 instructors of youth. A genial, open nature, is of all others most 
 necessar)- for a teacher. A slow mind or a cold heart is an insuper- 
 able objection. 
 
 The summer of 1849 ^^"^^ spent with his family in Ly- 
 coming County, Pennsylvania. A secluded valley, at the 
 base of the Alleghany Mountains, offered a quiet retreat, 
 and here, with fishing and other forms of out-door life, 
 he spent a delightful season, much to the benefit of his 
 broken health. 
 
 To Doctor Oh'n. 
 
 Xoveviber 27, 1849. 
 
 I am quite as tired of all laudation, in all places, as you can be. 
 Sometimes I feel tempted to do nothing but abuse people. I wonder 
 if that would mend the matter } Praise is losing all its value, if it 
 ever had any. 
 
 I am pestered to death with volunteer contributions for the " Re- 
 view." Men who have just learned the Greek alphabet send me 
 critical and exegetical remarks on passages of Scripture. Others 
 give original sketches in Church histor}', made out of Mosheim and 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 207 
 
 Dr. Ruter. Others discuss final perseverance in series of elegant ex- 
 tracts from " Watson's Institutes " and " Fletcher's Checks." Others 
 give me copious analyses of good Bishop Asbury's journal. Others 
 send in Dr. Clarke's ideas on disputed Scriptures— whereof Dr. 
 Clarke knew nothing. Is it not delightful ? Such zealous, pains- 
 taking, thorough, scholarly work, going on in so many different 
 quarters at once ! Hope for the world. 
 
 To his Carlisle Friends. 
 
 February 11, 1S50. 
 
 Your letters were such little scrimpy things to what they used to 
 was, that I thought they were only a kind of prefaces to letters to 
 follow by the next mail or so, like the little balloons that aeronauts 
 send up before the big one is inflated fully, and let off to be gazed 
 at. But, as it seems yours were the real balloons after all, I sup- 
 pose I was all wrong in not gazing at them, and writing at once, just 
 as if they had been ever so big. But you don t dream of any want 
 of lorve, whatever want of letters there may be in me. The truth is 
 I am sadly overworked. For weeks I have not got to bed till twelve 
 or one o'clock at night, and at hard work all day besides. It is now 
 approaching eleven as I begin this letter, and divers others are wait- 
 ing their turn before I go to bed. It seems to me I must be one of 
 those wicked ones for whom there is no rest ; and yet I try to be 
 busy only at good things all the time. 
 
 The Methodist Quarterly Review " is the oldest of 
 the periodicals of the Church whose name it bears which 
 have had a permanent life. Originally established in 
 1818 as a monthly magazine, it was, like its model, Mr. 
 Wesley's " Arminian Magazine," devoted largely to 
 topics which are now usually treated in the weekly re- 
 ligious newspaper. It was to some extent superseded 
 by the appearance of " The Christian Advocate " in 
 1826. In 1829 it was suspended, but in 1830 was re- 
 
208 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 issued in Quarterly form by Dr. John Emory, then 
 senior Book Agent. Dr. Emory also edited the Re- 
 view " until his election to the Episcopate in 1832, and 
 contributed, with his own pen, the principal original ar- 
 ticles. Professor M'Clintock aimed to enrich the " Quar- 
 terly" by enlisting in its service the very best writers of 
 the time, as well without as within the ranks of Amer- 
 ican Methodism. He sought out the men whom he 
 wanted, and urged them to their best exertions. As a 
 result he was able to spread before the readers of the 
 " Quarterly," during his administration. Dr. Stevens's 
 brilliant essays on Channing and Lamartine, Dr. Olin's 
 exposition of the Religious Training of the Young, and his 
 eloquent appeal to the Young Men of the Church. The 
 elder Dr. Bond contributed an article on the Methodist 
 Church, South, the closing passage of which is, perhaps, 
 the most powerful arraignment of Methodist complicity 
 with slaver}^ ever written. Dr. Schaff furnished essays 
 on early Christianity, afterward incorporated into his 
 Church History; Dr. Jacobi, of Berlin, an Analysis of the 
 newly-discovered Writings of Hippolytus, and the editor 
 himself, appreciative estimates of Neander and Olin. Drs. 
 Floy, Curry, T. V. Moore, (of the Presbyterian Church,) 
 and Mr. H. T. Tuckerman enriched its pages with arti- 
 cles of the finest quality on topics which, at that time, 
 were uppermost in the minds of cultivated men. 
 
 It was the purpose of Dr. M'Clintock to keep the 
 Review " fully abreast of the age, and it fell in with 
 that purpose to give to its readers a searching analysis 
 of Comte's Positive Philosophy, in a scries of papers by 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 209 
 
 Professor Holmes, of Virginia. Comte's system of Pos- 
 itivism was then rising into notice as a fearful portent, 
 the last and strongest expression of the atheistic view 
 of the world. Its denial of a place for theology and 
 metaphysics in the realm of knowledge ; its theory of the 
 successive stages of intellectual progress, by means of 
 which these two were ruled out ; its endeavor to organize 
 sciences, new in name, if not in substance ; its hierarchy 
 of all the sciences — made its exposition and the statement 
 of its defects, in the opinion of Dr. M'Clintock, of su- 
 preme importance to all educated men. Laying down 
 the broad proposition, that what cannot be scientifically 
 known is not knowable — that inquiries into the origin and 
 destiny of the universe are fruitless, because beyond the 
 capacity of our intelligence — Comte opened again the 
 question of the certainty and limitations of human knowl- 
 edge, or, as it is now phrased, of science and faith, which 
 at present fills the world. Dr. M'CUntock had the sa- 
 gacity to perceive that the advent of Positivism was the 
 beginning of a long discussion, and entered upon it with 
 all his characteristic energy and enthusiasm. The contrib- 
 utor to whom this task was allotted performed it with 
 such candor as to elicit expressions of gratification from 
 Comte himself. 
 
 This was a bold line of policy for Dr. M'Clintock 
 to pursue. At the outset of his editorial life he was 
 met with the suggestion that a Methodist Quarterly 
 Review " was an entire mistake, that it was beyond the 
 needs and the appreciation of the body of ministers for 
 
 whom it was designed. His friend, Dr. Olin, was of this 
 14 
 
210 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 opinion. I should say," he writes, " make it less a 
 ' Review ;' a little more a magazine. The ' Quarterly ' 
 is about as well adapted to our literature as the arch- 
 episcopal palace of his grace of Canterbury to one of 
 our bishops. The idea of keeping up a dignified period- 
 ical for the credit of the Church is preposterous. There 
 is no true dignity where there is no adaptation." 
 
 After giving this advice of one of his trusted friends all 
 its due weight, Dr. M'Clintock decided to adhere to his 
 original purpose, and to make the " Review " the organ 
 of the very best Christian thought. He believed that his 
 Church had something to say on the life questions of 
 the age, and ought to say it. Its literary resources 
 might be scant at the moment, but they would in- 
 crease if encouragement were given for their growth. 
 He cherished the hope that the ''Quarterly" might 
 both give tone to the Church's thinking and encour- 
 age literary production. Just criticism would help 
 the preachers to discriminate the bad from the good, 
 and would keep before their eyes the highest ideals of 
 literary excellence. In a word, he held firmly to the 
 conviction that there was a place for the " Review " as a 
 stimulant and guide of the literary activity of the Church. 
 
 Before the editor entered upon his work the General 
 Conference had directed him to make the '' Quarterly " 
 " more practical." '' But how?" he asks in his first ad- 
 dress to his readers. Not, surely, by lowering its tone 
 in point of literature and scholarship; that could never 
 have been meant." He will, therefore, obey his official 
 superiors, and at the same time adhere to his own sense 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 211 
 
 of what is fitting. He aimed at the practical in articles 
 on BibUcal exegesis, the faith, disciphne, and poUty of the 
 Church, and the social and political questions of the age. 
 
 As to the first he insisted that the interpretation of the 
 Scriptures being the chief business of ministers, it was 
 the duty of the Review " to give them help in that de- 
 partment. In the treatment of Methodist questions he 
 demanded freedom. Nothing is gained," he writes in 
 his announcement, to religion or the Church by at- 
 tempts to cut off investigation or to stifle honest opin- 
 ions. Time was when this was thought to be a Christian 
 duty. There are, doubtless, some who think it such 
 still, who would shut up men's minds forever in their 
 own narrow inclosure, putting a barrier to inquiry at the 
 precise point which they have reached, as if wisdom 
 must die with them. To these men every new view of 
 the wants or duties of the Church is heresy, and all scru- 
 tiny of an old one presumption. With such we have no 
 sympathy. We are set for the defence of the Church, 
 whose servants we are ; her best and surest defence is to 
 be found in calling out her energies for the great work 
 of advancing the kingdom of Christ, and in showing that 
 she is not, as her enemies say, a bulwark behind which 
 all forms of social wrong and crime can intrench them- 
 selves securely." 
 
 These are the words of a brave and fearless spirit, and 
 to the line here laid down Dr. M'Clintock adhered faith- 
 fully for the eight years of his official term. In treating 
 public questions he rejected, as he heartily despised, the 
 " false conservatism, at once domineering and timid, 
 
212 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 despotic and servile, which would stand as still as possible 
 when all the world is in motion;" but no less did he dis- 
 dain the morbid appetite for new measures which 
 forms some men's substitute for virtue." He had the 
 conservative instincts which come of large scholarship ; 
 but loved progress, too, as every one will who has a 
 hopeful and " forward-looking mind." To raise the lit- 
 erary character of the Review " he added departments of 
 Theological and Literary Intelligence, and extended the 
 Critical Notices so as to include the best English and 
 foreign books which it might interest his readers to be 
 acqnainted with. He set his face as flint against the 
 indiscriminate puffing of Methodist publications. " It 
 seems to have grown," he writes, " into a sort of com- 
 mon law among our periodicals that all books from our 
 own presses, or from those of our friends, should be 
 lauded, of course. It is high time for us to be just to 
 ourselves. And we give our brethren of the newspaper 
 press notice that they may begin with us, if they please ; 
 if our journal is liable to censure in any particular, we 
 hope they will bestow it." Added to all these, essays 
 on Biblical and philological criticism and the high 
 themes of philosophy rounded out his editorial scheme. 
 
 He knew that in working out this conception of a 
 " Review " the difficulties to be met were formidable. 
 At the time of his entrance upon his office the Church 
 had not done much more than lay the foundations of its 
 first Biblical school ; its authors of acknowledged reputa- 
 tion were very few. He understood, too, perfectly well, 
 that the practical religious interest had dominated hitherto 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 213 
 
 in American Methodism, but he saw clearly that this in- 
 terest would be safe only in so far as it was illustrated, 
 defended, and protected by a corresponding literature. 
 As all life which is destined permanently to affect the 
 world finds for itself fitting literary expression, so, he 
 was confident, the great vital force of Methodism would, 
 in time, issue in appropriate literary creation. To stim- 
 ulate other minds to the exercise of their best activity was, 
 therefore, the one duty which he laid upon himself dur- 
 ing these years. As was said, during the war, of General 
 Sheridan, that he carried an atmosphere about him that 
 invigorated the courage of every soldier, so it may be 
 said of Dr. M'Clintock during this part of his life, that 
 his mental energy was felt by all men with whom he 
 came in contact. His growing acquisitions made him 
 always fresh ; his geniality disposed him to communicate 
 freely what he knew ; his imagination colored and mag- 
 nified the objects of his interest, and his warm feeling 
 gave them life. It was during these years that he pro- 
 jected the " Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and 
 Ecclesiastical Literature," which was subsequently un- 
 dertaken by him and Dr. James Strong. Originally it 
 was proposed that four scholars of the Church should 
 prepare the work under his supervision as official ed- 
 itor of books. The men were named, and a meeting 
 was had with the Book Agents, who, after much de- 
 liberation, decided that the undertaking was beyond 
 their means. Another of his cherished ideas was a series 
 of theological text-books for Methodist ministers. He 
 urged his friend. Dr. Olin, to write a volume on moral 
 
214 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 philosophy. Nothing could have been better, but Dr. 
 Olin's precarious health forbade the attempt. He also 
 urged the appointment by the General Conference of 
 committees to revise the standard catechisms and the 
 liturgy of the Church. Of both these committees he 
 was an important member. 
 
 He had not been long established in his new home be- 
 fore it was darkened by the loss of its brightest light — 
 his devoted wife. Her health had been feeble for 
 months, but no fatal result was anticipated either by 
 herself or her husband. In the winter of 1849-50 alarm- 
 ing symptoms appeared, and by early spring she passed 
 away. Mrs. M'Clintock combined sweet affectionate- 
 ness with a calm temper and extraordinary capacity of 
 endurance. In times of trial her firmness was invincible. 
 She entered fully into her husband's pursuits, and, by 
 cheering, lightened his labors. Their home was sunny 
 and happy, a centre of attraction to the many friends 
 who came within the circle of its beautiful life. 
 
 March 17, 1850. 
 
 Two weeks ago yesterday my dear Augusta died. I cannot yet 
 realize it. Every thing wears a strange aspect. I don't know 
 whether you will understand me ; but perhaps you will when I tell 
 you that a sort of mist seems to hang over every thing. Even 
 streets, houses, and all familiar objects appear thus. I work, work 
 hard, but it appears mechanical, and even unreal. Is it not well that 
 this earth is thus shown to be not our home ? By and by we shall 
 be strangers in it, as our fathers were, and shall feel that our kindred 
 and our home are in heaven above. So one can become a stranger, 
 even in the home of his youth and love, as all that made it home for 
 him vanish into darkness and silence. One after another they are 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 215 
 
 going. For some years I have felt no confidence in human life. I 
 feel less than ever now. All my arrangements seem to me pro- 
 visional and temporary ; a few years ago I talked of them as perma- 
 nent. There is no permanence here ; God does not mean that there 
 should be. There, and there only, where Christ is and where our 
 loved ones are, is our continuing city. 
 
 I did not think she would die soon until a day or two before her 
 end. Nay, on the Thursday I thought she had turned a crisis, and 
 would rally. Not supposing her end near, I did not talk with her 
 about it. From a number of expressions of hers that her mother 
 and my sister have since mentioned to me, I infer that she thought 
 of it. But her fortitude and firmness were so indomitable that never 
 a fear, a complaint, or an anxiety escaped her lips. In respect to 
 that quality of endurance, I never saw man or woman that ap- 
 proached her. To the last she was far more careful of others than 
 of herself. 
 
 May 15, 1850. 
 
 My own thoughts and affections are far more taken off the world 
 than they have ever been before, and perhaps it is for this result that 
 afflictions have rained upon me so heavily and incessantly. It needed 
 great affliction to remove the film from my eyes, and to let me see 
 the world as it is. How worthless, how trifling do all purely earthly 
 enterprises and affairs seem when the shadow of death hangs over 
 us, as it now perpetually hangs over me ! Don't think that I am 
 gloomy, or that I wish to infect your own thoughts with gloom ; far 
 from it ; but such appear to me to be the realities of life, and I don't 
 know why. I have just put down what I feel. 
 
 To recruit his health, Dr. M'Clintock determined on a 
 trip to Europe in the summer of 1850, in company with 
 his friends Mr. James Bishop., of New Jersey, Mr. J. W. 
 Harper, Jun., and his cousin, Mr. William Divine, of 
 Philadelphia. Mr. Divine's daughter was also one of 
 the party. During all this long journey Mr. Bishop 
 watched over the invalid editor with brotherly care. 
 
2l6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Steamer Washington, Friday, iraij 24, 1S50. 
 
 How often since Monday have we wished that you could peep in 
 to see how delightfully we get along ! 1 do not wonder now that 
 people who have been at sea want to go again — such a perfect adan- 
 don of feeling, casting away of all care, thought, and anxiety I had 
 not conceived possible. We left you at twelve ; at two we dismissed 
 our pilot. A poor fellow had smuggled himself on board in hope of 
 getting a free passage ; but unfortunately he had made himself 
 drunk, and couldn't hide. He was a Scotch tailor, of very good 
 appearance. He begged hard : " O, captain dear, give me a steer- 
 age passage. I'll be of great service on board. I'll mend all your 
 clothes." No use ; go he must, and when the little cock-boat came 
 alongside for the pilot, the mate tied a rope round the tailor's waist 
 and let him down, saying, with much more wit than reverence, " The 
 Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the 
 Lord." At half past three we sat down to dinner with good appe- 
 tites. In about three minutes Miss D. got up, looking very white, 
 and hurried to her room. In five minutes more William had to run. 
 The next to go was Bishop. I stood it out till the dessert came, 
 and then thought it prudent to get below. For about an hour we sat 
 there, D., B., and I, who occupy one state-room, casting up in turn, 
 beating each other's backs, and laughing till we almost burst. 
 Badly as we felt, each saw the other's movements in so ineffably 
 ludicrous a light that we could not keep still. 
 
 The ship is very steady and comfortable. The attention is beyond 
 any thing I had supposed. We have plenty of water, abundance of 
 ice-water in our state-room all the time, a lamp burning all night, and 
 any thing we choose to call for. The table is superabundant and 
 superexcellent. 
 
 We have Forti on board, the opera singer, and he sang the " Mar- 
 seilles " for us yesterday (Maretzek accompanying him on the piano) 
 in his very best style. It was really magnificent. His state-room 
 is next ours, and he lets his lungs out every morning just about as 
 we are getting up, and of all lungs I have seen or heard of, his beat. 
 Since the first day my heart has not troubled me. 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 217 
 
 Saturday Morjimg— Our run thus far has averaged o\er two 
 hundred miles a day. Yesterday it was two hundred and thirteen. 
 It will get faster ever>' day, as we burn about thirty tons daily, and 
 the ship sails better as she is lightened. Before we get across we 
 expect to run two hundred and fifty and two hundred and eighty 
 miles a day. The sea is ver>' rough now, and many passengers 
 are sick ; but I have stood in the bows for hours, rocking as if in a 
 swing, and enjoying it more than 1 ever did a swing. How I have 
 wished the children along ! There are about twenty children aboard, 
 and they are as happy as crickets. 
 
 TcESDAT, Mtiy 2S. 
 
 We have made much more than half our passage. On Sunday 
 morning I preached a short sermon of about thirty minutes from 
 I John iv, 19 ; most of the passengers were present, and they were 
 very attentive. It did not hurt me at all. I have not been a particle 
 seasick, though Sunday night and all day Monday we had a severe 
 gale from the north-west. The sea ran, as they say, " mountains 
 high," a thing of which I had no just conception before. I kept 
 the deck nearly all the time to see and enjoy it, in spite of wind, 
 rain, and spray. The funniest sight of all was the dinner-table, at 
 which as much crockery has been broken \vithin the last few days 
 as would keep you in store for a twelvemonth. The dishes are all 
 secured to the tables with racks, but when the tables tilt up suddenly 
 at an angle of forty-five degrees no racks will keep soup from flying. 
 We have made some very pleasant acquaintances among the pas- 
 sengers, and some of them (Germans) will be of use to us after we 
 get on shore. 
 
 My health has improved very much, as proof of which I may tell 
 you that I walked the decks for three hours yesterday in a storm of 
 wind and rain, which kept all the passengers below but two or three. 
 
 I will now close up. It has been storming, and raining, and blow- 
 ing all day, but we are fast nearing the English coast. If nothing 
 happens we shall see it on Sunday, and land at Cowes on Monday. 
 Thence to Bremen is forty-eight hours. I shall probably write a 
 short letter from Bremen. 
 
2l8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Berlin, June 19. 1S50. 
 
 " The first-class cars are occupied," the Germans say, " only by 
 princes and fools," as the fare is too high for sensible people; but 
 we took them twice, by way of experiment, and the way hats were 
 doffed and bows made was a caution. 
 
 Of the splendor of Berlin I need not stop to speak. I had no con- 
 ception of the old world until I came here, and I could not transfer 
 my present conceptions to you if I were to write for a week. I have 
 been received with the utmost kindness by Professor Jacobi, and 
 all the rest of the professors I have seen. I took tea on Wed- 
 nesday with Mr. Fay, our charge ; last night with Dr. Twesten, of 
 the university, who has a very pretty daughter that speaks English ; 
 to-morrow night, I am engaged to Professor Jacobi, and have two 
 invitations for Sunday, one to Nitzsch and one to Becker, I should 
 have enough to do receiving civilities if I were to stay here a month. 
 They don't ask blessing here at table, as we do, at preachers' houses 
 or any others ; they don't make much of Sunday, either. Last Sun- 
 day, in Magdeburgh, our valel de place wished to get us tickets for 
 the opera ; and so it is every-where. However, there is less business 
 done on Sunday than I had supposed. 
 
 Basel, Switzerland, Jxdy 17, 1850. 
 
 It seems selfish, I was beginning to say, for me to enjoy any thing 
 here, when my loved wife is lying in the cold ground. Often and 
 often this feeling comes upon me overwhelmingly. But a year ago 
 we were travelling — she and I and the two children — in a pleasant 
 carriage among the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania. I was 
 sick, and she tended me by day and watched me by night ; and O 
 how happy we were, in spite of sickness and care ! And now every 
 thing is changed. They say that Time heals all wounds, and I have 
 lived long enough to know that he does heal some ; but ah, they ache 
 sadly in the healing and leave deep scars behind. 
 
 I have just returned from a walk around the old walls and fortifi- 
 cations of the town. The roar of the Rhine was in our ears nearly 
 all the way, even amid the noise of the streets. I stepped on the plat- 
 form behind the old cathedral — a building, by the way, some eight 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 2ig 
 
 hundred years old, at least part of it — and looked around on the city 
 and the river, and gazed on its beauty as it were on the beauty of a 
 dream. We have no Alps, no Rhine, in America. And so T might 
 say of a thousand other things. Here, too, in Switzerland, there is 
 no royalty ; one is not annoyed every hour, as in Germany, with the 
 sound of drums, or with the sight of troops marching and counter- 
 marching. Nor have any passports been demanded of us, or any 
 examination of baggage, from the time we entered Switzerland until 
 now that we are leaving it. 
 
 To Doctor Olzn. 
 
 July 21, 1850. 
 
 You know so little about this European world that I suppose I 
 ought to fill up several sheets with minute accounts of cathedrals, 
 palaces, museums, picture galleries, and the like, for your edification 
 and instruction. But I cannot take the time to enlighten you in this 
 way. Take a voyage across the Atlantic once, or buy Murray's 
 Hand-books, and get Mrs. Olin to read them for you quietly at home, 
 and you may get some glimmering notion of what we travellers have 
 seen. Nevertheless, I do think that I have seen some things that 
 you have not. You never landed at Bremerhaven, did you ? You 
 never went, uninvited, to a German country-seat to tea, and found 
 yourself amid ten or a dozen sprightly German women spending an 
 afternoon in a peasant's cottage, fitted up for a lady's abode, and 
 wandered about 'mid parks and pleasure grounds talking broken 
 German to a very accomplished lady, whom you had never seen be- 
 fore in your life } But Bishop and I did all that. Indeed, throughout 
 Germany, I have found it the easiest and pleasantest thing in the 
 world to get into good society ; and one learns in that way more of 
 the life of the people in a week than he could otherwise in a year. 
 
 Our route w^as from Bremen to Hanover, Hamburgh, Brunswick, 
 Magdeburgh, Berlin, Halle, Leipsic, Dresden, Niiremberg, Augs- 
 burg, Munich, Lake Constance, Zurich, Mount Rhigi, Thun, Berne, 
 Basel, Strasburg, Heidelberg, and finally to Frankfort. Our longest 
 delays were in Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, where there was most 
 
220 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to see. In Berlin I found the professors at the university all po- 
 hteness and attention. I could have spent months pleasantly with 
 them. I took tea with Dr. Twesten, rector of the university, and 
 the leading dogmatic theologian of Europe, and found him a ge- 
 nial, cordial old man enough. He was inclined to be a little se- 
 vere about black slavery, but I told him that our slaves were all 
 black, which, unhappily, was not the case in Berlin. He seemed 
 much interested in Methodism, and very ignorant, indeed, about it. 
 
 At Professor Jacobi's, however, I enjoyed an evening v/ith six or 
 eight of the professors and of the city preachers, brought together 
 for our gratification. Of course, Bremen Methodism was a topic of 
 discussion ; they all thought it an unnecessary movement, except an 
 old gentleman who had been a missionary in Bombay, and had there 
 become familiar with Methodist missions, and he told me to send 
 as many good men as we could, not merely to Bremen, but to any 
 point in Germany. We had to explain the whole polity of Method- 
 ism, of any knowledge of which they were all — except Jacobi and 
 the old Bombayan — perfectly innocent. Strauss, for instance, had 
 never seen a prayer-meeting, nor, indeed, had any of the others ; 
 and I had to go through the whole ceremony of one from beginning 
 to end. The acme of their wonder and bewilderment was reached 
 when they were told how the preachers were supported ; they all ad- 
 mitted that they would have a poor allowance if they had to depend 
 upon the voluntary contributions of the people. I charitably told 
 them that in less than ten years they would find a large church 
 edifice, probably with a nice steeple, in Bremen, and that the 
 preachers would be well supported by the voluntary contributions 
 of Germans, whereat they not only opened their eyes, but pretty 
 plainly gave me to understand that they thought me a very decided, 
 though perhaps amiable, enthusiast. 
 
 To his Daughter. 
 
 Munich, July 6, 1850. 
 One day I looked out of my window in the Hotel de Saxe at Dres- 
 den, and saw in a large bay-window of the opposite house a little 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 221 
 
 girl, about as big as you, playing with a lady. The lady wanted to 
 sew, or pretended to ; but the little girl would just let her begin, and 
 would then throw both arms around her neck and kiss her — or kiss 
 her eyes or her forehead — and so she kept on. The little girl's back 
 was toward me, and the back of her head and her hair were so much 
 like yours, that, if it had been near home, I should have thought it 
 was you. You may imagine that it made me a little homesick. In- 
 deed, I would gladly go home for a night, if possible, and have a 
 chat all together, and tell stories in the twilight before prayers ; but 
 that pleasure I must postpone for some months. In the mean time 
 I pray that God's blessing may rest upon you, my dear child, and 
 that you may be good and obedient to your aunts, so as to be a com- 
 fort to them, and to me when I hear from you. 
 
 Munich, July 7, 1S50. 
 It is a queer country, this. I think you would enjoy a visit to it 
 amazingly. The people seem determined to enjoy this life, at least, 
 though, from all outward appearance, they do not think much about 
 preparation for the next world. The streets have been full to-day 
 (Sunday) of gay groups of promenaders ; battalion after battalion 
 of troops has passed my window, and military music has been 
 playing near for the comfort of the townspeople. At noon the stores 
 are all opened, and the vSunday, for any religious purpose, is held to 
 be over. I just looked out of my window, and saw a lady in the 
 house opposite sitting with her work-table before her, sewing away 
 on a frock for dear life. All the theaters, opetas, concerts, etc., are 
 open to-night. In fact Sunday is generally their most profitable day for 
 business. I dined to-day in the restaurant attached to the hotel, and 
 in the same room several gentlemen were playing billiards while we 
 were eating our dinner. Recollect, too, that this is Sunday. You 
 may ask why I write on Sunday ; but if I don't, the letter won't reach 
 Liverpool in time for next Saturday's steamer, and so will lose a 
 week. 
 
222 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Paris, July 28, 1850. 
 
 You can hardly imagine the pleasure with which I received two 
 budgets of letters yesterday on our arrival in this great city. For 
 two hours Paris and all its attractions were forgotten ; even the 
 breakfast went away almost untasted. 
 
 I have decided to settle at Bon?t, on the Rhine, above Cologne, as 
 I think it will make a better and pleasanter winter residence than 
 Heidelberg, though not quite as cheap. It is more central and ac- 
 cessible, being only thirty-six hours from London, thirty-six from 
 Paris, and twenty-four from Berlin. I can get news from home 
 there very' promptly, and shall also, I think, find pleasant acquaint- 
 ances. One of the professors, a very eminent man, (Professor Dor- 
 ner,) who treated me with the greatest kindness and attention while 
 there, has engaged to secure me lodgings as soon as I write from 
 London that I am sure of going to Bonn. So that matter is all 
 settled. 
 
 Paris, after all, caps the climax. It is the showiest, the aosurdest, 
 the most attractive, the most wicked, the most contradictory of all 
 places on the face of the earth. In spite of revolutions, perils, and 
 broils, if ihts world only were to be considered, Paris would be the 
 most desirable spot in the world to live in. At the Hotel Maurice, 
 where we stopped the first night, there are no less than sixty Amer- 
 icans now, and there are multitudes more scattered in different parts 
 of the city. We shall stay here a week, and then get on to London, 
 where the Conference commences July 31. 
 
 Paris, July 80, 1850. 
 
 After a long round in Europe we are arrived, at last, at its capital, 
 for such is Paris. Our route has been, I think, an excellent one, and 
 it has allowed us to see a great deal in a comparatively short time. 
 From Munich we went into Switzerland, visiting the Lakes of Con- 
 stance, Lucerne, Zurich, and Thun, and ascending to the top of 
 Mount Righi, which affords a view of three hundred miles reach, 
 bounded by the Jura Mountains on the east, the Tyrol on the west, 
 and the chain of snow-clad Alps on the south. I suppose the 
 world does not furnish another such a view. From Switzerland, by 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 223 
 
 Basel and Strasburg, to Heidelberg, where I stopped to look about a 
 little, thinking that I might perhaps stay a year there. Thence to 
 Frankfurt-am-Main, where we spent a very pleasant Sunday, and 
 then down the Rhine to Bonn. The beauties of the Rhine have not 
 been exaggerated ; indeed, they cannot be. In one or two spots the 
 Hudson gives some idea of the natural beauties of the Rhine ; but 
 it can convey none of that which art and ages of history have done 
 for the Rhine. At Bonn, on the Rhine, I was so well pleased with 
 the situation of the place, with the university, and the professors, 
 that I determined, if the boys come over, to settle there for the 
 winter. The kindness of the Germans is proverbial, and I found all 
 accounts of it fully verified in my own case. 
 
 You would have been amused if you could have seen us the other 
 day at the National Assembly. We had procured tickets, with great 
 trouble and expense, as they are very hard to get. The galleries of 
 the House of Representatives are arranged one above the other, like 
 boxes in a theater, and out tickets took us up into the third loft, 
 where we could neither see nor hear very well. I told the sergeant 
 who showed us our seat that we did not like the place, and wanted 
 to go lower down. " I can't help it, sir," said he, " your tickets are 
 for this tribune." " But," said I, " we are Americans, and one of us 
 is a member of one of the legislative assemblies in America." As 
 soon as he heard we were Americans he redoubled his politeness, 
 and finally told me to send a note down to the qticEstor, who could, 
 perhaps, give us better seats. He sent down Bishop's, and Divine's, 
 and my own. Directly he returned with orders to take us into the 
 " tribune of the diplomatic corps ! " So we went, and found there 
 Josiah Randall, who had got in by our embassador's ticket, and won- 
 dered how on earth we had found our way there. 
 
 I preached this morning in the Wesleyan Chapel at twelve o'clock. 
 Before preaching they read the prayers of the Episcopal form, and, 
 in spite of all my wishes to the contrary, I was tired of them be- 
 fore they got through. The forms may be good, but they would cer- 
 tainly be the better of considerable abridgment. 
 
224 
 
 LIP'E AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To Doctor Olin, 
 
 New Youk, Sept. 2o, 1850. 
 
 You have heard rightly that I have gained strength and fatness by 
 my four months of idleness ; and the experiment satisfies me pretty 
 well that with an out-of-door life and a quiet mind I may yet be re- 
 stored to sound health. But I cannot deceive you or myself so far as 
 to say that I have yet reached that point. The trouble of my heart 
 has mainly disappeared as my general health has improved ; but it is 
 there yet, and gives me warning ever and anon against any excess. 
 I have had to work for nine days pretty steadily, and I feel the effects 
 of it. I have, therefore, no hope of doing fully the duties of my sta- 
 tion here. Any possible performance, in the present state of things, 
 is so far below my ideal of what the office and the times demand, 
 that I fear my spirits will soon fail again, and I shall feel inclined — 
 perhaps from a sense of duty, perhaps from a craving for repose — to 
 give place to some stronger man, who can do what I cannot. A few 
 months, however, will probably decide this question. 
 
 One of my first efforts, after visiting rrty family friends in Pennsyl- 
 vania, will be to get up to Middletown. I intend to take as many 
 trips as the state of my purse will allow, as it will not do for me to 
 change suddenly from so very active a life to sedentary habits. Like 
 the swallow, I must settle down to my nest in gradually narrowing 
 circles. And if it were not so, I have love enough for you to go 
 much farther for the opportunity of seeing you in health and of 
 hearing you talk, to say nothing of my regard for Mrs. Olin, which 
 I could not exaggerate in words. 
 
 My own opinion is, as it has been, that I ought to have re- 
 mained abroad until next spring, but, as circumstances almost 
 compelled my return, I feel satisfied with the result, and rejoice 
 in being again within reach of my friends. O that more of them 
 lived in or about New York ! 
 
 To the Rev. T. V. Moore. 
 
 Nov. 13, 1850. 
 
 Could I get to Richmond without being lynched? Wouldn't they 
 take me up on suspicion of enticing away slaves ? Seriously, I have 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 225 
 
 fears that I could not venture even that far into the region of slavery 
 without the risk of insult at least. No papers abused me more vio- 
 lently in 1847 than the "Richmond Enquirer" and "Richmond 
 Whig;" but perhaps all that, too, has gone into the omnivorous 
 "tomb of the Capulets." Well, I feel strongly inclined to run the 
 risk when I go to Washington, which will be some time in January 
 or early in February, (D. V.) 
 
 To Mrs. J. IV. Marshall. 
 
 Jan. 24, 1851. 
 
 Well, you have had your Virginia trip, and must now subside into 
 Bceotian, Pennsylvania, dullness again. Tell your stronger half 
 (the Professor of Languages) that I have not been able to go 
 over to the office since sending his package, but that 1 shall go in a 
 few daye, and then I will send off the rest of his books. You must 
 not suppose my inability springs from ill-health ; it is a job of heavy 
 work that has been impending for a long time, and which I am staying 
 at home to accomplish. A few days will clear it off. I only work hard 
 from nine to four, so you see there is no danger of my getting into 
 the old Carlisle habit of digging and delving all day and all night, 
 
 I am not unhappy, writing to my dear friend ; but it would be far 
 happier if I could just drop in upon you all for a couple of hours' 
 chat. I wish you could find a nice house near you for fifty dollars a 
 year rent, where we could live for two hundred and fifty dollars 
 more, and then I will come, live as a gentleman of leisure, and drop 
 in every day ! Have I not an enlarged ambition ? 
 
 I am inclined to think I shall be in Carlisle some time next month 
 or early in March — but don't tell any body. I mean to take it for a 
 real luxury of a visit — all visit and nothing else. And, besides, I in- 
 tend to get a new coat, if I can raise the chznk, as says. Don't 
 
 tell this, either. 
 
 Ah, what a foolish letter ! but it must go, just as it is. God bless you ! 
 To the Rev. T. V. Moore. 
 
 May 7, 1851. 
 
 You have seen Whately's " Historic Doubts," I suppose. A new 
 pamphlet has been put out treating the modern history of ranee 
 15 
 
226 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and Napoleon after the mythic method of Strauss, and showing it up 
 ven,- well. You will find it noticed in the "Athenseum," No. 1214. 
 Have you read Newman's "Phases of Faith," "The Soul," "The 
 Hebrew Monarchy?" These are the books that are likely soonest 
 to corrupt the youth of this countr\\ Already I have received sad 
 letters from divinity candidates about them. 
 
 This is a ver\' fragmentar)' and worthless letter, but I can make it 
 no better. I should be quite at sea in advising you as to the mode 
 of taking up your subject. The root of the modern scepticism lies in 
 the proposition that religzon is iiidepe?ident of history ; and hence 
 that it matters not whether documents of religion are really historical 
 or not. To take the negative of this position, or to assume the pos- 
 itive ground that the true religion has not merely had a deA'elopment 
 in time but that we have a veracious and final record of that devel- 
 opment, would cover the whole ground — answering Voltaire, Lessing, 
 Strauss, Newman, Emerson, Parker, and all the rest in one. But to 
 do it — hie labor, hoe opus ! 
 
 If you will write to me on any precise points, as they may come up 
 in your thinking, I will write as freely as I can. Nevertheless, as 
 you may see, my own thoughts are undigested. Much and long 
 have I thought and read of these things — oftentimes with pain and an- 
 guish of mind. But I have clear daylight of heart now, if not of head. 
 
 J lint 12, 1851. 
 
 I may, during my travels, see some rural nook that will tempt me 
 to set up a more permanent tabernacle than any I have yet tried to 
 establish. I long for the country and for rest ; and if I find a pleas- 
 ant, retired, shaded place within my means, I shall, without doubt, 
 purchase it, with a view to looking for such rest next spring. In 
 quiet I might do something, I hope, that would ser\^e the Church and 
 the world in the way of writing — free from the wear and tear of 
 office, and from the constant calls that beset one so importunately in 
 a New York residence. These may be dreams, but they attend nrue by 
 day as well as by night. There is, at all events, a rest reserved for 
 the people of God. May we be so happy as finally to enter into it ! 
 
THE REV. DR. M CLINTOCK. 
 
 227 
 
 April 4, 1851. 
 
 Next spring, if I be not re-elected to the editorship, I hope to re- 
 tire into some quiet country retreat, and devote myself to the care of 
 my children and of my health. Indeed I have many doubts whether 
 1 ought not to do it even if the General Conference does conclude to 
 keep me in the editorship. The basis of my constitution is, I think, 
 not shaken ; but I require more rest and exercise than I can com- 
 mand in this or any other church post. I have some inclination 
 toward New Brunswick, where my friend Bishop is building a house 
 for himself; but it is not quite rural enough for my ideal. How pos- 
 itively charming even the very notion of such a rest is ! Do you 
 never find such feelings come over you } a sort of anxiety to be out 
 of tumult and bustle, at liberty to think or not to think, to walk, or 
 ride, or talk, or pray, or sleep, just as you please 7 I trust there is 
 no wrong in indulging such dreams — for mvalids, of course, only, 
 are they justifiable. 
 
 In the summer of 1851 Dr. M'Clintock was called to 
 mourn the loss of Dr. Olin. Like himself, Dr. OHn was 
 full of warm sympathies and those tender solicitudes 
 which make close friendship both possible and enjoy- 
 able. They met for the first time in 1843, at the 
 close of that year Dr. Olin wrote : I congratulate my- 
 self upon having formed your acquaintance, on having 
 become, in no common sense, your friend, and on having 
 secured your correspondence. This interest will, if it 
 please God, and you are minded favorably, have a future 
 to it, and I shall often enjoy the happiness of an inter- 
 change of sentiments and counsels with an intelligent, 
 warm-hearted Christian man, in whom I fully confide." A 
 few years later he asks, playfully, " When does friendship 
 become old? And may we not now call ourselves old 
 
228 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 friends ? " In this spirit their association with each other 
 was maintained until it was broken by Dr. OHn's death. 
 Unfortunately for Dr. M'Clintock, the message sent to 
 inform him of his friend's peril failed to reach its destina- 
 tion, so that he was not made aware of Dr. Olin's illness 
 until after it had ended fatally. 
 
 August 22, 1851. 
 
 We are saddened by the death of Dr. Olin. That good, grand 
 man has passed away from the earth. I regret most bitterly that I 
 was not able to be with him in his illness. He telegraphed for me 
 to New York, but they did not know where to send after me, and so 
 I heard nothing until the Monday after his death. So Carlisle and 
 Middletown are both without presidents. I think it most likely that 
 Collins will go to Carlisle, but who will go to Middletown ? The 
 trustees (or some of them) wish me to give my name, but I cannot 
 consent to it. My health is now regularly improving, I think, and I 
 feel it my duty to remain in my present post. 
 
 In October, 185 1, Dr. M'Clintock was united in mar- 
 riage with Mrs. Catharine W. Emory, the widow of Robert 
 Emory, who still survives him. In the same month he 
 was elected to fill the place of Dr. Olin, as president of 
 Wesleyan University. The invitation was accompanied 
 by every evidence of cordiality that could be desired, but 
 in view of uncertain health was declined. The winter 
 was spent in writing and preaching, of which latter he 
 did, for a sick man, an enormous amount. He made dur- 
 ing these years specialties of the Sunday-school system 
 and missions, and had many calls to present his well- 
 considered views on both topics. 
 
 The new Catechism, on which he and Dr. D. P. Kid- 
 der wrought together, was much in his thoughts. " My 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 229 
 
 ideal," he writes, " is to have such a Catechism as can be 
 learned by any child and retained, and to have laws 
 passed making it the duty of every minister to catechise 
 the children in addition to Sunday-school instruction." 
 There were times during his editorship when he felt that 
 he was not doing the best work of which he was capable. 
 " Am I never," he asks in his diary, to do any thing 
 better than translation and criticism?" Much that he 
 did, as an editor, was necessarily buried out of sight. It 
 was all under ground, as he sometimes complained, and 
 this fact inclined him to look for a retired spot where he 
 could gather together his best thoughts, and embody 
 them in some literary product of permanent value to the 
 world. He planned in this regard more than he exe- 
 cuted ; but so will every man who has a love of labor and 
 an active brain. 
 
 To the Rev. T. V. Moore. 
 
 January 13, 1352. 
 
 If I had the physical health, I should greatly desiderate a pastoral 
 appointment, with two sermons to preach on Sunday, and time for 
 work during the week. Your position now is, I should fancy, just 
 one of the happiest a man could have, so far as outward things go 
 to make up human happiness ; and I trust you wont abandon it soon, 
 unless for a better post, say in New York, where you ought to be, 
 and where I hope you will be before I leave these parts. Look out 
 for a call on the first important vacancy that occurs. 
 
 I do not see much hope of getting to Richmond this winter ; 1 
 wish I could. Shall you be on this way? Our household is now 
 very small, compact, and agreeable, (at least I think so,) and we 
 shall stay at home until the middle of April, with the exception of 
 two or three days in February, that I must spend at the meeting of 
 the Board of Trustees in Carlisle. So come, and I assure you I 
 
230 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 wont run away. We expect to break up our housekeeping here by 
 about April 15, and shall then be unsettled until after the session of 
 our General Conference in May. If they re-elect me to the " Quar- 
 terly," I shall take a house in Newark, Elizabethtown, or New 
 Brunswick, so as to get further away from the tumult of the great 
 Babel. If they don't re-elect me, I shall probably settle at German- 
 town, or some other village adjacent to Philadelphia, and live in 
 quiet as long as God spares me, writing what he may help me to 
 write. Either prospect is agreeable. 
 
 The review of Positivism in the pages of the Quar- 
 terly " led to a correspondence with M. Comte, and a call 
 for contributions to his support, which was cheerfully 
 responded to by Dr. M'CHntock. Two of the philos- 
 opher's letters are appended to this chapter. The first 
 was published by M. Comte himself; whether the second 
 has been before in print I am not aware. It is interest- 
 ing as presenting his own account of his philosophic 
 education. 
 
 LETTERS FROM JANUARY, 1847, TO APRIL, 1852. 
 
 L LETTEES TO DE. M'CLINTOCK. 
 L 
 
 Paris, 7 Homer ft4; Wednesday, Fehruary 4. 1852. 
 To Dr. J. M'Clixtock, Editor of the Methodist Review, New York. 
 
