THE JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
_A Valedictory Discourse Delivered to the Lafayette Avenue Church,
April_ 6, 1890.
I invite your attention this morning to the nineteenth and twentieth
verses of the second chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians:
"For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy."
These words were written by the most remarkable man in the annals of the
Christian Church. Great interest is attached to them from the fact that
they are part of the first inspired epistle that Paul ever wrote. Nay,
more. The letter to the Church of Thessalonica is probably the earliest
as to date of all the books of the New Testament. Paul was then at
Corinth, about fifty-two years old, in the full vigor of his splendid
prime. His spiritual son, Timothy, brings him tidings from the infant
church in Thessalonica, that awakens his solicitude. He yearns to go
and see them, but he cannot; so he determines to write to them; and one
day he lays aside his tent needle, seizes his pen, and, when that pen
touches the papyrus sheet the New Testament begins. The Apostle's great,
warm heart kindles and blazes as he goes on, and at length bursts out in
this impassioned utterance: "Ye are my glory and joy!"
Paul, I thank thee for a thousand things, but for nothing do I thank
thee more than for that golden sentence. In these thrilling words, the
greatest of Christian pastors, rising above the poverty, homelessness,
and scorn that surrounded him, reaches forth his hand and grasps his
royal diadem. No man shall rob the aged hero of his crown. No chaplet
worn by a Roman conqueror in the hour of his brightest triumph, rivals
the coronal that Pastor Paul sees flashing before his eyes. It is a
crown blazing with stars; every star an immortal soul plucked from the
darkness of sin into the light and liberty of a child of God. Poor, is
he? He is making many rich. Despised is he? He wouldn't change places
with Caesar. Homeless is he? His citizenship is in heaven, where he will
find myriads whom he can meet and say to them: "Ye, ye are my glory and
joy." Sixteen centuries after Paul uttered these words, John Bunyan
re-echoed them when he said:
"I have counted as if I had goodly buildings in the places where my
spiritual children were born. My heart has been so wrapt up in this
excellent work that I accounted myself more honored of God than if He
had made me emperor of all the world, or the lord of all the glory of
the earth without it. He that converteth a sinner from the error of his
ways doth save a soul from death, and they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament."
Now, the great Apostle expressed what every ambassador of Christ
constantly experiences when in the thick of the Master's work. His are
the joys of acquisition. His purse may be scanty, his teaching may be
humble, and the field of his labor may be so obscure that no bulletins
of his achievements are ever proclaimed to an admiring world.
Difficulties may sadden and discouragement bring him to his knees; but I
tell you that obscure, toiling man of God has a joy vouchsafed to him
that a Frederick or a Marlborough never knew on the field of bloody
triumph, or that a Rothschild never dreams of in his mansions of
splendor, nor an Astor with his stores of gold. Every nugget of fresh
truth discovered makes him happier than one who has found golden spoil.
Every attentive auditor is a delight; every look of interest on a human
countenance flashes back to illuminate his own. Above all, when the
tears of penitence course down a cheek and a returning soul is led by
him to the Saviour, there is great joy in heaven over a repentant
wanderer, and a joy in that minister's heart too exquisite to utter.
Then he is repaid in full measure, pressed down, running over into his
bosom.
Converted souls are jewels in the caskets of faithful parents, teachers
and pastors. They shall flash in the diadem which the Righteous Judge
shall give them in that great day. Ah! it is when an ambassador of
Christ sees an army of young converts and listens to the first
utterances of their new-born love, and when he presides at a communion
table and sees his spiritual off-spring gathered around him, more true
joy that faithful pastor feels than "Caesar with a Senate at his heels."
Rutherford, of Scotland, only voiced the yearnings of every true
pastor's heart when he exclaimed: "Oh, how rich were I if I could obtain
of my Lord the salvation of you all! What a prey had I gotten to have
you all caught in Christ's net. My witness is above, that your heaven
would be the two heavens to me, and the salvation of you all would be
two salvations to me."
Yet, my beloved people, when I recall the joy of my forty-four years of
public ministry I often shudder at the fact of how near I came to losing
it. For very many months my mind was balancing between the pulpit and
the attractions of a legal and political career. A single hour in a
village prayer-meeting turned the scale. But perhaps behind it all a
beloved mother's prayers were moving the mysterious hand that touched
the poised balance, and made souls outweigh silver, and eternity
outweigh time.
