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PRINCETON, N. J

BX 9211 .N5 U56 1896
University Place

Presbyterian Church, New
Services commemorative of
^'"'V- the fiftieth anniversary o

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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON UNIVERSITY PLACE.

1845-1805

^ertJtces Commemorattbe

^i)t dFiftietj) anni^er0ar^

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jSobembcr 24-28, 1895

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RELIGIOUS corporation under the
title of " The Presbyterian Church on
^^i University Place, New York," was
formed March 15, 1844. October 26, 1845, it
was constituted a church by the first Presby-
tery of New York, and fully organized.

It consisted of one hundred and fifty-nine mem-
bers, m.ost of whom had been connected with the
Duane Street Church.

Rev. George Potts, D.D., was called to the
pastorate and installed November 26th of that
year. He continued as minister until his death,
September 15, 1864.

Rev. Alfred H. Kellogg, his successor, was in-
stalled on May 5, 1865, and continued in the
pastorate until April 24, 1870, when, at his own
request, he was released from the office.

The whole number admitted to the cliurch dur-
ing this period was 781.

The Mercer Street Presbyterian Church was
organized October 25, 1835, with twenty -eight
members, received from six churches.

Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D.D., the first pastor
of the church, was installed November 11, 1835,
and resigned his charge February i 7, 1 848.

Rev. Joseph C. Stiles, D.D., was installed June
18, 1848, and resigned October 15, 1850.

Rev. George L. Prentiss, D.D., was installed
April 30, 185 I, and resigned May 3, 185S.

Rev. Walter Clarke, D.D., was installed Feb-
ruary 16, 1859, and resigned December 26, i860.

Rev. Robert R. Booth, D.D., was installed
March 6, i86i.

The whole number of members admitted to this
church was 2026, of whom 749 made profession
of faith, and 1277 were received by certificate.

On September 16, 1870. the Presbytery of New
York ratified an agreement by which the Presby-
terian Church on University Place and the Mercer
Street Church became one, and by the terms of
the union retained the corporate name " The Pres-
byterian Church on University Place." The
elders and deacons of the two former churches
became the elders and deacons of the new or-
ganization.

Rev. Robert R. Booth, D.D., who for nine

years had ministered in the Mercer Street Church,
was called to the pastorate of the united church
on September 2 2d, and duly installed by the
Presbytery of New York, October 30, 1870.

He continued in the pastorate until May 28,
1883, when failure of health, which threatened to be
permanent, constrained him to resign his charge.

Rev. George Alexander was installed pastor
January 8, 1884.

The whole number of resident members in-
cluded in the united church at the time of the
union was 716. During the twenty-five years
that have elapsed since the union 2484 persons
have been admitted to the church on profession of
their faith, and 846 by letter from other churches.

It will be observed that the fiftieth anniversary
of the University Place Church coincides almost
exactly with the sixtieth anniversary of the Mer-
cer Street Church and with the twenty-fifth anni-
versary of the united church. This interesting
circumstance determined the character of the
celebration recorded in this volume and the order
of the programme.

Three Members of Session and the same num-
ber from the Board of Trustees were appointed a
joint committee to make all necessary arrange-
ments for the occasion.

The last week in October was thought to be
too early in the season to secure a general attend-

ancc of the congregation, and for that reason it
was decided to postpone the exercises for one
month beyond the precise date of the anniversary.

The programme arranged by the committee was
carried out in every respect except that Rev.
David J. Burrell, D.D., was unable to attend and
address the Sunday-school meeting. His letter
of regret will be found in the appendix.

Sub-committees on church decoration, on mu-
sic, and on entertainment were appointed, and
cheerfully fulfilled the parts assigned to them.
The young men of the church performed excel-
lent service as ushers, and the ladies provided a
delightful entertainment at the close of the Tues-
day evening meeting. The weather proved to be
very stormy and prevented the attendance of many
who greatly desired to be there, but the large
audiences which gathered at the various services
bore testimony to the interest which the occasion
excited. The anniversary has for its permanent
memorial the beautiful and commodious Jubilee
Hall, erected during the previous summer by the
generous gifts of the church.

C|)c Sn\)(tat(on

J 845- I 895

You are cordially invited to participate in the Exercises
commemorative of the

fiftietlj annitier^art

of t\)e

^tt^h^tttim Cfjurcit) on Um\itt^it^ ^iatc

am t})c

oftl)«

Which are to be held in the Church Edifice, corner
of University Place and Tenth Street, New -York,
November 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th, 1895.

Thomas Denny, Chairman,

Geo. R. Lockwood, Mrs. Henry J. Raymond.

Frederick A. Burrall, M. D., Mrs. William G. Bull.

William Turnbull, Mrs. Anson G. Phelps,

Mrs. Willard Parker, Mrs. J. W. Wheeler,

Committee of SIntaitation.

THE PROGRAMME

Sabbat!) iHormng.

NOVEMBER TWKNTV-FOUKTH, AT I I o'CLOCK.

Organ Prelude, . Andante in li flat . W'cly.

Anthem, Tc Dcuni Baumbach.

doxology.

Invocation.

Reading of the Law and Choir )

Response : Lord have mercy upon us \

Hymn No. 138.^

Old Testament Lesson.

Gloria in Excelsis.

New Testament Lesson.

Prayer.

( Tenor Solo — Jesus, >
Offertory, \ j . ., , } . Tours.

( Lover oj my Soul S

Hymn No. 136.

Commemorative Sermon by the Pastor.

Prayer.

Hymn No. 948.

Benediction.

Postlude, . LLallelujali Chorus . Beethoven.

1 The hymns are all taken from " Laudcs Domini."

AT 4 o'clock.

Celebration of the Lord's Supper
By present and former members of the Church ;
The Pastor and Rev. R. R. Booth, D.D., officiatinf

AT 8 o'clock.

C Jylznuet zn )

Organ Prelude, < a n/r • \ Henry Smart.
I A Major ^ ^

Anthem, . . . Agnus Dei . . . Tours.

Invocation.

Hymn No. 294.

Scripture Reading.

Prayer.

r\^^^^r^ S Alto Solo — O Rest It.. , , ,

Offertory,^ . ,rr^,.. ,,> Mendelssohn.

( intlieLord\hlijah) )

Address by Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D.,

Pastor of First Presbyterian Church.

Hymn No. 919.

Address by Rev. W. R. Huntington, D.D.,

Pector of Grace Church.

rA..^^ S Soprano and Alto — The > ^
Uuet, { ^ > Greatorex

( J^ord is my Ci hep herd >

Address by Rev. Edward Judson, D.D.,

Pastor of Judson Metnorial Church.

Hymn No. 1004.

Prayer and Benediction.

Postlude, . March in F Major . Gounod.

NOVEMBER TWENTY -FIFTH, AT 8 o'CLOCK.

SERVICE COMMEMORATIVE OF MERCER
STREET CHURCH.

Organ Prelude, . Andante in F Major . Wely

Anthem, . Cantate Do7ni7io in C Buck.

Hymn No. 952.

Scripture Reading.

Prayer.

Address by Rev. George L. Prentiss, D.D,

f, c \ Glory to Thee, my } ^ ,

Soprano Solo, < ^ -; , . ,^. , > Cjounod.
i God, this Night S

Address by Wm. Allen Butler, LL.D.

Hymn No. 326.

Address by Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D.

i I'm a Pilgrim, )

Anthem, < .^ vj i - Marston.

( / m a Stranger ^

Address by Rev. Erskine N. White, D.D.

Hymn No. 21 7.

Benediction.

Organ Postlude, March in D Major, Guilmant.

Cuejsiiat Afternoon ♦

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH, AT 3 o'CLOCK.

SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF THE WOMAN'S HOME
MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

AT THE CHURCH HOUSE.

Hymn.

Prayer.

Report of the Fifty Years' Work,

By the Recording Secretary.

Address by Rev. Arthur J. Brown, D.D.
Hymn.

tea served at four o'clock.

AT 8 o'clock.

Organ ( Canzo7ietta ) . • ,

r> • ^- / \\ m. Adrian Smith.

rRELUDE, I in G )

Anthem, -^Vw^ Alleluia forth Buck.

Invocation.

Hymn No. 1059.

Scripture Reading.

Prayer.

_ ( Alto and Bass — )

Duet, < -/v t ^ ■ r i4 i - Buck.

I 1 lie Lord IS my tig/it )

THE FIRST QUARTER- CENTURY OF UNIVER-
SITY PLACE CHURCH.

Address by Rev. Arthur Potts, D.D.
Hymn No. 924.

THE UNITED CHURCH.

Address by Rev. Robert R. Booth, D.D.

Hymn No. 925.

Benediction.

Organ Postlvde, //a llelujal/ C/zorus . Handel.

reception and collation.

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH, AT 8 o'CLOCK.
COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE.

By the Church Sabbath-school, with Deputations
from Emmanuel Chapel School and Bethlehem
Chapel School.

Hymn, Processional, 725.

Anthem, by the Choir, O co7ne, let us sing, Tours.

Invocation.

Responsive Reading.

Hymn No. 308.

Remarks by the Superintendent of Church Sab-
bath-school.

Hymn No. 331.

Address, Origin and Growth of Emmanuel
Chapel School, by Mr. Otis W. Booth.

Address, Origin and Groivth of Bethlehem Chapel
School, by Rev. Herbert Ford.

Hymn No. 729.

Address by Rev. Thomas Marshall, D.D.

Address by Rev. David J. Burrell, D.D.

Hymn No. 1161.

Benediction.

C ]\^arch tit )
PosTLUDE, \ c M ' ( W"^- Adrian Smith.

NOVEMBER 28, AT II o'CLOCK A.M.
NATIONAL THANKSGIVING SERVICE.

C Largo and Allegro )

Organ Prelude, < ■ r- 7tr ■ ' / Haydn.

( in C Major ') ^

Anthem, Break fot'tJi into joy King.

Invocation.

Hymn No. 142.

Scripture Reading.

Prayer.

Offerings for the Needy, dispensed fJirough

the Two Missions of t lie Church.
Anthem, . Harvest Hymn . Hafscom.

Hymn No. 123.

Sermon, dy the Pastor.
Anthem, . . O come, let us sing . . Tours.
Prayer.

Hymn No. i 161.
Benediction.
PosTLUDE, . . Alleg7'o ill B fiat . Haydn.

Sunday, November 24TH.

^ertice at ii a.tn»

Commemorative Sermon by the Pastor.

^ertice at 4 p* n\.

Communion.

^ertice at 8 p» m*

Addresses by

Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D.,

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church.

Rev. W. R. Huntington, D.D.,

Rector of Grace Church.

Rev. Edward Judson, D.D.,

Pastor of the Judson Memorial Church.

Sunday Morning.
3^b, (^corge ^[icranber, 2D» 2D., ^a^tot*

Remember them that had the rule over you, which spake unto

YOU THE word OF GOD ; AND CONSIDERING THE ISSUE OF THEIR

life, imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and forever.

Hebrews xiii. 7-8. (Revised Version).

JHIS epistle has neither address nor sig-
nature. It is as difficult to fix the
precise date of its composition as to
determine its authorship. Internal evidences
point to the conclusion that it was intended for
the church at Jerusalem, the mother church of
Christendom, and that it was written shortly be-
fore the destruction of the Jewish capital. Nearly
half a century had passed since Pentecost. The
church was beginning to have a history. Christian
memories, Christian traditions, the unwritten biog-

raphies of saints and martyrs were beginnings to
create a Christian atmosphere.

The migrhty spiritual impulse to wliich the
church owed its origin had spent something
of its energy. The gifts of the spirit had be-
come less extraordinary and startling. But a
new force was beginning to make itself felt; the
inspiring and restraining influence of those who,
being dead, are yet eloquent. What a list of
worthies that church at Jerusalem had on its
muster-rolls! It included the fathers and foun-
ders of the faith. Jesus himself had gathered its
charter members. The twelve were its first offi-
cers. Peter and John were its great preachers;
James its first president ; Stephen its proto-mar-
tyr. These fathers and founders had for the most
part fallen asleep, but the benediction of their
lives remained as a priceless legacy.

To the sentiment of veneration for the past, for
the service and example of the holy dead, the
writer of this epistle now appeals. He would
bring the church of the present under the spell of
her own history, that the examples of her de-
parted leaders and teachers might not only min-
ister to divine conservatism, but furnish incitement
to godly achievement.

Very significant is the confession of faith which
the apostle links with his pious exhortation :
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day

and forever." "The fathers, where are they?"
"They are done with hfe below." On the
church visible, as on all things earthly, is im-
pressed the law of change. Even in the annals of
the saintly, "one generation goeth and another
Cometh"; but the Saviour, in whom they trusted
and in whom they lived, is "the same yesterday,
and to-day and forever." Our text thus indicates
the double source from which springs the glory
of the church and the pledge of its perpetuity —
the unchangeableness of her divine Lord and the
example of faithful lives brought to a glorious is-
sue through faith in Him.

The counsel given to the church at Jerusalem
deserves to be commended to every church whose
founders have gone to their reward. A church,
like an individual, is heir of all its past. The cor-
porate life of a religious community is shaped by
the character and work of its early leaders, and in
turn influences the life and work of every one
who shares its inspirations.

In the days just before us, we are to put our-
selves into communion with our spiritual ances-
tors. May the church of our affection, like the
body that touched the bones of Elisha, spring
into newness of life by virtue of contact with the
relics of its sires.

I must not intrude upon the province of those
who are to present its annals in orderly review.

Let me simply weave together a few of those
scattered memorials which should especially pro-
voke us to emulate the faith of them tliat sleep.

We have a double ancestry. Two confluent
streams contribute to the sum of qualities which
constitute the genius of University Place Church.
To describe them is a delicate task to perform in
the presence of many whose memories run back
along these divergent lines of history, which are
to-day our common heritage.

Fifty years ago this stately edifice, which had
been completed during the previous summer,
stood on the northern verge of a rapidly expand-
ing city. It was almost immediately filled with a
compact congregation. Within a month after the
organization of the church, it numbered nearly
two hundred communicants, most of them for-
merly members of the church in Duane street,
now the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The
Mercer Street Church, two or three blocks away,
was just completing the first decade of its exist-
ence with a membership roll that had increased
from twenty-eight to five hundred. These churches
were planted in the midst of a community unex-
celled in this or in any other city. Ihey were ot
a native stock, American through and through.
Some were New Yorkers by birth, some were
from the States farther south, but the predominant
element was of that New England type which in

the first half of the century did so much to estab-
lish the commercial supremacy of this imperial
city. Dr. Prentiss has said that " the Mercer
Street Church then contained many members
whose names were known and honored the world
over, in spheres of business, professional life, lit-
erature, philanthropy, and religion." The same
might be said of the congregation that worshiped
here. Within an area of half a mile square was
an aggregation of people such as no American
city can hope to see again within the same com-
pass. The seventeen men who comprised the asso-
ciation which erected this edifice have all passed
away. Of those who, ten years earlier, planned
and executed the enterprise of building Mercer
Street Church, two survive, whose lives almost span
the century — Charles H. Booth, of Englewood,
and that Nestor of our civic life, Charles Butler.
I leave to others the task of naming and char-
acterizing the choice spirits who were the leaders
of these two bands. The list includes more than
half the founders of Union Seminary, and the
leading factors in a half score of other institutions
that have blessed the municipality, and extended
their influence to the bounds of the earth. Mer-
chant princes, whose commerce flioated on every
sea, bankers of international repute, governors
of the State, who adorned that high office, physi-
cians, jurists, journalists, who were leading the

thought of their respective professions, — such
were the materials that entered into the struc-
ture of these households of faith.

Each of the two churches bejj^an its life under
the guidance of a minister peculiarly fitted, b\'
gifts and training, to direct the thinking and
Christian activity of such a community. George
Potts, the first pastor of University Place Church,
a man of northern birth and education, had been
called ten years previous from a Mississippi par-
ish to the Duane Street Church, where his pas-
toral experience had added to the power and
reputation which his broad scholarship, command-
ing form, superb voice, and courtly bearing had
previously established. An old -school Presby-
terian of moderate type, without narrowness or
acerbity, a man of profound convictions, of gener-
ous and tender sensibilities, an eloquent preacher,
wise and faithful in pastoral service, he put upon
the church, in his twenty years of service, a stamp
which his brilliant successor, in the comparatively
short ministry of five years, could not essentially
modify. Yonder mural tablet, which records the
veneration of his people, contains pathetic allu-
sion both to his labor and his sorrows: "In the
harvest thou shalt rest." " He that goeth forth
bearing precious seed and weeping shall doubtless
come again bringing his sheaves with him."

it may not be easy for the appointed historian

of the University Place Church to speak of an-
other potent factor in the pastor's home and in the
spiritual life of his charge — a daughter, rare and
radiant, instinct with spiritual vitality, whose se-
raphic voice, pealing forth from the choir loft yon-
der, ministered to others what she so largely in-
herited herself, "the far-off increment of tears."

Thomas H. Skinner, the first pastor of Mercer
Street Church, was a man of different mould from
his neighbor on University Place. He was a
southern man by birth, called from a professor-
ship in a New England seminary, a new-school
theologian of moderate and irenic type, with splen-
did intellectual furnishing, and yet more richly
endowed with the graces of the spirit; a man
who, wrestling with God, and wrestling with
powers of darkness, issued from that struggle
transparent, childlike, holy. Horace Bushnell,
the most original theologian which this country
has produced, said of him: "I have never seen,
doubtless I shall never see, knowing him to be
such, so holy a man." While he challenged the
intellect of his cultured hearers, he captivated
their hearts with an unction from the Holy One.
The spirit of his ministry is expressed in a peti-
tion which one of his students has remembered
and preserved : " Oh, Lord, grant that every one
of us may save some souls before we die." His
face was that of a man who walked with God,

and who pleaded with men. Lookinc:^ upon him
as he lay coffined, a choice spirit, who still aljides
with us, was constrained to say:

" Not now, as oft, do I his face behold,
The inan of gentle will and courtly mien,
The thoughtful student, earnest yet serene.
Or preacher, by whose lips God's truth was told,
And in such way with him our eyes have seen
Days like to that of Pentecost of old !
I see him rather as a little child
Aglow with love, and crowned with simplest grace,
With faith that fear and doubt had not defiled,
And to his loving Lord so reconciled,
He dwelt within the smiling of His face.
I think in midst of us Christ gave him place.
To teach, as once before, that such as he
They must become who would his kingdom see." '

An interval of only two or three years sepa-
rated his pastorate from that of a man of kindred
spirit, who will to-morrow night tell the story of
the church he served. It will scarcely be possible
for him to speak of those personal histories and
experiences which enabled him in the first year
of his ministry to put upon that church so lasting
an impress. The soil of a southern grave still
lay loosely upon the coffin of his only brother,
that brilliant and chivalric genius, S. S. Prentiss,
of whose oratory Daniel Webster once said, " No-

1 A, D. F. Randolph.

body can equal that." In the pastor's own home,
that gifted author who has helped so many thou-
sands in their "stepping heavenward" was watch-
ing the ebbing of a young life, and schooling her
heart to say :

" Blest child ! dear child ! For thee is Jesus calling ;
And of our household thee — and only thee !
Oh, hasten hence ! to His embraces hasten !
Sweet shall thy rest and safe thy shelter be.

" Thou who unguarded ne'er has left our threshold,
Alone must venture now an unknown way;
Yet, fear not !• Footprints of an Infant Holy
Lie on thy path. Thou canst not go astray.''

In such valleys of Baca are often found the
springs of abiding comfort and power.

But we must not linger over the record of those
who spoke the word of God to that vanishing
generation. We turn to note some of the fruits
and issues of their lives.

The ardor of their flame kindled many another
torch. Of the more than six thousand communi-
cants who have held membership in this church
and the two former churches during those sixty
years, upward of sixty have entered the gospel
ministry. Of these I might mention Rev. Lyman
Abbott, D.D., Pastor of Plymouth Church, Brook-
lyn; Rev. George D. Baker, D.D., Pastor of the
4

First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia; Rev.
Charles H. Baldwin, D.I)., Pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church of Amsterdam ; Rev. David
J. Burrall, D.I)., Pastor of tlu- Collegiate Re-
formed Church of this city ; Rev. Lewis R. Foote,
D.D., Pastor of the Throop Avenue Presbyterian
Church of Brooklyn ; Rev. Hiram C. Haydn,
D.D., Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
of Cleveland; Rev. James H. Taylor, D.D., Pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church of Rome ; Rev.
Erskine N. White, D.D., Secretary of the Board
of Church Erection, not to speak of others scarcely
less notable in character and service.

In midsummer of last year, a gentleman came
forward at the close of the morninpf service and
said: "I am a pilgrim and a stranger. I arrived
this morning by the steamer from Havre, and
have been sitting in the corner of the gallery
yonder, where I heard the last sermon before my
conversion, and the first sermon after my conver-
sion, both on the same day." It was Theodore
Monod, the leading spirit and best-known pastor
in the Reformed Church of France to-day. As
we passed into the chapel, he said : " There I
sat while Charlie Lloyd prayed so earnestly for
me." We knelt together in the consecrated spot,
then parted, and I saw his face no more.

Another evidence of evangelistic energy is fur-
nished by the history of the home missionary en-

terprises which we, as a church, have inherited.
Before the University Place Church had been a
month in existence, its honorable women, not a
few, banded themselves together in a missionary
organization which has survived the vicissitudes
of a half century, and celebrates its jubilee with
undiminished vitality. A little later a mission
school was started, which under adverse circum-
stances, that would have extinguished any ordi-
nary enterprise, has by the sheer energy of pray-
erful and unconquerable purpose struggled forth
into a wealthy place.

Mercer Street Church started upon the same
line of effort about five years later, but the move-
ment when it came was mighty and significant.
Forty-four years ago to-morrow night, that church
assembled at the pastor's call to consider the
question, " What are our duties in relation to
the spiritual necessities of this city and vicinity?"
The conclusion reached, after several meetings,
was expressed in this resolution : " That it is our
duty as a church and congregation to adopt im-
mediate and efficient measures for carrying the
gospel to the destitute of our city." The charac-
ter of that conference may be inferred from the
fact that its presiding officer was a statesman who
had served in the Federal cabinet as head of the
Department of Justice, and afterward of the De-
partment of War. That magnificent body of men

and women, whose names will be repeated during
these commemorative days, devised a compre-
hensive scheme of city evangelism, which marks
an era in the reliiifious activities of New York.
Its permanent result, so far as concerns the pres-
ent life of this church, is that crown jewel of our
realm, Emmanuel Chapel.

But "the field is the world." We glance for
a moment at the fruits of a wider evangelism.
Twelve or more from the membership of this
church have gone forth to foreign missionary
service, among the Indians of our own land, in
Syria, in Asia Minor, in India, Siam, China, and
South Africa. Some have finished their course
in faith, others are still enduring hardness as good
soldiers of the Cross. Let me cite one example
from each of the two former churches. Katharine
Parker, a daughter of the most eminent surgeon
in the land, enriched with all that wealth and cul-
ture and social privilege could bestow, freely sac-
rificed it all, and with her husband — also a mem-
ber of this church — plunged into the gloom of
the Dark Continent, consecrating her life to the
task of helping to relieve its awful savagery.

The other example I cull from the annals of
Mercer Street. George Bowen, reared in afflu-
ence, a litterateur, a philosopher, an infidel, was
converted with a mighty conversion, and became,
by God's grace, one of the most remarkable mis-

sionaries of modern times. Of him, Dr. Hanna,
the eminent Scotch divine, has said: "He exhib-
ited a degree of self-sacrificing" devotion to which
there is perhaps no existing parallel in the whole
field of missionary labor." As unworldly as John
the Baptist, as fervent in spirit as Xavier, his sanc-
tity commanded the homage of the heathen in
the bazaars of Bombay. Even in his student
days he started in Union Seminary a wave of
missionary enthusiasm which is to-day breaking
on every heathen shore.

To later events and actors I may not refer, ex-
cept to indicate the origin of that spirit of charity
and forbearance and unity which has kept us as
a church peaceful and patient amid warring forces
and in troublous times. As I have indicated,
University Place Church was Old School, con-
servative ; Mercer Street Church was New School,
and liberal. Twenty-five years ago the surge
of city population had left both somewhat de-
pleted and threatened with removal or extinction.
It was a time when the turbulent passions of civil
strife had settled into a great calm, and the power
of the Holy Ghost was fusing into oneness the
hearts of theologians, whose heads never could
agree. God grant that such days may speedily
return. The two great denominations, which
had stood apart for a generation, touched by a
spirit of magnanimity and fraternal confidence,

came together with great joy. Under the im-
pulse of that heavenly afflatus, University Place
Church and Mercer Street Church became one.
The story of their union will be told by the one
above all others fitted to tell it, the pastor of the
Mercer Street Church and of the united church,
who with rare skill welded the diverse elements
into an enduring fabric, and into whose labors it
has been my privilege to enter.

Brethren, the past at least is secure. We have
been communing — in these days of retrospect we
are yet to commune — with the heroic and the
holy. Thank God, they are our saints and heroes.
When our coward hearts fail us, and our half- con-
secrated lives put us to shame, let us remember
that their Saviour is our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, to-day, and forever. New duties,
new opportunities, confront us. New grace will be
granted us from the fountain of grace. The spir-
its of the glorified incite and solicit us; "where-
fore, seeing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race which is
set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, — " and theirs.

Sunday Evening.

9[Dtirc^^ tip tljc

HAT mighty dreamer, whose cell in Bed-
ford Jail became a second Patmos all
aglow with celestial visions, has pictured
the heaven-bound pilgrim at one stage of his jour-
ney as nearing the doorway of a beautiful man-
sion. The King had erected on the roadside this
house of rest for the refreshing of travelers to the
Celestial City. Beneath its roof-tree there was
the solace of genial companionship. Its board
was laden with appetizing and invigorating viands.
It contained an armory to panoply the traveler for
encounter with any who might challenge his ad-
vance. From its lofty towers there was an exhil-
arating prospect of the gleaming spires and bat-
tlements of the far-away city of the King. As
we gather to-night within the shelter of these

hallowed walls, as our heart-strings vibrate with
praise, as our spirits are uplifted with prayer, as
our energies are quickened witli the touch of
Christian fellowship, allegory passes into reality,
and we seem to have met within the hospitable
enclosure of the House Beautiful.

It is a grateful task which I am charged this eve-
ning to perform. As your pastor has already sug-
gested, I come to you from the mother church o(
New York Presbyterianism, to give her hearty
greetings upon the completion of your fifty years of
noble service for the Master whom we love. We
are not bound to one another by the accident of
neighborhood merely. There is a closer than a
geographical tie between the " Old First" Church
and the Church on University Place. There are
fibers of kinship that are stirred when the story
of either church is related. There is a flow of the
same spiritual blood in our veins. The greeting
which I am commissioned to brino- vou to-nijrht
comes not only from the mother church of New
York Presbyterianism, but from the grandmother
church of the Church on University Place. For in
the bygone days, of the First Presbyterian Church
was begotten the Cedar Street Church, and of the
Cedar Street Church was begotten the Church on
University Place. It is therefore with peculiar
satisfaction that I come from the ancestral home
to bear to you our warmest congratulations, and

to send you forward with sucli utterances of aus-
picious God-speed as it may be in our power to
bestow.

We congratulate you to-night upon the accu-
mulated memories of fifty years. Half a century
stores the coffers of a church with a spiritual
treasure of recollection passing all price. Half a
century of faithful laboring for Christ, of the plant-
ing of the seed, of the maturing of the fruit, and
of the garnering of the harvest, inscribes upon
the tablets of memory a chronicle of deathless in-
terest. I doubt not that, as you celebrate this
memorial service, to many of you the vanished past
becomes clothed with a reality that the actualities
of the present cannot possess. Doubtless you
are even now listening to the echo of voices that
have long since raised the psalm of triumph before
the throne. Doubtless, with a clearer vision than
that with which you perceive the bodily presence
of your friends, you are gazing with fond recollec-
tion on faces that are bright and glorious, from
having looked upon the unveiled countenance of
God. Simply to recall the fact that for the space
of fifty years companies of holy men have yearned
toward this building as their spiritual Mecca, — that
during fifty years a glorious cloud of witnesses
for Christ have made this church their worship-
place, have enriched its altar with the incense of
their prayers, and counted it all honor to expend

in its service the energy of their lives, — is fit
cause for festival rejoicing. Into this edifice have
been builded spiritual graces and forces which
the symmetry of these arches and the strength
of these pillars can only typify.

It was said by them of the olden time, that he
who would leave behind him an enduring memo-
rial, should dig a well. To the Oriental mind, the
bringing of a cup of cold water to the relief of
thirsty lips was a more monumental achievement
than a blazon of imperishable bronze. History
being the witness, such are the memorials that
have defied time. The great lawgiver sleeps in
an unnoted grave, but the traveler through the
vale of Shechem may slake his thirst to-day at
the well of Jacob. The splendor of the temple
which crowned Zion's hill has departed, the de-
bris of the past has buried it, but the tourist can
still stand with reverent memory where the heal-
ing waters of Bethseda are gleaming in the sun-
light. And those who are to win immortality of
renown, in such a metropolitan mass of humanity
as that in which we are embedded, shall be those
who bequeath to the aftertime a memory of help-
fulness; not those eminent alone for intellectual
superiority, not those conspicuous merely for social
distinction, but those who, having transfused their
life into such an institution as this, have opened a
fountain of perennial relief for the thirst of the soul.

We congratulate you to-night upon the lesson
which you have been teaching to the community
for these fifty years. It has been at no little cost
that you have founded and maintained at this
place a church enginery of this character. The
sum total of your altar-gift in dollars, expended
through this half century, is a large and command-
ing amount. It might raise, in this modern busi-
ness age, a question that is no new one, " Why
this waste ? " But it is a lesson never untimely,
and to our age, and in such a city, of special per-
tinence, that a free Gospel is a far different thing
from a cheap Gospel. It is no little matter, in the
way of municipal culture, for a company of people
to persistently invest money in the production of
noble and uplifting ideas, to devote hard cash to
the perpetuating of lofty sentiment. The very
closing in of business upon these down-town re-
gions gives to the church that comes to be cen-
tered in this maelstrom of materialism which
swirls through the metropolis, an opportunity to
proclaim with singular emphasis its witness to
the imperial worth of the human soul. The very
(act that over against the gateway of one of the
world's busiest money-markets towers the spire of
Old Trinity, affords to that parish an enviable van-
tage ground for eloquent testimony to the surpass-
ing value of eternal things. Sometimes we look
backward to the Old Testament day with an al-

most pitying sympathy. Wc say, " How meager
were the opportunities of that elder time. How
cramped the horizon of spiritual view." Let us
remember that from the very heart of that era
there comes this throbbing watchword : " How-
shall I serve the Lord with that which doth cost
me nothing?" Remember the splendors of tab-
ernacle and of temple. Remember the fine-twined
linen, and the purple and the scarlet curtains,
broidered with gold. Remember the carved ivory
work, and the vestments crusted with jewels.
These things were not for the simple gratification
of the aesthetic sense. This people had beheld
the majesty of Jehovah when he strode in triumph
through the land of Egypt and made desolate
the temples of its gods. This people had looked
upon the splendor of Jehovah, as He led them
in triumph along the floor of a conquered sea.
This people had entered with Jehovah into his
council-chamber at Sinai, canopied with cloud
and paved with sapphire. They needed no visi-
ble tokens to shadow forth the divine glory.
They knew their King. They planned and toiled
to lay before His throne the choicest and costliest
outcome of their life. They brought the first
fruit of harvest, representing the painstaking care
of many months. They set aside for Him the
firstlings of the flock, that had become most en-
deared to the shepherd heart. They wrought

into a sacrifice for Him the rarest thought of the
artist and the utmost cunning of the craftsman.
They were fain to make men see that the best
they had belonged to God. The passage of the
centuries have not rendered the exhibition of this
principle needless. Well may your hearts be
stirred within you as, remembering to-night that
for fifty years, in the face of a popular senti-
ment that has come to deify the dollar, and de-
fine all earthly success in terms of coin, you have
lavished of your wealth freely, generously, and
with increasing sacrifice, as the half century went
by, to make beautiful and glorious a sanctuary
where the Father and his children might hold
their tryst.

