' 
 
 
 3X7ISO 
 
 'A3 
 
1861^1896. 
 
 Celebration of tbe 
 Cbirt^jfiftb anniversary 
 ©f tbe ©range Dalle? Cburcb 
 ©f ©range, 1Re\v 3ersep; 
 
 £be Siytb anniversary 
 ©f tbe pastorate of tbe 
 IRev, Cbarles a. Savage. 
 
 Ibistorical afcbress anfc two Sermons b£ 
 tbe pastor, 
 
 1890^1896. 
 
L. J. HARDHAM, PRINTER, NEWARK, N. J. 
 
THE ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OX Wednesday evening, March 25th, 1896, was 
 observed a double anniversary in the Orange 
 Valley Church. The church had reached the thirty- 
 fifth mile-stone in its history, and the date very 
 nearly coincided with the sixth anniversary of the pas- 
 torate of the Rev. Charles A. Savage. In recognition of the 
 event, a large congregation came together, and the church 
 was well filled with members and friends. The platform 
 was elaborately decorated for the occasion under the 
 direction of Mr. Richard Russell. Palms, potted plants 
 and flowers were tastefully arranged, and on either side 
 of the platform were the two dates, " 1861 " and " 1896," 
 of orange figures on a back-ground of evergreens. 
 
 Miss Cornelia V. Hutchings, organist of the church, 
 presided at the organ. The singing was led by Prof. F. 
 G. Handel, and Mrs. A. Douglas Brownlie, a former 
 member of the choir, sang two impressive solos, the first 
 of which was, " I Will Extol Thee, O Lord," from Costa's 
 "Eli," and in closing, Dr. Rankin's hymn, "God Be 
 With You Till We Meet Again." 
 
 Rev. John L. Scudder, of Jersey City, read the First 
 Chapter of Ezra, and the Forty-eighth Psalm, the first 
 selection being the one read by Abraham Baldwin at the 
 beginning of the church enterprise in 1859, and the 
 second, at the dedication of the present church in 1868. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Charles Hall Everest, of East Orange, offered 
 prayer. 
 
The Pastor read a historical narrative of the church, 
 covering its history from the beginning down to the 
 present pastorate. 
 
 dr. rankin's address. 
 
 Rev. J. E. Rankin, D. D., President of Howard Uni- 
 versity, and Mr. Savage's predecessor in the pastorate, 
 made a brief address, as follows : 
 
 " To Moses, the sign of the presence of the angel of 
 God in the burning bush was that it burned and still was 
 not consumed. More than a generation has elapsed 
 since the organization of this church. Scarcely a rem- 
 nant of the original members survive to-day. The 
 bush has burned, but still is not consumed. I will turn 
 aside and see why the bush is not burned. This 
 is what we do to-night. It is because the angel 
 of God's presence has been here. It is because 
 God has been in His Word, in His ordinances, in the 
 hearts of His Saints, is in them to night. When a de- 
 voted pastor dies, when faithful office-bearers are taken 
 away, it seems at first that the bush is all consumed — 
 that all is over with it. And so men wring their hands 
 and sit down in sackcloth and ashes. But, strange 
 enough, we look again and the bush is alive with flame, 
 and is not consumed. God sends other pastors, raises 
 up other deacons and Sunday School workers, makes 
 other givers generous. The fathers and mothers sleep 
 in the dust, but instead of the fathers are the children. 
 There is a heredity of saints as well as sinners. 
 
 " The Valley Church has had a life of thirty-five years ; 
 seven Sabbaths of five ! In one of these Sabbaths of 
 
five it was my lot to minister to you. This is why I am 
 with you to-night. I believe I formed friendships here 
 which will be knit anew in Heaven, where we share the 
 great beatitude of the Apocalypse, where we rest from 
 our labors, and where our works do follow us. I expect 
 to meet Farmer Smith and Robert Thayer in Heaven. I 
 believe that from this congregation will be not a few who 
 will form a part of the General Assembly of the Church 
 of the First-Born, whose names are written in Heaven, 
 where congregations never will break up and Sabbaths 
 have no end. I feel that it is an honor to have minis- 
 tered to them ; to have shared their trials and helped 
 them to bear their burdens. I seem to see them upon 
 that Mount of God compassing about as a cloud of wit- 
 nesses. They sing the new song, the song of Moses, the 
 servant of God. They have gone through the dividing 
 waters and left their foes, the Egyptians, engulfed in the 
 seas behind them. And the song of the Lamb, the Lamb 
 who tasted death for them, and in whom they fell asleep ; 
 nay, in whose name and through whose blood they have 
 trampled the dragon under foot and are escaped. 
 
 " During the five years of my pastorate here I remem- 
 ber with especial interest and gratitude the group of 
 young people who always rallied around me and held up my 
 hands. I heard not a few of them make their first efforts 
 in social prayer and remark ; sweet to their Heavenly 
 Father and to the angels, as the first prattlings of child- 
 hood in an earthly home. 1 admitted them to this fel- 
 lowship in the Lord. With constantly increasing satisfac- 
 tion I have seen the work they have carried on under the 
 skillful leadership of their ewn Pastor, who celebrates his 
 
sixth anniversary to-night ; who has entered upon his 
 second Sabbath of years. It was my good fortune as 
 Pastor here to guide the young people of this congrega- 
 tion into the first organization of Christian Endeavor 
 established in Orange ; and it was equally my good for- 
 tune to preside at the meeting when the present Young 
 Men's Christian Association of the city was established, 
 and as President to affix my signature first to the consti- 
 tution adopted. I never belonged to that unbelieving 
 class of religious teachers who are timid of the impulses 
 of their young people. And it is sweet for me to remem- 
 ber the young people of this congregation as beautiful in 
 their social life and beautiful in their life spiritual. 
 
 ''And when we ask why the bush that burns is not 
 consumed, it is because of the ranks of the young peo- 
 ple, who stand ready to take upon themselves the duties 
 of maintaining Christian ordinances ; who, in their own 
 society, are under drill for service in the field ; and who 
 answer to their Master's call ' Here am I ; send me.' 
 
 " I thank you for this privilege of participating in your 
 joys, of hearing you say, still under the shadow of the 
 cross, our common and our only hope : ' Hitherto hath 
 the Lord helped us.' When I look up reverently to the 
 Nestor of this congregation, whose father once served 
 with my father among the hills of Vermont, as officers of 
 a Congregational Church, and who himself was then a 
 young student from Yale, I feel that I am still a young 
 man ; but when I hear the steps of the young people press- 
 ing forward, standing in places of honor in this church, 
 soon to be the fathers and mothers of Israel, I see it be- 
 comes me to accept old age gracefully, and to be ready 
 
for the summons to an upper service, where they see 
 His face and where His name is upon their foreheads. 
 
 " My dear brother, I congratulate you upon your hav- 
 ing your home in this beautiful spot, in Highland Manse, 
 a house builded with hands ; I congratulate you upon 
 the affection of a people who love you and who know a 
 good Pastor when they see him! May you enter upon 
 still larger usefulness, and may this celebration day be 
 the beginning of a period of such spiritual refreshing as 
 comes only when the windows of Heaven are opened and 
 men say, 'We will go with you, because we see that the 
 Lord is with you.' " 
 
 DR. BROWN'S ADDRESS. 
 
 The Rev. William B. Brown, D. D., of East Orange, 
 who was a member of the Ecclesiastical Council which 
 met March 27, 1861, to recognize the church and ordain 
 and install its first Pastor, was present, and after listen- 
 ing to the historical narrative, gave a short address, in 
 which he said : 
 
 "I have been so impressed with the beauty and thor- 
 oughness of this address that you have listened to, and it 
 has so stirred up my heart and awakened my memories, 
 that I believe I could talk to you all night on the history 
 of things in New Jersey. Truly God has made all things 
 new. When I came to Newark in 1854 there was only 
 one Congregational Church on the side of the Atlantic 
 from New York to the Gulf of Mexico It was three or 
 four years before the second church was organized, in 
 Jersey City, and then in the summer of i860 I received a 
 letter from Dr. Lowell Mason, telling of the church about 
 
8 
 
 to be organized here, and asking me to come and talk it 
 over. I could give now all the details, did time permit. 
 
 In 1867 the Grove Street Church in East Orange was 
 organized; in 1868, the Belleville Avenue Church in 
 Newark ; and in 1870, Trinity Church in East 
 Orange, and the church in Montclair. I thank 
 God and take courage. Newark was then only 65,000 
 and to-day she is 225,000. God grant that the next forty 
 years may show even greater progress made than in the 
 past forty years. Most of us then will have gone over 
 yonder, and the children of to-day will carry on the great 
 and glorious work." 
 
 The Rev. John L. Scudder, of Jersey City, was called 
 on and said : "lam very glad to be with you here to- 
 night. When there is a contribution to be taken up I am 
 glad to do my share. I bring you congratulations from 
 Jersey City, both to this church and to its Pastor. We 
 love your Pastor for his progressive spirit and self-sacri- 
 fice, but we don't like his name He's a lovely and sweet- 
 tempered savage. Then this church has an assistant pas- 
 tor that is not paid, in Mrs. Savage. Her interest in all 
 directions of Christian energy shows that she is a good 
 helpmate. I congratulate you on your Pastor and Pas- 
 toress, and hope that in the years to come your success 
 will be as great as it has been in the past." 
 
 The Rev. Dr Charles H. Everest, of the Grove Street 
 Congregational Church, extended the hand of greeting 
 from East Orange. They did not believe in consolida- 
 tion, but in spiritual matters they were willing to be ab- 
 sorbed. He bid the Orange Valley Church God -speed 
 in the name of Orange and East Orange. 
 
Many letters of invitation had been sent to clergymen 
 and other friends at a distance, who sent messages of regret 
 at not being able to be present. Among them were let- 
 ters from a member of the family of Rev. Joseph A. Ely, 
 regretting his absence abroad, and from Dr. William 
 Mason, who had been invited to occupy his old seat at 
 the organ on this occasion, but was detained by physical 
 infirmity. 
 
 Letters of regret and congratulations were also re- 
 ceived from Rev. Dr. A. H. Bradford, Rev. Dr. Richard 
 S. Storrs, Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott, Rev. William Hayes 
 Ward, D. D., Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D. D., Rev. M. E. 
 Strieby, D. D., Rev. Dr. C. H. Richards, Rev. Dr. B. F. 
 Bradford, Rev. Dr. Fritz W Baldwin, Rev. Dr. P. F. 
 Leavens, Rev. Charles Townsend, Rev. Wm. G. Thayer, 
 Rev. Howard Bliss, Prof. Rhoden Mitchell and Deacon 
 Samuel Holmes, who was also a member of the Council 
 in 1 86 1. 
 
 The hymns sung on this occasion were, " O Word of 
 God Incarnate," and " Ten Thousand Times Ten Thous- 
 and." 
 
 The following hymn, written for the occasion by a 
 friend of the church, as " an expression of remembrance 
 of the past and faith and hope for the future," was read 
 by Prof E W. Given : 
 
 We meet with joy this day, 
 (Remembering all the way 
 
 In years gone by,) 
 To thank Thee for Thy grace, 
 Which helped us in our race, 
 And brought us to this place 
 
 In peace and joy. 
 
IO 
 
 Now come we, Lord, to Thee ; 
 Bless us, and may'st Thou be 
 
 Our only stay. 
 Grateful for these years, gone, 
 We look to Thee alone 
 For strength and grace, whereon 
 
 To lean alway. 
 
 And may Thy presence, Lord, 
 Make fruitful Thy dear Word 
 
 In all this place. 
 And may Thy Spirit dwell 
 In hearts who long to tell, 
 Beneath this Sabbath bell, 
 
 Thy wonderous grace. 
 
 Oh ! That the fruit might be, 
 Ten thousand souls for Thee, 
 
 To sing Thy praise. 
 And look to Thee, the Way, 
 The Truth, the Life, and may 
 They in their hearts, each day, 
 
 An anthem raise. 
 
 And when Thy call they hear, 
 To leave for Heaven, (more near 
 
 Thy gracious love,) 
 Oh ! May their answer be, 
 " Yes, Lord, we come to Thee, 
 Where we shall ever see 
 
 Thy face above." 
 
Now, glory, piaise and love, 
 To Him who sits above, 
 
 All we can know. 
 To Father, Spirit, Son, 
 To God, the Three in One, 
 Be homage ever done, 
 
 By all below. 
 
 The following beautiful hymn, which had been written 
 for this Anniversary by Dr. Rankin, was read by the 
 Pastor : 
 
 our heav'nward way. 
 
 The peace of God attend us, 
 
 As home we go to-day ; 
 His angel-guards defend us 
 
 Upon our Heav'nward way ; 
 His grace in us begetting 
 
 His image more and more ; 
 All that's behind forgetting, 
 
 We face what is before. 
 
 The sick come here for healing, 
 
 The blind that they may see ; 
 We lift our eyes appealing, 
 
 Dear patient Lord, to Thee. 
 Here in our strength and beauty, 
 
 Here in our riper years, 
 Fulfilling each our duty 
 
 Until the Lord appears. 
 
 Here fall the Gospel manna, 
 
 Each sev'ral path beside ; 
 Ascend the shout hosanna 
 
 To Christ, the crucified. 
 
12 
 
 New glory on us rising, 
 
 Be for us all prepared ; 
 Until our souls uprising, 
 
 We reach the great reward. 
 
 Dr. Rankin's hymn, " God Be With You Till We Meet 
 Again," which has been adopted by the Christian En- 
 deavor Society of the country, was beautifully and touch- 
 ingly sung by Mrs. Brownlie as a solo, the entire congre- 
 gation joining in the chorus with telling effect. The 
 benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Rankin and 
 Miss Hutchings played a march, by Calkin, as a postlude. 
 
 On Thursday afternoon and evening Mr. and Mrs. 
 Savage held a reception at the parsonage, " Highland 
 Manse." They were assisted in receiving by Mrs. 
 Thomas S. Waterman, Mrs. J. Smith Pierson, Mrs. 
 Henry M. Matthews and Miss Elizabeth B. Johnson. 
 The following ladies, Mrs. Stephen A. Condict, Mrs. 
 John Van Vechten, Mrs. C. H. Osgood, and Mrs A. 
 M. Burtis presided at the refreshment tables. They 
 were assisted by Dr. Sarah C. Spottiswoode, Miss 
 Emma Spottiswoode, Miss Louise G. Vose, Miss Jessie C. 
 Tait, Miss Myra E. Matthews, Miss Ethel I. Smith, Miss 
 Elizabeth Mead, Miss Mary Milne, Miss Katharine 
 Meigs, Miss Margaret Burtis, Miss Florence Waterman, 
 Miss Tillie Kyle, Miss Emma Cooper, Miss Emeline 
 Condict and Miss Edith Mead. 
 
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. 
 
 A few days ago a man called at the parsonage, wishing 
 to arrange for an entertainment to be given in this church 
 with the micro-phonograph. He could give us, he said, 
 concerts and lectures, songs and sermons, brass bands 
 and bag-pipe solos, psalms and sacred solos, reproduced 
 in perfect sound and volume. He was late in coming, 
 for already there was in process of preparation a phono- 
 graphic recital which, gathering up the voices which have 
 spoken, and the songs which have been sung, and the 
 deeds which have been done in this Orange Valley 
 Church, should in some sort reproduce them for your 
 hearing to-night. 
 
