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 53 
 
 The Perfect House. 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 

 THE PERFECT HOUSE. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED UPON THE OCCASION OF THE 
 
 Opening of the Memorial Church, 
 
 BALTIMORE, MD. . 
 ^undcu^ (p. JL. Jime^ i^tk, l^hli., 
 
 BY 
 
 NOAH HUNT SCHENCK, A.M 
 
 RECTOR OF EMMANUEL CHURCH, 
 BALTO. 
 
 JOHN D. TOY, PRINTER, 
 1864. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Baltimore, June 13, 1864. 
 Ekv. and Dear Sir: 
 
 The undersigned, the members of the A'estry who had the pleasure of 
 listening to your able and appropriate sermon at the opening of the 
 Memorial Church on Sunday last, anticipating their official action, desire 
 to express to you their obligations for the gratification which it aflbrded 
 them and to request that you will enhance their pleasure, and likewise 
 afford others the opportunity of participating therein, by furnishing them 
 with a copy for publication. If agreeable to you therefore we would be 
 pleased to receive the manuscript. 
 
 We are, &c. very respectfully and sincerely. 
 Your Friends, &c. 
 
 CHAS. WORTHINGTON. 
 FRAS. HART. 
 
 HIRAM GREENTREE, M. D. 
 CHAS. R. OWINGS. 
 Rev. N. H. Schenck, 
 
 Rector Emmanuel Church. 
 
Baltimore, Mu. June 14, 1864. 
 
 My Deab Friends: 
 
 In reply to your note of the 13th, I beg to thank you for the flattering 
 terms in which you request for publication the manuscript of Discourse 
 preached at the opening services of the Memorial Church, 
 
 I herewith place it at your disposal. 
 
 I am, &c. affectionately yours, 
 
 In the Gospel of Christ, 
 
 N. H. SCHENCK. 
 To 
 
 Mr, Charles Worthington. 
 Mr. Francis Hart. 
 HiBAM Gbeentree, M. D. 
 Me. Charles R. Owings. 
 
 Vestrymen of The Memorial Church. 
 
S E R M N . 
 
 2 Chronicles viii. 16. So the hodse of the Lord was PEKFECTbMi. 
 
 The splendid Temple which Solomon reared for 
 the worship of God was now complete. By divine 
 command the foundation was laid, and under divine 
 direction the building was erected. Materials had 
 been collected out of all lands, and the most cunning 
 workmen had fashioned and fitted them together. 
 The pure gold of Parvaim overlaid the fir and cedar 
 of Lebanon, and the artisans of Huram had beautified 
 and enriched the structure with profuse and brilliant 
 decorations. The ark with all the holy vessels had 
 been brought up and solemnly deposited in their 
 appointed place. Words of blessing had gone forth 
 from Solomon out upon the people in benediction 
 and up to God in grateful appeal. Fire had de- 
 scended from Heaven to consume the sacrifice in 
 token of the divine favor, and the glory of the Lord 
 had filled the Temple; thus realizing His presence, 
 and thus "inhabiting the praises of Israel" while they 
 made sublime consecration of this house to His glory 
 and worship. Then smoked the thousand holocausts. 
 Then rose the fragrant incense. Then spake the 
 
Lord to Solomon, accepting the dedication of the 
 Temple; and "So the house of the Lord was per- 
 fected." Not' perfected when the wealth of Jerusa- 
 lem and the art of Tyre had lavished their treasures 
 upon the building, not perfected when its garniture 
 of precious metals and sparkling jewels and costly 
 woods and embroidered hangings were complete, 
 not perfected even when the tabernacle furniture 
 was brought into it and the solemn dedication was 
 made to Him for whose honor it was reared and 
 embellished. But it was perfected after that the 
 prayers of the people had gone up and the favor of 
 God been revealed in benignant responses. For 
 this purpose was the Temple built, and not until this 
 its true spiritual character and office had been de- 
 clared, was "the house of the Lord perfected." He 
 who hath filled the caverns of the earth with riches 
 and clothed the ground with verdure and planted 
 the pathless forests and who is Lord of "the cattle 
 upon a thousand hills," hath little need of glittering 
 gold or precious stones or bloody sacrifice to enhance 
 his glory. He who dwelleth in pavilions of light, 
 canopied with splendors, adored in unceasing chorus 
 by a myriad host, who traileth the garments of his 
 glory along the endless corridors of the skies, and 
 whose mighty fiat creates or crushes, sends delight or 
 despair to the reaches of the universe, — the great 
 God of heaven and eternity hath little need of earth's 
 choicest materials or man's cunningest handicraft to 
 shew forth his honor or pay tribute to his dignity. 
 But he will get glory to himself by the love and ad- 
 
oration of his intelligent creatures. What has been 
 made in his spiritual image he hath ordained should 
 render him spiritual homage. The shewing forth of 
 this devout allegiance is an augmentation of God's 
 glory. Therefore it was that the house of the Lord 
 was only perfected after it was filled with the breath 
 of prayer for incense and the pervading Shekinah 
 for a testimony of the Divine favor and blessing. 
 
 Upon this idea of a perfect house we are gathered 
 here to-day to declare and celebrate the perfecting of 
 this house of the Lord. It matters not that a portion 
 of the edifice is yet incomplete. It matters not that 
 the formal service of consecration is yet to be 
 solemnized. The doors are thrown widely open to 
 the eager feet of worshippers. The voice of holy 
 humble prayer has filled the whole house. Pure 
 worship has been offered to him in whose honor 
 these walls are erected. We have felt the divine 
 presence since we have stood here in divine audience. 
 In so far then as regards the spiritual character and 
 office of this place of devotion, "the house of the 
 Lord is perfected." It matters not that this simple 
 structure compared with the gorgeous Temple of 
 Solomon is but as the cottage to the Capitol. Both 
 the one and the other bear the marks of man's 
 imperfection, in their material construction as in 
 their appointed uses. If they alike answer the ends 
 for which they were designed in contributing to the 
 Creator's glory and the soul's welfare, it may be as 
 truly said of this church as of the Jewish Temple, 
 "the house of the Lord is perfected." Widel}^ dif- 
 
8 
 
 ferent as are dispensations in which they respectively 
 have place, strongly contrasted as are the localities, 
 the times, the worshippers, still they are for a com- 
 mon object, and open their doors to men who have 
 the same heritage of sin, the same heirship of immor- 
 tality, the same accountability to God, the same 
 duty of devotion, and the same general obligations 
 as moral freemen. 
 