 Sir: In the number of your "Methodist Quarterly" for January, 
 1852, which I received last Thursday, I have just read a conscientious 
 review of my principal work, written by an eminent adversary, con- 
 taining, indeed, numerous involuntary mistakes, which are, however, 
 but trifling, and may therefore be spontaneously corrected hereafter. 
 This generous proceeding, to which I have been but little accus- 
 tomed from the French press, induces me to extend, even to such 
 adversaries, my personal appeal to the western public, which indeed 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 231 
 
 merely supplements that of 1848, so generously referred to in this 
 memorable article. If I knew the anonymous writer, I would be 
 happy to address him personally, and to express to him my sincere 
 gratitude. But I trust, sir, that you will kindly be my interpreter, 
 and accept for yourself also one of the inclosed copies of my circular 
 letter. I cannot but congratulate myself upon this momentaiy in- 
 fraction of the happy rule of mental hygiene which for many years 
 has closed to me, systematically, all papers or reviews, even scientific 
 ones, and has permitted me no other habitual reading than that, ever 
 new, of the true masterpieces of western poetry, both ancient and 
 modern. 
 
 Public morality requires now that this desperate call of undeserved 
 distress should receive a fitting response from the other side of the 
 Atlantic, the better to stigmatize both the persistent lukewarmness 
 of most of my friends and followers, and the ignoble zeal of my aca- 
 demic persecutors. Besides our common occidental origin, I cannot 
 look upon myself as an absolute stranger to a republic to which I 
 came near transferring my then opening philosophical career in 1816, 
 under the friendly patronage of the worthy General Bernard, and 
 even, indirectly, of the noble President Monroe. However that may 
 be, my present communication will clearly demonstrate the deplora- 
 ble extremity to which is reduced, in the very midst of his long self- 
 sacrifice, one who, after having founded the Positive Philosophy, is 
 now erecting upon that solid basis, and in greater perfection even 
 than he promised, as stated by his loyal adversary, the religion of 
 humanity. 
 
 In order to convince you, sir, concerning the full continuity of a 
 peaceful activity, which must appear endangered by such a position 
 as the present, I would wish to send you at once, as also to my hon- 
 orable anonymous opponent, the first volume of my second large 
 work, published in July, 1851 ; a work which I promised to write 
 when, ten years ago, I completed my first. This " Systeme de 
 Politique Positive," as stated in that well-kept promise, will consist 
 of four volumes, the second of which I am now engaged in writing. 
 It will probably be published next July, and the other two succes- 
 
232 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 sively at the same time in the two years following. Should you 
 kindly assist my unparalleled inexperience of all questions of detail by 
 informing me as to the best means of forwarding these things to you, 
 you would soon receive the two copies above mentioned of the first 
 volume, which is already known to some Americans. 
 
 This little philosophical gift you may accept without scruple as a 
 feeble testimony of my respect, as I am my own publisher, and can 
 therefore dispose of copies as I choose. In the mean time, I enclose 
 herewith, together with my circular letter, a copy of the " Tableau 
 Cerebral," which sums up my positivist theory of human nature, and 
 is a most handy synopsis of this new volume, as well as a philosoph- 
 ical programme of the systematic course of lectures which I have for 
 the last three years delivered before a private society, including both 
 sexes, with the generous sanction of the only government which has 
 heretofore respected fully the intellectual independence which I have 
 at last earned by ceaseless sacrifices. From this circumstance, as a 
 philosopher, you will be able to understand and appreciate the com- 
 forting fact that modern civilization can radically transform even the 
 spirit of persecution, which is now limited to the destruction of for- 
 tune only, being unable to reach life or even freedom. 
 
 After a long and honorable career, more consistent, perhaps, than 
 any ever before, I have contracted the habit of living altogether 
 openly, according to true republican principles. If, therefore, you 
 see fit to disseminate the enclosed circular, or even this letter, I leave 
 the matter entirely to your kindly judgment, whatever publicity you 
 may choose to give it, asking only that it be literal and full. I would, 
 however, desire that you should first consult in the matter that emi- 
 nent citizen of Philadelphia who, without ceasing to be my worthy 
 intellectual disciple, is at the same time my chief temporal patron, 
 Mr. Horace Binney Wallace, who is too well known to need any 
 further indication. 
 
 Salut et Fraternity, Auguste Comte, 
 
 lo Rue Monsieur le Prince. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 233 
 
 II. 
 
 Pabis, 24 Dante 64, Suturday, Aug. 7, 1S52. 
 
 Dr. J. M'Clistock, New York. 
 
 Sir : I have been deeply touched by the worthy enclosure in your 
 letter of June 29, received July 15. This noble participation of two 
 eminent philosophical opponents tends to characterize more fully the 
 true nature of the free subsidy which is to shield from undeserved 
 poverty the conscientious thinker whom they are unwilling to com- 
 bat otherwise than by fair arguments, free from all material pressure 
 either active or passive. However, from, the true religious stand- 
 point, where love is higher than faith, we feel that a certain brother- 
 hood unites all those who, at this time, are sincerely striving to 
 overcome intellectual and moral anarchy, whatever may be the op- 
 position otherwise existing between the doctrines they hold with this 
 great common aim. 
 
 Apart from the conflict of our doctrines, I have really no import- 
 ant correction to ask of him, except in regard to the influence he 
 assigns to my early relations with M. de Saint Simon, who was in no 
 respect either my teacher or my precursor. Mr. Lewes has all too 
 carelessly repeated the absurd supposition, put forth by both my de- 
 clared and secret enemies, concerning this assumed filiation. It is 
 natural that Mr. Holmes should accept without inquiry a supposi- 
 tion thus adopted by one of my principal followers. I will therefore 
 avail myself of the present opportunity to elucidate this point of my 
 history. 
 
 Simple comparison between our doctrines would suffice at once to 
 demonstrate the fallacy of such a theory. Had Mr. Lewes made 
 such a comparison, instead of allowing himself to echo a malignant 
 falsehood, he would have discovered that Positivism could not, even 
 vaguely, have been derived from Saint Simon's system. Mr. Mill, 
 who had compared them, never fell into this superficial error, so far 
 as I know. 
 
 In the place of this absurd origin, which I have steadily disowned, 
 I trust that impartial judges will henceforth deem it their duty to 
 declare my true philosophical filiation, as it appears both from the 
 
234 
 
 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 whole of my works and from my own statements. I have always 
 acknowledged Condorcet as my chief direct forerunner, and I accept 
 no other. Scientifically, I proceed from Bichat and from Gall, the 
 last scientific thinkers who have preceded me and prepared the way. 
 Philosophically, I proceed indirectly from Hume, and incidentally 
 from Kant, to go no further. But, in reality, the great Condorcet is 
 the thinker I have most properly succeeded. I regret having placed 
 him, in my " Positive Philosophy," below Montesquieu, to whom he 
 was much superior. In my public lectures I have already rectified 
 this mistake, which my present work will finally correct. In that 
 philosopher we find the true connecting link between the eighteenth 
 and nineteenth centuries. He was, like me, thoroughly prepared by 
 scientific study, although the sciences, at that time, were not suffi- 
 ciently developed to regenerate the mind. In the midst of the most 
 anti-historical crisis that ever can exist, he attempted to base politics 
 on histor}-. I early felt the value and the defects of that effort, the 
 carrsing out of which I considered, at eighteen, as the chief object 
 of my life. 
 
 Such, then, is my real philosophical descent : through Condorcet 
 I belong to the great school of the eighteenth century — that of Did- 
 erot. The little schools of Voltaire and Rousseau, essentially incon- 
 sistent and therefore purely negative, are now absolutely extinct, 
 although their remains are still agitating the undisciplined mind of 
 the West. But the complete and organic school, the school of Did- 
 erot, Hume, and Condorcet, sun ives in me. What it then vaguely 
 aimed at by means of the " Encyclopedie," is systematically realized 
 by Positivism. The aim — absolute regeneration — has remained the 
 same ; the means only have developed. None of my contemporaries 
 has been of any real assistance to me in that task. The nineteenth 
 centur)- offers to my mind truly but one eminent thinker — Joseph de 
 Maistre — and to him I always did full justice ; but from the first I 
 spontaneously absorbed all that his works, retrogressive though they 
 be, evolved that was deep and lasting, whether against the dogmas 
 of the Revolution, or for the historical appreciation of the Middle 
 Ages. If his v.ork had not preceded mine, I could readily have dis- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 pensed with it, since, before I saw it, I had in my own way produced 
 essentially an equivalent to it from the progressive standpoint. Still, 
 after Condorcet and Gall, he is really the only thinker to whom I am 
 at all seriously indebted. 
 
 Before I received your letter I had already found means to forward 
 to you, at last, the two first volumes of my "Politique Positive." I 
 delivered- them, for you and Mr. Holmes, to a young Frenchman 
 who is going to settle in New York. But I shall soon avail myself 
 of the usual means to transmit to you the important essay entitled 
 " Catechisme Positiviste," which I am now writing before I com- 
 mence, next November, on the third volume of my " Politique Posi- 
 tive," to be published in May or June, 1853. 
 
 Salut et Fraternity, Auguste Comte, 
 
 10 Rue de Seine. 
 
 II.— LETTERS FROM DR. M'CLINTOCK TO HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 I. 
 
 Jersey City, Jane 9, 1S4S. 
 
 On my way from Carlisle yesterday, (Thursday,) I received the 
 despatch containing the mournful news of your and our loss. Much 
 as I had expected and looked for it, it still came with a shock upon 
 me from which it was hard to recover. Yet my own grief, profound 
 as it is, at thus losing my long-tried associate and friend, sinks into 
 nothing in view of yours. But even yours, deep and poignant as it 
 is and must be, is full of rich consolations, toward which, I trust and 
 hope, you are able to turn your heart. He died, as you would have 
 wished him to die, with so sweet and delightful a sense of his Sav- 
 iour's presence that it was merely a translation for him from one 
 degree of communion with Christ to another. How truly and faith- 
 fully he lived, and how Christ honored him in his death ! 
 
 How strange it is that we feel, on the death of our friends, almost 
 as if we were not to die, as if we had a lease of life. Yet how soon 
 will we follow them ! Even now Emory has saluted Caldwell, and 
 soon both of them will salute tis, if we are faithful to our calling as 
 they were. The world seems worthless indeed, in view of these ver- 
 
236 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ities ; what it offers seems all shadow and uncertainty, in comparison 
 with the certainty of death, and of the life beyond. So, when my 
 last reached you your dear husband was gone ! 
 
 But I hardly know what I am writing, or whether what I write 
 will do you any good. Yet I know it will. I would that I could see 
 you in this hour of sadness and darkness. Your Saviour, however, 
 is with you. He will one day clear up all this darkness, and banish 
 all this sadness. Within that blessed home of the just all is light, 
 and peace, and joy for evermore. 
 
 I shall leave here on Monday or Tuesday for home. Until I get 
 there, I fear, I shall not hear all the particulars which I am so anx- 
 ious to learn. God will bless and care for you, I am sure ; his ten- 
 der mercies will abundantly abound to you in your day of bereave- 
 ment. He can comfort you, and he alone can. Return soon to 
 your Carlisle home ; it will be better for you and for Rosa. God 
 bless you, my dear friend, and be assured of my deepest sympathy 
 and affection. 
 
 Mrs. E. C. Caldwell. 
 
 II. 
 
 ApHl 30, 1849. 
 
 Are you at work yet ? Would it not do you good to run away for 
 a little while ? I have bought a house in Jersey City, and shall move 
 into it in a day or two. There will always be a room for you. Come 
 and stay with me days or weeks. It will do you good — I know it 
 will me. 
 
 Our April "Review" has received great commendation — your 
 articles especially. I think the number throughout a very good one. 
 I could make a more learned journal much more readily with the 
 contributors I have engaged — but that is not what is wanted. 
 
 Eev. T. V. Moore, Richmond, Va. 
 
 III. 
 
 New Toek, September 9, 1851. 
 
 Few things in the course of my life have so much affected me as 
 the death of your husband and my friend. If any thing could add 
 poignancy to such a grief, it is that I was far away, and not even 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 237 
 
 cognizant of his danger, until the terrible news came that he was 
 dead. How quickly would I have obeyed his summons, had it only 
 reached me ! 
 
 I should have written to you sooner, but I could never bring my- 
 self to do it, though I have often sat down for the purpose. What 
 words to use I could not find — words that should express my own 
 feelings, and that should be fitting words to say to you at such a 
 time — and I cannot find them now. I cannot yet realize his loss. I 
 cannot but think that I shall look again into those benignant eyes, 
 and hear again that voice which I never heard save in tones of ten- 
 derness and kindness. 
 
 If I have had any thing to be proud of in late years, it was in that 
 I had a place in your husband's list of friends. If I had any thing to 
 joy in, it was in loving discourse with him. Ah ! if I had only 
 known how soon this pride and joy should end — end, I mean, for 
 this earthly life — how I would have grasped eagerly at every oppor- 
 tunity of seeing and hearing him. 
 
 May God bless you and your boy with all temporal and spiritual 
 blessings in Christ Jesus ! 
 
 Most sincerely, your faithful friend. 
 
 Mrs. Julia M. Olin. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Jersey Citt, December 20, 1851. 
 It would have been, indeed, a great inducement to go to Middle- 
 town — the thought that we might have you again for a neighbor. 
 But there were other reasons why I should have been glad to go : 
 college life suits my tastes and habits better than any other ; the 
 work is just the kind of work I like ; the post is one of high honor 
 and usefulness ; and Vv^e should have had a pleasant and fixed home 
 in that most beautiful city, with good society all about us. But in 
 spite of all these attractions, I was forced at last to come to the con- 
 clusion that my health would not endure the work, its confinement, 
 its responsibilities, etc., and on this account I gave it up. I had a 
 letter from Professor Allen yesterday, asking me if I would not con- 
 sent to take the presidency at Dickinson, but I wrote him at once 
 
238 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 that I could not think of it. Indeed, I should greatly prefer a quiet 
 home in some country village, with my books around me, to any 
 public employment ; but the Church seems to want me in my pres- 
 ent post, and I can do the work, I find, without injury to my health. 
 So that, as long as the Church wishes to keep me here, I shall re- 
 main. 
 
 We shall remain in our present abode till about April 15, when we 
 must break up here. We expect to get a house in New Brunswick, 
 but it will not be ready for us until August or September, and we 
 shall therefore have to board in New Brunswick during the summer. 
 Can't you come to see us before we break up ? You do not know 
 how much pleasure it would give us to see you. 
 
 Mrs. R. C. Caldwell. 
 
 V. 
 
 Jeeset City, Jpril 18, 1852. 
 
 Will you come to see us ? We have taken a snug little domicile at 
 New Brunswick, just opposite the college building, which you may 
 have noticed in passing to New York — ^just three hours ride from 
 Philadelphia, and one from New York — the most convenient stop- 
 ping-place in the world, where I shall be delighted to see you, and 
 Kate will be delighted to see /icr, and we shall do^/i be delighted to 
 see you do^/t. So, when will it be ? and when shall we expect you ? 
 Our own movements are planned as follows : we remove from here 
 to New Brunswick the week before the first of May, but shall not 
 commence housekeeping at that time, as I have to spend the month 
 of May at our General Conference in Boston, and we shall go there, 
 bag and baggage, to board during that time. Early in June (D. V.) 
 we shall settle ourselves at home in New Brunswick, and be ready 
 and glad to welcome you and yours. I say (D. V.) with regard to 
 our plans, and may use the formula with special propriety just now, 
 for my little darling Augusta lies ill of a fever, and her continued ill- 
 ness may disturb all our arrangements. 
 
 How I should love to see and know your noble-minded friends ! 
 These things give us some conception of what human nature might 
 be — nay, I suppose in God's mercy these higher spirits are intended 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 239 
 
 to keep our hearts from sinking utterly as we see more and more of 
 the baseness and depravity of the race in general. Robert Emory 
 gave me a higher idea of the capabilities of humanity than I should 
 ever have reached without some such visible embodiment of the 
 marvelous power of goodness, inwrought by the Divine Spirit, in this 
 wretched nature of ours. You are a happy man, with such friends 
 and such prospects. Forgive me for saying that I think you deserve 
 them, so far as I might say such a thing truthfully of any man. That 
 you could not leave Richmond under present circumstances I can 
 readily imagine — that you ought not, I am about as well satisfied. 
 The lines have indeed " fallen unto you in pleasant places ; " but with 
 love, and prayer, and faith, that need not be a snare. Sometimes I 
 wonder whether it is right for us to enjoy ourselves so much in this 
 world, so full of woe and wickedness as it is, and feel as if Christ 
 needs us to disburden ourselves, and gird ourselves like Xavier, to 
 work intensely for him, and then die. But, after all, Christianity is 
 needed for salt and leaven to the every-day life of man, and unless 
 our whole modern system of society is false and rotten, we are bound 
 to take our places in it, and Jielp, so far as He may give us power, 
 to purify it. My own physical incapacity is often a sore trial to me 
 when I see so much to be done, and feel so anxious to take an active 
 part in the fray — but then again He can do without me, or can use 
 me, weak and worthless as I am, and I am content. His blessed 
 will be done. 
 Kev. T. Y. Moore. 
 
240 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1852-1857. 
 
 Strong Desire of Dr. ^rClintock for Quiet and Eest— Removal to New Brunswick, and 
 thence to Carlisle— Great Enjoyment of his Hural Home— His Manner of Life — Estimate of 
 Ck)ngreffationalism— Trip to Europe in the Summer of 1S54— Letters to his Children— Com- 
 plaints of the Abstruseness of the Quarterly Review "-His Replies— Reply to Joseph R. 
 Chandler on the Temporal Power of the Pope— 0(Fered the Presidency of Troy University 
 — The Methodist Deputation from Ireland — General Conference of 1S56 — Excitement in the 
 country in relation to Slavery — Effect upon the Church— Dr. M'Clintock and the Baltimore 
 Conference — His Intended New "Chapter'" on Slavery — Close of his Connection with the 
 " Quarterly Ee\iew — Letters. 
 
 HE longing for rest, so often repeated in Dr. M'Clin- 
 
 tock's correspondence, appears, at first sight, incon- 
 sistent with his eagerness for work. His character had, 
 in this respect, two sides, as is perhaps true of every man 
 of energetic temper. To have a hand in every move- 
 ment and a word in every debate was as natural to him 
 as to breathe. His clear insight of the merits of public 
 questions, and his warm interest in them, gave him both 
 reason and motive for the expression of his opinions. 
 Yet he relished equally well the quiet of student life. 
 As much as he enjoyed the advantages which official posi- 
 tion brought him, he chafed under its burdens, its wear 
 of nerve and patience, its many, and to him profitless, 
 details. Then, again, his method of work necessitated a 
 frequent abstinence from labor. He plunged into his 
 h'terary and other undertakings with an eagerness which 
 before long exhausted his vital force, and compelled him 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 241 
 
 to desist. His friends repeatedly urged him to spare 
 himself, and to moderate his excessive industry. You 
 ought," wrote Dr. Olin to him, in all good conscience, 
 to be in bed before eleven o'clock, and to get up not 
 later than six. You would then, I think, soon be well. 
 Don't work too hard. Study not more than six hours. 
 It will make you wiser than your generation, which you 
 may thus live to serve. Why shouldest thou destroy 
 thyself?" 
 
 And so it came, from the frequent reactions which set 
 in after strenuous exertion, and from his strong love of 
 home and its comforts, that during all his years there 
 was ever before his imagination the vision of a restful 
 life, free from all public responsibility and care. Time 
 and again he tried to realize his ideal ; succeeded for a 
 short period, and then broke up his quarters to accept 
 official position again. The modest home which he oc- 
 cupied during his first residence in Carlisle he improved 
 and adorned to the extent of his means. " We intend," 
 he wrote to his wife's brother, in 1843, " to make divers 
 improvements and alterations for the increase of our 
 comfort. We cut a door through the parlor into the 
 garden, and put a little porch and arbor there for sum- 
 mer evenings ; we put a paling fence in front of the side 
 lot, where the ugly board fence now is ; and, finally, we 
 erect a pretty portico at the front door." A porch, if he 
 could so have it, broad and long enough for exercise, and 
 an arbor for summer evenings, were always elements of 
 his pictures of home. 
 
 After his re-el action to the editorship of the Quar- 
 16 
 
242 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 terly Review/' in 1852, he removed to New Brunswick, 
 N. J., in order to escape the bustle and excitement of 
 the city. His own health and that of his wife being 
 wretched there, he removed once more, in the spring of 
 1853, to Carlisle. Here he purchased, for a moderate 
 price, a beautiful house on the edge of the town, with 
 ample spaces in front and rear. A wing was added for a 
 library, and before many months he had all the appoint- 
 ments of the place suitably adjusted for the life of an 
 editor, student, and amateur cultivator of the soil. He 
 did not need ten acres" to make him enough ; a little 
 more than one amply sufficed. 
 
 Having now the opportunity, he soon gathered about 
 him, and at no excessive cost, the elements of a delight- 
 ful home. In his student habits here, as every-where, 
 there was nothing of monastic seclusion. It would have 
 been impossible for him to shut himself up in his library, 
 and, turning the key, surrender himself in solitude to his 
 books and manuscripts. The library was the centre of 
 the house, from which light and cheerfulness radiated in 
 every direction. On the front it looked out through the 
 trees upon the South Mountain, and afforded the eye in 
 summer a soft and pleasing landscape. In the winter an 
 open fire burned in the grate, a perpetual invitation to 
 all comers to gather about the hearth-stone. The books 
 filled the shelves and overflowed upon tables and chance 
 resting-places. They were well arranged, however, yet 
 not set up in stiff, stately rows, as if forever on a dress 
 parade. The instinct of their owner brought those most 
 required well about him, and so disposed them that they 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 243 
 
 were suggestive of free and loving companionship. The 
 fresh, new books — those one most wanted to see — the 
 magazines in their earhest fragrance, and, with the dew 
 of the press still upon them, were always there. Work 
 was with Dr. M'Clintock eminently social. He pre- 
 ferred to have some one of the family sitting by the 
 fire and reading while he wrote at his desk. If that 
 could not be, he would, when wearied, take a few min- 
 utes for a chat and a laugh, and then return to his tasks 
 again. 
 
 In this new home he could indulge to the full his per- 
 sonal tastes. He was the soul of hospitality, and, except 
 when sickness forbade, was rarely without invited guests. 
 He was continually planning to have the friends whose 
 companionship he enjoyed to visit him, and in his fre- 
 quent excursions would take them in his way, and renew 
 his personal intercourse with them at their homes. His 
 house was one in which something was always going on, 
 and the going on very enjoyable. He made it a point of 
 principle to shun a stupid, humdrum way of living, and 
 would quote Goethe's counsel, not to let a day pass with- 
 out refreshing one's self with a little bit of poetry or a 
 simple song. Wherever he might be he attracted society 
 to him. Young and old, the well read and the scantily 
 read, alike felt the power of his geniality. To young 
 persons especially he was very delightful, opening in their 
 minds a new sense of the charm of learning, and giving 
 them, in the most unaffected manner, valuable hints for 
 the carrying forward of their culture. He corresponded 
 much with younger men, and would take the utmost 
 
244 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 pains to help them when troubled with the hard ques- 
 tions of metaphysics or theology. Correspondence is 
 with some scholars a laborious duty, at best an interrup- 
 tion of their cherished occupations ; with Dr. M'Clintock 
 it was one of the chief pleasures of life, and was so man- 
 aged by him as greatly to extend his influence and power 
 as a public man. 
 
 In the by-play which he provided for himself in this 
 Carlisle home, he was as enthusiastic as in his more seri- 
 ous pursuits. His chickens, if not the finest the sun 
 ever shone upon, were at least extraordinary chickens ; 
 his horses had most, if not all, the virtues that could be 
 engrafted upon horse character. His delight in nature, 
 and in the creatures that serve human wants, was very 
 beautiful. It was a thousand pities that he had not dur- 
 ing all his working years, like Arnold of Rugby, a quiet 
 retreat where he could at times have reheved himself of 
 the strain of labor, and found rest in a change of inter- 
 ests and cares. 
 
 Left to himself, and without out-door occupations to 
 tempt him to active exercise. Dr. M'Clintock was too 
 much inclined to sedentary habits. He took little pleas- 
 ure in bodily activity for its own sake. A tramp in the 
 nipping, frosty air — a wrestle with the driving north-west 
 wind, or a mountain climb — had no attractions for him. 
 He could speak very prettily of "the soughing" of the 
 winds of the valley as they whirled about the house, 
 but preferred to listen to it from the inside, with his 
 feet well up to the fire. In the earlier years of his Car- 
 lisle life he did something at gunning, and was quite 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 245 
 
 proud of his practice as a marksman ; but gave it up in 
 later years. Of fishing he was never very fond. He was, 
 however, a capital sailor, and on the sea was supremely 
 happy. The ocean air was for him the best of tonics, 
 and relieved him at once of his bodily ills. But he could 
 not always be on the sea ; there remained for him, there- 
 fore, only such activities as grew out of the half-rural 
 life which he established for himself during his second 
 residence in Carlisle, and elsewhere. 
 
 July 10, 1S52. 
 
 My New Brunswick home, simple as it is, seems very pleasant to 
 me on my first return to it. It is very warm out of doors, but the 
 air comes cool through the trees into the windows of my study. 
 Kate sits near me on one side, sewing away for dear hfe, and 
 Augusta on the other reading Tom Hood. Am I not happily sur- 
 rounded ? I wish most heartily that you were here to make up the 
 quartette. But we cannot have all our wishes gratified in this life ; 
 and so many of mine are filled to my heart's content, that I should 
 be base indeed were I not happy and at ease. And so I thank God 
 continually for 
 
 " Hope and health, 
 For peace within and cahn around, 
 And the content, surpassing wealth," 
 
 which can only spring, even amid the most propitious worldly cir- 
 cumstances, from right relations to God and an humble trust in 
 Christ, the only source of certain happiness. I trust that you are 
 continually drawing fresh supplies of joy and peace and comfort from 
 this perennial fountain ; that your Christian life is growing contin- 
 ually, and that your hold upon Christ is becoming stronger and 
 stronger all the time. You can find joy, as I have said, nowhere 
 else ; but when you have this, all the joys and pleasures of life 
 are transfigured by it — made sweeter, purer, more elevated, and 
 permanent. 
 
246 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 New Beo'Swick, Xot. 22, 1S52. 
 
 I didn't go to the Boston wedding because I could not get away. 
 Certainly I shall not go to Boston without running out to Andover. 
 if it be only for an hour, unless I can't help myself. I have not left 
 home since you were here, except spending one Sunday in New 
 York, where I had to preach, and one night in Newark, where I 
 gave my old lecture on " Truth." 
 
 There are many books you ought to read with Edwards, Tappan, 
 and Bledsoe. My health since you left has been about as usual — 
 admitting of about half work, and that not the hardest kind of work. 
 I don't know that I shall ever be good for much again ; but I am not 
 at all disposed to repine. I am thankful for a multitude of blessings. 
 We have nearly decided to remove to Bergen in the spring, where we 
 are building two cottages together, which, if I go there, will be thrown 
 into one, making a very commodious abode. But we don't drive the 
 pegs ver)' deep in fixing our plans, for they are liable to be unsettled 
 at any moment. Indeed, with such a state of health as mine, one 
 does not feel much inclined to lay plans for the future, anyhow. 
 
 I get more and more out of patience with Calvinism every day. 
 Paul's doctrine of grace and election extends the sphere of Christ's 
 love as much as possible ; Calvin limits it as much as possible. 
 But I don't want to write or think about this matter. Study it 
 just as much as you please, but hold fast your sound faith, and 
 never become a necessitarian. 
 
 New Bkttsswick, Dec. 8, 1S52. 
 "Literary men rarely gladden the hearth-stone!" My doom is 
 settled then, and I am not among the class of "better brothers," for 
 a gladder hearth circle than that which gathers nightly around our 
 coal-stove (!) in the front parlor it would be hard to find. There is, 
 first, myself, (I put the aged in front,) of whom I will say nothing, 
 for you will have it, let me say what I will, that I am sulky and 
 crabbed, like all mere book-worms. Next comes Kate, who asserts 
 roundly that you're a slanderer, and that " literary men " can glad- 
 den the hearth-stone. Next appears Maggie, my youngest sister, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 247 
 
 whom you would like exceedingly, I am sure, and who is prepared to 
 like you wonderfully. My boy comes next on the stage — a noble 
 little fellow of twelve ; but the charm of the house is my daughter 
 Augusta, of eight, a veritable little angel. Then Kate had two little 
 ones before I caught her. And we get on as happily as the day 
 all the time. 
 
 To Moncure D. Conway, at Cambridge. 
 
 New Brunswick, March 11, lSo3. 
 
 I had heard of your going to Cambridge, and was gladdened by 
 the receipt of your note yesterday. Believe me that I shall always 
 take a deep interest in your progress, and that I have the utmost 
 confidence in your integrity. 
 
 You camiot " be secure from the influences of men in pressing 
 toward a firm faith." God does not mean that we should be thus 
 independent of each other. The longer you live, the truer you will 
 find this. If you will let me know the special line of study on which 
 you propose to enter, I can speak more confidently about books, and 
 will gladly say any thing I know to you. 
 
 Carlisle, Jant 22, 1S53. 
 
 There has been, and is yet, a vast deal of out-door work to do in 
 getting the place in order. I am up before six, and do as much out- 
 door work as possible before the heats come on. Then I retire into 
 my library, which is entirely sheltered from the morning sun, and if 
 I have any vim left, spend it at work. My health is vastly better 
 than it was ; indeed, I begun to think my head very nearly well ; but 
 in setting up my books, though the most of the work was done by 
 Mr. Stayman, I hurt myself, and it has taken me ten days to get 
 over it. 
 
 To the Rev. W. H. Mzlbtirn. 
 
 August 9, 1851. 
 
 In May we moved bag and baggage to Carlisle, where we pur- 
 chased the house formerly occupied by Professor Allen, at the ex- 
 
248 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 treme west end. We have a very commodious home, an acre of 
 ground finely planted with shrubs and fruit-trees, a good horse and 
 carriage, a very milky cow, a lot of immense Bramah fowls, and, to 
 crown all, a big black-haired baby girl. This last feature is about 
 five weeks old, and does credit to her breeding, as all young babies 
 in some strange way do. I spend about three hours a day in my 
 librar}% the rest of the time in walking, chatting, riding, working in 
 the garden, superintending chickens, etc. — all which avocations are 
 very agreeable, at least as long as the novelty of the thing lasts. So 
 you see we are almost as rural as you are yourselves. Tell your 
 wife that chickens worth only five dollars a piece are no fowls at all. 
 I have a rooster and four hens worth one hundred and twenty dol- 
 lars. Poor ! How unhappy she must be with such little bits 
 
 of fowls ! 
 
 To Mrs. R. C. Caldwell. 
 
 May 14, 1S53. 
 
 The bell is just ringing for afternoon worship. I attended this 
 morning ; once a day is as often as I can go to church with 
 safety. Yet my health is very much better than it has been ; indeed, 
 better, I think, than it has been for five years. The out-door life is 
 ever)^ thing for me ; and I have far greater inducements to go out 
 now than I have ever had before. I am becoming quite a gardener, 
 spending two hours often at a time at work among the flowers and 
 vegetables. Early in the spring I could only stoop a little at a time, 
 and then it caused dizziness ; now I spend any length of time at 
 light work with pleasure and profit. Our garden is in good trim — 
 cherries are pretty large, strawberries getting form, trees all clad in 
 the fullest leaf, and the promise of a rich result in all things. Yet 
 it has been with us, as wdth you, a very backward spring. The bell 
 has ceased, and they have gone into chapel. We have preaching 
 there twice a day. I wish you could worship with us. The chapel 
 is newly painted, and is very clean and sweet. We have an excel- 
 lent choir, and a very fine toned melodeon ; and we sing with the 
 spirit and the understanding also. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 249 
 
 To a Divinity Student at Andover. 
 
 Januai-y 22, 1854. 
 
 Congregationalism offers you an appearance of freedom and set- 
 tled pastorate, and a comfortable support. These points are all in 
 its favor. But it has so many disadvantages that I think nothing 
 could bring me to throw in my fortunes with it but a necessity of 
 making myself comfortable before all things. Its lack of organiza- 
 tion, its oyster-like isolation, its incapacity for aggressive movements, 
 except at the expense of its fundamental principle — all these are 
 against it. It is at best a provisional and transition system, fitted 
 only to anarchical times and ungovernable men. Utterly unscien- 
 tific in its form, it has no bottom on which to rest, but the very rest- 
 lessness of men's minds. Any Church which has even an attempt 
 at organization is for me to be preferred to this. On the other 
 hand, it is a great attraction to Methodism that she is so highly or- 
 ganized, and therefore so vital. Whether her organization is to be 
 permanent is a question ; but even if provisional, it is a step toward 
 the Church of the future. A Congregationalist has an influence, but 
 a perso7ial one : a Methodist minister has the weight of the whole 
 body to sustain him. That the latter is a more Christian idea than 
 the former, it seems to me no one can read the New Testament and 
 doubt. But to particulars as touched on in your letter : I think it 
 certain that Methodism will adapt herself to the wants of the times 
 in her itinerancy, etc. Regarding her organism as a living one 
 I cannot doubt this. But it is clear that the time has not yet 
 come. 
 
 There is so vast a field for itinerant labors in the territories opening 
 upon us in the West, that no scheme can be broached yet which would 
 even tend to withdrav/ us from the gigantic work to which the age 
 calls us, and which we are striving with no small success to perform. 
 But this is a fast age. I should not wonder to see our itinerancy 
 modified in ten years. In the mean time we are doing an immense 
 work in educating our people. I suppose there are more boys and 
 girls in Methodist schools in America than in those of any other de- 
 
250 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 nomination. We want, and shall want, capable teachers and pro- 
 fessors, editors, etc. 
 
 To J. aC. Paris, , _ ^ ^ 
 
 June 28, 1854. 
 
 We are to be drenched with Comte here, by the circulation of 
 Lewes's Abstract and Miss Martineau's Version of the Phil. Positive. 
 You will smile and sneer when I tell you that I expect to see you 
 live long enough to recognize a world of philosophy and religion be- 
 yond Positivism. It is too intensely subjective a system (an odd and 
 absurd criticism you may now say) to hold a mind like yours. And 
 worse, it is an arbitrary subjectivism, voluntarily restricting human 
 thought to the little world of man, and the globe he inhabits. Al- 
 ready you combine with it, as Comte did before you, a metaphysical 
 entity, which you call humanity ; by and by you will get back to a 
 theological view of some kind. Endless vibration — the course of the 
 individual mind, as of humanity. It was Leibnitz who said that na- 
 ture is but the horologe of God. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. T. O. Siumners. 
 
 March 10, 1S54. 
 
 It will give me very great pleasure, indeed, to receive your vol- 
 umes ; indeed, I think you to blame for not sending them sooner. 
 There is no reason in the world why the books issued from your end 
 of our camp should be kept from our people. But we seldom see 
 them unless we send an order and buy them, which is, you know, 
 the last of editorial movements. 
 
 Your report in the " Southern Christian Advocate " gave me infi- 
 nite gratification. We must take on the character of a Church, or 
 we shall inevitably go to pieces in a generation or two. No church 
 life can be kept up without baptism and its necessary results. 
 
 In the summer of 1854 our friend made a second 
 voyage to Europe in search of health. His wife, sister, 
 and brother-in-law were of the party. The trip took 
 in England, France, Germany, and Switzerland ; by 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 251 
 
 September the travellers returned mended up and in 
 high spirits. 
 
 To his Son, Emory M' Clintock. 
 
 STEAiizE Asia, Jane 22, 1S54. 
 
 By looking at the map you will see exactly where we are just now ; 
 but as I have not any child at hand to take this letter to the post-office 
 to-day, it will have to wait until we get to Liverpool to be put into 
 the mail. We have had thus far a very pleasant passage, too pleas- 
 ant, indeed, at first, as it did not make any of our party sea-sick ; 
 and when it did get rough we were all too good sailors to be affected 
 by it. Mother and Atta were a little bit qualmish, but that was all. 
 To-day the swell is very great, and the ship rocks to and fro like a 
 drunken man ; but the ladies are on deck walking about and enjoying 
 the fine breeze and the beautiful sight of the ocean. It is not easy to 
 write in such a commotion as this, but it is harder still to shave. 
 The captain and officers of the ship have been perfectly polite and 
 kind, and we have had good, solid English fare all the way. 
 
 Our passengers are mostly English, Canadians, and Frenchmen— 
 ver}- few Americans among them. 
 
 To his Son, Emory Clintock. 
 
 Paris, July 5, 1354. 
 
 I have wished for your company often enough since we left home, 
 but I suppose you would have enjoyed yesterday and to-day with us 
 as much as any we have had, if not more. We left Dieppe at half- 
 past seven yesterday, and reached Rouen at half-past eight. We 
 visited all the chief places of interest in Rouen — the Cathedral of 
 Notre Dame, St. Ouen, and St. Maclon. These are all very old 
 churches, but St. Ouen is one of the finest specimens of Gothic archi- 
 tecture in Europe. The interior is four hundred and forty-three feet 
 long, and perfect throughout, notwithstanding the fact that in the revo- 
 lution of '93 it was used for a cavalry barracks and for a blacksmith's 
 forge, the marks of which can still be seen. Adjoining it is a beau- 
 tiful city hall, formerly a monastery, with a beautiful garden ; but 
 Napoleon turned the monks out and made the house into a town- 
 
252 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 hall, and gave the garden to the public. We also went to the old 
 palace of the duke of Bedford, where Joan of Arc was tried, and saw 
 the very spot on which she was burned to death. Altogether Rouen 
 is one of the most curious places we have ever seen. Leaving it at 
 two o'clock we reached Paris at five, and took up our old lodging at 
 Madame Josephs. But I must now stop and bid you good-by, com- 
 mending you to the care of our heavenly Father. 
 
 To his Datighier Augusta. 
 
 IIeidelbeeg, Jidy 18, 1854. 
 
 I wrote to Emory last from Frankfort, and hope it came duly to 
 hand. We left Frankfort at five yesterday afternoon and had a 
 lovely ride along the Bergstrasse through Darmstadt to this beau- 
 tiful town. W^e got here at eight o'clock, tired and hungry enough. 
 We ordered tea for four, and they soon brought us a lot of nice 
 rolls of bread, eggs, hot water, and tea. Atta made the tea, as she 
 always has to do. They bring you green and black tea in canis- 
 ters, and a bright kettle of hot water with a lamp under it, and you 
 make the tea to suit yourself. We slept very soundly and had a 
 hearty appetite for breakfast at half-past eight this morning. We 
 then had a nice two-horse carriage, with falling top (costs fifty cents 
 an hour) for us four. Our carriage took us through the beautiful 
 town, first up the river to the Wolfsh'imiteii, four miles. 
 
 The Wolfsbrunnen is a fountain, so called because, according to 
 an old legend, a young lady was once torn to pieces there by a wolf. 
 It is one of the loveliest spots you ever saw. They have several little 
 lakes containing trout, and when visitors go they throw little fishes in 
 for the trout to leap at. The trout are very large, some of them weigh- 
 ing as much as ten pounds. We then went up to the old castle of 
 Heidelberg, the largest ruined castle in the world, and formerly one 
 of the most splendid in the world, also. It has been often bombarded, 
 but its final fall was accomplished in i688, by the French, under 
 Melac, who blew up the strongest towers and destroyed the whole 
 castle as far as they could. One of the walls is twenty feet thick, 
 and yet they blew it down. We bought some flowers from a nice 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 *253 
 
 little girl there ; I picked a good many more, which we will try to 
 press and bring home with us. It was high time for dinner when 
 we got to the hotel. The courses were, i. soup ; 2. boiled beef; 
 3. fish ; 4. roast beef with potatoes ; 5. mutton chops with cauli- 
 flower ; 6. pudding cakes ; 7. veal cutlet with beans ; 8. wild turkey ; 
 9. ducks and chickens, with apple sauce ; 10. cakes of various kinds, 
 with confectionery; 11. fruits; and some, I think, I have left out. 
 
 This is the kind of dinner they usually give at a German hotel for 
 fifty cents. After dinner we rested about an hour, and then Atta 
 and I went down town and did some shopping to hunt little pictures 
 of Heidelberg, which we found very nicely. To-morrow we expect 
 to go to Stuttgart, and the next day to Munich, if mother is able to 
 travel so far by railway ; if not, we shall stop all night at Augsburgh, 
 or, perhaps, at Ulm. 
 
 To his Soft, Emory M'Clintock. 
 
 LvcERUE, July so, 1854. 
 
 We spent our time very pleasantly at Munich, though the weather 
 was very hot — hot, at least, for this country, though probably not so 
 hot as you have had it at home. The king of Wurtemberg trod upon 
 our heels again, as he came to our hotel (the Golden Lion) and stayed 
 there nearly as long as we did. We had a very fine carriage and 
 horses hired on Saturday, but he had the impudence to hire them 
 for every day after, so that we had them no more. We visited all the 
 principal sights of Munich, of which you have pictures in a little port- 
 folio in the parlor, and you can look them over, and imagine us look- 
 ing at them. We left Munich on Tuesday 25th, and reached Augs- 
 burgh in four hours. There we stayed again at the " Three Moons," 
 but did not get the Napoleon chamber again, as it was taken. But 
 we had rooms, each of which was nearly as large as the college 
 chapel. 
 
 Next morning we came to Lindau, where we took the steamer 
 for Constance, reaching that town at half-past five in the evening. 
 There we saw the council hall in which the Council of Constance 
 sat in 1414-18, when John Huss was condemned. We also visited 
 
254* LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the church in which sentence was pronounced on him, and the stone 
 on which he stood to be sentenced, the cage in which he was impris- 
 oned, and the spot outside of the town at which he was burned. On 
 the whole, it was one of the most interesting spots I have visited. 
 On the next day we came in a carriage to Zurich, a verj^ delightful 
 journey. Here we engaged two carriages for the journey through 
 Switzerland at twenty-five francs a day each carriage. We left Zu- 
 rich at eight on Friday, and stopped at Cappel to see Zwingle's 
 monument, erected on the very spot where Zwingle was killed. If 
 you don't remember the history of Huss and of Zwingle, you had 
 better read it up in the little Sunday-school histories of them, or in 
 the " Encyclopedia Americana." We stopped at Goldau to dine, and 
 then went up Mount Righi. All of us were on horseback except 
 mother, who was carried up by four men in a big chair. Mag and 
 mother went down the mountain in the same way. You would have 
 laughed to see them carr>' " lady-to-London " fashion. It took three 
 hours and a half to go up the mountain, and two and a half to come 
 down, and very tiresome work at that. 
 
 The thoroughness and conscientiousness of his editorial 
 work were greatly commended, but there was a difference 
 of opinion in relation to his theory of the conduct of the 
 ^' Review." Correspondents wrote to him that it was not 
 
 popular enough ; " his official directors, the Book Com- 
 mittee, advised him that it was ''not sufficiently adapted 
 to the practical and utilitarian tastes of the people." 
 They requested him to change its character accordingly. 
 To all such objections he replied invariably that he was 
 not appointed to edit a magazine, or a newspaper; that 
 it was his duty to present to his readers a sound Chris- 
 tian judgment upon the life-questions of the age ; and 
 that the ''Quarterly" had a distinct work before it as 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 •255 
 
 an educator, especially of the rising ministry. In a cir- 
 cular which he sent to the Conferences in 1855, he said 
 to the preachers : " Were my judgment convinced, I 
 should at once alter the plan on which I have heretofore 
 conducted the 'Review;' cut out its foreign Literary In- 
 telligence, refuse all profound discussions of metaphysical 
 and other learned subjects, and fill it with biographical 
 articles and papers on fugitive topics. Such a course 
 would save me much expenditure of thought, time, and 
 labor. But I cannot do this with a good conscience." 
 The best evidence of the correctness of his decision is to 
 be found in the fact, that since 1856 — the year when his 
 editorship closed — the Quarterly" has been conducted 
 on the same general principles which he conscientiously 
 followed. 
 