We congratulate you upon the achievement of
a fifty years' ministry of help. The atmosphere
of a great city is ever quivering with the cry for
help. From the sin -sullied that have dragged
their garments in the mire, and are troubled when
they think of God; from the broken-hearted who
moisten their daily bread with tears, and from
whom the light of the sun is hid ; from slaves of
evil that, bound helplessly in habit's fetters, are
cursing themselves and defying their future; from
the despairing that have said good-by to hope ;
from little children that have been rifled of their
heritage, a good name, and have been sent into
the world branded with an iniquity not their own,

there comes welling forth tliat ceaseless cr)' which
long ago went whispering across the waters of
the -^gean Sea, " Come and help us. Come, oh
come and help us ! " During all the vicissitude
of fifty years this doorway has been swung wide
open, beckoning the earth-burdened into the calm
and peace of heaven. And these vaulted roofs
have been the gracious symbol of the quiet and
the shelter that are beneath the "shadow of His
wing." And these buttressed walls have been
a hieroglyphic of that divine fortress into which
the beleaguered soul may flee and be safe. And
these aisles and pews have betokened that walking
and resting in the consciousness of God's pres-
ence which is the consummation of created being.
There is an indissoluble link between our earthly
and our heavenly experience. For many a day
has Moses rejoiced in the blessedness of the prom-
ised land of God. But never can he forget,
even upon the summits of the everlasting hills,
that bleak and solitary mountain slope, where the
acacia-bush burned with fire, and God spoke with
him, as a man talks with his friend. Samuel has
been long a dweller in the temple which is on
high, but never can Samuel forget that little sleep-
ing-closet in the curtained sanctuary at Shiloh, nor
that midnight hour when he heard his name spoken
by the Lord. Our Lord, by a friendly visit, made
the home-room of an humble Bethany family to be

more hallowed than the courts of the temple, and
by a word he invested a simple platter of bread and
cup of wine with a mystic consecration such as
never hallowed the cherubim of gold that bowed
above the mercy-seat. Therefore, friends beloved,
we pray that the blessing of the divine presence
may here abide throughout long years to come.
May He who walked the paths of Eden in the cool
of the day tread these aisles with you and speak
with you in messages of thrilling invitation, of
solemn warning, and of stimulating encourage-
ment. May He who opened the Scriptures to
the perplexed hearts of the discouraged disciples
drive the shadows from your souls by the reveal-
ings of His truth. May the Holy One who mitered
with celestial fire the glorious company of the
Apostles for their world-work, baptize your hearts
with Pentecostal power. May this earthly home
of your souls come to more and more foretoken
that building divine, that House Beautiful, not
made with hands, where communion with God
shall be perfected.

3Rc\j. 3M» ISi. J^umington, £D.D.

S you say, my dear brother, nothing is
more human than to be neighborly, and
unless the church has been mistaken all
along in its interpretation of one of the most fa-
miliar of the parables, nothing is more Christian
than neighborliness. Neighborhood lays on us
the obligation to "rejoice with them that do re-
joice." That is why I am here. We are too apt
to associate sympathy with suffering and trouble,
but really the duty of sympathy is just as strong
when our friends are happy, as when our friends
are sad. So I set it down, as I do so man)- other
things, to the credit of your pastor, that he not
only extended to me this cordial invitation to be
present, and asked me in, as it were, to help to
keep the feast, but that he realized how glad I

should be to fall in with his suggestion, and to ac-
cept his hospitality.

This church, the Presbyterian Church on Uni-
versity Place, and Grace Church across the way,
are almost contemporary as regards the life of the
buildings in which they worship. Grace Church
antedates this church by many years, as an or-
ganization, but their edifices go back to almost the
same year, if not quite the same. So that we have
our semi-centennial on our hands, as you have
yours, only with this important difference — that
ours is only the anniversary of the edifice. Yours
is of that more important event, the genesis of the
spiritual house.

Fifty years ago two architects, one of them in
mature life, and at the zenith of his fame, the other
scarcely more than a boy, were busy in putting
the finishing touches to the two stately edifices
which translated their devout imaginings into
form. Richard Upjohn had chosen to build in
brownstone. John Renwick had preferred to
build in white. But the atmosphere in which
these two men lived and had their being were one
and the same. They both loved the Gothic lines.
They both believed that there was only one ar-
chitecture that could express ideas distinctively
Christian, and so although in a sense they were
doubtless competitors, yet in another sense they
made common cause. Since that day, the kindl}-
6

hand ol time has softened the whiteness of Ren-
wick's church, and tlic chisel of the stone-cutter
has, on the other hand, given a lighter hue to Up-
john's church. So that there is no longer, between
the two edifices, the difference that there once
was.

Meanwhile, the spiritual house, the house yon-
der and this house, have, as your pastor has indi-
cated, been growing closer and closer in sym-
pathy. What have we in common ? We have
many things different. What have we in com-
mon ? We believe in one God, the Father, Maker
of heaven and earth. We acknowledge one Jesus
Christ, who for us men, and for our salvation,
came down from heaven. We supplicate the in-
breathing of one Holy Spirit, who is the giver
of life, whose goings forth are from everlasting.
Surely there is here a generous area where we,
like the early Christians, may feel that we have
in a deep and true sense all things in common.

But you have referred, Dr. Alexander, to an-
other bond of neighborly sympathy, and one
which deserves mention. During the eleven years
that you and I have been laboring in neighborly
fashion, just here in that portion of the city of
New York which has come to be known as "the
part of the city below Fourteenth street," many
souls have immigrated, and nian\' cinirches have
emigrated. We are here. God grant that we

may stay here. I trust that the five or six churches
that occupy the Hne of defense — the crosstown
hne of defense — where you and I are stationed,
may stay here. Outward conditions may change.
Streets may take on a different look. Squares
may be scarcely recognizable. Nevertheless, what
remains? People remain — people. And it was
for people's sake that God sent his Son into the
world. I pray God that we may stay here. We
are set for the defense of the Gospel. It is singu-
lar that so many defenders of the Gospel seem to
think that their call is to another part of the town
than that in which they found themselves sur-
rounded by all the needs, and all the wants, of
which the human heart is capable.

We have our differences, dear neighbors — our
theological differences, our ecclesiastical differ-
ences. You have your methods and instrumen-
talities for work, and we have ours. But under-
neath it all there is that common ground of which
I spoke, which means the most.

You have referred in your remarks to the preju-
dices among the different denominations of Chris-
tians, but thank God for the march of religious
life in recent years. Presbyterianism represents
the Scottish interpretation and conception of Chris-
tianity. Anglicanism represents the English con-
ception and interpretation of Christianity. It
stands to reason that neither shadows forth all the

truth, or covers all the facts. Even now the re-
ligious intelligence of America is feelini,'^ its way
to something better than either, and larger than
both. The greatness of England dates from the
day of the union of the crowns. It was when the
Scot and the Englishman struck hands, and ceased
striking swords, that Great Britain became a fact,
and Greater Britain loomed in sight. Great,
greater, greatest. When shall Greatest Britain
swing into our field of vision ? Only when what
is best in all the Churches shall have been cast
into the treasury of God, and the " United King-
dom " of heaven comes with power.

\A^:k^^i^^^^

Sbtirci^i^ lip tf)c

AM sorry to have broken in upon this
service. I could not come before. And
I am sorry that I shall have to go very
soon to another church, not sorry that I am going
to that church, but that I am going to leave this
place. I have heard what a glorious day you
have had. I am only sorry that I could not share
more of it with you. I always avail myself of
such an opportunity to meet brethren of other
communions than mine. It is when we come to-
gether, and see each other, and our hearts beat
in unison, that these denominational partitions
get very thin. It is when we don't know each
other, that we have to each other such an un-
favorable look. It is like the Englishman that I
heard of once, who was walking in a London fog,

and saw an object approaching him that he
thought was a monster, but when he got close uj)
to it, he found that it was his brother John. And
so when we look at each other through these de-
nominational mists and fogs, we may appear ver)
monstrous to each other, but wiicn we come
close together, after all it is just our brother
John. It is the mist and the fog that caricature
us to each other, and that is why we feel some-
times so unkind. It is because we don't know
each other. You remember how sad those great
words of Tennyson's are, in which he describes
King Arthur's last battle :

Even on Arthur fell
Confusion ; since he saw not whom he fought,
For friend and foe were shadows in tlie mist,
And friend slew friend, not knowing whom he slew.

I want to congratulate this great, noble Church
upon its staying quality. What a splendid rec-
ord, that of fifty years ! I often think that what
Christians in New York, in this great town of
ours, need, is just that staying qualit) . I think
that the secret of success in any profession is
longevity, and good behavior. Just keep alive,
go into a gymnasium, eat well, sleep well, hold
yourself in hand, outlive your competitors. That
is what this town wants. And I am glad that

this Church is here to stay, for it has stayed, and
it is going to stay, and I am glad that it is going
to stay down -town.

There is a great difference in fields. God
knows that it is hard enough for a church to
grow anywhere in New York. There are some
fields where the Church seems to grow of itself.
But, friends, we have to fight every inch here.

High deeds
Haunt not the fringy edges of the fight,
But the pell-mell of men.

Like Uriah of old, we find ourselves here
in the forefront of the hottest battle, and I am
glad of it. I am glad that you are banded to-
gether here for this good work, down in the
lower part of this town. There are many things
against us. A great number of people leave us,
and go up-town, to Brooklyn, that "City of
Churches," and to Jersey, and Yonkers, and all
about these beautiful suburbs. I don't wonder
that they go, but it makes it very hard for the
few of us who stay. And there come, in the place
of these dear people whom we lose, those who
are not friendly to us. We have much against
us. Many influences creep over the down-town
churches, as in dropsy the water, little by little,
creeps up until at last it reaches the vitals, and

smothers out the life. So it is witli the ma-
terialistic and sacramentarian influences that are
submerging our city, unevangelical forces that
smother tlie life in us. We hnd ourselves in a
great social swamp. The people have a saloon on
every corner. \\' e catch their diseases. There is
no escape from them. We must subdue them, or
they will subdue us. One must be hammer or an-
vil. And so, dear friends, I am glad that you are
holding out here. I am glad that you have a Pas-
tor with a heart set steadfastly, and that you are
standing right by him. I rejoice in it. God
bless you, and cause his face ever to shine on you.
And then, too, I am delighted with the silent,
unostentatious character of the work you do.
Why, I was walking down Bleecker street the
other day, calling on this family and that, and I
came along to Bethlehem Chapel. I went up
and rang the bell, and they invited me in very
kindly. I looked about a little to see what you
are doing, and then I saw a little light through a
crack, and I said, "What is going on back there? "
And they said, "There is a Band of Hope back
there." And I counted one hundred and seventy-
five children there that afternoon, I'Vida)' after-
noon. They had an accomplished, scientific
teacher, who was just holding them under a spell.
teaching them of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
thought. Grand old Church, what a work you are

doing! The Lord bless you in it! Remember,
he himself bade us be silent sometimes about his
miracles. He did not boast. There was nothing-
sensational about his methods. Let us not boast
about our work. Let us love each other. Let
us join hands together, and so let us realize the
difficulty of our task, and how we may work for
our Lord, and have very little to show for it.
Let us love him, for he first loved us.

Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labor and the wounds are vain,

The enemy faints not, nor faileth

And as things have been they remain.

If hopes are dupes, fears may be liars ;

It may be in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase, e'en now, the fliers.

And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,

Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only.

When daylight comes, comes in the light;

In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly ;
But westward, look, the land is bright.

-1SM<

REV. THOMAS H. SKINNER. D.D

Monday, November 25TH.
8:00 p.m.

SERVICE COMMEMORATIVE
OF MERCER STREET CHURCH.

Charles A. Davison, Presiding.

Addresses by

Rev. Geo. L. Prentiss, D.D.
Hon. Wm. Allen Butler.
Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D.
Rev. Erskine N. White.

f' "f ♦• •»■ Y •«• ♦• "»■ Y "»" "«" "*• "«■ ■«■ ■*■ ■«■ "f ■«■ •«• "«" ■ t" "«• ■»■ "J" •»• r '♦" ■*■ ■*• ■*■ ■» •«■ ■. * »■ 4 t t f i ^*

Monday Evening.
Charley %, SDa\ji3on, €0(1., prcsibing.

SbtircjBfB ftp tifte
l^ctj. (George IL* ^rntti?^, D.2>.'

THE MERCER STREET CHURCH FROM 1 835 TO 1 858.

HOST of grateful memories carry me
back to the Mercer Street Presbjterian
Church. The seven years between 1851
and 1858, during which I was its pastor, were
among the happiest as well as busiest of my life.

1 This address was read by the pastor of the churcli in consequence of
the enforced absence of Dr. Prentiss, as indicated in the following letter :

"New York, Nov. 24th, 1S95.

"My Dear Dr. Alexander: It is tome a keen disappointment that I
shall not be able in person to take part with you in the commemorative
exercises to-morrow evening. The occasion is sure to be full of interest,
and I had set my heart upon being present. But I shall be with you in
spirit and in devout good wishes. I send you also a paper, which you
will kindly accept in place of the historical .address I hoped to deliver.

" I cannot tell you how my heart has been touched and refreshed by the
recollections whiili the prc'])arntion of this paper has awakened. The very

REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D. D.

In many ways it was a remarkable congregation.
I do not believe there was, at that time, another
in the country that surpassed it in intelligence, in
liberality, and weight of character; in the broad
catholic spirit which marked its piety, in the
strength and beauty of its family life, in rare types
of personal worth and loveliness, or in Christian
usefulness. The men who founded it, the motives
which animated them, the religious state and tem-
per of the times, all conspired to make it a shining-
light in the world.

The working of the voluntary principle in the
formation and growth of new congregations is one
of the striking features of our American religious
life. While a certain uniformity runs through
them all, their peculiar traits are apt to be as
varied as the faces of the men and women who
compose them. In no sphere have personal and
social forces fuller play. How the congregations
of New York, for example, differ in origin, in tone

invitation to participate in your exercises commemorative of the sixtieth
anniversary of the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church, set my thoughts
hurrying back into the old church, the old lecture-room and the old homes.
The names of Thomas Denny, Geo. R. Lockwood, Mrs. William G. Bull,
Mrs. Anson G. Phelps, and Mrs. J. W. Wheeler recall and are associated
with the most precious friendships of my pastoral life.

" Allow me, dear Dr. Alexander, to send a most affectionate greeting to
all those among you who were once members of my own flock ; to con-
gratulate your whole congregation upon the signal favor of heaven shown
to them in calling you to be their pastor, and to utter the fervent prayer
that the fruit of your joint labor in years to come may be even richer, more
abundant, and sweeter than they have ever been in the past.
" Ever faithfully yours,

" {Signed) Geo. L. Prentiss."

and temper, in the moral and spiritual atmosphere
which envelops them, and in their whole individ-
uality! The organization of the disciples of Jesus
in the order, fellowship, and obedience of His
i4"ospel furnishes matter for endless study and
wonder. What a benediction and lasting power
for good the earnest, full -orbed disciple becomes
in such a Christian brotherhood ! Men of this
stamp joined in founding and building up the
Mercer Street Presbyterian Church. They were
mostly of ripe experience, of wide influence in the
community, and noted for wisdom and zeal in the
cause of God. Here is the record of their names
and of the first steps in the movement:

On the 8th day of October, 1835, the following
persons, namely, James Boorman, Eli Wainwright,
Alfred de Forest, Lowell Holbrook, John L. Ma-
son. Norman White, Roderick Curtis, Gordon
Burnham, Thomas S. Nelson, Joseph C. Hunting-
ton, George A, Bicknell, and Charles Butler, pre-
ferred a request to the Third Presbytery of New
York to be organized into a church, to be called
"The Mercer Street Presbyterian Church," and
taken under the care of said Presbytery.

The Presbytery granted the request, and the
Rev. Erskine Mason, Henry White, and Henr)-
G. Ludlow, ministers ; and Abijah Fisher, David
L. Lodge, and Rufus L. Nevins, elders, were
accordingly appointed a committee to organize
the church.

The committee met in the lecture-room of the
University of New York, and organized the fol-
lowing persons into a church, namely: James
Boorman, Mary W., his wife ; Eli Wainwright,
Mary M,, his wife; Thomas S. Nelson, Mary, his
wife; George A. Bicknell, Emeline V. P., his
wife ; Gordon Burnham, Marcia, his wife ; and
Elizabeth Roff, from the Laight Street Church ;
Lowell Holbrook, and Angeline Nelson, his wife,
from the Second Avenue Church ; Alfred de Forest
from the Brick Presbyterian Church ; Norman
White, Mary Abiah, his wife, and Susan P. Dodge,
from the Bleecker-street Church ; John L. Mason,
and Amelia, his wife, from the North Church ;
Joseph C. Huntington, Julia S., his wife, from the
Bowery Church ; and Daniel L. D, Huntington
from the Third Free Church.

Lowell Holbrook, John L. Mason, and Norman
White were appointed elders. Lowell Holbrook
and John L. Mason were installed, and Norman
White was ordained and installed.

Around this original nucleus soon gathered and
crystallized others of like mind ; among them some
young men of mark who had felt the quickening
touch of the great revival of the period, and were
just entering upon noble careers in the service of
the divine Master. Under its chosen leader the
new church had hardly been organized when it
began to be a great spiritual power, not in New
York only, but throughout the country and round

the world. This chosen leader was Thomas I lar-
vey Skinner. Born in North Carolina, then forty-
five years old, Dr. .Skinner was one of the fore-
most pulpit orators in the laiui. While yet a
theological stripling, as it were, he had been in-
stalled co-pastor with Dr. Janeway of the Second
Church in Philadelphia, at that time the strongest
and most influential Presbyterian church in the
United States. For a time his sermons made an
extraordinary sensation. The young, both men
and women, carried away by passionate love and
admiration for him, crowded the places of worship
whenever he preached. But many of the older
members of the congregation, leaders in society
and in business, regarded him as an enthusiast
and his methods as wild-fire. A bitter outcry
arose against him, and for years he was an object
of intense suspicion and hostility among the strong
conservatives of the day. It was most interesting,
a third of a century later, to hear from his own
lips the story of these fierce conflicts between the
old orthodoxy and the "new divinity" as it was
called. These conflicts were the school in which
some of the finest lessons of his piety were learned.
After years of most successful labor in a church
of his own in Philadelphia, including a brief pas-
torate in Boston, he went to Andover as Professor
of Sacred Rhetoric. This chair he filled with
rare abilit) ; but the pulpit was still his throne.

Besides preaching in his turn in the chapel, he
preached often on Sunday evening to the two
Academies, in which were some four hundred
young persons of both sexes. His voice was fre-
quently heard, too, in the pulpits of Boston, New-
buryport, and other places. He was already well
known and greatly admired in New England, and
wherever he preached crowds came together to
hear him. It was the era of new measures, pro-
tracted meetings and revivals, and Dr. Skinner
acted on the maxim of proving all things and
holding fast that which is good. His own account
of a ''protracted meeting" at Newburyport, at
which he preached, is very striking :

" Newburyport (Whitefield's monument was
here) was full of God's special presence. The meet-
ing- ended on a Sabbath eveningr. I have not seen
a parallel occasion. Male attendants occupied the
pews ; females sat in the gallery. I never saw so
interesting a mass of men. They were of middle
age, very vigorous, healthful, masculine, intelli-
gent, as closely packed as possible, not less in
number, it was supposed, than a thousand. The
large gallery contained nearly as many women.
All the ministers, Presbyterians, and Orthodox
Congregationalists, were present."

He then, after consultation with the ministers,
made an address to the assembly, urging immedi-
ate acceptance of Christ, and signifying it by

standing; up, l>y themselves, when the prayer was
offered. When the usual "Let us pray" was
spoken, some five hundred men, and nearly as
many women, were instantly on their feet. The
scene was imposing beyond expression. It was
estimated that as the fruit of this protracted meet-
ing, about one thousand persons were received
into the churches of Newburyport and that neigh-
borhood. Thus were his labors in New England,
both as professor and evangelist, preparing him
for the crowninij work of his life.

He came to New York in 1835; on October
25th of that year the church was organized, and
on the 8th of November he was installed as its
pastor. At his funeral Dr. Henry B. Smith spoke
of "the ardent and pungent evangelism, the flam-
ing logic, of his memorable service in the Mercer
Street church, built by and for him." The words
happily describe one quality of this service. But
it was memorable for other features not less note-
worthy than "the flaming logic" that marked his
preaching. The Mercer Street church was called
of God to act a very important part beyond its
own pale, and I doubt if any other man then liv-
ing could have taken Or. Skinner's place, and
done his special work in this city. The great
schism in the Presbyterian body was soon to oc-
cur. The Union Theological Seminary was about
to be founded. Dr. Skinner's history, the wei^rht

of his personal and ministerial character, his close
intimacy and sympathy with Albert Barnes, Ly-
man Beecher, Nathaniel W. Taylor, and other
leading divines in New England and the Middle
States, and his position as pastor of one of the
strongest metropolitan churches gave him an al-
most unequalled influence throughout the New
School body, and also in organizing and shaping
the policy of the Union Theological Seminary, as
well as sustaining it in its early trials.

And now what motives guided him and his
people in their work? He himself answered this
question in a very impressive sermon preached at
the opening of the new church edifice. His text
was that beautiful passage in the LXVII. Psalm:
" God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause
His face to shine upon us ; that Thy way may be
known upon earth, Thy saving health among
all nations." This sermon may serve as a key to
whatever was best and most characteristic in Dr.
Skinner's ministry :

" The present times [he begins] are in many of
their appearances and prognostics different from
all preceding ones, and from nearly all, in this,
that the Church has undertaken to evangelize the
world. . . . Christians, to a wide and constantly
enlarging extent, are becoming awake to the fact
that evangelizing the world is a work which their
Saviour has required them to attempt, and one

6o.

which, by His aid, will be accomplished. It has
accordingly been systematically entered upon.
The jjrocess of planting Christian churches and
institutions amon<r the unevanorelized millions ol
mankind, with the declared purpose never to cease
from the undertaking until it is gone through with,
has begun, and is now going on. And it is going
on under the advantajje of recent inventions and
improvements in philosophy and the arts. The
printing-press is exerting its surprising powers on
a vast scale, to give the Scriptures and other veh-
icles of Christian knowledge free circulation in all
the tongues and dialects of man. Christian edu-
cation also is patiently insinuating its quiet but
resistless influences into the great mass of human
ignorance. The apostles and first evangelists
seem, as it were, to have risen from the dead in
some of our missionaries. The character, like-
wise, of preaching and pastoral labor, in many
parts of Christendom is undergoing an important
change. . . . The general piety of the Church is
gradually becoming more and more like that of
the primitive Christians. In appropriate and effi-
cient methods the private members of the churches
are cooperating with their pastors in self-denying
labors to bring the human mind universally under
the power of the Gospel. . . . Christians in greater
numbers and more abundantly than at any former
period, excepting the first, consecrate their wealth

to carry benevolent plans into effect in the far dis-
tant isles, and in the uttermost ends of the earth ;
and we have specimens of munificence which
would not have done dishonor to the Apostolic
age itself It is a privilege of the infant church
which takes possession, for the first time to-day,
of the place in which its future worship is to be
paid to the Most High, that it has had its birth,
and it is to develop its powers, and to grow to
maturity and take shape and complexion, if it
please, under the benign and ennobling influences
of this most auspicious period. How great must
become its usefulness and felicity, if it fall in with
these influences and avail itself fully of them, in
seeking the appropriate end of its calling and its
existence as a Church of Jesus Christ ! The prin-
cipal design for which all Christians, whether as
individuals or as associated in churches, should
live and move and have their being in the world,
is not selfish but benevolent, not private but pub-
lic, not the advancement of their own interest
separately, but of the great interest of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; in a word, the spread and triumph
of Christianity among mankind."

What could be more prophetic of the future of
" the infant church " — its future alike before and
after its union with the University Place Church
— than these stirring and pregnant words ! How
heartily it did fall in with the blessed influences

of the new era ! How fully it availed itself of
them in seeking the appropriate end of its callini^
and its existence as a Church of Jesus Christ !
Takini;, then, for granted that to evangelize the
world is the great object of pursuit to all Chris-
tians, he proceeded to state the following prin-
ciples by which their efforts in prosecuting this
object should be regulated, namely :

1. That they should seek to propagate substan-
tial Christianity rather than any sectarian form
of it.

2. That they should lay their plans of evan-
gelism so as to admit the coalition of all Christians.

3. That they should so conduct their proceedings
as to evade as far as possible opposition from the
world.

4. That, nevertheless, the utmost zeal and reso-
lution are indispensable to carrying the work
forward ; but, after all,

5. That they should depend for success, not on
their own exertions, however unexceptionable,
but on the cooperation of the divine power.

Each of these principles is unfolded in a very
lucid way and asserted with the "flaming logic"
of deep conviction. I will cite a few sentences in
regard to the first point :

" What Christians agree in is what makes them
Christians; what they differ in is what has given
rise to other names, names which will not be

known in heaven. This thought I would fain in-
delibly impress on every mind : that it is the faith
all Christians hold in common in which salvation
lies. It does not lie in points of sectarian con-
troversy, but in those great fundamentals which
unite all Christians together, and make them one
brotherhood, one indissoluble body, the body of
Christ. Let me state this truth strongly, for so I
think it should be stated. Presbyterians are not
saved by their Presbyterian peculiarities, nor
Episcopalians by theirs, nor Congregationalists
by theirs ; but all are saved by what all hold in
common, by what makes them Christians, not
what makes them sectarians. A man may be a
sectarian without being a Christian, and he may
be a Christian without being a sectarian ; and if
he is but a Christian, he is a child of God and an
heir to the kingdom of heaven, though every sect
on earth should deny him its distinctive name.

"Shall I conceal it [he says in concluding his
sermon] that it is my heart's desire and prayer to
God for this church, that it may be a church in
which the spirit of the gospel may predominate
over the spirit of sect, and bring forth fruits after
its own heavenly and anti-sectarian kind ; that it
may live too much in the temper of the church
above, too nigh to the throne and mercy-seat of
God, and too much in communion with its blessed
Head and Lord, and have too much love for souls.

and ton much zeal for the <j;^eneral cause of Christ,
to be incHned to take i)art in tliose strifes of
words and doubtful disputations and jiart) move-
ments and contrivances, by which the face of the
times, especially in this country, is beginning to
be overcast. Ought I to refrain from expressing
this as the most fervent of my wishes in behalf
of this church ? "

But it was no light task U) carr\' out anti j)ut in
practice this high ideal. Had not such a man as
Dr. Skinner been its first pastor, and Norman
White, John L. Mason, Francis Markoe, James
Boorman, Eli Wainwright, Charles Butler, and
others like them been elders and pillars in the
congregation, the ideal would never have been
even partially realized.

No sooner was the new sanctuary completed
than large numbers crowded into it from all parts
of the city, and were at once received into its fel-
lowship and took part in administering its affairs.
They had little previous acquaintance with each
other, had been trained in various schools of re-
ligious thought, and differed very decidedly in
their opinions and sympathies about burning
questions of the day. On the tenth anniversary
of the church Dr. Skinner preached a sermon of
thanksgiving, in which he thus alluded to this
point :

"We entered upon life as a cliurch under auspi-

cious circumstances. But there were causes of
peril in the midst of us. We increased rapidly
in numbers ; the accessions were from a great
many other churches, strangers to one another
and to us, and of widely differing views and
tastes ; and for the most part they were persons
of mature life, and confirmed by time and ex-
perience in their respective peculiarities. The
church, of course, was composed of heterogeneous
members, not easy to be solidly compacted and
cemented together. There was no small diver-
sity amongst us on several subjects peculiarly
exciting, and which have occasioned much agita-
tion in the community — subjects pertaining es-
pecially to denominational proceedings of an
unusual character, and to the operations and doc-
trines of those voluntary societies which have
taken hostile positions towards one another, or
have not been acceptable to all. In our infancy
and unacquaintance with one another, we were
certainly in danger from these internal contrarie-
ties and disagreements. Slight mistakes in those
who had the oversight and direction of the church
might have led to serious consequences. Still,
though no negative mode of proceeding has been
pursued in government and discipline, our differ-
ences have not led to the formation of parties in
the church or to the disturbance of its peace.
And the character of the church has been gradu-

ally working itself into consistency and strength.
Some, on discovering that they were not of us,
speedily went out from us, and their places grad-
ually were filled by others, sympathizing with us
better in our preferences and spirit. The mass
of members, meanwhile, have been coming nearer
together. Time, a common teaching, and inter-
communion in holy privileges and labor, have
assimilated them in sympathies and spirit, and
they are now probably as 'like-minded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind,'
as the generality of the older churches. We have
been steadily increasing. The whole number ad-
mitted to the church is 785. We have erased
from our register, and dismissed to join other
churches, about 250. Two have been excommu-
nicated. Nineteen, a number surprisingly small,
have died, leaving in full communion at present
about 514. Adding to these the children of the
church, of whom 230 have been baptized by my-
self, the entire number associated in church cove-
nant is not far from 780."

The dismissal of some 250 members in the first
decade shows that the process of incessant change
going on in our New York congregations is no
new thing. I do not refer to the changes wrought
by death, for these are peculiar to no time or
place ; but to those which grow out of the condi-
tions of society, of business, and of religious life

in this city. My impression is, that the changes
are two or three times as great and rapid as they
were fifty years ago. Half the people you meet
with seem like birds sitting upon a twig, looking
in every direction, and ready to fly away on the
slightest impulse. They never continue in one
stay. But the changes even half a century ago
were so great and rapid as to create a sort of
whirlpool, in which many a strong church, built
of the most solid materials, and destined, appa-
rently, to live on for a thousand years, suffered
wreck and disappeared in a single generation.

The larger number of Dr. Skinner's most effi-
cient helpers and fellow-laborers in the Mercer
Street Church were still there when I became its
pastor, but some had removed from the city or
passed within the veil. I knew them chiefly by
report, and by the good names they had left be-
hind. Among those who had removed from the
city was Richard T. Haines, so prominent for
nearly half a century in the councils of the Ameri-
can Tract Society, and as a founder and for
many years President of the Board of Directors
of the Union Theological Seminary. He was a
man of calm, penetrating judgment, unassuming
in all his ways, and a model of pious wisdom.
Another parishioner and friend of this class was
S. V. S. Wilder, a Christian merchant and phil-
anthropist, well known at that time on both sides

of the Atlantic. He was a very interesting man,
unique in some of his characteristic traits, of a
princely temper, hospitable, and full of zoal for
the cause of evangelical religion both at home
and abroad.