Would that I could lift up my voice this morning in every academy,
college and university on this broad continent. I would say to every
gifted Christian youth, "God and humanity have need of you." He who
redeemed you by His precious blood has a sovereign right to the best
brains and the most persuasive tongues and the highest culture. Why
crowd into the already over-crowded professions? The only occupation in
America that is not overdone is the occupation of serving Jesus Christ
and saving souls. I do not affirm that a Christian cannot serve his
Master in any other sphere or calling than the Gospel ministry, but I do
affirm that the ambition for worldly gains and worldly honors is
sluicing the very heart of God's Church, and drawing out to-day much of
the Church's best blood in their greedy outlets. And I fearlessly
declare that when the most splendid talent has reached the loftiest
round on the ladder of promotion, that round is many rungs lower than a
pulpit in which a consecrated tongue proclaims a living Christianity to
a dying world. What Lord Eldon from the bar, what Webster from the
Senate-chamber, what Sir Walter Scott from the realms of romance, what
Darwin from the field of science, what monarch from Wall Street or
Lombard Street can carry his laurels or his gold up to the judgment seat
and say, "These are my joy and crown?" The laurels and the gold will be
dust--ashes. But if so humble a servant of Jesus Christ as your pastor
can ever point to the gathered flock arrayed in white before the
celestial throne, then he may say, "What is my hope, or joy, or crown of
rejoicing. Are not even ye in the presence of Christ at His coming?"
Good friends, I have told you what aspirations led me to the pulpit as a
place in which to serve my Master; and I thank Christ, the Lord, for
putting me into the ministry. The forty-four years I have spent in that
office have been unspeakably happy. Many a far better man has not been
as happy from causes beyond control. He may have had to contend with
feeble health as I never have; or a despondent temperament, as I never
have; or have struggled to maintain a large household on a slender
purse; he may have been placed in a stubborn field, where the Gospel was
shattered to pieces on flinty hearts. From all such trials a kind
Providence has delivered your pastor.
My ministry began in a very small church. For that I am thankful. Let no
young minister covet a large parish at the outset. The clock that is not
content to strike one will never strike twelve. In that little parish
at Burlington, N.J., I had opportunity for the two most valuable studies
for any minister--God's Book and individual hearts. My next call was to
organize and serve an infant church in Trenton, N.J., and for that I am
thankful. Laying the foundation of a new church affords capital tuition
in spiritual masonry, and the walls of that church have stood firm and
solid for forty years. The crowning mercy of my Trenton ministry was
this, that one Sunday while I was watering the flock, a goodlier vision
than that of Rebecca appeared at the well's mouth, and the sweet
sunshine of that presence has never departed from the pathway of my
life. To this hour the prosaic old capital of New Jersey has a halo of
poetry floating over it, and I never go through it without waving a
benediction from the passing train.
The next stage of my life's work was a seven years' pastorate of Market
Street Church in the city of New York. To those seven years of hard and
happy labor I look back with joy. The congregation swarmed with young
men, many of whom have risen to prominence in the commercial and
religious life of the great metropolis. The name of Market Street is
graven indelibly on my heart. I rejoice that the quaint old edifice
still stands and welcomes every Sabbath a congregation of landsmen and
of sailors. During the year 1858 occurred the great revival, when a
mighty wind from Heaven filled every house where the people of God were
sitting, and the glorious work of that revival kept many of us busy for
six months, night and day.
Early in the year 1860 a signal was made to me from this side of the
East River. It came from a brave little band then known as the Park
Presbyterian Church, who had never had any installed pastor. The signal
at first was unheeded; but a higher than human hand seemed to be behind
it, and I had only to obey. That little flock stood like the man of
Macedonia, saying, "Come over and help us," and after I had seen the
vision immediately I decided to come, assuredly concluding that God had
called me to preach the Gospel unto them.
This morning my memory goes back to that chilly, stormy April Sunday
when my labors began as your first pastor. About two hundred and fifty
people, full of grace and grit, gathered on that Easter morning to see
how God could roll away stones that for two years had blocked their path
with discouragement. My first message many of you remember. It was, "I
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified." Of that little company the large majority has departed. Many
of them are among the white-robed that now behold their risen Lord in
glory. Of the seventeen church officers--elders, deacons and
trustees--then in office, who greeted me that day, only four are living,
and of that number only one, Mr. Albion P. Higgins, is now a member of
this congregation. I wonder how many there are here this morning that
gathered before my pulpit on that Easter Sunday thirty years ago? As
many of you as there are present that were at that service thirty years
ago will do me a favor if you will rise in your pews.
(Thirteen people here stood up.)
God bless you! If it hadn't been for you this ark would never have been
built.