 To a Critic of the " Quarterly y 
 
 Carlisle, MayW. 1S51. 
 I thank you cordially for your kind expressions with regard to the 
 " Quarterly," and lor your hints in regard to its management. You 
 must remember, however, that if you have no metaphysical turn, 
 others have, and that I must meet their wants. The cultivated 
 young men of our colleges and of the Church will meet with these 
 new forms of speculation inevitably, and it would be very unwise in 
 us to ignore them. The very highest commendations, and from the 
 highest sources, which the " Review " has received under my man- 
 agement, have been given to the ver}' articles which you condemn. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. A. A. Lipscomb. 
 
 Carlisle, Oct. 5, 1S54. 
 I think you will find some points well put in Mr. Mercein's book 
 which are commonly slurred over. The Unitarian \iew of human 
 nature is held unconsciously by many non-Unitarians who cannot 
 
256 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 reconcile the doctrine of depravity with the high virtue of many un- 
 converted men. Strong and dogmatic assertions wont beat down 
 such a view as this. The novelty and excellence of Mr. M.'s book 
 is, that it shows the necessity of precisely this state of things in 
 order to give probation to such a nature ; and that the natural vir- 
 tues and culture which present so strong an objection are, in fact, 
 part of the plan of redemption to reach the depraved soul. I don't 
 remember to have seen this point stated and maintained elsewhere. 
 I have ventured to call your attention to these points, as I would 
 be glad to have the book, as well as the subject, brought strongly to 
 the notice of our preachers, who generally need to be led off in judg- 
 ing any new line of thinking. 
 
 In the year 1855 the question of the papacy and mod- 
 ern civilization was before the country, the question 
 which has since grown to be the most important of our 
 time. It was not so well understood then as now. Mr. 
 Joseph R. Chandler, one of the representatives in Con- 
 gress of the city of Philadelphia, delivered a speech in 
 which he denied that the popes have claimed authority 
 over civil rulers as of divine right. He fell into the error 
 of taking the Galilean view of the powers of the papacy 
 as the accepted doctrine of the Church. Dr. M'Clintock 
 replied to him in a spirited letter, published in the 
 " Evening Bulletin " of Philadelphia, which was after- 
 ward expanded into a volume. It was very easy for him 
 to show that the Ultramontane theory of papal power 
 was alone recognized in Rome, and that liberal Catholi- 
 cism had no standing whatever in the pope's councils. 
 Since then the antagonism between Romanism and 
 the modern world has become more pronounced, and 
 the famous syllabus of errors has been issued — a no- 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 257 
 
 tice served upon the nations of Christendom that no 
 compromise is to be expected. Here, again, Dr. M'Qin- 
 tock led the way as pioneer in a field of discussion which 
 has now many occupants. His scholarly exposition of 
 the Ultramontane theory of the relations of the Church 
 to the State is just as available for use in the great con- 
 troversy to-day as it was more than twenty years ago. 
 
 In the same year Dr. M'Clintock was elected President 
 of Troy University, which had just been organized by 
 the enterprising Methodists of the interior of the State 
 of New York. In reply to the notice of election, he 
 wrote to the Board of Trustees : " I cannot signify an 
 unconditional acceptance. The state of my health, at 
 present, is such that I could not now discharge the du- 
 ties of the office, and I would not do either the Board 
 or myself the injustice of assuming duties so important 
 and so responsible without a reasonable prospect of 
 being able to perform them faithfully." He continued 
 his connection with the University for several years, but 
 without residence. A very superior Faculty was elected, 
 and some good educational work done, but, unfortunate- 
 ly, its friends lost heart, and the fine property acquired 
 passed into other hands. Dr. M'Clintock outlined a 
 very attractive plan of a complete university, but to 
 achieve it demanded time, money, and the consecration 
 of some one man's life to the task. He was neither 
 young enough, nor strong enough, nor free enough 
 from the claims of other undertakings to permit such a 
 consecration. 
 
 He took a deep interest in the success of the Irish 
 17 
 
35S LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Methodist deputation which was first sent, in 1855, to 
 the United States. The deputation had for its object 
 the securing of aid, especially from Irish Methodists in 
 America, for the building and endowment of the Wes- 
 leyan College at Belfast. Dr. M'Clintock's attachment 
 to Ireland was very strong. It was the home of his 
 father and mother, which alone was enough to make the 
 ever-green isle " dear to him. But he had strongly 
 developed in himself many of the finest traits of the race 
 from which he was descended — its warmth and steadfast- 
 ness of affection, its keen interest in life, and capacity to 
 enjoy life under all circumstances. He loved Irish Meth- 
 odism very tenderly ; his efforts to promote the objects 
 of the deputation knew no limit but the limits of his 
 strength. With its two members, the Rev. William Ar- 
 thur and the Rev. Robinson Scott, he kept up a frequent 
 correspondence in after years. Mr. Arthur was, during 
 our civil war, his faithful colaborer in spreading through 
 England right views of the nature of our controversy 
 with the South. 
 
 To the Rev. William Arthur. 
 
 Carlisle, Sept. 25, 1855. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that good foundations should be 
 laid in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, as, after all, what- 
 ever is done elsewhere will be trifling to what can be done in those 
 great cities. Pittsburgh should not be neglected. And why can you 
 not, in returning from Pittsburgh, stop here } It is on the way to 
 ■Philadelphia and Baltimore, and I am sure I can serve your mission 
 if I can get the opportunity of a talk with you about your plans. 
 
 Where shall the Baltimore people find you ? You should fix on 
 some head-quarters, to which communications could be addressed, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 259 
 
 and where you could always be got at, indirectly at least. The 
 Book Room, 200 Mulberry-street, New York, would probably be 
 the best place. 
 
 The General Conference of 1856 met in a memorable 
 year. It was, as usual, the year of the presidential elec- 
 tion, but this election was the first in which the issues 
 between the North and the South were directly drawn. 
 The attempt to establish the slave system in Kansas, as 
 a part of a general extension of slavery over new terri- 
 tory, had roused a spirit of determined resistance. In 
 the feeling which pervaded the free States Dr. M'Qin- 
 tock shared very fully. He detested slavery, and had 
 risked honor and property in helping the slave. At 
 every fit opportunity, public and private, he denounced 
 the iniquitous proceedings of the pro-slavery party. He 
 believed, however, that the Methodist ministers and peo- 
 pie in the slave States, who had adhered to our Church at 
 the time of the disruption in 1844, were entitled to tender 
 consideration. In making their election between North 
 and South they had resisted strong local influences, and 
 had proved their fidelity to ancient Methodist traditions. 
 On the other hand, the excitement which pervaded the 
 nation affected the Church — and Methodism is, of all 
 religious organizations, the quickest to be moved by the 
 surges .of popular feeling. There was a demand that 
 the Church should be put in a more decided anti-slav- 
 ery position, and this could be effected only by a rule 
 forbidding all slaveholding. Such a rule was, in process 
 of time, inevitable ; but Dr. M'Clintock was of the opin- 
 ion that in a few years the ivhole Church would be 
 
26o 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ripened for advanced legislation by the natural processes 
 of its growth. 
 
 The General Conference of this year was, therefere, un- 
 der a pressure from two opposite sides. On the one side 
 old affections, and the consideration due to a long record 
 of fidelity, pleaded for forbearance ; on the other, the de- 
 mand that the Church should stand before the world more 
 avowedly as an antislavery Church, pleaded for instant ac- 
 tion. It was felt on every hand that the whole mass and 
 weight of this great body must be hurled against slavery, 
 but the best measures for the hour were questions of ex- 
 pediency on which honest men might differ. It was the 
 purpose of Dr. M'Clintock to offer a draft of a " New 
 Chapter" on slavery, declaring that the ''general rule" 
 forbade the buying and selling of slaves, and was in its 
 spirit opposed to slaveholding, and calling on the Con- 
 ferences to inform the people accordingly. It would have 
 served, had it carried, as a ''notice to leave" for Method- 
 ists who preferred slavery to the Church, and would have 
 prepared all parties, he thought, for further action four 
 years later. It cannot be said that this was unwise 
 statesmanship. Appearing in the debate at a late hour, 
 when the wish to vote had reached the point of extreme 
 impatience, he was cut off before he could open the way 
 for offering his resolution. 
 
 With this Conference Dr. M'Clintock's connection with 
 the "Quarterly Review" closed. The Rev. Dr. D. D. 
 Whedon was elected his successor. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 261 
 
 LETTERS. 
 I. 
 
 New York, June 15, 1856. 
 
 It is a beautiful Sunday morning, and I trust you are able to enjoy 
 it. I had two committees up yesterday to ask me to take churches. 
 One, in Brooklyn, offers me $1,800 a year, and they will employ a 
 young- man to do all the work I cannot do. If it were in New York 
 I would take it, but I do not want to live in Brooklyn. Mr. Harper 
 offers me the post of literary manager of their publications, but I 
 hardly feel willing to do that as yet. They will give me $1,000 a year 
 to preach one sermon, and have no responsibility, at the new church 
 in Twenty-second-street ; and then Harpers will pay me for reading 
 for them, and I rather think that is what I will agree to. But I shall 
 not decide in haste. I am to preach this afternoon and will therefore 
 stop writing now. 
 
 Monday inorm'ng. — No time to write, except to say that I am very 
 well ; preached to an immense audience. Church in Brooklyn offers 
 me $1,800, a house, and a horse and carriage. No decision yet. 
 Mrs, Catharine W. M'Clintook. 
 
 II. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 24, 1856. 
 
 My head has been worse since my return home, and I am hardly 
 fit to do any thing at all but talk and walk the streets. I don't ex- 
 pect to be able to work for a month. It is a bad look-out for me. 
 
 Your letter was very gratifying indeed. Did you receive mine from 
 Jersey City.? (i.) Don't go to Freemont meetings foo often, or neg- 
 lect any study that should be done at night. (2.) I hope you have 
 not missed prayers, or any other duty, since you have been at Yale. 
 Such punctuality tells not only on your reputation, but also on your 
 character. If you stick to this, and then master every lesson thor- 
 oughly, your way is clear. I should be glad to see Pennsylvania win 
 the field there through you. I hope you make yourself both agree- 
 able and useful to Mrs. Daggett. (3.) Tell me whether you have 
 
262 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 any trouble about your pronunciation of Greek and Latin — whether 
 it makes any difference. 
 
 Revolutions are generally the result rather of undue conservatism 
 on the part of statesmen than of any or all other causes. Take this 
 for your text, and illustrate it by examples from history. By conserv- 
 atism I mean sticking to old usages, ideas, and laws when it is time 
 to change them ; or, as Carlyle says, trying to wear the old breeches 
 after they have become too small. 
 Mr. Emobt M'Clintock, New Haven. 
 
 in. 
 
 Philadelphia, October 26, 1856. 
 
 I am glad to find that you are getting on well with your studies. 
 Don't forget my advice to you about minute accuracy in the prepara- 
 tion of each lesson, and sboui punctual attendance on every college 
 duty. With your advantages you ought to take some of the prizes, 
 and I think you can do it. 
 
 But the greatest prize of all is that of a conscience void of offence 
 toward God and man. Keep truth and honor in all your relations to 
 your fellow-students. No morality remains when truthfulness is 
 gone. Cherish truth in the smallest statements as well as in the 
 greatest and most important. Acknowledge God in all your ways. 
 
 I am not sorry to find you concerned about the election. I feel the 
 same interest, because of the great moral question that is at stake. 
 Every man, it seems to me, of pure and noble instincts, must now 
 be prepared to take the side of civilization against barbarism, of 
 liberty against slavery. The struggle may go on for many years : 
 I hope you and I may both live to do our duty in it hke men and 
 Christians. 
 
 If Judge M'Lean had been nominated we should have carried him 
 in easily, now it will be a very hard fight. Buchanan promises to be 
 very fair if elected ; perhaps he will, but if he is, the South will try 
 to get up a revolution. God bless you, my dear boy ! 
 Mr. Emoey M'Clintock, New Haven. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1 85 7-1 860. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock as an Orator— Appointed to the Pastorate of St Paurs Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, New York — Great Success in this Position — Visits England in 1S57, with 
 Bishop Simpson, as Delegate to the Wesle}'an Conference and to the Evangelical Alliance— 
 Public Reception at the Wesleyan Mission-House — Reception at Belfast — Kiiidnoss of his 
 Irish Friends — Reception of the Members of the Evangelical Alliance by the King of 
 Prussia — The King's Attendance upon tlie Sessions of the Alliance — Entertainment of 
 Americans in Berlin by Governor Wright— Work upon the Cyclopaedia by Dr. M'Clintoek 
 —His many Plans for Literary Work — Effect of Continued Ill-health in Hindering their 
 Execution. 
 
 E have come to the period of Dr. M'Clintock's 
 
 ^ ^ life when he attained to the fulness of his power. 
 His careful culture had ripened his mind ; travel had 
 added to the stores of his information ; his well-defined 
 opinions had been tested by a large experience of life ; 
 and he now reached a position where all his resources 
 as a scholar and orator could be best used for the benefit 
 of his fellow men. Though his aptitudes were so vari- 
 ous, he had always regarded preaching as his true voca- 
 tion, and the kingdom of Christ as the one interest to 
 the advancement of which all his faculties were pledged. 
 He might and did enjoy the satisfaction which a well- 
 won reputation naturally gives, but self-regarding mo- 
 tives were kept by him in subordination to the one con- 
 straining impulse — the love of his Lord and Saviour, 
 Jesus Christ. He had consecrated himself to him to 
 
264 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 whom he owed all that he was with an entireness which 
 admitted of no divided allegiance. 
 
 That so few of his working years had been spent 
 in the pastorate was due partly to the fact that the 
 Church had called him to other duties, partly to the fact 
 that he was disabled by a frequently-recurring affection 
 of the throat, and in part to the fear that full pastoral 
 service would be too much for his strength. He had, 
 too, the student's instinctive dread of the much moving 
 to and fro which is a necessary incident of the Method- 
 ist pastorate ; he loved fixed relations, as most favorable 
 to culture, and planned to give himself all possible ad- 
 vantage in carrying forward his literary pursuits. In 
 spite of his plans, however, he made an itinerancy of his 
 own, and wandered up and down the world enough to 
 satisfy the utmost demands that could have been made 
 upon him by John Wesley himself. But whatever his 
 feelings in this regard, they were controlled by his sense 
 of his duty as a Methodist minister; he loyally accepted 
 the itinerancy, and obeyed its requisitions whenever they 
 were laid upon him. 
 
 He had a large endowment of the oratorical tempera- 
 ment. The art which is instinctive with the true orator, 
 of magnifying the subject of present interest until it fills 
 his own and his hearers' thoughts, he possessed in its 
 perfection. I have already spoken of his winning pres- 
 ence and graceful action ; but besides these he was mas- 
 ter of all the other resources of power which an orator 
 covets. A flow of speech marvellous for its accuracy and 
 finish, readiness in the use of his stores of information, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 265 
 
 sensibility and the power to kindle sensibility in others 
 — all were his. He was for many years, however, up 
 to the period on which we now enter, only an occa- 
 sional preacher. He had not, except for a brief season 
 when a young man, enjoyed the capital advantage of 
 addressing a congregation of worshippers who looked 
 chiefly to him for guidance, and whose cares, griefs, and 
 frailties were to lie as a burden upon his heart. In as- 
 suming the pastorate of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in New York, Dr. M'Clintock entered more fully 
 into the work of the Christian ministry ; and the drafts 
 made by his position upon his mind and heart were met 
 by exhibitions of eloquence which brought him at once 
 a national fame. 
 
 He was an orator, indeed, but he was more. He was 
 a student, and had the student's preference for slow elab- 
 oration of opinion, precision of statement, and rigorous 
 limitation of feeling to the just demands of the subject 
 in hand. He had his full share of the enthusiasm of the 
 closet, which is kindled by long trains of reflection, and 
 is often suspicious of the quicker and shallower enthusi- 
 asm by which masses of men are swayed. In Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock the student may have for a time held the orator in 
 check, and delayed the perfect flowering of his oratorical 
 genius. During all the years over which we have passed 
 his power as a public speaker was ripening with the 
 general ripening of his mind. In the period from 1856 
 to i860 his logic and the great resources of his learning 
 appeared to be fused in the fire of his feeling, and to 
 give him consummate power in the persuasion of men. 
 
266 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 The adv^antages of his position were very great. The 
 Mulberr>-street congregation, out of which St. Paul's 
 Church was formed, was made up of choice elements. To 
 it were added other members of high intelligence, chief- 
 ly from down-town Methodist churches, who had been 
 carried to the vicinity of St. Paul's by the upward move- 
 ment of the city's population. He was in the midst of 
 friends, many of them friends of his youth, who had fol- 
 lowed his career with affection and pride. Some of them 
 had known him as the ruddy boy-clerk in the Methodist 
 Book Room. He was now among them again, a strong, 
 matured man, tested and proved in long years of public 
 life, loved as it is the lot of few men to be loved, and as 
 genial and as affectionate as in his early days. The 
 Church was welded into unity by the necessities of an 
 important enterprise, and by the consciousness of its 
 growing power. From the laying of its foundation-stone 
 to the completion of its chaste edifice its history was a 
 record of successes. Crowds thronged to attend the 
 ministrations of the eloquent pastor, and the congrega- 
 tion committed to his care speedily took rank as one of 
 the foremost of New York in advancing the interests 
 of the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 These were happy years for Dr. M'Clintock. With con- 
 siderate thoughtfulness his people provided him with 
 an assistant, who relieved him of many of the details 
 of his duty, and divided the Sunday work with him. His 
 preaching here, as all through his ministry, was eminently 
 scriptural. He fed his people, as Jeremy Taylor exhorts, 
 
 not with husks and draff, with colocynths and gourds. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK, 
 
 267 
 
 with gay tulips and useless daffodils, but with the bread 
 of life." He heeded Jeremy Taylor's counsel in another 
 particular also, " not to let discourses to the people be 
 busy arguings about hard places of Scripture." Dr. 
 M'Clintock was too much in earnest for curious preach- 
 ing, or showy preaching, or contentious preaching, or any 
 preaching that did not set forth Christ crucified as ^' first, 
 last, and without end." His message was delivered in 
 simplicity" as well as "in godly sincerity." 
 
 The General Conference of 1856 had appointed Bishop 
 Simpson and our friend delegates to the British Wesley- 
 an Conference. The two delegates spent the summer 
 of 1857 England and on the continent; Mr. Milburn, 
 the blind preacher, accompanied them, as also did Mrs. 
 M'Clintock and quite a party of friends. Dr. M'Clintock 
 and Bishop Simpson were also delegates to the Confer- 
 ence of the Evangelical Alliance, which met in Berlin 
 in the latter part of the summer. It was not till after 
 the return from this trip that the former entered upon 
 the pastoral charge of St. Paul's. His record of this 
 summer's travel is full of variety and incident. 
 
 Steamer Ericsson, Thursday, May 21, 1857. 
 We have had a most delightful passage, winds and seas favorable 
 throughout — just enough storm once or twice to give the novices an 
 idea of what the sea can do. It is too rough now to write with com- 
 fort, as you may see by the shaky looks of the writing ; but the sky 
 is bright, and the air delicious. Kate has not been sea-sick more 
 than half an hour ; I not at all ; Emory a little for two or three days ; 
 Mr. and Mrs. Marshall and Miss Cameron have had the most of it ; 
 they have kept their berths nearly all the time, and have disdained 
 the humble food on which the rest of us feast daily with so much 
 
2C8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 delight. They nibble crackers, and chew dry toast, and mumble 
 smoked beef. Mr. Milburn has been full of fun, anecdote, and poe- 
 try, and you have rarely seen a pleasanter party than we form around 
 the cabin fire at night, telling stories, playing charades, proverbs, and 
 such like amusements suited to our age and capacity. 
 
 An unusual thing on board a steamer is, that we have prayer every 
 night at nine o'clock. First only one besides our party attended, with 
 the Captain and Mrs. Lowber ; then one by one dropped in, till now 
 we have nearly all the cabin passengers. Among them are an Irish 
 lady and her niece, Roman Catholics, and they kneel down as deco- 
 rously as any Methodist among us. So does the surgeon of the ship, 
 who is also a Roman Catholic. Captain Lowber has been every 
 thing that we expected, and a great deal more. To tell the truth, 
 the whole ship has been put at our disposal. I had nearly forgot my 
 throat. Well, I ate some cakes out of the box for my lunch the first 
 day, and that was the last meal at which I appealed to them. I have 
 nice corn cakes and honey for breakfast every morning, but along 
 with them I eat bread and salmon, or any thing else I please. It is 
 astonishing the effect sea air always has on me. I can sing at night 
 without its hurting me, and I think I shall be able to preach when I 
 get to the Irish Conference. At all events I hope so. 
 
 London, 3Iay 27, 1857. 
 We had a lovely day to reach Liverpool — Friday — as fine a sunset 
 as could be desired, and found comfortable lodgings in the Union 
 Hotel. On Sunday we went to the Stanhope-street Chapel in the 
 morning, where I introduced myself to the preacher, and was most 
 cordially welcomed. In the afternoon I heard a fine street sermon 
 from Hugh Stowell Brown, who is the Beecher of Liverpool. At 
 night Milburn preached very excellently indeed at Stanhope-street, 
 and I prayed the first prayer, and Bishop Simpson the last. The 
 occasion was a very interesting one indeed. Monday we were busy 
 receiving calls, attending to letters of credit, etc., and on Monday 
 night at five Kate and I left in the train for Birmingham, the rest of 
 the party remaining behind till Tuesday morning. We reached B. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 269 
 
 at eight, and had apartments at the Queen's Hotel. Left next morn- 
 ing at half-past nine, and reached London at half-past two. I had 
 to ride a couple of hours to find lodgings. We finally got room for 
 the soles of our feet at the Exeter Hall Hotel, where we have stayed 
 till now. 
 
 It is very hard to write long letters amid such constant activity. 
 You come home at night thoroughly worn out, and not disposed to 
 write at all. I wrote one letter from Liverpool to the " Northwestern 
 Christian Advocate," and that is all I have yet sent to the press. 
 I hope to do better in that line by and by. 
 
 1 forgot to say that Mr. Young, the president of the Conference, 
 called on us to-day, full of offers of kindness and attention. 
 
 Rotterdam. Juiie 6, 1857. 
 
 We have gone so fast and done so much that I hardly know how 
 to begin to write to you. First about health : I improve daily in 
 throat — can eat whatever I please, and have utterly discarded arrow- 
 root and cakes. 
 
 We stayed in London till Wednesday night, in order to attend a re- 
 ception given to the deputation at the Wesleyan Mission House, which 
 I will describe by and by. Of course, we were sight-seeing most of 
 the time ; but I cannot go through the descriptions of parks, muse- 
 ums, palaces, etc. All the eminent Wesleyan ministers called on us. 
 
 On Wednesday night came off the reception at the Mission House. 
 Some hundreds of ladies and gentlemen were invited for six o'clock. 
 At that hour we went. First we were taken into a room on the 
 ground floor, where refreshments were served ; then up stairs to a 
 fine hall, where hundreds were gathered. Many of these were intro- 
 duced to us, and we circumnavigated the hall several times. The 
 people seemed very kind, and not a little curious to see us. At 
 about half-past seven the president of the Conference, Mr. Young, 
 called the meeting to order ; and, after singing and prayer, made an 
 address of congratulation, which was very kind and flattering. He 
 then called on Bishop Simpson, who made a very excellent and touch- 
 ing speech. I was then summoned, and I did the best I could. 
 
2/0 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 After me came Mr. Milburn, who interested the audience exceed- 
 ingly by a humorous account of his " bringing up," and of Western 
 Methodism. Altogether, the meeting was very pleasant and satis- 
 factory. 
 
 On Thursday morning we left Wood's Hotel. At twelve v* e em- 
 barked at St. Katherine's wharf in the steamer Leo for Antwerp. I 
 had secured, among other state-rooms, one with four berths for our 
 four ladies, and lo ! I found a valet de place claiming it for the 
 duchess of St. Alban's and her daughter. Every body seemed sur- 
 prised that I did not give it up at once ; but I simply said that if the 
 duchess had engaged it before I had, she should have it ; and as this 
 could not be proved, she did not get it. But by and by the duchess 
 and her daughter came along, and I was quite smitten. She be- 
 haved in the most ladylike manner, and expressed the best feelings 
 about it. I then offered her the room occupied by Bishop Simpson 
 and his son, but she got another, telling me she was " equally 
 obliged " as if she had taken it. We had several chats after it, and 
 she was much interested in Kate's health, and in our American 
 trunks. We met again in the Cathedral at Antwerp, and had an- 
 other talk; but I had not the elasticity of tongue to say "your 
 grace " once during the whole of these talks. It was a very pleasant 
 rencounter, taking it altogether ; but I suppose she had not been 
 called "you " so much in the whole course of her life. 
 
 Reached Antwerp at twelve on Friday, and went before dinner to 
 see the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame, which contains Rubens's 
 great masterpieces — the descent from the cross, etc., cf which I 
 have told you before. Here I decided not to go on to Norway with 
 Bishop Simpson. The rest of us stayed in Antwerp till twelve on 
 Saturday, and then came on to Rotterdam. It was very hot, and 
 we found it a pleasant change from the cars to the steamer in the 
 evening at half-past seven. We passed Dort, where the famous 
 synod was held, and reached the Hotel des Bains, Rotterdam, at ten 
 o'clock. Here your mother and I have two rooms on the ground 
 floor : the first a sitting-room, about fifteen feet square, the back a 
 bed-room, twenty-five by thirty-five, with splendid furniture, ceiling 
 
THE REV. DR. M.'CLINTOCK. 
 
 271 
 
 painted in allegorical designs, and three beds. We went to the 
 Cathedral to church Sunday morning. The sermon was in Dutch, 
 (not German,) an hour and a half long. After sermon, the singing 
 of four thousand powerful voices, accompanied by the grandest 
 organ in the world, (with sixty-five hundred pipes and ninety stops,) 
 was one of the most overpowering effects of music that I have ever 
 listened to. 
 
 DiEPPK, June 21, 1S57. 
 We were very sorry on reaching Paris to find that Madame Joseph 
 had moved away, and that we could not find her out. We went first 
 to the Hotel du Louvre, which is the grandest place of the kind you 
 can imagine — rooms fit for kings' palaces, and furniture to match. 
 But as we found it would cost us six dollars or more a day a piece, 
 we only stayed one night, and then went to the Hotel de Lille et 
 d'Albion. We are settled here to spend Sunday, in the same house, 
 and, I think, in the very same rooms, that we had three years ago, 
 when your dear Atta was along. The very same old chambermaid, 
 in a crimped cap, that waited on us then, attends to us now. The 
 rain pours in torrents this morning, and will prevent our going to 
 church. Our hotel fronts on a basin of the harbor, and on the oppo- 
 site side of the basin a battalion of infai\try is passing, with eight or 
 twelve drums, disturbing the Sabbath air. After the people come 
 from church they will occupy themselves in all sorts of amusements. 
 
 Bklfast, July 5, 1857. 
 
 We came from Killarney to Dublin on Friday ; rode all the after- 
 noon about the city, and so saw Trinity College, the old Parliament 
 House, the Custom House, etc. Then mother went out and bought 
 some things. Left Dublin at half-past eight on Saturday. An el- 
 derly gentleman, of elegant manners, sat in the same coupe with us. 
 
 At a certain station he got out, and I heard him say to another gen- 
 tleman on the platform that " Mrs. M'Clintock had not come," When 
 he came in again he noticed the name on my writing-desk, and said, 
 "Why, that might belong to our member of parliament." He told 
 me that John M'Clintock, Esq., was the member, and showed me 
 
272 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 his estate as we passed it, remarking that he was a kinsman. We 
 reached Belfast at thirty-five minutes past one, and were hardly set- 
 tled in the Imperial Hotel when a deputation came to take me and 
 Kate to Mr. Alderman Mullen's villa, where lodgings were prepared 
 for us. But as we were settled, we stayed. To-day I preached to a 
 fine congregation on i Cor. viii, 6, at the Donegal Square Church. 
 After church. Dr. Alfred M'Clintock, of Dublin, who had been to 
 hear me preach, came into the hotel to see us. He was very cordial 
 indeed. He had just returned from Liverpool, where he had been to 
 see his brother. Captain F. L. M'Clintock, sail. This last is the 
 one mentioned in Kane's expedition, and he now sails as commander 
 of the new Arctic expedition. I wish I had seen him before he 
 sailed. 
 
 We remain here to-morrow, then on Tuesday go to Antrim, thence 
 to the Giant's Causeway ; Wednesday to Londonderry and Omagh ; 
 Thursday back to Derry ; Friday to Belfast ; Friday night to Glas- 
 gow. Thus far we have been highly favored in weather, and in the 
 care of Providence, saving us from all accident. My health has won- 
 derfully improved. I preached Friday week, made a speech Mon- 
 day, another Thursday, preached again to-day, am to make another 
 speech to-morrow night ; and all this without serious harm to my 
 throat. 
 
 Londonderry, July 8, 1857. 
 
 It seems impossible for us to get any letters. All that we have yet 
 had are two. The rest get them in stacks, but Bishop Simpson and 
 I get none. I fear there is something wrong about your mode of 
 directing letters, and I have so stated to Gussie. 
 
 On Monday night, July 6, Bishop Simpson preached. I made a 
 speech after him to a large audience in Donegal Square, Belfast. At 
 ten Tuesday we started for Antrim ; stopped there till three. Saw 
 the Round Tower there, the most perfect in Ireland, and then went 
 through the domain and pleasure grounds of Antrim Castle. They 
 are very beautiful. At three we took the cars again, reached Port 
 Rush at five, and there took jaunting-cars for the Causeway, whence 
 we returned at half-past six. Spent two hours inspecting the won- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 273 
 
 dcrs of the Causeway, and then came in and ate a hearty supper, 
 and went to bed on the floor of the sittitng-room, as the bedrooms 
 were all full. This morning took another run to the Causeway in 
 the rain ; at ten started in a big carriage and a car. Stopped at Fort 
 Stewart, at Mr. Cather's, who had refreshments for us. At one 
 reached Coleraine, where an elegant lunch was prepared for our 
 party. After\vard we walked around the walls of Derry, under the 
 guidance of Mr. Alexander Lindsay and Mr. M'Arthur. The rest 
 have all gone to church to hear Bishop Simpson, and I stayed at 
 home to write. 
 
 I forgot to say that the Belfast people made me take three pounds 
 to pay our hotel bill while stopping there. Indeed, the kindness of 
 these Irish people knows no limit whatsoever. 
 
 To Miss Jane M' Clintock. 
 
 Liverpool, July 81, 1S57. 
 
 I was greatly rejoiced to get the letters of July 14 by the Columbia 
 day before yesterday. It was one of the best budgets I have yet had, 
 and it was certainly quite cheering. The news was all good news, 
 except the stor)^ about hot weather. We have had nothing here but 
 cool, pleasant weather ; in Paris Kate says it is warmer, but yet I 
 fancy none of them know any thing of the enormous heats w^hich 
 you must suffer if the summer has fairly set in. 
 
 We had our reception-day in the Conference yesterday. At half- 
 past ten the doors were thrown open, and the people flocked in. 
 Bishop Simpson spoke first and grandly. The audience was roused 
 to a high pitch of enthusiasm, and I succeeded in keeping it up dur- 
 ing my speech, which was one of the most successful I ever made in 
 my life. We are engaged to dine out every day till we leave Liver- 
 pool, and would have, doubtless, for a month, if we could stay. The 
 English are not so quick and warm in their hospitality as the Irish, 
 but it is very good when it comes. W^e have invitations to spend 
 weeks in Ireland, but I don't suppose we shall be able to get the 
 
 enjoyment of them. 
 18 
 
274 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Hull, Auguftt 4, 1857. 
 My preaching on Sunday did me good instead of harm, and I left 
 Liverpool at ten this morning to preach here to-night, and to go 
 back to-morrow. As I am pretty tired, and have soon to go into the 
 pulpit, I cannot write a long letter. To-morrow we take leave of the 
 Conference ; Thursday go to London ; stop there Friday to attend to 
 various matters of necessity about the purchase of books for Troy 
 University; then on Saturday, God willing, we shall be at 217 Rue 
 St. Honore, Paris. 
 
 Paeis, Aug. 14, 1S57. 
 
 I told you in my last how much preaching and travelling I had 
 been able to do, and I bore the rapid trip to Paris equally well. 
 Since I came here I haye been chiefly occupied with the purchase of 
 books for the Troy University, and have thus far succeeded very well. 
 To-day was the " inauguration " of the new Louvre — a grand display 
 of troops, some thousands of them, with the emperor and empress in 
 state carriages, and a grand cortege of diplomatic carriages, etc. I 
 saw the troops and the cavalry, but I did not get near enough to see 
 Napoleon and Eugenie. Emory succeeded better than I did, as he 
 got near enough to see the royal people very well. I am more glad 
 that he saw them than that I should. 
 
 Berlin, Sept. 15, 1857. 
 We have all sorts of sights of kings and queens, and should 
 have been right glad to present you to them. Last Friday, on the 
 king's special invitation, I went, with about one thousand other 
 people, to visit him at his new palace at Potsdam. He gave us 
 the run of the palace and grounds, with plenty of ice cream, fruits, 
 lemonades, and light wines. We were drawn up according to na- 
 tionalities. The German usher said, " Americans there ; " and when 
 we were " there " he announced, " English join on to the Americans," 
 which the English did not seem to like very much, but yet they 
 obeyed. The king, a plain old man of sixty-five, came first to the 
 Americans, and seeing Governor Wright, our ambassador, at the head 
 of the colunm, he said, " My dear Wright, I am so glad to see you, 
 and to see you here." He asked Bishop Simpson the name of his 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 275 
 
 diocese, which the bishop could not exactly answer. Various other 
 sayings might be chronicled, for the old gentleman wended his way 
 down the Hne, making remarks for about two hours. Meantime the 
 queen talked to the ladies, and when she had done with them we 
 were introduced, whereupon she asked if I were really an Amer- 
 ican Altogether it was a great and good thing for a king to do in 
 the heart of Europe. 
 
 To-day I saw the sham fight at Spandau — some forty thousand 
 troops — and had the felicity of bowing to the king, to the emperor 
 of Russia, to Prince Gortschakofif, and ever so many more. What 
 was to me far more interesting, I had a long talk with Chevalier 
 Bunsen, who treated me most kindly and fraternally. 
 
 GuENT. Sej)t. 20, 1557. 
 
 No session of the "Conference of Christians from all Lands " at 
 Berlin, was more interesting than that of Wednesday afternoon, Sep- 
 tember 16, which was occupied with reports from the lands of the 
 Bible and from Turkey and Greece. When 1 went into the church 
 I saw the king of Prussia in his accustomed seat in the gallery, lis- 
 tening eagerly with his hand at his ear, to Dr. Dwight, who was 
 giving an account of the American mission, and also of the progress 
 of Christianity and of religious liberty throughout the dominions of 
 the Sultan In the morning there had been a grand display of mili- 
 tary manoeuvres at Spandau, and a sham battle, with sixty to eighty 
 thousand men engaged, and I had seen the king upon that field with 
 the emperor of Russia, watching the movements of the vast masses 
 of troops. I could not but think that he looked happier and more 
 at home here, in the midst of this "army of the cross," than there 
 amid the noise of artillery and the throng ot serried battalions, mim- 
 icking war. At all events he sat uniil seven in the evening, apparent- 
 ly as much interested in the reports of the American missionaries as 
 any clerg)'man in the body. 
 
 Dr. Dwight was followed by Dr. King, of Greece, who gave an ac- 
 count of the mission and the schools at Athens, of which he has 
 been the head for so many useful years. It was a great pleasure to 
 
276 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 me to meet these two men, whose names have long held so promi- 
 nent a place among Christian missionaries, and I trust I may be ex- 
 cused for saying, also, that 1 felt a little national pride in hearing 
 these noble ministers from our own country recounting before this 
 assembly of eminent and learned men from all nations the story of the 
 blessings with which God had followed their labors in those " lands 
 of old renown " to which they had come from the far West, bringing 
 messages of Christian peace and love. 
 
 Dr. Schauffler. of Constantinople, had intended also to be present, 
 but the interests of his mission demanded his presence in America. 
 He wrote a letter to the secretary of the Conference requesting that 
 prayer should be offered at the meeting in Berlin at 6 P. M. on Wed- 
 nesday, on which day, at a corresponding hour, prayer would ascend 
 from a Christian congregation at Providence, Rhode Island, for the 
 same mission. Accordingly, at six precisely, President Kunze rose 
 and requested the Conference and the congregation to unite in prayer 
 for the work of God in the East. The whole assembly, preachers 
 and people, with the king of Prussia at their head, rose as one man, 
 and all seemed to join fervently and heartily in the prayer led by 
 Pastor Kunze. Altogether it was a scene of rare interest. I could 
 not help thinking it even one olgreat sublimity. 
 
 In the evening of the same day we had the pleasure of taking tea 
 with Thomas Farmer, Esq., of England, who, with his amiable fam- 
 ily, and the Rev. James H. Rigg, of Stockport, were our neighbors 
 at the Hotel de Russie. Mr. Farmer, as you are well aware, is al- 
 ways ready for every good word and w^ork ; he has taken a great in- 
 terest in the Evangelical Alliance from its inception, in 1846, and in 
 this Berlin meeting he has been one of the most prominent and use- 
 ful of the English delegates. On this evening he gathered a num- 
 ber of brethren from all lands to break bread and talk together. It 
 was a happy idea, and we had only to regret that such reunions 
 were not more frequent during the sessions of the Berlin Conference. 
 
 I have before spoken of the kindness of the Hon. Joseph A. 
 Wright, late Governor of Indiana, and now American ambassador at' 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 277 
 
 Berlin. He has omitted no possible attention to Bishop Simpson 
 and myself; indeed, I have sometimes been afraid of trespassing too 
 much upon his exuberant kindness. On Monday, the i6th, he in- 
 vited all the Americans present in Berlin to dinner at the hotel d'An- 
 gleterre, and the number sufficed to fill two long tables. Among 
 them were Dr. Dwight, of Constantinople ; Dr. King, of Athens ; Dr. 
 Patton, of New York ; Dr. Baird, the Rev. W. F. Warren, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Eldridge, of New England ; Dr. Black, of Pittsburgh ; Dr. 
 Nast, and the Rev. L. S. Jacoby. It was delightful in this far-off 
 land to surround a table spread by the bounty of our own ambassa- 
 dor, and to meet so many of our brethren of different denominations, 
 yet all, as Christians and as Americans, seeing eye to eye. 
 
 While engaged in his pastoral work and church build- 
 ing, our friend continued the preparation of material 
 for the Biblical and Theological Cyclopaedia, with which 
 he had been occupied since 1853. This chief literary- 
 product of his life grew upon him and his associate, 
 Dr. James Strong, as it progressed towards comple- 
 tion. In its scope it embraces biblical, theological, and 
 ecclesiastical literature. It was at first supposed to be 
 practicable to compress an epitome of these departments 
 into two large octavo volumes, but the two volumes have 
 grown to six, and will be likely to reach as far as ten. 
 No similar work in English on so comprehensive a plan 
 had before been undertaken, unless we except the trans- 
 lation of Herzog's Real Encyklopaedia," which, unfor- 
 tunately, was suspended during our late civil war. Dr. 
 M'Clintock brought to this important undertaking great 
 resources of knowledge, the habit of thorough research, 
 an unusual skill in the treatment of the doctrines of phi- 
 losophy and theology, and a catholic temper. The whole 
 
2/8 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of systematic theology, of Church history and usage, and 
 of ecclesiastical biography, came under his observation 
 in the selection and elaboration of the articles for which 
 he was responsible. He lived to see three volumes issued, 
 and was busy with the fourth, when his pen dropped for- 
 ever from his hand. Dr. Strong, whose entire life has 
 been devoted to Biblical studies, has gone on successfully 
 with the task of completing this laborious work. 
 
 Regret is sometimes expressed that Dr. M'Clintock has 
 left behind him no literary product which fully repre- 
 sents his great talents and various learning. It must 
 not be forgotten that he died in his fifty-sixth year — an 
 age which, for a statesman, is counted young, and for an 
 author, the fit season for the gathering in of the harvests 
 of life's thinking. Cut off in the midst of his years, large 
 projects were left by him unrealized. He had made ex- 
 tensive studies in the Pauline writings, and had written 
 and delivered numerous lectures on the Epistle to the 
 Romans, which he intended to put to press, but waited 
 till they could be brought into such form as would satisfy 
 his critical judgment. He meditated much upon a com- 
 plete exposition of systematic theology. And if, in early 
 life, a position at the head of a divinity school, such as he 
 held during his last years, had fallen to him, this would 
 have been the work to which he would, most likely, have 
 dedicated all his faculties. But like a wise man, he did 
 ''the duty that lay nearest to him," and so made his life 
 fruitful and powerful in every direction. 
 
 What was done by him was accomplished under 
 conditions of health, which would have crushed most 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 279 
 
 men. After 1848 he never had firm health. Despite 
 fair appearances, the spring within was broken, and he 
 brokenly lived on." His great spirit resisted and con- 
 quered depression, and threw over his life the charm 
 of poetry, love, and joy. I have often rallied ^him, in a 
 good-natured way, upon his frequent ailments, but since 
 reading his letters and papers the impression has been 
 deepened in my mind that ill-health was for years, with 
 him, a terrible reality; and that he kept on working 
 when others, in his condition, would have pronounced 
 themselves hopeless invalids. 
 
28o 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 860-1862. 
 
 Appointed Pastor of the American Chapel, Paris— Cordial Eeception by the Congrega- 
 tion—Engages to Correspond with the "Methodist" — Breaking out of the CivU War in the 
 United States— Patriotic Activity of Dr. M'Clintock— Speech in Exeter Hall at the Wesleyan 
 Missionary Anniversary — Great Effect of the Speech — Meeting of Americans at the Hotel 
 du Louvre, Paris— Subscription for Battery of Rifled Cannon — Dr. M'Clintock Translates 
 and Circulates, in England, De Gasparin's " Uprising of a Great People" — Speech at Meet- 
 ing of Americans in London, July 4, 1S61 — The "Trent" Imbroglio — Active EflForts of 
 Dr. MX'lintock to Eemove English Misunderstandings — Correspondence with the liev. 
 Wm. Arthur in Relation to Mason and Slidell — His Devotion to his Work as Pastor of the 
 Chapel— Fruit of his Preaching — Readiness to Serve Destitute and Suffering Americans — 
 Lending a Hand. 
 