Among those who had passed away from the
earth were Alfred De Forest, Arthur Bronson,
James Roosevelt, and Francis Markoe ; all men of
weight. Mr. Roosevelt was the grandfather of
the late Most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, I).l).,
Archbishop of Baltimore. A legacy from him,
originally intended for this grandson, endowed
and gave his name to a chair in Union Seminary.
Between Francis Markoe and Dr. Skinner there
subsisted a friendship of the highest type. Mr.
Markoe was one of a thousand. No more at-
tractive character, whether viewed on the natural
or the spiritual side, was to be found, I suppose,
in all the churches of New York. In a funeral
discourse Dr. Skinner drew a delightful picture
of his religious life. Here is a closing passage:

" The removal of this man, his vacant place in
the church, in our room for conference and social
prayer, at the Bible class, and in the families of
this cono-reo^ation ; the ceasinor of his charminof
voice to sound in our ears, the disappearance of
his form, one of the pleasantest in all respects we
have ever seen; the ending of his prayers and la-
bors for the salvation of the world — all the beau-

tiful manifestations of his zeal for the cause of our
God and Saviour, are suited to make upon us no
common impression. ... It gives a taste of
heaven to hold communion with the idea of this
most peculiar, Christlike character. I am unwill-
ing to let it be long out of my thought; it has
not been long away from it, by day or by night.
I have found it very refreshing and sweet to me
to make this discourse upon it."

Of Dr. Skinner's thirteen years in the pastorate
of the Mercer Street Church I shall say nothing
further. My friends, Mr. Butler, Dr. Abbott, and
Dr. White, were members of his flock, and can
speak on the subject from their own recollections.
It is enough for me to express the opinion that
to him, far more than to any other man, were due
the high character of the church and those pre-
cious fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus
Christ to the praise and glory of God, that made
it such a light in the world.

In February, 1848, Dr. Skinner, having ac-
cepted a call to Union Theological Seminary, re-
signed his charge, and was succeeded in June of
the same year by the Rev. Joseph C. Stiles, D.D.
Dr. Stiles was a native of Savannah, Ga., and a
graduate of Yale College. He studied law at
Litchfield, Conn., and entered upon a professional
career that promised to be brilliant and success-
ful. But abandoning the law, he studied theology

at Andover, and tlicn devoted himself for nearly
a score of years to evangelistic labors in Florida,
Georgia, and Kentucky. He was a splendid
specimen of Christian manhood, whole-souled,
courageous, unselfish, of indomitable energy, yet
gentle, tender-hearted, and full of loving sym-
pathies. As a popular preacher and evangelist
he stood in the front rank. At times the effect
of his eloquence was marvellous ; for it combined
in an uncommon degree intellectual power, im-
passioned feeling, and that spiritual unction \vhich
comes of intimate communion with God and a
deep personal experience of His saving grace and
love in Jesus Christ. In consequence of failing
health he resigned in October, 1850, and on the
30th of April, 1 85 1, I was installed as his successor.
My pastorate lasted just seven years, so that it
embraced one whole year of Christian Sabbaths.
I remember how at its close this thought startled
me: "A whole year of Sabbaths, and so little
fruitage ! " I used, indeed, to feel exceedingly
dissatisfied with myself and my work. It seemed
to me that with such a people, and inheriting such
examples of ministerial fidelity and zeal, I ought
to have done far more than I did in honor of the
adorable Master and for the souls under my care.
But, notwithstanding all this, I can never cease
to thank God for those seven years in the Mercer
Street Church. When I received the letter from

my old friend, Mr. Davison, asking me, in your
name and that of your committee, to address you
to-night, I was delighted. Instantly my thoughts
rushed back to the Mercer Street Church as I
first knew it in the spring of 185 1. How vividly
I at once recalled the names and faces and pecu-
liar ways and manners of the elders and deacons
and trustees who welcomed me to New York !
Mr. Chester's infant class ; Mr. John Culyer, that
pattern of a good sexton ; the pews, and those
who sat in them ; the houses and streets in which
the people dwelt, with all their environment, came
back to me in a flash. I used often to wonder,
and the wonder now returns again, whether any
other man in the wide world was more highly
favored of Providence than I was during those
happy years between 1851 and 1858.

It was an eventful period in both the civil and
the religious sphere. The fierce struggle about
the Fugitive Slave Law and Mr. Webster's famous
speech upon it on the 7th of March, and over the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, was raging in
the North and South, in the East and West. The
great secession and the war for the Union were
casting their dread shadows before. In the reli-
gious sphere the schism between the Old-School
and New-School body was still unhealed. Sharp
differences respecting home missionary policy be-
tween the New-School Presbyterians and their

Congregational brethren, and more or less among
themselves, troubled both denominations. But
neither the political nor ecclesiastical conflicts
broke the harmony of the Mercer Street congre-
gation. Wisdom and prudence and a large-
minded temper saved them from this calamity.
If there was ever any harsh feeling or factious ac-
tion in regard to these questions, I have utterly
forgotten it. No doubt one cause of this un-
broken harmony and brotherl)- love was devotion
to Christian work. On Sunday, the 23rd of No-
vember, 1 85 1, I called a meeting of the congrega-
tion to be held on Tuesday evening, the 25th, in
the lecture room of the church for the purpose of
"considering our duties in relation to the spiritual
necessities of this city and vicinity." After a free
and friendly interchange of views it was resolved
that " it is our duty as a church and congregation
to adopt immediate and efficient measures to carry
the Gospel to the destitute of our city." The
meeting then adjourned to the following Sunday
evening for further conference. Benjamin F.
Butler, the eminent lawyer and statesman, led the
discussion. He was followed by Norman White,
Roe Lock wood, and James Boorman. Gorham
D. Abbott and Dr. Skinner also took part in the
meeting. An adjournment was then had to De-
cember 7, 1 85 I, when the City Mission Associa-
tion connected with the Mercer Street Presbyter-

ian Church was formed, and John L. Mason,
Joseph B. Sheffield, Lewis Atterbury, Jr., Roe
Lockwood, Benjamin F. Buder, John W. Ouincy,
Ludier Jackson, WilHam M. BHss, Anson G.
Phelps, Jr., William L. King, Thomas Bond, Jr.,
and George Manning Tracy, were unanimously
elected to act as its " Executive Committee."

This association was one of the first, if not the
very first, of its kind in New York. In forming
it the Mercer Street people decided to make city
mission-work a vital part of their local church or-
ganization and business. It was to them the be-
ginning of a new dispensation of Christian benev-
olence. No event of greater importance to itself,
or fuller of blessing to others, both as an example
and a testimony, had occurred in the history of
the Church.

The annual meeting of the Missionary Associa-
tion was one of the events of the year to the whole
congregation, especially in the latter part of my
pastorate. The children from Avenue D and
other mission stations marched, on a Sabbath af-
ternoon, to the mother-church, where the anniver-
sary was celebrated. The meeting was always
full of pleasurable excitement and good cheer.
On one such occasion Col. James B. Murray
brought with him Franklin Pierce, then President
of the United States, who was evidently captivated
by the beautiful scene. I had a keen dislike to

President Pierce's politics, but his genial manner
and friendly words at this time, I remember, quite
won my heart. How these annual meetings up-
held and refreshed me ! Here is a simple record
of the last one while I was pastor. It is dated
November 22, 1857:

"Anniversary of our own and our mission Sun-
day-schools this afternoon. A most interesting
and touching scene ! The house was filled with
children. It is a noble and Christlike work. May
God bless the teachers and the children ! "

I find also brief records, about the same time,
of my joy and comfort in attending the boys'
temperance meeting at Avenue D, the German
Sunday-school with their Christmas tree, and the
infant class of nearly eighty at Avenue A, then
under the care of a dear young friend, who was
afterwards known far and wide as a nurse in
Union Army hospitals, and in later years has
been known throughout Connecticut as a most
energetic and successful worker in the great field
of public charity.

Dr. Alexander has kindly sent me the minutes
of the Missionary Association. They were wholly
new to me, and I have read them with deep emo-
tion. They recall pastoral scenes which had quite
faded from my memory, and yet at the time ab-
sorbed all my thought and feeling. They recall
a score of names, each of which is not only that

of an old parishioner, but also of an old friend,
with whom, forty years ago, I took sweet counsel
concerning things unseen and eternal. To one
who holds the key in his hand many passages in
this record have a strange interest. Under the
date of April 24, 1857, for example — it was just
after the great revival of that year — I find this
entry :

"An informal meeting was held after the Friday
evening prayer meeting. Present: B. F. Butler,
Wm. Allen Butler, L. Atterbury, T. Bond. Mr.
Wm. A. Butler was appointed Secretary. It was
resolved that Mr. Otis W. Booth be requested to
attend the Wednesday evening meeting at 118
Avenue D, and assist Mr. Loomis by keeping
order."

That is one of the grains of mustard-seed to
which the kingdom of heaven is like. On Wednes-
day evening next Mr. Booth himself will tell the
story of the growth of this grain of mustard-seed
into a tree in whose branches the birds of the
heaven come and lodge, singing praises unto Jesus
Christ. If the Mercer Street Church had no other
monument, this alone is enough to show how
faithful was its stewardship, and with what pre-
cious fruits of righteousness it enriched the Mas-
ter's vineyard.

On entering the Mercer Street pulpit for the
first time my eye was arrested instantly by the

sight of little childrtMi filling the gallery on my
left haiul. IMiey were the children of the Half-
Orphan Asylum, and 1 soon came to regard them
as lambs of m\- own tlcjck. Their presence was
full of tender and kindly suggestion. What a pa-
thetic story lay hidden behind the faces of those
fatherless or motherless boys and girls ! The
Half-Orphan Asylum initiated me at once into a
study of the charitable and humane institutions
of New York. And as I acquainted myself with
their work, I generally found myself in close con-
tact with men and women of my own charge.
The Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum, indeed, was
at first almost a Mercer Street Society. It was
organized at the house of Mr. Eli Wainwright, a
most lovable old man, on the i6th of December,
1835, a bitterly cold day and memorable for the
fire which commenced in the evening and laid the
greater portion of the business part of the city in
ashes.

The shock of this calamity led to serious
thoughts of abandoning the project. It was de-
cided, however, to go on, and soon a basement
room in White street was rented and a matron
engaged, who took charge of four children. On
the first of the following May a house was hired
in Twelfth street, and the number of children in-
creased to forty-nine. On the 27th of April, 1837,
an act was passed by the Legislature incorporat-

ing " The Society for the ReHef of Half- Orphan
and Destitute Children in the City of New York."
The names of James Boorman, Charles Butler,
Eli Wainwright, and William A, Tomlinson are
the first on the first Board of Trustees ; Mrs. Tom-
linson was First Directress ; Mrs. Boorman, Sec-
ond Directress ; Mrs. Wheeler, Secretary ; and
Mrs. Littlefield, Treasurer, all members, I think,
of the Mercer Street Church. Later, these well-
known Mercer-street names appear among the
officers and managers of this society, namely ;
Mrs. William G. Bull, Mrs. William W. Chester,
Mrs. D. D. Lord, Mrs. Charles Butler, Mrs. John
N. Bradley, Mrs. Anson G. Phelps, Emily O. But-
ler, Matilda Bleecker, Maria Skinner. James
Boorman was its first President, and at his death
in 1866 he was succeeded by Charles Butler.

I have alluded to Dr. Skinner's great influence
in the establishment and support of the Union
Theological Seminary. In this he had the warm
sympathy and cooperation of his people. I doubt
if the Seminary would have survived its early
struggles for existence but for him and the Mercer
Street Church. It so happened that the annual
collection in behalf of the institution occurred not
long after my installation. My dear friend, Henry
B. Smith, had recently been called to its Chair
of Church History, and I urged him to accept the
appointment. I urged him to do so in the inter-

7«

est of theological education and learning. When,
therefore, I followed him to New York, and had
the ear of a cultivated and wealthy congregation
in hearty sympathy with Union Seminary, I seized
the earliest opportunity to make an appeal for its
immediate endowment. My people listened with
the utmost attention ; and in a few weeks a meeting
of the friends of liberal theological training was
held at the house of Mr, Charles Butler, at which
it was resolved to raise forthwith $100,000 as the
beginning of a full endowment. This amount was
soon subscribed, and in no very long time twice
as much more ; a third, at least, of the whole sum
coming from the Mercer Street Church. Just now
it may, indeed, be thought by some that the money,
after all, was not wisely spent ; but that, I feel
sure, will not be the judgment of reasonable and
good men a few years hence, when the present
" unpleasantness" shall have passed away. Here
are passages from my sermon, my first "begging
sermon " in Mercer Street ; and I must be allowed
to say that they still express my opinion about
Union Seminary :

"The sum and substance of what I have to say
can be uttered in a few words; and you will ex-
cuse me, I am sure, if they are spoken plainly, and
with the emphasis of a strong conviction, — a con-
viction formed long before I became your pastor.
This institution of sacred learning ought to be

endowed ; generously, permanently, and without
delay. Its character, position, wants, and capa-
bilities all entitle it to this service from the Chris-
tian community. The character of Union Semi-
nary is eminently catholic in the true sense of the
word ; it is at once liberal and conservative. There
is nothing that I am aware of in its history, nothing
in its associations, nothing in its general policy,
nothing in its temper, which should make this in-
stitution cleave inordinately to the past or to the
future, which should render it unstable in the
ways of old truth or unwilling to greet new truths
with a friendly welcome, nothing which commits
it to any party, or prevents its cordial relations
with all parties who love the Gospel and Christian
union. It stands in special connection with our
own branch of the great Presbyterian family ; but
it numbers on its Board of Directors and among
its warmest friends influential members of the
other branch, while it seeks its professors and at-
tracts its students as readily from the old Puritan
body of New England as if its predilections were
all Congregational. If you will have an institution
occupying as catholic a ground as the distracted
state of the Church in our day seems to permit, I
do not know how you can well come nearer to
such a plan than have the founders of Union Sem-
inary. Its main advantages are as accessible and
useful to a Baptist, a Methodist, an Episcopalian,

or a Congregationalist, as to a Presbyterian ; and
students of all these and of other denominations
have availed themselves of them. Let it be un-
derstood that in what I have said, or may say, I
cast no reflection upon any other seminary. All
honor to Princeton, and Lane, and Auburn, and
Andover, and Bang^or, and New Haven, and others,
of whatever name, that arc doing the Master's
work ! . . .

"As the seat of a liberal and profound theological
culture, New York ought to stand foremost in the
land. She ought, for her own sake. There is,
perhaps, no other power, after the Word preached,
which would do more to preserve her Christian
influence, wealth, and enterprise from falling a
prey to the show, self-aggrandizement, and other
vices incident to the predominance of a commercial
spirit. She ought, for the sake of our country
and the world. Let a wise, tolerant, Christian
theology flourish here, and it would diffuse a
beneficent radiance over the land, and even among
pagan nations. The position, then, of the Union
Seminary is unsurpassed, both for the training of
ministers and the cultivation of sacred learning.
For this reason its founders planted it in the city
of New York.

" Let me now speak of its wants. These are
many, important, most reasonable, and. in ni)-
judgment, challenge the immediate attention of its

friends. It wants, first of all, to be assured of its
own existence ; // wants an endowment. It is not
seemly ; it is a reproach and dishonor to the Chris-
tian community that such an institution, where the
pious young men of the Church are training to be-
come her pastors, her divines, and her missionaries
to the heathen, should be begging its bread,
should subsist on her precarious charities. No
denomination that has any genuine self-respect
will allow such an anomaly long to exist if there
be the means of preventing it. Permanent insti-
tutions like this ought to be exempt from com-
mercial revulsions and the fluctuations of trade.
If we cannot give them an assured and independ-
ent existence on any other terms, we had better
do it even by mortgaging our church edifices.
The tree is far more important than its fruit, the
fountain than its passing streams. I repeat, the
Union Seminary wants to be assured of its exist-
ence ; but it wants a great deal more — it wants
the means of making that existence honorable,
vigorous, efficient, commensurate with the work
it is called to do ; worthy of, not a practical satire
upon, the Christian liberality of this great and
opulent city. . . .

" I have the clearest conviction that the Union

Seminary is capable of doing a great work for

Christ and the Church. It has already done

much ; not a few of the most useful ministers in

1 1

tlic land, not a few of our best missionaries among
the heathen, are its alumni. Already, too, has it
made invaluable contributions to the higher theo-
logical literature of the age. But I trust it has a
still nobler career in the future. I look forward
to the time when young men of piety and gener-
ous endowments shall flock to it in thousands
from all quarters of the Republic, from California
and Oregon, and the islands of the sea, even ;
when its library shall be the resort of Christian
scholars from neighboring towns and cities ; when
its professorships shall be multiplied so as to em-
brace one for each great branch of sacred lore ;
when it shall be the pride and glory of our
churches, and its treasury be continually enriched
by the princely donations of the living and the
dying ; when, in a word, it shall be such a nursery
of men of God, and such a citadel of holy faith, as
the voice of Providence commands us to build up
in this emporium of the New World."

But I need not enlarge on this part of my sub-
ject. A few sentences from my farewell sermon
will suffice to indicate better than any present
description what was the spirit and main business
of this Church during my pastorate :

" It is my ardent hope that in the future, as in
the past, this Church will be distinguished by a
generous and far-sighted zeal for Home Missions,
Foreign Missions, the Bible Society, Christian

colleges, and the other great agencies of religious
benevolence and learning. Continue, I entreat
you, in particular, to be friendly and liberal to the
Union Theological Seminary. It is a most im-
portant institution, vitally connected with the
cause of Christ at home and abroad. It owes
you a vast debt of gratitude. I trust you will
delight to make that debt larger and larger. Let
your own Missionary Association still be dear to
you. I rejoice to think that this Association was
formed under my ministry, was one of the first,
if not the first, of the kind in the city, and that
both by example and by its mission schools, boys'
meetings, and the like, it has done already ines-
timable good. What a joy and solace it has been
to see so many of you, old and young, engaged
personally in this blessed work ! I commend to
your special favor that portion of it lying among
the large German population. Its importance
cannot be overestimated."

And now, before closing, allow me to add,
largely to please myself, a few personal notices
and recollections. Old men, whose faculties and
interest in life are still fresh and unimpaired,
have always greatly attracted me. There were
a good many of them in the Mercer Street Church.
Francis Markoe and S. V. S. Wilder were such
men in Dr. Skinner's day ; Stephen Allen, James
Boorman, Anson G. Phelps, William G. Bull,

Uriah Rogers Scribncr. and Tliomas H. Skinner,
were such in my day.

Stephen Allen had been Mayor of New York,
and was one of its most eminent Democratic citi-
zens. Me was a self-made man, upright in ail
things, of strong common-sense, and a unique
personality. I at once took a liking to him, and
I think he liked me. He had been affected a
good deal by both Quaker and Unitarian influ-
ences, but gave every indication of being a true
disciple of Jesus. I said to him one day : " Mr.
Allen, why do you not join the Church?" "I
would gladly do so," he replied, with a character-
istic smile, "but I cannot assent to some points
in your long creed. I believe in the atonement
and saving grace of Christ as Redeemer of the
world, but I am a little heretical on your doctrine
of His supreme deity." "Well, suppose, then,
that on this point I substitute the article in the
Apostles' Creed, and ask your assent to that
only ? " " Then I should be ready to join the
Church without delay." I reported the case at
the next meeting of the Session, and to my de-
light, as also somewhat to my surprise — for
several of the elders were old-fashioned Calvin-
ists — it was voted unanimously that I might
omit the clause in our local creed, and say, in-
stead, " Do you believe in God the Father Al-
mighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus

Christ, His only Son ? " Without having met
the Session, the aged man stood up alone at the
next communion in the midst of the great con-
ofreofation and confessed Christ as his Saviour.
It was an unspeakably touching and impressive
scene. Before the return of another commun-
ion, Mr. Allen lost his life at the burning of the
steamer Hejiry Clay on the Hudson River.

James Boorman was an old man of another
type; equally strong-minded, but more orthodox
and broader in his aims and sympathies. He
was a native of Kent, England. He came to
this country when a boy of twelve years, and
was apprenticed to Davie Bethune, father of that
noble man, George W. Bethune, the celebrated
pulpit orator. Before many years had passed,
he established a firm of his own, and was recog-
nized as one of the leading merchants of New
York. He founded the Bank of Commerce, and
for many years was a ruling spirit in the Chamber
of Commerce. But his greatest achievement was
in the planning and construction of the Hudson
River Railroad. He was a member of the Laight-
street congregation while it was under the care
of Rev. Dr. S. H. Cox. Dr. Cox once gave me a
most interesting account of Mr. Boorman's con-
version. His whole subsequent course showed
how sincerely and thoroughly he gave himself
up to the service of God. Accustomed to take

large views in the sphere of l)usincss and worldly
affairs, he carried the same habit of mind into re-
ligion. His charities embraced the principal or-
ganizations of benevolence, both in the city and
country; they were numerous, constant, discrim
inating, and often on a very liberal scale. He
had, perhaps, more to do with the founding of
the Mercer Street Church, and bringing Dr.
Skinner from Andover to take charije of the
movement, than any other man. Its successive
pastors were sustained and cheered by his friend-
ship, his wise counsels, and his unfailing gener-
osity. He was very conservative in his senti-
ments, both theological and political — more so,
at times, than his pastor — but he respected an
honest difference of opinion, and was a parish-
ioner to be trusted and leaned upon without mis-
giving. The so-called '* Southern Aid Society "
was largely supported by his liberality, and no
sooner was the Civil War over than his charities
began again to flow South. He took special de-
light in the Half-Orphan Asylum, of which he was
one of the founders and the first President; and
it was worth a long journey just to see his happy
face at the anniversaries of that excellent society.
I am rejoiced to pay this tribute to his memory.

Anson G. Phelps differed not a little from both
Stephen Allen and James Hoorman. He, too,
was a man of very strong, original, and marked

character. He brought with him from Connecti-
cut, his native State, the best New England qual-
ities. On coming to New York he joined the
Brick Church, of which he was for many years
an efficient elder. He filled the same office in
the Mercer Street Church. Self-reliance, an iron
will, solid judgment, a sagacious power of com-
bination and forecast, indomitable perseverance,
shrewd common-sense, a physical constitution
capable of immense labor and endurance — these
were among his leading traits. But there were
others of a gentler nature, and all of them were
tempered and restrained by earnest religious
principles. He was a genuine Christian philan-
thropist of the most catholic type. The inter-
ests of the colored race, both in this country and
in Africa, were especially near his heart. He
used to thank God for the privilege of living in
such a glorious day. He was the first and head
of a wide family circle whose benefactions en-
riched the cause of piety and learning, and en-
rich it still to the third and fourth generations.

William G. Bull was another of the old men
who welcomed me to New York, and whose name
I can never recall without very grateful feelings.
"What was Mr. Bull's office in the Church?" I
was asked the other day. " His office in the
Church during my pastorate," I replied, "seemed
to be that of a special providence to take care of

me and my family." He received me, with my
wife and children, into his hospitable home when
I first came to the city ; he hired a house for me,
had it refitted, and saw me and mine safely settled
in it ; he entertained us at his seaside cottage
season after season ; he kept an eye upon all my
interests; and when my liealth broke; down and
I resigned my charge, he went round among the
people and obtained generous subscriptions that
carried me and my family to Europe and pur-
chased our rest there for more than two years.
What Mr. Bull was to me he was to many others,
a most kind and caretaking friend. Not a little
of his time was spent in varied forms and acts of
charity. He had traveled, had passed years on
the other side of the globe, and was every inch a
Christian gentleman of the old school, without
pretension and without guile.

Uriah Rosters Scribner was the father of
Charles Scribner, founder of the eminent publish-
ing house of Charles Scribner's Sons. I knew
him chief!)- in his last days, when lying on a sick
and dying bed. It was my privilege at that time
to talk to him concerning the way of salvation,
and to cheer him with the exceeding great and
precious promises of the Gospel. With what
childlike simplicity he trusted in his Redeemer!
I shall not easily forget the hour when 1 l)aptized
him, and then, in company with his household

and elders of the Church, administered to him the
holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.
It was a most touching scene.

I have already given my impression of Dr.
Skinner as a pastor and teacher. Let me now
say a word about him as I knew him in private.
In his character nature and grace were united in
the finest proportions. Old age often borders
upon second childhood ; in his case it bordered
close upon first childhood, the fresh, sweet dawn
of the bright morning of existence mingling with
and beautifying its sober evening. He seemed
as unconscious of his own virtues as if it had
never crossed his mind that he could possess
them. A more transparent, unsophisticated, guile-
less, and single-eyed human being I never saw.
How unsuspicious, how frank and trustful, and
magnanimous, he was ! How untainted by the
vanities and ambitions of the world! How he
hated all sorts of double-dealing and selfish ma-
nipulation, political or ecclesiastical ! What shall
I say of his freedom from envy, jealousy, and like
passions, which, alas ! sometimes steal even into
the hearts of ministers of the Gospel. Mrs. Gill-
man once told me, that during the nearly twenty
years which Coleridge passed at Highgate she
never heard him utter an angry word against
the literary enemies who wrote malicious things
about him ; and such was his happy faculty of

not seeing the faults, and of magnifying the vir-
tues, of his friends, that anybody he really loved
was sure of his unbounded admiration. It was
somewhat so with Dr. Skinner. Tlicre may have
been a touch of weakness in it, but great and
good men are apt to have just such weaknesses.
He was a model hearer. I never saw another
quite like him. 1 Ic drank in the simplest Chris-
tian truths as if they had been uttered by a man
inspired. When I became pastor of the Mercer
Street Church I was afraid of him among my
hearers. There was not a man, woman, or child
in the congregation of whom I might not as well
have been afraid. As a disciple of Jesus he at-
tained heights seldom trodden in our day. Grace
had permeated every part and the lowest depths
of his being. He had made the long circuit of
the Christian life, and was thus brought back
again, enriched with the treasures of a great ex-
perience, to the unquestioning, childlike trust and
simplicity of its lowly beginning. One of his old
and most intimate friends testified, on hearing of
his death : " I thank God on every remembrance
of him, as the holiest man I have ever known."
His last days were among his best and happiest.
" Age " (to borrow the words of Dr. William
Adams spoken at his funeral), "age had impaired
none of his faculties, only imparted additional
serenity to his countenance, sweetness to his

manners, and beauty to his character, as the disk
of the setting sun seems to be larger, and its
luster to be softer, than when in its meridian.
How calmly has he been sitting in his stall in the
cathedral of life, with the banner of Christ's love
over his head, waiting for the service to be over,
that he might say with all his heart, Amen." Dr.
Charles Hodge, on hearing of his death, wrote to
the Faculty of Union Seminary : " For more than
fifty-five years I knew, loved, and honored him,
and was loved and trusted by him. I cannot
forbear entering my claim to be counted among
the oldest and most devoted of his friends. He
was a man by himself The union of high gifts
with the most transparent, childlike simplicity of
character, gave him a peculiar position in the
love and admiration of his friends."

At the time of his conversion Dr. Skinner was
much aided by the counsels of a pious slave,
named Eden. Eden had been offered his free-
dom, but refused to accept it. I think it would
be hard to find in the annals of Christian friend-
ship anything finer in its kind than the love to
each other of these two men. Eden died in 1859.
Soon after. Dr. Skinner made a journey to North
Carolina and preached a memorial discourse upon
him. "I was happy," he wrote, "in my friend-
ship with this humble man. Distance did not
diminish it. We took pains to cherish and con-

firm it. Hy agreement, we dail)- remembered
each other, particularly in prayer. 1 wice he trav-
eled several hundred miles by sea to visit me,
and the anticipated pleasure of seeing him was
always among the motives of my annual journey
to the South. Rather to be chosen than great
riches and great distinction in the world was the
interest I had in my friend Eden's prayers, of low
estate though he was."

Dr. Skinner died on the ist of February, 1871,
in the eightieth year of his age. He was ver)-
warmly attached to my wife, both for her father's
sake and her own, and she cherished an almost
filial reverence and affection for him. It was her
privilege to spend some hours by his dying bed,
and to listen, awe-struck, as he "broke forth " (to
use her own words) " into the most wonderful
expressions of love to his Saviour," closing with
several stanzas from the hymn of Watts beginning:

Lord, when I quit this earthly stage,
Where shall I fly but to Thy breast ?

For I have sought no other home ;
For I have learned no other rest.

She could not repress her wonder that Provi-
dence should have allowed her to witness a scene
so radiant with the light of Heaven.

While speaking of old men of that period how
can I help thinking of the venerable patriarch,

who, surviving not them only, but the great ma-
jority of the next generation also, yet lives on to
bless his friends and the world ! How can I help
thinking of Charles Butler and thanking God
that he is still with us ! Charles Butler's name is
one of the first among the founders of the Mercer
Street Church, among the founders of the Union
Theological Seminary, among the founders of
the Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum, among the
founders of the University of the City of New
York, among the founders of the Union League
Club, and I know not how many other institu-
tions. May it please God to spare him to see
with undimmed eyes the dawn of the twentieth
century !

Did time permit, I would gladly speak of Sam-
uel R. Betts, the learned jurist and for more than
forty years United States District Judge ; of
James R. Gibson, R. Sedgwick, Col, J. J. Van
Alen, Col. James B. Murray, David Magie, and
others who were far along in life in 1858. Of
the men belonging rather to the next generation
and of those still younger, my recollections are
still vivid, and I could talk about them for hours
— such men as Judge John L. Mason, James
Wright, R. Bigelow, William Shaw, Norman
White, Benjamin F. Butler, Joseph B. Sheffield,
Edgcumbe H. Blatchford, John G. Nelson, James
Stokes, I. N. Phelps, Henry Calhoun, A. Averill,

Rev. Dr. Badi^rer. Rev. \V. H. Ridwcll. C. W.
How. Dr. Metcalfe. W. 1'. Wainwright. C. S.
Wainuriglu, D. Geer, Rufus I\ Nevins, Cor-
nelius Smitli, Samuel Leed.s, Dr. IVTarkoe, Dr.
lilakeman, Dr. Peaslee, Professor John Torrey,
Marshall O. Roberts, O. Bushnell, H. M. Schief-
felin, 1 1. v. Peet, J. H. Wheeler, John W. Quincy,
Thomas Bond, Marshall S. Bid well, J. B. X^arnum,
William C. Noyes, John Vanderbilt, A. J. Snyder,
Isaac Meeker, G. I. Leeds, Justus E. Earle. An-
drew Thompson, Mr. Wardwell, Dr. Warren,
Henry Abell, Dr. H. M. Bulkley, David P. Hall,
George R. Lockwood, Charles M. Earle, William
H. Osborn, M. Allison, Anson G. Phelps, Jr.,
James A. Tilford, Rufus Park, John Lowery, Gen.
Bowen, G. L. Isham, William L. King, M. M.
Vail, Dr. Batcheldor, William G. Rule, Charles
Miles, William M. Bliss, C. A. Davison, J. F.
Worth, Theodore McCurdy, H. V. Butler, T. B.
Bronson, A. H. Van Vechten, Horace Gray, Jr.,
William B. Greene, J. George, C. S. Benson,
Otis W. Booth, Albert Storer, Anson P. Stokes,
James Stokes, Ogden Butler, E. N. White, C. B.
F'arnsworth, P. H. Vernon, H. H. Anderson, Geo.
V. Root, W. Atwell, Lyman Abbott, R. M. Buch-
anan, D. C. Porter, Albert Buck, and a score
more, "good men and true," several of them men
of great mark and wide influence ; all of them
men to whom 1 was warml)- attached, some of

them very dear personal friends, whose names I
still carry in my heart. How closely are not a
few of these names identified with some of the
tenderest memories of my Mercer- street pastor-
ate ! The names, for example, of Edgcumbe H.
Blatchford, Anson G. Phelps, Jr., and Benjamin
F. Butler.

