tihvaxy of t:he t:heolo0ical ^mxmvy 
 
 PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER 
 
 BX 7795 .D57 M4 1898 
 Memorial of Wm. U. Ditzler 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/nnemorialofwnnuditOOunse 
 
OF 
 
 AYM. U. DITZLEE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 FRIENDS' BOOK STORE, No. 304 Arch Street. 
 1898. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 A Mejnorial issued by the Monthly Meeting of 
 Friends of Philadelphia for the Western 
 District^ held the iiineteenth of First Month^ 
 i8g8^ C07icer7iing our deceased frieyid^ 
 William U. Ditzler. 
 
 William Uhrich Ditzler, son of Christian 
 and Christina Ditzler, was born near Lebanon, 
 in Penna., on the Third of First Month, 1821, 
 and died at his residence near Downingtown, 
 on the second of First Alonth, 1897, aged 
 nearly sevent^^-six years. 
 
 His father, a tailor by regular occupation, 
 served also at times as a minister in meetings 
 of the Lutheran congregation of his birthplace, 
 which, under the name of the ^' Church of 
 Mount Zion," had been established under the 
 ministry'- of his ancestor, who was among the 
 early German immigrants into Pennsylvania. 
 His father was strictly observant of whatever 
 seemed his religious duties, and sought care- 
 fully to imbue his children's minds with the 
 teachings of his church. His mother Avas ten- 
 derly concerned for the spiritual blessing of 
 her son, — the more so when she saw, when he 
 
4 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 was three years of age, that she must soon 
 depart this life. It is believed that her earnest 
 travail of spirit before her decease, for a bless- 
 ing on her child, and her strong supplications 
 for his dedication to God and the word of His 
 grace, were signally answered in all the way 
 in which her son was afterwards led. 
 
 As nearly as memory can recall a recital 
 sometimes repeated by him, it was in the time 
 of his early boyhood that there came a remark- 
 able deepening of spiritual interest in the con- 
 gregation of which his famil}^ was a part. Such 
 a divine solemnity overspread the meeting, 
 that the singers in the choir could no longer 
 proceed with their stated music. For some 
 four years, as it is understood, the organ was 
 closed, and the worshippers sat often under so 
 holy a covering of Divine power, and that 
 praise which '4s silent for Him in Zion," that 
 the intrusion of artificial offerings would be a 
 violence to such communion of the Spirit. 
 
 For a few years during his youth he was 
 much confined in or near his home by a lame- 
 ness which kept him from the usual diversions 
 of boyhood, and gave him much time for 
 thought and meditation. In the fifteenth year 
 of his age he was interested in the attendance 
 of meetings of a Methodist body, called Evan- 
 gelical Friends. In this period he was revisited 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 5 
 
 with a clear discovery of his state by nature 
 and the a wf illness of sin, to such a degree 
 that he told his father he was "lost." His 
 father called upon the members of his congre- 
 gation to pray for his distressed bo}^ At 
 length, in the fullness of time, relief came. 
 William was sitting alone, as was his wont, 
 upon the stones of an old quarr3^ " This text ^ 
 of Scripture," he writes, "was powerfully ap- 
 plied to my mind : ' The Son of ]\Ian hath 
 power on earth to forgive sins which was ac- 
 companied with such a sweet heave-nly sensa- 
 tion, that I did believe that the Lord had passed 
 by my former transgressions, and adopted me 
 amongst his children " Such heavenh' light 
 and peace filled his heart that ever3'thing 
 inwardly and outwardly, he said, seemed 
 changed as in a moment. So that when he 
 went home he could sa}^, " Now father, I know 
 I am not lost ! " 
 
 His brief written account of this period con- 
 tinues thus: "My father, by this time, heard 
 of ni}'' going to the Evangelical Friends, and 
 he began to oppose me and force me to go to 
 the Lutheran Church to be confirmed. I sub- 
 mitted to it, but only attended three times 
 afterwards, and in six months after I joined in 
 full membership with the Evangelical Method- 
 ists, which exasperated my father so much that 
 
6 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 he took me away from school. * '''' * In conse- 
 quence of this I lost a large share of learning. 
 