 The completion of a church is a memorable 
 event. It is a fresh testimony for Christ. It is a 
 new arena for the athletes of the truth. It is an 
 added bulwark to that spiritual temple against which 
 "the gates of hell" are never to prevail. It is a new 
 fold for the flock. It is a new platform for the 
 promulgation of the Gospel. It is another shrine 
 for human devotion. It is the unfurling of another 
 flag b}^ the militant hosts of faith. It is an augmen- 
 tation of spiritual privilege. It is the creation of 
 new opportunities of salvation. It is a token of the 
 unbroken perpetuation of the established means of 
 grace. It is a further protest against sin and against 
 error, while it re-affirms the allegiance of true men 
 to the God of truth. This at all times; but just now 
 the perfecting of a new building for the worship of 
 God has a peculiar moral significance. I refer not 
 so much to these dark days of civil calamity, when 
 the waters of bitterness are dashing up against the 
 ark of God, and Christian men and women are ready 
 with hot words and hasty deeds to ignore the princi- 
 ples of Charity, when in this vast theatre of war 
 there is suoh i^rei^sina; need for the kindly and saving 
 
9 
 
 offices of the Church of God. But I hold before me 
 that other and still more alarming exigency which is 
 presented in the bold and manifold onslaught made 
 on the very citadel of truth in this eventful age. 
 iSTay, not only assault from without but treachery 
 within. It is true that the pen of the French Deist 
 has only presented a brilliant romance in his "Life of 
 Jesus," which unintentionally proves the fact it seeks 
 to subvert, viz: the divinity of the Saviour; and 
 which instead of extinguishing the marvellous light 
 of His life and character has only attracted to it a 
 more universal observation. It is true that the 
 shameless apostacy of Colenso beyond the shock it 
 gave to the Christian world, has effected little except 
 a revived interest in the text of the Pentateuch, a 
 renewed consideration of the doctrine of plenary in- 
 spiration, and a rigorous enquiry as to the powers 
 of the English Church to purge itself of error. It is 
 true that the Essayists and Reviewers have mainly 
 aroused defenders of the Faith, whose contributions 
 to polemical literature have more than counteracted 
 their assaults. It is true that the recent promotion 
 to the Deanery of Westminster has called forth a 
 noble protest against the neologists and harmonized 
 opposing parties in the defence of the sacred text. 
 It is true that the present movement in our own 
 Church in this country, looking to a fraternization 
 with an idolatrous Church in another land — seeking 
 a formal harmony with those abroad holding fatal 
 errors, while at home we repel those identical with 
 us in the essentials of salvation, it is true that this 
 2 
 
in 
 
 movement is rather arousing our own household of 
 Faith to a more direct and earnest study of those spi- 
 ritual realities which alone constitute true Christian 
 unity. It is true that the leading Rectorship of our 
 largest Diocese in boldly proposing for the "everlast- 
 ing repetition" of Creeds an influence superior to the 
 power of the Holy Ghost in the perpetuation of the 
 truth, has done little more than bolster the prejudices 
 of those who have always regarded the Church's dig- 
 nity as paramount. It is true that the recent start- 
 ling concessions made to free-thinking by the Profes- 
 sors in a famous seat of Theological learning in a Sister 
 Church, have been chiefly instrumental in stimulat- 
 ing to greater fidelity other teachers and guardians 
 of truth within that body. And while generally the 
 political, moral and ecclesiastical influences which in 
 these times are arrayed against the Bible-stamped 
 and time-honored forms of orthodoxy have not 
 availed to cripple the energies of the Church, or 
 check the progress of the Gospel in any great degree, 
 still it must be confessed by all who are not blind to 
 the alarming signs of this convulsive epoch, or deaf 
 to the strange voices that are ringing through the 
 air, by all who are keenly sensitive for the dignity of 
 truth, that there are many and alarminglj^ aggressive 
 errors seeking to make head. We hear it commonly 
 suggested in view of ajDproaching dangers that ere 
 long there is to be- a great battle fought upon the 
 broad ground of plenary inspiration. My brethren, 
 tlie day has come. The enemy are upon us. The 
 cannonade has begun. From open plain and secret 
 
li 
 
 ambush, from moor and mountain, with heavy guns 
 and rattUng musketry the foe make deadly assault. 
 The sun of this battle-day is high in heaven, and yet 
 here we stand idle — in fancied security behind our 
 churchly bulwarks. Whether that sun shall be to 
 us the sun of Austerlitz or Waterloo depends upon 
 the alacrity and ability with which we accept the 
 wager of battle, — depends more under Grod, upon our 
 valiant and victorious defence of that most valuable 
 of all the bastions of truth, the plenary inspiration of 
 Holy Scripture. In fact we have no safe fighting 
 ground but this. It must be defended at all hazards 
 and held sacred as against all comers. Give me the 
 Eternal Word in the completeness of its integrity and 
 I have that weapon of God against which no man can 
 prosper. It is the sword of the Spirit which with 
 unblunted edge and untarnished surface cuts its way 
 through every obstacle and cleaves down every ad- 
 versary. It is the omnipotent arm of truth and 
 right. Let us not talk longer of that coming time 
 when it shall be necessary for the Church to marshal 
 all its forces upon the ramparts of plenary inspiration 
 and there unsheathe anew the sword of the Spirit. I 
 repeat it, the time has already come. And therefore 
 it is that we may regard the erection of another 
 evangelical pulpit as an event of peculiar significance 
 at this crisis. By evangelical I mean not simply that 
 which is characteristic of the'pure Gospel of Jesus in 
 its doctrinal aspects, but that which presents the zeal 
 of Peter and the valor of Paul, the love of John and 
 the devotion of Stephen in the advocacy and defence 
 