Mr. Blatchford was an uncle of the late Justice
Blatchford, of the United States Supreme Court,
and not inferior, I think, to that very able jurist
in natural endowments or in legal attainment.
He had greatly endeared himself to the Church,
to his brothers of the Session, and to all who
knew him. Various circumstances brought me
at once into very close, affectionate pastoral rela-
tions to him. He furnished a bright example of
the way in which Christ may be honored in the
chamber of lingering sickness and death. He
was a man of signal excellence, clear and dis-
criminating in judgment, of uncommon energy
and force of will, decided in his convictions, faith-
ful and laborious in his calling, a patriotic citizen,
and every way worthy of the universal respect
and esteem with which he was regarded. His
domestic affections were singularly tender and
fervent. He was indeed a model Christian man.
It is very pleasant to me, after more than forty
years, to pay this passing tribute to his memory.

Anson ^G. Phelps, Jr., died very suddenly just

before I went abroad. I lovctl liiin like a brother,
and my love. I know, was full)- returned. Almost
my last sermon was in memory of him. Here
are a few sentences from it. and after seven and
thirty years I would not change a word :

" None knew him but to honor and to love
him, while those who knew him best loved and
honored him with an uncommon affection. They
were themselves scarcely aware of its great depth
and fervor, until it [)ursued him across the im-
mense chasm of death. He was one of those
rare beings whose existence is a constant bene-
diction, but who move on through life with such
noiseless steps, who speak and act in a way so
unpretending that when they are gone the world
is astonished to find out what a treasure it pos-
sessed in them. He 'put a strange face on his
own perfection.' Nobody thought so little of him
as he did of himself. He shrank from mere pub-
licity, as the sensitive plant shrinks from the rude
touch. He avoided observation as eagerly as
most men run after it. At the voice of friendly
praise and affection, I have seen his countenance
tinged with that delicate, pleased, half-blushing
expression which delights one in the face of a
simple-hearted girl.

" Hardly another man of his age in this city or
in this wliole land was so identified witli some of
our most important Christian interests at home

and abroad, and yet it would have been next to
impossible to make him believe it. Hardly an-
other man of his age among us gave to religious
and philanthropic objects with so princely a hand,
and yet I do not suppose he prided himself upon
his charities one iota more than the poor widow,
who, all unaware that the Son of God was look-
ing on, cast into the treasury her two mites,
which make a farthing. ... At his death he was
still a young man. Less than two score years
inclosed his mortal existence, and little more
than ten years sufficed him to run his brilliant
course of Christian usefulness. . . . His home,
especially his rural home, was the place where
alone all the finer traits of his character were to
be seen. There his cultivated taste, his gentle
domestic virtues, his love of nature, and the
whole ideality of the man shone in all their lus-
ter. His passion for the country was like that of
an artist or a poet. He would sit by the hour
in some favorite spot, overlooking the splendid
scenery of the Hudson, and seem to absorb into
his very soul the glories of creation. There alone,
or hand in hand with his almost inseparable com-
panion, he would wander over his wide acres, sit
down under the old trees, and muse in wonder
upon the things which are unseen and eternal."
Benjamin F. Butler went abroad with his two
youngest daughters in October, 1858, and died

suddcnK- at Paris, early in Xovcrnhf-r. I bad
hoped to meet him there and to pass several
weeks in his company and that of his daughters.
He was one of the most honored and beloved, as
well as useful, members of the Mercer Street
Church, a man of singular purity and refinement,
of the sweetest domestic affections, an enthusias-
tic lover of good books and good learning, dis-
tinguished equally as a law^yer, jurist, and patriotic
citizen, and to crown the whole, an humble, de-
vout Christian. In those days party feeling and
prejudice ran very high, and as Mr. Butler was
for some time a member of President Jackson's
Cabinet and a warm personal friend of the old
hero of the Hermitage, as also of Mr. Van Buren,
he did not escape either the misrepresentations
or the calumny which are so apt to be the por-
tion of even the best public men. But no one
could know him as I did without admiring and
lovinir him. If I were asked to mention uncom-
mon examples of fidelity and highmindedness,
both in the secular and religious sphere, which
during a long life have arrested my own special
attention, Mr. Butler's name would spring to my
lips among the very first. It was these noble
qualities, quite as truly as his legal ability and
what Judge Kent called his "matchless assidu-
ity," which placed him. in his twcnt)-ninth year,
by the side of John Duer and John C. Spencer

as a reviser of the Statutes of the State of New
York. One of his favorite books was Dean Mil-
man's splendid edition of the works of Horace.
Upon my return from Europe, in the autumn of
i860, his daughters presented me with the beau-
tiful volume, and I cherish it still as a very fitting
memento at once of their father's scholarly tastes
and culture, and of their own goodwill. On one
of its fly-leaves I find this inscription: " Donum
(mihi per gratum) filii mei dilecti, Gulielmi — die
primo Januarii. MDCCCLI. B. F. B." Mr. But-
ler's eloquence at the bar and on the platform
was of a very high order, while his familiar talks
at the weekly prayer-meeting and in conference
with his brethren were charming. What edify-
ing and delightful services I recall, when he and
Judge Mason and Roe Lockwood and J. B. Shef-
field and others not less spiritually gifted, along
with Dr. Skinner and Henry B, Smith, were the
speakers !

In enumerating members of the Mercer-street
congregation between 1851 and 1858, I have pur-
posely omitted the names of Thomas Denny, Roe
Lockwood, John P. Crosby, William Allen Butler,
Benjamin F. Butler, Jr., Gurdon Buck, Charles
H. Leonard, Charles White, Frederick G. Burn-
ham, J. J. Townsend, John H. Sprague, George
B, DeForest, Charles W. Woolsey, Rev. Gorham
D. Abbott, H. B. Washburn, George F. Betts,

lOO

Edwin Curtis. Horace Kiinhall. H. D. Lord, W.
O. Curtis. Rolx rt II. McCurdy, and T. H. Wool-
scy ; fur these along witli Dr. .Skinner, Professor
Henry !>. Smith and Cluirles Butler, were the
orii^^inal nucleus ami leadin*^ founders of the
Church of the Covenant. This Church may
almost be said to have been a colony, or branch.
of the Mercer Street Church. I^efore 1 went
abroad, the subject of starting^ a new congrega-
tion somewhere in the neighborhood of Murray
Hill was under earnest discussion. I find this
record under date of December 17, 1857: "Ses-
sion meeting about starting a new church up
town." The early execution of the plan was
prevented by my resignation. But it was re-
vived and carried out after my return from Eu-
rope in the autumn of i860; and I may here add
that if the new church did good work for Christ
and His cause durinijf its short existence — and
I think it did — some of its best lessons in the
blessed art were learned under the teaching and
influence of Dr. Skinner and the Mercer Street
Church.

I have spoken thus far chiefly of the men of
the concrregfation ; but how mea<»^er would have
been the fruit of their labor, had they not been
sustained and inspired continually by devout
women ; l)y such women, for example, as Mrs.
John L. Mason, Mrs. Eli W'ainwright, Mrs. Tom-

lOI

linson, and Mrs. James Stokes, not to mention
others like them. These noble women, each in
her own way and sphere, were so many veritable
institutions of Christian work and charity and
loving kindness. Nor was their loving kindness
before the public alone. How well in the case
of two of them I remember it stealing, like a
strong angel of light, into my own darkened
home and pouring itself forth upon my poor,
agonized wife and our dying "Robbie"!

I had intended, before closing, to speak of the
homes of the Mercer Street Church, as also of the
influences which rendered many of them almost
faultless patterns of all that is most excellent in
Christian family life; but I have no time to do
it. Nor, if I had, would the task be easy ; for it
would involve a faithful description of not a few
of the best and loveliest women I ever knew. It
was in the atmosphere of these homes that the
"Little Susy" books, "Henry and Bessie; or.
What They Did in the Country," "The Flower
of the Family," and " More Love to Thee, O
Christ," were written. An old Hebrew proverb
says that "the glory of children is their fathers."
This is a true saying ; but it is no less true that
the glory of children, oftentimes the greater glory
by far, is their mothers. What a different six-
tieth anniversary this would be if the foundations
of the Mercer Street Church had not been laid

I02

in a wholesome, pure, and godly family life. The
women of the congregation were not less re-
markable for the sweet household virtues which
adorned so many of its homes, than the men for
those sturdier, more public virtues that made so
many of them pillars in Church and State. In
order to depict these homes, as I remember them
forty years ago, my pencil would have to be
dipped in fairer colors than those of earth. There
was around them

. . . such a dawn
Of light ne'er seen before,
As fancy never could have drawn,
And never can restore.

The mothers, wives and daughters, whose
presence transfigured them, were fashioned by
the Eternal Spirit ; they followed Christ as their
example, and learned their lessons of household
wisdom and goodness at His feet. Some of
them still live to cheer and bless the world ; but
by far the greater number long ago were joined
to the more congenial fellowship of saints and
angels in the better country, a country of their
own, and there may we be so happy as to see
them again, face to face.

,>^^?it- ?>'^.' r**^. r'*^'^ ?+'^- w ?4'r;*?4'^'^i'^^'^i'^ vi'^vi^^ ^i"^ '?i'^ ^■i'i vi*^ v^^- f -f! $K

91tibrc^^ ftp
HMmmn ^\\m Butler.

HEN my friend and professional brother,
Mr. Davison, called on me with the kind
invitation of the Church to participate
in these commemorative exercises, I was on the
eve of an excursion to the coast of Norway. In
that romantic region the traveler finds himself
withdrawn from the wind-swept waves of the
outer ocean, and conveyed on the tranquil waters
of some mighty fjord, between towering, snow-
capped cliffs, through scenes of unsurpassed
beauty and sublimity, far inland, until his vessel
anchors by a remote hamlet, girt about with sol-
emn peaks, refreshed by perennial streams, bright
with the verdure of summer and over-arched by
a cloudless sky.

103

104

Somewhat kindred to this has seemed to me
our experience to-night. While listening to Doc-
tor Prentiss's most interesting paper, we have been
withdrawn from the agitation and unrest of our
daily strivings and activities and borne on the
smooth current of reminiscence and retrospection
to a distant and sacred spot where we have lin-
gered among memories and associations of the
past, radiant with the beaut)- of benignant lives,
bright with pure examples, and croAvned witli the
benediction of heaven.

In our Presbyterian, non-prelatical, non-litur-
gical system, the personality of the pastor is apt
to be the measure of the vitality, the prosperity,
and the power of the Church to which he minis-
ters. In the absence of a prescribed order of
worship or form of words for the administration
of the sacraments or the solemnization of mar-
riage or the burial of the dead, the minister, with
such aid as the Church Session over which he
presides may afford, is, m fact, what the Porm
of Government makes him by designation, a
bishop whose diocese is his particular Church.

When the Mercer Street Church came into ex-
istence in 1835, and called as its pastor Doctor
Thomas 1 1. Skinner from his chair as a professor
at Andover Theological Seminar)-, he at once
impressed upon the organization his own unicjue
individuality.

I05

True, he was aided by strong men, elders, dea-
cons, trustees, who were representative of what-
ever was best in the social, civic, professional and
commercial life of New York, and by a church
membership of corresponding strength. We
should not be here to-night to commemorate the
founding of that religious society if its founders
had not been noteworthy. But when we sum-
mon from the shadowy past the forms of that
goodly fellowship, the one foremost and most
conspicuous is the saintly figure of the chiefest
among them who was their minister, without
stole, or sleeves of lawn, or jeweled ring, or cro-
zier, but none the less an apostolic bishop, a wor-
thy successor, in the true spiritual line, of Leighton
and Jeremy Taylor, of Fenelon and Augustine.

The Mercer Street Church, in its relation to
Presbyterianism, was in accord with the advanced
movement which placed the so-called " New
School " upon the vantage ground of a closer
sympathy with human freedom and a more toler-
ant theology than had been possible under the
old organization, while as an individual Church it
sought to establish in this metropolitan and com-
mercial center a religious society whose distinct
and distinguishing feature should be the personal
unworldliness of its members and their fidelity to
a life of piety.

This was attempted largely through a system
14

io6

of clnircli services which, under the ministry of
Doctor Skinner, formed what, in tlie retrospect,
must be re<:arded as a remarkable instance of re-
lii^ious regulation.

More than half a century ago one of the most
brilliant of English essayists, in the pages of
the " Edinburgh Review," pointed out the resem-
blance between the "Spiritual Exercises" of Ig-
natius de Loyola, the founder of the order of the
Jesuits, and the "Rise and Progress" of Philip
Doddridge, a work published two centuries later,
of which he says " the ' Spiritual Exercises ' might
have afforded the model, so many are the points
of contact between those who, ranging themselves
round the great objects of Christianity as their
common center, occupy the most opposite posi-
tions in that expanded circle." Both the Jesuit
Loyola and the Protestant Doddridge attempted
to excite, control and regulate spiritual sensibili-
ties by initiating and carrying on a regular suc-
cession of devotional acts and experiences ; and in
the Mercer Street Church there was a striking
correspondence with the extremes of Loyola and
Doddridge, with either of whom in intensity of
earnestness and fervor of zeal Doctor Skinner
may well be compared.

This was strikingly exhibited in the services
of the Church on the weekly Day of Rest. They
began with the morning session of the Sunday

lo;

School from 9 to half-past 10, followed by the
morning service, at which the sermon occupied
an hour and sometimes more ; an afternoon ses-
sion of the Sunday School from 2 to 3 o'clock,
followed by the second service of the Church
with a sermon of from forty-five minutes to an
hour, supplemented by an evening prayer meet-
ing, at which a full attendance was expected,
where Doctor Skinner, entering from his adjoin-
ing house, in slippered feet, would add to the ex-
hortations of the elders an extemporaneous se-
quel to the sermons of the day, often rising to a
height of eloquence, but always under the stress
and strain of his sacred day of overwork. Besides
these Sunday services, there were two weekly
meetings ; a teachers' meeting ; and other ser-
vices, with occasional special and continuing ser-
vices and Fast days.

Far be it from me to institute any comparison,
favorable or adverse, between the methods to
which I have referred and those which obtain to-
day. To do so would be to venture on ground
from which laymen are warned off and on which,
so far as I know, they have no disposition to tres-
pass. What I am emphasizing is simply the fact
of the existence in the Mercer Street Church of a
condition of things all of which I saw and part
of which I was, widely differing in many respects
from our present modes of Church life, and it is.

io8

•

perhaps, due to ourselves to recall for a moment
the different state of things which made possible
that earlier religious regime and round of duties.
One thing seems to be established — that this ap-
parently excessive amount of Sunday and week-
day religious work was not injurious to the phys-
ical wellbeintr of the Church members. A total
of nineteen deaths in ten years out of a Church
membership of between seven hundred and eight
hundred, as shown by Doctor Skinner's Thanks-
giving sermon of 1845, certainly exhibits a re-
markably healthy condition.

At the time of which I have been speaking
New York was a city of less than 250,000 in-
habitants. There were still residences of lead-
ing citizens on Bowling Green, on lower Broad-
way, Park Place, St. John's Square and Bleecker
street. The population in the new neighborhood
of the Mercer Street Church included very many
of the best citizens who made up its congregation
and carried on its work. In those days it took
three or four weeks to cross the Atlantic and to
get the news even from England ; foreign travel
was the privilege of a few ; railroad construction
was in its infancy ; the telegraph had not been
invented ; the photograph and the stereopticon
were not dreamed of; the tidal wave of modern
fiction had not submerged the landmarks of the
more serious and classic English literature ; the

I09

theater was under a justly prescriptive ban ; en-
tertainments available to members of the Mercer
Street Church were very few and the teaching of
the Church was in aid and enforcement of the
strictest religious life. The line of demarcation
between the Church and the World was closely
drawn. The secular press was not in touch, as
now, with the religious movements of the day,
and in respect to them the denominational news-
papers were the almost exclusive sources of in-
formation. The broad humanitarian field upon
which all Christians now unite was then almost
an undiscovered country, and it was in what now
seems to us a narrow and restricted sphere that
there was opportunity for a far more rigid con-
formity to religious rule than would be possible
to-day.

Doctor Skinner was preeminently a man of
saintly character and life, whose whole aim was
the bringing home the truths of the Gospel to
the minds and hearts of men.

As a very marked instance of his sincerity and
singleness of purpose must be noted his willing-
ness to surrender his pulpit to the special minis-
trations of men, certainly not his equals in in-
tellectual ability, but possessed of special gifts as
evangelists. One of these was Doctor Edward
Beecher, whose death, at the age of ninety years,
occurred during the past summer, and who, when

I lO

in his prime, carried on a series of revival ser-
vices in the Mercer Street Church, Doctor Skinner
rehnquishing to him the charge of the Siinthu
services and weekly meetings and almost literall)
sitting at his feet as St. Paul sat at the feet of
Gamaliel.

Another of these was Doctor Edward N. Kirk,
who, on repeated occasions, was virtually installed
in the Mercer Street Church and became a domi-
nant factor in its religious life and work. Doctor
Kirk was a man of rare endowments and a pecu-
liar personal charm ; a man also of the highest
character and the most entire devotion to his
work. In voice and gesture and power of vivid
illustration, his attractiveness in the pulpit was
most remarkable, especially to young people.
One striking peculiarity and source of power was
the way in which, from the opening of the service
to its close, he gave to each succeeding part of it
an increasing solemnity and spirituality; as in the
ascending Songs of Degrees on the steps of the
Temple, he seemed to gain at every stage a
higher point of religious elevation and a nearer
approach to the divine presence.

No review of the work of the Mercer Street
Church would be complete without a grateful
recognition of the labors of Doctor Kirk, and
doubtless there are those present here who will
share my feeling of satisfaction thai the oppor-

1 1 1

tunity is given for this passing tribute to the
memory of one of the most faithful of the Master's
servants.

Doctor Skinner delighted in the work of these
co-laborers with himself, and gave them an un-
stinted welcome and unselfish support. He drew
a distinction between association with the tem-
porary evangelist and the permanent co-pastor.
**The associate pastorate," he once said to me,
" is an invention of the devil."

Doctor Skinner's own sermons were no excep-
tion to what, according to my observation, is the
safe rule with Presbyterian clergymen, of keeping
the sermon up to the standard of the best in-
tellects in the congregation. Thoroughly im-
bued with the spirit of the Pauline theology, his
preaching was largely devoted to its distinctive
doctrines; the divine love as the foundation of the
divine law ; the exceeding sinfulness of sin as the
transgression of the law ; the alienation of man
from his Maker ; redemption and reconciliation
through the divine-human Saviour ; the new cre-
ation and the spiritual life. These were his
favorite themes. In fact, he was somewhat im-
patient of preaching which did not specifically
set forth the Gospel warnings and invitations.
On one occasion, coming with him from a church
where we had listened to one of Horace Bush-
nell's vivid and incisive sermons, tinctured with

I I

an all-pervadin«^ humanity, I ventured a word ex-
pressive of my admiration of the discourse.
Doctor Skinner's praise and censure were both
condensed in his terse response, " it might have
been preached by Epictetus."

Certainly his sermons were amenable to the
criticism of the worthy Methodist sister, that
" Presbyterian ministers always preached as if
they were trying to prove something." He was
nothing if not logical. If his discourses were apt
to give a too attentive hearer a headache, there
was always enough to appeal to the heart, and
none who were in the habit of hearing him can
forget the earnest impressiveness with which, at
the close of his sermon, with spectacles removed
and manuscript abandoned, he would put all his
power of persuasion into an earnest appeal for
the immediate acceptance of the Gospel-offers.

Only in one direction was Doctor Skinner
conspicuous for utter incapacity, and that was in
his inability to address the little ones of his flock.
This was not from want of love of the children,
but for want of a vocabulary within their com-
prehension. Like Addison, who illustrated his
contrasted want of capacity for conversation with
the power of his pen, by saying that he could
draw on his banker for a thousand pounds, but
never had sixpence in his pocket, Doctor Skinner,
who could have instructed a council of theolo-

113

gians, was an absolute failure before an infant
class. It was among the traditions of Mercer
Street that he once felt impelled to add to his
ministrations a Saturday afternoon catechetical
class for the children, which he opened by telling
them that the " Catechism was a compendium of
divine truth," and then continued, "perhaps, chil-
dren, you do not know the meaning of that word.
Compendium is synonymous with synopsis."

Not a word has been said in eulogy of Thomas
H. Skinner, heretofore or here, which has not
been in strict accordance with the truth. His is
the exceptional case in which "praise," as Lord
Bacon says, "is the reflection of virtue."

Of the men who were the chief co-workers with
Doctor Skinner, I have time to speak of only
one, the venerable Francis Markoe, a rare type
of that peculiar saintliness of character which we
are now only too often and too truthfully com-
pelled to associate with the past ; a man beloved
by all, and especially by that large body of young
women who from one Lord's Day to another,
year after year, were taught in his Bible Class,
where the lessons of Scripture-truth were con-
veyed with a paternal tenderness and affection
which are still attested by many who were privi-
leged to hear them.

A brief mention only can be made of the pas-
torate of Dr. Prentiss. Coming as he did to

114

the Church as a stran^^cr and never having heard
Dr. Skinner preach, it was remarkable to note
how speedily and thoroug^hly he commanded
the respect, the confidence and the affection of
the people. Those of them who had been closest
in attachment and cooperation with the first pas-
tor were most devoted and loyal to Doctor Pren-
tiss, and from no one did he receive a warmer or
more undeviating support than from 1 )r. Skinner
himself, who, having accepted a Professorship in
the Union Theological Seminary, now sat under
the ministration of his successor, listening with
rapt attention, and not infrequently with emphatic
gestures of assent, to wise and profound teach-
ings, illuminated by a clear insight into the Gospel
mysteries and the problems of faith and doctrine
and destiny.

Dr. Prentiss has alluded to the formation at
an early stage of his pastorate of the Missionary
Association, which was one of the pioneer efforts
in City missions, and has been blessed with ample
results for good. Another marked success was
the movement, which he mainly initiated, on be-
half of the Union Theological Seminary for secur-
ing its first endowment. I well remember the
stirring appeal which he made in aid of that in-
stitution, to which, at the close of his pastorate in
the Church of the Covenant, he, too, was called ;
not into as calm a haven of rest as perhaps he

115

hoped, for, as we all know, the Seminary has been
sailing of late on rough waters, but so far not
showing any signals of distress. And let me
say, in passing, that whatever may be our views
(and we may differ widely with one another as to
its present unfortunate conflict with the General
Assembly), one thing is certain, that conscientious
resistance to constituted authority is such an emi-
nently Presbyterian trait that no orthodox, true,
not to say blue, Presbyterian would be willing to
part with it for fear of losing the family likeness.

Dr. Clark, who succeeded Dr. Prentiss, and
who was the last pastor during the time of
my connection with the Church, was an earnest
and able man ; the recent placing of a memorial
window in the church at Buffalo where he com-
pleted his ministerial work is a just and grateful
tribute to his worth as a man and a pastor.

But we are concerned to-night more imme-
diately with the by-gone, formative days of the
old Church of sixty years ago. Standing at this
distance of time and looking back through two
generations to the scenes and the actors we have
reviewed, a two-fold source of encouragement and
inspiration is disclosed. In one aspect, as we
put the departed in our places and measure the
difference between them and ourselves by the ad-
vance which has been made in these later years,
we cannot but feel that in the progress of Chris-

I i6

tian civilization wc are carrying forward, on ad-
vanced lines ami iiiulcr far more promising aus-
pices, the work which they had chiefly at heart.
The workmen have passed away, but the work
remains, and while we have a broader horizon, a
wider outlook and a vastly expanded field, we are
simpl)- fulfilling the divine word that other men
have labored and we have entered into their
labors. In another aspect, as we put ourselves in
th('ir places there comes to us the admonition and
example of their fidelity and singleness of pur-
pose, perhaps as a rebuke, certainly as a call to
duty:

Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust,

and to-night the air about us is full of the per-
fume wafted from that distant and yet fragrant
"garden of the Lord."

In recalling these consecrated scenes and mem-
ories we are not revisiting a mausoleum, or the
monumental cloisters or aisles of some old cathe-
dral, but rather an ancestral home, full of tender
recollections of the ministries of love. Within
those hallowed walls, which we people with the
forms of the departed, some of us uttered the
vows of allegiance to the Saviour we have sought
to follow ; there the last tributes of affection and
reverence were paid to those we most loved and

117

honored : there our children were consecrated in
baptism to the God of the Covenant ; and there,
wherever else the standard of Christian faith may
have been held with falterincr hands or feeble
grasp, it was upheld with loyal and unswerving
fidelity. All honor to those who, having kept the
faith and fought the fight and finished their course,
have gained the fadeless crown. May we not say
of them as of the good knights of old :

Their bones are dust,

Their swords are rust.

Their souls are with the saints, we trust.

J^iT.yT*y€.'/r.yT.-/r*tr.yi .yr ,AfJ. ^\*. '\*. *<• ^s". *<. >A. i\. f^.-fs :

: >*. '.M. -.^ t •: 1 -^ 1 -."■ I -^ I '^ <^ •> 1 •^•;*' ^ <i-» 'v-* 'v* 'V* '♦* '•'♦* ' v^ ' v* ' :

Vf'f

3Sit\}. %mm\ Abbott, D.D.

■ SHALL not take courage, from Mr.
S Butler's address, to talk to you an hour
I and a half. I think I could more easily
find ten ministers who are equal to preaching an
hour and a half than as many congregations
equal to listening an hour and a half There are
two attractions which have brought me here to-
night. The first grows out of the past. The
second grows out of the present. The Mercer
Street Church was the gate through which I
entered into the Christian pilgrimage. And I
have never been sorry that I so entered. It was
my first Church home, and I look back to it with
love and reverence. Ur. Prentiss was my first
pastor. In one respect, I do not agree with Mr.
Butler. He said it was wonderful that Dr. Pren-

xi8

119

tiss so soon won the love of his congregation.
It was no wonder at all. I used to think, and I
think now, that he was the St. John of the New
York pulpit. His love was the secret of his
power. I remember, when I was about seventeen
years of age, how he smoothed the way for me.
I remember how I trembled before that awful
Board of Elders. They do not seem to me quite
so awful now as they did then. And I remember
how easy he made it for me, and I have thanked
him many a time since.

I love the church, because it was my first home ;
because it was the place where I first stood up to
make public confession of Christ, whom, ever since
I can remember, I had timidly tried to follow.
It was the church where my father worshiped,
and where my uncle worshiped. My memories
of it are sweet and sacred. And so I come here
to-night, simply to say this word of love to the
old church, this word of love to the old home.

But there is another attraction which has
brought me here. It seems to me that there is
something analogous in the position of this church
and of the church of which I have the honor to be
pastor, and I want to turn from the past a mo-
ment to the present and the future. I turn from
it the more readily, because I have not been
present at your previous services, and have not
heard the remarks that have been made, and the

I 20

more readily, too, ])ccausc I am sure tliat even
if I were to attempt to heljj in this review I
should be traveling over an old field, where there
is no need to travel, and leading your thoughts
where they do not need to linger. I want to say
one word of the present and future, for a down-
town church is not a mission church, and a mis-
sion church does not and cannot fill the place of
the downtown church. We have seen the process
of transformation of the home cluircli into the
mission church go on, over and over again : busi-
ness coming in, a new and different population
coming in, the church moving uptown, and then
afterwards sending down and establishing a mis-
sion in the neighborhood from which it has gone.
And I want to say from this platform that a
Christian church never ought to move away from
a population which needs Christ. Of course, if
there are only warehouses in the vicinity, and the
population is all gone, follow it, but if there is a
population that needs Christ, there the Christian
church ouorht to remain. It is said. "You cannot
run a church in the neighborhood of Jews." I
wonder why Christ preached in Jerusalem. They
were all Jews there, and yet a Christian church
was established in Jerusalem. Suppose the neigh-
borhood is full of Roman Catholics, Why did
Paul go to Rome? Would a church in a neigh-
borhood of Roman Catholics be any more difficult

121

to carry on than a church in pagan Rome? Has
Christianity come to such a pass that it must pull
down the flag before Judaism, before Roman-
ism, before unbelief? If so, we need a new con-
version and a new baptism, and a restoration of
the old, primitive Christianity. What a strange
irony this, the doctrine that we cannot maintain
a Christian church in a poor ward in this city, but
that we ought to send missionaries to fight, single-
handed, paganism in Calcutta. I think I have a
right to say this, because I have the honor to be
the pastor of a downtown church. Not one quar-
ter of the members and pewholders of Plymouth
Church live within three quarters of a mile of the
church. The great majority of them live one,
two, three or more miles away. It takes them
from fifteen minutes to an hour to get from their
homes to that church. It is a common feeling
that people ought to go to the nearest church.
But it is not so. The camp ought to be in the
midst of the enemy, the station ought to be where
the work is to be done.

And you cannot do this work by hiring some
one to do it for you. What is a church ? Not
fluted columns. Not vaulted roofs. A church is
living men and women, Christian men and women
bound together in a household of faith. Do I
not know the difference ? I preach on Sunday
morning to Plymouth Church. I preach on
i6

122

Sunday night to a conj^reg^ation of strangers
gatherctl in I^lymoutli Meeting;- 1 louse. And
there is a great deal of difference between the
two. On Sunday morning I preach to a congre-
gation of Christian people. I know them. They
know me. They help me with their prayers, and
by their lives. They might almost go without a
sermon. I sometimes think they would be better
without it. Hut in the evening I do not know
whose faces I am looking into. They do not
know me. I do not know them. I am preaching
in a mission-house; I am not preaching in a
church, though the room is the same.

I have come here to-night, then, to urge you to
maintain with faith and courage this downtown
church. ]\Ir. Beecher once said to me that he
was like a town-pump. Any one who worked
the handle could get a drink. I am not like a
town-pump; I am like a sponge. Squeezed once,
twice, and a third time in twenty-four hours, I
become very dry. That is the case with me to-
night. I preached Sunday morning and Sunday
night. Monday morning I spent in my editorial
sanctum, writing editorials. Then I spoke at
another Church meeting before I came here, and
there is not much virtue left in me. J-Jut I came
because I could not refuse the opportunity to come
and give the right hand of fellowship to Dr. Alex-
nder, and to say that I hope that this building

123

will never come down, and that as long as there
are houses and people in this quarter of the city,
so long this Gospel flag will float, so long this
Gospel ministry will be continued. I thank you
for the opportunity of saying these few, simple,
humble words.

'R. CHAIRMAN, and dear friends: —
After the very eloquent and interesting

i words to which we have been Hstening,
I shall detain you at this late hour but a very few
minutes, and that simply to say how the Mercer
Street Church appeared to one who was a child
in that Church. We have very ancient and clas-
sic authority for smiling good-naturedly and pat-
ronizingly at the ''Laudator temporis acti,'" the
man who praises the past ; and yet I suppose
there is scarcely any one of us who would like to
lose out of his life that habit of looking tenderly
at the days of his childhood, and thinking that
the circumstances which surrounded him then
were a little brighter and a little better, in some
respects, than those of the days in which he now

125

finds himself. At any rate, I am free to confess
that, as I look back to my childhood, there seem
to me some things connected with the Mercer
Street Church which, if not better, were a little
different from anything that I have known in
churches since that date.

My earliest recollections of the Mercer Street
Church extend as far back as my memory goes.
My father lived in Eighth street, at No. 14 Clin-
ton place. Next door to us, upon the one side,
lived Gordon Burnham ; on the other side, Thomas
S. Nelson ; directly opposite Thomas Denny, with
whose sons, Thomas and John, I often played in
what was then a quiet uptown street; a few doors
away, Asa Bigelow ; and in like proximity many
others, whose names have been mentioned this
evening. The yard of our house (yards were
larger than they are now) extended back to the
yard of the Mercer Street Church, and as a boy I
used to climb up on the grape trellis (they used
to grow fruit in the back -yards of New York
houses in those days) and look over into the
churchyard with a great deal of interest. We
all know that Mercer Street Church is even now
a comely and dignified building, but then it
seemed to me to be a very cathedral, with its
turrets and its lofty tower. Its interior was or-
nate and imposing. I remember well sitting in
my father's pew, and looking up with awe at that

I 26

maq^nificent pulpit, witli its elaborate Elizabethan
architecture. It seemed to me to have a reach
and extent that were perfectly immense. I often
used to wish 1 could go up and explore the
depths of those mysterious recesses ; but when,
years after, as a young minister, I had an oppor-
tunity of doing so, I was surprised to find how
their proportions had dwindled. The church was
earl)' a noted one, and attracted visitors from
afar. Among my earliest recollections is that of
seeing there the majestic form of Daniel Web-
ster, arrayed in the traditional blue coat with
brass buttons.