 T the close of his connection with St. Paul's Meth- 
 
 odist Episcopal Church, New York, Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock accepted an invitation to take charge of the Amer- 
 ican Chapel in the city of Paris. The chapel had been 
 established by the American and Foreign Christian 
 Union of this country, on an unsectarian basis, for the 
 purpose of securing to American travellers and residents 
 in the capital of France the benefits of Protestant worship. 
 It set up a distinctive and important part of American 
 life in a foreign land ; it was a fragment of home which 
 brought to our countrymen a hallowed Sabbath, and 
 a simple religious service in their own tongue. Such 
 eminent ministers as Dr. Kirk, of Boston, and Dr. Pren- 
 tiss, of New York, had preceded Dr. M'Clintock in the 
 pastoral charge of the Chapel. It had become a ral- 
 lying point for Americans in Paris ; hardly a Sunday 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 281 
 
 passed without the appearance in its pews of some of our 
 countrymen, well known both at home and abroad. The 
 congregation, though continually changing in its compo- 
 sition, was well maintained. On pleasant Sundays it 
 rose, not unfrequently, to the number of three hundred 
 persons, and seldom fell below one hundred and fifty. 
 
 On his arrival at Paris our friend was received most 
 cordially by his flock, and immediately addressed him- 
 self to his duties. His health being again feeble, he 
 had requested the Rev. Andrew Longacre, of Philadel- 
 phia, to take the position of assistant pastor, and found 
 him a most serviceable and affectionate associate. He 
 was met at his entrance upon his work by a difficulty in 
 relation to liturgical and non-liturgical services. There 
 were members of the congregation who had been accus- 
 tomed to the u^e of a liturgy, and would have been 
 pained by its omission ; others greatly preferred extem- 
 porary prayers. Applying himself to the problem before 
 him with his usual readiness and tact, Dr. M'Clintock 
 soon succeeded in effecting a settlement, with which all 
 parties were satisfied. At fifteen minutes past eleven 
 o'clock on Sunday, the morning prayer of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church was used ; at twelve extemporary 
 prayer introduced the sermon ; the afternoon service was 
 non-liturgical. All shades of American politics were 
 represented in the congregation, and in the ministers 
 from home who were invited to occupy the pulpit. Dr. 
 Thornwell, of South Carolina, preached for the pastor on 
 one Sunday morning, and Dr. William Adams, of New 
 York, on the Sunday morning following. No effort was 
 
282 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 spared in the administration of the chapel to make it " a 
 symbol of the essential unity of American Evangelical 
 Christians in all points of the common faith." 
 
 Before leaving New York Dr. M'Clintock became asso- 
 ciated with the " Methodist," which had just been estab- 
 lished, as its corresponding editor. The selection was 
 most fortunate both for himself and for the readers of the 
 paper. Upon the breaking out of the civil war in 1861, he 
 had at once a medium of communication with his coun- 
 trymen, through which they were advised of the aspects 
 of foreign opinion, and the movements of foreign poli- 
 ticians. He studied the fluctuations of European policy 
 in relation to the United States most thoroughly. The 
 accuracy of his intelligence and the breadth of his views 
 enabled him to furnish the readers of the Methodist " 
 a series of letters which, to say the least, were not 
 surpassed by any contributed during the war to the 
 American press. In his letters to myself, as editor, as 
 well as in those written to other friends, his over-anxi- 
 ety in relation to particular events was very apparent ; 
 this, however, at his distance from the field of opera- 
 tions, was very natural. But no one could be more con- 
 fident than he of the ultimate triumph of our arms. 
 His predictions of the length of the war and its varying 
 fortunes proved to be remarkably accurate. 
 
 The breaking out of the civil war found Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock in the very position, too, where he could render 
 the most important service to his distracted country. 
 Had he been at home, he would have been among the 
 foremost to animate his loyal fellow-citizens with tongue 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 283 
 
 and pen. There was, however, an equally important 
 work to be done by intelligent and patriotic Americans 
 abroad. The apparent acquiescence of the people, dur- 
 ing the closing months of Mr. Buchanan's administration, 
 in the division of the Union as an accomplished fact — the 
 surrender of Fort Sumter, the loss of Norfolk, the fee- 
 bleness of the first military preparations of Mr. Lincoln's 
 government, the hesitation of a peace-loving nation to 
 take up arms, the distrust of the future shown by so 
 many — and, on the other hand, the rapidity and decision 
 of the rebel movements, had, taken together, created 
 the opinion in Europe that we had neither the capacity 
 nor the will to maintain the Union by force. 
 
 The public opinion of England, at first favorable, veered 
 round, and, led by the " Times," became bitterly hostile. 
 Belligerent rights were almost instantly conceded to the 
 Confederates ; threats were loudly uttered, that if we 
 attempted to blockade the southern ports, the blockade 
 would be broken ; the fitting out of rebel cruisers in 
 English harbors was either purposely not seen or con- 
 nived at ; threats of armed intervention were rife, and 
 these, no matter how idle, served their purpose in affect- 
 ing public opinion ; and before many months came the 
 unlucky Trent " affair, which brought England and the 
 United States to the verge of war. Dr. M'Clintock was 
 one of the men whose qualities show best in such a crisis. 
 He was courageous by nature, and his courage was forti- 
 fied by Christian faith. His confidence in the triumph 
 of right principles was immovable. He had the scholar's 
 clear insight of the drift of public events, and the scholar's 
 
284 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 large and unselfish interest in public affairs. Coleridge 
 had taught him that in the knowledge of law dwells 
 the spirit of prophecy," and he had studied the laws of 
 moral and political government too long to question, for 
 a moment, what the issue of our fiery trial would be. 
 In all the dark period from 1861 to 1863 his voice rang 
 out clear in its predictions of our final success ; his 
 courage made others courageous, his hopefulness gave 
 others hope. 
 
 His patriotism was not, however, of a passive kind. 
 Instantly comprehending the situation, he struck out a 
 line of action for himself. He had no official position, 
 could exercise no official authority, could expect no of- 
 ficial recognition ; but he was a citizen, and owed his 
 country all that it was in his power to do, and that was, 
 for him, warrant enough. Appreciating the importance 
 of correcting the misrepresentations of the London 
 Times," he availed himself of his opportunity as one 
 of the speakers at the Wesleyan Missionary anniver- 
 sary in Exeter Hall, April, 1861, to call the attention 
 of the Methodists of England to the course of that 
 paper. He had entire confidence in the honesty and 
 fairness of Wesleyan feeling in relation to this country, 
 and he knew the power of Wesleyan public opinion. 
 The Methodists had come up from all parts of England 
 to this their great annual festival, and they went back to 
 their homes with right views of the question at issue in 
 our desperate struggle with rebellion. How to put a po- 
 litical speech inside of a missionar}^ address might puzzle 
 most men, but it was done in this instance supremely 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 285 
 
 well. Dr. M'Clintock found a passage in the remarks 
 of another speaker which served as an introduction of 
 the topic in which he was so much interested, and then 
 proceeded to say : — 
 
 The " Times " said, the day before yesterday, just in the words 
 that I will now quote: "The great Republic is no more." Shall 1 
 go home, and tell my friends that I don't know whether you believe 
 with the " Times " or not ? I am inclined to think you do not ; but 
 if you have the slightest disposition to believe any such doctrine as 
 that, let me tell you, " Lay not the flattering unction to your souls." 
 No, I don't believe that Britons will rejoice to see the day when the 
 " great Republic " shall be no more. (Tremendous cheering.) 
 
 But, if they shall, let me tell you the day of their rejoicing is very 
 far away. (Cheers.) What sort of a prophet would that have been, 
 who, just at the beginning of the conflict of the American Revolu- 
 tion, when Great Britain was going to fight her rebellious colonies, 
 should have said Great Britain was no more What would have 
 been thought of the man who would have said, after you had given 
 up the American colonies — a far bigger territory than any you had 
 left at that time — what would have been thought of the newspaper 
 that should have said, at that moment, " The great power of the 
 British crown is no more, the British empire is defunct ? " He would 
 have been a splendid prophet, would he not? Suppose, too, that we 
 in New York, editing papers, (and I have tried my hand at that busi- 
 ness myself in a religious sort of way,) at the time of your rebellion 
 in the East Indies, should have made use of such an expression as 
 that. I am not afraid of talking about the "Times," because I am 
 not an Englishman ; and if we had printed, for two or three days, 
 that Great Britain was no more, and that the diadem was about to fall 
 from the head of Victoria, because there was a rebellion in India, it 
 would have been quite a parallel case. I do not mean to say that 
 this strife in the United States is to end without a loss of some of 
 our territoiT in America. It may end in that. It mav end in the 
 
286 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 loss of part of that territory, that is to say, the slave-holding part 
 of it ; and are you the men to say. We are nothing because we are 
 not slave-holders ? Why, there was no part of this great " country- 
 man's " speech (a laugh) that you applauded more than that extract 
 from a Yankee Quaker's bit of poetry-. (Loud laughter.) Then, as 
 to that great Scotchman yonder, there was not a part of his speech 
 that you applauded more than that about Fanny Forrester, a little 
 Yankee woman, about four feet seven and a half inches high. 
 (Laughter.) No, we are not dead and buried, and what is more, we 
 do not mean to be for a very long time. 
 
 Now, let me say to you, Mr, President, and this vast audience of 
 Wesleyan ministers, and good, sensible, intelligent people, do not let 
 your political newspapers, or your politicians, debauch your intellects 
 or morals upon the present exciting American question. For the 
 first time in the whole history of the human race, a people, to the 
 extent of twenty millions, have risen up to say, " We will forfeit our 
 prestige\>^{ox^ the world ; we will jeopard our name even as a great 
 republic ; w^e will run the risk even of a terrible civil war, such as the 
 world has never seen ; we will do all this sooner than we will suffer 
 that human slavery shall be extended one inch. (Tremendous cheer- 
 ing.) I am in earnest about that point, and I do not want you to 
 forget it; and if you read the "Times" you will need to remem- 
 ber it. 
 
 W^hen I took up the "Times" at breakfast this morning and 
 read the first fifteen or twenty lines, it stopped my appetite for break- 
 fast — I could not get on — I had to vent myself in a few angry- words 
 to my wife before I coiild get my appetite back again. (Laughter.) 
 I had a paper put into my hands called the " Telegraph," which they 
 tell me has a circulation larger than the "Times " now; it seemed 
 a capitally-written paper, though I did not like the doctrines of it. 
 What did I read in its one article upon American affairs } This 
 sentence, " Are the Americans going to cut each other's throats 
 about a miserable question of the liberty of blackamoors.'*" That, 
 in the city of London ! — not in any pro-slavery paper in New 
 York or Charleston, but in the city of London, in a newspaper 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 287 
 
 that is said to be read by more people than the " Times." Now, if 
 you read either of these papers, I hope you will read between the 
 lines hereafter. (Laughter.) So far, at least, as this congregation 
 is concerned, I hope you will not be debauched. We used to think, 
 years ago, we heard voices coming across the great Atlantic, telling 
 us to be brave for the slaves ; and three or four years ago, when I 
 was here, I was abused in newspapers printed in the city of London, 
 because I was a pro-slavery man, it was said — not enough of an 
 abolitionist ; and we thought that Britain was in earnest in this. 
 And yet, if we were to believe these newspapers, all these profes- 
 sions have been a sham and a humbug, and all our antislavery feel- 
 ing has been simply fanaticism ! God preserve us ! for I am sure 
 the newspapers never will. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 To the efYect upon English Wesleyans of this most 
 eloquent appeal the London ''Watchman" bore a gener- 
 ous testimony. " Dr. M'Clintock," it said, "had already 
 the sympathy of many an English heart previous to that 
 bold but most successful challenge which electrified Ex- 
 eter Hall. Americans will read how he maintained the 
 cause of his country before an English audience, and 
 Englishmen will not despair of the Great Republic, if the 
 contest is to be as he puts it — one between free soil and the 
 extension of slave territory. Whatever our honored friend 
 may have felt, he allowed no shade of sadness or of mis- 
 giving to appear in the presence of Englishmen, though 
 he knew that great assembly, at any rate, could be relied 
 upon as the friends of his country and of his Church. 
 The course he took was even more consummately skillful 
 than it was strikingly bold ; and we never before saw 
 Exeter Hall in such a tumult of acclamation. The re- 
 sponse was just such as became a great Methodist meet- 
 
288 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ing, uttering in a moment of generous enthusiasm its 
 true feeling towards the free United States." 
 
 Dr. M'CHntock had another opportunity of expressing 
 his sense of the duty of the hour in a meeting of Amer- 
 icans, at the Grand Hotel du Louvre, on the 29th of 
 May, 1 861. His speech on this occasion was full of elo- 
 quence and courage, but indicated his opinion that the 
 war would not come to a speedy end. Mr. Dayton, the 
 American minister to France, Cassius M. Clay, American 
 envoy to Russia, General Fremont, Mr. Burlingame, 
 and Mr. Elliot C. Cowdin also addressed the meeting. 
 Dr. M'Clintock took this occasion to do justice to the 
 English people. " I have no fear," he said, of the grand 
 English nation. Its voice has not yet been heard. When 
 it shall be uttered, it will not be on the side of piracy and 
 slavery. . . . Old England will stand by New England in 
 the battle of Christianity and civilization. I think I am 
 right in this prediction ; but if I am wrong, then I will 
 agree with my friend that the glory of England will have 
 departed forever." To make the issue clear beyond 
 doubt, he published in London the speech of A. H. Ste- 
 phens, the Vice-President of the Confederacy, delivered 
 in Savannah, March 21, 1861, in which slavery was de- 
 clared the corner-stone of the new government. Prefixed 
 to the speech was a letter from the Rev. William Arthur, 
 explaining the legal relation of the United States Gov- 
 ernment to slavery, as defined by the National Constitu- 
 tion. The pamphlet, which was a convincing exposition 
 of our case, was extensively circulated. 
 
 The patriotic Americans who were in Paris in the spring 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTQCK. 289 
 
 of 1 861 did not, however, limit their zeal to public break- 
 fasts and speeches. A subscription list was opened, and 
 quickly filled up, for the purchase of rifled cannon, to be 
 sent to the Government at home " to be used " — so ran 
 the statement of the subscribers to the fund — " in en- 
 forcing the laws and upholding the Constitution of the 
 Union." It became a serious question with Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock how to procure the money needed for such expo- 
 sitions of the merits of our cause as would help to correct 
 the errors of English opinion. His friend, Mr. Thomas 
 N, Dale, one of the principal supporters of the Chapel, 
 who had returned to New York, raised there, without 
 delay, a considerable sum and remitted it to him. 
 
 With this money Dr. M'Clintock published, in Lon- 
 don, De Gasparin's timely book, " The Uprising of a 
 Great People," translating it himself. Americans cannot 
 forget the impression produced by that eloquent plea for 
 our Union, both in America and in Europe. Even in 
 circles where it did not convince, it checked the forma- 
 tion of hasty judgments. It lifted our cause far above 
 the level of a political strife, and presented it as a strug- 
 gle for the preservation of the best elements of civiliza- 
 tion in the New World. ^' We are concerned," wrote 
 this brilliant Frenchman, ''in the American crisis. Not 
 simply because we may have friends, or trade, or property 
 in America, but, above all, because ozir principles and our 
 liberties are there at stake. The victories of justice, on 
 whatever soil they may have been gained, are the victo- 
 ries of the whole human race." With De Gasparin Dr. 
 
 M'Clintock corresponded during all this gloomy period. 
 19 
 
290 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 When the unlucky capture of Mason and Slidell brought 
 fonvard De Gasparin again, as our advocate, Dr. M'CHn- 
 tock translated and pubHshed his Word of Peace on 
 the American Question," and circulated it as extensively 
 as possible throughout England. 
 
 Our countr^^men in London had almost determined to 
 let the fourth of July, 1861, pass by without any observ- 
 ance, but fortunately better counsels prevailed. The more 
 sagacious felt the importance of declaring to the world 
 on this day that Americans had confidence in the future 
 of their country, and bated not one jot of heart or hope 
 in upholding its fortunes. About one hundred and twen- 
 ty assembled in the Colonnade Hotel. The Rev. Dr. 
 Wm. Patton presided ; the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel 
 represented the English Non-conformists. Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock, in his address, made prominent the distinction, 
 which was always present to his mind, between the real 
 and the official England. It is," he said, because we 
 love England that we are anxious to hear kind words from 
 England. Sorrowful as are the circumstances attending 
 our national anniversary on this occasion, never on any 
 happy fourth of July at home, never in those halcyon 
 days of peace, have I been prouder of my countrymen ; 
 for they have shown fidelity to great principles, to the 
 memory of Washington, and to the heritage of freedom 
 which God has given them. They are fighting because 
 they have a flag which has been dishonored, a constitu- 
 tion that has been trampled upon, and a history that has 
 been thrown to the winds. They have grand memories 
 which the bulk of the community have never forgotten, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 29I 
 
 and a nationality which they mean to maintain. They 
 are fighting now to show that they have a government 
 which all the world shall recognize in the end. I have no 
 doubt on which side the victory will lie, and am now 
 prouder and more hopeful of my country than ever; and 
 I am sure, too, that in her heart of hearts England is 
 prouder of it than she has ever been." 
 
 These were the words of a brave and Christian spirit, 
 and there was an England prepared in due season to re- 
 ceive them. But the danger, great at all times during 
 the war, of foreign complications, became imminent 
 when Mason and Slidell were taken from the English 
 steamer Trent, by Commodore Wilkes. The English 
 Government could not believe that Commodore Wilkes 
 acted, in arresting the commissioners, without instruc- 
 tions, and they concluded at once that Mr. Seward 
 meant either war or a menace of war. 
 
 During this critical period the Rev. Wm. Arthur and 
 Dr. M'Clintock corresponded rapidly in relation to the 
 intentions of the American Government. The former was 
 in communication with leading English statesmen. It 
 was agreed at a consultation held by our leading repre- 
 sentatives in Paris, that Mr. Thurlow W^eed should go 
 over from that city to London and have an interview with 
 men whom it was important to set right. Mr. Weed 
 took with him a letter of introduction from Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock to Mr. Arthur, which was of great service, as will be 
 seen further on. Here, as all through the war, Mr. Ar- 
 thur showed himself a devoted friend to the United 
 States. He was, and is, an Englishman in every fibre of 
 
292 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 his nature, but he was also a lover of liberty, of right, 
 and of peace. The letters which passed between him 
 and Dr. M'Clintock during the Trent negotiations do 
 honor to them both. The two friends might on many 
 points disagree, but they could not for a moment dis- 
 trust each other's sincerity. 
 
 Paris, Sunday Nigut, Jxily 1, 1860. 
 
 It is now about half-past two o'clock, or perhaps three, in New 
 York, and you are getting ready to go to the communion at St. 
 Paul's. We have been twice to church. The first service was at 
 half-past eleven o'clock. Mr. Longacre read prayers and preached, 
 and he and I administered the communion. It was nearly two 
 o'clock when we got home. At half- past three I preached on Romans 
 xii, I. The gown rustled a little at first, but I soon forgot it entirely. 
 There were many home faces : Mr. Corbitt, Mr. Newman, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wright, and perhaps twenty others. It was not St. Paul's ; I 
 could not see your faces, so near the pulpit, and always so kind and 
 loving. But I tried to preach a plain and earnest Gospel, and I think 
 a good impression was made. Mr. Longacre has won golden opin- 
 ions, as, indeed, I knew he could not fail to do. There is a great 
 field here to till. If we can only make the different denominations 
 to harmonize quietly, I think we may look for great success. 
 
 The church is a little larger than our chapel — perhaps one third — 
 and will seat some six hundred persons. I hope to see it full. 
 
 We landed at Havre on Wednesday morning last at 8 o'clock, and 
 had a delicious breakfast at the Hotel Frascati. It took me till four 
 o'clock to get the luggage through the Custom-house, and to have 
 the passports viseed. At six we set out for Rouen, and reached 
 there at eight o'clock, thus dividing the journey to Paris on account 
 of the baby. The little swinging cradle attended us all the way, and 
 was an object of great interest to the officials at the Custom-house 
 and railways. Men in soldier clothes would look at it, make it go, and 
 laugh. It seems to be a new invention here. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 293 
 
 We reached Paris at five o'clock, Thursday, and found our old 
 apartments at the Hotel de Lille et d'Albion. A great part of our 
 time since has been spent house-hunting, but we have not decided on 
 anything yet. We hope to be settled next week, but it is uncertain. 
 There are to be immense parades this week, at the funeral of Jerome 
 Napoleon, who now lies in state at the Palais Royal. The crowds 
 visiting him are so great that we have not been able to get in yet, 
 and I suppose we shall not. 
 
 0 I dear, I wish you were as near us as you are to the parsonage. 
 Perhaps you are in heart and feeling, if not in person. At any rate 
 we feel quite near you. But God, our trust, is nearer yet ; may he 
 protect you and yours, and grant you all temporal and spiritual bless- 
 ings in Christ Jesus ! 
 
 To Mr. Fletcher Harper. 
 
 Paris, July 30, 1S60. 
 
 Our domestic establishment goes on nicely, but we are not yet 
 permanently settled. At the end of two months we shall leave our 
 present home, unless the landlord comes down in price. In this last 
 case we shall stay where we are. 
 
 1 trust Mr. Longacre and I will be able to make the American 
 Chapel go. At all events we shall tr)'. Can't you help us Can't 
 you give Dr. Murray room in the " Weekly " or " Monthly " for a 
 short account of the chapel, stimulating Americans to rally around 
 it ? All means must be used to accomplish our end of building it up. 
 
 I have sent an installment for the dictionar\', and shall send small 
 parcels by each steamer, to run as little risk of loss as possible. 
 
 Now I pray you sit down at once as soon as you get this and reply 
 to it. Tell me all your household news. Remember me most af- 
 fectionately to Mrs. Harper, your sons and daughters, and don't let 
 the grand-children forget me. 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paeis, August 4, 1S60. 
 
 Our new order of worship will go into force next Sunday. I hope 
 it will succeed fully. Nearly every body here is satisfied, now, that 
 
294 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 things look so prosperous with the existing order. But we look for 
 hearty co-operation from all sides hereafter. Each side gives up 
 something for the sake of harmony. So we must all do in this world. 
 
 Mrs. M'Clintock is somewhat better than when I wrote last. My 
 own health seems to be constantly improving. I have had to keep 
 on the run since I have been here, and this activity, with the cool, 
 bracing weather we have had all the time, has done me great good. 
 
 To Mrs. Dr. A. S. Purdy. 
 
 Pakts, Angunt 14, 15C0. 
 
 Your letters are like springs of water in a dry and thirsty land. 
 The minute account you give of Church matters is just exactly what 
 I want to get : and no one else will do it but you, so please continue 
 to "walk by the same rule and mind the same thing." 
 
 My jaw opens nearly as well as ever ; my general health is better 
 than it has been for years — thanks to the cool weather and constant 
 out-door exercise. We have not yet had a hot day : warm clothes, 
 overcoats when driving, two blankets at night. On no day yet have 
 we been able to keep a window in the house open, or to wear sum- 
 mer clothes of any kind. 
 
 How often I wish the doctor could come in to take a quiet rest, 
 chat, and smoke. How often after our meetings we wish for your 
 happy and loving face to cheer us up. But we must do withooit these 
 blessings ; thank God for what we have enjoyed, and hope for re- 
 union in the future, both in this life and in the next. 
 
 We have not yet decided whether to stay in our present quarters 
 or to move. But we must settle it this week, after that we shall feel 
 more like living. It is very comfortable where we are, but $i,6oo is 
 a large price for two floors, and it makes a big hole in a salary of 
 S3,ooo. 
 
 Dr. Adams preached for me last Sunday morning. It seems like 
 home to have the pastors of Madison Square and St. Paul's in one 
 pulpit together. We are all to spend this evening together at Mr. 
 Faulkner's, (the ambassador,) who, with his family, are among our 
 most devoted adherents at the Chapel. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 295 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paeis, Aiigmt 29, 1860. 
 
 I send this sheet to show how our programme goes. We omitted 
 by accident to insert, " Under the control of the American and 
 Foreign Christian Union," but that will be inserted in the next 
 that are printed. Circulars will be sent weekly to all strangers, 
 according to the list of arrivals. I have to attend to these 
 matters myself, with Mr. Tucker's help. I hope to get some 
 of the young men trained to these duties, and to general 
 deaconship. Three persons have offered themselves for Church 
 membership. I shall procure a book, put their names down, and 
 take all others that offer. Pray God to bless the American Church 
 in Paris ! It is a pity that the word chapel was used at first. 
 
 To Mrs. Dr. Purdy. 
 
 Pakis. Septemher 8, 1860. 
 
 Though I have answered your letter I write again. I suppose that 
 before this can reach you, we shall get another from you — at least I 
 hope so. It seems a long time to wait for letters. Don't always 
 wait till you get them from me before you write. 
 
 We had not settled upon our new home when I last wrote. I have 
 given Dr. Purdy a sketch of it which will let you see exactly how we 
 are situated. It is clean and comfortable, but by no means grand. 
 Still I am sure you would enjoy coming to visit us in it ; and we 
 should give you the best bed, the best board, and the best of ever)- 
 thing in the house. When will you come? When will you let the 
 doctor come if you cant't both come together.? It is now nearly 
 three months since we left you — it seems like a year. Part of this 
 feeling is doubtless due to the many novelties of life here, to the mul- 
 titude of people we have seen, the new acquaintances made, etc. ; but 
 a great deal of it is owing to the want of the dear friends Vv'e have left 
 behind us. We are too old (the truth must be spoken) to form new 
 ties rapidly. And then our new friends here, though kind and good, 
 are not Methodists, and that is a great bond of union missing. A 
 
296 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Methodist preacher can make friends readily among Methodists, but 
 not so readily elsewhere. Nevertheless you must not understand me 
 as hinting that we are not kindly received. The very reverse is the 
 case. There are only too many invitations out. To-day, for instance, 
 I must g-o out to dinner at half-past six P. M. and not get home till 
 ten ; and I should greatly prefer to spend the time by my own fire- 
 side, and wTiting a better letter to you. So also we have visits from 
 many American travellers. Thus far, among them all, there have 
 been no St. Paul's people but Mr. Pine, the artist. He lunched with 
 us last Sunday. Mr. Newman is to preach for us to-morrow morn- 
 ing, and Mr. Longacre will preach in the afternoon, so that I shall 
 have a day of rest — only reading prayers in the morning. 
 
 Su7iday afteritoo^. — I was interrupted yesterday. This morning I 
 read prayers and Mr. Newinan preached on the " Millennium." This 
 afternoon Mr. Longacre preached on " Occupy till I come." We have 
 had a very good day, but I always feel strange on Sunday night when 
 I have not preached at all during the day. 
 
 I thought a good deal about your father yesterday. Pray don't 
 fail to give my best love to your mother and sister when you see 
 them. As for your own household, 1 take it for granted you always 
 give all our kindest love when you hear from us, for we always mean 
 to send it. Do tell the young people to write to us ; and for all your 
 little folks, don't let them forget us, or grow out of their former selves 
 before the Lord allows us to go back and see them. Perhaps some 
 day we shall all sit together around your table, as of old ; if not, may 
 we all unite around our Father's table in heaven ! 
 
 Your letter gave us more church news than we have had from any 
 other quarter. Don't stop in the good way, but give us just such 
 another budget as often as you can. If you were here we should get 
 up a class of young ladies for you, and 1 am sure you would do them 
 good. 
 
 It is now dinner time, and I must stop. O dear ! if we could have 
 one of the St. Paul's Sunday evenings, and have the doctor and you 
 with us, and the children together ! Well, let us thank God for the 
 blessings we have had and still have. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 297 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paris, Sepiemher 10, 1S60. 
 
 After a great deal of trouble and loss of time, we are at last com- 
 fortably settled in our home. Please direct letters, 10 Rue Balzac 
 hereafter, instead of care of J. Munroe & Co. 
 
 Your kind letter of August 8th was a great comfort to me. I have 
 also had a very kind one from Dr. Campbell, who says " there is no 
 doubt the arrangement about services will please the Board." I hope 
 soon to hear of their action confirming what I have done. 
 
 Last Sunday we had grand congregations. Brother Newman 
 preached in the morning. Dr. Keith, of Scotland ; Dr. Thomwell, 
 of South Carolina ; Rev. Mr. Armstrong, of Nashville ; and several 
 Roman Catholics, were in the congregation. In the afternoon Long- 
 acre preached a noble sermon on " Occupy till I come." 
 
 I find a vast deal of running to do to visit strangers. It takes a 
 deal of time and cab-hire ; but it is good for the Church and good 
 for my health. I am better, on the whole, I think, than I have been 
 since 1850. 
 
 Paris, Junuary T, 1861. 
 
 A happy New Year ! and may you have it such in spite of panics, 
 disunion, and civil war. Here we cannot think it possible that mad- 
 ness will so far prevail among you as to break up the Government. 
 
 I have good news from the Chapel — Mr. partook of his first 
 
 communion on Christmas day. A great change has been going on 
 in him for some months, and he is now living for the glory of God. 
 This blessed result is due largely to Mr. Longacre, who has been 
 greatly useful to him and his family. 
 
 A work of grace is going on in the hearts of other persons here — 
 some men of mark. We thank God and take courage. 
 
 I shall stay here as long as the signs of success are as encourag- 
 ing as they now are, and as long as my purse will hold out. The 
 outlay, however, is more than I can stand under, with my family 
 claims ; and I have so informed the gentlemen who support the 
 Church. 
 
298 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 My knee still continues bad. I cannot walk, but am able to ride 
 to Church, and preach sitting on a stool. 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Bajigs. 
 
 Parw, Januitry 8, 1861. 
 Are you scared out of your wits in New York } One would think 
 so to judge from the papers. If, as the telegraph reports to us to- 
 day, Mr. Buchanan has allowed Fort Moultrie to be given up, you 
 have doubtless, ere this time, sought to have him impeached. The 
 French press, like the English, is terribly severe on the South. The 
 slaveholders have no friends in this world except in the Northern 
 States of the American Union. Should the secession be finally achiev- 
 ed, there will still be cakes and ale, and ginger will continue "to be 
 hot i' the mouth." Therefore I pray you, of all things, not to be 
 frightened. If things get so bad that I can draw no more money 
 from New York, I must pack up and go home, bag and baggage. It 
 will be pleasanter to stan e there than here. 
 
 Paris, February 18, 1861. 
 
 Your political news is not very encouraging; but nations, like in- 
 dividuals, must have their trials. Their length of life depends on 
 their force to grapple with difficulties and overcome them. If the 
 Government maintains itself, all will be well ; if not, there will be an- 
 archy for years. But it can hardly be possible that the men of the 
 North, no matter of what party, will let the Government go down ; 
 or, what is the same thing, let it remain what Buchanan has made it 
 — a mere pretence. 
 
 The feeling in France, as well as in England, against the South is 
 really terrible. No journal in France, except the Pays, has dared to 
 argue in favor of slavery. We are very anxious here about ministers 
 and consuls. London, Liverpool, Paris, and Havre should all be 
 filled with vigorous men. Things will be left in a sad condition, I 
 fear, by some of our present diplomatic and consular agents. The 
 English and French Governments are willing to do right, but the 
 American ambassadors, who talk to them, are either not Union men 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 299 
 
 at all, or are very timid ones. I hope these posts will be promptly 
 and well filled by Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 Our church was full yesterday, in spite of the number that have 
 gone home. 
 
 Paris, March 30, 1S61. 
 
 We are in a state of great anxiety and uncertainty about affairs at 
 home. The news of the surrender of Fort Sumter and Fort Brown 
 has just reached us. The first feeling was that of shame and indig- 
 nation that the great Government of the United States should be 
 brought to such a pass as this. We are not proud fiow to call our- 
 selves Americans. It may be that our pride needs punishing, and 
 that God intends to humble us in order to raise us up again. Some 
 people here say that the next news will be that you have surrendered 
 the Government at Washington to Jefferson Davis, and have all be- 
 come his submissive subjects. 
 
 But I drop this painful topic. The spring has been lovely here for 
 a month. The shrubs are all in green, the earlier flowers are all in 
 bloom, the birds wake us early with their singing. In spite of all 
 troubles and sorrows it is spring time in our souls, too. God blesses 
 his word, preached poorly enough, but in faith and love. Souls have 
 been blessed under it. I thank him for the fruit which I can see ; I 
 have no doubt, that, in his mercy, there is a great deal which I can- 
 not see. In this respect I thank God for sending me here. With re- 
 gard to my health, also, I have great reason for gratitude. 
 
 Mr. Longacre has been in Italy for a month past, and I have had 
 full charge of both services each Sunday, with no one even to read a 
 hymn for me. As I have to read prayers at a quarter past eleven, 
 and sing, pray, and preach at twelve, it is nearly equivalent, with the 
 afternoon service and sermon, to three sermons a day. Yet I have 
 been able to do it all without any injury to my throat, thank God ! It 
 may be that I shall be able to return home strong enough to take full 
 charge of a Church, and if so, my highest ambition will be gratified. 
 My knee improves very slowly. I can walk about half a mile, but 
 still have to sit in preaching. 
 
300 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To the Rev. Andrew Longacre. 
 
 London, Tuesday, Ai)ril 80, lS6t. 
 It has been an incessant stream of dinners, teas, breakfast meet- 
 ings, sermons, and speeches, so that we could not write. . . . Dined 
 on Tuesday, with about fifty people, at Mr. M'Arthur's ; on Saturday 
 with about twenty at Mr. Lycett's. Heard Punshon, on Wednesday, 
 at Great Green-street : and sat in a great draft which gave me a sore 
 throat. Spoke at 4 P. M. in Exeter Hall, after the people had been 
 sitting there from ten o'clock — more politics than missions in the 
 speech. The principal result of my efforts is the sore throat afore- 
 said, which, I fear, will not leave me till we get out of the cold, dull 
 London air. After the dinner Dr. Hoole, Mr. Arthur, and I got into 
 a clarence and drove out to Richmond, ten miles, to dine with Mr. 
 Hall, Mr. Farmer's son-in-law. It was really one of the grandest 
 dinners I ever saw. The English people are all right, thus far, in 
 feeling, on the American question. But they are awfully ignorant of 
 American facts. A very intelligent gentleman asked me if Massa- 
 chusetts was among the seceding States ! Even Dr. S. seemed to 
 think the tariff question had as much to do with the rebellion as 
 slavery. I have tried to set them right. . 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel BaJtgs. 
 
 Paeis, May 16, 1861. 
 
 I am working very hard just now, rapidly translating Gasparin's 
 " Un Grand Peuple." But I suffer for want of money. My corre- 
 spondence and writings of every kind are heavy. I could do a great 
 deal more if I had free command of money. If any of your patriots, 
 or committees, can help us, I will do all that is possible with the press 
 here and in England. 
 
 Paris, May 80, 1861. 
 
 The Government does not seem to appreciate the absolute necessity 
 of giving everybody something to do. So much enthusiasm will cer- 
 tainly spoil unless people are kept busy. Turning back volunteers 
 and disbanding regiments don't seem the thing — especially when the 
 crack Seventh has only enlisted for thirty days. Our meeting at the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 301 
 
 Louvre yesterday was a grand success. Dayton has raised himself 
 greatly here by his speeches. Fremont also spoke nobly— as, indeed, 
 did everybody ; even your humble servant did his best. The enthu- 
 siasm frightened the Frenchmen who were present. 
 
 I feel tempted to go home by ever)- steamer. Did I not think I am 
 doing more good, both in Church and State, by staying here, I should 
 go in the next steamer. 
 
 To his son, in Germany. 
 
 London, April 30, 1S61. 
 
 As for your proposition to go a soldiering, I like your pluck veiy 
 well, and if I had five sons, or even two or three, I should probably 
 feel it my duty to say yes. But as you are my sole masculine heir in 
 this world, I do not think it your duty to go, or mine to let you go. T 
 am growing older, if not old, and am not ven,- robust. In the order 
 of Providence you may have yet to take care of me and of your sis- 
 ters. Others can go who are differently situated, and there will be 
 plenty of such. You and I, perhaps, can serve the country as well 
 here as if we were to go to the wars. I laid down some pretty 
 strong meat for them at Exeter Hall, as you will see in the report, if 
 it is full. 
 
 Paris, Saturday, Moy 18, 18G1. 
 Between you and me and the post, I fear a re-action at home before 
 hot weather, if the troops are kept simply on the defensive. I fear, 
 too, that the men in power have not brains nor experience enough for 
 the emergency. But I may do them injustice ; and if the war goes 
 on, men enough with brains enough will spring up. England con- 
 tinues to act shamefully. Won't we pepper and salt 'em with sar- 
 casm after the war is over ! Won't we show up their Pharisaical 
 anti-slaveryism ? Mr. Langdon gave last night (for the guns) 1,000 
 francs ; Emmet, 1,000 ; Curtis, 500 ; Warden, 2,000 ; Strong, I think, 
 2,000; M'Clintock, 100; Longacre, 50; Wendell, 500, etc. They 
 will probably get 15,000 more from persons not present. If this let- 
 ter were stretched out it would fill two sheets. God bless you ! Write 
 oftener. 
 
302 ' LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Paris, May 31, 1S61. 
 
 I send you Galignani, containing an account of the American 
 meeting, and the latest telegrams. 1 wrote the resolutions for the 
 meeting : hope you will like them. I also made a speech, but, as 
 I did not write it out it could not be given in to the paper last 
 night as the others were. It was a grand meeting. Mr. Dayton sat 
 on the right of the president, I on his left ; Fremont next to Dayton, 
 Cassius M. Clay next to me. I like Clay amazingly, and the liking 
 seems to be mutual. He has one of the sweetest and most be- 
 nevolent faces I ever saw — quite different from the truculent being 
 the southern papers make him out. Dayton made a grand impres- 
 sion ; I think he will make the same impression on the emperor. If 
 he had a good secretary of legation who knew French, he would get 
 on ver)^ well indeed. 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paris, June 19, 1861. 
 
 Of course, in these times, the Chapel has caused me a great deal 
 of anxiety. Many of our pewholders have gone to America, and few 
 have come to take their places. Yet our congregations are as good 
 as ever. This is caused by the number who come in from other 
 parts of Europe, to be nearer the news from home, and to be ready 
 to go home if necessar)-. These persons do not take pews, but it is 
 a blessing the Chapel is there for them. Thus far the treasurer has 
 been able to pay my salar)- punctually ever)- month out of the re- 
 ceipts, but I have no idea this can last. 
 
 I shall need to be away in England two to four Sundays at least 
 during the summer. I consider the Chapel my first duty, and patri- 
 otism the next. Thus far I have sought to do my whole duty to both, 
 and God has given me more physical strength than I had, to do the 
 duties that have fallen on me. I shall not give up the Chapel unless 
 Providence clearly indicates that it is my duty to do so. 
 
 To his Soil, Eino7'y M ' Clintock. 
 
 Paris, July 8, 1861. 
 
 The Times contains a short account of our breakfast. As you see 
 it, I did not post it to you. The London American of this week will 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 303 
 
 contain a full account, and you will get it. The meeting was a great 
 success, and did much good in England. Noel's speech was really- 
 grand and statesmanlike. Every body in England is trying to prove 
 how friendly they have been to us all along. They are right in feel- 
 ing, but most of the people are so ignorant of foreign affairs that the 
 Government can make them believe anything. At present I think the 
 Government is all right. I think Adams suits them very well. He is a 
 cold, cautious man — very much of an Englishman himself — and really 
 will do more good there than a man of more impulsive nature could do. 
 
 Paris, July 15, 1861. 
 
 The newspapers lead us to believe there is a chance of a compro- 
 mise with the rebels. I hope not, if it be an arrangement which 
 will make it necessary- for us to go through all this trouble again in a 
 few years. It ought to be settled now and forever, after all the sac- 
 rifices we have been compelled to make. 
 
 Paris, July 27, 1S61. 
 
 Bishop Janes has spent three days of this week here. He was all 
 for my going to West Point before he left America, but since he has 
 been here, and has seen the new ambassadors at our different posts, 
 nearly all of whom have heard me preach and know me personally, 
 he thinks I ought to stay here.* The question will be settled in a few 
 weeks one way or the other. 
 
 The bishop enjoyed his stay here hugely. His brother Edwin and 
 Dr. Jacoby were with him, and I rode about with him all the time, 
 showing him the sights. 
 
 " Gasparin " makes a neat little volume. I would send it by post, 
 but as you will return so soon it is not worth the postage. It must 
 do good in England. The World credits me with writing an able ar- 
 ticle in LAinide la Religion, which was really written by Delavile, 
 an able lawyer here. I am sorry for this. 
 
 *TIie cliaplaincy of West Point had been offered to Dr. ^['Clmtock, btit 
 after consideration the offer was declined. 
 
304 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Parr, July 2S, 1S61. 
 
 I am amused, and at the same time pleased, by your anxiety that I 
 should not give much time to politics. In the first place the preser- 
 vation of the Government is not politics, in the ordinar}- sense of the 
 word. If the Government is lost, all is lost — family. Church, prop- 
 erty — ever} thing. In such a crisis as this I hold it the duty of every 
 man who has any influence, to use it on the side of law and order. 
 If not, the wicked will prevail: God's law and all justice will be 
 trampled under foot. In the second place, I have not given so much 
 time as you think, even to this great duty. I have never neglected 
 my duty to the Chapel in any degree. I have been absent but two 
 Sundays for months, and but once from prayer-meeting, unless when 
 my throat was too sore to go. I am thankful to say that my health 
 enables me to do these duties without inconvenience. I have 
 preached twice the last two Sundays, besides reading prayers, with- 
 out injuring my throat. The congregations are remarkable, consid- 
 ering how many have gone home. Bishop Janes thinks I had better 
 stay here. His ideas of the importance of this work are greatly in- 
 creased since he has been here. I will stay, if it be possible, in spite 
 of our anxious desire to see you all. 
 
 ?M^•.%,Jul>J 30, 1S61. 
 
 I am rejoiced to learn that you are growing in grace and faith, and 
 in the comfort which faith brings. Our religion is meant to make 
 us strong in such times as these. It is not provided merely for 
 calm weather. Faith sees the sun behind the clouds. Brother Ja- 
 coby was talking with me the other night about the German mis- 
 sions, of which he is the head, and of the probability that money 
 from home would fail. " But," said he, " I am not afraid about that. 
 It is the Lord's work, and the money will come somehow." He lays 
 all his care upon the Lord, and sleeps quietly. Can we not all do 
 this ? I am glad to trust in God. During all the fears and anxieties 
 which our home troubles have brought — and, in some respects, the 
 anxieties are greater for us so far away than for you at home — I have 
 never lost a night's rest on account of them. But I cannot help much 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 sorrow of heart over this wicked and causeless war. To think of 
 friends ruined in circumstances, of many gone to the field of battle 
 and to death, of the arrest of religious activities and missionary- 
 movements ; these things, apart from my own personal losses, which 
 are, perhaps, as heavy in proportion as other peoples', are enough to 
 pierce one through. Judge M'Lean told me five years ago that all 
 this was plotting in the South, but I could hardly believe him. Now 
 it has come to pass before our eyes. But nations, like individuals, 
 must, it seems, in the order of the Divine government, have their 
 trials and purifications. No nation in history has escaped. This is 
 our trial. I believe God will bring us out of it purer and better than 
 we have ever been. This is the time to believe in him as the divine 
 ruler of nations and of men. 
 
 Versailles, S^pf ember 4, 1861. 
 