 THE BIRTHDAY. 
 
 The day which is observed as the birth-anniversary of 
 an Oriental child is not the day on which he first saw 
 light, but the day on which he was formally named ; 
 usually the natal day of the saint whose name he bears. 
 If we date from its beginning, the Orange Valley Church 
 had several birthdays. There was the day when the 
 mission enterprise was born in the heart of James 
 Greacen. There was the day when the little Sunday 
 School was started in the Valley. There was the day 
 when a small company of believers came together and 
 covenanted to walk with each other in Christian fellow- 
 
14 
 
 ship. The one which we to-night observe as our birth- 
 day, was that day in March, 1861, the 27th by the calen- 
 dar, when this church received its ecclesiastical name. 
 
 On that day it was formally recognized by the Council, 
 and its first Pastor was ordained and installed. For just 
 thirty-five years then, this church has been a regularly 
 organized body equipped for Christian work. In tracing 
 its beginnings, however, we must go back several years 
 further. 
 
 THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 The old wooden school-house, which has just given 
 place to a more substantial structure, at the corner of 
 Forest street and Valley road, was the birthplace of the 
 Sunday School, which afterwards grew into the Orange 
 Valley Church. 
 
 About the 1st of September, 1854, at the suggestion 
 and chiefly through the instrumentality of Mr. James 
 Greacen, this Sunday School was established in one of 
 the rooms of that building, which was then known as the 
 Girard School-house. 
 
 Mr. Greacen was an active member and afterwards an 
 elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, and 
 on that account this enterprise in the Valley was regarded 
 by that church as a mission of its own. About twenty 
 scholars were collected the first Sabbath. Mr. Greacen 
 acted as Superintendent and he was assisted by teachers 
 from the several churches in the vicinity. The members 
 of the school gradually increased, so that in November 
 following it became necessary to provide more ample ac- 
 commodations. Means were accordingly raised by 
 
voluntary subscription, to furnish with seats and other 
 necessary appointments, the large upper room of the 
 school-house, previously unfurnished 
 
 At this time, November, 1854, a Sunday evening 
 prayer meeting was commenced, under the charge of 
 Mr. Greacen, and there was also occasional preaching on 
 Wednesday evenings, when the services of a clergyman 
 could be obtained. 
 
 The first clergyman who was actively connected 
 with the enterprise in Orange Valley was the Rev. Mr. 
 Prudden, who was very active in evangelistic work. 
 
 In the fall of 1857 Mr. Greacen was called home to his 
 reward. He was an earnest, devoted, Christian worker, 
 and Mr. Lowell Mason says of him: " To this beloved 
 Christian brother, whose memory is precious to all who 
 knew him, may be justly ascribed, under God, most of 
 the credit for the commencement, and support for some 
 years, of this enterprise." 
 
 He was succeeded as Superintendent by Mr. Abraham 
 Baldwin, who had for some time been teacher of a Bible 
 class in the school. Mr. Baldwin entered upon the work 
 with great energy and efficiency, and retained the office, 
 with the exception of one year, until 1863. Under his 
 care the school gradually prospered, growing to be the 
 largest Sunday School in Orange, which then included 
 East and West Orange. During this period a monthly 
 concert of prayer for Sabbath Schools was commenced, 
 which furnished in part the means to support a col- 
 porteur. 
 
 In the spring of 1858, Rev. S. C. Hay, I). D., who had 
 been a prominent Presbyterian minister of Newark, was 
 
i6 
 
 employed to preach a half day each Sunday to the con- 
 gregation assembling in the school-house. In the great 
 revival of that year, morning and evening prayer meet- 
 ings were held every day for several months, members of 
 several different denominations uniting together in them. 
 There was also occasional preaching by several of the 
 ministers of Orange, and many were brought to decide 
 for Christ, who afterwards joined the several churches. 
 
 The first persons chosen as Trustees to provide for the 
 support of the enterprise were : Mr. James Bell, Chair- 
 man ; Mr. Edward Freeman, Treasurer ; Mr. G. W. 
 Smith, Secretary ; Mr. Ambrose Matthews and Mr. David 
 Ward. 
 
 THE FIRST CHURCH EDIFICE. 
 
 In 1859 the plan which had for some time been agi- 
 tated of building a chapel to accommodate the largely 
 increasing numbers who came together to worship, and 
 the growing Sunday School, took definite shape. The 
 first recorded meeting to discuss the matter was held in 
 the Girard School house on the 25th of January of that 
 year. Mr. Abraham Baldwin was Chairman, who opened 
 the meeting with the reading of the First Chapter of Ezra. 
 
 It was voted that it was expedient to proceed at once 
 to build a church, and the following gentlemen were ap- 
 pointed Chairmen of committees : John H. Matthews, 
 to select a site ; George Merrill, to obtain plans ; Abra- 
 ham Baldwin, to obtain subscriptions Two building 
 sites were offered free for the location of the church ; one 
 by James E. Smith and the other by Ira C. Tompkins 
 The latter, on the corner of Nassau and Valley streets^ 
 was finally chosen 
 
17 
 
 Record has been found of a meeting held July 5, 1859 
 at which " an eloquent and very appropriate prayer war 
 made by Mr. D. Willis James," and Mr. Baldwin re- 
 ported that $2,530 had been subscribed towards the 
 church. 
 
 On the 14th of September a board of five Trustees was 
 chosen, of which Lowell Mason, Jr., was made President, 
 George Merrill, Treasurer, and G. W. Smith, Secretary, 
 to hold property and secure incorporation, which they 
 did from the Court of Common Pleas, of the County of 
 Essex, under the name of " The Trustees of the Orange 
 Valley Church of Orange." The lot donated by Mr. 
 Tompkins was deeded to them on condition that it should 
 always be used for religious purposes. Money was col- 
 lected, largely through the efforts of Mr. Baldwin, and a 
 handsome little building of brown sand-stone, modelled 
 after the chapel of Trinity Episcopal Church in Newark, 
 and from plans drawn by George Merrill, was erected at 
 a cost of about $9,000. 
 
 It had at first been proposed to erect a cheap wooden 
 structure, but James Bell, one of the Building Committee, 
 made so low a bid for a more substantial edifice, it was 
 decided to erect the building of stone, and the contract 
 was carried out by him. The chancel and chapel were 
 separated by folding-doors, in front of which was a 
 moveable platform, and the whole was seated with black- 
 walnut pews, with reversible backs, the primary purpose 
 of the building being for the use of the Sunday School. 
 This part of the work was done by Henry M. Matthews. 
 
 The corner-stone of this building, which was spoken 
 of as "The Orange Valley Mission Church," was laid 
 
i8 
 
 with appropriate ceremonies September 12th, 1S59. 
 These ceremonies were conducted by the Rev. Dr. Hay, 
 and were participated in by the members of the congre- 
 gation and the children of the Sunday School. 
 
 In January, i860, the church was completed, and was 
 dedicated with fitting services, the sermon being preached 
 by Dr. Hay and the dedicatory prayer offered by Rev. 
 Mr. Hoyt, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In February of that year it was decided to hold two 
 preaching services on each Sabbath. Rev. Dr. Hay was 
 engaged to preach, and $500 were subscribed for the 
 support of the church for one year. The services of Dr. 
 Hay as acting pastor of the Mission and in guiding in 
 the organization of the church, extended through nearly 
 three years. 
 
 CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 
 
 Up to the time of building the chapel there was no 
 church organization. In April, i860, a meeting was held, 
 at which it was voted that it was expedient that one 
 should now be organized, and a committee, consisting of 
 James Bell, John Porter, John Merrill and G. W Smith,, 
 was chosen to make a canvass to determine the denomi- 
 national preference of the congregation. As there were 
 representatives of several denominations interested, there 
 was much discussion as to the form in which the new 
 church enterprise should take shape In the end the Con- 
 gregational polity was selected, inasmuch as a number of 
 the most active supporters of the movement were of New 
 England birth and training. The result was, as has often 
 been the case in similar circumstances, Congregationalism 
 
19 
 
 being the natural solvent of all the denominations, and 
 the common ground on which tolerant believers of every 
 name can harmoniously come together. It was an inter- 
 esting illustration of a well-known principle of heredity 
 that this vigorous Mission should revert to the ancestral 
 faith of its spiritual mother — the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Orange having been, during the first thirty 
 years of its existence, a Congregational Church. 
 
 At the time this church was organized there were but 
 four Congregational churches in New Jersey — at Chester, 
 organized in 1740 ; Newark First, 185 1 ; Paterson, 1853 ; 
 and Jersey City, 1858. 
 
 When it had been decided to which denominational 
 body the Valley Church should belong, a committee, of 
 which the Rev. Dr. Hay was Chairman, was appointed to 
 draft Rules for Church Goverment and Articles of Faith 
 and Covenant. These articles were prepared in essential 
 harmony with those held by the Orthodox Congregational 
 Churches of the country, and adopted by vote taken 
 August 10, i860. 
 
 On this date, which was the real natal day of the 
 church, forty-five persons affixed their names to the 
 Articles of Organization, which was then called " The 
 First Congregational Church of Orange." A prayer for 
 God's blessing upon the new church was offered by the 
 Rev. Dr. Hay. . Of the forty-five persons who signed the 
 Articles of Faith and Covenant twenty were males and 
 twenty-five females. Of these, thirty-five brought letters 
 from Presbyterian churches, nine from Congregational 
 and one from a Baptist Church. At the end of thirty- 
 five years of our church history, but four of these charter 
 
20 
 
 members remain with us. They are Mr. and Mrs. James 
 Bell, Mr. Enoch Condit and Mr. H. M. Matthews. 
 
 The first Board of Deacons chosen consisted of Abra- 
 ham Baldwin, Dr. Lowell Mason and Aaron Smith, 
 Reuben Langden, Jr., was chosen Clerk and Dr. Lowell 
 Mason, Precentor. 
 
 THE FIRST PASTOR. 
 
 Steps were immediately taken to call a permanent Pas- 
 tor, and in December, i860, a call was unanimously ex- 
 tended to Mr. George B. Bacon, of New Haven, Conn., 
 who at that time was a student in Andover Theological 
 Seminary, at a salary of $1,000. Before receiving this 
 call Mr. Bacon had had it in mind to engage in the work 
 of Foreign Missions. He was led, however, to think 
 favorably of the invitation to Orange, and in a letter 
 dated January 8, 1861, accepted the call, engaging to be- 
 gin his labors in the following spring. A condition was 
 made to his acceptance, and granted by the church, that 
 at some future time three months should be granted him 
 in which to complete his course of theological study. 
 The pressure of practical work in the new parish was so 
 great, however, that this condition was never carried out. 
 
 On the 27th day of March, 1861, an Ecclesiastical 
 Council was called to recognize the church and ordain 
 and install the Pastor-elect. 
 
 Something of the condition of Orange in those days may 
 be inferred from a minute found in the church records, 
 to the effect that the date of the Council be changed 
 from April 3d to March 27th, " that we may have the ad- 
 vantage of moonlight nights." Those who remember the 
 
condition of Orange streets of that era, will understand 
 the significance of that decision. Indeed, the lapse of 
 thirty-five years has not effaced from the mind of our 
 friend Deacon Samuel Holmes, of Montclair, who was 
 present on that occasion as delegate from Broadway 
 Tabernacle, the discomforts of the stage-ride from the 
 Newark railway station. 
 
 Of this Council, at which ten churches were repre- 
 sented, the Rev. L. L. Stoutenberg, of Chester, was 
 chosen Moderator, and Rev. L. W. Bacon, of Litchfield, 
 Conn., Scribe. Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New Haven, the 
 father of the pastor-elect, preached the sermon ; Dr. 
 Wm. I. Buddington, of Brooklyn, made the ordaining 
 prayer ; Dr. J. P. Thompson, of New York, gave the 
 charge to the pastor ; Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon ex- 
 tended the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. W. B. 
 Brown, of Newark, gave the charge to the people. 
 
 It is pleasant to have with us to-night one of the mem- 
 bers of that first Council, the Rev. Dr. Brown. Another 
 of its members, who is still living, recalls an interesting 
 fact in connection with that recognition and ordination 
 service. Dr. Lowell Mason, in his black velvet cap, led 
 the singing, using a small melodeon standing in front of 
 the platform, and as the three hymns given out were all 
 in long meter, and all chanced to be set to " Old Hun- 
 dred " in the Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, that good 
 old tune was sung three times. Surely no one can say 
 this church had not an orthodox foundation. 
 
 THE RAISING OF REVENUE. 
 
 From the beginning of the history of the church there 
 were two independent organizations working harmoniously 
 
together, each along its own line, for the well-being of 
 the enterprise — the church, under the administration of 
 the Pastor, Board of Deacons and Standing Committee* 
 and the Ecclesiastical Society, incorporated to hold 
 property and raise a revenue for the running expenses of 
 the church, and under the administration of a Board of 
 Trustees. 
 
 The early meetings of the society were mainly taken 
 up with discussing ways and means of raising money. 
 That this was not always easily done is indicated by the 
 fact that a donation party was given for the benefit of the 
 Rev. Dr. Hay on October 12, i860, and in 1862 a concert 
 was given in Library Hall, under the auspices of Mr. 
 William Mason and others, for the benefit of the church, 
 the proceeds, $42.53, being devoted to the furnishing of 
 the vestry-room. 
 
 For two or three years after the church was organized 
 the annual revenue was raised by voluntary contributions* 
 all the seats in the church being free. In February, 1863, 
 however, after an extended discussion, conducted in a 
 calm, judicious and Christian spirit, in which the mem- 
 bers of the church were nearly equally divided in opinion, 
 it was decided to adopt the system of renting the pews. 
 A vote was afterwards taken that all pews should be free 
 at the evening service. 
 
 THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Society, held in Decem- 
 ber, 1863, we find the first record of a movement towards 
 the building of a new House of Worship, and a committee 
 was appointed to take the matter into consideration. No 
 
2 S 
 
 decisive action was taken, however, until the next annual 
 meeting in January, 1865, when a Building Committee, 
 consisting of Messrs. Stone, Vose, Bell, Barnes, Carter 
 and Mason, was appointed and authorized to procure 
 subscriptions for a new church edifice. 
 
 At a meeting in October of that year, this committee 
 reported that a subscription sufficient to authorize the 
 building of a new House of Worship had been obtained, 
 and it was voted to proceed to its erection. The ques- 
 tion of a change of location awakened much discussion, 
 but in view of the commanding influence which the 
 church was beginning to exert in the community, and of 
 its future prospects, it was decided that the new church 
 should be erected in a more prominent and central posi- 
 tion. A beautiful site was chosen on Highland avenue, 
 on the brow of the hill, eastward, overlooking Orange 
 Valley, and a lot was purchased of James Smith for about 
 $2,000. 
 
 The plan of the new edifice was drawn by Messrs. 
 Duggin and Crossman, architects of New York, and the 
 contract for the building, which was to be of blue trap- 
 rock from Orange Mountain, with red sand-stone trim- 
 mings, was let to James Bell. 
 
 At 5 o'clock in the afternoon of June 21, 1867, the 
 corner-stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, con- 
 ducted by the Pastor. 
 
 The money for the building was raised partly by sub- 
 scription and partly by the issue of stock, which was re- 
 deemed by the transfer of pews in the new edifice. 
 These pews were thus to be owned by the purchasers, 
 but subject to a yearly tax for the support of the church. 
 