The Sunday-School Mr. Butler has spoken of,
and has referred to the two sessions then held.
1 remember them well, beginning as I did in the
infant class. I have not heard any reference
made to Mr. William W. Chester, who from my
earliest recollection had charge of the infant class,
— a man of portly form and benevolent face, —
who used to take the greatest interest in all those
little children, gathered in the concentric rows of
seats, rising up one above another, so steep that
very often some urchin would come tumbling
down, as he attempted to respond to Mr. Ches-
ter's call. After I was graduated from Mr. Ches-
ter's care, I was at one time in the class of my
friend, Thomas Bond, then Thomas Bond, Junior.
1 afterwards was in the class of the distinguished

127

Benjamin F. Butler, father of our friend who has
spoken to us to-night, and of whom mention has
already been made. At a later date, as I grew
older, I had a class of my own, in which were
some boys who have become well known since.
I recall Frank Crosby, son of John P. Crosby,
and nephew of Dr. Howard Crosby. He was
afterwards killed in battle, fighting for the Union.
I remember, also, Charles M. Earle, now hardly
recognizable in the somewhat venerable Elder
who read the Scriptures to-night.

I had some little share in the early beginnings
of that magnificent work that has grown from the
Sunday-School in Avenue D, and a reminiscence
came back to me as Dr. Alexander read, from Dr.
Prentiss's narrative, of the session meeting where
it was resolved that Mr. Otis W. Booth be re-
quested to go over and help Mr. Loomis keep
order. Mr. Loomis, to whom reference was thus
made, was a classmate of mine in the Theological
Seminary, although a man much older than the
rest of us. He was from Missouri, — a short, thick-
set, athletic man of middle age, who used to re-
late interestinof stories about his adventures with
border ruffians when a missionary on the frontier.
I remember his telling me that upon one occa-
sion, at the Dry Dock Mission (when, I fear, Mr.
Otis W. Booth was not present and the police-
man not on hand), he had an unusually hard time

128

in keepinrr the hoys in order. They would not
behave themselves, and he said that finally, losing
patience, and remembering his Western experi-
ence, he seized the first boy, laid him across his
knee, and gave him a sound thrashing, and fol-
lowed in like manner with the next boy, and so
on. He said that by the time he got through
with the nearest bench there was a dead silence
all over the room. They supposed he was com-
ing down, seriatim, through the entire building in
tliat way. And so he had order there, for that
evening at least.

Dr. Skinner I remember in my childhood with
awe. My knowledge of him and my love came
at a later date. While I was a student in the
Seminary, Dr. Skinner attended the Mercer Street
Church, and he let us students see very plainly
that he was a great admirer of his successor in
that pulpit, the honored and beloved brother to
whose history of the Church we have listened
this evenincr. Dr. Skinner masked his references
in that direction in a way that he manifestly con-
sidered very wily and effective, but which was
really too childlike in its transparent simplicity
to deceive us for a moment. He would say that
the very best preacher in New York, to whom we
would better listen, if we wished to be edified, was
in a church which he would not mention, but
which he frequently attended — a churcli. in fact,

129

a very little way from where the Seminary stood.
On one occasion we plucked up courage enough
to ask him if he would not give us the name of
the preacher. He replied that he dared not do
so, for '*a little bird might carry the news that he
had made such a remark." We were not much
in doubt as to whom, he referred.

Reference has been made to Dr. Skinner's
preaching as being somewhat abstruse. I re-
member once, when speaking to me in his de-
lightful and affectionate way of his experience
in preaching, he said that he delivered a sermon
once from the text, " The Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world," and attempted to show,
in a logical way, the necessity for such eternal
predestination; and then he added, with great sim-
plicity, " But, my dear brother, I never preached
that sermon again. I found my congregation did
not follow me." Dr. Stiles, who succeeded him,
could not bear the strain of a city pastorate, but
in his earlier ministry he was sometimes truly
eloquent. I remember well one of his first ser-
mons as pastor, from the text, ''Christ in you, the
hope of glory r His first words were, "We have
here the root and the fruit of the Christian life."

A word or two ought to be said of the choir
in Mercer Street Church in those early days. It
was long under the charge of George F. Root,
afterwards so distinguished as a writer of those

I30

stirring battle-songs " 7V^?;;//, Tramp, Tramp, the
Boys arc Afarc/iiui^,"' ''Rally Round the Flaa;,
Boys,'' and many others. I remember when Mr.
Root first came there. The choir in his day, aside
from members of his own family, was almost en-
tirely voluntary, and the influence of that singing,
and the beauty and simplicity of it, as led by Mr.
Root, were truly remarkable. Let me add, in
passing, that the reminiscences of his life, which
Mr. Root published a year or two before his
death, contain many references to Mercer Street
Church that would be delightful to those who
remember the church as it was of old.

I think the most vivid impressions, perhaps,
left upon my mind, in regard to the spiritual in-
fluence of the Mercer Street Church, are con-
nected with the prayer-meeting. The prayer-
meeting was held on Friday night, if I remember
rightly, and the lecture was given on Tuesday
evening, there being two weekly meetings. The
prayer-meeting, held in the Sunday-School room,
was always conducted by one of the Elders. You
have heard the names of these Elders, and you
can imagine how interesting men of their char-
acter, of their intellectual ability, and of their
consecration, devoted to their work, would make
these meetings. A relative of mine, who had
been in the Presbyterian ministry, afterwards em-
braced the Episcopal faith, and some one once
said to him : " Don't you miss the prayer-meet-

131

ings now that you are in the Episcopal Church?"
Said he, " If the prayer-meetings could be as
they were in the dear old Mercer Street Church,
I should miss them more than I can tell. But,
unfortunately, such prayer-meetings as those are
not to be found now."

I am sure, my dear friends, that with all the
power that there was in Dr. Skinner, and in his
noble successors, the glory of the Mercer Street
Church was in the consecrated laity that upheld
and strengthened their hands. The Session of
my early recollection were John L. Mason, Geo.
P. Shipman, Anson G. Phelps, Jas. R. Gibson,
Thos. S. Nelson, Francis Markoe, Levi Coit,
Gustavus U. Richards, and my own dear father.
I remember dear Mr. Markoe, to whom reference
has been made more than once this evening.
His appearance seemed to me that of a saint,
with the halo already around his head ; and the
influence that he exerted through that Church
was of the sweetest and most enduring character.
Upon the hearts of many of those present at the
Mercer Street prayer-meetings it rests as a bene-
diction even unto the present day.

I congratulate you, my dear brethren, upon be-
ing successors of those men who then labored
and prayed, and I doubt not that you will, as
Dr. Abbott has said, hold up the banner in this
neighborhood so long as God shall grant to you
life and strength.

Tuesday, November 26.

^erbtce at 3 p, m,

Semi-Centennial of the Women's Home Mis-
sionary Society.

^erbice at 8 p» m.

Commemoration of University Place
Church.

THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY OF
UNIVERSITY PLACE CHURCH.

Historical Address by
Rev. Arthur Potts, D.D.

THE UNITED CHURCH.

Historical Address by
Rev. Robert Russell Booth, D.D.

Reception and Collation.

/fTTtrrrr

Tuesday Afternoon.

nni^fnitcnnial l\cporr of t\]c

^SUcnnnf^f ^onic jHi^?ionnn.i Society.

r has been said that " a reverent look
backward is good preparation for anoint-
ing to go forward." With the hope
of receiving inspiration for the future, we turn
back to "remember all the way which the Lord
our God hath led us " these fifty years.

In 1845, November 12th, this Society was or-
ganized with a membership of eighty, of whom
fifty-three were present at the first meeting. The
name given to the Society was " The Ladies'
Charitable Society of the Church on University
Place," and its objects were " to provide garments
for the needy in the Mission School and else-
where, and to collect money for the Bible, Tract,
and Missionary Societies, and for the Theological
Seminary at Princeton." After a few years the

«34

135

donations to the benevolent societies were made
with few exceptions at the time of the regular
church collections. " During the first winter
$175 was expended, 376 garments were dis-
tributed, 25 shirts sent to students at Princeton,
and 60 families were visited and relieved." The
Society from its beginning has sent boxes of
clothing to Western missionaries. For the first
ten years it sent a box yearly to Rev. Cyrus
Nichols, of Caledonia, Wisconsin. "In 1855,
350 garments and 100 pairs of shoes were dis-
tributed among the children of the mission schools
in Laurens street and Thirteenth street, and 50
shirts were sent to Princeton, — double the number
sent the first year." About this time $400 was
subscribed to Carroll College, in Wisconsin, se-
curing a perpetual free scholarship for one stu-
dent, which was named, for the pastor of the
church "The George Potts scholarship."

In the fall of 1861 the sympathy of the Society
was turned toward our sick soldiers in the hospi-
tals, and 666 garments and 250 books were sent
to the Sanitary Commission; also, to Port Royal,
4 packages of books and papers. In addition to
our gifts to the soldiers, 392 garments were made
and distributed to our own school, to Cottage
Place School, and to the colored school. Besides
all this, two boxes of clothing, instead of one,
were sent to the West.

136

Our interest was first awakened in the cause
of the Freedmen by an appeal from tlic " T^reed-
men's Relief Association " in the fall of 1863, and
264 garments were sent to Mississijjpi Contra-
bands.

Ever ready to lend a liclping hand to Prince-
ton, in the winter of 1865- 1866 the Society fur-
nished two rooms in Brown Hall at $150 each,
and seven others were furnished by individual
members.

In 1867, employment was furnished for seven-
teen poor women. Special subscriptions were
received for this purpose of $5, $10, or $15,
which amounts enabled the Society to give each
applicant some little assistance for ten weeks.
As it was the desire of the Society to teach the
poor to help themselves, and not to be depend-
ent, after due deliberation it was thought best to
discontinue supplying garments to the children
of the schools.

Of the period from 1 869-1 879 no records of
the Society have been found, but from \v\\i\t has
been gleaned from members at that time, its life
was very uneventful, and its work carried on in
the same channels as before, with the exception
of discontinuing the supply of shirts to Princeton
students.

In 1870 the Society received new strength by
the union of the two churches, and from the

137

warm interest manifested in its work by Dr. and
Mrs. Booth.

Pleasant mention is made in 1879 of some of
the members of " The Young Ladies' Missionary
Association " meeting, at their request, to sew
with the Society for Home Mission famihes.
Some of these are efficient members of the So-
ciety to-day. The serenity of the Society was
somewhat disturbed, December 27, 1881, by find-
ing that "thieves had entered by the end window
of the Chapel and taken some of our contribu-
tions, a piece of sheeting, and a fur-trimmed
cloak, defacing our pastor's gown." The zeal
and diligence of the Society in those days are
shown by its being recorded that on January 23,

1883, a day "clear, very cold, thermometer at
zero," fourteen ladies were present; and that in

1884, having already sent four boxes, it finished
its work in January.

In 1882, the General Assembly committed to
the women of the Church, under the name of
" The Woman's Executive Committee of Home
Missions," the Christian education of the excep-
tional population of our country.

In 1885, Mrs. Allen, of the Freedmen's Board,
addressed our Society on the needs and claims
of the Freedmen, and our interest was so aroused
in this race that, through the efforts of one of our
members, money was raised for the salary of a
18

teacher in Texas, which salary we still continue
to pay. \Vc also, through special gifts, support
a teacher in both Alaska and Utah. Since, owing
to an emj)ty treasury, we hear of schools closed
and children, eager for the Bread of Life, turned
away unfed, our Society feels the great import-
ance of advance in this branch of its work, and
calls this year for an increase of $ioo for the
school work.

In the fall of 1887 the Society left the Chapel,
where it had carried on its work for so many
years, and took up its present quarters in the
parlors of the Church House. In November,
1886, its name had been changed from "The
Ladies' Charitable Society of the Church on
University Place" to "The Women's Home Mis-
sionary Society of the Church on University
Place." At the same time a change was made in
the constitution in order to better adapt it to the
needs of the Society. It was decided at this time
to hold a monthly meeting on the last Tuesday
of the month, afterwards changed to the first
Tuesday, at which reports and missionary letters
should be read. In March, 1889, the annual
meeting was changed to the spring instead of
the fall. A nominating committee was also ap-
pointed to present the names of officers to the
Society for election. In 1889 an agent w^as ap-
pointed to solicit subscriptions for the " Home

139

Mission Monthly," which duty was transferred to
a Secretary of Literature in 1894. In 1893 a
Corresponding Secretary was added to the list
of officers.

The Society, feeling that it could not plan for
the year's work, satisfactorily, without knowing
how much money it could depend upon, adopted
the plan, last fall, of sending out envelopes for
contributions, to be called for by collectors. By
this means the amount contributed was much in-
creased, and the number of contributors more
than doubled. As any person contributing, no
matter how small an amount, is considered a
member of our society, we were able to report
last year 172 members, a larger membership than
any other society in the Presbytery.

In the fall of 1887, desiring to relieve the la-
borers at Emmanuel and Bethlehem Missions from
the burden of collecting funds for the sewing
schools and Helping Hand, the Society resolved
to raise the necessary money. From that time
we have contributed annually $225 to Emmanuel
Chapel Industrial School, and $275 to Bethlehem
Chapel. In 1890, $200 of the latter was appro-
priated to furnishing the new building at that
mission, and this sum has since been given for
general mission work at Bethlehem, and $175
to the sewing school there.

The Society in these fifty years has sent boxes

140

to missionaries all o\(T iIk; land, to our own mis-
sion schools, and to .schools in Alaska, New Mex-
ico, Utah, and among the Indians, I^Veedmen, and
Mountain Whites. The Society has been more
than repaid by the letters of grateful appreciation
it has received, and the Christian fellowship with
our fellow-laborers has been very helpful. It is
pleasant to mention here that every box sent
while .Mrs. James Brown anti Miss Lawson were
connected with the Society contained a suit of
clothes for the missionary from Mrs. Brown and
a box of candy from Miss Lawson. In these
years w^e have also had a share in furnishing the
school buildings at Mt. Pleasant, Utah ; Santa
Fe, New Mexico; and the Normal Institute, Ashe-
ville, North Carolina, besides contributing to the
school work at Howe Pasture, Virginia, as well
as among the Freedmen, Indians, and Mountain
Whites.

The Society has been blessed in the band of
noble women who have devoted their best ener-
gies to carrying on its work. Among these "the
pure and gentle character of Mrs. James Brown
is of precious memory." She was for more than
forty years closely connected with the Society,
and for many years its efficient first directress.
The Society was sadly bereaved in 1890 by the
death of its treasurer, Miss Catharine Lawson,
who lor twenty-seven years had "honorably and

faithfully " discharged the duties of her office, and
" whose uniform courtesy and kindness had en-
deared her to all." In the following year, the
Society was again called to mourn the loss of its
treasurer in the death of Miss Harriet T. Hub-
bard, who had, in the one year in which she served
the Society, "by her faithful stewardship, good
judgment, and uniform kindness won the esteem
of all." Among those who have faithfully served
the Society as officers are the names of Mrs.
Willard Parker, Mrs. Robert Russell Booth, Mrs.
J. W. Wheeler, and Mrs. Albert B. Storer, not to
mention many others. Some of these have gone
to their reward, while others are with us to this
day, who by their benefactions and devotion
have enabled the Society so successfully to carry
on its work.

We have been very much interested and in-
structed by hearing at our monthly meetings from
our missionaries of their work, and, also, by words
from the Secretaries of our Home Board, and the
ladies of the Woman's Executive Committee.
The Society is very grateful to Dr. Alexander
for devoting to it so much of his valuable time,
and it feels that it has been greatly helped and
strengthened by the sympathy and encourage-
ment he has always given it.

Two years ago, earnestly desiring the presence
and guidance of the Holy Spirit in all our Church

REV. GEORGE POTTS, D. D.

Tuesday Evening.

FIRST QUARTER-CENTURY OF THE UNIVERSITY
PLACE CHURCH.

HIS hour is one of joyful congratulations
for the University Place Church. You
do not have to boast of a descent which
would be reason for regret, but, on the other
hand, can point to a record of constant develop-
ment and progress, bearing witness to an inner
life and vigor, which reflect credit on both the
leaders and people composing this church and
congregation. It does not seem appropriate to
say of you "fifty years old," but rather, "fifty
years young." A church building may grow old,
but the church of souls need never become infirm

144

ihroiii^h age. Each generation is new and young,
I)ut each in turn has huilt on ihr. foundations hiid
l)y a past generation.

You need not be ashamed to claim, In' the law
of heredity, some of those qualities which led our
fathers to lay the substantial foundations of a pros-
perous Church.

The men who were banded together in this
enterprise fifty years ago, and the pastor they
chose to instruct and guide them, gave a character
to their work from the beginning.

Whatever growth and progress has been made
lias never been away from a pure gospel, but
rather a development along the lines of that gos-
pel. It was the law of affinity which attracted
these godly and cultured founders to their pastor,
and held them together, and both the culture and
the godliness still abound.

I do not believe in "looking mournfully into
the past" in theory, yet practically I have felt
much like one walking through a graveyard,
reading the inscriptions on tombstones, so many
were the sad reminiscences suggested by the
names on the roll, and in the records from which
I had to gather my material.

In order that this hour may not be saddened
by personal reminiscences, I will deal largely in
the achievements of our fathers.

It is my pleasant privilege to-night to give a

145

brief sketch (gathered from exceedingly brief
records) of the origin and growth of the Univer-
sity Place Church. In doing this I will avail my-
self of both written and unwritten history.

The first document appears in a small subscrip-
tion-book.

A few gentlemen, residents in the upper part
of the city of New York, met at the house of
George Griswold (on Washington Square), and
entered into the following agreement :

It is proposed and agreed by the subscribers to
purchase the ground at the corner of Wooster and
Fourth streets, or some other> and build a church
to be placed under the care of Geo. Potts, D.D.,
and the Presbytery of New York on the follow-
ing plan : —

The subscribers to be called together when the
subscription amounts to $60,000, and they shall
then proceed to determine the site and plan, ap-
point a building committee of three, one of whom
shall be treasurer, and fix on the time for organ-
izing the church and congregation and settling
the pastor. A majority in amount shall settle the
site and the plan.

It shall be so arranged that the purchase money
for ground shall not be called for until the pews
are sold ; the other part of the subscription shall
be paid when called for by the building committee.

When all expenses of building are paid, the
subscribers shall receive back their money in such
proportion as the sale of pews may yield, but each

146

subscriber may buy pews and pay for them at the
settlement to be made on account of liis subscrij)-
tion ; and the whole cost of the church shall not
exceed sixty thousand dollars.

George Griswoi.d $6000

Gardiner G. Howland 6000

Rev. Cyrus Mason 6000

John C. Green 6000

Wm. M. Halsted, $3000 if below 8th

street, if above 6000

Wm. H. Smith, if above 8th street . . 6000

Wm. Curtis Noyes 2000

Henry S. Mulligan, if not below

Bleecker nor above iith 2000

Edmund Coffin 2000

John Gibson 3000

James Brown 5000

Silas Brown 1000

Henry Coit 1000

Nathaniel G. Griswold 1000

John W. R. Leavitt 1000

Cyrus Mason, for friends, $500 Olcott,

$500 Chauncey 1000

M. Morgan 500

Benjamin Swan 1000

S. Strang 250

$56,750

On the 2 1 St of February, 1844, ground was
purchased at the corner of University Place and
Tenth Street.

A second agreement appears in the same book,
/. e. :

A Religious Corporation having been organized
in the city of New York, under the act entitled
"An act to provide for the incorporation of re-
ligious societies," passed April 5, 18 13, by the
name of the Presbyterian Church on University
Place, which corporation has purchased a site for
a church, and intends erecting a church edifice
thereon, and which said church is designed to be
placed under the care of the Rev. George Potts,
D.D. We, the undersigned, in consideration of
the premises, and that the said corporation shall
proceed to procure the legal title to the said site,
and to erect a church edifice thereon, promise
and agree to pay to said corporation the sums
set opposite to our names respectively, in such
amounts, and at such times as the same may be
required by the building committee, upon notice
of the Treasurer of said corporation, for the pur-
pose of building the said church, and paying for
the said site.

It is expressly understood that when the church
shall be completed, the pews are to be sold at
auction, or otherwise, as soon as purchasers can
be found, and at prices to be fixed by the Trus-
tees, and as fast as the proceeds can be realized,
they shall be distributed among the subscribers
hereto, in the ratio of the subscription.

It is also understood and agreed that if the
pews do not eventually sell for a sufficient sum to
pay for the site and the building, each subscriber
hereto is to bear his proportion of the loss, so that

.4iS

wlien the accounts sliall be finally adjusted, the
said corporation shall be free from debt.

It is also understood that the whole cost of the
site and buildin^r shall not exceed sixty-five thou-
sand dollars.

To this agreement the following names are attached — in autograph —
with an increase in the subscriptions.

John C. Green $7000

G. G. HowLAND 7000

George Grisvvold 7000

James Brown 7000

Wm. M. Halsted 7000

Wm. H. Smith 6000

Silas Brown 1500

Edmund Coffin 2500

Henry S. Mulligan 2500

Wm. Curtis Noyes 2500

John R. Leavitt 1000

John Gibson 4000

Nathaniel G. Griswold 1000

Benjamin J. Swan 1000

Cyrus Mason 6000

Dr. Horace Green 250

T. Strang 250

$63,500

To this second agreement another and third is
added at a later date which explains itself

third agreement.

The subscribers to the preceding agreement,
having been informed by the building committee,

149

that in order to finish the church building in a
proper manner, so as to include gas fixtures, car-
pets, cushions for the pews, an organ, and other
things necessary to make the same complete, it
may be necessary to increase the cost to seventy-
five thousand dollars, in consideration thereof, do
hereby consent, that the whole cost of the site
and building, with the matters above mentioned,
and all other expenditures of every kind, may be
increased to, but shall not exceed, seventy-five
thousand ($75,000) dollars, instead of the sum
formerly fixed upon ; and for the like considera-
tion, we do also consent and agree that new sub-
scribers to the fund for building said Church may
be obtained, with the privilege of receiving re-
payment of such subscriptions in pews therein.'

In the month of March, 1844, this building was
commenced, and on the 12th day of June, 1845,
was opened and dedicated to the worship of God.

During the progress of this structure those
who had engaged in the enterprise resolved to
invite the Rev. George Potts, pastor of the Du-
ane Street Presbyterian Church to take charge of
the organization of the contemplated church and
congregation, and for this purpose obtained the
large chapel in the New York University.

Consenting to this Dr. Potts resigned the
charge he then held, and divine worship was
commenced in the University Chapel on Sabbath,

1 Here the original subscribers' names are signed.

•
the 15th day of September, 1844, and continued
regularly, with increasing congregations, until the
new edifice was completed June 12th, 1845. ^^
the dedication of the church Dr. Potts preached
from Acts xix. 15, "Jesus I know, and Paul I
know, but who are ye?"

On tlic following October the 15th, the accom-
panying petition was addressed to the New York
Presbyter)' — then in session — signed by 158
members.

PETITION.

We the undersigned members of various Chris-
tian Churches in this city (and elsewhere) repre-
sent to the Presbytery of New York that it is our
earnest desire to unite with one another and with
the Presbytery, and be formed into a new Church
relation.

The greater part of our number have for a year
past worshiped together under the ministration
of the Rev. George Potts, D.D., in the large
chapel of the New York University, and latterly,
— since the twelfth of June last — in a new edi-
fice at the corner of University Place and Tenth
Street.

We have deemed it expedient to postpone this
request for a formal organization until the present
time, and do accordingly solicit the consideration
of the Presbytery under whose care and in whose
fellowship we hope to flourish as a Christian com-
munity. We hereby declare our sincere attach-

151

ment to the doctrines and government of the
Christian Church as maintained by the Presbytery.
We trust that our great motive in this solemn
undertaking has been, and is, the glory of the
Head of the Church ; for this reason we hope and
believe that the same divine goodness which has
brought us together, and provided for us a suit-
able place of worship free from incumbrance, will
continue to smile upon us, our friends and chil-
dren, and that the spirit of Christ will consecrate
our union, and enable us to receive for ourselves,
and dispense to others, the blessings of the gos-
pel. With respectful salutations the undersigned
submit their request to Presbytery.

New York, Oct. 7th, 1845.

Wm. M. Halsted,
Sarah J. Halsted,
E. W. J. Halsted,
Robert Halsted,
James Brown,
Eliza M. Brown,
N. L. Griswold,
Anna B. Griswold,
Jane Graham,
Benjamin J. Swan,
Mary C. Swan,
Sarah H. Green,
Louisa M. Howland,
Maria Louisa Brown,
J. W. Leavitt,
Cecelia K. Leavitt,
Cecelia K. Leavitt, Jr.,
Eliza S. Leavitt,

Henry W. Olcott,
Emily Olcott,
John Wurts,
Martha P. Wurts,
J. Salisbury Brown,
Caleb O. Halsted,
Caroline Halsted,
LuciNETTA Halsted,
Edwin J. Brown,
Sarah Brown,
Barzillai Deming,
Hannah Deming,
Jeremiah Wilbur,
Sarah R. Wilbur,
Mary Ann Maxwell,
Samuel A. Beekman,
Ann Henry,
Nathaniel Wilson,

I«i2

John A. C. Gray,
Susan M. Gray,
Henry S. Mulligan,
Sarah C. Mulligan,
Wakkman Burritt,
Grace Burritt,
Grace E. Burritt,
Catherine S. Goddard,
Julia T. Goddard,
Frances S. Comstock,
RUFUS Leavitt,
Anabella Leavitt,
Almy T. Hicks,
Henry K. Bull,
Eliza A. Bull,
Winifred Post,
Mary Post,
Frederick Somers,
Margaret Somers,
Jane McKenzie,
U. B. Brewster,
SoPHRONiA Brewster,
Charlotte Gillette,
Mary Gillette,
Martha Gillette,
Addison Hotchkiss,
Horace Green, M.D.,
Harriet Green,
Jonathan H. Douglass,
Harriet Douglass,
Amos Johnson, M.D.,
Alfred M. Coffin,
Lydia M. Coffin,
1^:mily Robb,
Matilda R. Potts,
Sarah A. Potts,

Sarah Ann Wilson,
William Curtis Noyes.
Cornelia Johnson,
Nancy Holmes,
Charles N. Fearing,
Mary F"earing,
Mrs. Sarah H. Coffin,
Catherine H. Lam den,
Jacob H. Patton,
Antoinette L. Chis-

holm,
Eliza Taylor,
Mandlebert Canfield,
Anna W. Canfield,
Elizabeth H. Miller,
Abiel Crosby,
Elizabeth Crosby,
Horace Cogswell,
Catherine Cogswell,
George McKenzie,
Julia Ann Chauncey,
William Murray,
John B. Marvin,
James H. McWilliams,
Charles C. Darling,
Adeline E. Darling,
John Van Dorax,
Parmelia W. Van Doran,
O. S. Bartles, M.D.,
Marietta Bartles,
Charles Bartles,
Lucinda Starkweather.
Marvin McNulty,
Theodore Dwight, Jr..
Ellen Boyd Dwic.nr.
A. W. Upham,

153

Anna R. Hickock,
Rachel W. Lamden,
William Hoople,
Melvin a. Southworth,
Henry W. Porter,
Lucy P. Trowbridge,
William Chauncey,
Mary Furman,
Sarah Furman,
M. C. Dickinson,
Edgar M. Brown,
Jane Brown,
Wm. Sherwood,
Lydia a. Sherwood,
Mary F. Sherwood,
Matthew P. Read,
Catherine Read,
WiLLARD Parker, M.D.,
Mary A. Parker,
Artemesia C. Burt,
Alexander McKenzie,
Mrs. N. S. Smith,
Nancy Sistare,
Frances E. Ball,
Jacqueline Hoxie,
Alex. R. Rogers,

Mary Deming,
Mary Rogers,
Elizabeth Deming,
Samuel T. Bull,
Wm. H. Smith,
Charlotte Smith,
Joseph M. Ely,
JULiETTA M. Ely,
Olivia Brown,
Sarah B. Mease,
Matilda Parsons,
O. P. Woodford,
Elizabeth A. Ruton,
Mary Requa,
E. A. Johnson,
Mary V. Johnson,
Thomas P. Stanton,
Martha Stanton,
Elizabeth B. Woodford,
Sarah Taylor,
John S. Kelly,
Anna A. Masters,
Lewis W. Seaver,
Henry J. Raymond.
Juliette Raymond,

The New York Presbytery granted this pe-
tition, appointing the 26th day of October for
the purpose of organizing the Church by the
election and ordination of Elders.

On that occasion a sermon was preached by
the Moderator, Dr. James W. Alexander, pastor
of the Duane Street Presbyterian Church, from
20

154

Matthew xviii. 2n, " Wlicn- two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I."
The following officers were then elected :

Elders. Deacons.

Wm. M. Halsted, Edwin J. Brown,

Henry W. Olcott, IIf.nkv K. IUll.

Horace Green.

The Rev- Edward D. Smith, pastor of the
Chelsea Presbyterian Church, then delivered a
charge to these newly-elected officers, and the
Rev. William Snodgrass the charge to the people,
after which the elders were ordained.

Agreeably to a resolution passed at a joint
meeting of the Elders and Trustees, and after
legal notice given in the congregation, a meeting
of the congregation was held on the evening of
November lo, 1845, in the chapel of the cluircli,
for the purpose of electing a pastor.

Rev. Gardiner Spring, D.D., pastor of the
" Brick Church " (Presbyterian), acts as moderator
of this meeting, and William Curtis Noyes is
elected secretary. On motion ofWm. M. Halsted
Dr. George Potts is nominated, and on a full
vote of those present, elected Pastor, on a salary
of $4000.

Messrs. Wm. M. Halsted and H. W. Olcott
are appointed a committee to draft the call, sign

155

it for the congregation, and prosecute the same
before the Presbytery at their next meeting.
(Signed) Gardiner Spring,

Moderator.

At a meeting of the New York Presbytery,
held November 19, 1845, this call (in usual form)
was laid before the Presbytery, and being found
in order, was placed in the hands of the Rev.
George Potts, and having been accepted by him,
the Presbytery appointed Wednesday evening,
November 26, 1845, ^^"^ his installation as Pastor
of the Presbyterian Church on University Place.
(Attested) John M. Krebs,

Stated Clerk.

On the occasion of the installation, November
26th, the Rev. Philip Milldollar, D.D., preached
the sermon, and the Rev. James W. Alexander
charged the Pastor, the Rev. M. W. Jacobus
charging the people. It was just fifty years ago
to-night that the first pastor was formally installed.

We might imagine from the above records that
the gentlemen who signed the first agreement
had no relation to each other or Dr. Potts previ-
ous to the agreement ; whereas eighty, or more
than half, of those signing the petition to Presby-
tery were previously members of the Duane
Street church, of which Dr. Potts was pastor.

Only a year before he became the pastor of this

156

church, it had \)(i(in driven from its twenty-eight
years' home in the old Cedar Street church. 1)\- the
commercial growth of the city, wliicli had natu-
rally and from the first been pushing the dwellings
to the north, and with them the churches.