 We left 10 Rue Balzac on Monday — sending our goods to the new 
 house, and the family to our summer resting-place in Versailles. We 
 have a grand old apartment on the third floor containing ten rooms, 
 thoroughly furnished with old style French furniture — everything 
 comfortable and nice. No carpets : some of the floors are waxed, 
 others are tiled, but all as clean as a pin. Clocks in almost every room 
 — and very elegant ones, too — writing desks, and, in fact, eveiy con- 
 venience. I really think this plan of apartments would be very suc- 
 cessful, if once fairly introduced, in the American cities. We have 
 the gardens of the palace to walk in, and the park to ride in, when- 
 ever we feel rich enough to pay thirty cents an hour for a carriage. I 
 should have gone to Geneva this week to attend the Evangelical Al- 
 liance, but my knees got so tired with the moving that I must give 
 them a week's rest. 
 
 We expect to hear by Sunday that Washington is taken by the 
 rebels. There is great incapacity somewhere ; but it will all come 
 right by and by. I have no fear for our country in the long run. But 
 what an account will the men have to give who have made this wick- 
 ed rebellion for the purpose of extending human slavery. I fear there 
 can be no peace in America while the cause of all our troubles re- 
 mains untouched. 
 20 
 
3o6 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To Mr. Leimiel Bangs. 
 
 Paris, October 12, 1861. 
 Emory, I am sorry to say, has made up his mind to go to the wars. 
 In view of his physique, of the fact of his being my only son, of his 
 talents and prospects which fit him to work better for usefulness to 
 his country and the world in other lines than the military, I do not 
 think he ought to go. But he is of age, and must decide the ques- 
 tion for himself. I have written to the War Department, sorrowfully 
 enough, asking a commission for him. I really hope they will not 
 grant it, and that something else will turn up to employ him. I fear 
 he will be invalided upon three months service, if not killed. But the 
 will of Providence be done. He has studied military books with his 
 usual rapidity of apprehension, and could probably pass an exami- 
 nation to enter M'Clellan's staff, if he could get a chance. Importu- 
 nity, I suppose, secures such things, and importunity alone, with suf- 
 ficient influence from members of Coigress. The adhesion of the 
 Orleans princes will bring up that whole party, which is very power- 
 ful in France, to our side of this great question even more decidedly 
 than they have yet been with us. If Prince Napoleon comes home 
 with good impressions, he Avill carry with him one wing of the Na- 
 poleon party. As for the emperor himself, he has always been with 
 us. But Thouvenel is very ill informed on our affairs. What a 
 pity it is that Mr. Dayton cannot talk the question over with him ! 
 The Times, you see, has moderated very much in tone. Lord John 
 Russell declared to an American gentleman privately, last week, that 
 they had not the slightest idea of breaking the blockade, or of inter- 
 ferring with us in any way. 
 
 Paris, November 15, 1861. 
 
 Our Church goes on wonderfully well, in spite of the number who 
 have left for home in consequence of the war. The congregations 
 are excellent — better, even, for the last few weeks, than they were 
 before. If my knee would allow me to do pastoral visiting, I should 
 feel more happy in my work : but, as it is, I try to do my duty as well 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 307 
 
 as I can, and am not unhappy. But if the way were open how glad- 
 ly would I go back to St. Paul's to work among so many friends, and 
 praying friends, who would hold up my hands when they incline to 
 hang down ! I hope the time will come when our Discipline will be 
 less stringent on the point of a preacher's stay in a place ; but it will 
 probably not be in our time. 
 
 I see that Mr. Matthias has gone home. He was my first presiding 
 elder, and I have always had a warm feeling toward him from that 
 day to this. I trust his family is provided for. We are all passing 
 away ; may we be gathered together in our Father's house above P 
 
 The war, I oppose, will last two or three years at least. I hope 
 the northern people are making up their minds to that — for if they 
 do not they will be likely to be disappointed. Patience and persever- 
 ance are the great lessons they require to be taught. I trust the end 
 of the war will be, at least, the beginning of the end of slaver}^ which 
 has caused the whole trouble. God bless you all ! 
 
 In order to show more clearly the meaning of Dr. 
 M'Clintock's letters in relation to the Trent trouble, 
 much of the correspondence of this date between him 
 and the Rev. Wm. Arthur is here inserted. These two 
 friends saw the misunderstanding which was working 
 mischief in the minds of leading men of the two nations, 
 and labored assiduously for its removal. 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Arthur to Dr. M'Clintock. 
 
 Noterriber 29, 1861. 
 
 I have no heart for public affairs just now; but seldom as I agree 
 with the Times its money article of to-day, seems so exactly to ex- 
 press the universal feeling of this country that I send it. As I al- 
 ways said, if your people are determined to make an enemy of En- 
 gland they can. People here would hate a fight begun when your 
 hands are full ; but if you force it on, it will be such a one as was 
 never seen. This has always been my testimony, and you may rely 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 upon it. The idea of war with you is odious to our people ; but if 
 your Government only shows a desire for peace, I have no fear of 
 ours. 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Arthur to Dr. M'Clmtock. 
 
 Noremhtr 30, 1S6I. 
 
 I cannot mention names, but I know upon as high legal authority 
 as can be, that the Times account of the opinion of the law officers 
 is perfectly correct. The view taken is this : The American Govern- 
 ment is as well versed in the law of the case as any one ; their later 
 writers are the best ; and if Commodore Wilkes acted on instructions 
 in taking the law into his own hands, his Government means war. 
 The law authorities have no shade of doubt or difference on the ques- 
 tion, " Did Wilkes, or did he not, take the case out of the hands of 
 the law and settle it by violence? " I do not speak on second-hand 
 information here. 
 
 As to political feeling in the highest quarters, it is to avoid a fight 
 if possible ; but a strong fear prevails that Seward wants to force 
 England into it. On what this is grounded I don't know ; but on 
 two things you may rely : That we will offer no provocation, will 
 make no grievance beyond what loyal opinion decides to be such, and 
 will for such firmly insist on reparation. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock to the Rev. Wm. Arthur. 
 
 Paeis, Novembtr 30, 1861. 
 It is of vital and pressing importance that I should get an imme- 
 diate answer to the following question : — 
 
 " Does the British cabinet really believe that Mr. Seward wishes 
 to have war with England, and that his measures are intended to 
 provoke \\}" 
 
 If you can, through any of your friends, get an answer to this that 
 may be relied on, you will do more good than you can well con- 
 ceive. I do not wish my name mentioned, nor will I mention yours 
 in return. 
 
 The converse question, " Whether the British cabinet really mean 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 309 
 
 to push us to the wall? " I suppose cannot be answered. But if I 
 can get a sure answer as to the first, (and I see no reason why not,) 
 it will go a great way, perhaps, toward preventing things from rush- 
 ing into war between America and England — a war which would thrill 
 the master of evil with Satanic joy. 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Arthur to Dr. M'Clmtock. 
 
 Decemher 2, 1S61. 
 
 My Saturday's note would show you that not only politicians but 
 lawyers take the acts of your Government as meaning a hostile inten- 
 tion. It is most seriously believed on all hands that Seward wishes a 
 war. Why, again I say, I do not know. 
 
 As to our Government wishing a war, it is out of the question. 
 Not one of its acts gives countenance to such an idea. Neither glory 
 nor gain could result to us. 
 
 Personally I no more believe that your Government wishes a war 
 than ours, but I can hardly find a man to agree with me. Some busy 
 power is making each believe that the other is a secret enemy. If 
 reasonable proof could be given to influential men that Seward does 
 not desire to make capital out of hostility to England, it would do 
 great good. Commodore Wilkes has done more for the South than 
 ten thousand Slidells and Masons could have done, as far as feeling 
 on this side is concerned. Would it do any good if I had an intro- 
 duction to your minister here ? 
 
 Perhaps I go too far in saying that all believe that Seward really 
 wishes war, most do ; but those who know better, and look deeper, 
 may think he only wishes to make capital out of a show of menacing 
 us, and this is, to 7nen, the more offensive supposition of the two. 
 
 Dr. M 'C Unlock to the Rev. IVm. Arthur. 
 
 Paris, December 2, 1S61. 
 
 Try to look at this grave question calmly — even amid the tempest 
 which nas been got up in England. Put the two following points to- 
 gether — both taken from the Times you send : — 
 
 I. The money article says, that " even on points where there is but 
 
310 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 a small doubt in their favor, that doubt should be conceded to the 
 Washington statesmen." 
 
 2. An article signed " Templar," on page eight of" the same Times, 
 cites Sir W. Scott as laying down that " you may stop the ambassa- 
 dor of your enemy on his passage." An article signed "Senex," 
 on the same page, gives the same point more at length. 
 
 Is not the " si7iall doubt " here ? But instead of the " small doubt," 
 there are precedents by the score in British usage, and citations mul- 
 titudinous to be taken from English law-books, in favor of the pro- 
 cedure in the case of the Trent. The Star s quotations from Dr. Phil- 
 limore are alone ample to furnish a complete vindication of it. If 
 the newspapers are correct, your law officers have decided that 
 Wilkes " ought to have taken the Trent into port for trial." And on 
 this punctilio, great and magnanimous England proposes to join the 
 slaveholders against us, and to strike us to the earth when we are too 
 weak to resist her ! 
 
 You have several times reproved me for my prediction of last win- 
 ter. My only error, it seems, was in the time I allowed. The inter- 
 vening months have been spent — you know it as well as I — in poi- 
 soning the British mind against us in base perversions of the ground 
 and causes of the rebellion. In a word, in preparing the public 
 mind of England to sustain the Government in striking us when the 
 first plausible pretext should come. Now it has come. 
 
 You are stronger than we are, and could do us more harm than 
 we could do you, even if we were united. Now that the slaveholders 
 are fighting us, you can crush us. But will not the shame of such 
 an alliance cause your ears to tingle when you hear of victo- 
 ries } And when you have subdued us, established the dominion of 
 King Cotton, and have fixed the yoke of the slaveholding oligarchy 
 firmly upon the necks of our people, will the achievement be one to 
 be proud of? Will England stand, then, at the head of Christian 
 nations } Will God be glorified thereby } The laurels to be won in 
 forcing the priest party on poor, distracted Mexico, will fade before 
 the greater honor of forcing the slave power upon the prostrate 
 United States. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 God bless you and your country, my dear friend ! If we have war, 
 and it lasts five years or ten, I shall never cease to love you, to thank 
 you for the great services you have rendered us, and to pray for you, 
 even on some night when your ships may be bombarding my old 
 home in New York, 
 
 The Rev. Win, Arthur to Dr. M'Ch'ntock. 
 
 LoxDox, December 4, 1861. 
 
 May God bless you ! Thanks for your letter, which will not be 
 useless. There is one word on which I seriously differ from you — 
 "punctilio." I hope Com. Wilkes meant the difference between ar- 
 resting the ship and judging her, as in our favor, and always say so ; 
 but it is one of the most cherished distinctions in our executive pro- 
 ceedings. We give every policeman the right to arrest a person ac- 
 cused, and carry him before a tribunal ; but let the highest police 
 officer in the land assume to deal out justice and he will soon .be dis- 
 missed. 
 
 As to Fairfax, I am inclined to agree with much you say. As to 
 Wilkes, all was the most studious insult. His shotted guns, his live 
 shell, his armed men, his bare cutlasses, convinced every sailor I have 
 heard speak that he deliberately meant to provoke war. So per- 
 suaded are they of it, that those who do not believe in the Govern- 
 ment wishing war, suppose that he must be at heart a seces- 
 sionist. If one thing is certain under the sun, it is that the day be- 
 fore the news oA Wilkes's movement reached us, the universal feeling 
 in England was satisfaction that we had succeeded in being neutral, 
 hope that complications were now impossible, and congratulation 
 that our commerce and money market were daily showing themselves 
 superior to the influence of the war. Our papers acted badly, very 
 badly, but the idea of a war was far from the heart even of the Times. 
 
 Many thanks for the extract from the Herald. 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Arthur to Dr. M'Clintock. 
 The French papers are full of sensational news, and I venture to 
 say that the scrap you send was never read a second time by any one 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 here — no one saw it. Our men were full of the conviction that Sew- 
 ard intended, by deliberate insult, to bring on a war. and lay on us 
 the blame of recognizing the South. I think they no>v see a little 
 more clearly ; but as a specimen, I saw a letter from a peer in the 
 country, requesting his nearest friend to tell the Government that he 
 had good information to the effect that the real destination of the 
 armada was the West Indies, and Port Royal a mere feint. People 
 here have striven hard to reconcile themselves to the prospect of a 
 war, but cannot ; and if your Government makes amends, there will 
 be more jubilant feeling than for many a day, though sober, as will, in 
 the other case, be the sorrow. 
 
 Weed is a noble fellow, and will do great good. He is the right 
 kind of a man for our folk. 
 
 Would to God that your North had had the generosity to say from 
 the first England will be our friend, instead of flinging constantly in 
 our faces your belief that we should make defensive and offensive al- 
 liance with the South ! Common policy taught the South to do what 
 good feeling, without it, might have taught the North ; what both 
 combined ought to have done. 
 
 The feeling here is less for war every day, still all are ready if they 
 must ; and if this passes over I believe the incident will do much to 
 make us understand each other. 
 
 The God of peace bless you and America ! 
 
 Of the service rendered by Dr. M'Clintock and Mr. 
 Arthur to Mr. Weed in his mission, Mr. Weed gives the 
 following interesting account in a note to me : Three 
 days after I reached Paris, in November, 1861, news was 
 received that Messrs. Mason and SHdell, Confederate 
 commissioners, had been taken from the Trent, an En- 
 glish ship, by a United States' war steamer. That news 
 occasioned great excitement both in England and France. 
 After a consultation between Mr. Dayton, the American 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 Minister, Mr. Bigelow, our Consul, Archbishop Hughes, 
 and General Winfield Scott, at which Dr. M'Clintock 
 was present, it was deemed proper that I should proceed 
 immediately to London. Before leaving Paris Dr. 
 M'Clintock handed me a letter of introduction to the 
 Rev. William Arthur, remarking that I had better de- 
 liver it as soon as convenient after my arrival in London. 
 Remembering the earnestness of Dr. M'Clintock's lan- 
 guage and manner, I lost no time in calling upon Mr. 
 Arthur, whom I found at the Methodist Mission House, 
 of which he was secretary. My reception was very cor- 
 dial. Mr. Arthur, while putting on his hat and coat, ex- 
 pressed great apprehension that the Trent affair would 
 occasion a war. It was important, he said, that I should 
 immediately be made acquainted with the Hon. Arthur 
 Kinnaird, and other influential friends of the North. 
 Taking a seat with me in a cab, we were driven to Pall 
 Mall, where I was introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Kinnaird, 
 both of whom sympathized warmly with our Government, 
 and entered promptly upon measures calculated first to 
 avert war, and next to correct the erroneous views, so 
 widespread in England, of the causes of our Rebellion. 
 I was indebted to Mr. Kinnaird for early introductions to 
 Lord Palmerston, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and other dis- 
 tinguished personages. As a member of Parliament I 
 found him an efficient friend of the Union during the 
 Rebellion. I was several times in Paris during the eight 
 months we were abroad, always finding in Dr. M'Clin- 
 tock a devoted friend of the Union, upon whose intelli- 
 gence and advice I could safely rely." 
 
314 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To Mr. T. N. Dale. 
 
 Paris, December 16, 1S61. 
 
 I send by this mail Saturday's Opinion, containing an article of 
 
 mine signed , and also yesterday's Opinioii, with notice of the 
 
 article in the bulletin. Don't mention my name in connexion with 
 these articles. I am to keep r Opinion posted hereafter. I have also 
 just translated Gasparin's new pamphlet, and sent it to London to 
 be printed. In truth I have been working so hard recently as seri- 
 ously to hurt my nervous system. Yet one must not spare himself 
 in these times. 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Bangs. 
 
 Paris, December 20, 1861. 
 
 I have nearly written myself into a fever on this quarrel with En- 
 gland. If we get out of the scrape I hope I shall have contributed to 
 it by what I have written and printed, both in England and here. I 
 hope you will give up Mason and Slidell. Such an affair as this Trent 
 is the only one on which the English aristocracy could have fired up 
 the masses against us, and they have used it with fearful skill and 
 success. If we deprive them of this issue, and they try another, they 
 will fail, unless, indeed, it be another of the same sort. Moreover, 
 even in France, the opinion prevails that our Government dare not 
 resist the mob. To give up the rebels would put down this cry : even 
 English lies could not cover up or pervert so great a fact, for which 
 all the world is listening with open ears. 
 
 If the war does come, I shall have to go home at once, I suppose ; 
 and my feelings lead me to go. It is a terrible tension of the nerves 
 to await the arrival of the steamers. Yet there never was a time in 
 which it was so important to the country for me to be here, as it will 
 be after war breaks out. I have greater means of influence now 
 than ever. If things are rightly managed France will take our side 
 within six months after war breaks out. But will things be rightly 
 managed } We had the threads all in our hands then, but Mr. Sew- 
 ard could not be prevailed upon to use them. A^ow, he sends 
 Hughes, Weed, M'llvaine, and all such, but it is, I fear, shutting the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 stable door after the steed is stolen. Half the expense last spring 
 would have kept him in the stable. 
 
 To the Rev. A. Long acre. 
 
 Paris, December 20, 1861. 
 
 Your letter of the 7th inst., from Cairo, arrived yesterday. You 
 were in blissful ignorance, when you wrote, of the state of warlike 
 madness into which our friends on the other side of the channel have 
 lashed themselves. It has somewhat subsided now, but the state 
 of things is fearful to behold as among a Christian people. All 
 their fine preachings to us about the "sin of fighting" are suddenly 
 ended. The point of honor — national pride — is, for England, more 
 than philanthropy. Especially when behind the point of honor lies 
 a want of cotton and a dread of republicanism. Yet the whole heart 
 of the people is with us. The people may be led or driven by the 
 aristocracy into a hateful war, but it has not come to that yet. We 
 believe and hope that Lincoln will give up Mason and Slidell, or pro- 
 pose the arbitration of the Emperor Napoleon. The London Times 
 and Herald insist upon it that England will not agree to the latter 
 proposition, but I do not think Palmerston will dare to refuse it. It 
 is said that the queen is opposed to fighting us, some say the Prince 
 of Wales also, but it is hard to find out the truth these days. 
 
 I have just translated De Gasparin's new pamphlet to print in 
 London. I fear, however, it will fall on unwilling ears. 
 
 Americans in Europe felt very keenly the manner in 
 which the country was often wronged by the telegrams 
 sent through the Atlantic cable. The editorials of the 
 English and continental papers were based upon the 
 cable reports ; the corrections of the cable news, which 
 came later by mail, as a rule, went unnoticed. It was 
 evident that if the dispatches from this side were imper- 
 fectly, or carelessly, or unfairly made up, the effect, in a 
 time of such overwrought excitement, could not be other- 
 
3l6 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 wise than hurtful to our country abroad. Dr. M'Clintock 
 called attention to this subject, first of the agent of the 
 Associated Press in New York, and next of the depart- 
 ment of war at Washington, with the result of putting 
 all parties on their guard. The incident was not in itself 
 important, but is an example of the vigilance with which 
 he watched the influences that were every day mould- 
 ing European opinion. 
 
 Let it not be supposed, however, that he became so 
 absorbed in the service of his country as to forget or 
 slight his duty as pastor of the American Chapel. Far 
 from it. N ever was his preaching more direct than dur- 
 ing his ministry in Paris. He speaks gratefully of its 
 fruit in the conversion of some of his hearers. His assist- 
 ant, Mr. Longacre, having returned home in the spring 
 of 1862, he assumed himself, from that time, the entire 
 Sunday labor, preaching twice, and reading in the morn- 
 ing the Episcopal service. Nor did he forget Christ's 
 word, I was in prison and ye came unto me." There 
 is in his collection of letters one from the American min- 
 ister, the Hon. W. L. Dayton, to th€ Prefect of police of 
 Paris, which runs thus : " The bearer of this note is the 
 Rev. Dr. M'Clintock, the pastor of the American Chapel. 
 I respectfully ask, in behalf of such of his countrymen as 
 may be confined in the prisons of Paris, that he may be 
 permitted to visit them when and as often as his counsel 
 and services may be desired by them respectively." For 
 one American, in prison on a serious charge, he interest- 
 ed himself greatly, visiting the authorities, and finally 
 appealing to the emperor in his behalf. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 317 
 
 A little incident of his Paris life is very characteristic. 
 One of our missionaries in India, the Rev. J. T. Gracey, 
 who was under great obligations to a surgeon of the 
 British army, wished to present his benefactor a scarce 
 scientific book, which could not be had in the East. He 
 wrote to Dr. M'Clintock asking him, if it were practicable, 
 to find and purchase it. " Amid all his other cares and 
 duties," says Mr. Gracey in a note to me, " he put him- 
 self to no small pains to secure and forward it, and as I 
 took it unbound, he would not accept any thing in pay- 
 ment for it. The deep sympathy which he had with our 
 foreign mission force was the explanation in part of his 
 kind attention to my demands." A well-known Amer- 
 ican writer, Edward Everett Hale, in one of his brilliant 
 fancies, sketches the plan of a club, propagating itself 
 over the world, two of whose cardinal principles should be, 
 "to look up and not down, and to lend a hand." In such 
 an association Dr. M'Clintock, by a natural and easy 
 process, would have become head and chief. If he had 
 had a hundred hands he would have lent them all, in 
 help and service, to his fellow-men. To look up and 
 not down, and to lend a hand," were the sum and sub- 
 stance of his philosophy of life. 
 
318 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTERS— 1861 TO 1862. 
 L TO DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 I. 
 
 Wab Department, Washington, D. C, Sept. 16, 1861. 
 
 My Very Dear Sir : — Your letter of the 28th ult. was very wel- 
 come, proving as it does your intense interest in our great stiTiggle. 
 
 I have written to the President of the American Telegraph Com- 
 pany a special letter on the subject, and as I know all his sympathies 
 are on our side, I am satisfied he will remedy the difficulty in regard 
 to the telegrams made up for Europe. When I hear from him I shall 
 take pleasure in letting you know what he says and what he has done. 
 
 You ask several questions. I reply : Martial law practically has 
 existed at Washington for six weeks. The provost marshal (Gen- 
 eral Porter) is arresting traitors day and night. 
 
 The wealthy people at Washington whom you suspect are giving 
 aid and comfort to the rebels are rather hard to find now, as, thanks 
 to the vigorous measures of General M'Clellan and General Porter, 
 they have either been caught and sent to Fort Lafayette, or have 
 packed up their trunks and gone to parts unknown. Believe me, 
 with warm regards to your family, 
 
 Your sincere friend, James Lesley, Jun. 
 
 Wab Depabtment, Washington, D. C, Oct. 21, 1861. 
 Dear Sir: — Your favor of the 3d inst. is acknowledged with 
 much pleasure. 
 
 I am ver}- much gratified in being able to give you the satisfactory 
 intelligence that arrangements have been definitely made to transmit 
 the proper kind of telegrams to the English press. This matter has 
 required considerable judgment to arrange, but by the aid of the 
 Secretary of State, and the Assistant Secretary of War, it has been 
 finally accomplished. I think there will be no more cause for com- 
 plaint hereafter. With kind regards to your family, 
 
 I remain your sincere friend, JAMES LESLEY, JUN. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 II. FEOM DK. M'CLINTOCK TO HIS FEIENDS. 
 I. 
 
 Paris, Jtily 31, 1S61. 
 
 You see that I mean to keep you in debt, for letters at least. But, 
 like the New York merchants, I have decided on a cash business — 
 thirty days the very longest date, and you have had much more than 
 that time on my last. Please pay up promptly. The difficulties 
 which the war necessarily brings must fall upon you in common 
 with others, and must make demands upon your time also. But it 
 will relieve your mind to write. I am sure you will find my pre- 
 scription good. 
 
 If possible, our anxiety here is greater than yours at home, for we 
 get our news all in a lump, and not gradually, in driblets, as you do. 
 The last steamer brought us the accounts of M'Clellan's victories, 
 and of the advance of M'Dowell's column. I pray God that the 
 great preparations of the Government may cause the southern army 
 to disband without fighting, so that our country's soil may not be 
 saturated with fraternal blood. What an account will the men have 
 to render who have undertaken to destroy the mildest and best Gov- 
 ernment the world ever saw ! But this is our time of trial. I trust 
 the country will come out of it like gold tried in the fire. 
 
 Bishop Janes has just left us. His three days' visit was a blessing 
 to us all. His view of the importance of my work here, in the 
 American Chapel, has greatly changed, and he now urges me to re- 
 main some years — ^in view not only of the work of God in Paris, but 
 all over the continent of Europe. I have not yet decided whether to 
 return this fall or not : it will depend on letters to arrive in a week or 
 two. In this, as in all things, I hope to act simply as Providence 
 dictates. 
 
 A. V. Stout, Esq., Nbw York. 
 
 II. 
 
 Paris, December 19, 1861. 
 Monsieur: — Your letter of December 2 arrived at a moment 
 when I was worn out with writing to England and America about 
 the Trent affair. Moreover, my secretary is ill, and has been for 
 
320 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 two weeks. Nevertheless, I wait for him no longer, but write to you 
 in English, not trusting my own French for such a purpose. 
 
 I had anticipated your wishes in writing to America. My hope is 
 that this dreadful evil of war between England and America may be 
 averted, and I am straining every nerve to that end. But the public 
 opinion of Britain has been so shockingly perverted and demoralized 
 by the " Times," and other journals, that I cannot say that I expect 
 peace to subsist long, even if war does not grow out of the Trent af- 
 fair. Good men in England abound, and many of them have stood 
 by the cause of truth and justice from the beginning ; but their num- 
 ber is small compared with those who, for political or commercial 
 reasons, are determined to take part with the slaveholders. 
 
 The New York journals are very moderate in tone on the Trent 
 trouble. The " Patrie " has some new canard every night. No 
 confidence whatever can be placed in its dernieres nouvelles. The 
 " Debats " has had some noble articles this week. 
 
 I have just received your second letter. To-morrow I shall go to 
 Levy's and get the proof sheets, if he has them ready, and will en- 
 deavor to meet your wishes as to the translation for England 
 promptly. 
 
 May God bless you for your earnest and active sympathy for our 
 cause ! God is just. Even if England goes to war with us in aid 
 of the slave cause, all is not lost. 
 
 I am, with the sincerest respect and regard, M. le Comte, 
 Your obliged, 
 
 M. LE CoUTE DE GaSPABIN. John M'Clintock. 
 
 III. 
 
 Parm, December 20, 1861. 
 
 Dear General : — I beg you to listen to me one moment. There 
 is war in America, not merely rebellion. Your war must be con- 
 ducted on established principles, or our Government will take rank 
 with Austria and Naples. 
 
 Privateering is as legitimate as war on land, except for nations 
 that have accepted the Paris decisions of 1856. If you hang one of 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 321 
 
 the privateersmen you alienate all European sympathy. The Liber- 
 als all over Europe are with us now ; but they will drop our cause at 
 once if you do this thing. The Liberals are likely some day to be 
 •* rebels " themselves against tyranny here : and they will not sustain 
 you in establishing such precedents. 
 
 The honor of our Government is much more at stake in not waging 
 vigorous war, and in not using all legitimate means of harming the 
 enemy, than in such points of etiquette as hanging privateersmen, re- 
 fusing exchange of prisoners, etc. The rebels are at war with us, 
 and at tolerably successful war, too. Let us beat them in war first, 
 and the rebellion will fall of itself. 
 
 I beg you to understand that I am not simply expressing my own 
 views, but those of the best informed Americans and Frenchmen 
 whom I meet. 
 
 For the sake of the honor of our country, and of republicanism — 
 for the sake of liberal principles all over the world — I adjure you to 
 use your influence to prevent the hanging of any of the privateers- 
 men. May God have you in his holy keeping ! 
 Gknbral Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Park, Dectmber 27, 1861. 
 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : — I have requested Messrs. S. Low, Son 
 & Co., to send you a copy of De Gasparin's " Word of Peace," which 
 I have just translated. If you think, with me, that its circulation will 
 do good, pray send to Mr. Low and get copies to distribute to any 
 persons of influence you may choose. I have directed them. 
 
 I do not believe that God will allow unprincipled men to get up a 
 war between England and America. 
 
 Of all the miracles of modern days, the success of the " Times " 
 in persuading Englishmen to believe that Mr. Lincoln's Government 
 desires war is the greatest. 
 
 Your prayer at Exeter Hall has gone to the ends of the earth ; 
 and, what is more, it has, I trust, reached the ears of Him who 
 heareth prayer. May God bless you ! 
 
 The Hon. and Rev. Baptist Nokl, London. 
 
 21 
 
322 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 V. 
 
 Paeis, January 2, 1S62. 
 
 A happy New Year! May 1862 be better for your and for our 
 country than 1861 has been ! 
 
 We are still on the qui vive for the settlement of the Trent busi- 
 ness, hoping that Prox idence may save us from the folly and peril of 
 a war with England. Even now I have no certainty that this letter 
 will reach you, as the English steamers do not pledge themselves to 
 sail beyond Halifax. 
 
 I have been doing what I could. De Gasparin v^TOte a powerful 
 pamphlet on the Trent trouble, which was published in Paris. He 
 urged me to translate it for England. I did so, and it has had, I 
 think, great effect there. Arthur has written a noble article for the 
 January number of the " London Review." I have had it printed as 
 a pamphlet and circulated in England. If this affair blows over, I 
 hope that a better state of feeling will grow out of it between En- 
 gland and America ; and I hope, too, that you will fortify Portland, 
 Newport, New York. Delaware Bay, the Chesapeake, and the Lake 
 harbors, in such a way that John Bull will get the worst of it in case 
 of war hereafter. 
 
 It is not to be disguised that we are losing ground in Europe every 
 day. The rebels spare no money or talents on the press here : our 
 Government leaves the whole matter to individual effort. Our want 
 of military success at home is believed to prove our want of military 
 skill, and France, as well as England, is laughing at our vaunting 
 as contrasted with our doing. If this winter passes away without 
 decisive operations, you need not wonder if France and England 
 recognize the slave confederacy in the spring — nor need you com- 
 plain of them for so doing. The commerce of the world can't wait 
 ten years to let the American people learn the art of war. 
 
 All pretty well — chapel flourishing. If we have war with En- 
 gland, however, most of the Americans will go home, and therefore 
 we shall go, too. 
 J. A. "Wkigiit, Esq., Philadelphia. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 3^3 
 
 VI. 
 
 Paeis, April 8, 1S62. 
 
 My Dear Friend : — Nothing is heard of all over Europe but 
 Merrimacs, Monitors, iron-clad steamers, etc. Vessels are coating 
 with iron in eveiy country which puts a ship to sea. We have fairly 
 got the start of them, and, I hope, will keep it. The English, you 
 see, take all the credit of the Monitor, calling it a clumsy piracy on 
 Coles's plan of cupola ships. They will next declare that Stevens's 
 iron batter}', begun twenty years ago, is pirated from some English 
 invention. By the way, I take credit to myself for urging our Gov- 
 ernment last year to complete Stevens's ship, though the urgency was 
 in vain. I hope it will be done promptly now. With two or three 
 such ships, built a year ago, you might have taken Charleston, Mo- 
 bile, and New Orleans long since, saved thousands of precious lives, 
 and millions of money. The late news — Columbus, Newbern, Ma- 
 nasses, Beaufort — has, for the present, put the rebel sympathizers here 
 in bodily fear, and even the "Times" has dropped its slaveholding 
 clients. But if you meet reverses the whole pack will soon be in full 
 cry again. The British aristocracy is not converted to our side, it 
 is only disappointed, and disappointed to the heart's core. I do not 
 trust the British Government a pin's weight more now than I did a 
 year ago, and hope our Government and people will not be put off 
 their guard by the lull of English abuse, caused only by our victories. 
 
 Your letters have done more good than you can readily think. They 
 have furnished me with facts and arguments which I have used, not 
 merely in meeting the assaults of our enemies, but also in strength- 
 ening the nerves of timid friends. How many people there are in this 
 world who require others to hold them up ! I have had several 
 American correspondents during the war, but your statements have 
 been more full and accurate, and your predictions more correct, than 
 any that I have received. No passage of Scripture is oftener veri- 
 fied than this : " Be of good courage, and God shall strengthen 
 thine heart." To him that hath shall be given. A bold facing of 
 peril clears up the mind, and enables it to work vigorously against 
 
324 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the evil ; while a trembling man loses his mental and his moral 
 vigor. But I did not mean to preach a sermon. 
 
 My health has been ver}^ poor for several weeks — cold, influenza, 
 diarrhoea, and rheumatism in my ancle, which, added to the trouble in 
 the knee, has made locomotion almost an impossibility. Yet I have 
 missed but one Sunday in six months at the Chapel. Within the last 
 week I have begun to get better, and hope soon to have at least my 
 ordinary health again. We have had a great deal of sickness in the 
 family also, but all seem to be mending now. Bishop M'llvaine is 
 here : I asked him to preach for us, but he had engaged both Sun- 
 days to Mr. Lamson and Mr. Forbes. He preached for Mr. Lamson 
 on Sunday morning. I had an idea that it would make a good deal 
 of difference in our congregation, but it did not — we had about as 
 many as usual. 
 
 The new Wesleyan Chapel, near the Boulevard Malesherbes, is 
 going up rapidly. They have church, school-rooms, bookseller's 
 shop, and pastor's residence, all under one roof, yet presenting a fine 
 architectural appearance. It is a great pity we had not adopted such 
 a plan at first. But as it is we must try to get the Evans lot, and fix 
 the American Chapel on immovable foundations by building on it. 
 Then, and then only, will we be strong and safe. If I could see this 
 thing done before returning to America, I should go back happy and 
 contented. The suggestion in your last about the legation, strikes 
 me as just the thing. Of course I have not mentioned it, and shall 
 not until the time comes. If we now had a good, pleasant room, we 
 should have a full Sunday-school. One part of the Rez-de-Chaussee 
 might be a reading-room, stocked with American journals, reviews, 
 etc., thus making it an attractive place for Americans, young and old. 
 The scheme is perfectly feasible if we can only get the mone)^ But 
 for the war we could have had it. 
 
 We hope to hear, by each steamer, that the Senate has adopted the 
 House resolutions as to compensated emancipation. Why in the 
 world is the bill for freeing the District of Columbia delayed } It is 
 a shame to civilization that the capita! of the United States should 
 have a slave in it for another hour. Nor does any constitutional or 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 325 
 
 legal barrier stand in the way to justify delay. With that measure 
 accomplished, and the president's recommendation adopted, it will 
 not be long fill Delaware and Maryland are made free States. 
 
 T. N. Dale, Esq., New York. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Pabis, October 27, 18G2. 
 
 Your letter of the loth, with enclosed draft for £26, has just ar- 
 rived. I need not say that I am touched by the kindness of the un- 
 known friends you allude to. Pray convey my sincere thanks and 
 acknowledgments. Had the letter arrived six weeks ago I should 
 have gone at once. But ^/len there was a minister here, very accept- 
 able to our people, who would have been willing to remain and 
 preach for me during my absence. Now he is gone, and there is no 
 chance of my getting any one to fill the pulpit in my absence. 
 
 That would be reason enough if there were no other. But there 
 is another. My health has run down very much within the last 
 month or two, afflicting my head especially. If I were in New York 
 now, I could not stand the excitement of public services, and so my 
 going would be of no use. Moreover, suffering as I am from rheu- 
 matism, I could not undertake two winter voyages. 
 
 My first thought was to return the draft for £26 ; but seeing there 
 would be a loss in that, I retain it. Please pay the amount back, 
 and charge it to me on account. You will owe me that much, ac- 
 cording to my account, by December. 
 
 I need not say how much pleasure it would give me to take a look 
 at you all. But at present I must not think of it. Unless I devote 
 this winter, or a good part of it, simply to rest and recruiting, I fear 
 my health may be utterly broken up. I shall write just as little as 
 possible. 
 
 Bkv. Db. G. B. Cbooks. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Paris, December 2, 1862. 
 I succeeded yesterday in purchasing the " Rapport General stir les 
 travaux du Conseil D' Hygiene," etc. It is unbound. It occurs to 
 me that you would desire to present it handsomely bound. I await 
 
326 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 your order in .that respect before sending it. I have paid for th<. 
 book sixteen francs. To bind it well in half morocco will cost 
 ten or twelve francs more ; or, with gilt edges, about fourteen 
 francs, bringing the total cost up to thirty francs, or about £1.4.6. 
 You can remit the amount in francs, by draft on Paris ; or in sterling, 
 by draft on London. Be good enough also to indicate by what mode 
 of conveyance you desire the book sent. I am glad to render you 
 this slight ser\-ice. In case you, or any one else connected with our 
 missions, shall ever need anything from Paris, pray command me. 
 
 The prospect at home is better, I think, than it has been for 
 some months. The war, I hope, will be ended by next summer, and 
 freedom established throughout the land. May God grant it ! 
 Ebv. J. T. Gbacet, India. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 327 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 I 862-1 864. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock's Habitual Interest in Political Affairs— The Scholar in Politics— Effect of 
 his Activity upon his Countrymen in Europe— Prosperity of the Chapel — Piespect of Europe 
 for "Monitors" — Tribute to the Memory of the Eev. Dr. Bangs— The United States is n 
 Great Nation — European Opinion of General M'Clellan— A Detacliment of Lee's Army 
 Enters Carlisle— Anticipation Eight Years Before of such an Event by Dr. M"Clintock— 
 Notice to American and Foreign Christian Union of his Purpose to Return Home — Keview 
 of his Pastorate in Paris — The Eev. Andrew Longacre's Sketch of Dr. M"Clintock's Per- 
 sonal Life — Making Sunshine for All — Ciiarity for Men, and Faith in God. 
 
 HOUGH devoted by his choice, and by the obUga- 
 
 tions which he had assumed, to the ministerial call- 
 ing, Dr. M'CHntock had been all his life deeply interested 
 in national politics. He believed the moral integrity of 
 the State to be as vitally important as the integrity of 
 the individual. He could not be deluded by the sophis- 
 try that a commonwealth composed of moral beings can 
 exist for ends in which morals have no place. It was his 
 opinion that the State should be served by citizens of 
 the purest character and highest culture, and he deplored 
 the separation which has been going on for so many 
 years between the best classes of American society and 
 its political administration. He by no means considered 
 it his duty to confine himself to watching and praying 
 while political managers took the country far on the 
 road to destruction. Nor could he be warned off by the 
 clamor which, despite our sufferings, is popular still, that 
 scholars are not sufficiently practical to deal with political 
 
328 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 issues. He had learned from Lord Bacon that it can- 
 not but be a matter of doubtful consequence if States be 
 managed by empiric statesmen, not well mingled with 
 men grounded in learning." Dr. M'Clintock claimed a 
 place for the scholar in politics, and, true to his convic- 
 tions, struck strong blows for the right whenever he saw 
 a fit occasion. 
 
 The sneers that scholars, in serving the State, are 
 not supple and worldly-wise, were treated by him with 
 the contempt which they deserve. His teacher, Bacon, 
 had reminded him again, that ''although men bred in 
 learning are, perhaps, to seek in points of convenience 
 and accommodating for the present, yet, to recompense 
 that, they are perfect in those same plain grounds of re- 
 ligion, justice, honor, and moral virtue, which, if they 
 be well and watchfully pursued, there will be seldom need 
 of those other, no more than of physic in a sound and 
 well-dieted body." Few Americans were better versed 
 than he in the Constitution of the United States and its 
 history. He could cite its provisions with a readiness 
 which often silenced an over-confident debater. He was 
 heart-sick of the reign of empirical statesmen and empir- 
 ical statesmanship, and longed to see the day when the 
 most capable citizens should be called, not exceptionally, 
 but as the rule, to places of public trust. 
 
 His vigorous activity during the war, therefore, was 
 not out of the line of his habitual conduct. To a friend 
 who gently chided him for his great zeal in the national 
 cause, he replied : " The family and the Church can only 
 exist under the wing of Government : if that is gone, all 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 329 
 
 is gone. With these views it appears to me to be the 
 duty of every man to use his influence to sustain the Gov- 
 ernment which protects him." While, therefore, he was 
 never betrayed into an act unsuitable to his position as 
 a Christian minister, he let it be known to all that his 
 voice, pen, and means were unhesitatingly given to the 
 service of his country. The effect of his energetic exer- 
 tions was felt and recognized by Americans all over 
 Europe. The Rev. Dr. Hurst, who lived at Frankfort- 
 on-the-Main during our late civil war, wrote from that 
 important continental centre : " Unless one has been 
 in Europe, and- even lived here, and come in contact 
 with some of the Americans who reside abroad, making 
 Paris their head-quarters, but yet circulating for pleasure 
 or improvement from country to country and city to city, 
 it is extremely difficult to comprehend the magnitude 
 of Dr. M'Clintock's services. There was not a United 
 States consulate in Europe where his influence was not 
 felt in behalf of the country's struggle for integrity, and 
 probably not an adult American living here, or in the 
 countries around the Mediterranean, whom his words, 
 spoken in public or private for the national cause, and 
 reproduced in the *Galignani' newspaper, did not 
 reach." 
 
 During the dark period from 1862 to 1863 he was 
 abundant in hope, though often depressed by the re- 
 verses of our national arms. He still, however, worked 
 on, writing, speaking, cheering the faint, and pouring out 
 his overwrought feeling in his correspondence with friends 
 at home. 
 
330 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paris, January 7, 1862. 
 We are still full of anxiety and excitement about the Trent trouble. 
 We expected a settlement of it by the Europa, but her news is not 
 decisive. If it were not so serious a matter, it would be amusing to 
 read the comments of the New York papers, and such speeches as 
 Hale's, in the Senate, talking of Napoleon III. anxious to avenge Wa- 
 terloo, etc. I fancy the receipt of Thouvenel's dispatch has changed 
 all that. Napoleon is determined to keep the English alliance at 
 any cost, and he will never join us against England, unless driven to 
 it by French public opinion. Unfortunately, not only French public 
 opinion, but the opinion of the whole continent, is against us in 
 the Trent matter. If we must fight England, as appears not un- 
 likely, let us wait till we get a case in which the world will stand 
 by us. But I hope that after this Trent business is settled a 
 better state of feeling will arise in England. Had our Government 
 taken the proper means to enlighten public opinion in France and 
 England during the last four months, we should be in a very dif- 
 ferent position now. Arthur deserves the thanks of every American. 
 He has worked nobly, and with great success, too, especially since 
 the Trent imbroglio began. 
 
 In reviewing the year at the Chapel we have great reason to 
 thank God. In spite of the vicissitudes of the time, our congrega- 
 tions are as good as ever, and we are gradually gathering Americans 
 in who have never attended before. I never had more attentive 
 hearers, though I never preached plainer or more direct sermons 
 in my life. Last week I had an earnest letter of inquiry — the cry of 
 a convicted soul. Recently several southern families — from Mobile, 
 Charleston, and Savannah — have taken pews. The great drawback 
 upon my comfort and usefulness has been my knee. It has hindered 
 me from pastoral visiting, as going up and down stairs is the worst 
 thing for it, and most people here live up three or four pairs of 
 stairs. My own apartment is on what would be the third floor in 
 America, and when I go up and down it twice a day, it is as much as 
 I ought to do, without further trial of the knee. As yet I can only 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 walk a short distance, so that my visits have to be made in cabs, and 
 the expense is too great to allow a constant use of them. All this 
 has hindered my pastoral service, greatly to my sorrow ; but I have 
 done the best I could, and must leave the result with God. 
 