 While sitting before the large open fire-place 
 one day, about this time, he saw a panorama^ 
 as he expressed it, of his history for the com- 
 ing half century. It seemed to start with lay- 
 ing aside his crutches and leaving his father's 
 house to travel alone upon unknown roads to 
 a great city, which appeared clearly before him, 
 with its many streets, houses and steeples ; 
 where he would live, moving in and out as a 
 minister of the everlasting gospel. All this 
 seemed more than he could believe; so that he 
 exclaimed (in his native German), ''Impossi- 
 ble! Impossible!" which his father overhear- 
 ing^ inquired the cause. 
 
 It had long been the cherished purpose of 
 his father and friends, to see William follow 
 in the footsteps of his ancestors for some gen- 
 erations, as a minister of the gospel This had 
 been his purpose in placing his son in such 
 a line of studies as was deemed preparatory to 
 that service. From time to time the spirituality 
 of the gospel dispensation was becoming un- 
 folded to the boy's mind, including the nature 
 of Christ's baptism as the true successor of 
 that of John, by water, under the old dispen- 
 sation ; and the new and spiritual communion 
 as the true advance beyond the passover-form 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 7 
 
 with bread and wine. Other forms, like the 
 saying of '"grace" at meals, confirmation, and 
 stated exercises as worship were growing more 
 and more questionable to him, save when 
 freshly proceeding in the newness of the Spirit. 
 
 One day, while standing at a railroad station, 
 he observed at the window of a train of cars, 
 as it stopped, a man and two women in a pecu- 
 liar garb, which called forth his inquiry who 
 they were. He was told they were some 
 Quakers from Philadelphia : that they did not 
 believe in water baptism, paid ministry, war, 
 etc. A desire at once sprang up in his mind 
 to know more of such people, who held views 
 of the Christian religion of which he was al- 
 ready secretly persuaded. 
 
 His radical difference from his father's views 
 concerning the so-called sacraments became in 
 due time manifest. Stringent measures were 
 taken to bring him into conformit}^ with the 
 practice of his church, but without avail. In- 
 tercourse with others was cut of, by solitary 
 confinement for a whole week or more, to give 
 him an opportunity to come to what was 
 deemed a right mind on that question. No 
 arguments, fears, or persuasions, could change 
 his adherence to the purely spiritual aspect of 
 Christ's doctrine. 
 
 At length he felt that his true home lay in 
 
8 
 
 AVILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 the direction where the drawings of Truth 
 seemed to lead him. He found his wa}', with 
 some interruptions, to Philadelphia, when about 
 nineteen years of age. There ver}^ soon he 
 beheld men and women in the garb in which 
 Friends were first presented to his view. He 
 followed them till he found himself sitting in 
 their meeting for worship. He was so im- 
 pressed with the realit\" of true worship in 
 that silent waiting, that he mentalh^ exclaimed : 
 This meeting is m}- meeting, and this people 
 is my people ! " 
 
 His own account of this meeting has lately 
 been found in the hand-writing of a valued 
 Friend, to whom its correct expression in our 
 language ma}^ be due : ''Some time past I went 
 to a Friends' or Quakers' ^Meeting, where I 
 saw a number of people sitting together in 
 silence, with which I was very much struck. 
 Many of them appeared to be gathered into a 
 state of holy introversion from every earthl}- 
 object, and the countenances of many of them 
 evinced that the}^ held communion with God. 
 AI}' spirit was much refreshed (though there 
 was no word spoken), which made me desire 
 to go again. The next time I went, a man 
 Friend stood up, I may sa3^ as some said of 
 Christ formerl}' , ^ as one having authority, 
 and not as the scribes.' This induced me to 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 9 
 
 inquire more particular!}^ into their doctrines 
 and mode of worship. I afterwards under- 
 stood that the}' made it their business in meet- 
 ing to gather into the name of Christ, in order 
 to feel his power and blessed presence, to in- 
 fluence them in all their religious services. 
 This they consider a necessary requisite for 
 a gospel minister, in order to enable him to 
 speak in the demonstration of the Spirit and 
 with power, and to baptize the hearers so that 
 they may be strengthened and edified to- 
 gether." 
 