Ah! we had happy days in that modest chapel. The tempest of civil war
was raging, with Lincoln's steady hand at the helm. We got our share of
the gale; but we set our storm-sails, and every one that could handle
ropes stood at his or her place. Just think of the money contributions
that small church made during the first year of my pastorate--$20,000,
not in paper, but in gold. The little band in that chapel was not only
generous in donations but valiant in spirit, and it was under the
gracious shower of a revival that we removed into this edifice on the
16th of March, 1862.
The subsequent history of the church was published so fully at the
notable anniversary five years ago that I need only repeat the chief
head-lines in a very few sentences. In 1863 Mr. William Wickes started a
mission school, which afterward grew into the present Cumberland Street
Church. In 1866 occurred that wonderful work of grace that resulted in
the addition of 320 souls to our membership, one hundred of them heads
of families. As a thank-offering to God for that rich blessing the
Memorial Mission School was established, which was soon organized into
the Memorial Presbyterian Church, now on Seventh Avenue, under the
excellent pastorate of my Brother Nelson. During the winter of 1867 a
conference of gentlemen was held in yonder study which set on foot the
present Classon Avenue Church, where my Brother Chamberlain administers
equally satisfactorily. Olivet Mission was organized in 1874. It will
always be fragrant with the memory of Horace B. Griffing, its first
superintendent. The Cuyler Chapel was opened on Atlantic Avenue in
March, 1886, by our Young People's Association, who are maintaining it
most vigorously. The little Corwin Mission on Myrtle Avenue was
established by a member of the church to perpetuate his name, and is
largely sustained by members of this church.
Of all the efficient, successful labors of the Lafayette Avenue
Temperance Society, the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society,
their Benevolent Society, the Cuyler Mission Band, the Daughters of the
Temple, and other kindred organizations. I have no time or place to
speak this morning. But I must repeat now what I have said in years
past, that the two strong arms of this church are its Sunday School and
its Young People's Association. The former has been kept well up to the
ideal of such an institution. It is that of a training school of young
hearts for this life and for the life to come. God's blessing has
descended upon it like the morning dew. Of the large number of children
that have been enrolled in its classes 730 have been received into
membership with this church alone, and to the profession of faith in
Christ--to say nothing of those who have joined elsewhere. Warmly do I
thank and heartily do I congratulate our beloved brother, Daniel W.
McWilliams, and his faithful group of teachers, and the Superintendent
of the primary department and her group of assistants, on the seal which
God has set upon their loving work. They contemplate the long array of
children whom they have guided to Jesus; and they, too, can exclaim,
"What is our joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the Lord?"
If the Sunday School has rendered good service, so has the well-drilled
and well-watered Young People's Association. The fires of devotion have
never gone out on the altar of their Monday evening gatherings. For
length of days and number of membership combined, probably it surpasses
all similar young people's associations in our country. About three
thousand names have been on its membership roll, and of this number
twelve have set their faces toward the Gospel ministry. Oh, what a
source of joy to me that I leave that association in such a high
condition of vigor and prosperity! No church can languish, no church can
die, while it has plenty of young blood in its veins.
What has been the outcome of these thirty years of happy pastorate? As
far as the results can be tabulated the following is a brief
summary:--During my pastorate here I have preached about 2,750
discourses, have delivered a very large number of public addresses in
behalf of Sunday Schools, Young Men's Associations, the temperance
reform, and kindred enterprises for advancing human welfare. I have
officiated at 682 marriages. I have baptized 962 children. The total
number received into the membership of this church during this time has
been 4,223. Of this number 1,920 have united by a confession of their
faith in Jesus Christ. An army, you see, an army of nearly two thousand
souls, have enlisted under the banner of King Jesus, and taken their
"sacramentum," or vow of loyalty, before this pulpit. What is our crown
of rejoicing? Are not even they in the presence of Christ at His
coming?
It is due to you that I should commend your liberality in gifts to God's
treasury. During these thirty years over $640,000 have been contributed
for ecclesiastical and benevolent purposes, and about $700,000 for the
maintenance of the sanctuary, its worship, and its work. Over a million
and a quarter of dollars have passed through these two channels. The
successive boards of trustees have managed our financial affairs
carefully and efficiently. The architecture of this noble edifice is not
disfigured by any mortgage. I hope it never will be.