 To Mr. T. N, Dale. 
 
 Pakib, January 13, 1S62. 
 
 Emory goes to secure a position in civil or military life. He has 
 promised me to seek a civil position first, in some of the lines for 
 which his education would so thoroughly fit him. Failing in that, he 
 will seek a military post. My fear is, that his constitution is not 
 strong enough to bear the fatigue. But Providence will direct. 
 
 The rendition of Mason and Shdell has made us all happy. The 
 Trent papers cover Lincoln and Seward with garlands. England has 
 thus given up a claim of right to take persons out of neutral ships, 
 about which we have been contending with her for half a century. 
 Thank God ! 
 
 To Mrs. Dr. A. S. Piirdy. 
 
 Paris, January 30, 1S62. 
 
 The pressure of public and private griefs has affected my health a 
 great deal of late. I could doubtless bear all things better if I could 
 take necessary out-of-door exercise ; but my knee continues to for- 
 bid that, and of course the physical organization obeys the physical 
 laws, and suffers. I have lost a great deal of flesh, going back rath- 
 er to the size and weight at which you knew me when a boy, than to 
 that of my later years. Whether this is a bad sign or not I do not 
 know, but yet it is very comfortable to be well cushioned with fat. 
 It shields one's nerves, and wards off many a blow at sensitive points. 
 But you must not think I am going to sticks, or that I have given 
 up to low spirits. I cannot be insensible to the public troubles of the 
 time, to the fearful state of our country, to the private sufferings of 
 my family and friends. All these things pierce me to the heart. Yet 
 I retain full confidence in God, and have never yet seen the day in 
 which I could not " cast all my care " on him. 
 
 I sometimes think our situation makes us more ner\'ous about the 
 
332 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 war and its results than you can be at home. You get news every 
 djiy, but we are kept on the stretch from week to \\eek, waiting the 
 arrival of the steamers, and when they do come we tremble to open 
 letters and papers for fear of bad news. We are now waiting most 
 anxiously, for the last news was, that a general movement would take 
 place. God deliver our distracted country ! 
 
 If God will, we shall remain here at least until the spring of 1863, 
 as all the indications of Providence point out this as my post of duty. 
 As long as these indications remain the same, I shall stay. Pray that 
 my work may be owned and blessed of God. I often yearn to see 
 you and all my dear friends on the other side of the water ; but 
 homesickness is not wholesome for body or soul, and so I check it, 
 and try to be as happy and contented as possible. 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Bangs. 
 
 Paris, March 29, 1862. 
 
 The springs of Wildbad, in Germany, it is said, will cure all my ail- 
 ments, but I can't go there till June. This illusion, you see, is, there- 
 fore, good for three months. What a blessed arrangement it is, that 
 we have one illusion thus after another, to keep up our spirits, and 
 to carry us on through life. It is a proof of immortality : there wz'll 
 come a time v/hen hope shall be realized. 
 
 So M'Clellan has let the rebels escape him. His star is waning : I 
 hope he will be able to brighten it up again soon. The Monitor and 
 Merrimac have awakened more attention in Europe than Manasses, 
 simply because people are interested here in the question of iron- 
 plated ships. The English begin to think that if we can build Mon- 
 itors in one hundred days, it would not be so easy to crush us, even 
 with " Warriors." The old heroic stories of wooden walls will do 
 now for stories, Hke the tournament battles of the Middle Ages. 
 
 All Europe is thrilled with the proposal to initiate compensated 
 emancipation. It is the true issue and end of the slavery question. 
 Push it all you can. 
 
 I feel the homesickness coming stronger upon me now that Emory 
 has gone. Moreover, my health is leaving me all the time. I fear I 
 am trying to do too much. Yet I am not willing to leave this post 
 
THE REV. DR. xM'CLINTOCK. 333 
 
 so long as it clearly appears my duty to stay here, as it now does. 
 The spring is, with us, beautiful and delicious. The chestnut and 
 the locust trees are full of leaf, and the cherry- trees are flowering. 
 We are several weeks in advance of New York in the spring. Poli- 
 tics were very tier)' here a few weeks ago, but they have quieted down 
 — plenty of arrests. My American papers were nearly all opened at 
 the post-office last week — the first time it has happened since I have 
 been here. My London " Star" has only been permitted to reach 
 me two days out of six. These are signs of timidity, even in this 
 strong Government — really a very good Government, too. 
 
 Parts, April 2S, 1S62. 
 
 I hope your prognostications as to the state of your father and 
 mother's health will not be realized, and that this letter will arrive in 
 time to convey my cordial, affectionate, and reverential regards and 
 sympathies to them. Take it all together, in spite of their share of 
 the common evils that afflict humanity, and their endurance of some 
 of the uncommon ones, their life together has been a singularly hap- 
 py and successful one. Most of the aims of life they have achieved 
 — the very highest aims they have achieved fully and successfully. 
 Now they are going down to the grave with gray hairs — crowns of 
 glory — and attended by "honor, love, obedience, troops of friends" 
 — most of all, with the light of the city of God gleaming brightly out 
 for them beforehand in their living and dying faith. And for you it 
 is a rich inheritance, the treasure of their good lives and their good 
 name. God bless them both, if they are living, with the richest out- 
 flow of his grace in their last days ! 
 
 We are waiting, tremulously, the news by the Niagara. It is ex- 
 pected to bring us reports from M'Clellan. 
 
 To the Rev. Andrew Longacre. 
 
 Paris, "Wednesday, May 7, 1S62. 
 
 The last part of your letter has affected my feelings very much. 
 My own fear always has been, with reference to you, as to all others 
 that come under my influence, that the flagrant weaknesses of my 
 character must do more harm than any virtues I possess could do 
 
334 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 good. If it be otherwise, I thank God for overruling mercies, as 
 Cromwell would say. It may be a comfort to you to know that your 
 presence with us has had a most excellent effect upon our entire 
 household, and that you leave us bearing the affection of each and 
 all away with you. If you can drop a line from Liverpool before you 
 sail, do so. God send you a prosperous and speedy voyage ! 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Bangs. 
 
 Paris, Mnrj 29, 1862. 
 
 Your grand old father has gone to his rest at last. His end was 
 indeed a euthanasy — ^just such as was to be expected after such a 
 life. Seldom have the ends of life been so completely accomplished 
 as in his case. His career is now iotus, teres, atqiie rotundus. What 
 a legacy for you ! what a memory for the Church and for the coun- 
 try ! What a thorough man he was — so tender, and yet so strong ; 
 so fervent in his love, and yet so honest, and even hot, in his indigna- 
 tions ; so clear-headed, and yet so confiding. I consider it one of the 
 blessings of my later life that it was spent at New York at a time 
 when I could see so much of him : I now only regret that I did not 
 see more. Nor have I any better consciousness than the belief that 
 I enjoyed his affection and confidence. 
 
 Make my kindest regards and most cordial sympathies to your 
 mother, who, in spite of all appearances, has thus been allowed to 
 see how men in all lands are honoring the memory of her husband. 
 
 The news from home is all cheering, so far as it goes. The En- 
 glish press hides its real import from the people as much as possible, 
 disparages our military successes, and does ever)^thing it can to bol- 
 ster up the rebel cause and to prolong the rebellion. How fearful 
 is this wickedness, wrought, too, at the expense of the poor manu- 
 facturers of Lancashire. I have just returned from Yorkshire, where 
 there is little distress, as that is a woollen region. The politics 
 of Yorkshire are strongly liberal, and we have very many friends 
 there. But the ignorance of the middle classes is astounding. They 
 believe anything they read in their morning paper, and their knowl- 
 edge, thus obtained, is dogmatically asserted in conversation. But 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 335 
 
 I found a great change in six months : not, indeed, any increase 
 of good feehng toward us, but much less arrogance, much more re- 
 spect. Monitors and armies will probably teach John Bull manners 
 yet. Arthur is now on his high horse. All his views and predictions 
 are coming out right— just as we knew they would, and as most of 
 the preachers in England believed they would not. He had to " run 
 a muck " last winter for his Americanism, but it's working round now. 
 
 We are all on the qui vive to get at the bottom of Hunter's procla- 
 mation of freedom. I suppose it will turn out that he anticipated Mr. 
 Lincoln's order a little. But I am more and more satisfied that the 
 rebellion will never be effectually suppressed without the abolition of 
 slaver}'. God will work it all out. 
 
 While working with the prodigious energy here de- 
 scribed, Dr. M'Clintock was so lame from the affection of 
 the knee, of which he speaks repeatedly in his letters, that 
 he was almost entirely disabled from walking, and was 
 compelled to sit on a high chair or stool while preaching 
 and conducting the other services of the American Chapel. 
 He was advised to try the waters of Homburg, and went 
 thither for a month's rest in the latter part of June, 1862. 
 Learning late on the evening of July 3 that the Americans 
 in Frankfort intended to celebrate our national anniver- 
 sary, he went over on the morning of the Fourth, and list- 
 ened with great delight to the addresses of his countrymen 
 there assembled. Being himself called on, after the rep- 
 resentative of Her Britannic Majesty to the German Con- 
 federation had spoken, he said in the course of his ad- 
 dress to the company: " His lordship has informed you 
 that the United States bids fair to be a great nation. 
 Permit me to inform his lordship that the United States 
 is a great nation." Of the patriotic spirit of our consul- 
 
33^ 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 general, Mr. Murphy, who presided on the occasion. Dr. 
 M'Clintock was in the habit of speaking in terms of the 
 highest praise. 
 
 To Mr, Lemuel Bangs, 
 
 Paris, September 10, 1862. 
 
 We have just received a lot of confused telegrams about Bull Run, 
 Manasses, Centreville, and Leesburg, from all which we gather that 
 our brave fellows are fighting now the fields that M'Clellan ought 
 to have fought last December ! and with what result we know not. 
 God grant that the next news may not be the capture of Washing- 
 ton ! But, on the other hand, there seems to be a grand chance for 
 our generals to destroy the whole rebel army, if they will only em- 
 brace it. To help crush us, on this side, comes the president's colo- 
 nization speech, telling the negroes of the South, in substance, that 
 they have no choice but slavery or exile ! At all events that is the 
 way it will be represented to them, and that is the way it is repre- 
 sented to Europe. 
 
 I made several speeches in London last week, and tried to do some 
 good. I found plenty of religious sympathy, but, as for political sym- 
 pathy with us, in England, it does not exist, except in a very few noble 
 souls far ahead of the times. Arthur keeps in his high place, and looks 
 down with pity upon his mistaken brethren. But even he thinks our 
 Government has failed to meet the occasion : that we have had an 
 army of heroes led by — not a donkey, but a military pedant. 
 
 We have recently been cheered by the sight of some Methodist 
 preachers — De Hass, Foster, Keeler, Vincent, and Haven. You 
 can't imagine what a pleasure it is to see their faces. We see plenty 
 of other people, and plenty of other preachers, but the Methodist 
 s>Tnpathy is a very strong thing. 
 
 To the Rev. Andrew Longacre. 
 
 Paris, September 30, 1862. 
 
 Your letter seems to imply that I wished you to become an apostle 
 of amalgamation. I must have expressed myself very unfortunately. 
 I do not see the connexion between getting rid of the feeling of caste 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 337 
 
 on the one hand, and admitting negroes to social equality with whites 
 on the other. There is no social equality in England, yet there is no 
 caste. I should oppose amalgamation, even with Chinese; but 1 
 should not treat Chinese as though they were pariahs, notwithstand- 
 ing. All these minor points would regulate themselves if we once do 
 justice to the negroes. It takes all one's Christian patience to get 
 on with our English friends. But, then, how much we ought to 
 love and honor Arthur and the rest, who behave so nobly. They 
 have fought, and are fighting, against a tremendous public opinion. 
 
 I have just received a letter from Arthur, which I send you as a spe- 
 cimen of the way in which our military affairs look to the friendliest 
 eyes here : " Surely it is for some great purpose that Providence has 
 denied the North a general, M'Clellan is a mere engineer, with con- 
 fidence in plans, guns, and trenches — none in men. He would ruin a 
 hundred armies after he had organized them. I don't know what to 
 think of Pope. I did think him the best man on the ground, but the 
 last affair looks all against his generalship. If they will only march 
 and act, they must, however they fail, at last succeed ; but men who 
 never stir till they have to repel an attack, are ten times worse than 
 enemies. It is the strong giving the weak all the advantages of a 
 better position." More truth than poetry in this I fear. Our con- 
 gregations at the chapel continue large. A number of southerners 
 come, even secessionists. 
 
 Paeis, October 28, 1862. 
 
 I hope it will increase your respect for me when I tell you that 
 yesterday, October 27th, was my forty-eighth birthday. No bells 
 were rung, no bonfires lighted, not even an extra bit oi pain d''epice 
 was bought for dinner. A number of our friends, indeed, gathered in 
 the evening, and we gave them tea and cake, as usual ; but, alas ! 
 they came, not because it was my birthday, but because it was Mon- 
 day. After all, perhaps, the people were right. What is the use 
 of rejoicing, at least in a worldly way, because one is a year older ? 
 
 I have not been very well for a while ; but I have no right to com- 
 plain as long as I can preach twice on Sunday, even though the 
 23 
 
v338 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 preaching be not xery vigorous. We have had quite a deluge of 
 P^nglish friends and English weather for the opening of their new 
 fChapel. Poor souls — every service almost has been reached through 
 torrents of rain, and O, the mud ! I intend, if God will, to give my- 
 self a good rest from writing and from work, except my parish work, 
 ,for some weeks or months, if so be I may get stronger thereby. In 
 all things, however, I am content, satisfied, and happy, knowing 
 that all things work together for good. 
 
 To Mr. J. D. Wendel. 
 
 Pabis, December 2, 1862. 
 
 You see that I write upon the anniversary of the coup d'etat of 
 1852. The emperor has kept his place longer than the people 
 thought he would. But his imperial crown is not made of roses — or, 
 if it be, there are plenty of thorns among the flowers. I hope, how- 
 ever, that his Government is in no immediate danger. 
 
 The removal of M'Clellan has caused a good deal of stir here, as 
 at home. The preponderance of approbation is greatly in favor of 
 the act. The general sentiment is that, no matter what his talents, a 
 man who has had command of so great an army for nearly eighteen 
 months, and was found at the end of that time nearly where he was 
 at the beginning, ought to be superseded by a new hand. It is to be 
 hoped that Burnside will be more successful. The secessionists here 
 do not approve of the change of commanders at all. 
 
 I preached on Thanksgiving Day from Psa. cvii, 31, and endeavor- 
 ed to show the many grounds of thankfulness we have, even amid 
 the civil war. They are not few. Even now there is more freedom, 
 quiet, prosperity, and security for life and property in the northern 
 states than in any European countiy. It is not safe, nowadays, to 
 walk London streets even by daylight — or by the dim fog-light which 
 passes for daylight there. People are knocked down, choked, robbed, 
 and half-killed, at all hours of the day, in the most public thorough- 
 fares. If all this were to happen in New York, what lectures the 
 "Times" would give us on the "blessings of Democratic govern- 
 ment ! " And in France, stories of plots, of risings of workmen, 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 339 
 
 strikes, of suppression of news, etc., are the order of the day. The 
 present condition of our people is one of the subHmest things in his- 
 tory, and is a complete vindication of the superiority of repubHcan 
 institutions with all their perils. 
 
 The congregations in the chapel have kept up excellently. People 
 are very poor, however. Exchange at 1.46 makes even rich people 
 poor — of course poor people are poorer yet. But there is no suffer- 
 ing from want, thank God ! and until there is suffering no one knows 
 what poverty is. I should be glad to get back home, to see the dear 
 old land, and to see all the friendly faces again ; but Providence 
 seems to will that we should stay here some time longer. 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Pai:is, Deceviher 15, 1S62. 
 
 I do not know whether you are in debt to me or not ; but you will 
 be, at all events, when you receive this letter. 
 
 We have had a great deal of illness in our household during the 
 last four months, and have kept quite a hospital. But amid it all we 
 have been a cheerful, happy, and contented household. " No changes 
 of season or place have made any change in our minds." God's 
 mercy is ever the uppermost theme of our hearts and of our songs. 
 I thank him that he has given us this crowning blessing of content- 
 ment, and of resignation to his blessed will. 
 
 The year's work at the chapel has been also an occasion of great 
 thankfulness, I have lost, I think, but three Sundays from illness, 
 and have always preached twice a day, except when I have had 
 the help of visiting brethren ; and my health is better, I think, at 
 the end of the year than it was at the beginning. Our con- 
 gregations have kept up steadily, and are as good now as at 
 the best times of prosperity. I have received several persons into 
 the Church on profession of faith. Last week I baptized two young 
 ladies. I have heard of fruit to the word, in many instances, to the 
 glory of God. We have had no disputes or bickerings, no questions 
 about forms of worship, or about anything else. As one of the good 
 signs, we have a number of southern people regularly worshipping 
 
340 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 with us, though they hear the most earnest prayers every Sunday for 
 the authorities of the country, and for the triumph of the good cause. 
 
 The indications of Providence are that I shall remain here for an- 
 other year at least. I have been, and am, happy in my work, but I 
 will not disguise from you an occasional homesickness, especially 
 during the dark days of the civil war. But here again I am satisfied 
 that, so far as my own feeble efforts go, they have been, perhaps, more 
 useful to the country on this side of the water than they would have 
 been on the other. Some day I hope to have the privilege of talking 
 with you over all these matters. 
 
 We are to have a series of meetings this week at the Wesleyan 
 Chapel and at the American Chapel, which will, I hope, be produc- 
 tive of good. I wish we could see your face and have your help 
 here, for a time at least. 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Bangs. 
 
 Paris, February 26, 1863. 
 
 I have been greatly edified and comforted within the last few days 
 by reading the " Olive Branch, by Matthew Carey, Bookseller," 1815, 
 8vo. It gives full accounts of the evils of the times, party spirit, etc., 
 with documents, and is, as nearly as may be, a mirror of the present 
 state of things, only now all is on a bigger scale. The thing that 
 hath been is the thing that shall be. And as we came out of the 
 difficulty then, so, by the blessing of God, I think we shall now. 
 The election of Morgan, and the general results at Albany, are, on 
 the whole, very encouraging. Public opinion in England is getting 
 right from below. The ruling classes are very angry, but they can- 
 not arrest the rising of the popular tide. It will overwhelm the abet- 
 tors of rebeldom and slavery by and by. As for France, Poland and 
 Mexico absorb all its faculties. Appearances now indicate a war be- 
 tween France and Prussia ; but no one can judge by appearances, or 
 even by the promises of the present French government. Our men at 
 Washington will be surely duped if they trust to words ; acts are the 
 only rehable thing. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 
 
 Leeds, JIarc7i 6, 1863. 
 
 The Emancipation Society has changed the face of things in En- 
 gland very much. Indeed, one would not believe that so great a 
 change could be so soon effected. Seward's reply to the French pro- 
 posal has filled us all with exultation. We hold up our heads with 
 the old American feeling. 
 
 Upon hearing that a detachment of Lee's army had 
 entered Carlisle, in June, 1863, Dr. M'CHntock makes this 
 entry in his diary: — 
 
 "Monday, July 13. — The rebels are in possession of our old home 
 at Carlisle. I suppose I shall get no more rents from that quarter this 
 year. Eight years ago, in that very house in Carlisle, I told my wife 
 that it would be an unsafe residence in case of the outbreak of civil 
 war, which was sure to come some day, and that therefore we should 
 leave it. We did leave it. Many laughed then at the idea of civil 
 war, but we upon the border knew better." 
 
 General Early, who took possession of the town, gave 
 the people a great fright by recklessly shelling it, 
 and sending men, women, and children to the cellars of 
 their homes for refuge. It should be said, however, to 
 the honor of the Confederate officers, that they used 
 special care to protect the college. Some of them had, 
 most likely, in the days of their youth, shivered, on 
 many a winter morning, in the chill air of its high-ceiled 
 chapel, had been familiar with its long stretches of hall- 
 way, and had been governed by the routine of its life. 
 
 The prediction, in this instance, of what was likely to 
 come, is an illustration of Dr. M'Clintock's habitually 
 clear outlook upon pubHc events. 
 
342 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Mr. J. D. Weiidel. 
 
 Pauis, August 18, 1863. 
 
 Our trip to Homburg was very beneficial to us all around. As 
 you will have learned, we have really had an American summer. 
 Thermometer ninety to one hundred degrees ; grass all dried up, 
 streams running dry, trees almost leafless, etc. The Bois looks like 
 an American forest of the middle of August. Yesterday brought us 
 relief — a little rain, and a change of thermometer from ninety to 
 seventy-five degrees. You may imagine how we rejoiced in it. 
 
 We have had the pleasure of enjoying American company of the 
 Methodist sort — which I think about the best sort — recently. Mr. 
 Elliott and family and Mr. Oliver Hoyt have been here for a week 
 past. Governor Wright is expected to-day or to-morrow. 
 
 The war goes on as fast and as well as Providence allows. That 
 is my comfort amid all discouragements. It will end, "I do not doubt, 
 in the downfall of rebellion and slavery. Then we shall have per- 
 manent peace. The emperor of the French is doing in Mexico what 
 his reputed uncle did in Spain — preparing the overthrow of his dy- 
 nasty. I do not think the boy Napoleon will ever sit upon his 
 father's throne. 
 
 To Mr. Lemuel Ba?igs. 
 
 Paris, September 21, 1863. 
 
 We were all a good deal broken down in health in the early sum- 
 mer. To recruit, we spent four weeks in Homburg, and then in 
 England. 
 
 Every one is nervous about war between France and America. 
 The French people do not want it, and it will be a fearful risk for 
 the emperor to run. I have the chance of knowing that he has 
 recently been giving special attention himself to American affairs, 
 and not depending so much upon what Slidell and other people tell 
 him. If the elections in Pennsylvania and Ohio go for the adminis- 
 tration, I do not think he will even help the rebels. As for any moral 
 consideration having weight with him, or with the British Govern- 
 ment either, that is entirely out of the question. Our Dahlgrens and 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 343 
 
 Parrotts are the only arguments that have any weight with these 
 people, and they have a great deal of weight. 
 
 I feel a stronger yearning for home than ever. When we do come 
 it will probably be to seek some quiet spot where I may preserve my 
 health of throat in spite of the climate. 
 
 I have just heard that the Government has forbidden the Impe- 
 rialist papers here to attack the American Government as they have 
 been doing. This is very significant, and I trust it is the omen of a 
 decision in the emperor's mind to let us alone. If there be a war, it 
 will be a very fearful thing for us all, but not necessarily destructive 
 to us. Indeed, my faith in the destiny of our country, and in the 
 goodness of God, is as firm as ever, if not firmer. Believing that 
 he is with us I cannot be afraid, no matter who may be against us. 
 In public affairs, and in private, I can fully trust in his kind and be- 
 nignant providence. 
 
 To Mr. C. C. North. 
 
 Paris, October 29, 1SG3. 
 
 By this steamer I send notice to Dr. Campbell that I must resign 
 the American Chapel next spring. I give notice thus early that there 
 may be ample time to provide a successor. My term of house-rent 
 ends April 1-15, and at that time, or thereabouts, I wish to leave. It 
 is thought that a few months in the English climate may be benefi- 
 cial to my wife's health, and we shall, therefore, probably remain in 
 England until the autumn. The brethren at St. Paul's have kindly 
 intimated their wish that I should serve them next year, in case the 
 bishop appoint me. But I do not feel myself strong enough to as- 
 sume the full charge of such a society. They need a man in full 
 physical, as well as mental, vigor. I have not either. 
 
 By the time of our return I shall have spent about four years here. 
 They have gone rapidly and happily. The Church has prospered, 
 and is now prospering, beyond all my expectations. Had it not been 
 for the sectarianism of a few extreme Episcopalians, who are trying, 
 under Mr. Lamson's impulse and guidance, to get up a separate 
 American congregation, we should have all the Americans in Paris 
 
344 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 worshipping together. As it is they get ver^- few. The largest part 
 of our pew-holders are yet, I think, EpiscopaHans ; and none con- 
 demn this sectarian effort more than our best Episcopalian members. 
 There is no more need of a second American Church here than of a 
 separate "confederacy" on American soil. I trust that neither en- 
 terprise will succeed. 
 
 My relations to the people have been always most pleasant. I 
 have never had one single word of difficulty with the committee, or 
 with any member of the Church or congregation. Greater kindness, 
 or greater confidence, I never found in any church. I shall leave 
 with regrets and grief on many accounts. But duty to my family 
 requires me now to return home. I trust that when the eternal reck- 
 oning shall be made, it will be found that the Divine blessing has not 
 been wanting to my humble labors here. 
 
 To complete the picture of Dr. M'Clintock's life in 
 Paris, the Rev. Andrew Longacre, his assistant in the 
 charge of the American Chapel, has written the following 
 description of its personal features : — 
 
 " The pastorate of the American Chapel was at that 
 time unlike any thing elsewhere. It had been, and still 
 was, the only American Church in Paris. Christian peo- 
 ple of all denominations made it their home — of all 
 classes in society also, and of all shades of politics, and 
 that when the country was breaking out into civil war. 
 In the crowded congregations of a Sunday morning were 
 expatriated families from Mississippi and Georgia; per- 
 manent residents of Paris bom in Boston or New York ; 
 the families of business men representing the great houses 
 of the large cities ; people of wealth and leisure who 
 made Paris their home for one or more years, and always 
 the ever varying stream of passing travellers. There, with 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 345 
 
 a form of worship which had been settled in a spirit of 
 generous concession, all happily united — Episcopalians, 
 Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, each finding some 
 trait of his own preferred forms. I am not aware that 
 so broad and comprehensive a union was ever attempted 
 elsewhere. 
 
 In that world-centre, in face of the dominant Roman- 
 ism of France, this testimony of a united Protestantism 
 was peculiarly valuable. It would have been asking too 
 much to expect that the members of each Church, fresh 
 from their own modes of worship at home, would be per- 
 fectly satisfied with the modified and adapted ser\^ices 
 there in use. To carry it on so as to secure the sincere 
 support of all, called for a rare combination of piety and 
 tact and good humor. This Dr. M'Clintock happily pos- 
 sessed, and with this his universal culture, his remarkable 
 personal and social attractiveness, and his charm as a 
 preacher, which none failed to own, united to bind his 
 flock to him, and together, in cordial interest and co- 
 operation. 
 
 His preaching was, perhaps, never more highly appre- 
 ciated than by his Paris congregations. Tliey kept the 
 elegant chapel in the Rue de Berri filled, and listened 
 with a marked interest to his sermons — clear, scholarly, 
 earnest as they were, and brightened with the flashes of 
 a fine fancy and noble bursts of inspired oratory. There 
 were hearers among them to whom his words became an 
 undying impulse for good. 
 
 " The actual outbreak of war in America carried ofl^ from 
 the chapel many of the southerners. Until then they 
 
34^ LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 had been among his warmest friends, and even afterward 
 some of them Hngered in the congregation in spite of 
 his well-known loyalty to the Government. One accom- 
 plished girl from South Carolina, whose father was minis- 
 ter to Spain, he had the happiness of receiving into the 
 Church by baptism. Many he visited as pastor, comfort- 
 ing the sick and burying their dead. Later, when the 
 cutting off of communications with home had brought 
 many of them to want, they turned to him with a confi- 
 dence that was nobly justified by his untiring efforts to 
 relieve them. To the honor of our countrymen, it may 
 be said that he found the hearts and the purses of the 
 most loyal Americans open to all such appeals. 
 
 " Soon after he had taken up his residence in Paris, he 
 adopted the custom of giving one evening in the week 
 to the reception of all who chose to call upon him. 
 These little, free, cheery reunions he greatly enjoyed ; 
 as did all who shared in them. His house was 
 common ground, where all who came laid aside the 
 real or fancied distinctions insisted upon elsewhere. 
 The passing traveller here met the American Parisian, 
 who seldom visited his native land ; active men of 
 business, ministers on their vacation, students of art, 
 of medicine, or of theology, men of leisure, mingled to- 
 gether, while now and then a chance visitor from En- 
 gland succeeded in provoking and amusing all the rest by 
 his unaccountable inability to understand American af- 
 fairs. Paris itself Dr. M'Clintock appeared thoroughly 
 to enjoy. The climate, the mode of life, the superb city, 
 then robing itself in the unparalleled splendor of the 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 347 
 
 second empire, the immense energy of its internal im- 
 provements, the treasures of art, the grand hbraries, and 
 the living intercourse with men of letters from all parts 
 of the world — all were delightful to him. 
 
 He gave much of his time to his work on the Cy- 
 clopaedia," employing on it a regular assistant. His cor- 
 respondence with America was as much an enjoyment to 
 him as a labor. It acted as a perpetual stimulus, re- 
 quiring a quick and broad observation of all that was 
 going on around him. 
 
 " With the growing power of the rebellion he became 
 intensely absorbed in the great interests at stake, and he 
 worked with all the means at his command to give just 
 views of the strife to the people of France and England. 
 For this purpose he made several visits to London, press- 
 ing the true issues upon his most influential friends there. 
 His speech, much more political than any thing else, which 
 he made at the annual Wesleyan missionary meeting in 
 Exeter Hall, in 1861, made a profound impression. He 
 had the Count de Gasparin's book, ''Le Grand Peuple qui 
 se Releve," translated and published in England. He was 
 in the thick of all gatherings of Americans in Paris for 
 the encouragement and aid of the Government at home. 
 
 " Now that the excitemient of those events has so long 
 been a thing of the past, it seems strange to recall it. But 
 we felt it keenly then. Almost every foreigner we met 
 treated us Americans precisely as if we had failed in busi- 
 ness. There was pity for us, sometimes polite, but always 
 mingled with an evident inward feeling of satisfaction. 
 There were few even of our friends who did not share the 
 
348 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 sentiment which the eloquent Mr. Punshon expressed at 
 the memorable missionary service I have referred to, when 
 he said that he wished the American flag no more harm 
 than to be divided, so that the stars might be all on one 
 side and the stripes on the other. They could not see 
 that a rent flag, like a rent nation, was not two but none. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock never doubted for a moment the ul- 
 timate triumph of the Government. His hope was the 
 most confident of any man's I knew at the time, and he 
 used to say, laughingly, what a ' crowing time * he meant 
 to have in visiting England after the war. How far his 
 visit in 1869 met this wish I cannot say. He may 
 have found little occasion to speak of the past, for our 
 good friends there are now as happily oblivious of their 
 former wishes for the success of the rebellion as if they 
 had never had a doubt of its final suppression. 
 
 The remembrances of Dr. M'Clintock, which I value 
 more than these, lie within a narrower range. I was per- 
 mitted to be as near to him as I ever got to any man, 
 and I never knew one who bore the close scrutiny better, 
 or whose wealth of mind and character made the inti- 
 mate acquaintance a greater satisfaction. His wide and 
 varied culture, his universal knowledge, were fixed quan- 
 tities in all intercourse with him. But there was never a 
 shadow of assumption or of condescension. He was a 
 master in acquiring, as well as in giving, information, and 
 both were done instinctively, and were woven into his 
 every day talk in the most natural way in the world. He 
 gathered something from every one, and his tact made 
 the dullest show at his best. His common talk was thus 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 349 
 
 a most delightful going to school, a school where the 
 lessons were not tasks but plays and pastimes. He 
 treated with respect even the smallest fragments of truth 
 or of fact, but he had small patience with guesses. He 
 would worry a chance statement with a good-humored 
 pitilessness till he had got at its modicum of truth, and 
 that he accepted. One great charm of his home-life was 
 his bringing ev^ery thing that interested him into the fami- 
 ly conversations, to be talked over and argued and tossed, 
 sometimes in fun and sometimes in earnest, from side to 
 side. Reading the French newspapers, he would extem- 
 porize translations of articles that struck him, more ad- 
 mirable, we thought, than his more studied efforts. 
 
 His temperament was wonderfully buoyant and hope- 
 ful. Notwithstanding previous illness and long periods 
 of a half invalid condition, no one had ever less the 
 spirit of a sick man. In all affairs, public and private, 
 he never failed to see the bright side. Pecuniary losses 
 were borne without a word of repining. Little annoy- 
 ances were dismissed with an imperturbable good humor. 
 He had a great faculty of enjoyment. The good things 
 of all sorts that came he got the full worth of, and he 
 seemed to enjoy scarcely less much that never came at 
 all. Things beyond his reach were thus made to minis- 
 ter to his gratification. For instance : his invalid habit 
 compelled him to continual abstemiousness in diet, yet 
 he would talk over the pleasures of the table with the 
 gusto of an epicure. He made sunshine for us all, and 
 he made it out of every thing. 
 
 In all his life at home there was an ever present and 
 
350 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 unfailing considerateness for the wishes and needs of oth- 
 ers. The busy pen could be laid down for hours that he 
 might read by the bedside of the sick. Lame himself 
 for many months, no arms but his own would be per- 
 mitted to carry the invalid from room to room. The 
 time for a walk was not when he chose it, but when it 
 suited some one who would not hav^e enjoyed it without 
 his companionship. 
 
 His charity in judging others was the most unlimited 
 I have ever known. No unkindness to himself seemed 
 to find lodgment in his remembrance. He saw good in 
 every body, and of that and that only would he speak. 
 Indeed, in taking his opinion of men it was always nec- 
 essary to allow ample margin for this persistent blindness 
 to their faults. He left it for others to be simply just; he 
 was all mercy. 
 
 In the inmost sanctuary of all, depths not often 
 opened to the gaze of any one, he kept a firm and child- 
 like faith in God. He had, when I knew him, long passed 
 the era of conflict with doubts. Scepticism in all its 
 forms had been met and overcome, and he had come now 
 to be as a little child," the true heir of God's kingdom. 
 His unquestioning trust in the goodness and care of God 
 was the underlying rock of his hopeful and happy spirit. 
 His charity, too, was grounded in his religious convic-' 
 tions. When we would sometimes question its reasona- 
 bleness, he justified it by the mercy of God and the 
 Christian law of love. Without a taint of sectarian big- 
 otry, he was, nevertheless, in doctrine and in his views 
 of practical piety, a very sincere Methodist. There was- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 351 
 
 nothing in our received theology which he did not accept 
 heartily. In his family he upheld the old time simplicity 
 of godly living, of avoidance of extravagance, and of 
 doubtful amusements. The gayeties of Paris were un-^ 
 known to them save by report. 
 
 " It would be understood almost without the saying,; 
 that toward myself personally Dr. M'Clintock showed 
 the kindness of an elder brother. My interests seemed 
 to be as dear to him as his own. From all appearance 
 of dictation or control he shrank as if by instinct. If he 
 advised it was as if he were the younger and I the elder.. 
 He cheerfully opened my way for such opportunities of 
 travel as came to me, doing double duty himself, and^ 
 urging me to take full time." 
 
 LETTERS. 
 I. 
 
 Paris, Fehruanj 12, 1S62. 
 Better late than never. It is never too late to mend. Accidents 
 will happen in the best regulated families. You see I give you occi- 
 dental proverbs for your oriental aphorisms. You see, too, that they 
 form the prelude to an explanation of my long delay in answering 
 your letter. 
 
 The facts are on this wise. I received your last letter just as I was 
 setting out from home, to be gone a month. I gave it to a French 
 friend, ai/ coin'ant with such things, to make the necessary inquiries 
 and report to me. On my return at the end of the month I moved 
 my household to a new abode, and thus kept my study topsy-turvy for 
 a fortnight more. When things got to rights I looked for your letter 
 but could not find it, forgetting, entirely, that I had given it to the 
 friend aforesaid. He, also, was taken ill in the mean time, and was 
 confined several months. 1 renewed my search repeatedly through 
 
352 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 every drawer, portfolio, and desk in the house, but, of course, in vain. 
 At last I determined to ask all possible questions about Chinese type, 
 even though I had forgotten the points of your inquiry, as I had only 
 glanced at them in the haste of departure. One day my sick friend 
 reappeared, and I questioned him as to his knowledge of Chinese 
 type. " Why," said he, " you gave me a letter on that point in the au- 
 tumn — I made the inquiries — but your absence and my illness drove 
 it out of my head." Here was an eclair cissement. He brought me 
 the letter on his next visit, and I now answer it ! I have made this 
 long and valid explanation simply to clear myself of negligence. I 
 assure you that my mind was uneasy about it all the time. 
 
 Well, after all, I can give you no useful information about Chinese 
 type. All of that sort of thing in Paris belongs to the iinprimerie 
 Impcriale. When any body wants Chinese printing done they do it, 
 but they will not sell types, matrices, or anything else. One set they 
 have already sent to China for the use of the Jesuits, and that is all 
 they will send. So you see that, for all the good of the thing, I 
 might just as well have written you a friendly letter long ago in reply 
 to yours, and left type, matrices, etc., entirely out of the question. 
 And perhaps, after all, when this reaches China you will be on your 
 way to America. 
 
 Thk Rkv. Db. Wkntwobth. 
 
 II. 
 
 Paeis, April 19, 1862. 
 
 Your letter of yth was very welcome indeed. You do not mention 
 mine of October last. I directed to Black Rock, not knowing any 
 other address. In it I suggested a Paris winter for you, but it is too 
 late for that now. Our spring and summer suns would probably be 
 quite as serviceable to you, and as pleasant to Mrs. Scott. I wish 
 we had space in our apartments to make you comfortable, but every 
 nook in the flat is occupied. I can't afford a self-contained house in 
 these war times. But if you should entertain the idea of trying the 
 desired change of climate, which you can secure by merely crossing 
 the Channel, and will give me notice, I will secure suitable lodgings 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 353 
 
 for you, and we will all exert ourselves to make Paris as agreeable as 
 possible to you. 
 
 My ailment in the knee still continues. I can walk but little, and 
 have to preach sitting, like a cardinal. Moreover, a similar rheu- 
 matic disorder has seized my ankle. My general health, of course, 
 suffers from the forced confinement. So one pin of our tent is loos- 
 ened after another. How wisely and kindly our heavenly Father pre- 
 pares our changes for us. All is right which he ordains. 
 
 My son returned to America several weeks ago, and has, prob- 
 ably, by this time entered the army, for which, however, he has not 
 sufficient health. My daughters are pursuing their studies with great 
 success here. The little one is a great comfort and joy to us all. 
 
 The public troubles of the last two years have, of course, distressed 
 me. I have lost, I think, not less than twenty pounds' weight in that 
 time. But my faith and hope have never failed. God can never al- 
 low the cause of rebellion and slavery to succeed. We are all very 
 sorry indeed that our cause has been so little understood and appre- 
 ciated in Britain, and that English statesmen, of all parties, seem to 
 agree in desiring our country to be divided. At the same time we 
 are the more thankful to William Arthur, and other noble souls like 
 him, who have struggled against the tide, and have, indeed, under 
 God, saved us from the fearful issues of a war between England and 
 America. Heaven grant that these two great Protestant powers may 
 never cross swords with each other in anger. 
 
 April 21. — I have been hindered from finishing th's. We just 
 have the telegram of the fearful battle at Corinth. I hope the details 
 will prove less bloody than the first reports. The next steamers will 
 doubtless bring us news of M'Clellan's first movement on Richmond, 
 where the resistance is expected to be greater than anywhere else. 
 But the backbone of the rebellion is completely broken, though it will 
 be a twelvemonth more, I fear, before all is over. 
 
 I pray God that your health may be restored, and that you may be 
 filled with all spiritual grace and comfort. May God have you in his 
 holy keeping ! Pray let me hear from you again soon. 
 
 Tip Kkv. Bishop Scott. 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 IIL 
 
 Paris, April 30, 1S62. 
 
 The last reports from America are all of a gloomy tone. We 
 await the news from Yorktown, the Merrimac, and Corinth, with pro- 
 found uneasiness. The strain upon the nerves, in this expectant state 
 of mind, is greatly intensified by the length of the intervals between 
 one steamer and another. At home you get some kind of news ever}' 
 day ; here we are often six days without a syllable. Of course the 
 whole pack of detractors of our institutions in England and France 
 are in full cry again upon us. If we meet a mishap at Yorktown 
 there will be a tremendous effort made to get a recognition of the 
 Slave Confederacy from France and England, and I think it will be 
 successful. Gladstone's speech, considering the man from whom it 
 comes, is the worst blow in the face we have yet had. The abolition 
 of slavery in the District, however, arrives just in time to increase 
 mightily our moral hold upon the English and French masses. If 
 our Government would employ the same means of inflaming the press 
 that the rebels do, we could soon create a public sentiment that would 
 render any interference impossible, either on the part of France or 
 England. 
 To C. Tiffany, Esq. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 355 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1864-1870. 
 
 The Afternoon of Life— Signs of Eodily Decay— Formation of the European Branch of 
 the Sanitary Commission — Invitation to Return to St. Paul's Church, New York — Trip to 
 Rome— Taking Leave of Paris— Reception by Friends in New York— Offered a Public Din- 
 ner by Leading Citizens — Failure of Health -Retirement to the " Brown " Farm, near Phila- 
 delphia—Chairman of Central Centenary Committee— Great Success of Centenary "Work- 
 Mr, Drew's Offer to Found a Theological School— Opening of Drew Seminary under the 
 Presidency of Dr. M'Clintock — Removal of Dr. M'Clintock, first to New Brunswick, and 
 then to Madison, New Jersey — Interview with President Johnson at Washington — No Rest 
 for Us in this World— General Conference of 1S68 and Lay Delegation— Work on the Cyclo- 
 l).'Bdia— Trip to England in the Summer of 1S69— Continued Decline of Health— Letter to 
 Fletcher Harper— Attack of Fever, March, 1S?0— Last Words, and the End. 
 
 IT was now with Dr. M'Clintock the afternoon of Hfe. 
 There are afternoons so long that they overpass the 
 fixed boundaries of the day. The sun lingers in the sky, 
 and suffuses the earth with a mellow radiance, which 
 adds, with a new aspect, another glory to the visible 
 world. It makes in its lingering almost a second day, 
 which, if less brilliant than the first, is a more perfect im- 
 age of calm and peace. Dr. M'Clintock knew that the 
 evening time had come to him. Though by no means 
 old as years are reckoned, he discerned plainly enough 
 that his life was coming to its close. He understood 
 what the signs of bodily decay meant. To one of his 
 correspondents he confesses, though without complain- 
 ing, that his constitution appears to be breaking up. In 
 their tone his letters are less hopeful, than they were in 
 former years, of a future of energetic working power. 
 
356 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 He is looking much to the end, and speaking of it, too, 
 but always in terms that befit a Christian faith. His 
 trust in a divine Providence becomes more conspicuous 
 in his correspondence with intimate friends. He still 
 believed that rest and care would give to his life a long 
 afternoon. But it was otherwise ordered ; and though 
 he lived his last years, upon the record of which we now 
 enter, usefully and successfully, yet it was with a growing 
 sense of weariness, until at length — his tasks all about 
 him — he ceased at once to work and breathe. 
 