24 
 
 They have gradually, however, been deeded back to the 
 Ecclesiastical Society, so that now only four of the pews 
 are held by private ownership. 
 
 The Orange Journal of May 16, 1868, contains an ac- 
 count of a Valley church fair, held for two days and 
 evenings in Library Hall, the net proceeds of which were 
 nearly $2,700. At this fair, which proved so successful 
 in raising funds for the new church, the floral pavilion 
 was presided over by Miss Collamore; Highland Avenue 
 Temple by Miss Otis, Mrs. Barnes and others ; refresh- 
 ment tables by Mrs. William Mason and Mrs. Wiley ; 
 fancy table by Mrs. Bacon ; apple and peanut stand by 
 Mrs. Crommelin; ice cream by Miss Belcher; art gallery 
 and rustic pavilion by Mrs. Abraham Baldwin ; union 
 booth by Mrs. A. Carter, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Colgate. 
 
 In June, 1868, Lowell Mason, Jr., President of the 
 Orange Valley Church Building Association, reported 
 that the Association had accomplished its labors in the 
 erection of the edifice, and were now ready to put the 
 Society in possession of the property. The transfer to 
 the Society was accordingly made, subject to a mortgage 
 of $15,000, held by the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance 
 Company of Newark. The accounts showed that the 
 amount due the Building Committee was $46,115.32, in- 
 cluding the $15,000 mortgage, and exclusive of all gifts, 
 contributions, subscriptions, proceeds of fairs, etc. The 
 total cost of the church was approximately $65,000. 
 
 On the 8th day of June, 1868, a committee, consisting 
 of Messrs. Heald, Carter and Barnes, was appointed to 
 confer with the Pastor as to the proposed dedication of 
 the church. These services took place at 5 o'clock on 
 
25 
 
 the afternoon of Friday, June 26th, 1S68, in the presence 
 of a large concourse of people, several distinguished 
 clergymen from abroad being present. A historical state- 
 ment was made by the Pastor ; appropriate psalms were 
 read responsively by minister and people ; the choir 
 chanted : 
 
 " Lift up your heads, O, ye gates ! 
 And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ! 
 And the King of Glory shall come in." 
 
 A sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Horace 
 Bushnell, of Hartford, from the text, " The House That 
 Is to Be Builded for the Lord Must Be Exceeding Mag- 
 nifical," I Chron., xxii, 5; Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New 
 Haven offered the dedicatory prayer, and the people sang 
 the closing hymn : 
 
 Peace be to this sacred dwelling, 
 
 Peace to every soul therein ; 
 Peace, of Heavenly joy foretelling, 
 
 Peace, the fruits of conquered sin ; 
 Peace, that speaks its Heavenly Giver, 
 
 Peace to worldly minds unknown ; 
 Peace divine, that flows forever 
 
 From its source, the Lord alone. 
 
 Thus, as we gather from a copy of the printed pro- 
 gram and from the memory of some who were present 
 on that occasion, was this, our House of Worship, dedi- 
 cated to the service of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOL HOUSE. 
 
 As erected in 1868, the new church edifice consisted 
 only of the main auditorium. For several months after 
 its erection, the Sunday School and Friday evening 
 
26 
 
 prayer meetings were held in the old church in the Val- 
 ley. In April, 1870, the Trustees were directed to pay 
 $ 1 00 to the Trustees of the Highland Avenue School for 
 rent of the school-house adjoining the church, which was 
 thereafter used for these purposes. 
 
 From time to time the question of building a suitable 
 chapel was agitated, and at one time the way seemed to 
 be opened for it, through a generous offer on the part of 
 one of the members. A lot adjoining the church on the 
 northwest side was purchased of Mr. Mason, a fund of 
 $4,700 being raised for this purpose by weekly and 
 monthly subscriptions, Mr. Mason himself contributing 
 $1,000. Plans for the chapel were drawn and the con- 
 tract for building let for &2 4 ,775- The P ro J ect feU 
 through, however, and in December, 1873, the old 
 school-house was purchased for $250 and repaired for 
 the use of the Sunday School and evening meetings. 
 This building was used for these purposes until the com- 
 pletion of the new chapel in 1880. It remained on the 
 church lot until December, 1885, when it was moved to 
 Tompkins street and voted to be kept for religious pur- 
 poses connected with our church work. 
 
 In September, 1873, the sale of the old church pro- 
 perty in the Valley to the Roman Catholic " Church of 
 •Our Lady of the Valley," was consummated at the price of 
 $7,000. It appears that the entire proceeds of this sale 
 were absorbed before June, 1878, in paying the floating 
 indebtedness of the church. 
 
 MUSIC IN THE ORANGE VALLEY CHURCH. 
 
 From its early days music has been an important fea- 
 ture in our worship. The name of the Mason family 
 
27 
 
 will always be gratefully remembered in this church, both 
 for the interest which its members had in the enterprise 
 from its beginning and the active support they rendered, 
 and especially for their services in making its music at- 
 tractive. 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason, "the Father of American Church 
 Music," and his son, Lowell Mason, Jr., were both char- 
 ter members of the church. Both served as Deacon, 
 member of Standing Committee, Sunday School Super- 
 intendent and Precentor, the latter office being held by 
 them until 1876. To Dr. William Mason also the church 
 was indebted for his great care and skill in the choice 
 and purchase of the organ, and for his gratuitous services 
 as organist for more than ten years. The Orange Journal 
 in the spring of 1868 records an item to the effect that on 
 March 12th of that year, a concert was given in Library 
 Hall by Mr. William Mason, assisted by Mr. Theodore 
 Thomas and others, for the benefit of the organ fund of 
 the Orange Valley Church, which netted $500. The 
 organ, which cost nearly $5,000, and has always been re- 
 garded as one of the finest in the Oranges, was first used 
 at a Sunday service August 1st, 1868, and from that time 
 on until failing health made it necessary for him to go 
 abroad, it was presided over by Dr. Mason, with a skill 
 and delicacy of touch that made the Orange Valley 
 Church famous far and wide. 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason died at his home at Silver Spring, 
 on the Valley road, August 11, 1872, and a commemora- 
 tive discourse was preached at his funeral by Dr. Bacon, 
 from the text, " These are they whom David set over the 
 service of song in the House of the Lord" ; I Chron. 
 
28 
 
 vi, 31. A beautiful memorial window was afterwards 
 placed in the church to his memory by the family. It 
 represents the Royal Psalmist catching on his harp the 
 inspiration of celestial music from angels hovering over 
 him, and surrounded by a throng of musicians. The in- 
 scription underneath, 
 
 " Let the people praise Thee, O God ; 
 Let all the people praise Thee !" 
 
 rests on the emblems of Faith and Hope ; and lower still 
 
 is the legend: 
 
 In Memoriam, 
 
 Lowell Mason, Mus. Doc., 
 
 Born June 8, 1792. Died August 11, 1872. 
 
 THE CHIMES. 
 
 In 1870 a chime of ten bells, from the foundry of 
 Jones & Co., Troy, N. Y., and weighing nearly 10,000 
 lbs., was placed in the tower of the church. They were 
 bought by private subscription and by special gift, at a 
 cost of $4,200. The largest bell at the top, weighing 
 2,432 pounds, bears the inscription, 
 
 Presented in the name of 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason, 
 
 By the Orange Valley Church, 
 
 and the text: 
 
 " Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts 
 with praise." 
 
 The four large bells at the bottom, weighing 1,500, 
 1,369, 1,055 ar, d 798 pounds, respectively, are inscribed: 
 
2 9 
 
 " Strength and beauty are in His Sanctuary." 
 
 " Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the City of our 
 God, in the mountain of His Holiness." 
 
 " We have thought of Thy loving kindness, O God, in the 
 midst of Thy Temple," 
 
 " In His Temple doth every one speak of His Glory." 
 
 Midway between the upper and lower tiers are five 
 smaller bells. The first, weighing 72c pounds, inscribed : 
 
 ■" Peace be within Thy walls, and prosperity within Thy Palaces." 
 Presented by Aaron Carter, Jr. 
 
 The second, weighing 646 pounds, inscribed : 
 
 ^'Blessed are they that dwell in Thy House. They will be still 
 
 praising Thee." 
 
 Presented for Peter Meyers Woodruff. 
 
 The third, weighing 376 pounds, inscribed: 
 
 " The Lord is my strength and song." 
 Presented for Lucy Allerton Bacon. 
 
 The fourth, weighing 413 pounds, inscribed: 
 
 " Both young men and maidens, old men and children ; let them 
 
 praise the name of the Lord." 
 
 Presented by the SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 The fifth, weighing 413 pounds, inscribed: 
 
 " Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, Thou hast perfected 
 
 praise." 
 
 Presented by Platt K. Dickinson, 
 
 In memory of his little son Mortie. 
 
3° 
 
 The chimes were first rung at a meeting of the Confer- 
 ence of Congregational Churches of New York and 
 vicinity, which met with this church on the 18th day of 
 June, 1870. As the delegates, some 200 in number, were 
 coming up the hill from the station, the new chimes 
 struck up the tunes " Old Hundred " and "America." 
 On this occasion Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was Moder- 
 ator of the Conference, and addresses were made by Drs. 
 Storrs, Clapp, Strieby and Brown. At mid-day a colla- 
 tion was served by the ladies of the congregation in a 
 mammoth tent in the adjoining lot. The chimes were 
 rung that day by Mr. I. Remsen Lane. Among those 
 who have served the church in this capacity since may 
 be mentioned : Messrs. Richard Russell, William Mor- 
 row, Victor Savale, Frank Matthews, Alfred Taylor, 
 Almy Adams and Frank Jones. 
 
 PICNICS AND FESTIVALS. 
 
 It was a pleasant custom in the early days of the 
 church to hold an annual picnic in the early summer, 
 which was attended by the Sunday School and the whole 
 congregation. One such is recorded which took place 
 soon after the marriage of Mr. Bacon to Miss Frances J. 
 Mills, in 1862, which attracted many guests from a dis- 
 tance, including no less than thirteen prominent ministers 
 of different denominations. Thus early did the Orange 
 Valley Church become a social power in the community. 
 
 The first Christmas festival was held by the Sunday- 
 School in 1 86 1. 
 
3* 
 
 BENEVOLENT WORK. 
 
 From the beginning of its history this church has been 
 noted for its benevolences. Regular contributions have 
 always been made to the missionary enterprises of our 
 Congregational Churches and to local charities. Often 
 these gifts have been large and generous. 
 
 For many years a Ladies' Sewing Society held regular 
 meetings, and through their efforts many valuable boxes 
 were sent to needy Home Missionaries. 
 
 At one time much interest was taken in the education 
 of promising young men. A record has been preserved 
 of two who received, from 1867 to 1870, about $500 each 
 from this church. 
 
 IN WAR TIME. 
 
 This church had its beginnings in the exciting days 
 immediately preceding the war — its formal organization 
 having been completed just sixteen days before the firing 
 on Fort Sumter. As may be supposed from its having 
 adopted a specifically New England polity of government, 
 the sentiment of the church was strongly anti-slavery, 
 and from the beginning of the war both pastor and peo- 
 ple were actively interested in its prosecution. Mr. 
 Bacon was a recognized leader in the Union party, and 
 was always a favorite speaker on political platforms. The 
 church was active in raising money for the relief of the 
 soldiers, and in 1864 the pastor was given a six weeks 
 leave of absence to visit the field in the service of the 
 Sanitary and Christian Commissions. He visited Sher- 
 man's army in Georgia, and was present at the battle of 
 Resaca, May 14-16, 1864. 
 
3 2 
 
 On Decoration Day, 1869, Dr. Bacon delivered a 
 memorial address at Rosedale Cemetery. 
 
 During his residence in Orange, General George B. 
 McClellan was an attendant at this church and a personal 
 friend of its Pastor. There is preserved a letter written 
 by Dr. Bacon to General McClellan frankly stating the 
 reasons why he could not support the latter for the 
 Presidency, and General McClellan's equally frank and 
 courteous letter in reply. 
 
 THE SECOND VALLEY CHURCH. 
 
 In 1863, largely through the agency of Mr. Abraham 
 Baldwin, actively supported by Mr. Bacon, a Sunday 
 School was started over the mountain with twenty-seven 
 scholars. It soon grew to 100 members, Mr. Baldwin 
 being its Superintendent, and its teachers mainly coming 
 from this church. 
 
 At the annual meeting in December, 1864, encouraged 
 by the growth and prosperity of this school and the num- 
 bers that came out to the occasional preaching services 
 there, the church voted to assume the responsibility for 
 sustaining this Second Mountain Mission. A student of 
 Union Theological Seminary, Rev. P. F. Leavens, now 
 pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Passaic, was 
 engaged to preach, and regular Sunday services were held 
 at the Mission for several months. 
 
 A blessing attended these labors, and in 1867 an inde- 
 pendent church was organized there and recognized by 
 the Council, thirty members being dismissed from this 
 church to constitute it. This Council, of which the Rev. 
 Dr. Badger was Moderator, and the Rev. Lyman Abbott, 
 
33 
 
 Scribe, met in the Orange Valley Chapel May 23, 1867. 
 The church thus organized, called the Second Valley 
 Church, continued in existence under the pastoral care 
 of Rev. Messrs. Atkinson, Walcott and Oliphant until 
 1880, when it seemed best to disband. 
 
 THE CHURCH CREED. 
 
 To the Council which was called to recognize this new 
 organization were referred some radical changes con- 
 templated in the Manual of this church. The original 
 creed statements of the church were drawn up in accord- 
 ance with the form commonly in use among Congrega- 
 tional Churches. Formal assent to this entire creed was 
 required of all who became members. The pastor, how- 
 ever, had a strong and growing conviction that the 
 Church of Christ should be made broad enough to em- 
 brace all true believers, whatever be the color of their 
 creed, and its conditions of membership should exclude 
 none who truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ. During the 
 spring of 1867 he preached a series of sermons on The 
 Apostles' Creed, and at its close proposed that the con- 
 ditions of membership be so changed as to require only 
 assent to that ancient formula. It was further proposed 
 that a more detailed statement of doctrinal belief be 
 drawn up as the recognized standard of the church, to 
 which all its pastors and officers should be expected to 
 subscribe. 
 
 These proposed changes called forth much opposition 
 on the part of some who feared the result of seeming to 
 let down the doctrinal standard, and it was decided to 
 refer the whole matter to Council. In the Council which 
 
34 
 
 was called were several members of large experience and 
 national reputation, among whom were Rev. Joseph P. 
 Thompson, of Broadway Tabernacle; Rev. Wm. I. Bud- 
 dington, of Brooklyn; Rev. L. W. Bacon, Rev. William 
 B. Brown, Rev. Lyman Abbott and others. After a long 
 and earnest discussion, resolutions were moved by Rev. 
 Dr. Buddington and unanimously carried, approving the 
 design " to open the Communion to all true Christians 
 and believers, and at the same time to maintain the great 
 features of Evangelical Christianity," and also the plan 
 " to separate the order for the admission of members and 
 the articles of doctrinal belief, as being one practical 
 mode of securing both Christian Unity and Scriptural 
 Truth." 
 
 Enforced by this declaration, the creed statement 
 which was thus submitted to the Council and approved 
 by them, was adopted by the church " after considerable 
 exciting discussion," as its permanent creed, to be held by 
 all its officers, and not to be substantially changed with- 
 out the approval of a similar Council. At the same time 
 the Apostles' Creed was fixed upon as the symbol which 
 should be assented to on uniting with the church. 
 