 After this, in the middle of the week as well 
 as on First-days, he steadily attended the 
 meetings of Friends. He found employment 
 at a tailoring-shop kept by a party who had 
 no sympathy with his mid-week attendance of 
 meetings. They withheld his day's pay, one 
 dollar, for every instance of his attending the 
 Fourth-day meeting. This did not deter him 
 from the regular practice, and he would return 
 from his two-hours absence and faithfully work 
 the remaining hours of the day. Interested 
 fellow-boarders found for him a better situa- 
 tion ; and he eventually, under a guiding and 
 over-ruling Providence, became largely blessed 
 in means. 
 
 A time came when, in one of these meetings, 
 he was drawui to kneel in the solemn exercise 
 
lO 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 of prayer, which was uttered in the German 
 tongue. A Friend who understood the words, 
 described them as of a very touching charac- 
 ter. Elders in the meeting began to manifest 
 an increased interest in his course, by coun- 
 selling his private use of the English Bible 
 instead of his Luther's version, and directing 
 his reading in the standard writings of Friends. 
 
 After coming of age his exercise of mind in 
 view of applying to be received into member- 
 ship in our religious Society, was deep and 
 anxious. In earnest meditation concerning 
 this step, he would sometimes be walking in 
 his room or in the open air till the early hours 
 of morning. After he had left the question in 
 the hands of the meeting, his heart was peace- 
 fully lightened, as if all the responsibility was 
 lifted from him. It was some three years 
 before he was formerly received into member- 
 ship. Time was thus taken to witness the 
 stability of his purpose, and the sureness of 
 liis growth in the Truth. 
 
 His father, after some years, became recon- 
 ciled to his son's course, and at length visited 
 him and the daughters then residing in Phila- 
 delphia. The father's death soon afterwards 
 occurring, his remains were laid in his son's 
 lot, beside the spot reserved for William him- 
 self, in Friends' Southwestern Burial Ground. 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 II 
 
 The innocent, earnest, and devout character 
 of the lad, early endeared him to such elders 
 and concerned Friends as Jane Johnson, H. 
 Regina Shober, Marmaduke C. and Sarah W. 
 Cope, Thomas Wistar, and Mary Ann Lloyd, 
 who were warmly interested to watch over him 
 for good. One day he was sitting in the par- 
 lor of the latter, when Stephen Grellet came 
 in, to whom the young man was introduced. 
 On being soon left alone with him, Stephen 
 Grellet's mouth was opened in a flow of pro- 
 phetic ministry, encouraging AVilliam to look 
 neither to the right nor to the left in following 
 the high calling which was before him in the 
 ministry of the everlasting gospel. 
 
 In the interest of righteousness he obtained 
 interviews at times before 'two successive Arch- 
 bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in 
 Philadelphia, — ahva3^s insisting that he should 
 testify to his homage of God rather than of 
 the creature, by appearing in their presence 
 without removing his hat. 
 
 He also paid a noteworthy visit to the pre- 
 sent mayor of the city soon after his entrance 
 into office. After some interchange of kindly 
 words, a silence came upon them, and at length 
 our dear friend opened his mouth in testimony 
 for the righteousness w^hich exalteth a nation, 
 and against sin, its true reproach. iVndhe set 
 
12 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 forth the high future in store for his hearer, 
 should he maintain his integrity and be faith- 
 ful to the Divine witness in his heart. Under 
 a solemn and feeling intercession for a blessing 
 upon the Executive of so great a city, the few 
 present were bowed as in the Divine presence. 
 The mayor has since taken occasion to acknow- 
 ledge his appreciation of the grace of love 
 shown in such a man ; and the present Arch- 
 bishop has born similar testimony. 
 