12 
 
 of the foundation principles of Christianity. The 
 circumstances of our age recall us to the primitive 
 and reformatory ages of the Church. It is the duty 
 of the pulpit at such a crisis to preach Christ crucified 
 in all plainness of speech, to declare fundamental 
 doctrine stripped of all the glosses of German mys- 
 ticism, Anglican rationalism, and American scepti- 
 cism, to rebuke promptly, boldly and persistently 
 every departure from doctrinal purity and every 
 compromise of personal piety; yes and more than 
 this — to shame the moral cowardice of the times 
 which under specious pretexts of civil and Christian 
 virtue is trammeling the free thought and shackling 
 the independent action of immortal and accountable 
 men. The age calls for heroes, if indeed there be 
 giants in these days. They are wanted in the field, 
 in the cabinet, and in the Church, Within these 
 walls is a new arena for champions of the truth. 
 May the blessed God arm and equip his Servant who 
 first shall exercise the holy ministry of Jesus here. 
 The thoroughly furnished and discerning mind, the 
 faithful and all-loving heart, the mouth of wisdom, the 
 ready hands, the zealous feet we pray may all be his. 
 God opens before him here the Holy Scriptures which 
 are "able to make wise unto salvation" and bids 
 him declare the glad tidings of a Saviour suffering to 
 free the soul. The Church presents him her hallowed 
 ritual as a guide for the devotions of the people and 
 enjoins him thus to tread the old paths of prayer and 
 praise. May an unworthy servant of that God and 
 a minister of that Church, be pardoned the seeming 
 
1 '■> 
 
 presumption of placing by the side of Bible and 
 Prayer-Book an unpretending volume, but one which 
 is peculiarly meet for the hour, and one which must 
 ere long be a horn-book of every defender of the faith, 
 a book which rebukes the theological vagaries and 
 rational infidelities of the age and recalls the mind of 
 Christendom to the integrity of revealed truth, the 
 manner of its defence and the duty of its guardians. 
 I mean the simple but masterly and exhaustive trea- 
 tise of William Lee, on "the Inspiration of Holy 
 Scripture, its nature and proof." 
 
 We have no right this day to the jubilant thought 
 of my text, unless the perfecting of this house of 
 the Lord is in such a sense as fills the whole design 
 of its projection. Invoking the regard of the G-reat 
 Head of the Church not to the material, but to the 
 moral temple here erected, we would speak to Him 
 as of old did one of the disciples, "Master, see what 
 manner of stones, and what building are here." If 
 we cannot present stones that are "goodly," "tried 
 and precious," "lively stones" and "fitly framed to- 
 gether," into a "building truly of G-od," may we not 
 expect of this the same sure prophecy of destruction 
 as that which the Saviour spake of the Temple at 
 Jerusalem. But the spirit of this gospel enterprise 
 consummated in the solemn services of this hour, 
 has held in view a perfect house for the people's 
 worship and the Lord's glory. To this end we have 
 sought, — earnestly, prayerfully, humbly sought to 
 redeem for this church that precious prediction of 
 beauty and blessing vouchsafed long ages ago as the 
 
14 
 
 coming heritage of the Oliurcli of the Gentiles, 
 "Behold I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and 
 lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will 
 make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- 
 buncles, and all thy borders of precious stones. And 
 all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and 
 great shall be the peace of thy children. In right- 
 eousness shalt thou be established ; thou shalt be far 
 from oppression; for thou shalt not fear; and from 
 terror, for it shall not come near thee. No weapon 
 that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every 
 tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou 
 shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants 
 of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith 
 the Lord." What a picture is here of the perfecting 
 of the House of the Lord ! What complete descrip- 
 tion of the construction of the perfect house. We 
 can accept no lower standard than is here set forth. 
 Nay, we must strain our utmost to attain unto it, for 
 this is the federal condition of its acquisition. "See," 
 then, "Master, what manner of stones and what 
 building are here." 
 
 For a perfect house of the Lord it is not neces- 
 sary that wealth be lavished or grace displayed in 
 producing artistic effects. It is not necessary that 
 the secular attractions of eloquence and music be 
 enlisted as elements of completeness. It is not ne- 
 cessary that the noble, and the rich, and the mighty, 
 should be congregated. It is not necessary that 
 frequent place be given to imposing ceremonials and 
 ecclesiastical pageants. All these and more than 
 
15 
 
 these may enter into the composition of the perfect 
 house, and add grace and solemnity to its arrange- 
 ment and worship. But they are not only not essen- 
 tial, but alas, not infrequently mar the symmetry 
 and deplete the vigor of that which is essential. The 
 [esthetics of church life serve as a graceful appendage 
 when they decorate deep devotion and interweave 
 with the principles of lofty piety. But on the con- 
 trary, how often are they but a temptation and a 
 snare. The perfect house has no toleration for the 
 idolatry of taste, no place for the mere gewgaws of 
 sentiment. Its appointments are as simple as its 
 office is sublime. The essentials of the perfect house 
 are few but- fixed. Its rule of faith and practice is 
 the word of God, the revealed scriptures of salvation 
 without note or comment. No creed, no tradition, 
 no body of canons, no church constitution, enters 
 into its composition, except in so far as they are 
 plainly deducible from Holy Writ, or "may be 
 proved thereby." Its code of doctrine is embraced 
 in or annexed to that "article of a standing church" 
 justification only by faith in the blood and righteous- 
 ness of Jesus Christ. Its law of life is implicit obe- 
 dience to the will of the Saviour and a humble fol- 
 lowing of his perfect example. Its bounden duty is 
 the preaching of "the pure Word of Grod, "—setting 
 forth "the unsearchable riches" of grace in all spiri- 
 tual opulence, and duly administering the sacra- 
 ments "according to Christ's ordinance." Its one 
 only impulse is the Honor of the Master. Its per- 
 vading spirit is Love. Its only illumination is the 
 
