WORKS OF WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS, D.D., L.H.D.
JAPAN.
The Mikado's Empire; History to 1902 and Personal Experiences.
(Harpers.)
Matthew Calbraith Perry, a Typical American Naval Officer.
(Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
Townsend Harris, First American Envoy in Japan. (Houghton,
Mifflin & Co.)
Verbeck of Japan; A Citizen of No Country. A Story of Foundation
Work Inaugurated by Guido Fridolin Verbeck. (Fleming H. Revell
Co.)
A Maker of the New Orient. Samuel Robbins Brown, Pioneer
Educator in China, America, and Japan. (Fleming H. Revell Co.)
Japan, in History, Folk-lore, and Art. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
In the Mikado's Service. A Story of Two Battle Summers in China.
(W. A. Wilde Co.)
Corea, the Hermit Nation. Part I. Ancient, Medieval and Modern
History. Part II. Social Life, Literature, Art, Folk-lore,
Proverbs, Recent Events, etc. (Charles Scribner's Sons.)
HOLLAND.
The American in Holland. Sentimental Rambles in the Eleven
Provinces of the Netherlands. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
Brave Little Holland, and What She Taught Us. (Houghton, Mifflin
& Co.)
The Student's Motley, being "The Rise of the Dutch Republic",
by J. R. Motley, condensed to 690 pages in six parts. Part VII:
History of the Dutch Nation from 1584 to 1897. (Harpers.)
Young People's History of Holland. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
AMERICAN HISTORY.
The Romance of Discovery; A Thousand Years of Exploration and
the Unveiling of Continents. (W. A. Wilde Co.)
The Romance of American Colonization. How the Foundations of Our
History were Laid. (W. A. Wilde Co.)
The Romance of Conquest. The Story of American Expansion through
Arms and Diplomacy. (W. A. Wilde Co.)
The Pilgrims in their Three Homes: England, Holland, and
America. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
America in the East. A Glance at our History, Prospects,
Problems, and Duties in the Pacific Ocean. (A. S. Barnes Co.)
The Pathfinders of the Revolution. A Story of the Great March
into the Wilderness and Lake Region of New York in 1779. (W. A.
Wilde Co.)
John Chambers, and His Ministry in Philadelphia. 1 vol. 8vo.
Pp. 172, with two portraits, index, etc. Price, one dollar,
postpaid. (Andrus & Church, Ithaca, N. Y.)
Sunny Memories of Three Pastorates, in (Schenectady, Boston, and
Ithaca), with a Selection of Sermons and Essays. 1 vol. Illust.
Price, $1. Ithaca, N. Y. (Andrus & Church.)
BIBLICAL.
The Lily Among Thorns. A Study of the Biblical Drama Entitled,
"The Song of Songs." (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
JOHN CHAMBERS
SERVANT OF CHRIST AND MASTER OF HEARTS
AND
HIS MINISTRY IN PHILADELPHIA
[Illustration: JOHN CHAMBERS.
About 1873.]
JOHN CHAMBERS
SERVANT OF CHRIST AND MASTER OF HEARTS
AND
HIS MINISTRY IN PHILADELPHIA
BY
REV. WM. ELLIOT GRIFFIS, D.D., L.H.D.
AUTHOR OF "THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE", "BRAVE LITTLE HOLLAND", "COREA,
THE HERMIT NATION", "THE PILGRIMS IN THEIR THREE
HOMES", "VERBECK OF JAPAN", Etc.
ITHACA, N. Y.
ANDRUS & CHURCH
1903
COPYRIGHT, 1903
BY
ANDRUS & CHURCH
(OCTOBER)
PRESS OF
ANDRUS & CHURCH
ITHACA, N. Y.
JOHN CHAMBERS'S FAVORITE PSALM
PSALM CXXXIII
Behold how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head,
That ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard:
That went down to the skirts of his garments:
As the dew of Hermon,
And as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
For there the Lord commanded the blessing,
Even life forevermore.
TO
ALL MY FELLOW ALUMNI
MEMBERS OF
THE FIRST INDEPENDENT CHURCH
OF PHILADELPHIA
WHO IN HALLOWED MEMORY OF THE PAST
OR
IN HOPE OF REUNION IN THE ETERNAL HOME
GREET
JOHN CHAMBERS AS THEIR FATHER IN GOD
I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK
PREFACE.