There is one department of ministerial labor that has had a peculiar
attraction to me and afforded me peculiar joy. Pastoral work has always
been my passion. It has been my rule to know everybody in this
congregation, if possible, and seldom have I allowed a day to pass
without a visit to some of your homes. I fancied that you cared more to
have a warm-hearted pastor than a cold-blooded preacher, however
intellectual. To carry out thoroughly a system of personal oversight, to
visit every family, to stand by the sick and dying beds, to put one's
self into sympathy with aching hearts and bereaved households, is a
process that has swallowed up time, and I tell you it has strained the
nerves prodigiously. Costly as the process has been, it has paid. If I
have given sermons to you, I have got sermons from you. The closest tie
that binds us together is that sacred tie that has been wound around the
cribs in your nurseries, the couches in your sick chambers, the chairs
at your fireside, and even the coffins that have borne away your
precious dead. My fondest hope is that however much you may honor and
love my successor in this pulpit, you will evermore keep a warm place in
the chimney-corner of your hearts for the man that gave the best thirty
years of his life to your service.
Here let me bespeak for my successor the most kind and reasonable
allowance as to pastoral labors. Do not expect too much from him. Very
few ministers have the peculiar passion for pastoral service that I have
had; and if Christ's ambassador who shall occupy this pulpit proclaims
faithfully the whole Gospel of God and brings a sympathetic heart to
your houses, do not criticize him unjustly because he may not attempt to
make twenty-five thousand pastoral visits in thirty years. House to
house visitation has only been one hemisphere of the pastor's work. I
have accordingly endeavored to guard the door of yonder study so that I
might give undivided energy to preparation for this pulpit.
You know, my dear people, how I have preached and what I have preached.
In spite of many interruptions, I have honestly handled each topic as
best I could. The minister that foolishly runs races with himself is
doomed to an early suicide. All that I claim for my sermons is that they
have been true to God's Book and the cross of Jesus Christ--have been
simple enough for a child to understand, and have been preached in full
view of the judgment seat. I have aimed to keep this pulpit abreast of
all great moral reforms and human progress, and the majestic marchings
of the kingdom of King Jesus. The preparation of my sermons has been an
unspeakable delight. The manna fell fresh every morning, and it had to
me the sweetness of angels' food. Ah, there are many sharp pangs before
me. None will be sharper than the hour that bids farewell to yonder
blessed and beloved study. For twenty-eight years it has been my daily
home--one of the dearest spots this side of Heaven. From its walls have
looked down upon me the inspiring faces of Chalmers, Charles Wesley,
Spurgeon, Lincoln and Gladstone; Adams, Storrs, Guthrie, Newman Hall,
and my beloved teachers, Charles Hodge and the Alexanders of Princeton.
Thither your infant children have been brought on Sabbath mornings,
awaiting their baptism. Thither your older children have come by
hundreds to converse with me about the welfare of their souls. Thither
have come all the candidates for admission to the fellowship of this
church, and have made there their confession of faith and their
allegiance to Christ. Oh, what blessed interviews with inquirers have
been held there! What sweet and happy fellowship with my successive
bands of helpers, some of whom have joined the general assembly of the
redeemed in glory. That hallowed study has been to me sometimes a Bochim
of tears, and sometimes a Hermon, when the vision was of no man save
Jesus only. And the work there has been a wider one for a far wider
multitude than these walls contain this morning. I have written there
nearly all the hundreds of articles which have gone out through the
religious press, over this country, over Great Britain, over Europe,
over Australia, Canada, India, and New Zealand. During my ministry I
have published about 3,200 of these articles. Many of them have been
gathered into books, many of them translated into Swedish, Spanish,
Dutch, and other foreign tongues. They have made the scratch of a very
humble pen audible to Christendom. The consecrated pen may be more
powerful than the consecrated tongue. I devoutly thank God for having
condescended to use my humble pen to the spread of his Gospel; and I
purpose with His help to spend much of the brief remainder of my life in
preaching His glorious Gospel through the press.
I am sincerely sorry that the necessities of this hour seem to require
so personal a discourse this morning; but I must hide behind the
example of the great Apostle who gave me my text. Because He reviewed
His ministry among His spiritual children of Thessalonica, I may be
allowed to review my own, too--standing here this morning under such
peculiar circumstances. These thirty years have been to me years of
unbounded joy. Sorrow I have had, when death paid four visits to my
house; but the sorrow taught sympathy with the grief of others. Sins I
have committed--too many of them; your patient love has never cast a
stone. The faults of my ministry have been my own. The successes of my
ministry have been largely due under God, to your co-operation, and,
above all, to the amazing goodness of our Heavenly Father. Looking my
long pastorate squarely in the face, I think I can honestly say that I
have been no man's man; I have never courted the rich, nor wilfully
neglected the poor; I have never blunted the sword of the Spirit lest it
should cut your consciences, or concealed a truth that might save a
soul. In no large church is there a perfect unanimity of tastes as to
preaching. I do not doubt that there are some of you that are quite
ready for the experiment of a new face in this pulpit, and perhaps there
may be some who are lusting after the fat quail of elaborate or
philosophic discourse. For thirty years I have tried to feed you on
"nothing but manna." Whatever the difference of taste, you have always
stood by me, true as steel. This has been your spiritual home; and you
have loved your home, and you have drunk every Sunday from your own
well, and though the water of life has not always been passed up to you
in a richly embossed silver cup, it has drawn up the undiluted Gospel
from the inspired fountain-head. To hear the truth, to heed the truth,
to "back" the truth with prayer and toil, has been the delight of the
stanchest members of this church. Oh, the children of this church are
inexpressibly dear to me! There are hundreds here to-day that never had
any other home, nor ever knew any other pastor. I think I can say that
"every baptism has baptized us into closer fellowship, every marriage
has married us into closer union, every funeral that bore away your
beloved dead, only bound us more strongly to the living." Every
invitation from another church--and I have had some very attractive ones
that I never told you about--every invitation from another church has
always been promptly declined; for I long ago determined never to be
pastor of any other than Lafayette Avenue Church.