 VARIOUS ITEMS 
 
 of interest in connection with the growth and working of 
 the church, may be mentioned. 
 
 In January, 1863, a prayer and conference meeting on 
 Sunday evening began to be held; also a monthly concert 
 of prayer for missions. 
 
 The hours for Sunday services were: Sunday School 
 at 9 a. m., preaching at 10:30 a. m. and 3. p. m. 
 
35 
 
 In 1864 the name of the organization which had been 
 incorporated as "The First Congregational Church of 
 Orange," was changed to "The Orange Valley Church." 
 
 In November, 1866, after some discussion, in which 
 certain members of the church strongly opposed the in- 
 novation, it was voted to adopt the use of the Psalms for 
 responsive reading on trial for three or six months. No 
 harm having resulted, the custom still continues. 
 
 For three years before the regular church prayer meet- 
 ing was removed from the Valley to the school-house in 
 the rear of the church, a neighborhood prayer meeting 
 was sustained by some eight or ten families living in the 
 vicinity of Highland avenue, meeting in rotation at the 
 various homes. It was a combination of prayer meeting 
 and neighborhood social, and was greatly prized. 
 
 The English ivy, which graces the front of the church 
 edifice, was planted by Mr. David Tait, the slip from 
 which it grew having been brought from Heidelberg 
 Castle and presented to Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 The baptismal font was a gift of Mr. James Bell. 
 
 This church has always been prominent in maintaining 
 the fellowship of the churches. On June 2, 1869, the 
 New Jersey Association of Churches was formed here, at 
 which time the sermon was preached by the Rev. R. S. 
 Storrs, D. D., of Brooklyn, from the text, "As He 
 thinketh in His heart, so is He." Dr. Bacon was its first 
 Moderator. 
 
 The church edifice was first lighted with gas in 1873; 
 and in 1874 a system of ventilation was put in, costing 
 
 $675- 
 
 In 1874 the pastoral work had grown to be so pressing 
 
36 
 
 that the church for several months employed the Rev. 
 Mr. Pettit as an assistant to the pastor. The building on 
 Tompkins street, which was known as the Tower House, 
 was rented for mission purposes. It was occupied by 
 Mr. Pettit. Prayer meetings and social gatherings were 
 held there, and for some time it was the headquarters for 
 church charities. 
 
 The first Manual of the church was prepared by Dr. 
 Bacon and Mr. William D. Porter. 
 
 The pastor's salary during the latter years of the first 
 pastorate was $4,000. 
 
 During all his pastorate Dr. Bacon was actively inter- 
 ested in public affairs, and was a frequent contributor to 
 the press. It is of interest to record that he was one of 
 the prime movers in founding the New England Society 
 of Orange. 
 
 DEATH OF THE FIRST PASTOR. 
 
 Early in the year 1876 the arduous labors of Dr. Bacon 
 in behalf of the church, the community at large, and the 
 whole sisterhood of churches which looked to him as an 
 adviser and helper, told so heavily on a constitution 
 which was never robust, that he felt constrained to offer 
 his letter of resignation as pastor. 
 
 By unanimous vote, however, the church declined to 
 accept his resignation, and a leave of absence for eighteen 
 months was granted on a salary of $2,000, in the hope 
 that rest and travel might effect a complete restoration to 
 health. On two other occasions, when worn out with 
 work, the church had generously granted him similar 
 leave of absence; once for six months in 1865, during 
 
37 
 
 which time the pulpit had been supplied by the Rev. R. 
 G. Greene, and again in 1873, tne pulpit being supplied 
 for eight months by the Rev. Edward J. Newlin. Dur- 
 ing this time the pastor visited California and the Sand- 
 wich Islands, and the rest and change had seemed to 
 bring back the impaired health. 
 
 Now, however, in 1876, it soon became evident that his 
 earthly labors were nearing the end. A short journey to 
 the South failing to bring relief, Dr. Bacon returned to 
 Orange that his last days might be spent amid the scenes 
 of his labors and among the people whom he loved. 
 
 A letter full of tender love and admonition, and frag- 
 rant with a trustful submission to the will of the Father, 
 was written by him to the church on September 10th, and 
 on the 15th of that month, in the year 1876, he was called 
 Home. 
 
 An immense throng of loving friends from far and wide 
 gathered at the church at the funeral services, which were 
 impressively conducted by the acting pastor, Rev. Joseph 
 A. Ely. Mr. William Mason presided very feelingly at 
 the organ, and an address, eloquent with sympathy, was 
 delivered by the Rev. George M. Boynton, of Newark. 
 Among other things he said : " We will not say, to-day, 
 with the sisters of him whom Jesus loved, ' Lord, if thou 
 hadst been here our brother had not died,' but ' Lord 
 thou hast been here, and our brother has not died, but 
 lives with Thee.' " 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1877, the Rev. Dr. Ellinwood 
 preached a commemorative discourse on the life of the 
 late pastor, from Rev. iii, 12 : " Him thatovercometh will 
 I make a pillar in the Temple of my God." This service 
 
3» 
 
 was on the occasion of the completion of the handsome 
 memorial window which had been inserted in the west 
 transept of the church, with this inscription: 
 
 In Loving Memory of 
 
 Our Pastor, 
 
 George B. Bacon, D. D., 
 
 who died Sept. 15, 1876. 
 
 Gift of the Sunday School. 
 
 " If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole." 
 
 The subject represented in the window is that impres- 
 sive incident in the life of our Lord when the suffering 
 woman comes up behind Him in the press and kneels to 
 touch the hem of His garment. This subject was sug- 
 gested by an expressed wish of Dr. Bacon, not long be- 
 fore his death, that he might preach one more sermon to 
 his people from those words: "If I may but touch His 
 garment, I shall be whole." Dr. Bacon's last public 
 services with the church were in connection with the 
 week of prayer in 1876, at which time he was unusually 
 earnest and fervent in prayer for the descent of the Holy- 
 Spirit and a revival of the Lord's Work. 
 
 Little need is there at this time to speak in eulogy of a 
 life which was so woven into the hearts of the Orange 
 Valley Church as was Dr. Bacon's, which had stamped 
 itself so deep on the City of Orange and was known and 
 loved among all the churches. To this day, after nearly 
 twenty years, his memory is enshrined in many hearts 
 and many homes in Orange, and it is a joy to his succes- 
 sors in office to discover constantly in their visitations 
 among the people that his faithful ministrations are yet 
 bearing fruit. 
 
39 
 
 Dr. Bacon's pastorate extended over a period of fifteen 
 years and six months. During that time, or rather from 
 the organization of the church to the coming of Mr. Ely, 
 the church had received into its membership 432 persons, 
 of whom 205 were on Confession of Faith. During the 
 same period it had lost, as nearly as can be determined 
 by the records, by death 35, and by removal 96, making 
 a total of 131. There was then, at the close of the first 
 pastorate, a church membership of 301. Of these, 69 are 
 still connected with the church. 
 
MR. ELY'S PASTORATE. 
 
 When leave of absence was given to Dr. Bacon in the 
 spring of 1876, steps were immediately taken to secure 
 the services of an acting pastor, and at a meeting of the 
 church and society, held on Sunday, the 9th of April, it 
 was unanimously voted to invite the Rev. Joseph A. Ely, 
 of Rochester, N. Y., to accept that office during the ab- 
 sence of Dr. Bacon. The invitation was accepted, and 
 Mr. Ely began his service with the church on April 30th. 
 He was a recent graduate of Rochester Theological Sem- 
 inary, and was ordained in the Orange Valley Church 
 Tune 21, 1876, by a Council, of which Rev. A. H. Brad- 
 ford was Scribe. 
 
 After serving the church very acceptably for about one 
 year, Mr. Ely was called by vote of the church and society 
 to the permanent pastorate at a salary of $3,000. He 
 was installed in the office on the 27th of June, 1877, by a 
 Council, of which the Rev. Charles H. Oliphant was 
 Scribe. 
 
 Mr. Ely's pastorate, which extended through six and 
 one-half years, was marked by faithful labors on his part 
 and by a steady and gratifying growth in the church. 
 During his ministry 155 were received into its fellowship, 
 of whom 90 come on Confession of Faith. Two events 
 
of historical importance occurred during Mr. Ely's 
 pastorate. These were the raising of the debt and the 
 building of the chapel. 
 
 THE DEBT RAISING. 
 
 Up to 1878 the bonded indebtedness of $15,000, in- 
 curred in the erection of the church edifice, had been 
 carried by the society. This, together with a floating in- 
 debtedness, at some times quite large, had proved a heavy 
 weight and a serious hindrance to the church. At the 
 annual meeting of that year it was unanimously voted to 
 undertake the lifting of the entire indebtedness. 
 
 A committee, consisting of Messrs. Carter, Spottis- 
 woode, Dale, Hamilton and Lane, was appointed to de- 
 vise some suitable plan of action. At an adjourned 
 meeting, held June 16, 1878, this Committee reported 
 three recommendations, which were adopted, as follows : 
 
 1. That the subscriptions and payments be extended 
 over a term of three years. 
 
 2. That the payments be made weekly, so as to make 
 it easy and within the reach of all and burdensome to 
 none. 
 
 3. That every member of the congregation be invited 
 to take part in the noble work, that from the oldest to 
 the youngest, all, even the children in the Sunday School, 
 may feel that they individually have an interest in this 
 matter. 
 
 A committee, consisting of eight gentlemen and eight 
 ladies, was thereupon appointed to solicit subscriptions, 
 who began their work at once, and in a few minutes re- 
 ported pledges amounting to about $13,000. This meet- 
 
42 
 
 ing was held at the close of the Sunday morning service, 
 and at 8 o'clock in the evening of the same day the peo- 
 ple came together again, and it was announced that an 
 amount sufficient to cover the entire indebtedness had 
 been subscribed. 
 
 As a result of this Sabbath day's work, " Much joy was 
 felt and expressed by all present," says the chronicler, 
 *' that the great work was completed, more especially as 
 it had been effected without the assistance of outside aid, 
 or under the impulse of temporary excitement, but each 
 one quietly uniting in the general determination to rid 
 the church of its burden to the utmost extent of his or 
 her capacity. After a heartfelt and thankful prayer to 
 God for His great goodness by the Pastor, the meeting 
 adjourned." 
 
 The plan thus mutually agreed upon was successfully 
 carried out, and at the annual meeting in June, i88r, the 
 bonded indebtedness was reported as paid in full. In- 
 deed, so faithfully and enthusiastically had the church 
 given themselves to the work, that giving had become a 
 habit, and when it was announced that the Society now 
 stood free of all indebtedness, an additional sum of be- 
 tween three and four thousand dollars was immediately 
 raised as a thank-offering to make needed repairs on the 
 buildings. This incident in the history of the church 
 well illustrates two proverbs : " They can who think 
 they can;" and " There is that giveth and yet increaseth." 
 
 THE NEW CHAPEL. 
 
 While the effort to raise the church debt was still in 
 progress, active measures began to be taken looking 
 toward the building of a chapel. Since 187 1 a Chapel 
 
43 
 
 Committee had been in existence, but their efforts did 
 not materialize, and in 1878 they were discharged from 
 further service, and a new committee, consisting of 
 Messrs. Dale, Lane, Bell, Carter, Newell and Mason, was 
 appointed. In April of that year the chapel fund, which 
 had been started in 1871, was increased by the proceeds 
 of a fair and loan exhibition, which was held by the 
 ladies of the church in the hall of the Dearborn-Morgan 
 School, and which netted the sum of $1,980. A two 
 days' fair was also held in the Tower House in the Val- 
 ley, and a " dairy-maid's supper " was given in Temper- 
 ance Hall, both netting large sums. The lot of land 
 northwest of the church, which had been purchased of 
 Mr. Mason seven years before on which to build a 
 chapel, was now sold to Rev. Dr. Ellinvvood for $4,500, 
 and it was voted that this amount be turned towards the 
 chapel fund. Various sums were contributed for the 
 purpose, among them a gift of $5,000 from Mr. Aaron 
 Carter, and in March, 1879, it was voted to proceed to 
 the erection of a stone chapel, at the rear of the church 
 and joining it, at a cost not to exceed $13,000. The 
 work was executed by Mr. James Bell, in a style corres- 
 ponding with the church, and the new edifice was ready 
 for occupancy in January, 1880. A social gathering was 
 held in it on Wednesday evening, the 28th of that month, 
 at which Mr. William D. Porter read a descriptive and 
 historical poem. 
 
 At the annual meeting in June following, it was re- 
 ported to the church that the chapel was finished and all 
 bills paid. The Treasurer's books, which were kept with 
 great care and accuracy by Mr. I. Remsen Lane, show 
 that the total cost was $14,694. 
 
44 
 
 It is of interest to record that the pulpit furniture of 
 the chapel was purchased by some of the younger girls 
 of the church, with money raised at a fair ; that the clock 
 was secured in a similar way by another fair gotten up 
 by the girls in Miss DeLancey's School ; that the desk 
 and easy chair for the pastor's study were the gift of a 
 Sunday School class, and that the stained-glass window 
 in the ladies' parlor was presented by Mr. Ely himself, 
 in memory of his father and mother. It was copied 
 from a window in the Cathedral in Glasgow by a local 
 artist, at the request of Mr. Ely, and is symbolical of 
 Charity, the design illustrating the text underneath : 
 " I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat," Matt, 
 xxv, 35. 
 
 During Mr. Ely's pastorate a weekly prayer-meeting 
 was sustained in the Valley, sometimes at private houses, 
 which resulted in turning the attention of many towards 
 the church and in strengthening the hold of the Christian 
 life upon them. Mr. Ely is still remembered with great 
 affection in many families with whom he was thus brought 
 in contact. Particularly is this true of many German 
 families, with whom the pastor could converse in their 
 native tongue. 
 
 During this pastorate also, the woman's work of the 
 church was widened in its scope. The Sewing Society 
 had been organized in Dr. Bacon's time, and had been 
 efficient in the preparation and sending of many boxes to 
 needy Home Missionaries. No devotional meetings, 
 however, had been held. In February, 1880, a Woman's 
 Foreign Missionary Society was started, with Mrs. R. H. 
 Thayer as its first President. This Society became 
 
45 
 
 auxiliary to the Philadelphia Branch of the Woman's 
 Board, and held monthly meetings. It continued in ex- 
 istence until it was absorbed in another organization in 
 1892, and during these twelve years raised $1,485 for 
 Foreign Missions. 
 
 Mr. Ely was largely instrumental in establishing the 
 Bureau of Associated Charities in Orange, of which 
 organization Mrs. Van Vechten was the first President. 
 
 Mr. Ely resigned his pastorate in September, 1883. 
 The church, by a large majority vote, at first declined to 
 accept his resignation, and requested him to withdraw 
 it. It seemed best to him, however, to persist in his 
 determination, and the resignation was finally accepted ; 
 the action being ratified by a Council of which the Rev. 
 Rollin Stone was Moderator, which met Nov. 22, 1883. 
 A parting gift of $600 was presented to Mr. Ely by the 
 Society, in token of their esteem and loving remembrance. 
 
DR. RANKIN'S PASTORATE. 
 