 While a young man and in middle life, Wil- 
 liam U. Ditzler's time, outside of business 
 hours, was largely occupied in visiting the 
 poor and distressed in the slums of the city, 
 and in teaching them, as he had opportunity 
 and message, the word and way of life. He 
 became a familiar figure in these haunts of 
 misery during the night season, and way was 
 always made for him even by the most de- 
 graded; who offered him no violence, but 
 viewed him with respect as a man of God. 
 He was especially faithful as a visitor to the 
 prisoners in the Eastern Penitentiary, and 
 further instances could be recounted of the in- 
 fluence of his labor there. 
 
 But to return to the earlier period, we note 
 that after his admission into our religious So- 
 ciety, he yielded to occasional requirements for 
 vocal offering in meetings for worship. His 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. I3 
 
 use of the Englisli language improved as he 
 grew in faithfulness and in grace, and his 
 utterances became more and more marked by 
 life, weight and solemnity. His gift in the 
 ministry was acknowledged, and was at length 
 recorded by his ]^Ionthh' and Quarterly greet- 
 ings in the year 1S67, when he was forty-six 
 years of age. His vocal appearances in his own 
 meeting never became frequent; but, when 
 offered, the}' were singularly impressive, awak- 
 ening and reaching to the witness for truth in 
 men's hearts, as a gospel trumpet giving no 
 uncertain sound. During these earnest en- 
 gagements and in the solemn silence which 
 followed, meetings would seem covered as with 
 theAVingof ancient goodness ; and many there 
 were, who, in departing to their homes, would 
 sa}-; ''Truly, God hath not forgotten his peo- 
 ple!'' Especially under his devout exercise in 
 vocal prayer, was there a manifest overshadow- 
 ing of the Divine anointing. The holy solem- 
 nity spread as from heart to heart, while the 
 savor of strong supplication in the Spirit as- 
 cended, bowing the congregation under a sense 
 of the majesty of the King of Heaven. 
 
 The life and power of his ministr\^ and its 
 enlargement was more especially witnessed 
 during the visits to neighborhoods away from 
 the citv. His first travelliuQ: in the service of 
 
14 WILLIAM U. DITZLKR. 
 
 the gospel was performed in Pennsylvania and 
 New Jersey, mostly during the year 1868. Its 
 progress was a severe trial of his faith and of 
 his dedication. Besides being inexperienced 
 in this mode of service he had the disadvantage 
 of being comparatively unknown, and sub- 
 jected to misunderstandings arising from a 
 condition of anxiety then subsisting in our re- 
 ligious Society. Through all apparent obsta- 
 cles a way was made, to his own admiration 
 and the satisfaction of the visited. On one oc- 
 casion when refused admission to a house, a 
 holy boldness empowered him to claim en- 
 trance and lodging. Before he left it, the 
 hearts of the heads of the family were tendered 
 and contrited under the power of gospel 
 love and faithfulness. At one place, having 
 mounted a horse-block in front of a building, 
 while his companion, a minister, was engaged 
 within it, he preached with power to the as- 
 sembled out-door company ; and a remarkable 
 religious awakening in that neighborhood is 
 said to have followed this meeting. Various 
 visits, for which he obtained minutes from his 
 Monthly Meeting, included labor with mill- 
 hands and operatives, prisoners and inmates 
 of charitable institutions, westward as far as 
 Columbus, Ohio, and eastward to the sea-coast 
 of New Jersey. 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 1 5 
 
 At a meeting appointed in a schoolhouse a 
 man was present whose boast it was to break 
 up religious meetings. His mockery of tHe 
 speaker's voice was subdued on this occasion, 
 by a power felt while under a solemn silence 
 the speaker stood in the midst of his sermon. 
 Feeling this man's state as a burden on his 
 mind, William, accompanied by the minister- 
 ing Friend with whom he was travelling, and 
 by an elder, drove early in the morning to the 
 man's residence, and overtaking him as he 
 was proceeding to his work, induced him to 
 enter his dwelling, and, together with his wife 
 in the midst of her laundry appliances, listen 
 to the exercise for their soul's welfare which 
 burdened the Friends' minds. Before these 
 left the room, both the man who had seemed 
 so hardened, and his wife, were on their knees 
 with contrited hearts begging for Divine mercy. 
 