What is my joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye--ye--in the
presence of Christ at His coming? Why, then, sunder a tie that is bound
to every fibre of my inmost heart? I will answer you frankly. There must
be no concealment or false pretexts between us. In the first place, as
I told you two months ago, I had determined to make my thirtieth
anniversary the terminal point of my present pastorate. I determined not
to outstay my fullest capacity for the enormous work demanded here. The
extent of that demanded work increases every twelve months. The
requirements of preaching twice every Sunday, to visit the vast number
of families directly connected with this church, attending funeral
services, conferring with committees about Christian work of various
kinds, and numberless other duties--all these requirements are
prodigious. Thus far, by the Divine help, I have carried that load. My
health to-day is as firm as usual; and I thank God that such forces of
heart and brain as He has given me are unabated. The chronic catarrh
that long ago muffled my ears to many a strain of sweet music, has never
made me too deaf to hear the sweet accents of your love. But I
understand my constitution well enough to know that I could not carry
the undivided load of this great church a great while longer without the
risk of breaking down; and there must be no risk run with you or with
myself. I also desire to assist you in transferring this magnificent
vessel to the next pilot whom God shall appoint; and I wish to transfer
it while it is well-manned, well-equipped, and on the clear sea of an
unbroken financial and spiritual prosperity. No man shall ever say that
I so far presumed on the generous kindness of this dear church as to
linger here until I had outlived my usefulness.
For these reasons I present to-day my resignation of this sacred,
precious charge. It is my honest desire and purpose that this day must
terminate my present pastorate. For presenting this resignation I alone
am responsible before God, before this church and before the world. When
you shall have accepted my resignation, the whole responsibility for the
welfare of this beloved church will rest on your shoulders--not on mine.
My earnest prayer is that you may soon be directed to the right man to
be your minister, to one who shall unite all hearts and all hands, and
carry forward the high and holy mission to which God has called you. He
will find in me not a jealous critic, but a hearty ally in everything
that he may regard for the welfare of this church.
As for myself I do not propose to sit down on the veranda and watch the
sun of life wheel downward in the west. The labors of a pen and of a
ministry at large will afford me no lack of employment. The welfare of
this church is inexpressibly dear to me--nothing is dearer to me this
side of heaven. If, therefore, while this flock remains shepherdless,
and in search of my successor, I can be of actual service to you in
supplying at any time this pulpit or performing pastoral labor, that
service, beloved, shall be performed cheerfully.
The first thought, the only thought with all of us, is this church,
_this church_, THIS CHURCH. I call no man my friend, you must call no
man your friend that does not stand by the interests of Lafayette Avenue
Church. It is now called to meet a great emergency. For the first time
in twenty-eight years this church is subjected to a severe strain.
During all these years you had very smooth sailing. You have never been
crippled by debt; you have never been distracted with quarrels, and you
have never been without a pastor in your pulpit or your homes when you
needed him. And I suppose no church in Brooklyn has ever been subjected
to less strain than this one. Now you are called upon to face a new
condition of things, perhaps a new danger--certainly a new duty. The
duty overrides the danger. To meet that duty you are strong in numbers.
There are 2,350 names on your church register. Of these many are young
children, many are non-residents who have never asked a dismission to
other churches; but a great army of church members three Sabbaths ago
rose up before that sacramental table. You are strong in a holy harmony.