16 
 
 light of the Holy Ghost shed abroad in the hearts of 
 the people. But there are other elements of the 
 composition of the perfect house, not strictly essen- 
 tial, that is, "not essential to its being, but to its 
 well being." We here speak of that "primitive 
 order" which should never be dissociated from 
 "apostolical doctrine;" of that "holding fast the form 
 of sound words in the aggregate devotions of the 
 people, by which they are guarded in the hour of 
 prayer from irreverence and strange doctrine; of 
 that fidelity to the lambs of the flock, which shall 
 secure to them "the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord," and thus give guarantees of the Church's 
 future; of that valiant pastorship which boldly re- 
 bukes wickedness and condemns error, and which 
 promptly accepts and patiently obeys the precept 
 that "it is given unto us not only to believe in Christ 
 but also to suffer for him." The perfect house is 
 perfumed with love. Its air is always charged with 
 the breathings of prayer. Fidelity and fraternity 
 are inscribed on all its walls. It is vocal with the 
 godliness of the preached gospel and the loyal life. 
 These are the agates, the carbuncles, and the sap- 
 phires, the fair and brilliant stones of the perfect 
 house. Are they to ornament this jolace of prayer? 
 Deriving boldness from the inception and early con- 
 duct of this gospel enterprise, its' memorial and doc- 
 trinal character, its present attitude and honest out- 
 look — may we not venture hopefully to the side of 
 Jesus with our appeal, "Master, see what manner of 
 stones and what building are here." That this ap- 
 
17 
 
 peal may as confidently be taken in coming time is 
 a responsibility which rests upon him who ministers 
 at this altar, and those that bow before it. We 
 rejoice that "the house of the Lord is perfected,'* 
 but our joy is dashed with bi,tterness just in propor- 
 tion as it falls below the standard of the perfect 
 house. Better these stones had never been quarried 
 from their beds, better these beams had never been 
 hewn from their native forests, than that they should 
 close in and cover over a shrine which abates a jot 
 from the hoiior due to God or perverts a tittle of 
 that doctrine by which He proposes to glorify him- 
 self in the salvation of souls. But no, the memories 
 of the past, the convictions of the present joyful hour 
 and the bright auguries of the future are garlanded 
 around the roof tree of this house of God, are wreathed 
 along these walls and festooned beneath these arches, 
 and above this altar, in floral beauty and enduring 
 evergreen, bespeaking the purity of doctrine and the 
 firmness of principle which here are solemnly en- 
 shrined. If we may speak confidently of the char- 
 acter and future history of any gospel venture, it is 
 assuredly permitted us here and now, as we recall 
 the circumstances which have prepared for this happy 
 occasion. If ever we may indulge the exuberance 
 of sacred joy, it is in a moment like this, when a 
 project born of the noblest impulses of our nature, 
 carried forward upon the sympathies and hopes of a 
 whole christian community, retarded by public ca- 
 lamity, and again, the removal by death, of its zealous 
 leader, is at last successfully completed and given up 
 3 
 
18 
 
 to the use and purpose for which it was originally 
 designed. May we not then be pardoned for giving 
 loose rein to our feelings of joyful thanksgiving, 
 "bringing forth the head-stone with shoutings," and 
 "cr3''ing grace, grace unto it." 
 
 We are solemnly congregated to-day, fellow chris- 
 tians of Baltimore, to celebrate the opening services 
 of this Memorial Church. While it is an occasion of 
 spiritual joy, still are there many emotions of sorrow 
 which rise to temper our sacred gladness. The per- 
 fecting of this House of the Lord has been antici- 
 pated and longed for by anxious hearts, through 
 months and years of weary waiting. But the hopes 
 deferred are happily realized, and these hearts are 
 throbbing now with gratitude to God, that they are 
 permitted here to pay their vows and here record 
 afresh their consecration to Christ. Not only those 
 who are more especially interested, but all lovers of 
 the Gospel — all friends of the Church are glad this 
 day, because another house of the Lord is perfected. 
 And then how beautiful and chaste, how admirably 
 adapted is the building. Pure in its architecture, 
 piling its gray stone in heavy wall and solid buttress 
 and graceful arch, and reproducing a style where 
 strength and elegance are beautifully blended, — 
 simple almost to severity in the taste of its interior, 
 with plenty of fresh air and plenty of the blessed 
 sunshine of Heaven, it is one of the few Gothic 
 Churches I have ever seen that has a wise adaptation 
 to the modes of Protestant worship. There are no 
 deeply drooping arches and grouped columns to cast 
 
19 
 
 their sombre shadows across the face of the worshiper 
 and the page of his Prayer Book, steeping them aUke 
 "in a dim," but drowsy "rehgious light," no lofty 
 bench ends or angled recesses to cover the retreat of 
 the irreverent or apathetic. Nay, look around, my 
 Brethren, have we not here a spiritual council cham- 
 ber where earnest, honest, healthy men and women 
 can come together for prayer and praise and preach- 
 ing. I thank God for this church, and as He works 
 by human agency, we should thank him also for the 
 good sense he has given those who planned its con- 
 struction It is a further cause of gratulation, that 
 the materials and labor which have entered into this 
 structure are paid for. It is proposed, that they, 
 who worship here shall have an undisputed right to 
 their possession of a place of prayer, "owing no man 
 anything, except to love one another." We launch 
 this gospel ship, not freighted deeply with the burden 
 of debt, slowly to sail through heavy seas, and per- 
 chance, to founder in some time of storm, but giving 
 her only the truth for freight and love for ballast, 
 and with faith for her compass, we commit her con- 
 fidently to wind and wave, only invoking the breath 
 of the Spirit to swell the canvas, and cause the 
 prospering gales to waft her onward in her course. 
 In things material, then, as well as spiritual, the 
 perfecting of this house of the Lord, is a spring of 
 grateful joy to every well-wisher of the gospel of 
 Jesus. But there is a dark shadow flung across the 
 path of these glad solemnities. We miss to-day the 
 presence of him whose heart conceived, whose mind 
 
20 
 
 matured, whose zeal impelled and whose hand di- 
 rected, under God, this noble design of church ex- 
 tension. How sadly, how keenly we miss him, those 
 best can tell, who enjoyed his ministry from the 
 beginning of this enterprise, up to the hour (for he 
 was "faithful unto death,") that he received his 
 "crown of life." Yes, "he is risen ; he is not here, 
 but go your way, — he goeth before you, — there shall 
 ye see him." Four years ago, the Rev. Charles 
 Ridgely Howard stood witli many of us upon this 
 sjDot, as we laid the corner stone of the Memorial 
 Church. How little did any of us imagine that for 
 the first and last, and only time he was then to offer 
 prayer in the place which he had selected for his life 
 ministry. I remember well the scene. I can yet 
 see that earnest pleading face turned upward and 
 gazing into the blue vault of Heaven. I saw the 
 light of hope on that face. I saw it furrowed with 
 the lines of faith. But the place that knew it then, 
 is to know it no more forever. We are gathered 
 now on the same spot to consummate what he begun. 
 that he could have been here to-day, to behold the 
 ripened fruit of his holy toil. But he is a witness to 
 this solemnity, as he looks down upon it from the 
 balcony of Heaven. Nay, I but speak as a man, 
 when I mourn his absence. He is our fellow-wor- 
 shiper this day, enjoying far more richly than can 
 our crippled and imprisoned souls, the blessed com- 
 munion of saints to which these services admit us. 
 Moreover, there is that in the commemorative name 
 of this edifice which arouses tearful recollections in 
 