 While engaged in preaching to the as- 
 sembled prisoners at Reading, Pa., several 
 men and women from the town being also 
 present, he made some attempts to use his cus- 
 tomary expression, My brethren and sisters; '^ 
 but felt a stop in his mind before reaching the 
 word " sisters." In one instance near the end 
 he succeeded in saying, "My brethren and 
 sister;" but was prevented by the same check 
 from uttering the last of the words in the plural 
 
i6 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 as sisters." At the close of the meeting sev- 
 eral who knew, as he did not, that among the 
 four hundred in the audience, some of them 
 women, there was but ojie female prisoner, ex- 
 pressed their admiration at his preservation 
 in the Truth. His only explanation could be, 
 that it was by simply minding his Guide. 
 
 This quickness of understanding in the fear 
 of the Lord to heed the constraints and re- 
 straints of inward instruction, served him bet- 
 ter than worldly wisdom in much of his daily 
 walk and conversation. On one occasion hav- 
 ing dined with his sister in the southern part 
 of the cit}^ notwithstanding her entreaties and 
 the appearance of rain, he felt he must walk 
 instead of taking the street-car to his place of 
 business. On the way he was addressed by a 
 young woman who, observing his garb, asked 
 if he was not a "Quaker Friend." Assured 
 that he was, she proceeded to give an account 
 of herself as the daughter of a Florida general, 
 and having come north to study. As they 
 were about parting near his place of business, 
 she said, " Perhaps you will not approve of my 
 object in studying. I am taking lessons in 
 elocution to qualify me as an actress for the 
 stage." His answer was, "Oh! I am sorry 
 for that. My 3^oung friend, if thou pursue 
 this course, darkness will be thy portion. But 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 17 
 
 ^they that turn many to righteousness shall 
 shine as the stars forever and ever.' " Some 
 two weeks afterward she entered his ofB.ce, and 
 told him that those words had been ringing in 
 her ears ever since; and she had found no 
 peace until she had resolved to give up her 
 prospect of the stage, and to devote her life, 
 though much against her parent's views, to 
 the good of benighted natives in a foreign land. 
 At length he received a letter from her writ- 
 ten in Siam, showing that she was there en- 
 gaged in what she believed was her mission. 
 
 During part of one summer season, while 
 his foreman would be gone out to dinner, he 
 felt drawn day after day to go to a desk at the 
 rear of his shop, and there at an open window 
 to read aloud passages from the Bible. This 
 seemed a singular proceeding for him. He 
 had never done this before, and never did so 
 since that season. Several weeks afterward a 
 well known Episcopalian minister came into 
 this room and informed William that he had 
 been the means of saving one of his parish- 
 ioners. William could not see how or when. 
 "Were you not in the habit last summer," 
 said the visitor, ''of reading aloud by your 
 back window, passages from the holy Scrip- 
 tures? " ''Iwas," heanswered. "Yes," replied 
 the minister, "and there was, in one of the 
 
i8 
 
 ^ WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 rooms above, a young woman in the state of 
 decline, with whom all my labors for the turn- 
 ing of her heart to God were without effect. 
 She would have nothing to do with religion or 
 pious advice. At length she heard your voice 
 ringing out upon the air in passages of Scrip- 
 ture. Day after day she listened intently to 
 your readings of the Bible. A deep impression 
 was made on her conscience, and she at length 
 gave up to repentance toward God, and faith 
 toward our Lord Jesus Christ ; and she died 
 in the peace of redeeming love.'' 
 