Let no man, no woman, break the ranks! You are strong in the protection
of that great Shepherd who never resigns and who never grows old. "Lo! I
am with you always! Lo! I am with you always! Lo! I am with you
always!" seems to greet me this morning from every wall of this
sanctuary. I confidently expect to see Lafayette Avenue Church move
steadily forward with unbroken column led by the Captain of our
salvation. All eyes are upon you. The eye that never slumbers or sleeps
is watching over you. If you are all true to conscience, true to your
covenants, true to Christ, the future of this dear church may be as
glorious as its past. And when another thirty years have rolled away, it
may still be a strong tower of the truth on which the smile of God shall
rest like the light of the morning. By as much as you love me, I entreat
you not to sadden my life or break my heart by ever deserting these
walls, or letting the fire of devotion burn down on these sacred altars.
The hands of the clock warn me to close. This is one of the most trying
hours of my whole life. It is an hour when tears are only endurable by
being rainbowed with the memory of tender mercies and holy joys. When my
feet descend those steps to-day, this will no longer be my pulpit. I
surrender it back before God into your hands. One of my chiefest sorrows
is that I leave some of my beloved hearers out of Christ. Oh, you have
been faithfully warned here, and you have been lovingly invited here;
and once more, as though God did beseech you by me, I implore you in
Christ's name to be reconciled to God. This dear pulpit, whose teachings
are based on the Rock of Ages, will stand long after the lips that now
address you have turned to dust. It will be visible from the judgment
seat; and its witness will be that I determined to know not anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To-day I write the last
page in the record of thirty bright, happy, Heaven-blessed years among
you. What is written is written. I shall fold up the book and lay it
away with all its many faults; and it will not lose its fragrance while
between its leaves are the pressed flowers of your love. When my closing
eyes shall look on that record for the last time, I hope to discover
there only one name--the name that is above every name, the name of Him
whose glory crowns this Eastern morn with radiant splendor, the name of
Jesus Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords. And the last words I
utter in this sacred spot are unto Him that loves us and delivers us
from sin with His precious blood; and unto God be all the praise and
thanks and dominion and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
INDEX.
A
Adams, Dr. William, 201-205.
Albert, Prince, 32.
Alexander, Archibald, 82, 191-3.
Alexander, Dr. James W, 9.
Alexander, Dr. Joseph Addison, 82, 193-5.
Alexander, Stephen, 9.
Allen, Mr. Alexander, 314.
Allison, William J, 121.
American Seamen's Friend Society, 255.
Anderson, Captain James, 146, 149.
Armstrong, Samuel C, 158.
Astor, John Jacob, 273, 275-6.
Aurora, birthplace, I.
B
Bailey, Joshua, 57.
Baillie, Mrs. Joanna, 30-1.
Barnes, Albert, 195.
Batcheler, General, 231.
Beecher, Henry Ward, 150, 152, 213-15, 295.
Beecher, Miss Catherine, 231.
Binney, Thomas, 170-172.
Blair, General Francis P., 10.
Bonar, Dr. Horatius, 40, 42.
Booth, Mrs. Catherine, 265.
Booth, General, 265.
Bowring, Sir John, 39-40.
Bright, John, 27, 134, 316.
Brown, Dr. John, 105, 109, 147.
Brooks, Phillips, 195.
Burns, Robert, 12, 17-19, 26.
Bushnell, Horace, 190-1.
Byron, Lord, 13.
C
Campbell, Thomas, 31.
Carlyle, Thomas, 23-9.
Carnaham, Dr., President of Princeton, 9.
Carnegie, Andrew, 59-60, 275.
Cary, Edward, 301.
Cass, General Lewis, 34.
Channing, Dr. Ellery, 31.
Chauncey, Charles, 63.
Cheeseman, Dr. William, 322.
Chi Alpha Society, 319.
Christian Endeavor (See Young People's Society of, etc.).
Clark, Rev. Francis E., 87, 247, 258.
Comstock, Anthony, 264.
Cook, Joseph, 231.
Cox, Dr. Samuel Hanson, 209-13.
Crosby, Fanny, 43.
Cunningham, Professor, 13.
Cuyler, Benjamin Ledyard, Dr. Cuyler's father, 2; died, 3.
Cuyler, General, 2.