21 
 
 an hour like the present. This house is sacred to 
 the memory of the Rev. Henry Van Dyke Johns, 
 D. D. As such, its opening exercises bring distinctly 
 before us his character, his ministry, and his univer- 
 sally lamented death. The five years which have 
 elapsed since he entered into his rest, have not suf- 
 ficed to recover this community from the shock his 
 departure occasioned. These services but renew the 
 common grief. We almost forget the present in the 
 thronging reminiscences which come up from the 
 past and array themselves here as rightful partici- 
 pants in the emotions of this hour. Thus I repeat 
 do mingled feelings of joy and sorrow swell and 
 sway the heart as we inaugurate the worship of God 
 in the Memorial Church, and declare "the house of 
 the Lord perfected." 
 
 On the 30th of January, 1855, four months after 
 the opening of Emmanuel Church, the ladies of 
 that congregation organized themselves into a Mis- 
 sionary Society, proposing to support a Colporteur 
 and Bible-Reader, and to establish and sustain a 
 Parish School. The following month they secured 
 the services of Mr. Clark, .a layman, and in March 
 the work was fairly begun. Early in the following 
 fall. Rev. Dr. Johns suggested and made arrange- 
 ments for the erection of a building for the use 
 of the Mission. This was soon after completed 
 • under the name of Emmanuel Chapel. Mr. Clark 
 resigned in Nov. 1855, and in December, the Rev. 
 Charles R. Howard was elected Missionary. He 
 discharged the duties until September, 1856, when 
 
22 
 
 the Rev. N. G. Allen took his place, and continued 
 as the Society's Missionary for nearly a year. Mr. 
 Allen's resignation took effect in July, 1857, and in 
 May of the following year, the Rev. Mr. Howard 
 again accepted the oversight of the Mission. During 
 1858 and 1859, the Rev, John T. Hotf was associated 
 with Mr. Howard, in the Chapel services After the 
 resignation of the Rev. Mr. Hoff, and up to the period 
 of Mr. Howard's death, the latter officiated regularly. 
 The Parish School, and the religious services were 
 originally held on Decker street, near Chase, then 
 on Cathedral street, near the Bolton Station, and 
 afterward, and permanently in the Chapel, on Grundy 
 street. 
 
 In his efforts to sustain these Missionary services, 
 the Rev. Dr. Johns always regarded them as creating 
 the nucleus of a future Church organization. Several 
 months after his death, ='' this idea was embraced by 
 Mr. Howard, who, for many years had worked by his 
 side, and who seemed peculiarly appointed by circum- 
 stances for the task he now assumed. He proposed 
 expanding the Missionary movement on Grundy 
 street, into an organized congregation, and building 
 a house of worship, to be styled the Memorial 
 Church, in pious commemoration of the virtues and 
 labors of the late lamented Rector of Emmanuel. 
 With characteristic energy, the Rev. Mr. Howard 
 entered upon the practical operation of this project. , 
 The Church was organized, and with a baptism of 
 
 * Rev. Dr. Johns died ou Good Friday, April i;2, 1859. 
 
23 
 
 prayer, received its "Memorial" name. In due time, 
 it was received into canonical connection with the 
 Convention of the Diocese. Ample ground for 
 Church, Chapel and Rectory, was secured in this 
 very eligible quarter of the City, and adjacent to 
 the original site of the Mission. The corner-stone 
 was laid on July 3d, 1860, and the enterprise rap- 
 idly progressed, carrying with it a general and hegirty 
 sympathy. But presently the clouds thickened in 
 our political sky, the storm burst in fury and the 
 hurricane of war swept across the land. This enter- 
 prise soon felt the paralysis which our civil convul- 
 sion so generally produced. With crippled energies, 
 however, it still struggled bravely on, encountering 
 and conquering many obstacles, until at last the 
 blight of sickness fell upon him who stood at the 
 helm. what a trial of faith was this to our ear- 
 nest, active, hopeful brother. But as months wore 
 on, and brought with them an increased feebleness 
 of body, they extorted from this humble and patient 
 man of Grod only the expression of a chastened sor- 
 row that the "hands which laid the foundation of 
 this house, might not also finish it;" and furthermore 
 that he might not again be permitted to "preach 
 the blessed salvation of Jesus, to perishing sinners." 
 But you all know of the faithful serenity in which 
 our dear Brother yielded the labor of his ministr}'-, 
 and his lease of mortal life in holy obedience to that 
 supreme will, which was the law of his labor and the 
 light of his life. His was a glorious sun-setting. 
 But though beyond the horizon of earth, the reflected 
 
24 
 
 light of that Christian character is still hovering 
 above us. God grant that the beauty of this twi- 
 light may never be withdrawn from this congrega- 
 tion, but that the lingering radiance of this departed 
 spirit may ever be to them as a "bright light in the 
 clouds.'' 
 
 By the early removal of the Rev. Mr. Howard 
 from the field of his work, and by reason of the 
 peculiar circumstances of that work: this church 
 seems providentially appointed as his monument, 
 thus conferring upon it a doubly memorial character. 
 And how befitting it is, that as he first found peace 
 to his soul under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. 
 Johns, and under his counsel came into the ministry 
 of Christ, and subsequently labored by his side and 
 continued in closest fellowship with him unto the 
 last; and then, by consummating his plan of Church 
 extension, projected an enduring memento of his 
 ministry by the erection of this edifice, how befitting 
 is it that these walls should enshrine the memory of 
 both the one and the other. Their souls are together 
 in the realm of the redeemed, the Church triumphant 
 in heaven. Let their saintly memory be here inter- 
 weaved in the same sweet accord. "Lovely and 
 pleasant were they in their lives, and in death they 
 are not divided." Yonder twin-tablet makes a re- 
 cord to which loving hearts give a gushing response, 
 and upon which grateful eyes will rest for many 
 generations. Let me read the tribute. Truth has 
 traced and justice chiselled each word and sjdlable 
 of that memorial stone. 
 