 During the interim of eleven months between the 
 second and third pastorates, the pulpit was supplied by 
 various ministers. Prominent among them was the Rev. 
 T. T. Munger, of North Adams, Mass , and many in the 
 church were strongly in favor of calling him to the 
 pastorate. A majority, however, favored calling the Rev. 
 J. E. Rankin, D. D., who for fifteen years had been 
 Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Washington, 
 D. C. A call was accordingly extended to the latter on 
 June 6, 1884, to become Pastor at a salary of $5,000. 
 The call was accepted, and after spending three months 
 abroad, Dr. Rankin began his labors in October. On 
 the 13th of January he was installed Pastor of the church, 
 Dr. Wm. M. Taylor, of the Broadway Tabernacle, New 
 York, preaching the sermon, and Rev. M E. Strieby, D. 
 D., Secretary of the A. M. A., offering the prayer. 
 
 At the beginning of Dr. Rankin's pastorate there were 
 372 members on the roll of the church. Within fifteen 
 months seventy-one had been added to it, of whom, 
 forty-five were on Confession of Faith. Dr. Rankin re- 
 mained Pastor of the church for five years and three 
 months, until he was called to the Presidency of Howard 
 University in Washington, a work for which his long ac- 
 quaintance with the problems affecting the negro race 
 eminently fitted him. 
 
 During the earlier years of his pastorate, certain differ- 
 
47 
 
 ences of opinion among the members as to matters of 
 doctrine and administration, which, in their origin ante- 
 dated his coming, unhappily deepened to such an extent 
 as to cause a division. On this account, in the year 1887, 
 letters of dismission were granted to about no of the 
 members to form a new church under Presbyterian 
 auspices, which has since been known as the Hillside 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 THE PARSONAGE. 
 
 Up to 1886 the Pastors of the Orange Valley Church 
 lived in rented houses or boarded with their families — 
 excepting Mr. Ely, who remained unmarried — in private 
 houses. Early in Dr. Rankin's pastorate the matter be- 
 gan to be agitated of building a parsonage, and on March 
 16, 1886, at a meeting called to consider the advisability 
 of taking this step, it was decided to appoint a committee 
 to solicit subscriptions to build at a cost not to exceed 
 $8,000. This committee consisted of seven gentlemen 
 and five ladies, of whom Mr. D. A. Heald was Chairman. 
 
 The Pastor thereupon wrote a letter to the Trustees 
 voluntarily consenting to have his salary reduced to $4,- 
 000 just as soon as the parsonage should be provided for 
 his use free of rent. It was then decided to proceed at 
 once to build the parsonage, not to exceed $8,000 m 
 cost. The limit was afterwards raised to $10,000, of 
 which $2,500 was subscribed in cash, and the remainder 
 borrowed on a mortgage covering the property. The 
 work of building was pushed forward under the super- 
 vision of Mr. James Bell, and was completed at a cost of 
 about $9,000. The parsonage, which was called High- 
 
48 
 
 land Manse, was first occupied by the Pastor's family in 
 the autumn of 1886. 
 
 THE Y. P. S. C. E. 
 
 The young people of the church, under Dr. Rankin's 
 leadership, organized a Christian Endeavor Society in 
 October, 1886. It was the first society of that name in 
 the Oranges and the third in New Jersey, Dr. Emory 
 W. Given being its first President. It has always been a 
 source of no small satisfaction to the members of this 
 Society that their first Pastor was the author of the hymn 
 which has attained such world-wide popularity, and 
 which has everywhere come to be regarded as the Fare- 
 well Christian Endeavor Hymn : "God Be With You 
 Till We Meet Again." Another of Dr. Rankin's hymns, 
 "Keep Your Colors Flying," was adopted at the Saratoga 
 convention in 1886 as the banner hymn of the United 
 Society. 
 
 THE Y. M. C. A. 
 
 Early in Dr. Rankin's pastorate, and largely through 
 the activity of Mr. John D. Cutter, afterwards Deacon of 
 the Valley Church, Mr. 1). L. Moody came to Orange 
 and held a series of evangelistic meetings. These 
 meetings were specially blessed to this Church in a large 
 ingathering. At their close, a meeting was held, over 
 which Dr. Rankin presided, and at which the Young 
 Men's Christian Association of the Oranges was organ- 
 ized, the Pastor of the Valley Church, by special 
 request, being the first signer of its Constitution. 
 
 On Decoration Day, 1885, by invitation of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, Dr. Rankin delivered the 
 Memorial address in Music Hall. 
 
49 
 
 For ten years previous to 1887, the music of the 
 Church was led by Mr. Charles F. Whiting, who 
 also did effective service in the arrangement of 
 flowers and other Church decorations In the spring of 
 1888, a choir was organized, of which Mr. William H. 
 Bryan was chorister, and Miss Cornelia V. Hutchings, 
 organist. Miss Stella Rosenblatt was engaged as con- 
 tralto and Miss Mabel Studdiford, as soprano. At this 
 time, also, the " Carmina Sanctorum " was adopted as 
 the Church singing book. 
 
 Mr. John K. Milne began his services as Sexton in 
 June, 1887. 
 
 In June, 1885, the time of holding the weekly prayer- 
 meeting was changed from Friday to Tuesday evening, 
 to conform to the practice of a majority of the churches 
 in the Oranges. 
 
 It was during this pastorate that the Church first 
 adopted the use of unfermented wine at the Communion. 
 
 Dr. Rankin was called to the Presidency of Howard 
 University in the fall of 1889, but remained with the 
 Church until the first of January of the following year, 
 being dismissed by the Council which installed his suc- 
 cessor in June, 1890. A valuable gift of silver was 
 presented to him at his departure, by his people, in 
 token of their confidence and esteem. Several months 
 afterwards, and after his successor was in office, the 
 Church, prompted largely by their interest in their 
 former Pastor, made a gift of $1,000 to Howard Univer- 
 sity to found a scholarship. 
 
 At the close of Dr. Rankin's pastorate there were 325 
 names on the membership roll. 
 
MR. SAVAGE'S PASTORATE. 
 
 It is too early to write the story of the present pastor- 
 ate. History in the process of making cannot be 
 recorded, and the events of the past six years, with 
 which we all are familiar, are only the materials out of 
 which history is made. 
 
 The present Pastor found on his coming, the material 
 equipment of the Church in perfect order, and all lines 
 of Church work well organized. To the first Pastor it 
 was given, with the co-operation of a generous people, 
 to lay the foundations and erect the house of public 
 worship To the second, to relieve the Church of debt 
 and erect the chapel for the use of the Sunday School 
 and social meetings. To the third, to organize the army 
 of young people and erect the Pastor's home. To the 
 fourth, also, was given the work of a builder, but it was 
 the ever urgent work of strengthening and edifying the 
 Church in its spiritual upbuilding. With what success it 
 has been done cannot now be recorded. Some facts 
 relating to the present pastorate may, however, be placed 
 on record for the benefit of future historians. 
 
 On the resignation of Dr. Rankin, a committee of 
 twenty-five persons was appointed to secure a new Pas- 
 tor. Their attention was directed to the Rev. Charles 
 A. Savage, at that time Pastor of the Congregational 
 Church, in Enfield, Mass., and he was invited to come to 
 
5' 
 
 Orange and occupy the pulpit for a single Sabbath, 
 which he did on the 12th of January, 1890 A com- 
 mittee of the Church, consisting of T. F. Johnson and 
 James H. Noyes, afterwards visited him at his home in 
 Enfield, and on the 23d of February, he received a unan- 
 imous call to the pastorate by the Church and society. 
 This call he accepted, and on Easter Sunday, April 6, 
 1S90, he began his labors. 
 
 Mr. Savage is a native of Vermont, being descended 
 from an unbroken line of Congregational ancestors, 
 reaching back 250 years. He is a graduate of Dart- 
 mouth College and of Yale Theological Seminary, and 
 before coming to Orange, had been a Professor in 
 Robert College, in Constantinople, and Pastor in Berk- 
 eley, Cab, and Enfield, Mass. With his family, consist- 
 ing of a wife and two children, he came to occupy the 
 parsonage the last of April, 1890. 
 
 A Council was called for the installation of Mr. Savage 
 on the 19th of June. Of this Council, at which repre- 
 sentatives of twenty-five churches were present, the Rev. 
 A. H. Bradford, D. D., of Montclair, was Moderator, 
 and the Rev. Frank Goodwin, of Glen Ridge, Scribe. 
 The sermon was preached by the Rev. R. R. Meredith, 
 D. D., of Brooklyn, from Matt, vii, 11; the installing 
 prayer was by the Rev. D. T. Fiske, D. D., of Newbury- 
 port, Mass., father-in-law of the Pastor; the charge to 
 the Pastor, by the Rev. Fritz W. Baldwin, of East 
 Orange; the charge to the people, by the Rev. M. E. 
 Strieby, D. D., and the right hand of fellowship, by the 
 Rev. A. H. Bradford, D D., who had performed the 
 same office at the installation of the two preceding Pas- 
 
52 
 
 tors of the Church Mr. Savage began his pastorate on 
 a salary of $2,500, with the free use of the parsonage. 
 In 1893 it was raised to $3,000. 
 
 Of the more important events connected with this 
 pastorate up to the present time may be mentioned 
 the following: 
 
 women's benevolent work. 
 
 In March, 1892, all the benevolent work of the women 
 of the Church was consolidated into one organization, 
 called the " Woman's Society for Christian Work." Its 
 branches of effort are Home Missions, Foreign Mis- 
 sions, Social Fellowship and Church Aid. An effort was 
 made to secure from as many of the ladies as possible, 
 contributions of a cent a day, to be divided between 
 Home and Foreign Missions. 
 
 In this way, and by additional contributions, the 
 Woman's Society, in the five years of its existence, has 
 raised about $1,400 for missions, besides sending valu- 
 able boxes to home missionaries each year. The Pastor's 
 wife has been President of the organization from its 
 beginning. 
 
 The young ladies of the Church, under a separate 
 organization, called the Young Ladies' Mission Band, 
 have done very efficient work, and in six years have 
 raised $862 for Foreign Missions. Much benevolent 
 work has also been done by the women of the Church in 
 distributing its charities among needy families in the 
 neighborhood. One member of this Church, Miss Annie 
 H. Bradshaw, has been since 1888 a missionary of the 
 American Board in Japan. 
 
53 
 
 In November, T893, the annual meeting of the Phila- 
 delphia Branch was the guest of this auxiliary. To pro- 
 mote an interest in missionary intelligence, a missionary 
 library was started in 189s, which now numbers fifty- 
 three volumes, some of great value. For several months 
 during 1893 and 1894, an Italian mission was sustained 
 by the Church, in its chapel in Tompkins street, under 
 the auspices of the Y. P. S. C. E. A missionary, the 
 Rev. G. B. Gozzelino, was employed, and some $500 was 
 invested in the enterprise. It was discontinued because, 
 owing to the financial depression, many of its constit- 
 uency removed from this vicinity. Several of this 
 nationality have been frequent attendants at the Church 
 and one Italian child was baptized by the Pastor. 
 
 EVANGELISTIC SERVICES. 
 
 In January, 1893, a series of evangelistic meetings 
 was held in this Church, conducted by the Rev. Ford C. 
 Ottman, of Newark, in which the Hillside and German 
 Presbyterian Churches, and the workers in Emmanuel 
 Baptist Chapel united with us. Large numbers attended 
 and deep interest was manifested. As a result of the 
 meetings, twenty persons joined this Church at the March 
 communion. 
 
 CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 
 
 The Endeavor Society, organized during Dr. Rankin's 
 pastorate, has maintained a steady and vigorous life. 
 Its members have been loyal to the Church and faithful 
 along various lines of Christian work. Its meetings are 
 held on Sunday evenings, after the Church service, and 
 have proved stimulating in the Christian life. Most of 
 
54 
 
 its member contribute systematically by the envelope 
 system to the support of the Society and for missionary 
 objects. In the spring of 1896, a Christian Endeavor 
 Union of the Oranges was started and Mr. Savage was 
 chosen its first President. 
 
 JUNIOR ENDEAVOR. 
 
 In the very beginning of the pastorate, a Junior 
 Society of Christian Endeavor was organized by the 
 Pastor's wife, meeting on Friday afternoons. After a 
 feeble existence for two or three years it took deep root 
 and developed a more vigorous life. It is now the most 
 promising organization of the Church, having some 
 seventy-five members, who are surprisingly regular in 
 attendance and are doing faithful, earnest work. For 
 two years Mrs. Savage has been Superintendent of 
 Junior Endeavor work in Essex County. 
 
 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 The Sunday School, during the six years, has been 
 under the faithful superintendency of S. A. Condict, 
 and the junior department has greatly flourished under 
 the care of Miss Emma Spottiswoode and Miss Bessie 
 Johnson. For some years the junior department has 
 supported a Japanese student, Victor M. Hino, a protege 
 of Miss Bradshaw, in the Theological Seminary of the 
 Doshisha, in Kioto. The main school has kept up a 
 scholarship in the Hampton Institute, in Virginia, and 
 helped to support an Armenian girl in the Girls College, 
 in Scutari. In the six years, the Sunday School has 
 contributed $1,115 for benevolent causes. 
 
55 
 
 THE MEN'S LEAGUE. 
 
 In the spring of 1892, an effort was made to increase 
 the interest in the Sunday evening services by a series 
 of readings and lectures on the life of Christ, which 
 were illustrated with the stereopticon, through the kind- 
 ness of the Hon. H. H. Truman Large congregations 
 were present at all these services, and a deep impression 
 was made. In the autumn of 1893, a Men's League was 
 organized to aid the Pastor in promoting the interest in 
 these Sunday night services. This it has done by pro- 
 viding extra music and a printed programme, and in 
 various ways making the services attractive The re- 
 sults have been a considerable increase in the attendance. 
 
 The expenses incurred by the League have mainly 
 been met by voluntary contributions. 
 
 From the beginning of the pastorate, there have been 
 union services on Thanksgiving Day, alternating year by 
 year between this and the Hillside Presbyterian Church; 
 Sunday School festivals every year at Christmas; an 
 observance of the week of prayer; a recognition of 
 Good Friday and Easter; weekly prayer meetings on 
 Tuesday evening; a monthly missionary concert the 
 first Tuesday evening of the month; the first week of 
 the month regarded as Missionary Week; charitable 
 offerings the second Sunday of the month; a quiet Sun- 
 day afternoon sacramental service once in two months, 
 preceded by a preparatory lecture on Friday evening; 
 the annual Church meeting on the first Sunday in June, 
 followed by a church social reunion and business meet- 
 ing on Friday evening, and an observance of Children's 
 Day on the second Sundav in June. 
 
56 
 
 At this time the Pastor has distributed prizes to the 
 children for regular attendance at Church, and Child- 
 ren's Day, in June, and Christmas Sunday, in December, 
 have come to be regarded as the special occasions for 
 infant baptism. These regular services and observances 
 are mentioned, not as being, all of them, peculiar to the 
 present pastorate, but as indicating the established 
 usages of the Church at the present time. 
 
 CHURCH REVENUE. 
 
 In 1 89 1, the plan was adopted of raising the revenue 
 of the Church by voluntary contributions, in place of 
 the former system, the renting of pews, except in cases 
 where persons preferred to pay pew rent. This com- 
 bination of the two methods has proved successful. 
 The first year the experiment was tried closed without 
 any deficiency — a thing almost unprecedented in the 
 history of the Church. The records show that almost 
 every year since the organization was started has seen a 
 gap between its receipts and expenditures — in one year, 
 1875, the deficit reaching $1,300. To the credit of the 
 Church it should be recorded, however, that its habitual 
 custom has been to meet the deficiency at once, so as to 
 begin the new year free of debt. During the last six 
 years the annual deficiency, when one has occurred, has 
 been much less than during some of the earlier years of 
 the Church and has always been effaced before the an- 
 nual meeting. 
 