Dr. Potts had been settled in this new church
less than eight years when again the pioneers in
the uptown movement began to urge the neces-
sity for another change. Their residences now
being situate between Washington Square and
Fourteenth-street, and the surroundings of the
church becoming worse every year, were the
strong arguments they urged for the change ;
they were being tempted out and driven out.

But a large majority of the congregation still
had their homes south of the church, in the then
fashionable neighborhood of Barclay, Warren,
and Chambers streets, and they naturally looked
on their church as still uptown. These were well
content to stay where they w^ere. So our foun-
ders were obliged to leave their church home be-
hind them when they resolved to embark in their
new enterprise.

They did not leave a dilapidated church build-
ing, but, on the contrary, perhaps one of the finest
structures for church purposes then in the city,
having a large seating capacity, and being fin-
ished in A?Herica?i Grecian style, with white
marble Corinthian columns ak^ng its fine front.

157

It was built before the days of the "Church
House," and consequently the only thing which
could stand for that modern improvement was a
roomy, low-ceilinged, damp basement, containing
a lecture-room, Sunday-School room, and a pas-
tor's study, where pastor, teachers, and scholars
alike became saturated with rheumatism, and
some were more than ever convinced of the wis-
dom of the change they proposed.

But it was a large and pleasant church home
our founders were leaving, and they were not
able to sell for seventy-five thousand dollars as in
the case of Cedar Street church, and rebuild for
fifty thousand dollars as in the case of Duane
Street.

They turned themselves out homeless, for they
left behind them a large and wealthy church, well
able to take care of itself, and recover without
much effort from the loss of eighty members with
their families. But in leaving so strong an organ-
ization they were obliged to leave their building
also.

They left such men as Hugh Auchincloss, Wm.
Beers, and Wm. Walker, and many others who
had the grace to call such a cultured Christian
leader as Dr. James W. Alexander for their pas-
tor. So that after the exodus, the Church was
still one of the strongest in the city.

The few men who composed the " financial

•58

motor " of tliis t.'iiterprise were thorough busi-
ness men, who knew where the)' were going, and
knew the way. They may be said to have car-
ried thai Cliurch in their pockets on this occasion.

The movement was in the line of church ex-
tension, but brought about by the providence of
God, rather than man's intention.

So far from the call to Dr. Potts being a sec-
ond thouo^ht, it was understood from the first that
he was to gather the Church and be its pastor.

In finances, it was not so much a question of
how much money they could raise, as how much
would be needed to accomplish their object.

At the first meeting of a few of the leading
spirits, nineteen men subscribed about the sum
of fifty-seven thousand dollars; on a closer esti-
mate they extend the cost of the building to
sixty-five thousand dollars, and on a second re-
port from their committee they add ten thousand
more. It seemed simply a question of how much
was needed.

There was nothing little about the methods of
raising the money. It was just giving.

These church builders were men of finance and
business, whose brains made their money, and
who were accustomed to command hands to exe-
cute, and they carried the same [)rinciple into
their church work. They worked by giving.

Everything was done in a business-like and
simple way.

159

Did they want an architect? The man who
designed Trinity Church would do, so they se-
lected Mr. Upjohn without competition — and he
was afterward accustomed to say that this church
was one of his best pieces of work. The builder
was selected in the same way ; to Mr. Pugsley
the contract was awarded, and his work when
completed was pronounced "Well done."

On this spot where the church now stands was
a hill called " Green Hill," dear to the memory
of boys as a place for coasting in winter, and the
place used to ring with their boyish voices and
merry laughter.

Mr. Upjohn intended to give our fathers a beau-
tiful church. And they had not the asceticism
of St. Pachomius, who, on entering a new church
he had designed, and being conscious of his great
pride and delight in its beauty, ordered the work-
men to pull the columns out of perpendicular, so
as to humble his pride. Our founders believed
in beautifying the House of God, and they made
it beautiful.

Mr. Upjohn had provided a place for a bell,
but the absence of a bell was not the result of
any economical motive so much as a courtesy to
residents in the immediate neighborhood.

But the completion of this building was but the
beginning of the Church, which has been build-
ing with living stones all through the past fifty
years.

i6o

In those days seventy-five thousand dollars
was a large sum to expend on a cluircli huildin*^,
but so far from exhausting them, it seemed rather
to be the key-note of their contributions to the
Boards of the Church, which increased rather
than diminished in amount.

Besides these regular contributions, they main-
tained during these early years several mission
schools, among which were those of Sixth Ave-
nue. Eleventh and Laurens streets. At least one
of these missions became a mission cluirch.

The Rev. Edward Payson and Mr. Marvin
Briggs had charge of these missions at different
times.

The Church Sabbath School was not the least
of the means of grace to this Church in its early
days, for out of the congregation all of the schools
were well supplied with faithful superintendents
and teachers. It was a member of this Church,
who, as an instrument in God's hand, suggested
and urired the formation of the Younsf Men's
Christian Association in New York City.

The association had its conception in a small
prayer-meeting of seven Christian young men,
four of whom were Presbyterians and members
of this Church. This meeting-, after increasino-
its members, took all the preliminary steps ne-
cessary to make the great meeting held in the
Lecture Room of the Mercer Street church, a

i6i

complete success. It was owing to the thor-
oughly catholic views of Dr. Potts, that the per-
sons selected to preside and take charge of the
first public meeting were men who gave this
meeting an entirely unsectarian character.

The proverb "Blessed are the people who have
no annals " may well be applied to this Church.
Its life has been an era of peace. It has always
been happy in selecting men to take charge of
both its spiritual and temporal matters who were
actuated by a spirit of harmony. That spirit has
been a blessed inheritance to the Church.

The prayer of their leader was answered when
he died in the harness after more than forty years
of constant pastoral work.

His life was so much the life of the Church
that it seems fitting to place in this record the
following tribute from his people:

Memorial of the Rev. George Potts, D.D. Ex-
tract f^'oin the Sessional Record of the Presby-
terian Church on University Place, New York.

It having pleased God to remove by death the
Rev. George Potts, D.D., pastor of the University
Place Church, the session deem it proper to place
on their minutes, in expression of their high es-
timate and grateful recollection of him, a brief
memorial of his life and character.

Dr. George Potts was born in Philadelphia,
March 15th, 1802, of parents who were prepared
21

i6:

hy their high religious character to fill toward
liini tlie office of Christian <jiiidcs and instructors.

His father was the pastor of a Presbyterian
Church in that city, and much esteemed for his
piety and usefulness.

The son was accordin<^ly trained in the know-
ledge and fear of God, and while yet a youth be-
came the subject of the renewing power of the
Holy Spirit, and made a public profession of his
faith in Christ.

He entered the University of Pennsylvania in
his fourteenth year in the Sophomore class, grad-
uating at the age of seventeen, and immediately
entering the Theological Seminary at Princeton,
N. J., then under the care of Dr. Archibald Alex-
ander.

Earl)- in his twenty-first year he was graduated
from his theological course, and was licensed to
preach the same year.

Early in his twenty-second year Dr. Archibald
Alexander sent him to the Presbyterian Church
at Natchez, Miss., in answer to their request for
a pastor, when they immediately placed a call in
his hands.

He remained in charge of this church for about
thirteen years, during which period his powers
were matured, his manners as a preacher formed,
and his rank and influence as a gifted and faithful
minister of the word established.

At the beginning of his thirty-sixth year he
was called to the pastorate of the Duanc Street
church in this city, where he continued with
great acceptableness and usefulness until 1845,

1 63

when the removal of many of the families of the
Duane Street congregation to the neighborhood
of Washington Square led them and others to
unite in the organization of a separate Church
and the erection of the University Place edifice,
in which they have continued to worship.

His installation as pastor of the Church took
place in November, 1846.

This has been the scene of his most energetic
and effective labors. A large congregation being
soon formed, eminently united in their doctrinal
views, harmonious in their social relations, and
warmly attached to their pastor, a season of great
prosperity followed.

The audiences were large, many additions were
made to the Church, and the whole attitude of the
pastor, the Church, and the congregation, in their
several spheres, was highly gratifying and en-
couraging.

As Dr. Potts enjoyed for a considerable period
uninterrupted health, he performed the duties of
his ministry, in the pulpit and in the congre-
gation, with but little aid from others.

He here found a sphere suited to his eminent
talents, his large culture, his pleasure in his pulpit
work, his appreciation of the affection of his peo-
ple, and his sympathy with them in their enjoy-
ments and their sorrows.

He held a high rank as a preacher, was of a
commanding presence, had a full, rich voice, and
a distinct, emphatic, and earnest elocution ; he
held the attention and swayed the affections of
his hearers with ease and power.

164

His discourses were always on subjects that
are proper to the Christian preaclicr, and of
variety in their themes, enil)racing- the great
doctrines of the Bible, the duties it enjoins, its
consolations, its warnings, its promises, and its
revelations of the future, couched in a style sim-
ple, clear, and exact, embodying fresh and glow-
ing thoughts and apt illustrations. It was a high
privilege to listen to his faithful instructions and
awe-inspiring appeals and admonitions.

Who could fail to be impressed with the suit-
ableness, the truthfulness, and the beauty of his
delineations of the attributes and rights of God,
and the fidelity and earnestness of the effect with
which he unfolded and proclaimed Christ's work
for the redemption of men ?

From whose heart can the impressions ever
fLide that were made by the unrivaled freshness,
variety, copiousness, and fervor of his confessions,
his prayers, his thanksgivings, and the whole cir-
cle of his devotional utterances? In whom can
the memory ever die of the elevation and pathos
that characterized his addresses on Sacramental
occasions ? Who can forget his faithfulness, and
prudence, his delicacy and tenderness, at the bed-
side of the sick and at the obsequies of the dead ?
Happy were they who enjoyed his ministry dur-
ing that vigorous and fervid period.

After a long, laborious, and prosperous course,
impaired health began occasionally to withhold
him from the pulpit; but it was not until the win-
ter of the present year that his disease assumed
a threatening form. He preached his last dis-

i65

course at the commemoration of Christ's death in
May; and having — at his request — been released
for a period from the cares of his office, that he
might seek restoration, in a letter which was read
from the pulpit he bade his loved people an affec-
tionate and impressive farewell for the season.

How little was it then thought that that was
the last act of his ministry.

Instead, however, of finding relief in the re-
mission of labor, his illness gradually took a more
discourao^ing- form, and at lengrth terminated in
death on Thursday, the fifteenth of September,
eighteen hundred and sixty-four, in the sixty-
third year of his age.

His obsequies took place on Monday, the nine-
teenth instant, and his burial at Greenwood on
the following morning.

His departure casts a shadow on our hearts.
We grieve that we are to see his face no more,
that we are not again to hear the cheering and
persuasive accents of his voice.

Blessed be God for the assurance that when
our summons from this vale of sorrows comes we
shall meet his greeting at the threshold of heaven,
and share with him the joys and glories of an im-
mortal life.

In testimony of our deep sympathy with the
family of the deceased, we present them a copy
of this memorial.

Signed,

Dr. David N. Lord,
Horace Green,
C. C. Darling.

1 66

December 8th, 1864, at a meeting of the con-
gregation, a call was unanimously extended to the
Rev. Joseph T. Duryea. Mr. Duryea could not
see his way clear to accept the call, and on
April 6th, 1865, a call was extended to Rev.
.Alfred H. Kellogg, of Easton, Pa.

Presbytery appointed May 3, 1865, for his
installation, appointing Rev. Joseph Greenleaf
moderator.

The sermon was assigned to Rev. Lyman H.
Atwater, D.D., of Princeton;

The charge to the pastor to the Rev. William
Henry Green, D.D., of Princeton; and

The charge to the people to the Rev. John
Thompson, D.D., of N. Y.

Mr. Kellogg began his pastorate on the seventh
of May, 1865.

I may mention here an interesting episode in
Mr. Kellogg's ministry.

Soon after his installation Mr. Kellogg was
sent by Presbytery to ordain the Rev. Arthur
Potts, who was successfully gathering a congrega-
tion in the Twenty-third Ward (Morrisania). On
his return to his Church (at a prayer-meeting) he
called their attention to the needs of this young
Church, and recommended them to remove the
debt of the Church and make it a memorial to
their late pastor, instead of erecting an expensive
and useless monument in Greenwood.

167

In response to this suggestion they raised nine
thousand dollars, which placed the Church out
of debt.

The record of this transaction is to be found on
the minutes of the Presbytery of Westchester,
which recognized the Church under its legal title,
"The Potts Memorial."

But a faithful pastor s memorial cannot be
built in wood, or brick, or stone. It is written in
lives, in impressions made on the fleshly tablets
of human hearts, in the blessed dead who die in
the Lord, in the living who hold fast their faith.

Who can look unmoved on the passage of
time, whether we mark it off in centuries, or
years, or days ?

Fifty years! — of precious hours, of days, of
opportunities.

The minutes run like sands in an hour-glass,
more precious than silver or gold or diamonds.

But the past is not only to be subdivided into
sections of time, but the years just ended stand for
fifty years of many human lives. What hopes
and fears ; what agonies and groans ; what joys
and sorrows ; what records of disaster and sudden
calamity ; what achievements and defeats ; how
many births and deaths ; how many souls won
for Christ ; how many gone out in darkness !

In the land of the dead an hour-glass has
been placed as a symbol that the sands of a life

1 68

have run out. l)iit it is far better to place such a
glass in living hands reminding tlicm of the rapid
passage of time.

We have looked back on the past years, and
now \vc turn the glass, and the running minutes
hcgiyi to incasicre out the fift)- years to come.
Past achievements must not limit the horizon
of purpose.

When Spain once thought she stood on the
western boundary of the world, and her Gibraltar
was the gateway to that world, she stamped her
coin with the "Pillars of Hercules" and the leg-
end, " Ne plus ultra," but after the faith and per-
severance of Columbus had dispelled that false
impression and opened a new world, she altered
the legend to "plus ultra,"

Let this be our inspiration to-night; let the past
only nerve us for still greater achievements.

REV. ROBERT RUSSELL BOOTH, D. D.. LL. D.

fi^ ^-V ^ ^h.

r'S^> /-^^,'^ /—>,•/-> «^T/';Y

d^ ^i^ f^i^ ^1^ ^ ^ ^ip. ^b

^ vT^ ^^ ^T^ ^T^ ^T^ ^T^ ^T^ vT^ .^ \T^ ^T/ %^ vT^ ^T- ^T/ vT/ vT. ;?. .fJ

3^b- 3^obcrt iiuBj^dl Boort), 2D.2D., HH.SD.

Z>r. Alexander and DeaT- Friends of the United
Church :

AM greatly gratified and honored by
being permitted to be present with you
to-night and to attempt the recital of
some of those events which were connected with
the establishment of this Church, in whose past,
as well as in whose present, so many are inter-
ested. I have with me here to-night many inter-
esting memoranda in connection with the years
that are past. These will be at your service when
the annals of this great celebration shall be writ-
ten, and, if not included in those records, may
be kept as a memorial in the archives of the
Church. It was a pleasure to me in the olden

2 2 169

I70

time to make these records, and they were pre-
served. I shall not attempt to read them here
to-ni(;ht, nor will I read that which I have writ-
ten of the records of the united Church, for the
reason that the time is now far spent, and that
we have in anticipation a collation and a social
"fatherinof, which will be a feature of essential in-
terest in the service of this evening-. Of these
records of the past I might say as tlie Apostle
John says in the closing verse of his Gospel : that
the "world would scarce contain the books that
might be written." Certainly I might say that all
the hours of this evening would not suffice to
tell the story of this Church. It must of necessity
be greatly condensed and only the main features
presented. I remember some one in Washing-
ton, in connection with the editorial work of a
certain newspaper, proposed a prize for whoever
would present for publication a history of the
Continent of America in relation to the United
States, within the space of a hundred words. An
individual whose name is not given won this
prize. I have his composition in my possession
now, and have read it in five and forty seconds,
and it fairly comprehended the essential features
of this amazing history. Such condensation is
possible and is impressive, and yet we desire,
concerning matters in which we are interested,
ampler details. It is recorded of Napoleon Bona-

171

parte that, in his prison at St. Helena, he busied
himself in contemplating the magnitude of the
place which he would occupy for years to come.
"Now," he said, "the world is almost filled with
the fame of my doings ; in a little while a volume
will suffice to describe them ; in a little while a
page will be adequate, and again in a little while
my name alone will stand, even as now the name
of Charlemagne scarcely attracts the attention of
the reader." So the memories of the past as we
consider them in such a scene as this are moving
and stimulating, and they are most precious, yet
we know that they will be transient, and many of
them, with the impressions of the evening, will
quickly pass away. It is well, therefore, that we
should pause, on such occasions, and, as far as
possible, should seal those memories afresh on
our hearts as we draw them from the recesses
of the past.

It is now five and thirty years since my rela-
tions to this part of our city were first established,
or rather just at the beginning of the year 1861.
It is essential to the truth of history that I should
give some account of the events occurring at that
time and subsequently, in order that an impres-
sion which was created by the utterances of last
evening may be corrected. It is cause for con-
gratulation that the history of that Church did
not conclude with the pastorate of the Rev. Dr.

172

•

Clarke. After that time there were many years
of service and not a few achievements which have
left their fruit, and yet at the outset the work was
not one of promise. When I came to the Mercer
Street Church to begin my labors as pastor, I had
much reason for discouragement. I found all the
evidences of a preparation for removal. The at-
tractions of that distant part of our city known as
" Murray Hill " (near Thirty-fifth street) had se-
duced the affections of not a few of the people.
They were making ready to depart, and some had
already gone. At the first meeting of the Ses-
sion which I attended we dismissed one hundred
and four of the old members of the Mercer Street
Church, many of them persons who had taken
part in its great and glorious history. Some of
those whose names were inscribed upon my call
were already pledged to go, and I well remember
that I had a heavy heart as I stood up that night
to take upon me the promises which our Rules
of Discipline require, and enter upon a service
which seemed to offer so little prospect of suc-
cess. It seemed an ominous event that, in the
midst of the proceedings, all the lights went out.
Yet this event was not really symbolical of that
which was to come, for it was my great fortune to
have around me at that very time some men who
well illustrated the old saying of John Selden,
that "Wisdom is a different thing from learning.

173

and that all the learning in the world will not
make men wise." If there were lacking some
who had been distinguished in the past for great
things, there were still not a few wise men who
remained. They were like the men described in
Scripture who knew how to sling with the right
hand and the left; men who had the courage that
was adequate to the conditions, and who were re-
solute to carry on that work under God's bless-
ing. Surrounded by these men, some of whom I
see here to-night, we undertook that work. It
was begun amid the thunders of the cannon that
saluted the election of Abraham Lincoln, and
though we knew it not, proclaimed the oncoming
of the war. It was in the midst of these saluta-
tions that we plunged into the serious question
whether the Mercer Street Church, which had
been heretofore the home of so much that was in
sympathy with Southern life and Southern evan-
gelism, should take its stand for the Union, or
should hold its peace in that great exigency.
Now it is not much, speaking of a time so far
gone by, to say that the stand that was taken by
the pastor and sustained in the end by the signa-
ture of every man in all that congregation, settled
matters for the cause of right, so far as the Fif-
teenth Ward was concerned, and speedily re-
sulted in filling the Church with adherents who
chose to be where there was no question concern-

174

ing the supremacy of our flag and the mainten-
ance of our National Union.

The years that followed were blessed years in-
deed. What a company of men were gathered
around me ; what support and comfort and un-
faltering fidelity they rendered. Some of them
are here to-night, among whom )ou find your
most efficient helpers. Some men of that con-
gregation have crossed from the distant shores
of Jersey to be present with us; some are in the
glory of the other world. I take pride and pleas-
ure (since he is not here to-night) in laying the
hand of recognition and of blessing on the head
of Thomas Bond, now called the " Father" of this
Session, who never failed nor flinched nor lacked
in cheer and comfort, and who, on the whole, came
nearer to the pastor in the ministries of sympa-
thy than any other man. Yet, joined with him
and such as he, there was a company of great
and noble men whose names live in ni)- mem-
ory, though I will not attempt to cite them here
to-night.

And now I will give, as briefly as I can, the
record of that method by which, in the provi-
dence of God, that old church was perpetuated
and joined in the spiritual union with this other
church in which we are now assembled, whose
records and achievements have been so clearly
presented to you by our brother, Ur. Potts, to-

175

night. How shall we get at this story ? Well,
we will begin with the greater interest that af-
fected the location of the churches. I should say
that the changes which were in progress in the
neighborhood had already begun to be apparent
early after the closing of the war. At one time
the Mercer Street Church had thirty families in
Clinton Place and twice as many more in the
immediate neighborhood, but the changes of resi-
dence were continually diminishing these num-
bers, and in proportion as they resided at a dis-
tance their attendance became more uncertain.
In view of these conditions it seemed wise, in the
latter portion of this decade, that the Church
should seek to change its locality. And here the
hand of God was shown in its overruling and di-
recting power, as it is so often shown when men
seek simply to do their duty. At that juncture it
was a withholding and a hindering hand. Some
of you remember, brethren, how hard we tried to
get away from this locality and establish ourselves
up town, but could not go. We traveled far and
wide, looking for a site. On one occasion Mr.
R. H. L. Townsend loaned his horses and car-
riage, and, after a long exploration, we came to
the corner of Forty-fifth street and Madison ave-
nue, and there were met by a gentleman who has
since obtained some prominence in the great or-
ganization that has since controlled our city, and

176

he offered to let us liave those lots, excavated and
ready for l)uildini;. for fifty thousand dollars. We
declined the offer because the site was not al-
together suitable or attractive, and yet it was
the site on which St. P>artholomew's Church now
stands. In fact, our eyes were blinded because
we had other work to do. Then we strove to ob-
tain a lease of land under the ownership of Col-
umbia College, but after a time tliat offer was
declined because the corporation did not desire a
church upon its land. So we were left to "dree
our weird " and bear our burden as best we could.
And things ran along still in the expectation (as
our brother Bond said) that sooner or later the
cloud would lift, as it did before in the pathway
of old Israel, and God would show us what to
do. Meanwhile the reunion of the two branches
of the Presbyterian Church had been effected, the
Old and New School had come together in one
organization. It was agreed that this union
could be accomplished upon the following basis :
"The union shall be effected on the doctrinal
and ecclesiastical basis of our common standards.
The Scripture of the Old and New Testaments
shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of
God and the only infallible rule of faith and prac-
tice. The Confession of Faith shall continue to
be sincerely received and adopted as containing
the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip-

177

ture, and the government and discipline of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States shall
be approved as containing the principles and
rules of our policy." After this reunion had been
effected, in Pittsburg, on the 12th of November,
1869, a union meeting of Presbyterians residing
in this neio^hborhood was held in this church to
commemorate this great event, and on Thanks-
giving Day of the following week, by invitation
of the pastor and session of the University Place
Church, the two congregations united in this
place in worship and thanksgiving to Almighty
God. Doubtless the effect of these acts of inter-
course was perceptible in the subsequent results.
I well remember that at that Thanksgiving ser-
vice I was asked by Pastor Kellogg to read from
the chapter in Nehemiah which contains the word
"Booth" something like twenty times, and each
time it is indicated as a blessing.

At this point I desire to say a word in refer-
ence to our brother the Rev. A. H. Kellogg, then
pastor of the University Place Church. Full jus-
tice has never been done to that eloquent and
godly minister, in that relation which we are now
considering, namely, as to the process by which
these two Churches came to be united. It was
not from any sense of failure on his part nor from
any reason of spiritual discouragement, but in or-
der that the union of the two churches might be

178

effected, that he relinquished this \(:ry attractive
Churcli and went from tlicin to another field of
labor, leaving behind him the earnest exhortation
to the brethren that they should not long delay
this consolidation. As a result of these influ-
ences, I was invited during that winter, or early
in the spring, to call upon Mr. John C. Green,
accompanied by Mr. James Brown, my friend, and
there we talked the matter over. I remember
that I proposed to resign and leave the position
for some one else who might be called by the
united Church. Again the matter waited for
awhile, and finally a committee, consisting of Mr.
Green, Mr. Brown, and Mr. David M. Lord, were
appointed to confer with myself and my Session
to determine the methods by which the union
could be effected if agreeable to both. The con-
gregation of the Mercer Street Church carefully
considered the proposition and decided to accept
it, relinquishing their own church building and
entering into a union with the congregation of
this church. The basis of the union, as finally
agreed upon, was that the two Churches should
be consolidated by the Presbytery of New York ;
that the two Sessions and the two Boards of
Deacons should be united, and that the Board of
Trustees of the University Place Church should
be continued in their office, vacancies to be filled
by the new congregation as from time to time

179

they occurred ; and all the property of the Mer-
cer Street Church to be vested in this Board. It
was also provided that the seats in the Univer-
sity Place Church which were not owned by in-
dividuals should be sold and payment made for
them in scrip, which had been assigned to the pew-
owners in the Mercer Street Church, this scrip
being given for the proportionate part of the sum
paid for that church by Commodore Vanderbilt,
who had bought it for the use of the Church of
the Strangers, then enjoying the ministry of the
Rev. Dr. Deems. It was also provided that the
hymn-book to be used by the new Church should
be chosen by the United Session. These mat-
ters are mentioned to indicate the nature of the
preliminary arrangements, and it must be acknow-
ledged that time, care, and patience, were required
for their adjustment. It is noticeable that noth-
ing was provided in regard to the doctrinal basis
of the new organization, it being well understood
that the basis so clearly laid down in the plan of
union of the two Assemblies was a sufficient and
honorable guarantee. These preliminaries hav-
ing been settled, the next step (and a painful one
it was) was the closing of Presbyterian worship
in the venerable and beloved Mercer Street
Church. On the closing Sabbath of July, 1870,
the last services were held in that building, and
I, as pastor, preached from the text: "Peace be

i8o

within til)- walls ; prosperity within thy palaces."
Psalm cxxii, 7, 8. Tlie following extract may be
cited as bearin^,'^ upon the occasion :

" We are brought to-chi)-, by the good provi-
dence of God, into a position in which these
thoughts concerning the true peace and pros-
perity of tlie Church of Christ have a peculiar
relation to our past history and to our future
prospects. We come for the last time to worship
together as a Church in this house of God. It is
now thirty-five years since a little company of
twenty-six persons was organized by the Ihird
Presbytery of New York, and began to assemble
for worship under the name of the Mercer Street
Church. A few months after, they took posses-
sion of this building, in which from year to year
the ordinances of the Gospel have been adminis-
tered and the blessings of a covenant-keeping
God have been enjoyed.

" It is not my purpose to enter at this time
into any details of the long, and varied, and deep-
ly-interesting history of these years. Had the
season in which we hold these closing services
favored the assembling of the congregation, now
in great part so widely scattered, it might have
been wise for us to signalize the event by placing
a special emphasis upon the historic memories
which cluster here, by reviving with minuteness
the incidents of spiritual life, the toils and hopes
and joys which have marked our past career, and
by passing in review, as was done a few years
ago, the dear and honored names of many who

I«I

have gone from this scene of labor to the rewards
of Heaven.

" But while I purpose no such extended history
in the present circumstances, the occasion calls for
some recognition of the fact that we are passing,
as a Church, from our birthplace and our early
home into new and greatly changed relations ;
and, while the change is one which we accept
with approving judgments, we cannot but feel a
sense of sadness at the inevitable parting from
scenes which we have the strongest reason to
hold dear.

" In looking backward over the years during
which our Church has worshiped here, it is per-
mitted to us to recognize a steadfast adherence
to the principles of its profession, and a large
measure of success in securing the ends for which
it was established. It has been, with scarce any
qualification, a devoted, liberal, successful, peace-
ful, and prosperous Church."

The preacher referred to a former historical
discourse, and reiterated the traits then specified,
viz. :

^^ First. The harmonious spirit which has per-
vaded its life from the beginning ;

" Second. The constant presence of the Holy
Spirit in his renewing and sanctifying work ;

" Third. The prominence of doctrinal truth in
the ministrations of its successive pastors, espe-
cially of those doctrines which involve the free
grace of the glorious Gospel ;

l82

''Fourth. The large measure of primitive, apos-
tolic piety which has marked many of its members;

''Fifth. This Church has been signally favored
of God in the possession of a large number of
Christians who have been eminent for their natu-
ral and spiritual gifts, and who have been burn-
ing and shining lights in the world.

"It is, no doubt, to many of us, one of the sad
features of the exodus we are now making that
we are compelled to leave the scenes which, by so
many sweet and hallowed associations, bring up
before us such names as those of Mason, Phelps,
Markoe, Tomlinson, Butler, Bull, Sedgwick, Ches-
ter, Magie, Wainwright, Sprague, Boorman, and
a hundred others, who were not only eminent for
piety and usefulness, but also filled conspicuous
places in this community. Here they lived and
labored, and the sweet fragrance of their virtues
lingers still within these hallowed walls."

The preacher next referred to the large degree
of Christian liberality which has ever marked this
people, and which has had much to do with the
building up of what was, until lately, our branch
of the Presbyterian Church, and with the pro-
gress of the Redeemer's kingdom on the earth.
During the thirty-five years under review, the
plate collections have amounted to $300,000.00.^

This Church was foremost in the w^ork of city
evangelization, which has now assumed such large
proportions. Commenced among us under the

1 One of the elders of this church who lins looked over its records as-
sures us that the aggregate of its contributions exceeds a million of dollars !

i83

influence of Judge Mason, that work has been a
grand success, and its extent and faithfulness have
not diminished even to the present time. This
Church has wrought out a noble record on this
ground, and all who love it can look upon the
past with thanksgiving and rejoicing. The agen-
cies and influences which have been sent forth
from this center have no limit in time, and I
doubt not will be directly connected with the
final triumph of the Gospel.

A numerical statement of the growth and pres-
ent condition of the Church cannot in the present
circumstances be given with accuracy, but it will
approximate these figures :

Additions on profession 900

By certificate from other Churches . 1,400

Total, about 2,300

There are about 600 on the rolls of the Church
at present, and 450 in active fellowship.

The speaker, in conclusion, reminded his hear-
ers, some of whom could scarcely restrain their
feelings during portions of the discourse, of the
broad difference of the Church of Christ as a
living organism, a body called and quickened by
the Holy Spirit and united with the Lord in faith-
ful fellowship, and the building in which such a
body meets for work and worship.

" To give light and to save life," was the inscrip-
tion on the base of the Eddystone Lighthouse.

1 84

The Church of Christ must fmd its liij^dicst ends
and fullest joy not in clinging to old walls and long
familiar seats, however dear they may be, but in
adapting itself to those conditions which extend its
usefulness, perpetuate its life, augment its power,
and accomplish its Divine work. It is of far more
importance to this Church of ours to live, to con-
tinue to put forth its energies, and, if God's bless-
ing be upon it, to make a lasting impression upon
this neighborhood, than it is for us to indulge the
natural attachment which binds us to this revered
place. The problem which has occupied our
thoughts for the past two years has been solved
by a higher wisdom than our own. We all feel
it to be so, and the arranorements into which we
are about to enter are in the highest degree ac-
ceptable and auspicious. While we remain upon
this field where we have so long labored, and
which for many reasons I regard as one full of
promise for the future, we are to find a new
home in an attractive sanctuary, among Christian
brethren who have already won our confidence
and love, and with whom we anticipate the peace
and prosperity of which our text has told us.
The union of these two Churches will, we confi-
dently hope, be real, and vital, and affectionate,
standing forth among the Churches of the city as
a visible symbol of the reality and power of that
denominational reunion which has now been so
happily accomplished in our land.