Cuyler, Dr., ancestry, 1, 2; childhood, 3; farm life, 4; early
religious training and reading, 5; preparation for college,
8; college memories, 9-11; visits England and
France, Wordsworth, Dickens, Carlyle, Mrs. Baillie,
the Young Queen, Napoleon, 12-36; first public address,
1842, 49, 50; visits Stockholm, 46; delivers his first
address in New York, 54; President National Temperance
Society, 57; views on temperance, 58-59;
chooses the ministry, 61; at Princeton Seminary, 62;
first pastorate, 62, 83; preaches at Saratoga, 64; methods
of preaching, 64-73; changes in pulpit methods, 75-81;
preaches five months at Wyoming Valley, 83, 84; work
in New York, 85, 86; Lafayette Avenue, 1860, 86;
methods of church work, 87-90; first literary contributions,
93; origin of "Under the Catalpa," 95; extent
of literary labors, 95; first book, 96; inspiration of
"The Empty Crib," 96; inspiration of "God's Light on
Dark Clouds," 97; visits to famous people abroad,
Gladstone, 99-104, Dr. John Brown, 105-109; Dean
Stanley, 109-115; Earl Shaftesbury, 116, 117, interviews
with famous people at home--Irving, 118-121; Whittier,
121-125; Webster, 125-132; Greeley, 132-137; Civil War,
138, services to "The Christian Commission," 130; at
Washington, 131; first meeting with Lincoln, 142; to
Europe in 1862, 145-149; at Edinburgh, 146-147; at
Paris, 148; address on Emancipation, 149-150; trip to
Charleston, Fort Sumter, 151; views on pastoral work,
159-169; British pastors--Binney, 170-72; Hamilton,
172-3, Guthrie, 175-76; Hall, 177-181; Spurgeon,
181-86; Duff, 187-89; reminiscences of Princeton Seminary
preachers, 191, reminiscences of famous American
preachers--Phillips Brooks, 190; Horace Bushnell,
191-2, Archibald Alexander, 191-3; Joseph Addison
Alexander, 193-5; Albert Barnes, 195, Dr. William
B. Sprague, 196-197; Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, 197-200,
Dr. William Adams, 201-5; Samuel Hanson
Cox, 209-13; Henry Ward Beecher, 213-15; Rev.
Charles G. Finney, 216-220; Dr. Benjamin M.
Palmer, 221-223; summering at Saratoga, 224-232;
meets leading Methodists--Bishop Jaynes, Bishop
Simpson, Bishop Peck, etc, 227-8, Bishop Haven,
229-31; summering at Mohonk, 232; Dr. Schaff, 235;
Dr. McCosh, 237-9; Mr. Smiley, 240; Indian Conferences
at Mohonk, 240; "Arbitration Conference," 240;
letter from President Harrison, 242, preservation of
health, 243, growth of church fellowship and diminution
of sectarianism, 244-9; exchanging pulpits, 246-9,
women in the pulpit--Miss Smiley, 249-50; foreign
missions, 251-254; Young Men's Christian Association,
255-57; Christian Endeavor Society, 258; missionary
work in New York, 260-268; missionary work in
Brooklyn, 268-272; views on the modern novel, 281-82;
views on the new theology, 285-87; ministry in
Burlington and Trenton, N J, 288, marriage, 289;
his wife, 289-292; Market Street Dutch Reformed
Church of New York, 292-294; calls to various
churches, 292; Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,
294; Brooklyn, 298; house, 302-303; death of his mother,
304, death of his daughter, 304-5; celebration of quarter
century of ministry at Lafayette Church, 306;
resignation from the church, 307-09; travels, 314-317;
commemoration of 80th birthday, 317-20, valedictory
sermon, delivered at Lafayette Avenue Church, 325-46.
Cuyler, Theodore Ledyard, Jr., 323.
D
Dayton, Hon. William L, 148.
Delano, Captain Joseph C, 12.
Dickens, Charles, 20-22.
Dix, General, 57.
Dod, Albert B, 9.
Dod, Hon. Amzi, 11.
Dodge, Hon William E, 56, 57, 275.
Dow, Neal, 53-55.
Drummond, Henry, 303.
Duff, Dr. Alexander, 187-89.
Duffield, John T., 10.
F
Faraday, Sir Michael, 10.
Farrar, Archdeacon, 248.
Finney, Rev. Charles G., 76, 216-220.
G
Girard, Stephen, 273.
Gladstone, William E., 99, 104, 272.
Gough, Hon. John B, 51-53.
Gould, Miss Helen M., 251.
Greeley, Horace, 132-137.
Gregg, Rev. Dr. David, 312.
Grellet, Stephen, 121.
Gurney, Mrs. Joseph John, 121.
Guthrie, Dr. Thomas, 175-176.
H
Hackett, Horatio B., 231.
Hall, Rev Newman, 26, 177-181.
Hamilton College, 2
Hamilton, Dr. James, 172-3
Harrison, President Benjamin, letter to Dr. Cuyler, 242.
Harvey, Sir George, 107
Hatfield, Dr. Edward F., 47.
Haven, Bishop, 229-31.
Hayes, President R.B., 235.
Henry, Joseph, 9, 10, 140.
Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 10.