 In the autumn of 1891, the chapel interior was thor- 
 oughly renovated, the walls tinted and new carpets laid, 
 at an expense of some $200, a large part of which was 
 raised by the Y. P. S. C. E. 
 
57 
 
 In 1895, it became necessary to expend a large amount 
 in the repair of the organ, and the ladies of the society 
 volunteered to hold a fair to raise the needed funds. 
 The fair was held on the 25th and 26th of April, after- 
 noon and evening, the Woman's Society, the Young 
 Ladies' Mission Band and the King's Daughters all work- 
 ing earnestly for its success. The net amount raised was 
 $700, which was sufficient to repair the organ, purchase 
 a new furnace and repair the chapel kitchen. 
 
 During the six years the Church has raised for its own 
 support about $35,600, and has contributed to charitable 
 objects, approximately, $13,850, of which $3,288 was 
 raised by the ladies; in all, nearly $50,000. If this 
 amount be averaged among the resident membership of 
 the Church, it would appear that each member has con- 
 tributed about $200, or ^33 a year. 
 
 At the close of Dr. Rankin's pastorate, the names of 
 325 persons were standing on the Church roll, a large 
 number, however, having been for a long time absent 
 from Orange. Of these names, 66 were dropped on 
 revision of the roll, leaving 259 who should be regarded 
 as active members of the Church, although not all were 
 residents, at the beginning of Mr. Savage's ministry 
 During the six years since then, 107 have been added— 
 61 on confession of faith and 46 by letter. There have 
 been 68 names removed— 50 by letter and 18 by death — 
 leaving a membership at this date of 298, a net increase 
 of 39. Fifty-eight infant children have been baptized. 
 
5S 
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 
 
 Since the founding of the Church, 895 persons have 
 been members of the organization, 487 having been 
 added on confession of faith, an average of about 14 a 
 year. Of the remainder, 209 brought letters from Pres- 
 byterian churches, 105 from Congregational, 30 from, 
 Methodist, 17 from Reformed, 11 from Episcopal and 
 9 from Baptist. The record of the early benevolences 
 of the Church has been lost. As nearly as can be 
 ascertained, during the last thirty years of its history, 
 there have been contributed, approximately, $64,000 to 
 charitable causes. 
 
- 
 
 ~^^^^^H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■Hfe 
 
 V 
 
 ! i! 
 
 MM 
 
Officers of the Orange Valley Church 
 
 From 1860 to 1896. 
 
 PASTORS. 
 
 Rev. George B. Bacon, D. D.. Ordained and Installed 1861. 
 
 Died 1876. 
 Rev. Jos. A. Ely, Ordained and Installed 1877. Resigned 1883. 
 Rev. J. E. Rankin, D. D., Installed 1885. Resigned 1889. 
 Rev. Chas. A. Savage, Installed 1890. 
 
 Robert H. Thayer. 
 Aaron Carter. 
 Richard Russell. 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 James Bell. 
 Alexander Brownlie. 
 John D. Cutter. 
 Robert H. Thayer. 
 Stephen A. Condict. 
 Emery W. Given. 
 Richard Russell. 
 Frank F. Ford. 
 Theo. F. Johnson. 
 James Bell. 
 Frank F. Ford. 
 Thomas S. Waterman. 
 H. M. Matthews. 
 Noah C. Ball. 
 Alfred B Johnson. 
 Richard Russell. 
 J. Smith Pierson. 
 
 
 DEACONS. 
 
 Elected 
 
 
 Elected 
 
 i860. 
 
 Abraham Baldwin. 
 
 1879. 
 
 i860. 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 1880. 
 
 i860. 
 
 Aaron A. Smith. 
 
 1 88l. 
 
 1861. 
 
 James Bell. 
 
 1882. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Doras L. Stone. 
 
 1883. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Aaron A. Smith. 
 
 18S4. 
 
 1864. 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 1885. 
 
 1865. 
 
 Doras L. Stone. 
 
 1885. 
 
 1866. 
 
 Aaron A. Smith. 
 
 1885. 
 
 1868. 
 
 Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 1886. 
 
 1868. 
 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 
 1887. 
 
 1869. 
 
 Aaron Carter, Jr. 
 
 1887. 
 
 1869. 
 
 John Wiley. 
 
 1888. 
 
 1870. 
 
 John Wiley. 
 
 1889. 
 
 1871. 
 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1872. 
 
 James Bell. 
 
 1 89I. 
 
 1873. 
 
 Lowell Mason. 
 
 1892. 
 
 1874. 
 
 Aaron Carter. 
 
 1893. 
 
 1875. 
 
 George L. Dale. 
 
 IS93. 
 
 1876. 
 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 
 1894. 
 
 1877. 
 
 James Bell. 
 
 1895. 
 
 1878. 
 
 Lowell Mason. 
 
 
6o 
 
 STANDING COMMITTER. 
 
 Elected. 
 
 i860. Lowell Mason, Jr. 
 i860. George W. Smith'. 
 i860. F. W. Newton. 
 i860. James Bell. 
 i860. Enoch Condit. 
 i860. George Stone. 
 1 86 1. John Wiley. 
 
 1 861. Aaron A. Smith. 
 
 1862. Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 1862. Abraham Baldwin. 
 
 1863. William I. Brown. 
 1863. James Bell. 
 
 1863. Enoch Condit. 
 
 1864. George W. Smith. 
 1864. Edward L. Barnes. 
 
 1864. Henry Matthews. 
 
 1865. Henry Matthews. 
 1865. Robert O. Crommelin. 
 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 A. Buxton Hutchinson. 
 Wm. D. Porter. 
 A. M. Matthews. 
 J. Cutler Fuller. 
 A. M. Matthews. 
 Wm. D. Porter. 
 Wm. P. Kittredge. 
 Ambrose M. Matthews. 
 Richard Russell. 
 Robert H. Thayer. 
 Geo.Washington Smith. 
 
 1866. 
 1866. 
 1868. 
 1869. 
 1869. 
 1870. 
 1871. 
 1872. 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 1875. 
 1875. 
 
 Elected. 
 
 1876. 
 
 1877. 
 
 1877. 
 
 1878. 
 
 1879. 
 1879. 
 1879. 
 1880. 
 1881. 
 1 88l. 
 1882. 
 1882. 
 1 88*. 
 
 1883. 
 1884. 
 1885. 
 1885. 
 1886. 
 1886. 
 1887. 
 1887. 
 
 1890. 
 1890. 
 1891. 
 1892. 
 
 l8 93- 
 
 1894. 
 1895. 
 
 Jarvis M. Fairchild. 
 
 Allerton W. Kilborne. 
 
 Theodore F. Johnson. 
 
 Robert H. Thayer. 
 
 Alex. Brownlie. 
 
 Aaron Carter, Jr. 
 
 Alfred L. Commelin. 
 
 Richard Russell. 
 
 Alexander T. Moore. 
 John L. Yatman. 
 Alexander Brownlie. 
 
 Chris. McCollough. 
 John L. Yatman. 
 Charles A. Meigs. 
 Robert H. Thayer. 
 Aaron Carter. 
 I. Remsen Lane. 
 Richard Russell. 
 Charles A. Meigs. 
 O. S. Thompson. 
 A. B. Johnson. 
 James Bell. 
 H. M. Matthews. 
 C. A. Meigs. 
 T. S. Waterman. 
 J. S. Pierson. 
 R. H. Thayer. 
 T. F. Johnson. 
 James H. Noyes. 
 O. S. Thompson. 
 
 i860. 
 1861. 
 1862. 
 1863. 
 1864. 
 1865. 
 1866. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENTS OF SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 Abraham Baldwin. 
 Dr. Lowell Mason. 
 
 Abraham Baldwin. 
 Lowell Mason, Jr. 
 
 1869. 
 1870. 
 1871. 
 
 1872. 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 1875. 
 1876. 
 
 Robert O. Crommelin. 
 
 William P. Kittredge. 
 
Elected. 
 
 1877. 
 1878. 
 
 1379- 
 
 1880. 
 iSSi. 
 
 1882. 
 1883. 
 1884. 
 1885. 
 
 1 886. 
 
 William P. Kittredge. 
 George L. Dak-. 
 Georee L. Dale. 
 
 Alexander Brownlie. 
 John B. Solley. 
 
 Elected. 
 
 1887 
 1888 
 
 1890 
 1891 
 1892 
 1893 
 1894 
 1895 
 
 Stephen A. Condict. 
 
 ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENTS OF SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 1878. 
 
 1879. 
 1880. 
 1881. 
 1882. 
 1883. 
 1884. 
 1885. 
 1886. 
 
 i860. 
 1861. 
 1862. 
 186*. 
 
 Clarence I). Newell. 
 
 Alfred M. Crommelin. 
 Frederick L. Grant. 
 
 1887 
 
 1890 
 1891, 
 1892 
 1893 
 1894 
 
 1 895 
 
 CLERKS. 
 
 Reuben Langdon, Jr. i< 
 
 Richard Russell. Jr. 
 
 Lowell Mason, Jr. 
 1864. Henry A. Howe, Jr. 
 1865. 
 
 1866. E. Milton Greacen. 
 1S68. William McCullough. 
 1869. 
 1870. 
 1871. 
 1872. 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 1S75. 
 1876. 
 
 J877. 
 1878. 
 
 1880 
 1881. 
 1882. 
 1883. 
 1884. 
 1885. 
 1886. 
 1887. 
 1888. 
 1889. 
 1890. 
 1891. 
 1892. 
 1893. 
 1894. 
 
 Emery W. Given. 
 F. F. Ford. 
 
 M. W. Ferris. 
 Emery W. Given. 
 
 Richard Russell. 
 Chas. L. B. Crommelin, 
 
 Isaac C. Ogden, Jr. 
 
 Harry W. Hedge. 
 J. H. Noyes. 
 
 R. H. Thayer. 
 
OUR CHIMES.— THEIR STORY AND MESSAGE.* 
 
 "Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him with the 
 sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with stringed instru- 
 ments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals; 
 praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals." — Ps. cl ; 5. 
 
 Each Sabbath morning, and again as the evening 
 shadows gather, there rings out over the stillness of 
 Orange, a chorus of sacred song. It is a song in the 
 air. As those Bethlehem shepherds on that first early 
 Christmas morning, were awakened to hear the sur- 
 rounding hillsides echoing with angel's melody, so we 
 hear echoing through our streets and from our hillsides 
 the same glad Gospel songs. The chorus is not, indeed, 
 sung by angels It is not a chorus of human voices, 
 though the song was inspired by consecrated human 
 hearts. It is the song of the chimes. Many of us 
 have come to love their music. Many others, whom we 
 do not even know, have come to listen eagerly, Sabbath 
 after Sabbath, for its coming. To many a troubled soul 
 the free, glad ringing of these chimes has been an echo 
 of the free, glad Gospel of hope and trust and peace. 
 
 There is a story connected with our chimes that I 
 want you all to know. It may be that we have come to 
 
 * Delivered in the Orange Valley Church, Christmas Sunday even- 
 ing, 1895. 
 
63 
 
 think of them as only the striking of a clock, to tell us 
 the hour for worship. I want you to think of the music of 
 the chimes as something more than the ringing of bells. 
 It is something more than " sounding brass and tinkling 
 cymbals." There is a soul in the chimes. There is a 
 Gospel in them, and he who rings them, with a devout 
 and earnest spirit, is in some sort an assistant Pastor 
 of this Church, proclaiming the glad Gospel tidings to 
 every listener, far and near. 
 
 This music, from our heaven-pointing Church tower, 
 rings out along all the streets and avenues of our city; 
 it enters alike the mansion of the rich and the hovel of 
 the poor, the abodes of comfort and luxury and the 
 dwellings of want and woe. It comes into the habita- 
 tions of sickness and suffering, and into the haunts of 
 vice and crime, as well as into the homes of the happy 
 and the good. It falls on the ears of the destitute and 
 the homeless and tells of a home in heaven. It goes 
 through the wards of our hospital, whispering to suf- 
 ferers, of the Great Physician's love and sympathy. To 
 the lovers of God and the haters of God, to the thought- 
 less and the thoughtful, to those who pray and those 
 who blaspheme, alike, these songs in the air are carried, 
 telling the same glad story of pardon and of peace. 
 Like God's blessed rain and sunshine, the Gospel invita- 
 tion thus comes home to the heart of the evil and the 
 good alike, the free glad tidings of the Father's love. 
 
 These chimes of ours are a distinctive feature of this, 
 our Orange Valley Church, and are a part of its peculiar 
 life. Would you know their story and their message ? 
 Climb up with me, then, to the Church tower yonder and 
 
6 4 
 
 you can read it, in part, at least, for yourselves. It may 
 be* worth your while to turn aside, as Moses did at 
 Horeb, or to climb the staircase, rather, to see whence 
 comes the melodious voice that speaks to you. Ten 
 bronze bells you find there, and the date, 1870, stamped 
 upon them, shows that for a full quarter of a century 
 they have filled the lofty, outer pulpit of the Orange Val- 
 ley Church 
 
 You cannot guess how much they weigh, but I will tell 
 you — it is nearly ten thousand pounds (9,822 pounds 
 exactly), and an inscription cast on the side of each, 
 tells us that they came from the foundry of Jones & Co., 
 in Troy, N. Y. On four levels they hang; at the bot- 
 tom, four large bells, weighing from 800 to 1,500 pounds 
 each; above them, five smaller bells, weighing from 375 
 to 725 pounds, and surmounting all, a mammoth bell, 
 which weighs nearly a ton and a quarter (2,432 pounds). 
 
 How came they there? Our older members do not 
 forget, and the rising generation ought to be reminded, 
 that the first Pastor of this Church was a man richly en- 
 dowed with music in his soul, and his chief supporter 
 and helper in the early years of our Church history was 
 one who has been called " the father of church music in 
 our country." It is a memory for us to cherish that this 
 Church was built in an atmosphere of Christian song, 
 and song "not only of the spirit, but of the understand- 
 ing, also." Every time we look at this memorial win- 
 dow, representing the players and singers in the old 
 Temple service, and inscribed, " Let the people praise 
 Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee ! " and 
 every time we listen to our organ, we should call up to 
 
65 
 
 grateful memory, Dr. Lowell Mason, who loved this 
 Church and did so much for it. 
 
 And there is another memorial to him present with us 
 which, perhaps, you did not know about. The big bell 
 which' crowns our chimes, and whose solemn tones ring 
 out the final invitation to every service of worship, is in- 
 scribed, " Presented in the name of Dr Lowell Mason, 
 by the Orange Valley Church." The peculiar wording 
 of the inscription seems to indicate that this bell was a 
 gift by the Orange Valley Church to the whole com- 
 munity of Orange, and not to itself. 
 
 The five smaller bells of the middle tier were each 
 presented by special donors, or as special memorials. 
 You will find upon them the following inscriptions : The 
 first, " Presented by Aaron Carter, Jr."; the second, 
 "Presented by Peter Meyers Woodruff"; the third, 
 "Presented for Lucy Allerton Bacon"; the fourth, 
 "Presented by the Sunday School"; the fifth, "Pre- 
 sented by Piatt K. Dickinson, in memory of his little 
 son, Mortie." The other four, and larger bells, bear no 
 names, but were secured by a general subscription. 
 