 Despite, however, the disadvantage of failing strength, 
 these years were the most effective of his entire career. 
 His life in Paris had made him widely known to his 
 countrymen, and had increased public confidence in him. 
 He had illustrated his energy in an entirely new sphere 
 of activity, to the surprise and gratification of patriotic 
 Americans. Before resigning the pastorate of the chapel 
 he took part in forming a European branch of the San- 
 itary Commission, becoming its chairman. The an- 
 nouncement of the creation of this branch was received 
 with great satisfaction by Dr. Bellows, the president of 
 the Commission at home. He wrote to Dr. M'Clintock : 
 ''Your movement is the first organized attempt to col- 
 lect and centralize the efforts of our countrymen abroad 
 in the support of our work, and it therefore merits and 
 calls forth our special and grateful acknowledgments." 
 Dr. Bellows also suggested that the European branch 
 should be represented at the Sanitary Fair in New York, 
 for which preparations were making on the most exten- 
 sive scale, in the spring of 1864. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 357 
 
 In relation to this subject Dr. M'Clintock wrote him the 
 following letter: — 
 
 We regret exceedingly that the call for "works of art" for ex- 
 hibition at the Metropolitan Fair was not made sooner. Had there 
 been three months' notice, or even two, Paris would have been very- 
 well represented, both by American and French artists. But just 
 now, all the artists are preparing for the French Exhibition, which 
 opens in a few weeks. All that we can hope to do is to get minor 
 works, not engaged for that exhibition. Nevertheless, a good deal 
 will be done. 
 
 In the latter part of 1863 Dr. M'Clintock's devoted 
 friends, the members of St. Paul's Church, New York, 
 invited him to occupy again the pulpit which he had 
 filled from 1857 to i860 with such pleasure and profit to 
 them all. In view of his broken health he hesitated to 
 accept this call, but finally consented upon the assurance 
 that an assistant would be provided to relieve him of the 
 more fatiguing part of his duty. He began without de- 
 lay to make preparations for his return home. Before 
 leaving, however, he made a short trip to Italy. 
 
 To Mr. Joseph Gray don. 
 
 Paris. October 10, 1863. 
 
 Allow me first to say, that no service in the Church at home could 
 be more agreeable to me than that of St. Paul's ; nor do I know of 
 any other in which, with my present knowledge, I think I could be 
 more useful. On the point, then, of my willingness to serve you, if 
 able, you may be perfectly assured. 
 
 But it is due both to the Church and to myself that I should say 
 frankly, that I do not consider myself strong enough to take the work 
 at St. Paul's, nor do I see any likelihood that I ever shall be. You 
 ought to have a man in full physical force, capable not only of the 
 Sunday work, but also of the week-night meetings, and of steady 
 
358 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and protracted work when necessary. Were I to undertake this, I 
 should, in all human probability, break down in it, and that result 
 would be as bad for the Church as it would be for myself. 
 
 As to the other plan, of having two ministers, it works well enough 
 in other denominations, but in our peculiar system there are diffi- 
 culties in it, which you understand as well as L 
 
 Taking every thing into the account, therefore, I think it best to 
 say at once, without waiting for the result of your joint meeting, that 
 I am not able to undertake the charge of St. Paul's. 
 
 You are quite at liberty to read this letter to the brethren, if you 
 see fit to do so. And, at the same time, I beg you to assure them of 
 my undiminished regard and affection. I shall never forget their 
 kindness to me ; and, if the way were open, I should rejoice to give 
 them my services, such as they are. 
 
 When we do return home, I think it must be to the quiet of a re- 
 tired place, where I may be able to do some service to the Church 
 by my pen, and by such occasional preaching as my strength will 
 enable me to do. At present I am, thank God, able to preach twice, 
 and do all the work of the American Chapel here. But the building 
 is comparatively small, and the work in every respect much lighter 
 than at St. Paul's. 
 
 To Miss Maria Emory. 
 
 Rome, Jamuiry 28, 1863. 
 
 We expect to leave here on Saturday, January 30, to reach Mar- 
 seilles on Monday or Tuesday, and to get home on Thursday or Fri- 
 day. I will write again from Marseilles. 
 
 The last five days have been lovely — warm, dry, bright, every thing 
 that could be wished. We have made good use of them, invalids as 
 we are. At a party at Dr. Gould's on Monday night I made a little 
 speech for the Sanitary Commission, and they are going to send a 
 table of Roman articles for the fair at New York. There is to be 
 another large party to-night to further the Commission, at which I 
 am to speak. 
 
 If I could be away from home another Sunday we could see Na- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 359 
 
 pies and Florence ; but as I have not heard from Dr. Vannest, I, of 
 course, must return at the time specified. The steamers leave also 
 on very unfortunate days for us, namely, Sundays and Wednesdays, 
 and Wednesday is too late to reach Paris by Saturday. But we are 
 thankful to have seen and enjoyed as much as we have. We had in- 
 vitations to a large party at Rogers, the artist's, last night, but could 
 not go. 
 
 To the Rev. Bishop Aines. 
 
 Paris, February 8, 186-1. 
 
 My only fear has been that my health would not justify me in un- 
 dertaking the charge of a Church like St. Paul's. But the brethren 
 have so kindly agreed to relieve me of all undue labor, that I have no 
 plea, in conscience, for declining to go to the work if appointed to it. 
 
 My engagements here hold me until the 1 5th of April, or there- 
 abouts, so that 1 shall not be able to reach New York until the latter 
 end of that month, or the first of May. I shall thus be deprived of 
 the pleasure of attending the Annual Conference, which meets two 
 or three weeks earlier. 
 
 The Danish-German war has begun. For months I have looked 
 to that point as the spot where the general European war, which is 
 inevitable, must break out. Its spread may be arrested for a time, 
 but it must come. 
 
 To Mr. John IV. Gray don. 
 
 Paris, February 13, 1864. 
 
 We reached home last week, and both Mrs. M'Clintock and I much 
 the better for the trip. My rheumatism did not allow me to put on 
 my ordinary boots, and I saw the chambers and galleries of Rome 
 in a pair of white Russian boots with black tops, and lined with 
 sheepskin, which were the wonder of all beholders. In one of the great 
 ceremonies at St. Peter's, where the Pope was borne on men's shoul- 
 ders, with all the cardinals in procession, the attention of the throng 
 of spectators was divided between the spectacle and my boots. 
 Since reaching home I have come down to the leggings worn by or- 
 dinary men. It is, of course, a humiliation, but I bear it well. 
 
360 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 The pain still remains in my left arm, and a little in my chest, and 
 is quite trying. With this exception we are all well. 
 
 The weather was v^.r^- cold in Rome during part of our stay there, 
 and the winter has been, up to yesterday, very severe here. Indeed, 
 this seems to have been the character of the winter all over Europe, 
 and still more in America. 
 
 The people at home seem to have an idea that the war is nearly 
 ended. I do not share this notion. I fear that Longstreet will get 
 Knoxville, and if he does the war will be prolonged for a twelve- 
 month ; unless Grant means to let him take it, and then fall on his 
 flank or rear and cut him off. But I do not really think the war can 
 end until 1865. 
 
 The British Government has plainly been brought to reason. 
 They will have to pay for all the damages by the Alabama. The 
 " Times " of day before yesterday has an article preparing the public 
 mind for the step. England dares not enter into any European war 
 while this question is unsettled. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock left the American Chapel with many 
 regrets. His associations with his congregation had been 
 very happy. No word of complaint of my poor ser- 
 vices," he writes in his Diary, has reached me during 
 my stay, and friends have been wonderfully kind." A 
 valuable testimonial, bestowed with a touching delicacy, 
 expressed to him the affection of the people whom he 
 had served. The Americans in Paris, and elsewhere on 
 the Continent, felt his departure very much. " I hope," 
 wrote the American Minister to Italy, the Hon. George 
 P. Marsh, ''that you are not going to leave your place 
 long vacant. I know from many sources that you have 
 been most useful there, and I do not know where a man 
 like you can do better service to all good causes in which 
 you are interested." In making the preparations for 
 
IHE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 361 
 
 returning his health quite broke down again. His son, 
 who was then United States' Consul at Bradford, England, 
 was sent for to help him. "April 8," (1864,) he writes in 
 his Diary, " left Paris with family, so feeble that Emory 
 had to lift me almost into cabs and out. Got on board 
 steamer at Dieppe at eight P. M., and fell asleep by nine 
 on a sofa ; slept till six A. when we were in New- 
 haven ; first sleep without anodynes for a fortnight. 
 Stayed in London till Monday. April 20, sailed from 
 Liverpool in the 'Scotia;' health much restored by the 
 trip. Parsonage all ready for our occupancy on our ar- 
 rival, May 2." 
 
 It was a joy indeed to be in his old home once more. 
 He had helped to plan the St. Paul's parsonage, had 
 watched it as it grew towards completion, and had spent 
 in it delightful months. Upon his arrival in the city he 
 was not only greeted most affectionately by his congrega- 
 tion, but received marked attention from many eminent 
 men. His fellow-citizens of New York offered him a 
 public dinner as a token of their appreciation of his ser- 
 vices to the country. " We have observed," they say in 
 their letter of invitation, with pride and pleasure your 
 zealous and effective labors in enlightening public senti- 
 ment abroad in regard to the principles involved in the 
 great contest, now, as we hope, happily drawing to its 
 close, and we cannot doubt that the result of those la- 
 bors will be manifest, for many years to come, in a much 
 better understanding of our government and people on 
 the part of the nations of the old world." This invita- 
 tion was acknowledged most gratefully, but declined. 
 
362 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock threw himself with ardor into the work 
 he loved so well, the preaching of the Gospel, but found 
 soon that his health was not equal to the duties of his 
 position, and after a year he retired to seek repose. He 
 rented the Brown Farm," at Germantown, near Phila- 
 delphia, where he could, when he wished, exchange his 
 pen for a hoe, watch the growing of his fruit, and occupy 
 himself with the little nothings which beguile the hours 
 of an invalid's day. 
 
 To the Rev. Professor M'Cabe, Delaware, Ohio. 
 
 New York, June, 18, 1864. 
 
 Your letter was like your call, cheering and exhilarating. Ever 
 since I first saw you I have felt a warm attachment to you. Through- 
 out all our Church controversies, I have kept my personal attach- 
 ments above and apart from all the petty strifes of the hour. 1 
 know that good men form different opinions of the same thing from 
 different points of view, and I have been too earnest an abolitionist 
 all my life to quarrel with even extreme men, though I might weep 
 over what I thought to be their errors in hurting the good cause. 
 All your kind expressions are thoroughly reciprocated ; I feel in my 
 heart, though not in my flesh, as young as ever. Does not this con- 
 tinuing youthfulness of the affections give us a glimpse of what heav- 
 en, what immortality is "> 
 
 As to church power, I have never sought it in any form or shape. 
 Had I been so minded, it would have been easy, I think, to go with 
 the majority at Indianapolis and Buffalo, but my judgment and con- 
 science would not allow me to do this. I remain of the same mind ; 
 rejoicing in our national triumphs, rejoicing over every succcssi\ e 
 blow dealt the monster which has caused all our woe, but yet sat- 
 isfied that we should have been in a very different position, nation- 
 ally and ecclesiastically, in Maryland and Virginia, and that we 
 should have saved thousands upon thousands of invaluable lives by 
 a different ecclesiastical course, Siqce the Rebellion our Church 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 course has my hearty approval, and all this controversy, thank God, 
 is ended. 
 
 The " Methodist " has, in my judgment, done more to educate the 
 middle region to antislavery ideas than the " Adv^ocate " did, or even 
 could do. Moreover, for twenty years I have longed for an inde- 
 pendent Methodist paper, loyal but firm. My residence in Europe 
 has confirmed all my fears of the dangers of ecclesiastical corpora- 
 tions. Nothing but free criticism can save them from rotting. We 
 Methodists are but men ; therefore I think the " Methodist " will live 
 and ought to live. There must always be men, in every ecclesiastic- 
 al and political body, who shall work for the best good of the body, 
 without holding the form cf power in it. I am content to be one of 
 these men in our Church. All that I have of intellect, of culture, and 
 of position in the world, I give to Methodism, because I believe Meth- 
 odism to be the best form of American Christianity. But if Method- 
 ism does not want me in any of what are called the posts of power, 
 I am not only content, but thankful and happy. It makes me shud- 
 der to see men eager for these posts, with all their responsibilities. 
 I know that I am unfit for nearly all of them, and my Master knows 
 it better than I do. It is He, doubtless, who has directed all my 
 goings, for my own good, as well as for that of the Church. 
 
 To Mrs. Dr. Purdy. 
 
 Germantonvn, Mity 30, 1865. 
 
 I have been out hoeing and pruning till I have got all heated up, 
 and come in to cool myself a little. I use the rest time in writing to you. 
 We are all rustics : our old clothes are turned to good use. Our cow 
 is doing well, and we have as much milk and cream as we want. We 
 have only twelve hens, and some are setting, so that we do not get as 
 many eggs as we ought to have. We had a duck and drake, belong- 
 ing to some neighbor, we do not know who. The duck went to 
 setting on a lot of eggs, and the drake wandered around the premises, 
 doing mischief in general. So we just cut off his head to stop his 
 cutting up. Our peas are coming up nicely; strawberries are just 
 ripe, and if you don't come on you wont get any of them at all ; cur- 
 
3^4 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 rants and gooseberries make nice pies, but are not ripe enough to eat 
 otherwise ; cherries are growing plump and red ; cabbage is coming 
 to a head ; our bay horses, Tom and jerry, are both strong and very 
 merr)- ; we have also a gray, whose name is Jack, very slow in har- 
 ness but ver\- good to back. We have not bought a dog, nor are we 
 quite sure that it's best to get one — they are so hard to cure of madness 
 when they're bitten. But our cat is a beauty, you may be sure of that 
 — a regular tortoise-shell, which, I am told, is the finest style of cats. 
 
 She is not bold, but will, by and by, without doubt, be able to 
 run all the rats out of house and stable. Gussie, Maria, and Annie 
 are out doors picking strawberries, to do which they must get on all 
 fours, a job I don't like much for more than one reason : my head 
 don't better by stooping, nor my chest such squeezing as you get 
 when you tr)' to pick up things from the ground. If God helps this 
 year I hope to get round, and then I shall try to do all that I can to 
 work for the Church, for God, and for man. As it is I am very little 
 good to any body but myself, my wife and my small children, and a 
 few of my friends, among whom I am sure I may class the residents 
 of Fourth Avenue below Twenty-second-street, New York, who, if 
 they have as much sense as they used to have, will soon get into the 
 cars and come to Kensington Station, where we shall meet them with 
 a carriage, and bring them out to the Brown Farm. 
 
 To his Son, Emory M' Clintock. 
 
 Geemantown, A%ugv,sl 3, 1S65. 
 
 The weather has been very hot, but is a little more tolerable now. 
 My health has continued to improve on the farm. We are sorry to 
 leave it, but our funds are not strong enough to give the price asked 
 for this place, beautiful as it is. We shall not remove to New Bruns- 
 wick till next spring, and meantime will go on with building and 
 other improvements there to make it suit us. 
 
 The Harpers are going on with the Dictionary again, and it gives 
 me all the work I care to have. I hope it will pay some day, but am 
 doubtful of getting all the money back I have spent on it, to say 
 nothing of the time and labor. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 365 
 
 I have preached but twice since I left St. Paul's, and intend to 
 keep quiet till the hot weather is over. It is, as I tell you, cooler 
 weather now ; but the thermometer on my table, in the coolest place 
 I can find to write — that is, in the front hall — is between seventy and 
 eighty degrees. Not so very cool after all. The crops will be very 
 great, in spite of all croakers. The reconstruction of the South goes 
 on, but not well — thanks to the want of statesmanship which kept us 
 four years at war, and which will now keep us ten years in hot water. 
 But, perhaps, big statesmen would be the death of us. Slowly, but 
 surely, the true democracy prevails in this land, and will prevail in all 
 lands, England included. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 Qeemantown, December 24, 1865. 
 
 A happy Christmas ! The ground is covered with snow, the air is 
 filled with sleety rain- -too stormy a day for Kate and me to go to 
 Church. Maria, John, and Annie went off, however, in the big car- 
 riage. The evergreens on the lawn in front are fretted with silver ; 
 the meadow beyond is like a vast counterpane newly bleached. In 
 doors all is quiet, warm, and cosy. Aunt Jane, who is just recover- 
 ing from an attack of illness, which brought her so low that she was 
 not thought likely to live half an hour, lies on the sofa in the parlor 
 reading the "Methodist." Mother lies on the sofa in her bedroom 
 reading the " Independent." I sit in my sanctum, with one window 
 looking north over our beautiful lawns and fields, dotted with firs and 
 elms, to the woods on Cassadav's farm, which limit the view on that 
 side. The west window gives a wider stretch. On that side the 
 lawn begins to slope rapidly some twenty yards from the house to a 
 deep meadow, which rises again beyond in a gentle slope to a hill at 
 the west end of the farm, behind which, again, is another rising 
 slope, the view ending in a belt of wooded hills a mile away. All 
 this is better than the view in Rue de la Plaine, or in Fourth Avenue. 
 
 I returned from New Brunswick on Friday. They are getting on 
 slowly with the house ; but it will be ready for us in March. The 
 outside is gray, with rich brown trimmings ; observatory or belvedere 
 
366 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 on top of house with a view of thirty miles, and the Raritan mean- 
 dering through it. So you see we shall be well off, if we live to get 
 there, during the few remaining years of our sojourn upon earth. It 
 will not be long before all these cares and pleasures will come to an 
 end, and I look for a better home, where some day, in your turn, I 
 hope to see you coming in. 
 
 To the sajne. 
 
 Geemastowx, Dec. .30, 1865. 
 
 Just received your letter. I am not surprised very much, nor am 
 I overmuch sorry. It is, perhaps, quite as well for you to come 
 home, and there is nothing to grieve over at all. 
 
 A 'importe ; if yours by next steamer puts out the idea that any 
 thing can be done at Washington, I shall go on and try it. But I 
 do not see that any thing can be done without a fight, and that 
 would hardly pay. 
 
 We shall get into our new house in March, and be ready for you 
 in case you come home ; all well. There will be plenty of ways 
 for you to use your time and talents here ; this being at the mercy of 
 officials is poor business. So don't fret about spilled milk, and don't 
 go to calling it cream, now that it is spilled. 
 
 To the Rev. Williain Arthur. 
 
 Geemaxtowjt, January 30, 1S66. 
 
 Being in Washington this week, I got Grant's and Seward's auto- 
 graphs for you. I could not get to Chase's house, but will secure his 
 anyhow by letter. I told Grant that we Methodists had pre-emp- 
 tion rights in him, and he talked of his old class-leading father with 
 reverence, regretting that he himself is not "in full connection," to 
 use his own phrase. He will not withdraw the troops from the South 
 till all is pacified ; so he assured me. 
 
 I had a long talk with Johnson. He declared to me that if the 
 southern people abuse the negroes he will use all the power of the 
 Government to protect them ; but he said also that he believed to give 
 them the suffrage would bring on an immediate war of races after 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 our troops are withdrawn. I told him I had ventured to predict, ia 
 a speech in England three years ago, that this Rebellion would be 
 put down, and no man hung for political crime. "Yet," said he, 
 " we must show that treason is a crime. As to bloodshed, I remem- 
 ber that He who was most offended, and who was strong enough to 
 put all the offenders to death, himself died for them." It was said 
 with feeling, too. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. T. V. Moore. 
 
 Geemantowk, Fehruary 20, 1S66. 
 
 On reaching home last night I found your letter of 14th, and the 
 familiar handwriting gave me a throb of pleasure. But what on 
 earth makes you fear that the war and its works can affect our 
 hearts ; you did not make the war, nor did I. It had to come, and 
 its work is done. Let the dead bury their dead. Do you remember 
 our talks in Richmond in 1857 ? You told me that if Seward should 
 be elected in i860 there would be secession, and we both agreed 
 that if secession, then war ; and you gave as the reason that young 
 men ruled the politics of the time. But I hope to talk these things 
 over with you quietly, and will not write of them. My health is so 
 broken up that I am resting on a farm. I have purchased near New 
 Brunswick, N. J., and we remove thither in a few weeks. 
 
 My son, J. Emory, is in England, where he has been for several 
 years. My daughter, Augusta, was married last November, and so our 
 family is reduced. Tell me of yours. Shall you come North shortly ? 
 I cannot put into a letter what I should like to say about your Eu- 
 ropean trip, not half, nor quarter. But if there is no way of seeing 
 you, I will write, of course. Two points I may mention now : i. It 
 will save much money to go direct to Bremen, as the fare is (or was) 
 as great to Southamptori as to Bremen, and then take England on 
 your return, sailing home either from Southampton or Liverpool ; 
 2. You may calculate, roughly, on spending $4 to $5 (gold) per day, 
 from the time you land in Europe till you leave it, supposing that 
 you stay at hotels, say for one hundred and fifty days, seven hundred 
 and fifty dollars. But it may be done for less, with care and econ- 
 
368 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 omy. I did it once for less ; in other trips more. Of course, I spent 
 nothing on opera tickets and the hke. nor is it probable that you will. 
 But write and let me know if I shall see you personally ; if not, I will 
 write my ideas fully and send to you. 
 
 You are mistaken, I think, in supposing that " many here feel a 
 change " from the war. I have never seen man or woman whose 
 private friendships or affections have been modified. Many and 
 many a time I have thought of you and your wife and little ones, and 
 longed to hear from you. God bless you and them ! 
 
 The General Confererrce of 1864 had prepared a com- 
 prehensive scheme for the celebration of the Centenary 
 of American Methodism in 1866, and had created a large 
 committee of ministers and laymen to carry out its direc- 
 tions. The committee met at Cleveland, Ohio, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1865, and after drawing up a schedule of objects 
 for which the gifts of the Church should be asked, ap- 
 pointed a central committee of six persons to organize 
 the work of benevolence, and to enlist the people in its 
 support. Of this committee Dr. M'Clintock was chair- 
 man.^ The committee gave to the Centenary nearly 
 two years of unremitted attention, and had the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing their labors crowned with a success which 
 outran their most sanguine hopes. The contributions of 
 the people for all objects rose to the sum of $7,000,000 ; 
 local and general interests were successfully harmonized, 
 and at the close of their work the .committee received 
 the thanks of the General Conference, which met in 
 1868. Dr. M'Clintock was never more efficient than 
 
 * The menfxbers of the Committee were — Ministers : J. M'Clintock, 
 D. Curry, G. R. Crooks ; Laymen : James Bishop, O. Hoyt, C. C. North. 
 The Rev. W. C. Hoyt was made Secretary. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 369 
 
 during the period of his connection with the Central 
 Committee. His address, delivered at the great meet- 
 ing held in St. Paul's Church, New York city, January 
 25th, 1866, was one of the most powerful that he ever 
 delivered. 
 
 Early in this year it became known that Mr. Daniel 
 Drew contemplated appropriating a large sum for the 
 founding of an educational institution. Dr. M'Clintock 
 and the writer were requested by the Central Committee 
 to wait upon him and to learn his intentions. In a very 
 brief but agreeable interview Mr. Drew informed us 
 that it was in his mind to devote two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars to the establishment of a theologi- 
 cal school, stipulating only that it should be located in 
 the place of his birth, Carmel, Putnam County, New 
 York. Even this latter condition was subsequently 
 waived by him when it was found that another place 
 would be more satisfactory to the friends of education 
 in the Church. All was done in the simplest and most 
 unostentatious manner. It was understood that Mr. Drew 
 wished Dr. M'Clintock to be the first president and or- 
 ganizer of the seminary, and in due time the latter became 
 president. Mr. Drew subsequently went beyond his orig- 
 inal pledge, and charged himself with the obligation of 
 bestowing a half million of dollars for the founding and 
 equipment of the institution. If his recent financial mis- 
 fortunes (in which he has the sincere sympathy of every 
 lover of education) have disabled him from fully carry- 
 ing out his benevolent purpose, it should not be for- 
 gotten that his first promise has been fully redeemed. 
 
3/0 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Drew Seminary, which was finally placed at Madison, 
 New Jersey, is now in possession of lands and build- 
 ings of the value of two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
 lars, and has received from its founder in all over four 
 hundred thousand. The appreciation of the value of Mr. 
 Drew's benefaction has been shown in the readiness with 
 which others have come forward to supplement it, and 
 to give perpetuity to the school which bears his name. 
 
 The seminary was formally opened on Nov. 6, 1867, in 
 the presence of a large assemblage, drawn from all parts of 
 the territory occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 It was a bright and balmy autumn day, a day of good 
 omen. The exercises, though occupying the morning 
 and afternoon, (with a collation intervening,) held the 
 undivided attention of the company. In his explanation 
 of the nature of the work about to be undertaken Dr. 
 M'Clintock said: It is its design to furnish instruction 
 in theology in the widest sense of the word, and in the 
 sciences subsidiary thereto, and especially in the doc- 
 trines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 with a view to the training of the students to be preach- 
 ers of the Gospel and pastors in the Church." He be- 
 lieved it to be of the last importance that the students 
 should be educated to be preachers, (not readers of ser- 
 mons ;) a provision was therefore inserted in the Consti- 
 tution, which required the " professors, both by their in- 
 struction and by their personal example, to aid the stu- 
 dents to form habits of ready and effective expression ex 
 tempore, to the exclusion of the use of written discourses." 
 Young men at once flocked to the school, and have con- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 3/1 
 
 tinued to fill it to the entire extent of its capacity to 
 accommodate them. 
 
 Upon leaving Germantown, our friend purchased a farm 
 near New Brunswick, N. J., to which he gave the name of 
 
 Embury." His house faced the Raritan River, towards 
 which its grounds sloped. Here he busied himself with 
 building, draining, sowing, and planting, and, bating the 
 discomforts of moving his household goods, he enjoyed 
 his outdoor life greatly. But he groaned over the labor 
 of carrying his library from place to place. In October, 
 l86i, he thus sums up pathetically the annoyances he 
 had endured to that time from his many changes of 
 abode : Spent morning arranging books, papers, etc., 
 in library ; very irksome work. I have had it to do eight 
 times since 1848 — once at J. City, 1848; New Brunswick, 
 1851 ; Carlisle, 1853 ; Irving Place, 1857 I St. Paul's Par- 
 sonage, 1859; Ecuries, Paris, i860; Rue Balzac, 
 i860; Rue de la Plaine, 1861. The vexation and an- 
 noyance of these changes is excessive ; destruction and 
 loss of books very costly. The itinerancy does not suit 
 men whose pursuits require a large librar)\ It must be 
 modified or such men will shun it. Just now I am only 
 half living, so far as books go. I brought from New 
 York to Paris but about one thousand volumes, leaving 
 several thousand behind." 
 
 He had been too busy for some years to keep his diary 
 with regularity; but the entries in the early part of 1866 
 are unusually full : — 
 
 Mofiday, January 15. — Left home (Germantown) at 9 ; drove 
 to Philadelphia in two-horse carriage with Jane and Kit, and left 
 
372 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Prime-street station at 1 1 : 30. On train, talked with General Owens 
 about the war ; gave me some graphic sketches of battles ; after Mal- 
 vern Hill we could have been in Richmond in a few hours if M'Clel- 
 lan had not been too timid. Reached Washington at 6 P. M. in a 
 driving snow-storm. 
 
 Tuesday, January 16. — Creswell and I went to see General Grant ; 
 very affable and pleasant. He said it was impossible for us to withdraw 
 our troops from the South, and would be for a long time. " They 
 would cut each other's throats.*' I asked him whether native Ameri- 
 cans were less docile and subordinate as soldiers than other races. 
 " Not at all ; their individuality is great, but does not interfere with 
 subordination, and they make, therefore, the best soldiers. They 
 know what they fight for, and know also that men can't fight 
 in bodies without subordination." "All our soldiers yet in the 
 field are clamorous to be mustered out : that is our difficulty 
 of keeping troops in the South." Creswell asked him if he had 
 said 50,000 American troops would beat any other 50,000. " No. 
 But I do say that with 50,000 of the men who marched down Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue from the war, with their officers, from sergeants to 
 generals, I would undertake to fight any 75.000 European troops, 
 with their officers; our's having had their three years' discipline." 
 Altogether his talk was very sensible and thoughtful. 
 
 Wedjiesday, January ly. — At 10 A. M. Senator Creswell accom- 
 panied my brother and myself to see President Johnson. Many were 
 waiting, but the senator took precedence. The President received us 
 most cordially. He is about my size, dark complexion ; talked of his 
 health and eyes, which trouble him. Creswell told him the object of 
 my visit. I said, " We (that is, Methodists, not as politicians) desire 
 to support your Government, as it is our Christian duty to do so. 
 But we are befogged by what we hear of the difficulties between you 
 and Congress." He smiled and said " I will talk frankly and fully," 
 and went into a long statement of the principles of his Government. 
 "We must look at facts," he said over and over again. I told him 
 we wanted to know his views as to the protection of the four mill- 
 ions of human beings who were made his wards by emancipation. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 373 
 
 " They shall not be oppressed while I am President. I will protect 
 them to the last atom of the power of the Government." He dwelt 
 upon this at full length. Then, as to negro suffrage, he said : " If I 
 were satisfied that suffrage was the best thing for the protection and 
 advancement of the negroes, I should give it to them. But with my 
 knowledge of the ' poor whites ' of the South, I am satisfied they 
 would butcher the negroes sooner than vote with them." He dwelt 
 on the need of time. " The South has advanced in sentiment 
 in one year more than the North in twenty. Give them more time." 
 
 I do not agree with him as to suffrage. It could have been given in 
 a month after Lincoln's death, and would have been accepted. With 
 the ballot the negroes would have been protected effectually. The 
 President said, " I must think for myself; but if I can be convinced I 
 am wrong, I think I have sense and self-command enough to change 
 my course." This talk went on about three quarters of an hour, when 
 the Secretary of the Treasury came in with the Canadian delegates 
 about reciprocity. We then got up, but still the President kept us stand- 
 ing about a quarter of an hour more. I was greatly surprised at his 
 urbanity, and even his affectionate way. I had not looked for it. He 
 impressed me as a man very strong within his sphere of thought and 
 knowledge. But I did not get the sense, in his presence, of a supe- 
 rior atmosphere, so to speak, as I did in Lincoln's. Lincoln's mind 
 seemed greatly more susceptible, and more comprehensive — ready to 
 get at truth from any quarter, and to assimilate it. 
 
 Monday, January 31. — Finished article " Arminianism " for Dic- 
 tionary. Read for it Bayle, Cunningham, Nicholls, Ebrard, Nean- 
 der, and others. 
 
 Wed7iesday, February 2. — Rose at 7:20; made articles " Ar- 
 nauld," (3), and " Arnold of Brescia " for Cyclopaedia. 
 
 April 13. — Left our house, at Germantov.'n, March 25, and stayed 
 at Mr. Bishop's, New Brunswick, till April 12, waiting for house at 
 Embury Farm to be ready. Ever)- thing in confusion as we enter. 
 The year 1866 was devoted chiefly to the centenar}' work of the M. 
 E. Church, I being chairman of the Central Committee. For this 
 service I neither asked nor received any remuneration. 
 
374 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Friday, June 24. — Sunday, preached in chapel of St. James, New 
 Brunswick, on Matt, vi, 2. I have now preached for St. James' con- 
 gregation every Sunday since April 22, as they have no stationed 
 minister, without remuneration of any sort. 
 
 July 18. — Continued as pastor of St. James until spring of 1867 
 In March, 1867, finding that Mr. Drew's centenary gift for theo- 
 logical education was not likely to be consummated soon, unless I 
 agreed to accept the presidency of the seminary to be founded by 
 him, I agreed to do so — my salary to commence in the spring of the 
 year. The purchase of the Gibbons estate was consummated in 
 June. My work, for seminary, from March till November, consisted 
 of, I. The organization and plan of instruction ; 2. Arrangement of 
 Board of Trustees and meetings thereof for organization ; 3. Study 
 of all European catalogues for purchase of books through H. B. 
 Lane, agent. 
 
 In November broke up my beautiful home on the Raritan with 
 great reluctance, and removed to the Gibbons mansion. Sold part 
 of my furniture, Mr. Drew agreeing to give me what furniture I 
 needed out of the Gibbons house. Spent autumn of 1867 in organiz- 
 ing the seminar)', which opened in November, and the troubles of 
 that autumn and winter, with delays of workmen, with seminary 
 work, with buildings, etc., no mortal can know. 
 
 The discomforts of moving were speedily overcome and 
 forgotten, and once settled in the Gibbons mansion, Dr. 
 M'Clintock's life went on very happily. It is a house of 
 princely proportions. The spacious library suited him 
 perfectly ; the broad porches afforded him exercise in 
 stormy weather, and the grounds, covered with young 
 forest trees, gratified his sense of the beautiful in nature. 
 Yet it cost him an effort to break up his New Brunswick 
 home. In establishing it he had made one more effort 
 to attain his ideal of a union of out-door activities with 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 375 
 
 Study. He writes almost pathetically to his daughter : 
 There seems to me to be no rest for us in this 
 world." He was like a bird, he said, that had no nest. 
 But his habit of looking at the humorous side of every 
 situation served him well here, and his correspon- 
 dence with his family soon ran on in the old delight- 
 ful way: — 
 
 To his Daughter, Mrs. Augusta Lotigacre. 
 
 New Brunswick, Sunday^ June 2, 1S66. 
 
 It is a sort of rainy day, but we have all been at church, except 
 mother, who is not well enough to go yet, and Emory, who could 
 not find the key of his trunk in time to get his best coat out. Anne is 
 in New York visiting her aunt, a visit which has kept her in a flutter 
 for a fortnight. She had a party there yesterday afternoon. I am 
 to fetch her home to-morrow ; all are well. Emory has been up at 
 Carmel for a fortnight, surveying the grounds for the new college ; 
 he got back yesterday. 
 
 We are afraid that if you do not come here soon you will not 
 come at all. Emory wants you while he is here. So you see the 
 propriety of hurrying up your arrangements as rapidly as possible. 
 We have not finished the outside of the house yet, but the inside 
 is as neat as wax, and we want you to see it while it is nice, and 
 has the new shine on. Moreover, it will burst out hot one of these 
 days, and then it wont be so nice to you. 
 
 The building at Carmel will take a year, or a year and a half, to 
 complete, so that our going there is a thing of the future. All will 
 be ordered right. I have found it so thus far in my pilgrimage, and 
 expect it to be so to the end, whether the way be rough or smooth. 
 Let this be your way of thinking and feeling, and you will find life a 
 much better thing than if you fret about its uncertainties. God bless 
 you ! Do write oftener. 
 
376 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 To the same. 
 
 Nkw Bkikswick, March 27, 1867. 
 
 It is Sunday morning ; the first rest Sunday I have had for many a 
 long day, and I am enjoying it greatly. I did not get up till after 
 eight, and decided net to go to church at all, not that I am partic- 
 ularly unwell, but simply jaded, and feel that a good rest will be 
 welcome. So I take part of my pleasure in writing to you. On 
 week-days it is nothing but write, write, all day long. What with the 
 Dictionary, of which the second volume is in progress, and the Drew 
 Seminary, and the winding up of the Centenary, and my own private 
 affairs, and the New Brunswick Church, and all my European cor- 
 respondence, I am literally fagged out when night comes. By the 
 way, the Drew Seminary is organized, and we are in correspondence 
 about the Faculty. It will begin in September, and by that time we 
 shall remove there. There seems to be no rest for us in this world. 
 
 Every thing here is arranged to our heart's content, and we must 
 pull up stakes and leave it. Arthur wrote me some time ago that we 
 must not build nests for ourselves here, but just find a good twig to 
 rest on, and hop to another. We have been tiviggzng all our lives, 
 and appear likely to keep at it to the end. At the end, we trust, there 
 is a house, not made with hands, prepared for us in heaven. It is 
 hard for us to go to Carmel, and the earthly inducements are not 
 great ; $2,500, and house (not built yet) near a little village of three 
 hundred people, and near nothing else but the blue lake and the 
 eternal hills, and our heavenly Father. We shall have almost no 
 company but the Faculty and our friends who visit us. That wont 
 trouble me, as my books and work are full company, so long as I 
 have health ; but it will not be well for Maria and mother. 
 
 One point of morals before I close. The Chinese have kept up or- 
 ganized human society, with an immense population, for thousands 
 of years. I think this singular longevity is due to the doctrine of 
 filial piety, which penetrates the national life. Now, I do not want 
 you to set up votive tablets in your drawing-room, and bum incense 
 before them to the shades of your ancestors, Irish or Indian. But I 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 377 
 
 want you to consider whether it is right for you to leave us for weeks 
 without a scrap of writing from you ? You now owe mother two 
 letters, and Maria one. I know all about your health and your mani- 
 fold duties. But with all that, you could write a letter, longer or 
 shorter, once a week, and I shall not consider you up to your duty, 
 much less to your privileges, until you do that thing. Take it seri- 
 ously to heart. All join in love to James and the baby, with kisses. 
 I hope change of air will cure that " rash " infant. 
 
 In the year 1868 Dr. M'Clintock was a delegate to the 
 General Conference which met in Chicago, and advocated 
 the admission of the laity to that body in a speech of 
 great power. He had been for years an outspoken sup- 
 porter of this change in the polity of the Church, but did 
 not live to see it consummated. The time has hardly 
 come for writing the history of a movement which peace- 
 fully closed a debate of fifty years' duration. One of Dr. 
 M'Clintock's latest published essays was a tract on Lay 
 Delegation, written while the popular vote was pending, 
 and giving a reason for " the faith that was in him." 
 
 He felt his burden of work during these last years to 
 be very heavy. His Cyclopaedia demanded unceasing at- 
 tention ; the organization of the seminary and the teach- 
 ing of his classes, and his correspondence, taxed all the re- 
 sources of his strength. In addition to this work done 
 on secular days, he preached nearly every Sunday, sup- 
 plying during the last months of his stay in New Bruns- 
 wick the pulpit of St. James' Church in that city, and in 
 1868-9, in association with Dr. Foster, the pulpit of St. 
 Luke's Church, New York. In the spring of 1869 symp>- 
 toms that he understood warned him that he must seek 
 
3/8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 rest. He closed his house, and with his family went over 
 to England again, the England he loved so well. 
 
 To Mr. Fletcher Harper. 
 
 Leamington, July 25, 1S69. 
 
 Thus far our journey has been very successful and happy. My 
 health is wonderfully mended. Mrs. M'Clintock has not improved 
 so much, but yet she is in many respects better. All the rest of the 
 party are very well indeed. We spent nearly four weeks in London, 
 where we had nice lodgings at the West End at a moderate price. I 
 saw our friends, S. Low and J. Low, Junior, frequently. They are 
 very little changed. We have had a fortnight here, seeing all the 
 beauties of Warwickshire, and having an excellent home in a fur- 
 nished house. In a day or two we go to Derby, (Chatsworth,) etc., 
 and thence to York. After that a fortnight in the Lake Country will 
 finish our trip. The weather has been the perfect English summer 
 which Hawthorne describes — three or four days only have been too 
 hot for comfortable walking. The average thermometer indoors has 
 been seventy degrees. 
 
 I am deeply thankful to God for the opportunity of this trip, which 
 has given my system rest just when perseverance at work during the 
 hot weather at home would probably have put an end to all earthly 
 labors soon. But the end cometh for us all, when no man can 
 work. Our friends leave us — by and by we shall be old, and before 
 long we, too, shall be gone. . God grant that for you and me the 
 change, when it comes, may only be the hap])y passage to the pres- 
 ence of our God and Saviour, which is the true aim of good living 
 here ! And, in the mean time, may you and I, old friend, do our work 
 cheerfully, looking for that blessed hope. 
 
 I wish that you and Mrs. Harper were with us, though I know 
 well that duty keeps you at home. I have heard, with pain, a rumor 
 that your brother, John, has been seriously ill, I hope the story is 
 untrue, or, at least, that he has recovered. Make my cordial salu- 
 tations and sympathies to him, and also to your brother, Joseph Wes- 
 ley. The old times come up to me as I write, and the old faces. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 3/9 
 
 To his Sister, Miss Jane Clintock. 
 
 ScAKBoROUGU, Augufit S, 1869. 
 
 I wrote to you from London, and Kate wrote from there or from 
 Leamington. But we have no letter from you since we sailed. I be- 
 gin to fear that you have been ill, but hope it has not been so. You 
 are generally, however, so good a correspondent that your silence is 
 always suspicious. 
 
 We all went to the Primitive Methodist Church this morning. 
 The congregation was very large, and the whole services was old St. 
 George's over again — except that there was a good organ and very 
 fine singing. The aniens and shouts here just such as we used to 
 hear in Fourth-street. The preacher was not a Primitive, but an 
 eminent Wesleyan. He adapted his sermon, however, to his audi- 
 ence, with great skill and tact. 
 
 We have improved in health more at Scarborough than anywhere 
 else, and all wish we had come here sooner. We can only stay to 
 the end of this week, as we are engaged to be at Mr. Darlington's 
 by the fourteenth of this month. After that we go to the English 
 lakes, and sail from Liverpool on the eight of September in the Col- 
 orado. We have g^ven up our trip to Ireland, chiefly on account of 
 the extra expense in which it will involve us. 
 
 Living in lodgings is very comfortable. I wish the plan were 
 adopted in America. It would be veiy nice for people of moderate 
 means, as you can make the expense just what you please. 
 
 The British Conference is sitting not far from here, but as I came 
 away for my health, I have not been near it, nor do I intend to go. 
 
 To his Sister, Mrs. Joseph Gray don. 
 
 Keswick, An(just 26, 1S69. 
 
 Your letter was very welcome. I had written you another letter, 
 but it seems to have lost itself. 
 
 We have been here now five days, and the last two have been 
 the warmest we have had in England. The thermometer has reached 
 seventy-six degrees in a sunny room indoors, and outdoors the sun 
 
380 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 has been too hot for me to walk out in the middle of the day. Our 
 visit at Xethenvood was one of the best parts of our trip : ever} body 
 in the house, sen ants included, was full of kindness, and ever} thing 
 was done, indoors and out, to make our time pass agreeably. We 
 had a splendid day at Bolton Abbey. 
 
 I climbed to the top of the hill, and had a ramble among heather 
 on the moors for the first time in my life. We are in excellent quar- 
 ters here, at the Keswick Hotel, and have seen most of the lions. 
 Maria and Bella went to the top of the Skiddaw on ponies, and came 
 back well tanned and freckled. Kate and I have confined our excur- 
 sions to regions practicable for wheel carriages. The only drawback 
 I have had has been rheumatism, which is now passing away. 
 
 To-morrow we leave here for Bowness : stay in that neighborhood 
 till Tuesday, and then go to Liverpool to prepare for sailing. 
 
 We can hardly yet realize that Mrs. Elliott is gone, and that we 
 shall see her kind face no more. I think she is one of the best illus- 
 trations I ever knew of the power of personal kindness to make 
 friends and to disarm enmity. 
 
 This trip was, as his letters show, enjoyed greatly, yet 
 on his return he was but little stronger. His step 
 was slower ; indeed, the old alertness of movement was 
 wholly gone. The brave, cheery spirit, the genial inter- 
 est in men, women, children, and in life for what it 
 brought him every day, were not changed — as to these 
 he was the same as ever. He took up his work in 
 the autumn where he had dropped it in the summer, 
 and went on with it though he knew that his strength 
 was ebbing away. His friends knew it, too, for its 
 signs were plainly visible. In lecturing to the stu- 
 dents during the winter of 1869 he would occasion- 
 ally drop the thread of his discourse, and be for a mo- 
 ment or two unconscious of their presence. Still he 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 38 1 
 
 preached on alternate Sundays at St. Luke's, though 
 so feeble that a carriage was needed to carry him to and 
 from the church. One of these last Sundays was spent 
 at my house ; in the afternoon a walk was proposed to 
 the Central Park, a few blocks distant. He had only 
 reached it when he begged to be taken back. This out- 
 cry of weakness made us all feel sad enough. Yet dur- 
 ing the day, and on like days, he was, when sitting in the 
 house, so full of wise and playful talk, and so capable of 
 enjoying whatever others enjoyed, that a stranger would 
 not have supposed him an invalid. It was only when he 
 rose and moved that the exhaustion of his vitality be- 
 came painfully visible. 
 