" Nor should it be left out of the account that
in this change we do not forsake our sanctuary to
turn it over to unhallowed or to common uses.

i85

It is to be a sanctuary still, and our best wishes
and our prayers will follow those who, under the
guidance of an eminent and godly pastor, come
after us to take possession here, and to continue
to cultivate the field around it. That all that has
been prosperous and peaceful in our occupation
may be realized by them, and more a hundred-
fold under God's blessing, will surely be the uni-
ted aspiration of each one of us.

** It is in this spirit then, dear brethren, that we
would say farewell to-day to this dear old sanc-
tuary home, where so many of our fathers have
labored and entered into rest; where so many of
our children have been baptized and brought in-
to the fold of Christ ; where so many Christian
works have been begun, continued, and ended, in
the Lord ; where so many strangers have found
a friendly shelter, and so many prodigals have re-
turned to their Father's house. It is dear to us
by a thousand precious associations, and we shall
always love its name and hold the memory of it
in our hearts.

"But we would go out with confidence that
God leads us on for good to come. I seem to
realize an application of the prophet's promise to
this experience of ours to-day : ' Ye shall go out
with joy and be led forth with peace ; the moun-
tains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands.' "

The University Place Church was re-opened to
receive its new congregation on the eighteenth
24

i86

of September. The text for tlie occasion was :
"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" The
Sabbath-school of the Mercer Street Church came
from its room in a procession and joined itself to
the Sabbath-school which was gathered here. By
action of the Presbytery, the two Churches had
been united on the sixteenth of September previ-
ously, and on the twenty-second of September a
call was extended by the united congregation to
the Rev. Dr. Robert R. Booth to become the
pastor. On October ninth the first communion
was celebrated with an attendance that filled the
house. On the thirtieth of October I was in-
stalled, the Rev. Dr. Adams preaching the ser-
mon, and the Rev. Doctors Paxton, Prentiss,
Hutton, and Murray taking part in the services.
The number of members of the united Church at
that time was 716. Thus the work was accom-
plished, not without some trial and, possibly, at
some points, little friction, but with evident to-
kens of the Divine approval. From that time on
the union was real. The fellowship was com-
plete. We became one in the Lord. The seamy
side was turned under, and we never saw it again
or heard of it. There never was a quarrel, there
never was confusion, there was never a difference
in the Session for all those thirteen years. It was
a scene of harmony and fellowship where brethren
dwelt together in the love of Christ. The con-

i87

gregation settled down into the new conditions
with evident desire to seek the things which
make for peace. The Church was full to over-
flowing and the financial interests were managed
without the slightest difficulty. The chapel at-
tendance was especially gratifying. Seats were
needed in the aisles of the somewhat limited
room. The vacant places of the Board of Trus-
tees were progressively filled without reference to
any previous division of interests. The memory
of that work is clear and delightful to me now,
notwithstanding the sense of personal effort which
was connected with it. I ought to remark at this
point that the first action taken by the Session of
the united Church was to decide that we would
take part in the raising of a fund for the erec-
tion of a chapel for the Avenue D Mission, or the
Dry Dock Mission, as it was sometimes called.
This resolution had its influence in the success
that was afterward attained, which may be more
properly referred to later on in the history.

And now it would seem that I am just at the
beginning of my subject, and I can only, in the
limited time that remains, give you the points
that characterize the history of this united Church
as I ministered to it for the succeeding thirteen
years.

First of all I may mention the steady ingather-
ing of souls from the world into the Kingdom of

1 88

Christ. During that period 1095 united with this
Church and with its missions on confession of faith ;
346 united by letter. When I left the Church the
membership w^as 1226.

Secondly. I would speak of the erection of Em-
manuel Chapel and of its mission work. As it
had been already determined that a fund should
be raised for this purpose, it was further decided
that our offering to the Memorial or "Five Million
Fund," which was designed to commemorate the
reunion of the two branches of the Church, should
take the form of the erection of a building on the
East side, as a home for the Dry Dock Mission.
The previous history of this mission reads like a
romance. One of the strongest longings of the
Mercer Street Church had been that it might
have a permanent home. The conclusion of this
purpose was carried out in the united Church with
noble subscriptions from Messrs. Greene, Brown,
Denny, Parker, Bliss, with offerings from the con-
gregation and the people of the mission itself,
until, on the fifteenth of February, 1874, the
beautiful chapel was opened and dedicated for its
blessed work. The history of this undertaking
will be presented to you at a later period in this
celebration by my honored relative, Mr. Otis W.
Booth, and I need only say, concerning it, at this
point, that it well illustrated a wise saying of our
brother Bond that "wherever there is in this

1 89

world a seed of good sown in die proper spirit,
there a harvest may be expected as surely in the
spiritual as in the natural world."

The Bethlehem Mission should also be men-
tioned as an object of care of the united con-
gregation — first located in the Sixth Avenue
building, and afterward in the Wooster Street
Public School, and now happily established in
its Bleeker Street home.

Thirdly. I might properly call attention to the
personal character of the united congregation.
This was remarkable. Prominent representative
men were numerous, — noble and illustrious men,
— who filled these pews and cooperated with us
in the ministry of the Gospel. To individual-
ize their names might be invidious. They were
indeed a goodly company of friends and fellow-
workers for the kingdom of Christ.

Fourthly. It is proper that I should also mention
the beginning of that great work of women for
Foreign Missions which was centered here about
that time. Under the guidance and inspiration of
Mrs. James Lorimer Graham, with a feeble be-
ginning in the New Mexico, Colorado, and Ari-
zona societies, that work has progressed until it is
now the glory of our Church and spreads its in-
fluence over every land. As a direct result, this
undertaking led to the establishment of that other
work for Home Missions which is no less a bless-

ing to our country. It was among the ladies of
this con^^regation that this conception of their re-
sponsibiHty and power originated. Here this so-
ciety held its first anniversary ; here it was rocked
in the infancy of its cradle, and from that time on
it has been developing, until now its influence is
felt throughout the world.

Fifthly. An important feature of those years
of labor was the successful effort to pay the debts
resting upon the New York churches. In the
year 1878, when it was learned that very many
of the churches of New York were under heavy
mortgage, Mrs. John C. Green initiated the un-
dertaking of lifting those burdens, giving from
the estate of her late husband one hundred and
forty thousand dollars, on condition that the sev-
eral congregations which were thus burdened
should raise the money which was needed to free
them from their debts. The aggregate amount
of money which was raised exceeded seven hun-
dred thousand dollars, and when that work was
concluded the Presbyterian churches of New York
were practically free of debt.

Sixthly. I should not fail to mention the partici-
pation of the Church in those years in the w^ork
of Christian reform and evangelical enterprise in
this city ; in the assistance and sympathy that
were extended to the enterprises conducted by
Jerry McAuley, Michael Dunn, and others, who

191

were engaged in lifting the degraded, this Church
was conspicuous. Mr. McAuley once said to me:
" Dr. Booth, there is no Church in this city that
has so comforted me and helped me in my heav-
enward path as yours has." Other things remain,
but I must pass them by for lack of time. Thus
the fruitful years have passed, but their record is
on high, and the successive harvests of the seed
thus sown continually increase under new work-
ers working- ever in the old love and zeal.

Dr. Alexander and kind friends, when, by rea-
son of impaired health, broken down as I supposed,
I went away from this fair field in the year 1883,
believing firmly in the power of prayer, I prayed
each day to my Heavenly Father, during that in-
terval when you were without a pastor, that He
would save this Church from disintegration and
removal, and send to it a faithful man who could
hold it up on his strong, loving heart, and thus
perpetuate the work which had been continued
from the ancient past. And here to-night, con-
cluding what I have said so imperfectly, and I
fear at too great length, I publicly and gratefully
recognize God's blessing on your ministry, dear
brother.

Wednesday, November 27TH.
^ccbicc at 8 p* m*

Sunday-School Commemoration.

Historical Sketch of Emmanuel Sunday-
School, BY Mr. Otis W. Booth.

Historical Sketch of Bethlehem Sunday-
School, BY Rev. Herbert Ford.

Address by Rev. Thomas Marshall, D.D.
Cburcb Scbool.

University Place and Tenth Street.

Sabbath Morning, 9.45 o'clock.

Mr. Robert Lenox Belknap, Superintendent.

Dr. William H. Park, Assistant Superintendent.

Bmmanucl Cbapcl Scbool. JSetblebcm Cbapel Scbool.

727-737 Sixth Street. 196 Bleecker Street.
Sabbath Afternoon, 2.30 o'clock. Sabbath Afternoon, 2.30 o'clock.
Mr. Otis W. Booth, Superintend- Rev. Herbert Ford, Superintend-
ent, ent.
Mr. Thomas Denny, Assistant Mr. Alexander Barclay, Assist-
Superintendent. ant Superintendent.

3ff «* ^^. * « * * ^'^ * Sf *.^'^ * ^^. « « « * ^-

0lv, l\0tjcrt JLcnor JJcUiitap.

HE next thing on the programme is
stated to be "remarks by the superin-
tendent of the home school." I do not
think you want to hear from me, certainly not
at any length. The church school has been a
growing school. It has been an earnest school,
and one which has exercised a lasting influence
upon the hearts of many who have passed through
its portals. We cannot expect the school at this
place to be a large one. But we can expect it,
and we do expect it, to be one equipped with a
corps of teachers devoted to their work, and with
a corps of scholars anxious to learn. I can bear
testimony to the qualifications and the devoted-
ness of the teachers, and the earnestness and at-
tention of the scholars.

»94

195

Some years ago, we scarcely touched elbows
in the lecture-room. A day that we had a hun-
dred in number was a red-letter day. Now, it
is not even a "blue Monday." We had to en-
large. The first enlargement came with the pur-
chase of the Church House and its use for the
Bible-classes and primary class. The next en-
largement has just been made by joining the lec-
ture-room to the Church House, so as to utilize
all the space. I hope on next Sabbath to in-
crease the number of classes by four, so that we
may be fitted for more efficient work than we
have yet been able to carry on.

Now one word to those of our friends from the
chapels who, in coming here, have not realized
the fact that they were coming home. We look
upon you all, members of Emmanuel Chapel and
of Bethlehem Chapel, as being of our flesh and
bone. As the Gospel of Jesus Christ is taught in
the schools, as souls are brought into the king-
dom in the days of their youth, so will the Church
increase and prosper. We have seen all sorts of
methods employed for the purpose of gathering
people into the Sunday-school. I think I am safe
in saying that there has been only one thing used
in any of the schools of this church, and that is
the invitation, " Come thou with us, and we will
do thee good."

It is certainly very gratifying to the officers and

196

members of ihis Church, who are in the habit of
worshiping in this building, to welcome here so
fine a delegation from Emmanuel Chapel. We
all know that if the whole school had come there
would have been no room for the rest of us. I
am very glad that so many of you have accepted
our invitation, and only sorry that the church is
not large enough to hold you all.

To our friends from Bethlehem Chapel we ex-
tend also our hearty welcome. You are nearer
us in point of distance, and we trust that you will
come here, and let us see you face to face, more
frequently.

EMMANUEL CHAPEL.

Tfffffff ft rt f r T"T T^TT't ? r r tf t f t ft ft t1 rfrm f t tft^r f t f tT ff t rrrnr ?1 tt rt ft T'TTtr-T ftrf i*<

i^torical ^hctcl) of Cmmanucl ^unbap;
^cDod tjp illr. (j^tija '5i2a^ 3Soott).

jORTY-FOUR years ago, on the even-
ing of November 25, 185 1, in accord-
ance with a notice given from the pulpit
of the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church on the
preceding Sabbath, a meeting of the congrega-
tion was held in the lecture-room of the church,
at which the following resolution was adopted,
namely :

''Resolvedy That it is our duty as a church and
congregation to adopt immediate and efficient
measures to carry the Gospel to the destitute
of our city. "

In order that this action might be more care-
fully considered and discussed, this resolution was
reconsidered at a subsequent meeting held on

197

198

Sunday evening', November 30, 1S51, and then
re ad op ted.

A little later committees were appointed to
consider the needs of different sections of the
city, and on the recommendation of one of these
committees, in the early spring of 1852, it was
decided to commence a mission in the Eleventh
Ward. Rooms were secured in the building No.
1 18 Avenue D, between Eighth and Ninth streets.
The lot on which the building stands is 23 feet
front by 80 feet in depth. In the second story
of this building, on Sunday, March 28, 1852,
Sunday-school and preaching services were com-
menced.

It appears from the records of the Mercer Street
Presbyterian Church that quite an extensive re-
vival of religion had been experienced by that
Church just before the action taken toward the
establishment of this mission, and that this work
was begun under a deep sense of the obligation
resting upon the Church, and as a thank-offering
to God for the great blessing He had bestowed
in gathering so many into its communion from
the families connected with the Church.

Thus, in the spring of 1852, the leaven was
placed in the three measures of meal. The mis-
sion at first was known as "The Avenue D Mis-
sion," but later as "The Dry Dock Mission," and
the building thus opened for religious work was

199

so occupied without interruption until the third
Sunday in February, 1874.

The Eleventh Ward, in the early days of the
mission, had quite a large native-born adult pop-
ulation, and many of its houses were occupied only
by the owners' families. The river front was given
up to ship-building and kindred industries, and
many of the finest clipper-ships of the world were
built within the ward. There were then, and
there have been ever since, very many honest,
faithful mechanics living in the ward, — men ever
ready to give in return for their wages good and
honest labor, — men who faithfully tried to lead
respectable lives, and to make their homes com-
fortable and happy, and to bring up their children
to be useful and respectable.

But it was not from this class alone that the
children of the Sunday-school of the Avenue D
Mission were gathered. All classes contributed
a portion. During the winter months the warm,
comfortable rooms of the mission, often open in
the week-day evenings as well as on the Sab-
baths, were very attractive to the rougher and
more unruly boys of the ward. Years passed be-
fore it was certain that a Sunday-school service
or evening prayer-meeting could be conducted in
an orderly. Christian way ; but patience and per-
severance, under the blessing of our Lord, grad-
ually gained control of those who came to the

200

services. For many years the Sunday-school at-
tendance averaged between two and three hun-
dred. Gradually the numbers increased; but, bet-
ter yet, the religious spirit and interest of the
people increased, until it became apparent that
largfer and more suitable accommodations were
needed, and would be profitably used if provided.

In 1873 ground was purchased in Sixth Street,
and the erection of what was thought to be an
amply commodious building for the mission was
commenced.

On the third Sunday in February, 1874, the
Sunday-school of the Dry Dock Mission left its
much-loved rooms at 118 Avenue D, and in a
body some 600 strong marched to its new home
in its new building on Sixth Street. This build-
ing was dedicated to the worship and service of
God under one of the most expressive names of
the Son of God — " Emmanuel" — and ever since
has been known as Emmanuel Chapel. A few
years later this large chapel was outgrown by its
Sunday-school, and in 1880 an additional build-
ing was erected on its westerly side, to be used
for its infant class. A couple of years later an-
other building, to be known as the " Memorial
Room," adjoining the chapel, and on the rear of
the infant class building, was finished. Emman-
uel Chapel to-day, including its parsonage, infant
class, and memorial buildings, covers ground 135

20I

feet front on Sixth Street, by 90 feet 10 inches in
depth.

It is a matter of record that in its beginning
and early history this work was planned and
carried forward, so far as human instrumentality
was concerned, by men eminent both in the sec-
ular and religious life of our city. They took a
deep, unselfish, active interest in it. They gave
their time and their money to its welfare. They
have given the account of their stewardship, and
He who knew from the beginning what would be
the results of their faithfulness has already ex-
tended to them the greeting, "Well done, good
and faithful servant." And their works do follow
them in this, at least, that when they fell asleep
in Jesus, members of their families took up the
cord where it was broken, and in some cases, at
least, have contributed their offerings, and, we
trust, their prayers, to the perpetuation and suc-
cess of Emmanuel Chapel to the present hour.
Generous contributions come in from these fami-
lies whenever an appeal is made for Emmanuel
Chapel. May God bless them richly !

Many, very many loving Christian friends have
taken a lively interest in this work since its be-
ginning. Some have given cheerfully of their
time and talents to the work ; some have given
freely of their possessions. Many who have been
interested in the work are no longer with us.
26

Changes of circumstances or of residence have
removed some; death has claimed many; but it
is doubtful if any sincere Christian has ever re-
gretted an act or a gift for the welfare of Em-
manuel Chapel or its people.

Great changes have taken place in the people
living in the ward. To-day there are few, if any,
houses occupied by a single family, and very
many families, the adult members of which were
foreign-born, have replaced the native-born of
earlier days.

The work of the Sunday-school, too, has un-
dergone great changes during these years. The
numbers have increased, and the spirit and re-
ligious interest of its scholars have been undergo-
ing a gradual but decided change for the better.
Earnest and persistent prayer has been offered
that He who came to Joshua as Captain of the
hosts of the Lord, and who promised His disci-
ples as He sent them forth into the world to
make known His Gospel that He would be with
them alway — that He would take entire charge
of His work at Emmanuel Chapel, and guide and
direct His servants in the ways pleasing to Him-
self. And it is apparent that He has heard and
answered. The gathering of the children is His;
the instruction given is His; the winning of souls is
His ; the labors of His servants are for Him; and,
thanks be to His name, the glory is all His own.

203

The Sunday-school assembles in four divisions:
The Adult Bible Classes, generally scholars of 1 7
years or over; the Junior Classes, generally schol-
ars of 13 to 17 years; the Intermediate Class, al-
most without exception scholars between 10 and
13 years; and the Primary Class, scholars under
10 years of age.

Never in the history of the school has a more
faithful and efficient band of teachers been en-
gaged in the work than at present. Forty-eight
teachers are required to teach the classes. The
Teachers' meetings are held on Saturday even-
ings, and all the teachers living on the east side,
and some from up-town, and some from Brooklyn,
attend as regularly as they can.

The number of scholars now on the roll of the
school is over 2200, and the average attendance
for the current month has been 1350. A great
blessing has rested for years past upon this Sun-
day-school. To-day almost all of the older schol-
ars are professing Christians, and many of the
younger scholars are coming into close Church
relations. This is especially true of the children
of the Intermediate Class.

The Bible Readers connected with the Chapel
do most persistent and efficient service. They
are always welcomed in the homes of the children,
and as they learn so much of the home surround-
ings of the scholars and of the peculiarities and

204

temptations of tlie children, they are exceedingly
well fitted to counsel and sympathize with them.
The Bible Readers' influence in our school is very
great, and, so far, has been wisely exerted. For
many years it has been the custom of the school
to have Bible Class No. i, for young men, taught
by the pastor of the church, thus bringing him
into the closest touch with the school. This class
has now an excellent teacher, is well attended,
and is in a prosperous condition.

In looking back over the years of the life of
this work, a few facts appear to stand out very
prominently :

1st. A Sunday-school of large numbers can be
gathered without offering any inducements or re-
wards to scholars to attend other than the simple
teaching of Gospel truth by warm-hearted, earn-
est Christian teachers, bearing in mind the words
of Jesus, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto Me."

2nd. The simple, earnest teaching of God's
Word, without outside attractions, under the bless-
ing of our Lord, has yielded abundant harvest, as
is shown in the winning of souls and in the de-
velopment of Christian character.

3rd. The services of well-chosen Bible Readers
in connection with such a school are of the great-
est value. They carry the Gospel acceptably into
the homes of the scholars, and greatly assist the

205

scholars in their efforts to win for Jesus the mem-
bers of their famihes.

4th. The experience of these years has shown
that although the great mass of adult population
living around Emmanuel Chapel need the Gos-
pel, and we know the Gospel is exactly adapted
to their need, very few, except as they come
through the Sunday-school, ever hear it in the
church. There are thousands of men living in
the Eleventh Ward, good and honest clerks and
mechanics, leading respectable lives in the com-
munity, many of them sending their children
regularly to some Sunday-school and endeavor-
ing to bring them up to be good and faithful in
their lives, who have not the least inclination to
attend a church service, and this is not because
the preaching of the Gospel is poor.

The glory and honor of whatever success has
attended this work is due entirely to our Lord
Jesus Christ. His blessing has ever been upon
it. It was He who led His faithful ones to plant
the work where they did. It has been His hand
that has guided it all through these years. He
has inclined his people to sustain it by supplying
the necessary funds, so that after more than forty
years of life all debts are paid, and it is reason-
ably sure that this year will end, as others have,
with a small balance in the treasury. He, too, it
was who gave to this work the bright example

2o6

of a humble, sincere, unselfish, consecrated, and
Christ-like life, in that of its Pastor, who for
twenty-seven years preached the Gospel by his
life far more effectively than words could express
it. The blessed memory of that Pastor's life is
to-day loving^ly cherished in very many homes of
the poor, and is a constant example to all who
sincerely desire to excel in the graces of a true
Christian character. When the first home of the
mission was outgrown and larger and more suit-
able buildings were needed, He, our Lord Iim-
manuel, brought about the changes which secured
the needed funds, and He had at hand a faithful
servant of His own peculiarly adapted to interest
those able to give and to guide in the planning
of the work and in the collections of money, so
that the buildings so peculiarly adapted to the
need were erected, furnished, and equipped with-
out leaving a dollar of debt. Most wondrously
has He provided for the Dry Dock Mission and
Emmanuel Chapel in giving to them consecrated,
faithful, and unselfish pastors, Sunday-school
teachers, Bible readers, and warm-hearted, gen-
erous friends. Our most sincere gratitude to-
night should be poured out and find expression
in tender love and faith and obedience to Him
whose wonderful name our Chapel bears.

May our Lord "Emmanuel" ever bless Em-
manuel Chapel.

208

the workers in tlic mission I have said that there
have been many godly men and women, but Beth-
lehem has been fostered most of all by godly
women. Of these there is a long list. One, how-
ever, should be particularly mentioned.

Bethlehem owes its continuation above all oth-
ers to one godly woman, Mrs. Antoinette L. Chis-
holm. now at rest. Through cloud and sunshine,
both temporal and spiritual, Mrs. Chisholm was
to be found in her place from the time the work
was first started. When God called her to lay
down her work, He also called her daughter to
take it up, so that one name has been associated
with Bethlehem for the whole period of its exist-
ence, almost 49 years. A parallel case will be
hard to find.

The data concerning the history of Bethlehem
have been gathered partly from our Church rec-
ords and partly from the memories of those en-
gaged in this work — mostly from memories.

The work now prosecuted in Bethlehem Chapel
results from the union of three distinct mission
enterprises.

Shortly after the Church that first assembled
in this building was well under way, the pastor,
the Rev. George Potts, D.D., desired to find some
field for the activity of his people.

Inquiries were made, and a Sabbath-school was
started in the public-school building on Thir-

209

teenth Street, near Sixth Avenue, February 5,
1847. The young people called it familiarly the
U. P. C. Mission. It began with small numbers,
but in about two years there were about 150
scholars and about 15 teachers. The teachers
faithfully visited their scholars, and in 1857 the
school had grown to nearly 300. The first super-
intendent was Mr. Henry K. Bull, then a deacon
in this Church.

Soon after the school was started, prayer-meet-
ings were held in the Sabbath-school rooms on
Sunday evenings. Besides these the teachers used
to have prayer-meetings in various houses. An
interesting result of one of these is told by an
eye-witness. It occurred in 1857, when Mr. H. C.
Haydn, now the Rev. Dr. Haydn, was connected
with the mission. This particular meeting was
held at the house of Dr. Potts. Theodore Monod
was there — then a skeptic — but now the Evan-
gelical Pastor in Paris, France. He could have
steeled himself against arguments, but the deep
feeling manifested by a new confessor, whom Mr.
Haydn had induced to speak, made such an im-
pression on him that he could not shake it off;
he gave up all resistance afterward when touched
with the fervent prayer of Mr. Charles Lloyd,
another prominent worker in the mission.

The work was prosecuted with such earnest-
ness that in 1858 the trustees decided to lease a
27

2IO

portion of the building 140 Sixth Avenue, for-
jnerly used by the Half Orphan Asylum. This
was fitted up through the generosity of the late
Mr. John C. Green, and in June of the same year
tlie mission moved into its new quarters. The
building was then placed under the supervision
of the Session, who recorded their hope "That
at some future time they might see the regular
preaching of the Gospel also established there un-
der the auspices of the University Place Church."

Elders C. C. Darling and David N. Lord were
then appointed as a committee in charge of the
work.

This hope was soon realized. So interesting
had the work become that on October 4, 1858,
the Session advised Dr. Potts to lay before the
congregation the matter of preaching at the mis-
sion, and on November 5, 1858. it was decided to
call the Rev. Charles H. Payson as Missionary
Superintendent of the new rooms. His defined
duties were "to take charge of the school and
to preach the Gospel as opportunity may be af-
forded, and to perform any other duties pertain-
ing to that post." As soon as the school was
transferred to Sixth Avenue, the neighborhood
was divided into districts by the teachers, who
visited from house to house to leather scholars
and to invite people to the preaching services.
While in Sixth Avenue the school had a session

211

both morning and afternoon. The classes had
names. Among others one was called the " Sen-
tinels," and another, a class of colored women,
bore the name " Roses of Sharon."

Mr. Payson was very successful. Ten years
after, his pastorate was spoken of as the " Red-
letter " period of the mission. He resigned in
i860 and went to take chargre of the Adams Me-
morial Chapel.

It is an interestinof and blessed fact that the
period 1857-58, when the desire was expressed
to commence regular preaching services at the
mission, was a time of great religious awakening.

Shortly after the establishment of the mission
in Sixth Avenue, the great war between the North
and the South began, and Bethlehem was repre-
sented in that struggle.

One of the teachers, a Mr. Kruger, went to
the war with a German regiment, in Col. Miles's
division, and was at the first battle of Bull Run.
He afterward became a clergyman. Mr. Benton,
a superintendent in the early fifties, was in the
battle of Newbern, North Carolina, and lost his
life there.

At this point it is proper to speak of the sec-
ond missionary enterprise incorporated in Beth-
lehem. In 1853 Dr. Potts proposed to Mr. Cha-
pin, now the Rev. Henry B. Chapin, D. D., who
had just been licensed, that he should take up

2 1 2

city mission work in connection with University
Place Church. Mr. Chapin consented, and in Jan-
uary, 1854, a hall was rented in a two-story frame
building on Laurens Street (now West Broad-
way), between Prince and Houston streets, with
a seating capacity of about 200 persons.

The services at this Mission consisted of a
Sunday-school session at 9 a. m. and 2:30 i'. m..
a boys' meeting at 4 o'clock every Sunday after-
noon, and a preaching service at 7:30 o'clock
every Sunday evening. The boys' meeting was
designed for the rougher class of street boys who
could not be attracted into the Sabbath-school.

Neighborhood prayer-meetings w^ere held in
tenement houses during the week.

The teachers were largely drawn from Univer-
sity Place. Among the workers were Mr. John
Crosby Brown, Mr. Otis D. Swan, Miss Kathar-
ine Parker, and Miss Cornelia Stone.

Early in 1858 the school had to leave the build-
ing, it being used for other purposes. It was then
decided to unite the Sabbath-school with the mis-
sion on Thirteenth Street, just a few months be-
fore it moved to Sixth Avenue. All the scholars,
however, could not be induced to go up to the
Thirteenth Street Mission, and Mr. C. Loring
Brace, of the Children's Aid Society, was asked
to organize a school from the remnants of this
Laurens Street Mission, which resulted in the for-

213

mation of a branch of the Children's Aid Society
in Cottage Place, and now in the handsome build-
ing in Sullivan Street. This fact will be referred
to a little later on.

At this Laurens Street Mission, in about 1856,
the girls had been taught to sew, and this work
was continued in Sixth Avenue. It is thus nearly
certain that the Sewing-school at Bethlehem is
about the oldest one connected with church-work
in the city — although it has not always been in
continuous operation.

I have said that the Rev. C. H. Payson re-
signed in i860. He was succeeded by Mr. Mar-
vin Briggs from Princeton Seminary, who, after
doing good work, resigned in 1862.

The period from November, 1862, to February,
1867, was a time of hard struggle. The mission
had become considerably weakened for a number
of reasons. It was debated as to whether the
work should continue. There were no regular
preaching services during that time, yet there
was earnest work done. The teachers kept up a
regular prayer-meeting. The spirit in the school
was such that on March 11, 1864, Mr. John C.
Brown, the Superintendent, gave the session an
encouraging report. From 1864 to 1868 the
school had a faithful Superintendent in Mr. Lati-
mer Bailey. Toward the end of 1866 it was de-
cided to recommence the regular preaching ser-

214

vices. September 17, 1866, "It was resolved
that, in the jud^mient of the Session, the contin-
uance ot the Mission of the Church in Sixth
Avenue is highly important to the prosperity of
the school, the useful culture and activity of the
teachers, and the well-being of the congrega-
tion." Accordingly in February, 1867, the Rev.
Joseph M. Green was engaged as missionary.
Mr. Green resigned on March 27, 1868, and be-
came a missionary bishop in Mexico. A com-
mittee was appointed by the Session to inquire
"Whether the mission work now prosecuted might
not be more productive in some other portion of
the city in the vicinity of University Place Church."
On January 29, 1869, the committee reported:
"The locality of the mission-school at 140 Sixth
Avenue, and its various advantages, from the large
population in its neighborhood, its moderateness
of expense, the largeness, energy, and success of
its labors," entitled the Mission to be continued
and fostered. The report was accepted and printed,
and distributed among the congregation.

April 29, 1868, the committee having the over-
sight of the school had its powers enlarged. For-
merly it had merely charge of the building. The
whole work of the mission was now placed under
its supervision, subject to the review of the Ses-
sion. This was beneficial, for the next month the
committee reported the "encouraging posture of

215

the Mission." Mr. C. B. Whitcombe, of Union
Seminary, was appointed as Superintendent, and
for a few years things went well. Mr. Whitcombe
was succeeded by Mr. F. B. D. Garretson, who
after a few months was succeeded by Mr. David
J. Burrell, now the Rev. Dr. Burrell, of the Col-
legiate Church. Mr. Burrell was the pastor at
the time of the union of the Mercer Street and
the University Place Churches in 1870.

After the union of the Mercer Street and Uni-
versity Place Churches an important feature was
introduced into the government of the Mission.
A General Committee was appointed to look after
the missions on both Avenue D and Sixth Avenue.
This consisted of 3 elders and 2 teachers, or per-
sons who were connected with each of the two
chapels, so that both were represented by those
who were specially interested in them. The
elders were Messrs. James Brown, Otis D. Swan,
and Chas. P. Hartt, and those representing the
Sixth Avenue Mission were Messrs. D. M. Devoe
and Wm. B. Jaudon.

In 1 87 1 Mr. Burrell was succeeded by Mr. Lewis
J. Foote, now the Rev. Dr. Foote, of Throop Ave-
nue Church, Brooklyn. Under two such men the
work advanced greatly, but it was uphill work.
Mr. Foote's pastorate deserves special mention.
May 21, 1872, Mr. Foote was ordained in the
Mission chapel as an evangelist, and May 26, 1872,

2l6

the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was adminis-
tered for the first time in the Mission, with elders
Geo. R. Lockwood and ¥. C. Jones to serve.

Still another most interesting event took place
in Mr. F'oote's pastorate. October 2, 1873, ^-^''•
R. R. Booth reported to the Session that the
Mission at 140 Sixth Avenue desired to adopt
the name of *' Bethlehem." It was accordingly
resolved that the mission of this Church at 140
Sixth Avenue be hereafter known and designated
as Bethlehem Mission. At the age of 25 this
child asked for its own name ! Bethlehem has
been true to the meaning of its name — "House
of Bread." Many have come there with starving
souls and have been fed on the "Bread of Life."
In many hearts Christ has been born.