John Chambers was one of the first among popular preachers of the
nineteenth century in Philadelphia, and the pastor for fifty years of
one congregation.
Not alone to delight those with vivid memories, who knew, loved and
honored John Chambers, have I undertaken this work of filial piety,
but to tell to young men of to-day the story of a consecrated,
strenuous, and successful life, the secret of which was self-conquest
and strength in God.
One great purpose and benefit of biography is lost if it does not
clearly reveal the growth of character, and, in the case of a
beautiful and successful life, a personality worthy of being held
up as an example. It ought to show also self-conquest, ripening in
wisdom, the philosophic mind that comes with years, and the maturing
and sweetening influences of honored old age. It would be of little
help to young men, struggling against their own besetting weaknesses
to gain self-mastery and attainment to true Christian manhood, to
picture only the John Chambers, as we knew him,--in the serene
evening of life, when passions had cooled and reason reigned, and
the gray light of Heaven's morning had settled on his head. I have
tried to show in the typical Irishman, the creature of heredity and
the passionate patriot, the aspiring Christian and the child of God,
educated by unseen but potent influences, winning steadfast victory
over sin and self, becoming king of men and master of hearts, leading
a host to triumph along the pathway to Heaven, able to do all things
through Christ his helper.
The wonderful character and personality of John Chambers were not
sudden creations. They were growths. He himself believed that
while justification was instant, sanctification was gradual. He
laughed at the man who professed never to have made mistakes. He had
always patience with those who slipped and fell. He showed us how
to neutralize the results of our missteps and gain new strength by
painful and humiliating experiences.
I return my hearty thanks to one and all of the friends, fellow alumni
of the old First Independent Church of Philadelphia, who have aided
me with reminiscences, asking pardon for omissions and indulgence for
possible errors.
W. E. G.
Ithaca, N. Y., July 20, 1903.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PHILADELPHIA. THE HISTORIC SITE 1
II. IRELAND. A BONNIE BAIRN 7
III. OHIO. LIFE IN A LOG CABIN 14
IV. MARYLAND. STUDENT DAYS IN BALTIMORE 19
V. NEWTOWN. REJECTED OF MEN 25
VI. NEW ENGLAND. ORDINATION AT NEW HAVEN 34
VII. HOME AND CHURCH. LOVE AND WORK 42
VIII. THE WAR HORSE OF THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE 51
IX. THE MASTER OF HEARTS 61
X. BOYHOOD'S MEMORIES OF THE OLD CHURCH 68
XI. THE MASTER OF ASSEMBLIES 81
XII. TRUE YOKE-FELLOWS 94
XIII. CHURCH LIFE. MINOR PERSONALITIES 105
XIV. THE CIVIL WAR 111
XV. LIGHT AT EVENING TIME 127
XVI. TRANSFER OF THE CHURCH TO THE PRESBYTERY 135
XVII. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL AND FAREWELL 139
XVIII. THE CHILDREN OF THE MOTHER 144
CHAPTER I.
PHILADELPHIA. THE HISTORIC SITE.
Throngs of people daily pass along two of Philadelphia's most imposing
highways. Broad Street spans the entire city from north to south.
Chestnut Street is the Quaker City's most brilliant thoroughfare,
stretching between the Delaware and the Schuylkill. Those who traverse
either may see the great twenty story building wherein is made and
published the _North American_, the oldest daily newspaper on the
continent. Northward from Broad and Chestnut, rise the imposing
municipal buildings, on the crest of whose mountain of stone and peak
of metal is visible the bronze statue of William Penn, founder of the
City of Brotherly Love. Though this son of a Dutch mother was the
beginner of the City of Homes, yet there have been many other makers
of Philadelphia.
Not least among those who have builded the unseen but nobler city,
and who have stamped their names indelibly upon human hearts and
lives, even unto the third and fourth generation of its citizens, is
John Chambers. During forty-eight years he was pastor of the First
Independent Church, whose second edifice stood from 1831 to 1899 on
the site of the twenty-storied "sky-scraper" at Broad and Sansom
streets.