 That the first Pastor, Dr. Bacon, and his supporters 
 felt the value of this Gospel in the air, ringing out from 
 this hill- top, may be inferred from the fact that they 
 thought it worth while to spend more than $4,00° for the 
 chimes to be placed there. How wisely they planned 
 will never be known until the record of all the souls 
 their music has cheered and inspired and encouraged, 
 shall be fully made up. 
 
 It may be an interesting fact to remember that our 
 chimes were first rung at a meeting of the Congrega- 
 
66 
 
 tional Conference which was held with this Church on 
 the 1 8th day of June, 1870 — a Conference which was 
 presided over by Henry Ward Beecher, and which was 
 addressed by Rev. Drs. Storrs, Clapp, Strieby and Brown. 
 As the delegates were leaving the train to come to the 
 Church, the music began, and they slowly climbed the 
 Highland Avenue hill, with the tones of " Old Hundred " 
 and "America " floating down upon them from above. 
 So much for the story of the past. 
 
 Each bell bears also a message, which is not of yester- 
 day. It is a message of praise and worship for to-day 
 and every day, and its burden gives sweetness and 
 harmony to the glad tidings which its ringing tells. 
 Each bell Has inscribed, in raised letters cast upon its 
 side, a message from the Word of God. Let us read 
 them together. On the four bells at the bottom, we find 
 these majestic words: 
 
 " Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the 
 city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness." 
 " Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." 
 "In His temple doth every one speak of His glory." 
 " We have thought of Thy loving kindness, O God, in 
 the midst of Thy Temple." 
 
 The five smaller bells on the next higher level are thus 
 inscribed: On the Aaron Carter bell, " Peace be within 
 Thy walls, and prosperity within Thy palaces." On the 
 Peter Meyers Woodruff bell, " Blessed are they that 
 dwell in Thy house; they will be still praising Thee." 
 On the Lucy Allerton Bacon bell, " The Lord is my 
 strength and song." On the bell presented by the Sun- 
 day School, are the words, " Both young men and maidens. 
 
6? 
 
 old men and children, let them praise the name of the 
 Lord." On the bell presented in memory of little 
 Mortie Dickinson, is the fitting message, ''Out of the 
 the mouth of babes and sucklings, Thou hast perfected 
 praise." 
 
 And on the big Lowell Mason bell, whose deep under- 
 tone gives the refrain to all the chime music, is cast the 
 words, " Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into 
 His courts with praise." 
 
 You see, then, what I mean when I say there is a soul 
 in the chimes. It is the spirit whose visible expression 
 is cast on their brazen sides — the spirit of worship, the 
 spirit of praise, the spirit of love and trust and loyalty 
 to God. 
 
 And this is the message that their music tells. First 
 and last, it is a message of praise. It is a voice of 
 thanksgiving; an expression of gratitude to God. How 
 much that means for men! Adoration is oxygen to the 
 soul. We live our lives of toil and care, and our 
 thoughts centre on material things. Houses and lands, 
 farms and merchandise; stocks and bonds; buying and 
 selling and getting gain; barter and bargain, traffic and 
 trade; work and wages, profit and percentage; labor and 
 loss — so ring the chimes of our work-day world. 
 
 Early in the morning we hear them, as we hurry 
 through breakfast and prayers and rush for the early 
 train. Late at night we hear them, when weary and 
 worn, we lay our heads on our pillows. All through the 
 day we hear them, and our souls get dusty and hard and 
 cold. Then, on the quiet Sabbath morning, ring forth 
 the chimes of the sanctuary. Their first note speaks of 
 
68 
 
 worship. Their musical cadences tell of thanksgiving 
 and praise They tell of the loving kindness of the 
 Lord our God; of His forgiving mercy; of the hope 
 there is in pardon; of the promises of love; of the bet- 
 ter life; of the more enduring riches. They remind us 
 of the church of our childhood; of the mother's knee; 
 of the early vows; of the delights of duty done from 
 love of the Father God So do the bells of praise bring 
 back our childhood. So do they open again the fountains 
 of youthful aspirations, and once more unlock the door 
 of our hearts to God. 
 
 Then there is the chime of peace. It is the glad, 
 restful Christmas Gospel that the chimes are always 
 ringing. Whatever is the sacred song they sing, the 
 spirit back of the song is one of peace and rest and 
 safety. It was not a chance selection of all the rolls of 
 heavenly music when the angels sang their first Christ- 
 mas carol, " Good tidings of great joy ! Peace on 
 earth — good will to men ! " Our Gospel is a Gospel of 
 peace, and how much the world still needs to hear it. 
 
 Strange, indeed, this pugnacious, quarrelsome world 
 must look from the standpoint of heaven ! Bickerings, 
 jealousies, contentions, wranglings, controversies, fight- 
 ings, brother striving to get the advantage of brother, 
 families divided within themselves, nations viewing each 
 other with suspicious jealousy, guarding their own 
 interests, voting millions to keep their armies alert and 
 ready for war. And in business and social life : rivalries, 
 merciless competition, envies, cares, anxieties, turmoils, 
 unrest. Our powers are being exhausted; our nerves 
 are breaking down; our physical and mental resources 
 
• 6 9 
 
 are being wasted, and the remedy for it all lies in the 
 hands of Him whose life key-note was, "Peace on 
 earth," and who said, " Come unto me and I will give 
 you rest." The chimes are the Saviour's voice, saying, 
 "Come and I will rest you." They invite the laborer to 
 lay aside his tools, the merchant to close his ledgers, 
 and the manufacturer to stop his machines. They 
 invite the weary man to rest, the anxious man to hope, 
 the despondent man to look up with a cheerful courage. 
 
 Are there misunderstandings between man and man ? 
 Are there difficulties in one's way ? Are there injuries 
 that hurt, and slights that wound, and insults that rankle ? 
 The chimes ringing out the Gospel of divine peace and 
 pardon, call men to calmness and candor, and forbear- 
 ance and charitableness. The note of God's loving 
 kindness inspires men to be loving and kind. The note 
 of his pardon prompts them to forgive. The Gospel of 
 His peace smoothes the wrinkles on their brows; soothes 
 the disturbances of their brains; quiets the commotions 
 of their hearts; sends a sweet and holy calm to their 
 inmost souls. 
 
 So does the bell of peace ring out the message of the 
 Gospel to the disturbed and the anxious. To the bur- 
 dened and the weary, it echoes the Word of the gracious 
 Master, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto 
 you." 
 
 "At morn, at noon, at twilight dim, 
 
 My voice shall sound 
 
 The world around, — 
 ' Christ for the world, the world for him ! ' " 
 
7° ' 
 
 And the bells are all in harmony. Whether the key- 
 note of the tune they play be " Praise," or " Holiness to 
 our God," or " Strength and Beauty," or " Glory," or 
 "Blessedness," or "Peace," or "Loving Kindness," or 
 " Rejoicing," there is no jar or discord. The spirit of 
 the chimes is one of loving unison. It is the spirit of 
 God and cannot be otherwise. It is the spirit of love 
 and hope and joy; of good tidings of better things to 
 be. It is the spirit which brought the Lord Christ into 
 the world, and made music in his soul all the while he 
 was in the world, and strengthened him to leave the 
 world, and thrills him now in the heavenly world; and it 
 is the same spirit which he wants to sing into your soul 
 and mine. Harmony with God. Unison with the spirit 
 of holiness and goodness and truth. 
 
 Surely, we ought, all of us, to be better men and 
 women, because of the music of our chimes. An inspir- 
 ation to higher and nobler things ought to fill our souls 
 as we listen to their me'ssage. Whatever be the familiar 
 air into which their cadences blend, their notes are 
 always the same; cast into their brazen sides and uttered 
 by their brazen tongues, " Blessing and Glory," and 
 " Honor and Majesty and Might be to the King, the 
 Lord our God." 
 
 And there is one thing more which they ceaselessly 
 tell us. I am glad that two of our bells speak for the 
 children. It was a happy thought to have the Sunday 
 School present a bell to be hung in our Church tower 
 which should always peal forth this message : " Both 
 young men and maidens, old men and children; let them 
 praise the name of the Lord." 
 
7< 
 
 It was another happy thought that, blending with that 
 in sweet concord, should come the note from the infant 
 room, in the name of " Little Mortie": "Out of the 
 mouth of babes and sucklings, Thou hast perfected 
 praise ! " So not alone to the aged and infirm comes 
 the message of the chimes; not alone to those who have 
 become weary of the world and are eagerly looking for a 
 better. It comes to the vigorous and the strong. It 
 comes to the young and the hopeful; to the ambitious and 
 the impulsive; to those to whom life is new and hope is 
 strong, and to-day is bright. And it tells them that the 
 worship of God and Christian service will keep life new, 
 and keep hope strong, and make each to-day brighter 
 than yesterday. And always there will come to us in 
 the music of the chimes, now we know it is there, that 
 sweet childish voice, singing the Hosanna of " perfected 
 praise." With all the strength of mature judgment and 
 of reason, are we exhorted to praise the Lord our God, 
 with all the devotion of womanhood's heart, with all 
 the vigor of manhood's soul. But always it must be the 
 child-spirit that best worships God. Always it must be 
 the child-simplicity; the child-dependence; the child- 
 sincerity and trust, that sends forth the perfect praise 
 that delights the heart of the Father in heaven. 
 
 The children of the Sunday School whose pennies 
 purchased the bell a quarter of a century ago, are the 
 grown men and women to-day, and in another quarter of 
 a century a majority of them will have joined the choirs 
 invisible, but the bells will still chime on. Generations 
 shall come and generations shall go, but the same old 
 story and the same old song will float out on the air 
 
72 
 
 from this, our Church spire, telling those who are to 
 come after, of the love of the unchangeable God. Little 
 Mortie's voice, after twenty-five years' practice in 
 heaven's chorus, still rings out its Hosanna ! and its 
 music will be just as sweet after a century has rolled by. 
 So one generation shall sing his praises to another, and 
 the anthem shall never cease. 
 
 This, then, is the story and the message that float out 
 from our Church spire: 
 
 " On the icy air of night, 
 
 While the stars that over-sprinkle 
 
 All the heavens, seem to twinkle 
 With a crystalline delight, 
 
 As it swells, 
 
 As it dwells, 
 
 On the future ! As it tells 
 
 Of the rapture that impels 
 To the swinging and the ringing, 
 
 To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells." 
 
TOUCHING HIS GARMENT* 
 
 " For she said within herself \ if I may but touch His 
 garment, J shall be whole." — Matt, ix, 21. 
 
 That was a pathetic incident in the life of the first 
 Pastor of this Church, which suggested the subject of his 
 beautiful memorial window. You remember what it was 
 — the wish that he expressed but a few days before his 
 death — that he might be able to preach one more sermon 
 to his beloved people from the words, " If I may but 
 touch His garment I shall be whole." 
 
 Often have I wished that I could know precisely what 
 was in the mind of Dr. Bacon when he said that. Often 
 have I wished that that sermon, which was written on his 
 heart, could have been put into words, and the deep 
 thought which was burning in his soul could have found 
 utterance as the last message of his gracious lips, and 
 that I, as well as you, might have heard it Surely that 
 uttered thought, born of those awful realities through 
 which, and into which, his soul was passing, would have 
 burned into your soul and mine, could it have been 
 spoken to us. Did you ever catch a glimpse of a real 
 preacher's workshop ? True sermons, like poems, are 
 born, not made. It is easy enough to string words to- 
 gether and read them for half an hour. It is easy 
 
 * Delivered on Palm Sunday, 1896. 
 
74 
 
 enough to cover page after page with polished sentences, 
 and ornate rhetoric, and pious platitudes. That is 
 mainly a mechanical art. Tt is not hard work, under the 
 inspiration of a Scripture promise, or exhortation or 
 warning, to say things that are good and true, which may 
 be called a sermon. But the true sermon is more than 
 pleasant sounding words. It is more than poetic fancies. 
 It is more than the mere utterance of truth. It is the 
 voice of God. While Harriet Beecher Stowe was at Sag 
 Harbor some years ago, an old sea captain came up to 
 shake hands with her, saying, " I am glad to shake 
 hands with the woman who wrote ' Uncle Tom's Cabin ' " 
 "But I didn't write it," replied Mrs. Stowe. "You 
 didn't ! Who did, then ?" " God wrote it. I merely 
 followed His dictation." 
 
 In just that way the true preacher speaks, because he 
 has first heard God speak. He is no true preacher else. 
 His study is not merely a pleasant room lined with books 
 and papers, where he fills his mind with the wit and the 
 wisdom of men. If he is worthy the name of preacher, 
 it is a place where God speaks to his soul. The message 
 which he delivers he must first receive. He is an am- 
 bassador for Christ — taught with the divine instruction, 
 inspired with the divine Spirit, absorbed with a divine 
 thought. He is set on fire with a divine impulse, which 
 makes him feel as the Apostle felt, " Woe unto me if I 
 preach not this gospel, which has been given me to 
 preach." Let a man stand before a congregation, or 
 come in contact with a single soul in that way, and what 
 he says will be a sermon, indeed, from God. Such ser- 
 mons are not preached every day. No minister preaches 
 
75 
 
 them every time he stands before his people. Perhaps 
 he does it but once in his life time. If so, that one ser- 
 mon is the climax of his life — the ultimate purpose for 
 which he was born. 
 
 1 cannot help thinking that it was such a sermon as 
 that that was born in the heart of George 13. Bacon, 
 which indeed filled his own soul with light and peace, 
 but which he had not strength to speak to you. That 
 expression, " If I may but touch His garment I shall be 
 whole," meant something to him then. Surely he had 
 no inclination then to preach beautiful theories or poetic 
 fancies. He was face to face with the eternal reality. 
 He stood there where you and I shall one day stand — 
 theories all forgotten, earthly pretensions all weighed in 
 the balances, earthly values all tested, life's balance-sheet 
 being footed up — looking out on things that are real and 
 lasting. 
 
 Could you and I but climb to-day to the mountain 
 where he stood that day — even as we must some time 
 climb there — the outlook which we should get, not only 
 into the mysteries of the future, but into the secrets of 
 the present life, would not be forgotten, as we should 
 come down from the mountain-top to the plain of life's 
 work and care once more. I know it is almost an audaci- 
 ous thing for me to attempt to lead you to-day up into 
 the clear atmosphere of his dying thought. There are 
 mountain summits so high, so clear, like Mt. Hamilton 
 in California, that they erect mighty telescopes on them, 
 for from them they can best see the stars. There are 
 spiritual mountain-tops from which men get clearer 
 visions of God and Christ and duty than elsewhere. You 
 
7 6 
 
 and I have not climbed to those loftiest heights yet. Our 
 spiritual vision is sadly clouded with earth mists. Dr. 
 Bacon had reached them when these words, which have 
 always been so familiar to us, seemed to gather up the 
 last message of love and of hope that he wanted to de- 
 clare to the people for whom he had given his life. But 
 I believe God's Spirit can teach us something of what 
 his thought was — something which we have never dis- 
 covered in the familiar words before. If this shall be, 
 this memorial window, with its illuminated and illustrated 
 text, will preach to us with a clearer voice than it ever 
 yet has. 
 