25 
 IN MEMOKIAM 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Rev. CHARLES RIDGELY HOWARD, 
 
 THE 
 
 FOUNDER AND FIRST RECTOR 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MEMORIAL CHURCH. 
 
 DIED 
 
 MARCH 1 , 1862. 
 
 HIS 
 
 CLOSE IMITATION OF CHRIST, 
 
 HIS FIDELITY AS 
 
 A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 
 
 AND AS 
 
 A LOVING AND LABORIOUS PASTOR, 
 
 WILL ALWAYS 
 
 KEEP HIS MEMORY PRECIOUS 
 
 TO THIS 
 
 GRATEFUL CONGREGATION. 
 
 By IT HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH. — HeB. xi. 4. 
 
 18 4, 
 
 After the death of Mr. Howard, and under the 
 heavy pressure which weighed upon the business 
 interests of the city, the progress of the church 
 building seemed wholly stopped. Meantime the ser- 
 vices were regularly continued in Emmanuel Chapel, 
 under the Rectorship of the venerable John P. Baus- 
 man. Upon his resignation in the spring af 1863, 
 the services were held for several months with a 
 good degree of regularity until December of the 
 4 
 
•26 
 
 «ame year; since then the Rev. Henry W. Woods 
 has regularly conducted the worship at the Chapel. 
 The Vestry and Congregation have with perfect una- 
 nimity selected for their permanent Pastor the Rev. 
 Osborne Ingle. He will, by Divine permission, enter 
 upon a ministry here for which he seems peculiarly 
 qualified. You could scarcely have selected one who 
 by the conditions of heart and mind, is better pre- 
 pared to receive the mantle worn by your former 
 Pastor. He will begin his work with bright skies 
 above him and warm hearts around him. I but ask 
 for him now your active co-operation. He will soon 
 win for himself that which only worth begets and 
 fidelity matures — the respect, the sympathy, the love 
 of Christian souls. May the presence of the Holy 
 Ghost be given to him in all his labor in the Lord. 
 May the might of Jesus be manifested in his minis- 
 try. May many, very many precious souls, born into 
 Christ and confirmed in the faith be ojiven unto him 
 for his hire. 
 
 It only remains that I speak a word of the com- 
 pletion of the edifice, to bring the history of this 
 enterprise down to the present hour when we declare 
 the house of the Lord perfected. Early in the 
 autumn of last year the good providence of. God 
 signally indicated that the time had come, and that 
 the agencies were prepared for resuming the work 
 upon the Church building, and bringing it to a 
 speedy and successful conclusion. A noble contri- 
 bution from a near relative of the Rev. Mr. Howard 
 and the gift of the Emmanuel Cliapel supplied the 
 
27 
 
 first impetus to the effort. The large amount still 
 necessary for finishing the church was promptly and 
 cheerfully advanced by a few gentlemen of the Con- 
 gregation and Yestry of Emmanuel, a member of the 
 latter accepting by the authority of the Memorial 
 Church Vestry the management of all the temporal 
 interests involved in the completion of the building. 
 This responsible and laborious office has been exer- 
 cised with such a wise discretion, that the structure 
 stands complete to-day, in so far and in such manner 
 as the original plan demanded. May the Lord richly 
 reward these noble Christian friends, whose timely 
 and substantial aid has lifted and fitted in its place 
 the "head-stone" of the Memorial Church. 
 
 The curious antiquary standing amidst the ruins of 
 church or castle, and pondering with inquisitive eye 
 the crumbling relics of wall and window and arch, 
 sees around him no vital link to connect the living 
 present with the dead past, save the enduring ivy, — 
 whose life has flowed in unbroken current and whose 
 foliage waved in ceaseless verdure as the centuries 
 have come and gone. The modest shrub struggling 
 at first for^a feeble existence in the damp shadows, 
 and clinging to the foundation stones of high-reared 
 tower or lordly minster, mounted slowly up and gra- 
 dually spread along the face of the wall, beaten 
 down by the storms and exposed to the retarding 
 accidents of growth, still with its web-like roots 
 interlaced about every projection and planted in every 
 crevice, surely ascending and richly decorating the 
 massive masonry and sculptured stone, until as time 
 wore on and the ages rolled, it covered and concealed 
 
28 
 
 the work of decay, buttressed the toppUng wall, 
 bound together the fragments of ruin, beautified 
 the shapeless heaps and rescued the mournful scene 
 from utter desolation. It had had no place in the 
 architecture of the building; no space was given it 
 in the august interior. It would have been but an 
 intruder upon 
 
 "The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault." 
 
 The hand of sentiment had planted it in some unno- 
 ticed angle and left it there to become a thing of 
 increasing beauty for the generations yet unborn. 
 And the time came when the once fragile . plant was 
 the crowning beauty of the structure and had its vic- 
 tory over the solid rock, breathing out its sweet 
 lay of life upon the waste and destruction around it. 
 Thus it is when we associate the memory of a 
 good man with a house erected for the worship of 
 God. He cannot share with his Master in the honor 
 of the temple. It is dedicated to the sole service 
 and glory of the great Jehovah. Man's virtues can- 
 not be interweaved by grateful recollection in the 
 vows we pay and the sacrifice we offej:, without 
 detracting from and even destroying their value. 
 Therefore it is, when we would honor pious worth by 
 linking its memory with the place of prayer we 
 attach it, as we attach the ivy, to the walls of the 
 building, that it may deck them with beauty. In 
 view of the paramount dignity of God's service and 
 the personal and pressing duties of our own Church- 
 life, the memory of a man, however revered, may 
 seem an inconsiderable appendage to our temple of 
 