Mr. Foote resigned in 1873, going directly to
the church of which he is now pastor. He was
succeeded by Mr. Geo. Ford, now the Rev. Dr.
Ford, of Syria.

The following year this mission was again in
trouble. Various causes greatly weakened it and
so affected its prospects that the rooms were given
up and the work was narrowed down to the Sun-
day-school. April 26, 1874, the Sacrament was
celebrated for the last time at 140 Sixth Avenue,
and was not again celebrated in special connec-
tion with the Mission until 1894. For a few
months the Mission found shelter in rooms con-

217

nected with the Presbyterian Church near by on
Eleventh Street.

When the chapel was given up, although the
Sunday-school was continued in Wooster Street,
the Sabbath evening and weekly prayer-meetings
in direct connection with the Mission were sus-
pended. Sometime before this, however, meet-
ings had been held in private rooms in Thompson
Street, which many of the workers of the chapel
had attended.

These meetings were now the means of hold-
ing the people together. Many of the teachers
attended, and the good accomplished cannot be
valued. These were started first in 1869 by Mrs.
Morgan, the missionary at the chapel, in the attic
of the rear house 206 Thompson Street, in a room
of a Mrs. Scott. At this period they were held in
the room of a good woman whose name is still
remembered with affection — Mrs. Elizabeth Men-
zies. Mrs. Menzies did washing for a living, but
was glad to give the few hours each week neces-
sary to get the room in readiness. The meetings
were held here until May, 1884, when Mrs. Men-
zies died. Meanwhile the Sunday-school had
been steadily growing and was now in a flourish-
ing condition, and it had been felt for some time
that there should be public services in the district
to follow up the work of the school. After some
delay a room was secured at 222 Thompson
28

2l8

•

Street, and the opening service was held June i6,
1884. In September, 1884, Mr. John Hutchinson
was engaged to take charge of the services held
on Friday and Sunday evenings. Those meet-
ings were greatly blessed. Many workers at-
tended them faithfully. Among others we re-
member particularly Mr. Daniel Devoe, to whom
Bethlehem was very dear.

In October, 1874, the Sunday-school moved to
the Public School building 180 Wooster Street,
with Mr. John H. Dey, of the New York "Evan-
gelist," as Superintendent.

Here Bethlehem joined hands with another mis-
sion, the third of the three missions of which the
present Bethlehem is constituted. This mission
also began in Laurens Street, a few doors below
Amity Street (now West Third). It was started in
a basement in 1858, the year the other Laurens
Street mission moved up to Thirteenth Street. A
benevolent lady living there, seeing so many boys
on the street on Sundays, invited them to her
basement to give them religious instruction.
Soon they were gathered into a hall just oppo-
site the Public School on Wooster Street, below
Bleecker. Among the teachers were Mr. Anson
Phelps Stokes, Mr. Robert Hoe, Junior, and Mr.
Robert L. Belknap. For a time Mr. Theodore
Roosevelt, the father of the present Police Com-

219

missioner, was the Superintendent. For about
seven years Dr. Benjamin Lord held that office.
At one time there were about 30 classes, with 2
infant classes, with a total attendance of about 300.

Prayer-meetings were held in the basement
of the Presbyterian Church, corner of Thompson
and Houston — the same Church that moved to
Eleventh Street and sheltered Bethlehem in 1874.
For some time this Mission had a semi-connec-
tion with the Church of the Ascension, the Rev.
John Cotton Smith, D. D., being rector at the
time. When Bethlehem united with it in 1874 it
was under the care of no Church, but a Mr. Car-
penter, a warden of St. Clement, was Superinten-
dent. Mr. Carpenter became assistant-superin-
tendent under Mr. Dey. The whole school now
numbered about 100, but grew rapidly. The
teachers found they had all they could do to keep
order. Those coming to the school were of the
roughest kind. Under the wise management of
Mr. Dey order was gradually obtained. There
was every kind of religious belief there, and the
teachers wisely forgot for the time their particular
denomination. In 1880 Mr. Dey was succeeded
by Rev. B. F. Millard, who resigned in 1881, to
be succeeded by Mr. Sturges, who was soon fol-
lowed by Mr. James B. Murray.

In June, 1882, a most important and beneficial

2 20

provision was nuulc regarding the committee in
charge. Previously there had been one commit-
tee for the two missions, with representatives
from both. Bethlehem had now a special com-
mittee appointed to look after its welfare. This
committee consisted of Mr. Moses W. Dodd, Mr.
Daniel M. Devoe, and Mr. James B. Murray.

In May, 1885, another important feature was
introduced into the committee in char*re of Beth-
lehem. Previously there had been one treasurer
for the whole mission work of the Church. The
funds raised for the mission work of the Church
was now placed in the hands of the Treasurer
of the Session, who then turned over to the treas-
urers of the two missions their proper apportion-
ment. This arrangement added greatly to the
efficiency of Bethlehem.

From 1884 to 1886 many societies were organ-
ized — viz., The Bethlehem Band, the Helping
Hand, a Women's Meeting, a Band of Hope for
Children, and a Mutual Improvement Club for
Boys, from which in due time sprang a Young
Men's Society. All of these did good work.
Some of them remain. The rest have been
merged into other organizations. In 1884 the
Sewing-school was recommenced. In 1886 the
Mission was gaining ground so rapidly that it
was proposed to purchase a site, but the mat-
ter was postponed.

221

In 1886, after faithful service, Mr. James B.
Murray resigned the superintendency of the Sab-
bath-school to Mr. Edward S. Simmons, who re-
signed in 1889.

In 1889 a further step was taken in securing a
missionary who should be constantly on the field.
This was Dr. Christopher Humble. His labor
of faith and love will long be a tender memory in
the hearts of all his people.

In 1889 the trustees of the Public School for-
bade the use of their building for religious in-
struction, and Bethlehem was "put out." And
now, when it was again homeless, the Children's
Aid Society on Cottage Place, the sister of the old
Laurens Street Mission, absorbed into the Thir-
teenth Street Mission 31 years before, opened its
arms and gave Bethlehem shelter.

Then, after Bethlehem had wandered about the
wilderness 40 years, meeting with all the foes
expected in a wilderness, it came to pass that a
way was opened into the land of promise, 196
Bleecker Street. We have come to recent his-
tory. We remember that the funds necessary
for the erection of the present chapel came with-
out special solicitation, that the building was not
only erected, but partially endowed.

In 1890 a Christian Endeavor Society was or-
ganized.

In 1893 Dr. Humble resigned, and the Session

222

requested me to assume the pastorate. On the
lirst Sunday in 1894 the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper was observed, the first time since 1874;
a period of twenty years. It is now observed
regularly four times a year.

What are our present statistics ? Bethlehem
touches in one way or another about 1500 people.
Public services are held every Thursday and Sun-
day evening. The chapel seats comfortably 150
people. The attendance on Sunday evening is
about 100, and 50 on Thursday. The Sabbath -
school has an enrollment of 300, with an average
attendance of 200. The church membership is

138.

There are various societies and meetings at
Bethlehem, such as the Bethlehem Band for girls,
the Christian Endeavor Society (these two have
just united), a meeting for mothers, a meeting for
children, and a Sewing-school. Besides these, a
Kindergarten meets every morning (except Sat-
urday) in the building.

What then shall be said concerning the past ?
Bethlehem has not been able to grow in propor-
tion to her years because of her many removals
and severe losses, but she has blessed many lives
as she has journeyed about — many have been
born into the kingdom. The lesson of the past
is that of faith and courage to all who shall here-
after labor in this mission. Bethlehem is in a

223

hard field. She rejoices that this is so. Her his-
tory has fitted Bethlehem to fight a hard and
prolonged battle with the Prince of this world.

If the workers at Bethlehem falter it will be
from failure to learn the lessons of the past. God
forbid that the labor of those gone before should
be in vain !

What, then, of the future ? Our heritage is
great, our opportunities are large. We pray that
we may be found faithful, and when in years to
come others shall read our history they shall say,
" These men and women also labored for the com-
ing of the kingdom; their lives also were inspired
by the love of Christ."

|E have with us to-nig^ht Rev. Thomas
Marshall, of Chicago, Field Secretary
of the Board of Foreign Missions. In
the early days he was a worker in connection
with Emmanuel Chapel. We are, therefore, very
glad to have him come to us with his greeting,
on this jubilee occasion.

Dr. Marshall spoke in part as follows :

Afr. Chairman and Dear Friends :

Those were bright and happy days that I spent
with you as your missionary for two years, in
what was then Dry Dock Mission, now Emman-
uel Chapel. Those years were my first in the
active ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

At this very busy season, leaving behind many
pressing business cares, a long distance have I

225

come simply to say : "The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all " in this blessed
work that you, as successors in that mission, are
permitted to do.

The history of Emmanuel Mission, in its origin
and growth, is only another illustration of the
source and progress of that wonderful river in
the prophet Ezekiel's vision. That stream first
appeared as a living spring at the right side
of the altar, at the threshold of God's house.
There is where every true Church of Jesus Christ
must have its beginning. From that living spring-
flowed what was, at the end of a thousand cubits,
but a tiny stream, only ankle deep. A child
could toy with it, yet onward it flowed, gathering-
volume in its progress, and when the measure is
applied at the end of another thousand cubits, it
is knee deep. Still onward it flows toward the
rising sun another thousand cubits, when it is
no longer the tiny stream, nor yet the babbling
brook, for it has swollen in depth, and now it
measures to the loins. Again it is measured, and
the living spring that first appeared beside the
altar of the house of God has become broadened
and deepened until it enriches .every land and
beautifies and blesses every clime. Like that
spring this mission had its origin at the begin-
ning, and like that river this mission is a bene-
diction to the wide world to-day. Such are the
29

226

characteristics that should preeminently mark
every Church of Jesus Christ in the world. It is
only a step from a state of suspended animation
to the grave. "Forward" is the watchword that
must evermore be written on the banners of every
living Church in this living age.

The types of the Old Testament and the para-
bles of the New all teach one and the same thing
— the steady growth and progress of the King-
dom of God in the world, until it overshadows or
conquers all. To-day it is the babbling brook ;
to-morrow it is the mighty river. Now it is the
smallest of seeds sown in the earth ; when it is
grown, it is the greatest among herbs. Is it the
leaven hid in the meal? Its destiny is to work
until the whole is leavened.

Did Jesus Christ say, "I am the vine"? He
also said, "Ye are the branches." The fruitless
branch He plucks off and casts it into the fire.
Does the branch bear fruit? "He purgeth it
that it may bring forth more fruit," for " Herein,"
says the Son of God, " is my Father glorified, that
ye bear much fruit." This fruit-bearing spirit is
the spirit of missions. It is the life of the Church,
and that Church that does not manifest this
spirit may well be called dead. From the dear
old Home Church we must ever be pressing to
gain by conquest for the Master " the regions
beyond." The Holy Ghost has said, " Strengthen

227

your stakes." He also has said, "Lengthen your
cords." While we seek to make the Home
Church as beautiful and strong as costly temples,
and lavished wealth, and souls redeemed can
make it, we cannot expect God's blessing except
we seek to make it strong for one purpose — that
we may run our lines out " to the utmost part of
the earth." The service that we render to our
God must have less of the priest and far more
of the Samaritan. Our watch-towers are not for
defense merely, but we build them aloft that our
light may shine out to the ends of the earth.
God has planted his Church in the world for
salvation, and for nothing else. Multiplication,
growth, expansion for salvation, are the life of
every Church of Jesus Christ. And that life will
manifest itself as the Church reaches out and takes
hold of the perishing nations. This, by way of
eminence, is "the chief end of man." God has
placed us in this world and made it our greatest
care to "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven" for
ourselves, and then He has laid us under obliga-
tion to reach out, far and wide, and lay hold of
the perishing everywhere. An analysis of our
daily life ought to teach us a profitable lesson.
Let us examine a single day of time. In it there
are just twenty-four hours. What are we doing
during those twenty-four hours? Twelve hours
of the day we spend in eating, and drinking, and

228

•

sleeping, A man who lias lived the allotted three
score years and ten, has spent thirty five \cars
of that time in eating, and drinking, and in bed.
He dies if he does ; and he dies if he doesn't.
What are we doing during the remaining twelve
hours of the day? With all seriousness we ask
the question. We are digging until we dig our
fingers off. We are digging until our hair turns
white and falls from our head. We are digging
until our eyes are blind and our ears are deaf
We are toiling and moiling until, wrinkled, and
gnarled, and bowed down with the cares, and
burdens, and sorrows of life, we totter with very
age and fall into a grave. And for what? That
we may have something to eat and a bed to sleep
in. That is all. Nothing else in this world can
any man do for himself The richest can do no
more. The poorest can do no less. God gives
us our board and clothes that we may work for
Him. We may pile up silver and gold by the
millions, and yet, in God's sight, never live at all.
God has given us powers of body and mind, and
filled our hands with material substance for one
thing only — that we may reap these fields for Him.

A man once wrote the epitaph he wished to
have graven on his tombstone. It was this :

" What I spent, I had.

" What I left, I lost.

" What I gave awa)', 1 sent on before."

229

We would be wise, if daily we would reckon
with ourselves as stewards of God's husbandry.

It not infrequently troubles the newspaper edi-
tor properly to write the obituary of many a man.
It often runs like the following: "There died in

our city, last night, Mr. A B , one of our

oldest and best-known citizens. He came to our
town more than fifty years ago, a poor boy. By
his industry and economy he accumulated rapidly
until, at the time of his death, he was reckoned
among our millionaires." Right here all that the
editor is able to do more is to put a period, with-
out he runs the risk of putting on an embellish-
ment very much out of harmony with the life he
would fain wish to commend. This experiment
an editor in one of our cities attempted last sum-
mer, when he made the following record: "On

last Sunday, J H , as he was engaged in

an exciting game of baseball, fell dead on the
play-ground." It did seem to the editor that for
the comfort of friends something more ought to
be said, so he added to the brief obituary: " He
was a very exemplary young man."

The man of this world died and left his vast
estates. His whole existence here, so far as real
life was concerned, was a series of lost opportuni-
ties. He died and was buried. From the same
town on that same night another man died. He
was not rich in this world's goods. The editor

230

was paid for the two lines that told of his depar-
ture. He lived in an obscure part of the town.
The humble cottage that sheltered him was worth
scarcely enough, if sold, to defray the expense of
a decent burial. He lived. He toiled hard. He
stored up well, but it was treasure laid up in
heaven. He was the friend of the friendless. He
was the poor man's benefactor. With eyes moist-
ened with tears, many a lost soul he piloted safely
home. Nor was this all. Out of his hard earn-
ings he counted it a privilege to make an offering
unto the Lord for lost souls in lands to which he
fain would, but could not, go. He did what he
could to tell the story of the Cross in many lands
beyond the sea. Of his death the community
where he lived took little note. But his depar-
ture was up the shining way. Angels attended
him in his upward flight. It was a princely train
that swept through the pearly gates, and all
Heaven rose up to welcome him who brought new
jewels for the crown of his Lord and King.

For nothing else did God make us than to use
the means and the energies He has given us in
reaping these broad fields for the kingdom ol
Heaven. It is our mission to begin at this, our
Jerusalem, and to go forth, and by all the powers
God has given us, to witness for Christ "unto the
uttermost part of the earth,"

One thing more would I say before I close.

231

Open to me your hearts that I may thereon write
words that I would wish you never to forget :
Live with your time ; live with your talents ; live
with the means that God has given you, as you
will wish you had lived when others see your
face, as you have seen the faces of the fathers,
beneath the coffin-lid. And may God be gra-
cious unto you.

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232

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APPENDIX.

LETTERS FROM FORMER MEMBERS.

Philadelphia, November i8th, 1895.

My dear Mr. Denny :

I regret that it will be impossible for me to be pres-
ent at the fiftieth anniversary of the University Place
Church, of which for a brief time I was myself a member.

The Church has had a beautiful life and has done a
beautiful work ; and never, it seems to me, was the life
more beautiful and the work more Christ-like than to-
day. My own father's and mother's connection with
the Church makes it sacred and dear to me in a peculiar
manner.

With heartfelt salutations to pastor and to people, be-
lieve me.

Sincerely yours,

Geo. D. Baker.

Amsterdam, N. Y., November 23rd, 1895.

Rev. Geo. Alexander, D. D,

Dear Brother : I am in receipt of an invitation to the
sixtieth anniversary of the old Mercer Street Church,
of which, during my seminary course, I was a member.

I suppose my name will be found on the old list, since

23$

I was licensed while a member. I have recollection of
Mr. Thomas Denny, whom I knew hut slij^htly ; besides
him, I doubt if I shoidd know any of the members now.
I rejoice in the vigorous life which has characterized
the united Church, and in the <^rand work that it is now
doinj^. I wish very much that I could participate in the
cominij celebration, but it will be impossible, and I can
only send my pleasant memories, my hearty greetings,
and my earnest prayer for its continued prosperity.
Fraternally yours,

Chas. H. Baldwin.

The Collegiate Reformed Church,
Fhth Avenue and 29TH Street.

November 27th, 1895.
My dear Dr. Alexander :

You know why I cannot attend your service to-night,
but you cannot measure my disappointment. The two
years at the Sixth Avenue Mission were among the best
of my ministry. I suppose I was a little " fresh " at the
outset, as most theologues are (though they don't think
it). I remember that within a month of my taking the
school I had a tussle with a stalwart youth in which I
lost my collar, my temper, my dignity ; and was pretty
badly mussed. But the boy was of a forgiving disposi-
tion, and afterwards became my warm friend.

Of the University Place people I remember some
whose ministrations of sympathy were invaluable to the
young missionary. There was Mr. Lord, the treasurer,
whose monthly visits were always anticipated thirty
days and lamented thirty more. The Pastor of the
University Place Church at that time made for himself
a home in my heart which he has occupied until now . I

wonder if Dr. Booth knows how affectionately I regard
him. And what a corps of teachers we had in the Sixth
Avenue Mission. The names crowd fast upon my mem-
ory ; but if I were to begin I must call the entire roll.
Two of them, however, stand out before all. There was
Mrs. Chrisholm, teacher of our infant class ; so kind and
motherly, so jealous for her brood, and so successful be-
yond all the Froebelites I have met before or since.
And the other was a lass of fourteen. One Sunday she
came into the crowded room with three boys, whom she
had persuaded (as I afterwards learned) at half- a- dollar
each. All the classes were full and I had no place for
the new recruits ; nor had I a teacher. A board was
placed in one corner, and a box before it. "My dear,"
I said, " sit down now and tell these boys why you love
the Saviour." If I had asked her to teach them, she
would have declined — for the boys were older than her-
self — but she could n't refuse my request. The next
Sunday she was there again with more recruits — and
the next, and so on. She became their teacher without
knowing how; always telling them substantially the same
old story, always holding her large class, with heads bent
over her in close interest; on the whole, the most success-
ful teacher I have ever known. She was there when I
came away. I wonder whether she is still telling the
story.

But you do not want too much of lang syne. I am
very proud to speak of those early years of my ministry.
On leaving New York I went to Chicago, where I began
a new work — with a boy and a bell. It was under the
supervision of the Third Presbyterian Church, of which
Dr. Abbott E. Kittredge was pastor. It became West-
minster Church before I left it.

My experience in this sort of work inclines me to a
warm sympathy with those who are engaged in it.
They meet with difficulties which the " home church "

238

does not always apjircciatc. They are entitled to a
most cordial and i^rencrous support.

Allow me, my dear Dr. Alexander, to add my word
of conijratulation. Happy pastor, happy people! God
bless and prosper you.

Sincerely and fraternally yours,

David Jas. Burrell.

LowviLLE, N. Y., November 22nd, 1895.
Dear Mr. Denny:

It would afford me very great pleasure to participate
in the exercises commemorative of the fiftieth anniver-
sary of the University Place Presbyterian Church, if my
duties permitted my attendance, which, unfortunately,
they will not.

I bear very precious memories of worship, nurture,
fellowship, and work in University Place Church and its
missions, ^md my heart will be at your festival.

May God bless the dear old Church more and more,
and continue its wonderful history for centuries to come.

Most truly yours,

J. Westbv Earnshaw.

Brooklyn, N. Y., November 14th, 1895.
The Rev. Geo. Alexander, D. D.

Dear Brother: I have receivetl the program of the
Semi-Centennial of your Church, with its cordial invita-
tion to be present. I hope I may attend some of the
exercises.

I was connected with Bethlehem Mission over four
years. My wife taught there for five years or more. I
believe I have the honor of giving the name " Bethle-
hem" to the Mission, which was previously known as the
Sixth A\enue Mission, located then, and all the time I

239

was connected with it, at 140 Sixth Avenue. I officiated
in my last service, at the communion service which we
used to hold in the evening and which occurred Novem-
ber 9, twenty-two years last Saturday.

I was called here from there, and my year here com-
mences with November i — i. e., I was put on the pay-
roll of this Church for November i, but I appeared in
the pulpit November 23, 1873. I have just preached my
twenty-second annual sermon as pastor here.

I was connected with the Mission as visitor from my
entrance to the Seminary, in the autumn of 1869, until
the autumn of 1871, when I was made the minister.
Immediately after my -graduation from the Seminary, in
May, 1872, I was ordained as an evangelist in the Mis-
sion, and with me began the observance of the Lord's
Supper there. I continued to labor at Bethlehem until
called here, as I have mentioned. I first met my wife
there, the best gift of God to me next to my Saviour.
My wife is not very strong just now, but, if possible, we
shall come over Wednesday evening.

Faithfully yours,

L. R. FOOTE.

Cleveland, Ohio, November 15, 1895.
To Thomas Denny, Chairman.

Dear Sir : I congratulate the Committee and the pas-
tor of the University Place Presbyterian Church upon
reaching the fiftieth anniversary of the useful life of this
Church, on the site it has held so long against all per-
suasive influence to go elsewhere.

During my Seminary course this was my church for
two years, and the Sixth Avenue Mission my field of
labor, with a goodly array of fellow-workers. Dr. Potts
was then in his prime, and his accomplished daughter,

240

Mary Kn^cll Potts, in the iiicridian of her sint,ailar and
beautiful influence.

As pastor of a " down-town " Church which has held
on its way for seventy-five years, and has just celebrated
its three-quarter century anniversary and be^un its next
quarter of a century in the same place, I congratulate
both Church and pastor. That your strength is still un-
abated and your courage equal to your work and its
needs is matter for felicitation. Churches so situated
and intending to hold the fort may, with good reason
and much profit, draw together.

Thanks for an invitation, which I cannot accept.
Yours sincerely,

Hiram C. Hayden,

First Presbyterian Church.

MINISTER.
Rev. GEORGE ALEXANDER, D. D.

ASSISTANT MINISTER.
Rev. HERBERT FORD.

RULING ELDERS.

Thomas Bond, Clerk. Frederick A. Booth.

George Calder. Charles A. Davison.

Moses W. Dodd. Charles M. Earle.

S. Beach Jones, M. D. George R. Lockwood, Treas.

DEACONS.
Fred. A. Burrall, M. D., Chm. Charles H. Clark.
William M. Dodd. Edward H. Evans.

George Roe Lockwood, M. D. Wm. Hallock Park, M. D.
H. Henry Rader, Clerk. Marcus E. Tully, M. D.,

Treas.

^^c Corporation.

Robert Lenox Belknap, Pres. Jonathan H. Crane, Sec.
Frederick A. Booth, Treas.

TRUSTEES.
Robert Lenox Belknap.* William F. Havemeyer.

Jonathan H. Crane. William S. Opdyke.

Charles A. Davison. George B. Post.

Thomas Denny. Randolph W. Townsend.

Henry S. Wilson.

' Died, March 13, 1896.

William Adrian Smith.

Mrs. F. a. Brower, Soprano. Miss E. Boyer, Contralto.
Mr. Arthur Yule, Tenor. Mr. Edward L. Peck, Bass.

MERCER STREET CHURCH.

Thomas H. Skinner 1835 to 1848

Joseph C. Stiles 1848 to 1850

George L. Prentiss 185 1 to 1858

Walter Clarke 1859 to i860

Robert Russell Booth 1861 to 1870

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON UNIVERSITY PLACE.

George Potts 1845 to 1864

Alfred H. Kellogg 1865 to 1870

Robert Russell Booth 1870 to 1883

George Alexander 1884

^ucccj0f^ion of Clticrs.

MERCER STREET CHURCH.

Lowell Holbrook 1835 to 1838

John L Mason 1835 to i860

Norman White 1835 to i860

Simeon Hyde 1836 to 1838

James R. Gibson 1836 to 1856

Anson G. Phelps 1836 to 1853

Thomas S. Nelson 1836 to 1844

George P. Shipman 1836 to 1841

Francis Markoe 1838 to 1848

Levi Coit 1838 to 1846

GusTAVus M. Richards 1838 to 1846

Charles Butler 1842 to 1857

Edgcumbe H. Blatchford 1842 to 1853

Roe Lockwood 1842 to i860

Joseph B. Sheffield 1850 to i860

042

243

Lewis Atterbury 1850 to 1870

William Shaw 1850 to 1854

James Wright 1850 to 1856

John G. Nelson 1856 to 1863

John H. Sprague 1856 to 1868

John P. Crosby 1856 to 1864

Thomas Bond 1856 to 1870

Charles A. Davison 1856 to 1870

Marshall S. Bidwell 1862 to 1870

William L. King 1862 to 1865

George R. Lockwood 1862 to 1870

John W. Quincy 1865 to 1870

Charles P. Hartt 1865 to 1870

Frederick C. Jones 1865 to 1870

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON UNIVERSITY PLACE.

William M. Halsted 1845 to 1863

Henry W. Olcott 1845 to 1849

Horace Green, M. D 1845 to 1866

Seth p. Staples 185 1 to 1862

David N. Lord 1856 to 1880

Robert M. Brown 1856 to i860

Charles C. Darling 1856 to 1867

Latimer Bailey 1866 to 1868

James Brown 1867 to 1877

William W. Stone 1867 to 1875

Theodosius Strang 1867 to 1875

Alexander R, Rodgers 1867 to 1874

Otis D, Swan 1 867 to 1878

William H. Beadleston 1867 to 187 1

Lewis Atterbury, Jr 1870 to 1884

Thomas Bond, Jr 1870

Charles A. Davison 1870

George R. Lockwood 1870

John W. Quincy 1870 to 1883

Charles P. Hartt 1870 to 1872

Frederick C. Jones 1870 to 1885

Richard Brown 1873 to 1876

John H. Dey 1873 to 1882

William T. Booth 1873 to 1886

Charles M. Earle 1873

James T. Smith 1878 to 1892

244

Edward C. Chapin 1878 to 1883

Georce B. Hickok 1878 to 1886

Francis Sylvester Wvnkoop 1881 to 1883

iMosEs Woodruff Dodd 1881

Henry S. Sterling 1881 to 1881

George Calder 1881

Frederick A. Booth 1885

Bradford L. Gii.hert 1885 to 1888

^iifccBBion of ^m^tcc^,

mf:rcer street church.

James Boorman 1836 to 1842

Eli Wainwright 1836 to 1843

Alfred Deforest 1836 to 1840

Gordon Burnham 1836 to 1839

Thomas F. Nelson 1836 to 1839

Charles Butler 1836 to 1839

Asa Bigelow, Jr 1836 to 1840

Roderick Curtis 1836 to 1838

John L. Mason 1836 to 1842

George A. Bickwell 1837 to 1840

Thomas Denny 1838 to 1841

Lambert Suydam 1838 to 1841

David Codwise 1838 to 1841

Charles H. Booth 1839 to 1842

Richard Haines 1840 to 1843

Benjamin F. Butler 1840 to 1843

William W. Chester 1841 to 1844

Augustus Averill 1841 to 1844

Norman White 1842 to 1845

JosiAH W. Wheeler 1842 to 1844

Henry M. Scheiffelin 1842 to 1845

Robert H. McCurdy 1842 to 1844

John Lowerv 1843 to 1846

George D. Phelps 1843 to 1846

Edgcumbe H. Blatchford 1843 to 1846

William Shaw 1844 to 1847

Isaac N. Phelps 1844 to 1847

John P. Crosby 1 844 to 1865

Joseph B. Sheffield 1844 to 1848

245

w. r. scribner

Cornelius Smith

Roe Lockwood

Marshall O. Roberts

Lewis Atterbury, Jr

Orsamus Bushnell

John G. Nelson

John W. Quincy

Richard Bigelow

Richard H. Winslow

Thomas Bond, Jr

Anson G. Phelps

Henry Ivison, Jr

William M. Bliss

George Gifford

Orsamus Bushnell

James Wright

William L. King

William Allen Butler. . .

Cornelius Smith

George B. De Forest

John H. Sprague

George F. Betts

Abraham V. Van Vechten

George R. Lockwood

Charles Miles

Jacob J. Griffen

RuFUS Park

Francis S. Wynkoop

Francis P. Furnald

John N. Bradley

James Buell

Thomas Denny, Jr

R. H. L. Townsend

Otis W. Booth

Henry C. Southworth ....
Justin A. Bliss

1845 to

1848

1845 to

1848

1846 to

1849

1846 to

1849

1846 to

1852

1847 to

1850

1847 to

1853

1847 to

1870

1848 to

I85I

1848 to

I85I

1848 to

1857

1849 to

1852

1849 to

1852

1850 to

1870

1851 to

1854

185 1 to

1857

1852 to

1855

1852 to

1863

1853 to

1862

1853 to

1856

1854 to

1857

1856 to

1865

1857 to

i860

1857 to

i860

1858 to

1870

x86o to

1863

i860 to

1870

1862 to

1868

1863 to

1870

1863 to

1870

1865 to

1868

1865 to

1870

1868 to

1870

1868 to

1870

1869 to

1870

1869 to

1870

1870 to

1870

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON UNIVERSITY PLACE.

James Brown 1844 to 1877

Gardiner G. Howland 1844 to 1851

John C. Green 1844 to 1875

William Curtis Noyes 1844 to 1862

246

Henry S. Mulligan

William H. Smith

Silas Brown

Edmund Coffin

William M. Halstead. . . .

Caleb O. Halsted

Edwin D. Morgan

George C. Goddard . .

Edgar M. Brown

Oliver P. Woodford

William H. Smith

Caleb O. Halsted

David H. Nevins

William W. Stone

George Griswold

Otis D. Swan

Ezra White

Charles N. Fearing

JACK.SON Bolton

George Bliss

Meredith Howland ....

John B. Hall

Willard Parker ,

John W. Quincy

Francis P. Furnald

Thomas Denny, Jr

Charles P. Hartt

James Buell

R. H. L. Townsend

John Baird

Henry S. Wilson

William Turnbull

John B. Hall

Frank F. Van Derveer .
Randolph W. Townsend
Robert Lenox Belknap.

Charles A. Davison

George B, Post

Stephen A. Walker ....

Henry S. Wilson

Thomas Denny

Jonathan H. Crane

William F. Havemeyer .
William S. Opdyke

1844 to

1846

1844 to

1850

1844 to

i860

1844 to

1849

1844 to

1850

1847 to

1850

1849 to

1867

1850 to

■853

1850 to

1862

1850 to

1856

1852 to

1855

1853 to

i860

1856 to

i860

1856 to

1871

i860 to

1 87 1

i860 to

1873

1861 to

1862

1862 to

I87I

1862 to

1862

1863 to

1882

1864 to

1864

1865 to

1876

1867 to

1884

1871 to

1883

1871 to

1877

1871 to

1874

1872 to

1872

1872 to

1882

1874 to

1884

1876 to

1884

1876 to

1879

1877 to

•893

1878 to

1889

1880 to

1891

1882

1882 to

1896

1883

1884

1884 to

1893

1885

1889

I89I

'893

1895

■

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