Happily, in the eternal fitness of things, history and sentiment
were not ignored in the uprearing of the mighty structure, whose
cornice is not far from the clouds. In the two lower stories of the
façade is a happy reminder of the old brown stone church of pillared
front. Most felicitously does memory find here a sermon in stone and
a stimulus in architecture. Indeed, a former worshipper walking on
the other side of the street, who chanced to look no higher than the
old familiar altitudes, might imagine that the house of prayer, with
its Ionic columns, still stood to bless its worshippers. Even of the
same hue and tint as in childhood's days, eight columns of fluted
brown sandstone renew in verisimilitude the old architecture. Thus
the mighty edifice enshrines upon its front, in imperishable masonry,
suggestions, at least, of former history.
To be exact, whereas there were in old times six round fluted Ionic
columns, resting on high square bases, supporting a simple but
imposing pediment, there are to-day eight front columns supporting an
architrave, with two mightier upholding pillars within.
At first thought, men might be tempted to see in this colossal
structure, whose roof is so much nearer the sky a symbol of "the
power of the press," which is alleged to be more influential than the
pulpit. One political gentleman whom I knew well--even he who in 1893,
raised the stars and stripes over Hawaii--affirmed in my hearing, that
"one newspaper was equal to three pulpits". Yes, but that depends on
which newspaper and which pulpit. It is certain that in the eyes of
some, printing machinery and type, and daily square miles of inked
paper, for which whole forests have been destroyed, have more moral
potency than worship, prayer, and preaching. Yet against this modern
parable of the mustard seed become a tree, phenomenal and imposing,
we have happily also the Master's parable of the leaven, or of might
unseen, of a kingdom coming "without observation". "Things seen",
even when dazzling are not really as potent as those which transform
the life. It could add little or nothing to the reputation of John
Chambers, to put on paper with ink his words that kindled our souls.
Yet, "did not our hearts burn within us" when we heard? Can we forget
them? Was not his a life unto life? "He being dead yet speaketh."
So then, whether standing in the shadow of the great edifice--typical
of the soaring twentieth century--or setting foot on its roof
high in air, many fathoms higher in the deeps of space than where
once we sat or stood, and thence gazing upon the sea of humanity
beneath, or over the great city set between the two silver streams,
and ever fascinating and beautiful with boyhood's memories, let us
stop to recall the past. Let us think of that busy and potent life
of John Chambers (1797-1875), and of that First Independent Church
(1825-1873), which, like a spiritual storage battery, still supplies
the power that pulses in many thousand souls. Man and edifice, though
vanished from earth, give by their visible potencies or inspiring
memories, in churches and Sunday Schools, in hallowed homes and
beautiful careers of men and women, even to the fourth generation, the
shining and convincing evidence of an earthly immortality, of life
unto life. In the ever widening circles of eternity, that unspent
influence will be felt.
Let us now descend from the mountain to the plain. Until the first
early autumn of the twentieth century, one could see also on the east
side of Thirteenth Street, north of Market and within a few feet of
Filbert Street, a four-sided, plain gray stone or marble post, in
which even a casual passer-by could detect a survival. It was an
old-timer, battered, rubbed, and chipped. Evidently it had once been
a hitching post. Then, after sundry paintings and daubings, it had
served for various advertising purposes, setting forth the changing
business carried on in the dwelling place itself, in front of which it
stood, or, in the cellar of the same. The Belgian block pavements, the
flagstone sidewalks, the great Reading Railway Terminal, not far away,
and the lofty business edifices of steel and stone, with a thousand
modern suggestions, all seem by their contrast to suggest antiquity in
that horse post, and possibly its descent from once more noble uses.
When, however, to the evidence of eyesight, was added the play of
memory and imagination, then there rose upon the mind's vision the
little brick church, the Church of the Vow, that stood directly
opposite, where John Chambers, master of hearts and transformer of
human lives, wrought and taught. Within its now vanished walls the
sunny pastor, the shining ornament in social life, the soul-stirring
preacher, the unquailing soldier, who fought evil in every form,
prayed, preached, and labored with men. Here he communicated
quickening impulses not yet spent, but ever urging on to vaster
issues. Yes, there is where the old church stood.