 His firm confidence in the clear openings of 
 Truth on his mind, seemed one of his strong- 
 est traits. He must see a truth for himself 
 before he would adopt it ; and that which, the 
 Witness for truth in his heart had once shown 
 him, was invincible to argument or persuasions 
 of men. It is not to be supposed that the same 
 tenacity of mind would always escape a hold- 
 ing of erroneous ideas or ways, for he was not 
 exempt from human error. 
 
 His daily vocation was not pursued entirely 
 for gain, but also for the employment of others, 
 and to give him a central stand in the city for 
 what he regarded as a daily-mission service. 
 Thither men of all persuasions loved to resort, 
 ministers of various denominations, concerned 
 Friends of his own fellowship, and young men 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. I9 
 
 and women needing fatherly sympathy and 
 counsel, all held by the charm of his interest 
 in them, and even at times by blessing of his 
 reproof. Through all his conversation there 
 was an exaltation of the spirit above the letter, 
 of faith above discouragement, of generosity 
 above prejudice, of the heavens above the earth. 
 Several ministers of other denominations are 
 believed to have had the spiritual quality of 
 their teaching improved, through the new light 
 in which, in these interviews, they saw the 
 gospel dispensation presented. And it is be- 
 lieved that not a few young Friends learned 
 to regard him as a nursing father, and in the 
 type of religion which he represented, they 
 recognized a living argument for Quakerism. 
 
 In the year 1874, William U. Ditzler feeling 
 that his service in Western District Monthly 
 Meeting had ceased, and that a Divine call 
 was extended to him to transfer his member- 
 ship to Uwchlan Monthly Meeting, moved to 
 a residence which he purchased near Down- 
 ingtown. Pa., and thenceforward labored faith- 
 fully for the spiritual welfare of the meeting 
 and people of that neighborhood, yet coming 
 almost daily to his usual occupation in Phila- 
 delphia. Seals to his ministry were manifest 
 in that place, and the church was in a marked 
 degree edified. At length, aware that he had 
 
20 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLKR. 
 
 for twelve years expended the most earnest 
 labors of his life-time in the meeting at Down- 
 ingtown and that he was now excused from 
 further service therein, he felt that the Lord 
 had need of him in his former meeting in 
 Philadelphia. His certificate of removal was 
 granted in 1887, and he was sincerely wel- 
 comed back to the meeting which had been 
 his first home in our religious Society. Not- 
 withstanding he continued his residence in 
 his Downingtown home, he came thirty miles 
 to his meetings for worship in the cit}^ on 
 First-da}^ mornings, as regularly as to his sec- 
 ular business on week-da3^s. His service in 
 the meeting was largely in silence, but digni- 
 fied with devotion and solemnity, bearing im- 
 pressive testimony to that worship and com- 
 munion which is in spirit and in truth. His 
 vocal offerings in supplication were notable in 
 demonstrating the genuineness and power of 
 true public prayer. 
 
 Almost as an evening sacrifice, in the 3^ear 
 1889, he felt drawn in gospel love to revisit 
 those meetings in New Jersey which he had 
 earliest visited, and also many of the prisons 
 and charitable institutions within the borders 
 of this Yearly Meeting. This service was 
 continued at times during four years, to evi- 
 dent comfort, edifying and awakening in many 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 21 
 
 parts of the field. On one day, besides the 
 journey to New York and return, he was ex- 
 ercised in gospel labor in the Friends' meeting 
 and in three separate mission places of that 
 city. During a visit within the limits of Dela- 
 ware County, Pa., he heard that a certain 
 tavern was the headquarters of a fox-hunting 
 association, in which many men of the sur- 
 rounding country had an interest. A concern 
 at once fell on him to hold a meeting at that 
 house for the good of that class of people. 
 Attempts were made from time to time to ar- 
 range for such a meeting, but no way seemed 
 to open to bring about an opportunity. After 
 some two years word was brought to him that 
 the proprietor of the hotel had died and his 
 funeral would be held on the morrow. William 
 Ditzler at once felt that this was his long- 
 deferred opportunity. He proceeded to the 
 place, and found that the priest who was ex- 
 pected to conduct the services, was prevented 
 from comin^Q^. Our friend occupied a period 
 of the delay in a tendering service with the 
 widow and family in their private room. An- 
 other minister being obtained, he consented 
 for William to occupy a short time after the 
 close of the stated service. When the oppor- 
 tunity arrived, and the new voice began to be 
 heard, all that could crowd into the hall-way 
 