 " If I may but touch His garment I shall be whole." 
 It was the secret thought of the invalid woman, as she 
 stole up behind Jesus, in the press. She had seen the 
 loving face of the Master. She had heard the gracious 
 words that He had spoken. She had seen the strange 
 miracles that He had wrought, and had felt the power of 
 His magnetic presence. " Surely," she said, " there is 
 healing virtue, not only in the tone of His voice and the 
 touch of His hand, but in the very garments that He 
 wears." So, drawn by some mysterious influence — call 
 it faith, call it superstition, call it a morbid curiosity to 
 try a new experiment, call it what you will — she stole up 
 behind Him in the crowd that thronged around Him, and 
 tremblingly reached out her hand and touched the hem of 
 His outer robe, and straightway the healing virtue came. 
 There was no grain of superstition in Dr. Bacon when 
 those words gave expression to the thought of his soul 
 that day. He knew well enough that if Jesus of Naz- 
 areth were walking the streets of Orange, he and all his 
 
77 
 
 people might come so close to His bodily presence, as 
 multitudes did in Galilee, as to brush His clothes or 
 touch His hand or hear Him speak, and go away un- 
 healed, unblessed. But still his thought was, " If I may 
 but touch His garment I shall be whole," '' If my peo- 
 ple could but touch His garment, they, too, might be 
 whole." Now what was his thought ? Surely it was the 
 deep cry of his soul for himself, and for his people, for a 
 spiritual wholeness which could come only from actual 
 contact with the actual Christ. 
 
 Much as life meant to him, his supreme thought in 
 those last days of seraphic vision was not of physical 
 healing for himself. Much as he loved his people, his 
 chief desire for them was not that they might be relieved 
 from physical infirmity. Wholeness ! That was his 
 thought. Wholeness for himself. Wholeness for you. 
 Full well he knew that the infirmities of the flesh took 
 away something from one's complete manhood or woman- 
 hood. Deeply was he conscious that moral weakness and 
 spiritual infirmity and sinful self-indulgence, contracted 
 a man's soul and stunted his development and robbed 
 him of his truest life. His deep longing was for spiritual 
 health, soundness, wholeness. Holiness, the Bible calls 
 it. You do not like that word, holiness. Somehow it 
 does not attract you. But the Bible is full of it, as the 
 ideal standard not only for God, but for man. It pre- 
 sents holiness as the goal of human life ; and its thought 
 is, not some fictitious outside sanctity, not some gloomy 
 austerity of life, not some repression of animal spirits 
 and renunciation of pleasure, but the complete rounding 
 out of manhood, the fullest possible expression of all that 
 
7« 
 
 a man is capable of in the expansion of all that is highest 
 within him. That is what God means when he says, 
 " Be ye holy as I am holy !" 
 
 That, I am sure, was the underlying thought in Dr. 
 Bacon's heart that day. It was no new thought. He 
 had always been preaching it. But as he stood there on 
 that spiritual mountaintop, in a more translucent atmos- 
 phere than had ever yet enveloped his soul, he saw with 
 so clear a vision this great truth, that it seemed to him 
 he had never seen it before. It seemed as if he could 
 not leave his people until he had told you of this truth, 
 which seemed to him so fresh and new. Wholeness ! Is 
 it then a thing possible for these marred and stunted 
 lives of ours? Wholeness ! Can these, our sickly souls, 
 really know what true spiritual soundness is? Whole- 
 ness ! Can these, our fragments of consecration ; this, 
 our invalid faith ; this blurred and weakened spiritual 
 vision, ever be restored to the sympathy and vigor which 
 was God's ideal ? Can the divine pattern for our human 
 life be reached? Yes, says divine inspiration. "Like 
 as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also 
 holy in all manner of living; because it is written, ye shall 
 be holy for I am holy." That is not simply a command, 
 but the declaration of a possibility. As Andrew Murray 
 says, " The call of God is the manifestation in time of 
 the purpose of eternity." And it was a fresh glimpse of 
 that eternal purpose, as a divine possibility, which came 
 to the sharpened spiritual vision of the dying Pastor, 
 which constrained him to say, " If I and my people 
 could but touch His garment, we should be whole !" 
 
 Spiritual wholeness ! That was the possible vision. 
 
79 
 
 Spiritual contact ; that was the way by which alone it 
 could be secured. Contact ! That is always the source 
 of power. Contact with the electric battery sends a 
 message with lightning speed around the world. Con- 
 tact with the dynamo flashes sunlight through all the 
 streets and alleys of a city. Contact with the vine sends 
 the life sap up through every branch and twig, and brings 
 forth the grape clusters. Contact with Christ. What is 
 that ? What does it do ? Why, just what is done in the 
 vine and the electric circuit and the telegraph. In 
 Christ is stored all the light and the wisdom and the love 
 of God. "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the God- 
 head bodilv." In Him is centred the power of God — 
 whether creative power, or healing power, or redemptive 
 power, or forgiving power. He is the reservoir of the 
 Living Water ; the store-house of the Bread of Life ; the 
 fountain of Forgiveness and Grace. Contact with Him 
 is tapping the reservoir of His grace, and building an 
 acqueduct to His living fountain, and establishing a cir- 
 cuit over which flows His living power. In her super- 
 stitious ignorance and her faltering, flickering faith, the 
 invalid woman did that, for then, as always, the power of 
 Jesus was not conditioned on the quantity, nor yet on the 
 quality, but on genuineness of faith. In physical weak- 
 ness, but with a spiritual insight, proportionately intensi- 
 fied, Dr. Bacon did that, and the wholeness of soul that 
 flowed in upon him was so sweet, so strong, that he 
 longed once more for the gift of speech, that he might 
 tell you about it. 
 
 But we have not yet discovered the whole secret of his 
 thought. Why did he use that figurative expression of 
 
8o 
 
 the Gospel story ? Why did he not use the closer ana- 
 logy of " the branch united to the vine," rather than the 
 seemingly less perfect one of a simple touch, and that not 
 of the inner life but of the outer garment ? I believe it 
 not enough to suppose that, in that hour of solemn reali- 
 ties, he chose the more poetic figure just for the mere 
 poetry of it. To the superstitious woman the hem of 
 Christ's garment was a real channel of power. To the 
 clear-sighted Bacon it must have been only a symbol. 
 And of what ? What was Christ's garment ? It was 
 doubtless that same one which the ribald soldiers, with 
 coarse jests, cast lots for at the foot of the cross, for the 
 coat was without seam, and it were a shame to rend it ! 
 The coat was the outer covering of the real Christ. And 
 as the quality and taste of garments give some sort of 
 expression to the body and the soul that they conceal, so 
 the garment of Christ was in some sort a symbol of the 
 life and the soul of Christ. 
 
 Actual contact with the garment, then, if made with 
 that purpose and wish, is actual contact with the soul of 
 which it is the outward expression We know something 
 of what true friendship is. It is the contact of soul with 
 soul. It is the communion of heart with heart. It is 
 the mutual opening of one life for another life to fill. 
 And we may be friends of God. Of Abraham, the 
 father of the faithful, God himself said: "He is my 
 friend!" Of His disciples, Jesus said : "I call you no 
 longer servants, but I have called you friends!" And 
 you and I, as heirs of the Apostolic commission, are 
 also heirs to this divine friendship. In a way, friendship 
 may mean more, even, than love. Love is often alloyed 
 
8i 
 
 with passion. So-called love is sometimes a sort of re- 
 fined selfishness. Love may be the fruit of sympathy or 
 pity. Love is a sentiment which may exist in the heart 
 of a superior for an inferior. It is even that which binds 
 the heart of the Holy God to the heart of the sinful man. 
 But friendship is more a bond between equals. By call- 
 ing His disciples friends, Christ comes down to their 
 level, after having lifted them as high as possible towards 
 His. Friends, to the extent of their friendship, under- 
 stand each other ; share each others joys and sorrows ; 
 think each others thoughts ; live a common life. 
 
 Those who love each other may be friends, though 
 sometimes, in this high and holy sense, they are not, for 
 the souls which reach out towards each other may not 
 always blend. It is this high contact which we are told 
 is possible between our souls and Christ — our souls and 
 God. And that, I believe, is the thought which we are 
 trying to grasp to day. Actual contact with the soul of 
 Christ means a complete union with His life. It is such 
 a union that we shall come to think His thoughts, to 
 share His feelings, to be moved by His impulses, to have 
 perfect harmony of wish and will. Have you an earthly 
 friend — one who beyond all others deserves the name ? 
 Think what that friendship means for you. Multiply it 
 by the infinity of God, and then, just so far as you are 
 able to understand it, will you be able to see what it 
 means to come into actual contact with Christ, the soul 
 of God, and be His friend. 
 
 But the full force of the figurative symbolism we do 
 not get until we think in what way the outer garment 
 was an expression of the inner. In two ways we may 
 
82 
 
 see that it was symbolical ; first, of His outer life, and 
 second, of His inner soul. And first, His outer life. 
 What was that? Surely it was His human life. The 
 Son of God " took not on Him the nature of angels. He 
 took on Him the seed of Abraham." He clothed Him- 
 self with human flesh. He took on Him the garment of 
 our common humanity — not a humanity defiled by sin ; 
 not a humanity weakened by self-indulgence, and stunted 
 by self-abuse — but the pure, perfect humanity, sym- 
 metrical, complete, perfectly conformed to the ideal of 
 God. It was this pure, perfect, human life of His which 
 was the garment which covered the soul of the Son of 
 God. 
 
 Let us climb up for a moment into the mountain of 
 that thought and see if we can discover what it means to 
 touch the garment of Christ's perfect humanity. Let us 
 try to see if touching that will satisfy the condition that 
 confronts us, so that we shall be whole. If we grasp the 
 full significance of what that means, I think it does. If 
 you or I could become altogether such a man as Christ 
 was, it would be said of us, too, as of Him, " This is My 
 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." If coming 
 into complete contact with His human life should trans- 
 mit to us the graces of His perfect human character, we 
 then should also become God's ideal sons. God never 
 expects us to become divine sons, but always to remain 
 human sons. Our humanity is a part of our eternal in- 
 heritance. The perfection that we reach after is a per- 
 fection on the plane of humanity, and not of divinity. 
 But there is no human quality that we possess which we 
 may not conceive of as purified until it reaches God's 
 
standard. There is no human impulse that we have 
 which we may not conceive of as throbbing in its human 
 channel with a divine energy. There is no disposition 
 or taste, no capacity or talent, no peculiarity or capa- 
 bility, which belongs to us, which does not receive its 
 energy from divine impartation and for a holy purpose. 
 It was designed to shape our peculiar characters and to 
 give tone to our individuality, in accord with the infinite 
 diversity of God's models. Often we have perverted the 
 gift. We have misused the power. We have become 
 what the original Designer never wanted us to become, 
 and have done what He never wanted us to do. If now 
 we could come into perfect contact with His life once 
 more ; if the channels which sin has obstructed could be 
 completely flushed, and the windows of our souls could 
 be thrown wide open to God, that divine life would flow 
 into our human lives again, as God in the beginning 
 meant it to do. That would not make us divine, but 
 perfectly, symmetrically, human. In place of a broken, 
 fragmentary life, we should be living a whole life. In 
 place of a marred and disfigured life, we should have a 
 clean and wholesome life. Instead of a diseased and 
 sickly life, it would be a sound and healthy life. If only 
 we could really touch the garment of Christ's perfect 
 humanity, we should become perfectly whole. And it 
 was to brinsj this wholeness within our reach that the 
 Son of God took on our humanity and came and lived 
 among men. 
 
 But again, there is the other side of the thought. 
 It is the same truth, only seen at another angle. 
 Christ's outer garment was a symbol of His inner 
 
8 4 
 
 life. The Apostle Peter speaks of being " clothed in 
 humility," and, as never man who walked this earth be- 
 sides, in that garment was the Lord Christ clothed. We 
 speak of the garment of Christ's righteousness — not, in- 
 deed, as if it were an outer covering which could be 
 thrown off at will, for righteousness was the very tissue 
 of His being, but as the outer expression of His life In 
 old theological language, that garment of Christ's right- 
 eousness was spoken of as being transferred from Him 
 to us. It was a pious fiction to say that, for I can no 
 more become good because of His righteousness than He 
 could become guilty because of my sin. But there is a 
 deep truth in speaking of the garment of Christ's right- 
 eousness. There is a priceless truth in the thought that 
 actual contact with His righteous life imparts to me an 
 impulse towards righteousness, such as I could get in no 
 other way. And that righteousness of His — through 
 which, in some mysterious way, I do not understand 
 how, atonement was made for my sin — was not some- 
 thing distinct from the life which He lived here on the 
 earth. It was His divinity somehow projected into His 
 humanity. It was the life of God which somehow was 
 in Christ, reconciling the world into Himself. 
 
 So then, the two-fold thought is this. Christ's seam- 
 less garment was a fitting symbol of His perfect human 
 character ; that outer manifestation of His hidden life, 
 and that human character, was perfect, because it was 
 permeated through and through with the Spirit of God. 
 If you and I can truly touch that, we shall indeed be 
 made whole. It was the power of that touch, I believe, 
 that thrilled the soul of George Bacon in those hours of 
 
85 
 
 weakness and of pain, and which made him so long to 
 tell you of its magic healing We have been reaching 
 after his thought to-day, and I believe that in some sort 
 we have grasped it. Its depth and richness of meaning 
 we may not fully know, until, like him, we shall have 
 passed beyond the skill of all earthly physicians. Then 
 we, too, may discover what it means to reach out the 
 hand and touch the garment of the divine Christ. 
 
 On this Palm Sunday we are reminded of that moment 
 of seeming triumph in the life of the Master, when the 
 multitudes spread their garments in the way, to make a 
 dustless road for Him to ride over. There is exultation 
 in the thought of that day, when a worthy tribute seemed 
 to be offered to our King. But there is sadness, too, in 
 the thought that many of those who thus threw down 
 their garments as a pathway for Emmanuel, before Holy 
 Week had passed, cried, " Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" 
 So it has often happened in men's treatment of Christ. 
 They have offered their garments for Him to walk over. 
 Their outer covering they have spread out before Him in 
 token of loyalty, but their hearts have been barred 
 against Him. Or this, shall I say ? While seeming to 
 cast down their garments in token of loyalty, in reality 
 they have sought to make a pathway of their own paving 
 for Him to ride over. It has been a pathway of pride 
 and not of humility, and they would gladly make the 
 lowly Christ ride over that. It has been a pathway of 
 selfishness and not of love ; of worldliness and not of 
 holiness, and they would have salvation come to them 
 along such a pathway as that. There is no real loyalty 
 in thus trying to make Christ walk over our pathway, 
 
86 
 
 and not we over His. There is no true devotion in try- 
 ing to get Him to wear our garments, and not we His — 
 in seeking a divine sanction for our chosen life, and not 
 coming into contact with His life. But that is precisely 
 what many of us are doing. Palm Sunday comes to us 
 again to-day, reminding us of the fact that Jesus, the 
 Nazarene, is King. Let us consider well the impulse 
 that leads us to cast our garments in the way. Holy 
 Week is coming, with all its sacred memories and mean- 
 ing. God grant that all our lives may, during this week, 
 be brought into closer contact than ever before with the 
 divine human Christ. While the multitudes are 'throng- 
 ing Him and pressing Him, of you, of me, may He ask 
 the searching question — Who Touched Me ? 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GAYLORD 
 
 
 1 PRINTEDIN USA.