But this old battered horse-post,--so close by the curb stone as to
wear ever fresh marks of tar and grease from passing wagon wheel
hubs--what has it to do with John Chambers and the First Independent
Church of Philadelphia, which is almost forgotten before a brood of
lusty children and vigorous grandchildren that now train thousands in
the ways of holiness? Especially may we ask the question, since the
church and the post were on opposite sides of the street, here a few
feet wide.
Well, hereto hangs not only a tale, but literally, there hung a
chain, with associations. Before the First Independent Church--that
church which, according to scripture and reality, though not in
common parlance, is not an edifice, but a company of believers--was
formed, in 1825, there stood at Thirteenth and Filbert streets, a
comparatively new building. It had been reared in fulfilment of a vow
made during a storm on the Atlantic by a holy woman of prayer, whose
life was saved. Those who carried out her purpose were Irish refugees,
seeking freedom in America. Being intense Sabbatarians, they would
have no sound of passing wheel or hoof on the Lord's Day, for theirs
was the age, also, of Delaware river cobble stones, and of iron
tires. No pneumatic or sound deadening rubber-swathed wheels existed
then. Hence, to warn off all matutinal disturbers of the solemnity of
worship, and evening passers on wheels, an iron chain was stretched
across the street, guarding either side, north or south, of the holy
edifice. Thus, in quiet, the people within could worship God. The same
rule held in other neighborhoods as in this congregation, and in front
of the Presbyterian church edifice at Fourth and Arch, as the pictures
show, a similar stout iron chain was stretched. It was the rule in
Sabbath-keeping Philadelphia, according to the vigorous law of 1798.
Philadelphia was, early in the last century, a little place, of only
tens of thousands, and so long as there were but few churches, the
chains seemed appropriate. As the city grew, the problem for the
firemen, mail wagons, and ambulances increased. In time not a single
street running north or south, even in case of a fire, was open to the
firemen, who were apt to make quick work in removing obstacles. A snow
storm of petitions, for and against the repeal of the Acts of 1798 and
the removal of the street chains, fell on the legislature and the law
ceased to be operative, March 15, 1830. The old stone posts remained
and occasionally one may be recognized by the keen-eyed antiquarian in
dear old Philadelphia.
Both the first and second edifices, in which John Chambers labored
in the Gospel, have been levelled and their sites built upon. That
old post, effective Sabbath guardian, has gone; the First Independent
Church, in edifice or organization, is no more. Nevertheless, its
spirit lives. Like Huldah's home, our old church in its "second
quarter" was a "college," and, fellow alumni, we shall try to tell the
story of our Alma Mater, "mother of us all," and sketch the life and
work of the great and good man, with whom the First Independent Church
began, continued, and ended. Both church and pastor have become as
leaven that transforms, and in leavening is itself transformed,--lost
to form and view, while yet potent. "The eagle's cry is heard even
after its form disappears behind the mountain," says the Chinese
proverb.
The "three measures of meal" still abide. From them is still supplied
the bread of life to thousands. To change from metaphor to facts
that are as hard as stone, and as enduring as human character, there
are, first in point of time, the Bethany Mission Sunday-school and
the Bethany Presbyterian Church; the John Chambers Memorial Church,
an offshoot and outgrowth from the Bethany Church; the Presbyterian
Church at Rutledge, Pa.; the St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in West
Philadelphia; and the magnificent edifice and active congregation
of the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church on Broad below Pine Street,
which enshrines the name not only of John Chambers, but of T. W. J.
Wylie--two noble preachers of the gospel, sons of thunder and also of
consolation.
Shall we attempt to measure influence, by even suggesting how three
churches, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, and one Lutheran grew up out
of the early prayer meetings before 1840, sustained chiefly by John
Chambers' young men? Shall we hint at the missionary and educational
impulses given at "the ends of the earth" by missionaries, or of
lives nourished or transformed in our home land by the forty or more
ministers of the gospel, who call John Chambers their father in God?
Nay, our dear under-shepherd himself, were he with us, would say, "Not
unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy
mercy and thy truth's sake."
_Nisi Dominus Frustra._