22 
 
 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 and rooms from out-of-doors at once flocked in, 
 and stood as it were amazed at the demonstra- 
 tion of the spirit and of power in which the 
 gospel message rang forth for their warning 
 and turning from the power of Satan unto 
 God, and unto Him that taketh away the sin 
 of the world. When he ceased, the minister 
 embraced him with joy for the Divine visita- 
 tion, the crowd respectfully parted to let him 
 go forth, and a solemn impression is spoken 
 of as abiding among the people for days. Some 
 who were present came on the next First-day 
 to his regular meeting for worship in the city, 
 and occasionally men of that class have stopped 
 him on the street to acknowledge somewhat 
 of the impression made on their feelings upon 
 that occasion. 
 
 During the period of these labors he was 
 prostrated with a severe attack of pneumonia. 
 His physician, when he had seen the fever 
 pass what was deemed the fatal mark, took an 
 opportunity to say to him, " If you have any- 
 thing to say, say it; or to sign, sign it." To 
 his surprise his patient began afterwards to 
 recover. The doctor declared to him, " This 
 unexpected turn for the better is due to your 
 simple and temperate habits of life. You 
 never took alcoholic drinks, you never chewed 
 nor smoked tobacco, you have never been in- 
 
WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 23 
 
 dulgent of appetite. Had any of these been 
 3^our practice, 3'ou could not have survived the 
 violence of this attack. Your pure and clean 
 life has saved you." But William U. Ditzler 
 had seen in his sickness a vision of a further- 
 extended time before him which he must oc- 
 cupy for other's good. While never free from 
 much bodily infirmit}' after his illness, he was 
 especially a sufferer during the last two years 
 of his life in consequence of a severe accident. 
 
 He bore his daih^ sufferings with great 
 fortitude, continuing when possible his regu- 
 lar journej^s to his city store, constantl}^ waiv- 
 ing his own sense of pain^ and hiding his ex- 
 ercises on behalf of those near and dear to 
 him, that in self forgetfulness he might enter 
 into the states and troubles of those who so 
 much resorted to his societ3\ At length a final 
 attack of pneumonia laid him low, and after a 
 week passed mosth* in apparent unconscious- 
 ness, he passed away from works, it is be- 
 lieved to the rewards enjoyed by those, who, 
 having turned man}^ to righteousness, shine 
 as the stars forever and ever. 
 
 The foregoing incidents in the life of our 
 valued Friend have been adduced to show, not 
 the merit of the creature, but the sufficiency 
 of Divine grace for man, when heeded. Not 
 by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
 
24 WILLIAM U. DITZLER. 
 
 saith the Lord of Hosts." It is not to intellec- 
 tual ability or culture, that his life and power 
 in the ministr}^ can be ascribed, but it was his 
 childlike trust in the immediate and percep- 
 tible direction of the Spirit of Christ. This 
 gave him success in word or in work, only as 
 it was permitted to prevail. His e^^e was kept 
 remarkably single to this guidance^ in the 
 love and patience of Christ, whose gentleness 
 made him great. It invested and imbued him 
 with a rare sweetness of spirit and a tender 
 sympath}^ of heart to such a degree that even 
 the worldly minded took knowledge of him 
 that he was with Jesus. That single and 
 steadfast adherence to the inward and Holy 
 Witness, which was the characteristic of his 
 career, is essential, as he believed, to bring 
 the church of his choice, as it did his own life, 
 out of the]_wilderness, and give it once more 
 that shining place among men, of which his 
 life Avas an instance.