Hodge, Dr. Charles, 82.
Hopkins, Dr. Mark, 57
Howard, General O.O., 57.
Hoxie, Judge, 151, 152.
Huntington, Daniel, 259
I
Irving, Washington, 118-121.
J
James, John Angell, 174
Jaynes, Bishop, 227-8
Jesup, Morris K., 274
Judson, Adoniram, 253.
K
Kirk, Rev. Edward N, 73.
L
Ledyard, General Benjamin, Dr. Cuyler's grandfather, 1.
Ledyard, Hon Henry, 34.
Ledyard, Mary Forman, Dr. Cuyler's grandmother, 2.
Lewis, Senator Dixon H., 127.
Lincoln, Abraham, 141-146, 152-157, 229.
Little, Mr., founder of the "Living Age," 205.
Livingstone, David, 174.
Longfellow, Henry Wordsworth, 24.
M
Mandeville, Rev. Gerrit, 8.
Marquand, Frederick, 256.
Mason, Dr. Lowell, 43, 44.
Mathew, Father Theobald, 49-51.
Mathiot, Annie E., Dr. Cuyler's wife, 289.
Melvill, Henry, 170.
Miller, Dr. Samuel, 82.
Moffat, Robert, 174.
Mohonk, 224, 232-42.
Mohonk Lake Mountain House, 232-242.
Montgomery, James, 37-8.
Montgomery, Satan, 38.
Moody, Dwight L., 90-91, 216, 247.
Morrell, Charles Horton, 4.
Morrell, Louise Frances, Dr. Cuyler's mother, 2.
Mott, Richard, 121.
Muhlenberg, Dr. William Augustus, 45-6.
McBurney, Robert, 256.
McChyne, Robert Murray, 315.
McCosh, President of Princeton, 237-9.
McSloane, Bishop Charles P., 247.
McKelway, Dr. St. Clair, 301.
McLaren, Dr. Alexander, 66, 73, 172.
McLean, "Uncle Johnny," 9.
N
Napoleon, Grand Army of, 35.
Napoleon's Tomb, 35-6.
National Temperance Society and Publication House, 55, 57.
Nixon, John T., 10.
P
Palmer, Dr. Benjamin M., 221-223.
Palmer, Dr. Ray, 43-5.
Park, Edwards A., Professor, 209.
Pease, Rev. L.M., 260.
Peck, Bishop, 228
Phillipe, Louis, 34
Pierpont, John, 231.
Pratt, Charles, 274
Prentiss, Mrs. Elizabeth Payson, 47.
R
Raffles, Dr., 12.
Renwick, Professor, 13.
Robertson, Frederick W., 73.
Rockefeller, John D., 274.
Roe, Robert, 317
S
Salvation Army, 265-7
Sankey, Ira D., 91
Saratoga, 224-26
Schaff, Dr. Philip, 235-7.
Schlieman, Dr., 316
Scott, Sir Walter, 16, 17, 30.
Scudder, Edward W., 10.
Seward, William H., 323.
Shaftesbury, Earl, 116-117.
Sloane, Rev. M., 42
Simpson, Bishop Matthew, 228-9
Smiley, Mr., Indian and Arbitration Conferences, 240-1.
Smiley, Miss Sara F., 249.
Smith, Dr. Samuel F., 46-47
Society for the Prevention of Vice, 264,
Southey, Robert, 16.
Spalding, Levi, 251.
Spurgeon, Charles H., 181-86.
Spurgeon, Rev. Thomas, 186
Sprague, Dr. William B., 196-197.
Stanley, Dean, 109-115
Stitt, Dr., 255.
Storrs, Dr. Richard S., 205-209
Strong's, Dr., Remedial Institute at Saratoga, 227.
T
Temple, Dr., 248
Thompson, Rev. Charles Lemuel, 319.
Torrey, Dr. John, 9
Tweedie, William, 317
Tyng, Dr. Stephen H., 197-200
V
Valedictory Sermon, 325-46
Van Buren, President Martin, 231.
Van Rensellaer, 93
Vickers, Mr., 37-8
Victoria, Queen, 32-4.
W
Walker, Richard W., 10
Washington, Booker T., 158
Webster, Daniel, 125-132
Wells College, 3
Whitcomb, Miss Mary, 51.
Whittier, John G., 121-125.
Wilberforce, William, 22
Willard, Frances E., 231.
Williams, Sir George, 116, 246-7, 255.
Wilson, Professor, "Christopher North," 13.
Wilson, Vice-President Henry, 231.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 60.
Wordsworth, William, 13-16.
Y
Young Men's Christian Association, 246-7, 255.
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, 246-7