29 
 
 devotion. But years roll away and generations die 
 and principles change and the days of trial come and 
 desolation ensues, then more and more shall the 
 grace of that blessed memory rise to view. Like the 
 ivy it will flourish with increasing vigor in the midst 
 of decay and ruin. Though men forget God, they 
 remember each other and the recollection of the just 
 will decorate the darkest hours of adversity. It is 
 not however reserved for scenes like these to disclose 
 the moral beauty of a memorial name appended to the 
 House of God. As the leaves of the ivy which adorn 
 the outside walls are plucked at times and twined in 
 garlands to beautify the interior of the sanctuary, so 
 may this memory in all the continuing freshness of 
 its verdure be brought at times within the house of 
 God to excite the emulation of the good or shew 
 forth the beauty and the blessedness of Christian 
 principle. Through all the fluctuations of events, 
 through one generation after another, the memory 
 remains like the ivy clinging to the walls of the 
 Church, higher, stronger and more beautiful as time 
 goes on, — for in time's flight as in the ivy's growth, 
 imperfections are gradually hidden or forgotten, until 
 by and by they are wholly lost to view. The memo- 
 rial name outlives the material structure which it 
 entitles; and the moralist seated upon its crumbling 
 heaps will find nothing to grace the ruin but that 
 undying memory which clothes with ivy-like verdure 
 the decaying fragments around. God's worship and 
 God's honor, may be there no more enshrined. 
 Elsewhere the altar shall have been reconstructed. 
 But the name and the memory of the holy man still 
 
30 
 
 twine around and caress the mouldering arch and 
 ruined wall, breathing out on every rustling breeze 
 their sweet but saddening melody. 
 
 As the ivy is only planted after the house of the 
 Lord is perfected, so have I reserved for the conclu- 
 sion of my discourse what mention is meet of the 
 commemorative character of this house of God. We 
 are worshipping for the first time, my Brethren, in 
 the "Johns' Memorial Church." I have already 
 detailed the circumstances of its history. I have yet 
 to speak its memorial lessons. This tablet sets forth 
 in brief the moral facts of that history and the moral 
 foundation on which these lessons rest. Let us pon- 
 der the inscription. It is a legend of love and loyalty. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 THIS 
 HOUSE OF PRAYER 
 
 IS ERECTED IN 
 
 PIOUS COMMEMORATION 
 
 OP THAT GODLY MAN, 
 
 The Rev. HENRY Y. D. JOHNS, D. D. 
 
 AS TO 
 
 HIS MISSIONARY ZEAL 
 
 THIS GOSPEL ENTERPRISE IS 
 
 INDEBTED FOR ITS ORIGIN, 
 
 so TO HIS 
 
 DISTINCTIVE EVANGELICAL TEACHINGS 
 
 LET IT ALWAYS BE 
 
 'FAITHFUL AND TRUE. "— rev. xxii. 6. 
 
 Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. — I Cok. ii. 2. 
 1864. 
 
31 
 
 Independent of its formal appointment this church 
 is providentially commemorative of the Rev. Dr. 
 Johns. It is the ripened fruit of a missionary germ 
 his own hand planted. Almost without exception 
 those who have been embraced in its congregation 
 were previously the objects of his pastoral care. The 
 projector of the enterprise in its present form had 
 for five years been associated with him in the regular 
 duties of the ministry. Moreover the church stands 
 within an arrow's flight of the place of his residence 
 and the scene of his triumphant death. But it is 
 most fitting that this city should possess a monument 
 such as this, to shew forth its appreciation of the man 
 and the minister. I suppose there is no one whose 
 influence has made a deeper mark upon this genera- 
 tion of Christian people in Baltimore than Dr. Johns. 
 It is not my purpose, as it is not my office, and cer- 
 tainly it is quite beyond my ability to analyze the 
 character of that eminent Servant of Christ, or pro- 
 nounce his eulogy. It is too late for this. It always 
 was too late. For his character was so transparent 
 that it needed no interpretation; his eulogy was 
 written day by day duritig the term of his ministry 
 upon the grateful hearts that were privileged to 
 enjoy his evangelical labors. Now that he is entered 
 into his rest, however, and you have determined to 
 associate his name inseparably with your house of 
 worship, it becomes you to make that association a 
 substantial contribution to the moral beauty of this 
 edifice, that it may be a perfect house, a worthy inte- 
 
32 
 
 ger of that "glorious Church" described as being 
 "without spot or blemish or any such thing." 
 
 It is impossible that a church be a memorial of 
 Dr. Johns in aught more than the name, except it 
 perpetuate in its congregation that personal piety for 
 which he was so distinguished. He was indeed "a 
 Godly man." "Faithful in his own house" — studying 
 first of all and most of all the honoring of Christ in 
 the inner sanctuary, and giving not forth to the people 
 the truth of doctrine or of life until he had obtained 
 experimental knowledge of its value. that you 
 may never forget this priceless memorial lesson. 
 The necessity of honoring Christ in the heart. The 
 lifting up of Jesus before the mirror of the soul. 
 The measuring as by line and plummet the shape 
 and size of every thought and feeling, that they may 
 be adjusted to the pattern presented in the Gospel. 
 The subjugation of self and the "bringing into cap- 
 tivity unto the obedience of Christ" the passions and 
 the will. The martyr-like determination to honor 
 the Master in walk and work, through good or evil 
 report, esteeming it meat and drink to perform His 
 pleasure, to spend and be spent in His service and 
 rejoicing when accounted worthy to suffer in His 
 benign behalf. 
 