 The last letter from him that has come into my 
 hands, written only twelve days before his death, was 
 addressed to his friend, Mr. Fletcher Harper. I have 
 hardly dared trust myself to speak of his long friend- 
 ship with the Harper Brothers, so trustful on both sides, 
 and so honorable in them all. As his years increased, 
 his heart turned back to the old times when he and 
 they were younger. The letter is such a one as fitly 
 closes Dr. M'Clintock's varied correspondence : — 
 
 To Mr, Fletcher Harper. 
 
 Madison, N. J., February 20, ISTO. 
 
 It was a great grief to me that I could not go to the funeral of 
 your brother, Wesley. For ten days I have been confined to the 
 house by inflammation of the windpipe. I am better, but yet unable 
 to go out. Twice I fixed days to go to Brooklyn during his last 
 weeks of life, but both times was prevented by storms. 
 When I was a young preacher I was occasionally invited to preach in 
 
382 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 New York. You may remember that you several times walked with me 
 to church on these occasions. But Wesley did it several times, also. 
 During this illness he has been in my mind a great deal, and somehow 
 always in connexion with these walks, as if the inten ening time were 
 nothing. Two features impressed me then, and they have remained 
 associated with my thoughts of him ever since — his wisdom and his 
 kindness. Boy as I was, he seemed much older — certainly he was 
 ver}- much wiser. His shrewd nature, his sagaciou-s insight, his habit 
 of observation of preachers and preaching, enabled him to give good 
 advice ; and he gave it so kindly that you hardly knew or felt that he 
 was advising at all. Then his criticisms upon the sermon, reaching 
 not simply to its structure and to its form, but to its spiritual aims 
 and worth, and always given with so much judgment, and with a 
 sweet kindness, that made them seem more like praise than criticism, 
 did a great deal, I remember, to enlighten me upon my own duty 
 and work. 
 
 Not many months ago, dear friend, I wrote you on the death of 
 your brother, James. We are all tending to the same bourne — I trust 
 to the same heaven. Of all the successes of your brother Wesley 
 his greatest was that he kept his religious life and his simple faith. 
 In those last bright weeks in Clark-street, the light which made his 
 sick-room so cheer)^ and so beautiful a place, was the light, not of 
 earth, but of heaven. It would have been the same if he had died 
 a poor man ; but that he kept the faith, to die so beautifully, as a rich 
 man, this was indeed a wonder of success in the highest sense of the 
 word. 
 
 It cannot be very long before the summons will come for you and 
 me. There are few men living for whom I have so strong a personal 
 affection as for you. I wish that we lived nearer to you, and that I 
 could see you oftener during these swiftly passing days before the 
 sunset. But, as this cannot be, may God grant us his abundant peace 
 to spend these days in his fear and love, that we may be reunited 
 with all that are dear to us in the unchanging life above ! 
 
 Ever your friend, John :^I'Clintock. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 383 
 
 There was still hope felt that he would rally from his 
 prostration, as he had rallied so often before. But on 
 the third of March, 1870, the telegraph summoned his 
 friends in haste to Madison. They went fearing the worst. 
 He had been seized with fever, and when we arrived was 
 wholly unconscious. The felicity that had marked all his 
 days attended him even in dying, for the friends of his 
 boyhood, his youth, and manhood were with him. At a 
 late hour the company, save the chosen watchers, sepa- 
 rated for rest, cheered, too, by a faint gleam of hope. 
 Shortly after midnight he awoke once more to conscious- 
 ness, and recognized his son, and his colleague in the 
 seminary. Dr. Foster. 
 
 " Foster, is that you? I am very sick, am I not?" 
 Yes," was the answer, you are very sick, but we 
 have hope that you may recover yet." 
 
 " No ! no ! " said the patient, "but no matter what the 
 event, it's all right." And pausing for a moment as if 
 meditating, It's all right, all right." 
 
 These were his last words. In the early morning a 
 messenger bade us hasten to the sick chamber. Before 
 it was reached all was over. Dr. M'Clintock breathed 
 no more. The heart that had through so many years re- 
 sponded to every generous impulse was still. 
 
384 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Tributes to the Memory of Dr. M'Clintock: From Dr. W. H. Allen— Bishop Janes on 
 the Elements of his Power— His Early Life, by Mr. T. A. Howe— Mr. C. C. North on his 
 Industry and Organizing Talent— The Eev. William Arthurs Kecollections— The Young 
 Professor, by the Eev. Dr. Deems—The Hon. John Bigelow on Dr. M'CIintock's Life in 
 Paris— His Social Qualities, by Mrs. Mary S. Kobinson— The Ri'v. Dr. Hurst on his Help- 
 fulness to Young Americans in Europe — His Leading Mental and Moral Traits, by the 
 Author of this Memoir. 
 
 T SHALL not attempt an estimate of Dr. M'Clintock's 
 character, for it has been sufficiently portrayed in the 
 passages from his journals and letters contained in this 
 memoir. It was a character transparently clear. There 
 were in it no dark and hidden passages which the light 
 never reached. All was with him as open as day. He 
 had nothing to conceal, for, with his utmost strength, he 
 tried to live an upright, manly life. Nor is it needful to 
 dwell upon the tenderness with which loving hands com- 
 mitted all that was mortal of him to its last resting- 
 place. It will be more fitting to gather together the 
 many tributes paid to his worth by his friends, and out 
 of them weave a wreath, to lay upon his grave : — 
 
 " Since the death of M'Clintock, so many beautiful 
 and, in the main, truthful notices of his life, works, and 
 character have been written — the best and most discrim- 
 inating of them by AlujJini of Dickinson, his former 
 pupils — that to one ambitious of fame it would almost 
 seem worth while to exchange life for such abounding 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 385 
 
 praise."^ If the beatified spirit were sensible of earthly 
 eulogy, our choicest expressions of admiration would 
 not add a feather to that eternal weight of glory, nor a 
 drop of blessing to those joys which it hath not entered 
 the mind of man to conceive. But while our plaudits 
 cannot penetrate the ear of death, nor our incense stir 
 its torpid brain, every just eulogium is an incentive to 
 those who survive. It is an exhortation and a promise 
 — go thou and do likewise, and thy name no less than 
 his shall be a memory and an example. 
 
 M'Clintock, like Goethe, was ' many sided,' and, like 
 a fortress, every side had its salient angles. Hence the 
 photographs of his character vary with the focal distance 
 of the lens, the quality of the light, the pose of the 
 sitter, and expertness of the operator. While in all of 
 them we recognize the man, we fail to find in any one of 
 them all the man. I shall attempt no exhaustive anal- 
 ysis. I propose nothing more than a sketch, with rude 
 pencil but loving hand, of a few of the more prominent 
 and obvious traits of that distinguished man, as at my 
 point of observation and in the light I had they appeared 
 to me. 
 
 The youngest of our corps, he quickly made himself 
 felt as a power among us, and gave early promise of the 
 breadth and depth of attainments which subsequently 
 made him eminent. His perceptions were quick and 
 clear, his grasp of new thoughts firm ; every faculty of 
 his mind moved with the velocity of the electric cur- 
 
 * From Dr. W. H. Allen, President of Girard College, and formerly 
 Dr. M'Clintock's colleague in the FacuUy of Dickinson College. 
 25 
 
386 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 rent. He was remarkable for a kind of intellectual elan, 
 and charged upon the subject before him with the aban- 
 don of an assaulting column in battle. Enthusiastic in 
 the pursuit of knowledge, he acquired it with prodigious 
 rapidity, and his tenacious memory let nothing escape. 
 He could prepare a sermon, write a review, learn a lan- 
 guage, or master the details of a scientific treatise in less 
 time than any man I have known. I remember that 
 when pressed for copy, he wrote an article for the 
 ' Methodist Quarterly Review ' in a single day, which 
 filled twenty-two pages of that periodical — and this in 
 addition to his regular work as a professor. 
 
 But his intense mental activity taxed beyond health- 
 ful endurance a physical constitution naturally robust. 
 While midnight oil may lubricate the mind, it poisons 
 the body. The laws of our vital being cannot be violated 
 with impunity. In the earnestness of his work, our 
 friend exhausted his strength, and was frequently com- 
 pelled to remit his labors to recover his health. 
 
 " Physiologists assert that the maximum ratio of brain 
 to muscle in the animal world has been reached in man ; 
 and that any marked excess in that ratio is abnormal, 
 and a cause of early death. Thus the popular belief that 
 precocious children die young is confirmed and explained 
 by science. But M'Clintock had a head as large as 
 Daniel Webster's, poised on a body half its size. How 
 so small a frame could support so vast a dome for fifty- 
 six years, is a problem which may puzzle physiology. 
 Although that frame was hewn from the toughest tim- 
 ber, squarely jointed, stoutly braced, compact in every 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 387 
 
 mortice and tenon, its parts needed frequent repairs to 
 prevent the superincumbent weight from crushing to 
 ruin the whole structure. 
 
 " Dr. M'CHntock's transition from the chair of mathe- 
 matics to that of ancient languages was so easily and 
 gracefully made that he seemed to be equally at home 
 in both departments. Though he was not a man to 
 bury himself in numbers, quantities, and dimensions, 
 fintil he ate, drank, wore, talked, and dreamed mathe- 
 matics, and breathed no atmosphere but equations, 
 differentials, and integrals, or until imagination, senti- 
 ment, and sense of beauty were so dead and dry within 
 him that, like a mathematician we read of, he could lay 
 aside Milton's * Paradise Lost ' with the question, * What 
 does it prove ? ' yet I have always deemed it fortunate, 
 both for himself and the Church, that he entered the 
 field of literature. This afforded wider scope for his 
 talents, and accorded better with his tastes and aspira- 
 tions. His translation of Neander and his connexion 
 with the * Methodist Quarterly Review ' gave breadth 
 and depth to his theological studies, made him familiar 
 with German thought, and the exhaustive methods of 
 German research, and added to his rare qualifications for 
 the great work which will be an enduring monument of 
 his industry and learning. 
 
 " In the pulpit, M'Clintock was sound in doctrine as 
 held by our Church, courteous to other denominations, 
 catholic in spirit, convincing in argument, rich in illus- 
 tration, persuasive in eloquence. Learned without a 
 display of learning, pleasing without effort to please, he 
 
388 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 spake from a full mind and warm heart to minds and 
 hearts that responded in sympathy with his own. 
 
 ''On the platform, ready, bright, strong, the right 
 word in the right place, he fastened the attention of his 
 audience to the sentiments he wished to inculcate, some- 
 times by an apt comparison, sometimes by a suggestive 
 metaphor, and often by sallies of wit and humor, which 
 shot forth like coruscations of the aurora borealis, in 
 ever-varying hues and shapes, and threw over his subject 
 a playful and shimmering light. 
 
 '' In social life, frank, genial, simple-hearted as a child, 
 transparent as crystal, with no assumption of dignity, no 
 consciousness of superiority, alive to all human emotions 
 and sympathies, his conversation now shone with the 
 rich, soft hues of the opal, now flashed with the brilliant 
 light of the diamond. 
 
 His sympathy with the poor and defenceless assumed 
 the form of a broad philanthropy. There is a kind of 
 philanthropy which overlooks the naked and hungry at 
 its own door, but sends clothing and food to the Feejees 
 and Hottentots to be seen of men, and to blazon its 
 name in the newspapers. But M'Clintock's great heart 
 had room for the near as well as the remote. Like the 
 wise king of old, he * considered all the oppressions that 
 are done under the sun : and behold, the tears of the 
 oppressed ; and they have no comforter. And on the 
 side of their oppressors there was power ; but they had 
 no comforter.' He resolved to be their comforter. He 
 stopped not to count the terrible cost of word or deed in 
 behalf of an unpopular cause, in a misled though honest 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 389 
 
 community. He knew that legality is not always right ; 
 and that in every conflict between human law, which 
 may be wrong, and divine law, which is always right, the 
 power of man is on the side of what is legal, while on the 
 side of right is the power of God. 
 
 Some who are now present may remember the day 
 when the cry, ' Down with M'Clintock ! ' rang through 
 the college campus, and young men, frantic with rage, 
 were ready to tear him in pieces, or hang him to the 
 nearest tree. He was charged with instigating a riot to 
 rescue a fugitive bondman from his pursuing master. If 
 the charge could be sustained, he would be held respon- 
 sible before the law for the sad consequence of that riot 
 — the death of a man. 
 
 When the brave Colonel Shaw fell, with many of his 
 soldiers, in the unsuccessful assault on Fort Wagner, a 
 flag of truce was sent for his body. The commandant 
 of the fort replied, ' We have buried Shaw with his nig- 
 gers.' In the indictment of the Carlisle rioters the name 
 of John M'Clintock was included in a list of twenty-nine. 
 It was a feeble attempt to bury John M'Clintock with 
 his negroes. But as the fame of Shaw has outlived the 
 petty insult, so has the fame of M'Clintock. He was 
 acquitted. The sober second thought of the students 
 succeeded their passionate excitement. They who had 
 shouted ' Down with M'Clintock ! ' became afterward his 
 personal friends, and he still lived. 
 
 " The services which M'Clintock rendered to his coun- 
 try during his residence in Paris demonstrated his ardent 
 patriotism, and their value can hardly be overrated. In 
 
390 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the dark days of our calamity, when men's hearts began 
 to fail them for fear, he breasted the tide of foreign 
 prejudice, and, with arguments that could not be an- 
 swered, sent forth through all channels of communication 
 with the public to which he had access both in France 
 and England, did much to aid the accredited agents of 
 our Government in preventing the recognition of the 
 Confederate States by those two great nations. 
 
 " The Christian public of all denominations has been 
 gratified with the announcement that the ensuing vol- 
 ume of the great " Cyclopedia," for which, in connex- 
 ion with Dr. Strong, he had been fifteen years collect- 
 ing materials, needs only a revision to prepare it for 
 the press. If the forthcoming volumes shall fulfil the 
 promise of the three already published, the work will be 
 a splendid monument of Christian learning and research, 
 which will perpetuate the names of its authors and add 
 to the reputation of the country. And when Biblical 
 and theological scholars of whatever sect or creed shall 
 rise from the study of its pages, they will say, ' Servant 
 of God, well done I ' " 
 
 One of the first elements of his power, and one of 
 the principal sources of his successful life, was his ear- 
 nest spirit.* His ardor was quenchless, and his en- 
 ergy exhaustless. Whatever he undertook he accom- 
 plished ; he could not fail. In his youth he aspired to a 
 collegiate education. Have it he would, and have it 
 he did. And when he received his parchment he did 
 
 * From the Funeral Address of Bishop Janes. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 391 
 
 not receive it as a bill of divorcement from books ; it was 
 only an inspiration in the pursuit of eminence in scholar- 
 ship. While a professor in Dickinson College he was 
 more of a student than any undergraduate in the insti- 
 tution. It was the burning of the midnight oil that 
 gave him his greatness and position. This resolute will, 
 and persevering effort for Christ, may be seen in all the 
 labors of his life. 
 
 Another reason of his success was found in the sys- 
 tematic manner in which he employed his time. His was 
 not a hap-hazard life. His had a time for devotion, for 
 general reading, for study and writing, for social life and 
 general action — a time for every thing. It was this sys- 
 tematic effort that enabled him to turn to the best ac- 
 count every fragment of the day, and to win such a 
 wide reputation. 
 
 Another reason of success was the simplicity of his 
 plan, the oneness of his purpose. We have a right to 
 state that he had an eye single to the glory of God, and 
 that he sought to promote that glory by advancing the 
 interests of humanity. His eye being single, his purpose 
 being a simple one, his whole life was one of candor, 
 frankness, and openness. He was just as ready that his 
 opponents should know what he intended and was do- 
 ing, as that his friends should know. He, therefore, 
 never lost the confidence of any one. I have known 
 him from childhood, and I say, before this congregation 
 and God, that I never knew any thing of him that was 
 dishonorable. He was as careful of the interests of an- 
 other as of his own, and he was jealous of all that per- 
 
392 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 tained to the glory of God. Because he was thus de- 
 voted, and his motives pure, his actions were ahvays 
 understood, and nowhere was this seen to greater advan- 
 tage than in the sacred desk. He sought in the simplest 
 and plainest of language to present the doctrines of our 
 holy religion. He ascribed originality of thought, so 
 far as divine truth is concerned, entirely to God. As a 
 man, as a Christian man, as a minister, as a man to 
 whom the Church had committed many of its interests, 
 we remember him with gratitude and with love. I feel 
 that no one will say we exaggerate the merits of our de- 
 ceased brother ; but every one will retire from these 
 services to-day, and think that his character has not 
 been fully set forth. I shall offend no one in saying, we 
 have in the Church no one left superior to him." 
 
 " My personal acquaintance with him^ commenced on 
 his coming from Philadelphia to New York to take a 
 position in the Book Concern, then in charge of Messrs. 
 Emory and Waugh. My own position was that of chief 
 clerk in the Book Department. Young M'Clintock had 
 that of book-keeper and general assistant to Mr. Waugh, 
 who up to that time had kept the books of the Concern 
 as the associate of Dr. Emory. On his coming from 
 Philadelphia his appearance was very youthful ; in fact, 
 he was but a boy, and he would have blushed to be 
 called any thing more. When Mr. Waugh saw him he 
 fairly expressed his surprise by saying he had supposed 
 
 * From Mr. Timothy A. Howe, his fellow-clerk in the Methodist Book 
 Room. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 
 
 393 
 
 him older. John, however, took the position assigned 
 him, and soon gave satisfactory evidence of his abihty. 
 
 He was very winsome in his manners and appear- 
 ance. His round jacket and close-fitting clothes were well 
 adapted to show off, even at that time, a splendid figure. 
 His countenance, fair and ruddy, was very attractive, 
 while so sensitive was he that the slightest personal allu- 
 sion to him would mantle his cheeks and forehead with 
 crimson. He had the privilege of a home in the family 
 of the late Rev. Samuel Merwin. The influences there 
 thrown around him were well suited to make a deep im- 
 pression on a mind so sensitive as his ; they were, in fact, 
 only a continuation of the same influences under which he 
 had hitherto lived in his own father's house. His regard 
 for Mr. Merwin was very great. He loved him much, and 
 well he might, for Mr. M. was a wise and judicious coun- 
 sellor, and, while seeming to make himself an only equal 
 of the young, he at the same time would be imparting 
 the most useful lessons of instruction. And religion, as 
 exemplified in Mr. Merwin's family, was ever attractive. 
 
 The late Rev. Dr. James Floy was a fellow-clerk in 
 the Book Concern, and in memory of our then bachelor 
 days we three, afterward for many years, as opportunity 
 offered, had our annual dinner at some appointed place, 
 at which none others were allowed to be present. The 
 following notice now lies before me : — 
 
 " 'Dear Sir : The annual dinner will take place, if you have no 
 objections, on Wednesday, and the company will meet at the office of 
 at 3 P. M. Yours in fraternity, J. FLOY, 
 
 "•Monday, September 12, 1850."' J. M'CLINTOCK.'" 
 
394 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 " But these friends of my youth have passed away, and 
 I am left alone to my ' annual dinner ' in remembrance 
 of them." 
 
 At the General Conference of May, 1868, in Chica- 
 go, we lodged at the same hotel. Often in his room, I 
 observed that, in addition to his Conference labors, which 
 were enough for two ordinary men, he spent hours of each 
 day in examining proofs of his great work — ' The Cyclo- 
 paedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Litera- 
 ture ' — the proofs being sent daily by mail. In connec- 
 tion with the Drew Theological Seminary, it has been 
 my privilege, as a trustee, to observe the same remarkable 
 industry and fertility of resource. As the trustees have 
 met from period to period, it was not needful to bring 
 to our meetings any resolutions or suggestions, for Dr. 
 M'Clintock, as President of the Seminary, was always 
 ready with every point carefully arranged for our discus- 
 sion and adoption. 
 
 The last display of his energy and capacity was seen in 
 the formation of the Board of Education, where, as on 
 other occasions, he appeared the master spirit. Out of 
 twelve trustees appointed by the late General Confer- 
 ence, nine were present in New York in December, 1869, 
 among whom were found some of our ablest ministers 
 and laymen. In a day spent in discussions which were 
 to consolidate the whole movement and send it forth or- 
 ganized for its work, M'Clintock shone conspicuously in 
 amplitude of suggestion, in scope of comprehension, in 
 
 * From Mr. C. C. North, of New York city. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 395 
 
 vigorous application, and broad sympathy for the chief 
 object of the movement — the education of young men 
 for the ministry. This was probably the last business- 
 meeting he attended in the interest of the Church. In 
 preparing documents for publication, it devolved 'upon 
 the writer to visit Dr. IM'Clintock at Madison on Wed- 
 nesday evening, February i6. He had been suffering 
 with a disorder of his throat, and had for a week been 
 speechless. That evening he recovered his voice, and 
 was enabled to greet me with his accustomed urbanity. 
 We spent two hours after tea in revising the ' proofs ' of 
 the documents we were to send forth to the Conferences, 
 and with his usual facility he crossed a sentence here and 
 altered a word there, until the whole matter was fin- 
 ished, when he said : ' Now, let us visit the ladies.' 
 
 " And now for an hour he was full of vivacity, and 
 entertained us with remarks on furniture and household 
 matters, on expenses in Paris, and on his literary labors. 
 Among other things he said : * I have come to believe 
 that I am a modest man.' 'Why?' I said. 'Because,' 
 he replied, ' so many persons have issued books on the 
 life and character of St. Paul, while for years I have had a 
 pile of manuscript on the same theme which I have not 
 ventured to give to the public' Alluding to his losses of 
 property during the period of his residence in Madison, 
 which to most minds would be serious and depressing, 
 he said : * These things have not cost me the loss of a 
 moment's sleep, nor on account of them have I experi- 
 enced even the pain of anxiety.' A few days after this 
 conversation I heard of his illness — not then thought to 
 
39^ LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 be fatal — a few more, and word came that there was Ht- 
 tle hope ; on Friday, March 4, all doubt was removed — 
 the noble man had fallen ! " 
 
 " Dk. M'Clintock's death to me is one of those events 
 that mark a stage in one's relations and memory."^ It 
 alters, more than one could believe, in a case where per- 
 sonal intercourse was so slight, one's mode of thinking as 
 to men and affairs in your country, in the world of letters, 
 and in American Methodist activities. From the first time 
 I met him in London, in, I think, the year 1850, he drew 
 me toward him with a joint force of heart and brain 
 rarely met with. During my visit to America this force 
 had added to it that of most winning, personal kindness, 
 and noble services to the cause of Methodism in Ireland, 
 which I was happy to see espoused by one whose help 
 was powerful. 
 
 " Had I never seen him again, I should have till death 
 held him in memory among rare men, as I do several 
 others whose acquaintance I then made. But subse- 
 quent visits of his to Europe, and especially his residence 
 in Paris, put it in my power to see more of him than of 
 any other of my American friends. 
 
 From him I had, during a visit to Washington, gained 
 much light on many of the more obscure aspects of the 
 problem of slavery, especially in its relation to the Free 
 States and the central Government, bearing on points clear 
 enough to Americans, but scarcely understood by one in 
 a million in Europe, and yet necessary to an intelligent 
 
 * From a letter of the Rev. William Arthur, London, England. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 39/ 
 
 view of the conflict which was then shaking the Congress 
 in anticipation of the time when it would shake the bat- 
 tle-field. This was one of the things which most helped 
 me early to see through misrepresentations which were 
 spread here on all hands by Americans accredited with 
 the highest positions and name, and, as a matter of 
 course, generally received. The ardor with which he 
 entered into the cause of his country in the day of the 
 great struggle, while he was so far from home, was only 
 part of his nature and habit, but certainly if ever man 
 burned and toiled to serve a great cause he did. 
 
 " I feel as if I hardly saw him in London last summer, 
 for at the time I was ill, and scarcely able to talk or 
 enjoy society. One could not feel much surprised at his 
 death, for he always struck one as a man not merely deli- 
 cate, but liable to menacing illness. Still, he sprang up 
 again so quickly, and returned to work with so much vigor, 
 that one almost felt as if the physical resources of his con- 
 stitution shared in the abundance of his mental ones. I 
 valued his " Cyclopaedia" before, but now it has a touching 
 claim upon the heart in addition to all its claims upon the 
 mind. I often envied his stores of learning, and seldom 
 parted from him without ' more keenly than of wont ' feel- 
 ing a regret which through life has been habitual with 
 me, and often made me shrink to a distance from men 
 whom I desired to know, namely, that the incessant 
 activity which has been called for by my allotted share 
 of public service had left me destitute of much furniture 
 which else I should have stored up and greatly prized. 
 Many will, through the ' Cyclopaedia,' be assisted in 
 
398 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 gathering up some part of his stores, and will also through 
 it inherit some fruit of his power." 
 
 " I shall never forget the first impression made on me 
 by Professor M'Clintock.^ It was the summer of 1836 
 when he arrived at Dickinson College to take the chair 
 of mathematics. I had just entered my Sophomore year, 
 and was not sixteen years of age. Professor M'Clintock 
 was not seven years older than myself, and he had come 
 to teach our class and the three older classes what we 
 regarded as the most difficult portions of the curriculum. 
 He was a small, well-built, lithe, wiry, florid young man, 
 with a disproportionately large head, which seemed sur- 
 charged with brains. His eyes had a flattened appear- 
 ance, as if they were inadequate to let out the fire of his 
 mind, doing that work very partially because they were 
 preoccupied with inward speculation. They appeared to 
 have work of their own, and were not quick at carrying 
 errands from his mind to the mind of the beholder. So 
 to me it seemed that his intellectual brightness illumined 
 other features more than his eyes. The play of his lips 
 was particularly interesting; his mouth was expressive 
 in many senses. 
 
 " As an instructor, the largeness of his gifts and the 
 wealth of his acquirements were against him. His intel- 
 lect was so rapid that it could not sufficiently sympathize 
 with the tardy movements of slower minds. To mem- 
 bers of the classes whose mental operations resembled 
 
 * From the Rev. Dr. C. F. Deems, pastor of the Church of the Strangers, 
 New York, and an alumnus of Dickinson College. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 399 
 
 his own he was a delightful leader; and even in the eyes 
 of those who were less able to follow him, and to whom, 
 therefore, he could not be so useful, he was nevertheless 
 splendid. 
 
 " Sometimes a man's friends misjudge his work. Per- 
 haps as a general thing the toilers of the brain do their 
 best in the sum total of their efforts. But it always 
 seemed to me as if the intellect and learning of Dr. 
 M'Clintock might have made some contribution to liter- 
 ature which should have had some more direct and pow- 
 erful influence on the progress of human thought than 
 Cyclopaedias, translations, sketches of Methodist minis- 
 ters, the analysis of Watson's Institutes, and Greek and 
 Latin school books. Useful as all these are, they seem 
 to belong to intellectual drudgery. 
 
 "In i860, when about to return to America, I found 
 him established in Paris in charge of the American 
 Chapel, and working on the Cyclopaedia. In his study I 
 looked over the sheets of the article on the title ' GOD,' 
 which showed more labor and painstaking than it ex- 
 hibits as printed in the Cyclopaedia. I ventured to make 
 the suggestion stated above. His reply in substance was 
 that he did not have my estimate of his capabilities of 
 becoming by any culture a very effective preacher ; that 
 he felt his calling to be literature, which he wished to 
 follow in the way best calculated to establish the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom ; that he had taken up from time to 
 time what seemed to him most needed to be done, 
 which he could do probably as well as any other, and 
 which no other seemed inclined to undertake. 
 
400 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 " After all, a man does more by his character than by 
 his actions. What a man does by tongue and pen may 
 be partly computed by close and intelligent observers; 
 but what the impulses, imparted by his life to those in 
 near and remote connection with him, continue to pro- 
 duce, can be known only to God. A lightning stroke 
 leaves a mark in the riven tree, but who can trace in the 
 flower and fruits of garden and orchard, and in the 
 health and beauty of men and women, the influence of 
 the gentle yet powerful electric agent which pervades 
 the earth, hiding, yet working every-where ? So the life 
 and character of our revered preceptor — Dr. M'Clintock — 
 stimulated thousands of young men, of whom hundreds 
 have given a healthy stimulus to many others who will 
 keep his memory bright and sweet and fragrant for the 
 coming generation of scholarly Christians." 
 
 During the period that I knew Dr. M'Clintock most 
 intimately,* dark clouds, which seemed to be charged 
 with a great public calamity, were hanging over us, and 
 absorbed our attention and thoughts so completely, that 
 incidents and traits of character which, under other cir- 
 cumstances, might have proved ' a joy forever,' left a 
 comparatively transient impression. Our correspond- 
 ence, never very considerable, is at present inaccessible 
 to me. During his residence in Paris he was a frequent 
 correspondent of the late Governor Seward, and in that 
 correspondence, which I am sure will be most cheerfully 
 
 * From the Hon. John Bigelow, Secretary of State, New York, late Amer- 
 can Minister to France. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 401 
 
 placed at }-our disposal, you are likely to find many pre- 
 cious memorials of his earnest and noble nature. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with the doctor commenced 
 in Paris, soon after the first and most humiliating battle 
 of our late civil war. He had gone there to avail him- 
 self of the libraries, and other rare facilities of that great 
 metropolis, in the preparation of the ' Cyclopaedia of 
 Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature,' with 
 which he proposed to enrich the literature of the Chris- 
 tian Church. He had consented to add to his literary 
 labors the pastorate of the American Chapel in Paris, 
 and that became the social centre of a very considerable 
 proportion of his country people at the time sojourning 
 in that city. As a parish clergyman he was greatly es- 
 teemed. Though called to a society in which there 
 were very few strictly of his own communion, he made 
 himself eminently acceptable to all the church-going 
 portion of his countrymen. His house was always one 
 of their favorite resorts, and his cheerful and fruitful con- 
 versation one of its chief attractions. He was besides as 
 hospitable as a bishop. 
 
 " There was no American in Europe more absorbed in 
 the fortunes of his country, then engaged in a deadly 
 struggle with the enemies of its own household, nor 
 more ready to spend and be spent in her defence. With 
 pastoral and literary employments more than sufficient 
 for his strength, he was constantly occupied, through the 
 press and by personal intercourse, in enlightening Eu- 
 ropeans in regard to the causes of our civil war, and the 
 
 magnitude of the interests at stake upon the result of it ; 
 26 
 
402 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in correcting the delusions sedulously and successfully 
 propagated by our enemies ; in strengthening the faith 
 of such patriotic Americans as were desponding, and 
 in developing unwonted zeal and energy in those who 
 were not. He never dishonored himself. By personal 
 intercourse, also, he exerted a very seasonable influ- 
 ence upon a very influential section of French society, 
 and was one of the quiet, but by no means unim- 
 portant, agencies under Providence for organizing the 
 strong popular hostility in France to the Imperial 
 policies in America. When he returned to the United 
 States his loss to the Church, as well as to the gen- 
 eral society of Americans in Paris, was universally de- 
 plored. He was a representative American of whom 
 all were proud, whom every one knew personally, and 
 whom all regarded as their friend and, in need, their 
 trusty counsellor. 
 
 Dr. M'Clintock possessed a vigorous and command- 
 ing nature, which was commended to the world by sin- 
 gularly genial and captivating manners. He was learned 
 far beyond the average of his profession, and his mind 
 had been equipped, and his character strengthened, by a 
 large and instructive intercourse with the world. As a 
 pulpit orator he was always edifying, and not infrequent- 
 ly eloquent ; and his crowning virtue, the religion that he 
 taught and practiced, was a religion that united and har- 
 monized, not a religion that separated and antagonized, 
 his fellow-creatures. He was ' liberal ' in his theology, 
 for the dews of his charity fell upon the just and the 
 unjust ; but he held no opinions about which he was in- 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 403 
 
 different, or about which he allowed others to think him 
 
 indifferent." 
 
 My earliest recollections of my dear and honored 
 friend are of his occasional visits to my parents, and of 
 the pleasure derived from them by my mother especially, 
 whose wit and gayety of spirits were invariably kindled by 
 the exuberant vitality and vivacity of her guest.* As a 
 child, I was won to him because he retained all the fresh- 
 ness of childhood ; while I could but be impressed at the 
 same time with his manly acquirements, and pre-emi- 
 nently with his affable and charming manners as a gen- 
 tleman. With what wondering awe did I note his intel- 
 ligence, that was interested, apparently, in every thing ! 
 To me he seemed actually to take cognizance of every 
 thing, so that in after years I was not in the least sur- 
 prised to hear a distinguished German scholar say : 
 * Ah ! your Dr. M'Clintock was a genuine scholar. Act- 
 ually he knew some things that I didn't know ! ' — this 
 with the air of one who makes an assertion, hardly cred- 
 ible. Neither when my husband submitted to his exam- 
 ination a small compilation of hymns and tunes for 
 social meetings, something of a novelty in our Church at 
 that time, was it surprising to me, who knew his versa- 
 tility and working capacity, that he found leisure amid 
 pastoral and literary labors to hear the tunes, and to 
 make many fine suggestions, some of them requiring 
 research on his part both for hymns and tunes. No 
 burdens seemed to oppress his capacious mind, no tasks 
 were too diverse for his multifarious activity. 
 
 * From Mrs. Marj' S. Roliinson, daughter of the Rev. Dr. A. Stevens. 
 
404 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 "In the spring of 1863 we found ourselves in Paris, 
 lodged in an obscure apartment in the Latin quarter. 
 One morning I heard a cheery voice peaHng through 
 the dark Httle entry : ' Why don't you let your friends 
 know youVe come hither? What's the use of being 
 so awfully exclusive?' etc., and the doctor's rosy, genial 
 face shone into the dull room from the door-way. He 
 allured us to his dinner-table the same day, and I clear- 
 ly recall his discriminating conversation on French archi- 
 tecture and other arts, and on French life and manners. 
 His admiration was warm for the brilliant people among 
 whom he was living — a people whose finer traits are in 
 accord with those of his own Irish temperament. 
 
 Here, as every-where, he was conscientiously sys- 
 tematic in the employment of his hours, devoting a cer- 
 tain number daily to study, to exercise, and to society 
 — becoming thus, by turns, preacher, pastor, litterateur, 
 statesman, and man of the world. This rigid adher- 
 ence to system in every thing is the only possible 
 explanation of the variety of detail and the aggregate 
 amount of his labors. His sermon on Sunday, at the 
 American Chapel, was elegant and effective, as were 
 all his pulpit efforts. Yet on such occasions I could 
 but think he was less powerful as a preacher than 
 he might have been had his united energies been di- 
 rected to this single end. All that he did was well done, 
 confessedly. Yet in the two or three professions he fol- 
 lowed, any one of which is vast enough to absorb the 
 widest culture and the utmost of native ability, the 
 efforts of his genius were undoubtedly hampered by its 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 405 
 
 own versatility — as it was, however, his pastoral office 
 was dear to him. He once referred in conversation to 
 some overtures that had been made toward his appoint- 
 ment as ambassador to the French Court. ^ I told 
 
 he said, ' I would rather be a minister of the Gospel, 
 than minister to any empire under heaven.' 
 
 In Paris, as elsewhere, he was harassed by infirmities 
 of health. Several times, during the sermon I have al- 
 luded to, his face flushed, and he was forced to pause a 
 moment, being almost overcome by a rush of blood to 
 the head. The injury to his knee-joint also oppressed 
 him painfully. Yet these seemed scarcely to impede the 
 ordinary activities of his life. He adhered to his routine, 
 and accomplished more than most persons do in good 
 health. 
 
 When, a year or two later, I entered the parsonage 
 of St. Paul's, New York, he greeted me with his custom- 
 ary salutation, taking both my hands in his with cordial 
 pressure, and asserting with rapid emphasis his pleasure 
 at seeing me. How many can recall that salutation, 
 quick, emprcsse, yet most natural — the two-toned ca- 
 dence of a sympathetic voice, whereby the sociability 
 and sweetness of the speaker's heart made itself heard. 
 As by an electric chain, the person greeted was instantly 
 put cn rapport with the greeter. This first moment 
 gave one the right to claim him as one's intimate friend. 
 
 At ]\Iadison, where I visited him occasionally, his 
 versatility and energy were brought into full requisition. 
 Every detail pertaining to the seminary, from securing 
 its potatoes, and examining in the rudiments the youth 
 
406 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 who composed its earlier classes, up to recondite lect- 
 ures and elaborate Cyclopaedia work — all received his 
 personal attention. What a head was needed for this 
 amassing of labors, what wise distribution of time and 
 force, no one can conceive who did not hear from his 
 own lips something of his method. He reminded one 
 of those great generals who allow no detail of fort, field, 
 or camp life to escape their vigilance. 
 
 " In the afternoon of the day of one visit we drove 
 over the beautiful uplands whose horizons are vailed by 
 the tinted mists of the Kittatinny Range. Precious in- 
 struction fell continually from his lips, while ever and 
 anon he leaned forward in quick gesture to kiss his little 
 daughter, sitting opposite. I thought his nervous energy 
 found relief in this affectionate way, precisely as that of 
 a boy expends itself in sudden shiftings and ever-recurring 
 motion. This was the last time I saw him in life. Never 
 had I been more deeply impressed with the harmony of 
 his nature, the beautiful equilibrium of his brain and his 
 heart, and with the extraordinary development of both ! 
 Among the hundreds gathered about his bier, I am sure not 
 a few mourned, as I did, the loss of an intimate friend. 
 ' He knew how to sympathize,' said one of his Church 
 members to me in that sad hour ; ' when the tidings came 
 of my son's death in the East Indies, he was the first of 
 all my friends who came to comfort me.' Genius, in the 
 ordinary acceptation of the word, he had in generous 
 measure. But the flower and crown of all his gifts, that 
 which cast resplendence on all these, was his genius for 
 loving and for winning love ! " 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLIXTOCK. 407 
 
 No American visiting Paris since Dr. M'Clintock's 
 pastoral charge of the American Chapel," and coming 
 within the circle of American families represented by the 
 congregation, has had to wait long for grateful testimony 
 to his unfailing spiritual care of a flock standing in pe- 
 culiar need of it. It was because he comprehended the 
 dangers attending the path of Americans, and particularly 
 the young, in a foreign land, and knew well how to place 
 on their guard those who came confidingly within reach 
 of his counsel, that his memory is now cherished by the 
 members of the American Chapel at Paris with no less 
 attachment than by the larger parish in New York, from 
 which he had come and to which he returned. 
 
 " His official visit to the British Wesleyan Conference 
 in 1857 ^^'^s the beginning of an honored relation that 
 increased in attachment during his subsequent residence 
 in Paris, while his sympathy with Irish Methodism, as 
 exhibited by his attendance at the Conference, and his 
 labors at home in behalf of the Irish Fund during our 
 centenary year, repeatedly found public recognition ; and 
 it was but natural that when the new Wesleyan College 
 in Belfast, under the presidency of the Rev. William Ar- 
 thur, was to be dedicated. Dr. IM'Clintock should be in- 
 vited (though unable 10 accept) to come from America 
 and take a leading part in the exercises. 
 
 " He did not live to see acknowledged in Europe the 
 full merit of the ' Cyclopaedia ' on which he had labored 
 with the unwearied enthusiasm of the real scholar — that 
 
 * From a Letter to "The Methodist" by the Rev. Dr. Hurst, President 
 of Drew Theological Seminary. 
 
4o8 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 could not have been expected before completion of the 
 work — but he was not without testimony from the seats 
 of German learning that the magnitude and success of 
 the undertaking was appreciated, as much so as could be 
 expected while the great task was yet unfinished. 
 
 There are many young Americans now attending the 
 German univ^ersities who received from him their first 
 impulse toward these fountains of foreign thought, and 
 some have already given expression to their keen sorrow 
 at his loss. But the great lesson of his life for the young, 
 here and at home, will not be thrown away — the joy of 
 work, the intensity of Christian life. Whatever his labors 
 were — and he knew how to labor in more ways than are 
 often given to men — the chief object of life with him 
 when overtaken by death was what it had been years 
 before, when he wrote : ' We shall all have work enough 
 to do in preparing the ministry of the next generation. 
 God help us to do it well ! ' " 
 
 " When I have thought of the possibilities that were 
 in him, I have found myself wishing that he were not so 
 various, so many-sided, so occupied with multifarious in- 
 terests.* I have mentally asked, Would not the product 
 of his life be greater if he were to concentrate himself? 
 But truth is, his heart was as big as his brain — loving, 
 tender, with sympathies running out in every direction, 
 and carrying his mental energy after them. Whatever 
 interested human kind interested him. To this breadth 
 
 * From an article by the author of this memoir, printed in the " Meth- 
 odist " March 12. 1870. 
 
THE REV. DR. M'CLINTOCK. 409 
 
 of his sympathies he owed the social power which spread 
 such a charm over his hfe. 
 
 But what shall I say of his simple, earnest piety, 
 which rested with childlike confidence on the fatherly 
 care of God ; of his nice sense of right, which stood 
 guard over all the inner springs of action ; of his abound- 
 ing charity, which would see only the better side of 
 men ? He abhorred cant in religion and in every thing 
 else, and would have none of it. Whenever he spoke of 
 his Christian life, it was always in the fewest and plainest 
 words. And so, coming to and seeing the end, he an- 
 nounced his readiness with the utmost composure. 
 
 Had Dr. M'Clintock been asked the secret of his 
 success in life, he would have promptly answered, ' Work.' 
 One of his first college addresses was a panegyric upon 
 labor. He believed in hard, earnest, downright toil, 
 and relied solely upon it. He had great talents — talents 
 such as are rarely given to men, but never deluded him- 
 self with the expectation that they could be made effect- 
 ive without untiring exertion. He built himself up 
 laboriously — built wisely on solid foundations, and kept 
 on building till the fabric stood before the eyes of men 
 conspicuous for splendor and beauty. 
 
 " His mind was not so much creative as judicial. 
 He was essentially a critic. To investigate, and to sum 
 up the results of investigation in a clear, condensed 
 statement, was a habit which had become to him second 
 nature. In these mental processes he was aided by the 
 rapidity with which he would track the information of 
 which he was in search. No matter in what or how 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS, Etc. 
 
 many volumes hidden, it could not escape him. That 
 his mind tended to encyclopedia came necessarily from 
 the largeness and variety of his acquisitions. In theol- 
 ogy especially, nothing less than the survey of the whole 
 circle, and that from the centre, would satisfy him. 
 
 ''And so he appeared before us a complete, well- 
 rounded man, certainly the foremost scholar of American 
 Methodism ; in eloquence, the peer of the most eloquent ; 
 in gentleness, love, and goodness, well-nigh incompara- 
 ble. He owed much to nature, for ' the elements were 
 kindly mixed up in him ; ' much to culture, to which he 
 faithfully dedicated himself ; but most of all to the grace 
 of our Lord and Saviour, which wrought mightily in 
 him. The highest eulogium we can pronounce upon 
 him is that he was a good man. Better this than all 
 learning, than all eloquence ; for ' whether there be 
 tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, 
 it shall vanish away ; but love abideth forever.' Having 
 in life been Christ's, he is Christ's now by a closer tie, 
 and so dwelleth with him eternally." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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