 If this is fairly entitled as the Memorial Church of 
 Dr. Johns it must emulate "his Missionary zeal." He 
 well understood the expansive and aggressive charac- 
 ter of true Christianity. He well knew that there 
 could be no growth, no sustained health or even 
 vitality to personal piety or to the Church aggregate, 
 
33 
 
 except faith was continually developing in and 
 proved by works. Therefore it was that his ministry 
 partook so largely of that missionary spirit whicli 
 characterized the primitive type of Evangelists. 
 Within the bounds of his own congregation, in the 
 various modes of carrying the Gospel to the destitute 
 throughout the city, in catholic co-operation with 
 his brethren of sister Churches, in efforts to supply 
 the means of grace to the waste places of our own 
 extended home-field and to send it far beyond the 
 sea, "even unto the ends of the earth," there to give 
 light in the midst of pagan darkness, — in all enter- 
 prises which proposed feeding the hungry with the 
 "bread of life" he was ever ready to pioneer the move- 
 ment or give it his prompt and cordial support. Graft 
 this spirit upon your every heart, ye men and women 
 of the Memorial Congregation! and let it have a healthy 
 and sturdy growth, for I assure you that the Spirit 
 of Missions is the Genius of the Church, and under God 
 the fountain of its vigor and the spur of its activity. 
 But it is especially incumbent upon you to prove 
 and make your title good as the Memorial Church of 
 Dr. Johns, by being "faithful and true" to "the dis- 
 tinctive evangelical teachings" which marked his min- 
 istry from first to last. His Churchmanship was of 
 that pure and simple stamp which practically displays 
 the consistency of primitive order with the doctrinal 
 teachings of the English Reformers. Loyal to the 
 Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, he preached with a rare fidelity the doctrines 
 of grace as codified and illustrated by those sainted 
 
34 
 
 Martyrs who gave their lives as a testimony for the 
 truth of the Gospel. Nay more, with a holy zeal like 
 theirs, he sternly opposed and boldly condemned the 
 many and flagrant departures which the extreme An- 
 glican theology takes from that Faith which was tried 
 in the fires. His pure catholicity led him as it led the 
 men of the 16th century into close communion with 
 Christians of other Churches holding to the same 
 essential doctrines of salvation. He had no disposi- 
 tion, no ability, no proper precedent for narrowing 
 his spiritual sympathies to the comparatively con- 
 tracted limit of his own peculiar Church. He was, 
 as every true Christian and faithful Churchman ought 
 to be, a man of world-wide sympathies with all true 
 lovers of Christ. In declaring the doctrines of free 
 grace he set forth the spiritnaJ regeneration of the 
 soul by the invoked power of the Holy Ghost as the 
 initial idea of the Christian life. He preached justi- 
 fication only hy faith in the blood and righteousness of 
 Christ. He enjoined the constant co-working of 
 man's spirit with the Holy Spirit, that thus through 
 sanctification might be attained that holiness, without 
 which no man can see the Lord. He declared the 
 precious sacramental x^rivileges of the Church and 
 urged in this as in all things implicit obedience to 
 the law of Christ. He jyreached Jesus in the fullness 
 of His atonement, in the freeness of His grace, in the 
 power of His spirit, in the richness of His love, in the 
 strength of His faith, in the preciousness of His prom- 
 ises, in the holiness of His life, in the sublimity of 
 His meekness, and in the terror of His judgment. 
 In the negative aspects of his public preaching and 
 
35 
 
 private counsels he was equally true to the honor of 
 the Grospel. Though a "man of meek and quiet 
 spirit,"' and always "speaking the truth in love," still 
 had he no toleration for that cold and arrogant Church- 
 manship which strives to dignify the visibiUties of 
 Church-life to the detriment of its higher and holier 
 functions; no toleration had he for those glosses and de- 
 rangements of doctrine which at once dishonor Christ 
 and mislead the soul. His denunciation of error in doc- 
 trine was no less distinct and decided than tlie keen- 
 edged reproofs he administered to the other and lower 
 forms of vice. Nay, in every tone it uttered, his 
 trumpet gave no uncertain sound. Its echoes are in 
 this Church, in the minds of many now before me who 
 were long familiarized to that faithful preaching of 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I have adverted to 
 the peculiar necessity of adhering at this juncture to 
 the simple forms of Gosp6l truth. Be faithful, my 
 Brethren, be unswervingly true to that doctrinal dis- 
 tinctiveness which signalized the ministry of him 
 whose memory you have taken in sacred trust. If 
 thus faithful you are, your Church shall have an 
 added title to its memorial name, for then shall it be 
 a living testimony, commemorative of "truth as it is 
 in Jesus." 
 
 Thus, Beloved in Christ, do I offer you the memorial 
 lessons which this hallowed hour and this sacred place 
 suggest. Over that desk the voice of Henry Johns 
 first ascended in prayer when he began his ministry in 
 Christ Church, Baltimore. By that table he first knelt 
 in the celebration of the Holy Communion. From 
 this pulpit he first preached Christ to the people of that 
 
36 
 
 congregation. Could these marbles but find a tongue 
 they would tell you better far than I have done the 
 story of that loyalty to God, that devotion to truth, that 
 fidelity to man, which combined to make the character 
 these walls commemorate. Pulpit and table and desk 
 must ever be to you as eloquent mementos of a virtue 
 which God has exalted to the skies, or as silent but 
 stern witnesses of that moral treache^-y which engages 
 to guard only to betray its memory.* 
 
 Let my ending word be a fervent God-speed to this 
 Church, its Pastor and its Congregation. The house 
 of the Lord is perfected, but only that labor in the 
 Lord may begin. In His name and by His spirit let 
 it be begun and continued, but never ended until He 
 shall come again in glorious majesty. Make this a 
 perfect house. Perfect it shall be if Jesus is always 
 here. Pray for Him. Preach of Him. Honor Him 
 in sacred song and solemn ordinance. Commune with 
 Him at the holy table. Sup together with Him in the 
 chamber of the soul. Lift Him up that you may be 
 drawn unto Him. Behold Him as the one altogether 
 lovely. Make Him the man of your counsel. Have 
 your life hid with Him in God. Thus shall you light 
 up tliis sanctuary with the radiance of Heaven and 
 deck your Zion in the beauty of holiness. 
 
 * The Marble Pulpit, Communion Table and Reading Desk, now erected in 
 tlie Memorial Church, are those formerly used in Christ Church during the 
 ministry of Rev. Dr. Johns, and his Brother who preceded him, the present 
 Bishop of Virginia. It is an interesting fact in this connection, and one 
 which increases the memorial value of this Church furniture, that the Rev. Mr. 
 Howard preached for the first time after he was admitted to Holy Orders from 
 this Pulpit. 
 
PHOTOMOUNT 
 PAMPHLET BINDER 
 
 Manu/aclurtd by 
 
 ©AYLORD BROS. Uc 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 Slocktoo, C«ltf. 
 
BX5920 .B2M5 S3 
 
 The Perfect house : a sermon preached 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library